m^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) (/.A 1.0 I.I 1^ 12.8 ■ 50 '"^™ ^ lis lllllio |Z5 2.2 L25 nil 1.4 18 1.6 V] <^ /a. <$• '/ /A w PhoiDgraphic Sciences on m. k ^^. iV \ c\ ^ CS^ 23 WEST MAIN STREIT WEBSTER, N.Y. US80 (716) 872-4503 ' m^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibiiographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. n n a D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagde Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ D Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior maryin/ Lareliure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6td filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; L'lnstitut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mSthode no^male de filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurdes et/ou pelliculdes Pages discoloured, stained or foxe( Pages ddcolordes, tachetdes ou piqudes Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Quality indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary materii Comprend du matdriel suppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible I I Pages damaged/ I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ r~~1 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ I I Pages detached/ r"! Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ I I Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont dt6 filmdes i nouveau de fagon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X SOX y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th« copy filmad hart has baan raproducad thanks to tha ganaroslty of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia L'axamplaira film4 fut raproduit grAca ib la gAnirositi da: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia consldaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in liaaping with tha filming contract spacifications. Original copias in printad paper covars ara filmad beginning with tha front covar and ending on tha last page with a printad or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the lest page with a printed or illustrated i.Tipression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les images suivantas ont ■ ',nihr r%i .-M«»v -^i ^ -.4.,:;*,ja-. .1 ^^ i ^i^ J . /- W (; , ;''J*(31L".s»::-« t H K tNtRODUGTtON. 4 4 4 ■# IT is fortunate for commerce, and the inter- courfe of nations, that there is implanted in man's nature a defire of novelty^ which no prc- fent gratification can fatisfy j that when he has Vifited one regioh of the earth, he is (till, like Alexander^ fighing for another to explore i and that, after having efcaped one danger in his progrefs, he is no lefs eager to encounter others> that may chance to obftrudt him in the courfe of his purfuits. If the hiftory of former hardfhips could have deterred men from engaging in new adventures, the Voyage, the particulars of which we are now about to relate, would probably never have been undertaken. The dreary regions that fur- round the poles are fo little accuftomed to feel the kindly influences of the enlivening fun, and »re fo deftitute of the ordinary produdions of the earth in happier climates, that little Icfa than one whole quarter of the globe is, by its fterility, rendered uninhabitable by human beings, and but thinly occupied by a very incon«« fiderable number of the race of quadrupedes, The many and almoft infuperable difficulties that muft therefore be expefled in traverfing^ thcfc forlorn dcfarts, where no relief is to b? j^ cxpedtedy C'' / ^ / ■• Pacific N. W. History Dept. PROVINCIAL LIBRARY, VICTORIA, B. ^ It INTRODUCTION. cxpecled, but from the tavourablc interpolition of that power, vvhofe raorclful providence ex- tends to the remotcd corners of the earth, are, upon reflection, enough to cool the ardour" of the mod cntcrprinng, and to ilagger the refolu- tion of the molt intrepid. In the contention between powers, equally formed by nature to meet an oppcficion, it may be glorious to overcome ; but to encounter raging feas, tremendous rocks, and bulwarks of folid ice, anddcfperately toperfiftin atttmpts to prevail againll fuch formidable enemies ; as the conflict is h.opclef''; fo tlic event is certain. Ihe harditfc and nxlT fisiiful navigator, after fxpcfinr?: hin'^Jclf and lii.s con^panions to the moft perilous dangers, and fnlTcring in propor- tion to his hardincls the molt complicated dif- trelTes, mull at laft fubmir to return home with- out fucccih, or pcrlfli by his perfeverance. " This obferVarion Vv'ill be fufHciently juflified, by a brief recapitulation of the Voyages that Tiave been undertaken, with a view to the dif- covcry of aNorth-ealt Paffagc to China and Japan. The firft who attempted this difcovery was Sir Hugh Willoughby, with three fliips, fo early as the year 1553, the sera of perilous cnterprizes. This gentleman failed to the la- titude of "j^ degrees north, within fight, as it is imiagined, of New Greenland, now called Spitlbergen j but by a Uorm was driven back^' ani 4 I i ■1 ..♦■■■iHIBJLft y • •• Ay i 4 INTRODUCTION. and oblifreti to winter in the river Arzcna, in La[)land, where he was frozen to death with aU his company. He left upon his table a concife account of all his difcoveries, in which he mentions, havinn; iailed within liglitof a coua* try in a very high iatitiide, about which r.eo- graphers are divided ; Ibme aiTirming, as lias been faid, that it could be no other than Ncvv Greenland, afterwards discovered, and named by the Dutch Spitfbergen -, others, that what he law was only a fog-bank ; and of this latter opinion is Capt. Wood, an able navigator, of whom we fhall have occafion to fpeak hereafter. To Sir Hugh Vvilloughby fucceeded Capr, Burroughs, afterwards Comptroller of the Na- vy to CHieen Elizabeth. This gentleman at- tempted the paflage with better fortune, and returned full of hope, but without fuccefs. He paffed the North cape in 1556, advanced as far north as the 78 th degree, difcovered the Wygate, or ftrait that divides Nova Zembla from the country of the Sammoyds, now fub* jeft ta Ruflia : and having palled the eaftern- moft point of that ftrait, arrived at an open iea, from whence he returned, having, as he imagined, difcov'ered the paflage fo painfully fought, and fo ardently defired. Some affirm, ■his difcoveries extended beyond the 80th de- gree of latitude, to a country altogether defo- late, where the mountains were blue and the valleys fnow, V - B 2 Be ( ii il*~' IV m INTRODUCTION. Be that as it may, the favourable report of Capt. Burroughs encouraged Queen Eli?abetJ\ to fit out two ftout vcflcls to perfe(fl the dif- covery. The comrpand of thefe fliips wa? given to the Captains Jackman and Pett, who, in 1580, failed throqgh the fame ftrait, that had been difcovercd by Burroughs, and enter- ed the eaftern fea i where the ice poured in fo fall upon them, and the weather became fo tempeftuous, that aft?r enduring incredible hardfhips, and fuftaining the moft dreadful ftiocks of ice and feas, terrible even in the rela-. tion, they were driven back and feparated ; and neither Pett nor his fliip or cre>y were ever heard of afterwards. After this difaftcr and difappointmcnt, the defire of vifiting the frozen feas to the norti . eaft- began to abate among the Englifh, buc was aflumed by the Dutch with an obftinatc per- icverance, peculiar to that phlegmatic nation. The firft Dutchman we read of who made the attempt was John Cornell us^ of whofc voyagCj^ in i595> we have but a very imperfed account 1, he was followed however in 1 606 by "William^ Barrans, or, as fome write, Barents, a^r^ abl^ and experienced feaman and mathematician, who being f\ipplied with every ncccflary for foi hazardous a voyage, by the generofity and pa- tronage of Prince Maurice, proceeded in the fame courfe which had been pointed out to hin^ ^y the Eogliih navigators $ but haying pafiTe^ the INTRODUCTION. t the "Wygate, found the like incumbrances, and the like tempefts which the Englifh had expe- rienced i and not being able to bear up againft them, returned thoroughly convinced, that the wiHied-for palTage was not to be attained in that diredion. However, he traverfed the joaft of Nova Zembla, gave names to feveral promontories and head-lands, and planned to himfclf a new courfe to fteer, by which h? )ioped to accomplifh what he had failed (ti dif*- covering, by following the fteps of thofc who ^ad gone before him. In 1607, animated rather than difcouragecl by difappoifit nent, he entered upon his fccond voyage, with the fpirit of a man fully prepof- feffed with fuccefs. He had heard, that fome of the whalers, who h^d now begun to fre- quent the North Seas, had, either by defign pr accident, advanced much farther to the northward than thofe who had been purpofely fitted out upon difcoveries ; he therefore deter^ mined to fteer to the northward of Nova Zem- bla, till he fhould arrive at the height of thp pole, under which he was pcrfuaded he fhould find an open Tea ; and, by changing his courfe po the fquthward, avoid thofe obftruflions which had retarded his paifage to the north<*eafl:. In this hope he continued till he arrived on the coaft of Nova Zembla, where, before he had reached the 77th degree, he was fo rudel/ attacked by thi mountains of ice, that every where !i' Vi INTRODUCTION. where afTailed him, that not being able to with*^ {land their fury, he was driven againft the rocks, and his (hip dafhed to pieces. Barents and the greateft part of his crew got fafe to land, but it was to experience greater mifery than thofe underwent who perifhed in the attempt. They were obliged to winter in a country, where no living creature befides themfelves appeared to have exiftence ; >and where, notwithftanding their utmoft efforts to preferve their bodies from the cold, the flelh perilhed upon the bones of fome of them, and others died of the moil ex* cruciating pains. In this extremity, and notwithftanding the anguilh they endured, thole who furvived had lUllthe fortitude and ingenuity to frame a pin^ nace from the wreck of their broken Ihip, in which, at the approach of fummer, they made fail for Lapland •, but before they arrived at Colu, their Captain died, and with him the hopes of perfecting his difcovery. It was now the adive fcafon for naval enter* prizes. Private adventurers began to fit out Ihips for the North Seas. Innumerable fea ani- mals had been obferved to balk upon the ice ; the talks of whofe jaws were found to excel, in whitenefs, the fineft ivory, and their carcafes to yield plenty of excellent oil. In the infancy of the whale filhery, thefe were purfued with the fame eagernefs, with which both the Englifli and putch endeavour a: this day to make the whales their \ Vll '^ ^ i iji '^'t yi >% ^Vf INTRODUCTION. tlieir prey, and pciliaps with no lefs profit. In following thefe, many iflands were difcovered to whicli they reforted, and, in courfe of time, the feas that were fo formidable to the firft dif- coverers, became frequented at the proper fea- fons by the fhips of every nation. Foreign navigators, however, were more fanguine in their notions of a north- weft palTage, than of the exiftence of a paflage to the north- eaft; and it was not till many unfuccefsful tri- als had been made to difcover the former, that the latter was again attempted. The celebrat- ed Hudfon, who difcovered the ftraits that leads to the great weitern bay, which ftill bears his name ; after he had exerted his fl^ill in vain to find a pafljge weftward, was perfuaded at lal-fe to undertake a voyage in fearch of a paflTuge to the north-caft. This he performed in 1610, but being dilcouraged by the mifcarriages of others, and the fatal ifiue that had attended their obllinate perfcverance, on viewing the face of the country, examining the currents, and travcrfing an immenfe continent of ice, that ftrctchcd along the ocean, in a diredion from ead fouth-eaft to weft north-weft, he (joncluded, that no paflage could be pra6lica- ble in that direction, and therefore returned without making any other material difcovery. From this time till the year 1676, the profe- cucion of this difcovery was totally neglected by the Englifli ; and though the Dutch whalers j^.mufcd * "J' i tttiufcd the world with wonderful relations of their near approach to the pole; yet little cre- dit was given to their reports till the arrival o! one John Wood, who had accompanied Sir John Narborough in his voyage to the South Sea, with a view to cftablifli a new trade with the Chilians, and natives of that vaft trad of country, reaching from the Strait* of Magel- lan to the confines of Peru. This able and enterprizing navigator, being himfelf an excellent mathematician and geo- grapher, and reading in the Philofophical IfranfacElions a paper, by which the exiftenc«f of a north- call paiTage to the eaftern or Indian ocean was plaufibly alTerted, and this exadl/ coinciding with his own notions of the coflt'> ftrudion of the globe, he was induced, by thi$ and other reafons, to apply to King Charles thcf Second for a commiflion to profecute the difco- very; the accomplilhuient whereof, itwasfaid, would add to the glory of his Majefty*s reign^ and immenfely to the wealth and profperity of his kingdoms. Many about the Court of that needy Prince,i hoping to fhare in the profits of the voyage^ were earneft in prevailing with his Majefty to forward the defign, who being himfelf fond of novelty, ordered the Speedwell Frigate to be fitted out at his own charge, manned, vidlu- alled, and provided with every neceflary j while the Duke, his brother, and fevcn other cour- tiers, i i :X ^# INTRODUCTION. tiers, joined in the purchafeof a Pink of one hun- dred and twenty tons, to accompany her, wliich they likewife manned and viftualled, andfurnifli- ed with merchandizes, fuch as were thought mar- ketable on the coafts of Tartary or Japan ; the countries they mod probably would firft fall in with after theii paflage through the North Sea. Thefe fliips being in readinefs, and commil- fions made out for their Commanders, Captain Wood was appointed to diredt the expedition, on board the Speedwell, and Captain Fiawes to bear him compjiny on board the Profperous. On the 28th of May 1676, they failed from the Buoy of the Nore, with the wind at fouth- weft ; and on the 4th of June call anchor off Lerwick, in BrafTey Sound, where they conti- nued fix days, to take in water and recruit their {lores. On Saturday the loth they weighed anchor and continued their voyage*-, and on the 15th they entered the Polar circle, where the fun at that feafon of the year never fets. At noon the Speedwell broke her main-top-fail-yard in the flings, the firft difafter that had happened, which, however, was eafily repaired. The weather now began to grow hazey, a circum- ftance that frequently happens in the Polar re- gions, and darkens the air with the obfcurity of night. From this time till June 2 2, when they fell in with the ice in latitude 75 degrees ^^ mi- C nutc9 --<•).- y!>"- "?