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t,^. ,> 
 
 
 
 #«^y»!» 
 
 THE 
 
 DISCOVERY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NOHTH-WEST PASSAGE 
 
 '\: 
 
 BT 
 
 H.M.S. " INYESTIGATOR," CAPT. R M'CLURE, 
 
 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 COMMANDER SHERARD OSBORN, 
 
 AUTHOR or " STKAV LRaVBS FROM AN ARCTIC JOVRNAI.," 
 
 FROM THE LOGS AND JOURNALS OF CAPT. ROBERT LE M. M'CLURE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY COMMANDER S. GURNEY CRESSWELL, R.N. 
 
 if 
 
 LONDON: 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS. 
 
 1856. 
 
 The right oj traH.t1<ition is resei'vcJ^ 
 
S^t^t^ 
 
 J 
 
 L</NDON : 
 
 Printed !iy Spottiswoode & Co., 
 Nfiw-strect-Square, 
 
TO 
 
 THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE 
 
 LORDS COMMISSIONERS of the ADMIRALTY, 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE OF THE VOTAOS OF IIER MAJESTY'S DISCOVERY SHIP 
 "INVBSTIQATOB," 
 
 WHILE IN SEARCH OF THE EXPEDITION UNDER CAPT. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, R.N. K.C.H,, 
 
 AND OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-AVEST PASSAGE BY 
 
 CAPTAIN ROBERT LB ME8DR1EK M'CLCRE, R.N., 
 
 ARE, WITH THEIR LORDSHIPS' PERMISSION, ' 
 
 ilrspcctfu'lij &c&ic;itrb 
 
 UY THEIR lordships' HOST OBEDIENT AND HDHBLE SERVANT, 
 
 SHERARD OSBORN, 
 
 LATE COMMANDER OF H.M.S.V. "PIONEER." 
 
 A 2 
 
iiMk 
 
rilEFAOE. 
 
 The annals of Arctic History afford so many noble 
 illustrations of the spirit of enterprise and hardi- 
 hood of our sailors, that in this point of view 
 alone they can, it is to be hoped, never fail to 
 interest the British people. It is easy to attempt 
 to cast ridicule on any generous impulse of a 
 nation or an individual, by speaking of it as 
 Quixotic, foolhardy, and so forth; but if it be 
 a weakness in English seamen, that for three 
 centuries they have sought to win honour and 
 renown in regions where the ordinary hardships of 
 those whose business is upon the great waters 
 are multiplied a hundredfold, it will assuredly 
 be no joyous day for England, when her sailors 
 shall be free from the charge of any such chival- 
 rous extravagance. 
 
 Sir John Franklin and his hundred and thirty- 
 
 A 3 
 
vi 
 
 TRKFACE. 
 
 eight gallant followers, went forth to achieve the 
 North-west Passage. They discovered it, and 
 perished victims to their zeal ; and then came one 
 worthy to follow in their footsteps — Captain Sir 
 Kobert Lc Mesurier M'Clure ! lie canu, indeed, 
 too late to save Franklin ; but at least he completed 
 the search for him on one given line, by passing 
 from ocean to ocean, and he secured to the Tioyal 
 Navy and to Great l^ritain the imperishable renown 
 of having successfully accomplished the enterprise 
 so long attempted in vain. 
 
 The Editor feels that in the following narrative, 
 he has scarcely done justice to the many noble 
 qualities of every individual forming the gallant 
 company of the " Investigator"; but he has at any 
 rate endeavoured to place on record some feeble 
 acknowledgment of their heroic courage and self- 
 devotion. 
 
 The delay in the productioa of this work has 
 arisen from the Editor having been obliged to leave 
 England upon active service ; and the many calls 
 upon his time and attention have rendered perhaps 
 still more imperfect the naturally uni)olishcd style 
 
rREFACF. 
 
 Vii 
 
 of'ji snilor's nnrrativc. Hut into tlic truth of that 
 narnitivc tliu pAlitor challenges tlie closest investi- 
 gation, for his ambition is that the work may re- 
 main as the history of a great event in naval 
 chronicles, and perhaps awaken in the breasts of 
 future Franklins, Parrys, or iM'Clures that love 
 for perilous adventure, which nuist ever form a 
 most valuable trait iu the character of a maritime 
 people. 
 
 The Editor ho«> not indulged in wholesale praise, 
 for it was no part of his task to write up every 
 man as a hero who sailed into the Arctic Seas, 
 and out again. Indiscriminate commendation is 
 loathsome to all rightminded men ; and it would 
 be poor reward in<lced to those whose tale of suf- 
 fering and gallantry is recounted in the following 
 pages, to compare their successes with the failures 
 as rife in the Arctic Seas as elsewhere. 
 
 For information on various points, and for assist- 
 ance in the pleasing but anxious task of collating 
 this narrative with various authorities, the Editor 
 has been indebted to Captain (now Sir Robert) 
 M'Clurc, Commander Gurney Cresswell (whose 
 
 A 4 
 
 # 
 
VIU 
 
 I'REPACE. 
 
 skotchcs enliven the letter- press), John Harrow, 
 Esq.,F.R. S., Captain Washington, llydrographer to 
 th'^ Admiralty, John Hay, Esq., of the Admiralty, 
 and other kind friends, to whom he tenders his 
 hearty thanks. 
 
 II. M. S. " Medusft," Sen of Azov, 
 April, \856. 
 
C N T R ?\^ T 8. 
 
 ciiAriiai I. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Pago 1 
 
 CHAP II. 
 
 Return of the Arctic Squadron of 1S48, and immediate Re- 
 tquipnicnt of the " Enterprise '' and ** Investigator.'' — 
 Appointment of Captain M'Clure. — Preparations for speedy 
 Departure. — The two Vessels pass the Nore. — Heavy Gales 
 in the Channel. — Put into Plyniouth. — Engagement of an 
 Interpreter. — Final Departure from England. — Appearance 
 of Arctic Ships. — " Investigator " reaches the South 
 Atlantic - - - • - - 17 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Slow sailing of the Arctic Ships Reach Terra del Fuego. — 
 
 II.M S.V. "Gorgon" in Possession Bay. — Reach Port 
 Famine. — Shipwrecked American Schooner. — American 
 Go-aheadism. — Sublime Scenery. — " Investigator " meets 
 the " Enterprise." — American River Steamer in the Pacific. 
 — Heavy Gale. — Captain M'Clure's Care of the Men 23 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Voyage continued to Honolulu. — Leak in the Bread-Room — 
 Loneliness of this Ocean. — Good Feeling between Officers 
 and Men. — Arrival at Honolulu. — Replenishing and De- 
 parture. — Great Anxiety of Ofticers and Men to reach the 
 Ice. — Passing the Aleutian Islands. — Dense Fogs. — The 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Arctic Circle crossed. — Meet the "Plover" Depot Ship. — 
 Unfavourable Report of the State of the Ice. — Captain 
 M'Clure's Plan of Operations. — Preparations for meeting 
 the Ice. — Il.M.S. " Herald " met with. — Captain Kellett's 
 Discovery . . . ^ . Pago 31 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The " Investigator " gives up the Hope of meeting the " Enter- 
 prise," and departs alone. — The first Ice. — Immense herd 
 of Walruses. — Mothers and Babies. — Value of the Walrus 
 to the Esquimaux. — A Blind Lead. — Cape Barrow doubled. 
 — Proceeding in a North-easterly Direction. — Great Excite- 
 ment. — Tliree Esq>iimaux met with. — Their Astonishment 
 at Sight of t)ie Vessel - - - - -55 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The Narrative of Captain INIaguire. — The Esquimaux Report — 
 The Coast of America in this Region. — The Pack Ice and 
 Floes. — Reach Jones' Island. — Visited by Twenty-four 
 Natives. — Recognition of the Chief. — Simple Cunning of 
 the Savages. — A Fair Malefactor. — Gallantry of the "In- 
 vestigators." — Hazardous and DifTicult Navigation. — The 
 Delta of the IMackonzie. — The Ship aground. — Serious 
 Loss of Provisions _ . . . qq 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 A Thunder-storm. — Slow Progress. — Signs of the near 
 Approach of Winter. — Going ahead again. — The Ship runs 
 into a Trap in the Main Pack. — Works out again. — 
 Commander PuUen and a Boat's Crew pass without being 
 seen. — Landing at Point AVarreu. — Hostile Reception. — 
 Reconciliation - - - - - - 80 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Approach to Cape Bathurst. — Whale-fishing of the Natives. 
 — Celebration of their Victories over the Leviathan. — 
 Esquimaux Charmers. — Tlie »Io},s of Cape Bathurst. — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XI 
 
 The Land of the White Bear. — An Esquimaux Swindler. 
 — Mode of settling Quai'rels. — Judicious Missionra'ies de- 
 sirable for these People. — Admirable Qualifications of Mr. 
 Mierching ----- Pag«. 89 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Cape Bathurnt left. — Fires observed on Shore — prove to be 
 Volcanoes. — Cape Parry reached. — New Land discovered. 
 — Possession taken in the Queen's Name. — The "Lives- 
 tigator" proceeds on a North-easterly Course — Barrow's 
 Strait only Sixty Miles further. — Captain M'Clure's 
 Journal - - - - - - 99 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Signs of a rapidly approaching Winter. — Critical Position of 
 the " Investigato'*." — Made fast to a Floe. — Safe for the 
 Present. — Winter begun. — Winter Clothing. — Driven 
 with the Ice towards Barrow's Strait. — Ardut us Toils. — 
 The "Investigator" reaches her most advanced Position 
 — Beset at last. — Dangerous Agitation in the Ice. — Pre- 
 parations for Shipwreck. — Sweeping with the Pack against 
 the CliiFs. — Imminent Peril. — Safe once more — and 
 stationary ...-,. 108 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Severe Pi-efjsure on the Ice. — Dangerous Nips. — Farewell 
 to the San. — Housing the Vessel. — Good Health and 
 Spirits of the Men. — Five Hundred Pounds of INIeat 
 found to be Putrid. — Winter Rambles on the Ice. — Perils 
 arising in some of these. — An Excursion to view the 
 North-west Passage. — Hard Labour and Insufficient Food. 
 — Sufic 'ing from Thirst. — The Passage seen. — Captain 
 ^I'Clure lost for a Night. — Keturn of the Party to the 
 Ship. — Success of Measures taken for the Health of the 
 Crew - - • - - "119 
 
Xll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XI L 
 
 New-Year's Day 1851. — See rriii- (• of Wales and Barrow's 
 Straits. — Relative Positions of the different Expeditions. — 
 The increasing Cold relieved by the daily Augmentation 
 
 of Solar Light Deer and Ptarmigan seen in the Depth 
 
 of Winter. — The Theory of Animal IMigration in Arctic 
 Regions subverted. — The Raven leaves the Siiip. — Return 
 of the Sun. — Rambles on the Ice. — Revival of Health and 
 Spirits. — Winter Sporting. — Preparations for Sledge- 
 Parties in Search of Franklin's Expedition. — Depots es- 
 tablished to secure the Safety of the Travellers. — Departure 
 of the various Parties. — Hardships endured by Sledge - 
 Crews in High Latitudes in Spring Journeys. — The Zeal 
 and Courage of the Seamen. — Their Labours compared 
 with those of the American Voyageurs. — The Position of 
 the '* Investigator " in I80O. — IMurder of Liev.t. Barnard by 
 
 North-west Indians 
 
 Page 151 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 Signs of Summer increase. — Shooting 1\ I'ties are sent out. — 
 Narrow Escape of Whitefield. — Lieut Cresswell returns, 
 having ascertained Banks Land to be an Island. — Curious 
 Appetite of a Bear Lieut. Ilaswell returns, with Intelli- 
 gence of Esquimaux being at hand. — Visit "he E.s(|ui- 
 niaux. — The Party under Mr. Wynniatt return. — eJune, in 
 Prince of Wales Strait. — A Glance at the other Expedi- 
 tions wint.iiiig in the Arctic Seas, under Austin, Penny, 
 Ross, and De ITavon. — A Midsummer Scene in Prince of 
 "Wales Strait. — The Polar SummerV Night. —The Floe 
 breaks up. — "Investigator" again free. — Compasses refuse 
 to traverse. — The Ship beset, and drifting to the North- 
 east along the Eastcn Shore. — Wood-Currents. — Tides. 
 
 — No Passage found Captain M'Chu-e decides to try 
 
 aujther Course, by going round Banks Land. - 175 
 
 I A 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Xill 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 The " Investigator " bears up, and goes round the South End 
 
 of Banks Land Rapid Progress up the Western Coast. — 
 
 The Lane of Water diminishes. — Perilous Passage between 
 the North-west Coast, and ponderous Packed Ice. — Ex- 
 traordinary Accidents, and wonderful Preservation. — 
 North-west Extreme of Banks Land. — Discovery of Ancient 
 Forests. — Ai'ctic Lakes. — Fresh-Water Fish. — The " In- 
 vestigator " drifts into the Pack in an Autumnal Gale. — Es- 
 capes and Struggles along Shore. — September Night Scene 
 off Banks Land. — 23rd September, 1851, run ashore during 
 the Night in the Bay of Mercy. — Ship Afloat. — Fail to get 
 into the "''ack of Barrow's Strait. — Winter Quarters, 1851-52. 
 
 — Reduction of Allowance of Food. — Land found to abound 
 in Game. — Want of good Hunters. — Acute Instinct of the 
 Reindeer. — Arctic Hare, Wolf, and Fox. — Continued good 
 Health of the Crew. — Cleverness of the Arctic Raven. — 
 
 Violence of Winter Snow Storms. — Christmas Day The 
 
 Arrival of II-M.S. " Enterprise " in Prince of Wales Strait. 
 
 — She fails in rour ling Banks Land, and winters at the 
 Esquimaux Settlement in Walker Bay - Page 201 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 The New Year, 1852. — Satisfactory State of the Crew.— 
 Deer obtaincu directly the Light admitted of their being 
 seen. — Sergean ■• Woon, of the Royal Marines, saves the Life of 
 a Shipmate. — l^een Sportsmen. — Wolves. — Boatswain's Ad- 
 venture with them. — Spring. — Captain M'Clure visits 
 Winter Harbour, Melville Island Finds neither Provi- 
 sions nor Vessel i o help him. — His Return. — Finds large 
 
 Quantities of Venison had been procured Scurvy makes its 
 
 Appearance Increased Number of Sick. — Unfavourable 
 
 AVuather in July. —Venison expended. — Wild Sorrel found 
 
 in great Quantities for a short Period. — 10th August 
 
 Water seen in Barrow's Strait — Measures taken in case of 
 being able to Escape. — Relapse in the Weather. — Gloomy 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Prospect An early Winter coiiimcnccs. — Measures taken 
 
 to save Ship and Crew, in tlie Event of a similar Season in 
 1853. — Cheerful Conduet of the Crew. — Short Rations — 
 Mode of Living. — Banian Days and Festivals. — Christmas 
 and Conclusion of Year 18o2 - • Page 227 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 The " Enterprise." — 111 Success of her Travelling Parties. — Late 
 Season. — Passage through Dolphin and Union Strait. — 
 Winter of 18o2-o3 passed in Cambridge Bay. — Esquimaux 
 numerous. — Traces of the IMissing Expedition found. — 
 Game and Fish abound. — Unfortunate Circumstance of no 
 Searching Party having visited King "William's Land. — The 
 Bay of Mercy. — Reaction on Board the " Investigator" after 
 Christmas F'esti i ties. — Excessive Cold. — Want of Fuel and 
 consequent Dampness. — Venison plentiful. — Large Sick List. 
 — March, '53. — The Retreating Parties named, and their 
 Routes appointed. — Captain M'Clure's Reason for sending 
 away the Weakly l\ren. — Vv'olves, their Voracity and 
 Cunning. — Anxiety of the Sledge-Partios as to (Jhances of 
 safe Retreat. — Retrospective Glance at Measures taken in 
 England to rescue the " Investigator." — INIr. Cresswell's 
 Letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and fortunate 
 Result. — Captains Kellett and M'Clintock ordered to Melville 
 Island. — They reach it in September 1852. — Accidental 
 Discovery of Captain M'Clure's Despatches on the 
 Parry Rock. — Help at Hand for the " Investigator." — 
 April '53 in Mercy Bay. — The first Death. — Captain 
 M'Clure addresses his Men to remove their Despomlency. — 
 The Dark and Bright Sid? of tlie Cloud. — The unexpected 
 Arrival of Lieut. Pirn from the " Resolute." — The ' In- 
 vestigators ' rescued. — Excitement and Happiness of the 
 
 Crew 
 
 251 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 Captain M'Clure proceeds to Melville Island to see Captain 
 Kellett. — M'Clure's Views.— His Letter. —-Captain Kellett 
 
 a 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 111 
 
 unly gives Leave for hcaltliy Volunteers to remain in 
 " Investigator." — Medical Survey unsatisCactory. — Aban- 
 donment of H. M. S. " Investigator." — Depot of Provisions 
 formed at Mercy Bay. — Arrival on Board II. M. S. " Resolute" 
 and " Intrepid." — Searching Parties under Captain M'Clin- 
 tock, Lieutenants Mecham, Hamilton, 8ic. unsuccessful. — 
 Captain KcUett decides upon ftxUing back upon Bcechey 
 Island. — Unfavourable Season. — Squadron blown out of 
 Winter (Quarters. — Arrested at Byam Martin Channel. 
 — Large Supply of fresh Meat procured. — " R(>solute " 
 and "Intrepid" caught in the Pack. — Winter in the 
 Pack. — Tile "Phoenix" arrives at Beeehcy Island, and 
 takes home Lieut. Cresswell. — 18o3. — The 'Investiga- 
 tors' pass a Fourth Winter with Impunity, and then 
 leave the "Resolute" for Beechey Island. — Captain Sir 
 E. Belcher's Plans to abandon the Squadron. — Orders 
 the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " to be abandoned. — News of 
 Collinson, in 18.')2, having pushed on into the Ice. — " Assist- 
 ance" and " Pioneer" ordered to be deserted. — "Phoenix" 
 and "Talbot" arrive witli Provisions and fresh Crews. — 
 All return Home. — 'Investigators' rewarded in 1855 
 
 Page 27fi 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 Gloomy Prospect in the Autumn of 18o4. — Revival of Despond- 
 ing Tales. — Sudden Arrival of Intelligence from Dr. Rae. 
 — A T'arty from Franklin's Ship heard of — Dr. Rae's Report, 
 
 — Relics and Proofs of both " Erebus " and " Terror " 
 being in Existence. — The Russian War prevents a Naval 
 
 Expedition being sent to Barrow's Strait The Admiralty 
 
 direct the Hudson Bav Company to send Mr. Anderson. — Mr. 
 Anderson proceeds m 1855 to the Mouth of the Great Fish 
 River. — Verifies the Fact of a Party from the lost Expedi- 
 tion having been there. — No Light thrown upon their Fate, 
 
 — Neither Bodies, Graves, Clothing nor Arms discovered — 
 Remarks upon the Relics discovered — Probable Course adopted 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 by the ' Forlorn Hope.' — Hopes exist of the Mystery still 
 being cleared up. — Distance the Party couUl have travelled. — 
 Position of the lost Expedition. — Kow lost. — Reason why 
 Fury Beach was not visited by them. — Creditable to England 
 that the Search has never been stayed. — The Admiralty 
 reward Dr. Rae for giving us Information of Franklin's 
 Position. — General Revival of Interest in the Question 
 
 Pago 307 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Narrative of Commander ^laguire, wintering at Point Bar- 
 row - - - - - - -351 
 
 , 1 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Position of H.M. S. "Investigator" on 
 
 the 20th of September, 1851 
 Map illustrative of the Narrative - 
 
 Smoking Cliff' 
 
 > to face Title page. 
 
 Discovery of Princess Royal Island 
 
 Distant View of Melville Island from 
 Baring Land - - . . 
 
 „ page 1 
 
 „ 100 
 
 „ 130 
 
 ,, 256 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 m 
 
jbi 
 
 XVll 
 
 A List of the Officers and Crew of 11. M.S. " Investigator,^^ 
 tvho performed tliv North-ivest Passage. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Bar- 
 351 
 
 R. J. Le M. M'Clure 
 Win. II. Ilaswcll 
 Samuol G. CVesswell 
 
 i H. II. Sainsbury 
 
 Robert Wynuiatt 
 i 
 Stephen Court 
 
 Alex. Armstrong, M.D 
 Henry Piers - - 
 I Joseph C. Paine - - 
 j George J. Ford - - 
 j George Kennedy 
 
 [ Richard A. Ross 
 
 i John Davics - - 
 
 John Kerr 
 
 Henry BlufT 
 Samuel Mackenzie 
 Charles Steel - - 
 David Harris 
 Edward Fawcett - 
 James Evans - - 
 George Gibba 
 James Williams - 
 Peter Tliompson - 
 Samuel Relie 
 
 Thomas Morgan 
 
 Itank nr Hating. 
 
 1 
 
 Ilrniarks, 
 
 Commander. | 
 
 
 Lieutenant. 1 
 
 
 do. ' 
 
 
 
 [Died on board II.M.S. 
 
 
 " Resolute "oir Cape 
 
 Mate i 
 
 Cockburn, Barrow 
 
 
 Straits, 14th Nov. 
 
 
 1853. 
 
 do. 
 
 
 : Second Master. f 19th April 185.3, rated 
 
 1 Acting Master. 
 
 burgeon. 
 Assistant Surgeon. 
 Clcrl' in charge. 
 Carp Miter. 
 Acting Boatswain. 
 
 (Quarter-master. 
 A.B. 
 
 Gunners' Mate. 
 
 Boatswain's Mate. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 Boatswain's Mate. 
 Caulker, 
 
 A.B. 
 
 Captain of the Hold. 
 Captain of the Fore top.! 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 a 
 
 24th Dec, 1850, disrated 
 
 A.B. 
 15th April, 1853, rated 
 quarter-master. 
 'Died 13th April, 1853, 
 at Bay of Mercy, 
 Bank's Land, on 
 board H. M. S. " In- 
 vestigator." 
 
 Died on board II.]\LS. 
 " North Star," at 
 Becchcy Island, 22nd 
 ]\Iav, 1854. 
 
XVlll 
 
 liiht of the Ollicors and Crew of II.M.S. ■' investigator " — contmiifd. 
 
 Name. 
 
 John Eaincs 
 
 William Batten 
 Charles Anderson 
 Isaac Stubl)erfiekl • 
 Frederick Taylor 
 Ilenry Gauen - ■ 
 
 George Brown - - 
 
 Cornolius Ilulott 
 William Whitefield ■ 
 ISIichacl Flynn - • 
 Mark Bradbury 
 James Nelson - ■ 
 William Carroll 
 Georjfo OUey - ■ 
 John Calder 
 John Ramsay 
 Ilenry Stone 
 Henry Sugden - - 
 Ilenry May - - 
 
 Joseph Faccy - - 
 James M'Donald 
 George L. Milner 
 
 John Wilcox - - - 
 
 Robert Tiffeny - ■ 
 
 John Boyle - - • 
 
 Thomas Toy - - • 
 Samuel Bonnsall 
 
 Ellis Griffiths - ■ 
 
 Mark Griffiths - • 
 
 John Keefe - - ■ 
 Thos. S. Carmichacl- 
 
 John Woon - - ■ 
 
 J. B. Faniuharson • 
 
 George Parfitt - • 
 
 Ellas Bow - • • 
 
 ■ tank or Itnting. 
 
 L.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 A.B. 
 
 Shit)'s Cook. 
 
 A.B. 
 Carpenter's Mate. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 Captain's Coxswain. 
 Carpenter's Crew 
 Quarter- master. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 Captain of Forecastle. 
 
 A.B. 
 Blacksmith. 
 Sub. Officers' Steward, 
 (Quarter- master. 
 Sailmaker. 
 
 A.B. 
 Gun-room Steward. 
 I'ay-master and Pay- 
 master's Steward. 
 Uaptain of Main-top. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 A.B. 
 
 AB. 
 Sergeant of Marines. 
 C(ir|)oral „ 
 IVivatt! „ 
 
 Private „ 
 
 Kcmiirkt. 
 
 fDied nth April, 1853,! 
 
 I Bay of Mercy,] 
 
 <^ Banks Land, on' 
 
 I board II.M.S. " In- 1 
 
 vestigator. 
 
 r24th Deo. 1850, rated 
 [_ (luarter-master. 
 
 Died Oth April, 185.% 
 Bay of Mercy ; the 
 (irst death. Lieut. 
 Pirn arrived next day. 
 
XIX 
 
 IM of the Officers and Crew of H.M.S. " Investigator " ~ continued. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Janioj Rijigs - - ■ 
 
 Thomart Huncroft 
 Thomas King - • 
 Jiimus Saunders 
 
 Johan A. Mierchiiij:; 
 
 ■ 
 
 Rank or 
 
 Rating. 
 
 Private 
 
 Private 
 Private 
 Private 
 
 M 
 )> 
 1> 
 
 Kemarks. 
 
 iEs(iiiiinaux 
 .._J5H!H: 
 
 Inter- 
 
 riSth April 1853, rated 
 \ corporal 
 
Ill 
 
 A 
 
[. 
 
 li 
 
 i i 
 
 •! I 
 
 n 
 
 li. 
 
 iJift 
 
 1:^0 
 
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 ft till- 
 
 Ar<<iin|ilihliiii<-nl 
 
 nlllir 
 
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 vtitli l,ili':>l luriniioiiK \a ( ii|it" Nlii'i.inl (I1I10111 K N (' i, 
 
 Irihi' I'/' I'upt" If i'liiiv ,xiu'iire,i Hli,, 
 !>'' liif^ uutinum lit;!, 
 
 /''All*.* tnnn iinc/i intrlliiimiif 
 
 i<r' ?hiii!tlu( n.K t'n.iiiii'il III /AW 
 
 r /(-.nu,. 
 
 1^. 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 A- 
 
e S o A* 
 
 
 tor 
 
 a. 
 
 
 TUB 
 
 DISCOVERY 
 
 or TUB 
 
 NOfiTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The successful realisation of the project so long 
 cherished in Great Britain, of the discovery of a 
 way through the Arctic Ocean to the Indies — the 
 final solution of a problem sought through many 
 an arduous struggle during the course of three 
 hundred years — is what it is our present duty to 
 chronicle ; and we may be permitted, in the first 
 place, briefly to remind the reader of the reasons 
 that made such a voyage desirable. 
 
 On looking at the surface of the globe, it will be 
 seen at a glance that the Asiatic peninsula of 
 
 ' B 
 
17 
 
 18 J 
 
 ie( 
 
 I I 
 
 I I r- 
 
 u& 
 
 I I I I 
 
 I I I — r 
 
 ~i . I, I : 
 
 78 
 
 (' hart 
 To Illustrate the Xnrralivf 
 
 of Oil- 
 
 Ac compii s li menl 
 
 oftke 
 
 ^OrfM WEST SPAS SAGE 
 
 l)Vll.M.Shi]» luvt'Sti^-aiorV 
 
 ( \i/'t " Sir RohcH I /• MM ' ( '/ill V // .V 
 with latest correctiaiu Ijy Cj^" Sherai-d Osboiii U.S. C B. 
 
 Track trf uipr" ^T Ciiuv ivloured Bli, 
 
 J)" I'ufit" I'oilinson Mcl^^ 
 
 J)''J}iifs irick ivheii urte//it)i'!Ui- 
 OT'Bwikkii ii;i. f I'fifnmedinlS.'ff- ) 
 
 150 
 
 I I 
 
 14 5 
 
 I I r : 
 
 14 
 
 1 I 
 
 appears ( 
 for want 
 
141 
 
 14 
 
 =^ 
 
 y 
 
 Us 
 
 15 
 
 A Great Water Spare in which thf Ice 
 appears to have accumulated very much 
 for want nt" an nutlet . 
 
 '■*«»*,. 
 
 T 
 
 14 
 
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 12 
 
 120 
 
 ns 
 
 no 
 
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 ^forth I 
 
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 fimn- ?. 
 
 .r 
 
 Liidiow Hu'h 
 
 
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 liib.p/ 
 
 HUiruiai 
 
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 luaii 
 
 ^' 
 
 ■Wh^'^' 
 
 
 
 
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 B 
 
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 ii k 
 
 hhntonB.i 
 
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 L a u d 
 
 
 
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 Kendal ^l. 
 
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 135 
 
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 ■4-/ 
 
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 JW'l'^ OJLwullou 
 
 '■■■ «»>rn<*!*'v<^' 
 
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eiv 1.1 not 
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f m)iu»f J hii t<br^V<U« I>uJlt Sir! Bluomjbiiry . 
 
( 
 
 2 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Mi 
 
 II 
 
 f"1 
 
 »?' 
 
 Hindostan, China, and Japan — the Ophir of the 
 Old World — are placed, geographically speaking, 
 with respect to Western Europe, in the most distant 
 and inaccessible position. 
 
 Turn to an ancient atlas, and think of the 
 "ant res vast and deserts idle" that lay between 
 India and Europe, and we can better appreciate 
 the forays of the great Macedonian, — the diffi- 
 culties he encountered, and the genius which, in 
 mastering them, raised him to the rank of a demi- 
 god among his countrymen. Yet Alexander left no 
 footprints east of the Indus. 
 
 The legions of Imperial Rome failed to carry 
 their conquering eagles to a region which they 
 must have been fully aware contributed largely to 
 the enormous wealth of Jerusalem, Judea, and 
 Egypt. Even Roman ambition was checked by 
 the difficulties of the rouia. 
 
 The Mahometan, more fortunate in his central 
 position, served for ages to act as the medium 
 of transit for the spices and products of the East 
 to Western Europe, whither the Crusader ctiiried 
 back a knowledge of and taste for luxuries pre- 
 viously unknown, — a knowledge wlhch created 
 new wants, and excited the mercantile and nautical 
 skill of nations dwelling upon the shores of the 
 
 f 
 ^ 
 
 u 
 

 i 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 6 
 
 Mediterranean. Venice and Genoa rose to great- 
 ness upon their lucrative trade with the East ; 
 and the fact soon came home to the common sense 
 of their neighbours, and awakened the desire to 
 supplant them, or share in their profits. 
 
 In the middle of the thirteenth century, Marco 
 Polo brought back to Western Europe such 
 glowing accounts of the East as verified all the 
 traditionary tales of Cipango and Cathay. Enter- 
 prise and cupidity were aroused. The Portuguese 
 slowly but successfully proceeded along that 
 African shore which, as they knew, touched the 
 East upon the Mediterranean Sea, and Avhich they 
 might therefore infer would eventually lead them 
 to the prize, if they followed it in an opposite 
 direction. 
 
 Columbus, with more genius, ascribed to the 
 Indies a vast extent of eastern longitude ; and 
 then deduced, from certain traditionary accounts 
 of a land lying west of Iceland (whither he had 
 traded), that by sailing in that direction from the 
 Isle of Fayal he would secure to the prince that 
 should employ him possession of the Indies. 
 Columbus sailed eventually under Spanish auspices, 
 and discovered a land which he naturally imagined 
 was the long-Avished-for Eastern continent. 
 
 1 ' 
 
 ,/■■■: ■»-■■ <■ 
 
 B 2 
 
: ( 
 
 n ! 
 
 I, 
 
 1 1 
 
 I: 
 
 4 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 England, not less than Spain and Portugal, was 
 excited to maritime adventure by the wonderful 
 discovery of the new continent, then supposed to 
 be the eastern seaboard of the long sought Indies. 
 These Indies in the meantime were actually reached 
 by the Portuguese, under Vasco de Gama, by way 
 of that Cape of Torments flatteringly named by 
 John II. Cabo da Boa Esperdza. 
 
 Before a century had passed, however, both 
 Spaniards and Englishmen found that a wide 
 ocean spread between their western discovery and 
 Cathay ; and though the Spaniard could reach it by 
 rounding the 'continent of America at the Straits 
 of Magellan, yet he forbade all others the right to 
 risk the adventure, and treated as pirates all of 
 our countrymen who dared approach his conquests. 
 The Portuguese in like manner monopolised the 
 route round the African continent, and both 
 added to the dangers that awaited the English 
 navigator in his efforts to share the booty of the 
 East. 
 
 John Cabot, who in the service of Henry VII. 
 had secured for Britain a title to American dis- 
 covery, left a son, Sebastian, whom Edward YI. 
 wisely patronised. With this man seems first 
 to have originated the idea of reaching the coveted 
 
 ■f 
 
 Si 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 land by taking a north about route, and thus 
 avoiding the dangers of the great sea voyage by 
 either cape. 
 
 Our seamen, accustomed to the hardships and 
 cold of northern latitudes, feared the Frigid as 
 little or less than the Torrid Zone ; and only forty 
 years* after Nunez dc Balboa waded into the 
 sea at Panama, and striking it with his sword, 
 claimed the broad Pacific as the property of Spain, 
 the first English arctic expedition sailed to achieve 
 a north-east passage to Cathay. 
 
 Three ships left Greenwich, under Sir Hugh 
 Willoughby, on May 10, 1553, and were rewarded 
 by discovering Nova Zembla and the White Sea ; 
 but the subsequent melancholy fate of the admiral 
 and his crew, v/ho were frozen or starved to death 
 in Lapland, checked the national enthusiasm ; and 
 although two more attempts were made in the 
 same direction, they were equally unsuccessful. 
 The Dutch, like ourselves, anxious to share in the 
 wealth of the Indies, so jealously watched by 
 Spaniards and Portuguese, tried to reach them by 
 a north-east route: Barentz likewise perished in 
 gallant and unavailing attempts to carry out his 
 
 * Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered and took possession of 
 the Pacific Ocean in 1513. 
 
 n.'i 
 
 n 
 
r 
 
 1 1 
 
 ',' 
 
 i^i 
 
 6 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 country's wislins ; f*nd after him England made 
 two slight efforts in the same direction under 
 Hudson and Cherie, and then turned her attention 
 in the opposite one. Prior to the time of Barentz's 
 North-eastern Expedition, the first north-west 
 voyage had already been attempted from Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Martin Frobisher, a seaman of Queen Elizabeth's 
 time, was the first to call attention to the possi- 
 bility of reaching the East, Cipango, and Cathay, 
 by passing north of America. For fifteen years 
 he patiently urged his ideas upon the consideration 
 of his countrymen, and at last, in 1576, in the 
 reign of Elizabeth, he sailed to commence that 
 work which the seamen of England only completed 
 in 1851, or two hundred and seventy-four years 
 afterwards, in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
 
 It is not our purpose to follow Frobisher, Davis, 
 Hudson, and Baffin, through their adventures anv.^ 
 discoveries. Our charts of the present day, on 
 which the localities they discovered bear their 
 respective names, sufficiently attest the amount of 
 the additions they made to our geographical 
 knowledge; but when the last-named great navi- 
 gator, Baffin, returned in 1616 from the most suc- 
 cessful of his voyages, the North-west Passage was. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as Martin Frobisher said, " a thing yet undone, 
 wherebye a notable mind might be made famous 
 and fortunate." 
 
 Years elapsed — men's minds took another turn 
 — times changed — the maritime supremacy of 
 Britain gradually developed itself. If Spain could 
 boast of her Magellan, England had had her 
 Drake. 
 
 The tide of fortune now turned slowly in favour 
 of our hardy race of seamen. Along the seaboard 
 of Spanish America, whether in the Atlantic or 
 Pacific Oceans, the English seamen sloAvly but 
 steadily established their pre-eminence ; and within 
 a brief period, from the date of the first Indian 
 cargo* being exposed in Leadenhall Market (which 
 cargo was a prize), a footing was obtained in India, 
 and the foundation of our Eastern Empire firmly 
 established. 
 
 From 1632, when Captains Fox and James dis- 
 covered the localities by the names of which their 
 memories have there been preserved, a century 
 elapsed before the attempt to discover a north- 
 
 ^>'\ 
 
 i 
 
 * On the loth of September, 1592, the first cargo of Indian 
 produce was exposed in Leadenhall. It was captured by 
 George Clifford, Eai. of Cumberland in the Portuguese carrack 
 ♦* Madre de Dios," off the Azores. 
 
 u4 
 
f 
 
 tl. i 
 
 
 b DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 west passage to India was resumed. Even then, 
 although a reward of 20,000/. was offered, the 
 attempts of Scroggs, Dobbs, and Middleton, in 
 1740-41, yielded no better fruit than many of our 
 modern ones ; they produced a vast deal of writing, 
 exaggerated accounts of difficulties, and no results 
 of any value. 
 
 Captain Cook's success in the South Seas, and, 
 indeed, wherever he went, led the nation to hope 
 that he might be the man fated to secure to his 
 country the honour of a discovery which was so 
 much desired for commerciLl as well as geogra- 
 phical purposes. He failed, however, in entering 
 the ice, and well was it for himself and his crew 
 that he did so ; the fate of Sir Hugh Willoughby 
 would assuredly have befallen them, unprepared as 
 his ships were for such a voyage, and the rigours 
 of such a climate. 
 
 About the same time two '^f the servants of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company reached the mouths of the 
 Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers, and sighted an 
 arctic sea lying north of the American continent ; 
 but the eighteenth century closed and left us still 
 far from the accomplishment of an enterprise com- 
 menced more than two hundred years before. 
 Small results were there to be seen on the chart 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in 
 
 1^- 
 
 for such long and patient toil, suffering, and 
 devotion to their duty as the majority of the men 
 engaged in this service had exhibited. 
 
 On the side of the Pacific, by Behring's Strait, 
 the termination of our knowledge of the American 
 continent was at Icy Cape ; and on the side of the 
 Atlantic, at Hudson's Bay. Between these two 
 points, eighty degrees of longitude apart, the 
 Arctic Sea had only been seen at two others, 
 about half-way between the extremes ; and almost 
 inunediately after the ratification of the General 
 Peace of Europe in 1815, the idea of carrying into 
 effect a design, upon which so much zeal and 
 wealth had already been expended, was revived 
 with great earnestness. It is evident, in the me- 
 moirs of Haines Barrington and Sir John Barrow, 
 that at the outset they cherished the most ardent 
 hopes of securing to their country a discovery that 
 would be both useful and glorious. 
 
 But a Russian expedition under Kotzebue, which 
 had been equipped at the expense of Count 
 Romanzoff, threatened to rob us of the prize. 
 England's pride was aroused, and the " Quarterly 
 Review" of January, 1818, expresses a fear of such 
 a disappointment in the following words : — "It 
 would be somewhat mortifying," says the writer 
 
 * 
 
i 
 
 !!! 
 
 10 DISCOVKHY OF TlIK NOIITII-WKST I'ASSAOE. 
 
 (the Ittte Sir John IJarrovv, F.R.S.), "if a naval 
 power but of yesterday should coniplcto a dis- 
 covery in the nineteenth century, wliicli was so 
 happily commenced by Englislimen in the six- 
 teenth, and another Vespusio run away with the 
 honours due to a Columbus." * 
 
 In 1816, a more than usual concurrence of 
 favourable winds, currents, and weather had dis- 
 engaged and carried down from the polar regions 
 north of the Atlantic, a vast body of ice. Icebergs 
 and floes were found floating in great quantities as 
 far south as the 40th parallel of latitude. The 
 very climate of both Northern Europe and America 
 were aflccted by the absorption of heat they occa- 
 sioned ; and, as an instance of it, Indian corn would 
 not ripen in 1816, in either Pennsylvania or Massa- 
 chusets, a circumstance previously unknown. 
 
 Mr. Barrington, as well as Sir John Barrow, 
 bore well in mind tht "xt, that could a navi^-ablc 
 route be found north about, the commerce of 
 England with the East, more than that of any 
 other nation, would be benefited ; and the higher 
 the latitude in which we could pass into the Pacific, 
 the more the distance would be shortened : " For 
 instance," says the latter, "the distance from 
 ♦ " Quarterly Keview," January, 1818 : Art. viii., page 219. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It 
 
 Shctliind to Behring's Strait, in the 72nc1 parallel, 
 is just half as long again as on a meridian passing 
 through the pole, or as 1572 leagues to 1048." 
 
 The people of En^^land entered into these views, 
 and into all the theories and conjectures of Sir 
 John Barrow. Some of these conjectures arc quite 
 startling to one who, like the writer, is able to sit 
 down and peruse them, knowing on what slender 
 premises they were grounded, and seeing what has 
 actually been verified since his death. 
 
 In October, 1817, Sir John Barrow published a 
 small diagram to illustrate an article of his upon 
 the existence of a north-west passage, which is 
 now before us; and although he was only then in 
 possession of the information which we have said 
 England possessed at the end of the eighteenth 
 century, yet, guided by a clear judgment and a 
 thorough knowledge of the subject, he filled up 
 the deficient coast in so correct a line that the 
 charts of to-day, upon the same small scale, vary 
 but little from his. 
 
 The search for a north-west passage was now 
 actively resumed, and voyage after voyage fol- 
 lowed rapidly, — Parry and Franklin executing, 
 and Barrow cheering them on. 
 
 Captain James Burney, who, as a lieutenant of 
 
 f ■ 
 
n 
 
 12 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 i..ii 
 
 Hfl 
 
 M 
 
 Captain Cook, carried some authority with his 
 opinion, opposed the idea of any communication 
 between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and 
 actually connected the American and Asiatic con- 
 tinents. 
 
 The first man chosen to follow on the footsteps 
 of Baffin attempted to close every avenue or outlet 
 to the north-west from the sea that he had dis- 
 covered. Yet Sir John Barrow was not daunted. 
 
 " I have every reason to believe Old Greenland 
 an island, or an archipelago of islands," he said, 
 " and no inclination to deny that some of them 
 may stretch far enough to the westward to form 
 those several Sounds of which Baffin so briefly and 
 vaguely speaks." Shortly after the above lines 
 were written, Parry verified them by really sailing 
 west through an archipelago of islands half way to 
 Behring's Strait! 
 
 Sir John Barrow, the great promoter of arctic 
 research, while sharing the honours of every 
 fresh discovery, was certainly not desirous of 
 avoiding the responsibility attached to sending 
 men upon a service of so much risk and danger, 
 and was ready to adduce good reasons for doing 
 so. Until the repeated failures of Parry and 
 Franklin convinced him of the impossibility of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 u 
 
 using a north-west passage for commercial pur- 
 poses, Sir John Barrow had evidently fondly- 
 hoped to secure to his country the advantages of 
 a shorter route to India : but even then, jealous 
 of her maritime glory, and influenced by a sincere 
 love of science and a desire for the extension of 
 knowledge, he judged rightlj?^ that nowhere could 
 the skill and energy of the British Navy be more 
 honourably directed than to geographical discovery 
 in the Frozen Zone. 
 
 It had, indeed, entailed much hardship and suf- 
 fering; but be it remembered that as yet, when 
 Sir John Franklin sailed, no fatal catastrophe had 
 overtaken any one of the many ships that had been 
 employed on that service in modern days. 
 
 That Sir John Barrow appreciated fully the 
 difficulties and dangers of arctic service, his 
 writings attest ; and a mere selfish desire to 
 see knowledge extended, at any sacrifice of hu- 
 manity, was assuredly not his failing. He did not 
 live to see the realisation of the confident predic- 
 tions of his sagacious mind ; yet he had seen a 
 vast deal added to our geographical knowledge of 
 the earth's surface, — additions of no small moment 
 in every branch of natural history, as well as in 
 physical science; and the wide world saw and 
 
IM 
 
 tl'^ 
 
 14 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 
 i ■' 
 
 knew that the race of seamen who had secured to 
 Britain the supremacy of the sea were not dete- 
 riorating in time of peace. 
 
 It was no narrow or selfishly ambitious feeling 
 that dictated the following words during the time 
 that one expedition was absent in search of the 
 long-sought passage. " They may not succted," 
 he says, " in that purpose ; but they can scarcely 
 fail in being the means of extending the sphere of 
 human knowledge, and if they bring back an ac- 
 cession of this, they cannot be said to have been 
 sent in vain, for ' knowledge is power, ' and we 
 may safely commit to the stream of time the bene- 
 ficial results of its irresistible influence." 
 
 Franklin and his hundred and forty followers 
 were the forlorn hope of the North-west Passage. 
 By the sacrifice of their lives, they have secured 
 to us, their countrymen, an honour that perhaps 
 might otherwise never have been won ; for it 
 was in seeking for them that Captain M'CIure and 
 his gallant officers and crew succeeded, for the first 
 time in the annals of the world, in passing from the 
 Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. In the eloquent 
 words of Lord Stanley and Sir Edward Parry, when 
 addressing Captain Cresswell, who first brought the 
 intelligence to England in 1853, " it was a tri- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 
 umph that would not be valued the less highly 
 because it was not stained by bloodshed — a triumph 
 which was not embittered by any single painful or 
 melancholy reminiscence — a triumph not over man, 
 but over nature — a triumph which inflicts no injury 
 and which humiliates no eneiry — a triumph not for 
 this age alone, but for posterity — not for England 
 only, but for mankind." 
 
 When such is the testimony borne to the glory 
 won by those who have achieved this passage, Sir 
 John Barrow needs no apologist for having been the 
 main promoter of arctic research. The laurel is 
 twined with the cypress-wreath of those who have 
 laid down their lives in this service; and their friends 
 and relatives may proudly wipe away their tears. 
 
 The North-west Passage would never have been 
 discovered, but for the devotion of Franklin, his 
 officers, and men ; they each volunteered for that 
 duty, and they fell in the performance of it. The 
 party from the " Erebus " and " Terror " which pe- 
 rished, it appears, at the mouth of the Great Fish 
 River, must have gone down some channel from the 
 neighbourhood of Capes Walker or Bunny in Bar- 
 row's Strait, and thus have fallen in adding the 
 great link which connected the known coasts of the 
 Parry Archipelago with that of the American 
 
 Hi 
 
 \: 
 
 1 i\ 
 
i«~im iiiMiimiiimmiiaMBrMiMiiii 
 
 
 liliJ 
 
 16 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 continent. They did not, like the Investigators, 
 achieve the passage by actually passing fro.m ocean 
 to ocean ; but it is perfectly possible that at the very 
 moment when Captain M'Clure stood on the northern 
 coast of Banks Land, and assured himself of a water 
 communication between the Pacific and Atlantic 
 Oceans, some lonely survivors of Franklin's expe- 
 dition may have been watching from King William's 
 Land, that known highway to Behring's Strait, 
 which Dease and Simpson had traversed many 
 years before — a pathway upon whose entrance they 
 yielded up their gallant spirits. Captain M'Clure 
 and his followers can well afibrd to surrender 
 cheerfully to the illustrious dead that share of the 
 honour reaped which is their due ; and the friends 
 who mourn the loss of those who perished in gal- 
 lantly endeavouring to perform what the " Investi- 
 gator" so happily efifected, may still point to the 
 chart of the Polar Regions, and say " Si monumen- 
 tum requiris circumspice I" 
 
 
 M\U 
 
17 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Return of tUo Arctic Squadron of 1S48, and immediate Re- 
 equipment of the "Enterprise" and "Investigator." — 
 wAppointment of Captain M'Clure. — Prepara<,ions for speedy 
 Departure. — The two Vessels pass the Nore. — Heavy Gales 
 in the Channel. — Put into Plymouth. — Engagement of an 
 Interpreter. — Final Departure from England. — Appearance 
 of Arctic Ships. — "Investigator" reaches the South 
 Atlantic. 
 
 The Arctic Discovery Squadron, under Capt. Sir 
 James Ross, had hardly returned from its perilous 
 operations of 1848 and 1849, when it was at once 
 determined by Government to re-equip the vessels, 
 in order that they might resume the search after 
 Sir John Franklin's missing ships by the way 
 of Behring's Strait. 
 
 The " Enterprise " and " Investigator," it will be 
 remembered, had failed in their attempt to get to 
 the westward of Leopold Island in 1849, and only 
 escaped from that inhospitable spot, to be beset in 
 the drifting pack ice of Barrow's Strait, and swept 
 witii it out of Lancaster Sound into Baffin's Bay, 
 
 c 
 
 I I 
 
 l' 
 
 Ji 
 
 ■u 
 
/T" 
 
 Jl 
 
 18 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST TA ^AGE. 
 
 r t 
 
 
 11 
 
 7i ^ 
 
 if 
 
 i ' 
 
 t 
 
 
 !1ii i 
 
 J 
 
 m 
 
 so that they could but just secure their retreat to 
 England before the Arctic Sea« i^ecame generally 
 sealed for that season. 
 
 Tempest-tossed, nnd ice-worn though they were, 
 yet a little dockyard work soon put the good ships 
 into proper condition for once more resuming their 
 contest with floe and iceberg. Captain Richard 
 Collinson, C.B., was appointed as senior officer and 
 leader of the expedition, to the " Enterprise," and 
 Commander Robert Le Mesurier M'Clure to the 
 " Investigator." The former officer enjoyed a high 
 naval reputatioii, and in China his abilities as a 
 surveyor had done the State good service; the 
 latter, the destined discoverer of the North-west 
 Passage, had served through a long and severe 
 probation in every grade, until, after a struggle of 
 twenty-six years, he was appointed to the command 
 of the " Investigator," as a reward for the good 
 service he had rendered as First Lieutenant to Sir 
 James Ross, in his voyage of 1848-49. 
 
 There was no lack of volunteers for arctic ser- 
 vice amongst officers and men in the winter of 
 1849-50. The most sanguine feelings concerning 
 the cause they were about to engage in, animated 
 the whole nation, and told with excellent effect in 
 the speed}^ equipment of both ships, and the comple- 
 
\E. 
 
 THE " investigator" SAILS FUOM THE THAMES. 19 
 
 jtreat to 
 enerally 
 
 ey were, 
 od ships 
 ng their 
 Richard 
 &cer and 
 ise," and 
 3 to the 
 2d a high 
 ties as a 
 ice ; the 
 )rth-west 
 severe 
 'uggle of 
 pmmand 
 [he good 
 t to Sir 
 
 ;tic ser- 
 linter of 
 
 icerning 
 Inimated 
 
 jfFect in 
 
 [comple- 
 
 tion of their crews ; and altliough the pendants had 
 been hoisted as late as the 19th of December 1849, 
 yet on the 10th of January following the " Enter- 
 prise" and " Investigator" were enabled to put to 
 sea from the river Thames with their full complement 
 of men. They were, however, much hampered upon 
 both upper and lower decks, with provisions and 
 stores, a common case with arctic ships, and heavy 
 gales in the Channel having caused both vessels to 
 strain much, it became advisable to put into Ply- 
 mouth to be caulked — a measure which gave them 
 an opportunity for entering several more good 
 seamen from that well-known nursery of men-of- 
 war's men. 
 
 No grass was allowed to grow under their feet, 
 however, at that place, for the vast distance be- 
 tween England and Behring's Strait had to be 
 traversed by way of Cape Horn, in deep-ladened 
 bluff-bowed ships ; — winter gales awaited them in 
 the Cliannel, and equinoctial ones off Cape Horn. 
 All knew there was a weary six months' voyage 
 before they could reach the ice, and that the loss jf 
 a month by accident or neglect might cause the 
 highway they sought from Behring's Straits to 
 Melvihe Island to be closed against them. 
 
 At lust nearly all was ready, and what was not, 
 
 c2 
 
 4 
 
, f^mmmffff.wmm 
 
 I 
 
 IH 
 
 ii' 'n 
 
 20 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 was ordered to be sent to the Sandwich Islands, vi^ 
 Panama. Amongst the useful additions shipped 
 before sailing must not be forgotten the German 
 Mr. Mierching, who was engaged as an Interpreter. 
 The proposal had been suddenly made to him one 
 day when he was enjoying his ease in a quiet village 
 in Saxony after returning from a long sojourn in 
 Labrador as a Moravian missionary. He accepted, 
 and was despatched forth Avith as fast as rail could 
 take him to London. The Admiralty sent him a 
 few hours afterwards by express to Plymouth, and 
 he arrived only just in time to be tumbled into the 
 "Investigator" before her departure. 
 
 A few hours afterwards the Arctic Squadron 
 weighed, and on the 20th of January, 1850, the 
 " Enterprise" and " Investigator" sailed thence with 
 a fair and fresh wind. It will now be my duty to 
 follow the latter vessel and her gallant company in 
 their long and adventurous voyage ; and though a 
 minute detail of the every-day operations of the 
 " Investigator " might be far from interesting, I 
 must endeavour to picture to the general and non- 
 professional reader the appearance of the little 
 vessel, whose narae will be remembered as long as 
 England holds dear the character of her adventurous 
 arctic navigators. , , . 
 
AITEARANCE OF THE " INVESTIGATOR." 21 
 
 enturous 
 
 If the reader should ever h- . noticed, after a 
 westerly wind in the British Channel, a water- 
 washed looking vessel of barely 400 tons register 
 coming up the Thames, he will have an idea of the 
 size and original build of the vessel in question. 
 It is very possible that he may have seen this very 
 ship, for the " Investigator" was bought from 
 Messrs. Green, of Blackwall. The " fast sailing 
 copper-bottomed A 1, &c." was then doubled with 
 wood in every direction ; her bow and stern, ac- 
 cording to the then infallible rule, was made to 
 resemble the two ends of a caisoon, by having wood 
 and iron bolted one over the other, until in some 
 places twenty-nine inches of solid timber might 
 have been found, or even more. Everything in the 
 shape of outward ornament was of course carefully 
 eschewed, and a solemn coating of black paint, but 
 little relieved by a wliite riband and small figure- 
 head, added yet more to the appearance of strength 
 and weight of the little, but I am afraid I cannot 
 say pretty^ vessel. 
 
 Aloft, in her powerful rigging and large blocks, 
 were seen signs of a departure from the perfect 
 neatness of a Queen's ship — for aj)pearancc had to 
 be sacrificed to efficiency — and her deeply im- 
 mersed hull, her decks, covered with casks securely 
 
 o3 
 
ilf i! ir 
 
 22 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 \ 
 
 !|! 
 
 
 I I' 
 
 !i m 
 
 iii. 
 
 lashed, and the many strange articles, such as 
 sledges, ice-triangles, ice-saws, and crow's nest, all 
 told their own tale, and were well in keeping with 
 her character and destination. Tlie crew of this 
 good ship was, as the sequel will show, not un- 
 worthy of her; throughout Capt. ^M'Clure's journal 
 I meet constant expressions of admiration for the 
 men under his command ; indeed, so early as the 
 24th of January, he says, when speaking of the 
 accidental loss of his topmast : — " Vexatious as 
 it certainly was, still it was attended Avith one 
 advantage, as it gave me an insight into the dispo- 
 sition of my crew, and a more orderly set of men 
 have seldom been collected." 
 
 Thus early was that mutual confidence sown 
 which afterwards yielded such good fruit. 
 
 Battling with foul winds' and heavy seas, occa- 
 sionally losing sight of her consort, it was not until 
 the 20th of February that the " Investigator " got 
 the N.E. trade wind of the Atlantic. Whilst 
 passing from one tropic to the other, care was taken 
 during the fine weather of that region to make good 
 such defects as had shown themselves in the vessel, 
 and were within the power of her artificers to re- 
 medy ; and all due precautions were employed to 
 insure the health and comfort of officers and men. 
 
n 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Slow Sailing of the Arctic Ships. — Reftch Terra del Fuego. — 
 II.M.S.V. "Gorgon" in Possession Bay. — Reach Port 
 Famine. — Shipwrecked American Schooner. — American 
 Go-a-hcaaism. — Sublime Scenery. — "Investigator" meets 
 the "Enterprise." — American River Steamer in the Pacific. 
 — Heavy Gale Captain M'Clure's Care of the Men. 
 
 ice sown 
 
 It was not until the 18th March, nearly two month.s 
 after leaving England, that the " Investigator " 
 crossed the Southern Tropic in the Atlantic Ocean, 
 although a heavy press of canvass had constantly 
 been carried, and the two vessels had not been even 
 in company to detain one another. Nearly a month 
 afterwards they had only sighted Capo Virgins, 
 that headland of the South American continent 
 which marks the eastern entrance of the Strait of 
 Magellan. This rate of progress gives the best idea of 
 the speed of the Arctic Discovery Ships, and enables 
 us better to appreciate the feelings of anxiety with 
 which Capt. M'Clure, his officers, and crew, must 
 have watched the precious hours as they flitted by, 
 
 c4 
 
•mtm 
 
 nH 
 
 !i 
 
 II III 
 
 24 DISOOVKUY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 as well as to give thein due credit for the persever- 
 ance and ability with which they did so much with 
 such inferior means. 
 
 On the 15th of April, land again gladdened their 
 sight, and, inhospitable as it was, it was welcome 
 after eighty-five days of sea work ; beating along 
 that coast where so many points bear English 
 names that sound strangely there — names that tell 
 how England's good and gallant seamen have toiled 
 and hoped, and suffered in the great cause of 
 human advancement, from Anson and Drake, proud 
 Admirals, — to poor Allen Gardner, who perished in 
 a noble effort to carry civilisation to the wretched 
 Fuegians. On i'oint Dungeness were seen largo 
 troops of Guanachoes, a species of the lama ; but a 
 lee shore gave Capt. M'Clure enough to do to keep 
 his ship in safety, until upon the turn of tide he 
 was enabled to push westward against the contrary 
 wind which prevails in this strait. Next day the 
 "Investigator" reached Possession Bay, and found 
 H.M.S. V. " Gorgon" there, ready to assist in towing 
 her when necessary into the Pacific Ocean ; and ac- 
 cordingly by her aid and the zealous exertions of 
 her Commander, the " Investigator," on the 17th 
 April, arrived at Port Famine. 
 
 At this wretched Chilian penal settlement, Captain 
 
fE. 
 
 CREW OF AN AMEUICAN SHIP AT TORT FAMINE. 25 
 
 jrsever- 
 cli with 
 
 3d their 
 welcome 
 
 D O 
 
 English 
 :hat tell 
 TQ toiled 
 ausc of 
 e, proud 
 ished in 
 Tctched 
 m large 
 ; but a 
 to keep 
 tide he 
 ontrary 
 day the 
 found 
 towing 
 and ac- 
 tions of 
 le 17th 
 
 !)aptain 
 
 ^I'Clure learnt that the " Enterprise" had already 
 passed, and wliat was still more to be regretted, 
 taken with her all the bullocks, so that the prospect 
 of fresh beef for the "Investigator's" crew was no 
 nearer than the Sandwich Islands, to reach which 
 the wide Pacific Ocean had to be traversed as the 
 Atlantic had already been. The most interesting 
 objects to be seen at Port Famine were the wreck 
 and cast-away crew oi" an American schooner, onco 
 bound to California. The stoical indifference to 
 the reverse of fortune with which it had pleased 
 Providence to visit the two Yankee owners — for 
 they were there, — struck our arctic explorers 
 much ; and the unshaken firmness with Avhich they 
 determined not to be beaten was illustrative of the 
 best phase of their national character. 
 
 Their tale was a strange, but not an unusual one. 
 In the heio^ht of the Californian fever then ra^in"-, 
 one of the owners had been a vendor of hardware, 
 the other the proprietor of a dry provision store in 
 New York. Tiie latter, walking one day on the 
 quay, saw the schooner of which we are now speak- 
 ing advertised for sale ; and being struck with the 
 number of persons daily embarking for California, 
 the thought suddenly entered his head thot in that 
 El Dorado he might make a fortune far more 
 
 i 
 

 \ \ t 
 
 ii 
 
 :i 
 
 20 DISCOVERY OF THE NOllTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 rapidly than even in the smart town of New York. 
 At this moment his eye chanced to light upon the 
 vendor of hardware, likewise apparently in a 
 brown study ; and addressing him, the dry-goodsman 
 asked, " what he thought of a Californian ven- 
 ture ?" "Just what I was thinking of," was the 
 reply; and with true American go-aheadism, they 
 at once decided on selling off, and embarking their 
 nil, four thousand dollars each, in the schooner. 
 The thing was done; and ten weeks afterwards 
 they were cast away upon the south ex^jeme of 
 America, and utterly ruined ! 
 
 Yet they were not dispirited, and they wanted 
 no sympathy : " No ! " said the dry-provision mer- 
 chant, when it was suggested that he had better 
 return to New York and adhere to his old line of 
 business, " No ! I guess I '11 never go back to 
 New York ; I '11 get somehow to California, and 
 right myself yet ! " 
 
 The "Gorgon" took some of the men on board 
 imtil they could be put into their own country- 
 men's vessels. 
 
 Leaving Port Famine, the " Investigator" pro- 
 ceeded on her way, passing the wild and, in many 
 places, sublime scenery which skirts the shores of 
 this wonderful and intricate inland sea navigation, 
 
** ENTERPRISE " IN FORTESCUE BAY. 
 
 27 
 
 — the lofty mountains, which Captain M'Clure truly 
 describes as preserting at once the characteristics 
 of the equatorial and polar regions, their sum- 
 mits being covered with glaciers, whilst their bases 
 are clothed with dense and humid forests, whose 
 rank luxuriance of vegetation resembles that of the 
 thickest East Indian jungle. 
 
 After rounding Cape Frowards, they found the 
 '* Enterprise" at anchor in Fortescue Bay, and had 
 a good opportunity of comparing their relative 
 courses since parting company. By the charts, 
 the two discovery ships had seldom been sixty 
 miles apart, and they had crossed the Equator 
 within thirty-five miles of each other, though with- 
 out meeting. Such are the not unusual accidents 
 of a sea voyage ; and at any rate neither Captain 
 Collinson nor his colleague could accuse themselves 
 of being the cause of delay to the other. Whilst 
 at this anchorage, detained by strong and foul 
 winds, an American river steamer, bound to Cali- 
 fornia, passed by. She had many passengers, and 
 took our voyagers' mail to Valparaiso, it being the 
 intention of her captain, a reckless sort of indi- 
 vidual, to take the inshore channels which lead 
 from Cape Horn to Chiloe, before he trusted his 
 fi'ail-built vessel to the mercy of the wide Pacific. 
 
 t,i 
 
'rr 
 
 I 
 
 i! 
 
 ill 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 ill 
 
 1 '^'i 
 
 1' 
 
 28 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE." 
 
 That steamer appeared to have made a mar- 
 vellously quick passage, so much so as to induce 
 some of the "Investigator's" officers to ask the 
 skipper if he were certain of the dates of departure 
 and arrival. The reply, if not pleasing to ears 
 polite, contained in it a great truth : " Well, 
 officer," said Jonathan, " I ain't sure, for I huve 
 lived so long amongst liars that I don't know when 
 I am not speaking the truth ! " 
 
 On the 19th of April the weather moderated 
 sufficiently for the *' Gorgon" to take the " Enter- 
 prise" and "Investigator" in tow, and they 
 started at an early hour against a breeze which 
 otherwise would have still kept sailing ships idle. 
 Fuegians, in frail canoes, chased them in hopes 
 of barter, but were unable to communicate, and 
 next day the vessels passed Cape Pillar, the western 
 boundary of the strait. 
 
 Once in the broad Pacific, the swell of a 
 western sea caused the hawsers to carry away so 
 often as to prevent the towing of more than one 
 vessel at a time. The "Enterprise" was first 
 taken, and a good offing given her, and then the 
 " Investigator" was helped on in her turn. As 
 night came on, however, the gale freshened from 
 the north-west, and the " Enterprise " and 
 
HEAVY GALE IN THE PACIFIC. 
 
 29 
 
 "Investigator" parted company, never again to 
 rejoin. 
 
 During the night of the 20th, the " Gorgon" 
 was obliged to cut away the towing-hawser of the 
 " Investigator," and after lying by her until day- 
 light, Captain Paynter, of the former, bore up to 
 look for the "Enterprise." 
 
 A heavy gale now came on, and no canvass could 
 be shown to carry the " Investigator" to the west- 
 ward, away from the iron-bound shores of Pata- 
 gonia, distant at the time not more than thirty 
 or forty miles. The increasing gale and sea after- 
 wards drove them far away to the south-west, 
 and it was not until the 30th of April that it 
 abated, and enabled the tempest-tossed ship to 
 resume her course for the next rendezvous, Hono- 
 lulu, in the Sandwich Islands. 
 
 Even at this early period of the voyage, every 
 precaution was taken by Captain M'Clure to pre- 
 vent the seeds of scurvy being sown amongst his 
 men. He increased the amount of vegetables and 
 fresh preserved meat, issued them as a ration every 
 alternate day, and, as soon as the weather per- 
 mitted it, the officers and crew were constantly 
 employed in their watches restoring, examining, 
 and ascertaining the quality of the provisions, upon 
 
 1 , 
 
 n < 
 
k'ff 
 
 [ y I 
 
 
 in 
 
 I' li 
 
 30 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 which Captain M'Clure's experience told him the 
 result of his voyage would so much depend. No 
 one knew better than he that in the far north man 
 is a machine not to be replaced ; that without the 
 zealous labour and the skill and energy of the crew, 
 the best officers are worthless. To work a willing 
 seaman to death, or into scurvy, and then turn 
 round and lay the blame on the nature of the 
 arctic service, was not the system of the man who 
 was about to achieve the North-west Passage ; 
 and in adopting the course he did, he took the best 
 method of showing his men that, so far as circum- 
 stances would admit, he would always study their 
 health and comfort. The crew on their side, like 
 true seamen, repaid him with unbounded con- 
 fidence and hearty exertions. 
 
 
 ii'V 
 
 I 
 
31 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 'SI 
 
 Voyage continued to Honolulu. — Leak in the Bread- Room. — 
 Loneliness of this Ocean. — Good Feeling between Officers 
 and Men. — Arrival at Honolulu. — Replenishing and De- 
 parture. — Great Anxiety of OflScers and Men to reach the 
 Ice. — Passing the Aleutian Islands. — Dense Fogs. — The 
 Arctic Circle crossed. — Meet the "Plover" Depot Ship. — 
 Unfavourable Report of the State of the Ice. — Captain 
 M'Clure's Plan of Operations. — Preparations for meeting 
 the Ice.— H.MS. "Herald" met with — Captain Kellett's 
 Discovery. 
 
 The whole of the month of May, 1850, was 
 passed by the " Investigator " in making the best 
 of her way towards Honolulu; and the only incident 
 worthy of notice was the loss of a topmast, and the 
 discovery of the destruction of a large quantity of 
 bread, owing to a leak in the bread-room, which 
 could not be got at : nearly a thousand pounds of 
 biscuit were found to be so mouldy that it had to be 
 thrown away; but Capt. M'Clure consoled himself 
 with the certainty of being able to replenish at 
 the first port he reached. 
 
 On June 2nd they attained the limit of the S.E. 
 
m : 
 
 ij . « 
 
 i^ i !<' 
 
 32 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 trade wind, in lat. 17'' 44' S., long. 105" 54' \V. 
 During the fortnight that the " Investigator " was 
 steering diagonally across that space which inter- 
 venes between the Southern Tropic and the Equator 
 of the Pacific Ocean, the monotony of their lives 
 pressed heavily upon both crew and officers. Five 
 weary months of salt water is enough to try the 
 patience of any men; and Capt.M'Clure's journal here 
 laments the loneliness of the vast region of water 
 which rolls from America to the Polynesian Isles, 
 a fine and fair wind, clear sky, and smooth sea, 
 hardly compensating for the absence of every living 
 thing except themselves: not even a bird or a 
 fish broke the dreariness of the ocean solitude. 
 Every day served, however, to unite more strongly 
 the bond of mutual good feeling between the com- 
 mander and his crew. Much heavy work connected 
 with the re-stowage and examination of the pro- 
 visions fell, of course, upon the latter; but they 
 did it with such cheerfulness and good-will as to 
 draw forth the remark in Capt. M'Clure's hand- 
 writing: — " I have much confidence in them ; with 
 such a spirit what may not be expected, even if 
 difiiculties should arise ? " This good opinion of 
 his men was fully borne out in the sequel. 
 
 The Equator was crossed on the 15th June, and 
 
 
t 
 
 AUniVAL AT HONOLUL^T. 
 
 33 
 
 the S.E. trade k. lly favoured them into 7° north 
 latitude. On Lhe 23rd of June the N.E. trade 
 wind reached them, and aided by it they made on 
 the 24th the longest run the " Investigator " had 
 as yet performed in twenty-four hours j namely, one 
 hundred and eighty-six miles. 
 
 On June 29th, the snow-capped peak of Mona- 
 Kea, on the Island of Owhyhee, showed itself, and 
 announced that at last they were nearing a port, 
 after a sea voyage of 15,000 miles. 
 
 Running through the western islands of the 
 Sandwich group, they anchored, gladly enough, on 
 the 1st July, outside the reefs of Honolulu Harbour, 
 the wind being foul for entering its narrow mouth. 
 
 Thrre was no time to be lost, however, and all 
 necessary supplies were speedily purchased, Capt. 
 M'Clure being much aided in his labour by Capt. 
 Aldham of H. M. brig " Swift," then in the port. 
 The very next day, all the stores were ready for 
 shipment, and the "Investigator" was prepared for 
 the prosecution of her voyage with the utmost 
 despatch. The crew of the " Swift," with true sailors' 
 generosity, undertook this duty in the place of the 
 men of the " Investigator," who were at once allowed 
 all the leave that could be afforded them to wander 
 at libertj' about the beautiful island of Oahu. 
 
 D 
 
 I 
 
 • it 
 
 
I I 
 
 I n 
 
 u 
 
 ! 
 
 34 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 The "Enterprise," Capt. Collinson, had already, it 
 appeared, called at this port, and had replenished, 
 and gone on, in prosecution of his instructions. 
 The anxiety of Capt. M'Clure to overtake his chief, 
 and rejoin him in time for entering the Polar Sea 
 in 1850, can be better conceived than described. 
 Abundant supplies of fruit and vegetables were 
 purchased, although the hi^'^h prices occasioned by 
 so large a demand, as well as the arrival of the 
 annual fleets of American whalers, formed a con- 
 siderable obstacle to the private purchases of officers 
 and men. By a remarkable fatality, too, their hopes 
 of obtaining a good supply of fresh beef were again 
 destined to be disappointed, for the natives, in 
 attempting to land the bullocks from a coaster, had 
 drowned all but one of them. 
 
 The Consul-General, Miller, as well as some of 
 the merchants, extended due hospitality to Capt. 
 M'Clure, and although he had occasion to remark 
 that Yankee influence was all powerful in these 
 Islands, — the American stepping-stones to the 
 Empire of the East, as they have been appropriately 
 called, — yet neither he, nor the Investigators 
 generally, had any cause to complain of want of 
 courtesy towards themselves, or of sympathy for 
 the noble mission on which they were employed. 
 
ii 
 
 " INVKSTTOATOR " WELL PROVISIONED. 
 
 35 
 
 The 4th July, 1850, saw the " Investigator " in 
 every respect ready for the Polar voyage, which was 
 her appointed task. Iwery available space was again 
 filled with provisions, and in addition to the solitary 
 bullock, a dozen sheep, and vegetables sufficient to 
 last forty days, were embarked. Her weak or sickly 
 men had been invalided, and the^r places supplied 
 by volunteers, and all hands were much re- 
 freshed and re-invigorated by even the short stay 
 they had made in so pleasant a spot. On leaving 
 Honolulu, the same evening, Capt. M'Clure remarks 
 that the health and cheerfulness of all was most 
 gratifying, and that no vessel could have entered 
 the ice under more favourable circumstances after 
 so long and trying a sea voyage. 
 
 The ice, however, was still full forty degrees of 
 latitude distant, the "Enterprise " far ahead, and the 
 season would be closing in, in about sixty days' 
 time. Well, therefore, might Capt. M'Clure feel 
 anxious when he looked at his deeply-laden vessel, 
 and pondered on the quickest mode of reachinfjj 
 Behring's Straits. The old established course from 
 the Sandwich Islands to the Strait, was by hauling 
 out to the N.W. across the N.E. trade, so as to strike 
 the Asiatic coast in or about the latitude of Petro- 
 pouloffskoi, and then taking advantage of the 
 
 d2 
 
 il 
 
m 
 
 ! : 
 
 'i; 
 
 fi K 
 
 !i-1 
 
 ; :''l 
 
 36 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 westerly winds to run along that coast, and thus 
 avoid the; dangurous channels through the Aleutian 
 Islands, which are still imperfectly known, and 
 subject to dense fogs and strong tides. This, how- 
 ever, is a long route, generally occupying sixty 
 days, and Capt. M'Clure had heard of another and 
 more direct one, but at the same time the risk of 
 his vessel being driven down upon the dangerous 
 and inhospitable coast north of Vancouver's 
 Island and Princess Charlotte's Island, was duly 
 pointed out. Fortunately, he afterwards met at 
 Honolulu with an intelligent merchant sailor, who 
 urged him by all means to steer a direct course to 
 the northward, and not to fear north-west gales 
 at that season of the year. This advice, together 
 with the emergency of the case, induced him to 
 decide upon making direct for the Aleutian Islands, 
 and trusting to the "sweet little cherub that sits 
 up aloft" for the winds he might require. 
 
 At midnight a course was shaped accordingly, 
 and M'Clure went to his bed to dream of catching; 
 the " Ent^'T-prise," for great was the fear among both 
 officers and men lest Capt. CoUinson, instead of wait- 
 ing for his consort, should take the " Plover " on into 
 the ice, and leave the " Investigator " to occupy her 
 
RAPID PROGRESS OF THE "INVESTIGATOR." .'i7 
 
 i 
 
 place, a rumour to that effect liaviiig been wliispcred 
 about at Honolulu. 
 
 No other bad effects had resulted from the liberty 
 given to the " Investigator's " men at Honolulu, 
 after their long imprisonment on board, than that 
 six of them were laid up for a few days, in conse- 
 quence of having, sailor-like, taken a great deal too 
 much equestrian exercise — one or two having actu- 
 ally cut their feet with the stirrup-irons through 
 riding hard without any shoes. • • 
 
 Favoured by strong and fair winds, the ship made 
 rapid progress to the northward, although dense 
 fogs gave the captain and master much anxiety, 
 lest they should be carried east or west of that 
 channel through the Aleutian Isles, for which they 
 were endeavouring to steer. 
 
 On the sixteenth day after leaving Oahu, 
 while expecting to sight the land, the mist lifted 
 sulHciently to show a bluff point, with a detached 
 rock lying oft^ it. This satisfied them that the island 
 they had wished to sight was the one now at hand, 
 and, as the " Investigator " was swept rapidly 
 along in a tide race with a fair wind, they had only 
 time to observe, on the bow, the western extreme 
 of the Island of Tchunam. It was but a momen- 
 
 ij8 
 
 « 
 
HF 
 
 i^l 
 
 nil 
 
 38 DISCOVEllY OF THE NOUTII-WEST rASSAGE. 
 
 tiiry glimpse, however, that they were blessed with 
 of either, and this was all they saw of the Aleutian 
 Chain ; but when certain of being clear of, and 
 north of them, the *• Investigator " steered for Gore 
 Island. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the denseness of tho 
 fogs which prevail in this region, and add so mate- 
 rially to its dangers, from the circumstance of some 
 of the sea birds, such as the Little Auk {Alca alle) 
 striking against the rigging in their flight, and 
 falling on board, so as to be captured. 
 
 But fog or no fog, the ship was still pushed on 
 with the utinost press of sail that any regard to 
 safety would permit. A sea but little known, how- 
 ever, was before the "Investigator," — a sea inter- 
 spersed with islands whose position was so far 
 from certain that, in some cases, as in those of 
 St. Paul and St. George, they were not placed in the 
 Chart. Many an anxious hour was passed on board 
 the ship, their greatest fear being lest, by ground- 
 ing the vessel and detention, they should be too 
 late for entering the ice in the season of 1850. 
 
 On July 26th, the stud-sails were for the first 
 time taken in since leaving Oahu, and next day 
 they made King's Island, and had a narrow escape 
 of being swept on shore by a rapid and unexpected 
 
" INVESTIGATOR " IN PERIL. 
 
 39 
 
 current. Happily, a good bearing, by compass, of 
 the land was obtained before they were again enve- 
 loped in fog, so that they were able to shape a 
 course between the two Diomede Islands ; but still 
 running the gauntlet, as they were doing, was 
 fraught with peril, and nothing but the urgency cT 
 the case induced Capt. M'Clurc to persist, although 
 it might be that in such a sea, and amongst so 
 many tides and currents, a straight course on end 
 was the safer one. 
 
 The words of her commander convey the best 
 idea of the ship's position and his feelings as they 
 approached the Channel : — " The Channel is a good 
 one doubtless in clear weather; but in a fog 
 which never gave an horizon more than four 
 hundred yards distant, with a very strong and un- 
 known current, with a fresh fair wind and deep 
 water, it was an exceedingly anxious time for me, 
 more especially when an unusual ripple was per- 
 ceived, resembling the tidal race of Alderney or 
 I'ortland. The noise was so great that you could 
 not hear what was said without great vocal exer- 
 tion ; the sea was breaking into the channels, and 
 the deep sea lead showed that the ship was sweeping 
 over twenty-two fathoms' water only." The look-out 
 man even reported breakers ahead, and not small 
 
 d4 
 
 m 
 
40 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ■^ 
 
 was the general delight when, by the deepening of 
 the soundings and the cessation of the tide ripple, 
 the voyag'^rs guessed themselves to have been swept 
 into Kotzebue Sound, though disagreeably close 
 past one of the islands at its entrance. 
 
