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 i^jH^QcrovyN, MASS 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 a ^nm, 
 
 IN SEVEN PARTS. 
 
 f 
 
 BT 
 
 CHANDOS HOSKYNS ABRAHALL. 
 
 " still pressing on beyond Torafta's Lake, 
 And Heda, flaming through a waste of snow, 
 And farthest Greenland, to the Pole itself. 
 Where, foiling gradual, life at length goes out, 
 The Muse expands her solitary flight." 
 
 Thomsom. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HOPE k CO. 16, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
 1856. 
 

 165229 
 
 '1 
 
 \\ 
 
 r 
 
 f 
 
<r<0 
 
 '4 
 
 °i 
 
 if 
 
 ^ 
 
 fO 
 
 f 
 
 
 DEDICATED, 
 
 BY PEEMI8SI0N, 
 • TO 
 
 LADY FRANKLIN, 
 
 IN ADMIRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 HER PATIENCE, PEESEVERANCE, AND FORTITUDE, 
 
 UNDER TRIALS UNEXAMPLED 
 
 IN THE ANNALS 
 
 OF HER COUNTRY. 
 
«• 
 
 % 
 
>•• 
 
 OFFICERS 
 
 OF HKR MAJMTT*8 DISOOTBRT SHIPS, 
 
 "EREBUS" AND "TERROR." 
 
 H. M. S. "EREBUS." Complement, 70 men. 
 
 Sir John Franklin, K. C. H Captain. 
 
 James Fitzjames Commander. 
 
 Graham Gore ] 
 
 H. T. D. LeVesconte V Lieutenants. 
 
 James W. F£urholme j 
 
 Charles F. Des Vaux ] 
 
 Robert 0. Sargent vMates« 
 
 E. Couch J 
 
 H. F. Collins Second Master. 
 
 S.F.Stanley Surgeon. 
 
 H. D. Goodsir Assistant Surgeon. 
 
 James Reid , Ice Master. 
 
 H. M. S. "TERROR." Complement, 68 men. 
 Richard Crozier Captain. 
 
 Edward Little ] 
 
 G. H. Hodgson V Lieutenants. 
 
 John Irving j 
 
 Frederick Hornby « "I ■m--i.-v» 
 
 Robert Thomas | mates. 
 
 G. A. Maclean Second Master. 
 
 J. S. Fed'Ue Surgeon. 
 
 Alexander M'Donald Assistant Surgeon. 
 
 Thomas Blanky Ice Master. 
 
 J. H. Helpman Clerk in Charge. 
 
" The attempt to discover a water communication through the 
 Arctic Regions between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, is one 
 which has engaged the attention of maritime nations, and especially 
 that of Great Britain, for a period now extending over nearly 
 three centuries. 
 
 "Rewards for the discovery of a North-west Passage have 
 more than once been offered by Parliament. Successive Sovereigns 
 have encouraged the enterprise, and men of science have, through 
 succeeding generations, urged the attempt. In the earliest Arctic 
 voyages no doubt a hope was entertained that the North-west Pas- 
 sage would open a safe and speedy route to India ; but this idea 
 was speedily abandoned ; and for a long series of years the ad- 
 vancement of natural science, and the extension of our knowledge 
 of the globe, appear to have been the sole incentives of these 
 expeditions, which, sullied by no lust of conquest, or selfish views, 
 must ever be considered among the most disinterested of national 
 undertakings ; they have served to bring forward some of the best 
 officers and bravest seamen in the British Navy, and have added 
 greatly to the lustre of that service of which oiu: maritime nation 
 is so justly proud." ^Extract of Repmi from the Select Com- 
 mittee on Arctic Expedition. House qf Commons^ 20 July, 1 855. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 In submitting his work to the Public, the author 
 feels much diffidence as to any poetical merits it may 
 possess ; yet he thinks its issue requires no further apology 
 at a time when the national sympathies have become 
 suddenly and painfully awakened to the subject of Polar 
 adventure : it has been his aim to record in the language 
 of poetry the daring exploits of all ages and nations in 
 the remote seas of the north ; but, most of all, to elevate 
 the character of the British Navy, and to commemorate 
 the achievements of those great officers, and brave sea- 
 men, whose lives have been devoted to the advancement 
 of their country's fame in the arduous field of Arctic 
 Discovery. 
 
 1 6, Great Marlborough Street. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 3, line 10..For otifyread tn^. 
 
 23, — 30 . . For approaching read approving. 
 
 61, — 18..For fo«<read to«f. 
 
 66, — 25 . . For through read tJmigh. 
 
 87, — 6 • • For portentuoua read portentous, 
 
 87, — 2Z . .'For lusturt re^Ldi lustre. 
 
 t 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 PABT I. 
 
 " Jacet extra sidera Tellus 
 Extra anni loliaque viaa." 
 
 Vmoii,. JEn. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The subject introduced in an Apostrophe to Home. ReooUectiona 
 of Home, as yiewed in their iiifluenoe on the Lover, the Exile, the 
 Poet, the Captive ; hence also on the Soldier and Sailor ; but most of 
 all, on the Adventurer in unknown and inhospitable regions. General 
 summary of the rigours of the Arctic climes, and the dangers en- 
 countered in Arctic discovery. Furtherance of Science the object ; 
 Fame the impelling cause. Appeal to History. A slight digression 
 on the value of a national Museum as a depository of great relics ; 
 its archives a treasury of great records. Hence, after a recapitu- 
 lation of the horrors peculiar to Polar adventure, the first or intro- 
 ductory part of the Poem closes with a brief detail of the subject to 
 be treated at large hereafter. 
 
 Eabewell, blest Home ! Thou spell of wondrous power, 
 When Memory, hovering o'er her natal hour. 
 Turns pensive from the busy world to trace 
 The old endearments of that sacred place. 
 To whose sweet calm each traveller of life. 
 Shattered with time and care, or scarr'd with strife, 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 The ruin of crush'd hopes, doth inly yearn, 
 And with repentant heart sighs to return. 
 
 Sweet scene of early pastimes ! still alike 
 Thy charms inspire where'er thy visions strike ; 
 GarVd as of old, or decked for future bliss, 
 All-welcome thou, that never com'st amiss ! 
 Where Memory scans the past with pensive eye. 
 Or Hope looks onward to to-morrow's sky. 
 
 Still can thy scenes, in shadowy distance drest. 
 Feed with a rapturous hope the lover's breast ; 
 With soft remorse the exile's heart control. 
 And haunt with holiest dreams the poet's soul ; 
 Can cheer the captive's lonely destiny. 
 Whose only joy springs from the thought of thee ; — 
 He, habitant of the cold stony cell, "• 
 
 For whom Time tolls the known and measured knell. 
 Who from the iron link and dungeon-bed 
 Speeds but to die, his hopes already dead ; — 
 If in his fetter'd sleep thy dream arise. 
 He stirs, and starts with unavaiHng sighs. 
 And hugs the phantom that can yet impart 
 Balm to his thought, and refuge to his heart. 
 
 Wearied at length, the soldier, of h's strife. 
 Adventure, of his wild amphibious life. 
 The seaman, of his restless wish to roam. 
 Spontaneous turn to thee, congenial Home ! 
 Each seeks again thy long-forsaken arms, 
 And time and absence but enhance thy charms ! 
 
 What though strange schemes of blood's unholy trade, 
 And slaughterous thoughts the warrior's breast pervade ; 
 Though lust of enterprise or strife sustain 
 Spirits that probe the waste, or sweep the main ; 
 SteeFd against dl save thee, thy vo^ce persuades 
 With a calm eloquence, thy blissful shades 
 
 [part I.] 
 
AECTIC ENTEKPaiSE. 
 
 Nightly in visions of sweet peace revealM, 
 
 Through the arm'd terrors of ^^^e tented field, 
 
 Steal o'er the soldier's sleep — and still recur 
 
 In dreams to the sea-weary mariner, 
 
 Scorch' d in the calm of torrid depths afar, 
 
 Or pent in ice beneath the polar star : 
 
 He, child of wanr. emotion, impulse-led. 
 
 Sheds the quick tear, yet scorns as soon as shed ; 
 
 And though he strive by mirth's unthinking smile 
 
 To out-brave the thought, he only thinks the while — 
 
 His life of storms outlived, his wanderings o'er — 
 
 To press yet once again his native shore ; 
 
 And when through favouring gales he nears her strand, 
 
 Straining his eye for the first glimpse of land ; 
 
 Oh ! who can picture, save themselves who roam. 
 
 The boisterous glee that bears him buoyant home. 
 
 To assert at last, Hope's long-expectant boy. 
 
 The sweet fulfilment of the promised joy. 
 
 But powerful most, o'er toils reposing hour. 
 When years and musing thoughts their influence shower, 
 A plaintive -pleading throng, thy scenes surprise 
 The busy breast of panting Enterprise ; — 
 He, strange Enthusiast, though endear' d by aU, 
 That soul of loftiest aim can gladness call ; 
 Stamp'd with distinctive honours, the proud wreath 
 Of valour won from floods or fields of death ; 
 With tried devotion to assure his claim. 
 Where e'er he turn, to universal fame ; 
 Blest in his social ties ; "v/ith ease and health. 
 All nature's bounties, all the world's true wealth. 
 On shores where exiled kings and patriots coine. 
 Order's secure, but Ereedom's sacred home : — 
 He, wearied with repose, with ease distress'd, 
 'Midst lavish'd blessings failing to be bless' d. 
 
4 
 
 ABCnC ENTSBFBISE. 
 
 Forsakes his soil, turns from her temperate vales. 
 Her plenteous gamers, and her balmy gales. 
 To encounter death, where the Destroyer yields 
 The atoning trophies of no battle fields ; 
 But strikes unseen, in the unknown distress 
 Of a remote and icy wilderness. 
 
 There, while to trace her wanderer's destinies 
 On love's quick pinions fond Conjecture flies, . 
 And half-creates, in Hope's expectant smile. 
 Tidings whose sweet foretaste might yet beguile ; 
 Haply, while there, some life-subduing blast. 
 With frost tenfold infuriate sweeps the waste. 
 Chains every limb, and every nerve benumbs. 
 And death with sudden consternation comes ; 
 As sinks the intrepid Chief, he looks awhile 
 In Ughtning-thought upon his native isle ; 
 And though strange seas their unknown depths expand 
 Betwixt these horrors and that distant land ; 
 As life's last fleeting spark his bosom warms. 
 Gives back his home and pictures all its charms ; 
 Contrite he sighs, with love too late confest. 
 And owns that home a paradise of rest. 
 
 But banish from the soul the dark surmise. 
 Let smiling Hope o'er fairer fields arise ; 
 Say that the North relents, the tempest spares. 
 That deserts are subdued, and fate forbears : 
 Yet, as he goads his panting soul to fame. 
 Can no sublimer wish, no holier aim. 
 No softer charm 'midst danger's wildest deed. 
 Dispute that soul, nor vainly intercede ? 
 Shall Love, though seas dispart, yield her domain. 
 Or Home's forsaken friendships sigh in vain ? 
 No ! — though awakening pride discard the thought, 
 Though zeal's high-mettled energy hath wrought 
 
 [part I.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 That soul unyielding, and that aspect stem ; 
 True with the Arctic star the tender thoughts return ; 
 There, as Remembrance haunts his couch of storms, 
 Imagination shapes her fondest forms ; 
 There, as he musing rests, that steadfast star 
 Bears on its beams each tender thought afar. 
 Illumes the waste, where e'er his footstep roves. 
 And smiles at once upon the home he loves. 
 
 But when at length, a nation*s smiles to share. 
 The chief, responsive to that nation's prayer. 
 Issues a conqueror from the gulfs of fate 
 To wreaths of triumph, and the pomp of state ; 
 Repentant then, like an impetuous child 
 To the maternal breast again beguiled. 
 Oh, then ! in thee his home, he feels, he sees 
 The heart's true rest, the spirifs lasting peace ; 
 In thy soft scenes that halcyon calm denied 
 To joyless wanderings o'er the world beside ; 
 In thee, sweet Home I a richer wealth reveal'd 
 Than all the wonders of Adventure's field ; 
 Fairer than all his feats of daring done. 
 His deserts quell'd, the tropb'f^s he hath won ; 
 Priceless, beyond Ambition's envied ''.rown, 
 A nation's homage, or a world's renown. — 
 
 Oh, Home ! Life's sweet consoler ! — ^Thou who hast 
 Our purest ties, the earliest and the last ; 
 Where first the enchanting Muse I smiling heard. 
 Traced the wild path, and caught the whisper'd word ; 
 Where deathless hopes their earliest beams displaVd 
 Amid the fragrance of the sylvan shade ;— 
 Oh, Thou, that wak'st Affection's holiest train. 
 When 'midst thy dear scenes Memory lives again I 
 Thou still, where all Life's bveliest pictures dwell. 
 Home of my birth and boyhood — oh, farewell !— 
 
6 
 
 ABCnC ENTEBFBISE. 
 
 Farewell ! — amid those soft charms rest awhile 
 
 Where Memory lingers with a wishfal smile. 
 
 As still-inclining Nature fondly leads 
 
 Back to thy checkered glades, and flowery meads j 
 
 Not now at her high bidding do I bend 
 
 To attune the lay that she alone would lend ; 
 
 Not now the winding walk o'er heath or hill, 
 
 Down the deep glade, along the murmuring rill. 
 
 The forest through, or up the breezy knoll 
 
 Can wake to notes of bliss the enraptured soul. — 
 
 Ah, no ! — ^Adieu, each softly-soothing scene. 
 Ye suns and shades deliciously serene ! 
 Where meek Contentment keeps her rosy cell. 
 And Peace and Love with sweet Seclusion dwell : 
 'Tis mine full many a league afar to fly 
 Where an eternal North invests the sky ; 
 A ghastly expanse, where sun nor season glow, 
 'Midst seas of frost, and solitudes of snow ; 
 Where snows amass'd on snows continuous piled, 
 A white confusion in a shapeless wild. 
 Glare forth their icy terrors, and betray 
 The impervious barriers of a despot's sway. 
 
 Here, if, while swerving from her wonted course. 
 Or borne by hurricane's disastrous force. 
 With her doom'd crew the ill-fated bark be cast 
 (As harrowing tale still pictures of the past). 
 Behold I — ^if Fancy with no faltering eye 
 Might fix her gaze— behold their destiny ! 
 
 Escaped the grim and fury-fronted deep. 
 The yawning gulf, the breaker-beaten steep ; 
 Where the starved savage couches for his prey. 
 And Solitude holds on unbroken sway : — 
 The storm, the ocean-rock, the insidious sand. 
 The lawless savage, and the desert strand, 
 
 [PABT I.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Sparing, consign them to a deadlier host, 
 In snows unfathomM, and eternal frost, 
 'lis there the all-dreaded phantom of our fears, 
 With his worst pangs and grisliest shapes appears ; 
 There, his true minister and prompt ally. 
 Danger, in hydra-form, sits watchful by ; 
 Famine, Disease, and Death await them there. 
 And the low withering form of fierce Despair. — 
 
 Yet, influenced by impulsive souls that feel 
 The insatiate thirst of scientific zeal. 
 To adventure prone, fired with Ambition's flame. 
 And all impassioned for their country's fame, — 
 See, gallant bands in bold succession ply 
 Discovery's barks beneath that distant sky, 
 Where in the waste of an unfathom'd deep 
 Spell-bound in ice the unconscious billows sleep ; 
 SkiU'd they to probe its terrors, and exj.^and 
 The extent of Science with unerring ham^ ; 
 To watch the varying needle, and descry 
 With curious awe the wonders of the sky ; 
 To pierce, fur-clad, the untrodden wilds that stretch 
 Beyond the scope of eye, or footstep's reach ; — 
 Eager for halting Science to disclose 
 The mysteries hid beneath that waste of snows ; 
 Where Nature palsied, of her quickening power 
 Bereft, the teeming soil, the genial shower. 
 Wraps in the robe of death her sterile womb, 
 Herself her victim, and herself her tomb ! 
 
 But here should native footstep chance to stray. 
 Urged to the chase by wanf s instinctive sway ; — 
 Blest for the hour, he meets no hostile liand. 
 No treacherous prowler of a border-band. 
 Prompt with incumbent force, or stealthy craft. 
 The slaughterous hatchet, or the envenom'd shaft :— 
 
8 
 
 ABOTIC ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 The Invader comes, girt yet with nobler arms. 
 Persuasion's influence, and Instruction's charms. — 
 
 Wrapt into Fame's anticipated view, 
 Sanguine in strength, while thus the exulting crew. 
 Full of wild thoughts, in emulation throng 
 To assail those barriers unsubdued so long ; 
 While, steel'd in hardihood, and arm'd in heart. 
 With all that zeal and courage can impart. 
 They stem the encumbered bay through fields of ice. 
 Where'er reopening inlets yet entice. 
 And urge, 'midst whirling gulfs, with struggling breath. 
 Through every obstacle their way to death ; 
 Till, gain'd the expanse that cannot be withdrawn. 
 Where, bound in frost, the incumbent waters yawn,— 
 They saw the approach, piercing with trenchant steel, 
 A steadfast ocean that defies the keel; 
 The herculean siege engenders no dismay, 
 A trench is opened, and they storm their way : — 
 When, lo ! o'er wastes interminably spread. 
 The Giant-glacier rears his glittering head ; 
 And a£ he sits upon his sapphire throne. 
 Where, tiU the death of Time, he reigns alone ; 
 With wakening wrath he eyes the encroaching hosts. 
 Dares their presumptuous might, and scorns their boasts ; 
 Sweeps with a fearful speU their rash career. 
 With power unseen arrests, and chains them there. 
 In links of ice deep to the soHd wave, 
 Transfix'd with frost, and fasten'd to their grave ! — 
 
 AppaUing doom ! which yet no fabling muse 
 Portrays in fiction's visionary hues ; 
 Mysterious g^up'd for some o'erwrought mischance 
 In horror teeming tale, or wild romance ;— - 
 Such doom, alas l—if records soothly tell — 
 The adventurous first of Britain's sons befell : [1] 
 
 [PABT I.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 9 
 
 Wrought by the dark contriving hand of Fate, 
 Too wildly strange for fancy to create^ 
 Suchj History's awful tome reluctant leaves, 
 With sighs reluctant such the Muse receives ; 
 Yet, as beseems her, prone to picture still 
 Passing affliction, or recorded illj 
 With pencil true (art simple, yet sublime) 
 To trace the fading lineaments of Time, 
 And show to sons of his existent race 
 What features strange impressed his ancient face; 
 Sad, yet unshrinking from the task severe. 
 Zealous she speeds from her secluded sphere 
 On fervid wing to history's speaking page, 
 Eor the strange cause of that adventurous rage 
 (Were it or human influence or divine. 
 Heaven's darl: decree, or mortal's bold design) 
 That Wd, and left, abandon'd to their doom. 
 Patriot and hero in a bloodless tomb. 
 
 As some fond form, by Meditation led. 
 Scans midst the silent chambers of the dead 
 Each sculptured scroU, and culls with curious care 
 The various fate that struck the sleepers there ; 
 In such wise scans the Muse, with fervent haste. 
 Those monumental annals of the past. 
 Where I'ime's great treasury. Instruction's dome, 
 A nation's storehouse, beckons her to come. 
 
 'Tis here, 'midst gather'd worlds, Eesearch pervades 
 Each region wrested from Oblivion's shades ; 
 Cons o'er each curious relic, and surveys 
 The uncouth wonders of Time's distant days : 
 Lo I here complying Nature brin^js to birth 
 The marvels hidden in her womb of earth. 
 While Art exults, as, rescued from the dust. 
 She sees her triumphs ranged, a sacred trust ; 
 
10 
 
 ABCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 A priceless hoard, launch'd forth from every shore 
 
 That sea can sweep, or Enterprise explore ; 
 
 Where Libya's sands the inquiring step control. 
 
 Or where the unthawing ocean blocks the Pole : — 
 
 Eescued from ruin, here yet finds a home 
 
 The chisel'd pomp of mutilated Eome ; 
 
 Here her proud rulers, still imperial, shine. 
 
 Her marble deities look yet divine : 
 
 While lo ! as by the enchanter's touch sublime, 
 
 Wak'd from oblivion's dust, and scorning time. 
 
 Prom his unfathom'd gulfs in crumbling hosts 
 
 Emerged mysterious like unburied ghosts, 
 
 Assyria yields her rifted sepulchre. 
 
 And Egypt casts her mystic shadows here. j 
 
 Apart from clamorous step afar retired, ^ 
 
 Besort of busy thought, and soul inspired. 
 To contemplation sacred and the Muse, 
 There is a haunt where countless tomes diffuse 
 Their various lore ; where wisdom's goddess reigns, 
 Her bounties showers, and her high state maintains ; 
 And History, skilful to acquaint each theme, 
 In her appropriate temple sits supreme. 
 
 Blest spot 1 here roves Eesearch beyond control ; 
 Here quaffs, though aye unquench'd, the inquiring soul 
 His copious draught from an exhaustless well. 
 Where still fresh streams the 'mshrinking treasure swell ; 
 Here Learning's ample feast perennial flows ; 
 And Want can banquet still, and Care repose. 
 Blest spot ! a nation's mercy to the bard. 
 Whose lore is scanty, and whose lot is hard. 
 
 Stay'd in her pensive flight, the Muse arrives, 
 
 Surveys, and culls from history's mingled hives 
 
 Her proffer'd spoil ; when lo ! a train of years 
 
 Eraught with one dire fatality appears ; 
 
 [part I.] 
 
ARCmC ENTEBTBISE. 
 
 Awe-struck, she sees o'er each portentous scroll 
 The Fates their changeless destinies unrol, — 
 Ponders, and fears too credent ear to yield 
 To horrors strange beyond belief reveal'd. 
 
 And, oh ! ye spirits inspired, to whom belong 
 The gifts of eloquence, and voice of song ; 
 Say ye, to whose impassioned souls are given. 
 Though clay-bound here, the sympathies of Heaven ! 
 When sorrow mourns, hat magic might restrain 
 The breast that vibrates with responsive pain P 
 What potent charm the harmonious bosom reach. 
 With power each stern emotion to unteach ? — 
 Illusive lyre ! hast thou that magic sound. 
 To assure it painless, yet implant the wound P 
 To infix the sorrow, yet withhold the smart. 
 And wake no anguish while you wring the heart. — 
 Vain, vain the effort of the unequal Muse 
 Herself to outvie, and her own laws abuse ; 
 In vain, alas I her sweetest numbers flow 
 To invest in smiles a history of woe ! 
 
 Such then — no vision shaped in Frenzy's dream. 
 No poet's rapture — such the unthankful theme. 
 It tells of seas unpierced, and sunless skies; 
 Of ice-wreck'd ships, and wild calamities, 
 'Mid gulfs profound where ramparts, raised by frost. 
 Baffle the prow, and hem the encumbered coast. 
 Or high in towery might, from shore to shore. 
 Swept by the howling blast, promiscuous, roar. 
 Here valour unsubdued, though faU'n beneath 
 Eelentless horrors, and a host of death. 
 Sleeps (such inhuman destiny's decrees) 
 On dark, mysterious shores and secret seas ; 
 And many a frame, by hopeless famine worn. 
 Hath given to desert snows a life forlorn ; 
 
 11 
 
s,. 
 
 1% 
 
 ABCTIC ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 P 
 
 Or, struck by frost ^-^rce beyond thought, resign'd 
 The faltering pulse, > left a trace behind. 
 
 But, if the adventixTKyUs Muse may yet unfold 
 The appalling gloom of winter's secret hold. 
 Through lifeless wilds explore forbidden path 
 And cope the tyrant in his polar wrath ; 
 It tells of regions desolate, where Time's 
 And Nature's instincts fail — unearthly climes ; 
 Fell wilds, where vainly asks the inquiring eye, 
 Vainly the imploring heart a spmpathy ; 
 Where in the waste of an unteeming earth 
 Nature sleeps on, suspended from her birth. 
 Eternal Winter's undisputed spoil. 
 Snows her ungenial showers, and ice her soil ; 
 Eegions to mortal eye yet unreveal'd. 
 Where Winter, still unconquer'd, keeps the field. 
 And Solitude, eternal and unknown. 
 Maintains her vast and unmolested throne. 
 
 Yet here, if through the maze of polar night 
 The wandering Muse sustain unwonted flight, 
 'Tis hers on searching wing those paths to trace 
 Where the b?a-sons of Europe's varied race, 
 Led by the mejcor-star of Enterprise, 
 Steer'd their bold barks beneath those bitter skies ;- 
 To watch them from that dimly-shadow'd day. 
 When, in barbarian pomp and rude array. 
 The fierce Norwegian, with his boisterous clan. 
 And reckless prow, the adventurous quest began ; 
 To scan their wanderings with observant eye. 
 Pour o'er their toils late strains of sympathy. 
 Pursue their devious perils, and explore 
 Discovery's self on her adopted shore. 
 
 [part t.] 
 
18 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 " In olimes beyond the solar road, 
 Where shaggy forms o'er ice-built mountains roam, 
 The Muse has broke the twilight gloom." — Quay. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Scandinayians. Their early ezcesses in Europe. Checked 
 ultimately by established government ; more especially by the power 
 of Britain, where the rising star of freedom first attracted and in« 
 fluenced the neighbouring states of the continent. Scandinayians, or 
 Scythians of Norway and Denmark, the earliest sea-royers. In- 
 fluenced by a powerAil chief, their attention is turned from Iand> 
 ravages to predatory excursions by sea ; hence the first discovery of 
 Iceland, Greenland, &c. by the daring sea>kings. I^heir position 
 under a despotic leader, in a barbarous age, instinctively disposed 
 them to wild expeditions ; but hence it would appear the more re* 
 markable that men of a civilized period should be led away by an 
 adventurous impulse from which no beneficial results were likely to 
 accrue. The fates of the first adventurers unknown ; those of the 
 adventurers of ages immediately succeeding, knovm but imperfectly. 
 The whole concluding with Tableaux descriptive of the various 
 disasters suffered by those who have been exposed to the perils of 
 Arctic adventure. 
 
 Time was, ere Europe wrench'd her trampled lands 
 From the fierce Scythiaa's desolating bands, 
 That long effaced with fire, or smote with sword 
 (As savage instinct swa/d the avenging horde). 
 
14 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 I \ 
 
 And, like a tempest-driven tide of old, 
 With war's aU-wasting ruin reckless roUM j 
 Ere Science dawn'd, or Truth's celestial light 
 Pierced the deep gloom of European night ; 
 Ere Britain yet vouchsafed her giant-birth. 
 Law and twin-born Security, to earth ; 
 Ere, rear'd by her through oft-repeated throes. 
 Freedom's develop'd form majestic rose. 
 To array in peace her unsubjected steep. 
 Or launch her guardian.thunders o'er the deep ; 
 While states, less favour'd, languished yet forlorn. 
 Their rights unknown, their liberties unborn ; 
 'Twas then, to stay the advance of savage war, 
 Cer her wild island-hills, behold ! a star — 
 Qoth'd in prophetic beams unseen before. 
 Like unexpected hope midst ocean's roar — 
 Arose, a watch-tower to the world, and gave 
 Life to the fall'n, and promise to the brave. 
 
 Wliile early thus the Guardian-isle stood by, 
 Instructor calm of Europe's infancy. 
 Full many a realm, sea-sever'd from afar. 
 In mute amazement eyed the auspicious star. 
 Eyed, yet recoil' d, too prostrate they to scan 
 The social ties, and sacred rights of man : 
 Lo ! Asia's mingled tribes, remorseless hosts, [1] 
 Flock'd o'er her helpless plains and scoured her coasts ; 
 And, like the invading pest that sweeps the air, 
 Ravaged her bloom, and laid her bosom bare ; 
 Barbarian legions, sentenced still to slay 
 By lawless chiefs more barbarous yet than they; 
 War-fiends accurst, — where'er her oceans foam'd. 
 Or teeming valleys smiled, they reckless roam'd, 
 'Midst realms a favouring Heaven vouchsafed to bless 
 With every charm of Nature's loveliness. 
 
 [part II.] 
 
 \ 
 
ARCTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 15 
 
 Thus many a year of blood and anarchy 
 Swept with its nameless sins unnoticed by ; 
 The dark dominion of an age of night, 
 When foulest triumphs of usurjiing might, 
 And lubl uncurb'd, and causeless deeds of death, 
 Gave to the victor his most vaunted wreath, 
 And prodigies of crime, till then unknown, 
 His proudest trophies, and his best renown. 
 
 Till worn with havoc, surfeited with blood. 
 Or, by excess, tamed to a milder mood. 
 Wearied, or panting for some wilder chase. 
 To throw fresh charms on danger's featured face ; 
 Or, it may be, the conscience-haunted chief 
 Seeking in unknown horrors stem relief 
 From deeds that spoke, and thoughts that pictured worse, — 
 In seas and storms, a refuge from remorse ;^- 
 (For thoughts, in tincture deep of murder's die, 
 A conscious soul's avenging agony, 
 Unsummon'd oft on fiercest breasts intrude. 
 Point to the crime and bring back all the blood); — 
 Yet, for the spell, whose strange impulsive cause 
 Urged the barbarian to relent and pause j 
 Adventure's thirst, mere lust of wider range. 
 Be it whate'er it may, that wrought the change j 
 There, where the wave swept his Norwegian coast. 
 Halting, the impetuous chief surve/d his host ; 
 And as his eye, whose eager gaze exprest 
 Volumes of meaning, scann'd the mystic west, 
 In accents, stirr'd by that prophetic glance. 
 He told of worlds and triumphs in advance ; 
 Where — though the seas were wild, their depths unknown. 
 Misty the course, and traversed yet by none — 
 These transient perils past, a boundless range 
 Waited their steps with glories great and strange ; 
 
16 
 
 AEOnC ENTEEPBISE. 
 
 ■,.-f'' 
 
 Stores of wild wealth unconquer'd yet by arms, 
 
 A world of bliss, a paradise of charms. — 
 
 Thus, with fair terms and fables, coin'd to please, 
 
 Of golden reigns in far-distant sea?. 
 
 The wily chieftain won the expectant horde. 
 
 Forsook the ensanguined path, and sheath'd the sword. 
 
 'Twas then of yore (as records dimly tell. 
 In scroll uncouth or runic chronicle). 
 Led by a sea-king chief, whole pirate-bauds 
 Of Northmen fierce from Scandinavian strands, 
 Taught '•/ the raven's faithful i^ing to steer, [2] 
 Stemm'd through bewildering mists their dark career. 
 Nor stay'd their course, nor curbed the ambitious aim. 
 Till Greenland's snows the unfruitful prize proclaim. 
 
 Thus strange the attempt : yet deem it Httle strange. 
 If, framed in Nature's wildness, prone to range. 
 Practised in plunder, and inured to toil, 
 A chief, who lack'd fresh regions to despoil, 
 A watery bar the obstruction sole that lay 
 Betwixt lis restless foot and wider sway, 
 O'ersteps the limits of the invidious main. 
 To assure new ravage and extend his reign ; 
 Nor deem it strange his ministers of death, 
 Vassals, whose lives hang on a leader's breath. 
 Creatures of chance and crime, whose souls aspire 
 To deeds alone of pillage, blood, and fire ; 
 Their law a robber-chieftain's stern command. 
 Their guide his fiery eye, and lifted brand, 
 Their trust the ruin wrought by savage might. 
 Tumult their peace, and danger their delight ; — 
 Deem not, while Hope still pictures the results, 
 As those wherein the savage thought exults, — 
 Eapine, and that which most their souls hold dear, 
 Unbridled range within a boundless sphere ; 
 
 [part II.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 17 
 
 Deem it not strange that Spoil's instinctive bands 
 Throng at a chieftain's beck, whose wild commands 
 To all their fiercest energies appeal, 
 And fire the torch of a licentious zeal ; 
 Nay, marvel not, if in so fond a thrall 
 They spring responsive to the awakening call, 
 Shout to the bark that bears them on, and hail 
 The wind that wafts them a propitious gale. 
 
 But when, controll'd, the stream of earlier time. 
 That pour'd a deluge of impetuous crime, 
 Euns, as its wild impurities subside. 
 In calmer waters and a clearer tide ; 
 When, for Improvement's growth and Art's advance, 
 Bursting the ungenial mists of ignorance. 
 Instruction rises with resistless sway. 
 Dispels the gloom, and struggles into day ; 
 When truth asserts at length her awful power. 
 And nations hail the civilizing hour 
 When Law, the friend of freedom and of life. 
 Arrests the steps of predatory strife ; 
 When barbarous hordes their barbarous conflicts cease, 
 And turn their arms to implements of peace ; 
 While Hope, with an exulting look elate. 
 Beckoning existence to a happier state. 
 The Enchantress smiles, and sings in sweetest strain 
 Of joys that in her promise yet remain, 
 Friendship, and love, and all those cherish'd ties 
 That bind in one, life's kindred sympathies ; 
 And Peace, that wakes the smile, and prompts the song 
 To lusty Industry the wilds among. 
 In all the fulness of her presence comes. 
 Tills Nature's solitudes, and founds her homes. 
 Exiles afar the demon strife, and brings 
 Ambrosial blessings on her hallow'd wings. 
 
 c 
 
r 
 
 18 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Then marvel that a breast, though steel'd by war 
 On hostile floods or hateful plains afar, 
 Returning once more to the lap of Peace, 
 When Honour is confirmed, and years increase, 
 Trom slaughterous toils redeemed, and taught to feel 
 Affection's ties and Priendship's fond appeal ; — 
 Marvel such yet can own the ungentle glow. 
 With kindling zeal impatient to forego 
 The flowery paths of competence and ease, 
 Por ruthless deserts and tempestuous seas ; 
 The soft endearments of a cultured home, 
 With all its social sympathies, to roam, 
 Self-exiled, on a dark and hopeless quest. 
 Inhuman Winter's uninvited guest ; 
 Content to encounter, with unequal might. 
 His piercing furies through an age of night ; 
 To endure, from help, from home, from friend remote, 
 Each aggravated ill that shocks the thouglit ; 
 Defeated oft, intrepid still to dare 
 The unyielding foe, and battle with despair ; 
 Triumphant, on Adventure's fatal field 
 Though foil'd, in pride triumphant yet to yield. 
 Without liis hallowing cause, a martyr's breath, 
 Urgent on fate, and covetous of death. 
 
 But grant that partial fortune intervene, 
 ^And unexpected triumph crown the scene ; 
 That stern persistence force the obstructed way, 
 What was the spur, or where the conquest ? — say ! 
 An uneradicable lust of fame, 
 A fruitless wreath, a visionary claim. 
 
 Yet, oh ! the eventful issue ! What avail 
 (Save food for wondering thought or thrilling tale) 
 The ice-lock'd portals of the mystic North 
 W^rench'd early thus by savage chieftain forth ? 
 
 [part II.] 
 
AUCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 91 
 
 Where all those golden fields, their promised spoil, 
 Balm of their hopes, and guerdon of their toil ? 
 If Page be speechless, and Tradition mute, 
 Cease, fond Inquiry, cease the vain pursuit — 
 Bootless thy quest — where Darkness keeps the tale 
 Of death, and Fate forbids to lift the veil ; 
 Inquiry, cease ! let desert-depths betray 
 Their dubious doom, or scan the event and say. 
 
 But if to explore their later toils thy aim. 
 Who wrought tlirough polar snows a path to fame ; 
 Or. curious still, thou would' st the Muse relate 
 The unwonted horrors of their various fate. 
 Whose barks career' d, where outlaws led the van. 
 The issue in the unthankful sequel scan. 
 
 Some, tossM by tempests in the o'er-sweeping wave, [3] 
 Eesign their ardour to a hasty grave ; 
 Spared by the storm, deluding mists involve. 
 And leave their secret for some rock to solve, 
 Or island- waste where human fiends await. 
 Prompt to consign them to a hideous fate. 
 Some, that prolong life's dreary term awhile, 
 Brav'd the sea-storm, and past the desert isle, 
 A band of reckless zealots, strangely led 
 To invade a region that rejects the tread, 
 Prom buffet of the inhospitable surge 
 To depths more dire, and lonelier wastes emerge, 
 Whose rocks, hke Resolution, 'midst the roar 
 Of vain, vast seas, reluctant yield a shore. 
 Where, in a yet untempted world of ice. 
 And howling storm, and rifted precipice. 
 And snows that trap the tread, in mist conceaFd, 
 A thousand Pates, for ever unreveal'd. 
 Open the pit profound of shroudless sleep. 
 Where bend no sympathies, no sorrows weep. 
 
20 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 f 
 
 No trooping loves, with lingering look to crave 
 The last sad glance within the closing grave ; 
 But headlong launched the wanderer sinks forlorn, 
 By rite unhalloVd, and no voice to mourn. 
 
 For some who, steel'd with strength's superior power, 
 Cerstep the amazing steep, and hve the hour. 
 The Proteus Death assumes a fiercer form. 
 Strikes in the frost, or baffles in the storm ; 
 Or, 'midst fell wilds to foot of hfe unknown, [4] 
 Through the night's vast expanse erroneous thrown. 
 Consigns to lingering pangs, an unthought doom. 
 Deep in the inmost desert's loneliest gloom. 
 For such — ah ! happier had they shared that fate 
 Tliey lately deem'd so dark and desolate, 
 Hurl'd down the unseen abyss, or swept in snows. 
 To swift destruction's merciful repose ! 
 Yet spared, all those unnumber'd ills arise 
 The unyielding waste to wolfish want supplies. 
 Their hoarded stores (Adventure's precious fare) 
 Faihng, though doled with all a miser's care. 
 Scant chance provides the foul repast for these, 
 That feeds not life but generates disease \ 
 TiU Want, Disease, Despair, a various foe. 
 Urge to that pitch, that sad extreme of woe. 
 When (harrowing thought!), where pHed the intrepid band 
 The unwearied effort at their chief's command. 
 Powerless unsightly phantoms haunt the scene. 
 Such as the grave's sad inmates should have been \ 
 Wrought by fell want an unacquainted crew. 
 This one a stranger to the other's view, 
 Unmann'd in action, spiritless, undone. 
 Each sees in each the ghastly skeleton ; 
 While, as unclean Distemper works her way, 
 And opens to Despair an ampler sway, 
 
 [part II.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 2] 
 
 A hideous scene ensues, the Furies rise, [5] 
 And instincts dire and dreadful hopes surprise. 
 Till Nature yields, and Life, too long oppressed, 
 Hails the destroyer, and subsides to rest. 
 
 But where Disease and Want in vain conspire 
 To extinguish Lingering Life's enfeebled fire. 
 Still fated to pursue the path of pain. 
 Perchance a trembling remnant yet remain ; 
 For such, alas ! fain would the Muse forbear [6] 
 To unveil the workings of that wild despair 
 That wars with hope, and, in a deadlier zeal 
 Than bares the breast to the self-pointed steel, 
 Cerleaps restraint, perverts fair order's school 
 To revelry uncurb'd and wild misrule. 
 Shuts mercy forth beyond the power to save. 
 And spurns the hand that wrests him from the grave. 
 Lo ! as affection wanes, and zeal expires, 
 'Midst baffled hopes and unattain'd desires, 
 And Discontent the impatient imp and pale. 
 And famine-born Mistrust and Hate prevail ; 
 Sever'd at once those ever-stringent ties 
 To danger-seeking sons of Enterprise, 
 That league of soul, the enduring bond that late 
 Had linkM so fast their fellowship of fate ; 
 Desertion comes, degenerate fiend, at length 
 To drain the feeble current of their strength ; 
 Till, reckless wrought, and madden' d with despair 
 (As if Destruction lacked an agent there), 
 Mistrust to tumult goads the unthinking band, 
 And Bevolt lifts her parricidal hand. 
 Command a mockery grown, entreaty fails. 
 And he who truest served, the first assails. 
 
 Urged by a mere despair of hope to find 
 The boon denied to effort uncombined. 
 
22 
 
 ABCTTC ENTERPRISE, 
 
 Some, rather than espouse a causeless cry, 
 The deep stem pkint of rising mutiny. 
 To unrelenting deserts sue for life, 
 A.nd wage with raging storms a kindlier strife ; 
 But, as the wind's impetuous breath bereaves 
 The hardiest forest-tree of its last leaves. 
 Sped forth to fall at random flight alone. 
 Swept by the blast, and on the desert strown ; — 
 Thus, as he strays the solitary wild, 
 Tate's restless toy, misfortune's houseless child, 
 Prom his last spot of refuge whirl'd away. 
 Cast forth to careless chance and wild dismay. 
 The wanderer sinks, a hapless victim there. 
 No hope assures him, and no mercies spare ; 
 His last-left desperate refuge but to die. 
 Howling to desert winds the unpitied cry. 
 
 Some, less contentious, less robust than they. 
 Yield to impatient fate a speedier prey ; 
 Submissive, yet with fire of soul the same. 
 Perchance the spirit of a feebler frame. 
 Yielding where 'twere but idle wrath to cope. 
 And calmly sinking with the wreck of hope. — 
 Thus, when Mischance her fated victim takes 
 Where succour shuns him, and where hope forsakes ; 
 In storm, disease, captivity, or strife. 
 Where'er opposeless ruin hems the life, 
 Ti'ue courage takes his stand, content to die. 
 And sternly mute to the last agony. 
 
 Of impulse too benign, too mild a mood 
 To feed the fire of an unholy feud, — 
 Their tent of rest and ark of hope become 
 Strife's hateful hold, and fierce EebeUion's home; — 
 Some wander forth, each as sad impulse leads. 
 Where'er the white-strown tempest least impedes ; 
 
 [part II.] 
 
AECTIC ENTERPEISB. 
 
 23 
 
 He Thinks not whure, and cares not for the course, 
 So it but speed to death, a blest resource. 
 To bar from the ignominious living fate 
 Of evil triumph, or the rebel's hate ; 
 Where wearied Nature may resign her lease. 
 And pass the spirit in congenial peace. 
 Lo ! onward as he toils, a struggling form, [7] 
 Through solitudes of snow and skies of storm. 
 Oft the tired instinct, halting, strains to see 
 With anxious gaze if comfort yet might be ; 
 And, as he turns to approach some sheltering nook, 
 Bends from his irksome path, and leans to look. 
 He scans, with wistful glance, the homeward sky. 
 Feels the quick pang, and heaves the hopeless sigh ; 
 And, hark ! while pictured on his pensive thought. 
 His home, far o'er tumultuous seas remote, 
 Electric strikes, in accents wild and faint. 
 Such as the soul pours forth in fond complaint : — 
 \ " There,'' he exclaims, " o'er yonder wintry main, 
 r* That bounds this cruel deserf s dark domain, 
 \" In my own land, my home of gladness there, 
 r How sweet 'twere now the lowliest hearth to share ! 
 \ There while in round serene the seasons roll, 
 ^ And plenty cheers the heart, and peace the soul ; 
 *i While there the peasant culls with simple toil 
 id Nature's bounties from his native soil, 
 id smiling love's sweet fellowship between, 
 Jndears each task, and sanctifies the scene ; 
 " (^ speeds with welcome step his punctual fare, 
 " (f, studious still the approaching smile to share, 
 " Ilpcks his rude cot (Affection's fond employ), 
 " ^d makes that bowery haunt a home of joy. 
 
 '"While charms like these my native plains attire, 
 " ^ere temperate skies and verdant fields conspire. 
 
24 
 
 ASCnO ENTXRPBISE. 
 
 t€ 
 
 it 
 
 It 
 
 it 
 
 tt 
 
 " With jooond sounds and npteroos scenes, to impart 
 The genuine mirth that wins upon the heart ; — 
 Crown'd with perpetual stoim, and robed beneath [7] 
 '* In ghastly snows, the unvaried garb of death ; 
 
 Here Winter reigns; — here, save the swee^nng blast, 
 " That adds new horrors to a frozen waste, 
 '' Or wild lament like mine, no voice intrudes 
 " Within these vast and cheerless solitudes. 
 *' And, oh 1 when, worn with toil, this tottering frame 
 " Instinctive seeks overwearied nature's claim. 
 Yielding, unfriended, in the midnight storm. 
 To the cold sleep of death its fated form ; 
 " Here, from the watchful home, the fond regard 
 " Of love's or friendship's eye afar debarred, 
 '' E'en from the scantiest aid compassion gives 
 " Where helpless in her pangs afBiction lives ; 
 " The hastening step, the quick responsive call, 
 ** Lone, unregarded, and remote from all ; 
 » No human sympathy a sigh bestows 
 " On the cold couch of desolate repose ; 
 *' Repulsive Nature spurns me from her breast, 
 n " And e'en the earth denies its grave of rest." 
 Yet cease, poor outcast, cease thy fruitlsss wail ! 
 What may the tears of all thy grief avail ? 
 With memories vain vex not thy soul, nor mourn 
 O'er vanish'd scenes that never may return ! 
 The Fates from yon portentous skies proclaim 
 A speedy rescue to thy wasted frame ; 
 Soon, wretched wanderer, shall thy wearied feet 
 Best in unconscious Nature's last retreat ; 
 In bliss unknown thy dying eye shall close. 
 While unseen mercies waft thee to repose : 
 Vain, vain thy yearning spirif s fond regret. 
 Thy sleep is near, thy earthly sun is set, 
 
 [PAET TI.J 
 
ABOTIO ENTEBPBISS. 
 
 Till one great mom of endless light arise, 
 Eelume thy clay, and lift thee to the skies ! 
 
 The fond burst of that vainly-vented griet^ 
 That mocks the heart with semblance of relief, 
 Outpour'd, athwart the desert's wild expanse. 
 Once more sad Instinct flings her asking glance ; 
 Yet hope is none. There springs no refuge there. 
 Save that wild refuge of the worst despair, 
 The dreary hope despondent anguish brings 
 To assure the wretched heart affliction wrings : — 
 That hope is death ; yet, lo ! the unyielding life 
 E'en with that hope maintains a feeble strife. 
 Though each strain'd desperate step but nearer treads 
 The end Affliction craves, yet Nature dreads. 
 
 Poor child of sorrow, pilgrim of distress. 
 Thou hast drunk deep the cup of bitterness ! 
 Eest, then ! relenting Heaven disarms thy doom. 
 And smooths the path that verges to the tomb ; 
 Lulls to a cahu forgetfulness of life. 
 And spares the anguish of the parting strife : 
 The mystic hand, whose chastening ire, alas ! 
 Forbade awhile the bitter cup to pass. 
 Seals with returning love thy last release. 
 And mercy triumphs, and thy end is peace ! 
 
 Consign'd to fate each unavailing care, [8] 
 Each Ungering hope abandoned to despair ; 
 Lo ! as he strains the struggling breath to build 
 (Ere hfe's expiring lease be all fulfill'd). 
 With faltering hand some beacon's lonely pile. 
 Memorial sad of life's last bitter toil, 
 Landmark of death, perchance, yet left to teU 
 That here his efforts ended, and he fell; 
 Quell'd at the piteous task, and weary-grown. 
 Subdued, and dragged from wiser instincts down; 
 
' 
 
 r 
 
 M 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 There as he seeks, upon that couch of snows, 
 The fatal refuge of his last repose, 
 O'er the luU'd sense delicious languors creep, [9] 
 TiU, by the pleasing snare deceived to sleep. 
 The feeble powers of fated life give way 
 To the compelling charm's mysterious sway ; 
 To the strange spell resistless yield the breath. 
 Oblivious sink, and slumber into death. 
 
 Of some, whose fate the Muse might yet unfold, [10] 
 The little left to tell is quickly told : 
 An enervated crew to guilt allied. 
 Each nobler son self-exiled from their side,1 
 Launched forth as reckless impulse might command, 
 They roam, the refuse of a desperate band. 
 To triumph in a lawless zeal awhile. 
 Where naught that sword or pillage can despoil - 
 
 Meets their impatient eye, or can assuage 
 The stubborn rebel's unrepenting rage ; 
 TiU, changed to ruthless hate his desperate hopes. 
 In indiscriminating wrath he copes 
 E'en with the comrade of his path, or flies 
 To frenzy's wilder ends, and, self -conflicting, dies. 
 
 But if perchance survive a straggling few 
 The stormy course of peril to pursue. 
 Branded with guilt that no atoning grace 
 Might expiate, nor time nor change effiace ; 
 For such full soon a thousand ills arise, 
 A thousand vengeful fiends their steps surprise ; 
 As insight dire prophetic conscience gives 
 Into the ghastly cell where vengeance lives. 
 Thick-thronging fates with dismal horror fraught. 
 The legions fierce of unrelenting thought. 
 With persecution's busy zeal infest. 
 And haunt with hideous ghosts the secret breast ; 
 
 [PAET II.] 
 
▲none ENTZRP&IBB. 
 
 27 
 
 Till wild with fears, an ever-threatening host, 
 Despair their hope, their strength an empty boast. 
 With importuning want, and grim Kemorse, 
 The pale companions of their dreary course. 
 At length by tedious stages they regain 
 The wild yet welcome margin of the main ;— 
 There, they content, if ocean's waste awhile 
 With vain yet friendlier promise might beguile. 
 And from their soul sweep with the savage scene 
 The galling thoughts of what their guilt hath been, — 
 Content full well that rolling path to roam 
 Though but to waft unwelcome tidings home, — 
 While saved for yet a darker fate, they yield 
 Their shattered venture to the watery field. 
 O'er the frail launch the avenging surges sweep. 
 And leave untold their secret in the deep. 
 
S8 
 
 i 
 
 AECTIC ENTEBPRISE. 
 
 PAET III. 
 
 " Even yet preserved, how often may'st thou hear, 
 Where to the Pole the Boreal mountains run, 
 Taught by the father to his listening son. 
 Strange lays. — " Colliks. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 From a review of the darker features of Arotio Enterprise, the 
 poem proceeds to a consideration of whatever triumphs over, or 
 escapes from, the perils of such adventures history r^ight be found to 
 a£Pord. The catastrophes attested by historical record should ret 
 be charged to the invention of the Muse; the truth of such, n.xe 
 strange than any fiction ; the efforts of the imagination to deepen 
 their distress, ineffectual. Tet, as it is a duty imposed by truth, so it 
 is a task of satisfaction to enumerate instances where indomitat. (e 
 courage and perseverance have prevailed over every obstacle. After 
 a glance at the obsc\ure records of remote ages, the reader is introduced 
 to the discovery of Iceland by Naddod, a Norwegian pirate ; barbarous 
 emigrants from Norway, who followed in his wake and founded a 
 colony in Iceland. Description of the ibea-king and his roving habits ; 
 attracted finally to the north and west by the hope of new ravage. 
 To such expeditions are to be traced the earliest discovery of Greenland, 
 Spitzbergen, and, doubtless, the mainland itself of North America. 
 Traditions regarding the sunken shores of Friesland ; superstitious 
 terrors of seamen in traversing that part of the Atiantic, even at the 
 present day. Such fears not supposed to have swayed the early 
 rovers ; a slight closing detail of the real dangers encountered by 
 them. 
 
 Pausing from fates, whose melancholy throng 
 Crowd her dark page, and haunt her spectral song, 
 
 [PAET III.] 
 
