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 fuhlii'iiP't JanyiOatl. bv .liilni iifirn .ly L"iid"iL 
 
JOURNALS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD VOYAGES 
 
 FOR THE DISCOVERY OF 
 
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 A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 
 
 FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, 
 
 In 1819-20-21-22-23-24-25, 
 
 IN HIS majesty's ships 
 
 HECLA, GRIPER AND FURY, 
 
 UNDER THE ORDERS OF 
 
 CAPT. W. E. PARRY, R.N. F.R.S. 
 
 AND COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 FIVE VOLUMES. 
 WITH PLATES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLK STRElil'. 
 MDCCCXXVIII. 
 
 • • 
 
LONDON : PRINTED BY C. HOWORIH, 
 BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 

 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 These little Volumes are published in 
 this convenient shape with the view of 
 bringing forward an uniform edition of 
 Modern Discoveries, made in conse- 
 quence of the voyages and travels 
 which have been undertaken since the 
 conclusion of the war, under the sanc- 
 tion of the British Government. They 
 will be found to present an uninter- 
 rupted narrative of each Voyage or 
 
\ 
 
 
 II 
 
 ADVEUTISKMENT. 
 
 Travels, and always in the Author's 
 own words. In all such works, and 
 more especially in those which were 
 undertaken for the specific purpose of 
 geographical discovery and scientific 
 research, many details will necessarily 
 be found, which are indispensable to 
 the establishment and promotion of 
 philosophical truths, but which are 
 uninviting to the general reader, who 
 looks only for what is interesting or 
 amusing. 
 
 To preserve such interesting and 
 amusing particulars, and at the same 
 time to record every fact and trans- 
 action of importance, without omitting 
 
 I 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 I 
 
 the name even of any single Cape, 
 Bay, Strait, or the notice of any acces- 
 sion, however slight, to our general 
 and geographical knowledge, has been 
 attempted, and, it is hoped, will be 
 found to have been accomplished, in 
 these compendious volumes. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 'i' 
 
 <; 
 

i) 
 
 
 Directions for placing the Plates. 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE. — VOL. I. 
 
 Portrait of Captain Parry Frontispiece 
 
 Situation of H. M. S. Hecla and Griper, July 4, 1819, 
 
 to face page 19 
 
 The Crews of H. M. S. Hecla and Griper cutting into 
 
 Winter Harbour, Sept. 6, J819 . . to face page 165 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 H. M. S. Helca and Griper in Winter Harbour, 
 
 to face Title-page 
 Singular appearance of tlie Moon . . to face page 209 
 
 SECOND VOYAGE. — VOL. I. 
 
 Esquimaux Children dancing to face Title-page 
 
 ^^«P to face Chapter I 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Esquimaux building a Snow Hut . . to face Title-page 
 Sledges of Esquimaux to face page 81 
 
 THIRD VOYAGE. 
 
 Situation of H. M. S. Hecla and Fury, August 1, 
 
 1825 toface Title-page 
 
 Heaving down the Fury toface page 121 
 
L 
 
 E 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Preliminauv Chapter page 1 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Passage across the Atlantic— Enter Davis's 
 Strait— Unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the 
 ice to the Western Coast— Voyage up the 
 Strait— Passage through the ice to the Western 
 Coast— Arrival off Possession Bay, on the 
 southern side of the entrance ihto Sir James 
 Lancaster's Sound 7 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Entrance into Sir James Lancaster'^s Sound of 
 Baffin— Uninterrupted passage to the West- 
 ward—Discovery and examination of Prince 
 Regent's Inlet— Progress to the southward 
 stopt by ice— Return to the northward— Pass 
 Barrow's Strait— And enter the Polar Sea 49 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ravourai)le appearances of an open Westerly 
 passage — Land to the northwaiKl, a series of 
 islands — General appearance of them — Meet 
 with some obstruction from low islands sur- 
 rounded with ice-^liemains of Esquimaux 
 huts, and natural productions of Byam IMartin 
 Island — Tedious navigation from fogs and 
 ice — Difficulty of steering a proper course — 
 Arrival and landing on Melville Islard— Pro- 
 ceed to tho westward, and reach the meridian 
 of 110° W. longitude, the first stage in the 
 scale of rewards granted by act of parlia- 
 ment 94 
 
 I 
 
 f^: 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Further examination of Melville Island — Con- 
 tinuation of our progress to the westward — 
 Long detention by the ice — Party sent on 
 shore to hunt deer and Musk-oxen — Return 
 in three days, after losing their way — Anxiety 
 on their account — Proceed to the westward, 
 till finally stopt by the ice — In returning to 
 the eastward the Griper forced on the beach 
 by the ice — Search for, and discovery of, a 
 winter harbour on Melville Island — Opera- 
 tions for securing the ships in their winter 
 quarters 139 
 
 1 
 
 ii. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 VII 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 Precautions for securing the ships and stores— 
 for promoting good order, cleanliness, health 
 and good humour, among the ships' compa- 
 nies—Establishment of a theatre, and of the 
 North Georgia Gazette— Erection of an obser- 
 vatory on shore— Commence our winter's 
 amusements— State of the temperature and 
 various meteorological phenomena— Miscella- 
 neous occurrences to the close of the year 
 
 1819 
 
 170 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 First appearance of scurvy— The Aurora Bore- 
 aHs and other meteorological phenomena- 
 Visits of the wolves— re-appearance of the 
 sun— Extreme low temperature— Destruction 
 of the house on shore by fire— Severe frost- 
 bites occasioned by this accident . . 221 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 More temperate weather— House rebuilt— Quan- 
 tity of ice collected on the Hecla's lower 
 deck— Meteorological phenomena — Conclu- 
 sion of theatrical entertainments— Increased 
 sickness on board the Griper—Clothes first 
 
 ^ 
 
Vlll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 dried in the open air — Remarkable Halos and 
 Parhelia — Snow blindness — Cutting the ice 
 round the ships, and other occurrences to the 
 close of May 246 
 
VOYAGE 
 
 FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A 
 
 NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, 
 
 PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 Lieutenant Parry was appointed to the 
 command of his Majesty's skip the Hecla, a 
 bomb of 375 tons, on the 16th of January, 
 lS\9'j and the Griper, gun brig, 180 tons, 
 commissioned by Lieut. Matthew Liddon, 
 was at the same time directed to put her- 
 self under his orders. The object of the 
 expedition was to attempt the discovery of 
 a North-West Passage into the Pacihc. On 
 board Lieut. Parry's ship was an astronomer, 
 Capt, Edw. Sabine, R. A. and a competent 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
I'r' 
 
 *.'; 
 
 h ; 
 
 i: *, 
 
 M ■ 
 
 2 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 number of officers, a Greenland master, and 
 a Greenland mate. Eveiy individual en- 
 gaged in the expedition was to receive double 
 the ordinary pay of his Majesty's navy. The 
 vessels were rigged after the manner of a 
 barque, as being the most convenient among the 
 ice, and requiring the smallest number of men 
 to work them. Thev were furnished with 
 provisions and stores for two years -, in ad- 
 dition to which, there was a large supply of 
 fresh meats and soups preserved in tin cases, 
 essence of malt and hops, essence of spruce, and 
 other extra stores, adapted to cold climates 
 and a long voyage. The ships were ballasted 
 entirely with coals ', an abundance of warm 
 clothing was allowed, a wolf-skin blanket 
 being supplied to each officer and man, be- 
 sides a housing-cloth, similar to that with 
 which waggons are usually covered, to make 
 a sort of tent on board. Various kinds of 
 presents were furnished to secure the friend- 
 ship of the natives, and a number of valuable 
 astronomical and philosophical instruments 
 were put on board each ship. The following 
 account of the expedition is chiefly from the 
 
 'i.i 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 official journal kept by Lieut, Parry, on 
 board the Hecla, and care has been taken 
 to avoid the use of technical expressions as 
 much as possible. In their official instruc- 
 tions from the Admiralty, they were ordered 
 to make the best of their way to the entrance 
 of Davis' Strait, and, if the ice would permit, 
 they were to endeavour to explore the bottom 
 of Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and if pos- 
 sible to pass through it to Behring's Strait. 
 This was the most favourable supposition 3 
 other directions were given, in case the route 
 hei'e marked out should not be found to be 
 practicable. If they got through Behring's 
 Straits, they were to proceed to Kamtschatka, 
 and forward duplicates of all their journals 
 through the hands of the Russian Governor, 
 to St. Petersburgh, to be conveyed from 
 thence to London. The expedition was then 
 directed to proceed to the Sandwich Islands, 
 or to Canton, there to refit, and then lose 
 no time in returning to England. They 
 were enjoined to cultivate a good under- 
 standing with any Esquimaux or Indians 
 they might fall in with, and it was left to 
 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 •J , < 
 
 1 ' . 
 
 Il 
 
 '■ i 
 
 Lieut. Parry's judgment when on the spot, 
 to decide upon the propriety of wintering 
 on the coast of America, to follow up any 
 expectations or hopes of success next season, 
 or to return to England, to report the result 
 of his observations. Minute directions were 
 given as to the observations to be made by 
 the various valuable philosophical instru- 
 ments on board 5 and though the finding a 
 passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific was 
 the main object of the expedition, yet the 
 ascertaining many points of natural history, 
 geography, &c. was considered a most im- 
 portant object, never to be lost sight of. 
 After they had passed the latitude of 65° 
 north, they were from time to time to throw 
 overboard a bottle, closely sealed, containing 
 a paper, stating the date and position at 
 which it was launched. Whenever they 
 landed on the northern coast of North Ame- 
 rica, they were to erect a pole, having a flag, 
 and bury a bottle at the foot of it, con- 
 taining an abstract of their proceedings, and 
 future intentions, for the information of 
 Lieut. Franklin, who had been sent on a land 
 
 I 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 5 
 
 expedition to explore that coast from the 
 mouth of the Copper Mine River of Hearne. 
 Before beginning the narrative, it may be 
 observed, that the search for a North-West 
 Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 ocean, commenced with Henry VII., was 
 warmly patronized by Elizabeth, and has 
 never been entirely laid aside in succeeding 
 reigns j and if the expedition did not com- 
 pletely attain its object, yet it can never 
 cease to be a source of exultation, that the 
 honour of the discovery of an open passage 
 from Baffin's Bay into the Polar sea was re- 
 served for the British navy. 
 
 According to the official instructions, the 
 interests of science were not neglected, many 
 important facts were made out, amongst the 
 most curious, it may be mentioned that it 
 appears to be proved that the North Pole is 
 not the coldest point of the Arctic hemi- 
 sphere, but that the place where the expedi- 
 tion wintered is one of the coldest spots on 
 the face of the globe. The position of the 
 Magnetic Pole, if not precisely ascertained, 
 would appear most probably to be about 
 latitude 72° in longitude 1 00"^ W. 
 
 ,>'5^f)K-.^:f«^/PR^^'---->5>-^-*^-^"" r,^W^?!:^^*"^^'"^'^S^^''*' ' "^^^^^J^^ST^^pK^f^^V^'*^^'"^?^ 
 
6 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 •I 
 
 'J 
 
 if 
 
 Of objects of natural history, the speci- 
 mens brought home are more varied and of 
 a more interesting description than might 
 have been supposed to exist in the dreaiy 
 regions in which they were procured ; they 
 have been described and arranged in an 
 Appendix, which will long be resorted to, as 
 a most valuable detail of facts and observa- 
 tions collected and made in a part of the 
 globe where, in all human probabihty, it 
 may never again fall to the lot of man to 
 repeat them, or to make others. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 1- 
 It 
 
 y 
 y 
 
 n 
 
 iS 
 
 e 
 t 
 
 3 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Passage across the Atlantic — Enter Davis^ Strait 
 — Unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the Ice to 
 the Western coast — Voyage up the Strait — 
 Passage through the Ice to the Western coast — 
 Arrival off Possession Bay, on the southern side 
 of the entrance into Sir James Lancaster's 
 Sound, 
 
 In the beginning of May, 1819, the Hecla 
 and Griper were towed down the river by 
 the Eclipse, steam-boat 3 the guns and gun- 
 ner's stores were received on board the 6th *, 
 and the instruments and chronometers were 
 embarked on the evening of the 8th, when 
 the two ships anchored at the Nore. The 
 Griper, being a slower sailer, was occasionally 
 taken in tow by the Hecla, and they rounded 
 the northern point of the Orkneys at the dis-t 
 tance of two miles and a half, on Thursday the 
 20th of the same months 
 
 r^'-^i 
 
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 *i^-^:|i;-v*k\(**^-^^*^*-*^'-*>«»^-:.^""^-- -'.5^^^»if?>*«=-«^''^'!e:s<'- * ■^-":r- 
 
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 a VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 It is recommended by the most expe- 
 rienced of the Greenland Masters, to cross 
 the Atlantic to Davis' Strait, about the pa- 
 rallel of 57 J° or 58°, and I shaped our course 
 accordingly. A bottle was thrown over- 
 board, containing a printed paper, stating 
 the date and the situation of the ships, with 
 a request, in six European languages, that 
 any person finding it would forward it to the 
 Secretary of the Admiralty, with a notice of 
 the time and place where it was found. One 
 bottle, at least, was thrown out daily during 
 the voyage, except when the ships were 
 *' beset " in the ice. 
 
 Soon after noon we made Rockall; its 
 latitude, by our observations, was 57° 38' 
 40", and its longitude 13° 47' 42". 
 
 There is, perhaps, no more striking proof 
 of the infinite value of chronometers at sea, 
 than the certainty with which a ship may 
 sail directly for a single rock like this, rising 
 like a speck out of the ocean, and at the 
 distance of forty-seven leagues from any 
 other land. 
 
 Nothing of moment occurred for several 
 
 'j^ -^ 
 
 » » 
 
1 
 
 \ 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST VA8SAGE. 
 
 9 
 
 days, but the wind veered to the westward 
 on the 30th, and increased to a fresh gale, 
 with an irregular sea, and heavy rain, which 
 brought us under our close-reefed topsails. 
 At half-past one, P.M., we began to cross 
 the space in which the " Sunken Land of 
 Buss" is laid down in Steel's chart from 
 England to Greenland ; and, in the course 
 of this and the following day, we tried for 
 soundings several times without success. 
 
 This being the anniversary of His Majes- 
 ty's birth-day, and the weather being calm 
 and fine, I directed an additional allowance 
 of grog to be served out, or, in seamen's 
 phrase, " the main brace to be spliced.'* 
 In the evening, being then in lat. 55° OT, 
 and long. 35° 56', we tried for soundings 
 with two hundred and fifty fathoms of line, 
 without finding bottom. 
 
 From the 1st to the 14th of June, we ex- 
 perienced a continual series of unfavourable 
 winds and unpleasant weather, so that very 
 little progress could be made to the v/est- 
 ward. 
 
 On the 15th, a breeze sprung up from the 
 
 
1 
 
 I' 
 
 I 
 I* ■ 
 
 10 
 
 VOYAGE FOR TUE DISCOVERY 
 
 eastward, and at noon we very unexpectedly 
 saw land at a great distance, bearing due 
 north, which could be no other than the land 
 about Cape Farewell. This accounts for 
 a remark which is common among the 
 whalers, that they always make this head- 
 land, in coming from the eastward, sooner 
 than they expect 5 a circumstance which 
 they naturally attribute to the eft'ect of a 
 westerly current. If the latitude of Cape 
 Farewell be so far to the northward as 59° 
 37' 30", which is the mean of nine different 
 authorities, our distance from it this day 
 must have been more than forty leagues. 
 It is by no means impossible that the bold 
 land of Greenland may be distinguished at so 
 great a distance 5 and it is proper to remark, 
 that the weather, at the time we saw it, was 
 precisely that which is said to be most fa- 
 vourable for seeing objects at a great dis- 
 tance, namely, just before or after rain, when 
 the humidity of the atmosphere increases its 
 transparency. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 18th, in stand- 
 ing to the northward, we fell in with the 
 
 ■■"'•%, 
 
 
 ■.^'P$'.;"i-^'^'. ."'>i- 
 
OP A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 11 
 
 first " stream of ice we had seen, and soon 
 after saw several icebergs. At daylight the 
 water had changed its colour to a dirty 
 brownish tinge. We had occasion to remark 
 the same in entering Davis' Strait in 1818, 
 when no difference in its temperature was 
 perceptible. The temperature of the water 
 this morning was 36 J°, being 3° colder than 
 on the preceding night -, a decrease that was 
 probably occasioned by our approach to tlie 
 ice. We ran through a narrow part of the 
 stream, and found the ice beyond it to be 
 '^ packed " and heavy. The birds were more 
 numerous than usual 3 and, besides the ful- 
 mar petrels, boatswains, and kittiwakes, we 
 saw, for the first time, some rotges, dovekies, 
 or black guillemots, and terns, th(i latter 
 known best to seamen by the name of the 
 Greenland swallow. 
 
 On the 21st and 22d, we sailed to the 
 W.N.W. in an open sea ; and, on the 23d, 
 at noon, being in lat. 62° 43' 09", long. 61° 
 38' 25 ", we saw several icebergs, and some 
 loose ice, to the north-westward. We ob- 
 tained soundings in the evening in two hun- 
 
 ■- K 
 
•',f 
 
 12 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 dred fathoms, fine sandy bottom, being close 
 to a large iceberg, from which copious 
 streams of water were flowing on the side 
 next the sun. 
 
 On the clearing up of a fog, on the morn- 
 ing of the 24th, we saw a long chain of ice- 
 bergs, extending several miles in a N.b.W. 
 and S.b.E. direction -, and, as we approached 
 them, we found a quantity of '^ *floe-ice" in- 
 termixed with them, beyond which, to the 
 westward, nothing but ice could be seen. 
 At noon we had soundings, with one hun- 
 dred and twenty fathoms of line, on a bottom 
 of fine sand^ which makes it probable that 
 most of the icebergs were aground in this 
 place. In the afternoon, we sailed within 
 the edge of the ice, as much as a light wes- 
 terly wind would admit, in order to approach 
 the western land, as directed by my instruc- 
 tions. Some curious effects of atmospheric 
 refraction were observed this evening, the 
 
 , * An extensive sheet of ice, whose limits, however, 
 can be distinguished from a ship's mast-head : the ex- 
 tent of what is called a field of ice cannot be distin- 
 guished from the same point. 
 
 f 
 
 i: 
 
 
 ..^,^...,u.^. 
 
 irr-r 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 13 
 
 low ice being at times considerably raised in 
 the horizon, and constantly altering its ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 The weather being nearly calm on the 
 morning of the 2i)th, all the boats were kept 
 a-head, to tow the ships through the ice to 
 the westward. It remained tolerably open 
 till four P.M., when a breeze, freshening up 
 from the eastward, caused the ice, through 
 which we had lately been towing, to close 
 together so rapidly, that we had scarcely time 
 to hoist up the boats before the ships were 
 immoveably " beset." The clear sea which 
 we had left was about four miles to the east- 
 ward of us, while to the westward nothing 
 but one extensive field of ice could be seen. 
 It is impossible to conceive a more helpless 
 situation than that of a ship thus beset, 
 when all the power that can be applied will 
 not alter the direction of her head a single 
 degree of the compass. On the 26th we were 
 in lat. by observation, 63° 59' 29", and long. 
 61 ° 48' 07' , having one hundred and twenty- 
 five fathoms, on a fiqe sandy bottom. The 
 deep-sea line indicated a drift to the S.b.W. 
 
!■« 
 
 m 
 
 f! fi 
 
 
 14 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Some of our gentlemen, having walked a 
 mile or two from the ships, imagined that 
 they saw the marks of a sledge upon the ice, 
 but, as no traces either of dogs or of one 
 human foot appeared, they were perhaps 
 mistaken. 
 
 A large black whale, being the first, was 
 seen near the ships. It is usual for these 
 animals to descend head-foremost, displaying 
 the broad fork of their enormous tail above 
 the surface of the water 5 but, on this oc- 
 casion, the ice was so close as not to admit 
 of this mode of descent, and the fish went 
 down tail-foremost, to the great amusement 
 of om* Greenland sailors. 
 
 As long as the wind continued to blow 
 strong towards the ice, so as to keep it 
 close, the ships lay securely sheltered from 
 the sea 5 but at nine in the evening, when it 
 veered a little to the westward, the ice be- 
 came more slack, and we began to feel the 
 effects of the swell which was thus admitted 
 from without : each roll of the sea forced 
 thfr heavy masses of ice against the rudder 
 and counter with such violence as would 
 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 15 
 
 have greatly endangered a ship b"Ut in the 
 ordinary way} strengthened as c 's were, 
 however, they escaped without damage. Fre- 
 quent endeavours were made to heave the 
 heads of the ships round, in order that they 
 might receive the heaviest pressure on their 
 bows, but every attempt proved unsuccessful, 
 and we remained in the same unpleasant 
 situation during the whole of the 28th. 
 
 While in this state, a large white bear 
 came near the Griper, and was killed by her 
 people, but he sunk between the pieces of 
 ice. This animal had, probably, been at- 
 tracted by the smell of some red herrings 
 which the men were frying at the time. It 
 is a common practice with the Greenland 
 sailors to take advantage of the strong sense 
 of smelling which these creatures possess, 
 by enticing them near the ships in this 
 manner. 
 
 The swell had somewhat subsided on the 
 29th, but the ships remained firmly fixed in 
 the ice as before. In the course of the day 
 we saw land bearing N. 69° W. about thir- 
 teen leagues distant, appearing from the 
 

 
 I 
 
 16 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 i 
 
 mast-head like a group of islands, and situ- 
 ated near to the entrance of Cumberland 
 Strait -J the soundings were one hundred and 
 thirty-five fathoms 3 the temperature of the 
 sea at that depth 30° 5 that of the surface 
 being the same ; and of the air 34°. On the 
 30th, the ice began to slacken a little more 
 about the ships 3 and, after two hours' heav- 
 ing with a hawser on each bow brought to 
 the capstan and windlass, we succeeded in 
 moving the Hecla about her own length to 
 the eastward, where alone any clear sea was 
 visible. The ice continuing to open still 
 more in the course of the day, we were at 
 length enabled to get both ships into open 
 water, after eight hours' incessant labour. 
 
 Our first attempt to approach the western 
 coast having thus failed, I consulted the 
 Greenland Masters, as to what w^ere the 
 most likely means to be adopted for effect- 
 ing this object. Mr. AUison thought it 
 would be advisable to run a degree or two 
 back again to the southward -, while Mr. 
 Fife was of opinion, that it might be at- 
 tempted, with a better chance of success. 
 
••-r-"' 
 
 -.«g-.sair djiJl.Z.ji ' UJ t»T.'rjKr' ■ 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 17 
 
 le 
 
 it 
 
 ^O 
 
 Ir. 
 
 about the latitude of Mount Raleigb, which 
 forms one side of the narrowest part of Davis' 
 Strait. I determined on the latter, as being 
 more conformable to the tenor of my instnic- 
 tions 3 and a course was accordingly shaped 
 close along the edge of the ice, which led us 
 considerably to the eastward of north, in 
 order to take advantage of any opening which 
 might occur. On getting into clear water, 
 we found that the rudders were mucli rubbed 
 by the blows they had received while beset 
 in the ice. 
 
 On the 1st and 2d of July, we continued 
 to keep close to the edge of the ice without 
 perceiving any opening in it. Its outer mar- 
 gin consisted of heavy detached masses, 
 much washed by the sea, and formed what is 
 technically called **^ a pack," this name being 
 given to ice when so closely connected as 
 not to admit the passage of a ship between 
 the masses. Within the margin of the pack, 
 it appeared to consist of heavy and extensive 
 floes, having a bright ice-blink over them -, 
 but no clear water could be discovered to the 
 westward. The birds, which had hitherto 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
> » 
 
 18 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVEIlV 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 ( 
 
 been seen since our first approach to tlie ice^ 
 were fulmar petrels, little auks, looms, and 
 a few glaucous gulls. 
 
 On the morning of the 3d the wind blew 
 strong from the eastward^ with a short break- 
 ing sea, and thick rainy weather, which made 
 our situation for some hours rather an un- 
 pleasant one, the ice being close under our 
 lee. Fortunately, however, we weathered it 
 by stretching back a few miles to the south- 
 ward. In the afternoon the wind moderated, 
 and we tacked again to the northward, 
 crossing the Arctic circle at four P.M., in 
 the longitude of 57° 27' W. We passed at 
 least fifty icebergs in the course of the day, 
 many of them of large dimensions. At a 
 quarter past five P.M., we sounded in one 
 hundred and fifteen fathoms 3 the water at 
 the surface of the sea had the same brownish 
 tinge which has already been noticed,, but no 
 difference in its temperature or specific gra- 
 vity could be detected. Towards midnight^ 
 the wind having shifted to the south-west, 
 and moderated, another extensive chain of 
 veiy laige icebergs appeared io the north- 
 
 «»... 
 
lay, 
 ^t a 
 

 
 Li!iiiaiissiuiijr,j,ii 
 
 if-i'tfi?i|!ii.riiii«'iiiti«i.i *|ili„' itilliiuf f sHifiljiiitoliiji^- ' 
 
ff 
 
 1 J 
 
 [ 
 
 "'. ' .*■ 
 
 
 pr* 
 
 • V 
 
 • if,' 
 
 % > 
 
 , ,,1*'' 
 
 ■• Ml 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 '-.'.J4fi?' .V5^i»< 
 
f 
 
 of A NORTH-WEST 'ASSAOl 
 
 »9 
 
 f 
 
 
 i 
 
 ward : as we approached them the ^ nd 
 died away, and the ships' heads were pt 
 to the northward, only by the steerage way 
 given to them by a heavy southerly swell, 
 which, dashing the loose ice with tremen- 
 dous force against the bergs, sometimes 
 raised a white spray over the latter to the 
 height of more than one hundred feet, and 
 being accompanied with a loud noise, ex- 
 actly resembling the roar of distant thunder, 
 presented a scene at once sublime and ter- 
 rific. We could find no bottom near these 
 icebergs with one hundred and ten fathoms 
 of line. 
 
 At four A.M. on the 4th, we came to a 
 quantity of loose ice, which lay straggling 
 among the bergs j and as there was a light 
 breeze from the southward, and I was anx- 
 ious to avoid, if possible, the necessity of 
 going to the eastward, I pushed the Hecla 
 into the ice, in the hope of being able to 
 make our way through it. We had scarcely 
 done so, however, before it fell calm ; when 
 the ship became perfectly unmanageable, and 
 was for some time at the mercy of the swells 
 
 c 2 
 
 m 
 
20 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 r 
 
 which (hifted us fast towards the bergs. All 
 the boats were immediately sent a-head to 
 tow 3 and the Griper's signal was made, not 
 to enter the ice. After two hours hard pull- 
 ing, we succeeded in getting the Hecla 
 back again into clear water, and to a suffi- 
 cient distance from the icebergs, which it is 
 very dangerous to approach when there is a 
 swell. At noon we were in lat. 66° 50' 47 ' 
 long. 57° 07' ^)6", being near the middle of 
 the narrowest part of Davis' Strait, which 
 is here not more than fifty leagues across. 
 Davis, on returning from his third voyage, 
 sets it down at forty leagues -,* and in ano- 
 ther place remarks : '^ In the latitude of 
 sixtie-seuen degrees, I might see America, 
 west, from me, and Desolation (Green- 
 land), east."t The truth of this last re- 
 mark had been much doubted, till the obser- 
 vations made on our expedition of 1818, by 
 determining the geographical position of the 
 two coasts thus seen by Davis, served to 
 
 I 
 
 * Hakluyt's Collection of Voyages. 
 t The Worlde^s Hydrographicall Discription, 1595. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 21 
 
 1^ 
 
 confirm the accuracy of that celebrated and 
 able navigator. 
 
 On the 5th, it was nccessaiy to pass 
 through some heavy streams of ice, in order 
 to avoid the loss of time by going round to 
 the eastward. On this, as on many other 
 occasions, the advantage possessed by a ship 
 of considerable weight in the water^ in se- 
 parating the heavy masses of ice, was very 
 apparent. In some of the streams, through 
 which the Ilecla passed, a vessel of a hun- 
 dred tons less burthen must have been im- 
 moveably beset. The Griper was on this, 
 and many other occasions, oidy enabled to 
 follow the Hecla by taking advantage of the 
 openings made by the latter. 
 
 At noon, on the 6th, being in lat. 67° 
 44' 05" long. 57° 51' 13", we had soundings 
 in one hundred and seventy-two fathoms, on 
 a bottom of shining sand, mixed with small 
 black specks. A number of looms were 
 killed, which being very good to eat, were 
 served to the officers and ships' company. A 
 herd of sea-horses being seen lying on a piece 
 of ice, our boat succeeded in killing one of 
 
 

 M I 
 
 22 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 them. These animals usually lie huddled 
 together, like pigs, one over the other, and 
 are so stupidly tame, as to allow a boat to 
 approach them, within a few yards, without 
 moving. When, at length, they are dis- 
 turbed, they dash into the water in great 
 confusion. It may be worth remarking, as 
 a proof how tenacious the walrus sometimes 
 is of life, that the animal killed to-day 
 struggled violently for ten minutes after it 
 was struck, and towed the boat twenty or 
 thirty yards, after which, the iron of the 
 harpoon broke; and yet it was found, on 
 examination, that the iix)n barb had pene- 
 trated both auricles of the heart. A quan- 
 tity of the blubber was put into casks, as a 
 winter's supply of lamp-oil. 
 
 The ice was so compact that it was impos- 
 sible to penetrate to the westward, and no- 
 thing remained to be done, but to make the 
 best way we could, by beating to the north- 
 ward along the edge of the pack, imtil on 
 the 10th a thick fog came on, which made 
 great caution necessaiy in sailing, there being 
 ft great many icebergs near us. There is^. 
 
 ■ ,^>»T,« «t-^;VWio--«-i;tW.^r*(. "j.* c-'v^v '•■ 
 
 !»*'t.:ia*i34>Ms;' 
 
 ^*-'- 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 23 
 
 however, even in the thickest fog, a strong 
 reflexion of light from these immense bodies 
 of ice, which, with an attentive look-out, is 
 generally visible at a sufficient distance to 
 enable the navigator^ if in smooth water, to 
 avoid coming in contact with them. 
 
 A large bear being seen on a piece of ice, 
 near which we were passing this morning, 
 a boat was despatched in pursuit, and our 
 people succeeded in killing and towing it on 
 board. As these animals sink immediately 
 on being mortally wounded, some dexterity 
 is requisite to secure them, by first throwing 
 a rope over the neck, at which many of the 
 Greenland seamen are remarkably expert. 
 It is customary for the boats of the whalers 
 to have two or three lines coiled in them, 
 which not only gives them great stability, 
 but, with good management, makes it diffi- 
 cult for a bear, when swimming, to put his 
 paw upon the gunwale, which they generally 
 endeavour to do j whereas, with our boats, 
 which are more light and crank, and there- 
 fore very easily heeled over, I have more 
 than once seen a bear on the point of taking 
 
 (I 
 
 ..41. r 
 
24 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ft 
 
 possession of them. Great caution should^ 
 therefore, be used under such circumstances 
 in attacking these ferocious creatures. We 
 have always found a boarding-pike the most 
 useful weapon for this purpose. The lance 
 used by the whalers will not easily penetrate 
 the skin^ and a musket-ball, except when 
 very close, is scarcely more efficacious. 
 
 We sounded at noon in two hundred and 
 two fathoms, and in the afternoon_, on the 
 clearing up of the fog, we found ourselves so 
 surrounded by ice, in every direction, that it 
 became necessaiy to stretch to the eastward, 
 to avoid the risk of being again beset, a cir- 
 cumstance which might have occasioned a 
 serious loss of time. A great number of 
 seals were seen as we sailed through the ice, 
 but very seldom two together. 
 
 On the 1 6th, in running along the edge of 
 the ice with a fresh breeze from the south- 
 west, we passed the Brunswick whaler, of 
 Hull, beating to the southward. She crossed 
 within hail of the Griper, and the master 
 informed Lieutenant Liddon that he had, on 
 the 11th, left a large fleet of fishing-ships 
 
 f 
 
 ■*i^- 
 
 v^.. 
 
 ^ • ., , , 44f^- 
 
>F A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 25 
 
 about the latitude of 74°^ unable to proceed 
 farther to the northward. We had been 
 stopped in a similar manner, and in the same 
 place, on the voyage of 1818, which renders 
 it not improbable, that, at this period of the 
 year, the same obstruction will generally be 
 found to occur about that latitude. The 
 annual experience of the whalers has, in- 
 deed, long ago, made it evident, that the 
 facility with which a ship may sail up Davis' 
 Strait depends entirely upon the season at 
 which the attempt is made. For the first 
 fortnight in June, it is seldom practicable 
 to get much beyond the Island of Disl o, 
 or about the latitude of 69° to 70°. To- 
 wards the 20th of that month, the ships 
 usually reach the great inlet, called North- 
 East Bay ; and, by the end of June, the ice 
 allows them, though not without great ex- 
 ertion, to penetrate to the Three Islands of 
 Baffin, which lie just beyond the seventy- 
 fourth degree of latitude. From that time 
 till about the end of August, the ice presents 
 almost daily, less and less obstruction ; so 
 that^ if the object be simply to sail as far 
 
 f? 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 I' 
 
26 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 f1< 
 
 
 north as possible into Baffin's Bay, without 
 regard to the capture of whales, there is 
 every reason to believe that a ship, entering 
 Davis' Strait on the 1st of July, may sail 
 into the latitude of 74° or 75°, without 
 meeting with any detention on account of 
 the ice, and, perhaps, without even seeing 
 the land till she arrive in a high latitude. 
 
 On the I7th, the margin of the ice, ap- 
 pearing more open than we had yet seen it, 
 and there being some appearance of a 
 ^^ wate^'-sky" to the north-west, I was in- 
 duced to run the ships into the ice, though 
 the weather was too thick to allow us to see 
 more than a mile or two in that direction. 
 We were, at noon, in latitude 72° 00' 2\'\ 
 longitude 59° 43' 04", the depth of water 
 being one hundred and ninety fathoms, on a 
 muddy bottom. The wind shortly after 
 died away, as usual, and, after making a 
 number of tacks, in order to gain all we 
 could to the westward, we found ourselves 
 so closely hemmed in by the ice on every 
 side, that there was no longer room to work 
 the ships, and we therefore made them fast 
 
 ;-*k*«*siRfc>- 
 
 , , jwie>i«s*iv 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 27 
 
 to a floe, till the weather should clear up. 
 The afternoon was employed in taking on 
 board a supply of water from the floe. It 
 may be proper at once to remark that, from 
 this time till the end of the voyage, snow- 
 water was exclusively made use of on board 
 the ships for every purpose. During the 
 summer months, it is found in abundance in 
 pools upon the floes and icebergs, and in the 
 winter snow was dissolved in the coppers for 
 our daily consumption. The fog cleared 
 away in the evening, when we perceived that 
 no further progress could be made through 
 the ice, into which we sailed to the west- 
 ward about twelve miles. We were, there- 
 fore, once more under the necessity of re- 
 turning to the eastward, lest a change of 
 wind should beset the ships in their present 
 situation. Previously, however, to our return, 
 we made some observations, on the ice, for 
 the variation and dip of the magnetic needle, 
 the former of which was found to be 80° 55' 
 27" W., and the latter 84° 14' 9". 
 
 A thick fog came on again at night, and 
 prevailed till near noon on the 18th, when 
 
 
 \'i 
 
 u 
 V' 
 
 viS 
 
 m 
 
28 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 h 
 
 we came to a close but narrow stream of ice, 
 lying exactly across our course, and at right 
 angles to the main body of the ice. As this 
 stream extended to the eastward as far as 
 we could see from the ^* crow's nest," an 
 endeavour was made to push the ships with 
 all sail through the narrowest part. The 
 facility with which this operation, techni- 
 cally called *' boring," is performed, depends 
 chiefly on having a fresh and free wind, 
 with which we were not favoured on this 
 occasion; so that, when we had forced the 
 ships about one hundred yards into the ice, 
 their way was completely stopped. The 
 stream consisted of such small pieces of ice, 
 that when an attempt was made to warp the 
 ships a-head by fastening lines to some of 
 the heaviest masses near them, the ice itself 
 came home^ without the ships being moved 
 forward. Every effort to extricate them 
 from this helpless situation proved fruitless 
 for more than two hours, when the Hecla 
 was at length backed out, and succeeded in 
 pushing through another part of the stream 
 in which a small opening appeared just at 
 
 -...^SySBf**-- 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 29 
 
 that moment. All our boats were imme- 
 diately despatched to the assistance of the 
 Griper, which still remained beset, and 
 which no effort could move in any direction. 
 We at length resorted to the expedient of 
 sending a whale-line to her from the Hecla, 
 and then, making all sail upon the latter 
 ship, we succeeded in towing her out, head 
 to wind, till she was enabled to proceed in 
 clear water. The crossing of this stream of 
 ice, of which the breadth scarcely exceeded 
 three hundred yards, occupied us constantly 
 for more than five hours, and may serve as 
 an example of the detention to which ships 
 are liable in this kind of navigation. In the 
 course of the afternoon, one of the Hccla's 
 boats was upset by the ice, and Mr. Palmer, 
 with all her crew, thrown out of her -, but, 
 by getting upon the ice, they fortunately 
 escaped with no other injury than a tho- 
 rough wetting. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 21 st, the fog 
 cleared away, and discovered to us the land 
 called by Davis, Hope Sanderson, and the 
 Woman's Islands, being the first land we 
 
 
 ('1 
 
 I 
 
 !.( 
 
30 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVER^ 
 
 had seen in sailing northwards into Baffin's 
 Bay, from the hit. of 63|^. We found our- 
 selves in the midst of a great number of very 
 high icebergs, of which I counted, from the 
 crow's nest, eighty-eight, besides many 
 smaller ones. We tacked immediately to 
 the westward, in order to take advantage of 
 the only clear weather we had enjoyed for 
 the last fourteen days, to examine the state 
 of the ice, and observed at noon, in lat. 72° 
 58' 13", the long., by chronometers, being 
 58° 43" d7"» The soundings were two hun- 
 dred and twenty-eight fathoms, muddy bot- 
 tom, having deepened from one hundred and 
 six, in sailing eight miles to the westward. 
 
 Having now reached the latitude of 73°, 
 without seeing a single opening in the ice, 
 and being unwilling to increase our distance 
 from Sir James Lancaster's Sound, by pro- 
 ceeding much farther to the northward, I 
 determined once more to enter the ice in 
 this place, and to try the experiment of 
 forcing our way through it, in order to get 
 into the open sea, which the experience of 
 the former voyage led me to believe we 
 
OP A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 31 
 
 ' I 
 
 should find upon the western coast of Baf- 
 fin's Bay. This determination was strength* 
 ened by the recollection of the serious ob- 
 structions we had met with the preceding 
 year, in the neighbourhood of Prince Re- 
 gent's Bay, where greater detention, as well 
 as danger, had been experienced, than on 
 any other part of that coast. Being now, 
 therefore, favoured with clear weather, and 
 a moderate breeze from the south-eastward, 
 we ran into the ice, which for the first two 
 miles consisted of detached pieces, but after- 
 wards of floes of considerable extent, and six 
 br seven feet in thickness. The wind died 
 away towards midnight^ and the weather 
 was serene and clear. A large bear was seen 
 on one of the floes, and we passed the tracks 
 of many others. 
 
 On the 22d, the wind was light from the 
 eastward, and we made very little progress. 
 We had occasionally to heave the ships 
 through with hawsers, between the heavy 
 masses of ice, which became more and more 
 close as we advanced, till, at length, towards 
 the evening, we were fairly beset, there 
 
 ; 
 
 !"■ 
 
 
32 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 being no open water in sight from the mast- 
 head in any quarter of the compass. Some 
 hands were kept constantly employed in 
 heaving the ships through the ice, taking 
 advantage of every occasional opening which 
 presented itself^ by which means we ad- 
 vanced a few hundred yards to the west- 
 ward during the night. 
 
 At six A.M., on the 23d, a thick fog came 
 on, which rendered it impossible to see our 
 way any further. It often happens, in thick 
 weather, that much distance is lost by ships 
 taking a wrong '^ lead," as the channels be- 
 tween floes of ice are technically called ; so 
 that, on the weather clearing, it was disco- 
 vered, when too late, that another opening, 
 perhaps a few yards only from that through 
 which they had sailed, would have con- 
 ducted them into clear water. We, there- 
 fore, warped to an iceberg, to which the 
 ships were made fast at noon, to wait the 
 clearing up of the fog, being in lat. 73° 04' 
 10^ long. 60° 1 1" 30". The soundings were 
 one hundred and ninety-seven fathoms, on 
 a muddy bottom, and the variation of the 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 33 
 
 needle 82° 33' 21' westerly. Some obser- 
 vations on the intensity of the magnetic 
 force were made by Captain Sabine. At 
 eight P.M., the weather cleared up, and a 
 few small pools of open water were seen 
 here and there, but the ice was generally as 
 close as before, and the wind being to the 
 westward of north, it was not deemed ad- 
 visable to move. When ships are thus be- 
 set, there is a great advantage in securing 
 them to the largest body of ice that can be 
 found, and particularly to the bergs, as they 
 are by this means better enabled to retain 
 their situation, the drift of the ice being 
 generally less, in proportion to its depth un- 
 der water. Another advantage in securing 
 a ship to an «.^eberg is, that these bodies 
 usually keep a small space of clear water 
 under their lee, in consequence of the quicker 
 drift of the floes and loose ice to leeward. 
 It not unfrequently happens that a ship is 
 thus dragged into clear water, as the sailors 
 express it; that is, that the whole of the 
 floe-ice is carried to leeward past the berg 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
 * ( 
 
 ' \ 
 
34 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 to which the ship is attached^ leaving her at 
 length in an open sea. 
 
