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PART


JOURNAL
OF A VOYAGE TO THE
NORTHERN WHALE-FISHERY;
INCLUDING
RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES ON THE EASTERN COAST
OF
7
WEST GREENLAND,
MADE IN THE summer of 1822, in the SHIP
BAFFIN OF LIVERPOOL.
BY
WILLIAM SCORESBY Junior,
F. R. S. E., M. W. S. &c. &c.
COMMANDER.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH;
AND HURST, ROBINSON AND CO. CHEAPSIDE, LONDON.
1823.
.
-
I
!
G
742

山
​
་
Denison
Levin
7-26·38
36721
TO THE
;
KING.
SIRE,
As your MAJESTY's reign has been peculiarly
distinguished by the progress of Maritime Dis-
covery, the author of a work closely connected
with this interesting object, is naturally led to
solicit the patronage of a Sovereign, whose
name is inseparably associated with the most
arduous and splendid enterprises of modern
times.
This volume has no other claim on your
MAJESTY'S protection, than as a contribution to
Geographical Science, a subject of inquiry,
which, under your MAJESTY's sanction and fa-
vour, especially as it regards the more inacces-
sible parts of the Globe, has become almost ex-
clusively British. It forms the first particular
viii
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAPTER IV.
Observations on the Deviation of the Compass-Sur-
vey of the East Coast of Greenland commenced-
Several Inlets and some Islands discovered, and
named-Great Errors in the Charts detected-
Bear killed-Curious Atmospheric Refractions,
CHAPTER V.
Loss of a Harpooner by a Whale-Two Whales and
three Narwals taken-Anatomical Structure of the
Narwal-Remarkable Atmospheric Refractions,
CHAPTER VI.
A small Whale captured-Remarks on its anatomical
Structure-Its Blow-hole Valves-Its Weight-
Its Physiology-Foggy Weather-Cause of Arctic
Fogs-Beautiful and singular examples of the Op-
tical Effects of Unequal Refraction-Remarks on
the Cause of these Phenomena,
CHAPTER VII.
Approach the Coast of Greenland-Survey resumed-
Several Islands discovered-Headlands, Bays, and
Islands named-Extraordinary Mountains-Ice-
bergs-First Landing on the Coast - Discover
traces of recent Inhabitation-Inverted Image of a
Ship seen in the Air, recognised-Large Inlet dis-
covered, and examined-Second, Third, and Fourth
Landing effected,
89
120
148
174
CONTENTS.
ix
=
CHAPTER VIII.
Large Inlet named, after Captain Scoresby sen. Scoresby's
Sound-Description of its different Ramifications-
Hall's Inlet-Hurry's Inlet-Researches at Cape
Hope, and on Jameson's Land-Deserted Hamlet-
Esquimaux remains- Cape Brewster - Peculiar
Tides and Currents-Great Depth of Water,
CHAPTER IX.
Coast examined down to Latitude Sixty-nine-Islands,
Inlets, and Headlands discovered and named-Re-
turn to the northward-Numerous Icebergs-Tem-
perature of the Sea at the bottom-Formation of
Icebergs, and Enlargement of Fields-Search for
Whales, at a distance from the Land, unsuccessful—
Again approach the Coast,
Page
196
227
CHAPTER X.
Again approach the Coast-Islands and Inlets disco-
vered, and named-Land upon Traill Island-Re-
lics of Natives met with-Narrow escape of the Ship
from a dangerous situation-Strong Tides in the
Opening of Davy's Sound-Researches made by
two parties of Men sent on Shore-Survey of the
Coast continued-Description of Anthelia and Co-
ronæ,
245
1
X
CONTENTS.
1
Page
CHAPTER XI.
"A Run of Fish"-Five very large Whales struck,
and three of them captured in one Day-Ice formed
on the Sea, the Air being above the Freezing Tem-
perature-Surveys and Researches continued-Ad-
ventures of some of the Fame's Crew on Shore-
Tremendous Gale-Ship grounded upon a Shelf of
Ice, squeezed off again, and providentially rescued
from a situation of extreme peril-Survey of the
Coast concluded-Indications of approaching winter
-Final departure from the Coast,
285
CHAPTER XII.
Retrospective View of Researches made upon the
Eastern Coast of Greenland-Extent Surveyed-
Mode of Conducting the Survey-Comparison with
previous Charts-General Character of the Coun-
try-Mountainous-Perforated with Inlets-Pro-
bably an Assemblage of Islands-Some of the In-
lets seem to pass through the country into Baffin's
Bay-Products of the Country-Inhabitants still
exist-Their Number considerable-Evidences of
an admixture with Civilized Nations-Currents of
the Greenland Seas-Dangers of the Autumnal
Storms-State of the Weather,
319
1
CONTENTS.
xi
Page
CHAPTER XIII.
Get clear of the ice-Remarkable Colour of the Sea-
Examination of the Cause-Innumerable animal-
cules-Stormy Weather-Faroe Islands-Observa-
tions on the Cause of the Suspension of Clouds-
Appearance of Faroe-Make the Lewises-Tre-
mendous Gale-A Principal Officer washed over-
board-Dangerous Situation of the Ship-Remarks
on Lights-Difficulties of the Navigation of the
North Channel-Arrival at Liverpool,
345
APPENDIX.
I. List of Specimens of the Rocks brought from the
Eastern Coast of Greenland, with Geological
Memoranda, by Professor JAMESON,
399
1.-Specimens found on Icebergs near Cape
Brewster,
ib.
2.-Specimens from Cape Lister, and along the
Coast to Cape Swainson,
400
3.-Specimens from Neill's Cliffs and Cape
Stewart in Jameson's Land,
401
}
4.-Specimens from Traill Island,
403
5.-Specimens from Cape Brewster,
405
6.-Loose Specimens,
General Remarks,
ib.
406
xii
CONTENTS.
Page.
II. LIST of PLANTS from the East Coast of Green-
land, with some Remarks, by Dr HOOKER, Professor
of Botany, Glasgow,
III. LIST of ANIMALS met with on the East Coast of
West Greenland, with Notes and Memoranda,
IV. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, including the daily La-
titude and Longitude of the Ship,
V. Journal of Proceedings on Board of the Hercules
of Aberdeen, Captain THOMAS FAIRBURN, on the
East Coast of West Greenland, from the 22d of
August, to the 11th of September 1822,
VI. Journal of Proceedings on Board of the Trafal
gar of Hull, Captain LLOYD, on the East Coast
of West Greenland, from the 12th to the 31st of
August 1822,
VII. Table of Latitudes and Longitudes of Head-
lands, Bays and Islands on the Eastern Coast of
Greenland,
VIII. Remarks on the Structure of Greenland, in sup-
port of the opinion of its being an assemblage of
Islands, and not a Continent. By Sir CHARLES
GIESECKE',
IX. Explanation of some of the Technical Terms
made use of in the Journal,
410
416
430
442
453
462
467
4
469
•
(xiii)
LIST OF PLATES.
Page.
I. General Chart of Surveys and Discoveries, - 1
II. Optical Phenomena of Unequal Refraction,
III. Continuous view of the Coast from Bontekoe
Island to Gale Hamkes' Land,
96
102
IV. Optical Phenomena of Unequal Refraction, 144
V. Optical Phenomena of Unequal Refraction, 164
VI. Plan of a Deserted Hamlet, discovered on
Jameson's Land,
208
VII. Continuous view of the Land on the south side
of Scoresby's Sound,
218
VIII. Comparative Map of Greenland, shewing the
Situation of the Eastern Coast, by the
Nautical Charts, by Arrowsmith, and by
the Surveys made on this Voyage,
326
1
1
1
INTRODUCTION.
THE original design of the voyage, an account
of which forms the subject of the following pages,
was the prosecution of the Whale-fishery on the
coasts of Greenland and Spitzbergen. Discovery
was an object, therefore, that could only be pur-
sued subserviently to this; but it fortunately pro-
ved compatible with the leading design we had in
view. The choice of the situation in which the
fishery should be attempted, being left entirely
to myself, I preferred the Coast of Greenland to
that of Spitzbergen. This was not only the
most promising station for success, but likewise
the most agreeable to my wishes, as affording a
hope of making researches on a coast that was al-
most entirely unknown. The result was success-
ful in both respects. An excellent cargo of
whales for the season, the fishing being in the
隳
​xvi
INTRODUCTION.
J
main very indifferent, was obtained; and a great
extent of coast, the principal part of which was
previously unknown, was investigated and sur-
veyed.
The voyage was accomplished in the ship Baf-
fin, burden 321 tons, built at Liverpool, under
my personal inspection, expressly for the whale-
fishery, in the year 1820. No expence having
been spared in the construction of this ship,
every known principle calculated for producing
strength, accommodation, sea-worthiness, and fast
sailing, in so far as these properties were compa-
tible, was adopted, and with such good effect, as
to answer, upon trial, our highest expectations.
As the fishery of Baffin's Bay, in consequence
of the great loss of shipping that has been sus-
tained on that station within the last four or five
years, will probably be pursued to a less extent
than formerly, the fishery of Greenland, in which
there have been very few losses, will rise in im-
portance.
It is therefore hoped, that the researches made
during this voyage on the Coast of Greenland,
*
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
will prove of some consequence to our trade in
this quarter, and that they will afford such geo
graphical and hydrographical information, as may
be the means of advancing the prosperity, and
increasing the safety, of those engaged in this ar-
duous business.
Hitherto the situation of the East Coast of
Greenland was so erroneously laid down, that
the charts of this country were a snare rather
than a safeguard to the navigator. Thus, a ship
taking her departure from the West Land, un-
der the supposition that its longitude was cor-
rectly laid down, would make an error of perhaps
twelve or fourteen degrees, which, in the event of
storms and foggy weather, might be productive
of fatal consequences. A much less error than
this, indeed, would take a ship into the middle of
the Northern Coast of Iceland, when the naviga-
tor imagined himself to be in the fair way betwixt
Iceland and Faroe. Owing to this cause, it pro-
bably was, that a whaler, in the year 1821, ran
on shore on the north of Iceland; though, in this
instance, being fortunately moderate weather, the
ship was got afloat again.
b
xviii
INTRODUCTION.
To the arctic navigator, therefore, the re
searches detailed in this volume may be useful,
and possibly important. But there is another
view in which these researches, as far as they have
baring on the subject, obtain a higher public
interest. This is, the reference they in some de-
gree have to the ancient Colonies of Norwegians,
planted on a coast continuous with that investi-
gated on this voyage.
Though the general history of these colonies is
well known, a sketch of the leading facts relating
to them, with the various attempts that have
1
been made for their recovery, appears to me to be
called for here, as an introduction to the Journal
occupying the following sheets.
As far as the colonies planted on the coast of
Greenland have a reference to Iceland, it may be
proper to premise, that this island was the acci
dental discovery of a Scandinavian depredator of
the name of Naddodd, who was driven upon its
coast by a storm, about the year 861,—that it
was visited soon afterwards by different adven-
turers of Sweden and Norway, and first coloni-
zed by Ingolf and Lief, two Norwegians, with

INTRODUCTION.
Xix
a company of their adherents, about the year
878. These persons, who were induced to emi-
grate to Iceland from political oppression, were
joined, in the course of a few years, by a number
of Norwegian families, who resorted thither,
a similar cause; so that they soon constit
considerable colony.
About the middle, or towards the end of the
tenth century, an extensive country to the west-
ward of Iceland, was discovered by one of the
colonists, of the name of Gunbiorn. This new
coast was visited, in the year 982, by one Eric
Rauda, a Norwegian, who had been banished his
country for various crimes of which he had been
guilty. Eric wintered on the southern part of
the coast, near an inlet, which he named Eric's
Sound; and, after spending part of three years in
exploring it, he returned to Iceland. For the
purpose of encouraging persons to become settlers
in this country, he denominated it Greenland,
and gave a most exaggerated account of its pro-
ducts and appearance. In consequence of his re-
presentations, a fleet of twenty-five sail was short-
ly afterwards equipped, which, laden with people
b 2
4


xx
INTRODUCTION.
:
of both sexes, and the requisite stores and cattle
for forming a settlement, put off for Greenland;
but only fourteen of the fleet arrived safe at their
destination. The people in this part of the fleet,
er, planted themselves on the new coast,
soon joined by others, both from Ice-

respecome
way, they, in a few years, became a
ony.
Christianity was introduced into Norway to-
wards the end of the tenth century, by Bernard
and Guthebald, it is said, two British Mission-
aries, and was embraced, and zealously promoted
by the King, Olaus Tryggeson. Leif, the son of
Erie Rauda, having made a voyage to Norway
in the year 999, gave Olaus an account of the
new colony in Greenland. On which the king,
in his zeal for the extension of the true faith,
prevailed upon Leif to be baptized, and to take
out with him a Christian missionary, on his re-
turn to Greenland. By their means Paganism
began to be relinquished, and the milder dispen-
sation of the Gospel was soon introduced, and
generally received both in Greenland and Ice-
land.
INTRODUCTION.
xxi
At this time the Greenland colonies seem to
have been in a very flourishing state. They be-
came a bishoprick in the year 1121, when, ac-
cording to Torfæus, Arnold, the first regularly
installed Bishop, was delegated to the office by
Sigurd, king of Norway.
The colonies are stated by Crantz, and others,
to have extended from Cape Farewell, the
southern point of Greenland, five or six degrees
of latitude towards the north, both on the east
and west side of the country. About sixteen
churches are mentioned as having been built on
these coasts. Crantz informs us, that there were
nineteen bays or inlets, that were inhabited on
the east side. On these were planted a hundred
and ninety farms or hamlets, constituting twelve
parishes, with the Bishop's see, and two convents.
And, on the west side, it appears that there were
nine cultivated inlets, on which ninety, or, as
some say, one hundred and ten hamlets were
built, that constituted four parishes.
This information, which I have taken principal-
ly from Crantz's interesting and excellent "His-
xxii
INTRODUCTION.
*
σε
tory of Greenland," is, in the main, derived
from an Iceland Chronicle by Snorro Sturlesen,
who was Justiciary of this island about the year
1215. This chronicle was the principal source
on which Thormoder Torfæus, a native of Ice-
land, founded his Groenlandia Antiqua, a work
which Crantz intimates he principally followed.
In consequence of the total want of success in
all the researches that have been made for the
recovery of the eastern colonies, some persons
imagine that the site of the colonies was only on
the western side of Cape Farewell. For sup-
porting this opinion, a treatise on the real situa-
tion of Osterbygd, in Greenland, by M. Peter
von Eggers, recently appeared in Denmark.
