IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A '^S 1.0 1.1 11.25 " Mi 121 HA U 11.6 HiotograiJiic _SciHices Corporatm <^ ^"^ ^ ^^ ^\ '^rvV 23 WIST MAIN STROT \MnSTIR,N.Y. UStO (71*)t73-4S03 '^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICiVIH Collection de microfiches. Ctindlaii Instltutt lor Hlitorlc*! MIcroraproduetlom / InMltut Canadian da microraproductlona Matoriqiiaa 6^ Tachnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notat tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may aignificantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. 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Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad baginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iilustratad Impras- sion. or tha back covar whan appropriata. All othar original copias ara filmad baginning on tha first paga wKh a printad or iilustratad impras- sion, and anding on tha last paga with a printad or iilustratad imprassion. Tha last racordad frama on aach microficha shall contain tha symbol — ^ (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol y (moaning "END"), whichavar appiias. L'axamplaira film* fut raproduit grAca it la gAnArosM da: Seott Library, York Univtrtity Las imagas suivantas ont Ati raproduitas avac la plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at da la nattatA da l'axamplaira flimA, at an conformity avac las conditions du contrat da fiimaga. Las axamplairas originaux dont la couvartura an paniar ast ImprimAa sont fiimAs an commandant iMr la pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darniAra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'iliustratlon, soit par la sacond plat, salon la cas. Tous las autras axamplairas originaux sont filmte an commanpant par la pramidra paga qui comporta una amprainta d'imprassion ou d'iliustratlon at an tarminant par la darniAra paga qui comporta una taiia amprainta. Un das symbolas suivants apparattra sur la darnlAra imaga da chaqua microficha, salon la cas: la symbola -^ signifia "A SUiVRE", la symbols V signifia "FIN". ' arrata dto It a paiura, ;on A n 32X Maps, platas, charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraiy included in ona axposura ara filmad baginning In tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, as many framas as raquirad. Tha following diagrams iliustrata tha mathod: 1 2 3 Las cartas, planchas, tablaaux, ate, pauvant Atra fllmfo A das taux da reduction diff Grants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saui clichA, il ast film* A partir da I'angla supAriaur gaucha, da gaucha k droita, at da haut an bas, an pranant la nombra d'Imagas nicassalra. Las diagrammas suivants iiiustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sfl A •#■ Sfl JocA it C* Cfr ARCTIC JOURNAL -m' H UNIFORM EDITION or CAPTAIN SHEKAED OSBOEN'S WOEKS, IN THREE VOLUMES. A EIGHTEEN M SIR J^ I. STRAY LEAVES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL ; Or, Eighteen Months in the Polau Regions in Search of Sir John Franklin, in the years 1850-51. THE CAREER, LAST VOYAGE, AND FATE OF Sir John Franklin. THE CAl n. THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE byH.M.s. 'Investigator,' Captain R. M'Clure, during the Years 1850-1851-1852-1853-1854. With Map. CAPT III. A CRUISE IN JAPANESE WATERS. QUEDAH; Or, Stray Leaves from a Journal m Malayan Waters. THE FIGHT ON THE PEIHO IN 1869. WILLI. STRAY LEAVES FROM AN AKCTIC JOURNAL * OB EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN THE POLAR REGIONS IN SEARCH OP SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION IN 1850-51. TO WHICH IS ADDBD THE CAREER, LAST VOYAGE, AND FATE OF CAPTAIN SIR JOHN FRANKLIN i BY CAPTAIirSHEEAKD OSBORN, C.B. ROYAL NAVY A NEW EDITION WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXV i ! ''■*~-1«"W»-». STRAY LEi THE CARE TAIN s: CONTENTS. PAQE STRAY LEAVES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL, . . 1 THE CAREER, LAST VOYAGE, AND FATE OF CAP TAIN SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 259 \ ] i1 Accept, my tribute of \ niece, Miss thousands, i women, and fulfilled her of Sir Johr reproche" U the honours your names made to resci men. That thos zeal which 1 that patience the maliciou played, may ; in the acconi prayer of February 1 DEDICATION. Accept, my dear Lady Franklin, these few pages as a tribute of warm admiration for yourself and estimable niece, Miss Sophia Cracroft — admiration common to thousands, and pride that such as you are English- women, and that a sailor's wife should so nobly have fulfilled her duty; for if, on the one hand, the name of Sir John Franklin, that chief *'8an8 peur et sans reproche^^ is dearly associated with our recollections of the honours won in the ice-bound regions of the pole, your names are not the less so with the noble efforts made to rescue, or solve the fate of, our missing country- men. That those sacrifices, those untiring exertions, that zeal which has never wavered, that hope so steadfast, that patience under misconstruction, and that pity for the malicious, which you have so pre-eminently dis- played, may yet, by God's help, one day reap its reward in the accomplishment of your wishes, is the fervent prayer of SHERARD OSBORK Febritary 1852. ...1 PREFACE. With the many of my cloth, my crime of writing a book will be an unpardonable one, and I cannot even conscientiously declare that it has been at the urgent desire of my friends that I have thus made my cUhiit. My motive, however, is twofold — to tell of the doings of a screw steam- vessel, the first ever tried in the polar regions ; and, by a light readable description of incidents in the late search for Sir John Franklin, to interest the community at large upon that subject. I have told facts as they have occurred ; and I trust have, in doing so, injured no man. A journal would necessarily be a dry narration of facts ; I have, therefore, thrown in here and there general observations and remarks founded upon such facts, rather than a dry repetition of them. To the officers and men serving under my command, I can oflTer no higher compliment than in having thus placed their severe and zealous labours before the pub- lic; and nc Leaves ' ca must have men and of obligation I to them for first and se brought to The **Re terms in wh it was then many miles I doubt not the joke wa their ship, j To those my remarks vessel, I ha best able to to the other friend and c an equal an well as steal ship, danger ful as well a the more th perienced frc PREFACE. IX lie; and no professional reader who reads these * Stray Leaves ' can fail, I am certain, to perceive how heavily must have fallen the labours here recounted upon the men and officers of the steam-vessels, and liow deep an obligation I, as one of the commanders, must be under to them for those untiraig exertions, by which this, the first and severe trial of steam in the arctic regions was brought to a successful issue. The "Resolutes," no doubt, will object to the round terms in which I have growled at the bluff-bowed vessel it was then my fate and now my pride to have towed so many miles in the frozen zone ; but on second thoughts I doubt not they will acquit me, for they will remember the joke was once on their side ; and if I do not love their ship, at any rate I liked them. To those who may accuse me of egotism in confining my remarks so much to the achievements of my own vessel, I have merely to say that in doing so I was best able to be truthful ; but that I am fully aware that, to the other screw steamer, the Intrepid, and my gallant friend and colleague Commander J. B. Cator, there fell an equal amount of labour ; and that to all, ships as well as steamers, there fell an equal proportion of hard- ship, danger, and privation. I should indeed be for[;et- ful as well as ungrateful did I here fail to acknowl°dg3 the more than kindness and assistance I have ever ex- perienced from my dear friend Mr Barrow, a name past ! X PREFACE. and present inseparably connected with our arctic dis- coveries ; so likewise I have to offer my thanks, heart- felt as they are sincere, to those who, like Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, and Captain Hamilton of the Ad- mu'alty, bade me speed, when sincerity and zeal were my only claims upon their sympathy. Richmond, Feb. 15, 1852. our crews cai STRAY LEAYES FROM AN ARCTIC JOURNAL. The evils attendant on a hurried outfit and departure were in nowise mitigated in the case of the Koyal Naval Expedition, fitted out at "Woolwich in 1850, to search for Sir John Franklin's squadron; and a general feeling of relief at our departure prevailed amongst the officers, when, one fine morning, we hroke ground from Green- hithe. The Eesolute and Assistance had a couple of steamers to attend upon them ; whilst we, the Pioneer and In- trepid, screwed and sailed as requisite to keep company. By dark of the 4th of May 1850 we all reached an anchorage near Yarmouth, and the first stage of our outward journey was over. No better proof of the good feeling which animated our crews can he adduced than the unusual fact of not s AllCTIC JOUENAL. a man being missing amongst those who had originally entered, l^ot a desertion had taken place — not a soul had attempted to quit the vessels after six months' ad- vance had been paid. Here and there amongst the seamen a half-sleepy in- difference to their work was observable. This I imputed to the reaction after highly sentimental " farewells," in which, like other excesses. Jack delights; the women having, as usual, done all they could, by crying along- side, to make the men beheve they were running greater risks than had ever been before undergone by Arctic navigators. The old seamen's ditty of ** We sailed by Fairlee, by BeachSy, and DungSnoss, Until the North Foreland light we did see," gives a very good idea of our progress from beacon to lighthouse, and lighthouse to headland, until the lofty coast of Yorkshire sank under the lee ; and by the 8th of May the squadron was making slow progress across the mouth of the Firth of Forth. Hitherto " all had been pleasant as a marriage-bell ;" the weather had been fine ; and we already calculated our days of arrival at different points, as if the calm was to last for ever. The Cheviot Hills glittered in the south; it was the kind good-bye of our own dear England. Hundreds of white sails dotted a sunimer sea : all was joyous and sparkling. Scotland greeted us with a rough " nor'-wester," — and away we went. ** Kot all the king's horses" could have kept the expedition together. . . The Eesolute and Assistance, hauled dead on a wind THE OEKNEYS. under close-reefed topsails, performed a stationary move- ment called "pile-driving" by sailors, "which would, as the pilot suggested, if the breeze lasted, put them to the coast of Holland. The two steam-vessels, under fore- and-aft canvass, drew rapidly away to windtvard and ahead, and, in spite of all we could do, a few hours of darkness effectually succeeded in dispersing the squad- ron. Accident again brought the Pioneer in sight of the Resolute for a few hours ; but the Intrepid found herself in Stromness harbour with a degree of celerity that awakened a racing disposition on the part of my gallant colleague, Intrepid vers^us Pioneer, which it took a great many days of competition to decide. They who want excitement had better go and beat a vessel up the Pentland Firth against both wind and tide. I tried it, but shall not repeat the experiment ; and, after a thorough good shaking in the North Sea, was not sorry to find myself at anchor in Stromness. The very proper and very triste Sabbath of the North was followed by a busy Monday. The arrival of so many gold cap-bands, and profusion of gilt buttons, interfered, I fear, materially with the proper delivery of the morning milk and butter by sundry maidens with golden locks ; and the purser's wholesale order for beef threatened to create a famine in the Orkneys. The cheapness of whisky threatened to send us to sea with our men in a lamentable state of drunkenness, and rabher prejudiced me against Stromness ; but if it had no other redeeming quality, all its faults would be forgotten in the istounding fact that there the mariner may find a land- lady with moderate prices and really fresh eggs. ARCTIC JOURNAL. A description of this part of the world is no part of my task. I will pass over our long and crooked walk about Stromness ; and the failure of the good folk there to induce us to trust ourselves on their ponies for a ride to Kirkwall, naturally limited our knowledge of the neighbourhood. Above the town of Stromness rises a conical-shaped hill j it has, I believe, been immortalised by Scott in his * Pirate : ' it had yet deeper interest for me, for I was told that up it had toiled dear friends now missing with Franklin. I and a shipmate walked out one even- ing to make our pilgrimage to a spot hallowed by the visit of the gallant and true-hearted that had gone before us ; and as, amid wind and drizzle, we scrambled up the hill, I pictured to myself how, five short years before, those we were now in search of had done the same. Good and gallant Gore ! chivalrous Fitz-James ! enter- prising Fairholme ! lion-hearted Hodgson ! dear Des Voeux ! — Oh that ye knew help was nigh ! "We surmounted the hill — ^the Atlantic was before us, fierce and troubled ; afar to seaward the breakers broke and lashed themselves against the firm foundation of the old Head of Hoy, which loomed through mist and squall; whilst overhead the scream of sea-fowl, flying for shelter, told that the west wind would hold wild revelry that night. " H.M.S. North Star," carved on the turf, showed where some of her people had chosen this spot for a record of their visit to Orkney. "We did likewise, in honour of our own bonnie craft ; then strolled home- ward, discussed the probable chances of the existence of the s£ that thei than for totally ur tions not dispose." ■ I could packet of cabin whi remarked, manding pleasant d l^"ext ds point of c the Orkne navigators. On May 11 out of thJ cheered uj Searching Mght thre Cape "Wrat like losing to go to. r scene you 1 yearning fi rise in the * The Nori grief oflf the N. lat. She the ico. i FINAL STAET. ter. of the said North Star ; and arrived at the conclusion that there was more cause for anxiety on her account than for Franklin's Expedition, she having gone out totally unprepared for wintering, and with strict injunc- tions not to be detained : " T Aniiraute propose, et Dieu dispose." * I could have hugged the snuffy old postmaster for a packet of letters he gave me. I rushed on board to a cabin which proved, as the First Lord had sagaciously remarked, into how small a space a Lieutenant-com- manding could be packed, and revelled in sweet and pleasant dreams. Next day Lieutenant Cator and I started for our last point of departure for the great Nor'-West, a spot in the Orkneys well known to our arctic fishermen and navigators, and very appropriately called the Long-Hope. On May 15th the arctic squadron weighed, and, passing out of the Pentland Firth, the Dasher and Lightning cheered us, took our letters, — and Captain Austin's Searching Expedition was alone steering for Greenland. Night threw her mantle around us ; the lonely light of Cape Wrath alone indicating where lay our homes. I like losing sight of Old England by night. It is pleasant to go to. rest with a sweet recollection of some quiet scene you have just dwelt upon with delight, the spirit yearning for the excitement and novelty ahead. You rise in the morning, old Ocean is around you : there is, * The North Star, an old sailing donkey -frigate, did nigh come to grief off the coast of Greenland, and was obliged to winter in 75° N. lat. She came home the same summer, 1850, that we entered the ioo. e ARCTIC JOURNAL. to the seaman, a lullaby, say what they may, in his hoarse song ; and they of the middle watch tell how the friendly light of some distant cape glimmered and danced in the east, until lost in some passing squall. Now for the North- West ! we exclaimed, — its much- talked- of dangers — its chapter of horrors ! As gallant Frobisher says, " it is still the only thing left undone, whereby a notable mind might be made famous and re- markable." As it was in Frobisher's day, so it is now, unless Franklin has accomplished it, and lies beset off the coast of Asia — and why may it not be so ? Whilst the squadron progresses slowly towards Cape Farewell, the ships under topsails and the steamers under jury-masts and sails, we will take a retrospective view of what was now (1850) going to be done for the relief of Franklin. Captain CoUinson, with two ships, has gone to Beh- ring's Straits, with the Plover as a dep6t in Kotzebue Sound, to fall back upon in case of disaster. He steers direct for Melville Island along the coast of North America.* Captain PuUen, having successfully searched the coast from Point Barrow to the Mackenzie River, is endeavouring now to push from thence, in a northerly direction, for Bank's Land. Dr Eae is to do the same from the Coppermine River. Captain Penny, a first-rate whaling captain, with two fast brigs, is now ahead of us, * One of these ships subsequently, under Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, reached within sight of Sir Edward Parry's farthest point — Melville Island ; and the gallant leader and crew actually passed home over the frozen sea, until shipped again at Beechey Island. Thus they travelled for the first in Arctic discovery from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean — from Behring's Straits to England ! THE SEARCHING EXPEDITIONS. hoping to make an early passage across the middle ice of Baffin's Bay. He goes to Jones's Sound and "Wellington Channel, to reach the Parry Isles by a northern route. We go with two sailing-ships and two steam-vessels, so as to form separate divisions of two vessels each, to examine Barrow's Straits south-westerly to Cape "Walker, westerly towards Melville Island, and north-westerly up "Wellington Channel. Thus no less than eight fine ships flying the pendant, and two land-parties, are di- rected by different routes on Melville Island. Besides these, an American expedition, fitted out by that prince of merchants, Mr Grinnell, leaves shortly for the same destination; and in Lady Franklin's own vessel, the Prince Albert, as well as a craft under Sir John Eoss, we find two more assistants in the plan of search. And yet, if we turn to the papers of the fall of 1849, you will find some asserting that Sir John Franklin had perished in Baffin's Bay, because Sir James Boss had found nothing of him in Lancaster Sound ! Happily the majority of Englishmen have, however, decided otherwise ; and behold this noble equipment ! this magnificent outlay of men and material ! "We will not dwell on the pleasures or annoyances of the cruise across the Atlantic, beyond stating the fact that our bluff-bowed worse-halfs, the sailing-ships, nigh broke our hearts, as well as our hawsers, in dragging them along in the calms ; and that we of the screws found our steam-vessels all we could wish, somewhat o'er lively, mayhap, with a frisky tendency to break every break- able article on board. But there was a saucy swagger in them., as they bowled along the hollow of a western sea, I II 8 ARCTIC JOUKNAL. !l I i I i which showed they had good blood in them ; and we soon felt confident of disappointing those polar seers who had foretold shipwreck and disaster as their fate. The appearance of numerous sea-birds — the tern espe- cially, which do not fly far from land — warned us, on Sunday 26th May, of our fast approach to Greenland, and on the morrow we espied the picturesque shores about Cape Farewell. Which of all the numerous head- lands we saw was the identical Cape I do not pretend to say ; but we chose, as our Cape Farewell, a remark- able-looking peak, with a mass of rock perched like a pillar upon its crest. The temperature began to fall as we advanced, and warmer coats quickly replaced our English clothing. Distant as we were from Greenland, the view of its southern extremity was fleeting, but sufficient to show that it fully realised in appearance the most striking accumulation of ice and land that the mind could pic- ture, — a land of gaunt famine and misery, but which nevertheless, for some good purpose, it had pleased Pro- vidence in a measure to people. Had we not had an urgent duty to perform, I should have regretted thus hurrying past the land, for there was much to see there. Greenland is replete with his- torical and geographical interest; a weird and strange land full of strange sights, and associated with our past history of nautical adventure and present mission of humanity. Looking on that land, who could forget Scandinavia and her bold seamen — the skill and in- trepidity of her bold Vikings — their colonies in Snae- land, our Iceland — their discovery of Greenland — and GREENLAND AND THE VIKINGS. the legend of the pirate Bianii, who forestalled even the great Columbus in his discovery, — were not all associated with the region through which we were now sailing ] Without compass, without chart, full three centuries before the Genoese crossed the Atlantic, the Norsemen, in frail and open barks, braved the dark and angry sea, which was so sorely tossing even our proud vessels ; and, unchecked by tempest, by ice, or hardship, pene- trated, and left their mark, as far as we could in the present day. This, and much more, throws a halo around this lonely land. Nowhere else shall we find on such a scale, and so accessible, the strange phenomena of the poles of our earth — ^mighty glaciers, covering the areas of European kingdoms, creeping on to the sea from their mountain cradles, ever moving and pulverising the primitive rocks beneath in their irresistible march. Then we have the deep and picturesque fiord pent up between precipices huge, bleak, and barren, with the blue summer sea dotted here and there with ice in all its shapes of iceberg, floe, and pack. Beyond all this, still more strange, there lies in the heart of Greenland a region belted with black lava (the remains of ancient volcanic action) and impassable glaciers, whence issue in swarms the fleet reindeer for a season. That " un- known land" the Scandinavians, three centuries ago, looked upon with awe, and the Esquimaux of to-day turns from it trembling, and tells in legends of a giant race with blue eyes which is supposed to haunt it. And, lastly, we have throughout the coasts of Greenland strange ruined traces of ancient Scandinavian discovery, as well as those of the present expiring race of Esqui- 10 ARCTIC JOURNAL. maux. Dullard must lie be who sees not much to in- terest him in Greenland. Thanks to an immense deal of water and very little ice, the steamers eventually towed the Resolute and the transport (a lively specimen of the genus) into the "Whale Fish Islands — a group of rocky islets some twenty miles distant from the excellent Danish harbour of Godhaab on the island of Disco. "We did as our forefathers had always done in anchor- ing at the Whale Fish Islands, but would strongly re- commend others who visit this neighbourhood to go to Godhaab rather. Its anchorage is good, communication with Europe a certainty, and the hospitality of the Danish residents, few though they be, cheering and pleasant to arctic wanderers. Having thus expressed my total dissent from those who, with steam-vessels, go to "Whale Fish Isles, it will be but fair for me to say that I arrived at this our first stage in the journey to the Nor'-West in far from good- humour. "We had been twenty-four days from Green- hithe to Cape Farewell, and sixteen days from the latter point to our anchorage ; hurry being out of the question when a thing like the Emma Eugenia was pounding the water in a trial of speed with perfect snuff-boxes like the Resolute and Assistance. Patience and a four- day tow had at last finished the work : and to all our anxious inquiries about the prospect of the season, as to where Penny was, and whether any intelligence of Franklin had reached the settlements, not an answer was to be obtained from a Danish • carpenter, whose knowledge appeared to be limited to a keen idea of !!l A DANISH "GOVERNOR. » u changing, under a system he called " Trock," sundries, with which the Danske Kceing had intrusted him, into bluhber and seal-oil. After a day of coal-dust, I proceeded with some others to see what was to be seen, and to load, as we were taught to believe, a boat with wild-fowl. The principal settlement having been pointed out, we landed on the slope of one of the islands, on which a coarse rank vege- tation, existed amongst the numerous relics of departed seals, sacrificed to the appetites of the Esquimaux and the trocking of the Governor, as he was facetiously styled. That individual soon appeared, and, in spite of copious libations of Her Britannic Majesty's " pure Jamaica," of which he had partaken, was most polite and hospitable. From him I discovered that he and a cooper were the only Danes residing here ; and they, to- gether with a cross-breed who did the double duty of priest and schoolmaster, constituted the officials of Cron- Prin's Islands. The native population amounted perhaps to one hundred souls; and it was in supplying their wants, and in affording a market for their superfluous skins and blubber, that the Danes derived a profit, under a strict system of monopoly. No foreigner is allowed to trade with the Esquimaux, and they, on the other hand, have strict injunctions to lodge everything they do not require for private use in the public store. The quantity of seal-blubber in store, which was equal to as much oil, amounted to nigh upon 100 tons. The number of seals annually destroyed in Disco Bay for " trock " and food must be enormous. The Esquimaux appeared all comfortable and well-to- 12 ARCTIC JOURNAL. do, well clad, cleanly, and fat. Most of them had moved for a whUe into their summer lodges, which consist of little else than a seal-skin tent clumsily supported with sticks. They were more than sufficiently warm ; and the number of souls inhabiting one of these lodges ap- peared only to be limited by the circle of friends and connections forming a family. The winter abode — formed almost underground — appeared decidedly well adapted to afford warmth, and some degrea of pure ventilation, in so severe a climate, where fuel can be spared only for culinary purposes ; and I was glad to see that, although necessity obliges those Esquimaux to eat of the oil and flesh of the seal and narwhal, yet, when they could pro- cure it, they seemed fully alive to the gastronomic pleas- ures of a good wholesome meal off fish, birds' eggs, bread, sugar, tea, and coffee. Their canoes are perfect models of beauty and light- ness ; in no part of the world do we see them excelled in speed and portability — two very important qualities in the craft of a savage ; and in ornamental workman- ship the skill of both men and women is tastefully dis- played. The clothing of the Greenland Esquimaux is vastly superior to anything we could produce, both in lightness of material and wind -and -water -tight qualities; the material, seal and deer skin and entrails, manufactured by the women, their needles of Danish manufacture, their thread the delicate sinews of animals. We gladly purchased all we could obtain of their clothing. Every one has heard of the horrors of an Esquimaux existence, — sucking blubber instead of roast -beef, oil THE ESQUIMAUX. 13 their usual beverage, and a seal their bonne-houche ; the long gloomy winter spent in pestiferous hovels, lighted and warmed with whale-oil lamps ; the narrow gallery for an entrance, along which the occupant creeps for ingress and egress. This and much more has been told us ; yet, now that I have seen it all — the Esquimaux's home, the Esquimaux's mode of living, and the Esqui- maux himself — I see nothing so horrible in one or the other. The whaler from bonnie Scotland or busy Hull, fresh from the recollection of his land and home, no doubt shudders at the comparative misery and barbarity of these poor people j but those who have seen the de- graded Bushmen of South Africa, the miserable Patanies of Malayia, the Fuegians of our southern hemisphere, and remember the comparative blessings afforded by climate to those melancholy specimens of the human family, will, I think, exclaim with me, that the Esqui- maux of Greenland are as superior to them in piental capacity, manual dexterity, physical enterprise, and social virtues, as the Englishman is to the Esquimaux. The strongest symptom perceptible in the Greenland- ers of the advantage of the religious instruction afforded by the Moravian missionaries, is in the respect they show for the marriage-tie, and strong affection for their children. The missionary, with this race, appears to have had few difficulties to contend with : naturally gentle, and without any strong superstitious prejudices, they receive without resistance the simple creed of Re- formed religion which he has spread amongst them. An old man I pressed to accompany me as pilot to lipi 14 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ||::r illlHii! the island of Disco, declined under the plea that his wife was very ill, and that there was no one but himself to take care of the " piccaninny." Interested from such proper feeling iu the man, Doctor Pickthorne and I entered his wimer abode, which he apologised for taking us to, the illness of his " cara sposa " having prevented him changing his residence for the usual summer tent. Crawling on all-fours through a narrow passage, on either side of which a dog-kennel and a cook-house had been constructed, we found ourselves in an apartment, the highest side of which faced us, the roof gradually sloping down to the ground. Along one side of the abode a sort of bedplace extended for its whole length, forming evidently the family couch ; on one end of it, with her head close to a large seal-oil lamp, was the sick woman. She was at the usual Esquimaux female's employment of feeding the flame with a little stick from a supply of oil, which would not rise of its own accord up the coarse and ill-constructed wick ; over the flame was a compound, which the suf- ferer told us was medicine for her complaint, — the rlieumatism, a very prevalent one amongst these people. Leaving the kind Doctor to do the part of a good Samaritan, I amused myself with looking over the strange home into which I had got. The man took much pride in showing me his family, consisting of a girl and three fine boys. His wife, he assured me, was only twenty-eight years of age — she looked at least six- and- thirty; and he likewise, though only thirty-four, had the appearance of being at least ten years older. They had married when she was twenty — the usual age AN ESQUIMAUX FAMILY. 15 for marriage, as he told me. His daughter, rather a pretty and slight- made girl, was very busy making shoes for her brothers out of cured skin. I rewarded the youthful sempstress by giving her one of a number of dolls kindly sent me for the purpose by Mrs Washing- ton ; and could that lady have seen the joyful coun- tenance of the Esquimaux child, she would indeed have been richly remunerated for her thoughtful little addi- tion to my stock of presents. To finish my Esquimaux tale, I was next day not a little surprised at the father coming on board, and giving me a small seal-skin pouch which his child had sewn for me in return for my present. This proved at least that Esquimaux children can appreciate kindness as well as European ones. The Whale Fish Group consists of a congeries of islets, of various shapes and sizes, with deep-water channels between ; the whole of granitic formation, with broad veins of quartz and masses of gneiss overlying in various directions. Those I visited exhibited proof of constant and, I might say, rapid disintegration, from the action of water and frost. The southern and south- west sides of the larger islands were of 300 or 400 feel elevation, with a gradual dip to the north-east, as if their creation had been brought about by some sub- marine agency upheaving the primary rock, with an irregular force, in a north-east and south-west direction. The tallest cliffs were rent from crown to base, and frost-cracks intersected one another in such a perfect labyrinth that the whole mass appeared as if merely hanging together from its stupendous weight. The narrow bays and bights with a southern aspect, where 16 ARCTIC JOURNAL. tho concussion of a heavy sea had had its eflfect, were strewn with the wreck of the adjacent precipices, and progress for sportsmen along the shore, in pursuit of wild fowl, was extremely difficult. On the northern sides, facing the polar ice-drift, these islands showed other features quite as peculiar to the glacial region upon which we were wandering : there the low projecting ledges of granite were polished by the constant attrition of oceanic ice and icebergs, until walking over them be- came barely possible. July 18, 1850. — I am much amused at the ease with which we assimilate ourselves to new climates and new habits. Yesterday, Pickthorne and I bathed within fifty yards of an iceberg, the water only two degrees above freezing-point. Candour must acknowledge we did not stay long : and to-night, though no Highlander in love of hardship, I found myself at midnight in the water groping for lost gun-gear, an experiment which, having escaped from it without rheumatism, I promise not to repeat. One of my crew slept last night on deck with his arm for a pillow, although the temperature was below freezing-point ; and every one complains of heat, and throws aside jacket and cap when making the slightest exertion. Coal-dust everywhere, and on everything. Incessant work from 4 a.m. to 8 or 9 o'clock p.m., one would have supposed, would have induced rational beings to go quietly to bed when the day's work was over. It was far otherwise. The novelty of constant daylight, and the effect which it always has upon the system, until accustomed to it, of depriving one of the inclination to swams mj AN ARCTIC NIGHT-SCENE. 17 to go to roost at regular hours, told upon us; and often have I found myself returning from five hours* work, chasing, shooting, and pulling a boat, just as the boat- swain's mates were piping " stow hammocks ! " That I was not singular, a constant discharge of guns throughout the night well proved, and unhappy nights must the ducks and dovekies have spent during our stay. Although the proceeds of great consumption of powder were but small, nevertheless siout men, who had not buttoned a gaiter since their youth, w'ere to be seen rivalling chamois-hunters in the activity with which they stalked down the lady ducks on their nests. Apoplexy was forgotten, the tender wife's last injunc- tion on the subject of dry feet pitched to the winds ; and rash men of five -and -forty pulled and shot little birds, in leaky punts, with all the energy of boys of fifteen. There were vile realities, however, connected with our duties — as well cold fingers and wet feet— otherwise I should have been prone to give fancy her swing, and spent many a night in the " blest ideal," at the beauti- ful and novel scenes around us. One lovely morning at two o'clock, I had just crossed to the north side of an island wliich faces Greenland, and passed a quiet and secluded bay, at whose head the remains of a deserted ruin told of it?e bygone location of some Esquimaux fishermen, who;'.e present home was shown by here and there a grave carefully piled over with stones to ward off dog and bear. All was silent, except the plaintive mew of the arctic sea-swallow as it wheeled over my B 18 ARCTIC JOURNAL. head, or the gentle echo made by mother ocean as she rippled under some projecting ledge of ice. The snow, as it melted amongst the rocks behind, stole quietly on to the sea through a mass of dark-coloured moss ; whilst a scanty distribution of pale or delicately-tinted flowers showed the humble flora of the north. The sun sweep- ing along the heavens opposite at a very low altitude, gilded, as it rose, the snowy crests of the mountains of Disco, and served to show, more grim and picturesque, the naturally dark face of the " Black Land of Lively." From thence round to the east, in the far horizon, swept the shores of Greenland, its glaciers, peaks, and head- lands, all tortured by mirage into a thousand fantastic shapes, as if Dame Kature had risen from her couch in frolicsome mood. Between this scene and my feet ice- bergs of every size and shape, rich with fretting of silvery icicle, and showing the deepest azure tint or richest emerald, strewed a mirror-like oea, glowing with the pale pink of morning. The awful silence was impressive : unwilling to break it I sat me down. ** I felt her presence by its spell of might, Stoop o'er me from above — The calm majestic presence of the night, As of the one I love." Suddenly a distant roar boomed along the water and echoed amongst the rocks : again and again I heard it, when, to my astonishment, a huge iceberg in the offing commenced to break up. A fearful plunge of some large mass would clothe the spot in spray and foam ; a dull reverberating echo pealed on ; and then, merely AN ESQUIMAUX PILOT. 19 from the concussion of the still air, piece after piece de- tached itself from the iceherg, and the work of demolition was most rapid. Truly did Baffin boast that he had laid open one of nature's most wonderful laboratories ; and I thought with Longfellow, in his * Hyperion,' — " The vast cathedral of nature is full of holy scriptures and shapes of deep mysterious meaning : all is solitary ar 1 silent there. Into this vast cathedral comes the human soul seeking its Creator, and the universal silence is changed to sound, and the sound is harmonious, and has a meaning, and is comprehended and felt." After many difficulties, which called for some ob- stinacy on my part to master, I was allowed to go to Disco, and Captain Ommaney, hearing of my intention, kindly made up a party. Taking one of our boats, we shipped an Esquimaux pilot, called "Frederick," and started on June 21, at two o'clock in the morning. To all our inquiries about Disco, Frederick had but one reply, — " By-and-by you see." He liked rum and bis- cuit, and was only to be animated by the conversation turning upon seals, ovpousseySf as the natives call them. Then, indeed, Frederick's face was wreathed in smiles, or rather its oleaginous coat of dirt cracked in divers direc- tions, his tiny eyes twinkled, and he descanted, in his broken jargon, upon the delights of poussey with far more unction than an alderman would upon turtle. After threading the islets we struck to the north-east, by compass, from the northernmost rock of the group, which our guide assured us would sink below the horizon the moment of our arrival off Godhaab. He was perfectly right ; for after four hours' pulling and sailing we found 80 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ourselves under a small look-out house, and the islets of our departure had dipped. Entering a long and secure harbour, we reached a perfectly landlocked basin: in it rode a couple of Danish brigs, just arrived from Copenhagen with stores for the settlement ; and on the shores of this basin the Danish settlement of Godhaab was situated : a few stores, and the residence of two or three ofiicials — gentlemen who superintended the commercial monopoly to which I have before referred — a flag-staff, and some half-dozen guns, formed the sum total. Landing at a narrow wooden quay, close to which natives and sailors were busy unlading boats, we found ourselves amongst a rambling collection of wooden houses, built in Dano- Esquimaux style, with some twenty native lodges intermixed. Very few persons were to be seen moving about : we heard afterwards that the body of natives were seal-catching to the north- ward. A troop of half-caste boys and girls served, how- ever, to represent the population, and in them the odd mixture of the Mongolian with the Scandinavian race was advantageously seen. A Danish seaman conducted us to the residence of the chief official, and, at the early hour of six, we made a formal visit. His mansion was of wood, painted black, with a red border to the windows and roof — no doubt so decorated for a good purpose; but the effect was more striking than pleasing. A low porch with double doors, two sharp turns in a narrow dark passage — to bafiSe draughts, no doubt — and we found ourselves in a comfortrlne A BREAKFAST AT GODHAAB. 21 room with Herr Agar smoking a cigar, and gaily attired to receive us. The " Herr " spoke but little English — we no Danish : however, the quiet and reserved manner of the good northern did not conceal a certain kindness of which he soon gave us hospitable proof; for, on acceding to his offer of a little coffee, we were surprised to see a nice tidy lady, his wife, as he informed us, spread a breakfast fit for a Viking, and then with gentle grace she ably did the honours of her board. Hang me, when I looked at the snow-white linen, the home-made cleanly cheer, the sweet wife all kindness and anxiety, I half envied the worthy Dane the peace and content- ment of his secluded lot, and it needed not a glass of excellent Copenhagen schiedam to throw a couleur de rose about this Ultima Thule of dear woman's dominion. The morning pull had given a keenness to our appe- tites, and I have a general recollection of rye bread, Danish cake, excellent Zetland butter, Dutch cheese, lus- cious ham, boiled potatoes, and Greenland trout fresh from the stream. Could sailors ask for or need more % I can only say that we all felt that, if Herr Agar and Madame Agar (I hate that horrid word Frau) would only borrow our last shilling, we were ready to lend it. A broken conversation ensued — a little English and much Danish — when Dr Donnet fortunately produced Captain Washington's Esquimaux vocabulary, and, aided by the little son of our host, we soon twisted out all the news Herr Agar had to give. Captain Penny had only stayed a short time. He arrived on May the 4th. The prospect of an early 22 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ill and open season in the ice was said to be most cheer- ing ; and then the worthy Herr produced a piece of paper directed to myself by my gallant friend Penny. He wrote in haste to say his squadron had arrived all well after a splendid run from Aberdeen : he was again off, and sent kind remembrances, dated May 4. This, at any rate, was joyful intelligence, and worth my journey to Disco ; my heart leaped with joy, and I thought, at any rate, if we were late, he was full early. After a long chat we went for a stroll, in which a tree — yes ! as I live, a tree — was discovered. Be not envious, ye men of Orkney; it stood full thirteen inches high, and was indigenous, being the dwarf birch-tree, the monarch of an arctic forest ! Stumbling upon the churchyard I should have indulged my taste for old tombstones, had not the musquitoes forbidden it ; and, with a hurried glance at the names of old hunters of fish, and departed Danes and Dutchmen, I ran for the beach, remarking that, whereas we in Europe evince respect for those who have preceded us to that bourne, " Where life's long journey turns to sleep, Nor weary pilgrim wakes to weep," by placing stones around their last homes, in Greenland pieces of soft and ugly wood are substituted, although nature has strewn on every side masses of granite fit to form mausoleums for Pharaohs. Bad taste ! I exclaimed; but that's not confined to Disco. Having promised to return to say good-bye, we kept our word most willingly, and found " Herr Agar" had a circle of friends to meet us ; and my astonishment was DANISH KINDNESS. 23 great at the sight of two more petticoats. One was the wife of a Moravian missionary, and the other the wife of a gentleman at Jacob's Sound. They looked perfectly happy, and at least appeared as well at home in the dreary region which had become their adopted country as we could expect or their husbands desire. Conver- sation soon flagged ; the missionary gave it up in de- spair ; the " Herr" smoked in silence ; and but for the ladies we should have been soon dumb. Happily for me (for I wanted to purchase some seal-skins), a captain of one of the brigs came in at the moment, and, under- standing both English and Danish, conversation became quite animated. Watching my opportunity, I told him of my desire to purchase seal-skins for trousers for my men ; he immediately informed Herr Agar, who gave him a yah ! and walked me off by the arm to his store- rooms, followed by his good lady. Lifting a bundle of beautiful seal-skins, the Herr made me an offer of them. I commenced fumbling for my purse, and at last pro- duced some gold, making signs that various officers in- tended to have seal-skin trousers. !N'ay ! nay ! exclaimed the good lady, thrusting back my money, whilst the Herr began loading me with skins. Oh ! the horror of that moment : 1 felt as if I had been begging, and must have looked very like it, for Mrs Agar, with a look of sudden inspiration, as if she perfectly understood me, ran off to her husband's wardrobe, and produced a pair of trousers of perfect Dutch dimensions, and, with the most inno- cent smile, made signs of how I should pull them on. I smiled, for they would have made a suit of clothes for me. Seeing no way of getting out of the scrape my ignor- 84 ARCTIC JOURNAL. i I anee of Dinish and their generosity had led me into, I determined to take as little as possible, and, with a thou- sand thanks, walked back to the drawing-room with Horr Agar's "whisperables" on one arm and a couple of seal-skins on the other, my face burning and my con- science smiting. Time pressed, and we bade our kind friends good-bye. Herr Agar fired a salute of three guns, which we returned with three cheers ; and, after taking a stirrup-cup on board the Peru, started for Whale Fish Islands, which we reached at eleven o'clock at night, much pleased with our excursion. Every one likes a souvenir of some pleasant bygone scene or event : naval souvenirs are often odd ones. A messmate of mine used to tell of Greece, her temples and ruins, — " he had had many a pleasant snooze amongst them ! " Another dwelt on the scenes of Montezuma's sorrows, for it was there he had partaken of most savoury wild fowl ; and yet another hero knew but of Peru and Pizarro's triumphs by the markets producing very good cray-fish ; whilst I must plead guilty to associating occasionally Greenland and the deeds of Scandinavian heroes with the worthy Herr Agar's seal-skin trousers. Amidst a last flourish of coals and dust, which left our steamers filled to repletion — indeed we were just awash — we were ordered to take the ships in tow, and start ; this done, I came to a virtuous resolution in my own mind, after what I was going through in dragging ray "fat friend," the Eesolute, about, to think twice ere I laughed at those whom fate had shackled to a mountain of flesh. OUR VESSELS. 25 When I had time to ask the day and date, it was Sunday, 28th June 1850, and we had turned our back on the last trace of civilised man. Vogue la gdlhre t The night was serenely calm. We skirted the black land of Disco, making an average speed of three miles per hour, so that our fearful load of coal — full tliree hundred tons — did not diminish the speed nearly as much as I at first anticipated : although I could not but feel, from our staggering motion and bad steerage, that the poor Pioneer was severely taxed in carrying her own dead weight of about five hundred tons, and towing a clumsy craft, which fully equalled another seven hundred tons, all this mass receiving vitality from two little engines of thirty-horse power each. Whilst a sudden and rattling breeze from the south caused us to make sail and run merrily past the striking clifts of the Waigat and Jacob's Sound, I will briefly refer to the character of the vessels composing our squad- ron — their equipment and general efficiency. The Resolute and Assistance were sailing ships rigged as barks — their hulls strengthened according to the most orthodox arctic rules, until, instead of presenting the appearance of a body intended for progress through the water, they resembled nothing so much as very ungainly knife-trays, and their bows formed a buttress which rather pushed the water than passed through it. The remark made by an old seaman who had grown grey amongst the ice, was often recalled to my mind, as with an aching heart, for many a long mile, I dragged the clumsy Resolute about. " Lord, sir ! you would think, by the quantity of wood they are putting into them ships. ARCTIC JOURNAL. that the dockyard maties believed they could stop tho Almighty from moving the floes in Baffin's Bay ! Every pound of African oak they put into them tho less likely they are to rise to pressure ; and you must in the ice either rise or sir.k. If the floe cannot pass through the ship it will go ever it." Internally the ftttings of the ships were most perfect : nothing had been Sj^^ared to render them the most com- fortable vessels that ever went out avowedly to winter in the polar ice. Hot air was distributed by means of an ingenious apparatus throughout lower deck and cabins. Double bulkheads and doors prevented the ingress of unnecessary cold air. A cooking battery, as the French say, promised abundance of room for roasting, boiling, bak- ing, and an arrangement for thawing snow to make water for our daily consumption. The mess-places of the crew were neatly fitted in man-of-war style ; and the well-laden shelves of crockery and hardware showed that Jack, as well as Jolly Marine, had spent a portion of his money in securing his comfort in the long voyage before them. A long tier of cabins on either side showed how large a proportion of officers these vessels carried ; but it was so far satisfactory, that it assured us of a division of labour, which would make arctic labours comparatively light. A large captain's cabin, with a gunroom capable of containing all the officers, when met together for their meals, completed the accommodation. The crews con- sisted of sixty souls each, of whom a fourth were officers. Such were the sailing ships. The Pioneer and Intrepid were sister vessels, belong- ing originally to a cattle conveyance company. They were screws, ever THE PIONEER \ND INTREPID. 27 propelled by screws, and were of sixty-horse power each, about 150 feet long, of 400 tons burden, and rigged as three-masted schooners. Over the whole of their original frames, tough planking, called doubling, was placed, varying from three to six inches in thickness. The decks were likewise doubled ; and, as may be supposed, from such numerous fastenings passing through the ori- ginal timbers of a merchantman, every timber was per- forated with so many holes as to be weakened and rendered useless : indeed the vessels may have at last been considered as what is termed " bread-and-butter built," the two layers of planking constituting with the decks the actual strength of the vessels. At the bow the fine form had happily been retained, the timber strengthenings being thrown into them at that point within, and not without ; they were therefore, at the fore-end, somewhat like a strong wedge. Many an oracle had shaken his head at this novelty; and when I talked of cutting and breaking ice with an iron stem, the lip curled in derision and pity ; and I saw that they thought of me as Joe Stag, the Plymouth boatman, did of the Brazilian frigate when she ran the breakwater down in a fog, — " Happy beggar ! he knows nothing and he fears nothing." A few catastrophe-lovers in England having consigned Franklin to death because he had steam-engines and screws, every precaution was taken to secure the Pioneer and Intrepid in such a way that screw, rudder, and sternpost might be torn off by the much-talked of hogie — the ice — and the vessels still be left fit to swim. In the internal arrangements for meeting an arctic climate, J 1 S8 ARCTIC JOURNAL. »tt we were on somewhat a similar plan to the ships, — some difficulties being presented by the large mass of cold iron machinery, which, of course, acted as a rapid refrigerator. For the voyage out, the men were confined to a little place in the bows of the vessel, and from thence to the cabins of the officers all was coal: a dead weight of 260 tons being originally carried from England, which we increased to 300 tons at the Whale Islands. This, at an average consumption of seven tons per diem^ would en- able us to tmo the ships 3000 miles, or to steam alone fully 5000 mileSf carrying twelve or eighteen months' provi- sion. Tiie crew consisted of thirty souls, all told, of which five were officers : namely, a lieutenant in com- mand and a second master, as executive officers; an assistant-surgeon, who zealously undertook the superin- tendence of the commissariat, both public and private ; and two engineers, to look after the steam department. These occupied the smallest conceivable space in the after-end of the steamers; and, with separate cabins, had a common mess-place. Such were the arctic screws : it only remains for me to say, that they were very handsome, smart-sailing ves- sels, and those embarked in them partook of none of the anxieties and croakings which declared opponents and doubtful allies entertained as to their success in what was styled a great experiment. They had but one wish ungratified, which was, that they had been sent alone and fully provisioned, instead of carrying an inadequate proportion of food, so that, in the event of being sepa- rated from the ships by accident, they might have win- tered without suffering and hardship. hi 13: OUR OFFICERS AND CREWS. 29 All the crews had been carefully chosen for health and efficiency; and they, as well as the officers, were actuated by the loftiest feelings of enterprise and human- ity ; and that feeling was fostered and strengthened by the expressions of the high confidence placed in the squadron by their country. In fact, we were called heroes long before we had earned our 1 Aurels. Lastly, the Admiralty put into the hands of the officers the orders they had given the leader of this noble squadron ; and there was but one opinion as to those orders, that more liberal, discretionary ones never were penned : and with such power to act as circumstances might render necessary, we felt confident of deserving, if we could not command, success. June 24, Baffin^ s Bay. — The squadron was flying north, in an open sea, over which bergs of every size and shape floated in wild magnificence. The excitement, as we dashed through the storm, in steering clear of them, was delightful from its novelty. Hard a-star- board ! Steady ! Port ! Port ! you may ! — and we flew past some huge mass, over which the green seas were fruitlessly trying to dash themselves. Coleridge de- scribes the scene around us too well for me to degrade it with my prose. I will give his version : — ** And now there came both mist and snow. And it gfrew wondrous cold, And ice, mast-high, came floating by As green as emerald. And through the drifts, the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen ; Nor shapes of men nor beasts wo ken, The ice was all between. 30 ARCTIC JOURNAL. With sloping masts, and dipping prow, As who pursued with yell and blow, Still treads the shadow of his foe. And forward bends his head. The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And northioard aye we fled." Through just such a scene we sped, until we suddenly hauled- in for the land of Greenland, in order to visit the settlement of Uppernavik. Passing into a channel some four miles in width, we found ourselves running past the remarkable and lofty cliffs of " Sanderson his Hope " — a quaint name given to this point by the " righte worthie Master Davis," in honour of his patron, a merchant of Bristol. Well worthy was it of one whose liberality had tended to increase England's maritime fame; and the Hope's lofty crest pierced through the clouds which drove athwart its breast, and looked afar to see " whether the Lord of the Earth came not." Under its lee the water was a sheet of foam and spray from the fierce gusts which swept down ravine and over headland ; and against the base of the rocks, flights of wild fowl marked a spot famous amongst arctic voyagers as abounding in fresh food — a charming variety to salt horse and Hambro' pork. On rounding an inner islet of the Women's Group, as it is called, a straggling assemblage of Esquimaux huts, with a black and red storehouse or two, as at Disco, de- noted the northernmost of the present Danish settle- ments, as well as the site of an ancient Scandinavian port — a fact assured by the recent discovery of a stone pillar on one of the adjacent islands bearing the follow- ing inscription : — NEWS OF PENNY. 31 " Elling Sigvatson, Bjame Thordason, and Endride Oddson, erected these memorial stones and cleared this place on Saturday before Gagndag (25th April), in the year 1135." Exactly four hundred and fifty-two ^ears before the place was rediscovered by our countryman, Davis. The Intrepid having the honour of carrying-in the two post-captains, we box-hauled about in the offing until she returned with the disagreeable intelligence that all the English whalers were blocked up by ice some thirty miles to the northward. Captain Penny had been unable to advance, and the season was far from a promising one ! Squaring our yards, we again bore up for the northward. In a few hours, a strong reflected light to the westward and northward showed we were fast ap- proaching the ice-fields or floes of Baffin's Bay. A whaler, cruising about, shortly showed herself. June 26, 1850. — My rough notes are as follows : — A.M. Standing in for the land, northward of " Women's Isles," saw several whalers fast to the in-shore ice. Ob- serve one of them standing out. H.M.S. Assistance is ordered to communicate. "We haul to the wind. I visit the Resolute Learn that we altered course last night because the floes were seen extending across ahead. The whaler turns out to be the Abram, Captain Gravill. He reports : — " Fourteen whalers stopped by the ice; Captain Penny, with his ships, after incurring great risk, and going through much severe labour, was watching the floes with the hope of slipping past them into the north toater" Captain Gravill had lately ranged along the pack-edge as far south as Disco, and found not a single opening 32 AECTIC JOURNAL. except the biglit up which we had been steering last night. He said, furthermore, " that there would be no passage across the bay this year for the whalers, because the water would not make sufficiently early to enable them to reach the fishing-ground in Pond's Bay by the first week in August, after which date the whales travel southward towards Labrador. The report wound up with the discouraging statement that the whale -men agreed that the floes, this season, were unusually exten- sive — that the leads or cracks of water were few, and icebergs more numerous than they had been for some years." It appears that a northerly gale has been blowing, with but slight intermission, for the last month; and that there is, in consequence, a large body of water to the north, the ice from which has been forced into and chokes the narrows of Davis Straits. All we have to pray for is, a continuation of the same breeze ; for other- wise southerly winds will jam the whole body of it up into Melville Bay, and make what is called a " closed season." Captain Gra ill told us that Penny was working day and night to get ahead, and had already run no small risk, and undergone extraordinary labour. Poor Penny ! I felt that fate had been against him ! He deserved better than to be overtaken by us, after the energy dis- played in the equipment of his squadron. In the first watch the brigs Lady Franklin and Sophia were seen by us fast between loose floe-pieces, to sea- ward of which we continued to flirt. The Intrepid and Pioneer were now to be seen slyly trying their bows ANCHOEING TO BERGS. 33 upon every bit of ice we could get near, without getting into a scrape with our Commodore ; and, from the ease with which they cut through the rotten stuif around our position, I already foresaw a fresh era in arctic voyaging, and that the fine bows would soon beat the antediluvian "bluffs "out of the field. Thursday, June 27, 1850, found us still cruising about under canvass ; northward and westward a body of dingy ice, fast decaying under a fierce sunlight, ice- bergs in hundreds in every direction ; and, dotted along the Greenland shore, a number of whalers fast in what is called " land water," ready to take the first opening. The barometer falling, we were ordered to make fast to icebergs, every one choosing his own. This operation is a very useful one in arctic regions, and saves much un- necessary wear and tear of men and vessel, when progress in the required direction is no longer possible. The bergs, from their enormous depth, are usually aground, except at spring tides, and the seamen thus succeeds in anchoring his vessel in 200 fathoms water, without any other trouble than digging a hole in the iceberg, placing an anchor in it called an ice-anchor, which one man can lift, and, with a whale-line, his ship rides out under the lee of this natural breakwater, in severe gales, and often escapes being beset in a lee pack. Fastening to a berg has its risks and dangers. Some- times the first stroke of the man setting the ice-anchor, by its concussion, causes the iceberg to break up, and the people so employed run great risk of being injured ; at another time, vessels obliged to make fast under the steep side of a berg have had pieces detach themselves from 34 ARCTIC JOURNAL. overhead, and injure materially the vessel and spars ; and, again, the projecting masses, called tongues (which form under water the base of the berg), have been known to break off and strike a vessel so severely as to sink her. All these risks are duly detailed by every arctic navigator, and the object always is, in fastening to an iceberg, to look for a side which is low and sloping, without any tongues under water. To such a one the Intrepid and Pioneer made fast, although the boat's crew that first reached it, in making a hole, were wetted by a projecting mass detaching itself with the first blow of the seaman's crowbar. A gale sprang up almost immediately, and during the night the Assistance blew adrift. Nert day it abated, and the ice to the northward looked open. In the evening one of Penny's vessels, the Sophia, joined us, and from her commander we soon heard of their hopes and disappointment. Directly after leaving Disco they fell in with the ice, and had fought their way the whole distance to their present position. The season was not promising, "but forty-eight hours of a N.E. wind would do wonders," said Stewart; and I cordially partook of his opinion, that " keeping the vessel's nose to the crack" was the only way to get ahead in the arctic seas. The crews of the brigs were in rattling health and spirits. Having delivered him some letters and a num- ber of parcels which, by great good luck, had not been landed at Uppernavik, Captain Stewart returned to his chief, some eight miles northward of us, and we remained to watch progress. Saturday i June 29, 1850. — .... Monday^ July 1, 1850. — At last the hoped-for signal, TOWING THROUGH THE PACK. 35 "take ships in tow," was made; and, with a leaping heart, we entered the lead, having the Resolute fast by the nose with a six-inch hawser. What looked impass- able at ten miles' distance was an open lead when close to. Difficulties vanish when they are faced; and the very calm which rendered the whalers unable to take advan- tage of a loose pack, was just the thing for steamers. Away we went ! past berg, past floe, winding in and out quietly, yet steadily ! — and the whalers were soon astern. Penny, the indefatigable, was seen struggling along the shore, with his boats ahead, towing, and every stitch of sail set to catch the lightest catspaw : we soon passed him too. The water ahead increased as we advanced, and we found, as is well known to be the case, that the pack-edge is always the tightest part of it. Several whale-boats from the vessels astern were busy taking wild ducks' eggs from the islands which abound along the coast. When passing one of these islands that appeared remarkably steep, I was disagreeably surprised to feel the Pioneer strike against a sunken rock with some violence ; she slipped off it, and then the Eesolute gave herself a blow which made everything quiver again. Captain Penny had a signal up, warning us of the danger; but we were too busy to see it until afterwards. After this accident we went very cautiously until the evening hour, when, having neared Cape Shackleton, and some thin ice showing itself, through which, at reduced speed, we could not tow the broad-bowed Eesolute, she was cast off, and made fast to some land ice, and I proceeded on alone in the Pioneer to see what the prospect was further on. 36 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Cutting througli some rotten ice of about six inches in thickness, we reached water beyond it, and saw a belt of water, of no great width, extending along shore as far as the next headland, called Horse's Head. Picking up a boat belonging to the Chieftain whaler, which had been shooting and egging, I returned towards the Eesolute with my intelligence, giving Cape Shackleton a close shave to avoid the ice which was setting against it from the westward, the whale-men whom I had on board ex- pressing no small astonishment and delight at the way in which we screwed through the broken ice of nine-inch thickness. On reaching the squadron I found it made fast for the night, and parties of officers preparing to start in different directions to shoot, and see what was to be seen, for, of course, our night was as light as the day of any other region. To the Chieftain's doctor I, with others of the Pioneer, consigned what we flattered ourselves were our last letters, thinking that, now the steamers had got ahead, it was not likely the whalers would again be given an opportunity of communicating with or overtaking us. There is always something painful in last letters, yet I hardly knew which feeling most predominated in my breast — sorrow and regret for those friends I had left behind me, or hope and joyful anticipation of meeting those before us in the Erebus and Terror. At any rate I gave vent to them by climbing the rocky summit of Cape Shackleton, and, throwing off my jacket, let the cold breeze allay the excitement of my mind. Kothing strikes the traveller in the north more strongly THE SCENERY. 