 The afternoon of the 24th was occupied in 
 obtaining azimuths on board the Hechi, with 
 her head on different points of the compass, 
 in order to ascertain the amount of the ir- 
 regularities of the magnetic needle produced 
 by local attraction. 
 
 The weather being clear in the morning 
 of the 25th, and a few narrow lanes of 
 water appearing to the westward, the Griper 
 was made fast astern of the Hecla : and her 
 crew being sent to assist in manning our 
 capstan, we proceeded to warp the ships 
 through the ice. This method, which is 
 often adopted by our whalers, has the obvi- 
 ous advantage of applying the whole united 
 force in separating the masses of ice which 
 lie in the way of the first ship, allowing the 
 second, or even third, to follow close astern, 
 with very little obstruction. In this manner 
 we had advanced about four miles to the 
 westward, by eight P.M., after eleven hours 
 of very laborious exertion 3 and having then 
 come to the end of the clear water, and the 
 
 X 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 35 
 
 weather being again foggy, the ships were 
 secured in a deep '^ bight," or bay in a floe, 
 called by the sailors a '' natural dock.** An 
 extra allowance of meat and spirits was 
 served to the ships' companies, and all hands 
 were permitted to go to rest till the state of 
 the weather and of the ice should become 
 more favourable. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 26th, there 
 was clear water as far as we could see to the 
 westward, which, on account of the fog, did 
 not exceed the distance of three hundred 
 yards. We made sail, however, and having 
 groped our way for about half a mile, found 
 the ice once more close in every direction, 
 except that in which we had been sailing, 
 obliging us to make the ships fast to a floe. 
 I sent a boat away to endeavour to find a 
 lane of clear water leading to the westward. 
 She returned on board in an hour, without 
 success, having with difiiculty found her way 
 to the ship, by our muskets, and other sig- 
 nals. The latitude here, by observation, 
 was 73° 02' 17", long., by chronometers, 
 60° 1 r 58", by which the drift of the ice in 
 
 D 2 
 
 i 
 
Ill 
 
 36 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 'I 
 
 ■ i J; 
 
 ■3 
 
 !?■ 'i 
 
 the last twenty-four hours appears to have 
 been N. 1° E., five miles and three quar- 
 ters, or in a direction nearly opposite to 
 that of the wind. The soundings were two 
 hundred and eight fathoms, on a muddy 
 bottom. At half-past three, P.M., the 
 weather cleared up, and a few narrow lanes 
 of water being seen to the westward, every 
 exertion was immediately made to get into 
 them. On beginning to heave, however, 
 we found that the " hole" of water in which 
 the Hecla lay, was now so completely en- 
 closed by ice, that no passage out of it 
 could be found. We tried every corner, 
 but to no purpose ; all the power we could 
 apply being insufficient to move the heavy 
 masses of ice which had fixed themselves 
 firmly between us and the lanes of water 
 without. In the mean time. Lieutenant 
 Liddon had succeeded in advancing about 
 three hundred yards, and had placed the 
 Griper's bow between two heavy floes, 
 which it was necessary to separate before 
 any further progress could be made. Both 
 ships continued to heave at their hawsers 
 occasionally, as the ice appeared to clacken 
 
 4 
 
 •%- 
 
 &f 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 37 
 
 a little, by which means they were now and 
 then drawn a-head a few inches at a time, 
 but did not advance more than half-a-dozen 
 yards in the course of the night. By our 
 Hearing several bergs to the northward, the 
 ice appeared to be drifting in that direction, 
 the wind being moderate from the south- 
 ward. 
 
 About three A.M., Tuesday 27th, by a sudr 
 den motion of the ice, we succeeded in getting 
 the Hecla out of her confined situation, and 
 ran her up astern of the Griper. The clear 
 water had made so much to the westward, 
 that a narrow neck of ice was all that was 
 now interposed between the ships and a 
 large open space in that quarter. Both 
 ships' companies were, therefore, ordered 
 upon the ice to saw off the neck, when the 
 floes suddenly opened, sufficiently to allow 
 the Griper to push through under all sail. 
 No time was lost in the attempt to get the 
 Hecla through after her ; but, by one of 
 those accidents to which this navigation is 
 liable, and which renders it so precarious 
 and uncertain, a piece of loose ice, which 
 
 1 
 
38 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 1 
 
 ''■ I' ■ 
 
 lay between the two ships, was drawn after 
 the Griper by the eddy produced by her 
 motion, and completely blocked the narrow 
 passage through which we were about to 
 follow. Before we could remove this ob- 
 struction by hauling it back out of the 
 channel, the floes were again pressed toge- 
 ther, wedging it firmly and immoveably 
 betwixt them; the saws were immediately 
 set to work, and used with great effect, but 
 it was not till eleven o'clock that we suc- 
 ceeded, after seven hours' labour, in getting 
 the Hecla into the lanes of clear water 
 which opened more and more to the west- 
 ward. Our latitude by account at noon, 
 was 73° 05' 5&', the longitude 60° 22' 27". 
 On the 29th, we had so much clear water, 
 that the ships had a very perceptible pitch- 
 ing motion, which, from the closeness of the 
 ice, does not very often occur in the Polar 
 regions, and which is therefore hailed with 
 pleasure, as an indication of an open sea. 
 At five P.M. the swell increased consider- 
 ably, and, as the wind freshened up from 
 the north-east, the ice gradually disap- 
 peared; so that by six o'clock we were 
 
 ■*;v 
 
 L 5 
 
 ■*■.. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 39 
 
 
 sailing in an open sea, perfectly free from 
 obstruction of any kind. 
 
 We now seemed all at once to have got 
 into the head-quarters of the whales. They 
 were so numerous that I directed the num- 
 ber to be counted during each watch, and 
 no less than eighty-two are mentioned in 
 this day's log. Mr. Allison, the Greenland 
 master, considered them generally as large 
 ones, and remarked, that a fleet of whalers 
 might easily have obtained a cargo here in 
 a few days. It is, I believe, a common 
 idea among Greenland fishermen, that the 
 presence of ice is necessary to ensure the 
 finding of whales; but we had no ice in 
 sight to-day, when they were most nume- 
 rous. In the afternoon the wind broke us 
 off from the N.N.W. which obliged us to 
 cast off the Griper, and we carried all sail 
 a-head to make the land. We saw it at 
 half-past five P.M., being the high land 
 about Possession Bay, and at the same time 
 several streams of loose but heavy ice came 
 in sight, which a fresh breeze was drifting 
 fest to the south-eastward. Sir James 
 
40 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 % 
 
 Lancaster's Sound wa^ now open to the 
 westward of us, and the experience of our 
 former voyage had given us reason to be- 
 lieve that the two best months in the year 
 for the navigation of these seas were yet to 
 come. This consideration, together with 
 the magnificent view of the lofty Byam 
 Martin Mountains, which forcibly recalled 
 to our minds the events of the preceding 
 year, could not fail to animate us with ex- 
 pectation and hope. If any proof were 
 wanting of the value of local knowledge in 
 the navigation of the Polar Seas, it would 
 be amply furnished by the fact of our 
 having now reached the entrance of Sir 
 James Lancaster's Sound just one month 
 earlier than we had done in 1818, although 
 we had then sailed above a fortnight sooner, 
 with the same general object in view, 
 namely, to penetrate to the western coast 
 of Baffin's Bay, where alone the North- 
 west Passage was to be sought for. This 
 difference is to be attributed entirely to the 
 confidence which I felt, from the experience 
 gained on the former voyage, that an open 
 
 "■•^y 
 
e 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 41 
 
 sea would be found to the westward of the 
 barrier of ice which occupies the middle of 
 Baffin's Bay. Without that confidence, it 
 would have been little better than madness 
 to have attempted a passage through so 
 compact a body of ice, when no indication 
 of a clear sea appeared beyond it. 
 
 The Hecla's cables were bent, and the 
 Griper's signal made to do the same. As 
 we approached the land, the wind drew 
 directly out of the sound, which is com- 
 monly found to be the case in inlets of this 
 nature, in which the wind generally blows 
 directly up or down. A flock of white 
 ducks, believed to be male eider-ducks, 
 were seen in the afternoon, flying to the 
 eastward. 
 
 The wind increased to a fresh breeze on 
 the morning of the 31st, which prevented 
 our making much way to the westward. 
 We stood in towards Cape Byam Martin, 
 and sounded in eighty fathoms on a rocky 
 bottom, at the distance of two miles in an 
 east direction from it. We soon after disco- 
 vered the flag-staff which had been erected on 
 
 ^«H|^!' ■■ '-i!^-**'.«WpWSWS4--6« »W» .rfjf(tet>ui*-y. ■>«-■- 
 
n 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 
 W' 
 
 ^d' 
 
 42 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Possession Mount on the former expedition ; 
 an object which, though insignificant in 
 itself, called up every person immediately 
 on deck to look at and to greet it as an old 
 acquaintance. The Griper being consider- 
 ably astern, I thought it a good opportunity 
 to go on shore, in order to make some 
 observations, while she was coming up. 
 Captain Sabine and myself, therefore, left 
 the ship, and landed on the same spot, near 
 the mouth of the stream in Possession Bay, 
 where observations had been made the pre- 
 ceding year. We found so much surf on 
 the beach as to make it necessary to haul 
 the boat up, to prevent her being stove. A 
 number of loose pieces of ice had been 
 thrown up above the ordinary high-water 
 mark ; some of these were so covered by the 
 sand, which the sea had washed over them, 
 that we were at a loss to know what they 
 were, till a quantity of it had been removed. 
 From the situation and appearance of these 
 masses, it occurred to us that some similar 
 masses, found under ground in those spots 
 called Kaltuscey in the islands near the 
 
 11 
 
 • 1 
 
 I'J 
 
 
 U. 
 
 M;j^^fe^,^i^.,V^.r,- 
 
i 
 
 OF A NOR 
 
 "i-H- 
 
 WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 43 
 
 f! 
 
 coast of Siberia, might thus have been ori- 
 ginally deposited. 
 
 The land immediately at the back of 
 Possession Bay rises hi a gentle slope from 
 the sea, presenting an open and extensive 
 space of low ground, flanked by hills to the 
 north and south In this valley, and even 
 on the hills, to the height of six or seven 
 hundred feet above the sea, there was 
 scarcely any snow, but the mountains at 
 the back were completely covered with it. 
 The bed of the stream, which winds along 
 the valley, is in many places several hun- 
 dred yards wide, and in some parts from 
 thirty to forty feet deep ; but the quantity 
 of water which it contained at this season 
 was extremely small in proportion to the 
 width between the banks, not exceeding 
 forty feet on an average, and from one to 
 three feet only in depth near the mouth of 
 the stream. This feature is common to 
 every part of the Polar regions in which we 
 have landed; the beds, or ravines, being 
 probably formed by the annual dissolution 
 of the snow during a long series of years. 
 
 i 
 
' i 
 
 44 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 'It' 
 
 I ' 
 
 It 
 
 I,! 
 
 Some pieces of birch-bark having been 
 picked up in the bed of this stream, in 
 1818, which gave reason to suppose that 
 wood might be found growing in the inte- 
 rior, I directed Mr. Fisher to walk up it, 
 accompanied by a small party, and to oc- 
 cupy an hour or two, while the Griper was 
 coming up, and Captain Sabine and myself 
 were employed upon the beach, in exa- 
 mining the nature and productions of the 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Fisher reported, on his return, that 
 he had followed the stream between three 
 and four miles, where it turned to the 
 south-west, without discovering any indica- 
 tions of a wooded country ; but a sufficient 
 explanation respecting the birch-bark was, 
 perhaps, furnished by his finding, at the 
 distance of a quarter of a mile from the sea, 
 a piece of whalebone two feet ten inches in 
 length, and two inches in breadth, having a 
 number of circular holes very neatly and 
 regularly perforated along one of its edges, 
 and which had undoubtedly formed part of 
 an Esquimaux sledge. This circumstance 
 
 ':V 
 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 45 
 
 
 >l 
 
 
 i 
 
 affording a proof of the Esquimaux having 
 visited this part of the coast at no very 
 distant period, it was concluded that the 
 piece of bark above alluded to, had been 
 brought hither by these people. From the 
 appearance of the whalebone, it might have 
 been lying there for four or five years. 
 That none of the Esquimaux tribe had 
 visited this part of the coast since we 
 landed there in 1818, was evident from the 
 flag-staff then erected still remaining un- 
 touched. Mr. Fisher found every part o 
 the valley quite free from snow as high as 
 he ascended it ; and the following fact seems 
 to render it probable that no great quantity 
 either of snow or sleet had fallen here since 
 our last visit. Mr. Fisher had not pro- 
 ceeded far, till, to his great surprise, he en- 
 countered the tracks of human feet upon the 
 banks of the stream, which appeared so 
 fresh, that he at first imagined them to have 
 been recently made by some natives, but 
 which, on examination, were distinctly as- 
 certained to be the marks of our own shoes 
 made eleven months before. 
 
i 
 
 [If 
 
 M 
 
 i!l 
 
 If k 
 
 11' 
 
 li 
 
 u\ 
 
 f 
 
 Q 
 
 46 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 The only animals we met with were a 
 fox, a raven, some ring-plovers, snow-bun- 
 tings, and a wild bee. Several tracks of 
 bears and of a cloven-footed animal, pro- 
 bably the rein-deer, were also observed 
 upon the moist ground. Three black whales 
 were seen in the bay, and the crown-bones 
 of several others were lying near the beach. 
 Considerable tufts of moss and of grass occur 
 in this valley, principally in those parts 
 which are calculated to retain the water 
 produced by the melting of the snow. In- 
 deed, moisture alone seems necessary to the 
 growth of a variety of plants which are 
 found in this dreary climate. Mr. Fisher, 
 who had an opportunity of examining some 
 of the fixed rocks, considered them to con- 
 sist principally of basalt. j 
 
 At half-past ten A.M., when we landed, 
 the tide was falling by the shore, and con- 
 tinued to do so till about half an hour before 
 noon ; the surf on the beach, however, did 
 not allow me to determine the time with 
 very great precision. By the mean of our 
 observations made now and in the foregoing 
 
 « 
 
 ft 
 
 v. 
 
 V;. 
 
 II 
 
 Smm i 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 47 
 
 V 
 
 year, the time of high water on full and 
 cliange days, would appear to be about a 
 quarter past eleven. At two P.M., the 
 water had risen two feet and a half, and the 
 whole rise of tide, as nearly as we could 
 judge from the marks on the beach, may be 
 from six to eight feet. The stream cer- 
 tainly came from the northward and west- 
 ward along the shore of the bay, during the 
 time that the tide was rising ; and Lieute- 
 nant Beechy observed, that, in running 
 along shore in a south-easterly direction, 
 the ship seemed to go much faster by the 
 land than she sailed through the water. It 
 is more than probable, therefore, that the 
 flood comes from the north-westward on 
 this particular part of the coast. Near the 
 spot on which we made the observations, a 
 bottle was buried containing an account of 
 our visit, and. a pile of stones and earth 
 raised over it. 
 
 In approaching Possession Bay, the colour 
 of the water was observed to change to a 
 light green, at the distance of two or two 
 and a half miles from the shore, but there 
 
 MMMiWMWi 
 
48 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 \)t 
 
 PI .. 
 
 !H 
 
 I 
 
 •. i 
 
 J • 
 
 
 ill 
 
 ' « 
 
 
 was no appearance of shoal water, and we 
 could find no bottom with sixty and seventy 
 fathoms of line, well within it; we had 
 fourteen fathoms, on a sandy bottom, at a 
 cable's length from the beach. 
 
 Having finished our observations, we re- 
 turned on board, and made all sail for the 
 Sound ; but the wind blowing still from the 
 westward, the progress of the ships was but 
 slow in that direction. The sea was per- 
 fectly free from ice, except a single berg, 
 and one or two narrow, though heavy, 
 streams, which offered, however, little or 
 no obstruction to the navigation. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 if * 
 
 
 I' I 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 '1 
 
 Entrance into Sir James Lancaster's Sound of 
 Baffin — Uninterrupted Passage to the West- 
 ward — Discover^/ anJ Examination of Prince 
 Regent's Inlet — Pt jgress to the Southward 
 stopped by Ice — Return to the Northward-^ 
 Pass Barrozvs Strait, and ent^r the Polar Sea. 
 
 We were now about to ent^r anJ to eyilore 
 that great sound or inlet v^ hich has obtained 
 a degree of celebrity beyond what it might 
 otherwise have been considered to possess, 
 from the very opposite opkiions which have 
 been held with regard to it. To us it was 
 peculiarly interesting, as being the point to 
 which our Instructions more particularly 
 directed our atteit on; and, I may add, 
 what I believe we all felt, it was that point 
 of the voyage vv^hich was to determine the 
 success or fadure of the expedition, accord- 
 ing as one or other of the opposite opinions 
 
 VOL. I. E 
 
 ll 
 
 i'^i 
 
 "mm 
 
 ■f»"^ 
 
Mi: 
 
 50 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 p.- *i 
 
 U ) I 
 
 ■-, t 
 
 n \ 
 
 bm 
 
 alluded to should be corroborated. It will 
 readily be conceived, then, how great our 
 anxiety was for a change of the westerly 
 wind and swell, which, on the 1st of August, 
 set down Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and 
 prevented our making much progress. We 
 experienced also another source of anxiety. 
 The relative sailing qualities of the two 
 ships w^TC found to have altered so much, 
 that we were obliged to keep the Hecia 
 under easy sail the whole day, to allow the 
 Griper to keep up with us, although the 
 latter had hitherto kept way with her con- 
 sort, when sailing by the wind. The ships 
 stretched to the northward across the en- 
 trance of the sound, meeting occasionally 
 with some loose and heavy streams of ice, 
 and were at noon in latitude, by observation, 
 73° 55' 18", and in longitude, by the chro- 
 nometers, 77° 40'. Several whales were 
 seen in the course of the day, and Mr. Al- 
 lison remarked, that this was the only part 
 of Baffin's Bay in which he had ever seen 
 young whales ; for it is a matter of surprise 
 to the whalers in general, that they seldom 
 
 1 
 
 h§ 
 
 4 
 
 (■• 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 51 
 
 
 or never met with young ones on this fish- 
 ery, as they are accustomed to do in the 
 seas of Spitzbergen. 
 
 The Griper continued to detain us so 
 much that I determined on making the best 
 of our way to the westward, and ordered 
 the Hecla to be hove to in the evening, and 
 sent Lieutenant Liddon an instruction, with 
 some signals, which might facihtate our 
 meeting in case of fog : and I appointed as 
 a place of rendezvous the meridian of 85*^ 
 west, and as near the middle of the Sound 
 as circumstances would permit. As soon, 
 tlierefore, as the boat returned from the 
 Griper, we carried a press of sail, and, in 
 the course of the evening, saw the northern 
 shore of the Sound looming through the 
 clouds which hung over it. 
 
 The weather being clear in the evening of 
 the 2d, we had the first distinct view of 
 both sides of the Sound, and the difference 
 in the character of the two shores was very 
 apparent, that on the south consisting of 
 high and peaked mountains, completely 
 snow-clad, except on the lower parts, while 
 
 E 2 
 
 •m ._ . ■ m i ^ ii 
 
52 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 the northern coast has generally a smoother 
 outline, and had, comparatively with the 
 other, little snow upon it ; the difference in 
 this last respect appearing to depend prin- 
 cipally on the difference in their absolutv 
 height. The sea was open before us, free 
 from ice or land ; and the Hecla pitched so 
 much from the westerly swell in the course 
 of the day, as to throw the water once or 
 twice into the stern windows, a circum- 
 stance which, together with other appear- 
 ances, we were willing to attribute to an 
 open sea in the desired direction. More 
 than forty black whales were seen during 
 the day. 
 
 We made little way on the 3d, but being 
 favoured at length by the easterly breeze 
 which was bringing up the Griper, and for 
 which we had long been looking with much 
 impatience, a crowd of sail was set to carry 
 us with all rapidity to the westward. It is 
 more easy to imagine than to describe the 
 almost breathless anxiety which was now 
 visible in every countenance, while, as the 
 breeze increased to a fresh gale, we ran 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
 it 
 
 I 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 ft 
 1' 
 
 • >; 
 
 Wl 
 
 ««« 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 53 
 
 a 
 
 
 I 
 
 it 'I 
 
 1.1 
 
 f.-l 
 
 IS 
 
 I 
 
 / 
 
 I; 
 
 ♦ *.- 
 
 ■I 
 
 
 quickly up the Sound. The mast-heads 
 vvcie crowded by the officers and men 
 during the whole afternoon; and an un- 
 concerned observer, if any could have been 
 unconcerned on such an occasion, would 
 have been amused by the eagerness with 
 which the various reports from the crow's- 
 nest were received, all, however, hitherto 
 favourable to our most sanguine hopes. 
 
 Between four and six P.M., we passed 
 several ripplings on the water, as if occa- 
 sioned by a weather-tide, but no bottom 
 could be found with the hand-leads. Being 
 now abreast of Cape Castlereagh, more dis- 
 tant land was seen to open out to the west- 
 ward of it, and between the cape and this 
 land was perceived an inlet, to which I have 
 given the name of the Navy Board's Inlet. 
 We saw points of land apparently all round 
 this inlet, but being at a very great distance 
 from it, we were unable to determine whe- 
 ther it was continuous or not. But as the 
 land on the western side appeared so much 
 lower and smoother than that on the oppo- 
 site side near Cape Castlereagh, and came 
 
 : 
 
ii i. f 
 
 54 
 
 VOYAGE rOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 t ■ 
 
 .1 ! 
 
 HiF 
 
 down so near the horizon, about the centre 
 of the inlet, the general impression was, 
 that it is not continuous in that part. As 
 our business lay to the westward, however, 
 and not to the south, the whole of this ex- 
 tensive inlet was in a few hours lost in 
 distance. 
 
 In the mean time the land had opened 
 out, on the opposite shore, to lue northward 
 and westward of Cape Warrender, consist- 
 ing of high mountains, and, in some parts, 
 of table land. Several head-lands were g 
 here distinctly made out, of which the 
 northernmost and most conspicuous was 
 named after Captain Nicholas Lechmere 
 Pateshall, of the Royal Navy. The ex- 
 tensive bay into which Cape Pateshall ex- 
 tends, and which, at the distance we passed 
 it, appeared to be broken or detached in 
 many parts, was named Croker's Bay, in 
 honour of Mr. Croker, Secretary of the s 
 Admiralty ; I have called this large opening ^ 
 a bay, though the quickness with which we 
 sailed past it did not allow us to determine 
 the absolute continuity of land round the 
 
 f.- 
 
 ■1 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 < 
 
f 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 55 
 
 ire 
 
 As 
 
 er, 
 
 ?x- 
 
 in 
 
 1 
 
 i M 
 
 bottom of it ; it is, therefore, by no means 
 improbable, that a passage may here be one 
 day found from Sir James Lancaster's Sound 
 into the Northern Sea. The Cape, which 
 lies on the western side of Croker's Bay, 
 was named after Sir Everard Home. 
 
 Our course was nearly due west, and the 
 wind still continuing to freshen, took us in 
 a few hours nearly out of sight of the Griper. 
 The only ice which we met with consisted 
 of a few large bergs very much washed by 
 the sea ; and, the weather being remarkably 
 clear, so as to enable us to run with perfect 
 safety, we were, by midnight, in a great 
 measure relieved from our anxiety respecting 
 the supposed continuity of land at the bot- 
 tom of this magnificent inlet, having reached 
 the longitude of 83° 12', where the two 
 shores are still above thirteen leagues apart, 
 without the slightest appearance of any land 
 to the westward of us for four or five points 
 of the compass. The colour of the water 
 having become rather lighter, we hove-to 
 at this time for the Griper, and obtained 
 soundings in one hundred and fifty fathoms 
 
 t." 
 
 .T'rr.iii-MiTft'vaa:: 
 
56 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 on a muddy bottom. The wind increased 
 so much as to make it necessary to close- 
 reef the sails, and to get the top-gallant 
 yards down, and there was a breaking sea 
 from the eastward. A great number of 
 whales were seen in the course of this day's 
 run. 
 
 Having made the ship snug, so as to be 
 in readiness to round to, should the land be 
 seen a-head, and the Griper having come up 
 within a few miles of us, we again bore up at 
 one A.M., the 4th. At half-past three. Lieu- 
 tenant Beechey, who had relieved me on deck, 
 discovered, from the crow's-nest, a reef of 
 rocks, in-shore of us to the northward, on 
 which the sea was breaking. These breakers 
 appeared to lie directly off a cape, which we 
 named after Rear- Admiral Joseph Bullen, 
 and which lies imm( diately to the eastward 
 of an inlet, that I named Brooking Cuming « 
 Inlet. As the sea had now become high, 
 and the water appeared discoloured at some 
 distance without the breakers, the Hecla 
 was immediately rounded to, for the purpose 
 of sounding ; we could find no bottom with 
 
 1 
 
 1 IK 
 
 /A ■ 
 
 ■ I i 
 
 ^ 5 
 
 i-i»a.Ss-'L,1ilU>.-.i7. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 57 
 
 of 
 
 
 fifty fathoms of line, but the Griper coming 
 up shortly after, obtakied soundings in se- 
 venty-five fathoms, on a bottom of sand and 
 mud. We here met with innumerable loose 
 masses of ice, upon which the sea was con- 
 stantly breaking, in a manner so much re- 
 sembling the breakers on shoals, as to make 
 it a matter of some little uncertainty at the 
 time, whether those of which I have spoken 
 above, might not also have been caused by 
 ice. It is possible, therefore, that shoal 
 water may not be found to exist in this 
 place ; but I thought it right to mark the 
 spot on the chart to warn future navigators 
 when approaching this part of the coast* 
 That there is something out of the common 
 way in this neighbourhood, appears, how- 
 ever, more than probable, from the sound- 
 ings obtained by the Griper, which are much 
 less than we found them in any other part 
 of the sound at the same distance from land. 
 At seven A.M., there being less sea, and 
 no appearance of broken or discoloured 
 water, we again bore away to the westward, 
 the Griper having joined us about the me- 
 
 V I 
 

 58 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 : 
 
 !| 
 
 ridian of 85®, which had been appointed as 
 our place of rendezvous. Since the pre- 
 ceding evening, a thick haze had been hang- 
 ing over the horizon to the southward, which 
 prevented our seeing the land in that direc- 
 tion, to the westward of 87°, while the whole 
 of the northern shore, though, as it after- 
 wards proved, at a greater distance from us, 
 was distinctly visible. At noon, being in^ 
 latitude 74^ 15' 53' N., longitude, by chro- 
 nometers, 86° 30' 30", we were near two 
 inlets, of which the easternmost was named 
 Burnet Inlet, and the other Stratton 
 Inlet. The land between these two had 
 very much the appearance of an island. * 
 We rounded to, for the purpose of sound- 
 ing, as well as to wait for our consort, and 
 found no bottom with one hundred and 
 seventy fathoms of line, the water being of 
 a dirty light-green colour. The cliffs on v 
 this part of the coast present a singular ap- 
 pearance, being stratified horizontally, and 
 having a number of regular projecting 
 masses of rock, broad at the bottom, and 
 coming to a point at the top, resembling so 
 
 % 
 
 II 
 
 4 k^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 59 
 
 I 
 
 ,1 
 
 !??, 
 
 i 
 
 many buttresses, raised by art at equal in- 
 tervals. 
 
 After lying-to for an hour, we again bore 
 up to the westward, and soon after disco- 
 vered a cape, afterwards named by Captain 
 Sabine, Cape Fellfoot, which appeared 
 to form the termination of this coast ; and 
 as the haze, which still prevailed to the 
 south, prevented our seeing any land in that 
 quarter, and the sea was literally as free 
 from ice as any part of the Atlantic, we 
 began to flatter ourselves that we had fairly 
 entered the Polar Sea, and some of the most 
 sanguine among us had even calculated the 
 bearing and distance of Icy Cape, as a mat- 
 ter of no very difficult or improbable ac- 
 complishment. This pleasing prospect was 
 rendered the more flattering by the sea hav- 
 ing, as we thought, regained the usual 
 oceanic colour, and by a long swell which 
 was rolling in from the southward and east- 
 ward. At six P,M,, however, land was 
 reported to be seen a-head. The vexation 
 and anxiety produced on every countenance 
 by such a report, was but too visible, until, 
 
 ,i!imimn 
 
 ■mag 
 
 MHIBilM 
 
 MMWNHH 
 
r 
 
 in' 
 
 
 l'!1. 
 
 60 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 )| 3 
 
 on a nearer approach, it was found to be 
 only an island, of no very large extent, and 
 that, on each side of it, the horizon still ap- 
 peared clear for several points of the com- 
 pass. More land was also discovered be- i 
 yond Cape Fellfoot, immediately to the 
 westward of which lies a deep and broad 
 bay, which I named after my friend, Mr. j. 
 Maxwell. At eight P.M., we came to 
 some ice of no great breadth or thickness, 
 extending several miles in a direction nearly 
 parallel to our course ; and as we could see 
 clear water over it to the southward, I was 
 for some time in the hope, that it would 
 prove a detached stream, from which no ob- 
 struction to our progress westerly was to be 
 apprehended. At twenty minutes past ten, 
 however, the weather having become hazy, 
 and the wind light, we perceived that the 
 ice, along which we had been sailing for the 
 last two hours, was joined, at the distance 
 of half a mile to the westward of us, to a 
 compact and impenetrable body of floes, 
 which lay across the whole breadth of the 
 strait, formed by the island, and the western 
 
 i ■;? 
 
 M 
 
 
 (i1 
 
 BfV 
 
 >p^,Hti*>A6St¥i vr-jR^fcU' 
 
 mm 
 
 Hf-*PP 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Gl 
 
 4 
 n 
 
 point of Maxwell Bay. We hauled our 
 wind to the northward, just in time to avoid 
 being embayed in the ice, on the outer edge 
 of which a considerable surf, the effect of 
 the late gale, was then rolling. A second 
 island was discovered to the southward of 
 the former, to both of which I gave the 
 name of Prince Leopold's Isles, in honour 
 of his Royal Highness Prince Leopold of 
 Saxe Coburg. Immediately to the east- 
 ward of these islands, there was a strong 
 water-sky, indicating a considerable extent 
 of open sea, but a bright ice-blink to the 
 westward afforded little hope, for the pre- 
 sent, of finding a passage in the desired di- 
 rection. We saw to-day, for thef first time, 
 a number of white whales ; guillemots, ful- 
 mar petrels, and kittiwakes, were also nu- 
 merous near the ice. 
 
 While the calm and thick weather lasted, 
 a number of the officers and men amused 
 themselves in the boats, in endeavouring to 
 kill some of the white whales which were 
 swimming about the ships in great numbers ; 
 but the animals were so wary, that they 
 
 I ' l i.iiW I iW i 
 
62 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 tlil 
 
 .f 
 
 I; 
 
 t! 
 
 i 
 
 n 
 
 IS' 
 
 i ' ; ^ 
 
 llf^H 
 
 r 
 
 "■ -,i 
 
 i ■ 
 
 would scarcely suffer the boats ^" opproacii 
 them within thirty or forty yards without 
 diving. Mr. Fisher described them to be 
 generally from eighteen to twenty feet in 
 length ; and he stated, that he had several 
 times heard them emit a shrill, ringing 
 sound, not unlike that of musical glasses 
 when badly played. This sound, he further 
 observed, was most distinctly heard, when 
 they happened to swim directly beneath the 
 boat, even when they were several feet under 
 water, and ceased altogether on their com- 
 ing to the surface. We saw also, for the 
 first time, one or two shoals of narwhals, 
 called by the sailors, sea-unicorns. 
 
 A steady breeze springing up from the 
 W.N.W. in the afternoon, the ships stood 
 to the northward, till we had distinctly 
 made out, that no passage to the westward 
 could at present be found between the 
 ice and the land. The weather having 
 become clear about this time, we perceived 
 that there was a large open space to the 
 southward, where no land was visible ; and 
 for this opening, over which there was a 
 
 
 A 
 
 - ;>„ i-T^rrr 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 63 
 
 11 
 
 t 
 
 e 
 
 n 
 
 i^' 
 
 (lark water-sky, our course was now di- 
 rected. It fell calm again, however, in a 
 few hours, so that at noon, on the 6th, we 
 were still abreast of Prince Leopold's Islands, 
 which were so surrounded by ice, that we 
 could not approach them nearer than four 
 or five miles. 
 
 The Griper having unfortunately sprung 
 both her topmasts, Lieut. Liddon took ad- 
 vantage of the calm weather to shift them. 
 The Hecla's boats were at the same time 
 employed in bringing on board ice, to be 
 used as water ; a measure to which it is oc- 
 casionally necessary to resort in these re- 
 gions, when no pools or ponds are to be 
 found upon the floes. In this case, berg-ice, 
 when at hand, is generally preferred ; but 
 that of floes, which is in fact the ice of sea- 
 water, is also abundantly used for this pur- 
 pose : the only precaution which it is neces- 
 sary to observe, being that of allowing the 
 salt-water to drain oft* before it is dissolved 
 for use. One of our boats was upset by 
 the fall of a mass of ice which the men were 
 
 mmmmm 
 
 ' •■ ->iwWMa|l*<«Mui 
 
w 
 
 1.11 
 
 ♦T 
 
 .'l^ i 
 
 64 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 breaking, but fortunately no injury was sus- 
 tained. 
 
 A breeze sprung up from the N.N.W. in 
 the evening, and the Griper being ready to 
 make sail, we stood to the southward. The 
 land, which now became visible to the south- 
 east, discovered to us that we were entering 
 a large inlet, not less than ten leagues wide 
 at its mouth, and in the centre of which no 
 land could be distinguished. The western 
 shore of the inlet, which extended as far as 
 we could see to the S.S.W., was so encum- 
 bered with ice, that there was no possibility 
 of sailing near it. I, therefore, ran along 
 the edge of the ice, between which and the 
 eastern shore, there was a broad and open 
 channel, with the intention of seeking, in a 
 lower latitude, a clearer passage to the west- 
 ward than that which we had just been 
 obliged to abandon, lying between Prince 
 Leopold's Isles and Maxwell's Bay. The 
 headland, which forms the western point of 
 the entrance into this inlet, was honoured 
 by the name of Cape Clarence, after His 
 
 u 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 G5 
 
 
 •i 
 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence ; and 
 another, to the south-eastward of this, was 
 named after Sir Robert Seppings, one of 
 the Surveyors of his Majesty's navy. 
 
 Since the time we first entered Sir James 
 Lancaster's Sound, the sluggishness of the 
 compasses, as well as the amount of their 
 irregularity produced by the attraction of 
 the sliip's iron, had been found very rapidly, 
 though uniformly, to increase, as we pro- 
 ceeded to the westward ; so much, indeed, 
 that, for the last two days, we had been 
 under the necessity of giving up altogether 
 the usual observations for determining the 
 variation of the needle on board the ships. 
 This irregularity became more and more 
 obvious as we now advanced to the south- 
 ward, which rendered it not improbable that 
 we were now making a very near approach 
 to the magnetic pole. For the purposes of 
 navigation, therefore, the compasses were 
 from this time no longer consulted ; and in 
 a few days afterwards, the binnacles were 
 removed, as useless lumber, from the deck 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 E 
 
 j^f^^,00mmM,> 
 
 a^i^Si^KW^' 
 

 iTv. 
 
 i 
 
 if. 
 
 'i 
 I, 
 
 P 
 
 fil 
 
 ,i 
 
 66 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 to the carpenter's store-room, where they 
 remained during the rest of the season. 
 
 Being desirous of ohtaining all the mag- 
 netic observations we were able, on a spot 
 which appeared to be replete with interest 
 in this department of science, and the outer 
 margin of the ice consisting entirely of small 
 loose pieces, which were not sufficiently 
 steady for using the dipping-needle, we 
 hauled up for the nearest part of the eastern 
 shore, for the purpose of landing there with 
 the instruments. We got in with it about 
 noon, having very regularly decreased our 
 soundings from forty to fifteen and a half 
 fathoms ; in which depth, having tacked, at 
 the distance of two miles and a half from 
 the shore, two boats were despatched from 
 each ship, under the command of Lieute- 
 nants Beechey and Hoppner, who, together 
 with Captain Sabhie, were directed to make 
 the necessary observations, and to collect 
 whatever specimens of natural history the 
 place might aftbrd. They landed on a beach 
 of sand and stones, having passed, at the 
 
 I •; 
 
 
 
 >■..* •'■4u:jiW>*>-^»M(-v 
 
 -■^■'-■n, scgym^mnawmii 
 
 '.M4gUf/U''^M«L«4«>. 
 
 *Tr— •*?_ 
 
r :»" 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE; 
 
 67^ 
 
 distance of one mile from it, several large 
 masses of ice aground in six to eight fathoms- 
 water, which shoaled from thence gradually 
 in to the shore. The officers describe this 
 spot as more barren and dreary than any on 
 which they had yet landed in the arctic 
 regions ; there being scarcely any appear- 
 ance of vegetation, except here and there a 
 small tuft of stunted grass, and one or two 
 species of saxifrage and poppy, although the 
 ground was so swampy in many places that 
 they could scarcely walk about. At a short 
 distance from the sea, Lieutenant Hoppner 
 discovered a large mass of iron-stone, which 
 was found to attract the magnet very power- 
 1 fully. There were no traces of inhabitants 
 to be seen on this part of the coast. Part 
 of the vertebrae of a whale was found at 
 some distance from the beach ; but this had 
 probably been carried there by bears, the 
 tracks of whom were visible on the moist 
 soil. The only birds seen were a few ptar- 
 migans and snow buntings. 
 
 As soon as the boats returned on board, 
 we bore up to the southward, running close 
 
 f2 
 
« 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 
 [1- 
 
 'I! 
 
 
 TmS 
 
 VOYAGE rOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 along the edge of the ice, which led us 
 nearer and nearer to the eastern shore, so 
 that by midnight the channel in which we 
 were sailing was narrowed to about five 
 miles. The colour of the water had 
 changed to a very light green at that dis- 
 tance from the shore ; but we could find no 
 bottom with fifty fathoms of line, and had 
 thirty-five fathoms while rounding a point 
 of ice at three miles' distance from the 
 beach. The weather was beautifully serene 
 and clear, and the sun, for the second time 
 to us this season, just dipped below the 
 northern horizon, and then re-appeared in a 
 few minutes. 
 
 A dark sky to the south-west had given 
 us hopes of finding a westerly passage to 
 the south of the ice alonff which we were 
 now sailing; more especially as the inlet 
 began to widen considerably as we advanced 
 in that direction : but at three A.M., on 
 the morning of the 8th, we perceived that 
 the ice rrn close in with a point of land 
 bearing S.b.E. from us, and which appeared 
 to form the southern extremity of the 
 
 
 \\ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 69 
 
 I 
 
 }■■ 
 i 
 
 '4 
 
 h 
 
 eastern shore. To this extreme point I 
 gave the name of Cape Kater, in compH- 
 ment to Captain Henry Kater, one of the 
 commissioners of the Board of Longitude, 
 to whom science is greatly indebted for his 
 improvements of the pendulum, and the 
 mariner's compass. 
 
 With the increasing width of the inlet, 
 we had flattered ourselves with increasing 
 hopes ; but we soon experienced the mor- 
 tification of disappointment. The prosp^ect 
 from the crow's nest began to assume a 
 very unpromising appearance, the whole of 
 the western horizon, from north round to 
 S.b.E., being completely covered with ice, 
 consisting of heavy and extensive floes, 
 beyond which no indication of water was 
 visible ; instead of which there was a bright 
 and dazzling ice- blink extending from shore 
 to shore. The viestern coast of the inlet, 
 however, trended much more to the west- 
 ward than before, and no dand was visible 
 to the south-west, though the horizon was 
 no clear in that quarter, that, if any had 
 existed of moderate height, it miglit have 
 
 I 
 
 i\ 
 
70 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 f< 
 
 I. 
 
 in 
 
 I 
 
 « 
 
 ^"^ 
 
 been easily seen at this time, at the distance 
 of ten or twelve leagues. From these cir- 
 cumstances, the impression received at the 
 time was, that the land, both on the eastern 
 and western side of this inlet, would be one 
 day found to consist of islands. As a fresh 
 northerly breeze was drifting the ice rapidly 
 towards Cape Kater, and there appeared to 
 be no passage open between it and that 
 cape, I did not consider it prudent, under 
 present circumstances, to run the ships 
 down to the point, or to attempt to force 
 a passage througii the ice, and therefore 
 hauled to the wind, with the intention of 
 examining a bay which was. abreast of us, 
 and to which I gave the name of Fitzgerald 
 Bast. 
 
 A boat from each ship was prepared to 
 conduct this examination, and we stood in 
 to drop them in-shore, but found, as we 
 approached, that the bay was so filled with 
 ice, as to lender it impracticable for any 
 boat to land. I therefore determined, as 
 the season was fast advancing to a close, 
 to lose no time in returning to the north- 
 
 !^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 71 
 
 ward, in the hope of finding the channel 
 between Prince Leopold's Isles and Maxwell 
 Bay more clear of ice than when we left it, 
 in which case there could be little doubt of 
 our effecting a passage to the westward ; 
 whereas, in our present situation, there ap- 
 peared no prospect of our doing so without 
 risking the loss of more time than I deemed 
 it prudent to spare. 
 
 The distance which we sailed to the south- 
 ward in this inlet was about one hundred 
 and twenty miles, Cape Kater being, by our 
 observations, in lat. 71° 53' SO", long, 
 90° 03' 45''. As we returned to the north- 
 ward with a light but favourable breeze, we 
 found that the ice had approached the eastern 
 shore of tlie inlet, leaving a much narrower 
 channel than that by which we had entered ; 
 and in some places it stretched completely 
 across to the land on this side, while the 
 opposite coast was still as inaccessible as 
 before. 
 