But there is one unfortunate fact mentioned by
the author, respecting the course and time of
sailing from Iceland to the colonies, the truth of
which he does not question, that appears to me
to overthrow the whole of the ingenious reason-
ing brought forward in the treatise. One author,
Eggers observes, recommends navigators to steer
south-west from Iceland, instead of the usual
direct course, to avoid the ice, and then north-
INTRODUCTION.
xxiii
west to Greenland. These courses, it is clear,
must bring the navigator to the eastern coast, if
he reached the coast at all, whatever be the dis-
tances sailed. And other authors, both Ice-
landic and Danish, represent the time required
for reaching the colonies as such, when compared
with the length given to the voyage from Nor-
way to Iceland, that, to accomplish the distance
round Cape Farewell, Eggers is obliged to take
into account the currents running towards the
south-west; but these, it should seem, if calcula-
ted at their known rate, will by no means make
up the required distance.
Hence, I conceive, that there is yet no suffi-
cient ground for rejecting the opinion of Torfæus,
Crantz, and various other authors, as to the dis-
tribution of the colonies on both sides of Cape
Farewell, as well on the eastern as on the wes-
tern coast.
From a list of the Bishops of Greenland, as
given by Torfæus and Holberg, it appears that
seventeen were sent out to the colonies in regular
succession, the last of whom, Andrew, embarked
xxiv
INTRODUCTION.
F
1
for this station in the year 1408. His predeces
sor Henry, however, was the last Bishop who
was known to reach his see, for Andrew is said
to have been prevented from landing by the ice.
The scanty annals of the Greenland colonies
here come to a close, after which period, 1406 or
1408, the trade with Iceland and Norway, that
had previously been considerable, was discon-
tinued, and, it would appear, no intercourse be-
tween Iceland and Greenland was ever after ac-
complished.
Various are the speculations on this strange
suspension of intercourse. Some attribute it to
the extermination of the colonists, either by the
Skrællings (or wild Greenlanders), or by a re-
markable pestilence called the black death, which
raged about the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury, and spread all over Europe. Others ac-
count for it by the sudden setting down of the
polar ice, which, inclosing the eastern coast and
Cape Farewell, as it generally does at the pre-
sent day, cut off all communication with the pa-
rent countries, deprived the colonists of their
INTRODUCTION.
XXV
usual supplies, and became the means of their
extinction.
Which of these causes may have occasioned
the loss of the colonies to Iceland and Norway,
or the suspension of the intercourse, is a question
of comparatively little moment; but the deter-
mination of the fact of their total extinction, or
their present existence, is an inquiry of a high
degree of interest and importance.
If they still exist, What are their present state
and situation, their mental and moral condi-
tion? They were a civilized and perhaps intel-
ligent people: To what extent has intercourse
and admixture with the native Esquimaux, bar-
barized their manners, and reduced their men-
tal faculties? They were a Christian people :
To what extent has the force of example and in-
corporation with a heathen nation, been produc-
tive of demoralization, and the loss of the benign
influences of Christianity?
These are questions, which, to humanity in
general, and to Christian philanthropy in parti-
1
xxvi
INTRODUCTION.
cular, are of deep and intense interest. But,
while I regret that the researches detailed in
the succeeding pages do not afford decisive an-
swers to these inquiries, I have the satisfaction of
believing that they have some bearing upon the
question of the present existence of the ancient
colonies. As such, I am anxious that they may
be the means of calling the public attention more
strongly to the fate of this interesting people,
with the hope that those in office, who have the
power of ordering the needful investigations, may
be induced to pursue the requisite steps for ob-
taining information concerning them. And this
I would urge, not simply as an object of curiosity,
but with a view of restoring them to the privi
leges and advantages of that Christian intercourse
and fellowship, of which they have been so long
deprived.
That these colonists were exterminated at the
time of their separation from the rest of the
world, may be shewn to be extremely improbable,
from a variety of considerations.
In respect to their destruction by the "black
INTRODUCTION.
xxvii
death," I do not find that there is any certain ac-
count of this plague having ever reached the
country. Crantz only negatively argues, that, as
this contagion prevailed most in the northern
parts of Europe," it may be well supposed, that
"it
Greenland, too, must have been infected, through
its frequent commercial intercourse with Nor-
way." And, in regard to their destruction by
the Skrællings, the proofs are equally negative
and inconclusive. These people made their ap-
pearance on the west side among the colonists,
in the time of Alpho, the 11th Bishop of Green-
land, probably about the year 1350. "They are re-
ported to have killed eighteen of the Norwegians,
and to have carried away two boys prisoners;"
but "the ancients record no other circumstances
of war." As the Skrællings are represented as a
very cowardly race, whereas the colonists were
known to be a brave people,-" How then," in-
quires the judicious Crantz," should they be ca-
pable of over-matching the valiant Norwegians,
these sons of conquerors, in their well peopled
colonies, and barricadoed by craggy rocks; and
of extirpating them so totally, that we have not
hitherto been able to trace any footsteps of them ?"
i
xxviii
INTRODUCTION.
I do not affirm this, he adds, "but regard it as
a groundless notion."
:
Hence, the only remaining reason usually
given for their extinction, is the interception of
their supplies by the setting down of the polar
ice. Admitting the truth of the sudden impri-
sonment of the colonists, by the spreading of an
icy zone along their coasts, the question of their
destruction from this cause is purely conjectural.
It goes on the supposition that they could not
exist in this severe region, without assistance
from the parent country, which is any thing but
proof, since the Esquimaux are known to exist, if
not thrive, on their own resources only, on the
very same coast.
It is not only evident, however, that the proofs
of the depopulation of the colonies, at the time of
their separation from the rest of the world, are
decidedly defective and negative; but, on the
contrary, as Crantz declares," it is certain some
traces of them were perceived long after this."
Thus, about the year 1530, Bishop Amund of
Skalholt in Iceland, is said to have been driven
1
INTRODUCTION.
xxix
by a storm, on his return from Norway, so near
the coast of Greenland, by Herjolf's Noss, that he
could see the people driving their cattle. But
he did not land, because just then a good wind
arose, which carried the ship the same night to
Iceland. The Icelander Biorn von Skardsa,
whom Crantz here quotes, gives other evidence
on this subject. He relates, that Tom Groenlan-
der, a Hamburgh sailor, was driven three times
upon the coast of Greenland, where he saw fishers'
huts, similar to what they have in Iceland. And
he further mentions, that an oar, marked with
a sentence in Runic characters,-pieces of the
wreck of boats,—and, in the year 1625, an entire
boat, fastened together with sinews and wooden
pegs, were from time to time driven on shore at
Iceland.
The modern accounts of the state of the east
coast of Greenland entirely rest on oral testimony.
One relation of this kind was communicated per-
sonally, it appears, to the missionary Crantz, by
a party of Greenlanders, from the east coast, who
visited some of their relations at Newherrnhuth,
in the summer of 1752.
"
-
.
XXX
INTRODUCTION:
One of the party, of the name of Kojake, who
lived sixty leagues up the east side of the coun-
try, informed the missionaries, that, in the pre-
ceding winter, he had lodged two men, who said
they had made a thrée years excursion along the
eastern coast in a women's-boat. They passed the
first winter by the way,-in the second year they
proceeded to the northward as far as the ice would
permit, and in the third they returned home.
They proceeded to so high a latitude, that the
sun, at mid-night, illuminated the tops of the
mountains with its rays. In some places the ice
was close in-shore, so that they had to place their
tent and boat upon a sledge, and draw it across
the ice by dogs. They described the people on
the east side as taller than those on the west, and
that they had black hair and large beards. The
inhabitants were numerous, and the animals, on
which they subsisted, plentiful. They saw a fine
inlet, but did not enter it, for fear of the canni-
bals, which are said to live in that place, and of
which all Greenlanders have a dread from former
times. In the opinion of Kojake they became
cannibals at first out of necessity, because once,
in a great famine in winter, they had nothing
INTRODUCTION.
xxxi
but human flesh to eat; and, as they relished it,
they had now inured themselves to this strange and
unnatural food. "They do not like to slaughter
middle aged people, even in a time of dearth, but
only old people and forsaken orphans; and they
will preferably spare their dogs at such a time,
because of their usefulness, and slay some unne-
cessary person in their stead." He also added,
among several other curious particulars related
by Crantz (vol. i. p. 267.), that they build their
houses of stone, like the Greenlanders, and lay
wooden rafters on the walls. But wood is there
very scarce, and iron very rare, so that there is
great joy, if they happen to find a nail in the
wood that the sea drives upon their shores.
:
Another account, communicated to one of the
factors in the modern western settlements, was
to this effect. A Southlander, who wintered at
the colony in the year 1757, stated, that there
were people who lived in a certain inlet, on the
east side of the country, who came down every
spring in pretty large numbers to the sea coast.
The Greenlanders fly from these men in their
boats to the islands, who cannot follow them for
xxxii
INTRODUCTION.
!
want of boats; but being of a cruel disposition,
they shoot after them with arrows, which they
earry in a quiver upon their backs.
"If this report could be depended on,” Crantz
observes, "we might suppose that these men, and
the above mentioned cannibals, were both one
people, who, descended from the old Norwegians,
had sheltered themselves from the savages in the
mountains, lived in enmity with them, out of re-
sentment for the destruction of their ancestors,
pillaged them in the spring, when sustenance
failed them, and were looked upon by the sava-
ges as men-eaters, and fabulously represented
through an excess of fear."
It is rather curious, that some collateral cir-
eumstances are considerably in favour of the truth
of what these Esquimaux reported. Crantz men-
tions a rumour that reached Norway, about the
year 1718, of a vessel belonging to Bergen having
been wrecked in the ice on the coast of Greenland,
and of the crew, who retreated to the land, having
been "murdered, and voraciously eaten by the
savages." Which frightful tale, he adds, "was
鳌
​INTRODUCTION.
xxxiii
not altogether groundless." And Sir Charles
Giesècké informs me, that the Esquimaux on
the western side of Greenland retain, even at the
present day, a great fear of the inhabitants of
the eastern coast, whom they describe as barba-
rians, and are apprehensive, lest, at any time,
they should come over and kill them. With
reference to the arrows said to be used by these
people, it may also be mentioned, that a piece of
an instrument, perhaps of this kind, formed of
bone and iron, resembling the head of a small
dart or arrow, was found by one of my sail-
ors, on a part of the coast we visited, which in-
strument, it appeared to me, was totally un-
like those generally used by the native Esqui-
maux.
To these statements, intimating the present
existence of the descendants of the ancient colo-
nists, others of a less decisive kind, from Crantz,
and some which resulted from my personal re-
searches, might be added; but the former may
be seen in the " History of Greenland,” (vol. i.
book iv. ch. i.) and the latter in the succeeding
Journal. One fact, however, which has been
C
xxxiv
INTRODUCTION.
omitted in the Journal, may be added. Among
the numerous relics of inhabitants which we met
with on the east coast of Greenland, was an appa-
ratus that was found by my father, resembling the
fox-trapused by the Russian hunters, who occasion-
ally winter on the coasts of Spitzbergen. This trap
was formed principally of wood. It was thought
to be a relic of the colonists, who having origi-
nally come from Norway, were likely to be ac-
quainted with the contrivances used in a country
nearly adjoining their own, for catching foxes, and
other small animals. On the whole, I hope,
therefore, that enough has been said to prove,
that the total depopulation of the colonies is by
no means certain; but, on the contrary, it is
more than probable, that some remains of these
people still exist.
It is no proof of the natives of this coast being
purely Esquimaux, that the huts which I disco-
vered were all of the description used by these
people, because, on the suspension of the supplies
formerly afforded the colonists from Iceland and
Norway, they would consequently conform, from
necessity, to the manners of the Esquimaux, as
INTRODUCTION.
XXXV
1
being the most suitable possible to the nature of
the climate, and the resources and circumstances
of the inhabitants.
For the credit of the civilized world, it ought
to be mentioned, that the ancient Greenland co-
lonies have not been wholly forgotten, nor totally
neglected. Denmark has made several attempts
for the recovery of them; but it is an extraordi-
nary fact, that none of her expeditions to the east-
ern side of Greenland (one perhaps excepted) have
ever reached the coast.
About the middle of the sixteenth century, the
first expeditions, of which we have any account,
were dispatched from Denmark, in search of the
ancient colonies in Greenland. Among these,
Magnus Heinson, who passed for a renowned sea-
man in his day, was sent out by Frederick II.,
King of Denmark, in the year 1578. After en-
countering many difficulties and dangers from
storms and ice, he obtained sight of the east coast
of Greenland; but, after proceeding some time
towards it, without appearing to get any nearer,
though circumstances were very favourable for
;
xxxvi
INTRODUCTION.
î
his approach, he became alarmed, tacked about,
and returned to Denmark. On his arrival, he
attributed this extraordinary circumstance, mag-
nified no doubt, by his fears, to his vessel having
been stopped in its course by "loadstone rocks
hidden in the sea." The true cause, however,
of Heinson's not appearing to near the land when
sailing with a fair wind towards it, was owing, I
apprehend, to the deceptive character of the land,
as to distance, some examples of which are no-
ticed in the ensuing pages.
4
}
About the same period, Martin Frobisher made
three voyages towards the north-west, under the
auspices of Queen Elizabeth. He discovered
Meta Incognita,-a strait called by his name,-
and several other unimportant places; but the ac-
counts of his voyages are so vague, that it is not
satisfactorily made out whether these lands and
inlets were on the coast of Greenland, or on that
of Labrador. The search after gold-ore, of which
some is said to have been found on the first voy-
age, seems to have been a leading object in the
last two voyages of Frobisher.
"
INTRODUCTION.
xxxvii
In the year 1605, Christian IV. of Denmark
sent out an expedition of three ships, towards
Greenland, under the direction of Gotske Linde-
nau, as admiral, and James Hall, an Englishman,
as pilot. Hall landed on the west side of Green-
land, and, according to Crantz, seized four of
the natives, who being wild and untractable,
he was "obliged to kill one of them, to strike a
terror into the rest." Lindenau, meanwhile, ap-
proached the east coast, or rather, as Mr Barrow
suggests, the coast about Cape Farewell, where,
it is said, he traded with the natives, though he
did not land; and, at his departure, seized two
of them, and took them away with him. "There
was no resemblance between these men and those
taken by Hall, neither in their language, dress,
nor manners.'
The next year Lindenau and Hall were em-
ployed a second time in the same service; but
they only appear to have visited the western coast
of Greenland, where nothing of consequence was
discovered. Hall, in a third voyage, with two
ships, undertaken in 1607, returned, after ha-
Xxxviii
INTRODUCTION.
1
L
ving got the length of Cape Farewell, the crew
having mutinied.
