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The volumes in this Series have been selected and edited •with the greatest care, and may with the utmost coff/i- deuce be placed in the hands of young people. NOW READY. Dana's Two Years Before the Mast. Southey's Life of Nelson. Waterton's Wanderings. Anson's Voyage Round the World. Lamb's Tales from Shakspeare. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Marryat's Children of the New Forest. Miss Mitford's Our Village. Scott's Talisman. The B?sket of Flowers. Marryat's Masterman Ready. Miss Alcott's Little Women. Cooper's Pathfinder. Cooper's Deerslayer. The Lamplighter. By Miss Cummins. Plutarch's Lives of Greek Heroes. Poe's Tales of Romance and Fantasy. Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. Michael Scott's Cruise of the Midge. Michael Scott's Tom Cringle's Log. Lives and Voyages of Drake and Cavendish. Miss Edgeworth's Moral Tales. Marryat's Settlers in Canada. White's Natural History of Selborne. Miss Austen's Northanger Abbey. Miss Edgeworth's The Good Governess. Miss Martineau's Feats on the Fiord. Marryat's Poor Jack. The Snow Storm. By Mrs. Gore. Dampier's Life and Adventures. Autobiographies of Boyhood. Holiday House. By Catherine Sinclair. Hall's Log-book of a Midshipman. Parry's Third Voyag'3 to North-west Passage. Passages in Life of a Galley-Slave. The Downfall of Napoleon. By Sir W. Scott. What Katy Did. By Susan Coolidge. What Katy Did at SchooL Wreck of the " Wager". By Hon. John Byron. PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE '^=5fflP^ -S^K- \: 9U8 CAPTAIN HOPPNER AND HIS MEN ABANDON THE "FURY" TO HER FATE. Parry's Third Voyage for the Discovery of a ISTortli-west Passage in the Years 1824 and 1825 With an Account of the Esquimaux Edited from Parry's First Edition of his Voyage with a Biographical Introduction LONDON Blackie & Son, Limited, 50 Old Bailey, E.C. Glasgow and Dublin 1894 i lYNDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY. Class No This booh to be returned in /fZ, days or a fine of ..J., .cents per day^mm ]>])()sito sliorii of the luu-hoiir, a inejisunMl distance of ()()!)() feet, or {il)out one sta-tuto mile {iny far the greater part of these phenomena assumed earaiices only. ■H 48 PARRYS THIRD VOYAGE. . ^ I' I' southern quarter, and continued visible nearly the whole night, but without any remarkable fea- ture. About midnight on the 27th of January, this phenomenon broke out in a single compact mass of brilliant yellow light, situated about a s.E. bearing, and appearing only a short distance above the land. This mass of light, notwithstanding its general con- tinuity, sometimes appeared to be evidently com- posed of numerous pencils of rays, compressed, as it were, laterally into one, its limits both tc^ the right and left being well defined and nearly vertical. The light, though very bright at all times, varied almost constantly in intensity, and this had the appearance (not an uncommon one in the Aurora) of being produced by one volume of light overlaying another, just as we see the darkness and density of smoke increased by cloud rolling over cloud. While Lieutenants Sherer and Eoss, and myself, were ad- miring the extreme beauty of this phenomenon from the observatory, we all simultaneously uttered an exclamation of surprise at seeing a bright ray of the Aurora shoot suddenly downward from the general mass of light, and. between us and the land, which was there distant only tlu-ee thousand yards. Had T witnessed this phenomenon by myself, I should have been disposed to receive with caution the evi- dence even of my own senses, as to this last fact ; but the appearance conveying precisely the same idea to three individuals at once, all intently engaged in looking towards the spot, I have no FALLING STARS. 49 doubt that the ray of light actually passed within that distance of us. About one o'clock on the mornins: of the 23rd of Februnry, the Aurora again appeared over the hills in a south direction, presenting a brilliant mass of light, very similar to that just described. The rolling motion of the light laterally was here also very striking, as well as the increase of its intensity thus occasioned. The light occupied horizontally about a point of the compass, and extended in height scarcely a degree above the land, which seemed, however, to conceal from us a part of the phenomenon. It was always evident enough that the most attenuated light of the Aurora sensibly dimmed the stars, like a thin veil drawn over them. We fre- quently listened for any sound proceeding from this phenomenon, but never heard any. Our variation - needles, which were extremely light, suspended in the most delicate manner, and from the weak directive energy susceptible of being acted upon by a very slight disturbing force, were never in a single instance sensibly affected by the Aurora, which could scarcely fail to have been observed at some time or other, had any such disturbance taken place, the needles being visited every hour for several months, and oftener, when anything occurred to make it desirable. The meteors called Falling-stars were much more frequent during this winter than we ever before saw them, and particularly during the month of December. On the 8th, at a quarter past seven in (998) D 50 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. i;? ^1 f III I the evening, a particularly large and brilliant meteor of this kind fell in the s.s.w., the weather being very fine and clear overhead, but hazy near the horizon. On the following day, between four and five p.m., another very brilliant one was ob- served in the north, falling from an altitude of about thirty five degrees till lost behind the land; the weather was at this time clear and serene, and no remarkable change took place. On the 12th, no less than five meteors of this kind were observed in a quarter of an hour, and as these were attended with some remarkable circumstances, I shall here give the account furnished me by Mr. Ross, who with Mr. Bell observed these phenomena. " From seven to nine p.m. the wind suddenly increased from a moderate breeze to a strong gale from the south- ward. At ten it began to moderate a little ; the haze, which had for several hours obscured every star, gradually sinking tow^ards the horizon, and by eleven o'clock the whole atmosphere was extremely clear above the altitude of five or six degrees. The thermometer also fell from —5° to —9° as the haze cleared away. At a quarter past eleven my atten- tion was directed by jMr. Bell to some meteors w hich he observed, and in less tlian a quarter of an liour five were seen. The two first, noticed only by Mr. Bell, fell in quick succession, probably not more tliari t\. ^ minutes apart. The third appeared about eight minutes after these, and exceeded in brilliancy any of the surrounding stars. It took a direction from near fi Tauri, and passing slowly towards the i « METEORS. 61 Pleiades, left behind it sparks like the tail of a rocket, these being visible for a few seconds after the meteor appeared to break, which it did close to the Pleiades. The fourth meteor made its appear- ance very near the same place as the last, and about five minutes after it. Taking the course of those seen by Mr. Bell, it passed to the eastward, and disappeared half-way between /3 Tauri and Gemini. The fifth of these meteors was seen to the eastward, passing through a space of about five degrees from north to south parallel to the horizon, and moving along the upper part of the cloud of haze which still extended to the altitude of five or six degrees. It WHS more dim than the rest, and of a red colour like Aldebaran. The third of these meteors was the only one that left a tail behind it, as above described. There was a faint appearance of the Aurora to the westward near the horizon." On the 14th of December several very bright meteors were observed to fall between the hours of five and six in the evening, at which time the wind freshened from the N.w. by n. in a very remarkable manner. On this occasion, as well as on the 12th of December, there appeared to be an evident coinci- dence between the occurrence of the meteors and the changes of the weather at the time. Haloes appeared very frequently round the moon, particularly about the times of his opposition, and when there was any haze in the atmosphere. Two or three times a distinct paraselena^ was seen on each * Paraselena — A mock moon or lunar halo. 52 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. i f i side, situated, as usual, upon the halo, and at the angular distance of about twenty- three degrees from the moon. In one instance only the paraselenre were slightly coloured with a faint red tint. In the autumn and spring, particularly the latter, haloes and par- helia^ were very frequently about the sun, the mea- surement of their angular distance from that lumi- nary being always between twenty-two and twenty- three degrees. Particular attention was paid to the changes in the barometer during this winter, to which much encouragement was oriven bv the excellence of the instruments with which we were now furnished. The times of register at sea had been three and nine, A.M. and P.M.; those hours having been recommended as the most proper for detecting any horary oscilla- tions of the mercurial column. When we were fixed for the winter, and our attention could be more exclusively devoted to scientific objects, the register was extended to four and ten, and subsequently to five and eleven o'clock. The most rigid attention to the observation and correction of the column, during several months, discovered an oscillation amountinor only to ten thousandth-parts of an inch. The times of the maximum and minimum altitude appear, how- ever, decidedly to lean to four and ten o'clock, and to follow a law directly the reverse, as to time, of that found to obtain in temperate climates, the column being highest at four, and lowest at ten o'clock, both A.M. and P.M. ^ Parhelion — A mock sun api>earing as a bright light near the real sun PREVALENCE OF EAST WINDS. 53 t the from 1 were tumn . par- niefi- lumi- ^enty- yes in much 3f the lished. . nine, ended scilla- 5 fixed more jffister tly to ion to luring mting times , how- and ne, of )lumn , both sun % The barometer did not appear to indicate before- hand the changes of the weather with any degree of certainty. Indeed the remark that we had always before made, that alterations in the mercurial column more frequently accompany than precede the visible changes of weather in these regions, was equally true of our present experience; but on one or two occa- sions hard gales of considerable duration occurred without the barometer falling at all below the mean altitude of the column in these regions, or even rose steadily during the continuance of the gale. During one week of almost constant blowing weather, and two days of very violent gales from the eastward, in the month of April, the barometer remained con- siderably above thirty inches the whole time. It is necessary for me here to remark that the unusual proportion of easterly winds registered in our jour- nals during this winter must, in my opinion, be attributed to the local situation of our winter-quar- ters, which alone appears to me sufficient to account for the anomaly. The lands on each side of Port Bowen, running nearly east and west, and rising to a height of six to nine hundred feet above the sea, with deep and broad ravines intersecting the country in almost every direction, may be supposed to have had considerable influence on the direction of the wind. In confirmation of this supposition, indeed, it was usually noticed that the easterly winds w^ere with us attended with clear weather, while the con- trary obtained with almost every breeze from the west and north-west, thus reversing in this respect I 1 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. also the usual order of things. It was moreover observed that the clouds were frequently coming from the north-west, when the wind in Port Bowen was easterly. I must, however, except the gales we experienced from the eastward, which were probably strong enough to overcome any local deflection to which a light breeze would be subject; and indeed these were always accompanied with overcast wea- ther and a high thermometer. After the middle of October the gales of wind were very few till towards the middle of April, when we experienced more blow- ing weather than during the whole winter. The mean temperature of this season we consi- dered rather high as compared with that of former winters, in proportion to the latitude of the station. CHAPTER IV. Meteorological Phenomena continued — Re-equipment of the Ships— Several .Tourneys undertaken — Open Water in the Offing— Commence sawing a Canal to liberate the Ships — Disruption of the Ice -Departure from Port Bowen. The height of the land about Port Bowen de[)rived us longer than usual of the sun's presence above our horizon. Some of our gentlemen, indeed, who as- cended a high hill for the purpose, caught a glimpse of him on the 2nd of February; on tlie 15th it be- came visible at the observatory, but at the ships not till the 22nd, after an absence of one hundred and twenty-one days. It is very long after the sun's UEAPPEAUANCE OF THE SUN. 55 reappearance in these regions, however, that the effect of his rays, as to warmth, becomes perceptible; week passes after week with scarcely any rise in the thermometer except for an hour or two during the (lay; and it is at this period more than any other, perhaps, that the lengthened duration of a polar winter's cold is most wearisome, and creates the most impatience. Towards the third week in Alarch, thin Hcikes of snow lying upon black painted wood or metal, and exposed to the sun's direct rays in a sheltered situation, readily melted. In the second week of April any very light covering of sand or aslif^s upon the snow close to the ships might be observed to make its way downward into holes; but a coat of sand laid upon the unsheltered ice, to the distance uf about two-thirds of a mile, for dissolving a canal to hasten our liberation, produced no such sensible effect till the beginning of May. Even then the dissolution was very trifling till about the tirst week in June, when pools of water began to make tlieir appearance, and not long after this a small boat would have floated down it. On shore the effect is in general still more tardy, though some deception is there occasioned by the dissolution of the snow next the ground, while its upper surface is to all appearance undergoing little or no change. Thus a greater alteration is sometimes produced in the aspect of the land by a single warm day in an advanced part of the season than in many weeks preceding, in consequence of the last crust of snow being dissolved, leaving the ground at length entirely bare. We I f ! Ii I ; 56 PAKRYS THIRD VOYAGE. could now perceive the snow beginning to leave the stones from day to day as early as the last week in April. Towards the end of May a great deal of snow was dissolved daily, but owing to the porous nature of the ground, which absorbed it as fast as it was formed, it was not easy to procure water for drink- ing on shore, even as late as the 10th of June. In the ravines, however, it could be heard trickling under stones before that time, and about the 18th, many considerable streams were formed, and con- stantly running both night and day. After this, the thawing proceeded at an inconceivably rapid rate, the whole surface of the floes being covered with large pools of water rapidly increasing in size and depth. We observed nothing extraordinary with respect to the suns light about the shortest day; but as early as the 20th of November Arcturus could very plainly be distinguished by the naked eye, when near the south meridian at noon. About the first week in April the reflection of light from the snow became so strong as to create inflammation in the eyes, and notwithstanding the usual precaution of wearing black crape veils during exposure, several cases of snow-blindness occurred shortly afterwards. There was no want of well-defined clouds this winter; these were almost entirely of the kind called cirro-stratus, or approaching to that modification. Cumuli and cirro-cumuli occurred only with the advance of spring. The sky in this respect differed from that of our winter at Melville Island, and also .J# DEPTH OF SNOW. 57 e the ek ill snow ature t was iriiik- . In ;kling IStli, con- is, the rate, with e and from those at Winter Island and Igloolik, clouds occurring much more frequently than at the former, and more rarely than at the two latter stations. There are perhaps few things more difficult to obtain than a comparative measure of the quantity of snow that falls at different places, owing to the facility with which the wind blows it off a smooth surface, such as a floe of level ice, and the collection occasioned by drift in consequence of the smallest obstruction/ Thus, its mean depth at Port Bo wen, measured in twenty different places on the smooth ice of the harbour, was three inches on the 5 th of April, and on the 1st of May it had only increased to four and a half inches, while an immense bank, fourteen feet deep, had formed on one side of the Ileclciy occasioned by the heavy drifts. The crystals were, as usual, extremely minute during the continu- ance of the cold weather, and more or less of these were always falling, even on the clearest days. The animals seen at Port Bo wen may now be briefly noticed. The principal of those seen during the winter were bears, of which we killed twelve, from October to June, being more than during all the other voyages taken together ; and several others were seen. One of these animals was near proving fatal to a seaman of the Furi/y who, having straggled ^ If even a fair measure of the depth could be obtained, it would not irame- iliiitely determine the comparative quant iti/, for a cubic foot of snow, so minute ius that which falls in high latitudes, and in the compact state in which it lies upon the ground, would probably weigh much more, and produce a great deal more water, than the same measure in a less severe climate, where it usually falls in larger flakes. The weight of a cubic foot of snow at Port Bowen, dug out of a drift, and weighed by Mr. Rowland, was thirty pounds, being the mean of several experiments, all agreeing very nearly. 1 |ii i < f i ; 1 fi i ■ 1 k 68 rAUllYS THIllU YOVAGE. from his compjinions, when at the top of ti high hill saw a lame bear cominof towards him. Beiiiijf unarmed, he prudently made oti", taking oft' his boots to enable him to run the faster, but not so prudently precipitated himself over an almost perpendicuhir clift", down which he was said to have rolled or fallen several hundred feet; here he was met by some of the people in so lacerated a condition as to be in a very dangerous state for some time after. ^ A she-bear, killed in the open water on our first arrival at Port Bo wen, aftbrded a striking instance of maternal aft'ection in her anxiety to save her two cubs. She might herself easily have escaped the boat, but would not forsake her young, which she was actually " towing " oft' by allowing them to rest on her back when the boat came near them. A second similar instance occurred in the spring, when two cubs havincj got down into a larije crack in the i(-e their mother placed herself before them, so as to secure them from the attacks of our people, which she might easily have avoided herself This unusual supply of bear's flesh was particu- larly serviceable as food for the Esquimaux dogs we had brought out, and which were always at work in a sledge; especially as, during the winter, our number was increased by the birth of six others of these useful animals. One or two foxes (Canis lagopiis) were killed, and four caught in traps during the winter, weigh- ing from four pounds and three-quarters to three ^ The men, applying his name to the hill, called it Mount Cottorell. ANIMAL LIFE. 59 ;h lull boots lently iicLiliir ed or ot by I as to .er. ^ ir first stance er two 3d tlio ch she to rest m. A , when n the as to which irticu- )gs we : work ir, our lers of killed, ^veigh- three pounds and throo-qunrters. The colour of one of these animals, which lived for some time on board the Fury and became tolerably tame, was nearly pure white till the month of May, when he shed his winter-coat and ])ecame of a dirty chocolate colour, with two or three light-brown spots. Only three hares {[a' pus variabilis) were killed from October to efune, weighing from six to eight pounds and three- quarters. Their fur was extremely thick, soft, and of the most beautiful whiteness imaoinuble. We saw no deer near Port Bowen at any season, neither were we visited by their enemies the wolves. A single ermine and a few mice {Mas lladsonius) complete, 1 l)elieve, our scanty list of (puidrupeds at this desolate and unproductive place. Of birds, we had a flock or two of ducks occasion- ally flying about the small lanes of open water in the offing, as late as the 3rd of October; but none from that time to the beginning of June, and then only a single pair was occasionally seen. A very few grouse were met with also after our arrival at VoYt Bowen; a single specimen was obtained on the 23rd of December, and another on the 18th of Fel)ruary. They again made their appearance towards the end of March, and in less than a month about two hundred were killed; after which we scarcely saw another, for what reason we could not conjecture, except that they might possibly be on their way to the northward, and that the utter barren- ness of the land about Port Bowen afforded no induce- ment for their remaining in our neighbourhood. I Hi hi '. t GO I'AltUV's TIUKl) VOYAGK. Lieutenant Koss, who piiid great attention to ornithology, remarked that the groune met with here are of three kinds, namely, the ptarmigan [Tetrao la(joj)as)yt\w. rock-grouse (Tetrao rupestris), and the willow-partridge {Tetrao albas). Of these only the two former were seen in the spring, and by far the greater number killed were of the first- mentioned species. Tliey usually had in their maws the leaves of the Dnjas iiitegrifolia, buds of the Saxi/raga oj^positl/oliay Salix arctica, and Draha alpina, the quantities being according to the order in which the plants have here been named. A few leaves also of the Polygonum viviparum were found in one or two specimens. The snow-bunting, with its sprightly note, was, as usual, one of our earliest visitants in the spring; but these were few in number, and remained only a short time. A very few sandpipers were also seen, and now and then one or two glaucous, ivory, and kittiwake gulls. A pair of ravens appeared occasionally during the whole winter here, as at most of our former winter stations. With a view to extend our geographical know- ledge as much as our means permitted, three land journeys were undertaken as soon as the weather was sutiicicntly warm for procuring any water. The first party, consisting of six men, under Captain Hoppner, were instructed to travel to tlie eastward, to endeavour to reach the sea in that direction and to discover the communication which probably exists there with Admiralty Inlet, so as to deter- ' It: EXCURSIONS INLAND. Gl mine the extent ot* tliat portion of insular land on which Port Hovven is situated. They returned on the 14th, after a very fatiouini^ journey, and having with difiicultv trav^elled a degiee and three-quarters to the eastward of the ships, in latitude 7ir 19', from which position no appearance of the sea could be perceived. Captain Hoppner described the ravines jis extremely ditiicult to pass, many of them being four or five hundred feet deep and very pre- cipitous. These being numerous, and running chiefly in a north and s(^ ' i direction, appearing to empty themselves into Jackson's Inlet, preclude the possibility of performing a quick journey to the eastward. Durinej the whole fortnigrht's excursion scarcely a patch of vegetation could be seen. Indeed, the hills were so covered in most parts with soft and deep snow that a spot could seldom be found on which to pitch their tent. A few snow- buntings and some ivory gulls were all the animals they met with to enliven this most barren and desolate country ; and nothing was observed in the geological character differing from that about Port Jiowen. In the bed of one of the ravines Captain Hoppner noticed some immense masses of rock, thirty or forty tons in weight, which had recently fallen from above, and he also passed over several avalanches of snow piled to a vast height across it. The two other parties, consisting of four men each, under the respective commands of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, were directed to travel, the former to the ;i. ' U i i^.* Tr'SWa>r ^ i i un w imm im ' ! Hi parry's third voyage. southward, and the hitter to the northward, along the coast of Prince Rci^ent s Inlet, for the purpose of surveying it accurately, and of oljtaining observa- tions for the lonuitude and variation iit the stations foiinerly visited by us on the 7th and 15th of August, 181f). I was also very anxious to ascertain the state of the ice to the northward, to enaljle me to form some judgment as to the probable time of our liberation. These parties found the travelling along shore so good as to enable them not only to reach those spots, but to extend ^^^eir journeys far beyond them. Lieu- tenant Ross returninij on the loth, brouoht the wel- come intelligence of the sea being perfectly open and free from ice at the distance of twenty-two miles to the nofthward of Port Bowen, by which I concluded — what, indeed, had long before been a matter of probable conjecture, — tlvit Barrow's Strait was not permanently frozen during the winter. From the tops of the hills about Cape York, beyond which promontory Lieutenant Ross travelled, no appearance of ice could be distinguished. Innumer- able ducks, chiefly of the king, eider, and long- tailed species, were flying about near the margin of the ice, besides dovekies, looms, and glaucous, kittiwake, and ivory gulls. Lieutenant Sherer returned to the ships on the evening of the i .'jth, having performed a rapid journey as far as 727{;°, and making an accurate survey of the whole coast to that distance. In the course of this journey a great many remains of Esquimaux habitations were seen, and these were mu(di more ABUNDANCE OF DOVEKIES. 63 , numerous on the southern part of the coast. In a grave which Lieutenant Sherer opened, in order to form some idea whether the Esquimaux had hitely been liere, he found the body apparently quite fresh; but as this mioht in a nortliern (diniate remain the case for a number of years, and as our board erected in 1819 was still standinDj untouched and in ejood order, it is certain these people had not been here since our former visit. Less numerous traces of the Esquimaux, and of older date, occur near Port Bowen and in Lieutenant Ross's route along shore to the northward, and a few of the remains of habitations were those used as winter residences. I have since refifretted that Lieutenant Sherer was not furnished with more provisions and a Inrgcr party to have enabled him to travel round Cape Kater, which is probably not far distant from some of the northern Esquimaux stations ni' ntioned in my Journal of the preceding voyage. Towards the end of June, the dovekies (CohjrnhvH grylle) were extremely numerous in the cracks of the ice at the entrance oli Port Bowen, and as these were the only fresh supply of any consequence that we were able to procure at this unproductive place, we were glad to permit the men to go out occasionally with guns, after the ships were ready for sea, to obtain for their messes this wholesome change of diet; while such excursions also contributed essentially to their general health and (dieerfulness. J\Iany hundreds of these birds were thus obtained in the course of a few days. On the evening of the 6th of July, however, fi i . I i ) h 64 parry's third yoyaoe. I was greatly shocked at being informed by Captain Iloppner that John Cotterell/ a scamau of the Fury, had been found drowned in one of the crackt5 of tlie ice, by two other men behmging to the same party who had been with him but a few minutes before. We could never ascertain precisely in what manner this accident happened, but it was supposed that he must have overreached himself in stooping for a bird that he had killed. His remains were committed to the earth on Sunday the 10th, with every solemnity which the occasion demanded, and our situation would allow; and a tomb of stones with a suitable inscription was afterwards erected over the grave. In order to obtain oil for another winters con- sumption before the ships could ])e released from the ice, and our travelling parties having seen a number of black whales in the open water to the northward, two boats from each ship were, with considerable lal)our, transported four miles along shore in that direction, to be in readiness for killino* a whale and boiling the oil on the beach, whenever the open water should approach sufficiently near. They took their station near a remarkable peninsular piece of land on the south side of the entrance to Jackson's Inlet, which had on the former voyage been taken for an island. Notwithstandinof these preparations, however, it was vexatious to find that on the 9th of July the water was still three miles ^ It is remarkable that this poor man had twice before, within the space of nine months, been very near «ieath; for, Iwsides the accident already mentioned of falling down the hill which bears his name, ho was also in imminent danger of dying of dropsy during the winter. KILLING A WHALE. 