| i.3 S INTRODUCTION nutcs north, nothing material occurred. On that day, at noon, they obrerved a continent of ice ftretching to an imperceptible diftance» ' a direction from eaft-fouth-eaft and weft- m north-wctt. They bore away along the ice till the 28th, when they found it join to the land of Nova Zembla. On the 29th they flood away to the fouth, to get clear of the ice ; but unfortunately found themfelvcs embayed in it. At 11 at night the Profperous bore down upon the Speedwell, crying out, ice upon the weather- bow, on which the Speedwell clapt the helm hard a wea- ther, and veered out the main-fail to ware the Ihip i but before fhe could be brought too on the other tack, fhe flruck on a ledge of rocks, and fluck fall. They fired guns of diftrefs, but were not heard, and the fog being lb thick, that land could not be difcerned, though clofe to the flern of their fhip j no relief was now to be expedlcd, but from Providence and their own endeavours. In fuch a fituation, no de- scription can equal the relation of the Captain himfelf, who, in the language of the times, has given the following full and pathetic ac- count. ** Here, fays he, we lay beating upon the rock in a mofl frightful manner, for the fpace of three or four hours, uling all pofTibie means to fave the fliip, but in vain j for ic blew fo hard, that it was wholly out of our power to carry '1 1 > '<7 :i f INTRODUCTION. xi carry out an anchor capable to do us any fer- vice. At length we faw land clofe under our ftern, to the great amazement of us all, which before we could not fee for the foggy weather ; fo I commanded the men to get out the boats before our mail came by the board, which wai done. 1 fent the boatfwain towards the Ihore in the pinnace, to fee if there was any pofTibi- lity of landing, which I much feared, becaufe the fea ran fo high. In half an hour he re- turned with this anfwer, that it was impoffible to land a man, the fnow being in high cliffs, the ftiore was inaccefliblc. This was bad tid- ings -, io then it was high time to think on the fafety of our fouls, and we went all together to prayers, to befeech God to have mercy on us, for now nothing but individual ruin appeared before our eyes. After prayers, the weather cleared up a little, and looking over the ftern, 1 faw a fmall beach diredtly with the ftern of the ftiip, where I thought there might be fome ^hance of getting on ftiore. I therefore fent off the pinnace a fecond time, with fome men in her to be firft landed, but ftie durft not ven- ture to attempt the beach. I then ordered out the long-boat with twenty men to land, who attempted it, and got fafe on ftiore. They in the pinnace feeing that, followed, and land- ed their menlikewife, and both veflels returned tp the ftiip without any accident. The men on C 2 ftiore i xVi INTRODUCTION. fhprc defired fome fire-arms and ammuni- tion, for there were many bears in fight. I therefore ordered two barrels of powder, fome fmall arms, fome provifions, with my own papers and money, to be put on board the pinnace ; but as Ihc put off^ from the fiiip's iide, a lea overfet her, fo that all was loft, with the life of one man, and fevcral others taken up for dead. The pinnace likewife was daftied to pieces, to our great forrow, as by that dif- atter, one means of efcaping from this difmal country, in cafe the Profperous deferted iv! was cut off. The long-loat being on board, and the fea running high, the boatfwain and fome others would compel me and the Lieutenant to leave the ftiip, frying it was impofllble for her to live long in that fea, and that they had ra- ther be drowned than I •, but defiring me when I came on iTior, , if it were poflTible, to fend the boat again for them. Before we got half way to fhore the (hip overfet, fo making allpoflible hafle to land the men we had on board, 1 went off CO the fliip again, to fave thofe poor men who had been fo kind to me before. With great hazard I got to the quarter of the fhip, and they came down the ladder into the boat, only one man was left behind for dead, who had before been call away in the pinnace ; fo I re- turned to the fliore, though very wet and cold. We then hauled up the boat, and went up the land about a flight (hot, where our men were rnakins mm INTRODUCTION, xlii making a fire and a tent with canvafs and oars, which we had faveu for that purpofe, in which we all lay that night wet and weary. The next morning the man we left on board having re- covered, got upon the mizzen-mafi:, and prayed to be taken on fliore, but it blew fo hard, and tht fea ran fo high, that tho' he was a very pret- ty failor, none would venture to bring him off. The weather continuing blowing with ex- treme fogs, and with froft and thow, and all the ill- compared weather that could be ima- gined put together, we built more tents to pre» ferve ourfelves •, and the (hip breaking in pieces, came all on lliore to the fame place where we landed, which ferved us for (belter and firing. Befides, there came to us fome hogflieads of flour, and brandy in good ftorc, which was no little comfort in our great extremity. Wc now lay between hope and defpair, praying for fair weather, that Captain Flawes might find us, which it was impofTible for him ever to do while the weather continued foggy j but fearing at the fame time that he might be caft away as well as we. But fuppofing we never were to fee him again, I was refolved to try the utmoft to fave as many as 1 could in the long-boat. In order thereunto we raifed her two ftrer, and laid a deck upon her to keep the fca out as much as pofTible i and with this boat, and thirty men, for file would carry no more, [ inteiujcd to row and PJ • J.V \l tr INTRODUCTION.' and fail to Ruflla, but the crew not being fatif- fied who (hould be the men, began to be very unruly in their mind and behaviour, every one having as much rcafon to fave himfelf as ano- ther, fome holding confultation to fave the boat, and all to run the like fortune ; but here brandy was our beft friend, for it kept the men always fox'd, fo that in all their defigns I could prevent them. Some were in the mind to go by land, but that I knew was impoflible to any man ; neither had we provifions nor ammun^ion to defend us from the wild beafts ; fo the paf- fage by land being impradicable, and no paf- fage by fea to be attempted till forty men were deftroyed, I will leave it to the confideration of any, whether we were not in a moft deplorable condition, without the interpofition of divine providence. The weather continued ftill very bad, with fogs, fnow, rain, and froft, till the 9th day of our being on fliG^e, which was the 8th day of July, when in the morning it cleared up, and to our great joy one of our people cried out a fail, which proved Captain Flawes ; fo we fct fire to our town, that he might fee where we were, which he prefently difcovered, fo came up, and fent his boat to us •, but before I went off, I wrote a brief relation of the intention of the voyage, with the accident that had befallen us, and put it into a glafs bottle, and left it in the fortification I had there buiJt ; fo by twelve o'clock ^■1 m A INTRODUCTION. xr o'clock we all got Me on board, but left all on fhore that we had faved from the Ihip ; for we much feared it would prove foggy again, and that we (hould be driven once more on this mifcrable country, a country, for the moft part, covered perpetually with fnow, and what is bare being like bogs, on whofe furfacc grows a kind of mofs, bearing a blue and yellow flour, the whole product of the earth in this defolate region. Under the furface, about two feet deep, we came to a firm body of ice, a thing never heard of before ; and againft the ice-cliffs, which are as high as either of the fore- lands in Kent, the fea has walhed underneath, and the arch overhanging, moft fearful to be- hold, fupports mountains of fnow, which, I believe, hath lain there ever fincc the creation." Thus far in Captain Wood's own words. He adds, that, by the tides fetting diredlly in upon the Ihore, it may be affirmed with cer- tainty, that there is no pafTage to the north- ward. One thing remarkable in his relation, and which feems to conrradid the report of former navigators, i*", that the fea is there falter than he had yet tafted it elfcwhere, and the cleared in the world, for that he could fee the Ihells at the bottom, though the fea was four hundred and eighty feet deep. Being all embarked on board the Profperous, on the 9th of July they changed their cour'e, and Itecred for England j and, on the 23d of Auguft, f: r n !"> xvi INTRODUCTION. Auguft, they arrived fafe in the Thames,' without any remarkable accident intervening. After the mifcarriage of this voyage, on which the higheft expectations had been formed, the mod experienced navigators in England feemed to agree, that a paffage by the north, or north-eaft, had no cxiltence. They were the more confirmed in this error, for an error it is, by the reafons affigned by Capt. Wood, for changing his opinion on this matter j for, be- fore he went upon the difcovery, he was fully perfuaded himiclf, and likewife perfuaded ma- ny others, that nothing was more certain. When, however, he firft faw the ice, he im- agined it was only that which joined to Green- land, and that no folid body of ice extended farther from land than twenty leagues -, in this perfuafion he altered his courfe, and coalted along in the direction in which the ice lay, ex- pelling, at every cape or head-lai^d of ice, af- ter running a certain diilance, to find an open- ins into the Polar ocean i but after runnins two or three j_,ialles to the northward in one bay, he found himfelf entangled in another ; and thus it continued till his (hip was wrecked. By this experiment, he found the opinion of Barents confuted, namely, " that by ftearing *' the middle courfe between Spitfbcrgen and ** Nova Zembla, an open fea might be at- *' tained, in which a fliip might fafely fail as *^ far as the pole." From his own experience, he / t INTRODUCTION. XVll / he therefore pronounced, that all the Dutch relations were forgeries which afferted, that any man had ever been under the pole •, verily be- lieving, that if there be no land to the north- ward of 80 degrees9 that the fea is there frozen, and always continues fo i and grounding his opinion upon this remark, that if the body of ice which he faw were to be conveyed ten de- grees more to the fouthward, many centuries of years would elapfe before it would be melted. Ta this pofitive affcrtion, however, may be oppofed, the teftimony of many credible per-^ fons, fome of whom have themfelves failed be- yond the 80th degree of north latitude, and others, upon evidence, whofe veracity there is no reafonable caufe to bring in queftion. Among the latter, the teftimony of Mr. Jofeph Moxon, member of the Royal Society of London, muft have confiderable weight. In a paper which this gentleman caufed to be printed in the Philofophical Tranfadions, is this remarkable relation. '* Being about twenty years ago in Amfter- •* dam, I went into a public houfe to drink a *« cup of beer for my thirft ; and fitting by *• the public fire, among feveral people . there *' happened a feaman to come in, who feeing a *' friend of his there, who he knew went the «* Greenland voyage, wondered to fee him, tt becaufe it was not yet time for the Green- D " land ,1/ ih (I t xviii INTRODUCTION. land fleet to come home, and alkcd hiiTia what accident had brought him home fo foon ? His friend (who was the fteerfman) anfwcred, that their {liips went not one to fifh, but only to take in the lading of the fleet, to bring it to an early market. Hut, faid he, before the fleet had caught fifh enough to lade us, we, by order of the Greenland Company, failed unto the north pole, and came back again. Whereupon, fays Moxon, I entered into difccurfe with him, and feemed to queftion the truth of what he faid •, but he did aflure me it was true, and that the fhip was then in Amfter- dam, and many of the feamen belonging to her ready to juftify the truth of it ; and told me, moreover, that they had failed two degrees beyond the pole. I allied him, if they found no land or iflands about the pole ? He anfwered, no •, there was a free and open fea. I afkcd him, if they did not- meet with a great deal of ice? He told me, no ; they faw no ice about the pole. I afked him, what weather they had there ? He told me, fine warm weather, fuch as was at Am- fterdam in the furnmer-time, and as hot. I fhould have afked him more queftions, but that he was engaged in difcourfe with his friend, and I could not, in modefl:y, inter- rupt them longer. But I believe the fteerf- man fpoke truth -, for he feemed a plain, ho- '! nieft. \\\ --./" -19t INTRODUCTION, xlx •* neft, and unafFedlatious pcrfon, and one who " could have no dcfign upon me." To authenticate this relation it has been obferved, that under the poles, the fun in June being 23 degrees high, and having litrle or no deprefiion towards the horizon, always, as it were, fwimming about in the fame eleva- tion, might invigorate that part of the hemif- phere with more heat than he does our climate; when he is, in the winter, no more than 15 degrees at the highelt, and but eight hours above the horizon -, in which ipace the earth has time to cool, and to lofe, in the night, the in- fluences of heat which it receives in the day. Another report upon like evidence was made to King Charles the Second, by Capr. Goul- den, who being a Greenland whaler himfelf, fpoke with two Hollanders in the North Seas, that had failed within one degree of the pole, where they met with no ice, but a hollow grown fea, like that in the Bay of Bifcay. A (lill more credible teftimony is, that about the year 1670, application being made to the States General for a charter to incorpo- rate a company of merchants to trade to Japan and China, by a new paflTagc to the north eaft ; the then Eaft India Company oppofed it, and thatib effectually, that their High MightinefTcs refufed to grant what the mcrcliants requefted. At that lime it was talked of in Holland, as a matter of no difficulty to fail to Japan by the D 2 way v-rl I III i XX INTRODUCTION. way of Greenland •, and it was publickly af- ferted and believed, that fcveral Dutch (hips had adually done it. The merchants being re- quired to verify this fa6t, defired that ihc jour- nals of the Greenland fquadron of 1655 might be produced •, in feven of which there was notice taken of a Ihip which that year had failed as high as the latitude of S^ ; and three journals of that (hip being produced, they all agreed, as to one obfervation taken by the mafter, Auguft i, 1655, in 88 degrees 56 mi- nuies north. But a proof inconteftible, is the teftimony of Captain Hudfon, who failed in 1607 to the la- titude of 81 degrees 30 minutes north, where he arrived on the i6th of July, the weather be- ing then pretty warm. Add to all thefe, that the Dutch, who were employed in 1670, in endeavouring to find a north-eaft paflage, advanced within a very few idegrees of that open fea, which is now com- monly navigated by the Ruflians, and which would infallibly have brought them to the coafts of China and Japan, had they perfevered in the courfe they were purfuing. It does not appear, hcwever, from any au- thentic accounts that we can colledl, that any voyage, profeffedly for the difcovery of a north- eall paflage, has been undertaken by cither public or private adventurers in England, fince that of Capt. Wood in the year 1670, till the I prefent • -I M M ■■■^f^ H? INTRODUCTION, xxi prefent year: and it is more than probable, that if the Ruffian difcoverics on the north of Afia had never taken place, the thoughts of finding a pradticable paflage from Europe in that diredion, would have lain dormant for ever. But the vaft and enterprizing genius of Peter the Great, in forcing his fubjedts out of that obfcurity in which they had long been involved, has opened to the maritime powers new fources of commerce, and furnilhed frelh motives fot new enterprizes. From a people unacquainted with a vefTel bigger than a bark, and who knew no navigation but that of their own rivers, that wonderful Prince not only taught them the ufe of (hips, but inftrudted them in the true prin- ciples of building and equipping them. Nay, he did more; for after making himfelf known and admired throughout Europe, he conceived the defign of opening a communication with the remoteft parts of the globe, and difcoverin^ to the world new countries which no European nation had ever yet explored. With this defign, he planned one of the boldeft enterprizes that ever entered into the heart of man ; and though he did not furvive to fee it executed, the glory of the atchievement is wholly his. The country of Kamfchatka was as much unknown to his predeceflbrs, as it was to the reft of the civilized nations of the earth j yet he „ ''. V xxlt INTRODUCTION. he formed the defign of making that favage country the centre of the moft glorious at- chievements. It was in the laft year of this great Monarch's life, that he commiflioned Capt. Behring to traverfc the wild, and then almoft defolate, country of Siberia, and to continue