 On July 29th, 1850, the Arctic Circle was crossed, 
 and the Admiralty clothing supplied by the Lords 
 Commissioners of the Admiralty for the use of 
 seamen in those regions was now issued to the 
 crew. Arctic sights now rapidly accumulated to 
 interest the many novices in the " Investigator," 
 and to awaken in the mind of her commander re- 
 collections of his former trying and unsuccessful 
 voyage on the opposite side of America into that 
 same frozen sea. • . 
 
 The first to greet them was the " Plover " depot- 
 ship, then commanded by Commander Moore, who, 
 with two boats, was making inquiries amongst the 
 natives of Wainwright Inlet, concerning some of 
 the thousand and one Esquimaux fictions that then 
 enlivened the monotony of Kotzebue Sound. The 
 eager query of how long since the *' Enterprise " 
 had gone to the northward ? was answered by the 
 " Plover " informing them that she had not been 
 fallen in with at all ; this the officers of the " Inves- 
 tigator " presumed might be accounted for, from the 
 
UNSATISFACTORY ACCOUNT OF THE ICE. 
 
 41 
 
 dense fogs which had lately prevailed having pre- 
 vented her being seen. The " Enterprise " had left 
 Honolulu as early as the 30th June ; she was the 
 faster sailing ship, and there was no reason to sup- 
 pose she had not been equally favoured in winds. 
 
 The news of the state of the ice in Behring's 
 Straits was most unsatisfactory, especially to those 
 who did not know that its movements are often so 
 sudden as to render a report of more than twenty- 
 four hours old of no value. The " Plover " had seen 
 the polar ice so densely packed from Wainwright 
 Inlet upon the American coast to lat. 71° 30' N., 
 and long. 1G4° 28' W., as apparently to defy all 
 efforts to push a vessel to the north-east. 
 
 In recording this information, Capt. M'Clurc 
 adds in his journal this remarkable sentence, so 
 well verified by the result, and showing how deci- 
 dedly he had made up his mind to the course to be 
 pursued. " This," says he, " was not what I anti- 
 cipated from the continuance of south-east winds, 
 but the season is not far advanced, and much may 
 yet be accomplished ere ice are frozen iip.^^ 
 
 The Investigators were generally struck with 
 the healthy, and, in most cases, robust appearance 
 of the " Plover's " crew ; indeed, this was not to be 
 wondered at, considering they had wintered evoy 
 
 m 
 
42 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I 
 
 year they spent in the Arctic Zone, in a place like 
 Kotzebue Sound, where the natives are able to live 
 upon the resources of the country, and where mo- 
 notony, darkness, and hunger do not weigh upon 
 them in any extraordinary degree. 
 
 Before bearing up for Cape Lisburne (the next 
 rendezvous that Capt. Collinson had appointed), and 
 where the " Herald," Capt. Kellett, was known to 
 be cruising, all the letter-bags of the "Investi- 
 gator " were sent on board the " Plover ; " and at 
 the same time that admirable despatch from Capt. 
 M'Clure to the Admiralty, in which he clearly 
 stated what his intentions were, should he be left 
 to act upon them. How to the very letter he car- 
 ried them out, aided by his gallant officers and 
 men, will be seen in the sequel. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from Commander M''Clure to the 
 Secretary of the Admiralty. 
 
 " Iler Majesty's Discovery Ship 'Investigator,' at Sea, 
 " (Lat, 51° 2G' N. ; Long. 172° 35' W.), 
 " 20 July, 1850. 
 
 "Sir, 
 
 " As I have received instructions from Captain 
 Collinson, C.B., clear and unembarrassing (a copy 
 of which I enclose), to proceed to Cape Lisburne, 
 
COPY OF CAPTAIN M'CLURE's LETTER. 
 
 43 
 
 'I 
 
 ill the hope of meeting him in that vicinity, as he 
 anticipates being detained a day or two by the 
 ' Plover ' in Kotzebue Sound, it is unnecessary to 
 add that every exertion shall be made to reach 
 that rendezvous, but I can scarce venture to hope 
 that, even under very favourable circumstances, 
 I shall be so fortunate as to accomplish it ere the 
 ' Enterprise ' will have rounded that Cape, as, 
 from her superior sailing, she hitherto having 
 beaten uw, by eight days to Cape Virgins, and 
 from Magellan Straits to Oahu by six. It is, 
 therefore, under the probable case that this vessel 
 may form a detached part of the expedition, that 
 I feel it my duty to state, for the information of 
 the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the 
 course which, under such a contingency, I shall 
 endeavour to pursue, and I have to request that 
 you will lay the same before their Lordships. 
 
 "1st. After passing Cape Lisbiirne, it is my in- 
 tention to keep in the open ivater, ivhich, from the 
 different reports that I have read, appears, about this 
 season of the year, to make between the American 
 coast and the main pack, as far to the eastward as 
 the IBOth meridian, unless a favourable openimj 
 should earlier appear in the ice, which would lead 
 ine to infer that I miylit push more directly for Banks 
 
 m 
 
 *i 
 
 w 
 
44 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 J ' 
 
 Land^ vhich I think is of the utmost importance to 
 thoroughly ea;amine. 
 
 " In the event of luus far succeeding, and the sea- 
 son continuing iavourable for further operations, 
 it would be my anxious desire to get to the north- 
 ward of Melville Island, and resume our search 
 along its shores, and the islands adjacent, as long 
 as the navigation can be carried on, and then se- 
 cure for the winter in the most eligible position 
 which offers. 
 
 " 2nd. In the ensuing spring, as soon as it is prac- 
 ticable for travelling parties to start, I should de- 
 spatch as many as the state of the crew will admit 
 of, in different directions, each being provided with 
 40 days' provisions, with directions to examine 
 minutely all bays, inlets, and islands towards the 
 N.E., ascending occasionally some of the highest 
 points of land, so as to be enabled to obtain ex- 
 tended views, being particularly cautious, in their 
 advance, to observe any indication of a break-up 
 in the ice, so that their return to the ship may be 
 effected without hazard, even before the expendi- 
 ture of their provisions would otherwise render it 
 necessary. 
 
 " 3rd. Supposing the parties to have returned 
 (without obtaining any clue of the absent ships), 
 
p 
 
 COPY OF CAPTAIN m'CLURE'S LETTER. 
 
 45 
 
 and the vessel liberated about the 1st of August, 
 my object would then be to push ou towards Wel- 
 lington Inlet (assuming that that channel commu- 
 nicates with the Polar Sea), and search both its 
 shores, unless, in so doing, some indication should 
 be met with to shov/ that parties from any of Cap- 
 tain Austin's vessels had previously done so, when 
 I should return and endeavour to penetrate in the 
 direction of Jones' Sound, carefully examining 
 every place that was practicable. Sir, should our 
 efforts to reach this point be successful, and in the 
 route no traces be discernible of the long-missing 
 expedition, I should not then be enabled longer to 
 divest myself of the feeling, painful as it must be 
 to arrive at such a conclusion, that all liuman aid 
 would then be perfectly unavailing, and therefore, 
 under such a conviction, I ^vou'u think it my duty, 
 if possible, to return to England, or, at all events, 
 endeavour to reach some port that would ensure 
 that object upon the following year, 
 
 " 4th. In the event of this being our last com- 
 munication, I would request you to assure their 
 Lordships that no apprehension whatever need be 
 entertained of our safety until the autumn of 1854, 
 as we have on board three years of all species of 
 provisions, commencing from the 1st September 
 
 I- A 
 
 ii 
 
 It 
 
 li 
 
 ' 7 
 
 ^'^/; 
 
'1 
 
 ! ti 
 
 
 '■ 
 
 :i!l 
 
 46 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 proximo, which, without much deprivation, may 
 be made to extend a period of four years, as, more- 
 over, whatever is killed by the hunting parties I 
 intend to issue in lieu of the usual rations, which 
 will still further protract our resources. 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure to say that the good 
 effects of the fruit and vegetables (a large quantity 
 of which we took on board at Oahn) are very 
 perceptible, in the increased vigour of the men, 
 who at this moment are in as excellent condition 
 as it is possible to desire, and evince a spirit of con- 
 fidence and a cheerfulness of disposition which are 
 beyond all appreciation. 
 
 " 5th. Should difficulties apparently insurmount- 
 able encompass our progress^ so as to render it a 
 matter of doubt whether the vessel could be extricated^ 
 I should deem it expedient^ in that case, not to hazard 
 the lives of those entrusted to my charge after the 
 winter of 1852, but, in the ensuing spring, quit the 
 vessel with sledges and boats, and make the best of our 
 way to either Fondas Bay, Leopold Harbour, the Mac- 
 kenzie, or for the ivhalcrs, according to circumstances. 
 
 " Finally. In this letter I have endeavoured to 
 give an outline of what I wish to accomplish (and 
 what, under moderately favourable seasons, appears 
 to me attainable), the carrying out of which, how- 
 
COPY OF CAPTAIN M'CLURE's LETTEH. 
 
 47 
 
 ever, not resting upon human exertions, it is im- 
 possible even to surmise if any or what portion may 
 be successful. But my object in addressing you is 
 to place their Lordships in possession of my inten- 
 tions up to the latest period, so, as far as possible, 
 to relieve their minds from any unnecessary anxiety 
 as to our fate ; and having done this — a duty which 
 is incumbent on me, from the deep sympathy ex- 
 pressed by their Lordships, and participated in by all 
 classes of our countrymen, in the interesting object 
 of this expedition, — I have only to add that, with the 
 ample resources which a beneficent Government and 
 a generous country have placed at our disposal (not 
 anything that can add to our comfort being want- 
 ing), we enter upon this distinguished service with 
 a firm determination to carry out, as far as in our 
 feeble strength we are permitted, their benevolent 
 intentions. 
 
 "I have, &c. 
 
 " (Signed) Robert M'Clure, Commander:" 
 
 
 ill 
 
 iiow- 
 
 Not a letter written that day contained any ex- 
 pression but that of a hopeful issue to their enter- 
 prise, and if anxiety was expressed, it was only that 
 of being delayed, or being too late. The calm and 
 
J 
 
 ^H 
 
 48 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 resolute spirit of their leader is marked in the para- 
 graph penned this same night. " I consider," he 
 writes, " that we have said adieu to the world for 
 the next two years. May that arm which has con- 
 ducted us so far in safety still continue its protec- 
 t' upon a service where all else is weakness 
 
 On ^ V 31st, the vessel was prepared for falling 
 in with the ice ; the crow's-nest was sent up to the 
 masthead, ready for the look-out men to take their 
 station in ; whale-lines and ice-anchors were placed 
 at hand ready for heaving, or tracking the ship 
 through loose ice ; and ice-chisels, saws, ladders, 
 and all the many articles of equipment peculiar to 
 arctic service were placed on deck. 
 
 The current had swept the "Investigator" thirty 
 miles north of her reckoning, and Cape Lisburnc 
 was far astern when H.M.S. " Herald," Captain 
 Kellett, hove in sight. 
 
 This vessel, it will be remembered, was annually 
 ordered from her surveying service in Central 
 America, to communicate with, and replenish the pro- 
 visions of the "Plover " depot-ship. The " Herald" 
 usually arrived in June, and left Behring's Straits 
 in September. Her object in cruising about the 
 Strait was mainly the hope of falling in with the 
 
CAPTAIN KELLETT'S DESPATCHES. 
 
 49 
 
 squadron of Sir John Franklin, should either of his 
 ships have accomplished the passage from the At- 
 lantic to the Pacific Ocean; but the " Herald" like- 
 wise did good service in correcting the charts of this 
 neighbourhood, and in adding materially to our 
 geographical knowledge. The most important dis- 
 covery, however, that Captain Henry Kellett had 
 made, and one which, in connection with the nature 
 of the ice met with by the " Investigate, v. itward 
 of Banks Land, is deeply interesting i th . curi- 
 ous about the yet unknown regions v . l^h lie around 
 our pole, was the sighting of an ext»-nsive land 
 north and north-west of Behrin^ c^trait. In 
 Captain Kellett's despatches to England, bearing 
 date 1849, the discovery is graphically described. 
 
 " At 3 A.M. the 17th of August, the temperature 
 of the sea suddenly fell from 40" to 36° ; the wind 
 became light, and excessively cold. Shortened sail, 
 supposing that I was very near the ice ; frequent 
 snow showers. 
 
 " At 5 A.M. wind shifted suddenly from the N.W. 
 in a sharp squall with heavy snow. Shortly after 
 8, when one of these snow storms cleared off, the 
 packed ice was seen from the masthead from S.S. W. 
 to N.N.W., five miles distant. The v/eather was 
 so bad that I bore up for the rendezvous. The 
 
 E 
 
 1 '■■': 
 
n 
 
 ^1 
 
 ->',] 
 
 . ;, 
 
 Ml 
 
 50 DISCOVERT OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 weather, however, as suddenly cleared up, and I 
 hauled my wind for the north-western extreme of 
 the ice that had been seen. At 9 40 the exciting 
 report of * Land-ho ! ' was made from the masthead ; 
 they were both soon afterwards crowded. 
 
 " In running a course along the pack towards 
 our first discovery, a small group of islands was re- 
 ported on our port beam, a considerable distance 
 within the outer margin of the ice. 
 
 " The pack here was not so close as I found it 
 before. Lanes of water could be seen reaching 
 almost up to the group, but too narrow to enter 
 unless the ship had been sufficiently fortified to 
 force a hole for herself. 
 
 *' These small islands at intervals were very dis- 
 tinct, and were not considered at the time very 
 distant. 
 
 " Still more distant than this group (from the 
 deck) a very extensive and high land was reported, 
 which I had been watching for some time, and 
 anxiously awaited a report from some one else. 
 There was a fine clear atmosphere (such a one as 
 can only be seen in this climate), except in the di- 
 rection of this extended land, where the clouds 
 rolled in numerous immense masses, occasionally 
 leaving the very lofty peaks uncapped, where could 
 
I 
 
 CAPT-ATN KELLETT'8 DESPATCHES. 
 
 51 
 
 be distinctly seen columns, pillurs, and very broken 
 peaks, characteristic of the higher headlands in 
 this sea — East Cape and Cape Lisburne, for example. 
 
 " Wu.i the exception of the N.E. and S.E. ex- 
 tremes, none of the lower land could be seen, un- 
 less, indeed, what I took at first for a small group 
 of islands within the pack edge was a point of this 
 great land. 
 
 *' This island or point was distant 25 miles from 
 the ship's track, higher parts of the land seen, not 
 less, I consider, than 60 miles. When we hove to 
 off the first land seen, the northern extreme of the 
 great land showed out to the eastward for a moment, 
 and so clear as to cause some who had doubts be- 
 fore to cry out, ' There, Sir, is the land quite plain.' 
 
 *' From the time land was reported until we hove 
 to under it, we ran 25 miles directly for it. At 
 first we could not see that the pack joined it, but 
 as we approached the island we found the pack to 
 rest on the island, and to extend from it as far as 
 the eye could reach, to the E.S.E. • 
 
 " The weather, which had been fine all day, now 
 changed suddenly to dense clouds and snow showers, 
 blowing fresh from the south, with so much sea 
 that I did not anchor as I intended. 
 
 " I left the ship with two boats ; the senior lieu- 
 
 e2 
 
 Hii 
 
52 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ! ' i 
 
 tenant, Mr. Mnguirc, Mr. Sccmann, naturalist, and 
 Mr. CoUinson, mate, in one ; Mr. Goodridgc, sur- 
 geon, Mr. Pakenham, midshipman, and myself in 
 the other, almost despairing of being able to reach 
 the island. 
 
 *' The ship kept off and on outside the thickest 
 pnrt of the loose ice, through which the boats were 
 obliged to be very careful in picking their way, on 
 the S.E. side, where I thought 1 might have as- 
 cended. We reached the island, and found running 
 on it a very heavy sea ; the first lieutenant, how- 
 ever, landed, having backed his boat in until he 
 could get foothold ^without swimming), and then 
 jumped overboard. I followed his example ; the 
 otliers were anxious to do the same, but the sea 
 was so high tiaat I could not permit them. 
 
 " We hoisted the jack and took possession of the 
 island with the usual ceremonies, in the name of 
 Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. 
 
 " The extent we had to walk over was not more 
 than thirty feet. From this space, and a short dis- 
 tance that we scrambled up, we collected eight 
 species of plants ; specimens of the rock were also 
 brought away. 
 
 " With the time we could spare and our mate- 
 rials, the island was perfectly inaccessible to us. 
 
CAITAIN KELLF/rT*a DESPATCHES. 
 
 58 
 
 This was a great disappointment to us, as from its 
 summit, which is elevated above the sea 1,400 feet, 
 much could have been seen, and alldoubi set -^sidc, 
 more particularly as I knew tha moment I got on 
 board I should be obliged to carry sail to get off 
 the pack, and out of the bight of it we were irr ; 
 neither could I expect that at this late period of the 
 season the weatuer would improve. 
 
 " The island on which I landed is four miles and 
 a half in extent east and west, and about two and 
 a half north and south, in the shape of a triangle, 
 the western end being its apex. It is almost inac- 
 cessible on all sides, and a solid mass of granite. 
 Innumerable black and white divers (common to 
 this sea) here found a safe place to deposit their 
 eggs and bring up their young ; not a walrus or 
 seal was seen on its shore, or on the ice in its vici- 
 nity. We observed here none of the small land 
 birds that were so numerous about us before making 
 the land. 
 
 " It becomes a nervous thing to report a disco- 
 very of land in these regions without actually laiid- 
 'ng on it, after the unfortunate mistake to the south- 
 ward ; but as far as a man can be certain, who has 
 ISO pair of eyes to assist him, and all agreeing, I 
 am certain we have discovered an extensive laud. 
 
 K 3 
 
 i^ 
 
I 
 
 't 
 
 nu 
 
 i 'I 
 
 54 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I think, also, it is more than probable that these 
 peaks we saw are a continuation of the range of 
 mountains seen by the natives off Cape Jakan (coast 
 of Asia), mentioned by Baron Wrangell in his Polar 
 Voyages. I returned to the ship at 7 p.m., and 
 very reluctantly made all the sail we could carry 
 from this interesting neighbourhood, to the south- 
 east, the wind at the time allowing me to lie just 
 clear of the pack." * 
 
 This land some geographers suppose to extend 
 in continuous or broken masses to the east and 
 northward, and to form a portion of the vast archi- 
 pelago of islands lying north of Barrow's Straits, 
 and directly that Captain Kellett's discovery was 
 reported in England, it gave rise to a strong hope 
 that Captain CoUinson's expedition would be able 
 to leach it, and foil w along the southern coast 
 towards Melville Island, as Sir Edward Parry had 
 succeeded in doing from the opposite direction, 
 thirty years before. 
 
 * An American report of a later date denies the existence of 
 tliis land, of whose existence Captain Kellett says he feels pretty 
 certain ; but until some one actually sails over the spot, we 
 have as much reason to believe those who saw land as those 
 who did not. 
 
 : I 
 
55 
 
 M 
 
 :i 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The "Investigator" gives up the Hope of meeting the "Enter- 
 prise," and departs alone. — The first Ice. — Immense Herd 
 
 of Walruses Mothers and Babies. — Value of the Walrus 
 
 to the Esquimaux. — A Blind Lead. — Cape Barrow doubled. 
 — Proceeding in a North-easterly Direction. — Great Excite- 
 ment. — Three Esquimaux met with. — Their Astonishment 
 at Sight of the Vessel. 
 
 The most extensive body of "open water" in 1850 
 lay in the direction of Point Barrow, the turning 
 point of America, and which the Investigators 
 were impatient to reach. The " Enterprise " had 
 not yet been seen, but the fogs had been dense, and 
 the weather unfavourable for meeting her, so that all 
 conspired to make the impatient men and officers 
 conjecture that she was still far ahead, and waiting 
 for them. Captain Kellett, the senior officer, was 
 not so sanguine as to the " Enterprise " having 
 made an equally quick passage, yet he felt the re- 
 sponsibility he should incur, should she have 
 passed, by detaining her consort. Captain IVPCIure, 
 too, pointed out how valuable every hour was to 
 
 £ 4 
 
 I 
 
 iii' 
 
I': 
 
 m 
 
 '! 1 
 
 m 
 
 i ii 
 
 56 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 him, and to the important service he was upon ; for 
 he well knew the value of the arctic maxim, that 
 a day lost often entails a whole season of fruitless 
 labour. At last Captain Kellett consented that the 
 " Investigator " should part company ; but he first 
 of all supplied Captain M'Clure's wants, by giving 
 him three volunteers, and furnishing him with such 
 arusles as his own stores would admit of. The 
 reader will sympathise with the generous feelings 
 of those who, like the captain and officers of the 
 " Herald," were thus for the last time, perhaps, in 
 this world, shaking by the hand men bound upon a 
 service as hazardous as it was glorious, and they will 
 understand how trying a moment it must have been 
 for one circumstanced as Captain Kellett was, to 
 say to such a body as the Investigators — *' Go 
 on ! " when he knew full well that from where they 
 then stood there lay before them for full 900 miles, 
 upon the one hand a shoal and dangerous coast, 
 upon the other a heavy and hopeless sea of ice. 
 
 The " Investigator " had not long borne up on 
 her solitary course under a heavy press of sail, 
 when the signal was made, — " Had you better not 
 wait forty-eight hours ? " 
 
 The reply was characteristic : " hnportant duty. 
 Cannot upon my own respondbility '^ In a few 
 
FIRST ICE HERDS OP WALRUSES. 
 
 67 
 
 hours the "Investigator" was alone, the wind 
 changing to the N.E. quarter. 
 
 On the 2nd August in the morning the first ice 
 was seen extending across ahead, the latitude at 
 the time being about 72° north. On getting close 
 to it immense herds of walruses were seen basking 
 upon the loose masses : huge bulls, with splendid 
 tusks, which would have delighted the eye of 
 a Gordon Gumming ; females, with their numerous 
 cubs playing about, formed a sight novel and 
 interesting even to the old Greenland ice-master. 
 A gun was at first loaded with grape and canister 
 for the purpose of shooting some of them; but 
 the order was countermanded by Captain M'Clure, 
 from the kindly feelings awakened by the affection 
 evinced between the mothers and babes cf this 
 brute community. Some of these creatures were 
 conjectured to weigh as much as thirty-five hun- 
 dredweight, and the ice when relieved of their 
 weight rose about two feet. 
 
 These ferocious-looking creatures are found in 
 great numbers in Behring's Strait, and have been 
 so since the earliest dates. All our early voyagers 
 speak of them: and the well-known sketch in 
 Cook's Voyages of the conflict between his men 
 and the walruses has been seen by most jxiople. 
 
 J- 
 
 |i 
 

 iiilli..!i 
 
 mM 
 
 58 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 It is only fair to observe, however, that this repre- 
 sentation does some injustice to a brute whose 
 charactoi- is naturally inoffensive ; although, when 
 assailed in the water, it is not deficient in courage. 
 If in company with the female or its young, the 
 self-devotion it evinces excels that of most animals. 
 Both male and female have tusks ; but these are so 
 situated as to be of but little use when the creature 
 is out of the water, unless for aiding them in 
 scaling the steep and rugged sides of ice-hum- 
 mocks. The females are sometimes seiin with two 
 cubs at a time, but more generally with only one. 
 They suckle their young, and from tm different 
 sizes and periods at which they have been seen 
 doing so, voyagers are led to believe that for 
 twelve or eighteen months the young one is depen- 
 dent upon the mother for nouru hment. Thoy feed 
 upon the &abmariii'* plants of the arctic regions; 
 and as far as may U- judged from the teeth, they 
 do not appear to eat fish or seal, although it is 
 sometimes asserted that they do so. Thei^ thick 
 skins, plentiful blubber, wholesome flesh, and ivory 
 tusks, render the walrus a valuable prize to the 
 Esquimaux. Wherever they are found, and in 
 Behring's Strait especially, a considerable traffic is 
 carried on by them with the Siberian traders, in the 
 
A BLIND LEAD. — CAPE BARROW DOUBLED. 59 
 
 it 
 
 exchange of ivory for Russian knives and kettles. 
 Whilst we have been making this digression about 
 walruses, the " Investigator " has been running 
 on nearly due north, in the 166th meridian, or at 
 least as much so as the ice would let her ; the cur- 
 rent aiding her the while, to the extent of sixteen 
 miles in twenty-four hours. On August 4th, Cap- 
 tain M'Clure discovered that he was running and 
 working up a ^^blindlead "or cul-de-sac; out of which 
 it was advisable to make his way, by retracing his 
 steps. This was done as rapidly as possible, and 
 they arrived on the 5th August, off Wainwright 
 Inlet, and again sighted the " Plover " for a short 
 time. Keeping now very close to the American coasts 
 or as much so as the ice would admit, the vessel mi; le 
 rapid progress towards Point Barrow. At midnight, 
 at the distance of about ten miles from the land, 
 and in seventy-three fathoms water, they rounded 
 the north-west extreme of the American continent, 
 and began their progress towards the stward, and 
 towards home I What joy was in tha sound, and in 
 the thought of having at any rate achieved one diffi- 
 culty that had never before been mastered by a ship. 
 On the morning of the 6th August 1 850, the officers 
 and f vew of the " Investigator " felt free from all 
 anxiety upon the score of being able to enter the 
 
 1 ii 
 
 ^il| 
 
h I 
 
 60 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Arctic Ocean from Behring's Strait and turn their 
 backs upon the Pacific. That was now an accom- 
 plished fact, and a good month of the best naviga- 
 ble season was still before them. Their next 
 aspiration was tc- reach Melville Island; but as 
 far as the eye could reach in that direction, a waste 
 of ice was before them, and such ice as few if any 
 navigators, even in the Arctic Zone, had ever seen 
 before ; and the fact of a two-knot-per-hour cur- 
 rent setting southward off Point Barrow, told 
 Captain M'Clure pretty plainly whither the pack 
 would drift him, if he got entangled or beset In it. 
 To reach the land-water, or the space between the 
 American coast and the line of heavy ice, which 
 from its great d jught of water was checked by 
 the shallow nature of the sea, at distances varying 
 from a few yards to sometimes a mile in width, 
 and, cnce in that land- water, to struggle to the 
 eastward for that open sea off the Mackenzie river 
 which Sir John Richardson speaks of from Esqui- 
 maux report, was the course he now decided upon. 
 The wind came round to the E.S.E., with rain 
 and mist; and against these obstacles the good ship 
 r^truggled. On the one hand, lay a low and dan- 
 gei JUS coast, devoid of any shelter or haven, on the 
 other a barrier of packed ice formed of great fioc 
 
w 
 
 l\ 
 
 SANGUINE HOPES. 
 
 u 
 
 pieces and hummocks ; the intervening space also 
 being much covered with stray masses, so dense 
 and heavy in their nature as to cause the vessel to 
 tremble in every timber whenever she unavoidably 
 struck any of them. Now they were sailing in a 
 dense fog, the hand-lead and look-out man their 
 only security against shipwreck ; and anon in a 
 gleam of sunshine and calm, towing with all their 
 boats ahead. The excitement was great for all, 
 but all anxitity for the future was merged in joy at 
 the present. The men entered fully into the en- 
 thusiasm of the officers, and loud songs and cheers 
 rang through the solitudes of that lonely sea, as 
 each fresh difficulty was mastered, and another 
 mile of easting attained. 
 
 On August 8th, when close to Point Pitt, about 120 
 miles east of Point Barrow, the master, Mr. Court, 
 was sent on shore to place a notice of the " Investi- 
 gator" having passed, and to erect a cairn. On 
 landing, the boat was met by three Esquimaux, 
 who, although at first extremely timid, gained 
 confidence when the polite and pleasing operation 
 of rubbing noses had been properly gone through 
 in token of friendship. 
 
 Through Mr. Mierching, the Moravian mis- 
 sionary, who accompanied the " Investigator " in 
 
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 62 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 the character of interpreter, a communication was 
 readily established with the Esquimaux. These 
 three men were, it appears, a portion of a petty 
 tribe residing in this neighbourhood. The " Inves- 
 tigator" had been first seen by them on the 
 previous night, and as they had never seen any- 
 thing like her before, she had caused no small 
 sensation in the community, and a general meeting 
 had taken place in consequence. The most astonish- 
 ing thing of all was, how those "three great trees" 
 (the masts) came to be moving about, and many 
 diflferent opinions were offered. They could give 
 no name to this new wonder but that of " Omiack," 
 the same they give to their large canoes. These three 
 men had been deputed to watch and follow this 
 wonderful Omiack, and they were the men Mr. 
 Court had fallen in with. In reply to the queries 
 made to them, they held out the gratifying promise 
 of a channel of water being found continuously to 
 the east, and that at this season it would vary from 
 three to five miles, the distance the pack then lay 
 off Point Pitt. The ice, they said, never went 
 farther off than at the present time, and at one 
 season there was no water at all along the coast. 
 They could give no idea of when the water ceased 
 to exist, or when the winter season may be said to 
 commence in this region. 
 
APPEARANCE OF ESQUIMAUX. 
 
 63 
 
 CoiiimuTiication being established with the tribe 
 generally, some one or two of the men owned to 
 having seen a ship before to the south (the "Plover," 
 no doubt), in Kotzebue Sound. They spoke also 
 of trading with other natives, who gave them 
 Russian articles in exchange for their furs — and 
 promised, if Captain M'Clure would return, to have 
 some skins and ivory ready for him. The tribe 
 generally were a stalwart set, but the men hideously 
 disfigured by the labrets in the lower lip, most of 
 them having two apertures on either side of the 
 mouth, half an inch wide, into which those dis- 
 gusting ornaments were thrust. The women might 
 have been good looking, according to the standard 
 of thorough-bred Mongolian beauty ; they were 
 slightly tattooed about the chin, but it was barely 
 perceptible, any more, it must be added, than the 
 natural ' colour of their faces, from their want of 
 acquaintance with fresh water. General obesity 
 prevailed in this arctic family, and they seemed to 
 be in possession of stores of meat, as they offered 
 to supply it for barter if the ship would wait. 
 Thieving, performed in a most artless manner, though 
 not altogether without skill, appeared their principal 
 accomplishment. Whilst Captain M'Clure was giving 
 out some tobacco as a present, he felt a hand in his 
 
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 64 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 trousers' pocket, and on looking down found a 
 native actually, while receiving with one hand, pick- 
 ing his pocket with the other. Yet when detected, 
 the fellow laughed so good-humouredly, and all 
 his compatriots seemed to enjoy the joke so amaz- 
 ingly, that even the aggrieved parties joined in the 
 merriment. In Esquimaux society, this tendency 
 to pocket-picking was evidently considered an 
 amiable weakness. Captain M'Clure told these 
 people that he was looking for a lost brother, and 
 they promised, if they should ever find any white 
 men in distress, to be very kind to them, and "give 
 them deer's flesh." From some of this tribe the fact 
 was gleaned of their having observed Lieutenant 
 PuUen, when, in 1849, he sailed along the coast to 
 the Mackenzie river; and Captain M'Clure also satis- 
 fied himself that the " Erebus," or " Terror," had 
 never reached this neighbourhood. 
 ■ A letter was left with these Esquimaux to be 
 given to any Europeans they might meet with, 
 and they promised faithfully to deliver it, in con- 
 sideration of the numerous presents they received ; 
 but little faith can be placed in such savages, for 
 it was not until May, 1852, when that energetic 
 officer. Captain Maguire, succeeded in opening a 
 communication with them by means of his boats. 
 
CAPTAIN M'CLURE'S LETTER. 
 
 65 
 
 that he accidentally observed a small canvass bag, 
 directed, " To the Chief Trader of the Russian 
 Settlements, America," and eventually discovered 
 a remnant '^^ the original document. It only 
 reached England in 1853, after Lieut. CresswcU, 
 who had been sent home by way of Bal in's Bay 
 with despatches, had reported the " Investigator's" 
 safety. 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
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 Sdences 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 
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66 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 i i! 
 
 \'\ 
 
 The Narrative of Captain Maguire. — The Esquimaux Report. — 
 The Coast of America in this Region. — The Pack Ice and 
 Floes. — Reach Jones' Island. — Visited by Twenty-four 
 Natives. — Recognition of the Chief. — Simple Cunning of 
 the Savages. — A Fair Malefactor. — Gallantry of the In- 
 vestigators. — Hazardous and DiflScult Navigation. — The 
 Delta of the Mackenzie. — The Ship agro>ind — Serious 
 Loss of Provisions. 
 
 While the good ship is working slowly along 
 the coast, I may take the opportunity of showing 
 how ably her trail was discovered by Capt. Maguire 
 in 1852-3, and by what a faint clue he ascertained 
 the fact of both "Investigator" and "Enterprise" 
 having in successive years been seen by these same 
 savages. 
 
 It will be remembered that Captain Maguire, in 
 the " Plover" dep&t-ship, succeeded in reaching a 
 more advanced wintering place than Captain Moore 
 had ever been able to attain, and in so doing he 
 arrived at the haunts of the natives seen by Captain 
 M'Clure. 
 
NARRATIVE OF CAPTAIN MACtUIRE. 
 
 G7 
 
 Captain Maguire's admirable narrative, which I 
 have given in the Appendix, is one of the most in- 
 teresting that has been written upon a winter in the 
 ice ; it describes his arrival amongst the Esquimaux, 
 and his preparations for winter; their thievish 
 propensities ; his difficulties and noble forbearance. 
 " One day," to use his own words, " returning 
 across the bay to the ship, we were accompanied 
 by a young man and a boy, who talked a great deal 
 more than we could understand ; but the former, in 
 explaining to us the sort of tobacco that had been 
 given him on board a ship, twisted his fingers to- 
 gether so as to describe American twi&c or negro-head. 
 This led us to believe that the vessel where he had 
 obtained it might have been the 'Investigator' 
 or ' Enterprise'* when they were leaving the ice 
 
 this last season The two men willingly 
 
 accompanied us on board, and I was glad to avail 
 myself of Lieutenant Vernon's knowledge of the 
 language to sift the story more thoroughly. He 
 allowed them most patiently to describe all they 
 
 * Ships generally carry tobacco in the leaf for the use of 
 their crews ; but in 1850 manufactured tobacco was adopted 
 in Arctic discovery ships, to economise stowage ; and Caven- 
 dish, or flat compressed slabs ; or fiegro-head, or twisted sticks, 
 were supplied by the Admiralty to Captains CoUinson and 
 Austin's expedition. 
 
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 68 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 had seen, in their own way, and eventually ascer- 
 tained that the ship they had been on board of had 
 diagonal* decks, and had Ln. ice-chock f larger than 
 the * Plover's.' The illuminators in the deck they 
 remarked were square; these are the points that 
 seem to have caught their attention, and these were 
 sufficient to show that they had been on board one 
 or other of the ships ; but when the captain was 
 described as wearing spectacles, Captain CoUinson 
 was at once identified ! 
 
 " It is worthy of notice," remarks Capt. Maguire, 
 *' that a particular kind of tobacco, with which we 
 knew the 'Enterprise' and the 'Investigator' to 
 have been provided, led to a voluntary description 
 from the Esquimaux of their having boarded a 
 ship, thus affording more information in a few 
 minutes than all our inquiries of the chiefs and 
 others in several months had done ;" and had not 
 the expedition of Captain Kellett, by great good 
 fortune, been sent to Melville Island in 1852, against 
 the opinion of many, we should, for our information 
 
 * The planking of ships' decks is generally in lines parallel 
 to their keels ; but in Arctic ships the doubling is placed dia- 
 gonally across the original deck, to give a greater degree of 
 strength in the event of being nipped by the ice. 
 
 t A strengthening piece of wood, which goes round the ship 
 outside. 
 
APPEARANCE OF TUE AMERICAN COAST. 
 
 69 
 
 li 
 
 
 concerning the "Investigator," have been mainly 
 indebted to the keenness and skill of Capt. Maguire, 
 and the observation of a savage upon the pecu- 
 liarity of her tobacco. By this means we attained 
 the certainty of her having passed Point Pitt. 
 
 To rcturii to the voyage of the " Investigator." 
 The 9th of August was passed in working against 
 an adverse wind, through very narrow and intricate 
 lanes of water, the ship seldom more than five 
 minutes upon one tack, and so close to the land as 
 to allow the natives to be constantly visiting it, 
 and to ensure a close and careful search for any 
 signs of Franklin's crews having passed. 
 
 The coast of America in this neighbourhood is 
 described as one vast plain ; the soil as a dark blue 
 clay, without a stone or elevation to break its 
 strange monotony. From the beach the eye 
 ranges over an immense green flat, variegated 
 with moss, grass, and flowers, and broken here 
 and there by fine sheets of fresh water. Lai*ge 
 herds of reindeer were seen by the "Investigator," 
 and the whole landscape was strangely novel to 
 our navigators, and totally unexpected in the near 
 neighbourhood of a sea of eternal ice. The bottom 
 of the sea partook of the level nature of the land, 
 
 f3 
 
 li 
 

 70 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 and the soundings were wonderfully regular, en- 
 abling the "Investigator" to work along in spite 
 of flying mists, by alternately standing into three 
 fathoms water and off to six or seven, where they 
 generally found the edge of the heavier ice brought 
 up and aground ; its enormous thickness may be 
 best estimated by considering that to be aground 
 in seven fathoms water the floes must have ranged 
 from thirty-jive to forty feet in depth, and th's, of 
 course, being the outer edge of the pack, was 
 lighter than the rest. In vain, over this vast wild 
 scene of ice, did the aching eyes of the " Investi- 
 gator's" crew look for one glimmer of a water sky. 
 The natives, whenever they were questioned by 
 Mr. Mierching, told the same tale. They knew of 
 no lands north of them, for it was not possible 
 in their seal-skin kyacks to go far. Sometimes 
 they had been up lanes of water, which formed in 
 the ice, to the North, but never had they been able to 
 advance more than a day and a half's journey (or 
 thirty miles), and this only under the most favour- 
 able circumstances. They then came to ice which 
 forbade all further progress. There were, besides, 
 no seals to be seen, and these form, of course, their 
 only inducement for such perilous voyages. This 
 
" investigator" contends with the ice. 
 
 71 
 
 great ice, which the ''Investigator" had afterwards 
 to battle with, appalled even a race whose lives 
 were spent in its neighbourhood. 
 
 As they approached the vicinity of the Colville 
 River, its influence became plainly perceptible, in 
 rendering the water brackish and muddy. 
 
 Water-fowl, such as the common and King Eider 
 duck, were very numerous, especially in Harrison 
 Bay. ^ 
 
 The current hitherto, since rounding Point Bar- 
 row, was found to be at the rate of eighteen miles a 
 day in an east by north direction, and it, as well as 
 the smoothness of the narrow lane of water, enabled 
 the " Investigator" to work to windward between 
 thirty and forty miles a day,— a rapid progress for 
 her. Every precaution that the invention or inge- 
 nuity of individuals could devise was adopted to 
 ensure, that the fact of the ship having advanced 
 so far, should be made known to those who n light 
 hereafter communicate with the natives in the 
 neighbourhood. The name of the ship was 
 stamped upon the knives, and cut with a dia- 
 mond upon the looking-glasses that were given 
 away ; and Captain M'Clure, by way of preventing 
 the people from obliterating the name from the 
 knife-blades by sharpening or polishing them, told 
 
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 72 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 them that the letters there engraved would be a 
 charm to make the hunter fortunate so long as 
 they remained, — one of Dr. Paley's justifiable fibs, 
 that in such a case everyone will allow to have 
 been pardonable. 
 
 The temperature of the air and sea water was, 
 on the 11th of August, and had been for some 
 days, strikingly equable. The former ranged about 
 34°-|-Fah. in the shade, and the latter 33°-f Fah. ; 
 this may be regarded as the height of summer in 
 Harrison Bay, out of which they had just worked. 
 They reached Jones' Island in lat. 70° 33' N., 
 and long. ISO'' 16' W. of Greenwich; and, as they 
 approached it, the officer of the watch reported a 
 spar erected as if for a signal, and considerable 
 anxiety was felt until Mr. Court went to examine 
 it, and reported it to be merely a piece of drift- 
 wood forced into that position by the pressure 
 of the ice. The beaches here were found strewed 
 with drift-wood, and one spar was observed which 
 was as large as the ''Investigator's" main-mast. 
 The centre of Jones' Island was one great swamp, 
 the breeding-place of large flocks of wild-fowl. 
 
 On this forenoon they were visited by two baidars, 
 containing twenty-four natives ; and it is curious 
 that from the chief having in his possession an old 
 
 i. 
 
 i= 
 
" investigator" visited by two baidars. 73 
 
 musket with the date, " 1840, Barnet," marked on 
 the lock, we are able to trace the fact that this man 
 and his people hunt over the ground from Point 
 Barrow, thus far to the eastward : for it was this 
 very man with whom Capt. Maguire had such 
 difficulty, as he mentions in his iiarrative (given in 
 the Appendix), and there is little doubt that it was 
 he who headed the attack on Lieut. PuUen in 1849. 
 However, he was civil enough now, and both ho 
 and his compatriots made a most favourable im- 
 pression on Capt. M'Clure. " The size of the 
 vessel," he says, " and particularly that of the large 
 handkerchiefs, the sails, excited their admiration ; 
 the whale-boats, as coming more within the ^rasp 
 of their conception, were much admired ; and they 
 expressed curiosity to know where trees fit to make 
 such boats out of, grew, believing, as they did, that 
 they were in one piece, and merely hollowed out." 
 They readily parted with whatever fish and wild- 
 fowl they had, in barter for tobacco, and ofix3red, if 
 Capt. M'Clure would stay, to bring abundance of 
 venison, which they had in store upon the main. 
 The currency of this region is tobacco, and Capt. 
 M'Clure became his own Master of the Mint, by 
 cutting the sticks into pieces about three inches 
 long, and paying with them as he thought just. An 
 
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 74 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 ttinusing instance was noticed on this occasion of 
 the cunning of these savages. One of them having 
 observed that every fish was paid for by one piece 
 of tobacco, with a view of increasing his profits 
 cut his fish into pieces, and with barefaced assurance 
 proposed that he should be paid the same amount 
 of tobacco for each portion that he had been paid 
 for the whole. The joke afforded great amusement 
 amongst the crew of the " Investigator," and the 
 fellow himself seemed to enter into the fun when 
 he found his ruse unsuccessful. Another party of 
 natives, in the course of the same day, succeeded 
 in obtaining an interview from the " Investigator," 
 by hanging out the rather original ensign of a pair 
 of seal-skin trousers from the top of a pole. After 
 exchanging the usual signs of peace, by holding up 
 hands on either side, and by a general chorus of 
 Timouh ! or Peace, the more affectionate salutation 
 of rubbing noses was gone through, and cheerfully 
 too, for these Esquimaux, wonderful to state, hap- 
 pened to be, this time, pleasantly clean. Through 
 the aid of Mr. Mierching, the natives informed the 
 Investigators that they had never before seen a 
 European, and they promised to take care of any 
 who should ever come that way. The people barter 
 their furs with the natives westward of them for 
 
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 SI ' 
 
A11TICLE8 FANCIED BY AN ESQUIMAUX LADY. 75 
 
 Russian products ; but, remote as the} arc, few 
 articles ever reach thera, for even a knife was an 
 object of the greatest possible delight and wonder. 
 Their summer residence and hunting-grounds were 
 on the sterile islands lying off the coast; their 
 winter lodges were a short distance inland upon the 
 main. The tendency to theft was the prevailing 
 vice among them, as usual with all savages who for 
 the first time see such incalculable wealth, in the 
 shape of wood and iron, thrown almost into their 
 possession ; and the s^me may be said of all the 
 tribes the" Investigator" fell in with along this coast. 
 Even after receiving the most lavish supply of 
 presents, and when apparently unable to express 
 all their delight and gratitude, the temptation of 
 any loose article was too great for their honesty. 
 Nothing ever was " too hot or too heavy " for them. 
 On the 12th, for instance, whilst every kindness 
 was being shown to a party of men and women, one 
 of the ladies contrived to secrete under her ample 
 proportions a couple of iron winch-handles and a 
 small ice-anchor : she settled over them like a hen 
 over a nest of eggs, but the ends of one of the 
 handles peeped out, and a lynx-eyed corporal of 
 Marines detected what would, in those regions, 
 have been a serious loss. The fair delinquent, when 
 

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 4 
 
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 7G DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 taxed with the ofFcnco, and upbraided in that rougli 
 but energetic hinguagc which seamen believe must 
 be understood from pole to pole, pointed at her 
 husband, and evinced a wish that he should share 
 in the responsibility. Of course galU ntry was at 
 a high pitch amongst a crew who had left all 
 womankind behind them so many months since, and 
 might shortly again do so for a length of time 
 painful to contemplate ; but it is amusing, in reading 
 over the journals of the officers, on the same page 
 with the above anecdote, to find such a passage as 
 the following: — " These children of nature, inhabi- 
 tants of one of her most desolate regions, appeared 
 free from vice ! and evinced the liveliest marks of 
 gratitude for the trifling presents we made them ! " 
 How much such amiable forbearance, even in the 
 passing of judgment upon these creatures, tells us 
 of the tender-heartedness of this body of resolute 
 men ! They found a pleasure even in communi- 
 cating with the veriest savages on earth as a re- 
 lief to the monotony of the voyage, and probably 
 the anticipation of success already threw its sun- 
 shine over everything they saw. 
 
 These interviews with the natives formed now 
 the only breaks to the daily routine, beyond the 
 general satisfaction felt, when, every day at noon. 
 
kiAZARDOUS AND DIFFICULT NAVIGATION. 
 
 77 
 
 on, 
 
 the master reported so many more miles achieved 
 to the eastward. 
 
 On August 14th, the " Investigator" had reached 
 long. 148*' 17' W., and became much hampered 
 amongst the low, and, for a ship in thick weather, 
 dangerous islands which line the coast in this 
 neighbourhood. They had now passed the Keturn 
 Reef of Sir John Franklin, the spot from whence he 
 bore up, in 1826, after his unsuccessful attempt to 
 reach Behring'a Straits from the Mackenzie River ; 
 and they might be said to be ncaring the delta of 
 that great stream. 
 
 The navigation, always most anxious work for 
 the responsible officers, now became, if possible, still 
 more so. Hazardous shoals were in some places 
 hidden by floes which had run over them ; in others, 
 the soundings altered so abruptly as to deceive the 
 most careful. Sudden and dense fogs, with change- 
 able and sometimes rapid currents, all tended to 
 give the commander and master every cause to be 
 watchful. The shoals lining this American Tendra 
 are of the same character, Capt. M'Clure assures 
 us, as those at the mouths of many large rivers in 
 various parts of the world, and which are especially 
 remarked by Wrangel as lying off the mouths of 
 the great Asiatic streams that debouch into the 
 
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 '11 
 
 [. r 
 
 ir 
 
78 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Arctic Sea. They are composed purely of drift- 
 wood and the alluvial deposits of neighbouring 
 rivers, A mass of the former takes the ground, or 
 becomes fixed by some accident, in three or four 
 fathoms water ; the current soon feels the impedi- 
 ment, and begins to deposit, in and around the 
 nucleus, matter that forms a shoal ; the shoal grows 
 rapidly, more drift-wood grounds, more sediment 
 is deposited, and even within the lifetime of a man, 
 as one Esquimaux assured Mr. Mierching, an 
 island rises from the bottom of the sea. 
 
 After one or two narrow escapes on the 14th 
 of August, the " Investigator " found herself quite 
 beset with these shoals ; and at last, in trying to 
 escape through a narrow three-fathom channel, she 
 unfortunately took the ground ; a press of can- 
 vass was at first carried, in the hope of dragging 
 her through it, but that proved to be hopeless ; a 
 kedge-anchor was next laid out, but it, as well as 
 a stream one and chain, failed to heave the vessel 
 afloat. No time was now ^o be lost ; the boats 
 were got out, all the deck-load of provisions em- 
 bark d in them, some tons of fresh water were started 
 from tho tanks in her hold, the anchors lowered 
 into cutters, and then, on a fresh attempt, the 
 ^* Investigator " was got afloat, after being aground 
 
 
or 
 
 SERIOUS LOSS OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 for five hours. Unfortunately, the ship being obliged 
 to carry canvass to get into deep water, one of the 
 boats laden with provisions capsized whilst in tow, 
 and eleven casks of salt-meat were lost — a real 
 calamity to men under their circumstances. 
 
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80 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 ;'-"} 
 
 A Thunder-storm — Slow Progress. — Signs of the near 
 Approach of Winter. — Going ahead again.— The Ship runs 
 into a Trap in the Main Pack. — Works out again. — 
 Commander Pullen and a Boat's Crew pass without being 
 seen. — Land at Point Warren. — Hostile Reception. — 
 Reconciliation. 
 
 The loth of August was a lost day ; and, entangled 
 by shoals and ice, the vessel had to anchor off 
 Yarborough Inlet, to avoid again getting ashore. 
 In the evening came a westerly ■• dnd, and with it 
 a hope of release from the dispersing of the ice, 
 which shut up all the navigable chgnneLj; but it 
 was attended by a phenomenon rarely ' witnessed 
 by an Arctic navigator — namely, a thunder-storm. 
 " The west wind," writes Captain M'Clure, 
 " was ushered in with rain, and :thvnder and 
 lightning. The two latter I never before witnessed 
 in such a latitude (70" N.). The thermometer 
 rose to 45''-f Fahrenheit, and the air was quite 
 sultry, with dark heavy clouds rising overhead, 
 resemblinff those seen in a thunder-storm in our 
 
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 ( 
 
 c 
 a 
 f 
 t 
 
 tl 
 1 
 
SLOW PROGRESS. 
 
 St 
 
 o^vIl country. The packed ice to-day/* he con- 
 tinues, " as far as the eye can reach, appears solid 
 and heavy, without a drop of water discernible. 
 The refraction has been considerable, giving to the 
 edge of the pack the appearance of a continuous line 
 of chalk cliffs, from forty to fifty feet in height. 
 From the light shady tint which in different parts 
 of the pack is distinctly visible, I should be inclined 
 to think that there may be many of the same kind 
 of islands as those we have met with, extending 
 to the northward, and impeding the progress of 
 the ice, thereby keeping this sea eternally frozen." 
 
 Scarcely any progress could be made on the 16th 
 or 17th, though the men worked hftrd and inces- 
 santly, — now towing, now warping, and, when 
 any wind served, pressing ""he old craft to her work 
 until the bells in the ship rang again with the con- 
 cussion of her bows against the floating masses 
 of ice. 
 
 An attempt to catch fish with the seine upon 
 one of the shoals, by a party of volunteers, proved 
 abortive, nothing but drift-wood repaying them 
 for their industry; and on the night of the 17th 
 the surface of the sea was seen, for the first time 
 this season, to have a coating of ice formed over it. 
 The fact was observed and remarked upon by all : 
 
 :* 'i 
 
 ■^IM 
 
 ■i" 
 
 lit I " 
 
 4- hi 
 
IIU ., 
 
 82 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 it told of the near approach of winter, with all its 
 disagreeables, and caused some, who had limited 
 their aspirations for this year to the Mackenzie 
 River, to question if they should even reach 30 far. 
 
 On the 18th, the "Investigator" made some 
 progress, and passed Flaxman's Island. She was 
 now fairly about to cross the large angle formed 
 by the mouth of the Mackenzie River ; and, affected 
 no doubt by its influence, the main packed ice was 
 found more slack and more remote from the coast. 
 
 Tempted by what seemed a sea of water, the 
 " Investigator" ran off, steering a N.E. course for 
 Banks Land; a slight pitching motion, the first 
 they had felt for some time, leading to the hope 
 of large water. The rapid deepening of the sea, 
 too, during the first watch, from nine to thirty-two 
 fathoms, likewise strengthened their hopes; and 
 darkness and a thick fog hid the reality from their 
 eyes. 
 
 August the 19th came, with a fresh westerly 
 breeze, snow squalls, and mist; and in happy 
 ignorance they rattled on, sighting every now and 
 then what looked like the pack edge, or tumbling 
 into bights of ice, where there was no way out but 
 by returning for a while upon their footsteps. 
 At noon they sounded in 195 fathoms without 
 bottom; and shortly afterwards the disagreeable 
 
(( 
 
 INVESTIGATOR IN A TRAP. 
 
 83 
 
 1 t 
 
 fact of the " Investigator " having run into a trap 
 in the main pack pressed itself on the mind of the 
 captain. Ice, of stupendous thickness, and in 
 extensive floes, some seven or eight miles in extent, 
 were seen on either hand; the surface of it not 
 flat, such as we see it in Bafiin's Strait and the 
 adjacent seas, but rugged with the accumulated 
 snow, frost, and thaws of centuries. Ninety miles 
 had they run into a blind lead in this dangerous 
 ice ; and if the wind should shift and the ice close, 
 the position of the ship would be critical indeed. 
 Captain M'Clure now hauled to the southward, 
 working against the wind, which freshened and 
 forced him at one time to carry double-reefed 
 topsails. ! ' 
 
 Next day a distant view of the Buckland Moun- 
 tains was obtained, and the ship had eventually to 
 retrace her steps seventy miles to the southward, 
 before she was safe from the jaws of the pack, — 
 an escape which all were truly grateful for, there 
 being no two opinions in the ship as to what would 
 have been their fate had the ice closed upon them. 
 
 On the 21st August, che sea was sufl^ciently clear 
 within the pack to allow the "Investigator" to 
 steer a course outside the Pelly Islands, which lie 
 
 off" the mouth of the Mackenzie liiver, and fifty 
 
 o2 
 
 m 
 
 14 
 
84 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 U 
 
 miles distant from the mainland. At 10 a.m. the 
 ship passed distinctly athwart the stream of the 
 Mackenzie, overrunning the sea water. The tem- 
 perature of the water rose from 28°+ to 3l>°+ 
 Fahrenheit. The colour of it was as muddy as the 
 Thames at Woolwich, and the taste only slightly 
 brackish. The depth of water being but four 
 fathoms warned Captain M'Clure that he must not 
 attempt to approach the mainland any closer, 
 anxious as he was to do so. 
 
 Little did Captain M'Clure or his gallant com- 
 panions imagine that on that 22nd August the 
 boat's crew of Commander PuUen was only a few 
 miles off, on their return homeward from a visit to 
 Cape Bathurst; but such are the unavoidable 
 accidents of Arctic service. The two following 
 extracts from Captain M'Clure and Lieut. PuUen's 
 journals will, by a reference to the chart, show 
 how near they were to each other. 
 
 M'Clure on the 22nd, p.m., and going eastward, 
 observes Richard's Island bearing S.E. by E. J E. 
 toN.N.E.JE. 
 
 • On the 23rd August, in the morning, Lieut. 
 Pullen was steering for Richard's Island, and in 
 the course of the day he coasted along its northern 
 shore, on his way to the Mackenzie River. Can a 
 
'I M 
 
 LIEUT. PULLEN PASSES UNSEEN. 
 
 85 
 
 i E 
 
 2 ^* 
 
 more convincing proof be given of the difficulty of 
 meeting in Polar seas? For, be it remembered, 
 both officers knew of the importance attached to 
 communication between parties employed upon 
 such service; and therefore certainly did their 
 best to pass nothing unseen. Perhaps, however, 
 it was as well for the future fame of the British 
 navy, that Captain M'Clure did not meet Lieut. 
 Pullen ; as the latter's unfavourable report of what 
 an ice-encumbered sea he had seen from Cape 
 Bathurst might have induced Captain M'Clure to 
 adopt some other course instead of the one he did. 
 
 After passing the Pelly Islands, whales were 
 again seen for the fir.'t time since they left Point 
 Barrow — the ice-master, however, said they were 
 small, and not worth much to fishermen, either in 
 bone or oil. 
 
 On the 24th August, observing some native huts 
 near Point Warren on the eastern shore of the Mac- 
 kenzie, the ship hauled in for them, and Captain 
 M'Clure landed with the hope of inducing some of 
 the natives to carry to the Hudson Bay Company's 
 posts, intelligence of his having passed ; for the 
 voyagers were now fairly within the limits of a 
 region whereon, it was to be expected, the civilising 
 influence of that wealthy company of monopolisers 
 
 o 3 
 
 f 
 
 \' 
 
 iil:^ 
 
 ^! 
 
■t n 
 
 ^H ■ 
 
 11 
 
 86 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 might be perceptible. Hitherto, they had been 
 coasting along Russian America ; but now British 
 America had been entered upon. 
 
 But the reception of the Investigators by their 
 Esquimaux fellow-subjects of Queen Victoria de- 
 noted anything but confidence in white men. Two 
 of them yelled and shouted, waving a knife in de- 
 claration of war, and threatening even with bow 
 and arrow. Every method which had hitherto 
 been considered of avail in propitiating the good- 
 will of Esquimaux, was made in vain, until at last 
 Mr. Mierching, attired as one of themselves, suc- 
 ceeded in assuring them of the good intentions of 
 their visitors, and that they neither contemplated 
 robbing nor murdering them, — a pleasant contin- 
 gency which they evidently considered likely to arise 
 on a visit from " Kabloonas, " or white men. Confi- 
 dence had only just been established, when suddenly 
 a couple of muskets were espied in the hands of the 
 boat's crew, and thereupon all the fury of the new 
 acquaintances burst out afresh ; nothing appeased 
 them until the muskets were sent back to the boats. 
 It appeared that, when the vessel was first seen in 
 the morning, all the natives had decamped with 
 their baidars and household gods, leaving only 
 the chief and his son, who hud bravely refused 
 
NATIVES UOSTILE. — RECONCILIATION. 
 
 87 
 
 to fly, and remained to defend a sick youth and 
 the encampment. This invalid soon made his ap- 
 pearance with his mother; and Dr. Armstrong 
 kindly sought to give the poor creature such aid as 
 was in his power ; but it was too late, his foot was 
 evidently in an a^Vanced state of mortification, and 
 death must have soon come to put him out of his 
 misery. 
 
 Through the interpreter they learnt that this 
 tribe was at war with its neighbours, and had no 
 communication with the Indians of the Mackenzie 
 River. Their barter or trade was carried on, after 
 the sea froze over, by crossing to the western shore, 
 and meeting the natives seen by the Investigators 
 on her road hither. The chief recognised the name 
 of one of the petty chiefs Mr. Mierching had met, 
 and said, with some degree of pride, "Ah, he was a 
 great chief! He should," he added, "see Attauwoo 
 very soon," and ho had a quantity of blubber and 
 whalebone to barter with the western people, for 
 his people had killed three whales in the present 
 season. When asked why they did not trade 
 with the white men up the big river, the reply 
 was, they had given the Indians a water which 
 had killed a great many of them and made others 
 foolish, and they did not want to have any of it ! 
 
 G 4 
 
 ■ til 
 
 Ui« 
 
 § 
 
 ^1 
 
 ; m 
 
 ii 
 
88 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTU-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 
 I 
 
 • i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 j 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 Jj 
 
 1 
 
 '111' .1 
 
 From this tribe Captain M'Clure heard of two 
 boats having been to Cape Warren from the west- 
 ward, and having returned again ; and he was for 
 some time rather puzzled at a story they told him, 
 of a white man having been killed and buried in 
 this neighbourhood. To the inquiry of when it 
 had taken place, all that could be learnt was, that 
 " it might have been last year, or perhaps when 
 the narrator was a child " ! an Esquimaux mode of 
 dealing with dates not a little perplexing.* . 
 
 Although the natives offered to show where this 
 body was interred, it was not until next day that 
 circumstances admitted of an examination being 
 .'lade in the locality pointed out ; and then it was 
 without any success, although the ruined remains 
 of a couple of drift-wood huts, so well described 
 by Sir John Richardson in his journey through 
 Prince Rupert's Land, were there to excite 
 curiosity and afford grounds for conjecture. 
 
 * There is every reason to believe that this story referred to 
 the death and burial of a man near this place, in one of Sir John 
 Richardson's early journeys from the Mackenzie to the Copper- 
 mine River. Captain M'Clure, not having been supplied with 
 the needful books on Arctic Discovery, was not aware of this 
 circumstance. 
 
89 
 
 I 1 
 
 uoh 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Approach to Cape Bathurst. — Whale-fishing of tho Natives. 
 
 — Celebration of their Victories over tho Leviathan- 
 Esquimaux Charmers. — The Joys of Cape Bathurst.— 
 The Land of the White Bear. — An Esquimaux Swindler. 
 
 — Mode of settling Quarrels. — Judicious Missionaries de- 
 sirable for these People. — Admirable Qualifications of Mr. 
 Mierching. 
 
 The 26th and 27th of August, 1850, were spent in 
 making the best of their way from Cape Warren to 
 Port Dalhousie, the vessel being kept as near to 
 the land as the soundings would admit of, which 
 was not nearer than two miles. Captain M'Clure 
 would have sent a boat to render the search more 
 perfect; but the incessant mists and variable 
 weather made it hardly prudent to detach any of 
 the men, with the possibility of their being misled. 
 The extent of open water off the land seemed to 
 increase as they approached Cape Bathurst; but 
 the floes that were found floating about in it were 
 of great magnitude, and gave much trouble oc- 
 casionally in keeping the ship clear of them. The 
 nights were closing perceptibly ; and from per- 
 
]> 
 
 • ■ I 
 
 , .w' 
 
 Mil 
 
 B 
 
 U 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 iB 
 
 i 
 
 
 1; 
 
 00 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 pctual day they had now tliree hours of perfect 
 darkness, during which time guns and rockets 
 were occasionally fired, in case any of Frankhn's 
 expedition, or the " Enterprise," might be near. 
 i\i'riving off the western entrance of Liverpool 
 Bay, Captain M'Clure was very anxious to run 
 into it, in order that he might form an idea of its 
 fitness for winter quarters ; the probable necessity 
 for which, with due forethought, he felt it right to 
 keep in mind. For as yet, along the whole extent 
 of the American coast that he had traversed since 
 leaving Behring's Strait, not a harbour had been 
 found. The shallow and intricate navigation of 
 the mouth of the Mackenzie River forbade his 
 thinking of bearing up for it at any time ; and 
 he saw full well that to winter off such a coast, 
 with the possibility of the whole weight of the 
 northern ice setting down on it during November 
 and December gales, would be certain destruction. 
 Liverpool Bay, however, was as shoal as the rest ; 
 and the " Investigator" pushed on, trusting to Pro- 
 vidence to find a safe spot when the winter came. 
 Indeed, some already talked of not wintering at 
 all ; and the more sanguine pointed out that they 
 were close upon the longitude of Melville Island, a 
 place reached by Parry from the opposite direc- 
 
Ari'ROACII TO CAPE HATIIUUST. 
 
 91 
 
 tion. Crossing Liverpool I5ay, and seeing several 
 whales, some large, but the majority small, they 
 reached Cape IJathurst on the 31st of August. 
 The depth of water near the land allowed a nearer 
 approacli by the ship ; and it is generally described 
 as exhibiting, along the coast, blue clay cliffs about 
 thirty feet perpendicular, having on their surface a 
 good depth of rich black mould resembling bog- 
 earth. A fine plain rolled away into the interior, 
 rich in hypoborean plants, and abounding in rein- 
 deer, whilst, apart from whales, there were seen at 
 several places positive proofs of fish having been 
 plentiful as well as wild-fowl. At and about 
 Cape Bathurst, Captain M'Clure made a final 
 effort to communicate his position to the Hudson 
 Bay posts, through the Esquimaux, who are there 
 particularly numerous. 
 
 Aided by IVIr. Mierching as interpreter, and by 
 the favourable impression which Sir John Richard- 
 son's visit to them in 1848 had made, the intercourse 
 with this tribe, numbering three hundred souls, 
 was extremely interesting. Even a few women 
 who first met the Investigators showed no signs of 
 mistrust, but cordially welcomed them, and volun- 
 teered to show the way to their companions. Cap- 
 tain M'Clure describes them as an extremely 
 
 11 
 
 U 
 
 (3' . 
 
 ;lf 
 
92 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 \ \ 
 
 I 
 
 (M 
 
 M 
 
 fine-looking body of men and women ; many of 
 the latter indeed were, according to his account, 
 exceedingly pretty. Hcal+hy, well fed, and well 
 clothed, they seemed to lack nothing ; and their 
 intelligence, courage, and good-natured confidence 
 in the men and officers won everybody's good-will. 
 
 The chief promised to convey the letter to a 
 tribe that communicated with our posts on the 
 " Big River ; " they themselves bartering with an 
 intervening race, probably Louchoux Indians. 
 
 As far as could be gleaned, they would pro- 
 ceed south for the latter purpose in about three 
 weeks' time, leaving only a few men and most of 
 the women to winter at Cape Bathurst. Whaling 
 was at present their object ; and their mode of 
 killing those leviathans was primitive enough. 
 
 An Oomaiak, or women's boat, is manned by ladies, 
 having as harpooner a chosen man of the tribe ; 
 and a shoal of small fry, in the form of Kyacks, or 
 single-men canoes, are in attendance. The har- 
 pooner singles out a fish, and drives into its flesh 
 this weapon, to which an inflated seal-skin is 
 attached by means of a walrus-hide thong. The 
 wounded fish is then incessantly harassed by the 
 men in the kyacks with weapons of a similar de- 
 scription, a number of which, when attached to the 
 
ESQUIMAUX ORDER OF MERIT. 
 
 93 
 
 whale, baffle its efforts to escape, and wear out its 
 strength, mtil, in the course of a day, the whale 
 dies from sheer exhaustion and loss of blood. 
 
 The harpooner, after a successful day's sport, is 
 a very great personage, and invariably decorated 
 with the Esquimaux order of the Blue Ribbon ; 
 that is, he has a blue line drawn across his face 
 over the bridge of his nose. This is the highest 
 honour known U the heroes of Cape Bathurst ; but 
 to it is attached also the happy privilege of the 
 decorated individual being allowed to take unto 
 himself a second wife. Great orgies occur upon 
 such occasions ; and, if all tales be true, it is to be 
 feared that morality is at rather a low ebb in these 
 latitudes, and that Byron's theory concerning cold 
 climates and chastity is not always supported by 
 fact. These " children of nature " stole, of course, 
 when the chance offered, like their brethren farther 
 west; and the thieves were generally of the fair 
 sex : it appeared to be a sort of tax which they 
 levied upon the amused, and, in some cases, 
 admiring seamen. When they came to pay a visit 
 to the ship, they were soon quite at their ease, 
 and having carried up their light canoes and depo- 
 sited them on deck, they ranged about full of 
 astonishment and curiosity ; the pictures and look- 
 
 ;i 
 
 1« V 
 
 ti 
 
 iiil 
 
 • i 
 
 ili 
 
■m 
 
 ?1 
 
 1 -,( 
 
 
 
 fri 
 
 '.1 
 
 ■mI 
 
 It ' t, 
 
 94 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ing-glasses in the officers' cabins being especial 
 objects of admiration. They then had a dance Avith 
 the crew, and invited them ashore ; and charming 
 young ladies, with brightest of eyes and white=^>t of 
 teeth, assured their admirers that all the night 
 of the 31st of August they had been expected. 
 Venison had been roasted, whale stewed, and other 
 racy and tempting delicacies prepared. We have 
 been assured that some of the men, in the solitudes 
 of Banks Land, often looked back to this oasis of 
 Cape Bathurst with a sigh, and would have ex- 
 changed, for the certainty of existence there, the 
 uncertain prospect of a return to Europe. Cape 
 Bathurst was to the " Investigator," in her long 
 voyage, what Otaheite was in the olden day to our 
 early circumnavigators. The skill in delineating 
 the outlines of the coast, or chart-drawing, which 
 has been so often mentioned by navigators as ex- 
 isting amongst the Esquimaux, was really found 
 here; but nothing could be learnt of what lay 
 to the North. They did not know whether it was 
 sea or not ; but they said, pointing to it with an 
 expression of anxiety, *' That is the Land of the 
 White Bear ! " They appeared to be much alarmed, 
 too, when the ship for a time stood off towards it. 
 The bears they described as coming from it were said 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE BEAR. 
 
 95 
 
 to be very fierce and dangerous ; and one of the 
 women, with tears in her eyes, told how lately one of 
 those brutes had carried off her child when playing 
 on the beach at a short distance from her. Even 
 those whom superior weapons rendered fearless of 
 bears, could not but enter into the feelings of super- 
 stitious awe, with which the Esquimaux pointed at 
 that vast and mysterious sea of ice, which lay away 
 to the north-west ; a sea which ship could not 
 sail through, nor man traverse. " Rightly," says 
 Captain M'Clure, " did they call it the Land of the 
 White Bear." A constant traffic in the exchange 
 of garments went on between the seamen and officers 
 on the one side and the natives on the other ; but 
 one individual, more knowing than the rest, hit 
 upon an ingenious plan to obtain clothing without 
 giving a quid pro quo. He went to several indivi- 
 duals of the " Investigator's " company, commencing 
 with the commander, and pretended to be suffering 
 from excessive cold. His teeth chattered and his 
 whole frame shook so, that compassion was imme- 
 diately aroused, and a Guernsey frock given him; 
 then he felt better, but, watching an opportunity, 
 the rogue would slip it off, stow it away in 
 his kyack, and then return to pigeori a fresh hand. 
 At last, however, an old quarter-master, who had 
 
 
 -I i 
 
 ■ ,-i 
 
I 
 
 \ 
 
 n 
 
 
 1 »■ . 
 
 i 
 
 ^la 
 
 
 96 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, 
 
 been watching him with some degree of amusement, 
 flew into a passion at the fellow trying the 
 same trick on with him, called him " a Jew^^ and 
 threatened to knock his head off, accompanying his 
 threat with a demonstration from a large horny 
 jfist, which the Esquimaux understood better than 
 the profuse volley of adjectives that roll ad out 
 at the same time over the quarter-master's quid. 
 
 With regard to the story told of a white man 
 beiag buried at Cape AYarren, they merely said 
 they knew nothing of it, or of the natives residing 
 there; indeed, they were at variance with them. 
 They appeared to have no idea of any religious 
 ceremonies, and knew of no Supreme Being. They 
 were generally happy, and agreed well together in 
 their tribe ; and when any quarrel did occur, they 
 only packed up their goods and quitted the com- 
 munity, settling somewhere else on the coast. 
 
 If a mortal grudge should arise, a thing of 
 rare occurrence, the aggrieved party, concealing 
 his passion, waited quietly for an opportunity of 
 revenge; and, when it offered, he killed his enemy. 
 No retaliation took place at the time ; but some 
 one of the murderer's family eventually atoned 
 for the deed, the actual perpetrator, however, often 
 escaping. Such was the principal information 
 
 
JUDICIOUS MISSIONARIES NEEDED. 
 
 97 
 
 gleaned from these people. A despatch was left 
 with them, which has not yet come to hand ; but 
 they promised to be kind to any strangers, "white 
 men," who might come amongst them ; a promise 
 that they appeared likely to keep from interested, 
 if not from better motives. 
 
 No apology need be given for relating what 
 little is known of these interesting arctic fisher- 
 men — cut off from civilisation by a dreary wilder- 
 ness but seldom traversed — ^hemmed in by a brutal 
 and blood-thirsty race which not all the romantic 
 fiction of a Fennimore Cooper can redeem from 
 the curse of all Christian men, and wandering 
 along the farthest shores of a territory farmed to a 
 company of furriers (the Hudson's Bay Company) 
 whose dividends depend upon the race of beasts 
 being multiplied rather than that of men. We 
 shall probably not hear much more of these poor 
 creatures now that, for a while at least, there is a 
 lull in arctic exploration; and we cannot take 
 leave of them without echoing a wish continually 
 expressed throughout Captain M'Clure's Journal: — 
 " Would that some practically Christian body, such 
 as the Moravian Mission, could send a few of their 
 brethren amongst the tribes of Esquimaux who 
 wander along the Polar Sea, to carry to them the 
 
 n 
 
 u*. r. 
 
 n 
 
 >■■.:■. 
 
98 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 arts and advantages of civilised life, and trust to 
 God, in his own good time, showing them the way 
 of eternal life." Such men as Mr. Mierching 
 would in a few years perfectly revolutirmise" this 
 docile and intelligent race. He was, as I have said, 
 a native of Saxony, and had for many years been 
 a missionary in Labrador. Nothing came amiss 
 to this valuable person ; he could make a pair of 
 shoes, or crochet an antimacassar, build a house of 
 mud or wood, — or sing a song and play the guitar. 
 He was strong in frame, and cheerful and contented 
 under all circumstances, perhaps partly because he 
 had always been accustomed to a life of trial. 
 Such a man as this is worth a hundred of the 
 pretenders to piety who have fallen, like locusts, on 
 the loaves and fishes of many of the races of un- 
 civilised man, under the plea of " plucking brands 
 from the burning ! " 
 
m 
 
 \ I 
 
 n 
 
 ,' f" 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Cape Bathurst left. — Fires observed on Shore — prove to be 
 Volcanoes. — Cape Parry reached. — New Land discovered. 
 — Possession taken in the Queen's Name. — The "Inves- 
 tigator" proceeds on a North-easterly Course. — Barrow's 
 Strait only Sixty Miles further. — Captain M'Clure's 
 Journal. 
 
 91 
 
 September has come. The "Investigator" is push- 
 ing ahead, the winds are light as they ever have 
 been since leaving Behring's Strait, except for a 
 few hours when she was entangled in the pack off 
 the Mackenzie River. 
 
 From the 1st to the 5th the vessel was round- 
 ing the bay formed by Capes Bathurst and Parry ; 
 whales were very numerous, no less than fifteen 
 being seen at one time, although none of a large 
 size. The water was deep, eighty-four fathoms 
 (mud) being obtained, only four miles off shore, 
 when at the mouth of the Horton River. On the 
 4th large fires were seen on shore, and at first 
 supposed to be lighted by the natives to attract 
 attention. As, however, Mr. Mierching questioned 
 such extravagance in fuel being committed by 
 
 B 2 
 

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 ( 
 
 :,!> 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 i !. 
 
 '^ i 
 
 100 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Esquimaux, on the next day (Sept. 5th), when it 
 happened to be cahn with rain. Lieutenant Gurney 
 Cress well, Doctor Armstrong, and some others were 
 sent to examine the spot. 
 
 The fires proved to be volcanic, and issued, in 
 smoke strongly impregnated with sulphur, from 
 fifteen diffi'rent cone-like apertures resembling 
 lirae-kilns. Dr. Armstrong collected a considerable 
 quantity of specimens of earths and minerals, in 
 which the place was rich. The general appearance 
 of the land was flat, though rising in places to an 
 elevation of 300 ft. to 500 ft., and intersected with 
 ravines, exhibiting blue clay. The volcanoes were 
 about fifty feet above water, and situated on an old 
 land-slip, not unlike the undercliiF of the Isle of 
 Wight ; some pools of water near these volcanic 
 cones were strongly impregnated with copperas ; 
 and altogether the testimony of our voyagers 
 would lead us to suppose that the subterranean 
 fires at this spot have a different origin to those 
 found existing here and there, in about the 56th 
 parallel of north latitude, on the western side of the 
 Rocky Mountains, where such fires are generally 
 imputed to the substratum of coal having caught 
 fire by spontaneous combustion. • . 
 
 On September 6th, 1850, Cape Parry was 
 

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 ■ 
 
 ; 
 
 
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 : 
 
 
 
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 k 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
<f 
 
 U\\ M. 
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 f^ 
 
 fir 
 
 sf W».t)OVltJW OF TW. '^-- 'vVi^rpT T»AK:UOK. 
 
 ' \-'t. Sill ), uhtn it 
 '< atciuint tJni'iioy 
 
 ''^* -■' to b* '"JKfk;* i 
 
 liio firos proved to be >oiii.* . r .'*4>uMi, in 
 f?moke stroffgly ifnpwffnated ^vitl) :m: ^< f frfun 
 fifteen difFci'GJit rone- like ^'.pcrtntv'g reseniMing 
 lime-kilnfj. Dr. Annstroup; coUccto'l u coTiaiderabU? 
 quantity of speciraens of earths and inirerals, m 
 wlilch the |)l;u'C was ricli. Th«.' gerniral nppc;aninrc' 
 of the land wi«ft IhA. ♦)j> \ f. tlau^^'w -.wsur-^** to ■•in 
 
 ttlxjul f»'\y fett rd>ove water, find situated on aii old 
 land-sUp. n>'t nnjikf the und^^rcliff ..f (he Islo of 
 Wight ; iiotnc pools of wutor near those vf^>Ican:f, 
 cones were strongly impregnated with copperas ; 
 and altogether flie te»tlnn-';v of oar '■ ""^ers 
 wo'i*'' '•^<i4 Its io #rt,»i»-|*o*t- >'ji^* 'fe »i«"^4crftyiean 
 
 ' '?«t origin to rhose 
 fo« -J -■»'4?i*»g i*;^ ntf^ :h i«\ ni about the 5Gth 
 pftralki r,.. ^i-.'*^)* ktitude, on the western fiidt) of the 
 
 . i. . ■\f(;mj>j^.>,3i|^ wlvjro such Ih-'.M .irt-. ^jijiic rally 
 to the «• I «.^i4 i**viiig caught 
 
 lire ly ons «, 
 
 On Si-fn (Hi», i^ .H^ jii^^^ji,^ l^arry was 
 
 
 
'a; I 
 
 III. 
 
 
 .as 
 
 ■r 
 
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m 
 
 CAPE I'AURY REACHED, 
 
 101 
 
 reached, while a fresh breeze waa blowing, but 
 with gloomy overcast weather, and the pack ex- 
 tending cast and west in a close and heavy body, 
 about three miles oflf shore. About noon, the sky 
 lifted a little to the northward, and showed 
 high bold land, lying off to north-east, the ex- 
 tremes of its bearing N. by E. and E. N. E. true. It 
 was a first discovery ; for hitherto the chart had 
 been a blank in that quarter. This was satisfactory 
 in more ways than one, for it was upon the bearing 
 of Melville Island, and Captain M'Clure knew full 
 well the advantage, and the prospect of reaching it, 
 that was now held out, if the land which he saw 
 was an extensive one. 
 