After this, Captain Carsten Richardson, with
two ships, was dispatched on a similar service, by
the King of Denmark, but he could not get near
the land for ice.
In 1652, another expedition, of two ships, was
sent out from Denmark, under Captain Dannell.
The east coast, at intervals, was seen from lati-
tude 65° 30′, to Cape Farewell, but no landing
was effected. And the year following, a second
examination of the coast was undertaken by the
same navigator. The east coast was again seen,
but only at a distance, from Herjolf's Noss to
Cape Farewell.
The recovery of the colonies seems now to
have been lost sight of by the Danes for a num-
ber of years, until the subject was revived by Hans
Egedé, a clergyman belonging to the congrega-
tion at Vogen, in the northern part of Norway.
Egedé had read of the Christian inhabitants who
INTRODUCTION.
xxxix
had formerly had colonies in Greenland. He
felt an interest in their fate, and made inquiries
of a friend who had been much in the whale-
fishery, respecting the present state of the coun-
try; and supposing, from the information he re-
ceived, that the poor colonists were still in exist-
ence, and, he feared, through the want of teachers,
had reverted into a state of heathenism, he
thought it "the duty of every Norwegian, to
search out his forlorn countrymen, and to carry
the Gospel to them." He himself at length de-
termined on undertaking the work; and after try-
ing various means, for ten years, to bring his plans
to bear, eventually obtained the needful supplies,
and an appointment to the laborious and perilous
office of missionary to the Greenlanders.
He embarked on this arduous business on the
22d of May 1721, and landed, after many dan-
gers, near Ball's River, on the western coast of
Greenland, on the 3d of July following. Here
he fixed himself, and a few persons that accom-
panied him, and thus formed a little colony in
this severe region. The difficulties and priva-
•
xl
INTRODUCTION.
tions he suffered, could not have been sustain-
ed, excepting by a person like Egedé, who was
zealously devoted to the duty to which he be-
lieved himself, in the dispensation of Providence,
to be called.
In 1733, three Moravian missionaries proceed-
ed to the colony, to whom Egedé, three years af-
terwards, relinquished the arduous office that he
had sustained so long, almost alone, and returned
to Denmark, with part of his family. This co-
lony, which subsequently increased to a num-
ber of stations, has been continued, partly by the
Danish government, and partly by the aid of tra-
ding companies, down to the present day; and
the hardy and indefatigable Moravians, among
whom was the celebrated Crantz, have continued
to labour among the Esquimaux with undimi-
nished zeal.
1
Egedé, and other missionaries, have made at-
tempts, at different times, for the recovery of the
lost colonies; but although ruins of churches, and
other buildings, were discovered on the west side
TALÁ
ૐ
INTRODUCTION.
xli
of Cape Farewell, nothing to the eastward of the
Cape was accomplished. One of the ruins met
with by Egedé, between the 60th and 61st de-
gree of latitude, was that of a church fifty feet
long, and twenty broad, in the clear, and the walls
six feet thick.
Besides the examinations respecting the lost
colonies by the missionaries, the Greenland tra-
ding companies of Denmark and Norway have
made several unsuccessful attempts to accomplish
the same object.
Another expedition for the recovery of lost
Greenland remains only to be mentioned. Cap-
tain Lowenorn and Lieutenant Egedé were sent
out from Copenhagen on this design, in the year
1786. They made several trials to reach the
coast, about the parallel of 65°, without being
able to approach nearer than about fifty miles,
on account of ice. Lowenorn returned to Den-
mark the same summer, and Egedé to Iceland to
refit. The latter then made another attempt,
in the month of August, when he reached within
ten miles of the land, and then proceeded to Ice-
d
xlii
INTRODUCTIOŃ.
.
land, where he wintered. The next year, Egedé,
with two small vessels, one of them commanded
by Lieutenant Rothe, made other trials to ap-
proach the coast of Greenland, but with less suc
cess than before, never being able to reach the
land within thirty miles.
1
Such a great number of failures, without at-
taining any part of the object for which the dif
ferent expeditions were sent out, was sufficiently
discouraging to prevent a renewal of an enter-
prize that was only productive of mortification to
the navigators, and disappointment to the govern-
ment. Extraordinary, however, as these failures
have been, it is presumed that the account of my
recent voyage to this country will prove, that the
coast is not inaccessible at the present time; but,
on the contrary, that, under sufficient enterprize,
and in certain positions, it might be visited an-
nually. If the coast, from the Arctic Circle to
Cape Farewell, be really defended by a barrier of
ice that is impenetrable, of which I have very
great doubts, the course to be pursued must be a
parallel betwixt the latitude of 69° and 75°, in
some part or other of which limits, and frequent-
INTRODUCTION.
xliii
1
1
ly in many different places, it appears to me the
coast may be reached every summer. And, when
the navigator once gets betwixt the ice and the
land, there would be no great difficulty, I appre-
hend, in reaching any of the stations of the old
colonies, even down to Cape Farewell, the south-
ern promontory of Greenland.
F
JOURNAL, &c.
1
69
70
71
72
75
1

3/0
29
28
27
26
25
24.
25
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
TREFFENDTE
TOREKOLT
ENDUR
GALE HAMKE'S LAND
GALE HAMKE'S BAY
C.Bright
KATER BAY
74
A
CHART
OF ORIGINAL
SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES
Made on the East coast of
GREENLAND
IN THE SHIP
Baffin of Liverpool
When on a Whaling Voyage in the Summer of 1822.
By WILLIAM SCORESBY JUNṚ
R
C.Brinkley
SCOTTS INLET
C.Arundel
73
Surveyed, Projected, and Drawn by H. Scoresby Jun?
URNAMENT
2/7
MILNE
LAND
A.H.Lizars Sculp*
Werner Mounts
C.Seaforth
HALLS
C.Beaufoy
C. Clark
WOLLASTON FORELAND
C.Herschell
YOUNGS BAY
C.Brisbane
↑ Jackson I.
HOME'S FORELAND
CHollond
HOLD-WITH-HOPE
Pennet I.
MACKENZIES INLET
C.Gusecke
C. Franklin
C.Humboldt
BONTEKOE ISL
C.Rosel
C Laplace
C. Keitch
Freycinet
i
July 17
C.Pictet
Craig 13
TRAILL ISL
DA
Cape Parry
MOUNTNORRIS INLET
Rock
Young
10 Aug.
C. Moorsom
C.Simpson
11. Aug. O
15. Aug.
SOUND
118
Aug 3
192 fatli.
VY
C.Biot
IN LET
C. Rofsily
C.Brown
SMITHS I?
Strong Inset into this Sound
Aug 20
C Wardlaw
(.Allen
Aug 20
Var.45224 W.
July 8
FLEMING
C.Carnegie
Rof's
(„Krusenster
C.Buch
C. Tait
C. Greville
CWood.
C. Macknight
LAND)
LE
IN L
T
Point Constable A
0
CANNING ISLAND
C.Fletcher
Church M
Fances
Cape
Gladstone
Murray L.
Reynolds T.
C.Hewitt
Neild Bay
C. Topham
Campbell & Bay
C. Smith
(Tattershall
C.Jones
© July19
. Buddicom
C. Greg
JAM E SON-
HURRYS
Holloway Bay
Glasgow I
Sandbach I.
July 200
155
RoscoeMts
Rathbone I.
R
Raffles I.
23 July
Cape Hodgson
CLister
© July 24
Cape Thin
CSwainson
C.Leslie
IN LET
SCORE
C.Stevenson
Neill Cliff's
C.Hooker
SBY S
CHope
Esquimaux Hamlet
C. Stewart
July 25
305
SOUND
Var45W 310
July 27
Cape Dalton
C. Ewart
KNIGHTON BAY
C. Barclay
Wallace Bay
C.Rufsel
Cape Bewster
C.Pillans
Steward I.
Manby 1ª
Turner Id
July 29
Henry I.
}
!
Jnly 12
26 Aug.
Ο
135
July 31
June 26
O
Juuell.
June 13
June 18
!
June 17
Var:43:15 W.
T
G
R
E
E
June 10
O
Var.42.8 W.
DD
S
REFERENCES.
Coast laid down from Intersecting Bearings,
Mountainous Land laid down from single bearings with estimated distances,
Land seen by the Officers of the BAFFIN in boats;-position somewhat uncertain,
Probable line of Coast
>
Stations determined by celestial observations
1
!
E
A
2/6
25
24
213
22
Longitude
21 West
of
20
Greenwich 19
18
17
16
TERMANETU PRELIA WAMEINIK JU MA
69
70
71
72
AHRYKERETA ABIANICHINIM
73
MANTRASTERAANDIKULUANIZOVAYALALA NAJI
EMATATATAISITAMOHDALLHA
74.
75
!
JOURNAL, &c.
CHAPTER I.
PROCEEDINGS DURING THE PASSAGE FROM LIVERPOOL
TO THE FISHING-STATIONS.
THE ship Baffin of Liverpool, under my com-
mand, was equipped for her third voyage to the
Greenland whale-fishery, in the spring of the year
1822.
On the 18th of March, the crew, consisting of
a complement of 50 men, was completed, and
mustered by the Tide-surveyor of the port, ac-
cording to the legal form required for whale-ships.
On the 22d, we cleared at the Custom-house;
but were prevented from sailing by strong west-
erly winds, which prevailed for several days.
Wednesday, 27th March.-The weather be-
ing fine and moderate, and the wind rather fa-
A
2
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
!
vourable than otherwise, we made the signal for
sailing, though quite doubtful whether we should
be able to proceed to sea or not. At half-past
twelve we passed the dock-gates, and warped out
to the pier-head, from whence we took sail, and
stood into the river. Finding all hands on board,
excepting two, a deficiency which I had fortu-
nately provided for, by engaging two men in ad-
dition to our usual number, we reached down the
river, and, on the ebb, worked out of the Rock
Channel with the wind at WSW *. At this
time, nearly 500 sail of ships were lying in the
different docks wind-bound; but scarcely any of
them attempted to put to sea on this occasion, as
the wind was not suitable for the South Chan-
nel, the outlet most suitable for the voyages to
which the principal part of the fleet was des-
tined.
The pilot left us at the Floating-light, at 6 P.M.
In the night, we had strong gusts of wind from
* All references to points of the Compass, throughout
this Journal, it should be observed, are subject to a correc-
tion of from two to four points towards the West, for the
Variation, excepting where an accurate bearing or direction
was of consequence: in this case, corrections, both for
"deviation" and " variation,” have been made, and are in-
variably distinguished by the word "True," connected with
the bearing or direction then mentioned.
1
1
LIVERPOOL TO LOCH RYAN.
3
the SW so that, by carrying a pressure of can-
vas, we were enabled to weather the Calf of Man
at 10 A. M. of the 28th. Proceeding down the
North Channel, we passed Copeland Island at
sunset; and at 11 P.M. were near the light on the
Point of Corsewall, at the entrance of Loch Ryan.
The wind having veered to NW., we kept this
light under our lee during the night, that we
might take shelter in Loch Ryan in the event of
bad weather. The morning of the 29th, how-
ever, proving tolerably fine, we attempted to pro-
ceed on our voyage. In the evening, the wind
came from the SW. and was attended with heavy
rain and fierce squalls; but being favourable, we
passed the Mull of Cantyre at sunset, and direct-
ed our course for the lee of Rachlin Island. The
ebb-tide having swept us considerably to the
northward, our situation soon became extremely
critical; for the wind increasing to a hard gale,
and a heavy sea setting in from the westward,
we were rapidly impelled towards the dangerous
rocks, islets, and headlands forming the northern
coast of the Channel. As we had no alternative
but to advance, we were under the necessity of
carrying a pressure of sail, with the hope of clear-
ing the Mull of Kinho, and Point of Runs, with
the rocks, that were still more to be feared, lying
farther towards the northwest. There being no
A 2
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
light to warn us of dangers, which the extreme
darkness of the night prevented the possibility of
discovering in time enough to avoid them, there
was every occasion for apprehension and anxiety.
The feelings excited by the sudden and unexpect-
ed involvement in a danger so threatening, were
necessarily augmented by the contrast the mind
naturally drew, between the present circumstances,
and those of only three evenings prior to this
time: Then, surrounded by all the blessings of
life,—in the bosom of an affectionate family,-in
the midst of a circle of refined and enlightened
friends, and partaking of all the rational and
delightful enjoyments that can render life happy
and valuable: Now, exposed to all the violence
of the tempest, and, under the augmenting in-
fluence of anxious uncertainty and bewildering
gloom, threatened with the horrors of shipwreck
on a leeward shore!
Towards the approach of daybreak, our appre-
hensions respecting the northern shore, which
must have been extremely near, were relieved by
the veering of the wind to the W. and NW.:
we immediately wore to the southward, and were
enabled to lead off the land. At 8 A. M. the
wind chopped round to the northward, and blew
tremendously. As soon as the haziness of the
weather had so far dispersed that we could recog-
=
LOCH RYAN.
5
nise the land, we bore away up Channel again for
Loch Ryan, where we came to an anchor opposite
The Kern, in shallow water, at five o'clock in the
afternoon.
Sunday, 31st March.-Fine weather, with
more moderate wind. Several vessels that had
taken shelter along with us in this commodious
bay, put to sea, being designed for the South
Channel, for which the wind was fair.
We had Divine Service on board, morning
and afternoon, after the ritual of the Church of
England, as adapted to the circumstances of sea-
men, in the "Seaman's Prayer Book." In the
evening, we had also our usual religious exercises
with the apprentices, consisting of reading the
Bible, singing, and prayer: about fifteen of the
officers and sailors also attended. I had a de-
mand for all the Bibles (twelve in number) com-
mitted to my care by the Liverpool Marine Bible
Society, for sale among my crew, at one-half the
cost prices, together with a few testaments fur-
nished by the same Society.
The wind continued in an adverse quarter du-
ring the whole of the week, and detained us at
our anchorage.
Loch Ryan is a safe and commodious retreat
for ships bound to the westward or northward.
It is of so easy access, that pilots are seldom re-
6
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
quired to bring vessels in. The usual anchorage
is abreast of the upper houses in the village of
The Kern, about three miles up the Loch, where
the ground is tough, and affords secure fastening
in seven fathoms. The best anchorage is within
three cables' length of the eastern shore; the west-
ern part of the Loch being shallow. Small craft
frequently take shelter at Stranraer, at the head
of the bay, and large vessels may bring up above
the "Scar," but the outlet from thence is not so
easy. There is seldom much sea sets in so high
up as The Kern; but the annoyance from the
tide, which runs two or three knots at the springs,
is occasionally considerable. The soundings be-
ing regular in the Loch, strangers may beat in or
out under a favourable tide, guided only by the
lead, without any particular risk. The deepest
water lies near the eastern shore; so that large
ships running into the Loch at low-water, should
pass within a cable's length of the Kern Point,
which is very steep. A bank or "scar" stretches
from Kirkholm Point on the west side, a mile and
a half towards the south-east, and extends about
two-thirds across the Loch: a rock lies a cable's
length or more off Fennart, on the east side, and
another a short distance from the Point of Corse-
wall, on the west side of the Loch; but these are
almost the only dangers.