 On the 10th, the weather was very thick 
 with snow, which was afterwards succeeded 
 by rain and fog. The compasses being user 
 
 mi 
 
72 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 I 
 
 less, and the sun obscured, we had no means 
 of knowing the direction in w^hicli we were 
 going, except tliat vv^e knew the whid had 
 been to the southward before the fog came 
 on, and had found by experience that it 
 always blew directly up or down the inlet, 
 which enabled us to form a tolerably correct 
 judgment of our course. We continued to 
 stand off-and-on near tlie ice, till the even- 
 ing, when, the fog having cleared away, we 
 bore up to the northward, keeping as near 
 the western shore as the ice w ould permit ; 
 but at eleven P.M. we were stopped in our 
 progress by the ice extending to the land 
 on the eastern side of the inlet, which 
 obliged us to haul our wind. This part of 
 the coast is much higher than that farther 
 to the southward, and the soundings near it 
 are also considerably deeper. 
 
 A breeze sprung up from the northward 
 on the morning of the 12th, but the weather 
 was so foggy, for some hours, that we did 
 not know in what direction it was blowing. 
 As soon as the fog cleared away, so as to 
 enable us to see a mile or two around us, 
 
 
 '1 
 
 \.. 
 
 1 1 
 
 f)"^ 
 
 ■■^v,^*iMfv« jjB^^r|i ft ff J lM t !y * ^-^<6%"^'*ft»^'*'*"**'**^*w»*)g^^»*w»w ^ 
 
 
 tV 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST FASSAGE. 
 
 73 
 
 ¥ 
 ► 1 1 
 
 we found that the floe to which we had 
 anchored was drifting fast down vipon ano- 
 ther body of ice to leeward, threatening to 
 enclose the ships between them. We, there- 
 fore, cast off, and made sail, in order to 
 beat to the northward, which we found 
 great difficulty in doing, owing to the quan- 
 tity of loose ice with which this part of the 
 inlet was now covered. A remarkably thick 
 fog obscured the eastern land from our 
 view this evening at the distance of five or 
 six miles, while the western coast was dis- 
 tinctly visible at four times that distance. 
 We remarked, in standing ofF-and-on, near 
 the main body of the ice, that the clear 
 atmosphere commenced at a short distance 
 from its margin ; so that we were enabled 
 to obtain a few lunar observations near the 
 edge of the ice, while, at the distance of a 
 mile to the eastward of it, the sun was alto- 
 gether obscured by fog. 
 
 This being the anniversary of the birth- 
 day of His Royal Highness the Prince 
 Regent, it naturally suggested to us the 
 propriety of honouring the large inlet, which 
 
 V 
 
Il:i'. 
 
 It 
 
 ill i 
 
 .\',i 1 
 
 7A 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 we had been exploring, and in which we 
 still were sailing, with the name of Prince 
 Regent's Inlet; and, speculating on its 
 extent, I think it probable that a commu- 
 mication will one dav be found between it 
 and Hudson's Bay, either through Sir Tho- 
 mas Rowe's Welcome, or perhaps through 
 Repulse Bay, neither of which have yet 
 been satisfactorily examined. 
 
 The weather was beautifully calm and 
 clear on the 13th, when, being near an 
 opening in the eastern shore, I took t\\e 
 opportunity of examining it in a boat. It 
 proved to be a bay, a mile wide at its 
 entrance, and three miles deep in an E.b.S. 
 direction, having a small but snug cove on 
 the north side, formed by an island, between 
 which and the main land is a bar of rocks, 
 which completely shelters the cove from 
 sea or drift ice. We found the water so 
 deep, that in rowing close along the shore 
 we could seldom get bottom with seven 
 fathoms of line. The cliffs on the south 
 side of this bay, to which I gave the name 
 of Port Bo wen, resemble, in many places^ 
 
 \ 
 I 
 
 M, 
 
 
 K *.<*yji«>jijrj H>|B ■ i « i »f it**" 
 
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 *-J*HP*'^™.W»iVdftw*.>»lt.*"^--<H*«t«rr •*-- 
 
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M 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 75 
 
 ruined towers and battlements ; and frajr- 
 ments of the rocks were constantly falling 
 from above. At the head of the bay is an 
 extensive piece of low flat ground, inter- 
 sected by numerous rivulets, which, uniting 
 at a short distance from the beach, formed 
 a deep and rapid stream, near the mouth of 
 which we landed. This spot was, I think, 
 the most barren ^ ever saw, the ground 
 being almost entirely covered with small 
 pieces of slaty limestone, among which no 
 vegetation appeared for more than a mile, 
 to which distance Mr. Ross and myself 
 walked inland, following the banks of the 
 stream. Among the fragments, we picked 
 up one piece of limestone, on which was the 
 impression of a fossil-shell. We saw here 
 a great number of young black guillemots, 
 and a flock of ducks, which we supposed to 
 be of the eider species. 
 
 The latitude observed at the mouth of 
 the stream was 73° 12' 11", and the longi- 
 tude, by chronometers, 89° 02' 08". From 
 twenty minutes past eleven till a quarter 
 after twelve, the tide rose by the shore six^ 
 
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IMAGE EVALUATION 
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 6" — 
 
 
 ► 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 33 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 

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 7Q 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 inches, and the high-water mark was be- 
 tween two and three feet above this : but 
 we were not long enough on shore to form 
 a correct judgment of the time at which 
 high water takes place. About three-quar- 
 ters of a mile to the southward of Port 
 Bowen is another small bay, which we had 
 not time to examine. 
 
 Soon after I returned on board, a light 
 breeze from the southward enabled us to 
 steer towards Prince Leopold's Islands, 
 which, however, we found to be more en- 
 cumbered with ice than before, as we could 
 not approach them so near as at first by 
 three or four miles. The narwhals were 
 here very numerous ; these animals appear 
 fond of remaining with their backs exposed 
 above the surface of the water, in the same 
 manner as the whale, but for a much longer 
 time, and we frequently also observed their 
 horns erect, and quite stationary for sevenJ 
 minutes together. Three or four miles to 
 the northward of Port Bowen, we disco- 
 vered another opening, having every appear- 
 ance of a harbour, with an island near the 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 f\ 
 
 ! 
 
 •^SF" 
 
OF A NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 77 
 
 '1 
 .1 
 
 0\ 
 
 i 
 
 •i 
 
 entrance ; I named it after Captain Samuel 
 Jackson, of the Royal Navy. 
 
 The whole of the 14th was occupied in 
 an unsuccessful attempt to find an opening 
 in the ice to the westward, which remained 
 perfectly close and compact, with a bright 
 ice-blink over it. Our latitude at noon 
 was 73° 35' 30", longitude 89° 01' 20", be- 
 ing in two hundred and ten fathoms of water 
 on a muddy bottom. 
 
 The ice continued in the same unfavour- 
 able state on the 15 th ; and being desirous 
 of turning to some account this vexatious 
 but unavoidable detention, I left the ship in 
 the afternoon, accompanied by Captain 
 Sabine and Mr. Hooper, in order to make 
 some observations on shore, and directed 
 Lieutenant Liddon to send a boat from the 
 Griper for the same purpose. We landed in 
 one of the numerous valleys, or ravines, 
 which occur on this part of the coast, and 
 which, at a few miles' distance, very much 
 resemble bays, being bounded by high hills, 
 which have the appearance of bluff headlands. 
 We found the water very deep close to the 
 
 I I 4 i W" l "l 
 
78 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ■5 1 
 
 1., 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 beach, which is composed of rounded lime- 
 stones, and on which there was no surf; we 
 then ascended, with some difficulty, the hill 
 on tlie south side of the ravine, which is 
 very steep, and covered with innumerable 
 detached blocks of limestone, some of which 
 are constantly rolling down from above, and 
 which afford a very insecure footing. From 
 the top of this hill, which is about six or 
 seven hundred feet above the level of the 
 and which commands an extensive 
 
 sea 
 
 view to the westward, the prospect w^as by 
 no means favourable to the immediate ac- 
 complishment of our object. No water 
 could be seen over the icf: to the north-west, 
 and a bright and dazzling blink covered the 
 whole space comprised between the islands 
 and the north shore. It was a satisfaction, 
 however, to find that no land appeared 
 which was likely to impede our progress ; 
 and we had been too much accustomed to 
 the obstruction occasioned by ice, and too 
 >vell aware of the suddenness with which 
 that obstruction is often removed, to be at 
 all discouraged by present appearances. 
 
 i\ 
 
 
 \ 
 
OF A NOUTH.'-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 
 79 
 
 On the top of this hill we deposited a 
 bottle, containing a short notice of our visit, 
 and raised over it a small mound of stones ; 
 of these we found no want, for the surface 
 was covered with small pieces of schistose 
 limestone, and nothing like soil or vegeta- 
 tion could be seen. We found a great 
 quantity of madreporite among the lime, 
 and at the foot of the hill I met with one 
 large piece, of the basaltiform kind. Several 
 pieces of flint were also picked up on the 
 beach. The insignificance of the stream 
 which here empted itself into the sea, formed, 
 as usual, a striking contrast with the size of 
 the bed through which it flowed, the latter 
 being several hundred feet deep, and two 
 or three hundred yards wide. 
 
 The wind was light on the 16th, with 
 cloudy weather and occasional fogs, and we 
 scarcely altered our position, being hemmed 
 in by ice or land in almost every direction. 
 At five P.M., it being quite calm, we had 
 a good opportunity of trying the set of the 
 tide, which, by the preceding day's obser- 
 vations, we knew to be rising at this time 
 
I 
 
 
 80 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 by the shore. A small boat was moored to 
 the bottom, which consisted of soft mud, 
 in one hundred and ninety-one fathoms, by 
 a deep-sea lead weighing one hundred and 
 fifty pounds, and a current was found to be 
 setting to the N.N.W., at the rate of a 
 quarter of a mile an hour. This served to 
 confirm the remark I had made, the pre- 
 ceding day, respecting the drift of the ships 
 in the offing; and, unless there be what 
 seamen call a " tide and half tide," would 
 appear to establish the fact of the flood-tide 
 coming from the southward in this part of 
 Prince Regent's Inlet. 
 
 On the 17th, we had a fresh breeze, 
 from the S.S.W,, with so thick a fog, that 
 in spite of the most unremitting attention 
 to the sails and the steerage, the ships were 
 constantly receiving heavy shocks from the 
 loose masses of ice with which the sea was 
 covered, and which, in the present state of 
 the weather, could not be distinguished at 
 a sufficient distance to avoid them. On the 
 weather clearing up in the afternoon, we 
 saw, for the first time, a remarkable bluff 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 i. 
 
 I 
 
 < 'i 
 
 .1 
 
 ii> 
 
 h 
 
 • i 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 81 
 
 I. 
 
 u 
 
 ■I 
 
 headland, which forms the north-eastern 
 point of the entrance into Prince Regent's 
 Inlet, and to which I gave the name of 
 Cape York, after His Royal Highness 
 THE Duke of York. A httle to the east- 
 ward of Cape Fellfoot, we observed six 
 stripes of snow, near the top of the clifF, 
 being very conspicuous at a great distance, 
 when viewed from the southward. These 
 stripes, which are formed by the drift of 
 snow between the buttress-like projections 
 before described, and which remained equally 
 conspicuous on our return the following 
 year, have probably at all times much the 
 same appearance, at least about this season 
 of the year, and may, on this account, per- 
 haps, be deemed worthy of notice, as a land- 
 mark. 
 
 On the 18th, Mr. Crawford, the Green- 
 land mate of the Hecla, being in quest of a 
 narwhal in one of the boats, could not resist 
 the temptation of striking a fine black whale, 
 which rose close to him, and which soon 
 ran out tw^o lines of one hundred and forty 
 fathoms each, when, after tow^ing the boat 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 G 
 

 
 
 if 
 
 -■ »; 
 
 r 
 
 1 i 
 
 |- 
 
 82 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 some distance, the harpoon fortunately 
 drew, and thus saved our hnes. 
 
 There being still no prospect of getting 
 a single mile to the westward, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Prince Leopold's Islands, and 
 a breeze having freshened up from the east- 
 ward in the afternoon, I determined to stand 
 over once more towards the northern shore, 
 in order to try what could there be done 
 towards effecting our passage ; and at nine 
 P.M., after beating for several hours among 
 floes and streams of ice, we got into clear 
 water near that coast, where we found some 
 swell from the eastward. There was just 
 light enough at midnight to enable us to 
 read and write in the cabin. 
 
 The wind and sea increased on the 19th. 
 with a heavy fall of snow, which, together 
 with the uselessness of the compasses, and 
 the narrow space in which we were working 
 between the ice and the land, combined to 
 make our situation for several hours a very 
 unpleasant one. At two P.M., the weather 
 being still so thick, that we could at times 
 scarcely see the ship's length a-head, we 
 
 ,K 
 
 
 I 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 83 
 
 
 1:1 
 
 suddenly found ourselves close under the 
 land, and had not much room to spare in 
 wearing round. We stood ofF-and-on du- 
 ring the rest of the day, measuring our dis- 
 tance by Massey's patent log, an invaluable 
 machine on this and many other occasions ; 
 
 } and in the course of the afternoon, found 
 ourselves opposite to an inlet, which I named 
 
 ^ after my relation. Sir Benjamin Hobhouse. 
 The snow was succeeded by rain at night ; 
 after which the wind fell, and the weather 
 became clear, so that, on the morning of 
 the 20th, when we found ourselves off 
 Stratton Inlet, we were enabled to bear up 
 along shore to the westward. The points 
 of ice led us occasionally within two miles of 
 the land, which allowed us to look into se- 
 veral small bays or inlets, with w' j^ih this 
 coast appears indented, but which k would 
 require more time than we could afford, 
 thoroughly to survey or examine. The 
 
 I remarkable structure of this land, which I 
 have before attempted to describe, is pecu- 
 liarly striking about Cape Fellfoot, where 
 the horizontal strata very much resemble 
 
 G 2 
 
1., 
 
 It , t 
 
 ft 
 
 
 81 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 two parallel tiers of batteries, placed at re- 
 gular intervals from the top to the bottom 
 of the cliff, affording a grand and imposing 
 appearance. There is a low point running 
 off some distance from Cape Fellfoot, which 
 is not visible till approached within five or ; 
 six miles. We passed along this point at 
 the distance of four miles, finding no bottom 
 with from fifty to sixty-five fathoms of line. 
 Maxwell Bay is a very noble one, having ' 
 several islands in it, and a number of open- 
 ings on its northern shore, which we could 
 not turn aside to explore. It was, how- 
 ever, quite free from ice, and might easily 
 have been examined, had it been our ob- 
 ject to do so, and time woidd have permit- 
 ted. A remarkable headland, on the wes- 
 tern side, I named after Sir William 
 Herschel* 
 
 On the 2 1st we had nothing to impede 
 our progress but the want of wind, the 
 great opening, through which we had 
 hitherto proceeded from Baffin's Bay, being 
 now so perfectly clear of ice, that it was 
 impossible to believe it to be the same 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
OP A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 85 
 
 t re- 
 ttom 
 )sing 
 ning 
 hich 
 ^e or i 
 
 V 
 
 It at 
 
 ttom 
 
 line. 
 
 ving * 
 
 pen- 
 
 ould 
 
 lOW- 
 
 asily 
 ob- 
 
 part of the sea, which, but a day or two be- 
 fore, had been completely covered with 
 floes to the utmost extent of our view. In 
 the forenoon, being off a headland, which 
 was named after Captain Thomas Hurd, 
 . Hydrographer to the Admiralty, we picked 
 up a small piece of wood, which appeared 
 to have been the end of a boat's yard, and 
 which caused sundry amusing speculations 
 among our gentlemen ; some of whom had 
 just come to the very natural conclusion, 
 that a ship had been here before us, and 
 that, therefore, we were not entitled to the 
 honour of the first discovery of that part of 
 the sea on which we were now sailing ; 
 when a stop was suddenly put to this and 
 other ingenious inductions by the informa- 
 tion of one of the seamen, that he had drop- 
 ped it out of his boat a fortnight before. I 
 could not get him to recollect exactly the 
 day on which it had been so dropped, but 
 what he stated was sufficient to convince 
 me, that we were not at that time more 
 than ten or twelve leagues from our present 
 
r'- 1 
 
 k i\ 
 
 ' \ 
 
 ' 
 
 f 
 
 i-i 
 
 r 
 
 \i\ 
 
 » ■ I 
 
 'y 
 
 ,. 
 
 
 if 
 
 86 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 situation ; perhaps not half so much ; and 
 that, therefore, here was no current setting 
 constantly in any one direction. A bay, to ^ 
 the northward and westward of Cape Hurd, 
 was called Rigby Bay. 
 
 At nine P.M., the wind being light from 
 the northward, with hazy weather, and 
 some clouds, the electrometer chain was 
 hoisted up to the mast-head ; but no sen- 
 sible effect was produced, either upon the 
 pith-balls, or the gold-leaf. A thick fog 
 came on at night, which, together with the 
 lightness of the wind, and the caution ne- 
 cessary in navigating an unknown sea under 
 such circumstances, rendered our progress 
 to the westward extremely slow, though 
 we had fortunately no ice to obstruct us. 
 The narwhals were blowing about us in all 
 directions, and two walruses with a young 
 one were seen upon a piece of ice. 
 
 The fog clearing up on the following day, ) 
 we found ourselves abreast a bay, to which 
 the name of Radstock Bay was subse- 
 quently given by Lieut. Liddon's desire, in 
 
 ii 
 
 ] 
 
 4 
 
 f 
 
 
 — iyiiu'wi I 
 
 1^ 
 
OF A nort:t-west passage. 
 
 87 
 
 I) 
 
 compliment to the Earl of Radstock. This 
 bay is formed hy a point of land, on the 
 eastern side, which I named Cape Eardley 
 WiLMOT ; and on the Western, by a bluff 
 headland, which was called after Captain 
 Tristram Robert Ricketts, of the Royal 
 Navy. In the centre of Radstock Bay, lies 
 an insular looking piece of land, which re- 
 
 \ ceived the name of Caswall's Tower. 
 We now also caught a glimpse of more land 
 to the southward; but, owing to a thick 
 haze which hung over the horizon in that 
 quarter, the continuity of land on a great 
 part of that coast, to the westward of Cape 
 Clarence, remained, for the present, unde- 
 termined. Immediately to the westward of 
 us, we discovered more land, occupying se- 
 veral points of the horizon, which renewed 
 in us considerable apprehension, lest we 
 should still find no passage open into the 
 
 J Polar Sea. As we advanced slowly to the 
 westward, the land on which Cape Ricketts 
 stands, appeared to be nearly insular ; and, 
 immediately to the westward of it, we dis- 
 
r >; 
 
 88 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 I. «- 
 
 covered a considerable opening, which we 
 called Gascoyne*s Inlet. In the after- 
 noon, the weather became very clear and 
 fine, the wind being light from the west- 
 ward. As this latter circumstance rendered 
 our progress very slow, the opportunity 
 was taken to despatch the boats on shore, 
 for the purpose of making observations ; 
 and at the same time, a boat from each ship, 
 under the respective command of Lieute- 
 nants Beechey and Hoppner, was sent to ex- 
 amine a bay, at no great distance to the 
 northward and westward of us. The first 
 party landed at the foot of a bluff headland, 
 which forms the eastern point of this bay, 
 and which I named after my friend Mr. 
 Richard Riley, of the Admiralty. They 
 had scarcely landed ten minutes, when a 
 fresh breeze unexpectedly sprung up from 
 the eastward, and their signal of recall was 
 immediately made. The cliffs on this part^^ 
 of the coast were observed to consist almost 
 entirely of secondary limestone, in which 
 fossils were abundantly found. There was ^ 
 
 -'■■■ 
 
 I 
 
 > 
 
 ,1 
 
 IN 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 89 
 
 
 little or no vegetation in those parts which 
 our gentlemen had an opportunity of ex- 
 amining during their short excursion ; but, 
 as a quantity of the dung of rein-deer was 
 brought on board, the interior of the coun- 
 try cannot be altogether unproductive. One 
 or two specimens of the silvery gull, and of 
 the Larus Glaucus, with the young of the 
 latter alive, were obtained by Captain Sa- 
 bine ; and five black whales were seen near 
 the beach. 
 
 Lieutenant Beechey found that the land, 
 which at this time formed the western 
 extreme, and which lies on the side of 
 the bay, opposite to Cape Riley, was an 
 island ; to which I, therefore, gave the 
 name of Beechey Island. Immediately 
 off Cape Riley runs a low point, which had 
 some appearance of shoal-water near it, 
 there being a strong ripple on the surface ; 
 but Lieutenant Hoppner reported, that he 
 could find no bottom with thirty-nine fa- 
 thoms, at the distance of two hundred yards 
 from it. 
 
 As soon as the boats returned, all sail 
 
^4 
 
 90 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ^.r f- 
 
 > f 
 
 i ' »■■ 
 
 is 
 
 1^1 
 
 :■ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ^v^' 
 
 was made to the westward, where the pros- 
 pect began to wear a more and more in- 
 teresting appearance. We soon perceived, 
 as we proceeded, that the land, along which 
 we were sailing, and which, with the ex- 
 ception of some small inlets, had appeared 
 to be hitherto continuous from Baffin's Bay, 
 began now to trend much to the northward, 
 beyond Beechey Island, leaving a large 
 open space between that coast and the dis- 
 tant land to the westward, which now ap- 
 peared like an island, of which the extremes 
 to the north and south were distinctly visi- 
 ble. The latter was a remarkable headland,^ 
 having at its extremity two small table-hills, 
 somewhat resembling boats turned bottom 
 upwards, and was named Cape Hotham.^ 
 At sunset we had a clear and extensive 
 view to the northward, between Cape Ho- 
 tham and the eastern land. On the latter | 
 several headlands were discovered and 
 named ; between the northernmost of these, 
 called Cape Bowden, and the island to the 
 westward, there was a channel of more than 
 eight leagues in width, in which neither land 
 
 ;i 
 
 !*■; 
 
 ^ r\ 
 
 ::^^Mii- 
 
m 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 91 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 nor ice could be seen from the mast-head. 
 To this noble channel I gave the name of 
 Wellington, after his Grace the Master- 
 I General of the Ordnance. The arrival off 
 this grand opening was an event for which 
 we had long been looking with much anx- 
 iety and impatience ; for, the continuity of 
 land to the northward had always been a 
 source of uneasiness (o us, principally from 
 the possibility that it might take a turn to 
 the southward and unite with the coast of 
 America* The appearance of this broad 
 opening, free from ice, and of the land on 
 each side of it, more especially that on the 
 west, leaving scarcely a doubt on our minds 
 of the latter being an island, relieved us 
 from all anxiety on that score ; and every 
 one felc that we were now finally disen- 
 tangled from the land which forms the 
 western side of Baffin's Bay ; and that, in 
 fact, we had actually entered the Polar Sea. 
 Fully impressed with this idea, I ventured 
 to distinguish the magnificent opening 
 through which our passage had been ef- 
 fected from Baffin's Bay to Wellington 
 
^ii 
 
 
 
 Q9 
 «//• 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Channel, by the name of Barrow's Strait, 
 after my friend Mr. Barrow, Secretary of 
 the Admiralty ; both as a private testimony 
 of my esteem for that gentleman, and as a 
 public acknowledgment due to him for his 
 zeal and exertions in the promotion of 
 Northern Discovery. To the land on which 
 Cape Hotham is situated, and which is the 
 easternmost of the group of islands (as we 
 found them to be by subsequent discovery) 
 in the Polar Sea, I gave the name of Corn- 
 wALLis Island; and an inlet, seven miles 
 to the northward of Cape Hotham, was 
 called Barlow Inlet. 
 
 Though two-thirds of the month of Au- 
 gust had now elapsed, I had every reason 
 to be satisfied with the progress which we 
 had hitherto made. I calculated upon the 
 sea being still navigable for six weeks to 
 come, and probably more, if the state of the 
 ice would permit us to edge away to the 
 southward in our progress westerly : our 
 prospects, indeed, were truly exhilarating ; 
 the ships had suffered no injury; we had 
 plenty of provisions ; crews in high health and 
 
 -1 
 
 
 ' .4i^llliiSMM)Mi$tmpi>^*^^^ff; "-^-i- ~!«>' 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 93 
 
 spirits ; a sea, if not open, at least navigable ; 
 and a zealous and unanimous determination 
 in both officers and men to accomplish, by 
 all possible means, the grand object on 
 which we had the happiness to be employed. 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 'm 
 
 
A 
 
 
 i 
 
 ii 
 
 ♦ 
 
 I 
 I* 
 
 1 ( 
 
 -I 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 94 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Favourable Appearances of an open Westerly 
 Passage — Land to the Northward, a Series of 
 Islands — General Appearance of them — Meet 
 with some Obstruction from low Islands sur^ 
 rounded with Ice — Remains of Esquimaux 
 Huts, and natural Productions of Byam Mar- 
 tin Island — Tedious Navigation from Fogs 
 and Ice — Difficulty of steering a proper Course 
 — Arrival and landing on Melville Island — 
 Proceed to the Westward and reach the Meri. 
 dian of 110° W. long, the first Stage in the 
 Scale of Rewards granted by Act of Parliament. 
 
 A CALM which prevailed during the night 
 kept us nearly stationary off' Beechey 
 Island till three A.M. on the 23d, when a 
 fresh breeze sprung up from the northward, 
 and all sail was made for Cape Hotham, to 
 the southward of which it was now my in- 
 tention to seek a direct passage towards 
 
 
 <w 
 
 ^te 
 
 
 % 
 
 w 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 o \ 
 
 Behring's Strait. Wellington Channel, to 
 the northward of us, was as open and na- 
 vigable to the utmost extent of our view as 
 any part of the Atlantic, but as it lay at right 
 angles to our course, and there was still an 
 opening at least ten leagues wide to the 
 southward of Cornwallis Island, I could for- 
 tunately have no hesitation in deciding which 
 of the two it was our business to pursue. If, 
 however, the sea to the westward, which was 
 our direct course, had been obstructed by ice, 
 and the wind had been favourable, such 
 was the tempting appearance of Wellington 
 Channel, in which there was no visible im- 
 pediment, that I should probably have been 
 induced to run through it, as a degree more 
 or less to the northward made little or no 
 difference in the distance we had to run to 
 Icy Cape. The open channel to the west- 
 ward did not, however, reduce me to this 
 dilemma. It is impossible to conceive any 
 thing more animating than the quick and 
 unobstructed run with which we were fa- 
 voured, from Beechey Island across to 
 Cape Hotham. Most men have, probably, 
 
, ^ ' 
 
 •t'? 
 
 I! 
 
 k\ 
 
 if 
 
 96 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 at one time or another, experienced that 
 elevation of spirits which is usually produ- 
 ced by rapid motion of any kind ; and it will 
 readily be conceived how much this feeling 
 was heightened in us, in the few instances 
 in which it occurred, by the slow and te- 
 dious manner in which the greater part of 
 our navigation had been performed in these 
 seas. Our disappointment may therefore 
 be imagined, when, in the midst of these 
 favourable appearances, and of the hope 
 with which they had induced us to flatter 
 ourselves, it was suddenly and unexpectedly 
 reported from the crow's-nest, that a body 
 of ice lay directly across the passage be- 
 tween Cornwallis Island and the land to 
 the southward. As we approached this ob- 
 struction, which commenced about Cape 
 Hotham, we found that there was, for the 
 present, no opening in it through which a 
 passage could be attempted. After lying-to 
 for an hour, however, Lieutenant Beechey 
 discovered from the crow's-nest, that one 
 narro\> leck appeared to consist of loose 
 pieces of heavy ice detached from the 
 
 r 
 
 ^' 
 
 1M 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 97 
 
 main floes which composed the barrier, and 
 that, beyond this, there was a considerable 
 extent of open water. The Hecla was im- 
 mediately pushed into this part of the ice, 
 and after a quarter of an hour's " boring," 
 during which the breeze had, as usual, 
 nearly deserted us, succeeded in forcing her 
 way through the neck. The Griper fol^ 
 lowed in the opening which the Hecla had 
 made, and we continued our course to the 
 westward, having once more a navigable 
 sea before us. 
 
 1 We now remarked, that a very decided 
 change had taken place in the character 
 of the land to the northward of us since 
 leaving Beechey Island ; the coast near the 
 latter being bold and precipitous next the 
 sea, with very deep water close to it, while 
 the shores of Cornwallis Island rise with a 
 gradual ascent from a beach which appeared 
 
 \ to be composed of sand. During the fore- 
 noon we passed several ripplings on the sur- 
 face of the water, which were probably oc- 
 casioned by the set of the tides round each 
 end of Cornwallis Island, as we found a 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 

 \i 
 
 98 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 U t 
 
 ; 
 : 
 
 i ^ ' 
 
 i.' 
 
 vf, 
 
 ft 
 
 5^' 
 
 ll 
 
 ■:h^.- 
 
 m] ' 
 
 depth of ninety-five fathoms. An opening 
 was seen in the southern land, which I dis- 
 tinguished by tlie name of Cunningham 
 Inlet. A bhiff and remarkable cape, 
 which forms the eastern point of Cunning- 
 ham Inlet obtained, by Lieutenant Hopp- 
 ner's desire, the name of Cape Gifford. 
 To the eastward of Cape Giffbrd, a thick 
 haze covered the horizon, and it prevented 
 us from seeing more land in that direction ; 
 so that its continuity from hence to Cape 
 Clarence still remained undetermined, while, 
 to the westward, it seemed to be terminated 
 rather abruptly by a headland, which I dis- 
 tinguished by the name of Cape Bunny. 
 
 At noon, we had reached the longitude ^ 
 of 94° 43' 15'', thie latitude, by observation, 
 being 74° 20' 52", when we found that the 
 land which then formed the western extreme 
 on this side was a second island, which, after 
 Rear-Admiral Edward Griffith, I called 
 Griffith Island. Immediately opposite to 
 this, upon Cornwallis Island, is a conspi- 
 cuous headland, which, at some distance, has 
 the appearance of being detached, but 
 
 1 
 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 OD 
 
 which, on a nearer approach, was found to 
 be joined by a piece of low land. To this 
 I gave the name of Cape Martyr, after a 
 f much esteemed friend. At two P.M., hav- 
 ing reached the longitude of 95° 07', we 
 came to some heavy and extensive floes of 
 ice, which obliged us to tack, there being 
 no passage between them. We beat to the 
 northward durl.ig the whole of the after- 
 noon, with a fresh breeze from that quarter, 
 in the hope of finding a narrow channel 
 under the lee of Griffith Island. In this 
 expectation we were, however, disappointed, 
 for at eight P.M. we were near enough to 
 perceive not only that the ice was quite 
 close to the shore, but that it appeared not 
 to have been detached from it at all during 
 this season. We, therefore, bore up, and 
 ran again to the southward, where the sea 
 by this time had become rather more clear 
 along the lee margin of a large field of ice 
 extending far to the westward. The ice in 
 this neighbourhood was covered with innu- 
 merable "hummocks," such as I have be- 
 fore endeavoured to describe as occurring 
 
 H % 
 
f 
 
 'I 
 
 ll 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 VC. 
 
 I /^^ 
 
 100 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 in the southern part of Prince Regent's 
 Inlet, and the floes were from seven to ten 
 feet in thickness. It may here be remarked, 
 as a fact not altogether unworthy of notice, 
 that, from the time of our entering Sir 
 James Lancaster's Sound, till we had passed 
 the meridian of 92°, near which the northern 
 shore of Barrow's Strait ceases to be con- 
 tinuous, the wind, as is commonly the case 
 in inlets of this kind, had invariably blown 
 in a direction nearly due east or due west, 
 being that of the shores of the strait. 
 When, therefore, we experienced to-day, | 
 for the first time, a fresh breeze blowing 
 steadily from the northward, or directly off 
 the land, we were willing, though perhaps 
 without much reason, to construe this cir- 
 cumstance into an additional indication of 
 the shores near which we were now sailing 
 being altogether composed of islands, down 
 the channels between which the wind blew, 
 and that therefore no obstruction from con- 
 tinued land was any longer to be appre- \ 
 hended. 
 
 After various unsuccessful attempts to get 
 
 
 
 ;i 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 101 
 
 agent's 
 
 to ten 
 
 arked, 
 
 aotice, 
 
 ig Sir 
 
 passed 
 
 rthern 
 
 e con- 
 
 le case 
 
 blown 
 
 3 west, 
 
 strait. 
 
 0-day, I 
 
 lowing 
 
 ctly off 
 
 lerhaps 
 
 bis cir- 
 
 tion of 
 
 sailing 
 
 , down 
 
 I blew, 
 
 m con- 
 
 appre- \ 
 
 s to get 
 
 
 i 
 
 through the ice which now lay in our way, 
 we were at length so fortunate as to accom- 
 pHsh this object b/ "boring" through seve- 
 ral heavy ** streams," which occasioned the 
 ships to receive many severe shocks ; and, 
 at half an hour before midnight, we were 
 enabled to pursue our course, through 
 ** sailing ice," to the westward. 
 
 In this manner we had sailed between 
 fifteen or twenty miles in a tolerably clear 
 sea, when, on the fog clearing away, at 
 seven A.M., we found by the bearings of 
 the sun, that the wind had not deceived us, 
 and that we had made nearly all westing 
 during the night's run. We also saw land 
 to the northward of us, at the distance of 
 nine or ten miles, appearing like an island, 
 which it afterwards proved to be, and which 
 I named after Viscount Lowther, one of 
 the lords of his Majesty's treasury. Shortly 
 after, we also saw land to the south, so that 
 W8 could not but consider ourselves fortu- 
 nate in having steered so directly in the 
 proper course for sailing in this channel 
 during the continuance of the foggy wea- 
 
 iiii# ifimmms::; 
 
r 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 ^-i 
 
 
 I 
 
 \ ■ 
 
 3' 
 
 r 
 
 n 
 
 1 "j;"!'' 
 
 rt 
 
 1^ 
 
 \^ 
 
 ■:■: 
 
 ^. < 
 
 ,i:" 
 
 102 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ther. The land to the southward was high 
 and bold, being terminated to the eastward 
 by a bluff headland, which I named after 
 Mr. Walker, of the Hydrographical Office, 
 at the Admiralty. Immediately at the back 
 of Cape Walker, or to the southward of it, 
 the loom of land was distinctly visible, but, 
 from the state of the weather, we could not 
 ascertain its extent. We here obtained 
 soundings in sixty-three fathoms, on a bot- 
 tom of sand and small stones, with some 
 pieces of coral. 
 
 To a low sandy-looking island, I gave the 
 name of Young's Island, and it now became 
 evident that all the land around us consisted 
 of islands, and the comparative shoahness 
 of the water made great caution necessary 
 in proceeding, surrounded as we were by 
 both land and ice in almost every direction. 
 In the course of the evening, more land 
 came in sight to the northward ; but the 
 distance was at this time too great to enable 
 us to distinguish its situation and extent. 
 
 Early on the following morning. Lieu- i 
 tenant Beechey discovered from the crow's- 
 
 
 ■t.ii^ 
 
 tH 
 
 ^1 
 
 I 
 
 Iv 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 103 
 
 high 
 
 m 
 
 
 I 
 
 nest, a second low island, resembling Young's 
 Island in size and appearance, and lying 
 between three and four leagues to the north- 
 ward of it. I gave it the name of Davy 
 Island, after Sir Humphry Davy, now 
 President of the Royal Society. The near- 
 est land which we had seen to the north- 
 ward, on the preceding evening, proved to 
 be another island, four or five miles long 
 from east to west, which I distinguished by 
 the name of Garrett Island. The land to 
 the northward of Garrett Island was found 
 to be another island of considerable extent, 
 having, towards its eastern end, a remark- 
 able peaked hillock, very conspicuous when 
 seen from the southward. I named this 
 Bathurst Island, in honour of the Earl of 
 Batliurst, one of His Majesty's principal 
 secretaries of state; and a bay near its 
 south eastern point, was called Bedford 
 Bay. 
 
 We had seen no whales nor narwhals 
 since leaving Cape Riley on the morning of 
 the 23d ; and it was now remarked, not 
 without some degree of unpleasant feeling, 
 
 ! 
 
 i j 
 1 
 
104 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 V:'- 
 
 m 
 
 
 that not a single bird, nor any other Hving 
 creature, had for the whole of this day 
 made its appearance. It was, however, en- 
 couraging to find, while advancing to the 
 westward, as fast as an unfavourable wind 
 would permit, that, although the sea beyond 
 rs was for the most part covered with a 
 compact and undivided body of ice, yet that 
 a channel of sufficient breadth was still left 
 open for us between it and the shore, under 
 the lee of Bathurst Island. The ice here 
 consisted almost entirely of fields, the limits 
 of which were not visible from the mast- 
 head, and which were covered with the 
 same kind of hummocks as before de- 
 scribed. The westernmost land now in i 
 sight was a cape, which I named after 
 Vice Admiral Sir George Cockburn, one 
 of the Lord' J Commissioners of the Admi- 
 ralty. This cape appeared, during the day, 
 to be situated on a small island detached 
 from Bathurst Island ; but, on approaching 
 it towards evening, we found them to be con- 
 nected by a low sandy beach or isthmus, 
 over which some high and distant hills were 
 
 II 
 
 
 m 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 105 
 
 ivmg 
 day 
 en- 
 the 
 
 wind 
 
 y^ond 
 
 th a 
 that 
 
 Heft 
 
 nder 
 
 here 
 
 mits 
 
 last- 
 the 
 de- 
 
 N in I 
 
 after 
 
 »one 
 
 Imi- 
 
 day, 
 
 ihed 
 
 bing 
 
 :on- 
 
 rius, 
 
 i^ere 
 
 I 
 
 seen to the north-westward. An opening 
 in the land near this beach, and which had 
 very much the appearance of a river, with 
 some rocky islets at its mouth, was named 
 Allison Inlet, after the Greenland master 
 of the Hecla. The water became very 
 light coloured as we stood in towards this 
 part of the coast, and we tacked in twenty- 
 six fathoms, at six or seven miles' distance 
 from it, continuing to beat to the westward. 
 We gained so little ground during the 
 night, and in the early part of the following 
 morning, notwithstanding the smoothness of 
 the water, and a fine working breeze, that 
 I am confident there must have been a tide 
 setting against us off Cape Cockburn ; but, 
 as it was of material importance to get 
 round this headland, before a change of 
 wind should set the ice in upon the shore, I 
 did not deem it proper to heave-to, for the 
 purpose of trying the direction in which it 
 was running. After three A.M., the ships 
 began to make much better way, so that I 
 considered it likely that the tide had slack- 
 ened between three and four o'clock ; and 
 
lOG 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 '41 
 
 •J! 
 
 lit 
 
 If 
 
 if so, the time of slack water at this place 
 would be, on full and change days, a few 
 minutes after eleven : and as this time, with 
 the proper correction applied, seems to cor- 
 respond pretty accurately with that of high 
 water at the other places, to the eastward 
 and westward, where we had an opportu- 
 nity of observing it, we could scarcely 
 doubt that it was the flood-tide which had 
 now been setting against us from the west- 
 ward. From these circumstances, I have 
 ventured to mark the time of high water, 
 and the direction of the flood-tide, upon the 
 chart, both being confessedly subject to 
 correction by future navigators. Several 
 seals were here seen upon the ice, and a 
 single bird with a long bill, resembling a 
 curlew. 
 
 While beating rovmd Cape Cockburn, we 
 observed that the land to the westward of 
 it sweeps round into a large bay which I 
 named after Vice-Admiral Sir Graham 
 Moore. 
 
 The weather was at this time remarkably 
 serene and clear, and, although we saw a 
 
 «i-i!fc2; 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 107 
 
 line of ice to the southward of us, lying in 
 a direction nearly east and west, or parallel 
 to the course on which we were steering, 
 and some more land appeared to the west- 
 ward, yet the space of open water was still 
 so broad, and the prospect from the mast- 
 head, upon the whole, so flattering, that I 
 thought the chances of our separation had 
 now become greater than before ; and I there- 
 fore considered it right to furnish Lieute- 
 nant Liddon with fresh instructions, and to 
 appoint some new place of rendezvous, in 
 case of unavoidable separation from the 
 Hecla. A boat was, therefore, dropped on 
 board the Griper for that purpose, without 
 her heaving-to ; and the same opportunity 
 was taken to obtain a comparison between 
 our chronometers. About seven P.M., we 
 were sufficiently near to the western land, 
 to ascertain that it was part of another 
 island, which I named after Vice-Admiral 
 i Sir Thomas By am Martin, Comptroller of 
 His Majesty's Navy ; and by eight o'clock 
 we perceived that the body of ice to the 
 southward, along which we had been sailing, 
 
 i 
 
 * '1 
 
 5, 
 
 t \ 
 
u 
 
 m 
 
 1 f}^: V, I 
 
 ■ I r.^'' It 
 
 I'm 
 
 
 108 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 took a turn to the north, and stretched quite 
 in to the shore, near a low point, ofF which 
 a great quantity of heavy ice was aground. 
 At ten o'clock, after having had a clear 
 view of the ice and of the land about sun- 
 set, and finding that there was at present 
 no passage to the westward, we hauled off 
 to the south-east, in the hope of finding 
 some opening in the ice to the southward, 
 by which we might get round in the desired 
 direction. We were encouraged in this 
 hope by a dark " water-sky" to the south- 
 ward ; but after running along the ice till 
 half-past eleven, without perceiving a^iy 
 opening, w* again bore-up to return to- 
 wards the island. There was, in this neigh- 
 bourhood, a great deal of that particular 
 kind of ice, called by the sailors " dirty 
 ice," on the surface of which were strewed 
 sand, stones, and, in some instances, moss ; 
 ice of this kind must, of course, at one time 
 or other, have been in close contact with 
 the land. On one of these pieces, to- 
 wards which the Hecla was standing, a 
 little sea was observed breaking ; and, on a 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 109 
 
 quite 
 ^hich 
 mnd. 
 clear 
 sun- 
 esent 
 doff 
 ading 
 ward, 
 jsired 
 this 
 outh- 
 ze till 
 aay 
 1 to- 
 eigh- 
 cular 
 dirty 
 swed 
 loss; 
 time 
 with 
 to- 
 
 on a 
 
 nearer approach, it so exactly resembled a 
 rock above water, that I thought it prudent 
 to heave all the sails aback, till a boat had 
 been sent to examine it. We saw several 
 fulmar petrels, and one or two seals, in the 
 course of this day's run. 
 