37 than the perceptible repose of nature, although the sua is still illumining the heavens, during those hours termed night. We, of course, who were unaccustomed to the constant light, were restless and unable to sleep ; but the inhabitants of these regions, as well as the animals, retire to rest with as much regularity as is done in more south- ern climes; and the subdued tints of the heavens, as well as the heavy banking of clouds in the neighbourhood of the sun, give to the arctic summer night a quietude as marked as it is pleasant. Across Batfm's Bay there was ice ! ice ! ice ! on every side, small faint streaks of water here and there in the distance, with one cheering strip of it winding snake-like along the coast as far as eye could reach. "To-morrow," I exclaimed, "we will be there." "Yes," replied a friend; *'but if the breeze freshens, Penny will reach it to-night !" And there, sure enough, were Penny's brigs sailing past our squadron ; which showed no sign of vitality beyond that of the officer of the watch visiting the ice-anchors to see that all was right. "That fellow. Penny, is no sluggard," we mut- tered, "and will yet give the screws a hard tussle to beat him." A couple of hours' rest, and, having taken the ships in tow, we again proceeded; and, at about seven o'clock on the morning of the 2d of July, passed the Sophia, and shortly afterwards the Lady Franklin, — alas ! poor Penny ! he had a light contrary wind to work against. I do not think my memory can recall in the course of my wanderings anything more novel or striking than the scenes through which we steamed this forenoon. The land of Greenland, so bold, so steep, and in places 88 AKCTIC JOURNAL. so grim, with the long fields of white glittering ice float- ing about on the cold blue sea, and our little vessels — for we looked pigmies beside the huge objects around us, whether cliff, berg, or glacier — stealing on so silently and quickly, the leadsman's song or the flap of wild fowl the only sounds to break the general stillness. One of the cliffs we skirted along was actually teeming with birds called "loons:" they might have been shot in tens of hundreds had we required them or time not pressed. They are considered remarkably good eating, and about the size and weight of an ordinary duck. To naturalists they are known by the name of guillemot, and were christened "loons" by the early Dutch navigators, in consequence of their stupidity. Numerous seals lay on the ice in the offing, and their great size astonished us. As we advanced, a peculiarly conical island, in a broad and ice-encumbered bay, showed itself : it was " the Sugar Loaf Island " of the whalers, and told us that, on rounding the farther headland, we should see the far- famed Devil's Thumb, the boundary of Melville Bay. A block of ice brought us up after a tow of some twenty-five or thirty miles, and each vessel picking up a convenient iceberg, we made fast to await an opening. I landed to obtain a view from a small islet close to the Pioneer, and was rewarded by observing that the Duck Islands, a group some fifteen miles to seaward of us, had evidently a large space of open water around them, and broad lanes extended from these in divers directions toward us, although, without retracing our steps, there was at present no direct road for us into that open water. BEAR-SHOOTIKG. Captain Penny, however, being astern, had struck to seaward, and was again fast passing our position. On the islands there were recent traces of both rein- deer and bears ; and I amused myself picking some pretty arctic flowers, such as anemones, poppies, and saxifrage, which grew in sheltered nooks amongst the rocks. Before leaving the vessel, a boat full of men had been despatched back to the headland where so many "loons" had been seen, to shoot for tho ship's company : the other ships did likewise. They returned at about four o'clock next morning, and I was annoyed at being in- formed without any sport, although all the powder and shot had been expended. I sent for the captain of the forecastle, who had been away in charge of the sportsmen, and, with astonishment, asked how he had contrived to fire away one pound of powder and four of small shot, without bringing home some ''loons"? Hanging his head, and looking uncom- monly bashful, he answered, " If you please, sir, we fired it all into a bear ! " " Into a bear ? " I exclaimed ; " what ! shoot a bear with No. 4 shot ! " " Yes, sir," replied Ab- bot ; " and if it hadn't have been for two or three who were afeard of him, we would have brought him aboard, too." Sending my bear-hunting friend about his busi- ness for neglecting my orders to obtain fresh food for the crew, I afterwards found out that on passing a small island between the Pioneer and the Loon Head, as the cliff was called, my boat's crew had observed a bear watcliing some seals, and it was voted immediately that to be the first to bring a bear home would immortalise the Pioneer. 40 AKCTIC JOURNAL. A determined onslaught was therefore made on Bruin : No. 4 shot being poured into him most ruthlessly, he growled and snapped his teeth, trotted round the island, and was still followed and fired at, until, finding the fun all on one side, the brute plunged into the water, and swam for some broken-up ice. My heroes followed, and, for lack of ball, fired at him a waistcoat-button and the blade of a knife, which, by great ingenuity, they had contrived to cram down one of their muskets. This very naturally, as they described it, " made the beast jump again ! " He reached the ice, however, bleeding all over, but not severely injured ; and whilst the bear was en- deavouring to get on the floe, a spirited contest ensued between him and old Abbot, the latter trying to become possessor of a skin which the former gallantly defended. Ammunition expended, and nothing but boat-hooks and stretchers left as defensive weapons, there seemed some chance of the tables being reversed, and the boat's crew very properly obliged the captain of the forecastle to beat a retreat ; the bear, equally well pleased to be rid of such visitors, made off". ** Old Abbot," as he was styled, always, however, asserted, that if he had had his way the bear would have been brought aboard the Pioneer and tamed to do a good deal of the dragging work of the sledges ; and whenever he heard in the winter any of the young hands growling at the labour of sledging away on snow or ice, he created a roar of laugh- ter, by muttering, " Ah ! if you had taken my advice, we'd have had that 'ere bear to do this work for us ! " July 3, 1850. — Penny, by taking another route, gave us the "go by," and in the afternoon we started, CHARGING THE FLOE. 41 taking an in-shore lane of water. The wind, however, had freshened up from the westward, and as we advanced the ice was rapidly closing, the points of the floe-pieces forming " bars," with holes of water between them. With the Pioneer's sharp bow, we broke through the first of these barriers, and carried the Resolute into " a hole of water," as it is called. The next bar being broader, I attempted to force it by charging with the steamer, and after breaking up a portion of it, backed astern to allow the broken pieces to be removed. This was the first time this operation was performed, and was one of many different modes of applying steam-power against ice which we subsequently learnt to employ. We soon found ourselves surrounded with broken masses, which, owing to the want of men to remove it away into the open water astern, rendered advance or retreat without injury to the propeller almost impossible. Here the paucity of men on board the steam-vessels was severely felt, for until the Eesolute was properly secured I could expect no assistance from her ; and the Pioneer, therefore, had to do her best with half the number of men, although she was fifty feet longer than the ship. Unable to move, the closing floes fast beset the steamer, and then the large parties of men that joined from the squadron to assist were useless, beyond giving them practice, which all seemed willing to undertake, in the use of ice-tools, such as chisels, poles with iron points, claws, and scoops. In a short time the vessel was fairly beset, and we " piped down " to wait for the ice to ease off". A few birds playing about induced myself and some 42 ARCTIC JOURNAL. others to go out shooting, a foggy night promising to be favourable to our larders. The ice, however, was full of holes, and very decayed, in addition to which it was in rapid motion in many places, from the action of wind and tide. The risk of such sporting was well evinced in my gallant friend May's case. He was on one side of a lane of water, and I on the other ; a bird called a " bur- gomaster " flew over his head to seaward, and he started in the direction it had gone. I and another shouted to warn him of the ice being in rapid motion, and very thin ; he halted for a moment, and then ran on, leaping from piece ic piece. The fog at this moment lifted a little, and most providentially so, for suddenly I saw May make a leap and disappear — the ice had given way ! He soon rose, but without his gun, and I then saw him scramble upon a piece of ice, and on watching it, observed with a shudder that both he and it were drifting to the northward, and away from us. Leaving my remaining companion to keep sight of him, and thus to point out the way on my return, I retraced my steps to the Pioneer, and with a couple of men, a long hand-line, and long boarding-poles, started off in the direction May was in. I could tell my route pretty well by my companion's voice, which, in rich Milesian, was giving utterance to encouraging exclamations of the most original nature : — " Keep up your courage, my boy ! — Why don't you come back ? — Faith, I suppose it's water that won't let you ! There will be some ono there directly ! — Hoy ! hoy ! ahoy ! don't be down-hearted anyway ! " I laughed as as I ran. My party placed themselves about ten yards apart, the last man carrying the line, ready to heave, in A NARROW ESCAPK. 43 case of the leader breaking through. So weak was the ice, that we had to keep at a sharp trot to prevent the weight of our own bodies resting long on any one spot ; and when we sighted May on his little piece of firm ice, the very natural exclamation of one of my men was, " I wonder how he ever reached it, sir 1 " May assisted us to approach him by pointing out his own route ; and by extending our line, and holding on to it, we at last got near enough to take him off the piece of detached ice on which he had providentially scrambled. I never think of the occurrence without a sickening sensation the horror of being drifted away upon a block of ice which was itself melting under a summer sun. Many a seal-hunter thus perishes in this region. "Whilst walking back with my half-frozen friend, the ice showed itself to be easing off rapidly with the turn of tide. At 1 a.m. the ships were all free, and a lane of water extending itself ahead. July 4. — At 1 P.M. we started again, towing the ships, the whaling fleet from the southward under every stitch of canvass threatening to reach the Duck Islands before ourselves, and Captain Penny's squadron out of sight to the north-west. By dint of hard steaming we contrived to reach the islands before the whalers, and at midnight got orders to cast o^ and cruise about under sail, all the vessels rejoining us that we had passed some days ago off the "Women's Isles. The much-talked of, by whalemen, " Devil's Thumb," was now open. It appears to be a huge mass of granite or basalt, which rears itself on a cliff of some 600 or 800 feet elevation, and is known as the southern boundary of 44 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Melville Bay, round whose dreary circuit, year after year, our whale fishermen work their way to reach the large body of water about the entrance of Lancaster Sound and Pond's Bay. Facing to the south-west, from whence the worst gales of wind at this season of the year arise, it is not to be wondered at that Melville Bay has been the grave of many a goodly craft ; and in one disastrous year the whaling fleet was diminished by no less than twenty-eight sail (without the loss of life, however), a blow from which it has never yet recovered. No good reason was adduced for taking this route, beyond the argument, founded upon experience, that the earliest passages were always to be made by Melville Bay. This I perfectly understood; for early in the season, when northerly winds do prevail, the coast of Melville Bay is a weather-shore, and tha ice, acted upon by wind and current, would detach itself and form between the land- ice and the pack-ice a safe highroad to the westward. It was far otherwise in 1850. The prospect of an early passage — viz., from the first to the third week of June — had long vanished. Southerly winds, after so long a prevalence of northerly ones (vide Captain Gravill's infor- mation), were to be expected. The whole weight of the Atlantic would be forced up Davis Straits, and Melville Bay become "a dead lee-shore." I should therefore not have taken the ice, or attempted to work my way round Melville Bay, and would instead have gone to the west- ward and struck off sooner or later into the west water, in auout the latitude of Uppernavik, 73° 30' N. However, this is what amongst the experienced is styled theory ; and as anything was better than standing wm AHEAD ONCE MORE. 45 still, I was heartily glad to see the Chieftain, a bonnie Scotch whaler, show us the road by entering a lead of water, and away we all went, working to windward. The sailing qualities of the naval arctic ships threatened to be sadly eclipsed by queer-looking craft, like the True- love and others. But steam came to the rescue, and after twelve hours* hard struggle we towed our consorts again ahead of our enterprising and energetic countrymen. Saturday y July 6. — By 6 a.m. we were alongside of Penny's squadron, which was placed at the head of the lane of water up which we had also advanced ; and so keen was he not to lose the post of honour, that, as we closed, I sDiiifc i to see the Aberdonians move their ves- sels up into i' ; / f y "nip." In the course of the day the whalers ag^ni caught us up, and a long line of masts and hulls dotted the floe-edge astern. The sea-ice was now white and hard, affording good exercise for pedestrians ; and to novices, of whom there were many amongst us, the idea of walking about on the frozen surface of the sea was not a little charming. In all directions groups of three and four persons were seen trudging about, and the constant puffs of smoke which rose in the clear atmosphere showed that shooting for the table was kept carefully in view. A present of 170 duck-eggs from Captain Stewart of the Joseph Green whaler, showed in what profusion these birds breed; and I was told by Captain Penny that one of the islets passed by him on the 2d was literally alive with ducks, and that several boat-loads of eggs might have been taken off it — interesting proofs of the extraordinary abundance of animal life in these northern 46 ARCTIC JOURNAL. regions. Our Saturday evening was passed listening to stirring tales of Melville Bay and the whale fishery, and several prophecies as to the chances of a very bad season — the number of icebergs and extent of the ice-fields in- ducing many to believe that more than usual risk would be run in the bay this year. Sunday forenoon passed quietly and according to law, though a falling barometer made us watch anxiously a heavy bank of black clouds which rested in the southern heavens. The dinner-bell, however, rang; and having a very intelligent gentleman who commands a whaler as a guest, we were much interested in listening to his description of the strange life led by men like himself engaged in the adventurous pursuit of the whale. Captain Stewart assured us that he had not seen corn grow> or eaten fresh gooseberries, for thirty years ! although he had been at home every winter. Though now advanced in years, with a large family — one of whom was the commander of her Majesty's brig the Sophia, then in company — still he spoke with enthusiasm of the excitement and risks of his own profession. It had its charms for the old sailor, whose skill and enterprise had been excited for so many years in braving the dangers of ice- encumbered seas, whether around Spitzbergen or in Bafl&n's Bay. He evi- dently felt a pride and satisfaction in his past career, and it had still sweet reminiscences for him. I felt a pride in seeing such a man a brother-seaman — one who loved the north because it had hardships — one who delighted to battle with a noble foe. ** We are the only people," he said, " who follow the whale, and kill him in spite of the ice and cold." There was the true sportsman in such AN OLD WHALER. 47 feelings. He and the whale were at war — not even the ice could save his prey.* A report from deck, that the ice was coming in before a southerly gale, finished our dinner very abruptly, and the alteration that had taken place in a couple of hours was striking. A blue sky had changed to one of a dusky colour — a moaning gale sent before it a low brown vapour, under which the ice gleamed fiercely — the floes were rapidly pressing together. Two whalers were already nipped severely, and their people were getting the boats and clothing out ready for an acci- dent. " The sooner we are all in dock the better," said Captain S., as he hurried away to get his own vessel into safety ; and, almost as quickly as I can tell it, a scene of exciting interest commenced — that of cutting docks in the fixed ice, called land-floe, so as to avoid the pressure which would occur at its edge by the body of ice to seaward being forced against it by the fast rising gale. Smart things are done in the navy, but I do not think anything could excel the alacrity with which the floe was suddenly peopled by about 500 men, triangles rigged, and the long saws (called ice-saws) used for cut- ting the ice, manned. A hundred songs from hoarse throats resounded through the gale; the sharp chip- ping of the saws told that the work was flying ; and the laugh or broad witticisms of the crews mingled with * This worthy old Scotch fisherman perished next year off Spitz- bergen. His ship was caught between two fields of ice, and as she was sinking he rushed down to save a sick sailor, and sank with the ship that had so long been his home. 48 ARCTIC JOURNAL the words of command and encouragement to exertion given by the officers. ■ • The pencil of a "Wilkie could hardly convey the char- acteristics of such a scene, and it is far beyond my humble pen to tell of the stirring animation exhibited by twenty ships' companies, who knew that on their own exertions depended the safety of their vessels and the success of their voyage. The ice was of an average thickness of three feet, and to cut this saws of ten feet long were used, the length of stroke being about as far as the men directing the saw could reach up and down. A little powder was used to break up the pieces that were cut, so as to get them easily out of the mouth of the dock, an operation which the officers of our vessels performed whilst the men cut away with the saws. In a very short time all the vessels were in safety, the pressure of the pack expending itself on a chain of bergs some ten miles north of our present position. The unequal contest between floe and iceberg exhibited itself there in a fearful manner ; for the former pressing onward against the huge grounded masses was torn into shreds, and thrown back piecemeal, layer on layer of many feet in elevation, as if mere shreds of some flimsy material, instead of solid, hard ice, every cubic yard of which weighed nearly a ton. The smell of our numerous fires brought a bear in sight. Nimrods without number issued out to slay him, the weapons being as varied as the individuals were numerous. The chase would, however, have been a fruitless one, had not the bear in his retreat fallen in with and killed a seal ; his voracity overcame his fears, FREE ONCE MORE. 49 and being driven into the water, he was shot from the boat of one of the whalers which had perseveringly fol- lowed him. The brute was of no great size — not more than five feet in length. The coat, instead of being white, was turned to a dingy yellow, much resembling in colour decayed ice ; a resemblance wh'"^ snabled the animal, no doubt, to approach the o Is wi greater facility. By midnight all fears for the safety of the vessels had ceased ; indeed, as far as our searching ships had been concerned, there never had been much cause for fear, the operation of docking having been carried out by us more for the sake of practice than from necessity. We were tightly beset until the following evening, when the ice as suddenly moved off as it had come together ; and then a scene of joyful excitement took place, such as is only to be seen in the arctic regions — every ship striv- ing to be foremost in her escape from imprisonment, and to lead ahead. Want of wind obliged the whalers and Penny's brigs to be tracked along the floe-edge by the crews — a laborious operation, which is done on our English canals by horses ; here, however, the powerful crews of fishermen, mustering from thirty-five to fifty hands, fastened on by their track-belts to a whale -line, and with loud songs, made their vessels slip through the water at an astonishing pace. An odd proof of the unhandiness of such vessels as the Resolute and Assistance was given to-day: the former endeavoured to tow herself ahead by the aid of all her boats, a distance of about three or four hundred yards, and was quite unable to do so, although the wind D 60 ARCTIC JOURNAL. against her hardly amounted to a cr' ipaw ; the conse- quence was, that until the steam- vessels got hold, she was fast dropping astern of the whalers, and, as was usually the case, every one's temper was going wrong. The run was not a very long one, and 'n the heart of a fleet of icebergs we again brought up — one whaler, the Truelove, having turned back in despair of a passage north-about to Pond's Bay. From our position a good view of Melville Bay was to be had, and a more melancholy one eye never refuted upon. Surrounded as we were with bergs, we had to climb a neighbouring mass to obtain a clear horizon ; the prospect to seaward was not cheering ; and from the Devil's Thumb northward, one huge glacier spread itself. The first sensation we felt was that of pity for the poor land — pressed down and smothered under so deadly a weight : here and there, a strip of cliflf protruded, black and bare, from the edge of the rr- de-glacey whose sur- face, rough and unpleasing, was o_ a sombre yellowish tint, with occasional masses of basalt protruding through it, like the uplifted hands of drowning men : it seemed Earth's prayer for light and life ; but the ice, shroud- like, enveloped it, and would not give up the dead. July 9. — Every day taught us something : we had learnt that the ice went off as rapidly, if not more so, than it came in ; and when an opening occurred to-day, the Pioneer, with the Resolute again in tow, was ahead of the whalers, and close on Penny's heels. The ice to- day lay much across, forming very tortuous channels ; and the performance of the screws, in twist- ing themselves and their tail-pieces (the ships) round floe-piec factory. by us " same fea and intrj siderably in order : used to t opposite t ice with s would tur " the lead same time Anothei W'e came t all sizes, bi anchors an could neith to make a ] was able to by the pro ourselves ar J^etentioi moments of position of two slow on nie much in ftf: I MAKING A CANNON. }> fil floe-pieces and bergs, was as interesting as it was satis- factory. In some places we had to adopt a plan, styled by us '' making a cannon ! " from its resemblance to the same feat in billiards. This generally occurred at sharp and intricate turns, where the breadth of water was con* siderably less than the length of the vessels ; we then, in order to get the vessel's stem in the proper direction, used to steer her in such a way that the bow on the opposite side to which we wanted her to turn struck the ice with some force ; the consequence was, the steamer would turn short off, and save the risk of getting athwart " the lead," and aid in checking the ship round at the same time. Another novel application of steam took place to-day. We came to a bar of ice, formed of loose floe-pieces of all sizes, but too small to heave through by means of ice- anchors and lines ; Penny stood close up to it, but he could neither sail through it nor warp ; he had therefore to make a long detour round its edge ; stearrij however, was able to do it ; and with our knife-like bows, aided by the propeller, we soon wedged a road through for ourselves and the Resolute. Detentions in the ice were amongst the most trying moments of our life in the North ; and from the com- position of our squadron — namely, two fast vessels and two slow ones — the constant waiting for one another put me much in mind of the old doggrel: — * * The Earl of Chatham, with sword drawn, Was waiting for Sir Richard Strachan ; Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em. Was waiting for the Earl of Chatham." 6S ARCTIC JOURNAL. The risk of detention in 9uch a region can be under- stood by all ; but few, perhaps, will appreciate the feel- ing of mingled passion and regret with which the leading vessel in such a mission as we had in hand found herself obliged to wait to close her consort, when all was water ahead, and the chances of it remaining so were but slight. A few hours, we all knew, had often made the difference of a passage across Melville Bay without de- tention, or of a long, laborious voyage — here we were constantly waiting for our heavy-heeled consorts. • ••••• On the 10th, a short tow, and in company with a portion of the whalers, for several had retreated, we again had to dock, to escape nipping from the ice ; and on the morrow, a similar scene of hurry and excitement took place when liberation came. Thursday f 11. — Seven of the most enterprising whalers still hung on our heels, and to-day found us all at a bar beyond which there was a sea of water. Patience ! was the mot cUordre; and it vented itself in a number of dinners and the winding-up of letters; for we all felt that the hour of separation from the whalers must soon arrive. They all were delighted with the perform- ance of the steam-vessels in the ice, and quizzed our crews for sitting at their ease, whilst they had to drag like horses. Captain Penny, likewise, candidly acknow- ledged that he never thought they could have answered so well ; and regretted that he had not had a steam- vessel. Our seamen fully appreciated the good service the screw had done them : they had now been eleven days in the ice, during every day of which period they had witnessed it wor had 6e( line, at by day do beyc again ; the pari heard ft ever a s or to mj is all fre At ni^ Ji^ a je PioDeer steam co There wa get three have gom tween qq^ By twc Penny an faster, ass been that to Green! shore, anc Diiles; be in the mo ing— a he! ment opei as he mad ^as a fair ADVANTAGES OF STEAM. 08 it working eflfectually under every circumstance ; they had seen the crews of the whalers labouring at the track- line, at the oar, and in making and shortening sail, both by day and by night ; whilst our crews had nothing to do beyond taking the ships in tow and casting them off again : already I observed a really sincere anxiety upon the part of every one for the safety of the " screw." I heard from henceforth inquiries amongst my men when- ever a shock took place, "whether she was all right?" or to my orders a ready response — "All right, sir! she is all free of the ice ! " At night the bar opened, and, giving the Lady Frank- lin a jerk into the water beyond, the Intrepid and PioDeer rattled away with our ships in tow, as hard as steam could take us. for one run of ninety miles ! There was open water ahead ; but, alas ! we could only get three miles an hour out of our vessels ; alone, we could have gone five, making in a day's work the difference be- tween seventy-two and one hundred and twenty miles. By two o'clock in the morning we had outrun both Penny and the whalers ; and, could we only have gone faster, assuredly the passage of Melville Bay would have been that day effected. The land-floe was still attached to Greenland, reaching twenty-five or thirty miles off- shore, and the pack had drifted off some ten or fifteen miles ; between the two we were steaming at five o'clock in the morning of the 12th of July, and all was promis- ing — a headland called Cape Walker and Melville Monu- ment opening fast to view. The quartermaster grinned as he made his report that he was sure we were in what was a fair lead into the North Water 1 64 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Hope is not prophecy, and so they will find who labour in the North ; for how changed was the prospect when I went on deck, after a short sleep ! A south wind had sprung up. "We were under sail. The pack was coming in fast, and the signal, " Prepare to take the ice," flying from the Commodore's mast-head. We did take it, as the pack came against the land-floe, with Cape "Walker about abreast of us ; and, in a few hours, the " nip " took place. The Intrepid and Pioneer having gone into a natural dock together, were secure enough until the projecting points of the land-floe gave way, when the weight of the pressure came on the vessels, and then we felt, for the first time, a Melville Bay squeeze. The vessels, lifted by the floes, shot alternately ahead of one another, and rode down the floe for some fifty yards, until firmly imbedded in ice, which, in many layers, formed a perfect cradle under their bottoms. "We, of course, were passive spectators, beyond taking the pre- caution to have a few men following the vessels over the ice with two or three of the boats, in case of a fatal squeeze. The "sweet little cherub" watched over the steamers, however, and in a short time the pressure transferred itself elsewhere. !Next day showed all of her Majesty's squadron beset in Melville Bay. The gale had abated, but an immense body of ice had come in from the S."W. To the ^."W. a dark haze showed a water sky, but from it we must have been at least forty miles. Between us and the shore, a land-floe,* of some thirty miles in width, followed the sinuosities of the coast-line. * A land-floe is the belt of sea-ice which adheres to the land until the summer is well advanced. Bergs ] part oi neighbc bank oi ApoA size, an( walked and fact some inc generally luunity, for a futi existed f and the Captain J they mus The ic " holes o; of narwl] themselvc the Intrej vital part, a handsoi this was, directly tl poured inl This fis Baffin's Bi people, and skin an antiscoi THE NARWHALE. M Bergs here and there strewed its surface ; but the major part of them formed what is called a " reef," in the neighbourhood of Devil's Thumb, denoting either a bank or shoal water in that direction. A powerful sunlight obliged spectacles of every shade, size, and description to be brought into use ; and, as wo walked about from ship to ship, a great deal of joking and facetiousness arose out of the droll appearance of some individuals. Utility, and not beauty, was, however, generally voted the great essential in our bachelor om- raunity, and good looks, by general consent, put away for a future day. Great reflection, as well as refraction, existed for the time we remained beset in this position ; and the refraction on one occasion enabled us to detect Captain Penny's brigs as well as the whalers, although they must have been nearly thirty miles distant. The ice slackening a little formed what are called " holes of water," and in these we soon observed a shoal of narwhales, or unicorn fish, blowing and enjoying themselves. By extraordinary luck one of the officers of the Intrepid, in firing at them, happened to hit one in a vital part, and the brute was captured, his horn forming a handsome trophy for the sportsman. The result of this was, that the unfortunate narwhales got no peace ; directly they showed themselves a shower of be Jl". was poured into them. This fish is found throughout the fishing-ground of Baffin's Bay, but is not particularly sought for by our people. The Esquimaux kill it with ea-:,e, and its flesh and skin are eaten as luxuries ; the latter especially, as an antiscorbutic, even by the whalers, and some of our 56 ARCTIC JOURNAL. crews partook of the extremely greasy-looking substance, one man vowing it was very like chestnuts ! (?) I did not attempt to judge for myself, but I have no doubt it would form good food to a really hungry person. The narwhales vary in size, ranging sometimes, I am told, to fourteen feet ; the horns, of which 1 aw a great many at Whale-Fish Isles, were from three feet to seven feet in length. The use of this horn is a matter of controversy amongst the fishermen : it is almost too blunt for offence, and its point, for about four inches, is always found well polished, whilst the remainder of it is usually covered with slime and greenish seaweed. Some maintain that it roots up food from the bottom of the sea with this horn ; others, that it probes the clefts and fissures of the floating ice with it, to drive out the small fish, which are said to be its prey, and which instinctively take shelter there from their pursuers. The body of the narwhale is covered with a layer of blubber of about two inches in thickness. This was re- moved, and carefully boiled down to make oil ; and the Icrang^ or carcass, was left as a decoy to moUiemauks and ivory-gulls, the latter birds having for the first time been seen by me to-day. They are decidedly the most graceful of sea-birds; and from the exquisite purity of their plumage when settled on a piece of ice or snow, it required a practised eye to detect them. Not so the voracious and impertinent mollies — the Procellaria of naturalists. Their very ugliness appeared to give them security, and they are in the !N"orth what the vulturo and carrion crow are in more pleasant climes — ^nature's sca- vengers. Thel and son firm unl fifteen i like hed, ofpiled-i great pre sludge* 1 The st ment was to adhere glacier sh( Walker tl upon us. Tantalui Those wh( watchfulne mast-head T!^g, from must comt fragments < that mover be brought to prove, b; lucky day i console the we are, as both in tim The 16th and Captain WATCHING FOR WATER. 57 The 14th and 15th of July found us still firmly beset, and sorely was our patience taxed. In-shore of us a firm unbroken sheet of ice extended to the land, some fifteen miles distant. Across it, in various directions, like hedgerows in an English landscape, ran long lines of piled-up hummocks, formed during the winter by some great pressure; and on the surface, pools of water and sludge* broke the general monotony of the aspect. The striking mass of rock known as Melville's Monu- ment was clear of snow, because it was too steep for ice to adhere; but everywhere else huge domes of white glacier showed where Greenland lay, except where Cape AValker thrust its black cliff through the glacier to scowl upon us. Tantalus never longed for water more than we did. Those who have been so beset can alone tell of the watchfulness and headaching for water. Kow to the mast-head with straining eyes, — then arguing and infer- ring, from the direction of wind and tide, that water must come. Others strolling over to a hole, and with fragments of wood, or a measure, endeavouring to detect that movement in the floes by which liberation was to be brought about. Some sage in uniform, perhaps, tries to prove, by the experience of former voyages, that the lucky day is passed, or close at hand ; whilst wiser ones console themselves with exclaiming, " that, at any rate, we are, as yet, before Sir James Eoss's last expedition, both in time and position." The 16th of July showed more favourable symptoms, and Captain Penny was seen working for a lane of water * The term applied to half -thawed ice or snow. M 58 ARCTIC JOURNAL. a long way in-shore of us. In the night a general dis- ruption of the land-ice was taking place in the most mar- vellous manner, and, by the next morning, there was nearly as much water as there had before been ice. The two steamers, firmly imbedded in a mass of ice, many miles in circumference, were drifting rapidly to the southward, whilst the two ships afloat in a large space of water, and fastened to the floe, awaited our liberation. The prospect of a separation from the ships, when unavoidable, in nowise depressed the spirits of my col- league of the Intrepid nor myself. Like the man who lost a troublesome wife, we felt if it must be so, it was for the best, and we were resigned. But it was not to be ; the Intrepid with her screw, and the Pioneer with gunpowder, which, for the first time, was now applied, shook the fragments apart in which we were beset, and again we laid hold of our mentors. A thick fog imme- diately enveloped us, and in it we got completely puzzled, took a wrong lead, and, tumbling into a perfect cul de sac, made fast, to await a break in the weather. The 18th of July, from the same cause, a dense fog, was a lost day, and next day Penny again caught us up. He reported the whalers to have given up all idea of a northern fishery this season. Alas for the many friends who will be disappointed in not receiving letters ! and alas for the desponding in England ! who will croak and sigh at the whalers failinj^ to get across Melville Bay, believ- ing, therefore, that we shall fail likewise. Penny had passed a long way inside of the spot the steamers had been beset and nipped in ; and he wit- nessed a sight which, although constantly taking place, is seldo] iceberg. This i( remarkec promise looked a! the Lad)/ tacle this to pieces. from the and rebro for a dista of the rolj to destroy congratula from the immediate The foff into my " and soon [ land-floe h{ of having, and, as he : itj—it's al else away -v south." Withthi in an indiffV and Lady 'Sophia, aste ice, the pros DISSOLUTION OF A BERG. 59 is seldom seen — the entire dissolution of an enormous iceberg. This iceberg had been observed by our squadron, and remarked for its huge size and massiveness, giving good promise of resisting a century of sun and thaw. It looked as large as Westminster Abbey. All on board the Lady Franklin described as a most wonderful spec- tacle this iceberg, without any warning, falling as it were to pieces. The sea around it became a seething caldron, from the violent plunging of the masses as they broke and rebroke in a thousand pieces. The floes, torn up for a distance of ten miles around it, by the violent action of the rollers, threatened, from the agitation of the ice, to destroy any vessel that had been amongst it ; and they congratulated themselves un being sufficiently removed from the scene of danger to see without incurring any immediate risk. The fog again lifted for a short time. Penny went up into my "crow's nest," as well as into the Eesolute's, and soon gave us the disagreeable intelligence that the land-floe had broken up, and we w6re in the pack, instead of having, as we had fancied, "land-ice" to hold on by; and, as he remarked, " We can do nothing but push for it ; — it's all broken ice, and push we must, in-shore, or else away we go with the loose floes back again to the south." With this feeling the six vessels started in the night, in an indifilBrent and cross lead, we towing the Resolute and Lady Franklin — the Intrepid, with Assistance and Sophia, astern. Breaking through two light barriers of ice, the prospect improved ; and as they said from the 60 ARCTIC JOURNAL. " crow's nest " that eight miles of water was beyond a neck of ice ahead, I cast off the vessel in tow to charge the ice. At first she did well, but the floe was nearly six feet thick, hard and sound, and a pressure on it besides. The Pioneer was caught, and the squadron anchored astern to the floe to await an opening. A short liber. - tion from ice-grip occasionally took place, and we wei j left in " a hole of water," which we naturally prayed and hoped would extend into " a lane." It was not, how- ever, to be so yet ; and on the morning of the 20th we were again beset, and a south gale threatened to increase the pressure. Escape was, however, impossible, and "Fear not, but trust in Providence " is a necessary motto for arctic seamen. My faith in this axiom was soon put to the proof. After a short sleep I was called on deck, as the vessel wr.s suffering from great pressure. My own senses soon made it evident; every timber and plank was cracking and groaning, the vessel was thrown con- sid*^'tbly over on her side, and lifted bodily, the bulk- heads cracking, and trenails and bolts breaking with small reports. On reaching the deck I saw indeed that the poor Pioneer was in sad peril ; the deck was arching with the pressure on her sides, the scupper-pieces were turning up out of the mortices, and a quiver of agony ■wrung my craft's frame from stem to taffrail, whilst the floe, as if impatient to overwhelm its victim, had piled up as high as the bulwark in many places. The men — who, whaler- fashion, had, without orders I afterwards learnt, brought their clothes on deck, ready to save their little property — stood in knots, waiting for directions from the officers, who, with anxidus eye, watched the floe-e the strair safe ! Bi for some ; of twenty- that her t Again 1 nothing bi was left tc not weary labours, ti did we tak the 20th a direction m doubting ci Sound by cided, if th strike to th The ship heaving an( leaving a s vessels clos officers and her througl: blastinpf wit ping with it the progress the blutf-bo ing it open, ice by lines trying to do SLOW PROGRESS. 61 the floe-edge as it ground past the side, to see whether the strain was easing. Suddenly it did so, and we were safe ! But a deep dent in the Pioneer's side, extending for some forty feet, and the fact, as we ^xiierwards learnt, of twenty-one timbers being broken upon one side, proved that her trial had been a severe one. Again had the ice come in upon U3 from the S.W., and nothing but a steady, watchful progress through the pack was left to our squadron, as well as Penny's. But I shall not weary the reader with the dry detail of our everyday labours, their success or futility. Keenly and anxiously did we take advantage of every move in the ice, between the 20th and 31st July, yet not seven miles in the right direction was made good. The 1st of August found us doubting considerably the prospect of reaching Lancaster Sound by a northern passage ; and Captain Penny de- cided, if the water approached him from the south, to strike to the westward in a lower latitude. The ships, generally the Eesolute, kept the lead in our heaving and warping operations through the pack ; and, leaving a small portion of the crews to keep the other vessels close up under her stern, the majority of the ofl&cers and men laboured at the headmost ship to move her through the ice. Heaving ahead with stout hawsers, blastinpf with gunpowder, cutting with ice -saws, and clip- ping with ice- chisels, was perse veringly carried on ; but the progress fell far short of the labour expended, and the blulf-bow slipped away from the nip instead of wedg- ing it open. Warping the Resolute through a barrier of ice by lines out of her hawse-holes, put me in mind of trying to do the same with a cask by a line through the ARCTIC JOURNAL. buDg-hole : she slid and swerved every way "but the right one, ahead. I often saw her bring dead up, as if a wall had stopped her. After a search some one would ex- claim, " Here is the piece that jams her ! " and a knock with a two-pound chisel would bring up a piece of ice two or three inches thick ! In short, all, or nearly all, of us soon learnt to see that the sharp bow was the only one to get ahead in these regions ; and the daily increas- ing advantage which Penny had over us, was a proof which the most obstinate could not dispute. I often thought how proud our countrymen would be of their seamen could they have looked on the scene of busy energy and activity displayed in the solitude of Melville Bay : — the hearty song, the merry laugh, and zealous labours of the crew; day after day the same difficulties to contend with, yet day after day met with fresh resolution and new resources ; a wide horizon of ice, no sea in sight, yet every foot gained to the north- ward talked of with satisfaction and delight ; men and officers vieing with one another in laborious duties, the latter especially finding amongst a body of seamen actu- ated by such noble and enthusiastic feelings no necessity to fear an infringement of their dignity. Jack, in this region of compulsory sobriety, was a finer fellow than any one of us had ever fancied. The etiquette of the quarterdeck was thrown on one side for the good of the common cause ; and everywhere, whether at the capstan, at the track-line, hauling, heaving, or cutting, the officer worked as hard as the seamen, — each was proud of the other, and discipline suflfered nought, indeed improved, for Jack had both precept and example. If we '. we had a — a polai from schc the major of society zest whic] gree had fair, not : from indiA excitemeni "rounders In other d work, keep to cease dai a sober few talked of tl the distance no doubt of like true kr honour fron Sometime chance of ei were out aft d'amour by a third inte hearted pare were to go sure by sue motion. Each day NIGHT AMUSEMENTS. 63 If we had our labours, it is not to be wondered at that we had also our leisure and amusements, usually at night — a polar night robed in light. Then, indeed, boys fresh from school never tossed care more to the winds than did the majority of us. Games, which men in any other class of society would vote childish, were entered into with a zest which neither grey hairs nor stout bodies in any de- gree had damped. Shouts of laughter ! roars of " Not fair, not fair ! run again ! " " Well done, well done ! " from individuals leaping and clapping their hands with excitement, arose from many a merry ring, in which "rounders," with a cruelly hard ball, was being played. In other directions the fiddle and clarionet were hard at work, keeping pace with heels which seemed likely never to cease dancing, evincing more activity than grace. Here a sober few were heaving quoits, there a knot of Solomons talked of the past, and argued as to the future ; whilst in the distance the sentimental ones strolled about, thinking no doubt of her goodness and beauty, in honour of which, like true knights, they had come thus far to win bright honour from the "Giant of the North." Sometimes a bear would come in sight, and then its chance of escape would be small, for twenty keen hands were out after the skin : it had been promised as a gage dHanumr by one to his betrothed; to a sister by another; a third intended to open the purse-strings of a hard- hearted parent by such a proof of regard ; and not a few were to go to influential friends or relatives, who were sure by such a present to appreciate our titles to pro- motion. Each day our sportsmen brought home a fair propor- 64 AKCTIC JOURNAL. tion of loons and little auks, the latter bird flying in immense flocks to all the neighbouring pools of water, and to kill ten or twelve of them at a shot, when settled to feed, was not considered as derogatory to the character of a Nimrod, where the question was a purely gastronomic one. I found in my shooting excursions an India-rubber boat, constructed upon a plan of my dear friend Peter Halkett, to be extremely convenient. In it I floated down the cracks of water, landed on floe-pieces, crossed them dragging my boat, and again launched into water in search of my feathered friends. At the Whale-Fish Islands, much to the delight of my Esquimaux friends, I had paddled about in the inflated boat, and its portability seemed fully to be appreciated by them, though they found fault with the want of speed, in which it fell far short of their own fairy craft. The separation of the squadron, occasioned by either mistake or accident, detained us for a few days in the beginning of August, in order that junction might again take place. Penny, by dint of hard tracking and heav- ing, gained seven miles upon us. For several days a schooner, a ketch, and a single-masted craft, had been seen far to the southward. They were now rapidly clos- ing, and we made them out to be the Felix, Admiral Sir John Eoss, with his boat towing astern, and the Prince Albert, belonging to Lady Franklin, in charge of Com- mander Forsyth. August 5. — Plenty of water. The Assistance received orders to proceed (when her consort, the Intrepid, joined her) to the north shore of Lancaster Sound, examine it and Wellington Channel, and having assured themselves that Frs to meet regrettec undoubti share; h( and, by d second t] work wel skill disp] Taking Eesolute, thinking i failed me, for one an< Amongs manual lab The Ass: minutes, a by the Pic warp. The Intr got past it. succeeded i hours and which time make fast. August 6 ron of blan mg a deep The remark this time, in STILL FAST. 65 that Franklin had not gone up by that route to the N.W., to meet us between Cape Hotham and Cape Walker. I regretted that the shore upon which the first traces would undoubtedly be found should have fallen to another's share ; however, as there seemed a prospect of separation, and, by doing so, progress, I was too rejoiced to give it a second thought ; and that the Assistance would do her work well was apparent to all who witnessed the zeal and skill displayed by her people in the most ordinary duty. Taking in our ice-anchors, and getting hold of the Eesolute, I bid my friends of the Assistance good-bye, thinking that advance was now likely. This hope soon failed me, for again we made fast, and again we all waited for one another. Amongst many notes of the superiority of steam over manual labour in the ice, I will extract two made to-day. The Assistance was towed by the Intrepid, in fifteen minutes, a distance which it took the Eesolute, followed by the Pioneer, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to track and warp. The Intrepid steamed to a berg in ten minutes, and got past it. The rest of the squadron, by manual labour, succeeded in accomplishing the same distance in three hours and a half, namely, from 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., by which time the ice had closed ahead, and we had to make fast. August 6 and 7. — Very little progress : and a squad- ron of blank faces showed that there were many tak- ing a deep and anxious interest in the state of affairs. The remark that Sir James Ross's expedition was by this time, in 1848, in a better position than ourselves, B 66 ARCTIC JOURNAL. and only found time to secure winter quarters at Leopold Island, was constantly heard : there was, in fact, but one hope left — we had steam, and there were yet thirty days of open navigation. Friday the 9th of August at last arrived. Captain Penny's squadron was gone out of sight in a lane of water towards Cape York. The schooner and ketch were passing us — naval routine of precedence yielded to the grim necessity of a push for our very safety's sake : the big ship was dropped out of the nip, the Pioneer again allowed to put her wedge-bow, aided by steam, to the crack. In one hour we were past a barrier which had checked our advance for three long weary days. All was joy and excitement ; the steamers themselves seemed to feel and know their work, and exceeded even our sanguine expectations ; and, to every one's delight, we were this evening allowed to carry on a system of ice- breaking which will doubtless, in future arctic voyages, be carried out with great success. For instance, a piece of a floe, two or three hundred yards broad, and three feet thick, prevented our progress; the weakest and narrowest part being ascertained, the ships were secured as close as possible without obstructing the steam- vessels, the major part of the crews being despatched to the line where the cut was to be made, with tools and gunpowder for blasting, and plenty of short hand-lines and claws. The Pioneer and Intrepid then in turn rushed at the floe, breaking their way through it until the im- petus gained in the open water was lost by the resistance of the ice. The word " Stop her ! Back turn, easy ! " was then given, and the screw went astern, carrying with h( the bh others c one vesi The ope powder esting I the sere de-graci round, sa taking tJ morning Bay were It was never for <^ays had to be lost the Jand-f latitude, L from who, us. Penn Felix and Gentle calm water rapid—the joyfully rec dates from all our fri( those last d ing the coe time. Seve CLEAR AT LAST. e7 with hor tons of ice, by means of numerous lines which the blue-jackets, who attended on the forecastle, and others on broken pieces of the floe, held on by. As the one vessel went astern the other flew ahead to her work. The operation was, moreover, aided by the explosions of powder; and altogether the scene was a highly inter- esting and instructive one : it was a fresh laurel in the screw's wreath; the gallant Intrepid gave a coup- de- grace to the mass, which sent it coach -wheeling round, as it is termed ; and the whole of the squadron taking the nip, as arctic ships should do, we were next morning in the true lead, and our troubles in Melville Bay were at an end. It was now the 10th of August. By heavens ! I shall never forget the lightheartedness of that day. Forty days had we been beset in the ice. There was no time to be lost. The air was calm, the water was smooth ; the land-floe, for we had again reached it in 74 J'' north latitude, lay on the one hand; on the other the pack, from whose grip we had just escaped, still threatened us. Penny had boen out of sight some time, and the Felix and Prince Albert were nearly ten miles ahead ! Gentle reader, I'll bore you no longer. We had calm water and steam — the ships in tow — our progress rapid — the Albert and Felix were caught — their news joyfully received — and they taken in tow likewise. The dates from England were a month later than our own : all our friends were well — all hopeful; and, putting those last dear letters away, to be read and re-read dur- ing the coming winter, we pushed on, and it was full time. Several nights before we escaped from the pack t . G8 ARCTIC JOURNAL. the frost had been intense, and good sliding was to lo had on the pools formed by the summer heat on the floes. The bay-ice* was forming fast, and did not all melt during the day. The birds had finished breeding ; and, with the fresh millions that had been added to their numbers, were feeding up preparatory to their departure south. The sun was sweeping, nightly, nearer and nearer to the northern horizon. Night once set in, we knew full well the winter would come with giant strides. " Push on, good screw !" was on every one's lip ; and anxiety was seen on every brow, if by accident, or for any purpose, the propeller ceased to move. "What's the matter] All right, I hope?" Then a chuckle of satisfaction at being told that " nothing was amiss." Time did not allow us, or I verily believe we might have killed tons of birds between Cape "Walker and Cape York, principally little auks {Alca cdle) ; — they actually blackened the edge of the floe for miles. I had seen, on the coast of Peru, near the guano isles, what I thought was an inconceivable number of birds congre- gated together ; but they were as nothing compared with the myriads that we disturbed in our passage, and their stupid tameness would have enabled us to kill as many as we pleased. On August 13th, Cape York being well in sight, Penny's brigs were again in view ; and whilst the In- trepid and Assistance, with the Prince Albert, communi- cated with the natives of Cape York, the Pioneer pushed on, and soon passed the brigs, who, although they knew * First winter ice, or young ice, is called bay-ice, from an old Yorkshire word hay, to hQudi.— Author. full we] for thei to the \ Slow- the «ci the nati My fran for " lai long mill at the t: In the ( told tha "We were of Penny I reme ing of the story, wh hearing. Suffice it breed — mj tlay, in n officers, an search of who witne Petersen, i maux fron: * It was at "red snow" i wise men of 1 plained away occasioned by delicate form. FALSE INTELLIGENCE. eo full well that the late arrivals from England liad letters for them, were to be seen pushing, tooth and nail, to get to the westward. Slow — as slow as possible — we steamed all day along the " crimson cliflfs of Beverley." The interview with the natives of Cape York, alas, was to cost us much. My frame of mind at the time was far from heavenly ; for " large water " was ahead, our squadron many a long mile from its work, and I was neither interested, at the time, in arctic highlanders or crimson snow.* In the evening the Assistance joined us ; and I was told that " important information had been gained." AVe were to turn back ; and the Intrepid went in chase of Penny, to get the aid of liis interpreter, Mr Petersen. I remember being awoke at six o'clock on the morn- ing of the 14th of August, and being told a hobgoblin story, which made me rub my eyes, and doubt my own hearing. What I thought of it is neither here nor there. Suffice it that one Adam Beck, an Esquimaux cross- breed — may he be branded for a liar ! — succeeded, that day, in misleading a large number of her Majesty's officers, and in detaining for two days the squadrons in search of Franklin. No one with common perception who witnessed the interview on our deck between Mr Petersen, Adam Beck, and our new shipmate, an Esqui- maux from Cape York, could fail to perceive that Mr * It was at Cape York that the late Sir John Ross first discovered " red snow " in large quantities. It led to much controversy amongst wise men of 1818, but it has since been accepted as a fact and ex- plained away by the microscope. The crimson colour of the snow is occasioned by the presence of vegetable matter in a most minute and delicate form. !l 70 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Petersen and the Cape York native understood one another much better than the latter could the vile Adam Beck ; and had I had any doubts upon the subject, they would have been removed when I learnt that Petersen had seen and communicated with these very natives before our squadron came up, and tha\; no such bloody tale had been told him ; in fact, it was the pure coinage of Adam Beck's brain, cunningly devised to keep, at any rate, his own ship on a coast whither he could escape to the neighbourhood of his home in South Greenland. The fact of the North Star having wintered last year in Wolstenholme Sound, or Petowack, was elicited, and that the natives had been on board of her. Tlie Assist- ance and Intrepid, therefore, remained to visit that neighbourhood, whilst we proceeded across the Bay of Baffin to the south shore of Lancaster Sound, touching, as had been pre-arranged, at Ponds Bay and Cape Pos- session. Steaming along the Crimson Cliffs for a second time, we left the Lady Franklin and Sophia, in a stark calm, to do their best. Fewer ships, the faster progress ; and heartily did all cheer when, at midnight, we turned to the KW., leaving the second division to do their work in Wolstenholme Sound. On the 15th of August we struck westward, that is, the Pioneer, with Resolute and Prince Albert in tow. After four hours of very tortuous navigation, called "reeving through the pack," we reached the West Water — a wide ocean of water without one piece of floe- ice, and very few icebergs. The change was wonderful — incredible. Here was nothing but water; and we were a the sp( but ice (as usu covered capital towed us a toi caster 15 departei scheme came a] would I next car Touch than waj fogs anc into the marks hi The 2 weather : (having s Possessio northern The « called, St] icy region parativel}; eyes on vj voted bea toms of v< THE "WEST LAND. 71 were almost within sight, as we steered to the S.W., of the spot where, for forty-seven days, we had had nothing but ice ! ice ! ice ! Let ns hurry on. The West Water (as usual with the water at this season of the year) was covered with fog : in it we steered. The Kesolute, as a capital joke, in return for the long weary miles we had towed her, set, on one occasion, all studsails, and gave us a tow for four hours. When off the mouth of Lan- caster Sound, the Prince Albert was cast off; and she departed to carry out, as we fancied, a part of the grand scheme of sledge-travelling next year, into which it be- came almost daily apparent the search for Franklin would resolve itself. Already had night commenced; next came winter. Touching at Ponds Bay was made a longer proceeding than was ever calculated upon, for a succession of thick fogs and strong gales prevented the Pioneer running into the bay, or ascertaining whether cairns or other marks had been erected on the coast. The 2l8t of August came before we had a change of weather : happily it then took place ; and the Pioneer (having some days before left the Kesoluto, to cruise off Possession Bay) entered Ponds Bay, running up the northern shore towards a place called Button Point. The "West Land," as this side of Baffin Bay is called, strikes all seamen, after struggling through the icy region of Melville Bay, as being verdant and com- paratively genial. We all thought so, and feasted our eyes on valleys, which, in our now humbled taste, were voted beautiful. At any rate there were signs and symp- toms of verdure ; and as we steered close along the coast. 72 ARCTIC JOURNAL. green and russet colours were detected and pointed out •with delight. The bay was calm and glassy, and the sun to the west, sweeping along a water horizon, showed pretty plainly that Ponds Bay, like a good many more miscalled bays of this region, was nothing more than the bell-shaped mouth to some long fiord or strait. One of my ice -quartermasters, a highly intelligent seaman, assured me he had been in a whale-boat up this very inlet, until they conjectured themselves to be fast approaching Admiralty Inlet ; the country improved much in appearance, and in one place they found abun- dance of natives, deer, and grass as high as his knees. I landed with a boat's crew on Button Point. The natives had retired into the interior to kill deer and salmon : this they are in the habit of doing every season when the land-ice breaks up. Numerous unroofed winter habitations and carefully secured caches of seal-blubber proved that they had been here in some numbers, and would return to winter after the ice had again formed in the bay, and the seals began to appear, upon which the existence of the Esquimaux depends. On first landing we had been startled by observing numerous cairns, standing generally in pairs : these we pulled down one after the other, and examined without finding anything in them ; and it was only the accidental discovery by one of the men of a seal-blubber cache, that showed that the cairns were merely marks by which the Esquimaux, on their return in the winter, could detect their stores. The winter abode of these Esquimaux appeared to be sunk from three to four feet below the level of the '•■.,. ....... ESQUIMAUX WINTER HUTS. 7a ground : a ring of stones, a few feet high, were all the vestiges we saw. Ko doubt they completed the habita- tion by building a house of snow of the usual dome shape over the stones aiid sunken floor. Having no wood, whale-bones had been here substituted for rafters ; this is usual along the whole breadth of the American coast - line from Behring Strait ; but many of the hovels had no rafters. On the whole, the impression was, that the natives here lived in a state of much greater barbarity and discomfort than those we had seen about the Danish settlements on the opposite shore. A cairn was erected by us ; a record and some letters deposited for ti*e natives to put on board whalers at a future season : an-*^ having placed a number of presents for the poor creatuf** in the different huts and on the caches, we hurried on board, and made the best of our way to Possession Bay, io rejoin the Resolute. From her we learnt that the North Star had placed a record there, to say that after having failed to cross Bafl&n Bay in 1849, she had done so in 1850, and had gone up Lancaster Sound to s^k the Enterprise ;iad Investigator, under Sir James Koss, they havir.;r, as we knew, meanwhile gone home, oeen paid off, r3com- missioned, and were now, please God, in tlie Arctic Ocean, by way of Behring Strait. August 22, 1850. — The Kesolute in company, and steering a course up Lancaster Sound. The great gateway, within whose portals we were now fast entering, has much in it that is interesting to an English seaman. Across its mouth, the bold nav^igator ARCTIC JOURNAL. Baffin, 200 years before, had steered, pronounced it a sound, and namei il after the Duke of Lancaster. About thirty-five years ago it was converted into a bay by Sir John Eoss ; and within eighteen months afterwards. Parry, the prince of arctic navigators, sailed through this very bay, and discovered new lands extending half of the distance towards Behring Strait, or about 600 miles. To complete the remaining 600 miles of unknown region. Sir John Franklin and his 140 gallant followers had devoted themselves, — with what resolution, with what devotion, is best told by their long absence and our anxiety. The high and towering ranges of the Byam Martin Mountains looked down upon us from the southern sky, between fast passing fog-banks and fitful gusts of wind, which soon sobbed themselves into a calm, when steam, as usual, came to our aid. With it the Pioneer, tow- ing the Eesolute astern, steered for the north shore of Lancaster Sound. On August 25th we were off Croker Bay, a deep indentation between Cape Warrender and Cape Home. The clouds hung too heavily about the land, distant as we were, to see more than the bare outline, but its broken configuration gave good hope of numerous harbours, fiords, and creeks. From Cape Home, we entered on a new and peculiar region of lime- stone formation, lofty and tabular, offering to the sea- board cliffs steep and escarped as the imagination can picture. By the beautiful sketches of Parry's officers, made on his first voyage, we easily recognised the various headlands, the north shore being now alone in view ; and, indeed, except the mountains in the interior, ORIGIN OF BERGS. 