ERRORS OF CHRONOMETERS.
7
!
The peasantry and fishermen inhabiting the
borders of Loch Ryan are an inoffensive and un-
obtrusive people. Unless they are invited, they
seldom board the ships lying at The Kern, and
are rarely either craving or troublesome when
they are required to traffic. Their chief oc-
cupations are fishing, dredging for oysters, and
a little agricultural labour. Numbers of boats
were seen daily employed in the oyster-fishery.
The oysters they take, which are generally of a
small kind, are sold for 8d. a hundred.
During the leisure afforded by our detention
at Loch Ryan, I employed myself in construct-
ing a temporary apparatus for obviating the er-
rors produced in the rate of chronometers, by the
action of terrestrial magnetism on those parts of
the instruments which are formed of steel. This
action on chronometers, whose balances have acci-
dentally acquired magnetic properties (and there
are scarcely any that are not more or less magne-
tic), is considerable, and is probably the principal
cause of the difference of the land and sea rates
of these instruments. The general mode in which
this disturbing cause acts, is sufficiently obvious.
With regard to a magnetic balance, it is evident,
that when the chronometer is in such a position
that its north pole is directed towards the north
of the globe, its rate will be accelerated,-when
1
..
8
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
towards the south, retarded;-in the same way
that the vibrations of a compass-needle are acce-
lerated or retarded, when near a magnet, accord-
ingly as dissimilar or similar poles are presented
to each other. The changes, in the rates of chro-
nometers, arising from this cause, are very various,
depending not only on the degree of magnetic
energy of the balances, but also very materially on
the positions of the instruments when their land
rate was determined. It will sometimes happen,
that the rate is taken in a position where the mag-
netic axis of the balance coincides pretty nearly
with that of the earth: the error, in such a case,
will be a maximum; because, at sea, the position
is so varied by changes of course, as to have a
tendency to produce a mean action, and a mean
rate. All chronometers, therefore, when rated on
shore, should be tried in at least four different po-
sitions, such as with the 12 o'clock mark present-
ed to the four cardinal points. This would evi-
dently afford a mean rate that would greatly en-
hance the value of the instrument, by giving it
the best chance in the event of a change in its
going.
With the assistance of Mr Thomas Davies,
of the firm of Litherland and Davies of Li-
verpool, I have made a number of experiments
on the change of rate in chronometers by posi-
ERRORS OF CHRONOMETERS.
9
'I
tion. Twelve or fourteen chronometers, some of
London, but principally of Liverpool manufac-
ture, were put under trial for nearly two months,
and the position of each was changed about once
a-week. In about one-half of the number, a sen-
sible alteration of rate occurred with every altera-
tion of position. I have been favoured with the
rate of all these, taken by Mr Davies, with a
transit instrument by Troughton; or, in the
absence of the sun, by the mean of two good
"regulators."
In a pocket chronometer by Allen and Caith-
ness, the rate was very uniform in two posi-
tions (namely, with the 12 o'clock mark to-
wards the NE. and SW.); but, on shifting
it from NE. to SE., a change of 1".5 took
place in its rate. In another chronometer by
Hatton, there appeared to be a difference of
rate of about a second in two opposite positions.
In a one-day chronometer by Litherland and
Davies, there was scarcely any perceptible va-
riation in three positions, namely, N., S. and E.;
but, on the 12 o'clock mark being directed to-
wards the W., a change of one second per day
occurred. In another instrument by the same
makers, between the NW. and SE. positions,
there was a difference, by the first experiment, of
2.8 per day, and by the second experiment, of
10
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
-
1″.1. In an eight-day chronometer, by Mar-
getts, there was also a sensible effect produced
by an alteration of position. But the most ex-
traordinary result was with an eight-day chro-
nometer by Litherland and Davies. When
the position was kept uniform, the rate of this
instrument was very fair; but, on shifting it from
NE. to SW., it was retarded 4".4 daily. On re-
storing it to its first position, it was again acce-
lerated even beyond its former rate. The same
change was repeatedly made; and, in all cases,
an alteration of from 4″.4 to 9".5 per day oc-
curred; and, in every instance when the change
was made from NE. to SW., the rate was re-
tarded; when the contrary way, accelerated! Be-
tween the positions of SE. and NW., there was
also a difference of rate, but it was not very con-
siderable.
As the experiments with the last instrument
were by far the most decisive, I was desirous of
examining the balance,-a wish that Mr Davies
very readily gratified. It was found to be strong-
ly magnetic, acting with great energy on a small
needle, at the distance of more than an inch.
The balance of another chronometer by the same
makers, whose rate in all positions was remark-
ably uniform, was also examined, and it was sa-
tisfactory to find that it was entirely free from
magnetism.
ERRORS OF CHRONOMETERS.
11
Although a change of rate occurred with each
alteration of position in most of the chronometers,
it should be observed, that the same change of rate
did not always recur with a repetition of an ex-
periment in all respects apparently the same. In
some cases, indeed, the changes were altogether
anomalous.
One plan of obviating this source of error in
small chronometers, it occurred to me, might be
accomplished, by preserving their uniformity of
position, by means of a floating needle. For this
purpose, I placed a chronometer in a light case of
card paper, supported by a long pin or point, in a
compass-bowl, on a little cross of thin brass, from
the arms of which was suspended a perforated
rhomboidal compass-needle. This needle, I found,
though only of the ordinary magnitude, was fully
capable of traversing with a weight of from a
pound to a pound and a half, and with great fa-
cility, when loaded with a full-sized pocket chro-
nometer. It therefore had the property of keep-
ing the chronometer invariably in the same posi-
tion, and, being suspended on gimbles, of preser-
ving it from the bad effects of the motion of the
ship at sea. The magnetic needle was hung five
or six inches below the chronometer, so that its
influence on the instrument was not greater than
that of the earth; and, being in an opposite direc-
12
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
*
tion, had a tendency to neutralize, rather than
add to, this disturbing cause. As far as could be
determined by experiments made in smooth wa-
ter, the apparatus promised to answer all the
required purposes.
Sunday, April 7th.-There being no church
within six miles of The Kern, I sent a boat to the
village in the morning, to invite any of the peo-
ple on board who might be disposed to join us in
our usual Divine Service. About fifty persons
came from the shore, at a few minutes notice,
and the captains, with several of the crews, of two
vessels lying near us. The day being fine and
mild, the Service was performed on deck.
In the evening, the wind veered to NE. and
blew fresh: the flood-tide, however, having be-
gun to run up, we were obliged to remain at an-
chor during the night; but, at day-break, we
weighed, and beat out of the Loch, and then
stood to the NW. The day proved fine through-
out, the wind varying between ENE. and N.
We passed the Mull of Cantyre at 3 P. M., and,
assisted by an ebb-tide running to the NW.
through the channel, weathered Rachlin Island
before sun-set. The returning flood carried us
considerably down upon the Irish shore, and
obliged us to tack.
On the 9th we made but little progress. On
OUTWARD PASSAGE.
13
the 10th, we passed near the dangerous rocks and
islands of Skerivore, lying about 16 miles SW. of
Tiree Island; and the following morning, at day-
break, descried the Island of St Kilda, which we
passed at noon. An azimuth of the sun, obtained
this day, gave the variation only 23°, instead of
32°; the difference, therefore, amounting to 9°,
was the effect of the deviation when on a NNE.
course, which is a very uncommon quantity.
The ship being now fairly at sea, the ship's
company were divided into three "watches," con-
taining an equal proportion of harpooners, boat-
steerers, &c. This arrangement, which the large
complement of a Greenland ship's crew renders
easily practicable, gives each man, excepting on
extraordinary occasions, 16 hours rest out of 24.
This is a great relief to them in cold weather,
and serves to compensate them for the extraordi-
nary exertions to which they are sometimes called.
At the same time, we appointed a crew of six or
seven men for each of our seven whale-boats, for
the purpose of getting them fully prepared and
fitted for the fishery, and for keeping them in or-
der when on service.
On the 13th, we passed to the westward of the
Faroe Islands, and at no great distance; but the
weather being hazy, we did not see them.
To my great surprise, I was informed at day-
14
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
break of the 14th, that a piece of ice had been
passed; and soon afterwards, that some "brash-
streams” were in sight, which induced us to tack,
with the wind at ESE., and stand to the south-
ward. The influence of ice in producing fogs
was, on this occasion, strikingly exemplified. We
had, indeed, experienced hazy weather for a day
or two before; but, on our approach to the ice,
it became more and more dense, until it obtained
the usual obscurity and character of the Arctic
fogs. I never before saw ice near this position,'
being about 150 miles to the eastward of Iceland,
and in so low a latitude as 64°.30' N. It must have
been brought hither by a continuance of strong
gales from the NW. Its effect on the climate
of Iceland, the whole of which island the ice
appeared at this time to envelope, must have
proved both disagreeable and baneful to the in-
habitants. In summer, the ice generally retires
far from the coast; but during the preceding
18 months, it is probable that the northern parts
of the island were never free from its chilling in-
fluence. Towards the end of August 1821, a sea-
son when the ice should have retired to its great-
est distance from the shore, I found the promon-
tory of Langaness encompassed by large streams of
heavy drift-ice, which, it appears, never left the
coast the whole of the summer. The effect of this
OUTWARD PASSAGE.
15
1
on the temperature was most striking. In descend-
ing from latitude 71° to 67°, the highest observa-
tion of the thermometer was 38°, and when close
in-shore, near Langaness, it was 35° at mid-day, and
32° early in the morning. It might be reasonably
expected, that such a degree of cold in the height
of summer would be destructive to vegetation,
and, consequently, most dangerous to the cattle,
whose supply of herbage in this quarter is at all
times scanty; yet, in the interior, we are inform-
ed, by the Danish journals of the period, that the
summer of 1821 was uncommonly warm.
April, 15th.-At day-break we stood in with
the ice; but were soon stopped in our farther pro-
gress to the eastward, by a heavy and extensive patch
of compact ice. After plying several hours to the
southward, with the hope of being able to double
it, I found it still extending to windward, as far
as the eye could discern from the mast-head. As
it appeared to be merely a point of ice jutting
out into the sea towards the south, and was, in
some parts, of no great breadth, I determined to
attempt to force a passage through it. We ac-
cordingly put the ship in contact with the narrow-
est part of the ice, through which, though it was
very hard and heavy, and considerably agitated
by the swell, we accomplished a passage in about
an hour.
Some seals were seen on a few of the
16
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
detached pieces of ice; but the number was not
sufficiently tempting to induce us to stop for
them with a fair wind.
Steering E by S., we soon got clear of the ice;
and in the evening proceeded to the ENE.
The weather all day was beautifully fine and clear,
excepting a slight haze near the horizon, being the
condensation of vapour by the coldness of the ice.
The latitude at noon was 64°. 41'., and the varia-
tion of the compass, ship's head east, 30° westerly.
An hour or two before midnight, we had a most
splendid aurora borealis. It commenced in the
north, and extended itself in an arch across the
zenith, towards the south. A sort of crown was
then formed in the zenith, which was most bril-
liantly illuminated, and gave out innumerable
coruscations of great beauty, and with astonishing
velocity. The light appeared to be equal to that
of the full moon; and various colours, particular-
ly blue, green and pink, were stated by my offi-
cers to have been clearly observed. Its extreme
distinctness, and the boldness of the coruscations,
seemed to bring it to a low elevation; and, when
the rays were darted towards the ship, it appeared
almost to descend to the very mast-head.
Between the parallels of 62° or 63° and 70°,
the aurora borealis is of very common occur-
rence, in the spring and autumn of the year.

OUTWARD PASSAGE.—AURORA BOREALIS. 17
1
On the 3d of April 1820, I observed the most in
teresting display of this meteor, that nearly forty
passages to and from the fishery had afforded.
The evening was fine and clear, the wind westerly.
The aurora first appeared in the north, and gra-
dually extended in a luminous arch across the ze-
nith, almost to the southern horizon. A dim sheet
of light then suddenly appeared, and spread over
the whole of the heavens to the eastward of the
magnetic meridian, while only a few insulated
specks were visible to the westward. The eastern
aurora were grey and obscure, and exhibited little
motion; but the arch extending across the zenith,
showed an uncommon playfulness of figure and
variety of form. Sometimes it exhibited a lumi
nous edge towards the west, in some places con-
centrated into a fervid brilliancy. The rays were
a little oblique to the position of the arch; but
generally parallel to each other, and commonly
ran in the direction of the magnetic north and
south. At one time they extended sideways
against the wind; at another in the contrary di-
rection. Now they shot forward numerous lu-
minous peneils, then shrunk into obscurity, or
dispersed into the appearance of mere vapour.
The colours were yellowish-white and greyish-
white. All the stars of the fourth magnitude
were visible through the meteor, even in its most
B
18
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
vivid coruscations. Ursa Major was at one time
encircled with such a characteristic blazonry of
light, that the Bear seemed to spring into figure,
and to be shaking his shaggy limbs, as if in con-
tempt of the less distinguished constellations
around him. The Pleiades were almost obscured
by the light produced by the aurora; though Ve-
nus, and all the superior stars, shone with be-
coming splendour. I have never been sensible
that the shooting of the aurora was accompanied
by any noise: the turbulence, indeed, of the water
at sea, or noise of the sails during calms, prevents
slight sounds from being heard.
For some days after the aurora borealis, the
weather was uncommonly fine. The wind was
generally moderate, with frequent calms. During
a run of fifty leagues, the sea was constantly of
an olive-green colour, remarkably turbid; but in
the afternoon of the 17th of April, it changed to
transparent blue. The green appearance of the
sea in these latitudes, I formerly ascertained to be
occasioned by an innumerable quantity of small
molluscous animals, of a yellowish colour, contained
in it. A calculation of the number of these animals
in a space of two miles square, and 250 fathoms
deep, gave an amount of 23,888,000,000,000 *.
* Account of the Arctic Regions, vol. i, p. 179.
OUTWARD PASSAGE.-DRIFT-WOOD.
19
1
Our latitude on the 17th was 65° 58', longitude
3° 53′ W. A great quantity of drift-wood was
passed during this day. Sometimes two or three
pieces were seen at once. We picked up two
trees, one of which was above thirty feet in length,
perfectly straight, and well adapted for a jib-boom.