 As we approached the south point of 
 the island, to which I gave the name of 
 Cape Gillman, we found the ice in the 
 same position as before ; and I therefore 
 hauled to the north-east, with the intention 
 of attempting a passage round the north 
 side of the island. In standing in, towards 
 Cape Gillman, our soundings gradually de- 
 creased from eighty to twenty-three fa- 
 thoms, the latter depth occurring at the 
 distance of two to four miles from the 
 shore. At ten A.M., the wind being very 
 light from the S.S.E., I despatched Cap- 
 tain Sabine and Mr. Ross, accompanied by 
 Messrs. Edwards and Fisher, to the eastern 
 point of the island, which we were about to 
 round in the ships, in order to make the 
 necessary observations, and to examine the 
 natural productions of the shore. Our 
 
 m 
 
\m 
 
 *» 
 
 110 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 'V 
 
 latitude at noon was 75° 0,'3' 12', long. 
 103° 44' 37", and the depth of water forty 
 fathoms. A thick fog came on in the 
 afternoon, soon after the boat had landed, 
 which made me apprehensive that she would 
 not easily find her way back to the ship. 
 We continued to stand ofF-and-on by the 
 lead, which seems a very safe guide on this 
 coast, firing guns frequently, till five P.M., 
 when we were not sorry to hear our signals 
 answered by musquets from the boat. The ) 
 gentlemen reported, on their return, that 
 they had landed on a sandy beach, near the 
 east point of the island, which they found 
 to be more productive, and altogether more 
 interesting than any other part of the shores 
 of the Polar regions which we had yet vi- 
 sited. The remains of Esquimaux habita- 
 tions were found in four different places. 
 Six of these, which Captain Sabine had an 
 opportunity of examining, and which are 
 situated on a level sandy bank, at the side 
 of a small ravine near the sea, are described 
 by him as consisting of stones rudely placed 
 in a circular, or rather an elliptical, form. 
 
 iMI 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 i 
 
 long, 
 brty 
 the 
 ded, 
 oiild 
 hip. 
 
 the 
 this 
 .M., 
 fnals 
 The 
 that 
 the 
 
 bund 
 
 nore 
 
 ores 
 
 t vi. 
 
 nta- 
 
 ces. 
 
 I an 
 
 are 
 
 lide 
 
 3ed 
 
 :ed 
 
 m. 
 
 'm 
 
 
 They were from seven to ten feet in diame- 
 ter ; the broad, flat sides of the stones 
 standing vertically, and the whole structure, 
 if such it may be called, being exactly si- 
 milar to that of the summer huts of the 
 Esquimaux, which we had seen at Hare 
 Island, the preceding year. Attached to 
 
 ' each of them was a smaller circle, generally 
 four or five feet in diameter, which had pro- 
 bably been the fire-place. The small cir- 
 cles were placed indifferently, as to their 
 direction from the huts to which they 
 belonged; and from the moss and sand 
 which covered some of the lower stones, 
 particularly those which composed the floor- 
 ing of the huts, the whole encampment 
 appeared to have been deserted for several 
 years. Very recent traces of the rein-deer 
 and musk-ox were seen in many places ; 
 and a head of the latter, with several rein- 
 deers' horns, was brought on board. A 
 few patches of snow remained in sheltered 
 
 .'•. /Situations ; the ravines, however, which were 
 numerous, bore the signs of recent and 
 ^^jfisiderable floods, and their bottoms were 
 mpy, and covered mt\i very luxuriant 
 
 l# 
 
 i\ 
 
 1 
 
112 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 11 
 
 
 h ' 
 
 \ 
 
 i ':>>,' 
 
 ■ 1 7 1 
 
 I? 
 
 ! i 
 
 I I 
 
 I, 
 
 
 i ■•' 
 
 i 
 
 moss, and other vegetation, the character 
 of which differed very little from that of the 
 land at the bottom of Possession Bay,, 
 
 The latitude of the place of observation 
 was 75° 09' 23", and the longitude, by 
 chronometers, 103° 44' 37". The dip of 
 the magnetic needle was 88° 25' 58", and 
 the variation was now found to have changed 
 from 128"^ 58' west, in the longitude of 
 91° 48', where our last observations on 
 shore had been made, to 165° 50' 09" east, 
 at our present station ; so that we had, in 
 sailing over the space included between 
 those two meridians, crossed immediately 
 to the northward of the magnetic po^e, and 
 had undoubtedly passed over one of those 
 spots upon the globe, where the needle 
 would have been found to vary 180°, or in 
 other words, where its north pole would 
 have pointed due south. This spot would, 
 in all probability, at this time be somewhere 
 not far from the meridian of 100° west of 
 Greenwich. It would undoubtedly have 
 been extremely interesting to obtain such 
 an observation, and in any other than the 
 very precarious navigation in which we 
 
I'f. 
 
 Ltion 
 
 of 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 11 
 
 were now engaged, I should have felt it my 
 duty to devote a certain time to this parti- 
 cular purpose; but, under present circum- 
 stances, it was impossible for me to regret 
 the cause which alone had prevented it^ 
 especially as the importance to science of 
 this observation was not sufficient to com- 
 pensate the delay which the search after 
 such a spot would necessarily have occa- 
 sioned, and which could hardly be justified 
 at a moment when we were making, and 
 for two or three days continued to make, a 
 rapid and unobstructed progress towards the 
 accomplishment of our principal object. 
 
 The wind became very light from the 
 eastward, and the weather continued so 
 foggy that nothing could be done during the 
 night but to stand off-and-on, by the sounds 
 ings, between the ice and the land; as we 
 had no other means of knowing the direc- 
 tion in which we were sailing, than by the 
 decrease in the depth of water on one tack, 
 and by making the ice on the other. The 
 fog froze hard upon the rigging, which 
 always makes the working of the ship a 
 
 VOL. I, I 
 
 ^*'j 
 
 
 \i 
 
.yommmm^M 
 
 114 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 t' I • 
 
 ■r '« 
 
 very laborious task, the size of the running 
 rigging being sometimes thus increased to 
 three times its proper diameter. At four 
 A.M. on the 29th, the current was tried by 
 mooring a boat to the bottom, 'but none 
 could be detected. About this time the 
 fog partially cleared away for a little while, 
 when we observed that the ice was more open 
 off Cape Gillman, than when we had before 
 attempted to pass in that direction. At 
 five o'clock, therefore, we made sail for the 
 point, with a light easterly breeze ; but at 
 seven, when we had proceeded only two or 
 three miles, the fog came on again as thick 
 as before: fortunately, however, we had 
 previously been enabled to take notice of 
 several pieces of ice, by steering for each of 
 which in succession we came to the edge of 
 a floe, along which our course was to be pur- 
 sued to the westward. As long as we had 
 this guidance, we advanced with great confi- 
 dence ; but as soon as we came to the end of 
 the floe, which then turned off to the south- 
 ward, the circumstances under which we 
 were sailing were, perhaps, such as have 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 115 
 
 never occurred since the early days of navi- 
 gation. To the northward was the land; 
 the ice, as we supposed, to the southward ; 
 the compasses useless ; and the sun com- 
 pletely obscured by a fog, so thick that the 
 Griper could only now and then be seen at 
 a cable's length astern. We had literally, 
 therefore, no mode of regulating our course 
 but by once more trusting to the steadiness 
 of the wind ; and it was not a little amusing, 
 as well as novel, to see the quarter-master 
 conning the ship by looking at the dog- 
 vane. Under all these circumstances, it 
 was necessary to run under easy sail, the 
 breeze having gradually freshened up from 
 the eastward. Our soundings were at this 
 time extremely regular, being from forty- 
 one to forty-five fathoms, on a bottom of 
 soft mud. At ten o'clock the weather be- 
 came clear enough to allow us to see our 
 way through a narrow part in a patch of 
 ice which lay ahead, and beyond w^hich 
 there was some appearance of a " water- 
 sky." There is, however, nothing more 
 deceitful than this appearance during a fog, 
 
 T ^ 
 
 )1 
 
 i f 
 
 
 imtiff^m 
 
T'»is»r"'~'"**'« 
 
 116 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 III 
 
 ' k 
 
 which, by the same optical iUusion whereby 
 all other objects become magnified, causes 
 every small " hole" of clear water to appear 
 like a considerable extent of open and navi- 
 gable sea. We continued running till eleven 
 P.M., when the fog came on again, making 
 the night so dark that it was no longer pos- 
 sible to proceed in any tolerable security ; 
 I therefore directed the ships to be made 
 fast to a floe, having sailed, by our account, 
 twelve miles, the depth of water being 
 forty-four fathoms. 
 
 The fog continued till five A.M. on the 
 30 th, when it cleared sufficiently to give us 
 a sight of the land, and of the heavy ice 
 aground ofF Cape Gillman, the latter being 
 five or six miles to the northward of us, in 
 which situation we had deepened our sound- 
 ings to fifty fathoms during the night's 
 drift. The state of the ice, and of the 
 weather, not permitting us to move. Captain 
 Sabine, being desirous of making some use of 
 this unavoidable detention, and considering 
 it at all times important to confirm magnetic 
 observations obtained on shore in these high 
 
 ''■ . "^^'(Ki-'*.- 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 117 
 
 latitudes, by others taken upon the ice, 
 employed himself in repeating his series of 
 observations on the dip of the needle, which 
 he found to be 88° 29'.12, differing only 
 three minutes and a half from that obtained 
 on shore on the 28th, a few leagues to the 
 northward and eastward of our present 
 station. The floe to which the ships were 
 now secured was not more than six or 
 seven feet in thickness, and was covered 
 with innumerable pools of water, most of 
 which had communication with the sea, as 
 we could with diflSculty obtain any that was 
 sufficiently fresh for drinking. In many 
 parts indeed, there were large holes through 
 which the sea was visible, and the under 
 surface was much decayed and honey- 
 combed, being nearly in that state which 
 the Greenland sailors call " rotten." Some 
 of the officers amused themselves in skat- 
 ing on the pools, all of which were hard 
 frozen on the surface ; and the men in 
 sliding, foot-ball, and other games. By 
 putting some drag-nets and oyster-dredges 
 overboard, and suffering them to drag along 
 
 M 
 
 ■mRp 
 
118 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 , I 
 
 die ground as the ship drifted with the ice, 
 we obtained a few specimens of marine 
 insects. 
 
 In the evening a quantity of loose ice 
 drifted down near the ships ; and, to avoid 
 being beset, we made sail towards the 
 island, our soundings being from thirty-five 
 to seventeen fathoms : we were soon vmder 
 the necessity of again anchoring to a floe, 
 till the weather should clear, being in 
 twenty-one fathoms, at the distance of three 
 miles from the land. 
 
 The weather cleared a little at intervals, 
 but not enough to enable us to proceed till 
 nine A.M. on the 31st, when we cast off 
 from the ice, with a very light air from 
 the northward. We occasionally caught a 
 glimpse of the land throvigh the heavy fog- 
 banks, with which the horizon was covered, 
 which was sufficient to give us an idea of 
 the true direction in which we ought to 
 steer. Soon after noon w^e were once more 
 enveloped in a fog, which, however, was 
 not so thick as to prevent our having re- 
 course to a new expedient for steering the 
 
 
 :\. -.,. 
 
 '•^'«^'''*^ViniiNM>>*'«MMWM*^ ' '•'W*v««MV>4' '^ 
 
ice, 
 rine 
 
 OF A NORTH-W 3T PASSAGE. 
 
 119 
 
 ■Q 
 ") 
 
 ships, which circumstances at the time na- 
 turally suggested to our minds. Before 
 the fog re-comm(mced, and while we were 
 sailing on the course which by the bearings 
 of the land we knew to be the right one, 
 the Griper was exactly astern of the Hecla, 
 at the distance of about a quarter of a mile. 
 The weather being fortunately not so thick 
 as to prevent oar still seeing her at that 
 distance, the quarter-master was directed 
 to stand aft, near the tafFrail, and to keep 
 her constantly astern of us, by which means 
 we contrived to steer a tolerable straight 
 course to the westward. The Griper, on 
 the other hand, naturally kept the Hecla 
 right a-head ; and thus, however ridiculous 
 it may appear, it is, nevertheless, true, that 
 we steered one ship entirely by the other 
 for a distance of ten miles out of sixteen 
 and a half, which we sailed between one 
 and eleven P.M. It then became rather 
 dark, and the water having shoaled from 
 fifty to twenty-three fathoms somewhat 
 more suddenly than usual, I did not con- 
 sider it prudent to run any farther till it 
 
 
 mM 
 
 Hi 
 
 ■■ iWi W ii H ii 
 
 A-M«». ,stku.:ii*dw«mr- - 
 
 '-«^^-J 
 

 
 I, ''^ 
 
 \-i 
 
 \ 
 
 
 1' I 
 
 ii 
 
 >■ 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 :s 
 
 1 
 
 1 i • 
 
 \ 
 
 t 
 
 H 
 
 I. 
 
 
 r f 
 
 
 4 "^ '■ 
 
 120 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 should become light and clear enough to 
 see around us, as it was probable that we 
 were approaching land of which we had no 
 knowledge. We therefore hauled our wind 
 to the S.S.E., on the larboard tack, and at 
 midnight had deepened the water to fifty- 
 two fathoms, being among rather close 
 " sailing ice." 
 
 The wind died away on the morning of 
 the 1st of September, and the fog was suc- 
 ceeded by snow and sleet, which still ren- 
 dered the atmosphere extremely thick. At 
 a quarter before four A.M., I was informed 
 by the officer of the watch that a breeze 
 had sprung up, and that there was very 
 little ice near the ships. Anxious to take 
 advantage of these favourable circumstances, 
 I directed all sail to be made to the west- 
 ward ; there was no difficulty in complying 
 with the first part of this order, but to as- 
 certain which way the wind was blowing, 
 and to which quarter of the horizon the 
 ship's head was to be directed, was a matter 
 of no such easy accomplishment ; nor could 
 WQ devise any means of determining this 
 
 ^IB^*"""*^"**- 
 
to 
 
 we 
 
 no 
 
 ind 
 
 at 
 
 rty. 
 
 lose 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 121 
 
 M 
 
 question till five o'clock, when Vve obtained 
 a sight of the sun through the fog, and 
 were thus enabled to shape our course, 
 the wind being moderate from the north- 
 ward. 
 
 In standing to the southward, we had 
 gradually deepened the water to one hun- 
 dred and five fathoms, and our soundings 
 now as gradually decreased as we stood to 
 the westward, giving us reason to believe, 
 as on the preceding night, and from the 
 experience we had acquired of the naviga- 
 tion among these islands, that we were 
 approaching land in that direction. In this 
 supposition we were not deceived, for, at 
 half-past eight, the fog having suddenly 
 cleared up, we found ourselves within four 
 or five miles of a low point of land which 
 was named after Mr. Griffiths, and which, 
 being at the distance of six or seven leagues 
 from By am Martin Island, we considered 
 to be part of another of the same group. 
 
 At one A.M. on the 2d, a star was seen, 
 being the first that had been visible to us 
 for more than two months. The fog came 
 
 rf 
 
 I 
 
 •It 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ' ^tt * *-**"-' ^ " «— ; . ^'**'-^^.''*f^'*''iiMMlftBiiiiw< 
 
 .. flt*' **»■ "V* .«<M^f^ '('■W 
 
m. 
 
 
 m 
 
 122 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 on again this morning, which, together with 
 the lightness of the wind preventing the 
 ships getting sufficient way to keep them 
 imder command, occasioned them some of 
 the heaviest blows which they had yet re- 
 ceived during the voyage, although the ice 
 was generally so loose and broken as to 
 have allowed an easy passage with a mode- 
 rate and leading wind. As none of the 
 ipieces near us were large enough for se- 
 curing the ships in the usual manner, we 
 could only heave-to, to windward of one of 
 the heaviest masses, and allow the ship to 
 drive with it till some favourable change 
 should take place. After lying for an hour 
 in this inactive and helpless situation, we 
 again made sail, the weather being rather 
 more clear, which discovered to us that the 
 main body of the ice was about three miles 
 distant from the land, the intermediate space 
 being very thickly covered with loose pieces, 
 through which our passage was to be sought. 
 As we stood in for the land in the forenoon, 
 we decreased our soundings uniformly from 
 twenty-seven to eleven fathoms at one and 
 
 Y-- 
 
 -A.'-ii^-l*'-*' , 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 123 
 
 a half or two miles from the beach, and a 
 boat, which I sent to sound in-shore, found 
 the water to shoal very regularly to six 
 fathoms at about half a mile. At this dis- 
 tance from the beach, there were many 
 large masses of ice aground ; and it was 
 here that the method so often resorted to 
 in the subsequent part of the voyage, of 
 placing the ships between these masses and 
 the land, in case of the ice closing suddenly 
 upon us, first suggested itself to our minds. 
 As we were making no way to the west- 
 ward, I directed two boats to be prepared 
 from each ship, for the purpose of making 
 the usual observations on shore, as well as 
 to endeavour to kill deer; and, at one 
 P.M., I left the ship, accompanied by a 
 large party of officers and men, and was 
 soon after joined by the Griper's boats. 
 We landed on a very flat sandy beach, which 
 did not allow the boats to come nearer than 
 their own length, and we were immediately 
 struck with the general resemblance in the 
 character of this island to that of Byam 
 Martin Island, which we had lately visited. 
 
 ^1 
 
 i 
 
 
 i^ i 
 
 li 
 
ll 
 
 
 < 1. 
 
 H 
 
 124 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 The basis of this land is sandstone, but we 
 met with limestone also, occurring in loose 
 pieces on the surface, and several lumps of 
 coal were brought in by the parties who 
 had traversed the island in different direc- 
 tions. Our sportsmen were by no means 
 successful, having seen only two deer, which 
 were too wild to allow them to get neai: 
 them. The dung of these animals, how- 
 ever, as well as that of the musk-ox, was 
 very abundant, especially in those places 
 where the moss was most luxuriant ; every 
 here and there we came to a spot of this 
 kind, consisting of one or two acres of 
 ground, covered with a rich vegetation, and 
 which was evidently the feeding-place of 
 those animals, there being quantities of their 
 hair and wool lying scattered about. Se- 
 veral heads of the musk-ox were picked up, 
 and one of the Hecla's seamen brought to 
 the boat a narwhal's horn, which he found 
 on a hill more than a mile from the sea, 
 and which must have been carried thither 
 by Esquimaux or by bears : three or four 
 brace of ptarmigan were killed, and these 
 
 / 
 
 -" '■»■ :;""*■ ~^'^N:T?j' ^M-» ' gi ') fc' ^*»^*^»y ^i- rwf .- -"' ■ ■ ■-■r-wrrw.' 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 125 
 
 were the only supply of this kind which we 
 obtained. Serjeant Martin of the artillery, 
 and Captain Sabine's servant, brought down 
 to die beach several pieces of a large fir- 
 tree, which they found nearly buried in the 
 sand, at the distance of three or four hun- 
 dred yards from the present high-water 
 mark, and not less than thirty feet above 
 the level of the sea. We found no indica- 
 tion of this part of the island having been 
 inhabited, unless the narwhal's horn, above 
 ^ alluded to, be considered as such. 
 
 The latitude of the place of observation 
 here, which was within a hundred yards of 
 the beach, was 74® 58', the longitude, by 
 chronometers, 107° 03' 31".7, ^nd the va- 
 riation of the magnetic needle 151° 30' 03" 
 easterly. At the top of a hill, immediately 
 above the place of observation, and about a 
 mile from the sea, a bottle was buried, 
 containing the usual information. A mound 
 of sand and stones was raised over it, and 
 a boarding-pike fixed in the middle. We 
 returned on board at half-past eight, and 
 found that Lieutenant Beechey had, in the 
 
 1 
 
 fl'*i 
 
 f 
 
 I'L 
 
 ! I 
 
 aiMM)- 
 
\26 
 
 yOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 0. 
 
 6*1 
 
 \i 
 
 mean time, taken a number of useful sound- 
 ings, and made other hydrographical re- 
 marks for carrying on the survey of the 
 coast. 
 
 The wind continued light and variable till 
 half-past eight A.M. on the 3d, when a 
 breeze from the northward once more ena- 
 bled us to make some progress. I was 
 the more anxious to do so, from having 
 perceived that the main ice had, for the last 
 twenty-four hours, been gradually, though 
 slowly, closing on the shore, thereby con- 
 tracting the scarcely na^^igable channel in 
 which we were sailing. The land which 
 formed our western extreme was a low 
 point, five miles to the westward of our 
 place of observation the preceding day, and 
 the ice had already approached this point 
 so much, that there was considerable doubt 
 whether any passage could be found be- 
 tween them. As we neared the point, we 
 shoaled the water rather quickly, though 
 regidarly, from thirty to seven fathoms; 
 but, by keeping a little farther out, which 
 fortunately the ice just at that time allowed 
 
 ri^y^^^om%Mfgfmgtf9ivf,y^iU'^imfu^^; jtm^'^'^ffnp' 
 
 KVKKm f am r^ 
 
 tmH^V ^ifm^y n^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 127 
 
 r 
 
 Ihe 
 
 till 
 a 
 
 us to do, we avoided getting into shoaler 
 water, and immediately ^fter rounding the 
 point, we increased our soundings to six- 
 teen and seventeen fathoms. We had 
 scarcely cleared the point, however, when 
 the wind failed us, and the boats were im- 
 mediately sent a-head to tow, but a breeze 
 springing up shortly after from the west- 
 ward, obliged us to have recourse to ano- 
 ther method of gaining ground, which we 
 had not hitherto practised: this was by 
 using small anchors and whale-lines as 
 warps, by which means we made great 
 progress, till, at forty minutes after noon, 
 we were favoured by a fresh breeze, which 
 soon took us into an open space of clear 
 water to the northward and westward. 
 While we thus employed on board, Mr. 
 Ross, after whom I named this point, had 
 been despatched in a boat to sound in-shore 
 iiear it, where there were a great many 
 large masses of ice aground, in order that 
 we might be prepared to place the ships 
 in the most advantageous position, should 
 the ice unexpectedly close upon the shore. 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
'if 
 
 128 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Mr. Ross reported, that he h«id found 
 good depth of water in-shore, the ice being 
 aground in five to seven fathoms, after 
 which the water shoaled gradually towards 
 the land. A little to the westward of Point 
 Ross, there was a barrier of this kind of ice, 
 composed of heavy masses firnnly fixed to 
 the ground at nearly regular intervals for 
 about a mile, in a direction parallel to the 
 beach. At right angles to this, a second 
 tier projected, of the same kind of ice, ex- 
 tending to the shore, so that the two toge- 
 ther formed a most complete harbour, 
 within which, I believe, a ship might have 
 been placed in case of necessity, without 
 much danger from the pressure of the ex- 
 ternal floes of ice. It w^as natural for us to 
 keep in view the possibility of our being 
 obliged to pass the ensuing winter in such 
 a harbour ; and, it must be confessed, that 
 the apparent practicability of finding such 
 tolerable security for the ships as this arti- 
 ficial harbour afforded, should we fail in 
 discovering a more safe and regular an- 
 chorage, added not a little to the confidence. 
 
 ,, ^ -l!^t*^ 
 
 tmmtt 
 
 sf.'v^m 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 129 
 
 i 
 
 with which our operations were carried 
 on during the remainder of the present 
 season. 
 
 The land immediately to the north-west* 
 ward of Point Ross forms a considerable 
 bay, named after Mr. Skene, off which 
 there was a large space of clear water, 
 where we had to beat to the northward 
 during the afternoon, as the ice lay in that 
 direction. In standing off-and-on, we 
 shoaled the water in one place very sud- 
 denly from nineteen to eleven fathoms, at 
 the distance of one mile from the beach. 
 Having tacked, I sent Mr. Bushnan to 
 sound in-shore, where a shoal was disco- 
 vered three quarters of a mile from the 
 land, having three and four fathoms upon 
 it, and within it from eight to thirteen fa- 
 thoms* The sun-set of this evening was 
 extremely beautiful, the weather being clear 
 and frosty, and the sky without a cloud. 
 The moon rising soon after, afforded a 
 spectacle no less pleasing, and far more 
 sublime* 
 
 Having weathered all the ice round which 
 
 Vol. I. K 
 
 I 
 
 I ! 
 
130 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 we had to sail, in order to proceed to the 
 westward, we were under the necessity of 
 lying-to, off Skene Bay, for some hours, 
 the weather having become very squally 
 and unsettled, with occasional fog, and the 
 night not being sufficiently light to ascer- 
 tain whether there was a passage between 
 the ice and a point of land which forms the 
 western extreme of the bay. On its eastern | 
 side an inlet, two miles wide at the en- 
 trance, was discovered, and named after Mr. 
 Beverly, and at the bottom of this we did 
 not see the land all round. At half-past 
 two A.M., we made sail to the westward, 
 the Griper having been directed by signal 
 to extend her distance ; a precaution which 
 was always adopted in cases where shoal 
 water was to be apprehended, in order to 
 avoid the risk of both ships grounding at 
 the same time. As we approached the 
 point, the soundings decreased gradually 
 from thirty to seven fathoms, in which 
 depth I tacked, and despatched Mr. Palmer 
 in a boat to sound round the point, to which 
 I gave the name of Cape Palmer, after 
 
 
 , a^W"^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 131 
 
 he 
 of 
 
 rs, 
 
 I the gentleman intrusted with this service. 
 Having been informed by signal from the 
 boat, that no less than six fathoms' water 
 had been found, we again tacked, and soon 
 after rounded the point in that depth, at 
 the distance of three quarters of a mile 
 from a low sandy beach. We then ran 
 several miles along the shore without much 
 obstruction, till the wind, backing to the 
 north-west, obliged us to make several tacks 
 between the ice and the land, the navi- 
 gable channel being at this time between 
 three and four miles wide. At noon we 
 observed, in latitude 74° 54' 49", the longi- 
 tude, by chronometers, being 108° 31' 44", 
 I at which time we were off a low sandy 
 island, which was named after Mr. Dealy, 
 and which lies near the entrance into a 
 large inlet, to which the name of Bridport 
 >^ Inlet was given, from regard to the me- 
 I mory of the late Lord Bridport. This inlet 
 runs a considerable distance to the north- 
 ward, and seemed to afford good shelter 
 for ships ; but, as we had no opportunity 
 of examining it in our boats, I am unable 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 to state any further particulars respecting 
 it. The land to the westward of it, of i 
 which the most conspicuous part is a re- 
 markable bluff headland, is much higher 
 than that about Skene Bay ; and we ceased ^ 
 to obtain any soundings with the hand- 
 leads after we had passed the entrance of 
 Bridport Inlet. At a quarter past nine 
 P.M., we had the satisfaction of crossing 
 the meridian of 1 1 0° west from Greenwich, 
 in the latitude of 74° 44' 20"; by which 
 His Majesty's ships under my orders be- 
 came entitled to the sum of five thousand 
 pounds, being the reward offered by the 
 King's order in council, grounded on a late 
 Act of Parliament, to such of His Majesty's 
 subjects as might succeed in penetrating 
 thus far to the westward within the Arctic 
 Circle. In order to commemorate the 
 success which had hitherto attended our 
 exertions, the bluff head-land, which we 
 had just passed, was subsequently called ■ 
 by the men Bounty Cape ; by which name 
 I have, therefore, distinguished it on the 
 chart. 
 
 As we stood to the westward, we found 
 
 i»i K 
 
 ^■^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 133 
 
 ;ting 
 of I 
 re- 
 
 gher 
 
 ased ^ 
 
 and- 
 
 e of 
 
 nine 
 
 sing 
 vich, 
 ^hich 
 
 be- 
 sand 
 
 the 
 I late 
 (Sty's 
 ating 
 rctic 
 
 the 
 
 our 
 
 we ; 
 
 lUed I 
 ame 
 the 
 
 und 
 
 » 
 
 ^ the extreme of the land in that direction to 
 be a low point, which was named after 
 Samuel Hearne, the well-known Ameri- 
 { can traveller, and to the north-eastward of 
 which is a bay of considerable extent, which 
 was perfectly free from ice. We continued 
 our course towards Cape Hearne till mid* 
 night, when the weather being too dark to 
 run any longer with safety, the ships were 
 hove-to with their heads to the eastward. 
 One black whale was seen, in the course of 
 this ay's navigation, off Bridport Inlet ; 
 and >' e flocks of snow-buntings were 
 flying about the ship at night. 
 
 At a quarter before three A.M., on the 
 5th, we tacked, and stood to the westward, 
 with the hope of getting past Cape Hearne, 
 the wind being moderate from the north" 
 ward, and weather thick with snow ; and 
 shortly after we shoaled the water quickly 
 from twenty- five to thirteen, and then to 
 nine, fathoms. We tacked in the latter 
 depth, believing that we were approaching 
 a shoal, especially as we were near some 
 heavy ice, which, having a tide-mark upon 
 
134 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 
 M 
 ■m. 
 
 I 
 
 it, appeared to be aground. We after-- 
 wards found, however, that we had at this 
 time been actually within three or four 
 hundred yards of Cape Hearne, which is so 
 surrounded by heavy ice at a sufficient 
 distance from the shore, that it would per- 
 haps be difficult to run the ship aground 
 upon it. The error into which we were here 
 led, as to our distance from the beach, arose 
 from the extreme difficulty of distinguishing, 
 even in broad diay-light, between the ice and 
 the land, when the latter is low and shelving, 
 and completely covered with snow ; by the 
 uniform whiteness of which, they are so 
 completely blended, :is to deceive the best 
 eye* Indeed, I know no circumstance in 
 the navigation of these seas which renders 
 more necessary a vigilant look-out, and a 
 careful attention to the hand-leads, than the 
 deception to which I here allude. 
 
 Having stood again to the westward, to 
 take a nearer view of the ice, we perceived 
 that it lay quite close in with Cape Hearne, 
 notwithstanding the fresh northerly wind 
 which, for the last thirty-six hours, had 
 
 li 
 
 y 
 
M 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 135 
 
 [fter-' 
 this 
 four 
 lis so 
 
 been blowing from the shore, and which 
 had drifted the ice some distance to the 
 southward, in every part of the coast along 
 which we had lately been sailing. This 
 circumstance struck us very forcibly at the 
 time, as an extraordinary one ; and it was a 
 general remark among us, that the ice must 
 either be aground in shoal-water, or that it 
 butted against something to the southward, 
 which prevented its moving in that direc- 
 tion. Appearances being thus discouraging, 
 nothing remained to be done but to stand 
 ofT-and-on near the point, and carefully to 
 watch for any opening that might occur. 
 
 After divine service had been performed, 
 I assembled the officers, seamen, and ma- 
 rines of the Hecla, and announced to them 
 officially, that their exertions had so far 
 been crowned with success, as to entitle 
 them to the first prize in the scale of re- 
 wards, granted by His Majesty's Order in 
 Council above mentioned. I took this op- 
 portunity of impressing upon the minds of 
 the men the necessity of the most strenuous 
 exertions during the short remainder of the 
 
 
 a 
 
\i 
 
 I 
 
 1 I. 
 
 r 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 136 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 present season; assuring them that, if we 
 could penetrate a few degrees farther to the 
 westward, before the ships were laid up for 
 the winter, I had little doubt of our accom- 
 plishing the object of our enterprise before 
 the close of the next season. I also ad- 
 dressed a letter to Lieutenant Liddon, to 
 the same effect, and directed a small addi- 
 tion to be made to the usual allowance of 
 meat, and some beer to be served, as a 
 Sunday's dinner, on this occasion. 
 
 The wind increasing to a fresh gale from 
 the northward in the afternoon, and the ice 
 still continuing to oppose an impenetrable 
 barrier to our further progress, I determined 
 to beat up to the northern shore of the bay, 
 and, if a tolerable roadsted could be found, 
 to drop our anchors till some change should 
 take place. This was accordingly done at 
 three P.M., in seven fathoms' water, the 
 bottom being excellent holding-ground, com- 
 posed of mud and sand, from which the 
 lead could with difficulty be extricated. 
 When we veered to half a cable, we had 
 ten fathoms' water under the Hecla's stem, 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 137 
 
 ! 
 
 our distance from the northern shore being 
 about a mile and a half. This roadsted, 
 which I called the Bay of the Hecla and 
 Griper, affords very secure shelter with 
 the wind from E.N.E., round by north, to 
 S.W., and found it more free from ice than 
 any other part of the southern coist of the 
 island. 
 
 I had great reason to be satisfied with our 
 having anchored the ships, as the wind 
 shortly after blew a hard gale from the 
 northward. In the evening I sent Captain 
 Sabine and Messrs. Edwards and Nias on 
 shore to examine the country, and to collect 
 specimens of its natural productions ; they 
 returned at ten P.M., having landed on a 
 low point a little to the westward of the 
 ships, which they found to be a very barren 
 and unproductive spot; several flocks of 
 ducks were seen, and some glaucous gulls 
 and tern ; the dung and foot-tracks of the 
 deer and musk-ox were also observed in 
 many places ; and some addition was made 
 by our gentlemen to our collection of ma- 
 rine insects. The rocks are composed en- 
 

 M 
 
 t' 
 
 
 f 
 
 n, 
 
 
 «i ■■■' 
 4*. 
 
 11 
 
 li^ f, 
 
 ,' 'A 
 
 
 
 138 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 tirely of sandstone, but a few small pieces 
 of granite, flint and coal, were also among 
 the specimens brought on board. This 
 island, on which our boats had now landed 
 for the second time, and which is much the 
 largest of the group we had lately disco- 
 vered, I honoured with the name of Mel- 
 ville Island, after Viscount Melville, the 
 I First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 
 The Bay of the Hecla and Griper was 
 the first spot where we had dropped anchor 
 since leaving the coast of Norfolk ; a cir- 
 cumstance which was rendered the more 
 striking to us at the moment, as it appeared 
 to mark, in a very decided manner, the 
 completion of one stage of our voyage. The 
 ensigns and pendants were hoisted as soon 
 as we had anchored, and it created in us no 
 ordinary feelings of pleasure to see the 
 British flag waving, for the first time, in 
 these regions, which had hitherto been con- 
 sidered beyond the limits of the habitable 
 part of the world. 
 
 \ 
 
 -.TW.V*-.-.tpl*»!i->>f'>'»««»i'«T'*a-l^»v».»..wmS»WWi>te3*A^^ " 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 139 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I ''■1 
 
 m 
 
 Further Examination of Melville Island — Conti-* 
 nuation of our Progress to the Westward^^ 
 Long detention by the Ice — Party sent on 
 shore to hunt Deer and Musk-Oxen — return 
 in three days, after losing their way — Anxiety 
 on their Account — proceed to the Westward^ 
 till finally stopped by the Ice — in returning to 
 the Eastward the Griper forced on the Beach 
 by the Ice — Search for, and Discovery of, a 
 winter Harbour on Melville Island — Opera- 
 tions for securing the Ships in their tointer 
 Quarters. 
 
 As the wind still continued to blow strong 
 from the northward on the morning of 
 the 6th, without any appearance of opening 
 a passage for us past Cape Hearne, I took 
 the opportunity of sending all our boats 
 from both ships at eight A.M., to bring on 
 board a quantity of moss-peat which our 
 

 1- 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 140 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 m 
 
 gentlemen reported having found near a 
 small lake at no great distance from the 
 sea, and vi^hich I directed to be substituted 
 for part of our usual allowance of coals. 
 Captain Sabine also went on shore to maHe 
 the requisite observations, and several of the 
 officers of both ships to sport, and to collect 
 specimens of natural history. The boats 
 rowed round the point on which they had 
 landed the preceding evening, and which 
 Captain Sabine now selected as the most 
 convenient place of observation; and dis- 
 covered just beyond it to the northward, a 
 small harbour, having a bar at its entrance, 
 upon which Mr. Fife, the Greenland master 
 of the Griper, after whom the harbour was 
 named, found ten feet water at nearly low 
 tide. 
 
 The latitude of the point is 74° 46' 56'\ 
 and its longitude, by our chronometers, 
 110^ 33' 59". The dip of the magnetic 
 needle was found to be 88° 29'.91, and the 
 variation 126° 17' 18" easterly. Near the 
 point where the observations were made, a 
 bottle was buried, containing a paper as 
 
 mi 
 
 1 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 141 
 
 a 
 
 le 
 
 usual, and a pile of stones raised over it. 
 The weather was this day unusually cold 
 to the feelings, to a greater degree even 
 than might have been expected from the 
 indication of the thermometer, which, for 
 the first time, had been as low as 25°. 
 
 The wind beginning to moderate soon 
 after noon, and there being at length some 
 appearance of motion in the ice near Cape 
 Hearne, the boats were immediately re- 
 called from the shore, and returned at two 
 P.M., bringing some peat, which was found 
 to burn tolerably, but a smaller quantity 
 than I had hoped to procure, owing to a 
 misunderstanding as to the distance at 
 which it was to be found from the sea. At 
 half-past two, as soon as the ship's company 
 had dined, we began to heave at the cable, 
 but so excellent is the holding-ground, that 
 it required all the purchase as well as 
 strength we could apply, to start the anchor 
 by half-past four. We then made sail for 
 Cape Hearne, which we rounded at six 
 o'clock, having no soundings with from 
 seventeen to twenty fathoms of line, at the 
 
 ii ■'* 
 
|!| 
 
 142 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 rl 
 
 
 
 ,1 
 
 il 
 
 
 distance of a mile and a quarter from the 
 point. 
 
 I was beginning once more to indulge in 
 those flattering hopes, of which often-re- 
 peated disappointments cannot altogether 
 deprive us, when I perceived, from the 
 crow's-nest, a compact body of ice, extend- 
 ing completely in to the shore near the 
 point which formed the western extreme. 
 We ran sufficiently close, to be assured that 
 no passage to the westward could at preseift 
 be effected, the floes being literally upon 
 the beach, and not a drop of clear water 
 being visible beyond them. I then ordered 
 the ships to be made fast to a floe, being in 
 eighty fathoms' water, at the distance of 
 four or five miles from the beach. The 
 season had now so far advanced, as to make 
 it absolutely necessary to secure the ships 
 every night from ten till two o'clock, the 
 weather being too dark during that interval 
 to allow of our keeping under-way in such 
 a navigation as this, deprived as we were of 
 the use of compasses. But, however anxious 
 the hours of darkness must necessarily be 
 
 1} 
 
1 1 
 
 I 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 143 
 
 ! 
 
 under such circumstances, the experience of 
 the former voyage liad given us every rea- 
 son to beheve, that the month of September 
 would prove the most valuable period of the 
 year for prosecuting our discoveries in these 
 regions, on account of the sea being more 
 clear from ice at this time than at any other. 
 Feeling, therefore, as 1 did, a strong con- 
 viction, that the ultimate accomplishment 
 of our object must depend, in a great mea- 
 sure, on the further progress we shou^ I 
 make this season, I determined to extend 
 our operations to the latest possible period. 
 On the morning of the 8th, there bting 
 no prospect of any immediate alteration in 
 the ice, I directed the boats to be sent on 
 shore from both ships, to endeavour to pro- 
 cure some game, as well as to examine the 
 productions of this part of the island. On 
 going to the mast-head, shortly after the 
 boats had been despatched, I fotuid that the 
 bight of ice in which the ships were lying 
 was not one floe, but formed by the close 
 junction of two, so that our situation was by 
 no means so secure as I had supposed; for 
 
144 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 this bight was so fat from being a protec- 
 tion to us, in case of ice driving on shore, 
 that it would probably be the means of 
 "nipping" us between the floes which form- 
 ed it. I therefore determined on immedi- 
 ately removing the ships in-shore, and went 
 in a boat to look out for a place for that 
 purpose, there being no alternative betv/een 
 this and our returning some distance to the 
 eastward, into the larger space of clear 
 water which we had there left behind us. I 
 found that a heavy piece of ice aground in 
 twelve fathoms, at the distance of three hun- 
 dred yards from the beach, would suit our 
 purpose for the Hecla, and another, in ten 
 fathoms, still nearer in-shore, was selected 
 for the Griper* These masses were from 
 twenty to thirty feet above the sea, and each 
 about the length of the respective ships. 
 The beach in this neighbourhood Was so 
 lined with ice of this kind, that it would not 
 have been easy for a ship to have gone on 
 shore in any part, there being generally from 
 four to seven fathoms on the outside of it, 
 while the inner part of each mass was lite- 
 
 f 
 U 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 145 
 
 )tec- 
 lore, 
 of 
 [)rin- 
 ledi- 
 went 
 that 
 ween 
 
 the 
 clear 
 s. I 
 nd in 
 
 1 hun- 
 it our 
 n ten 
 lected 
 J from 
 I each 
 ships, 
 ras so 
 Id not 
 )ne on 
 >r from 
 ; of it, 
 s lite- 
 
 rally upon the beach at low water. Some of 
 the detached masses, at a little distance from 
 the shore, must have accumulated very con- 
 siderably since they grounded, or else must 
 have been forced up into their present situ- 
 ations by an enormous pressure from with- 
 out ; as some of those now aground in four 
 or five fathoms would have drawn at least 
 ten, if set afloat again. 
 