 Land-water had already brought him nearly 
 half-way to Baffin's Bay; next season, if not 
 in this, land-water would enable him to achieve 
 the rest ! 
 
 A freshening north-east breeze and clear weather, 
 with more open water, enabled the gallant " Inves- 
 tigator " to stretch off from the American continent 
 this night ; and the water became more free from 
 ice as they reached under the weather and newly- 
 discovered land ; and next day, 7th Sept., at 9.30 
 A.M. Captain M'Clure landed to take possession of 
 this addition to the realms of his Royal Mistress. A 
 
 H 3 
 
 il' 
 
 I 
 
 hi 
 
102 DISCOVEBf OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ■ If *■ -v 
 
 ■m 
 
 churlish anonymous writer has blamed him for this ; 
 but I think few men would have hesitated to do 
 the same under similar circumstances. The devo- 
 tion and enterprise, which had brought that 
 company of sixty British seamen so far, was 
 alloyed by no excitement of vanity ; there were 
 none but themselves in these wild solitudes to re- 
 echo their cheers ; and the loyalty with which they 
 hailed their first addition to Queen Victoria's broad 
 realms, was as sincere as that which had buoyed 
 them up in past difficulties, and cheered and invi- 
 gorated them for future trials. It was not for them 
 to weigh the value of what they had discovered, 
 it was enough that they had done their duty ; and 
 an honest conviction of that fact gladdened officer 
 and man that day as they stood at the cape which 
 marked the half-way of their journey. They 
 might not be the men fated to tell their own tale, 
 and to reap the reward of their toils ; but come 
 what might, they trusted that if at some future 
 day their country should learn how honestly they 
 had devoted their lives to her glory, she would 
 not fail to do honour to their memory. Such were 
 the high and ennobling thoughts which filled the 
 hearts of the humblest of that little band: well 
 might their leader feel proud of them, and they of 
 
I 
 
 NEW LAND DISCOVERED. 
 
 103 
 
 him ; and both may well despise any attempt to 
 rob them of this honest fame, or sneer at their just 
 enthusiasm. They christened the I^and " Baring 
 Island," after the then first Lord of the Admiralty, 
 Sir Francis Baring, under the supposition, after- 
 wards found erroneous, that it was not connected 
 with Banks Land. The headland they were stand- 
 ing upon is a remarkably striking one, full 1000 
 feet high, and of a castellated appearance ; this 
 was appropriately named after Lord Nelson, who, 
 as a dead hero, has not been sufficiently remem- 
 bered by modern naval discoverers. 
 
 Having a southern aspect, the vegetation, for 
 this latitude, was somewhat abundant, and the 
 arctic flora was seen in perfection. Eecent traces 
 of reindeer and hares were a satisfactory sight to 
 the Investigators ; and some wild geese were 
 soaring over head. The ice which was beginning 
 to make in the pools and on the land had sent the 
 ducks to milder regions southward ; but that they 
 came here in large numbers in the summer months 
 was very evident. 
 
 Better than all, too — for who was then going 
 to contemplate wintering there ? — from a consi- 
 derable elevation, which as they guessed, embraced 
 forty miles of horizon to the north-cast, the 
 
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 moM 
 
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 1 
 
 104 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 sea was more open and free from ice. Oh! for 
 a fair wind ! was the exclamation that burst from 
 all lips. 
 
 The vessel was now worked along to the north- 
 east, against a moderate east wind, with weather 
 alternately foggy and fine. 
 
 The coast of Baring Land as they advanced, 
 showed out point after point ; the outline generally 
 picturesque, and sloping to the sea. Limestone 
 prevailed in its structure, but as yet covered with a 
 considerable amount of verdure. 
 
 Throughout the 8th September, the " Investi- 
 gator " advanced as rapidly as her speed on a wind 
 would admit of, the soundings varying steadily from 
 nine fathoms to seventy-six fathoms, the bottom a 
 dark mud, and in places yellow clay. The marked 
 continuance of the land began now to lead them to 
 suppose that its connection with Banks Land was 
 possible ; and when next day, the 9th, after a shift 
 of wind had enabled the " Investigator " to run 
 awhile upon her course to the north-east, and land 
 showed out on the starboard bow, great anxiety 
 was felt by some, lest they should be running into 
 some deep ford or inlet without an egress into 
 Barrow's Strait. 
 
 Should this be the case, they would have to 
 
 n IS 
 
WITHIN SIXTY MILES OF BARROW'S STRAIT. 105 
 
 
 to 
 
 retrace their steps : but the season for navigation 
 was now to be told in hours, and there was no time 
 for hesitation and doubt ; so the land on the star- 
 board bow was at once declared to be another 
 island, and named Prince Albert's Land. Their 
 course lay between them, a~id was shaped ac- 
 cordingly. The distance between the two lands 
 was conjectured to be thirty miles ; and at an equal 
 number of miles from each the " Investigator " held 
 on her way, in spite of fogs and snow squalls. A 
 few gulls and seals were seen, and some ducks flying 
 south, — an unerring signal of the advent of an 
 arctic winter. 
 
 " The soundings in midchannel were about 37 
 fathoms mud," says Captain M'Clure ; " and on the 
 evening of the 9th no snow was yet to be seen 
 lying on the adjacent land. On September 10th 
 in a fog, the ship fell in with two islands ; and it 
 was afterwards seen that the strait they were 
 going up contracted here to only fourteen miles, 
 and some ice was seen hanging about the western 
 shore. 
 
 "Sept. 9th, 1850. — Albert Land, on the starboard 
 hand, exhibited, in its interior, ranges of mountains 
 covered with snow ; but the lower grounds were as 
 yet free : here and there peaks of a volcanic character 
 
 
 
106 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 < ^^ 
 
 i V 
 
 i i 
 
 and outline were seen, but none that appeared active, 
 and the rocks were mostly limestone, as on the 
 western shore." Among the islands gulls still 
 lingered, giving a hope of winter having delayed its 
 arrival ; and that arrival was now what the voyagers 
 most fearod. They felt as if they would give all 
 they held dear in life for another week of summer. 
 The dangers of the navigation, cold, hunger, and 
 hardship, — all were forgotten. " Only give us time," 
 they said, " and we must make the North-west Pas- 
 sage." At noon the observations placed the " In- 
 vestigator " only sixty miles from Barrow's Strait. 
 " I cannot," writes Captain M'Clure in his private 
 journal, " describe my anxious feelings. Can it be 
 possible that this water communicates with Bar- 
 row's Strait, and shall prove to be the long-sought 
 North-west Passage ? Can it be that so humble 
 a creature as I am will be permitted to perform 
 what has baffled the talented and wise for hundreds 
 of years ! But all praise be ascribed unto Him who 
 hath conducted us so far in safety. His ways are 
 not our ways, or the means that he uses to accom- 
 plish his ends within our comprehension. The 
 wisdom of the world is foolishness with Him." 
 
 Captain M'Clure, I am sure, need be under no 
 apprehension that his feelings, and those of his 
 
 i'' 1.1 
 
 n ) 
 
CAPTAIN m'CLURE's JOURNAL. 
 
 107 
 
 gallant supporters, will not be appreciated without 
 any attempt of mine to detail them. One such 
 paragraph as that above quoted is enough to show 
 how well in that hour of joy, as well as in future 
 ones of anxiety and distress, they both placed their 
 trust where there could be no disappointment. 
 An eloquer' tribute to this truly chivalrous de- 
 pendence upon God and a good cause, has been 
 furnished by a continental writer.* He says, 
 after quoting such a paragraph as the above " le 
 sentiment intime de la Bible si commun aux 
 Anglais, les suit partout ; il les accompagne dans 
 toutes les (^preuves, les soutient dans tons les 
 dangers. Quand le Calife Omar br{ila la biblio- 
 theque d'Alexandrie, il dit, * si les livres ne contien- 
 nent que le Goran ils sont inutiles, s'ils contiennent 
 autre chose, ils sont de trop sur la terre.' Ainsi 
 les Anglais avec leur Bible, ce livre unique leur 
 suffit : il contient tout. Et quand on les suit dans 
 ces courses h^roiques qu'ils font dans les regions in- 
 explorees, on ne pent s'empecher d'ouvrir avec eux 
 le livre des livres. Ces intrdpides pionniers, ces 
 pr($curseur3 de la civilisation qui ouvrent h. I'hu- 
 manit^ de nouvelles voies, nous apparaissent 
 comme des Moises qui vont a la conquete de la 
 terre promise." 
 
 * M. Lemoine, in I' Independence Beige. 
 
 
 ■,i!''l 
 
 'l-'M 
 
 m 
 
108 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 
 yfl I 
 
 f 1: 
 
 ■ 'i 
 
 Signs of a rapidly approaching Winter. — Critical Position of 
 the "Investigator." — Made fast to a Floe. — Safe for the 
 Present. — Winter begun. — Winter Clothing. — Driven 
 with the Ice towards Barrow's Strait. — Arduous Toils.— 
 The " Investigator " reaches her most advanced Position. 
 — Beset at Last. — Dangerous Agitation in the Ice.— Pre- 
 parations for Shipwreck. — Sweeping with the Pack against 
 the Cliffs. — Imminent Peril. — Safe once more. — And 
 stationary. 
 
 The 11th September 1850 came in upon the "Inves- 
 tigator," and brought with it the first undoubted 
 signs of winter. The ice, acted upon by a fresh 
 north-west gale had rolled down the strait and beset 
 her, its motion being at times appallingly rapid. 
 The thermometer fell to 21°, or eleven degrees 
 below freezing point ; and long dark nights added 
 to the difficulties of navigating in such inclement 
 weather. Harbour or winter quarters fit to secure 
 the ship in, there were none in sight ; and if there 
 had been it would have been out of the question as 
 yet to retreat upon one whilst Barrow's Strait was 
 so near at hand. 
 
 On the very same day. Captain Austin's expe- 
 dition, which it will be remembered left England 
 
 l-:L 
 
CRITICAL POSITION OF THE " INVESTIGATOB." 109 
 
 shortly after Captain M'Clure's did, to reach Mel- 
 ville Island from Baffin's Bay, was overtaken by 
 similar signs of winter off Griffith's Island, the 
 position of the two parties (each ignorant of the 
 other's whereabouts) being about 400 miles in an 
 E.N.E. and W.S.W. direction; and, strangely 
 enough, as showing ho.v much the seasons in the 
 Frigid Zone agree year after year, it was exactly 
 two years anterior, upon that v^ry day (as Captain 
 M'Clure remarks in his Journal), that the expedi- 
 tion of Sir James Ross was frozen in permanently 
 in Leopold Harbour. 
 
 The " Investigator's " position was now most cri- 
 tical ; for the westerly gales had caught her upon the 
 eastern and lee shore of Prince of Wales Strait, 
 and pressed her, together with the ice with which 
 she was surrounded, down upon that coast. Her 
 only safeguard from destruction, for some time, was 
 in holding on, with strong hawsers and stream 
 chain, to ice-anchors fixed in a heavy floe which, 
 from drawing more water than the ship, served, 
 when it grounded, as a natural dock or break- water 
 for her. 
 
 Along the westward side of the strait, the gale 
 caused n, fine lane of water to be seen, — a tantalising 
 sight for the imprisoned officers and men ! it served, 
 
 - f'i. 
 
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 Mil !'■; 
 
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 m 
 
 U ill 
 
 Ill 
 
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 I 
 
 
 
 
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 110 DISCC^RY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 however, to feed anticipation, and to prevent their 
 leader from thinking of winter quarters. 
 
 On the 12th September his Journal is to the fol- 
 lowing effect : — " The temperature of the water has 
 fallen to 28" Fahr. (freezing point of sea water). 
 The breeze has freshened to a gale, bringing with 
 it snow, and sending down large masses of ice upon 
 us. The pressure is considerable, listing the vessel 
 several degrees. Fortunately a large floe, which was 
 fast approaching the vessel, has had its progress 
 arrested by one extreme of it taking the ground 
 and the other end locking with a grounded floe 
 upon our weather beam. It is thus completely 
 checked, and forms a safe barrier against all fur- 
 ther pressure. As the rudder was likely to become 
 damaged, it was unhung and suspended over the 
 stern. We can now do nothing, being regularly 
 beset, but await any favourable change of the ice, 
 which we anxiously look for, knowing that the 
 navigable season for this year has almost reached 
 its utmost limit, and that a few hours of clear 
 water will in all probability solve the long-sought 
 problem as to the practicability of a North-west 
 Passage." 
 
 The 13th and 14th September brought no change 
 for the better ; the ice, acted upon by winds, tides. 
 
CRITICAL POSITION OF THE " INVKSTIGATOB," Ul 
 
 fi 
 
 and curr^nnts, kept in constant m* on outside of the 
 *' Investigator " and gave rise to illusory prospects 
 of open water and fair leads. By dint of great 
 labour and watching for favourable opportunities, 
 the ship was gradually warped, and hauled about 
 twelve hundred yards farther off shore and to 
 windward. 
 
 The temperature of the air fell to 10°+ of Fahr., 
 or 22° below freezing point ; the surface of the sea, 
 where free from pack or broken ice, congealed 
 and froze rapidly ; the land became hidden under 
 a general covering of snow ; the stern reign of 
 an arctic winter had begun. 
 
 Winter raiment was now generuUy adopted ; and 
 more than one anxious wish was expressed for 
 some sheltered cove to heave in sight, wherein the 
 risk of being drifted with the pack of Prince of 
 Wales Strait might be avoided. 
 
 The likelihood of such an occurrence forced 
 itself disagreeabl}'' upon the minds of all, who 
 looked in the direction of the Princess Royal 
 group, and saw those dark cliffs ripping up the 
 ice which rolled down upon them. If, upon the 
 other hand, enchained as the ship was in the pack, 
 she should touch the ground before the adjacent 
 moving body of ice did, it would roll over them, 
 
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 i' :i 
 
m 
 
 r i 
 
 *:? i! 
 
 112 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 entailing certain destruction of the ship, and at 
 such a season certainly a great loss of life. 
 
 The appearance of a few of the hardier gulls of 
 those regions cheered the men a little; and the 
 captain remarks that the appearance of these birds 
 was a good omen, which he believed to indicate 
 water somewhere near him ; and yet he does not 
 deny that every day now lost by the ship being 
 beset added to his intense anxiety. Should he 
 winter in the pack, and even escape shipwreck, 
 he could not tell where he might be drifted to in 
 the coming winter. 
 
 On September the 15th, the wind veered a little 
 more to the southward, setting up the strait, and 
 the ice began to drive towards Barrow's Strait, 
 opening a little at the same time. All hands were 
 set to work, of course, to reach the largest spaces of 
 water in sight ; and this labour was pursued even 
 during the night, the men in the dark leaping and 
 carrying the hawsers from piece to piece of ice, 
 trusting to its white glimmer to see their road and 
 secure a footing. It was satisfactory to find them- 
 selves drifting along in a churning sea of ice, 
 amid darkness and snow storm, so that it was to 
 the north-east; but the sudden variations of the 
 soundings which the men in the chains called out. 
 
 t 
 
MOST ADVANCED POSITION REACHED. 
 
 113 
 
 sometimes as little as five fathoms water only, and 
 then off again to twenty, reminded them of how 
 ptirilous was the course they were pursuing. 
 
 On the 16th September, they still made slow 
 progress towards Barrow's Strait, and on the 1 7th 
 September, 1850, reached their most advanced 
 position in lat. 73° 10' N., and long. 117° 10' W. 
 about thirty miles from the waters of that series 
 of straits which, under the names of Melville, 
 Barrow, and Lancaster, communicate with Baffin's 
 Bay. At this tantalising distance, the ship ceased 
 to drift, and the ice appeared to have reached a 
 point beyond which some unknown cause would 
 not allow it to proceed. The heavy pack of 
 Melville Strait lying across the head of the 
 channel, was supposed to be the reason of the 
 ice of Prince of Wales Strait ceasing to move 
 on to the north-east ; and the impassable nature 
 of the pack in the same direction, in the following 
 year, confirmed this hypothesis. On that day (the 
 19th Sept. 1850), Captain M'Clure tells us, he 
 debated in his mind whether to abandon all hope 
 of reaching Barrow's Strait that year, and retrace 
 his steps southward in search of a wintering place, 
 or to hold on, so far as he might, and run the 
 risk of wintering in the pack. " I decided," he says, 
 
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 \i 
 
 
 HI 
 
 HI 
 
 ■\\ 
 
 'i (' 
 
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 l< ' 
 
 jl 
 
 H:j 
 
 ;•■' ,.3 
 
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 l! 
 
 Ih! 
 
 114 DISCOVERY OF THE NOKTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 " upon the latter of these two courses ; " and the 
 consideration which influenced him in this difficult 
 choice was, " that to relinquish the ground obtained 
 through so much labour and anxiety, for the 
 remote chance of finding safe winter quarters, 
 would be injudicious, thoroughly impressed as I 
 was with the absolute importance of retaining 
 every mile, to insure any favourable results while 
 navigating these seas." Besides this, it was 
 desirable to hold as advanced a position as possible, 
 in order that the spring sledge-parties which he 
 contemplated despatching in 1851, should be at 
 once set to work upon new and unsearched coast 
 lines. To winter voluntarily in the pack was 
 now as confidently decided upon as if arctic 
 authorities had never said that such an attempt 
 would result in certain destruction ; and that same 
 reliance upon an over-ruling Providence, which 
 had carried them successfully so far, cheered them 
 in the anxieties which their novel experiment gave 
 rise to. The smallest pools of water now became 
 rapidly covered with new-formed ice ; the eider duck, 
 the hardiest and strongest-winged of the feathered 
 tribe which visits the Polar Seas, were last seen 
 on the 23rd September ; and the temperature of the 
 air fast verged towards the zero of Fahrenheit. 
 
 ) 
 
 
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 ■t' 
 
 
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 1 
 
 r 
 
 ' 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 ' 
 
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 ki 
 
 ^ 
 
DANGEROUS AGITATION IN THE ICE. 
 
 115 
 
 A.lthough the ice had fortncd round the ship, and 
 the pack was re-cemented to a certain degree, still 
 it was far from qiiiescent. Sometimes a pressure 
 would take place upon opposite sides of the body, 
 which was still detached from Ihe coast of Banks 
 Land as well as the opposite shore, the sheets of 
 young ice would crack across, and one part over- 
 run the other with a sharp chirping noise, which 
 reverberated through the frosty air ; at another time 
 some huge field of ice, which from its great depth 
 was much niore acted upon by the tides or 
 currents than its neighbours, would rush with 
 fearful velocity through the lighter ice, turning 
 up everything that came in its way, and giving 
 rise to fears lest such a moving field should touch 
 and sink the ship. At another time the whole 
 body of the pack, acted upon by north-east winds, 
 would sweep gradually southward and towards the 
 shoals and cliffs of Princess Royal Island : indeed 
 at one time the " Investigator " drifted twenty- 
 four miles south in three days. They had for- 
 tunately laid hold of a large piece of ice which 
 grounded upon the shoals westward of Princess 
 Royal Island ; and there the ship held on under 
 its lee, for security, as the rest of the ice swept by 
 her. Some idea of the strain upon the ship, as 
 
 I 2 
 
 I 
 
 -4- 5 
 
 
116 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 )' 
 
 nl 
 
 U t 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
 M, 
 
 well as the desperate position she was in, may be 
 gleaned by the fact, that at one time she was 
 in five fathoms water, and trusting for safety 
 to every available hawser in the vessel, amounting 
 in the aggregate to a thirty-one inch hemp cable 
 and a stream-chain in addition, yet she was every 
 minute expecting to part, as the pressure took her 
 broad bow, or surged against her trembling sides. 
 
 -A iiticipating the worst that could occur, Cap- 
 tain M'Clure ordered a large quantity of provisions 
 and fuel to be placed upon deck, the officers 
 and men to be carefully told off to their boats, 
 and every one to have his appointed place and 
 duty in the event of a final catastrophe ; tents 
 and warm clothing were also prepared, and every 
 precaution taken to save life, even if it were 
 beyond human power to save the ship. On the 
 27th September, the temperature being then at zero, 
 and the ice, as they fancied, stationary, after the 
 " Investigator " had drified ten miles south of the 
 Princess Koyal Island, preparations were com- 
 menced for housing the vessel over, and otherwise 
 securing her crew from the intense cold and incle- 
 mency of a winter which was well nigh upon them. 
 The officers had just time to congratulate them- 
 selves upon the escape from past dangers, and to 
 
 t,R 
 
 Un 
 
 !i,i* 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR SHIPWRECK. 
 
 117 
 
 express thankfulness at having only lost thirty 
 miles of latitude by the drifting of the pack, when 
 a change of wind set it all again in motion. The 
 28 th was spent in breathless anxiety, as, help- 
 less in their icy trammels, they swept northward 
 again towards the cliffs of Princess lloyal Island. 
 These cliffs rose perpendicularly from the sea at 
 the part against which the ship appeared to be 
 setting, and as the crew eyed them for a hope of 
 safety, if the good craft should be crushed against 
 their face, they could see no ledge upon which even 
 a goat could have established a footing; and an 
 elevation of 400 feet precluded a chance of scaling 
 them : to launch the boats over the moving pack 
 was their sole chance, and that a poor one, rolling 
 and upheaving as it was under the influence of 
 wind, tide, and pressure. 
 
 It is in such an emergency that discipline, and a 
 certainty that each would perform unflinchingly 
 his duty, as well as the innate good qualities of 
 our noble seamen, are best exhibited. Dastards 
 would in such circumstances have deserted their 
 ship ; but the Investigators were made of different 
 stuff; they knew too tliat One who is " strong to 
 save " was watching over them, and they eyed the 
 bleak cliffs, which in a few minutes might be 
 
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 i: 
 
Mi 
 
 '?[. 
 
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 i'T! 
 
 
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 ■f ■ 
 
 118 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 frowning over their graves, with the calm courage 
 of resohite men. A finer picture than such a scene 
 presented can hardly be imagined, and it was one 
 repeatedly exliibited during this wonderful voyage ; 
 but it would bean almost hopeless attempt to convey 
 to the reader — by mere description — an adequate 
 idea either of the scenery so replete with the grim 
 terrors of the polar regions or of the moral grandeur 
 of self-devotion in the officers and men. "It looks 
 a bad job this time!" inquiringly remarked one of 
 the sailors as he assisted another old sea-dog in 
 coiling down neatly a frozen hawser. " Yes 1 " was 
 the rejoinder, as the other shaded his eyes from the 
 driving snow, and cast a glance at the dark cliff 
 looming through the storm, " the old craft will 
 double up like an old basket when she gets along- 
 side of them rocks ! " 
 
 The " Investigator's" hour was not yet come, 
 however ; and when within 500 yards of the rocks, 
 the ice coach-wheeled her along them, and finally 
 swept her past the islands upon the eastern side. 
 
 No water was in sight from the mast-head ; yet 
 onwards they drifted slowly, and on September 
 SOtli became again stationary in lat. 72° 50' N., 
 and long. 117° 55' W., very nearly as far north 
 as they had sailed a fortnight before. 
 
 1!' 
 
119 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Severe Pressure on the Ice. — Dangerous Nips. — Farewell 
 to the Sun. — Housing the Vessel. — Good Health and 
 Spirits of the Men.— Five Hundred Pounds of Meat 
 found to be Putrid. — Winter Rambles on the Ice. — Perils 
 arising in some of these. — An Excursion to view the 
 North-west Passage. — Hard Labour and Insufficient Food. 
 — Suffering from Thirst. — The Passage seen. — Captain 
 M'Clure lost for a Night. — Return of the Party to the 
 Ship. — Success of Measures taken for the Health of the 
 Crew. 
 
 .V;' 
 
 > \ 
 
 On the first week in October a change of the 
 moon occasioned spring- tides, which of course led 
 to considerable motion in the ice ; but that motion 
 manifested itself in the shape of severe pressure and 
 nipSf there being no water of sufficient space to 
 allow the pack to drift either north or south. On 
 the occasion of one of these nips, the " Investigator " 
 was thrown much over to the starboard side, and 
 lifted two feet out of water by the ice pressing 
 under her keel ; every timber in the vessel cracked 
 and groaned, and the bells began to ring as she 
 surged and trembled under the shock. There 
 needed no boatswain's pipe to bring all hands upon 
 
 I 4 
 
'I:' 
 
 I i 
 
 ii !l 
 
 ||4 
 
 120 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 deck; and there, in an October night, with the 
 temperature thirty-six degrees below freezing 
 point, each man stood at his station, expecting a 
 final catastrophe to the ship, and that they should 
 themselves be left upon the surface of the frozen 
 strait, to fare as best they might. Magnificent 
 auroras lit up the heavens more than once about 
 this time, and generally appeared most brilliant in 
 its southern region. The pale sun swept, it is 
 true, across the sky, in a daily-diminishing arch ; 
 but his rays had ceased to give warmth, and the 
 tiniest crystals of snow withstood his power. 
 Light, however, he still gave for a while ; and all 
 looked upon him as a friend for whose speedy 
 return they should soon have to pray, that they 
 might be released from the nine long months of 
 solitary imprisonment now to begin. 
 
 The housing was spread over the vessel, and the 
 curtains nailed down to tlie gunwale upon the 
 northern side, to shield the men from the cutting 
 blasts of that quarter ; but to the southward every 
 precaution was taken to enjoy the sun's light as 
 long as possible. The fact of life and light being 
 almost synonymous terms was deeply impressed 
 upon the mind of Captain M'Clure; and to his 
 constant remembrance of it we must in a great 
 
 ;r ii 
 
 ^ . 
 
 i \ ii 
 
MEAT FOUND TO BE TUTKID. 
 
 I < 
 
 121 
 
 measure impute the extraordinary exemption of his 
 crew from scurvy. 
 
 They, as well as the officers, appeared now to be 
 in the best health and spirits ; and there were only 
 two out of the body upon the doctor's sick list on 
 the 6th October. 
 
 Every evening after work Avas over, the after 
 part of the lower deck was converted into a 
 temporary stage^ on which the " clever dogs" of 
 ihe crew performed, danced, sang, or recited, for 
 for the amusement of those who were less accom- 
 plished ; and the roars of laughter and light- 
 hearted jokes, passing among them, bore good 
 evidence that neither nips, frostbites nor hair- 
 breadth escapes, preyed upon the spirits of any 
 of the audience. 
 
 On examining some canisters of preserved meat, 
 Captain M'Clure found, much to his chagrin, that 
 no less than 500 lbs. was so putrid as to necessitate 
 its being thrown overboard, a loss mainly occasioned 
 by fractures made in the tins when packing them 
 in England. Greatly did Captain M'Clure lament 
 this additional diminution of his resources; for it 
 will be remembered a boat-load of meat had al- 
 ready been lost when the ship was a ground off 
 Point Manning. He consoled himself, however, 
 
 I 
 V 
 
 ; li 
 
 ?1 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 . ilii 
 
:i I 
 
 I- ^ 
 
 
 122 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGB. 
 
 with the hope that a certain surplus, which the 
 contractor had promised to put on board to cover 
 such contingencies, would replace this unfortunate 
 deficit. 
 
 Amongst the preparations made for the worst 
 that could befall the ship, there is one which will 
 strike every one as evincing carefulness and skill, 
 and at the same time it will show how critical the 
 position of the vessel must have been. This was 
 the blasting with gunpowder, and the employment 
 of manual labour, to remove all the hummocks and 
 inequalities upon the surface of the ice upon one 
 side of the vessel, in order that a smooth surface 
 might be ready to receive her, as there was a 
 probability of her being thrown upon the ice. 
 Nothing can better bring home to our minds their 
 position, or the cool way in which it was met, than 
 the above fact ; and to realise it. Captain M'Clure 
 need hardly add, in his Journal, that he despairs 
 of being able to convey to us even a remote idea of 
 the harassing anxiety he underwent whilst his 
 vessel was settling herself in her icy cradle. " The 
 crashing, creaking, and straining is beyond de- 
 scription," he adds ; " and the officer of the watch, 
 wlien speaking to me, is obliged to put his mouth 
 close to my ear, on account of the deafening noise." 
 
 ^r:i 
 
RAMBLES ON THE ICE. 
 
 123 
 
 From the 10th • October the ice in and about 
 the ship became quiet, although the pack was still 
 in some places detached from the shore, and moved 
 slijifhtlv north and south with the tide. The work 
 of housing over being completed, parties of men 
 and officers began to stroll out for the purpose of 
 acquiring some information of the neighbourliood, 
 and going through the form of taking possession of 
 their new discovery ; a ceremony which, though of 
 no great importance when the acquisition was so 
 entirely valueless, served at least to break the 
 dreary monotony of such an existence as theirs 
 now was. 
 
 The incidents which arose upon such rambles 
 afforded something to talk about, too; and on some 
 occasions unforeseen dangers added to the excite- 
 ment of the journeys. One instance will serve 
 to show how unpleasantly these parties of pleasure 
 sometimes ended. 
 
 On a calm fine morning, with the temperature 
 just forty degrees below freezing point, Captain 
 M'Clure, Lieut. Cresswell, Dr. Armstrong, and Mr. 
 Mierching, with some seamen, started to visit the 
 eastern side of the strait, and take possession of the 
 land. The road at first lay over the broken and 
 rugged pack ; but they afterwards reached a belt of 
 
 i '\ 
 
i; 
 
 -li 
 
 1 i 
 
 i, f 
 
 ill 
 
 
 
 , i '' 
 
 
 i 1 ;■ 
 
 124 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 smooth ice of the present season's formation, and it 
 carried them to a piled-up barrier of broken floe, 
 formed where the new impinged against the heavy 
 old ice which hned the coast. 
 
 The tide happened at the moment to have 
 brought the two edges together with much violence ; 
 and the lighter ice (some feet in thickness, however) 
 was turning up and rolling over, layer upon layer. 
 Follow my leader was the idea of all the party ; and 
 away they rushed over the pile formed by the bat- 
 tling floes, cheering as they reached the land, and 
 regardless of the fact that at turn of tide those 
 very floes might part and cut off their retreat. 
 
 Every one put his best leg foremost to reach 
 some highland seen in the interior, and from the 
 summit of which, as they anticipated, there would 
 be a possibility of seeing into Barrow's Strait, and 
 thus connecting their Avork wuth that of Sir Edward 
 Parry in 1819; there Avas but little time, therefore, 
 to think of how they were to return. The seamen 
 were left on the first high ridge of land, to con- 
 struct a cairn upon a spot duly christened after 
 the illustrious consort of Her Most Gracious 
 Majesty ; and the ofiicers, after another two hour's 
 hard struggle through deep snow and over a diffi- 
 cult country, reached what was long afterwards re- 
 membered as Mount Adventure. 
 
PERILOUS EXCURSION. 
 
 125 
 
 Although some 1400 feet above the level of the 
 sea, the trending away of the coast they were upon 
 prevented their toilsome journey being rewarded 
 by a view of the termination of Prince of Wales 
 Strait upon the eastern side ; but on the west there 
 rose in the distance a headland which appeared 
 like the termination of Banks or Baring Land, 
 leaving a blank space between it and the east side 
 of the strait, which confirmed Captain M'Clurc in 
 his belief of a channel through, and mi:dc his com- 
 panions exclaim that they saw into Barrow's Strait. 
 This point, however, the captain wisely decided upon 
 placing shortly beyond all doubt or cavil, by tra- 
 velling to it with a sledge party. Although traces 
 were seen on the snow of bears, deer, foxes, and 
 lemmings, they did not fall in with a single living 
 creature ; and the view they obtained of Albert Land 
 was not such as to afford much promise of game, 
 for vegetation, the great test of the presence of 
 animal life in the far north, was exceedingly scanty, 
 and little gladdened the eyes of our travellers be- 
 yond small patches of dwarf willow and moss. 
 
 " We had returned to the shore," says Captain 
 M'Clure, " and were following our track back to the 
 ship, anticipating the pleasure of a good dinner 
 after a twenty miles' walk, when, upon coming to 
 
 1 
 
 
 i\i 
 
 ;! 1 1 
 
 I 
 
126 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITU-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 where the junction of the land (or fixed ice) and 
 sea floes took place, we beheld a separation of fifty 
 yards of clear black water ! Our feelings are 
 easier to be imagined than described! — nearly 
 five miles from the vessel, a polar night closing in ; 
 and the only provision amongst the whole party 
 was a solitary tin of preserved meat which had 
 boen issued to the men for their dinner, but had 
 now become so solidly frozen as to defy both their 
 knives and teeth." 
 
 Just before dark a point a few miles to the 
 southward was observed, which gave some promise 
 of being connected with the sea floe by a block or 
 barrier of ice. Towards it the fatigued party strug- 
 gled, over very rugged and slippery ice. Every 
 now and then one of their party would experience 
 a severe fall into some deep cleft, or over some 
 huge hummock; and then, thoroughly jaded, they 
 would sit down and feel inclined to drop off into 
 a sleep from which they would never have awakened 
 in this world. Captain M'Clure, however, was 
 aware of this dagger ; and his voice aroused them 
 to exertion. After firing muskets for some time to 
 attract attention, they were rejoiced to see rockets 
 and guns discharged from the ship. It told them 
 that those on board were taking measures for their 
 
PERILOUS POSITION. 
 
 127 
 
 rescue; and meantime they continued to indicate 
 their relative position to the ship by firing 
 at intervals so long as the ammunition lasted, 
 after which they could only hope for the best. 
 About half-past eight a light was seen evidently 
 approaching upon the sea ice. A shout of de- 
 light, responded to as heartily, rang through the 
 black stillness of a polar night. Then came the 
 anxious hope that the people from the ship had 
 brought a boat with them; for w'^^^hout it aid was 
 out of the question. 
 
 Even in such a moment the sailors' light-hcart- 
 edness did not desert them ; for when one of the 
 party exclaimed that "the ship had fired another 
 rocket!" "Ah!" another observed, "I wish they 
 would fire a Halkett's boat* at us!" a wish in 
 which assuredly all cordially joined. 
 
 The relieving party at length approached within 
 hail, upon the opposite side of the lane of water ; 
 and, worn-out as Capt. M'Clure's party was, all lis- 
 tened with indescribable anxiety for the answer 
 when, to the momentous question put by the leader, 
 
 * Halkett's boats are the ingenious invention of Lieut. 
 Peter Halkett, of the Royal Navy. They are made of indian- 
 rubber, and, being inflated with air, are very portable and highly 
 useful upon arctic service. 
 
 (I 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
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<'lr 
 
 ^1 
 
 I ' 
 
 IH 
 
 
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 \i 
 
 h\ 
 
 y,. 
 
 128 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 " Have you a boat with you ? " there was a pause 
 in which the writer has been assured one could 
 have heard a pulse beat, and then came across the 
 darkness — " No ! we did not know you wanted 
 one." Capt. M*Clure sent them back immediately 
 to the ship for the Halkett's boat, and meantime, 
 aided by his officers, he exerted himself to keep 
 the men from falling asleep. Happily the party, 
 on its way to the " Investigator," was met by 
 another conveying boats, and the two returned 
 with all speed to the water, which had now become 
 covered with bay-ice nearly an inch thick. 
 
 JMr. Court, however, the master of the " Inves- 
 tigator," was just the man to meet such difficulties 
 as now lay in the way of relieving his shipmates ; 
 and in spite of bay ice, and current, and moving 
 ice, by midnight all the party were safely ferried 
 across, and on their way to their ship. " I can- 
 not," says Captain M'Clure in his Journal, " speak 
 too highly of these excellent little boats, or of the 
 ingenuity of the inventor, as without them my largo 
 party would have had to endure the rigours of an 
 arctic night, without clothing, tents, or provisions, 
 and the consequences of this might have been very 
 serious." 
 
 By four in the morning the travellers had par- 
 
 •fli 
 
 U - 1 \: 
 
 i : I 
 
 » 
 
If 
 
 I 
 
 EXCURSION TO VIEW THE PASSAGE. 
 
 129 
 
 taken of a substantial meal, and retired to their 
 beds heartily tired after eighteen hours' exertion, 
 and grateful for so fortunate a termination to their 
 adventure. 
 
 From the TOth to the 21st of October, prepara- 
 tions were made to despatch a sledge-party to 
 the northward to reach Barrow's Strait, and as- 
 sure themselves of the fact of their having dis- 
 covered a North-west Passage. Even had they been 
 ready to start at once, it would have been necessary 
 to give time for the ice to form sufficiently to 
 insure the ship from being blown away with the 
 drifting pack whilst the party was absent, — an ac- 
 cident which, experience has shown to arctic navi- 
 gators, might occur up to a late date in October. 
 A remarkable rise of temperature to 21° plus of 
 Fahrenheit, from 2° minus^ with the wind blowing 
 fresh from north-east, would seem to indicate that 
 the winter, of the region in which the "Investi- 
 gator " was frozen in, is modified by the warm air 
 from the open water of Barrow's Strait, as well as 
 that of southerly winds from the American con- 
 tinent ; but this sudden change was far from 
 pleasant to the crew, for they had all put on their 
 winter clothing, and had begun to close up the 
 ship, ready to resist the rigour of the cold, so that 
 
 K 
 
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 V^ 
 
 '• H!! 
 
t. 
 
 j 
 
 'II 
 
 130 DISCOVEnY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 a momentary rise of this nature only created dis- 
 comfort, and was of too transitory a nature to be 
 beneficial. Ind-^ d the men voted warm weather 
 in the middle of October a nuisance ; and the old 
 hands, with a knowing shake of the head and co- 
 pious expectorations of " 'baccy juice," warned the 
 novices against " being fools enough to pull their 
 clothes off on account of such a bit of sunshine, 
 for perha^js in an hour's time Zero would be about 
 again." Zero^ it must be observed, was invariably 
 referred to as a veritable foe having an actual 
 existence, and was to be combated as they would 
 do the Arch-Enemy. About this time a landing was 
 made on the islands named after Her Roj^al High- 
 ness the Princess Royal; but they offered nothing 
 remarkable beyond the remains of some ancient 
 Esquimaux graves and fox-traps. Traces of ani- 
 mals were, as usual, numerous, and excited as 
 much interest in the minds of the navigators as 
 human footsteps did in that of Robinson Crusoe 
 in his lonely island ; for already, with those who 
 could appreciate the possible contingencies of 
 arctic exploration, it became an important desi- 
 deratum that game of some sort should be found, 
 to eke out the resources of the ship, and keep the 
 crew free from the ravages of scurvy. The pre- 
 
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 mm 
 
B 
 
 (I 
 
 ill 
 
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 h ■ 
 
 n 
 
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 M 
 
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 l^-l 
 
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 •nietuurv fise of tills iijiirj 
 
 f ) be 
 
 amd the (4^1 
 'j tvith a knowing" sltako . ! tiiu hcfid and co- 
 pioue expectorations of '"baccy juice,'' varacd the 
 novices against " beiDjLf fools enougl to pull ilmt 
 clothes off on u-^count of sucli m hil of siivishine, 
 for perhaps in an hour's tiitie Zc"o ^vould be about 
 •agfiiii." Zero, it roust b(v nb^'frvocl, was invarinbij'" 
 Teicrrcd «:y fe# ^ ^ - ■■ >'r*|i. «?^ »ft'^;^'f 
 
 exitjtctipc, on:[ was to bo coiubiited a? *.' . .' 1 
 
 ^ u^Wwas 
 
 .*.i-^:)i ^^v; ,- ,,,,>^uj lltghv 
 
 ncss the Princess Jtt^yaii but thvy offered nothing 
 rcinarlitible l.'tiyond the Toinaina ot sojug ancient 
 Estiuiuianx graves and fox-u-aps. Traccji of ani* 
 malB were, a?? u^irtl Ti'it7iero!j'?, nw} ?isBit;?d as 
 
 - ^ ., : s^..- ?i4VigAtors as 
 
 iT>U<"M tfti. f'ti4« 
 
 ri.t 
 
 ».l 
 
 ihf<t 
 
 rli'. 
 
 ay. 
 
 SVi'^if^^blo o.jti 
 
 Kobinson Crusoe 
 wi«h those "who 
 tingfiticies of 
 
 to tkc -vi t 
 
 i-H- ..<•«<:• nn important desi- 
 "i ^^-/ ^inrt should be found. 
 
 a .» 
 
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 th< 
 
 crew frc'^ i' 
 
 tl: 
 
 f- r;\vuir«- 
 
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 10 
 
 pre- 
 
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 r>r^- 
 
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 il 
 
EXCURSION TO VIEW THE PASSAGE. 
 
 131 
 
 served meats furnished to the ship by Messrs. 
 Gamble were constantly found decayed to an 
 alarming extent; and between the 12fch and 18th of 
 October no less than four hundred and twenty-jour 
 pounds of it were thrown overboard as uniit for 
 food, — much to the regret of Captain M'Clure, who 
 thus early began to see how cr.refully he should 
 be obliged to husband his resources, in order to 
 carr}'' his crew through their enterprise successfully 
 and in good health. 
 
 As yet, however, no reduction in the allowance 
 took place ; for the leader of that gallant ship's 
 company knew that, when the time came to render 
 a straitened allowance actually necessary^ his officers 
 and men would cheerfully and manfully submit to 
 the privation. 
 
 October the 21st, 1850, came ii. with a tempe- 
 rature ranging a little below zero, light winds, and 
 an overcast sky. The ice of the strait appeared 
 to have remained stationary during the last 
 spring-tides, and the usual polar accompaniment 
 of strong gales ; Captain M'Clure therefore deter- 
 mined to start for Barrow's Strait with a sledge 
 manned with six men, and commanded by ]Mr. 
 Court, his active and indefatigable master, and to 
 leave the ship to the charge of Lieut. Ilaswell, 
 
 K 2 
 
 'I 
 
 ii 
 
 
 %\ 
 
 i\ ' 
 
 i i r 
 
i ' 
 
 h- 
 
 ■ 'I 
 
 132 DISCOVERr OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGF. 
 
 a fatigue party of men, under Mr. Wynniatt (mate) 
 and Dr. Armstrong, assisting the sledge for a time. 
 Nothing can be more delightful than the terms of 
 warm praise in which Captain M'Clure speaks of all 
 the officers, when upon the eve of parting from 
 them for a service not unattended with some peril. 
 Hearty were the cheers, and Well fare ye!'s on 
 either side, as the little sledge-party bade good-bye 
 to ship and companions, and plodded on in their 
 lonely way, to bring back one day to their ship- 
 mates the most interesting intelligence ever told to 
 the hundreds who have devoted health, strength, 
 and energy to the problem of a North-west Passage. 
 The headlong zeal of the excited crew upon the 
 sledge soon received a lesson in patience from the 
 rugged and broken pack, by the repeated capsizing 
 of the sledge, and its eventual fracture beyond all 
 temporary repair. There was nothing then for it, 
 but to send back Mr. Court to the ship for another 
 sledge, whilst the rest pitched the tent, and slept 
 their first night under canvas upon the frozen ocean. 
 * The "Investigator" had left England but little 
 prepared for extensive sledge-work, and with few 
 if any im'provements upon the system of sledge-tra- 
 velling originally laid down by Sir James C. Ross. 
 The consequence was, that in all her sledge-parties 
 
 :! 
 .1 
 
HARD LABOUR, INSUFFICIENT FOOD. 133 
 
 there was, if possible, a greater amount of hardship 
 and privation than in those of the expeditions under 
 Captains Austin, Kellett, or Belcher, who each im- 
 proved upon their predecessors' experience. A 
 less amount of work was done by those who had 
 less comfort. We find that, at the close of the 
 first day's journey, the truly frugal meal of 
 Captain M'Clure and his men was a pint of 
 tepid water apiece, into which a little oatmeal was 
 thrown ; after which they retired to their sleeping- 
 bags, to rest as best they might with a temperature 
 of 6° minus. On October 22nd, the new sledge 
 having joined them and been loaded, the party pro- 
 ceeded to the northward, working over alterna 3 
 patches of rough and smooth ice until the night 
 came on, and it became too dark to see their way. 
 The tent was then pitched, and supper prepared; 
 but such a supper ! one pint of melted snow and 
 a piece of frozen pemmican ! Hunger, however, 
 sweetened even this meal; and, tired and cold, they 
 got into their frozen blankets and fell asleep, as 
 if safe on board their snug and comfortable ship, 
 whilst an October snow rolled over their frail 
 canvass tenement. Next morning before daybreak, 
 the cook of the day was roused, and his culinary 
 powers were called into play under the trying cir- 
 
 a 3 
 
 tl 
 
 
w 
 
 134 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 cumstances of a temperature of 32'' below freez- 
 ing point. Some water was warmed sufficiently 
 for a preparation of chocolate to be dissolved in 
 it ; and a pint of this tepid beverage being given 
 to each min, together with a biscuit and a half 
 api< > Lu i party again manned the drag-ropes of 
 the si (l.!;v ; .d proceeded to the northward. 
 
 After some .'Ticulty in crossing ridges of broken 
 ice — the hedge-roivs of an arctic landscape, — they 
 reached vast fields of smooth ice of the present 
 season's formation ; and here an obstacle of a fresh 
 nature awaited them. The autumnal snow had 
 accumulated heavily upon the surface of these 
 young ice-fields, and, weighing them down, caused 
 the sea-water to flow through sufficiently to render 
 the under part of the snow almost as tenacious 
 as clay. The fatigue of hauling two hundred 
 pounds apiece through such a route was excessive ; 
 but the gallant crew strained every nerve, and 
 the distended veins and large drops of perspiration 
 (freezing on the faces of the men) told how well 
 they were working. Unfortunately no water could 
 be had to appease their thirst — they might as 
 Avell have been labouring on the great Sahara; 
 for every handful of snow which they thrust into 
 their parched mouths augmented rather than 
 
SUFFERING FROM THIRST. 
 
 135 
 
 assuaged their sufferings, as it contained more 
 or less of the salts of the sea- water which, as I 
 have before said, rendered the surface of the floe 
 wet and tenacious. About noon, one of the best 
 men of the party became perfectly exhausted, and 
 two others were frostbitten. Captain M'Clure then 
 stopped to give them the noonday meal of cold 
 water and frozen pemmican ; but the la^'^'ir they 
 did not taste of, for thirst had quite ».:ve ome 
 hunger, and when they had drunk a.\ 'ha^ the 
 allowance of fuel for the day would ir'^Wj they 
 again trudged on until dark, wher as on the 
 previous evening, the tent was pitchtu, and their 
 rough meal and rougher bed prepared. That 
 done, pipes were lit, and whilst some of the men 
 repaired their torn mocassins and seal-skin boots 
 by candle-light, the Captain read them a tale 
 out of " Chambers's Miscellany," until at last his 
 tired companions fell off one by one into the land of 
 dreams. '* October 24th," says Captain M'Clure^ 
 " was not so cutting a day, the thermometer having 
 risen to 5°+ Fahr. ; I walked ahead whilst the 
 sledge was packing, ascended a point of land 
 a hundred feet above the level of the sea, and ob- 
 served distinctly that the eastern shore of Prince 
 of Wales Strait trended now far away to the east- 
 
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 111, 
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 I* 
 
 
 136 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ward, whilst that of the western coast (which wc 
 were upon) preserved its northerly direction. The 
 point whereon I stood appeared to be the most 
 contiguous to the opposite shore, and the breadth 
 across about fifteen miles ; beyond me, the shores 
 of the strait evidently began to separate. This 
 encouraged me in the hope that we were on the 
 point of reaching Barrow's Strait ; and seeing a 
 hill at what appeared a distance of 12 miles due 
 north of my position, I returned to the sledge, 
 and pointed it out to the crew as a cape from 
 whence we should see that long-wished-for sea." 
 
 Every man now dragged with a will, in the hope 
 of reaching that night the end of his journey ; but 
 after seven hours' toilsome labour, the tantalising 
 cape still retained its original position, and they 
 seemed not a mile nearer to it. Captain M'Clure 
 then saw that he had been much deceived in its 
 apparent distance, owing to the clearness of the 
 atmosphere, and that thirty miles was a nearer 
 estimate than twelve, of the probable length of 
 their march. After a night's rest and another 
 hard day's work, they were still two miles off the 
 cape, when night closed in and obliged them to 
 halt and encamp. Though disappointed in not 
 sighting Barrow's Strait on the 25th, they were 
 
OCEANTC ICE. 
 
 137 
 
 all much cheered by the multiplying proofs around 
 them of its close proximity. Away t(> the north- 
 east they already saw that wonderful oceanic ice 
 which Sir Jildward Parry so well described in his 
 memorable voyage to Melville Island, in 1819, — 
 ice which they had left behind them directly they 
 entered Prince of Wales Strait, and which they now 
 again found at its northern extremity. Great 
 hills and dales of blue crystalline sea-ice rolled on 
 before them in the direction of Melville Island ; 
 and it required more than ordinary sanguineness of 
 disposition to suppose they ever should navigate 
 the " old Investigator " through such a sea ; yet, 
 to have heard the party talk, the feat would have 
 appeared certain of accomplishment, — all things 
 seemed possible to men who had already mastered 
 so much. By an observed meridian altitude of 
 the star Capella, the latitude was now ascertained 
 to be 73° 25' N., this being the first and only 
 observation they had been able to obtain since 
 quitting their ship. 
 
 The morning of the 26th of October, 1850, was 
 fine and cloudless ; it was with no ordiiiary feelings 
 of joy and gratitude that Captain M'Clure and his 
 party started before sunrise to obtain from the 
 adjacent hill a view of that sea which connected 
 
 Ml 
 
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 )K 
 
n , 
 
 V: 
 
 It I 
 
 ^i 
 
 I?' 
 
 ■iFil. 
 
 I- 'I ? ^ 
 
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 138 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 their discoveries with those of Sir Edward Parr3\ 
 Ascending a liill GOO feet above the sea-level, they 
 patiently awaited the incieaae of light to reveal 
 the long-souglit-for North-west Passage from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. 
 
 As the sun rose, the panorama slowly unveiled 
 itself. First the ?'iad called after H. R. H. Prince 
 Albert showed out on an easterly bearing; and 
 from a point since named after the late Sir Robert 
 Peel, it evidently turned away to the east, and 
 formed the northern entrance of the channel upon 
 that side. 
 
 The coast of Banks Lend terminated about 
 twelve miles farther on than where the party stood ; 
 and thence it turned away to the north-west, 
 forming the northern coast of that land, the loom 
 of which had been so correctly reported and so 
 well placed by Sir Edward Parry's expedition 
 thirty-odd years before. Away to the north, and 
 across the entrance of Prince of Wales Strait, 
 lay the frozen waters of Barrow's or, as it is now 
 called, Melville Strait ; and, raised as they were 
 at an altitude of 600 feet above its level, the eye- 
 sight embraced a distance which precluded the 
 possibility of any land lying in that direction 
 between them and Melville Island. 
 
THE PASSAGE SEEN. 
 
 139 
 
 The North-west Passage was discovered! All 
 doubt as to the water-communication between the 
 two great oceans was removed ; and it now alo .c 
 remained for Captain M'Clure, his officers and men, 
 to perfect the work by traversing the few thousand 
 miles of known ground between them and their 
 homes. 
 
 The feelings of vJaptain M'Clnrc and his com- 
 panions may be easily understood when we re- 
 member what they had gone through to earn this 
 success, and how the hand of the All-powerful 
 had borne them through no ordinary dangers in 
 their gallant efforts ; but no arrogant self-estima- 
 tion formed part of ttie crowd of tumultuous feel- 
 ings which made their hearts beat so high, and 
 never from the lips of man burst a more fervent 
 Thank God! than now from those of that little 
 company. 
 
 • And we feel that they had reason to be proud 
 as well as grateful, when we call to mind the time, 
 the money, the men which England had previously 
 lavished, without success, on the discovery of this 
 grc t geographical problem. 
 
 Franklin and his heroic followers had, indeed, 
 not been found ; but, in seeking them, the great 
 secret they had sought to solve had been unraveDtd, 
 
 » I: 
 
 • 9 
 
I.. it 
 
 ^'t 
 
 ' .'i' 
 
 I"! 
 
 ' I 
 
 140 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 and Captain M'Clure felt that, even should he be 
 so unfortunate as never to discover the missing 
 expedition, he nevertheless should not return to 
 his country with empty hands. 
 
 The position of Mount Observation, from which 
 the important discovery had been made, was as- 
 certained to be in latitude (observed) 73° 30' 39'' 
 N., longitude 114° 39' W.,and by lunar 114° 14' W. 
 The travellers encamped that night on Cape Lord 
 John Eussell, and cheered lustily as they reached 
 the shores of Barrow's Strait. A mimic bonfire, 
 of a broken sledge and dwarf willow, was lighted 
 by the seamen in celebration of the event ; and 
 an extra glass of grog, given them by theii' leader, 
 added to their happiness. 
 
 The question of a Nortl^-west Passage being 
 now placed beyond all doubt, the rapid fall of 
 temperature warned Captain M'Clure that he 
 should return to his ship without delay, and ter- 
 minate the trials the whole party were exposed 
 to every night. Their fur robes were frozen into 
 a solid mass, Avhich could only be thawed by the 
 men lying upon them for some hours ; the blanket- 
 bags were so stiff from the sam . cause as to stand 
 erect ; and their clothes, caps, whiskers, and beards 
 were frozen together, and r^.^uired to be thawed 
 
 I:!' 
 
^,lf 
 
 RETURN OP THE SLEDGE-PARTY. 
 
 141 
 
 inside the tent after they had retired to rest ; and 
 when the clothes were taken off, they had to be 
 placed under the body that they might not freeze 
 again: and the hardships and discomforts to be 
 endured in consequence of the lateness of the 
 season, although no novelty to the arctic traveller, 
 would appear almost fabulous to others, if minutely 
 described. From Point Lord John Russell, the coast 
 of Banks Land was seen to trend away to the west- 
 ward, and increase in boldness of outline and 
 altitude. Much vegetation, for this latitude, was 
 observed, and numerous traces of animals, such as 
 the deer, hare, and ptarmigan, as well as of their 
 destroyers the fox and the wolf; but not one of 
 the animals themselves was seen. A large cairn 
 was constructed, a due record of the visit of the 
 party placed therein, and then, in the teeth of a 
 S.E. gale, they commenced their return to the 
 " Investigator." 
 
 The return journey might have ended seriously 
 for the leader of the party. On the 30th October, 
 at 2 P.M., having seen the Princess Royal Isles, and 
 knowing the position of the " Investigator " from 
 them. Captain M'Clure left his sledge, with the 
 intention of pushing for the ship, and having a 
 warm meal ready for his men on their arrival. 
 
 
 I 'r 
 
 ii !: 
 
 I - 
 
'\mi 
 
 m 
 
 '■r I 
 
 8 
 
 142 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 When still six miles from the ship the night 
 overtook him ; and with it came a dense mist ac- 
 companied with snow-drift, wliich rolled down the 
 strait, and obscured every object. Unable to see 
 his roi d, but endeavouring to preserve a course by 
 the wind, M'Clure continued to hasten on, until 
 repeated and heavy falls amongst the broken ice 
 warned him to desist or incur the additional 
 peril of broken limbs. " I now," he says, " climbed 
 on a mass of squeezcd-up ice, in the hope of seeing 
 my party, should they pass near, or of attracting 
 the attention of iomc one on board the vessel by 
 firing my fowling-piece. Unfortunately, I had no 
 other amnnmition than wlmt it was loaded with ; 
 for I had fancied, when I left the sledge, that the 
 two charges in the gun would be all I should be 
 likely to require. After waiting for an hour 
 patiently, I was rejoiced to see through the mist the 
 glare of a blue light, evidently burnt in the direction 
 in which I had left the sledge. I immediately fired 
 to denote my position ; but my fire was evidently 
 unobserved, and, both barrels being discharged, I 
 was unable to repeat the signal. My only hope 
 now rested upon the ship ansv/ering ; but nothing 
 was to be seen, and although I once more saw, at a 
 greater distance, the glare of another blue light 
 
CArxAiN m'clure lost for a night. H3 
 
 from the sledge, there seemed no prohability of my 
 having any other shelter for the night than that 
 the floe afforded. Two hours elapsed: I endea- 
 voured to see the face of my pocket-compass by 
 the light of a solitary lucifer match, which hap- 
 pened to be in my pocket ; but in this hope I was 
 cruelly disappointed, for it fizzed and went out, 
 leaving me in total darkness. It was now half- 
 past-cight ; there were eleven hours of night before 
 me, a temperature 15° below zero, bears prowling 
 about, and I with an unloaded gun in my hands. 
 The sledge-party miglit, however, reach the ship, 
 and finding I had not arrived, search would be 
 made and help be sent ; so I walked to and fro 
 upon my hummock until I suppose it must have 
 been eleven o'clock, when that hope fled likewise. 
 Descending from the top of the slab of ice upon 
 which 1 had clambered, I found under its lee a 
 famous bed of soft dry snow, and, thoroughly tired 
 out, I threw myself upon it and slept for perhaps 
 three hours, when upon opening my eyes I fancied 
 I saw the flash of a rocket. Jumping upon my feet, 
 I found that the mist had cleared off*, and that the 
 stars and aurora-boreaiis were shining in all the 
 splendour of an arctic night. Altliough unable to 
 see the islands or the ship, I wandered about the 
 
 
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 ^ t. 
 
i-ii .. 
 
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 Ini 
 
 f'^ 
 
 1:1 i^ 
 
 if)! 
 
 144 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ice in different directions until daylight, when, to 
 my great mo.^tification, I found I had passed the 
 ship fully the distance of four miles." Retracing 
 his steps. Captain M'Clure reached the " Investiga- 
 tor" on the 3 1st October very tired, but otherwise 
 none the worse for his rough and dangerous expo- 
 sure to a winter's night in 73° north latitude. A 
 few hours afterwards the sledge arrived under 
 Mr. Court; and great was the joy on board, and 
 hearty the congratulations at their safe return, 
 and the glorious news they brought. 
 
 Nothing, I fancy, can better bring home to the 
 comprehension of the uninitiated in arctic sledge- 
 travelling, the severity of the labour undergone by 
 officers and men employed upon duty of that 
 nature, than the following extracl from Captain 
 M'Clure's private journal — and similar ones 
 might be found in tho: o vf many other officers: — 
 " The weigiio broughi; lack to the ship upon the 
 sledge (after an absence of nine days) was 793 
 pounds, being an increase, upon what we started 
 with, of upwards of 100 pounds. This was occa- 
 sioned by the accumulation of ice upon the furs, 
 tent, blankets, and sledge, in consequence of the 
 vapour throAvn off by our bodies and cooking-appa- 
 ratus condensing and freezing upon every article 
 
ARRIVAL AT THE SHIP. 
 
 145 
 
 which it came in contact with ; and, strange as it 
 may seem, the whole consumption of food during 
 nine days amongst eight men, independently of cho- 
 colate and spirits, amounted but to eighteen pounds 
 of pemmican, thirty-one pounds of biscuit, and two 
 pounds of oatmeal, — a trifling consumption almost 
 incredible, and only to be accounted for by the 
 crew being every night too exhausted, after their 
 day's exertion, to care for anything else but water: 
 but this article was not to be obtained without 
 thawing it, and the allowance of fuel would only 
 admit of each man receiving daily five gills to 
 drink, namely, half a pint at breakfast, a gill at 
 dinner, and half a pint in the evening." 
 
 On this, however, they had worked cheerfully, 
 and accomplished an average of twenty miles per 
 diem, — a feat which it is but right to say only the 
 discovery of a North-west Passage could have car- 
 ried the men through; for although Lieut (now 
 Commander) Mecham has in later years ^r ex- 
 celled Captain M'Cluro's journey with respect to 
 distance accomplished, it was only by arefuUy 
 feeding up and nursing the strength o'' his men, 
 that he at this moment enjoys the honour of having 
 won the palm of distance from such men as 
 Captains Richards and M'Chntock, 
 
 L 
 
 During the 
 
 J' 
 
 I / 
 
 I fy 
 
 r 
 
 I 1 
 
V 
 
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 li 
 
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 ■ ;; 1^^ 
 
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 II 
 
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 146 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 absence of their captain, the officers of the *' Inves- 
 tigator " had been far from idle. Upon the adja- 
 cent shores of Prince of Wales Strait they succeeded 
 m killing a fine herd of musk-oxen, consisting of 
 three bulls, a cow, and a calf, and yielding a supply 
 of 1296 pounds of solid meat. The moral effect of 
 the fact that such a quantity of fresh food could 
 be found near a place where they were frozen 
 up until it pleased Providence to release them, was 
 very beneficial upon the minds of all, and added 
 materially to the feeling of general confidence Avith 
 which thoy prepared to meet the coming winter. 
 
 The vcntilating-tubcs to the lower deck were now 
 fitted, to force out by a current of pure but cold 
 air the heated and deleterious vapours generated 
 between-decks by a number of men living in so 
 confined a space. The last winter housings were 
 sprend, and a winter school-room established, to 
 which thirty pupils immediately repaired to learn 
 to read and write ; and by the 1 1th November the 
 " Investigator " was ready to bid the bright sun 
 gocd bye. 
 
 Ti'? day was cloudless, the temperature down to 
 2G'^min:.'Sf and one uniform sheet of snow and ice 
 >f>T. ad < n every side, overland and sea. Winter had 
 St her seal upon that silent strait ; and but for the 
 
 •^^••■•-^;, 
 
MEASURES FOR THE COMFORT OF THE MEN. 147 
 
 rocky buttresses of Princess Royal Island frowning 
 over the floe, or the dark cleft of a ravine upon 
 Banks Land, it would not have been easy to detect 
 the line of demarcation between earth and water. 
 Towards noon, the bright edge of the upper limb 
 of the sun rolled slowly along the southern horizon, 
 and bade them adieu for eleven long weeks; the 
 long night of a polar winter had commenced. Be- 
 tween the 2nd of November and the 2nd of De- 
 cember, the new floes were found to have increased 
 in thickness ten inches and a half, the last measure- 
 ment making them 2 ft. 64 in. Little if any snow 
 could be found on them, for a reason before men- 
 tioned, namely, that directly any weight of snow 
 collected upon the weak ice it would cause the sea- 
 water to flow through, and in so low a temperature 
 the sludge so formed would rapidly become a part 
 of the solid floe. In this manner the ice that 
 covers that arctic sea accumulates perhaps more 
 rapidly by the action upon its surface than that of 
 the congelation of the water beneath. 
 
 During the first fortnight in December the tem- 
 perature of the external air ranged from 23° — to 
 37'' — Fahr., whilst betwcen-decks from 40°+ to 
 50° 4- was about the average. 
 
 It had been Ciiptain M'Clure's great anxiety (u 
 
 I. 2 
 
 
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 i^ 
 
 I !i 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 V 1^ 
 
 1' I 
 
 I. '■: 
 
 I 
 
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 148 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 insure warmth on the lower deck, without the ac- 
 cumulation of wet arising from the natural con- 
 densation of the heated internal atmosphere against 
 the cold surface of the sides and deck ; and he fully 
 succeeded (as had been done in Captain Austin's 
 expedition) in securing this desirable end, by fit- 
 ting ventilators and clearing the deck of men for 
 the major part of the day, so that a free current of 
 air circulated throughout the vessel. By these 
 means he secured the health of his men to a degree 
 previously unprecedented upon arctic service ; and 
 they duly appreciated the forethought and care 
 thus bestowed upon them. In the following sea- 
 son they resumed their duties as if still fresh from 
 England, and thus enabled Captain M'Clure to 
 achieve a more perilous voyage than that already 
 accomplished. 
 
 The minute details of the daily events of an arctic 
 winter have been so often described that it is un- 
 necessary to recount them. In this intance they 
 consist only of an endless repetition of decreasing 
 warmth and daylight, broken sometimes by the 
 more than usual brilliancy of an aurora borealis, or 
 a great frequency of shooting stars. The arctic fox, 
 as usual, came to visit the new intruders upon his 
 domains, but only to be trapped and have his snow- 
 
 i i ■ 
 
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS, 
 
 149 
 
 white fur packed up to ornament the neck of some 
 fair lady at home. The arctic raven, the hardiest of 
 the feathered tribes, and the only one that appears 
 willingly to brave a polar winter, was seen in tlie 
 depth of the season to flit through the cold and sun- 
 less atmosphere like an evil spirit, his sullen croak 
 alone breaking the silence of that death-like scene. 
 No one shot any of these ravens ; and they seemed 
 to know they were secure. 
 
 Christmas came at lengdi, with all its hallowed 
 recollections; and it^ was kept on board the "In- 
 vestigator," as it ever is in every part of the 
 Christian world, in cheerfulness and in good fellow- 
 ship. The captain's table groaned under good 
 cheer. There was beef from the Sandwich Is- 
 lands, which had been kept in a frozen state for 
 six months; there was veal (of musk ox) from the 
 shores of Prince of Wales Strait ; there was mince- 
 meat from Old England, splendid preserves from the 
 Green Isle, and many a dainty dish from Scotland. 
 Each one talked of home ; the hours were calculated 
 when, allowing for the difference of time, those most 
 dear to the talkers would be going to church, to 
 dinner, to ball, or to bed, and an honest manly hope 
 was expressed that, one of those days, they might 
 yet be there to sec and share in happiness, iu their 
 
 il 
 
 I ' 
 
 It 
 
 L '3 
 
1 ( 
 
 [1 
 
 ^ i^ 
 
 
 150 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 estimate of which distance, of course, " lent enchant- 
 ment to the view." Thus closed the year 1850: the 
 " Investigator " that day had only one man ill ; and 
 he was one who had concealed the fact of his being 
 in delicate health when joining the ship at Wool- 
 wich. "Every credit," says Captain M'Clure, "is 
 due to the medical officers, Drs. Armstrong and 
 Henry Piers, " for their unremitting attention 
 to the health of the men ; " and nothing could be 
 more satisfactory than the state of the vessel, her 
 crew, and her resources on that day," — the last 
 of the year 1850. 
 
 Ill' 
 
151 
 
 CHAP. xii. 
 
 Nuw Year's Day 1851. — Relative Positions of the dilFcrent 
 Expeditiona. — The increasing Cold relieved by the daily 
 Augmentation of Solar Light. — Deer and Ptarmigan seen 
 in the Depth of Winter. — The Tlieory of Animal JMlgration 
 in Arctic Regions subverted. — Tiie Raven leaves tlio Ship. — 
 Return of the Sun. — Rambles on the Ice. — Revival of llealtli 
 and Spirits. — Winter Sporting. — Preparations for Sledge- 
 Parties iu Search of Franklin's Expedition. — Depots es- 
 tablished to secure the Safety of the Travellers. — Departure 
 of the various Parties. — Hardships endured by Sledge- 
 Crews in High Latitudes in Spring Journeys. — The Zeal 
 and Courage of the Seamen. — Their Labours eompai'ed 
 with those of the American Voyageurs. — Tlie Position of 
 the "Investigator" in I80O — Murder of Lieut. Barnard by 
 North-west Indians. 
 
 ! 
 i 
 
 New Year's day, in the year of grace 1851, was a 
 
 remarkable day in the arctic regions. On the 
 
 side of Baffin's Bay, the naval expedition consisting 
 
 of Her Majesty's ships *' Resolute," "Assistance," 
 
 " Pioneer," and " Intrepid," manned by 180 officers 
 
 and men, had pushed into the ice until caught by 
 
 the winter under Griffith's Island. Not many miles 
 
 from them, in a small buy in North Devon, two 
 
 L 4 
 
 
 MM 
 

 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 Ui§2B 12.5 
 Ui ^ 12.2 
 
 ^ 1^ l2-0 
 
 
 I.I 
 
 
 im 
 
 1.25 
 
 111 |l.6 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 
 // 
 
 // 
 
 .A' 
 
 
 A 
 
 r/. 
 
 % 
 
 ^. 
 
 33 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. M5S0 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 

152 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 handy little brigs under Captain W. Penny, a 
 noble specimen of the merchant sailor, lay securely 
 housed in, manned by fifty sailors chosen from 
 the hardy whaling-crews of Aberdeen and Peter- 
 head. Close to these last vessels another English 
 craft was wintering, under the command of the ve- 
 teran Admiral Sir John Ross. Three score and 
 ten years had not quenched in him that strange 
 love for hardship and adventure which seems 
 the only assignable motive that can induce men to 
 continue to follow the hazardous career of an 
 arctic navigator. But on the occasion of which I 
 am writing, a nobler and higher purpose, it is to 
 be hoped, than the mere love of adventure, carried 
 that aged officer as well as others to the frozen 
 regions. Whilst, on the eastern side of the un- 
 known waste which lay between Banks Land 
 and Griffith's Island, we have these seven vessels 
 securely wintering, and preparing, with no small 
 zeal, to push out their sledges directly the day- 
 light and temperature would admit of it, on the 
 western side the " Investigator " alone, far from all 
 communication with either savage or civilised man, 
 was flying her pendant with as much pride and 
 confidence as if the solitude into which she 
 had boldly pushed was the spot, of all others, her 
 
\ : '^.m 
 
 POSITIONS OF THE DIFFERENT EXPEDITIONS. 153 
 
 gallant crew would wish to pass their New Year's 
 day in. 
 
 And they had cause, too, for contentment, and 
 reason to be grateful to God ; for their ship 
 was secure, the ice was stationary, and though 
 all was dark, and cold, fand cheerless without 
 board, within there was warmth, food, good fel- 
 lowship, and perfect health. Far different was the 
 fate of another expedition, which had left home on 
 the same mission. 
 
 An American party under Lieut. Commander 
 De Haven had, with two schooners, pushed up to 
 Griffith's Island at the same time that the English 
 ships did so, in 1850 ; but, being unprepared for 
 wintering, the American vessels tried to escape the 
 frozen grip of an arctic winter. Under sail, they 
 box'e up for Baffin's bay ; but the rapidly-forming 
 ice seized upon their ships, and, cradled in it, the 
 " Reserve " and " Advance " drifted whither it 
 listed. Death threatening them in every shape, 
 their vessels groaning under pressure at one time, 
 and then tossed up by broken ice in the fury of 
 a midwinter gale, strange indeed would it have 
 been if scurvy had not made its appearance 
 amongst them, and well might the English seamen 
 congratulate themselves on tljc immunity they en- 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
i IM 
 
 ( ■ » 
 
 r 
 
 Cit! 
 
 I. 
 1 
 
 ,1 
 
 154 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.: 
 
 joyed from the horrible winter sufferings of their 
 American coadjutors, and the still more hapless po- 
 sition of the crews of the " Er^^bus " and " Terror" ; 
 for they (poor fellows!) Avere, as we believe, 
 still alive on that New Year's day. Alas ! who 
 shall tell how that sad advent of their last new 
 year was past by those gallant men ! 
 
 It is necessary to the clear comprehension of the 
 voyage of the " Investigator," that the reader should 
 bear in mind the relative positions of other ships in 
 the various stages of her long voyage, and also that 
 Dr. Rae was wintering on the shores of the Great 
 Bear Lake in North America, ready to start, with 
 boat and sledge, northward immediately that the 
 weather should allow him. The " Investigator's '* 
 New Year's day was a happy one ; many a delicacy 
 long and carefully hoarded was produced at the 
 table, at which all the officers and their captain 
 met ; and not the least remarkable of these 
 dainties was a quarter of mutton which had been 
 procured at the Sandwich Islands in the previous 
 July, a pretty good proof of the preservative 
 qualities of frost. On this day there was but one 
 man on the sick list, and all now felt that the most 
 trying portion of the winter would soon be past ; 
 for with every returning day the sun was again ap- 
 
RF/JURNING LIGHT. 
 
 155 
 
 preaching their horizon, and, slowly though it was, 
 still the light was augmenting daily. Light was 
 what they, as well as all others who have wintered 
 in the North, most sighed for. The cold, however 
 intense, is robbed of half its terrors, if there is 
 light to enable the arctic navigator to see around 
 him, so that he may take his walk or, gun in hand, 
 seek for game. 
 
 The darkest period of an arctic winter is from 
 about the 10th of December to about the 6th of 
 January, whereas the lowest temperatures usually 
 occur in February, when there is considerable twi- 
 light, and, in those latitudes of which we are 
 writing, some hours of sunlight. This merciful dis- 
 pensation of Providence is one amongst the many 
 which will strike the least-observant visitor to those 
 regions. 
 
 From the 9 th January, 1851, to the 16th, was 
 the coldest period registered on board the " Inves- 
 tigator;" but there was tolerable light then from 
 9*30 A.M. to 2*30 P.M., so much, indeed, that at 
 noon on the 16th the oidy star whose light was 
 not quenched by the twilight was the bright star 
 Arcturus. The spirits of the men rose, in spite of 
 the thermometer showing 40° to 50° below zero 
 of Fahrenheit ! What cared they for (quicksilver 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 mi 
 
 
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 r 
 
 
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 { ■ 
 
 f 
 
 
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 ml 
 
 ii. 
 
 156 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 being solid, any more than for the solidity of the 
 surface of the sea over which they strode ? No, 
 their health and spirits were good, they could sec 
 that the sun was coming back ; and did it not pro- 
 mise them all they wanted ? — summer thaws, open 
 water, fresh adventures, the discovery of the 
 " Erebus " and " Terror " ; and then huzza for 
 England ! 
 
 Early one dark and icy morning in January, 
 a man named John Eames was walking out upon 
 the floe, and saw pass close to him a small herd 
 of rein-deer trotting quietly towards Princess 
 Royal Islands. Had the ghost of his grandfather 
 suddenly appeared to him upon the floe, John 
 Eames could not have been more astonished ; for 
 he, like everyone else, confidently believed in every 
 living creature having gone to more favoured 
 climes to the southward, until the summer should 
 return. The news quickly spread ; appetites 
 sharpened ; and sportsmen issued forth to slay 
 venison. But there was no venison to be slain ; 
 the deer were nowhere to be found, although the 
 discovery of a ptarmigan gave rise to much as- 
 tonishment as to how birds could exist in such a 
 temperature, with the land covered deeply in snow, 
 and, where it happened to be exposed, the soil 
 
THEORY OF ANIMAL-MIGRATION SUBVERTED. 157 
 
 SO hard as to destroy iron tools in attempting to 
 loosen it. 
 
 These discoveries, however, raised a doubt of 
 the correctness of the theory of animal-emigration 
 in the arctic regions, as laid down by that eminent 
 naturalist and traveller Sir John Richardson, as 
 well as of the opinion in its favour expressed by 
 the late Admiral Sir Edward Parry ; and Captain 
 M'Clure in his Journal says, " it is pretty evident 
 that during the whole winter animals may be 
 found in these straits, and that the want of suffi- 
 cient light alone prevents our larder being stored 
 with fresh food." Subsequent observation has 
 completely overthrown the idea that the reindeer, 
 rausk-ox, or other animals inhabiting the archi- 
 pelago of islands north of America, migrate south- 
 ward to avoid an arctic winter. Throughout 
 Banks Land, Melville Island, Bathurst and Corn- 
 wallis Land — in short, wherever Brititih seamen 
 have wintered of late years — there have been found 
 indubitable proofs of the reindeer, bear, rausk- 
 ox, marmot, wolf, hare, and ptarmigan — in short, 
 all the Fauna of those climes — wintering in the 
 latitudes in which they are found during the 
 summer. 
 . January closed in with strong gales of wind 
 
 ] 
 
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 ,D 
 
 
 li'h: 
 
 '■< * 
 
158 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST TASSAOE. 
 
 ;-| 1' ' I 
 
 ■v( 
 
 from the westward ; and on one occasion, the wind 
 veering to S.W. and blowing very hard, the hot 
 air forced up from more genial regions raised the 
 temperature from 35°— to 15°— of Fahr., — a 
 change which, however pleasing, could not be 
 enjoyed, as the snow-drift was too heavy for a 
 soul to venture outside the friendly shelter of the 
 woollen housings. An incident characteristic of 
 life in the far north happened at this time. A 
 raven, which had haunted the ship during the 
 past period of cold and darkness, left it — and 
 his departure was quite an event, something for 
 the men to remark and talk upon ; — and his so- 
 ciety was more miffed than the loss of a more 
 pleasing pet would have been elsewhere. 
 
 " The absent bird was a loss," says the gallant 
 Captain of the " Investigator," " which we all felt ; 
 it had been the only creature that appeared as 
 isolated as ourselves, and a mutual confidence 
 had been established between us. The raven 
 used to visit the ship unmolested except by the 
 dog, — who appeared to know the bird as well as 
 we did, was always on the look-out for its visit, 
 and went out to meet it occasionally. The dog 
 would run at Ralpho ; but he would hop over his 
 head, and resume his occupation at the dirt-heap. 
 
RE-APPEARANCE OF TIIP: SUN. 
 
 159 
 
 keeping an eye, however, all the while upon the 
 dog, and uttering a harsh croak occasionally, as if 
 enjoying the i\in of tantalising him." 
 
 On February the 3rd the glorious sun rose again, 
 after having been absent since the 11th November. 
 Eight3'-four days of twilight and darkness ! Few 
 but the dweller in those high latitudes can under- 
 stand the joy with which the return of that bright 
 luminary was hailed ; and the congratulations ex- 
 changed, at having been spared to rejoice again 
 in the blessed sunlight, were mingled with heart- 
 felt aspirations for the future. 
 