65 ^g ir. fir distant from the boats, and at least seven from Port Bo wen. On the 12th, the ice in our neighbourhood began to detach itself, and the boats under the com- mand of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross being launched on the following day, succeeded almost immediately in killing a small whale of "five feet bone" exactly answering our pi.rpose. Almost at the same time, and as it turned out very opportunely, the ice at the mouth of our harbour detached itself at an old crack, and drifted off, leaving only about one mile and a quarter between us and the sea. Half of this dis- tance being occupied by the gravelled canal, which was dissolved quite through the ice in many parts and had become very thin in all, every officer and man in both ships were set to work without delay to commence a fr^sh canal from the open water, to communicate with the other. This work proved heavier than we expected, the ice being generally from five to eight feet, and in many places from ten to eleven, in thickness. It was continued, however, with the greatest cheerfulness and alacrity from seven in the morning till seven in the evening daily, the dinner being prepared on the ice and eaten under the lee of a studding sail erected as a tent. On the afternoon of the 1 9th a very welcome stop was put to our operations by the separation of the floe entirely across the harbour, and about one- third from the ships to where we were at w^ork. All hands being instantly recalled by signal, were on their re- turn set to work to get the ships into the gravelled (908) B ill ' t mn 66 parry's third voyaoe. canal, and to saw away what still remained in it to prevent our warping to sea. Tliis work, with only half-an-hour's intermission for the men's supper, was continued till half-past six the following morning, when we succeeded in cjettintr clear. The weather l)eing calm, two hours were occupied in towing the ships to sea, ard thus the officers and men were em- ployed at very laborious work for twenty- six hours, during which time there were, on one occasion, fifteen of them overboard at once; and, indeed, several in- dividuals met with the same accident three times. It was impossible, however, to regret the necessity of these comparatively trifling exertions, especially as it was now evident that to have sawed our way out, without any canal, would have required at least a fortnight of heavy and fatiguing labour. CHAPTER V. Sail over towards the Western Coast of Prince Regent's Tnlct— Stopped by the Ice — Reach the Shore about Cape Seppiiigs — Favourable Pro- gress al(»ng the Land— Fresh and repeated Obstructions from Ice — Both Ships driven on Shore — /*//?•// seriously damaged -Unsuccessful Search for a Harbour for heaving her down to repair. Jul// 20. — On standing out to sea, we sailed witli a light southerly wind towards tht westei'n shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, which it was my first wish to gain, on account of the evident advantage to be derived from coasting the southern part of that portion of land called in the chart "North Somerset", I MOUNT SHERER. 67 itll iof to be liat it", as far as it niiglit load to the westward; which, from our former knowlediije, we had reason to sup- pose it would do as far at least as the longitude of 95°, in the parallel of about 72f°. After sailing al)out eight miles, we were stopped by a body of close ice lying between us and a space of open water beyond. By way of occupying the time in further examination of tlie state of the ice, we then bore up with a light northerly wind, and ran to the south-eastward to see if there was any clear water between the ice and the land in that direction ; but found there was no opening l)etween them to the soutliward of the flat-topped hill laid down in the chart, and now called Blount Sherer. Indeed, I believe that at this time the ice had not yet de- tached itself from the land to the southward of that station. On standing back, we were shortly after enveloped in one of the thick fogs which had, for several weeks past, been observed almost daily hanging over some part of the sea in the oHing, thcjugh we had scarcely experienced any in Port J)Owen until the water became open at the mouth of the harbour. On the clearing up of the fog on the 21st, we could perceive no opening of tlrti ice leading towards the western land, nor any appearance of the smallest channel to the southward along the eastern shore. J was determined, therefore, to try at once a little farther to the northward, the present state of the ice appearing com])letely to accord with that observed in 181.9, its breadth increasing as we 68 parry's third voyage. If I n> ! ■ t » : ! r advanced from Piiiice Leopold's Islands to the southward. As, therefore, I felt confident of being- able to push along the shore if we should once gain it, I was anxious to eflect the latter object in any part rather than incur the risk of hampering the ships by a vain, or, at least, a doubtful attempt to force them through a body of close ice several miles wide, for the sake of a few leagues of southing, which would soon be regained by coasting. Light winds detained us very much, but being at length fiivoured by a breeze, we carried all sail to the north-west, the ice very gradually leading us towards the Leopold Isles. Having arrived off the northernmost on the morning of the 22nd, it was vexatious, however curious, to obsei've the exa(;t coincidence of the present position of the ice with that which it occupied a little later in the year 181.9. The whole body of it seemed to cling to the western shore, as if held there by some strong attraction, forbidding, for the present, any access to it. We now stood off and on, in the hope that a southerly breeze, which had just sprung up, might serve to open us a channel. Jn the evening the wind gradually freshened, and before midnii>ht had increased to a strono^ oale, which blew with con- siderable violence for ten hours, obliLjinij us to haul off from the ice and to keep in smooth water under the eastern land until it abated; after which not a moment was lost in ao^ain standini^ over to tlie westward. After runnin<>' all nioht, with \iared from each to examine the depth of water at tlie intended anchoring-piace. .lust as 1 was about to leave the Ilecla for that purpose, the ice was observed to be in rapid motion towards the shore. The Fury was immediately hauled in by some grounded masses, and placed to the best ad- vantage; but the Hecla being more advanced was immediately beset in spite of every exertion, and after breaking two of the largest ice-anchors in en- deavouring to heave in to the shore, was obliged to drift with the ice, several masses of which had for- tunately interposed themselves between us and the land. The ice slackening around us a little in the evening, we were enabled, with considerable labour, to get to some grounded masses, where we lay much exposed, as the Fury also did. In this situation, our latitude being 72° 51' 51", we saw a comparatively low point of land three or four leagues to the south- ward, which proved to be near that which termi- nated our view of this coast in 1819. \ t ! m KSC^riMAUX HAIMTATIONS. 75 th- On tho 2l>tli, the ico l^'iiiij: slack tor a .short e party of hands from the llccht beinti: sent round to the Farii towards high water, she came ofi" tlie ground with very little strain, so that, upon the Avhole, considering the situa- tion in wliit'h the ships were lying, we thought our- selves fortunate in having incurred no very serious injury. The Furii was shifted a few yards into the best i)lace that could be found, and the wind again blowing strong from the northward, the ice remained close about us. A shift of wind to the southward in tlie afternoon at length began gradually to slacken it, but it was not till six a.m. on the 1st of August that there a})peared a i)rospect of making any pro- gress. There was, at this time, a great deal of water ' to the southward, but between us and the channel there lay one narrow and not very close stream of ice touching the shore. A shift of wind to the north- ward deterniined me at once to take advantage of it, as notliing but a free wind seemed recjuisite to enable us to reach tliis promising channel. The signal to that effect was immediately made;, but while the sails were setting, the ice, which lia^l at lirst been about three-(piartcrs of a mih' distant from us, wns ob- served to l)e closing tlie sliore. 'J'he slii[)s were cast witli all expedition, in hopes of gaining the broader channel In'l'on* the ice had time to shut us uj). So ra[)id, however, was the latter in this its sudden movement, that we had but just got tlui ships' heads the right way, when the ice (;anie bodily in upon us, being doubtless set in motion by a very sudden A PERILOUS SITUATION. 70 to So eu i.ls on eii fresheniii(? of the wind almost to a crale in the course of a few minutes. The ships were now ahnost in- stantly beset, and in such a manner as to lie literally helpless and unmanageable. In such cases, it must be confessed that the exertions made by heaving at hawsers or otherwise are of little more service than iu the occupation they furnish to the men's minds under circumstances of difficulty; for when the ice is fairly acting against the shii),ten times the strength and ingenuity could in reality avail nothing. The sails were, however, kept set, and as the body of ice was setting to the southward witlial, we went with it some little distance in that dire(ition. The Ilecla after thus drivino*, and now and then forcing her way through the ice, in all about three-quarters of a mile, quite close to the shore, at length struck the ground forcibly several times in tlie space of a hundred yards, and being then brought up by it re- mained immovable, the depth of water under her keel al)aft being sixteen feet, or about a foot less than she drew. The Furl/ continuing to drive was now irre- sistibly carried past us, and we escaped, oidy l)y a few feet, the damage invariably oc'cas-'ioned by ships cominu' ill contact under such cinnimstances. She had, liowever, scarcely passed, us a hundred yards, when it was evident, by the ice pressing her in, as well as ahuig the shore, that she must soon be stopi)od likj the Ilecla; and having gone about two hundred yards farther, she was observed to receive a severe pressure from a large Hoe-})iece forcing her diiei'tly against a grounded mass of ice upon the beach. 80 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. •N: It '!■ m After setting to the southward for an hour or two longer the ice became stationary, no open water being anywhere visible from the mast-head, and the pressure on the ships remaining undiminished during the day. Just as I had ascertained the utt(;r impos- sibility of moving the Hecla a single ft)ot, and that she must lie quite aground fore and aft as soon as the title fell, I received a note from Captain Hoppner informing me that the Fury had been so severely " nipped " and strained as to leak a good deal, appa- rently about four inches an hour; that she was still heavily pressed both ui)on the ground and against the large mass of ice within her; that the rudder was at present very awkwardly situated; and that one boat had been much damatjed. As the tide fell the Farijs stern, which was aground, was lifted several feet, and the Hecla at low water having sewed ^ five feet forward and two abaft, W(i })resented id together no very pleasing or comfortable spectacle. How- ever, about high water, the i(;e very opportunely slacking, the Ilccla was hove oH" with giv^it ease, and war})ed to a Hoe in the oiling to which we made fast at niidnioht. The Furu was not Ioiili; after us in coming oli" the giound, when 1 was in hopes of tind- ing that any twist or strain, by which her leaks might have been occasioned, would, in some measure, have closed when she was relieved from pressure nnd once more fairly afloat. My disa[)pointment and mortification, therefore, may in some? measure ' Seirrd — A sliip is saiil t or three miles to the southward, by the ice wliich was once more driving in that lin(/—'Vhii lining of tliu hulk. (W8) !! > > ; J i 82 PAIUIYS Till III) VOVAdE. ing tlie sonnnal for the ship? taking their stations, I rowed on board the Fuvj/, and found four pumps constantly going to kee]) the ship free, and Captain Jloppiier, Lis officers and men, almost exhausted with the incessant labour of the last eight-and-forty hours. The instant the ships were made fast, ('aptain iloppner and myself set out in a boat to survey the short; still far- ther south, there being a narrow lane of water about a- mile in that direction; for it had now become too evident, liowever unwilJinu' we mii»ht have been at tii'st to admit the conclusion, that the J^'unj could |>roceed no farther without rej)Mii's, and that the nature of those repairs would in all probability in- volv(5 the disagreeable, I may say th(; ruinous, neces- sity of heaving^ the ship down. After rowing about three-cpiaiters of a mile \\v. considered ourselves for- tu!iate in arriving at a bolder |»art of the beach, where three ei'ounded masses of ice, havinii: from tine ' to four tathoms •• ater at low tide within them, W(!re so dis[K)sed as to atlbrd, with the assistance of art, something like shelter, \\ ild and insecure as, unS(! of heaving a shij) down, we had no alternative, and therefore as little occasion ' Uvitiunij doit'u — Cureeiiiii;^ a ship for roj>uirs by nicaiis of U'cklo from her niuHt-hcad to tho shore or to u hulk. 'CS- mt tol- iU'll, Kin, of as, lavo >\vii, siou THE "FritY ON SHORE. 83 na we lind tinic for (Iclihoratioii. Il(»tuniin£r to the i»liips, we were .settinn' the sails in onhu* to run to tlie a|)[)(Mnte(l phiee, when tlie ice closed in and pre- vented our moving, and in ii short time there was once more no open water to he seen. W (i were, therefore, under the necessity of remaining in our present herths, where the smallest external pressure must ini^vitahly force us ashore, neither shij) havino more than two feet of water to spare. One watch of the JIi'vliis crew were sent round to assist at the Ftivf/s ])umps, which reressur(5 was just as much as seven of these of six incluvs and tw(> stream-cahles would hear. 'riie Fni't/ Hoated in the mornine', and was enahled to haid otf a little, hut thcn^ was no opeiniio- of the ice to allow us to move to oin* intended station. The more leisure we ohtained to consider the state of the Fun/, the more ap]>arent hecame the ahsolute, how<'ver \intortunate, necessity of heaving- her down. Four pumps were re(|uii'e(l to he at work without inteiniissiou tn kecji her fi'e(% and this in peifectly smooth water, sh(»win!4 that she was, in fact, so nuite- rially injured as to he very far from .seaworthy. One-third of her workini; men were constantly em- j>loyed, us I efore remarked, in this hiborious opera- k II >l ' .'IM 84 PARRY S THIRD VOYArJE. il tion, and some of their liaiuls had horomc so soro from the constant friction of tlio ropes, that they could hardly handh' tlicm any longer wiiliout the use of mittens, assisted ])\- the unla\ini (J i I oose ice. which had wedued itself in, in such a so I'AUllYS Til 111!) VOVACIK, , 1 I lfi« nwnmcr hh to le.ivo her no room to nn)V(i outwjinlH; Imt she airiviMl jil»(mt scviui o'(;locl<, w lii'ii both .ships were miule last in the hest herths we couhl lind, hnt they were still exiduded iroin their intended jdaee by the (quantity of ice which liad fixed itself there. Within twenty minutes after our arrival the wh(»le body of ice aoain eame in, entirely closing up the shore, so that (Hir moving proved most opportune. ClJArTEH VI. Formation of ii T.asin for lu-avinj,' tin; Fitr// down Tiatullnj; of tlit< Furif'n fcJtort•^ and otlii-r l*ni>Mr.iti <6 1.0 ■ 50 us 1^ 1^ 2 ,^2.2 1.1 i-^IIIM IL25 nil 1.4 1.6 V] <^ /2 / y y^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ iV •^ ^\ ^3^/"^ ^-'^ >.1^ ■^J^ V ^ #'^ i & tlH 88 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. li |i I'll i' ■ '. a I ' ! 1 1 m.' \ 1 p i : iJl? i il |l: The quickest method of landing casks and other things not too weighty, was that adopted by Captain Hoppner, and consisted of a hawser secured to the ship's main mast-head, and set up as tight as pos- sible to the anchor on the beach; the casks being hooked to a block traversing on this as a jack-stay, \vere made to run down it with great velocity. By this means more than two were got on shore for every one landed by the boats, the latter, however, being constantly employed in addition. The Fitry was thus so much lightened in the course of the day that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to keep her free, and this number continued requisite until she was hove down. Her spirit-room was now entirely clear, and, on examination, the water was found to be rushing in through two or three holes that happened to be in the ceiling, and which were immediately plugged up. Indeed, it was now very evident that nothing but the tightness of the Fury's diagonal ceiling had so long kept her afloat, and that any ship not thus fortified within could not possibly have been kept free by the pumps. At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began to move to the southward, and soon after came in towards the shore, again endangerinff the Furys rudder,^ and pressing her over on her side to so alarming a degree, as to warn us that it ^I have mentioned the endangering of the rudders so frequently about this time that seamen may ask why they were not unshipped. It will give a toler- able idea of the critical situations in which we had for several days pa^t been placed, to state that we had never had sufficient depth of water (about twenty- tive feet) for doing so. I UNRIGGING THE '* FURY ". 89 would not be safe to lighten her much more in her present insecure situation. One of our bergs also shifted its position by this pressure, so as to weaken our confidence in the pier- heads of our intended basin; and a long "tongue" of one of them forcing itself under the Hecla's forefoot, while the drift-ice was also pressing her forcibly from astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water, and continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul her off, for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close and so much doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a single inch. Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain idle on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, and other top-weight. The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were employed in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the Hecla, which still grounded on the tongue of ice every tide. After four houis' labour they succeeded in making four or five feet of room astern, when the ship suddenly slid down off the tongue with considerable force, and became once more afloat. We then got on shore the IJeclas cables and hawsers for the accommodation of the Furijs men in our tiers during the heaving down, struck our top-masts, which would be required as shores and outriggers, and, in short, continued to occupy every individual in some preparation or other. These being entirely completed at an early 90 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. ? t: I il ■! i|i c;' - hour in the afternoon, we ventured to go on with the hinding of the coals and provisions from the Fury, preferring to run the risk which woukl thus be incurred, to the loss of even a few hours in the accomplishment of our present object. As it very opportunely happened, however, the external ice slackened to the distance of about a hundred yards outside of us on the morning of the 10th, enabling us, by a most tedious and laborious operation, to clear the ice out of our basin piece by piece. The difficulty of this apparently simple process consisted in the heavy pressure having repeatedly doubled one mass under another — a position in which it requires great power to move them — and also by the corners locking^ in with the sides of the bergs. Our next business was to tighten the cables suffi- ciently by means of purchnses, and to finish the floating of them in the manner and for the purpose before described. After this had been completed the ships had only a few feet in length, and nothing in breadth to spare; but we had now great hopes of going on with our work with increased confidence and security. The Fury, which was placed inside, had something less than eighteen feet at low water; the Hecla lay in four fathoms, the bottom being strewed w^ith large and small fragments of lime- stone. While thus employed in securing the sliips, the smoothness of the water enabled us to see in some degree the nature of the Furys damage; and it may be conceived how much pain it occasioned us M ii CLEARING THE " FURY " CONTINUED. 91 plainly to discover that both the stern-post and forefoot were broken and turned up on one side with the pressure. We also could perceive, as far as we were able to see along the main-keel, that it was much torn, and we had therefore reason to con- clude that the damage would altogether prove very serious. We also discovered that several feet of the Hecla's false keel were torn away abreast of the fore-chains, in consequence of her grounding forward so frequently. The ships being now as well secured as our means permitted from the immediate danger of ice, the clearing of the Furi/ went on during the 11th with increased confidence, though greater alacrity was impossible, for nothing could exceed the spirit and zealous activity of every individual, and as things had turned out, the i(;e had not obliged us to wait a moment, except at the actual times of its pressure. Being favoured with fine weather, we continued our work very quickly, so that on the 12th every cask was landed, and also the powder; and the spare sails and clothing put on board the Hecla. On the 13th we found that a mass of heavy ice, which had been aground within the Furi/, had now floated off along side of her at high water, still further contracting our already narrow basin, and leaving the ship no room for turnino: round. At the next hiojh water, there- fore, we got a purchase on it and hove it out of the way, so that at night it drifted off altogether. The coals and preserved meats were the priiu'ipal things now remaining on board the Fart/, and these we I S-i i' . i I' I i ' p f ii .!: ! i 92 PARRY .S THIRD VOYAGE. , ' continued landing by every method we could devise as the niost expeditious. The tide rose so (jonsider- tibly at night, new moon occurring within an hour of high water, tluit we were much afraid of our bergs floating: they remained firm, however, even though the ice came in with so much force as to break one of our liand-masts,a fir spar of twelve inches diameter. As the high tides and the lightening of the Fu7'ij now gave us sutHcient depth Of water for unshipping the rudders, we did so, and laid them upon the small berg astern of us, for fear of their being damaged by any pressure of the ice. Early on the morning of the 14th, the ice slackening a little in our neighbourhood, we took advantage of it, though the people were much fagged, to tighten the cables, which had stretched and yielded considerably by the late pressure. It was well that we did so, for in the course of this day we were several times interrupted in our work by the ice coming with a tremendous strain on the north cables, the wind blowing strong from the n.n.w., and the whole "pack" outside of us setting rapidly to the southward. Indeed, notwithstanding the recent tightening and readjustment of the cables, the bight was pressed in so much as to force the Fitrt/ against the berg astern of her twice in the course of the day. Mr. Waller, who was in tlie hold the second time that this occurred, reported that the coals about the keelson were moved by it, imparting the sensation of a part of the ship's bottom falling down; and one of the men at work there was so strongly impressed A CRITICAL POSITION. 98 with that belief that he thoucjht it hi^h time to make a spring for the hatchway. FVom this circumstance it seemed more than probable that the main keel had received some serious damage near the middle of the ship. From this trial of the efficacy of our means of security, it was plain that the Fury could not possibly be hove down under circumstances of such frequent and imminent risk. I therefore directed a fourth anchor, with two additional cables, to be carried out, with the hope of breaking some of the fon^e of the ice by its offering a more oblique resistance than the other, and thus by degrees turning the direction of the pressure from the ships. AVe had scarcely com- pleted this new defence, when the largest floe we had seen since leaving Port Bo wen came sweeping along the shore, having a motion to the southward of not less than a mile and a half an hour; and a projecting point of it just grazing our outer berg threatened to overturn it, and would certainly have dislodged it from its situation but for the cable recently attached to it. A second similar occurrence took place with a smaller mass of ice about midnight, and near the top of an unusually high spring-tide, which seemed ready to float away every security from us. For three hours about the time of this high water, our situation was a most critical one, for had the bergs, or indeed any one of them, been carried away or broken, both ships must inevitably have been driven on shore by the very next mass of ice tiiat should come in. Happily, however, they did not suffer any ^CF. 04 parry's third voyage. further material disturbjuice, and the main body keeping at a short distance from the land until the tide had fallen, the bergs seemed to be onee more firmly resting on the ground. The only mischief, therefore, occasioned by this disturbance was the slackening of our cables by the alteration in the positions of the several grounded masses, and the consequent necessity of employing more time, which nothing but absolute necessity could induce us to bestow, in adjusting and tightening the whole of them afresh. The wind veering to the w.N.w. on the morning of the 1 5th, and still continuing to blow strong, the ice was forced three or four miles off the land in the course of a few hours, leaving us a quiet day for continuing our work, but exciting no very pleasing sensations when we considered what progress we might have been making had we been at liberty to pursue our object. The land was, indeed, so clear of ice to the southward, that Dr. Neill, who walked a considerable distance in that direction, could see nothing but an open channel inshore to the utmost extent of his view.