 At four P.M., the weather being quite 
 calm, the ships were towed in-shore by the 
 boats, and made fast in the places selected 
 for them. Our parties from the shore re- 
 turned with a white hare, several fine ptar- 
 migans, a few snow-buntings, some skulls 
 of the musk-ox, and several rein-deers' 
 horns; but they were nor fortunate enough 
 to meet with either of the two latter animals. 
 The island is here, as in the other parts on 
 which we had landed, principally composed 
 of sandstone, of which some spherical no- 
 dules, one of them as large as a nine-pounder 
 shot, were brought on board. Several 
 lumps of coal, which was here more abund- 
 ant than we had yet found it, were also 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 L 
 
■"iff^iSSf^ 
 
 %\ 
 
 ■fk 
 
 -..1 
 
 
 f 
 
 % 
 
 146 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 picked up, and were found to burn with a 
 clear lively flame, like cannel coal, but 
 without splitting and crackling in the same 
 manner. 
 
 Impatient and anxious as we were to 
 make the most of the short remainder of 
 the present season, our mortification will 
 easily be imagined at perceiving on the 
 morning of the 9th, not only that the ice was 
 as close as ever to the westward, but that the 
 floes in our immediate neighbourhood were 
 sensibly approaching the shore. As there 
 was no chance,, therefore, of our being en- 
 abled to move, I sent a party on shore at 
 day-light to collect what coal they could 
 find, and in the course of the day nearly 
 two-thirds of a bushel, being about equal to 
 the Hecla*s daily expenditure, was brought 
 on board. Our sportsmen, who w^re out 
 for several hours, could only procure us a 
 hare, and a few ducks. 
 
 It was nearly calm on the 10th, with 
 thick snowy weather, which prevented our 
 seeing to any great distance round us. At 
 five A.M., a floe coming from the westward, 
 
 i^ 
 
 :i I 
 
I 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 147 
 
 ith a 
 but 
 same 
 
 re 
 er 
 
 1 
 
 to 
 of 
 will 
 the 
 je was 
 at the 
 were 
 there 
 ig en- 
 ore at 
 could 
 nearly 
 ^ual to 
 rough t 
 ire out 
 •e us a 
 
 , with 
 ed our 
 5. At 
 tward, 
 
 ran against the berg, within which the Hecla 
 was still secured, curning it round as on a 
 pivot. This occurrence is not an uncommon 
 one in Davis' Strait, with bergs of very large 
 size, when the centre part of them only hap- 
 pens to be upon the ground. We were by 
 this time so surrounded by ice that no clear 
 water was to be seen, except the small pool 
 in which we lay ; and all that could be done, 
 under such circumstances, was to watch the 
 motion of the ice, and to be ready to shift 
 the ship quickly round the berg, according 
 as the floes, by setting one way or the other, 
 might endanger her being "nipped." In the 
 afternoon the ice slackened a little near us, 
 when an attempt was made to get the Hecla 
 into a more secure birth in-shore ; but, after 
 heaving a heavy strain occasionally for se- 
 veral hours, we could only succeed before 
 dark in getting her into a small nook near 
 the beach, in which, if no very violent pres- 
 sure occurred, she might be tolerably secure 
 during the night. A party returned in the 
 evening from a shooting-excursion to the 
 western cape, bringing with them only three 
 
 L 2 
 
 '^-m^f: ^-.jit^-^^ 
 
 ^^^ jit^tfm^ 
 
ill 
 
 
 I*' ' 
 
 If' 
 
 
 1:1 ' 
 
 I' ''2. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 1^^ 
 
 
 * 
 
 m i 
 
 % i, 
 
 I 
 
 ".. > 
 
 m ' ■ 
 
 II I, j : 'k 
 
 fcf 
 
 it ^¥* 
 
 ^ If. 
 
 V^ 
 
 
 "^«^.. 
 
 148 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 hares, and 
 
 that the 
 
 reporting that tne sea was en- 
 tirely covered with ice as far as they could 
 see to the westward from the hills. 
 
 On the 11th, there was no alteration in 
 the ice near the ships, and Mr. Bushnan, 
 whom I despached at day-light to the west- 
 ern cape, reported, on his return, that ap- 
 pearances were equally unpromising in that 
 quarter. Mr. Dealy was fortunate enough 
 to kill the first musk-ox that our sportsmen 
 had yet been able to get near ; but, as it was 
 at the distance of eight or ten miles from 
 the ships, oar present situation, with regard 
 to the ice, would not allow of my sending a 
 party of men to bring it on board. A piece 
 of the meat which Mr. Dealy brought with 
 him was considered to taste tolerably well, 
 but its smell was by no means tempting. 
 
 I must now mention an occurrence which 
 had caused considerable apprehension in our 
 minds for the two last days, and the result 
 of which had nearly proved of very serious 
 importance to the future welfare of the ex- 
 pedition. Early on the morning of the 1 1th, 
 I received a note from Lieutenant Liddon, 
 
 ^ 
 
 fi 
 
 i; 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 149 
 
 s en- 
 could 
 
 lion in 
 
 hnan, 
 
 west- 
 
 t ap- 
 
 n that 
 
 lough 
 
 tsmen 
 
 it was 
 
 5 from 
 
 egard 
 
 ding a 
 
 . piece 
 
 t with 
 
 ' well, 
 
 ng. 
 
 which 
 in our 
 result 
 erious 
 le ex- 
 11th, 
 iddon, 
 
 acquainting me that, at day-light the prece- 
 ding day, Mr. Fife, with a party of six men, 
 had been despatched from the Griper, with 
 the hope of surprising some rein-deer and 
 musk-oxen, whose tracks had been seen in 
 a ravine to the westward of the ships. As 
 they had not yet returned, in compliance 
 with the instructions given to Mr. Fife, and 
 had only, been supplied with a small quantity 
 of provisions, it was natural to apprehend 
 that they had lost their way in pursuit of 
 game, more especially as the night had been 
 too inclement for them to have voluntarily 
 exposed themselves to it. I therefore re- 
 commended to Lieutenant Liddon to send a 
 party in search of his people, and Messrs. 
 Reid, Beverh , and Wakeham, who imme- 
 diately volunteered their services on the 
 occasion, were accordingly despatched for 
 this purpose. Soon after their departure, 
 however, it began to snow, which rendered 
 the atmosphere so extremely thick, especi- 
 ally on the hills along which they had to 
 travel, that this party also lost their way in 
 spite of every precaution, but fortunately 
 
 3\ 
 
 1 , 
 
 '!.1 
 
 
150 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 got sight of our rockets after dark, by which 
 they were directed to the ships, and re- 
 turned at ten o'clock, almost exhausted with 
 cold and fatigue, without any intelligence of 
 the absentees. 
 
 At day-light on the following morning I 
 sent Lieutenant Hoppner, with the Hecla's 
 fore-royal-mast rigged as a flc g-stafF, which 
 he erected on a conspicuous hill four or fiv« 
 miles inland, hoisting upon it a large ensign, 
 which might be seen at a considerable dis- 
 tance in every direction. This expedient oc- 
 curred to us as a more certain mode of direct- 
 ing our absentees towards the ships than 
 that of sending out a number of parties, which 
 I could not, in common prudence as well as 
 humanity, permit to go to any great distance 
 from the ships ; but the snow fell so thick, 
 and the drift was so great, during the whole 
 of the 12th, that no advantage could at 
 that time be expected from it, and another 
 night came without the absent party appear- 
 ing. 
 
 Our apprehensions on their account had 
 by this time increased to a most painful de- 
 
 li ■ I* ^ 
 
 ^"VStsgwawor*- 
 
 -'^^ 
 
 " ^ -»■■" 
 
which 
 
 id re- 
 
 jd with 
 
 ?nce of 
 
 ning I 
 ecla's 
 which 
 or five 
 ensign, 
 )le dis- 
 ient oc- 
 direct- 
 )s than 
 , which 
 well as 
 iistance 
 ► thick, 
 5 whole 
 vld Sit 
 mother 
 ppear- 
 
 nt had 
 ful de- 
 
 i 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 151 
 
 ^ n 
 
 gree, and I therefore ordered four parties, 
 under the command of careful officers, to 
 be prepared to set out in search of them the 
 following morning. These parties carried 
 with them a number of pikes, having small 
 flags attached to them, which they were di- 
 rected to plant at regular intervals, and 
 which were intended to answer the double 
 purpose of guiding themselves on their re- 
 turn and of directing the absent party, should 
 they meet with them, to the ships. For the 
 latter purpose a bottle was fixed to each 
 pike, containing the necessary directions for 
 their guidance, and acquainting them that 
 provisions would be found at the large flag- 
 staff on the hill. Our searching parties left 
 the ships soon after day -light, the wind still 
 blowing hard from the westward, with in- 
 cessant snow, and the thermometer at 28°. 
 This weather continued without intermis- 
 sion during the day, and our apprehensions 
 for the safety of our people were excited to a 
 most alarming degree, when the sun began 
 to descend behind the western hills for the 
 ^third time since they had left the ship; I will 
 
 n 
 
 \i 
 
 1 rt'J 
 
 If 
 
 m 
 
 
 . .^AM-.^ fti , i» *m win^ 
 
 ■mtifii""' vr* i:.;_" 
 
 »»,^i:tf»wa»i*Hii^"' •.■r.i.v- M-^j:^ 
 
p 
 
 Iv 
 
 'I. 11 
 
 ft 
 
 Irt 
 
 t !^ 
 
 152 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 not, therefore, attempt to describe the joy- 
 ful feelings we suddenly experienced, on the 
 Griper's hoisting the signal appointed, to in- 
 form us that her men, or a part of them, were 
 seen on their return. Soon after we observed 
 seven persons coming along the beach from 
 the eastward, who proved to be Mr. Nias 
 and his party, with four out of the seven men 
 belonging to the Griper. From the latter, 
 consisting of the corporal of marines and 
 three seamen, we learned that they had lost 
 their way within a few hours after leaving 
 the ship, and had wandered about without 
 any thing to guide them till about ten o'clock 
 on the following day, when they descried 
 the large flag-staff at a great distance. At 
 this time the whole party were together ; 
 but now unfortunately separated, in conse- 
 quence of a difference of opinion respecting 
 the flag-staff, which Mr. Fife mistook for a 
 smaller one that had been erected some 
 days before at a considerable distance to 
 the eastward of our present situation ; 
 and with that impression, walked away in 
 a contrary direction, accompanied by two 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 v^ 
 
 .,-^,.. 
 
v^ 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 153 
 
 ejoy- 
 onthe 
 to in- 
 , were 
 jerved 
 I from 
 Nias 
 nmen 
 latter, 
 s and 
 d lost 
 lavinor 
 
 ithout 
 clock >^, 
 cried 
 At 
 ther ; 
 onse- 
 cting 
 for a 
 some 
 e to 
 ion ; 
 iy in 
 two 
 
 
 
 of his men. The other four, who had now 
 returned, (of whom two were already much 
 debilitated,) determined to make for the 
 flag-staff. When they had walked some dis- 
 tance and were enabled to ascertain what it 
 was, one of them endeavoured to overtake 
 Mr. Fife, but was too much fatigued, and 
 returned to his comrades. They halted du- 
 \ ring a part of the night, made a sort of hut 
 of stones and turf to shelter them from the 
 weather, and kindled a little fire with gun- 
 powder and moss to warm their feet; they 
 had never been in actual want of food, having 
 lived upon raw grouse, of which they were 
 enabled to obtain a quantity sufficient for 
 their subsistence. In the morning they once 
 more set forward towards the flag-staff, which 
 they reached within three or four hours after 
 Lieutenant Beechey had left some provisions 
 on the spot; having eaten some bread, and 
 drank a little rum and water, a mixture which 
 they described as appearing to them per- 
 fectly tasteless and clammy, they renewed 
 their journey towards the ships, and had 
 not proceeded far when, notwithstanding the 
 
 
 -—— --■^.-- - - 'ti 1 "- 
 
 ^' -<^i, '•"'-^. •<>.■.£ ".— li 
 
154 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 I 
 
 Y 
 
 (■ J..! 
 
 snow which was constantly falling, they met 
 with footsteps which directed them to Mr. 
 Nias and his party, by whom they were con- 
 ducted to the ships. 
 
 The account they gave us of Mr. Fife 
 and his two companions led us to believe 
 that we should find them, if still living, at a 
 •considerable distance to the westward, and 
 some parties were just about to set out in 
 that direction, when the trouble and anxiety 
 which this mistake would have occasioned vis 
 were prevented by the arrival of another of 
 the searching parties, with the information 
 that Mr. Fife and the two men were on their 
 way to the ships, being about five miles to 
 the eastward. Some fresh hands were im- 
 mediately sent to bring them in, and they 
 arrived on board at ten P.M., after an ab- 
 sence of ninety-one hours, and having been 
 exposed, during three nights, to the incle- 
 mency of the first wintry weather we had 
 experienced. Almost the whole of this 
 party were much exhausted by cold and fa- 
 tigue, and several of them were severely 
 frost-bitten in their toes and fingers ; but, 
 
 
 '2^^' 
 
¥ 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ■]^nn 
 
 l)U 
 
 ley met 
 to Mr. 
 re con- 
 
 r. Fife 
 believe 
 g, at a 
 i, and 
 out in 
 nxiety 
 ned us 
 her of 
 nation 
 1 their 
 les to 
 e im- 
 
 they 
 n ab- 
 
 been 
 incle- 
 J had 
 
 this 
 idfa- 
 erely 
 
 but, 
 
 by tlie skill and unremitted attention of our 
 medical gentlemen, they were in a few days 
 enabled to return to their duty. 
 
 Before midnight we had still greater rea- 
 son than ever to be thankful for the oppor- 
 tune recovery of our people ; for the wind 
 increased to a hard gale about half-past 
 eleven, at which time the thermometer had 
 fallen to 15® ; making altogether so inclement 
 a night, as it would have been imriossible for 
 them, in their already debilitated state, to 
 have survived. In humble gratitude to God 
 for this signal act of mercy, we distinguished 
 the headland to the westward of the ships 
 by the name of Cape Providence. 
 
 At 3 A. M. of Tuesday the 14th, the 
 thermometer fell to 9° ; and from this time 
 the commencement of winter may fairly be 
 dated. On the following day we were 
 abreast of Cape Providence, and observed 
 another headland, still more high and bold 
 in its appearance, which was called Cape 
 Hay. 
 
 We remarked now, for the first time, that 
 a strong current, was setting to the west- 
 
 
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 sti?iw*-'»x»ri* 
 
Ir 
 
 I'lt 
 
 15G 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ward, directly against a fresh gale from . :iat 
 quarter, and this ohservation we had fre- 
 quent opportunities of repeating, immedi- 
 ately after the springing up of a breeze, in 
 rhe Polar seas. 
 
 But on the 20th, the advanced period of 
 the season, the unpromising appearance of 
 the ice to the westward, and the risk to the 
 ships with which the navigation had been 
 attended for some days past, naturally led 
 me to the conclusion that, under these cir- 
 cumstances, the time had arrived, when it 
 became absolutely necessary to look out for 
 winter-quarters. Among the circumstances 
 which now rendered this navigation more 
 than usually perilous, and the hope of success 
 proportionally less, there was none which 
 gave more reasonable ground for apprehen- 
 sion than the incredible rapidity with which 
 the young ice formed upon the surface of 
 the sea, during the greater part of the twenty 
 four hours. It had become evident, indeed, 
 that it could only be attributed to the strong 
 winds which had lately prevailed, that the sea 
 was not at this time permanently frozen over; 
 
 ^! 
 
 
 ^.m,^^^"-:^^^'^:..,^-:'-^^^^^^^^^^,^. 
 
 vv'.i>- 
 
. % 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 157 
 
 3m .;;at 
 ad fre- 
 mmedi- 
 ^eze, in 
 
 jriod of 
 
 ance of 
 
 : to the 
 
 d been 
 
 lly led 
 
 3se cir- 
 
 »vhen it 
 
 out for 
 
 stances 
 
 more 
 
 uctess 
 
 which 
 
 ehen- 
 
 which 
 
 ace of 
 
 wenty 
 
 deed, 
 
 trong 
 
 lesea 
 
 over; 
 
 for, whenever the wind blew less than a gale, 
 that formation took place immediately, and 
 went on with such astonishing rapidity, that 
 had the weather continued calm for more 
 than four-and- twenty hours together, it 
 seemed to me extremely probable, that we 
 must have passed the winter in our present 
 exposed and insecure situation. 
 
 From this and various other considera-^ 
 tions, which the account of our late proceed- 
 ings will naturally suggest, I considered it 
 a duty incumbent upon me to call for the 
 opinions of the senior officers of the expe- 
 dition, as to the expediency of immediately 
 seeking a harbour, in which the ships might 
 securely lie during the ensuing winter. The 
 opinions of the officers entirely concurring 
 with my own, as to the propriety of imme- 
 diately resorting to this measure, I deter- 
 mined, whenever the ice and the weather 
 would allow, to run back to the Bay of the 
 Hecla and Griper, in which neighbourhood 
 alone we had any reason to believe that a 
 suitable harbour might be found. 
 
 It blew a hard gale from the northward 
 

 158 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 i 1 
 
 i'f? 
 
 n 
 
 1 
 
 ,1 
 
 
 during the night of the 21st, by which means 
 the floes were kept at a distance from the land, 
 and the bay-ice prevented from forming under 
 the lee of it. The sea to the eastward was 
 not, however, sufficiently clear, nor the wind 
 moderate enough, during the 21st, to allow 
 us to move the ships. The land was now 
 almost entirely covered with snow, and, as 
 we afterwards found, remained so during 
 the winter. A few coveys of the ptarmigan 
 were seen near the beach during the time 
 that we remained at this station. 
 
 At half-past two, on the morning of the 
 22d, the night-signal v, as made to weigh, and 
 we began to heave at our cables ; but such 
 was the difficulty of raising our anchor, and 
 of hauling in our hawsers, owing to the 
 stiffiiess of the ropes from frost, and the 
 quantity of ice which had accumulated about 
 them, that it was five o'clock before the 
 ships were under way. Our rudder also 
 was so choked by the ice which had formed 
 about it that it could not be moved till a 
 boat had been hauled under the stern, and 
 the ice beaten and cut away from it We 
 
 
 
 ' 1 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 l! 
 
 I 
 
 \x'^^.- 
 
 ■w^ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE* 
 
 159 
 
 means 
 e land, 
 ; under 
 d was 
 e wind 
 I allow 
 s now 
 nd, as 
 during 
 •migan 
 i time 
 
 of the 
 fh, and 
 t such 
 )r, and 
 to the 
 id the 
 
 about 
 re the 
 r also 
 3rmed 
 
 till a 
 i, and 
 We 
 
 ran along to the eastward without any ob- 
 Ltruction, in a channel about five miles wide, 
 till we were within four or five miles of 
 Cape Hearne, where the bay-ice, in un- 
 broken sheets of about one-third of an inch 
 in thickness, began to offer considerable im- 
 pediment to our progress. We were abreast 
 of the point at noon, and here our prospect 
 was rather discouraging; the anchorage in 
 the bay was quite free from any obstruction, 
 but a space of three or four miles to the 
 north-eastward of Cape Hearne, was com- 
 pletely covered with bay-ice, which made it 
 more than probable that we should altoge- 
 ther be excluded from the roadstead. We 
 entered this ice under a press of sail, the 
 wdnd blowing strong from the northward, 
 and found it to consist principally of that 
 kind which, from its appearance, is techni- 
 cally called " pancake-ice," and which, 
 though it considerably retarded our pro- 
 gress in beating to windward, did not offe^ 
 so serious an impediment as we had expect- 
 ed. At half-past two P. M., in swinging 
 
 {, 
 
 i'AJ 
 
^' 
 
 4 
 
 IGO 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 the main-topsail-yard in stays, it was un- 
 fortunately carried away in the slings, but 
 this accident was quickly repaired by the 
 zealous exertions of the officers and men. 
 As I saw that the Griper, which had dropped 
 several miles astern in the course of the day, 
 could not possibly reach the anchorage be- 
 fore dark, and being apprehensive that, by a 
 too anxious endeavour to effect that object, 
 she might become frozen up at sea during 
 the night, I made Lieutenant Liddon's signal 
 to secure his ship to the grounded ice off 
 Cape Hearne, which he accordingly did. 
 Soon after the sun had set, I had reason to 
 entertain the same apprehension for the 
 Hecla; for the young ice began, as usual, to 
 farm upon the surface of the water, and in 
 an hour's time offered so considerable a re- 
 sistance to the ship's motion, though under 
 a press of canvass, and with a fresh breeze, 
 as to make it doubtful for some -time whe- 
 ther we should reach the anchorage. We 
 at length, however, struck soundings with 
 twenty-nine fathoms of line, and at eight 
 P.M. anchored in nine fathoms, on a muddy 
 
 li 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 
 (I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ^^feuc^. 
 
 -rr—sr-a*'^*"'' 
 
 -riTrrnflrr*'""^"!' 
 
 k 
 M 
 
OP A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 161 
 
 as un- 
 
 ^s, but 
 
 3y the 
 
 men. 
 
 opped 
 
 le day, 
 
 ^e be- 
 
 t, by a 
 
 abject, 
 
 during 
 
 signal 
 
 ice off 
 
 y did. 
 
 son to 
 
 3T the 
 
 iial, to 
 
 md in 
 
 a re- 
 
 under 
 
 eeze, 
 
 whe- 
 
 We 
 
 with 
 
 eight 
 
 uddy 
 
 I 
 
 bottom, a little to the eastward of our situa- 
 tion on the 5th. 
 
 The wind continued northerly, with a 
 heavy fall of snow during the night. At 
 half-past six A.M. on the 23d, there being 
 fortunately so little bay-ice that a boat could 
 easily pull through it, I left the ship, ac- 
 companied by Mr. Nias, to examine Fife's 
 Harbour, which had been reported to me 
 as affording good shelter, but having a bar 
 across its entrance. I directed Lieutenant 
 Beechey at the same time to get the Hecla 
 under way, and to anchor wherever I should 
 lay down a buoy for that purpose. My 
 mortification may well be imagined at find- 
 ing, on my arrival off Fife's Harbour, that 
 it was covered with one solid sheet of ice 
 from six to twelve inches in thickness, which 
 had been entirely formed since our last visit 
 to this place. I landed on the west side of 
 the harbour, and being soon after joined by 
 a boat from the Griper, which vessel was 
 beating up from Cape Hearne, I was in- 
 formed by Mr. Skene, that a second bay or 
 harbour had been seen by the officers on 
 
 
 II 
 
 I ' 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 M 
 
• 
 
 ' i 
 
 162 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 the former occasion, a short distance to the 
 westward of this. We lost no time, there- 
 fore, in rowing there, having first laid down 
 a buoy, near vv hich the Hecla was to anchor, 
 and made the necessary signal to Lieutenant 
 Beechey. 
 
 In going to the westward, we passed a 
 shoal and open bay, immediately adjacent to 
 the harbour which we were now about to 
 examine, and soon after came to a reef of 
 rocks, in some parts nearly dry, extending 
 about three-quarters of a mile to the south- 
 ward of a low point on the south-eastern 
 side of the harbour. On rounding the reef, 
 on which a quantity of heavy ice was lying 
 aground, we found that a continuous floe, 
 four or five inches in thickness, was formed 
 over the whole harbour, which, in every 
 other respect, appeared to be fit for our 
 purpose ; and that it would be necessary to 
 cut a canal of two miles in length through the 
 ice, in order to get the ships into a secure 
 situation for the winter. We sounded the 
 channel into the harbour for about three- 
 quarters of a mile, by making holes in the 
 
 
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 35L 
 
 m 
 
 li ! 
 
 r 
 
 J 
 
 h,, 
 
 ; 
 
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 J 
 
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 3' ■ :.■■;?■*' 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE* 
 
 Hj3 
 
 ; to the 
 there- 
 1 down 
 mchor, 
 itenant 
 
 assed a 
 cent to 
 tout to 
 reef of 
 ending 
 south- 
 eastern 
 le reef, 
 s lying 
 s floe, 
 brmed 
 every 
 3r our 
 ary to 
 gh the 
 secure 
 3d the 
 three- 
 in the 
 
 ice and dropping the lead through, and 
 found the depth from five to six fathoms. 
 
 Having ascertained thus far, it remained 
 for me to sound the bar of Fife's Harbour, 
 and then to choose between the two places. 
 I returned on board, therefore, for the 
 boats' crews to dine, and then proceeded in 
 execution of this object. The entrance into 
 Fife's Harbour is extremely narrow, which 
 enabled us the sooner to determine the utter 
 impracticability of getting the ships into it, 
 as we found the depth on the bar to be 
 barely twelve feet at high water and a 
 spring tide. I returned on board, there- 
 fore, and determined on taking the ships 
 round the reef to. the entrance of the west- 
 ernmost harbour, on the following morning. 
 A good deal of snow fell this evening, and 
 the young ice formed on the surface after 
 sun-set. 
 
 The ships weighed at six A.M. on the 
 24th, tlie wind being still at north, and the 
 weather moderate and fine. As soon as the 
 Hecla was under sail, I went ahead in a 
 boat to sound, and to select an anchorage 
 
 M 2 
 
 I 
 
 '-' *; 
 
s I 
 
 It', 
 
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 164 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 for the ships. In running to the westward 
 towards the point of the reef, we had no less 
 than three fathoms and three quarters ; and, 
 by keeping farther oiF shore, we might have 
 had much deeper water, but the wind being 
 scant, it was necessary to keep well to the 
 northward. Near the south-western point 
 of this harbour there is a remarkable block 
 of sandstone, somewhat resembling the roof 
 of a house, on which the ships' names were 
 subsequently engraved by Mr. Fisher. This 
 stone is very conspicuous in coming from 
 the eastward, and when kept open to the 
 southward of the grounded ice at the end of 
 the reef, forms a good leading mark for the 
 channel into the harbour. Off the end of 
 the reef the water deepened to six fathoms, 
 and the Hecia's anchor was dropped in eight 
 fathoms, half a mile within the reef, and 
 close to the edge of the ice through which 
 tVie canal was to be cut. The Griper arrived 
 soon jafter, iind by half-past eight A.M. 
 both ships were secured in the proper po- 
 sition for commeiicing the intended opera- 
 tions. 
 
 n 
 
 % 
 
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 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 As soon as our people had breakfasted I 
 proceeded, with a small party of men, to 
 sound, and to mark with boarding-pikes up- 
 on the ice, the most direct channel we could 
 find to the anchorage; having left directions 
 for every other officer and man in both ships 
 to be employed in cutting the canal. This 
 operation was perform' by first marking 
 out two parallel lines, distant from each 
 other a little more than the breadth of the 
 larger ship. Along each of these lines a cut 
 was then made with an ice-saw, and others 
 again at right angles to them, at intervals of 
 from ten to twenty feet ; thus dividing the ice 
 into a number of rectangular pieces, which 
 it was again necessary to subdivide diago- 
 nally, in order to give room for their being 
 floated out of the canal. On returning from 
 the upper part of the harbour, where I had 
 marked out what appeared to be the best 
 situation for our winter-quarters, I found 
 that considerable progress had been made in 
 cutting the canal, and in floating the pieces 
 out of it. To facilitate the latter part of the 
 process, the seamen, who are always fond of 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. U580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
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 16G 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 doing things in their own way, took advan- 
 tage of a fresh northerly breeze, by setting 
 ^ome boats' sails upon the pieces of ice, a 
 contrivance which saved both time and 
 labour. This part of the operation, how- 
 ever, was by far the most troublesome, prin- 
 cipally on account of the quantity of young 
 ice which formed in the canal, and espe^ 
 cially about the entrance, where, before 
 sun-set, it had become so thick that a 
 passage could no longer be found for the de- 
 tached pieces, without considerable trouble 
 in breaking it. At half past seven P.M. we 
 wieighed our anchors, and began to warp up 
 the canal, but the northerly wind blew so 
 fresh, and the people were so much fatigued, 
 having been almost constantly at work for 
 nineteen hours, that it was midnight before 
 we reached the termination of our first day's 
 labour. While we were thus employed, 
 about nine o'clock a vivid flash of light was 
 observed, exactly like hghtning. There was 
 at the same time, and during the greater 
 part of the night, a permanent brightness 
 in the northern quarter of the heavens, which 
 
 I 
 
 ■ f 
 
 k 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 167 
 
 was probably occasioned by the Aurora 
 Borealis. I directed half a pound of fresh 
 meat per man to be issued, as an extra al- 
 lowance; and this was continued daily till 
 the completion of our present undertaking. 
 All hands were again set to work on the 
 morning of the 25th, when it was proposed 
 to sink the pieces of ice, as they were cut, 
 under the floe, instead of floating them out, 
 the latter mode having now become imprac- 
 ticable on account of the lower part of the 
 canal, through which the ships had passed, 
 being hard frozen during the night. To 
 effect this, it was necessary for a certain 
 number of men to stand upon one end of 
 the piece of ice which it was intended to 
 sink, while other parties, hauling at the same 
 time upon ropes attached to the opposite 
 end, dragged the block under that part of 
 the floe on which the people stood. The 
 officers of both ships took the lead in this 
 employ, several of them standing up to their 
 knees in water frequently during the day, 
 with the thermometer generally at 12°, and 
 never higher than 16®. At six P.M. we 
 
 
 m 
 

 
 It 1 
 
 ^•1 
 
 I6d 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 began to move the ships. The Griper was 
 made fast astern of the Hecla, and the two 
 
 ships' corriPanies being divided on each bank 
 of the canal, with ropes from the Hecla*s 
 gangways, soon drew the ships along to the 
 end of our second day's work. 
 
 Sunday 2Cth. — I should, on every account, 
 have been glad to have made this a day of rest 
 to the officers and men ; but the rapidity with 
 which the ice increased in thickness, in pro- 
 portion as the general temperature of the at- 
 mosphere diminished, would have rendered a 
 day's delay of serious importance. I ordered 
 the work, therefore, to be continued at the 
 usual time in ihe morning; and such was 
 the spirited and cheerful manner in which 
 this order was complied with, as well as the 
 skill which had now been acquired in the art 
 of sawing and sinking the ice, that although 
 the thermometer was at G° in the morning, 
 and rose no higher than 9® during the day, 
 we had completed the canal at noon, having 
 effected more in four hours than on either 
 of the two preceding days. The whole 
 length of this canal w as four thousand and 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, 
 
 IfiD 
 
 jr was 
 e two 
 
 bt;nk 
 ecla*s 
 o the 
 
 :ount, 
 frest 
 with 
 pro- 
 le at- 
 reda 
 lered 
 t the 
 was 
 i^hich 
 3 the 
 eart 
 
 )Ugh 
 
 day, 
 ving 
 
 ther 
 hole 
 and 
 
 eighty-two yards, or nearly two miles and 
 one third, and the average thickness of the 
 ice was seven inches. 
 
 At half past one P.M. we began to track 
 the ships along in the same msuiner as before, 
 and at a quarter past three we reached our 
 winter-quarters and hailed the event with 
 three loud and hearty cheers from both 
 ships' companies. The ships were in five 
 fathoms water, a cable's length from the 
 beach on the north-western side of the har- 
 bour, to which I gave the name of Winter 
 Harbour ; and I called the group of islands 
 which we had discovered in the Polar Sea 
 New Georgia ; but having afterwards re- 
 collected that this name is already occupied 
 in another part of the world, I deemed it 
 expedient to change it to that of the North: 
 Georgian Islands, in honour of our gra- 
 cious Sovereign, George the Third, whos^ 
 whole reign had been so eminently distin- 
 guished by the extension and improvement 
 of geographical and nautical knowledge, and 
 for the prosecution of new and important 
 discoveries in both, 
 
 i 
 
 u 
 
T 
 
 170 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Ml 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Precautions for securing the Ships and Stores-^ 
 for promoting Good Order, Cleanliness, Health, 
 and Good-Humour among the Ships' Compa- 
 nies — Establishment of a Theatre and of the 
 North Georgia Gazette — Erection of an Ob- 
 servatory on Shore — commence our Winier^s 
 Amusements — State of tfie Temperature and 
 various Meteorological Phenomena — Miscella- 
 neous Occurrences to the close of the Year 1819. 
 
 Having, on the 19th October, reached 
 the station, where, in all probability, we 
 were destined to remain for at least eight 
 or nine months, during three of which we 
 were not to see the face of the sun, my 
 attention was immediately, and imperiously, 
 called to various important duties; many 
 of them of a singular nature, such as had, 
 for the first time, devolved on any officet 
 
 m 
 
 .<! 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 171 
 
 tores-^ 
 Uealth, 
 
 of the 
 m Ob^ 
 '^iniet's 
 ^e and 
 Iscella- 
 1819. 
 
 iched 
 , we 
 eight 
 1 we 
 my 
 
 lany 
 lad, 
 Icet 
 
 in His Majesty's navy, and might indeed 
 be considered of rare occurrence in the whole 
 history of navigation. The security of the 
 ships, and the preservation of the various 
 stores, vrere objects of immediate concern. 
 A regular system to be adopted for the 
 maintenance of good order and cleanliness, 
 as most conducive to the health of the crews 
 during the long, dark, and dreary winter, 
 equally demanded my attention. 
 
 Not a moment was lost, therefore, in 
 the commencement of our operations. The 
 whole of the masts were dismantled except 
 the lower ones and the Hecla's main top- 
 mast ; the lower yards were lashed fore and 
 aft amidships, to support the planks of the 
 housing intended to be erected over the 
 ships; and the whole of this frame work was 
 afterwards roofed over with a cloth. The 
 boats, spars, running rigging and sails were 
 removed on shore ; and as soon as the ship^ 
 were secured and housed over, my whole 
 attention was directed to the health and 
 comfort of the officers and men. The 
 surgeon reported that not the slightest dis? 
 
 
 II' 
 
 m 
 
172 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 position to scurvy had shewn itself in either 
 ship. 
 
 In order to prolong this healthy state of 
 the crews, and to promote tlie comfort of 
 all, such arrangements were made for the 
 warmth and dryness of the births and bed- 
 places, as circumstances appeared to re* 
 quire ; and in this respect some difficulties 
 were to be overcome, which could not, per- 
 haps, have been anticipated. Soon after 
 our arrival in Winter Harbour, when the 
 temperature of the atmosphere had fallen 
 considerably below zero of Fahrenheit, 
 we found that the steam from the coppers, 
 as well as the breath and other vapour 
 generated in the inhabited parts of the 
 ship, began to condense into drops upon 
 the beams and the sides to such a degree as 
 to keep them constantly wet. In order to 
 remove this serious evil, it was necessary to 
 adopt such means for producing a sufficient 
 warmth, combined with due ventilation, as 
 might carry off the vapour, and thus prevent 
 its settling on any part of the ship,. For 
 this purpose a large stone oven^ cased with 
 
 .? 
 
 V 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 t I'f 
 
n either 
 
 state of 
 nfort of 
 for the 
 id bed- 
 to re* 
 icultiesf 
 >t, per- 
 1 after 
 en the 
 fallen 
 enheit, 
 ppers, 
 /apour 
 )f the 
 upon 
 ree as 
 ier to 
 iry to 
 icient 
 >n, as 
 event 
 For 
 with 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE* 
 
 17^ 
 
 :^ 
 
 f 
 
 oast-iron, in which all our bread was baked 
 during the winter, was placed on the main- 
 hatchway, and the stove-pipe led fore and 
 aft on one side of the lower deck, the smoke 
 being thus carried up the fore hatchway. 
 On the opposite side of the deck, an appa- 
 ratus had been attached to the galley-range 
 for conveying a current of heated air be- 
 tween decks. This apparatus simply con- 
 sisted of an iron box, or air vessel, about 
 fifteen inches square, through which passed 
 three pipes, of two inches diameter, commu- 
 nicating from below with the external air, 
 and uniting above in a metal box, fixed to 
 the side of the galley-range ; to this box a 
 copper stove-pipe was attached, and con- 
 veyed to the middle part of the lower deck. 
 When a fire was made under the air-vessel, 
 the air became heated in its | assage through 
 the three pipes, from which it was conveyed 
 through the stove-pipe to the men's births. 
 While this apparatus was in good order, a 
 moderate fire produced a current of air of 
 the tejnperature of 87°, at the distance of 
 seventeen feet from the fire-place ; and. 
 
 '! i 
 
 (!\, 
 
 m 
 
 * it 
 
 ■ i 
 
 .itwlWVW''S!t"^*rfJ'.'t»rtif/'gu.j*s;-«v^»r'«*. . . i^-wi 
 
i(\ 
 
 174 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 with a pipe of wood, or any other imper- 
 fect conductor of heat, which would not 
 allow of its escaping by the way, it iright 
 undoubtedly be carried to a much greater 
 distance. By these means we were enabled 
 to get rid of the moisture about the births 
 where the people messed ; but when the wea- 
 ther became more severely cold, it still 
 accumulated in tlie bed-places occasionally 
 to a serious and very alarming degree. 
 Among the means employed to prevent the 
 injurious effects arising from this annoyance, 
 one of the most efficacious perhaps was a 
 screen made of fear-nought, fixed to the 
 beams round the galley, and dropping within 
 eighteen inches of the deck, which served 
 to intercept the steam from the coppers, and 
 prevent it as before from curling along the 
 beams, and condensing upon them inta 
 drops. This screen was especially useful 
 at the time of drawing off the beer, which 
 we had lately been in the habit of brewing 
 from essence of malt and hops, and which 
 continued to be served for several weeks as 
 a substitute for part of the usual allowance 
 
 iV 
 
 ' I 
 
 
 \..>.: 
 
 i£,i*- 
 
imper- 
 jIcI not 
 
 iright 
 greater 
 nabled 
 J births 
 iG wea- 
 it still 
 ionally 
 egree. 
 ;nt the 
 yance, 
 was a 
 to the 
 within 
 lerved 
 s, and 
 ig the 
 
 into 
 iseful 
 vhich 
 jwing 
 ^'hich 
 ks as 
 ^ance 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 175 
 
 of spirits. We found the steam arising 
 from this process so annoying during the 
 cold weather, that, valuable as the beer must 
 be considered as an antiscorbutic bev^rage^ 
 it was deemed advisable to discontinue our 
 brewery on that account. While on this 
 subject, I may also add that, when the wea- 
 ther became severely cold, we could not get 
 the beer to ferment, so as to make it palat- 
 able. 
 
 For the preservation of health, and as a 
 necessary measure of economy, a few altera- 
 tions were made in the quantity and quality 
 of the provisions issued. I directed the 
 allowance of bread to be permanently re- 
 duced to two-thirds, a precaution which, 
 perhaps, it would have been as well to have 
 adopted from the commencement of the 
 voyage. A pound of Donkin's preserved 
 meat, together with one phit of vegetable 
 or concentrated soup, per man, was sub- 
 stituted for onie pound of salt beef weekly ; 
 a proportion of beer and wine was served 
 in lieu of spirits; and a small quantity of 
 sourkrout and pickles, with as much vinegar 
 
 . 
 
 m 
 
■ I 
 
 }i' 
 
 \ I 
 
 i' I 
 
 no 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ag could be used, was issued at regular in- 
 tervals. The daily proportion of lime-juice 
 ?ind sugar was mixed together, and, with a 
 proper quantity of water, was drank by each 
 Ifnan in presence of an officer appointed to 
 attend to this duty. This latter precaution 
 may appear to have been unnecessary, to 
 those who are not aware how much sailors 
 resemble children in all those points in which 
 their own health and comfort are concerned. 
 Whenever any game was procured, it was 
 directed to be invariably served in lieu ofi 
 and not in addition to, the established allow- 
 ance of other meat, except in a few extra- 
 ordinary cases, when such an indulgence was 
 allowed ; and in no one instance, either in 
 quantity or quality, was the slightest pre- 
 ference given to the officers. . 
 
 In the article of fuel, which is of such 
 vital importance in so severe a climate, a 
 systeni of the most rigid economy was adopt- 
 ed ; such a quantity of coal only being ex- 
 pended, as was barely sufficient for the 
 preservation of health on board the ships. 
 A search was made for turf or moss imme- 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 
 •■,ii ■ 
 
 I 
 
 t*^^lf**1i*l».v,3'-iJ>'» ** 
 
 "'•ftnr->niif»»f.-. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 177 
 
 diately after our arrival, and a small quan- 
 tity of the latter was made use of as fuel ; 
 but, without a previous drying, which, from 
 the advanced period of the season, we had 
 no means of giving it, it was found to be too 
 wet to produce any saving of coals. We 
 also looked out most anxiously for a vein of 
 coal on shore, but only a few lumps were 
 picked up during our stay in Winter Har- 
 bour. 
 
 ' Great attention was paid to the clothing 
 of the men, and one day in the week was 
 appointed for the examination of the men's 
 shins and gums by the medical gentlemen, 
 in order that any slight appearance of the 
 scurvy might at once be detected, and 
 checked by timely and adequate means. 
 
 It was my intention to have caused the 
 bedding of the ships' companies to be brought 
 on deck, for the purpose of airing, at least 
 once a week during the winter ; but here, 
 also, a difficulty occurred, which, without 
 previous experience, could not perhaps have 
 been easily anticipated. Whenever a blanket 
 was brought on deck,, and suffered to remain 
 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 N 
 
a l,.1 
 
 178 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 n 
 
 .dr 
 
 there for a short time, it of course acquired 
 the temperature of the atmosphere. When 
 this happened to be rather low, under zero 
 of Fahrenheit for instance, the immediate 
 consequence, on taking the blanket again 
 into the inhabited parts of the ship was, that 
 the vapour settled and condensed upon it, 
 rendering it almost instantly so wet> as to be 
 unfit to sleep on, and requiring therefore, 
 after all, that it should be dried by artificial 
 heat before it could be returned ihto the 
 bed-place. We were, therefore, under the 
 necessity of hanging the bedding upon lines 
 between decks, as the only mode of airing 
 it ; and what was likely to prove still more 
 prejudicial, we were obliged to have recourse 
 to the same unhealthy measure in drying 
 the washed clothes. 
 