75 we saw nothing more south shore of Lancaster Sound after leaving Poss .,i\ Bay. Off Powell Inlet we paw an extensive glacier extend- ing into the sound, and a few loose 'berg-pieces floating about. This glacier was regarded with some interest ; for, remarkably enough, it is the last one met with in sailing westward to Melville Island. The iceberg, as it is well known, is the creation of the glacier ; and where land of a nature to form the latter does not exist, the former is not met with. The region we had just left behind us is the true home of the iceberg in the northern hemisphere. There, in Baffin Bay, where the steep cliffs of cold granitic formation frown over waters where the ordinary " deep- sea lead-line *' fails to lind bottom, the monarch of glacial formations floats slowly from the ravine which has been its birthplace, until fairly launched into the profound waters of the ocean, and in the course of many years is carried to the warmer regions of the Atlantic, to assist nature in preserving her great laws of equilibrium of temperature of the air and water. At one period — and not a very distant one either — savants, and, amongst others, the French philosopher St Pierre, believed icebergs to be the accumulated snow and ice of ages upon an arctic sea, which, forming at the poles, detached themselves from the parent mass : this, as they then thought, had no reference to the existence of land or water. Such an hypothesis for some time gave rise to ingenious and startling theories as to the effect which an incessant accumulation of ice would have on the globe itself ; and St Pierre hinted at 76 ARCTIC JOURNAL. the possibility of the huge cupolas of ice, which, as he believed, towered aloft ii?i the cold heavens of the poles, suddenly launching towards the equator, melting, and bringing about a second deluge. Had the immortal Cook been aware of the certainty of land being close to him, when, in the antarctic regions, he found himself amongst no less than 186 icebergs in December 1773, he who, from the deck of a collier, had risen to be the Columbus of England, might have then plucked the laurel which Sir James Boss so gallantly won in the discovery of the circumpolar crntinent of (;:ueen Victoria Land. On every side of the southern pole, on every meridian ot the great South Sea, the seaman meets icebergs. Soi so in the north. In the 3f)0 degrees of longitude ^vhich intersect the parallel of 70° north (about which parallel the coasts of America, Europe, and Asia will be found to lie), icebergs are only found over an extent of some fifty-five degrees of longitude, and this is imme- diately in and about Greenland and Baffin Bay. In fact, for 1375 miles of longitude we have icebergs, and then for 7635 geographical miles none are met with. This interesting fact is, in my opinion, most cheering, and points strongly to the possibility that no extensive land existj about our northern pole, — a supposition which is borne out by the fact, that the vast ice-fields off Spitzbergen show no sytuptoms of ever having been in contact with land or gravel. Of course, the more firmly we of the expedition can bring ourselves to believe in the existence of an ocean-road leading to Behring Strait, the better heart we shall feel in searching the AN ARCTIC STOKM. 77 various tortuous channels and different islands "with which, doubtless, Franklin's route has been beset. It was not, therefore, without deep interest that I passed the boundary which nature had set in the west to the existence of icebergs, and endeavoured to form a correct idea of the cause of such a phenomenon. Whilst this digression upon icebergs has tat en place, the kind reader will suppose the calm to have ceased, and the Resolute and Pioneer, under sail before a westerly wind, to be running from the table - land on the north shore of Lancaster Sound, in a diagonal direction towards Leopold Island. On the 26th of August Cape York gleamed through an angry sky, and as Regent Inlet opened to the southward, there was little doubt but we should soon be caught in an arctic gale : we, however, cared little, provided there was plenty of water ahead, though of that there appeared strong reasons for entertaining doubts, as the temperature of both the air and water was fast falling. That night — for night was now of some two hours' duration — the wind piped merrily, and we rolled most cruelly, the long and narrow Pioneer threatening to pitch every spar over the side, and refusing all the manoeuvring upon the part of her beshaken officers and men to comfort and quiet her. A poet, who had not been fourteen hours in the cold, and whose body was not rackod by constant gymnastic exertion to preserve Ids bonei from fvariuro, might havo given a beautiful description of the lifting of a fierce sky at about half-past one i\\ the morning, and a disagreeable glimpse through snow-storm and squall of a bold and 78 ARCTIC JOUKNAL. precipitous coast not many miles off, and ahead of us. I cannot undertake to do so, for I remember feeling far from poetical as, with a jerk and a roll, the Pioneer, under fore-and-aft canvass, came to the wind. Fast in- creasing daylight showed us to have been thrown con- siderably to the northward; and as we hauled to the south the ice showed itself in far from pleasing proximity under the lee — boiling, for so the edge of a pack appears to do in a gale of wind. It was a wild sight ; but we felt that, at any rate, it was optional with a screw steamer whether she ran into the pack or kept the sea, for her clawing- to- windward power astonished us who had fought in the teeth of hard gales elsewhere in flying Symondite brigs. Not so, however, thought a tough old Hull quartermaster, whose weather-beaten face peered anxiously over the lee, and watched the Resolute beating Cromer-a-lee, for I heard him growl out, " WuU, if they are off a strait lee-pack edge, the sooner they make up their mind to run into it the better!" "Why so, HaU?" I inquired. "Because, sir," replied the old man, " that ship is going two feet to leeward for one she is going ahead, and she would never work off nothing f" " Pleasant ! " I mentally ejaculated ; but, willing to hear more from my dry old friend, who was quite a char- acter in his way, — " Perhaps," I said, " you have occa- sionally been caught in worse vessels off such a pack as you describe, on a lee shore, and still not been lost 1 " " Oh ! Lord, sir ! we have some rum craft in the whaling-ships, but I don't think anything so sluggish as the Resolute. Howsomdever, they gets put to it now A NARROW ESCAPE. 79 and then. "Why, it was only last year we were down on the south-west fishing-ground. About the 10th of Octo- ber it came on to blow, sir, from the southward, and sent in a sea upon us which nearly smothered us ; we tried to keep an offing, but it was no use ; we couldn't show a rag ; everything was blown away, and it was perishing cold ; but our captain was a smart man, and he said, * Well, boys, we must run for Hangman's Cove,* although it's late in the day ; if we don't, I won't answer where we'll be in the morning.' " So up we put the helm, sir, to run for a place like a hole in a wall, with nothing but a close-reefed topsail set, and the sky as thick as pea-soup. It looked a bad job, I do assure you, sir. Just as it was dark, we found ourselves right up against the cliffs, and we did not know whether we were lost or saved until by good luck we shot into dead smooth water in a little cove, and let go our anchor. Next day a calm set in, and the young ice made round the ship : we couldn't cut it, and we couldn't tow the vessel through it. We had not three months' provisions, and we made certain sure of being starved to death, when the wind came strong off the land, and, by working for our lives, we escaped, and went home directly out of the country." "A cheering tale, this, of the Hangman's Cove," I thought, as I turned from my Job's comforter; and, satisfying myself that the pack precluded all chance of reaching Leopold Island for the present, I retired to rest. Next day, the 27th of August, found us steering past * Hangman's Cove, a small harbour on the west side of Davis Strait. 80 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Cape Hurd, o£f which the pack lay at a distance of some ten miles, and, as we ran westward, and the breadth of clear water gradually diminished, the wind failed us. Astern in Lancaster Sound, there was still a dark and angry sky, betokening a war of the elements ; whereas, where we were — off Eadstock Bay — all was calm, cold, and arctic. " Up steam, and take in tow ! " was again the cry ; and as the pack, acted on by the tide, commenced to travel quickly in upon Cape Ricketts, we slipped past it, and reached an elbow formed between that headland and Beech ey Island. The peculiar patch of broken table-land, called Caswell's Tower, as well as the striking cliffs of slaty limestone along whose base we were rapidly steam- ing, claimed much of our attention ; but we were pained to see, from the strong ice-blink to the S.W., that a body of packed ice had been driven up the straits by the late gale. The sun was fast dipping behind Korth Devon, and a beautiful moon, the first moon that perpetual daylight had allowed lis to appreciate since passing Cape Fare- well on the 28th of May, was cheerfully accepted as a substitute, when the report of a boat being seen from the mast-head startled us and excited general anxiety. We were then off Gascoigne Inlet, the Eesolute in tow. The boat proved to be the Sophia's, and in her Captain Stewart and Dr Sutherland. They went on board the Resolute, and, shortly afterwards, the interesting intelli- gence they then communicated was made known to me. It was this : the Assistance and Intrepid, after they left us, had visited Wolstenholme Sound, and discovered mvs FROM THE ASSISTAlfCE. the winter quarters of H M n sundry pieces of ra/j „„' , T' '"''•« discovered handled instrument toeXd t " 1° '"''"^'' «»d a long- bottom of the sea; n.a" wf, T," "^ *'■"«' ^~»' *!>« iWe. A cairn was nextl t^^"'" ^■•='-<' '' "™e vis- 'io Intrepid proLeded ^/a^ ^T.^''"^ ^^'^ '» tWs a boat fun TomZ'.TZn"' "'T -'-"•-^"and. landing, some relics :f'Coer;t' "" ""'^«- ^^ and we can picture tli« „ . "P^an visitors were found • scaled and the ^^^^TZi "'*' """'' ''''' ='-P " - the ground underneath dug;?;!]!'^ ^'^ *"-d over, document or record found m', /""^ y*"' alas ! no venture, novel to some Tf a^^T^^"* ^ a^^tic ad- The boat had left tClZ^l wi^'.^'^ **^'"e P'^^^- scription, and the people on If °^' ""» »f a"y de- their dismay, a large white t }°^ "^ *'^'' "^^^ «aw, to direction of the b^at XhT l"""*"^ ^"P'^^'^ *" the brute stopped andlild t' ^l *^^ '^^'''^'ate way the celling, appeared ri,-£i-'' i" the a^t of two men left in charee of iZ T ft^^°'V nerves. The of Bruin before he lu^httul ^''^^^^ '^''SU sight the boat they burned So £ f *'^"'' """^ ^""""^^S " *° *« steamer, whilst the ob- ^. ^ ^^^o. s>«.ii^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 }^m lis ■tt l&i 12.2 IIS HI U 14.0 las Wi 1^ Mi^ U4 Hiotographic Sciences CarporatiDn 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR,N.Y. MSN (716)l7a^S03 . of pa dentlj Sor bourh advan( firmly Barlov despat( wliilst Island, very di far as C tie and in that Capfa to the i( what is : JFelix sc the Ladj Island, Alon^ the soutl until it I Devon, fi modious 1 m FIRST TRACES OP FRANKLIN. 83 i I of birds' bones, as well as remnants of meat-canisters, led him to imagine that it had been inhabited for some time as a shooting-station and a look-out place, for which latter purpose it was admirably chosen, commanding a good view of Barrow Strait and "Wellington Channel. This opinion was confirmed by the discovery of a piece of paper, on which was written " to be called " — evi- dently the fragment of an ofi&cer's night orders. Some sledge-marks pointed northward from this neigh- bourhood; and the American squadron being unable to advance up the strait (in consequence of the ice resting firmly against the land close to Cape Innis, and across to Barlow Inlet on the opposite shore), Lieutenant de Haven despatched parties on foot to follow these sledge-marks, wliilst Penny's squadron returned to re-examine Beechey Island. The American officers found the sledge-tracks very distinct for some miles, but before they had got as far as Cape Bowden the trail ceased, and one empty bot- tle and a piece of newspaper were the last things found in that direction. Captain Penny's squadron, as I have said, made fast to the ice between Beechey Island and Cape Spencer, in what is now called Union Bay — in which they found the Felix schooner to be likewise lying — and parties from the Lady Franklin and Sophia started towards Beechey Island. A long point of land slopes gradually northward from the southern bluffe of this now deeply interesting island, until it almost connects itself with the land of North Devon, forming on either side of it two good and com- modious bays. On this slope, a multitude of preserved- I I I !• 1 i 'I !■ i 84 ARCTIC JOURNAL. meat tins were strewed about, and near them and on the ridge of the slope a carefully constructed cairn was dis- covered : it consisted of layers of meat-tins, filled with gravel and placed to form a firm and solid foundation. Beyond this, and along the northern shore of Beechey Island, the following traces were then quickly discovered : — the embankment of a house with a carpenter's and armourer's working-places, washing-tubs, coal-bags, pieces of old clothing, rope, and, lastly, the graves of three of the crew of the Erebus and Terror — placing it beyond all doubt that the missing ships had indeed been there, and bearing date of the winter of 1845-46. Captain Penny therefore ascertained the first winter quarters of Sir John Franklin's squadron. Here fell to the ground all the evil forebodings of those who had, in England, consigned his expedition to the depths of Baf- fin's Bay on its outward voyage. Our first prayer had been granted by a beneficent Providence; and we had now risen from doubt and hope to a certain assurance of Franklin having reached thus far without shipMTeck or disaster. Leaving us in high spirits at the receipt of such glori- ous intelligence, Captain Stewart proceeded in his boat to search the coast-line towards Gascoigne Inlet and Caswell's Tower. We continued to steam on. Off Cape Eiley a boat was despatched to examine the record left by the Assistance ; and from her I heard that the Prince Albert, which had been ordered by Lady Franklin down Eegent Inlet to Brentford Bay, had visited the said cairn, deposited a document to say so, and was gone, I now felt certain, home. A whic lin's deep ouslj «Fo] Oi forgo of gri ridgej Strait ing Resoli and le showei day; a workec for a \ Wee shake, had coj ing to I Pioneei portion sary. "A : Captain from a which n water, f exposed PIONEER AGROUND. 86 As the Pioneer slowly steamed through the loose ice which lay ofif Beechey Island, the cairn erected hy Frank- Hn's people on the height above us was an object of deep interest and conversation ; and, placed so conspicu- ously as it was, it seemed to say to the beating heart, " Follow those that erected me !" On rounding the entrance of Wellington Channel, I forgot that we were no longer under the steep cliiOfs of granite common to Greenland, and that treacherous ridges of limestone ran out from the shores of Barrow Strait ; anxious, too, to avoid the stream of ice now pour- ing out of Wellington Channel, I ran aground, the Kesolute just saving herself by slipping the tow-rope and letting go an anchor. A rapidly-falling tide soon showed me that I must be patient and wait until next day ; and as the Eesolute was in the course of the night worked into the bay and secured, we "piped down" for a while. Wednesday, Atigtist 28. — I was awoke by a hearty shake, and Captain Penny's warm " Good morning ; " he had come out to me towing the Mary, a launch belong- ing to Sir John Ross, in order that I might lighten the Pioneer, and offered me the Sophia brig to receive a portion of my stores if I would only say it was neces- sary. "A friend in need is a friend indeed," and such Captain Penny proved himself ; for my position was far from a pleasant one — on a hard spit of limestone, in which no anchor could find holding-ground, and at low water, five feet less than the draught of the Pioneer, exposed to all the set of the ice of the Wellington ) i .( ! u 86 AECTIC JOURNAL. Channel and Barrow Strait, with about another week of the " open season " left. After all arrangements had been made to float the steamer at high water, I had time to ask Captain Penny his news; the best part of which was, that as yet nothing had been found in our neighbourhood to lead to the inference that any party in distress had retreated from the Erebus and Terror. He considered the harbour chosen by Franklin for his winter quarters was an excel- lent one. Captain Penny gave no very cheering account of the prospect of a much farther advance for ourselves : Wel- lington Channel was blocked up with a very heavy floe, and Barrow Strait to the westward was choked with packed ice ; the Assistance and Intrepid were to be seen off Barlow Inlet, but their position was far from a secure one ; and, lastly, Penny told me he intended, after the result of a fresh search for a record on Beechey Island was known, to communicate with the Assistance, in order that Captain Ommanney might be fully informed of all that had been discovered, and that we might learn whether anything had been found at Cape Hotham. On the 29th of August, the Pioneer, much to my joy, was again afloat, and fast to the ice in company with the other vessels ; and although my ofiicers and crew were well fagged out with forty-eight hours' hard labour, parties of them, 'myself amongst the number, were to be seen trudging across the ice of Union Bay towards Franklin's winter quarters. It needed not a dark wintry sky or a gloomy day to throw a sombre shade around my feelings as I landed on I whos and [ as 0] Fran] that I migh< Frc the fr clifis, thing But been t inform that t] nothiuj Ont remnaE ing bee] neatly-g moss, li some D] still to I doubtlej away. foundati It coi into whi elm scan one pari found, a franklin's first winter quarters. 87 on Beechey Island, and looked down upon the bay on whose bosom had ridden her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror. There was a sickening anxiety of the heart as one involuntarily clutched at every relic they of Franklin's squadron had left behind, in the vain hope that some clue as to the route they had taken hence might be found. From the cairn to the long and curving beach, from the frozen surface of the bay to the tops of the distant cliflfs, the eye involuntarily but keenly sought for some- thing more than had yet been found. But, no ! as sharp eyes, as anxious hearts, had already been there ; and I was obliged to be content with the information, which my observation proved to be true, that the search had been close and careful, but that nothing was to be found in the shape of written record. On the eastern slope of the ridge of Beechey Island a remnant of a garden (for remnant it now only was, hav- ing been dug up in the search) told an interesting tale : its neatly-shaped oval outline, the border carefully formed of moss, lichen, poppies, and anemones, transplanted from some more genial part of this dreary region, contrived still to show symptoms of vitality ; but the seeds which doubtless they had sown in the garden had decayed away. A few hundred yards lower down, a mound, the foundation of a storehouse, was next to be seen. It consisted of an exterior and interior embankment, into which, from the remnants left, we saw that oak and elm scantling had been stuck as props to the roofing. In one part of the enclosed space some coal-sacks were found, and in another part numerous wood-shavings > I ! i t I;: 1 I \ 88 ARCTIC JOURNAL. liif. proved the ships' artificers to have been working here. The generally received opinion as to the object of this storehouse was, that Franklin had constructed it to shelter a portion of those superabundant provisions and stores with which it was well known his decks were lumbered on leaving Whale Fish Islands. Kearer to the beach a heap of cinders and scraps of iron showed the armourer's working-place ; and along an old watercourse, now chained up by frost, several tubs, constructed of the ends of salt-meat casks, left no doubt as to the washing-places of the men of Franklin's squad- ron. Happening to cross a level piece of ground which as yet no one had lighted upon, I was pleased to see a pair of Cashmere gloves laid out to dry, with two small stones on the palms to prevent their blowing away ; they had been there since 1846. 1 took them up carefully, as melancholy mementos of my missing friends. In another spot a flannel was discovered : and this, together with other things lying about, would, in my ignorance of wintering in the arctic regions, have led me to suppose that there was considerable haste displayed in the de- parture of the Erebus and Terror from this spot, had not subsequent experience of the haste with which an arctic expedition always quits its winter prison convinced me of these relics being nothing more than the ordinary traces of a winter station ; and this opinion was fully borne out by those officers who had in the previous year wintered at Port Leopold, one of them asserting very truly that people left winter quarters too well pleased to escape to care much for a handful of shavings, an old coal-bag, or a washing-tub. m THE FIRST GRAVES. 89 Looking at the spot on which Fenny had discovered a hoarding-pike, and comparing it with a projecting point on the opposite side, where a similar article had been found with a finger nailed on it as a direction -post, I concluded that, in a line between these two boarding- pikes, one or both of the ships had been at anchor, and this conjecture was much borne out by the relative posi- tions of the other traces found ; and besides this, a small cairn on the crest of Eeechey Island appears to have been intended as a meridian mark ; and if so, Franklin's squadron undoubtedly lay where I would place it, far and eflfectually removed from all risk of being swept out of the bay — which, by the by, from the fact of the en- closed area being many times broader than the entrance of Erebus and Terror Bay, was about as probable as any stout gentleman being blown out of a house through the keyhole. In the one case the stout individual would have to be cut up small, in the other case the ice would have to be well broken up ; and if so, it was not likely Franklin would allow himself to be taken out of har- bour nolens voleiis, whilst he had anchors to hook the ground with, and ice-saws with which his crews could have cut through a mile of ice, three feet thick in twenty- four hours. The graves next attracted our attention ; they, like all that English seamen construct, were scrupulously neat. Go where you will over the globe's surface — afar in the East or afar in the West, down amongst the coral-girded isles of the South Sea or here where the grim North frowns on the sailor's grave — you will always find it alike ; it is the monument raised by rough hands but affection- 1 ' 'ill iiii 90 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ate hearts over the last home of their messmate; it bi'eathes of the quiet churchyard in some of England's many nooks, where each had formed his idea of what was due to departed worth; and the ornaments that nature decks herself with, even in the desolation of the frozen zone, were carefully culled to mark the seamen's last home. The good taste of the officers had prevented the simplicity of an oaken head and foot-hoard to each of the three graves being marred by any long and childish epitaphs or the doggerel of a lower-deck poet ; and the three inscriptions were as follows : — " Sacred to the memory of J. Torrington, who departed this life, January 1, 1846, on board of H.M.S. Terror, aged 20 years." " Sacred to the memory of Wm. Braine, r.m., of H.M.S. Erebus ; died April 3, 1846, aged 32 years. " * Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.* — Josh, xxiv. 15." " Sacred to the memory of J. Hartwell, a.b., of H.M.S. Erebus ; died January 4, 1846, aged 25 years. " * Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways.' — Haggai, i. 7." I thought I traced in the epitaphs over the graves of the men from the Erebus the manly and Christian spirit of Franklin. In the true spirit of chivalry, he, their captain and leader, led them amidst dangers and unknown difficulties with iron will, bat the words of gentleness and and ) Fro slope whose before pulled neath, mirable attract Strait, extensii byalltl clearnesi polar cl] " La ver Jny peaci To the Welhngf locked w mass of li the soutl terminate and Leop This la winter qu James Kc term, it ai VIEW FROM THE CAIRN. 91 and truth were his device, and we know his deeds 1 We have seen his career, " Why should their praise in verse be sung? The name that dwells on every tongue No minstrel needs." From the graves a tedious ascent up the long northern slope of Beechey Island carried us to the table-land, on whose southern verge a cairn of stones, to which I have before referred, was placed. It had been several times pulled down by different searchers, and dug up under- neath, but carefully replaced. The position was an ad- mirable one, and appeared as if intentionally chosen to attract the attention of vessels coming up Barrow Strait. From it, on the day I was up, the view was so extensive that, did I not feel certain of being supported by all those who have, like myself, witnessed the peculiar clearness, combined with refraction, of the atmosphere in polar climes, I should bear in mind the French adage — " La verity n'est pas toujours le vraisemblable," and hold my peace. To the west, the land of Comwallis Island stretched up Wellington Channel for many miles, and Cape Hotham locked with Griflith Island. In the south-west a dark mass of land showed Cape Walker, and from Cape Bunny the southern shore of Barrow Strait spread itself until terminated in the steep wall-like cliflFs of Cape Clarence and Leopold Island. This latter spot, so interesting from having been the winter quarters of the late searching squadron under Sir James Eoss, looked ridiculously close. To use a seaman's term, it appeared as if a biscuit might have been tossed I 1 vl 02 ARCTIC JOURNAL. upon it; and the thought involuntarily arose to one's mind, — "Would to God that, in 1848, Sir James Boss had known that within forty miles of him Franklin had wintered ! On the eastern extreme of Beechey Island, and under a beetling cliff which formed the entrance to the bay, a very neatly paved piece of ground denoted a tent-place. Much pains had been bestowed upon it, and a pigmy terrace had been formed around the abode, the margin of which was decorated with moss and poppy plants. In an adjacent gully a shooting-gallery had been established, the ranges marked off by stones placed at proper dis- tances, and a large tin marked " Soup and Bouilli," per- forated with balls, had served for a target. I carefully scanned the flat slabs of slaty limestone of which the overhanging cliffs were formed in hopes of seeing some name or date scratched upon the surface, — some clue, mayhap, to the information we so dearly longed for — the route taken by Franklin on sailing hence, whether to Cape Walker or up Wellington Channel, — but no ! the silent cliff bore no mark. By some fatality the proverbial love for marking their names or telling their tales on every object, which I have ever found in seamen, was here an exception ; and I turned to my vessel, after three unprofitable walks on Beechey Island, with the sad con- viction that, instead of being able to concentrate the wonderful resources we had now at hand about Beechey Island in one line of search, we should be obliged to take up the three routes which it was probable Franklin might have taken in 1846 — ^viz., S.W. by Cape Walker, N.W. by Wellington Channel, or W. by Melville Island — a divis ingl stanc Va ingsc Terro mysel that d Lac of the a deep one of a direci lin on which Bowdei bound heavily. Proce with th( with aln the lime were ant elevation was the fossil she ground. dition of us back t lashes th( must plea FURTHER TRACES. 03 division of force tending to weaken the chance of reach- ing Franklin as quickly as ive could wish, unless circum- stances were peculiarly favourable. Vague reports of some of Captain Penny's people hav- ing seen sledge-marks on the eastern shores of Erebus and Terror Bay, induced one of the officers of the Pioneer and myself to arrange with Captain Penny to take a walk in that direction. Landing on the north shore of Union Bay, at the base of the cliffs of Cape Spencer, we were soon pointed out a deep sledge-mark, which had cut through the edge of one of the ancient tide-marks or terraces, and pointed in a direct line from the cairn of meat-tins erected by Frank- lin on the northern spur of Beechey Island, to a valley which led towards the bay between Capes Tunis and Bowden. I conceived the trail to be that of an outward- hound sledge, on account of its depth, which denoted a heavily-laden one. Proceeding onward, our party were all much struck with the extraordinary regularity of the terraces, which, with almost artificial parallelism, swept round the base of the limestone cliffs and hills of North Devon. That they were ancient tidal marks, now raised to a considerable elevation above the sea by the upheaval of the land, I was the more inclined to believe, from the numerous fossil shells, Crustacea, and corallines which strewed the ground. These last, witnesses to a once more genial con- dition of climate in these now inclement regions, carried us back to the sun-blest climes where the blue Pacific lashes the coral-guarded isles of sweet Otaheite ; and I must plead guilty to a recreant sigh for past recollections 94 ARCTIC JOURNAL. and dear friends, all summoned up by the contemplation of a fragment oi* fossil coral. The steep abutment of the cliffs on the north cf Erebus and Terror Bay obliged us to descend to the floe, along the surface of which we rapidly progressed, passing the point on which the pike used by Franklin's people as a direction-post had been found. At a point where these said cliffs receded to the N.E., and towards the head of GascoigDf^ Inlet, leaving a long strip of low land, which, connecting itself with the bluffs of Cape Riley, forms the division between Gascoigne Inlet and Erebus and Terror Bay, a perfect congeries of sledge-marks showed the spot used for the landing-place or rendezvous of Franklin's sledges. Some of these sledge-marks swept towards Cape Eiley, doubtless towards the traces found by the Assistance ; others, and those of heavily-laden sledges, ran north- ward into a gorge through the hills; whilst the remainder pointed towards Caswell's To\7er, a remarkable mass of limestone which, isolated at the bottom of Eadstock Bay, forms a conspicuous object to a vessel approaching this neighbourhood from the eastward or westward. Deciding to follow the latter trail, we separated the party in such a manner, that, if one lost the sledge-marks, others would pick them up. Arriving at the margin of a lake, which was only one of a series, and tasted decidedly brackish, though its con- nection with the sea was not apparent, we found the site of a circular tent, unquestionably that of a shooting-party from the Erebus or Terror. The stones used for keeping down the canvass lay around ; three or four large ones, weU port( birds strew other to sai they] point( Th( two f(£ into t] plain sledge must ] the slei ing to than tl our fac obscure difficult After strike t denly d instanta] on any o Caswell'* impossib venting \ * Some ( covered at i for wild fo\ ON THE TRAIL. 95 weU blackened by smoke, had been the fireplace. A porter-bottle or two, several meat-tins, pieces of paper, birds' feathers, and scraps of the fur of arctic hares, were strewed about. Eagerly did we run from one object to the other in the hope of finding some stray note or record to say whether all had been well with them, and whither they had gone. No, not a line was to be found. Disap- pointed, but not beaten, we turned to follow up the trail. The sledge-marks consisted of two parallel lines, about two feet apart, and sometimes three or four inches deep into the gravel or broken limestone, of which the whole plain seemed to be formed ; the difficulty of dragging a sledge over such ground, and under such circumstances, must have been great, and, between the choice of evils, the sledge parties appeared at last to have preferred tak- ing to the slope of the hills, as being easier travelling than the stony plain. A fast-rising gale, immediately in our faces, with thick driving snow and drift, suddenly obscured the land about us, and rendered our progress difficult and hazardous. After edging to the northward for some time, as if to strike the head of Gascoigne Inlet, the trail struck sud- denly down upon the plain; we did the same, and as instantaneously lost our clue, though there was no doubt on any of our minds but that the sledge had gone towards Caswell's Tower. For us to go there was, however, now impossible, having no compass, and the snow-storm pre- venting us seeing more than a few hundred yards ahead.* • Some cairns without any records in them were subsequently dis- covered at Caswell's Tower. It had evidently been a shooting-station for wild fowl and arctic hares. oa AUCTIC JOURNAL. m We therefore turned back, walking across the higher grounds direct for the head of Union Bay, a route which gave us considerable insight into the ravine-rent condi- tion of this limestone country, at much cost of bodily fatigue. The glaciers, or rather frozen snow-drifts, in the ravines, hardly deserved the name, after the monsters we had seen in Baffin Bay, and I should think, in ordinary seasons, they often melted away altogether, for, in spite of so severe a one as the present year had been, there was but little ice remaining. The gale raged fiercely as the day drew on, and on getting sight of "Wellington Channel, the wild havoc amongst the ice made us talk anxiously of that portion of our squadron which was now on the opposite or lee side of the channel, as well as of the AE?erican squadron that had pushed up to the edge of the fixed ice beyond Point Innis. Seven hours' hard walking left us pretty well done up by the time we tumbled into our boat; and, thanks to the stalwart strokes of Captain Stewart's oar, we soon reached the Pioneer, and enjoyed our dinner with more than the usually keen appetite of arctic seamen. I have now enumerated all the important traces left by Sir John Franklin's squadron in its first wintering place. To them at all hours of the day and night parties from the eight vessels in our company were constantly wend- ing their way. Every one felt that there was something so inexplicable in the non-discovery of any record, some written evidence of the intentions of Franklin and Crozier on leaving this spot, that each of us kept on returning to again search over the ground, in the hope that it had been discov Penn^ One of the danger was a I which Well Americ keenly, already water n the !Res< to ascer channel ( a break ] still at is Captai day, and as far as i an officer well as h; Penny to lin on the no small walk to th a thick fo| niaintainec ing arounc accident, a I i DANGER OP A BOAT'S CREW. 97 been merely overlooked in the feverish haste of the first discovery of the cairns by Captain Ommauney and Captain Penn/. One great good, however, resulted from the discovery of these traces — the safe passage of Franklin across the dangers of Baffin Bay was no longer a question. This was a certainty, and it only remained for us to ascertain which route he had taken, and then to follow him. Wellington Channel engrossed much attention. The Americans, under De Haven, watched the ice in it most keenly. The gallant commander of their expedition had already more than once pushed his craft up an angle of water north of Point Innis ; his second, Mr Griffin, in the Rescue, was hard at work obtaining angles by which to ascertain the fact of Wellington Channel being a channel or a fiord, a point as yet undecided, for there was a break in the land to the K. W. which left the question still at issue. Captain Penny, with his vessels, got under way one day, and ran across the channel towards the Assistance, as far as the pack would allow him, and then despatched an officer with a boat to communicate our intelligence as well as his own. A sudden change of weather obliged Penny to return, and the boat's crew of the Lady Frank- lin on their way back, under Mr John Stuart, underwent no small risk and labour. They left the Assistance to walk to their boat, which had been hauled on the ice ; a thick fog came on ; the direction was with difficulty maintained ; no less than eleven bears were seen prowl- ing around i e party; the boat was found by mere accident, and, after fourteen hours' incessant walking i \ h ARCTIC JOURNAL. : :i and pulling, Mr Stuaxt succeeded in reaching the Lady Franklin. Through him we learnt that Cape Hotham and the neighbourhood of Barlow Inlet shelved no sign of having been visited by Franklin, that the pack was close home against the land, and that the Assistance and Intrepid had been subject to some pressure, but were all safe and sound. Almost every hour during our detention in Union Bay, large flights of wild fowl, principally geese and eider ducks, flew past us, as if they had come down Welling- ton Channel, and were making away to the southward ; this certain indication of approaching winter was not to be mistaken, and we anxiously counted the hours which kept flitting past, whilst we were chained up in Union Bay. South-easterly winds forced the pack tighter and tighter into "Wellington Channel, and once or twice it threatened to beset us even in Union Bay ; and on the 31st of August our position was still the same, the Americans being a little in advance, off Point Innis. From the 1st to the 4th of September we lay wishing for an opening, the Americans working gallantly along the edge of the fixed ice of Wellington Channel, towards Barlow Inlet. September the 5th brought the wished-for change. A lead of water. Hurrah ! up steam ! take in tow ! every one's spirits up to the high-top-gallant of their joy; long streaks of water showing across Wellington Chan- nel, out of which broad floe-pieces were slowly sailing, whilst a hard cold appearance in the northern sky be- tokened a northerly breeze. roun Cape brigs time we a^ the 14 ward. and 01 white called steady grounc about rose to lately t they hi number tion be occasioB course a floating gambolsj about h( proved, succeed i It was this migr leisure W( with whi( ^y mind MIGRATION OF WHALES. 99 "With the Eesolute fast astern, the Pioneer slipped round an extensive field of ice, as it ran aground off Cape Spencer, shutting off in our rear Captain Penny's brigs and the Felix. Another field of ice at the same time caught on Point Innis, and, unable to get past it, we again made fast, sending a boat to watch the moment the ice should float, and leave us a passage to the west- ward. While thus secured, we had abundant amusement and occupation in observing the movements of shoals of white whales. They were what the fishermen on board called " running" south, a term used to express the steady and rapid passage of the fish from one feeding- ground to the other. From the mast-head the water about us appeared filled with them, as they constantly rose to breathe, and hurried on, like the birds we had lately seen, to pleasanter regions in the south. That they had been north to breed was undoubted, by the number of young " calves " in every shoal. The affec- tion between mother and young was very evident, for occasionally some stately white whale would loiter on her course as if to scrutinise the new and strange objects now floating in these solitary waters, whilst the calf, all gambols, rubbed against the mother's side, or played about her. The proverbial shyness of these fish was proved, for neither with harpoon nor rifle-ball could we succeed in capturing any of them. It was a subject of deep interest and wonder to see this migration of animal life, and I determined, directly leisure would enable me, to search the numerous books with which we were well stored, to endeavour to satisfy my mind with some reasonable theory, founded upon the 100 ARCTIC JOURNAL ^l :'\ movements of bird and fish, as to the existence of a polar ocean or a polar continent. A sudden turn of tide floated the ice-field that had for some hours been aground on Point Innis and Cape Spencer, and carried it out of Wellington Channel. The Pioneer and Eesolute were thus enabled to start across Wellington Channel towards Barlow Inlet. Northward of us extended, in a straight line east and west, the southern edge of a body of ice, which we then imagined, in our ignorance, to be Jixedf and extending northward, — ay, to the very pole. The day was beauti- fully clear, and a cold hard sky enabled us to see the land of North Somerset most distinctly, though thirty to forty miles distant, and yet nothing appeared resem- bling land in the northern part of Wellington Channel. Late as it now was in the season, a fresh and favour- able gale from the northward raised our spirits and hopes, and already, with the sanguine feelings of sea- men, we began to calculate what distance might yet be achieved should the breeze but last for two or three days. The space to be traversed, even to Behring Strait, was a mere nothing; all our disappointments, and all our foiled anticipations, were forgotten in the lighthearted- ness brought about by a day of open water, and a few hours of a fair wind. As we rattled along the lane of blue water, which wound gracefully ahead to the west- ward, the shores of Cornwallis Island rapidly revealed themselves, and offered little that was striking or pictur- esque. One uniform tint of russet-brown clothed the land as the sun at eight in the evening sank behind the icebound horizon of Wellington Channel. the sigh the; west hill-j the 1 cold appej arctic the n floe I of an The evidei BarloT the mc therefc help a boat from TV in the unless westwa and no to the I a smart ice, and I had Channe curreutl m AGAIN FAST. 101 Novel and striking as were the colours thrown athwart the cold hard sky by the setting orb, I thought with a sigh of those gay and flickering shades which beautify the lands of the tropics when the fierce sun sinks to his western rest. No gleams of purple and gold lit up the hill-tops ; no fiery streaks of sunlight streamed across the water or glittered on the wave. No ! all here was cold and silent as the grave. In heaven alone there appeared sunshine and vitality : — it was rightly so. An arctic winter was fast asserting its dominion, and during the night the space of water between the pack and the floe b(>r.ame a sheet of young ice, about the one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The Assistance and Intrepid were gone, it was very evident ; but the American squadron was observed in Barlow Inlet. As we approached them at two o'clock in the morning, they were seen to be firing muskets. We therefore put our helms down, and performed, by the help of the screw, figures of eight in the young ice, until a boat had communicated with Commander de Haven, from whom we learnt that one of his vessels was aground in the inlet, and that it was no place for us to go into, imless we wanted to remain there. The passage to the westward, round Cape Hotham, was likewise blocked up, and no alternative remained but to make fast to the floe to the north of us. This was done, and just in time, for a smart breeze from the S.E. brought up a great deal of ice, and progress in any direction was impossible. I had now time to observe that the floe of Wellington Channel, instead of consisting of a mass of ice (as was currently reported) about eight feet in thickness, did I i! i 'l|. ! ; i fc 102 ARCTIC JOURNAL. IW' not, in average depth, exceed that of the floes of Melville Bay, although a great deal of old ice was mixed up with it, as if an old pack had been re-cemented by a winter's frost ; and, of course, there would be ice of various ages mixed up in the body. Much of the ice was lying cross- wise and edgeways, so that a person desirous of looking at the Wellington Channel floe, as the accumulation of many years of continued frost, might have some grounds upon which to base his supposition. Subsequent obser- vation, however, has shown me the fallacy of supposing that, in deep-water channels, floes continue to increase in thickness from year to year ; but to that subject I will return when treating of Wellington Channel The closing chapter of accidents by which the naviga- tion of 1850 was brought to a close, by the squadrons in search of Sir John Franklin, is soon told. The Kesolute and Pioneer remained, unable to move, in Wellington Channel. A northerly gale came on, after a short breeze from the S.E., and imagine our dismay in finding the vast expanse of ice, over which the eye had in vain strained to see its limit, suddenly breaking itself across in all directions, from some unseen cause, farther than (as appeared to us) a northerly gale blowing over its surface, and we, in our poor barks, in its cruel embrace, sweeping out of Wellington Channel, and towards Leo- pold Island! At one time the probability of being swept into the Atlantic, as Sir James Eoss was'in 1849, stared us disagreeably in the face, and blank indeed did we all look at such a prospect. A calm and frosty morning ushered in the 9th of Sep- tember. The pack was fast re-knitting itself, and wo were Capta the nc ning (] nel, w latter '. in Bar Job. with ti rades, i were jt rescue. pack 6] bear, ar small a] There v the you: upon si: out of t The scope of to her T« hard on gradual! another mending which SI through two hea^ slowly a| crews w DRIFTING \i:VK THE ICE. 103 were drifting with it, one mile per hour, to the S.E. Captain Penny's brigs had been seen the day before to the northward of us : they were now observed to be run- ning down along the western shore of "Wellington Chan- nel, with the American squadron ahead of them, the latter having just escaped from a winter's imprisonment in Barlow Inlet. It was enough to tax the patience of Job. Here were we going homewards, nolens volenSj with the young ice and packed ice, whilst all our com- rades, in open water beyond the ice-fields in which we were jammed, were rattling westward-ho for Franldin's rescue. Happily just then a temporary opening of the pack enabled the steam-power again to be brought to bear, and never was it more useful. The pack was too small and broken for a vessel to warp or heave through. There was no wind " to bore" through it under sail, and the young ice in some places, owing to pressure, was nigh upon six inches thick ; towing with boats was, therefore, out of the question. The heavy-keeled Eesolute fast astern, with a long scope of hawser, the Pioneer, like a prize-fighter, settled to her work, and went in and won. The struggle was a hard one — ^now through sludge and young ice, which gradually checked her headway, impeded as she was with another vessel astern — now in a strip of open water, mending her pace to rush at a bar of broken-up pack, which surged and sailed away as her fine bow forced through it — ^now cautiously approaching a nip between two heavy floe-pieces, which time and the screw wedged slowly apart — and then the hearty cheer with which our crews witnessed all obstacles overcome, and the naval , . t-^i- ■ 1 i 104 ARCTIC JOURNAL. # i expedition again in open water, and close ahead of the one under Fenny, and Commander de Haven's gallant vessels, which, under a press of canvass, were just hauling round Cape Hotham. A light air and bay ice gave a steamer every advantage. Next day we all caught up the Assistance and Intrepid, fast at a floe edge, between Cape Bunny and Griffith Island. That this floe was not a fixed one we were assured, as the Intrepid had been between it and Grif- fith Island, nearly as far as Somerville Island; but, unhappily, it barred our road as e£fectually as if it were so. Penny, with his squadron, failed in passing south- ward towards Cape Walker ; and Lieutenant Cator, in the Intrepid, was equally unsuccessful. I was much interested in the account of the gallant struggle of the Assistance and Intrepid to this point. They fairly fought their way against the ice, which at every east -going tide was sweeping out of Barrow Strait, and grinding along the shore. It was satisfactory to hear that such risks might be run, and yet neither ships nor crews be lost; and it is but fair to suppose that, if our ships incurred such dangers unscathed, the " sweet cherub " will not a jot the less have watched over the Erebus and Terror. Of course, the ** croakers" say, if the floe had pressed a Utile more — if the ship had risen a little less — ^in fact, if Providence had been a little less watchful — disasters must have overtaken our ships; but when I hear these *' dismal Jemmies " croak, it puts me much in mind of the midshipman, who, describing to his grandmamma the attack on Jean d'Acre, after recoimt- ing his prowess and narrow escapes, assured the old lady r M A DESERTED ESQUIMAUX STATION. 106 that Tom Tough, the boatswain's mate, had asserted with an oath, which put the fact beyond all doubt, that if one of those round-shot from the enemy had struck him, he never would have lived to tell the tale. From my gallant comrade of the Intrepid, we heard of the search that had been made in Wolstenholme Sound, and along the north shore of Lancaster Sound. In both places numerous traces of Esquimaux had been seen, at Wolstenholme Sound especially. These were numerous and recent, and the Intrepid's people were shocked, on entering the huts, to find many dead bodies, the friends, evidently, of our arctic highlander, Erasmus York, who, as I before said, had shipped as interpreter on board the Assistance. In Wolstenholme Sound, the cairns erected by the North Star were discovered and visited j and, whilst speaking of her, it will be as well for me to note that Captain Fenny, on his way up Lancaster Sound, met the North Star off Admiralty Inlet, August 21st, gave Mr Saunders his orders from England, and told him of the number of ships sent out to resume the search for Franklin. There was one remarkable piece of information, which I noted at the time, and much wondered at ; it was de- rived from Captain Penny, and the officers of the Lady Franklin and Sophia. It appears they crossed Welling- ton Channel about ten miles higher up than we did; the ice breaking away, it will be remembered, and drift- ing with the Eesolute and Pioneer to the south. From a headland about twelve miles north of Barlow Inlet, Captain Penny observed with astonishment that there were only about ten miles more of ice to the northward 106 AltCTIC JOURNAL. of his vessels, and then, to use his own words, "Water I water ! large water ! as far as I could see to the N.W." How this water came there 1 what was beyond iti* were questions which naturally arose ; but it was not until the following year that the mystery was explained, and we learnt, what was only then suspected, that those had overshot their mark who wrote this fine channel down as a fiord. Sept. 11, 1850. — The winter of the arctic regions came on us with its natural characteristics of darkness, gales, frost, and snow-storms. First the wind from the S.E., with a heavy sea, which sent us careering like chargers against the floe edge, and gave all hands a hard night's work to keep the anchors in the firm floe, as the edge rapidly broke up, under the combined effects of sea and shocks from our vessels ; then, with a gust or two which threatened to blow the sticks out of our craft, the wind chopped round to the N.W., bringing with it a low temperature, which arctic statistics told us would not, at this season, ever recover itself. "Winter quarters, it was evident, alone remained for us. Happily, the Intrepid had discovered a harbour be- tween Cape Hotham and Martyr, on the south side of Cornwallis Island. That place, and Union Bay, in Beechey Island, oflfered two snug positions, from which searching operations in the spring with travelling-parties could be well and effectually carried out. Search on foot * In 1852, in a subsequent expedition, I sailed to the head of Wel- lington Channel, wintered there, and, in company with Captain George Richards, searched the northern shores of the Parry group for several hundred miles. We likewise discovered other lands far- ther north of Wellington Channel. VIZ., WINTER AT LAST. 107 now alone remained for us ; and earnestly did vm pray that our leader's judgment might now decide upon such positions being taken up as would secure all directions — viz., to the south-west, north-west, and, lastly, west — being provided for. Sept 13. — Found the four vessels of our squadron, and one of the American brigs, the Advance, under Lieutenant de Haven, all safe at the floe edge. The floe had drifted during the gale considerably towards the shores of North Somerset ; and the wedge-shaped island, called Cape Bunny, was distinctly visible : the other of the American brigs had, in the height of the gale, blown adrift and disappeared in the darkness and snow-drift. For her, as well as her Majesty's brigs under Captain Penny, much anxiety was entertained. The American leader of the expedition, I heard, finding farther progress hopeless, intended, in obedience to his orders, to return to New York. This he was the more justified in doing, as no preparation or equipment for travelling-parties had been made by them, and their fittings for wintering in the arctic regions were, compared with ours, very de- fective. The gallant Yankees, however, could not return without generously offering us provisions, fuel, and stores ; and the officers, with a chivalrous feeling worthy of them- selves and the cause for which they had come thus far, oflered to remain out or exchange with any of " ours " who wanted to return home. We had no room in our vessels to profit by the first ofler, nor had enthusiasm yet become sufficiently damped in us to desire to avail our- selves of the proffered exchange; both were declined, but it was said that Lieutenant de Haven was told by k 108 ARCTIC JOURNAL. our leader, that if he could land anything for us in Ead- stock Bay as a dep6t, he might render good service. Letters were therefore hurriedly closed, letter -bags made up, and pleasant recollections of those at home served to cheer us, as, with the temperature at about zero, and with a fresh breeze, v/e cast off our ships, and worked again to the northward, towards and under the lee of Griffith Island. Eubbing sides almost with the Advance, who courte- ously awaited with the Pioneer the sturdy gambols of the Eesolute, day was drawing well on before the squad- ron reached Griffith Island, from the lee of which the missing American schooner was descried to be approach- ing. Lieutenant de Haven now hoisted his colours for home, and backed his topsail. We did the same ; and after a considerable time he bore up with his squadron for New York, doubtless supposing, from no letter being sent, that we had none. It was far otherwise ; and throughout the winter many a growl took place, as a huge pile of undespatched letters would pass before our sight, and blessings of a doubtful nature were showered on our ill-luck; but the fault was not with Lieutenant de Haven. To the ice, which extended unbroken from Griffith Island to Cape Martyr, we will leave the naval expedi- tion secured, whilst we briefly recount the most striking points in connection with the American expedition that had no\\ left us on its voyage home. In 1849, Mr Henry Grinnell, a merchant of the United States, actuated by the purest philanthropy, determined to devote a portion of his well-deserved wealth to the THE AMEEICAN EXPEDITION. 100 noble purpose of relieving Sir John Franklin, who, it was much to be feared, from the desponding tone of a portion of the English press on Sir James Ross's failure, was likely to be left unsought for in 1850. He there- fore, at his sole expense, instantly purchased two vessels, one of 140 tons, the Advance, the other 90 tons, the Rescue, and, having strengthened, provisioned, and equipped them, placed them at the disposal of the Ame- rican Government, in order that they might be com- manded by naval ofl&cers, and sail under naval discipline. The American Congress passed the necessary Acts, and Lieutenant E. de Haven, who had seen service in the antarctic seas, took command of the Advance, as the leader of the expedition, and another distinguished officer, Mr Griffin, hoisted his pendant in the Rescue.* On the 23d May 1850, the two vessels sailed from New York, touching at Disco subsequent to ourselves, and, I am sorry to say, they found that my worthy friend Herr Agar had died shortly after my visit ; they reached the pack of Melville Bay on the 7th July, and, tightly beset until the 23d, did not reach Cape York until early in August. On the 7 th August the Americans had reached Cape Dudley Digges (at that time our ships were beset off Cape Walker in Melville Bay) ; thence they stood to the south-west, until they reached the West water. On the 18th August, when we had a thick fog and almost a calm off Possession Bay, the American squadron was in a severe gale in Lancaster Sound ; and on the * Dr Kane, of subsequent arctic celebrity, as well as a now dis- tinguished Confederate officer, Mr Murdaugh, served in these vessels. ! I Ml ^B" 110 ARCTIC JOURNAL. 25th August, after visiting Leopold Island, the gallant Americans reached Cape Eiley close on the heels of the Assistance and Intrepid. From that time we have shown that they lost no opportunity of pushing ahead; and if progress depended alone upon skill and intrepidity, our go-ahead friends would have given us a hard tussle for the laurels to he won in the arctic regions. As a proof of the disinterestedness of their motives, before sailing from America, men as well as officers had signed a bond not to claim, under any circumstances, the £20,000 reward the British Government had offered for Franklin's rescue. America had plucked a rose from our brows ; and I gloried in the thought that the men who had so nobly borne themselves, as well as he, the princely merchant who had done his best to assist the widow and orphan to recover those for whom they had so long hoped and wept, were men who spoke our language, and came from one parent stock — a race whose home is on the great waters. Looking at my rough notes for the following week, I am now puzzled to know what we were hoping for ; it must have been a second open season in 1850, — a san- guine disposition, no doubt brought about by a break in the weather, not unlike the Indian summer described by American writers. Sept. 14. — I went in the Pioneeer with some others, to see if the floe had opened a road to the south of Griffith Island ; it had not, nor did it appear likely to do so this season, though there was water seen some fifteen miles or so to the westward. skins : WINTER OCCUPATIONS. Ill One day the Assistance and Intrepid started for Assistance Harbour, to winter there, but came back again, for winter had barred the route to the eastward as well as westward. One day after this, or rather many days, we amused ourselves, with powder, blowing open a canal astern of the Kesolute, which froze over as quickly as we did it. At other times, some people would go on the top of the island, and see oceans of water, where no ship could possibly get to it ; and then others would visit the same spot after a night or two of frost, and, seeing ice where the others had seen water, asserted most confidently that the first were exaggera- tors ! At any rate, September passed ; winter and frost had undoubted dominion over earth and sea; already the slopes of Griffith Island, and the land north of us, were covered with snow ; the open water in sight was like a thread, and occasionally disappeared altogether. Fires all day, and candles for long nights, were now in general requisition. Some cross-fire in the different messes was taking place as the individuals suffered more or less from the cold. Plethoric ones, who became red- hot with a run up the ladder, exclaimed against fires, and called zero charming weather ; the long and lethar- gic talked of cold draughts and Sir Hugh Willoughby's fate ; the testy and whimsical bemoaned the impure ventilation. A fox or two was occasionally seen scenting around the ships, and a foi-hunt enlivened the floe with men and officers, who c'lased the unlucky brute as if they had all come to Griffith Island especially for fox- skins ; and the last of the feathered tribe, in the shape 112 ARCTIC JOURNAL. 'V ii m- li;'. of a wounded " burgomaster," shivered, half frozen, as it came for its daily food. Oct. 2, 1850. — Lieutenant M'Clintock had very pro- perly urged the necessity of sending travelling-parties to forward depots of provisions upon the intended routes of the different parties in 1851 : these were this morning despatched, — Lieutenant M'Clintock, with Dr Bradford, carrying out a depot towards Melville Island; Lieu- tenant Aldrich taking one to Lowther Island, touching at Somerville Island on the way. Lieutenant Mecham was likewise sent to examine Comwallis Island, between Assistance Harbour and Cape Martyr, for traces of Franklin. We, who were left behind, felt not a little anxious about these parties whilst absent, for winter was coming on apace. On the 4th, frost-bites were constantly occur- ring, and the sun, pale and bleary, afforded more light than warmth. Our preparations for winter were hurried on as expeditiously as possible ; and the housing, which, like a tent, formed a complete covering to our upper decks, afforded great comfort and shelter from the cold bleak wind without. On the 5th, Lieutenant Aldrich returned from his journey ; he had not been able to go beyond Somerville Island — the sea between it and Lowther Island being covered with broken packed ice, half-frozen sludge, and young ice. On the 7th, Lieutenant Mecham arrived with the intelligence that the Lady Franklin and Sophia were, with the Felix, safe in Assistance Har- bour. Captain Penny, after his failure in reaching Cape Walker, had a narrow escape of being beset on the AN ADVENTURE. 113 shores of North Somerset ; but by carrying sail through the pack, in the gale of the 11th September, he had happily secured his ships in excellent winter quarters. Lieutenant Mecham had an adventure on his outward route, which had some interesting features. As he was crossing the entrance of a bay, since named Resolute Bay, he observed a bear amongst some hummocks, evi- dently breaking the young ice by a sort of jumping motion ; and he then saw that he and his party had unconsciously left the old ice, and were travelling over bay ice, which was bending with the weight of the men and sledge. Bruin's sagacity here served the seamen in good stead, and the sledge was expeditiously taken to firmer ice, whilst Mr M. went in chase of the bear. Having mortally wounded it, the brute rushed to sea- ward, and the sportsman only desisted from the pursuit when he observed the bear fall, and, in doing so, break through the ice, which was too weak to sustain its weight. Captain Penny, on the following day, sent over his dog-sledge to secure the flesh for his dogs, by which time the unlucky bear was frozen to a hard and solid mass. Oct 9. — Lieutenant M'Clintock returned. He had placed his depot forty miles in advance, towards Melville Island; three days' imprisonment by bad weather, in the tents, having foiled his hopes of reaching Bedford Bay in Bathurst Island, which he originally intended to have reached. This party had, likewise, met water to the westward, and there was now but little doubt on our minds that, had the large field of ice which was H 1 . 1 114 ARCTIC JOURNAL. blocking the way between Cape Bunny and Griffith Island broken up or drifted away, our squadron would have reached, in all probability, as far as Parry did in '20 ; but now, the utmost we could hope to attain in the following year was Melville Island, which would be our goalf instead of our starting point. Autumn sledge-travelling diifers, in some measure, from that of the spring. I will, therefore, give the in- dulgent reader an account of a short excursion I made for the purpose of connecting the search from where Lieutenant Mecham left the coast, to the point at which Lieutenant M'Clintock had again taken it up ; in fact, a bay, facetiously christened by the seamen (who had learned that newly-discovered places were forbidden to be named), " Bay Oh no we never mention it ! " My friend, Mr May of the Eesolute, volunteered to accompany me, and on Thusday, the 10th of October, we started with our tent, a runner-sledge, and five days' provisions. The four seamen and we tackled to the drag-ropes, and, with the temperature at 6° above zero, soon walked ourselves into a state of warmth and com- fort. Three hours* sharp dragging brought us to Cape Martyr. Ascending the beach until we had reached a ledge of smooth ice which fringed the coast within the broken line of the tide-marks, we turned to the west- ward, and commenced searching the beach and neigh- bouring headlands. I shall not easily efface from my memory the melancholy impression left by this, my first walk on the desolate shores of Cornwallis Island. Like other things, in time the mind became accustomed to it ; CORNWALLIS ISLAND. 