This great supply of drift-wood is probably de-
rived from some of the extensive rivers of Siberia,
which empty themselves into the Frozen Ocean;
and being carried by the westerly current, prevail-
ing on this coast, is dispersed throughout the
Greenland Sea. All the drift-wood I have ex-
amined was of pine; some of it of small diameter,
the growth of centuries: but birch-trees have, I
understand, been also met with. It is not un-
common to find trees standing erect in the mid-
dle of large sheets of ice,-a circumstance which
is in favour of the supposition of such ice having
been formed near land. In the summer of 1821,
I found several pieces of timber thus situated.
One of these that we hewed down (being so firm-
ly embedded in a floe, that we could not other-
wise remove it) was remarkable for the fineness of
its grain or texture. It was a portion of a fir-
tree, twelve feet in length; and although no more
than six and a-half inches in diameter, it appear-
ed, from the number of concentric rings observed
on cutting it transversely, that it had been above
B 2
20
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
This extreme
mark it as the
200 years in attaining this size.
slowness of its growth, seemed to
product of a very high latitude. Many of the
drift-trees that I have seen near Spitzbergen, re-
tained the roots: some seemed to have been torn
from their hold by torrents; but others, having
the marks of fire upon them, near the roots, ap-
*peared to have had this agent applied to them for
their removal.
On the 18th, in latitude 66°49', longitude 3° W.
we again fell in with ice. As I considered the
spring too far advanced for the seal-fishery, which
is generally the most profitable about the end of
March or beginning of April, I was desirous of
reaching the higher fishing stations with as little
delay as possible. For this purpose, it was ne-
cessary to keep at a distance from the ice,-since
the prevalence of east and south-east winds at
this season, is frequently the means of altogether
detaining vessels caught on the face of the ice,
whilst others in the offing accomplish their pas-
sage up to the fishing stations. By steering suf-
ficiently to the eastward, below the 72d degree
at least, detention from this cause may almost
certainly be avoided; as the ice follows pretty
nearly the direction of the east coast of Green-
land, and adheres to this shore, leaving the oppo-
site coast of Norway always free. We, therefore,
OUTWARD PASSAGE.—DEVIATION.
21
steered NE by N. (true), a course nearly two
points more easterly than we should have pursued
in a perfectly clear sea. In this parallel, it may
be observed, that the ice usually lies ten degrees
to the eastward of the situation in which it this
season appeared.
The following day at noon, having had a good
run during the night, I observed in latitude 68°
45′, and longitude by chronometer 0° 8′ W. The
variation was found to be only 14° W., on a NE
by E. course; but the real variation must have
been about 22°, the difference of 8° being the ef-
fect of the local attraction" of the ship on the
compasses. The amount of" deviation" on every
point not being yet ascertained, nor the points of
change, we sailed in considerable uncertainty,
whenever an alteration in the course was necessary.
The Baffin having an iron-tiller, and much heavy
iron-work about the rudder, has an extraordinary
deviation in her compasses. In her first voyage
(1820), it was still more considerable, and not a
little dangerous before it was discovered. It pro-
duced an error of a degree of latitude in one day's
run, on a NE by E. course,-the deviation on
that point being twenty-two degrees. On carry-
ing a pocket compass round the quarter-deck, to
ascertain the cause of attraction, I discovered that
it was principally owing to the piping or chimney
22
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
$
of the cabin-stove, which had inadvertently been
made of sheet-iron, and had consequently an at-
tractive energy (according to Mr Barlow's in-
vestigations), equal to a pillar of solid metal, of
the same quality and diameter. On removing
this chimney, though eight feet distant from the
binnacle, the deviation was diminished more than
two-thirds.-Saw a number of small whales of the
the Dolphin genus (Delphinus deductor of Dr
TRAILL), some of which followed the ship, and
came within pistol-shot. A great quantity of
kittywakes (Larus rissa) were also about us.
In many places the surface of the sea was mark-
ed by large shining veins, the effect of an oleagi-
nous exudation, probably either of the dolphins
or of the fishes on which they feed.
On Sunday the 21st of April, we had a hard
gale from the NE. and NNE., which being di-
rectly against us, put us under close-reefed top-
sails and courses. As we were warned of this
gale, by the fall of the barometer, we made all
snug the night before it came on, and were ful
ly prepared for it.-Had Divine Service, as usual,
morning and afternoon, with the religious exer-
cises of the apprentices in the evening.
The wind moderated at sun-rise of the 22d,
and veered to the south-west; but as the sea con-
tinued to run remarkably heavy, we obtained very
little advantage from the fair wind.
OUTWARD PASSAGE.-WEATHER-GALL.
23
In consequence of the violent flapping of the
sails, during a calm which occurred in the night,
the leach-rope of the fore-top-sail gave way, and
the sail was a little torn. While the calm con-
tinued, it was unbent, repaired, and restored to its
place. In the afternoon we had a fresh of wind,
and the weather, which had previously been clear,
became dark, showery, and threatening: in the
evening the wind increased to a smart gale. A
little before sun-set, a weather-gall (or the limb
of a rain-bow), of extraordinary brilliancy, appear-
ed. It seemed to me that all the colours of the
spectrum were repeated two or three times in suc-
cession, and in close connection with the primi-
tive arch, which was on the exterior of the bow.
A double set of colours was certainly perceptible;
and, when at the brightest, there were evidently
either three or four concentric yellow arches, and
I imagine, also, as many arches of the other co-
lours of the spectrum; but the yellow only was
distinctly visible, excepting in the second arch.
The interior arches diminishing successively in
distinctness, had the appearance almost of the
cloisters of a cathedral, as exhibited in a transpa-
rency, where they recede into the obscurity of dis-
tant perspective. These spectra rose only to the
altitude of 4° or 5°. They took their rise from
the surface of a cloud of dismal appearance and
24
GREENLAND VOYAGE,
density, within the horizon. The weather-gall
is generally considered by seamen as the harbin-
ger of a storm.
The following day was stormy; wind easterly.
Our latitude at noon was 71° 56', and the lon-
gitude given by the chronometer at 5h 58′ P. M.
was 8° 9′ E.: my reckoning gave 6° 25' E. The
difference 1° 44′ is not surprising, when it is con-
sidered, that the deviation, though evidently
great, was not known, and that the point of
change was probably different from what it had
been on any preceding voyage.
On the 25th, I observed in latitude 75° 5′, and
early the following morning fell in with ice. We
proceeded to the northward, among loose pieces and
streams, until we got considerably involved. Sup-
posing it to be the land-ice of Spitzbergen, that
generally skirts the western coast in the spring of
the year, even in open seasons, we hauled out to
the north-west, which soon relieved us, and ena-
bled us again to bear away to the northward.
For two or three nights preceding this, we had
had no darkness, but only a faint and diminish,
ing twilight. Now we were advanced into the
region of continued day, where the sun for months
together sweeps round the Northern Pole without
ever descending below the horizon.
Having now reached
66
a fishing latitude," we
took two boats out of the 'tween decks, where
OUTWARD PASSAGE.
25
A
+
મ
they were stowed on the passage out for safe-
ty, and commenced our preparations for the
fishery.
The number of our boats was seven. In each
of these we coiled six whale-lines, of 120 fathoms,
amounting to above three-quarters of an English
mile in length, for one boat. They were also fit-
ted up with all the apparatus of harpoons, lances,
oars, axes, flags, &c. as usual in their equipment *.
April 27th.-We continued to advance towards
the north with some caution, the weather being
hazy, until 5 A. M., when we fell in with ice, sup-
posed to be the western body: stood across to the
eastward, in a clear sea, until noon, when we came
to the eastern ice; and, at the same time, descried
land, at the distance of four or five leagues. Stand-
ing along the edge of the compact ice, towards
the NE. we passed the 80th degree of latitude at
5 P. M., being within 10 miles of Hakluyt's Head-
land,—an elevation which we reached without ex-
periencing any frost! Here we saw a number of
sea-horses lying upon different masses of ice. We
were enabled to approach two of them with the
ship, one of which was fired at and struck with a
ball; but not being shot in a vital part, it made
its escape, as well as its companion.
* See Account of the Arctic Regions, vol. ii. p. 230,
for a description of the Preparations for the Fishery.
26
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
In the evening, the wind coming off shore, the
sky immediately became clear, and showed us a
large extent of the northern coast of Spitzbergen.
This coast is much lower land than the western,
and more uniformly covered with snow, few ridges,
or even points of naked land, being visible. The
western coast, on the other hand, presents alter-
nate streaks of black and white. The former co-
lour, consisting of ridges of naked rock, which ap-
pear black, contrasted with the brilliant whiteness
of the snow, frequently runs from the summit di-
rectly towards the base of the mountain, but of-
tener becomes concealed beneath a bed of snow
and ice, as it approaches the water's edge: the
latter colour, the white, consisting of snow or ice,
-fills all the ravines, dells, fissures, and valleys, and
reflects the light of the sun with such intensity,
that the tracts of snow-clad land exhibit, as near
as possible, the colour and splendour of the moon
at the full. The ice and rocks being thus high-
ly illuminated, and strongly contrasted,-being
constructed on a majestic scale, and rising with
peculiar steepness out of the sea,-give a character
to the Spitzbergen scenery highly striking, inte-
resting, and indeed magnificent.
As soon as we passed to the northward of Clo-
ven Cliff, the north-western land of Spitzbergen,
the whole of the northern coast was seen through
OUTWARD PASSAGE.
27
1
a highly and unequally refractive medium. In
consequence of this, the cliffs were reared to an
uncommon altitude, and presented the beautiful
basaltic character, which it is a general property
of this remarkable state of the atmosphere to pro-
duce. The apparent columns were all vertical,
or nearly so, and, when slightly waved, maintained
their parallelism, the curvature of the adjoining
columns corresponding with each other.
The ice upon this coast was of the drift kind,
consisting of irregular masses of various height and
thickness, closely packed together, or perhaps fro-
zen, in the interior, into extensive sheets. This
barrier of ice, skirting the coast, prevented our
access to the shore.
During the passage from Liverpool to this si-
tuation, nothing new in the zoological depart-
ment was observed. Near the Lewis, several
stormy petrels (Procellaria pelagica) were seen;
and off Feroe, a number of gannets (Pelecanus
bassanus). Fulmar petrels (Procellaria gla-
cialis) were always about us after we left the
Hebrides; and some of the same birds appeared
to accompany us for many degrees of latitude.
Kittiwakes (Larus rissa) were seen in great
abundance; and arctic gulls (L. parasiticus),
burgomasters (L. glaucus), and snow-birds (L.
eburneus) were occasionally hovering near us.
28
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
隳
​On our approaching the coast of Spitzbergen,
roaches (Alca alle), dovecas (Colymbus grylle),
looms (C. troile), terns (Sterna hirundo), snow-
buntings (Emberiza nivalis), &c. began to make
their appearance...
100
考
​NEAR APPROACH TO THE POLE.
29
CHAPTER II.
APPROACH TO WITHIN FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
MILES OF THE POLE,-EXPERIENCE INTENSE COLD,
-COMMENCE THE WHALE-FISHERY,-SHIP BESET,
-EXPERIMENTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAG-
NETISM, BY A NEW PROCESS.
WE continued to approach the Pole, in a scă
clear of ice to the NW. and W., until one in the
morning of Sunday, the 28th, when, in latitude
80°30′, we were stopped by the main northern ice,
appearing to be a solid impervious "pack," trend-
ing, as far as the eye could discern, to the NW.
and SE. Here we remained standing off and on,
or lying to, the most of the day, with the intention,
after the conclusion of the Sabbath, to proceed to
the eastward, along the northern face of Spitzber-
gen, in search of whales; but an unfavourable
change of wind prevented this object from being
accomplished. In the afternoon it fell calm. Snow
began to fall, and the barometer subsided to 29°40′.
Expecting a gale of wind, we stood from the ice to
the southward, with the first breeze; but, before
we could gain a sufficient offing, a gale overtook
us, and put us under close-reefed top-sails. The
í
20
GREENLAND VOYAGÉ.
wind blowing dead upon the ice, and the sea be-
coming very heavy, we found our situation a very
critical one; but the gale not increasing to such a
degree of violence as I had anticipated, or as the
height of the sea intimated, we were enabled to
keep off the ice, standing to the NW.
The next morning, the wind moderated, and a
heavy fall of snow commenced. These circum-
stances, with a low barometer and heavy sea, in-
dicated a renewal of the gale from another quar-
ter, and prevented us from spreading more sail.
It was fortunate we did not, as the wind at 8 A. M.
chopped round to the northward, and presently
blew much harder than before. This sudden
change of wind was the occasion of the most re-
markable fall of temperature I ever witnessed. At
8 A. M., just before the change of wind occurred,
the thermometer was at 32°, and the decks were
covered with wet snow. The instant the north
wind began, freezing commenced (the first we had
had during the voyage) and, in less than two hours,
the thermometer was at 14°, being a fall of 18°!
At 8 P. M., the temperature was down to 6, be-
ing a reduction of 26° in 12 hours; and, at mid-
night, it was- 2°, being a fall of 34° in 16 hours!
Such a sudden and remarkable increase of cold
was necessarily productive of great inconvenience,
especially as it was accompanied by a hard gale of
FROST-RIME.
31
wind. But, having stood to the eastward, until
we had smooth water under the lee of the northern
ice, we were enabled to keep up brisk fires, and to
have the cabin-door shut, in consequence of which
we suffered very little from the cold when below.
Had the sea been heavy, we should have required
a free admission of air for the prevention of smoke,
which would have rendered the cabin almost in-
tolerable. The extraordinary habiliments provi-
ded by the sailors for defence against cold, were
now brought into requisition, and various and
grotesque were the costumes to which some of
them resorted.
At mid-day, the meridian altitude of the sun
gave the latitude 80° 31'; the longitude, at the
same time, was 8° E.
We tacked at the northern ice, at 1 P. M., and,
during the latter part of the day, stood along its
edge, which we found pretty nearly straight, and
trending towards the WNW. The frost-rime
(a vapour arising from the sea in severe frosts) was
so thick that we never had a view of the ice be
yond its exterior margin. This kind of fog, pe-
culiar to high latitudes, seems to arise from a si-
milar cause to that which occasions the visible
evaporation of water, whenever heated much above
the temperature of the air. The sea, on occasions
of frost-rime, is generally about 20° or 30° warmer
32
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
than the air; a sensible evaporation is produced,
which being condensed as it rises, freezes at the
same instant, and, being in exceedingly small par-
ticles, is dispersed through the lower parts of the
atmosphere by the wind, and is productive of the
most annoying obscurity *. Frost-rime, of the
greatest density, it is observed, only occurs during
strong winds, and increases (under similar tem-
perature and humidity of the atmosphere) as the
turbulence of the sea increases; but if the air be
calm, it diminishes to a low and thin stratum of
vapour. I was long in doubt whether the freezing
of the sprays and froth of the waves, or the eva-
poration of the sea, was the cause of the meteor.