^ We took advantage of this open water to send the launch for the Furt/s ironwork left at the former station; for though the few men thus employed could very ill be spared, we were ^ In coasting the high and more precipitous land to the northward of our present station, the wind always was observed to blow along it, except occa- sionally in passing a ravine or valley. The moment we opened this lower shore, on our first arrival, we found the wind draw three or four points off it. Low land is, on this account, much more favourable for coasting in these seas, than that which is very high. At Melville Island, as another instance, we met with comparatively few and trifling difficulties till we came to high land, which I have no doubt was one cause at least of our being stopped. STILL AT WORK ON THE "FURY 95 c)l)]ii^o(l to arrange everything with reference to the ultimate saving of time; and it wouhl have occnipied both ships' companies more than a whole day to carry the things round by land. The Fury being completely cleared at an early hour on the IGth, we were all busily employed in *' winding " the shij), and in preparing the outriggers, shores, purchases, and additional rigging. Though we purposely selected the time of high water for turning the ship round, we had scarcely a foot of spacje to spare for doing it, and indeed, as it was, her forefoot touched the ground, and loosened the broken part of the wood so much as to enable us to pull it up with ropes, when we found the fragments to con- sist of the whole of the "gripe" and most of the " cutwater ". The strong breeze continuing, and the sea rising as the open water increased in extent, our bergs were sadly washed and wasted; every hour producing a sensible and serious diminution in their bulk. As, however, the main body of ice still kept off, we were in hopes, now that our preparations were so near com})leted, we should have been en- abled in a few hours to see the e; tent of the damage, and repair it sutHciently to allow as to proceed. In the evening we received the Fnrj/s crew on board the Hecla, every arrangement and regulation having been previously made for their personal comfort, and f'T the preservation of cleanliness, ventilation, and dry warmth throughout the ship. The officers of the Fury, by their own choice, pitched a tent on shore for messing and sleeping in, as our accommo- 96 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. r - iV: r ' Ti .! h"^ t« Mil ^ r elation for two sots of officers was necessarily con- fined. On the 1 7tb, when every preparation was com- pleted, the cables were found again so slack, liy the wasting of the bergs in consequence of the continued sea, and possibly also in part by the masses having moved somewhat inshore, that we were obliged to occupy several hours in putting them to rights, as we should soon require all our strength at the pur- chases. One berg had also, at the last low water, fallen over on its side, in consequence of its sub- stance being undermined by the sea, and the cable surrounding it was thus forced so low under water as no longer to afford protection from the ice should it again come in. In tightening the cables, we found it to have the effect of bringing the bergs in towards the shore, still further contracting our narrow basin; but anything was better than suffering them to go adrift. This work being finished at ten p.m. the people were allowed three hours* rest only, it being necessary to heave the ship down »t or near high water, as there was not sufficient depth to allow^ her to take her distance at any other time of tide. Every preparation being made, at three a.m. on the 18th we began to heave her down on the larboard side, but when the purchases were nearly a-block, we found that the strops under the HeclaJs bottom, as well as some of the Furys shorefasts, had stretched or yielded so much, that they could not bring the keel out of water within three or four feet. We immediately eased her up again, and readjusted everything as requisite, hauling her farther inshore f t c r I A SNOW-STORM. 97 the eing igh her ery 8th ide, we 1, as hed the We sted ore than before l»y keeping a considerable heel upon her, so as to make loss (hspth of water necessary; and W(^ were tlien in the act of once more heavini; her down, when a snow-storm came on, and l)lew with such violence ofi* the land as to raise a considerable sea. The ships had now so much motion as to strain tin; gear very much, and even to make the lower masts of the Fai'ii bend in spite of the shores: we were, therefore, most unwillingly compelled to desist until the sea should go down, keeping everything ready to recommence the instant we could possibly do s(j with safety. The officers and men were now literally so harassed and fatigued as to be scar(!ely capable of further exertion without some rest; and on this and one or two other occasions, I noticed more than a single instance of stupor amounting to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering the individual so affected quite unable at first to comprehend the meanincj <^f an order, thouoh still as willinc^ as ever to obey it. It was therefore perhaps a fortunate necessity w^hich produced the intermission of labour, which the strength of every individual seemed to require. The gale rather increasing than otherwise during the whole day and night of the 18th, had on the followinij morninof, when the wind and sea still (,'on- tinned unabated, so destroyed the bergs on which our sole dependence was placed, that they no longer remained aground at low water; the cables had again become slack about them, and the basin we had taken so much pains in forming had now lost all its (998) O s ■■ f i ' 08 PAUHY's THMU) VOYACJK. (IcfiMK'os, at Ic.'ist duriiii;" .i portion of every tide. It will lu^ phiin, too, 11' I lijiv(^ HiKtceedrd in oivinuf a, distinct d('S(iij>tion of our sitnation, that, indepen- dently of tlie security of the ships, there; was now nothing h'ft to seaward ])y which the //ecla could he held out in that direction while heaving the Furj/ down, so thai our preparations in this way were no longer jivailable. After a nig'it of most anxious con- sideration and consultation with Captain Iloppner, who was now my messmate in the Ilecla, it appeared but too phiin, that, should the ice again come in, neither ship could any longer l)e secured from driv- ing on shore. It was therefore determined instantly to prepare the llecla for sea, making her thoroughly efl'ective in every respect; so that we might at least push her out into comparative safety among the ice, when it closed again, taking every person on board her, securing the Farij in the best manner we could, and returning to her the instant we were able to do so, to endeavour to get her out, and to carry her to some phice of security for heaving down. If, after the Ilecla was ready, time should still be allowed us, it was proposed immediately to put into the Fnri/ all that was requisite, or at least as much as she could safely carry, and towing her out into the ice, to try the effect of "foddering"^ the leaks by sails under those parts of her keel which we knew to be damaged, until some more efiectual means could be resorted to. Having communicated to the assembled ofKcers 1 To fodder is a nautical term, signifying to line IIKLOADIXO TIIK " FURY 99 Mini .slii|>.s' coivipanics niy views juhI int(^nti(His, mikI, inorcover, cfiveii tlioni to understand tluit I hoped to seo tlic Ilcclas top,i';dhint yards across lu'fori^ we slept, wc coniniencted our work; and such was the hearty goodwill and indelatii'al)]" energy with which it was carried on, that by nud night the whole was accomplished, and a l)ower anchor iuid cable (tarried out in the offing, for the double purpose of hauling out the llecla when rerjuisite, and as some security to the Furif, if we were obliged to leave her. The peo[)le were once more (juite exhausted by these exertions, especially those belonging to the Fary^ who had never thoroughly recovered their first fatigues. The ice being bai-ely in sight, we were enabled to enjoy seven hours of undisturbed rest; but the wind becoming liglit, and afterwards shiftinjr to the N.N.p]., we had reason to expect the ice would soon close the shore, and were, therefore, most anxious to continue our w^ork. On the 20th, tlierefore, the reloading of the Fanj commenced with recruited strength and spirits, such articles being in tlie first phu^e selected for putting on board as were essentially requisite for her re- equipment; for it was my full determination, could we succeed in comj)leting this, not to wait even for rigging a topmast, or getting a lower yard up, in the event of the ice coming in, but to tow her out among the ice, and there put everything sufficiently to rights for carrying her to some place of security. At the same time the end or the sea-cable w^as taken on board the Fury, by way of offering some resistance n * it >l 100 parry's third voyaoe. to the ice, which was now more plainly seen, though still about five miles distant. A few hands were also spared, consisting chiedy of two or three con- valescents, and some of the officers, to thrum a sail ^ for putting under the Fur if s keel ; for we were very anxious to relieve the men at the pumps, which constantly required the labour of eight to twelve hands to keep her free. In the course of the day, several heavy masses of ice came drifting by with a breeze from the n.e., which is here about two points upon the land, and made a considerable swell. One mass came in contact with our bergs, which, though only held by the cables, brought it up in time to ])revent mischief. By a long and hard day's labour, the people not going to rert till two o'clock on the morning of the 21st, we got about fifty tons' weight of coals and provisions on board the Fury, which, in case of necessity, we considered sufficient to give her stability. While we were thus employed, the ice, though evidently inclined to come in, did not approach us much; and it may be conceived with what anxiety we longed to be allowed one more day's labour, on which the ultimate saving of the ship might almost be considered as depending. Having hauled the ships out a little from the shore, and prepared the Hecla for casting by a spring at a moment's notice, all the people except those at the pumps were sent to rest, which, however, they had not enjoyed for two hours, when at four a.m. on the B ^ To thrum a mil is to piece it with thrums, or old ends of yarn, to prevent it chafing against the mast or elsewhere. A PRECARIOUS SITUATION. 101 e her ice, not with more f the ding. hore, y at M t the r had Dn the 21st, another heavy mass coming violently in contact with the bergs and cables, threatened to sweep away every remaining security. Our situation, with this additional strain, the mass which had disturbed us fixing itself upon the weather-cable, and an increas- ing wind and swell setting considerably on the shore, became more and more precarious; and, indeed, under circumstances as critical as can well be imagined, nothing but the urgency and importance of the object we had in view — that of saving the Fury if she was to be saved — could have prevented my making sail, and keeping the Hecla under way till matters mended. More hawsers were run out, however, and enabled us still to hold on; and after six hours of disturbed rest, all hands w^ere again set to work to get the Furys anchors, cables, rudder, and spars on board, these things being absolutely necessary for her ecpiipment, should we be able to get her out. At two p.m. the crews were called on board to dinner, which they had not finished when several not very large masses of ice drove along the shore near us at a quick rate, and two or three successively coming in violent contact either with the Hecla or the bergs to wdiich she was attached, convinced me that very little additional pressure would tear everything away, and drive both ships on shore. I saw that the mor ent had arrived when the Hecla could no longer be kept in her present situation with the smallest chance of safety, and therefore immediately got under sail, despatching Captain Hoppner with every individual, except a 1 t- ■ :iii 102 parry's third voyage. few for working the ship, to continue getting tlie things on board the Fury, while the Hecla stood off and on. It was a quarter-past tliree p.m. when we cast oft', the wind then blowing fresh from the north- east, or about two points upon the land, which caused some surf on the beach. Captain Hoppner had scarcely been an hour on board the Fury, and was busily engaged in getting the anchors and cables on board, when we observed some large pieces of not very heavy ice closing in with the land near her; and at twenty minutes past four p.m., being an hour and five minutes after the Ilecla had cast off", I was informed by signal that the Fury was on shore. Making a tack inshore, but not being able, even under a press of canvas, to get very near her, owing to a strong southerly current which prevailed within a mile or two of the land, I perceived that she had been apparently driven up the beach by two or three of the grounded masses forcing her onwards before them, and these, as well as the ship, seemed now so firmly aground as entirely to block her in on the seaward side. As the navigating of the Hecla with only ten men on board required constant attention and care, I could not at this time with propriety leave the ship to go on board the Fury. This, however, 1 the less regretted as Captain Hoppner was thoroughly acquainted with all my views and intentions, and I felt coufident that, under his direction, nothing would be left undone to endeavour to save the ship. I, therefore, directed him by telegraph, "if he thought nothing could be done at FORCED AGROUND BY THE ICE. 103 present, to return on board with all hands until the wind changed"; for this alone, as far as I could see the state of the Fiiry, seemed to offer the smallest chance of clearing the shore, so as to enable us to proceed with our work, or to attempt hauling the ship off the ground. About seven p.m. Captain Hoppner returned to the Hecla, accompanied by all hands, except an officer with a party at the pumps, reporting to me that the Furi/ had been forced aground by the ice pressing on the masses lying near her, and bringing home, if not breaking, the seaward anchor, so that the ship was soon found to have sewed from two to three feet fore and aft. Several masses of ice had, moreover, so disposed themselves as almost to surround her on every side where there was sufficient depth of water for hauling her off. With the ship thus situated, and masses of heavy ice constantly coming in, it was Captain Hoppner's decided opinion, as well as that of Lieutenants Austin and Koss, that to have laid out another anchor to seaward would have only been to expose it to the same damage as there was reason to suppose had been incurred with the other, without the most distant hope of doing any service ; especially as the ship had been driven on shore, by a most unfor- tunate coincidence, just as the tide was beginning to fall. Indeed, in the present state of the Fury, nothing short of chopping and sawing up a part of the ice under her stern could by any possibility have effected her release, even if she had been & ^ M i i i 104 parry's third voyage. )!'!• already afloat. Under such circumstances, hopeless as for the time every seaman will admit them to have been, Captain Hoppner judiciously determined to return for the present, as directed by my tele- graphic communication ; but, being anxious to keep the ship free from water as long as possible, he left an oflicer and a small party of men to continue working at the pumps so long as a communication could be kept up betwesn the Hecla and the shore. Every moment, however, decreased the practicability of doing this; and finding, soon after Captain Hopp- ner's return, that the current swept the Hecla a long way to the southward while hoisting up the boats, and that more ice was drifting in towards the shore, I was under the painful necessity of recalling the party at the pumps, rather than incur the risk, now an inevitable one, of parting company with them altogether. Accordingly Mr. Bird, with the last of the people, came on board at eight o'clock in the evening, having left eighteen inches of water in the well, and four pumps being requisite to keep her free. In three hours after Mr. Bird's return, more than half a mile of closely-packed ice intervened between the Fury and the open water in which we were beating, and before the morning this barrier had increased to four or five miles in breadth. We carried a press of canvas all night, with a fresh breeze from the north, to enable us to keep abreast of the Ftirij, which, on account of the strong southerly current, we could only do by beating at some distance from the land. The breadth of the h^ ;■ CAPE GARRY. 105 ice inshore continued increasing during the day, but we could see no end to the water in which we were beating, either to the southward or eastward. Advantage was taken of the little leisure now allowed us, to let the people mend and wash their clothes, which they had scarcely had a moment to do for the last three weeks. We also completed the tlirumming of a second sail for putting under the Furijs keel whenever we should be enabled oO haul her off the shore. It fell quite calm in the evening, when the breadth of the ice inshore had increased to six or seven miles. We did not during the day perceive any current setting to the southward, but in the course of the nio^ht we were drifted four or five leagues to the south-westward, in which situation we had a distinct view of a large extent of land, which had before been seen for the first time by some of our gentlemen who walked from where the Fury lay. This land trends very much to the west- ward, a little beyond the Fury Point, the name by which I have distinguished that headland near which we had attempted to heave the Fury down, and which is very near the southern part of this coacb, seen in the year 181.9. It then sweeps round into a large bay, formed by a long, low beach several miles in extent, afterwards joining higher land, and running in a south-easterly direction to a point which terminated our view of it in that quarter, and which bore from us s. 58° w. distant six or seven leagues. This headland I named Cape Garry, after my worthy friend Nicholas Garry, Esq., one of \H !\ mi 1 1 m i ', 4 106 PARRY. S THIRD VOYAGE. the most active members of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, and a gentleman most warmly interested in everything connected with northern discovery. The whole of the bay (which I named after my much esteemed friend, Francis Cresswell, Esq.), as well as the land to the southward, was free from ice for several miles, and to the southward and eastward scarcely any was to he seen, while a dark water-sky^ indicated a perfectly navigable sea in that direction; but between us and the Furij there was a compact body of ice eight or nine miles in breadth. Had we now been at liberty to take advantage of the favourable prospect before us, I have little doubt we should without much difficulty have made consi- derable progress. A southerly breeze enabling us to regain our northing, we ran along the margin of the ice, but were led so much to the eastward by it that we could approach the ship no nearer than before during the whole day. She appeared to us at this distance to have a much greater heel than when the people left her, which made us still more anxious to get near her. A south-west wind gave us hopes of the ice setting off from the land, but it produced no good effect during the whole of the 24tli. We, therefore, beat again to the southward to see if we could manage to get in with the land anywhere about the shores of the bay; but this was now- impracticable, the ice being once more closely packed ^ Water-sky — A dark appearance in the sky indicating clear water in that direction. EXAMINING THE " FURY ". 107 JIS there. We could only wait, therefore, in pntience, for some alteration in our favour. The latitude at noon was 72° 34' 57", making our distance from the Fury twelve miles, which by the morning of the 25th had increased to at least five leagues, the ice continuing to *' i)ack " between us and the shore. The wind, however, now gradually drew round to the westward, giving us hopes of a change, and we continued to ply al)out the margin of the i(;e, in constant readiness for taking advantage of any open- insj that mioht occur. It favoured us so much bv streaming off in the course of the day, that by seven P.M. we had nearly reached a channel of clear water, which kept open for seven or eight miles from the land. Being impatient to obtain a sight of the Fury, and the wind becoming light, Captain Hoppner and myself left the Hecla in two boats, and reached the ship at half-past nine, or about three-quarters of an hour before high water, being the most favourable time of tide for arrivinor to examine her condition. We founci her heeling so much outward that her main channels were within a foot of the water; and the large floe-piece, which was still alongside of her, seemed alone to support her below water, and to prevent her falling over still more considerably. The ship had been forced much further up the beacli than before, and she had now in her bilge above nine feet of water, which reached higher than the lower- deck beams. On looking down the stern-post, which, seen against the light-coloured ground, and in shoal-water, was now very distinctly visible, we 108 parry's third voyage. Im: ■ i^'i5 found that she had pushed the stones at the bottom up before her, and that the broken keel, stern-post, and dead wood had, by the recent pressure, been more damaged and turned up than before. She appeared principally to hang upon the ground abreast of the gangway, where, at high water, the depth was eleven feet alongside her keel ; forward and aft from thirteen to sixteen feet; so that at low tide, allowing the usual fall of five or six feet, she would be lying in a depth of from five to ten feet only. The first hour's inspection of the Fury's condition too plainly assured me that, exposed as she was, and forcibly pressed up upon an open and stony beach, her holds full of water, and the damage of her hull to all appearance and in all probability more considerable than before, without any adequate means of hauling her off to seaward, or securing her from the further incursions of the ice, every endeavour of ours to get her off, or, if got off, to float her to any known place of safety, would be at once utterly hopeless in itself, and productive of extreme risk to our remaining ship. Being anxious, however, in a case of so much importance, to avail myself of the judgment and experience of others, I directed Captain Hoppner, in conjunction with Lieutenants Austin and Sherer, and Mr. Pulfer, carpenter, being the officers who accompanied me to the Fury, to hold a survey upon her, and to report their opinions to me. And to prevent the possibility of the officers receiving any bias from my own opinion, the order was given to them the moment we arrived on board the Fury, CONDEMNING THE "FURY". 109 Captain Hoppner and the other oftieers, after spending several hours in attentively examining every part of the ship, both within and without, and niatuT-ely weighing all the circumstanees of her situa- tion, gave it as their opinion that it would be quite impracticable to make her seaworthy, even if she could be hauled off, which would first require the water to be got out of the ship, and the holds to be once more entirely cleared. Mr. Pulfer, the carpenter of the Fury, considered that it would occupy five days to clear the ship of water; that, if she were got off, all the pumps would not be sufficient to keep her free in consequence of the additional damage she seemed to have sustained; and that, if even hove down, twenty days' work, with the means we pos- sessed, would be required for making her seaNvorthy. Captain Hoppner and the other officers were, there- fore, of opinion that an absolute necessity existed for abandoning the Fury. My own opinion being thus confirmed as to the utter hopelessness of saving her, and feeling more strongly than ever the responsi- bility which attached to me of preserving the Hecla unhurt, it was with extreme pain and regret that I made the signal for the Fury's officers and men to be sent for their clothes, most of which had been put on shore with the stores. The Heclcis bower-anchor, which had been placed on the beach, was sent on board as soon as the people came on shore; but her remaining cable was too much entangled with the grounded ice to be disen- gaged without great loss of time. Having allowed .' . ti im no PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. V':.. J the otHcers and men an hour for pa(!king up tlieir clotlies, and wluit else beh)nging to them the water in the ship had not covered, the Fiirt/s l)oats were hauled up on the beach, and at two a.m. I left her, and was followed by Captain Iloppner, Lieutenant Austin, and the last of the people in half an hour jifter. The whole of the Fiirij's stores were of ne(;essity left either on board her or on shore, every spare corner that we could find in the Ilecla being now absolutely required for the accommodation of our double complement of officers and men, whose clean- liness and health could only be maintained by keep- ing the decks as clear and well ventilated as our limited space would peruiit. The spot where the Fury was left is in latitude 72" 42' 130", the longi- tude by chronometers is 91° 50' 05", the dip of the magnetic needle 88° 19' 22", and the variation 129° 25' westerly. When ihe accident first hapj^ened to the Fim/ I confidently expected to have been able to repair her damaojes in oood time to take advantasje of a la roe remaining part of the navigable season in the pro- secution of the voyage; and while the clearing of the shij) was going on with so much alacrity, and the repairs seemed to be within the reach of our means and resources, I still flattered myself with the same hope. But as soon as the gales began to destroy, with a rapidity of which we had before no conception, our sole defence from the incursions of the ice, as well as the only trustworthy means we UETUHN DB:crnEI) UPON. Ill before possessed of lioklinc^ tlie Ilccla out for Iumiv- irig the Fanj down, 1 confess that the prospect of the necessity then likely to arise for removing her to some other station was sufficient to shake every reasonable expectation I had hitherto cherished of the ultimate accomplishment of our object. Those expectations were now at an end. With a twelve- month's provisions for l)oth ships' companies, extend- ing our resources only to the autumn of the follow- ing year, it would have been folly to hope for final success, considering the small ])rogrcss we had already made, the uncertain nature of this naviga- tion, and the advanced period of the present season. I was, therefore, reduced to the only remaining conclusion that it was niy duty, under all the circumstances of the case, to return to England, in compliance with the plain tenor of my instructions. As soon as the boats were hoisted up, therefore, and the anchor stowed, the ship's head was put to the north-eastward, with a light air off the land, in order to gain an offing before the ice should again set inshore. CHAPTER VII. Some Remarks upon the lioss of the Fnnj — And on the Natural History, kc, of the (\)ast of North Somerset— Arrive at Neill's Harbour- Death of John Page — Leave NeiU's Harbour — Recross the Ice in Baffin's Bay — Heavy Gales — Aurora Borealis — Temperature of the Sea — Arrival in England. The accident which had now befallen the Fimjy and which, when its fatal result was finally ascer- 112 PARRY S THIRD YOYAOE. taiiKid, at once put nn v\u\ to every prospect of success in the nmin ohject of tliis voyaoe, is not an event wliich will excite sur[)rise in the minds of those wiio are either personally acquainted with the true nature of this precarious navi II '■; .i ■ i ll 1 t ! : Hi i L 1 ' Bovven that no description of tliem is necessary. The harbour may best be known by its latitude; by the very remarkable flat- topped hill eight miles south of it, which 1 have named after Lieutenant Sherer who observed its latitude; by the high cliffs on the south side of the entrance, and the compara- tive low land on the north. The high land is the more peculiar, as consisting of that very regular horizontal stratification appearing to be supported by buttresses, which characterizes a large portion of the western shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, but is not seen on any part of this coast so well marked as here. It is a remarkable circumstance, and such as, I believe, very raiely occurs, that from the point of this land forming the entrance of the harbour to the southward, and where the cliffs rise at once to a perpendicular height of not less than five or six hundred feet, a shoal stretches off to the distance of one-third of a mile, having from three to eight fathoms upon it. I have reason to think, indeed, that there is not more than from ten to fourteen fathoms anywhere across between this and the low point on the other side, thus forming a sort of bar, though the depth of w^ater is much more than suffi- cient for any ship to pass over. The latitude of Neiirs Harbour is 73° 0.9' 08"; the longitude by chronometers 89° 01' 20"'8; the dip of the magnetic needle 88° 08'"2.5, and the variation 118° 48' westerly. I have been thus particular in describing Neill's Harbour, because I am of opinion that at no very distant period the whalers may find it of service. ARRIVAL IN barrow's STRAIT. 