 Officers and men were every day extending their 
 walks. Many a party was made up to Princess 
 Royal Island, each being sanguine on starting of 
 bringing back a well-filled game-bag; but gene- 
 rally the evening saw the sportsmen return un- 
 successful and tired, with no other consolation 
 than that of having seen at a distance some soli- 
 tary wolf, which — upon the principle of " wliere 
 there are bees there must be honey" — they 
 strongly maintained proved venison to be in the 
 neighbourhood, and this venison might be theirs. 
 Winter sporting in a temperature of 60° beloAV 
 freezing point, when all the country is buried in 
 snow and the sportsman stands out in strong relief 
 
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 I 
 
 "P 
 
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 s 
 
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 f i 
 
 11 
 
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 160 DISCOVERY OF TOE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ' I ' 
 
 I :; 
 
 'iil 
 
 ■fi 
 
 ''f\ I ^ 
 
 upon the snowy landscape, is seldom remunerative 
 to the larder; but it has the merit of giving 
 occupation to minds pressed down by the canker 
 of monotony ; and one could smile and enjoy the 
 marvellous tales, brought back by the men, of 
 the number of miles they had walked, the quantity 
 of game seen, or the size of reindeer footprints 
 upon the snow, as well as the excellent reasons 
 given why neither flesh nor fowl filled their game- 
 bags. 
 
 That it should not become warm directly the 
 sun rose, was vexatious to those not gifted with 
 patience ; and many a one sighed at seeing the 
 thermometer on February 21st registering 44°— in 
 the shade, whilst in the sun the rays playing upon 
 the bulb of the instrument only raised it to 28° — , or 
 60 degrees below freezing point ! Outdoor sports 
 now commenced ; and to see the heavy falls the 
 men experienced in their thick winter clothing and 
 cloth snow-boots, whilst playing rounders upon 
 the ice, an observer might have wondered how 
 they escaped fractured bones and broken heads. 
 Appetites that had failed now began to return, 
 pale and yellow faces again to recover their ruddy 
 and sunburnt colours; and long discussions al- 
 ready arose as to how Jack would spend his money 
 
 '" ■ : 
 
)orts 
 
 the 
 
 and 
 
 ipon 
 
 how 
 
 3ads. 
 
 turn, 
 
 iddy 
 
 al- 
 
 [oney 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEpAt. 
 
 IGl 
 
 when he nrrived in Enghmd ; an anxiety which 
 often in every clime weighs upon his mind when 
 nothing else will. 
 
 Arrangements connected with the travelling 
 operations of the coming spring were now entered 
 upon ; and although the present thickness of the 
 ice in Prince of Wales Strait gave no promise of 
 an early disruption, still Captain M'Clure deter- 
 mined, before the sledges left the ship, to establish 
 such a depot, and place such means on the islands, 
 as should render the sledg -parties independent of 
 the ship, in the event of the ice breaking up and 
 sweeping the " Investigator " north or south before 
 their return. Early in March, therefore, a whale- 
 boat was carried on sledges, with much labour and 
 difficulty, to the Princess Royal Island, and a 
 depot established of three months' victualling for 
 the entire crew; so that should the ship even be 
 destroyed in the coming summer, a portion if not 
 all of the people might escape to the Mackenzie 
 River or Barrow's Strait, at which latter place 
 some of Captain Austin's expedition would be met 
 with. With this depot of provisions a record 
 was placed, stating by whom and why it was 
 established, and beseeching any parties from other 
 ships that might visit it, to consider the provisions 
 
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 162 DISCOVEUY OF TIIR NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGE. 
 
 as sacrod, and only to be touched upon the most 
 urgent xiecessity. 
 
 These precautionary measures taken, the atten- 
 tion of leader, officers, and men was turned to the 
 equipment of the sledges for their journeys over 
 the ice in search of Franklin, as well as to the 
 expediency of communicating the " Investigator's " 
 position to any ships that might be in their neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 Early in March the temperature in the sun rose 
 to 10 "-fj ^^^ heavy breezes, with much snow, 
 indicated the breaking up of the winter season ; 
 and as the action of the tides had already occa- 
 sioned numerous cracks in the ice, Captain M'Clure 
 landed another boat upon the eastern shore of the 
 Straits, to secure still further the safety of his 
 travellers. 
 
 April brought rapid increase of sun, light, and 
 heat. Embankments of snow were removed, day- 
 light admitted below, and the walks of the officers 
 became more extended. Game was sometimes 
 seen, and ptarmigans occasionally shot ; but there 
 was too much work to be done connected with re- 
 stowing and examining the state of the provisions 
 in the vessel, and equipping the sledge-parties, 
 to allow of any systematic plan of procuring fresh 
 food being pursued. 
 
nKPARTURE OF THE VARIOUS rARTIES. 1()3 
 
 On the 17th of the month the tem[icrature, which 
 Imd risen steadily, stood at 38° -f in the sun, and 
 the floe around the sliip became studded with 
 pools of water, formed rather, however, by the tide 
 forcing itself up the cracks and weak points in the 
 packed ice than by any action of the sun upon its 
 surface. An early summer naturally was antici- 
 pated ; and profiting by the experience gained at 
 Port Leopold in 1848, Captain M'Clure deter- 
 mined to get his parties away at once, instead of 
 waiting, as Sir James Ross had done, until 
 May 15th. The sledges were therefore laden; 
 and although with provisions for six weeks and 
 their equipments, every sledge weighed eleven 
 hundredweight, and there were only six men to 
 drag each, they moved, on trial, at a rate which 
 gave good promise of successful journeys. 
 
 Each of the three sledges was to take a separate 
 course : one, commanded by Lieut. Haswell, was di- 
 rected to proceed to the S. E., following the coast 
 of Prince Albert's Land, towards the land seen 
 north of Dolphin and Un''^n Strait, and named 
 by its discoverer WoUaston Land ; another sledge, 
 under Lieut. S. Gurney Cresswell, was to follow 
 the coast of Baring or Banks Land, to the N. W. ; 
 whilst the remaining party with Mr. Wynniatt 
 
 
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 164 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 (mat'^) was charged with the duty of examining 
 the coast of Albert Land to the N. E. towards 
 Cape Walker. < r 
 
 On April 18th, 1851, the sledges of the " Investi- 
 gator" left the ship * with the hearty good wishes of 
 all on board ; and like their brother seamen of the 
 expedition then wintering under Griffith's Island, 
 they held on their toilsome course in spite of cold, 
 hardship, and every difficulty, cheered by the then 
 still strong hope of finding Franklin's lost expedition. 
 To follow each party in its arduous and monoto- 
 nous labours, would be but an uninteresting repe- 
 tition of an oft-told tale ; but yet the general reader 
 should be reminded how nobly those gallant sea- 
 men toiled who were despatched from the " Investi- 
 gator,'* or from other ships, to search on foot for our 
 missing comrades. Sailors by profession, and con- 
 sequently unaccustomed to long marches or to drag- 
 ging heavy weights, — the major portion of their 
 lives probably having been spent under a broiling 
 sun on the coast of Africa, or ir the East or West 
 Indies, — we yet see these men readily enter the 
 Arctic regions, and push into the sea beyond the 
 
 * The sledges of Captain Austin's expedition, then winter- 
 ing at Griffith's Island, left, it will be remembered, three days 
 earlier, namely, on April 15th, 1851. 
 
f.!\ 
 
 . HARDSHIPS ENDURED BY SLEDGE CREWS. 165 
 
 boundaries of our knowledge of the earth's geo- 
 graphy, and even of the limits of the wanderings 
 of the hardy Esquimaux. 
 
 Imprisoned as they had been for a long and dark 
 winter ; left to their own resources entirely for 
 health, food, and amusement ; rationed upon the 
 coarse and endless repetition of salt beef and salt 
 pork, varied with occasional preserved meat to 
 check the slow but certain march of scurvy, they 
 were now sent to travel upon snow and ice, each 
 with 200 pounds to drag, which could not be left 
 behind, for it comprised food, fuel, raiment, sledge, 
 and tent. If they should feel cold, they must be 
 patient ; for until they return to the ship there will 
 be no fire to warm them. Should their parched 
 tongues cleave to their mouths, they must swallow 
 snow to allay their thirst ; for water there is none. 
 Should their health fail, pity is d11 that their 
 comrades can give them ; for the sledge must move 
 on its daily march. If hungry, they must console 
 themselves by looking forward to being better fed 
 when the travelling is over ; for the rations are ne- 
 cessarily, in sledge journeys, weighed off to an 
 ounce ; in short, from the time they leave the ship 
 until their return to it, the service is ever one of 
 
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166 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 ^I'S 
 
 suffering and privation which calls for the utmost 
 endurance and most zeilous energy. 
 
 Severely did the spring of 1851 see the good qua- 
 lities of the British seaman tested, not only among 
 the parties from the " Investigator " but also among 
 those of Captain Austin and Captain Penny ; and in 
 every case the result was the same. No man flinched 
 from his work ; some of the gallant fellows really 
 died at the drag-rope ; others by frost-bites became 
 cripples for life ; but not a murmur arose in any 
 party: as ihe weak fell out from the sledge appointed 
 to the longest and most severe journey, there were 
 always more than enough of volunteers to take their 
 places. It has been the fashion of late to decry the 
 labours of these men-of-war's men in the search for 
 Franklin, and to point out how far th 3y fell short, 
 in endurance of fatigue and length of j'surney, of 
 the deeds of the Hudson Bay voyageurs ; bi t the 
 comparison, if impartially made, would really re- 
 sult in proving Jack by far the better man. 
 
 The voyageur is inured to long foot journeys, and 
 to carrying or dragging heavy weights ; sailors are 
 not ; — yet they had to walk whilst the voyageurs 
 of Richardson, Pullen, or ICae's expeditions were 
 sitting in canoes. If the distances of the respective 
 sledge journeys are compared, the sailor still carries 
 
ENGLISH SEAMEN AND AMERICAN VOYAGEURS. 167 
 
 off the palm. The voyageur, too, has never tra- 
 velled upon the petty rations of our men; if 
 he has occasionally been starved, he has had a 
 surfeit of game soon afterwards. 
 
 There is not a part of North America over which 
 the voyageur has worked, where either drift-wood 
 or game are not found : when his day's toil has been 
 over, the voyageur has found a fire to warm him, 
 fresh food to invigorate him. Not so the sailor, 
 with one or two rare exceptions. When winter 
 comes, th^ voyageur retires to some snug house 
 near a lake where fish are plentiful, or to a 
 sheltered spot where deer abound ; how different 
 the arctic seaman's winter abode ! and the voyageur 
 has never seen the sun set except for a day or two 
 at most. 
 
 Those who wish to praise the Hudson Bay 
 Company's trappers and travellers, — and none 
 can deny their merits, — should do so without rob- 
 bing our poor sailors o/ their humble guerdon. 
 Their reward, poor fellows, has been but small ; and 
 living, as they do, by the sweat of their brows, 
 shattered health to them brings starvation. 
 Humble, unpolished, and uneducated they may 
 be ; but they have laboured hard, and deserve well 
 of their country and profession. Had all their 
 
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 168 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 leaders been as honest, as single-hearted, as up- 
 right in purpose, and as stanch as the common 
 sailor, the wretched tale brought home in 1854 by 
 Dr. Rae would not have had to be told.* 
 
 * The Editor does not know of any sledge journey which 
 can more vividly depict the sufferings which some sledge 
 parties of sailors went through, than the one, of which the fol- 
 lowing is a brief extract, from the daily journal of the officer in 
 command, the present Captain George H. Richards, an officer 
 second to none in the indomitable energy and skill he has dis- 
 played in the successful execution of every duty entrusted him 
 in Arctic service. 
 
 « On the 22nd Feb. 1854," says Captain Richards, "the tem- 
 perature having ranged between 35° and 45° minus for the 
 last four days, I started with two sledges, by Captain Belcher's 
 orders, for Beechey Island, fifty miles distant. After eight 
 miles dragging, the men were so very tired, cold, and miserable, 
 that they hardly had patience to wait for their frozen meat being 
 thawed ; and that eaten, they threw themselves down in their 
 blanket bags, half frozen as they were, to sleep. Next day (the 
 23rd) the thermometer registered 40° below zero, or 72° below 
 freezing point ! " The poor fellows dragged on as well as they 
 could ; but the Captain's hands were too cold, and his ideas too 
 much engaged in attending to their safety, to write any journal 
 beyond the hasty but graphic expressions in his note-book, — 
 " It's distressingly cold ! " " the pork as brittle as resin ! " " the 
 rum frozen ! " So fatigued were many of the men, and so debi- 
 litated from constant suffering, that their stomachs reje'^ted 
 what food they attempted to swallow. On the 24th, the temper- 
 ature had fallen to 74° below freezing point. It seemed as if 
 human endurance could go no furti v ; yet they tugged on, for 
 anything was better than rctuniiiig to the wretchedness 
 
CAPTAIN RICHARDS'S JOURNEY. 
 
 169 
 
 . Whilst the sledge parties of Captain M'Clure's shi p 
 as well as those of Captain Austin's and Penny's ex- 
 peditions ( lee Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal) 
 
 they had left on board their ship. Their noon-day meal, 
 called lunch, could not be partaiien of; for the rum and the 
 bacon were solid, and they were too cold to wait whilst either 
 thawed. Passing by where the gallant Frenchman Bellot 
 had fallen a sacrifice in attempting to carry out the impera- 
 tive orders of Sir Edward Belcher (vide Blue Books), the worn- 
 out and exhausted crews encamped at last otF Cape Grinnell. 
 
 Another night of sleeplessness passed, for the cold was too 
 intense for the most tired to sleep. 
 
 On the 25th Feb. the jaded crews made their way across 
 Griffin Bay, tlie temperature still so low, and their sufferings so 
 intense, that they could neither eat nor sleep, — a glass of grog 
 and a bit of biscuit being all their food. On the next day 
 the temperature was still 73" below freezing point (41°— of 
 Fahr.) ; exhaustion was apparent with all the party, and Captain 
 Richards had, as he says, " serious misgivings as to whether 
 he should be able to proceed." On making the attempt, frost- 
 bites became frequent and threatening ; but a fresh gale 
 from the north fortunately blew their sledges on, and in 
 the evening tliey camped near Point Innes. On the following 
 day Captain Richards and Mr. Herbert pushed on to the " North 
 Star," at Beechey Island, for aid ; and once arrived there, both 
 he and his men fervently thanked their God for his protection 
 through no ordinary suffering. It required a week's rest to 
 restore his men to health and strength ; and perhaps the most 
 painful part of this tale of su.itiring is, that it all arose from 
 an idea upon Captain Belcher's part that he was gifted 
 with prophetic powers as to a high range of temperature 
 after the 22nd February, — a pui*c luiUucination, as the result 
 proved. 
 
 1 HI 
 
 I 
 
170 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 are plodding along on their arduous search, I must, 
 to connect the thread of our narrative, remind the 
 reader that we left H.M.S. " Enterprise," Captain 
 Collinson, consort of the " Investigator," in the Pa- 
 cific Ocean. She reached the latitude of Icy Cape as 
 late as the 22nd of September, 1850, having made 
 a long and circuitous passage from the Sandwich 
 Islands. The pack ice was there met; and with 
 winter evidently closing in, the prospect of round- 
 ing Cape Barrow that year was at an end. In 
 obedience, therefore, to the strict injunction con- 
 tained in his orders not to winter in the pack. 
 Captain Collinson bore up for a warmer climate, so 
 as to have his crew and ship ready to resume their 
 labours in the season of 1851. 
 
 All Captain Collinson knew of the position 
 of Captain M'Clure, was the report of the "Plover," 
 Captain Moore, who on August 5th, 1850, had seen 
 the "Investigator," undera press of canvas, steering 
 northward off Wainwright Inlet. Unfortunately 
 one of the many rumours, easily to be traced to the 
 " Investigator's " communication with the natives of 
 the north coast, which reached the " Plover " in 
 her idle winter quarters, induced Captain Collinson 
 to allow an enterprising young officer, Lieut. Bar- 
 nard, to be landed in the Russian North-west Ameri- 
 
 ■■U 
 
MURDER OF LIEUT. BARNARD. 
 
 171 
 
 can settlements, in order to inquire into their truth ; 
 and in carrying out this service he was brutally 
 murdered by savages in a surprise of one of the 
 Russian posts, called Darabin redoubt, not far from 
 Norton Sound. The circumstances under which it 
 occurred are related in the following letter of his 
 companion, Mr. Adams, assistant surgeon. 
 
 "Garishka, Russian Fishing Station, Norton Sound, 
 N.W. Coast of America, 3rd March, 1851. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " The information I have been able to obtain 
 here, appears to be more probable than that which 
 1 gained at Michaelowski. It is to the following 
 effect : — 
 
 " Soon after Lieuteniint Barnard's arrival at 
 Darabin, a Russian and two natives were sent 
 to the Koiikuk river to trade fox skins, and they 
 took a letter from Mr. Barnard to be forwarded 
 to the Englishmen on the Ekko. These three men 
 were murdered by the Indians. 
 
 " On the morning of the 16th of February the 
 governor of the redoubt (Maxemoff or Darabin), 
 who was sleeping in the same room with Mr. 
 Barnard and Boskey, hearing a noise outside, went 
 to the door ; and immediately on opening it he 
 was killed by a spear. 
 
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172 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 " The Indians then rushed into the room ; Mr. 
 Barnard seized his gun, one barrel of which hap- 
 pened to be loaded with a cartridge, and wounded a 
 man in the arm; he then struck with the butt, 
 until the stock broke ; he \vas severely wounded 
 in the abdomen by a spear, but I cannot learn that 
 he received any wounds from arrows. 
 
 " Boskey was badly wounded in the abdomen by 
 two arrows, in the hands by a spear being drawn 
 through them in attempting to wrest it from an 
 Indian, and in the arms by a knife. I can learn 
 nothing of the other Indians except that they 
 killed one native. 
 
 " The inhabitants of the two villages, Tolliikok 
 and Koltargar, were at Oomalartof at the time of 
 the attack, and all were killed, — men, women, and 
 children, — to the number of about fifty. The six 
 who escaped were sleeping in the bath-house at 
 the redoubt. 
 
 " I cannot ascertain the number of the attacking 
 party, only that there were ' plenty ' of them. 
 Each man carried a shield of thick wood, which 
 was musket-proof; and after the first attack they 
 appear to have planted them in a line so as to form 
 a wall, from behind which they fired ut the sur- 
 viving inhabitants. - ' 
 
MURDER OF LIEUT. DARNARD. 
 
 173 
 
 " There appears to have been no motive for the 
 attack, and so unexpected was it that they were 
 sleeping with their doors unfastened. * 
 
 " I have seen some of the spears here ; they are 
 large, and appear to be of European manufacture ; 
 they are inlaid with brass and copper. 
 
 " I have added to che enclosed tracing all the 
 information I have been able to obtain relative 
 to the situation and names of villages and rivers. 
 
 " On the 5th of January last Mr. Barnard sent a 
 native of this village to the * Plover ' with de- 
 spatches ; he has not been heard of since, and the 
 natives are all so much frightened that I cannot 
 get another to go. I therefore leave these papers 
 with the Russian in charge of this station, to be 
 forwarded if possible. 
 
 " We leave this to-morrow. 
 
 " I have &c., 
 
 " Edward Adams, 
 
 " Assistant Surgeon, R. N. 
 
 i 
 
 
 |:ir 
 
 !^ 
 
 " Commander T. E. L. Moore, 
 H. M. S. ' Plover,' Grantley Harbour." 
 
 The sad catastrophe is briefly told, in the 
 handwriting of poor Barnard, in the annexed note 
 
 
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 174 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 to Doctor Adams. It speaks volumes for the nerve 
 of the gallant officer, and is strongly characteristic 
 of the man. 
 
 " Dear Adams, 
 
 " I am dreadfully wounded in the abdomen ; 
 my entrails are hanging out. I do not suppose 
 I shall live long enough to see you. The Cu-ii- 
 chuk Indians made the attack whilst we were 
 in our beds. Boskey is badly wounded, and 
 Darabin dead. 
 
 " I think my wound would have been trifling 
 had I had medical advice. I am in great pain ; 
 nearly all the natives of the village are murdered. 
 Set out for this with all haste. 
 
 " John Barnard." 
 
 The Russian letter on which this was written 
 bore the date of 5th February, Darabin Redoubt ; 
 Russian time being twelve days later than ours. 
 The -writing betrayed the agony of the gallant 
 writer, and parts were nearly illegible. 
 
 !• 
 
 
175 
 
 J 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Signs of Summer Increase. — Shooting Parties are sent out 
 
 Narrow I^scapc of Whiteficld. — Lieut. Cresswell returns, 
 having ascertained Banks Land to be an Island. — Curious 
 Appetite of a Bear — Lieut. Haswell returns, with Intelli- 
 gence of Esquimaux being at hand. — Visit the Esqui- 
 maux. — The Party under Mr. Wynniatt return. — June in 
 Prince of Wales Strait. — A Glance at the other Expedi- 
 tions wintering in Arctic Seas, under Austin, Penny, 
 Ross, and De Haven. — A Midsummer Scene in Prince of 
 
 Wales Strait.— The Polar Summer's Nig' t The Floe 
 
 breaks up. — "Investigator" again free. — Compasses refuse 
 to traverse. — The Ship beset, and drifting to the North- 
 east along the Eastern Shore. — Wood-Currents. — Tides. 
 — No Passage found. — Captain M'Clure decides to try 
 another Course, by going round Banks Land. 
 
 i 
 
 iM 
 
 Between the 22nd of April and 5th of May 
 the signs of approaching summer increased ra- 
 pidly with those who were left on board the 
 " Investigator." Every indication of thaw, heat, 
 and vitality was keenly watched and minutely 
 noted ; indeed these observations, and fluctuating 
 hopes and fears for their brother shipmates absent 
 in the sledge parties, formed the constant round 
 of the existence of those whose good fortune it 
 
 I I 
 
176 DISCOVERY OF TFIK NOUTH-WEST TASSAGK. 
 
 ' ', 
 
 i& 
 
 was not to share in thu labours and occupations 
 of sledge journeys. One day a small lemming was 
 caught, and its fur having changed slightly, from 
 pure white to a faint brown, was a prognostication 
 little likely to disappoint them of the snows being 
 about to melt away from the surface of the 
 smothered land ; — it was the olive-leaf in the 
 mouth of the dove. On another occasion, the 
 quarter-master, whilst clearing the ice off the 
 surface of a hole in the floe, which was always 
 kept clear in case of fire occurring, was charn.ed 
 to see a seal pop his head above water, and stare 
 wonderingly, with his big lustrous eyes, at the blunt 
 Yorkshiren"\n who was intruding upon his do- 
 minions. 
 
 Some there are who might have spared the poor 
 seal ; but the " Man of Hull " hardened his heart, 
 for he thought of the savoury fry it would yield, 
 and straightway poor Poussie* was transfixed with 
 a lance, and his skin, oil, and flesh were soon 
 afterwards contributing their respective quota 
 to the health and comfort of our navigators. 
 
 Then came a magnificent polar bear ; a real 
 giant, ten feet long, with footprints twelve 
 
 A term borrowed by our whalers from the Greenlandera. 
 
SIGNS OF SUMMEn INCREASE. 
 
 177 
 
 real 
 lelve 
 
 lers. 
 
 iticlics in diameter, bore down to survey the 
 " Investigator." She was of course fired at, 
 but fortunately escaped with life and skin. 
 The fox and ptarmigan were seen together on 
 Princess Royal Island and Albert Land, the 
 feathers of the latter lying about in profusion, 
 and denoting that they pay dearly for frequenting 
 such distinguished society. 
 
 The vessel was now caulked and painted, 
 hatchways opened to dry long-accumulated damp 
 between-decks ; the holds were restowed, after 
 provisions and stores had been surveyed ; and 
 lastly a close examination of the crew was 
 made by the surgeon, Dr. Armstrong, and its 
 result was most satisfactory. All were in most 
 perfect health, not a trace of scurvy was de- 
 tected among the men then on board ; " an in- 
 stance of sanitary well being," as Captain M'Clure 
 justly observes, " unparalleled in the annals 
 of polar voyages." May brought in a tem- 
 perature ranging from 6° -f to 30° -j- of Fahren- 
 heit, the wind vaiying from S.W. to N.W., with 
 occasional falls of snow. On the 6th of May Mr. 
 Wynniatt's sledge-party returned to the ship : tiiat 
 officer had broken his chronometer, and wanted 
 to be supplied with another ; but there was not 
 
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 178 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 a spare pocket-instrument on board, and Captain 
 M'Clure, pained beyond measure at the loss of 
 time already incurred by the return of this party 
 from a position nine days' journey in advance 
 of the ship, despatched Mr. Wynniatt again upon 
 his original route during the course of the day. 
 Mr. Wynniatt reported that throughout his jour- 
 ney traces of musk-oxen and deer had been very 
 plentiful and fresh ; and as the latter animal had 
 also been seen upon the land abreast of the ship, 
 two shooting parties were established to endea- 
 vour to secure an addition to the resources of the 
 commissariat. 
 
 On May 7th a sad accident nearly occurred to a 
 young carpenter named Whitefield, one of a shoot- 
 ing party on the western shore. A large flock of 
 hares had been seen trooping up a ravine just as a 
 heavy snow-storm set in, the rest of the sportsmen 
 retired to their tent for safety, but Whitefield 
 was tempted to go on. On being missed by the 
 others, the men of the shooting party started two 
 at a time to look for him, each relief running: 
 much risk of losing its way and being smothered 
 in drift; yet nothing could be seen of the lost man. 
 Fairly at their wits' end, the party, which was in 
 charge of a petty officer, retreated to their tent 
 
NARROW ESCAPE OF A MAN. 
 
 179 
 
 again, and began to fear the worst, when one of 
 them suddenly e.:daimed that he heard " the foot- 
 steps of a bear !" All heard the sound for a minute, 
 and then it ceased. The drift was so dense they 
 could see nothing ; and to their shouts of " W hite- 
 field ! " no answer came. Shortly afterwards, during 
 a lull in the gale, some one happened to look out of 
 the tent; and there, not a yard from the tent, knelt 
 poor Whitefield, stiff and rigid as a corpse, his 
 head thrown back, his eyes fixed, his mouth open 
 and filled with snow ; his gun was slung over his 
 shoulder, but bis body was fast being buried in a 
 snow-wreath. They pulled him into the tent, re- 
 stored animation, and then sent for aid to the ship. 
 When the man eventually recovered enough to tell 
 his tale, it was strange indeed. He said that, whilst 
 struggling with the snow-storm and endeavouring 
 to find his way home, he felt a chill, and then a 
 fit came on, which appeared to have deprived him 
 of his senses to some extent, for he had seen 
 people looking for him — some of them had even 
 passed within a hundred yards of him — yet he 
 could neither call them nor discharge his gun for a 
 sisrnal, and meantime the snow had covered him. 
 After a while he regained some strength, and for- 
 tunately discovered a track leading to the tent, and 
 
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180 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 11 ^ll'l 
 
 had actually almost reached it — indeed they were 
 his footsteps that the people had heard —when 
 again the fit came on, and he sank down a yard 
 from the tent door, in the attitude of supplication, 
 in which he was found in the snow. He was fast 
 boooining rigid, and freezing to death, when, by the 
 mercy of Providence, his shipmates saw him. 
 Among the startling narratives of arctic history, 
 there are few more providential escapes. 
 
 The quantity of game, in the shape of hares 
 and ptarmigan, seen in every direction by the 
 different shooting parties, and recorded in Captain 
 M'Clure's diary for May, was very wonderful in so 
 high a latitude ; but the sailors and marines, with 
 one or two exceptions, were but poor sportsmen, 
 the sum total of their contribution to the general 
 stock being in four weeks but 156 ptarmigan and 
 seven hares. Yet one valley vi&Ited by them was 
 " literally alive with liares and ptarmigan," and 
 large troops of the former were seen by all parties. 
 Keener appetites, however, in following years 
 made keener sportsmen, as we shall hereafter see. 
 
 May 20th. — The last of the winter's snow had 
 disappeared from the western side of the strait, 
 and from that rejoicing in a south-eastern aspect ; 
 but the opposite shore, which geologically speak- 
 
 
BANKS LAND AN ISLAND. 
 
 181 
 
 ing was of the same formation, still wore a 
 winter livery, owing to its facing the north- 
 western part of tlie heavens ; the advantage, here 
 so apparent, of wintering upon a coast or in a 
 harbour which looks to the southward, is a point 
 which should be held well in mind by the polar 
 navigator, if circumstances ever allow him to 
 choose his winter quarters. At 8 a. m. on this day 
 Lieut. Gurney Cresswell's party returned to the 
 ship, after an absence of thirty-two days from the 
 " Investigator." Lieut. Cresswell had searched 
 170 miles of the coast of Banks Land, from the 
 ship, in a north and north-west direction. For the 
 first fortnight the weather had been most severe, 
 — constant north-west gales, dead in tlieir teeth, 
 sweeping through Barrow's Strait. Frost-bites had 
 been frequent, but only two men became seriously 
 attacked ; and they, poor fellows, being affected in 
 the feet in both cases, mortification of the ex- 
 tremities threatened, and Lieut. Cresswell had 
 been obliged to listen to the dictates of humanity, 
 and retreat upon the ship just as the weather was 
 improving and the trend of the coast of Banks 
 Land to the south convinced him it was an island. 
 By this judicious step, however, the men's lives 
 were saved, one only losing a portion of his feet; 
 
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 P|:.f 
 
182 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 'i\ 
 
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 but a day or two longer on the sledge would have 
 been fatal to both. 
 
 The lieutenant found the north coast of Banks 
 Land, west of Cape Russell, a precipitous cliff of 
 limestone, varying from 1000 feet to 1500 feet in 
 height ; a;, ainst the base, ice of an amazing 
 thickness had been forced up, by a great north- 
 west pressure, in lofty ridges. Outside this ridge 
 the sledge had made its way for seventy miles, 
 when the land became low at what appeared the 
 western extreme of Barrow's Strait. Looking in 
 that direction from a considerable elevation, nothing 
 like land could be seen, the eye roamed over a vast 
 sea of ice ; it was again that " Land of the White 
 Bear " spoken of by the natives of Cape Bathurst. 
 On May 21st an extraordinary event occurred, 
 which was not until afterwards explained. About 
 10.30 A.M. a large bear was passing the ship, 
 when Captain M'Clure killed it on the spot with a 
 rifle-shot. On examining the stomach, great was 
 the astonishment of all present at the medley it 
 contained. 
 
 There were raisins, that had not long been 
 swallowed; a few small pieces of tobacco-le'di -^ 
 bits of pork fat cut into cubes, which the 
 ship's cook declared must have been used for 
 
CONTENTS OF A BEAr's STOMACH. 
 
 183 
 
 maKing mock-turtle soup, an article often found 
 on board a ship in a preserved form ; and, 
 lastly, fragments of sticking-plaster, which, from 
 the forms into which they had been cut, must 
 evidently have passed through the hands of a 
 surgeon. Captain M'Clure, ignorant at the time 
 of the position of the other ships that had been 
 despatched from England, surmised that there 
 could only have been two ways in which thesv^ 
 traces of civilisation in che bear's stomach could be 
 accounted for ; either by the bear having come over 
 some floe of ice visited by the " Investigator" last 
 autumn, or that the " Enterprise " was wintering 
 close at hand. Now we know that the " Enterprise" 
 was then in China, and it is hardly probable, beai ing 
 in mind the rapid crushing and churning of the 
 ice, as described by Captain M'Clure, in the month 
 of November 1850, that any of it should have es- 
 caped being rolled over more than once. The field 
 for conjecture would therefore have been a wide 
 one, had he, like ourselves at the present hour, 
 known of the relative positions of Austin, Penny, 
 and Rae's expeditions, as well as of the quarter 
 from which proofs were brought in 1854 that 
 Franklin's people had reached to. In such a case the 
 
 most probable supposition would have been, that 
 
 V 4 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 if; ; 
 
 M' 
 
184 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 1% 'S 
 
 from one or either of ihem Bruin had made his 
 very extraordinary collection of curiosities. So im- 
 pressed, indeed, was M'Clure with the idea that the 
 " Enterprise " must be in the neighbourhood, that 
 he despatched Lieut. Cress well along the south- 
 east shore of Banks Land, with a sledge provisioned 
 until June 10th, to seek her. 
 
 After that officer had left the " Investigator," 
 the bear's secret was revealed, for some sportsmen 
 in search of game picked up a preserved-meat tin, 
 around which there were many footprints of a 
 bear ; and upon examining its contents, they found 
 therein articles corresponding with those discovered 
 in the stomach of the animal shot on the 21st 
 instant. 
 
 On May 24th, Her Most Gracious Majesty's birth- 
 day, the " Investigator " fired a royal salute where 
 perhaps no salute will ever again be fired, and most 
 certainly none was ever fired before. The thermo- 
 meter, exposed to the sun, rose to-day to 73°-}- ; 
 in the shade it fell to 26° +• The first gull was 
 observed on the 27th inst., r sure sign of cracks 
 in the floe having already begun to show them- 
 selves. An early season it certainly was ; and offi- 
 cers and men longed for the open water that was 
 to lead them, as they hoped, to Lancaster Sound. 
 
 On May 29th the first-lieutenant's party was seen 
 
 -i; !;1 
 
LIEUTENANT IIASWELL'S RETURN. 
 
 185 
 
 approaching, and it reached the ship safely soon 
 afterwards. Lieut. Haswell had been absent forty- 
 seven days, and during that time he had searched 
 a great extent of coast towards the south-east. He 
 reached the extreme point of his journey on the 
 14th May, when his position was on the north 
 shore of a deep indentation in Wollaston Land ; 
 his latitude and longitude being about 70° 45' N., 
 114° W. By a remarkable coincidence, Dr. Rae, 
 from his winter quarters in America, reached on 
 the 24th of May, (exactly ten days later) a point 
 on the opposite side of the same inlet, the " ex- 
 tremes " of the two travellers being thus only forty 
 miles apart. On his homeward journey, Lieut. 
 Haswell fell in with native Esquimaux, en- 
 camped upon the ice, at a place since named 
 Berkeley Point, forming the southern head of the 
 strait. Unable to converse with them but by 
 signs, he pushed on for the ship; and directly 
 Captain M'Clure heard of natives being so close, he 
 made arrangements for going to communicate with 
 them by the aid of Mr. Mierching, the Moravian 
 interpreter, for until that moment no one had the 
 least idea that they were wintering so near fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 It is true that every part of the coast about the 
 
 i 
 
 I ',., 
 
 ■\ M 
 
 ■■-' 1' 
 
 i-i 
 
I l'». 
 
 18G DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST I'ASS/GE. 
 
 f I 
 
 HI 
 
 neighbourhood of Princess Royal Island abounded 
 in Esquimaux ruins ; but they were moss-grown 
 and very ancient, and none of the natives of 
 North America met by the Investigator's in 
 tlie previous year spoke of having the least know- 
 ledge of land in the direction of Prince of Wales 
 Strait. 
 
 On the 30th, Captain M'Clure and Mr. Mier- 
 ching started, and on the 2nd June reached the 
 Esquimaux encampment, consisting of five tents 
 with as many men, five women, and a due propor- 
 tion of children. 
 
 Three of the men were absent hunting ; the re- 
 maining two received the visitors, answering to the 
 first salute of Mierching with a cry of, " Oh ! we 
 are very much afraid ! we are very much afraid ! " 
 as they probably were ; but assurances of the 
 good intentions of the Englishmen soon dissipated 
 their fears. One of the hunters came in shortly 
 afterwards. lie is described as a fine, active broad- 
 shouldered savage, with bow and quiver slung at 
 his back, a large copper-bladed hunting knife in his 
 hand, well clothed in seal skins, and his finely pro- 
 portioned limbs neatly encased in beautifully-made 
 mocassins and overalls. In fact, his appearance, 
 combined with his confiding, frank, and friendly 
 
VISIT TO THE ESQUIMAUX. 
 
 187 
 
 manner, impressed all the party, and marked him 
 as a favourable specimen of the hardy race which 
 wanders over those frigid regions. Game, they 
 said, such as the musk-ox and deer were very 
 plentiful, but extremely wild. They assured 
 Captain M'Clure of the continuity of the land he 
 was now upon with that of WoUaston and Vic- 
 toria, which faces the American shore in Dolphin 
 and Union Strait. Esquimaux increased, they 
 said, as you went to the south-east ; and of all that 
 portion of the coast visited by them they drew a 
 very correct chart, handling pencil and paper as if 
 they were accustomed to hydrography. Mr. Mier- 
 ching understood them, and they him, perfectly, the 
 dialect spoken by the tribe being the same as 
 that of the Labrador coast. Tliey seemed very 
 simple and honest ; and when presented with any- 
 thing, they appeared incapable of supposing that 
 anyone would give them an article without expect- 
 ing an equivalent. A piece of red cloth having 
 been tied by the Captain round the neck of a girl, 
 she ran to the interpreter to know what was to be 
 given in return for it; and when assured that it 
 was a free gift, she gracefully acknowledged it by 
 a smile, and wished to know " what kind of animal 
 it grew upon. " 
 
 ; 
 
 ■ 
 
 u 
 
 i ■ H i 
 
 I- i^ 
 
188 DISCOVEIIY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 'MV 
 
 These Esquimaux said that, until they had seen 
 Lieut. HaswcH's party, they had never cast eyes 
 upon a white man, — proving pretty distinctly that 
 the lost expedition never reached so far. Copper 
 of the purest description seemed to be plentiful 
 with them, for all their implements were of 
 that metal ; their arrows were tipped with it, and 
 some of the sailors saw a quantity of it in a rough 
 state in one of the tents. Bidding goodb-ye to 
 these really interesting creatures, and promising 
 them untold wealth in the shape of buttons and 
 arms, Captain M'Clure returned to hi i ship more 
 than ever convinced that if the Honourable Company 
 under whose uncontrolled authority the northern 
 portion of British America has passed as a " vested 
 right," Avould, when seeking for furs and profits, 
 take a somewhat more enlarged view of their po- 
 sition, and study a little the Christian ruler's duty 
 towards such of their fellow-creatur<cJ as it has 
 pleased God to place them in authority over, it 
 would be better for them on that day of reckoning 
 when the support of the great ones of this earth 
 shall have as little weight as large dividends, or 
 stock at a premium. 
 
 The sympathy awakened in the mind of Captain 
 M'Clure for the lonely, expiring race of Esquimaux 
 
RETURN OF WYNNIATl S PARTY. 
 
 189 
 
 was naturally increased by the isolated position of 
 his ship and crew at this period.* 
 
 June 4th. — The ship Avas now surrounded by 
 water, yet the ice of the strait was still seven feet 
 in thickness. The 7th of the month brought back 
 the sledge-party under Mr. Wynniatt ; his tuvninf- 
 point was on the 2Gth May, at which time he was 
 only fifty to sixty miles from the farthest point 
 reached by a party under Lieut. Osborn from 
 Griffith's Island. In both cases the land where each 
 party turned back was strikingly similar, low, with 
 off-lying shoals, and closely beset with stupendous 
 ice. Since then, in the winter of 1853-54, two of 
 Her Majesty's ships, the " Resolute " and " Intre- 
 pid," were caught in the pack, and wintered due 
 north of this intervening fifty miles of ground; and 
 although the wind blew fresh from the north and. 
 north-west, they did not drift through any channel 
 in a southern direction ; the natural inference there- 
 fore is, that the land from Cape Walker in Peel 
 Sound to the Prince of Wales Strait is continuous. 
 The drift chart of the " Pvesolute " and " Intrepid " 
 is strong evidence, at any rate, in favour of such 
 a theory. 
 
 * Captain Collinson, with his ship the " Enterprise," wintered 
 in the same year, 1851-52, amongst these people ; and all their 
 intercourse was most friendly. 
 
 i 
 
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 m 
 
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 M 
 
190 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 
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 l 
 
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 m 
 
 
 i i« 
 
 .Tunc is passing slowly, for the water docs not 
 make half fast enou^^h for men tired of ei^jht 
 months' imprisonment ; but the ice has diminished 
 2 ft. 10 in. in thickness in thirty days, and the 
 water-pools upon the surface are extending to- 
 wards one another, and borins: holes through the 
 floe beneath in all directions. The glistening hum- 
 mocks are turning to a faded-yellow colour, and 
 silently toppling to decay ; the ducks, and geese, 
 and swans fly cackling by, wondering perhaps 
 whether the " Investigator " is an island on which 
 it might be prudent to deposit their eggs, so as to 
 secure them from the sly Renard who is eyeing 
 them with a watering mouth, whilst the long-silent 
 ravines burst out with a view halloo! and send 
 glacier, snow, water, land, and stone, flying far 
 over the floe which fringes either shore. But 
 Avhilst we wait for the myt.*^erious but certain 
 motion of the ice-fields in the sirait, which will re- 
 lease our travellers, let us cast a glance at the points 
 reached during the past spring by the many 
 parties pushing out from Griffith's Island and 
 from Captain Penny's wintering-place in Barrow's 
 Strait. Thanks to the close attention paid to the 
 details of sledging by Lieut. M'Clintock* whilst 
 
 * The present Captain Leopold F. M'Ciintock, R.N. 
 
 f 
 
JUNE IN PRINCE OF VALES STRAIT. 
 
 191 
 
 serving under Sir. James Ross, in 1848, and to the 
 vast improvement his ingenuity enabled him to 
 effect in it, the sledgc-partlcs from Captain Aus- 
 tin's squadron were the most perfectly appointed 
 that ever perhaps left on arctic service. The 
 editor, who has since served in a squadron where 
 an attempt was made to claim originality upon the 
 head of equipment, feels it but justice to say, that 
 every part of the sledge scheme carried out by Sir 
 Edward Belcher's expedition in 1853 was grounded 
 entirely upon Lieut. M'Clintock's original ideas. 
 Here and there, though his suggestions were made 
 use of, something was done to give an appearance 
 of originality, but it was an appearance only ; to 
 Lieut. M'Clintock belonged the merit where there 
 was any. Aided by this splendid equipment, which 
 only required that more of the officers should have 
 been as skilled as M'Clintock in turning them to 
 advantage to have yielded still better results, the 
 sledges from the "Resolute," "Assistance," "Pio- 
 neer," and "Intrepid" did an immense amount of 
 work. The leading one, which carried off the palm 
 in distance and value of service performed, was led 
 by Lieut. M'Clintock in person to Melville Island ; 
 and about the same time when Lieut. Cresswell was 
 standing on the north extrem e of Banks Land, 
 
 i 
 
 H 
 
 I ') 
 
i 'a 
 ' 'I 
 
 ij 
 
 'f f 
 
 192 DISCOVERY OF THE NOHTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Lieut. M'Clintock was on the southern promontory 
 of Melville Island, some fifty or sixty miles from 
 him. 
 
 On the south shore of Barrow's Strait, Captain 
 Ommanney, of the "Assistance," was leading a 
 party westward. At Peel Sound, he detached 
 Lieut. Browne with two sledges, to examine that 
 channel downwards, while from the American 
 coast Dr. Rae afterwards came up it in a boat, 
 and thpy approached each other, until their ex- 
 tremes were only 180 miles apart. 
 
 It is too late to regret it now; but had the 
 whole strength of that division of sledges been 
 turned upon Peel's Strait, we should then have 
 reached King William's Land, and saved Frank- 
 lin's crew. Alas! there was then a furor for 
 Melville Island and for Banks Land ; and all 
 Captain Ommanney and his adviser, the writer of 
 these pages, got for their forethought in heed- 
 ing Peel's Strait at all, was a cnubbing for not 
 beating Lieut. M'Clintock. Captain Ommanney, 
 anxious to pass nothing, went down another 
 opening, fearing it might be a strait ; and Lieut. 
 Sherard Csborn pushed on with another sledge, 
 as far as his provisions would allow him, turning 
 back, as I have said, when about forty or fifty miles 
 
 «-i.--^ii.|-f :i-'fflEA 
 
ming 
 
 GLANCE AT THE OTHER EXPEDITIONS. 
 
 193 
 
 from the point reached by Captain M'Clure's 
 party. -^ 
 
 Another sledge-party, under Lieut. Aldrich, 
 searched far up to the northward by way of Byam 
 Martin Channel, whilst Penny with boat and 
 sledge opened up and examined Wellington 
 Channel. Not a fresh vestige did these parties 
 discover of Franklin's whereabouts, beyond the 
 fact of his first winter quarters having been in 
 Beechey Island ; — and so little did the leaders of 
 the expeditions from Baffin's Bay seem to think 
 they were to work in combination with those who, 
 as they knew, were pushing towards a central point 
 from the Pacific Ocean, that they took the earliest 
 advantage of open water to return to England, and 
 strived to enlighten the world with whjit they sup- 
 posed Franklin must have done after he left winter 
 quarters at Beechey Island. Strange to say too, 
 those whose position entitled their opinion to most 
 weight, gave Franklin credit for everything but 
 doing what he was sent to do, and did do — dis- 
 cover a North-west Passage ! — a fact which Dr. 
 Rae's discoveries in 1854 incontestably prove. 
 
 Before returning to the " Investigator," a glance 
 must be cast in the direction of B(;hring's Strait. 
 There we see the " Enterprise," Captain R. Col- 
 
 Q 
 
 
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 < 
 
 ,1 
 
 i ' 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 1 V 
 
 h 
 
 A- 
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 m 
 
194 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ;l 'fl 
 
 ■m ■■*! 
 
 (I 
 
 linson, C. B., pushing into the ice. On the 29th 
 July, she rounded Point Barrow with some diffi- 
 culty, and then, following the American shore on 
 the footsteps of the " Investigator," we will leave 
 her struggling with and mastering successfully 
 the many dangers of that shoal coast and pon- 
 derous ice. 
 
 It is July in Prince of Wales Strait, the 
 summer season of latitude 70° north : the " In- 
 vestigator " has bent sails, hoisted up her boats, 
 and keen eyes from the mast-head watch the 
 daily increase of water, which is detaching the 
 floe from either shore. The russet tints of the 
 land on both shores have replaced the tiresome 
 white of winter ; the ravines are again silent, the 
 debdcle has passed, and the waters only run now 
 in modest trickling streams. Here and there 
 along the edge of some deep cleft in the land, the 
 white streak of a pigmy glacier shows where the 
 summer heats cannot penetrate ; but on the 
 sunny slopes, or in sheltered valleys, the modest 
 Flora of the North spreads her short-lived store 
 — lichens and moss — in rich profusion of species 
 and colour. The lovely golden hue of the anemone 
 and poppy, the purple blossomed saxifrage, and 
 white flowerets of the London -pride, appear inter- 
 
 
MIDSUMMER SCENE. 
 
 195 
 
 laced with the rich green of the ground-willow, and 
 rose-tinted leaves of sorrel, all relieve the wanderer's 
 eye, and carry him back with softened feelings to 
 some nook in his own dear land, where the flowers, 
 and trees, and herbs, though far surpassing in love- 
 liness those before him, are yet not half so much 
 appreciated. 
 
 The plover, phalarope, and bunting, here rear 
 their young untroubled by man : around the 
 margin of the petty lakes formed by melting snow 
 upon the terraces, wild-fowl of many sorts — the 
 king and common eider, the pintail duck, and 
 the Brent goose — form their simple nests, in spite 
 of the prowling fox and piratical boatswain-bird 
 {Stercorarius parasitica)^ the former in quest of the 
 parent, and the latter of her eggn. And then 
 ai ng the face of some beetling cliff, which fronting 
 to the south gives good promise of having water 
 early at its base, clouds of shrieking gulls, kitti- 
 wakes, and burgomasters, hold a nojsy parliament. 
 Ihere was no night to overshadow this scene : the 
 sun rose high during the day along the southern 
 half of the heavens, and sloped without setting 
 towards the north until midnight. There was no 
 darkness now, as during winter there had been no 
 
 light. Yet it must not be supposed that in the 
 
 o « 
 
 J 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 1 
 
 i i 
 
 
 ; I? 
 
 11 
 
 1 1 
 
 if 
 
 h I 
 
 !ii 
 
196 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 IP! 
 
 ! .1 
 
 Arctic regions there is not a perceptible division of 
 the day into that portion of it intended for labour 
 and that for rest. Between the hours of eight in 
 the evening and four in the morning, in spite 
 of the sun sweeping through the heavens, there is 
 a perceptible change; the light is more subdued, 
 the tints of land and sea less strong, shadows less 
 marked, the birds go as naturally to roost as if it was 
 dark, and Nature is evidently reposing. Nothing 
 can be more lovely than this Polar night, which is 
 not night, or, as it has been beautifully described, 
 " the long mild twiliglit, which, like a silver clasp, 
 unites to-day with yesterday, when morning and 
 evening sit together, hand in hand, beneath the star- 
 less sky of midnight." They who have once looked 
 at such a landscape can never forget it, and though 
 perhaps the penalties attached to a visit to these 
 scenes may serve to check enthusiasm upon 
 the subject of their attractions, yet those least 
 susceptible to the impressions of the wonderful 
 and beautiful, must, when standing among the 
 marvels of those distant regions, have felt empha- 
 tically the truth of those eloquent sentences in 
 our Bible in which the Creation is described, and 
 every phase of it declared to be good and perfect. 
 There was great joy on board the " Investiga- 
 
THE FLOE BREAKS UP. 
 
 197 
 
 tor " from the lOtli to the 14th of July. The floe 
 had commenced moving and breaking up : a lane 
 of water was seen extending on the former day 
 along the western shore, to the northward. The 
 ice in which the ship was still imprisoned on the 
 eastern side drifted about a couple of miles, and 
 then suddenly broke up, leaving her again free 
 after being fixed to one spot for nearly ten 
 months. The dangers of the navigation now re- 
 commenced ; the ice was still very plentiful, and 
 the clear water in very small patches ; and as the 
 pack drifted to and fro, all the helpless ship could 
 do was to fasten to the strongest masses, and 
 trust to their strength for safety from other fields 
 of ice. The set of the currents or tides had long 
 been an anxious question with Captain M'Clure : 
 the tide-pole in thirty fathoms water was not a sure 
 guide ; but, so far as its help and twelve months* 
 observation would allow him to form an idea, 
 the flood-tide came from the south up the Strait, 
 the rise and fall being about three feet at spring- 
 tides, and little, if anything, at the neaps. The 
 prevailing current, judging from drift-wood and 
 other symptoms, was north-cast along the eastern 
 coast into Barrow's Strait, and on the opposite, or 
 Banks Island shore, if anything, the current set 
 
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 I: 
 
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 Mil 
 
198 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 i ■: 1' . 
 
 '.!>■: 
 
 i '.'s*^ 
 
 soutK- westerly. Tempted by the appearance of 
 some clear water upon the western co9"t of 
 the Strait, the "Investigator" on the 17th July 
 cast off, and attempted to roach it. She was, 
 however, caught by the pack-ice, and in a dense 
 fog drifted with the crushing floes so close to 
 Pi'incess Royal Island as to hear the screams of 
 the sea-fowl on the cliff; and, as had occurred 
 in the previous autumn, she only escaped de- 
 struction by what seemed a miracle. After many 
 a hair-breadth escape from shoals and nips in the 
 ice. Captain M'Clure decided upon returning again 
 to the eastern ooast, and following it, God willing, 
 into Barrow's Strait. On the 24.th the first part 
 of his object was accomplished, by crossing the 
 Strait and reaching a spot named Cape Armstrong. 
 Here such a quantity of drift-wood was seen upon 
 the beach that a cutter was sent to embark a 
 load. It was all American pine, some of it so 
 fresh, that the carpenter was of opinion that it 
 could not have been drifted from its native forest 
 — either upon the banks of the Mackenzie or 
 Copper-mine River — more than two years since. 
 
 A serious and alarming difficulty now added to 
 the anxieties of our navigators. The compasses, 
 without any apparent cause, became exceedingly 
 
COMPASSES REFUSE TO TRAVERSE. 
 
 199 
 
 sluggish, and varied to such an extent in the dense 
 fogs then prevailing, that it became impossible to 
 tell which way they were going. The standard 
 compass one day showed the ship's head to be N. 
 whilst the starboard one pointed S. W. by W. J W., 
 and the port compass remained obstinately at 
 S. by W. Every care was taken to ascertain and 
 remove the cause of this eccentricity in the needles, 
 but it still remained. The " Investigator" now be- 
 came again beset in the ice, and with slight inter- 
 mission continued so until the 15th of August, 
 during which time she drifted about two miles per 
 diem to the north-east with it, and eventually 
 reached 73° 43' 43" N. latitude, and longitude 
 115° 32' 30" W., in which position she remained 
 at the tantalising distance of twenty-jive miles from 
 the loaters of Barrow's Strait ! Further than that, 
 no effort could advance the ship, and there were 
 occasional sets of the ice to the south-west, with 
 N. E. winds, which threatened to send them back 
 from whence they came. The young ice at nights 
 had already begun to form, the sun set again, and 
 Captain M'Clure xnew that his days of navigation 
 were every day diminishing. If he could push 
 into the pack of Barrow's Strait, with a prospect 
 of drifting with it to the eastward for Lancaster 
 
 o 4 
 
 ■h 
 
 
 Ui 
 
 M 
 
 ^i 
 
 
200 DISCOVERY 0^ THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Sound, he was prepared to do so ; but it would be 
 folly meiely to get entangled in it at the t;ntrance 
 of Prince of Wales Strait, and be swept back 
 again to winter, in 1851-52, in the same place he 
 had occupied last year. Impressed with this 
 feeling, it was with no small anxiety, when on the 
 16th of August, about noon, the fog lifted, that he 
 proceeded to take a careful survey of the state of 
 the ice ahead, before he decided upon launching 
 into it, or adopting some other course by which 
 to carry his ship through the north-west passage 
 in safety ; and to ^^ciioct upon one line at any rate 
 the search for his missing brother officers. He 
 says, " I observed the ice closely packed, extend- 
 ing across from one side cf the Strait to the other : " 
 it formed an unbroken line without a prospect of 
 successful passage through it for a sailing ship, 
 and then he immediately determined, with that 
 decision which formed the secret of his wonderful 
 success, to bear up, go round the south end of 
 Banks Land, and endeavour, by rounding it to the 
 westward, to reach Melville Island from that 
 direction. 
 
 tii 
 
201 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 The " Investigator" bears up, and goes round the South End 
 of Banks Land. — Rapid Progress up the Western Coast. — 
 The Lane of Water diminishes. — Perilous Passage between 
 the North-west Coast and ponderous Packed Ice. — Extraor- 
 dinary Accidents and wonderful Preservation. — North-west 
 Extreme of Banks Land.— Discovery of ancient Forests. — 
 Arctic Lakes. — Fresh- Water Fish. — The "Investigator" 
 drifts into the Pack in an Autumnal Gale. — Escapes and 
 Struggles along-shore. — September Night Scene off Banks 
 Land. — 23rd September, 1851, run Ashore during the 
 Night in the Bay of Mercy. — Ship Afloat. — Fail to get 
 into the Pack of Barrow's Strait. — Winter Quarters, 1851- 
 52. — Reduction of Allowance of Food. — Land found to 
 abound in Game. — Want of good Hunters. — Acute Instinct 
 of the Reindeer. — Arctic Hare, Wolf, and Fox. — Con- 
 tinued good Health of the Crew. — Cleverness of the Arctic 
 Raven. — Violence of Winter Snow-Storms. — Christmas- 
 Day.— The Arrival of II. M. S. " Enterprise " in Prince of 
 Wales Strait. — She fails in rounding Banks Land, — and 
 Winters at the Esquimaux Settlement in Walker Bay. 
 
 The helm of the " Investigator " was " put up : " 
 the good ship that had so gallantly striven to escape 
 by the northern outlet of the Strait, by which the 
 existence of a north-west passage had been 
 discovered, wore round upon her keel, set all sail, 
 
 4 
 
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 r 
 
 
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 MM 
 
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 "■ . . 1 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
 ■ ' ,: 
 
 1 
 
 ■■ i 
 
202 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 HV 
 
 V \* ' 
 
 and sped rapidly to the south-west, passing 
 Princess Royal Island for the last time. The 
 officers and crew were astonished to find that not 
 a particle of ice was to be met ; floes, hummocks, 
 huge piles of ice that had fringed the coast, all 
 had disappeared ! After a run of 100 miles in 
 clear water, the 17th August found them passing 
 the majestic cliffs of Nelson Head, the southern 
 extreme of Banks Land, the land preserving the 
 same bold features for 25 miles to the westward, 
 where it terminated at Cape Hamilton : here they 
 encountered a heavy swell from the S. E. with a 
 fine breeze, which made the " Investigator " throw 
 up her heels, much to the delight of those who 
 were on board. Gradually turning to the north- 
 west, and then north. Banks Land was found 
 again to resume in some measure the same undu- 
 lating features and long sloping beach that cha- 
 racterised its eastern coast. Considerable quantities 
 of drift-wood lay on the beaches north of Cape 
 Hamilton ; much vegetation was seen, and nu- 
 merous flocks of wild swans and geese were 
 feeding along the shore. On the 18th of August 
 the *' Investigator " had run the extraordinary 
 distance, in such a latitude, of 300 miles, without 
 being once checked by ice. The pack on this day 
 
 »< (i 
 
EEMARKABLE CHANGE. 
 
 203 
 
 was seen hanging in a heavy body in the south- 
 west, leaving, however, a lane of six miles of clear 
 water between it and the shore. In the afternoon 
 Cape Kellett was rounded, with some little diffi- 
 culty, the ship passing, with sufficient water to 
 float her, between the edge of grounded ice and the 
 coast. The land was now so low that the hand 
 lead-line became for a while their best guide, the 
 soundings happily were regular, and, aided by it 
 and a fair wind, they advanced apace to the north- 
 ward: throughout the 19th the ship sometimes 
 ran as much as seven knots per hour, the width of 
 the lane of water in which they were sailing vary- 
 ing from three to five miles. Noon that day 
 found them in '^2^'' 55' north latitude, and 123" 52' 
 30" west longitude, and already did Captain 
 M'Clure count upon extending his voyage to the 
 north of Melville Island, and then striking for 
 some Strait or Sound leading into Baffin's Bay ! 
 
 That night, however, a sudden and remarkable 
 change took place. They had just crossed Burnet 
 Bay, within Norway and Kobilliard Island, when 
 the coast suddenly became as abrupt and pre- 
 cipitous as a wall ; the water was very deep, 
 sixty fathoms by the lead-line within 400 yards of 
 the face of the cliflfs, and fifteen fathoms water 
 
 1 
 
 » 1 
 
 II 
 
 y 
 
 I :i 
 
 ,m 
 
204 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 .in 
 
 ' ' 
 
 M \ 
 
 when actually touching them. The lane of water 
 liad diminished to 200 yards in width where 
 broadest ; and even that space was much hampered 
 by loose pieces of ice aground or adrift. In some 
 places the channel was so narrow that the quarter 
 boats had to be topped up to prevent them touch- 
 ing the cliffs upon the one hand, or the lofty ice 
 upon the other; and so perfectly were they running 
 the gauntlet, that on many occasions the ship 
 could not " round-to," for want of space. Their 
 position was full of peril, yet they could but push 
 on, for retreat was now as dangerous as progress. 
 The pack was of the same fearful description as 
 that they had fallen in with in the offing of the 
 Mackenzie River, during the previous autumn ; 
 it drew forty and fifty feet water, and rose in 
 rolling hills upon the surface, some of them 100 
 feet from base to summit. Any attempt to force 
 the frail ahip against such ice was of course mere 
 folly: all they could do was to watch for every 
 opening, trust in the goodness and mercy of God, 
 and push ahead in the execution of their duty. 
 If the ice at such a time had set in with its vast 
 force against the sheer cliff, nothing, they all felt, 
 could have saved them; and nothing in the long 
 talc of Arctic research is finer than the cool and 
 
WONDERFUL PRESERVATION. 
 
 205 
 
 resolute way in which all, from the captain to the 
 youngest seaman of tlils gallant batid, fought inch 
 by inch to make their way round this frightful 
 coast. 
 
 Enough has been said to give a correct idea 
 of the peril incurred at this stage of the voyage, 
 without entering into minute details of the hair- 
 breadth escapes hourly taking place ; but one 
 instance may be given as a sample of the rest. 
 After the 20th of August, the " Investigator " lay 
 helpl essly fixed off tho north-west of Banks Land ; 
 the wind had pressed in the ice, and for awhile 
 all hopes of farther progress were at an end. On 
 the 29th of August, however, a sudden move took 
 place, and a moving floe struck a huge mass to 
 which the ship had been secured ; and, to the horror 
 of those on board, such was the enormous power 
 exerted, that the mass slowly reared itself on its 
 edge, close to the ship's bows, until the upper part 
 was higher than the fore-yard, and every moment 
 appeared likely to be the " Investigator's " last ; for 
 the ice had but to topple over, to sink her and 
 her crew under its weight. At the critical moment 
 there was a shout of joy, for the mass, after 
 oscillating fearfully, broke up, rolled back in iti 
 original position, and they were saved ! Hardly, 
 
 in 
 
 III] 
 

 it: 
 
 I I, 
 
 ii 
 
 III :m 
 
 206 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 however, was this danger past than a fresh one 
 threatened, for the berg to which the ship was 
 secured was impelled forward by the whole weight 
 of the driving pack towards alow point of land, on 
 which with frightful pressure the great floes were 
 breaking up, and piling themselves tier upon tier. 
 The " Investigator " had no power of escape ; but 
 every hawser was put in requisition, and hands 
 stationed by them. An attempt to blow up a 
 grounded berg, upon which the ship was driving, 
 only partially succeeded ; the nip came on, the poor 
 ship groaned, and every plank and timber quivered 
 from stem to stern in this trial of strength between 
 her and the ice. " Our fate seemed sealed," says 
 Captain M'Clure, and he made up his mind to let 
 go all hawsers. The order was given, and with 
 it the wreck of the " Investigator " seemed certain : 
 all the leader hoped for was, to use his own words, 
 "that we might have the ship thrown up suf- 
 ficiently to serve as an asj^nm for the winter : " 
 if she should sink between the two contending 
 bergs, the destruction of every soul was inevi- 
 table. 
 
 But at the very moment when the order to " let 
 go all hawsers " was given, and even before it could 
 be obeyed, a merciful Providence caused the berg 
 
 I '1 
 
 \ : 1 
 
ii;- 
 
 DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT FORESTS. 
 
 207 
 
 on 
 
 which most threatened to break up, and the 
 " Investigator " was once more saved ; though still 
 so tightly was she beset, that there was not room 
 to drop a lead-line down round the vessel, and the 
 copper upon her bottom was hanging in shreds, or 
 rolled up like brown paper. 
 
 They were now upon the north-west extreme 
 of Banks Land, and whilst detained in this dan- 
 gerous locality, officers and men rambled into the 
 interior, which they found far from so sterile 
 as the view of it from the sea had led them to ex- 
 pect. Traces of musk oxen and deer abounded, 
 and both were seen; but perhaps the most 
 extraordinary discovery of all was a great accu- 
 mulation of fossil trees, as well as fragments not 
 fossilised, lying over the whole extent of the land, 
 from an elevation of 300 feet above the sea to its 
 immediate level. Writing on the 27th of August, 
 Captain M'Clure, speaking of this wood, says, " I 
 walked to-day a short distance into the interior : 
 the snow that had fallen last night lay unthawed 
 upon the high grounds, rendering the prospect 
 most cheerless. The hills are very remarkable, 
 many of them peaked, and standing isolated from 
 each other by precipitous gorges : the summits of 
 these hills are about 300 feet high, and nothing 
 
 
 •i4 
 
 V \ 
 
 1 1 
 
 \- SI 
 
 ' ;; 
 
 ■ t 
 
( \'-,. 
 
 208 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ! fjt 
 
 can be more wildly picturesque than the gorges 
 which lie between them. From the summit of these 
 singularly formed hills to their base abundance of 
 wood is to be found^ and in many places layers of 
 trees are visiU^^ some protruding twelve or fourteen 
 feet^ and so firm that several people may jump on 
 them without their breaking: the largest trunk yet 
 found measured one foot seven inches in diameter.''^ 
 
 Again, on September 5th, some miles from the 
 hills just alluded to, Captain M'Clure says : " / 
 entered a ravine some miles inland^ and found the 
 north side of it, for a depth of forty feet from the 
 surface, composed of one mass of wood similar to 
 what I had before seen. The whole depth of the 
 ravine was about 200 feet. The ground around 
 the wood or trees was formed of sand and shingle ; 
 some of the tvood was petrified, the remainder very 
 rotten, and worthless even for burning." 
 
 This remarkable phenomenon opens a vast field 
 for conjecture, and the imagination becomes be- 
 wildered in trying to realise that period of the 
 world's history when the absence of ice and a 
 milder climate allowed forest trees to grow in a 
 region where now the ground- willow and dwarf birch 
 have to struggle for existence. At a subsequent 
 period to that we are speaking of, Lieut. Mecham 
 
' I 
 
 DISCOVERT OF AKCIENT FORESTS. 
 
 209 
 
 discovered a similar kind of fossil forest nearly 120 
 miles farther north.* 
 
 On the 1st September, winter appeared to have 
 overtaken the " Investigator " in her forlorn posi- 
 tion. From the highest land near them the 
 officers and men had in vain looked out over the 
 pack, for the hope of release which even a yard of 
 water would afford: all was ice over the surface 
 of that really frozen sea. Keen and strong already 
 came the north-west wind. What would it be in 
 the depth of winter? they asked each other with a 
 shudder. The wild-fowl had nearly all gone south ; 
 and the gallant little snow-buntings were muster- 
 
 ,,. an. 
 
 11 
 
 I 
 
 I. 
 
 • In the spring of 1853, one of the sledge-parties under 
 Lieut. Mechara, of H. M. S. " Resolute," was travelling across 
 the newly discovered island called after H.R.H. Prince Patrick. 
 When in 76° 15' N. latitude, and 121° 40' W, longitude, iic 
 says : — 
 
 "Tuesday, May 31st. — Discovered buried in the east bank of 
 the ravine, and protruding about eight feet, a tree of consider- 
 able size. During the afternoon, I found several others of a 
 similar kind: circumference of first and second tree seen, 
 three feet ; of another, two feet ten inches. From the perfect 
 state of the bark, and the position of the trees so far from 
 the sea, there can be but little doubt that they grew origi- 
 nally in this country. I sawed one through : it appeared very 
 close-grained, and was so immensely heavy that we could carry 
 but little of it away." 
 
 ; n :, 
 
 Ji i ij: 
 
J|!* 
 
 I 
 
 ,1f: 
 
 m 
 
 ,t n ( 
 
 Jv 
 
 210 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ing to depart likewise. The prospect was not 
 cheering; yet none could complain, for they had 
 come a marvellous distance in the short navigable 
 season of the polar seas, and the distance yet to 
 be accomplished to reach those waters which had 
 been traversed by ships from the direction of 
 Baffin's Bay was small indeed compared with that 
 already passed. As his vessel was squeezed up 
 and cradled in ice about fifty yards off the 
 shore. Captain M'Clure expected to have to winter 
 thus ; and in order that he might be able to afford 
 his men rest hereafter, he commenced at once col- 
 lecting ballast from the beach, a circumstance 
 which gave that part of Banks Land the name of 
 Ballast Beach. It is in lat. 74° 25' N., long. 122° W. 
 The prospect in nowise improved between the 
 1st and the 10th of September. The temperature 
 had fallen to 16°+ Fahr., or 16° of frost; and the 
 aurora-borealis flickered its pale light at night 
 through the cold heavens ; everything spoke of 
 winter; yet the position of the ship was too inse- 
 cure a one to justify the Captain in making any of 
 the preparations for sheKering the men from its 
 rigour, such as clearing decks and spreading 
 housing, lest some fresh movement in the ice 
 should require the vessel to be again placed under 
 
." ARCTIC LAKES AND FRESH- WATER FISH. 211 
 
 canvas *, — a wise precaution, which, as we shall 
 see, enabled him to reach secure winter quarters, 
 and saved his ship. 
 
 Amongst other remarkable proofs that the daily 
 excursions of men and officers brought to light, of 
 the land, barren as it was, possessing considerable 
 resources in the shape of animal life, the discovery 
 of lakes with fisli in them was not the least worthy 
 of note. Two of these lakes had attracted the at- 
 tent' n of the officers, from the extraordinary fact 
 that, although within 100 yards of each other and 
 possessing exactly the same aspect, yet one of them 
 was firmly frozen over, while the other had not a 
 particle of ice upon its surface. The only respect in 
 which they were found to differ in relative position 
 was, that the unfrozen lake was ten feet nearer the 
 level of the sea than the other, and its depth was 
 six fathoms, whilst that of the frozen lake was but 
 five, — a difference, however, which could hardly ac- 
 
 * In the winter of 1853-54, H. M. S. " Assistance" and 
 " Pioneer " were similarly caught by ice and westerly winds in 
 Wellington Channel ; but the absence of equal judgment and 
 foresight, on the part of Captain Sir E. Belcher, nearly caused 
 the total loss of the " Assistance," and by occasioning tlie 
 vessels to winter there, instead of taking advantage of the open 
 water that afterwards offered, caused the eventual desertion of 
 both vessels by that officer. 
 
 !■ 2 
 
 n 
 
 i 
 
 t. 
 
212 DISCOVERY OF TOE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 !IM) 
 
 count for the fact, the water in both being remark- 
 ably pure, and the temperature by thermometer 
 differing only 1°. When Captain M'Clure visited 
 the lakes on the 6th instant, he found both frozen 
 over ; but the ice in the lower one was only half 
 the thickness of that in the upper ; and, to add to 
 the interest attached to this little freak of nature, 
 the lower lake was full of fish — salmon-trout, 
 varying from three inches to a foot in length — 
 whilst the upper one had not a living creature 
 in it. The exquisite transparency of the young 
 fresh-water ice enabled him to ascertain this fact 
 as easily as if he had been looking through a 
 crystal. ' 
 
 Ancient traces of the Innuit or Esquimaux 
 were found here, showing that, even in this remote 
 corner, that extraordinary race of hunters pnd 
 fishers had not failed at one time to extend 
 their wanderings ; and not far from these ruins of 
 huts and caches^ some more hills were discovered 
 in which there existed a considerable stratum of 
 wood, " with trees," says Captain M'Clure, " of con- 
 siderable length and diameter projecting from the 
 sides of the hills, and that too, in a state of preserva- 
 tion which rendered them not unfit for firewood." 
 
 On the 10th September, the wind veered to 
 
 f 
 
"investigator" drifts into a Ti^CK. 'IB 
 
 the southward, the tr perature rose, and at mid- 
 night the ice went off from the coast, without the 
 slightest warning, carrying the poor "Investi- 
 gator " with it, and handing her thus over to the 
 tender mercies of the much dreaded pad: in the 
 of&ng. Fortunately the ship was on its weather 
 edge, although so cradled in ice under her bottom 
 as to be helpless, and painful were the feelings 
 of all on board of her until their position was as- 
 certained at daylight; but amid the roar of the 
 gale and tossing of the floes which had caused 
 this sudden danger, the firm hand of the leader 
 wrote in his diary : — 
 
 " Thus we launch into this formidable frozen sea. Spes mea 
 in Deo.** 
 
 Daylight showed them to be drifting north-east, 
 one mile off shore, in 100 fathoms of water, at 
 the rate of about a mile an hour. So far it was 
 consolatory ; but the object was to free the ship, 
 and to secure her in some nook in the land or 
 land -ice, as soon as it threatened to close in 
 upon the shore, which it assuredly would do when 
 the southerly gale abated in the least. By dint of 
 enormous charges of powder, placed under and 
 amongst the ice which held the " Investigator," 
 this object was at last effected, at a time when 
 
 V 3 
 
 I' 
 
 
 f 
 
 I I 
 
 ; ■■ 
 

 iii 
 
 ni 
 
 I!; 
 
 11 
 
 '1 :' 
 
 214 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 neither hawsers, saws, nor chisels were found of the 
 slightest avail. Launching once more into her 
 own element, the *' Investigator " struggled on 
 during the day, and, as night closed in, sought 
 shelter amongst the grounded ice. Another night 
 and a day of continued danger and anxiety fol- 
 lowed ; for the wind slackened, and the pack again 
 rolled along the coast, pivoting upon the grounded 
 pieces, and threatened, as it pulverized or threw 
 masses thirty or forty feet thick high up on the 
 beach, or a-top of one another, to occasion a like 
 catastrophe to their frail bark. Through the long 
 dark night, the sullen grinding of the moving 
 pack, and the loud report made by some huge mass 
 of ice which burst under the pressure, boomed 
 through the solitude, and as the starlight glim- 
 mered over the wild scene to seaward the men 
 could just detect the pack rearing and rolling 
 over, by the alternate reflected lights and shadows. 
 It was a time to try every nerve ; and fervently 
 all prayed for some providential circumstance to 
 place them in a haven of security for the winter. 
 That prayer was ai last answered ; for, having once 
 more freed the ship from the ice which surrounded 
 her, in order that a lane of water stretching east- 
 ward might be turned to advantage, the 19th of 
 
.• ESCAPES AND STRUGGLES ALONQ-SIIOltE. 215 
 
 September saw the " Investigator " again pro- 
 gressing along the coast. Fifteen miles were ac- 
 complished, and at night the vessel was secured 
 as far as circumstances would admit of. Two 
 whales, the first seen for a very long time, 
 passed them on this day, and appeared to be going 
 westward. Next day, struggling with a succession 
 of difficulties which nothing but the unparallelcvl 
 gallantry and zeal of every soul in the ship enabled 
 them to surmount, the " Investigator " reached a 
 headland since called Cape Austin ; and here she 
 was secured again, near a place where the floes had 
 run up a steep slope of the land to the height of 
 seventy feet. 
 
 On the 22nd, this cape was rounded, and the 
 voyagers immediately found the appearance of the 
 ice less formidable, and all breathed afresh at the 
 feeling that they were now fairly in the waters of 
 Barrow's Strait 1 Whilst pushing slowly on, two 
 small bays were seen, but so choked up with old 
 ice as to render it impossible for shelter to be 
 found there. Some idea may be formed of the 
 narrow strip of water along which the " Investi- 
 gator " was seeking her way, from the fact that on 
 one occasion, as they approached a cape, the lower 
 studding-sail boom had to be " topped up " to allow 
 
 p 4 
 
 (lil 
 
 H 
 
 
 f!:i 
 
 *l 
 
 11' 
 
216 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 i' \'\ 
 
 % 
 
 :\ 
 
 i I 
 
 the vessel to pass through a crack (for it was 
 nothing else) between the steep cliffs on the one 
 hand and the floes upon the other. 
 
 The 23rd of September, 1851, the last day of the 
 gallant ship's achievements, came in most promis- 
 ingly. Water was seen ahead long before day- 
 dawn, sail was set, and she battled on all day to the 
 eastward, making a little southing, as the land 
 trended that way. Hitherto Captain M'Clure had 
 avoided pushing on at night, since they had become 
 so dark and so long ; but for many cogent reasons 
 he was induced to-day to depart from this rule; 
 and, as the result proved, it was unfortunate in 
 one respect that he did so, for about half-past seven 
 o'clock in the evening the ship ran ashore on a 
 steep bank. The crew strained every nerve to get 
 the vessel off; and after cle.'iring tlie fore hold and 
 store-rooms, and laying out a stream-anchor and 
 cable, she floated off during the night. 
 
 On the next day they found themselves in a 
 large bay, affording good winter quarters, and 
 perceived that it was impossible to round its 
 north-eastern horn, so as to enter the pack and 
 drift with it through Barrow's Strait during the 
 coming winter. Under these circumstances, and 
 considering what they had gone through in 
 
' If M 
 
 RUN ASHORE. — AFLOAT IN T'lE BAY OF MLRCY. 217 
 
 reaching the secure spot into which they had 
 steered during darkness, Captain M'Clure made 
 up his mind to winter where he was; and, in 
 token of his gratitude to a kind Providence, 
 the bay was appropriately called the Bay of 
 Mercy. It was no empty expression ; for every 
 heart in that ship was filled with emotion, and 
 many prayed that in after years, should they be 
 spared to reach their homes, the recollection of 
 the bounty and goodness of Him wh'' had upheld 
 them through such anxieties and dangers, might 
 never be effaced from their memories. 
 - Winter came on apace, but the Investigators 
 were ready for it now. With slight exceptions, 
 the arrangements were much the same as those 
 of 1850-51 ; and, to judge from appearances, it 
 seemed that all were quite as well able to scorn 
 its rigour as they had been on the first occasion. 
 As a precaution, however, to meet the possible 
 contingency of an escape from the polar regions 
 not being effected in the forthcoming year, the 
 painful but necessary measure was adopted of 
 reducing the allowance of food per diem, of the 
 ship's company. Captain M'Clure ordered that 
 officers and men should be placed upon two-thirds 
 of their ordinary rations: but, happily, at this 
 
 H( 
 
 
i 
 
 ,'M 
 
 1 
 
 { h 
 
 Kij 
 
 218 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST TASSAOE. 
 
 time it was discovered that the land teemed with 
 deer and hares; and although the want of pro. 
 fessional hunters caused the loss of many a fine herd 
 of deer, yet when the winter set in, in addition 
 to small birds, nine deer and fifty-three hares 
 had been shot, their flesh adding to the resources 
 of the ship. The interior of the land, so far as 
 the walks of the sportsmen carried them, appeared 
 well fitted to support the hardy animals of that 
 latitude. Broad plains of dwarf willow, reindeer 
 moss, and the coarse grasses of the North were 
 seen ; and the herds of deer and troops of hares 
 which were daily reported seemed perfectly mar- 
 vellous to those who had hitherto believed th;it 
 little if any animal life existed so far north. The 
 above-mentioned animals, as well as the ptarmi- 
 gan, never, in fact, left the neighbourhood of Mercy 
 Bay even in the depth of winter ; and it was only 
 the cold and darkness which prevented their being 
 shot at that season. It would take a volume to 
 describe the novel and interesting habits of these 
 animals, as observed by those who sojourned in 
 Mercy Bay. Pressed by the requirements of such 
 a climate, the instincts of all animals seem more 
 acute than those of similar creatures placed in 
 more favoured climes. They were watchful and 
 
LAND FOUND TO ABOUND IN GAME. 
 