Having, however, taken a large shallow vessel of
water into the open air, and placed it in a situa
tion sheltered from the wind, at a time when the
frost-rime was particularly dense, the thermome
ter being at zero, I observed that this water,
though perfectly still and unruffled, soon began
to discharge a thin vapour, resembling the frost-
rime, which it continued to give out, until the
surface was covered with ice. This experiment
convinced me that the cause must be simply eva-
poration.
* See Account of the Arctic Regions, vol. i. p. 434
for a more particular description of this meteor."
IN SEARCH FOR WHALES.
33
All the harpooners (seven in number) were in-
vited to dine with me. I usually call them to-
gether on our entrance into fishing-stations, to de-
liver to them such instructions as my own views
of the business, the success of our exertions,
and the liberal treatment of other adventurers
who may happen to become our competitors,-seem
to require. On this occasion I urged them to acti-
vity, perseverance, and unanimity among them-
selves to a benevolent exertion for the assist-
ance of all ships, of all nations, to whom it might
be useful, whenever that assistance could be ren-
dered, without evident detriment to their own
prosperity; and gave them a code of rules to as-
sist their judgment in cases of difficulty or danger.
April 30th.-Meeting with ice a-head, at mid-
night, the position of which the intense thickness
of the frost-rime prevented us from ascertaining,
we tacked, and stood off and on during the night.
Towards noon the gale abated, and the frost rime
became attenuated. The sun broke through the
clouds at the same time, and produced a powerful
effect on the temperature. At 2 A. M. the ther-
mometer was 3° or 4° below zero; at 8 A. M. it
was+6°; and at 10 A. M. about 14° in the
shade. But the genial influence of the sun was
still more striking. In a sheltered air, it pro-
duced the feeling of warmth; the black-paint work
C
!
34
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
of the side of the ship on which the sun shone,
was heated to the temperature of 90° or 100°, and
the pitch about the bends became fluid. Thus,
while on one side there was uncommon warmth,
on the opposite was intense freezing *.
As soon as the dispersion of the frost-rime dis-
closed to us the position of the ice, we were again
enabled to proceed to the westward, following the
trendings of the northern ice, between a NNW.
and a W. course.
The evening was fine; sea calm and beginning
to freeze.
May 1st.-The 1st day of May is usually ush-
ered in by the Greenland sailors, by the suspen-
sion in the rigging of a garland of ribbons, attend-
ed with grotesque dances and other amusements,
and occasionally with ceremonies somewhat simi-
lar to those commonly practised in crossing the line.
It affords opportunity for the display of feats of ac-
tivity or strength; for the practice of such kinds of
harmless frolic, as the circumstances of a whaling
voyage will admit; and for the development of that
species of original and frequently extraordinary
wit, peculiar to the sailor. Not having any par-
ticular taste for witnessing these scenes, I did not
turn out at the time when the ship's company
* Latitude at noon, by observation, 80° 19′; Longitude, by
account, 3º E.
MAY-DAY CEREMONIES.
35
were all busily engaged in the performance of
their various parts in the humours of the day. As,
however, it may serve to show the taste of the
sailors for dramatic effect, and something of their
originality and wit, I shall transcribe an account
of the transactions of May-day morning, from my
journal of 1820, when the occasion was celebrated
with remarkable spirit.
The proceedings commenced on the striking of
eight bells at midnight, by the suspension in the
rigging of a garland (very gaily decorated with
ribbons, and surmounted with a representation of
Neptune, and emblems of the fishery), by the hand
of that individual among the crew who had most
recently entered into the state of wedlock. Ano-
ther sailor, strangely metamorphosed in a garb
studiously extravagant, was then heard to hail the
ship, ordering the main-yard to be braced aback,
and a rope to be given for his boat; and imme-
diately afterwards the odd figure, representing
Neptune, with his wife, a barber, and his mate, as-
cended the deck over the bows of the ship. All
hands were now summoned by this assumed ma-
rine potentate; when each individual, as he passed
before him, received from the barber distinguish-
ing patches of black and white upon his face. His
marine majesty then went below, and entered in-
to a division screened off from the 'tween-decks, for
€ 2
36
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
*
..
the occasion, and ordered all the hands, who were
not free of the Greenland Sea, to come before him.
One at a time they were brought into his pre-
sence, and each submitted to his humorous inter-
rogatories, and to the coarse operation of shaving.
As the non-freeman entered, he was received with
seaman-like courtesy by his majesty, whose so-
lemn demeanour and grotesque habit, and whose
efforts at politeness and most awkward bows, were
as much at variance as any specimen of the ludic-
rous could well present. Neptune was a striking
figure; his back carried a huge hunch, and his swol-
len bandied legs rivalled the diameter of his body.
He was clothed in a naval dress, augmented by a
cloak and an immense wig, of which a swab formed
the tail. His assistant, whose office it was to per-
form the shaving operation, was dressed in a neat
suit (with the exception of some embellishments)
of white nankeen, and formed a singular contrast
to his acknowledged sovereign. His lather was a
mixture of soot, grease, tar, and other filth, scraped
up
for the occasion; a tar-brush was the utensil
with which it was applied, and a coarse piece of
iron-hooping, the substitute for a razor. When
the lathering commenced, various questions were
proposed by Neptune, respecting the man's oceu-
pation, station and country; and if the unlucky
fellow happened to give an answer, the brush inva-
MAY-DAY CEREMONIES.
37
riably penetrated to his throat, and filled his mouth
with its superabundant juices. The shaving of
such as were decent, well-behaved and orderly
characters, though at the best not very delicate,
was, nevertheless, accomplished without any seve-
rity; but some who had shipped themselves as
seamen, and proved to be not only unacquainted
with the profession, but, at the same time, mean
and worthless characters, were shaven with vast
deliberation and coarseness. Two of these being
introduced to Neptune in the character of hypo-
crites, were ordered by him to pass through two
or three courses of the operation, on the principle,
that, all hypocrites having two faces, it was neces-
sary to scrape frequently and deeply, that the
false face might be removed, and the true one ap-
pear! The shaving being concluded, and all
hands made free, a sort of rude masqueradé com-
menced. The characters were not numerous,
but they were, in general, well supported. The
introduction of a female character, the wife of
Neptune, though any thing but lovely, gave oc-
casion for battle, plot, and dramatic incident.
This scene being passed, the ship's company were
marshalled on deck and reviewed. Feats of agi-
lity by individuals succeeded; and some tumb-
ling, which was commenced by an expert master
of the ceremonies, was attempted by all hands,
38
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
though at the expence of many coarse thumps on
the deck, which it required all their thick and va-
ried clothing to defend them against. On one
occasion of this kind, which occurred a few years
ago, in a ship lying moored to a piece of ice in a
calm; the force of example, and the desire of imi-
tation went so far, that, on the leader's jumping
on the rail of the ship, and crying out "follow
me," a number of his comrades, some of whom
could not swim, precipitated themselves with
him into the sea! This frolic, though a danger-
ous one, ended without any mischief, as they all
succeeded, with the help of their shipmates, in
scrambling to the ice. After these feats of agi-
lity, a rude, but active and energetic dance suc-
ceeded, sustained or directed by the noisy vibra-
tions of every kettle and pan to be found in the
ship, but without any instrument more harmoni-
ous. The whole terminated with a loyal song,
which was chorussed by the whole crew; and then
they dispersed with three huzzas, on a summons
from the boatswain to "splice the main-brace."
:
We had the wind from the SW. in the morn-
ing; but during the forenoon it veered to the
NW. and subsequently to the NE. The ex-
tremes of temperature were 8 and 3 degrees on
the deck; but at the mast-head, the thermome-
ter at 2 P. M. was at zero. At mid-day, we were
}
:
HIGHEST LATITUDE ATTAINED.
39
in latitude 80° 23' by observation; and at 5 A.M.
I calculated that we had advanced to 80° 34′, a
distance of only 566 miles from the Pole; when
the freezing of the sea around us, and the in-
creasing accumulation of ice to the northward,
rendered any further advance at so early a season
imprudent; and particularly as not a single whale
had yet appeared, to encourage us to perseverance.
We were now probably within a few miles of the
extreme accessible point of the Greenland Sea
towards the north; and the Baffin was, without
question, in the highest latitude of any ship at
that moment on the sea; and there was no doubt
on my own mind, when I stood on the taffrail as
the ship was turned before the wind, that I was
then nearer to the Pole than any individual on
the face of the earth. From this situation, the
northern barrier of ice extended towards the SE.
and ESE. and the main western ice towards the
SW.; so that we were near the extremity of the
angle formed by these two immense floating bo-
dies.
We now proceeded along the edge of the west-
ern ice towards the SW.; streams of drift ice be-
gan to appear to the eastward at 2 A. M., and at
8, the sea about us was crowded with patches
and detached pieces. Here we saw a considerable
number of " unicorns" (narwals), several of which
!
40
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
had fine horns. Being nearly becalmed at the
time, I dispatched a boat in pursuit; but they
were so shy and active, that they all escaped us.
The narwal being often the harbinger of the
whale, and the green coloured sea, with the fa-
vourable character of the ice, affording an addi-
tional probability of finding whales, we cruized
the whole of the day, when we had a breeze,
among the intricacies of the ice, in search of these
animals, the capture of which constituted the
grand object of the voyage. Our researches
throughout a fatiguing day and night, in a diffi-
cult navigation, were unsuccessful; but at two
o'clock of the following morning, the first whale
was seen. Though the weather was far from be-
ing fine, there being now a fresh of wind, with
considerable sea, and thick snow, we could not
resist the pursuit: two boats were therefore dis-
patched, which continued the chase for three
hours, and then, the prey having escaped them,
were recalled.
7
The two following days, we continued cruizing
off the face of the western ice, and sometimes
within streams and patches lying off the main
body, which afforded us shelter during a gale of
wind from the ENE. that prevailed on the 4th.
On this day we descended to latitude 78° 26';
but having spoken a ship that had made fruitless
A WHALE CAPTURED.
41
search, along with the greater part of the Green-
land fleet, in a more southern latitude, we re-
turned, as soon as the weather moderated, to-
wards the north. This ship, the Volunteer of
Whitby, with six sail in company, was the first
we saw after leaving the coast of Ireland.
May 6th.-Having regained the latitude of
79° 31', we penetrated the ice, consisting of in-
numerable detached masses, and occasional com-
pact streams and patches, during the whole of the
afternoon, towards the north-west. A small
whale was seen in the evening, and next morn-
ing a larger one appeared near the ship. All
hands jumped upon deck, wishful to aid in the
pursuit; but before greater force could be brought
into action, a boat first dispatched came up with
it, and a harpoon was thrust into its back. So
alive were the men to the business on this occa-
sion, that, on the usual cry of " a fall," every boat
was found to be already manned, and all were in a
few moments afloat. The whale descended, and
remained invisible for half an hour: on re-ap-
pearing at the surface, it was attacked with such
ardour, that three other harpoons were almost
immediately struck, and, after a short but ener-
getic application of the lances, the huge animal,
powerful as by nature its species is, yielded its
life, and became our prize.
Ꮒ
2
42
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
The ship being moored to a large sheet of ice,
capable of preventing her from drifting to any
considerable distance, the fat of the whale was
stripped off; the whalebone and jaw-bones being
also removed, the carcass was then liberated.
This being the first capture, these operations oc-
cupied about six hours, instead of three or four
hours, the time in which they ought to have been
completed. Our prize was about 45 feet in
length: the longest of the whalebone measured
9 feet 6 inches; the produce in oil was calculated
at 13 tuns.
We had scarcely finished, before we found the
ice, with a strong north wind, so rapidly closing
around us, that an immediate escape became im-
portant. The sails were instantly set, and the
ship got under-way, and, after five hours very dif
ficult sailing among rather dangerous ice, we es
caped into a pretty open sea. Within half an
hour after we reached this situation, a strong and
sudden gale came on from the NE. on which the
thermometer fell from 26° to 12°, almost imme-
diately.
The day following was windy, with intense
cold, and thick frost-rime. Captain Johnstone,
of the Aimwell of Whitby, breakfasted with me.
Neither himself, nor any other ship he had met
with, had yet taken any whales: he had indeed
INTENSE COLD.
43
seen but one since his arrival on the fishing-sta-
tions.
May 9th.-Again the wind increased to a
fresh gale from the NE. and the weather became
intensely cold. The deck thermometer was. never
higher than 2°, and sometimes as low as
5°;
at the mast-head, the temperature was below zero
all the day. The greatest cold noticed in this
situation was 8°; which was the extreme of
my observations during twenty voyages to the
whale-fishery. The frost-rime constituted a dense
stratum of mist 50 or 60 feet in altitude, so as to
circumscribe the prospect from the deck to about
150 yards; while at the mast-head, where the
observer could see over it, the limit was extended
to a mile or upwards. This obscurity rendering
the navigation among crowded drift-ice extreme-
ly dangerous, required my personal superinten-
dence at the mast-head, where the temperature
was from 3 to 8 degrees below zero, for several
hours at a time. This intensity of cold, which
was rendered excessively penetrating by the
strength of the wind with which it was accom-
panied, was severely felt. There is little doubt
but it was more painful to the feelings than a
temperature of -30° or 40° would have been
in a calm atmosphere. Though we had smooth
water, and kept the companion-door constantly
:
44
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
3
closed, the cabin became more uncomfortable than
the deck. Water spilt on the table, within three
feet of a hot air-stove, became ice; washed linen
became hard and sonorous; and mitts that had
been hung to dry exactly in the front of the fire,
(the grate being full of blazing coals), and only
thirty inches distant, were partially frozen; and
even good ale placed in a mug at the foot of the
stove, began to congeal! A damp hand applied
to any metallic substance in the open air, stuck
to it; and the tongue brought into contact with
the same, adhered so firmly, that it could not be
removed, without the loss of the skin. Some of
the sailors suffered considerably from partial frost-
bites. The cooper had his nose frozen, and was
obliged to submit to a severe friction with snow;
and the boatswain almost lost his hearing.