his route to Kamtfchatka, where he was to build one or more vcflels, in order to difcover whether the country towards the north, of which at that time they had no dillinft knowledge, was a part of America, or not ; and if it was, his inftruc- tions authorized him to endeavour, by every poflible means, to feek and cultivate the ac- quaintance of fome European people, and to learn from them the ftate of the country at which he Ihould arrive. If he failed in this, he was to make fuch difcoveries as circuralances ftiould prefent, and commit to writing the re- fult of his oblcrvations for the uie of his Im- perial mailer. To enter minutely into the particulars of Capt. Bchring's journey and voyage, would car- ry us beyond the limits prefcribed for this In- troduction : let it fuffice to fay, that after fur- mounting incredible difficulties, and fuffering hardHiips which none but a Ruffian could have furvived, he executed his commiflion fuccefs- fuUy, and returned to Peterfburg in fafety, after an ablence of five yea , in which time, befides his voyage by fra, he had travelled, in going and \\\ ■■:f INTRODUCTION, xxiii and returning, eighteen thoufand miles by land. It is from the fecond entcrprizes of this afto- nifhing man, and from the fubfeqiient voyages of the Ruffians, that we are able to afcertain the exiftcncc of a north-eaft paflage ; and it is from thence, and from the late voyage of Cape. Phipps, that, we think, we may fairly infer the pradlic&bility of it. It was fome time about the year 174.0, that Capt. Behring embarked on his fecond voyage from Kamtfchatka, of which all that we know is, that he failed fouthward to the ides of Japan, and from thence eaftward about 8q leagues. At that diftance from Japan he dif- covered land, which he coafted north- weft, ftill approaching to the north-eaft cape of Afia, which he doubled, and named Cape Shelvg- henfki, not daring to land till he arrived at the mouth of a great river, where, fending his boats with moll of his crew on fhorc, they never more returned, being either killed or detained by the inhabitants, which made his difcovery incompleat ; for not having men fufficient left to navigate the fhip, fhe went on fliore on art uninhabited ifland, where the Captain unfortu- nately died. From this voyage, however, wc iearn that the fea, from the north-eaft cape of Kamt- fchatka, is open to the IQes of Japan, and from a fubfequent account of Ruflian voyages, pub- lifh.cd v1 \ f xxiv INTRODUCTION. lilhed in the Philofbphical Tranfadlions, from a paper communicated by the celebrated Euler, it appears, that they pafled along in fmall vef- fcls, coafting between Nova Zembla and the continent, at divers times in the middle of fummer, when thofe feas were open. The firft expedition was from the river Oby, latitude 66 degrees north, longitude 6§ degrees eaft from London, and at the approach of winter, the veffels (heltered themfelves by going up the Ja- nifka, the mouth of which is marked in our maps in latitude 70 degrees north, and in lon- gitude 82 degrees eaft ; from whence the next fummer they proceeded to the mouth of the Lena in latitude 72 degrees north, and in lon- gitude 1 1 5 degrees, into which they again re- tired for the winter feafon. The third expedi- tion was from the mouth of this river, to the fartheft north cape of Afia, in 72 degrees of north latitude, and in 172 degrees of eaft lon- gitude from London. Thus the Ruffians hav- ing pafled between the continent and Nova Zembla, and failed as far as the eafternmoft north cape, and the Englifh and Dutch having repeatedly failed through the ftraits that divide Nova Zembla from the continent, nothing can be a plainer demonftration of the reality of a north-eaft pafiage, than the fum of the voyages here enumerated, when added together. The Englifh and Dutch fail to 'Wygatz, or the ftrait of Nova Zembla j the Rufiians fail from Wygatz INTRODUCTION, xxv Wygatz to the north cape of Alia ; and Beh- ring from the north cape to Japan. This is an in- controvertible demonllration ; yet it is obvious, that this courfe can never be practicable to Ihips employed in trade. The Ruffiana, by taking the advantage of an open fea and mild wea- ther, in three years time accomplilhed but part of a voyage, which, by the Cape of Good Hope, may be made in lefs than one. Who therefore would run the hazard of fo defperate a pafTage, for the fake of reaping imaginary ad- vantages by an intercourfe with favages, who, for aught we know, have nothing to exchange for European commodities, but the Ikins of bears, or the bones of monfters. But tho' the paffage to the northern countries of th6 eaft was known to be impradicable to European navigators in this direction, it was worthy the greatnefs of a maritime people, to endeavour to determine the pofllbility of at- taining the fame end by another courfe. The mifcarriage and death of Barentz, and the fliipwreck of Capt. Wood, had left the queftion undetermined, whether the regions ad- joining to the pole are land or water, frozen or open fea. The advantages from this difcovery, befides the glory refulting from it, had the de- cilion terminated in favour of navigation, would have been immenfely great. To have opened a new chanel of commerce at a time when our trade is languilhing, would have revived the E drooping i' ■>f/." i, J * I xxvi INTRODUCTION. drooping hopes of our manufafturers, and rr- tained at home the numerous emigrants, who, for want of employment in their own country, are feeking new habitations, and new means of living in remote fettlements, of the certainty of which they have no experience. It muft be acknowledged to the lading ho- nour of the noble Lord who prefides at the head of the admiralty board, and who patro- nized the undertaking, that the means to ren- der it fuccefsful, was in every refpeft propor- tioned to the importance of thedifcovery. The veffcls that were made choice of were the propereil that could be devifed. Bomb ketches are in the firft inftance ftoutly built, and not bfing over large, are beft adapted for navigating feas that are known to abound with fhoals and covered rocks : thefe veffds, befides their natural Itrcngth, were fheathedwith plank of feafoned oak three inches thick, to fortifjr them againft the fliocks and preffure of the ic^c, that, in their progrefs, they muft infallibly en- counter. They were, befides, furnifhed with 2l double fet of ice poles, anchors, cables, faili and rigging, to provide againft the terrible ef- fects of the fevcre and tempeftuous weather, that frequently happens in high latitudes, even in the middle of the moil temperate leafons. Nor was his Lordfhip lefs careful to provide for the comfortable fubfiftance of the men, than for the prvfervation of their lives, by his wife INTRODUCTION, xxvii wife direftions in equipping their (hips. His firft care was, to iffue orders for killing and curing a fufficient quantity of beef and pork in the beft manner pofiible, that their provifi- ons might be good and frcfli i and his next, to caufc one hundred buts of porter to be brewed with the beft malt and hops, that they might have proper drink to fortify them againft the rigour of the climate they were about to pais. '1 heir peafe, oatmeal, rice and moloflus, were all provided with equal care, and when all things were in readinefs, the beer was ftcwcd in the holds, and the vacancies filled up with coals, which ferved as ballaft, that firing might not be wanting to warm and dry them when cold, or wet with labour, or with watching. Add to this, that a double quantity of fpirits were put on board, with a large proportion of wine, vinegar, muftard, &c. &c. and what, we believe, was never before thought of in the fitting out of any King's (hips, a confiderable quantity of tea and fugar for the fick, in cafe any (hould be feized with that dreadful diforder, which rendered fliip provifions loathfome to Capt. James's men, who were conftrained to winter in Charlton Ifland in 1632. Thefe men fell fick and had fore mouths, and could nei- ther eat beef, pork, fi(h, nor poragc •, the Sur- geon was every morning and evening obliged to pick their teeth, and cut away the pieces of rotten flefh from their gums, yet they could eat £ 2 nothing VI' XXVlll INTRODUCTION. nothing but bread pounded in a mortar, and fried in oil, on which they fubfifted for feveral months. In cafe of accidents of this kind, and that tea{hould fail to anfwer the purpofes of nou- rifhment, a quantity of portable foup was like- wife provided. And to compleat the whole, a ftock of warm cloathing was laid in, confifting of fix fearnought jackets for each man, two milled caps, two pair of fearnought trowfcrs, four pair of milled (lockings, and an excellent pair of boots, with a dozen pair of milled mitts, two cotton fhirts, and two handkerchiefs. Thus equipped and provided, the command of the Race Horfe was given to the Hon. Conftantine Phipps, as Commodore, and that of the Carcarfe to Capt. Skiffington Lutwych 5 the firft mounting eight fix pounders and four- teen fwivels, burthen three hundred and fifty tons 5 the latter four fix pounders and fourteen fwivels, burthen three hundred tons. Thus being premifed, let us now proceed to the Journal of the Voyage. JOURNAL '^:\ JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO DISCOVER THE NORTH EAST PASSAGEi tTNDER THE COMMAND OF THE HON. COMMODORE PHIPPS, AND Capt. skiffington lutwych, IN HIS Majesty's Ships RACE HORSE and CARCASE BOMBS. ALL things being now in readinefs, the of- ficers on board, and the men paid their bounty-money of three pounds per man, ac- cording to his Majelly*s royal proclamation, for the encouragement of thofe who (hould volun- tarily enter to undertake the voyage. On the 3d of June 1773, the Commodore made the fignal to weigh i but previous to their depar- ture, the Carcafe having been judged too deep to navigate thofe heavy Teas through which (he was to pafs, the Captain obtained leave from the board of Admiralty to re-land ten of her compliment of men, and to put afliore fix of the eight fix-pounders with which Ihe was equipped, with a quantity of provifions, pro- I portion* v h I' -5 i> ■'■ t r :J ; [ 3° ] porttoncd to the number of men that it had been thought proper to difcharge. On Friday the 4th being off Shecrnefs, the wind weft by north, and a frcfh breeze, they took their departure, and continued their voyage without any material occurrence happening till Tucfday the 15th, when the Commodore made the fignal 10 lie to. They were then off Brafley Ifland, and many fifhing-boats from Shetland being in fight, the men were invited on board, and fome filh purchafed of them at a cheap rate. On the 17th they took a new departure from Shetland, but the day following the fog thick- ened fo much, that it almoft approached to to- tal darkriefs. During the continuance of the fog, the Commodore kept firing guns and beat- ing drums, to prevent the Carcafe from lofing company. As it was impoflible that one could fee the other at a (hip's length, it was found the more necefiary to repeat and return the firing, left they fliould run foul of ^ach other before they could be apprized of their danger. About five in the morning the mift cleared up, and about nine the Commodore being in fight, made the fignal to the Carcafe to fteer north- eaft. They were then in latitude 60 degrees 52 mi- nutes north by obfervation -, the north end of Shetland Tfland bearing north by weft one half weft, feven or eight leagues. On the 1 7th they obferved a fail to the north- caft, which the Commodore brought to, and fpoke It [3' ] fpoke with. The breeze frefh, the weather hazy, and the wind variable, the Carcafe carri- ed away her main-top-maft Itudding fail yard; which, however, was very foon fupplied. La- titude this day by obfervation 62 degrees 53 mi- nutes north. Friday the i8th, being in the latitude of 6y degrees 9 minutes north, the cloathing allowed by the Government, of which notice has alrea- dy been taken in the Introduflion, was deliver- ed out, and officers as well as men received their full proportion. This day the weather conti- nued as before. Saturday the 19th the weather varied to every point of the compafs, the Commodore brought to, and fpoke with the Carcale. Made fail about three in the morning, and at nine a large fwell. Tacked and flood to the eaftward. La- titude 66 degrees i minute north; longitude from London 33 minutes weft. Sunday the 20th they purfued their courfe to the eaftward, with the wind north-weft, but variable-, high breezes and clear air. They were now within the Polar circle, and at mid- night had an obfervation of the fun, and found their latitude 66 degrees 5* minutes north. Sounded on board the Commodore with a lead of one hundred weight, and a line of feven hundred and eighty fathom, to which was faf- tened a thermometer of Lord George Caven- dilh*s conftruftion. They found no bottom, but u^ 1 w < \t^ 13*1 but the water was eleven degrees colder at that depth than on the lurface. The Carcale founded with four hundred and fifty fathoms only. Monday 21, light breezes and cloudy wea- ther. They obferved a whale on the north-eaft quarter, the firft they had yet feen in the north feas. The weather now began to fet in fevere j the nights cold and the days cloudy. The Commodore obferving a whaling fnow with Hamborough colours flying, fired a (hot, and brought her to. She happened to be homeward bound with feals, and Mr, Wyndham, a gen- tleman of fortune, who had embarked on board the Commodore, with a view to profccute the voyage, finding nothing but foul weather and heavy feas, to gratify his curiofity, and being withal unable to endure the fea ficknefs, took paflage on board the Hamburgher, in order to return home ; and having taken leave of his friends, by wifliing them a happy voyage, the Snow*s boat took him on board about feven in the morning, and at eight the Commodore and Carcafe purfued their voyage. Tuefday 22, the articles of war were read on board the Carcafe. The weather began to be piercing cold •, they had reached the 70th degree 'of north latitude, in a courfe nearly north., being only 14 minutes to the eaft ward of JLondon ; and from their leaving Shetland to this day, they had feen nothing remarkable ; nor had any accident befallen cither ot the fliips ililps worth relating, except that of now and then fnapping a rope^ or breaking a yard ; inci- dents eafily repaired. This day it poured with rain ; the air was thick, and the rain froze as it fell. Saw a large (hip to the north-wed, ftand* ing fouthward, but wanting no information that Ihe could give, they purfued their voyage with- out fpeaking to her. Wcdnefday 23, the rain continued ; the weather hazy } heard three guns Hre at a dif- tance, but faw no (hip or other objed. The, whales are here in no great plenty, and few (hips appear in the open fea in purfuit of them. They generally at this feafon frequent the bays and creeks near the (hore,. and only bfcak away when they arc purfued or wounded, OnThurfday the 24th, the Commodore chang- ed his courfe to eaftnorth-eaft} and on the 25th they were in latitude 74 degrees 7 minutes north, a^d in 8 degrees 32 minutes ead longi- tude from London. Served out to the (hip's company plenty of muftard, pepper, vinegar, &c. The weather extremely cold and variable. At eigiit in the evening thick fog j at two in the morning frelh breezes j at eight clear wea- ther } at eleven fqually •, and at noon calm> with fleet and fnow. On Saturday the 26th, at midnight, they had an obfervation, and found themfelves in latitude y/, degrees 17 minutes north j fre(h gales, F, fome- « €?