 Under circumstances of leisure and inac- 
 tivity, such as we were now placed in, and with 
 every prospect of its continuance for a very 
 large portion of the year, I was desirous of 
 finding some amusement for the men during* 
 this long and tedious interval. I proposed, 
 therefore, to the officers to get up a Play 
 occasionally on board the Hecla, as the rea- 
 
 ,_-_^.. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 179 
 
 diest means of preserving among our crews 
 that cheerfulness and good-humour which 
 had hitherto subsisted. In this proposal I 
 was readily seconded by the officers of both 
 ships ; and Lieutenant Beechey having been 
 duly elected as stage-manager, our first per- 
 formance was fixed for the 5th of November, 
 to the great delight of the ships* companies. 
 In these amusements I gladly undertook a 
 part myself, considering that an example of 
 cheerfulness, by giving a direct countenance 
 to every thing that could contribute to it, 
 was not the least essential part of my duty, 
 under the peculiar circumstances in which 
 we were placed. 
 
 In order still further to promote good- 
 humour among ourselves, as well as to fur- 
 nish amusing occupation, during the hours 
 of constant darkness, we set on foot a weekly 
 newspaper, which was to be called the Korth 
 Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle, and of 
 which Captain Sabine undertook to be the 
 editor, under the promise that it was to be 
 supported by original contributions from the 
 officers of the two ships ; and, though some 
 
 N % 
 
 u 
 
 4' 
 
 % 
 
■ I. ! i 
 
 it 
 
 l( 
 
 Ir 
 
 f 
 
 i/ 
 
 ill 
 
 '^m: U 
 
 180 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 objection may, perhaps, be raised against a 
 paper of this kind being generally resorted 
 to in ships of war, I was too well ac- 
 quainted with the discretion, as well as the 
 excellent dispositions of my officers, to ap- 
 prehend any unpleasant consequences from 
 a measure of this kind : instead of which I 
 can safely say, that the weekly contributions 
 had the happy effect of employing the lei- 
 sure hours of those who furnished them, and 
 of diverting the mind from the gloomy pro- 
 spect which would sometimes obtrude itself 
 on the stoutest heart. 
 
 Immediately on our arrival in harbour, 
 Captain Sabine had employed himself in se- 
 lecting a place for the observatory, which 
 was erected in a convenient spot, about se- 
 ven hundred yards to the westward of the 
 ships. It was also considered advisable im- 
 mediately to set about building a house near 
 the beach, for the reception of the clocks 
 and instruments. For this purpose we 
 made use of a quantity of fir-plank, which 
 was intended for the construction of spare 
 boats, and which was so cut as not to injure 
 
 fi 
 
 If. 
 
 V 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 181 
 
 gainst a 
 resorted 
 i^ell ac- 
 i as the 
 to ap- 
 es from 
 which I 
 butions 
 the lei- 
 Bm, and 
 ny pro- 
 le itself 
 
 arbour, 
 If in se- 
 whlch 
 out se- 
 of the 
 ble im- 
 se near 
 clocks 
 )se we 
 which 
 i* spare 
 injure 
 
 
 m 
 
 it for that purpose. The ground was so 
 hard frozen that it required great labour to 
 dig holes for the upright posts which formed 
 the support of the sides. The walls of this 
 house being double, with moss placed be- 
 teen the two, a high temperature could, 
 even in the severest weather which we 
 might be doomed to experience, be kept up 
 in it without difficulty by a single stove. 
 
 Among the many fortunate circumstances 
 which had attended us during this first sea- 
 son of our navigation, there was none more 
 striking than the opportune time at which 
 the ships were securely placed in harbour ; 
 for on the very night of our arrival, the 
 26th of September, the thermometer fell to 
 — 1°; and, on the following day, the sea was 
 observed from the hills to be quite frozen 
 over, as far as the eye could reach ; nor was. 
 any open water seen after this period. Du- 
 ring the first three weeks in October, how- 
 ever, we remarked that the young ice, near 
 the mouth of the harbour, was occasionally 
 squeezed up very much by the larger floes, 
 so that the latter miiist still have had some 
 
182 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 .>, . 
 
 ':! m 
 
 w 
 
 !•< 
 
 space left, in which to acquire motion: but 
 after that time the sea was entirely covered 
 with one uniform surface of solid and mo- 
 tionless ice. 
 
 After our arrival in port, we saw several 
 rein-deer, and a few coveys of grouse ; but 
 the country is so destitute of every thing like 
 cover of any kind, that our sportsmen were 
 not successful in their hunting excursions, 
 and we procured only three rein-deer, pre- 
 viously to the migration of these and the 
 other animals from the island, which took 
 place before the close of the month of Octo- 
 ber, leaving only the wolves and foxes to 
 bear us company during the winter. The 
 full-grown deer, which we killed in the au- 
 tumn, gave us from one hundred and twenty 
 to one hundred and seventy pounds of 
 meat each, and a fawn weighed eighty-four 
 pounds. 
 
 On the 1st of October, Captain Sabine's 
 servant having been at some distance from 
 the ships, to examine a fox-trap, w^as pur- 
 sued by a large white bear, which followed 
 his footsteps the whole way to the ships, 
 
 ^ 
 

 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 183 
 
 pon: but 
 covered 
 and mo- 
 
 V several 
 use; but 
 hing like 
 len were 
 :Jursions, 
 pre- 
 
 er. 
 
 and the 
 ch took 
 ofOcto- 
 bxes to 
 r. The 
 
 the au- 
 i twenty 
 mds of 
 ity-four 
 
 Sabine's 
 ce from 
 as pur- 
 
 )llowed 
 ships, 
 
 where he was wounded by several balls, but 
 made his escape after all. This bear, which 
 was the only one w^e saw during our stay in 
 Winter Harbour, was observed to be more 
 purely white than any we had before seen, 
 the colour of these animals being generally 
 that of a dirtyish yellow, when contrasted 
 with the whiteness of the ice and snow. 
 
 On the night of the 4th, we had a strong 
 gale from the southward, which gave us a 
 satisfactory proof of the security of the har- 
 bour we had chosen, for the main ice was 
 found in the morning to have pressed in very 
 forcibly upon that which was newly formed 
 near the entrance, while within the two 
 points of the harbour it remained perfectly 
 solid and undisturbed. Some deer being 
 seen near the ships on the 10th, a party was 
 despatched after them, some of whom hav- 
 ing wounded a stag, and being led on by 
 the ardour of pursuit, forgot my order 
 that every person should be on board before 
 sun-set, and did not return till late, after we 
 had suffered much apprehension on their 
 account, I therefore directed that the ex- 
 
 m 
 
 ii 
 
 t] 
 
.' .u 
 
 184 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ^ m i 
 
 pense of all rockets and other signals made 
 in such cases, should, in future, he charged 
 against the wages of the offending party. 
 John Pearson, a marine belonging to the 
 Griper, who was the last that returned on 
 board, had his hands severely frost-bitten, 
 having imprudently gone away without 
 mittens, and with a muket in his hand. A 
 party of our people most providentially 
 found him, although the night was very dark, 
 just as he had fallen down a steep bank of 
 snow, and was beginning to feel that degree 
 of torpor and drowsiness which, if indulged, 
 inevitably proves fatal. When he was 
 brought on board, his fingers were quite 
 stiff, and bent into the shape of that part of 
 the musket which he had been carrying : and 
 the frost had so far destroyed the animation 
 in his fingers on one hand, that it was ne- 
 cessary to amputate three of them a short 
 time after, notwithstanding all the care and 
 attention paid to him by the medical gen- 
 tlemen. The effect which exposure to se- 
 vere frost has, in benumbing the mental as 
 well as the corporeal faculties, was very 
 
 |v ' .1 
 
 
 i: 
 
p 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 185 
 
 Striking in this man, as well as in two of the 
 young gentlemen who returned after dark, 
 and of whom we were anxious to make in- 
 quiries respecting Pearson. When I sent 
 for them into my cabin, they looked wild, 
 spoke thick and indistinctly, and it was im- 
 possible to draw from them a rational answer 
 to any of our questions. After being on 
 board for a short time, the mental faculties 
 appeared gradually to return with the return- 
 ing circulation, and it was not till then that 
 a looker-on could easily persuade himself 
 that they had not been drinking too freely. 
 To those who have been much accustomed 
 to cold countries this will be no new remark ; 
 but I cannot help thinking (and. it is with 
 this view that I speak of it) that many a 
 man may have been punished for intoxica- 
 tion, who was only suffering from the be- 
 numbing effects of frost; for I have more 
 than once seen our people in a state so ex- 
 actly resembling that of the most stupid 
 intoxication, that I should certainly have, 
 charged them with that offence, had I not 
 been quite sure that no possible means were 
 
1 1 ■ 
 
 f' 
 
 
 |i:^i' 
 
 1^ t 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 if 
 
 I W 
 
 1 
 
 1 n^i 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 iTi ill 
 
 :s 
 
 
 t .' ■ ' ' 
 
 ,('. 
 
 *fJ%' 
 
 ■. "rf*!' 
 
 
 186 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 afTorded them on Melville Island to procure 
 any thing stronger than snow-water. In 
 order to guard in some measure against the 
 danger of persons losing their way, which 
 w^as more and more to be apprehended as 
 the days became shorter, and the ground 
 more covered with snow, which gives such 
 a dreary sameness to the country, we erected 
 on all the hills within two or three miles of 
 the harbour, finger-posts pointing towards, 
 the ships. 
 
 I have before remarked that all the water 
 which we made use of while within the polar 
 circle was procured from snow, either na- 
 turally or artificially dissolved. Soon after 
 the ships were laid up for the winter, it was 
 necessary to have recourse entirely to the 
 latter process, which added materially to the? 
 expenditure of fuel during the winter 
 months. The snow for this purpose was 
 dug out of the drifts, which had formed 
 upon the ice round the ships, and dissolved 
 in the coppers. We found it necessary 
 always to strain the water thus procured, 
 on account of the sand which the heavy 
 
:i 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 187 
 
 ) procure 
 
 ter. In 
 
 gainst the 
 
 y, which 
 
 ended as 
 
 B ground 
 
 ves such 
 
 e erected 
 
 miles of 
 
 towards. 
 
 he water 
 he polar 
 ither na- 
 )on after 
 Jr, it was 
 Y to the 
 ly to the 
 winter 
 >ose was 
 
 formed 
 
 issolved 
 ?cessary 
 ocured, 
 ) heavy 
 
 
 snow-drifts brought from the island, after 
 which it was quite pure and wholesome. 
 
 On the ICth, it blew a strong gale from 
 the northward, accompanied by such a cout 
 stant snow-drift, that although the weather 
 was quite clear over-head, the boat-houscj 
 at the distance of three or four hundred 
 yards, could scarcely be seen from the ships. 
 On such occasions, no person was permitted 
 on any account to leave the ships. Indeed, 
 when this snow-drift occurred, as it fre- 
 quently did during the winter, with a hard 
 gale, and the thermometer very low, I be-» 
 lieve that no human being could have re- 
 mained alive after an hour's exposure to it. 
 In order, therefore, to secure a communica- 
 tion between the ships, a distance not ex- 
 ceeding half a cable's length, as well as from 
 the ships to the house on shore, a line was 
 kept extended, as a guide from one to th$ 
 other. About the middle of October the 
 snow began to fall in smaller flakes than 
 during the summer; and soon after this, 
 whenever it fell, it consisted entirely of very 
 minute spiculce, assuming various forms of 
 
 
 M 
 
I J I J 
 
 188 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 crystallization. The meridian altitude of 
 the sun was observed this day by an artifi- 
 cial horizon, which I notice from the cir- 
 cumstance of its being the last time we had 
 an opportunity of observing it for about four 
 months. 
 
 On the 17th and 18th, our hunting parties 
 reported that the deer were more numerous 
 than they had been before, which made us 
 conclude that they were assembling their 
 forces for an immediate departure over the 
 ice to the continent of America, as we only 
 saw one or two on the island after this time. 
 They had been met with, since taking up 
 our quarters, in herds of from eight to twen- 
 ty, and from forty to fifty were seen in the 
 course of one day. A thermometer placed 
 in the sun at noon, on the 18th, rose only 
 to —9°, the temperature in the shade being 
 --16°. 
 
 - It had for some time past been a matter 
 of serious consideration with me, whether it 
 would be necessary to cut the ice round the 
 ships, which had by this time become so 
 firmly attached to the bends, that they were 
 
 ii* 
 
lY 
 
 Ititude of 
 
 an artifi- 
 
 the cir- 
 
 e we had 
 
 bout four 
 
 ig parties 
 lumerous 
 made us 
 ng their 
 over the 
 we only 
 his time, 
 aking up 
 to twen- 
 3n in the 
 r placed 
 ose only 
 ie being 
 
 I matter 
 fiether it 
 und the 
 ome so 
 ey were 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 189 
 
 %n 
 
 i ■ ^c> 
 
 completely imbedded in it. There happened 
 to be only two or three persons in the ex- 
 pedition, who had ever been frozen up du- 
 ring a whole winter in any of the cold coun- 
 tries, and I consulted these as to the expe- 
 diency of doing so. To put the matter out 
 of all doubt, however, I deemed it prudent 
 to order the ice to be cut round both ships, 
 an opBi. ition which occupied the two crews 
 almost the whole of two days, the ice being 
 now twenty-three inches in thickness; and 
 I determined to continue this operation daily, 
 as long »s the weather would permit. 
 
 The 20th of October was one of the finest 
 days which, as experience has since taught 
 us, ever occur in this climate, the weather 
 being clear, with little or no wind ; and, 
 though the thermometer remained steadily 
 between .-^15° and -^-.16° during the day, it 
 was rather pleasant to our feelings than 
 otherwise. Our sportsmen were out from 
 both ships the whole day, and returned, for 
 the first time, without having seen any living 
 animal, though they had walked over a very 
 considerable extent of ground ; so that the 
 
 w 
 
 ^M 
 
190 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 H 
 
 .•' 
 
 I t 
 
 ur 
 
 I 
 
 hope we had indulged of obtaining, occa- 
 sionally, a fresh meal, was now nearly at an 
 end for the rest of the winter. It was ob- 
 served from the hills, that the ice in the 
 offing had been thrown into higher hum- 
 mocks than before ; and in the morning we 
 saw a number of little vertical streams of 
 vapour rising from the sea, near the mouth 
 of the harbour, which was probably that phe- 
 nomenon vulgarly called the "barber'* in 
 North America, and which is occasioned, I 
 believe, by the vapour arising from the wa- 
 ter being condensed into a visible form by 
 the coldness of the atmosphere. It is pro- 
 bable, therefore, from the two circumstances 
 now mentioned, that a motion had taken 
 place among the floes in the offing, producing 
 first the pressure by which the hummocks 
 were thrown up, and then a partial separa- 
 tion leaving, for a time, a small space of 
 unfrozen surface. 
 
 On the 26th, the sun afforded us suffi- 
 cient light for writing and reading in my 
 cabin, the stern-windows exactly facing the 
 south, from half-past nine till half-past two ; 
 
 ii 
 
 ^ 
 
 'T' '^f 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 191 
 
 g, occa- 
 rly at an 
 was ob- 
 5 in the 
 er hiinri- 
 ning we 
 reams of 
 e mouth 
 hat phe- 
 rber" in 
 lioned, I 
 the wa- 
 form by 
 t is pro- 
 nstances 
 d taken 
 oducing 
 mmocks 
 separa- 
 pace of 
 
 :s 
 
 sufK- 
 
 m my 
 cing the 
 ist two; 
 
 r 
 ^ ' 
 
 for the rest of the four-and-twenty hours we 
 lived, of course, by candle-light. Notliiiig 
 could exci'f^d the beauty of the sky to the 
 south-east and south-west at sun-rise and 
 sun-set about this period : near the horizon 
 there was generally a rich bluish purple, and 
 a bright arch of deep red above, the one 
 mingling imperceptibly with the other. The 
 weather about this time was remarkably 
 mild, the mercury in the thermometer hav- 
 ing stood at or above zero for more than 
 forty-eight hours. By a register of the 
 temperature of the atmosphere, which was 
 kept by Captain Sabine at the observatory, 
 it was found that the thermometer, invaria- 
 bly, stood at least from 2° to 5°, and even 
 on one or two occasions as much as 7° higher 
 on the outside of the ships, than it did on 
 shore, owing probably to a warm atmosphere 
 created round the former by the constant 
 fires kept up on board. 
 
 It now became rather a painful experi- 
 ment to touch any metallic substance in the 
 open air with the naked hand ; the feeling 
 produced by it exactly resembling that 
 
 f 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 
<f 
 
 192 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 occasioned by the opposite extreme of in- 
 tense heat, and taking off the skin from the 
 part affected. We found it necessary, 
 therefore, to use great caution in hand- 
 ling our sextants and other instruments, 
 particularly the eye-pieces of telescopes, 
 which, if suffered to touch the face, occa- 
 sioned an intense burning pain; but this 
 was easily remedied by covering them over 
 with soft leather. Another effect, with re- 
 gard to the use of instruments, began to ap- 
 pear about this time. Whenever any instru- 
 ment, which had been some time exposed to 
 the atmosphere, so as to be cooled down to 
 the same temperature, was suddenly brought 
 below into the cabins, the vapour was in- 
 stantly condensed all around it, so as to give, 
 the instrument the appearance of smoking^ 
 and the glasses were covered almost instan- 
 taneously with a thin coating of ice, the re- 
 moval of which required great caution to 
 prevent the risk of injuring them, until it 
 had gradually thawed, as they acquired the 
 temperature of the cabin. When a candle 
 was placed ip a certain direction from the 
 
 
 i 
 
 ,/'. 
 
 
i • I 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 193 
 
 itll' 
 
 I 
 
 instrument, with respect to the observer, 
 a number of very minute spiculce of snow 
 were also seen sparkling around the instru- 
 ment, at jthe distance of two or three inches 
 from it, occasioned, as we supposed, by the 
 cold atmosphere produced by the low tem- 
 perature of the instrument almost instanta- 
 neously congealing into that form the vapour 
 which floated in its immediate neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 The month of November commenced with 
 mild weather, which continued for the first 
 .ten days. It is generally supposed, by those 
 who have not experienced the efFect.«i pro- 
 duced upon the feelings by the various 
 alterations in the temperature of the atmos- 
 phere, when the thermometer is low, that a 
 change of 10*^ or 15° makes no sensible dif- 
 ference in the sensation of cold ; but this is 
 by no means the case, for it was a remark 
 continually made among us, that our bodies 
 appeared to adapt themselves so readily to 
 the climate, that the scale of our feelings, if 
 I may so express it, was soon reduced to a 
 lower standard than ordinary; so that, after 
 
 i r^ 
 
 al 
 
 M 
 
 s i"' 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 { 
 
 Mi 
 
 
 living for some days in a temperature of 
 —15° or — 20**, it felt quite mild and com- 
 fortable when the thermometer rose to zero, 
 and vice tersd. 
 
 The 4th of November being the last day 
 that the sun would, independently of the ef- 
 fects of refraction, be seen above our horizon 
 till the eighth of February, an interval of 
 ninety-six days, it was a matter of consider- 
 able regret to us that the weather about this 
 time was not sufficiently clear to allow us to 
 see and make observations on the disappear- 
 ance of that luminary, in order that some- 
 thing might be attempted towards determin- 
 ing the amount of the atmospherical refraction 
 at a low temperature. But though we were 
 not permitted to take a last farewell, for at 
 least three months, of that cheering orb, 
 " of this great world, both eye and soul," 
 we nevertheless felt that this day constituted 
 an important and memorable epoch in our 
 voyage. We had some time before set about 
 the preparations for our winter's amuse- 
 ments; and the theatre being ready, we 
 opened on the 5 th of November with the 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 195 
 
 111 
 Ik:: 
 
 1 
 
 representation of Miss in her Teens, aich 
 afforded to the men such a fund of amust ent 
 as fully to justify the expectations we had 
 formed of the utility of theatrical entertain- 
 ments under our present circumstances, and 
 to determine me to follow them up at stated 
 periods. I found, indeed, that even the oc- 
 cupation of fitting up the theatre, and taking 
 it to pieces again, which employed a number 
 of the men for a day or two before and after 
 each performance, was a matter of no little 
 importance, when the immediate duties of 
 ship appeared by no means sufficient for that 
 purpose; for I dreaded the want of em- 
 ployment as one of the worst evils that was 
 likely to befal us. 
 
 On the forenoon of the 1 1th, the thermo- 
 meter having again fallen to — 26J^, the 
 smoke, as it escaped from the funnels, 
 scarcely rose at all above the housing. Mr. 
 Ross, having gone to the mast-head at noon, 
 reported that he saw the sun. 
 
 About the time of the sun's leaving us, 
 the wolves began to approach the ships more 
 boldly, howling most piteously on the beach 
 
 o 2 
 
 
 ■f3 
 
it' I 
 
 196 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 H '11 
 
 near us, sometimes for hours together, and, 
 on one or two occasions, coming alongside 
 the ships, when every thing was quiet at 
 night ; but we seldom saw more than one or 
 two together, and, therefore, could form no 
 idea of their number. These animals were 
 always very shy of coming near our people, 
 and, though evidently suffering much from 
 hunger, never attempted to attack any of 
 them. The white foxes used also to visit the 
 ships at night, and one of these was caught 
 in a trap set under the Griper's bows. The 
 uneasiness displayed by this beautiful little 
 animal during the time of his confinement, 
 whenever he heard the howling of a wolf 
 near the ships, impressed us with an opinion, 
 that the latter is in the habit of hunting the 
 fox as his prey. 
 
 The rapidity with which the ice formed 
 round the ships had now become so great, as 
 to employ our people for several hours each 
 day in cutting it; and for the last three days 
 our utmost labour during the time of twilight 
 could scarcely keep it clear. As it was 
 evident, therefore, that, as the frost in- 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
RY 
 
 ether, and, 
 alongside 
 IS quiet at 
 han one or 
 d form no 
 mals were 
 ur people, 
 nuch from 
 ck any of 
 to visit the 
 i^as caught 
 >ows. The 
 itiful little 
 nfinement, 
 of a wolf 
 m opinion, 
 anting the 
 
 ce formed 
 great, as 
 ours each 
 hree days 
 of twilight 
 Ls it was 
 frost in- 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 19 
 
 creased, we could not possibly effect this, 
 and as the men almost always got their feet 
 wet in sawing the ice, from which the most 
 injurious effects upon their health were 
 likely to result, I gave orders to leave ofi' 
 cutting it any more during the severity of 
 the winter. The average formation of ice 
 round the ships, during the time we con- 
 tinued to remove it, was usually from three 
 to five inches in twenty-four hours ; and 
 once it froze eight inches in twenty-six 
 hours, the mean temperature of the atmos- 
 phere being — 12°. At noon to-day we 
 saw, for the first time at this hour, a star of 
 the first magnitude (Capella), and at half an 
 hour past noon those of the second magni- 
 tude in Ursa Major were visible; which 
 circumstance will, perhaps, give the best 
 idea of the weakness of the sun's light at 
 this period. 
 
 The temperature of the atmosphere hav- 
 ing, about this time, become considerably 
 lower than before, the cracking of the tim- 
 bers was very frequent and loud for a time ; 
 but generally ceased altogether in an hour 
 or two after this fall had taken place in the 
 

 4 
 
 ! :'■■, 
 
 
 
 :. 'I 
 
 m 
 
 "I \i 
 
 W ,U 
 
 II V-' 
 
 f 
 
 
 198 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 thermometer, and did not occur again at the 
 same temperature during the winter. The 
 wind blowing fresh from the northward, with 
 a heavy snow-drift, made the ship very cold 
 below; so that the breath and other vapour 
 accumulated during the night in the bed- 
 places and upon the beams, and then imme- 
 diately froze; hence it often occupied all 
 hands for two or three hours during the day 
 to scrape the ice away, in order to prevent 
 the bedding from becoming wet by the in- 
 crease of temperature occasioned by the 
 fires. It was therefore found necessary to 
 keep some of the fires in b^ tween decks at 
 night, when the thermometer was below 
 — 15° or — 20° in the open air, especially 
 when the wind was high. To assist in keep- 
 ing the lower decks warm, as well as to 
 retard, in some slight degree, the formation 
 of ice immediately in contact with the ships' 
 bends, we banked the snow up against their 
 sides, as high as the main-chains ; and can- 
 vass screens were nailed round all the hatch- 
 ways on the lower deck. 
 The stars of the second magnitude in 
 
 IB 
 
 n \ 
 
 J ' 
 
r f 
 
 ; \ 
 
 Y 
 
 ain at the 
 er. The 
 ;^ard, with 
 very cold 
 3r vapour 
 the bed- 
 en imme- 
 upied all 
 
 the day 
 > prevent 
 y the in- 
 
 by the 
 essary to 
 decks at 
 IS below 
 specially 
 in keep- 
 ell as to 
 brmation 
 he ships* 
 nst their 
 and can- 
 le hatch- 
 
 itude in 
 
 L'fl 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 199 
 
 Ursa Major were just perceptible to the na- 
 ked eye a little after noon this day, and the 
 Aurora Borealis appeared faintly in the 
 south-west at night. About this time our 
 medical gentlemen began to remark the ex- 
 treme difficulty with which sores of every 
 kind healed ; a circumstance that rendered 
 it the more necessary to be cautious in ex- 
 posing the men to frost-bites, lest the long 
 inactivity an^ want of exercise during the 
 cure of sores, in other respects trifling, should 
 produce serious effects upon the general 
 health of the patients. 
 
 From midnight on the 20th, till two o'clock 
 on the following morning, the thermometer 
 rose from — 46° to — 40|°, and at half-past 
 three a gale came on from the northward, 
 which continued to blow, and the thermo- 
 meter gradually to rise, till the latter had 
 reached — 2 1 ° at midnight. This was one of 
 a great many instances which occurred during 
 tlie winter, of an increase of wind, from what- 
 ever quarter, being accompanied by a simul- 
 taneous rise in the thermometer. The gale 
 continued strong for the greater part of the 
 
 
«* i 
 
 200 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ill! 
 
 h 
 
 i 
 
 
 two following days, with a tremendous 
 snow-drift, which kept us all on board till 
 the afternoon of the 23d. In the mean time 
 another play had been prepared, and our se- 
 cond performance, to which the crews had 
 been anxiously looking forward, took place 
 on the evening of the 24th. 
 
 During the following fortnight, we were 
 chiefly occupied in observing various pheno- 
 mena in the heavens, the vivid coruscations 
 of the Aurora Borealis, the falling of me- 
 teors, and in taking lunar distances; but 
 the difficulty of making observations in this 
 climate is inconceivably great; on one oc- 
 casion the mercury of the artificial horizon 
 froze into a solid mass. 
 
 The water in the Hecla's pump-well had, 
 by this time, Dec. 17, become completely 
 frozen, so that it was no longer possible to 
 work the pumps. In what manner the pumps 
 could be kept free under such circumstances, 
 if it were found necessary, I do not know, as 
 there would have been a risk of damaging 
 the lower part of them, in detaching the ice 
 from it to make the experiment. The Hecla, 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 201 
 
 however, was so tight as not to require it ; 
 as a proof of which it need only ue mention- 
 ed, that the same twenty inches of ice which 
 was formed about this period, remained 
 without any addition for more than six 
 months, during which time she was never 
 once pumped out ; and the only inconvenience 
 that resulted from this, was the accumulation 
 of a small quantity of ice among the coals 
 in the lower part of the fore and main 
 holds. 
 
 About this part of the winter, we began 
 to experience a more serious inconvenience 
 from the bursting of the lemon-juice bot- 
 tles by frost, the whole contents being fre- 
 quently frozen into a solid mass, except a 
 small portion of highly-concentrated acid in 
 the centre, which, in most instances, was 
 found to have leaked out, so that when the 
 ice was thawed, it was little better than wa- 
 ter. This evil increased to a very alarming 
 degree in the course of the winter : some 
 cases being opened in which more than two- 
 thirds of the lemon-juice was thus destroyed, 
 and the remainder rendered nearly ineffi- 
 cient. 
 
 ^i 
 
 h 
 
m 
 
 :* 
 
 [! 
 
 If. > 
 
 /:. 
 
 202 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 It was at first supposed that this accident 
 might have been prevented by not quite fill', 
 ing the bottles, but it was afterwards found, 
 that the corks flying out did not save them 
 from breaking. We observed that the great- 
 est damage was done in those cases wliich 
 were stowed nearest to the ship's side, and 
 we therefore removed all the rest amidships, 
 a precaution which, had it been sooner known 
 and adopted, would probably ha^/e prevent- 
 ed, at least, a part of the mischief. The 
 vinegar also became frozen in the casks in 
 the same manner, and lost a great deal of 
 its acidity when thawed. This circumstance 
 conferred an additional yplue on a few gallons 
 of very highly -concentrated vinegar, which 
 had been sent out on trial upon this and 
 the preceding voyage, and which, when 
 mixed with six or seven times its own quan- 
 tity of water, was sufficiently acid for every 
 purpose. This vinegar, when exposed to 
 the temperature of 25° below zero, con- 
 gealed only into a consistence like that of 
 the thickest honey, but was never sufficiently 
 hard to bre^^k any vessel which contained it. 
 
 I { 
 
 i 
 
 ■n 
 
 (I ■*, 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PAS.'^ \0E. 
 
 203 
 
 accident 
 luite fill* 
 Is found, 
 ive them 
 le great- 
 s which 
 ide, and 
 lidships, 
 ;r known 
 prevent- 
 f. The 
 casks in 
 deal of 
 mstance 
 ^gallons 
 r, which 
 this and 
 , when 
 n quan- 
 »r every 
 Dsed to 
 0, con- 
 that of 
 iciently 
 lined it. 
 
 iff 
 
 u.'r 
 
 There can be no doubt, therefore, that on 
 this account, as well as to save stowage 
 this kind of vinegar should exclusively be 
 used in these regions; and for similar rea- 
 sons, of still greater importance, the lemon- 
 juice should be concentrated. 
 
 On the 19th, the weather being fine and 
 clear, the Aurora Borealis appeared fre- 
 quently at different times of the day, ge- 
 nerally from the south to the W.N.W. 
 quarters, and not very vivid. From eight 
 P.M. till midnight, however, it became more 
 brilliant, and broke out in every part of the 
 heavens, being generally most bright from 
 S.S.W. to S. W., where it had the appearance 
 of emerging from behind a dark cloud, about 
 five degrees above the horizon. We could 
 not, however, help feehng some disappoint- 
 ment in not having yet witnessed this beau- 
 tiful phenomenon in any degree of perfec- 
 tion which could be compared to that 
 which occurs at Shetland, or in the Atlantic, 
 about the same latitude as these islands. 
 On the morning of the 20th, the Aurora 
 Borealis again made its appearance in the 
 
 !■' 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 

 M 
 
 ^04 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 • .\' 
 
 V'i *J 
 
 W 
 
 N.W., which was more to the northward 
 than usual; it here resembled two small 
 bright clouds, the one nearly touching the 
 other, and being about seven degrees above 
 the horizon. These remained quite sta- 
 tionary for half an hour, and then broke 
 up into streams shooting rapidly towards 
 the zenith. 
 
 We had now reached the shortest day, 
 Wed. 22d, and such was the occupation which 
 we had hitherto contrived to find during the 
 first half of our long and gloomy winter, that 
 the quickness with which it had come upon 
 us was a subject of general remark. So 
 far, indeed, were we from wanting that oc- 
 cupation of which I had been apprehensive, 
 especially among the men, that it acci- 
 dentally came to my knowledge about this 
 period that they complained of not having 
 time to mend their clothes. This complaint 
 I was as glad to hear, as desirous to rec- 
 tify ; and I therefore ordered that, in fu- 
 ture, one afternoon in each w^eek should be 
 set aside for that particular purpose. 
 
 The circumstances of our situation being 
 
 ' i 
 
)rthwarcl 
 
 small 
 hing the 
 Js above 
 ite sta- 
 
 1 broke 
 towards 
 
 St day, 
 n which 
 •ing the 
 er, that 
 le upon 
 ^k. So 
 hat oc- 
 lensive, 
 t acci- 
 ut this 
 having 
 nplaint 
 ;o rec- 
 in fu- 
 uld be 
 
 being 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 205 
 
 such as have never before occurred to the 
 crews of any of His Majesty's ships, it may 
 not, perhaps, be considered wholly uninter- 
 esting, to know in what manner our time 
 was thus so fully occupied throughout the 
 long and severe winter, which it was our lot 
 to experience, and particularly during a 
 three months' interval of nearly total dark- 
 ness. 
 
 The officers and quarter-masters were 
 divided into four watches, which were regu- 
 larly kept, as at sea, while the remainder of 
 the ship's company were allowed to enjoy 
 their night's rest undisturbed. The hands 
 were turned up at a quarter before six, ami 
 both decks were well rubbed with stones 
 and warm sand before eight o'clock, at which 
 time, as usual at sea, both officers and men 
 went to breakfast. Three quarters of an 
 hour being allowed after breakfast for the 
 men to prepare themselves for muster, we 
 then beat to divisions punctually at a quar- 
 ter-past nine, when every person on board 
 attended on the quarter-deck, and a strict 
 inspection of the men took place, as to their 
 
 i" 
 
 I. 
 
 I 
 
•«*r A lit •''rm 
 
 i\ ^ it m 
 
 '■m 
 
 \ 
 
 7^ ^ 
 
 ti i 
 
 
 206 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 A 1 
 
 personal cleanliness, and the good condition, 
 as well as sufficient warmth, of their cloth- 
 ing. The reports of the officers having 
 been made to me, the people were then al- 
 lowed to walk about, or, more usually, to 
 run round the upper deck, while I went 
 down to examine the state of that below, 
 accompanied, as I before mentioned, by 
 Lieutenant Beechey and Mr. Edwards. 
 The state of this deck may be said, indeed, 
 to have constituted the chief source of our 
 anxiety, and to have occupied by far th$ 
 greatest share of our attention at this pe- 
 riod. Whenever any dampness appeared, 
 or, what more frequently happened, any 
 accumulation of ice had taken place during 
 the preceding night, the necessary means 
 were immediately adopted for removing it; 
 in the former case usually by rubbing the 
 wood with cloths, and then directing the 
 warm air-pipe towards the place ; and in the 
 latter by scraping off the ice, so as to pre- 
 vent its wetting the deck by any accidental 
 increase of temperature. In this respect 
 the bed-places were particularly trouble*- 
 
:y 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 207 
 
 condition, 
 eir cloth- 
 's having 
 
 then al- 
 lually, to 
 
 I went 
 tt below, 
 oned, by 
 
 dwards. 
 
 indeed, 
 B of our 
 
 far th^ 
 this pe- 
 ppeared, 
 led, any 
 e during 
 ^ means 
 •ving it; 
 )ing the 
 iing the 
 d in the 
 to pre- 
 cidental 
 respect 
 rouble*- 
 
 m 
 
 It 
 
 n 
 
 some ; the inner partition, or that next the 
 ship's side, being almost invariably covered 
 with more or less dampness or ice, accord- 
 ing to the temperature of the deck during 
 the preceding night. This inconvenience 
 might to a great degree have been avoided, 
 by a sufficient quantity of fuel to keep up 
 two good fires on the lower deck, through- 
 out the twenty- four hours; but our stock 
 of coals would by no means permit this, 
 bearing in mind the possibility of our 
 spending a second winter within the Arctic 
 circle; and this comfort could only, there- 
 fore, be allowed on a few occasions, during 
 the most severe part of the winter. 
 
 In the course of my examination of the 
 lower deck, I had always an opportunity of 
 seeing those few men who were on the sick 
 list, and of receiving from Mr. Edwards a 
 report of their respective cases; as also of 
 consulting that gentleman as to the means 
 of improving the warmth, ventilation, and 
 general comfort of the inhabited parts of 
 the ship. Having performed this duty, we 
 returned to the upper deck, where I per- 
 
 (( 
 
 I 
 
 » 
 
N 
 
 U'-i 
 
 it 
 
 'i, > 
 
 • Ai 
 
 Hi 
 
 ^»l 
 
 r V 
 
 V\'. 
 
 l^'' 
 
 y1 
 
 208 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 sonally inspected the men ; after which they 
 were sent out to walk on shore, when tlie 
 weather would permit, till noon, when they 
 returned on board to their dinner. When 
 the day was too inclement for them to take 
 this exercise, they were ordered to run 
 round and round the deck, keeping step to 
 the tune of an organ, or, not unftequently, 
 to a song of their own singing. Among the 
 men were a few who did not at first quite 
 like this systematic mode of taking exercise ; 
 but when they found that no plea, except 
 that of illness, was admitted as an excuse, 
 they not only willingly and cheerfully com- 
 plied, but made it the occasion of much hu- 
 mour and frolic among themselves. 
 
 The officers, who dined at two o'clock, 
 were also in the habit of occupying one or 
 two hours in the middle of the day in ram- 
 bling on shore, even in our darkest period, 
 except when a fresh wind and a heavy snow- 
 drift confined them within the housing of 
 the ships. It may well be imagined that at 
 this period, there was but little to be met 
 with in our walks on shore, which could 
 
 fe: 
 
 '^i' ■•? 
 
 •MM 
 
 ,I Ig"lj i'i>#. y i .l i !" i L, i >» ii 
 
OF NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, 
 
 209 
 
 ■ r .^■^^' 
 
 either amuse or interest us. The necessity 
 of not exceeding the limited distance of one 
 or two miles, lest a snow-drift, which often 
 rises very suddenly, should prevent our re- 
 turn, added considerably to the dull and 
 tedious monotony which, day after day, 
 presented itself. To the southwarrl was 
 the sea, covered with one unbroken surface 
 of ice, uniform in its dazzling whiteness, 
 except that, in some parts, a few hummocks 
 were seen thrown up somewhat above the 
 general level. Nor did the land offer much 
 greater variety, being almost entirely co- 
 vered with snow, except here and there a 
 brown patch of bare ground in some expos- 
 ed situations, where the wind had not allow- 
 ed the snow to remain. When viewed from 
 the summit of the neighbouring hills, on one 
 of those calm and clear days, which not un- 
 frequently occurred during the winter, the 
 scene was such as to induce contemplations 
 which had, perhaps, more of melancholy 
 than of any other feeling. Not an object 
 was to be seen on which the eye could long 
 rest with pleasure, unless when directed to 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
 r\ 
 
 <;i 
 
I\ 
 
 no 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ,«' 
 
 ^}m 
 
 the spot where the ships lay, and where our 
 little colony was planted. The smoke which 
 there issued from the several fires, affording 
 a certain indication of the presence of man, 
 gave a partial cheerfulness to this part of 
 the prospect ; and the sound of voices, which, 
 during the cold weather, could be heard at 
 a much greater distance than usual, served 
 now and then to break the silence which 
 reigned around us, a silence far different 
 from that peaceable composure which cha- 
 racterizes the landscape of a cultivated coun- 
 try; it was the death-like stillness of the 
 most dreary desolation, and the total ab- 
 sence of animated existence* Such, indeed, 
 was the want of objects to afford relief to 
 the eye or amusement to the mind, that a 
 stone of more than usual size appearing 
 rbove the snow, in the direction in which 
 we were going, immediately became a mark, 
 on which our eyes were unconsciously fixed, 
 and towards which we mechanically ad- 
 vanced. . 
 
 Dreary as such a scene must necessarily 
 be, it could not, however, be said to be 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 211 
 
 wholly wanting in interest, especially when 
 associated in the mind with the peculiarity 
 of our situation, the object which had 
 brought us hither, and the hopes which the 
 least sanguine among us sometimes enter- 
 tained, of spending a part of our next win- 
 ter in the more genial climate of the South- 
 Sea Islands. Perhaps, too, though none of 
 us then ventured to confess it, our thoughts 
 would sometimes involuntarily wander 
 homewards, and institute a comparison be- 
 tween the rugged face of nature in this de- 
 solate region, and the livelier aspect of the 
 happy land which we had left behind us. 
 . We had frequent occasion, in our walks 
 on shore, to remark the deception which 
 takes place in estimating the distance and 
 magnitude of objects, when viewed over an 
 unvaried surface of snow. It was not un- 
 common for us to direct our steps towards 
 what we took to be a Igrge mass of stone, 
 at the distance of half a mile from us, but 
 which we were able to take up in our hands 
 after one minute's walk. This was more 
 particularly the case, when ascending the 
 
 p 2 
 
 
 % 
 
 
.] 
 
 ' ' . '■I 
 
 *i1j 
 
 l« ('! 
 
 ,? « 
 
 rr 
 
 212 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 brow of a hill, nor did we find that the de- 
 ception became less, on account of the fre- 
 quency with which we experienced its ef- 
 fects. 
 
 In the afternoon, the men were usually 
 occupied in drawing and knotting yarnsj 
 and in making points and gaskets ; a never- 
 failing resource, where mere occupation is 
 required, and which it was necessary to per- 
 form entirely on the lower deck, the yarns 
 becoming so hard and brittle, when exposed 
 on deck to the temperature of the atmos- 
 phere, as to be too stiff for working, and 
 Very easily broken. I m_ay in this place re- 
 mark that our lower rigging became ex- 
 tremely slack during the severity of the 
 winter, and gradually tightened again as the 
 spring returned : effects the very reverse of 
 those which we had anticipated, and which 
 I can only account for by the extreme dry- 
 ness of the atmosphere in the middle of 
 winter, and the subsequent increase of mois- 
 ture. 
 