 219 
 
 wary to a surprising degree; and as they were 
 protected by the open nature of tlic country, 
 the sportsmen could not always got even within 
 rifle distance of the deer, although they probably 
 had never seen a human being before, whilst, 
 strangely enough, these herds appeared to enter- 
 tain no fear of the half dozen wolves which always 
 lay round them, ready to cut off a straggler, or 
 pick up a giddy fawn. 
 
 The arctic reindeer at this season confjrenjate 
 in large promiscuous herds of bucks, does, and 
 fawns, probably for warmth and protection ; andj 
 strangely enough, the hares do so likewise. Some 
 troops of the latter were seen, numbering 150 at 
 least ; and the roads made by the march of their 
 numbers through the snow were beaten as hard 
 as ice. I am not aware that this herding of hares, 
 or the fact of the female bearing six or seven young 
 at a litter, has been before noticed. 
 
 Apart from the difficulty of stalking down the 
 deer, the presence of the wolves and foxes was 
 found to be a serious drawback ; for if a deer was 
 shot and left on the ground, by the time the 
 sportsman had obtained sufficient aid to transport 
 the meat on board, little beyond the head and 
 shin-bones would be left undevoured, and tho 
 
 I ' 
 
 ' i 
 
 ;l 
 
220 DISCOVERY OF -THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 i; 1 
 
 ill 
 
 '-it 
 lis 
 
 !i 
 
 robber wolves, too, taking care to keep out of 
 gun-shot, would howl most dismally, as if mocking 
 the disappointment o^ the hunter. 
 
 As cold and darkness increased,^ and the absence 
 of the sun rendered it unsafe for the crew to leave 
 the vicinity of the ship, the wolves, pressed by 
 cold and hunger, used to haunt her to a disagree- 
 able extent ; and the sad prolonged howl of these 
 gaunt creati'^'es in the long nights added, if 
 possible, to the dismal character of the scene. 
 The Investigators vowed vengeance on these 
 creatures, which, as they declared, not only be- 
 haved in a most unsportsman-like, not to say dis- 
 honest manner, but strove to disturb their rest 
 besides. A great deal of snow fell this autumn, — 
 a certain indication of much moisture in the at- 
 mosphere, arising from evaporation from the sea, 
 and also that a considerable amount of water had 
 existed amongst the pack this season, and perhaps 
 might do S0 still, though useless for all navigable 
 purposes. In November the temperature fell to 
 40°— during the month, the lowest, perhaps, 
 ever regif»tered at so early a season, and augured 
 a fearful state of things at a later date. The 
 crew were, however, generally in capital health, 
 and actuated by the same fine spirit which had 
 
had 
 
 CUNNINa OF THE ARCTIC RAVEN. 
 
 221 
 
 carried them through so many difficulties, and 
 endeared them so much to their captain and 
 officers. Two ravens now established themselves 
 as friends of the family in Mercy Bay, living 
 mainly by what little scraps the men might have 
 to throw away after meal-times. The ship's dog, 
 however, looked upon these as his especial per- 
 quisites, and exhibited considerable energy in 
 maintaining his rights against the ravens, who 
 nevertheless outwitted him in a way which amused 
 everyone. Observing that he appeared quite 
 willing to make a mouthful of their own sable 
 persons, they used to throw themselves inten- 
 tionally in his way just as the mess-tins were 
 being cleaned out on the dirt-heap outside the 
 ship. The dog would immediately run at them, 
 and they would just fly a few yards; the dog 
 then made another run, and again they would 
 appear to escape him but by an inch, and so on, 
 until they had tempted and provoked him to the 
 shore, a considerable distance off. Then the 
 ravens would make a direct fliglit for the ship, 
 and had generally done good execution before 
 the mortiiied-looking dog detected the imposition 
 that had been practised upon him, and rushed 
 back again. 
 . December came in with those tremendous snow 
 
 ; I: 
 
 n ■ 
 
 ' 
 
 mi 
 
222 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 V'1 
 
 .' >!! i 
 
 storms which are perhaps the most frightful 
 visitations of polar regions. All the Investigator*^ 
 could do was to remain shut up in the ship, and 
 wonder what the animals of Banks Land did in a 
 snow-drift which almost tore the housing from its 
 many fastenings. A solid moving body of snow 
 rolled along higher than the topmast heads, and 
 when it met the impediment of the ship, formed a 
 wreath to windward, and became piled rapidly up 
 over her, until the weight of accumulated snow 
 broke down the floe in which the ship was frozen ; 
 the inclination of the ship first one way, then 
 another, and the report made by the cracking of 
 the ice under her bottom, startling those un- 
 accustomed to such accidents. An odd atmospheric 
 condition, which has elsewhere been experienced, 
 was observed by Captain M'Clure in one of the 
 storms which occurred on the 5th of December. 
 The barometer rose to 30*81 higher than it had 
 before been since leaving England ; and the aneroid, 
 graduated to 31 '50, stood so high that it could not 
 be registered for four days. In a similar storm 
 early the following year, the barometer rose above 
 31 inches. 
 
 The second Chri.3tmas-day was passed in the ice, 
 in a manner to call forth the Captain's highest 
 encomiums on his nol)lc sliip's company, who 
 
SECOND CHRISTMAS IN THE ICE. 
 
 223 
 
 behaved, he says, in the most exemplary and 
 
 satisfactory manner. " After divine service, all went 
 
 for a short walk until the dinner-hour ; from then 
 
 until bedtime, dancing, skylarking, and singing 
 
 were kept up on the lower deck with unflagging 
 
 spirit, good humour, cheerfulness, and propriety ; 
 
 not a man was inebriated, although, with other 
 
 additions to the daily fare, amongst which was a 
 
 pound of the most delicious venison to each person, 
 
 an extra allowance of grog was issued. Would 
 
 that the happiness of our little community upon 
 
 the lower deck of the * Investigator ' could have 
 
 been witnessed by those anxious for our welfare at 
 
 home! they would scarcely imagine, otherwise, 
 
 that the crew of a vessel two years upon her own 
 
 resources in these ice-bound regions, could create 
 
 such a scene of enjoyment amidst so many gloomy 
 
 influences." And, as if to countersign this opinion 
 
 of their chief, several of the petty ofEicers assured 
 
 him afterwards that, during many years' service 
 
 in Her Majesty's navy, they had never passed a 
 
 happier Cliristmas, or one in which there had been 
 
 a feeling of more perfect unanimity and good-will, 
 
 — a feeling shared by every seaman and marine in 
 
 the ship's company. 
 
 The ofiicers dined with Captain M'Clure, off a 
 
 I 
 
 4. 
 

 224 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 •i 
 
 iJi 
 
 } :., 
 
 4 
 1 1 
 
 m 
 
 splendid haunch of a Banks Land reindeer 
 weighing about twenty pounds, with at least two 
 inches of fat on it ; and it wa^ pronounced to be 
 most deliciously-flavoured meat. In short, the 
 year 1851 went out with .^very pleasing prospect ; 
 and in spite of the reduced allowance of food upon 
 which all had then been for three months, no one 
 was repining or discontented. 
 
 On Christmas-day of the previous winter, it will 
 be remembered that the many ships, which left 
 England and America in 1850 to rescue Franklin's 
 Expedition, were wintering in different parts of the 
 arctic regions ; but out of all these the " Investi- 
 gator " and the " Enterprise " now alone remained. 
 At page 194. we left that ship, after having rounded 
 the difficult turning-point of Cape Barrow, pro- 
 gressing eastward along the American shore. As in 
 the " Investigator's " case. Captain Collinson found 
 the water to make along-shore in a lane whose 
 breadth depended upon the position of the different 
 rivers discharging themselves into the Polar Sea ; 
 and m their vicinity destroying the packed ice, or 
 forcing it off to seaward by the strength of their 
 currents. 
 
 The " Enterprise," when off Cape Parry (the 
 promontory which divides the waters of the Copper- 
 
5ea; 
 or 
 eir 
 
 ;the 
 ipcr- 
 
 " enterprise" in prince of wales strait. 225 
 
 mine from those of the Mackenzie River), saw to 
 the northward the southern extremity of lanks 
 Land — the Nelson Head of M'Clure. Steering 
 across for it, Captain CoUinson, when under that 
 coast, by a strange combination of circumstances, 
 steered up Prince of Wales Strait, and there on 
 Princess Royal Island discovered the " Investiga- 
 tor's " dep6t, and a cairn containing information 
 up to the 15th June 1851. i'assing on after this 
 discovery, the " Enterprise " on the 30th August 
 reached the north end of the strait, but only to be 
 foiled, as the " Investigator " was, in any attempt 
 to pass beyond it. Captain Collinson then decided 
 upon taking a course exactly similar to the one 
 pursued by his more fortunate predecessor, and, 
 bearing away, rounded Nelson Head with the 
 intention of struggling along that wesa;rn route 
 by which M'Clure had a fortnight earlier success- 
 fully carried his ship. On September 3rd, the 
 Captain little thinking of the "Investigator'* 
 having preceded him in his intended course, was 
 astonished to find on Cape Kellett a record placed 
 there en August the 18th. The ice was now too 
 close in for the " Enterprise " to push on ; and no 
 harbour fit for winter quarters ofi^ering itself as 
 high as latitude 72° 54' north, Captain Collinson 
 
 I l !l 
 
 : li 
 
 ' 8 
 
 \ I 
 
H' 
 
 226 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 iii-' 
 
 ."i(( 
 
 bore up, and eventually wintered his ship on the 
 eastern side of the entrance of Prince of Wales 
 Strait, close to the spot where Esquimaux had been 
 found by Lieutenant Haswell, as we have elsewhere 
 related, during his sledge-journey in the spring. 
 From Walker Bay, as their winter quarters was 
 named, CoUinson, after passing his first winter in 
 safety, despatched in the coming spring his sledge- 
 parties ; but, unfortunately for them, the labours of 
 Captain M*Clure*s parties, and Dr. Rae's exertions, 
 prevented any new ground being reached by any 
 of them, neither did they discover the winter 
 quarters of the " Investigator," although, as will 
 hereafter be related, a party which reached Mel- 
 ville Island must at one time have crossed the 
 track of Captain M'Clure's sledge when he likewise 
 made a trip to Winter Harbour. Having thus 
 connected the stories of the two ships, and shown 
 the relative positions of the only vessels of the 
 searching expedition left at that time in the polar 
 seas, we must return again to the Bay of Mercy. 
 
227 
 
 V" M" 
 
 ' !■ 
 
 f 1 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 The New Year, 1852 Satisfactory State of the Crew — 
 
 Deer obtained directly the Light admitted of their being 
 seen. — Sergeant Woon, of the Royal Marines, saves the Life 
 of a Shipmate. — Keen Sportsmen. — Wolves. — Boatswain's 
 Adventure with them. — Spring. — Captain M'Clure visits 
 Winter Harbour, Melville Island. — Finds neither Provi- 
 sions nor "Vessel to help him. — His Return. — Finds large 
 Quantities of Venison had been procured. — Scurvy makes its 
 Appearance. — Increased Number of sick. — Unfavourable 
 
 , Weather in July. — Venison expended. — Wild Sorrel found 
 in great Quantities for a short Period. — 10th August. — 
 Water seen in Barrow's Strait. — Measures taken in case of 
 being able to Escape. — Relapse in the Weather. — Gloomy 
 Prospect.— iVn early Winter commences. — Measures taken 
 to save Ship and Crew, in the Event of another similar Season 
 in 1853. — Cheerful Conduct of the Crew. — Short Rations. — 
 Mode of Living. — Banian Days and Festivals. — Christmas 
 and Conclusion of Year 1852. 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 :. I 
 
 The year 1862 came in with a keen and steady cold 
 of from seventy to eighty degrees below the freez- 
 ing point of water, — a temperature which severely 
 tests the vital energies of man. The weather was 
 still what would be called fine ; that is, the wind 
 was light, and a considerable aurora relieved the 
 darkness in a slight degree. The Investigators met 
 
 q2 
 
 ' i • 1 
 
''(. 
 
 /■/ 
 
 ' I 
 
 I'M 
 
 
 
 \t 
 
 II 
 
 
 ;> 
 
 ffim ^ 
 
 .1 
 
 !<. 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 
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 11 
 
 : ? 
 
 ml 
 
 
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 k ,v . 
 
 H \ 
 
 t' . • 
 
 'fi f 
 
 I ii^ 
 
 i[; 
 
 
 r' ' 
 
 
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 fill 
 
 228 DISCOVERY OF TUE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 the cold as it should be met, with cheerfulness, 
 energetic exercise, and regularity of habits ; and 
 consequently New Year's day found but four 
 trifling cases upon the doctor's sick list, — a satis- 
 factory sanitary state, which continued throughout 
 the spri ^ T' ^.ctl^' the daylight began to increase 
 and the c .h ' .9 able to extend their walks, they 
 fell in witii reinc " in great numbers. Some of 
 the poor creatures, attracted by curiosity, or 
 pressed by the wolves eternally dogging at their 
 heels, occasionally approached the ship as if for 
 protection, but only, of course, to be fired at. 
 Before the close of January several were shot, and 
 their flesh secured ; and, according to the diary of 
 an officer, "the hills in the vicinity of the ship 
 were abounding at that time with deer." 
 - Every encouragement was now given to men 
 and officers who were prepared to undergo the 
 fatigue of sporting for the public weal. One 
 person especially distinguished himself not only as 
 a sportsman, but in the execution of any service 
 requiring unflagging energy and marked intelli- 
 gence ; and this was the non-commissioned officer 
 of royal marines, Sergeant Woon. He did good 
 service everywhere ; but no better instance of the 
 metal such as he are made of can be given than 
 one which occurred on th^ 4th of January. 
 
 '^: 
 
SERGEANT WOON SAVES A SHIPMATE'S LIFE. 229 
 
 * A coloured man serving in the ship, whilst out 
 sporting, wounded a deer, and, after following it 
 awhile, discovered he had lost his way, just as a fog 
 came on. The temperature was very low, the man 
 was tired ; and the peril of his position caused him 
 to lose his presence of mind and to wander about. 
 By great good fortune Sergeant Woon, who was 
 likewise out in quest of game, saw him and joined 
 him ; but the sergeant found the poor creature s >e' 
 side himself with excitement and horror, that* ''^er^ 
 endeavour to soothe him, by promising to ta- > h m 
 safely on board the ship, failed. Fits came on, wii jb, 
 when they passed off, left the man quite pr rf".;,ed 
 in strength. By entreaty and remonstrance, the 
 sergeant induced him at last to walk a little; but at 
 2 V. M., when the short day of that period was fast 
 closing in, the unfortunate man's energies entirely 
 failed, and he sank upon the ground, bleeding at 
 mouth and nose, and writhing in convulsions. 
 The sergeant saw now that all hope of the man 
 saving himself was at an end; and to leave him 
 where he was, many miles from the ship, was to 
 leave him to certain death : he would have been 
 devoured by the wolves even before the process of 
 freezing to death would have released him from his 
 misery. There was no alternative but to drag him 
 
 ll 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 fi 1 . 
 
 i V 
 
230 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ' 
 
 to the ship, — no easy matter, when the sergeant 
 dared not part with his gun, and the man was one 
 of the heaviest of a fine ship's company. Sergeant 
 "Woon, then, with heroic resolution set to his task. 
 Slinging both muskets over his shoulder, he took 
 the man's arms round his own neck, and commenced 
 dragging his half-dead shipmate towards the " In- 
 vestigator." The labour was, as may be supposed, 
 excessive ; and the onl)^ relief the sergeant had was, 
 whenever he had dragged the body up one side of 
 a hill, or when he came to a ravine, to lay him 
 down, and roll him to the bottom ; rather severe 
 treatment for an invalid, but it had the merit of 
 arousing the man somewhat from his lethargy. 
 By eleven o'clock at night the gallant marine had 
 , thus conveyed his burden to within a mile of the 
 ship ; but ten hours of such toil, amid darkness, 
 cold, and snow, now began to tell upon him likewise. 
 He found he could drag his burden no longer ; and 
 as a last resource he implored the unfortunate 
 man to make an effort, and tried to cheer him by 
 pointing to the rockets which the Captain of the 
 " Investigator " caused to be thrown up as a 
 guide to the missing men. Seeing, however, that 
 all his entreaties were replied to only by a request 
 "to be left alone to die," the sergeant laid him in 
 
KEEN SrOniSMEN. 
 
 231 
 
 a bed of deep snow, and started off for assistance 
 from the ship. This was already on its way; and 
 Woon met and conducted two out of three parties 
 to where the man lay, and just in time to save him. 
 He was found with his arms raised, and rigid in 
 that position, his eyes open, and his mouth so 
 firmly frozen as to require much force to open it 
 for the purpose of pouring restoratives down hi» 
 throat, whilst his hands, feet, and face were much 
 frost-bitten. His life was, however, saved ; and for 
 that the courage and devotion (displayed by the 
 sergeant deserved all the credit. 
 • On February the 5th the sun was seen above 
 the horizon to the southward, by those whose 
 anxiety to welcome back its cheerful face induced 
 to climb the adjacent hills; and in the course 
 of a day or two it gladdened the Bay of Mercy. 
 The sportsmen now became nic^. successful, and 
 seldom a day passed without a deer or hare being 
 shot ; and keen must the hunger of those sports* 
 men have been, for more than one of them, 
 when after a long and weary walk he shot a deer 
 or hare, refreshed himself by drinking ihe hot 
 blood, or eating a mouthful or two of the raw 
 meat. They found no ill consequences ensue 
 from the unpleasant food. Now and then a few 
 
 Q 4 
 
 < ( 
 
 i 
 
232 DISCOVERY' OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 t, 
 
 I I 
 
 -.2 
 
 days* holiclay had to be given to the garae to 
 prevent it being too much scared, — a prudent 
 measure which always appeared to bring the 
 creatures back to their old feeding ground. The 
 wolves, encouraged, no doubt, by the feeding they 
 got from the wounded animals, which, although 
 strong enough to escape the sportsmen, fell even- 
 tually to their share, became exceedingly bold ; 
 and five of them attempted to cut out the 
 Esquimaux dog that had long been the pet of 
 the ** Investigator." One of these brutes was a 
 perfect giant, standing nearly four feet high at the 
 shoulder, and leaving a footmark as big as a rein- 
 deer's. Many a scheme was tried to shoot these 
 wary creatures ; but all failed, this season, while 
 some of the encounters with them were disagree- 
 ably close and the risk somewhat great. Per- 
 haps one of the strangest was that of Mr. Kennedy 
 (boatswain), who, whilst out shooting early in 
 April, broke at a shot two out of four legs of a 
 fine buck. Evening coming on, and knowing the 
 animal could not go far, he returned to the ship, 
 and next morning early started to secure his 
 game. Arriving at the place, he was disgusted to 
 find five large wolves and several foxes in posses- 
 sion of the deer j but, determined to have bis share 
 
/boatswain's adventure with wolves. 233 
 
 of the spoil, the boatswain advanced, shouting and 
 calling them by every strong term he could 
 muster, yet afraid to fire his single-barrelled gun 
 at one, for fear of the rest doing as much to him 
 as they had done to the buck, especially as they 
 appeared inclined to show fight, and made no sign 
 of retreat until he was within four yards of them. 
 Even then only four of them moved off, and sat 
 down a pistol-shot off, howling most dismally. 
 " Pipes " picked up a leg of the deer, which had 
 been dismembered, and then grasped one end of 
 the half-picked carcase, whilst a large female wolf 
 tugged against him at the other! The position 
 was, to say the least of it, a disagreeable one ; and 
 if the music of the four wolves had brought others 
 of their fraternity to the rescue, the consequences 
 of a struggle between hungry wolves and a no less 
 hungry sailor might have been serious. Fortu- 
 nately Mr. Mierching, the interpreter, who was out 
 shooting likewise on an adjacent hill, had his at- 
 tention attracted by the howling of the brutes, and 
 came to the rescue. He described the scene as the 
 strange? t he ever saw, and so close were Mr. 
 Kennedy and the wolf in their struggle for the 
 meat, that he fancied the animal had actually 
 attacked the boatswdn. Seeing more bipeds ap- 
 
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 I I 
 
 i\ 
 
234 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I i I, 
 
 . ^iil 
 
 P :'■; .\\ ! 
 
 i. ; Iv 
 
 IM 
 
 It 
 I 
 
 |ti 
 
 preaching, all the wolves now decamped, saving 
 their skins as usual, and leaving the poor boatswain 
 only twenty pounds weight of meat instead of the 
 120 pounds which his prize ought to have weighed. 
 The rapid rise of the temperature in April 
 decided Captain M'Clure upon preparing to start 
 for Melville Island with a sledge, in the hope of 
 finding some of Captain Austin's ships, or of ascer- 
 taining what depot of provisions had been placed 
 there by Captain Austin, so as to secure a retreat 
 should the " Investigator " not escape from her 
 present position. Everything being in readiness, 
 the sledge, with six men and the Captain, left 
 the "Investigator" on April 11th, 1852. The 
 journey was a trying one ; for a relapse in the 
 temperature took place just ifterwards, and 
 continued until the 25th. The pack, more- 
 over, offered a sadly rough road. Winter Har- 
 bour was reached at an '^arly hour on the 28th 
 of April; and sorely disappointed was Captain 
 M'Clure as well as his crew, at not finding either 
 vessel or provisions ; and the hope of one or the 
 other coming to them hereafter vanished when he 
 read the notice left by Lieut. M'Cl'ntock, dated 
 June fith, 1851. Captain M'Clure consoled himself 
 -with the consideration that he litT. at all events 
 
M'CLURE visits winter IIARBOUn. 
 
 235 
 
 tfiscovered this fact before any accident had hap- 
 pened to his ship, for otherwise " I should," says 
 he, " most decidedly and with the fullest confidence 
 of meeting succour, have pushed for Winter 
 Harbour ; and if the * Enterprise ' gets into dif- 
 ficulties. Captain Collin son will, I am fully per- 
 suaded, do the same." Shortly after this visit 
 of Captain M'Clure to Winter Harbour, a party 
 from the " Enterprise," under Lieut. Parks, did 
 reach Melville Island also, and must have crossed 
 the trail of M'Clure, for Mr. Parks saw, one day, 
 at or near Point Hearne the marks of a sledge 
 and the footprints of men ; and that neither party 
 should know of the other being so close, is a strong 
 proof, to be added to the many extant, of the 
 difficulty of meeting one another in a climate like 
 that of these frozen regions. 
 
 Disappointed, but not desponding, the leader of 
 the party ourned his back upon the old winter 
 quarters of the gallant Parry, and prepared to lead 
 his men back to their lonely home ; — nay, so far 
 was he then from even contemplating a necessity 
 for leaving the " Investigator," that on his return 
 journey across the strait between Melville Island 
 and Banks Land, we find the following remark: — ^ 
 " When going towards Melville Island, we were 
 
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 ■ 
 
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 ' M 
 
 ll.; 
 
 ■W 
 
1 
 
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 1 
 
 f 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
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 W 'U 
 
 r'i I 
 
 I m 
 
 i 41 I 
 
 236 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 much delayed by stupendous polar icie. The whole 
 of this was avoided by crossing well to the east- 
 ward, where we n.et much of last year's ice per- 
 fectly level, and occasionally a huge flat floe of 
 older date, but still very good walking : this ap- 
 pearance of the strait is most propitious, giving 
 every hope of a passage through." 
 
 All still promised well on board the " Investi- 
 gator " ; and the sanitary condition of the crew was 
 reported to be most satisfactory on May 11th, 
 the day of the Captain's return. During his 
 absence, the stock of fresh provisions had wonder- 
 fully increased by tiie aid of the sportsmen. No 
 less than twenty head of deer were hanging up 
 round the ship, yielding a thousand pounds of meat; 
 and the abundance of food justified an increased 
 issue of rations, which were forthwith ordered to 
 be one pound and a half per man, of venison, on 
 six days in every fortnight : this, together with six 
 days in the fortnight of preserved meat, left only 
 two salt-meat days in every fourteen. One would 
 have supposed that on such fare, with a dry and 
 comfortable ship to live in, scurvy would be im- 
 possible; but, as the sequel will show, its advance 
 became soon most marked, and though the care 
 of the Captain and the skill of the medical man 
 
APPEAEANCE OF SCURVY. 
 
 .\. 
 
 237 
 
 checked it considerably, gtill health was evidently 
 failing, and, although it may be accounted for in 
 many ways, one fact is incontestible, that on the 
 15th of May the sick list had augmented to the un- 
 precedented number of thirteen. May it not be 
 supposed, then, that the moral effect of finding no 
 help at hand told upon these poor fellows ? In 
 June we find six men in their beds; and on 
 July 1st Captain M'Clure says, " A more unfavour- 
 able report was made by the surgeon to-day, rela- 
 tive to the appearance of the crew at the monthly 
 inspection, than I had hitherto received: evident 
 symptoms of debility, with incipient scurvy, in six- 
 teen of the men." 
 
 The long absence of fresh vegetable diet might 
 have predisposed these men to this disease ; but, 
 considering the quantity of fresh animal food that 
 had so happily been procured for them throughout 
 the past winter and at that time also, it appears 
 quite as likely that the anxious feelings awakened 
 at finding neither provisions nor a vessel at 
 Melville Island, or indeed even a promise of any, 
 had quite as much, if not more, to do in develop- 
 ing the seeds of this disease, than either the nature 
 of their diet or the slight labour of preparing the 
 ship for sea, by ballasting and watering her. 
 
 '., 1 
 
 ■ '' 
 
■. w 
 
 238 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 • There was no doubt that all were anxious to 
 escape another winter ; they felt themselves alone, 
 and having come to save others, it would, unless 
 they reiched Baffin's Bay in 1852, be a question 
 v'hether they could save themselves. Each man 
 must hiive felt how questionable it was whether 
 his physical strength would, after going through 
 another winter, be sufficient to carry him to the 
 Hudson Bay settlements or to one of the Danish 
 posts in Greenland — a long distance, in either case, 
 from the Bay of Mercy, Banks Land. 
 
 But whatever effect these feelings may have 
 had upon their health, there is no question of th« 
 firmness with which all were prepared to lac i the 
 difficulties they might yet have before them. 
 They felt there was no hope but in then -elves; 
 but that captain, those officers, and those men 
 were equal to the emergeTicy. 
 
 May and Julj went by v/„thout bringing any 
 lively signs of summer ; birds, indeed, such as the 
 duck and gull, came, but left the place again, as if 
 from the want of fresh- water pools. The snow at 
 last melted off the exposed parts of the land; 
 and the ice began to thaw, forming large pools of 
 water all over its surface. July opened very un- 
 promibingly: a heavy northerly wind and snow- 
 
VKNISON EXPENDED. 
 
 239 
 
 storm swept over Mercy Bay, bringing back a 
 painful recollection of the winter that they had 
 hoped was past ; and what was worse, on measur- 
 ing the floe, it was found to be still increasing in 
 thickness, whereas former experience had led them 
 to expect a diminution of about two feet. The 
 ground became so soft from the snow thawing, 
 and the labour of shooting so great, that the 
 sportsmen could no longer keep up the supply of 
 game ; and by the 7th of July all the stock of 
 venison was consumed. It is worthy of remark, 
 nevertheless, that the resources of Mercy Bay had 
 yielded the crew of the " Investigator " three 
 meals of fresh meat a week since October 1851. 
 Hardly had they time to regret the loss of this 
 health-sustaining diet, when the indefatigable Ser- 
 geant Woon came on board to report that he had 
 just shot two musk-oxen. They were soon con- 
 veyed to the ship, and yielded 647 pounds of good 
 meat. They were the first that had been kill in 
 Mercy Bay, and were hailed as a God-send. Tl ser- 
 geant in slaying them had Lad a narrow cscap*^ from 
 the rage of the larger of the two ; with his last, bullet 
 lie had only wounded it, and on its app oaohing 
 him, he had had to discharge his iron ramrod as a 
 missile into its body in order to save himself. 
 
 xi'- 
 
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 I ' 
 
I I 
 
 
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 m\ 
 
 i :'t 
 
 ti I 1 i 
 
 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 In the middle of the month the ice-mate reported 
 the floes outside to be in motion. All heard a 
 rumbling noise, as if the pack were driving along, 
 and the joy was great, until upon further examina- 
 tion ii was found that the debdcle from a ravine 
 was pouring its strong current over the floe. As 
 July drew to its close, the view over the sea from 
 the highest land near was unsatisfactory indeed: 
 ice. Ice on every side ! no water, and no water-sky ! 
 For awhile, however, the ravages of scurvy were 
 mitigated by a quantity of wild sorrel being found ; 
 and all hands that could be spared, were daily em- 
 ployed collecting it,— the sick getting the largest 
 share, and the men's messes in turn being next 
 served. Either eaten raw a^ a salad, or cooked, it 
 was extremely palatable, and this was the first suc- 
 culent vegetable the crew had partaken of since 
 leaving the Sandwich Isles two years before. 
 
 Hopes rose high when, about the 16th August, 
 open water was seen in the straits, and the ice of 
 the bay Hself began to be loosened from the shore, 
 though it was held by other ice outside. A day or 
 vWG latur, however, the bay opened at the outer 
 (nd, ami the i oaprisoned navigators saw with delight 
 that ^ 'fioad kne of water extended along the 
 souther shore for ten miles to the eastward. 
 
 p Mr^^ 
 
 ; X 
 
SHORT-LIVED HOPE OF ESC APE. 
 
 241 
 
 ght 
 
 Their hope of reaching it lay in a strong south 
 wind blowing the ice of the bay and the ship 
 out with it to seaward. As to sawing the whole 
 distance between her and the water, it was im- 
 possible ; before it could be done winter would be 
 on them. There being a chance of such a wind 
 and such release, the top-gallant yards were crossed, 
 sails bent, and the tide pole taken in. Its registry 
 during ten months gave as a result that the tide rose 
 two feet, and that the highest tide was four tides 
 after the full and change of moon. A beacon was 
 erected in lat. 71:° 6' 48" N., and long. 118° 15' W. 
 In a cylinder attached to a pole was placed a 
 record, telling what the Investigators had done, 
 and whither they expected to go, "in the hope," 
 says the leader of the expedition, " that it may 
 meet the eye of some future explorer of these sterile 
 regions, and throw some light upon the fate of those 
 who perhaps may never reach beyond these limits." 
 The expectation of escape was, however, but short- 
 lived. After the 20th of August the temperature 
 fell, slowly but continually; and when the bay, or 
 that portion of it that bad been open, again froze 
 over, all felt that summer was past, and some un- 
 foreseen accident could alone save them from 
 wintering again in jMcrcy l>ay. Their summer, 
 
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 4 r. 
 
f 
 
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 242 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 poor fellows, had been a most cheerless one ; the 
 sun, from the cloudy and misty state of the atmo- 
 sphere not having been, with few exceptions, seen 
 since May. 
 
 By August 24th, the lead of ivater had closed ! 
 no water was visible in Barrow's Strait ; and the 
 Investigators were able to walk in all directions 
 over the bay across the young ice. The land 
 rapidly became covered with snow, the vegetation, 
 such as it was, withered ; sorrel could no longer 
 be found, warmer clothing became necessary, and 
 the winter of 1852-53 commenced. " It found us," 
 says M'Clure, " ready to combat its rigours as cheer- 
 fully as on previous occasions. We were all thinner 
 than we used to be, for we had been twelve months 
 on two thirds of our allowance ; but we were still in 
 ;^;Ood working condition." When the first week of 
 September had past, and the chance of an autumnal 
 gale blowing the ship into the pack was at an 
 end, the leader sat down to weigh the course to 
 be pursued to save his men and his ship. 
 
 If all remained in the vessel till next year 
 (1853), in the hope of her carrying them home, 
 and the water should not make, as had happened 
 in 1852, all would starve. 
 
 On the other hand, it was premature to think of 
 
MEASURES TO SAVE THE SHIP AND CREW. 213 
 
 an 
 to 
 
 deserting the ship in the early part of the following 
 spring ; for she was sound and strong, and both 
 the Captain's sense of duty and his pride were en- 
 listed in saving to his country and profession the 
 ship that had been entrusted to his charge, and 
 so gallantly had done her work. He therefore 
 decided upon sending away, next spring, all but 
 thirty of the healthiest men, and with them re- 
 maining by the ship and running the risk of a 
 fourth winter. Assembling his gallant officers and 
 men, on the 8th of September, Captain M'Clure 
 announced to them the state of affairs, and informed 
 them that on April next thirty of them should 
 proceed homewards, divided into two parties, one 
 retreating by way of North America, up the Mac- 
 kenzie River, the other proceeding to Cape Spenser, 
 Beechey Island, where Captain Austin's notice, 
 found at Melville Island, led them to expect provi- 
 sions and a boat *, with which to reach Greenland 
 and the Danish settlements. The remaining thirty 
 hands, and the officers in charge of stores, were to 
 remain with the Captain, and endeavour to save the 
 
 : t 
 
 * To the best of the Editor's knowlcilge, this consisted of a 
 boat that was so heavy that no sledge-party could have 
 launched her ; the provisions were two casks of salt meat and a 
 bale of blankets. 
 
 n 2 
 
 
1 
 
 I' 
 
 244 niscovETiY ok tfir norttt-west passage. 
 
 ship next year; if not so fortunate, they were 
 to spend another winter, and then abandon her in 
 1854, retreating upon Lancaster Sound to sucli 
 lielp as the Admiralty would assuredly send, when 
 they knew from their shipmates of their necessity. 
 This arrangement was cheerfully received by 
 this excellent body of men ; and those who thought 
 they would be the first to go home, were soon 
 heard speculating, with praiseworthy generosity, 
 upon immediately volunteering to come out again 
 in the first ship to the rescue of their messmates, 
 and with lighthcarted jocularity promising to bring 
 out a good stock of tobacco pipes for tliem, — an 
 article which happened to be very scarce in Banks 
 Land, and which all the ingenuity of the seamen 
 could manufacture no substitute for. AVith such 
 men, and such a spirit, all the difficulties and 
 hardships before them vanished, and none repined 
 at what Providence had sent them. 
 
 Towards the close of September, the spirits in 
 the ship were surveyed, and a deficiency found 
 to exist, which obliged the issue of it to be 
 diminished to half a gill per diem. This Avas a 
 great loss to the men, and the more so that just 
 then no game could be procured, and they were on 
 a bare two-thirds of the rations ; a scale of victual- 
 
SHORT RATIONS, AND HUNGER. 
 
 245 
 
 ling which, uiKivoidable as it had been for the past 
 twelve months, was slowly sapping everyone's 
 strength. Hunger began now to be felt ; and 
 although to his m( .. A['Clure pointed out that 
 their hardships fell far short of those endured by 
 many an honoured arctic expedition, still, when 
 sitting quietly in his cabin, the fact, already more 
 than once represented to him by the surgeon, 
 pressed itself painfully on his senses, that unless 
 aid came in the shape of game, the winter could 
 not be passed on the allowance of food the re- 
 sources of his ship admitted of, and that all hands 
 would have to abandon the gallant ship in the 
 spring ; " but ^nothing," says he, writing on the 
 IGth October, " but the most absolute necessity will 
 induce me to take such a step." 
 
 In October the deer and hares began to return 
 to their winter feeding- grounds in the valleys 
 round Mercy I3ay ; but seventeen men now on the 
 sick list, and all the duties of housing in the vessel, 
 throwing up enbankments of snow to shield her 
 sides from the bitter winter gales, and otherwise 
 preparing her for that season, left little time and 
 few men to spare for shooting-excursions. Tlic 
 wliole game list for the month showed a return 
 
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 246 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 of only two deer and nine hares, a small quantity 
 amongst so many hungry mouths. 
 
 But when all the necessary work was done, and 
 the men had nothing else to do but take exercise 
 and keep themselves and the ship clean, the feeling 
 of hunger and weakness somewhat abated, and the 
 medical report in November showed no increase 
 of disease, except that those of a very nervous 
 temperament became easily excited and unrea- 
 sonable. November yielded but little game, for 
 darkness was fast increasing ; but the numbers of 
 deer were astonishing, and the wolves harassed 
 the poor creatures until, as in the past winter, they 
 almost fled to the ship for protection. The health 
 of the men appeared to improve somewhat, the 
 favourable change arising. Captain M'Clure thought, 
 from a more contented state of mind than when, in 
 the autumn, the first disappointment at finding no 
 hope of release oppressed all in a greater or less 
 degree : " hungry," he says, " we all are ; but, with 
 a little management, the two-thirds allowance, now 
 that we have nothing to do, keeps us from losing 
 health." 
 
 Great indeed was the ingenuity displayed in 
 making as much as possible of the food ; and much 
 therefore, it is to be fcared, was taken in forms 
 
 
MODE OF LIVING. 
 
 247 
 
 in which quantity was looked to as the sole re- 
 commendation : for instance, the salt meat, instead 
 of being cooked, was just thrown into boiling 
 water to warm it and extract the salt, and then 
 eaten raw. On these painful details it is, however, 
 unnecessary to dilate ; and a pretty good idea of 
 the scanty fare all were on, may be conceived from 
 the following description of the mode in which the 
 gun-room officers lived. 
 
 Their stock was all finished, they were on ship's 
 allowance like the men, and like them adopted the 
 system of each in turn being cook or carver for 
 the mess. The carver's share consisted in getting 
 the last portion out of the eight into which the 
 food had to be divided, — a method which insured, 
 we need hardly say, the utmost impartiality on the 
 part of the carver, the other members helping 
 themselves to their shares before him. The ra- 
 tions for the day were given out every morning ; 
 and each ate it, at his own discretion or inclina- 
 tion, at either breakfast or dinner. They had, in 
 fact, but one meal per diem ; for the breakfast, if it 
 deserved the name, consisted of a cup of the 
 weakest cocoa, and a small portion of the small 
 allowance of bread ; the rest of the bread, and half 
 a pound of salt meat, containing a good proportion 
 
 B 4 
 
 
248 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WKST PASSAGE. 
 
 ;/ 
 
 
 of bone, with just enough vegetable to swear by, 
 constituted the other meal. There was a cup of 
 weak tea in the evening ; but few were able to aave 
 anything to eat with it. 
 
 There were two breaks to this series of banian 
 days during the close of the year : the one was on 
 the 26 th October, the anniversary of the discovery 
 of the North-west Passage ; the other, on Christmas 
 day. An extra issue of food and some wine were 
 given to commemorate two festivals which all felt 
 Avere the last that little community would spend 
 together ; and those alone who have been similarly 
 placed can appreciate the heartfelt kindness to- 
 wards each other which hallowed these occasions, 
 and made their humble cheer appear tenfold more 
 luxurious than it was. It was wonderful, too, to 
 see what care and economy of the stores brought 
 from home, as well as the skill of the sportsmen, 
 were able even in these circumstances to effect. 
 The old-fashioned English plum pudding was still to 
 be seen on Christmas-day, not a very rich one, may 
 be, but good appetite compensated for what it 
 lacked in that respect ; there was " Banks Land 
 venison," "Mercy Bay hare soup," "ptarmigan 
 pasties," and some musk-ox beef which had 
 in the rigging for two years and odd 
 
 hung 
 
 J 
 
had 
 odd 
 
 THIRD CHRISTMAS AND CLOSE OF YEAR. 249 
 
 months. The good-will and determination of all 
 to be merry, in spite of adverse circumstances, 
 compensated also for whatever might be wanting. 
 The poets amongst the men composed songs, in 
 which their own hardships were made the subject 
 of many a- hearty laugh ; painters attempted rude 
 illustrations of past scenes of peril or adventure ; 
 the comic actors acted ; the sick half forgot their 
 maladies, and the whole company tossed care and 
 anxiety to the winds, and felt thankful for the past 
 and hopeful for the future. Had not both officers 
 and men reason to be proud of their comrades ? and 
 was not their chief, the captain of this gallant set 
 of men, justified in saying that nothing was im- 
 possible whilst such hearts and hands were ready 
 to carry out his plans for the safety of all and the 
 honour of his country ? Full indeed was Captain 
 M'Clure's heart of gratitude, and none knew better 
 than himself where it was due. His own words, 
 written on the close of the year 1852, best express 
 his feelings : — 
 
 " The new year is about to commence ; not one of 
 my original crew has fallen by disease or accident, 
 and all is more promising than I could have ever 
 hoped for. These and all other mercies are alone 
 due to that all-beneficent Providence, who has so 
 
 
 ! ( 
 
 ', , I' 
 
I , 
 
 250 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 wonderfully upheld us in our many trials and diffi- 
 culties ; relying, therefore, on Him, I cannot but 
 feel as the wife of Manoah did, and repeat her 
 exclamation : * If the Lord were pleased to kill us, 
 he would not have shewed us all these mercies.' '* 
 
 Ik I 
 
liffi. 
 
 but 
 her 
 . us, 
 
 251 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 The "Enterprise." — 111 Success of her Travelling Parties. — Late 
 Season. — Passage through Dolphin and Union Strait. — 
 Winter of 1852-53 passed in Cambridge Bay — Esquimaux 
 numerous. — Traces of the Missing Expedition found,— 
 Game and Fish abound. — Unfortunate Circumstance of no 
 Searching Party having visited King William's Land. — The 
 Bay of Mercy. — Reaction on Board the "InvestigatDr " after 
 
 Christmas Festivities. — Excessive Cold Want of Fuel and 
 
 consequent Dampness. — Venison plentiful, — Large Sick List. 
 — March, '53. — The lletreating Parties named, and their 
 Routes appointed. — Captain M'Clure's Reason for sending 
 away the Weakly Men. — Wolves, their Voracity and 
 Cunning. — Anxiety of the Sledge-Parties as to Chances of 
 safe Retreat. — Retrospective Glance at Measures taken in 
 England to rescue the " Investigator." — Blr. Cresswell's 
 Letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and fortunate 
 Result. — Captains Kellett and M'Clintock ordered to Melville 
 Island. — They reach it in September 1852. — Accidental 
 Discovery of Captain M'Clure's Despatches on the 
 Parry Rock. — Help at Hand for the " Investigator." — 
 April '53 in Mercy Bay. — The first Death. — Captain 
 M'Clure addresses his Men to remove their Despondency. — 
 The Dark and Bright Side of the Cloud. — The unexpected 
 Arrival of Lieut. Pirn from the " Resolute." — The In- 
 vestigators rescued. — Excitement and Happiness of the 
 Crew. 
 
 Having tlius brought the narrative to the close 
 of 1852, it is now necessary to cast a glance back 
 
 li 
 
I! 
 
 i ,i 
 
 =1 
 
 252 DISCOVERY OF TIIE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 to tlic Spring of the same year, wlien we left the 
 " Investigator's " consort, under Captain Colliiison, 
 wintering at the southern end of Prince of Wales 
 Strait. All her spring travelling parties returned 
 unsuccessful from long and arduous journeys, in 
 which some of the men suffered considerably from 
 frost-bites and the other consequences of sledge- 
 work in those high latitudes. 
 
 The "Enterprise's" crew were somewhat refreshed 
 during the summer, by procuring a fair supply of 
 game, and a considerable quantity of fish from the 
 lakes on Prince Albert Land ; it was not, however, 
 until so late as September, that the " Enterprise " 
 appears to have been able to make ' ny progress 
 eastward from her wintering place, — a direction 
 Taptain Collinson decided upon attempting, with 
 a view to penetrating the unknown space lying 
 between him and Cape Walker in Barrow's Strait. 
 A channel which he entered proved eventually to 
 be a gulf ; and he then endeavoured to pass by way 
 of Dolphin and Union Strait, reaching, on the 26th 
 of the same month, Cambridge Bay in Wollaston 
 Land ; and there he passed the winter of 1852-53, 
 of which we are now writing. In those winter 
 quarters Esquimaux visited them; and one tribe 
 mustered 200 persons ; in their possession was 
 
" ENTERrmSE " IN CAMBRIDGE BAY. 
 
 253 
 
 in 
 
 
 found a piece of iron, ■wliich many still believe 
 to have come from the missing ships, and they 
 had likewise a piece of a doorway or hatch-frame. 
 Knowing what wc now do of the point which 
 Franklin's people reached in King AVilliam's Land, 
 and where they perished, the connection of these 
 fragments with the " Erebus " and " Terror " ap- 
 pears to be quite easy; but Captain CoUinson, 
 being ignorant of those facts, could have but 
 little idea of how close his ship was to the shore 
 whereon Dr. liae's informants stated they first 
 saw a portion of Franklin's men ; and therefore 
 those fragments told him no more than other 
 traces had done which were previously brought 
 home by Captain Penny from Beechey Island, or 
 than did a portion of a stanchion belonging to a 
 ship's ice-plank, which Rae found at his farthest 
 eastern point in 1851.* The land around the 
 " Enterprise '* abounded in game, and the waters 
 in salmon, for 1100 of the latter were cured for 
 sea service. We shall here leave H. M. S. " Enter- 
 prise," premising that those on board of her ex- 
 
 t ■ 
 
 * The " Enterprise " wintered on this occasion 120 miles from 
 King William's Land, where some forty of Franklin's men ^vere 
 first seen by the Esquimaux, and 200 miles from tiie Great 
 Fish River, the entrance of which, a boat belonging to tlie 
 lost expedition has since been found to have readied. 
 
 ';| 1 = 
 
254 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 i 
 
 perienced a very severe winter, and that in the 
 following spring her sledge- parties pushed on to the 
 north-east, passing Rae's farthest point of 1851 by a 
 few miles. But they, like him, although at one time 
 within forty-five miles of King William's Land, did 
 not visit it ; had they done so, there is no doubt 
 they would have fallen on traces of those they 
 sought, and very possibly have found the " Erebus " 
 and "Terror" locked up in some such ice-bound 
 harbour as that in which, as we have seen, the " In- 
 vestigator " was imprisoned. No fault, however, can 
 attach to either Collinson or Rae that they did not 
 do so ; but the sad chapter of unfortunate accidents, 
 by which the relief of Franklin's expedition has 
 been rendered unsuccessful, would be incomplete 
 did history fail to point these facts out; and it 
 serves to show, at any rate, that the unavoidable 
 fallibility of the reasoning and wisdom of men, rather 
 than, as some have argued, the folly of endeavour- 
 ing to relieve the lost expedition, alone occasioned 
 the efforts of England to prove in the end abortive. 
 AVhen the festivals of Christmas and New Year's 
 day had passed in the Bay of Mercy, there was 
 not much to make men light-hearted or merry, 
 although they were still determined to look as 
 much as possible on the bright side of things. He 
 
 I 
 
 ! (1 ! "i. 
 
i 
 
 EXCESSIVE COLD, WANT OF FUEL. 
 
 255 
 
 who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, watched 
 over them in their trial ; and it is remarkable, in 
 reading over a daily journal far too minute for the 
 general reader, to see, throughout this season, the 
 remarkable way in which His bounty supported 
 them. On the one hand we see the resources of 
 the ship gradually failing or being reduced to the 
 slenderest supply, — for instance in the important ar- 
 ticle of fuel ; — and as a consequence, the enervated 
 frames of the men had to stand even a more 
 severe trial than before from cold and ^^.amp, not 
 only in-board but also without doors, for the 
 temperature of that winter throughout the arctic 
 regions was unusually severe : from 60° to 65° 
 below zero of Fahr. was registered by the " In- 
 vestigator," as well as other ships elsewhere. Yet 
 this very cold, so intense that the very ship seemed 
 to suffer from it, and bolts, treenails, and fast- 
 enings were heard to crack under the influence of 
 frost and contraction, forced the deer to approach 
 the ship and the seashore so closely as to afford 
 venison weekly throughout this trying season, at the 
 rate of a pound and a half of meat twice in the seven 
 days to every man in the ship. January passed, 
 giving a mean temperature of 44°—, or 76° below 
 freezing point ; and this, be it remembered, was 
 
 
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 If'-' 
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 hi 
 
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 250 DISCOVEUY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 endured by men under-fed, scorbutic, and looking 
 forward to making no ordinary efforts to save 
 tlieir lives in a few short weekss' time. 
 
 In February, Captain ]\I'Clurc says, " the ex- 
 cessive cold has been much felt; tlic lower dock, 
 jiarticularly from about twenty feet before the main 
 hatchway to the gun-room bulkliead, has been very 
 damp and wet ; and we cannot afford more coal to 
 dry it up. The sick list has likewise considerably 
 increased, seldom being below fifteen; four or five 
 of the cases decided scurvy, the others mostly 
 diarrhoea and ague, caused, no doubt, by the 
 moisture betwcen-decks. Our providential supply 
 of fresh meat still continues ; four deer fell in the 
 first week, although the sportsmen, on account of 
 the weather, were only able to venture out during 
 two days, and that only for a few hours. Surely 
 this is our * manna! ' I am sure it is considered as 
 such by all on board : the deer appear completely 
 spell-bound to this particular locality ; for a single 
 mile south or north of our position not one is to be 
 seen, but abreast the ship they are met as we land, 
 and, bad shots as we are, the supply of venison has 
 been regularly 200 lbs. per week ! " 
 
 So much did the dampness of the lower deck 
 increase, that hanging stoves had to bo got up 
 
M ' 
 
 ■y 
 
 25a 
 
 W:''^mW.- 
 
 imm^ VASSAGE. 
 
 V ■■■-■■■ '■ 
 
 /. « i^ i ^«.jrbutic. j;iud looking' 
 
 ..<, "'j ^^'f^^iiijirv elB'^'ft^ *o save 
 
 xt,sp.i,, .i->.. .H:i »*■ ^v A Aiiort weekr»* tir«^«-'. 
 
 €08&ive oijtl jr;>^ (j* -^r; amch ftii; the i >W(.t 4':H^k, 
 j;;\rt.icuj.i4,r}v f Voi >. nbont tv.".'»ntv foe?- befof.; '>» main 
 luitchway to liic ;ruii-roojn bulkhoad. has h.-.f* very 
 iHinp and M'ot ; pnd vrc cannot afl'ord laorc coal to 
 dry it tip. The sick li-<t has lik;jv:isc coii8i<.L-rab]y 
 increased, seldom b^iing below fii'fei'n ;, lour or five 
 of tho casci^ decided jir'jfvv- the oiljfvii ?iv>j«t'v 
 
 ■>. ■ V *i ■» ■. ' . . f »: ' 
 
 , 1^ 
 
 first weckj ; tUlivvi ^ b the «[>ortsmen, i>Ti account of 
 the wefither, v/erc oidv ahlo to venture <r.[t duriujr 
 two dajM, and tliat only tor a ft-AV^ h:jurs. .Sundy 
 this ift »-)ur ' nmrma! ' I nvn ¥\ivo \:.. is conbidfvjtid, as 
 such by ali Oil board; the deer uppf%r '"v''-i:'?'»vJy 
 
 ' -■ • ■ ■ ". oiu' i:^ to be 
 
 '. .»;* inr t (16 we land. 
 
 b:eu r«' . '■' ''' 4^- r>t-r week ! '' 
 
 So fiiuvti ii ' ^^i dii!npn<-:fS oC the lower deck 
 incrraRc, i?u4< < i^M<i*-- >^i^<vi'«. Isad t«> bo got up 
 
 
 
.nave 
 
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 be 
 
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 REASON FOR SENDING AWAY WEAKLY MEN. 257 
 
 between the T^h and 14th of February; and every 
 precaution was taken to check the increase of 
 disease, which had already placed in the doctor's 
 hands one third of the crew of sixty men. These 
 steps were attended apparently with considerable 
 success ; for on March the 1st the medical report, 
 all things considered, was more favourable than 
 Captain M'Clure had expected. 
 
 On March 3rd, the travelling parties for England, 
 viA America and Barrow's Strait, were told off: 
 they consisted of thirty of the most weakly hands 
 divided into two parties of fifteen men each. 
 
 Lieut. Haswell was to take the one, via Griffith's 
 Island, to Cape Spencer, there embark in tiie boat 
 which Captain Austin said he had left, and in her 
 attempt to reach Greenland. The other "^arty, 
 under Lieut. Gurney Cresswell, was to retreat 
 upon the dep6t formed at Princess Royal Island in 
 1851, recruit theriselves, and taking tht boat to be 
 there found, push for the Coppermine River, as- 
 cend it to the Hudson Bay Territories, and thence 
 home. Captain M'Clure's reason for thus de- 
 spatching all his sickly and weakly hands was, that 
 he felt convinced that these men could not sur- 
 vive another winter after what they had gone 
 through in the past one; and thus he gave them 
 
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 1 1 
 
 1. 
 
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 f n 
 
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 ^<l!- 
 
 258 DiscovEiiy of the north-west passage. 
 
 the only chance of saving their lives which it was 
 in his power to afford. 
 
 The next thing done was to put these travellers 
 upon full allowance of food, so as to enable them 
 to pick up strength as much as possible. On 
 March 28th the weather had sensibly improved, 
 and the change had beneficially affected all the 
 sickly men ; indeed, all but two of them were able 
 on that day to take a little exercise. On the 24th 
 the novel event of the first wolf being killed 
 occurred. The brute had gorged himself upon a 
 deer which had been shot, and fell a victim 
 consequently to his gourmandism. Strangely 
 enough, too, considering the length of time the 
 Investigators had been trying without success to 
 shoot these robbers, another wolf was killed by Mr. 
 Court (master) soon after in self-defence. That 
 officer, it seems, was out shooting, when two wolves 
 marked him down, and gradually closed upon Vim ; 
 one keeping in front, and the other behind. After 
 trying all sorts of methods of frightening them off, 
 such as shouting, waving his arms, and running 
 towards them, he found that one of the wolves had 
 closed in on him to within twenty yards. Taking a 
 careful aim, he fired and struck it in the throat, 
 but that did not turn it ; and having only a single- 
 
 ^^ ^*^ 
 
ANXIETY 07 THE SLEDGE PARTIES. 
 
 259 
 
 Mm; 
 
 iroat, 
 ingle- 
 
 barrelled gun, it was as much as he could do, to 
 load again, and kill the savage beast when it had 
 crawled up to within three yards of his person. 
 As the travellers were to leave the ship upon 
 the 15th of April, the close of March saw all the 
 many preparations for a sledge journey well in 
 hand. The officers, though cognisant of the risk 
 and dangers which beset their lines of retreat, 
 wisely hid them from the knowledge of the men. 
 The healthy amongst the sledge crews were con- 
 sequently sanguine in their hopes of success ; but 
 many a poor fellow, whose black and swollen limbs 
 hardly served to carry him about the ship, knew 
 in his heart that, although the journey he was 
 about to take would be his only chance for life, 
 yet it was but a very slender one. Despond- 
 ency there was not, but there was a deep feeling 
 throughout the ship of their sad and forlorn 
 position, met, however, by a childlike confidence 
 on the part of the crew in the wisdom of their 
 leaders' arrangements, and a perfect faith in the 
 good Providence which had sustained them so 
 far. 
 
 Threatening, however, as the future looked for the 
 safety of these gallant men, a series of fortuitous 
 circumstances — providential ones would be the 
 
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 'I 
 
 
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 s 2 
 
 I I 
 
 i 
 
 ■ u| 
 
260 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ,,:'J 
 
 ^i^ •> 
 
 #1 
 
 more correct term — was now bringing about 
 their rescue. 
 
 ' It will be remembered that, when Captains 
 Austin, Penny, and Sir John Ross returned to 
 England, considerable difference of opinion existed 
 as to the necessity for a farther search for Sir 
 John Franklin ; but his widow, who, through all 
 her sad trials and sore disappointments, never 
 wavered in her faith of his having accomplished 
 the service he was sent to execute, or hesitated 
 at any sacrifice to effect the rescue of her hus- 
 band and his companions, maintained this necessity 
 so strongly, and was backed by so many influential 
 arctic authorities, that the Admiralty, unable to 
 decide the question, ordered an Arctic Committee 
 to sit upon the question of the resumption of the 
 search for Franklin. That committee recommended 
 that it should be again resumed, and, satisfied that 
 Franklin was not at Melville Island, proposed that 
 all the strength of such an expedition as might be 
 sent should be employed up Wellington Channel, 
 and, never dreaming of the " Enterprise " or " In- 
 vestigator" having made such progress as they 
 had done, merely advised as follows, touching 
 support or aid to them : — 
 
 " With respect to the efforts now making to 
 
c 
 
 
 RECOMMENDATION OF COMMITTEE. 
 
 261 
 
 afford relief to the missing ships in the direction 
 of Behring's Strait, we do not venture to offer 
 any suggestions, beyond a hope that, until further 
 accounts are received from Captain Collin son and 
 Commander M'Clure, the * Plover ' may be kept 
 fully provisioned " (in Behring's Strait). 
 
 Now, according to the nature of the evidence 
 before them — furnished mostly by the seniors in 
 late expeditions, who took a very gloomy and un- 
 promising view of the case — and considering also 
 the amount of probability that any such navigation 
 would be carried out as Captain M'Clure appeared 
 to contemplate, in his admirable official letter from 
 Behring's Strait, there can be no doubt that this 
 committee gave a correct opinion; huz it was 
 fortunate for England's naval history, and for 
 humanity, that a parent's solicitude for a so i, 
 absent in this expedition, was more clear-sighted, 
 and that by that, as well as by the zeal and energy 
 of Lady Franklin, a modification of that opinion 
 was effected. 
 
 Mr. Cresswell indeed, in a letter which his 
 kindness allows me to make public, pointed out, 
 with almost prophetic vision, the very position in 
 which the " Investigator's " crew was placed, and 
 also suggested the means by which their wants 
 
 
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 1 I 
 
 8 3 
 
m 
 I! 
 
 !* 
 
 
 I 
 
 h. fl 
 
 
 262 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 might be supplied, and their safety insured. The 
 letter ran as follows : — 
 
 "Sib, 
 
 « Lynn, Norfolk, 23rd March, 1852. 
 
 " In reference to the expedition now fitting out 
 for the Arctic Regions under Sir Edward Belcher, 
 I am induced earnestly to request the attention of 
 the Lords Ccmmissioners of the Admiralty to the 
 following appeal : — 
 
 " In the sailing orders given to the expedition to 
 Behring's Striiit, the sixteenth paragraph leaves to 
 Captain Colli:ason the course to be pursued after 
 leaving Point Barrow, referring him for assistance 
 and direction to Captain Kellett, Sir W. E. Parry, 
 and Captain Beechey. 
 
 " In the memoranda given by Sir Edward Parry 
 and Captain Beechey, we find that they both 
 consider the great object of the Behring's Strait 
 expedition to be to penetrate to Banks Land, or even 
 to Melville Island. 
 
 " The writers of nearly all the letters relating 
 to the position of Sir John Franklin consider 
 the most likely quarter in which to find him 
 to be the vicinity of Banks Land or Melville 
 Island. 
 
 *' Colonel Sabine, in a letter to Sir W. E. Parry, 
 
'arry, 
 
 ■). 
 
 MR. CRiiSSWELL's LETTER. 
 
 263 
 
 15th June, 1850, speaking of Sir John Franklin, 
 says, * His advance from Melville Island in the 
 season of 1847 may have been limited to a distance 
 of 50 or perhaps 100 miles at farthest,' and that 
 'in 1848 he may have endeavoured to retrace his 
 steps, but only with partial success. It is, I 
 apprehend, quite a conceivable case, that under 
 these circumstances, the crews, incapable of extri- 
 cating the ships from the ice, may have at length 
 been obliged to quit them and attempt a retreat, 
 not towards the continent, because too distant, 
 but to Melville Island, where certainly food 
 (seals), and probably fuel might be obtained, and 
 where they would naturally suppose that vessels 
 despatched from England for their relief woidd in 
 the first instance seek them.^ 
 
 " Captain Austin's expedition was directed, in 
 accordance with the above authorities, to make 
 its principal efforts in the vicinity of Melville 
 Island. 
 
 *' The intelligence of the fitting out of Captain 
 Austin's expedition reached the Behring's Strait 
 expedition, at the Sandwich Islands, and would 
 unquestionably stimulate them in endeavouring at 
 almost any risk to communicate with Captain 
 Austin at Melville Island. 
 
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 264 DISCOVERY OF THE N0RTn-WE8T PASSAGE. 
 
 . . "It ia deairablc to realise as much as possible 
 ■what would be the eflFect on the officers of the 
 Bchring's Strait expedition on being possessed of 
 the intelligence alluded to. 
 
 " There can be no reasonable doubt but that they 
 would anticipate Captain Austin's expedition, aided 
 as it was by steamers reaching Melville Island, as 
 Sir W. E. Parry had done so without steamers in 
 1819 ; and that Captain Austin would, as a matter 
 of course, leave a supply of provisions and fuel, 
 and possibly a boat, for any party that might 
 reach that point from Behring's Strait. 
 
 " Trusting to this, a party might be pushed forward 
 at imminent risk ; t/u,t how terrible would be their 
 despair on finding a barren notice of Lieutenant 
 M^Clintock*s visit in 1861, instead of the supply 
 anticipated! 
 
 " There is nothing unreasonable in the above 
 supposition, as Captain Kellett in his evidence, 
 page 170., says, ^Should Commander M^Clure be 
 successful in getting far to the eastward, I am con- 
 vinced, from a conversation I had with him, and in- 
 deed his own letter will show, that he will use every 
 endeavour to reach Melville Island with his paiiies, 
 if he fail with his ship. ^ 
 
 " Again, Captain Kellett, in a letter to Captain 
 
 "V- 
 
MR. CBESSWELL'S LETTER. 
 
 265 
 
 Collinson, 20th of May, 1850, says: * If you can 
 pass point Barrow and escape the shoal water, we 
 shall see you come home by the Atlantic' 
 
 " Now the ' Investigator ' passed Point Barrow 
 the 5th of August, 1850, and nothing has been 
 heard of her from that time ; we may therefore 
 conclude that she struggled to get to Melville 
 Island through the seasons of 1850 and 1851. 
 Certainly she did not return in 1851 through 
 Behring's Strait, or it must have been already 
 known. . . 
 
 " If she is far to the eastward, in all probability 
 Melville Island will be their only resource. Cap- 
 tain Collinson, in the * Enterprise,' passed Point 
 Barrow in 1851, and will in all probability push 
 to the eastward this summer, and may reach 
 Melville Island. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, ought not the 
 powerful arctic squadron now fitting out to have 
 Some reference to the support of Captain CollinsorCs 
 expedition^ as well as to following out Penny's dis- 
 coveries, and to the faint hope of finding Sir John 
 Franklin. 
 
 " I venture to suggest that one of the three 
 steamers should proceed to Melville Island, if the 
 navigation be open, as in 1819, leave provisions, 
 
 ' n 
 
 ' 'i 
 
 I ( 
 
 < 
 
 I! 
 
 : W 
 
 
266 DISCOVERY OF TUE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 fuel, and a boat at Winter Harbour: she could 
 then return to tlie ships at Beechey Island. 
 
 " If the navigation should not be found open, then 
 the steamer should make as far to the westward as 
 possible, and send provisions to Byam Martin 
 Island, or any favourable position that might be 
 practicable, sending forward a party to Melville 
 Island, to leave a record of their proceedings, 
 to direct where to find provisions, and also to 
 communicate the object of Sir Edward Belcher's 
 expedition. 
 
 " If the Admiralty thought proper, in case of the 
 steamer reaching Melville Island, she might winter 
 there, and in the spring send searching parties to 
 the westward. They might be so arranged as to 
 command a wide field of research, and possibly 
 cross Captain CoUinson or Commander M'Clure, as 
 they would start from a point more than 200 miles 
 west of Baillie Hamilton Island. 
 
 " I must apologise with trespassing upon you 
 
 with such a long letter, but the importance of the 
 
 object will, I trust, plead my excuse. 
 
 " &c. &c. 
 
 « To Augustus Stafford, Esq. M.P. 
 " Secretary, Admiralty." 
 
 -ij 
 
you 
 
 the 
 
 SOUNDNESS OF MR. CRESSWELL'S VIEWS. 267 
 
 Hia Grace the Duke of Northumberland was 
 then the senior Lord of the Board of Admiralty. 
 He was struck with the soundness of Mr. Cress- 
 well's views ; and having sought the opinion of 
 some arctic authorities upon the subject, a para- 
 graph was inserted in the orders under which 
 Captain Belcher sailed * ; and his expedition, in 
 consequence, became divided, for the twofold 
 objects, of seeking Franklin, and affording aid to 
 Captains M'Clure and Collinson : two vessels going 
 up Wellington Channel, under Captains Belcher 
 and Osborn ; whilst the " Resolute " and " In- 
 trepid," parting from them at Becchey Island, 
 
 • Paragraphs 5. and 6. of Captain Sir E. Belcher's instruc- 
 tions were as follows : — 
 
 5. " Arrived ct this point {Beechey Island)^ two great objects 
 will engage your attention : 
 
 ** First, the endeavouring^to pass up Wellington Channel with 
 one sailing vessel and one steamer ; secondly, the advance of 
 a similar force towards Melville Island. 
 
 6. " The object of the first of these expeditions will be, the 
 endeavour to recover those traces of Sir John Franklin which 
 ceased at Cape Bowden to the north of Beechey Island, and 
 to follow up such traces, if they should be found. The object 
 of the other expedition will be, to deposit, if possible, 
 at Winter Harbour, Melville Island, or failing that, at Byam 
 Martin Island, a supply of provisions, fuel, and clothing, 
 for any parties that might reach such positions from Captain 
 Collinson 's or Commander M'Clure's ships." 
 
 I 
 
 I' 
 
 , ! 
 
 ! 
 
 
 J 
 
!, i 
 
 *t r 
 
 268 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 were, under the command of Captains Kellett 
 and M'Clintock, to proceed to Melville Island ; 
 a duty which, so far as the last-named division 
 was concerned, was, as will be seen, faithfully 
 executed. 
 
 In accordance, therefore, with the recommenda- 
 tion of the arctic committee, and the instructions of 
 the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the 
 expedition under Captains Sir E. Belcher and 
 Kellett, C. B., consisting of H. M. ships " Re- 
 solute," " Assistance," " Pioneer," and " Intre- 
 pid," left England in the spring of 1852 ; and 
 without entering into a detail of the circumstances 
 which brought about the eventual desertion of that 
 fine squadron — a tale which the editor intends at 
 a future day to relate in a sequel to his " Stray 
 Leaves from an Arctic Journal" — it will suffice 
 for our present purpose to say that on the 15th of 
 August, 1852, the " Resolute," Captain Kellett, and 
 the "Intrepid," Commander M'Clintock, having 
 on the previous day parted company from the 
 ** Assistance" and the " Pioneer," proceeded towards 
 Melville Island, from the dep6t ship " North Star," 
 Commander PuUen, stationed at Beechey Island. 
 
 Melville Island was reached on the 1st Sep- 
 tember, and on the 5th inst. the vessels of the 
 
 m 
 
liii 
 
 REACH MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 269 
 
 M 
 
 western division made fast to the ice which yet 
 filled up Winter Harbour, the well known wintering 
 place of Sir Edward Parry in the year 1819. A 
 dep6t of provisions was immediately formed ; and 
 as no cairn or pole had been erected by Captain 
 M'C lure's party or that of Lieut. Parks from the 
 " Enterprise," when they visited the place in the 
 spring of the same year, the ships under Captain 
 Kellett actually retired again to a secure wintering 
 place under Dealy Island, some distance to the east- 
 ward, without being aware that Melville Island 
 had been visited by those they were in search 
 of, or that within 180 miles of them the "Inves- 
 tigator " was then lying in want of assistance ! 
 Such are the difficulties and chances which prevent 
 one party finding another in those regions. Directly, 
 however, that Captain Kellett was securely frozen 
 in, he despatched autumnal parties of travellers to 
 lay out provisions for the use of parties he purposed 
 sending forth in the ensuing spring. One of these 
 parties, under Lieut. Mecham, left the ship on the 
 23rd September, reached Winter Harbour, struck 
 over-land for Liddon Gulf, deposited provisions on 
 its shore, and returned to Winter Harbour ; when, 
 happening to inspect more closely than usual the 
 famous mass of sandstone on which Parry had 
 
 m 
 
 ^1 i i| 
 
 4 . t 
 
 h: 
 
Mir I ;l 
 
 270 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 caused his ship's name to be engraved, Lieut. 
 Mecham could hardly credit his senses when he dis- 
 
 Remarkable Sandstone mass at the entrance of Winter Harbour, 10 Teet high, 22 T'et 
 
 long, 7 or 8 feet bread. 
 
 covered a document upon its summit, detailing the 
 accomplishment of the north- west passage, and the 
 position of H. M. S. " Investigator " in Banks Land 1 
 Great joy was there in Captain Kellett's squadron 
 at having discovered one at least of the ships they 
 sought; and many an anxious discussion took 
 place at Melville Island whether they could nex^ 
 sprMig send off parties sufficiently early to reach 
 the Bay of Mercy before Captain M'Clure was 
 obliged to abandon Iiis ship ; and, on the other hand, 
 there were doubts whether he might not have been 
 able to push on during the past summer, and per- 
 
 :i;i 
 
CAPTAIN m'CLURE'S ADDEESS. ^' 271 
 
 haps have again to be sought in some new direc- 
 tion. . 
 
 Lieut. Bedford Pirn, of the " Assistance," was, 
 with Dr. Domville, of the same ship, told off to start 
 with sledges from Melville Island to Banks Land : 
 and on March 10th, 1853, they left their shipmates, 
 amidst the prayers and cheers of all. 
 
 Meantime, April 1853 had come in on the " In- 
 vestigator " ; the sledges were ready, the slender 
 store of provisions was packed, those that were 
 going strove to be sanguine, those that were to re- 
 main behind had written to cheer up mothers, 
 wives, and sisters, who must have already begun to 
 mourn their long absence. On the 5th of the 
 month the first death since leaving England oc- 
 curred on board the " Investigator " : it was occa- 
 sioned by the thoughtlessness of the poor fellow 
 himself, who, by way of a joke, went into the 
 surgery and drank off the washings of several 
 medicine bottles. But the moral effect of a death at 
 such a time was distressing, and to re-inspirit the 
 men their iron-nerved captain took an early oppor- 
 tunity of calling the crew together, and making an 
 address to them in not ineloquent terms. In it 
 he called their attention to the difficulties already 
 mastered, to the honours won, to the grateful re- 
 
 1! 
 
 Ill i 
 
 ' u 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 •^■|| 
 
!iJ 
 
 ii' ,i. 
 
 Ill 
 J 
 
 ••Sr- 
 
 272 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 compense their good service was certain to obtain 
 for each, and to the merciful Providence which 
 had so upheld them hitherto ; and he begged them 
 always to remember that, in the gloomiest hour 
 of trial, relief might, and often did come, and 
 that the darkest cloud had ever a silvery side to it. 
 Cheerfully again did all assent to his opinions, and 
 the poor fellows talked and looked happier for 
 what had been said to them. 
 
 The 6th of April, 1853, came in. A fine deer was 
 hung up ready to be cut up for a hearty meal, that 
 all hands were to partake of before their separa- 
 tion, which was to take place in the following week ; 
 when an event occurred which rescued them from 
 further suffering and trials of fortitude. I give 
 Captain M'Cluie's journal almost verbatim, upon 
 this day. ^ , ; 
 
 " While walking near the ship, in conversa- 
 tion with the first lieutenant upon the subject of 
 digging a grave for the man who died yesterday, 
 and discussing how we could cut a grave in the 
 ground whilst it was so hardly frozen — a subject 
 naturally sad and depressing, — we perceived a figure 
 walking rapidly towards us from the rough ice 
 at the entrance of the bay. From his pace and 
 gestures we both naturally supposed at first that 
 
 if 
 1,V 
 
UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE OF LIEUT. PIM. 273 
 
 I 
 
 lie was some one of our party pursued by a bear, 
 but as we approached hira doubts arose as to who 
 it could be. He was certainly unlike any of our 
 men ; but recollecting that it was possible oome 
 one might be trying a new travelling dress, pre- 
 paratory to the departure of our sledges, and certain 
 that no one else was near, we continued to fidvance. 
 When within about two hundred yards of us, this 
 strange figure threw up his arms, and made gesticu- 
 lations resembling those used by Esquimaux, besides 
 shouting, at the top of his voice, words which, 
 from the wind and intense excitement of the 
 moment, sounded like a wild screech ; and this 
 brought us both fairly to a stand-still. The 
 stranger came quietly on, and we saw that his 
 face was as black as ebony, and really at the 
 moment we might be pardoned for wondering 
 whether he was a denizen of this or the other 
 world, and had he but given us a glimpse of a 
 tail or a cloven hoof, we should assuredly have 
 taken to our legs : as it was, we gallantly stood 
 our ground, end, had the skies fallen upon us, 
 we could hardly have been more astonished than 
 when the dark-faced stranger called out, — 
 
 " I'm Lieutenant Pim, late of the ' Herald,' and 
 
 T 
 
 fi 
 
 
 :♦ .* 
 
 ilil 
 
 i l: 
 
 I" 
 
274 DISCOVERY OF THE NOllTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 >. K 
 
 i '■! 
 
 now in the * Resolute' Captain Kellett is in her 
 at Dealy Island ! " 
 
 " To rush at and seize him by the hand was 
 the first impulse, for the heart was too full for 
 the tongue to speak. The announcement of relief 
 being close at hand, when none was supposed to 
 be even within the Arctic Circle, was too sudden, 
 unexpected, and joyous for our minds to com- 
 prehend it at once. The news flew with lightning 
 rapidity, the ship was all in commotion ; the 
 sick, forgetful of their maladies, leapt from their 
 hammocks ; the artificers dropped their tools, 
 and the lower deck was cleared of men ; for they 
 all rushed for the hatchway to be assured that 
 a stranger was actually amongst them, and that 
 his tale was true. Despondency fled the ship, 
 and Lieut. Pim received a welcome — pure, hearty, 
 and grateful — that he will assuredly remember 
 and cherish to the end of his days." 
 
 In a very short time the dog-sledge with two 
 men arrived, and long and eager were the con- 
 versations and questionings which ensued. The 
 Investigators felt perfectly bewildered with the 
 rescue which had reached them just in time to 
 save, in all probability, the lives of the thirty 
 persons who were about to attempt to reach 
 
 
JOY OF THE INVliJSTIGATORS. 
 
 275 
 
 home with sledges and boats (as well as of that 
 forlorn hope who were to remain behind); and 
 when the fact had perfectly realised itself to all, 
 it may be imagined what their feelings were. 
 It would be supererogation on our part to attempt 
 to describe the fulness and gratitude of heart 
 with which that night each must have thanked 
 his God for all his mercies. 
 
 •'i 
 
 T 2 
 
276 DISCOVEUY OF THE NOllTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 ,':!! 
 
 
 m 
 
 1 .■,; 
 
 'I !' 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 Captain M'Clure proceeds to Melvillo Island to see Captain 
 Kellett. — M'Clure'a Views. — His Letter. — Captain Kellett 
 only gives Leave for healthy Volunteers to remain in 
 "Investigator." — Medical Survey unsatisfactory. — Aban- 
 donment of H. M. S. " Investigator." — Depot of Provisions 
 formed at Mercy Bay. — Arrival on Board H.IvI.S. " Resolute " 
 and " Intrepid." — Searching-Parties under Captain M'Clin- 
 tock, Lieutenants Mccham and Hamilton, unsuccessful. — 
 Captain Kellett decides upon failing back upon Beechey 
 Island. — Unfavourable Season. — Squadron blown out of 
 Winter Quarters. — Arrested at Byam Martin Channel. 
 — Large Supply of fresh Meat procured. — "Resolute" 
 and "Intrepid" caught in the Pack. — Winter in the 
 Pack — The "Phoenix" arrives at Beechey Island, and 
 takes home Lieut. Cresswell. — 1853. — The Investigators 
 pass a fourth Winter with impunity, and then leave 
 the "Resolute" for Beechey Island. — Captain Sir E. 
 Belcher's Plans to abandon the Squadron. — Orders the 
 "Resolute" and "Intrepid" to be abandoned. — News of 
 CoUinson, in 1852, having pushed on into the Ice. — " Assist- 
 ance " and " Pioneer " ordered to be deserted. — " Phoenix " 
 and " Talbot " arrive with Provisions and fresh Crews. — 
 All return Home. — Investigators rewarded in 1855. 
 
 Captain M'Clure decided now at once upon 
 going to see Captain Kellett, and making arrange- 
 ments with him for having all his sickly hands 
 sent to Dealy Island, and thence home, whilst he, 
 
CAPTAIN M'CLIIRE's LETTER. 
 