■ Mi :k< I' $ W [ 3+] lometimes rain, fleer, and ihow ; at feven iii the morning clear weather and an open lea. Sunday 27, light airs from the fouthward, and cloudy weather-, much warmer than the preceding day. It is remarkable, that the vi- cifiitudes of heat and cold are more frequent here than in the more foutherly latitudes. I often changes from temperate to extreme cold ; and that fuddenly. It fliould feem likewife, that the ice frequent- ly changes its place in this latitude ; or that it is more folid near land than in the open fea •, for, on the 25d of June 1676, Capt. Wood, being more to the eaftward, fell in with ice right a- head, not more than a league diftant. He ftcered along it, thinking it had openings, but found them to be bays. He founded, and found ground at one hundred and fifty-eight fathom, foft green oar. In feme places he found pieces- of ice driving off a mile from the main body in ftrange ihapes, refembling fliips, trees, build- ings, beads, fiflies, and even men. The main body of ice being low and craggy, he could fee hilh of a blue colour at a diftance, and valleys that were white as fnow. In fome places he obferved drift wood among the ice. Some of the ice he aieked, and found it frefl: and go :,d. This navigator never could advance far- ther to the n-^rth ; but in feeking to penetrate the ice was fliip-wrecked, as has been already related in th^ Introdudign. He therefore judged ihd '"?- [35] the ice impenetrabie, and that land or ice fur- rounded the pole. Our navigators found allb much wood in this latitude floating about the fliips, and law great flocks of birds. Monday 28, the weather altered; the wind weft. Frefh breezes, with rain and fl\.e!:. Lat- ter part thick fog. Tuefday 29, being in latitude yS degrees north, and in longitude 6 degrees 29 minutes caft from London, came in fight of land, when the (hips brought to, and the Captains held a confultatidn concerning their fuiure courfe. The appearance of the land lay froiTi eall fcuth- eafl: to north-eafti and this day they fpoke with the Marquis of Rockingham, Greenland- man, who, by their reckoning, were then in latitude 79 degrees 40 minutes north, though by that of the Commodore, their latitude was only 78 degrees 3 njinutes. This difference, it it probable, arifes from not making the proper allowance for refradion in this high latitude. The Greenlandman prefented each of the Com- manders with a deer and a half, which they found well- flavoured venifon, though not over fat. He likewiie informed, that he had juft come from the ice, and that the day before, three whalers had been cruflied to pieces by its clofing upon them fuddenly. Wednefday 30, purfucd their courfe. Clou- dy weather. Half pafl: four in the morning founded, one hundred and twelve fathoms fofc m F 2 bluQ [36] blue mud. At this time Black Point, fo called from its dark appearance, bore north-eaft by eaft three quarters eaft, at the diftance of feven or eight leagues. At half paft feven, in the morning, faw two fail in the north-weft quarter. At half paft twelve tacked and ftood to the eaft. Sounded, and found ground at one hun- dred and fifteen fathom, Thurfday July i, light breezes and clear weather at midnight : the fun as bright as at noon day. Black Point eaft one half fouth^ diftant feven leagues. At three in the morn- ing made Charles's lOand, and at nine fa^"/ a, fail to the wcftward whaleing ; they were then in latitude 78 degrees 18 minutes north, by obt fervation. Sounded, and found the \n: pth as before. Friday 2, light airs and moderate weather. Lay to and took the altitude of a mountain* which they named Mount ParnaiTus •, found it from th " level of the fea to be three tiioufand nine hundred and fixty feet high, covered with fnow, and at a diftance refembling an ancient building, with fomething like a turret a- top. The foot of this mountain, with the hills ad- joining, have fometimes a very fiery appea.^ ance, and the ice and inow on their fides relcir.- bling trees and fhrubs, gliften with a brilliancy that exceed the fpicndor of the brighteft gems. When this happens, a vioknc ftorm generally [ 37 1 ilicceeds. Here they dot fomc fea fowl, but of an oily tafte. Saturday 3, proved a perfect calm. They fpoke with a Hollander, who foretold, that a degree or twa farther north was the utmoft extent of their progrefs this feafon. Having doubled Cap'* Cold, they anchored in fifteen fathom water, about three miles from the land, and Tent the boats afhore for water, which they found in abundance, pouring down in little flrcams from the rocks. At five in the after- noon, by the mean of four azimuths, the varia<« tion was found to be 18 degrees 36 minutes weft. Sounded, and found only fixty-five fa- thoms, foft brown mud. Mount Parnaffus caft-north-eaft three or four leagues.— Among other rcafons which Capt. Wood gave for wifli- ing to be employed on the difcovery of the north-eaft paflage, one was, that he might have an opportunity of approaching the pole, in or- der to fettle an hypothefis, which he had long framed, whereby the inclination of the magne- tical needle under the horizon, in all latitudes and in all longitudes, with the variation of the compafs, might be exadly determined. This na- vigator imagined two magnetical poles to exift : and that, by approaching the one, he fliould be able to determine the adion of the other. It does not appear, that he ever explained his hypothefis •, and there never has been but one man, whofe name was Williams, fince his time. \ 'I ft] Il It « .1 [ 38 ] time, who pretended to know any thipg of the matter. Saturday 4, light breezes and hazey weather^ Sounded, and only twenty fathoms deep •, rocky- ground. Hacluit's Headland, or the nor- thermoft point of Spitfbergen, bearing north by eaft feven leagues. Many whalers in fight. Latitude by obfervation 79 degrees 34 minutes north, longitude from London 8 degrees lo minutes eaft. Thermometer forty-feven. Monday 5, at two in the afternoon founded, and only fifteen fathom water -, rocky ground. Thick fog. The Race Horfe fired guns as fig- nals to keep company, which were anfwered by the Carcafe. A dreadful crackling was heard at a diftance, which proved the daOiing and grinding of the loofe pieces of ice againft each other, which is heard at many leagues dif- tance. Hacluit's Headland fouth-eaft by fouth, difcance fix or feven leagues. Tuefday 6, proved very foggy ; the breezes (light,- and iflands of ice beginning to appear. At three in the afternoon the Commodore hauled up from a large body of packed ice, and the fog thickening, both fliips kept firing volleys of imall arms, to prevent their lofing comp;iny. At half palt ten in the evening, the extremes of the ice Ibetching from north-well to eaft-north-eaft, the Commodore bore away ; and at half paft twelve loft fight of it. At half paft one in the morning heard a violent furf t 39 J furf to the fouth-eaft. At two tacked and ftood to the weftward. At half paft five the fog ga- thering, they began firing volleys of fmall arms. At fix faw the ice ftretching from eaft by fouth, to north by eaft ; and at feven was within fight of land. At ten Cloven Cliff ftood eaft- i'outh- eaft, diftant about five or fix leagues. Wednefday the 7th, the weather cloudy. They found themfelves befet among the loofe ice, which increafing continually, gave them incredible trouble. Obferving that it thickened to the eaftward, they hauled up, and ftood to the weftward J but in tacking, they were in danger of running foul. It was with difficulty they could keep any courfe, for the drifTs of ice came fo thick, as to whirl the Ihips about, as if in a whirl-pool. Thurfday 8, the weather ftill remaining clou- dy, and the wind variable, both fhips ftill were entan";lcd in the ice; and the Carcafc beinj^ driven to leeward, hoiftcd out her long-boat to tow up with the Commodore. But the ice clofing very faft, it was impolTible for the boats to live. Orders were then given to tack and ftand to the fouthward ; but the fliips not being able to make head againft the accumulation of ice that contin'.ially gathered round them, were under a neceffity of applying to their ice-an- chors and poles, in order to warp through it. At half paft eight in the evening, the ice be- V' : giniiing ' i;i I- "■•aso;; :*r- ..W ■r I ,,. 1 n u I;. 1 [40] ginning to open, they again hoifted out thcif boats, dnd with difficulty towed the (hips round a cape of ice projc(5ting from the main body^ and at lad got clear. At ten the boats were hoifted on board. In extricating themf'.lves from this dangerous fituation, the Race Horfe had her bell bower-anchor fnapt in the (hank, clofe to the (lock, and the Carcafe loft her ftar- board bumpkin and head-rails. It frequently happens, that (hips befet among the ice in the manner above related, perifh by being dalhed to pieces againft the folid fields of icw, or crulhed by the broken pieces crowd- ing upon one another, and rifing fo faft about the (hip, as to exceed the height of her (ides, and then there is no efcaping. They were told by fome experienced feamen, that the ice rifes out of the fea as high fometimes as mountains } and that fevcral of thefe mountains, by ftrik- ing together and coalefcing, form thefe iflands of ice that are frequently feen in the lower lati- tudes, driving up and down the fea as the wind and tides dired them. The greateft danger to be apprehended, is, however, from the loofe ice ; for the whalers often moor their (hips to the folid fields of ice, that at certain feafons feem to reft upon the earth, and appear fixed to it, and there find the beft fifhing. In fuch fituations it often happens, that little or no loofe ice is to be feen i yet prefcntly u^on a change of wind, or the; i?k>-! ,v. \ \ \ \ \ ■\ -.^ trfrtAe**ft ttlW/, J. I U ,?'■ 1/ ' ', ]42T compaft, they found it impra£U.cabIc to conti- nue their coudc. And the difcovcry of a paf- fage to the pole in that diredlion (upon holding a confultationj appearing impradicablc to every officer on board of both fhips» the Commo- dore, at feven in the evening, hauled clofe to the wind ; and the Carcafe, as foon as (he could extricate herfelf, followed his example. The weather continuing foggy, with rain and fnow, the failors were almoft worn out with turning i and winding ; and although they ufed the ut- moft precaution in working through the nar- rows, yet they could not always avoid ftriking againft the mountains that every where fur- rounded them. During this night's work, they fleered a hundred different courfcs, to follow the channels. Sunday ii, having worked out of the ice, they failed along the main body, v * ?ch ap- peared perfedtly folid and compa< ithout ?.ny paffage or inlet. This immenfe maf"* of ice extended north-eaft, as far as they could fee from the maft-head i and, no doubt, might be ■. a continuation of that in which they were engag* ' cd a few days before. The fea was now to- lerably clear, for they met with no more fields^ and only a few detached iflands. At half paft orie in the morning they faw the land from ' fouth by weft, to fouth-fouth-eaft. At three * in the morning they tacked; Cloven ClifF bearing fouth-fouth-csft fix miles. At feven • tacked ■* '. [43] tacked again. At eight the Commodore bore away, and the Carcafe flood after him. Cloven Cliff fouth one half weft, two or three leagues, latitude 79 degrees 56 minutes north. Monday 13, at eight in the evening Cloven Cliff bearing weft-fouth weft four or five miles, they founded in fifteen fathoms water, and found a rocky bottom. Saw feveral Englifli and Dutch Greenlanders at anchor in the Nor- ways : That being their rendezvous to the north- ward, they never chufe to proceed farther. Here they found the current fetting fo faft to caftward, that they were forced to come to an anchor to keep from drifting on the ice j the fwell from weftward being fo great, that had that happened, it would of confequence have ftaved the ihips. At five in the morning a breeze from north-north-eaft fpringing up, they weighed, and made fail. At eight Hacluit*s Headland weft-fouth-weft one half weft, fix or fev«n leagues, at noon latitude 80 degrees 2 minutes north. Tuefday 13, the weather being clear and calm, and a ftrong eafterly current fetting in, at eight in the evening they came to with their ftream anchors and haufers in forty fathoms water ; but at nine a breeze fpringing up from the eaftward, they weighed, and next day came to an anchor in Smearingburgh Harbour. Clo- ven Cliff eaft one half fouth one mile. Weft G 2 point t / 'I V % t 44 ] po'"t of Voogle land north- north- weft one half weft, diftantone mile and a half; foundings Bf- teen fathom fandy bottom. Here they remained between five and iix days to take in frefli water, duiing which tirra our journalift was employed in furveying the country, which to a ftranger had a very awful and romantic appearance. The country is ftoney, and as far as gan be feen full of mountains, precipices and rocks. Between thefe are hills of ice, generated, as it ftiould leem, by the torrents that flow from the melting of the fnow on the fides of thole tower- ing elevations, which being once congealed, are continually incrdafed by the fnow in winter, and the r?m in fummer, which often freezes as foon as it falls. By looking on thefe hills, a ftrang«*r may fancy a thoufand different fliapes of trees, caftles, churches, ruins, Ihips, whales, monfters, and all the various forms that fill the univerfe. Of the ice-hills there ^re feyen, that more particularly attrad the notice of a ftranger. Thefe are known by the name of the feven ice- burgs, and are thought to be the higheft of thp kind in that country. When the air is clear, an(;l the fun fliines full upon thefe mountains, the profped is inconceivably brilliant. They fome- times put on the bright glow of the evening rays pf the fetting fun, when refieded upon glafs, at his going down j fometimes they appear of a brigh^ J)lue^ like fapphire, and fometimes like the va- riably [45 ] riable colours of a prifm, exceeding in luftre the richeft gems in the world, difpofed in Ihapes wonderful to behold, all glittering with a luftre that dazzles the eye, and fills the air with afto- nilhing brightnefs, Smearingburgh harbour, where they landed, was firft difcovered by the Dutch. Here they eredted (beds and conveniences for boiling the oil from the fat of the whales, inftead of bar- relling it up to be boiled at honv. Here alfo, allured by the hope of gain, they built a vil- lage, and endeavoured to fix a colony : but the lirft fettlers all perifhed in the enfuing winter. The remains of the village may be traced to this day; and theii ftoves, kettles, kardels, troughs, ovens, and other implements, remained jn the fhape of folid ice long after the utenfils themfelyes were decayed. Our voyagers were told, that the Ruffians have lately attempted the fame thing, and that ten out of fifteen pe- riflied laft winter in this fecond attempt. Where every obje6^ is new, it is not eafy for a ftranger to fix which firft to admire. The rocks are ftriking objecls : before a ftorm they exhibit a fiery appearance, and the fun looks pale upon therp, the fnow giving the air a bright reflexion. Their fummits are almoft always involved in clouds, fo that it is but juft pof- fible to fee the tops of them. Some of thefe focks are but one ftone from bottom to top, appearing like an old decayed rvjin. Others confift i 1 46 ] confift of huge maffes, veined difFercntljr, like marble, with red, white, and yellow, and pro- bably, were they to be fa wed and polifhed, would equal, if not excel, the fineft Egyptian marble we now fo much admire. Perhaps the diftancc and danger of carrying large blocks of Itoncs, may be thereafon that no trials have been made to manufadurc them. On the foutherly and wefterly fides of thefe rocks grow all the plants, herbs, and moffes peculiar to this coun- try; on the northerly and eafteriy fides the wind ftrikes fo cold when it blows from thefe quarters, that it perifhes every kind of vege- table. 