115 and, by habit, one soon learned to see beauties even in the sterility of the north. Casting off from the sledge, I had taken a short stroll by myself along one of the terraces which, with almost artificial regularity, swept around the base of the higher ground behind, when, to my astonishment, a mass of stone- work, and what at first looked exactly like a cairn, came in view ; it required no spur to make me hasten to it, and to discover I was mistaken in supposing it to have been anything constructed so recently as Franklin's visit. The ruin proved to be a conical-shaped building, the apex of which had fallen in. Its circumference, at the base, was about twenty feet, and the height of the remaining wall was five feet six inches. Those who had constructed it appeared well acquainted with the strength of an arched roof to withstand the pressure of the heavy falls of snow of these regions ; and much skill and nicety was displayed in the arrangement of the slabs of slaty limestone, in order that the conical form of the building might be preserved throughout. We removed the stones that had fallen into the build- ing, but found nothing to repay our labour; indeed, from the quantity of moss adhering to the walls, and filling up the interstices of the masses which formed the edifice, I conjectured it was many years since it was con- structed, though it would be impossible to guess when it was last inhabited ; for, at Ponds Bay, I observed the remains of the native habitations to have the appear- ance of extreme old age and long abandonment, although, from the fresh seal-blubber caches, there was not a doubt of the Esquimaux having been there the previous winter. II i ri i j 1. '. • .•?'" i " . I t II 116 ARCTIC JOURNAL. A mile beyond this ruin we halted for the night. Four of us (for, in arctic travelling, officer and man are united by the common bond of labour) erected the tent over a space which we had cleared of the larger and rougher pieces of limestone, leaving what was called a soft spot as our castle and bedroom. One man, who dubbed himself cook for the day, with a mate, whose turn it would be to superintend the kitchen on the mor- row, proceeded to cook the dinner. The cooking appa- ratus was a boat's stove, eighteen inches long, and nine inches broad, in which lignum vitsB was used as fuel. Water having first to be made from ice and snow, and then boiled in the open air, the process was not an ex- peditious one, and I took my gun and struck inland; whilst Mr May, in an opposite direction, made for a point of land to the westward. Ko pen can tell of the unredeemed loneliness of an October evening in this part of the polar world; the monotonous, rounded outline of the adjacent hills, as well as the flat, unmeaning valleys, were of one uniform colour, either deadly white with snow, or striped with brown where too steep for the winter mantle as yet to find a holding ground. You felt pity for the shivering blade of grass, which, at your feet, was already drooping under the cold and icy hand that would press it down to mother earth for nine long months. Talk of "antres vast and deserts idle" — talk of the sadness awakened in the wanderer's bosom by lonely scenes, whether by the cursed waters of Judea or the afflicted lands of Assyria — give me, I say, death in any one of them, with the good sun and a bright heaven to whisper hope, rather than AN ARCTIC MEAL. 117 the solitary horrors of such scenes as these. The very wind scorned courtesy to such a repulsive landscape, and as the stones, before the blast, rattled down the slope of a ravine, it only recalled dead men's bones and motion in a catacomb. A truce, however, to such thoughts. May's merry recognition breaks the stillness of the frosty air. He has been to the point, and finds it an island. He says — and I vow he means what he says — that May Island is a beautiful spot ! it has grass and moss upon it, and traces of game ; next year he intends to bag many a hare there. Sanguine feelings are infectious ; I forget my own impressions, adopt his rosy ones, and we walk back to our tent, guided by the smoke, plotting plans for shooting excursions in 1851! " The pemmican is all ready, sir," reports our Soyer. In troth, appetite need wait on one, for the greasy com- pound would pall on moderate taste or hunger. Tradi- tion said that it was composed of the best rump-steaks and suet, and cost Is. 6d. per pound. To our then un- tutored tastes it seemed composed of broken-down horses and Eussian tallow. If not sweet in savour it was strong in nourishment, and after six table-spoonfuls we cried, Hold ! enough ! But there came a day when we sat hungry and lean, longing for this coarse mess, and eating a pound of it with avidity, and declaring it to be de- licious ! Frozen pork, which had been boiled on board the ship, was quite a treat, and decidedly better than cold thawed pork could have been. This, with plenty of biscuit and a " jolly hot " basin of tea, and, as one of the seamen observed, " an invitation to Windsor would 1 ■! \ I i i I ! 118 ARCTIC JOURNAL. have been declined." The meal done, the tent was carefully swept out, the last sedulous arrangement of the pebbles, termed " picking the featheirs," was made, and then a waterproof sheet spread to prevent our warm bodies, during the night, melting the frozen ground and wetting us through. Then every man seized his blanket bag, and popped thereinto his legs and body, in order that the operation of undressing might be decently per- formed, and placed jacket and wet boots carefully for a pillow. Lastly, the wolf-skin robes — Oh, contractor of furs ! may you be haunted by the aroma of the said robes for your lifetime ! — brought along both ove^* and under the party, and all lie down alternately, head and feet in a row, across the tent. Pipes are lighted, the evening's glass of grog served out ; and whilst the cook is wash- ing up, and preparing his things ready for the morning meal, as well as securing the food on the sledge from foxes or a hungry bear, many a tough yarn is told or joke made. The cook reports all right, comes in, hooks up the door, tucks in the end of the fur robe, and seven jolly mortals, with a brown-hoUand tent over their heads and a winter's gale without, try to nestle their sides amongst the softest stones, and soon drop into such a sleep as those only enjoy who drag a sledge all day, with the temperature 30° below freezing-point. In the morning, at seven o'clock, we rolled up our beds, or rather sleeping-bags, stowed the sledge, drank boiling hot chocolate, and gnawed cheerily at frozen pork and biscuit. The weather beautiful, calm, and very cold, below zero, we started, skirting round the bay. By noon a gale sprang up, sending a body of icy spiculsa AUTUMN SLEDGE-TRAVELLING. 119 against our faces, causing both pain and annoyance. Two mock suns for the first time were seen to-day. At noon we sat down under the lee of our sledge, and par- took of a mouthful of grog and biscuit, and again marched rapidly towards Cape No Name. By the evening we had accomplished fourteen miles, the entire circuit of the bay, without observing any trace of Franklin having visited the neighbourhood ; and as frost-bites began to attack our faces, we erected our tent as expeditiously as possible, and in it took shelter from the wind and cold. The pungent smoke of the lignum vitee kept us weeping as long as the cooking went on ; and between the an- noyance of it, the cold, and fatigue, we all dropped off to sleep, indifferent to a falling temperature, prowling bears, or a violent gale, which threatened to blow us from the beach on which we had pitched our fluttering tent. When our work was done we struck homeward for the squadron, and reached it the same evening, the said 12th of October being the last autumnal travelling of our squadron. During the following week the temperature rallied a little, and the weather was generally finer ; our prepara- tions for wintering were nearly completed, and the poor sickly sun barely for two hours a -day rose above the heights of Griffith Island. To our great joy, on the 17th of October, Captain Penny came over from Assistance Harbour. He had happily decided on taking up the route of "Wellington Channel ; and an understanding was come to, that his squadron should carry out the search next spring on I 120 ARCTIC JOURNAL. that direction, vrhilst ours accomplished the farthest possible distance towards Melville Island, and from Cape Walker to the south-west. Captain P. expressed it as his opinion that the Ame- ricans had not escaped out of Barrow Strait, in conse- quence of a sudden gale springing up from the south- ward, shortly after they had passed his winter quarters. This supposition we of course afterwards found to be true, although at the time we all used to speak of the Americans as being safe and snug in New York, instead of drifting about in the ice within a few miles of us, as was really the case. "With Penny's return to his vessels may be said to have closed all the active operations of the year 1850. Our upper decks were now covered in ; stoves and warm- ing apparatus set at work; boats secured on the ice; all the lumber taken off the upper decks, to clear them for exercise in bad weather ; masts and yards made as snug as possible ; rows of posts placed to show the road in the darkness and snow-storms from ship to ship; holes cut through the ice into the sea, to secure a ready supply of water in the event of fire ; arrangements made to insure cleanliness of ships and crews, and a winter routine entered upon, which those curious in such mat- ters may find fully detailed in Parry's * First Voyage,' or Boss's * Four Years in Boothia.' The building of snow-walls, posts, and houses, was at first a source of amusement to the men, and gave them a great field in which to exercise their skill and inge- nuity. People at home would, I think, have been de- lighted to see the pretty and tasteful things cut out of snov state floe, vesse as th were tortai On heigh last g by rei below dergo latituc our rei dreary much ( to the feeling turning and fit on foo: should our nat that A the hoi servatio better n as boys, sailor's right an( THE LAST OF THE SUN. 121 snow ; obelisks, sphinxes, vases, cannon, and, lastly, a stately Britannia, looking to the westward, enlivened the floe, and gave voluntary occupation to the crows of the vessels. These, however, only served for a while ; and as the arctic night of months closed in, every one's wits were exerted to the utmost to invent occupation and en- tertainment for our little community. On November the 8th, two officers ascended the heights of Griffith Island, and at noontide caught the last glimpse of the sun, as it happened to be thrown up by refraction, though in reality it was seventeen minutes below our horizon. We were now fairly about to un- dergo the darkness of an arctic winter, in 74^° of north latitude ; and light-hearted and confident as we felt in our resources, one could not but feel, looking upon the dreary scene which spread around us on every side, how much our lives were in His hands who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb ; and wanting must he have been in feeling who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer that re- turning day and returning summer might find him able and fit to undergo the hardship and fatigue of journeys on foot, to seek for his long-lost fellow-seamen. We should have been wanting in all the better feelings of our nature not at such a season to have drawn nearer to that Almighty Protector who had carried us so far in the hollow of His hand, and upon whose mercy our pre- servation still depended ; and perhaps we were all then better men than we had been since we quitted our homes as boys, and had launched on the troubled tide of a sailor's life. But at any rate such feelings were only right and wholesome to men circumstanced as we were. \H * :>: 122 ARCTIC JOURNAL. There was no maudlin whine about any of us : we looked our trials straight in the face, and merely turned from them now and then to ask God's mercy and assistance in battling with them. Nothing great or good was ever achieved in this world in any other spirit, and surely of all men the arctic navigator surrounded with such won- ders should be the last to forget his Creator. There was, too, another and perhaps equally hallowed feeling which no doubt had its influence with many, and directed our thoughts heavenward — it was the knowledge that others very dear to us, away in Old England, were ottering earnest prayers for our safety and welfare, and that there in that heaven we could meet in spirit and in faith. Nay, it was not alone love for our own kith and kin which reminded us of where our sure and certain hope should rest, but the feeling that we carried with us the sympathies of all the great and good of our countrymen and countrywomen. They had in a thousand ways evinced it whilst we were fittirg out for our voyage, and far and wide came tokens of regard, or such tender little proofs as the following, the writer of which is still a stranger to me, though I observed it bore an Irish post- mark : — RECEIVED IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS BY S. OSBORN, H.M.S. PIONEER. ** Go forth upon your noble work. Ye earnest men and brave ! Oo, seek the friends long lost, long loved, And bring them o'er the wave. "To I endeavo deep, th For as desert si may be economy ohject of so worth! some fee who now long-lost iiii A MEMORIAL. 123 " God shield ye on the icy deep, And be for aye your stay ; God watch above the gallant bark That bears ye on your way. *' And when amidst dark frozen seas. If struggling with despair. Cheer ye with thought of those at home. Who kneel for you in prayer. " Bethink ye of the God of might, And lift your eyes above To Him who sits enthroned in light, A matchless God of Love ! *' But chief upon each Sabbath-day, At holy hour of prayer, Bow ye the head and bend the knee, And join your brethren there, ** Where, far apart o'er land or sea. All may at once draw nigh The great white throne of Him who rules — Our Father — upon high ! K. W. " To all the brave men now periling their lives in the endeavour to rescue their countrymen from the frozen deep, these (unworthy) lines are affectionately addressed. For as the meanest weed that grows in the midst of desert sands, if it but hold one drop of heaven's dew, may be made by the Great Artificer, in the wondrous economy of His love, the means of refreshment to some object of His care, so it may chance that even these lines, so worthless in themselves, yet blest by Hinif may convey some feeling of pleasure — some slight cheer — to those who now so nobly toil and suffer in the cause of their long-lost countrymen, if only by showing how the mighty 124 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Father can fill with sympathy hearts the most distant and unknown; and may prove that the arctic voyagers are remembered in prayer before God by those whose faces they have never seen on earth." Private theatricals, a casino, and a musical society, two arctic newspapers, one of them an illustrated one, evening school upon the voluntary principle, as well as instructive lectures by some of the officers, gave no one an excuse for being idle. The officers and men entered as heartily into these healthy amusements as they had rivalled each other during the past season in energetic labour. Each imposed on himself duties connected with the diflferent departments; one was scene-painter, and under his talented pencil the canvass glowed with pictures one almost grieved to see thus employed. Decorators and statuaries produced effects which, with such limited means, were really astounding ; vocalists and musicians practised and persevered until an instrumental band and glee-club were formed, to our general delight; officers and men sang who never sang before, and maybe, ex- cept under similar circumstances, will never sing again. Maskers had to construct their own masks and sew their own dresses, the naval stores serving in lieu of a supply from the milliners; and, with wonderful ingenuity, a fancy dress ball was got up, which, in variety and taste- fulness of costume, would have borne comparison with any in Europe. Here editors floundered through a leader, exhibiting French ingenuity in saying their say without bringing themselves within the grasp of the censors; there sailor contri tar-br aid of On wc arow( of the old ma very li^ casiona won't T ter!" hand, r approva termed, preserve In an a tier of to some Resolute them of Parry's ^ stern nici prise, the nown ex! and comp root in th sailor aud the "galL row from For SOI heavens, t WINTEE AMUSEMENTS. 125 contributors, whose hands were more accustomed to the tar-brush than the pen, turned flowing sentences by the aid of old miscellanies and well-thumbed dictionaries. On wooden stools, leaning over long tables, might be seen a row of serious and anxious faces, which put one in mind of the days of cane and birch — an arctic school. Tough old marines curving "pothooks and hangers," as if their very lives depended on their performances, with an oc- casional burst of petulance, such as, " D the pen, it won't write ! I beg pardon, sir ; this 'ere pen will splut- ter!" Or some big- whiskered top-man, with slate in hand, reciting his multiplication-table, and grinning at approval; whilst a " scholar," as the cleverest were termed, gave the instructor occasionally a hard task to preserve his learned superiority. In an adjoining place an observer might nightly notice a tier of attentive, upturned faces, listening like children to some nursery tale. It was the first-lieutenant of the Kesolute, my much-loved friend Aldrich. He was telling them of the deeds of their forefathers in these regions. Parry's glorious pages open by his side, he told those stern men with tender hearts, of the sufferings, the enter- prise, the courage, and the reward of imperishable re- nown exhibited and won by others. The glistening eye and compressed lip showed how the good seed was taking root in the listeners around, and every evening saw that sailor audience gather around him whom they knew to bo the " gallant and true," to share in his feelings and bor- row from his enthusiasm. For some time after the sun had ceased to visit our heavens, the southern side of the horizon, for a few hours , 1 "f ■ i . L ■ ^ i ii 126 AKCTIC JOURNAL. u about noon, was strongly illumined, the sky being shaded from deep and rosy red through all the most delicate tints of pink and blue, until, in the north, a bluish-black scowled angrily over the pale mountains, which, in wid- owed loneliness, had drawn their cowls of snow around, and, uncheered by the roseate kiss of the bridegroom sun, seemed to mourn over the silence and darkness at their feet. Such was a fine day in !N'ovember, and through the grey twilight the dark forms of our people, as they tra- versed the floe, or scaled the clifis of Griffith Island, or, maybe, occasionally hunted a bear, completed the scene. Charmed as we were with the evanescent colouring of our noonday sky, it was in loveliness far surpassed by the exceeding beauty of arctic midnight when the moon was visible. Daylight but served to show the bleakness of frozen sea and land ; but a full silvery moon, wheel- ing around the zenith for several days and nights, threw a poetry over everything, which reached and glowed in the heart, in spite of intense frost and biting breeze. At such a time we were wont to pull on our warm jackets and sealskin caps, and, striding out upon the floe, enjoy to the utmost the elasticity of health and spirits with which we were blest under so bracing a climate. There, with one's friend, the mutual recognition of nature's beauties, and congratulations at being there to witness it, richly rewarded us for our isolation from the world of our fellow-men ; and general enthusiasm had its full sway as, from the heights of Griffith Island, we looked down on our squadron, whose masts alone pierced the broad white expanse over Barrow Strait, and threw Jong whic sent our g natel ieelin Im Islan( sudde distan ice an snow ) back t the st] threw \ in the horizon THE AECTIC NIGHT. 127 .ed nta ick rid- nd, )om 3 at the tra- il or, ene. ngof long shadows across the floe. The noble mission for which they had been sent into the north was ever pre- sent to us, and away instinctively flew our thoughts to our gallant friends in the Erebus and Terror. Thus alter- nately elated and saddened, we enjoyed, with earnest feelings, the wondrous scene around us. Imagine yourself, reader, on the heights of Grifiith Island, on the edge of a lofty table-land, which, dipping suddenly at your feet, sloped again to a sea of ice at a distance of some 500 feet below : picture a vast plain of ice and snow, diversified by tiers of broken-up ice and snow wreaths, which, glistening on the one side, reflected back the moonlight with an exceeding brilliancy, whilst the strong shadow on the farther side of the masses threw them out in strong relief : four lone barks, atoms in the extensive landscape, and beyond them, on the horizon, sweeping in many a bay, valley, and headland, the ghostly coast of Cornwallis Island, now bursting upon the eye in startling distinctness, then receding into shadow and gloom, and anon diversified with flickering shades, like an autumnal landscape in our own dear land, as the fleecy clouds sailed slowly across the moon ; that moon, so sharp, so clear, the while riding through a heaven of deepest blue, richly illuminated by the con- stellations of the northern hemisphere. As these wheeled around the polar star like armies in review, say if tho North has not then charms of its own. If you still doubt it, let us descend the adjacent ravine, formed as if some giant hand had rent the firm cliff from crown to basement. Stand we now at its upper entrance : didst ever see a sight more wildly beautiful 1 — the grim 1 1 128 ARCTIC JOURNAL. and frowning buttresses on either hand, too steep for even the snowflake to rest upon. Mark how, over their Lrows, pigmy glaciers topple with graceful curve, or droop in many an icy wreath and spray, threatening us with de- struction as we slide down the sharp declivity. Note how, with many a graceful curve, the gorge winds down to the frozen sea, a glimpse of which spreads in strong moon- light before the lower entrance. Observe how the snow, which by wintry gales has been swept into the ravine, has hardened into masses, resembling nought so much as a fierce rapid suddenly congealed ; and then look over- head to a deep blue sky, spangled with a million spheres. If thou couldst have seen this, and much more than pen or tongue can tell, and not admire it, then, I say, " God help thee ! thou hast reason to be sad." As late as the 18th of November, water, in a broad lane, was seen to the S.E. from the extreme of Grifl&th Island, showing the pack to be in motion in Barrow Strait, a belief we otherwise arrived at from the frequent appearance of a water sky in the same direction, especially after spring- tides or strong N. W. gales. A few bears, per- haps eight in all, visited our ships during the closing period of 1850, proving that they did not hibernate immediately the sun disappeared ; indeed, so long as there was water near us, they would find seal, their usual, perhaps their only food. Apart from the appearance of water in our immediate neighbourhood, we were convinced that Lan- caster Sound was still open, from the sudden rise of the temperature of the air whenever the wind drew to that quarter ; and what was more extraordinary still, when- BEAR-HUNTING. 129 in le- iw, 011- ow, Lne, 1 as ver- jres. pen God ever the wind was from the northward, a black vapour, a certain indication of water, was seen to be rolling past Cape Hotham out of "Wellington Channel. Could that have been open so long after the sea in our neighbour- hood was closed ? we often asked ourselves.* However, to return to the bears ; whenever an unlucky brute was seen, the severe competition as to who should possess his skin, entailed no small risk of life upon the hunters, as well as the proprietor of the coveted prize ; and crossing the line of fire was recklessly performed, in a manner to have shocked an "Excellent" gunner or a Woolwich artilleryman. Discretion was the better part of ursine valour, and one brute was alone bagged, although a good many were very much frightened ; the frequent chases and constant failures giving rise to much quizzing on the part of the sportsmen, and learned dissertations by our Nimrods upon the rules to be observed in bear- shooting. As instances of what risks the community ran whilst the furor for skins was at its height, unconscious mortals who had got on a hummock to see around were mistaken in the twilight for bears, and stood fire from a rifle, which, happily for them, on this occasion missed its mark; and on another day, a respectable individual, trotting among the snow-ridges for his daily exercise, was horrified to see on a piece of canvass, in large letters, " Beware of spring-guns !" Picture to one's self the per- son's feelings. How was he to escape 1 The next tread of his foot, and, maybe, off into his body might be dis- * In after years this mystery was solved. It was simply the strong tides in Wellington Channel which kept holes of water open in the otherwise frozen sea. I ! 'm 130 ARCTIC JOURNAL. charged the murderous barrel secreted for a bear. Fate decreed otherwise ; the alarmed seaman escaped, and the spring-gun was banished to some lonely ravine, from which the proprietor daily anticipated a dead bear, and I, a dead shipmate — some of whom, pining for forlorn damsels at home, were led to sentimentalise in retired places. My captain of the forecastle, whose sporting propensi- ties I have elsewhere noted, nigh cured me of a momen- tary mania for trophies of the chase. A large bear and cub, after coming towards the Pioneer, for some time halted, and were fired at by three ofl&cers with guns. Of the three barrels only one went off, wounding the cub, which, with its mother, made for Griffith Island. I chased, followed by some of the men, the foremost of whom was my ancient mariner, who kept close to my heels, urging me on by declaring we were fast catching the brutes. We decidedly had done so. By the time I reached the island both bears were within shot, climbing up ytriih cat-like agility the steep face of the cliffs : again and again I failed to get my gun off ; and as the she-bear looked at one time inclined to come down and see who the bipeds were that had chased her, I looked round at my supporters, who were vehemently exclaiming that " we should have her in a minute ! " They consisted of old Abbott, armed with a snow-knife, and some men who followed because they saw others doing so. I^ow a snow- knife consists of nothing more than a piece of old iron beaten out on an anvil so as to cut snow, having an edge as to which, when I anxiously asked if it was sharp, I was figuratively told, " The owner, John Abbott, could have ridden to the devil upon it without injury to his person." ha Mi to ( ( besi vess not frier togej they leade At h ings, aside. and a guile t recolle Itn clothin temper Fahr., 1 Flanne 1 Cotton i Waistc with 1 Pairdr 1 Pair t with 1 Pair thi 1 Do. thi 1 Horse-h 1 Pair car CHRISTMAS-DAY. 131 Yet with tliis, I verily believe, the old seaman would have entered the lists against the teeth and talons of Mistress Bruin. I objected, however, and allowed her to escape with becoming thankfulness. Christmas day was of course not forgotten, and our best, though humble fare was displayed in each of the vessels. Hospitality and good-fellowship, however, were not confined to this day alone ; and had not the bond of friendship which knit the officers and men of the squadron together taught them the necessity for sharing the little they had, the open-handed liberality of our hospitable leader. Captain Horatio Austin, would have done so. At his table, petty differences, professional heart-burn- ings, and quarterdeck etiquette were forgotten and laid aside. A liberal and pleasant host made merry guests ; and amongst the many ways in which we strove to be- guile the winters of 1850-51, none have more agreeable recollections than his dinner-parties. It may not here be out of place to describe the ordinary clothing worn at Christmas time by officers and men, the temperature ranging often as low as 35° below zero of Fahr., with strong gales. Clothing wlien indoors. 1 Flannel shirt with sleeves. 1 Cotton ditto. 1 Waistcoat with sleeves, lined with flannel. 1 Pair drawers, flannel. 1 Pair trousers, box-cloth, lined with flannel. 1 Pair thick stockings. 1 Do. thin ditto. I Horse-hair sole. 1 Pair carpet boots. Additional for walking. Box-cloth pea-jacket. Welsh wig. Sealskin cap. Beaver-skin mitts. Shawl or comfortable. Men with tender faces required a cloth face -cover in the wind. |i i' I; I: .III 1 i 132 ARCTIC JOURNAL. t January 1851. — That we were all paler, was percep- tible to every one ; but only a few had lost flesh. A very little exercise was found to tire us very soon, and appetites were generally on the decrease. For four hours a-day men and officers made a point of facing the exter- nal air, let the temperature be what it would, and this rule was carefully adhered to, until the return of the sun naturally induced us to lengthen our excursions. On three occasions only was the weather too severe for com- munication between the vessels; and the first of these occurred in the close of December and commencement of January. To show one's face outboard was then an im- possibility ; the gale swept before it a body of snow higher than our trucks, and hid everything a few yards off from sight. The Resolute, three hundred yards olf, was invisible, and the accumulation of snow upon our housing threatened to burst it in. The floe seemed to tremble as the gale shrieked over its surface, and tore up the old snow-drifts and deposited them afresh. A wilder scene man never saw : it was worthy of the arctic re- gions, and a fit requiem for the departing year. After one of these wintry hurricanes, walking on the floe was a work of much difficulty, in consequence of the irregular surface it presented to the foot. The snow- ridges, called Sastrugi by the Russians, ran (where un- obstructed by obstacles which caused a counter current) in parallel lines, waving and winding together, and so close and hard on the edges, that the foot, huge and clumsy as it was with warm clothing and thick soles, slipped about most helplessly ; and we therefore had to wait until a change of wind had, by a cross drift, filled THE AUROBA. 133 up the ridges thus formed, before we took long walks. On the ice-field between the vessels parties were usually employed throughout the winter mending the roads. With one portion of the phenomena of the Arctic Sea we were particularly disappointed — and this was the aurora. The colours in all cases were vastly inferior to those seen by us in latitudes considerably to the south — in the Orkneys for instance, or the northern parts of Scotland. A pale golden or straw colour was here the prevailing hue, and the most striking part of it was its apparent proximity to the earth. Once or twice the auroral coruscations accompanied a moon in its last quarter, and generally previous to bad weather. On one occasion, in Christmas week, the light played about the edge of a low vapour which hung at a very small altitude ovor us : it never on this occasion lit up the whole under surface of the said clouds, but formed a series of concen- tric circles of light, with dark spaces between, which waved, glistened, and vanished, like moonlight upon a heaving but unbroken sea. At other times a stream of the same coloured vapour would span the heavens through the zenith, and from it would shoot sprays of pale orange colour for many hours, and then the mysterious light would again as suddenly vanish. Clouds may have been said to have absented themselves from our sky for at least two months of the winter ; the heavens, the stars, and moon, were often obscured, but it invariably appeared to be from snow-drift rather than from a cloudy sky. Snow fell incessantly, even on the clearest day, consisting of minute spiculse, hardly per- ■ i 1 i : 134 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ceptible to the eye, but which accumulated rapidly, and soon covered anything left in the open air for a few min- utes. "With returning daylight, and the promise of the sun, clouds again dotted the southern heavens, and mot- tled with beautiful mackerel skies the blue dome above us. The immense quantity of snow which in a gale is kept suspended in the air by the action of the wind, and is termed drift, quite astounded us ; and on two occasions, with north-westerly gales, wo had a good opportunity of noting its accumulation.* The Pioneer and Intrepid lay across thsj wind, and the counter-current caused a larger deposition around us than elsewhere. On the first occasion, after the wind subsided, we found a snow- wreath along the weather side of the vessel for a length of one hundred and eighty feet, about eleven feet deep in the deepest part, and sloping gradually away for one hundred yards. After weighing a cubic foot of the snow, I calculated that, at the lowest computation, the mass thus deposited in twenty-four hours was not less than four hundred tons in weight ! How the floe bore the pressure seemed unaccountable to me ; but it did around the Pioneer, although that near the Intrepid broke down, and the water flowed up above the snow, forming it rapidly into ice. * The quantity of snow which' fell and drifted upon us in the neigh- bourhood of Griffith Island, when the gales blew with severity from the north or north-west, led us all to suspect the existence of water in some more northern latitude— the sanguine talked of open polar seas ; but subsequent explorations by ourselves in that direction proved that strong tides and water-holes in Wellington Channel sufficiently ac- counted for the existence of so much moisture in the air when gales were blowing from that qtiarter towards Barrow Strait. SNOW STORMS AND DRIFTS. 135 Much later in the winter — in the month of March — a succession of furious snow-storms quite smothered us ; the drift piled up as high as the top of the winter hous- ing, which was fifteen feet above the deck, and then blew over to leeward, filling up on that side likewise ; whilst we, unable to face the storm without, could only prevent the housing from being broken in by placing props of planks and spars to support the superincumbent weight. "We had actually to dig our way out of the vessel ; and I know not how we should have freed the poor smothered craft had not nature assisted us by the breaking down of the floe. This at first threatened to injure and strain the Pioneer, for, firmly held as she was all round, the vessel was immersed some two feet deeper than she ought to have been by the subsiding ice. We set to work, however, to try and liberate her, when one night a series of loud reports awakened me, and the quarter- master at the same time ran down to say, in his quaint phraseology, that ** she was a-going off !" a fact of which there was no doubt, as, with sudden surges, the Pioneer overcame the hold the floe had taken of her poor sides, and after some struggles floated again at her true water- line, whilst the mountain of snow around us had sunk to the level of the floe. This first formed enormously thick ice ; but in time, by the action of the under-cur- rents of water, reduced itself to the- ordinary thickness of the adjoining floe. Before we enter upon the subject of returning spring, and the new occupations and excitement which it called forth, let me try to convey an idea of a winter's day spent in total darkness on board a ship in 74^° north latitude. . 1 ,'j 1 'i-ii 136 ARCTIC JOURNAL. The upper deck was covered, from stem to stern-post, with a thick felt awning, fifteen feet high in the centre, and carefully secured down to the gunwale all round the ship. There were two doors with porches, so that the lee one could always be used. The decks were carefully cleared for exercise, and lighted sparsely with common fat-lamps with canvass wicks — pork fat, bear's grease, or whale blubber being indiscriminately used, but with the greatest economy. The lower deck and cabins were of course constantly lighted with candles and oil-lamps ; and the ladder-ways were only left open for ingress or egress, but carefully secured with double doors, well weighted, to close immediately upon persons going up or down. The sides and upper deck of the ship were carefully covered over with snow as a non-conductor, and no aper- tures left open in bull's-eyes or skylights, except such as were thoroughly watched and under control for venti- lating purposes. Let us suppose that the breakfast-time has arrived, about 8 a.m. The hammocks have been carefully stowed away, the necessary ablutions performed, and the savoury incense of her Majesty's allowance of chocolate rises in a vapour, fore and aft, from all the mess-tables. A pint of the invigorating beverage, and a biscuit and a half, constitutes the meal ; and from the jokes and merriment heard on all sides, you can vouch it to have been a satisfactory one. This over, we observe a general puUing-on of warm clothing, and the major portion of the officers and men proceed on deck, the rest clean and clear up between decks, search for and remove lumps of ice formed in cold corners during the night by the condensation of the breath of the sleeping crew, and A WINTER DAY ON BOARD. 137 then they arrange for the next meal of noonday. At a proper time a general muster takes place, called Divi- sions, followed by prayers. Officers carefully inspect the men and every part of the ship, to see that the former were properly clad, and the latter properly clean, and then all hands disperse for a couple of hours of light duty — duties which the wisdom of Captain Austin care- fully confines to taking gentle exercise, supplying our- selves with pure snow to melt into water for drinking purposes, and keeping a hole open through the floe so as to obtain sea-water in case of a fire on board the ships. Exercise at this severe and monotonous season was really a trying operation, but imperatively necessary, as we all learnt by experience. Knots of two or three persons would dash out, with their faces covered, and try a stretch to Griffith Island; but in general a good walk under the shelter of our ships was preferred, the moon and the stars lighting our mid-day exercise. A little before dinner the excursionists proceeded to prepare for that meal, by scraping the ice off their beards, whiskers, and eyebrows, sweeping hoar-frost off their clothing, and taking off outdoor garments. The crew dined at noon : the usual fare of the seaman having been much improved by a liberal supply of preserved meats, soups, and vegetables of excellent quality — these, to- gether with salt pork and beef, enabled Jack, with his usual ingenuity, to ring a series of changes which would have amused a longshore cook. The officers dined about 2 P.M. Their food difi'ered little from that of the crew, for of course live stock could not be kept in such a climate. A little afternoon exercise was then taken, and ) J 138 ARCTIC JOURNAL. the evening meal of tea partaken of. If it was school night, the voluntary pupils went to their tasks, the mas- ters to their posts — ^reading men producing their books, writing men their desks; artists painted by candle-light; and cards, chess, or draughts, combined with conversa- tion, and an evening's glass of grog, and a cigar or pipe, served to bring round bed-time again. Monotony was our enemy, and to kill time our endea- vour. Of hardship we could not, and did not, complain ; for all we underwent in winter quarters in the shape of cold, hunger, or danger, was voluntary. Monotony, as I again repeat, was the only disagreeable part of our wintering at Griffith Island. Some men amongst us seemed in their temperament to be much better able to endure this monotony than others ; and others who had no source of amusement — such as reading, writing, or drawing — were much to be pitied. Nothing struck one more than the strong tendency to talk of home and England; for a while it became quite a disease. We, for the most part, spoke as if all the most affectionate hus- bands, dutiful sons, and attached brothers, had found their way into the arctic expeditions. From these maudlins, to which the most strong-minded occasionally gave way, we gladly sought refuge in amusements — such as theatres and balls. To give an idea of the zest with which all entered into these gaieties, I will recount a list of the characters assumed by the officers at the first fancy dress ball. A FANCY DRESS BALL. 139 Capt. Austin, . . Old Chairs to mend. „ Ommannkt, . . Mayor of Griffith Island Lieut. Aldrich, . Fancy Dress. „ Catob, . . Old English Gentleman. „ M'Clintook, . Blue Demon. „ OSBORN, . Black Domino. „ Browne, , Med Devil. „ Mecham, . Blue and White Domino. Dr DONNET, . . A JLady, then a Friar. „ Bradford, . A Capuchin. Mr King, . Jockey. „ Pearse, . . Smuggler. „ Mat, . . . . . Roman Soldier. „ Hamilton, . A Sjiinster. „ Ede, . . . Spanish Dancing'girl. „ Markham, . As Allegoi-y. „ Oheyne, . . Miss Maria. „ M'DOUOAL, . Vivandiere. „ Lewis, . Farmer Wapstraw. „ Allakd, . Mahomet A li. „ Webb, iedouin Arab. „ Harwood, . . Miss Tabitha Flick. „ Allen, . Greenwich Pensioner. „ Brooman, . . Punch. „ Krabbe, . . Sir Charles Grandison, ,, Richards, . A Scot. Dr Ward, . A Beadle. Whilst pirates, Turks, gypsies, and ghosts, without num- her, checkered the ball-room. These were our amusements ; hut the main object of our coming to the North was kept constantly in view, and nothing that labour or ingenuity could devise towards the successful accomplishment of our mission was wanting. Some turned their attention to obtaining information upon all that related to travelling in frozen regions ; others plodded through many a volume for meteorologi- cal information rpon which to arrange a safe period of I I 140 ARCTIC JOUENAL. VI departure for the travellers in the spring; some tried to found a reasonable theory as to the geography of the unexplored regions around us; whilst a portion more actively employed themselves in bringing into action divers means of communicating with our missing coun- trymen which had been supplied to us in England. Kockets, in the calm evenings of early winter, were fired with good effect; and signals were several times exchanged, both in the autumn and spring, between Assistance Harbour and our squadron by the aid of these useful projectiles, although the distance was twenty miles. The balloons, however, as a more novel attempt for distant signalising, or rather intercommunication, were a subject of deep interest. The plan was simple and ingenious; the merit of the idea, as applicable to the relief of Sir John Franklin, by communicating to him intelligence of the position of the searching parties, being due to Mr Shepperd, C.E. It was as follows : A balloon of oiled silk, capable of raising about a pound weight when inflated, was filled with hydrogen evolved from a strong cask, fitted with a valve, into which. When required for the purpose, a certain quantity of zinc filings and sulphuric acid was introduced. To the base of the balloon, when inflated, a piece of slow match five feet long was attached, its lower end being lighted. Along this match, at certain intervals, pieces of coloured paper and silk were secured with thread, and on them the information as to our position and intended lines of search were printed. The balloon, when liberated, sailed rapidly along, rising withal, and as the match burnt the BALLOON COMMUNICATION. 141 papers were gradually detached, and, falling, spread them- selves on the snow, where their glaring colours would soon attract notice, should they happily fall near the poor fellows in the Erehus and Terror. Every care was taken to despatch these balloons with winds from the southward and south-east, so that the papers might be distributed to the north and north-west, and westward. Fire-balloons, of which there were a few, were likewise despatched ; but the impression in my own mind is, that the majority of the balloons de- spatched by us, after rising to some height, were carried by counter-currents — always the most prevalent ones at the cold season of the year — to the southward and south- west. On two occasions I distinctly saw the balloons, when started with S.E. winds, pass for a while to the N.W., and then, at a great altitude, alter course under the influence of a contrary current, and pass as rapidly to the S.E., in the teeth of the light airs we had on the floe. The farthest distance from the point of departure at which any of these papers were found, as far as T know, appears to have been about fifty miles. The Assistance despatched some from near Barlow Inlet, which were picked up on the opposite side of Wellington Channel, north of Port Innis. Neither this, however, nor our non-discovery of any papers during our travelling in 1851, can be adduced as a proof against their possible utility and success ; and the balloons may still be considered a most useful auxiliary. Next, as a means of communication, came carrier pigeons. When first proposed, in 1850, many laughed at k i I f ] i ■ : w-> 142 ARCTIC JOURNAL. . • y * the idea of a bird doing any service in such a cause ; ad, maybe, might have laughed yet, had not a carrier pigeon, despatched by Captain Sir John Eoss from his winter quarters in 1850, actually reached its home, near Ayr, in Scotland, in five days. In our expedition none of these birds had been taken ; but on board the Felix Sir John Eoss had a couple of brace. I plead guilty myself to having joined in the laugh at the poor creatures, when, with feathers in a half-moulted state, I heard it proposed to despatch them from Beechey Island, in 74° N. and 92° W., to the meridian of Greenwich and 56° N. lati- tude, even though they were slung to a balloon for a part of the journey. At any rate it was done, I think, on the 5th October 1850, from Assistance Harbour. Two birds, duly freighted with intelligence, and notes from the married men, were put in a basket, which was attached to a balloon in such a manner that, after com- bustion of a certain quantity of match, the carrier pigeons would be launched into the air to commence their flight. The idea was that they would fetch some of the whaling vessels about the mouth of Hudson Strait — at least so I heard. The wind was then blowing fresh from the north-west, and the temperature below zero. When we in the squadron off Grifiith Island heard of the departure of the mail, the opinion prevalent was that the birds would bo frozen to death. We were mistaken ; for in about 120 hours one of these birds, as verified by the lady to whom it had originally belonged, reached her house, and flew to the nest in which it had been hatched in the pigeon-house. It had, however, by some means or other shaken itself clear of the packet intrusted to its CARRIER PIGEONS AND KITE-FLYING. 143 charge. This marvellous flight of 3000 miles is the longest on record; but of course we are unable to say for what portion of the distance the bird was carried by the balloon, and when or where liberated — that depend- ing upon the strength and direction of the gale in which the balloon was carried along.* Kites, which a kind friend had supplied mc with as a tractile power to assist us in dragging ' . dge^. -^ well as a means of signalising between parties, afforded much interest; and the success of our experiments in applying them to dragging weights was so great, that all those I was able to supply gladly provided themselves with so useful an auxiliary to foot travellers. Experience, how- ever, taught us how impossible it was to command a fair wind, without which they were useless weight, and in severe weather there was some danger, when handling or coiUng up the lines, of having to expose the hands and being frost-bitten. My attempts failed to despatch the kites with a weight attached sufficient to keep a strain on the string, and so keep the kite aloft, whilst at the same time it was enabled to proceed through the air in any direction I chose; for, as may be conceived, a little too much weight made the kite a fixture, whilst a little too little, or a sudden flaw of wind, would topple the kite over and bring it to the earth. As a means of signalising between ships when stationary, the flying of kites of different colours, sizes, or numbers, attached one to the other, would, I am * I give this anecdote as it occurred at the time. The proof of the bird having arrived rests with a lady, a friend of the late Admiral Sir John Ross. E.-;if ARCTIC JOURNAL. r' i I sure, in a clear atmosphere, be found wonderfully efBca- ciouB. ■ ' ' Lastly, we carried out, more I believe from amusement than from any idea of being useful, a plan which had suggested itself to the people of Sir James Ross's expe- dition when wintering in Leopold Harbour in 1848-49, that of enclosing information in collars secured to tne necks of the arctic foxes caught in traps, which were then liberated. Several animals thus intrusted with despatches or records were liberated by different ships ; but, as the truth must be told, I fear in many cases the next night saw the poor "postman," as Jack facetiously termed him, in another trap, out of which he would be taken, killed, the skin taken off and packed away, to ornament, at some future day, the neck of some fair Dulcinea. As a " sub," I was admitted into this mystery, otherwise I, v/ith my chief, might have accounted for the disappear- ance of the collared foxes by believing them busy on their honourable mission. In order that the 'me of killing " the postman " may be recognised in . s true light, it is but fair that I should say, that the brutes, having once partaken of the good cheer on board or around the ships, seldom seemed satisfied with the mere empty honours of a copper collar, and returned to be caught over and over again. Strict laws were laid down for their safety, such as an edict that no fox taken alive in a trap was to be killed. Of course no fox was after this taken alive ; they were all unaccountably dead, unless it was some fortunate wight whose brush and coat were worthless. In such case he lived to drag about a quantity of information in a copper collar for the rest of his days, "POSTMEN." were out to chase thl t , ^P**'" *« the coot i'»^wi^ seeJer;*';^"^';^ half ^Htened oS frosty air, were heard f,v,m f ' ''"*'""« the cold hunte« swelled in Znl^/^ ^ '^P' «» '^e fox to a^howling tempest and thiollv"^'"^^ '^' »oene tad been caught, death Ztttt^ « ^'^^h. if one great care was therefore Z^Zt'l t'"' '""'"'«'* ^ to prevent being so overtaken™* ^'"^ °" ''^^' o'gtt miles from th , ves^ w ^ ''^''' °^ ^^«a o^ performed, and the sevlr^ Lmn T '''""^ ~«««W'>^ tared with impnnity. I em^mr '.f'''''^ ^""^ '"'«- January, seeing zneLr/ iHToM T"' °" *^« "'^ perature of 40° below ze,^ J. h •"' ^'^ " *«"»- ^J^ho had taten three h^iS^^Xlglotr o^^tiri:i:u^:tditgfrv'»^-'w English heath .- it eeeCd f „ "^'" *° <^«»'h on some 'touM be f^stbitteTS;;-" """■^'"^ '•"'t Peopt P0-. Whilst we ^houidXnirwiStfiri A. 146 ARCTIC JOURNAL. I«i thermometer standing at zero, and, indeed, looked for- ward to such a state of our climate as people in the tem- perate zone would to May sunshine and flowers. With the increasing twilight many an anxious eye was cast from the top of Griffith Island towards the straits, to see the prospect of good foot-travelling offered by the floe. It was not cheering, for broken and hum- mocky ice met the eye whichever way one looked, with here and there a small smooth space ; and if it appeared so to the eye, we knew full well that when actually amongst those hummocks the travelling would be arduous indeed. There was some time, however, to elapse before the tussle commenced, and many a snow- storm had time, meanwhile, to rage. With eeameii's sanguineness we hoped that snow-drifts would fill up the hollows, and help to smooth over the broken pack : any way, we all knew " a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether" would master more difficulties than as yet had shown themselves in the arctic regions. Such were our occupations, such the amusements, such the hopes and fears, of our first winter quarters off Griffith Island; and looking back at that period, we happily forget its dreariness and recollect only its brighter moments — the fast friendship there formed for many, the respect and admiration for all. February 7, 1851. — ^The stentorian lungs of the Ee solute's boatswain hailed to say the sun was in sight from the mast-head ; and in all the vessels the rigging was soon manned to get the first glimpse of the returning god of day. Slowly it rose ; and loud and hearty cheers greeted the return of an orb which those without the THE SUN ONCE MORE. 147 frozen zone do not half appreciate, because he is always with them. For ninety-six days it had not gladdened us, and now its return put fresh life into our night- wearied bodies. For a whole hour we feasted ourselves with admiring the sphere of fire, which illumined with- out warming us ; and, indeed, the cold increased rather than otherwise, and our lowest temperature and severest weather did not occur until March. Preparations for spring travelling were now hastened ; daily committees of oflBcers met to discuss every point, and to receive, approve, or reject proposals and plans. Every soul, high and low, exerted his ingenuity and abilities to invent articles, portable and useful, for sledge travellers ; whilst others sciit in to the leader of the expedition schemes of search, in which distances, direc- tions, weights, and material were duly considered. Hopes rose high, for Captain Austin had wisely appealed to individual ability and skill. Every one naturally (for orders **to put the men in training" did not come out until afterwards) commenced to "harden up" for the labour ahead. Zealous individuals might be daily seen trying all sorts of patents. Out of their hard- earned wages some of the men bought and made sails of peculiar cut for their sledges ; others constructed water- bottles, velocipedes, cooking-tins ; in fact, neither pains nor trouble were spared. Never have I witnessed in the navy such emulation, such enthusiasm. Early in March an interchange of visits between our squadron and that under Captain Penny opened the communication. His crews had got through the winter equally well with ourselves, and he, in like manner, was i I. 148 ARCTIC JOURNAL. h1 i'i- hard at work, preparing for the foot journeys ; but as no sledges or other equipment had been brought by him from England, every nerve had to be strained, and every resource called into existence, to enable him to overcome his difficulties in lack of material. On the 8th of March, at 11 a.m., the temperature in the shade having been a couple of hours previously at 41° below zero, and mercury solid in the open air, we were delighted to see a solitary drop of water trickle down the black paint of the Pioneer's side : at that moment, oddly enough, the temperature in the shade was — 36°, and in the sun the thermometer only rose to 2° below zero ! Water, however, it undoubtedly was, and, as such, we cheerfully hailed it. It was a pledge of returning summer ; and it was a strange, yet natural, sight to see the crowd of eager faces congratulating each other over a single drop of water. All March was a scene of constant business, diversified with sledge- parades, recalling, by contrast, to my mind unpleasant recollections of sweltering field-days and grand parades with ancient admirals on the distant plateaus of South America. " Ay de me ! Valparaiso ! " Having briefly touched upon the leading incidents connected with our winter, and brought events up to the preparations for a search on foot, it may not here be out of place to give a brief sketch of the causes which had brought about the necessity for so many Englishmen to be thus sojourning in these inclement regions, as well as occasioned the voyage of that distinguished navigator whose squadron we hoped to rescue. The seamen of northern Europe, the Norsemen and THE NORSEMEN IN GREENLAND. 149 Scandinavians, from the earliest records extant, sought for the glory attendant upon braving the perils of polar seas. From a.d. 860 to 982, from the sea-rover Nad- dod's discovery of Iceland, to Eirek " of the Red Hand's " landing on Greenland, near Hergolf's Ness, neither wreck nor tempest checked the steady onward march of their explorations ; and they robbed eventually the im- mortal Genoese of one -half his honours, by actually landing, under the pirate Biarni, on the continent of America. In Greenland, a hardy race, the descendants of these northland pirates, appear to have multiplied, for, in a.d. 1400, a flourishing colony stood on the threshold of the New World. Converted to Christianity, the cathedral of Garda was constructed, and the archives of Iceland prove it to have been successively held by no less than seventeen bishops ; the Greenland colonies were known under the general terms of East and West Bygd (Bight), and numbered in all sixteen parishes and two hundred and eighty farms, numerously populated. Strict commercial monopoly, and the naturally se- cluded position of the Scandinavian colony in Greenland, seem to have occasioned its ultimate decadence ; or, as traditions tell us, a sudden hostile inroad of the Esqui- maux swept off the isolated Europeans. From either cause, it is certain that there remained, after the lapse of two centuries, but the moss-covered ruins of a few churches — some Runic inscriptions — and the legends of the Esquimaux, who talk of a tall fair-haired race, their giants of old. The heirloom of the northern pirates, the dominion of i-1 150 ARCTIC JOURNAL. the sea, passed, however, into England's hands, and with it that same daring love of the difficult and un- known which had led the Viking from conquest to con- quest ; and whilst southern Europe sought for the wealth of the Indies in the more genial regions of the south, English seamen pushed their barks to the west, in the boisterous seas of high northern latitudes. Confini^ag myself purely to those who essayed the passage to Cathay, Cipango, and the Indies, by the north-west, first on the glorious scroll stands Frobisher. That sturdy seaman of Elizabeth's gallant navy, on the 11th of July 1576, with three craft, whose united burden only amounted to seventy -five tons, — this "proud ad- miral" — sighted the east coast of Greenland, in 61° north latitude. Unable to approach it for ice, which then, as now, hampers the whole of that coast, he was blown by a gale far to the south-west to the coast of Labrador, but reached eventually to 63° north latitude, and landed in Frobisher Strait. He extricated his ves- sels with difficulty, and returned home, carrying a quan- tity of mica, which was mistaken for gold ; this awakened the cupidity of the court, nobles, and merchants. Three more expeditions sailed, exhibiting laudable courage and skill, but adding little to our geographical knowledge. Such a succession of miscarriages damped for a while the ardour for north-west discovery; until, in 1535, " divers worshipful merchants of London and the west country, moved by the desire of advancing God's glory, and the good of their native land," equipped one John Davis for a voyage of discovery to the unknown regions of the north-west. EARLY ARCTIC NAVIGATORS. 151 Piteou? as were his hardships — doleful as were his tales of the " lothsome view of y® shore, and y® irksome noyse of y® yce ;" **y® stinking fogs and cruelle windes " of Desolation Land — ^the seamen of that day seemed each to have determined to see and judge for himself, and they were ably supported by the open-handed liberality of wealthy private individuals, and the corporation of London merchants, who, if we may judge of them by such men as Sir John Wolstenholme, Dudley, Digges, Jones, and others, soared far above Smithfield nuisances and committees on sewers. After Davis came "Waymouth, and then Hudson, who perished amid the scenes of his hardships and honours. Captains Button and Bylot, followed by the ablest, the prince, of arctic navigators — Baffin — he sweeping, in one short season, round the great bay which records his fame, showed us of the present day the highroad to the west ; and did more, for he saw more of that coast in one season than any modern seaman has yet been able to accomplish. Lastly, in that olden time, we have the sagacious and quaint Nor'-West Fox, carrying our flag to the head of Hudson Bay; whilst James's fearful sufferings in the southern extreme of the same locality, completed, for a while, the labours of British seamen in these regions. A lull then took place, occasioned by the granting of a charter to certain noblemen and merchants in 1668, under the title of " Governor and Company of Adventurers of England" trading into Hudson Bay, with the under- standing that the discovery of a north-west passage was to be persevered in by them. During a century, they only accomplished, by their servants, " Heame and Mac- '1 >,. I i 152 ARCTIC JOURNAL. i ». \ kenzie" — the former in 1771, and the latter in 1789 — the tracing of the Coppermine and the Mackenzie rivers to their embouchures into an arctic sea in the 70th parallel of north latitude. A temporary interest on the part of Great Britain, during the fighting reign of George III., occasioned two names, dear to every seaman's re- collection, to be associated with the accomplishment of geographical discovery in this same direction. !N"elson served with Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, in his attempt to pass over the Pole; and then the greatest of English navigators. Cook, in 1776, failed to round the American continent by coming to the eastward from Behriug Strait. At the commencement of the current century, our knowledge of the northern outline of the American con- tinent amounted to a mere fraction. On the west Cook had hardly penetrated beyond Behring Strait; and on the east, Hudson and Baffin Bays formed the limit of our geographical knowledge, except at two points, where the sea had been seen by Hearne and Mackenzie. Shortly after the peace of 1815, the late Sir John Barrow, whose genius and ability were only to be equalled by his perseverance, turned his attention to arctic dis- covery, and especially the North- West passage. He had himself been to Spitzbergen, and as far north as the 80th parallel of latitude. Combating the prejudiced, convinc- ing the doubtful, and teaching the ignorant, he awak- ened national pride and professional enterprise in a cause in which English seamen had already won high honours, and Great Britain's glory was especially involved. What difficulties he mastered, and how well he was seconded RECENT ARCTIC DISCOVERIES. 153 by others, and none more so than by the enlightened First Lord of the Admiralty, Viscount Melville, Sir John Barrow himself has told, in the able volumes which im- perishably chronicle the deeds of ancient and modern explorers in polar regions. Since 1818 British navi- gators may have been said to have constantly added to our knowledge of the north-west. The first in the field was Captain John Ross in 1818, and in 1819 Parry sailed to commence that magnificent series of discoveries which, followed up by Franklin, Eichardson, Beechey, the Rosses, Back, Simpson, and Rae, have left us, after thirty-five years of well-spent toil and devotion, in perfect possession of the geographical features of arctic America, and added three thousand six hundred and eighty miles of coast-line to our polar charts. Is this nothing ] If the mere quid pro quo is required of public servants, surely the arctic navigator has far better repaid to his country what he has received at her hands .than those who, in a time of universal peace, idle through year after year of foreign service in her men-of-war ; and most assuredly, if we are proud of our seamen's fame and our naval renown, where can we look for nobler instances of it than amongst the records of our arctic voyages? The calm heroic sufferings of Franklin — always success- ful, let the price be what it would ; the iron resolution of Richardson ; Back's fearful winter- march to save his comrades; the devoted Hepburn, who, old though he be, could not see his former leader perish without trying to help him, and, whilst I write these lines, is again braving an arctic winter in the little Prince Albert; Parry, who knew so well to lead and yet be loved; ii IJ ,) ! 154 ARCTIC JOURNAL. : i I ^ James Eoss, of iron frame, establishing, by four conse- cutive years of privation and indomitable energy, that high character which enabled him to carry an English squadron to the unvisited shores of Victoria Land at the southern pole; and, lastly, the chivalrous men who, again under Franklin, have launched, in obedience to their Queen and country, into the unknown regions be- tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to execute their mission or fall in the attempt.* It was to save these last devoted servants that the spring of 1851 saw full 500 British and American sea- men within the frigid zone. That portion of them that had come by Baffin Bay had been so far successful in their mission that they had dispelled all the visions — gratuitous enough — of Franklin having perished by shipwreck or other disaster in his passage across the bay. "We had seen his winter quarters — we had seen his look-out posts and the trail of his explorations. They all said. Onward ! To be sure, we did not at once know by which route he had gone onward. The uncertainty, however, gave a greater spur to those about to be en- gaged in the searching parties, and each man thought there were especial reasons for believing his particular * The subsequent voyage of the Investigator, and the passage of her crew from the Pacific to the Atlantic, under the magnificent guidance of Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, the voyage of the Fox under the untiring energy of Sir Leopold M'Clintock, and tlio discovery of the fate of Franklin's expedition after a search of ten years' duration, fitly close another epoch in arctic exploration. The work will, we doubt not, be perfected by future generations of equally adventurous sailors, aud the poles of our earth be as well known to man as the soixrces of the Nile, or ''the antres vast and deserts idle" of Central Africa. 1 ■ ■ PREPARATIONS FOR SEARCH. 