123 The western coast of Baffin's Bay, now an abundant fislicry, will prol)al)ly, like most others, fail in a few years; for the whales will always in the course of time leave a place where they continue year after year to be molested. In that case, Prince Regent's Inlet will undoubtedly become a rendezvous for our ships, as well on account of the numerous fish there, as the facility with which any ship, having once crossed the ice in Baffin's Bay, is sure to reach it during the months of July and August. We saw nine or ten black whales the evening of our arrival in Neill's Harbour; these, like most observed here- abouts, and I believe on the western coast of Baffin's Bay generally, were somewhat below the middle size. Finding the wind at north-west in Prince Edward's Inlet, we were barely able to lie along the eastern coast. As the breeze freshened in the course of the day, a great deal of loose ice in extensive streams and patches came drifting down from the Leopold Islands, occasioning us some trouble in picking our way to the northward. By carrying a press of sail, liowever, we were enabled, towards night, to get into clearer water, and by four a.m. on the 1st of September, having beat to windward of a compact body of ice which had fixed itself on the lee shore about Cape York, we soon came into a perfectly open sea in Barrow's Strait, and w^ere enabled to bear away to the eastward. We now considered ourselves fortunate in having got out of the harbour when we did, as the ice would probably have filled f i 124 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. ". il! \J'^ I. m: ^' up every inlet on that shore in a few hours after we left it. The wind heading us from the eastward on the 2nd, with fog and wet weather, obliged us to stretch across the Sound, in doing which we had occ^asion to remark the more than usual number of icebergs that occurred in this place, which was abreast of Navy Board Inlet. Many of these were large and of the long flat kind, which appear to me to be peculiar to the western coast of Baffin's Bay. I have no doubt that this more than usual quantity of ice- berofs in Sir James Lancaster's Sound was to be attributed to the extraordinary prevalence and strength of the easterly winds during this summer, which would drive them from the eastern parts of Baffin's Bay. They now occurred in the proportion of at least four for one that we had ever before observed here. Being again favoured with a fair wind, we now stretched to the eastward, still in an open sea; and our curiosity was particularly excited to see the present situation of the ice in the middle of Baffin's Bay, and to compare it with that in 1824. This comparison we were enabled to make the more fairly, because the season at which we might expect to come to it coincided, within three or four days, with that in which we left it the preceding year. The temperature of the sea- water now increased to 38°, soon after leaving the Sound, where it had generally been from 33° to 35°, whereas at the same season last year it rose no higher than 32° anywhere in the HUGE ICERKR( ur, neighbourhood, and remained evrn no ]v *h ns that only for a very short time, 'j'his en •umst Mce seemed to indicate the total absence of ice !> ,m those parts of the sea which had last autumn ''oii wholly covered by it. Accordingly, on the .3rh, being thirty miles Ijevond the spot in which we had before contended with numerous difficulties from ice, not a piece was to be seen, except one or two solitary bergs; and it was not till the following day, in latitude 72° 45', and longitude 64° 44', or about one hundred and twenty-seven miles to the eastward of where we made our escape on the 9th of Septem- ber, 1824, that we fell in with a body of ice so loose and open as scarcely to oblige us to alter our course for it. At three p.m. on the 7th, being in latitude 72° 30', and longitude 60° 05', and having, in the course of eighty miles that we had run through it, only made a single tack, w^e came to the margin of the ice, and got into an open sea on its eastern side. In the whole course of this distance the ice was so much spread, that it would not, if at all closely "packed", have occupied one- third of the same space. There were at this time thirty- nine bergs in sight, and some of them certainly not less than two hundred feet in height. The narrowness and openness of the ice at this season, between the parallels of 73° and 74°, when compared with its extent and closeness about the same time the preceding year, was a decided confir- mation, if any were wanting, that the summer of 1824 was extremely unfavourable for penetrating to 126 PAilUYS TllIUl) VOYA(iE. I ti ' ! ill:! tliG wostwai'd about the usumI latitiulcs. TTow it had proved elsewhere we could not of course con- jectui'c, till, on the 8th, bein^r in latitude 71° 55', hiiigitude (>()° 1^0', and close to tlie margin of the ice, we fell in with the Alfred^ ElllmUy and Jilizahethf whalers of Hull, all running to the northward, even at this season, to look for whales. From them we learned that the Ellison was one of the two ships we saw, when beset in the "pack" on the 18th July, 1824; and that they were then, as we had conjec- tured, on their return from the northward, in con- sequence of having failed in effecting a passage to the westward. The master of the Ellison informed us that, after continuing their course along the margin of the ice to the southward, they at length passed through it to the western land without any ditticulty, in the latitude of (> 8° to 69°. Many other ships had also crossed about the same parallels, even in three or four days; but none, it seemed, had succeeded in doing so, as usual, to the northward. Thus it plainly appeared (and I need not hesitate to confess that to me the information was satisfactory) that our bad success in pushing across the ice in Baffin's Bay in 1824, had been caused by circum- stances neither to be foreseen nor controlled ; namely, by a particular position of the ice, which, according to the best information I have been able to collect, has never before occurred during the only six years that it has been customary for the whalers to cross this ice at all, and which, therefore, in all probability, will seldom occur again. WHALING VESSELS. 127 con- If we seek for a cause for tlie ice thus luinginj; with more than ordinary tenacity to tlie northward, the conipanitive coklness of the season indicated hy our nietcoroh)i^'ical ohservations may [)erlia})S he considered suHk^icnt to furnish it. For as the •iinual clearing of the northern parts of BafHn's Bay depends entirely on the time of the disruption of the ice, and the rate at which it is afterwards drifted to the southward by the excess of northerly winds, any circumstance tending to retain it in the hays and inlets to a Later period than usual, and subsecpiently to hold it together in large Hoes, which drive more slowly than smaller masses, would undoubtedly produce the effect in question. There is, at all events, one useful practical inference to be drawn from what has l)een stated, which is that, though perhaps in a considerable majority of years a northern latitude may prove the most favourable for crossing in, yet seasons will sometimes intervene in which it will be a matter of great uncertainty w^hereabouts to make the attempt with the best hope of success. As the whaling ships were not homew^ard bound, having as yet had indifferent success in the fishery, I did not consider it necessary to send despatches by them. After an hour's communication with them, and obtaining such information of a imblic nature as could not fail to be highly interesting to us, we made sail to the southward: while we observed them lying- to for some time after, probably to con- sult respecting the unwelcome information with 128 parry's third voyage. ''»n I r' J- which we had furnished them as to the whales, not one of which, by some extraordinary chance, we had seen since leaving Neill's Harbour. As this circum- stance was entirely new to us it seems not unlikely that the whales are already beginning to shift their ground, in consequence of the increased attacks which have been made upon them of late years in that neighbourhood. On the 10th we had an easterly wind, which, gradually freshening to a gale, drew up the Strait from the southward, and blew strong for twenty- four hours from that quarter. In the course of the night, and while lying-to under the storms-sails, an iceberg was discovered, by its white appearance, under our lee. The main-topsail being thrown aback we were enabled to drop clear of this immense body, which would have been a dangerous neighbour in a heavy seaway. The wind moderated on the 11th, but on the following day another gale came on, which for nine or ten hours blew in most tremen- dous gusts from the same quarter, and raised a heavy sea. We happily came near no ice during the night, or it would scarcely have been possible to keep the ship clear of it. It abated after daylight on the 13th, but continued to blow an ordinary gale for twelve hours longer. It was remarkable that the weather was extremely clear overhead during the whole of this last gale, which is very unusual here with a southerly wind. Being favoured with a northerly breeze on the 15th we began to make some way to the southward. From nine a.m. I SOUTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. 129 to one P.M. a change of temperature in the sea water took place from 37" to 33°. This circumstance seemed to indicate our approach to some ice projecting to the eastward beyond the straight and regular mar- gin of the "pack", which was at this time not in sight. The indication proved correct and useful; for after passing several loose pieces of ice during the nighi, on the morning of the 15th, just at day- break, we came to a considerable body of it, through which we continued to run to the southward. We were now in latitude 68° 56\ and in longitude 58° 27', in which situation a great many bergs were in sight and apparently aground. We ran through this ice, which was very heavy, but loose and much broken up, the whole day; when having sailed fifty- three miles S.S.E., and appearances being the same as ever, we hauled to tho E.S.E., to endeavour to get clear before dark, which we were just enabled to effect after a run of thirty miles in that direction, and then bore up to the southward. After this we saw but one iceberg and one heavy loose piece pre- vious to our clearing Davis's Strait. On the 17th at noon we had passed to the south- ward of the Arctic Circle, and from this latitude to that of about 58° we had favourable winds and weather; but we remarked on this, as on several other occasions during this season, that a northerly breeze, contrary to ordinary observation, brought more moisture with it than any other. In the course of this run we also observed more drift-wood than we had ever done before, which I thought might possibly be (996) I 130 PARRY S THIRD VOYAGE. I *■ ? owing to the very great prevalence of easterly winds, this season driving it further from the coast of Greenland than usual. We saw very large flocks of kittiwakes, some of the whales called finners, and, as we supposed, a few also of the black kind, together with multitudes of porpoises. On the morning of the 24th, notwithstanding the continuance of a favourable breeze, we met, in the latitude of 58^°, so heavy a swell from the north- eastward as to make the ship labour violently for four-and-twenty hours. The northerly wind tlien dying away was succeeded by a light air from the eastward with constant rain. A calm then followed for several hours, causing the ship to roll heavily in the hollow of the sea. On the morning of the 25th we had again an easterly wind, which in a few hours reduced us to the close-reefed top-sails and reefed courses. At eight p.m. it freshened to a gale, which brought us under the main-topsail and storm-staysails, and at seven the following morning it increased to a gale of such violence from N.E.b.N. as does not very often occur at sea in these latitudes. The gusts w^ere at times so tremendous as to set the sea quite in a foam, and threatened to tear the sails out of the bolt-ropes. It abated a little for four hours in the evening, l)ut f"om nine p.m. till two the following morning l^lew with as great virulence as before, with a high sea, and very heavy rain; con- stituting altoo'ether as inclement weather as can well be conceived for about eighteen hours. The wind gradually drew to the westward, with dry weather. w^^h m 1 ft.!!'. I I BAROMETRICAL INDICATIONS. 131 after the gale began to abate, and at six a.m. we were enabled to bear up and run to the eastward with a strong gale at n.w. The indications of the barometer previous to and during this gale deserve to be noticed, because it is only about Cape Farewell that, in coming from tlic northward down Davis's Strait, this instrument Ijegins to speak a language which has ever been in- telligible to us as a iveather-glass. As it is also certain that a *' storm spirit " resides in the neighbourhood of this headland, no less than in that of more famed ones to the south, it may become a matter of no small practical utility for ships passing it, especially in the autumn, to attend to the oscillations of the mer- curial column. It is with this impression alone that I have detailed the otherwise uninterestimy circum- stances of the inclement weather we now experienced here, and which was accompanied by the following indications of the barometer. On the 24th, notwith- standing the change of wind from north to east, the mercury rose from 29*51 on that morning, to 2972 at three a.m. the following day, but fell to 29*39 by nine p.m., with the strong but not violent breeze then blowing. After this it continued to descend very gradually, and had reached 28*84, which was its minimum, at three p.m. on the 26th, after which it continued to blow tremendously hard for eleven or twelve hours, the mercury uniformly though slowly ascending to 28*95 during that interval, and afterwards to 29*73 as the weather became moderate and fine in the course of the three following days. I S 11 132 PARKY S THIRD VOYAGE. ! 5!' After this gale the atmosphere seemed to be quite cleared, and we enjoyed a week of such re- markably fine weather as seldom occurs at this season of the year. We had then a succession of strong southerly winds, but were enabled to continue our progress to the eastward, so as to make Mould Head, towards the north-west end of the Orknev Islands, at daylight on the 10th of October; and the wind becoming more westerly we rounded North Ronaldsha Island at noon, and then shaped a course for Buchaness. In running down Davis's Strait, as well as in crossing the Atlantic, we saw on this passage as well as in all our former autumnal ones, a good deal of the Aurora Borealis. It first began to display itself on the 15 th of September, about the latitude 69^°, appearing in the (true) south-east quarter as a bright luminous patch five or six degrees above the horizon, almost stationary for two or three hours together, but frequently altering its intensity, and occasionally sending up vivid streamers towards the zenith. It appeared in the same manner on several suljsequent nights in the south-west, west, and east quarters of the heavens; and on the '20th a bright arch of it passed across the zenith from s.E. to N.w., appearing to be very close to the ship, and afibrding so strong a light as to throw the shadow of objects on the deck. The next brilliant display, however, of this beautiful phenomenon w^hich we now witnessed, and which far surpassed anything of the kind observed at Port Bowen, occurred on the night of the 24th ft' r |i. THE "MERRY DANCERS*'. 133 of September, in latitude 58^°, longitude 44^°. It first appeared in a (true) east direction, in detached masses like luminous clouds of yellow or sulphur- coloured light, about three degrees above the horizon. When this appearance had continued for about an hour, it began at nine p.m. to spread upwards, and gradually extended itself into a narrow band of light passing through the zenith and again down- wards to the western horizon. Soon after this the streams of light seemed no longer to emanate from the eastward, but from a fixed point about one deorree above the horizon on a true west bearincj. From this point, as from the narrow point of a fun- nel, streams of light, resembling brightly illumin- ated vapour or smoke, appeared to be incessantly issuing, increasing in breadth as they proceeded, and darting with inconceivable velocity, such as the eye could scarcely keep pace with, upwards towards the zenith, and in the same easterly direction which the former arch had taken. The sky immediately under the spot from which the light issued appeared, by a deception very common in this phenomenon, to be covered with a dark cloud, whose outline the imao'ination miolit at times convert into that of the summit of a mountain, from which the light proceeded like the flames of a volcano. The streams of light as they were projected upwards did not consist of continuous vertical columns or streamers, but almost entirely of separate, though constantly renewed masses, which seemed to roll themselves laterally onward with a sort of undulating motion, constitut- 134 parry's third voyage. ing what I understood to be meant by that modifi- cation of the Aurora called the "merry dancers", which is seen in beautiful perfection at the Shetland Islands. The general colour of the light was yellow, but an orano^e and a greenish tinsce were at times very distinctly perceptible, the intensity of the light and colours being always the greatest when occupy- ing the smallest space. Thus the lateral margins of the band or arch seemed at times to roll them- selves inwards so as to approach each other, and in this case the light just at the edges became much more vivid than the rest. The intensity of light during the brightest part of the pheno- menon, which continued three-quarters of an hour, could scarcely be inferior to that of the moon when full. We once more remarked in crossinof the Atlantic that the Aurora often gave a great deal of light at night, even when the sky was entirely overcast, and it was on that account impossible to say from what part of the heavens the light proceeded, though it was often fully equal to that afforded by the moon in her quarters. This was rendered particularly striking on the night of the 5th of October, in con- sequence of the frequent and almost instantaneous changes which took place in this way, the weather being rather dark and gloomy, but the sky at times so brightly illuminated, almost in an instant, as to give quite as much light as the full moon similarly clouded, and enabling one distinctly to recognize persons from one end of the ship to the other. We ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND. 135 » did not on any one occasion perceive the compasses to be affected by the Aurora Borealis. As we approached the Orkneys, I demanded from the officers, in compliance with my instructions from my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, all the logs, journals, drawings, and charts which had been made during the voyage. After rounding the north end of the Orkneys on the 10th of October, we were on the 12th met by a strong southerly wind when off Peterhead. I, therefore, immediately landed (for the second time) at that place; and, setting off without delay for London, arrived at the Admiralty on the 16th. Notwithstanding the ill success which had at- tended our late efforts, it may in some degree be imagined what gratification I experienced at this time in seeing the whole of the Ueclas crew, and also those of the Fai^y (with the two exceptions already mentioned), return to their native country in as good health as when they left it eighteen months before. The Ilecla arrived at Sheerness on the 20th of October, where she was detained for a few days for the purpose of Captain Hoppner, his officers, and ship's company being put upon their trial (according to the customary and indispensable rule in such cases) for the loss of the Fury, when, it is scarcely nei-essary to add, they received an honourable acquittal. The Hecla then proceeded to Woolwich, and was paid off on the 2Lst of November. We ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX OP MELVILLE PENINSULA AND THE ADJOINING ISLANDS, More particularly of Winter Island and Igloolik. •i: \' i) ; ' The number of individuals composing the tribe of Esquimaux assembled at AVinter Island and Jo'loolik was two hundred and nineteen, of whom sixty-nine were men, seventy-seven women, and seventy- three children. Two or three of the men, from their appearance and infirmities, as well as from the age of their children, must have been near seventy; the rest were from twenty to about fifty. The majority of the women were comparatively young, or from twenty to fi ve-and- thirty, and three or four only seemed to have reached sixty. Of the children, about one-third were under four years old, and the rest from that age upwards to sixteen or seventeen. Out of one hundred and fifty-five individuals who passed the winter at Igloolik, we knew of eighteen deaths and of only nine births. The stature of these people is much below that of Europeans in general. One man, who was unusually tall, measured five feet ten inches, and the shortest was only four feet eleven inches and a half. Of twenty individuals of each sex measured at Igloolik, the range was: — STATURE OF ESQUIMAUX. 137 Men.— From 5 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 11 in. The average height, 5 ft. 5 J in. Women. — From 5 ft. 3^ in. to 4 ft. 8f in. The average height, 5 ft. ^ in. The women, however, generally appear shorter than they really are, both from the unwieldy nature of their clothes, and from a habit, which they early acquire, of stooping considerably forward in order to balance the weight of the child they carry in their hood. In their figure they are rather well-formed than otherwise. Their knees are indeed rather large in proportion, but their legs are straight, and the hands and feet, in both sexes, remarkably small. The younger individuals were all plump, but none of them corpulent; the women inclined the most to this last extreme, and their flesh was, even in the youngest individuals, quite loose and without firmness. Their faces are generally round and full, eyes small and black, nose also small and sunk far in between the cheek bones, but not much flattened. It is remarkable that one man, Te-d, his brother, his wife, and two daughters, had good Roman noses, and one of the latter was an extremely pretty young woman. Their teeth are short, thick, and close, generally regular, and in the young persons almost always white. The elderly women were still well furnished in this way, though their teeth were usually a good deal worn down, probably by the habit of chewing the seal-skins for making boots. I 138 I; I'v; \'i < ■ / t^'^f^ l>.: l\i ■ ■■(■ ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. In the young of both sexes the complexion is clear and transparent, and the skin smooth. The colour of the latter, when divested of oil and dirt, is scarcely a shade darker than that of a deep brunette, so that the blood is plainly perceptible when it mounts into the cheeks. In the old folks, whose faces were much wrinkled, th(3 skin appears of a much more dingy hue, the dirt being less easily, and therefore less frequently, dislodged from them. Besides the smallness of their eyes, there are two peculiarities in this feature common to almost all of them. The first consists in the eye not being horizontal as with us, but coming much lower at the end next the uose than at the other. Of the second, an account by Mr. Edwards will be given in another place. By whatever peculiarities, however, they may in general be distinguished, they are by no means ill- looking people; and there were among them three or four grown-up persons of each sex who, when divested of their skin-dresses, their tattooing, and, above all, of their dirt, might have been considered pleasing-looking, if not handsome people, in any town in Europe. This remark applies more generally to the children also, several of whom had complexions nearly as fair as that of Europeans, and whose little bright black eyes gave a fine expression to their countenances. The hair both of males and females is black, glossy, and straight. The men usually wear it rather long, and allow it to hang about their heads in a loose and slovenly manner. A few of the MANNER OF DRESSING THE HAIR. 13!) younger men, and especially those who had been al)out the shores of the Welcome, had it cut straiijht upon the forehead, and two or three had a circular patch upon the crown of the head, where the hair was quite short and thin, somewhat after the manner of Capuchin friars. The women pride theniselv( s extremely on the lengtli and thickness of their hair; and it was not without reluctance on their part, and the same on that of their liusbands, that they were induced to dispose of any of it. When inclined to be neat they separate their locks into two equal parts, one of which hangs on each side of their heads and in front of their shoulders. To stiffen and bind these they use a narrow strap of deer-skin, attached at one end to a round piece of bone, fourteen inclies long, tapered to a point, and covered over with leather. This looks like a little whip, the handle of which is placed Up and down the hair, and the strap wound round it in a number of spiral turns, making the tail thus equipped very much resemble one of those formerly worn by our seamen. The strap of this article of dress, which is altogether called a tdgleegd, is so made from the deer-skin as to show, when bound round the hair, alternate turns of white and dark fur, which give it a very neat and ornamental appearance. On ordinary occasions it is considered slovenly not to have the hair thus dressed, and the neatest of the women never visited the ships without it. Those who are less nice dispose their hair into a loose plait on each side, or have one togieega and one plait ; and others •H: A [■ 140 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. Hi '' again, wholly disregarding the business of the toilet, merely tucked their hair in under the breast of their jackets. Some of the women's hair was tolerably fine, but would not in this respect bear a comparison with that of an Englishwoman. In both sexes it is full of vermin, which they are in the constant habit of picking out and eating; a man and his wife wil) sit for an hour together performing for each other that friendly office. The Avomen have a comb, which, however, seems more intended for ornament than use, as we seldom or never observed them comb their hair. When a woman's husband is ill she wears her hair loose, and cuts it off as a sign of mourning if he dies — a custom at^reeiiig with that of the Greenlandcrs.^ It is probable also, from what has been before said, that some opprobrium is attached to the loss of a woman's hair when no such occasion demands this sacrifice. The men wear the hair on the upper lip and chin, from an inch to an inch and a half in length, and some were distinguished by a little tuft between the chin and lower lip. The dresses both of male and female are composed almost entirely of deer-skin, in which respect they differ from those of most Esquimaux before met with. In the form of the dress they vary very little from those so repeatedly described. The jacket, which is close, but not tight, all round, comes as low as the hips, and has sleeves reaching to the wrist. In that of the women, the tail or flap be- ^ Crantz's Histoi-y of Greenland, London edition, 1767. DRESS. 141 hind is very broarl, and so long as almost to touch the ground; whihi a shorter and narrower one bet'onj reaches half-way down the thigh. The men hiive also a tail in the hind part of tlieir jacket, but of smaller dimensions ; but before it is lieii^rJ^dlv straight or ornamented by a single scollop. The hood of the jacket, which forms the only covering for their head, is much the largest in that of the women, for the purpose of holding a child. Tlie back of the jacket also bulges out in the middle to give the child a footing, and a strap or girdle below this, and secured round the waist by two largo wooden buttons in front, prevents the infant from falling through, when, the hood being in use, it is necessary thus to deposit it. The sleeves of the women's jackets are made more square and loose about the shoulders than those of the men, for the convenience, as we understood, of mere readily de- positing a child in the hood; and they have a habit of slipping their arms out of them, and keeping them in contact with their bodies for the sake of warmth, just as we do with our fingers in our gloves in very cold weather. In winter every individual, when in the open air, wears two jackets, of which the outer one {Cdppe- teggd) has the hair outside, and the inner one (Atteegd) next the body. Immediately on entering the hut the men take oli' their outer jacket, beat the snow from it, and lay it by. The upper garment of the females, besides being cut according to a regular and uniform pattern, and sewed with exceeding J'.! 