 277 
 
 still adhering to his original plan, endeavoured to 
 carry home the " Investigator " by waiting in her 
 through another Arctic summer and winter, that of 
 1853-1854, before abandoning her, and retreat- 
 ing to Melville Island ; with this plan in view, 
 he penned the following letter, and remarkable as 
 the whole tone of it is, I should do Injustice to the 
 cool, unflinching nerve of the writer, did I not place 
 in italics that paragraph in which, with generous 
 heroism, he points out the inutility of risking more 
 lives should he and his ship again be missing. 
 
 To the Secretary of the Admiralty. 
 
 " Her Majesty's Discovery ship ' Investigator,' 
 " Bay of Mercy, Baring's Island 
 (now Banks Land), 
 " April 10th, 1853. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " In the event of our not getting to 
 England this year, I think it necessary to acquaint 
 you, for the information of the Lords Com- 
 missioners of the Admiralty, what our operations 
 will be in 1854, that their Lordships may be en- 
 abled to take such co-operative measures for our 
 relief as may appear expedient. 
 
 " Should the ice break up in this bay sufficiently 
 early to permit our getting through the straits this 
 
 T 3 
 
 
I' 
 
 :l 
 
 ts. 
 
 * l! 
 
 278 DISCOVERY OF THE NOllTII-WKST TASSAGK. 
 
 season, and finding the water open to the east- 
 ward of Leopold Island, it would be my object to 
 push forward, without stopping to take on board 
 any provisions from Port Leopold ; but, if con- 
 trarywise, the ice should be thick towards Lan- 
 caster Sound, I would, if possible, proceed to Port 
 Leopold, and complete a twelvemonth's provisions, 
 and then risk wintering in the pack, or getting 
 through, in preference to remaining at the above 
 port ; if, however, we are detained in this bay till 
 next year, it will then be requisite to leave towards 
 the end of April and make for Port Leopold, where 
 1 am aware that there is a good boat, a house, and 
 ample supplies ; and, when the navigable season 
 opens, procp^d to Pond's Bay, coasting along the 
 shore of Barrow's Straits ; arriving at Pond's Bay, 
 and if finding from the Esquimaux that no 
 whalers have as yet been there, I should there 
 await their appearance as long as my provisions 
 would admit, and then go down the west shore 
 of Baffin's Bay, keeping close along the land floe, 
 where whalers or their boats are almost certain of 
 being met with ; failing this, 1 should cross to 
 Discoe, with the hope of getting a passage in one 
 of the Danish vessels which come there annually, 
 and leave about the beginning of September ; or 
 being too late for them, either charter or purchase 
 
CAPTAIN m'CLURE'S LETTEIl. 
 
 270 
 
 one of their coasting schooners, which I believe 
 trade amongst the settlements, if she was capable 
 of standing an Atlantic voyage ; could neither of 
 these be accomplished, we must of necessity re- 
 main until the following season at that settlement. 
 
 " Should any of Her Majesty's ships be sent for 
 our relief, and we have quitted Port Leopold, a 
 notice containing information of our route will be 
 left at the door of the house on Whaler's Point, or 
 on some conspicuous position ; zj, however^ on the 
 contrary^ no intimation should he found of our 
 having been there, it may at once he surmised that 
 some fatal catastrophe has happened^ either from 
 our being carried into the Polar Sea or smashed in 
 Barroid's Straits, and no survivors left. If such be 
 the casCf which hoivever I will not anticipate, it will 
 then be quite unnecessary to penetrate farther to the 
 zvestward for our relief as by the period that any 
 vessel could reach that port we must, from want of 
 provisions, all haiie perished ; in such a case, I ivoidd 
 sub?nit that the officer may be directed to return, and 
 by no means incur the danger of losing other lives 
 in quest of those loho loill then be no more. 
 
 " As, however it may occur (as was the case 
 with Sir John Ross) that the ice may not 
 break up in Regent's Inlet during the whole 
 
 T 4 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 I 
 
 5| 
 
 i '■ 
 I.,; 
 
 li 
 
 I 1]'.i 
 
^ 
 
 u 
 
 V 
 
 
 II < 
 
 i ' i' 
 
 
 '\\ < 
 
 
 I ; 
 
 280 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 summer, it is as well to provide ngninst such a 
 contingency; if such should happen, it would 
 be necessary to winter at Port Lco[)old, unless 
 apprised of the locality of any ship that might 
 he sent for our relief, which I think might be 
 accomplished without any great difficulty, as, 
 although such vessel may not be enabled to get 
 far up the straits, yet as Admiralty Inlet would 
 be pretty certain of being clear of ice, she might 
 proceed thither, and in some secure bay freeze 
 in, and when the straits were firmly frozen, about 
 the middle of October, a small travelling party 
 could be despatched with the intelligence ; the 
 whole would then proceed to her, and although 
 rather late in the season, men working for their 
 lives are not likely to be discouraged by a little cold. 
 " Whatever may be the final termination of this 
 long, tedious, but I hope not unimportant ' nvage, 
 I beg. Sir, that you will assure their Lordships 
 that in every stage I have been guided entirely 
 by what I have considered to be my duty in pro- 
 secuting to the utmost the object for which the 
 expedition was fitted out ; and although we have 
 not succeeded in obtaining any information which 
 could afford the slightest clue to the fate of our 
 missing countrymen, I hope that the services 
 
CAl'TAINS M*CLURK AND KKLLETT MKRT. 281 
 
 performed in the tracing of a very greut extent 
 of coast line, the discovery of much new hind 
 (a portion of which is inluibited by a simple and 
 primitive people not hitherto known), and, above 
 all, the accurate knowledge of that * Passage 
 between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,' which 
 for so many hundred years has balfled maritime 
 Europe, its very existence being almost considered 
 doubtful, will, I trust, be considered events suffi- 
 ciently interesting and important to elicit from 
 their Lordships a favourable consideration of our 
 services. 
 
 " I have the honour to be. 
 
 (( 
 
 Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient and humble Servant, 
 (Signed) " Robeut M'Clure, 
 " Commander 
 
 
 M 
 
 According to his determination. Captain M'Clure 
 left the " Investigator " with a sledge-party, and 
 reached the " Resolute's " and " Intrepid's " winter- 
 quarters on the 19th April. We can appreciate 
 the meeting between himself and Captain Kellett, 
 for they had parted on that eventful day in Beh- 
 ring's Strait in 1850, when the latter gave Captain 
 M'Clure an opportunity of waiting for his con- 
 
 
 
 
Ill^': 
 
 ■4] 
 
 I* 4m 
 
 282 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 sort, which, had he accepted, the North-west 
 Passage would not have been achieved, and the 
 search for Franklin would not have been com- 
 pleted upon even one line from ocean to ocean. 
 Captain Kellett at first concurred in M'Clure's 
 views of endeavouring to save the " Investigator" ; 
 but when Lieut. Cresswell of that ship arrived 
 on May 2nd with some of the most weakly hands, 
 and reported that two more deaths had already 
 occurred in the Bay of Mercy, Capt. Kellett, as 
 senior o^cer, felt that his responsibility would 
 be great if he allowed the zeal of Captain M'Clure 
 or his followers, in fulfilling the requirements of 
 professional honour, to jeopardise the lives of 
 those who had so gallantly done their dut3\* It 
 
 * The state of the men brought over by Lieut. Cresswell is 
 best described in the following evidence given by Dr. Doraville 
 before th ; Select Committee of the House of Commons, which 
 assembled, in July, 1855, to decide upon the reward due to 
 Captain M'Clure and his men. 
 
 Captain M'Clure arrived on the 19th of April at Her 
 Majesty's ship " Resolute," and he remained on board until 
 the 2nd of May, when another party from his ship arrived. 
 " Until this period Commander M'Clure had been detained by 
 Captain Kellett, the defective condition of his sledge's crew 
 ^^v ho had doubtless been selected as the most efficient) being 
 Buch as to cause some apprehension for the capabilities of the 
 remainder to make a further sojourn in tliese regions ; and most 
 forcibly did the appearance of the above detachment justify the 
 measure. Some vague information of their enfeebled condition 
 
 m , I 
 
being 
 
 RETURN OF DR. DOMVILLE TO " INVESTIGATOR." 283 
 
 was then arranged that Dr. Domvillc, of the 
 " Resolute," should return with Capt. M'Clure 
 to the " Investigator," hold a medical survey on 
 every person on board of her, order those home 
 who might not be considered fit to withstand 
 another winter, and then give the healthy the 
 option of remaining in her for a fourth season, 
 or not, as they might choose. On reaching the 
 " Investigator," Capt. M'Clure addressed his men. 
 relative to their volunteering to remain out, and 
 then gave twenty-four hours for the medical sur- 
 vey to take place, and for the sound men to make 
 up their minds whether they would stay with 
 him or go home. The survey, however, was 
 fatal to the hopes of the resolute leader; for on 
 
 had preceded them ; the stern reality now presented itself: one 
 officer, subject to periods of mental aberration; one man in n 
 state of dementia " (or imbecility), " his condition and appear- 
 ance rendered still more pitiable from severe frostbite of the 
 fingers ; two men carried on the sledges, the one with scurvy, 
 the other with urinary disease and phlegmonous inflammation 
 of the leg ; the remainder all more or less affected with 
 scorbutic disease and debility, as indicated to the spectator 
 in the tottering gait, attenuated form, and care-worn expression 
 of countenance, occasionally lighted up as the truth and 're- 
 collection of their altered condition flitted across the imaginn • 
 lion ; a change (as some expressed themselves) difficult to 
 realise. For several months past their thoughts had been preg- 
 nant with the uncertainty of the future, to which no definite 
 results could be assigned." 
 
 I^i' 
 
 *■ '■ m 
 

 i 
 
 i! 
 
 TJ im 
 
 ii ; I 
 
 ,1! 1 '( 
 
 )■;, i; 
 
 t 
 
 2Sl DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 the following day, May 23rd, he writes in his 
 diary, "My surprise and mortification at finding 
 only four men who felt able to go through 
 another winter were great, but I must do all 
 my ofiicers the credit to say that they came 
 most nobly and spiritedly forward, tendering 
 their services, and expressing anxiety to remain 
 and abide the chances of another season." Ad- 
 miring as one may the iron will of M'Clure, 
 yet, pcihaps, on the whole it was best that cir- 
 cumstances did not allow him to remain ; for 
 the medical report was most serious, and as cir- 
 cumstances proved that the season of 1853 was 
 not a remarkably favourable one at Melville 
 Island, and the *' Investigator " could not have 
 escaped, we may rejoice that these gallant men 
 were put to no farther trials in Mercy Bay. 
 
 The report of the medical men was to the fol- 
 lowing effect. . 
 
 *' Report or Survey of Crew of * Investigator.' 
 
 " Her Majesty's Ship * Investigaioi,' 
 " Bay of Mercy, 23r(l May, 1853. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " In obedience to your orders conveyed to us 
 through Commander M'Clure directing a survey to 
 

 SURVEY OF THE CHEW. 
 
 285 
 
 be held on the officers and men remaining on board 
 this ship, with a view of ascertaining their general 
 state of health and efficiency for further service in 
 tho Polar Sea, we have the honour to inform 
 you that we have this day held a strict and careful 
 survey accordingly, and beg to state, as the resuit 
 thereof, that their present state of health is such 
 as renders them utterly unfit to undergo the rigour 
 of another winter in this cUmate, without enter- 
 taining the most serious apprehension for the con- 
 sequence. 
 
 " There exists in all of them at present, with one 
 or two exceptions, well marked evidence of scurvy 
 and debility in various stages of development, with 
 great loss of flesh and strength, as may be seen 
 from the ren^M'ks appended to the name of each in 
 the accompanying list, which calls for their 
 departure from these regions as early as possible 
 as a matter of urgent necessity, and the adoption 
 of prompt means to insure the same, that they 
 may be placed under the salutary influence of such 
 anti-scorbutic and other agents as are essential for 
 their recovery and ultimate safety. 
 
 " We are also of opinion that the reduced 
 allowance of provisions on which they have 
 
 I '! 
 
 I- -ir 
 
 !f ' 
 
 ' i \ fi 
 
 \ j 
 
286 DISCOVKRY OF TIIK NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 M: 
 
 i . 
 
 I V 
 
 been victualled for a period of nearly twenty 
 months is one which we consider, and the past 
 experience of others has likewise proved, to be 
 quite inadequate for maintaining the health of 
 the men exposed to the rigorous influence of this 
 climate. , 
 
 " That it has rendered thera less able to generate 
 an amount of animal heat sufficient to resist the 
 intensity of the cold, while it has established a pre- 
 disposition to the attacks of that disease (scurv}') 
 the germs of which now so universally prevail 
 amongst them, with its usual distressing influence 
 on the mind, likewise rendering thera highly sus- 
 ceptible of other diseases, and unable to withstand 
 the privations to which they have been exposed, 
 and which are inseparable from Arctic service, 
 is sufficiently obvious, as their present condition 
 but too fully proves. 
 
 "It is likewise our opinion that, from their present 
 state and condition, the remedial resources of the 
 ship would be insufficient to establish such a state 
 of health and efficiency as to affbrd any guarantee 
 against the occurrence of those evils which could 
 not fail to result from the circumstance of remain- 
 ing in the ship, and exposed to the intense severity 
 of another (the fourth) Arctic winter, after the 
 
DISAPPOINTMENT OF CAIT. M'CLURE. 
 
 287 
 
 effects of a sojourn so long as that which has fallen 
 to their lot to have experienced. 
 
 " We have, &c. 
 (Signed) " Alexander Armstrong, 
 
 " Surgeon, II. M. S. ' Investigator.' 
 
 (Signed) " W. T. Domville, 
 
 " Surgeon, H. i\I. S. * Resolute.' 
 
 " Henry Kellett, Captain, C. B., 
 H.M.S. 'Eesolute.'" 
 
 Some days afterwards, even Captain M'CIure 
 seems to have resigned himself to his disappoint- 
 ment, and, bitter as it was to be obliged to quit his 
 ship, to look upon it as a duty. In every stage of 
 his perilous voyage, he had found that all things 
 v.'ere ordered for the best ; and he dreaded lest the 
 execution of what he and his officers considered 
 their duty as naval men, namely, that of saving 
 their ship, should be construed into a charge 
 of wantonly perilling his crew. It only remained, 
 therefore, for him to land his boats, stores, and pro- 
 visions, so as to form a depot for Captain Collinson, 
 or anyone else who, in after years, should need 
 su*^^- supplies, and then to secure his ship to prevent 
 her being blown to sea by future gales of wind. 
 As an instance of how carefully the provisions and 
 
 \ 
 
 I 'i\ 
 
 i) 
 
11 ^' 
 
 ;« 
 
 ■!.i 
 
 fi'.;^ 
 
 1 «"^l 
 
 288 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 stores had been husbanded during an absence 
 of three years from any store or dockyard, the depot 
 deserves a place in this narrative ; it consisted of 
 the f llowing articles : — - 
 
 Biscuit - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 lOOOlbs. 
 
 Rum 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 26 galls 
 
 Brandy ' 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 20 „ 
 
 Salt beef 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 600 lbs. 
 
 Pork - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1600 „ 
 
 Preserved meat - 
 
 
 
 3000 „ 
 
 Flour - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 6420 „ 
 
 Suet 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 112 „ 
 
 Sugar - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1000 „ 
 
 Chocolate 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 435 „ 
 
 Tea 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 126,, 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 484 „ 
 
 Clothing for thirty men for 
 
 a year, 
 
 boat. 
 
 spars, rope. 
 
 powdei", shot. 
 
 and arms. 
 
 
 Their last duty, and that a painful one, was to 
 crec", a neat tablet over the graves of their three 
 shipmates who had died in the Bay of Mercy, and 
 that done, on the Srd June, 1853, the " Investiga- 
 tor's " crew hoisted the colours to the mast-head of 
 their dear gallant bark, and turned their backs upon 
 her as sorrowfully as they would h«' ve done on an 
 old well-tried friend in his extremity. 
 
 On June 17th, the squadron at Dealy Island 
 was reached by the Investigators, who found that 
 every preparation for their comfort had been made 
 
 *imi ' 
 
THE " RESOLUTE " AND " INTREPID." 
 
 289 
 
 on board the " Resolute " and " Intrepid." Each 
 ship housed a portion of the " Investigator's " crew 
 and officers ; and after a hearty meal and a long 
 exchange of news from home and startling anec- 
 dotes from Banks Land, the Investigators settled 
 into their new ships, and thought all their troubles 
 at an end. 
 
 . Little occurred to break the monotony of arctic 
 life at Bridport Inlet, Dealy Island, until Mr. 
 Roche, mate of the " Resolute," who had been 
 sent down early in the season to the " North 
 Star " with some men, to relieve the increased 
 demand upon the " Resolute's " provisions and 
 stores, returned quite unexpectedly with a dog- 
 sledge, having been to Beechey Island and back, a 
 distance of 600 miles, within the short space of 
 six weeks. . • • 
 
 The news and letters he brought, together 
 with the return of one travelling party after 
 another of Captain Kellett's sledge-expeditions, 
 served to while away the anxious time before the 
 water made in Barrow's Strait. ■ 
 
 Captain M'Clintock, Lieutenants Mecham and 
 Hamilton, made extensive journeys, searching most 
 completely every foot oi land that lay to tlie 
 north or north-west of Melville Island, whilst 
 
 u 
 
 ^ijl 
 
,li ' 
 
 290 DlSCOVfiKY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 m I !. 
 
 Pi 
 
 il 
 
 Ccptain Richards, by a remarkable journey from 
 Northumberland Sonnd in Wellington Channel to 
 Dealy Island, put Captain Kellett in perfect 
 possession of the position of the unlucky division 
 under Captain Sir Edward Belcher. 
 
 Meantime Lieut. Cresswell was sent from the 
 " Eesolute " to Beechey Island, and such despatches 
 given to him as would inform the Admiralty of 
 the safety of the " Investigator," should the " In- 
 trepid " or "Resolute" fail to escape from their 
 advanced position in the forthcoming autumn. 
 
 When Captain Kellett had before him the 
 results of the search made by his sledge-parties, 
 and saw that nothing farther could be done in 
 a north-west direction, he altered his mind about 
 sending the " Intrepid " alone with the " Inves- 
 tigator's " crew to Beechey Island, and decided 
 to start with both vessels for that rendezvous 
 as soon as the state of the ice would admit of 
 his doing so. ' 
 
 August came in ; the ice was in motion outside, 
 but things did not look promising : the season was 
 a backward one at Melville Island, though very 
 forward in Wellington Channel. On the 18th of 
 August a strong gale commenced off the land ; the 
 ice acted upon by It broke up in all directions, a 
 
BYAM MARTIN CHANNEL. 
 
 291 
 
 lane of water made astern, and that night the 
 " Resolute " and " Intrepid " were at sea, and the 
 Investigators, poor fellows, as they hoped, home- 
 ward bound ! 
 
 Within twenty-four hours the ships were brought 
 up by the pack of Byam Martin Channel ; and for 
 many a day they lay under the extreme point of 
 Melville Island, watching for an opening to dash 
 across to Bathurst Land, for, once under its lee, 
 they knew the northerly gales would inevitably 
 make " land water^'' and enable them to accom- 
 plish another run for Beechey Island : thence to 
 England was a certainty. 
 
 Day after day passed ; the drifting pack in 
 Byam Martin Channel continued in a most un- 
 promising state, whilst winter was fast advancing 
 with snow, darkness, and newly-formed ice. Hap- 
 pily, this part of Melville Island, like every other 
 part of the southern shore of that favoured land, 
 was found to be abounding in game, especially 
 musk-oxen. Such a God-send, under the circum- 
 stances, was eagerly seized by Captain Kellett, 
 who naturally felt most anxious to save, and carry 
 in health and strength to England, the crew of 
 the " Investigator." Every available gun and 
 man was sent to secure fresh meat j and such was 
 
 u 2 
 
m I 
 
 292 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 their success that about 10,000 lbs. weight of game 
 was eventually secured, — and beirg soon frozen it 
 was easily preserved for the coming winter. At 
 one time the meat was festooned round the rigging 
 of the " Resolute " and " Intrepid," until they re- 
 sembled butchers' stalls far more than British dis- 
 covery ships. At last, driven to risk anything rather 
 than remain where they were for another winter, 
 the vessels attempted to force a way through the 
 pack ; but on the 9th of September both the " In- 
 trepid " and " Resolute " became permanently 
 imbedded in the newly-formed ice, and a north- 
 west gale forcing down the pack upon them, 
 they became fairly beset and obliged to go whi- 
 ther it and Providence listed. 
 
 It was only another disappointment to the gal- 
 lant crew of the " Investigator." They met it with 
 resignation, and a feeling of thankfulness that they 
 were at any rate some 300 miles nearer home, 
 and that in the well-found ships they were now on 
 board of, every kindness and exertion would be 
 made to carry them safely through their fourth 
 winter. Indeed, no pains were spared b}^ the 
 officers and crew of the " Resolute " and " In- 
 trepid " to grant every comfort to their passengers, 
 and to distract their thoughts from those cor- 
 
 
DRIFTING IN THE ICE. 
 
 293 
 
 roding anxieties which, perhaps, more than all 
 else predispose to scurvy. 
 
 For two months, however, the perils encountered 
 by the drifting ships were very great. Their 
 safety at last appeared to be occasioned by con- 
 stant pressure against the unyielding ships 
 having formed a body of heavy ice round them, 
 the strength of which set at defiance the rest 
 of the surrounding pack. At one time, with 
 northerly winds, they feared being set down to the 
 southward ; and if there had been a good outlet 
 for the ice between Lieut. Osborn's and Lieut. 
 Wynniatt's farthest points in 1851, it was within 
 the bounds of probability that next season, 1854, 
 would find the " Kesolute " and " Intrepid " in 
 some awkward position between Prince of Wales 
 and Prince Albert Land. This fear was put an 
 end to by finding that the pack only drifted lor 
 a short time to the southward, as if to fill up 
 tightly the great space called Melville Sound, and 
 then it and the beset ships drifted steadily away 
 to the eastward — recovering in some measure 
 the southing that had been made — until t le pack, 
 doubtless checked by the islands which lay across 
 its path towards Barrow's Strait — such as those 
 of Grifiiths, Lowther, Garrett, and others — became 
 
 u 3 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
294 DISCOVKRY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 m 
 
 stationary ; and right pleased was Captain Kellctt 
 to find that after the 12th of November his good 
 ship was at rest, she having then reached a point 
 about due cast of Winter Harbour, Melville 
 Island, and in long. 101** W., — an admirable po- 
 sition for an early escape in the ensuing season. 
 My duty, however, being to relate the adventures 
 of the ere '7 of the "Investigator," it will merely 
 be necessary to say that another winter passed 
 over their heads without any great amount of 
 disease. One officer, a Mr. Sainsbury (mate), 
 died on November 14th; but he had been a very 
 long time ill, and life was evidently prolonged in 
 his case so long as he continued to hope to escape 
 another winter. 
 
 Only two or three of the Investigators escaped 
 this their last ordeal. Amongst them was Lieut. 
 Gurney Cresswell, who had been sent down to 
 Beechey Island with a sledge-party, in the spring, 
 from Dealy Island ; and the " Phoenix," Captain 
 Inglefield, having made a flying visit to that 
 spot, Lieut. Cresswell was taken to England in 
 that ship, and on October 7th, 1853, communicated 
 to the Admiralty the proud intelHgence of the 
 achievement of the North-west Passage, and the 
 safety of Captain M'Clure and his companions. 
 
 
>' ll 
 
 SUITLY OF FltKSlI MEAT. 
 
 295 
 
 To thcj wonderful supply of inusk-ox beef 
 obtained at Melville Island, the health of the 
 Investigators vms, no doubt, in a great measure 
 due ; but for tliat providential resource, the 
 " Resolute " and " Intrepid " would have been 
 able to have afforded tlieni but a small supply of 
 fresh or preserved meats, owing to mal-arrange 
 ment in the first provisioning of the expedition 
 and the " Assistance " and " Pioneer " had more 
 over carried off the lion's share, when they re 
 plenished from the " North Star" in August, 1852 
 
 As early as April 14th, 1854, Captain M'Clurc 
 and his crew Avere able to quit the " Resolute " 
 and " Intrepid," and proceed with sledges on foot 
 to Beechey Island, — a pretty good proof that their 
 health had not deteriorated since quitting the Bay 
 of Mercy twelve months previously. One seaman 
 alone was too feeble to walk down ; he was suffering 
 from scurvy of the worst form, and soon after 
 succumbed to it, although taken to the " North 
 Star " on a dog-sledge. The " North Star " and 
 the dep6t at Beechey Island may now be consi- 
 dered as the spring resting-place of our friends 
 the Investigators ; but, to connect one part of this 
 narrative with the other, we must give a slight 
 sketch of the movements of Captain Kellett's 
 
 U 4 
 
 )! -.i 11 
 
 ll 
 
296 DISCOVERY or the north-west passage. 
 
 I (d 
 
 I'^n 
 
 ■! 
 
 division, as well as of that in Wellington Channel 
 under Captain Belcher. 
 
 In the summer of 1853, before the "Resolute" 
 and " Intrepid " left Melville Island, Captain 
 Belcher started for Beechey Island from a spot called 
 Northumberland Sound, at the northern entrance 
 of Wellington Channel. The return sledge-parties 
 of Captains Richards and Osborn had told Captain 
 Belcher of the rescu'; of the " Investigator," and 
 the accomplishment of the North-west Passage. 
 
 It was evident if Captain Kellett got this news 
 home first, and direct from himself, great would 
 be the praise that would fall to his share. The 
 object apparently now became to intercept the 
 " Resolute " or " Intrepid," if they touched at 
 Beechey Island, and make their reports pass 
 through the hands of a senior officer, which Cap- 
 tain Sir E. Belcher happened tc be. No time was, 
 therefore, to be lost in opening a communication 
 with Beechey Island ; and so important was this 
 deemed, that the search was abandoned, and one 
 sledge -party was left to secure their retreat as best 
 they could after their long and trying journey. 
 Cape Majendie was reached at an early day ; and 
 there a boat, with Commander Pullen in her, 
 from the " North Star," joined the " Assistance " 
 and " Pioneer." - • 
 
WATER IN WELLINGTON CHANNEL. 
 
 297 
 
 From Commander Pullen information was 
 gleaned, that the season in Barrow's Strait did not 
 appear a forward one, and that he had found most 
 water making on the west side of Wellington 
 Channel j indeed the large boat he had come up in 
 was a pretty good proof that water and not ice 
 had been mainly met with by him. Giving him 
 orders that would prevent the " Intrepid " passing 
 Beechey Island, and indeed secure a monopoly of 
 intelligence for the Admiralty to himself*, Captain 
 Belcher sent Commander Pullen back again as 
 quickly as possible, and, finding affairs did not 
 press, commenced surveying that great curve of 
 Wellington Channel wherein the Bays of Baring 
 and Prince Alfred exist, and across which curve 
 a solid floe was still firmly frozen. Almost any 
 time between the 9th and 18th of August, the 
 "Pioneer" could have towed the " Assistance" from 
 Dundas Island direct to Cape De Haven; and 
 indeed we know now, from a trip made by Captain 
 Inglefield in a boat to that cape from Beechey 
 Island, that water to that place would have then 
 been found by the "Pioneer" and "Assistance." 
 
 I 
 
 J a 
 
 * Captain Inglefield, however, in the " Phoenix," arrived at 
 Beechey Island, and cnnved home Lieut. Cresswell with the 
 despatches of Captain M'Cluro. 
 
 ^' m 
 
m 
 
 298 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 The log-books of the "Pioneer" and " North Star," 
 and Inglefield's narrative, collectively attest this 
 interesting fact. 
 
 Ignorance, however, of the first rules of naviga- 
 tion in arctic seas was eventually to bring about 
 the loss of this fine squadron ; and after needless 
 risks, and egregious mistakes, the "Pioneer" and 
 her charge found themselves beset for a second 
 winter at the southern horn of Baring Bay. 
 
 People in England, even those most inclined to 
 magnify the horrors of arctic service, had begun 
 to doubt that it was quite as wretched and dan- 
 gerous as had been supposed, and to hold labours 
 in polar ice rather cheap ; a thorough downright 
 catastrophe was necessary to revive their dormant 
 sympathies ; the ice would not wreck us, though 
 God knows every opportunity that ignorance or 
 folly would give it of doing so was afforded ; and 
 the year 1854 saw such a catastrophe actually 
 accomplished, the total desertion of a squadron 
 flying the British pendant in the Polar Seas. 
 
 Totally ignorant of such an arrangement being 
 the intention of the senior officer, the resources 
 of the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " had been so 
 carefully and judiciously husbanded, that with 
 a reduced crciW in each ship, they were still ready 
 
 jj.-. : 
 
 
 ! '■( 
 
 
 ■1 •,;t ^ '-jki 
 
 
 
 
 V. frail' > 1 
 
 : 11 
 
 i 
 
KELLETT AND M'CLINTOCK's WISE MEASURES. 299 
 
 to meet the chsnce of not escaping in 1854 ; and 
 this was the more creditable to Captains Kellet 
 and M'Cliutock, as they had had to victual the 
 additional men and officers from the " Investi- 
 gator," and had left an ample dep6t of provi- 
 sions and clothing in Melville Island for the use 
 of Collinson, should fate lead him there. 
 
 Ever alive to the necessity of not ceasing to 
 search so long as he was in a position to do so, 
 Captain Kellett despatched in the early spring 
 Lieut. Mecham, supported by a party under Mr. 
 Krabb4 (master), to revisit the Bay of Mercy in 
 Banks Land, and to place on Princess Royal 
 Island, in Prince of Wales Strait, information of the 
 safety of the crew of the "Investigator," — a bold 
 and happy act of foresight, as the result proved. 
 Besides this, it was the intention of Captain Kellett 
 to have sent parties later in the spring to connect 
 Lieuts. Osborn and Wynniatt's extreme points of 
 search, and furthermore to have examined down 
 Peel Sound; the central position in which the 
 " Resolute " and " Intrepid " then were, admitting 
 of such measures being executed with the greatest 
 facility. 
 
 But in the meantime Captain Richards — who, as 
 we have elsewhere said, was despatched in weather 
 
I ■ ''• ■ 1; 
 
 H il 
 
 300 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 SO severe as to endanger the lives of all his party — 
 reached Captain Kellett with a " confidential " 
 letter from Sir Edward Belcher, — a strange term to 
 apply to a document which involved the needless 
 abandonment of four fine ships. That " confiden- 
 tial " letter is, of course, now a public document, 
 and a highly curious one too. It contains, amongst 
 a long string of erroneous predictions and verbose 
 ambiguities, this paragraph, which is here copied 
 verbatim: — , ; . 
 
 " Should Captain Collin son fortunately reach 
 you, you will pursue the same course, and not under 
 aru/ consideration risk the detention of another 
 season. These are the views of the Government* ; 
 and having so far explained myself, I will not 
 hamper you with farther instructions than, meet 
 me at Beechey Island, with the crews of all ves- 
 sels, before the 26th August." ' .-^ 
 • Captain Kellett, astonished and pained at the 
 contemplation of such a proceeding, determined 
 not to adopt nny such course upon a confidential 
 letter, and immediately despatched Captain M'Clin- 
 tock to Sir Edward Belcher, to point out the 
 perfect feasibility o:*^ saving his ships: to assure 
 
 * Government (!) and Crown (!) were terms used by that 
 oflScer to give weight to his own intentions. 
 
,1 
 
 SIR EDWARD BELCHER'S TACTICS. 
 
 301 
 
 him of the provisions and stores, as well as the 
 health of a sufficient number of officers and 
 men being such as would enable him to meet the 
 possible contingency of another winter rather than 
 abandon Her Majesty's ships, when they lay in the 
 very best position for an escape directly the ice 
 broke up in Barrow's Strait, and finally, to use 
 Captain Kellett's own expression, to point out to 
 Sir E. Belcher that the parties concerned in desert- 
 ing the ships m. Jer such circumstances " would 
 deserve to have their jackets taken off their backs." 
 But the remonstrances of Captain Kellett were 
 unavailing. Captain Belcher, finding confidential 
 letters would not do, sent Captain M'Clintock back 
 with an order tor the abandonment of the "Resolute" 
 and "Intrepid"; and the crew of the "Investi- 
 gator," who had lived through such trials and hard 
 ships for four winters, stared to see all hands gra- 
 dually retreating upon Beechey Island, ready to 
 return to England as soon as it should be possible, 
 leaving Franklin's expedition as well as Collinson's 
 ship to their fate. Lieut. Mecham and Mr. Krabbe's 
 parties returned during the summer to Beechey 
 Island, having performed perfect marvels in the 
 distance traversed in the course of their jour- 
 neys; and Lieut. Mecham on June 12th brought 
 
 1 
 
 I* 
 
 
 s- ; 
 
 t 
 
 . 
 
 N 
 
 Si ,- 
 
 
 is' 
 
 I'- 
 
 ; il- 
 
i-i \<. lif 
 
 I : ^■ 
 
 302 ^i&COVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 from the "Investigator's" dep6t of provisions on 
 Princess Royal Island deeply interesting informa- 
 tion touching the movements of H. M. S. "Enter- 
 prise," under Captain CoUinson. This was the first 
 news anyone had had of the "Enterprise" since 
 she passed Behring's Strait in 1851 ; and as in 
 that information, dated August 27th, 1852, Captain 
 CoUinson distinctly said, "it is my intention to 
 pursue the channel separating Wollaston from 
 Prince Albert Land, the entrance to which is in 
 lat. 70° 30' N.," all naturally supposed that, as 
 such a decision upon his part showed an undoubted 
 intention to go eastward, some volunteers, at any 
 rate, would be left behind to help him, in case the 
 "Enterprise," like the "Investigator," should be 
 imprisoned in some ice-bound harbour south-west 
 of Cape Walker. But no, Sir Edward Belcher got 
 rid of all difficulty as to Captain Collinson's safety 
 by the following train of reasoning, as fallacious as 
 the language is confused. He says : — 
 
 " However anxious I may be for* a similar 
 result* with regard to Captain CoUinson and 
 party, stiU I am thankful that the records place 
 him in a region free from the perils of arctic 
 
 * He refers to the safety of the " Investigator's " officers and 
 men, • ■ ? . 4 
 
"assistance" and "pioneer" deserted. 303 
 
 ice *, in which Captain M'Clure cc. iders no ship 
 could endure. He had at the latest account two 
 modes of escape : one, by the road he came ; the 
 other, on which I place but little reliance on ac- 
 count of its difficulties, by the land journey to 
 some of the Hudson Bay posts, unless, indeed, 
 he met Dr. Rae, in which case competent guides 
 would materially alter the face of his difficulties." 
 A crooked state of mind, revealed in crooked 
 language. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, Captain CoUinson to get out 
 as best he might, the next step was to give a 
 colour to the eflforts made to stand by and save 
 the " Assistance " and " Pioneer," which on August 
 6th broke out of winter quarters, and advanced 
 slowly down channel as the water and pressure 
 from the north began slowly to break up the 
 belt of ice which extended across Wellington 
 Channel. 
 
 The ice in Barrow's Strait broke up at the same 
 time ; and by the 22nd August the floe of Wel- 
 lington Channel had broken up and dissolved 
 to a distance of fifteen miles northward from 
 Barrow's Strait. A belt of perhaps twenty miles 
 
 * The perils undergone by the " Investigator " in the same 
 latitude, will best convey an idea of the truth of this assertion. 
 
 '1 ■ ' 
 
 j^ ij 
 
304 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 m\] 
 
 1 \ 
 
 only remained between the ships and the waters 
 communicating with the Atlantic Ocean, and that 
 belt of ice much cracked, and evidently wor^^- 
 ing with every tide ; yet it was determined to 
 quit them, and on the 2nth August 1854 the 
 last of that ill-fated expedition was deserted, 
 and all the officers and men of H.M.SS. "As- 
 sistance," " Resolute," " Pioneer," " Intrepid," and 
 " Investigator " had just got on board the " North 
 Star " and made sail, when the " Phoenix," Cap- 
 tain Inglefield, and " Talbot," store-ship. Captain 
 Jenkins, hove in sight round Cape Riley. 
 
 A division of the men and officers then took 
 place, to relieve the crowded decks of the " North 
 Star," the "Phoenix" and "Talbot" each taking 
 a portion. That, and some other small arrange- 
 ments completed, no time was lost in beating 
 a retreat, and on September 6th all reached Disco, 
 on the coast of Greenland, in safety, and eventually 
 returned to England on September 28th, 1854. 
 
 The gallant Investigators found all England's 
 sympathies and feelings enlisted in the war with 
 Russia : and although the members of a naval 
 court-martial, which went through the established 
 form of inquiring into the loss of H.M.S. "In- 
 vestigator," most honourably acquitted Captain 
 
INVESTIGATORS REWARDED. 
 
 305 
 
 M'Clure, his officers, and men from any blame on 
 her account, and added the highest encomiums upon 
 the gallantry and zeal exhibited by all, yet, in a 
 public point of view, the ship's company generally 
 felt that few honours were awarded to them 
 in comparison with the sufferings they had so 
 nobly borne. The Admiralty, to evince their 
 approval, dated back Captain M'Clure's commis- 
 sion, as well as that of his first lieutenant and 
 some other officers, to the day on which the North- 
 west Passage was discovered. Her Gracious Ma- 
 jesty shortly afterwards conferred the honour of 
 knighthood upon Captain M'Clure ; and assuredly 
 it never was more worthily bestowed. 
 
 In the following session of parliament, a select 
 committee of the House of Commons met, to take 
 into consideration the reward due to those who 
 had discovered and achieved the North-west 
 Passage; but in the interim between the ar- 
 rival of Captain Sir Robert M'Ciure in England 
 and the meeting of parliament, news had arrived 
 of Dr. Rae having obtained such certain informa- 
 tion of a party from Franklin's missing squadron 
 having passed the intervening unknown space 
 which lay between Barrow's Strait and the coast 
 of North America, that the duty of the committee 
 
 ! ' 
 
 i-' 
 
 m 
 
lii: « 
 
 806 DISCOVERY OF TUB NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 became a somewhat responsible one, in so far as 
 awarding the priority of discovery to Franklin or 
 M'Clure, until the papers of the former came to 
 hand. 
 
 Lady Franklin in a most able and touching let- 
 ter, called the earnest attention of the honourable 
 committee to the impossibility of arriving at any 
 certain decision in the absence of all evidence as to 
 Franklin's claim to the priority ; and they therefore 
 qualified the award by stating, very justly, that 
 Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, in H.M.S. " Investi- 
 gator," had discovered a North-west Passage, and 
 successfully carried his followers from the Pacific 
 to the Atlantic Ocean by that route, exhibiting 
 himself an example of unflinching perseverance, 
 courage, and zeal, which his olficers and men nobly 
 followed, and, to use the words of the honourable 
 committee, " that they performed deeds of heroism 
 which, though not accompanied by the excitement 
 and the glory of the battle-field, yet rival, in 
 bravery and devotion to duty, the highest and 
 most successful achievements of war ! " Accord- 
 ingly a reward of 10,000/. sterling was granted 
 to H.M.S. " Investigator," as a token of national 
 approbation. 
 
 % i ' 
 
 l^u 1 , 
 
f ' 
 
 GE. 
 
 far as 
 klin or 
 arae to 
 
 ing let- 
 ourable 
 
 at any 
 ce as to 
 lerefore 
 ly, that 
 Investi- 
 ige, and 
 
 Pacific 
 hibiting 
 
 erance, 
 n nobly 
 ourable 
 leroism 
 itement 
 ival, in 
 est and 
 Accord- 
 granted 
 national 
 
 307 
 
 % ' f 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 Gloomy Prospect in tho Autumn of 1854. — Revival of Despond- 
 ing Tales — Sudden Arrival of Intelligence from Dr. Rae. 
 — A Party from Franklin's Ship heard of. — Dr. Rae's Report. 
 
 . — Relics and Proofs of both " Erebus " and " Terror " being 
 
 . in Existence. — Tho Russian War prevents a Naval Expedition 
 being sent to Barrow's Strait — The Admiralty direct the 
 Hudson Bay Company tc iend Mr. Anderson. — Mr. Ander- 
 
 ; son proceeds in 1855 to the mouth of the Great Fish River. 
 
 - — Verifies the Fact of a Party from the lost Expedition hav- 
 ing been there. — No Light thrown upon their Fate. — 
 
 ' Neither Bodies, Graves, Clothing, nor Arms discovered. — Re- 
 marks upon the Relics discovered. — Probable course adopted 
 by the * Forlorn Hope.' — Hopes exist of the Mystery still 
 being cleared up. — Distance the Party could have travelled. 
 — Position of the lost Expedition : how lost. — Reason why 
 
 : Fury Beach was not visited by them. — Creditable to England 
 
 ' that the Search has never been stayed. — The Admiralty 
 Reward Dr. Rae for giving us Information of Franklin's 
 Position. — General Revival of Interest in the Question. 
 
 Nothing could have been more crushing to the 
 hopeful feelings of even the most sanguine or 
 earnest in the search for Franklin, than the sad 
 intelligence which was brought home in October 
 1854. The labours of the officers and crews of 
 H.M.S. " Assistance," " Resolute," " Intrepid," and 
 
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 308 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
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 " Pioneer," auring three years, had not thrown one 
 ray of light on the sad mystery; and as if to 
 preclude all possibility of any farther steps being 
 taken, all the vessels available for the search had 
 been abandoned, deserted to the mercy of the ice 
 and winds of 74° north latitude. The solemn 
 silence with which the venerable president, of the 
 courts martial which sat to try Captain Belcher, 
 returned him his sword with a bare acquittal, best 
 conveyed the painful feelings which wrung the 
 hearts of all professional men upon that occasion ; 
 and all felt that there was no hope of the mystery 
 of Franklin's fate being cleared up in our time, 
 except by some unexpected miracle. But just at 
 that very time, when those who had ever taken a 
 gloomy view of the subject smiled at the realisa- 
 tion of their unfavourable prognostications, and 
 congratulated themselves on having exactly foretold 
 what happened to the *' Erebus " and " Terror," 
 either hoisting them up on the top of floes off 
 Newfoundland or squeezing them to destruction in 
 Lancaster Sound, a letter reached England from 
 Dr. Rae, announcing that he had at last struck 
 upon the clue, and that a portion of Franklin's 
 expedition had reached, and perished at or near, 
 the mouth of the Grer,t Fish River ! 
 
INTELLIGENCE FROM DR. RAE. 
 
 809 
 
 Is it presumption to say that the opportune 
 discovery of such a fact at such a moment was a 
 marked instance of Divine interposition? That it 
 should have come from such a quarter is all the 
 more interesting because Dr. Rae, whilst on the 
 journey in which lie became possessed of this 
 important information, was, he tells us, pur^^ly 
 employed upon geographical research; and prior to 
 starting he announced that fact, coupling it with 
 the remark that he was going where Franklin was 
 not likely to be met with. 
 
 His tale is briefly this. He had been sent by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company in 1853 to complete the 
 survey of the long isthmus of land which con' 
 nects North Somerset with the American continent, 
 under the name of Boothia. He had to connect 
 Captain Sir James Clarke Ross's magnetic pole, or 
 the coast-line about it, with his own discoveries 
 near the Castor and Pollux river. 
 
 Repeating his old plan of proceedings in 1846-^7, 
 Dr. Rae wintered at the lakes on the isthmus 
 which divides Regent's Inlet from Repulse Bay, 
 and early in the spring of 1854 started with his 
 sledge-party to accomplish his task. Ascending 
 Committee Bay as far as Simpson Peninsula, he 
 then struck westward, taking advantage of a series 
 
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 310 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 of lakes and frozen streams to relieve the labour of 
 sledging across the land which intervened between 
 him and the western waters. V^'iilst making his 
 way in that direction, Dr. Rae met, on the ^Oth 
 April, an Esquimaux, who, upon being asked if he 
 had ever seen any ships or white men, replied no, 
 but that a party of white men had died of starva- 
 tion a long distance to the west of where he then 
 was, and beyond a large i * ver ! 
 
 Now distance and time are two things that an 
 Esquimaux has great difficulty in conveying his 
 idea of to a European ; and Dr. Rae assures us that, 
 although he afterwards had reason to believe that 
 the Great Fish River, then only seventy or eighty 
 miles distant, was the stream referred to, still at 
 the time he could only learn that the spot spoken 
 of was beyond a distant river. Unable to glean 
 more particulars, further than here and there 
 coming across convincing proofs of the natives being 
 in possession of articles from Franklin's ships. Dr. 
 Rue then made an effort northward, as if to combine 
 an execution of his instructions with the purpose (as 
 he assured the writer) of proceeding in the direction 
 the retreating party must have taken when coming 
 down ujjon the American shore. Circumstances 
 prevented his journey being a successful one. 
 
 
DE. RAe's report. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ^!l' 
 
 Dr. Rae returned to the mouth of the Castor and 
 Pollux river, and again retraced his steps overland 
 to Repulse Bay, picking up relics and information, 
 ■which he condensed into the following Report to 
 the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and 
 with it made the best of his way to England : — 
 
 " On the morning of the 20th (April) we were 
 met by a very intelligent Esquimaux, driving a 
 dog-sledge laden with musk-ox beef. This man at 
 once consented to accompany us two days' journey, 
 and in a few minutes had deposited his load on the 
 snow, and was ready to join us. Having explained 
 to him my object, he said that the road by which 
 he had come was the best for us ; and having 
 lightened the sledges, we travelled with more 
 facility. We were now joined by another of 
 the natives, who had been absent seal-hunting 
 yesterday, but, being anxious to see us, had visited 
 our snow-house early this morning, and then fol- 
 lowed up our track. This man was very com- 
 municative* and on putting to him the usual 
 questions ay to his having seen ' white men ' 
 before, or any ships or boats, he replied in the 
 negative, but said that a party of ' Kabloonans ' 
 had died of starvation a long distance to the west 
 of where we then were, and boyond a large river. 
 
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 312 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 
 
 He stated that he did not know the exact place, 
 that he never had been there, and that he could 
 not accompany us so far. The substance of the 
 information then and subsequently obtained from 
 various sources was to the following effect : — 
 
 " In the spring, four winters since, (185G,) while 
 some Esquimaux families were killing seals near 
 the north shore of a large island, named in Arrow- 
 smith's chares King William Land, about forty 
 white men were seen travelling in company south- 
 ward over the ice, and dragging a boat and sledges 
 with them. They were passing along the west 
 shore of the above-named island. None of the 
 party could speak the Esquimaux language so well 
 as to be understood ; but by signs the natives were 
 led to believe that the ship or ships had been 
 crushed by ice, and that they were now going to 
 where they expected to find deer to shoot. From 
 the appearance of the men, all of whom, with the 
 exception of an officer, were hauling on the drag- 
 ropes of the sledge, and looked thin, they were then 
 supposed to be getting short of provisions; and 
 they purchased a small seal, or piece of seal, from 
 the natives. The officer was described as being a 
 tall, stout, middle-aged meii. When their day's 
 journey terminated; they pitched tents to rest in. 
 
DR. BAE'S report. 
 
 313 
 
 " At a later date the same season, but previous 
 to the disruption of the ice, the corpses of some 
 thirty persons, and some graves, were discovered 
 on the continent, and l&ve dead bodies on an island 
 near it, about a long day's journey to the N.W. of 
 the mouth of a large stream, which can be no other 
 than Back's Great Fish River, (named by the Es- 
 quimaux Oot-koo-hi-ca-lik,) as its description and 
 that of the low shore in the neighbourhood of 
 Point Ogle and Montreal Island agree exactly with 
 that of Sir George Back. Some of the bodies were 
 in a tent, or tents; others were under the boat, 
 which had been turn^^.d over to form a shelter, and 
 some lay scattered about in different directions. 
 Of those seen on the island, it was supposed that 
 one was that of an officer, (chief,) as he had a 
 telescope strapped over his shoulders, and a double- 
 barrelled gun lay underneath him. 
 
 "From the mutilated state of many of the 
 bodies, and the contents of the kettles, it is 
 evident that our wretched countrymen had been 
 driven to the dread alternative of cannibalism as 
 u means of sustaining life. A few of the unfor- 
 tunate men must have survived until the arrival 
 of the wild fowl, (say until the end of May,) as 
 shots were heard and fresh bones and feathers of 
 
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 314 DISCOVERY OF THE NOr.TII-",VEST TASSAGE. 
 
 geese were noticed near the scene of the sad 
 event. 
 
 " There appears to have been an abundant store 
 of ammunition, as the gunpowder was emptied by 
 the natives in a heap on the ground out of the kegs 
 or cases containing it, and a quantity of shot and 
 ball was found below high-water mark, having 
 probably been left on the ice close to the beach 
 before the spring commenced. There must have 
 been a number of telescopes, guns, (several of 
 them double-barrelled,) watches, compasses, &c., 
 all of which seem to have been broken up, as I saw 
 pieces of these different articles with the natives, 
 and I purchpsed as many as possible, together 
 with some silver spoons and forks, an Order of 
 Merit in the form of a star, and a small silver 
 plate engraved ' Sir John Franklin, K. C. B.' 
 
 " Enclosed is a list of the principal articles 
 bought, with a note of the initials, and a rough pen- 
 and-ink sketch of the crests on the forks and spoons. 
 The articles themselves I shall have the honour of 
 handing over to you on my arrival in London. 
 
 " None of the Esquimaux with whom I had 
 communication saw the ' white ' men, either when 
 living or after death ; nor had they ever been at 
 the place where the corpses were found, but had 
 
 i(*i. 
 
 ■■" '11. 
 
RELICS OF THE " EREBUS " AND "TERROR." 315 
 
 their information from those who had been there 
 and who had seen the party when travelling on 
 the ice. 
 
 " From what I could learn, there is no reason to 
 suspect that any violence had been offered to the 
 sufferers by the natives. 
 
 " List of articles purchased from the Equimaux, 
 said to have been obtained at the place w^ere the 
 bodies of the persons were found, viz : — 
 
 " One silver table fork — crest, an animal's head, 
 with wings extended above; 3 silver table forks 
 — crest, a bird with wings extended; 1 silver 
 tablespoon — crest, with initials 'F.R.M.C (Cap- 
 tain Crozier, Terror) ; 1 silver spoon and one fork 
 — crest, bird with laurel branch in mouth, motto, 
 * Spero meliora ; ' 1 silver table spoon, 1 tea spoon, 
 and one dessert fork — crest, a fish's head looking 
 upwards, with laurel branches on each side ; 1 
 silver table fork — initials, ' H.D.S.G.' (Harry D. 
 S. Goodsir, Assistant- Surgeon, Erebus) ; 1 silver 
 table fork— initials, 'A. M'D.' (Alexander M'Do- 
 nald, Assistant-Surgeon, Terror) ; 1 silver table 
 fork — iriu'als, ' G.A.M.' (Gillies A. Macbean, Se- 
 cond-Master, Terror) ; 1 silver table fork — 
 initials, 'J.T.'; 1 silver dessert spoon — initials. 
 
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 316 DISCOVERS OF THE N0RTH-WES1' PASSAGE. 
 
 'J.S.P.' ^John S. Peddie, Surgeoii, Erebus); 1 
 round silver plate, engraved, 'Sir John Franklin, 
 K.C.B.' ; a star or order, with motto, * Nee aspera 
 terrent, G. K. III., MDCCCXV.' 
 
 " Also a number of other articles with no marks 
 by which they could be recognised, but which will 
 be handed over, with those above-named, to the 
 Secretary of the Hudson Bay Company. 
 
 "John Rae, C. F. 
 « Repulse Bay, July, 1854." 
 
 It matters little what portion of the Esquimaux 
 tale is correct, or what fabulous ; of one great fact 
 Dr. Rae has assured us, namely that a party from 
 the " Erebus " and " Terror " did reach the coast on 
 or about the Great Fish River. It is fair to 
 infer that the party comprised officers and men 
 from both vessels, because the few articles re- 
 covered from the natives, bear the names of 
 " Erebus " as well as " Terror." For instance we 
 have Franklin's star of the Guelphic order, and 
 some of Crezier's plate. 
 
 It was very natural, — for it occurred in Captain 
 M'Clure's case, as told in the foregoing narrative, 
 — that if the ships of Franklin's expedition had 
 become frozen in in some bay which did not 
 

 PUBLIC MIND PRE-OCCUPIED BY WAR. 
 
 317 
 
 often clear out of ice, he should have done as 
 M'Clure intended to do, send a party home vi^ 
 America, to convey intelligence and seek succour. 
 Franklin knew that when on a former occasion, in 
 1833, Sir John Ross had got into difficulties in 
 the "Victory," and was missing, a party was at 
 once organised, and sent down the Great Fish 
 River to seek for him. Might not Sir John 
 Franklin have fairly supposed that as much would 
 be done in his behalf ? Hot/ could he know of 
 the opposition all propositions of such a rational 
 nature were likely to meet with from persons con- 
 sulted by the Admiralty. 
 
 The public mind was too deeply engaged in the 
 sufferings of the British army upon the heights of 
 Sebastopol, to grant the attention it merited to the 
 interesting intelligence brought to England by Dr. 
 Rae or to the collateral proof brought home by 
 Captain CoUinson (who had happily escaped with 
 the " Enterprise ") from another point about the 
 same distance from the north shore of King Wil- 
 liam's Land as the Great Fish River. It consisted 
 of a piece of wood-work, which must have be- 
 longed to either the " Erebus " or the " Terror," 
 and which was found by accident upon an island 
 near the " Enterprise's " winter quarters in Cam- 
 bridge Bay. 
 
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318 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty 
 took the opinion of some arctic authorities, upon the 
 subject of what could be done towards still farther 
 clearing up the tale brought home by Dr. Rae ; for 
 there was much about it vague, and calculated to 
 keep alive hopes o h lost distressing nature to 
 those deeply interefcavl i < he crews of Franklin's 
 ships. A gigantic war wl ^^ressing upon the 
 resources of our navy both in ships and men, none 
 of them could then be spared; and to meet the 
 outcry for some effort to be made to ascertain if it 
 really was the mouth of the Great Fish River that 
 Franklin's travellers had reached, the Hudson's 
 Bay Company were again requested to send out a 
 party to that locality. 
 
 Dr. Rae having declined to take charge of the 
 party which was equipped for this purpose, it was 
 consigned to the care of Mr. James Anderson, a 
 chief factor of the company, an officer of high 
 reputation and much experience as a traveller. 
 Lady Franklin, however, earnestly and solemnly 
 protested against this expedition ; she foretold the 
 improbability of its ever reaching King William's 
 Land, and short of that the result would be as 
 inconclusive as Dr. Rae's report, and a loss of 
 very valuable time. 
 
a 
 
 1 1 
 
 MISSION OF MR. ANDEBSON. 
 
 319 
 
 Labouring under many disadvantages, from the 
 short time given to equip and start, Mr. Ander- 
 son commenced his descent, from Fort Resolution 
 to the mouth of the Great Fish River, on June 
 22nd, 1855, with three canoes of wooden framing 
 but birch-bark planking, without an Esquimaux in- 
 terpreter. On July 30th, at the rapids below Lake 
 Franklin, three Esquimaux lodges were seen, and 
 various articles were found, denoting that some of 
 the unfortunate men they were in search of had 
 been there. The foot note to this page is worthy 
 of careful perusal — we will refer to it again.* 
 . Pushing on. Point Beaufort was reached, and at 
 last Montreal Island landed upon. " There," says Mr. 
 Anderson, " on a high ridge of rocks at the S.E. 
 
 * Extract from Mr. Anderson^ s Report, vide Blue Book. — 
 " On the 30th, at the rapids below Lake Franklin, three Esqui- 
 maux lodges were seen on the opposite shore, and shortly after 
 an elderly man crossed to us. After the portage was made we 
 crossed over, and immediately perceived various articles be- 
 longing to a boat, such as tent-poles and kayack paddles made out 
 of ash oars, pieces of mahogany, elm, oak, and pine ; also copper 
 and sheet-iron boilers, tin soup tureens, pieces of instruments, 
 a letter nip with the date 1843, a broken handsaw, chisels, &c. 
 Only one man was left at the lodges ; but the women, who were 
 very intelligent, made us understand, by words and signs, that 
 these articles came from a boat, and that the white men belong- 
 ing to it had died of starvation. " 
 
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 320 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 point of the island, a number of Esquimaux caches 
 were found, and, besides seal oil, various articles 
 were found belonging to a boat or ship, such as 
 chain-hooks, chisels, blacksmith's shovel and cold 
 chisel, tin oval boiler, a bar of unwrought iron 
 about three feet long, one and a half inch broad, 
 and a quarter of an inch thick ; small pieces of 
 rope, bunting, and a number of sticks strung to- 
 gether, on one of which was cut * Mr. Stanley ' 
 (surgeon of the Erebus). A little lower down was 
 a large quantity of chips, shavings, and ends of 
 plank of "pine, elm, ash, oak, and mahogany, evi- 
 dently sawn by unskilful hands ; every chip was 
 turned over, and on one of them was found the 
 word * Terror ' carved. It was evident that this 
 was the spot where the boat was cut up by the Es- 
 quimaux ; but not even a scrap of paper could be 
 discovered, and though rewards were offered, and 
 the most minute search made over the whole 
 island, not a vestige of the remains of our unfor- 
 tunate countrymen could be discovered." 
 
 The party next examined Point Ogle, where 
 only a small piece of cod-line and a strip of cotton 
 was found; and on the 8th August they began 
 to retrace their steps, having held no com- 
 munication with, indeed seen, no Esquimaux be- 
 
 i'^ir I 
 

 REMARKS ON DR. RAE S REPORT. 
 
 321 
 
 yond the one man and few women at the rapids 
 below Franklin Lake, and never been able to reach 
 King William's Land. ThM information reached 
 us early in 1856, and goes to confirm Dr. Rae's 
 supposition, tliat the Great Fish Kiver was the 
 stream upon which the party he had heard of had 
 retreated ; but so far as clearing up the mystery 
 of what became of them, tlie whole affair, if pos- 
 sible, is in a more unsatisfactory state than ever. 
 
 Taking it for granted that the Esquimaux did 
 see thirty or forty men Nvith a boat, cz Dr. 
 Rae asserts, what has become of them ? If they 
 did, when they reached the continent, become de- 
 sperate with misery, and commit cannibalism, — the 
 practice is by no means rare in those wild regions, 
 and it would assuredly prolong life : — where 
 are the survivors ? Is it likely they sat down there 
 and died one after the other? If they weiv. so 
 lost to their own interests and safety as to remain, 
 would not the survivors have scraped the earth 
 over the bones of those who perished first ? 
 
 Every arctic traveller knows that the tender 
 and oily bones of the seal — even the brittle ones 
 of birds — are found preserved over the whole 
 extent of the arctic regions visited by us. What, 
 then, has become of the bones of thirty men ? 
 
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322 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAQB. 
 
 Five years after the " Erebus " and " Terror " left 
 Beechey Island, in Barrow's Strait, all those who 
 visited the scene of their winter quarters, found 
 clothing, scraps of paper^ and the thousand signs of 
 Europeans having been there, looking just as fresh 
 as the day they were left, and that in a far worse 
 climate than Montreal Island. Esquimaux were 
 not likely to have used dead men's bones. If they 
 had European clothing in their possession, it is 
 hardly likely that they could have concealed it 
 entirely. There is nOt a musket, pike, or cutlass 
 produced : the party were not likely to have gone 
 there unarmed ; indeed the Esquimaux acknow- 
 ledged having seen both powder, shot, and ball. 
 And as to Mr. Anderson's theory of the wind 
 blowing away or covering their journals and papers, 
 because his nautical almanacs suffered, it is 
 purely assuming that the officer who headed 
 Franklin's party was such an idiot as to leave 
 his papers strewed about the surface of Montreal 
 Island, instead of putting them in a cache, where, 
 as arctic discovery proves, papers have been pre- 
 served and discovered after longer intervals of time 
 than perhaps any other climate would admit of. 
 
 Looking therefore at the evidence before us, it 
 amounts simply to this, that 
 
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 •" left 
 30 who 
 found 
 igns of 
 IS fresh 
 p worse 
 s were 
 If they 
 [1, it is 
 saled it 
 cutlass 
 7Q gone 
 ticknow- 
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 tie wind 
 papers, 
 it is 
 headed 
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 ON THE RELICS OP FRANKLIN's CREW. 323 
 
 " A party from the * Erebus * and * Terror ' 
 did reach the Great Fish River, and have left traces 
 at Montreal Island and at the first rapids in 
 ascending the stream ! " Further than this, all is 
 apocryphal. Mr. Anderson very naturally went 
 upon his journey, firmly believing every iota of the 
 translated account of Dr. Rae's interpreter ; in- 
 deed in the absence of any means of communi- 
 cation with the one old man and few women 
 whom he did see, he had no other resource than 
 to connect the traces which lay before him with 
 the report previously made public. But sailors 
 may be allowed to put a sailor's explanation to 
 what lay before Mr. Anderson ; and the folloAving is 
 our version of the tale it told : — 
 
 On Montreal Island Mr. Anderson found, he 
 says, " a quantity of chips, and shavings, and the 
 ends oi plank of pine, elm, ash, oak, and mahogany 
 evidently sawn by unskilful hands." 
 
 Now, no boat supplied to the " Erebus " or 
 "Terror" from Her Majesty's yards, which any 
 party of men could have dragged a hundred miles 
 over ice, would have been constructed of plank of 
 so many descriptions ; but it is very certain that a 
 party retreating to the Great Fish River, and 
 knowing the long series of rapids and portages 
 
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 324 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 in that stream, would have carried with them 
 materials such as plank, which, with the framing of 
 their large boat, would form rough canoes fit for 
 their purpose. 
 
 Mr. Anderson distinctly says, " chips and 
 shavings." Now a savage, who had never seen a 
 planing instrument, was not likely to be able to 
 produce shavings. After informing us that the 
 plank was evidently cut by unskilful hands, Mr. 
 Anderson says, " everi' chip was twmed over, and 
 on one of them was found the word ' Terror ' 
 carved ! '" Surely that ominous word is a mute 
 witness against Esquimaux having been the men 
 who there laboured; yet in the next paragraph 
 we read, — 
 
 " It was evident that this was the spof where 
 the boat was cut up by the Esquimaux ! " 
 
 Surely no such fair inference can be drawn. 
 That the party brought carpenters' tools with them, 
 we have the proof in Mr. Anderson discovering, 
 at the lodges near the rapids, "a broken hand- 
 saw, chisels, ^'c." ; and perhaps if a careful list 
 could be procured of every article seen there or at 
 Repulse Bay, some more interesting evidence 
 might be obtained ; for even as a straw will show 
 the course of a great stream, so may sor j in- 
 
iE. 
 
 ON THE KELICS OF FRANIiLIN's CREW. 325 
 
 them 
 
 ling of 
 
 fit for 
 
 )S and 
 seen a 
 able to 
 «at the 
 Is, Mr. 
 ;er, and 
 Terror ' 
 a mute 
 he men 
 pgraph 
 
 t where 
 
 drawn, 
 h them, 
 )vering, 
 hand' 
 
 \\\ list 
 re or at 
 
 vidf nee 
 
 1 show 
 
 
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 m- 
 
 significant trifle throw sudden light upon this sad 
 subject. 
 
 The existence of traces further up the river 
 than Montreal Island is a significant fact ; and in 
 support of the idea that on Montreal Island 
 preparations were made to ascend the stream, we 
 have another proof in the ash oars being cut or 
 reduced into paddles, — a very necessary measure 
 for a party about to go up narrow and tortuous 
 rivers, and totally unlikely to have been done by 
 the Esquimaux, who have no kyacks or canoes in 
 that part of America. Some of these paddles were 
 found at the rapids likewise. 
 
 It is true the women at this spot made signs 
 that these articles came from a boat whose crew 
 perished of starvation ; but they did not give a 
 single proof of the truth of the tale, or point 
 out the grave of one of the unfortunate party. 
 
 Dr. Rae, zealous for the character of the Es- 
 quimaux, repudiates indignantly all idea of their 
 having been treacherous, nor is it at all desirable 
 to give rise to any bloody suppositions upon the 
 matter ; but any one, who will carefully read over 
 the able paper of Captain Maguire, in tbe Ap- 
 pendix of this work, can, as easily as the most 
 experienced traveller, form a correct idea of the 
 
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 326 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 character of the Esquimaux generally ; and he will 
 then agree with us in thinking that the savage 
 of the polar regions, though not naturally cruel 
 or treacherous, would, like most others, consult his 
 own interests rather than the dictates of humanity, 
 when such a windfall as a boat's crew of starving, 
 scorbutic men, carrying with them untold wealth 
 in the shape of wood, iron, and canvas, fell into 
 their hands, and when they confessed, as those 
 poor fellows evidently did, their direful necessity. 
 
 Some of Franklin's people may, we think, have 
 died of disease or starvation at the place upon the 
 continent spoken of by the natives ; but that spot 
 has not been reached by us as yet. Others 
 evidently got to an island ; there the Esquimaux 
 say the officer perished, and £ve men likewise. 
 AVhether or no, such an island as Montreal Island 
 was very likely to have been chosen by them 
 whereon to await the opening up of the Great 
 Fish River; they would be in a good posi- 
 tion for commencing their canoe voyage, and be 
 less likely, whilst employed constructing canoes 
 or rafts, to be interrupted by natives. Granting, 
 therefore, that some perished at each place spoken of 
 by the natives (though, until there is proof, people 
 are justified in saying Englishmen can live where 
 
 1 
 
 
SOME HOPE OF SUHVIVORS. 
 
 327 
 
 Esquimaux can) — granting even that tlie remainder 
 did so far forget their manhood as to eat the flesh 
 of their shipmates, is it unreasonable to suppose 
 that, when the river opened, some few of those un- 
 fortunates started with what they had constructed, 
 abandoning all their unnecessary gear on the 
 island, and at the first portage? 
 
 They might have ascended far, and fallen in 
 detail, and yet never, in such a water-intersected 
 region, have been discovered by Mr. Anderson 
 in his descent — the more especially if they, taking 
 Sir George Back's chart, had followed his old track 
 — a track from which Mr. Anderson departed con- 
 siderably, and with advantage to himself and his 
 party as far as rapidity of journey was concerned. 
 As to holding out a hope of any straggler sur- 
 viving amongst Esquimaux or Indians, it is not 
 our desire to do so ; but those who, by following 
 up a similar train of argument as ourselves, arrive 
 at a hope of such a pleasing and consolatory na- 
 ture, ought not to be ridiculed for doing so. 
 
 They who have kept alive hope, who have 
 urged on expedition after expedition, in spite 
 of failure, in spite of ridicule, and in spite of 
 uncharitable imputations of mania or interested 
 motives, have now reason to feel happy that such 
 
 
 'i 
 
 ^i 
 
 
 Sr 
 
328 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 trifles did not check their eiForts ; it remains yet 
 to be seen whether perseverance will not still lift 
 the curtain of this sad but glorious tragedy. 
 
 It is not alone the fate of those forty men, 
 that we des'.re to know — they were but a fraction 
 of the lost expedition ; there are still one hundred 
 souls unaccounted for ! and two of Her Ma.]esty's 
 ships ! 
 
 We, who have reduced arctic travelling to a 
 mere arithmetical calculation, know very nearly the 
 distance a body of sailors numbering forty could 
 have come from, dragging a heavy wooden boat 
 over the ice, besides the quantity of articles 
 which have been enumerated elsewhere, and which 
 formed, doubtless, but a small portion of what they 
 had with them. Taking, therefore, the weight 
 dragged by the forty men as 200 lbs. per man, and 
 the distance accomplished daily about '( : miles, aa 
 allowance extremely liberal Tor debiiit^t-J searaen, 
 we have the precedents of Captains Fdchards, 
 Osborn, and Penny (who all have had to carry 
 heavy wooden boats as far as possible over the ice) 
 for saying that a journey of about fifteen days, or 
 150 miles, would be about the utmost distance they 
 could have come from ; the more so that sledge- 
 tiavelling was then but little understood, and 
 
SITUATION OF " EUEBUS " AND "TERROR." 329 
 
 that the extent of the sledge journeys made from 
 Beechey Island by Franklin's people, as denoted 
 by their cairns, do not exhibit any marked im- 
 provement in that respect, Cape Bowden in 
 Wellington Channel, and Cresswell's Tower in 
 Barrow's Strait, being, as far as we know, the limit 
 of their explorations in that quarter; and neither 
 of them would entail a journey of fifty miles. 
 
 That the " Erebus " and " Terror " are some- 
 where within the limits of the unsearched area 
 about King William's Land, everything now 
 denotes. One hundred and fifty or two hundred 
 miles from Montreal Island, northward, carries 
 us into the centre of this space, and where Vic- 
 toria Strait is split in two by the large island 
 called King William's Land. In and about Cape 
 Felix on that island, or near the magnetic pole 
 in Boothia, they most probably got beset ; for 
 had they been on Victoria Land, where natives, 
 game, and fish abound, they would, it is fair to 
 infer, have sent their " forlorn hope " along it 
 towards the Copper-mine or Mackenzie Kiver. 
 How they reached that supposed point, with their 
 ships, time and a discovery of their journals will 
 alone tell. Whether by rounding the west side of 
 Prince of Wales Land, and pas»?ng down a channel 
 
 I'; 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 M:!! 
 
■'% 
 
 [i 'f 
 
 330 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGE. 
 
 which some suppose to exist in a south-east di- 
 rection between it and Victoria Land, or whether, 
 as appears most natural, they took the fine and 
 promising channel which offered to the southward 
 betv-'een Cape Bur ney and Cape Wallcer, 7iow called 
 Peel Sound, and so struck the American continent, 
 we can only surmise. But the absence of all 
 cairns, or signs of their having been detained 
 or having landed on either coast of Prince of 
 Wales Land, as far as it is now kno^yn, or of North 
 Somerset, leads to the natural supposition that 
 they are nearer to King William's Land than to 
 any other spot — perhaps in some indentation on 
 its northern coast, into which they ran during a 
 late and stormy season, as M'Clure aid in the 
 " Investigator," and John Ross did in the " Vic- 
 tory," never to escape with their ships. It has 
 been argued against the existence of Franklin's 
 ships in this quarter, that he would assuredly 
 have visited the Fury Beach depot,* in Regent's 
 Inlet. We reply to this, that Franklin, through 
 his ice-master and others in his expedition, knew 
 well how wjrtLless it was for his purpose. He 
 knew that, nice it hau been formed, Sir John 
 Ross had proviolor ed the " Victory " from it, 
 that he had retroate ' apon if,, and lived on it with 
 
 
 
 !>/. 
 

 I: 
 
 FURY BEACH DEPOT. 
 
 I / 
 
 531 
 
 his crew nearly twelve months, and eventually 
 equipped himself there prior to his escape in 
 1833. After that some whalers had swept nearly 
 everything off the beach ; and, to escape the con- 
 sequences of an Admiralty prosecution, one of 
 the vessels had thrown into Peterhead flarbour 
 a quantity of provisions she had carried off as 
 plunder from the " Fury " depot. All this Frank- 
 lin knew; and when Lieut. Robinson of the "Enter- 
 prise " reached that supposed depot in ] 849, from 
 Leopold Harbour, he found little there besides a 
 cask or two of flour and a few raisins — showing 
 how wisely Franklin had done in not falling back 
 upon it. 
 
 It is needless to discuss the question of who has 
 been to blame for the misdirected efforts of the 
 nation, or to lament the zeal and energy of officers 
 expended in an unsuccessful search for Franklin. It 
 could not, indeed be otherwise : the chart as it stood 
 in 1848 was a blank ; and were it so at the present 
 hour what clus should we now have as to where to 
 seek Franklin, even if two boat-parties, instead of 
 one, had been heard of on the American shore ? 
 The labours of those employed have assuredly 
 narrowed the area to the mere work of one season, 
 with a properly-equipped expedition, in Peel Sound ; 
 
 ■1 
 
 I : 
 
 k 
 
f m 
 
 ' ij 
 
 ii 
 
 ii 
 
 332 DISCOVEltY OF TUE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 and to those who blame us for having spent time 
 in searching to the north-west of Beechey Island, 
 the simplest reply is, that we glory in having had 
 the hope accorded to us in 1852, of Franklin's ex- 
 pedition being in that direction. It kept up the 
 interest of the world upon the subject ; and it 
 en.u led us, though unsuccessful there, to say we 
 never desponded, and never believed that they 
 would not be found, or that they turned back from 
 Beechey Island ; and England may boast that, 
 owing to that and other circumstances, she never 
 relaxed her efforts until a certain clue to their 
 position was secured. It is, undoubtedly, for the 
 discovery of that clue, with the certainty that it 
 holds out, that by following it up steadily we shall 
 soon know the fate of Franklin's and Crozier's 
 ships' companies, that the Admiralty have, very 
 justly, rewarded Dr. Rae with a portion of the 
 twenty thousand pounds awarded by Parliament ; 
 and although such a reward does not corne under 
 the strict interpretation of the Act, still there is no 
 doubt of their Lordships having generously ex- 
 ercised their perogative, in stretching the rule, and 
 rewarding an active and zealous arctic traveller 
 for obtaining a trace which is worth twice the sum, 
 and which has given fresh hope and spirit to all 
 
LADY franklin's LETTER. 
 
 833 
 
 "svho think upon the matter, as the two following 
 memorials Avill show. The first emanates from her 
 who has been the mainspring of the search, her to 
 whose untiring energy we owe the accomplishment 
 by naval officers of the discovery of the North-west 
 Passage, and the now perfect certainty of disco- 
 vering the long lost and sought " Erebus " and 
 " Terror "; the other, promoted by Sir Roderick 
 Murchison, and signed by the larger portion of the 
 scientific men of our day, who have turned their 
 attention to the subject, attests that wc are not 
 singular in our opinions. 
 
 LADY FRANKLIN'S LETTER. 
 
 " GO. Pall Mall, 
 11th July, 1856. 
 
 " My Lords, 
 " Three months ago I felt constrained to address 
 a letter to your Lordships, requesting that you 
 would be pleased to delay your adjudication of the 
 reward claimed by Dr. Rae for ascertaining the 
 fate of my husband's expedition, until such time 
 as the result of a more complete and final search 
 could be known. I implored your Lordships to 
 
 'i, 
 
 li 
 

 334 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 adopt such measures as would set this question at 
 rest, and at the same time was compelled to re- 
 present that your refusal to do this would force upon 
 me the painful alternative of taking the burden of 
 an expedition upon myself, at whatever cost and 
 under great disadvantage. 
 
 " To this letter I have not been honoured with 
 any reply ; but, notwithstanding, it seemed to me 
 and to others not unreasonable to interpret your 
 silence in a manner not unfavourable to my wishes, 
 inasmuch as your Lordships were well aware that 
 so long as no adverse decision was announced to 
 me, I was precluded from taking any steps for ad- 
 vancing my private expedition, which depended 
 entirely on the non-adoption of the other. Even 
 when I read in the Gazette, after two months and 
 more had elapsed, that your Lordships, disregard- 
 ing my request, had given the reward of 10,000/. 
 to Dr. Rae, I was still unwilling to regard this act 
 as an absolute rejection of my petition for further 
 search, since in that light, or with such an object 
 in view, it might have been practicable to an- 
 nounce it at a much earlier period, and thus 
 relieve me from suspense, and set my hands free 
 for action. But besides this, I was aware that a 
 memorial to the same effect as my own petition 
 
 
I 
 
 LADY FRANKLIN S LETTER. 
 
 335 
 
 signed by the most scientific men in London, and 
 embracing the opinions of all the chief arctic 
 officers, had been presented to the head of her 
 Majesty's Goverment (by who^^ it was kindly 
 received); and I indulged the hope that it could 
 scarcely fail to receive your Lordships' favourable 
 consideration. * 
 
 " Thus, between doubt and hope, between occa- 
 sional misgivings and reviving confidence, but 
 withal in constant and harassing anxiety, I have 
 passed three long months (precious months to 
 me, who required them all for my own expedition, 
 if that great burden were at last to fall upon me), 
 till at last a time has arrived when the equipment 
 of a private expedition is no longer possible, and a 
 season of probably unexampled openness for ice 
 navigation is passing away. 
 
 " I feel sure that if your Lordships would only 
 do me the favour of considering for a moment 
 the painful position in which I have thus been and 
 am still ^>laced, without a single word vouchsafed 
 to me either to confirm my hopes or to extinguish 
 them, deprived of any means but such as I had 
 a reasonable objection to, of securing public feeling 
 in my behalf, whilst the Arctic papers (including 
 my appeal to your Lordships), which were called 
 
 
 
 'Hi 
 
^. 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST lARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 ^ 1^ |2.2 
 
 •u 136 Mil 
 
 IIS 
 
 lit 
 u 
 
 1^ 
 
 |£0 
 
 iJiSi 
 
 ^ IIIILi^ 
 
 4W ^^^^^ 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 
 
 (716)872-4503 
 
 
 

336 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 
 
 u ] 
 
 for in the House of Commons, continued to be 
 ■withheld, unable thus to make use of the present 
 or to calculate on the future, you would feel 
 that a great hardship — nay, that a great injustice, 
 for such I feel it to be — has been inflicted on 
 me. 
 