155 route to be the true one. The majority — indeed all those who gave the subject any consideration — believed Franklin to have gone either by Cape "Walker, or to the north-west by Wellington Channel. Hope, thank God, rode high in every breast, d,nd already did the men begin to talk of what they would (To with their new shipmates from the Erebus and Terror A hen they had them on board their respective ships ; and I have no doubt they would have done as one gallant ft low replied, when I asked him if he thought himself equal to dragging 200 lb. " yes, sir, and Sir John Franklin too, when we find him." Increasing light, decreasing cold, plenty to do, and certain anticipations upon each man's part that he would be the fortunate one to find and save Franklin, made the month of April come in on us before we had time to think of it, but not before we were ready. The original intention was for the sledges to have started on the different routes laid down by our Commo- dore on the 8th of April ; but a fall of temperature on the 6th altered this plan, and a delay of one week was decided upon. I therefore availed myself of the occasion to visit Captain Penny's wiater quarters, proceeding there on the dog-sledge of Mr Petersen, who happened to be on board our vessel at the time. ISTothing, I conce^'ve, can be more exhilarating than dog-sledging in the arctic regions on a fine day, especi- ally when, as in my case, the whole affair has the charm of novelty. The rattling pace of the dogs ; their intelli- gence in choosing the road through the broken ice ; the strict obedience paid by the team to one powerful dog , 1 1 5 i 1 ; i : ill ^ * 1^ . , ^^^fl 156 ARCTIC JOUENAL. :i whom they elect as leader; the arbitrary exercise of authority by the master dog; the constant use of the whip, and a sort of running conversation kept up by the driver with the different dogs, who well knew their names — as in turn Sampson ! Caniche ! Foxey ! Terror ! ifec, were duly anathematised — afforded constant amuse- ment. Petersen's conversation was replete with interest, and the information he gave me of the distances accom- plished on the coast of Greenland by the Danes with dog-sledges, made me regret much we had not provided ourselves with a team or two for accomplishing any necessarily rapid journey. "When Mr Petersen at TJppernavik so nobly threw up an appointment under the Danish crown to serve as interpreter with Penny in the search for Franklin, he brought with him a sledge and a few dogs : these had twice littered, and the numerous puppies were already grown into serviceable dogs, forming two efficient teams. During the major part of the winter, scarcity of food, such as seal and bear, had told severely upon the poor creatures; but an Esquimaux dog lives on little when not worked; and, with a little oatmeal and grease, they had all outlived the severe season ; and some bear's flesh having been now procured, there was every probability of good service being rendered by them. Our rate of travelling was more than five miles per hour ; and though making a considerable detour to avoid broken ice, I was shaking Penny by the hand four hours after leaving the Pioneer, the distance between the squadrons being about twenty miles in a straight line. I was much struck with the great advantage of ships VISIT TO PENNY. 167 wintering in harbour, and near the shore, over a position such as our squadron's in the midst of the floe. There was a cheerfulness in the vicinity of the land, barren though it was, quite refreshing to those who had always a mile to walk during the winter to reach GriflSth Island, or remain satisfied with the monotony of an ice- field. Besides being snug in harbour, Captain Penny, satisfied of the security of his vessels, intended to leave only one man in each of them, every other soul being told off for sledge-parties; whereas our squadron required sixty men and officers to take care of them, exposed as they were to be swept into Barrow Strait by any sud- den disruption of the ice. I therefore gave my adhe- sion to the opinion expressed by authorities at home, to secure winter quarters in some bay or harbour, and never to winter in the pack, unless it is unavoidable. The oldest English officer who had ever wintered within the arctic circle on a voyage of discovery. Sir John Eoss, was not likely to be forgotten by me ; and I sincerely congratulated the veteran on his escape from sickness during the past winter ; and though a wonder- ful instance of physical endurance, I, with others, could not but feel regret that a naval officer so advanced in years, and who had served so long, should be compelled to undergo privations of which those who did not wit- ness them can form no conception. Time enabled me to do little more than admire the perseverance displayed by Captain Penny, his officers and men, in their preparations for travelling. Sledges, cook- ing apparatuses, tents, in short everything was ready, having been made by themselves in the course of the 168 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ! i^i winter; and, on the ISth April, six sledges, drawn by seamen, with an officer to each, and provisioned for forty days, would start for Wellington Channel, there to part into two divisions— Captain Stewart of the Sophia taking the one side of the Channel, whilst Captain Penny, with two extra dog-sledges, would direct the search in general. Delighted with all the arrangements, and equally so with the high spirit of chivalrous devotion apparent in our gallant coadjutors, my heart was full as I said " Good- bye" to my hospitable Scotch friends on the 11th of April ; and a rapid drive by Mr Petersen carried me to the Pioneer in less than three hours. After a short halt he returned to Assistance Harbour, doing full forty miles within twelve hours on his dog-sledge. I was astonished to find, on my return, that as yet the temperature at our winter quarters had not been registered as being above zero ; whereas, in Assistance Harbour, Captain Penny's quarters, the thermometer had occasionally for the past week ranged above it, and on the day before I left showed 11° in the shade. This diflference of temperature was doubtless occasioned by the radiation of heat from the land, by which they were, unlike ourselves, surrounded. During my absence I was told that Mr M'Dougal, of the Eesolute, who had been despatched as early as the 4th April to inspect the depots formed in the autumn, had returned to the ships, and brought accounts of a wholesale destruction of the one on Somerville Island by bears. Hunger and mischievousness seemed alike to have induced the brutes to break and tear to pieces what they could not possibly eat — such as tins of patent cho- THE SLEDGES AND THEIR EQUIPMENTS. 159 colate, some of which were fairly bitten through. This information induced us all to take extra precautions in securing the provisions, of which depots during the march were to be formed. It is now time to describe the sledges and their equip- ment, upon the completeness of which the lives of our travellers were soon so entirely to depend. The sledges, constructed of tough and well-seasoned wood, had been carefully constructed in Woolwich dock- yard. They were shod with iron, and the cross-bars or battens which connected the two runners, and formed the floor upon which the load was placed, were lashed in their places by us when required for use. At the four corners of the sledges light iron stanchions dropped into sockets, and formed the support for the sides of a species of tray or boat, capable of serving to ferry the sledge- crew across water in an emergency, as well as to keep the provisions and clothing in it dry. This boat was made in some cases of gutta percha, in others of oiled canvass — the latter was preferred ; lb. And, together with the sledge and drag-ropes, which were made of horsehair, to prevent their becoming hard and brittle from frost, weighed . . . . . .120 Two fur blankets and spare felt-blanket, weighed . . 40 Nine blanket-bags for sleeping in, . . . .42 A tent, of oblong form, made of fine brown hoUand, supported by four boarding-pikes, and a line which served as a ridge- rope, and was set up to any heavy thing that came to hand, 55 Mackintosh fioor-cloth to spread over the snow or gravel, . 12 A shovel to dig out snow for banking-up with, . . .5^ A cooking apparatus, invented by Lieut. M'Clintock, capable of cooking a pint apiece of tea, cocoa, or pemmican, with a spirit-lamp, tallow-lamp, and spare kettle, . . 17 IGO ARCTIC JOURNAL. ^^:f Sextant, 1 gun, and gear, ...... A bag containing 5 tin pannikins and 5 spoons, . . A knapsack for each man, containing 1 flannel shirt, 1 Guernsey frock, 1 serge frock, 1 pair of flannel drawers, 1 pair of boot-hose, 1 pair of stockings, 2 pairs of blanket-socks, 1 towel, 1 comb, 1 lb. soap, . . . . Spare boots, and thick Guernsey frocks for sleeping in, A tin case, containing pepper, salt, herbs dried, lucifer matches, grog-measure, calico and flannel bandages, adhesive plaster, lint, liniment, eye-wash, pills, simple ointment, glycerine, lancet, tincture of opium, pins, needles, and thread. Store-bag, containing broom or brush for sweeping the tent down with, spare boot-soles, wax, bristles, twine, shoe- tacks, crape, awls, slow-match, nettle stufl; and strips of hide, cylinders for documents, printed records, . . Spare ammunition, cleaning-rods, and wrench, . . . Kites and string, ....... lb. 10 5 48 36 16 11 14 Dead weight, 440 Such were the weights of the sledge equipment in the case of one of those intended for a long journey. No- thing, it will be seen, was forgotten, and there was nothing superfluous ; yet, as the 440 lb. had to be dragged by six men, there was already 73 lb. per man, which would, from its nature, be hardly any lighter at the end of the journey; and as about 200 lb. was judged to be as much as a man could drag, there only remained 127 lb. per man available for provision and package. The daily scale of provision, as ordered by Captain Austin, during the journeys, was to be as follows : — Pemmican, lib. Boiled pork. 6 oz. Biscuit, . 12 oz Bum, concentrated. • igill. Tobacco, • 1 ^oz. LOAD OF SLEDGE. 361 11 14 m BiscuiL dust, . . . . Tea and sugar, . . . . Chocolate and sugar (alternate days), Lime-juice (for 10 days), 1 oz. 'i oz. Ijoz. ^oz. The fuel allowed to cook this, for a party of seven men, amounted to one pint and one gill of spirits of wine, or 1 lb. 8 oz. of tallow. A little calculation soon showed that about forty days' provision was as much as any one sledge could take with it, or for an outward journey of about twenty days; which, at an average distance of ten miles per diem, would only give an extent of coast-line examined by any one sledge of 200 miles. Before I endeavour to show how, by a system of de- pots and relays, greater distances were achieved, the complete load of a long-party sledge may as well be shown. Total dead weight, i'emmican and cases, Biscuit and dust, &c., . Pork and packages, Tea, sugar, chocolate, tobacco, &c., in a case. Lime-juice and rum, Spirits of wine and tallow, Sundries, tins, &c., Number of men to drag, 7« lb. 440 330 278 123 47 67 78 45 1408 201 per man. The officer's load consisted of a gun, powder and ball, telescope, compass, and note- book ; and as all the party, in anticipation of cold weather, had to be heavily clad, it may be supposed that the total weight to be dragged through snow and over rough ice was quite as much as L 162 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ', I the stoutest physical powers were capable of. Several days previous to departure we had travelled short jour- neys, in perfect marching order, and sledges laden, — an arrangement which was highly beneficial ; and from the way the sledges went over the floe, they gave us high hopes of answering our expectations in the forth- coming march. From headquarters the following arrangement of sledges was made public : — Captain Erasmus Ommanney was to cross Barrow Strait to Cape "Walker, with the following sledges and officers under his orders : he was there to use his own judgment as to the disposal of the force, it being re- quired, in the event of two routes showing themselves — viz., one to the S. W., and the other W. — that I was to be ordered to take up the latter. Our entire division con- sisted of — THE SLEDGE-PARTIES. 163 ral ar- om us :th- , of TOW and own y re- res — to be I con- tM O c g E E O 11 I I •s i I 3 V I .2 PQ d .a CO n S bO § I bO ^ Ml hi . O H 8 I i GO OQ I 4> 1 BQ t bO § I 9 I I O I o •43 o s ^ s 164 ARCTIC JOURNAL. I i To the higUy important direction northward up the unknown channel of Byam Martin Island, and which, as Lieutenant Aldrich very properly thought, would inter- cept the course of Franklin, should he, from Wellington Channel, have sailed north ahout for Behring Strait, iiwo sledges were told off under that officer : — Long-party sledge, -'.}^^^y^^^^^^^°'{ firm, . ^ 7 men. Faithful and ) Lieut. R, D. Aldrich, 'XS°'. }h°*^'^ )ur. In Deo con- ) Mr R. R. Pearse fide, . ) (mate), 7 men. Lastly, to Melville Island, on which route a depot, forty miles in advance, had already been placed in the autumn, and renewed in the spring, the following party was appointed : Lieutenant M'Clintock, on his reaching the said island, acting as he should judge fit as to de- spatching Mr Bradford along the northern shores, whilst he prosecuted the search to and beyond Winter Har- bour : — Long-party )p (Persevere to ) Lieut. M'Clintock. sledge, , j-^"'"" ^^^ ^^> -^ the end, . .) 6 men. Do. Resolute, 'St George and." merry Eng- land, . . Onward to the rescue. Dr Bradford, 6 men. '"E^:M^-''=™*' ( Respiee, pros- ) Mr W. May (mate) ( pice, . . . I a men. Bo. Do. Dasher, Parry, ( Faithful and ) Mr Shellabear (2d \ intrepid, . . j master), 6 men. f Endeavour to > Mr Choyne (mate), ( deserve, . . J 7 men. Mr M'Dougal, I have before said, started during the first week of April with his sledge, the Beaufort. He had to replenish the depot formed for Lieutenant THE SUPPORTING SLEDGES. 165 Tueu. nate), M'Clintock, and then to connect the search round a deep bay, which was supposed to connect Bathurst and Corn- wallis Lands. Thus fifteen sledges, manned by 105 men and officers, were equipped for the search, leaving on board the four vessels of the squadron seventy-five souls, which num- ber was afterwards further reduced by Mr E. C. Allen being sent to search the islands to the westward with the sledge Grinnell and seven men. It now only remains for me to show in what manner it was proposed to enable the supporting sledges to apply their resources, so that the long parties should reach far beyond the 200 miles, or twenty days' journey, of which they were alone capable when dependent on their own provision. The plan pursued in the southern division will illus- trate the mode of proceeding. The junior supporting sledge. Success, was capable of feeding all the division for five days (by which time we hoped to be at Cape Walker), and then have sufficient food to return back to the squadron, where it could again replenish, and, re- turning to the sane point at which we had separated from it, form such a depot that each of the sledges in return would find five days' provisions to carry them home. By this means six out of the seven sledges in the southern search will be seen to reach a point fifty miles from their original starting point in perfect condi- tion, so far as their provisions are concerned. We will, for the sake of clearness, cause these six sledges to form into three divisions, of two each — viz., a long-party sledge and a support. In each case the sup- 166 ARCTIC JOURNAL. i ; s ' ■ i 1 1 * i 1 ' i[ i port can feed the long-party for another ten days, and then form a depot of provision equal to ten days more, yet have sufficient left itself to reach back to "Walker, and thence home. The long-party would thus be still complete, after receiving two supports, equal to fifteen days, or 150 miles ; and two depots stand in their rear, the one for ten days, the other for five days. The long- party now starts, consuming its own provision (forming its own depots for the returning march), advances for twenty days, and accomplishes 200 miles ; which, with that done whilst supported, makes in all a journey out- ward of thirty-five days, or 350 miles from the ships. Of course, with an increased number of supports, this distance and time may be carried on as long as the strength of the men will endure, or the travelling season admit of On the 12th of April, Vhe day calm and cold, some 50° below freezing-point of water, a scene of bustle and merriment showed that the sledges were mustering pre- vious to being taken to the starting point, under the north-west bluff of Griffith Island, to which they march- ed with due military pomp in two columns, directed by our chiefs. Our sense of decorum was constantly over- thrown by the gambols of divers puppies given to us by Captain Penny, with small sledges attached to them, their food duly marked and weighed, with flGga and mottoes, perfect facsimiles of our own, which were racing about, entangling themselves, howling for assistance, or else running between the men's legs and capsizing them on the snow, amidst shouts of laughter, and sly witti- cisms at the tenderSf as they were termed. Beaching 'i 1 THE SLEDGES START. d by over- is "by lem, and acing ce, or tbem witti- cliing the halting place, tents were pitched, luncheon served out, and all of us were then inspected, and a speech made, which, as was afterwards remarked, buttered us all up admirably ; and the thanks of our leader given to Mr M'Clintock, to whose foresight, whilst in England, and to whose valuable information collated during his sledging experiences under Sir James Eoss in 1849, we were now indebted for the perfect equipment we now had with us. The inspection over, we trudged back to our ships. Next day, Sunday, was spent mainly by the men in cooking and eating — knowin^f, as they did, that there were a good many banian days ahead — packing up and putting away their kits, asad making little arrangements in the event of accidents \^ themselves. Monday was no day for a start ; but on the evening of Tuesday the 15th April the breeze slackened^ and, the temperature only some 14° below freezing-poiiit, we donned our marching attire, girded up our loins, *r*d all hands pro- ceeded to the sledges. As we shut in our wooden homes behind a projecting point of Griffith Island, the weather suddenly changed, and a fast-increasing breeze enveloped us in jonow-drift. Eeaching the sledges, and shaking them clear from the snow of the last two days, a hasty cup of tea and a mouthful of biscuit were partaken of All hands then assembled, and our warm-hearted leader read a short prayer, beseeching His mercy and guidance whose kind providence we all knew could alone support us in the hazardous journey we were about to undertake. Hearty farewells, in which rough jokes covered many a kiiidly 168 ARCTIC JOURNAL. r^ I I i i '\ I wish towards one another, passed from sledge to sledge; and then, grasping their tracking-lines, a hundred hoarse voices joined in load cheers, and the divisions of sledges, diverging on their different routes, were soon lost to one another in snow and mist. An April night, with its grey twilight, was no match for the darkness of a snow-storm from the S."W., and we had abnost to feel our road through the broken ice off the bluffs of Grifl&th Island. At two o'clock in the morning we reached much piled- up ice ; and in the hope of clearer weather in the even- ing, the word to halt and pitch the tents was given. The seven sledges of the division, picking out the smooth- est spots, were soon secured. The tents fluttering in the breeze, a cup of tea was cooked, short orders given, and then each man got into his blanket-bag, and dreamt of a fine day and finding Sir John Franklin. !N"ext day the weather was still as thick as pea-soup, with a double-reef-topsail breeze blowing in our teeth ; but detention was impossible, so we again packed up, after a meal of chocolate and biscuit, and facing towards Cape "Walker, we carried the hummocks by storm. Ig- norance was bliss. Straight ahead, over and through everything, was the only way; and, fresh, hearty, and strong, we surmounted tier after tier, which more light and a clearer view might only have frightened us from attempting. Here a loud cheer told where a sledge had scaled the pile in its path, or shot in safety down the slope of some huge hummock. There the cry, One! two! three! haul! of a jammed sledge, and quizzical jokes upon name, flag, or motto, betokened that Success FIRST DIFFICULTIES. 169 iccess or True Blue had floundered into a snow-wreath, above which the top of the sledge-load was o be seen, whilst seven red-faced mortals, grinnin, i up to their waists in snow, were perseveringly enc avouring to ex- tricate it; officers encouraging and showing the way; the men labouring and laughing. A wilder or more spirit-stirring scene cannot be imagined. A hard night's toil cleared all obstacles. An average fair floe was before us, sweeping with a curve to the base of Cape Walker; but a fresh difficulty was then met with, in the total absence of hummock or berg-piece, by which to preserve a course in the thick foggy weather, that lasted whilst the warm south wind blew. Imagine, kind reader, a greyish haze, with fast-falling snow, a constant wind in the face, and yourself trying to steer a straight course where floe and sky were of one uniform colour. A hand dog- vane was found the best guide, for, of course, it was impossible to keep a compass constantly in hand ; and the officers forming in a line ahead, so as just to keep a good sight of one another, were followed by the sledges, the crews of which soon learnt that the easiest mode of travelling, and most equal division of labour, consisted in marching directly after one another ; but, as tt e leading sledge had the extra work of break- ing the road through the sno^r and straining the men's eyes in keeping sight of the officers, the sledges were changed every half-hour or hour, according to circum- stances. It will be observed that we travelled by night, and hoped by such means to avoid the glare of the sun, and consequent snow- blindness. It entailed, however, at 170 ARCTIC JOURNAL. this early season of the year, great suffering in the shape of cold, the people heing exposed to the weather during the severest part of the twenty -four hours. From the 15th to the 19th the weather was of the same nature, — constant gales of wind in our faces, snow-storms, and heavy drift, against which we struggled, cheered by a rising temperature that we flattered ©urselves would end in summer, — a mistake for which we afterwards suffered bitterly, the men having, from the ease with which they at first kept themselves warm, become care- less of their clothing, and heedless of those precautions against fvost-bite which a winter's experience ought to have taught the^ii. Easter Snnda}'' came in gloomily, with the wind in- clined to veoT .0 tie northward, and with every appear- ance of bad wefiti" er. Setting our sails and kites on the sledges, when tiie wind served, the division huri:ed on for Cape Walker, which loomed now and then through the snow-drift ahead of us. The rapidity of the pace at which we then advanced — thanks to the help aflbrded by the sails — threw all into a profuse perspiration, espe- cially the seamen, who really looked as if toiling under a tropical sun rather than in an arctic night, with the temperature below freezing-point. Fatigue obliged us to halt short of the land, and postpone for another day's march the landing on the unvisited shores of Cape Walker. During the sleeping hours, the increased attention to the fur covering, and oar own sensatiors. toL] us that tlie temperature was falling ; and the poor cook, with a rue- ful countenance, announced that it was below zero as he SUFFERINGS FROM COLD. 171 day's Cape [on to lat tlie la rue- as he prepared the morning meal. More than usual difficulty- was found in pulling on our stiffly-frozen boots, stockings, and outer garments ; and when the men went out of the tent they soon found their clothing freeze perfectly hard from the action of the intense cold on what had been for several days saturated with perspiration. To start and march briskly was now the only safety, and in double- quick time tents were down and sledges moving. A nor'-wester was fast breezing up, and as the night of Easter Monday closed around us, the cold increased with alarming rapidity. One of those magnificent conglomera- tions of halos and parhelia common to these regions lit up the northern heavens, and the brilliant warm colour- ing and startling number of false suns seemed as if to be iiio eking the sufferings of our gallant fellows, who, with faces averted and bended bodies, strained every nerve to reach the land, in hopes of obtaining more shelter than the naked floe afforded from the nipping effects of the cutting gale. Every moment some fresh case of frost- bite would occur, which the watchful care of the officers would immediately detect. The man would fall out from his sledge, restore the circulation of the affected part, gene- rally the face, and then hasten back to his post. Con- stant questions of " How are your feet 1 " were heard on all sides, with the general response, " Oh ! I hope they are all right j but I've not felt them since I pulled my boots on." One halt was made to remove and chun^fo nil luatlior boots, which, in consequence of our late wurin w»wit)iiu', had been taken into use, but were now no lotimu' m\\\\ and then, with a rally, the piled-up floo around the cliffs m ml 172 ARCTIC JOURNAL. of Cape IWalker was reached. Cold and hungry as we were, it must have been a heavy barrier indeed tr. have stopped our men from taking their sledges to the land ; and although the floe was piled against the Cape full fifty feet high, we carried our craft over it in safety, and just -in time too, for the north-west wind rushed down upon us, as if to dispute our right to intrude on its dominion. Hastily securing the tents, we hurried in to change our boots, and to see whether our feet were frost- bitten or not ; for it was only by ocular proof that one could be satisfied of their safety, sensation having long ceased. I shall not easily forget my painful feelings when one gallant fellow of my party, the captain of the sledge, exclaimed, " Both feet gone, sir ! " and sure enough they were, — white as two lumps of ice, and equally cold ; for as we of the tent party anxiously in turn placed our warm hands on the frost-bitten feet, the heat was extracted in a marvellously short time, and our half- frozen hands had to be succeeded by fresh ones as quickly as possible. "With returning circulation the poor fellow's agonies must have been intense ; and some time after- wards large blisters formed over the frost-bitten parts, as if his feet had been severely scalded. Sadly cramped as we were for room, it was much worse when a sick man was amongst our number. Sleep was out of the ques- tion; and to roll up in the smallest possible compass, and try to think of something else than the cold, which pierced to the very marrow in one's bones, was our only resource. ^exi day, Tuesday, 22d April, wind K.W., blowing hard, and temperature at 44° below freezing-point, parties FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. 173 left the encampment under Lieutenants T>rowne and Mecham to look around for cairns, and report upon the trend of the land, whilst the rest of us secured a depot of Halkett's boats, and built a cairn as a record of our visit. As it is not my intention to give a detailed account of the operations of the southern division, but merely to tell of those events which will convey to the reader a general idea of the incidents connected with arctic travel- ling, I shall without further comment give them, leaving to the curious in the minutiae of the journeys the amuse- ment of reading in the Admiralty blue-books the details of when we ate, drank, slept, or marched. Cape Walker was found to form the eastern and most lofty extreme of a land trending to the south-west on its northern coast, and to the south on its eastern shore. The cape itself, full 1000 feet in altitude, was formed of red sandstone and conglomerate, very abrupt to the east- ward, but dipping with an undulating outline to the west. In its immediate neighbourhood no traces of Franklin having visited it were to be seen, and as a broad channel ran to the southward (there was every reason to believe down to the American continent, and thence to Behring Strait), by which Franklin might have attempted to pass. Captain Ommanney very properly despatched Lieutenant Browne to examine the coast of Cape Walker Land, down the channel to the southward.* The Success sledge was then started for the ship with the invalids, lowing harties * This paragraph is left untouched from the first edition. Frank- lin's remains were found in after years just 200 miles down this very channel. 174 ARCTIC JOURNAL. and the five remaining sledges, on the evening of the 24th of April, marched to the westward. Previous to that date it had been impossible to move, on account of a strong gale in our faces, together with a severe temperature. Every mile that we advanced showed us that the coast was one which could only be approachable by ships at extraordinary seasons. The ice appeared the accumu- lation of many years, and bore, for some forty miles, a quite undisturbed look. Then we passed into a region with still more aged features. There the inequalities on the surface, occasioned by the repeated snows of winters and thaws of summer, gave it the appearance of a con- stant succession of hill and dale. Entangled amongst it, our men laboured with untiring energy, up steep acclivi- ties and through pigmy ravines, in which the loose snow caused them to sink deeply, and sadly increased their toil. To avoid this description of ice, amongst which a lengthened journey became perfectly hopeless, we struck in for the land, preferring the heavy snow that encum- bered the beach to such a heartbreaking struggle as that on the floe. Irreparable injury had, however, been done to our crews during our last day's labour amongst the hum- mocks. A fine clear evening had given us the full effects i- powerful sunlight upon the pure virgin-snow : the 1 '.liiif ' effect those alone can conceive who have witnessed if ^1 was white, brilliant and dazzling; the eye in vain turned from earth to heaven for rest or shade — thero was none. An unclouded sunlight poured through the calm and frosty air with merciless power, and the sun being exactly in our faces increased the intensity of its effects. SNOW-BLINDNESS. 175 That day several c^iii plained of a dull aching sensation in the eyeball, as if it had been overstrained, and on the morrow blindness was rapidly coming on. From experi- ence, I can speak of the mental anxiety which must have .^ripervened at the thought of one's entire helplessness, and the encumbrance one had become to others, who, God knows, had troubles and labour enough of their Gradually the film spread itself, objects became own. dimmer and dimmer, and at last all was darkness, with an intense horror of the slightest ray of sunlight. In this condition, many of the four sledge-parties reached a place called by us all, in commemoration of the event, "Snow-blind Point," at the entrance of a bay in 100° "VV. long. Unable to advance in consequence of a severe gale, which now raged for six-and-thirty hours, we found, on the 1st of May, that sixteen men and one ofl&cer were, more or less, snow-blind and otherwise unwell ; a large proportion out of the entire number of thirty souls. To be ill in any place is trying enough; but such an hospi- tal as a brown-hoUand tent, with the thermometer in it at 18° below zero, the snow for a bed, your breath form- ing into small ice-crystals called " barber," which pene- trated into our very innermost garments, and no water to be procured to assuage the thirst of fever until snow had been melted for the purpose, called for much patience on the part of the patients, and true Samaritan feelings on the part of the " doctors," — a duty which had now de- volved on each officer of a sledge-party, or, in default of him, upon some kind volunteer amongst the men. Hap- pily, the eflfects of snow-blindness are not lasting, for we IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) .- ^Z^ '^^-^^^4' ^ ^ 1.0 ^UA m 2.0 u m I.I 140 IL25 KI.4 I iinis 1.6 Fhotograiiiic Sdmces GorporatiQn 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WiMTn,N.V. USM ( 71* ) 173-4503 4^ ■ ^^ammtmmmmm 176 ARCTIC JOURNAL. i : , : ■ 'WM. recovered as suddenly as we had been struck down. The gale blew itself out, leaving all calm and still, as if the death-like scenery was incapable of such wild revelry as it had been enjoying; and again we plodded onwards, parting from the last supporting sledge on the 6th of May. Since leaving Cape Walker on the 24th of April, we had gradually passed from a red sandstone to a hmestone region; the scenery at every mile becoming more and more monotonous, and less marked by bold outline, cliff or mountain. As far as the bay, of which Snow-blind Point formed one extreme, a long range of hills, soft and rounded in contour, faced the sea, and sloped to it with a gradual inclination, some three miles in length ; ravines became more and more scarce ; and after passing the bay, none of any size were to be seen. Drearily monotonous as all arctic scenery must naturally be, when one universal mantle of snow makes earth and water alike, such a tame region as this was, if possible, more so ; and walking along the weary terraces, which in end- less succession swept far into the interior, and then only rose in diminutive heights of, maybe, 500 feet, I recalled to memory the like melancholy aspect of the arctic shores of Asia as described by Baron Wrangell. The broken and rugged nature of the floes obliged us to keep creeping along the coast-line, whilst our ignor- ance of the land ahead, its trend or direction, occasioned, together with the endless thick weather that we had un- til the 14th May, many a weary mile to be trodden over, which a knowledge of the bays or indentations would have saved us. It was under such unprofitable labour HEROISM OF THE CREWS. 177 rhe the yas irds, h of 1, we stone ) and ,, cliff Uind i, soft to it mgtli ; )a8sing reaiily ^, when water more that the sterling value of our men the more conspicuously showed itself. Captain Ommanney, myself and Mr "Wehh, of the Pioneer (who sooner than be left behind had voluntarily taken his place as one of the sledge- crew), were the only three officers ; we were consequently thrown much into the society of the men, and I feel assured I am not singular in saying that that intercourse served much to raise our opinion of the character and indomitable spirit of our seamen and marines. On them fell the hard labour, to us fell the honours of the enter- prise, and to our chief the reward ; yet none excelled the men in cheerfulness and sanguine hopefulness of a suc- cessful issue to our enterprise, without which, of course, energy would soon have flagged. Gallant fellows ! they met our commiseration with a smile, and a vow that they could do far more. They spoke of cold as " Jack Frost," a real tangible foe, with whom they could combat and whom they would master. Hunger was met with a laugh and a chuckle at some future feast, or jolly recol- lections, told in rough terms, of bygone good cheer ; and often, standing on some neighbouring pile of ice, and scanning the horizon for those we sought, have I heard a rough voice encouraging the sledge-crew by saying, " Keep step, boys ! keep step ! she (the sledge) is coming along almost by herself: there's the Erebus's masts showing over the point ahead ! Keep step, boys ! keep step ! " We had our moments of pleasure too, — plenty of them, in spite of the cold, in spite of fatigue. There were honest congratulations after a good day's work ; there was the time after the pemmican had been oaten, \i L^ u 178 ARCTIC JOURNAL. and eacli one, drawing up his blanket-bag around his chin, sat, pannikin in hand, and received from the cook the half-gill of grog ; and, after drinking it, there was sometimes an hour's conversation, in which there was more hearty merriment, I trow, than in many a palace, — dry witticisms, or caustic remarks, which made one's sides ache with laughter. An old marine, mayhap, telling a giddy lamby of a seaman to take his advice, and never to be more than a simple sailor ; for, as he philosophically argued, "Whilst you're that, do you see, you have to think of nothing : there are petty officers, officers, captains, and admirals paid for looking after you, and taking care of you ! " or perhaps some scamp, with mock solemnity, wondering whether his mother was thinking of him, and whether she would cry if he never returned to England ; on which a six-foot marine remarks, that, " thank God, he has got no friends ; and there would only be two people in England to cry about him, — the captain of his company, who liked him be- cause he was the tallest man in it, and the canteen sergeant, whom he had forgot to pay for some beer." JSTow a joke about our flags and mottoes, which one vowed to be mere jack-acting ; then a learned disquisi- tion on raising the devil, which one of the party de- clared he had seen done, one Sunday afternoon, in Yorkshire, for the purpose of borrowing some cash to play skittles with. In fact, our men contrived even here to throw care to the winds ; and, tired as we were, sleep often overtook us still laughing at Jack's witti- cisms : and then such dreams ! they seemed as if an angel had sent them to reward us for the hard realities OUR PLEASURES. 179 his ook was was ;e,— of the day. We revelled in a sweet elysium ; home was around us — friends, kind, good friends ; plenty smiled on every side ; we ate, drank, and were merry ; we visited old scenes with bygo>& shipmates ; even those who had long gone to that bourne whence traveller returneth not, came back to cheer our sleeping hours; and many a one nigh forgot amongst the uphill struggles of life, returned to gladden us with their smiles : and as we awoke to the morning meal, many a regret would be heard that so pleasant a delusion as the night had been spent in should be dispelled. Each succeeding night, however, brought again "the cherub that watcheth over poor Jack," to throw sunny thoughts around the mind, and thus relieve our wayworn bodies. 0-i the 14th of May the Reliance and True Blue sledges reached a wide break in the continuation of the land, looking like a channel, and some heights to the S.W. appeared to mark the opposite shore of a channel full twenty-five miles wide. Captain Ommanney and myself ascended an elevated mass of table-land, and looked upon the widespread wintry scene. Landward, to the south, and far over the rugged and frozen sea, all was deathlike and silent as the grave : we felt we might have been the first since "creation's mom" to have looked upon it ; the very hills were still clothed in their winter's livery, and the eye could not detect the line of demarcation between land and sea. The frozen foot- prints of a musk-ox excited our curiosity, as being the first and only ones we had seen, and, together with like traces of reindeer a short distance from Cape Walker, was the sum total of the realisation of all our once rosy ii ill i r4 , \ : 1 ! ; 1 } . s M 180 ARCTIC JOURNAL. anticipations of beef and venison to be found during the sledgo journe)^. Ptarmigan, in small numbers, were occasionally seen, and about four brace shot ; and now and then a stray fox was espied, watching us j their tracks, however, showed them to be pretty plentiful. Traces of hares were very numerous, but none were fallen in with by our sportsmen, except at Cape Walker, where many were seen by later visitors, and several shot. Indeed it ap- peared as if we had reached the limit, in this direction, of animal life ; the polar bears, and, ergo, the seals, not showing themselves west of the same headland in our route. On the 17th May the Eeliance and True Blue parted company, each having provisions left to enable them to advance for a farther period of five days, Captain Om- manney allowing me to take the search up in a westerly direction, whilst he went down the channel to the southward, which, after all, ended in a blind bay. I went some distance farther, and, finding the coast trend to the south, endeavoured to march in a westerly direc- tion across the frozen pack. The sledge was light, with only ten days' provision, and the men were well inured to their work ; but I soon saw, from the severe strains which were brought on the fastenings of the sledge, that wood, iron, and lashings would not long stand it ; and at last, as at every foot we advanced progress became more laborious and risk greater, I desisted in the attempt; for, situated as we were, nigh three hundred miles from our ship, the breaking-down of the sledge would have entailed fearful misery, if not destruction, to my party. liiil THE HOMEWARD JOURNEY. 181 he BH, ray rcT, ires iby vere ap- tion, , not L our arted jm to lOm- jsterly o the trend direc- "witli nured trains e, that and at n'.ore tempt ; ks from have party. Turning southward, we again closed the land, when another severe storm, on the 21st of May, obliged us to take shelter in our tent, and remain there until it was time to return. The journey homeward was light work : the sledges were now half emptied ; the weather had become mild, being only a little below freezing-point : we knew the ground, and could make short cuts, and by forced marches we succeeded in making two days' journey in one, thereby giving ourselves a double quantity of food to consume. Lost flesh was quickly recovered ; and the two sledges, again rejoining, reached by the night of the 4th of June a depot formed at Snow-blind Bay. Here we met Lieutenant Mecham from the ships. He informed us that neither by our parties nor those of Penny's had intelligence of Franklin as yet been brought back by the supporting sledges. There was, however, hope yet : the long parties had not yet come in j and Captain Penny had been stopped by water — open water — early in May. He had again gone out -with a boat; and all attention was directed to Wellington Channel, for every one now fancied that on no other route was there a chance of Franklin being heard of. "Whilst Captain Ommanney went to Cape Walker for some magnetic observations, we pulled foot straight across the floe for Griffith Island. Every hour wasted in the return journey was a crime, we felt, towards those whom we had come here to save. The fast-in- creasing heat told that the open season was at hand : and even if we could not get our ship to the water, we had brought out a number of beautiful boats, built ex- u \s 182 ARCTIC JOURNAL. J ill pressly at a great expense. Our foot journeys in the spring had been new and successful ; what might we not yet expect from boat expeditions when the floes were in motion ? On reaching that part of Bairow Strait which was evidently covered with only one season's ice, of about three feet in thickness, symptoms of a speedy disruption were very apparent. Long narrow cracks extended con- tinuously for miles ; the snow from the surface had all melted, and, running through, served to render the ice- fields porous and spongy. The joyful signs hurried us on, though not without suffering from the lack of pure snow with which to procure water for drinking. At last Griffith Island rose above the horizon. A five-and- twenty-mile march brought ns to it, and another heavy drag through the melting snow carried us to our ships, on the 12th June, after an absence of fifty-eight days. "VVe were punished for our last forced march by having five out of the sledge-crew laid up with another severe attack of snow-blindness. Eight-and-forty hours afterwards Captain Ommanney arrived. He had crossed some of the cracks I observed in the floe with difficulty, aided by a bridge of boarding- pikes ; and Lieutenant Mecham, with the sledge Eussell, coming from Cape Walker on the 17th of June, was ob- liged to desert his sledge, and wade through water and sludge to Griffith Island, and thence to the ships; showing how remarkably the breaking-up of the ice in Barrow Strait promised to coincide in date with the time it was first seen to be in motion by Sir E. Parry's squadron in 1820. ii FBosT-BiTEs AND mjvnm. — 183 in that «lirecti„n'haIZ,SSb't^.'- '"''^ '"PP"''' onraelves to the sonthw^ ?hf ""* "'•' «"»« ""io as anight be expected, w Wh; !^ .''r"^"''' ^"^'^o^ «» ";ore «pid. The olj n^iTf^^^ ^'^ ^'^o^. was bites amounted to e.^ Ld "''"''"'' ^"^ ^'"^t" sevendcasesinwhichSsof • -""T' *''•'•» ''^^ "nputated. Only „„« aln L H^i"™/ '^''* ^ *° ^e -aman of the EesolutrHe p " 'nf " '''^'='""' " have been delicate from the olfHf °'^' "PP«"« to ^ to the place otlZ^i^"*'^T^^'^^ ''"^"•» 1851. *^ inspection and departure in April After an absence of m-rt^ *_ j drich, with the ijy SlS.° s,T '''^"*»^»' ^I- Byam Martin Channel uT^ f'^^"' "^^^-l f«>m coast ofBathurst Island which t/T'"^ *« ''^^t of north. nntUinlatitudeTSs*;'''!? !"'« ^^''^^'^ channel was still full *„„„* ., "** ™t point the BathuKt and Melville rsC^^"" "^^^ ^*^^n •^ far as could be seen 1^ , '^^""^ ""^hward ^md by him wer^ Seer L T"" ^T °^ "<"« <"'- Bathurst Island; and ^tht^ * °'°"*'* "^ ^J»"'?. on freezing-point, h^™ tdf ""^"""^ ''* ««° ^-^'ow This point pkced {ZZi donu!."". '""^ °' 1^<=''<»^ incontesteble, that thfStf.t P "'' "'"'* '^ '"- f!'^-'« to the American ett^en^if. 7 ^? ''" ""' his way back, Aldrich feU in wrth, . """'"'• On fowl wu.ging their way "Xri; '''^' '"''' °^ -'<^- with';f::trft::i^r r -^-'^-ered me melted snow. In some places it was 184 ARCTIC JOURNAL. I : i ,\ \.a- 1 fully four feet in depth, and eating its way rapidly through in all directions. Lieutenant M'Clintock's sledge, the Perseverance, and the Eesolute sledge, Dr Bradford's, at last hove in sight, having been out exactly eighty days. Lieutenant M'Clintock had been to Winter Harbour, and visited all the points known to Parry's squadron, such as Bushman Cove and Cape Dundas, but without any traces of Franklin. He had, however, brought a portion of Parry's last wheel used in his journey, and substantial proofs of the extraordinary abundance of animal life in that remote region, in the hides and heads of musk-oxen, the meat of which had helped to bring back his crew in wonderful condition. Eighty head of oxen and reindeer had been counted by Mr M'Clintock, and he could have shot as many as he pleased. Dr Bradford's journey was not so cheering a one. He had been early knocked up from a fall ; serious symptoms threatened, and for nearly a month the gallant officer was dragged upon his sledge, carrying out, thanks to his own pluck and the zeal of his men, the object of his journey — the search of the western side of Byam Martin Channel. We were now all in : Lieutenant M'Clintock had fairly won the palm, — " palmam qui meruit ferat ;" in eighty days he had travelled eight hundred miles, and heartily did all congratulate him on his success. The day following, July 7, I and one of the officers of the Pioneer started to visit Penny's expedition. He was expected back, and we were anxious to hear his news, Captain Penny having last been reported to have reached water with a sour.d boat, a good crew, and a month's provisions. Landing at Cape Martyr, wet up to our OPEN SEA AGAIN. 185 mgh the ^B, at days. bouT, idron, .thout ight a icers of He was lis news, I reached (month's to our necks with splashing through the pools of water, no- where less than knee deep, and often a mile in extent, we did not willingly leave the dry land again. On ascending a slope which gave us a view of the south shore of Cornwallis Island as far as Cape Hotham, and near a point known as that whence the dog-sledges in the winter used to strike off when communicating with the ships, our astonishment was great at finding the ice of Barrow Strait to have broken up. The grey light of the morning, and the perfect calm, prevented us seeing the extent of open water ; but there was plenty of it, and a sea again gladdened our eyesight. Oh ! it was a joyous exhilarating sight after nine months of eternal ice and snow. The ground flew under our feet as with buoyant spirits we walked rapidly into Assistance Bay, and grasped by the hand our old friends of the Lady Frank- lin. We had each our tale to recount, our news to ex- change, our hopes and disappointments to prose over. One thing was undoubtedly certain, that, on May 16, Captain Penny had discovered a great extent of water northward of Cornwallis Island ; that this same water prevented Captain Stewart of the Sophia from passing some precipitous cliffs against which a heavy sea was beating; that this same sea was clear of all but sea- wasJied ice : and no floes were to be seen. Moreover, owing to a southerly breeze, which blew away to seaward the ice over which Dr Goodsir had advanced to the westward, his retreat was nearly endangered by the water obliging him with his sledge to take to the neighbour- ing heights ; and all this a month before anything like a 186 ARCTIC JOURNAL. m ■i ' S ■ disruption had taken place in Barroio Strait* This latter event, it seems, took place about the 25th of June 1851, and on the 28th June the commander of the Sophia had gone in a whale-boat from the entrance of the harbour to Wellington Channel. Three days after our arrival at Assistance Harbour, not a particle of ice was to be seen, east or west, in Bar- row Strait, except between Griffith Island and Cape Martyr, where, some ten miles from the water, and in the centre of a fixed floe, our squadron was jammed. Every- where else a clear sea spread itself, sparkling and break- ing under a fresh southerly breeze. Some individuals who. had visited Cape Hotham reported the water in Wellington Channel to have made up as high as Barlow Inlet, beyond which, up to "the north water," a floe still intervened. I was much interested in a journey upon which Mr John Stuart, surgeon of the Lady Franklin, had been despatched to follow the traces of some of Franklin's sledges towards Caswell's Tower, and to re-examine the traces found in 1850. The sledge- tracks which I have elsewhere alluded to as existing on the east side of Ere- bus and Terror Bay, Mr Stuart found, as we conjectured, to have been those of some exploring party sent from Beechey Island to Caswell's Tower, in Eadstock Bay ; for at the base of the said tower — a remarkable detached mass of limestone — two carefully-constructed cairns were * We solved this mystery in the years 1862, '63, and '54, by winter- ing in Wellington Channel, and there ascertaining that the area of this open sea was after all limited to the narrows and strong tide cf the channel ; beyond it there existed another ice-choked sea. BREAKING-UP OF THE RAVINES. 187 This June P the ce of •hour, I Bar- Cape in the 2very- break- iduals iter in Barlow a floe ch Mr heen nklin's ne the have >f Ere- tured, t from Bay; tached IS were found, hut no record in them. Beyond this no further signs of the missing navigators were found — nothing what- ever that could indicate a retreating party. That these cairns were placed to attract attention appears certain : the most conspicuous points have heen chosen for them ; they are well and carefully huilt, evidently not the mere work of an idle hour. Failing Penny and his intelligence, I contented myself with visiting the neighbourhood of Assistance Harbour, and with observing the varipus phenomena connected with the dissolution of the winter ice and snow upon the land ; and of these none was more interesting than the breaking-out of the ravines. These having filled with snow during the winter, had formed, during the previous fortnight, into large lakes of water, sometimes of acres in extent; and then, in one moment, the barriers which had pent up the ravines gave way, and, with irresistible force, the waters rushed over every obstacle to the sea. Three large ones broke open whilst I was in Assistance Harbour, and the thundering sound of the ice, water, and shingle which swept down, and soon cut a broad channel for many yards through the floe in the bay, was a cheering tune to the gallant fellows who were looking forward to being released from their winter imprison- ment. Within twenty-four hours the body of water in these ravines would release itself, and an almost dry watercourse be left. But there could be no doubt that the action of these discharges of water from the ravines seemed to cut up into fragments the ice enclosed in the various bays and inlets of the arctic sea, and detached it from the shore, so that the final work of disruption by a i mm ," li i iiii I ' [-•;! : f ! '■''■ '^' • '^ ! t i ■ \ V, i 188 \i AKCTIC JOURNAL. heavy swell setting in with autumnal gales might com- plete the annual clearance of these places. Nothing in the shape of a river seemed to exist in this island; rather a remarkable fact, considering its size, and the immense quantity of snow annually thawed in its interior valleys and plains. A beautiful lake existed about two miles inland ; and, having been discovered by one of Captain Penny's people on the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, was very appropriately called Trafalgar Lake. In it a small spe- cies of trout had been caught occasionally throughout the winter ; and if the ice broke up early a good haul of ush was anticipated from the nets. On elevated land around the lake sorrel and scurvy-grass grew in abundance. I need hardly say we ate of it voraciously, for the appetite delighted in anything like vegetable food. Occasionally eider and pin-tailed duck were shot, as well as a few brent-geese, but these birds appeared re- markably shy and war^, although evidently here to b: eed. During the first week of my stay in Assistance Har- bour, immense flights of wild -fowl were to be seen amongst the loose ice in Barrow Strait ; but when the pack had dispersed, and left nothing but an open sea, the birds appeared to have gone elsewhere for food. Indeed I always observed that, at the edge of ice, more birds were invariably to be found in the arctic regions than in large or open water — a rule equally applicable to the whale, seal, and bear, all of which are to be found at the floe-edge, or in loosely packed ice. A gale of wind from the southward occurred, and I was extremely anxious to see whether it would bring OUR SQUADRON STILL IMPRISONED. 189 com- ing in rather mense ralleys ; and, people ,s very- ill spe- out the ofilsh around nee. I ippetite and I bring over the ice from the opposite shore ; for the croakers in Assistance Harbour, unable to deny the existence of water along the north shore of Barrow Strait, consoled themselves by declaring that the floe had merely formed itself into pack, and was lying along the coast of North Somerset, ready at an hour's warning to spread itself over the waters. The southerly gale, however, piped cheerily. A heavy swell and surf — oh, most pleasant sound ! — ^beat upon the fixed ice of Assistance Harbour; yet no pack came or floe-pieces either, and thus was placed beyond all doubt the fact that, at any rate as far west as Griffith Island, Barrow Strait was clear of ice. In an angle formed between Leopold Island and INorth Somerset there was evidently a pack ; for an ice-blink, which moved daily about in that direction, showed that the mass was acted upon by the winds, and at last the southerly wind drove it up into "Wellington Channel. To be condemned to inactivity with such a body of water close at hand was painful ; and trying as had been many disappointments we experienced in the arctic regions, there was none that pained us more than the ill-luck which had consigned our squadron and its 180 men to inactivity in an icy prison under Griffith Island. It was now we felt the full evil result of our winter quarters. Boats could not be despatched, because the ships might at any time in July have been swept by the ice whither it pleased, and the junction of boats and ships rendered uncertain. Future expeditions will, how- ever, hit this nail on the head, and three distinct periods for arctic exploration will be found to exist — viz.. The spring, from April to June 25, for foot journeys ; from i^i ..1^: v 190 As ARCTIC JOURNAL. June 25 to the first week in August, for boat expeditions ; and then six weeks (for steam vessels) of navigable season. Unable to remain with satisfaction away from our squadron, to be daily tantalised with looking at a sea which might as well not have existed for us, we returned to the Pioneer, calling the attention of the officers of Penny's squadron to the possibility of a vessel from England, sent to communicate with the squadrons, actu- ally running past us all, mayhap, without detecting our winter quarters. A large cairn was therefore afterwards erected upon the low land, in such a position as to attract the attention of a craft bound westward. On our return to the naval squadron, we found them still seven miles from the water. Towards the west- ward, looking from the top of the island, on the 25th of July, all was water and water sky. About Somerville Island and Brown Island, a patch of fixed ice, similar to that we were in, connected itself with the Cornwallis Island shore ; but between that and us the water was fast making — ^indeed, it every day became apparent that we should be released from the northward^ and not from the southward. One officer saw Lowther Island in a sea of water; and thus early, if not earlier, I had the firmest conviction on my mind that a ship might have been car- ried in a lead of water, very similar to that Parry found in 1829, into Winter Harbour, Melville Island; or what, in view of my object, would have been more desirable, up to the north-west by Byam Martin Channel. Griffith Island had, by 25th July, put on its gayest summer aspect — the ravines had emptied themselves — the snow had disappeared from the slopes — a russet lill RESULT OF penny's EXPEDITION. 191 itions J season, jm our t a sea etumed icers of el from Qs, actu- ting our terwards io attract md them ihe west- e 25tli of Jomerville 3e, similar lornwallis ^vater was irent that not from [d in a sea |he firmest heen car- irry found or what, desirable, |its gayest iselves — -a russet broAvn spread from one end of the island to the other — on its sheltered terraces, poppies, saxifrage, and sorrel in full flower intermingled with lichens and mosses of every hue and description ; and we, poor mortals, con- gratulated ourselves upon verdure, which was only charming by comparison. The great body of melted snow that had been on top of the floe had now nearly all escaped through it in numerous fissures and holes, and they were rapidly connecting themselves one with the other. Canals, which had been formed in the floe for the purpose of enabling the squadron to get out should the water make exactly in the same way it did last year, now spread snake-like over the floe ; and the water of Barrow Strait had approached to within a dis- tance of four mUes. Thus closed the month of July, with the additional disappointing intelligence that Penny, who returned to Assistance Harbour on the 25th, had not been able, owing to the constant prevalence of con- trary winds setting in from the N.W., and his want of provisions, to make much progress in Wellington Channel. Indeed, he had, from all accounts, found his boat but ill adapted to contend with the strong breezes, heavy sea, and rapid tides into which he had launched between the islands north of Cornwallis Island, and never suc- ceeded in obtaining a desirable ofiing. The islands, how- ever, were thoroughly searched for traces : a small piece of fresh English elm was found on one of them, which Penny believed to have been thrown overboard from the Erebus and Terror; also a bit of charred pine, which S' John Richardson believes to have been burnt by a pai ly belonging to the same ships. But the most im- i i 11 192 ARCTIC JOURNAL. 'iii'i portant result of Penny's efforts was the verification of the existence of a great body of open water north-west and beyond the barrier of ice which still existed in Wellington Channel.* I will not describe days of hard labour, in which we cut to the southward into the ice, whilst the water was trying hard to get to us from the north. It eventually caught us, and (Saturday, August 8) we were all afloat in open water, with a barrier of ice still southward to- wards Barrow Strait. The Intrepid had been sent early in the week to look round the north end of Griffith Island, and reported a narrow neck of ice from the N.W. blufiTs towards Somerville Island. Eastward and not westward was, however, to be our course, and we therefore remained where we were. On the 9th and 10th a general disruption of the little remaining ice took place; and at last, on August 11, the ice, as if heartily tired of us, shot us out into Barrow Strait, by turning itself fairly round on a pivot. "We were at sea again, and the navigable season was proclaimed to have commenced. Taking, like another Siubad, our old Eesolute burden behind us, the Pioneer steamed away for Assistance Har- bour, from whence, as we had been given to understand some days previously, Jones Sound was to be our des- tination ; a plan to which I the more gladly submitted, as I felt confident, from all I had heard and seen of its geography or of that of the neighbouring land, that it ♦ We now know, by the discovery of Franklin's record on King William's Land, that he did sail up Wellington Channel in '45-46 as far as lat. 78" N., and then returned into Barrow Strait by a new channel between Cornwallis and Bathurst Islands. !ffir>:i ASSISTANCE HABBOUE BEACHED. Would be fnn»,J X ^"*-^. 193 possible; ^e had t7u thlf.. °" ""'J*"* »» ^ i» fw yea«' of «a„y thi ^^^^ P^""™"'. and nearly half-a-dozen „,„4 J^rinvaK. "? ^'^ ^''^' P'raps ''roig and hearty -^T °'^"^'^' *"" the rest were "".taanguinene^- J^^I'^J^'V." '""'^^ """* "^ Kot-ir^wSre:- -« found jnst clear Tu^-^'^T?"''""^' ^^'"^ Sophia, and Felix, with ancLr^ ^' ^^ ^"""Wi", f» 8ea. As we to;ed th« P f . "' "*"S all ready Captain Penny puUed It . ■"" "P '^ ^'^ "oo W P-oneer was secured I went n„ ^ .^'^^^^fter the hear the news, her fil W ^T^ *'"' ^»lnte to stance Harbo'ur (cfpTaiS^^- '""7 ^^ »^- moment of our arrival T .^ ^ ^""'^-^ "P to the goi^g to volunteerTproceeS wT *"'" ^^""^ -- 't deared out, in one of o„, 7 ^^"■"8'»» Channel, if frieH the first lie^e^f stl?" / "f '"' ^'^' necessity of still trying to mchth AT ?^'^ upon the ««d route, whilst I main^ed that ?,^ ^"'^^ ""^ "■« Jones Sound, it was impSe t ' " "/' *""* ^'"''^ "ot be found an easier Cd tto t^ '"^'"^'' '' ^""W Captain Penny than wX2t P>? "'''" ^^ «««" >>? ^afSS^"-^^^--- ---""^ "-^the.idy^r.-crh^' well of \i ^mU 194 ARCTIC JOUKNAL. his proposal, and that it had been declined. Failing in his offer, which was for one reason not to be wondered at — Insomuch that our large and efficient sqtiadron needed no assistance either in men or material to do the work alone — Captain Penny had decided on return- ing home, believing that Franklin was so far to the N.W. as to be beyond his reach; and also looking to the tenor of his instructions, which strictly enjoined him to return to England in 1852. "Next morning, by four o'clock, we were all bound to the eastward. A few amongst us still hoped, by Jones Sound, to reach that water of whose existence, at any rate, we had no longer any doubt, whatever might be its difficulty of access. Off Cape Hotham we found a loose pack ; it extended about half-way across "Welling- ton Channel, and then a clear sea spread itself eastward and northward along the shores of North Devon to Cape Bowden. From a strong ice-blink up Wellington Channel there was reason to think the barrier* still athwart it; we did not, however, go to ascertain whether it was so, but, favoured by a fail wind, steamed, sailed, and towed the Resolute as fast as possible past Beechey Island. The form of sending letters to England had been duly enacted, but I was in no humour to write ; * Had we but happily known at that time of the perfect disrup- tion of the Wellington Channel ice subsequent to our passage across in 1850, as shown by the track of the American Expedition and Lieu- tenant de Haven's admirable report, we should not have fallen into the error of believing barriers of ice to be permanent in deep-water channels — a fallacy which it is to bo hoped has exploded with many other misconceptions as to the fixed nature of ice, and the constant accumulation of it in polar regions. JONES SOUND. 196 g in Leied idron no do jtum- the ing to id him and to r Jones at any ight he found a ATelling- jastward evon to 'Uington " still [■whethe-: L sailed, Beechey land had -write; Let disrup- Lage across L and Lieu- [f alien into Ideep-wat®' Vith maiay Le constant the news would he unsatisfactory; and, unless Jones Sound was open, there was a moral certainty of all heing in England within a short time of one another. And so it proved. Leaving the Assistance and Ee- solute to join us off Cape Dudley Digges, the steamers proceeded, under Captain Austin, with three months' provisions, on the night of the 14th of August for Jones Sound. Next morning brought the steamers close in with the shore between Capes Horsburgh and Osborn, along which we steered towards Jones Sound. Glacier and iceberg again abounded, and the comparatively tame scenery of Barrow Strait was again changed for the bold and pictur- esque mountains and headlands of Baffin Bay. As the evening of the 15th drew in, Jones Sound gradually opened itself in the head of Coburg Bay, and, in spite of a strong head- wind, we commenced working up into it under sail and steam. During the night. Cape Leopold proved to be an island, dividing the sound into two entrances; and the exhilarating effect of a fine broad expanse of water leading to the westward, up which we were thrashing under a press of canvass, was only marred by the unpleasant fact that we had parted from the ships containing our main stock of provisions, and we were thus without the means of following up any traces, should we be happy enough to discover them, of the poor missing expedition. " Saturday y August 16, 1851. — The sound is evidently narrowest about the entrance ; from a point to the N.W. of us it evidently increases in width. Loose patches of ice are occasionally met with, and the tides seem some- 196 ARCTIC JOURNAL. I ill I I l! } : r I what strong, judging by the set of the vessel. The scenery is magnificent, especially on the south shore, where, some ten miles in the interior, a huge dome of pure white snow envelops land some 3000 or 4000 feet high, which Captain Austin has named the Trenter Mountains, in compliment to the family of Sir John Barrow (that being the maiden name of the Dowager Lady Barrow). From this dome long winding glaciers pour down the valleys, and project, through the ravines, into the deep blue waters of this magnificent strait. Northward of us the land is peculiarly lofty table-land, having here and there a sudden dip, or thrown up in a semi-peak. The draught of the wind has blown con- stantly down the strait." Such are my rough notes made during the day, as the Pioneer and Intrepid worked to the westward ; but as evening drew on, the increasing smoothness of the water, and a hard icy blink to the west, prepared us for a report which came from the mast-head about midnight, that there was very much ice to windward of us. Next day, 17th, after a fog which caused some delay had cleared off, the disagreeable truth revealed itself. From a little beyond a conical-shaped island on the north shore, the sound was still barred with floes, al- though at this point it increased at least twelve miles more in breadth. Going up to the floe-edge, the steamers crossed to the S.W., following the ice carefully along until it impinged upon the southern shore. The night was beautifully serene and clear; and, as if to add to our regretj four points and a half of the compass, or 54** of bearing, to the westward, showed no symptom of land. raV! OET ON JONES SOUND. 