'I'hefc plants grow to perfeftion in a very Ihort time. Till the middle of May the whole •country is locked up in ice ; about the beginning of July the plants are in flower, and about the latter end of the fame month, or beginning of Auguft, they have perfeded their feed. The earth owes its fertility, in a great meafure, to the dung of birds, who build and breed their young here in the fummer, and in the winter repair to more favourable climates. The plants that are mod common in Spitf- bergen are fcurvy-grafs and crows-foot ; there are befides fmall houfe-leak, and a plant with aloe- leaves -, an herb like rtone-crop ; fome fmall Ihake-weed i moufe-ear ; wood-ftraw- bery ; periwinkle ; and a herb peculiar to the country which they call the rock plant. The leaves of this plant are in Ihape like a man*s [47 J man's tonguf, above fix feet long, of a dull yellow colour. The ftalk is round and fmboth, and of thr fame colour with the leaf; it rifes tapering, and fmells like mufcles. It is an aquatic, and rffes in height in proportion t(f the depth of water in which irisfbund. There are other plants and herbs, but thefe are the chief. Gf flowers, the white poppy feemsi the principal. The rocks and precipites are full of fiflureaf and clefts, which afford convenient HaTbour for birds to lay their fcg^^i Utid brefed* their young in fafety. Moft of Chefe bird's Are w^- ter fowl, andfeek thdr fbod'irt thefea. Some, indeed, are birds of prey ; and purfue aiidk'ill others for therr own fuftenance, but thefe are ' rare. The water-fowl eat ftro*ng,and fifhy, and their fat is' not to be endured. They are ib numerous about the rocks, as fometimes to darken the air "when they rife in flocks ; and they . fcrcam fo hofribly, that the' rocks ring with their noife. There are n few fmall birds like our fnipes, and a kind fnow-bird; but diff^ererit'from that found about Hudfon's Bay. Th^ gentle- men lho£ fome of ilic water-fowl, but they were ftrong and ill- tafted. The ice-bird is a very beautiful 1. rle bird, but very rare. He is in fize and ihape like a turtle-dove, but his plumage, when the fun jfliincs upon' him, is of a bright ^ sllow, like the I: [48 ] the golden ring in the peacock's tail, and aU moft dazzles the eye to look upon it. The other inhabitants of this forlorn coun- try are white bears, deer, and foxes. How thefe creatures can fubfift in the winter, when the whole earth is covered with fnow, and the fea locked up in ice, is hardly to be conceived. It has been faid, indeed, that when the ocean is all frozen over, and no iuftenance to be pro- cured in uiis country, they travel foutherly to the warmer climates, where food proper for them abounds in the immenfe foreils of the northern, continent. But whoever confiders the vaft diftance between Spitlbergen and the neareft parts of the northern continent, will be as much at a lofs to account for the fubfiftence of thefe creatures in their journey, a$ in the de- folate region where they undoubtedly remain. The bear is by far the beit accommodated t» the climate of which he is an inhabitant. He is equally at home on lind and water, and hunts diligently for his prey in both. In fummcr be finds plenty of food from the refure of the whales, fea-horfes and feals, which is thrown into the fea by the whalers, and cover the fhores during the time of whaling-, and they have befides a wonderful fagacity in fmelling out the carcales of the dead, let them be ever ib deeply buried in the earth, or covered with ftones. The dead therefore that annually are buried here may contribute, in fome degree, t(i [49] to the fubfiftence of a few of thefe creatures in winter ; but the quellion will flill recur, how the race of them fubfifted before the whale- fiftiery had exiftence, and before men found the way to this inhofpitable iliore, Difquili- tions of this kind, as they are beyond the reach of human comprehenfion, ferve only to raife our admiration of tha^ omnipotent Being to whom nothing is impoffible. Thefe creatures, as they differ in nothing but their colour and fize from thofc commonly (hewn in England, need no defcription. The foxes differ little in ihape from thole we are acquainted with, but in colour there is no fimilitude. Their heads are blac.;, and their bodies white. As they are beads of prey, if they do not provide in fummer for the long recefs of winter, it w.-re, one would think, almoft impoffible for them to furvive ; yet they are feen in plenty, though, by their fubtlety and fwiftnefi, they are not eafy to be catched. The Dutch Teamen report, that when they are hungry they will feign themfclves dead, and when the ravenous birds come to feed upon them, they rife and make them their prey. But the mod wonderful thing of all is, how the deer can furvive an eight months famine. Like ours they feed upon nothing that can be perceived, but the vegetables which the earth fpontaneoufly produces j and yet for eight months in the year, the earth produces neither H plant. i M -:<■!»' ' « [50] plant, herb, fhrub, or blade of any kind of grafs whatever. They are, befides, but thinly cloathed for fo feverc a climate, and What feemi ftill worfe, there is not a bulh to be feen to ihelter them, within the diftance that any man has yet difcovered. The means of their fub- fiftence muft therefore remain among the fecrets of nature, never to be difclofed, as no human being can ever live here, fo as to be able to trace thcfe creatures to their winter's refidence. Amphibious creatures aboundthe moft about the founds and bays of Spitfbergen, and they feem beft adapted to endure the climate. Thcfe are the feals, or fea dogs, and morfes, or fea horfes ; of which the whalers avail themfelves, when difappointed in compleating their lading with the fat of whales. The feal is fufficicntly known ; but the fea- horfe, as it is a creature peculiar to high lati- tudes, is thercrfore more rare. It is not eafy to fay how he came by his name *, for there is no more likenefs between a fea-horfe and a land- horfe, than there is between a whale and an ele- phant. The fea-horfe is not unlike the feal in. fhape. He has a large round head, larger than that of a bull, but ihaped more like that of a pug-dog without ears, than any other animal we are acquainted with. He tapers all the way down to the tail, like the Hfh we call a lump, and his fize is equal to that of the largeft fized px. His tufks clofe over bis under jaw, like - thofc I f [5« ] thofe of a very old boar, and are in length from o.. * foot to two or more, in proportion to the fize and age of the animal that breeds them. His ikin is thicker than that of a bull, and covered with (hort moufe-coloured hair, which is flecker and thicker, juft as he happens to be in or < ut of feafon when he is caught. His paws, before and behind, are like thofe of a mole, and ferve him for oars when he fwims, and for legs to crawl when he goes upon the ice, or on Ihore. He is a Herce animal, but being un- weildy when on land) or on the ice, is eafily overcome. Thefe animals are always found in herds, fometimes of many hundreds together, and if one is attacked, the reft make a common caufe, and ftand by one another till the laft gafp. If they are attached in the water, they will fight defperately, and will even attempt the boats of their purfuers, if any of them are wounded, and not mortally. Some of them have been known to make holes in the bottom of the boat with their tuflcs, in defence of their young. Their eyes are large, and they have two holes in the upper part of the neck, olic of which they eje(^ the water, in like manner a$ it is ejected by whales. Though the fca about Spitlbergen is full of fiih, yet they rather appear to be defigned by Providence for the fuftenance of one another, dun for the food of man. The mackarel, of H 2 which i * } [50 which there are no great plenty, feem not only to be the mod wholefome, and the moft pala- table, but alfo the moll beautiful. They feem to be a different fpccies to thofe caught upon our coafts. The upper part of the back is of a vivid blue; the other' part as low as the belly of a gcm-like green on an azure ground. Un- derneath the belly the colour is a tranfparent white, and the fins fhine like polifhed filvcr. All the colours glow when alive in the fea with i'uch a richncfs, that fancy can liardly form to jtftlf any thing in nature more beautiful. Al- n^oft all the otjier fifli on this coaft are of an oily nature, and of a very indifferent flavour. The faw, or fword filh, is remarkable not only for the oddity of his Ihape, but alfo for his enmity to the whale. This filh takes his name from a broad flat bone, in length from two to four feet, which projefts from his nofe, and tapers to a point. On each fide, it has teeth like a comb, at the diftance of a finger's breadth afunder. ^e is alfo furnifhed with a double row of fins, and is of aflonifliing ilrength in the water. His length from ten to twenty feet. He feems to be formed for war, and war is his profeflion. The conflidt betwixc him and the whale is dreadful, yet he never gives over till his fword is broken, or he comes ofl^ viftorious. The whale is a harmlefs fifli, and is never Jvnown to fight but in his own defence. Yet whei;\ V- [53] when he is exafperated, he rages dreadfully.' Though from his magnitude, he may be called the fovereign of the fea? j yet, like other fove- reigns, he is liable to be vexed and hurt by the meuneft reptiles. The whale's loufe is a mod tormenting little animal. Its fcales are as hard as thofe of our prawns ; its head is like the loufe's head, with four horns, two that ferve as feelers, the other two are hard, and curved, and ferve as clenchers to fix him to the whale. On his cheft, underneath, he has two carvers, like fcythes, with which he collefts his food, and behind thefe are four feet, that ferve him for oars. He has, moreover, fix other clenchers behind, with which he can rivet him- felf fo clofcly to his prey, that he can no other- wife be difengaged, but by cutting out the whole piece to which he is joined. He is joint- ed on the back like the tail of a lobfter, and his tail covers him like a fhield when he is feeding. He fixes himfelf on the tendereft parts of the whale's body, between his fins, on his (heath, and on his lips, and eats pieces out of his flefh, as if eaten by vultures. They found no fprings of frclh-water in Spitfbergen j but in the valleys, between the mountains, are many little rills caufcd by the rain and melting of the fnow in fum- mer-, and from thdfe rills the (hips are fup- plied. Some are of opinion, that this water is unwhole- •iT»4 ^f t 54 1 unwholefotnc, but they are more nice than wife. The whaling peoplp have drank of it for ages, and have found no ill efFe<5ts from the ufe of it. Ice taken up in the middle of thefe feas and thawed, yields alfo good frcfli water. On board the Race Horfe, Dr. Irvine, the gentleman who received the premium by a grant of parliament, for his difcovery of an eafy pro* cefs for making falc-water fre(h at fea, tried ma- ny experiments at Spitibergen, and in the courfe of the voyage ; th/s refult of which will appear at a proper time. That gentleman had formed a projeft for preferving flefhmeat frefh and iweet in long voyages, but it did not anfwer in this* In calm weather they remarked, that the fea about the iflands appeared uncommonly ftill and fmooth ; that it was not Aiddenly moved at the firft approach of bk)wing weather; but that when the ilorm continued, thie waves fwelled gradually, and rofe to an incredible height.— - Thefe fwelling waves fucceHively follow one another, and ro]I silong before the wind» foam- ing and raging in a frightful manner, yet they are thought Id's dangerous than thofe that break Ihorc, and are lefs njountainpus. They obfcrved likewiie, that the ice that relied on the ground was not flationftry, but that it changed place ; and they learnt alfo, that in feme feafons there was no ice, where this leafon they were in danger of being embayed. Thcyc [55] There does not, hoirever, from thence appear the lead reafon to conclude, that any practi- cable pafTage to the Indian ocean can ever be found in this diredion ; for were it certain that the Teas were always open under the pole, yet great bulwarks of ice ^idehtly furround it, fometimes at a lefs^ and fometimes at a greater diftance* Moreover, ¥^re it poITible that chance ihould diredi; feme fortunate adventurer to an opening at one time, it would be more than ^ million to one, if the fame opening wei'e palTa* ble to the next who (hould attempt it* There are many harbours about Spitfbergen, befides that of Smearirigburg< where fliips em- ployed in the whale filhery take (hclter in ftor- my weather ; and there are fome iflands, fuch as Charles's Idand, the Clifted Rock, Red-Hilii Hacluit's Headland, &c. that ferve as land* marks, by which feamen direft their courfe. Thefe iflands are full of the neftsof birds ; but their eggs are as naufeous as the flefli of the fowls that Jay them. The failors fometimes eat them, but they are filthy food. Even the geefe and ducks on the neighbouring iflands eac fiihy and ftrong. , The air about Spitjfbergen is never free from ificles. If you look through the fun- beams tranfverfcly as you fit in the fhade, or where you fee the rays confined in a body, inftead of dark motes, as are feen here, you fee myriads of (liining particles that fparkle like diamonds; and / and when the fuii Hitines hot, as it fometimes does, fo as to melt the tar in the Teams of (hips when they lie fticltercd from the wind, thefc fhining atoms feem to melt away, and defcend like dew. , It is feldom that the air continues clear for many days together in this climate •, when that happens, the whalers are generally fuccefsful. There is no difference between night and day in the appearance of the atmoJphere about Spitibergen, one being as light as the other, only when the fun is to the northward, you may look at him with the naked eye, as at the moon, without dazzling. The fogs here come on fo fuddenly, that from bright fun-(hine, you are prefently involved in fuch obfcurity, that you cun hardly fee from one end of the ihip to the other. While our journalitt was bufy in making his obfervations, all belonging to the Ihips were differently engaged in one employmtnt or other 5 fome in taking in water, fome in hih- ing, fome in hunting, fome in handing the fails, and fpreading them out to dry, fome in fcrub- bing the (hip, and fome in viewing the coun- try. The Commanders and officers, with Mr. Lyon, Mr. Robinfon, &c. bufied themfelves in making obfervations, being furnifhed with an apparatus, that is faid to have coil at leafl: one thoufand five hundred pounds. From fuch a fet of inilruments, in the hands of the flblell obfcr- h\ VOYAGE TO THE NoRTH-EASt. e^-j i)bfervers, the nation can boaft, fome very con- fidcrable difcoveries in the phenomena of the polar regions may be cxpedled. They landed their inftruments in a fmall ifland, in Voa failor when they were abfent on obfervation. On this ifland they gathered feme fcurvy- grafs, and in many places they could perceive the fides of the hills covered with the verdure oa Vi'hich thefc deer undoubtedly fed. K 2 After (/ i i -1 68 VOYAGE to the North-East. After having afcended the higheft hills on the ftra-coart, and taken a view of the country and the ocean all round, the gentlemen def- cended, and about five in the afternoon em- barked again on their return to the (hips, at "which they arrived fafe about ten, after an ab- fence of twenty hours. They were greatly difappointed by tlie hazinefs of the weather on the £ops of the mountains, which confined the profpedl, and prevented their taking an obfer- vation with ihe inftruments they had carried with them for that purpofe. There is here a fmall variation in the journals of the two (hips •, that kept on board the Com- modore making the diftance between the ifland and the fliips near twenty miles ; the other only five leagues, which might eafily happen, as the Ihips (hifted tl r ftations with the main body of ice, fometimcs driving north weft, fome- times the contrary courfe, as the wind and tides happened to fit. Their fituation now began to be ferious, and it was difcovered too late, that by grappling to the ice, as pra(5lifed by the Greenlandmen, they had endangered the lofs of the fhips, the loofe ice clo^ng fo faft about them, that they found it abfolutely impofliblc to get them difengaged ; and there was, befides, great reafon to fear, that one or both would foon be crufhed to pieces. Great minds are ever moft diftinguifh- cd by their expedients