▲ACTIO ENTEKPBI8B. 
 
 From the deep gulf of time's abyss below 
 
 Kising unvaried save in form of woe. 
 
 Like apparitions to her eye amazed. 
 
 The vain illusions that herself hath raised ; — 
 
 'Midst horrors pausing, let the Muse proceed 
 
 To wake from polar night the heroic deed ; 
 
 Trace the wild steps of daring, the distress. 
 
 The unlook'd-for rescue, and the bold success ; 
 
 The insatiate zeal, the unwearied effort scan. 
 
 Since first barbarian prow the eventful course began. 
 
 And ye of gentler instinct, who retain 
 The tale of terror with no transient pain ; 
 Who see in hourly ills enough to grieve, 
 Slirink from the worst, and tremble to believe ; 
 While direr fates, and darker scenes, alas ! 
 Rest unreveal'd, or unrecorded pass. 
 Should yet some unexpected scene surprise 
 Or intervening fate disastrous rise. 
 Charge not the Muse, nor deem the unerring strain 
 An offspring wild of Fiction's procreant brain. 
 
 Ah ! rather trembling tliink what nameless woes 
 Sleep undiscovered in their dread repose. 
 By time's unebbing tide for ever borne 
 Into that night profound that knows no mom ; 
 And, while Disaster tells her own sad tale. 
 Let rescued Truth her awful form unveil ; 
 Mark then each feature of her varied mien. 
 With no false vision to distort the scene, 
 And say if e'er appeared to wandering thought 
 A sadder scene by frenzy's dream o'erwrought ; 
 Where might Romance a darker scroll contain. 
 Or all the Muse's lore a wilder strain. 
 
 Yet little boots it that the Muse prolong 
 Her ineffectual flight, and fruitless song. 
 
80 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 For vain the power of all her mystic art 
 To infix that anguish deeper in the heart. 
 Whose own sad theme its sorrows best declare. 
 And where most mute is still most vocal there. 
 
 And what though I'ate withdraw the veil, and yield 
 The secret depths of that forbidden field. 
 Whose ramparts dire intrepid might assailed. 
 Till zeal resign'd her fires, and nature failed ; 
 E'en then the assiduous Muse — intent to teli 
 What various fates the sons of Search befell — 
 There as she scans the desert, and surveys 
 Its devious horrors, and its trackless ways. 
 Wrapt in the dreary scene, what fears confest, 
 What dark misgivings, and what cares molest. 
 
 There as in thought the astonish'd vision strays 
 O'er boreal wastes, a dire and endless maze ; 
 Regions whose wild creation seems forgot, [1] 
 Shunn'd by the sun, where very life lives not j 
 Regions of death, wherein no hope beguiles. 
 No passion glows, no changeful nature smiles. 
 But in one spectral form invests the gloom. 
 As some wild dream pictures some hideous doom, 
 Some cruel exile, yet through woe or worth 
 Unsuffer'd, save by those great sons of earth. 
 Heroes or captive-patriots, who defy 
 Siberian frost and Scythian tyranny. — 
 There, studious still to extend Instruction's range, 
 Versed in familiar worlds, to seek the strange. 
 While fond Inquiry through the unknown expanse 
 Goes forth to trace Adventure's bold advance. 
 And, launched erroneous o'er the amazing scene 
 Where all hi^ struggles and his toils have been. 
 Sees naught save wild disaster to proclaim. 
 The foil'd achievements of a wasted frame ; 
 
 [part III.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 31 
 
 The embarrassed Muse a fruitless zeal displays, 
 And the prodigious Theme itself betrays. 
 
 Yet, though strange scenes and harrowing fates prevail, 
 Since Truth enjoins an ever-faithful tale. 
 Sweet were the toil to mingle in the strain, 
 Whate'er of loftier promise yet remain ; 
 So may a favouring god the verse inspire, 
 And feed the awakening lay with kindlier fire. 
 
 Lists not the Muse to range in vague surmise " 
 Through the dark paths of earlier enterprise, 
 When savage Nature, in her thirst of gain, 
 Launch'd the frail venture o'er the yielding main ; 
 And little boots the unmeet attempt to trace 
 Wliere Quest instinctive led each wandering race. 
 The unknown adventurers of a voiceless age. 
 Ere yet Tradition's tongue, or Eecord's page. 
 Or runic stone in rude memorial told [2] 
 
 Each wondrous scene, and signal feat of old : — 
 Yet in beseems, those shadowy times to pierce. 
 When, fresh from slaughter's fields, untamed and fierce. 
 His venture rude the Eover of the north 
 Urged tlirough dark seas and misty tempests forth ; 
 Untimely urg^d ; the blood of thousands slain 
 Cries forth for vengeance on the raging main ; 
 The restless spirit of each mangled form 
 Haunts the disaster, and assists the storm ; 
 Untimely urg'd : swift o'er his course appear 
 The avenging furies of his fierce career. 
 Perplex a hostile path with darker gloom. 
 Unman his efforts, and secure his doom. — 
 There oft in age remote, at midnight hour, 
 Arm'd in the terrors of a viewless poT\'er, 
 The invaded North ca,me forth, a challeng'd foe, ^ 
 Swept in swift wrath, and laid the invader low ; 
 
82 
 
 AECTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Or, — ^in amazing mist involved the course, — 
 With the ice-squadrons of his polar force 
 Closed to an instant doom, or flung forlorn 
 On some sad strand, through farthest ocean borne, 
 In all the pangs of ruthless wastes to die ; 
 Tor Spoil's unsparing sons a fitting destiny. 
 
 Less luckless he (as Record's scrolls relate), [3] 
 The impetuous chief, who, led by forceful fate. 
 Went forth to wage, on untried depths afar. 
 With wild Atlantic winds the unequal war,— 
 What time o'er Iceland's solitary shore 
 Man's voice first mingled with the ocean's roar. 
 
 'Twas at the dead of night a tempest's wrath 
 Struck the b ^Id Rover from his reckless path ; 
 Despoil'd the spoiler's might, perplex'd his schemes, 
 Marr'd all his promise, and diapeU'd his dreams. 
 Yet though the unruly furies of the deep 
 His lonely bark with ceaseless tumult sweep ; 
 Though snows and intercepting mists delay. 
 And the huge ice-float yields a dubious way ; 
 Though frequent floods the labouring prow o'erwhelm. 
 And blasts of polar strength dispute the helm ; 
 Seas roll o'er seas from Arctic depths profound. 
 And death yawns in a thousand guKs around : 
 From efforts foil'd more fierce, and baffled hopes. 
 In savage grandeur with the waves he copes ; 
 Hurls to their reckless rage his desperate life. 
 And stems in storms of mist the unequal strife : 
 Yet little heeds he where those mists appear, [4] 
 Or seas conflicting threaten his career. 
 The lurking treachery of the secret shore. 
 Or in that voice of storm the breaker's roar ; 
 Till, lo ! forlorn yet dauntless, he descries 
 Pierce fiery columns from the expanding skies 
 
 [part III,] 
 
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 The 
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 ' \ 
 
AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 aa 
 
 Shoot o'er the howling deep a ghastly glare. 
 
 And leeward rocks, the dreadful truth declare. 
 
 Now wakes the instinctive struggle for the life. 
 
 No war with recreant foes, a sterner strife : — 
 
 Ah ! little urged he now the invader's aim. 
 
 The extorted homage, or the unsparing claim ; 
 
 Wild-eyed Ambition narrows now her field 
 
 To crags the barest that may refuge yield ; 
 
 Enough for him one rood of desert soil. 
 
 The chief who pined with Europe for his spoil : — 
 
 And little, — as his gazing eye admires 
 
 With all-unconscious awe those mystic fires, — 
 
 Deem'd he such seeming angers of the sky 
 
 The heralds of a calm security ; 
 
 Those opening rocks that loomed so desolate. 
 
 The gracious beacons of a happier fate ; 
 
 Till he, whose crimes had won a wild renown. 
 
 And almost ask the avenging thunders down, 
 
 Challenge the yet all-equal Heavens, and cry 
 
 Aloud for swift and fearful penalty, — 
 
 He who still dream'd of a like monstrous fame 
 
 In climes unboastful yet of chart or name, — 
 
 Waked by a tempest from his trance awhile, 
 
 Einds in the deserts of an ice-bound isle, 
 
 A rescued life, an unexpected home, 
 
 Eate milder far than where he yet would roam, 
 
 'Midst her abandoned cliffs, and misty gloom, 
 
 A safer shelter and a kinder doom. 
 
 Thus timely-rescued from his rash career. 
 He in whose wake a piteous train appear, 
 Naddod, the chance-conducted pirate, comes 
 To found on shores of frost Norwegian homes ; [5] 
 Till quest revives, and swift from Iceland's snows 
 New thoughts of blood and schemes of spoil arose. 
 
 D 
 
u 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Bold in reverse, Adventure spreads lier sail. 
 To acquire fresh horrors for Disaster's tale : 
 Arm'd at her call, impatient of delay, 
 Barbarian prows their cumbrous pomp display ; 
 And mingling hordes the hasty venture yield 
 In wild succession to the watery field. 
 
 Yet say, what unexampled woes, perchance, — 
 "What seas, what tempests baffled their advance ; — 
 They perished through what pangs, — alas ! and where 
 The cruel issue of their dark career ! 
 
 Cease, curious Thought ! nor let the Muse presume 
 To evoke the terrors of their distant doom : 
 Lest now, while Loves the unwearied vigil keep. 
 And hope yet lives with daring on the deep, 
 Fresh from the grave of vauish'd years arise 
 Some dire portent of nearer destinies ; 
 To lend Conjecture's gloom a darker hue 
 In some fond bosom too severely true ; 
 rill with new fears the o'er-burdened breast of Care, 
 And give to living Grief a new despair. 
 
 Unwelcome shades ! while Britain's fates impend. 
 Let fairer scenes and worthier thoughts attend. 
 And if, where Record fails some fate to unfold. 
 Or still Tradition leaves some tale untold, 
 'Twere vain to explore those secret depths sublime 
 Swept by the unreturning tide of time ; 
 Yet scarce less vain in lengthening verse to spell 
 Each storied page, and uncouth chronicle ; 
 To inquire, and drag from their reluctant day, 
 Where mute oblivion still disputes the sway. 
 Each misadventure's shapeless form that fades 
 In the dim twilight of her distant shades : 
 To pry presumptuous in the scrolls of fate. 
 And bid the powers of darkness to relate 
 
 [part III.] 
 
III.] 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEHPRISB. 35 
 
 Their wanderings, who with all-untutor'd aim 
 Storm'd the wild way to ravage or to fame j 
 Till flung, submissive to the imperious blast, 
 To strew, the sport of storms, some wintry waste ; 
 And, like the surge their reckless launch that bore, 
 Eoll'd from the sea, and broken on the shore. 
 
 Toss'd thus by chance, regardless of the hour. 
 Impelled yet erst by Fate's superior power 
 To outbrave the blast, live from the surge, and find 
 Eefuge in rocks, and mercies in the wind, — 
 At the mere bidding of a barbarous fame. 
 Reckless of fate, the intrepid Hover came, 
 A wild excursive life of spoil to close. 
 The lonely pilgrim of a waste of snows. 
 
 Such seem'd his doom ; and many a dismal page 
 Tells of such doom in a less distant age ; 
 But nature, in enduring breae hath yet 
 A force unknown save in the worst defeat : 
 Launched on some gulf ^here Danger's shapes appear 
 Direst, and Death wears every form of fear ; 
 There hopeless Valour works his wildest deed. 
 No fears restrain him, and no doubts mislead ; 
 Ascendant now, stem, and unconquer'd still. 
 Wakes forth the mute resolve, the opposeless will ; 
 Where shrinks the unequal soul, triumphant there, 
 Eoused in extremes, and great but in despair. 
 
 Haply a passing fear surprised the chief. 
 Yet vain its influence as its season brief ; 
 A care might cross him, or a doubt control. 
 Soon other visions stood before his soul : 
 Fierce EecoUection came, a timely guest. 
 And stirr'd the power that slumbered in his breast ; 
 Woke all the Scythian to his soul of force. 
 And show'd within himself his true resource : 
 
36 
 
 ATICTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 When came the Scythian to his soul again, 
 "What was despair, lied like a passing pain ; 
 There as he viewed, bare to the breaker's rage, 
 That bark, his all, his ocean-heritage ; 
 That bark that bore him, " hke a thing of Ufe," 
 Tlirough the storm's tumult, and the battle's strife, 
 Shared all his fiery energies, and hurl'd 
 His lawless flag throughout the watery world ; 
 Far other thoughts, as through the surge's sweep 
 He eyed that bark yet labouring in the deep, 
 Pelt wliat he was, and what his sires had been, — 
 Tar other than despair, his thoughts, I ween. 
 There with that bark, her crew, and stranded store, 
 (The casual spoil of Albion's plunder'd shore). 
 Shatter' d, forlorn, the outcast of the deep. 
 And forced invader of a nameless steep — 
 (Spared yet those pangs, the ocean's lonely doom. 
 Or loneUer terrors of the polar tomb) — 
 Though from the deep, his wild dominion., spurn' d. 
 Swift to his veins the impetuous blood return'd ; 
 His flagging hopes ancestral thoughts inspire. 
 And Odin kindles all his ancient fire : [6] 
 
 Now waked the soul ; with spirit unsubdued, 
 Stern as his fate, the undaunted Eover stood ; 
 A moment's commune with his strange mischance. 
 O'er the huge scene around a moment's glance 
 Sufficed him now : — upon the savage scene 
 He dwelt in mute and momentary mien ; 
 Eestless below along its oft-swept path 
 Toil'd still the surge, yet now with ebbing wrath. 
 And left, reluctant, as the tempest fell, ^ 
 
 His prostrate bark sad ruin's tale to tell : 
 Why ponders he ? — self-safety might declare 
 That bark his last-left solitary care ; 
 
 [part III.] 
 
 To 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 37 
 
 Then wherefore halt ? — what should his will await. 
 
 To assure his hopes or fears, and fix his fate ? 
 
 He asks, — when, lo ! forth from the struggling sky 
 
 Broke the wild morn like a new destiny ; 
 
 He hail'd the omen : instant at his beck 
 
 The impatient crew sprung forth, and cleared the \iTeck ; 
 
 Claimed with exulting shout their ocean-isle. 
 
 And piled her barren cliffs with British spoil. [7] 
 
 'Twas then fiill many a chief of Norman note 
 (Fit pioneer of icy realm remote). 
 Through seas and storms, a wild tempestuous way. 
 Storms kindlier yet and seas less wild than they. 
 Clove their dark course ; — and many a restless son, — 
 Swept from the home-domain their swords had won, 
 Domains those swords no longer could defend, — 
 Fled to the savage seas as to a friend ; 
 And, well-content their forfeit lives to save. 
 Though but to yield them to the ocean's grave ; 
 Bless'd in the storm might wildest chase away 
 The wilder fury of a despot's sway, — 
 They gain the isle, and in her fastness sure. 
 In her cold snows and icy cliffs secure. 
 For twice two hundred stormy years defy 
 The galling yoke of Norway's tpanny. [8] 
 
 Yet think not Peace her holy influence shed. 
 Or mercy triumphed when an outlaw fled, 
 Nor deem, alas ! that Freedom's outraged laws. 
 Or Justice baffled in some sacred cause 
 Prompted his flight ; lawless ambition fired 
 Each breast, and all the robber's zeal inspired. 
 
 Spoilers themselves, yet of that stubborn school 
 That owns no homage to the Spoiler's rule. 
 They marvell'd much what recreant hand would yield 
 To one engrossing chief each conquer'd field ; — 
 
 
38 
 
 AECnC ENTBEPRISE. 
 
 With crews congenial to each ocean-lord. 
 Broke from the bondage their fierce souls abhorr'd. 
 And fled where'er to yet unrifled strands 
 Ocean's wide plain a yielding path expands. — 
 There was their world, the unbridled spirit there 
 Revell'd in strength, and wandered free as air ; 
 The waters were their world, the impatient life 
 Of winds and waves to them congenial strife ; 
 Eebels at home, no despot-power controll'd. 
 Where the wide sea, alike rebeUious, roU'd. 
 
 But scope thus boundless, power thus unrestrained. 
 And all their savage liberty regain'd, 
 New-edg^d their lusts, and stung their souls to feel 
 Rapine's fierce thirst with all a tyrant's zeal : 
 And he who fled from tyranny, content 
 With his own sway in his own element, 
 Eesolved henceforth to exalt his views, and reign 
 Himself the unscrupulous tyrant of the main. — 
 No subject-lord now of a vassal-band. 
 He ruled the waters with a king's command ; 
 His palace a rude bark, his subjects few 
 A reckless horde, yet not unfaithful crew ; 
 Bound by no statute, by no law restrained. 
 Wild as the sea tlie imperial Eover reign'd ; 
 Throned on the surge, with empire all as wide. 
 And range as boundless as the ocean-tide. 
 Where'er its billows beat his sceptre sway'd. 
 Each tide bore tribute, and each strand obe/d. 
 
 Such chieftains thus, the tyrants of their day. 
 Held the wide deep in undisputed sway ; [9] 
 
 Balk'd of some spoil, 'twere but a passing pain. 
 The waves urged onward to some new domain ; 
 Forced from one field of rapine but to reap 
 A richer harvest on some neighbouring steep. — 
 
 [PAET III.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 89 
 
 '] 
 
 Thus, tyrant-like, as rolls the encroaching svrge. 
 Swept from one shore another to submerge, 
 Willie distant strand *<, still as he onward flows, 
 A deluged waste, his ebbing depths disclose, — 
 Thus roved they, as the impetuous will approved, 
 Like their own seas, and ravaged as they roved ;— 
 Till clo/d, or weary of each wasted soil. 
 Where Ruin left no fields for further spoil. 
 In boisterous zeal untamed, and ill at ease. 
 They wrought fresh inroads in untravers'd seas ; 
 Imaged new spoil beneath another sky. 
 Woke the wild hope, and fired the insatiate eye. — 
 
 Then first 'twas theirs those mystic seas to explore, 
 Where nought save polar billows swept before ; 
 To teach their keels that dubious path to plough. 
 Where thickening icebergs crush the encroaching prow ; 
 Their impulse first the infant chart to inform 
 Of shores untravers'd yet but by the storm ; 
 Where Greenland shrouds in mist her awful brow. 
 Lost in herself, a boundless waste of snow; [10] 
 Or devious still, where, in far-distant skies, 
 Crown'd with cold death, Spitzbergen's mountains rise, 
 And Winter, stretched continuous to the Pole, [11] 
 Holds in eternal ice his dark control. — 
 
 But if, by gale of kindlier breath impelled, 
 A various course the adventurous Hover held ; 
 Haply his fate those gorgeous scenes to attain 
 (The destined treasure of the western main). 
 Where regions erst of passing beauty crown*d 
 The Atlantic wave, in arts and arms renowned ; 
 Realms favoured by the gods, transcendent isles. 
 Teeming with life, and rich with priceless spoils ; — 
 Yet for, perchance, some dark mysterious crime, 
 Doom'd by the avenging Eates, and swept from time. 
 
40 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPllISE. 
 
 : i 
 
 In one dire night (sucli the decree of Heaven), 
 By the ocean-earthquake from tlieir centre riven. 
 In billowy depths they found their darksome bed, 
 In one vast gulph entomb'd, a nation's dead. [12] 
 
 Wondrous 1 — and yet no fabling muse records 
 The spectral tale their dreary fate affords : — 
 Tor still in many an old time-lionour'd spot. 
 The sailor's home on sea-beat shore remote ; — 
 When midnight sends her social bliss around, 
 'Mid suasive looks and circling cu})s profound ; 
 And many a wild mishap, and freak of mirth, 
 Call'd by the magic-hour again to birth. 
 In Recollection's busy train recur 
 To the worn breast of ancient mariner : — 
 There, as with all the veteran's look sublime. 
 That lives, the light of many a vanish'd time. 
 He scans the expectant crew, takes wistful up 
 The inspiring tube, and quaffs the charmed cup j 
 Shapes each old course again, and tries to steer 
 His wandering thought through many a rolling year ; — 
 True to his call, a dark mysterious train 
 Rise forth like ghosts from ocean's grave again ; 
 And as the sea-wind's hollow gust the while 
 Howls through each cranny of the mouldering pile. 
 And in mute awe, with harrow'd looks and pale. 
 Yet all-responsive to the appalling tale, 
 Each rustic ranged around the social fire, 
 Caught with the spell, draws nigher still and nigher, — 
 Charm'd from the inmost cell, all-breathless there 
 Each tiptoe-Hstener comes, and thrills to hear. 
 How from unmeasured fathoms of the deep, "^ 
 
 Where Friesland's wave-subjected deserts sleep, — [13] 
 Though seas have roll'd, blown by the Atlantic storm. 
 The sands of ages o'er each perish'd form, — 
 
 [part III.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 41 
 
 Still from their buried breasts, at that dark hour. 
 When Midnight comes witli all her spectral power. 
 Aerial shades in mortal shape again 
 Pervade the tempest, and possess the main : — 
 And still 'tis told, — in accents sooth and fair 
 Men who have lived their lives at sea declare, — 
 Should adverse winds the fated bark delay 
 Devious, and to those fearful depths betray, — 
 Emerging oft from ocean's caves below, . 
 Strange shrieks of pain, and hideous sights of woe. 
 With dire portent the pilot's breast alarm. 
 And haunt his spirit with a dreadful charm : — 
 But great Resolve, that never knew control, 
 With the all-unyielding impulse mans his soul j 
 Sternly he plies, though powers opposeless still 
 Confound his course, and counteract his skill j 
 Strains with indignant valour at the helm. 
 Though ghosts obstruct, and speaking seas o'erwhelra ; 
 Prone to the wheel, at length with faltering hand. 
 Baffled, he yields to some unknown command ; 
 Halts, spell-bou.\d, at the helm, nor dares to brave 
 The threatening tumults of that fearful wave. — 
 
 Such is the tale, not baseless Fame's alone, 
 Which still Tradition hallows as hei own ; 
 And many a chief, and many a stalwart crew, 
 Live yet to attest, and sternly swear 'tis true. 
 
 Yet to say sooth, no shadowy fears subdued 
 Norway's fierce sons, they were of other mood ; 
 Their bosoms nursed no visionary cares, 
 Far other instincts, other thoughts were theirs : 
 No unsubstantial ghosts their prows detain. 
 But Death's stern self existent in the main ; 
 Fate's spectral semblance thwarts not their career. 
 But Fates with all their powers of death appear. 
 
48 
 
 AaCTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 When tempests, waked in all their polar force. 
 
 Swept them to deserts as a last resource, 
 
 A last sad chance of fearful life's escape 
 
 From the unregarded shoal, or viewless cape, — 
 
 *Twas theirs to struggle for a lingering breath 
 
 With all the stern realities of death ; 
 
 Dashed to the shore of some remote and rude 
 
 Eegion of storms, an awful solitude. 
 
 Where nought save rocks or lifeless snows surround 
 
 Their steps, or, wild with many a gulf profound. 
 
 That waste of waves, in whose dark depths conceal d, 
 
 Full many a darker fate sleeps unreveal'd. 
 
 Where howls the blast on Scotia's utmost shore, 
 
 Or Fcero lonely midst an ocean's roar. [14] 
 
 1 
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 [part III.] 
 
 S 
 
 Obs. 
 
43 
 
 
 AllCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 ** Et tantos audetis toUore moles ?" 
 
 ViBoiL. ^n. 
 
 AUGUMENT. 
 
 The excursions of the Norwegian Sea-kings the first germ of those 
 Polar expeditions which have been continued, with little intermission, 
 to the present day. Distinction between the expeditions of the time 
 being, and those of distant ages ; these having been merely predatory, 
 while the former were undertaken for purposes of science. — Notices of 
 the followers in the wake of Naddod. . . .Eibek. — Thobwald. — Lief. 
 — ^Thobstbin. — Ohtherb. — Madoc. — Pytheas. — NicoLo Zeno. a 
 new era of discovery commences with the introduction of the mariner's 
 compass into European navigation. Beflections arising from a con- 
 sideration of this mysterious guide. The unseen force of the Magnet 
 an emblem of the Divinity, a part of that Power. A knowledge of 
 the unerring action of tbe needle becomes a source of consolation to 
 the Merchant, the Lover, or the Bride, who may have their dearest 
 interests on the deep : Pictures of each. Yet the compass the greatest 
 boon to adventiirors in unknown seas. Notices of Columbus- 
 Cabot. — Mabco Polo. — Vasco db Gama. — The Cortbbeals.— 
 Babemtz. — Behbino. — Concluding with a brief review of the Mari. 
 time States of Europe, all of which, with the single exception of 
 Britain, failed alike in their attempts at Polar discovery. 
 
 Such was Adventure's germ : Prom casual birth 
 Obscure thus grew the excursive impulse forth. 
 
44 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Wlience, throu'gh untutorM nature's instincts, rise 
 The first crude schemes oi that strange Enterprise, 
 Whose zealots still the unthankful quest renew. 
 Still shape tb'^ expected course, and still pursue; 
 And, like the followers of seme creed whose faith 
 Misleads the footsteps, and obscures the path. 
 Delusion's fools, the victims of self-will. 
 In a vain cause the all-willing martyrs still, — 
 With fniitless zeal, and unrequited toil. 
 Still, — still pursue a visionary spoil. 
 Where spri ngs from foil'd exploit their proudest wreath, 
 And their best promise from the hope of death. 
 
 Of such hereafter : Such wild deeds require 
 The strains, alas ! of a far loftier lyre j 
 Such deeds a more than passing tribute claim, 
 For such, though wild, have yet a healthy fame. 
 With the foul taint of no excess imbued, 
 By spoil untamish'a, and unstainM with blood. 
 
 Ear other famed, Norwegian Eirek shone, [1] 
 The dark usurper of a watery throne : 
 A son of wiidness, like his fell compeers. 
 Little by conscience sway'd, and less by fears ; 
 The destined ravager of field and flood. 
 Nursed in the lap of sin, baptized in blood. 
 And of a name that brands, a name of dread. 
 From hue of foulest guilt inherited. — 
 Thorwald, his sire, an exiled homicide. 
 Went for his crime to Iceland's shores, and died ; 
 Bequeathed yet dying, like a precious crown. 
 To his son's brow, the demon-instinct down ; .^ 
 
 And to that son — who thus imbibed the fire 
 And fierceness of his formidable sire ; 
 Caught all his crime, walked in his bloody course, 
 A gloomy savage, stranger to remorse ; 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
AECTIC ENTEEPEISE. 
 
 4.5 
 
 ath, 
 
 v.] 
 
 In guilt the master-spirit of his age, — 
 To Eirek 'twas a welcome heritage. 
 In the dark genius of that sire apace 
 (The enormous founder of a lawless race). 
 Grew forth, adult in crime, the docile son. 
 To achieve whatever his sire had left undone ; 
 Till, filFd the sum of his flagitious time, 
 He shared the dire yet certain fate of crime j 
 Hurled to his end, a grave without its rest. 
 In death unpitied, as in life unblest. 
 
 A truce to such ; nor longer let the Muse 
 In dismal strain the atrocious theme diffuse ; 
 Nor once upon the dark conjecture dwell. 
 What pangs subdued him, or what fate befell ; 
 Enough that 'twas unknown : — ^To us 'tis given 
 To brand the crime, but leave the rest to Heaven ; 
 Sure in the justice of the eternal skies 
 Supreme, where Vengeance waits his enemies. 
 
 A truce to such ; — Fly we the hateful theme. 
 As from the fates of some forbidding dream. 
 Whose shapeless terrors, failing to retire, 
 E'en though the spectres with the scene expire. 
 The awaken'd sleeper's awe-struck thoughts control. 
 Hover around his path, and hamit his soul. — 
 
 Pass we where friendlier visions wake their claims. 
 Telling of still unwrought yet worthier aims ; 
 And thence to friendlier still : for what avail 
 Deeds of obscure and questionable tale. 
 Where all save vague conjecture's traces fail. 
 Yet he who, wild as his Norwegian steep. 
 Went forth, the true Red Rover of the deep ; 
 And by a thirst more sanguine, deed more dire, 
 Better'd the instruction of his savage sire ; — [2] 
 (As oft 'tis seen, from seed of wildest root 
 Springs forth a tree that bears the goodliest fruit,) 
 
46 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Thuswise it fell ; a fiend, whose guilt fuU-grown 
 
 Bore all the blushes of its red renown. 
 
 Gave to the shores he had despoil'd a child. 
 
 Whom Nature's instincts, than his sire's less wild. 
 
 Benignant nursed, and in the adventurous Lief [3] 
 
 Seem'd to give promise of a gentler chief ; — 
 
 Nor vainly thus ; for as he grew he gave 
 
 Hopes of that holier zeal, the zeal to save. 
 
 No harrowing thoughts disturb'd his spirit's path. 
 
 Save of remorse for his sire's lawless wrath ; 
 
 Bom of the blood of those who lived by spoil. 
 
 No son was he to invade a peaceful soil 
 
 Save at the impulse of a nobler toil : 
 
 Though train'd in all Adventure's various sins. 
 
 Even with his youth a worthier zeal begins ; 
 
 A foe to no one save the friend of vice. 
 
 He gave himself a wiUing sacrifice ; 
 
 And though he roved as roved his sires before. 
 
 He went not to destroy, but to lestore ; 
 
 To cleanse the current of the ancestral fame, 
 
 And J5*om himself infuse a purer claim ; 
 
 Went forth in the superior hope sublime 
 
 To atone their deeds, and compensate their crime. — 
 
 With shadowy step from Record's mingled host 
 Emerging lonely like some midnight ghost. 
 Comes now, in yearning Nature's anxious mien. 
 One fond enthusiast yet upon the scene. — [4] 
 He, scion of the same fell sire with Lief, 
 Of path more lonely, and career more brief ; 
 The piteous martyr of a pious rage. 
 And wanderer of a hopeless pilgrimage ; ^ 
 
 Went forth, seF-urged, a brother's bones to save. 
 And left his own in Baffin's wintry wave. — 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
ABCTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 47 
 
 '.] 
 
 Here pause we : nor let Doubt presume to tell 
 What death of billow or of blast befell 
 That fated fleet remorseless Eirek gave 
 To seek in desert seas the inglorious grave ; — [5] 
 Or, midst those tides that wash with ceaseless roar 
 From Greenland's cliff's, and Cherie's lonely shore, [6] 
 To where the wolf howls through the empty waste 
 Of Lapland naked to the northern blast, — 
 To say what terrors of the ice-built steep. 
 Or yet-unknown disaster of the deep. 
 Struck Cambrian Madoc from his rash career, [7] 
 Or blocked the excursive bark of bold Ohthere. 
 
 Close we the scene ere vague Conjecture sway 
 The Muse, mistrustful of the uncertain day, 
 To trace what course inquiring Pytheas held, [8] 
 
 Urged by what zeal, or to what quest impelled. 
 When Nature's self opposed the unmeet intent. 
 And barr'd his path with a new element : — 
 Or in scarce less presumptuous strain relate 
 Where that Venetian pilot found his fate, [9] 
 
 Who, onward urged his stormy course to keep 
 Erom the bleak bounds of Scotia's farthest steep, 
 Abandon'd to the blast his ocean-quest. 
 And fell forlorn, an unexpected guest. 
 On Friesland's shores the outcast's home to crave, 
 Friesland all-powerless still herseK to save. 
 
 Of such was fame when Europe's days were young. 
 Fame, save in Runic rhyme, as yet unsung ; 
 Fame, in good sooth, but little skill'd to infuse 
 F^je in her lay, or elevate the Muse : 
 But wliile they vanish Tvith their dubious day. 
 And aught they boast of loftier deed away, 
 A worthier era opens to the view. 
 To whose great sons a wortliier wreath is due.—* 
 
48 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 No longer now, launched from Norwegian strand. 
 Whole pirate-fleets their lawless sails expand ; 
 No longer, reckless borne on every breeze, 
 Their flags insult the subjugated seas. 
 Steadfast of soul, alike untaught to feel 
 Quest's aimless hope, or Spoil's inglorious zeal ; 
 To nurse unholy thoughts of blood, or claii x 
 The hateful greatness of a lawless fame ; — 
 Research wakes forth ; — a manlier impulse now 
 Inspires the Rover's soul, and speeds his prow ; 
 Struck with the dangerons charm, Science obeys. 
 Nor doubt nor dread he.; nxious course delays ; 
 No shore invites save what the desert shows. 
 No spoil save that the wildest waste bestows ; 
 Such yet sufiice : — bold Enterprise spreads forth 
 His suasive sail, and points her to the north ; 
 Where nought save wintry wilds of ice and air 
 Invesit the scene, to search new regions there ; 
 To the vague map the watery bound impart, 
 OutHne the limit, and convince the chart ; 
 Prom a new nature cull new spheres of thought. 
 And bear from wond'rous climes, as yet unsought, 
 New funds of treasure to her various store, 
 Stretching her steps to worlds unreached before. — 
 
 Yet not alone the heroic zeal that bore 
 Enthusiast Science to that stormy shore> 
 Sustained her ; the quick Spirit of the spheres 
 Whispers a wonder that enchants her ears ; 
 A spell, whose viewless influence mutely told 
 Her faltering prow the unswerving course to hold.— 
 No more the pilot, uninstructed still, [10] ' 
 
 Phes his grave task with hesitating skill ; 
 No longer now, lost in bev/ildering storm, 
 Welcomes a beacon in each passing form ; 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
AECnO ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 49 
 
 Led by the looming of the midnight shore. 
 
 The snow-crown'd summit, or the breaker's roar ; 
 
 Or, d m-descried through hovering mists afar. 
 
 The inconstant guidance of the distant star : — 
 
 No more that feathered wanderer of the dark. 
 
 The important pilot of the Rover's bark, 
 
 Borne on the pinion of prophetic flight. 
 
 Sage bird, the instinctive raven stemm'd the night. — [11] 
 
 Fraught with a more convincing power than these, 
 
 There comes a Spirit from far Indian seas ; [12] 
 
 A Spirit that might a priceless secret tell, 
 
 And stiU subserve, a faithful oracle ; 
 
 A Spirit of truth, whose sleepless power defies 
 
 Tempests the fiercest that might sweep the skies j 
 
 StiU steadfast sways, though wildest oceans roll. 
 
 And points with changeless virtue to the Pole. — 
 
 Thus by benignant Heaven 'twas whisper'd how 
 Commerce a speedier course should steer her prow ; 
 To lead Eesr-^rch a safer path to fame, 
 Thus, all-divine, the electric Wonder came. 
 
 Nor came alone : — now waken'd Ardour copes 
 In all the energy of new-bom hopes ; 
 Search speeds afield, and Yalour, reassured. 
 Forgets his toils, his pangs, his deaths endured ; 
 And, arm'd with more than human instinct, goes 
 O'er treacherous sands, strange seas, and trackless snows. — 
 
 Mysterious agent ! timely boon from Heaven 
 To Earth's erroneous sons in mercy given ! — 
 
 Emblem of Him, part of His power divine. 
 Who, Centre of a vast unknown design, — 
 Though other worlds, by mortal eye unseen, 
 Countless, in other systems intervene, — 
 Visits His utmost orb, and from afar. 
 Rules in each sphere, and lives in every star ; 
 
 •] 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 A.ECTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 And watchful o'er His worlds, intent to teach 
 Each law His Providence assigns to each. 
 Presides in secret o'er each teeming earth. 
 And spreads Creation's gorgeous banquet forth ; 
 Eeceives His humblest creature's cry, and gives 
 His fulncwss forth where the quick instinct lives j 
 Yields yet to one alone the power to scan 
 The amazing workings of His mystic plan. — 
 
 To this, His favourite child. He gives to feel 
 Science' deep charm with ever-thirsting zeal : 
 Yet he, poor mortal, oft misled to stray 
 Beyond the precincts of his feeble day. 
 To depths unknown where darkness, tide, and storm, 
 In conflict dire the onward path deform ; 
 Like the lost wanderer of Adventure's seas. 
 Drifted amain, the sport of every breeze ; 
 Like him, alas ! his course beneath the skies 
 Becomes one strange bewildering enterprise : — 
 Trail, liable to ill, and darkly blind 
 Beyond the bounded path by Heaven assign'd, 
 Little avails his own unaided force 
 To find, or to preserve, the righteous course ; — 
 But from above, a never-failing Friend 
 Instructs, and leads his blindness to the end; 
 Suggests in secret, with descending might. 
 The wrong to shun, and to pursue the right ; 
 And — as the prompting spirit of the north 
 Conducts through storms the ocean-"w^anderer forth, — 
 Permits each mortal course, but points from high 
 To the blest calms of Immortality. — 
 
 Part of His power, emblem of Him in this, ^ 
 
 That thou canst guide and canst not guide amiss ; 
 All- wondrous charm ! — what priceless mercies dwell 
 In the mute virtue of thy mystic spell I — 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
 Wi 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 61 
 
 I 
 
 With shrewd Inquiry's all-important air, 
 And looks that glance beneath a brow of care, 
 Lo ! the grave merchant plays his worldly part, 
 Along the cabled quay, or swarming mart ; — 
 He knows his bark in practised hands and true, 
 A skilful pilot, and a trusty crew ; 
 Yet adverse winds to treacherous rocks betray. 
 And treacherous sands that choke the watery way j 
 And when Sleep shuts his cares within his breast, 
 And thoughts of direful wreck invade his rest j 
 Sudden he starts ; — the gathering gusts he hears 
 Confirm his dreams, and realize his fears ;- — 
 Yet, while around his couch regardless blow 
 The heightening blasts to aggravate his woe. 
 One thought of Thee, his guardian on the deep. 
 Calms all his fears, and lulls his cares to sleep. — 
 
 But the fond maid, whom flattering Hope decoys 
 Into the golden dream of future joys, — 
 Roused from a revelry of bliss to rue 
 The morn that dooms her to the last adieu ; 
 The last sad morn that wakes the unwelcome breeze. 
 To waft her lover to far-distant seas ; 
 There to be toss'd as tide and tempest urge, 
 Torn from her arms, and wedded to the surge : — 
 When, still in Sorrow's cell a lingering guest, 
 Hope, entertained no more, deserts her breast ; 
 And the friend's pity, and the parent's prayer 
 Point but to Resignation's mute despair : — 
 How hast Thou power, though cureless pangs intrude, 
 To inspire new hope, and bless her solitude ; 
 And speak, true as thy faith unto the Pole, 
 Peace to her couch, and comfort to her soul ! — 
 
 Or scarce less hapless She, content to share 
 With one loved breast each sorrow and each care ; 
 
52 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 To ask no joy whose earthly tliought shall stray 
 
 Beyond the blameless wishes of the day ; 
 
 All that her fancy forms of bliss, complete, 
 
 While to her own that breast responsive beat : — 
 
 But He, fond partner of her hopes and fears. 
 
 Whose form alone her daily path endears ; 
 
 Should Fate imperious force him from his home. 
 
 Where Fame invites, or Honour bids, to roam; 
 
 On Danger's distant field, perchance, to die. 
 
 As busy Fear might shape his destiny ; — 
 
 She, once so blest, now heart-wrung at the doom 
 
 That hurls her peace to an untimely tomb ; 
 
 Partakes each pang her lord's changed aspect wears. 
 
 And feels the fate his busy haste prepares ; 
 
 Yet studious now his last sad steps to share 
 
 With all unfeigned Devotion's punctual care. 
 
 Descends, in all that helplessness of grief 
 
 That shuns all refuge as a vain relief. 
 
 And all those thoughts of terror, to the shore, — 
 
 Those dreadful thoughts that they shall meet no more; — 
 
 There sees him borne along the billowy waste, 
 
 There, fondly-faithful, gazes to the last ; 
 
 Then homeward hies, home now no more, to dwell 
 
 In reft Affection's solitary cell ; 
 
 There to sigh forth her unregarded fears. 
 
 And waste in widoVd loneliness her tears : — 
 
 Yet, Spirit, thou, — whose great directive charm 
 
 Instructs the helm, and prompts the pilot's arm, — 
 
 Inspir'st afar, by sweet remembrance blest, 
 
 A holy calm in her tumultuous breast ; 
 
 And bring' st, — a seraph of celestial power, — 
 
 Cheer to her soul in sorrow's loneliest hour : — 
 
 Oh ! when all other charms are vainly sought. 
 
 What saving hope yet lingers in the thought, 
 
 [part TV.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 53 
 
 rs. 
 
 lore: — 
 
 IV.] 
 
 That through the wildest storms thy faith can prove 
 Fix'd as her faith, and changeless as her love. — 
 
 But led by thee, whose spell alike possessed. 
 Can calm each care that agitates the breast, 
 Search swept the seas, and Enterprise unfurl'd 
 His flag triumphant o'er a vanquished world. 
 
 Thine was the safeguard could alone sustain. 
 Dark Power ! that awful wanderer of the main, [13] 
 Who, mark'd for special deed, at Heaven's behest, 
 Unveil'd the wonders of the teeming West ; 
 Gave a new era to the circlmg year. 
 And to the growing globe another sphere. — 
 Or that great Pilot, whose adventurous rage [14] 
 
 Lacks but the voice of Truth's impartial page ; 
 He who, a Chief of scarce less lofty fame, 
 Forestall'd the conquest, but resigned the claim. 
 
 Or Polo, He, the Pilgrim of the east, [] 5] 
 
 Whose path was where bland Nature's influence ceas'd ; 
 He whose far-searching spirit walkM alone 
 Stupendous realms within the burning zone ; 
 And first waked thence thy majesty, and gave 
 Thy guardian-genius to the western wave. — 
 Illustrious Chief ! — what though no sculptured bust 
 Crown with pale pomp thy ever-honoured dust ; 
 What though no wreath, the hero's cold reward, 
 Or speaking stone thy daring worth record ; 
 The mercy thou hast wrought is thy best meed. 
 And gives a crowning greatness to thy deed ; 
 Hosts yet unborn shall bless thy sacred name. 
 And endless time perpetuate thy fame ! — 
 
 When, magic needle, at thy mute command. 
 The enthusiast urged o'er Kobi's hungry sand 
 His wildered way, where lifeless plains extend 
 Their sameness dire, — a waste without an end ; — 
 
54 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEiiP-^ySE. 
 
 Through leagues untried thy faultK ; influence told 
 
 The course no mortal instinct could unfold ; 
 
 Thy watchful friendship, thy unboastful power, 
 
 Gheer'd the dark gloom, and charmM the spectral hour ! — 
 
 Nor less assured, when strong ambition stirr'd 
 
 Europe's proud sons to feats as yet unheard, — 
 
 'Midst torrid storms and southern seas afar, 
 
 Bold Gama braved the elemental war, [16] 
 
 Where Afric's rocks their lengthening horrors shape, — 
 
 Baffled the tempest, and subdued the Cape. — 
 
 Yet could not all thy saving might avail. 
 Where, through the tumults of the northern gale. 
 With fruitless force, and ineffectual zeal. 
 Research still plied the Lusitanian keel ? — 
 
 Stung with the daring energy, behold ! 
 Two brother-Chiefs, illustrious names of old, [17] 
 (Their fate's a secret, and their tale untold !) — 
 One sought, Columbus-like, mysterious shores. 
 Where the deep revels round the wild iVzores ; — 
 He went and came not ; by the ice-tempest's breath. 
 Or by some huge disaster hurl'd to death ; 
 Straight a wild impulse sway'd the younger chief. 
 He could not choose, it was Affection's grief ; 
 He feU, a martyr to a vain belief ; — 
 He went too and for ever : — How they fell. 
 Through what strange pangs, let dark Destruction tell : 
 Tradition knows not, tongue might ne'er relate 
 The woe that leaves no record of its fate ; 
 Eor none can speak wliere none was left to save. 
 And wastes alone howl'd o'er the lonely grave. — 
 
 But which is He, who thrice essay'd in vain 
 To rend the shackles of the Arctic main. 
 Cope with the dire north-east, where polar frost 
 Yokes in eternal thrall the helpless coast ; 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTKRPRISE. 
 
 55 
 
 And cleave through adamantine seas his way 
 To the rich regions of remote Catkay ? — 
 Thine the bold effort, Barentz ! — the renown [18] 
 
 Endurance brings and Daring, is thine own ! — 
 But thou wert doomed : the race of death begun. 
 The fearful goal how could'st thou hope to shun ? — 
 Ill-destined Chief I 'twas thy stem task to outbrave 
 Zembla's deep snows, and Kara's icy wave, — 
 To sink, alas ! into a lonelier grave ! 
 Yes, thou wert doomM : yet not till fierce Disease 
 Instinctive warned thee from those ruthless seas. 
 To seek within thy long-deserted soil 
 Friendship's warm grasp, and Home's expectant smile ; 
 Then envious Death, who spared thee in that hour 
 When thou wert prostrate at the tyrant's power. 
 Stole on thy hopes, and subtly struck thee low. 
 Thou, who hadst braved a thousand deaths of woe ! — 
 There, — ^in the depths of Winter's solitude. 
 Thy bark abandon' d, and thy strength subdued. 
 While Death, dark-gathering round thy piteous crew, 
 In all his polar vastness met their view. 
 Urging that chance Despair had yet in store. 
 To launch their fortunes to some friendlier shore ; — 
 Where polar blasts their earliest furies blow 
 Par on Zelania's ever-icy brow, 
 Methinks I hear thy dying voice exclaim, 
 While life's last tliroes convulse the struggling frame. 
 Lift me, oh lift me, friends, where once again 
 I may retrace in thought you envious main ; 
 Let me yet once that fatal scene review. 
 And I will bid my earthly hopes adieu," — 
 Ill-destined Cliief ! true to thy last command. 
 The sad crew ply the ever-faithful hand ; — ■ 
 
 €( 
 
 tt 
 
 if 
 
 (t 
 
Ae 
 
 ARCTIC £NT£RPUISE. 
 
 Thy end was near, and in conj^enial gloom. 
 
 And the deep opened up an ample tomb ; 
 
 A change by thee unfeared ; thou hadst no dread 
 
 Of death, or life's desire, — thy hopes were dead : 
 
 But for the thoughts that speechless gaze express'd, 
 
 While triple failure rankled in thy breast, — 
 
 The harrowing thoughts, — alas ! what tongue might tell 
 
 The piteous meaning of that mute farewell ! — 
 
 Even such his fate, to foul distempers grave 
 Struck from his triumph o'er the Arctic wave ; 
 Doomed long, though unrepining still, to share 
 The pangs of want, and horrors of despair. 
 There where, develop'd by his skill, appears 
 The ocean-pass 'twixt Earth's vast hemispheres ; 
 Behring, the Dane, where lone Alaska's shore [19] 
 Beats from her echoing cliffs the stormy roar 
 Of that wild deep that bears his deathless name, 
 Points his proud ptfth, and flows with all his fame. — 
 
 Such was remote Adventure's earlier tomb ; 
 A death of pangs the universal doom. — 
 All foil*d alike, fated and baffled all. 
 The bold Batavian, and the sprightly Gaul, 
 The fervid Lusian, enterprising Dane, 
 And they who plied the unequal barks of Spain; [20] 
 E'en the cold Buss, inured to every ill, 
 With frost congenial, apathetic still ; 
 Who feeds, or starves, just as the event may be, ' 
 
 Drudges or sleeps, and all with equal glee ; 
 He to whom Fate, considerate still, hath hurl'd 
 The sceptre of the snows o'er half the world. 
 
 Baffled alike each Rover of the day. 
 Still Winter held his undivided sway ; ' 
 
 Through whose mysterious gloom and icy thrall, — 
 ShackUng at once or intercepting aU, 
 
 [PAET IV.] 
 
ARcno entehprise. 
 
 57 
 
 Stern still to imprison deep, or still exclude 
 The encroaching step that soilM his solitude, — 
 Till one vast Power, the ocean-realrn, arose. 
 His coasts to unravel, and define his snows, — 
 Discovery's daring prow ne'er pierced before ; 
 Thought might not roam so far, nor Fancy soar. 
 
68 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 " Incredibilis rerum fama occupat aures." 
 
 ViKOiL. ^n. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The superior claims of Britain as an adventurer in the Arctic 
 aeas. Yet the hopes of benefit to accrue from the whale-fishery 
 awoke an impulse more powerful than that of Fame. The capture of 
 the whale described. Notice of great British sailors who have 
 figured in Northern and Northeastern Arctic discovery, Sm Hugh 
 WiLLOuoHBY — Hudson — Fotherbt — Baffin — Phipps — Cook 
 — BucHAN. — Expedition of Scoresby to Spitzbergen ; adventures 
 and scenery there, described : — to Beerenburg, East Greenland, &c. 
 — extinct volcanoes — polar refraction. — Review of Northwestern 
 discovery. — Notices of Knioht and BAHrow — Baffin — Davis — 
 Hudson — dreadful fate of Hudson. Notices of Fkobishee — 
 Waymouth — Fox — .Tames — Parry — Franklin — Back ; adven< 
 tures of that officer. Allusion to the face of Hood, and the struggles 
 }f Richardson and Franklin in the North American land-expedi- 
 tion, in company with Back. The expedition of Ross and dis- 
 covery of the magnetic Pole ; Ulubion to a former expedition of 
 that officer round Baffin's bay — Northwestern Greenland — Disco 
 and Waygat islands : — Esquimaux, — Arctic Highlanders. Last 
 expedition of Ross on the shores of Boothia ; — a full detail of his 
 exploits and perils, and final rescue by the " Isabella " whale-ship ; 
 — Reflections arising from such. — Conclusion. 
 
 Confined too long to deeds of ancient age 
 And alien sons. Narration's partial page ; 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 59 
 
 At length all-conscious of superior claim, 
 Britain steps in, and points to all her fame : 
 But Britain's deeds a worthier strain require. 
 And urge to loftier heights the trembling lyre ; 
 Rise then, my Muse, if thou canst rise so high. 
 And with thy theme exalt thy minstrelsy. 
 
 Yet say what charm a mightier force display'd ; 
 What stronger influence than mere Fame's betrayed 
 Host after host, whom Enterprise alone 
 Might scarce impel, 'midst icy seas unknown. 
 To encounter death in his own dark domain ; — 
 What mightier yet remained ? — the thirst of gain. 
 
 Disastrous Power ! thy fury once possessed. 
 Where canst thou not compel the human breast ? 
 
 Panting for gold, in vain, insatiate man. 
 Earth's teeming climes thy restless steps o'erspan ; 
 In vain thy merchant-fleets invest the seas. 
 And India's wealth flows in with every breeze ; — 
 Unsated still, though thou canst call thine own 
 The exhaustless treasures of the torrid zone ; 
 Thou teachest thy presumptuous prows to probe 
 Deserts of death, the limits of the globe ; 
 Till Prost consigns thy zeal to seas of ice, 
 And polar snows convince thy avarice. 
 
 Lo ! 'midst a labyrinth of waves that roll 
 Their huge creations round the teeming Pole, 
 King of the tribes that stem that wintry main. 
 The whale long held his unsuspecting reign : 
 There revell'd free from Nature's earliest time. 
 Shapeless and vast like his own wondrous clime ; 
 There widely prey'd, himself to incur full soon 
 The steely terrors of the dire harpoon. — 
 No longer now, safe in unquestion'd sway. 
 The important full-blown tyrant of his day, 
 
60 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 ;IM 
 
 He crops, incumbent at his spacious ease. 
 