197 The jbore, oae of feet renter John jvrager rlacieTS ■avines, strait, le-land, npina jyn con- ;es made Diked to icreasing ^ to the Prom the luch ice The northern side of the sound trended away to the west, preserving its lofty and marked character ; whilst on the south the land ended abruptly some fifteen miles farther on, and then, beyond a small break, one of those wedge-shaped hills peculiar to the limestone lands of Barrow Strait showed itself at a great distance ; and the natural suggestion to my own mind was, that the open- ing between the said wedge-shaped hill and the land on our southern hand would have been found to connect itself with the deep fiords running to the northward from Croker Bay, in Lancaster Sound. As to the direc- tion of Jones Sound, whose frozen surface forbade us to advance with our vessels, I was, from what I saw, fully willing to believe in the report of my ice-quartermaster, Robert Moore, a clever, observant seaman, as the an- nexed report will show : — "Sir, — It was in 1848 that I was with Captain Lee in the Prince of "Wales, when we ran up Jones Sound. The wind was from the S.S.E. compass {E.N.E, true)f thick weather, with a strong breeze. We steered up Jones Sound, N.'E. by compass (westwardly true\ for fourteen hours, when, seeing some ice aground, we hauled to. "The next day, being fine weather, we proceeded farther up, and seeing no ice or whales, a boat was sent on shore. She, returning, reported not having seen any- thing but very high land and deep water close to rocks on the south shore. "We tacked ship, and stood to the N.E. compass {N.W. tme); saw some ice aground on a sand-bank, ni 198 ARCTIC JOURNAL. \. 1 i 8 1 li !, i' with only six feet water on it at low water; but stand- ing on to the N.E. compass (N.W. true)^ found deep water from five to eight miles across from the sand to the north shore. When past the sand, open water as far as we could see from the mast-head, and extending from about N.E. to N.N. W. compass (N.W. to W.S. W. true). We then returned, being fine and clear, and could not see what we were in search of (whales). " Leaving the north land (a long low point, running up to a table-top mountain)^ we came across to the south side, which was hold land right out of the sound. " We saw the Pinnacle Bocks at the end of that sound {Princess Charlotte* s Monument) ; and this and the Imo land between that sound and Lancaster Sound, as we were running to the S.E., makes me confident is the same place which we were up in the Pioneer. " The distance we ran up the sound in the Prince of Wales, I think, to the best of my judgment, was about a hundred and fifty or sixty miles, &c. (Signed) " Egbert Moore, ** Ice-quartermaster, H.M.S. Pioneer. " To Lieut. Sherard Osbgrn." The italics in the above letter serve to show how well these observations of my quartermaster agreed with the sound we were up ; and taking this, together with the description of the land seen by Captain Stewart and Dr Sutherland during their late journey up the eastern side of Wellington Channel, I believe that a very narrow in- tervening belt of low land divides Jones Sound from Baring Bay, in Wellington Channel, and that, turning TRACES OF ESQUIMAUX. 199 tand- deep ad to as far rfrom true). Id not anning e south t sound the loio , as we ; is the >riiice of 3 about E, :. Pimeer. ow well vith the nih. the andDr em side rrow in- id from turning to the northward, this sound eventually opens into the same great polar sea which washes the northern shores of the Parry group.* Unable to advance, we returned upon our wake to the conical island on the north side of the sound ; and a boat, with two officers in it, was sent to erect a cairn. They returned next morning, having found, what inter- ested me very much, numerous Esquimaux traces, though of very ancient date, and had shot several birds — a season- able increase to our stock for table consumption. One of the sportsmen assured me that, in spite of the increased number of glaciers around us, and other appearances of as severe climate as that we had endured in Barrow Strait, he was of opinion that there was much more vegetation in our neighbourhood than in the more southern latitude of Cornwallis Island. The specimens of plants brought oflF in the boat, such as poppies, saxifrage, and moss, were all finer than we had seen elsewhere ; and reindeer-horns near the Esquimaux ruins, showed that these animals had at one time abounded. The island was a mass of grey-coloured granite, with some dark masses of ferruginous-coloured rock inter- mixed, the whole much broken and rent by the agency of frost and water. Monday, the 18th of August, we proceeded along the northern shore, towards the other entrance which had shown itself on thie north side of Leopold Island — the Jones Sound of the old charts — which we now proved not to be blocked up by either land or glaciers. * This opinion was afterwards found to be strictly accurate during our explorations of 1852-53 in Wellington Channel. soo AUCTIC JOURNAL. Iil III riJ IfHn ; f . :i i ! ■1 :i' i ■ 1 ■ ji ■ i ■1 ■j The land about Capo Hardwicko was little else, in my opinion, than a group of islands — an impression in which I became the more confirmed when the ice obliged us to strike off directly to the eastward ; and Cape Clarence stood out bold and clear, with a midnight sun behind it ; and the light streamed through the different ice-choked channels between Capes Hardwicke and Clarence, throw- ing up the land, lohere there was land, in strong and dark relief. Beyond Cape Clarence I saw no symptom of land, nor did any one else either. It is said to recede — very pos- sibly it may ; but as neither we nor the Eesolute and Assistance (who all reached a higher latitude than any discovery-ships had done since Baffin's memorable voy- age) ever saw land north of Cape Clarence, I trust, for the sake of geography, that the beautifully indented line which now joins the land about Smith Sound to that of Clarence Head, in our charts, may be altered into a dotted one, as denoting that the said coast exists solely in the imagination of channel*closing voyagers. A multitude of grounded icebergs warned us of a shoal which appears to bar the northern entrance to Jones Sound ; and, during the night, a sudden gale from the north, together with spring-tides, set them all floating and dancing around us in a very exciting style. Edging constantly along large floe-pieces, we were eventually carried next day into the packed ice, through which our way had to be found under double-reefed sails, the two pretty screw-schooners thrashing away in gallant style, until a dead calm again left us to steam our best ; indeed all night of the 19th was a constant heavy tussle with FURTHER MOVEMENTS. 201 nmy vhich us to irence ndit; hoked bhrow- il dark id, nor ry pos- Lte and tan any )le voy- •ust, for ted line to tbat into a s solely packed ice and frost, in which the old iloe-pieces were being glued together by young ice varying from two to five inches in thickness. Patches of wator, perhaps each an acre in extent, were to be seen from the crow's-nest, and from one to the other of these we Imd to work our way. By-and-by the Gary Isles showed themselves to the northward, and then the flat-topped land between Cape York and Dudley Digges. Our last hope of doing any service this season now rested in the expectation that " open water " would be found along the north-east side of Baffin Bay ; but this expectation was damped by the disagreeable knowledge that our provisions on board the steamers were too scanty to allow us to follow up any opening we should have found. On the afternoon of the 28th of August a strong water-sky and heavy bank showed the sea to be close at hand to the south. We rattled on for Wolstenholme Island, reached under its lee by the evening, and edged away to the north, quickly opening out Cape Stair, and finding it to be an island, as the Cape York Esquimaux on board the Assistance had led us to believe. Passing some striking-looking land, which, although like that of the more southern parts of Greenland, was bold and pre- cipitous, intersected with deep valleys, yet comparatively free from glaciers, we saw the Booth Sound of Sir John Ross, and shortly afterwards sighted what proved after- wards to be the southern bluff of "Whale Sound. We could not approach it, however; and choosing an iceberg, we anchored our steamers to it to await an opening. On Thursday, the 21st of August, I started in a boat 202 ARCTIC JOURNAL. i I ■with Mr M'Dougal, to see if we could get as far as Whale Sound. The bay-ice, in which we could neither pull nor sail, whilst it was too thin to stand upon, or track the boat through, materially checked our progress. By the afternoon we reached a close pack-edge which defied farther progress ; but, on landing, we found our- selves to be at the entrance of a magnificent inlet, still filled with ice, which extended to the eastward for some fifteen miles, having in its centre a peculiarly-shaped rock, which the seamen immediately christened " Prince Albert's Hat," from its resemblance to a marine's shako. The numerous traces of Esquimaux were perfectly start- ling; their tent-places, winter abodes, caches, and graves, covered every prominent point about us. Of what date they were, it was impossible, as I have elsewhere said, to form a correct idea. The enamel was still perfect on the bones of the seals which strewed the rocks, the flesh of which had been used for food. On opening one of the graves, I found the skeleton of an old man, with a good deal of the cartilage adhering to the bones, and on the skull there were still symptoms of decaying flesh; nothing else, however, was seen to denote a recent visit of these interesting denizens of the north. Each cacJie, or rather circle of stones, had a flat slab for a cover, with a cairn near it, or else an upright mass of stone, to denote its position ; and some of the graves were constructed with a degree of care and labour worthy of a more civilised people. Several had huge slabs of stone on the top, which it must have required a great many men to lift, and some ingenuity to secure. Scurvy-grass in great abundance, as well as another ARRIVAL OF ESQUIMAUX. 203 far as leitlier (OB, or ogress. wliicli id our- st, still )r some -shaped * Prince 3 shako. ly start- l graves, hat date 3 said, to ct on the flesh of le of the [h. a good on the nothing of these |oT rather a cairn lenote its Ued with civilised [the top, [n to lift, another antiscorbutic plant, hearing a small white flower, was found wherever we landed; and I likewise observed London-pride, poppies, sorrel, dwarf willow, crow-foot grass, saxifrage, and iripe-de-roche, besides plenty of turf, which, with very little trouble, would have served for fuel — and this in latitude 76° 52' K. Large flocks of geese and ducks were flying about; the great northern diver passed overhead, and uttered its shrill warning cry to its mate ; and loons, dovekies, and plalaropes, in small numbers, gave occasional exercise for our guns. The coast was all of granitic formation; and if one might judge from the specimens of iron pyrites and cop- per ore found here and there, the existence of minerals in large quantities, as is the case about TJppernavik, may be taken for granted. The 22d, 23d, 24th, and 25th of August passed with- out a favourable change taking place; indeed, by this time our retreat, as well as advance, had been barred by the packed-ice. Pressed up from Eaflin Bay by the southerly gales of this season of the year, the broken floes seemed to be seeking some outlet by the North- West or North-East. The winter was fast setting in, temperature falling thus early, and the animal life every day more scarce. About one o'clock on the morning of the 26th August, I was aroused and told that Esquimaux were coming off on dog-sledges. All hands turned out to witness the arrival of our visitors. They were five in number, each man having a single sledge. As they approached they uttered an expression very like Tima ! or rather Timouli ! accompanied by a loud, hoarse laugh. Some of our crew mmm 204 ARCTIC JOURNAL. P I i answered them, and then they appeared delighted, laugh- ing most immoderately. The sledges were entirely constructed of bone, and were small, neat-looking vehicles. No sledge had more than five dogs; some had only three. The dogs were fine-looking, wolfish animals, and either white or tan- colour. The well-fed appearance of the natives aston- ished us all. Without being tall, averaging about 5 ft. 5 in., they were brawny-looking fellows, deep-chested, and large -limbed, with Tartar beards and mustaches, and a breadth of shoulder which denoted more than ordinary strength. Their clothing consisted of a dressed seal-skin frock, with a hood which served for a cap when it was too cold to trust to a thick head of jet-black hair for warmth. A pair of bear-skin trousers reached to the knee, and, with walrus-hide boots, completed their attire. Knowing how perfectly isolated these people were from the rest of the world — indeed, they are said with some degree of probability to have believed themselves to be the only people in the world — I was not a little delighted to see how well necessity had taught them to clothe themselves ; and the skill of their women was apparent in the sewing, and in one case tasteful ornamental work, of their habiliments. I need hardly say we loaded them with presents. Their ecstasy exceeded all bounds when each was presented with a boathook-stafi", a piece of wood some twelve feet long. They danced, shouted, and laughed again with astonish- ment at possessing such a prize. Wood was evidently with them a scarce article; they had it not even to construct sledges with. York, the interpreter, had before told us AGAIN BESET. 205 le, and i Bioro Ts were or tan- i aston- )ut 5 ft. chested, istaches, )re than I dressed lap when Lack hair ed to the eir attire, ere from ith some ^ves to he dehghted jto clothe apparent ital work, they had no canoes for want of it; and they seemed perfectly incapahle of understanding that our ships and masts were altogether made of wood. The intelligence shown hy these people was very gratifying; and from having evidently been kindly treated on hoard the North Star, during her sojourn in this neighbourhood, they were confident of good treatment, and went about fear- lessly. On seeing a gun they laughed, and said " Pooh ! pooh ! " to imitate its sound. It was a far from compli- mentary term to apply to the man-of-war's-man's great arm of offence and defence. One man danced, and was evidently anxious to repeat some nautical shuffling of the feet to the time of a fiddle, of which he had agree- able recollections, whilst another described how we slept in hammocks. After some time a document was given them, to show to any ship they might visit hereafter; and they were sent away in high spirits. The course they had taken, both coming and going, proved them to be from Wolstenholme Sound ; and, as well as we could understand, they had lately been to the northward, look- ing for pousseys — seals ; and no doubt they were the natives whose recent traces had been seen by us near Booth Inlet. August 26, 1851. — Beset against a floe, which is in motion, owing to the pressure of bergs upon its southern face ; and as it slowly coachicheels (as the whalers term it) round upon an iceberg to seaward of us, we employ ourselves heaving clea;^ oP the danger. A gale fast rising, and things looking very ugly. The Intrepid, who had changed her berth from the "in-shore" to the "off-shore" side of the Pioneer, through some accident of ice-anchors 206 ABCTIC JOURNAL. slipping, was caught between the floe and the iceberg, and in a minute inextricably, as far as human power was concerned, surrounded with ice; and as the floe, acted upon by the pressure of the gale, forced more and more upon the berg, we were glad, yet astonished, to see the vessel rise up the inclined plane formed by the tongue of the iceberg under her bottom. Had she not done so she must have sunk. Sending a portion of our crew to her aid, to keep launching the Intrepid's boats ahead during the night, we watched with anxiety the fast- moving floes and icebergs around us. A wilder scene it would be impossible to conceive. Our forced inac- tivity — for escape or reciprocal help was impossible — rendered it the more trying. Lieutenant John B. Cator has himself told the trials to which the Intrepid's qualities were subjected that night and day — ^how she was pushed up the iceberg high and dry, and how the " bonnie screw " came down again right and tight. The Pioneer meanwhile drifted ciwa^, cradled in floe-pieces, and perfectly helpless, shaving past icebergs, in close proximity, but safely, until the gale as suddenly abated, and we found ourselves some six miles north of the Intrepid, and off the sound, which, for want of a name, we will call " Hat Sound." Steam- ing and sailing up a lead of water back towards our con- sort, we soon saw that she was all right and afloat again, though beset in the pack. We therefore took advantage of an opening in the ice to run back again to the north- ward alone. About midnight, the Whale Sound of Baffin being then open to our view, but filled with broken ice, and our farther progress impeded by the iiiiiliilli^ STEAMING THROUGH THE ICE. 207 r was acted more 56 tlie ongue me so rew to ahead 3 fast- ' scene d inac- siblc le trials ed tliat rg higli again ;d awaj, shaving Intil tlie les some , which, Steam- 3ur con- kt again, [Ivantage north- ound of led with by the pack, we again made fast at this, the farthest northern latitude reached by any of our squadron — viz., 77° north latitude. Friday f August 29. — Finding progress in this direc- tion hopeless, we rejoined the Intrepid as close as the ice would allow us, and learnt that she had injured her rudder and screw-framing. It was now decided to re- join the Resolute and Assistance at their rendezvous off Cape Du Jley Digges, as the winter snow was fast cover- ing the land, and pancake-ice forming on the sea. The 30th and 31st the Pioneer made fruitless attempts to reach the Intrepid. The leads of water were evidently separating us more and more. She was working in for Wolstenholme Sound, whilst we were obliged to edge to the westward. September 1, 1851, came in on us. From the crow's- nest one interminable barrier of ice spread itself around ; and as the imprisonment of our vessels would have en- tailed starvation, it was necessary to make a push, and endeavour, by one of us at any rate reaching supplies, to secure the means of rescue to both. A lucky slackening of the ice encouraged us to enter the pack, and we entered it. It was a long and a tough struggle, sometimes for an hour not making a ship's length of headway, then bursting into a crack of water, which seemed an ocean by comparison. Screwing and heaving, my gallant crew working like Britons, now over the stern, booming off pieces from the screw as she went astern for a fresh rush at some obstinate bar; now over the bows, coaxing her sharp stem into the crack which had to be wedged open until the hull could Vi 208 ARCTIC JOURNAL. pass ; now leaping from piece to piece of the broken ice, clearing the lines, resetting the anchors, t-ien rushing for the ladders, as the ves&ol cleared the obstacles, to prevent being left behind. Light-hearted, obedient, and zealous, if nay heartfelt admiration of them could have lightened their labours, I should have been glad indeed. Late in the evening the Intrepid was seen working in- side of Wolstenholme Island. "We made fast to a lofty- iceberg, to obtain a good view for the most promising lead of water; and the experienced eye of a quarter- master, Joseph Organ, enabled him to detect the glisten of open water on the horizon to the westward. For it we accordingly struck through the pack. Never were screw and steam more taxed. To stop was to be beset for the winter, and be starved and drifted heaven knows where. An iron stem and a good engine did the work — I will not bore the non-professional reader how. A little before midnight the Resolute and Assistance were seen, and by four o'clock on the morning of the 2d Sep- tember we were alongside of them. Shortly afterwards our amateurs and visitors left us, and the three vessels cruised about, waiting for the Intrepid, it bemg generally understood that when she rejoined the squadron we were to return to England. We learnt that the sailing ships had been in open water as high as the Gary Islands : they had iseen no land on the west side north of Cape Clarence. On Gary Islands they had found traces of the remote visits of whalers, and had shot immense numbers (about 700) of birds, loons especially. On one occasion they had been placed in trying circumstances by a gale from the south- THE TEACES OF ESQUIMAUX. 209 a ice, sliiiig es, to t, and have ideed. ng in- t lofty mising uarter- glisten For it ;r were le "beset L knows le work lOW. a ice were 2d Sep- erwards vessels enerally we were in open no land )n Gary visits of , 700) of ad been south- ward amongst the packed ice, the extraordinary disap- pearance of which to the northward was only to be accounted for by supposing the ice of Baffin Bay to have been blown through Smith Sound into the Polar Sea, a small gateway for so much ice to escape by. The disappearance of the ice, however, which a fortnight earlier had spread over the whole sea between the arctic highlands and Jones Sound, under the influ- ence of southerly gales, confirmed me the more strongly in my belief that the north-west portion of Baffin Bay is open, and forms no cul-de-sac there any more than it does in Jones Sound, Lancaster Sound, or Ponds Bay. From Hudson Strait, in latitude 60° K, to Jones Sound, in latitude 76° N., a distance of 960 miles, we find on the western hand a mass of islands of every con- ceivable shape and size, with long and tortuous channels intersecting the land in every direction ; yet vain men, anxious to put barriers in the way of future navigators, draw large continents where no one has dared to pene- trate, and block up natural outlets without cause or reason. I will now, with the reader's permission, carry him back to a subject that here and there has been cursorily alluded to throughout these pages — the Esquimaux traces and ruins everywhere found by us, and the extraordin- ary chain of evidence which, commencing in Melville Island, our farthest west, carries us, link by link, to the isolated inhabitants of North Greenland, yclept arctic highlanders, by that erratic but able navigator Sir John lloss. Strange and ancient signs were found by us in almost o 210 ARCTIC JOURNAL. every sheltered nook on the seaboard of this sad and solitary land — signs indubitably of a race having once existed, which had either decayed away, or else, more probably, migrated to more hospitable portions of the arctic zone. That all these traces were those of the houses, caches, hunting-posts, and graves of the Esqui- maux or Innuit, there could be in our minds no doubt ; and looking to the immense extent of land over which this extraordinary race of fishermen are to be found, well might it be said, that they are " one of the most widely spread nations of the globe." The seat of this race might be placed in Northern Asia, for on the dreary banks of the Lena and Indigirka, along the whole extent of the frozen tundra which faces the Polar Sea, and in the distant isles of New Siberia, rarely visited by even the bold seekers of fossil ivory, the same ruined circles of stone, betokening the former abode of human beings, the same whalebone rafters, the same stone axes, the same implements of the chase, are to be found, as to this day are used, and only used, by the Tchuktches of Behring Strait, the Innuit of North America, or the Esquimaux of Hudson Strait and Greenland — a people identical in language (of which they all speak different dialects), habits, and disposition. Supposing then that, from the east of Asia, these people first migrated to the American continent, and thence eventually wandered to the eastern shores of Greenland, it became an interesting question how the lands upon bur northern hand in our passage up Barrow Strait should bear such numerous marks of human location, whereas upon the southern side they were comparatively THEORY OF THEIR ORIGIN. 211 and mce nore the ' the squi- mht -, vhich i, -well ;videly Tthem iigirka, h faces Siberia, ory, the sr abode le same [re to be hy the liforth tit and [f which losition. ie people thence •eenland, ids upon Strait location, ^aratively scarce ; and again, how the natives residing in the north- em portion of Baffin Bay should have been ignorant that their brethren dwelt in great numbers southward of the glaciers of Melville Bay. Some amongst us — and I was of this number — ob- jected to the theory summarily advanced, that at a remote period these northern lands had been peopled from the south, and that the population had perished or wasted away from increased severity of climate, or diminution of the means of subsistence. Our objections were argued on the following grounds : If the Parry group had been colonised from the American continent, that continent, their nursery, would have shown signs of a large popula- tion at points immediately in juxtaposition, which it does not do. From the estuary of the Coppermine to the Great Fish River, the Esquimaux traces are less numerous than on the north shore of Barrow Strait. To assert that the Esquimaux have travelled from the American conti- nent to the bleak shores of Bathurst Island, is to suppose a savage capable of voluntarily quitting a land of plenty for one of gaunt famine : on the other hand, it seems unreasonable to attribute these signs of a bygone people's existence to some convulsion of nature, or some sudden increase of cold, since no similar catastrophe had occur- red in any other part of the world. Contrary to such opinions, we opined that the traces were those of a vast and prolonged emigration, and that it could be shown, on very fair premises, that a large number of the Innuit, Skraeling, or Esquimaux — call them what you please — had travelled from Asia to the eastward, along a much I 1 M 212 ARCTIC JOURNAL. higher parallel of latitude than the American continent, and, in their very natural search for the most hospitable region, had gone from the north tmoarda the south, not from the south towards the north, or, what may yet one day be laid open to the world, reached a high northern latitude, in which a deep and uncongealable sea gires rise to a milder climate, and an increased amount of the capabilities of subsistence. I will sketch the probable route of the Esquimaux emigration as I believe it to have taken place in the north-east of Asia. The Tchuktches, the only indepen- dent tribe in Siberia, are seen to assume, amongst that portion of them residing on the sea-coast, habits closely analogous to those of the Esquimaux. The hunters of Siberia tell how a similar race, the Omoki, " whose hearths were once more numerous on the banks of the Lena than the stars of an arctic night," are gone, none know whither. The natives now living in the neighbour- hood of Cape Chelajskoi, in Siberia, aver that emigration to a land in the north-east had occurred within the me- mory of their fathers ; and amongst other cases we find them telling Wrangell that the Onkillon tribe had once occupied that land ; but being attacked by the Tchuk- tches, they, headed by a chief called Krachnoi, had taken shelter in the land visible northward from Cape Jakan. This land Wrangell and others did not then believe in. British seamen have, however, proved the assertion to be a fact, and Captains Kellett and Moore have found " an extensive land " in the very direction the Siberian fishermen declared it to exist. It is not my purpose to enter into a disquisition upon the causes which brought THEIR MIGRATIONS. 213 Lent, ;al>le , not , one bhern giyes jf the imaux in the depen- jt that closely iters of ' whose I of the le, none ghbour- jigration Ithe me- ■we find lad once Tchuk- kd taken Jakan. ^lieve in. srtion to e found Siberian irpose to brought about this emigration. Sad and bitter necessity alone it must have been, which thrust these poor members of the human family into localities which, even in Asia, caused the Eussians to exclaim, " What could have led men to forsake more favoured lands, for this grave of nature 1 " Choice it could not have been, for, in America, we see that the Esquimaux has struggled hard to reach southern and genial climes. In the Aleutian Isles, and on the coast of Labrador, local circumstances favoured them, and the Indian hunter was unable to subsist in lands which were comparatively overflowing with subsistence for the arctic fishermen. I hold, therefore, that there has been at some remote period of time a double stream 01 emigration from Asia towards America and Greenland. One body travelled in a line which skirts the southern shores of the Polar basin. The bloodthirsty races of 25'orth America obliged this human tide to confine itself purely to the sea-coast ; and although vast tracts, such as the barren grounds between longitudes 99" and 109° W., are at the present day almost untenanted by Esqui- maux, still a sufficient population remains to show that an emigration of these tribes had taken place there at a remote period, and in time these people reached the shores of Davis Strait and the Atlantic Ocean. In a line parallel to them, others of their brethren who reached the land lately re-discovered northward of Behring Strait, may have likewise wandered along the Parry Group to Lancaster Sound and the head of Baffin Bay. In order to have done this, land must be presumed to extend from the meridian of Behring Strait to Melville 214 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Island — a point upon which few who study the geography of that region can have now a doubt ; and eminent men have long supposed it to be the case, from various phe- nomena, such as the nature of the sea between the Mackenzie River and Behring Strait, and the appear- ance of very heavy ice in that direction — all indicating that a barrier lay northward of the American continent. The gallant squadron under Captains CoUinson and M'Clure will, doubtless, solve this problem, and connect, either by a continent or a chain of islands, the ruined yourts of Cape Jakan with the time-worn stone huts ot Melville Island.* Situated as these places are under the same degree of latitude, the savage, guided by the length of his seasons, and the periodical arrival of bird and beast, would fear- lessly progress along the north shore of the great strait, which may be said to extend from Lancaster Sound to the Strait of Behring. This progress was, doubtless, a work of centuries, but gradual, constant, and imperative. The seal, the reindeer, and the whale, all desert or avoid places where man or beast wages war on them whilst nmltiplying their species, and have to be followed, as wo find to be the case with our hunters, sealers, and whalers of the present day. * The late talented hydrographer of the navy, Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, told me of his coriTiction of the existence of land northward of Behring Strait, a year before the present Admiral Kellett dis- covered it in the Herald. The strangely ancient and immovable character of the ice between Behring Strait and Bank's Land, en- countered by Captain Collinson and Sir Robert M'Clure, all confirm roe in my opinion that there is land to the northward of that ice- choked sea, from the Parry Isles to Siberia. THEIR MIGRATIONS. 215 men phe- the pear- iting nent. and meet, ained ata 01 ree of asons, i fear- strail, iind to less, a rative. avoid -whilst as wo balers As the northern Esquimaux travelled to the east, off- shoots from the main body no douht struck to the south- ward. For instance, there is every reason to believe Boothia to have been originally peopled from the north. The natives seen there by Sir J ohn Ross spoke of their fathers having fished and lived in more northern lands. They described the shores of North Somerset sufficiently to show that they knew that it was only by rounding Cape Bunny that Ross could carry his vessel into that western sea, from whose waters an isthmus barred him : anu this knowledge, traditional as I believe it to have been, has since been proved to be correct by those who wintered in Leopold Harbour finding Esquimaux traces about that neighbourhood, and by the foot journey of Sir James Ross, in 1848, round Cape Bunny towards the magnetic pole. In corroboration of my idea that these inhabitants of the arctic zone were once very numerous along the north shore of Barrow Strait and Lancaster Sound, the follow- ing localities were found to abound with ruins : The gulf between Bathurst and Cornwallis Land, the whole southern shore of Cornwallis Island, Wellington Chan- nel, Cape Spenser, and Cape Riley, Radstock Bay, Om- manney Harbour, near Cape Warrender, where the Intre- pid discovered numerous well-finished graves, bearing the marks of a comparatively more recent date. Passing Cape Warrender, I suppose the remnant of the northern emigration from Asia to have still travelled round the coast ; the more so as at Jones Sound, the only spot one of our officers happened to land upon, Esquimaux had evidently once lived {vide page 183). The arctic 216 ARCTIC JOURNAL. highlander, Erasmus York, -who was serving in our squadron, seemed to believe his mother to have dwelt about Smith Sound : all his ideas of things that he had heard o^ but not s6en, referred to places northward. He knew a musk-ox when shown a sketch of one, and said that they were spoken of by his brethren. With a pencil he could sketch the coast-Hne northioard of where he embarked, Cape York, as far as "Whale Sound, or even farther, by tradition j but southward he knew of nothing.* Old whale-fishermen say that when, in former days, their pursuit carried them into the head of Baffin Bay, they found the natives numerous ; and it is undoubted that, in spite of an apparently severe mortality amongst these arctic highlanders, or northern Esquimaux, the stock is not yet extinct. Every navigator whaler who has visited the coast northward of Cape York, reports deserted villages and dead bodies, as if some epidemic had cut down men and women suddenly, and in their prime. We found the same thing. The Intrepid's people found in the huts «' T the natives which were situated close to the winter quarters of the Korth Star, in Wolstenholme Sound, numerous corpses, un- buried indeed, as if the poor creatures had been sud- denly cut ofi", and their brethren had fied from them. Poor York;, who, amongst the dead, recognised his own brother, described the malady of which they died as one of the chest or lungs : at any rate, the mortality * The interesting account subsequently written by Dr Kane, of the condition of the Esquimaux he discovered in Smith Sound, fully confirms the correctness of these opinions. THEIE TRADITIONS. 217 was great. Where did the supply of human life come from ? Not from the south, for then the northern and southern Esquimaux would have known of each other's existence. Yet it is fair to say that the southern Esquimaux have faint traditions of the head of Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound ; and Egede and Crantz tell us of their belief in a northern origin, and of remote regions where beacons on hills had been erected to denote the way. All these facts point to a long and landward route pur- sued by the Esquimaux in their pilgrimage to Greenland from Asia ; and it appears to me, that the two streams of emigration from Siberia met, as it were, in Greenland, after a long and toilsome journey eastward. Their advent is noted in Greenland by the Norse and Zealan- dic historians, and they appear, indeed, to have overrun and extinguished the Scandinavian colonies. Old Norse legends of 350 years ago speak of the arrival of the " Skrselings " in Greenland, and of a period of hostilities, followed by great suffering, and then we hear no more of Scandinavian colonies in Greenland, and only trace them upon ruined churches, and by time-worn Runic characters cut on tablets of stone. Before I quit this subject it would be as well to call the attention of those interested in such questions to the extraordinary fact of the existence of Esquimaux upon the east side of Greenland. The remarks of Captain Graah, the Danish surveyor, lead me to the opinion that these people come from more northern parts of their own side of Greenland ; and it would be a curious circumstance if future geographical discoveries should give us grounds i ii 218 ARCTIC JOURNAL. to believe that from the neighbourhood of Smith Sound the northern Esquimaux migration divided, and the one branch of it followed down the shores of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, whilst the other, tracing the nor- thern coasts of Greenland, eventually descended by the eastern seaboard to Cape Farewell. The nursery, the hotbed of this race, I believe still to exist northward of spots visited by us in Baffin Strait, — for bay it is not, even if it had no other outlets into the Polar Sea than Lancaster, Jones, and Smith Sound. Revenons a nos moutonsl The 2d, 3d, and 4th of September passed with much anxiety. Our leader threw out signals, " Where do you think the Intrepid is gone?" and on another occasion, "Do you think In- trepid is to leeward of the pack?" He was thinking much of the missing steamer. We of the sister screw had little anxiety as to her safety or capability of escap- ing through any pack, especially when alone and un- hampered by having to keep company. A knowledge of the screw-propeller, its power and handiness in the ice, gave us a confidence in it which we had never reason to regret. At first we had been pitied, as men doomed to be cast away : we had since learned to pity others, and to be envied in our safe vessels. The " great experiment," as it was called, had succeeded, in spite of the forebodings of the ignorant, and the half-measured doubts of questionable friends ; but its crowning triumph was yet to come : the single steamer was alone, unaided, to penetrate the pack, and seek her missing mate,* * A single screw-steamer, the Yox, did at last solve the problem of Franklin's fate. NEW PLANS. 219 find her if she could, if not, winter, and seek her with foot parties both this autumn and next spring. I should be a wretch not to allow that there was a momentary pang of regret on the morning of the 5th September when I was first told that the Pioneer was to return into Wolstenholme Sound, with provisions sufiicient for herself and the Intrepid to pass tico winters more ; but pride soon, both with myself and my officers and men, came to the rescue. The Intrepid might have been caught, and unable to extricate herself. Of course it was an honourable mission to go to the aid of our comrades, to give them the means of subsistence, to spend the winter with them, and, please God, escape next season, if not before, from the disagreeable position into which our summer tour in Baffin Bay had carried us : and furthermore, it was a triumph that the screws, helpless babes ! were to winter alone, alone to find their way in and out of the ice, and, alone, make their way home, whilst the huge incubi that had ridden us like nightmares during the search for Franklin would be (d.v.) safely lashed in Woolwich dockyard. The 5th was spent in sending away all our sickly or weak hands, increasing the complement of seamen by four, receiving abundance of public and private stores, bidding good-bye to our dear brother officers in the squadron, and friends, who generously pressed upon us everything they had to spare, in which they were not more generous than our leader, who put, with the utmost liberality, both his kit and storeroom at our disposal. The Pioneer, by midnight, was as deep as a sand-barge, ^ext morning the commodore came on 220 ARCTIC JOUKNAL. board, gave me highly flattering orders, and, having read prayers, made a speech, in which he took an afiectionate farewell of the Pioneers, and struck with happy effect the two strongest chords in our hearts, thus : " You hold," said he, " Pioneers, the honour of the squadron in your hands. I thank you all for the alacrity and spirit with which you have prepared yourselves to re- enter the ice. You shall be no losers by it : and on my arrival in England I will take care to insure that you are not forgotten in rewards : indeed, I shall consider that you have the first claim, provided your commander, on his arrival in England, reports favourably on your conduct." At eight o'clock we parted company, and, under sail and steam, steered direct for Wolstenholme Island. A little after ten o'clock we broke through a neck of ice, and had just put the helm up to run down a lead, when, happening to look over my shoulder at the Resolute, now hull down to the westward, I was astonished to see what appeared the smoke of a gun, and soon afterwards another, and another. The general recall at the mast-head was next seen, and the Assistance, under all sail, pressing to the south, showed that the Intrepid had been caught sight of. Joy was strongly marked on every count nance as we turned on our heel, and one exclamation was on every tongue — " Thank God for our escape from a second winter." It would have been indeed an unprofitable detention to have been caught in "Wolstenholme Sound by the pack, as we un- doubtedly should have been, whilst the vessel we went to relieve was safe without it. However, the evil was MMHMH STEER FOR HOME. 221 ig read stionate y effect "You padron fity and 3 to re- l on my i you are der that inlander, on your ny, and, ienliolnie I neck of n a lead, at the I, I was )f a gun, general ssistance, that the strongly our heel, tank God luld have ave been ts we un- we went evil was now averted ; the whole squadron was united, my pro- visions, men, and stores again taken out, and a memo- randum issued, the purport of which was that we were to go to Woolwich. At eight o'clock the yards were squared, sails spread, and homeward we steered. Fresh and fair gaies, a sea entirely clear of all but stray icebergs, and here and there a patch of broken ice, gave us nothing to do but endeavour to reduce our speed sufficiently under canvass to insure not outrunning our consorts. In eight days we reached the latitude of Cape Farewell. Once in the Atlantic, strong gales and dark nights rendered it impossible for such ill-matched consorts to keep company, and we found ourselves sighting the Orkneys alone, fourteen days after bearing up from the latitude of Wolstenholme Island in Baffin Bay ; and I anchored at Grimsby, in the river Humber, exactly three weeks from the commencement of our homeward-bound voyage. The rest of the squadron followed us to Woolwich, where all were paid off safe and sound, with the exception of one man, the only one missing out of the original one hundred and eighty officers and men who had sailed in 1850, under Captain Horatio T. Austin, C.B., to rescue or solve the fate of the Expedition commanded by Captain Sir John Franklin. Our self-importance as arctic heroes of the first water received a sad downfall when we were first asked by a kind friend what the deuce we came home for? We had a good many hecauses ready, but he overturned them altogether ; so we had to resort to the usual re- source of men in such a position : we said, " There was 222 ARCTIC JOURNAL. a barrier of ice across "Wellington Channel in 1850." Our friend said, " I deny it was a permanent one, for the Americans drifted through it ! " " Indeed," we ex- claimed; "at any rate there was one there in 1851." "Yes, granted; on the 12th of August; but you know there was a month of open season left : and, like an honest man, say how long it would take for that barrier, fifteen or twenty miles wide, to disperse." " As many hours ! " was our reply : " and we have forsworn in future barriers of ice as well as barriers of land." What the deucei we came home for? Those, how- ever, who asked had cause and reasons for doing so. We were in the dark as to much that had been arrived at in England. We knew but of our own limited per- sonal experience, and had had neither time nor oppor- tunity to compare notes with others. The public at home sat down with the accumulated evidence of two British expeditions and an American one. They passed a verdict that Franklin had gone up Wellington Channel; and that, having gone up there, in obedience to his country's orders, it was the duty of this country to send after him, save him, or solve his fate. I for one knew I had done my duty in the sphere allotted me. But " Vox populi, vox Dei." I bowed tacitly to its decision, until attempts were made to damp the hopes of the more sanguine — in fact, to save our credit at the expense of Franklin's existence. It was time then to reconsider in all its points the subject of farther search, to compare my own recent impression of things with facts that were now before the world, and then to judge for myself whether any one had a right to declaim against farther THE SUPPOSED ICE-BARRIER. 223 850." le, for le ex- L851." know ike an jarrier, many orn in a." 5, how- ting BO. arrived ed per- oppor- uhlic at of two efforts to save Franklin's expedition. Need I say that I found no reason to stay the search ? Those who desired to stop all farther efforts had re- course to two infallible arctic solutions for the dilemma in which they were placed. There must be an impene- trable barrier of ice in Wellington Channel, or the ships must have been beset in the pack, and have perished without God's providence helping them, as it has helped all others similarly placed, without leaving a single sur- vivor, or a vestige of any description. !N"o such whole- sale calamity, I reply, is on record. Let us inquire into this barrier of ice in Wellington Channel. Twice had Parry seen the channel, in 1819 and 1820. He saw no barrier then. We reached it in the fall of 1850, after a very backward and severe sum- mer, with winter fast closing in upon us. We saw long flights of birds retreating from their summer breeding- places somewhere beyond the broad fields of ice that lay athwart its channel. We wondered at the numerous shoals of white whale passing, from some unknown northern region, southward to more genial climes. We believed in fixed ice, yet in one day twelve miles of it came away, and nearly beset us amx^ngst its fragments. We heard Captain Penny's report that there was water to be seen north of the remaining belt of about ten miles in width. We were like deaf adders. We were obstinate, and went into winter quarters under Griffith Island, believing that nothing more could be done, because a barrier of fixed ice extended across Wellington Channel ! Wo were miserably mistaken The expedition under Lieutenant de Haven was then 224 ARCTIC JOURNAL. drifting slowly over the place where we, in our ignorance, had placed fixed ice in our charts ; and to them likewise the wisdom of an all-merciful Providence revealed the fact of a northern sea of open w^t:^JfiiA* h^i )rthy our iful Pro- DO late to a high iisfaction pirits 1 — ■ound, of •ulties, in icution of to bring ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PERSEVERE. 231 itward jcnlate ognita e us— manity falters, eulogy >iie, the ngue in [ate the 3t, have lis heart heroism ' the un- the por- jmphatic hoose ye lat hliss- back to their surviving relatives and friends those last kind messages of love, evidences that sincere affection and stern sense of duty sprang from one source in their gallant and generous hearts ? Yes, of course, it vrould. Then, and not till then — taking this, the gloomiest view of the subject — shall we have done our duty towards the captains, officers, and crews of her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror. APPENDIX. It is only justice to the munificent efforts of Mr Grinnell, as well as the generous devotion of American naval officers in the search for Franklin, to insert here the report of the gal- lant De Haven, and his comrades Griffin, Murdaugh, and Dr Kane. Two of those four of bur gallant associates are now (1864) in their graves ; but their memory will long be cherished by their English brother labourers, as well as by their own countrymen. Report of the American Arctic Expedition j hy Lieutenant de Haven, of the United States Navy, bth February 1852. U.S. Brig Advance, Nbw York, ith October 1851. Sir, — I have the honour to submit the following as the proceedings of the squadron under my command subsequently to the 22d August 1850, up to which time the department is already advised of its movements. We now stood over for the north shore, passing to the east- ward of Leopold Island, threading our way through much heavy stream-ice. Barrow Strait to the westward presented one mass of heavy and closely packed ice, extending close into the coast of North Somerset. On the north shore we found open vmter reaching to the westward as far as Beechey Island. t i tm m tim .i ' itmi . M ii:^ APPENDIX. 233 nnell, as fficers in the gal- ugh, and dates are L long be rell as by ieutenant y 1852. LUCE, Iter 1851. At noon on the 25th we were off Cape Riley, where the vessel was hove to, and a boat sent ashore " to examine a cairn erected in a conspicuous position." It was found to contain a record of H.B.M.'s ship Assistance, deposited the day before. Another record informed us that our consort had visited the Cape at the same time with the Assistance. Fragments of painted wood and preserved-meat tins were picked up on the low point of the cape ; there were also other indications that it had been the camping-ground of some civ- ilised travelling or hunting party. Our speculations at once connected them with the object of our search. Whilst making our researches on shore, the vessel was set by a strong current near the point, where, becoming hampered by some masses of ice, she took the ground. Every effort was made to get her off, but the falling tide soon left her " hard and fast." "We now lightened her of all weighty ar- ticles about deck, and prepared to renew our efforts when the tide should rise. This to. y place about midnight, when she was hauled off without a . nt injury. The Prince Albert api Jv aoiied us whilst aground, and Com- mander Forsyth tendered his assistance. It was not, how- ever, required. Soon after the Rescue came in sight from around Beechey Island, and making us out in our awkward predicament, hove to in the offing, and sent a boat in. She had been up Wellington Channel as far as Point Innes. The condition of the ice prevented her from reaching Cape Hotham (the appointed place of rendezvous) ; so she had returned in search of us. On the 26th, with a light breeze, we passed Beechey Island, and ran through a narrow lead to the north. Immediately above Point Innes the ice of Wellington Channel was fixed and unbroken from shore to shore, and had every indication of having so remained for at least three years. It was gene- rally about eight feet thick, and the sharp angular hummocks peculiar to recently formed ice had been rounded down to 234 AECTIC JOURNAL. gentle hillocks by the action of the weather for several seasons. Further progress to the north was out of the question. To the west, however, along the edge of the fixed ice, a lead pre- sented itself with a freshening wind from S.E. We ran into it, but at half-way across the channel our headway was ar- rested by the closing ice. A few miles beyond this two of the English vessels (one a steamer) were dangerously beset. I deemed it prudent to return to Point Innes, under the lee of which the vessels might hold on in security until a favour- able change should take place. On Point Innes distinct traces of an encampment were found, together with many relics similar to those found at Cape Riley. Captain Penny (whose squadron we met here) picked up a piece of paper containing the name of one of the officers of Franklin's expedition, written in pencil, thus prov- ing beyond a doubt that some of his party had encamped here ; but when, or imder what circumstances, it was diffi- cult to say. The preserved-meat cans, moreover, bore the name of the person who had supplied his ships with that article. On Point Innes we also found the remains of an Esquimaux hut, but it had evidently been abandoned for many years. No recent traces of this people were found on any of the shores of Lancaster Sound that we visited. The weather becoming more favourable, we retraced our steps as far as Beechey Island, in order to make more minute investigations in that quarter. The vessels were made fast to the land ice, on the N.W, side of the island, on the 27th August. The schooner Felix, Captain Sir John Ross, R.N., and the squadron under Captain Penny, joined us at this point. Consulting with these gentlemen, a joijit search was instituted along the adjacent shores, in all directions. In a short time one of Captain Penny's men returned, and reported that he had discovered " several graves." On examination his report proved to be correct. Three well-made graves were APPENDIX. 235 jasons. a. To idpre- III into /eas ar- two of \f "beset, the lee favour- ut were ound at let here) le of the us prov- acamped (vas diffi- bore the yith that quimaux ly years. ly of the aced our •e minute de fast to the 27th OSS, B.N., LS at this jarch was ms. In a reported imination •aveswere found, with painted head-boards of wood ; the inscriptions on which were as follows : — I. " Sacred to the memory of W. Braine, r.m., her Majesty's ship Erebus ; died April 3, 1846, aged 32 years. — * Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.' " II. " Sacred to the memory of Jno. Hartwell, a.b., her Majes- ty's ship Erebus, aged 23 years. — *Thu8 saith the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways,' " III. " Sacred to the memory of Jno. Torrington, who departed this life Jan. 1, a.d. 1846, on board her Majesty's ship Terror, aged 20." Near the graves were also other unmistakable evidence of the missing expedition having passed its first winter here. They consisted of innumerable scraps of old rope and canvass ; the blocks on which stood the armourer's anvil, with many pieces of coal and iron around it, the outlines of several tents or houses, supposed to have been the site of the observatory, and erections for sheltering the mechanics. The chips and shavings of the carpenter still remained. A short distance from this was found a large number of preserved-meat tins, all having the same label as those found at Point Innes. From all these indications the inference could not fail to be arrived at that the Erebus and Terror had made this their first winter-quarters after leaving England. The spot was admirably chosen for the security of the ships, as well as for their early escape the following season. Everything, too, went to prove that up to this point the expedition was well organised, and that the vessels had not received any material injur}'. 236 ARCTIC JOURNAL. ..,j| ,i;i ,'!i; Early on the morning of the 28th of August, her . itannic Majesty's ship Kesolute, Captain Austin, with her steam- tender, arrived from the eastward. Renewed efforts were made by all parties to discover some written notice which Sir J. Franklin ought to have deposited at this place in some conspicuous position. A cairn of stones erected on the high- est part of the island was discovered. A most thorough search with crows and picks was instituted at and about it, in the presence of all hands. This search was continued for several days, but not the slightest .vestige of a record could be found. The graves were not opened or disturbed. Captain Sir John Boss had towed out from England a small vessel of about 12 tons. He proposed leaving her at this point to fall back upon in case of disaster to any of the searching vessels. Our contribution to supply her was three barrels of provisions. From the most elevated part of Beechey Island (about 800 feet high) an extensive view was had, both to the north and west. No open water could be seen in either direc- tion. On the 27th of August we cast oflf from Beechey Island, and joined our consort at the edge of the fixed ice, near Point Innes. Acting-master S. P. Grifl&n, commander of the Bes- cue, had just returned from a searching excursion along the shore, on which he had been despatched forty-eight hours before. Midshipman Lovell and four men composed his party. He reports that, pursuing carefully his route to the northward, he came upon a partially overturned cairn of large dimensions, on the beach, a few miles south of Cape Bowden. Upon strict examination it appeared to have been erected as a place of depot of provisions. No clue could be found within it or around as to the persons who built it, neither could its age be arrived at. At 2 P.M. of the 28th reached Cape Bowden without further discovery. Erecting a cairn, containing the information that ii-:i *-'-■■"•—■'■■"■■■-"'■" ' '■"•"' ' — ^>-"— I I I APPENDIX. 237 itannic steam- ts were 5 whicli in some tie high- horough ibout it, nued for rd could ngland a ig her at ay of the was three about 800 the north Ler direc- f" ey Island, aear Point the Bes- along the Lght hours iposed his Lte to the cairn of of Cape |have been [e could be ^0 built it, )ut further lation that would prove useful to a distressed party, he commenced his journey back. Until the 3d day of September we were detained at this point by the closing-in of the ice from the southward, occa- sioned by strong N.E. winds, accompanied with thick weather and snow. On this day the packed ice moved off from the edge of the fixed ice, leaving a practicable lead to the west- ward, into which we at once stood. At yi '-Inight, when about two-thirds of the way across tl iha^., the closing ice arrested our progress. We were in some danger from heavy masses coming against us, but both vessels passed the night uninjured. In the evening of the 4th we were able to make a few more miles westing, and the following day we reached Barlow Inlet. The ice being impracticable to the southward, we secured the vessels at its entrance. The As- sistance and her steam tender were seen off Cape Hotham, behind which they disappeared in the course of the day. Barlow Inlet would afford good shelter for vessels in case of necessity, but it would require some cutting to get in or out. The ice of last winter still remained unbroken. A fresh breeze from the north on the 8th caused the ice in the channel to set to the southward. It still remained, however, closely packed on Cape Hotham. On the 9th, in the morning, the wind shifted to the westward, an opening appeared, and we at once got under way. Passing Cape Hotham, a lead was seen along the south side of Comwallis Island, into which, with a head wind, we worked slowly, our progress being much impeded by bay ice ; indeed, it brought us to a dead stand more than once. The following day we reached Griffith Island, passing the southern point of which the English searching vessels were descried made fast to the ice a few miles distant. The western lead closing at this point, we were compelled to make fast also. The ice here was so very unfavourable for making further progress, and the season was so far advanced, that it became 238 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Sii' 'i\t necessary to take future movements into serious considera- tion. A consultation was had with Mr Griffin, "id after reviewing carefully all the circumstances attending our posi- tion, it was judged that we had not gained a point from which we could commence operations in the season of 1851 with decided advantages. Therefore, agreeably to my in- structions, I felt it an imperative duty to extricate th. /essels from the ice, and return to the United States. The state of the weather prevented our acting immediately upon this decision. September 11. — ^Wind from the eastward, with fog and snow ; we were kept stationary. Much bay ice forming. Thermometer 26°. Early in the morning of the 12th the wind changed to the N.W., and increased rapidly to a heavy gale, which, coming off the ice, brought with it clouds of drift-snow. The Rescue was blown from her ice-anchors, and went adrift so suddenly that a boat and two of her men were left behind. She got under sail, but the wind was too strong for her to regain the ice. The driving snow soon hid her from us. The Advance came near, meeting the sar fate. The edge of the floe kept breaking away, and it was, with much difficulty that other ice-anchors could be planted farther in to hold on by. The thermometer fell to 8° ; mean for the twenty-four hours, 14°. On the morning of the 13th, the wind having moderated sufficiently, we got under way, and, working our way through some streams of ice, arrived in a few hours at Griffith Island, under the lee of which we found our consort made fast to the shore, where she had taken shelter in the gale, her crew having suffered a good deal from the incle- mency of the weather. In bringing-to under the lee of the island, she had the misfortune to spring her rudder, so that on joining us it was with much difficulty she could steer. To insure her safety and more rapid progress, she was taken in APPENDIX. 239 isidera- id after ar posi- at from of 1851 my in- , vessels aediately fog and forming, lath the ) a heavy clouds of and "vvent 1 were left strong for her from fate. The ,ith much farther in jan for the tow by the Advance, when she bore up with a fine breeze from the westward. Off Cape Martyr we left the English 8i;iuadron under Captain Austin. About ten miles farther to the east, the two vessels under Captain Penny, and that under Sir John Koss, were seen secured near the land. At 8 P.M. we had advanced as far as Cape Hotham. Thence, as far as the increasing darkness of the night enabled us to see, there was nothing to obstruct our progress except the bay ice. This, with a good breeze, would not have impeded us much ; but unfortunately the wind when it was most re- quired failed us. The snow with which the surface of the water was covered rapidly cemented, and formed a tenacious coat, through which it was impossible with all our appliances to force the vessels. At last they came to a dead stand some ten miles to the east of Barlow Inlet. The following day the wind hauled to the southward, from which quarter it lasted till the 19th. During this period the young ice was broken, its edges squeezed up into hummocks, and one floe overrun by another until it all assumed the ap- pearance of heavy ice. The vessels received some heavy nips from it, but they withstood them without injury. Whenever a pool of water made its appearunce, every effort was made to reach it, in liopes it would lead us to Beechey Island, or some other place where the vessel might be placed in security, for the winter set in unusually early, and the severity with which it commenced forbade all hopes of our being able to return this season. I now became anxious to attain a point in the neighbourhood from whence, by means of land-parties in the spring, a goodly extent of Wellington Channel might be examined. In the mean timej under tlie influence of the south mndy we were being set up the channel. On the I8th we were above Cape Bowden, the most northern point seen on this s1u>re by Parry. (> 1, \.( 240 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Tlie land on both shores was seen much farther, and trended considerably to the west of north. To account for this drift, the fixed ice of Wellington Channel, which we had observed in parsing to tlie westward, must have been broken up, and driven to the southward by the heavy gale of tlie \2th. On the 19th the wind veered to the north, which gave ns a southerly set, forcing us at the same time with the western shore. This did not last long, for the next day the wind hauled again to the south, and blew fresh, bringing the ice in upon us with much pressure. At midnight it broke up all around, so that we had work to maintain the Advance in a safe position, and keep her from being separated from her consort, which was immovably fixed in the centre of a large floe. We continued to drift slowly to the N.N.W. until tlie 22d, when our progress appeared to be arrested by a small low island which was discovered in that direction, about seven miles distant. A channel of three or four miles in width separated it from Comwallis Island. This latter island, trending N.W. from our position, terminated abruptly in an elevated cape, to which I have given the name of Manning, after a warm personal friend and ardent supporter of the ex- pedition. Between Comwallis Island and some distant high land visible in tlie north appeared a tvide channel leading to the westward. A dark misty-looking cloud which hung over it {technically termed frost-smoke) was indicative of much open water in that direction. This was the direction to which my instructions, referring to the investigations at the National Observatory concerning the winds and currents of the ocean, directed me to look for open water. Nor was the open water the only indication thai presented itself in confirmation of this theoretical conjecture as to a milder climate in that direction. As we entered Wellingion APPENDIX. 