on the moft alarming occafions. VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 69 occafions. The Commodore fet all hands to work to form a dock in the Iblid ice, large enough to moor both (hips •, and by the alacri- ty with which that fcrvice was performed, the fliips were preferved from the danger of imme- diate deftrudion. The fbips being thus far fecured, the of- ficers, pilots, and mafters, were all fiimmoned on board the Commodore, to confult on what further was to be done in their prefent unpro- mifing fituation ; when it was unanimoufly agreed, that their deliverance was hopelefs; and that they mud either provide to winter upon the adjacent iflands, or attempt to launch their boats into the open fea, which was already at a confiderable diftance ; for the loofe ice had poured into the bay in which they were at an- chor with fo much rapidity, and in fuch afto- nifliing quantities, that the open fea was alrea- dy far out of fight. Before any thing farther was undertaken, the men were ordered to their quarters, that they might refrelh themfelves with fleep. While their Commanders preferve their for- titude, the failors never lole their courage. They rofein the morning with as much alacrity and unconcern, as if they had been failing with a fine breeze in the britifli Channel. Auguft 2, it was now thought advifcable to make one defperate attempt to extricate the Ihjps, by cutting a channel to the weftward into ■ J. '^' i 1 ^ >10 VOYAGE TO THE NORTH-F.AST. the open Tea. The fcooping out the dock with fo much expedition, by a party only of one (hip, raifed high cxpeftations of what might be performed by the united labours of both the crews. No body of men ever undertook a work of fuch difficulty with fo much chearful- nefs and confidence of fuccefs, as the failors obferved on this occafion. Their ice faws, axes, fledges, poles, and the whole group of fea tools, were in an indanc all employed in facilitating the work ; but after cutting through blocks of iblid ice from eight to fifteen feet deep, and coming to others of many fathoms, that ex- ceeded the powers of man to feparate, that was laid afide as a hopelefs projefb ; and another more promifing, though not Icfs laborious, a- dopted in its room. On the 3d of Auguft, after the men had again refrcfhed themlelves with fleep, it was refolved to fit up the boats belonging to both the fliips with fuch coverings as were moft eafy to be accommodated, and of lighteft convey- ance i and by Ikating them over the ice, endea- vour to launch them in the open fea. Could this be effected, they hoped, that by failing and rowing to the northernmoft harbour of Spitf- bergen, they might arrive at that ifland, before the departure of the laft Ihips belonging to the fifhery for Europe. "While the boats were getting ready for this expedition, a fecond party were dlfpatched to the VOYAGE TO THE North East. 71 the idand, with orders to take the dldance as cx^(ft as it was poffiblc to the nearcft open fea. As all the people belonging to the Ihips were not to be engaged in thefe lervices, thofe who were unemployed diverted themfelves in hunting and killing the bears, that now, attraftcd per- haps by the favory Tmell of the pro vi (ions drefled on board the (liips, came every day ovet^ the ice to repeat their vifits. Several of thefe were killed occafionally, and this day they fought a fea-horfe, in which engagement tlic fecond Lieutenant of the Carcafe fignalizcd his courage in a moft defpcrate rencounter, in which, however, he fucceedcd, though his life was in imminent danger. On the 4th the carpenters, &c. were dill em- ployed in fitting up the boats. The pilots, who the day before had been fent to make ob- fervations on the iflands already mentioned, made their report, that the neareft water they had feen was about ten leagues to the weftward ; that in their palTage they had met with great numbers of fpars or pine trees, floating about the ifland, fome of them of confiderablc fize, with the bark rotted off, and the bodies much worm-eaten ; that there was neither tree nor fhrub to be feen growing on any of the fcven iflands, nor upon any land that they had yet difcovered in that latitude, nor for ten degrees farther louth, and that the trees they had I'eea muft therefore have come from a great diftance. Though 7 I ^■1 :i \ yz VOYAGE to the North-East* Though there is nothing now in this obier- vation, the like being annually oblerved by all the navigators who frequent thofe Teas in the lummer, and who colled their wood from thofe drifts, yet the country from whence they pro- ceed has hitherto been thought a myftery. But it being now certain, that many of the great rivers that flow through the northernmoft: , parts of RufTia, empty themfelves into this lea-, and that there is an open communication throughout the different parts of it at different leafons of the year, there leems very little reafon to doubt, but that thofe trees are torn up by land floods, and are precipitated into the fea by the rapidity of the ilreams. It has indeed been objected, than all the wood that is found floating in this manner about the iflands in high latlcudes, is to a piece barked and worm-eaten; and that it thele trees were torn up and precipitated into the fea in the manner above fuj->[)ok'd, fome of it would appear lound and unbarkcdj as in its fiiff Rate. To this it may be anfwered, that v/cic the courie of the tides to run as conltantly to the northward, as tiie courfe of the rivers runs into the fea, this objection would be uiianlwerable. 13ut the very reverie is known !o be tiie idtt \ and that neither the winds nor the tides tend to the northwards for any eonliderabie part of the year i fo tliat from the iiii;e tht^e trees enter the ocean, ic muft, in the ordinary courie of things, be many ages Voyage to the i^orth-East. 73 ages before they can reach the latitudes in which they arc now found, Becaufe, it' they are driven northwards by the ftrength of a ftorm from the fouth, they will be driven in ai:othfcr dircdion by the next ftorm that happens from another quarter ; and all the while the cairn con- tinues, they will be driven to and fro by the tides, which, as has been obferved, feldom fet long to the north, therefore, being in continual motion for ages, or being caft upon the fhore by tempefts, or high tides, and lying there expofed to the air, till tempefts or high tides return them again to the ocean, they will, in a long progreffion of lime, he reduced to the ftate in which they arc conftantly found. This folution is, however, offered with diffidence. The fa6t is certain, of much wood being annually found about the iflands in queftionj and it is now of little im- portance from whence it proceeds, as a paflage by the north eaft to China will probably never Qiore be fought. On the 5th they had gentle breezes j but about four in the morning fmall fleet. The ice ftill furrounding them, and appearing to groMir more and more folid and fixed, thofc who had till now retained hopes that the fouth-eaft wina would again difunite its fubftance, and open a paffage for their deliverance, began to dcfpair, as the wind had blown for twenty four hours from that quarter, from which alone Miey could have relief, «nd not the leaft altei##uvn to be ' ' » J Dcr- Mf ^H ■ I J. I I I 74 VOYAGE to the North-East. perceived. The men, however, were as joyou* as ever, and fhewcd not the leaft: concern about the danger of their fituation. Early in the morning, the man at the maft- head of the Carcafe gave notice, that three bears were making their way very faft over the ice, and that they were direding their courfe towards the fliip. They had, without quedion,, been invited by the fcent of the blubber of the fca-horfe killed a few days before, which the men had fet on fire, and which was burning on- the ice at the time of their approach. They proved to be a fhe bear and her two cubbs ; but the cubbs were nearly as large as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire, and drew out from the flames part of the flefh of the fea- horfe that remained unconfumed, and cat it voracioufly. The crew from the fhip, by way of divcrfion, threw great lumps of the fiefh of the fea-horfe which they had ftill left, out upoa the ice, which the old bear fetched away fing* ly, laid each lump before her cubbs as fhe brought it, and ilividing it, gave each afli-'.re, referving bur a fmuU portion to herfclf. .As fhe wasfttching away the laft piece they had :o be- llow, they levelled their mu(l aiore dreadful, than that of pe- rifhing by inftant death. Saturday 7, the wind fet in north- north-ead, veered to the north •, to the north-eall: and eaft, piercing cold. This day the boats were all brought in readincfs on the ice, fitted with weather cloaths about thirteen inches above the gun- VOYAGE TO THE North-East. ']'j gunnels, in order to keep off the cold as much as poffibie, if by good fortune they (hould be enabled to launch them in an open Tea. This day was employed chiefly in boiling provifions to put in the boats for the intended voyage ; in delivering out bags to the men to carry their bread, and in packing up fuch neceffar cj as every one could take along with him ♦, for now every man was to be his own porter, the necef- fary provifions and liquors being found load enough for the boats, and twenty five days bread load enough for each man, This beinar adjijfted, when night approached ^'iey were all ordered on board to flee p. Thurfday 8, at fix in the morning all hands were ordered to turn out, and a detachment of fifty men from each fhip, headed by their re- fpedlive officers, were appointed to begin the hard taflc of bawling the launces along the ice. The braveft and gallanted adt'uns performed in war, do not fo ftrikingly mark the true cha- rafter of a fea Commander, as the readinefs and alacrity with which his orders are obeyed in times of imminent danger. Every one now drove who fliould have the honour to be lifl:ed in the band of haulers, of whom the Commo- dore took the diredion, leaving Cape. Lut- wych to take care of both the fliips, that if any favourable turn fliould happen in the difpofi- tion of the ice, he might make ufe of the jrenuining part of both the crews to improve it. Upon U ^' I '^ I ^8 VOYAGE TO THE North-East. Upon a general confultation of officers, pre- vious to this undertaking, it had been agreed, and an order iffued accordingly, that no perfon on board, of whatever rank, (hould encumber himfelf with more cloaths than what he wore upon his back. Upon this occafion, therefore, the officers drcfled themfelvcs in flannels, and the common men put on the cloaths which the officers had thrown off. It was inconceiva- bly laughable to fee thefe motley bands yoked in their new harnefsj and, to fay the truth, there was not one iblemn face among the two companies. That headed by the Commodore drew ftoutly for the honour of their leader, and that headed by their Lieutenants had their mu- fic to play to them, that they might dance it away, and keep pace with the Commander in chief. Indeed the officers who headed them were defcrvedly beloved as well as their Com- manders, particularly Lieutenant Beard, whofc fteady and uniform condudt in times of the greateft danger, cannot be fufficiently admired or applauded. Neither fwayed by paflion, nor dilconcertcd by the fudden embarraflrnents that often intervened, his conduct was always calm, and his orders refolute. He never was heard, during the whole voyage on the moft prefling emergencies, to enforce his commands with an oath, or to call a failor by any other than his ufual name i and fo fenfible were they of his manly behaviour, that, when the Ihip was paid i VOYAGE TO THi North-East. 79 off at Deptford, they were only prevented by his moft" carncft requeft from ftripping them- fclves to their (hirts, to cover the (treets with their cloaths, that he might not tread in the dirt in going to take coach. In fix hours, with the utmoft efforts of hu- man labour, they had only proceeded a finglc mile ; and now it was time for them to dine, and recruit their almoft exhauftcd fpirits. As the. Commodore had laboured with them, it was in chara6tcr that he Ihould dine with them alfo } and an accident happened that made it neceflary for him fo to do. The Cook, with his mates, (who were bringing the Commodore and the ofBcers their dinners under covers) to keep out the cold after coming from a warm fire- fide, had made a little too free with the brandy bottle before they fet out, and before they had got half way to the lances, the liquor began to operate •, the Cooks were fometimcs very near boarding each other, fcmetimes they hauled off", and fometimes fteered right a- head. At length coming to a chafm, or parting of the ice, which they were obliged to leap, down came the mafter Cook, with di(h, cover, meat and all ; and what was dill worfc, though it was not then thought of nnuch value, the Commodore's common fervice of plate, which the Cook car- ried for the officers to dine on, fell in the chafm, and inftantly funk to the bottom. This acci- dent brought the Cook a little to himfelf, and he ,( f{ ._-.^aLi*» 1 i if i ' 1 1' f' ■■■ '} 8o VOYAGE TO the North-East. he now ftood paufing whether he fliould jump down the gulph after the plate, or proceed to the Commodore to beg mercy and make his apology. His mates perfuadcd him to the lat- ter, as the Commodore was a kind hearted gem man, and would never take a man's life away for a Hip on the ice. Befides, it was a great jump for a fat man, and Commodore, they were fure, had rather lofe all the plate in the great cabin, than lofe Cookie. Comforted a little by this fpeech, the Cook proceeded, but let his mates go on firft with what remained, to carry the tidings of what befell the reft. AVhen the Commodore had heard the ftory, he judged how it was with them all. But where is the Cook, faid he to the mates ? He's crying behind, an pleafe your Honour. In the mean time the Cook came up. Cook, faid the Com- modore, bring me your dinner. I will dine to-day with my comrades. My dinner ! Ay, a pound of the flcfh next my heart, if your Honour likes it. The promptnefs of the reply fliewed the fmccrity of the Cook's good-will, and pleafcd the Commodore better than a feall upon turtle Hedilmifled him with a fmile, and partook with the officers in what was left, who made up their dinners with a mefs from the common men. They had juft begun to renew their labour, when word was brought, that the whole body of ice had changed its fituation, and was mov- ing i t fump :d to e his c lat- arted s life vas a )dore, Ue in Ported ;eded, ained, : reft. y. he where :rying mean Com- 1 dine ! Ay. f your ; reply d-will, afeaO: fmile, as left, i from labour, : body s mov- ing IV J" ^, / K K ^ ^ > V N ^ ^ 1 i \ I VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 8i ing to the weft ward ; that the fhips were both a-float i and that the ice was parting. The joy which this news diffufed through the two com- panies of hawlers is eafier to conceive than ex« prefs. They inftantly (hook off their harnefs, ran to aflift in working the (hips, and once more to refume their proper employments. When they arrived at the fhips, Caprain Lut- wych, who was no iefs beloved by his men than the Commodore, had by his example and his judicious dirediOns done wonders. Both fhips were not only a-float, with their fails fer, but adually cut and warped through the ice near half a mile. This ray of hope, however, was foon darkened ; the body of ice fuddenly af- fumed its former direction to the eaflward, and cloftd upon them again as faft as ever. While the fhips remained in the ice- dock, they were lafhed together for their greater fccurity, but now being launched and a-float, the ice prefTed upon them with fuch weight, that it was every moment expefbed that the hawfer would break that held them together ; orders were therefore given, that the hawfer fhould be flackened, and the fhips releafed. For the remainder of the evening, and till two in the morning, the drift continued eafl- ward, and all that