 The cold luxuriance of those icy seas ; 
 
 A mightier comes, the tyrant of the world. 
 
 And in his side a barbed death is hurl'd. — [1] 
 
 Stung with unwonted pangs, at first on high 
 
 He rears his threatening tail, and strikes the sky ; 
 
 His goaded wrath in thunder shakes the shore. 
 
 And Ocean's caves reecho to the roar : — 
 
 But lo ! round-wreathM, prompt to secure the spoil. 
 
 The extensive I'ope with many a sinuous coil 
 
 Holds him to fate : — ^furious, he whirls its length, — 
 
 For anguish wakes to prodigies of strength ; — 
 
 The cable flies, and to dark caves of night 
 
 Profound, he plunges with delirious might ; 
 
 Till, urgent to renew the vital breath. 
 
 And something yielding to the trenchant death. 
 
 He cleaves the upward deep, and quaffs the air; 
 
 Oh, fatal bliss ! — the dread destroyer's there : — 
 
 No single foe, behold ! whole squadrons join. 
 
 And in fierce conflict armed hosts combine. — 
 
 What boots it now with unavailing force 
 
 To wake expiring Nature's last resource ; 
 
 What boots in towering terror to defy 
 
 Man, his unsparing watchful enemy. — 
 
 Prone to the wealth his ponderous bulk bestows, 
 
 (That nurse of life, yet source of all his woes) — [2] 
 
 The lance prevails ; struggHng, he cedes the strife ; 
 
 Yields forth with ireful throes the indignant life. 
 
 Reluctant yields, along the briny flood 
 
 Transfix'd, and dyes an ocean with his blood. — 
 
 While thus the unwearied hunter of the whale. 
 Urged by the spirit of gain, expands his sail ; 
 Great Science prompts her sons to loftier aims. 
 As wild, yet more exalted, — such are Fame's. — 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 6i 
 
 m 
 
 But now, while Fancy feeds her quickening fires, 
 Marshals her thoughts, and to high deeds aspires ; 
 Consideration wakes, and whispers near. 
 Unwelcome, thus to her reluctant ear : — 
 " And dost thou, vain Enthusiast, dost thou deem 
 " Thy muse all equal to the ambitious theme ? — 
 " Think'st thou to compass in a fleeting scroU 
 " Whom Nature's self lacks limits to control ? — 
 " Or with vain tropes, in diction's proud display, 
 " To exalt those heroes to yet brighter day, 
 " Whose world-wide fame reluctant homage wrings 
 " From rival nations, and contending kings ?" — 
 
 Of such Fame gave to one a timely crown ; 
 Leaves yet, perchance, to live with his renown : — 
 Heaven grant but so ! — May Britain's prayers prevail 
 O'er one dark doom her secret fears bewail ! 
 Heaven grant her first prophetic fate might be 
 Yet unfulfilled in her lost destiny ! 
 And what that first, wherein might be foreshown 
 The gloomy picture of a doom unknown ? — 
 Ages have pass'd, whose annals still supply. 
 Each its dark page of sea-calamity ; 
 Yet none of Time's strange destinies below 
 Can claim the palm from this unequall'd woe. 
 
 A Briton's was the doom^ where held command 
 A brave chief in a bark ail-bravely mann'd ; 
 And though of naval art each sage resource 
 Sagacious Cabot drew, and plann'd the course ; 
 It strangely chanced luat, from the threatening wave 
 Hastening amain his foundering bark to save, 
 He met, even in the North's tumultuous surge, 
 A haven where the billows ceased to urge ; 
 A surer refuge from their rolling rage. 
 In polar ice a firmer anchorage. 
 
 [3] 
 
62 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Tlian ever yet befell, in storm or strife, 
 The wild experience of his watery life. 
 
 Hemm*d thus, an age went by, and they were found. 
 Where Lapland fishers rove their wintry round, 
 A floating tomb : — ^There the dead Chieftain sate, 
 His hand and pen on the last dreary date. 
 Even as the frost had tix'd him to liis fate : — 
 The crew were there, and, faithful beyond death. 
 Strained at the task as in the act of breath ; 
 In posture as when first the icy spell 
 Sudden on their collapsing features fell ; 
 Seized and congeal'd the current of their blood, 
 And fixM them in their human attitude ; — • 
 No record left for pity's tear to atone ; 
 Soul-harrowing thought ! — all but their end unknown. 
 
 But it might seem, when Fame's wild flights impel. 
 That Enterprise works with a subtle spell. 
 Of power man's natural fears to all disarm ; 
 That Fate hath lures, and Death some hideous charm : — 
 For, lo ! scarce rescued from a polar tomb. 
 Hosts, aU-regardless of each former doom, [4] 
 
 At the dark counsels of an aimless dream 
 Launch forth anew, and seize the unfinished theme. 
 
 And many a Chief the arduous course maintained, 
 Sequent, where Death in all his terrors reign'd : 
 In the same path, beneath the very sky 
 Dark with the doom of hapless Willoughby, 
 Barentz and stern resolve went forth to earn 
 Undying fame, bat — never to return. 
 
 Great Hudson thus, he whose exploring soul 
 First sought the frozen waste that bars the Pole, — '^ 
 Through those strange seas, whose icy current flows 
 From black Spitzbergen's cliffs to Zembla's snows, 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTEBFBISE. 
 
 I, 
 
 m. 
 el, 
 
 m: — 
 
 fl 
 
 k-] 
 
 Steer'd forth, till, by the elemental force 
 O'er-awed, to other climes he shaped his course ; 
 Prom other seas to educe his fame, and rear 
 His greatness in another hemisphere. [5] 
 
 But, in each favourite project doom'd to feel 
 The frequent pangs of disappointed zeal, 
 Britain forsook with sighs that faithless main 
 Where Barentz fell, and Hudson toilM in vain. 
 
 And what might humbler daring have availed, [6] 
 Hopeless, where Fotherby ard Baffin failed? — 
 Phipps, though for him great Nelson first displa/d 
 His young unyielding spirit, shrunk disma/d? 
 And memorable Cook ail-idly phed 
 The keel that plough^ through every sea beside ? — 
 Where Buchan's zeal, powerless to circumvent 
 The zeal of the contentious element. 
 Gave to the bla/ his vessel's helpless form. 
 And ran to ice for refuge from the storm : 
 Yet she was saved, and one amidst her band. 
 Whose living name now hngers with his land 
 But as a thought, a trembhng radiance there. 
 The last faint gleam 'midst darkness and despair. 
 
 Where he who tempted the Pole's iciest gale, [7] 
 School'd in the north, the comrade of the whale ; 
 The experienced pilot, self-collected chief, 
 Sa^ious Scoresby held the vain beHef, 
 Barks might be mann'd with energy to probe 
 Within the frost-bound axis of the globe : — 
 Thuswise impress' d, he taught his helm to shape 
 The course that led him where a dreary cape 
 Far in Spitzbergen's midmost isle arose, 
 Naked, and nursed in Winter's lap of snovrs ; 
 Surmounting this, he threw his wondering glance 
 Wide o'er a lonely desolate expanse, 
 
64 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPaiSE. 
 
 Stretching beyond the scope of human ken. 
 Lifeless, that interdicts the steps of men ; — 
 Here, while the bay shoVd how the shore was won, — 
 Its floating glaciers glistening in the sun. 
 Impassive of his beams, — there, vales extend. 
 But of no verdure, to an unknown end ; 
 Beyond the reach of thought, one boundless frost, 
 'Midst crags on crags ilHmitably lost ; 
 A range of death, that sudden seem'd to emerge. 
 As call'd by powerful magic from the surge, 
 Whose idle depths, in slumbering strength serene. 
 Contrast the grandeur of the spectral scene. 
 
 But, as Ambition, pinnacled in power, 
 Becks not of ill in pride's triumphant hour ; — 
 Unmoved, in philosophic thought awhile 
 He ponder'd on the peak of tliat lone isle : — 
 Turning at length, strange fates pursued his feet, [8] 
 The threatening terrors of the steep retreat j 
 Eor lo ! by polar frost's earth-piercing force 
 Bocks from their roots uptorn, in ceaseless course. 
 With perilous speed now swept the ascent, and now 
 Bounded impetuous to the abyss below. 
 
 Hurl'd thus with wild mischance, he gain'd the strand 
 All-welcome, and rejoin'd his anxious band : 
 But if death's stillness mark'd the distant height. 
 That strand beneath was living to the sight ; [9] f 
 Fowls of unnumber'd tribes, iu swift alarm 
 Waked from their nestling haunts, a winged swarm. 
 With threatening beak, and moving gesture strove 
 To scare liim from the procreant bed, and cluve 
 The sky, intent in anxious zeal to roam, ^ 
 
 And guard with screams their violated home. 
 
 This was the same stern resolute who steer'd [1 0] 
 Where Beerenberg his stately cone uprear'd, 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 65 
 
 3trand 
 
 h» 
 
 ;io] 
 |] 
 
 Looking o'er ice, eteraal at his side, 
 
 Six thousand feet upon the vassal-tide. 
 
 Here with his fortunes cast on this rade isle. 
 
 Quick Science urged him to unearth the soil. 
 
 Where from its base tower'd forth, through snows sublime, 
 
 The impervious peak, a monument of Time ; — 
 
 When, strange to teU, loud caverns from beneath [11] 
 
 Strike like the hollow sepulchres of death ; 
 
 Volcanic tombs, whose sounding depths declare 
 
 The range of wrathful fires exhausted there. 
 
 But, from the Pole repulsed, lo ! yet again, — [12] 
 Though swept by surges of a furious main. 
 Scourged by the frost, and in the storm's distress, 
 Afar where Greenland's eastern wilderness 
 Breaks from the wave abrupt ;— full time had he. 
 Though hemm'd in ice, all-unconcern'd and free. 
 To read with wrapt Attention's watchful eye 
 The aerial mirage of the polar sky : — 
 There, monstrous forms, thrown from the shapeless ice, 
 Look'd down, Refraction's wondrous artifice ; 
 And while huge bears with lions, side by side, 
 In all life's wonted postures stood descried ; 
 As Eancy work'd her fond creations there. 
 And shaped her baseless fabrics in the air. 
 Ships, from their native element apart. 
 Rose in the void, and mock'd the toils of art ; 
 Wliile wintry piles, aloft in air uprear'd. 
 Changed into works of human skill appeared j 
 Cities in air, bright spires, and stately trees ; 
 The pictured semblance of those icy seas. 
 
 Such scenes by nature's secret genius wrought, 
 SkiU'd well to charm the ocean-wanderer's thought. 
 Would win the observant Scoresby^ and prevail 
 O'er the uninspiring capture of the whale ; 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 ABCnC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 I i 
 
 But dull inglorious schemes perplex'd his soul, [13] 
 Confined his spirit, and forbade the Pole. 
 
 If then Renown such failure still proclaims 
 Link*d to the achievements of her mightiest names ; 
 And tost by tempests, or in ice immured, 
 Each stremi ous chief a fateful course endured ; — 
 Paus'' -ve I — nor rashly let Detraction deem 
 Hudfe. mi ) ai to the amazing scheme; 
 He but idusfe--'-^ his zeal to fiercer skies. 
 And waked his soul to wilder enterprise j 
 To yield in unknown pangs his latest breath. 
 And die mid savage snows an outcast's death. — 
 
 And now wliile Thought pervades, with awe-strurk soul, 
 CUmes where the mystic Genius of the Pole 
 Maintains through meteor-skies a vast survey 
 O'er the wide sphere of his northwestern sway ; 
 Seems to her eye to pass, in great review, 
 A train of Chiefs whom death might not subdue ; 
 Chiefs to whom Time his latest voice shall yield. 
 The immortal warriors of that wintry field. 
 Where still each rock reveals some hero's name. 
 And unremovablv defends his fame. 
 
 But in what numbers shall the Muse relate 
 The darksome horrors of those realms of fate, 
 "Where venturous hosts, — through every howling blast 
 Wakes a wild warning from the fearful past, — 
 Demand of unrelenting seas and skies. 
 On homeless shores, the grave of Enterprise. 
 
 Yet stamp'd too sure on fell Disaster's page. 
 Those piteous victims of the polar rage. 
 Whose bones lay scatter'd o'er a lonely isle. 
 Sport of each storm, the waste's unburied spoil, — 
 Can Record fail in her sad verse to blend 
 Knight's lingering fate, with Barlow's lonely end ? [14] 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ABCnO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 67 
 
 3] 
 
 wksoul, 
 
 Ig blast 
 
 id? [14] 
 v.] 
 
 Must BaSn, deem'd unworthy of her strain, 
 In dust, unhonour'd by the Muse, remain ? 
 Or shall oblivious Time forget to tell 
 How Davis struggled, and how Hudson fell ?-— 
 Ah, no ! — while rolls the ocean of the north 
 To Atlantic depths his icy tribute forth. 
 In their own seas their greatness shall abide. 
 While Pity trembling tells how Hudson died. — 
 Ill-fated chief I e'en now I seem to hear 
 The vain behowlings of thy dreadful prayer j 
 I seem to see thy wan and withered form 
 Holding dread converse with the unheeding storm ; 
 Cast by the hand of causeless Mutiny 
 On Famine's shores, unpitied there to die 
 In wastes without a grave, exposed and bar^ 
 To the rude buffets of the piercing air ; 
 Thrust forth unfriended, helpless, and alone, 
 No tear, no sigh, to answer to thine own ; 
 And to that couch of death so cold and low 
 Hears'd by the storm, and coffin'd in the snow. 
 
 Heart-rending doom ! — ^yet watchful Heaven decreed 
 Fit retribution for the hateful deed ; 
 A hideous fate that rebel-crew befell, 
 Earn'd, as the wages of their fierceness, well ; 
 And, as their leader met no conunon doom. 
 No common pangs pursued them to the tomb. 
 
 But for that leader's fame, his great career 
 Waked to like fame fuU many a brave compeer ; 
 And in that vague and chartless ocean, where 
 Zeal still impell'd thrice-baffled Frobisher, — 
 Baffled till, summoned to a British main. 
 To curb the encroaching insolence of Spain, 
 He bore on polar fame's auspicious breeze 
 His conquering greatness to his native seas ; — [15] 
 
68 
 
 ABCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Where Weymouth crossed that fearful hurricane 
 
 That took into the skies the upHfted main, 
 
 And, of his fairest hopes at once despoiled, 
 
 Eeturn'd to tell how vainly he had toilM ; — 
 
 Where Fox, disma/d, shrunk from Adventure's field ; 
 
 And f "ost compelled long-sutfering James to yield ; — 
 
 In that still-secret sphere, where Davis sought 
 
 The bold renown by Baffin's genius wrought, — 
 
 Parry achieved an everlasting name ; 
 
 While darkness broods o'er Frankhn's awful fame. 
 
 Steadfast in soul, and of that patient will 
 'Midst seas or shores of ice ascendant still. 
 The amphibious Back pursued his huge career [16] 
 Of wonder, and achieved his triumphs here. 
 Closed in on every side by gaping death. 
 The incumbent iceberg, and the floods beneath. 
 Even as the firm-set rock the surge awaits. 
 He stood unchanged before the threatening fates ; 
 There as he view'd each ponderous ruin hurl'd. 
 Engines of death to strike him from the world. 
 They fail'd to awake his terrors, or control 
 His course, and turn him from the all-wish' d-for goal ; — 
 Swift in decision, his bold thought contriv'd 
 The dreadful rescue, or the shock outliVd ; 
 Look'd calmly on while death involved the scene, 
 Where, but for one wild moment, he had been ; 
 Or strangely brave, his trembling bark upbore 
 On the ice-breakers of the impervious shore. — 
 But whence his armour, to outlive the shock, 
 And brave with changeless brow the impending rock ? — 
 The majesty of mind that inly reigns, 
 Great in endurance, where no hope remains ; 
 That strength of soul which scorns destruction's power, 
 And waits, unmoved, the issue of the hour. 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 69 
 
 eW; 
 
 B. 
 
 [16] 
 
 s; 
 
 le, 
 
 rock? — 
 
 ^'a power, 
 v.] 
 
 With him erewliile allied, one hapless one, 
 Whom with his comrades fortune left undone. 
 Within the shores of such repulsive seas 
 Sinking by daily famine's slow degrees, 
 Was sudden struck to death, and bleeding fell 
 (A savage murderer's curse his dreadful knell), 
 A victim, from all aid save Heaven's retired, 
 Yet Heaven was at his side when Hood expired. [17] 
 
 Here too, companion of his faltering strength. 
 Throughout the same wild desert's dreary length, 
 True Bichardson, a name to fear unknown, [18] 
 
 Gain'd from his wondrous walk a dread renown j 
 That wondrous walk of woe, where kindred claim 
 Links him to Franklin, and terrific fame. 
 
 But here, by dint of native hardihood, 
 The persevering Ross his fame pursued ; [19] 
 
 Hither impell'd with all the magnet's force. 
 To trace that subtle wonder to its source. 
 Noble research ! — but, in this boon secure. 
 Wilds yet unsought his wandering steps allure ; 
 Eanges till then left with their snows alone, 
 Pass'd by and shunn'd ; wide trackless wastes unknown ; 
 Realms by Discovery's reaching steps untrod. 
 Or walk'd unseen save by the eye of God : — 
 Sad shores from which the gaze of wandering thought 
 Returns unbless'd, with the wild fancy fraught. 
 That in the night, that night without a morn. 
 That wintry night from which no day is born, — 
 There, all-remote from nature's sympathies. 
 Strange shades of ill howl out their hopeless cries. 
 Forbid to unveil their terrors, or betray 
 Their ghastly shapes to unpermitted day. 
 
 'Twas on such shores, — whose wintry wilds expand, 
 Lost, lifeless, void, like some forsaken land 
 Cast forth unfinished from creation's hand,— 
 
70 
 
 ARCTIC ENT£IIFRISE, 
 
 |i 
 
 Twas amid such, urged by adventurous pride, 
 
 With earth-controlling Science for his guide, 
 
 Tor her he watch'd the Heavens, and probed the soil. 
 
 Threaded each shore, and glean'd one priceless spoil : — 
 
 He was his own strange exile, and 'twas much 
 
 To leave fair Albion's genial clime for such ; 
 
 But lo 1 where hardiest nature through the strife 
 
 Of storm lives but by struggling for the life, 
 
 Tar from the shelter of her humblest home. 
 
 It was his choice, or fate perchance, to roam ; 
 
 Till, famished from the shore, he sought again * 
 
 A strange yet less inhospitable main. 
 
 But he had cleft those seas before, and been, [20] 
 Where Greenland, with a fix'd unaltered mien, 
 Strikes hke a phantom through the misty scene ; 
 Had traced those waves where Disco's peaks arise 
 In high-ascending glaciers to the skies ; 
 And onward still, where fleeting summers smile 
 On the cold brow of Waygat's ice-girt isle ; 
 The same dark wintry round had wanderM o'er. 
 Where bold research with Baffin steer'd of yore ; 
 Even to those shores. Adventure's utmost bound, [21] 
 Where, wrapt in ever-brooding mist profound. 
 Deserts unnamed, that eye hath never scann'd. 
 Lost in the gloom, their lifeless depths expand. 
 
 When vague ambition or of quest, or fame. 
 Or some strange impulse in effect the same, 
 Had urged this gifted rover to repair. 
 In former flights of wild adventure, there, — 
 Such had he gain'd ; and as he grasp'd the scene. 
 And pausing, mused with curious thought between ; 
 New marvels, lo ! in human guise array' d. 
 Aping that guise, his wondering glance invade ; 
 
 [part v.] 
 
AKCTIC ENTERPUISE. 
 
 71 
 
 Girt with the mimicry of sword and lance, 
 
 Hostile at first, strange pigmy forms advance, 
 
 Till mutual-friendly tendency impedes 
 
 Suspicion's growth, and mutual faith succeeds ; — 
 
 Yet, swa/d by influence of some secret fear, — 
 
 As this strange-seen Kabloona-Chief drew near, 
 
 Stretching the proffered hand, — they shunuM the touch, 
 
 Deem'd him of other worlds, and fear'd as such : 
 
 This doubt dispelled, and amity renew*d. 
 
 An uncouth scene of savage joy ensued ; 
 
 Hurl'd hastily aside the spear and knife, 
 
 Loud glee succeeds to silent threats of strife ; 
 
 Sudden from various haunt, on either hand, 
 
 Wild tribes emerge to meet the "White-man's band ; 
 
 While dogs, a sturdy phalanx, from behind. 
 
 With earnest looks and suasive gestures join'd 
 
 The advance, till all, a strange tumultuous rout. 
 
 Pour forth their throats, and mingle in the shout. 
 
 This done, they accost in signs the stranger-crew. 
 
 And now the stately vessel they review, 
 
 Believed some huge and sky-bom bird, that brings 
 
 The wondrous White-man on his mighty wings. 
 
 Thus oft-renewed, with welcome quaint and strange 
 They greet the invader of their snowy range ; 
 While still the long-fix'd silent gaze of awe 
 Bespoke their wondering sense of all they saw. 
 
 At length our chief, all-anxious to expand 
 His gi "at sea-search that may not seek the land. 
 With many a yearning-wishful thought consigii'd 
 To Heaven these abject sons of human-kind, — 
 And looks that left them to the Unseen Care, 
 To stem the gloom, and breathe the bitter air 
 Of vast unsociable deserts, where 
 Gre^t Nature feeds them still, and finds their fare ; — 
 
n 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 Nature who, watchful, in her various plan. 
 To endear and fit the climate to the man, — 
 Assigning to the "Arctic Highlander " 
 The adapted power, and instinct true to her. 
 Bears from her frozen lap, in loneliest woe. 
 This utmost child, — the Savage of the snow. 
 
 Pondering on all, he tum'd him from the steep. 
 And sought again the far-conducting deep; 
 There was his natural range, his art's command ; 
 For, though he walk'd with Science on the land. 
 He own'd the deep, and on its moving plain 
 His natural sphere of action f(»und again : 
 Yet was he no vain recreant, at his ease 
 Amid the halcyon calms of summer seas ; 
 Eeputed bold. Experience spoke his worth, [5J2] 
 And Navigation ownM him in the north. 
 
 And now we trace him through the waves again, [23] 
 Till, lock'd by frost within the polar main. 
 Bound him in vain portentous Si jes conspire 
 With wastes in Arctic winter's grim attire ; 
 Famine and all the assembled Fates combine 
 In vain to shake him from his grer + design. 
 In terrors trained, mirsed in adventurous deed. 
 No fears appal him, and no toils impede ; 
 He thinks what feats shall follow from his schemes. 
 What great reahty confirm his dreams ; 
 And bravely thinks in what wild way the thought 
 Might be achieved, the arduous course outwrought ; 
 Shapes the projected search, with zeal anew, 
 Breath'd from himself, inspires his drooping crew. 
 And prompts them by his own example's force 
 To anticipate with hope the wish'd-for course ; 
 Nor halts he here, but, in that hope's delay. 
 Wears in contriving thought the sullen day, 
 
 [part v.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 And frequent throws his wistful glances o'er 
 The unpierced snows of Boothia's voiceless shore. 
 
 But now each new-bom energy awakes 
 That from fresh arduous iU fresh action takes ; 
 And though a novice in that wintry art. 
 Wherein experienced patience might impart 
 Schemes best-devised to mitigate his doom, 
 Urge the dull hour, and cheer the listless gloom, — 
 As forecast shapes his coming destinies. 
 Sagacity each quick resource supplies : 
 Lives in his soul the instinct that presides. 
 Endears his crew, encourages, and guides ; 
 And, here within an icy prison bound. 
 Beguiles by Eecreation's busy roimd 
 Diurnal, and Instruction's various lore, 
 (The task afloat, the exciting quest ashore). 
 Their languoT*, till, each day of labour past. 
 He yields the high-sanction'd day of rest at last ; 
 Lifts them to brighter worlds, and strives to engage 
 Their thoughts in holy Truth's immortal page : 
 But with their zeal his fervour he combines. 
 And shares the discipline his rule enjoins ; 
 Schools from himself, bids his example preach. 
 And practises the creed his doctrines teach. 
 
 Thus, four long years of wintry solitude. 
 The infuriate north enduring Ross withstood ; 
 Yet, caU'd by Science from his floating home. 
 Or urg'd by importuning want to roam. 
 For many a lingering night, and irksome day. 
 Midst the rude terrors of the obstructed bay. 
 He traced through seas of ice his tedious way ; 
 Eked out the shore beneath the incumbent floe. 
 And sought his nightly slumber in the snow ; 
 ReneVd each search, yet came, with each return, 
 Untutor'd still in what he wish'd to learn, 
 
 78 
 
h ! 
 
 i 
 
 hi f 
 
 ii 
 
 H 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 The bearings of that mystic channel where 
 His daring prow might pass, if sv. h there were. 
 
 Thus did he lengthen out his darksome date, 
 Till, seeking vainly still to extricate 
 His long-embarrass'd bark, Eesolve arose. 
 To change his lot, perchance, for wilder woes. 
 'Twas a fierce thought that waked such fierce resolve. 
 Whose acting might a fiercer fate involve. 
 Yet 'twas resolved ; immoveably beset 
 That bark, the dire emergency was met : — 
 They duly fitted and weU stored each boat, 
 (As well as may be with their means remote). 
 Then left her, yet returned once more to grieve. 
 Yet, sailor-like, they took a cheering leave ; [24] 
 Nail'd the famed colours to her mast, and gave 
 Her helpless strength to an inglorious grave. 
 
 This done, swift as enfeebled limbs might urge. 
 They stemmed the terrors of the frozen surge ; 
 Haul'd up on shore, or what seem'd shore to be, 
 "Where all was one with the all-changeless sea ; 
 Thence through that force, despai/s awakened power. 
 They work'd for many a long and lonely hour 
 The irksome sledge, sole vehicle of all 
 Instinct had saved, a priceless hoard though small ; 
 But Heaven befriended, and they calmly knew 
 The Heaven that tries sustains His creatui'es through : 
 This was no vain reliance, nd they found 
 Most succour there when most their fortunes frown'd. 
 Girt -with this Heaven-dependant faith, they traced 
 A strand, with this sole guidance through the waste, 
 A strand whose shores a plenteous spoil unrol ; 
 Not vainly did they reach this welcome goal. 
 Though helpful now, this was the same sad strand 
 Where wreck had been, even by a chiefs command ; [25] 
 
 [part v.] 
 
 
AACnC ENTEBPAISE. 
 
 75 
 
 The same where that great Leader, who propell'd 
 His prow the furthest through the icy field. 
 Despairing hence his shattered bark to save 
 From a wild ocean's all-insatiate grave. 
 Consigned her to the deep, whose savage wrath 
 Swept her, but strewed her treasure on its path.— 
 
 Quite outcasts now, with the mere life adrift, 
 (That Nature's saddest yet most cherish'd gift). 
 They ponder'd well what scheme they might devise 
 To save that life from the relentless skies ; 
 Nor ponder'd long, such rovers are adroit ; 
 They raised a dwelling, 'twas no mean exploit : [26] 
 The sides of canvass, and the roof the same,, 
 Strain'd with extended cordage, form'd its frame ; 
 Little lack'd they beyond, for, with these two, 
 Canvass and cord, what will not sailors do ? 
 But casual drift, to save them from despair. 
 The fragment of the " Fury's" wreck was there j 
 And as it chanc'd, such as avail'd them most. 
 As by design, lay scatter'd on that coast. 
 
 Housed thus, they found full leisure now to shape 
 The purpose of their next and last esoapt : 
 But how ? — rhat hope to mortals thus bereft. 
 What scheme, what manner of escape was left ? 
 Evon such a scheme as might be mutely plann'd 
 In extreme danger by a desperate band ; 
 And boats they had to await, as it might be. 
 The chance of time, and changes of the sea. 
 
 Launch'd forth anew, a rude tumultuous mass 
 Of gathering ice forbade their prows to pass ; 
 When, changed the helm, their alter'd course but bore 
 To the steep terrors of a threatening shore : 
 Now on this si.ie, and now on that they range, 
 As with the shifting winds their prospects change ; 
 
78 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPBISE. 
 
 : li! 
 
 i'ii; 
 
 II 
 
 i( ! 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 m\' .' 
 
 Till, gain'd the expected sea, one rigid strait. 
 Cold as their hopes, anu stubborn as their fate, 
 Relentlessly consigned their failing strength 
 To a fourth winter's melancholy length. 
 
 Shut from this latest prospect of release, 
 That fed their hopes, and gave their spirits peace ; 
 Nought now remainM but to retrace their course. 
 And glean subsistence, as a last resource. 
 From that sad harvest they had sought before, 
 Thrown from the sea, and scattered on the shore, — 
 A boon. Heaven-sent perchance, to compensate 
 Parr/s disaster, and the For/s fate. 
 
 Swift as the thought that urged, tne bark was stetir'd. 
 When, to tiiie guiding instinct true, appear^ 
 A sea whose bay unshelter'd seemed the most. 
 Within an inlet yet of whose wild coast. 
 The frost relented a brief space to save 
 Their prows, unequal to that wintry wave. 
 
 Beyond the highest fo(/-steps of the tide 
 Each bark safe-moor'd, thcv gather to decide 
 Their final purpose; the^f- uc \ld He but one 
 Midst fates that men unaiu.. usly shun. 
 
 Food they had stored, a scanty competence 
 Just for the life ; but was there life from hence 
 To urge, sledge-drawn, amid the sweeping drift. 
 This well-saved hoard of not untimely thrift ? — 
 Had they the vigour, wasted as they were 
 By want, disease, long suffering, and despair ? — 
 
 This Fury, she the ill though aptly named. 
 Yet of ill omen, though her deeds were famed ; 
 With living zeal late thronging round her deck, 
 Adventurers boast, — She had been doomM a wreck ; 
 She had beei... doomM by her united band. 
 And cast, abandoned, on a nameless strand; 
 
 [PAUT v.] 
 
 .-l-r-^-^plV* ,>-»■» ' . Tf S . ■■ 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 n 
 
 
 Condemned, alas I inglorious fate ! to lie, 
 The victim of remote necessity. 
 With all the wonders of her oaken strength, 
 Wallowing and writhing in each billow's length : 
 O'er her the waves and winds, with wanton toil. 
 Wrought all their furies, but threw back the spoil ; 
 And year by year her fabric passed away 
 Throughout the deep, her spoil witliin the bay, 
 Wbere now this band of patient wretches sought 
 Their food, and lived but in the hopeful thought. 
 But thougli persistent zeal possess'd that crew. 
 And each was calm in hope, and all were true ; 
 Though each was still the encourager of each. 
 Far from their feet lay yet this precious beach; 
 Too far, methinks, mid such a host of ill, 
 For such to attain, whatever their force of will : — 
 For men brought down to gaunt starvation's verge, 
 'Twere hard such ponderous toil such lengths to urge ; 
 Yet need it was, as the last artifice 
 Of famishing nature ; for the surging ice,— 
 Though the tide favoured, and the wind was fair, — 
 Forbade all further watery access there. 
 
 Mutely they braved the toil, yet oft again 
 Tum'd them all-vainly-wisliful to the main, 
 If to descry some kindly-opening lane 
 Pierce the dissevered mass of ice, and yield 
 Promise of transit through that stubborn field ; 
 For such oft-wakening Hope might vainly ask. 
 And so they plied their melancholy task. 
 The track was rude o'er many a shapeless mile. 
 With nought their fainting spirits to beguile ; 
 Yet from the straining of each anxious frame. 
 The concert of each struggle wUdly came. 
 
 % A^ 
 
ii 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 I 
 
 78 
 
 AECnO BNTEHPRISE. 
 
 Even from the efforts of their feebleness, 
 A power to stead them in their deep distress. 
 Though leagues of white-strown desert still deny 
 The haven of their wintry destiny.— 
 
 Arrived at length, and in their lonely tent 
 Coop'd close, athwart that dreary continent 
 They eyed, forlorn, the daily-deepening snow. 
 And heard the blast along the desert blow ; 
 And sorely felt that slender tent might yield 
 But little refuge from the wintry field : 
 Yet through the scheming instincts of distress. 
 The very snows that swept the wilderness — 
 Even as the seas cast with unconscious haste 
 The banks that bar them fi'om a wider waste,— 
 Wrought of themselves a refuge, while the wind 
 Tor vantage closed the drifting storm behind. 
 
 Skreen'd thus by winter from the winter's rage, 
 They rested from their weary pilgrimage ; 
 "When, dire discovery 1 the precious store. 
 That from the Puiy's wreck had reach'd the shore, 
 Untimely chaiice ! swept by the ruthless tide. 
 Its fulne ■is now, when need was most, denied j 
 Storms too forbade their pastimes, till at last. 
 All joy with long-enduring patience past, 
 The gathering symptoms of that dire disease, [27] 
 The scourge of Uves left wretched on the seas, 
 A.ppaii'?i the chieftain and his comrades, who. 
 As one llh went, each deem'd his own was due. 
 
 Yet all rifoviding Heaven new hope instils 
 Even in the midst of all these gathering ills j 
 And while throughout meek Resignation reigns. 
 Unshaken trust in God each soul sustaiQs. 
 
 With this bland influence planted m the breast; 
 Brave yet resign' d, unsliriuking though distressed ; 
 
 [PAET v.] 
 
ABCTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 They watch'd with anxious eye that rigid main, 
 Till they might see its aspect change again, 
 Their pinnace launch, and let the piteous sail 
 Bare its expanding bosom to the gale : — 
 As such were seemly hopes, approved of Heaven, 
 They found to such a due fulfilment given ; 
 Such hoped-for ends calm patience brings, in spite 
 Of thickening evil, to the lowliest phght. 
 
 But from each hope matured fresh hopes arise. 
 As stars succeed on stars, and fill the skies ; 
 And as those stars shine from the wintry air 
 Brightest, so hope shines brightest from despair. 
 
 Restored at length each enervated frame, 
 With a new race of hopes new efforts came : 
 They join their counsels, clear the obstructive ice. 
 Where paths the readiest to the waves entice j 
 Fly from their fortunes on that homeless realm, 
 And tempt once more the fortunes of the helm ; 
 Yielding that spot with all its anguish past 
 To the white desert, and the howling blast. — 
 
 Now day by day they labour'd on the deep. 
 Yielding to each hard day the hours of sleep ; 
 But adverse winds their struggling craft detain. 
 Till want returns with all her hateful train : 
 Five days on Expectation's fruitless fare 
 They fed, and battled with this fresh despair ; 
 The sixth, a small speck, magnified by hope, 
 Assured too through the expectant telescope. 
 Uprose, and grew into a goodly bark, 
 As it approach' d, and day broke through the dark. 
 At length the electric sound, " a sail" — " a sail !** 
 Roused up the slumbering crew with welcome hail ; 
 Confusion strange woke with them, a wild joy. 
 Mingled with fear, that ever-prompt alloy; 
 
 79 
 
80 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Then was a scene such as to none might be, 
 
 Save euch as languish, and on such a sea ; 
 
 And long and loud that cry of joy was heard, 
 
 Though veering breezes kept their hopes deferred : 
 
 At length a steadier power propelFd the gale. 
 
 And tjie bark passed beneath a crowded sail ; 
 
 But in her wake another hove in view. 
 
 To tantalize their souls with hopes anew ; 
 
 This too had left them desolate, for lo ! 
 
 Full on her course the favouring breezes blow ; 
 
 But while with all her sail this bark up-bore, 
 
 A calm came, as from Heaven, and urged the oar : — 
 
 They row'd amain, each icy hindrance clear'd. 
 
 Till the mute signals of their woe appeared. 
 
 Beseeching from the deep the stranger's aid ; 
 
 And not in vain those signals were displayed. 
 
 The bark hove to, a boat was lowered, they met : 
 
 Inquiry waked inquiry, for as yet 
 
 Each knew not of the other ; but the word 
 
 Of want from their worn looks was deeply heard. 
 
 Past each restraint and newness of surprise, 
 That quell such greetings to a mute surmise ; 
 The Stranger thus : — " I am from British land ; [28] 
 My bark a whaler, late in the command 
 Of a long-lost and much-lamented Chief, 
 Tor whom my instructions are to bear relief. 
 If yet he lives, yet not to you the less. 
 If such be, as it seems, your deep distress." 
 Reply was needless, volumes could not teach 
 More than this short yet heart-consoling speech ; 
 And so, if but to unravel the disguise 
 That still hung o'er their names and destinies, — 
 Reply was none, save such as briefly bless ; 
 Nor hint of aid, nor utterance of distress. 
 
 [part v.] 
 
 €t 
 
 tt 
 
 t€ 
 
 ti 
 
 l( 
 
 Uii 
 
ARCTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 81 
 
 [28] 
 
 Such pathos lived awhile j but when it passed, — 
 Even as the full-charged tempest falls at last, — 
 In one wild burst, one full congenial flow 
 Of mingling pity, wonder, joy, and woe, 
 Their feelings fell ; while thus the chief replied 
 In terms Emotion might no longer hide : 
 
 " Not less to us, thou say'st, if such our grief 
 " As it appears, than to that long-lost Chief, 
 " Deliverance comes, as if I even were 
 " That hapless same, — I, whom thou rescuest here ; — 
 " Even such I am, 'tis scarce less strange than true, — 
 " Behold the piteous aspect of my crew I" — 
 
 The Stranger thus of our lost Chief assured. 
 That there he stood through all his ills endured, — 
 Joy rent the air : by many a ready hand 
 The ropes were mounted, and the yards were manned ; 
 And those ice-rocks re-echo' d such a roar 
 As nd er that distant ocean heard before. 
 
 Arrived on board, a fond confusion rose; 
 For there were many to redress their woes. 
 And feed those piteous guests, and fit them for repose. 
 Woke too that war of question and reply, — 
 The peaceful strife of mutual sympathy, — 
 Such as such friends, long-sever'd by the rage 
 Of seas and storms, in generous conflict wage. 
 
 At length each care with each overwearied breast. 
 Each anxious doubt, and dread suspense at rest ; 
 Lapp'd in their floating couch, its varied world 
 True to the eye, the plastic dream unfurrd. 
 Lo ! now each late-predominant mischance 
 Holds them fast-fetter'd in the cruel trance ; — 
 'Tis not enough existent ills to mourn. 
 They haunt the slumbers, and in dreams return : — 
 
 G 
 
 IT v.] 
 
82 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 ill 
 
 i 
 
 ! yi 
 
 \ii 
 
 Again they rove, by wayward thought beguil'd. 
 Stem the rude floe, and pace the cheerless wild ; 
 Sleep sends them back, the waste restores us grief, 
 And Fate still shuts them from the sure relief. 
 
 But brief this anguish ; fickle as the gale 
 Quick Fancy veers, and brighter skies prevail : 
 Rescue again displays her sail, and hark ! 
 The shout of triumph from the Stranger's bark ; 
 The impatient question, and the glad reply. 
 And tumult of that sea-festivity. 
 With all those thousand nameless joys that rise 
 Midst Welcome's unexpected ecstasies. 
 Reacted now, — though such as ye might deem 
 The crude creations of the shaping dream, — 
 Were yet events, and followed as they s^em. — 
 
 To such strange shores unresting Search betrays 
 His venturous prow, and such the price he pays ; 
 Science from such metes out her doubtful spoil. 
 And such the men that mingle for the toil. 
 
 Peace-wearied men, who, slumbering on a name. 
 Waken at length to feed a nobler flame ; 
 Who, trained to deeds of hardihood and strife, 
 Love, like their element, a boisterous life : 
 But having fought their fight, and stemmed their storm. 
 Still Phantom-Fame (unalter'd save in form. 
 The Enchantress still as when her glittering car 
 Bore them triumphant from the ranks of war), 
 Cloth'd in new glory, with resistless beams 
 Haunts their seclusion, and invades their dreams. 
 
 They have served well their country's cause, have striven 
 To uphold her strength by blood profusely given ; 
 Have saved her traffic from War's wanton sweep. 
 And lived but as her champions on the deep ; — 
 
 [part v.] 
 
 « wwmm!.Mj»B. ' . ' JO Tg iiJi !gi 
 
ARCTIO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 83 
 
 storm, 
 
 ^e striven 
 
 IT v.] 
 
 They have been such ; 'tis told in many a scar : 
 But peace that grows from long convincing war, 
 Sinks to a settled calm, whose joys serene 
 Pall on the soul that loves the battle-scene : 
 Yet, schooled from youth in strife's exciting toil, 
 The restless spirit droops but for awhile ; 
 The war-field closed, new-opening fields arise, 
 New passions kindle, and new deeds surprise ; 
 And they wlio riskM the energies of youth. 
 On hostile floods, before the cannon's mouth, — 
 Their occupation gone, their hopes destroyed. 
 Their fame a burden, and their age a void, — 
 They, — not to waste life's yet-remaining lease 
 In the soft lap of an inglorious peace, — 
 Fly to the flag, that spell of powerfid sway. 
 The ruling passion of their earlier day ; 
 Yet waken'd in wild Hope's adventurous mood. 
 Scorn the dull track of ocean long-subdued. 
 Taught by a new ambition to contemn 
 Its yielding billows as no path for them. 
 
 In Ocean's torrid depths dark fates abound. 
 But darker far his polar paths surround ; 
 Fates manifold, wild risks ; the risk to please. 
 Or punish restive crews, not least of these : — 
 'Tis here the chief holds o'er a powerful band 
 A spell of dread, a dangerous command. 
 But he, — though sent from boyhood to the deep. 
 Prom fond maternal tenderness \ > keep 
 Control o'er crews, and issue laws to each. 
 Almost as soon as Nature gives him speech, — 
 Himself to Rigour's peremptory rule 
 Inured, a pupil of no partial school. 
 He loves the ship's stem discipline, and comes 
 To affect its yoke, even as a child his home's ; — 
 
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,84 
 
 AKCnO ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 And should his fate, through skies of polar wrath. 
 
 Urge him to trace Adventure's lonely path, 
 
 "Walk seas of arduous ice, or ply the helm 
 
 Through straits that bar earth's utmost-wintry realm, — 
 
 Not of that recreant instinct that inclines 
 
 To evade the rigour his command enjoins. 
 
 The Chief, yet cheerful comrade, he beguiles 
 
 The tedious hour by sharing in its toils. 
 
 Deeming it with his crew the wisest way 
 
 By his example to enforce his sway. — 
 
 From such he sees his countiy's greatness grown. 
 
 And on that country's greatness builds his own : 
 
 What though for her Traffic unships his stores, 
 
 Cull'd from the travers'd globe's remotest shores ; 
 
 Though distant monarchs to her call attend. 
 
 Curb their vast views, and at her bidding bend ; 
 
 Though o'er ^oh sphere her conquering banners wave, 
 
 Her armaments a hundred oceans lave ; — 
 
 *Tis not enough : — ^while seas unquell'd proclaim 
 
 New fields, and fresh incentives to his fame ; 
 
 Where'er Earth's round, or Ocean's wide expanse 
 
 Tempts him to steer, his fearless prows advance : — 
 
 Arm'd, in the conflict or of flood or field. 
 
 With native energy untaught to yield ; 
 
 He leaves a home with all its sacred ties, 
 
 A British home with all its sympathies ; 
 
 To waste in fruitless toils his honoured breath. 
 
 And vainly struggle with disastrous death. — 
 
 " Britain," he cries, " my great, my favour'd home I 
 " Thdu, sovereign deem'd, where'er the billows roam 1 
 " 111 art thou styled the Mistress of the seas ; \ 
 
 " Thy flags alUidly-boastftd flout the breeze ; 
 * With this great deed of enterprise undone, 
 '* 19till set at aaught the trophies thou hast won ; 
 
 [PAET v.] 
 
ABCnO ENTEEPBISE. 
 
 85 
 
 " For while thine ocean-triumphs lack this crown, 
 " Vain are thy vaunts, unfinished thy renown \" — 
 
 And shall a mean philosophy prevail 
 O'er deeds that nobly dare, and greatly fail ? 
 Or lives that recreant spirit would instil 
 The scrupulous fears of his own abject will ? 
 Inspire dark doubts, and to a cold control 
 Confine the noblest impulse of the soul ?— • 
 Is there would curb his country's enterprise. 
 That source whence all her mightiest deeds arise ? 
 Would cramp her native energies, and tame 
 To mercenary flights her towering fame? 
 Qudl her high hopes, and bid to glow no more 
 The patriot's ardour, and the poef s lore ? — 
 
 Great with such thoughts, and in such visions blest, 
 Britannia's genius animates his breast : — 
 " Yet," — he exclaims, as with returning glance 
 He looks back from his course of stormy chance 
 On that proud shore where all his hopes incline, — 
 " This conquest yet, my country, shall be thine !" 
 
86 
 
 lAN^^' 
 
 0^0^' 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 " His name was added to the glorious roll 
 Of those who search the stona>surrouaded ?ole.' 
 
 Byeoit. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The desolate aspect of Polar scenery ; possesses yet a charm for 
 British hardihood and adyenture. Espedition of Farbt for Northwest- 
 em discovery. — Intercourse with the Exquimaux ; their manners and 
 peculiarities, described — Free exchange of sentiment, and the benefits 
 thereof. — Breaking up of winter. Allusion to the great land- expedi- 
 tion of FiUNKLiN undertaken simultaneously with that through the 
 polar seas by the former officer. — Love of fame the great inciting 
 cause of such dreadful adventures. Apostrophe to Fame, as the 
 power that stimulates to all great achievements. This influence 
 viewed as actuating the Warrior, the Statesman, the Poet, the Anti- 
 quarian, the scientific Traveller ; Pictures of each :— But, most aspe- 
 cially, the Discoverer of unknown seas and regions. — Episode on the 
 daring ice-expediiion of Parrt towards the Pole. Detailed descrip- 
 tion of the plans of that officer, and the movements and habits of his 
 crew in this memorable enterprise. 
 
 \ 
 
 Borne on wild winds o'er life-deserted strands. 
 Her lonely-devious flight the Muse expands ; 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
ABCTIC ENTEBPBISE. 
 
 87 
 
 For her no more the Aouian fountains play. 
 And the green haQnt jis many, a '9)9pn.away : 
 Joyless inhuman scenes 'tis hens- to scan, 
 Ungenial worlds, new to the steps of .ppau ; 
 Where, midst portentuous fires that nightly rise. 
 Disclosing ghastly deserts to the skies. 
 Fierce from the Pole infuriate Frost prevails ; 
 While Death o'er his own sphere triumphant sails. 
 In fmieral-clouds above, and spreads below, 
 His spectral robe, a winding-sheet of snow. 
 
 Strange climes : — yet here, by bold Ambition led. 
 Cradled in storms, and on the ocean bred. 
 Deaf to disaster's warning voice, and wild 
 As thy own seas. Adventure's reckless child, — 
 Thou com'st, proud Briton, with thy searching sail, 
 To cull fresh fates for Record's tragic tale. — 
 Yet Hope can lend her all-enlivening ray. 
 To charm each dark foreboding fast away ; 
 Can tempt thee from life's cherish'd scenes to part. 
 And leave thy home where thou must leave thy heart : 
 E'en now where icebcxgs rear their wintry piles. 
 From Greenland's cliffs to Georgia's utmost isles, [1] 
 There her bright orb its sLi^sive lusture pours 
 To light thee to Akkoolee's dreary shores ; — 
 There as thy bark ekes out her arduous way. 
 Where thickening hummocks crowd the impervious bay ; 
 Or scours the shore of some untravers'd realm. 
 Strength in her shrouds, and wisdom at her helm ; 
 Rude o'er thy course the impatient billows roll, 
 Yet Perseverance points thee to the Pole ; 
 Fell Winter from his cloud-careering car 
 Sweeps round thy path the snow-storm fast and far •— 
 Yet Fame can there thy darkest thoughts beguile. 
 Chase every care, and cherish every smile : — 
 
V 
 
 88 
 
 ARCnO ENTEBPSISE. 
 
 i I 
 
 But when unwonted furies wake the deep,' 
 
 And the bark trembles in the billowy sweep ; 
 
 When polar blasts their every howl impart, 
 
 And the loud storm is dreadful at thy heart ; 
 
 Shades of high souls that danger never knew. 
 
 In bright idea, start forth to thy view : — ■ ■ '■ 
 
 And lo, thy Chief ! the Ruler of the deck. 
 
 Where throng thy comrades at his well- known beck ; 
 
 Now turl the canvass at his stem command. 
 
 Or ply the rope with ever-ceaseless hand ; — 
 
 His greatness kindles all thy native fire. 
 
 His valour arms thee, and his hopes inspire. 
 
 On then, — still on ! where winds or waves entice. 
 Midst whirling waters, and the crush of ice. 
 The floe round-whcv'jling with its yesty yeU, 
 And the high iceberg's spiry pinnacle ;— 
 And lo ; — ^when Winter wakes his fiercest breeze. 
 And Erost in many a fathom chains the seas ; 
 Quells all the north to one unbroken spell. 
 And warns thee, seaman, to thine inmost cell ;^ 
 Then on Instruction's wing the hour shall fly. 
 While home-fed Eancy lingers pensive by. 
 
 Lo ! now, to fill the ever-empty hour. 
 Thine energetic Chief plies aU his power : 
 .The task, the dance, the drama, and the song, [3] 
 Lend all their charms to drive delay along. 
 Bear up, ye brave ! — soon Summer's smiling face 
 Shall wake the savape to the wandering chase ; 
 Where yon white wall its cheerless aspect yields. 
 Midst lowering mists, and snow-inclouded fields. 
 In his cold dome low sits the untutor'd man. 
 Leans o'er his fire, and hails his crowding clan ; — £3] 
 And he can here some pleasing influence feel. 
 While to his cubs he parts the artless meal ; [4] 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
ABCnC ENTEBFRISE. 
 
 89 
 
 Though cold the block that forms his wintry wall. 
 
 Warm is the heart that feeds and fost«rs all. — 
 
 Poor child of chance ! hath Winter shrunk thy store ? [5] 
 
 Fear not, — there is a Briton at thy door ! 
 
 He thy starved heart with plenty shall regale, 
 
 And share thy sorrows when that plenty fail : 
 
 E'en now he sighs to see thee languish there, 
 
 The piteous victim of a cold despair ; 
 
 Nor vainly sighs, but feeds thee from the fare 
 
 His own hard fate assigns,— a scanty share. — 
 
 Be bold in futh ; let not ingenuous worth 
 
 Wake thy mistrust, or call thy scruples forth : 
 
 Nor spurn the hand not lifted to despoil. 
 
 But bless thy wintry hearth, and cheer thy toil. 
 
 While hopes so fair within his bosom glow, 
 And from the stranger's lips in suasive accents flow ; 
 Such doth he deem the moment to impart 
 The magic of his knowledge, what strange art 
 Works in his winged home, what various hoard 
 That vast and floating storehouse might aflbrd. 
 