241 •, and mt for ich we )e been gale of gave iifi •western ae wind the ice jroke up .vance in ted from atre of a I the 22(i, jBiall low out seven in widtli X island, ,tly in an Manning, of the ex- Lstant high leading io hung over \e of much 3, leferring Iconcerning 1 to look for w presented \;re as io « 1 Wellingion Cfutnnel the signs of animal life became more abundant; and Captain Penny, commander of one of the English expedi- tions, who afterwards penetrated on sledges towards the region of the " frost-smoke," much farther than it was pos- sible for us to do in our vessels, reported that he actually arrived on the borders of this open sea. Thus these admirably drawn instructions, deriving argu- ments from the enlarged and comprehensive system of physi- cal research, not only pointed with emphasis to an unknown open sea into which Franklin had probably fomid his way, but directed me to search for traces of his expedition in the very channel at the entrance of which it is now ascertained he had passed his lirst winter. The direction in which search tvith most chances of succeifs is now to be made for the m-'mng expedition, or for traces of it, is no doubt in the direction which is so clearly pointed out in my instructions. To the channel which appeared to lead into the open sea, over which the cloud of *^ frost-smoke^^ hung as a sign^ I have given the name of "Maury," after the distinguished gentleman at the head of our National Observatory, whose theory with regard to an open sea to the north is likely to be realised through this channel. To the large mass of land visible between N.W. to N.N.E. I gave the name of " Grin- nell," in honour of the head and heart of the man in whose philanthropic mind originated the idea of this expedition, and to whose munificence it owes its existence. To a remarkable peak bearing N.N.E. from us, distant about forty miles, was given the name of " Mount Franklin." An inlet or harbour immediately to the north of Cape Bowden was discovered by Mr Griffin, in his land excursion from Point Innes on the 27th of August, and has received the name of " Griffin Inlet." The small island mentioned before was called " Mur- daugh " Island, after the acting-master of the Advance. 242 ARCTIC JOURNAL. The eastern shore of Wellington Channel appeared to run parallel with the western, but it became quite low, and being covered with snow, could not be distinguished with certainty, 80 that its continuity with the high land to the north was not ascertained. Some small pools of open water appearing near us, an at- tempt was made about fifty yards, but our combined efforts were of no avail in extricating the Rescue from her icy cradle. A change of wind not only closed the ice up again, but threat- ened to give us a severe nip. We unshipped her rudder, and placed it out of harm's way. September 23d was an uncomfortable day. The wind was from N.E., with snow. From an early hour in the morning the floes began to be pressed together with so much force, that their edges were thrown up in immense ridges of rugged hummocks. The Advance was heavily nipped between two floes, and the ice was piled up so high above the rail on the starboard side as to threaten to come on board and sink us with its weight. All hands were occupied in keeping it out. The pressure and commotion did not cease till near midnight, when we were very glad to have a respite from our labours and fears. The next day we were threatened with a similar scene, but it fortunately ceased in a short time. For the remainder of September ^ and until the 4th of Oc- tober j the vessels drifted but little. The winds were very light, the thermometer fell to minus 12, and ice formed over the pools in sight sufficiently strong to travel upon. We were now strongly impressed with the belief that the ice had become fixed for the winter, and that we should be able to send out travelling parties from the advanced position, for the examination of the lands to the northward. Stimu- lated by this fair prospect, another attempt was made to reach the shore, in order to establish a depot of provisions at or near Cape Manning, which would materially facilitate the progress of our parties in the spring ; but the ice was still ,;---,:J»^. **cs:ifi*'«rnr. - ,'^-.i«w APPENDIX. 243 to nin d being ixtainty, I was not 18, an at- ed efforts cy cradle, ut threat- Ldder,and •wind was 8 morning mcb force, s of rugged ;tween two rail on the ^nd sink us jping it out. ir midnight, OUT labours [h. a similar L Ath of Oc- leveryligbt, led over the found to be detached from the shore, and a narrow lane of water cut us from it. During the interval of comparative quiet, preliminary measures were taken for heating the Advance, and increasing her quarters, so as to accommodate the officers and crews of both vessels. No stoves had as yet been used in either ves- sels ; indeed they could not well be put up without placing a large quantity of stores and fuel upon the ice. The attempt was made to do this, but a sudden crack in the floe where it appeared strongest causing the loss of several tons of coal, convinced us that it was not yet safe to do so. It was not until the 20th of October we got fires below. Ten days later the housing cloth was put over, and the officers and crew of the Kescue ordered on board the Advance for the winter. Koom was found on the deck of the Rescue for many of the provisior^ removed from the hold of this vessel ; still a large quantity had to be placed on the ice. The absence of fires below had caused much discomfort to all hands ever since the beginning of September, not so much from the low temperature, as from the accumulation of moist- ure by condensation, which congealed as the temperature de- creased, and covered the wood-work of our apartments with ice. This state of things soon began to work its effect upon the health of the crews. Several cases of scurvy appeared among them ; and, notwithstanding the indefatigable atten- tion and active treatment resorted to by the medical officers, it could not be eradicated ; its progress, however, was checked. All through October and November we were drifted to and fro by the changing wind, but never passing out of Welling- ton Channel. On the \st of November the new ice had at- tained the thickness of 37 inches ; still frequent breaks would occur in it, often in fearful proximity to the vessels. Hummocks, consisting of massive granite-like blocks, \» oidd be thrown up to the height of twenty and even thirty feet. This action in the ice was accompanied with ;i variety of Vi 244 ARCTIC JOURNAL. sounds impossible to be described, but which when heard never failed to carry a feeling of awe into the stoutest hearts. In the stillness of an arctic night they could be heard several miles, and often was the rest of all hands disturbed by them. To guard against the worst that could happen to us — the destruction of the vessels — the boats were prepared and sledges buUt. Thirty days' provisions were placed in for all hands, together with tents and blanket-bags for sleeping in. Besides this, each man and officer had his knapsack, contain- ing an extra suit of clothes. These were all kept in readiness for use at a moment's notice. For the sake of wholesome exercise, as well as to inure the people to ice-travelling, frequent excursions were made with our laden sledges. The officers usually took the lead at the drag-ropes, and they, as well as the men, underwent the labour of surmounting the rugged hummocks with great cheerfulness and zeal. Notwithstanding the low temperature, all hands usually returned in a profuse perspiration. We had also other sources of exercise and amusement, such as foot-ball, skating, sliding, racing, with theatrical representa- tions on holidays and national anniversaries. These amuse- ments were continued throughout the winter, and contributed very materially to the cheerfulness and general good health of all hands. The drift had set us gradually to the S.E.j until we were about ^ye miles to the S.W. of Beechey Island. In this posi- tion we remained comparatively stationary about a week We once more began to entertain a hope that we had become fixed for the winter ; but it proved a vain one, for on the last day of Novemher a sin/tig wind from the westward, set in with thick snowy weather. This wind created an immedi- ate movement in the ice. Several fractures took place near us, and many heavy hummocks were thrown up. The floe in which our vessels were imbedded was being rapidly encroached upon, so that we were in momentary fear of the ice breaking APPENDIX. e 245 irom around them nnrl fi,„^ *i. ou^ and left to the lt^l:l:irfi "" ""^^ ""^ '^-''» On the following day (&^TT f *« ""^^S floes. oWd off, and the'fewht^of tlf,?"!.';'''^ "" ''^a«'er noon enabled us to get a gCs„ l7^^^.' ""''' ''^ J"^ ^bont 'r« were now clear o/WdH«^ n{ ^^"^'^ Met »»y of Lancaster SoJnduT.7 ?^""*'' «»<' »» «*«/««> ^nds prevailed from theltZ^ J^ '" P"'"^' The <'ndrapi4 towards the mZtTl'^ T '^"/« ««» 'feorfj' The prospect before '"^^ V tlie sound. " We were dfpJatro" S ?Z T"^ ""* '"'-^S- fl«d in some position whence o^^."^'' *''** "^ ^^^ by means of travelling Z^L^Pir,;"™ ""^^ "^ '=«^ed of were f„t being set ont°„fCrl"n rf.^T" '^' ^"^^ J^or was this our nni,. ^ of search, our drift was C't^rr 4?^^ ""^ line of and whenever the moving i,^ LT!^',/""" "»« ""rt* *ore, projecting points of the Cd tu w ""^ "^ ""^ "ape^ o^ fractures in i<, extending offt^ ^ f^^'^"^ would cause Cape Hurd was the ii?s?ld ^ ^ '"'"""' "^ were but two miles from it?Ar?. P'o-^^^ent point We aU day the ice was S een td'b ''^-^"•'fr. Nea^; jnotion at no great distance '^„™^ ""T.^' ^ » «o™tant a our floe took pkce not more ti,!^ * ° the evening a crack of the Advance. It o-«^T^2T '"'""yfi™ yards ahead 'he width of, hund«f yl^ ** '=°"«' of the evening to *n wr^:;tLtr sS^s f t r«' -- -^ «>» 6th « loor. iiiis^ however, was 246 ARCTIC JOURNAL. 11 :t sufl&cient to^ liberate the vessel, and she rose several inches boldly, having become more buoyant since she froze in. The following day, in the evening, the crack opened several yards, leaving the sides of the Advance entirely free, and she was once more supported by and rode in her own element. We were not, though, by any means in a pleasant situation. The floes were considerably broken in all directions around us, and one crack had taken place between the two vessels. The Eescue was not disturbed in her bed of ice. December 7. — At 8 a.m. the crack in which we were had opened and formed a lane of water fifty-six feet wide, com- municating ahead at the distance of sixty feet with ice of about one foot in thickness, which had formed sincv^ the 3d. The vessel was secured to the largest floe near us (that on which our spare stores were deposited). At noon the ice was again in motion, and began to close, affording us the pleasant prospect of an inevitable "nip" between two floes of the heaviest kind. In a short time the prominent points took our side on the starboard, just about the main-rigging, and on the port under the counter, and at the fore-rigging ; thus bringing three points of pressure in such a position that it must have proved fatal to a larger or less strengthened vessel. The Advance, however, stood it bravely. After trembling and groaning in every joint, the ice passed under and raised her about two feet and a half. She was let down again for a moment, and then her stem was raised about five feet. Her bows being unsupported, were depressed almost as much. In this uncomfortable position we remained. The wind blew a gale from the eastward, and the ice all around was in a dread- ful commotion, excepting, fortunately, that in immediate con- tact with us. The commotion in the ice continued all through the night, and we were in momentary expectation of witness- ing the destruction of both vessels. The easterly gale had set us some two or three miles to the west. ITlYTTfTiHai BKB- APPENDIX. 247 incTieB n. The il yards, she was nt. We 3n. The ound "US, els. The were had vide, com- rith ice of CO", the 3d. 18 (that on the ice was lie pleasant floes of the points took ring, and on 'ging; thus osition that lengthened (ir trembling r and raised a again for a re feet. Her 18 much. Iii -wind blew a ts in a dread- Lmediate con- ■d all through m of witness- jrly gale had As soon as it was light enough to see on the 9th, it was discovered that the heavy ice in which the Kescue had been imbedded for so long a time was entirely broken up, and piled up around her in massive hummocks. On her pumps being sounded I was gratified to learn that she remained tight, notwithstanding the immense straining and pressure she must have endured. During this period of trial, as well as in all former and subsequent ones, I could not avoid being struck with the calmness and decision of the ofiicers, as well as the subordina- tion and good conduct of the men, without an exception. Each one knew the imminence of the peril that surrounded us, and was prepared to abide it with a stout heart. There was no noise, no confusion. I did not detect, even in the moment when the destruction of the vessels seemed inevit- able, a single desponding look among the whole crew ; on the contrary, each one seemed resolved to do his whole duty, and everything went on cheerily and bra\ely. For my own part, I had become quite an invalid, so much so as to prevent my taking an active part in the duties of the vessel, as I always had done, or even from incurring the ex- posure necessary to proper exercise. However, I felt no apprehension that the vessel would not be properly taken care of, for I had perfect confidence in one and all by whom I was surrounded. I knew them to be equal to any emer- gency ; but I felt under special obligations to the gallant commander of the Rescue for the efficient aid he rendered me. With the kindest consideration and most cheerful alacrity, he volunteered to perform the executive duties dur- ing the winter, and relieve me from everything that might tend in the least to retard my recovery. During the remainder of December the ice remained quiet immediately around m, and breaks were all strongly cemented by new ice. In our neighbourhood, however, cracks were daily visible. Our drift to the eastward averaged nearly six miles 248 ARCTIC JOURNAL. Vi 4' ■!;!' ■'ii -:Cl! mv li 11 mi per day, so that on the last of the month we were at the en- trance of the sound, Cape shorn hearing north from us. January 1851. — On passing out of the sound, and opening Baffin Bay, to tJie north was seen a dark horizon^ indicating much open water in that direction. On the 11th a crack took place between us and the Eescue, passing close under our stem. It opened, and formed a lane of water eighty feet wide. In the afternoon the floes began to move, the lane was closed up, and the edges of the ice coming in contact with so much pressure, threatened the demolition of the narrow space which separated us from the line of fracture. Fortunately the floes again separated, and assumed a motion by which the Bescue passed from our stem to the port bow, and increased her distance from us 700 yards, where she came to a stand. Our stores that were on the ice were on the same side of the cracks as the Rescue, and, of course, were carried with her. The following day the ice remained quiet ; but soon after midnight, on the 13th, a gale having sprung up from the westward, it once more got into violent motion. The young ice in the crack, near our stem, was soon broken up, the edges of the thick ice came in contact, and fearful pressure took place, forcing up a line of hummocks which approached within ten feb., of our stern. The vessel trembled and com- plained a great deal. At last the floe broke up around us into many pieces, and became detached from the sides of the vessel. The scene of frightful commotion lasted until 4 a.m. Every moment I expected the vessel would be crushed or overwhelmed by the massive ice forced up far above our bulwarks. The Rescue being further removed on the other side of the crack from the line of crushing, and being firmly imbedded in heavy ice, I was in hopes would remain undisturbed. This was not the case ; for, on sending to her as soon as it was light enough to see, the floe wob found to be broken away entirely up to ^ Au m fMai ii,-^:.,^^ :, APPENDIX. 249 ; the en- I us. opening Seating 5 Bescue, id a lane (63 began i the ice tened the , from the rated, and our stem 700 yards, an the ice le, and, of soon after p from the riie young en up, the ul pressure Wpproached d and com- ber bows, and there formed into such high hummocks that her bowsprit was broken off, together with her head, and all the light wood-work about it. Had the action of the ice con- tinued much longer, she must have been destroyed. We had the misfortune to find sad havoc had been made among the stores and provisions left on the ice; a few barrels were recovered, but a large portion were crushed, and had disappeared. On the morning of the 14th, there was again some motion in the floes. That on the port side moved off from the ves- sel two or three feet, and there became stationary. This left the vessel entirely detached from the ice round the water- line, and it was expected she would once more resume an upright position. In this, however, we were disappointed, for she remained with her stern elevated, and a considerable list to starboard, being held in this uncomfortable position by the heavy masses which had been forced under her bottom. She retained this position until she finally broke out in the spring. We were now fully launched into Baffin Bay, and our line of drift began to be more southerly, assuming a direction nearly parallel ufith the western shore of the bay, at a dis- tance of from 40 to 70 miles from it. After an absence of eighty-seven days, the sun, on the 29th of January, rose his whole diameter above the southern hori- zon, and remained visible more than an hour. All hands gave vent to delight on seeing an old friend again, in three hearty cheers. The length of the days now went on increasing rapidly, but no warmth was yet experienced from the sun's rays ; on the contrary, t^ d cold became more intense. Mercury became congealed in February, also in March, which did not occur at any other period during the winter. A very low temperature was invariably accompanied with clear and calm weather, so that our coldest days were, per- ^t 250 ARCTIC JOURNAL. haps, the most pleasant. In the absence of wind we could take exercise in the open air without feeling any inconveni- ence from the cold ; but with a strong wind blowing, it was dangerous to be exposed to its chilling blasts for any length of time, even when the thermometer indicated a compara- tively moderate degree of temperature. The ice around the vessel soon became again cemented and fixed, and no other rupture was experienced until it finally broke up in the spring, and allowed us to escape. Still we kept driving to the southward along with the whole mass. Open lanes of water were visible at all times from aloft; sometimes they would be formed within a mile or two of us. Narwhales, seals, and dovekeys were seen in them. Our sportsmen were not expert enough to procure any, except a few of the latter, although they were indefatigable in their exertions to do so. Bears would frequently be seen prowling about; only two were killed during the winter; others were wounded, but made their escape. A few of us thought their flesh very palatable and wholesome, but the majority utterly rejected it. The flesh of the seal, when it could be obtained, was received with more favour. As the season advanced, the cases of scurvy 1 ecame more numerous, yet they were all kept imder control by the un- wearied attention and skilful treatment of the medical officers. My thanks are due to them, especially to passed assistant- surgeon Kane, the senior medical officer of the expedition. I often had occasion to consult him concerning the health of the crew, and it is in a great measure owing to the advice which he gave, and the expedients which he recommended, that the expedition was enabled to return without the loss of one man. By the latter end of February the ice had become sufficiently thick to enable us to build a trench round the stern of the Bescue, sufficiently deep to ascertain the extent of the injury she had received in the gale at Griffith Island. It was not found to be material ; the upper gudgeon m APPENDIX. 251 could nveni- it was length mpara- ted and finally Still we e mass. a. aloft; of us. 1. Our ixcept a in their prowling lers were ght their y utterly )btained, me more f the un- 1 officers, assistant- :pedition. health of le advice imended, le loss of become [ound the le extent Island, gudgeon alono had been wrenched from the stempost. It was ad- justed, and the rudder repaired in readiness for shippmg when it should be required. A new bowsprit was also made for her out of the few spars we had left, and everything made seaworthy, in both vessels, before the breaking up of the ice. On the 1st of April a hole was cut in some ice that had been forming since our first besetment in September. It was found to have attained the thickness of 7 feet 2 inches. In this month (April) the amelioration of the temperature became quite sensible. All hands were kept at work, cut- ting and sawing the ice around the vessels, in order to allow them to float once more. With the Eescue they succeeded, after much labour, in attaining this object ; but around the stern of the Advance the ice was so thick, that our 13-feet saw was too short to pass through it. Her bows and sides, as far aft as the gangway, were liberated. After making some alteration in the Rescue, for the better accommodation of her crew, and fires being lighted on board of her several days previous, to remove the ice and dampness which had accumulated during the winter, both officers and crew were transferred to her on the 24th of April. The stores of this vessel which had been taken out were restored, the housing cloth taken off, and the vessel made in every re- spect ready for sea. There was little prospect, however, of our being able to reach the desired element very soon. The nearest water was a narrow lane more than two miles distant. To cut through the ice which intervened would have been next to impossible. Beyond this lane, from the mast-head, nothing but interminable floes could be seen. It was thought best to wait in patience, and allow nature to work for us. In May, the noonday sun began to take effect upon the snow which covered the ice ; the surface of the floes became watery, and diflicult to walk over. Still the dissolution was so slow, in comparison with the mass to be dissolved, that it must have taken us a long period to become liberated from 252 ARCTIC JOURNAL. this cause alone. More was expected from our southerly driftj which still continued, and must soon carry us into a milder climate and open sea. On the IQth of May tJie land about Cape Searle was made out, the first that we had seen since passing Cape Walter JBathursty about the 20th of January. A few days later we ivere off Cape WalsingJiam, and on the 27th passed out of the arctic zone. June Q, a moderate breeze from the S.E., with pleasant weather, thermometer up to 40° at noon, and altogether quite a warm and melting day. During the morning a peculiar crackling sound was heard on the floe. I was inclined to impute it to the settling of the snow-drifts as they were acted upon by the sun ; but in the afternoon, about five o'clock, the puzzle was solved very lucidly, and to the exceeding satisfaction of all hands. A crack in the floe took place be- tween us and the Eescue, and in a few minutes thereafter the whole immense field in which we had been imbedded so many months was rent in all directions, leaving not a piece exceeding 100 yards in diameter. This rupture was not accompanied with any noise. The Rescue was entirely liberated, the Advance only partially. The ice in which her after part was imbedded, still adhered to her from the main chains aft, keeping her stem elevated in an unsightly posi- tion. The " pack " (as it may now be called) became quite loose, and but for our pertinacious friend acting as an im- mense drag upon us, we might have made some headway in any desired direction. All our efforts were now turned to getting rid of it. With saws, axes, and crowbars, the people went to work with a right good will, and, after hard labour for forty-eight hours, succeeded. The vessel was again afloat, and she righted. The joy of all hands vented itself spon- taneously in three hearty cheers. The after part of the false keel was gone, being carried away by the ice. The loss of it, however, I was glad to perceive, did not materially affiect the t; s APPENDIX. 253 herly nto a made Valter ter we of the Leasant ;r quite leculiar ined to re acted o'clock, acceding lace be- lereafter ottbedded ig not a ;ure was entirely [hich her [he main Ltly posi- le quite an im- Iheadway pnmed to le people Id labour lin afloat, [elf spou- the false LOSS of it, iect tbe sailing or working qualities of the vessel. The rudders were bhipped, and were once more ready to move, as efficient as on the day we left New York. . Steftring to the S.E., and working slowly through the loose but heavy pack, on the 9th we parted from the Rescue in a dense fog, she taking a different lead from the one the Ad- vance was pursuing. On the morning of the 10th, with a fresh breeze from north, under a press of sail, we forced a way into an open and clear sea, in latitude 65° 30', about thirty-five miles from the spot in which we were liberated. The wind, which in the ice was merely fresh, proved to be in clear water a gale, with a heavy sea running. Through this we laboured till the next morning. When it moderated, the coast of Greenland was in sight. Our course was now directed for the Whale Fish Islands (the place of rendezvous appointed for our consort), which we reached on the 16th, not, however, without having some difficulty in getting through the unusual number of bergs which lined the coast. In an encounter with one we lost a studding-sail boom. I had two objects in visiting these islands, that of verifying our chronometers, and to recruit our somewhat debilitated crews. The latter object I learned, on arriving, could be much better obtained, and the former quite as well, at Lievely, on Disco Island, for which place I bore up, leaving orders for the Rescue to follow us. We arrived on the 17th, and the Rescue joined us the day after. The crews were indulged with a run on shore every day that we remained, which they enjoyed exceedingly, after their tedious winter confinement. This recreation, together with a few vegetables of an antiscorbutic character which were obtained, was of much benefit to them. There were no fresh provisions to be had here at this season of the year. Fortunately, one of the Danish company's vessels arrived I,;! i: 254 ARCTIC JOURNAL. V; li! m- illi: from Copenhagen whilst we remained, and from her we ob- tained a few articles that we stood much in need of. The company's store was nearly exhausted, but what remained was kindly placed at our disposal. On the 22d, our crews being much invigorated by their exercise on terra Jirma, and the few still affected with the scurvy being in a state of convalescence, we got under way with the intention of prosecuting the object of the expedition for one season more, at least. From the statement made to us at Lievely, the last winter had been an extraordinary one. The winds had prevailed to an unusual degree from the N.W., and the ice was not at any time fixed. The whaling fleet had passed to the northward previous to our arrival. On the 24th we met with some obstruction from the ice off Hare Island, and on the following day our progress was completely arrested by it at Stovoe Island. In seeking for a passage we got beset in a pack near the lee shore, near to which we were carried by the drifting ice, and narrowly escaped being driven on the rocks. After getting out of this difficulty, we availed ourselves of every opening in the ice, and worked slowly to the northward, near the shore. On the 1st of July we were off the Danish port and settle- ment of Proven, and as the condition of the ice rendered further progress at present impossible, we went in and an- chored to wait for a change. Here again some scurvy-grass was collected, and the men allowed to run on shore. On the 3d we got under way, and ran out to look at the ice ; but finding it still closely packed, returned to our anchorage. On the 6th the accounts from our look-out on the hill near us were more favourable. Again we got under way, and find- ing the pack somewhat loose, succeeded in making some head- way through it. The following day we got into clear water, and fell in with two English whaling-vessels, the Pacific and APPENDIX. 255 ) ob- The lined their h the rway dition winter died to ; at any rthwaid the ice ress was ing for a , near to larrowly ^it of this the ice, id settle- I rendered and an- the men Jane. To tlieir gentlemanly and considerate commanders we are much indebted for the supplies furnished us, consisting of potatoes, turnips, and other articles, most acceptable to people in our condition. Much interesting news was also gained from them respecting important events which had occurred since we left home. Their statements as to the condition of the ice to the north- ward were anything but flattering to our prospects. They had considered it so very unfavourable as to abandon the attempt to push through Melville Bay, and were now on their way to the southward. On the 8th we communicated with the settlement of Up- pemavik. The next day two more English whaling-vessels passed, on their way to the southward. At the same time the M'Lellan, of New London, the only American whaler in Baffin Bay, was descried, also standing south. On communi- cating with her, we were rejoiced to find letters and papers from home, transmitted by the kindness of Mr Grinnell. We remained by the M'Lellan several hours, in order to close our letters, and despatch them by her. Several articles that we stood much in need of were purchased from her. On the 10th, the Baffin Islands being in sight to the north, we met the remainder of the whaling fleet returning. They confirmed the accounts givi;n us by the Pacific and Jane in regard to the unfavourable condition of the ice for an early passage through Melville Bay. The following are the names of vessels communicated with — viz., Joseph Green of Peterhead, Alexander of Dundee, Advice of Dundee, Princess Charlotte of Dundee, Horn of Dundee, Ann of Hull, Regalia of Kirkcaldy, Chieftain of Kirkcaldy, and Lord Gambler of Hull. My notes are unfortunately at fault as to the names of their enterprising and warm-hearted commanders, each of whom vied with the other in 8howeriii<,' upon us such articles as they knew we must be in want of, consisting of potatoes, turnips, fresh bee f, &c. My proposi- 256 ARCTIC JOURNAL. tion to compensate them they would not entertain for a moment ; and I take this occasion of making public acknow- ledgment of the valuable aid rendered us, to which, no doubt, much of our subsequent good health is owing. On the 11th, in attempting to run between the Baffin Islands, the Advance grounded on a rocky shoal. The Rescue barely escaped the same fate by hauling by the wind on discovering our mishap. Fortunately there was a large grounded berg near, to which our hawsers could be taken for hauling oflF, which we succeeded in doing after twenty-four hours' hard work. The vessel had not apparently received any injury ; but a few days later another piece of her false keel came off, supposed to have been loosened on this occasion. The ice to the north of the islands was too closely packed to be penetrated, and the prevalence of southerly winds af- forded but little prospect of a speedy opening. On the 16th the searching yacht Prince Albert succeeded in reaching near to our position, after having been in sight for several days. Mr Kennedy, her commander, came on board, and brought us letters. The berth in which our vessels were made fast in this place was alongside of a low tongue of an immense berg, which, by accurate measurement, towered up to the height of 245 feet above the water-level. It was aground in ninety-six fathoms water, thus making the whole ^stance, from top to bottom, 821 feet. "We saw many bergs equally as large as this, and some much larger, but this was the oidy one we had so good an opportunity of measuring with accuracy. On the I7th the ice opened a little and we got under way. Hence till the 27th, with almost incessant work, by watching every opening, we continued to make a few miles each day, the Prince Albert keeping company with us. On this day, while running through a narrow lead, the ice closed suddenly. The Advance was caught in a tight place, and pretty severely nipped. We managed to unship the rudder, but before it APPENDIX. 257 for a inow- ioubt, Baf&n The e -wind a large Jcen for received ber false occasion, y packed jvinds af- Bucceeded n in sigW came on Ist in this [ense herg, . height of ninety-six :oni top to IS large as ^ne vre had inder way. -watching each day, this day, suddenly. tty severely [t before it could he secured the crashing ice carried it under. "We had liucs fast to it, however, and after the action of the ice ceased it was extricated without injury. The Rescue and Prince Albert, although near us, were in better berths, and escaped the severe nip the Advance received. We were closely beset in this position, and utterly unable to move, until the 4th of August, when, the ice slacking a little, we succeeded in getting hold of the land ice one mile further to the north. The Prince Albert was still in the pack, a mile or two to the southward of us. Mr Kennedy/ ivformed me that it was his intention to abandon this route and return to the southward, as soon as his vessel could be extricated from her present positiorij in hopes of finding the ice more practicable in that direction. Some letters and papers that he had brought out for the other English search- ing-vessels he placed on board of us. TTiifortunately, we were unable to deliver them. We lost sight of the Prince Albe' t on the 13th. For our own part, there was no possibility oi moving in any direction. The berth we had taken up, under the impression that it was a good and safe one, proved a regular trap, for the drift pack not only set in upon us, but innumerable bergs came drifting along from the southward, and stopped near our position, forming a perfect wall around us, at not more than from 200 to 400 yards' distance. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to get out. The winds were light, and all motion in the ice had apparently ceased. The young ice, too, began to form rapidly, and was only prevented from cementing per- manently together the broken masses aroimd us by the fre- quent undulations occasioned by the overturning or falling to pieces of the neighbouring bergs. My anxiety daily increased at the prospect of being obliged to spend another winter in a similar, if not worse situation, than was that of the last. On the 18th the ice was somewhat looser. We immediately B Vi 258 ARCTIC JOURNAL. took advantage of it, and managed to find an opening between the large bergs sufficiently wide to admit the passage of the vessels. Outside the bergs we had open water enough to work in. We stood to the N.W., but the lead closing at the distance of a few miles, and the ice appearing as unfavouraMe as ever, I did not deem it prudent to run the risk of their besetment again at this late period of the season ; and considering that, even if successful in crossing the pad", it would be too late to hope to attain a point on the route of search as far as we had been last year, therefore, in obedience to that clause in my instructions which says, "You are especially enjoined not to spend, if it can be avoided, more than one winter in the arctic regions ;" accordingly, with sad hearts that our labours had served to throw so little light upon the object of our search, it was resolved to give it up, and return to the United States. We therefore retraced our steps to the southward. The ice that had so much impeded our progress had entirely dis- appeared. We touched for refreshment by the way at some of the settlements on the coast of Greenland, where we were most kindly and hospitably received by the Danish authorities. Leaving Holsteinberg on the 6th September for New York, the two vessels were separated in a gale to the southward of Cape Farewell. The Advance arrived on the 30th ultimo, and the Eescue on the 7th instant, with grateful hearts from all on board to a kind superintending Prcvidence for our safe deliverance from danger, shipwreck, and disaster, during so perilous a voyage. — I have, &c., (Signed) Edwin J. de Haven, Lieutenant commanding Arctic Expedition. To the Hon. Wm. A. Orahau, Secretary of the Navy, Washington. IfMJXtSmmkJb^ ' THE CAREEB. LiST VOYAGE, AND FATE OP «APTAW 8IE JOHN FRAmiN c m -•■7 Mir" Thebe cannot be a hpft^« "efore the y„„ft of 1 Lnd\T ""' "'"' P'-'J - an ensa.p,e and ^^oo^ ^7;''^^ ^^"-' 8»llant» devoted officer whose ,! t *"' °^ *« to sketch in the followir^l?™ ^ '^^^ ""^"-P'^d I have pictured f JThT r^'' ""'^ ^^"'^ "^^ -"^^g^ at Beechey Island ^d wZr' r^^ ''''°^^''' intimate pe.ona, acquaSer^S^he"'' ^'^' "^ ^^ -I^.ch he and hi. folWers plldtl r^"" "''''"="'' I" all thing,, and «*4.r T,1 " «'°"°"^ 8^^^- own high reputation by ]>ard tin ""'"^ ""' ^'^ ;--«oe, and „as in^Z^TL^l T''- ?' ^"" faonds nor to social position for aL^ni ^ "* "^ of naval fame. CombL. th Z u ^ *' ™'»''"t -d head, >ve find Th 7^1^"' '"""^^ "^ ^^"^ tl^e field of battle and in th^ , , ' ""■""^ *''« on »^/-s in the doi c;::r :;':::r~- distinguished navigator ih.i i. ^'^^ ^"« I>oro. J^ longer seaworCthelltlT'r'?''''*'^'^*^ "« ^ be Their <«,e .«« , wond tf 'ne^ten l" 7* """^S^l- breath, and women thanked tLn!""^ " ^'* bated «eamen had been spared "'" ^'^ *'"'" «"<=b bold ^oSmX\t;Kf ^"-■^'■' '•'^ -e,e and darkened with fol T ^ "'"^^ ''"b ice-fields ^-t.n's .esser^fitdrf ^-^-^-''^^^^^ «ome shipwrightWarelesrsITw ^ f/ '" J^^tyfron. were ever at the pumps t 1^1 * Y^ » '^a** of men -ek their way to'thXrthtLTe ""^ '°"^^«^' -•! SpiUberfon, clad in everlastin^l ^"" fountains of ^OB. Heavysnow.atormX^„7'"^« above «>« ^^o"" ature; «<<^ e^^;^„ ^ ™« on, with a b.tte temper- by the freeringselspray fZ^thr'^f ^'' "gS'-'^ated tbe brigs <^remeJiJCZ'f/ """^^ ^°^ "d aloft ; become as thickly cIadX„etL"b ' "^ ^"^ ^P- forest. The astonished bntCh jT! !' "" ^ ^^'^ tbe sight, whUe constant fem^:^*'* ?/« Wb at Novels the masses of ice anT ^ ""'^^ a''"' «•"! tbeir vessels and endanger 2t T"' "^"^ ^''"'""ber -el beyond Spit^berge^l^L 1?;. 7"^"^ *° P- ^ence issue twice a^ to "l S ^T *?' »" ^« vessels return to Ma»dalen. p ^* P"'*"' 'ce. 'battered from the uneqXit^"' ""' *^« •"»« un the last occasion God's r.L^A alone saved aU fi.m total syp^S'''"'' " «''. """"y ^Hebngsare^ughtinafuLltiTurlSS I 274 THE CAREER OF FRANKLIN. to heave-to under storm stay-sails. Next morning (June 30) the ice is seen along the lee, Tvith a terrible sea beating upon it — a hopeless lee-shore indeed! Close- reefed sails are set in the hope of clearing the danger. Vain hope in such a sea, with such dull-sailing craft ! Franklin, in the Trent, sees that Buchan, who was to leeward of him, cannot weather it, and that the Dorothea is about to take the desperate step of " taking the pack," a step resorted to only as a dernier resaorty in prefer- ence to falling, broadside on, into such a frightful scene of breakers and broken ice. God help them ! was the involuntary cry of those on board the Trent, and the words were the more earnest that all felt the same fate would soon be their own. The Dorothea wore, and dashed before sea and wind towards what looked certain destruction; those in the Trent held their breath as they watched the daring exploit. The suspense lasted a moment only, for the vessel, like a snow-flake before the storm, was swept into the hideous scene of foam, spray, and tumbling fragments, which formed a wall impene- trable to mortal eyesight. Whether lost or saved, those on board the Trent would never know until they like- wise were forced to take a step which seemed like rush- ing into the portals of certain death. Every hour con- vinced Franklin that such a measure was inevitable; and when he had made all ready, he gave, in decisive tones, the order to " put up the helm !" " No language," says a powerful writer and eye- witness, the late Admiral Beechey, "can convey an adequate idea of che terrific grandeur of the effects pro- duced by the collision of the ice and the tempestuous CHARGING THE PACK. 275 frible sea \ Close- le daBger. [ing craft 1 \^o vroA to e DoTotliea r the pack," in prefer- rhtful scone m I was the jnt, and the le same fate sa wore, and ooked certain eir hreath as pense lasted a tke hefore the foam, spray, wall impene- [r saved, those itU they like- ned like rush- reryhouT con- Levitahlejand Lccisive tones, liter and eye- in con-vey an le effects pro- le tempestuous ocean," or " of the great calmness and resolution of all our crew." As they near the frightful scene, Franklin glances quickly for one opening more promising than another. There is none ; it is one long line of frightful breakers, immense blocks of ice heaving, rearing, and crashing against one another with a roar above which the loud voice of the gallant leader can scarcely be heard. On the crest of a huge wave the little Trent dashes her- self into the scene of turmoil ; — there is a frightful shock, the crew are flung upon the deck, and the masts bend like willow wands. " Hold on, for your lives, and stand to the helm, lads !" shouts the clear bold voice of him who had already faced death in many forms. " Ay, ay, sir ! " is the cheery response from many a pale face but firm-set mouth. A roller dashes itself against the stern of ths brig; she must be engulfed, or be forced ahead. God be praised ! the gallant Trent forges ahead, but with a weak and staggering gait, every timber crack- ing, and the ship's bell tolling mournfully as if it were her requiem. Now, thrown broadside on, the floe-pieces threaten to beat in her side; then, tossed by the sea over ice-block after ice-block, it seemed indeed as if every minute would be her last. For some hours this trial of strength and fortitude endured — then the storm passed away, as speedily as it had set in : and apart from gratitude at their own providential escape, they joyed to see in the distance the gallant Dorothea still afloat and her crew in safety. With broken timbers, sprung beams, and the Doro- thea's larboard side forced in, both vessels exhibiting internally the fearful effects of the external shocks to pr I' 276 THE CAREER OF FRANKLIN. ■which they had been subjected, the shattered expedition returned to Spitzbergen. Franklin still urged that he might be allowed to proceed alone, whilst Buchan re- turned home with the Dorothea for repairs. Buchan, as senior ofl&cer, wisely ruled otherwise, and the two ves- sels returned to England, as we have already told. Within a year we again find Lieutenant John Frank- lin returning to the frigid zone ; but thi' time for boat exploration of the coasts of arctic America, to be reached overland by a journey through the Hudson Bay terri- tory. In 1819 he left England, accompanied by Dr, the present Sir John, Eichardson ; Mr Back ; Eobert Hood, midshipman ; and John Hepburn, an English seaman. They were heard of at long and uncertain intervals ; and eventually, in 1822, all but poor Robert Hood returned to astonish their countrymen with the tale of their hardships, fortitude, and achievements. The narrative of Franklin's journey fully bears out the glowing eulogium of Sir John Barrow : " It adds," says Sir John, "another to the many splendid records of enterprise, zeal, and energy of our seamen ; of that cool and intrepid conduct which never forsakes them on occasions the most trying — that unshaken constancy and perseverance in situations the most arduous, the most distressing, and sometimes the most hopeless, that can befall human beings ; and it furnishes a beautiful example of the triumph of mental and moral energy over mere brute strength, in the simple fact that, out of fifteen individuals inured from their birth to cold, fatigue, and hunger, no less than ten (native landsmen) were so subdued by the aggravation of those evils to LAND JOURNEY. 877 pedition that he chaii re- ichan, as two ves- Ld. n Frank- , for "boat )e reached Bay terri- jd hy Dr, It J Kohert m English L uncertain »oor Bohert 11 -with the kiievements. |ars out the adds," says records of [of that cool !S them on _ constancy Lrduons, the )peless, that a heautiful loral energy ict that, out [rth to cold, , landsmen) LOse evils to •which they had heen hahituated, as to give themselves up to iudlTerence, insubordination, and despair, and finally to sink down and die ; whilst of five British seamen, unaccustomed to the severity of the climate, and the hardships attending it, one only fell, and that one by the hands of an assassin. A light buoyant heart, a confidence in their own powers, supported by a firm reliance on a merciful Providence, never once for- sook them, and brought them through such misery and distress as rarely, if ever, have been surmounted." It is indeed a tale (I speak of Franklin's narrative) which should be in the hands of those sailors of Eng- land who desire to emulate the deeds and fame of such men as himself and his followers. It is an Iliad in prose, and replete with pictures of rare devotion to the most ennobling of causes, the advancement of human knowledge. A generous and chivalrous spirit breathes through every page, and sheds a lustre not only on every act of the leader, but likewise of those who were his comrades and friends in many a sad hour of need and danger. Those terrible marches ; the laborious ex- ploration of the regions around the mouths of the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers ; the \'.ix{%y bitter starvation of the winter ; the murder of i-''ood ; the destruction of the assassin and the cannibal ; the in- trepid effort of Kichardson to swim across the freezing Coppermine to save his comrades ; Back's fearful winter journey to bring succour to his chief; — are all tales which should be household words by every English fire- side. Franklin's safe return to England excited the most 278 THE CAB££R OF FRANKLIN, enthusiastic public interest : his devotion and gallantry stamped him as no ordinary man in the estimation of his countrymen; and the Admiralty, having during his absence made him a commander, now promoted him to the rank of captain. Thus, in twenty-two years, Franklin had achieved all that it was possible for energy and ability to win in his profession. He had acquired fame, and a captain's com- mission; henceforward the rules of the Royal Navy compelled him, as it has many other able men, to be content with the dull level of a seniority promotion to the rank of admiral. Yet Franklin was not disheart- ened ; zeal for his country's fame, more than his own advancement, was the great secret of his professional success, and he longed again to be up and doing. It was in 1823 that he married his first wife, Eleanor Porden. She seems largely to have partaken of the enterprising spirit of her husband; and when, within two short years (1825), Franklin stood by her side, and held in his hand the summons of his country to proceed upon another arctic expedition, and, with his heart over- flowing with sorrow and pride, told her how sad the conflict between love for her and duty to his country and profession, noble Eleanor Porden thought not of self, though she knew the hand of death was already pressing her down to the land of long rest and silence, and that no more in this world would she meet her be- loved husband. Forgetting self, she urged him bravely on to the fulfilment of the task his God and country had assigned him ; and, with her weak and faltering hands, worked a flag which he was to spread to the winds, and TiiE SECOND MARRIAGE. 279 gallantry aation of aring his d him to hieved all rin in his ain*8 com- ,yal Navy nen, to "be )inotion to b disheart- n bis own Drofessional ing. Ife, Eleanor ^en of the len, "within er side, and to proceed heart over- ow sad the |his country ight not of as already and silence, Lcet her he- im hravely |country had (ring hands, winds, and think of her at the moment when she proudly hoped he would reach the polar bea, that great step towards the North- West Passage — the guerdon for which England's naval chivalry then longed, and which this nohle woman felt assured her beloved husband must one day win. Thus, in this prosaic age, went forth again Captain John Franklin, in true knightly mood, to endure, labour, and accomplish much, but without achieving the darling objfect of his heart. He and his worthy steadfast friend and companion. Sir John Kichardson, in open boats, enduring much peril and suffering, explored on this occasion sufficient of the coast of arctic America to assure all geographers, that along that shore would one day he discovered the long-sought passage to the Indies ^ and in 1827 they returned to receive again at the hands of their admiring countrymen all the honours that could be bestowed, and that they so well deserved. Three years after the death of his first wife Eleanor, Eranklin married Jane Griffin; and it is singular to ob- serve how well Franklin placed his affections upon two women who, each in their sphere of action, stand forth as charming types of English wives. Eleanor Franklin dying, knowing that she never more may see the man she loves, urges him on to the execution of his duty, and enables Franklin to lay down, by his discoveries in arctic America, the foundation upon which he is here- after to erect his own title to immortality in this world, — and Jane Franklin, better known as Lady Franklin, seventeen years subsequently, not only supports her heroic husband in the great wish of his gallant heart, but when, by God's decree, the secret of his success was '■ li ■ ■ ■ t 'i- S80 THE CAREER OF FRANKLIN. hidden from mortal ken, owing to the self-sacrifice of himself and comrades, she, the wife worthy of such a naval hero, steadfastly, earnestly laboured for eleven years, sacrificing health and patrimony to learn the history of her husband's fate ; and, in spite of many failures, many disappointments, official rebuffs, and private hostility, though not without much sympathy, at last, God be thanked! worked out the great object of her woman's faith and love — that he indeed, John Franklin, had first discovered the long-sought North- West Passage, and had not lived, laboured, or died in vain. crifico of )f Buch a )r eleven learn the of many uffs, and sympathy, eat object eed, John ht North- or died in CHAPTER III. THE LAST VOYAGE OP FRANKLIN. ' And there they lay till all their bones were bleached And lichened into colour with the crags." — Tennyson. ' : 1 1 ' ** There is yet one thing left undone whereby a great mind may become notable," wrote worthy Master Pur- chas, some two centuries ago : that one deed was the discovery of a north-west passage to the Indies. Long years afterwards the words of the good Dean of St Paul's sounded like a trumpet-call to his countrymen, and many an aspiring spirit essayed to do that deed whereby bright honour and immortality were to be won. The veil which hid from human ken the mysteries of the arctic zone, was not to be rent by one bold stroke ; it was to be the test of British perseverance, patience, and hardihood. The frozen north would only reveal its wonders slowly and unwillingly to the brave men who devoted themselves to the task. The dread realms of frost and silence were only to be penetrated by the la- bours of two generations of seamen and travellers. The consummation of the discovery of the North-West Passage was to be obtained but by the self-sacrifice of a hundred heroes. 282 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. From 1815 to 1833 England sent forth her sous to the north in repeated expeditions by sea and land. The earnestness of many eminent public men, members of the Eoyal Society — such as Sir John Barrow aiid Sir Francis Beaufort — kept general interest directed to those regions in which Frobisher, Baffin, Davis, and Fox had so nobly ventured. There were no falterers ; every call for volunteers was nobly responded to by officers of the Eoyal ibTavy ; and John Franklin, Eichardson, John and James Eoss, Parry, Back, and King, with much devo- tion, toil, and suffering, forced open the portals beyond which the Elizabethan school of discoverers had not been able to penetrate, and added much to our know- ledge of the geography and physical condition of the ^'cm^sv NORTH.DEVON J BAFFIN '<:iyz'«r..^"nxH^^'*r ^ACHENZICR. NORTH AMERICA arctic zone between Greenland and Behring Strait. Fif- teen years of labour had failed, however, to solve the rREPARATIONS FOR FRESH ATTEMPT. 283 f SOUS to ad. The nibers of J and Sir i to those L Fox had every call sers of the , John and Luch devo- als heyond •s had not our know- bion of the Istrait. Fif- bo solve the question as to the actual existence of a water communi- cation between the Pacific and Atlantic. Eepeated dis- appointment had damped public zeal, and our charts were left in the above incomplete condition in the year 1836. Between 1838 and 1843, the success of Captain Sir James Eoss, in an expedition to the antarctic pole with H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, as well as the comple- tion of the northern coast-line of America by the Hudson Bay Compan/s servants, Dease and Simpson, caused the attention of the nation to again revert to its old channel — the North-West Passage. Anno Domini 1844 found England with a surplus revenue, a vast body of naval officers begging for employment, and eager for any op- portunity of winning honours and distinction; and H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, safe and sound from the perils of antarctic seas, riding at anchor off Woolwich. All was most propitious for carrying out the darling ob- ject of the then venerable Secretary of the Admiralty. A mind like that of Sir John Barrow's, richly stored with the records of his country's glories in the explora- tion of every quarter of the globe, was keenly alive to the importance of keeping her still in the vanguard of geographical discovery : and it must be remembered that he had lived in a century when men, in spite of a long and terrible war, with all its glories and all its victories, were also yearly excited by the world-wide fame of the discoveries of Anson, Cook, Flinders, and Mungo Park. Was it not natural, therefore, that he, and such as he, should desire to add to those triumphs the achievement of the greatest geographical problem men ever undertook to solve ] 284 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. The chart of the arctic regions was in the unsatisfac- tory condition shown on page 282. How simple an undertaking it appeared, to connect the water in which Parry had sailed to Melville Island in 1819, with Dease and Simpson's easternmost position off the coast of America in 1838 ! The summer of 1844 saw many an eager face poring over that arctic chart. Whisperings were heard that Sir John Barrow, Beaufort, Parry, Sabine, Eoss, and Franklin himself, had expressed strong opinions in fa- vour of another effort. The Eoyal Society, through its President the Marquess of ilforthampton, was known to have urged the resumption of arctic exploration upon the Government and Admiralty. Many an enthusiastic officer strove hard, by zeal and interest, to insure being one of those selected for the glorious work. Then it was that Fitzjames, and such men as Graham Gore, Fairholme, Hodgson, and Des Voeux, succeeded in en- rolling themselves on the list of the chosen few who were next year to sail for the far north-west. We see them now, as they told us so, and with glistening eye prophesied their own success. Gallant hearts ! they now sleep amidst the scenes of their sore trial, but tri- umphant discovery. It was at one time intended that Fitzjames (whose genius and energy marked him as no ordinary officer) should command the expedition ; but just at this time Sir John Franklin was heard to say that he considered the post to be his birthright as the senior arctic explorer in England. He had recently returned from h:' * post as Governor of Van Diemen's Land : his sensitive and gen- THE LAST EXPEDITION. 285 insatisfac- ;o connect ille Island st position 'ace poring heard that Ross, and ions in fa- through its is known to •ation upon enthusiastic insure "being k. Then it laham Gore, leded in en- m few who it. We see listening eye prts! they ial, but tri- [mes (whose lary officer) it this time considered jtic explorer h* post as Ive uud gen- erous spirit chafed under the tunmerited reatment he had experienced from the then Secretary of State for the Colonies ; and, sick of civil employment, he naturally turned again to his profession, as a better field for the ability and devotion he had wasted on a thankless office. Sanguine of success, forgetful of past suffering, ho claimed his right to command the latest, as he had led the earliest, of modern arctic expeditions. Directly it was known that he would go if asked, the Admiralty were of course only too glad to avail them- selves of the experience of such a man ; but Lord Had- dington, then First Lord, with that kindness which ever distinguished him, suggested that Franklin might well rest at home on his laurels. " I might find a good ex- cuse for not letting you go, Sir John," said the peer, " in the tell-tale record which informs me that you are sixty years of age." " No, no, my lord," was Franklin's re- joinder, " I am only fifty-nine ! " Before such earnest- ness all scruples yielded ; the offer was officially made and accepted: to Sir John Franklin was confided the arctic expedition, consisting of K.M.S. Erebus, in which he hoisted his pendant, and H.M.S. Terror, commanded by Captain Crozier, who had recently accompanied Sir James Ross in his wonderful voyage to the antarctic seas. The 18th of May 1845 found the Erebus and Terror at Greenhithe, in the Thames. On board of each ship there were sixty-nine officers and men. Every possible corner was carefully filled with stores and provisions — enough, they said, for three years ; and, for the first time in arctic annals, these discovery-vessels each had auxili- ■.■;flSg ';i ■ntt* !i^;iit , ■ i 1 1 i'l' 1 \%\l 286 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. ary screws and engines of twenty-horse power. Hope rode high in every breast, and the cry of Hurrah for Beh- ring Strait ! succeeded their last hearty cheer as the gallant ships weighed on the morrow for Baffin Bay. A month they sailed across the Atlantic before they reached their first halting-place, Disco, or the Whale Fish Islands, on the west coast of Greenland, in latitude 69° north. Thither a store-ship had accompanied them from England in order that the expedition might be completed with every necessary up to the latest moment before entering the polar ice. That voyage of thirty days had served to make the officers and men thoroughly acquainted with their chief, and with each other. Of him the warm-hearted Fitzjames writes : " That Sir John was delightful ; that all had become very fond of him ; and that he appeared remarkable for energetic de- cision in an emergency. The officers were remarkable for good feeling, good humour, and great talents; whilst the men were fine hearty sailors, mostly from the north- ern seaports." Love already, it is apparent, as much as duty, bound together the gallant hearts on board the Erebus and Terror. Away from Disco they sped with all haste ; the Bay of Baffin is fairly entered, and their long and arduous labours commence with an arctic tempest so severe, that their brother seamen of the store-ship, hastening home- ward, thought with anxiety of the deep-laden Erebus and Terror. He who is strong to save guides the gallant barks, however, past the dangers of an iron-bound coast, and amongst the huge ghost-like icebergs which glim- mer through the storm. We see them, in better weather. I! RSH THEIR PE0GKES8. 287 r. Hope bforBeh- er as the iBay. efore they he Whale in latitude mied them L might he jst moment e of thirty thoroughly other. Of "That Sir rery fond of energetic de- , remarkahle ents; whilst the north- as much as n board the Ite ; the Bay land arduous severe, that ^ening home- iden Erehus is the gallant Lhound coast, which glim- Itter weather, urging under all sail their strong hut clumsy ships before a favourable gale, along that coast of Greenland, every headland of which has its record of human trial and noble endurance. There the lofty headland of Sanderson-his- Hope (of a north-west passage) rears its crest of black granite, rich with crimson lichen, and crowned with snow. Norseman, and Dane, and Englishman, have alike sailed under its stupendous cliffs, or sought shelter in quaint Uppernavik which nestles at its feet. The Erebus and Terror may not delay. Greenland has no charms for men whose leader already talks sanguinely of the yet far dis- tant Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers. The floes and icebergs of the middle-ice now rise upon their sight ; the northern horizon gleams with reflected light from the frozen surface of the sea ; the south wind fails ; the ships sail from the black mists and fog- laden atmosphere common to open water in the arctic regions, into the bright skies, smooth lanes, and mirror-like pools generally found amongst the pack during the summer season. The ice is streaming southward ; the eager nov- ices in either ship look forward with delight to the first onset with the foe they have come to do battle with. Wiser heads know that mother- wit will do more than dashing gallantry in the conflict with packed ice ; the sails are taken in so as to reduce the speed, and the ex- perienced ice-master from the crow's nest at the mast- head selects the weakest-looking point through which to force the ships into a lane of water that winds snake-like along the landward edge of the pack. " So-ho ! steady — steer her with a small helm, my lad I " bawls out, in strong north-country dialect, the 288 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. honest old ice- pilot, who has grown grey killing whales in Greenland. " Stand by to brail up the after-sails, if you please, sir ; and to pack all the canvass upon her directly we break through the pack-edge," he urges to the officer of the watch. The churning and growling of the ice now strikes upon the ear, and at the same moment the Erebus and Terror take it manfully. There is a shock : for a second the pieces of ice hold their ground, but they yield to the weight of the ships ; one mass tilts up and slips over another, another sinks under the bows, and is heard scraping along the bottom of the ship ; the road is opening. " Hard up with the helm !" shouts the ice-master, and at the same time the sail is set forward to urge the ship faster through the pack; the speed accelerates, and in a few minutes they are fairly in the ice. "We need not follow them in their daily labour. Ice is now on every hand: open water scarce. The crews often drag the ships for hours with ropes, along the edge of the land-floe, that is still fast to the face of the glacier which curves round Melville Bay. Now we see them perfectly beset, the vessels secured to the lowest icebergs that can be found. They studiously avoid those lofty masses which, with spires and domes and steeples, resemble huge cathedrals of crystal — for they know that such icebergs are prone to turn over, or break up sud- denly, and would infallibly crush any ship that might be near them. For a while our discovery-ships met the whaling- vessels of Aberdeen and Hull, striving, like themselves, to get through the ice-stream into the clear waters of Ponds Bay. On July 26th they part company from the IN LANCASTER SOUND. last of ih ~®^ into open water-if such !,, ? *'^«* "^ "'« pack -''-e icebergs a/s ^tn X^'v r''^" "» «P«"' ej "0. shaped for LancastosS T ?t ''""^^ ^ The su„, ^hi,t j^^ hitherto wleeie/^f '"'' '«' «• without setting, again coamercert /""."I ^^^ ^''^''^ ^on Its nightlyabsencelTrn ^^ '''''"' *« ^''"i- by the new formation of ttin^fr^''"''"'''*ed ^y-i'^". The south J^^nd fit t '-' Wn as Terror press on, staggering inah ' ' ^'"''"^ «-"! passed through behind ther T^ ^"^^ J*^* ^'^'^ lancaster-his-Sound breaks ^lit ..f** *"*«"«=« "f -estwarf. Capes WarirL;' H t"'' *" ^''^ over the angiy .ea, backed bvliv^ """ 8"°^^ whose dark precipices, streaked S """"'r'^Ses, «iey were formed of steel w -T . """'' '"""^ as if . ^ "On, on ! to the westtr' " :;f ""' ^"^^'•• to stop and erect cairns Tdln V "'^- ^^ "eed g^'ss 1 Do they notTnC , ^"'''."'"""'^ «f 'heir pro- yean Have not a^ SdT" ?t *'^ ^'^'«'' "-* to Petropaulovskoi and the « *^"'.'f '^'^ '» »>« directed one precious hour atlL treSrf\K b ''t ^"'^ The ice is again seen Tf " V "e"^ labour? side of Barrow St^ft and ',;"''' •'^""'^ *« «""*«"' Bay. The ships h?^\S\h'^'"g°«'i»to Baffin The scene changes coL Sly frlb7°"'' ^«^- have seen in Greenland NoaU^ ""^ '^Pl<»^» Ulterior, and launch their i™ ^ "" '^""^"^ *»» the I iii'iKi : 290 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. emerald and turquoise; arctic vegetation, wretched as it is, does not gladden the eyesight in even the most favoured spots. They have passed from a region of primary rock into one of magnesian limestone. Green- land is a paradise, in an arctic point of view, to the land they have now reached. It is desolation's abiding-place; yet not deficient in the picturesque. The tall and escarped cliflfs are cut by action of frost and thaws into buttresses and abutments, which, combined with broken castellated snuamits, give a Gothic-like aspect to the shores of Korth Devon. Valleys and plains are passed, all of one uniform dun colour ; they consist simply of barren limestone. The sterility of the land is, however, somewhat compen- sated for by the plentiful abundance of animal life upon the water. The seal, the whale, and the walrus are there ; whilst wild-fowl in large flocks feed in calm spots under beetling cliffs, or in shallow lakes which can be looked down upon from the mast-head. It is not far to the entrance of Wellington Channel ; they reach Beechey Island, and mark the value of the bay within it as a wintering-place, and its central posi- tion with respect to the channels leading towards Cape Walker, Melville Island, or Regent Inlet. Ice again impedes their progress. Their first instructions from the Admiralty were to try to the south-west from Cape Walker. They cannot now advance in that direction, for it is a hopeless block of heavy floes ; but Wellington Channel is open, and smiles and sparkles in blue and sunlit waves, as if luring them to the north-west. Why not try a north-about passage round the Parry Islands ? urges Fitzjames. Franklin agrees with him that any- DISAPPOINTMENTS. 