 " Yet, great as this trial has been, it receives 
 aggravation from the knowledge that I am not 
 alone aflfected by it. I abstain from obtruding 
 on you details of private matters, however they 
 might serve to illustrate this aspect of my em- 
 barrassing position ; but I feel sure that you will 
 deem it worthy of your kind and serious attention, 
 when I inform you that the distinguished in- 
 dividual who has generously oiFered me his 
 gratuitous services for the command of my private 
 expedition, should I be unhappily reduced to this 
 extremity, has done so at the sacrifice of all 
 his own professional and private interests, in 
 the purest spirit of sympathy with my anxieties 
 and of devotion to a holy cause. And I might 
 say much more than this, if I felt permitted to 
 do so. Your Lordships, however, will, I am sure, 
 perceive that I cannot indefinitely prolong the 
 state of uncertainty in which my noble minded 
 and generous friend is now placed ; and that 
 
i'i' 
 
 LADY franklin's LETTER. 
 
 - Iv- 
 
 337 
 
 to this 
 
 xieties 
 might 
 ed to 
 sure, 
 the 
 linded 
 that 
 
 it is my duty either to release hirr. from his 
 promise, as I would so gladly do were I sure 
 that my cause were safe in your hands, or en- 
 able him at once to commence independent opera- 
 tions. - • - . • ■ 
 
 " Regretting deeply that you have, as I learn, 
 come to a decision adverse to the immediate start- 
 ing of a vessel by the Eastern route, since I fully 
 recognise the possibility of following my husband's 
 track on that side down Peel Channel, I yet may 
 be permitted to express the opinion I have long 
 entertained, confirmed as it is by that of your late 
 eminent hydrographer, Sir Francis Beaufort, and 
 by that of Captains CoUinson and Maguire, that the 
 route by Behring Strait, though longer in distance, 
 is of surer and safer accomplishment, and that a 
 vessel despatched this autumn to Behring Strait 
 would probably arrive at the spot to be searched 
 in a shorter time than by the other. Captain 
 CoUinson, whose experience is the highest that can 
 be adduced on this point, has no doubt that he 
 could carry even such a heavy sailing ship as the 
 ' Enterprise ' without the aid of steam, in one 
 season only, to the very locality where the remains 
 of the ' Erehus ' and * Terror ' are probably now 
 lying, and where it is at least certain that the 
 
 I 
 
 i.,;; 
 
 i# 
 
 z 
 
338 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 1!;' •^;.: . i 
 
 i I 
 
 J ■ )■', 
 
 Esquimaux hold the secret of their fate, and of the 
 pillage they have acquired from the catastrophe. 
 
 " This opinion of Captain CoUinson as to the 
 facility of a vessel's reaching the place of its desti- 
 nation in one season by way of Behring Strait, is 
 shared by Captain Maguire, as expressed in a 
 letter which I have permission to enclose. Your 
 Lordships will also perceive therein another reason 
 for the adoption of this route, which has not 
 hitherto received the attention its extreme impor- 
 tance deserves, namely, the facility it gives of 
 bringing the vessel into close contact with the 
 Esquimaux, it being Captain Maguire's opinion 
 (as it is that of Mr. Anderson, the late commander 
 of the boat party down the Great Fish River), that 
 the tranquil presence of a vessel is necessary to 
 extract the whole truth from the natives. These 
 people are not wanting in sagacity, and if they 
 see nothing but a boat or sledge-party, they will 
 be sure to calculate on the very limited resources 
 of such a party, that it will soon return whence it 
 came, and rid them of unwelcome investigations. 
 It is also to be recollected that the Esquimaux are 
 in the habit of making spring and autumn migra- 
 tions, so that time would be required to enable the 
 intelligence that white men were on the coast to 
 
 
 .'.r 1 
 
IT II 
 
 of the 
 phe. 
 to the 
 9 desti- 
 brait, is 
 1 in a 
 
 Your 
 reason 
 las not 
 impor- 
 ives of 
 ith the 
 opinion 
 mander 
 L*), that 
 sary to 
 
 These 
 if they 
 ey will 
 isources 
 lence it 
 nations. 
 aux are 
 
 migra- 
 ible the 
 ;oast to 
 
 LADY FRANKLIN S LETTER. 
 
 339 
 
 permeate throughout the country, and thus reach 
 the ears of any stragglers that may yet remain of 
 the crews of the missing vessels. ' - ...nrir, 
 
 " I would entreat of your Lordships, should you 
 doubt the accuracy of my statements, to call 
 before you those two able and experienced officers, 
 Captain CoUinson and Captain Maguire, one of 
 whom has brought back his ship and crew in 
 perfect safety, after a navigation in Arctic waters 
 of unexampled length and importance, whilst the 
 other, within a more restricted field of action at 
 Point Barrow, succeeded so well in his endeavours 
 to gain the confidence and co-operation of the 
 natives, as to be an earnest of his success in any 
 other quarter. .,f „ , ♦ , ., ,; : . 
 
 " I mention these two distinguished officers as 
 being especially qualified to speak of the advan- 
 tages and disadvantages of the route suggested, 
 not forgetting that Captains Osborn and Richards 
 are also on the spot, equally able to submit to 
 your Lordships, if honoured by your reference, 
 all that might have been said, in favour or other- 
 wise, of the route which you have pronounced 
 to be impracticable at this advanced season. All 
 are alike ignorant that I am expressing this 
 unbounded confidence in their capacity and zeal, 
 
 7. 2 
 
 111 il 
 
 ,H ■ 
 
 % 
 •I 
 
 
 
 ill 
 
I 'i 
 
 1 N; 
 
 '■': ,H': 
 
 340 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 in the humble hope of reminding your Lordships 
 that if you give little weight to anything T can 
 advance, as coming from an incompetent or too 
 interested person, there are those at hand whose 
 qualifications, whose duty towards you, and whose 
 sense of responsibility, remove them widely from 
 odch disparaging circumstances. 
 
 " Whilst this subject is still under deliberation, 
 I commit the prayer of my present appeal to 
 your serious and humane consideration, believing 
 that the honour of my country is no less con- 
 cerned in the result, than are my own personal 
 interests and those of my fellow-sufferers in 
 calamity. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, my Lords, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) "JANE FRANKLIN. 
 
 "To THE Lords Commissioners of 
 THE Admiralty." 
 
341 
 
 
 MEMORIAL 
 
 PRESKNTEU BT 
 
 SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, 
 
 O.as'.S.; D.aL. ; M.A. ; F.B.S.; f.L.8. ; UOS. HEM. B.S. EV. ; B.I.A. 
 
 To the Right Hon. Viscount Palmer aton, M.P., G.CB. 
 
 " London^ June 5. 
 " Impressed with the belief that Her Majesty's 
 missing ships, the " Erebus " and " Terror," or 
 their remains, are still frozen up at no great dis- 
 tance from the spot whence certain relics of Sir 
 John Franklin and his crews were obtained by 
 Dr. Eae, — we whose names are undersigned, 
 whether men of science and others who have taken 
 a deep interest in arctic discovery, or explorers 
 who have been employed in the search for our lost 
 countrymen, beg earnestly to impress upon your 
 Lordship the desirableness of sending out an ex- 
 pedition to satisfy the honour of our country, and 
 clear up a mystery which has excited the sympathy 
 of the civilised world. 
 
 " This request is supported by many persons 
 well versed in arctic surveys, who, seeing that 
 the proposed expedition is to be directed to one 
 limited area only, are of opinion that the object is 
 
 attainable, and with little risk. 
 
 s 3 
 
 fc' 
 
 ] ■'( 
 
 j| 
 
 I 
 
342 DISCOVERY OF THE N0RTU-WE8T PASSAGE. 
 
 Hi 
 
 1, 1 
 
 Vrfl i 
 
 " We can scarcely believe that the British Go- 
 vernment, which to its great credit has made so 
 many efforts in various directions to discover even 
 the route pursued by Franklin, should cease to 
 prosecute research now that the locality has been 
 clearly indicated where the vessels or their remains 
 must lie, — including, as we hope, records which 
 will throw fresh light on arctic geography, and 
 dispel the obscurity in which the voyage and fate 
 of our countrymen are still involved. 
 
 " Although most persons have arrived at the 
 conclusion that there can now be no survivors of 
 Franklin's expedition, yet there are eminent men 
 in our own country and in America who hold a 
 contrary opinion. Dr. Kane, of the United States, 
 for example, who has distinguished himself by 
 pushing farther to the north in search of Franklin 
 than any other individual, and to whom the Royal 
 Geographical Society has recently awarded its 
 Founders' Gold Medal, thus speaks (in a letter 
 to the benevolent Mr. Grinnell) : — ' I am really in 
 doubt as to the preservation of human life. I well 
 know how glad I would have been, had my duty 
 to others permitted me, to have taken refuge 
 among the Esquimaux of Smith Strait and Etah 
 Bay. Strange as it may seem to you, we regarded 
 
MEMORIAL OF MEN OP SCIENCE, ETC. 343 
 
 the coarse life of these people with eyes of envy, 
 and did not doubt but that we could have lived in 
 comfort upon their resources. It required all my 
 powers, moral and physical, to prevent my men 
 from deserting to the Walrus Settlements, and it 
 was my final intention to have taken to Esquimaux 
 life had Providence not carried us through in our 
 hazardous escape.' 
 
 "But passing from speculation, and confining 
 ourselves alone to the question of finding the 
 missing ships or their records, we would observe 
 that no land expedition down the Back River, like 
 that which, with great difliculty, recently reached 
 Montreal Island, can satisfactorily accomplish the 
 end we have in view. The frail birch -bark canoes 
 in which Mr. Anderson conducted his search with 
 so much ability, the dangers of the river, the sterile 
 nature of the tract near its embouchure, and the 
 necesstfcx'y failure of provisions, prevented the com- 
 mencement, even, of such a search as can alone 
 be satisfactorily and thoroughly accomplished by 
 the crew of a man-of-war, — to say nothing of the 
 moral influence [of a strongly armed party remain- 
 ing in the vicinity of the spot until the confidence 
 of the natives be obtained. 
 
 '* Many arctic explorers, independently of those 
 
 z 4 
 
 v 
 
 M ^ 
 
 Mi 
 
 '^W 
 
 
344 DISCOVERY OF TUE NOllTII-WEST TASSAGE. 
 
 whose names are appended, and who are absent 
 on service, have expressed their belief that there 
 are several routes by which a screw-vcsaal could 
 so closely approach the area in question as to clear 
 up all doubt. 
 
 " In respect to one of these courses, or that by 
 Behring Strait, along the coast of North America, 
 we know that a single sailing-vessel passed to 
 Cambridge Bay within 150 miles of the mouth of 
 the Back River, and returned home unscathed, — 
 its commander having expressed his conviction 
 that the passage in question is so constantly open 
 that ships can navigate it without difficulty in one 
 season. Other routes, whether by Regent Inlet, 
 Peel Sound, or across from Repulse Bay, are pre- 
 ferred by officers whose experience in arctic matters 
 entities them to every consideration ; whilst in 
 reference to two of these routes it is right to state 
 that vast quantities of provisions have been left in 
 their vicinity. , . . 
 
 "Without venturing to suggest which of these 
 plans should be adopted, we earnestly beg your 
 Lordship to sanction without delay such an ex- 
 pedition as, in the judgment of a committee of 
 arctic voyagers and geographers, may be considered 
 best adapted to secure the object. 
 
 M_ 
 
 tl ' 
 
MEMORIAL OF MEN OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
 
 345 
 
 " We would ask your Lordship to reflect upon 
 the great difference between a clearly defined 
 voyage to a narrow and circumscribed area, within 
 which the missing vessels or their remains must lie, 
 and those former necessarily tentative explorations 
 in various directions, the frequent allusions to the 
 difficulty of which, in regions far to the north of 
 the voyage now contemplated, have led persons un- 
 acquainted with geography to suppose that such a 
 modified and limited attempt as that which wc 
 propose involves farther risk arl may call for 
 future researches. The very nature of the former 
 expeditions exposed them, it is true, to risk, since 
 regions had to be traversed which were totally un- 
 known ; while the search we ask for is to be directed 
 to a circumscribed area, the confines of which have 
 already been reached without difficulty by one of 
 Her Majesty's vessels. 
 
 " Now, inasmuch as France, after repeated fruit- 
 less efforts to ascertain the fate of La Perouse, no 
 sooner heard of the discovery of some relics of that 
 eminent navigator, than she sent out a searching 
 eiipedition to collect every fragment pertaining to 
 his vessels, so we trust that those arctic researches 
 which have reflected much honour upon our 
 country may not be abandoned at the very moment 
 
 
 J^i! 
 
 I"! 
 
 \P 
 
346 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 II 
 
 M 
 
 when an explanation of the wanderings and fate of 
 our lost navigators seems to be within our grasp. 
 u *' In conclusion, we further earnestly pray that 
 it may not be left to the efforts of individuals of 
 another and kindred nation already so distinguished 
 in this cause, nor yet to the noble-minded widow of 
 our lamented friend, to make an endeavour which 
 can be so much more effectively carried out by the 
 British Government. 
 
 " We have the honour to be," &c., 
 ' *' F. Beaufort, K. I. Murchison, F. W. Beechey, 
 Wrottesley, E. Sabine, Egerton EUesmcre, W. 
 Whewell, R. Collinson, W. H. Sykes, C. Daubeny, 
 J. Fergus, P. E. de Strzelecki, W. H. Smyth, 
 A. Majendie, R. FitzRoy, E. Gardiner, Fishbourne, 
 R. Brown, G. Macartney, L. Horner, W. H. Fitton, 
 Lyon riayfair, T. Thorp, C Wheatstone, W. J. 
 Hooker, J. D. Hooker, J. Arrowsmith, P. La Trobe, 
 W. A. B. Hamilton, R. Stephenson, J. E. Portlock, 
 C. Piazzi Smyth, C. W. Pasley, G. Rennie, J. P. 
 Gassiot, G. B. Airy, J. F. Burgoyne." 
 
 ; I. 
 
 
347 
 
 Taulb showing tho Mean Heioiit of Barometeu, with the 
 Tempuraturo of tho Air on board H.M.iS. " Investigator," 
 from August 1850 to March 1853. 
 
 I 
 
 • 
 
 Ilarumetar. 
 
 ToniiR-raiurs of 
 Air. 
 
 Mean 
 
 Fi)r<'i' 
 
 of 
 
 
 Yp«r nnd 
 Muoth. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Yearly Abitract. 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 i 
 
 B 
 
 g 
 
 • 
 
 Wind. 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 9R 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 9! 
 
 
 
 IMSO. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 liaronii'tvr. 
 
 r Aiiguit ■ 
 
 smicto 
 
 2n-3<.« 
 
 ■^■761 
 
 +60 
 
 + 27 
 
 +30-5 
 
 35 
 
 Max. .TO 0.50; MlM.29l<i0i 
 Mean, 29828. 
 
 ti 
 
 Sept. - 
 
 «,')() 
 
 ■470 
 
 •800 
 
 ■f 40 
 
 -1 
 
 + 20^2 
 
 ^■O 
 
 2 
 
 Oct. - 
 
 ■1811 
 
 •380 
 
 ■801 
 
 + 24 
 
 -23 
 
 +02 
 
 20 
 
 Air. 
 
 Nov. . 
 
 •270 
 
 ■IfiO 
 
 •73!> 
 
 + .' 
 
 -32 
 
 -I0^2 
 
 31 
 
 Max. + 5; Mln.-40.i 
 
 a 
 
 Dec. - 
 
 •,',«() 
 
 ■180 
 
 ■978 
 
 T* 
 
 -40 
 
 -234 
 
 2-5 
 
 Mean, — 4 WJ. 
 
 ISM. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 Jan.* • 
 
 •J7{) 
 
 •400 
 
 ■88.5 
 
 -15 
 
 -51 
 
 -325 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Feb. . 
 
 ■n.iii 
 
 •030 
 
 •9.58 
 
 -9 
 
 -51 
 
 -377 
 
 
 liaromcter. 
 
 March - 
 
 •TUt 
 
 •33H 
 
 ■940 
 
 -5 
 
 -51 
 
 -a«-8 
 
 
 Mnximum • .10 7.V) 
 
 i 
 
 April • 
 
 Hay. • 
 
 ■■ June - 
 
 •010 
 
 •410 
 
 30^ai7 
 
 + 38 
 
 -82 
 
 -4-8 
 
 31 
 
 Miiiiinum - ■2li-o:u) 
 
 'tKIO 
 
 •SMI 
 
 •023 
 
 + 47 
 
 -8 
 
 + 189 
 
 22 
 
 Meuil • . . •2U^!i34 
 
 
 •150 
 
 •470 
 
 29837 
 
 + .53 
 
 +'W 
 
 +3<il 
 
 85 
 
 Air. 
 Maximum • +.52^0 
 Minimum - — 51'0 
 Meim - • • +2-68 
 
 
 July - 
 ■ Auguit - 
 
 (KM) 
 
 ■urn 
 
 •4M) 
 
 ■3'.m 
 
 ■756 
 ■805 
 
 + 52 
 
 +52 
 
 +32 
 +21 
 
 +376 
 + ;t70 
 
 30 
 
 2-8 
 
 
 Si-pt. • 
 
 -m 
 
 ■4W 
 
 •870 
 
 + 13 
 
 + 1 
 
 +24^0 
 
 31 
 
 
 Oc. - - 
 
 •»K) 
 
 ■3(K) 
 
 •877 
 
 +2<i 
 
 -22 
 
 + 33 
 
 PU 
 
 
 Nov. - 
 
 ■7.W 
 
 ■c:«) 
 
 30im 
 
 + 10 
 
 -40 
 
 -1.5-2 
 
 1^8 
 
 
 
 Oec. - 
 
 •810 
 
 •490 
 
 ■040 
 
 + 11 
 
 -44 
 
 -200 
 
 35 
 
 
 1852. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 Jan. 
 
 •fino 
 
 •280 
 
 ^■841 
 
 + 8 
 
 -51 
 
 -27-3 
 
 .34 
 
 
 Feb. - 
 
 31000 
 
 •070 
 
 •777 
 
 -I 
 
 -47 
 
 -26^8 
 
 31 
 
 Barometer. 
 
 o> 
 
 March - 
 
 ■M(m 
 
 •410 
 
 30^082 
 
 + 5 
 
 —52 
 
 -28-4 
 
 20 
 
 Mnximum - 31000 
 
 ih 
 
 April - 
 May. • 
 
 30-430 
 
 •.V20 
 
 ■164 
 
 + 31 
 
 -.38 
 
 -\i 
 
 25 
 
 Minimum - 28970 
 
 ^n 
 
 •2.V) 
 
 •con 
 
 29^987 
 
 +37 
 
 -26 
 
 + 10-2 
 
 20 
 
 Mean - . 29906 
 
 3*. 
 
 Juno - 
 
 •100 
 
 •430 
 
 ■7.58 
 
 +51 
 
 + 11 
 
 +31 5 
 
 31 
 
 
 as"^ 
 
 July - 
 
 •0(H) 
 
 ■370 
 
 •749 
 
 +52 
 
 +30 
 
 +30^7 
 
 29 
 
 Air. 
 
 «i 
 
 August • 
 
 •170 
 
 •400 
 
 •810 
 
 +52 
 
 + 19 
 
 + .332 
 
 29 
 
 Maximum - +.52 
 
 Sept. - 
 
 •100 
 
 ■070 
 
 '785 
 
 + 38 
 
 _4 
 
 + ■^0^1 
 
 3-0 
 
 Minimum - —52 
 
 >-3 
 
 Oct. - 
 
 •;«K) 
 
 •440 
 
 •980 
 
 + 10 
 
 -33 
 
 -50 
 
 •^•2 
 
 Mean . +0'05 
 
 m 
 
 Nov. - 
 
 •riHO 
 
 •400 
 
 •978 
 
 +9 
 
 -43 
 
 — 105 
 
 31 
 
 
 >■ 
 
 Dec. - 
 
 ■C70 
 
 •28^970 
 
 •944 
 
 -4 
 
 -48 
 
 ,X261 
 
 37 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Barometer. 
 
 
 XHW. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Max. 30^72; Min. 29-180 i 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 30.120 
 
 •£)■ 180 
 
 •i9^748 
 
 -10 
 
 -68 
 
 -4387 
 
 4 ■Of 
 
 Mean, 29900. 
 
 
 Feb. - 
 
 •JiHO 
 
 •400 
 
 30^085 
 
 -13 
 
 -57 '-38 60 
 
 2-50 
 
 Air. 
 
 
 March - 
 
 ■720 
 
 •540 
 
 ■048 
 
 + 17 
 
 -68 
 
 -26-4 
 
 2-30 
 
 Max. + 17; Mln.-C5, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mean, -36-92. 
 
 I ■•! 
 
 Robert M'Clurc, Commoudcr. 
 Her Majesty's* Ship " luvestigator." 
 
 d 
 
 ai( 
 
 I : 1.1 
 
t;v,' i 
 
 .'^1, 
 
 n^^i 
 
 348 DISCOVERY OZ? THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 Gaub killed in the Abctio Rboions. 
 
 i»!u8k-oxen 
 
 Number killed. 
 
 Average Weight each. 
 
 Total Weight. 
 
 7 
 
 278 lbs. 
 
 1,945 lbs. 
 
 Deer ... 
 
 no 
 
 70 lbs. 
 
 7,716 „ 
 
 Hares ... 
 
 169 
 
 fi .. 
 
 1,014 „ 
 
 Grouse ... 
 
 186 
 
 Not weighed. 
 
 
 Ducks 
 
 198 
 
 
 .» 
 
 Geese ... 
 
 29 
 
 
 _ 
 
 Wolves ... 
 
 a 
 
 fi 
 
 ^ 
 
 Bears ... 
 
 4 
 
 •1 
 
 — 
 
 Total head killed 
 
 1,005. 
 
 )1 
 
SSAGE. 
 
 Total Weight. 
 
 1 ,945 lb8. 
 7,716 „ 
 1,014 „ 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 • u il 
 
 h! 
 
 ilf^ 
 
 n 
 
 li 
 
 m 
 
 \m < 
 
 xflK 
 
 ( 'i ' 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
;■ I 
 
 li <' 
 
 
 i i! 
 
 ■:■ f 
 
 *ii. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ■| 
 
 I' 
 
 NARRATIVE OF COMMANDER MAGUIRE, WINTERING AT 
 
 rOINT BARROW. 
 
 In accordance with my last communication, I proceeded 
 to sea from Port Clarence on the morning of the 2l8t of 
 August, and with a favourable breeze passed through 
 Behring Straits by the eastern passage, on the following 
 day at noon. A succession of contrary winds delayed our 
 progress to the N. E. to a much greater extent than was 
 considered favourable to ensure our complete success of 
 rounding Point Barrow, at that advanced period of the 
 season. 
 
 In our passage to the northward we passed several 
 whale ships cruising in squadrons, a caution they seem to 
 have prudently adopted, for the bene It of affording mutual 
 assistance in the event of disaster. Their success up to 
 that time seemed to be indifferent ; and we have been 
 since informed by natives from Point Hope, that whales 
 have becoms very scarce on the coast, since the ships have 
 come in pursuit of them. The last whale ship (French) 
 seen by us was on the morning of the 25th of August, in 
 lat. 69° 30' JST., long. 167° 43' W., carrying all sail to the 
 southward. We soon afterwards made the ice in heavy 
 floes, and tacked in shore to ascertain its distance from 
 
 1 ji: 
 
 Ui 
 
 ft. I 
 
352 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE 
 
 the land, when we found the 
 
 winds had done 
 
 \ 1 
 
 n "]■ 
 
 
 contrary 
 
 good service by opening a free passage of from ten to 
 fifteen miles> in which we beat to the N. E., making but 
 slow progress until the night of the 2nd of September, when 
 a slant from the southward, with a fast-falling barometer, 
 warned us that a change of weather was at hand. Our 
 distance from Point Barrow, now reduced to fifty miles, I 
 thought we could accomplish before the ice set in shore, 
 and therefore pushed forward under all sail and rounded 
 it at the distance of one mile, on the following day at 
 noon, September 3rd. 
 
 The approach to the channel leading between the sandy 
 islets, that form the protec ion we were about to seek for 
 the winter in Elson's Bay, was found, contrary to our expec- 
 tations, shoal and intricate, making it necessary to anchor 
 the ship and sound out the passage. If it was found not 
 to afford sufficient water, of which there was a doubt, our 
 position was not one to lose time in, shut out, and close 
 down on an exposed shore, with a gale coming on that 
 would soon have loaded it with ice. Having ascertained, 
 as expeditiously as possible, that there was about nine 
 inches to spare across a shoal before we got to deep water, 
 the anchor was weighed, and after making a few tacks, 
 the narrowness of the channel and the ship taking the 
 ground twice, made it advisable to anchor and kedge 
 under shelter of the spit. A fortunate turn in the current 
 enabled us to effect this, as by the time the warps had 
 been run out, the gale had increased so much as to render 
 it unsafe to trip the anchor ; however, finding a strong 
 weather current setting, it was weighed, and the ship 
 warped into a wild-looking anchorage for protection, in a 
 gale of wind, no land being visible, except the low sand 
 
iE 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 353 
 
 lone us 
 ten to 
 ing but 
 x, when 
 ometer, 
 I. Our 
 miles, I 
 n shore, 
 rounded 
 day at 
 
 16 sandy 
 seek for 
 ir expec- 
 ) anchor 
 )und not 
 lubt, our 
 nd close 
 on that 
 jrtained, 
 )ut nine 
 p water, 
 «r tacks, 
 ing the 
 kedge 
 current 
 irps had 
 render 
 strong 
 he ship 
 on, in a 
 3W sand 
 
 spit of Point Barrow and the islet adjoining, not more than 
 five feet above the level of the sea, which broke over them 
 with great violence during the height of the gale. These 
 are again guarded by the shoals lying oflP, on which the 
 drift ice grounds, making the anchorage, when gained, se- 
 cure, but difficult of access or egress. Daylight next 
 morning showed us how fortunate we had been in getting 
 shelter ; the gale, now veered to west, was unabated ; the 
 sea broke heavily over the shoals passed yesterday, and 
 against the sand spits to within a short distance of the ship, 
 whilst the offing was encumbered with heavy ice, becoming 
 gradually closer with the gale. As we found a strong 
 current setting to windward, I had no doubt of the ship 
 holding on, although the confined space of the anchorage 
 did not admit veering more than thirty fathoms of cable. 
 In the afternoon the gale began to moderate, and on the 
 following day the ship was moved to a more secure berth, 
 near the position selected for winter quarters, where we 
 remained until the ice set fast on the 24th of September. 
 
 A succession of strong gales and thick weather, for the 
 following week, retarded our preparations, consisting 
 chiefly in collecting driftwood, not found here in any 
 abundance. From this material the plank for housing-in 
 was sawed, and the remains stacked for the winter firing. 
 Advantage was also taken of every opportunity to send a 
 boat to sound the channel, knowing the difficulty of the 
 task after the ice had formed ; and on its breaking up we 
 should be too anxious to move wi*^ it, to have time for 
 that purpose. On the 25th, pancake ice began to form in 
 the bay, and drift out rapidly with the current. A party 
 was sent to haul the launch up on the adjacent islet, to be 
 out of reach of the natives ; this service was perforiied by 
 
 A A 
 
 ,!'!'' 
 
 iu 
 
' , , 
 
 i! 
 
 1 
 
 i ,; '. 
 
 1 
 
 ^' 
 
 1 
 
 if i' 
 
 ' 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 354 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 If 
 
 Mr. G. T. Gordon, mate, who, when returning m the gig 
 with a fresh and favourable wind, was unable to push his 
 way through the young ice, and was carried in it through 
 the passage into the offing. In this distressing dilemma a 
 second boat was lowered, in which Lieutenant Vernon 
 promptly volunteered his services ; and by running out 700 
 fathoms of whale line the gig was reached, now carried 
 some distance off the land. By this means they were en- 
 abled to reach the spit, although they had another narrow 
 escape from being carried out, by the line parting when 
 they were close to it ; fortunately, one of the men was 
 sufficiently quick to heave the end amongst a crowd of 
 Esquimaux, drawn to the spot by witnessing the state of 
 our boats ; and they hauled them up, where they bad to 
 remain for the night, the ice being now too strong to 
 allow us to haul the boats through it, and not sufficiently 
 firm for the people to walk on board. During the night, 
 the ice moved but once a short distance, then set fast ; and 
 in the morning we had the satisfaction of receiving our 
 boat's crew on board, after experiencing a degree of 
 anxiety for their safety that is not easily described. 
 
 The following days were occupied in sawing a canal to- 
 wards our winter position, which was much delayed by 
 unexpected movements in the ice, undoing our work 
 when nearly completed; and on the 30th, at 10 p.m., we 
 were tracked up it by about seventy natives, men, women, 
 and children, whose shouts and exclamations of surprise 
 gave animation to the whole scene, and made it one of 
 deep interest. 
 
 Our time was now busily occupied in making the usual 
 preparations for passing a winter in this rigorous climate, 
 which we had thus early observed symptoms of. A tem- 
 
;he gig 
 ash his 
 hrough 
 imtna a 
 Vernon 
 out 700 
 carried 
 ere cn- 
 narrow 
 OP when 
 len was 
 rowd of 
 state of 
 r had to 
 rong to 
 ificiently 
 le night, 
 ast; and 
 Mng our 
 ;grec of 
 
 ■ 
 
 anal to- 
 ayed by 
 iir work 
 ?.M., we 
 women, 
 surprise 
 it one of 
 
 the usual 
 climate, 
 A tem- 
 
 APFENDIX. 
 
 \i 
 
 35i 
 
 porary house was erected close to the ship, to receive our 
 deck-load of provisions to enable us to have them clear, 
 for the crew to take exercise when the state of the weather 
 would not admit of their leaving the ship ; and an observa- 
 toiy, for the reception of the magnctical instruments, was 
 constructed from ice alone, which answered the purpose 
 perfectly for eight months. 
 
 These arrangements were completed by the 20th of 
 October, when the necessary winter routine was esta- 
 blished for an economical expenditure of fuel and provisions, 
 with due attention to order, cleanliness, occupation, and 
 amusement, to lighten as much as possible a time con- 
 fessed by all as being do])ressing and monotonous. Msiny 
 valuable hints on this subject were giiined from the works 
 of Captain Parry, in following whose exam[)le I con- 
 sidered we could not err: taking advantage of his experi- 
 ence, the masis and yards were kept In their proper places, 
 affording a better mark for seekii.'g the ship from a 
 distance, bearing in mind our being here in expectation of 
 parties falling back upon us for safety ; and as the land is 
 very low, and in winter, it may be said, not \ isible, the 
 ship made a fine object, being discernible in clear weather 
 at the distance of nine miles from every direction. 
 
 Deeming it a matter of importance that the " Plover's " 
 position at Point Barrow should be known as far to the 
 eastward as possible, and also wishing to ascertain whether 
 Dease's Inlet would afford shelter for any vessel that 
 might at any future time be desirous of wintering there, 
 I took the earliest opportunity of making a boat excursion 
 to perform this service, and left the ship on the morning 
 of the 21st of September, in the gig, accompanied by Mr. 
 T. A. Hull, second master. Steering off the laud into 
 
 A A 2 
 
 
 w 
 
 ,5.1 
 
 I 'J. 
 
Illl 
 
 fliif 
 
 ,..:■ 
 
 Y"l 
 
 ■ :M^ 1 
 
 ' 1 
 
 ■ 1 ■;:' 1 
 
 i 
 
 I ■ it' 
 
 356 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 five fathoms, we passed a good deal of sailing ice, and pro- 
 ceeded E.N.E. over an even bottom of from five to six 
 fathoms with the wind from the S.E. 
 
 Changing our course to the southward, we got entangled 
 among a series of sand spits, when, taking to our oars, we 
 steered along the outside of the largest island of the group, 
 which we then supposed to be connected with the main- 
 land about Point Christie ; but it was afterwards found to 
 be one of the very low chain of sandy islets running along 
 this coast. As I suspected this was taking us to the east- 
 ward of the inlet, I landed to ascend the highest part, to 
 see how much farther it extended, and found a second 
 island running in the same direction. The water being 
 too shoal for hauling the boat up here, we stood out into 
 deeper water, and at length succeeded in hauling the boat 
 up for the night on the second island. During the night 
 a strong breeze sprang up from the N.W., with a tempe- 
 rature of + 30°. 
 
 Knowing we had run our distance for Dease's Inlet, I 
 was not a little puzzled to know where we were, as I 
 could scarcely fancy it was possible to lay down this coast 
 without noticing these islands. 
 
 On the following morning, our observations being 
 complete and the boat loaded, and now concluding that 
 Dease's Inlet must be looked for to the southward, and 
 first erecting a conspicuous mark on this place of the 
 " Plover's " winter position, we steered for a point of the 
 main just visible S.W. (true). 
 
 This proved to be Point Christie, where we landed in 
 time to get the latitude at noon. Its higher part does not 
 exceed ten feet above the level of the sea ; and here we 
 erected another large mark. The season now seemed to 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 357 
 
 as I 
 
 be 80 far advanced that I was in doubt between crossing 
 the inlet and returning to the ship ; but, as I considered 
 my object would not be carried out without placing 
 notices on Point Tangent, I determined to cross it, and 
 started with a fine leading wind from the northward. In 
 two hours we reached the eastern shore, which is even 
 more shoal than the western — the water about Point 
 Tangent being so shallow that o ; ; boat could not be got 
 within a cable's length of the beach. 
 
 Having now found that the greatest depth of water to 
 be obtained by sounding directly across Dease's Inlet was 
 eleven feet only, with its shores extremely shoal, I con- 
 sidered the question settled that no vessel could find 
 winter quarters there ; and, after leaving the proper 
 notices, started on our return to the ship. Sludge ice 
 was observed on our return to be forming in all the small 
 bays, the temperature having fallen to 4- 1 9°, warning us 
 that the open season was ncprly at an end. Passing the 
 night in the same place as the previous one, for the sake of 
 the driftwood, we left the next morning with all haste 
 for the ship, which, with a fine breeze from the northward, 
 we reached by noon. Twelve hours after our return, 
 it was reported to me that the ice was drifting past the 
 ship. 
 
 A further examination of Dease's Inlet was afterwards 
 made by Mr. T. A. Hull, second master, in the month of 
 May, in continuation of a survey of this coast from Point 
 Barrow eastward. 
 
 The southern shores of this inleti which had hitherto 
 been left blank on the chart, were now traced. It was 
 found to extend in a S.W. direction for a distance of 
 twenty miles, its breadth at the mouth being eight miles, 
 
 A A 3 
 
 I 
 
 i^' 
 
 4 
 
358 DISCOVERY OV THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 1'^ : . 
 
 and terminating in a shoal bay. The S.E. shore is much 
 higher than the rest, one cliif there being as high as 
 twenty-four feet. Four inconsiderable rivers empty them- 
 selves here — two on the eastern, and two on the western 
 shore. 
 
 The chain of islands which, commencing at the 
 " Plover's " winter quarters, closely abut on Point 
 Tangent, the western part of which was discovered by 
 Captain Moore, and denominated by him " Plover's 
 Group," has been found to be ten in number (on but two 
 or three of the lai'gest of which is there the slightest sign 
 of vegetation), running in a line almost parallel with that 
 of the coast, or E.S.E. and W.N.W. (true) from Point 
 Barrow to Point Tangent, where they terminate, the only 
 channel between them, of sufficient depth for a ship, being 
 the one by "'hich the " Plover " entered. 
 
 From the time of our arrival at winter quarters, 
 situated two miles E.S.E. (true) from the Esquimaux 
 settlements on Point Barrow, called by them Noowook, 
 we found this people, contrary to our preconceived opinion, 
 very troublesome and unfriendly. To such an extent did 
 this feeling exhibit itself, that it would have been prudent 
 to remove from their vicinity (particularly as we had 
 received more than one unmistakable hint to that effect), 
 had circumstances admitted it; but, as we occupied the 
 only spot of deep water to be found on this part of the 
 coast, it became necessary to put up with the evil, hoping 
 that time and a better knowledge of our character would 
 improve their conduct ; and I had no doubt our wintering 
 amongst them would eventually be attended with bene- 
 ficial results. The commencement of our intercourse was 
 attended with many unpleasant circumstances. No single 
 
; I 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 350 
 
 bunt's crew could be at any distance from the ship without 
 being pilfered f rojn in the moat daring and barefaced way ; 
 and upon every trivial, and often without any, occasion, 
 their knives were drawn upon our men, who, although 
 armed with muskets, had strict orders in no case to make 
 even a show of them, unless obliged by necessity, as I 
 thought recourse to that force was to be avoided when a 
 good feeling in favour of any of our missing countrymen, 
 who may at any future period be in their power, was the 
 object sought. Carrying out these views to the extent of 
 not showing our arms was not appreciated, as they mistook 
 forbearance for timidity ; and, at the request of two 
 officers going with a watering party to the village, to 
 carry their guns nominally for the purpose of shooting 
 small birds, the show of them was found to have s^ good 
 an effect that it was adopted on all future occasions, 
 although we were obliged to cease sending for water after 
 a few turns, there being always some unpleasant display 
 of feeling on their part that was best avoided when 
 possible. 
 
 Whilst occurrences such as I have mentioned were 
 taking place daily with our parties away from the ship, 
 the difficulty of dealing with those collected about her 
 was sufficient to employ all the people left on board, 
 exclusive of the pressing duties of the ship, with a small 
 crew, at this season. 
 
 About the 15th of Septembei, they appeared to be 
 returning to their winter huts, from their usual summer's 
 excursion along the coast to the eastward, and, as the ship 
 lay in their direct track, we had a visit from all of them, 
 including also the Cape Smyth tribe, being the two most 
 numerous on any part of the coast, numbering together 
 
 A A 4 
 
 
 rid; 
 
 Mi 
 
i 
 
 ( ', 
 
 ^5 1 
 
 i • 
 
 N 
 
 m 
 
 860 DISCOVERY OF THE N0KT1I-WE8T TASSAOE. 
 
 about five hundred. As many as seven or eight large 
 u-ini-aks arrived daily for eight or nine days, containing 
 their summer tents, families, dogs, and sledges, &c. : they 
 appeared perl'ect strangers, and looked in amazement at us 
 and the ship. They t)rought with them a small quantity 
 of fidh and venison : with the latter they parted reluctantly, 
 and seemed to prefer begging and stealing (in which they 
 were most unscrupulous) to any kind of exchange. 
 
 On the morning of the 17th I was informed that a large 
 u-mi-ak had come alongside, and the crew had forced 
 their way on board. As this was not an uncommon case, 
 I thought nothing of it when I found that Lieut. Vernon 
 was attending on deck. He soon came down to inform me 
 that the chief of the party had a musket, and was very 
 anxious to get gunpowder in exchange for venison. This 
 piece of information I considered the worst I had received, 
 amongst many un['3asant circumstances that I had ex- 
 perienced, feeling that we could not remain amongst them 
 if they had fire-arms. 
 
 It will be proper to state here that we have, at a very 
 late period of our stay, identified this chief as the same 
 who followed and annoyed Commander PuUen at Point 
 Berens in 1849, full particulars of which are given in his 
 journal. 
 
 As he expressed a wish to see me, I went up, and found 
 a large, powerful, elderly man, with a peculiarly bad 
 expression of countenance. He had a Hudson's Bay 
 musket, with the name of Barnett on the lock ; it was a 
 good deal worn, but fit for service. He had a powder 
 horn hanging hunter-fashion under his left arm, but 
 pretended to have neither ball nor shot, for which he was 
 most pressing, and would not dispose of anything except 
 
 ' 
 
AITENDIX. 
 
 3GI 
 
 fur aininunition. This, aa n matter of courao, he wns nut 
 (tupplicd with. I saluted him with much friendship, miulo 
 his wife ii present, and took him down to my cabin, where 
 I made him a present of tobacco, and satisBod his curiosity 
 about the ship bolow. Then I took him on deck with tiie 
 idea that ho would go away ; but nothing seemed further 
 from his thoughts, as he remained about the decks and 
 slipped down the hatchways on to the lower deck several 
 times — a part of the ship they had not had access to 
 during any period of our stay. During the forenoon 
 several u-mi-aks arrived alongside the ship, discharging 
 their crews in swarms on our deck, so as literally to 
 crowd it for the day. They were allowed every freedom 
 consistent with their known propensity for stealing; but 
 some, bolder than others, were difficult to deal with. One 
 man attempted to force back the after ladder doors, and 
 my 8to])ping him brought about a slight scuffle between us. 
 That did not seem to have satitjficd him, as he soon after- 
 wards came in contact with the quartermaster of the watch, 
 a quiet but rather short tempered, powerful young man, 
 who, before anybody could interfere, gave him a lesson ho 
 will not soon forget ; ho dealt him fair English blows 
 about the head, each of them sufficient to stun any one 
 except an Esquimaux ; but he received them until they had 
 the effect of quite taming him, when he was put over the 
 side in the presence of at least sixty of Ids countrymen, 
 few of whom offered to interfere, and the remainder looked 
 on with indifference. About noon, whenj at my particular 
 desire, three parts of the crowd went away, the remainder 
 were evidently detained by the old chief, whom there 
 was no moving out of the ship without having recourse to 
 force ; and this I had no intention of, preferring to wait 
 
 -I 
 
 
362 DISCOVERY OF THE NOETH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 until he gut tired of his visit, and this seemed unlikely for 
 the present, as he hailed three u-mi-aks full of people to 
 come alongside. I heard the word " tawac " (tobacco) 
 used very often, I supposed as the inducement, and the 
 children I observed had been sent away. It occurred to 
 me they might have thoughts of pillaging the ship ; their 
 numbers to ours seeming so overpowering. In order to 
 be pre[)ared for anything of the kind, the men stationed on 
 deck were sent down one at a time to arm themselves 
 with pistols, to be kept out of siglit in their breasts, in the 
 event of a simultaneous attack being made with their 
 knives, all being provided with good oTies, and adepts in 
 their use. When the men were all armed, I was satisfied 
 to await the result. A silence seemed to prevail, as if they 
 had not decided what to do ; and whether they liad or had 
 not meditated any miscliief, beyond stealing as much as 
 they could, they attempted nothing, and went away as 
 night came on, leaving the old chief with his own boat 
 only. He had continued to range about the ship in the 
 most insolent way ; and I think it reasonable to suppose it 
 was only the fear of our fire-arms that kept him from 
 mischief. When left by himself, I was cautious not to 
 urge his going away, as I had done when there were 
 seventy people with him ; but letting him choose his own 
 time, he remained until 7 P. M. — a visit of twelve hours. 
 When he was gone, I was so thoroughly tired and provoked, 
 and knowing that every person in the ship must be suffer- 
 ing in the same way, that it became necessary to adopt a 
 difTferent system, the number of small articles stolen during 
 the day, notwithstanding all our vigilance, aifording suffi- 
 cient pretext for the change. All work was stopped the 
 next day, and an efficient arrangement made to allow 
 
 h>*». 
 
it 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 363 
 
 only one boat's crew on board at a time ; and whatever 
 dissatisfaction it might give, it was necessary to adopt it. 
 
 It seems necessary to mention here the difficulty of 
 keeping a numerous tribe of natives out of a vessel like 
 the " Plover," as the ice chocks made a convenient 
 landing-place on the outside, not more than four feet from 
 the water, running the whole length on both sides, where 
 they mounted in all directions, and in some cases, when pre- 
 vented, they cut at our men's legs with their knives, and 
 in one or two instances cut through box-cloth trousers. 
 Whilst the knives of some were er ^aged in this way, those 
 of others were busily employed cutting the lead scupper 
 pipes out of the side ; the nails of the copper were proof 
 against them, but no part of the side escaped their attempts. 
 From this cause it became necessary to cover all the parts 
 assailable outside with a sheathing of wood, and after the 
 ship was frozen in she was enclosed round with a chain, 
 rove through posts fixed in the ice at the distance of seven 
 yards from the side. This arrangement, although very 
 unpopular, was found most beneficial. 
 
 The day succeeding the one last described, the chief was 
 observed sitting on the spit close to the ship, and I was 
 told had hailed the ship as if he wished to bp sent for. 
 This I thoiight too good a joke. He was soon afterwards 
 picked up by his own boat and came alongside, but, to his 
 surprise, was not allowed on board, as so many things had 
 been stolen the previous day. During the time he was 
 standing on the gangway, the crew happened to be clean- 
 ing, discharging, and reloading their arms, and examining 
 the two carronades, at which he seemed to stare a good 
 deal and went away. Several u-mi-aks arrived alongside, 
 as usual, during the day ; but none of the crews were 
 
 r 
 
Ill 
 
 pi 
 
 Hi 
 
 m 
 i I 
 
 364 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 allowed on board. Some bartering waa carried on, and a 
 few presents made to ihem ; but they seemed to prefer 
 adding to their stock by stealing, to any exchange. 
 - The following morning we had another early visit from 
 the chief, accompanied by some other leading men. They 
 brought, as a peace offering, all the articles stolen from 
 the ship for several days. This I considered very satis- 
 factory, and permitted them to come on board ; they re- 
 mained the whole day, but their conduct was altered very 
 much for the better, particularly the old chief, who was 
 now content to remain on the quarter-deck, to which they 
 were restricted. I think the display of our cleaning arms 
 before the chief on the day previous, led him to imagine 
 we were intent on doing them mischief, and seemed to 
 acc- ant for this sudden change in their manner. 
 
 The system of keeping them out of the ship except with 
 permission, and then to a very limited number only^ being 
 once commenced, it was continued throughout our stay ; 
 and although it was very diflScult to make them understand 
 the necessity for it, which made it disliked, and wu? the 
 cause of some ill-feeling towards us, it was impossible, 
 through their numbers and want of honesty, to adopt any 
 other course. At first we endeavoured to explain to them 
 that we wished all to come on board in turn ; but so far 
 from entering into this view, those who were admitted 
 and remained the whole day, would invariably be the first 
 alongside on the following morning, and be the most 
 clamorous and least satisfied of those not admitted. These 
 disappointments at not being allowed on board, were re- 
 taliated in jue or two instances by parties landing and 
 carrying away our driftwood collected in a stack on the 
 spit near the ship ; this was found too laborious a revenge 
 
 4i 
 
A.GE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 365 
 
 m, and a 
 to prefer 
 e. 
 
 risit from 
 I. They 
 len from 
 !ry satis- 
 
 they re- 
 ;red very 
 who was 
 lich they 
 ing arms 
 
 imagine 
 ieiaed to 
 
 3ept with 
 ly; being 
 ur stay ; 
 idcrstand 
 
 w»i? the 
 possible, 
 [Jopt any 
 
 to them 
 it so far 
 admitted 
 
 the first 
 he most 
 These 
 were re- 
 liiig and 
 : on the 
 
 revenge 
 
 for them, and fire was tried ; but, a boat be'vjg sent, they 
 pretended it was an accident, and did not repeat it. 
 
 On the occasion of our cutting into winter quarters, our 
 men being of necessity much spread about on the ice, and 
 frequently surrounded by three times their number of 
 natives, much caution was necessary to prevent the tools 
 from being stolen, and many slight squabbles took place 
 between our men and theirs in consequence of their 
 playing them tricks and trying to trip them up. On these 
 occasions they always selected thooe of our people who, 
 from their appearance, were thought least likely to resent 
 their jokes, but in some instances they found they had 
 mistaken their men. Points of this sort were the most 
 difiicult for a commanding officer to deal with, as it was 
 not possible for him to prevent the provocation, and, 
 when not resented, the motives were misunderstood. 
 
 A more serious affair took place on board the ship ; the 
 officer in charge, Mr. Hull, second master, in keeping 
 back a large powerful man that attempted to force his w ay 
 over the side, had a knife drawn on him by a friend of 
 the other's on board the ship, who immediately called out 
 for the women and children to retire. Mr. Simpson the 
 surgeon was standing near, and very soon produced before 
 the man with the knife one of Colt's revolving pistols, and 
 explained to him the use of its six charges, which had the 
 effect of keeping them very quiet for the remainder of the 
 day. I met the women and children retreating over the 
 ice ahead of the ship, and thought something must have 
 happened, although they told me they were going home to 
 dance. A chief arriving at the same time reassured the 
 retreating party, when we explained to them that if they 
 used knives we must use guns, but otherwise we wished to 
 
 >M. 
 
 
 ^1; ' 
 
 Ml 
 
!il 
 
 366 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 be good friends. Similar squabbles took place frequently 
 whilst our men were employed building the storehouse ; 
 knives were drawn as usual, and in two instances the 
 women and children were sent away. This was a cause 
 of a good deal of anxiety with me, as our men, being un- 
 armed, were very much at their mercy under such circura- 
 atances, and in the eveit of arming them, more forbearance 
 was necessary than some of them would have been found 
 to possess, from the frequent provocations they had 
 received in return for the usual kindness and good nature 
 
 ^1 
 
 lat characterise seamen. On giving the subject every 
 consideration, and seeing that it must excite an unpleasant 
 feeling, for our men to have knives pointed at them with- 
 out a means of defence being at hand, (he quartermaster 
 of the watch, and two petty officers of the party working 
 on shore, were armed with pistols, but properly cautioned 
 not to produce them unless under circumstances of 
 necessity, as I hoped the mere knowledge of their having 
 them would l>e sufficient. Of tMs we soon had an instance. 
 One of them played off one of their usual practical jokes 
 on one of our men, by kicking him in the back of the 
 knees when carrying a spar, for whicl, he Wiis rewarded 
 with a blow on the face ; he then drew his knift, when 
 the corporal of marines coming up, and being known to 
 have a pistol, the offender ran away. These sort of 
 annoyances continued as long as our men had work to do 
 outside of the ship, and when the natives were collected in 
 any numbers ; the difference of character displayed by them 
 when so, and the reverse, is worthy of remark. In the 
 former ease they are bolder and overbearing, and, when 
 Hiv eting with parties, gather round them and, apparently in 
 a half playful way, commence shoving them about and 
 
'I 
 
 GE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 367 
 
 uquently 
 
 rehouse ; 
 
 noes the 
 
 a cause 
 
 cing un- 
 
 i circum- 
 
 bearance 
 
 en found 
 
 hey had 
 
 id nature 
 
 set every 
 
 1 pleasant 
 
 em with- 
 
 :ermaster 
 
 working 
 
 jautioned 
 
 [vnces of 
 
 ir having 
 
 instance. 
 
 cal jokes 
 
 k of the 
 
 rewarded 
 
 fc, when 
 
 nown to 
 
 sort of 
 
 )rk to do 
 
 lected in 
 
 by them 
 
 In the 
 
 id, when 
 
 .rently in 
 
 lOut and 
 
 feeling their clothes, when, if they fail in getting what 
 they want given to them, they help themselves, and with 
 their knives soon remove any buttons that happen to be 
 bright. This was all done, and the offenders mixed up 
 with the rest, enjoying tlio thing as a good joke, before our 
 people could look round them. On the contrary, when 
 they are in small numbers, they .are not like the same 
 people, but seem quiet, harmless, inoffensive, and obliging ; 
 but even while displaying these good qualities, should their 
 numbers become increased, they lose no time in throwing 
 off their assumed humility, to join in any plunder going on. 
 In landing our provisions, I was particularly careful to 
 point out to the chief and other leading men that nothing 
 was going on shore, the nature of which they could not 
 see, except salt meat, wlilch was really the case, and this 
 1 knew they would not eat If it ^''as given them, and on 
 the day that all was landed, and the house locked, I 
 showed them the carronade, pointed at it, and told them 
 it was to keep thieves away, thinking that a show of pre- 
 paration would have the effect of saving us from any 
 attempt at robbery on their [>art ; but I have every reason 
 to believe that some of those on board at the time were 
 leaders in breaking into it three nights afterwards, when 
 fortunately three small sails (ship's) were the only things 
 they succeeded in taking away. A case of flour contained 
 in tins, belonging to the officers, had been opened; but 
 not found to be tobacco, as anticipated, and not liking to 
 go away empty handed, they had taken the sails. I was 
 quite unprepared for this theft, which was effected In the 
 night, notwithstanding a strict watch had been kept from 
 the ship, and the house was visited every hour, as I had 
 been told, by the officers of the ship acquainted with their 
 
 II : 
 
 m 
 
 1; i 
 
 iiii 
 
M'l/ 
 
 J 
 
 r ■:) 
 
 l-l '' > 
 
 ',i ■■* 
 
 i I 
 
 '.,' 1 ! 
 
 368 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 character, they would never attempt anything greater 
 than pilfering small things lying about. This there was 
 no remedy for, except keeping a good look-out. Now 
 they had commenced on a large scale, I had to consider 
 the best mode of checking them before anything of a more 
 serious nature should be attempted. 
 
 A slight show of fire-arms, in the way of intimidation 
 in all our former cases, had the effect of restoring the 
 stolen articles, and with a view to the same effect, I had a 
 small brass three-pounder mounted on a sledge, intending 
 to threaten them with a visit if the sails were not returned. 
 By the arrival of a native, who came every morning with 
 dogs' food, we were informed that, during the time of 
 sleep, some people had committed thii robbery, showing 
 plainly that the aftair was well known at the settlement. 
 Our people had in the meantime tracked them on the 
 snow to withit a short distance of it, when the sails had 
 been opened and most probably divided. About 9 a.m. 
 the chief came down, assuming a very determined air, 
 with his musket slung acrosei his shoulders, to offer his 
 assistance, and go with us for the recovery of our sails ; 
 but as he proposed leading us to Cape Smyth, where he 
 said they had been taken, and stoutly denied their being 
 at Point Barrow, his services were declined. 
 
 I must mention here that this was the common excuse 
 with them, when anything was stolen, they invariably 
 pointed to Cape Smyth, and said thj things had been 
 taken there. It became so well understood at last, that no 
 notice was taken of it, particularly in the present in- 
 stance. 
 
 The chief, after some hesitation, came on board, when 
 it was explained to him that we were quite aware where 
 
3E. 
 
 Al'l^ENDlX. 
 
 !♦ 
 
 369 
 
 greater 
 ;re was 
 Now 
 jonsider 
 ' a more 
 
 Qidation 
 'ing the 
 I had a 
 [tending 
 eturned. 
 ing with 
 time of 
 showing 
 tlement. 
 
 on the 
 jnils had 
 ; 9 A.M. 
 Ined air, 
 offer his 
 ur sails ; 
 rhere he 
 
 ir being 
 
 I excuse 
 variably 
 ad been 
 that no 
 isent in- 
 
 d, when 
 re where 
 
 the sails were, and if they were not restored, I should take 
 the gun (which I showed him mounted) to their settlement 
 to look for them ; at the same time I thought the oppor- 
 tunity of having his musket in my power too good a one 
 to be lost, and took possession of it, telling him that when 
 he had brought back everything that had been stolen from 
 us, it would be returned quite safe. 
 
 This appeared to place him in a serious difficulty, and 
 after repeating the Cape Smyth story a good many times, 
 he returned to the town, and we went on with our work as 
 usual, intending to wait the result of his interference. In 
 about two hours he came again with some evasive story, 
 that they were going to bring the sails down. He re- 
 mained outside the ship evidently much disturbed, but not 
 mistrustful ; there were also a few others, women and 
 children, and one sledge. 
 
 We now observed with our glasses an unusual stir at 
 the settlement. In the first place, some women and 
 children were seen moving across the bay to Cape Smyth ; 
 afterwards the men were seen advancing down towards 
 the ship, in three single files, armed with their bows and 
 arrows and quivers. I fancied at this time I saw spears 
 also, but did not observe them afterwards. The leading 
 men were discharging their arrows ahead of them as they 
 advanced, picking them up again as they reached them, 
 which suiisfied me their visit was not friendly, and my 
 mind was soon made up to keep them in check at the 
 distance of musket range, by firing over their heads, 
 wishing above all things to avoid taking a life, unless 
 under some urgent necessity. Our small force, forty-ono 
 in all, was placed under command of the officers appointed 
 to guard the gangways, poop, and forecastle ; and previous 
 
 B B 
 
 !i 
 
 f, 1! 
 
370 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 n 
 
 to their getting within range, a blank charge was fired 
 from our eighteen-pounder carronade, and the three- 
 pound brass gun, which had not the effect of dispersing 
 them, as I expected, and when within musket range, we 
 commenced firing over them from the forecastle. This 
 had the effect of dispersing them under shelter of the spit 
 about fifty yards from the ship's bows. At this time one 
 of the chiefs, who had been on board frequently, and 
 treated with every kindness, made a rush down ahead of 
 the ship, followed at first by others ; but when he found 
 the balls whistling over his head he dropped on his face to 
 avoid them, running a few paces closer to the ship, threw 
 down his bow and quiver containing seventeen arrows, 
 four of them with barbed iron heads. This man had be- 
 come very unpopular with the crew from some uncivil 
 acts of his ; and I have been able to understand since, that 
 although the order to fire over his head was carried out, 
 this direction was very much infringed upon. A few now 
 extended themselves under cover of the house, but as a 
 constant fire was kept up in that direction, not many at- 
 tempted to reach it, and a /ound shot being fired so as to 
 graze it, had the effect of dislodging them. At this time 
 a false alarm was given, that they were breaking down 
 the house and carrying things away. I was on the fore- 
 castle, and on hearing the report, ordered the man next 
 me, a marine, to fire at a man then escaping from under 
 cover of it, and from the sudden way he seemed to fall 
 and kick out his legs, I thought he was killed. Immedi- 
 ately afterwards the report was found to be correct, and 
 no more shots Avere fired at them ; and I had the satis- 
 faction to find out that the man fired at (the only instance) 
 was not killed, • . 
 
3E. 
 
 as fired 
 three- 
 jpersing 
 nge, we 
 J. This 
 the spit 
 time one 
 tly, and 
 ahead of 
 lie found 
 is face to 
 ip. threw 
 1 arrows, 
 I had be- 
 e uncivil 
 ince, that 
 fried out, 
 few now 
 but as a 
 many at- 
 80 as to 
 this time 
 ing down 
 the fore- 
 man next 
 om under 
 led to fall 
 Immedi- 
 rrect, and 
 the satis- 
 instance) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 371 
 
 As the chief, who had been lying concealed under an 
 ice hummock not far from the ship, and who I suppose 
 now saw no chance of gaining an advantage over us with 
 with his numbers, showed himself and beckoned them 
 back in a most energetic manner, causing a general retreat, 
 and as our mast-head afFordcd a commanding view, I was 
 glad to find that they were all able to use their legs quite 
 as well going home as they did coming out. 
 
 Although this affair would give them a poor idea of us 
 as marksmen, not ajjpreciating our motives, I considered 
 that some of them heard the ball sufficiently close to their 
 ears not to wish for a repetition. Mr. Simpson, the 
 surgeon, counted seventy-one, and allows himself to have 
 overlooked ten; he computes the number at eighty, 
 besides several stragglers, a computation I consider as 
 near as could be obtained. 
 
 The chief, with another man, stayed about the ship for 
 some time ; but as no compromise short of the immediate 
 return of our stores was contemplated, he was not allowed 
 to remain long. My having his gun was an advantage I 
 could hardly have expected, and as its value to him was 
 far greater than anything they had stolen from us, I was 
 content to wait the result of his interference, in the mean- 
 time not allowing any of them within gunshot until every- 
 thing was returned. 
 
 On the following day we had a pacific message, to the 
 effect that they were all asleep that day, but on the next 
 all our things would be brought down. They had not 
 left the spot they had advanced to, when I took a party 
 away from the ship to try the range of the gun in a sledge, 
 and to find how it would answer. I was glad they saw 
 us manoeuvring it, and as they still remained after motion- 
 
 B B 2 
 
 li 
 
 i n 
 
 'i 
 
i. I 
 
 372 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WRST TARSAGE. 
 
 ing them to goawny, a musket was fired wide of them ns a 
 hint to be off and report whsit they hud seen, which I 
 hoped would have the effect of quickening tlieir move- 
 ments, in returning our sails. At 7 A. m. on the follow- 
 ing day, the chief, with seven natives and a sledge, 
 brought down the sails, — a niaintopmast staysail, and 
 mizcn trysail, and a boat's cover, all muc^ worn and of no 
 importance to us; but the act was the same, and required 
 checking, lest other things we might feel the loss of should 
 be stolen also. I was told the party seemed in evident 
 trepidation. The sails had been cut into several pieces, 
 adapted in size for their u-mi-aks' sails, and had been 
 served out amongst the party. This would account for the 
 difficulty the chief had in getting them returnee , without 
 having a slight brush for them previously. All the pieces 
 were most ingeniously drawn together by the women, who 
 had been employed the previous day and night about them, 
 wh'",h occasioned the day's delay in their being returned. 
 As it was necessary, while we were settling matters, 
 to have a full restitution of everything stolen from the 
 ship and boats since our arrival, a careful inquiry 
 was made to find out every missing article ; and as these 
 included almost all the ironwork of the launch, which had 
 been cut almost to pieces, in the most vexatious way, while 
 turned bottom up on the adjacent island, I was the more 
 disposed to push this point. When the full extent was 
 known, the chief was acquainted that everything must be 
 returned previous to his getting his gun, or the natives al- 
 lowed to come rear the ship. He then left and returned 
 next morning with every missing article, when his gun was 
 restored to him, and the natives came about us as usual. 
 I had the curiosity to examine the charge of his gun whilst 
 
GE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 373 
 
 ncm ns a 
 which I 
 I" inovc- 
 2 follow - 
 , slodge, 
 ?iul, and 
 nd of no 
 refiuired 
 :)f ahould 
 I evident 
 il pieces, 
 lad been 
 nt for the 
 , without 
 the pieces 
 men, who 
 out them, 
 returned, 
 matters, 
 from the 
 1 inquiry 
 as these 
 uch had 
 ay, while 
 the more 
 stent was 
 must be 
 natives al- 
 returned 
 is gun was 
 as usual, 
 [un whilst 
 
 it was in our hnndn, and found it as well loaded with ball 
 us we could have done it ourselves, although he had previ- 
 ously told us he had no ammunition. 
 
 I made him a small present of tobacco for his trouble, 
 as I believe he was not a partaker in the robbery, 
 and I gave one of his wives a knife, as she had been very 
 industrious in putting the sails together. He made us 
 understand that he had been obliged to use his knife, as 
 well as his authority, to compel some of the thieves 
 to give up their share of the booty. I was glad to 
 have got the upper hand of them without any further 
 trouble on our part, as, iudependcnt of the more important 
 motives before mentioned, our own travelling parties 
 might be seriously inconvenienced fi'om being at variance 
 with them. 
 
 Notwithstanding these considerations, it is most neces- 
 sary for our preservation with such a people, to establish 
 respect from them by a moderate resistance upon any undue 
 encroachment on their part. 
 
 Had we not been employed on a service essentially of 
 peace, I should have taken a party up to their settlement 
 in the way of retaliation, on finding they had broken into 
 our store. I am not certain that it would not have been 
 the better plan in the present case, as kindness and 
 forbearance are not understood by them ; particularly after 
 being fired upon once or twice without receiving any 
 injury, they are likely to form an erroneo'is opinion as to 
 the power of fire-arms, many ot the present party, 
 including the chief, being the same who followed Com- 
 mander Pullen so pertinaciously along the Return Reef of 
 Sir John Franklin, when the system of avoiding firing at 
 them was adopted until the last extremity, and with 
 
 I) It 
 
 If, 
 
374 DISCOVEIIY OF THE NOUTH-WKST PASSAGE. 
 
 Irt 
 
 I ! 
 
 the same good fortune in not flncrlficing any lives. As an 
 instance of their ingratitude, I found many who were en- 
 gaged in the robbery of the house were of those who had 
 been allowed on board every day, and had received conside- 
 rable presents with the view of making friends of them in 
 the event of our requiring a kindness in return. Whilst 
 our misunderstanding was unsettled, a further enclosure was 
 marked out to include the ship, house, and observatory. 
 Hound this a stout hawser was supported on small 
 triangles, and in no instance during the remainder of our 
 stay was this boundary, which necessity had given us good 
 excuse for establishing, allowed to bo infringed upon. A 
 few troublesome characters, such as will be found in 
 all large communities, gave annoyance occasionally for a 
 month or two, by shoving each other purposely inside 
 the boundary, when, finding their tricks provoked hard 
 blows, little more trouble was given in this way. 
 
 Our intercourse from this time went on more smoothly, 
 and the Esquimaux, feeling themselves in error, seemed 
 to make many friendly overtures to regain our esteem. 
 Some of these consisted in bringing down their tambourines 
 alongside, and dancing and singing in 1 "'^q numbers. In 
 this they had, in some degree, anticipated ray intentions, as 
 the officers were at the same time engaged in printing a 
 notice for the lower deck of a " Native Dance," intended 
 to be given in three days' time, with the view of showing 
 them we bore no ill-will, and wished for a friendly inter- 
 course; and as it was to be the commencement of 
 our winter festivities, and headed " Great Novelty," it 
 had the desired effect of producing amusement amongst 
 the crew. 
 
 At 4 P.M., October the 28th, our visitors were admitted, 
 
As an 
 were en- 
 wlio had 
 1 conaide- 
 r them in 
 Wliilat 
 osure was 
 jcrvatory. 
 on small 
 ler of our 
 n us good 
 upon. A 
 found in 
 ally for a 
 icly inside 
 oked hard 
 
 smoothly, 
 »r, seemed 
 ir esteem, 
 mbourines 
 ibers. In 
 entions, as 
 printing a 
 intended 
 »f showing 
 idly inter- 
 cement of 
 ovelty," it 
 amongst 
 
 J admitted, 
 
 Al'l'ENDIX. 
 
 ;i75 
 
 to the number of seventy. After they were mudo to sent 
 themselves round the deck, the entertainment conunenccd 
 by serving each with a little tobacco ; then our musical in- 
 struments (a violin, cornopcian, drum, and triangle) played 
 a lively air, which caused a general exclamation of wonder 
 and pleasure, most of the party now hearing them for the 
 first time. This was followed by a request for them 
 to dance ; and being supplied with a drum, they willingly 
 complied. Our seamen danced in their turn ; and in a little 
 time the natives entered fully into the spirit of the amuse- 
 ment, stripping off their skin coals and dancing naked 
 to the waist with the temperature at + 6°, showing the 
 state of excitement they work themselves into, as the male 
 performers shout in a wild triumphant manner, and 
 all the lookers-on join in a chorus and become as nuich ex- 
 cited as the performers : their appearance makes a scene as 
 savage as can be well imagined. By 10 r. M. the party 
 broke up, all appearing to have had dancing enough ; the 
 whole compony seemingly pleased with their evening's 
 amusement. When we came to take down a few flags that 
 were hung under the housing for ornament, it was vexing to 
 find several large pieces cut out of them as if in handfuls. 
 The chief and some others remaining appeared sorry, and 
 promised the pieces should be returned, which was faithfully 
 done the next morning. 
 
 On the following day I paid a visit to the village, 
 accompanied by Mr. Simpson, the surgeon. We were 
 followed by several idlers from about the siiii), who, as we 
 neared the huts, spread the report of our arrival, which soon 
 caused a great crowd to gather round us following to the 
 chief's hut, where we found him on his housetop ready to 
 receive us. The winter huts were now covered with snow ; 
 
 i: It 4 
 
 ■^< 
 
H hi 
 
 :l 
 
 J 
 
 iiis 
 
 III 
 
 ^^^■^H^K ^H 
 
 376 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 the chiefs stood about five feet above the ground, with a 
 square opening at one end, into which we followed through 
 a low dark passage sloping downwards for five or six 
 yards, when we stood beneath the opening in the floor of 
 the inhabited part of the hut. It is circular in form, just 
 large enough to admit one person at a time. Passing 
 through it, we stood upon a smooth boarded floor, about 
 16 ft. by 10 ft. ; the roof was seven feet high, and in the 
 centre was a small square skylight, covered with transparent 
 whale membrane. 
 
 The transition from the daylight and glare to the dark 
 passage was sudden, and in some degree prepared our 
 eyes for taking in at the first glance the appearance 
 within. We were placed in the centre of the hut; 
 the chief, with a wife on each side of him, sat opposite to 
 us. There were four or five young men, and two women 
 with children, lying about the floor, all naked to the 
 waist, the children perfectly so. The first breath of the 
 interior was rather offensive, but we soon got accustomed 
 to it ; and as the temperature was already high, being 
 followed by a number of men whom it seemed impossible 
 to accommodate in so small a space, it soon became insuf- 
 ferably hot, when the temperature was easily reduced 
 by cutting a hole through the skylight, which made a 
 very agreeable and necessary change in the air we were 
 breathing. 
 
 Our visit seemed to give great satisfaction, and was 
 commenced with a smoke, according to the method 
 of doing everything. For the remainder of the time, 
 about an hour, I endeavoured to find out from them how 
 far the nearest winter settlement of natives was east of 
 this place, with the view of communicating with them 
 
AGE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 377 
 
 id, with a 
 id through 
 ve or six 
 he floor of 
 form, just 
 Passing 
 3or, about 
 and in the 
 ransparent 
 
 I the dark 
 pared our 
 ippearance 
 the hut ; 
 •pposite to 
 svo women 
 ed to the 
 ath of the 
 ccustomed 
 igh, being 
 impossible 
 ame insuf- 
 reduced 
 1 made a 
 ir we were 
 
 and was 
 3 method 
 the time, 
 them how 
 as east of 
 with them 
 
 before the severity of the winter set in ; but I could not 
 make out anything very clear from them. We have a 
 great difficulty in making them understand that our 
 business is not bartering, as their ideas do not extend 
 beyond that, although, from our constant repetition, they 
 appear to be aware that we are waiting for two ships that 
 have gone far away into the ice. The chiefs was the only 
 house we visited ; and, returning across the bay to the 
 ship, we were accompanied by a young man and a boy, 
 who talked a great deal more than we could understand ; 
 but the former, in explaining to us the sort of tobacco that 
 had been given him on board a ship, twisting his fingers 
 together to describe American twist, or negrohead, led us, 
 in his description of the vessel, to believe it might have 
 been the "Investigator" or "Enterprise," leaving the 
 ice this last season, but we were afraid of giving way to 
 our credulity in supposing it to be either of them. As 
 they willingly accompanied us on board, I was glad 
 to avail myself of Lieutenant Vernon's knowledge of the 
 language to sift their story more thoroughly. He allowed 
 them, most patiently, to describe all they had seen, in 
 their own way, and eventually ascertained that the ship 
 they were on board of had diagonal decks, and an ice- 
 chock larger than the " Plover's." The illuminators in 
 the deck they remarked were square ; these are the points 
 that seem to have caught their attention, and were suffi- 
 cient to show that they had been on board one or other of 
 the ships ; but when the captain was described as wearing 
 spectacles, Captain CoUinson was identified. The remain- 
 ing point of importance was, that she was gone to 
 the eastward the summer before last (1851), agreeing 
 with the time the " Enterprise " passed. In the spring 
 
 \.h 
 
 II 
 
 J. 
 
378 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGE. 
 
 of this year I stood on the point from which she had been 
 boarded, with the native who gave this information. It is 
 Cape Governor Simpson, and forms the western point of 
 Smyth's Bay, distant about forty-five miles to the eastward 
 of Point Barrow. The ** Enterprise " seems to have 
 been delayed oflf it with light winds, but on a breeze 
 springing up she was lost sight of to the eastward. Two 
 u-mi-aks got alongside of her, and the people speak 
 with pleasure of the presents they received ; and it 
 is worthy of notice that a particular kind of tobacco, with 
 which we know the " Enterprise " to have been provided, 
 led to a voluntary description of their having boarded a 
 ship, alFording more information in a few minutes than all 
 our inquiries of the chiefs and others in several months had 
 done. i -1 • 
 
 After some experience with them, we found more in- 
 formation was obtained by casual observations of their 
 own, brought about by something they might happen to 
 see or have shown them, than by asking direct questions, 
 as it seems difficult to lead their thoughts from the passing 
 events around them. 
 
 On the evening of the 5th November, the crew had a 
 little recreation with the immolation of Guy Fawkes ; and 
 the natives, being told that he was a "big thief," were at 
 great pains to get an opportunity of expressing individu- 
 ally that they were not thieves, which was very amusing, 
 and seemed as if they expected to be treated similarly. 
 The ceremony concluded with a rocket, on which they re- 
 tired to a distance in dismay, and were evidently much 
 impressed with the whole proceeding. They were after- 
 wards gratified with a dance on board, which seemed to 
 restore their confidence, and closed the amusements for 
 the day. 
 
YGE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 .379 
 
 had been 
 »n. It is 
 
 point of 
 eastward 
 
 to have 
 a breeze 
 d. Two 
 le speak 
 ; and it 
 300, with 
 provided, 
 oarded a 
 
 than all 
 >nths had 
 
 more in- 
 of their 
 appen to 
 uestions, 
 3 passing 
 
 iw had a 
 ces; and 
 were at 
 ndividu- 
 imusing, 
 imilarly. 
 they re- 
 y much 
 'e after- 
 emed to 
 ents for 
 
 As some of the crew had expressed a wish to see the 
 Esquimaux village, and understanding there had been an 
 invitation from one of the chiefs to witness a dance, I 
 gave eight men leave on the afternoon of the 2 1st of No- 
 vember. All went well with them until one of our party, 
 a quarter-master, who had been obliged to handle one of 
 the natives rather roughly on his attempting tt force his 
 way into the observatory, was recognised by his old anta- 
 gonist, who became furious with passion, and immediately 
 attacked him, but was prevented by others from using his 
 knife. He then endeavoured to get some of our people to 
 his hut, who, seeing he had some weapon concealed in his 
 sleeve, declined, when several of the Esquimaux hustled 
 and tripped up our men, who still had protectors suffi- 
 cient amongst the crowd to bring them away in safety. 
 One man, the carpenter's mate, who by some means got 
 left by his companions, was seized round the arms by two 
 men, whilst the man who attacked the quarter-master 
 picked his pockets of some tobacco and beads he had taken 
 with I na for the kmd purpose of distributing amongst 
 them. The chief was very much put out by the affair, 
 and tried to get some of our people to his hut ; his great 
 aim being to get gunpowder, I suppose he fancied this 
 display of feeling would not be favourable to his wishes. 
 
 Aftir this attempt at a friendly intercourse, we all 
 ceased going to the village for upwards of two months ; 
 when, seeing no inclination on the part of the men to renew 
 their visit, I found if we pursued the system of holding 
 back, a valuable opportunity would be lost of acquiring a 
 knowledge of their habits which it would be interesting to 
 become acquainted with ; and for this purpose the officers 
 again went occasionally to the settlement, taking care to 
 
 '■IT 
 
 ,! 
 
 
 i , 
 
i 
 
 380. DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. • 
 
 go with some influential man, who kept away those in- 
 clined to be troublesome. 
 
 This was again very soon put a stop to, by our not 
 allowing the man to come to the ship who had behaved so 
 badly when our men were at the huts ; and in enforcing 
 this measure we went r.3ar to having another aflfray with 
 them. He had been to the ship several times since the 
 occurrence took place, and on being told, always went 
 away. On the occasion in question, he evidently ini ended 
 to remain and to get up a distuibance, if possible. The 
 chief, who was on board, seeing this, went outside and 
 tried to get him away, to no avail, and another chief tried 
 also. The title of " chief " given here is merely nominal, 
 as, in a community where every man has to provide for his 
 own wants, the most industrious, bold, and successful 
 hunter becomes, from the property he possesses, of more 
 consideration than those not possessing those qualities ; but 
 this does not extend beyond his own boat's crew or hunting 
 party for the time being. Seeing this man was resolved 
 to remain whether we pleased or not, I thought it neces- 
 sary to have our own way as to who should visit the ships 
 or who not, and as his conduct was well known to his 
 countrymen, and condemned by many of them, his case 
 was a good one to enforce. The great objection to any 
 sort of disturbance was the difficulty of making the well- 
 disposed understand our motives, or the separation of one 
 from the rest as bad ; and these cases rarely occurred, 
 except when they ware collected in large numbers, which 
 made them imagine they could do as they pleased. While 
 the altercation was going on outside, the natives on board, 
 of whom there were several, began to leave the ship, 
 although most of them had been visitors and declared 
 
 II 
 
\GE. 
 
 those in- 
 cur not 
 haved so 
 Bnforcing 
 •ray with 
 iince the 
 tys went 
 intended 
 le. The 
 side and 
 aief tried 
 nominal, 
 ie for his 
 uccessful 
 of more 
 ties; but 
 hunting 
 resolved 
 it neces- 
 ;he ships 
 n to his 
 his case 
 I to any 
 le well- 
 n of one 
 ecurred, 
 which 
 While 
 n board, 
 le ship, 
 Icclared 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 381 
 
 friends, without, as it appeared, possessing any confidence 
 in us. I then directed Lieutenant Vernon to go out, and 
 once more tell him to go away« The natives thinking he 
 was the leader of an attacking party, two-thirds of the 
 men, and all the women and children, walked straight 
 away for the village, leaving the bad character in the mino- 
 rity, which he had sufficient tact to discover, and followed 
 the others, when quietness 'vas again restored ; and those 
 who had made such a hasty retreat out of the ship were 
 now anxious to return again, but others were chosen in 
 preference, from those who had remained as spectators, and 
 were apparently indifferent. The crew were ut dinner at 
 the time ; and they were not disturbed, as our state, with 
 regard to arms, is one of constant readiness. The chief 
 afterwards told me very impressively not to go to the 
 village ; a privation very little felt personally, but showing 
 the absence of control on the part of the chiefs, when our 
 being at variance with one individual of bad character put 
 an end to friendly communication between us and a whole 
 tribe. ' " - 
 
 He continued to make us visits at intervals of two or 
 three days ; but when, to put a stop to them, on one occa- 
 sion Lieutenant Vernon had, with great good nature and 
 patience, walked with him a considerable distance from the 
 ship, and left him to return, he followed him back leisurely, 
 when I saw there was no means of dealing with him by 
 kindness, and ordered two marines with muskets, outside 
 on the ice, to prevent his farther advance to the ship. On 
 seeing them he seemed to fly into a great state of excite- 
 ment, and presented his breast to be fired at, when one or 
 two well-disposed individuals took him away, and he did 
 not repeat his visits agaia for some time ; when, being told 
 
 ! i i 
 
382 DISCOVEKY OF THE NORTH-WEST PAy,SAGE. 
 
 iV',i| 
 
 t;' 
 
 tjl 
 
 by the chietb that he was now good, I was glad of an oppor- 
 tunity to come to terms with him, seeing that dispute? 
 would do us no good, however much we had right on our 
 side ; and as I thought we had established our point, of 
 keeping him away, to as great an extent as could be ex- 
 pected with a savage, it was explained to him by one of 
 the chiefs that he was to go away, and when we intended 
 that hd should remain, a message would be sent to him. 
 Understanding this, he went away much pleased, and on 
 being sent to in a few days, he came down in his best 
 clothes and behaviour, and was allowed to remain, which 
 put an end to all disputes between us. 
 