 Caught with his tale, and of his charm possessed, [6] 
 The embolden'd savage, eager to be blest. 
 Each after each, becomes the Chieftain's guest : 
 But, as he spreads his unprized treasure forth, 
 (To their admiring gaze a mine of worth). 
 Yielding the unvalued bead, a harmless bribe. 
 To assure the favour of the facile tribe, — 
 The glittering toy the stranger's hand displays, 
 Wakes all their wonder, and commands their praise. 
 
 Prompt thence to infuse with this untutored race. 
 Instructive lore, and civilizing grace. 
 Yet, studious, watch their instincts, nor contemn 
 Nor shock their wanton joy at wonders yet to them, — 
 The Chieftain, as their quickening hopes expand. 
 Shows how the letter'd language of his land 
 
00 
 
 ASCnC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Imparts their Kves, the bitter ills they bear, 
 And how the pencil speaks their features there : 
 But glee intense and rampant wildness thrill 
 Each breast, for further charms expanded still, 
 While to their wondering gaze he bares unfurFd 
 The mimic kingdoms of the pictured world. — 
 At length new gladness wakes the desert round, 
 And the struck cliff beats back the exulting sound. 
 While one, sagacious o'er the rest, betrays [7] 
 
 A sudden memory of the shores and bays 
 In that lone course of storm, wherewith to cope 
 The Chieftain deem'd he might not vainly hope ; — 
 Some insight given might stead that Chieftain best. 
 And the quick impulse trembled in his breast : — 
 A shore is traced, the general hand employ'd. 
 Till the stretched line fades to a nameless void ; 
 Each cedes his skill, the Savage aids the art. 
 Extends the limit, and completes the chart. — 
 
 With hearts responsive to the gracious deed. 
 That saved their hopes, the rallying crew proceed 
 Through straits perplex'd the unerring course to wind, 
 Unerring, though by savage skill defined. 
 
 Yet first the Britons and their cordial Chief 
 Comfort those wanderers, with well-timed relief 
 Feed their exhausted stores, and soothe their grief; 
 Clear their dark views, and in their th<»ughts instil , 
 New schemes, and fresh contrivances of skill : 
 Waked thus, they hail and welcome as their own. 
 New shaping powers, and arts before unknown; 
 Thus schooFd, their rude resources they increase. 
 And gird their homes with implements of peace : — 
 And this from mutual-plighted faith alone. 
 In the kind act, and genial aspect shown ; 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
ABOnO :eMTEBPBlSE. 
 
 01 
 
 Sweet intercourse humane ! that can disann 
 All enmities, — the true, the unfailing charm ! — 
 
 But lo 1 stem Winter, vanquished and forlorn, 
 Yields his long night to Summer's bursting morn ; 
 The glorious Sun sits in his fiery fane, ,- 
 
 To mar the mighty shackles of the main ; 
 There, where his slumbering length the walrus roll'd, 
 Stretch'd o'er a marble ocean, still and cold. 
 Athwart the rifted ice, from shore to shore. 
 Now might ye hear the unprison'd waters roar ; — 
 And where the rock reared its stupendous height. 
 In the wild vest of ever-dazzling white, — 
 Or mists hung sullen on the snows beneath, 
 Balk'd the far ken, and pressed the labouring breath, — 
 There, the quick spirits of the new-bom day 
 Dance in wild joy o'er mountains far away ; 
 There, on the green bank frisks the gladsome deer. 
 And fearless feeds on thymy pasture there. 
 
 Turn, Timoneer, turn then thy stmggling bark. 
 Cut the foam homeward ere the day is dark 1 
 Tempt not the shore, nor leave the faithfil helm 
 For the dark guidance of yon treacherous realm ; 
 Tempt not, — ^nor dare thy fatal step to take 
 By Athabasca's far-sequester'd lake; — 
 For one there is from Quest's adventurous train 
 Lost in that wide and desolate domain : — 
 Ill-fated Chief I amid that world of death. 
 Bare to the drifting of the wintry wreath ! 
 O'er thy devoted form the Furies rage. 
 And winds and snows their ceaseless warfare wage ; 
 To such this hour thy famish'd frame is cast. 
 Or, shroudless soon, s.iall whiten on the waste ; 
 To-night the dreary desert is thy bed. 
 Thy soul is sad, — thy home is with the dead ! — [8] 
 
V 
 
 92 
 
 AECTIO ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 Infatuate Zeal ! — and is there aught so dear 
 To tempt thee forth to thy destruction here ? — 
 Oh, Fame 1 'tis thou canst cheer the darkest day. 
 Thine are the charms that never can decay ! — 
 
 Imposing Power ! thy glories still engage 
 The flights of youth, and gravities of age. — 
 
 When, loos'd to avenge, the Warrior sweeps with speed 
 His conquering fleets, nor seas nor storms impede ; 
 And still triumphant in his single might 
 Dares with redoubled foes the unequal fight ; 
 Is it not, bright Divinity, thy charm 
 That keeps him undisma/d, and nerves his arm ? 
 Thy rising star, whose radiant beauty leads 
 The aspiring breast, and prompts to matchless deeds ? 
 In war's wild dissonance his soul serene 
 Hears but the prelude to that glorious scene. 
 Where Conquest ushers him, the applauded guest, 
 Eenown'd through nations, and by strangers blest. — 
 
 But turn from scenes where Carnage crowns the day 
 With wreaths blood-stain'd, and pause we to survey 
 Thy purer glories in a nobler field. 
 Where gentler arms more genial laurels yield : 
 There young Ambition, restless for thy wreath, 
 Harangues his way, and lavishes his breath;- 
 At first, in accents modest and subdued. 
 He asks no boon beyond his country's good ; 
 But at thy call straight a new grace attires 
 His kindling eloquence, he feels new fires ; 
 Till terms new-nerv'd, at thy high bidding hurl'd. 
 Lay empires prostrate, and convulse the world. — 
 
 Great Fame ! let Hope but whisper thy award, ' 
 Lo ! at his midnight task the sleepless Bard 
 Sits pensive, when the world is all his own. 
 And Thought keeps unobserved her mystic throne ; 
 
 [PAET VI.] 
 
AROnO ENTERPBI8E. 
 
 With worldly cares, and penury oppressed, 
 To him day brings no joy, and night no rest ; 
 Wasteful Excess repels lum from her board, 
 And bloated Wealth locks his unhalloVd hoard ; 
 Yet when thy all-inspiring voice controls, 
 Great joys are his, unknown to earth-bound souls ; 
 Thy genius his impassioned spirit fills. 
 Boldly he copes life's formidable ills ; 
 Benounces Nature's dues, and shuns her cheer, 
 To urge the approach to thy celestial sphere ; 
 Itesolv^d through great exploit to hft on high 
 The exalted name, or in the endeavour die ; 
 Bestless to giasp a visionary prize. 
 And reach a fabled temple in the skies. — 
 
 Eesearch, the uneasy Spirit, anxious still 
 To realize his dreams, and act his wiU, 
 Caught with thy charm, goes busy forth to note 
 Times beyond History's memory remote ; 
 Digs the sunk city, and unearths the pile 
 That looms o*er old Euphrates, or the Nile . — 
 Through palaces entomb'd he mines his way. 
 And in the regal vault disputes the sway ; 
 Where Death hath held, in undisturbed domain, 
 Eor countless years his solitary reign ; 
 Spells the carVd mystery from its page of stone. 
 And lifts to light the monarch and his throne ; 
 And with unwearied zeal would pierce, sublime. 
 Gulfs stiU unfathom'd, to the source of time. — 
 
 Majestic Fame ! thy influence rules the hour ; 
 And all are subject to thy sovereign power ! 
 
 Looking to thee. Science achieves her plans. 
 Unveils new oceans, and new orbs o'erspans : 
 She not content to roam her native fields. 
 And search the hoards cultured Creation yields ; 
 
 08 
 
w 
 
 tl 111! 
 
 94 
 
 ABCnO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 (Though Nature there, indulgent to ex^iand 
 Her mystic secrets with unsparing hand. 
 Enrobed anew in wondrous Art appears, 
 And half-reveals the magic of her spheres :) 
 Contant not in her own attempered isle 
 To watch the Heavens, or delve the various soil ; 
 Not yet content, hies for achievement strange. 
 Beyond the reach of Earth, or Ocean's range. 
 Or breath of life, to attain thy envied wreath. 
 Even through the headlong path that leads to death. 
 
 See I where, thy thirsting Traveller, she stands, 
 Frenzied for thee, midst Lybia's scorching sands I — 
 What though o'er wastes with hideous bones besprent. 
 The grave of Zeal, Death's deadliest continent, 
 The fierce Sirocco sweeps, and wan Disease 
 Walks forth malignant, and infects the breeze;— 
 There, where the unburied relics strew the plain. 
 Fate tells his dreadful tale, but tells in vain ; 
 The horror-teeming wastes no fears infuse. 
 Still there the Enthusiast his fell path pursues. 
 With strenuous step persisting still to crave 
 Thy boon, at once his glory and his grave ! — 
 
 Such strength, all-powerful Fame, thy charms impart, 
 And gain the willing homage of the heart : — 
 Ennobled at thy call. Ambition speeds 
 His various course that to an empire leads ; 
 'Tis but for Time to award the impartial crown. 
 And stamp thy sway an empire of renown. — 
 What though obstructions cross the aspirant's aim. 
 They but provoke resolve, and fan the flame ; 
 What though unseen Mischance his path pursue, ' 
 And wrecks of former failure crowd his view ; 
 What though Detraction underrate his toils. 
 Traduce his efforts, and deride his spoils ; 
 
 [PAET VT.] 
 
ABOnC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 96 
 
 Though hopeless want be added to his woe, 
 And Death triumphant deal the final blow ; — 
 His soul, but passed to a congenial shore 
 Where toil subsides, and tumults are no more, 
 Sees endless glories ftrom that era date 
 When first it rose, superior to fate ; — 
 Afiection mourns his mortal form destroyed. 
 Yet universal homage fills the void ; 
 While Death that rends him from the endearing tie. 
 Tells the reft spirit that he cannot die : — 
 That form, though to sepulchral darkness hurl'd. 
 Leaves yet the unfettered soul to walk the world : — 
 Thy genius. Fame, in purer light arra/d. 
 With lingering halo haunts his sacred shade ; 
 Despoiling death, thy treasured life succeeds. 
 And amaranthine garlands wreath his deeds ; 
 Thy quickening impulse a new being gives. 
 His name still lingers, and his greatness lives. — 
 
 Fill'd with the future thus, as glanced his eye [9] 
 0*er wastes that pine beneath the polar sky. 
 To thee, proud Fame, the adventurous Chief afar 
 Drags through obstructing snows the unwieldly car, 
 Rash with tremendous daring to control 
 Great Nature's laws, and pierce the utmost Pole. 
 
 Wrapt, all-prophetic, in thy future day. 
 He works through treacherous mist his irksome way ; 
 Where, rent from regions of eternal frost. 
 Great Winter's fleets, the guardians of the coast. 
 Icy gigantic sliapes in wild extent. 
 Float o'er an ocean dark and turbulent. 
 Whose depths a secret mystery conceal [10] 
 No line can fathom, and no skill reveal. 
 
 There with his band, in holy strength array'd, 
 Unbent by toil, by danger undismayed. 
 
V 
 
 96 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 fi 
 
 The experienced Chief, considerate still to feel 
 And share their toil, as he partakes their zeal, 
 Wakes to his own their well-concerted power. 
 To achieve the labours of each tedious hour ; 
 There, manly lends his vigorous arm to quell, 
 With wielded axe, each icy obstacle : — 
 In him no fears the incumbent glaciers raise. 
 He hath a trust no British Chief betrays ; 
 His crew with shouts stUl follow where he steers, 
 Fame points the path, and patriot-Valour cheers : 
 The unshaken phalanx strive through leagues of ice. 
 Skim the rude plain, and storm the precipice ; 
 The ascending launch urge with redoubled force. 
 Or with the steel convincing, carve their course. 
 
 Thus, at their toil intent, the sturdy crew 
 Through wilds of ice a devious track pursue. 
 Till, the slow, sum of stated hours fulfill'd, [11] 
 
 Their ready hands a rude pavihon build ; — 
 From its ice-path transferred, the shapeless sledge. 
 Apart from fissure and the impending ledge, 
 Touch'd by the wand of the contriver. Thought, 
 Starts into life, a sudden temple wrought ; 
 And as the adapted mast distends on high 
 The cordage-span, and canvass-canopy. 
 Unladen '^ars their precious stores disclose, 
 For rude repast, and transient repose. 
 
 A burden thus, by plastic touch subdued. 
 Becomes the abode of peace and brotherhood ; 
 The load of Toil, or resting-place of Ease, 
 As instinct prompts, to encumber or to please ; — 
 Such is the fleeting fabric that supplies 
 The couch where Weariness o'srlabour^d lies ; 
 Research's treasury, the goal, the abode. 
 Where Quest returns, and Forage leaves his load ; 
 
AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 97 
 
 [11] 
 
 lad; 
 
 Where Provender spreads forth the impor^^nnt board, 
 And Science eyes with smiles her growin^^ iioard ; — 
 The storehouse of their wealth, their wandering home, 
 Where at their Chiefs paternal call they come. 
 Like children loos'd a shortlived bliss to share. 
 Renew their gambols, and forget their care. 
 
 Eound the fix'd car the friendly awning braced. 
 To exclude the sweeping rigours of the waste ; 
 For watery course though shaped, transmuted now, 
 The amphibious ark yields with inviting bow 
 A portal, where the expanded canvass shows 
 The pleasing prospect of that sweet repose ; 
 That priceless boon vouchsafed to toiling Health, 
 The poor man's guerdon, though debarred from Wealth ; 
 Such as Despair denies to guilty Pain, 
 And sceptred Luxury sighs for in vain. 
 Midst walls of adamant, and beds of 'down. 
 Secure in all the safeguards of a crown. — 
 
 And now from care awhile, and toil releasM, 
 When jaded Energy hath earned his feast ; 
 And Plenty unembarrassed should afford 
 Substantial gladness on a copious board ; 
 O'er the scant scene impartial Thrift presides. 
 And peremptory Rule the mess divides. t^^] 
 
 Yet through that Chieftain's temperate band is heard 
 No voice to question his coercive word ; 
 Portion'd alike, no grief at partial good 
 Inflames to mutiny the excited blood ; 
 Nor mutter'd thought, nor dubious look imphes 
 The bosom's murmur, or the heart's disguise : — 
 How could it be, in Toil's all-equal race 
 That Disaffection e'er should find a place ; 
 While he who rules, himself restricted by 
 The levelling instincts of necessity, — 
 
98 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 Be it in rest, repast, or active zeal. 
 The strenuous effort, or the stinted meal, — 
 Obeys, as he proclaims the cogent call. 
 And shares alike as he apportions all. 
 
 'Tis in adventure as in fields of strife, 
 A stem delight to brave the stormy life, , 
 
 Its toils, its jeopardies, escapes and cares. 
 In equal fellowship, — and such is theirs. 
 
 Led by a Chief, whose discipline they love. 
 As rivals in obedience throng to approve ; 
 Pack*d round in calm and unassuming range 
 (The heart expanded in the smile's exchange) ; 
 Each with his comrade owns the all-stringent tie. 
 Where mutual want breeds mutual sympathy. 
 
 With step sublime, and dignified grimace. 
 Here Pomp claims no priority of place ; 
 Exclusion here no barrier can create. 
 And Pride in other regions keeps his state ; 
 But the high feeling in the bosom fired. 
 The pride by conscious hardihood inspired. 
 Blent with that well-timed harmony of hearts. 
 Which singleness of soul alone imparts. 
 And temperate mirth, and buoyant hopes are all 
 That mark this strange and desert-festival. 
 
 As each receives his solitary cheer. 
 His aspect brightens, and Content reigns here ; — 
 He seeks, he needs no adventitious aid 
 Prom courteous form, or menial parade ; 
 No liveried lackey serves a banquet up. 
 Eyes the quick glance, and fills the sparkling cup ; 
 No ceremony thwarts the impatient guest ; 
 No sauce awakes involuntary zest ; 
 No dishes in luxuriant range display 
 The ill-earned viands of the slothful day ; 
 
 [PAET VI.] 
 
AECTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 99 
 
 No savoury messes steam, nowhere appear [13] 
 
 The smoking glories of the fatted steer; — 
 
 But even-handed Thrift metes out with care 
 
 To worn necessity the allotted fare ; 
 
 Elastic Health, and unrepining Zeal 
 
 Eye with an anxious glance the ungamisVd menl ; 
 
 While meek Content sits down with cheerful smile. 
 
 Awaits his turn, and cooks his artless spoil ; 
 
 A measured dole, nutritious not profuse, 
 
 Just, and but just enough for Nature's use. — • 
 
 Thus each long changeless day leads on at last 
 The welcome hour of refuge and repast ; 
 When, their scant comfort and its season brief 
 Ended, they crowd to their paternal Chief; 
 And if their hard-earned revelry breed mirth, 
 No supercilious frown forbids its birth ; — 
 But, — as the sire, whose virtuous soul inclines 
 Still first to obey the precept he enjoins, 
 B-eclaims the truant, but respects the boy. 
 Promotes his pastime, and partakes his joy ; 
 All rigourous restraint his heart disclaims. 
 He charms from vice, and leads to nobler aims ; 
 Till the fond charge sees in that sire a school, 
 Where virtue trains him, and affections rule. — 
 Thus He, the Chief, the father, and the man. 
 Disdains with microscopic eye to scan 
 Each slight misr Je, or with stern aspect note 
 Each buoyant jest tiiut keeps their souls afloat : 
 Mirth unrestricted reigns ; no envious eye 
 Curbs the wild tide of social revelry ; 
 Free flies the random thought, unfetter'd now 
 Bursts the heart's spring, and genial feehnga flow ; 
 With kindred joys, and stirring thoughts intense, 
 Soul leaps to soul in mutual confidence ; 
 
 IT VI.] 
 
V 
 
 ]00 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPMSE. 
 
 And wit untaught, and playful jest prevail, 
 Awake old Memory, and educe her tale. 
 
 For casualties on board, and freaks on shore, 
 Wanton they overhaul the old beldam's store j 
 And like true tars, of instinct prone to please. 
 Old shipboard yams, and tales of stormy seas. 
 They deftly tell ; each, for his turn intent. 
 Imparts with glee the ingenuous sentiment ; 
 Plain-sailing, frank, and all-untutor'd by 
 The schools of craft, disguise, and subtlety. 
 Each bosom opens as its warmth expands. 
 And the tongue rambles where the heart commands. — 
 
 Thus wears the ambrosial moment ; no control 
 Checks the wild whim, or stints the feast of soul ; 
 Till, the loud jest outlaugh'd, outspun the tale, 
 Lo ! (a mute incense at each interval) 
 Oft from upwielded tube the evolving smoke [14] 
 Its influence bland in wreathing volumes broke ; 
 And tales were told, and still fresh volumes pour*d 
 Pantastic magic round the social board. 
 
 With gladness wing'd, while thus the indulgent hour 
 Speeds, and wild wit and sprightly mirth have power; 
 Exempt from care, no harrowing thoughts disturb 
 The social converse, or the soothing herb ; — 
 Till Home, that forceful spell whose charms impart 
 Unfaihng refuge to the rover's heart ; 
 That spot where all Life's treasured thoughts reside. 
 Steals o'er his boisterous joy, and stills the tide. — 
 
 Wrapt in his native hamlet's peaceful shades, 
 A great yet temper'd bliss his breast pervades ; 
 There, as he seeks his cottage in the dell, ^ 
 
 And Memory lingers where she loves to dwell, 
 At once a thousand swelling hopes employ 
 A thousand thoughts too great for outward joy ; 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
 f \ 
 
ASCmO ENTERPRISE. 
 
 101 
 
 Imagination bums with chasten'd fires. 
 
 Tasteless the mirth subsides, and the loud laugh expires. 
 
 What though that cot, that haven of his rest. 
 Yet now, alas ! but in remembrance blest ; 
 Lost to his eye, albeit that cot no more 
 Ope to his weary step the welcome door ;— 
 What though the crackling hearth, that wont to bum. 
 An evening-beacon for his slow return. 
 Illume no more for him the mouldering pile. 
 To gild with brighter beam each social smile ; — 
 What though for him can now no longer ply 
 The expectant spouse her cottage industry j 
 No more replenish with affection's care 
 The homely platter, or the couch prepare ; 
 Charm'd from his sports no more the favourite boy, 
 With bounding step, and looks of speechless joy. 
 Run forth the first his father's voice to hail. 
 Cling to his feet, and coax the oft-told tale : — 
 What though for him that well-known latch no more 
 Tempt the benighted wanderer to the door ; 
 No more at dusky eve, a pilgrim train. 
 Ambitious still the accustom'd hearth to gain. 
 In motley guise, his old associates come. 
 Where Toil reposing consecrates a home. — 
 
 Yet Recollection wakes with all her charms. 
 And brings each form in fancy to his arms ; 
 Again he sees his old familiar place. 
 Again his boy bounds to his long embrace ; 
 His lonely cot appears, the clustering crew 
 Of his old shipmates start before his view ; 
 And as by Fancy's powerful wing upbome. 
 He greets with cheering smile his spouse forlorn. 
 Electric Thought brings back her fond reply, 
 And though far distant feels her sympathy : — 
 
V 
 
 102 
 
 ABCnC ENTEBFBISE. 
 
 As each loved form and haUoVd haunt recurs, 
 Quick in the kindling breast the emotion stirs; 
 His Fancy fires, he sees that sacred spot. 
 Which to the dying day is ne'er forgot ; 
 That faithful sea-mark of his boisterous life. 
 That welcome refuge from its storms and strife ; 
 The haven of his hopes, where'er he roam. 
 His heart's sure anchorage, — a Briton's home. — 
 
 By such fond theme the Chieftain and his crew, 
 Urg*d from their mirth, the wonted couch renew ; 
 There while, imperviously remote, they lay 
 (From home, from Britain's home, far-distant they). 
 Wearied and scarr'd, their limbs in rude repose, 
 Midst unrelenting blasts and sweeping snows ; — 
 Still can each form, a pensive-pleading guest. 
 Start with the vivid dream, and haunt their rest ; 
 But, ah ! — too soon the flattering visions fly. 
 And the day brings its stern reality : — 
 Yet Fervour wakes with undiminish'd fires. 
 His duty charms him, for his Chief inspires ; 
 Still to that Chief, whate'er mischance betide. 
 The watchful Guardian, and the faithful guide. 
 With soul devoted turns ; hails with a smile 
 His toil, forgets his thoughts, his home awhile. 
 And feels, as in a father's care secure, 
 A pride to obey, a glory to endure. — 
 
 Bear up ! — ^Though loudly blow the impetuous blast. 
 Soon shall the genial hour restore the past ; 
 Lapp'd in repose, the indulgent dream once more 
 Wake thee in slumber on tii^ native shore ; 
 Or if some treasured tale, or deed of worth 
 Dwell in thy revel, and protract thy mirth ; 
 There o'er thy cold limbs wrap the furry cloak. 
 Quaff the glad god, and sip the soothing smoke ; 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
AAOnO BNTERPBISB. 
 
 103 
 
 Strike fancied rocks, still straggle with the main, 
 Tell all thy toils, and fight thy fights again. — 
 
 Launched on the icy desert's dreary length, 
 They spur their ardour, and distend their strength ; 
 But while the involving drifts with eyeless wrath 
 Sweep round the car, and block the dubious path; 
 Bold in advance, where'er in cleft profound 
 Death sets his snare, and Danger looms around ; 
 Unflinching foremost, lo ! one sacred form 
 Probes the blown snows, and stems the obstructing 
 
 storm ; — [15] 
 
 They hail their Chief, the impulsive virtue feel. 
 Seize his resolve, and emulate his zeal. — 
 
 Thus through the night (for, still discreet to shun 
 The fiercer terrors of the dazzling sun. 
 The crew, responsive to the Chief's behest. 
 Consign the night to toil, the day to rest), [16] 
 
 Through the wan night, whose scarce-distinguish'd time 
 Wears a strange aspect in that ghastly clime, — 
 Save that some meteor's phantom-fire pass'd by. 
 Or billowy seas o'erswept the electric sky ; 
 Or ice-crag whirl'd beneath the hurrying blast 
 Broke the death- stillness of that dreary waste, — 
 Seem'd to the awe-struck thought, one changeless spell 
 Bound in mute thrall the lonely spectacle. 
 
 So deem'd the Chief, while, studious still to yield 
 The foremost presence to the treacherous field. 
 Midst intercepting snows his steps entice 
 The obedient band through many a league of ice ; — 
 A moment deem'd ; — ^yet other thoughts the while 
 Swell in his soul, and other scenes beguile ; 
 Bright scenes, and thoughts prophetic of the day. 
 When Fame shall to a nation's proud array 
 Shout forth his zeal, his wondrous deeds extol. 
 And greet their guest, the Hero of the Pole. 
 
"V. 
 
 104 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEBFBISE. 
 
 Thus, though despair and darkness intervene, 
 Anticipation reconciles the scene ; 
 Though today's hope tomorrow's fate destroys, [17] 
 Tet Fame, the Charmer, spreads her sure decoys : — 
 There, though he sees portentous shapes arise 
 Of spectres hovering in the lurid skies ; 
 Though meteors in strange forms of fire appear. 
 Sweep the vast void, and threaten his career ; 
 Though dire eclipse the labouring moon enshroud. 
 And bows of tenfold lustre span the cloud ; 
 Though seas of light in Heaven's high cope appear. 
 And strike with vocal fires the astonish'd ear; — [18] 
 Unmoved in soul, with aspect scarce beguiled 
 By all the wonders of an Arctic wild ; — 
 Thy charms alone, majestic Fame, invest 
 His towering thought, and animate his breast ; 
 For him, no meteor-blaze, thy beams unrol 
 The quenchless fire that lights him to the Pole; 
 His philosophic eye pervades the air. 
 But thine the glories that entrance him there !— 
 Bright Power ! assured by thee, he smiling goes 
 Through treacherous mists, and solitary snows ; 
 And whether with unwearied step he treads 
 Where'er the expanse of desolation leads ; 
 Or, respite brief from toil, in slumber lies. 
 His couch the ice, his canopy the skies ; 
 'Tis thy great promise that supports his schemes. 
 Fires aU his energies, and fills his dreams ! — 
 
 Arm'd in such hopes, and steadfast in his cause. 
 Himself he scans, and knows no other laws ; 
 Prompt to decide, and resolute to act. 
 Doubt flies before him, and no fears distract : — 
 Yet should a labyrinth of ice mislead, 
 A storm arrest him, or a gdf impede ; 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
ARCrnC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 105 
 
 If at such hour the strenuous effort fail, 
 A doubt perplex, and wild dismay prevail ; — 
 Lo ! — as the Sun, ascending in his might, 
 Eescues the world from storms, and puts to flight 
 Those envious mists conspiring in the sky. 
 To obstruct his path, and cross his majesty j — 
 Even so thy distant promise can assuage 
 Tumultuous Winter in his fiercest rr *e ; 
 Thy gorgeous splendours opening from afar. 
 His guardian-genius, and his guiding star. 
 New-arm the adventurer's heart, his hopes relume. 
 Quell all his doubts, and dissipate his gloom. — 
 
 There, as he onward stems his weary way. 
 And still fresh charms thy beauteous orb array ; 
 Each new-bom hope that kindles his career 
 To the bright precincts of thy glorious sphere. 
 Teaches each step the impulsive fire to feel, 
 And conscious triumph stimulates his zeal. — 
 Still unappaird, while yet thy peerless star 
 Pours its persuasive radiance from afar ; 
 Though Death with all his terrors intervene. 
 And unremitting Winter crown the scene ; 
 With zeal unswerving, and in spirit free, 
 Beauteous Enchantress ! he still looks to thee ; 
 Still struggles, though beset by death, to attain 
 The golden portals of thy glittering fane. 
 
106 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 " It is the cause — it is the cause, my soul !" 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 " Now far he sweeps, where scarce a summer smiles. 
 
 On Behring's rocks, or Greenland's naked isles." 
 , j Campbell. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 Sia John Fhanklin. — Lady Franklin ; — her great affliction and 
 devotedness the theme of universal admiration and sympathy. Hope 
 revived. The national enthusiasm evinced hy the successive expedi- 
 tions of search for the "Erebus" and "Terror." Notices of Ross — 
 Rae — Richardson. — Amateur ^f1 venturers. Great preparations. 
 Difficulty of adjudging the palm of h( aour where the merits so equally 
 balance. Notices of Sir James Clai kb Ross — Kellet — Beechey — 
 Moore— Richardson. — The U. S. Grinnell expedition. Enthusiasm. 
 Notices of Sir E. Belcher, — Northumberland Sound — establishes 
 himself in and names North Cornwall ; — reflections there on the proba- 
 ble fate of the "Erebus" and " Terror."— Notices of M'Cormick, in 
 the Wellington Channel, — Caswall Tower, — Traces of FrAnklin, — 
 Franklin's Beacon. Haunted shore. Bellot. — Sir John Barrow, 
 his fame; his devotion to the Arctic cause, revived in his son. 
 Notices of M'Clintock — the Polynia Islands. Forsyth — Penny — 
 PuLLEN — Sir Jorn Ross — 0mm anney— Austin — Osborn. Traces 
 at Cape Riley, Allusion to the Sledge- Adventurers. Notices of 
 Trollope — Maguirb. Second great searching expedition by way of 
 Behring's Strait. Notices of M'Clure — course of that officer — 
 Polar pack — blasting operations — awe-awakening aspects of the 
 Polar world; —smoking mounds — petrified forest — Esquimaux tribes, 
 pacific and confiding ; — exception to this rule ; — tradition of the 
 
 [PAET VII.] 
 
LVLCnO ENTESPBIS£. 
 
 107 
 
 White man — hig hut and tomb a mystery. Further coune.— Bay of 
 Mercy, — Winter quarters — festivitiea of the crew. — Sudden rescue. 
 —Meeting of M'Glurk and Pm on the floe ;— effect on the crew.— 
 ConsultationB ; — abandonment of the "Investigator." Collinron — 
 difficult course of — devotion of to his cause— discoverer of wreck* 
 relics on the Finlayson Islands. Inolepield, remarkable voyage of 
 roimd Baffin's Bay — scientific results — Intercourse with Esquimaux 
 — Polar Spoils. — Recapitulation of general efforts.— Address to Lady 
 Fkamkun. Hope. Conclusion. 
 
 But where art tliou? — the burden of our grief; 
 The great, the brave, yet unreturning chief : — [] ] 
 Now, while Eesearch with Rescue leaves the land. 
 And Tieal embarks her sons, an anxious band ; 
 And Hope still lingers with her suasive song :— 
 Where art thou now ? — methinks, thou tarriest long. — 
 Say now what ills thy traceless steps assail ; 
 What strange mischance, new to Disaster's tale : — 
 Liv'st thou to combat still thine icy foe. 
 Or hath a kinder fortune laid thee low ? — 
 Com'st thou to greet triumphant welcome home, 
 Alas ! — or must we mourn thy martyrdom ? — 
 
 Heart-rending thought !— was't not enough that thou 
 In Battle's ocean-ranks had'st bared thy brow ? 
 In storm or strife alike untaught to quail, 
 Trafalgar's thunders, or the northern gale : — 
 Not yet enough, great Chieftain, to have traced 
 With patient step the North's extremest waste ? — 
 Doom'd for long months to brave the polar wrath. 
 With Want, and watchful Murder in thy path ? — 
 Such deeds of wildness built for th<ie a name, 
 That Death, destroying thee, had fixed thy fame : 
 Thou, who in strife and enterprising deed 
 Had'st struck thy way, and gain'd the hero's meed ; 
 
108 
 
 ABCTnO ENTERPRISB. 
 
 Fought to thy fame, and to the wintry Pole 
 Steer'd forth, where'er Adventure's oceans roll j — 
 Thou, but in this, thy latest deed unknown, 
 How should*8t thou think to heighten thy renown ? 
 What lack'dst thou yet of glorious eifort more 
 To make thee great within thy native shore ? — 
 But to the truest brave as 'tis most dire 
 Dully to waste the life out, and expire ; 
 So thou, disdaining all thy wreaths secured. 
 And counting not the toils thou hast endured ; 
 Setting thy peace, thy home, thy life apart. 
 To achieve the end still nearest to thy heart ; 
 With the unextinguish'd avarice of fame, 
 Seek'st through some unknown death to immortalize thy 
 name ! — 
 
 Such thoughts are theirs who fear thy valour, — such, 
 Who know thee, an:^ who dread thy daring much;— • 
 And these, though restless as the roving deep. 
 Bugged and stem of aspect as the steep ; 
 With hearts, ye'd deem, the tumults they have ranged, 
 And rudeness of their lives had long estranged,—- 
 These yet are they who, from thy British shore, 
 Gaze with a patient hope the waters o'er. 
 And will gaze on when hope can be no more. 
 
 And 'tis not one : — ^yet One there is of all 
 Thy yearning land 'shall most bewail thy fall.— 
 Ah ! — ^hapless Thou ! — ^the Lady of the brave 
 And long-lost Consort we would find and save ; 
 The Chieftain's lonely spouse, the tenderest, best. 
 That Friendship e'er embraced, or Love possess'd ; 
 Stedfast beyond thy sex, than thy compeers 
 More valiant far, and great above thy fears ; 
 For, more than woman mighty, thou wouldst brave 
 The fatal North, though in despair to save ; 
 
 [PAET vn.] 
 
ABOnO ENTSRPRI8B. 
 
 109 
 
 Thy home with its still-stringent ties forego, 
 
 And seek, as of a friend in thy deep woe, 
 
 From savage seas some comfort to create,— 
 
 If but to bo assurf d, and share thy husband's fate ; — 
 
 Would'st deem it now thy kindest destiny 
 
 To attain the fatal limit, — and there die 1 — 
 
 Oh, ever-gentle Sufferer I could we trace 
 Matchless devotion in a page's space ; 
 Or were it in the Muse's art divine. 
 To assuage thy anguish in a fleeting line ; — 
 What might we say to thee P What hope speak here, 
 To dry the fount of thy prophetic tear ? — 
 If skill'd to extol thee, or 'twere need to move 
 A world's compassion for thy holy love j 
 Say, what new eloquence a language hath 
 To express thy sorrow, or define thy faith ? — 
 Oh ! in what strains the sacred theme to swell. 
 Some deep-impassion'd soul the secret tell ! 
 Say to what image of devotion turn, 
 Alas I — or in what pitying accents mourn I 
 
 Yet, sacred Form ! to appease thy bosom's pain. 
 Life hath no balm, and pity wakes in vain ; 
 Sweet Sympathy can work no influence there. 
 Where Expectation lives but in despair : 
 And> — but she yet might sway the cruel hour. 
 That laid thy peace within the tyrant's power ; 
 Roll back time's tide, reverse an ended date. 
 Aid yet recal irrevocable fate ; — 
 Can Friendship's hallow'd tears avail thee aught ? 
 Ah ! what avails the vainly- wishful thought ! — 
 
 But though Conjecture with fond Fancy roam. 
 Yet fail to bring one fair suggestion home ; 
 And thy last hope be fruitless as the first. 
 That last sad human hope to know the worst ; — 
 
V 
 
 110 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 Shall yet atoning Time no charri create, 
 To assuage the stern severities of fate ? — 
 Yes : — there shall rise, when all thy pangs are past, 
 And to the grave thy grief subsides at last ; 
 From the dark vista of departing yetrs 
 A voice shall rise, such as a nation hears ; 
 And this shall be thy fame : — the historic page 
 Shall bear thy truth to Earth's remotest age. — 
 Mute o'er the torae eventful Time affords. 
 There as the bard, wrapt ' the past, records 
 Some scene where hosts in spectral pomp arise 
 Trom the dim paths of ended destinies. 
 And Conquest with her cavalcade of woe 
 Darkens the void, a nation's funeral-show, — 
 Till, sated with the harrowing sight, he turns 
 From strife's fierce pageantry, and martial urns, 
 Enraptur'd with the new and bright design. 
 Turns from the Spoiler's fame to piciure thine, — 
 Thy name shall, like some great Magician's wand. 
 With awe majestic fix his faultering hand, 
 The potent spell his struggling thoughts control. 
 Chain his emotions, and entrance his soul. 
 Yes, rarest pattern of surpassing worth ! 
 If it be comfort to thee, in this dearth 
 Of hope that thy sad heart's affliction brings, — 
 More honour'd shalt thou be than mightiest kings ! 
 Left in thy land's afl^ections, treasured there, 
 Most stringent of all ties that most endear ; 
 Treasured when all our trophied myrmidons, 
 The array of armies, and the pomp of thrones. 
 Their lustre faded, and their plumes cast by, \ 
 
 In undistinguished dust neglected lie ; — 
 In memory hallow'd, like some sacred spot. 
 Some glorious relic of a world forgot ; 
 
 [PAET VII.] 
 
AECTIC ENTERPR[SE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Time's rich bequest, our fondest, fairest pride ; 
 The heroic most, — the more than Roman bride. — 
 
 But Hope still lives, wliile lives the unquench'd desire, 
 The enduring thought that cannot all expire : 
 And now, e'en now, industrious to discern 
 Some tardy promise of their Chief's return, — 
 The sons of ocean, a wide-watchful band, 
 Eange, in unwearied round, each icy strand ; 
 And, lost in dark Conjecture's endless maze. 
 Breathe yet the wish, and fix the expectant gaze. 
 
 What, though dull souls and sober instincts deem 
 Hope an illusion, and Eelease a dream ; 
 Yet, many a chief, impetuous for advance. 
 Threads in bold thought the desolate expanse ; 
 While lo ! to grapple with this great despair, 
 Ross lives ; and Rae, and Richardson are there. [2] 
 
 Assosiate heroes ! — fell Columbia's coast 
 Hath tried your worth in famine and in frost : 
 'Twas there your stem enduring greatress grew. 
 Her shores and straits of ice attest ye true ! 
 
 Some, freshlier-famed, in stormy skill though versed. 
 And in the sea's rude cradle early nursed ; 
 New yet to wintry waters, fresh in fight 
 With solid seas, the floating glacier's might ; — 
 Moved by the dirge of this all-piercing woe. 
 Renounce their homes, their easy peace forego, — 
 Peace, whose inglorious voice hath all too long 
 Lull'd their fierce instincts with its wanton song ; — 
 Yet seek not now Achievement's -wonted claim 
 In watery war, the plunder and the fame ; 
 The furious onslaught, fell death- doing deed. 
 And the vain boast to vanquish and to bleed ; 
 But, sway'd by no dark purpose, with no fear 
 Save such as wakens from Aflliction's tear. 
 
V, 
 
 ! 
 
 mi 
 
 112 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Forget the bloody mandate, iron rule, 
 And the fell lessons of their floating school. 
 With every hostile impulse, to contend 
 For sacred triumphs, and a bloodless end. 
 
 A bloodless end : where chieftains of command [3] 
 Waive their proud claims in honour's ranks to stand ; 
 Spontaneous merge their dignities, and vie 
 With stripHug heroes in hot rivalry. 
 
 Nor thus alone ; men skill-less in the strife 
 And stormy care of Ocean's troublous hfe ; 
 Men unacquainted, save where halcyon seas 
 Dance to the music of the western breeze ; 
 Luxuriant sunshine-revellers, ye'd choose 
 As messmates in some fleeting summer-cruise j 
 Men to adventure's hardship all-unknown. 
 The untried sea-rovers of the temperate zone. 
 Where in gay pleasure's wake they yearly ply 
 Their course, and take their sea-festivity ; — 
 Caught by the cry to rescue and to save. 
 Cry that fails never to convince the brave ; 
 They, now content with sturdy tars to roam. 
 The well-pick'd promise of their island-home ; 
 Sudden disown their revels, and forsake ' 
 Their recreant path, a nobler range to take ; 
 Teaching that bark, their pastime's toy, resource 
 Of ease and peace, to shape a stormier course ; 
 Abjure her gilded glories all, expose 
 Her tender frame to hyperborean snows j 
 Take a new trim, and woo with bolder sail 
 The rude embraces of the Arctic gale. 
 
 See now ! — impatient at the awakening call 
 Of rescue for the brave, these worthies all, — 
 Equipp'd for action, and in garb and guise 
 Meetest-adapted to wild enterprise ; 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 113 
 
 With stores apportion'd to the expected toil. 
 Provision for strange search alike, and spoil. — 
 The chart out-limned by the latest skill, 
 With implements of curious science, fill 
 In true sea-method a conspicuous space ; 
 They have new depths to sound, new shores to iiace : 
 The fowling-piece they bear, yet bead and toy, 
 Innocuous proof they come not to destroy ; 
 The gun, but not for human slaughter ; such 
 Is not their mission, though their dread is much ; 
 A dreadful hope : — They bear a gentle tongue 
 For friendly ear, for foe a cutlass slung. 
 
 Thus each appliance, or for guard or guide. 
 That Science might suggest, or Care provide ; 
 All that the hand of plastic Art can form, 
 For aid or safeguard in the nip or storm. 
 Are lavished here. The fearful throat of war. 
 That ancient glory of the British tar. 
 Peers from each vessel's side, in grim display ; 
 Such are for signal-sound, and not for fray : 
 The sail swells too, where breeze to tide replies, 
 Where not, the ungovernable Engine plies ; 
 'Gainst obvious tide or tempest skilled to stem. 
 To man subservient, though unruled by them : — 
 (tigtintic wonder ! whose ne'er-tiring hand 
 Convinces seas, where sail might not expand ; 
 Mover alike when idle sails are furl'd. 
 And workman still in Toil's material world ; 
 Thou, whose compulsive force, and urging worth, 
 Too long lay hid from burden' d sous of earth : 
 Versatile Power ! — dost thou not live and feel 
 Midst all thy panting fury, and wild zeal ? — 
 Not vital, though, by that long stated wreath 
 From thy loud nostril, thou dost seem to breathe ; 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 And motionless, though, when thy spirit wields 
 
 Its might, earth shakes for fear, and ocean yields ! — 
 
 Even such a Force, might hold in stern control 
 The Atlantic furies, sweeps them to the goal : 
 There, as their dangers grow on them, the power. 
 That bore still helps them in the trying hour. 
 They storm the ice-rampart, and the field invade 
 Of well-pack'd winter where the breach is made ; 
 Or failing this, with forceful saw they quell. 
 Or cleave with axe each icy obstacle : 
 But where the unyielding element defies 
 The penetrating keel, or saw's surprise ; 
 They crush with power precipitate from high ; 
 Or with destruction's subtler skill, apply 
 The nitreous terror to the thick-ribb'd floe ; 
 Shake, and convince it from the sap below ; 
 The obstruction dire rend with explosive whirl. 
 Or with descending bolt asunder hurl. [4] 
 
 Arm'd thus for all, thus strengthened and secured. 
 And by a trust in their good cause assured ; 
 Buoy'd up, and waken'd by the haunting thought 
 Of what their fore-sires in these seas have wrought. 
 And hope, that through some valour's frenzied deed, — 
 Valour, that passion of the life they lead, — 
 They yet may come where, in some strange recess, 
 The brave they seek linger in wretchedness ; 
 And help them to recal their ebbing breath. 
 That so this search be not the search of death ; — 
 Far in disastrous seas, where Behring's keel 
 First pierc'd, or shores first solv'd by Baffin's zeal. 
 Intent on toil, for Rescue's deed well-arm'd. 
 And by their sacred mission cheer'd and charm'd, — 
 Through a new world of wonders, cold and strange. 
 They shape their course, and take their dubious range ; 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTEAFRISE. 
 
 115 
 
 A glorious baud, a galaxy of Fame, 
 
 Their thoughts, their wishes, and wild cause tlie same. 
 
 But you, great guardians of the poet's lay. 
 Censors of rhyme, severe yet righteous, say ! 
 In this proud throng of heroes, whose renown 
 Cries out for justice, and an equal crown ; 
 How shall the inpartial Muse the palm award ? 
 Impartial Truth the worthiest worth record ? — 
 
 First in Adventure's train, bold pioneer. 
 See, at his post Antarctic Eoss appear ! — [5] 
 
 But vain the attempt by the all-unequal North 
 To weigh his greatness, or compute his worth ; 
 His matchless deeds, familiar most to fame. 
 Let the fell Winter of the South proclaim.- - 
 Great in design, and sacred in his charge. 
 Ample his field, and his experience large ; 
 His crew well-train' d, his vessel stout and trim ; 
 Grief dried her eyes, for Promise sail'd with him. 
 But bootless all ; though every bay was traced ; 
 Each headland conn'd ; while shore's and ocean's waste 
 Bore on their brow the quick-conspicuous mark ; 
 Guns spoke abroad, aud fires illumed the dark ; 
 And wave-sent missive, and air-borne balloon, — 
 Heralds of hope to make their presence known — 
 Cours'd the dense void, to sea and sky consign'd, 
 The anxious posters of the wave and wind ; — 
 While, girt with circling cymbols of relief, 
 Behold ! — strange agents in the cause of grief — 
 The untamed creatures of the desert share 
 Their toils, and on the gracious quest repair ; 
 If, chance, those wanderers of the waste might prove 
 Kind couriers of a distant nation's love. — 
 But vain : Strict ir arrest, stern Winter still 
 Subdued them, deedless, to his iron wiU, — 
 
V, 
 
 116 
 
 AttCnC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 i 
 
 And baffled Ross return'd :— Hope ceased to smile, 
 And disconcerted Daring droopM awhile. — 
 
 But which is he ? the true confederate still. 
 Whose restless spirit, and unbending will, — 
 (In seas remote, where Beechey, name revered. 
 Watchful whilom, his anxious pendant rear'd ;) 
 Through ice-bound coasts in strenuous effort strove 
 With Moore, wlio shrank not from the work of love? — 
 Kellett, who, vainly-zealous, swept the tide [6] 
 Of the isle-gemm'd Pacific in his pride ; 
 And further went than where first Winter's morn 
 Breaks on the brow of Behring's isle forlorn ; — 
 Him, Shedden, writ in fell misfortune's page, 
 Shedden, vho early caught the spreading rage. 
 Eyed from afar, and, mingling in the strife. 
 Gave to the cause his efforts and his life. — 
 
 Fairly afloat, from cold Chamisso's isle 
 They bore away through many a wintry pile 
 Stupendous from the Pole ; — ^when lo ! at length, . 
 Mountains uprose of more than icy strength. 
 Whose peaks, ascending through the clouds, appeared 
 Of shape more strange and threatening, as they near'd ; 
 In such, those giants of the North they scan. 
 Seen, but which may not be approached by man ; 
 Flank'd yet by floating forms of frost, that roU 
 Diurnal round, — the sentries of the Pole. 
 
 'Twas all they met : they found no trace, and heard 
 No native tongue that could one clue afford. 
 The following which might take these wanderers by. 
 Where lay the mischief of their mystery. 
 
 Thus Kellett went, and came : he saw no sign. 
 Save such as might make Grief the more repine. 
 Yet he returned ; though smothered in his breast. 
 The fire rekindled, and he could not rest ; — 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ErTEllPRISE. 
 
 117 
 
 Yet faiPd ; though he achieved one noble aim [7] 
 Nobly, — but such is of his after fame. — 
 
 He fail'd ; and with him a great Searcher faiVd, 
 Even in the field where erst his might prevail'd ; 
 That ruthless waste, where seem'd no Heaven to bless 
 Or shield poor Nature in her nakedness : — 
 He who, to furnish succour, and give breatli 
 To his loved chief, went through a living death ; 
 True Richardson, whom famine could not quell. 
 Who struck down Death, himself more terrible. — [8] 
 
 But soft ! — there sometimes bursts upon the scene 
 Bright promise where despair hath darkest been : 
 And thou might' st yet, afflicted Spirit, find. 
 Midst thy great griefs one mercy left behind ! — 
 *Tis this, — ^where'er thy fears, thy hopes incline. 
 Be sure, a People's sympathies are thine ; 
 Nay, more ; — confederated nations bend 
 Before these pangs that thy lone bosom rend, — 
 Whose flags, in peaceful rivalry unfurl'd, 
 Bespeak the homage of a bonded world. 
 
 E'en now, in this, the sacred zeal to save. 
 Great to excess, unlimitedly brave. 
 To achieve the rescue, or the untoward chance 
 Envious to share, Columbia's sons advance : [9] 
 
 For them no law confines the excursive keel, 
 No nice restrictions regulate their zeal ; — 
 But, — as that symbol of thy constant soul. 
 The unerring needle points him to the Pole, — 
 Free at his post, the unfetter'd pilot still 
 Plies through what seas he lists his awful skill ; 
 Proud of his charge, and stedfast at the hehn. 
 Though storms conspire, and furious floods o'erwhelm, 
 Por thee, he lives within the wintry main, 
 Alas ! — and braves the wintry waste in vain ( 
 
118 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Tor thee, sad Mourner, coasts the impending steep. 
 Yet yields thy cause abandon^ to the deep ! — 
 Leaves, unreveal'd, the dreadful secret there, 
 And but returns to darken thy despair ! 
 
 But though Experience, forceful at the wheel. 
 Propels for thee in vain the impatient keel ; 
 In vain assiduous Search overscans the chart, 
 DressM in the treasures of his growing art ; 
 While Hope's endearing smiles no balm impart 
 To heal the wound that rankles at thy heart : — 
 Yet Zeal awakes with all her British fires, 
 Eor Britain's fame, and Frankhn's fate inspires ; 
 Eesolve steps forth, and Rescue from afar 
 Mans the bold bark, and stores the important car ; 
 And though still thwarted in that dark career. 
 Where Navigation's sons had yet to steer ; 
 New hopes enkindle him, new schemes arise, 
 Eepulse but goads to bolder enterprise. 
 
 Even so some torrent, baffted oft before, 
 Seeks a new path, and channels out the shore ; — 
 But fate and fresh disaster mark the comse 
 Of Effort's vain-reiterated force, — 
 So the sea-surge, grown greater in retreat. 
 With each new onset brings a new defeat. — 
 
 But 'tis this force, in the stern field afar 
 Of storm, or in the sterner field of war ; 
 This will, that with the hard-wrought struggle gives 
 The life, or with the accomplish'd triumph lives ; — 
 This 'tis whence greatness springs, in death or life ; 
 Greatly to win, or perish in the strife : — 
 This wakes the world ; bears still, and ever bore 
 Strife's restless sons from a too-peaceful shore ; 
 To yield their lives, a forfeit to renown. 
 Wildly ambitious of a shadowy crown. 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 119 
 
 Yet there's a holy zeal, a bright desire, 
 Whose path is purer, and its hopes far higher ; 
 Those hopes, albeit, less dazzling, and that path 
 Leading more deeply into danger's wrath : — 
 Such is their thirst, the Enthusiast-souls, who bleed 
 For Heaven, or for their country, — glorious deed ! 
 To uphold the majesty of Truth, or save 
 Their tottering freedom from an abject grave : — 
 Such men are great ; the greatest of the earth 
 That reared their greatness, and that gave them birth. — 
 
 Then there are some, something akin to such ; 
 Their fire as fervent, and their faith as much ; 
 Heavenly their aim, — for it is still the joy 
 Of gracious Heaven to save,, and not destroy ; — 
 Their risk as wild, and with no more delay. 
 For who to death more sudden-sent than they ? — 
 These they who in some dreadful hour appear, 
 When Hope, the star, is banish'd from her sphere 
 Some time of direness, and dark tumult, when 
 Self-love is seen mostly to sway with men : — 
 Such forms, a scanty few, are sometimes found 
 On the sea-wreck, or battle's gory ground ; 
 Or when in some strange season of dismay, — 
 Feller than tempests, or the battle-fray, — 
 Men in their unsuspecting homes expire. 
 By onslaught of disease, or wasting fire ; 
 Or lawless carnage, or commotion, — where 
 Wild Mischief hath the rule, and foul is fair : — 
 There, when no eye but One watches the toil. 
 They stand, disputing with fierce Death their spoil ; 
 A Heaven-sent guard, a phalanx of the brave. 
 Midst the mad uproar left, to shelter and to save. — 
 
 Allied to such grand natures, and as true 
 And undisguis'd, are those the Enthusiasts, who, — 
 
1 ■! 
 