 At half-past five in the evening, the decks 
 were cleared up, and at six we again beat 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 213 
 
 the de- 
 
 the fre- 
 
 its ef- 
 
 usually 
 yarnsj 
 never- 
 ition is 
 to per- 
 j yarns 
 xposed 
 atmos- 
 ig, and 
 ace re- 
 ne ex- 
 of the 
 I as the 
 erse of 
 . which 
 le dry- 
 Idle of 
 f mois- 
 
 j decks 
 in beat 
 
 I 
 
 \o divisions, when the same examination of 
 the men and of their births and bed-places 
 took place as in the morning ; the people then 
 went to their supper, and the officers to tea. 
 After this time the men were permitted to 
 amuse tliemselves as they pleased, and 
 games of various kinds, as well as dancing 
 and singing occasionally, went on upon the 
 lower deck till nine o'clock, when they went 
 to bed, and their lights were extinguished. 
 In order to guard against accidents by fire, 
 where so many fires and lights were neces- 
 sarily in use, the quarter-masters visited the 
 lower deck every half-hour during the night, 
 and made their report to the officers of the 
 watches that all was, in this respect, safe 
 below, and to secure a ready supply of wa- 
 ter in case of fire, a hole was cut twice a 
 day in the ice, close alongside each ship. It 
 is scarcely necessary to add, that the evening 
 occupations of the officers were of a more 
 rational kind than those which engaged the 
 attention of the men. Of these, reading 
 and writing were the principal employments, 
 to which were occasionally added a game 
 
 h\ 
 
 "■n: ■v*-wtfi\u:'j«»£'W^^-w*--< 
 
 /) 
 
3 
 
 Kl 
 
 214 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 1 /til 
 
 / i i\ 
 
 of chess, or a tune on the flute or vioHn, 
 till half-past ten, about which time we all 
 retired to rest. 
 
 . Such were the employments which usually 
 occupied us for six days in the week, 
 with such exceptions only as circumstances 
 at the time suggested. On Sundays, divine 
 service was invariably performed, and a 
 sermon read on board both ships ; the prayer 
 appointed to be daily used at sea being 
 altered, so as to adapt it to the service in 
 which we were engaged, the success which 
 had hitherto attended our efforts, and the 
 peculiar circumstances under which we were 
 at present placed. The attention paid by 
 tlie men to the observance of their religious 
 duties, was such as to reflect upon them the 
 highest credit, and tended in no small de- 
 gree to the preservation of that regularity 
 and good conduct, for . which, with very 
 few exceptions, they were invariably distin- 
 guished. 
 
 Our theatrical entertainments took place 
 regularly once a fortnight, and continued to 
 prove a source of infinite amusement to the 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 215 
 
 • violin, 
 e we all 
 
 usually 
 week, 
 istances 
 , divine 
 and a 
 J prayer 
 . being 
 vice in 
 5 which 
 ^nd the 
 ve were 
 paid by 
 ?ligious 
 em the 
 lall de- 
 ;ularity 
 1 very 
 distin- 
 
 c place 
 
 lued to 
 
 to the 
 
 men. Our stock of plays was so scanty, con- 
 sisting only of one or two volumes, which 
 happened accidentally to be on board, that it 
 was with difficulty we could find the means 
 of varying the peformances sufficiently; 
 our authors, therefore, set to work, and pro- 
 duced as a Christmas piece, a musical en- 
 tertainment, expressly adapted to our au- 
 dience, and having such a reference to the 
 service on which we were engaged, and the 
 success we had so far experienced, as at 
 once to afford a high degree of present re- 
 creation, and to stimulate, if possible, the 
 sanguine hopes which were entertained by 
 all on board, of the complete accomplish- 
 ment of our enterprise. We were at one 
 time apprehensive, that the severity of the 
 weather would have prevented the continu- 
 ance of this amusement, but the perseve- 
 rance of the officers overcame every diffi- 
 culty; and, perhaps for the first time since 
 theatrical entertainments were invented, 
 more than one or two plays were performed, 
 on board the Hecla, with the thermometer 
 below zero on the stage. 
 
 i* 
 t 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 

 
 iP 
 
 B if 
 
 ^' ii 
 
 > > 
 
 irui. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 . ''Ml 
 
 i t iif ' 
 
 21G 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Th»j North Georgia Gazette, which I have 
 already mentioned, was a source of great 
 amusement, not only to the contributors, 
 but to those who, from diffidence of their 
 own talents, or other reasons, could not be 
 prevailed on to add their mite to the little 
 stock of literary composition, which was 
 weekly demanded; for those who declined 
 to write were not unwilling to read, and 
 more ready to criticise than those who 
 wielded the pen ; but it was that good-hu- 
 moured sort of criticism that could not give 
 offence. The subjects handled in this paper 
 were, of course, various, but generally ap- 
 plicable to our own situation. Of its 
 merits or defects it will not be necessary 
 for me to say any thing here, as I find that 
 the officers, who were chiefly concerned in 
 carrying it on, have agreed to print it for 
 the entertainment of their friends ; the pub<^ 
 Usher being at liberty, after supplying each 
 with a certain number of copies, to dispose 
 of the rest. 
 
 , The return of each successive day had 
 been always very decidedly marked by a 
 
;Ii I have 
 of great 
 ributors, 
 
 of their 
 d not be 
 :he httle 
 lich was 
 declined 
 iad, and 
 ►se who 
 ^ood-hu- 
 not give 
 lis paper 
 ally ap- 
 
 Of its 
 ecessary 
 Snd that 
 erned in 
 at it for 
 the pub-r 
 ing each 
 
 dispose 
 
 lay had 
 d by a 
 
 I 
 
 OF A NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 217 
 
 considerable twilight for some time about 
 noon, that on the shortest day being suffi- 
 cient to enable us to walk out very com- 
 fortably for nearly two hours.* There was, 
 usually, in clear weather, a beautiful arch 
 of bright red light, overspreading the south- 
 ern horizon for an hour or two before and 
 after noon, the light increasing, of course, 
 in strength, as the sun approached the me- 
 ridian. Short as the day now was, if indeed 
 any part of the twenty-four hours could pro- 
 perly be called by that name, the reflection of 
 light from the snow, aided occasionally by a 
 bright moon, was at all times sufficient to 
 prevent our experiencing, even under the 
 most unfavourable circumstances, any thing 
 like the gloomy night which occurs in more 
 temperate climates. Especial care was taken, 
 during the time the sun was below the hori- 
 zon to preserve the strictest regularity in the 
 time of our meals, and in the various occu- 
 
 * It will, perhaps, give the best idea of the power of the sun*s 
 light afforded us on this day, to state, that we could, at noon, read 
 with tolerable ease, the same sized type as that in which this note 
 is printed ; but this could only be done by turning the book directly 
 towards the south. 
 
 V 
 
 
 Ml 
 
 IP 
 
 i 
 
218 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 'i I 
 
 pations which engaged our attention during 
 the day ; and this, together with the gradual 
 and imperceptible manner in which the 
 days had shortened, prevented this kind of 
 life, so novel to us in reality, from appearing 
 very inconvenient, or indeed like any thing 
 out of the common way. It must be con- 
 fessed, however, that we were not sorry to 
 have arrived without any serious suffering, 
 at the shortest day; and we watched with 
 no ordinary degree of pleasure, the slow 
 approach of the returning sun. 
 
 On Christmas-day the weather was raw 
 and cold, with a considerable snow-drift, 
 though the wind was only moderate from the 
 N.W. ; but the snow which falls during the 
 severe winter of this climate is composed of 
 spiculae so extremely minute, that it requires 
 very little wind to raise and carry it along. 
 To mark the day in the best manner which 
 circumstances would permit, divine service 
 was performed on board the ships ; and I 
 directed a small increase in the men's usual 
 proportion of fresh meat as a Christmas- 
 dinner, as well as an additional allowance of 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 219 
 
 grog, to drink the health of their friends in 
 England. The officers also met at a social 
 and freindly dinner, and the day passed with 
 much of the same kind of festivity by which 
 it is usually distinguished at home ; and, to 
 the credit of the men be it spoken, without 
 any of that disorder by which it is too often 
 observed by seamen. A piece of English 
 roast-beef, which formed part of the officers' 
 dinner, had been on board since the preced- 
 ing May, and preserved without salt during 
 that period, merely by the antiseptic pro- 
 perties of a cold atmosphere. 
 
 A great many frost-bites occurred about 
 this time, 30th, principally in the men's feet, 
 even when they had been V<ilking quickly 
 on shore for exercise. On examining their 
 boots, Mr. Edwards remarked, that the 
 stiffness of the thick leather, of which they 
 were made, was such as to cramp the feet, 
 and prevent the circulation from going on 
 freely, and that this alone was sufficient to 
 account for their feet having been frost-bitten. 
 Being very desirous of avoiding Sthese acci- 
 dents, which, from the increased sluggish- 
 
 n 
 
 < 
 
220 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 * ) 
 
 ness with which the sores healed, were more 
 and more likely to affect the general health 
 of the patients by long confinement, I di- 
 rected a pair of canvass boots, lined with 
 blanketting, or some other woollen stuff, to 
 be made for each man, using raw hide as 
 soles ; this completely answered the desired 
 purpose, as scarcely any frost-bites in the 
 feet afterwards occurred, except under cir- 
 cumstances of very severe exposure. 
 
 On the 31st of December, another striking 
 instance occurred of the simultaneous rise 
 in the wind and the thermometer. At two 
 A.M. the latter stood at — 28°, but the wind 
 freshening up to a strong breeze from the 
 northward and eastward, and afterwards 
 from the S.S.E. in the course of the day, 
 the thermometer gradually rose at the same 
 time, and stood at +5° at midnight; thus 
 closing the year with milder weather than 
 we had enjoyed for eight preceding weeks. 
 
 i! 'i 
 
 if V 
 
 (' J- 
 
 M 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 221 
 
 re more 
 il health 
 It, I di. 
 ed with 
 stuff, to 
 hide as 
 desired 
 
 in the 
 der cir- 
 • 
 
 strikinor 
 [)us rise 
 At two 
 he wind 
 om the 
 srwards 
 le day, 
 le same 
 t; thus 
 Jr than 
 weeks. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 First appearance ofScurDy — The Aurora Bor calls 
 and other Meteorological Phenomena — Visits 
 of the Wolves — Re-appearance of the Sun — 
 Extreme low Temperature — Destruction of the 
 House on Shore hy Fire — Severe Frost-bites 
 occasioned hy this Accident. 
 
 The mild weather with which the new 
 year commenced was not of long duration ; 
 for, as the wind gradually moderated, the 
 thermometer slowly fell once more to the 
 average temperature of the atmosphere at 
 this season. The quantity of snow which 
 had fallen at this time was so small, that 
 its general depth on shore did not exceed 
 one or two inches, except where it had 
 drifted into the ravines and hollows. 
 
 I received this morning the first unplea^ 
 sant report of the scurvy having made its 
 
 iii 
 
'*;-i 
 
 U i»!ii 
 
 mm I 
 
 f f ^.i 
 
 I' if.! I M' 
 
 * '^ 
 
 322 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 appearance among us : Mr. Seal Ion, the 
 gunner of the Hecla, had for some days 
 past been complaining of pains in his legs, 
 which Mr. Edwards at first took to be 
 rheumatic, but which, together with the ap- 
 pearance of his gums, now left no doubt of 
 the symptons being scorbutic. It is so un- 
 common a thing for this disease to make its 
 first appearance among the officers, that 
 Mr. Edwards was naturally curious to in- 
 quire into the cause of it; and at length 
 discovered that Mr. Scallon's bedding was 
 in so damp a state, in consequence of the 
 deposit of moisture in his bed-place, which 
 I have before mentioned, as to leave no 
 doubt that to this circumstance, as the im- 
 mediate exciting cause, his illness might 
 justly be attributed. The difficulty of pre- 
 venting this deposit of moisture, and the 
 consequent accumulation of ice, was much 
 greater in the officers' bed-places than in 
 those of the men, in consequence of the 
 former being necessarily placed in close 
 contact with the ship's sides, and forming 
 an immediate communication, as it were, 
 
 
 it r. 
 
 :h'- 
 
>. 
 
 lY 
 
 illon, the 
 ome days 
 I his legs, 
 ok to be 
 th the ap- 
 
 doubt of 
 : is so un- 
 ) make its 
 cers, that 
 )us to in- 
 at length 
 Iding was 
 ce of the 
 ce, which 
 leave no 
 s the im- 
 ss might 
 ty of pre- 
 
 and the 
 
 vas much 
 
 J than in 
 
 e of the 
 
 in close 
 
 forming 
 it were, 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 223 
 
 with the external atmosphere ; whereas, in 
 the latter, there was a vacant interval of 
 eighteen inches in width interposed between 
 them. To prevent as much as possible, 
 tlierefore, the injurious effects of this evil 
 upon the health of the officers, I appointed 
 certain days for the airing of their bedding 
 by the fires, as well as for that of the ships' 
 companies. Every attention was paid to 
 Mr. Scallon's case by the medical gentlemen, 
 and all our anti-scorbutics were put in re- 
 quisition for his recovery : these consisted 
 principally of preserved vegetable soups, 
 lemon-juice, and sugar, pickles, preserved 
 currants and gooselierries, and spruce-beer. 
 I began also about this time to raise a small 
 quantity of mustard and cress in my cabin, 
 in small shallow boxes filled with mould, 
 and placed along the stove-pipe ; by these 
 means, even in the severity of the winter, 
 we could generally ensure a crop at the end 
 of the sixth or seventh day after sowing the 
 seed, which, by keeping several boxes at 
 work, would give to two or three scorbutic 
 patients nearly an ounce of salad each daily, 
 
 
 n 
 
224 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 i«' 
 
 i; 
 
 i 
 
 .,^ 
 
 even though the necessary economy in our 
 coals did not allow of the fire being kept in 
 at night. Had this been allowable, and a 
 proper apparatus at hand for the purpose, 
 there is no doubt that it might have been 
 raised much more rapidly : and those who 
 are aware how perfect a specific a very small 
 quantity o^ fresh vegetable substance is for 
 the scurvy, will, perhaps, agree with me in 
 thinking that such an apparatus would form 
 a very valuable appendage to be applied 
 occasionally to the cabin-stove. The mus- 
 tard and cress thus raised were necessarily 
 colourless, from the privation of light, but, 
 as far as we coukl judge, they possessed the 
 same pungent aromatic taste as if grown 
 under ordinary circumstances. So effectual 
 were these remedies in Mr. Scallon's case, 
 that, on the ninth evening from the attack^ 
 he was able to walk about on the lower 
 deck for some time, and he assured me that 
 he could then ** run a race." 
 
 The 7th of January was one of the most 
 severe days to the feelings which we expe- 
 rienced during the winter, the wind being 
 
 '"M 
 
K n 
 
 } 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE- 
 
 005 
 
 strong from the northward with a heavy 
 drift, and the thermometer continuing from 
 — 38° to — 40°, It is impossible to conceive 
 any thing more inclement than such a day, 
 when we could with difficulty pass and re- 
 pass between the two ships, and were glad 
 to keep every person closely confined on 
 board. 
 
 At noon to-day, the temperature bf the 
 atmosphere had got down to 49^ below ze- 
 ro, being the greatest degree of cold which 
 we had yet experienced ; but the weather 
 being quite calm, we walked on shore for 
 an hour without inconvenience, the sensa- 
 tion of cold depending much more on the 
 degree of wind at the time, than on the ab- 
 solute temperature of the atmosphere, as 
 indicated by the thermometer. In several 
 of the accounts given of those countries in 
 which an intense degree of natural cold is 
 experienced, some effects are attributed to 
 it which certainly did not come under our 
 observation in the course of this winter. 
 The first of these is the dreadful sensation 
 said to be produced on the lungs, causing 
 
 i 
 
 tit 
 
 ii 
 
 K'S 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Q 
 
Ill -!i 
 
 226 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 h' i 
 
 I ■ n 
 
 «■', 
 
 '( 
 
 If 
 
 m 
 
 
 them to feel as if torn asunder, when the 
 air is inhaled at a very low temperature. 
 No such sensation was ever experienced by 
 us, though in going from the cabins into 
 the open air, and vice versd, we were con- 
 stantly in the habit for some months of un- 
 dergoing a change of from 80° to 100®, and, 
 in several instances, 120^ of temperature in 
 less than one minute ; and what is still more 
 extraordinary, not a single inflammatory 
 complaint, beyond a slight cold, which was 
 cured by common care in a day or two, oc- 
 curred during this particular period. The 
 second is, the vapour with which the air of 
 an inhabited room is charged, condensing 
 into a shower of snow, immediately on the 
 opening of a door or window, communicating 
 with the external atmosphere. This goes 
 much beyond any thing that we had an op- 
 portunity of observing. What happened 
 with us was simply this : on the opening of 
 the doors at the top and bottom of our 
 hatchway ladders, the vapour was immedi- 
 ately condensed, by the sudden admission 
 of the cold air, into a visible form, exactly 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 227 
 
 resembling a very thick smoke, wliich set- 
 tled on all the pannels of the doors and 
 bulk-heads, and immediately froze, by which 
 means the latter were covered with a thick 
 coating of ice, which it was necessary fre- 
 quently to scrape off? but we never, to my 
 knowledge, witnessed the conversion of the 
 vapour into snow, during its fall. 
 
 On the evening of the 15th, the atmos- 
 phere being clear and serene, we were gra- 
 tified by a sight of the only very brilliant 
 and diversified display of Aurora Borealis, 
 which occurred during the whole winter ; I 
 believe it to be almost impossible for words 
 to give an idea of the beauty and variety 
 which this magnificent phenomenon dis- 
 played. 
 
 About this time it had been remarked, 
 that a white setter dog belonging to Mr. Be- 
 verly had left the Griper for several nights 
 past at the same time, and had regularly 
 returned after some hours' absence. As 
 the daylight increased, we had frequent op- 
 portunities of seeing him in company with a 
 she- wolf, with whom he kept up an almost 
 
 Q 2 
 
 >ii 
 
 mm 
 
 ^f-'"-> 
 

 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 i^ 'i 
 
 M' 
 
 hi h' ■ 
 
 
 ...^ ':' pi 
 
 •J : ) 
 
 i! >'f 
 
 h:i: , , CT ^ ' il .1 
 
 daily intercourse for several weeks, till at 
 length he returned no more to the ships ; 
 having either lost his way by rambling to 
 too great a distance, or, what is more likely, 
 perhaps, been destroyed by the male wolves. 
 Some time after, a large dog of mine, which 
 was also getting into the habit of occasion- 
 ally remaining absent for some time, re- 
 turned on board a good deal lacerated and 
 covered with blood, having, no doubt, main- 
 tained a severe encounter with a male wolf, 
 whom we traced to a considerable distance 
 by the tracks on the snow. An old dog, of 
 the Newfoundland breed, that we had on 
 board the Hecla, was also in the habit of 
 remaining out with the wolves for a day or 
 two together ; and we frequently watched 
 them keeping company on the most friendly 
 terms. 
 
 A wolf, which crossed the harbour close 
 to the ships on the 25th, was observed to 
 be almost entirely white, his body long and 
 extremely lean, standing higher on his legs 
 than any of the Esquimaux dogs, but other- 
 wise much resembling them; his tail was 
 
eeeks, till at 
 
 the ships; 
 rambling to 
 more likely, 
 
 male wolves. 
 ' mine, which 
 of occasion- 
 le time, re- 
 icerated and 
 doubt, main- 
 a male wolf, 
 ble distance 
 
 1 old dog, of 
 we had on 
 
 the habit of 
 for a day or 
 itly watched 
 nost friendly 
 
 irbour close 
 observed to 
 dy long and 
 on his legs 
 3, but other- 
 his tail was 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 229 
 
 1 
 
 % 
 & 
 
 m 
 
 long and bushy, and always hanging between 
 his legs, and he kept his head very low in 
 ruuning. It is extraordinary that we could 
 never succeed in killing or catching one of 
 these animals, though we were, for months, 
 almost constantly endeavouring to do so. 
 
 As the time was now near at hand when 
 the sun was to re-appear above our horizon, 
 we began this day to look out for it from 
 the mast head, in order that some observar 
 tions might be made, as to the amount of 
 the atmospherical refraction, which might 
 render it visible to us sooner than under or- 
 dinary circumstances. For this purpose, 
 and at the same time to avoid the frost-bites 
 which might have occurred from keeping 
 any individual at the mast-head for too long 
 a space, every man in the ship was sent up 
 in succession, so as to occupy the time for 
 ten minutes before and after noon ; and this 
 practice was continued till the sun appeared 
 above the horizon from the deck, which it 
 did not do till nine days after the com- 
 mencement of it. 
 
 The loss of lemon-juice, of which I have 
 
 » 
 
 i. 
 
 i 
 
230 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 h I 
 
 tl' >> 
 
 (■;•' 
 
 
 before had occasion to Speak, in consequence 
 of the breaking of the bottles by frost, con- 
 tinued still to take place to so great a de- 
 gree, that it now became absolutely neces- 
 sary to adopt some measures for providing 
 against similar contingencies in future, and 
 to preserve the remainder ; I, therefore, 
 consulted Mr. Edwards as to the propriety 
 of reducing the daily allowance of that es- 
 sential article to three-quarters of the usual 
 proportion, being three-quarters of an ounce 
 per man : this, he was of opinion, under all 
 circumstances, it was expedient to do, in 
 order to ensure a supply in those cases of a 
 scorbutic nature which might hereafter oc- 
 cur ; and this reduction was accordingly 
 ordered in both ships. 
 
 At half-past ten P.M. a complete halo 
 of pale light was observed round the moon, 
 its radius being 22°.40, and a similar phe- 
 nomenon occurred on the following night, 
 about the same time. These phenomena 
 almost always began to make their appear- 
 ance about the time of full moon. 
 
 The weather was remarkably clear and 
 
 
 a 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 231 
 
 f halo 
 noon, 
 phe- 
 nght, 
 mena 
 pear- 
 
 and 
 
 fine on the 28th, and the sky beautifully 
 red to the southward ; but we looked for 
 the sun from the mast-head without success. 
 Captain Sabine remarked at noon, that none 
 of the fixed stars, even of the first mag- 
 nitude, could be seen by the naked eye ; 
 Mars, however, was plainly visible, by which 
 some judgment may be formed of the power 
 of the sun's light at this period. Towards 
 the end of January we began to open some 
 of our ports, in order to admit sufficient 
 light for the carpenters and armourers to 
 work by, and these were employed in repair- 
 ing the main-top-sail-yard, that we might 
 at least make some shew of commencing 
 our re-equipment for sea. 
 
 On the 1st and 2nd of February the wea- 
 ther was rather hazy, so that the sun could 
 not liave been seen had it been above the 
 horizon, but the 3rd was a beautifully clear 
 and calm day. At eight A. M., a cross, 
 consisting of the usual vertical and horizon- 
 tal rays, was seen about the moon. At 
 twenty minutes before apparent noon, the 
 sun was seen from the Hecla's main-top, 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 **>8i*!*ea«»,. 
 
 ^'-'■*^^^'i'^»iri^^ife-ii?'^ 
 

 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 A i li 
 
 U' 
 
 \'-\ \ 
 
 U>'' 
 
 at the height of fifty-one feet above the sea, 
 being the first time that this hmiinary had 
 l)een visible to us since the 1 1th of Novem- 
 ber, a period of eighty-four days, being 
 twelve days less than the time of its remain- 
 ing actually beneath the horizon, independ- 
 ently of the effects of atmospherical refrac- 
 tion. On ascending the main-top, I found 
 the sun to be plainly visible over the land 
 to the south ; but at noon there was a dusky 
 sort of cloud hanging about the horizon, 
 which prevented our seeing any thing like 
 a defined limb, so as to measure or estimate 
 its altitude correctly. 
 
 On several occasions, in the course of 
 the winter, there was an appearance in the 
 southern horizon very much resembling land 
 at a great distance. This appearance was 
 to-day unusually well defined, and seemed 
 to terminate in a very abrupt and decided 
 manner, on a S. b. E. bearing from Winter 
 Harbour. 
 
 At noon on the 7th, we had the first clear 
 view of the sun which we had yet enjoyed 
 since its re-appearance above our horizjon, 
 
OF A NORTIt-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 233 
 
 and an indistinct parhelion, or mock sun, 
 slightly prismatic, was seen on the eastern 
 side of it, at the distance of 22^, 
 
 There was now sufficient day-light, from 
 eight o'clock till four, to enable us to per- 
 form, with great facility, any work outside 
 the ships. I was not sorry, therefore, to 
 commence upon some of the occupations 
 more immediately connected with the equip- 
 ment of the ships for sea^ t\ an those to 
 which we had hitherto been ooligec^ io have 
 recourse as mere employment. "^To, there- 
 fore, began this day to co'ltx t stones -or 
 ballast, of which it was calculated that the 
 Hecla would require, in the spring, nearly 
 seventy tons, besides twenty tons of addi- 
 tional water, to make up lor the loss of 
 weight by the expenditure of provisions and 
 stores. These stones were brought down 
 on sledges about hal^ a mile to the beach, 
 where they were broken into a convenient 
 size for stowage, and then weighed in scales, 
 erected on the beach for the purpose ; thus 
 affording to the men a considerable quantity 
 of bodily exercise, whenever the weather 
 would permit them to be so employed. 
 
in 
 
 :'t 
 
 hi 1 
 
 '\\i 
 
 I'l 
 
 Mm ' 
 
 '"I 'HI 
 
 234 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 As we were now, how^ever, approaching 
 the coldest part of the season, it became 
 more essential than ever to use the utmost 
 caution in allowing the men to remain for 
 any length of time in the open air, on account 
 of the injury to their general health, which 
 was likely to result from the inactivity re- 
 quisite to the cure of some of the most 
 trifling frost-bites. 
 
 It was a source of much satisfaction to 
 find, at noon to-day, that the sun, even with 
 one degree of meridian altitude, had some 
 power to affect the mercury in the thermo- 
 meter, which rose from — 40° to — 35° when 
 exposed to its rays ; and, as the sun gradu- 
 ally declined, it fell again to — 40° in an 
 hour or two. 
 
 The distance at which sounds were heard 
 in the open air, during the continuance of 
 intense cold, was so great as constantly to 
 afford matter of surprise to us, notwith- 
 standing the frequency with which we had 
 occasion to remark it. We have, for in- 
 stance, often heard people distinctly con- 
 versing, in a common tone of voice, at the 
 distance of a mile ; and to-day I heard a 
 
 ( 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 235 
 
 man singing to himself as he walked along 
 the beach, at even a greater distance than 
 this. Another circumstance also occurred 
 to-day, which may perhaps be considered 
 as worthy of notice. Lieutenant Beechey, 
 and Messrs. Beverly and Fisher, in the 
 course of a walk which led them to a part 
 of the harbour, about two miles directly to 
 leeward of the ships, were surprised by 
 suddenly perceiving a smell of smoke, so 
 strong as even to impede their breathing, 
 till, by walking on a little farther, they got 
 rid of it. This circumstance shews to what 
 a distance the smoke from the ships was 
 carried horizontally, owing to the difficulty 
 with which it rises at a very low tempera- 
 ture of the atmosphere. The appearance 
 which had often been taken for the loom of 
 distant and much refracted land in the south 
 and S.b.E., was again seen to-day, having 
 the same abrupt termination at the latter 
 bearing as before. 
 
 It may perhaps be attributed to the long 
 absence of the sun which we had lately ex- 
 perienced, and which may have disqualified 
 
■f , 
 
 i 
 
 
 ij' f 
 
 h 
 
 I J 
 
 
 ft ^i 
 
 
 1; fij itli ^ 
 
 236 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 US from forming a correct judgment, that 
 we considered the orange and lake tints 
 with which the sky was painted about this 
 period, for two hours before and after noon, 
 to be more rich and beautiful than any 
 thing of the kind we had ever before seen. 
 
 Monday the 14th. — Two of the Hecla's 
 marines having been guilty of drunkenness 
 the preceding night, an offence which, under 
 any circumstances, it was my duty to pre- 
 vent, but which, if permitted to pass unno- 
 ticed, might, in our present situation, have 
 been attended with the most serious conse- 
 quences to our health as well as our disci- 
 pline, I was under the necessity of punish- 
 ing them this morning with thirty-six lashes 
 each ; being the first occasion on which I 
 had considered it necessary to inflict cor- 
 poral punishment during thirteen months 
 that the Hecla had been in commission, a 
 fact which I have much satisfaction in re- 
 cording, as extremely creditable to her 
 crew. 
 
 From four P.M. on the 14th, till half- 
 past seven on the following morning, being 
 
lent, that 
 ake tints 
 bout this 
 ilter noon, 
 than any 
 jre seen. 
 3 Hecla's 
 nkenness 
 :h, under 
 f to pre- 
 Lss unno- 
 ion, have 
 IS eonse- 
 ur disci- 
 ' punish- 
 lix lashes 
 which I 
 flict cor- 
 
 months 
 ission, a 
 )n in re- 
 
 to her 
 
 till half, 
 ig, being 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 237 
 
 an interval of fifteen hours and a half, du- 
 ririg which time the weather was clear and 
 nearly calm, a thermometer fixed on a pole, 
 between the ships and the shore, never rose 
 above — 54°, and was once during that in- 
 terval, namely, at six in the morning, as low 
 as — 55^, This low temperature might, 
 perhaps, have continued much longer, but 
 for a light breeze which sprung up from 
 the northward, immediately on which the 
 thermometer rose to — 49°, and continued 
 still to rise during the day, till at midnight 
 it had reached — 34^. During the lowest 
 temperature above mentioned, which was 
 the most intense degree of cold, marked by 
 the spirit thermometer, during our stay in 
 Winter Harbour, not the slightest inconve- 
 nience was suffered from exposure to die 
 open air, by a person well clothed, as long 
 as the weather was perfectly calm ; but, in 
 walking against a very light air of wind, a 
 smarting sensation was experienced all over 
 the face, accompanied by a pain in the mid- 
 dle of the forehead, which soon became 
 rather severe. We amused ourselves in 
 

 
 ^i:}f' 
 
 1 . |j- i 
 
 238 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 freezing some mercury during the continu- 
 ance of this cold weather, and by beating 
 it out on an anvil previously reduced to 
 the temperature of the atmosphere ; it did 
 not appear to be very malleable when in 
 this state, usually breaking after two or 
 three blows from the hammer. 
 
 The increased length of the day, and the 
 cheering presence of the sun for several 
 hours above the horizon, induced me, not- 
 withstanding the severity of the weather, 
 to open the dead-lights of my stern-win- 
 dov7s, in order to admit the day-light, of 
 which, in our occupations below, we had 
 entirely been deprived for more than four 
 months. I had soon, however, occasion to 
 find that this change was rather premature, 
 and that I had not rightly calculated on the 
 length of the winter in Melville Island. 
 The Hecla was fitted with double windows 
 in her stern, the interval between the two 
 sashes being about two feet ; and within 
 these some curtains of baize had been nailed 
 close, in the early part of the winter. On 
 endeavouring now to remove the curtains. 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 239 
 
 It 
 
 they were found to be so strongly cemented 
 to the windows by the frozen vapour col- 
 lected between them, that it was necessary 
 to cut them off, in order to open the win- 
 dows ; and from the space between the 
 double sashes we removed more then twelve 
 large buckets full of ice, or frozen vapour, 
 which had accumulated in the same manner. 
 About noon on the 16th, a parhelion, 
 faintly prismatic, appeared on each side of 
 the sun, continuing only for half an hour. 
 Notwithstanding the low temperature of the 
 external atmosphere, the officers contrived 
 to act, as usual, the play announced for this 
 evening ; but it must be confessed that it 
 was almost too cold for either the actors or 
 tlr" audience to enjoy it, especially for those 
 of the former who undertook to appear in 
 female dresses. We were fortunate, how- 
 ever, in having the weather moderate as to 
 wind, during our performance ; for, on its 
 freshening up soon after to a strong gale 
 from the N.W., which, together with a 
 heavy snow-drift, continued the whole of 
 the following day, the thermometer did not 
 
210 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 -'* 
 
 I • 
 
 n I'i it' 
 
 ■•it, 
 
 rise higher than — 36° ; a change that made 
 the Hecla colder in every part below than 
 she had ever been before. The tempera- 
 ture of the lower deck now fell to + 34° 
 for the greater part of the day, that of the 
 coal-hole to 4-15°, of the spirit-room to 
 4-23°, and of my cabin, as low as 4-7° 
 during the night, by which the chronome- 
 ters, Nos. 25 and 369, of Arnold were 
 stopped. Much as I regretted this cir- 
 cumstance, it was impossible to prevent it 
 without such an increase in the quantity of 
 fuel, as our resources, when calculating 
 upon the chances of spending another win- 
 ter in these regions, would by no means 
 admit. Captain Sabine and myself, there- 
 fore, agreed, that it was better to let these 
 watches remain down, during the continu- 
 ance of the severe cold, which was accord- 
 ingly done. 
 
 The intense cold now experienced on 
 board the Hecla seems to have arisen prin- 
 cipally from my having prematurely unco- 
 vered the stern windows, which I had been 
 induced to do, not less from the impatience 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 241 
 
 which I felt to enjoy the cheering rays of 
 the sun for eight hours of the day, than on 
 account of the saving of candles, the expen- 
 diture of which had hitherto been much 
 greater than we could well afford. In the 
 constant hope that each succeeding day 
 would produce some amendment in the 
 weather, we endeavoured contentedly to 
 put up with the cold, which, however, con- 
 tinued to be so intense in the cabin for 
 several weeks after this, that it was impos- 
 sible to sit there without being warmly 
 wrapped up; and it was not uncommon 
 for us, at this period, to reverse the usual 
 order of things, by throwing off our great 
 coats when we went on deck to warm our- 
 selves by exercise (the only mode we had 
 of doing so), and immediately resuming 
 them on coming below. On many of these 
 occasions I have seen a thermometer, placed 
 at our feet, standing the whole day at -|- 19°, 
 and sometimes lower, while another, sus- 
 pended in the upper part of the cabin, would, 
 at the same time, indicate 32° or 34°, but 
 seldom higher than this. We had, about 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
• i 
 
 «•( f 
 
 j» i 
 
 li ' 
 
 'Mil :* 
 
 It 
 
 :m 
 
 :iii 
 
 242 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 this time, two cases of lumbago and one of 
 diarrhoea added to the sick hst, which Mr. 
 Edwards considered to have been brought 
 on by the coldness of the decks below ; in 
 one of these cases, some scorbutic symp- 
 toms subsequently appeared, which yielded 
 without much difficulty to the usual reme- 
 dies. Mr. Scallon had, before this time, 
 completely recovered. The bed-places con- 
 tinuing very troublesome, from the accu- 
 mulation of ice in them, several of the men 
 were ordered to sleep in hammocks, which 
 are much more warm and comfortable ; but 
 they had been so long accustomed to the 
 bed-places, that there was, in this respect, 
 a good deal of prejudice to overcome among 
 them. 
 
 With our present temperature, the breath 
 of a person, at a little distance, looked ex- 
 actly like the smoke of a musket just fired, 
 and that of a party of men employed upon 
 the ice to-day resembled a thick white cloud. 
 
 At a quarter past ten, on Thursday the 
 24th, while the men were running round 
 the decks for exercise, and were on that 
 
 i?. \ 
 
 mt 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 US 
 
 one of 
 ch Mr. 
 rought 
 )w ; in 
 symp- 
 ^ielded 
 reme- 
 
 time, 
 is con- 
 
 accu- 
 e men 
 which 
 3 ; but 
 :o the 
 spect, 
 imong 
 
 )reath 
 d ex- 
 fired, 
 
 upon 
 loud, 
 y the 
 ound 
 
 that 
 
 account fortunately well-clothed, the house 
 on shore was discovered to be on fire. All 
 the officers, and men of both ships, instantly 
 ran up to extinguish it ; and having, by 
 great exertion, pulled off the roof with 
 ropes, and knocked down a part of the 
 sides, so as to allow snow to be thrown 
 upon the flames, we succeeded in getting it 
 under, after three-quarters of an hour, and 
 fortunately before the fire had reached that 
 end of the house where the two clocks, to- 
 gether with the transit, and other valuable 
 instruments, were standing in their cases. 
 Having removed these, and covered the 
 ruins with snow, to prevent any remains of 
 fire from breaking out again, we returned 
 on board till more temperate weather should 
 enable us to dig out the rest of the things, 
 among which nothing of any material con- 
 sequence was subsequently found to have 
 suffered injury ; and, having mustered the 
 ships' companies to see that they had put 
 on dry clothes before going to dinner, they 
 were employed during the rest of the day 
 in drying those which had been wet. The 
 
 R 2 
 
 II 
 
2U 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ) 
 
 I 
 
 IS 
 
 '•I* 
 
 i * 
 
 1,1 A\>. 
 
 m f\ 
 
 rt 
 
 
 appearance which our faces presented at 
 the fire was a curious one, almost every 
 nose and cheek having become quite white 
 with frost-bites in five minutes after being 
 exposed to the weather ; so that it was 
 deemed necessary for the medical gentle- 
 men, together with some others appointed 
 to assist them, to go constantly round, while 
 the men were working at the fire, and to 
 rub with snow the parts affected, in order 
 to restore animation. Notwithstanding this 
 precaution, which, however, saved many 
 frost-bites, we had an addition of no less 
 than sixteen men to the sick-lists of both 
 ships in consequence of this. accident. A- 
 mong these there were four or five cases 
 which kept the patients confined for several 
 weeks ; but John Smith of the artillery, 
 who was Captain Sabine's servant, and who, 
 together with Serjeant Martin, happened to 
 be in the house at the time the fire broke 
 out, was unfortunate enough to suffer much 
 more severely. In their anxiety to save 
 the dipping-needle, which was standing 
 close to the stove, and of which they knew 
 
 I 
 
 )e*fiA-^tfi^ - .liiytiiiiw i friW ^i "'■* ■' 
 
Y 
 
 sented at 
 >st every 
 lite white 
 Tter being 
 It it was 
 1 gentle- 
 ippointed 
 nd, while 
 N and to 
 in order 
 ding this 
 ■d many 
 no less 
 of both 
 nt. A- 
 ^e cases 
 ' several 
 trtillery, 
 nd who, 
 >ened to 
 ? broke 
 5r much 
 to save 
 tandinof 
 Y knew 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST TASSAOE. 
 
 245 
 
 the value, they immediately ran out with 
 it ; and Smith, not having time to put on 
 his gloves, had his fingers in half an hour 
 so benumbed, and the animation so com- 
 pletely suspended, that on his being taken 
 on board by Mr. Edwards, and having his 
 hands plunged into a basin of cold water, 
 the surface of the water was immediately 
 frozen by the intense cold thus suddenly 
 communicated to it; and, notwithstanding 
 the most humane and unremitting attention 
 paid to them by the medical gentlemen, it 
 w'a^ found necessary, some time after, to 
 resort to the amputation of a part of four 
 fingers on one hand and three on the other. 
 
 : f 
 
 :l 
 
 f fl 
 
246 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVFRY 
 
 uv • 
 
 s ">> 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 h\ I ( 
 
 More temperate Weather — House rebuilt — Quau" 
 tity of Ice collected on tlie Hecla^s lower Deck — 
 Meteorological Phenomena — Conclusion of The- 
 atrical Entertai7iments — Increased Sickness on 
 board the Griper — Clothes first dried in the 
 open Air — 'Remarkable Halos and Parhelia — 
 Snow Blindness — Cutting the Ice round the 
 ShipSf and other Occurrences to tlie close of 
 May, 
 
 t 
 
 Ml 
 
 >-t.,i 
 
 Before sun-rise on the morning of the 
 1st of March, Lieutenant Beechey remarked 
 so much bright red light near the south- 
 eastern horizon, that he constantly thought 
 the sun was rising, nearly half an hour be- 
 fore it actually appeared ; there was a co- 
 lumn of light above the sun similar to those 
 which we had before seen. The day being 
 clear and moderate, a party of men was 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 247 
 
 employed in digging out the things which 
 were buried in the ruins ; the clocks were 
 removed on board for examination, and pre- 
 parations were made to rebuild the house 
 for their reception. Some of our gentlemen 
 who walked to the south-west during the 
 day, observed the snow, in certain parts 
 which were exposed to the sun, to be glazed, 
 so as to be very slippery, as if a partial 
 thaw had taken place. It is, perhaps, re- 
 quisite to have experienced the anxiety with 
 which we were now beginning to look for 
 some favourable change in the temperature 
 of the atmosphere, to conceive the eager- 
 ness with which this information was re- 
 ceived, and the importance attached to it in 
 our minds, as the first faint indication of 
 the dissolution of the winter's snow. In 
 the evening the wind freshened from the 
 southward, and before midnight had in- 
 creased to a strong gale, which is very un- 
 usual from that quarter. 
 
 The 5th of March was the most mild and 
 pleasant day we had experienced for several 
 weeks, and, after divine service had been 
 
 I I 
 
 I 
 
 )' I 
 
" ^ «i 
 
 I :ilt ; 
 
 II ■■■!i 
 
 !■ i'. 
 
 
 11 '14 
 
 1 t^^r^ 
 
 248 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 performed, almost all the officers and men 
 in both ships were glad to take advantage 
 of it, by enjoying a long walk upon the 
 neighbouring hills. The weather had been 
 hazy, with light snow and some clouds in 
 the morning; but the latter gradually dis- 
 persed after noon, affording us the first day 
 to which we could attach the idea of 
 spring. 
 
 . On the 6th, at eight AM., the thermo- 
 meter had got up to zero, being the first 
 time we had registered so high a tempe- 
 rature since the 17 th of the preceding 
 Deceniber. The wind veered gradually 
 from S.S.E., round by west, to north, and 
 at night was remarkably variable and squal- 
 ly, frequently changing, almost instantly, from 
 north to west, and vice versd ; sometimes 
 being so light as not to extinguish a naked 
 candle at the gangway, and at others blow- 
 ing a strong breeze. Squalls of this kind 
 we had not observed before, nor did they 
 occur on any other occasion ; we could not 
 perceive any alteration in the thermometer 
 while they lasted. 
 
 h 
 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 249 
 
 * We continued to enjoy the same tempe- 
 rature and enlivening weather on the 7th, 
 and now began to flatter ourselves in ear- 
 nest, that the season had taken that favour- 
 able change for which we had so long been 
 looking with extreme anxiety and impa- 
 tience. This hope was much strengthened 
 by a circumstance which occurred to-day, 
 and which, trifling as it would have ap- 
 peared in any other situation than ours, was 
 to us a matter of no small interest and sa- 
 tisfaction. This was no other than the thaw- 
 ing of a small quantity of snow in a favour- 
 able situation upon the black paint work of 
 the ship's stern, which exactly faced the 
 south, being the first time that such an 
 event had occurred for more than five 
 months. 
 