291 tcTied as the most region. 01 Gieen- ) the land ing.place; d escarped buttresses castellated 38 of NoTtli >ne unif oim ^ limestone, aat conipen- ^al Ufe upon us are there ; , spots under jn be looked ,011 Channel ; value of the central posi- towards Cape ,t. Ice again ructions from jst from Cape hat direction, it Wellington in hlue and .-west. Why >arry Islands! lim that any- thing is better than delay, and at any rate they deter- mine to explore it, and ascertain whither it led. Away they press northward, until what is now known as Grinnell Land rises ahead, and they have to turn more to the west. From Wellington Channel they pass be- tween Baillie Hamilton Island and the striking cliffs of Cape Majendie into Penny Strait. Eager eyes are straining from the mast-head ; is it a mere bay, or is it a channel they are sailing through 1 " Water, water ! — large water ! " replies the ice-master from his eyrie to the anxious queries of the veteran leader. Away, away they press ! — every studding-sail alow and aloft. The old ships never went so fast before — no, not on that great day in their history when they were the first to sail along the Victoria continent of the southern pole. From 74J° to 77° north latitude they pushed up this noble strait, but not, as they hoped, to reach an open or navigable sea, but to find, as we found in 1852, a wide expanse of water, much choked up with ice, extending from the head of Wellington Channel far to the westward for hundreds of miles. Baified, hut not beaten, the prows of the stout ships are again turned southward, and, aided by a greater share of success than has fallen to the lot of those who have come after Sir John Franklin in those same quarters, the gaUant Erebus and Terror sailed down a channel which he discovered to exist between Cornwallis and Bathurst Islands, and entered Barrow Strait at a point nearly due north of Cape Walker. In that direction Franklin was now constrained to alone look for a route whereby to reach the sea off the coast of North America. ■A 292 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. ^:«^i;i Ilk W ']•} It was well known that this southern course was that of his predilection, founded on his judgment and ex-. perience. There are many in England who can recollect him pointing on his chart to the western entrance of Simpson Strait and the adjoining coast of North America, and saying, " If I can but get down there, my work is done; thence it's all plain sailing to the westward." Franklin might well say this, since he and Eichard- son had explored nearly all that coast of arctic America towards Behring Strait. The fortnight, however, which had been spent in Wellington Channel, was the short period of navigation common to the ice-choked seas within Lancaster Sound. September and an arctic autumn broke upon them. Who that has navigated those seas can ever forget the excitement and danger of the autumn struggle with ice, snow-storm, and lee-shores 1 We see those lonely barks in the heart of a region which appears only to have been intended to test man's enterprise, and to show him that, after all, he is but a poor weak creature. Channels surround them in all directions, down and up which, let the wind blow from any quarter, an avalanche of broken floes and ugly packed ice rolls, and threatens to engulf all that impedes its way, checked alone by the isles which strew Barrow Strait, and serve, like the teeth of a harrow, to rip up and destroy the vast ice-fields as they are launched against them. Around each island, as well as along the adjacent coasts, and especially at pro- jecting capes and headlands, mountains of floe-pieces are piled mass on top of mass, as if the frozen sea would in- vade the frozen land. The Erebus and Terror, under the FIRST WINTEK-QUARTERS. 293 ras that md ex- recollect ranee of America, •work 18 rd." BichaTd- America , spent in lavigation ber Sound. 3on them. forget the e -with ice, mely harks have heen ^ him that, Channels up which, ralanche of hreatens to Dne hy the Q the teeth ice-fields as ■h island, as ally at pro- >e-pieces ate ja •would in- [r, under the skilful hands of their nohle ships' companies, flit to and fro ; seek shelter first under one point and then another. Franklin, Crozier, and Fits^ames are hattling to get into Peel Channel, hetween Capes Walker and Bunny. The nights are hecoming rapidly longer, the temperature often falls fifteen degrees helow freezing-point, the pools of water on the great ice-fields, as well as on the land, are again firmly frozen over. The wild-fowl and their oflT- spring are seen hastening south; the plumage of the ptarmigan and willow grouse is already plentifully sprin- kled with whitp; the mountain-tops and ravines are loaded with snow, which will not melt away for twelve long months. Enough has heen done to satisfy Franklin that a further advance this season will he impossible. Winter-quarters must he sought ; there is none nearer that they know of than Beechey Island ; the Erebus and Terror bear away for it. Fortune favours them, and they are not caught in the fatal grip of the winter-pack, and drifted out into the Atlantic, as many subsequent voya- gers have been. Their haven is reached, and with hearty cheers the ships are warped into Erebus and Terror Bay, and arrangements rapidly made to meet the coming winter of 1845-46. m 'li; CHAPTEE IV. " Oh, though oft depressed and lonely, All my fears are laid aside, If I but remember only Such as these have lived and died." — LONOFELLOW. Under the friendly shelter of Beechey Island, Franklin and his followers reposed from their arduous labours of 1845, and looked forward confidently to the success which must now attend their efforts in the following year. And they had reason to be confident ! Did they not know that, in their remarkable voyage up "Wellington Channel and down the new strait, west of Cornwallis Island, they had explored three hundred miles of pre- viously unknown channels leading to the north-west? Could they not point to Cape "Walker, and say, " As- suredly it will be an easy task next season to push our ships over the ttvo hundred and fifty miles of water which only intervene between Cape "Walker and King "William Land " ? Of course they thought thus. And that their hopes were fulfilled, though they lived not to tell us so, we now know, alas ! too well. Tlie polar winter came in upon them like a giant — ^it ever does so. ISo alternate frost and thaw, sunshine and gloom, there delays the advent of the winter. ADVENT OF THE ARCTIC WINTER. 295 ^ Tranklin labours of cess which »ving year, i they not (Wellington iCornwalUs \le8 of pre- ^orth-west 1 say, "As- push our of water and King phus. And Lved not to a giant — ^it sunshine the winter. Within the frigid zone each season steps upon sea and earth to the appointed day, with all its distinctive char- acteristics strongly marked. In one night, winter strikes nature with its mailed hand, and silence, coldness, death, reign supreme. The soil and springs are frozen adamant : the streamlet no longer trickles from aneath the snow- choked ravines : the plains, slopes, and terraces of this land of barrenness are clad in winter livery of dazzling white ; the adjacent seas and fiords can hardly be dis- tinguished from the land, owing to the uniformity of colour. A shroud of snow envelops the stricken region, except where, sharp and clear against the hard blue sky, stand out the gaunt mountain precipices of North Devon and the dark and frowning cliffs of Beechey Island — cliffs too steep for even snow-flake to hang upon. There they stand, huge ebon giants, brooding over the land of .famine and suffering spread beneath their feet ! Day after day, in rapidly diminishing arcs, the sun at noon approaches the southern edge of the horizon. It is the first week of November, and we see a goodly array of officers and men issue from the ships, and proceed to scale the heights of the neighbouring island : they go to bid the bright sun good-bye until February 1846. At noon the upper edge of the orb gleams like a beacon-fire for a few minutes over the snow-enveloped shores of North Somerset — and it is gone — leaving them to three months of twilight and darkness. Offering up a silent, fervent prayer for themselves, who were standing there to see that sunset, and for their shipmates in the ice- beset barks at their feet, that they might all be spared to welcome back the life-imparting planet, we see these Mil! 296 • THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. pilgrims from the Erebus and Terror turn back and de- scend into the darkness and gloom now hanging over their winter quarters. The tale of energetic battle, with cold privation and festering monotony, has been told. Why repeat that the officers and men under Franklin, in their first winter within the frozen zone, as nobly bore the one and cheer- fully combated the other? The ruins and traces left behind them all attest it. The observatory, with its double embankment of earth and stones, its neat finish, and the lavish expenditure of labour in pavement and pathway ; the shooting-gallery under the cliff, the seats formed of stones, the remains of pleasant picnics in empty bottles and meat-tins strewed about ; the elaborate cairn upon the north point of Beechey — a pyramid eight feet high, and at least six feet long on each side of the base — constructed of old meat-tins filled with gravel ; — all tell the same tale of manful endeavours, by physical employment, to distract the mind from suffering and soli- tude. On board the ships we picture to ourselves the arctic school and theatre — the scholar and dramatist ex- erting themselves to kill monotony and amuse or instruct their comrades. There are not wanting traces at Cape Eiley to show how earnestly the naturalists Goodsir and Stanley laboured to collect specimens: now was their time to arrange and note upon their labours. There is more than one site still visible of tents in which the magnetical observations were obtained : now was the time to record and compare such observations. And, in addition to the wondrous novelty of a first winter in the frozen sea, the officers in so scientific an expedition had * RETURN • OF SPRING. 297 I and de- ging over ation and it that the List -winter and cheer- traces left j^ with its neat finish, irement and ff, the seats b picnics in he elaborate yramid eight side of the th gravel;— L hy physical 'ing and soli- (urselves the iramatist ex- le or instruct Lces at Cape Goodsir and w was their [rs. There is jin which the lOW was the »ns. And, in Iwinter in the ipedition had abundance of employment in noting the various pheno- mena which were daily and hourly occurring around them. But at length darkness and winter pass away, sunlight and spring return ; pale faces again recover their natural rosy tint. Only three of the original party of one hun- dred and thirty-eight souls have succumbed ; * the rest, though thinner, are now inured and hardened to all the changes of the arctic climate, and exhibit no lack of energy or strength. As soon as the temperature will admit of it, parties are despatched from the ships in various directions with sledges and tents: some have scientific objects in view; others are directed to try and procure game for their sickly comrades, or to eke out the store of provisions, now reduced to a two years' stock ; and, sad it is to record it, nearly all their preserved meats were those of the miscreant Goldner. Exploratory parties were likewise not wanting ; and we who came on their footsteps in after years saw the signs of our lost comrades' zeal and industry on every side. From Caswell's Tower, which looks towards Lancaster Sound, to Point Innis up Wellington Channel, the marks of encamping-places and the trails of their sledges were frequent. It was sad to remark, from the form of their cooking-places, and the deep ruts left by their sledges over the edge of the terraces which abound in Beechey * All the traces alluded to, as well as those delineated in the accom- panying engraving, were discovered at and about Beechey Island, in 1860-61, by the expeditions under Captain H. Austin, C.B., Captain Penny, and Captain de Haven, The tombstones recorded the deaths of two seamen on January 1 and January 4, 1846, and that of a marine, who died on April 3 of the same year. %m :il 298 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. Island, how little Franklin's people were impressed with the importance of rendering their traveUing equipment DEVON ^/9 lo CSPCMCER C.RILEY. 1, 2. Ships. 3. Store. 4. Graves and Forge. 5. Washing-place. 6. Shooting-gallery. 7. Garden. 8. Cairns. 9. Sledge-marks. 10. Shooting-station. 11. Cairns. 12. Traces of station for Naturalists. TRACES LEFT AT FRANKLIN'S FIRST WINTER-QUARTERS IN 1845-46. light and portable, both as a means of exploration whilst their ships were imprisoned, and to enable them to escape if their ships were destroyed. The anxiety for their fate expressed by all of us in Captain Austin's ex- pedition, when we observed the fearful expenditure of labour which must have been entailed on Franklin's men in dragging about such sledges as they had evidently had with them, has only been too truly verified. The longest journey made by sledge-parties from the Erebus PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 299 jsed vritli ^8. ition. ition for BS IN 1845-46. (ration whilst ble tliem to . anxiety for Austin's ex- cpenditure of ^a I'rantlin's had evidently Verified. The L the Erebus c and Terror at Beechey Island, so far as we know, did not exceed twenty miles. Franklin's experience of travelling in the Hudson Bay Territory was evidently at fault in the rugged and desert region in which he was now sojourning; and he had no M'Clintock at his side to show him how, by mechanical skill and careful attention to weights and equipment, sledges might be constructed on which men might carry boats, tents, clothing, food, and fuel, and travel with impunity from February to August, and explore, as he himself has done in that time, nearly fourteen hundred miles of ground or frozen sea. However, no anxieties then pressed on the minds of Franklin's crews ; " large water" was all they thought of; give them that, and Behring Strait in their ships was still their destination. The sun had ceased to set, night is as the day, the snow has long melted off land and floe, the detached parties have all returned to their ships ; yards are crossed, rig- ging set up, sails bent, the graves of their shipmates are neatly paved round, shells from the bay are prettily arranged over the sailor's last home by some old mess- mate. Franklin, with that Christian earnestness which ever formed so charming a trait in his character, selects, at the request of his men, epitaphs which appeal to the hearts of all, and perhaps no finer picture could be con- ceived than that firm and veteran leader leading his be- loved crews on to the perilous execution of their worldly Juty, yet calmly pointing to that text of Holy Writ in which the prophet-warrior of old reminded his people of their God, " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." 300 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. The garden constructed on Beechey Island refuses to yield any vegetables from the seeds brought out from England, and so carefully sown in it; but the officers have brought and transplanted within its border every tuft of saxifrage and pretty anemone and poppy which the neighbourhood affords. The pale pink of the one and delicate straw-colour of the other form the only pleasing relief from the monotonous colouring of the barren land. Sportsmen return and declare the game to be too wild for farther sport, but cheer all by saying Lhat the deer and hare have changed their coats from white to russet colour ; the ptarmigan's brood have taken wing, the wild duck has long since led her callow young to the open lakes, or off to " holes of water," which are rapidly increasing under clifiFs and projecting headlands — all the signs denote that the disruption of the frozen surface of the sea is at hand. The day of release arrives : in the morning a hlack sky has been seen from the look-out station over the eastern portion of Barrow Strait; that, together with a low baro- meter, indicates a S.E. breeze. The cracks which radiate over the floes in every direction gradually widen, then close again, and form " heavy nips," in which the fearful pressure occasions a dull grinding noise. Presently the look-out man on Beechey Island throws out the signal. The floes are in motion ! A loud hurrah welcomes the joyful signal — a race for the point to see the destruction of the ice. It moves indeed. A mighty agency is at work ; the floes heave and crack — ^now press fearfully in one direction, and then in another. Occasionally the awful pressure acting horizontally upon a huge floe-piece 'tHWF* BREAKING-UP OF THE ICE. 301 I refuses to it out from the officers border every poppy -vvliicli c of the one rm the only tiring of the B the game to )y saying '^hat ,ts from white ire taken wing, r young to the ich are rapidly Hands— all the ozen surface of [ng a hlack sky rev the eastern ith a low haro- s which radiate ly widen, then lich the fearful Presently the >ut the signal, welcomes the ,he destruction ;y agency is at ess fearfully in iccasionally the huge floe-piece makes it, though ten feet thick, curve up in a dome-like shape ; a dull moaning is heard as if the very ice cried mercy, and then, with a sharp report, the mass is shivered into fragments, and hurled up one on top of the other. Water rapidly shows in all directions, and within twenty- four hours there is quite as much clear sea seen as there was of ice yesterday. Yet the ice-fields in bays and inlets are still fast. This is called the land-floe, and in that of Beechey Island the ships are still fast locked ; but anticipating such would be the case during all the spring-time, men have been carefully sprinkling ashes, sand, and gravel over the ice in a straight line from the Erebus and Terror to the entrance of the bay. The increased action of the sun upon these foreign substances has occasioned a rapid decay of the floe beneath them, and it now only needs a little labour to extricate the expedition. " Hands, cut out ships ! " pipes the hearty boatswain. A hundred strong hands and a dozen ice-saws are soon at work, whilst loud song and merriment awaken the long silent echoes of Beechey Island. The water is reached, the sail is made, the ships cast to the westward, and again they speed towards Cape Walker. If we open a chart of the arctic regions, it will be observed that westward of the Parry Islands and Baring Island there is a wide sea whose limits are as yet un- known, and the ice which encumbers it has never yet been traversed by ship or sledge. All those navigators, CoUinson and M'Clure in their ships, and M'Clintock and Mecham with their sledges, who have with much difficulty and danger skirted along the southern and 302 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. eastern edge of this truly frozen sea, mention, in terms of wonderment, the stupendous thickness and massive proportions of the vast floes with which it is closely packed. It was between this truly polar ice and the steep cliffs of Banks Land that Sir Kobert M'Clure fairly fought his way in the memorable voyage of the Investi- gator. It was in the narrow and tortuous lane of water left between the low beach-line of North America and the wall of ice formed by the grounded masses of this fearful pack that the gallant Collinson carried, in 1852 and 1853, the Enterprise by way of Behring Strait to and from the farther shores of Victoria Land; and it was in the far north-west of the Parry group that M'Clintock and Mecham, with their sledges in 1853, gazed, as Parry had done five-and-thirty years before, with astonishment on that pack-ice to which all they had seen in the seas between Prince Patrick Land and the Atlantic was a mere bagatelle.* It is not that the cold is here more intense, or that the climate is more rigorous ; but this accumulation of ponderous ice arises simply from the want of any large direct communication between that portion of the polar sea and the warm waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Behring Strait is the only vent in a south-westerly direction, and that strait is so shallow that this polar ice (which has been found to draw as much as sixty and eighty feet of water, and to have hummocks upon it of a hundred feet in height) generally grounds in it, until thawed away by the action of the Pacific gulf-stream; and, on the other hand, towards the Atlantic Ocean, the channels, as * See map at page 333. THE GREAT ICE-STREAM. 303 Q, in terms nd massive t is closely ice and the up to give :th to hring eally in the sd '" former i they really 'assage— the • IX, in a cairn ang William jat, "on May ^, and that Sir Lni Gore pro- his cairn and ;e can fancy ig one glance nd hastening [risoned in the aushed travel- Luces I Why, ling, does the I hardy meni Ireer of honour victory, which cheered the last hour of Nelson and of "Wolfe, rang not less heartily round the bed of the gallant Franklin, and lit up that kind eye with its last gleam of triumph. Like them, his last thought must have been of his coun- try's glory, and the welfare of those who he well knew must now hope in vain for his return. A toll for the brave — the drooping ensigi. of England trail half-mast; officers and men with sad faces walk lightly, as if they feared to disturb the mortal remains of him they loved so much. The solemn peal of the ship's bell reverberates amongst the masses of solid ice ; a group of aflfectionate followers stand round a huge chasm amongst the ice-stream, and Fitzjames, who had sworn only to part from him in death, reads the service for the dead over the grave of Franklin. Oh, mourn him not ! unless ye can point to a more honourable end or a nobler grave. Like another Moses, he fell when his work was accomplished, with the long object of his life in view. Franklin, the discoverer of the North-West Passage, had his Pisgah, and so long as his countrymen shall hold dear disinterested devotion and gallant perseverance in a good cause, so long shall they point to the career and fate of this gallant sailor. • • • • • • • The autumn comes. It is not without anxiety that Crozier and Fitzjames contemplate the prospect before them ; but they keep those feelings to themselves. The Pacific is far off ; the safe retreat of their men up the Great Fish River, or Coppermine, is fraught with peril, unless their countrymen at home have established depdts 310 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. of provisions at their embouchures ; and, worse still, the stock of food embarked in the ships will fail next year, and scurvy is already showing itself amongst the crews. At last the ice-stream moves — it swings to and fro — the vessels are thrown into one position of danger and then another. Days elapse — ah ! they count the hours before winter will assuredly come back ; and how they pray for water — water to float the ships in ; only one narrow lane through this hard-hearted pack — one narrow lane for ninety miles, and they are saved ! but if not . . . Thy will be done ! The ice-stream moves south, but slowly — the men fear to remark to each other how slowly ; the motion of a glacier down the Alpine pass is scarcely less percepti- ble. Yet it does move south, and they look to heaven and thank their God. Ten miles, twenty miles, are passed over, still beset ; not a foot of open water in sight, yet still they drift to the south. Thirty miles are now accomplished; they have only sixty miles of ice bet' een them and the sea, off the American coast — nay, less j for only let them get round that west extreme of King William Land, which is seen projecting into the ice-stream, and they are saved ! September 1847 has come in. The new ice is forming fast ; the drift of the ice-stream diminishes. — can it have stopped 1 Mercy ! mercy ! It sways to and fro ; gaunt, scurvy-stricken men watch the daily movement with bated breath ; the ships have ceased to drift ; they are now fifteen miles north of Cape Victory. God in His mercy shield those gallant crews ! The dread winter of 1847-48 closes around these forlorn and now desperate I mm COMMENCEMENT OF THE LAST STRUGGLE. 311 36 still, the next year, the crews, id fro— the er and then aours before T they pray one narrow narrow lane not . • y — the men he motion of ,ess percepti- )k to heaven by miles, are pen water in irty miles are miles of ice n coast — nay, st extreme of ting into the ice is forming — can it have id fro; gaunt, )vement with rift ; they are God in His :ead winter of LOW desperate men ; — disease and scurvy, want and cold, now indeed press them heavily. Brave men are suffering ; we will not look upon their sore trial. The sun of 1848 rises again upon the imprisoned ex- pedition, and never did it look down on a nobler yet sadder sight. Nine officers and twelve men have perished during the past season of trial ; the survivors, one hun- dred and four in number, are assembled round their leaders — Crozier and Fitzjames — a wan, half-starved crew. Poor souls ! they are going to escape for their lives by ascending the Great Fish Eiver. Fitzjames, still vigorous, conceals his fears of ever saving so many in the hunger-stricken region they have to traverse. As the constant friend and companion of Franklin, he knows but too well, from the sad experiences of his lamented chief, what toil, hardship, and want await them before a country capable of supporting life can be reached. All that long last winter has he pored over the graphic and touching tale of Franklin's overland journeys in arctic America, and culled but small hope. Yet he knows there is no time for despondency ; the men look to their officers for hope and confidence at such a juncture, and shall ho be wanting at such a crisis ? No, assuredly not ; and he strives hard, by kind and cheering words, to impart new courage to many a drooping heart. The fresh preserved provision,: on board the ships have failed ; salted meat is simply poison to the scurvy-stricken men ; they must quit the ships or die ; and, if they must die, is it not better that they should do so making a last gallant struggle for life? — at any rate, they can leave their ;■', '^ n 812 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FKANKLIN. .1 u i j i .1 , ■:"l bleaching skeletons as a monument upon Cape Herschel of having successfully done their duty. They then pile up their sledges "with all description of gear ; for as yet they know not how much their strength has diminished. Each ship's company brings a large whale-boat which has been carefully fitted upon a sledge; in them the sick and disabled are tenderly packed; each man carries a great quantity of clothing. Care is taken to have plenty of guns, powder, and shot ; for they can drag at the utmost but forty days' provisions with them, and at the expiration of that time they hope to be in a country where their guns will feed them. Every trinket and piece of silver in the ships is carefully divided amongst the men ; they intend to conciliate the natives with these baubles, or to procure food; and so far as foresight could afford the party some hope of safety, nothing has been forgotten. But one fatal error occurred — the question of weight to be dragged, with diminished physical power, has never been taken into consideration ; or, if considered, no proper remedy applied. On the 22d of April 1848 these gallant men fell into the drag-ropes of their sledges and boats; the colours were hoisted on their deL.r old ships, hearty cheers were given for the stout craft that had borne them so nobly through many perils ; and without a blush — for there was no cause for it — at deserting her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror, Captains Crozier and Fitzjames lead the road to the nearest point of land, named Cape Victory.* * So called by Captain Sir James Ross in his exploration of 1830. It was the farthest point reached on King William Land by that distinguished arctic traveller. THE DEATH STRUGGLE. 313 3 Herschel gcription of sir strengtli ags a large Dn a sledge; icked; each ire is taken :or they can i -with them, ) to be in a Cvery trinket uUy divided I the natives ad so far as pe of safety, jrror occurred h diminished onsideration ; men fell into ; the colours y cheers were lem so nohly -for there was ships Erehus lead the road ipe Victory* oration of 1830. Land by that Poor souls ! they were three days traversing the interven- ing distance of fifteen miles, and the sad conviction was already pressing upon them, that thej^ had over-estimated their physical strength and powers of endurance. Around the large cairn erected upon Point Victory the shivering diseased men cast away everything that could he spared ; indeed perhaps much that, at that inclement season, they still needed to shield their half-starved frames from the biting blast; besides which, shovels, rope, blocks, clothing, stores of all sorts, sextants, quadrants, oars, and even a medicine-case, were here thrown away. Unrolling the record left on this spot in the previous year by Lieutenant Graham Gore, Captain Fitzjames procep'^^d to write round its margin those few — alas ! too few- 1 ul graphic words, which tell us all we shall ever know of this last sad page in their touching history. The ink had to be thawed by fire, and benumbed must the hand have been that wrote those words; yet the writing is that of the same firm, self-reliant, light-hearted man, who, three short years previously, had been noted at Greenhithe as the life of the expedition. In spite of frostbites and fatigue, the party presses on. They mnst keep marching southward towards the main- land where they hope to find deer and salmon, for upon their sledges they have only got forty days' provision, and that store will be expended by the 7th of June, at latest.* How are they to live after that ? is a sad * It is well known by the experience of arctic travellers that forty days is the maximum quantity of food, in addition to other weights, that the best-equipped party could have dragged on their sledges ; and as the Great Fish River was known not to open before August, 314 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. Hi s 1 % ■■A . thought which flashes across the mind of many. They sigh, but will not impart their anxieties to each other. Seamen- like, the light joke and merry laugh still flash from mouth to mouth, and seem for the while to lighten the poor heart of its load of misery. Poor lost ones ! we mark them day by day growing weaker under the fearful toil of dragging such ponderous sledges and boats, as well as their disabled comrades, through the deep snow and over rugged ice ; we hear the cheering appeal of the gallant officers to the despair- ing ones, the kind applause heartily bestowed on the self-sacrificing and the brave. Bodily endurance has its limits, devotion to one's brother man its bounds; and half-way between Cape Victory, where they landed, and Cape Herschel, it becomes apparent that if any are to be saved there must be a division of the party, and that the weak and disabled must stay behind or return to the ships. One of the large boats is here turned with her bow northward ; some stay here, the rest push on. Of those who thus remained, or tried to return, all we know is, that in long years afterwards, two skeletons were found in that boat, and that the wandering Esquimaux found on board one ship the bones of another " large man with big bones," as they described him. On the fate of the rest of the sick and weak — and they must have formed a large proportion of the original party of 106 souls that landed on Cape Victory — we need not dwell. it must have been dire necessity alone that induced Crozier and Fitzjames to quit their ships at so early a period of the year that nearly six weeks must have intervened between the expenditure of the provisions upon their fledges and the disruption of the ice upon the Great Fish Eiver. N. THE DEATH STRUGGLE. 315 iiany. They ( each other, rh still flash ile to lighten day growing ch ponderous ed comrades, ice; we hear o the despair- towed on the arance has its hounds; and jy landed, and ■ any are to he r, and that the return to the [rned with her push on. Of L, all we know [keletons were tg Esquimaux Inother "large Ihim. On the tnd they must lal party of 106 led not dwell. ticed Crozier and of the year that Le expenditure of of the ice upon The rest push on : they have tried to cheer their ship- matec ■'vith the vain hope that they will yet return to save them — vain hope ! Yet we see them with bending bodies, and with the sweatdrops freezing upon their pallid faces, straining every nerve to save sweet life. They pass from sight into the snow-storm which the warm south wind kindly sends to shroud the worn-out ones, who gently lie down to die; and they died so peacefully, so calmly, with the mind sweetly wandering back to the homes and friends of their childhood, the long-remembered prayer upon their lips, and their last fleeting thoughts of some long-treasured love for one they would one day meet in heaven. The cairn on Cape Herschel was reached — no one had been there since '* Dease and Simpson" in 1839, except themselves. Here the last record was placed of their success and sad position, and then this forlorn hope of desperate men pushed on towards the Great Fish River; and, if we needed any proof of Franklin's Expedition having been the "first to discover the North- West Passage," or of the utter extremity to which this retreating party was reduced, we need but point to the bleaching skeleton which lies a few miles southward of Cape Herschel; that silent witness has been accorded us, and he still lies as he fell, on his face, with his head towards his home. His comrades had neither turned nor buried him. But why pursue the subject further ? why attempt to lift the veil with which the AU Merciful has been pleased to shut out from mortal ken the last sad hour of brave men battling with famine and disease 1 All we know farther of this "forlorn hope" is, that 316 THE LAST VOYAGE OF FRANKLIN. 11 Hi ,^; B.? \ ■!;<■ -. lii'^ 1 j 1 ««L«J| i.*! :,;j.|':.i^./''. P ! Ilii i ! ! 1 1 Dr Eae, from Esquimaux report, states that about forty white men were seen early one spring, dragging a boat and sledges south upon, or near, King William Land. The men were thin, and supposed to be short of provi- sions ; the party was led by a stout middle-aged man. Later in the season, after the anival of the wild-fowl (May), but before the ice broke up, the bodies of thirty persons, and some graves, were discovered on the con- tinent, and five other corpses on an island; some of these bodies were in a tent, others under the boat, which had been turned over to afford shelter. Of those corpses seen on the island. One was supposed to be a chief; he had a telescope over his shoulders, and a double-barrelled gun beneath him. The native description of the locality where this sad scene was discovered agreed exactly with Montreal Island and Point Ogle, at the oiitrance of the Great Fish Kiver; and knowing what we now do of the position of the ships and date of abandonment, and taking all circumstances into consideration, it is now vain to suppose that any survivors exist of the crews of the Erebus and Terror; nor is it likely that records of their voyage will now be found, as we may be assured that no Christian officers or men would for one moment think of dragging logs, books, or journals with them when they were obliged to abandon their dying com- rades on King William Land : and, indeed, when it is remembered that they neither cached journals or books of any description at Cape Victory or the deserted boat, it is not probable that any were ever taken out of the vessels at a juncture when the sole object must have been to save life — and life only. ORIGIN OP THE SEARCH. 317 We will now briefly relate how a woman's devoted love, and a generous nation's sympathy, enabled us to weave together this feeble picture of a terrible yet glo^ ous achievement, and at last cleared up the mystery which once hung over the voyage of Her Majesty's ships Erebus and Terror, and secured to Franklin 'and his fol! Ws the honour for which they died-that of being the Firat Discoverers of the North- West Passage i i Ml )!!;■ ■ ! If? CHAPTER V. THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. ii \ \ ■; t 1 ■ " A lady with a lamp shall stand In the great history of the land, A noble type of good Heroic womanhood." — LONOFELLOW. In 1848 the public alarm at the long-continued absence of Franklin's expedition occasioned a search to be com- menced. Sympathy for the missing ones not only ex- tended to every class of Great Britain, but spread to Europe as well as America. The action of the British Admiralty not being considered sufficiently energetic, private expeditions were set on foot. Lady Franklin, in England, and the munificent American, Mr Grinnell, were the prime movers in either country. Men of science, and others who, in their anxiety to secure to their country the palm of maritime discovery, had en- couraged the sending forth of the Franklin expedition, were in no wise remiss in pressing the Admiralty to persist in every effort to save the ill-starred crews. Sir John Barrow and his son were foremost in this move- ment. The Eoyal Society, and especially their talented Secretary, Colonel Sabine j Thomas Brown, the Linnaeus GENERAL EXCITEMENT. 319 iiued absence ti to be com- not only ex- 3ut spread to if the British ;ly energetic, Franklin, in Mr Grinnell, •y. Men of to secure to very, had en- expedition, [Admiralty to crews. Sir in this move- [their talented the Linnaeus of England, who had sailed with Franklin when a hoy, in Flinders's expedition to Australia; the great Hum- boldt, whose anxiety for further magnetical observations had much contributed to the despatch of Frankhn's expedition ; ay, even crowned heads, represented by our own much-loved Sovereign, expressed a warm interest, and stimulated the great cry of rescue which went through this earnest land. The royal and mercantile navies of Britain offered hundreds of volunteers, ready to devote themselves to the chivalrous task of seeking and striving to save their missing countrymen. Expedition after expedition was sent for eleven long years, and although it was not ordained that any of Franklin's expedition should be rescued, yet we have now the satisfaction of knowing the history of their wonderful voyage, and feel that we have done our duty as a nation in having lifted the veil of mystery which once hung over their sad but glorious fate. Those who were first sent into those frozen seas knew no more than Franklin did on leaving England of the geography of the vast region between Lancaster Sound and Behring Strait ; and in all that previously little-known area, many tens of thousands of square miles, they had to seek two atoms — two ships. The labour was long and disheartening; and, with the ex- ception of the discovery in 1850 of Franklin's winter- quarters of 1845-46, under -Beechey Island, no clue to their whereabouts was found until near the fall of 1854. That discovery at Beechey Island merely assured us that he was within the area above alluded to, and that his expedition had not perished, as some supposed, in Baffin i'SiJ 320 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. Bay. During those six years, however, the entire geo- graphy of the regions of arctic America was laid open ; one ship's company, under M'Clure, actually entered by Behring Strait, and returned home by way of Baffin Bay ; and, with the exception of a small portion around King William Land, every coast, creek, and harbour was thoroughly searched. A comparison of the two charts we have given will best prove how much of this area was explored. It was the accomplishment of these explorations by the succes- sive expeditions of Sir James Boss, Richardson, Rae, Austin, Penny, De Haven, Belcher, CoUinaon, M'Clure, and their gallant associates, that enabled Captain M'Clintock, as he very justly remarks, to confine his operations to a spot which, though last searched, happily proved to be the right one. It should be remembered, too, that these discoveries were nearly all made by our seamen and officers on foot, dragging sledges, on which were piled tents, provisions, fuel for cooking, and raiment. This arctic sledging was brought to perfection by Captain M'Clintock. He made his first journey in those regions under Sir James Boss in 1848 with the equipment then known to arctic navigators, and such as Franklin probably had, and was struck with its imper- fections, and the total impossibility of making long journeys with materiel so clumsy, and entailing so much unnecessary labour upon the seamen. His suggestions were subsequently eagerly adopted, and in some cases improved upon by others; the consequence was, that whereas, in 1848, men were only able to remain away from our frozen-up ships forty days, and explore two [li 1 IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEDGING. 321 ) entire geo- i laid open ; ^ entered by E Baffin l^ay; around King harbour was ve given will ored. It was by the succes- hardson, Bae, ison, H'Clure, ihled Captain to confine his irched, happily Q remembered, II made by our idges, on which cooking, and it to perfection first journey in 1848 with the ,rs, and such as svith its imper- f making long tailing so much His suggestions in some cases ience was, that jO remain away Ld explore two hundred miles of coast, those of Captain Horatio Austin's expedition in 1851 were away for eighty days, and went over eight hundred miles of ground. And in subsequent expeditions the journeys extended over a hundred and odd days, and distances were accomplished of nearly 1400 miles ! In spite of these improvements, the labour and hard- ship entailed upon our seamen by these sledge-journeys remained extremely severe ; and none but those who have witnessed it can conceive the constant suffering it entailed upon our men, or the unflagging zeal and ear- nestness with which they underwent it year after year, in the hope of discovering their lost countrymen. There were two points to be ascertained by the officers con- ducting the search, in order to insure the utmost pos- sible amount of work being done each season : the one was the maximum weight a strong man could drag through deep snow and over heavy ice for a consecutive number of days ; the other was, to what temperature we could safely expose them, and upon how small a quan- tity of food. The results obtained were curious. The maximum weight was ascertained to be 220 lb. per man ; and of that weight 3 lb. per diem was consumed by each man for food and fuel — viz., 1 lb. of bread, 1 lb. of meat, while the other pound comprised his spirits, tea, cocoa, sugar, tobacco, and fud for cooking. Upon this esti- mate it was found that, for a hundred days' journey, they could march ten miles per diem, and endure with impunity a temperature of fifty or sixty degrees below the freezing-point of water. These facts we ofier 322 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. j:Jn fl for the information of military authorities; and they should remember that our men dragged their tents with them, and that the country traversed was one vast desert, affording only water, while even that had to be thawed from snow, out of the daily modicum of fuel. All this labour, however — all this generous expendi- ture of the legislature of England on behalf of her people, who entered deeply and earnestly into the sad question, What had become of Franklin 1 — brought back no information of his fate : and still further to test the perseverance which forms the best trait of our national character, the fall of 1854 witnessed the aban- donment in icy seas of a noble expedition of four ships. It was indeed a catastrophe, though neither an officer nor a man was lost. The " I told you so " rang through the land of those who had long since got rid of the question by tumbling icebergs over on top of the Erebus and Terror ; and those who felt convinced that the mystery would yet be unravelled, sighed, and knew not where to look for support. The skill and hardihood of the officers, the devotion and zeal of our sailors, and the accomplishment of the North- West Passage by Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, were accepted by the public as some consolation for the wounded maritime pride of Britain in the inconclusive allied war with Russia; but it was decided on the part of the Government that no farther search should be made for Franklin. Hardly had official men declared the solution of the fate of the lost expedition a hopeless task, when in October 1854, from the shores of Prince Regent Inlet, appeared an arctic traveller, Dr Rae, bringing the infor- f FIRST INTELLIGENCE. 323 and they tents with } one vast tt had to he t of fuel. >us expendi- half of her tnto the sad J— hrought 11 further to , trait of our led the ahan- of four ships, her an officer rang through rot rid of the of theErehus [need that the and knew not hardihood of lailors, and the ige hy Captain Ithe puhlic as itime pride of Eussiajhutit ^ment that no in. iolution of the [task, when in Begent Inlet, [ging the infor- mation which we narrated in the end of the last chapter, of the starvation of a forlorn hope of forty men and officers from the Erehus and Terror, at the mouth of the Great Fish River. The Esquimaux from whom he ob- tained his intelligence, told him that the two ships had been beset or wrecked off the coast of King William Land. The lost expedition was thus reported to be in the centre of a square of un searched ground. It would have been far more easily accessible to our various expeditions, whether by way of Barrow or Behring Strait, than many of the more remote regions which our sledge-parties had explored ; but, by a strange fatality, all our travellers turned back short of the goal. King William Land, be- cause they found no cairn, no trace, no record to induce them to push on towards it. However, that there the lost ships were, no one who knew anything of the matter could then doubt ; and, of course, the natural conclusion under such circumstances was, that some one of the arctic ships in our dockyards would have been immediately sent to close the search in a satisfactory manner, even though all hope of saving life might be at an end. The Admiralty and Government thought otherwise ; all public endeavours ceased ; and, as is too often the case in Britain, private enterprise was left to crown the column which the devotion of a public pro- fession had served to erect. At this juncture the widow of Eranklin stepped forth to carry out what the admirals in Whitehall and statesmen in Downing Street declared to be an impossibility. This energetic, self-reliant lady, seconded by a few stanch friends, pre-eminent amongst 324 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. whom stood Sir Eoderick Murchison, proceeded for the third time to try to carry out by private means what ignorance, rather than ill-will, prevented the Admiralty from executing ; for after the death of Barrow and Beau- fort, and the retirement of Admiral Hamilton, as well as Mr John Barrow, the son of the Secretary to the Ad- miralty, the only person left at the Board who under- stood the question was Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, and he stood alone, we believe, in voting for a final Government expedition. Lady Franklin's plan was to send a vessel down Prince Eegent Inlet, or by Cape Walker, towards King William Land. Twice already had she been foiled in this identical scheme ; though, on the last occasion, the discovery of Bellot Strait by Cap- tain Kennedy, leading direct to King William Land, paved the way for her final effort. An appeal to the public for pecuniary aid met with but partial success, and Lady Franklin had to sacrifice all her available property, and live humbly in lodgings, to enable her to meet the necessary expenses attendant on the purchase of a fine screw-schooner, the Fox, and her equipment for arctic service. Many able officers of the naval and mercantile marine came generously forward and volunteered their gratuitous services. Amongst the first was Captain George H. Richards; but hardly had his offer been accepted, when the Admiralty appointed him to the Plumper for a survey of Vancouver's Land. His place was almost immediately filled by Captain Leopold M'Clintock, whose high reputation during years of continuous service in those frozen seas rendered his acquisition an omen of perfect success. DEPARTURE OF THE FOX. 325 ded for the leans wbat Admiralty V and Beaii- a, as well as to the Ad- \vho under- inder Milne, ; for a final plan was to or by Cape wice already ; though, on itrait by Cap- illiam Land, aid met with ,d to sacrifice y in lodgings, ises attendant the Fox, and ble officers of fously forward Amongst the it hardly had tlty appointed >nver's Land, by Captain during years rendered his Various circumstances combined to retard the depart- ure of the gallant little Fox, and it was not until July 1857 that she and her noble company put forth from Aberdeen. Eound Captain M'Clintock stood twenty- five gallant men, including three officers and an inter- preter. Allen Young, a generous captain, of whom the merchant- service have good reason to be proud, went as sailing-master, and not only gave his services gratuitously, but threw £500 into the general fund for expenses. Lieutenant Hobson of the Navy served as chief officer, and Dr Walker of Belfast, a young and rising medical man, went also to seek honour where so many of his countrymen had abeady won it. Petersen, the- Dane, who had spent half his life within the arctic zone, quitted Copenhagen at an hour's notice to aid Captain M'Clin- tock as Esquimaux interpreter; and amongst the men were many gallant sailors who had for years laboured under her Majesty's pendant in the frozen north. The Fox before long reached the edge of that vast belt of broken-up ice which all the summer stretches across the upper portion of Baffin Bay, and is known under the general term of middle-ice. M'Clintock was late, the season unfavourable, his vessel a small one, yet he fought a gallant fight to make his way to Lancaster Sound. Repulsed in one quarter, we see him doubling back to another, the tiny Fox struggling with a sea of ice-fields and icebergs — stout hearts and strong hands carrying her and her company through many a hair- breadth escape. The middle-ice, however, is too strong for them. In an unlucky hour they are imprisoned, ice surrounds them, water even in holes becomes daily less, J 326 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. winter sweeps down from her dreary home, and all that vast sea of broken ice becomes frozen together. They are beset for the winter, and must go with the ice wherever it pleases. Twenty-five men in a tiny craft drifting throughout that long dark winter, in the midst of ice- bergs and pack-ice which ever roll from the pole to the equator, was^ a strange and solemn spectacle. The calm and modest endurance of their six months' trial, as told by the gallant leader, is a thing to make one proud that such as they are our countrymen. Late in April 1858, the Fox may again be seen; she has approached the open sea; a furious storm arises, sending huge rollers under the ice, which heaves and rears on all sides. A battle for life commences between the stout yacht and the charging floes. Under sail and steam, she works out against all obstacles, and, thanks to a taper bow, escapes the destruction which would infallibly have overtaken a vessel of bluffer build. The sea is sigi^ted, and eventually entered ; all on board the Fox are well — all in good spirits — one of the company has alone perished by an accident. Fortune ever smiles upon the resolute, and the middle-ice no longer barred the road to Lancaster Sound; by the end of July the Fox had reached its entrance. The hardy whaling-men of Aberdeen and Hull, who had just returned to their fishing-ground from home, cheered the little craft on with many a hearty *' God speed ye !" and shared with those on board the Fox their luxuries of frozen fresh beef and vegetables. Beyond the haunts of whale-fisher- men, and beyond those even of the still hardier Esqui- maux, the Fox must press on. Beechey Island is reached, BELLOT STEAIT. 327 id all that They are B wherever ift drifting idst of ice- pole to the The calm rial, as told , proud that )e seen; she torm arises, heaves and ces between ider sail and and, thanks yhich would hnild. The n board the ihe company |e ever smiles (iiger barred of July the |whaling-men •ned to their ,tle craft on shared with frozen fresh whale-fisher- irdier Esqui- A is reached, and from the depot of provisions left there by our naval expeditions, the now diminished stock of the schooner is replenished ; and, favoured by an extraordinarily open season. Captain M'Clintock was able to reach Cape Walker, and pass down Peel Strait towards King Wil- liam Land, until brought up on August 17, by fixed ice, at a point twenty-five miles within its entrance. Baffled, but not disheartened, Captain M'Clintock bethought himself of the route suggested by Lady Franklin, by way of Prince Regent Inlet and Bellot Strait ; and with that decision which, combined with sound judgment, forms the most valuable qualification of an arctic navigator, ho immediately retraced his steps, and by the 20th, or three days later, was at the eastern entrance of Bellot Strait, watching for a chance to push through it into the western sea around King William Land. The scene in that strait was enough to daunt men less /iccustomed to such dangers. On either hand precipitous walls of granite, topped by mountains ever covered with snow, whilst to and fro, in the space between them, the ice was grinding and churning with great violence under the influence of a fierce tide. Like a terrier at a rat-hole, the stanch Fox waited for an opportunity to run the gauntlet through this strait. This perseverance w.'*s partially rewarded, for on the 6th September they were able to reach its western entrance, though again to be brought up by a belt of fixed ice which stretched across the path, and was held together by some islands named the Tasmania Group. The winter of 1858-59 now set in, and, much to the chagrin of those on board the Fox, all hope of reaching the western sea had to be aban- 328 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. doned, although separated from it by an ice-field only six miles wide. An unusually cold and stormy winter had now to be endured by men debilir-ated by a previous winter in the packed ice of Baffin Bay ; and the resources of Boothia Felix yielded them in fresh food only eight reindeer, two bears, and eighteen seals. Against these privations, however, there was the knowledge that their position was an excellent one, and a perfect confidence that, with returning spring, they could march to King "William Land, and solve the mystery of Franklin's fate. On February 17, 1859, Captain M'Clintock and Cap- tain Young left the Fox to establish advanced depots of provision for the summer sledge-parties, a necessary measure, which Lieutenant Hobson had been nearly lost in attempting to accomplish in the previous autumn. M'Clintock went south towards the magnetic pole, and Young westerly for Prince of Wales Land. On the 15th March they both returned to the Fox, somewhat cut up by the intense cold and privation ; but the cheers which rang through the little craft told that a clue had indeed been obtained to the fate of the Erebus and Terror. M'Clintock had met forty-five Esquimaux, and, during a sojourn of four days amongst them, had learnt that " several years ago a ship was crushed by the ice off the north shore of King William Land, and her people landed and went away to the Great Fish Eiver, where they died." These natives had a quantity of wood from a boat left by the *' starving white men " on the Great Eiver. The impatience of all on board the Fox to start with their sledges to the westward may be easily understood. The Esquimaux only said that one ship had THE FURTHER SEARCH. 329 Id only six winter had a previous le resources L only eiglit rainst these ;e that their b confidence ch to King nklin's fate, ck and Cap- ,nced depots a necessary m nearly lost LOUS autumn. He pole, and ad. On the 3X, somewhat ut the cheers it a clue had Erehus and uimaux, and, n, had learnt ?.d hy the ice nd, and her t Fish Biver, utity of wood nen" on the d the Fox to lay he easily owe ship had heen sunk; this gave rise to the hope that the other vessel would he found, and ohliged Captain M'Clintock to detach a party under Captain Young towards Prince of "Wales Land, whilst he and Lieutenant Hobson went south for King William Land and the Fish Eiver. On the 2d of April the three officers left the ship with a man -sledge and a dog -sledge to each. Of Captain Young we may say that he made a most successful and lengthy journey, connecting the unexplored coast-lines of all the land to the northward and westward, and correct- ing its position, hut without finding a single cairn or record left hy Franklin. Captain M'Clintock and Hob- son went together as far as the magnetic pole, and, be- fore parting company, gathered from some natives that the second vessel, hitherto unaccounted for, had been drifted on shore by the ice in the fall of the same year that the other ship was crushed. Captain M'Clintock undertook to go down the east side of King William Land direct to the Fish Eiver, and, taking up the clue which Dr Eae's report and Mr Anderson's journey to Montreal Island in 1855 afforded him, follow it whither it led. Hobson had to cross to the Korth Cape of King William Land, and push down the west coast as far as possible. Captain M'Clintock, when half-way down the east, coast of King William Land, met a party of Esquimaux who had been, in 1857, at the wreck spoken of by their countrymen. Their route to her had been across King William Land, and they readily bartered away all the articles taken out of her. An intelligent old woman said that it was in the fall of the year that the ship was forced on shore ; that the starving white men had fallen 330 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. on their way to the G^ at Eiver, and that their bodies were found by her couni vmen in the following winter. She told that on board the wrecked ship there was one dead white man — ** a tall man with long teeth and large bones." There had been " at one time many books on board of her, as well as other things; but all had been taken away or destroyed when she was last at the wreck." The destruction of one ship and the wreck of the other appeared, so far as M'Clintock could ascertain, to have occurred subsequently to their abandonment. No Esqui- maux that were met had ever before seen a living white man; and, although great thieves, they appeared to be in no wise alarmed at Captain M'Clintock or his men. From this party the gallant captain pushed on for Mon- treal Island ; but he found nothing more than Anderson had reported ; and in a careful sweep of the shores about Point Ogle and Barrow Island he was equally unsuc- cessful. Eeturning to King "William Land, he now struck along the south-western shores, in the hope of discover- ing the wreck spoken of by the natives at Cape !N"orton. She must, however, have been swept away by the ice in 1 858, or sunk, for no signs of her could be discovered. The Esquimaux had evidently carried off every trace left by the retreating party between Cape Herschel and Montreal Island, except the skeleton of one man ten miles south of Cape Herschel, and the remains of a plundered cairn on the Cape itself. The skeleton lay exactly as the famished seaman had fallen, with his head toward the Great Fish Eiver, and his face to the ground; and those who fancy that Fitzjames or Crozier would still FURTHER DISCOVERIES. 331 heir bodies ing winter, sre was one h and large y books on ,11 had been the wreck." of the other tain, to have No Esqui- living white 3eared to be : or his men. on for Mon- lan Anderson shores about ^ually unsuc- now struck of discover- |Cape Norton, hy the ice in le discovered. ;ery trace left [Herschel and me man ten liemains of a skeleton lay with his head lo the ground; der would still have dragged logbooks and journals to that river, must explain away the charge of common humanity which such an hypothesis involves, when they a^Dpeared not to have had time to turn over, much less to bury, their perishing comrades. Beyond the western extremity of King William Land the Esquimaux appeared not to have travelled, axid from thence to Cape Eelix the beach was strewn with the wreck of t>at ''* jtrous retreat of Eranklin's people, of which we idea', ced in an earlic onapter to convey some idea. There were one or two observations made by Captain M'Clintock and his Lieutenant that are full of deep meaning to those conversant with arctic exploration. In the first place, none of those coloured tins in which pre- served fresh meat is usually packed were found any- where along the trail of Franklin's crews, not even at what appeared to be a station for magnetical observa- tions in 1847, at which officers and men must necessarily have been encamped for a considerable period. All relics of their food, such as bones, indicated that salt meat must have been their principal sustenance at this period, and such a dietary would have been certain death by scurvy to the unfortunate men, whose stock of pre- served provisions had apparently become expended, or been found to be unfit for food, as most of the meats supplied to the navy at that period were found to be in other quarters of the globe. Had Franklin's parties had such meat-tins with them, they would infallibly have been found, for they abounded on the trail of their sledges about Beechey Island : and later arctic travellers .^. jy^m j ^iijsi JUL 332 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. have left similar traces of their journeyings behind them, which will be recognised for many years to come by any visitors to the localitie-: they have wandered over. Another fact was noticed, and that was the total ab- sence of all reserve stores of provisions^ whether salted or fresh, although there was abundf'nce of clothing left at Point Victory. This . ads to the inference that they really had had none on board their ships, except what they could drag with them on their sledges, which we know could not have been more than was equal to forty days' consumption. Had there been food on board, it seems the height of improbability that Crozier and Fitz- james would, in the first place, have abandoned their ships so long before the Great Fish Eiver was likely to break open, and equally strange that they should not have had the foresight to make a cache of provisions in store, where it would be safe from the risk of shipwreck, to which the Erebus and Terror became doubly liable after the officers anr^ men had abandoned them. All this, we thi: points to two grand facts : that, in the first place, their preserved meats had long been con- sumed, or become unfit for consumption ; and that, in the second place, they quitted the ships because all their salt meat and jmwisions were expended. Lieutenant Hobson had of course forestalled Captain M'Clintock in the discoveries made here ; but what with the search made by that officer both on his outward and homeward march, as well as that subsequently carried out by Cap- tain M'Clintock over the same ground, there cannot be much reason to suppose that any undiscovered documents exist j and those who know anything of those regions ^ / MAP OF ARCTIC REGIONS. 333 eliind them, jome by any over. the total ab- lether salted )thing left at ,ce that they except what es, which we 3qual to forty i on board, it >zier and Fitz- andoned their • was likely to ey should not I provisions in k of shipwreck, ) doubly liable them. facts : that, in long been con- ; and that, in xause all their Lieutenant M'Clintock in ith the search [and homeward >d out by Cap- lere cannot be jred documents those regions li 334 THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. li I will agree with Captain M'Clintock in believing that all hope is now at an end of finding any one living of the unfortunate crews of the Erebus and Terror. With respect to the existence of abundance of animal life on King "William Land, the fact that only forty natives in all were found living on that island by Captain M'Clin- tock, ought to be pretty conclusive ; and, furthermore, had game been plentiful anywhere within a hundred miles of the Erebus and Terror, it is not likely that those poor fellows would have quitted their ships in a season 80 rigorous, and so long before the Great Fish Eiver would be open for navigation. "We should be the last to say this if there were a shadow of foundation for further hope, either to save life or to obtain such records as would throw more light on the labours and zeal of those gal- lant ships* companies. As those men fell in their last sad struggle to reach home, their prayer must have been that their country- men might learn how nobly they accomplished the task they had voluntarily undertaken. That prayer has been granted. As long as Britain exists, or our language is spoken, so long will be remembered and related the heroic fate of the crews of the Erebus and Terror, and how they died in the execution of their duty to their Queen and country. THE END. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. K, / ig that all living of :or. With nal life o^ r natives in ain M'Clin- urthermore, a hundred ly that those in a season Fish Kiver OQ the last to ,n for further ords as would of those gal- ^gle to reach [heir country- Ihed the task lyer has heen |r language is related the Terror, and [duty to their SUBOH. MAP SHEWING THE TRACK OF H. M. S. PIONEER, IN SEAR< H OF SIR PIONEER, IN SEARCH OE SIR JOHN FRANKlilN 1851-1852 Ijlhogrxphsil by Wt A.IJohjuit.m, E.liuliui-^l