 120 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPIIISB. 
 
 Thinking too sure, and frenzied at the thought, 
 
 That, far from the known world in wilds remote, 
 
 One, whom they honour most, evokes their zeal, — 
 
 They fear it, 'tis the only fear they feel. — 
 
 Evokes in prayers to the deaf desert given. 
 
 But heard, they deem, above, and now sent down from 
 
 Heav'n ;— 
 By this brave fear incited, and the cry 
 Of Love's too-long-expectant agony. 
 That waits the brave, — that harrowing cry of Woe 
 Left with her tears in home forlorn to flow, — 
 Pired with the impulsive ardour all to cast 
 Theii lot with his who calls them from the waste, — 
 They stake their fame, and bare their lives before 
 Wild Death, and, if they might, would venture more. 
 To unmask the hideous truth, the fate accurst 
 That waits their witness there ; to seek the worst. 
 Or seeking find, fortune, alas 1 too bless'd, — 
 The glorious boon, to rescue the distressed. — 
 Such aspirations, though less lofty, bring 
 Something for homage j — and of such we sing. — 
 
 Midst crags afar, where frost and storm conspire 
 With famine's death to quench the vital fire ; — 
 This zeal 'twas, whose unswerving stern belief 
 Held that inquisitive far-piercing Chief ; 
 He who by Osborn's cape of glaciers came, [10] 
 
 And Griunell's cliffs, link'd to a fatal fame. 
 Sail served liim not, yet, through alternate force 
 Of struggling oar, aud labouring sledge, a course 
 Open'd to a remote and ruthless shore, [11] 
 
 Had only loom'd to human eye before : 
 Woe to the crew within that coast decoy'd ! 
 Horror's last bound, a voiceless land, and void, 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 121 
 
 On whose seal'd sliore the waves forget to roll, 
 The utmost hind that looks upon the Pole. 
 
 Stablish'd his step, and of this shore possessed, 
 Thoughts of that crew, the spirits of his quest, — 
 Even as the visions of tlie spectral past 
 Pervade the dream, too palpable to last, — 
 Throng'd o'er his soul with the receding main ; 
 Yet here such thoughts were only thoughts of pain. 
 
 " If through these waters wandering to their woe, 
 " They took their portion with the drifting floe, 
 " Where'er the ice swept they went, for 'tis most clear 
 " They liaul'd not in, and had no haven here." — 
 
 Such anxious thoughts the experienc'd cliief pursued. 
 And made this waste a sadder solitude j — 
 The ice-berg's course round the forbidding bluff, 
 And beetling headland, was for him enough ; 
 So he retraced his range while yet he may ; 
 Nature lent little to attract that stay. 
 Whence he, perchance, his own sad doom might date ; 
 Another victim to a ravening fate : — 
 Science on shores like these could play no part. 
 Amid such skies vain were her visual art. 
 From scenes where Death triumphant reigns alone, 
 Which e'en the instinctive savage doth disown. 
 Nature with all her vital influence flies. 
 And all her train of genial sympathies ; 
 Science retreats, despairing of his spoils. 
 The Muse shrinks back, and shuddering Thought recoils. — 
 
 Yet fearless here could fond M'Cormick urge [12] 
 His " Hope Forlorn" amid that dashing surge ; 
 Snatching his couch from the storm's sweeping wreath. 
 His refuge from the ice-berg's brow beneath ; 
 Or, harness'd to the sledge, stern pastime, traced 
 His Chieftain's step throughout that dreary waste. 
 
122 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 ! I 
 
 Where Caswall's mount in towering grandeur told, 
 
 That Chief was wont his wintry wake to hold ; — 
 
 Or onward swept, where polar waves afar 
 
 Wage with pale Osborn's cliffs unceasing war, — [13] 
 
 Saw that strange rock uprear'd, whose stalwart form, 
 
 Standing, like virtue, scathless in the storm. 
 
 Waked forth the wild thought, from his shaping brain 
 
 Fantastic struck, — it was a thought of pain, 
 
 That all the terrors there might not restrain ; — 
 
 He named it, and that name shall be sustain^ 
 
 An age, even as that mockery hath remained ; 
 
 He named, and well that honoured name expressed 
 
 The mournful hope yet lingering in his breast. 
 
 'Tis hence a haunt ! — albeit that ghastly place 
 Lacketh no spectre's visionary race 
 To make it fear'd ; yet there, at stated hour. 
 When the time brings the apparition's power, 
 A gracious Phantom comes, in light arra/d : 
 That gracious Phantom never can be laid I — 
 HurVd by the blast beyond the power to save, 
 A bright Form fell : — it had an icy grave. — 
 
 Lamented Bellot ! — Science' favourite child ! [14] 
 Adventure's soul! — whose presence still beginled 
 Toil of his"burden, — Suffering of her pains, — 
 Oh ! — what of all thy promise now remains ? 
 Words, that bewail thee to the blast alone, 
 A desert-record, and a grave unknown : — 
 Yet, sacred Shade! at yon impassion'd shrine [15] 
 The tribute of a noble grief is thine ! 
 A grief, whose throes, graved on a deathless page, 
 Tempest shall ne'er efface, nor time assuage ; ^ 
 
 Such as in secret bosoms inly burn, 
 Aad such as speak aloud when nations mourn ; 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 123 
 
 All that the pangs of ceaseless anguish prove, 
 The ties of virtue, fellowship, and love.— 
 
 And there is One, virhose fondest thoughts in vain 
 Dwell on thy memory, and partake the pain : 
 His Sire was skilled in various Nature's laws, 
 And, like true Sabine, fervent in his cause ; 
 As that cause wandered, or its course was changed, 
 Prom zone to zone his thirsting spirit ranged, 
 Unsated j and, though his — that Icy Str" t 
 "Whose portal dire led Franklin to his fate, — [16] 
 No nobler zeal e'er urg'd the adventurous quest. 
 The fire ne'er kindled in a purer breast. — 
 He died renown'd : let not Ambition pine. 
 Or Science, unconsol'd, her hopes resign ; — 
 Lamented died ; yet in his name he lives. 
 And with that life renew'd new lustre gives : 
 Lo ! in his dust the Phcenix-fires remain. 
 And in his honour'd son he hves again. — [17] 
 
 Thus, as thine eye athwart that desert sent, 
 WatchM in fond thought the lurid element. 
 Haply, M'Cormick, didst thou muse awliile. 
 On thy far friend with memory's pensive smile. 
 
 But He, thy colleague in this quest of feoj;. 
 Toiler alike with thee, and brave compeer ; 
 He, whose bold step, by suffering unsubdued. 
 Expansive rang'd to that cold solitude, 
 Where, midst the clash of ice, an awful scene. 
 Still -vex'd Polynia sits with brow serene, [18] 
 
 In conflict of perpetual storm, to appease 
 "Winter infuriate in his utmost seas. — 
 
 Unshrinking zeal I how may the Muse aspire 
 Thy meed to award, or emulate thy fire ? — 
 Such then, and more of grandeur yet unsung 
 Leave we to time, and Truth's impartial tongue : 
 
lU 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERr^JSE. 
 
 iW' 
 
 
 Deeds speak their dues ; with justice fair and even 
 Let then to each the honou/d palm be given ; 
 Yeai's boundless still M'Cormick'& zeal proclaim, 
 Wreaths ever-fresh bedeck M'Clintock's fame. — 
 
 It was this restless zeal, this thrilling thought. 
 This harrowing outcry of distress that brought 
 The unflinching Forsyth forth ; he, whose bold prow 
 Pierced, like a Power of life, the obstructing floe : — [19] 
 
 Penny, for this, renounced his ancient fame. 
 And shaped his prowess to a nobler aim ; 
 The intrepid whaler, — he, whose sterhng worth, — 
 Old in the storm, familiar with the north. 
 Inspired a promise like his spirit large. 
 And bless'd those barks, confiding Sorrow's charge;— 
 Those barks of hope, — oh, ever-honour'd Chief ! 
 StampM yet with living fears, and named of grief j 
 Mute signs, mqre wakening to thy manly sense 
 Than vocal Woe in all her eloquence : — 
 Fraught thus, a twofold blessing on thy store ; 
 What might Faith do, or fond Affliction more ? — 
 Unswerving Chief I in sorrow's cause most true ! 
 So with that cause thy force and fervour grew : 
 Trained to the search, in Danger's straits well-skilled ; 
 All that thy genius taught, thy zeal fulfiU'd. — 
 
 Even so that Chief, who, rallying from afar. 
 Gave to the spheres of Hope another Star j [20] 
 
 But, mark'd for varying fortunes to the end, 
 In fervent IJooper lost the unfailing friend ; — 
 Pullen, — whom course eccentric, and wild range, 
 Or en the sea, or shore, iu ceaseless change 
 Impell'd, eventful : — ^yet one pang possessed, ^ 
 
 One thought electric ran throughout his breast. 
 
 This roused the veteran to a fresh crusade ; 
 Cited the indomitabl? Boss ; and bade 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 125 
 
 Bold Ommanney the arduous palm dispute, 
 
 And Austin, like his bark, the Resolute ; 
 
 While Osbom (name for no inglorious page). 
 
 With a quick frenzy took the infecting rage : — 
 
 True friends of misery who, forceful, phed 
 
 The embarrassed helm through Baffin's cumbrous tide ; 
 
 Nor stayed till Riley's memorable cape 
 
 Spoke, but, alas ! told not the course to shape ; — [21] 
 
 Riley, the portal to these fearful woes, 
 
 Yet now the source whence brightest hope arose ; 
 
 Riley — where still some Spirit seems to say — 
 
 " Behold ! — his step ! — ^Thy Chieftain is away !" — 
 
 Sighs to the blast, and in the desert air 
 
 Guards the fond spot, and breathes the plaintive prayer ; 
 
 Nor might the all-sweeping storm that trace bedim. 
 
 That lonely trace yet left to speak for him. — 
 
 Yet wherefore pause ? what shall be said of those 
 Who scaled with patient sledge the obstructing snows ? 
 Why should the Muse their humbler deeds contemn ? 
 Is there no wreath, no laurel left for them ? — 
 What of those sturdy Resolutes who bore 
 Discovery's pendant round that ruthless shore. 
 Where, in despite of tumult, and of storm, 
 And Heath's stern power in every fatal form. 
 By Polar frost unquench'd, the zealot's fire 
 Lived in the breasts of Trollope and Maguire ? — 
 Heartless the muse, in whose too partial page 
 Sons all as worthy have no heritage; 
 Though foil'd in hope, be they remember'd all. 
 True to their honour, and their country's call. — 
 
 But One came back, a partner in defeat, [22] 
 
 Though arm'd with wild equipment all complete 
 For wildness, such as might the best appal. 
 And make them think what 'tis to cope withal. — 
 
V 
 
 126 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 He 'twas who first pursued a devious chase 
 Oblique, by that huge's promontory's base, 
 Wliere wild Magellan with impetuous sweep [23] 
 Lets in the torrents of an ocean's deep. 
 
 Thenceforth at length emerged, and nothing loath, 
 But with a zeal that grew with Danger's growth. 
 He ploughed the deep Pacific's watery way. 
 Through many a boisterous league, and dreary day ; 
 Yet Wf»s he calm, and in whatever clime 
 Wild Fortune thrust him forth, could bide his time : — 
 This gift, and such-like of great Nature's care. 
 His lot 'twas with Adventure's best to share ; 
 Courage to cope, and patience to endure. 
 Were given to all, nor, least of all, M'Clure. — 
 If aught of specious tongue this praise dispute. 
 Judge if his acts bespeak such attribute ; 
 See him amidst his polar terrors cast. 
 Even as a rock, liit lonely on the waste ; — 
 And, as some pine, on Alpine crag on high. 
 Spreads its broad arms, and leans along the sky ; 
 Now here, now there, by furious tempest driven. 
 Hangs o'er the abyss, or towers into the heaven ; — 
 Thus to his word his steadfast bark replies : 
 Yields with his will, and with his force defies. — 
 
 Baulk'd of some aim, or traversed in his track 
 By the huge fastness of the polar pack ; [24] 
 
 With trenchant zeal he strikes the impervious bar, 
 Or shivers with the explosive dint of war : 
 The obstructive foe convinc'd, and channel clear'd. 
 With the ever-varying tack a course is steer'd ; [25] 
 While ever-varying hazards, far and near, ^ 
 
 Impede the advance, and threaten his career. — 
 But as the sea, on some new spoil intent, 
 (His wild, his own congenial element), 
 
 [part vii.] 
 
AECTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 127 
 
 i3] 
 
 e:- 
 
 'H] 
 
 ;25] 
 
 Breaks from its bounds, and revels as it goes. 
 Though mountains rise, and Nature's self oppose ; 
 Overbears restraint, and till its goal be won, 
 Kolls, unconcem'd, in conscious greatness on : — 
 Thus, of repulse regardless, and resolved 
 But the more stenily as the more involved. 
 The unshaken Chieftain strives ; no effort tires, 
 And baffled triumph but the more inspires. — 
 
 Such toilsome cares might quell the manliest nerve ; 
 Yet Honour's voice forbade thy soul to swerve, 
 Where, though in range restricted, thou could' st find 
 Pull scope for thought, the freedom of the mind ; 
 Not that thy time went wearily, though toil 
 And care might something of its zest despoil ; 
 Tor many a nameless marvel met thy gaze. 
 Nameless, as known not to thy former days ; 
 Sights wonder-waking, shapes grotesque and strange, 
 Not of thy wonted nature's worldly range. 
 As some great sorcerer's hand had wrought the change : — 
 Of such that beauteous wonder, where the North 
 Opens the Heavens, and, wildly flashing forth. 
 Legions of fire, in ever-varied form. 
 Chase the darV night, and dance upon the storm. 
 But if strange sights uprose those waters o'er. 
 Sights all as strange came pictured from that shore ; 
 Tires from the earth, and forests struck to store : [26] 
 Rare aspects, e'en within that mystic zone. 
 Yet 'twas thy joy, in that unearthly wild. 
 To find in Nature's a confiding child; [27] 
 
 And, as it much imported thee to wear 
 A gracious aspect, and a winning aix*. 
 Even if with bribes, pure as were thine, to buy 
 Their good- will all, and seal their sympathy ; — 
 
 II.] 
 
128 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Thyself and cause to ingratiate with these, 
 
 Watch each suspicious instinct, and appease j 
 
 Aught that might waken fear or doubt remove, 
 
 And fill its place up with quick proof of love ; — 
 
 Such was thy art : — yet once, with bended bow, [28] 
 
 'Tis told, and brandished blade, in hostile row 
 
 They gathering stood ; — ^why, — let the sequel show.— 
 
 Their ire assuaged ; 'twas to avenge the slain. 
 Their fears declared, thy crew were on the main ; 
 To avenge the white man, whom in this remote 
 And silent shore they buried, where they smote ; — 
 Then came the thought that filled thy soul with gloom ; 
 A murdered man, — a white man, and his tomb ! — 
 
 He had been left, and, straying here abroad. 
 His comrades lost j — at this thy soul was awed : 
 None knew their coming, how or whence they came ; 
 Tor their departure too 'twas much the same. 
 Save for this one : — Hard by, a hut there stood. 
 Had been the abode of this their solitude : 
 They had ranged south, it seem'd, — he luckless-left. 
 Of food and his associates all bereft. 
 Had fallen, or by the bow or treacherous knife : — 
 His was a lonely death and lonely life. — 
 
 Set by the terror of this tale aghast. 
 Thy course was shaped albeit thy anchor cast ; 
 That course the guidance of the savage gave ; 
 There was the hut, a ruin like the grave. 
 To attest some deed of darkness, that forbade 
 All question ; — ^yet a hideous fear was stay'd : — 
 Thy floating charge awaited thee, and now 
 Thy footsteps hastened to ascend the prow. 
 In sadness, yet with this assurance fair, 
 'Twas not thy honoured Chief who rested there; 
 And, like a troubled dream, the tale passM by ; 
 Departing, as it came, a mystery. — 
 
 tt 
 
fmm 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 129 
 
 [28] 
 
 RT.- 
 
 oora: 
 
 me; 
 
 ft, 
 
 Thus, betwixt death and life, a fell suspense ; 
 Outcast, and left alone to Providence ; 
 Through many a weary month's all-watchful gaze, 
 No trace of wandering woe thy search repays ; 
 No sign of piteous sojourn, here, I ween. 
 Encouraged thee to think tk?/ brave had been ; 
 Nor might emerge from ice or ocean aught 
 Of dire disclosure to appal tliy thought : 
 Yet many a shore and unswept sea's expanse 
 Looms, and awakens to renewed advance. 
 
 At length despondent, — for the brave despair. 
 When all is done that valiant soul may flar3,« — 
 The bark, before a breeze that favoured still. 
 With easy canvass made her course, until, 
 Pix'd by the frost, with sails unbent, she lay, 
 Secure in Mercy's memorable bay : — [29] 
 
 Mercy, well-named ; in homage to high Heaven 
 For many a peril past, and many a mercy given. 
 
 Closed all the hatchways, and the vessel housed ; [30] 
 See, now the feeling of the sailor roused ! — 
 Albeit of that most sacred purpose foil'd. 
 In which so long and vainly they had toil'd ; 
 Despite of this, a boisterous spirit reign'd ; 
 The crew were safe, and a great conquest gained j 
 And lo ! — while deepening winter shuts the scene, 
 And the deer herds into the deep ravine. 
 Content to brouse on Nature's latest gift. 
 The stunted willow strugglmg through the drift, 
 Whce sheltering nooks afford what cheer they can 
 To the furr'd hare, and feather'd ptarmigan ; — 
 All overlaid the bark, and bank'd with snow. 
 To exclude grim winter from the life below ; 
 " Splice the main brace !" — ^the cordial chieftain cries. 
 The crew, as cordial, with the shout replies ; 
 
V 
 
 ]30 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 !■ II 
 
 tiii 
 
 And thus, midst glee by heightening blasts increas'd, — 
 The goblet's glories, and long-lengthen'd feast, 
 With revelry of reckless laugh and song. 
 And dance grotesque, the mirthful night prolong. 
 
 Thus flew the festal hour : but counsels grave. 
 Of ship to extricate, and crew to save. 
 Come with the morn ; that time, to sons of earth. 
 When thoughtfulness succeeds to waning mirth. 
 
 At length, full long in irksome chains inthrall'd. 
 New dangers threatening as their pastimes pall'd ; 
 Came gradual o'er that crew a gathering doom ; 
 Yet they were sailors, aud dispersed the gloom : 
 Exertion roused them, and the exciting chase. 
 That fed, impelled them to the field apace ; 
 Yet had they much to do to keep their heart ; 
 Cut off, it seem'd, from all the world apart. 
 In lone vast wilds, where Winter, pale with wrath. 
 And bristling with ice- ramparts, closed their path; — 
 Their stores ebb'd too, it could not but be so 
 With men dependant on a waste of snow. 
 
 Thus as they droop' d, yet drooping, turn'd awhile 
 Each to his sliipmate with a casual smile ; — 
 Behold! — all-sudden as some sight that comes [31] 
 To wandering eye from Heaven, or from the tombs, — 
 Athwart their chieftain's course, — ^who daily wont 
 To walk the floe, — a figure wild and gaunt 
 Loom'd through the distance, indistinct ! yet like 
 No denizen's of earth its features strike ; — 
 The crew were busied at their various charge. 
 The sick in hammocks slung, the chief at large : — 
 What should he do?— at first his doubts arise. 
 Then stem dismay comes o'er him, and surprise ; 
 Beckon'd in advance, dark notions throng'd his thought. 
 Yet fled when once that stranger's voice besought ; 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 131 
 
 sM,— 
 
 1, 
 
 ,th, 
 
 vhile 
 
 [31] 
 
 abs, — 
 nt 
 
 3 thought; 
 
 :ht; 
 
 IT VII.] 
 
 And though hke Tartarus that brow, it bearn'd, 
 And to his kiodling gaze an angel's seem'd. 
 For his appearance, and his mission here, 
 A few brief accerts made that matter clear ; 
 Spare are the words the brave give to the brave, 
 It was enough to say, he came to save. — 
 Swift through the cordage, to each cabin, flew 
 The gracious errand to the astonished crew ; 
 They raved with joy, all cold despondence fled ; 
 Toil struck electric stood, and from his bed 
 Disease leap'd forth, while all with straining neck 
 Throng through the hatchway, and pervade the deck. 
 
 Hemm'd by this craving concourse, in a trice 
 The Stranger — and for that few words suffice, — 
 Disclosed ; — a moment motionless and dull — 
 For at this sudden stroke their hearts were full, — 
 The crew took mutely the first shock of joy ; 
 But soon impetuous acts that spell destroy ; 
 And now such uproar rose as will arise 
 Even at such times, and in such destinies. — 
 " Honour to KeUett, and to Pirn no less ! 
 " True friends, and great deliverers of distress V 
 Peal'd with each shout from shore to opening shore. 
 Fierce plaudits, such as franchis'd souls outpour ; 
 The rocks informed rebellow to the roar ! — 
 
 At length this tumult stillM, a calm ensues, 
 Wliere coming cares more sober thoughts infuse ; 
 Though parley's voice, that, oft uprising, swells 
 With the great theme, its tale of wonder teUs. 
 Subsiding such, the Chief unfolds his plans ; 
 The sled-borne Stranger lists, and straight overscans 
 Each gathering group, soon to be carried hence. 
 From want and toil, to rest and competence. — 
 
182 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 I it 
 
 Brave Chief I well had'st thou pass'd a fearful date ; 
 Why should thy feelings then prolong thy fate ? 
 Why should'st thou tempt thy fortune, and lay bare 
 Thy lives and safeties for thy vessel's care ? — 
 Yet 'twas to thee a grievous sadness this, 
 Thy worthy bark that brought thee to thy bliss 
 To abandon, turn thy back upon the friend 
 Whose faithful bosom bore thee to the end. — [32] 
 
 Much hast thou done, — if still the impartial test 
 Be to have done what baffled all the best ; 
 And flung within thy grasp a ghttering prize 
 Yet unachieved by toiling centuries : 
 Fortune's great boon, who favoured still the bold. 
 Yet, favouring, could her highest gift withhold ; 
 Leaving aU-unattain'd that fearful end. 
 Where haply yet the unfinished Fates impend.—- 
 Capricious Power ! — how might the poet raise 
 The enraptured strain, all- vocal in her praise ; 
 Had she but smiled, propitious still, to assure 
 This triumph thine, unflinching brave M'Clure ! — 
 This, for exulting ages to proclaim 
 The crowning act, the keystone of thy fame ! — 
 
 Yet favoured thus, not thine alone the meed 
 Of daring eff'ort, and adventurous deed ; 
 For the same field where all thy wreaths were won, 
 Mark'd the fond course of faithful Collinson. [33] 
 
 Devoted chief ! in honour's arduous race, 
 'Twas thine Columbia's loneliest bound to trace ; 
 There with wide- watchful eye thy search expand 
 Through the seal'd winter of that sinuous strand ; 
 And, — as some tempest, whose impetuous speed. 
 Obvious on high the cavern'd clifl's impede, 
 Baulk'd of its range, with searching sweep explores 
 Each secret cove, and inlet of the shores, — 
 
 [part VII 
 
ARCTIC ENTKRPEISB. 
 
 13:i 
 
 date; 
 
 are 
 
 [32] 
 test 
 
 i, 
 
 
 roil, 
 [33] 
 
 )lores 
 
 ,T VII 
 
 Thus through the rugged scene to work thy way, 
 Great in rebuke, undaunted at delay ; 
 Wind through each icy labyrinth, and seek 
 The tortuous terrors of the mazy creek j 
 And trace, though baffled oft, with earnest force 
 The cold obstructions of the dubious course. 
 
 Fair promise shone from thee, and likelihood 
 Of deed triumphant markM thy gallant mood ; 
 Thy country look'd on thee as one from whom 
 More than his proffered word is wont to come : — 
 Pure-minded man ! — Affliction saw in thee [34] 
 
 The unboastful bearing she delights to see ; 
 Saw, and by mute and tranquil trust disclosed 
 The joy that foUow'd from her hopes reposed : 
 Nor didst thou yield thy charge, but, — as 'tis proved 
 They have hoped longest who the most have loved ; — 
 Thy quest became a passion, a stern will. 
 Not to be deem*d a vain pursuit, until. 
 Too well assured for promise to beguile. 
 Fell ruin met thee on that voiceless isle. 
 Where, as thou see'st, wreck-fragments scattered lie. 
 In dreadful note of some dark destiny. — 
 
 Not far remote from this, in an accurst 
 And dreary waste, the dreariest and the worst. 
 Death tells the tale, and Famine hath revealed 
 Her hideous secret on that fatal field. — 
 
 There sunk the gentlest, — there the bravest fell ; 
 Let Time's unerring tongue his virtues tell. — 
 But we will mourn thee ! Truth's impartial hand 
 Shall write thy greatness, and a conscious land 
 Something assert for thee, oh, ill-starr'd Chief ! 
 
 a transient 
 
 Beyond the homage 
 
 grief; 
 
 What were it but the palm that victory gives. 
 Greatest in death, — the glory that outlives ? — 
 
134 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Justice demands tliis tribute to thy fame j 
 
 And fatal triumph sanctifies the claim. — [35] 
 
 What then avails it that the Muse prolong 
 The baleful theme of this protracted song ? 
 With thee, sad Shade ! her visions pass ; the hour 
 That sealed thy doom confounds her faltering power : 
 With thee she fails, hears in thy distant knell 
 The lingering cadence of a broken spell. 
 And leaves thee to the blast, — whose icy sweep 
 Howls o'er the cold couch of thy silent sleep. 
 Where yet the cypress a fond wreath shall twine 
 With deathless laurel o'er thy lonely shrine ! — 
 
 Here might we end, here at this fatal bourn ; 
 What fitter end than with the brave we mourn ? — 
 Here might we end : — ^but now, methinks, 'twere meet. 
 We turn yet once with parting strain to greet 
 One favourite son of ocean-fame, the Chief 
 Latest elected for this wild relief. 
 Not least-accompHsh'd ; for Affliction's faith 
 Goes with him, and sweet blessings guard his path. 
 
 Unwearied Rover ! who more prompt than thou [36] 
 To push through pathless seas the inquiring prow ? 
 See through the mist, and in the stormy strife 
 Glean from each shore new scattered forms of life ? 
 And, cull'd with studious care, new themes impart 
 To Science, and reclaim the erroneous chart ? 
 New starry realms from other clouds unrol. 
 And pierce new portals to the unyielding Pole ? — 
 There, through the fastness of the whale to urge 
 Thy restless keel, and see what seas emerge ; 
 What human forms in the wide waste abroad. 
 Left to the common care of Nature's God, 
 Range for the spoil on want's instinctive road. 
 Returning to that stiU-unbless'd abode, 
 
 [part vii.] 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 185 
 
 [35] 
 
 lur 
 3wer : 
 
 re meet^ 
 
 )ath. 
 
 lou [36] 
 ow? 
 
 ife? 
 [)art 
 
 ?— 
 
 ye 
 
 IT VII.] 
 
 Where thou might'st, welcome to the cell of snow, 
 The kindly gift with the kind smile bestow ; 
 Call all their slumbering sympathies to birth, 
 Be one with them, and mingle in their mirth ; 
 Or, if by Science' taking charm beguiled, 
 Scale the rude floe, and probe the unsheltered wild : 
 But, should the important chase command thee still 
 To wake the efforts of thy slaughterous skill,— 
 Confront the bear, or combat with the whale ; 
 And tell in artless phrase the awakening tale. 
 
 Yet not with thee colloquial terms alone 
 Suffice to expound, and make thy marvels known ; 
 Lo ! at thy touch, the Picture and the Page 
 Their charms combine, and in thy cause engage ; 
 'Tis thine to pen the amazing scene, and trace 
 Its ruder features with the pencil's grace. 
 But if, well-tutor'd in those mystic skies. 
 And girt with spoils of polar enterprise. 
 Thou bring'st, at thy return, a cheerless heart ; 
 Yet hast thou nobly pla/d a manly part ; 
 And foil'd, albeit, like otherr , in thy aim. 
 Pure was its purpose as tliy spotless fame. — 
 
 Eais'd from the scene whence former visions rise, — 
 The glorious visions of past destinies, — 
 Such our last spectacle of worth and woe. 
 And such the unfaltering brave that fill the show. 
 There in wide search they range, and range again. 
 Up-open many a wintry field in vain ; 
 Illume the skies with hope's wild signs, the spire 
 Of light explosive, and the rocket's fire ; 
 And, where such signs might marshal their approach. 
 Or car might penetrate, or keel encroach. 
 Lay up the treasured provender, and shape 
 The signal-column on the beetling cape ; 
 
136 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPIUSE. 
 
 Thread every nook, each jutting headland scan, 
 
 Devise each scheme, and practise every plan. 
 
 That human thought miglit frame, or human power 
 
 Execute in despair's indignant hour. 
 
 Thus sights, and sounds, and signals of release. 
 
 Eloquent tongues of succour and of j)eace, 
 
 Speak through the void, where'er the ocean holds 
 
 The floating rescue in its icy folds ; 
 
 Earnests of stubborn Hope, who loves to build 
 
 Her beacon best in that disastrous field. 
 
 Where, chance, some piteous remnant might be led 
 
 To life, — some yet left, lingering from the dead. — 
 
 In vain. — Yet ere the Muse with partial haste 
 Yield her dark page, the Drama of the past ; 
 And close the curtain o'er that harrowing scene 
 Where the last struggles of the brave have been ; 
 Behoves her still the generous voice to raise, 
 Albeit in echo of a People's praise. 
 Lo ! — as those visionary scenes expire, 
 That kindled, and sustain'd her feeble fire, — 
 A faitliful band of Patriot-Rulers rise, [37] 
 
 Even as they rose in former destinies. 
 Whose Chiefs go forth that cruel waste to roam. 
 Bring from their desert-death, these Wanderers home, 
 And, in a less ungenial soil, consign 
 The sacred relics to a worthier shrine. — 
 Urg'd thus by manhood's noblest ties to feel 
 Their own true greatness in their Country's weal. 
 Be they thrice-bless'd, — the Patriots who approve. 
 And the brave Chiefs who at their bidding rove ; 
 Renown' d, while fearless Virtue hath a olaim. 
 Worth wakes esteem, or Honour leads \:o fame. 
 
 Let then this thought, all-constant Grief impart 
 Some peace to reassure thy bleeding heart ! — 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
 iwr 
 
ARCTIC KNTEUPRISB. 
 
 137 
 
 er 
 
 id 
 
 [37] 
 
 ome. 
 
 rt 
 
 VII.] 
 
 Some guardian-power within the thickening gloom, 
 To arrest tliy steps, and keep thee from the tomb ! — 
 
 Yet, if thy pangs pursue thee to tlie end. 
 And thou, relcnth;ss fate, alas ! — must bend; 
 There's yet a refuge, a sweet source of joy. 
 That time cannot impair, nor fate destroy : — 
 Thy husband is beyond this pain, and Heaven, — 
 Merciful most where most the chastening hand is given, 
 Withholds him from thee : —let this thought beguile, - 
 What is all absence but a death the while ? — 
 He is beyond thy pain, a sacred Shade, 
 In amaranthine fields of bliss arrayM ; 
 Where Prayer sends up her Heaven-subduing power. 
 And soul-inspiring Hope asserts the hour ! — 
 Hope undismayed, who, in her fliglit sublime 
 Beyond the bounds of Nature and of Time, 
 Superior still to the world's passing woes, 
 Pictures in higher spheres a sure repose. 
 
 Then peace ! — there comes a messenger of love, 
 To guide thee. Mourner, to those fields above ! 
 Take comfort then, a never-failing guest 
 Returns, poor reft One, to thy widow'd breast ! — 
 And, as that star, blest emblem of thy soul. 
 That constant star, still nearest to the Pole, 
 Marshals the heavens, and, foremost in array. 
 Holds o'er the howling north his stedfast sway, — 
 Thus, unobscured midst Danger's threatening train. 
 First-born of Heaven, eternal Hope, remain ! — 
 What, though the joys of fleeting Nature cease, 
 Thou art the herald of unfading peace ! 
 Thine the true refuge of the soul distress' d. 
 The holiest comfort of the stricken breast. — 
 But, oh ! — when Sorrow sinks into despair, 
 Be bounteous most, immortal Spirit, there I — 
 
138 
 
 ASCTIC; ENTEBPBISB. 
 
 Bright Source of smilcM ! sweet Offspring of the skies I 
 Oh ! there, with all thj fairy-inflrence rise! — 
 There, while the future darkens o'er the past, 
 Lend all thy charms, and linger to the last ! 
 
 THB END. 
 
V, 
 
 skies ! 
 
 139 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 [1] ** The adventurous first of Britain's sons befell.* 
 [Sir Hugh WiUoughby.] 
 
 PART II. 
 
 [1] **LoI Asia's mingled tribes, remorseless hosts" 
 
 " History has not recorded the annals of a people who have 
 occasioned greater, more sudden, or more numerous revolutions in 
 Europe than the Scandinavians, or whose antiquities, at the same 
 time, are so little known. Had, indeed, their emigrations been 
 only like those sudden torrents of which all traces and remem- 
 brance are soon effaced, the indifference that has been shown to 
 them would have been sufficiently justified by the barbarism they 
 have been reproached with. But, during those general inundations, 
 the face of Europe underwent so total a change, and, dining the 
 confusion they occasioned, such different establishments took place ; 
 new societies were formed, animated so entirely with a new spirit, 
 that the history of our own manners and institutions ought neces- 
 sarily to ascend back, and even dwell a considerable time upon a 
 period which discovers to us their chief origin and source." — 
 Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 
 
 " If we recur back to the remotest times, we observe a nation 
 issuing from the forests of Scythia^, incessantly increasing and 
 
 * " There is not a vagaer term in ancient geography than that of ScythiA. 
 Taken in its most eztensiTe ■ignification, it would embrace all the countries 
 
140 
 
 AKCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 dividing to take possession of the uncultivated countries which it 
 met with in its progress. Very soon after, we see the same people, 
 like a tree full of vigour, extending long branches over all Europe ; 
 we see them also carrying with them, wherever they came, 
 
 ♦ * ♦ * * a, restless, unconquered spirit, apt to take fire at 
 the very mention of subjugation and constraint ; and a ferocious 
 courage nourished by a savage and vagabond life." — Id. 
 
 " It is very probable that the first Danes were, like all the 
 other Teutonic nations, a colony of Scythians, who spread them- 
 selves, at diflferent times, over the countries which lay towards the 
 west."— /(i. Ch. I. 
 
 [With regard to the practices of these barbarians], "they sig- 
 nalized" (speaking of a fleet of Sea-rovers) " their approach by 
 plundering, burning, killing all the men capable of bearing arms, 
 and by the perpetration of all those other revolting and remorse- 
 less deeds which, in those ages, invariably marked the progress of 
 a band of Scandinavian freebooters." — Id. Ch. VIII. 
 
 " How formidable soever the Scandinavians were by land to 
 most of the inhnbitants of Europe, it must yet be allowed that 
 their maritime expeditions occasioned still more destructive ra- 
 vages, and greater terror. We cannot read the history of the 
 eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, without observing with surprise 
 the sea covered with their vessels ; and, from one end of Europe to 
 the other, the coasts of those countries, now the most powerful, 
 a prey to their depredations. ********** 
 In fine, they no less infested the north than the south with their 
 incursions, spreading every where d: eolation and terror: sometimes 
 as furiously bent on their mutual destruction as on the ruin of 
 other nations ; till, animated by a more pacific spirit, they trans- 
 ported colonies to unknown and tininhabited countries, as if they 
 were willing to repair in one place the horrid destruction of 
 human-kind occasioned by their furious ravages in others." — 
 Id. Ch. IX. 
 
 lying between the present river Don in the west, the great desert of Gobi in 
 the east, the Hindoo Koch mountains on the south, and the plains of Siberia on 
 the north, in which direction the bounds might be limited or extended to suit 
 any particular theory, this region being for the Ancients, Terra Incognita. 
 
 • ♦ * » When our Author, therefore, talks of a " nation issuing from the 
 forests of Scythia," he must be corsidered to mean, the yarious races of Asiastic 
 origin * * * * that spread themselves over Europe at an epoch far beyond 
 the bounds of authentic history, as veil as others who may have " trod upon the 
 heels of their fathers" at a moie recent period."— £e(itor'3 Note. 
 
 [part II.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 141 
 
 [2] " Tavght hy the raverCs faithful icing to steer" 
 
 " We are told that Floki" (a famous sea-rover who followed 
 in the wake of Naddod, the discoverer of Iceland), " previous to 
 setting out on his expedition, performed a great sacrifice, and, 
 having consecrated three ravens to the gods, took them with him 
 to guide him on his voyage. After touching at the Shetland and 
 Foero islands, he steered N. W., and when he was fairly out at 
 sea, let loose one of his ravens, which, after rising to a considerable 
 elevation, directed its flight to the land they had quitted ; whence 
 Floki very sagely concluded that it was nearer to him than any 
 other. Onward, therefore, went Floki. The second bird, after 
 being some time on wing, returned to the ship, a sign that land 
 was too far distant to be descried even by a raven hovering in the 
 sky. Floki, therefore, continued his course, and, shortly after- 
 wards, let loose a third raven, which he followed in its flight until 
 he reached the eastern coast of Iceland." — Mallet's Northern 
 Antiquities^ Ch. IX. 
 
 " The raven was the bird of Odin, the Raven-god — Hrafnagadt 
 as he is called in Skaldic poetry." — Id. 
 
 " The Runic inscriptions not only confirm, in the most strik- 
 ing manner, the authenticity of the Sagas relating to Greenland, 
 but warrant the conclusion that those which tell us, in the same 
 artless manner, of the discovery of the American continent are 
 equally trustworthy, though their statements have not as yet been 
 confirmed by the same kind of palpable evidence." — Id. Sup. Ch. 
 
 [With regard to the Runic remains referred to in this passage, 
 a stone, it appears, was discovered in 1824, in the island of King- 
 iktorsoak (coast of Greenland), which, upon being submitted to 
 eminent Runologists, bore evidence of the Scandinavians having 
 explored and wintered in the Polar seas seven centuries previous 
 to the celebrated expeditions of our day.'\ 
 
 [3] " Some^ tossed hy tempests, in the o'ersweeping wave" 
 
 [As one of countless instances of disaster through storm and 
 shipwreck, mav be noticed that of Gilbert and Raleigh's expedi- 
 tion, in 1583, undertaken with a view to British- American colo- 
 nization. Two unsuccessful attempts were made to carry out the 
 object ; the first was defeated by the cavilling of the adventurers ; 
 in the second, after the destruction of one of the vessels, on the 
 coast of Newfoundland, the return of another through the faint- 
 
 II.] 
 
142 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPEISB. 
 
 heartedness of the crew, and that of a third, laden with the sick, 
 the commander shaped his course hcntewards.] 
 
 " Sir Humphery Gilbert stood upon the deck holding a book 
 in his hand, encouraging the crew. — "We are as near to Hearen 
 by sea as by land" — he called out to those on the other vessel, as 
 it drifted past, just before nightfall. Darkness soon concealed 
 his little bark from sight ; but, for hours, one small light was seen 
 to rise and fall, and plunge about among the furious Wi es. 
 Shortly after midnight, it suddenly disappeared, and with it. all 
 trace of the brave chief, and the crew. One maimed and storm- 
 tossed ship alone returned to England of that armament which so 
 short a time before had been sent forth to take possession of a 
 new world." — Narrative of Expedition of Sir Humphery 
 Gilbert. Hakluyt. Vol. III. pp. 143 i 9. 
 
 [4] *• Or midst fell wilds to foot of life unknown" 
 
 "This coast appears to have been singularly barren and de- 
 solate. Food, it was said, could be procured only by purloining 
 from the nest of an osprey the fish collected for her young. * * 
 * * Famine soon rose to such a pitch as to drive them to a 
 most frightful extremity. Several of them waylaid a companion, 
 killed him, and deposited his flesh in a secret place, to which they 
 repaired, and, having roasted it in successive portions, eagerly fed 
 upon it. * * * * The famine becoming always more cruel, 
 they were at length driven to a systematic mode of carrying on 
 the same horrible course, and had arranged the casting of lots to 
 decide whose life should be sacrificed to save the rest, when a 
 French ship appeared." — Discovery and Adventure in the Polar 
 Seas and Regions. Ed. Cab. Lib. Vol. I. Ch. VI. 
 
 [5] *' A hideous scene ensues ; the Furies rise ;" 
 
 [To elucidate by modern instances the truth of sufferings here 
 so inadequately pictured, we would refer to " The Narrative of a 
 journey to the shores\of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819-20-21. 
 and 22, by Captain John Franklin, Commander of the Ex- 
 pedition. — From this the following are a few extracts.] 
 
 " While we were scted round the fire this evening, discoursing 
 about the anticipated relief, the conversation was suddenly inter- 
 rupted by Peltiers exclaiming with joy, "^A/ le monde!" 
 imagining that he heard the Indians in the other room ; im- 
 
 [PAET II.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 143 
 
 the sick, 
 
 V a book 
 Hearen 
 essel, as 
 :oncealed 
 was seen 
 5 w-i es. 
 ith It all 
 d storm- 
 which so 
 lion of a 
 umphery 
 
 I and de- 
 urloining 
 
 g- * * 
 them to a 
 
 mpanion, 
 
 hich they 
 
 igerly fed 
 
 ore cruel, 
 
 rrying on 
 
 of lots to 
 
 when a 
 
 he Polar 
 
 •ings here 
 
 itive of a 
 
 L9-20-21. 
 
 the Ex- 
 
 iscoursing 
 nly inter- 
 monde /" 
 oom ; im-' 
 
 fcT II.] 
 
 mediately afterwards, to his bitter disappointment. Dr. Richardson 
 and Hepbuvn entered, each carrying a bundle. Peltiers, however, 
 soon recovered himsolf enough to express his joy at their safe 
 arrival, and his regr t that their companions were not with theit}. 
 When I saw them alone, my own mind was instantly filled with 
 apprehensions respecting my friend Hood, and our other com- 
 panions, which were immediately confirmed by the Doctor's 
 melancholy communication that Mr. Hood and Michel were dead. 
 This intelligence produced a melancholy despondency in the minds of 
 my party, and, on that account, the particulars were deferred until 
 another opportunity. We were all shocked at beholding the 
 emaciated countenances of the Doctor and Hepburn, as this 
 strongly evidenced tbeii extremely debilitated state. The alteration 
 in our appearance was equally distressing to them, for since the 
 swellings had subsided, we were little more than skin and bone. 
 The Doctc particularly remarked the sepulchral tones of our voices, 
 which he . ^quested us to make more cheerful, if possible, un- 
 conscious that his own partook of the same key." — Franklin's 
 Narrative, &c. p. 446. 
 
 " After our usual supper of singed skin and bone-soup, Dr. 
 Richardson acquainted me with the afflicting circumstances at- 
 tending the death of Mr. Hood and Michel, and detailed the 
 occurrences subsequently 1 my departure from them." — Id. 
 p. 448. 
 
 ♦' We had this evening the pain of discovering that two of our 
 men had stolen part of the officer's provisions, which had been 
 allotted to us with strict impartiality. This conduct was the more 
 reprehensible, as it was plain that we were suflFering, even in a 
 greater degree than themselves, from the effects of famine, owing 
 to our being of a less robust habit, and less accustomed to priva- 
 tions. We had no means of punishing this crime, but by the threat 
 that they should forfeit their wages, which had now ceased to 
 operate. ***** Our people, through despondency, had 
 become careless and disobedient, and had ceased to dread punish- 
 ment, or hope for reward." — Id. p. 421. 
 
 •' While we halted to consider of this subject, and to collect 
 our party, the carcass of a deer was discovered in the cleft of a 
 rock, into which it had fallen in the spring. It was putrid, but it 
 was little less acceptable to us on that account, in our present 
 circumstances ; and, a fire being kindled, a large portion of it was 
 
144 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 devoured on the spot, affording us an unexpected breakfast ; for, 
 in order to husband our small remaining portion of meat, we had 
 agreed to make only one scanty meal a day. ***** 
 We supped on the remains of the putrid deer, and the men, hav- 
 ing gone to the spot where it was found, scraped together the con- 
 tents of its intestines, which were scattered on the rock, and 
 added them to their meal." — Id. p. 422. 
 
 ** In the afternoon, we had a heavy fall of snow. A small 
 quantity of Tripe de roche was gathered ; and Credit, who had 
 been hunting, brought in the antlers and backbone of a deer 
 which had been killed in the summer. The wolves and birds of 
 prey had picked this clean, but there still remained a quantity of 
 the spinal marrow which they had not been able to extract ; this, 
 although putrid, was esteemed a valuable prize, and the spine, 
 being divided into portions, was distributed equally. After eating 
 the marrow, which was so acrid as to excoriate the lips, we 
 rendered the bones friable by burning, and ate them also." — 
 Id. p. 426. 
 
 " We had a small quantity of this weed in the evening, and 
 the rest of our supper was made up of scraps of roasted leather. 
 ***** Previous to setting out, the whole party ate the 
 remains of their shoes, and whatever scraps of leather they had, 
 to strengthen their stomachs for the fatigues of the day's journey." 
 Id. p. 429. 
 
 " There was no tripe de rochCt so we drank tea, and ate some 
 of our shoes for supper." — Id. p. 438. 
 
 [6] " For suchy alas 1 fain would the Muse forbear ^^ 
 
 [It were no difficult task to multiply instances of those insur- 
 rections at sea, which, viewed in every light, rank amongst the 
 most formidable calamities on shipboard ; in the Polar seas more 
 especially, where Nature is sufficiently ungentle, without the 
 aggravating evil of rebellion on the part of the crew. 
 
 Behring, in his last and fatal voyage through the straits that 
 bear his name, had to encounter the insubordination of bis ship's 
 company, in addition to the fearful distresses arising from want 
 and despair, and that terrible disease, the scurvy, which eventually 
 destroyed him. In early north-western discovery, Weymouth, 
 during a tempest, perhaps the most terrible recorded in Arctic 
 chronicles, was compelled to give way to mutiny : At an earlier 
 
 [PABT II.] 
 
 m 
 
 desci 
 and I 
 foiled 
 and 
 
NOTES. 
 
 145 
 
 period, in the same seas, Davis was abandoned by one of his 
 ships at a moment the most critical, and in the other (a small 
 bark of thirty tons) continued his course alone through appalling 
 difficulties. Lastly, Hudson, thrust forth by a merciless band of 
 ruffians, naked and unprovided, amidst deserts of rouk and snow. 
 Our own times present but few instances : there is better 
 discipline : Officers the bravest, but perhaps, under the trying 
 circumstances attendant on Arctic adventure, more conciliatory 
 more morally, more inwardly brave, and crews of the same temper. 
 With the affecting narrative of the " Mutiny of the Bounty," 
 everyone is conversant ; and no reader of modern poetry but has 
 dwelt, spell- bound, over "The Island."] 
 
 ♦' Fiercely beside thy cot the mutineer 
 Stands, and proclaims the reign of rage and fear. 
 Thy limbs are bound, the bayonet at thy breast. 
 The hands, which trembled at thy voice, arrest ; 
 Dragged o'er the deck, no more at thy command 
 The obedient helm shall veer, the sail expand. — 
 it ***** It 
 
 In vain, not silenced by the eye of death. 
 Thou call'st the loyal with thy menaced breath : — 
 They come not; they are few, and overawed, 
 Must acquiesce, while sterner hearts applaud. 
 In vain thou dost demand the cause ; a curse 
 Is all the answer, with the threat of worse : 
 Full in their eyes is waved the glittering blade. 
 Close to thy throat the pointed bayonet laid ; 
 The levell'd muskets circle round thy breast 
 In hands as steel'd tci do the deadly rest." 
 
 Byron. 
 
 [7] " Lo I onward as he toils, a struggling form,** 
 
 [In Parry's interesting journals, there occur many passages 
 descriptive of the utter desolation that characterizes Polar scenery, 
 and of the emotions such scenery is calculated to awaken. The 
 following will be remembered by all who have read those journals, 
 and such as have not will be amply repaid for a perusal.] 
 
 " The officers, who dined at two o'clock, were also in the habit 
 of occupying one or two hours in the middle of the day in ram- 
 bling on shore, even in our darkest period, except when a fresh 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 ijiri 
 
 
 
 wind and a heavy snow-drift confined them within the housing 
 of the ships. It may be well imagined that, at this period, there 
 was but little to be met with in our walks on shore that could 
 either amuse or instruct us. ******'**** 
 * * * Mr i^fot an object was to be seen on which the eye 
 could long rest with pleasure, unless when directed to the spot 
 where the ships lay, and where our little colony was planted. The 
 smoke which there issued from the several fires, afibrding a certain 
 indication of the presence of man, gave a partial cheerfulness to 
 this part of the prospect ; and the sound of voices, which, during 
 the cold weather, could be heard at a much greater distance than 
 usual, served now and then to break the silence which reigned 
 around us ; a silence far diiferent from that peaceable composure 
 which characterizes the landscape of a cultivated country ; it was 
 the death~like stillness of the most dreary desolation, and the 
 total absence of animated existence. ******^* 
 Dreary as such a scene must necessary be, it could not, 
 however, be said to be wholly wanting in interest, especially when 
 associated in the mind with the peculiarity of our situation, the 
 object which had brought us hither, and the hopes, which the 
 least sanguine among us sometimes entertained, of spending a 
 part of our next summer in the more genial climate of the 
 South-Sea Islands. Perhaps, too, though none of us then 
 ventured to confess it, our thoughts would sometimes involun- 
 tarily wander homewards, and institute a comparison between 
 the rugged face of nature in this desolate region, and the livelier 
 aspect of the happy land which we had left behind us." — 
 Journal of Voyage for Discovery of North-west Passage, in 
 1819-20, by W. E. Parry, B.N. Commander of the Expedition. 
 