142 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. i.' ft l; • r.-- i I u ii P ■i i ' ! I neatness, which is the case with all the dresses of these people, has also the flaps ornamented in a very becoming manner by a neat liorder of deer-skin, so arranged as to display alternate breadths of white nnd dark fur. This is, moreover, usually beautified by a handsome fringe, consisting of innumerable long narrow threads of leather hanging down from it. This ornament is not uncommon also in the outer jackets of the men. When seal-hunting they fasten up the tails of their jackets with a button behind. Their breeches, of which in winter they also wear two pairs, and similarly dis^josed as to the fur, reach below the knee, and fasten with a string drawn tight round the waist. Though these have little or no waistband, and do not come very high, the depth of the jackets, which considerably overlap them, serves very effectually to complete the covering of the body. Their legs and feet are so well clothed, that no degree of cold can well affect them. When a man goes on a sealing excursion, he first puts on a pair of deer-skin boots (Allekteegct) with the hair inside and reaching to the knee, where tliey tie. Over these come a pair of shoes of the same material; next a pair of dressed seal-skin boots perfectly water-tight; and over all a corresponding pair of shoes, tying round the instep. These last are made just like the moccasin of a North American Indian, being neatly crimped at the toes, and having several serpentine pieces of hide sewn across the sole to BOOTS AND SHOES. 143 prevent wearing. The water-tight boots and shoes are made of the skin of the small seal {neitiek), ex- cept the soles, which consist of the skin of the large seal (oguke); this last is also used for their fishing- lines. When the men are not prepared to encounter wet they wear an outer boot of deer-skin with the hair outside. The inner boot of the women, unlike that of the men, is loose round the leg, coming ; as high as the knee-joint behind, and in front carried up, by a long- pointed flap, nearly to the waist, and there fastened to the breeches. The upper boot, witli the hair ns usual outside, corresponds with the other in shape, except that it is much more full, especially on the outer side, where it bulges out so preposterously as to give the women the most awkward, bow-legged appearance imaginable. This superfluity of boot has probably originated in the custom, still common among the native women of Labrador, of carrying their children in them. We were told that these women sometimes put their children there to sleep; but the custom must be rare among them, as we never saw it practised. These boots, however, form their principal pockets, and pretty capacious ones they are. Here, also, as in the jackets, considerable taste is displayed in the se miction of different parts of the deer-skin, alternate scrips of dark and wliite being placed up and down the sides and front by way of ornament. The women also wear a moccasin (Itteegegcl) over all in the winter time. One or two persons used to wear a sort of ruff 144 ACCOUNT OF THF ESQUIMAUX. \\' T - I ■! round the neck, composed of the longest white hair of the deer-skin, hanging down over the bosom in a manner very becoming to young people. It seemed to afford so little additional warmth to persons already well clothed, that I am inclined rather to attribute their wearing it to some superstitious notion. The children between two and eight or nine years of age had a pair of breeches and boots united in one, with braces over their shoulders to keep them up. These, with a jacket like the others and a pair of deer-skin mittens, with which each individual is furnished, constitute the whole of their dress. Children's clothes are often made of the skins of very young fawns and of the marmot, as being softer than those of the deer. The Esquimaux, when thus equipped, may at all times bid defiance to the rigour of this inhospitable climate; and nothing can exceed the comfortable appearance which they exhibit even in the most inclement weather. When seen at a little distance, the white rim of their hoods, whitened still more by the breath collecting and freezing upon it, and con- trasted with the dark faces which they encircle, render them very grotesque objects; but while the skin of their dresses continues in good condition they always look clean and wholesome. To judge by the eagerness with which the women received our I ^ds, especially small white ones, ns well as any other article of that kind, we might suppose them very fond of personal ornament. Yet of all that they obtained from us in this way at W : lU' ^ ORNAMENTS. 145 Winter Island, scarcely anything ever made its appearance again during our stay there, except a ring or two on the fingur, and some bracelets of beads round the wrist: the latter of these was pro- bably considered as a charm of some kind or other. We found among them, at the time of our first intercourse, a number of small black and white glass beads, disposed alternately on a string of sinew, and worn in this manner. They would also sometimes hang a small bunch of these, or a button or two, in front of their jackets and hair; and many of them, in the course of the second winter, covered the whole front of their jackets with the beads they received from us. The most common ornament of this kind, exclu- sively their own, consists in strings of teeth, some- times many hundred in number, which are either attached to the lower part of the jacket, like the fringe before described, or fastened as a belt round the waist. Most of these teeth are of the fox and wolf, but some also belong to the mu.sk-ox (oomlng- niffk), of which animal, though it is never seen at Winter Island, we procured from the Esquimaux several of the grinders and a quantity of the hair and skin. The bones of the kdblce-drioo, su})posed to be the wolverine, constitute another of their ornaments; and it is more than probable that all these possess some imaginary qualities, as specific charms for various purposes.^ The most extra- ordinary amulet, if it be one, of this kind, was a ■ t Figede'fl Description of Greenland, London edition, 1745. (908) 146 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. H . 5U'^ [! ^l ■ '»r>' row of foxes' noses attached to the fore-part of a woman's jacket like a tier of black buttons. I pur- chased from Iligliuk a semicircular ornament of bjass, serrated at the upper edge and brightly polished, which she wore over her hair in front, and which was very becoming. The handsomest thing (jf this kind, however, was understood to be worn on the head by men, though we did not learn on what occasions. It consisted of a band two inches in breadth, composed of several strips of skin sewn together, alternately black and yellow ; near the upper edge some hair was artfully interwoven, forming with the skin a very pretty chequer-work: along the lower edge were suspended more than a hundred small teeth, principally of the deer, neatly fastened by small double tags of sinew, and forming a very appropriate fringe. Among their personal ornaments must also be reckoned that mode of marking the body called tattooing, which, of the customs not essential to the comfort or happiness of mankind, is perhaps the most extensively practised throughout the world. Among those people it seems to be an ornament of indispensable importance to the women, not one of tliem being without it. The operation is [)erformed about the age of ten, or sometimes earlier, and has nothing to do witli marriage, except that, being- considered in the light of a personal charm, it may serve to recommend them as wives. The parts of tlie body thus marked are their faces, arms, hands, and in some few women the breasts, but never the TATTOOING. 147 may ts of lands, • thii feet as in Greenland.^ The operation, which by- way of curiosity most of our gentlemen had prac- tised on their arms, is very expeditiously managed by passing a needle and thread (the latter covered with lamp-black and oil) under the epidermis, ac- cording to a pattern previously marked out upon the skin. Several stitches being thus taken at once, the thumb is pressed upon the part while the thread is drawn through, by which means the colouring matter is retained, and a permanent dye of a blue tinge imparted to the skin. A woman expert at this business will perform it very quickly and with great regularity, but seldom without drawing blood in many places, and occasioning some inflammation. AVhere so large a portion of the surface of the body is to be covered, it must become a painful as well as tedious process, especially as, for want of needles, they often use a stiip of whalebone as a substitute. For those parts where a needle cannot conveniently be passed under the skin they use the method by puncture, which is common in other countries, and by which our seamen frequently mark their hands and arms. Several of the men were marked on the back part of their hands; and with them we under- stood it to be considered as a souvenir of some distant or deceased person who had performed it. In their winter habitations, I have before men- tioned that the only materials em[)loyed are snow and ice, the latter being made use of for the wiu- dows alone. The work is commenced by cutting ^ Crautz's History of Greenland, 148 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. i1 ■ '1 ;i from a drift of hard and compact snow a number of oblong slabs, six or seven inches thick and about two feet in length, and laying them edgeways on a level spot, also covered with snow, in a circidar foi'ui. and of a diameter from eight to fifteen feet, propor- tioned to the number of occupants the hut is to contain. Upon this as a foundation is laid a second tier of the same kind, but with the pieces inclining a little inwards, and made to fit closely to the lower slabs and to each other, by running a knife adroitly along the under part and sides. The top of this tier is now prepared for the reception of a third by squaring it ofi* smoothly with a knife, all which is dexterously performed by one man standing within the circle and receiving the blocks of snow from those employed in cutting them without. When the wall has attained a height of four or five feet, it leans so much inward as to appear as if about to tumble every moment; but the workmen still fear- lessly lay their blocks of snow upon it, until it is too high any longer to furnish the materials to the builder in this manner. Of this he gives notice by cutting a hole close to the ground in that part where the door is intended to be, which is near the south side, and through this the snow is now passed. Thus they continue till they have brought the sides nearly to meet in a perfect and well-constructed dome, sometimes nine or ten feet high in the centre ; and this they take considerable care in finishing, by fitting the last block oi- keystone very nicely in the centre, dropping it into its place from the outside, HOUSE-BUILDING. 149 though it is still done by the man within. The people outside are in the meantime occupied in throwing up snow with the poodlUrdy, or snow- shovel, and in stuffing in little wedges of snow where holes have been accidentally left. The builder next proceeds to let himself out by eidarging the proposed doorway into the form of a (lOthic arch three feet hioji and two feet and a half wide at the bottom, communicating with which they construct two passages, each from ten to twelve feet long and from four to five feet in height, the lowest being that next the hut. The roofs of these passages are sometimes arched, but more generally made flat by slabs laid on horizontally. In first digging the snow for building the hut, they take it principally from the part where the passages are to be made, which purposely brings the floor of the latter con- siderably lower than that of the hut, but in no part do they dig till the bare ground appears. The work just described completes the walls of a hut, if a single apartment only be required; but if, on account of relationship, or from any other cause, several families are to reside under one roof, the passages are made common to all, and the first apartment (in that case made smaller) forms a kind of ante-chamber, from which you go through an arched doorway, five feet high, into the inhabited npartments. When there are three of these, which is generally the case, the wliole building, with its adjacent passages, forms a tolerably I'egular cross. For the admission of liixht into the huts a round i4i loO ACCOUNT OP THE ESQUIMAUX. I-.' V t W: >■ If hole is cut on one side of the roof of each apartment, and a circular phite of ice, three or four inches thick and two feet in diameter, let into it. The light is soft and pleasant, like that transmitted through ground glass, and is quite sufficient for every pur- pose. When after some time these edifices become surrounded by drift, it is only by the windows, as 1 have before remarked, that they could be. recognized as human habitations. It may, perhaps, then be imagined how singular is their external appearance at night, when they discover themselves only by a circular disc of lio^ht transmitted through the win- dows from the lamps within. The next thing to be done is to raise a bank of snow, two and a half feet high, all round the in- terior of each apartment, except on the side next the door. This bank, which is neatly squared off, forms their b(Mls and firei)lace, the former occupying the sides, and the latter the end o[)p()site the door. The passage left open up to the fireplace is between three and four feet wide. The beds are arranged by first covering the snow with a (piantity of small stones, over which are laid their paddles, tent-poles, and some blades of whalebone; above these they place a number of little pieces of network, made of thin slips of whalebone, and, lastly, a quantity of twigs of birch ^ and of the Andromeda tetragona. Their deer-skins, which are very numerous, can now ^ This birch, they said, had been procured from the southward by way of Noowook. We never met with any of the same kind in other parts of the country which we visited, except tliat observed by (Japtain Lyon in the deserted habitations of the Es^uiiuuux near Five Hawser Bay. I il >i', ESQUIMAUX LAMPS. 151 bment, 5 thick [gilt is irougli lecome s, as 1 gnized leii be arance Y by a e wiii- ank of he in- 3 next ed off, ipyiiig i door, it wee 11 \niiged small -poles, ! they ade of ity of igona. n now )y way of ts of the deserted be spread without risk of their touching the snow; and su(;h a bed is capable of affording not merely comfort but luxurious repose, in spite of the rigour of the climate. The skins thus used as blankets are made of a large size, and bordered, like some of the jackets, with a fringe of long narrow slips of leather, in which state a blanket is called keipik. The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp, or shallow vessel of lapia ollaris, its form being the lesser segment of a circle. The wick, composed of dry moss rubbed between tlie hands till it is quite inflammable, is disposed along the edge of the lamp on the straight side, and a greater or smaller quantity lighted, according to the heat required or the fuel thnt cjin be afforded. When the whole length of this, which is sometimes above eighteen inches, is kindled, it affords a most bril- liant and beautiful light, without any perceptible smoke or any offensive smell. The lamp is made to supply itself with oil, by suspending a long tliin slice of whale, senl, or sea-horse blubber near the flame, the warmth of which causes the oil to driji into the vessel until the whole is extracted. Im- mediately over the lamp is fixed a rude and rickety framework of wood, from which their pots are sus pended, and serving also to sustain a large hoop of bone, havino^ a net stretched tioht within it. This contrivance, called Inmtitt, is intended for the re- ception of any wet things, and is usually loaded with boots, shoes, and mittens. The fireplace, just described as situated at the § 152 ACCOUNT OF THE EbgUIMAUX. n If i. i I |i ; 5 ff 8 t upper end of the apartment, has always two lamps facing different ways, one for each family occupying the corresponding bed-place. There is frequently also a smaller and less-pretending establishment on the same model — lamp, pot, net, and all — in one of the corners next the door; for one apartment some- times contains three families, which are always closely related, and no married woman, or even a widow without children, is without her separate fireplace. With all the lamps lighted and the hut full of people and dogs, a thermometer placed on the net over the fire indicated a temperature of 38°; when removed two or three feet from this situation it fell to 31°, and placed close to the wall stood at 23°, the temperature of the open air at the time being 2.5° below zero. A greater degree of warmth than this produces extreme inconvenience by the drop- ping from the roofs. This they endeavour to ob- viate by applying a little piece of snow to the place from which a drop proceeds, and tliis adhering is for a short time an etiectual remedy ; but for several weeks in the spring, when the weather is too warm for these edifices, and still too cold for tents, they suffer much on this account. The most important, perhaps, of the domestic uten- sils, next to the lamp already described, are the oot- kooseekSf or stone pots for cooking. These are hol- lowed out of solid kqris ollaris, of an oblong form, wider at the top than at the bottom, all made in similar pr(jportion, though of various sizes, cone- COOKING POTS. 158 than I sponding with the dimensions of the hunp \vlii(;li burns under it. The pot is suspended l)y a line oF sinew at each end to the framework over the fire, and thus l)ecomes so bhack on every side that the original colour of the stone is in no part discernible. Many of them were cracked quite across in several places, and mended by sewinijj with sinew or rivets of copper, iron, or lead, so as, with the assistance of a lashing and a due proportion of dirt, to render them quite water-tight. I may here remark tliat as these people distinguish the Wnger Hiver by the name of Ootkodsceksdlik, we were at first led to con- jecture that they procured their pots, or the material for making them, in that neighljourhood ; this, how- ever, they assured us was not the case, the whole of them coming from Akkoolee, where the stone is found in very high situations. One of the women at Winter Island, who came from that country, said that her parents were much employed in making these pots, chiefly it seems as articles of barter. The asbestos, which they use in the shape of a roundish pointed stick called tatko for trimming the lamps, is met with about Repulse Bay, and generally, as they said, on low land. Besides the ootkooseeks, they have circular ;uid oval vessels of whalebone of various sizes, which, as well as their ivory knives made out of a walrus's tusk, are precisely similar to those described on the western coast of Baffin's Bay in 1820. They h;ive also a number of smaller vessels of skin sewed nently together, and a large basket of the same material. 154 ACCorNT OF TUK KSQUIMAUX. lit!'! ' ." ■/', if.': Md . . : ■ ! J, it Bf 1 fi i iTHcinhlini;- a coninion sieve in shape, but with the bottom close unci tight, is to be hwu in every apart- ment. Tiider every lam}) stands a sort of ''save-all", ecmsistincf of a small skin basket for catehiim- the oil that falls over. Almost every family was in possession of a wooden tray, very mueh resemblino- those used to carry butcher's meat in ll^ngland, and of nearly the same dimensions, which we understood them to have procured by way of Noow^ook. They had a number of the bowls or cups, already once or twice alluded to as being' made out of the thic^k root of the horn of the musk-ox. Of the smaller part of the same horn they also form a convenient drinking- cup, sometimes turning it up artificially about one- third from the point, so as to be almost parallel to the other pnrt, and cutting it full of small notcdies as a convenien(*e in grasping it. These, or any other vessels for drinkiiinf, thev call Inimdochiuk. Besides the ivory knives, the men were well supplied with a much more sorviceal)le kind, made of iron, and called panna. The form of this knife is very peculiar, being seven inches long, two and a (piarter broad, (juite straight and flat, pointed at the end, and ground equally sharp at both edges; this is lirndy secured into a handle of bone or wood, about a foot long, by two or three iron rivets, and has all the appearance of a most destructive spear- head, but is nevertheless put to no other purpose than that of a very useful knife, which the men are scarcely ever without, especially on their sealing excursions. For these, and several knives of European form, they are MODE OF oHTATXINCJ FIRE. 1 r)5 th the apart- ^e-all", lo- tll(3 va.s in nblino il, hikI T.stood Th(!y nee or k root 3art of Q king- it one- llol to ot(;lie8 ' other J well made \ knife and a at the this is about las all d, but hat of y ever . For ev are j>rol)ably indebted to an indirect eonnnunication with our faetorics in Hudson's Bay. The same may be ol)served of the best of th(^ir women's knives (oo/oo), on one of wliieli, of a larger size than usual, were the nnmes of "Wild and KSorby". When of their own manufaeture, the only iron part was a little narrow slip let into the bone and seeured by rivets. It is ( irious to observe in this, and in numerous other instanees, how exactly, amidst all the diversity of time and place, these })eople have preserved unaltered theii .inners and habits as mentioned by Crantz. That which an absurd dread of innovation does in Cliina, the want of intercourse with other nations has effected among theEscpiimaux. Of the horn of the musk-ox they make also very good s])Oons, much like ours in shape; and 1 must not omit to mention their marrow spoons [pat(ekn'nik\ iV(jni pdttek, marrow), made out of long, narrow, hollowed pieces of bone, of which every lK)Usewife has a bumdi of half a, dozen or more tied together, and generally attached to her needle-case. For the purpose of obtaining fire the Escpiiraaux use two lumps of common iron pyrites, from which sparks are struck into a little leathern case contain- ing moss well dried and rubbed between the hands. If this tinder does not readily catch, a small (piantity of the white floss of the seed of the ground willow is laid above the moss. As soon as a spark has caught, it is gently blown till the fire has spread an in(di around, when, the ])ointed end of a })iece of oiled wick being applied, it soon bursts into a Hame, loG M.: il !f >l" i^ it I ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. the whole process having occupied perhaps two or three minutes. Among the articles in their possession, which must have been obtained by communication along shore with Hudson's Bay, were two large copper kettles, several open knives with crooked wooden handles, and many fragments of copper, iron, and old files. On a small European axe was observed the name of "Foster". In enumerating the articles of theii' food, we might perhaps give a list of every animal inhabiting these regions, a: bey certainly will at times eat any one of them. Their principal dependence, however, is on the reindeer {tdoktoo), musk-ox (ddmingmtik) (in the parts where this animal is found), whale {(7hide at each end, the whole leni»th beino: idne feet and a half; the blades are covered with a narrow plate of bone round the ends to secure them from s[)litting; thciy are always made of fir, and generally of several pieces scarfed and wooldecP together. In summer they rest their canoes upon two small stones raised four feet from the ground; and in winter, on a similar structure of snow; in one case to allow them to dry freely, and in the other to i>revent the snow-drift from coverini»", and the doi»s from eating them. The difhcidty of procurhig a <*anoe may be concluded fiom the circumstance of there beino- at Winter Island twentv men able to manage one, and only seven cjinoes among them. < )f these, indeed, <>nly three or four were in good repair, thf ivory irrjiinst, ^'ing or weapon lie statf, such a when a length, sort of 1^ break- s spear; iial pur- seal-skin purpose vater. )• deer in crht statl' o 1 of those dart for the end die of it, turning eenland,^ no- these ive addi- hrowing- ne as the sists of a having a MODE (JF CATCHING WHALES. 1G3 groove to receive the staff, two others and a hole for tlic fingers and thumb, and a small spike fitted for a hole in the end of the staff, 'riiis instrument is used for the bird-dart only. 'I'he spenr for salmon or other fish, called blkcewcl, consists of a wooden staff with a spike of bone or ivory, three inches long, secured at one end. On each side of the spike is a curved prong, much like that of a pitchfork, but made of flexible horn, which gives them a spring, and having a barb on the inner part of the point turning downwards. Their fish-hooks (kak- liokia) consist only of a nail crooked and pointed at one end, the other being let into a piece of ivory to whi(;h the line is atta(;hed. A piece of deer's horn or curved bone, only a foot long, is used as a rod, and completes this very rude part of their fishintr-orear. Of their mode of killing seals in the winter 1 have already spoken in the course of the foregoing narra- tive, as far as we were enabled to make ourselves acquainted with it. In their summer exploits on the water, the killing of the whale is the most ar- duous undertaking which they have to perform; and one cannot sufficiently admire the courage and activity which, with gear apparently so inadequate, it must require to accomplish this business. Oko- took, who was at the killiiiiif of two whales in the course of a sinole summer, and who described the whole of it quite con umon\ mentioned the names of thirteen men who, each in his canoe, had assisted on one of these occasions. When a fish is seen lying Mil l\f 164 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. m '11 \ ill [f I (.•''Pf^ on the water, they cautiously paddle up astern of him, till a single canoe, preceding the rest, comes close to him on one quarter, so as to enable the man to drive the katteelik into the animal with all the force of both arms. This having the siatko^ a long alleky and the inflated seal-skin attached to it, the whale immediately dives, taking the whole apparatus with him except the katteelik, which, being disen- gaged in the manner before described, floats to the surface and is picked up by its owner. The animal reappearing after some time, all the canoes again jtaddle towards him, some warning being given by the seal-skin buoy floating on the surface. Each man being furnished like the first, they repeat the blows as often as they find opportunity, till perhaps every line has been thus employed. After pursuing him in this manner, sometimes for half a day, he is at length so wearied by the resistance of the buoys, and exhausted by loss of blood, as to be obliged to rise more and more often to the surface, when, by frequent wounds with their spears, they succeed in killing him, and tow their prize in triumph to the shore. It is probable that with the whale, as with the smaller sea-animals, some privilege or perquisite is given to the first striker; and, like our own fishermen, they take a pride in having it known that their spear has been the first to inflict a wound. They meet with the most whales on the coast of Eiwillik. In attacking the walrus in the water they use the same gear, but with much more caution than fcern of comes lie man all the , a long it, the paratus ; disen- i to the animal s aoam iven by Each )eat the perhaps lursuing ly, he is 3 buoys, ijjecl to hen, by ceed in 1 to the as with ii-quisite iiir own known wound, coast of hey use on than 'ip 1 I CURIOUS SUPERSTITION. 