About 7 P. M., and from that time until 9,
there were two diffuse parhelia visible. Part of
prismatic circle, about 23° distant from the sun,
surrounded this luminary at the same altitude
as the sun, and on the external margin of this cir-
cle, at the two extremities of its horizontal dia-
meter, the parhelia appeared. At this time there
were occasional small clouds passing over the sun,
and discharging slight showers of fine granular
snow, mixed perhaps with spicule: whenever the
corona appeared on the face of these clouds, or im-
ť
-
PARHELIA.
45
printed on the showers, it was distinct and even
brilliant; but in the clear atmosphere towards the
zenith, it was scarcely perceptible. The colours
were not very definite: yellow, however, was ob-
served to be on the exterior, and the darker co-
lours towards the centre of the circle. The par-
helia were elongate vertically. In fact, they
seemed as if the two opposite outward edges of
the corona, at the same elevation as the sun, were
brilliantly illuminated, they consequently formed
part of an arch, but the oblong speck in the mid-
dle was the most brilliant. The frost-rime was
at this time so hick, as to render these appear-
ances, from the deck, almost invisible.
As it blew hard all night, and the weather was
intensely thick with frost-rime, it was not with-
out unremitting watchfulness, and an active ma-
nagement of the sails, that the ship was kept
clear of the ice, which surrounded us in innume-
rable masses.
Some of these were of the floe
kind, having a medial breadth of two or three
miles. All the ice was in motion, and its rela-
tive position was perpetually changing, and en-
dangering us.
The frost-rime becoming a little attenuated,
next morning, I found that a body of drift-ice
had descended from the north, in such a way, as
to inclose us in a basin of water, scarcely a mile

46
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
in diameter, which was without any visible outlet.
Two other ships were in company, and in the
same predicament. Finding that we should cer-
tainly be beset, if we did not speedily escape, I
kept a constant watch on the movements of the
ice, and had all hands in attendance, for the
prompt management of the sails, on which, the
safety of the ship, under Divine Providence, de-
pended. A partial avenue fortunately occurring
about 11 M., we immediately slipped through
it; but the ice closing rapidly, and the obstacles
every moment becoming more formidable, we were
under the necessity of immediately forcing into
another barrier that opposed us; and after drift-
ing or boring, by a pressure of canvas, for two or
three hours, we at length obtained sailing room.
We persevered to the eastward, tacking occasion-
ally, until 6 P. M., when falling into a commo-
dious opening of the ice, we laid the ship to. In
effecting our escape from the place where we were
hemmed in by the ice, I was obliged to be many
hours at the mast-head. At one spell I remain-
ed about four hours, when the temperature was
three degrees below zero.
The nautical operations of this day were of the
most difficult kind, which the whale-fishers have
to encounter, and in which numbers of ships are
annually damaged. Most of the masses of drift-
J
DIFFICULTIES OF POLAR NAVIGATIONS.
47
ice, among which we had to force a passage, were
at least twenty times the weight of the ship, and
as hard as some kinds of marble; a violent shock
against some of them might have been fatal.
But the difficulties and intricacies of such situa-
tions, affording exercise for the highest possible
exertion of nautical skill, are capable of yielding,
to the person who has the management of a ship,
under such circumstances, a degree of enjoyment,
which it would be difficult for navigators, accus-
tomed to mere common-place operations, duly to
appreciate. The ordinary management of a ship,
under a strong gale, and, with great velocity, ex-
hibits evolutions of considerable elegance; but
these cannot be comparable with the navigation
in the intricacies of floating-ice, where the evolu-
tions are frequent, and perpetually varying,-
where manœuvres are to be accomplished, that ex-
tend to the very limits of possibility,-and where
a degree of hazard attaches to some of the opera-
tions, which would render a mistake of the helm,
or a miscalculation of the powers of a ship, irreme-
diable and destructive.
The weather moderating on the 10th, we pro-
ceeded to the eastward, and northward, plying
among open patches, and innumerable detached
pieces of drift-ice, in search of whales; but with-
out succeeding in our object. Our latitude was
48
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
79° 58′. The next day, being Sunday, our re-
searches were suspended, for the usual observance of
Divine Worship. Joined company with the John
of Greenock, commanded by my brother-in-law
Mr Jackson. Several ships that had been with
us for several days, now bore away to the south-
ward.
}
May 13th.-Immediately after the conclusion
of the Sabbath, we hove to, reefed the top-sails,
and took in all unnecessary sails, for the purpose
of packing the blubber of the whale killed on the
7th, in casks. This operation requiring part of
the two upper tiers of casks to be cleared away,
for the purpose of getting to the lowest or ground
tier, so diminishes the stability, as to render the
ship frequently unsafe. When performed under-
way, therefore, it is always done under a low sail.
It is the most tedious and disagreeable business
connected with the fishery, the blubber having to
be divided so small, that the casks can be filled,
by putting it piece by piece through the bung-
holes*: it is also disagreeable on account of the
greasiness of the decks, and the instability of the
ship, while it is going on; but not, as is generally
* A particular account of this process, called in fishing
language making-off, is given in vol. ii. p. 304., of the "Ac-
count of the Arctic Regions.”
IN SEARCH OF WHALES.
49
į
supposed, because of any disagreeable effluvia
arising from the blubber, since, before putrefaction,
the blubber is not at all offensive; and even after
putrescence, we are not annoyed by it, there being
nothing whatever unpleasant in the smell of a
whale-ship, until after its arrival in port, where
the cargo is unstowed.
Being now near the northern ice, and seeing
no whales to induce our stay, as soon as we finish-
ed "making-off," we began to retrace our way to
the southward. We skirted the main western
ice, trending with an unbroken edge to the south-
west, towards a supposed large opening of the ice,
indicated by a dark shade or reflection of water in
the sky. After four or five hours sailing we ob-
tained sight of the water, and perceiving a possibi-
lity of getting into it, though the communication
was extremely narrow and complicated, we made
the attempt, and, in consequence of the capability
of the ship for extraordinary evolutions, succeeded,
without striking a single piece of ice. The John,
which closely followed us, was not so fortunate, as
one part of the channel closed before she reached
it, and detained her above an hour. The wind
being from the SE., brought the loose ice rapidly
down upon the main body, so that, as we expect-
ed, our retreat was immediately cut off. Though
we were in a basin of water, completely surround-
D
50
GREENLAND VOYAGĖ.
ed by a wall of impenetrable ice, we had an ex-
tent of about fifteen miles towards the NW. of
free navigation. Unfortunately the green colour
of the sea changed as we entered the barrier of
this lake, and in the interior we found it of a
transparent blue,—a quality which affords so lit-
tle food for the whale, that we were greatly dis-
couraged in our expectations of success in this ad-
venture.
During the next day we traced the limits of
our mediglacial sea, and found it bounded on the
north-west side by large heavy floes, and appa-
rently interminable sheets of bay ice.
Two whales were seen in the afternoon, and
pursued, though unsuccessfully, by the boats of
both ships.
May 15th.-The sea, which had begun to
freeze on the preceding evening, became univer-
sally covered with ice as far as the eye could
reach; and its tenacity increased so rapidly,
that, before midnight, both the ships stuck fast.
A swell unfortunately penetrated through our
seaward boundary, which, though so slight as
to be scarcely perceptible to the eye, broke the
floes around us into hundreds of pieces; and im-
mediately the ice began generally to close, so
that, on the 17th, the floes that were, three days
before, ten or twelve miles asunder, came almost
i
ε
}
SURROUNDED BY ICE.
51
into contact; and not a drop of water was to be
seen from the mast-head. The new ice squeezed
in some places a dozen thicknesses; and a consi-
derable pressure came upon the ship.
No alteration took place all the following day,
excepting the breaking out of a vein of water,
here and there, at a distance from us. The ice
immediately around was heavy, compact, and sta-
tionary. Many of the hummocks of the ice were
at least twenty feet high; and the general thick-
ness of the pieces alongside of the ship was from
twenty to thirty feet. Some of these hummocks
seemed to be of recent production, and a few,
of no inconsiderable bulk, were thrown up within
a mile of where the Baffin lay-Latitude ob-
served 79° 30'.
Though a Greenland voyage is perhaps one of
the most arduous of all maritime adventures, the
mind of the commander of a whale-ship being
very rarely free from anxiety; yet, like all other
occupations at sea, it affords occasional intervals
of absolute leisure, such as when the attention of
the captain to the progress of the ship is not re-
quisite, or when, in consequence of calms, con-
trary winds, or other obstructions, the main de-
signs of the voyage cannot be pursued. The im-
moveable state of the Baffin at this time, however
irksome and productive of anxiety, was such as
;
༣
D 2
52
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
to render any exertion for our relief or extrica
tion perfectly useless: but this total suspension
of ordinary duties, gave time and opportunity for
scientific researches. My attention, when thus
unoccupied by the management of the ship, had
for some time been employed in making prepara-
tions for experiments on an original mode of de-
veloping magnetism in steel, the application of
which might occasionally prove of considerable
importance at sea. An account of some experi-
ments on this subject, is already before the pu-
blic*; but the application of the fundamental
process to the construction of powerful and ener-
getic magnets, was only made on the present
voyage.
This fundamental process is the elicitation of
magnetic energy by percussion. For this pur-
pose, soft steel is employed, which is capable of
retaining for some time the magnetic virtue de-
veloped in it, instead of iron, in which it is ex-
tremely evanescent, or hard steel in which it is
with great difficulty produced. The first step in
* See " Description of a Magnetimeter," &c. Edin-
burgh Transactions, vol. ix. p. 243.; and " Experiments
and Observations on the Development of Magnetical Pro-
perties in Steel and Iron by Percussion," Phil. Trans. for
1822.
MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS.
53
the process is to hammer an iron or steel poker,
or other rod of similar metal, of considerable size,
while held in a vertical position, or, what is bet-
ter, in the direction of the dipping-needle, by a
few smart blows on the end; this will render the
rod or poker sensibly magnetic. If a soft steel
bar be now placed on the top of the poker, and
hammered on the upper end, while both the
poker and the bar are held vertically, or in the
direction the dipping-needle assumes, it imme-
diately acquires a considerable attractive force, the
upper end becoming a south pole, and the lower
end a north pole.
A cylindrical bar of soft steel, 6 inches long,
a quarter of an inch in diameter, and 592 grains
in weight, thus treated, acquired, in one instance,
a lifting power of about 40 grains by a single blow
with a hammer weighing 12 ounces; and after ten
blows (part of them given with a hammer a little
larger), it lifted a nail weighing 188 grains! But
a still more extraordinary effect was obtained by
the use of steel-wire. A piece of a knitting-needle,
three inches in length, and weighing 28 grains,
which was proved to be without any magnetic virtue.
whatever before the experiment, on being repeat-
edly hammered when held vertically on the top of
a kitchen poker, lifted a nail of 54 grains, or very
nearly twice its own weight! This singular pro-
54
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
*
duction of magnetism, is in a great measure owing
to the use of the rod of iron, the polarity of which,
after hammering, greatly aids the development of
magnetism in the steel; for the highest effect
obtained by hammering the larger steel-bar, when
held vertically upon stone, pewter, brass, &c. in-
stead of iron, was only a lifting power of 6
grains *.
Such a high degree of magnetic energy being
obtained by a process so simple, it suggested a
ready means of making magnets, without the use
of any magnetized substance whatever, and of
* Dr Gilbert, who was the first person that investigated
the phenomena of magnetism in a scientific way, found, among
many other valuable discoveries, that iron, hammered in
the magnetic meridian, acquired a slight degree of polarity,
and that when a piece of iron was heated to incandescence,
and drawn out in this direction, it became sufficiently mag-
netic for adjusting itself north and south, when carefully
balanced afloat in water, by being thrust through a piece
of cork. This is the only experiment with which I am ac-
quainted that bears any analogy to the one that is detailed
above; but this was not known to me at the time the dis-
covery of this property was made. The effect, however, of
Dr Gilbert's process, is inconsiderable, iron acquiring there-
by little or no lifting power, with a directive force that is
extremely small. By one blow with a small hammer, on a
cold rod of soft steel held upon a poker, fifty times more
magnetic virtue can be induced than the method of Dr Gil-
bert is capable of developing.
MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS.
55
giving polarity to needles, so as to render them
capable of answering the purpose of compasses, in
an instant. This application of the process in-
duces me to be more explicit on this incidental
subject, because of its importance to seafaring
persons. There are instances on record, of the
compasses of ships being spoiled by lightning *:-
* In the Philosophical Transactions (vol. xi. p. 647.),
is an account of a stroke of lightning received on a vessel
in the parallel of Bermudas, which carried away the fore-
mast, split some of the sails, and damaged the rigging:
and, in addition to these extraordinary effects, it inverted
the polarity of the compass, so that the north point became
directed towards the south. This induced the navigators,
who were not aware of the change, to steer back again,
supposing that the wind had shifted; and it was not until
they were accidentally set right by another ship, that they
discovered the truth.
Another circumstance a good deal similar to this, also
mentioned in the Philosophical Transactions, occurred in
the year 1748-9, on the 9th of January. The ship Dover,
on its way from New-York to London, was struck by
lightning during a fierce storm, which was encountered in
the latitude of 47° 30′ N. and longitude 22° 15′ W. On re-
ceiving the shock, the captain, and most of the crew, were
for a while disabled in their limbs, or by blindness,—the
main-mast was almost perforated,-the upper and lower
decks and quick work were stove, the cabins, bulk-heads,
and one of the main lodging-knees of the beams were started
or drove down; and, among several other singular circum-
stances, the magnetism of all the compasses (four in num-
ber) was destroyed, or the poles inverted.
56
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
'
This process would enable the navigator to re-
store sufficient polarity for the guidance of his
ship, in a few seconds. And, in cases of vessels
foundering at sea, or being destroyed by fire or
lightning, in which the crew are compelled to
take refuge in the boats at a moment's warning,
and without having time to secure a compass (a
case which has occurred hundreds of times), the
same process might enable the distressed voyagers
to give polarity to the blade of a penknife, or the
limb of a pair of scissors, or even to an iron nail,
which would probably be sufficient, when sus-
pended by a thread, to guide them in their
course through their perilous navigation.
:
Being desirous of applying the process to the
construction of powerful artificial magnets, I pre-
pared (with the assistance of the armourer on
board) six bars of soft steel, and bars properly
tempered, suitable for a large compound magnet.
The soft steel bars were nearly eight inches long,
half an inch broad, and a sixth of an inch thick.
The bars for the compound magnet, seven in num-
ber, which were of the horse-shoe form, were each
two feet long before they were curved, and eleven
inches from the crown to the end, when finished,
one inch broad, and three-eighths thick. These
bars were combined by three pins, passing through
the whole, and screwing into the last; and any
MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS.