 [8] " Consigned to fate each unavailing care," 
 
 [The cairn of stones, or some other beacon less durable, has 
 frequently been raised by the dying, or over the dead, in these 
 desolate wilds. In the one case a last instinctive effort to attract 
 succour ; in the other, a monument sufficiently affecting.] 
 
 [9] " O'er the lulVd sense delicious languors creep," 
 
 [To the victim of extreme frost the approaches of death are 
 said to be so pleasing as to appear almost desirable, compared with 
 the rigours of a Polar climate. The King of terrors here assumes 
 
 [part U.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 147 
 
 ^i 
 
 e housing 
 
 •iod, there 
 
 that could 
 
 * * * 
 
 ch the eye 
 to the spot 
 ited. The 
 or a certain 
 rfulness to 
 ich, during 
 itance than 
 ich reigned 
 composure 
 ;ry ; it was 
 n, and the 
 * * * 
 
 could not, \ 
 cially when 
 tuation, the 
 which the 
 spending a 
 late of the 
 if us then 
 es involun^ 
 on between 
 the livelier 
 ind us." — 
 Passage, in 
 Expedition. 
 
 durable, has 
 ^ad, in these 
 ort to attract 
 
 of death are 
 
 Impared with 
 aere assumes 
 
 AE-T U.] 
 
 the attributes of a Siren, whose charm becomes irresistibly per- 
 suasive. The change is wrought in sleep; and into whatever 
 state that change might eventually lead, the transition, at least, 
 is painless.] 
 
 [10] ♦' Of some, whose fate the Muse might yet unfold" 
 
 [See Narrative of Hudson's last and deplorably-fatal voyage for 
 the discovery of a North-west passage. — BundaWs North-west 
 Voyages^ c&c] 
 
 PART III. 
 
 [1] •* Regions, whose wild creation seems forgot;" 
 
 " When once the earth is covered, all is dreary, monotonous 
 whiteness. ***** Whichever way the eye is turned, 
 it meets a picture calculated to impress upon the mind an idea of 
 inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor with which our 
 feelings have nothing congenial; of anything, in short, but life. 
 In the very silence there is a darkness with which a human 
 spectator appears out of keeping. The presence of man seems an 
 intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, which even 
 its native animals have for a while forsaken." — Parry's Third 
 Voyage for Discovery of North-west Passage, Ch. III. 
 
 [2] " Or Runic stone in rude memorial told " 
 
 " The necessity of assisting the memory led them" (the Scandi- 
 navians) ♦' early to invent a kind of Calendars, which they called 
 Runic Staffs. These were a sort of compendious almanacks, 
 marked out by lines upon short pieces of wood, or smooth sticks. 
 Some of them bear the appearance of great antiquity." — Mallet's 
 Northern Antiquities, Ch XL, p. 220. 
 
 "One cannot travel far in Denmark, Norway, or Sweden, 
 without meeting with great stones, of different forms, engraved 
 with those ancient characters called Runic*." — Id. p. 221. 
 
 "The use of Runic letters for more purposes" (i. e. than 
 
 [* Run ic inscriptions are also found in England ] 
 
lii' 
 
 148 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 I 
 
 Sorcery ^*) '• became by degrees more common in t'^/ ^^orth. In 
 the latter ages of Paganism, they were frequently used for in- 
 scriptions."— Id. p. 227. 
 
 " Upwards of a thousand Runic Inscriptions have been dis- 
 covered in Sweden, and three or four thousand in Denmark and 
 Norway."— Id. 228. 
 
 [3] " Leas luckless he, {as Record's scrolls relate,)" 
 
 " According to the Scandinavian Sagas, a celebrated Sea-rover, 
 named Naddod, during a voyage to the Fcero Islands, about the 
 year SCO, was driven by a violent storm on an island, to which, 
 from the vast quantity of snow he observed, he gave the name of 
 Snowland. This island was afterwards visited successively by two 
 Swedes, Gardar Svafason and Floki, by whom the name was 
 changed to that which it has ever since retained. Island or 
 Iceland." — Shillinglaw's Narrative of Arctic Discovery. 
 
 \ 
 
 [4] " Yet little heeds he, where those mists appear" 
 
 [From a narrative of the voyages of Hudson, the following is 
 extracted, as equally illustrative of the scene at earlier periods.] 
 
 "On the llth May, he descried the eastern part of Iceland, 
 and was enveloped in a thick south fog ; hearing the sea dashing 
 against the coast without seeing it. He was thus obliged to come 
 to anchor ; but, as soon as the weather cleared, he proceeded west- 
 ward along the coast till he reached Snow-Hill {Snaefell), which 
 rears its awful brow above the sea that leads to the frozen shores 
 of Greenland. On their way the navigators saw Hecla, the 
 volcano of which was then in activity, vomiting torrents of fire 
 down its snowy sides, with smoke ascending to the sky." — Polar 
 Seas and Regions, Ch. VI. 
 
 [5] " To found on shores of frost Norwegian homes." 
 
 " Iceland herself was able, after the progress of about a 
 century, to send out likewise her colonies." — (See Note 1, Part 
 IV.) — Polar Sea^ and Regions, Ch. I. 
 
 " Numerous bodies of emigrants proceeded successively to Ice- 
 land, where they were organised into a free and independent com- 
 
 m 
 
 [* The Runic characters are said to have been invented by Odin, and first 
 employed by that great impostor for the purposes of sorcery. ] 
 
 [part III.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 149 
 
 jrth. In 
 i for in- 
 been dis- 
 mark and 
 
 Sea-rover, 
 about the 
 to which, 
 16 name of 
 ely by two 
 name was 
 Island or 
 
 \ 
 
 bllowing is 
 periods.] 
 of Iceland, 
 a dashing 
 ;ed to come 
 eded west- 
 ell), which 
 Dzen shores 
 Hecla, the 
 ents of fire 
 f."— Polar 
 
 of about a 
 ote 1, Part 
 
 vely to Ice- 
 ndent com- 
 
 Odin, and first 
 ET III.] 
 
 munity. They even crossed to the opposite coast of Greenland, 
 and formed settlements, which for some time were tolerably 
 flourishing, though they have since either perished, or lost all com- 
 munication with Iceland."— 7d. Ch. III. 
 
 [6] " And Odin kindles all his ancient fire." 
 
 [The Scandinavian Sea-kings and heroes assumed a descent 
 from their divinities ; a modest pedigree enough for such worthies.] 
 
 "A celebrated tradition, confirmed by the poems of all the 
 northern nations, by their chronicles, by institutions and customs, 
 some of which subsist to this day, informs us that an extraordmary 
 person, named Odin*, formerly reigned in the North; that he 
 made great changes in the government, manners, and religion of 
 those countries; that he enjoyed there great authority, and had 
 even divine honours paid. As to what regards the origin of this 
 man, the country from whence he came, the time in which he 
 lived, and the other circumstances of his life and death, they are 
 so uncertain that the most profound researches, the most ingenious 
 conjectures, about them, discover nothing to us but our own 
 ignorance.'' — Mallet's Northern Antiquities^ Ch. III. 
 
 " Odin, having united under his banners the youth of the 
 neighbouring nations, marched towards the north and west of 
 Europe, subduing, we are told, all the people he found in his 
 passage, and giving them to one or other of his sons for subjects. 
 Many sovereign families of the North are said to be descended 
 from those princes. Thus Horsa and Hengist, the chiefs of those 
 Saxons who conquered Britain in the fifth century, counted Odin 
 or Wodin, in the number of their ancestors ; it was the same with 
 the other Anglo-Saxon princes, as well as the greatest part of 
 those of Lower Germany and the North. ******* 
 * * * * "VST'e know also that it was customary with all the 
 heroes of these nations to speak of themselves as sprung from 
 their divinities , especially their god of war." — Id 
 
 [7] *^ And piled her barren cliffs with British spoil." 
 
 " The unfavourable report which these adventurers" (Gardar 
 
 [* He is supposed to have come over with the Scythians about the time when 
 the Roman power was first menaced by those northern hordes that finally over- 
 whelmed it. He assumed the name of Odin, who was the superior divinity 
 among the Teutonic nations.] 
 
150 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPmSE. 
 
 i 
 
 Svafason and Floki) " gave of the climate of Iceland, on their 
 return, was probably the reason that no attempt was made to 
 colonize it till tlie year 874, when Ingolf, and his brother-in-law, 
 Lief or Iliorlief, two famous Norwegian adventurers, after com- 
 mitting dreadful ravages on the English coasts, set sail with 
 their plunder to the northern seas, and planted a colony on its 
 bleak and barren shores.''^ — Shillinglaw's Narrative, dec. 
 
 [8] " The galling yoke of Norway's tyranny." 
 
 " The colony thus formed speedily rose into importance, and 
 many noble families, who would not tamely submit to the ambi- 
 tious encroachments of Harald Harfagra, the "fair-haired" king and 
 conqueror of Norway, retired thither for refuge, and, for four 
 hundred years, resisted all attempts made by various Norwegian 
 princes to subvert them." — Shillinylaw's Narrative, drc. 
 
 [9] " Held the wide deep in undisputed sway." 
 
 "After the North had ceased to send forth her numerous 
 swarms upon the fertile province of the Roman empire, the Scan- 
 dinavian nations, prompted by their peculiar situation, betook 
 themselves to a life of maritime adventure. These bold and 
 hardy pirates visited every sea, and pillaged, during a course of 
 nearly three hundred years, all the coasts of Europe, from the 
 extremity of Scotland to the shores of Sicily. During the first 
 half of the ninth century, they conquered the Orkneys, the Shet- 
 land and Western Isles, obtained possession of Ireland, plundered 
 England and France, and extended their ravages to Italy. In 
 876, the Northmen or Normands extorted from the weakness of 
 the Friench king the cession of the fine province of Neustria, 
 where they quietly settled; while another party of these fierce 
 invaders had occupied the fertile coast of Esthonia, on the south 
 side of the Baltic." — Polar Seas and Regions, Ch. I. 
 
 1 
 
 [10] " Lost in herself, a boundless waste of snoii\" 
 
 "This coast is everywhere bold and rocky like that of Norway; 
 and the interior of the country consists of clustering, lofty moun- 
 tains, covered with eternal snow." — Polar Seas and Regions, 
 Ch. I. 
 
 " We left this coast " (Northern Spitzbergen) " on the 22nd 
 July, and steered for the eastern shores of Greenland, of which 
 
 [part III.] 
 
 P^ 
 
NOTES. 
 
 151 
 
 on their 
 made to 
 r-in-law, 
 'ter com- 
 mil with 
 ny on its 
 s. 
 
 ance, and 
 he ambi- 
 ' king and 
 for four 
 Norwegian 
 
 \ 
 
 numerous 
 
 the Scan- 
 
 m, betook 
 
 bold and 
 
 course of 
 
 from the 
 ig the first 
 
 the Shet- 
 plundered 
 
 taly. In 
 eakness of 
 
 Neustria, 
 hese fierce 
 [ the south 
 
 f Norway ; 
 )fty moun- 
 Begions, 
 
 the 22nd 
 i, of which 
 
 IT III.] 
 
 we came in sight on the 5th August. The scone appeared the 
 most desohi'e we had ever beheld. The mountains rose to tlie 
 height of sev(>ral thousand feet, without a vestige of vegetation, or 
 tbe appearance of any living creature on the earth or in the air. 
 Even the dreary waste of Spitzbergen appeared a paradise to tbis." 
 --Id. Ch. Vlll. Voyage of Clavcring. 
 
 [11] "And Winter t stretch' d continuous to the Pohy* 
 
 " On the 27th June, the navigators found themselves in the 
 latitude of the southern part of Spitzbergen, without any appear- 
 ance either of ice or land. On the 2.9th, they saw the shore, and 
 stood close in with it. This coast appeared to be neither habitable 
 nor accessible; for it was formed of high, barren, black rocks, 
 without the least mark of vegetation ; in many places bare and 
 pointed ; in other parts covered with snow, appearing even above 
 the clouds ; the valleys between the liigh cliffs were filled with 
 •now and ice.'' — Polar Seas, <&c. Ch. VIII, Voyages of Phipps 
 and Lutioidge. 
 
 " Captain Lutwidge, on mounting the top of a high island, saw 
 to the east and north-east one continued irozen surface, bounded 
 only by the horizon."— M Ch. VIII. 
 
 "The result of this voyage, which was considered as having 
 been made under fair and even favourable circumstances, tended 
 altogether to chill the hopes of penetrating nearer to the great 
 northern boundaries of the earth. It seemed that, from the 
 eightieth degree, ice in one unbroken field stretched to the Pole" 
 ^Id. Ch. VIII. 
 
 [12] " In one vast gulf entombed ; — a nation's dead ! '* 
 
 " The position of this unknown shore has been a subject of 
 controversy; and some have even had recourse to the hypothesis of 
 its having been swallowed up by the ocean."— PyZar Seas, &c. 
 Ch. III. 
 
 [In Hakluyt's " Divers Voyages touching the Discoverie of 
 America,"" there is a curious chapter entitled, " The discoverie of 
 the Isles of Frisland, Engroueland, Estotiland, Drogeo, and 
 Icaria, made by M. Nicolo Zeno, Knight, and M. Antonio, his 
 brother ;" from this the following are extracts.] 
 
 [After describing this Venetian (Nicolo Zeno) as " a man of 
 great courage and very nobly minded," the historian speaks of him 
 
152 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 as entering] — " into a wonderful great desire and fansie to see the 
 fashions of the worlde, and to travaile, and to acquaint himself 
 with the manners of sundry nations, and learne their languages, 
 whereby afterwards vpon occasions hee might be ye better able 
 to do service to his country, and purchase to himselfe credite and 
 honor. Wherefore hee caused a shippee to be made, and having 
 furnished her at his proper charges (as he was very wealthie), hee 
 departed out of our seas, and passing the Straites of Gibralterra, 
 he sayled for certaine dayes vpon the ocean, keeping his course 
 stil to ye northwards, wt intent to see Englaund and Flaunders. 
 Where, being assaulted in those seas by a terrible tempest, was so 
 tossed for the space of so many dayes with the sea and winde, 
 that hee knewe not where hee was, till at length hee discovered 
 lande, and not beeing able any longer to sustaine the violence of 
 the tempest, the ship was cast away vpon the isle of Frisland." 
 
 [After settling safely in this island (wherever it lay) and re- 
 ceiving the favour of the ruling prince, Zichmni, Nicolo wrote to 
 his brother Antonio, with an invitation to come and join him. J 
 " Wherefore hee, who had as great desire to travaile as his brother, 
 bought a ship, and directing his course that way, after hee had 
 sayled a great while, and escaped many dangers, hee arrived at 
 length in safetie with M. Nicolo, who received him very ioyfully, 
 for that he was his brother, not only in flesh and blood, but also in 
 valour and good qualities," 
 
 [These brothers grew into such favour with Zichmni, that 
 Nicolo was appointed *' Captaine of his Navie ;'' and expeditions 
 for the discovery of other islands were the result. Of these, 
 Engrouelani and Estotiland seem to have been the priucipal ; the 
 former is tiescribed by Hakluyt as being cold and uninviting in 
 the extreme ; for an account of the latter (Estotiland), we will 
 go to his own narrative. It should, howevei". be stated that 
 Nicolo, after the discovery of Engroueland, " not being vsed and 
 acquainted with these cruele coldes," had returned to Frisland, 
 where he died. Upon this, his brother Antonio succeeded to all 
 his honours, and was employed by Prince Zichmni for further 
 discovery. It would appear that some of Zichmni's fishermen had, 
 many years previously, discovered "certaine Ilandes rerye rich 
 and populous."] * " Six and twentie yeeres agoe there departed foure 
 
 [* This vras part substance of a letter written by Antonio to a third brother 
 (Carlo) after the death of Nicolo.] 
 
 [part III.] 
 
 
NOTES. 
 
 153 
 
 ;o see the 
 t himself 
 mguages, 
 tter able 
 edite and 
 d having 
 ;hie), hee 
 bralterra, 
 is course 
 launders, 
 t, was so 
 id winde, 
 liscovered 
 iolence of 
 land." 
 ) and re- 
 » wrote to 
 3in him,] 
 s brother, 
 
 hee had 
 ^^rived at 
 
 ioyfully, 
 ut also in 
 
 mni, that 
 ipeditions 
 Of these, 
 ipal; the 
 iviting in 
 we will 
 ated that 
 vsed and 
 Frisland, 
 ded to all 
 >r further 
 men had, 
 erye rich 
 rted fours 
 
 fisher boates, the which, a mightie tempest arising, were tossed 
 for the space of manye dayes verye desperately upon the sea, when 
 at lenf;th, the tempeste ceassying and the weather waxing fayre, 
 they discovered an Hand called Estotiland, lying to the west- 
 wardes above a thousand miles from Frisland." 
 
 [By permission of the Lord of the Island, they dwelt here five 
 years, and one of them, who " was in divers parts of the Hand,' ' 
 reported that it was " a verye riche countrey, abounding with all 
 the commodities of the worlde." Further, that " they have 
 mines of all manner of metalls, but especially they abound in 
 gold ; they sowe come, and make bere and ale, which is a kind of 
 drinke that the north people doe vse as we doe wine. They have 
 mightie great woods ; they make their buildings with wals, and 
 there are many cities and castles," and so on ; the remaining dis- 
 coveries were Drogeo and Icaria*. Whether these islands, taken 
 collectively, constituted that Atlantis which has been called 
 " The Sunken Land," remains yet to be proved.] 
 
 [13] " Where Friesland's wave-subjected deserts sleep:'* 
 
 [From a recent work we quote the following as one of the 
 many traditionary wonders attaching to this charmed spot in the 
 Atlantic] 
 
 "Over this sunken land it was that the famous navigator, 
 Magnus Henningsen, sent out by Frederick the 2nd, in 1578, was 
 arrested in his. expedition to Greenland. For days he tried to 
 push on ; but his ships remained stationary in one spo^, unable to 
 move. Finding his endeavours of progressing fruitless, he was 
 under the necessity of shifting his course homewards ; and, on 
 his return, his excuse for liis want of success was, that, stopped by 
 the magnetic powers of the sunken rook — which had for days held 
 him spell-bound to one spot, — he considered it wrong to dare 
 further the power of the deep. 
 
 Mystery hangs over this spot. Whalers have wound around 
 it a charm pleasing to the imagination, and seductive to the fancy ; 
 over it the waters unceasingly and constantly wash ; and few sea- 
 men are hardy enough to trust themselves to the hidden dangers 
 and perils that surround it. Some old mariners will tell you that, 
 on a fine night, with a fresh breeze blowing, a kind of light muy 
 
 hird brother 
 
 ' HI.] 
 
 I* From Icarus, said to be the sou of Dedalus, kiug of Scots.] 
 
154 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 be seen in the skies, resembling distant smoke arising from the 
 waters, which, like an ignis fatuus, precedes the ship in her course, 
 vanishing, as distance decreases, into thin and empty air. The 
 decks of these ships, the next day, will be found strewed with 
 fine sparkling sand, impalpable to the touch, and possessing 
 qualities differing from sand generally." — Arctic Miscellanies ^ 
 Ch. I. 
 
 [14] " Or FiBro, lonely midst an ocean's roar." 
 
 "In .964, the Normans conquered the Orkney and Shetland 
 Islands, and the north of Scotland; in 861, they discovered and 
 settled the Fsero Isles ; and in 874, Ingolf and Hiorleif led a Nor- 
 man colony to the barren shores of Iceland." — Arctic Miscellanies, 
 Ch. V. 
 
 " Many chieftains, seeing themselves thus stripped of their pos- 
 sessions, retired into Iceland, the Orkneys, the Isles of Fsero and 
 Shetland, and thence, covering the sea with their vessels, infested 
 all the coasts of Scandinavia, where, for many years, there was no 
 sailing with any safety." — Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 [1] "JPar other famed, Norwegian Eirek shone" 
 
 " Thorwald, a proud and opulent Norwegian chief, who had 
 been lately banished thither "(i. e. to Iceland) "for some murder 
 committed by him, soon died in exile, leaving his wealth and his 
 restless spirit to his son, Eirek Raude, or the Red. This youth, 
 actuated by the same vengeful passions, killed one of his neigh- 
 bours in a fight, and was obliged to withdraw himself from Ice- 
 land for the space of three years. In .982, Eirek sailed in quest of 
 adventure and discovery. Instructed by the reports of former navi- 
 gators, he directed his course towards the southwest, and, after a 
 quick run, discovered two lofty mountains, the one covered with 
 snow, and tlie other cased with ice, which he called Huitserken 
 and Blaaserken, or the White Shirt and the Blue Shirt, and 
 soon reached n headland which he doubled ; and having entered a 
 spacious creek, he spent the winter in a pleasant adjacent island. 
 In the following season, pursuing his discoveries, he explored the 
 continent, and was delighted with the freshness and verdure of the 
 coast." — Polar Seas and Regions, Ch. I. 
 
 [part III.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 155 
 
 [Such was Greenland. The name appears to have been chosen 
 by this outlaw, Eirek, as a decoy to induce others to settle there : 
 and two great Settlements were substqueutly formed, — viz. Vestre 
 Bygd and Oestre Bygd (the Western and Eastern), though what 
 became of them ultimately, remains a secret. Some writers con- 
 jecture that they were destroyed through irruptions of the Esqui- 
 maux (Shroelings, i. e, dwarf's, as those tribes were called) ; others 
 suppose that the pirates of the northern seas ekcerminated them ; 
 while many contend that a pestilence in 1348, called the Black 
 Death, swept off such of the population as had escaped massacre 
 by the Esquimaux.] — (See for further, Mallet's Northern Anti- 
 quities, SuppUmentary Ch. I.) 
 
 [Superstition, ever busy in mysteries, has likewise her tale to tell.] 
 
 '* Tremendous stories ave told of the east coast of Greenland 
 being now tenanted by giants and stalking ghosts. I^r more than 
 a century past, the court of Denmark has, at different times, 
 despatched ships to search after its lost colony, which, evidently 
 under the impression of superstitious awe, found it impossible to 
 penetrate on that enchanted coast further than Cape Discord, in the 
 latitude of 61o. "—PoZar Seas, &c. Ch. I. 
 
 [2] *^ Better' d the instruction of his savage sire." 
 
 " The villainy you teach me I will execute ; and it shall go 
 hard, but 1 will better the instruction." — Shakespeare. 
 
 [3] " Benignant nursed, and in the adventurous Lief," 
 
 " In the year .999, Lief, son of Eirek Raude, having visited 
 the court of Norway, was induced, by the zealous and earnest soli- 
 citations of King Olaf Tryggeson, to embrace the Christian Faith ; 
 and, carrying with him some monks, he found, through their mi- 
 nistry, no great difficulty in persuading his father and the rest of 
 the settlers" (in Greenland) " to forsake the rites of paganism." — 
 Polar Seas, &c. Ch. I. 
 
 [4] " One fond enthusiast yet upon the scene." 
 
 [One Bjarni (son of Hirjulf, who had gone with Eirek to 
 Greenland), and subsequently again, Lief, had prosecuted some 
 expeditions along the American coast, which led to the discovery 
 of Helluland (probably Newfoundland), Merk* or Markland, 
 
 [« Fiom Mork, a wood or thicket.] 
 

 m 
 
 356 
 
 AllCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 (Nova Scotia), and finally Vinland, land of the vine (probably- 
 New England, about Mussachussetts). These discoveries were 
 followed up by Thorwald, a brother of Lief, in 1002, who was 
 killed in an engagement with the Esquimaux, and] — " not long 
 after this, Thorstein, the third son of Eirek the Red, set sail 
 * -jt * * * *^ jffitfi tJiQ intention of bringing home his brother's 
 body ; but, after being tossed about the whole summer by adverse 
 winds, they were driven at the beginning of winter into Lysuf- 
 jord.*" — [Here, it would appear, Thorstein perished.] — See for 
 further, Mallefs North. Antiquities. Supp. Ch. I. 
 
 [5] " To seek in desert seas the inglorious grave." 
 
 " Contrasting this new country with the dark rocks of Iceland, 
 he bestowed on it the flattering appellation of Greenland ; and on 
 his return, invited Settlers to join him, by circulating the most 
 glowing and exaggerated descriptions. With twenty-jive vessels 
 he sailed back again ; but of these only fourteen reached their 
 destination." — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. I. 
 
 [6] " Frr^m Grreenland's cliffs, or Cherie's lonely shore," 
 
 [Cherie, the Bear Island of Barentz. In 1603, Stephen Ben- 
 net, who commanded the " Godspeed" (a vessel equipped by Alder- 
 man Sir Francis Cherie, of London), made, as he imagined, the 
 first discovery of this island, and from obvious motives, gave it the 
 name of Cherie Island.] 
 
 [7] " Struck Cambrian Madoc from his rash career ;" 
 
 " The deepest obscurity still envelopes everything connected 
 with a voyage to the American Continent said to have been made 
 in the year 1170, by Madoc, Prince of Wales, son of Owen 
 Gwynedd." — See Sir James Alexander's L'Acadie. Shilling- 
 law's Narrative, &c. 
 
 " Ohthere, a chief who had come from the upper tracts of Nor- 
 way, afforded some intelligence even respecting a voyage under- 
 taken along the Arctic shores of Europe. ***** 
 Fired by a spirit of liberal research, he undertook a voyage to dis- 
 cover the regions which lay to the north of the high latitude in 
 which his domain was situated." — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. Ill, 
 
 * 
 
 I* Supposed to be Issortok Creek, east coast of Baffin's Bay.] 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 157 
 
 (probably 
 ries were 
 who was 
 not long 
 1, set sail 
 brother's 
 ly adverse 
 to Lysuf- 
 — See for 
 
 >f Ic Jand, 
 i ; and on 
 the most 
 ve vessels 
 ihed their 
 
 "e, 
 
 >hen Ben- 
 by Alder- 
 gined, the 
 :ave it the 
 
 connected 
 een made 
 of Owen 
 Shilling- 
 is of Nor- 
 
 2:e under- 
 * * * 
 
 ige to dis- 
 atitude in 
 ill. 
 
 T IV.] 
 
 [During this expedition, Ohthere, who was engaged in the 
 maritime service of Alfred the Great, rounded the North Cape (the 
 most northeriy point of Europe), and reached the mouth of the river 
 Kola in Lapland ; some writers take him to the White Sea, but 
 this is disputed ; the most probable hypothesis being, that he pene- 
 trated no further than the coast of Russian Lapland.] 
 
 [8] " To trace what course the inquiring Pyiheas held ;" 
 
 [In going back to the first source of maritime northern disco- 
 very, we should arrive probably at the remote shores of the Medi- 
 terranean. Himilco, a Carthaginian, appears, according to ancient 
 history, to have found his way along the coasts of Spain and 
 France westerly, and even the shores of BriU, :i. Among the 
 Greeks, a famous navigator was Pytheas, a citizen of Marseilles, at 
 that time a Greek colony. After passing the straits (Gibraltar) 
 and the western coasts of France and Spain — ] " He seems to have 
 directed his course through the English channel, and along the 
 eastern coasts of England and Scotland, till he reached the northern 
 extremity of the Island. Not content with this achievement, he 
 continued to sail onwards into the depths of ocean, till in six days 
 he arrived at Thule, an island, where, it appeared to him, that 
 perpetual light reigned at midsummer through the day and night. 
 Immediately beyond, his progress was arrested by a barrier of a 
 peculiar nature, by something that was neither earth, air, nor 
 sky, but a compound of all three, through which it was impos- 
 sible to penetrate. — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. III. 
 
 [9] " Where that Venetian Pilot found his fate;" 
 [Nicolo Zeno.—See, Note 12, Part III.] 
 
 [10] " No more the pilot, uninstructed still," 
 
 " The obscurity that envelopes the early voyages to the frozen 
 regions of the North, would require far more space to investigate 
 thoroughly than our pages afford. We will, therefore, pass at once 
 to that period in the history of discovery and research in the polar 
 regions, after the invention of the Mariner's Compass had entirely 
 changed the face of maritime affairs ; when the ravens, to whose 
 powerful wing the daring Sea-kings were wont to trust in their 
 voyages of exploration, were left to rest quietly at home : — " 
 
 " The light of the stars, the guidance of the sea-coast were no 
 longer necessary; trusting to the mysterious powers of his new 
 
V 
 
 158 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 t 
 
 friend, the sailor steered out fearlessly into the ocean, through the 
 bewildering mists or the darkness of the night." — Shillinglaw's 
 Narrative. 
 
 [11] " Sage bird, the instinctive raven stemm'd the night" 
 [See Notes 2, Part II and 10, Part IV.] 
 
 [12] " There comes a Spirit from far Indian seas:" 
 
 [The powers of the compass had been known and employed in 
 Cathay (China) many ages prior to its introduction into Europe. 
 According to Vasco de Gama, the pilots of the Indian seas had 
 long been expert in its use.] 
 
 [13] " Dark Power ! that awful Wanderer of the main ;" 
 
 " In the latter part of his life, when impressed with the 
 sublime events brought about through his agency, Columbus 
 looked back upon his course with a solemn and superstitious 
 feeling ; he attributed his early and irresistible inclination for the 
 sea, and his passion for geographical studies, to an impulse from 
 the Deity, preparing him for the high decrees he was chosen to 
 accomplish." — Life and Voyages of Columbus, by Washington 
 Irving, Ch. I. 
 
 [14] "Or that great Pilot, whose adventurous rage" 
 
 [The Florentines have long set up a claim for their citizen, 
 Amerigo Vespucci, as the earliest discoverer of the southern 
 continent of America. This claim, asserted and re-asserted in 
 the presence of the clearest evidence in favour of Columbus, has 
 been the source of much acrimonious feeling among the learned 
 in Florence, with whom there seems to have been cherished the 
 ignoble wish to underrate that, which, as Washington Irving firmly 
 observes,] — " is a name consecrated in history, and is no longer the 
 property of a city, or a state, or a nation, but of the whole world." 
 [I., appears, indeed, unquestionable that Columbus was the first 
 who set foot fairly on the shores of the Western World, though, 
 as the above writer remarks,] •' The European who first reached 
 the main land of the New World was, most probably, Sebastian 
 Cabot, a native of Venice,* sailing in the employ of Englandf. 
 
 [* Or more correctly speaking, an Englishman, born at Bristol, about the year 
 1467, son of John Cabot, or Kabotto, who was a native of Venice.] 
 
 [f May not there be yet a prior claim ? It appears indisputable that the 
 ScandiaaviaQ Sea-kings had reached the American shores ages previously.] 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 159 
 
 In 1497, he coasted its shores from Labrador to Florida ; yet the 
 English have never set up any pretensions on his account." — Lift 
 and Voyages of Columbus. Appendix, No. X. 
 
 [15] " Or Polo, he, the Pilgrim of the East" 
 
 [It would appear from Mr. Marsden's " Travels of Marco 
 Polo," as well as from other authorities, that] — •' there does not 
 exist in Venice" (or elsewhere) " any representation of this cele- 
 brated traveller that can lay claim to originality or antiquity." 
 [This is the more to be lamented, for, as a modern writer remarks] 
 " The fame of all the old travellers, great as it deservedly is in 
 many instances, is eclipsed by that of Marco Polo. * * * ♦ 
 
 • * * At present, neither the tomb of Nicolo (his father) nor 
 Marco, can be found at Venice. — Penny Magazine, Art. Old 
 Travellers. 
 
 [Marco Polo was born in Venice about the middle of the 
 thirteenth century. Setting aside information he has aiForded 
 respecting regions even now but little known in Europe, and 
 which has been confirmed by the testimony of more recent 
 travellers, *he introduction into his native seas of a benefit so 
 great as that of the mariner's compass, is itself suflScient to 
 establish the claim of this extraordinary man to the gratitude of 
 posterity. The invention of this treasure to the seaman is 
 ascribed to the East.] " And Gilbert, in his book, " de Magnate,'' 
 affirms that Marco Polo, a Venetian, making a journey to China, 
 brought back the invention with him, in 1260. What strengthens 
 this conjecture is, that at first they used the compass in the same 
 manner as the Chinese still do ; viz. letting it float on a small 
 piece of cork instead of suspending it on a pivot." — Encyclopedia 
 Londinensis, Art. Compass. 
 
 [Respecting the desert of Kobi, or Gobi, the following obser- 
 vations occur in the Narrative of Mr. Bell, who crossed it in 1720.J 
 " We soon entered the desert, commonly named by the Mongalls 
 The Hungry Desert. ****** The country was 
 quite level, and appeared to the eye as plain as the sea. * » * 
 
 * * * The variety of objects in this dreary waste are so few, 
 that, in this, as well as in other respects, it much resembles the 
 ie^."—BelVs Travels, Vol. I, p. 316-30. 
 
 " It is asserted as a well-known fact that this desert is the 
 abode of many evil spirits, which amuse travellers to their des- 
 
160 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 truction with most extraordinary illusions. ****** 
 * * * Marvellous indeed, and almost passing belief, are the 
 stories related of these spirits of the desert, which are said, at 
 times, to fill the air with the sounds of all kinds of musical in- 
 struments, and also of drums and the clash of arms." — Marsden's 
 Travels of Marco Polo, Book I, Ch. 35. 
 
 [16] Bold Gama braved the elemental war ;" 
 
 [It was through -^ intorprising genius of Prince Henry of 
 Portugal, that the h- ^.ei impulse was given to adventurous 
 daring by sea (at leasi ,'■ th tL*^ Portuguese). At this period] — 
 "The compass was also brought liito more general use, especially 
 among the Portuguese, rendering the mariner more bold and 
 venturous, by enabling him to navigate in the most gloomy day, 
 and in the darkest night. *********** 
 ********* Henry died on the 13th November, 
 1473, without accomplishing the g'reat object of his ambition." 
 [viz. the circumnavigation of Africa, and attainment of India.] 
 
 " It was not until many years afterwards that Vasco de Gama, 
 pursuing with a Portuguese fleet the track he had pointed out, 
 realized his anticipations by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, 
 sailing along the southern coast of India, and thus opening a 
 highway for commerce to the opulent regions of the East." — Life 
 and Voyage of Columbus, Ch. III. 
 
 [17] " Two Brother-chiefs {illustrious name of old;)" 
 
 [Of these brothers, the elder, Gaspar de Cortereal, following 
 the track opened up by Cabot in the North-west, sailed in the 
 year 1500, from Portugal : Touching at the Azores, he took in 
 provisions, &c. and proceeded thence to a coast named by him 
 Terra Verde (not Greenland, as its name would seem to imply, 
 but Labrador), and marked in an old map, in 1508, Terra Cor- 
 terealis. Returning from this first expedition with a tumid account 
 of his discoveries, and a sample of the natives (seven in one 
 caravel and fifty in another) with recommendations of their tribes 
 to his Royal Master, as slaves, Gaspar, in 1501, departed on a 
 second, and was never again heard of.] 
 
 "A similar dark and unhappy fate befell his brother, Michael 
 de Cortereal, who sailed with two ships in search of his lost 
 relative, but of whom no accounts ever a'^ain reached Portugal. 
 
 [part IV.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 161 
 
 ^ * * 
 
 , are the 
 said, at 
 isical in- 
 arsden's 
 
 Henry of 
 
 renturous 
 
 period] — 
 
 especially 
 
 bold and 
 
 omy day, 
 * * * 
 
 [ovember, 
 mbition." 
 )f India.] 
 de Gama, 
 inted out, 
 od Hope, 
 opening a 
 tr—Life 
 
 following 
 led in the 
 le took in 
 d by him 
 I to imply, 
 Wra Cor- 
 id account 
 en in one 
 heir tribes 
 a,rted on a 
 
 r, Michael 
 of his lost 
 )rtugal. 
 IV.] 
 
 The most probable conjecture seems to be that both fell victims 
 to the just indignation of the natives, whose wives, children, and 
 fathers, had been stolen away during their first visit to the coast." 
 — Historical View of the Progress of Discovery oti the more 
 Northern Coasts of America, by Patrick Frazer Tytler. 
 
 [In ] 503, Portugal sent out two armed ships in search of the 
 Cortereals, but no tidings of them were ever obtained ; and the 
 province of Terra Verde, upon whose shores they hail most pro- 
 bably perished, was named from them Terra Cortereaiis.] 
 
 [18] " Thine the hold effort, Barentz 1 — the renown'^ 
 
 [After the fatal failure of our own countryman, Sir Hugh 
 Willoughby, followed by the expedition of Burroughs, in 1.556, 
 and that of Pet and Jackman, in 1580, each alike unsuccessful, 
 a private company of Dutch merchants despatched a small squadron 
 under the direction of William Barentz, one of the most practical 
 pilots of that day. This first expedition, undertaken with the 
 view of working out a north-east passage to Cathay (China), pro- 
 duced no result beyond that of inflaming the hopes of the Dutch 
 Government ; six vessels were now fitted out with great cost and 
 parade, and actually laden with merchandise for the East; yet 
 of all the armaments of the time, none issued less favourably. 
 
 In the narrow passage of Waygatz Island, between Nova 
 Zembla and the mainland, at the entrance to the Sea of Kara, 
 they were beset with masses of ice, and forced homewards. The 
 people of Holland, however, were not dispirited, and a third 
 expedition was equipped, consisting of two vessels only, under the 
 guidance of Barentz and Corneliz Ryp. Some differences occur- 
 ring between the commanders as to the shaping of their course, they 
 determined to pursue each his respective plan. The track followed 
 by Barentz led that great adventurer into a series of difficulties 
 terrible almost beyond belief. After a long winter, including 
 three months of continuous darkness, passed under the most 
 frightful privations, in the climate of Nova Zembla, the com- 
 mander and a remnant of his crew were compelled to abandon the 
 vessel, and urge a homeward course in the two boats yet at their 
 disposal.] 
 
 " At length, having embarked all their clothes and provisions, 
 they set sail on the 14th of June, with a westerly breeze. In 
 the three following days, having passed the Cape of Isles, and 
 
162 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 
 B'll 
 
 ■ 'IV 
 
 I 
 
 Cape Desire fZelania), they came to Orange Isle, always working 
 their way through much encumbering ice. When they were off 
 Icy Cape, Barentz, who had long been struggling with severe illness, 
 feeling his end approach, desired that he might be lifted up to take 
 a last view of that fatal promontory, on which he gazed for a con- 
 siderable time." — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. IV; see also Burney's 
 North-east Voyage-'. 
 
 [On the following day, the boats were obstructed by drift-ice.] 
 " During this detention, Barentz, being informed of the severe ill- 
 ness of one of the men, named Adrianson, said that he himself was 
 not far from his end. As he continued, however, conversing, and 
 looking on a chart of the voyage, made by De Veer, it was thought 
 that his disease could not be so serious, till he pushed aside the 
 paper, asked for a draught of water, and instantly expired." — 
 Id. dtc. 
 
 19] " Behring, the Dane ; where lone Alaska's shore" 
 
 [Captain Vitus Behring (a Dane by birth, though engaged in 
 the service of Russia) was the officer intrusted with the command 
 of an expedition sent out by Russia to set at rest the question of 
 the junction of the continents of Asia and America in the north- 
 east. The renowned Peter the Great appears to have been the first 
 to cherish this object, drawing up with his own hand the necessary 
 instructions, The officer appointed to carry out these instructions 
 was Admiral Apraxin; but the death of Peter having occurred 
 before the expedition set sail, the Empress Catharine, participating 
 in the views of her predecessor, made immediate arrangements for 
 the accomplishment of them. Associated with Behring in this 
 new enterprise, were two Lieutenants, Spangberg and Tchirikow. 
 Upon the failure of the first voyage, a second was undertaken ; 
 and this, though fatal to the commander, Behring, established yet 
 his fame imperishably. The misery into which these crews were 
 plunged has been vividly depicted by Steller, a naturalist who ac- 
 companied the expedition.] 
 
 " The general distress and mortality," says this writer, *' in- 
 creased so fast, that not only the sick died, but these who still 
 struggled to be numbered on the healthy list, when relieved from 
 their posts, fainted and fell down dead, of which the scantiness of 
 water, the want of biscuits and brandy, cold, wet, nakedness, ver- 
 
 [PART IV.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 163 
 
 working 
 were off 
 e illness, 
 [) to take 
 ir a con- 
 3urney's 
 
 rift-ice.] 
 evere ill- 
 aself was 
 sing, and 
 5 thought 
 aside the 
 pired." — 
 
 ngaged in 
 command 
 hiestion of 
 ;he north- 
 in the first 
 necessary 
 istructions 
 z occurred 
 irticipating 
 ;ements for 
 ng in this 
 Tchirikow. 
 ndertaken ; 
 jlished yet 
 crews were 
 it who ac- 
 
 rriter, " in- 
 i who still 
 ieved from 
 cantiness of 
 sdness, ver- 
 RT IV.] 
 
 min, fear and terror, were not the least causes." — Tytler'* Hi*' 
 torical View, &c. Ch. II. 
 
 [Let it suffice to add that, after a series of fearful sufferings 
 they were thrown on an island, whore Behring fell, at length, a 
 victim to want and disease.] 
 
 "This voyage, however, set at rest the disputed point regarding 
 the separation of the two Continents of Asia and America ; and 
 has deservedly bequeathed his name to the Strait which he was 
 the first to explore, and the desolate Island on which he died." — 
 Tytlefs Historical Vieic, SfC. Ch. II. 
 
 [20] " And they who plied the unequal barks of Spain." 
 
 [To the daring yet abortive efforts of Portugal and Holland, 
 we would here add the failures of France and Denmark, and lastly 
 the inertness of Spain. Of this latter State one voyage alone is 
 recorded, that of Gomez, in 1521', undertaken with the view of 
 opening up a passage to the Moluccas. All that this officer 
 effected was to touch at Newfoundland, and coast New England 
 to the 40th degree of latitude, returning home after a ten months 
 voyage. Nearly a century after this, Christian IV of Denmark 
 despatched two vessels under Jens Munk for north-western dis- 
 covery. Penetrating through the straits into Hudson's Bay, a 
 crew of fifty-two were reduced eventually by famine and disease 
 to two only in number. Munk, however, with this small remnant, 
 contrived to reinstate one of the ships, and arrived safe in Den- 
 mark after a perilous voyage. This ill-fated officer, feeling severely 
 some expressions of the king imputing to him mismanagement as 
 the cause of his failure, died, it is recorded, of a broken heart. 
 
 Upon the part of the French government, some more recent 
 polar researches terminated unfavourably. The first of these was 
 attempted in 1833, by M. De Blosseville; but his vessel, the "Lil- 
 loise," a brig of war, never returned, having foundered, probably, 
 with her crew, on the eastern coast of Greenland, whence came the 
 last dates of her commander. In the following season, another 
 vessel, under the command of M. Dutaillis, was despatched 
 in search of the former; and, subsequently, a third, under 
 M. Trehouart, with a like object: the polar elements, however, 
 compelled them to abandon their purpose. In Russian enterprise 
 little occurs worth notice, if we except the names and exploits of 
 Wrangel and Kotzebue. Behring was no Russian, his fame be- 
 belongs to Denmark.] 
 
164 
 
 V 
 
 11 
 
 m 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPKISE. 
 
 PART V. 
 
 [1] **And in his side a barbed death is hnrlcd.'* 
 
 [The work entitled '• Discovery and Adventure in the Polar 
 Seas and Regions" contains a brief yet masterly treatise on the 
 subject of the Whalt-fishery, its operations, incidents, and perils, 
 from the earliest period to the present time. After a preliminary 
 notice of its history, and of the ardour it awakened among the 
 maritime States of Europe, the writer proceeds to a graphic 
 description of the attack and capture of the whale, from which the 
 following are extracts.] 
 
 " Having approached as near as is consistent with safety, the 
 Harpooner darts his instrument into the side of the monster. 
 This is a critical moment ; for often, when the mighty animal feels 
 the wound, he throws himself into violent convulsive movements, 
 vibrating into the air his tremendows tail, one lash of which is 
 sufficient to dash a boat to pieces. More commonly, liowever, he 
 plunges rapidly into the sea, or beneath the thickest fields of ice. 
 While he is thus moving, at the rate, usually, of eight or ten miles 
 an hour, the utmost diligence must be used, that the line to which 
 the harpoon is attached may run off smoothly and readily along 
 with him. ********* 
 *********** 
 
 " The period, during which a wounded whale remains under 
 Water is various, but is averaged by Mr. Scoresby at about half an 
 hour. Then, pressed by the necessity of respiration, he appears 
 above, often considerably distant from the spot where harpooned, 
 and in a state of great exhaustion, which the same ingenious 
 writer ascribes to the severe pressure that he has endured when 
 placed beneath a column of water 700 or 800 fathoms deep. 
 
 " All the boats have, meantime, been spreading themselves in 
 various directions, that one at least may be within a start, as it is 
 called, or about 200 yards of the point of his rising, at which dis- 
 tance they can easily reach and pierce him with one or two more 
 harpoons before he again descends. On his re-appearance a 
 general attack is made with lances, which are struck as deep as 
 possible, to reach and penetrate the vital parts. Blood mixed with 
 oil streams copiously from his wounds, and from the blow-holes, 
 dyeing the sea to a great distance, and sometimes drenching the 
 
 [past v.] 
 
^OTES. 
 
 165 
 
 boats ftnd crews. The animal now becomes more and more ex- 
 hausted, but, at the approacli of death, he often makes a convulsive 
 struggle, roaring his tail high in the air, and whirling it with a 
 noise which is heard at the distance of several miles. At length, 
 quite overpowered, he lays himself on his side or back and 
 expires." — Polar Seas, Jtc. Ch. XII. 
 
 [In a former chapter of the work liere referred to, under the 
 head "Animal Life," we find the following passage."] 
 
 '* The tail is the most active limb of this monarch' of the deep, 
 and the chief instrument of his motion. »#****» 
 * #» * * It Its power is tremendous. A single stroke 
 throws a large boat with all its erew into the air. Sometimes he 
 places himself in a perpendicular position, with the head down- 
 wards, and, rearing his tail on high, beats tlie water witli awful 
 violence. On these occasions the sea foams, and vapours darken 
 the air ; the lashing is heard several miles off, like the roar of a 
 distant tempest. At other times he makes an immense spring, 
 and lifts his whole body above the waves, to the admiration of the 
 experienced whaler, but to the terror of those who see for the first 
 time this astonishing spectacle." — Polar Seas, SfC. Ch. II. 
 
 [In tracing the circumstances which led to the pursuit of this 
 formidable animal, we should have to do with those early adven- 
 turers to whom the flesh of the whale, as food, appears to have 
 been the principal attraction. The Northmen, themselves the 
 earliest whale-fishers, were the first to invite to this enterprise : 
 the object of their search, however, was not that whale, whose pur- 
 suit became subsequently so profitable a speculation ; this animal 
 must be sought for in the Arctic seas. Taught by tlieir northern 
 invaders, the coasts of France and Spain sent forth their fishing 
 expeditions. But the English, as the above writer informs us,] 
 
 " Were the first who pushed their operations into the depth of 
 the Arctic ocean, ^fr*^(•****^t Xhe views of the 
 merchants were much extended, when Hudson, having engaged in 
 bis daring attempt to reu h the Pole, surveyed Spitzbergen or East 
 Greenland to its n'^'-thern extremity ; and although unable to pe- 
 netrate farther, he gave infoimation regarding the immense num- 
 ber of whales which were seen on those shores. Thenceforth the 
 adventurers, fitted out for discovery, were instructed to cover their 
 expenses, as far as might be, by the occasional capture of these 
 valuable animals. This arrangement was not happy, so far as the 
 
1 
 
 166 
 
 ARCTIC ENTETIPETSE. 
 
 interests of geographical science were concerned, since the con- 
 siderations of profit too often superseded the main object of the 
 voyage."— PoZar Seas, &c. Ch. Xli. 
 
 [The English, however, although they were the first to open 
 and extend this source of industry, did not long enjoy undisturbed 
 possession of the Arctic seas. The Dutch soon appeared as their 
 competitors; and after a series of conflicts, an arrangement was 
 concluded, under which all those states that had been in the habit 
 of frequenting the fisheries, Dutch, Danes, Hamburghers, French, 
 and Spanish, were assigned their respective waters. The Dutch, 
 a patient, persevering race, soon converted this interest into a 
 source of national wealth. To facilitate their operations, they 
 founded settlements on those dreary shores ; while the failure of 
 some British companies, who had embarked in whaling specu- 
 lations, gave new strength to Dutch interests, which, however, 
 sufiFered severely from an unexpected cause. The whales, terrified 
 by the unusual slaughter that had overtaken them, abandoned 
 their old haunts, and retired so far into the Polar seas that their 
 pursuers became disconcerted. It appears, however, that individual 
 enterprise took up the matter at home, and even under prospects 
 ♦■bus blighted, a still greater number of ships were fitted out from 
 the ports of Holland. 
 
 In the face of such circumstances, and after the failure of 
 the companies alluded to, it might have been expected that even 
 British zeal would be discouraged. Misfortunes, however, signal 
 as they were, proved insufficient to damp the national ardour for 
 these perilous pursuits; it W' uld seem rather that they helped 
 to give a fresh impulse to '..he exertions of enterprise. To 
 encourage these exertions, the British Government offered a 
 bounty of twenty shillings per ton to vessels exceeding 200 tons 
 en<^a»ed in the fisheries, and this again was extended subsequently 
 to fortv shillings. Such a course had at length the usual effect ; 
 and, after some fuvther fluctuations in the bounty awarded, it 
 settled down finally to twenty shillings. Yet, thus discouraged, 
 the fisheries of Britain incrersed, and the subjection of her former 
 rival, Holland, to the restrictive policy of Napoleon, helped to 
 establish her in absolute dominion over the Polar seas.] 
 
 [2] *• Tliai nurse of life, yet source of all his woes.'" 
 
 "But the most characteristic and important feature of the 
 
 [p\RT v.] 
 
 
V 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 167 
 
 ce the con- 
 bject of the 
 
 irst to open 
 undisturbed 
 ired as their 
 gement was 
 in the habit 
 ers, French, 
 The Dutch, 
 terest into a 
 ations, they 
 he failure of 
 aling specu- 
 ;h, however, 
 lies, terrified 
 , abandoned 
 (as that their 
 at individual 
 der prospects 
 tted out froni 
 
 he failure of 
 ;ted that even 
 wever, signal 
 lal ardour for 
 ; they helped 
 ;erprise. To 
 ;nt oifered a 
 iling 200 tons 
 subsequently 
 ! usual effect ; 
 :y awarded, it 
 5 discouraged, 
 of her former 
 on, helped to 
 s.] 
 
 ■eature of the 
 [PYIIT v.] 
 
 
 cetacea consists in a thick layer o*" fatty substance, called blubber, 
 lodged beneath the skin and surrounding the body, which yields, 
 on expression, nearly its own bulk of thick, coarse, viscid oil. It 
 is by this covering that Providence enables them to defy the 
 utmost extremity of cold, and to preserve a strong animal heat 
 even under the eternal ice of the Pole. Yet this substance, being 
 subservient to the uses of man, has roused a dreadful and deadly 
 enemy, *********^fr**He pursues 
 them through ice and tempest, and dyes the seas with their blood." 
 Polar Sea3, &c. Ch. II. 
 