165 with the whale, always throwing the kattedik fioui some distance, lest the animal should attack the canoe and demolish it with his tusks. The walrus is in fact the only animal with which they use any caution of this kind. They like the flesh better than that of the seal; but venison is preferred l)y them to either of these, and indeed to any other kind of meat. At Winter Island they carefully preserved the heads of all the animals killed during the winter, except two or three of the walrus, which we ob- tained with great difficulty. There is probably some superstition attached to this, but they told us that they were to be thrown into the sea in tlic summer, which a Greenlander studiously avoids doing; and, indeed, at Igloolik, they had no objec- tion to part with them before the summer arrived. As the blood of the animals which they kill is all used as food of the most luxurious kind, they are careful to avoid losing any portion of it; for this purpose they carry with them on their excursions a little instrument of ivory called tdopootd, in form and size exactly resembling a " twenty-penny " nail, with which they stoj) up the orifice made by the spear, by thrusting it through the skin by the sides of the wound, and securing it with a twist. I must here also mention a simple little instrument called kelpknttuk, being a slender rod of bone nicely rounded, and having a point at one end and a knob or else a laniard at the other. The use of this is to thrust through the ice where they have ''h iv& lii ni ' - I' [,'■ t| l/M Wf* ='i 1! 166 ACCOUNT OF THE ES(^UIMAUX. reason to believe a seal is at work underneath. This little iiistniment is sometimes made as deli- cate as a fine wire, that the seal may not see it; and a part still remainini^ above the surfiuje informs the fishermen ])y its motion whether the animal is employed in making his hole: if not, it remains undisturbed, and the attempt is given up in that place. One of the best of their bows was made of a single piece of fir, four feet eight inches in length, flat on the irmer side and rounded on the outer, being five inches in girth al)out the middle, where, however, it is strengthened on the concave side, when strung, by a piece of bone ten inches long, firmly secured by tree-nails of the same material. At each end of the bow is a knob of bone, or sometimes of wood covered with leather, with a deep notch for the reception of the string. The only wood which they can procure not possessing sufficient elasticity com- bined with strength, they ingeniously remedy the defect by securing to the back of the bow, and to the knobs at each end, a quantity of small lines, each composed of a plait or "sinnet" of three sinews. The number of lines thus reaching from end to end is generally about thirty; but besides these, several others are fastened with hitches round the bow, in pairs, commencing eight inches from one end, and again united at the same distance from the other, making the whole number of strings in the middle of the bow sometimes amount to sixty. These being put on with the bow somewhat bent the erneath. us deli- see it; informs [limal is reiiuiins ill that a single , flat on jing five vevcr, it strung, secured li end of of wood for the ich they ity com- edy the \ and to dl lines, } sinews, d to end !, several I bow, in ?nd, and le other, 3 middle These )ent the SKILL IN ARCHERY. 167 contrary way, produce a spring so strong as to require considerable force as well as knack in stringing it and giving the requisite velocity to the arrow. The bow is completed by a woolding round the middle, and a wedge or two, here tuid there, driven in to tighten it. A bow in one i)iece is, however, very rare; they generally consist of from two to five pieces of bone of unequal lengths, secured together by rivets and tree-nails. The arrows vary in length from twenty to thirty inches, according to the materials that can be com- manded. About two-thirds of the whole length is of fir rounded, and the rest of bone let l)y a socket into the wood, and having a head of thin iron, or more commonly of slate, secured into a slit Ijy two tree- nails. Towards the opposite end of the arrow are two feathers, generally of the spotted owl, not very neatly lashed on. The bow-string consists of from twelve to eighteen small lines of three-sinew sinnet,^ having a loose twist, and with a separate becket^ of the same size for going over the knobs at the end of the bow. We tried their skill in archery by getting them to shoot at a mark for a prize, though with bows in extremely bad order, on account of the frost, and their hands very cold. The mark was two of their spears stuck upright in the snow, their breadth being three inches and a half. At twenty yards they struck this every time; at thirty, sent the 1 Sinnei — A sort of flat braided cordage used for various purposes, and formed by plaiting ropo yarn or spiui yarn together. * Jiecket — A piece of rope placed to secure another rope or a spar. i(: I < Vif: ^ ! f 168 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. arrows always within an inch or two of it; and at forty or Hfty yards, I should think, would generally hit a fawn if the animal stood still. These weapons are j)erhaps sutiicient to intiiet a mortal wound at something more than that distance, for which, how- ever, a strong arm would be required. The animals which they kill with the bow and arrow for their subsistence are principally the nmsk-ox and deer, and less frequently tlie bear, wolf, fox, hare, and some of the smaller animals. It is a curious fact that the musk-ox is very rarely found to extend his migrations to the eastward of a line passing through Repulse Bay, or about the meridian of Si)° west, while in a northern direction we know that he travels as far as the seventy-sixth degree of latitude. In Greenland this animal is known only by vague and exaggerated report; on the western coast of Baffin's Bay it has certainly been seen, though very rarely, by the present inha- bitants; and the eldest person belonging to the Winter Island tribe had never seen one to the eastward of Eiwillik, where, as well as at AkkooleS, they are said to be numerous on the banks of fresh- water lakes and streams. The few men who had been present at the killing of one of these creatures seemed to pride themselves very much upon it Toolooak, who was about seventeen years of age, had never seen either the musk-ox or the kclblee- drioo, a proof that the latter also is not common in this corner of America. The reindeer are killed by the Esquimaux in great METHOD OF TAKINO DEEH. 169 and at iierally capons luid at I, liovv- mimals ir their i deer, [•e, and r rarely rd of a lut the rection y-sixth imal is )rt; on irtainly t inha- to the to the kooleS, f fresh- ho had eatures pon it of age, kciblee- nion in n great . abundance in the summer season, partly by driving them from islands or narrow nci^ks of lancl into the sea, and then spearing them from their (umocs; and pjirtly by shooting them from behind heaps of stones raised for the purpose of watching them and imi- tating their peculiar bellow or grunt. Among the various artifices which they employ for this purpose, one of the most ingenious consists in two men walking directly from the deer they wish to kill, when the animal almost always follows them. As soon as they arrive at a large stone, one of the men liidcs behind it with his bow, while the other, continuing to walk on, soon leads the deer within range of his companion's arrows. They are also very careful to keep to leeward of the deer, and will scarcely go out after them at all when the weather is calm. For several weeks in the course of the summer some of these people almost entirely give up their fishery on the coast, retiring to the banks of lakes several miles in the interior, which they represent as large and deep and abounding with salmon, while the pasture near them affords good feeding to numerous herds of deer. The distan(;e to which these people extend their inland migrations, and the extent of coast of which they possess a personal knowledge, are really very considerable. Of these we could at the time of our first intercourse form no correct judgment, from our uncertainty as to the length of what they call a scenik (sleep), or one day's journey, by which alone they could describe to us, with the help of their I' 170 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. ii.*^ •^■ ■i H i i\ imperfect arithmetic, the distance from one phice to another. But our .sul).sc(|ucnt knowknlgc of the coast has cleared up much of this difficulty, aftbrding the means of applying to their hydrographical sketches a tolerably accurate scale for those parts which we have not hitherto visited. A great number of these people, who were born at Amitioke and Igloolik, had been to Noowook^ or nearly as far south as (Jhesterfield Inlet, which is about the ne plus ultra of their united knowledge in a southerly direction. Not one of them had been by water round to Akkooiee, but several by kind; in whi(;h mode of travellihg they oidy consider that country from three to five days' journey from Repulse Bay. Okotook and a few others of the Winter Island tribe liad extended tlieir peregrinations a considerable distance to the northward, over a large insular piece of land, to which we have ai)plied the name of Cockburn Island; which they described as high hind and the resort of numerous reindeer. Here Okotook informed us he had seen icebergs, which these people call by a name (plccdlooydk) having in its pronun- cijition some atfinity to that used in (Jreenlaiid.^ By tiie information afterwards obtained when nearer the opot, we had reason to su})pose this land must reach beyond the seventy-second degree of latitude in a northerly direction ; so that these })eople possess a personal knov/ledge of the continent of America and its adjacent ishinds, from that parallel to Chesterfield Inlet in ()^^^, , being a distance of more * Illutiai: lace to of the fording [iphictil i parts groat uitioke as far the ne ithorly water which on 11 try Hi Bay. d tribe lerablc Y piece inie of jh land kotook people ronun- uland.^ nearer 1 miifst Altitude possess nierica Uel to f more GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE. 171 than five hundred miles reckoned in a direct line, besides the numerous turninc^s and windinsjs of tlie coast along which they are accustomed to travel. Ewerat and some others had been a considerable distance up the Wager River; but no record had been preserved among them of Captain Middleton's visit to that inlet about the middle of the last century. Of the continental shore to the westward of Akkoolee, the Esquimaux invariably disclaimed the slightest personal knowledge; fur no land can be seen in that direction from the hills. They entertain, however, a confused idea th;it neither Esquimaux nor Indians ('ould there subsist, for want of food. Of the Indians they know enough by traditiori to hokl them in considerable dread, on account of their cruel and ferocious manners. AVhen, on one occasion, w(» related the circumstances of the inhuman massacre descri])ed by llearne, they crowded round us in the hut, listening with mute and idmost breathless attention; and the mothers drew their children closer to them, as if to guard them from the dreailful catastroj)he. It is worthy of notice that they call the Indians by a name {FJ'rt-kel-lt'i')y which appears evidently the same as that ' applied by the Oreenlanders to the man-eaters supposed to inhabit the eastern coast (►f their country, and to whom terror Ikis assigned a face like that of a dog. The Esquimaux take some animals in tra})s, and ^ ErkiglU. Crantz. mi . ')'■ . P 172 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQ riMAUX. by a very ingenious contrivance of this kind they caught two wolves at Winter Island. It consists of a small house built of ice, at one end of which a door, made of the same plentiful material, is fitted to slide up and down in a groove; to the upper part of til is a line is attached, and, passing over the roof, is let down into the trap at the inner end, and there held by slipping an eye in the end of it over a peg of ice left for the purpose. Over the peg, however, is previously placed a loose grummet,^ to which the bait is fastened, and a false roof placed over all to hide the line. The moment the animal drags at the bait the grummet slips oft' the peg, bringing with it the line that held up the door, antl this falling down closes the trap and secures him. A trap for birds is formed by building a house of snow just large enough to contain one person, who closes himself up in it. On the top is left a small aperture, through which the man thrusts one of his hands to secure the bird the moment he alights to take away a bit of meat laid beside it. It is priuci- cipally gulls that are taken thus; and the boys sometimes anuise themselves in this manner. A trap in which they catch foxes has been mentioned in another pla(;e. The sledges belonging to these Esijuimaux were in general large and heavily constructed, l)eing more adapted to the carriage of considerable burdens than to very (juick travelling. They varied in size. * Ornmniet — A riiijjf of ropo used for v.vrious purposes, made from a strand laid threa times round it8 own central part, forru'jd into .i loop of tlio dcsircil niy,e. NATIVE SI.EDOES. 17.S [ they ists of lich ii fitted upper er the il, and t over et/ to pkiced iiiimal r, and lim. use of I, who small of hirf its to ^rinci- boys r. A ioned were beini; I'dens 1 size, ^^P(1 lairl CI I size. being from six and a half U) nine feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth. Some of those at Igloolik were of larger dimensions, one l)eini> eleven feet in leiifjth, and vvei<>hino' two Jiundred and sixty-eight pounds, and two or tliree others above two hundred pounds. The runners are sometimes made of the right and left jaw-bones of a whale; but more comnnmly of several pieces of wood or bone searfed and lashed together, the inter- sti'es l)eing filled, to make all smooth and firm, with moss stuffed in tight, and then eementi^d by throwing water to freeze upon it. 'i'he lowtir part of the runner is shod with a plate of harder bone, coated with fresh- water ice to make it run smoothly and to avoid wear and tear, both which purposes ai'e thus completely answered. This coating is [)er- formed with a mixture of snow and fresh water about half an inch thi(;k, rubbed over it till it is quit(.' smooth and hard upon the surface, and this is usually done a few minutes before setting out on a journciv. WluMi the ice is only in part worn off, it is renewed by taking some water into the mouth, and spirtimr it over the former coatin*'. We notic(ul a sledge whicii was extremely cnrious, on account of one of the runners and a part of the other being ccmstructed without the assistan(*e of wood, iron, or bone of any kind. For this purpose a nund)er of seal-skins being rolled u[> and disposed into the re- (piisite shape, an outer coat of the same kind was sewed tightly round them: this formed the upper half of the runner, the lower part of which con- 174 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. r' n '■■<■• ji I t( lyri ■i' I sistod entirely of moss moulded while wet into the pn»[M»r form, and heing' left to freeze, adliering firmly t<)i>ether and to the skins. The usual shoeinjj of smooth iee beneath completed the runner, which for more than six months out of twelve, in this idimato, was nearly as hanl as any wood; and for winter use no way inferior to those constructed of more durable materials. The (;ross-pieces which form the bottom of the sh'dire are made of bone, wood, or anythinu^ they can muster. ( )ver these is generally laid a seal-skin as a tiooiino', and in the summer- time a ])air of deer's horns are attacjlied to the sledi»(^ as a back, which in the winter are removed to enable them when sto[)|>ing to turn the sledire up, so as to [)revent tin* dogs running away with it. The whole is secure'] by lashings of thong, giving it a d(\gree of strengtii ('ond)ined with flexibility A'hich perha[)s no other mode of fastening could eilcct. The dogs of the Rs(juin]aux, of which these peo- pli". ])ossessed al)ov(^ a hundred, have been so often described that there Uiay seem little left to add respecting their external a|)pearance, habits, and use. Our visits to Igloolik having, however, mivd.e us accpiainted with some not hitherto descril )cd, I shall here olfer a further account of these invaluable isnimals. In the form of their bodies, their short pricked, ears, thick furry coat, and bushy tail, they so nearly resemble the wolf of these regions that, wluiu of a light or brindled colour, they njay easily at a little distance be mistaken for that animal. To an eye accu.stomiMl to both, however, a ditlerence is I! ! i1 ESQUIMAUX Dons. 171 i) ito the firmlv iiiig of ich for lini.'ito, winter more •ni tlie ►o(l, or loniUy iniiH^r- eiiiihlo ) jis to whole [h\i>r('e L'rh;i[>s [i ptM)- I often iidil 4, M'.id ni;j(Ie ilM'd, I lu.'ihle short , tliey 1 that, easily 1. lo nee is pereeptihle in tlie wolfs always ke'^.ping his lieai>s almost iilways carry their tails handsomely (juried over the hack A difteren<*e less distinn^uishahle, when tlie animals are apart, is the superior size and more museular make of the wild animal, especially ahout the hreast and let^s. The wolf is also, in geni'ral, full two in(;h(^s talhu- than any Ks([uimaux dou; we have seen; hia those met with in 1818, in the latitude of 70°, appear to (;om(^ nearest to it in that respect. The tallest dotr at Igloolik stood two feet one inch from the oround, measured at the withers; the average heii»ht was ahout two inches less than this. The colour of the dogs varies from a white, through hrindled, to hlack and wiiite, or almost entirely hh'u^k. Some are also of a reddish or ferruginous colour, and other;; have a hrownish-red tinge on their lei's, the rest of their hodics heinij; of a darker colour, ;ind these last were ohscrved to he generally the best dogs. Their hiiii' in lint winter is from three to four in(;hes long; hut hcsides this, Nature furnishes them during this rigorous season with a thick under-coating of clos(» soft wool, which they hegiii to cast in the spi'ing. While thus provi:s, with a single thontr loadinl(i attention paid to their arrangement, particularly in the selection of a dog of peculiar spirit and sagacity, SLEDOK-DRIVTXG. 177 ich are puppy anchor, one of intense T never that of orm in ley are ig one nerally ley be- lode of nimals 'hether ttion, a le sub- 3l(i irly ill ,'acity, who is allowed, by a longer trace, to precede the rest as leader, and to whom, in turning to the rii)ii ) .M !~1 I 1 ' f » ■i 178 ACforXT OF THE KSgi'lMATX. iilly turns upon his next neio^hhour, nnd tliis, passin >T ou to tl in next, occisions a genoral divci'goiK;}', ac- conipnnied l>y the usual ycl|>iniu; ami showinuj of tcct li. Tlio doo's then come toiictlicr aiiain l»v deurocs, and the draught of the sh'dge is accek'rated ; but, even at the best of times, by this ru(hi mochi of draught, the traees of one-third of the doos form an anole of tliirty or forty degrees on each side of the direction in which tlie sledge is advancinfj. Anotlier ji^reat ~ Or? inconvenience attending the Es(|uiniaux nietliod of ])utting tlie dogs to, l)osides that of not emph)ying their stre'ii»th to the bcsst advantaiJie, is the consta.nt cntangh'nient of the traces by the (h)gs repeatedly doubling under from side to side to avoid the whip, so that, after I'unning a few miles, the traces always require to be taken (;tf and cleared. In directinu: the sledi^e the whiii acts no vei'v essential part, the driver for this purj)ose using certain words, as the carters do with us, to make the dojjs turn more to the rii»ht or left. To these, a good leader attends with admirable precision, esj)e- cially if his own name be repeated at the same time, looking behind over hm shouhler with great eai'nestness, as if listening to the directions of the di'iver. On a beaten track, or even wheie a single foot or sledge mark is occasionally discernible, tlu^re is not the slightest trouble in guiding the dogs; for even in the darkest night and in the heaviest snow- drift there is little or no damper of their losino' the road, the leader kee[)ing his nose near the ground, and directing the rest with wonderful sagacity. i IK!}', a«'- )f't('(>tli. LM'H, Ulld lit, oven I ni light, angle of lirectioii er great litliod of iploying K()nsta,nt [)eate(lly lie whip, 8 always ]i() very ic using to make ) th<*.se a [)n, (».s|te- u^ same th great s of the a single \o., there h)o:s; for !.st SUOW- •sino' the ground, sagacity. DIKl'K i:i/riES OF SLi:i)(JK-l)|{!VlN(i. 171) Where, liowever, tliere is no beaten track, tlie l)cst (h'iver among them makes a tei'rihly circuitous course, as all the Escjuiniaux n»a(ks plaiidy show; these generally occu[)ying an extent of six miles, when with a horse and sledge the journey would scareely have amounted to five. Oii rough ground, as among hummocks of ice, the sledge would be fre(|uently overturned, or altogether st(H)|)ed, if the driver did not repeatedly get off, and, by lifting or (h'awing it to one side, steer it clear of those acci- dents. At all times, indeed, except on a smooth and well-made road, he is pretty constantly em- ])l()yed thus with his feet, which, together with his never-ceasing vociferations and fre(juent use of the whip, renders the driving of one of these vehicles by no means a pleasant or easy task. When the driver wishes to stop the sledge, he calls out " Wo, woa," exactly as our carters do; but the attention paid to this command depends altog(»ther on his ability to (enforce it. if the weight is small and the journey homeward, the dogs are not to be thus (be- layed ; the driver is theref(»re ol)liged to dig his heels into the snow to obstruct their progress; and hav- ing thus succeeded in stopping them, he stands u[» with one leg before the foremost cross-piece of the sledge, till, by means of laying the whip gently over earh doii's head, he has made them all lie down. He then takes care not to quit his [)osition; so that should the dogs set off he is thrown upon the sledge, instead of being left behind by them. With heavy loads the dogs draw best with one ,1 '. I ■ t, M I, m\ v.- II ]' J 180 ACCOUNT OF TIIK KS(2UIMAUX. of their own people, espeeially a womnii, walking a little wnv ahead; .iiid in this ease thev are sonic!- times entie(!(l to mend their pace hy holding a mitten to the month, and then making the motion of cutting it with a knife, and throwinij it on the snow, when the dogs, mistaking it for meat, hasten forward to pi(;k it up. The women also entiee them from the huts in a similar manner. The rate at whieh they travel depends, of (tourse, on the weight thev have to (h'aw, and the road on whieh their journey is performed. When the latter is level and very hard and smooth, constituting what in other parts of North America is called "good sleighing", six or seven dogs will draw from ei<»ht to ten hundred weitrht, at the rate of seven or eiijjht miles an hour, for several hours together, and will easily under those circumstances perform a journey of fifty or sixty miles a day; on untrodden snow, five-and- twenty or thirty miles would be a good day's jour- ney. The same number of well-fevl dogs, with a weight of only five or six hundred pounds (that of the sledge included), are almost unmanageable, and will on a smooth road run any way they please at the rate of ten miles an hour. The work performed by a greater number of dogs is, however, by no means in proportion to this, owing to the imperfect mode already described of employing the strength of these sturdy (creatures, and to the more frequent snarling and fighting occasioned by an increase of numbers. In the summer, when the absence of snow pre- RHENT (M' KsgriMAlX DofJS. ISI Ikincf a Uling a motion on the , hasten ;e them rate at weiijht •h their tvel and n other ghing ", to ton it miles 11 easily of fifty ive-and- r's jour- with a (that of ble, and (lease at rformed , l)y no n[)erfect strength frequent rease of ovv pre- cludes the use of sledges, the dogs are still made useful on journeys and hunting excursions, hy lujing em])loyed to carry hurdens in a kind of saddlo-luigs laid aitross their shoulders. A stout (!(►<• tJius accoutred will accompany his master, laden wilii a weight of ahout twenty to twenty-live pounds. When leading the dogs, the Es«iuimaux take a half hitch with the trace round their ntu'ks to j)revent their pulling, and the sann; jilan is followed when a sledg(} is left without a keeper. They art? also in the habit of tethering them, when from home, by tying up one of the fore-legs ; but a still melong 3ft, or sxt to :h us, iually from time to time committed by several individuals, both male and female, amono; them. The bustle which any search for stolen goods occa- sioned at the huts was a sutticient proof of their understanding the estimation in which the crime was held by us. Until the affair was cleared up they would affect great readiness to show every article which they had got from the ships, repeating the name of the donor with great warmth, as if offended at our suspicions, yet with a half-smile on their countenances at our supposed credulity in believing them. There was, indeed, at all times some degree of trick and cunnino- in this show of openness and candour; and they would at times bring back some very trifling article that had been given them, tendering it as a sort of expiation for the theft of another much more valuable. When a search was making they would invent all sorts of lies to screen themselves, not caring on whom besides the imputation fell; and more than once they directed our people to the apartments of others who were innocent of the offence in question. If they really knew the offender, they were generally ready enough to inform against him, and this with an cir of affected secrecy and mysterious importance ; and, as if the dishonesty of another constituted a virtue in themselves, they would repsat this informa- tion frequently, perhaps for a month afterwards, setting up their neighbour's offence as a foil to their own pretended honesty. In appreciating the character of these people for 186 ACCOUNT OF THE ESC^UlxMAUX. ir ■' i ■ ■ ■;;!i- ■. • • ■ ■ ■ .• i ' . i ' ' ' ill.. ': ■ 1* i . i ■ 1," ; 1 -■-: 1 H$ ; ' P^j-::;- Kk| :. 1 honesty, however, we must not fail to make clue allowance for the degree of temptation to which they were daily exposed amidst the boundless stores of wealth which our ships appeared to them to furnish. To draw a parallel case, we must suppose a European of the lower class suffered to roanj about amidst hoards of gold and silver; for nothing less valuable can be justly compared with the wood and iron that everywhere presented themselves to their view on board the ships. The European and the Esquimaux who, in cases so similar, both resist the temptation of stealing, must be considered pretty nearly on a par in the scale of honesty ; and judging in this manner, the balance might possibly be found in favour of the latter when compared with any similar number of Europeans taken at random from the lower class. In what has been hitherto said, regard has been had only to their dealings with its. In their trans- actions among themselves there is no doubt that, except in one or two privileged cases, such as that of destitute widows, the strictest honesty prevails, and that as regards the good of their own com- munity they are generally honest people. We have in numberless instances sent presents by one to another, and invariably found that they had been faithfully delivered. The manner in which their various implements are frequently left outside their huts is a proof, indeed, that robbery is scarcely known among them. It is true that there is not an article in the possession of one of them of which any BARTER. 