 Advantage was taken of the present mild 
 and pleasant weather, to rebuild the house 
 on shore, which was completed in a few 
 days, when the clocks were replaced in it, 
 in readiness for Captain Sabine to begin his 
 experiments on the pendulum, whenever 
 the season would permit. 
 
 I 
 
tf 
 
 
 i:jn;|.ii 
 
 s t 
 
 n 
 
 250 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 The severe weather, which, until the last 
 two or three days, we had experienced for 
 a length of time, had been the means of 
 keeping in a solid state all the vapour which 
 had accumulated and frozen upon the ships' 
 sides on the lower deck. As long as it 
 continued in this state, it did not prove a 
 source of annoyance, especially as it had no 
 commimication with the bed-places. On 
 the contrary, indeed, I had imagined, whe- 
 ther justly or otherwise I know not, that a 
 lining of this kind rather did good than 
 harm, by preventing the escape of a certain 
 portion of the warmth through the ships' 
 sides. The late mildness of the weather, 
 however, having caused a thaw to take 
 place below, it now became necessary im- 
 itiediately to scrape off the coating of ice ; 
 and it will, perhaps, be scarcely credited, 
 that we this day removed above one hun- 
 dred buckets full, each containing from five 
 to six gallons, being the accumulation which 
 had taken place in an interval of less than 
 four weeks. It may be observed, that this 
 vapour must principally have been pro- 
 
 SVM I: 
 
 M ifi 
 
the last 
 need for 
 leans of 
 ir which 
 le ships' 
 \g as it 
 prove a 
 
 had no 
 Bs. On 
 d, whe- 
 , that a 
 )d than 
 L certain 
 e ships' 
 veather, 
 to take 
 ary im- 
 of ice; 
 redited, 
 le hun- 
 om five 
 1 which 
 ss than 
 hat this 
 n pro- 
 
 !-a 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 251 
 
 duced from the men's breath, and from the 
 steam of their victuals during meals, that 
 from the coppers being effectually carried 
 on deck by the screen which I have before 
 mentioned. 
 
 James Richardson, a seaman of the Hecla, 
 one of the men who had been attacked by 
 lumbago a short time before, now evinced 
 some symptoms of scurvy, and was, there- 
 fore, immediately put on the anti-scorbutic 
 diet. About this time, also, John Ludlow, 
 boatswain's-mate of the Griper, and William 
 Wright, seaman of the Hecla, were attacked 
 in a similar manner; and these two cases 
 subsequently proved the worst of this na- 
 ture on board the ships. Immediately on 
 the appearance of any complaint among the 
 men, and especially when the symptoms were 
 in the slightest degree scorbutic, the pa- 
 tients were removed to the sick-bay, where 
 the bed-places were larger and more conve- 
 nient, and where a separate stove was fixed, 
 when necessary, so as to make it a warm 
 and comfortable place, apart from the rest 
 of the ship's company. 
 
 S 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 '■■I 1 
 
 'i', 
 
 ><l 
 
 .• I 
 
ti > I 
 
 
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 m i' 
 
 !y 1' 
 
 I*:*.' r r' t> 
 
 f 
 
 ^J: I 
 
 f^ 
 
 252 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 On the 9th, it blew a hard gale from the 
 northward and westward, raising a snow- 
 drift which made the day almost as incle- ' 
 ment as in the midst of winter. The wind 
 very suddenly ceased in the evening, and 
 while the atmosphere near the ships was so 
 serene and undisturbed thai the smoke rose 
 quite perpendicidarly, we saw the snow- 
 drift on the hills, at one or two miles dis- 
 tance, whirled up into the air, in columns se- 
 veral hundred feet high, and carried along 
 by the wind, sometimes to the north, and at 
 others in the opposite direction. The snow 
 thus raised, at times resembled water-spouts, 
 but more frequently appeared like smoke 
 issuing from the tops of the hills, and as 
 such, was at first represented to me. 
 
 On the 12th, Lieutenant Liddon reported 
 another of his seamen to be affected with 
 scurvy, making two in each ship labouring, 
 more or less, under this disease ; Mr, Scallon 
 also complained again a little, of feeling, ac- 
 cording to his own account, ** as if tired with 
 walking;" by attention, however, to the 
 warmth and dryness of his clothing, he gra- 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 253 
 
 rom the 
 1 snow- 
 s incle-' 
 he wind 
 rg, and 
 J was so 
 )ke rose 
 3 snow- 
 iles dis- 
 mns se- 
 ;d along 
 , and at 
 le snow 
 -spouts, 
 i smoke 
 and as 
 
 eported 
 ed with 
 )ouring, 
 Scalloji 
 iing, ac- 
 ed with 
 to the 
 he gra- 
 
 
 dually recovered his former strength as the 
 season advanced. 
 
 It blew a strong breeze from the N.b.W., 
 with a heavy snow-drift, on the 12th, which 
 continued, with little intermission, till near 
 noon on the 14th; affording us a convincing 
 proof that the hopes with which we had 
 flattered ourselves of the speedy return of 
 spring were not yet to be accomplished. 
 During this time the thermometer had once 
 more falleii as low as — 28°, a change which, 
 after the late mild weather, we felt much in 
 the same manner as we should have done 
 any of those alterations which occur in a 
 more temperate climate, at a higher part of 
 the scale. I have before had occasion to 
 observe that this remark is equally appli- 
 cable to all the changes we experienced in 
 the course of the winter, either from cold to 
 warm, or the contrary. 
 
 On the 16th, there being little wind, the 
 weather was again pleasant and comfortable, 
 though the thermometer remained very 
 low. 
 
 This evening the officers performed the 
 
 1 
 

 ml!'' 
 
 
 i 
 
 \l !l 
 
 1: W^A^ 
 
 254^ 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 farces of the Citizen and the Mayor of 
 Garrafty being the last of our theatrical 
 amusements for this winter, the season 
 having now arrived when there would no 
 longer be a want of occupation for the men, 
 and when it became necessary also to re- 
 move a part of the roofing to admit light to 
 the officers' cabins. Our poets were again 
 set to work on this occasion, and an appro- 
 priate address was this evening spoken on 
 the closing of the North Georgia Theatre, 
 than which we may, without vanity, be per- 
 mitted to say none had ever done more 
 real service to the community for whose 
 benefit it was intended. 
 
 Two of the Hecla's seamen, who were 
 employed on shore in digging stones for 
 ballast, reported on the 20th, that they had 
 seen a glaucous gull, or one of that species 
 known to sailors by the name of " burgo- 
 master.'' On being questioned respecting 
 this bird, they strongly insisted on the im- 
 possibility of their having mistaken its kind, 
 having been v/ithin twenty yards of it. As, 
 however, these gulls cannot well subsist 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 255 
 
 ayor of 
 eatrical 
 
 season 
 ould no 
 le men, 
 
 to re- 
 light to 
 e again 
 
 appro- 
 >ken on 
 'heatre, 
 be per- 
 :; more 
 
 whose 
 
 were 
 les for 
 ey had 
 species 
 burgo- 
 pecting 
 he im- 
 s kind, 
 . As, 
 subsist 
 
 without open water, of which thqre was cer- 
 tainly none in the neighbourhood at that 
 period, we conjectured that it might have 
 been an owl ; a bird that may, perhaps, re- 
 main on the island even during the whole 
 winter, as the abundance of mice, of which 
 we constantly saw the tracks upon the snow, 
 would furnish them with an ample supply of 
 food. It was a novelty to us, however, to 
 see any living animal in this desolate spot; 
 for even the wolves and foxes, our occa- 
 sional visitors during the winter, had al- 
 most entirely deserted us for several weeks 
 past. 
 
 On the 23d, we found, by digging a hole 
 in the ^ ice, in the middle of the harbour, 
 where the depth of water was four fathoms 
 and a quarter, that its thickness was six feet 
 and a half, and the snow on the surface on 
 it eight inches deep. This may be con- 
 sidered a fair specimen of the average for- 
 mation of ice in this neighbourhood since 
 the middle of the preceding September: 
 and as the freezing process did not stop for 
 more than six weeks after this, the produce 
 
 
 
 I 
 
r,r/ i, 
 
 I: M !^ 
 
 1:1 »^ 
 
 
 t'/ 
 
 
 !« 
 
 |h|: ^ 
 
 256 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 of the whole winter may, perhaps, be rea- 
 sonably taken at seven, or seven and a half 
 feet. In chopping this ice with an axe the 
 men found it very hard and brittle, till they 
 arrived within a foot of the lower surface, 
 where it became soft and spongy. 
 
 The length of the day had now so much 
 increased, that at midnight on the 26th, 
 there was a very sensible twilight in the 
 northern quarter of the heavens ; and such 
 was the rapidity with which this part of the 
 season appeared to us to have come round, 
 that we could with difficulty picture to our- 
 selves the total darkness from which we had 
 so lately emerged. 
 
 On one of the fine days in the early part 
 of March, in taking a longer walk than usual 
 on the north side of the harbour, we acci- 
 dentally met with a small flat stone, on 
 which the letter P was plainly engraved. 
 As there seemed little doubt that this had 
 been artificially done, and as, since our ar- 
 rival in Winter Harbour, the weather had 
 been too cold to induce any of our people to 
 sit dow 1 on the ground for the purpose of 
 
1 
 
 » be rea- 
 
 nd a half 
 
 1 axe the 
 
 till they 
 
 surface, 
 
 so much 
 he 26th, 
 it in the 
 md such 
 irt of the 
 le round, 
 B to our- 
 1 we had 
 
 irly part 
 lan usual 
 we acci- 
 ;one, on 
 ngraved. 
 this had 
 J our ar- 
 ther had 
 leople to 
 irpose of 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 257 
 
 exercising their talent in this way, we were 
 entirely at a loss to conjecture how it came 
 there, and various amusing speculations 
 were resorted to, in order to account for it. 
 Since that time, the weather had not per- 
 mitted our sending for it till this day, when 
 it was brought on board ; and on enquiry 
 among the men, we found that Peter Fisher, 
 a seaman belonging to the Griper, who waf. 
 one of the party under Mr. Fife, respectinr 
 whom we had felt so much anxiety in th( 
 preceding September, had, on that oc- 
 casion, amused himself by beginning to 
 scratch upon the stone in question the ini- 
 tials of his name."* This circumstance k 
 
 * When Mr. Fife and his party returned from thai 
 excursion, it was a matter of surprise to us, to see how 
 fresh Fisher was, and how little he seemed to regard 
 what had happened, as any thing out of the common 
 way, of which, indeed, the circumstance just related 
 is also a proof. When asked, on his first arrival on 
 board on that occasion, what they had lived upon, 
 ** Lived upon," said Fisher, dryly — ** the Duke of 
 Wellington never lived so well. We had grouse for 
 breakfast, grouse for dinner, and grouse for supper, to 
 be sure!" 
 
 VOL. I. S 
 
/ 
 
 ■ i ' 
 
 ^58 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ^* I-} ,fiU I 1- 
 
 111 
 
 m 
 
 f! Ml 
 
 
 only worthy of notice, from its proving to 
 how considerable a distance this party had 
 rambled, and how completely they were in 
 error as to the direction in which they had 
 been travelling; the distance between the 
 two places being twenty-five miles. I was 
 in hopes, also, of finding out, by this means, 
 the situation of a large lake, which Mr. 
 Fife reported having seen, and from which 
 he brovight a small fish of the trout kind ; 
 but the more I questioned him and his 
 party, the more I was convinced of the lit- 
 tle dependence to be placed on the account 
 of persons circumstanced as they were, and 
 of taeir utter ignorance as to the part of 
 tlie island in which the lake was to be 
 found. 
 
 Being extremely anxious to get rid, as 
 early as possible, of the drying of our 
 washed clothes upon the lower deck, I had to- 
 day a silk handkerchief washed, and hung up 
 under the stern, in order to try the effect of 
 the sun's rays upon it. In four hours it be- 
 came thoroughly dry, the thermometer in 
 the shade being from —18° to —6°, at 
 
jM 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 250 
 
 the time. This was the first article that 
 had been dried without artificial heat for 
 six months, and it was yet another month 
 before flannel could be dried in the open 
 air. When this is considered, as well as 
 that, during the same period, the airing of 
 the bedding, the drying of the bed-places, 
 and the ventilation of the inhabited parts of 
 the ship, were w^ ^y dependent on tlie 
 same means, and this with a very limited 
 supply of fuel, it may, perhaps, be con- 
 ceived, in some degree, what unremitting 
 attention was necessary to the preservation 
 of health, under circumstances so unfavour- 
 able and even prejudicial. 
 
 The protracted length of the winter be- 
 gan now to make us more than usually 
 impatient, and to create in us reasonable 
 apprehensions lest our escape from Winter 
 Harbour should unavoidably be postponed 
 to a period too late for the accomplishment 
 of those sanguine hopes, with which the last 
 year's success had induced us to flatter our- 
 selves. The extraordinary degree of cold 
 which continued day after day was such as 
 
 s2 
 
 rt 
 
 In 
 

 
 IMAGE EVALUATiON 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.25 
 
 1^ 12.2 
 
 s«.l 
 
 1.1 f.-^liS 
 
 U 111.6 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (7:6) 872-4503 
 
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 ^S^"^^4f^.t^ 
 
 ;\ 
 
 

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260 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 Urn 
 
 ^.>V 
 
 we had certainly not anticipated ; and when, 
 at this period, with the sun above the horizon 
 for seventeen hours out of the four-and- 
 twenty, the thermometer was still occasion- 
 ally fallen as low as — 31°, which it did at 
 four this morning, it must be confessed that 
 our future prospects of advancement began 
 to wear a very unpromising aspect. It 
 may be imagined also with what anxiety 
 we watched for the first appearance of a 
 thaw, both on shore and upon the ice round 
 the ships, in neither of which had any such 
 appearances yet become perceptible, except 
 that here and there, where the snow hap- 
 pened to lie very thin upon the ground, al- 
 lowing the sun's rays to penetrate to the 
 earth, a sufficient degree of heat had been 
 radiated partially to thaw the snow, forming 
 it into a thin transparent cake, like a plate 
 of glass. Indeed, the cloudless sky, and 
 the uniformly white surface of the sea and 
 land which characterize the climate of Mel- 
 ville Island at this period, are ill calculated 
 to impart warmth to the atmosphere; and 
 it was not tilj the clouds became gradually 
 
 r' 
 
 ">: 
 
11 
 
 v^ 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 261 
 
 d when, 
 horizon 
 ur-and- 
 jcasion- 
 
 did at 
 5ed that 
 t began 
 :t. It 
 anxiety 
 :e of a 
 e round 
 ny such 
 , except 
 w hap- 
 und, al- 
 j to the 
 ad been 
 forming 
 
 a plate 
 cy, and 
 sea and 
 of Mel- 
 
 culated 
 •e; and 
 adually 
 
 more dense and frequent, and the earth had, 
 by slow degrees, become uncovered in parts, 
 so as to admit the absorption and radiation 
 of heat, that the dissolution of the snow 
 could go on to any considerable extent. 
 
 It was a source of extreme satisfaction 
 to me to find that the health of both ships' 
 companies were daily improving as the sea- 
 son advanced ; so that by the middle of 
 April the Griper's sick list was reduced to 
 four, all of whom were convalescent; and 
 on board the Hecla, Mr. Edwards had but 
 a single patient, William Scott, boatswain's- 
 mate, who first complained of pneumonia 
 about this time, and whose case subse- 
 quently assumed a more dangerous cha- 
 racter. 
 
 The morning of the 27th being very fine, 
 and the thermometer at +6®, the ship's com- 
 pany's bedding was hung up to air, between 
 the fore and main rigging, being the first 
 time we had ventured to bring it from the 
 lower deck fpr nearly eight months. While 
 it was out, the births and bed-places were 
 fumigated with a composition of powder 
 
262 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ( > 
 
 
 i^: 
 
 mixed with vinegar, and known familiarly 
 by the name of devils; an operation which 
 had been regularly gone through once a week 
 during the winter. 
 
 I have before mentioned the circumstance 
 of our lower rigging having been very slack 
 during the severity of the winter, and again 
 become tight as the warmer weather came 
 on. Even now this had taken place so ef- 
 fectually, that the rigging was full as tight 
 as when we left the river Thames twelve 
 months before. I have been the more par- 
 ticular in mentioning this fact, because the 
 circumstance of its becoming slack by the 
 cold is at variance with the accounts of 
 other navigators.* 
 
 For the last three or four days of April, 
 the snow on the black cloth of our housing 
 had begun to thaw a little during a few 
 
 * ** On the morning of the 5th, (November,) it 
 was discovered that almost all the shrouds on the star- 
 board side of the ship were broken, which happened 
 from contraction and tenseness, caused by frost." — 
 Account of Bering's Voyage, A, D, 1741, Burney's 
 North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery, 
 
 ■I 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 263 
 
 ;rney s 
 
 hours in the middle of the day, and on the 
 30 th so rapid a change took place in the 
 temperature of the atmosphere, that the 
 thermometer stood at the freezing, or, as it 
 may more properly be termed in this cli- 
 mate, the thawing point, being the first time 
 that such an event had occurred for nearly 
 eight months, or since the 9th of the prece- 
 ding September. This temperature was, to 
 our feelings, so much like that of summer, 
 that I was under the necessity of using my 
 authority to prevent the men from making 
 such an alteration in their clothing as might 
 have been attended with very dangerous 
 consequences. The thermometer had 
 ranged from —32° to +32° in the course 
 of twenty days. There was, at this period, 
 more snow upon the ground than at any 
 other time of the year, the average depth 
 on the lower parts of the land being four or 
 five inches, but much less upon the hills ; 
 while in the ravines a very large quantity 
 had been collected. The snow at this time 
 became so soft, from the influence of the 
 
 Pfl 
 
264 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 ' 1 ! iU 
 
 sun upon it, as to make walking very la- 
 borious and unpleasant. 
 
 This rapid change in the temperature of 
 the atmosphere again revived our hopes of 
 a speedy departure from Melville Island; 
 and such were the sanguine expectations 
 which animated us at this period, that I 
 believe there was not an officer or man 
 on board either of the ships, who had not 
 made up his mind to the probability of our 
 leaving Winter Harbour by the middle or 
 latter part of June. 
 
 The fine and temperate weather with 
 which the month of April had concluded, 
 induced Captain Sabine to set the clocks 
 going, in order to commence his observa- 
 tions for the pendulum, and he now took 
 up his quarters entirely on shore for that 
 purpose. On the first of May, however, it 
 blew a strong gale from the northward, 
 which made it impossible to keep up the 
 desired temperature in the house; and so 
 heavy was the snow-drift, that in a few 
 hours the house was nearly covered, and 
 we were obliged to communicate with Cap- 
 
1! 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 265 
 
 tain Sabine and his attendants through a 
 small window, from which the snow was, 
 with much labour, cleared away, the door 
 being quite inaccessible. We saw the sun 
 at midnight for the first time this season. 
 
 The gale and snow-drift continued on 
 the following day, when we had literally to 
 dig out the sentries, who attended thc^ fire 
 at the house, in order to have them re- 
 lieved. I feel it right to mention these cir- 
 cumstances, that the difficulties with which 
 Captain Sabine had to contend, may be 
 duly appreciated in the making of obser- 
 vations that require, even under every fa- 
 vourable circumstance of weather and cli- 
 mate, no ordinary share of skill and at- 
 tention. 
 
 On the 5 th Mr. Edwards reported that 
 Mr. Crawford, the Greenland mate, who 
 had, for several days past, been complaining 
 of pains which appeared to be rheumatic, 
 shewed some symptoms of the scurvy, which 
 made it necessary to resort to the antiscor- 
 butic diet. It is worthy of notice, that 
 Mr. Crawford was one of the most clean, 
 
 f^l 
 
 
 
 '^ I 
 
2G6 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 
 I -M 
 
 > ; 
 
 U»' 
 
 p>v 
 
 'V A 
 
 temperate, and cheerful men in the expe- 
 dition, and, as such, was one of the least 
 likely to be thus affected. The washed 
 clothes of the ship's company were this day 
 dried entirely in the open air. 
 
 On the 6th, the thermometer rose no 
 higher than -f 8J° during the day; but, as 
 the wind was moderate, and it was high 
 time to endeavour to get the ships once 
 more fairly afloat, we commenced the opera- 
 tion of cutting the ice about them. In 
 order to prevent the men suffering from 
 wet and cold feet, a pair of strong boots 
 and boot-stockings were on this occasion 
 served to each, being part of a complete 
 suit of warm clothing, with which I had 
 been supplied for the purpose of issuing 
 them to the ships* companies gratis, when- 
 ever I should see occasion. As the sun 
 became low towards midnight, the usual 
 parhelia appeared about this luminary. 
 "The expedition having, at its departure 
 from England, been victualled for no more 
 than two years, of which one had now ex- 
 pired, I considered it expedient, as a matter 
 
OF A KORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 267 
 
 ! expe- 
 e least 
 ivashed 
 lis day 
 
 ose no 
 but, as 
 IS high 
 s once 
 opera- 
 n. In 
 y from 
 5 boots 
 ccasion 
 mplete 
 
 I had 
 issuing 
 
 when- 
 he sun 
 usual 
 
 V, 
 
 )arture 
 ) more 
 )w ex- 
 matter 
 
 of precaution, to reduce the daily allowance 
 of all the kinds of provision to two-thirds 
 of the established proportion, which regu- 
 lation accordingly took place from this day. 
 The cheerfulness with which this reduction 
 was received by both officers and men was 
 to me an additional and highly gratifying 
 proof of that firm and • zealous principle of 
 duty by which their conduct was at all 
 times regulated. 
 
 On the 12th, one of the men, employed 
 in digging turf on shore, reported that he 
 had seen a ptarmigan, an event which, trifling 
 as it was, created no small degree of in- 
 terest among us, who had now been de- 
 prived of fresh meat for nearly six months : 
 it was also hailed as a sure omen of re- 
 turning summer. This was further con- 
 firmed by Mr. Beverly having on the 13th 
 killed a male ptarmigan, and by another 
 being seen on the following day, as well as 
 the first tracks of rein-deer and musk-oxen, 
 which indicated their route to be directly 
 to the northtvard. The time of the return 
 of these animals to Melville Island, from 
 
 Hi 
 
 'i 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
^mmf 
 
 mm 
 
 W 
 
 A 
 
 26S 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 y^u 
 
 ! I 
 
 n.> 
 
 ;>f 
 
 the continent, is thus satisfactorily ascer- 
 tained; and it was suggested by Captain 
 Sabine, as a circumstance worthy of re- 
 mark, that the period of their migration 
 had occurred with the first fine weather 
 wliich took place after the commencement 
 of constant day-light. In examining the 
 seeds and small buds contained in the maw 
 of the bird killed by Mr. Beverly, they 
 were found to consist entirely of the native 
 plants of the island, and principally those 
 of the dwarf-willow, so that the bird had 
 perhaps arrived a day or two before that 
 time. On the 15th, two or three coveys 
 of ptarmigan were seen, after which they 
 became more and more numerous, and a 
 brace or two were almost daily procured 
 for the sick, for whose use they were ex- 
 clusively reserved. As it was of the utmost 
 importance, under our present circumstan- 
 ces, that every ounce of game which we 
 might thus procure, should be served in 
 lieu of the other meat, I now renewed the 
 orders formerly given, and which afterwards 
 obtained among us the name of **game- 
 
 .f- » 
 
i 
 
 OF A NORTH-WEST TASSAOEi 
 
 2().0 
 
 ascer- 
 ;^aptain 
 of re- 
 ^ration 
 vreather 
 cement 
 ng the 
 le maw 
 h they 
 native 
 r those 
 rd had 
 re that 
 coveys 
 ih they 
 and a 
 ocured 
 ire ex- 
 utmost 
 mstan- 
 ch we 
 i^ed in 
 ed the 
 rwards 
 game- 
 
 laws, " that every animal killed was to be 
 considered as public property ; and, as such, 
 to be regularly issued like any other kind 
 of provision, without the slightest distinc- 
 tion between the messes of the officers and 
 those of the ships' companies. 
 
 Some of our men, having, in the course 
 of their shooting excursions, been exposed 
 for several hours to the glare of the sun 
 and snow, returned at night, much affected 
 with that painful inflammation in the eyes, 
 occasioned by the reflection of intense light 
 from the snow, aided by the warmth of the 
 sun, and called in America ** snow-blind- 
 ness." This complaint, of which the sen- 
 sation exactly resembles that produced by 
 large particles of sand or dust in the eyes, 
 is cured by some tribes of American In- 
 dians, by holding them over the steam of 
 warm water ; but we found a cooling wash, 
 made by a small quantity of acetate of lead 
 mixed with cold water, more efficacious in 
 relieving the irritation, which was always 
 done in three or four days, even in the most 
 severe cases, provided the eyes were care- 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
270 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 -M 
 
 '■ Ki 
 
 fully guarded from the light. As a pre- 
 ventive of this complaint, a piece of black 
 crape was given to each man, to be worn 
 as a kind of short veil attached to the hat, 
 which we found to be very serviceable ; a 
 still more convenient mode, adopted by 
 some of the officers, was found equally effi- 
 cacious ; this consisted in taking the glasses 
 out of a pair of spectacles, and substituting 
 black or green crape, the glass having been 
 found to heat the eyes, and increase the ir- 
 ritation. 
 
 The exhalations arising from the earth 
 were about this time observed to be very 
 abundant, producing, during the day-time, 
 much of that appearance of waving tremu- 
 lous motion in distant objects, which the 
 French called mirage, and which was usually 
 succeeded by a fog at night, as soon as the 
 atmosphere had become cool. 
 
 On the 17th, we completed the opera- 
 tion of cutting the ice round the Hecla, 
 which was performed in the following man*- 
 ner: the ice alongside the ships was found 
 to be six feet thick, being about eighteen 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 271 
 
 inches less than the average thickness of it 
 in Winter Harbour, owing principally to 
 our having continued to cut it round the 
 ships for some time after the commence- 
 ment of tlie winter, and in part, perhaps, to 
 the snow with which it had there been 
 thicldy covered. We began by digging a 
 large hole under the stern, being the same 
 as that in which the tide-pole was placed, 
 in order to enter the saw, which occupied 
 us nearly two days, only a small number of 
 men being able to work at it. In the mean 
 time, all the snow and rubbish was cleared 
 away from the ship's side, leaving only the so- 
 lid ice to work upon ; and a trench, two feet 
 wide, was cut the whole length of the star- 
 board side, from the stem to the rudder, 
 keeping within an inch or two of the bends, 
 and taking care here and there to leave a 
 dike, to prevent the water which might 
 ooze into one part from filling up the others 
 in which* the men were working. In this 
 manner was the trehch cut with axes, to the 
 depth of about four feet and a half, leaving 
 only eighteen inches for the saws to cut, 
 
 11 
 
*n,il.,^i 
 
 
 > 1 t 5 It 
 
 •il ■: ■ nf 
 
 <V '- ,1 
 
 ft.r 
 
 
 ill 
 
 
 272 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 except in those places where the dikes re- 
 mained. The saw, being then entered in 
 the hole under the stern, was worked in the 
 usual manner, being suspended by a triangle 
 made of three spars ; one cut being made 
 on the outer part of the trench, and a se- 
 cond within an inch or two of the bends, in 
 order to avoid injuring the planks. A 
 small portion of ice being broken off now 
 and then by bars, handspikes, and ice- 
 chisels, floated to the surface, and was 
 hooked out by piecemeal. This operation 
 was a cold and tedious one, and required 
 nine days to complete it. When the work- 
 men had this morning completed the trench 
 within ten or twelve feet of the stern, the 
 ship suddenly disengaged herself from the 
 ice, to which she had before been firmly 
 adhering on the larboard side, and rose in 
 the water about ten inches abaft, and nearly 
 eighteen inches forward, with a considera- 
 ble surge. This disengagement, to which 
 the sailors naturally applied the term 
 " launching," confirmed my supposition, 
 that the ship was held so fast by the ice, as 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 273 
 
 :es re- 
 ared in 
 1 in the 
 riangle 
 y made 
 [ a se- 
 jnds, in 
 :s. A 
 off now 
 id ice- 
 id was 
 )eration 
 equired 
 b work- 
 I trench 
 rn, the 
 3m the 
 I firmly 
 rose in 
 
 nearly 
 sidera- 
 
 which 
 term 
 
 sition, 
 
 ice, as 
 
 to make it dangerous to alter materially 
 the stowage of the holds, but in a manner 
 the very reverse of what I had apprehended. 
 This circumstance, however, on consider- 
 ation, it was not difficult to explain. In the 
 course of the winter, the strong eddy winds 
 about the ships had formed round them a 
 drift of snow, seven or eight feet deep 
 in some parts, and, perhaps, weighing a 
 hundred tons; by which the ice, and the 
 ships with it, were carried down much be- 
 low the natural level at which they would 
 otherwise have floated. In the mean time 
 the ships had become considerably lighter, 
 from the expenditure of several months* 
 provisions ; so that, on both these accounts, 
 they had naturally a tendency to rise in the 
 water as soon as they were set at liberty. 
 
 The ships being now once more fairly 
 afloat, I directed a strict and careful survey 
 to be commenced of all the provisions and 
 stores of every kind remaining on board 
 each ship, and at the same time the Griper 
 to be supplied with the quantity which the 
 Hack had stowed for her, amounting nearly 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
 ('I 
 
 4 
 
Il-* 
 
 274 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 **1,v1 
 
 f i r 
 
 H I'll :-• ? 1 
 
 -1 i.-| 
 
 to the proportion of every kind for twelve? 
 months. In the mean time, a party of 
 hands were occupied in breaking and 
 weighing the stones for ballast, while others 
 were getting out the sails and boats, and our 
 carpenters, armourers, coopers and sail^ 
 makers, having each tlieir respective em-' 
 ployments, our little colony now presented 
 the most busy and bustling scene that can 
 be imagined. It was found necessary to 
 caulk every part of the upper works, as^ 
 w ell as all the decks, the seams having been- 
 so much opened by the frost, as to require 
 at least one, and in many parts two threads 
 of oakum, though the ship had scarcely 
 ever laboured^ at all since she was last 
 caulked. I also at this time laid out a? 
 small garden^ planting it with radishes, 
 onions, mustard, and cress ; and a similar 
 attempt was made by Lieutenant Liddon ; 
 but, notwithstanding every care and atten- 
 tion which could be paid to it, this experi- 
 ment may be said to have wholly failed,* 
 the radishes not e 
 
 ;eeding 
 
 length 
 
 by the latter end of July, and the other 
 
OF A NOBTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 275 
 
 twelve* 
 rty of 
 r and 
 others 
 nd our 
 1 sail* 
 e em- 
 iserited 
 at can 
 lary to 
 rks, as^ 
 ig been 
 require 
 threads 
 carcely 
 as last 
 out a? 
 dishes, 
 similar 
 iddon ; 
 atten- 
 xperi- 
 failedy 
 length 
 other 
 
 seeds being altogether thrown away. Not 
 even a single crop of mustard and cress 
 could be thus raised in the open air ; and 
 our horticulture was, therefore, once more 
 confined to my cabin, where, at the present 
 mild temperature of the atmosphere, those 
 two vegetables could be raised without any 
 difficulty, and in considerable a:bundance. 
 I may remark, however, that some common 
 ships' peas, which were sown by our people 
 for their amusement, were found to thrive 
 so well, that, had I been sooner aware of it, 
 a great quantity of the leaves at least of 
 this vegetable might have been grown, 
 which, when boiled, and eaten as greens, 
 would have been no small treat to persons 
 deprived of fresh vegetable substance for 
 more than ten months. It is not improba- 
 ble also, that, by the assistance of glass, 
 the want of which deprived us of the op- 
 portunity of making the experiment, a grc at 
 deal more might have been done in this 
 way, notwithstanding the miserable climate 
 with which we had to contend. 
 ^ About the .21st we began to perceive a 
 
 *♦• 
 
 .11" 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 11 
 
 \fi 
 
 1 1' 
 
 i! I 
 
 daily diminution of the snow upon the landj 
 the brown soil appearing in patches, where 
 hitherto the snow had completely covered 
 it ; and on the 22d, in the course of a walk 
 which we took to the Table-hill, to the 
 westward of the ships, we had the satisfac- 
 tion of being able to fill a pint bottle with 
 water from a small pool of melted snow, 
 having a quantity of sand mixed with it, a 
 circumstance which we always found to fa- 
 vour the thawing process. There cannot, 
 perhaps, be a more striking proof of the 
 extreme severity of the climate of Melville 
 Island than the fact, that this was the first 
 instance we had known of water, naturally 
 in a fluid state when exposed to the atmos- 
 phere, and unassisted by artificial means^ 
 such as those which I have already described 
 as having occurred in one or two instances 
 under the ship's stern, since the middle of 
 the preceding September, being an interval 
 of more than eight months. During this 
 excursion, too, we discovered, with pleasure, 
 that the sorrel was extremely abundant in 
 the neighbourhood of the ships, a root or 
 
 fi 
 
 »»<*'■■ 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 277 
 
 land» 
 where 
 >vered 
 I walk 
 o the 
 tisfac- 
 e with 
 snow, 
 :h it, a 
 . to fa- 
 jannot, 
 of the 
 [elville 
 le first 
 turally 
 atmos- 
 leansf 
 cribed 
 tances 
 die of 
 terval 
 ig this 
 asure, 
 lant in 
 ot or 
 
 two of this valuable antiscorbutic plant oc- 
 curring in almost every tuft of moss which 
 we met with. No appearance of its begin- 
 ning to vegetate could yet, however, be 
 perceived ; and we began to look with im- 
 patience for the sprouting of its leaves, from 
 which we hoped to obtain a supply of fresh 
 vegetable matter, of which, perhaps, in re- 
 ality, we all began to stand in need. About 
 two hundred yards to the westward of this 
 hill is another rather smaller, but very simi- 
 lar in appearance, and composed of the 
 same mineral substances as that just de- 
 scribed ; in coming from the eastward, the 
 second hill is not seen, being hid behind 
 the other. 
 
 Having considered that an examination 
 of the extent rnd productions of the island 
 might be conducive to the improvement of 
 the geography and natural history of these 
 regions ; and the good state of health en- 
 joyed by the crews, permitting a certain 
 number of men to be spared from each 
 sliip during their equipment for sea, I 
 now determined to undertake a journey 
 
 •^v. 
 
 M±.JUMJb^ ^ ■t-a.^yXTiTiifcaj 
 
27S 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 m 
 
 )>' I 
 
 III; 
 
 into the interior, for this purpose, accom-* 
 panied by a certain number of officers and 
 men who volunteered their services on the 
 occasion ; and the 1st of June was fixed for 
 our departure. The Griper's sick list had 
 now been reduced to one person, whose 
 only complaint was debility from a late at- 
 tack of scurvy ; and William Scott, whom 
 I have before had occasion to mention, was 
 the only patient on board the Hecla. The 
 ease of this man had been such as, for some 
 time past, to baffle Mr. Edwards's en- 
 deavours to produce a favourable change, 
 his complaint appearing to be more mental 
 than corporeal, and, therefore, one which 
 no medicine could be expected to cure. 
 
 Early on th<3 morning of the 24th, Mr. 
 Allison reported that he had felt a few 
 drops of rain fall upon his face, an event 
 which we had scarcely dared to anticipate 
 so soon, but which was hailed with much 
 satisfaction, as nothing appears to be so ef- 
 fectual as rain in producing the dissolution 
 of tlie ice. The clouds had a watery ap^ 
 pearance throughout the day, and at half» 
 
 mi 
 
 -V«if-' 
 
 - ■*' -<-.-c.t- 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE* 
 
 279 
 
 Lcconi'' 
 rs and 
 on the 
 Led for 
 ist had 
 whose 
 [ate at- 
 whom 
 an, was 
 . The 
 >r some 
 s's en- 
 change, 
 I mental 
 which 
 ire. 
 
 h, Mr. 
 a few 
 1 event 
 icipate 
 much 
 so ef- 
 lolution 
 iry ap^ 
 It half* 
 
 past eight in the evening, we were agree- 
 ably surprised by a smart shower of rain, 
 which was shortly after succeeded by several 
 others. We had been so unaccustomed to 
 see water naturally in a fluid state at all, 
 and much less to see it fall from the hea- 
 vens, that such an occurrence became a 
 matter of considerable curiosity, and I be- 
 lieve every person on board hastened on 
 deck to witness so interesting as well as 
 novel a phenomenon. The rain which fell 
 in the course of the evening, made several 
 little pools upon the ice, which now re- 
 mained unfrozen for twelve or fourteen 
 hours in the day, as did also the sea-water 
 around the ships^ Two ivory gulls were 
 reported to have been seen in the course of 
 this day by a party employed in cutting, 
 turf on shore. 
 
 I am now to mention an occurrence which 
 took place at this period, and on which I 
 should gladly be silent, but that it is inti- 
 mately connected with the important subject 
 o-f the health of seamen in this and in every 
 Qther clinaate.- It was reported to nre, 
 
i^iSB 
 
 280 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 1^ 
 
 i. 
 
 ' \ 
 
 ifu^ 
 
 through one or two of the Hecla's petty- 
 officers, that one of our seamen, whose 
 name I am unwilHng to record, and who 
 had lately been cured, by the greatest care 
 and attention, of a rather severe attack of 
 the scurvy, had been in the frequent habit 
 of eating with his bread a quantity of the 
 skimmings of the water in which sglt meat 
 is boiled, called by the sailors ** slush.'* 
 This kind of fat or grease, which is always 
 understood to be a perquisite of the cooks 
 in His Majesty's navy, and the use of which 
 is well-known to be in the highest degree 
 productive of scurvy, had always been a 
 source of considerable anxiety and appre- 
 hension to me during the voyage. Soon 
 after our leaving England, when the issuing 
 of salt-meat commenced, I sent for the cook 
 of the Hecla, and, in presence of the offi- 
 cers, warned him on no account ever to 
 permit a particle of this slush to be used 
 by the ship's company ; and, on condition 
 of his faithfully complying with this injunc- 
 tion, I permitted him, under certain restric- 
 tions, to preserve it in casks, for his own 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 281 
 
 etty- 
 
 rhose 
 who 
 care 
 
 ck of 
 
 habit 
 
 )f the 
 meat 
 
 lush/' 
 
 ilways 
 cooks 
 
 which 
 
 degree 
 
 peen a 
 
 appre- 
 Soon 
 ssuing 
 e cook 
 e offi- 
 ver to 
 used 
 dition 
 njunc- 
 estric- 
 s own 
 
 future benefit. With these directions the 
 cook had, I beheve, punctually complied 
 till the middle of the winter ; when he had 
 been gradually led into a practice of fur- 
 nishing the people occasionally with a small 
 quantity of fat to burn in their lamps ^ of 
 this, the man alluded to, had, it seems, 
 taken advantage, and used it as an article 
 of diet in the manner described. Being 
 determined immediately to check so perni- 
 cious a practice, I charged him with his 
 offence in presence of the officers and ship's 
 company, pointing out to them, at the same 
 time, the ingratitude with which he had re/- 
 paid the care taken of him during his late 
 illness. It gave me great satisfaction to 
 find that the men were disposed to view 
 this act with a degree of indignation little 
 short of that which I felt it my duty to ex-- 
 press on this occasion, some of them, as I 
 found, having repeatedly spoken to him 
 before upon the subject. Having, therei- 
 fore, directed that the offender should be 
 punished by wearing upon his back a biadge, 
 which would expose him for a time to the 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 u 
 
282 
 
 VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY 
 
 w 
 
 i'.if 
 
 'I '|; 
 
 M 
 
 4 
 
 m> 
 
 i »: 
 
 contempt and derision of liis shipmates, I 
 felt satisfied that no future instance would 
 occur of an offence which might prove so 
 fatal to the cause in which we were engaged. 
 Early on the morning of the 29th, the 
 wind increased to a fresh gale from the 
 northward and westward, which continued 
 during the day, with a heavy fall of snow 
 and a tremendous drift, that prevented o«ir 
 seeing to the distance of more than twenty 
 yards around the ships. The following 
 day being fine, I took my travelling party 
 to the top of the north-east hill, in order to 
 try the cart, which had been constructed 
 for carrying the tents and baggage, and 
 which appeared to answer very well. The 
 view from this hill was not such as to offer 
 much encouragement to our hopes of future 
 advancement to the westward. The sea 
 still presented the same unbroken and con- 
 tinuous surface of solid and impenetrable 
 ice, and this ice could not be less than from 
 six to seven feet in thickness, as we knew 
 it to be about the ships. When to this cir- 
 cumstance was added the consideration, that 
 
OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 28J 
 
 js, I 
 3uld 
 e 80 
 ged. 
 , the 
 the 
 nued 
 mow 
 L o«r 
 renty 
 >wing 
 party 
 ier to 
 acted 
 and 
 The 
 offer 
 iture 
 3 sea 
 con- 
 :rable 
 from 
 knew 
 s cir- 
 i, that 
 
 scarcely the sHghtest symptoms of thawing 
 had yet appeared, and that in three weeks 
 from this period the sun would again begin 
 to decline to the southward, it must be con- 
 fessed, that the most sanguine and enthusi- 
 astic among us had some reason to be stag- 
 gered in the expectations they had formed 
 of the complete accomplishment of our en- 
 terp.ise. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 ^•«*«t*- ^ -.^j*fc * •"?• <?f-»'i?— 
 
fvi ! 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY C. ROWORTH, BELL YARD, 
 
 TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 ► ,-^'*- 
 
 .f'-^ 
 
 :^vv- 
 
 i.*^i 
 
 ^^^.tt. 
 
> •^*'' Jfee .«4te»^^