 [3] " A Briton's was the doom, where held command" 
 
 [This first expedition, fitted out under the auspices of the 
 youthful monarch, Edward VI, was remarkable alike for the 
 pomp that attended its preparation, and the signal disaster that 
 characterized its close. Instructions for the conduct of the intended 
 voyage were drawn up by Cabot, who had been elevated to the 
 post of Grand Pilot of England, and the chief command was 
 confided to Sir Hugh Willoughby, whose pilot-major, Richard 
 Chancelor, was an eleve of Henry, father of the illustrious Sir 
 Philip Sidney. 
 
 Overtaken by a tempest, and involved in the mists of the 
 North-eastern seas, the two principal ships parted company, and 
 never met again. From this time, the voyage of Sir Hugh 
 Willoughby appears to have been marked by a series of doubts 
 and uncertainties, ending finally, not in shipwreck, but fixture 
 in the frozen waters of the coast of Russian Lapland.] 
 
 " In these fell regions, in Arzina caught, 
 And to the stony deep his idle ship 
 Immediate sealed, he, with his hapless crew. 
 Each full-exerted at his several task. 
 Froze into statues ; to the cordage glued 
 The sailor, and the pilot to the helm." 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 [Chancelor reached the White Sea, from whence journeying in a 
 sledge to Moscow, he succeeded in establishing a friendly inter- 
 course between Great Britain and Russia, then under the rule of 
 Ivan Vasilovitch ; the immediate result of which was the 
 establishment of the Muscovy Company. 
 
 * 
 
168 
 
 AECTIC ENTEEPEISE. 
 
 M 
 
 SI1 ' 
 
 . The ships of Sir Hugh Willoughby were discovered some 
 years afterwards by fishermen of Lapland, fixed in the ice with 
 their crews, and the journal of their voyage, up t > the last date, 
 lying, as it is recorded, before the unfortunate commander.] 
 
 [4] " Hosts, all-regardless of each former doom" 
 
 [Chancelor was again sent out with credentials from his 
 Government to the Court of Muscovy; and, in 1556, a small 
 vessel, the " Searchthrift," was fitted out and placed under the 
 command of Stephen Burroughs, who had before acted with 
 Chancelor. This, likewise, proved a failure, which, together with 
 the abandonment of a wild scheme of reaching India by the 
 White Sea and the Caspian, entertained by the Muscovy Company, 
 brings us up to the terrible expeditions under Barent/, of which 
 there are notices in Part IV.] 
 
 [5] " His greatness in another hemisphere." — 
 
 [In 1607, Henry Hudson was sent out by the Muscovy Com- 
 pany, to sail, if possible, across the Fole. This is the first occasion 
 upon which this bold project was attempted, and Hudson here first 
 figures in the libt of Arctic Adventurers. In the following year 
 we find the same great commander steering north-east, under the 
 instructions of the London merchants, between Nova Zembla and 
 Spitzbergen ; he was quickly diverted, however, from i his course, 
 and returned to England. In 160.9, he was appointed to a like 
 service under the Dutch East India Company ; he appears to have 
 evinced no great love for North-eastorn enterprise ; and so, quickly 
 repassing the North Cape, he directed liis course to America, in 
 whose waters he found a more congenial field, and one in which he 
 hu,s established a permanent fame.] 
 
 [6] " And what might humbler daring hroe availed ?" 
 
 [Captain John Wood, in his vessel, the " Speedwell," was the 
 
 last effort of the British Government in the North-eastern seas. 
 
 His ship was lost on the coast of Nova Zembla, and himself and 
 
 crew saved with difficulty. 
 
 The names occurring in tli:s note are worthy of more than 
 
 that fleeting notice which confined space renders necessary.] 
 
 Subsequently to the voyages of Stephen Bennet, Hudson, and 
 
 Jonas Poole for Polar discovery, an expedition took place in 1613, 
 
 [part v.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 169 
 
 sred some 
 le ice with 
 : last date, 
 er.] 
 
 from his 
 3, a small 
 under the 
 ,cted with 
 ether with 
 iia by the 
 
 Company, 
 , of which 
 
 covy Com- 
 
 st occasion 
 
 n here first 
 
 iwjng year 
 
 under the 
 
 embla and 
 
 his course, 
 
 id to a like 
 
 irs to have 
 
 so, quickly 
 
 merica, in 
 
 n which he 
 
 ," was the 
 istern seas, 
 imself and 
 
 more than 
 sary.] 
 [idson, and 
 
 ein 1G13, 
 RT v.] 
 
 under William Baffin, one of the most renowned of Arctic Adver- 
 turers : yet tbe results of this voyage of Baffin were unimportant, as 
 also those of une undertaken the following year by Robert Fotherby, 
 with whom Baffin acted as pilot. Nor was it until after the lapse 
 of more than a century that any scheme for crossing the North 
 Pole was again devised. In 1773, an expedition left the shores of 
 England, consisting of two bomb-vessels, the " Race-horse" and 
 the " Carcass," under the command of Captain John Phipps ; the 
 latter was confided to Lieutenant Lutwidge, under whom the 
 future naval hero of England, Horatio Nelson, served as cockswain. 
 After a voyage most turbulent, and, in some respects, disastrous, 
 yet replete with interest, they returned to the Nore. Captain Cook 
 was now equipped to attempt the Polar course by way of Behring's 
 Strait ; he sailed in his old ship, the " Resolution," accompanied by 
 Captain Clerke in the " Discovery," passed Nootka Sound, reached 
 and named Icy Cape, and returning to winter at the Sandwich 
 Islands, was killed by one of the natives. 
 
 About five years before the expedition of Phipps and Lutwidge, 
 Hearne, a bold and hardy adventurer, was despatched by the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company to discover the copper-mine supposed to exist 
 in the northern parts of Hudson's Bay. And about twenty years 
 subsequently to this (in 1789), Mackenzie, a native of Inverness, 
 formed and accomplished the daring project of piercing across the 
 North-American Continent from Athabaska Lake, upon which was 
 situated an advanced post of the North-west Company, a new 
 association then recently formed. 
 
 Some years (about ten) prior to this, the names of Mears, Van- 
 couver, and Kotzebue appear as ex^Jorers on the North-west coast 
 of America. Mears gives some details of his intercourse with the 
 Nootkans (Borderers of Nootka Sound, previously visited by Cap- 
 tain Cook' ; theso are so strange and startling as to furnish, of 
 themselves, the materials for a volume. Kotzebue was a son of 
 the celebrated Kotzebue, and himself known by the Sound named 
 after him. Vancouver had served as a midshipman with Captain 
 Cook. 
 
 In the year 1818, Captain David Buchan sailed for the purpose 
 of pushing, if possible, across the Pole to India. This expedition 
 was simultaneous with that of Captain Ross for North-western 
 discovery. After a course marked uy die usual perils and ob- 
 structions, one of his ships, the '• Dorothea," encountered a terrific 
 
]?0 
 
 AEOTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 «torm, which drove her irresistiblj'- towards the main field of ice ; 
 and it was now that the sudden and desperate resolution was formed 
 of turning the helm so that the vessel light be driven head fore- 
 most upon it, and seek thus a refuge from the violence of the sea : 
 she forced her way, and remained immoveably fixed ; tl is occurred 
 near Spitzber'^en. The gale, however, subsiding, the vessel reached 
 the harbour of Smeerenberg, where she underwent repairs, and the 
 expedition returned to England. I' was in this terrible voyage 
 that Sir John (then Lieutenant) Franklin first entered upon that 
 field of enterprise where he was destined to achieve imperishable 
 laurels, leaving behind him a name wiuch will live for ever in the 
 annals of his country,] 
 
 [7] " Where he, toho tempted the Potest iciest gale" 
 
 [The failure of repeated attempts to reauefa or cross the Pole pro- 
 duced a suspension of public interest .n an underta.ving deemed 
 now impracticable ; untii as tbe learn«l writer of a work already 
 quoted observes] — "The speculations of Mr. Scoresby presented 
 more than ordinary claims to attention, as exhibiting the conclusions 
 of a diligent, accurate, and scientific observer. Trained from 
 infancy to the navigation of the frozen seas, under the direction of 
 his father, and bred a practical whale-fisher, be conjoined ex- 
 perience with ingenuity and judgment." Polar Seas, ^c. Ch. 1. 
 [In 1806, Mr. Scoresby made the nearest approach to the Pole by 
 ship yet fully authenticated ; he was then iicting as mate to his 
 father. Leaving Jan Mayen Island, tlje} .ac »ed Hakluyt's Head- 
 land in Spitzbergen. Again, in 1818, " 'lue Capo was visited, 
 when Mr. Scoresby ascended its mountain.] 
 
 " The view from this mountain is described by Mr. Scoresby as 
 equally grand and beautiful. On the east side were two finely 
 sheltered bays ; while the sea, unruffled by a single breeze, formed 
 an immense expanse to the west. The icebergs reared their fan- 
 tastic forms almost on a level with the highest hills, whose cavities 
 they filled: while the sea illumined but could not dissolve them. 
 The valleys were enamelled with beds of snow and ice, one of which 
 extended beyond reach of the eye ; and in the interior, mountains 
 rose beyond moimtains, till thy melted into distance." — Polar 
 Seas, ^c. Ch. IX. 
 
 8] ■' Turning at lengil, strange fates pursued his feet;" 
 
 [part v.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 171 
 
 " If a fragment was detached, it bounded from rock to rock, 
 raising smoke at every blow, and setting numerous other pieces in 
 motion, till, amid showers of stones, it reached the bottom. The 
 descant of the party was more perilous than the ascent." — Polar 
 Sean, ,^c. Ch. IX. 
 
 [9] " That strand beneath icas living to the sight ;" 
 
 " The beach was found nearly covered with the nests of terns, 
 ducks, and other tenants of the Arctic air, in some of which there 
 were young, over whom the parents kept watch, and, by loud cries 
 and vehement gestures, sought to defend them against the predatory 
 tribes which hovered around." — Polar Seas, <^c. Ch. IX. 
 
 [10] " This ^vas the same stern Resolute who steer'd" 
 
 [Dr. Scoresby now visited Jan Mayen Island a second time.] — 
 *' The most striking feature was the stately Beerenberg, which rears 
 its head 6870 feet above the sea. * * * * The first objects 
 that attracted his attention were three magnificent icebergs, * * 
 * stretching from the base of the mountain to the water's edge." 
 — Polar Seas, 8^c. Ch. IX. 
 
 [11] " When, strange to say, loud chambers from beneath'* 
 
 [In the scientific remarks in his work on the Arctic Regions, 
 Dr. Scoresby has noticed the elevations around the peak of Beeren- 
 berg, as composed of volcanic materials.] — " After leaving the sea 
 shore," says he, " I perceived no other mineral but such as bore 
 undoubted marks of recent volcanic action. ***** The 
 place from whence these substances appear to have been discharged 
 being near, we attempted to reach it. * * * * * We fre- 
 quently slid backwards several paces by the pieces of lava giving 
 way beneath our feet ; in which case the ground generally resounded 
 as if we had been travelling on empty metallic vessels, or vaulted 
 caverns." — Scoresht/s Arctic Regions. 
 
 [12] " But from the Pole repulsed, lo ! yet again," 
 
 [The most important voyage of this enterprising navigator was 
 made in 1822, during which he completed the observation of four 
 hundred miles of coast on East Greenland ; a tract almost entirely 
 unknown. With regard to these shores] — " their aspect, and th 
 general annl . ;.,y of the Arctic shores, suggested the idea that thene 
 
 1 
 
 :;iir 
 
 m 
 
 "In 
 
V 
 
 172 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 mighty cliffs dipped perpendicularly into the waves.'' — Polar 
 Seas, ^c. [On the refractive power of the Polar atmosphere, as 
 observed in this interesting voyage, we have the following from the 
 same source.] — " The rugged surface assumed the forms of castles, 
 obelisks, and spires, which here and there were sometimes so linked 
 together as to present the appearance of an extensive city. At 
 other times it resembled a forest of naked trees ; and Fancy scarcely 
 required an effort to identify its varieties with the productions of hu- 
 man art, * * * * * even with the shapes of lions, bears, 
 horses, and other animals. Ships were seen inverted, and sus- 
 pended high in the air, and their hulls often so magnified as to 
 resemble huge edifices." — Polar Seas, ^c. Ch. IX. 
 
 [13] " But dull inglorious schemes perplexed his soul," 
 
 " They had been fitted out by a mercantile body to bring home 
 a cargo of whale-oil, and this solid purpose could not be postponed 
 for tlie most brilliant speculations of Science." — Polar Seas, <^c. 
 Ch. IX. 
 
 [14] *^ Knight" s lingering fate, with Barlow's lonely end?" 
 
 [In the ^ear following the expedition last-named, Captain 
 Cla^'Ci'ing was sent out to convey to the Arctic regions the eminent 
 scientific inquirer. Colonel Sabine. Some additional discoveries 
 were made on the shores that had been ranged by Dr. Scoresby : 
 but, after a futile attempt on the part of the Danish Government, 
 and some disastrous roaearches oii the part of the French (to which 
 a reference has already been made), the terrific voyage of Buchan 
 (already noticed) seems to have been the latest attempt to reach 
 the Pole in ships. We now approach the subject of North-western 
 discovery. 
 
 These officers (Knight and Barlow) appear to have suffered 
 a dreadful ihie. Tlie Hudson's Bay Company despatched them, 
 in 1719, ior the fii^^ccvery of the North-west passage. They 
 never returned, and half a century elapsed before any traces of 
 the expedition wei'e ibucd : they had been cast and probably 
 starved on Marble Island. 
 
 "With regard to such men as Baffin, Davis, and Hudson, their 
 greatnes':' is sufficiently established by the seas that bear their names. 
 
 Tlie unsuccessful voyages of Button, Gibbons, and Bylot, in the 
 years 1612-14-15, along the shores of Hudson's Buy, led to 
 
 [part v.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 173 
 
 the expeditiou of 1616, through Davis's Strait, under Byl t and 
 Baffin. This voyage produced the memorable discoveries in the 
 Bay named after the latter officer. 
 
 Davis conducted three successive expeditions, about seven 
 years subsequently to Frobisher's last voyage, commencing in 1585. 
 These, although terminating unfavourably for the object in view, 
 (viz. the North-west passage to India), were sufficient to immor- 
 talize their leader. 
 
 Hudson, after a varied career of enterprise during three expe- 
 ditions, the last signalized by the discovery of the river upon which 
 rose the city of New York, fell, in his fourth, or North-western 
 adventure, a victim to a terrible revolt of his crew, the circum- 
 stances of which are fearful beyond precedent. The principal actors, 
 however, in the atrocities recorded, incurred a retribution which 
 came but little short of the cruelties they had themselves inflicted.] 
 See, for further details, RundalVs Narrative of North-west Voy- 
 ages from 14.96 to 1631. 
 
 [15] " His conquering greatness to his native seas." 
 
 [After the conduct of three expeditions to the North-western 
 seas in 1576-77-78, the incidents of which would form, of them- 
 selves, a volume, Martin Frobisher sailed with Sir Francis DraLe 
 to the West Indies, and took part with that great officer in the 
 destruction of the Spanish Armada ; for his valour on this occasion 
 he received the honours of knighthood. 
 
 About fifteen years after the last attempt of Davis, an expedi- 
 tion was set on foot through the united interests of the Muscovy 
 and Levant Companies ; to this was appointed Captain George 
 Weymouth. It appears to have been an utter failure, although 
 Weymouth is entitled to the merit of having first pointed the way 
 to those waters where Hudson made his well-known discoveries. 
 A conspiracy of the crew compelled their captain to change his 
 course ; after which he encountered a tempest of unexampled 
 violence that drove him before it, and he returned to England. 
 
 Captains Fox and James were fitted out in 1631. Fox ex- 
 amined two Straits to the north of Hudson's Bay, but did not 
 penetrate far. James passed a winter on the southern coast of the 
 same, under the utmost suffering. 
 
 Parry has his Archipelago in the Polar seas ; and Franklin 
 — alas !] 
 
174 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 I* 
 
 [16] " The amphibious Bock pursued his huge career'^ 
 
 [Of all recorded expeditions to the seas of the North, the one 
 here under consideration appears to have been signalized by the most 
 appalling circumstances of danger. Indeed, from the first moment 
 of her encounter with the ice, across the mouth of Davis's Straits, 
 up to the final return of the shattered " Terror" to the British 
 shores, there occurred scarce a respite from continuous and imminent 
 peril. The incidents of the whole enterprise, as graphically told by 
 the Commander, Sir George Back, have an interest throughout so 
 intensely fearful, that it would be impossible to convey in selected 
 passages any fair representation of them to that reader, if such 
 there be, who is yet a stranger to their history. The object of the 
 expedition was to complete the coast-line between Prince Regent's 
 Inlet and Point Turnagain ; it was equipped by ths Govern- 
 ment, at the instance of the Royal Geographical Society, and to the 
 command was appointed Captain Back, an officer who had rendered 
 his name imperishable, both in his own discoveries on the northern 
 coasts of America, and as a participator in the sufferings endured 
 in the ever-memorable journey of Franklin on the same shores. 
 
 The purpose of this voyage was further advanced afterwards, in 
 1839, by Messrs. Dease and Simpson, officers of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company ; and finally accomplished by Dr. Rae, acting like- 
 wise under their instructions. • The mode of proceeding was in 
 boats combined with land-portage.] 
 
 [17] " Yet Heaven was at his side lohen Hood expired.''^ 
 
 [Poor Hood ! the much-loved companion of Franklin, Richard- 
 son, and Back, on the terrible land-expedition referred to recently : 
 he was mysteriously murdered by an Indian attendant, named 
 Michel. 
 
 " Bickersteth's 'Scripture Help' was lying open beside the 
 body, as if it had fallen from his hand ; and it is probable that he 
 was reading it at the instant of his death. We passed the night 
 in the tent together without rest, every one being on his guard." — 
 Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the 
 years 1819-20-21-22 ; by Captain J. Franklin. — Eichardson^s 
 Narrative, Id. 
 
 [18] " True Richardson, a name to fear unknovm" 
 
 [For instances of the fortitude and intrepidity of Richardson 
 
 [part v.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 175 
 
 I'^l 
 
 the one 
 the most 
 moment 
 i Straits, 
 I British 
 mminent 
 y told by 
 ghout so 
 selected 
 if such 
 ct of the 
 Regent's 
 Govern- 
 nd to the 
 rendered 
 northern 
 endured 
 shores, 
 wards, in 
 Hudson's 
 ting like- 
 ig was in 
 
 Richard- 
 recently : 
 named 
 
 on this adventure, the reader is referred to the narrative of Sir John 
 Franklin's journey to the shores of the Polar Sea.] 
 
 [19] " The persevering Boss his fame pursued :" 
 
 [The first voyage of Ross for North-western discovery was un- 
 dertaken in 1818, at the suggestion of Sir John Barrow, who, 
 during the long Peace, never ceased to urge these Polar Expe- 
 ditions, which, as he truly remarks, have been the means of em- 
 ploying and bringing forward some of the best Officers in the 
 Naval Service, and raising the character of the British Seaman. 
 From about the middle of the previous century, or, at least, 
 since the failure of Captain Middleton, and the return of the 
 Sreat armament sent out under Captains Moor and Smith, in 
 1746, scarcely any advance had been made towards the solution of 
 thj North-western problem. The ships comprised in the first ex- 
 pedition of Sir John Ross were the " Isabella" of 385 tons, and 
 the " Alexander" of 252 ; this latter vessel was confided to the late 
 lamented Sir William Edward (then Lieutenant) Parry. Another 
 and daring expedition, simultaneous with this, has already been 
 brought under review ; that of Captain Buchan towards the Pole. 
 
 The interesting jo.'rnals of Sir John Ross supply the details 
 here of many pages • and the striking and romantic incidents of 
 an incarceration of four years in the icy seas of the North, will, it 
 is hoped, aiford some excuse for dwelling long on records so strange 
 and captivating. 
 
 It was during the second expedition of Sir John Ross, in 1829, 
 that the Magnetic Pole was discovered by his nephew, Sir James 
 Clarke (then Commander) Ross. — See Sir John Barrow's History 
 of Arctic Voyages.} 
 
 jside the 
 that he 
 the night 
 uard." — 
 a in the 
 lardson's 
 
 ichardson 
 
 T 
 
 y^ 
 
 [20] " But he had cleft those seas before, and been," 
 
 [This, be it observed, was in the first voyage, in 1818. In 
 Davis's Norlh-wesi Voyage, the aspect of Greenland is thus de- 
 scribed :] 
 
 " Deformed, rocky, and mountainous, like a sugar-loaf, standing 
 to our sight above the clouds. It towered through the fog like a 
 white list in the sky, the tops altogether covered with snow, the 
 shore beset with ice, making such irksome noise, that it was called 
 the Land of Desolation." 
 
 " The large islands that skirt this coast (West Greenland), of 
 
V 
 
 Jj ? 
 
 176 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEllPRISB. 
 
 which the most considerable is Disco, are, like the continent, com- 
 posed of barren rocks, and ofvalleys filled with eternal ice." — Polar 
 Seas, ^c. Ch. XIII. Arctic Geology. 
 
 " On the 17 th of June, in the neighbourhood of Waygat Island, 
 an impenetrable barrier obliged the discoverers to stop their course, 
 making themselves fast to an iceberg, and having forty-five u hale- 
 ships in company." — Id. Ch. VII. 
 
 [21] ^* Even to those shores. Adventurers utmost hounds 
 
 [It was high up on the coast of West Greenland that Ross 
 
 came upon that tribe of Esquimaux whom national feelings led 
 
 him to distinguish by the name of " the Arctic Highlanders." 
 Kabloona, the Esquimaux term for the white man.] 
 " The first party whom the navigators approached showed every 
 
 sign of alarm, — dreading a fatal influence from the mere touch of 
 
 beings whom they regarded as members of an unknown species." 
 
 —Polar Seas, <^c. Ch. VII. 
 
 " The rest of the party then came up with fifty dog">, which 
 
 joined their masters in raising a ti jmendous clamour." — Td. Ch. 
 
 VII. 
 
 "The ship was the next object of their speculation ; * ^* •* 
 
 They conceived it to be a huge bird, spreading its vast wings, and 
 
 endowed with reason. One of them, pulling his nose* with the 
 
 utmost solemnity, began thus to address it : — " Who are you ? 
 
 whence come you ? Is it from the sun or the moon ?" — Id. 
 
 Ch. VII. 
 
 [22] " Reputed hold. Experience spoke his loorth," 
 
 [Previously to this expedition, Captain Ross] •' had twice win- 
 tered in the Baltic, had been employed in surveying the White Sea, 
 and had been as far north as Bear or Cherie Island." — Polar 
 Seas, ^c. Ch. VII. 
 
 [23] " And now we trace him through the waves again," 
 
 [Here commence some details of that protracted and perilous 
 expedition of the " Victory," under Captain (now Sir John) Ross, 
 
 [* The appeal to this prominent feature of the face, either in salutation, or 
 as denoting some emotion, was remarked by Captain M'Clure and other officer* 
 among the tribes of the North>west American coast.] 
 
 [part v.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 177 
 
 ent, com- 
 ''— Polar 
 
 at Island, 
 t;ir courRe, 
 ve whale- 
 
 that RosB 
 jelings led 
 iders." 
 
 owed every 
 •e touch of 
 n species." 
 
 ogs, which 
 r—Td. Ch. 
 
 * * * 
 wings, and 
 with the 
 are you? 
 )oa ?"— Id. 
 
 twice win- 
 White Sea, 
 dr— Polar 
 
 un. 
 
 nd perilous 
 
 John) Ross, 
 
 salutation, or 
 other officer! 
 
 iUT v.] 
 
 which resulted in the discovery (by his nephew) of the Magnetic 
 Pole, and the opening-up and survey of those hitherto mysterious 
 shores named after the munificent patron of the enterprise, Sir 
 Felix Booth, The Victory was frozen up in Felix harhour.] 
 
 " In preparing for the gloom and rigour of this long winter, he 
 made some improvements even upon the admirable arr iigements 
 '••f Captain Parry. * * * * * The strength and spirits of 
 the crew were supported by regular meals and constant oii:upation. 
 Divine Service was duly performed, and religious instruction dis- 
 pensed at a school held every Sunday evening. ***** 
 On the other nights a school also was attended." — Polar Seas, 8[C. 
 Ch. VIII. 
 
 \2i\ " Yet sailor-like, they took a cheering leave : " 
 
 [After a long period of endurance, during which little actual 
 navigation was made, — many stirring incidents, and some agreeable 
 surprises (among which should be reckoned the discovery of the 
 " Fury's" stores), and many energetic land-excursions, in which 
 Commander (now Sir James C.) Ross, especially distinguished him- 
 self; every hope of bringing home the *' Victory" having failed, she 
 was finally abandoned.] 
 
 "On the 2.9th May," [1832] "they hoisted the colours, nailed 
 them to the mast, and drank a parting glass to the Victory, which 
 they considered worthy of a better fate." — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. VIII. 
 
 [25] " Where wreck had been, even by a chiefs command ;" 
 
 [On this coast, the "Fury" — companion of the "Hecla" in 
 the third expedition of Parry, in 1824, — having received a 
 severe nip, that entirely disabled her, was thrown and deserted ; and 
 her stores, — including wine, bread, flour, sugar, spirits, and cocoa, 
 and even her sails, in entire preservation, — discovered now, after a 
 lapse of years, proved the salvation of the " Victory's" crew. 
 
 For all particulars relating to this event, and the abandonment 
 of the " Victory," the reader is referred to the dee^^-ly-interesting 
 journals of Parry and Ross.] 
 
 [26] " They raised a dwelling, 'twas no mean exploit : " 
 
 " They immediately enjoyed a hearty meal, and soon raised a 
 canvass mansion, which they named Somerset House." — Polar 
 Seas, &c. Ch. VIII. 
 
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 (7 6) 872-4503 
 
]78 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [27J " The gaihering symptoms of that dire disease" 
 
 "On the 16th February, 1833," [their fourth winter] "Thomas, 
 the carpenter, died of scurvy, — an event deeply regretted in itself, 
 and regarded as a warning of what was too likely to befall 
 the rest Several of the seamen, in fact, became affected with this 
 cruel disease, of which Captain Ross himself felt the sure approach 
 by the return of pain in his old wounds." — Polar Seas, &e. 
 Ch. VIII. 
 
 [28] " The stranger thus, — • / amjrtym British land f " 
 
 [Captain Humphreys, who commanded here the " Isabella " of 
 Captain Boss's expedition in 1818. — For the closing scenes of 
 this formidable and romantic enterprise, the reader is referred to 
 the journals of Sir John Ross.] 
 
 \ 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 [1] " From Greenland's cliffs to Georgia's utmost isles ;" 
 
 [The three expeditions of Parry for the discovery of the North- 
 west passage, were undertaken in the years 1819, 21, 24. The 
 vessels comprising the first of these were the " Hecla," of 375 
 tons, with a crew of fifty-eight men, and the " Griper" gun-brig, 
 of 180 tons, with a crew of thirty-six ; the latter under the com- 
 mand of Lieutenant Liddon. On the second occasion, the " Fury," 
 of 327 tons, accompanied the " Hecla ;" the " Hecla" was now 
 given over to the command of Captain Lyon, an officer who had 
 distinguished himself by services in Africa. On the last voyage, 
 in 1824, the same ships were employed, and the " Fury" confided 
 to Captain Hoppner, who had served in the previous expedition. 
 
 In the voyage of 1819, Captain Parry was the fortunate dis- 
 coverer of a group of islands, named by him the " North Georgian," 
 but marked in the recent charts as the " Parry Islands."] 
 
 " The country thus situated upon the shores of the Western or 
 Polar Sea is called Akkoolee, and is inhabited by numerous 
 Esquimaux." — Journal of Voyage for the Discovery of the 
 North-west Passage, in 1819, 20. W. E. Parry, R.N., Com- 
 mander of the Expedition. 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
 i 
 
NOTES. 
 
 179 
 
 bomas, 
 1 itself, 
 befall 
 ith this 
 pproach 
 I8t &c. 
 
 ella"of 
 cenes of 
 'erred to 
 
 p North- 
 4. The 
 
 of 3T5 
 run-brig, 
 the com- 
 
 Fury," 
 was now 
 who had 
 
 voyage, 
 
 confided 
 dition. 
 nate dis- 
 eorgian," 
 
 estern or 
 aumerous 
 y< of the 
 N.i Com,'- 
 
 r VI.] 
 
 [2] « The task, the dance, the drama, and the smg,^* 
 
 '* We had, some time before, set about the preparations for our 
 winter amusements ; and the theatre being ready, we opened on 
 the 5th November, with the representation of " Miss in her Teens." 
 — Parry's Journal, <j&c. p. 113. 
 
 [On this occasion, Lieutenant Beechey officiated as stage- 
 manager, and the other officers offered themselves as amateur per- 
 formers. Some original plays also were written and produced ; 
 while, to add to the fund of amusement, a journal was published, 
 under the title of the " North Georgian Gazette," edited by Captain 
 Sabine, and to which all were invited to add contributions. — After 
 speaking of his daily inspection of the crews, and his means of 
 discipline ; the mode of exercising them, when, from the severity of 
 the weather, they were compelled to remain on board, is thus 
 stated,] 
 
 " They were ordered to run round and round the deck, keeping 
 step to a tune on the organ, or, not unfrequently, to a £3ng of their 
 own."— /i. p. 124. 
 
 [After the evening routine of inspection, &c.] 
 
 '* The men were permitted to amuse themselves as they pleased, 
 and games of various kinds, as well as dancing and singing, occa- 
 sionally went on upon the lower deck, till nine o'clock, when they 
 went to bed and their lights were extinguished." — Id. p. 126. 
 
 "Our theatrical entertainments took place regularly once a 
 fortnight, and continued to prove a source of infinite amusement to 
 the men. *************** 
 We were at one time apprehensive that the severity of the weather 
 would have prevented the continuance of this amusement, but the 
 perseverance of the officers overcame every difficulty ; and, perhaps 
 for the first time since theatrical entertainments were invented, 
 more than one or two plays were performed on board the " Hecla" 
 with the thermometer below zero on the stage." — Id. p. 127. 
 
 " To furnish rational and useful occupation to the men, * * * 
 * * * a school was also established, ******* 
 for the instruction of such of the men as were willing to take 
 advantage of this opportunity of learning to read and write, or of 
 improving in those acquirements." — Journal of Second Voyage 
 for the Discovery of North-west Passage, in 1821, 22, 23.— 
 W. E. Parry, R.N., Commander of the Expedition. 
 
 h 
 
V, 
 
 180 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [8] " In Ms cold dome low sits the untuior'd man ;" 
 
 [Sir Edward Parry has given some interesting particulars of a 
 tribe of Esquimaux found somewhere on the shores of Repulse 
 Bay ; it is impossible to resist the temptation of making here a few 
 extracts from his delightful journals.] 
 
 " If the first view of the exterior of this little village was such 
 as to create astonishment, that feeling was in no small degree 
 heightened on accepting the invitation soon given us to enter these 
 extraordinary houses, in the construction of which we observed 
 that not a single material was used but ice and snow. After 
 creeping through two low passages, having each its arched 
 doorway, we came to a small circular apartment of which the 
 roof was a perfect arched dome. From this, three doorways, 
 also arched, and of larger dimensions than the outer ones, led into 
 as many inhabited apartments, one on each side, and the other 
 facing us as we entered. The interior of these presented a scene no 
 less novel than interesting. The women were seated on the beds 
 at the sides of the tents, each having her little fire-place or lamp, 
 with all her domestic utensils about her : the children crept behind 
 their mothers, and the dogs, except the female ones, which were 
 indulged with a part of the beds, slunk out past us in dismay. The 
 construction of this inhabited part of the huts was similar to that 
 of the outer apartments, being a dome formed by separate blocks of 
 snow, laid with great regularity and no small art, each being cut 
 into the shape requisite to form a substantial arch, from seven to 
 eight feet high in the centre, and having no support whatever but 
 what this principle of building supplied. I shall not here further 
 describe the peculiarities of these curious edifices, remarking only 
 that a cheerful and sufficient light was admitted to them by a cir- 
 cular window of ice fitted into the roof of each apartment." — 
 Journal of Second Voyage^ &c. p. 160. 
 
 [4] •* While to his cubs he parts the artless meal" 
 
 " The children were rather pretty ; though, from being thrown 
 carelessly into the bottom of the boats, they had much the appear- 
 ance of the young of wild animals." — Polar Seas^ d:c. Ch. VII. 
 
 [5] " Poor child of chance ! hath famine shrunk thy store f^* 
 
 " Finding that these poor creatures were now really in want of 
 food, for the men had again returned from an unsuccessful excur- 
 
 [PART VI.] 
 
 !\ 
 
NOTES. 
 
 181 
 
 sion, I was happy to avail myself of a hint given to me by Captain 
 Lyon to furnish them occasionally with a small supply of bread- 
 dust, of which we had two or three casks in each ship. Our pre- 
 sent party was therefore, in addition to other articles, supplied with 
 several pounds, which they immediately expressed their intention 
 to take home to their children.*"— JoMmoZ of Parry's Second 
 Voyage, p. 166. , 
 
 [6] " Caught with his tale, and of his charm possessed " 
 
 "After this friendly visit, an invitation was given to the 
 Esquimaux to repair to the ships, when fifty accepted it with 
 alacrity."— PoZar Seas, &c. Ch. VII. 
 
 [7] " While one, sagacious o'er the rest, betrays" 
 
 " Being extremely desirous of ascertaining what these Esqui- 
 maux knew of the coast to the northward of our present station, we 
 drew out roughly on a large sheet of paper the conformation of the 
 land in their neighbourhood, and as far to the westward as Re- 
 pulse Bay, and then requested Iligliuk to continue it to the north- 
 ward. She readily understood our meaning, and with a pencil 
 soon traced the various indentations in the coast, together with 
 several islands." — Journal of Parry's Second Voyage, p. 185. 
 
 " Iligliuk was not long in comprehending what we desired, and 
 with a pencil continued the outline, making the land trend, as we 
 supposed, to the north-eastward, and giving the names of the prin- 
 cipal places, as she proceeded." — Id. p. 1.96. 
 
 "We desired htv to complete the rest, and to do it mikkie 
 (small), when, witl a countenance of the most grave attention and 
 peculiar intelligence, she drew the coast of the continent beyond 
 her own country, as lying nearly north, instead of east, from 
 Winter Island. The most important part still remained, and 
 it would have amused an unconcerned looker-on to have observed 
 the anxiety and suspense depicted on the countenances of our part 
 of the group, till this was accomplished, for never were the tracings 
 of a pencil watched with more eager solicitude." — Id. p. 197. 
 
 [* Seal-flesb being the principal food of these tribes, a failure of the fishery starves 
 them, and deprives them of fish-oil, the fuel of their lampb. .J 
 
 II 
 
V 
 
 182 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [8] •' Thy soul is sac, thy home is with the dead /" 
 
 [A reference has already been made to the dreadful land-expe- 
 dition of Franklin on the shores of the Polar Sea; this was 
 simultaneous with the earlier voyages of Parry. His home may 
 truly be said to have been then with the dead (witness the tragedy 
 of Hood and the Iroquois Indian, Michel ;' — and now ! — ]. 
 
 [9] " FilVd with the future thus, as glanced his eye"* 
 
 [To the reader are here offered some details of the novel and 
 daring ice-expedition of Parry towards the Pole. The unsuccess- 
 ful issue of the various former expeditions (and lastly that of 
 Buchan, in 1818,) had led to the belief that this object could not 
 be accomplished by water ; when, acting upon his own experience, 
 aided by the suggestions of Mr. Scoresby and Captain Franklin^ 
 and under the authority and sanction of the Lords of the Ad- 
 miralty, that great and hitherto most fortunate Arctic adventurer. 
 Captain Parry, made the attempt to reach the Pole in two boats, to 
 be dragged or navigated, as circumstances might require ; these 
 boats, accordingly, were conveyed, together with himself and his 
 crew, in his old ship, the " Hecia," to the northern coast of Spitz- 
 bergen. They were formed of hickory and ash, with a canvass 
 covering ; and were further strengthened by fir and oak planking, 
 with felt between ; they were flat-bottomed and spacious, and had 
 two runners each (one on each side of the keel) to fit them for use 
 as sledges ; they carried, likewise, wheels. — After some rather dis- 
 couraging incidents on reaching Haklujrt's Headland, Captain 
 Parry left his vessel in a harbour named by him " HecIa Cove," 
 with a portion of the crew in charge ; with the rest he embarked 
 for the fields of ice. The provisions for this hazardous adventure 
 were penimican, biscuit, cocoa, and rum, with spirit of wine for 
 fuel ; a change of clothing, fur dresses for sleeping, and Esquimaux 
 boots : the snow-shoes were afterwards converted into sledges, for 
 conveying the baggage. After a slow advance of about eighty 
 miles from Becla Cove, they reached the ice. 
 
 This expedition left the British shores in March, 1827-] 
 
 [10] " Whose depths a secret mystery conceal*' '\ 
 
 "In this situation we tried for soundings with four hundred 
 fathoms of line without reaching the bottom ; the temperature at 
 that depth, 30°, — that at the surface, 32|°,— the air 34"." — 
 
 [part \I.] 
 
x--^^ 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 183 
 
 eighty 
 
 Narrative of an Attempt to reach the North Pole, Ac. under the 
 command of Captain W. E. Parry y p. 73. 
 
 "At seven, a.m. on the 28th June, we came to a floe covered 
 with high and rugged hummocks, which opposed a fonnidable 
 obstacle to our progress, occurring in two or three successive tiers, 
 so that we had no sooner crossed one than another presented itself. 
 Over one of these we hauled the boats with extreme difficulty, by 
 a 'standing pull,' and the weather being then so thick that 
 we could see no pass across the next tier, we were obliged to stop 
 at nine, a.m. While performing this laborious task, which re- 
 quired the boats to be got up and down places almost perpendicular, 
 James Parker, my coxswain, received a severe contusion." — 
 Id. p. 63. 
 
 " We had light ice this day with some heavy rugged pieces in- 
 termixed ; and when hauling across these we had sometimes to 
 cut with axes a passage for the boats among the hummocks." — 
 Id. p. 65. 
 
 " The sledges having been brought up as far as we had explored, 
 we all went back for che boats, each boat's crew, when the road 
 was tolerable, dragging their own, and the officers labouring 
 equally with the men." — Id. p. 68. 
 
 " The labour required to drag the boats over the hummocks, and 
 from one mass to another, was so great that we were obliged to 
 have recourse to a ' bowline-haul' for many minutes together." — 
 Id. p. 73. 
 
 [11] " Till, the slow sum of stated hours fulfilled j^* 
 
 " After this, we halted for the night, as we called it, though it 
 was usually early in the morning, selecting the largest surface of 
 ice we happened to be near for hauling the boats on, in order to 
 avoid the danger of its breaking up by coming in contact with 
 other masses, and also to prevent drift as much as possible. The 
 boats were placed close alongside each other, with their sterns to 
 the wind, ********, and the sails supported by 
 the bamboo masts and their paddles, placed over them as awnings, 
 an entrance being left at the bow." — Parry's Narrative, &c. 
 p. 57. 
 
 ii 
 
184 
 
 AECTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [12] ♦* And peremptory rule the mesa divides" 
 
 [The allowance of provisions for each man per day was as 
 follows : 
 
 Biscuit 10 ounces. 
 
 ». Femmican 9 do. 
 
 Sweetened cocoa powder 1 do. to make one pint 
 
 Rum 1 gill. 
 
 Tobacco 3 ounces per week.] ' 
 
 [13] " No savoury messes steam, nowhere appear" 
 [Except indeed, under such circumstances as the following :] 
 " Our sportsmen had the good fortune to kill another seal to-day, 
 which again proved a most welcome addition to our provisions and 
 fuel. Indeed, after this supply of the latter, we were enabled to 
 allow ourselves every night a pint of warm water for supper, each 
 man making his own soup from such a portion of his bread and 
 pemmican as he could save from dinner." — Parry's Narrative, SfC. 
 p. 96. 
 
 [14.] " Oft, from up-wielded tube the evolving smoke" 
 
 " Most of the officers and men then smoked their pipes, which 
 served to dry the boats and awnings very much, and usually raised 
 the temperature of our lodgings 10" or 15". This part of the 
 twenty-four hours was often a time, and the only one, of real 
 enjoyment to us ; the men told their stories, and fought all their 
 battles over again, and the labours of the day, unsuccessful as they 
 too often were, were forgotten. ********** 
 We then concluded our day with prayers, and having put on our 
 fur dresses, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort, which, 
 perhaps, few persons would imagine possible under such circum- 
 stances." — Parry's Narrative, &c. p. 58. * 
 
 [15] ^* Probes the blown snows, and stems the obstructing 
 storm." 
 "As soon as we landed on a floe-piece. Lieutenant Ross and 
 myself generally went on ahead while the boats were hauling up, 
 in order to select the easiest road for them ; the sledges then fol- 
 lowed in our track. ************* 
 As soon as we arrived at the other end of the floe, or came to any 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 185 
 
 difficult place, we mounted one of the highest hummocks of ice near 
 at hand, in order to obtain a better vizvf around us, and nothing 
 could well exceed the dreariness which such a view presented. 
 ********** It may well be imagined, then, 
 how cheering it was to turn from this scene of inanimate desolation 
 to our two little boats in the distance, to see the moving figures of 
 OUT men winding with their sledges among the hummocks, and to 
 hear once more the sound of human voices breaking the stillness of 
 this icy wilderness." — Parry's Narrative^ &c. p. 67. 
 
 [16] Consign ihe night to toU, the day to rest.'^ 
 
 •• It was my intention to travel wholly by night, and to rest by 
 day, there being, of course, constant daylight in these regions 
 during the summer season. The advantages of this plan consisted 
 first in our avoiding the extreme and oppressive glare from the 
 snow during the time of the sun's greatest altitude, so as to pre- 
 vent, in some degree, the painful inflammation of the eyes, called 
 'snow-blindness.* ***»»» The only disadvantage 
 was that the fogs were somewhat more frequent, and more thick by 
 night than by day." — Parry's Narrative^ &c. p. 55. 
 
 [17] " Though today's hope tomorrow's fate destroy s^** 
 
 " We halted at seven, a.m., having by our reckoning accom- 
 plished six miles and a half in a N.N.W. direction, the distance 
 traversed being two miles and a half. It may, therefore, be 
 imagined how great was our mortifit ation in iinding that our lati- 
 tude, by observation at noon, was only 82° 36' 52", being less than 
 five miles to the northward of our place at noon on the 17th, since 
 which time we had certainly travelled twelve in that direction." — 
 Parry's Narrative^ 8fc. p. 94. 
 
 [18] " And strike with vocal jires the astonisJied ear ;" 
 
 [Hearne* (in a journal of his expedition to the shores of the 
 Northern Seas) observes, in speaking of the Aurora Borealis, that 
 " In the deep stillness of the night these northern meteors were 
 
 [* This officer was despatched by the Hudson's Bay Company, about the year 
 1770, to the borders of the country inhabited by the Athabascan Indians, to dis- 
 coyar the ore said to exist on the Coppermine River.] 
 
186 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPEISE. 
 
 distinctly heard to make a rushing and crackling noise, like the 
 waving of a large flag in a fresh gale of wind."— fiisarne'a Journal. 
 
 "Several questions have been agitated with respect to the 
 Aurora. It has been said to be accompanied with a hissing and 
 cracking noise; and indeed Captain Lyon observes, that the 
 sudden glare and rapid bursts of those wondrous showers of fire 
 make it difficult to fancy their movements wholly without sound." 
 —Polar Seas, ^c. Ch. VII. 
 
 •• Those singular streams of light, called commonly the Aurora 
 Bore-^lis, keep up an almost incessant illumination, and were fre- 
 quently witnessed in full splendour by Captains Parry and Lyon 
 during their Arctic residence." — Id. Ch. VII. 
 
 "Other luminous meteors, arising apparently from the re- 
 fraction caused by the minute and highly crystallized speculee of ice, 
 appear in succession to embellish the northern sky. The sun and 
 the moon are often surrounded by halos, — concentric circles of 
 vapour, tinted with the brightest hues of the rainbow. Parhelia, 
 or mock suns, frequently adorned with these accompaniments, 
 shine at once in different quarters of the firmament." — Id. Ch. VII. 
 
 " We frequently, during fogs, saw a broad white fog-bow opposite 
 the sun ; but one which appeared to-night was strongly tinged 
 with the prismatic colours." — Narrative of an Attempt to Reach 
 the North Pole, under command of Captain W. E. Parry, p. 86. 
 
 •* At half-past five, p.m., we witnessed a very beautiful natural 
 phenomenon. A broad white fog-bow first appeared opposite the 
 sun, as was very commonly the case ; presently it became strongly 
 tinged with the prismatic colours, and soon afterwards no less than 
 five other complete arches were formed within the main bow, 
 
 * ¥t '^ * * * lY^Q whole of them beautifully coloured." 
 —Id. p. 99. 
 
 [Lieut. W. H. Hooper, during his residence ^n the shores of 
 the Polar Sea, whilst attached to Her Majesty's ship "Plover," made 
 many valuable observations on the Aurora Borealis. — See Ten 
 Months in the Tents of the Tuski, by Lieut. H. Hooper, B.N. 
 
 The names of the boats employed on Parry's Polar excursion 
 were, the *' Enterprise" and the " Endeavour." The sledges were 
 formed from the Kamoogas (Lapland snow-boots). The farthest 
 land attained was "Little Table Island."] 
 
 " This island being the most northernmost known land in the 
 world, naturally excited much of our curiosity; and bleak, and 
 
 [part VI.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 187 
 
 barren, and rugged as it is, one could not help gazing upon it with 
 intense interest." — Parry's Narrative, Jbc. p. 43. 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 [1] " The great, the brave, yet unretuming Chiefs 
 
 [Sir John Franklin entered the Royal Navy in 1 800, and served, 
 as Midshipman, in the action off Copenhagen, in 1801. A year 
 or two after, he sailed on a voyage of discovery to New Holland, 
 and suffered shipwreck. On his arrival in England, he joined the 
 •• Bellerophon," and took part in the battle of Trafalgar, in 1805. 
 In 1818, after many previous distinctions, he accompanied Captain 
 Buchan on a voyage of discovery to the seas about Spitzbergen. 
 In the following year he conducted an expedition, destined over- 
 land from Hudson's Bay, but with the more especial view of 
 ascertaining the position of the Coppermine River, and the trend- 
 ing (eastward thence) of the Polar Sea. Subsequently, and till 
 the year 1822, we trace him up to the conclusion of his appalling 
 journey of 5,550 miles, in company with Back, Richardson, and 
 the unfortunate Hood, on the same continent. In 1825, this 
 energetic officer again joined an expedition to the north, to search, 
 in co-operation with Parry and Beechey (though from opposite 
 quarters), for a North-west passage. After further service in the 
 Mediterranean, in 1830, Sir John Franklin was appointed Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of Van Dieman's Land ; and finally, in May, 
 1845, became engaged in an expedition to explore a North-west 
 passage to Behring's Straits, an expedition that has terminated 
 most fatally.] 
 
 [2] " Ross lives, and Eae and Richardson are there" 
 [Among the searching expeditions of 1850, there was one, 
 under Sir John Ross, equipped partly at his own expense and 
 partly by public subscription, towards which the Hudson's Bay 
 Company advanced £500. The vessels employed were one of 
 120 tons, schooner-rigged, named the "Felix," and a small 
 tender of twelve tons, Sir John Ross's yacht, the "Mary." 
 
V, 
 
 188 
 
 AnCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 The names of Rae and Richardson require but little comment ; 
 with the former, we associate the hard-earned discoveries on the 
 southern shores of Victoria and Wollaston L.nd, and the terrors 
 of Repulse Bay, while the latter has long become memorable. 
 We have here to notice them as connected with the first great 
 expeditions of search, in 1848. The plan of proceeding on this 
 occasion was by coasting and land-portage between the Copper- 
 mine and Mackenzie Rivers.] 
 
 •♦ In preparation for it, several boats, seven tons of pemmican, 
 large quantities of other stores and provisions, five seamen, and fifteen 
 sappers and miners, were embarked at Gravesend, on board ships 
 of the Hudson's Bay Company, on the 4th June, 1847." — Polar 
 Seaa, &c. Ch. XI. 
 
 [Upon the return of Sir John Richardson, C.B. Dr. Rae remained 
 on the Arctic shores, to endeavour to accomplish, in 1849, what 
 bad been left undone in 1848. While, early in 1850, he received 
 instructions from the Hudson's Bay Company to organize yet a 
 further expedition, in the event of failure in the former year. 
 With the further proceedings of this most enterprising officer, 
 and his fearful discoveries, everyone is acquainted ; these, however, 
 are given at some length in his painfully-interesting letters.] — 
 See Parliamentary Papers, Sic. 
 
 [3] '• A bloodless end, where chieftains of command" 
 
 [In the expedition of 1850, by way of Baflin's Bay, under the 
 command of Captain Austin, C.B.] '♦ multitudes of officers nobly vied 
 as volunteers to obtain the subordinate appointments." — Polar 
 Seas, <&c. Ch. XI. 
 
 [4] " Or with descending bolt asunder hurl." 
 
 [In the ever-memorable expedition of Captains ColHnson, C.B. and 
 M'Clure, in 1850, by way of Behring's Strait,] — "The ships were 
 provisioned for three years, and supplied with balloons, blasting 
 appliances, ice-saws, and many other contrivances for aiding their 
 movements and research. Each also was provided with a pointed 
 piece of mechanism, about fourteen pounds in weight, attached by 
 a tackle to the end of the bowsprit, suited to be worked frbm the 
 deck, and capable, by means of a series of sudden falls, to break 
 ice of any ordinary thickness, and open a passage through a floe 
 or light pack." — Polar Seas, &c. Ch. XI. 
 
 [PAET VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 189 
 
 [5] •' See ! at Ms post Antarctic Ross appear." 
 
 [This was the expedition of 1848, by way of Baffin's Bay, 
 under the command of Captain Sir James C. Ross ; the vessels were 
 the •♦ Enterprise" and the " Investigator," of 470 and 420 tons re- 
 spectively, each being provided with a screw«propelled steam- 
 launch. After their arrival in Pond's Bay,] "they fired guns 
 every half-hour, and closely examined every part of the shore 
 with their glasses, but did not get sight of a single human being." 
 •—Polar Seas, <&c. Ch. XI. 
 
 [When oflF the coast of Lancaster Sound,] "They every day 
 threw overboard, from each ship, a cask containing papers of 
 information of all their proceedings; and, in every fog, they 
 periodically fired guns ; and, in every time of darkness, they 
 burned rockets and blue lights." — Id, Ch. XI. 
 