187 ie clue which stores em to appose roaiij othiijg 5 wood Ives to m and L resist pretty idsfiui^: found h any 1 from s been trans- } that, LS that evails, com- 3 have ►ne to [ been their i their arcely aot an th any of the rest will not readily name the owner, and the detection of a theft would therefore be certain and immediate. Certainty of detection, however, among a lawless and ferocious people, instead of preventing robbery, would more probably add violence and murder to the first crime, and the strongest would ultimately gain the upper hand. We cannot, there- fore, but admire the undisturbed security in which these people hold their property without having recourse to any restraint beyond that wdiich is incurred by the tacitly received law of mutual forbearance. In the barter of their various commodities their dealings with us were fair and upright, though latterly they were by no means backward or inex- pert in driving a bargain. The absurd and childish exchanges which they at first made with our people induced them subsequently to complain that tlie Kabloonas had stolen their things, though the profit had been eventually a hundredfold in their favour. Many such complaints were made when the only fault in the purchaser had been excessive liberality, and frequently also as a retort by way of warding off the imputation of some dishonesty of their own. A trick not uncommon with the women was to endeavour to excite the commiseration and to tax the bounty of one person by relating some cruel theft of this kind that had, as they said, been practised upon them by another. One day, after I had bought a knife of Togolat, she told Captain Lyon, in a most piteous tone, that Parree had stolen i ii;f other to their spears, )ourine, im, and own-up netimes »ne and 3 do in ; sound, ther, as ;urns it f many are the . some- kvithout ►oys are arsions, ss; and trusted ance of ven we 3casins, ) at his , under jervices daily increase in value to the whole tribe. On our first intercourse with them we supposed that they would not unwillingly have parted with their chil- dren in consideration of some valuable present, but in this we afterwards found that we were much mistaken. Happening one day to call myself Toolooak's attata (father), and pretend that he was to remain with me on board the ship, I received from the old man, his father, no other answer than what seemed to be very strongly and even satirically implied, by his taking one of our gentlemen by the arm and calling him his son; thus intimating that the adoption which he proposed was as feasible and as natural as my own. The custom of adoption is carried to very great lengths among these people, and served to explain to us several apparent inconsistencies with respect to their relationships. The adoption of a child in civilized countries has usually for its motive either a tenderness for the object itself, or some affection or pity for its deceased, helpless, or unknown parents. Among the Esquimaux, however, with whom the two first of these causes would prove but little excitement, and the last can have no place, the custom owes its origin entirely to the obvious advantage of thus providing for a man's own sub- sistence in advanced life ; and it is consequently confined almost without exception to the adoption of sons, who can alone contribute materially to the support of an aged and infirm parent. When a man adopts the son of another as his own, he is said to U' r»l it • I 200 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. ! V, ': ! *^tego", or take him; and at whatever age this is doDe (though it generally happens in infancy), the child then lives with his new parents, calls them father and mother, is sometimes even ignorant of any such transfer having been made, especially if his real parents should be dead; and whether he knows it or not, is not always willing to acknow- ledge any but those with whom he lives. Without imputing much to the natural affection of these people for their offspring, which, like tlieir other passions, is certainly not remarkable for its strength, there would seem, on the score of disinterestedness, a degree of consideration in a man's thus giving his son to another, which is scarcely compatible with the general selfishness of the Esquimaux character; but there is reason to suppose that the expediency of this measure is sometimes suggested by a de- ficiency of the mother's milk, and not unfrequently perhaps by the premature death of the real parent. The agreement seems to be always made between the fathers, and to diftei in no respect from the transfer of other property, except that none can equal in value the property thus disposed of. The good sense, good fortune, or extensive claims of some individuals were particularly apparent in this way, from the number of sons they had adopted. Toolemak, deriving perhaps some advantage from his qualifications as Angetkook, had taken care to negotiate for the adoption of some of the finest male children of the tribe; a provision which now appeared the more necessary from his having lost INHUMANITY TO THE AGED. 201 this is ly), the s them rant of iially if :her he cknovv- ^^ithout f these r other rength, edness, ing his ie with iracter; 3cliency a de- [uently parent, etween )m the :ie can The ims of in this opted. J from are to finest h now g lost four children of his own, besides Noogloo, who was one of his tego'd sons. In one of the two instances that came to our knowledge of the adoption of a female child, both its own parents were still living, nor could we ascertain the motive for this deviation from the more general custom. In their behaviour to old people, whose age or infirmities render them useless and therefore burden- some to the community, the Esquimaux betray a degree of insensibility, bordering on inhumanity, and ill- repay ing the kindness of an indulgent parent. The old man Hikkeiera, who was very ill during the winter, used to lie day after day little regarded by his wife, son, daughter, and other relatives, except that his wretched state constituted, as they well knew, a forcible claim upon our charity; and, with this view, it was sure to excite a whine of sympathy and commiseration whenever we visited or spoke of him. When, however, a journey of ten miles was to be performed over the ice, they left him to find his way with a stick in the best manner he could, while the young and robust ones were many of them drawn on sledges. There is, indeed, no doubt that, had their necessities or mode of life required a longer journey than he could thus have accomplished, they would have pushed on like the Indians and left a fellow-creature to perish. It was certainly con- sidered incumbent on his son to support him, and he was fortunate in that son's being a very good man; but a few more such journeys to a man of seventy would not impose this incumbrance upon ^ 'I 202 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. f I ■ I'fe. I) ■:( :!ir V''u' 1. ■'> ' Mil him much longer. Illumea, the mother of several growu-up children, lived also in the same apartment with her youngest son, and in the same hut with her other relations. She did not, however, inter- fere, as in Greenland, with the management of her son's domestic concerns, though his wife was half an idiot. She was always badly clothed, and even in the midst of plenty not particularly well fed, receiving everything more as an act of charity than otherwise; and she will probably be less and less attended to in proportion as she stands more in need of assistance. The different families appear always to live on good terms with each other, though each preserves its own habitation and property as distinct and independent as any housekeeper in England. The persons living under one roof, who are generally closely related, maintain a degree of harmony among themselves which is scarcely ever disturbed. The more turbulent passions, which when unrestrained by religious principle or unchecked by the dread of human punishment, usually create so much havoc in the world, seem to be very seldom excited in the breasts of these people, which renders personal violence or immoderate anger extremely rare among them; and one may sit in a hut for a whole day, and never witness an angry word or look, except in driving out the dogs. If they take an offence, it is more common for them to show it by the more quiet method of sulkiness; and this they now and then tried as a matter of experiment with us. Okotook, SULKINESS. 203 several L'tment t with iiiter- of her IS half cl even 11 fed, y than id less Lore in ive on 3serves st and , The [lerally among The rained ead of havoc ted in rsonal lamong 3 day, ept in e, it is B quiet then otook, who was often in this humour, once displayod it to some of our gentlemen in his own hut, by turning his back and frequently repeating the expression "Good-bye", as a broad hint to them to go away. Toolooak was also a little given to tliis mood, but never retained it long, and there was no malice mixed with his displeasure. One evening that he slept on board the Fury he either offended Mr. Skeoch, or thought that he had done so, by this kind of humour; at all events, they parted for the night without any formal reconciliation. The next morning Mr. Skeoch was awakened at an unusually early hour by Toolooak's entering his cabin and taking hold of his hand to shake it Ijy way of mak- ing up the supposed quarrel. On a disposition thus naturally charitable, what might not Christian education and Christian principles effect! Where a joke is evidently intended, I never knew people more ready to join in it than these are. If ridiculed for any particularity of manner, figure, or counten- ance, they are sure not to be long behindhand in returning it, and that very often with interest. If we were the aggressors in this way, some ironical observation respecting the Kabloonas was frequently the consequence; and no small portion of wit as well as irony was at times mixed with their raillery. In point of intellect, as well as disposition, great variety was of course perceptible among the dif- ferent individuals of this tribe; but few of them were wanting in that respect. Some, indeed, pos- sessed a degree of natural quickness and intelligence ?; « ^ff 204 i,M;: ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. IPS could hardly be surpa lis :r which perhaps could hardly natives of any country. Iligliuk, though one of the least amiable, was particularly thus gifted. When slie really wished to develop our meaning, she would desire her husband and all the rest to hold their tongues, and would generally make it out while they were puzzling their heads to no purpose. In returning her answers, the very expression of her countenance, though one of the plainest among them, was almost of itself sufficient to convey her meaning; and there was in these cases a peculiar decisive energy in her manner of speaking which was extremely interesting. This woman would indeed have easily learned anything to which she chose to direct her attention ; and had her lot been cast in a civilized country instead of this dreary region, which serves alike to "freeze the genial current of the soul " and body, she would probably have been a very clever person. For want of a sufficient object, however, neither she nor any of her companions ever learned a dozen words of English, except our names, with which it was their interest to be familiar, and which, long before we left them, any child could repeat, though in their own style of pronunciation. Besides the natural authority of parents and hus- bands, these people appear to admit no kind of superiority among one another, except a certain , degree of superstitious reverence for their angetkooks^ and their tacitly following the counsel or steps of the most active seal-catcher on their hunting ex- HABITS. 205 in the of the When would [ their while e. In )f her imong 3y her jculiar which would :h she > been ireary genial bably of a of her iglish, terest them, yle of hus- id of rtain kooksy jps of g ex- J cursions. The word nallegak, used in Greenland to express "master" and "lord" in the Esquimaux translations of the Scriptures,they were not acquainted with. One of the young men at Winter Island ap- peared to be considered somewhat in the light of a servant to Okotook, living with the latter, and quietly allowing him to take possession of all the most valuable presents which he received from us. Being a sociable people, they unite in considerable numbers to form a settlement for the winter; but on the return of spring they again separate into several parties, each appearing to choose his own route, without regard to that of the rest, but all making their arrangements without the slio-htest disagreement or difference of opinion that we could ever discover. In all their movements they seem to be actuated by one simultaneous feeling that is truly admirable. Superior as our arts, contrivances, and materials must unquestionably have appeared to them, and eager as they were to profit by this superiority, yet, contradictory as it may seem, they certainly looked upon us in many respects with profound contempt, maintaining that idea of self-sufficiency which has induced them, in common with the rest of their nation, to call themselves, by way of distinction, Inniiee, or mankind. One day, for instance, in securing some of the gear of a sledge, Okotook broke a part of it composed of a piece of our white line, and I shall never forget the contemptuous sneer with which he muttered in soliloquy the word 20(j ACCOUNT OB' THE ESQUIMAUX. E''^ fell *4h |:'. 1 ' ml- md'''i ** Kabloona!" in toktMi of the inferiority of our materials to his own. It is ha})])y, j)erhaps, when people possessing so few of the good things of this life can be thus contented with the little allotted them. The men, though low in stature, are not wanting in muscular strength in proportion to their size, or in activity and hardiness. They are good and even quick walkers, and occasionally beai" much bodily fatigue, wet, and cold, without appearing to suffer by it, much less to complain of it. Whatever labour they have gone through, and with whatever suctcess in procuring game, no individual ever seems to arrogate himself the credit of having done more than his neighbour for the general good. Nor do I conceive there is reason to doubt their personal courage, though they are too good-natured often to excite others to put that quality to the test. It is true, they will recoil with horror at the tale of an Indian massacre, and probably cannot conceive what should induce one set of men deliberately and with- out provocation to murder another. War is not their trade ; ferocity forms no part of the disposition of the Esquimaux. AVhatever manly qualities they possess are exercised in a different way, and put to a far more worthy purpose. They are fishermen, and not warriors; but I cannot call that man a coward who, at the age of one-and- twenty, will attack a Polar bear single-handed, or fearlessly commit him- self to floating masses of ice which the next puff of wind may drift for ever from the shore. DOMESTIC HKLATIONS. 207 If, in short, tliey are deficient in some of tlie liigbcr virtues, as they are called, of savn<^e life, they are cert;iinly free also from some of its hiackest vices; and their want of brilliant (jualities is fully compensated by those which, while they dazzle less, do more service to society and more honour to human nature. If, for instance, they have not the mag- nanimity which would enable them to endure with- out a murmur the most excruciatino^ torture, neither have they the ferocious cruelty that incites a man to inflict that torture on a hel})less fellow-creature. If their gratitude for favours be not lively nor lasting, neither is their resentment of injuries im- placable, nor their hatred deadly. I do not say there are not exceptions to this rule, though we have never witnessed any; but it is assuredly not their general chara(iter. When viewed more nearly in their domestic rela- tions, the comparison will, I believe, be still more in their favour. It is here as a social being, as a husband and the father of a family, promoting within his own little sphere the benefit of that com- munity in which Providence has cast his lot, that the moral character of a savage is truly to be sought; and who can turn without horror from the Esqui- maux, peaceably seated after a day of honest labour with his wife and children in their snow-built hut, to the self-willed and vindictive Indian, wantonly plunging his dagger into the bosom of the helpless woman whom nature bids him cherish and protect! Of the few arts possessed by this simple people 'ri! 208 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. 'Ml . H some account has already been given in the descrip' tion of their various implements. As mechanics, they have little to boast when compared with other savages lying under equal disadvantages as to scanti- ness of tools and materials. As carpenters, they can scarf two pieces of wood together, secure them with pins of whalebone or ivory, fashion the timbers of a canoe, shoe a paddle, and rivet a scrap of iron into a spear or arrow head. Their principal tool is the knife (pamia), and, considering the excellence of a great number which they possessed previous to our intercourse with them, the work they do is remarkably coarse and clumsy. Their very manner of holding and handling a knife is the most awkward that can be imagined. For the purpose of boring holes they have a drill and bow so exactly like our own tliat they need no further description, except that the end of the drill-handle, \v7hich our artists place against their breast, is rested by these people against a piece of wood or bone held in their mouths, and having a cavity fitted to receive it. With the use of the saw they were well acquainted, but had nothing of this kind in their possession better than a notched piece of iron. One or two small European axes were lashed to handles in a contrary direction to ours; that is, to be used like an adze, a form which, according to the observation of a traveller' well qualified to judge, savages in general prefer. Tt was said that these people steamed or boiled wood in order to bend it for fashioning the timbers ^ Ledvard. Proceedings of the African Association. WOMEN S WORK. 209 descrip' chanics, ;h other > scanti- rs, they re them timbers of iron . tool is eellence ;^ious to Y do is manner ivkward boring ike our except artists people nouths, ith the ut had [3r than vopean rectioii form iveller' prefer. boiled imbers of their canoes. As fishermen or seamen, they can put on a woolding or seizing with sufficient strength and security, and are acquainted with some of the most simple and serviceable knots in use amono- us. ■I ^ In all the arts, however, practised by the men, it is observable that the ingenuity lies in the principle, not in the execution. The experience of ages has led them to adopt the most efficacious methods, but their practice as handicrafts has gone no further than absolute necessity requires; they bestow little labour upon neatness or ornament. In some of the few arts practised by the women there is much more dexterity displayed, particularly in that important branch of a housewife's business, sewing, which even with their own clumsy needles of bone they perform with extraordinary neatness. They had, however, several steel needles of a three- cornered shape, which they kept in a very con- venient case, consisting of a strip of leather passed through a hollow bone and having its end remain- ing out, so that the needles which are stuck into it may be drawn in and out at pleasure. These cases were sometimes ornamented by cutting; and several thimbles of leather, one of which in sewing is worn on the first finger, are usually attached to it, to- gether with a bunch of narrow spoons and other small articles liable to be lost. The thread they use is the sinew of the reindeer (tooktoo ewdlloo, or, when they cannot procure this, the swallow-pipe of the tieitieh. This may be split into threads of different sizes, according to the nature of their (803) f %[:[ \MIV ■ 210 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. 5 Si iV i'r, i .,11 U'y' li iji,'( ) work, and is certainly a most admirable material. This, together with any other articles of a similar kind, they keep in little bags, which are sometimes made of the skin of bird's feet, disposed with the claws downwards in a very neat and tasteful man- ner. In sew^ing, the point of the needle is entered and drawn through in a direction towards the body, and not from it or towards one side, as with our sempstresses. They sew the deer-skins with a " round seam ", and the water-tight boots and shoes are " stitched ". The latter is performed in a very adroit and efficacious manner, by putting the needle only half through the substance of one part of the seal-skin, so as to leave no hole for admitting the water. In cutting out the clothes, the women do it after one regular and uniform pattern, which pro- bably descends unaltered from generation to genera- tion. The skin of the deer's head is always made to form the apex of the hood, while that of the neck and shoulders comes down the back of the jacket; and so of every other part of the animal, which is appropriated to its particular portion of the dress. To soften the seal-skins of which the boots, shoes, and mittens are made, the women chew them for an hour or two together, and the young girls are often seen employed in thus preparing the materials for their mothers. The covering of the canoes is a part of the women's business, in which good work- manship is especially necessary to render the whole smooth and water-tight. The skins, which are those of the neitiek only, are prepared by scraping LEATHER DRESSING. 211 material. 1 similar •metimes with the ful man- . entered ;he body, tvith our with a ad shoes n a very le needle 't of the ting the Dmen do lich pro- • genera- vs made :he neck jacket; v^hich is e dress. s, shoes, n for an re often ials for >es is a i work- e whole ich are craping off the hair and the fleshy parts with an ooloOy and stretching them out tight on a frame, in which state they are left over the lamps or in the sun for several days to dry; and after this they are well chewed by the women to make them fit for working. The dressing of leather and of skins in the hair is an art which the women have brought to no inconsiderable degree of perfection. They perform this by first cleansing the skin from as much of the fat and fleshy matter as the ooloo will take off", and then rubbing it hard for several hours with a blunt scraper, called sidkodt, so as nearly to dry it. It is then put into a vessel containing urine, and left to steep a couple of days, after which a drying com- pletes the process. Skins dressed in the hair are, however, not always thus steeped; the women, in- stead of this, chewing them for hours together, till they are quite soft and clean. Some of the leather thus dressed looked nearly as well as ours, and the hair was as firmly fixed to the pelt; but there was in this respect a very great difference, according to the art or attention of the housewife. Dyeing is an art wholly unknown to them. The women are very expert at platting, which is usually done with three threads of sinew; if greater strength is required, several of these are twisted slackly together, as in the bow-strings. The quickness with which some of the women plat is really surprising; and it is well that they do so, for the quantity required for the bows alone would otherwise occupy half the year in completing it. f^J 212 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. \r' i MS I 'Ev. r . It may be supposed that among so cheerful a people as the Esquimaux there are many games or sports practised ; indeed, it was rarely th[it we visited their habitations without seeino[ some en^ao^ed in them. One of these our gentlemen saw at Winter Island, on an occasion when most of the men were absent from the huts on a sealing excursion, and in this Iligliuk was the chief performer. Being re- quested to amuse them in this way, she suddenly unbound her hair, platted it, tied both ends to- gether to keep it out of her way, and then, stepping out into the middle of the hut, began to make the most hideous faces that can be conceived, by draw- ing both lips into her mouth, poking forward her chin, squinting frightfully, occasionally shutting one eye, and moving her head from side to side as if her neck had been dislocated. This exhibition, which they call ayokU-tdk-poke,^ and which is evidently considered an accomplishment that few of them possess in perfection, distorts every feature in the most horrible manner imaginable, and would, I think, put our most skilful horse-collar grinners quite out of countenance. The next performance consists in looking stead- fastly and gravely forward and repeating the words tcibak-tahak, keiho-keiho, ke-bdng-e-nfi-td-eek, kebang- enutoeek, timdtdmd, amatama^ in the order in which they are here placed, but each at least four times, and always by a peculiar modulation of the voice, ' This name, as well as those of the other games I am now describing, is given in the third person singular of the verb used to express the performance. I GAMES. 213 jerful a imes or visited iged in Winter m were and in ing re- iddenly ids to- te pping ake tlie ^ draw- ird her ing one s if her which idently them in the )uld, I dinners stead - words djctng- whieh times, voice, Jscribing, )res8 the speaking them in pairs, as they are coupled above. The sound is made to proceed from the throat in a way much resembling ventriloquism, to which art it is indeed an approach. After the last amatama Iligliuk always pointed with her finger towards her body, and pronounced the word angetJcook, steadily retaining her gravity for five or six seconds, and then bursting into a loud laugh, in which she was joined by all the rest. The women sometimes pro- duce a much more guttural and unnatural sound, repeating principally the word ikkeree-ikkeree, coup- ling them as before, and staring in such a manner as to make their eyes appear ready to burst out of their sockets with the exertion. Two or more of them will sometimes stand up face to face, and with great quickness and regularity respond to each other, keeping such exact time that the sound appears to come from one throat instead of several. Very few of the females are possessed of this accomplishment, which is called pitkoo-she-Tdk-poke, and it is not uncommon to see several of the younger females practising it. A third part of the game, distin- guished by the word keitik-poke, consists only in falling on each knee alternately, a piece of agility which they perform with tolerable quickness, con- sidering the bulky and awkward nature of their dress. The last kind of individual exhibition was still performed by Iligliuk, to whom in this, as in almost everything else, the other women tacitly acknow- ledged their inferiority, by quietly giving place to 1 I rl ./.-fl 214 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. 1 1) |.( , !■ v^ her on every occasion. She now once more came forward, and letting her arms hang down loosely and bending her body very much forward, shook herself with extreme violence, as if her whole frame had been strongly convulsed, uttering at the same time, in a wild tone of voice, some of the unnatural sounds before mentioned. This being at an end, a new exhibition was com- menced, in which ten or twelve women took a part, and which our gentlemen compared to blindman's- buiF. A circle being formed, and a boy despatched to look out at the door of the hut, Iligliuk, still the principal actress, placed herself in the centre, and after making a variety of guttural noises for about half a minute, shut her eyes, and ran about till she had taken hold of one of the others, whose business it then became to take her station in the centre, so that almost every woman in her turn occupied this post, and in her own peculiar way, either by distor- tion of countenance or other gestures, performed her part in the game. This continued three-quarters of an hour, and, from the precaution of placing a look- out, who was withdrawn when it was over, as well as from other indications, there is reason to believe that it is usually performed without the knowledge of their husbands. Kaoongut was present indeed on this occasion, but his age seemed to render him a privileged person ; besides which his own wife did not join in the game. The most common amusement, however, and to which their husbands made no objection, they per- i.;f.: SINGING ENTERTAINMENT. 