while the fhips were in dan- ger of being crufhcd by the clofing of the channel in which they rode. They had now drifted two miles to the eaflward ^ the men were M worn / IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 4 /. ,. ^^>V^ >!;« 7 Photograph'c Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAiN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) }72-4S03 V L1>^ <^ rv 6^ ^ ^i; ^. '<> '^ 4^ J*? ^ M ^0 '^tex' f/j / 1 i 1 K 1 w 1 1 (f Si VOYAGE TO the North-East.' worn out with fatigue in defending the fhips with their ice- poles from being engulphed ; and now nothing but feenes of horror and perdition appeared before their eyes. But the Omnipo- tent, in the very moment, when every hope of deliverance from their own united endeavours had relinquifhed them, intcrpofed in their fa- vours, and caufed the winds to blow, and the ice £0 part in an aftonifhing manner, rending and cracking with a tremendous noife, furpafling that of the loudeft thunder. At this very in- ftant the whole continent of ice, which before was extended beyond the reach of fight from the highcft mountains, moved together in va- rious dirediens, fplitting and dividing into vaft bodies, and forming hills and plains of various figures and dimenfions. All hearts were now again revived, and the profpedl of being once more releafed from the frozen chains of th6 north infpired the men with frefli vigour. Every officer and every idler on board laboured now for life. The fails were all fprcad, that the fliips might have the full advantage of the breeze to force them through the channels that were already opened, and to help them, like wedges, to rend the clefts that were but juft cracking. While the major part of the crews were cm- ployed in warping the fliips with ice-anchors, axes, fayvs and poles, a party from both fhips W^ere difj^atched to launch the boats. This was no VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 83 uo eafy talk to accomplifh. The ice, though fplit in many thoufand pieces, was yet frozen like an ifland round the lances, and though it was of no great extent, yet the boats were of a weight hardly to be moved by the fmall force that could be fpared to launch them. They were belides, by the driving of the ice, at more than five miles diftance from the (hips ; and at this time no channels of communicadon were yet opened. But Providence was manifeft even on this occafion •, for the ifland on which the lan- ces itood, parted while the men were hauling them, and by that lucky circumftance they were launched with great facility, without the lofs of a man, though the ice cracked, as it were, under their feet. The people on board had not been able to force their way with the {hips much more than a mile, when the prtrty in the lances joined them. And now, excited by what curiofity or inftind is not eafy to determine, feveral bears came porting over the ice to be fpedtators of their departure, and advanced fo near the Ihips, that they might have beeneafily mattered, had not the men been more ferioufly employed. This day they altered their foundings from thirty to fifty fathoms, and from fifty to eighty and eighty-five fathoms. The breeze continuing frelh from eafl:- foutheaft and cafl:, the ice feemed to open a* /«ft as it had before clofed when the wind blew M 2 wefterly, rj 84 VOYAGE TO iHE North-East." "wefterly, and from the north -, a ftrong pre- iumptive proof of land to the eaftward, which Hopping the current of the loofe ice in driving from the north and weft, clofes it in courfe, and renders it compadt. On the contrary, when the wind blows off the land, and the current fets to the fea, the loofe ice being no longer op- polcd, difperfes itielf again in the ocean, where it again floats, till the fame caufe produces the fameeffedt. If therefore the land which our voyagers faw on the 30th, and which they could not determine with certainty to be an ifland, fliould, upon fome future occafion, be difcovered to be a continent, then the ciofing of the loofe ice fo fuddenly about the /even ijlands, and its crouding one piece upon ano- ther to a great height, when violently agitated by tempefts from the north or weft, will be ful- ly and naturally accounted for. Tuefday the 10th, about two in the morn- inrr, the fog being thick, and the weather calm, and the men very much fatigued, they were ordered to their quarters, to refrefh them- felves with fleep. It was, befides, very cold, and much rain fell i and as the wind was va- riable, they could make but little progrefs. The ice, in the morning early, feemed rather to clofe upon them, than to divide; and being apprehcnfive for their boats, they attempted to ^oift the lances on board, but that belonging ^ the Cargaie, being either too unweildy, or the VOYAGE TO THE North-East. S5 the men too much fatigued to effed it, they (lung her to the Ihip's fide. About eight the breeze fprung up frefli from the north-eaft, exceedingly cold, but opening the ice to the wellward. They then made all the fail they could, driving with the loofening ice, and parting it wherever it was moveable with their whole force. Towards noon they loH: fight of the Seven JJlands. And in a very little while after, to their great joy, Spitfbergen was feen from the maft-head. Wednefday ir, the men who, with hard labour, cold and watching, were much difpi- rited, on the profped of a fpeedy deliverance, and feeing the ice no longer adhere in immove- Hole bodies, began, after a little refrefhment, to refume their wonted chcarfulnefs. They had not till the fecond clofing of the ice, after the attempt to dig a paflage through it had proved inelTedual, and that the hauling the lances had been tried with little better fuccefs, difco- vered the leaft defpondency. But when they had exerted their utmoft efforts, and Provi- dence, which at firft feemed to fecond their en- deavours, appeared to have forfaken them ; when their pilots had filled their minds with the terrors of their fituation 5 and their officers had given the (hips and their mofl valuable cfFe<5ts over for loft, the men then began to re- fled on the hardfhips they were likely to fuffer, gnd to be imprcfTed with the knk of their com- mon 1 :i 86 VOYAGE to the NorthEast. mon danger. Their apprehenfions, however, were but temporary, and the moment they were relcafed irom their icey prifon, and that they were within fight of a clear fea, their for- lONv was changed to mirth, and their melan- choly to rejoicing. Fellivity and jolity took place of abftinence and gloomy apprehenfions ; and before tht-y arrived at Spitfbergen, there was not a fiilor on board with a fcrious face. The ice that had parted from the main body, they had now time to admire. As it no longer obflrucled their courfe, the various lliapes in which the broken fragments appeared, were indeed very curious and amufing. One re- markable piece defcribed a magnificent arch io large and compleatly formed, that a floop of confiderable burden might have failed through it without lowering her maft ; another repre* fented a church with windows and pillars, and dome? i and a third, a table with icicles hang- ing round it like the fringes of a damall^ cloth. A fertile imagination might here find enter- tainmcnt enough j for, as has already been ob- ferved, the fimilitude of all that art or nature has ever yet produced, might here be fancied. They continued working all this day through the loofe ice. Hacluit's Headland bearing ibuth thirty-nine weft, and in their courfe faw a Dutch Greenlandman in the fouth-weft quarter. , Thurfday the 1 2th, they cleared the ice, and bore away with all fails fet for the harbour of Smear- ■V,Vv\J VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 87 Smcaringburg, in which they had before caft anchor. At two in the afternoon they anchor- cd in North Bay, the north part of Vo^lc Sound bearing north forty- five eaft, diftance about four miles. At half after four the Com- modore made the fignal to weigh ; and at half paft nine, came to an anchor in their former fta- tion, where they found four Dutch Greenland- men lying in readinefs to depart, Thele Dutch- men acquainted the Commodore, that all the Englilh fifhing fliips fet fail on the loth of July, the day to which they are obliged by con- trad, to ftay to entitle their owners to receive the bounty- money, allowed by Parliament for the encouragement of that fifhery. About the fame time the greateft part of the Dutch fet fail likewife from Spitfbergcn, on their voyage home-, but it is a pradice with thefe laft, to take it by turns to wait till the fe- verity of the weather obliges them to leave the coaft, in order to pick up fuch men as may by accident have loft their fliips in the ice ; and who, notwithftanding, may have had the good fortune to fave their lives by means of their boats. This is a very humane inftitution, and does credit to the Dutch Government* Did the Britilh Government bear an equal regard for individuals, fo many valuable fubjedls wouki never be fuffered to migrate, as now aonuaUy^ hire fhips to convey themfeJves to. feek* their- fortunes in new fettlements. It is cftimated, iluc y ^8 VOYAGE TO The North East. that twelve thonfand at leafl are yearly ihipt off from Ireland, and not many lefs from Eng- land and Scotland, yet no meafures are thought ncceffary to be taken to retain them at home. The turn of waiting at Spitfbergen falls an- nually to the lot of about five Dutch (hips, who arc obliged to fend out their boats daily in fearch of their unfortunate fellow fubjecls; feme of thefe boats have themfelves fuffcred feverely, and have been detained feven or eight days by fevere weather in thefe excurfions, to the great anxiety of their friends. The day of our voyagers return to Smearing- burg Harbour being fine, the Commodore or- dered a tent to be raifed on the lower point to the fouth-weft, where there was a level plain for the fpace of two miles, and where all the mathematical apparatus were again taken on ihore for a fecond trial. They found, on the examination of the vi- bration of the pendulum, that it difl^ered from that at Greenwich by Harrifon's time-keepett only two feconds in forty-eight hours ; which time- keeper, at their arrival at Greenwich, varied only one fecond and a half from the time-pieces at the obfervatory there. Mr. Robinfon, wha was articled toCommodore Phipps, from Chrift's Hofpital, and who does honour to that noble foundation, was particularly careful to note the refult of all the obfcrvations that were made ia this high latitude. • • • ^ The — x-/ Voyage to the North-East. 89 The ovens were alfo here taken on fhorc, and a confiderable quantity of good foft bread baked for the refreftiment of the men. Hacluit's Headland, of which mention has been frequently made in the courfe of this voy- age, is an ifland on the norch-weft point of Spitlbergen, about fifteen miles in circumfer- ence, on which is found plenty of fcurvy-grafs j and in the valleys, fome of which extend from two to three miles, there is (lore of other grafs in fummer, on which the deer is fuppofed to feed. The people were now fully employed in over, hauling the rigging, tarring the fhips fides, taking in water, peying and fecu-ring the mafts, and in preparing the fliips for purfuing their voyage upon difcovery ; or, if that was found impradlicablej for returning home. On the 16th, two of the Dutch fhips weighed anchor, and failed away in company. On the 17th, vaft pieces of broken ice, fup- pofed to have fallen from the Icebergs, came floating into harbour. When theff* pieces, which are undermined by the continual agita- tion of the fea in ftormy weather, lofe their fupport, they tumble with a crack that fur- paffcs the loudeft thunder; but they were told, that no other thunder was ever heard in this latitude. The adbivity and cntcrprizing fpirit of the Ruffians already noticed, begin to manifeft it- fclf every where, and it is not improbable, but N that ''> I' if h. V i k' I I go VOYAGE to the North-East. that the maritime powers may one day or other have caufe to repent their emulation in con- tributing to aggrandize the naval power of that Jncreafing people. The dominions of the Ruf- fian empire, are fituated to command the trade of the univerfe ; they are now adually ereding a yard for building fhips at Kampfchatka, to improve their difcoverics from that quarter, and to open a trade from thence to China. They have attempted to fettle colonics, as our voy- agers were told, on the fouthernmoft diftrifts of Spitibergen, and thofe of the new fettlers, who furvivcd the firft winter, were preparing CO encounter the rigour of the climate in a fe- cond. This can only be done by way of expe- riment, to try if a fcttlement is pradicable, for thofc now fent are faid to be criminals. During the fix days which the (hips anchored here to make obiervations, take in water, re- frelh the men, and refit, our journalift made 4%,. ..^1 excurfions to the adjoining iflands, wherfe t. -jirds appeared in aftonifhing numbers ; it being the feafon for bringing forth their young, and teaching them to fly, and to dive. Gf all the birds that breed in thefe iflands, the burgermafter is the largeft, and the moft ravenous ; he is fb called by the Dutch, from his fize and his authority, as he holds all the other birds in fubjeftion. His bill is long and crooked, rather like that of the ftork, than that of tht hawk, and is of a yellow colour. He • ^ Mi ...,*»»-/ VOYAGE TO THE North East. 91 He has a red ring about his eyes ; is web font* ed, but has but three claws on each foot. His wings are of a beautiful pearl colour, edged with white •, his back a filver grey j his body white as fnow, and his tail of the fame colour, which when he flies he fpreads like a fan. He builds his neft very high in the rocks, inacceili- ble either to bears or foxes. He preys upon ail the other birds, and eats the carrion of fifli or flelh, or whatever comes in his way, His cry is horrible, and when he fcrcams, the mal- Icniuch, a bird as large as a duck, is fo much intimidated, that Ihe will fmk down, and fufler him to devour her without oppofition. Our journalift found it very dangerous to purfuehis way over the hills and precipices in this rugged country. The clefts on the moun- tains are like thofe in the ice frequently impaf- fable } but they are abundantly more hazar- dous, being fometimes concealed under the fnow, fo that a traveller is engulphed before he is aware. Many have been entombed in thefe clefts, and perilhed in the hearing of their compa- nions, without a poflibility of relief. To a contemplative mind, however, even the defor- mities of nature, are not unpleafing, the wif- dom of the Creator being manifeft in all his works. On the 19th of Auguft the fliips unmoored, and on the twentieth they cleared the harbour. They found the tide to flow north call and N % foutU* Ik V '■f /: A' 92 VOYAGE TO THE North-East. foiith-weft, and to rife rhrec feet fcven inches perpendicular height. On the 22d they again found themfelvcs be- fet with loofe ice. They were then in latitude 80 degrees 14 minutes north, longitude 5 de- grees 44 minutes ^^aft. On the 2 2d they had a heavy fea from the fouth-weft quarter. On the 23d the Carcafe, being a heavier failer than the Race Horfe, loft fight of the Commodore, and fired a fix- pounder, which was anfwered. In the e^'ening they came in fight, and purfued their courfe with favourable weather, and without any thing worthy of no- tice happening till September 5, when, being clear and calm weather, the Commodore founded, and found ground with feven hundred fathoms, very foft mud. The people were employed eight hours in heaving up the lead with the capftan. At three in tjie morning the fun rifen, took the ampli- tude, and found the variation to be 22 degrees ^^ minutes weft. September 7, at five in the afternoon, they had heavy fqualls, with rain ; at feven in the morning moderate weather. This day, in 60 degrees 1 5 minutes vyeft, they found their lon- gitude, corrected by obfervation of fun and moon, to be 5 degrees 59 minutes eaft. Lon- gitude by