 [Frozen up finally in Port Leopold,] " During the winter a 
 great many white foxes were taken alive in traps ; and as they are 
 well known to travel great distances in search of food, they were 
 fitted with copper collars, containing engraved notices of the 
 position [of the ships, and dep6ts of provisions, and then set at 
 liberty, in the hope that they would be caught by the crews of the 
 "Erebus" and " Terror."— /d. Ch. XI. 
 
 [After many exploratory journeys, undertaken during a winter 
 passed in Fort Leopold, from which they were forced eventually to 
 cut their way out with saws, Sir J. C. Ross returned with his crews 
 in the November of 1849.] 
 
 n 
 
 [6] " Kelleii, who, vainly-zealous, swept the tide" 
 
 [The course of this officer, whose vessel (the " Herald," of 
 twenty-six guns,) was already in the Pacific, took him through 
 Behring's Strait into the Polar seas. The " Plover," surveying 
 vessel, under Commander Moore, left the Thames in January, 
 1848 ; but, owing to delays, and being compelled to winter on the 
 Asiatic Coast, did not join her consort, the " Herald," till July, 
 1849, while at anchor off Chamisso Island, Kotzebue Sound. 
 It was here that Mr. Shedden, in his yacht, the " Nancy Dawson," 
 first took his portion with the discoverers, and eventually fell a 
 victim to his honourable exertions ; he died some months after at 
 Mazatlan. Proceeding northward, the Herald discovered, some- 
 
•v 
 
 190 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 where off Cape Lisburn, a new territory; at first a group of 
 islands, and subsequently a range of lofty and extensive land.] 
 
 " There was a fine clear atmosphere, except in the direction of 
 this land, where the clouds rolled in numerous immense masses, 
 occasionally leaving the very lofty peaks uncapped, where could be 
 distinctly -een columns, pillars, and very brofctn, which is very 
 characteristic of the higher headlands in this sea. * * * * 
 * * *• * The distant mountainous land was supposed by 
 Captain Kellett to be a continuation of the lofty range seen by tho 
 natives off Cape Jakan, in Asia, and mentioned by Baron 
 Wrangel in his Polar Voyages." — Poiar Seas, ^c. Ch. XI. 
 
 [In this voyage. Captain Kellett pursued a track identical, in 
 some measure, with that of Captain Beechey, in 1825, when the 
 latter office" was despatched to co-operate with Parry and Franklin 
 in the investigation of the North-west passage. On that occasion, 
 Captain Beechey, in his ship the " Blossom," became becalmed off 
 Petropaulovski, in Kamtschatka; but proceeded afterwards to 
 Chamisso Island, and thence northward, threading the N. A. coast 
 in boats as far as Point Barrow, which he named. On his return, 
 he deposited some provisions in Chamisso Island, which were 
 discovered in 1849 by Commander Moore, of the "Plover,'' in 
 perfect preservation. The object of this voyage of Captain Beechey 
 appears to have been to relieve (if necessary) the expedition over- 
 land of Franklin. The outward voyage had been accomplished 
 within a few days of the time specified in his instructions ; a proof, 
 in so long and perilous a track, of the discipline to which Captain 
 Beechey had brought his crew. 
 
 In the expedition of Kellett through Behrin^ ^ Strait, Lieu- 
 tenants PuUen and Hooper distinguished themselves by their exer- 
 tions in a boat adventure, accompanied by the unfortunate Mr. 
 Shedden in his yacht, along the North coast of America, as far as 
 Point Barrow.] 
 
 ■ /'v 
 
 [7] '* The fire rekindled and he could not rest''' 
 
 [For the subsequent achievements of Captain Kellett, C.B., while 
 command of the " Resolute," we must refer to the despatches of 
 that officer ; and every one is acquainted with his timely measures 
 undertaken at Dealy Island, for the relief of Captain M'Clure.] 
 
 [part VH.] 
 
m 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 191 
 
 [8] " WTu> struck dovm Death — himself more terrible^* 
 
 [To such men as Richardson, may well be applied the words 
 of a great Poet] 
 
 *• He lived through that 
 Which had been death to many." 
 
 [9] " Envious to share, Columbia's sons advance.^* 
 
 [This is the American expedition*, equipped at the instance 
 and cost mainly, of Mr. Henry Grinnell, a merchant of New York ; 
 the vessels employed were the " Advance" and the " Rescue," of 
 125 and 95 tons, respectively, placed under the command of 
 Lieutenant De Haven, an officer who had already served in an 
 exploring expedition in the Antarctic seas.] 
 
 "It sailed from New York on the 24th of May, 1850, and 
 was accompanied for two days in his yacht by Mr. Grinnell. Its 
 object was to push promptly forward, in any way it could, in the 
 direction of Melville Island and Banks Land — to winter wherever 
 it might happen to stick fast, in the pack or out of the pack — and 
 to move on and make search, as long as it might be able, in any 
 direction which should offer most promise of success — reckless at 
 once of nice precautions and of all ordinary obstacles." — Polar 
 Seas, Ch. XI.* 
 
 if 
 
 [10] «♦ He who by Osborn's cape of glaciers came;" 
 
 [Sir Edward Belcher, C. B., commanded that squadron in the 
 Artie Seas destined to renew in 1852-3 the search for Sir John 
 Franklin. In September, 1853, his vessel, the " Assistance" was 
 frozen up off Cape Osborn, in the Wellington Channel, and finally 
 abandoned in 1854, near M'Cormick Bay. 
 
 The reader will search the despatches of this adventurous 
 officer for discoveries made by him along those drer.ry shores, 
 which became in succession t^i'' theatre of his exertions, at the 
 head of the^Queen*s Channel, and in the high latitudes he afterwards 
 attained.] » 
 
 [* For particalais of this romantic voyage tho reader should consult the 
 interesting and clerer work of Dr. Kane— U. S. Grinnell Estpedition in search of Sir 
 John Franklin, ic] 
 
192 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [1 1] " OperCd to a remote and rutMeas sTwre,'* 
 
 [In the despatches of Sir E. Belcher from his winter quarters, 
 Northumberland Sound, the following passages occur.] 
 
 •' I took possession of this new addition to Her Majosty's ter- 
 ritories under the title of "North Cornwall," in compliment to 
 His Royal Highness the Heir Apparent. Waiting to secure the 
 position, ******** I returned to the beach ; 
 and having hauled the boat overland, to clear the ice which had 
 entrapped us, launched in the open water, and pulled along the 
 south-western line of the island about seventeen miles, where we 
 landed, and encamped for the night. ******** 
 
 ***** •«Xhe weather still continued thick, with 
 occasional snow falls, and hiding most of the objects which I was 
 so anxious to obtain. ****** 
 
 "Throughout this very interesting search not a particle of 
 drift wood has been noticed since quitting Village Point, and not 
 a trace of human beings. Animal life seems to fail after quitting 
 Exmouth Island. ****** 
 
 " If our unfortunate countrymen have * taken the floe, and 
 drifted with it,' their case is hopeless. If we may judge from the 
 aspects of the floes, where they have come into collision, or where 
 they piled themselves in layers over forty feet on the north-western 
 extremities of the islands, the feeling was disheartening. We 
 noticed nothing equal to it in Melville Bay." 
 
 [Again.] 
 
 "If Sir John Franklin passed through this channel, to the 
 southward of Barrow and Parker Islands, and met the floe moving 
 westerly, he never could reach, as far as we can discover, any place 
 of refuge, and in all probability drifted into the PolLr Basin." 
 ****** 
 
 [12] " Yet fearless here could fond M^Cormich urge" 
 
 [A boat and sledge excursionist on the east coast of Wellington 
 Channel, and the shores of Baring Bay, in 1852. The following 
 are extracts from Dr. M'Cormick's truly interesting narrative.] 
 
 "Sad as the reflection mus he, it is in vain to deny that the 
 
 time has arrived when, indeed, it is hoping against hope, and 
 
 which suggested to me the name of ' Forlorn Hope ' for my boat." 
 
 [" The Forlorn Hope" taking refuge under the lee of icebergs, 
 
 aground in Wellington Bay, is thus described.] 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 19:) 
 
 *' When we had got about midway between Cape Osborn and 
 this Point'' [Point Eden], " our situation became a tnily perilous 
 one ; the boat was taking in water faster than we could bale it out, 
 and she was settling down so much as not to leave a streak free ; 
 labouring and rising heavily and sluggishly to each successive sea, 
 so that all expected every moment that she would fill and go down 
 the first sea that struck her, from which only the most careful and 
 watchful attention to the helm preserved her. Fortunately for us, 
 at this critical moment, two bergs aground appeared on the port- 
 bow, and I immediately ran for them, in the hope of finding the 
 water smooth enough under their lee to enable us, by lowering the 
 sail and lying on our oars, to thoroughly bale out all the water from 
 the boat, which was now nearly full ; in this we happily succeeded 
 whilst lying only a few feet from the bergs in comparatively quiet 
 water, protected by their blue hard washed sides from the seas 
 which broke over them to windward, rebounding upwards in 
 foaming columns of surf and spray, which dashed high above their 
 summits, from forty to fifty feet in height, presenting a wild scene, 
 at once grand, sublime, and awful." 
 
 [In recording an excursion to Caswall Tower, Dr. M'Cormick 
 says—] 
 
 ** I passed a whole day and night without food or shelter 
 beyond what the snow-drift afforded, ******* * 
 When overwhelmed by the darkness of the night blending with the 
 fog, and a gale approaching, we cut with a hunting-knife a trench 
 in the snow-clad plain, about two feet deep, and in this truly Arctic 
 bivouac, we, with our canine friends" [tw Esquimaux dogs], 
 "passed the night, without a tent or other clothing than our 
 usual walking dress. 
 
 "The gale which swept over us soon forming a white coverlet 
 of snow-drift, protected us from the blast.'' ****** 
 
 [On the traces of Sir John Franklin near Cape Riley we have 
 the following.] 
 
 *' The s;va.mpy flat, intersected by small lakes and water- courses, 
 in the vicinity of Caswall Tower, is the only spot where th _ very 
 few straggling wild fowl that alight in this barren limestone region, 
 on their way north, are to be met with ; and here I have followed 
 Franklin's sledge-tracks over the low shingle ridges in tlie direction 
 of the tower, which was, doubtless, their shooting station. The 
 sledges must have passed in the summer season, when the soil was 
 
194 
 
 ARCTIC ENTEEPRISE. 
 
 plastic enough to leave impressions of their tracks behind them. 
 Caswall Tower is an isolated precipitous mount, between three and 
 four hundred feet in height, rising from a plain at the head of 
 Radstock Bay and Gascoigne Cove, which I ascended." * * * 
 M^CormicJc's Narrative. 
 
 [1 3] " Wage with pale OsborrCs cliffs unceasing war" 
 
 [Near Cape Osborn, " The Forlorn Hope" parsed a remarkable 
 isolated rock, to which Dr. M'Cormick gave the name of " Franklin's 
 Beacon."] 
 
 " After a laborious pull of four hours we reached the steep and 
 almost perpendicular ridge of Cape Osborn, a bold headland of 
 rounded form, white with snow, ******* This 
 cape may be considered the northernmost boundary of Welling- 
 ton Strait, ***** At 1.45, p. m. we passed a very 
 remarkable isolated mass of rock, rising abruptly from the steep 
 face of this ridge about one third from the summit. 
 
 " It bore a striking resemblance to the bust of a human figure 
 of burly form, and habited in a cloak and cap ; ***** 
 I transferred a fac-simile of it to my sketch-book under the name 
 of * Franklin's Beacon,' whose attention it could not fail to attract, 
 pointing as it does to those unknown and unexplored regions which 
 lie beyond, around the Northern Pole, untrodden by the foot of 
 man since creation's dawn," ********* — 
 M^Cormick's Narrative. 
 
 [It was in this part of Wellington Strait that poor Bellot lost 
 his life, August 18th, 1853.] 
 
 [l-t] " Lamented Bellot ! Science' favourite child, — " 
 
 [It appears to have been somewhere in the Wellington Chan- 
 nel, about midway between Capes Grinnell and Osborn, that this 
 melancholy event occurred.] 
 
 " This unfortunate occurrence took place on the night of the 
 gale, when M. Bellot with two men were driven off from the shore 
 on a floe ; and shortly after, whilst reconnoitering from the top of 
 a hummock, he was blown off by a violent gust of wind into a 
 deep crack in the ice, and perished by drowning." * * * * 
 '* A careful meteorological journd has been kept, a tide register 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
of the 
 le shore 
 top of 
 into a 
 
 register 
 ^11.] 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 195 
 
 at Holsteinberg, and a great many observations made on the di- 
 rection, dip, and force of the magnet. These have been carried on 
 by Mr. Stanton and the late lamented M. Bellot, whose industry 
 in this branch of science is well proved by the mass of valuable 
 matter he has left behind." — Captain Inglefield's Report, 4ith of 
 October, 1853. H. M. S S. "Phcenix," off Thurso. 
 
 [To this ship (The " Phcenix") M. Bellot had been appointed, 
 as supernumerary ; and at the time of his death was the bearer of 
 despatches from Captain PuUen to Sir E. Belcher.] 
 
 " He was sincerely regretted by us all. His zeal, ability, and 
 quiet, unassuming manner made him indeed beloved." — Captain 
 Inglefield's Report, SfC. 
 
 [Captain Pullen, in his deeply-interesting "Journal of the Pro- 
 ceedings of H. M. Discovery Ship, " North Star," records the 
 circumstances attending the fate of this gallant officer, as reported 
 to him by the two men, Johnston and Hook, who had been left with 
 him on the floe.] 
 
 " Poor Bellot's last remark to Johnston w.'s rather singular, 
 and characteristic of his idea of his duty " — ' Nothing makes me 
 more happy than to think that I am not on shore ; for, considering 
 it to be the last duty of an ofHcer to be at the post of danger, I 
 would rather die here, on the floe, than be there, on the shore, to be 
 saved.' — 
 
 " Deeply unfortunate as is such an occurrence, yet it affords 
 me a melancholy gratification in knowing that confidence was not 
 misplaced in the gallant Frenchman ; and the men speak of him 
 in the highest terms. He was well appreciated by all on board 
 the ship ; and it was not the first time that we knew of his zeal 
 and devotion in the cause we are engaged in. I feel his loss most 
 acutely, and received a shock that time only can dispel. He was 
 a character that any one might feel a pride in being associated 
 with." — Commander Pullen' s Journal, ^c. 
 
 [The nan)e of Kennedy being associated with that of the amiable, 
 brave, but ill-fated Bellot, the present would appear a fitting 
 occasion for some slight record of the energetic daring, and sur- 
 prising powers of endurance manifested by him during his ex- 
 tensive winter excursions, in company with M. Bellot, along the 
 frozen shores of America. 
 
 In a voyage undertaken subsequently in Lady Franklin's 
 vessel, the '* Isabel," with the view to a North-east passage by 
 
 
V 
 
 196 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 way of Behring's Strait, this meritorious and most enterprising 
 officer was unfortunately thwarted by a mutinous crew.] 
 
 [15] " Yet, sacred Shade ! at yon impassion'd shrine" 
 
 [Attached to the monumental column* at " Northumberland 
 Depot," Beechey Island, is a marble tablet with the following 
 inscription.] * 
 
 IN HEHORY 
 
 OF LIEUT. BELLOT, 
 
 OF THE FRENCH NAVY, 
 
 WHO LOST HIS LIFE WHILST 
 
 NOBLY AIDING IN SEARCH OF 
 
 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 
 
 IN THE WELLINGTON CHANNEL, 
 
 ON THE 18th august, 1853, 
 
 THIS TABLET, TO RECORD THE SAD EVENT, \ 
 
 WAS ERECTED BY HIS FRIEND, J. BARROW. 
 A.D. 1854. 
 
 [16] " Whose portal dire led Franklin to his fate ;" 
 
 [There is scarcely a single geographical feature in the whole 
 range of the Arctic regions to which the name of this eminent man 
 has not somewhere been attached : while the scientific repute of 
 Colonel Sabine (a name here associated with that of Sir John 
 Barrow) needs but little comment.] 
 
 [17] " And in his honoured son he lives again.''"' 
 
 " To the inlet running up on the west side of Mount Provi- 
 dence from south south-west to north north-east, I gave the name 
 of Dragleybeck, in commemoration of the birth-place of Sir John 
 Barrow, Bart, and in compliment to his son, John Barrow, Esq* 
 of the Admiralty, F.R.S. who, following up his father's career. 
 
 * A clever sketch of the column is given in the Parliamentary Papers from 
 the pencil of Lieutenant Emile De Bray, a French officer, who accompanied the 
 Expedition, on board the Resolute, and distinguished himself on all occasions— 
 iraining the esteem and respect of both officers and men — (Vide Despatches). 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 197 
 
 •prising 
 
 berland 
 lUowing 
 
 e whole 
 ent man 
 epute of 
 ir John 
 
 ; Provi- 
 he name 
 sir John 
 ow, Esq- 
 career, 
 
 apers from 
 panied the 
 ccaslons— 
 ;hes). 
 
 VII.] 
 
 has earned for himself a distinguished position in the history of 
 Arctic discovery, by his noble and unceasing efforts in furthering 
 the search for the brave but ill-fated Franklin and the rest of our 
 long-lost countrymen. 
 
 " No one but those who have near relations in the expedition 
 can possibly have felt deeper interest in this hapless search from 
 first to last than I have, unless it is my friend Mr. Barrow, whose 
 untiring exertions and devotion in this noble cause stand un- 
 equalled." — Mccormick's Narrative^ %c. 
 
 [18] " Still-vex' d Polynia sits with brow serene;" 
 
 [The bold excursion of this meritorious officer (Captain 
 M'Clintock) along the most repulsive shores of the Polar Sea are 
 well known and appreciated. In the expedition here alluded to, 
 he ranged as far as the Polynia Islands.] 
 
 " 15th June. * * * * The ice traversed this march was 
 covered with snow, except off the west point of the island, where 
 there are some hug*) grounded hummocks, and extending both ways 
 from them a line of crushed-up ice. * * * It is almost im- 
 possible to form a correct idea of the shape of this coast-line, it is 
 so extremely low, and so deeply covered with snow ; far out we 
 see sand-heaps, and far inland we find masses of ice ; the land 
 and ice seem confusedly heaped together all about us, but two 
 miles outside us the edge of the tremendous pack seems to rest 
 upon the ground. 
 
 " 16th June. — A continuous line of very formidable hummocks 
 has been seen in the offing. ****** The Polynia 
 Islands lying further off shore are all pure gravel. * * * * 
 
 " 17th June. — After taking bearings, &c. here, we travelled 
 seven or eight miles to the next extreme of land, on rounding 
 which we saw several islands forming a chain a few miles off shore ; 
 these keep off the heavy Polar pack, and within them we have 
 ordinary old floe. * * * * 
 
 " P. M. The weather is worse if possible, we cannot advance 
 against this gale, not being able to see our way, nor will we retreat 
 before it. It is very mortifying to be ihus arrested within one 
 march of our extreme, and to be unable to get a glimpse of the 
 coast beyond that which we have actually walked to ; to-morrow 
 we must commence our retreat. The little sledge turned up on its 
 
198 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 side forms the weather end of our hurricane house ; one end of a 
 ridge pole rests upon it, the other end on my compass stand. The 
 sledge's sail thrown over this affords us shelter on three sides, and 
 here we sit anxiously watching the weather." * * * — Journal 
 ofH. M. Sledge, "Star of the North" Commander M'Clintock, 
 
 [19] " Pierced like a Power of life the obstructing floe." 
 
 [Among the searching expeditions of 1850, there was one 
 equipped by the Government, and which consisted of two ships of 
 225 and 120 tons respectively, named, from obvious motives, the 
 • "Lady Franklin" and the " Sophia," and placed under the com- 
 mand of Captain Fenny. Another, fitted out mainly at the cost of 
 Lady Franklin, comprised one vessel only, the *' Prince Albert," 
 schooner-rigged, of 90 tons, a dashing little craft that well did her 
 duty. She was commanded by Captain (then Commander) For- 
 syth, accompanied by Mr. W. Parker Snow, who served in various 
 capacities, and has given in his journal a graphic description of 
 one of her feats of daring]. 
 
 " As the wind was blowing right down upon if (the ice floe) 
 " and pretty fresh," be observes, " it was determined by Captain 
 Forsyth boldly to try and break through the impediment, by 
 forcing the ship on it under a press of canvass. Accordingly all 
 sail was set, and the ship was steered direct for the narrowest and 
 most broken part of the neck. As this was the f rst and only time 
 the Prince Albert was made to come direct upon the ice, to break 
 it with the force she would derive from a press of sail, we were all 
 anxious to see how she would stand it ; and right well did she bear 
 the test." *********** 
 
 [After detailing the critical position of the " Prince Albert" 
 . under these circumstances, Mr. Snow adds — ] 
 
 ****** The next instant, with a tremenduous blow 
 that for the moment made her rebound and tremble, she struck the 
 ice in the exact point, and caused it to rend apart in several frag- 
 ments." 
 
 [20] " Gave to the sphere of Hope another Star /" 
 
 [H. M. Sledge, " Star of the North," and H. M. Ship, "North 
 Star," were eminent both, in their respective spheres, and un- 
 
 [PART VII.J 
 
 [21] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 199 
 
 surpassed in their exertions to throw light on the mysterious fate of 
 the " Erebus" and " Terror." 
 
 The " North Star" was despatched in the first instance under 
 command of Mr. Saunders, Master, R.N. with stores, but quickly 
 changed her character to that of a Discovery Ship ; and joining 
 the searching squadron of 1 850, pursued a career, the exciting 
 particulars of which are ably recorded in the journals of her 
 commander, Captain PuUen. The successful efforts of this officer 
 in the arduous task of recovering his stranded ship are entitled 
 to the highest credit. 
 
 Lieutenant Wm. Hulme Ho'^ier was a most zealous and accom- 
 plished young officer, who accompanied Captain PuUen on his 
 previous boat-voyage along the Polar shores, from Icy Cape, across 
 the mouth of the Mackenzie River, to Cape Bathurst, and sacri- 
 ficed his health, and life to the cause. His work, entitled " Ten 
 Months in the Tents of the Tuski," is full of close observation, 
 and gives an interesting account of this little-known race of people. 
 A marble tablet to his memory was erected at Haslar by Lady 
 Franklin. 
 
 The expedition of this year under Sir John Ross has already 
 been noticed. That under Captains Austin, C.B. and Ommanney 
 consisted of two ships, the " Resolute" and the " Assistance," and 
 two screw-propelled steam vessels, the "Pioneer" and the "In- 
 trepid." The ships had a tonnage, the one of 500, the other of 
 430. Lieutenant Sherard Osborn was placed in command of the 
 " Pioneer." After encountering great difficulties from the middle 
 ice in Baffin's Bay, they reached Cape Riley at the mouth of the 
 Wellington Channel, and there discovered and collected such 
 traces as led to the certain conclusion that a prolonged sojourn 
 had been made there by parties whom circumstances pointed to as 
 Sir John Franklin and his crews.] 
 
 n 
 
 [21] " Spoket htU alas I told not the course to shape.^ 
 
 " The greatest mystery of all is," as Dr. M'Cormick remarks, 
 " that of no record having been left of their sojourn or departure ; 
 so sanguine was I for a time that something might turn up to 
 reward a diligent and persevering search, that I did not rest until 
 I had closely examined every foot of ground for miles around." 
 » * * * * — M'Cormick^s Narrative, ^c. 
 
 [The daring gallantry of the sledge-excursionists of the search- 
 
 
V 
 
 200 
 
 AltCTJC KNTERl'RISK. 
 
 ing squadrons will long be remembered in Arctic history ; while 
 the chapter that treats of '' -xpeditions by way of Hehring's 
 Strait will not fail to do justice '<e meritorious efforts of Captains 
 Moore, Maguire, and Trollope. | 
 
 [22] •• But One came back, a partner in defeat" 
 
 [This was the most deeply interesting of all the expeditions of 
 search, and the most remar|^able for its results. The ships em- 
 ployed were the " Enterprise" and the " Investigator," which in 
 I sis had been given to the command of Sir J. C. Ross for the 
 first exploration by way of Baffin's Bay. They were fine vessels 
 of 470 and 420 tons respectively, and commanded, as is well 
 known, on the present occasion, the former by Captain Collinson, 
 C.B. the latter by Commander (now Captain Sir Robert) M'Clure. 
 From the dispatches of the latter officer the following are extracts.] 
 
 [23] " Where wild Magellan, with impetuous sweep," 
 
 [These Straits are dangerous and difficult, from the prevalence 
 of westerly or north-westerly gales through a great part of the 
 year. From this and other causes, the western currents setting 
 through them acquire a velocity equal almost to that of a mountain- 
 torrent. The vessels of the present expedition were provided with 
 steamers, to tow them through the straits.] 
 
 [24] " By the huge fastness of the Polar pack." 
 
 Upon one occasion when the Investigator was in •' a most 
 exposed position, being upon the eastern side of a large bay, open 
 to the whole pressure of the Polar pack, and surrounded with 
 masses of ice sixteen and eighteen feet thick, while the grounded 
 floes were from forty to sixty-seven in depth, ***** 
 * * blasting was had recourse to, with charges from sixteen to 
 sixty-five pounds ; these made little impression, except near the 
 explosion, therefore a six and twenty gallon rum cask, containing 
 two hundred and fifty-five pounds, was now sunk five fathoms. 
 Amongst these large masses at thirty yards from the vessel its 
 effect was most conclusive, shivering them to atoms, rending that 
 
 [part VIJ.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 201 
 
 to which we were attached, and which was sixty-seven feet thick 
 on the outer, and thirty-iive on its in-shoiu odji^c, asunder, without 
 the concussion being very much felt on board." — M'Clure's Des- 
 patches, ^c. H. M. Discovery Hhip, " Investigat&r" off Cape 
 Bathurst, Polar Sea. 
 
 [25] ^*Wiih the ever-varying tack a course is steet'dy 
 
 •' Upon rounding Cape Halkett upon the morning of the flth, 
 found the ice was set close to the shore, which rendered it a passage 
 of much anxiety, great labour, and imminent risk, as the wind was 
 strong from East-south-east with thick fog, and the ice closing 
 around us fast, so that we had barely space to work in, tacking 
 frequently in five, and never beyond ten minutes, standing upon 
 one tack into three fathoms and a half, and upon the other to four 
 and a half and six fathoms." — M'Clure'a Despatches, Sgc. off 
 Point Warren, Polar Sea. 
 
 1 
 
 [26] " Fires from the earth, and forests struck to stone." 
 
 " September 5th, the weather, which had been squally accom- 
 panied by a thick fog during the early part of the day, cleared 
 towards noon, when a large volume of smoke was observed about 
 twelve miles south-west and five to the eastward of the Horton, in 
 the same spot that it had attracted our attention yesterday. As divers 
 opinions were in circulation respecting its probable cause, and the 
 ice-mate having positively reported that from the crow's nest he 
 could distinguish several persons moving about dressed in white 
 shirts, and observed some white tents in a hollow of the cliff, I 
 certainly had every reason to imagine they were a party of Euro- 
 peans in distress, convinced that no travellers would remain for so 
 long a period as we had remarked the smoke, in one spot, for their 
 pleasure ; therefore, to satisfy myself equally as others, I deter- 
 mined to send a boat on shore, as it was now calm. The first 
 whale boat, under Lieutenant Cresswell, with Dr. Armstrong and 
 Mr. Miertsching, v/ere despatched to examine into the cause, who 
 on their return reported the smoke to emanate from fifteen small 
 mounds of volcanic appearance, occupying a space of about fifty 
 yards, the place strongly impregnated with sulphur, the lower 
 
V, 
 
 202 
 
 ARCJTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 mounds being about thirty feet above the sea level, the highest 
 about fifty (eetr—M'Clure'a Despatches, ^c. off Cape BathursU 
 Polar Sea. 
 
 *• Shooting and other parties made daily excursions inland, in 
 which rambles an exceedingly old Esquimaux encampment was 
 met with, and a most interesting discovery of a range of hills 
 composed of one entire mass of wood in every stage, from a petri- 
 faction to a log fit for firewood ; many large trees were amongst 
 itr— Id. 
 
 [ 27] *• To find in Nature's a confiding child" 
 
 [Captain M'Clure speaks of the friendly and confiding nature 
 of the tribes (generally) on these distant Arctic shores.] " Shortly 
 gaining courage, they returned, and, as we approached, arranged 
 themselves in line upon the beach, and commenced extending their 
 arms above the head (typical of friendship), which being answered 
 from the boats, perfectly assured them of our amicable intentions. 
 Upon landing, they evinced a most manly confidence, rubbing 
 noses and embracing most vigorously. These were very cleanly, 
 so that the operation was not so unpleasant as it otherwise might 
 have been."— Jlf'C^Mre's Despatches, ^c. off Point Warrin, 
 Polar Sea. 
 
 [28] ** Such was thy art : — yet once, with bended bow," 
 
 [Captain M'Clure gives some interesting details of this strange 
 story ; a few extracts are offered from his despatches.] 
 
 ******** Great, therefore, was my surprise, upon 
 approaching the beach, to find, instead of being greeted with the 
 usual friendly signs, that two savages, with gesticulations the 
 most menacing, having bended bows with arrows on their strings, 
 and one with a large knife which he brandished most significantly, 
 waved us off. Taking no heed of these hostile demonstrations, 
 we pulled in ; they retreated, yelling furiously. Upon our reach- 
 ing the full of the beach, we made the same signs of friendship 
 which we had used with the Esquimaux further west, but without 
 any effect until joined by the Interpreter, who was in full native 
 costume. This gave them confidence. •*****«" 
 — M'Clure" s Despatches, ^c. off Cape Bathurst, Polar Sea. 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 203 
 
 [The two savnges here described were the Chief and his son, 
 who had remained to defend their property ; the tribe having 
 taken to their baidars with their most valuable skins, and left the 
 settlement, upon observing Captain M'Clure's approach] — •' Alleg- 
 ing, as a reason, that they feared the ship had come to revenge the 
 death of a white man they had murdered some time ago." — 
 Captain Tnglefield's Report, &c. H.M.SS. " Phcenix" off Thirso. 
 
 " Observing an old brass button suspended from the ear of the 
 Chief, he said it wai taken from a white man that had been killed 
 by one of his tribe, who went away in his kyack when the vessel 
 was seen. The white man belonged to a party which had landed 
 at Point Warren, and there built a house ; nobody knew how they 
 came, as they had no boat, but that they went inland. The man 
 killed had strayed from the party, and that he and his son buried 
 him upon a hill at a little distance. The only answer we could 
 obtain as to the probable time when this transaction took place 
 was, ' that it might be last year, or when I was a child.' To have 
 examined the graves I was very anxious, but was prevented by the 
 state of the weather becoming foggy, with fresh brce/.e, which 
 compelled our immediate return to the ship ; so, making them a 
 few presents, we parted on very amicable terms. This intelligence 
 appeared of so important a nature with respect to the white man 
 on the point, that I determined to remain until it became suffi- 
 ciently clear to land and examine the bouse, which might possibly 
 contain some indication of the missing expedition. This detained 
 me eighteen hours ; but to have left with a doubt would have been 
 a subject of perpetual regret. 
 
 " At 2 a. m. on the following morning, the 25th, we reached the 
 point. The weather being tolerably clear, the interpreter. Dr. 
 Armstrong, and myself went on shore in eager expectation of dis- 
 covering some clue that would lead to a knowledge of the parties ; 
 but in this we were miserably disappointed ; two huts, indeed, 
 were there, to excite hopes, but upon approaching them, we found 
 the woodwork to be perfectly rotten and of a very old date, with- 
 out any description of mark to yield the slightest information. 
 
 So the history of the white man will still continue a mystery." — 
 M^ duress Despatches, 8[C. off Cape Baihurst, Polar Sea. 
 
20^ 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 [29] " Secure in Mercy's memorable Bay." 
 
 " On a view of our position, we found that we were on the 
 North-west side of a large bay, whose eastern limits bore North- 
 east eight miles, which, we subsequently found, formed the western 
 point of Banks's Sound, and running to the South-south-west 
 about seven, which was rapidly filling up with ice flowing before 
 a fresh gale from the Polar Sea ; still wishing to see if any pos- 
 sibility-remained of getting down Barrow Strait, we weighed and 
 stood as far as the ice would allow to the North-east, when, 
 observing from the crow's nest no water in that direction, I 
 determined to make this our winter quarters ; and, having re- 
 marked upon the south side of the bank on which we had 
 grounded a well protected bay, Mr. Court was despatched to 
 sound it ; and shortly making the signal that there was sufficient 
 water, we bore up, and at 7. 45. a. m. anchored in four fathoms 
 and a half, and that night were firmly frozen in, in what has since 
 proved a most safe and excellent harbour, — which, in grateful 
 remembrance of the many perils that we had (during the passage 
 of that terrible Polar Sea) escaped, in reaching, we have named the 
 Bay of Mercy. * * * * * *.'• — M'Clure^s Despatches, 
 8fc. off Cape Bathurst, Polar Sea. 
 
 [Two years previously to thia, on the 26th of October, 1850, 
 the Prince of Wales Strait (between Banks or Baring Island and 
 Prince Albert's Land) was traced by Captain M'Clure to its entrance 
 into Barrow Strait. This discovery, which established the ex- 
 istence of a North-west Passage, is noticed (as below) in the des- 
 patches of this most persevering and intrepid officer, who had 
 proceeded in a sledge with a travelling party from the " Inves- 
 tigator."] 
 
 " Being dissatisfied with the view obtained from Prince Albert's 
 Land, respecting the waters we were now in, as to their connexion 
 with Barrow Strait, which would settle the question of a North- 
 west Passage, I determined to proceed in that direction with a 
 travelling party, although rather late in the season, as soon as I 
 felt that the vessel might be safely quitted, which I judged would 
 occur after the ensuing spring tides, if at thai period there was no 
 commotion amongsc the ice. Accordingly, upon the 21st, every- 
 thing being favourable, I started with Mr. Court (second master) 
 
 as 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 205 
 
 and the men* ; the ice for two miles from the ship was so rough, 
 that Lieutenant Haswell and the whole of the ship's company were 
 occupied in carrying the sledge and different articles of lading. 
 At 8 a. m. the sledge was finally packed, when with the fatigue 
 party in charge of Mr. Wynniatt (mate), accompanied by Dr. 
 Armstrong (as an amateur), we set off to the north-east. At noon 
 the fatigue party, having taken us eight miles, were directed to 
 return. Soon after quitting us, we got amongst very difficult ice ; 
 the sledge was broken, but quickly fishing it, proceeded. Unfor- 
 tunately, scarcely an hour had elapsed, when crossing a floe, the 
 inequalities of which were imperceptible, it came down with such 
 a crash, that it broke into pieces. This was unlucky, but pitching 
 our tent, Mr. Court and Peter Thomson (Captain of the Foretop) 
 started for the ship, where they arrived at 7.30 p. m., and rejoined 
 the next day at 2 p. m. with a fresh and larger sledge, and a fatigue 
 party with Mr. Wynniatt to carry the damaged one back. This 
 party, upon my return, I found did not get on board until the fol- 
 lowing day, being stopped by heavy snow drift, but having a tent 
 and provisions, did not suffer. As soon as the new comers were 
 refreshed, the sledge was packed, and by 3 p. m. we were again 
 off, continuing our course without any further disaster until 3.45 
 p. m. of the 26th, where we had the extreme gratification of pitch- 
 ing our tent upon the shores of Barrow Strait, nearly on the line 
 as represented in the charts were Sir Edward Parry has very 
 correctly marked the loom of the land." — M'Clure's Despatches, 
 &c. off Cape Bathur % Polar Sea. 
 
 ■II 
 
 ii 
 
 [30] " Closed all the hatchways, and the vessel housed," 
 
 [A winter having at length been spent in the Bay of Mercy, 
 which is recorded by Captain M'Clure as one of unusual mildness, 
 and productive thus of great success to the sportsmen, — the suc- 
 ceeding season soon closed in another winter of apparently great 
 severity. Under the influence of its approaches, in August, he 
 says,] * * * * * * * * "I felt assured that the 
 winter had again fairly set in. and all hopes of any release this 
 year totally annihilated, * ¥r * ^ Having previously 
 
 * Robt. Calder, Captain of the Forecastle. Robt. Tiffeny, Captain of the Main- 
 top. Mich. Flynn, Quarter-Master. George Brown, A.B. P. Thomson, Captain 
 of the Foretop. James Saunders, Private, Royal Marines. 
 
V 
 
 206 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 determined what course I should adopt under circumstances thus 
 unfavourable, upon the 8th September I announced my intentions 
 to the crew of sending half of them to England next April, with 
 all the officers not in charge of stores, via Baffin's Bay (taking the 
 boat from Cape Spencer) and the Mackenzie, detaining the re- 
 mainder with the hope of extricating the vessel during the sum- 
 mer of 1853, or, failing that, to proceed with sledges in 1854 by 
 Port Leopold, our provisions admitting of no other arrangement. 
 ******** * Upon the 25th October, closed 
 the hatchways and housed the vessel over. ****** 
 The 26th being the second anniversary of our discovery of the 
 " Passage," and the last that we should all be together, the occa- 
 sion was celebrated by a small additional allowance of provisions, 
 and an extra glass of grog, which had the effect of putting all in 
 high spirits, so that the evening was passed most jovially in sing- 
 ing and dancing. On November 8th, completed the banking up 
 and other outside work, finally terminating our winter arrange- 
 ments on the 18th, by covering the upper deck with eighteen inches 
 of snow. The deer for the last few days have been coming from 
 the southward to their winter quarters among the ravines and 
 sand-hills ; ninety have been met with at one time and forty at 
 another, but so very wild that few have been shot. Our two 
 seasons' experience show that these animals do not migrate to the 
 south, as is generally supposed ; but bear the extreme rigour of 
 thfi climate, and exist upon the scanty herbage, chiefly the dwarf- 
 willow, from off which they break the snow with their feet, 
 which tapping can be heard at a considerable distance, when the 
 weather is calm, and frequently leads to their discovery. The 
 hares and Ptarmigail have also descended from the high ground to 
 the sea ridges." — M'Clure's Despatches^ 8[C. off Cape Bathurst, 
 Polar Sea. 
 
 
 [31] ** Behold! cdl-sudden, as some sight that comes" 
 
 [For records of this extraordinary and providential relief, and 
 of the circumstances immediately preceding and following from it, 
 reference should be had to the Despatches of Captain M'Clure ; 
 more especially the letters of that officer to Captain Kellett, and 
 subsequently to the Secretary of the Admiralty. From these tliO 
 following are extracts.] 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 207 
 
 king the 
 
 closed 
 
 " I would, were it possible, endeavour to convey the state of 
 feeling which animated not only myself, but every soul, when his 
 sudden and most unexpected appearance on the floe, about 200 
 yards from the ship, was remarked. All description must fall 
 below the reality. Only imagine, if you can, a whole crew which 
 had to this moment no idea of any ship but their own being 
 within the limit of these dreary regions, cut off from the world, 
 their isolated situation, and (in defiance of all exertion) a little 
 despondent, when accidentally a strange, remarkable, and solitary 
 figure is seen rapidly advancing, showing gesticulations of friend- 
 ship, similar to those used by the Esquimaux, black as Erebus 
 from the smoke created by cooking in his tent. My surprise, I 
 may almost add dismay, was great in the extreme. I paused in 
 my advance, doubting who or what it could be, whether a denizen 
 of this or the other world ; however, the surprise was momentary. 
 * I am Lieutenant Pirn, late of the " Herald." Captain Kellett 
 is at Melville Island.' And as the apparition was thus indubitably 
 discovered to be solid, real English flesh and blood, to rush at and 
 seize him by the hand was but the first impulsive gush of feeling. 
 The heart was too full for the tongue to articulate, as this dark 
 stranger communicated his errand of mercy. The sick, forgetting 
 their maladies, jumped from their hammocks, the healthy their 
 despondency ; — all flew to the only hatchway that was open, and in 
 far less time than it takes me to write this, all hands were on deck. 
 Such a scene can never be forgotten ; all was now life, activity, and 
 joyful astonishment. In the twinkling of an eye the whole crew 
 were changed ; but I shall cease to say more, for I might write 
 much, but never could, even faintly, convey the most remote idea 
 of the sensation created by this most opportune and providential 
 arrival of your relieving party." — Commander M'Clure to Capt. 
 Kellett, C.B.,H.M.S. "Eesolute" Dealy Island, 2nd May, ^853. 
 
 lief, and 
 [from it, 
 I'Clure ; 
 stt, and 
 lese the 
 
 II.] 
 
 [32] " Whose faithful bosom bore thee to the end" 
 
 It was the anxious desire of Captain M'Clure "to further 
 continue in the country, with the chance of being able to extricate 
 his ship ;" but at length, " in consequence of there not being 
 a sufficiency of hands to work the ship, the only alternative that 
 remained was to abandon her, which it is my intention to do 
 reluctantly indeed) as soon as the stores and provisions have been 
 
<v 
 
 208 
 
 AUCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 landed to form a depot, which articles are enumerated in the 
 accompanying list, and securing the vessel with one bower anchor 
 by the stream, the former in two, the other in one fathom water, 
 having one hundred and sixty fathoms of chain, which will, from 
 her sheltered position, hold her against the ice, and throw her 
 upon a mud bank, where she may remain for ages, and possibly 
 become a home for other wanderers through these dreary seas." 
 ***** Commander M'^Clure to the Secretary of the 
 Admiralty, H. M. D. S. " Investigator,^^ Bay of Mercy. 
 ******«« That disagreeable duty was carried into 
 effect upon the evening of the 3rd, when she was left with her 
 colours flying, the hatchways and skylights all covered and battened 
 down, and every precaution taken to prevent moisture from pene- 
 trating between decks ; she was perfectly water-tight and ser- 
 viceable." — Commander M'Clure to the Secretary to the Admi- 
 ralty, H. M. S. " Resolute," Dealy Island. 
 
 
 [33] " Marh'd the fond course of faithful CoUinson." 
 
 [The "Enterprise" and the "Investigator" parted company 
 at the Straits of Magellan, and never met again. The course of 
 each has been most remarkable, and the hazards encountered 
 almost unparalleled.] 
 
 [34] " Pure-minded man ! — Affliction saw in thee" 
 
 [The oneness of purpose that animated this distinguished officer 
 throughout, cannot be too highly praised. He searched, and 
 searched, and searched, with an enduring zeal not easily to be 
 diverted from the great object he had at heart, and a patient 
 perseverance to be discouraged by nothing, save, perhaps, ihe 
 startling disclosures of the Finlayson Islands : — Though whether 
 any, and what connection, may be presumed to exist between 
 the scanty relics discovered there, and the more fearful remains 
 reported by the Esquimaux to Dr. Rae, it is for others to deter- 
 mine.] 
 
 [part VII.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 209 
 
 ru.] 
 
 [35] " And fatal triumph sanctifies the claim." 
 
 [The writer of a work of the imagination, on a subject to 
 himself wholly unprofessional, may well pause ere he hazard his 
 sentiments upon a point which, to some perhaps, may still appear 
 open to question. It will, however, be safe to presume that, to 
 the mind of every reflecting man, the tidings reported to Dr. Rae, 
 taken in connection with the fearful evidence of which that gentle- 
 man was the bearer to England, will appear as proof only too 
 convincing of the triumph of Sir John Franklin over every obstacle 
 in the accomplishment of the North-west passage.] 
 
 [36] " Unwearied Rover ! who more prompt than thou" 
 
 [We have but to become acquainted with the history of 
 Captain Inglefield's untiring exertions in the Arctic Seas, fully to 
 feel and appreciate them. In his last voyage, especially, throughout 
 the expansive and perilous waters of Baffin's Bay, this officer dis- 
 tinguished himself, not less by the rapidity and energy of his 
 movements, than by his wakeful and unceasing devotion to the 
 cause of science ; a cause, nevertheless, still secondary to that 
 which was the stirring motive of a voyage, the incidents of which 
 are graphically described by Captain Inglefield, in a volume 
 entitled, " A summer Search for Sir John Franklin,*^ ^c. 
 
 On the remote shores of that great Bay, chosen as the field of 
 his efforts. Captain Inglefield found some interesting natives, his 
 intercourse with whom is pleasingly depicted in his work ; and, 
 with regard to his scientific industry, the sentiments of high 
 authorities are here offered.] 
 
 ********.. The new official chart of the Polar 
 Regions shows how many errors of former delineation of the head- 
 lands, gulfs, and islands of Baffin Bay, have been corrected by 
 him, and how he has obtained entirely new data respecting Smith 
 Sound, which go far to settle the belief that Franklin must have 
 taken the route of Wellington Channel. 
 
 " Acquainted as we were with the very untoward circumstances 
 under which Commander Inglefield volunteered to take the com- 
 mand of the small private vessel, the "Isabel," and seeing the 
 energy with which, in overcoming all difficulties, he carried out 
 the wishes of Lady Franklin and the subscribers to the expedition, 
 we might well admire results which, in the words of ih?. first of 
 
 P 
 
 
 m 
 
 li'l 
 
210 
 
 ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
 living authorities on such a subject, Sir Edward Parry, "have 
 placed Commander Inglofield among the most distinguished of our 
 Arctic navigators ;" * * * 4t * ■tt * Extract from 
 A letter of the l^esident and Vice-President of the li. G. 
 Society^ to His Grace the Duke of Northumberland. 
 
 * Ik * * * * ii ^\\ tiiis }ins been performed in four 
 months, and all accomplished without the drawback of a single 
 accident; every obstacle having been overcome by his persevering 
 energy, and every vain temptation resisted by his singleness of 
 purpose, altogether forming, in my estimation, one of the most 
 extraordinary voyages on record." — Report on Commander 
 Inglefeld's Arctic Voyage, by Sir Francis BeavJ'ort, Jlydro- 
 (jrapher of the Admiralty. 
 
 [37] " A faithful band of Patriot-Rulers rise" 
 
 [The allusion here is to the Hudson's Bay Company. That 
 grout Association dates its origin from the year 1 (JUS, established, 
 as is well known, for the traffic in furs, and invested by its 
 charter with supreme authority over fifty tribes of native Indians, 
 ranging a territory more extensive than the whole of Europe. 
 But the spirit of that Charter, no less than the inclinations and 
 interests of the Governing Body itself, prompted to frequent 
 research along the intricate coasts that bounded its domain to the 
 north. Under such cogent motives, many daring explorations 
 have been eiFected by its officers, as well as others who, from time 
 to time, became enlisted in its service : of such there are many 
 instances, to which occasional reference has already been made in 
 these pages : but, in more recent times, this great Company has 
 distinguished itself for an untiring devotion to the Arctic cause, 
 and a ready and unsparing employment of its means for the 
 furtherance of discovery : nor are these patriotic exertions yet at 
 rest ; with the view of further clearing up the painfully-lingering 
 mystery that still envelopes the fate of Sir John Franklin, and the 
 officers and crews of the " Erebus" and " Terror," the Hudson's 
 Bay Company have equipped expeditions, for the indefatigable 
 etForts of which, in so sacred a cause, the names of Rae, Anderson, 
 and Stewart are an all-sufficient guarantee.] 
 
 THE END. 
 
211 
 
 EXPEDITIONS 
 
 SENT IN SEARCH OF 
 
 Sill JOHN 11IANKLIN, K.C.I1. AND THE CHEWS 
 
 OF HER majesty's 
 
 DISCOVERT SHIPS, "EREBUS" AND "TERROR." 
 
 Offlcors in command. VcssoIh. 
 
 Sir James Clarke Ross, Kt Enterprise . 
 
 Captain Bird Investigator 
 
 Mr. Saunders, Master, R.N North Star. 
 
 Captain Collinson, C. B Enterprise. 
 
 Captain^(now Sir Robert) M'Clure, Kt. Investigator. 
 
 Captain Austin, C. B Resolute. ... 
 
 Captain Ommanney Assistance . 
 
 Lieutenant Bertie Cator Intrepid. ... 
 
 Lieutenant Sherard Osborn Pioneer .... 
 
 Captain Penny Lady Franklin 
 
 Captain Stewart Sophia 
 
 Captain De Haven Advance 
 
 Lieutenant Griffin Rescue 
 
 GrinnoU's U. S. Expedition. 
 
 Captain Sir John Ross, C. B Felix — , 
 
 Hudson's Day Company. 
 
 Captain Forsyth Prince Albert. 
 
 Lady Franklin's Vessel. 
 
 &t„a'^rB"&;:::.::;:::;:::::;:: } i^'- *»-'■ 
 
 Lady Franklin's Vossol. 
 
 Captain Sir Edward Belcher, C. B Assistance . ... 
 
 Captain Kellett, C. B Resolute. 
 
 Captain M'Clintock Intrepid. 
 
 Captain Sherard Osborn Pioneer . 
 
 Dr. M'Cormick Boat-voyage 
 
 I 1848. 
 ...1840. 
 1 1850. 
 
 .1850. 
 
 1 1850. 
 I 18.50. 
 
 1850. 
 1850. 
 
 1851. 
 
212 
 
 EXPEDITIONS, ETC. 
 
 Officers in command. Vessels. 
 
 Captain Inglefield Isabel 
 
 Lady Franklin's Vessel. 
 
 Captain Inglefield Phoenix . 
 
 1852. 
 
 1853-4. 
 
 Captain Kennedy Isabel 1853. 
 
 Lady Franklin's Vessel. 
 
 Captain Moore Plover 
 
 Captain Maguire Plover 
 
 Captain TroTlope Rattlesnake .. 
 
 Captain Kellett, C. B Herald 
 
 Mr. Shedden Nancy Dawson 
 
 (Private Yacht). 
 
 Mr. Anderson ) tt j i -d n 
 
 Mr. Stewart | H"^^^'^ ^ ^^^ Company. 
 
 Sir John Richardson, C. B. — Boat- voyage. 
 Dr. Rae — Boat-voyage, and extensive journeys. 
 
 Captain PuUen 1 -n ♦ 
 
 Lieutenant W. Hulme Hooper | ^oat-voyage. 
 
 Dr. Kane Advance 
 
 (Griunell's U. S. Expedition.) 
 
 Behring's 
 Strait. 
 
 1853-4. 
 
 Captain Hartstein 1855. 
 
 (U. S. Expedition.) 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 145 line 25 . . For their read thine. 
 
 146 — 17. . For necessary read necessarily. 
 
 147 — \Z.. ¥ or darkness XQdiAdeadness. 
 
 159 — 2S ..¥ or maynofe re&i maffnete. 
 
 160 — 8 . .For interprisinff re&i enterprisiny. 
 
 186 — 14c., For speculcere&dspioiUis. 
 
ARCTIC ENTERPRISE. 
 
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 " Sir, 
 
 *' Greenwich Hospital. 
 
 *' I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 note of the 7th instant, accompanying a MS. Poem on Arctic Enter- 
 prise, of which you request my perusal. I regret to say that a painful 
 complaint, under which I have been long suflPering, renders me wholly 
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 *' Sir, your most obedient Servant, 
 
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 " C. H. Abrahall, Esq." 
 
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 «« Capt. W. A. B. Hamilton, R.N. 
 
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pital. 
 
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 Ity. 
 
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 IROW.