 During this day, which was fine and clear, with a tem- 
 perature at 23°, we had eighteen natives on board, nnd 
 seventy-two were counted outside, or in sight of the ship, 
 making ninety in all, men, women, and children, a number 
 not unfrequent in the depth of winter when they were not 
 engaged hunting. No temperature wao too severe to keep 
 them away ; with the thermometer at 30" and 40° below 
 zero, they commenced arriving alongside as early as 
 6 A. M., three and four hours before daylight, and those 
 not admitted on board sat on the snow, laughing and play- 
 inff about as cheerfully ^s we should have done in sunshine. 
 A party of six at this time had a narrow escape from being 
 starved on the ice, on which they were adrift for six days. 
 They went out to hunt the white bear, when the floe be- 
 came detached, and drifted ini,o the open water. They 
 were saved from this perilous situation by the chance of 
 its being again brought in contact with the land floe. Al- 
 though the weather was very severe, so perfect is their 
 clothing, that the only injury they received was some 
 frost-bites about the face: as they were without food, a 
 
GE. 
 
 APrENDIX. 
 
 383 
 
 ,n oppor- 
 disputc? 
 t on our 
 joint, of 
 d be ex- 
 ly one of 
 intended 
 to him. 
 , and on 
 1 his best 
 a, which 
 
 h a tem- 
 
 ard, nnd 
 
 the ship, 
 
 I number 
 
 were not 
 
 5 to keep 
 
 0° below 
 
 early as 
 
 ad those 
 
 md play- 
 
 lunshine. 
 
 »m being 
 
 dx days. 
 
 floe be- 
 
 They 
 
 lance of 
 
 De. Al- 
 
 is their 
 
 :i8 some 
 
 food, a 
 
 descrlpiion of their sufferings would be one of thrilling in- 
 terest, if we could understand their language sufficiently 
 to appreciate it. 
 
 A short time afterwards, on a general break up of the 
 ice, one man was carried away and lost. Finding he had 
 left a wife and two children, I sent a message to her to 
 come to the ship, and on making her some useful presents, 
 I endeavoured to have explained to a party assembled 
 that our business here was looking after people who were 
 also in the ice, hoping it would have a tendency to gain 
 their assistance and friendship in favour of any of our 
 parties travelling along the coasts they frequent. 
 
 Several stratagems were tried to find out if we were on 
 the look-out at night ; small parties, generally two or 
 three women, came alongside, and on being sent away, 
 would make some excuse of going out sealing, or some 
 such pretence, to keep in our neighbourhood, but our 
 watch was always too vigilant for them. One man was 
 caught, in the middle watch, coming out of a tent erected 
 over a theodolite on the ice close to the Bhip, and was 
 brought on board a prisoner. As he had not been able to 
 steal anything, the case was not strong enough to inflict 
 any punishment on him, and he was permitted to go away 
 the following day at noon, with the promise of a good 
 thrashing if he was caught again. While he was on board, 
 only four or five women and the chief came near us. I 
 was glad to see the latter, as he witnessed our leniency 
 on the occasion ; but he deemed indifferent as to whether 
 we hati punished him or not. This detection put a stop 
 to their nightly excursions, and left us unmolested. 
 
 A few of them from the first showed disinterested par- 
 tiality to us, wiiich was appreciated, and they were invited to 
 
'■.SJ 
 
 iHi 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 !| 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 384 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGE. 
 
 sleep on board on a few rare occasions. For some time they 
 were nervous about it, but mustered courage enough after 
 a little time. My object in allowing them to do so was to 
 give them confidence, and let them see some more of our 
 habits, which I thought would raise us in their estimation. 
 
 In the early part of February we were startled by a 
 native report that a large ship with a great many men was 
 wintering to the southward at Point Hope. A party be- 
 longing to Cape Smyth had lately returned from Point 
 Hope (a journey frequently made by them in the v»'inter), 
 and had, it was said, been on board the ship ; but knowing 
 it to be an impossibility for a ship to winter there, not 
 much attention was paid to it, beyond thinking there ge- 
 nerally exists some grounds for such reports, and when 
 well sifted they can sometimes be traced out. The pre- 
 sent report seemed to be a forerunner of a party of natives 
 belonging to Point Hope, who arrived at Point Barrow 
 about this time, and soon afterwards visited the ship. 
 The information received from them was of there being a 
 large ship somewhere to the south with very little men on 
 board; whether we mistook their "little" for few — or 
 most likely it was one of many such stories these people 
 have amongst them from the habit of repeating them one 
 to the other without reference to the date, as in this case, 
 if the story mentioned was traced to its source, it would 
 most likely prove to be some whaler visited by them in 
 the summer. 
 
 This circumstance is mentioned to account for the way 
 reports are carried along a great extent of coast by natives 
 meeting for a short time for the purpose of barter, and at 
 considerable distances from their respective settlements, 
 when> as ma^ naturally be supposed, an interchange of 
 
GE. 
 
 ArrENDix. 
 
 385 
 
 me they 
 g\i after 
 ) was to 
 e of our 
 imation. 
 ed by a 
 men was 
 tarty be- 
 m Point 
 v.'inter), 
 knowing 
 lere, not 
 ;here ge- 
 nd when 
 The prc- 
 >f natives 
 Barrow 
 he ship. 
 3 being a 
 men on 
 few — or 
 ie people 
 hem one 
 lis case, 
 it would 
 them in 
 
 the way 
 yr natives 
 and at 
 lements, 
 lange of 
 
 news takes place, and thus becomes extended onwards, 
 subject to such change of version as the repeating tribes 
 are likely to give it, making it necessary to consitlcr their 
 reports well before taking much notice of them, unless 
 accompanied by some token of their authority. 
 
 The chief of this party wa-: a pleasing, spirited man, 
 about thirty-five years of age, and was accompanied by 
 his two wives, who were good-looking young women. 
 He had come on a bartering expedition to dispose of some 
 copper k jttles, receiving glutton skins in exchange. He 
 recognised Mr. Simpson, the surgeon, as liaving seen him 
 at Hotham's Inlet, and he was also familiar with the name 
 of Captain Moore and some of the former officers of the 
 ship. He described his journey to us, of which I was 
 anxious to get the particulars. He had slept fifteen times, 
 eight of them on the snow, but he showed no signs of 
 having suffered from cold. He described the sea as being 
 open all along the coast to the southward, but he was not 
 familiar with ships, which I accounted for by the lowness 
 of the land about Point Hope deterring the whalers fi'om 
 closing it, otherwise there are many in that latitude iu the 
 summer. He seemed to be a poet, and favoured us with 
 an extempore song of some length, which included the 
 name of the ship and some of our own. He afterwards 
 passed his hand down his stomach several times, expressive 
 of great friendship, and then fixed his forehead against 
 mine, and used it as a fulcrum to rub noses several fimes, 
 a ceremony not very agreeable in his heated state ivom 
 singing. A chief of this place was of the party, which 
 made him feel quite at his ease, otherwise they are mis- 
 trustful on the first visit. Pie described his people's barter 
 with the Asiatics of the opposite coast (the Tchuk-chI, or, 
 
 C C 
 
 ;1 
 
 i; 
 
 'lii 
 
 ' t 
 
 :/ 
 
38G DISCOVEllY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 as they call it, Tsau-chu) to consist of the martin (sable), 
 fox, wolverine, wolf, and benr-skins, and sometimes whale- 
 oil and fish ; for wliich they get in exchange kettles, 
 tobacco, beads, knives (Russian), and walrus teeth. 
 While he remained he was a welcome and constant visitor. 
 The southern natives are far more agreeable than those to 
 the northward, who have been rarely visited ; the officers 
 speak of the former as more grateful and modest, particu- 
 larly the females, while the latter arc thought impudent 
 and ungrateful. On leaving, he sung of the good name 
 he should give the ship on his way down the coast, which 
 will be of benefit to our boats on their expedition to Cape 
 liisburne. 
 
 About the middle of February a great many of the 
 natives removed into the interior to hunt the reindeer, 
 found very numerous on these vast plains, which form the 
 north-western termination of America. As I was curious 
 to see something of the country and their mode of living 
 at this inclement season, I thought my making an ex- 
 cursion to their hunting grounds would show we placed 
 every confidence in them. I accordingly left the ship on 
 the 1st March, accompanied by Mr. Gordon, mate, tw^o 
 seamen, with a native guide, and sledge drawn by six 
 dogs, carrying tents, guns, and provisions. Our route 
 into the interior was S. S. W. (true) across snowy plains, 
 differing little in appearance from the bay ice, except on 
 the approach to a lake, when the rise became more sudden, 
 and being exposed to the sweeping winds, grass was oc- 
 casionally seen in spots through the snow, offering, with 
 deer of which we saw a great many, the only thing worthy 
 of notice. Three days and a half heavy travelling 
 brought us to an encampment on the bank of a river. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 3S7 
 
 (sable), 
 
 } whale- 
 kettles, 
 
 J teeth. 
 
 t visitor, 
 those to 
 
 e officers 
 particu- 
 
 mpudent 
 
 lod name 
 
 jt, which 
 
 I to Cape 
 
 ly of the 
 reindeer, 
 
 1 form the 
 
 as curious 
 of living 
 
 12 an ex- 
 e placed 
 
 le ship on , 
 late, two 
 n by six 
 lur route 
 y plains, 
 [except on 
 Ire sudden, 
 !s was oc- 
 iring, with 
 |ng worthy 
 travelling 
 >f a river. 
 
 The people hud a hole through the ice, which we found to 
 be seven feet thick, and reaching within one of the bottom. 
 Their houses differed from those described by Captain 
 Parry, in being excavated in the snow lodged on the river, 
 the ice of which formed a perfectly even floor. Their 
 position from outside was only observable by seeing the 
 implements of chase belonging to the owners in a group 
 over the top. We found them in no instance wanting 
 in kindness, but their character for begging had not 
 fallen off since leaving Point Barrow. Their mode 
 of killing the reindeer is novel, and such as nature 
 has pointed out. The country is so open that they have 
 no means of approaching the animals under any cover ; 
 they therefore dig deep pits in the snowy ravines, selecting 
 places where the surface is even, to cover them ligluly 
 over with shibs of snow. Tlie moment the animal puts 
 his feet upon them he is precipitated into the pit, the 
 depth of which is too great for him to leap from. 
 
 Having effected my purpose of visiting and going 
 amongst them, I returned to the ship after an absence of 
 seven days. The position of the place by astronomical 
 observations was S. 40, W. 38 miles from the ship. 
 
 Nothing further worthy of remark occurred in our 
 intercourse, until I was setting out on a journey along the 
 coast to the eastward, when some of ;'ie worst disposed 
 tried to deter a young man from accompanying me as 
 guide by threatening to follow and murder us when we 
 slept, the guide amongst the number, upon whom it ap- 
 peared to have no effect, beyond his repeating the story 
 and advising that the men should not be allowed into the 
 ship during my absence. This report made it evident 
 that the fact of our force being divided had been talked of, 
 
 c c 2 
 
 •t 
 
 .1 I 
 
 u it 
 
 :l! 
 
 i 
 
388 DISCOVERY OV THE NOTITII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 and I felt sorry our ro-idcncc amongst thcni for so long 
 
 had 
 
 dcrcd 
 
 Ml 
 
 
 produced no better feeling, but I consulcrcd it ncccs- 
 Bory to fihow wo were capnplc of defending ourselves, and 
 travelling when we found it necessary. If this was not 
 established, our position, confined to the ship by a tril)e of 
 unarmed savages, would not be very flattering. With 
 these feelings I set out on my journey, well satisfied with 
 the resources of my party, and with the judgment and dis- 
 cn tion of the officer (Lieutenant Vernon) in whose charge 
 the " Plover " was left. On my return, after an absence 
 of twenty-five days, I was glad to find everything going 
 on as favourably as possible. The natives were returning 
 from the interior in large numbers, and the day previous, 
 27th of April, as many as 40 sledges with 93 people 
 crossed the bay to the village, from the hunting grounds. 
 
 From this time we procured an abundant supply of 
 venison, the only instance during our stay of our receiving 
 any benefit from our proximity to them. It lasted nearly 
 two months, and had the effect of restoring for a time 
 the health of the crew, previously much debilitated and 
 exposed to scurvy. < • 
 
 The appearance of this disease was attributable to the 
 great inequality in the character of some of the provision^ 
 in the older supplies of preserved meats and flour; and it 
 became necessary to discontinue the use of beef altogether, 
 and to increase the issue of the last au[)ply of preserved 
 meats and preserved potatoes. 
 
 The season for their whale-fishing wa> now approaching, 
 and commenced on the 7th of May ; the distance to the 
 open water was about four miles W. (true) of Point 
 Barrow. On the 11th, hearing they had caught a whale, 
 I made an excursion to the scene, with the hope of being 
 
■ i 
 
 I ( 
 
 iGE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 389 
 
 SO long 
 
 it nccc8- 
 
 Ives, niul 
 
 wa3 not 
 a tribe of 
 5. With 
 sficd with 
 t and dis- 
 )sc charge 
 II absence 
 ing going 
 returning 
 
 pi'cvious, 
 93 people 
 grounds, 
 supply of 
 r receiving 
 ited nearly 
 br a time 
 itated and 
 
 ble to the 
 provision^ 
 
 ur; and it 
 altogether, 
 preserved 
 
 )proaching, 
 nee to the 
 ) of Point 
 it a whale, 
 le of being 
 
 in time to sf^z its distribution, but on arriving, the 
 only rema'ns we could discover was about half a pound of 
 blubber, to so good an account do they scciu to turn every 
 part of tne animal. We found the open water extending 
 E. N. E. and W. S. W. (true), and no bottom with ten 
 fathoms. The ice to tlio southward seemed opoii, and 
 I Buppodcd the water was IVec in that direction to 
 Behring Straits. It would be interesting to bo able to 
 conjecture its north-eastward extent, the wind blowing, it 
 may be said, constantly from that qurrter; if the ice 
 should liappcn to be broken, it must clear a large space of 
 water. 
 
 This pursuit occupied them until the 2 1st of June, 
 when most of their ** 00-mi-aks " were brought to the land 
 to be prepared for their sunmn > journey to the eastward, 
 previous to whicli they seem to allow themselves ton days' 
 enjoyment, which is passed in eating, smoking, and 
 dancing ; they then commence tlie work of preparation. 
 
 AVhilat treating on this subject, it is worthy of being 
 mentioned that the natives state that the whales make 
 their appearance off Point Hope in April and May, when 
 the ice there breaks up into fields, and that most of them 
 have disappeared by the time the ships arrive. About the 
 same time these animals also aj)pear at this place, and are 
 pursued by the natives in their 00-mi-aks, as mentioned 
 before, until June, when few are seen, and in July none in 
 this neighbourhood, and the people believe they retire 
 northward, to return this way in August and Se[)tem.ber. 
 The masters of whaling vessels have informed me that 
 whales are less abundant in the open water in July aud 
 August than in September. 1 
 
 . A month previous to this time we received, quite 
 
 c c 3 
 
 !M 
 
 i i ; 
 
 ; i 
 
 1 
 
 1 : . 
 
 ! -I 
 
 
390 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 by accident, some very useful information. Two of tho 
 officers, Lieut. Vernon and Mr. Simpson (surgeon), con- 
 vei'sing with one of the chiefs more intelligent and com- 
 municative than the rest, asked him if he had ever 
 seen any boats like ours along the coast, when he said he 
 had, near the Colville river. Finding that Mr. Simpson, 
 by turning over tlie leaves of Commander Pullen's journal, 
 was able to describe the occurrence that took place, the 
 man unwittingly gave a detail of the whole affair, which 
 corresponded v ith the written accounts, even to the wind ; 
 by which it app;nirs the chief of this place, with his Hudson's 
 Bay gun, — IJarnctt, 1843 (vide evidence taken before the 
 Arctic Committee, questions 1384-5-6) is the individual 
 described by Commander Pullen, and he appears to have 
 taken a hirge number of men with him to follow the boat;\ 
 The man afterwards seemed very uneasy, and was perhaps 
 thrown off" his guard when he told so much, but the officers 
 sujjposed that he thought if the book told so much, they 
 must also be acquainted with every circumstance by 
 the same means, and that he was doing no harm in 
 acknowledging the facts. He was very anxious from the 
 first to learn the names of Commander Pullen and 
 his companion Lieutenant Hooper (a prevalent habit with 
 them), but he was not told until he had identified them in 
 the most minute way. In further conversations connected 
 with the foregoing circumstance, we were enabled to 
 identify this people as the Western Esquimaux, and 
 the same man traced out for us the different stages of the 
 journey. This point had been of doubt with us; supposing 
 the distance from Point Barrow to Barter Island 240 
 miles of an exposed coast, it could not be accomi)lished by 
 them in the short season of open water, as their skin boats, 
 
^GE. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 391 
 
 of the 
 an), con- 
 ind com- 
 had ever 
 3 said he 
 SuTipson, 
 8 journal, 
 place, the 
 lir, which 
 the wind ; 
 Hudson's 
 before the 
 individual 
 3 to have 
 the boatv". 
 as perhaps 
 :he officers 
 luch, they 
 stance by 
 harm in 
 from the 
 alien and 
 habit with 
 id them in 
 connected 
 nabled to 
 naux, and 
 iges of the 
 supposing 
 sland 240 
 iplished by 
 skin boats. 
 
 when deeply laden, arc not adapted for a seaway. These 
 difficulties were explained by saying they take the boats 
 away on sledges, a month before the ice breaks up ; 
 the exposed parts of the coast and large bays are avoided 
 by an inland navigation through rivers and lakes of which 
 
 we were ignorant. 
 
 The first stage of the journey is the Colville, and occu- 
 pies ten days, where they meet a friendly tribe of Esqui- 
 maux, called Kuna- tag-miutes (supposed by Messrs. Dease 
 and Simpson to be a name for the Russians), but there is no 
 doubt of their being Esquimaux, and wearing the lip onia- 
 ments peculiar to them. They confine themselves to the 
 rivers and land from which their name is derived, " Nuna " 
 (land), and have a communication through the rivers of the 
 interior to the coast, about Hotham's Inlet, as our in- 
 formant told us he had met a woman two successive 
 seasons at the Colville, who had been frequently aboard 
 this ship in Kotzebue Sound in the winter of 1849, and had 
 travelled from there through the interior without having 
 touched upon the inteimediate coast. 
 
 The journey to the Colville is anticipated by them with 
 much pleasure, particularly this year, as they frequently 
 spoke of telling of the wonders seen on board this ship, in 
 addition to the pleasing thoughts of feasting and dancing 
 they were to enjoy with their friends. From thence a select 
 party extend themselves to Barter Island, the women ac- 
 companying them to within a day's journey of meeting the 
 eastern people, when the men advance and conclude their 
 business as expeditiously as possible. They give an amusing 
 account of the mutual distrust that exists between the two 
 parties. The wpstern people never sleep while they are in 
 sight of the eastern, and all bargains seem to be made knife 
 
 c c 4 
 
 U 
 
 ]■■ ii 
 
 Of 
 
 ,-i\ 
 
 
392 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I 
 
 i.i;' I 
 
 -i rf, 
 
 in hand. The articles and system of bartering appear to 
 be as described by Sir John Franklin, but I think later 
 Avriters on the subject have supposed that Russian goods find 
 their way to the north coast from posts on the Colville, 
 which we have not been able to verify. This tribe 
 receives Russian (Siberian) articles from the Point Hope 
 people, previously alluded to, which they convey to the 
 eastward and exchange for English knives procured from 
 the Hudson's Bay posts, but there is no intermediate 
 supply from the Russians that we could hear of. The 
 journey cast from the Colville takes them ten days, which 
 tliey describe as being made always against the wind ; and 
 the return to Point Barrow from Point Berens occupies 
 little more than two, while they sleep in their boats, 
 and allow them to drift before the wind; this would 
 make it appear that easterly winds must be very prevalent 
 in the early part of August. Mr. Simpson, who has 
 taken much pains to inform himself on the subject, consi- 
 ders the 25th of July the time of their depaiture from the 
 Colville; this has been further established 'y the fact of 
 the party who attacked Commander PuUen on the 9th of 
 August at Return Reef, being then on their return from 
 Barter Island. The time of their annual visit never dif- 
 fers probably three days, as we have found them gene- 
 rally as accurate in that way as if they were acquainted 
 Avith dates. From this information it may be concluded 
 that the Esquimaux make one-third of their summer 
 journeys, by carrying their boats over the ice, — before 
 a ship or her boats become available, which gives them a 
 season so much longer, at a time when the weather ie very 
 favourable, — this will have been pointed out to them by 
 necessity, from the shortness of the season of open water, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 393 
 
 which, if they confined themselves to, it would limit their 
 excursions to a very short range. Their return for 
 the winter takes place, as we have seen, about the 
 10th of September, and seems to end their labours for 
 the year. 
 
 Two days after receiving the above information, May 
 20th, a native man was observed outside the ship wearing 
 a small canvass bag with an address written on it, — " To 
 the Chief Trader of the Russian settlement, N. America," 
 — which caused considerable curiosity on our pai ts, and on 
 making further inquiries he told us he had the paper in his 
 hut that was originally in it, on which he was despatched 
 with the promise of a large reward of tobacco if he brought 
 it to the ship. Some hours afterwards he returned with 
 two torn pieces of paper, complaining that his little 
 girl had destroyed the rest ; fortunately, the most important 
 part was preserved, which has been enclosed. This inform- 
 ation is so far satisfactory, as it shows Commander M'Clure 
 to have been making his passage along shore, which has 
 been further confirmed by natives here, who were on board 
 the " Investigator " at Point Berens or Return Reef, where 
 they describe her to have had an easterly wind with no ice 
 in sight. The " Enterprise," it has been mentioned, was 
 visited the year following not so far to the eastward by 
 eighty miles. From these positions it is reasonable to infer 
 they had not again communicated with the shore to the west- 
 ward of the Mackenzie, as the natives of this place, who arc 
 in yearly communication with the Esquimaux who frequent 
 the mouth of that river, have — to our repeated inquiries 
 as to whether they had heard if the ships had been seen by 
 the other people — answered they have not, or they would 
 have heard of it. It will give some idea of the difficulty 
 
u 
 
 394 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 of making the Esquimaux compreh(jncl the meaning of our 
 notions, when it is considered the " Investigator " had an 
 interpreter on board, who will have explained the object of 
 the letter given by Commander M'Clure, and we had been 
 eight months constantly making inquiries for such things, 
 and endeavouring to explain our business here, without the 
 individual charged with the paper knowing what it was 
 for ; and if the canvass bag had not been found useful, its 
 contents would never have been known. 
 
 In order to impress upon them the value of such things 
 as papers and messnges, I gave the man a considerable 
 present of tobacco, very much to his surprise and that of 
 his companions, which had the eifect of producing an old 
 American song book, the only article of paper remaining 
 in their possession. 
 
 I have now to mention the occurrence of a native man 
 being shot by accident, which at the time caused us con- 
 siderable trouble and uneasiness, but eventually I have 
 had reason to believe it was viewed by most of the 
 Esquimaux in its true light. 
 
 On the morning in question, June 8th, the quarter- 
 master of the watch, David Dunstall, came into my cabin, 
 and informed me he had had a dreadful misfortune, and, 
 to my horror, that he had shot a native alongside the 
 ship, and on hurrying outside I found the man was shot 
 through the head, and must have died instantaneously. 
 The man who had been the cause of the unlooked-for 
 event showed by his manner that it had been an accident, 
 and upon laakirg some further inquiries, I found that 
 several natives hud arrived alongside the ship previous to 
 the time they were allowed, and although desired on that 
 account to go away several times, they could not be 
 
 'i I 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ) 
 
 395 
 
 induced to do so, and the quarter-master of the watch 
 took out a fowling-piece in hia hand, in order to frighten 
 them, and when motioning with it for them to go away, it 
 went off and lodged the contents of the barrel in the back 
 part of the poor man's head. The remainder of the party, 
 five or six, ran away co speedily that there was no means 
 of overtaking them, and the body being left, it became 
 necessary to consider the best means of disposing of it. 
 We soon afterwards removed it to such a distance from the 
 ship that the natives could advance to it without fear of us, 
 and at the same time it gave no pretext for their coming 
 any neare co the ship. When this had been done, and a 
 large quantity of tobacco left with the body as an intima- 
 tion of our friendship, all that we could do Avas to hope 
 that some of our friends amongst them would still have 
 sufficient confidence to come down and give us an oppor- 
 tunity of explaining this affair. In this expectation we 
 were not disappointed, as two of the chief men came to 
 the ship at once, having, before leaving the settlement, 
 exerted their influence to quiet the pcojJe in their first 
 outbreak. One of these men, who was remarkable for 
 his intelligence, was made to comprehend the possibility 
 of such an accident ; and great pains were taken to show 
 him that the charge was shot intended for birds, not men. 
 When this impression was established, we requested them 
 to go back and explain it to the people. By the time 
 they had arrived at the place where the body had been 
 left, a great many had collected, amongst them the wife 
 and friends of the unfortunate deceased, but who, I was 
 glad to find, had left no children. They sat round, and 
 appeared deeply engaged in conversation for about two 
 hours, listening, as we supposed, to the explanation ; then 
 
 ! ! 
 
396 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 liM 
 
 11! 1 
 
 111 u 
 
 V 
 
 'I ! 
 
 r 
 
 nil 
 
 . I 
 
 they seemed to examine the body, and his own deer-skins 
 having been brought down, he was wrapped in them and 
 pUiced on a sledge, which was drawn by his wife leading 
 and four men, one following, across the bay to the 
 cemetery, near Point Barrow. None of the others ac- 
 companied the procession. A few of them came as usual 
 alongside the ship, but as they were for the most part of 
 those known not to be friendly to us, our people were 
 kept on board to avoid any treacherous retaliation. 
 During the day I was gratified to find the wives of the 
 principal chiefs came on board, and expressed their sorrow 
 at the absence of their husbands, who were at the open 
 water looking after vrhale; but they had been sent for, 
 and were coming on board as soon as they returned. 
 They told us also that all work was stopped for five days, 
 the women not being allowed to sew for that time, which 
 seems to be a general custom on the occasion of any 
 deaths, and remarked that we ought not to have any 
 hammering on board for the same time ; and as I was 
 anxious to show every sympathy in our power, the 
 caulkers at work outside were ordered to cease work, and 
 the ensign hoisted half-mast, the meaning of which was 
 explained and understood by them. In the evening one 
 of the chiefs who had been first down after the accident 
 visited us with his wife, j,nd brought the intelligence that 
 a division existed in the camp as to revenging themselves 
 on us, but as the chiefs were unwilling to favour it, it 
 seemed probable nothing of the sort would be attempted. 
 However, proper precautions were taken to avoid any 
 surprise, particularly as a thick fog at the time of sleep 
 favoui-ed such a design. 
 . On the following day the four chiefs, with their wives, 
 
■ I 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 H 
 
 897 
 
 I 
 
 wives, 
 
 came on board, when, with the asaistancc of the officers, 
 the whole affair was again explained, which they ceemed 
 to comprehend, and appeared to entertain no fear of going 
 below as usual when asked. We were quite aware of 
 their inability to control individuals, but they have to a 
 certain degree a good deal of sway, and recommended us 
 to make presents to all the people who lived in the same 
 house as the deceased, and cautioned ua not to stray away 
 from the neighbourhood of the ship, as the feeling of a 
 great many of them was uncertain. On their leaving 
 they were made presents, and desired to bring the house 
 party to the ship at the expiration of five days, the time 
 they strictly confine themselves to the house, and I 
 believe are seldom intruded upon. They arrived at the 
 ship in due time, numbei'Ing as many as ten, accom^ anied 
 by the chiefs. The widow was young, and seemed in 
 unaffected grief, which the large presents she received did 
 not dissipate ; but time and a continual course of kindness 
 on our parts brought her to forget her loss so far that she 
 regretted to me, and I believe in sincerity, the thoughts of 
 the ship going away. Our intercourse from this time, as 
 might be expected, could not be conducted with the same 
 satisfaction it had previously been, although no trouble or 
 inconvenience was spared to do away with their unfavour- 
 able impression. The views they entertained of the case 
 very much assisted a reconciliation, as they had no idea of 
 any such thing as a general control existing amongst us ; 
 the act was set down as purely an individual one, and the 
 whole fault of it attributed to the man as an act of his 
 own, while they seemed to consider the remainder not in 
 any way concerned in it. 
 
 About fourteen days after the occurrence a largo 
 
 i 
 
 
 
398 DISCOVERY OF THE KORTII-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I h' 
 
 S (' 
 
 ' f 
 
 collection of people had assembled at Point Barrow to 
 witness some dancing festival previous to setting out to 
 the eastward. 
 
 A party from Cape Smyth afterwards endeavoured to 
 get up an united force to attack the ship, without being 
 able to succeed. However, the chief and a good many of 
 the Point Barrow people wishing to make a merit for 
 which to be rewarded, of their not joining our enemies, I 
 was obliged to tell them I should be very sorry if the 
 people came down with bows to the ship again, but if 
 they did, a good many would be killed. This appears to 
 have put an end to it, as we were next told of the 
 departure of the hostile party, and were not troubled with 
 any more reports of that descnption. 
 
 We now watched with some anxiety the preparations 
 for the departure of the natives, as the time was approach- 
 ing for the departure of our boats for Cape Lisburne, and 
 their transit over the ice could not be effected without some 
 risk of interruption until the numbers of the natives became 
 decreased, so that we were much pleased to see them in 
 a state of forwardness. On July 4th they couimenced 
 leaving, and continued to follow for three successive days. 
 Each party halted to sleep near the ship to have an 
 opportunity of begging from us till the last moment, and 
 as I had prepared some printed papers for them to dis- 
 tribute among the eastern Esquimaux at Barter Island, 
 they were treated with every indulgence; and those 
 entrusted with the printed papers received a present of 
 tobacco, some buttons, prepared in England, bearing 
 information concerning the Arctic search, and some other 
 email trifles to keep them reminded of their charge, 
 which they faithfully promised to pass on. I redeemed a 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 399 
 
 long-made promise to the chief, giving him some gun- 
 powder. I think it had a good effect, by showing we had 
 no fear of them ; and I was fully aware he had a sufficient 
 quantity for mischievous purposes, as his gun, when in 
 our possession, we found well loaded with ball-car tritlge. 
 
 I accompanied one party a short distance on their 
 journey to see if I could gain any useful hints for our own 
 boats. The ** oo-mi-aks " were secured on small sledges, 
 and seemed to be easily drawn by three people. The 
 principal part of their barter (whale-blubber and seal-oil) 
 was carried on small truck -sledges, drawn by the women 
 and dogs, the men seeming to confine thtmsclves to the 
 charge of the boats ; but at lanes of water and different 
 passes they mutually assist each other. The rate of 
 travelling whilst moving was expeditious, but they made 
 frequent halts to smoke, and before I left them, although 
 near their place of encampment, they ate a hearty meal. 
 
 Between the 4th and 7th of July, as many as twenty- 
 seven to thirty " oo-mi-aks," accompanied by 150 people, 
 passed to the eastward, much to our satisfaction, as it left 
 us with comparatively few to trouble us in our prepara- 
 tions for sending away the boats. 
 
 On the 7th I made an excursion across the bay to 
 observe the state of the sea-ice, and walked two miles to 
 the westward in the offing without beuig able to get a 
 glimpse of open water in any direction from the highest 
 hummock. This made me form the idea of taking the 
 boats over the ice to the southward until we fell in with it. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th I left the ship with the gig 
 and whale-boat intended for Cape Lisburne. They were 
 placed on two strong sledges drawn by their own crews 
 and officers, Liyutcnunt Vernon and Mr. Gordon (mate). 
 
 1 
 
400 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 I'i. 
 
 assisted by an auxiliary party of ten, including myself 
 nnd the carpenter, making up twenty in all. Thirty- 
 four days' provisions for the boats' crews, clothing, am- 
 munition, &c. were carried on two native sledges drawu 
 by dogs, a third conveying provisions for the auxiliary 
 pirty. Parts of the transit over the ice were attended 
 with difficulty, and the whole was very laborious, re- 
 quiring the utmost strength of all the parties, assisted at 
 times by natives, and for two days by a strong and 
 favourable breeze, enabling us to make sail on the 
 boats, which lightened the labour very much. Travelling 
 to the southward for three days, the open water ap- 
 I)eared within two miles of the beach at what seemed a 
 most eligible place for launching the boats. I walked, ac- 
 companied by Lieutenant Vernon, to the open water, but 
 the hummocks intervening seemed to offer too great an 
 obstacle to the tran&it; however on the following morning, 
 July 12th, as the weather was favourable, 1 decided to at- 
 tempt it, and succeeded in launching the boats safely at 
 noon. They soon after shoved off with a favourable 
 breeze, which they held for eight hours only. 
 
 On the 15th, whilst calculating on the progress they 
 might have made, a party of people were observed coming 
 down at 8 o'clock in the evening, tracking an " oo-mi-ak," 
 and on making out some of our people amongst them our 
 astonishment was so great we could hardly believe our 
 eyes. I went without loss oi time to meet them, not in a 
 very agreeable state of mind ; but when I counted the full 
 number of the party I was comparatively easy. It 
 appears that on the night of the 13th, finding the ice 
 closing on them, they managed to get the boats on to the floe, 
 and fancied themselves safe although drifting to the north- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 401 
 
 ward. Tho ico continued to prcsa in towards the land, 
 crushing the floe and piling it up to nearly twenty feet in 
 height ; and at length the floe gave way beneath them, and 
 the gig was partly filled with pieces and could not be 
 withdrawn further towards the land. Tho whaler, a 
 lighter boat, was also stove ; and as she could not be 
 brought further, the whole party were obliged to make the 
 best of their way to the shore before the ice should case 
 off, as it seemed inclined to do, and leave them on de- 
 tached pieces. Fortunately the danger, so imminent, was of 
 that slow though overwhelming nature that they h id time 
 to provide themselves with three days' preserveJ. meats, 
 and their arms and ammunition, with which they were en- 
 abled to reach the ship. I have forwarded Lieutenant 
 Vernon's journal, which will show their Lordships how 
 that ofiicer and his companion, Mr. Gordon, acquitted 
 themselves on the occasion ; and I have much satisfaction 
 in mentioning the high terms in which he spoke of tho 
 conduct of the crews, not a man of whom expressed his 
 opinion until they had decided on deserting the boats, 
 when from their manner he concludes they thought it high 
 time ; and he further describes them as obedient, cool, and 
 intrepid from the commencement of the danger until their 
 return on board. The loss of the ship's boats was a heavy 
 misfortune ; but when it was considered the whole party 
 had found their w.iy safely to the ship, we were too much 
 rejoiced to give a look of regret after the boats, which 
 could not have been saved. 
 
 Two days after the return of the boat party I had se- 
 rious thoughts of despatching another in a native " oo-mi- 
 ak," to keep our appointment at Cape Lisburne ; but on 
 weighing the matter maturely, 1 gave up the idea, r.. by 
 
 D D 
 
 :;l 
 
402 DISCOVEUY OF THE NOilTU-WEST rASSAQE. 
 
 I!ii 
 
 no '.iicans in our power could it reach the rendezvous by tho 
 appointed time ; and as the ship would be obliged to wait 
 for the return of the party, tho delay would render it im- 
 pos8il)le to regain this place as a winter station, in tho 
 event of its being so ordered. With these considerations, 
 and a present prospect of an early release, I thought it 
 better not to divide our small force at a time when the 
 services of every one would be required to extricate tho 
 fihip, and to take the earliest opportunity of going to the 
 south in order to recruit the health of the ship's com- 
 pany. 
 
 As early as July 25th we were enabled to swing the 
 ship for local attraction ; and the ice having cleared away 
 for a considerable space in our neighbourhood, we moved 
 into the fairway to be ready f'>r the first opening in the 
 offing. 
 
 The natives brought us a report this morning that our 
 deserted boats had been seen drifted near the shore at the 
 Sea Horse Islands, and their contents made a prize of by 
 a small party, who succeeded in bringing the gig to the 
 lar^d. On our passage down, beating close along shore, 
 some natives brought the shell of the boat off, exchanging 
 her readily for a native " oo-mi-ak " we had provided our- 
 selves with in the mean time. 
 
 In watching the dissolution of tho bay ice, we had 
 flattered ourselves this season was fourteen days before 
 the last, which it really was in the thinness of the ice ; 
 but from the absence of strong winds it remained stati- 
 onary, at a +ime when the sea was open the preceding 
 year. Every day, at this period (the end of July) seemed 
 to effect a marked cliangc in the ice, and on the 30th a 
 pt.'ceptible n»otion to the northward was observed in some 
 
E. 
 
 APPKNDIX. 
 
 408 
 
 i by tho 
 to wait 
 it im- 
 in the 
 rations, 
 iuf»ht it 
 icn the 
 iftte the 
 T to the 
 'a com- 
 
 iring the 
 cd away 
 B moved 
 g in the 
 
 that our 
 
 •c at the 
 
 e of by 
 
 to the 
 
 shore, 
 
 hanging 
 
 ed our- 
 
 wc had 
 8 before 
 the ice ; 
 ed stati- 
 receding 
 seemed 
 30th a 
 in some 
 
 of the heavy huinmocka in the ofKng, and a lane of water 
 sufficient for the ahlp was found by Mr. Hull (uccond 
 master) whom I sent to observe tho state of the ice to 
 seaward. 
 
 In consequence of this report I set out in a boat on the 
 following day to trace its extent, preparatory to moving 
 tho ship, and to sound along shore to find how close we 
 could approach in case of necessity. Everything seemed 
 favourable to our purpose, and I fully expected to return 
 in tho evening and get under weigh ; but on approaching 
 Cape Smyth I had tho raortificption to find the lane of 
 water terminate so close to the shore that a native 
 " oo-mi-ak " could not have passed. This was one of 
 the disappointments of ice navigation which teaches one 
 patience, and requires to be borne with, in addition to 
 others we are liable to, even under favourable circum- 
 stances. 
 
 From the Ist to the 6th of August an officer was sent 
 each day to Cape Smyth, to bring the earliest intelligence 
 of any change in our favour ; but tach day brought the 
 same unwelcome report, that the ice was still close with 
 the shore and no open water to be seen. It seems a 
 strange complaint in these latitudes, but the fineness of 
 the present season was the cause of our detention. During 
 the month of July the wind was registered one day from 
 five to six In force ; for four days four ; and the remaining 
 twenty-six barely averaged two, proving the extreme of 
 fine weather to be a greater obstacle in moving masses of 
 ice than the reverse state of it. 
 
 On the 7th, a fresh breeze from the eastward gave me 
 some hopes of a change in our favour; and on visitin*^; 
 Cape Smyth I observed a narrow lane of water extending 
 
 OD 2 
 
404 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 i 
 
 ! N 
 
 aB far as the eye could reach to the southward. On 
 getting on board at eight p.m., we left our anchorage, where 
 we had found shelter for p'-^ven months and four days, 
 seven days later in the season than Captain Parry had 
 been enabled to leave Melville Island. We carried a 
 favourable breeze for eight hours, and had made con- 
 siderable progress, when the wind shifted to S. W., with 
 thick weather and heavy rain, which made it difficult to 
 avoid coming in coiitact with the ice, from the narrowness 
 of the channel we had to beat in. A continuation of thick 
 weather and light contrary winds on the following day 
 prevented our making any progress ; and in the afternoon, 
 finding we were losing ground, I made fast to a large floe- 
 piece, when we found the drift to be one mile an hour, 
 east, being very nearly in the opposite direction to our 
 course. After a few hours we were enabled to cast oftj on 
 a light wind springing up from the northward, and run 
 along shore to the S. W. ; but the ice had become gradu- 
 ally closer during the few hours of westerly winds, and we 
 had much difficulty in picking our way during the night, 
 as a thick fog prevailed. On the following morning, 
 August 9th, the outer edge of the land floe in the depth of 
 Peard Bay was found to extend unbroken from the land 
 to a distance of nine miles, and the ice outside seemed t o 
 close to offijr us a passage in the desired direction ; but as 
 the wind was fresh and favourable, the ship was forced 
 nto open water by ten A. M., having sustained some severe 
 but unavoidable shocks in doing so. I was now anxious 
 to keep close in with the land, in order to stop any boats 
 ^,hat might be making their way to Point Barrow in con- 
 sequence of our failing to reach Cape Lisburne ; and at 
 two P. M., in passing the Sea Horse Islands, we got into 
 
 I V 
 
 "•il 
 
3E. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 405 
 
 •d. On 
 e, where 
 XT day8, 
 irry had 
 arried a 
 de con- 
 (V., with 
 Ecult to 
 rrowness 
 I of thick 
 ring day 
 fternoon, 
 irge floe- 
 an hour, 
 a to our 
 st oftj on 
 and run 
 le gradu- 
 3, and we 
 be night, 
 morning, 
 depth of 
 the land 
 emed t o 
 but as 
 as forced 
 Qe severe 
 anxious 
 iny boats 
 V in con- 
 3 ; and at 
 got into 
 
 three fathoms in endeavouring to close the shore for the 
 purpose of sending a boat to put up a mark, which we 
 were not able to accomplish, as the wind was found to 
 blow rather on shore, and was too strong to admit of the 
 ship lying off and on with safety. I accordingly bore up 
 to run for Cape Lisburne, and on the following day, 
 August 10th, at eleven a.m., communicated with Her Ma- 
 jesty's Ship " Amphitrite," Captain Frederick, from whom 
 I received their Lordships' orders directing me to rnnain 
 at Point Barrow, but the health of the crew would have 
 prevented my doing so had I received the order previous 
 to leaving ; and as there seemed no difficulty in returning 
 during the present season, I repaired in company with the 
 *' Amphitrite " to Port Clarence, to await the arrival of 
 the " Battlesnake," and to obtain the changes found ne- 
 cessary in the crew, with an increased supply of provisions 
 and fuel for another year. 
 
 Our return seemed the more necessary as their Lord- 
 ships' instructions direct provisions to be left in the 
 neighbourhood of Point Barrow, which I had not done, 
 considering at the time I left it was probable I should re- 
 turn. A reference to Sir E. Belcher's instructions relative 
 to the north coast seemed also to make it desirable that 
 the " Plover " should return to the station she was known 
 to occupy by that officer, in the event of any of his parties 
 advancing with the certain hope of succour at Point 
 Bari'ow. 
 
 RoCHFORT Maguire, Commander. 
 
 Her Majesty's Ship "Plover." 
 
 Port Clarence, 21st August, 1853. 
 
 THE END. 
 
In 
 
 
 I ( 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by Spottiswoodb & Co., 
 
 New-strcet-Square. 
 
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 MOUNTAINS ; ••••^^ "• FtKGUSON. 
 
 MONT BLANC, ASCENT of. By J. AULDJO. 
 
 ^'"h^ALPsM'f.!!^.'!".".".^.'.'!} B^ ''• '^O''^ TSCHUDI. 
 
 VISIT toiheVAUDoisor') ,, .. ,,,,.,„, 
 
 PIEDMONT ) Byt. BAINES 
 
 London : LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS. 
 
Completion of th". Traveller's Library. 
 
 Summary jf Contents-- wn/inuerf. 
 
 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS- con<e««ed. 
 
 IN ASIA. 
 
 CHINA and TIIIDKT My the AIIHK IIUCJ. 
 
 SYRIA and I'AI.ESTINE " KUTIIKN." 
 
 The PHILIl'l'lNK ISLANDS, By 1'. GIRONIEBK. 
 
 IN AFRICA. 
 
 AFRICAN WANDERINGS By M. WFRNE. 
 
 MOROCCO Bv X. DUR.IIEU. 
 
 NKiEK EXPLORATION... By T. J. IlLTCllI.NSdN. 
 The ZULUS of NATAL By U. II. MASON. 
 
 IN AMERICA. 
 
 BRAZII ByK. WILBEUKORCE. 
 
 CAN lUA By .Mrs. .JAMESON. 
 
 cur. V By \V. H. HURI.BUT. 
 
 NORTH AiMERlCAN WILDS, By C. LANMAN. 
 
 IN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 AUSTRALIAN COLONIES By W. liUGIIES- 
 
 ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 A LADY'S VOYAGE By I')A I'FEIFFER 
 
 HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 MEMOIR of the DUKE of WELLINGTON. 
 The LIFE of MARSHAL 1 By the Rev. 
 
 TURENNE J T. O. COCKAYNE. 
 
 SCHAMYL Bj itODENSTEDT and WAGNER. 
 
 FERDINAND I. .ind MAXlMI-> „ „ .„„« 
 
 LIAN II f ByHANKE. 
 
 FRANCIS ARAGO'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 TIIO.MAS HOLCROFT'S MEMO-'KS. 
 
 CHESTEUFIELD&SELWYN, By A. HAYWARD. 
 SWIFT and RICHARDSON .. By LORD JEFFREY. 
 
 DEFOE and CHURCHILL By J. FORSTER. 
 
 ANECDOTESof DR. JOHNSON. ...By Mrs. PIOZZI. 
 TURKEY and CHRISTENDOM. 
 LEIPSIC CAMPAKiN, By ;he H-". (J. R. GLEIO. 
 An ESSAY on the MFB and GENIUS1 By HENRY 
 of THOMAS FULLER / ROGERS. 
 
 I- : 
 
 ESSAYS BY MACAU LAY. 
 
 WARREN HASTINGS. 
 
 LORD CLIVE. 
 
 WILLI Ail PITT. 
 
 The EARL of CHATHAM. 
 
 RANKE'S HISTORY of the POPES. 
 
 GLADSTONE on CHURCH and STATE. 
 
 ADDISON'S LIFE and WHITINGS. 
 
 HORACE WALPOLE. 
 
 LORD BACON. 
 
 LORD BYRON. 
 
 CO.MIC DRAMATISTS of the RESTORATION. 
 FREDERIC the (illEAT. 
 
 HALLAMS CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 
 CROKER'S EDITION of BOSWELL'S LIFE 
 JOHNSON. 
 
 ot 
 
 Mr. MACAULAY'S SPEECHES on PARLIAMEN- 
 TARY REFORM. 
 
 WORKS OF FICTION. 
 
 The LOVE STORY from SOUTHEY'S DOCTOR. 
 Sir ROGER De COVERLEY, from the SPECTATOR. 
 MEMOIRS of a MAITRE-D'AR.MES, By DUMAS. 
 
 ''iNG MrN.^.l°!.!'..!'^"!^!^:}By E. SOUVESTHE. 
 
 "^"n PaTuS ''"I^O^"''"^'^} ..ByE. SOUVESTRE. 
 
 Sir EDWARD SEAWARD'8 NARRATIVE of hi 
 SHIPWRECK. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY, $(c. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY ofi 
 
 CREATION. / 
 
 INDICATIONS of INSflNCT , 
 
 .By Dr. L. KEMP. 
 .By Dr. L, KEMP. 
 
 ELECTRIC TELE(!RAPH, &c. By Dr. G. WILSOW. 
 Our COAL-FIELDS and our COAL-PITS. 
 CORNWALL, its MINES, MINERS, &c. 
 
 A f 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. 
 
 LECTURES and ADDRESSES | "cAKLfsi^K."'^ 
 
 SELECTIONS from SYDNEY SMITH'S WRIT- 
 INGS. 
 PRINTINC; By A. STAKK. 
 
 RAILM'AV MO.iALS and 
 
 By H.SPENCER. 
 
 RAILWAY POLICY ..../ 
 MOIIMONISM.... BytliuIU'v. W. J. CONVBEARE. 
 LONDON By J. R. M'CULLOCH. 
 
 .. 
 
 Loudon: LONGMAN, BIIOWN, GUEEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS, 
 
 IMi 
 
CA. 
 
 K. Wir.nEUFORCE. 
 
 liy Mrs. .r;( MESON. 
 
 y W. H. HUKMU'T. 
 
 S. It, C. LANMAN. 
 
 iLIA. 
 
 .... B, W. iiUGIIES- 
 
 AfORLP. 
 
 . Bj I ')A I'FEIFFEIl 
 
 r, By A. HAYWARD. 
 By LORD JEFFRHY. 
 
 By J. FORSTKR. 
 
 N... .By Mrs. I'lOZZI. 
 
 M. 
 
 le Iio". O. R- (iI.EKi. 
 
 JENIUSI By HENRY 
 
 ) ROGERS. 
 
 RESTORATION. 
 
 lAL HISTORY. 
 lOSWELLS LIFE of 
 
 ;S on PARLIAMEN- 
 
 .By E. SOUVESTRE. 
 NARRATIVE of hi 
 
 [C. By Dr. V,. WILSOi-J. 
 OAI.-riTS. 
 NERS, ttc. 
 
 By H.SPENCER. 
 
 W. J. CONYBEARE. 
 By J. U. M'CUIil.OCH. 
 
 , & llOBKRTS. 
 
 or 
 
 NEW WORKS m GENERAL LITERATURE, 
 
 rUBLISHBD BY 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, and LONGMANS, 
 
 39, PATEBKOSTKB BOW, XONDON. 
 
 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Affricnlture and Rural 
 
 Affairs. Pages. 
 
 Bavldon On valuing Rents, &c. - * 
 
 CaCrd't) Letters on Agriculture - ^ 
 
 Cecil'B Stud Farm . . - 6 
 
 Loudon'h Apricullure - - - 13 
 
 Low's Klfments of Affrioulture - U 
 
 " Pnmesticuted Anim»l» - 13 
 M'lntosh & Kemp'9 year-Dook for 
 
 the Country - - - • 1-1 
 
 Arts, MannfactureBj and 
 Architecture. 
 
 3 
 4 
 i 
 4 
 
 Arnott on Ventilation - - - 
 Bourne On the Screw Propeller - 
 Brunde's Dictionnry ofSciencet&c. 
 
 ** Oreanic Chemislry- 
 ChcTreul on Colour - - - - 
 Cresy's Civil Engineering 
 FaHtlake On Oil Painting - 
 I'uirbairn's Informa. for Engineers 
 Gwilt's Encvclo. of Architecture - 
 Herring on Paper-Making 
 Jameson' Sacred & Legendary Art 
 
 ** Commonplace Book 
 Konig's Picloiial Lift of Luther - 
 Loudon's Uural Architecture 
 Mosrley's Engineering - - - 
 Piesse'B Art of Perfumery - - - 
 Richardflon's Art of Horsemanship 
 Scrivenor on the Iron Trade - 
 Stark's Printing - - - - 
 Steam Engine, by the Artisan Club 
 Tdte on Strength of Materials 
 U re's Dictionary of Arts, &c. 
 
 Biography. 
 
 Arago's Autobiography 
 
 „ Lives of Scientific Men - 
 Bodenstedt and Wugner's Schamjl 
 Buckingham's (J. S.. Memoirs 
 Bunsen's Uippolytu - - - 
 Clinton's (Fynes) Autobiography 
 Cockayne's Alarsltal Tureune 
 DennlKtoun's Strange & Lumisden 
 Forster's l)e Foe and Churchill 
 Haydon's Autobiography,by Taylor 
 Hayward's « hesterfttld and Selwyn 
 Holcioft's Memoirs . - - 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopsedia 
 Maunder's Biographical "rreasury- 
 Mymoir of the Uuke of Wellington 
 Memoirs of James Montgomery - 
 Merivule'B Memoirs of Cicero 
 Eussell's Memoirs of Moore - 
 
 '* Life of Lord Wm. Russell 
 St John's Audubon _ _ . 
 Scuthey's Life of Wesley 
 
 *' Life and Correspondence 
 
 " Select Correspondence - 
 
 Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 
 Sydney Smith's Memoirs 
 Taylor's Loyola - - - - 
 
 " Wt'sley - - - - 
 Waterton's Autobiography A '^Bsays 
 "Wheeler'b ' "fe onicrodolus 
 
 
 Books jf c ^neral UtUity. 
 
 Acton's Cookery - - - - 3 
 
 BlHck's Treatise on Brewing - - 4 
 
 Cabinet Gazetteer - _ - - 5 
 
 •* Lawyer - - - - 6 
 
 Cust's Invalid's Own Book - - 7 
 
 Gilbart's Logic for the Million - 8 
 
 Hints on Etiquette . - - 9 
 
 How to Nurse Sick Children - - 10 
 
 Hudson'sExecutor's Guide - - 10 
 
 " On Making WilU - - 10 
 
 Kesteven's Domestic Medicine - 11 
 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia - \'2 
 
 Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge 15 
 
 " Biofiraphical Treasury 15 
 
 " Scientific Treasury - U 
 
 ** Treasury of History - 15 
 
 '* Natural History - - 15 
 
 Piesse's Art of Perfumery - - - 18 
 
 Piscator's Cookery of Fisii - - IH 
 
 Fockst and the Stud - - - 9 
 
 Pycroft's English Reading - - IB 
 
 Reece's Medical Guide - • - 'IS 
 
 Pages. 
 
 Rich's Comp. to Latin Dictionnry 18 
 
 Richardson's Art of Horsemanship 18 
 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - - 18 
 
 Roget's English Thesauius - - lU 
 Rowton's Debater - - - •19 
 
 Sliort Whist 20 
 
 Thomson's Interest Tables - - "ii 
 
 Webster's Domestic Economy • 'i'i 
 
 West on Children's Diseases - - 24 
 
 Willich's Popular Tables - - 24 
 
 Wilmot's Blackstone - - - 24 
 
 Botany and Gardening. 
 
 Hooker's British Flora - - - 9 
 
 ** Guide to Kew Gardens - 9 
 
 *' ** *' Kew Museum l* 
 
 Lindley's Introduction to Botan;, 13 
 
 '* Theory of Horticulture - 13 
 
 Loudon's Hortus Britannicut - 13 
 
 " Amateur Gardener - 13 
 
 " Trees and Shrubs - - 13 
 
 ** Gardening - - - 13 
 
 •' PlanU - - - 13 
 
 M'Intoah & Kemp's Year-Book for 
 
 the Country • . - - 14 
 
 Pcreira'B Materia Medica - - 17 
 
 Rivers's HoNe Amateur's Guide - 18 
 
 Wilson's British Mosses • - 24 
 
 Chronoloey. 
 
 Blair's Chronological Tables • 4 
 
 Brewer's Historical Atlas - - - 4 
 
 Bunsen's Ancient Egypt - - 5 
 
 Haydn's Bentson's Indei - - 9 
 
 Jaquemet's Chronology - - 11 
 Johns & Nicolas' Calendar of Victory, 11 
 
 Nicolas's Chronology of History • 13 
 
 Commerce and Mercantile 
 Affairs* 
 
 Francis's Stock Exchange - - 8 
 
 Gilbart's Treatise on Banking - 8 
 
 Lorimer's Young Master Mariner 13 
 
 Mac Leod's Banking - - - 11 
 M'('ulloch'sCommerce& Navigation 14 
 
 Scrivenor on Iron Trade • - 19 
 Thomson's Interest Tables - -22 
 
 Tooke's History of Piices - - 2i 
 
 Tuson's Britibh Cjnsul's Manual - 'i'i 
 
 Criticism, History, and 
 Memoirs. 
 
 Austin's Germany - - - - 3 
 
 Blair's Chron. and Histor. Tables • 4 
 
 Brewer's Historical Atlas - . - 4 
 
 Bunsen's Ancient Egypt - - 6 
 
 '* Hippolytus - - - 6 
 
 Burton's History of Scutland - 6 
 
 Chapman's Gustavus Adolphus > 6 
 
 Conybeare and Howson's St, Paul 6 
 
 Euiitlake's History of Oil Painting 7 
 
 Emkine's History of India - - 7 
 
 Francis's Annals of Life Assurance 6 
 
 Gleig's Leii)sic Campaign - - 23 
 
 Gurney's Historical Sketches - 6 
 Hamilton's Essays from tlie Edin- 
 
 burgli Review ... - 8 
 Haydon's Autobiography, by Taylor 9 
 
 Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions - II 
 Julms and Nicholas's Calendar of 
 
 Victory - - - - - 11 
 
 Kemble'R Anglo-Saxons - - 11 
 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopeedia - 12 
 
 Le CJuesnc'8 History -tf Jersey - 11 
 
 Macaulay's Crit. and Hist. EsHsys 14 
 
 " History of England ' - 14 
 
 *• Speechc'i - . . 14 
 
 Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works 14 
 
 '* Hintory of England - 14 
 
 M'Culloch'sGeograpnicalDictionary 14 
 
 Manstein's Memoirs of Uustsia - 14 
 
 Miiundcr's Treasuryof History - 15 
 
 Memoir of the Duke of Wellington 23 
 
 Meri%att''s IfiHtory of Rome - - 15 
 
 '* Uunian Republic- • 15 
 
 Milner's Church History - - 16 
 
 Moore's (Thomas) Memoirs, &c. - 17 
 
 Mure's Greek Literature - 17 
 
 Raikes's Journal - - - - 18 
 
 Ranke's Ferdinand & Maximilian 23 
 
 Pages. 
 
 Rich's Comp. to Latin Dictionary Ih 
 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - IH 
 
 Rogers' Ess.iys from Edinb. Review, 19 
 
 Roget's Enslish Thi-saurui - - 19 
 
 Ru»»eir8{Lad> Kurhcl) Letters - 13 
 
 " LifenfLoi.l W, Russell 19 
 
 Schmiti'F Hintnry of Greeie - 19 
 
 Smith'H Siu'ied Annuls - - 20 
 
 Southey's Doctor - - - - 21 
 
 Stfplien's Ecrlesiastioal Rioi .aphy 21 
 
 •* Lectures on French H story 21 
 
 Syilnev Smith's Works - • - W 
 
 *** S.-lect UorliS - 23 
 
 '* Lectures - IJO 
 
 ** Memoirs - - iO 
 
 Taylor's LoyoU - - - - 21 
 
 ■ '< WvMey - - - - 21 
 
 Thirlwall's Hihtoryof Greece - 21 
 
 Thornbury's Shukspoarc's Kntjland 2J 
 
 Townsend's State Trials - - 22 
 
 Turkey and Christendom - - 23 
 
 Turner's Anglo-Saxons - - 2i 
 
 " Middle Ages - - 22 
 
 " Sacrid Hi-t.of the World '.*2 
 
 Vehse's Austrian Court - - 2i 
 
 Wbitelocke's Swedish Embassy - 24 
 
 Woods' Crimean Campaiyn - - 24 
 
 Young's Christ of Hiitory - - '*4 
 
 Geography and Atlases. 
 
 Arrowsmitli's Geogr. Diet, of Bible S 
 
 Brewer's llistoric.il Atl:is - - 4 
 
 Butter's Geograpkiy and Atlases - 6 
 
 Cabinet Gazetteer - - - - 6 
 
 Cornwall, its Mines, &c. - - 23 
 
 Durrieu's Morocco - - - 23 
 
 Hughes's Australian Colinies - 23 
 
 Johnston's General Gazelleer - 1 1 
 
 Lewis's English Rivera - - 13 
 M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary 14 
 
 " Russia and Turkey - '23 
 
 Milner's Baltic Sea - - - 10 
 
 *• Crimea - - - - 16 
 
 " 'luissia - - - • 15 
 
 Murt^.y B ' ncvclo. of Geography - 17 
 
 Shjir;>'i T' tisli Gazetteer - - iO 
 
 Whee'e* t Geography ofllerodolus 24 
 
 Juveuilfe Books. 
 
 Amy Herbert - - - - 19 
 
 Cleve Hall ----- 19 
 
 Earl's Daughter (The) - - - 19 
 
 Experience of Life - - - 19 
 
 Gertrude - - - - 19 
 
 Gilbart's Logic for the Young - H 
 
 Howitt's Boy's (jountrv Book - 10 
 
 " (M:iry)Children's Year - 10 
 
 Katharine Ashton - .- - 19 
 
 Lanetun Parsonage - - - 19 
 
 Mrs. Marcel's Conversations - - 15 
 
 Margaret Percival - - - - 19 
 
 rjxroft's English Reading - - IH 
 
 Medicine and Surgery. 
 
 Brodie's Psychological Inquiries - 4 
 
 Bull's Hints to Mothers - - - 5 
 
 *' Management of Children - 5 
 
 Copland's l.Uctionary of Medicine - C 
 
 Cust's Invalid's Own Book - - 7 
 
 Holland's Mental Physiology - 9 
 
 *' Medical Notes and Reflect. 
 
 How to Nur.ie Sitk Chtldrt-n - - 10 
 
 Kesteveii's i'omestic Medkine - 11 
 
 Latham On DiisLiises ot the Heart • 1 1 
 
 Pereira C'n Food and Diet - - 17 
 
 Pereira's Materia Medica - - 17 
 
 Reece's Mediual Guide - - - 18 
 
 West on Diseases of Infancy - - 24 
 
 Miscellaneous and General 
 Literature. 
 
 Austin's Sketches of German Life 3 
 
 C;irlisle'8 Lectures anil Aildresces 23 
 
 Chalybxus'Spcculative Philosophy fi 
 
 Vifvnve of Fclipieoj I'uith . - 7 
 
 Eclipse of Faith - - - 7 
 
 Greg's Political and Social Essiiys 8 
 
 Gurney's Evening Recreatifpns - 8 
 
 Hassall on Adulteration of Fc o 1 - 9 
 
 llavdn's Book of Dignities - - 9 
 
 Holland's Mental Physiology - 9 
 
 Hooker's Kew Gui'.'nf . - - 9 
 
 r 
 
IJi 
 
 » I 
 
 CLABSIFII'D INDEX. 
 
 Howitt'sHnral Life of England - 10 
 •' ViBlUtaKemarka'ikPlaccslO 
 Jameson's Commonpldce-Bouk - 10 
 Jert'rey'H f Lord) Contributions - 11 
 La»t ofttieOlii S<|uire» - - 17 
 
 Macaulay's C'rit. and Hist. Essays H 
 " Speeches - - - U 
 Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works 14 
 Memoirs of a Maitre d'Armes - 2;i 
 Maitland'8 Churchin the Catacombs U 
 
 15 
 
 n 
 
 23 
 IH 
 IS 
 IH 
 13 
 
 Martineau's MiHcullanies 
 Pascal's Works, by Pearce 
 Printing: Its Orij^in, &c. 
 Pycrol't's Enplisli Keadinff - 
 Rich's Comi). to Latin Dictionary 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - 
 Rowton's Debater 
 Seaivard'B Narrative of his ShipwreckZO 
 Sir Roger de Coverley - - - 
 Smith's (Rev. Sydney) Works 
 Southey's Common-place Books - 
 
 " The Doctor &c. 
 Souvestrr'a Attic Philosopher 
 
 " Confessionsof a Working Man 
 Spencer's Psychology - 
 Stephen's Essays - - - - 
 Stoiv'B Training System 
 Stracliey's Hebrew Politics - 
 Tagart on Locke's Writings - 
 Thomson's Laws of Thouglit 
 TnwuM-nd's State Trials 
 ■Willich's Popular Tables 
 yonge's Enulish-Creek Leiicon - 
 
 " Latin Oradus 
 Zumpt's Latin Grammar 
 
 Natural History In general. 
 
 Callow's Popular Conchologv - 6 
 Ephemera and Young On the Salmon 8 
 
 Gosse's Nat. Hist, of Jamaica - 8 
 
 Kemp's Natural Hist, of Creation 23 
 
 Kirbv and Spence'8 Entomology - 11 
 
 Lee's Elements of Natural History 11 
 
 Mann on Repioduction - - 14 
 
 Maunder's Natural History - - 15 
 
 Turton'sSliellsnftheBritishlslands M 
 
 VonTschudi'B Sketches in the Alps 'i^l 
 
 Watcrton's Essays on Natural Hist. 22 
 
 "Vouatl's Th.^ Dog . - - 24 
 
 " The Horse - - - 24 
 
 l-Volume Encyclopsedias 
 and Dictionaries. 
 
 Arrowsmith's Geogr. Diet, of Bible 3 
 
 Blaine's Kural Sports - - - 4 
 
 Brande's Science, Literature, & Art 4 
 
 Copland's Dictionary of Medicine - 6 
 
 Cresy's Civil Engineering - 7 
 
 Gwilt'B Architecture - . - 8 
 
 Johnstcm's Geographical Dictionary 11 
 
 Loudon's Agriculture - - - 13 
 
 " Rural Architecture - 13 
 
 " Gardening - - - 13 
 
 " Plants . - - - 13 
 
 " Trees and Shiubi - - 13 
 
 M'CuUoch'sGeographital Dictionary 14 
 
 " Diclionavy of Commerce 14 
 
 Murray's Encyclo. of Geography - 17 
 
 Sharp's British Gazetteer - - 20 
 
 L're's Dictionary of Arts, &c.- - 22 
 
 Webster's Domestic Economy - 22 
 
 Religious & Moral Works. 
 
 Amv Herbert - - - - 19 
 
 Arrowsmith's Geogr. Diet, of Bible 3 
 
 Bloomfield'sGreekTestament - 4 
 
 '< Annotations on do, - 4 
 
 Bode'a Bampton Lectures - - 4 
 
 Calvert's Wife's Manual - - 6 
 
 Cleve Hall 19 
 
 Convbearc's Essays - - - 6 
 
 Conyheare and Howson's St. Paul 6 
 
 Dale's Domestic Liturgy - - 7 
 
 Defence ol Brliiise oj Vaith - - 7 
 
 DespreiOn the Apocalypse - 7 
 
 Discipline - - - - - 7 
 
 Earl's Daughter (The) - - - 19 
 
 Eclipse of t aith . - - 7 
 
 Englishman's Greek Concordance 7 
 
 Englishman'sHeb AChald.Concord. 7 
 
 Experience of Life (The) - - 19 
 
 Gertrude ----- 19 
 
 Harrison's Light of the Forge - b 
 
 Hook's Leclureson Passion AVeek 9 
 
 Home's Introduction to Scriptures 10 
 
 << Abridement of ditto - 10 
 " Communicant's Companion 9 
 
 Jameson's Sacred Legends - - 11 
 
 '* Monastic I^egends - - 11 
 
 " Leeendsiif the Madonna 11 
 
 " Sisters of Chaiity - 10 
 
 Jeremy Taylor's Works - - - 11 
 
 Kaliscli's Commentai y on Fxodua - 1 1 
 
 Katharine Ashton - - - 19 
 
 KSnig's Pictorial Life of Luther - 8 
 
 Pages. 
 
 Laneton Parsonage . - 19 
 
 Letters to my Unknown Fr V'nds - 1 1 
 
 " on Happiness - - - 11 
 Long's Intiuiry concrning Religion, 13 
 
 Lyra Germanica - - . 5 
 
 Maltiand'r Church inCatacombs - 14 
 
 Margaret Pcrcival - - - - 19 
 
 Martineau's Christian Life - - 18 
 
 *1 liner's Churcli of Christ - - 18 
 
 Montgomery's Original Hymns • 16 
 
 Moore On the Use of the Body - 111 
 
 " " Soul and Body - 10 
 
 " 's Man and liis Motives - Hi 
 
 Mormonism - - - - 23 
 
 Noale's Closing Scene - - - 17 
 
 Newman's (J. H.) Discourses - 17 
 
 Ranke's Ferdinand & Maximilian 2^1 
 
 Readings for Lent - - - 19 
 
 " Confirmation - - 19 
 
 Robins against the Roman Church, 19 
 Robinson's Lexicon to the Greek 
 
 Testament ----- 19 
 
 Saints our Example - - - 19 
 
 Sermon in the Mount - - 20 
 
 Sinclair's Journey of Life - - 20 
 
 Smith's (Sydney) Moral Philosophy "JO 
 
 " (G.) Sacred Annals - - '20 
 
 Southey's Life of Wesley - - 21 
 
 Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biol ;aphy 21 
 
 " - - 21 
 
 - 21 
 
 - 21 
 
 ir's (J. J . 
 ir'8 Loyola 
 
 ) Discourses 
 
 Tayler's 
 Taylor's 
 
 " Wesley 
 Theologia Germanica - - - 
 Thomson on the Atonement - 
 Tliumb Bible (The) 
 Turner's Sacred H istory - 
 Twiiiing's Bible Tyjies - 
 Wheeler's Popular Rible Harmony 
 Toung's Christ of History 
 " Mjstery of Time - 
 
 Poetry and the Drama. 
 
 Arnold's Poems - - - - 3 
 
 Alkins (Dr.) British Poets - - 3 
 
 BaiUie's (Joanna) Poetical Works 3 
 
 Bode's Ballads from Herodotus - 4 
 
 Calvert's Wife's Manual - - 6 
 
 ** Pneuma - - - - 6 
 
 Flowers and their Kindred Thoughts 11 
 
 Goldsmitli's Poems, illustrated - 8 
 
 L. E. L.'sPoelical Works - 13 
 
 T.inwood's Anthotogia Oxoniensis- 13 
 
 Lyra Germanica - - - - 5 
 
 Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome 14 
 
 Mac Donald's Within and Without 14 
 
 Montgomery's Poetical Works - 16 
 
 " Original Hymns - 16 
 
 Moore's Poetical Works - - IG 
 
 " Lalla Rookh - - - 16 
 
 " Irith Melodies - - - 16 
 
 ** Songs and Ballads - - 16 
 
 Reade's Man in Paradise - - IH 
 
 Shakspearc, by Bowdlcr - - 20 
 
 Southey's Poetical Works - - 21 
 
 " British Poets ... 21 
 
 Thomson's Seasons, illustrated - 22 
 
 Political Economy and 
 Statistics. 
 
 Caird's Letters on Agriculture - 5 
 
 Census of. f61 - - . . 6 
 
 Dodd's Food of London . . 7 
 
 Greg's Political -ind Social Essays 8 
 
 Laing's Notes of a Traveller- - 'i3 
 
 M'CuUoch'sGeog. Statist. &c. Diet. 14 
 " Dictionary of Commerce 14 
 
 " London - - - 23 
 
 Marcet's Political Economy - - 15 
 
 Rickards Oi, Population & Capital 18 
 
 Tegoborski's Kussian Statistics - 21 
 
 Willich's Popular Tables - - 24 
 
 The Sciences in general 
 and Mathematics. 
 
 Arago's Meteorological F.ssays - 3 
 
 " I'opular Astronomy - . 3 
 
 Bourne On tlie Screw Propeller - 4 
 
 Brande's Dictionary of Science, &c. 4 
 
 " Lectures on Organic Chemistry 4 
 
 Brougham and Routh's rrincipia 5 
 
 Cresy's Civil Engineering - - 7 
 DelaBeche'sGeologyofCornwall,&c. 7 
 
 De la Rive's Electricity - - 7 
 
 Faraday's Non- Metallic Elements 8 
 
 Grove's Correla. of Physical Force a P 
 
 Herscbel's Outlines ol Astronomy 9 
 
 Holland's Mental Physiology - 9 
 
 Humboldt's Aspects of Nature - 10 
 
 *' Cosmos - - - 10 
 
 Hunt On Light - - . 10 
 
 Kemp's Phasis of Matter - - 11 
 
 Lardner'B Cabinet Cyclopsedia - 12 
 
 Mann on Reproduction - - - 14 
 
 Pages. 
 Marcet's (Mrs.) Conversatiom - 1,1 
 Moseley'sEngineering& Architecture 17 
 Owen's LecturesonComp. Anatomy 17 
 Our Coal Fields anil our Coal T ta 
 Pereir.i on Polarised Light - 
 Pescliel's Elements of Physics 
 Phillips's Fossils of Cornwall, &c. 
 
 Mineralogy 
 " Guide to Geology - 
 Portlock's Geology of Londonderry 
 Powell's Unity of Worlds 
 Smee's Electro-Metallurgy - 
 Steam Engine (The) 
 Tate On Strength of Materials - 
 Wilson's Electric Telegraph - 
 
 Rural Sports. 
 
 Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon 3 j 
 Berkeley's Reminiscences - - ^ I 
 Blame's Dictionary of Sports - 4 1 
 Cecil's Stable Practice - - - ^ I 
 " Records of the Chase - " ** 
 " Stud Farm - - - - '^ 
 The Cricket Field .... 7 
 Davy's Piscatorial Colloquies- - 7 ^ 
 Ephemera On Angling - - - 8 
 
 " Book of the Salmon - 8 ; 
 Hawker's Young SjKirtsman - -91 
 The Hunting-Field - - -81 
 Idle's Hints on Shooting - - 10 
 Pocket anit the Stud - - - " j 
 Practical Horsemanship - -91 
 Richardson's Horsemanship - - IH ' 
 Stable Talk and Table Talk - - 8 ; 
 Stonehenge On the fjreyhound 21 | 
 
 The Stud, for Practical Purposes. 9 
 
 I 
 
 Veterinary Medicine, Ace. i 
 
 Cecil's Stable Pr.actice 
 
 " Stud Farm 
 Hunting Field (The) . 
 Miles's Horse-Shoeing - 
 
 '* On the Horse's Foot - 
 Pocket and the Stud 
 Practical Horsemanship _ - 
 Ricbar.ison's Horsemanship 
 Stable Talk and Table Talk - 
 Stud (The) 
 Youatt's The Dog . 
 ** The Horse 
 
 Voyages and Travels. 
 
 Allen's Dead Sea - - . . 
 Baines's Vaudois of Piedmont 
 Baker'* W.mcierings in Ceylon 
 Barrow's Cont'nehtal Tour . 
 Barth's African Travels 
 Burton's Medina and Mecca . 
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 turt'8r)n C'omp. Anatomy 17 
 
 it'ltlH anil Dur Cdul r U '.{3 
 
 I'olariM'd UgM ■ - 17 
 
 lements of i'liysicB - 17 
 
 OHHiU of Cornwall, &c. IH 
 
 inrraloffy - - 17 
 
 uide to Oeolony - - IH 
 
 ieology of Londonderry IN 
 
 nity of Worlds - - IH 
 
 ;tro-Mi'tallurRy - - 2(1 
 
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 leand Hound In Ceylon 
 
 Ileminiscences - 
 ctionary of Sports 
 }\e Practice - - - 
 ordB of the Chase - 
 i Farm - - - - 
 t Field - - - - 
 ;ntorial Colloquies- 
 ()n ADKling - 
 Booli of the Salmon 
 fount; SiKjrtsman - 
 ng-Field - - - 
 a on Shooting 
 I the Stud 
 lorseman^hip 
 I'h Horsemanship - 
 k and TaWe Talk - 
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 ■lorsemanship - " ** ! 
 
 n'a Horsemanship - IH 
 
 k and Table Talk -■ - H | 
 
 1 . - - - S I 
 
 ■he Dog - - - - 21 I 
 
 'he Horse - - - '* 
 
 and Travels. 
 
 'ad Sea - - - - 
 audois of Piedmont 
 .iriv^erinds in ("eylon 
 "ont'nehtal Tour - 
 Vican Travels 
 'ledina and Mecca - 
 ru.'Kev and Greece 
 e'R Itus^ia 
 Journal of the War 
 
 a Swiss Travels - 
 Rambles in Norway 
 Philippines - - - 
 as's 'TorBica - - - 
 k-els in Siberia 
 ttany and the Bible 
 ise In Brittany 
 rt Student in Munich - 
 \V ) Victoria - 
 lese Empire - - - 
 laliefBTartaryS: Thibet 
 Australian Colonics 
 '8 Aspects of Nature 
 in'8 African Kxploration 
 Canada - 
 Eastern Tour 
 '9 St. Petersburg - 
 orway - - * " 
 otcs of a Traveller 
 Ivorth West Passage - 
 California - - - 
 ,ulu8 of Natal 
 -rdic Discoveries - 
 imliles in Iceland - 
 5 Kara and Km-roum - 
 Voyage round the World 
 •Second ditto - - - 
 nep and Swedes - 
 Narrative - - " 
 ited States and Canada - 
 frican Wanderings 
 Travels of lleriHlctus - 
 ;es BraiilA Slave Trade 
 lam's Pacific Expedition 
 
 f Fiction. 
 
 lakfield 
 
 luahliy's Diary 
 ;i'8 Villa Vcroccljio - 
 
 deCoverley - - - 
 
 Tile Doctor &c. 
 
 Warden - - - 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 3 
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