215 re came loosely I, shook le frame le same matural as com- : a part, dman's- patched still the re, and f about till she )usiness itre, so ed this distor- ted her 'ters of a look- is well Delieve tvledge indeed )r him ife did ,nd to Y per- formed at Winter Island expressly for our gratifica- tion. The females, being collected to the number of ten or twelve, stood in as large a circle as the hut would admit, with Okotook in the centre. He began by a sort of half-howling, half-singing noise, which appeared as if designed to call the attention of the women, the latter soon commencing the Amna Aya song hereafter described. This they continued without variety, remaining quite still while Okotook walked round within the circle; his body was rather bent forward, his eyes sometimes closed, his arms constantly moving up and down, and now and then hoarsely vociferating a word or two, as if to increase the animation of the singers, who, whenever he did this, quitted the chorus and rose into the words of the song. At the end of ten minutes they all left off at once, and, after one minute^s interval, com- menced a second act precisely similar and of equal duration, Okotook continuing to invoke their Muse as before. A third act w^hich followed this varied only in his frequently towards the close throwing his feet up before and clapping his hands together, by which exertion he was thrown into a violent perspiration. He then retired, desiring a young man (who, as we were informed, was the only indi- vidual of several then present thus qualified) to take his place in the centre as master of the ceremonies, when the same antics as before were again gone through. After this description it will scarcely be necessary to remark that nothing can be poorer in its way than this tedious singing recreation, which, t ^fni li; : ' IM 216 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. as well as everything in which dancing is con- cerned, they express by the word mdmekpohe. They seem, however, to take great delight in it ; and even a number of the men, as well as all the children, crept into the hut by degrees to peep at the performance. The Esquimaux women and children often amuse themselves with a game not unlike our "skip- rope". This is performed by two women holding the ends of a line and whirling it regularly round and round, while a third jumps over it in the middle according to the following order: — She commences by jumping twice on both feet, then alternately with the right and left, and next four times with the feet slipped one behind the other, the rope passing once round at each jump. After this she performs a circle on the ground, jumping about half- a-dozen times in the course of it, which bringing her to her original position, the same thing is repeated as often as it can be done without entang- ling the line. One or two of the women performed this with considerable agility and adroitness, con- sidering the clumsiness of their boots and jackets, and seemed to pride themselves in some degree on the qualification. A second kind of this game consists in two women holding a long rope by its ends and whirling it round in such a manner, over the heads of two others standing close together near the middle of the bight, that each of these shall jump over it alternately. The art, therefore, which is indeed considerable, depends more on those whirl- IS con- ad even hildren, at the I amuse " skip- holding r round middle imences irnately 3s with le rope -his she it half- ringing ling is ntang- "ormed con- ackets, ree on game by its % over D^ether shall which whirl- FONDNESS FOR MUSIC. 217 \ ing the rope than on the jumpers, who are, however, obliged to keep exact time, in order to be ready for the rope passing under their feet. The whole of these people, but especially the women, are fond of music, both vocal and iiistru- mental. Some of them might be said to be passion- ately so, removing their hair from off their ears and bending their heads forward, as if to catch the sounds more distinctly, whenever we amused them in this manner. Their own music is entirely vocal, unless indeed the drum or tambourine before mentioned be considered an exception. The voices of the women are soft and feminine, and when singing with the men are pitched an octave higher than theirs. They have most of them so far good ears that, in whatever key a soug is commenced by one of them, the rest will always join in perfect unison. After singing for ten minutes, the key had usually fallen a full semitone. Only two of them, of whom Iligliuk was one, could catch the tune as pitched by an instrument; which made it difficult for most of them to complete the writing of the notes, for if they once left off they were sure to recommence in some other key, though a Hute or violin were playing at the time. During the season passed at Winter Island, which appears to have been a healthy one to the Esquimaux, we had little opportunity of becoming acquainted with the diseases to which they are subject. Our subsequent intercourse with a greater number of these people at Igioolik having untbrtunately aiibrded : I'l f '^ u B ^ . ■!;■■' iff >r ,, h; '$5u K i I n I: 218 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX more frequent and fatal instances of sickness among them, I here insert Mr. Edwards's remarks on this subject: — " Exempted as these people are from a host of diseases usually ascribed to the vitiated habits of more civilized life, as well as from those equally numerous and more destructive ones engendered by the pestilential effluvia that float in the atmosphere of more favoured climes, the diversity of their maladies is, as might d priori be inferred, very limited. But, unfortunately, that improvidence which is so remarkable in their kindred tribes is also with them proof against the repeated le«8ons of bitter experience they are doomed to endure. Alternate excesses and privations mark their pro- gress through life, and consequent misery in one or another shape is an active agent in effecting as much mischief amongst them as the diseases above alluded to produce in other countries. i\\e mortality arising from a few diseases and wretchedness com- bined seems sufficient to check anything like a progressive increase of their numbers. The great proportion of deaths to births that occurred during the period of our intercourse with them has already been noticed. " It is doubtful in what proportion the mortality is directly occasioned by disease. Few perhaps die, in the strict sense of the term, a natural death. A married person of either sex rarely dies without leaving destitute a parent, a widow, or a helpless female infant. To be deprived of near relations is DISEASES. 219 among m this lost of bits of qually red by sphere their , very idence bes is e«8oiis idiire. r pro- 3ne or Qg as above tality com- ike a great uring :eady :ality die, A )hout pless ns is i 1 to be deprived of everything; sue. unfuri mates ni'e usually abandoned to their fate, and too gen^i ^y perish. A widow and two or three children left under these circumstances were known to have 'iiod of inanition, from the neglect and apathy of their neighbours, who jeered at the commanders of our ships on the failure of their humane endeavours to save what the Esquimaux considered as worthless. "Our first communication with these people at Winter Island gave us a more favourable impression of their general health than subsequent experience confirmed. There, however, they were not free from sickness. A catarrhal affection in the month of February became generally prevalent, from which they readily recovered after the exciting causes — intemperance and exposure to wet — had ceased to operate. A solitary instance of pleurisy also occurred, which probably might have ended fatally but for timely assistance. Our intercourse with them in the summer was more interrupted; but at our occa- sional meetings they were observed to be enjoying excellent health. It is probable that their certain supplies of food, and the nomad kind of life they lead in its pursuit during that season, are favourable to health. Nutrition goes on actively, and an astonishing increase of strength and fullness is acquired. Active diseases might now be looked for, but that the powers of nature are providentially- exerted with effect. "The unlimited use of stimulating animal food, on which they are from infancy fed, induces at an VA r IHr'/fiw 1 Ui jmp « ', i, Hffli ft .^ Hi-'! i 220 ACCOrNT OF TIIK KS(^UIMAUX. early age a Inglily plethoric state of the vascular system. The weaker over-distended vessels of the nose quickly yield to the increased impetus of the blood, and an active hemorrhage relieves the subject. As the same causes continue to be applied in excess at frequent intervals, and are followed by similar effects, a kind of vicarious hemorrhage at length becomes established by habit; superseding the intervention of art, and having no small share in maintaining a balance in the circulating system. The phenomenon is too constant to have escaped the observation of those who have visited the different Esquimaux people; a party of them has indeed rarely been seen that did not exhibit two or three instances of the fact. "About the month of September the approach of winter induced the Esquimaux at Igloolik to abandon their tents and to retire into their more established village. The majority were here crowded into huts of a permanent construction, the materials composing the sides being stones and the bones of whales, and the roofs being formed of skins, turf, and snow; the rest of the people were lodged in snow-huts. For a while they continued very healthy ; in fact, as long as the temperature of the interior did not exceed the freezing-point, the vapours of the atmosphere congealed upon the walls, and the air remained dry and tolerably pure; besides, their hard-frozen winter stock of walrus did not at this time tempt them to indulge their appetites immo- derately. In January the temperature suffered an H (JLUTTONV 221 scalar )f the of the il)ject. i3X(;ess imilar ength the [lie in 'stem, cuped I tlie a has wo or •roach ik to more iwded ;erials 3es of turf, sd ill Jthy; berior rs of I the their this timo- d an \ isoiuil)le rise, some sucfossful ca])tiiros of waliiis also took j)hicc, and thcso circnnistanccs, (•<)nil)iii('(l perhaps with sonic snp(!rstiti(nis customs, of wliicli wo were ignorant, seemed the signal for oivin«'- wav to sensuality. The lamps were ac(iumuhitcd and the kettles more frequently replenished, and oluttony in its most disgusting foi'm became for a while the order of the day. The Escpiimaux were now ^^cen wallowing in filth, while some surfeited lay stretched upon their skins enormously distend(Ml, and with their friends employed in rolling them about to assist the operations of oppressed nature. Th(i roots of their huts were no longer congealed, but dri[)ping with wet and threatening speedy dissolution. The air was in the bone-huts damp, hot, and, beyond sufierance, offensive with putrid exhalations from the decomposing relics of oftals, or other animal matter, permitted to remain from year to year undisturbed in these horrible sinks. " What the consequences might have been had this state of affairs long continued, it is not difficult to imagine; but, fortunately for them, an early and gradual dispersion took plac-e, so that by the end of January few individuals were left in the village. The rest, in divided bodies, established themselves in snow-huts upon the sea-ice at some distance from the land. Before this change had been completed, disorders of an inflammatory character had appeared. A few went away sick, some were unable to remove, and others taken ill upon the ice, and we heard of the death of several about this period. il 222 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. I I U J'' fK- ■ " The cold snow-huts into which they had moved, though infinitely preferable to those abandoned, were ill-suited to the reception of people already sick or predisposed, from the above-named causes, to sickness; many of them were also deficient in clothing to meet the rigorous weather that followed. Nevertheless, after this violent excitement had passed away, a comparatively good condition of health was enjoyed for the remainder of the winter and spring months. " Their distance from the ships at once precluded any effectual assistance being rendered them at their huts, and their removal on board with safety; the complaints of those who died at the huts, therefore, did not come under observation. It appears, how- ever, to have been acute inflammation of some of the abdominal viscera, very rapid in its career. In the generality the disease assumed a more insidious and sub- acute form, under which the patient lingered for a while, and was then either carried off by a diarrhoea or slowly recovered by the powers of nature. Three or four individuals who, with some risk and trouble, were brought to the ships, we were providentially instrumental in recovering; but two others, almost helpless patients, were so far exhausted before their arrival that the endeavours used were unsuccessful, and death was probably hastened by their removal. " Abdominal and thoracic inflammations, in fact, seem to be the only active diseases they have to encounter. Where a spontaneous recovery does not EPILEPSY. 223 moved, doned, xlready causes, ent in llowed. had ion of winter eluded t their y; the refore, 5, how- )me of r. In sidious rigered ' by a ers of some e were it two lusted I were ed by 1 fact, ve to ^s not take place, these prove fatal in a short time. The only instance among them of chronie sequels to those complaints occurred in an old man almost in dotage, whose feeble remains of life were wasting away by an ulceration of the lungs. "No traces of the exanthematous disorders met our observation. A solitary case of epilepsy was seen in a deaf and dumb boy, who eventually died. Chronic rheumatism occurs, but it is rare and not severe. I have some doubt in saying that scurvy exists among them. A disease, however, having a close affinity to it was witnessed, but as in the oidy case that came fairly under our notice it was com- plicated with the symptoms of a previous debili- tating disease, the diagnosis was difficult. During the patient's recovery from one of the abdominal attacks above mentioned, the gums were observed to be spongy, separated from the teeth and reverted, bleeding, and in various parts presenting the livid appearance of scorbutic gums. At the same period arose pains of an anomalous description, and of con- siderable severity about the shoulders and thorax. These gradually yielded as he recovered strength, but were succeeded by other pains and tenderness of the bones and muscles of the thighs and legs. The citric acid was given to him freely from the beo-iiming, until it interfered with his appetite and bowels, when it was omitted. Topical applications were at the same time used, and afterwards con- tinued. Signs of amendment appeared before it became necessary to withhold the vegetable acid, 224 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. and it was not recurred to while he remained on board. Urged by impatience of control, he left iis to join his countrymen before he had well regained his strength; but we saw him on board several times afterwards in a progressive state of improve- ment, and, though yet weak, free from scorbutic symptoms. Another instance oftered in a woman, whom I saw but once. Her gums were spongy and reverted, but not discoloured ; her countenance sallow, lips pale, and she suffered under general debility, without local pain or rigidity of the limbs. She remained in this state for a long time, and eventually, as the weather improved, recovered without assistance. " That affection of the eyes known by the name of snow-blindness, is extremely frequent among these people. With them it scarcely ever goes beyond painful irritation, whilst among strangers inflammation is sometimes the consequence. I have not seen them use any other remedy besides the exclusion of light; but as a preventive a wooden eye-screen is worn, very simple in its construction, consisting of a curved piece of wood six or seven inches long and ten or twelve lines broad. It is tied over the eyes like a pair of spectacles, being adapted to the forehead and nose, and hollowed out to favour the motion of the eyelids. A few rays of light only are admitted through a narrow slit an inch long, cut opposite to each eye. This contriv- ance is more simple and quite as efKcient as the more heavy one possessed by some who have been , ;i, M AMULETS. 225 led on left us gained several prove- ►rbutic Oman, ly and ;nance eneral limbs. i, and >vered name mono- goes mgers have s the Doden ction, seven It is being d out rays it an itriv- 5 the been fortunate enough to acquire wood for the purpose. This is merely the former instrument complicated by the addition of a horizontal plate projecting three or four inches from its upper rim, like the peak of a jockey's cap. In Hudson's Strait the latter is common, and the former in Greenland, where also we are told they wear with advantage the simple horizontal peak alone. "There are upon the whole no people more destitute of curative means than these. With the exception of the hemorrhage already mentioned, which they duly appreciate, and have been observed to excite artificially to cure hoadaclie, they are ignorant of any rational method of procuring relief. It has not been ascertained that they use a single herb medicinally. As prophylactics they wear amulets, which are usually the teeth, bones, or hair of some animal, the more rare apparently the more valuable. In absolute sickness they depend entirely upon their Angetkooks, who, they persuade them- selves, have infiuence over some submarine deities who govern their destiny. The mummeries of these impostors, consisting in pretended consultations with their oracles, are looked upon with confidence, and their mandates, however absurd, superstitiously submitted to. These aie constituted of unmeaning ceremonies and prohibitions generally affecting tlie diet, both in kind and mode, but never in quantity. Seal's flesh is forbidden, for instance, in one disease, that of the walrus in tlie other; the heart is denied to some and the liver to others. A poor woman, '998 > f 226 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. IP ill m w -)ji on discovering that the meat she had in her mouth was a piece of fried lieart instead of the liver, appeared horror-struck; and a man was in equal tribulation at having eaten, by mistake, a piece of meat cooked in his wife's kettle. " This charlatanerie, although we may ridicule the imposition, is not, however, with them, as it is with us, a positive evil. In the total absence of the medical art, it proves generally innoxious; while in many instances it must be a source of real benefit and comfort, by buoying up the sick spirit with confident hopes of recovery, and eventually enabling the vital powers to rise superior to the malady, when, without such support, the sufferer might have sunk under its weight. It was attempted to ascer- tain whether climate effected any difference in animal heat between them and ourselves by fre- quently marking the temperature of the mouth; but the experiments were necessarily made, as occasion offered, under such various states of vascular excite- ment, as to afford nothing conclusive. As it was, their temperature varied from 97° to 102°, coincid- ing pretty nearly with our own under similar circumstances. The pulse offered nothing singulnr. " I may here remark that there is in many indi- viduals a peculiarity about the eye, amounting in some instances to deformity, which I have not noticed elsewhere. It consists in the inner corner of the eye being entirely covered by a duplication of the adjacent loose skin of the eyelids and noso. This fold is lightly stretched over the edges of tlie m mouth liver, equal iece of idicule IS it is I of the hile in benefit t with tabling lalady, t have ascer- ice in >y fre- h; but icasion excite- t was, )incicl- similar Lgulnr. f indi- ing in ^e not corner i cation I nose, of tlie POPULATION. 227 eyelids, and forms, as it were, a third palpebra of a crescentic shape. The aperture is in consequence rendered somewhat pyriform, the inner curvature being very obtuse, and in some individuals distorted by an angle formed where the fold crosses the border of the lower palpebra. This singularity depends upon the variable form of the orbit during immature age, and is very remarkable in childhood, less so towards adult age, and then, it would seem frequently disappearing altogetlier; for the propor- tion in which it exists among grown-up persons bears but a small comparison with that observed among the young. "Personal deformity from mal-conformation is uncommon, the only instance I remember being that of a young Avoman, whose utterance was unintelli- gibly nasal, in consequence of an imperfect develop- ment of the palatine bones leaving a gap in the roof of the mouth. '* The imperfect arithmetic of these people, which resolves every number above ten into one compre- hensive word, prevented our obtaining any very certain information respecting the population of this part of North America and its adjacent islands. The principal stations of these people not visited by us are Akkoolee, Toonoonee-roochmh, Feelig, and Toonoonek, of whose situation I have already spoken. The first of these, which is the only one situated on the continent, lies in an indentation of considerable depth on the shores of the Polar Sea, running in towards Repulse Bay on the opposite coast, and 228 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. |. •I' .'■ 11 1 ' forming with it the hirge peninsula situated like a bastion at the north-east angle of America, which I have named Melville Peninsula, in honour of Vis- count Melville, the First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. From what we know of the habits and disposition of the Esquimaux, which incline them alwavs to associate in considerable numbers, we cannot well assign a smaller population than fifty souls to each of the four principal stations above- mentioned ; and including these, and the inhabitants of several minor ones that were occasionally named to us, there may perhaps be three or four hundred people belonging to this tribe with whom we have never had communication. In all their charts of this neighbourhood they also delineate a tract of land to the eastward, and somewhat to the north- ward, of Igloolik, where they say the Seadlermeoo, or strangers, live, with whom, as with the Esqui- maux of Southampton Island, and all others coming under the same denomination, they have seldom or never any intercourse, either of a friendly or a hostile nature. It is more than probable that the natives of the inlet called the river Clyde, on the western coast of Baffin's Bay, are a part of the people thus designated; and, indeed, the whole of the numerous bays and inlets on that extensive and productive line of coast may be the residence of great numbers of Esquimaux, of whom these people possess no accurate information. Whatever may be the abundance sometimes enjoyed by these people, and whatever the maladies A FAMINE. 229 like a hich I H Vis- of the its and them rs, we n fifty above- bitants named indred have Arts of :act of north- rmeoo, Esqui- ioming lom or ' or a at the on the of the lole of v^e and nee of people etimes aladies occasioned by their too frequent abuse of it, it is certain that they occasionally suffer very severely from the opposite extreme. A remarka])ly intelli- gent woman informed Captain Lyon that two years ago some Esquimaux arrived at Igloolik from a place near Akkoolee, bringing information that dur- ing a very grievous famine one party of men had fallen upon another and killed them ; and that they afterwards subsisted on their flesh while in a frozen state, but never cooked nor even thawed it. This horrible account was soon after confirmed by Toolemak on board the Fury, and though he was evidently uneasy at our having heard the story, and conversed upon it with reluctance, yet by means of our questions he was brought to name, upon his fingers, five individuals who had been killed on this occasion. Of the fact, therefore, there can be no doubt; but it is certain, also, that we ourselves scarcely regarded it with greater horror than those who related it ; and the occurrence may be con- sidered similar to those dreadful instances on record, even among civilized nations, of men devouring one another, in wrecks or boats, when rendered desperate by the sufferings of actual starvation. The ceremony of crying, which has before been mentioned as practised after a person's death, is not, however, altogether confined to those melancholy occasions, but is occasionally adopted in cases of illness, and that of no very dangerous kind. The father of a sick person enters the apartment, and after looking at him for a few seconds without m. 230 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. IM speaking, announces by a kind of low sob his pre- paration for the coming ceremony. At this signal every other individual })resent composes his features for crying, and the leader of the chorus then setting up a loud and piteous howl, which lasts about a minute, is joined by all the rest, who shed abundant tears during the process. So decidedly is this a matter of form, unaccompanied by any feeling of sorrow, that those who are not relatives shed just as many tears as those that are; to which may be added that in the instances which we witnessed there was no real occasion for crying at all. It must therefore be considered in the light of a ceremony of condolence, which it would be either indecorous or unlucky to omit. I have already given several instances of the little care these people take in the interment of their dead, especially in the winter season; it is certain, however, that this arises from some superstitious notion, and particularly from the belief that any heavy weight upon the corpse would have an inju- rious effect upon the deceased in a future state of existence; for even in the summer, when it would be an easy matter to secure a body from the depre- dations of wild animals, the mode of burial is not essentially different. The corpse of a child observed by Lieutenant Palmer, he describes '* as being laid in a regular but shallow grave, with its head to the north-east. It was decently dressed in a good deer- skin jacket, and a seal-skin, prepared without the hair, was carefully placed as a cover to the whole !' V I RELIGION. 231 IS pre- signal matures setting 3out a mdant this a ing of d just [lay be nessed t must ony of ous or 3 little their ertain, titious Lt any L inju- bate of would iepre- is not served g laid to the deer- it the whole figure, and tucked in on all sides. The body was covered with flat pieces of limestone, which, how- ever, were so light that a fox might easily have removed them. Near the grave were four little separate piles of stones, not more than a foot in height, in one of which we noticed a piece of red cloth and a black silk handkerchief, in a second a pair of child's boots and mittens, and in each of the others a whalebone pot. The face of the child looked unusually clean and fresh, and a few days only could have elapsed since its decease." These Esquimaux do not appear to have any idea of the existence of One Supreme Being, nor indeed can they be said to entertain any notions on this subject, which may be dignified with the name of Religion. Their superstitions, which are numerous, have all some reference to the preternatural agency of a number of toorngow^ or spirits, with whom, on certain occasions, the Angetkooks pretend to hold mysterious intercourse, and who in various and dis- tinct ways are supposed to preside over the destinies of the Esquimaux. On particular occasions of sick- ness or want of food the Angetkooks contrive, by means of a darkened hut, a peculiar modulation of the voice, and the uttering of a variety of unintelli- gible sounds, to persuade their countrymen that they are descending to the lower regions for this purpose, where they force the spirits to communicate the desired information. The superstitious reverence in which these wizards are held, and a considerable dco-ree of ingenuity in their mode of performing 232 ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. .if' their mummery, prevent the detection of the impos- ture, and secure implicit confidence in these absurd oracles. My friend Captain Lyon having particu- larly directed his attention to this pait of their history during the whole of our intercourse with these people, and intending to publish his Journal, which contains much interestino^ information of this nature, I shall not here enter more at large on the subject. Some account of their ideas respecting death, and of their belief in a future state of existence, have already been introduced in the course of the foregoing pages, in the order of those occur- rences which furnished us with opportunities of observing them. pi i ; » i. THE END. '}:' t'r; in 1 ■ ! B impos- ii iibsurd particu- of their •se with Journal, 1 of this on the ^pecting tate of e course e occur- ities of BLACKIE & SON'S BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. By O. a. HENTY, GEORGE MAC DONALD, O. MANVILLE FENN, F. FRANKFORT MOORE, GORDON STABLES, PllOP. A. J CHURCH, ROBERT LEIGHTON, C. J. HYNE, &C. dO. Suitable for GIFTS and for SCHOOL PRIZES. 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