time-keeper 4 degrees 45 minute^ c^ft i a very remarkable difference, Th« VOYAGE TO THE North East; 93 ; The fhips purfued their courfe home in com- pany together, with high fcas and variable wea- ther, t'.U Sept. 1 1, when, at half after ten, the night dark, and the weather moderate, the wind all at once veered to the fouthward, and a ftrong gale with a great fea came on. The fliips parted, and never more came in fight till they met off Harwich, on the Englifh coaft. Our journalift being on board the Carcafe, can now only relate what happened to that floop, till her arrival in the River Thames, When the gale came on, the Commodore's lights not appearing, the Carcafe fired a fix- pounder, but that Ihot not being returned by the Race Horfe, it was concluded, that the Commodore was at too great a diftance to hear the fignal. At four in the morning the gale in- creafing, they clofe reefed the top-fails, and employed all hands in lafhing and fecuring the boats and booms, and preparing to withftand the threatening ftorm. At this time thev were in lat. ^y deg. 44 min. north j the Naze of Norway bearing fouth eighty-eight eaft, diftant thirty-one leagues. Sunday, September 12, frelh gales, with fre- quent ihowers of rain ; handed gib and ftay- fail i at two in the afternoon hard fqualls and violent Ihowers of rain ; handed fore and mizen top-fail; faw a fail to fouthward Handing to ^aftward ; cloudy and obfcure (ky, at ten at night (. ■; tv. li 94 VOYAGE TO THE NORTH-F.AST. night came on fuddenly a very heavy fquall ; handed all the top-fails \ ftrong gale, with Ic- vere fliowers of rain. At midnight blowing a violent ftorm of wind, reefed and handed the main-fail and fore-fail j lowered down the lower yardr. balanced the mizen, and laid the Ihip too under it, with her head to the weftward 5 the fea making a free paflage over the Ihip. Shipped fiich he:ivy feas, wafhed all the provifi- ons and callus that were laflied on the deck, over board ; kept two pumps continually go- ing •, obliged to fkuttle the boats, to prevent their being walhtd over-board. At four in the morning Ihippcd fuch heavy feas, as waflied all the booms and fpars that had been with all pofliblc care fecured en the deck, over-board. The fliip moftly under water. No fight of the Commodore i under great apprehenfions for his fafety, as his vcfiel laboured much more than ours. At this time one of the mates, the carpenter, and a fore-maft-man, were wafhed over- board. The carpenter, a very careful fcbcr man, who was in the wafte, fecuring the hatches and (tores, was wafiied in and out at the ports three time?;, before he could fecure himfelf. At ten in the morning rather moderate. Set the mizen-flay-fail ; fv/ayed the* lower yards up, and fet the courfes. At lialf paft eleven, ftrong fqualls and heavy guHs ; handed both courfesj and fettled the lower yards. ' ' Sep- VOYAGE \ > THE North-East. 55 September 1 3, ftrong gales and fqually. Con- tinually (hipping heavy feas. At three in the afternoon rather more moderate j fet reef cour- fes; fwayed up the lower yards, and kt the main- top-fail. The (hip now making no wa- ter; atfeven in the evening fet fore-top.fail and gib; very heavy fea from fouth-welt quarter. At eight in the evening moderate and cloudy i let the third reef out of the main-top- fail -, founded thirty-five fathoms fine brown fand. At ope in the morning light airs, hazey weather, and great fea. Wore ihip, and ftood to weftward. At four frefh breezes, with rain. At half paft eight faw a fail to eaftward ; fup- pofing it the Commodore, made the private fignal, and fired a fix-pounder. At nine bore down upon her, and brought her to. She proved a Hollander from Archangel, bound to Bremen. Courfe fouth forty- two wed, latitude fifty- fix deg. four min. north. September 14, ftrong gales, and cloudy; under reef courfes. At two in the afternoon moderate; fet main -top fail. At three fet fore- top-fail ; a great fea from weftward. At fcven in the eveniiig moderate and cloudy. Out the third reef of the main- top- fail; uncertain wea- ther; fqually, and at times niiich rain; at three great tog. This day, at noon, Flambo- rough-head fouth forty-fix weft, diftance thirty leagues. September I I;, Tl >: (^; h 96 VOVAGE TO THE North. East. September 15, light breezes, and clear weather ; out all reefs, and fwayed up th« lower yards. At four in the afternoon faw a fail to fouth-eaft ; bore down, and brought her to. She proved to be a Pruflian fifherman, had been ten days from Edinburgh j hoifted out the fmall cutter j the fecond Lieutenant went on board of her, and bought a fine cargo of fifh. At five the boat returned •, we hoifled her on board, with plenty of mackarel and herrings. Made fail, and flood to fouthweft j founded every half hour ; found from thirteen to fifteen, and eighteen fathoms, fine brown fand, mixed with black fhells. At feven in the evening took the firft reef, and hauled in the top iliils i frefh gales, and cloudy. At two in the morning deepened in water to twenty fathom. Took in fecond reef of the top-fails ; tacked fhip, and flood to north-weft. At five in the morning got into fifteen fathom i and at feven into ten. At nine in the morning clofe reefed the top-fails, and at ten handed them i very freih gale, and violent rain. September 16, rather more moderate; fet tlK main-top-fail ; fqually, with rain ; a con- fufed fea from weft- north -weft. At five in the afternoon foundings from five to twelve, from twenty-fcven to thirty-two and thirty-four fa- thoms, fine brown fand, black fpecks, frelh gales, and cloudy. At eight took in firft and fecond reefs of top- fails i at eleven at night clofe VOYAGE TO THE North-East. gy clofe reefed the main and fore-top-fail, and handed the mizen ; frefh gales, and cloudy weather. At four in the morning flioaled water to twenty-two fathoms ; brown fand and broken fliells. At five faw feveral fail to north-weft ; fired, and brought one of them to. At eight fhook the firfl and fecond reefs out of the top- fail ; hove down upon a floop, which came from Gravefend ; took on board the matter, as a pilot to carry the fhip through Yarmouth Roads ; put on bpard one man in his room, and ordered his veiTel to follow us. Stood to the fouthward, September 17, frefh breezes, and cloudy weather ; kept the lead going every half hour ; found our founding from ten to twelve fathoms, fine brown fand. At fix in the afternoon frefli gales; clofe reefed the main- top-fail ; found- ings from ten to fixtcen fathom ; broken (hells and large ftones. At ftwtn clofe reefed the main-top.fail ; kept a light in the poop-lan- thorn for the floop. At ten ftrong gales ; hand- ed the top-fails j laid her to under the main- fail ; handed the fore-fail. At eleven at night got into five fathom; but deepened to eight, nine, and ten fathom, brown fand. Loft fighc of the fifhing veflel ; fired feveral guns, and made a fignal in the mizen- fhroud. On fctrin.^ the fore-top-fail ftacil, it blew to pieces ; bene a new one. A violent gale of wind ; fliipped » great quantity of water. At four rather mo- O dcraic ; 't ^^ VOYAGE TO THE North-East. derate ; fet the foreiail. A: midnight fet clofc •, reefed top-iails. At half pad fix tacked j at feven {iiw the filhing veflcl; bore down and fpoke with her, who had fplit her main-fail in the night. At ten faw the land bearing fouth- we(l by weft, and fouth and by weft. At eleven being clear and moderate weather, (hook all the reefs out of the top-fails, and fet the top- gallant-fail •, faw Cromer light-houfe, bearing ibnth 5^ degrees weft, diftance five leagues. September 19, frefii breezes and clear wea- ther j. bent the ftieet-cablc, and hauled a range of the beft and fmall bower-cables •, bent both buoy ropes and buoys to the anchor. At five light breezes and fair j tacked and ftood to the fouthward. At fix tacked and ftood to the north-weft. Cramer nortlvweft and by north four miles-, light breezes, and pleafant wea- ther ; handed in top-gallant-fails, and handed the main-iail. A.t levcn in the evening, to our great joy, faw Yarmouth Church, bearing fouth-weft. At ten at night came to anchor with the beft bower in twelve fiithom, fincfand and clay •, veered out to half a cable, and hand- ed all the fails. Winterftone Nefs lights bore fouth and by weft four miles. At two in the morning frefli breezes and cloudy. At half part four weighed, and made fail. Employcxi in working from Winterftone Nefs lights, to Yarmouth Roads, making feveral tacks. Ac fevea VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 99 fcven in the morning fee top-gallant-fails -, at nine came to an anchor in Yarmouth Road, with belt bower in fcven fathoms water ; fand and clay. Yarmouth church fouth fifteen weft, diftance two miles. Came on board a pilot to carry the fhip to the Nore. September 20, frefli breezes and clear wea • ther; fent down top-gallantryards, and. got every thing clear for ftriking tokens. At five in the afternoon moored the (hip. Yarmouth church weft-fouth-weft two miles. September 21, freft. gales and cloudy, with frequent rain. At four in the afternoon fent down top-gallant-maft. At eight in the morn- ing fent the long-boat on fliore for water. , Wc were this day vifited by feveral of the inhabi- tants of Norwich and Yarmouth, who were genteelly entertained by the officers', but wc could get no intelligence of the Commodore. September 23, dark cloudy weather. At fix in the evening fwayed up the top-maft, and lower yards; the wind veered to north- weft, We prepared to unmoor. Frelli gaks, with frequent flalhes of lightning. At feven in the morning fet xjn top-gallant-maft, and began to unmoor. At eight veered away upon the belt bower, and took up the fmall bower-anchor. At nine weighed and made iail. At ten got lip the top-gallant-yards, in company with fc- ytral fliips. O 2 Saturday t^- """'^ t H I I) ^ lU 100 VOYAGE TO THE North-East. Saturday 25, at five came to an anchor in eleven fathoms. Orford light-houfc eaft by fouth four miles. This day fome religious books were diftributed among the failors, which had been fent on board by fome pious perfon for their particular perufal. Sunday 26. At fix in the evening came to with the bed bower in feven fathoms water -, Balfcy church weft by fouth. At two in the morning weighed, and came to fail •, Harwich lights north- weft by weft. To their great fur- prife, faw the Race Horfe at anchor. Hoifted out the cutter, and Capt. Lutwidge waited on the Commodore from whom he learnt, that in the ftorm of the twelfth they had all their boats walhed over-board j and, lo eafe the fhip, were obliged to heave all their guns over-board, except two. Came to anchor; Harwich church north-weft. Monday 27, at two in the afternoon weigh- ed, and came to fail in company with the Race Horfe. At eight in the evening came to in the Swin. At five in the morning weighed, in company as before. Turning up the Swin at half paft nine, came to 5 Whitaker Beacon north-north-eaft one mile. Tuefday 28, frefti breezes and cloudy wea- ther. At half paft three weighed, and came to fail. At half paft fix came to with the beft bower in fix fathom water j Shoe Beacon north- weft. At half paft five weighed, and came to fail. VOYAGE TO THE North-East." ioi fail. Working to windward at eleven in the forenoon, the Commodore's boat came on board; with orders to proceed to Deptford. At noon came to at the Nore with the beft bower. Wednefday 29, light breezes and fair wea- ther. At half pad five weighed, and made fail. Employed in working up the river. At half pafl: ten came to with the beft bower in the gallions, in three fathoms water. Wool- wich church north by fouth one half eaft. At noon a hoy came along-fide for the gunner's ftores. Thurfday 30, employed moft of the after- noon in getting out the guns, and gunner's ftores. At nine in the evening weighed, and came to fail. At ten run foul of a large tranf- port, and carried away the lar-board mizen- ftirouds, and part of the channel. At one in the morning came to anchor at. Deptford. Warped along-fide the Bedford Hulk, and moored. At fix unbent the fails, and began to unrig. Thus ended a voyage, which feems to have determined the queftion fo much agitated con- cerning the navigation to the north pole, and proved what Captain Wood had before aiTerted, that no paflage would ever be found pradticablc in that diredlion. From the quantities of ice which that naviga- tor met with in latitude yS north, longitude eaft, he concluded indeed erroneoufly, that the Pacific N.VV. History Dept PROVINCIAL. LIBRARY ' VICTORlAi B. C. ■«BC5n^- » V»t^ VOYAGE TO THE North-East. 117 been in a dry dock. It was now that the men firft began to murmur,and the Captain himlelf wasnot without his fears, left they fhould here be frozen up and obliged to winter in the middle of the fca. By an obfervation which they made upon the ice, they found that they were in latitude 58 deg. 54 min. north. On the 5th of next mur.th to their great joy the ice opened, and on the brh they were again in a clear lea. On the 1 gth, feeing fome break- ers a-head, and looffing to clear them, the Ihip fuddenly ftruck upon the rocks, and received three dreadful fhocks, but the fwell heaved her gver, and on pumping fhe made no water. They were now encumbered with rocks, as before they had been with ice, and in the moft perilous fituation that can be conceived, and lb continued two nights and two days, every mo- ment expedling to be dallied to pieces. On the fog's clearing up they faw land from the north- weft to the fouth-eall by eaft, with rocks and breakers. On the 1 6th they weighed and made fail, when a ftorm arofe and drove them within fight of Fort Nelfon. On the 1 7th they ftood to the fouthward. On the 20th they made land, in latitude 57 degrees north, where they caft an- chor,and call*d it the Principality of South Wales. Having weighed, on the 27th they kt fail, and in the evening came in fight of higher land. On the 29th they faw a fail, which proved to be Captain Fox, already mentioned. They fpoke together, and, after exchanging mutual civilities, parted. Captain James kept coafting along the (hore to make difcoveries, and Captain Fox made the beft. of his way for England. 'Fhe Captain nov/ began to think of a con- venient place to winter in. In this attempt they / w jiS VOYAGE TO THE North-East* they met with fo many " difafters, that at laft: having no hope left, thay began to prepare themielves to make a good end of a miferable life. On the 19th they loft their fhallop, tho* lalhed to the ftiip by two hawfers, and to their inexprefliblc grief their boat was almoft ren- dered irreparable. Winter nqw began to let in a pace, the nights long, the days clofe and foggy, the feas rough, and nothing but (heals and broken land to na- vigate. Added to all thefe the men began to ficken, an univerfal dejedtionto prevail, and in proportion as their diftrdTes increafed, their itrength to bear up againft them grew lefs every day. On the 4th of November, being in latitude 52 degrees north, they fell in with an ifland, from which they found it impoffible to depart. The men were quite worn down with fatigue, the fails fo frozen as not to be unfurled, the ropes congealed in the blocks, and the deck knee-deep in fnow. In this forlorn condition they built a tent on fliore for the fick, and in this tent they kept fires continually burning night and day, but the cold increafed fo fait, that beer, and even fpirits, froze by the fire- fide. , The fufferings of the Captain and crew from the latter end of Oftober when they landed, till the 2d of July, when they departed, are hardly to be parelleled. This was the lait voyage that was undertaken for the difcovery of a north-weft pafiage, till that of Captain Middleton, already related. From all which, and the opinion of Captain James after his return, there is great reafon to coiKilude, that wij.it we have faid of a north-eaft paiiige 16 likewiie true of a paflage by the north- weft, that it moll certainly exifts, but will never Ije found pracucable for mercantile purpofes. F 1 N 1 S. %' \ * l^