57%
+
i
number of them could be united into one magnet,
by means of a spare set of pins screwed throughout
their length, and furnished with nuts. In addi-
tion to these bars, &c. I provided separate feeders
or conductors of soft iron, suitable for connecting
the poles of each of the bars of the compound
magnet, and also another conductor, fitted to the
whole when combined. With this apparatus, I
proceeded to give the magnetic virtue as follows.
I took a rod of soft steel, which I considered
better than a poker, and hammered it for a mi-
nute or two, while held vertically upon a large
bar of soft iron in the same position. This gave
considerable magnetism to the steel-rod. On the
top of this, I then hammered each of the six bars
of soft steel, until the accession of lifting power
ceased. Then fixing two of them on a board,
with their different poles opposite, and formed,
by a feeder at each end, into a parallelogram, I
rubbed these, after the manner of Canton*, by
means of the other four bars, and found their
magnetism greatly augmented. The other four
bars were operated upon in pairs, in a similar
way, those already strengthened being used for
strengthening the others, and each pair being suc-
cessively changed, until all the bars were found:
-
* See Phil. Trans., vol. xlvii. p. 31.
58
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
*..
to be magnetized to saturation. A pair of them
now possessed a lifting power of two pounds and a
half.
The next step was to touch the bars intended
for the compound magnet, by means of these six
bars now magnetized. For this purpose, the six
bars were combined into two magnets, by tying
three of them together, with similar poles in con-
tact; these two were then placed, with opposite
poles, in connection, and tied together at one end,
but separated about the third of an inch at the
other, so as to form one compound magnet, and a
conductor was kept constantly applied to the open
end of it, when not in use, to preserve the power
from being lost. One of the bars of the horse-
shoe magnet, with a conductor across the poles,
was now placed on a board, in a groove cut out so as
to hold it fast under the operation. The straight
bar magnet was then placed erect on the middle
of it, with the separated poles downward, and rub-
bed against the horse-shoe bar, from the middle
to one of its poles, until the north pole of the one
was in connection with the pole intended to be-
come south of the other: from thence it was rub-
bed back again, with the south pole of the mag-
net in advance, as far as the other extremity, or
that intended for the north pole of the horse-shoe
bar. Two or three strokes of this kind being
MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS
59
made from end to end of the bar, on each side of
it, the north and south poles of the magnet being
always directed to the south and north poles of
the bar respectively, the magnet was slipped side-
ways off, when at the pole of the bar, and the bar
was found to have acquired such a magnetic power
as to enable it to sustain a weight of several
ounces, hung from the conductor. All the bars
of the horse-shoe magnet were treated this way
in succession. The first five bars of the mag-
net, being then combined by the screws, were
employed in the same way as the soft steel mag-
net had been used, for increasing the power of the
sixth and seventh bars, by which they were render-
ed capable of carrying above two pounds weight
each. These were then substituted, in the com-
bined magnet, for the fourth and fifth bars, while
the latter underwent the touch of the other five
in combination; and, in their turn, the second and
third, and then the seventh and first, were subject-
ed to a similar treatment. After these operations,
which occupied forty-three minutes, the compound
magnet, with all the seven bars in connection,
lifted ten pounds. After a second series of the
same kind of manipulations, five of the bars in
combination, carried fifteen pounds; and, after a
third series, eighteen pounds: but as, on trying
a fifth series, little augmentation took place, the
60
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
I
process was discontinued. The whole of the opera-
tions, from beginning to end, occupied above four
hours; but, as I generally rubbed each bar with
twelve strokes on each side, instead of one or two,
which I afterwards found sufficient; and, in other
parts of the process, spent a great deal of time
and labour which turned to no account, I doubt
not but the whole might have been completed, be-
ginning without the smallest perceptible magne-
tism, and ending with a lifting power of twenty
or thirty pounds, in the space of two hours, or
less *.
As steel does not receive, immediately on be-
ing touched, the full degree of magnetic energy
of which it is susceptible, a conductor was applied
to the magnet now formed; and it was laid aside,
with the view of augmenting its power on a sub-
sequent occasion.
* Canton, it is well known, produced magnets by means
of a poker and tongs, with bars of soft steel.
His process
being 'fully stated in the Philosophical Transactions, some
of the above details would perhaps be anticipated by the
reader; but they may not be uninteresting to those who
are little acquainted with the subject, especially as the fun-
damental process is original, and much more ready and
efficient, I apprehend, than that of Canton, one blow with
a hammer being capable of developing as much magnetism
as a quarter of an hour's labour with a poker and tongs.
SHIP BESET.
61
Sunday, May 19th.-A slight relaxation of
pressure took place on the Saturday evening, but
a strong swell immediately intruding, the ice
again collapsed, and remained close the whole of
this day. The John, though, like us, immoveably
fixed in the ice, increased her distance from us
nearly two miles during the two preceding days.
Perhaps there is no situation of life in which
an habitual reliance upon Providence, and a well
founded dependence on the Divine protection and
support, is of such sensible value, as it is found to
be by those employed in seafaring occupations,
and especially in the fishery for whales. These
are exposed to a great variety of dangers, many of
which they must voluntarily face,-and the suc-
cess of their exertions depends on a variety of
causes, over some of which they have no controul.
The anxiety arising from both these causes is
greatly repressed, and often altogether subdued,
when, convinced of the infallibility and universa-
lity of Providence, by the internal power of reli-
gion, we are enabled to commit all our ways un-
to God, and to look for his blessing as essential
to our safety, and as necessary for our success.
At half-past five o'clock, on Monday morning,
I was awoke by the grinding of the ice against
the side of the ship: on inquiring the cause, I was
informed, that "the ice was on the move," having
:
62
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
already slacked in various directions around us.
I instantly arose, and, conceiving there was a pos-
sibility of making a little progress towards our
extrication, summoned "all hands to ship the
rudder,” which had been taken in for safety at the
time the ice collapsed. This being performed;
we took advantage of a favourable breeze, the in-
fluence of which, aided by warping, towing, and
breaking the interposed bay-ice with boats, enabled
us to advance, though very slowly, among the
-crowded and ponderous sheets of ice that opposed
our escape. Some of these sheets of ice were 150 to
200 yards in medial breadth, and 20 to 50 feet in
thickness. These being in many places in close
contact, we had to separate them by the powers
of our capstern and windlass, and other resources;
but among others of equal magnitude, there was
sometimes a channel, of a ship's breadth, that af-
forded us a readier, but more hazardous passage.
It would be tedious to give the details of this
day's operations; it may be sufficient to say, that
after the most energetic labour, and careful ma-
nagement, had been continued for sixteen hours,
almost without intermission, in which period the
ship performed some of the most extraordinary
evolutions I ever saw, and sailed through chan-
nels as intricate and contracted as it was possible
for any vessel of equal size with the Baffin to
SHIP LIBERATED.
63
make its way, we succeeded, far beyond our ex-
pectations, in reaching a free and open naviga-
tion, without any accident or damage. The free-
dom now experienced, excited the most exhilara-
ting sensations. In the morning a body of ice,
scarcely to be compassed by the eye from the
mast-head, of a heavy compact kind, imprisoned
us; in the evening we were completely at liberty:
The John was left behind, the ice probably not
having relaxed where she was beset, in the same
degree as it did about the Baffin: before night,
however, she was seen to be warping towards an
opening to the westward, and making a sensible
progress. This direction taken by the John,
being opposite to that which we had pursued,
soon separated us so far, with a close body of ice
between us, that we unavoidably parted com-
pany.
}
64
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
CHAPTER III
+
PROCEED TO THE SOUTHERN FISHING-STATIONS.-EN-
TER THE MAIN WESTERN ICE, AND PENETRATE
WITHIN SIGHT OF THE EASTERN COAST OF WEST OR
LOST GREENLAND.—CAPTURE TWO WHALES.
HAVING met with very little encouragement
to persevere in this parallel for whales, I deter-
mined upon proceeding to the southern stations,
extending from the 77th degree of latitude, down-
wards, where, within the last three or four years,
the only good cargoes had been obtained. The
period for the commencement of this fishery I cal-
culated to be so near at hand, as not to render it
prudent to remain longer in the now unproduc-
tive stations of the north. Before the year 1818,
for at least a quarter of a century, the fishery ge-
nerally was pursued between the parallels of 76°
and 80°; and the 79th degree, at the distance of
thirty or forty leagues from the coast of Spitzber-
gen, afforded to the most persevering fishers, an
abundant harvest, for years together. After the
season of 1814, however, the northern fishery be-
came extremely precarious; the whales then be-
WEST-LAND FISHERY.
65
In
ing uncommonly scarce, the fishers began to
explore the seas farther to the southward, but
without proceeding into the depths of the ice, or
remaining among it beyond the middle or end
of the month of July; an idea prevailing, that it
was not only useless, but extremely dangerous, to
be entangled in the ice after this period. At the
close of the season of 1817, I penetrated the ice in
latitude 74°, about 100 miles towards the west,
but without finding whales; and, the
year follow-
ing, two ships approached the east coast of Green-
land, and met with encouraging success.
1820, I obtained a full cargo, principally upon
this station, in latitudes 74° down to 71°: and se-
veral other ships made successful fisheries amid
the same ice, within sight of the "West Land."
The year following, a vast compact body of field
ice intercepted our approach to the coast of Green-
land, farther than merely to get sight of it, so
that the fishery in general failed; but a few ships
falling into a more favourable opening, passed
through this barrier, and obtained tolerable car-
goes.
This "southern fishery," without the discovery
of which, the Greenland trade would, no doubt,
have been so unproductive that it must have been
discontinued, is but yet in its infancy, and affords
only such a degree of encouragement, as barely to
E
60
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
justify adventure. It is not yet ascertained, whe-
ther its stations on the eastern coast of Greenland
be always accessible, or whether the recently ob-
served separation of the body of ice on the face of
it, be merely an accidental and occasional circum-
stance. Until within four or five years of the pre-
sent, it was a prevailing opinion among the fishers,
that this land was inaccessible, on account of the
compact and dangerous qualities of the ice,-no
ship having been known to approach within sight
of it, but such as were beset, and involuntarily
carried thither. And as the greatest destruction
among the shipping, and the most calamitous
events, respecting the sufferings of the crews and
the loss of life, that have been ever known in the
Greenland fishery, have occurred, when vessels
have been forced by the ice, in which they were
beset, upon this coast,-the whalers were always
in the habit of contemplating an adventure on
this station as extremely hazardous, and alto-
gether unwarrantable. Now, however, these ap-
prehensions have almost entirely subsided, and a
considerable confidence prevails, both as to the
coast being annually accessible, and as to its being
regularly resorted to by the whales that have re-
treated from the more northern stations; but be-
fore it can be ascertained whether this confidence
be well founded, several more years' experience
will be requisite.
SOUTHERN FISHING-STATION.
67
May 21. Having a brisk breeze from the
north, with fine weather, we proceeded under all
sails along the western edge of the ice, where we
had a free navigation and open sea towards the
south-west. At mid-day, observed in latitude
77° 42'; longitude by account 2° E,
The following morning, the wind falling, and
veering to the westward, we tacked, to get in
with the ice. At 10 A. M. we were on the skirts
of an impervious pack, and observed a number of
narwals: one of them, a very small specimen, wẹ
killed. It was of a much darker colour than the
full grown animal, and much less variegated, and
inferior in beauty! Though a male, it was with-
out a horn; it had not yet protruded through the
skin. At the same time, we picked up, and
hoisted on board, a block of "fresh-water ice,"
weighing between two and three tons, and re-
markable for its purity and transparency.
small lens of this ice, constructed with little care,
readily ignited inflammable substances, by the
concentration of the sun's rays. An observation,
this day, gave the latitude 76° 24'; the next noon
we were in 75° 43′ N.
A
Being now in the parallel where I proposed to
renew the search for whales, we entered the ice,
which was here skirted by detached streams, and
proceeded beating to the north-west or west until
E 2

68
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
!!
:
the evening, when a more compact, though still
pervious, "pack" presented itself. The recesses
of this I determined upon exploring. A fleet of
nine or ten ships were assembled about its bor-
ders; but though a whale had been captured by
one of them, and the colour of the sea, being of a
turbid olive-green, gave every encouragement to
expect more of the species to be near, none of
them followed us, excepting a foreigner, when we
entered this ice. The wind had freshened to a
smart gale, and the ice proved heavy and "cross."
We proceeded three or four hours towards the
NW. and N., and then finding it more and more
crowded, we drifted into a small opening, less en-
cumbered with pieces than the rest, and hove to.
During the night we saw two whales; and the
next day (May 24th), having made every effort
to get to the westward, by towing the ship in light
winds or calms, and sailing when we had a com-
manding breeze, we passed two very close and for-
midable barriers of ice, and entered a spacious
opening of a very encouraging appearance. Here
we saw two or three more whales; but they all
escaped our pursuit.
May 25.-The wind was almost all round the
compass, with some showers, and occasionally thick
fog; but at length settling in the southern quar-
ter, it blew tremendously hard, and the ice imme-
diately began to close about us.
The jib-boom
HEAVY GALE.
69
went away at the first squall, and the masts seem-
ed to be in danger. Having cleared the wreck,
and close-reefed the topsails, we attempted to find
a corner in which the ship could be worked; but
we were driven from one refuge to another, by the
accumulation of ice setting in, until we scarcely
had room to wear. The violence of the gale pre-
vented the practicability of mooring the ship in
the ordinary way; and it was now no longer pos-
sible to keep under-way in safety: fortunately at
this juncture, I discovered a small sheet of bay-ice
lying on the weather-side of a heavy patch.
Against this we succeeded in drifting the ship,
though there was little more than her length be-
tween two large and dangerous pieces of heavy ice
that bounded its extremities. The bay-ice crush-
ing under the pressure, prevented a violent shock.
Instantly taking in the sails, we grappled to one
of the large masses of ice, just at the moment
when the last resistance of the bay-ice had given
way, and the ship had begun to move astern.
Ropes were now fastened, by ice-anchors *, to two
or three of the heaviest pieces of ice, which preser-
ved the ship during the gale in safety.
* The ice-anchor is a large iron hook, nearly of the shape
of the letter S. One extremity of it is inserted in a hole
drilled into the ice, and to the other the rope for mooring is
attached.
1
70
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
A calm succeeded the gale, on the morning of
Sunday the 26th of May. The ship being then in
the middle of a heavy patch of ice, we warped into
a more commodious situation, and again moored to
a small sheet of ice, and had our usual devotional
exercises. A large whale came up near us, and
appeared three times in the same spot; but, being
the Sabbath day, we did not pursue it.
During the three succeeding days the weather
was generally foggy, with southerly or easterly
winds, that brought the ice so much about us,
that we could not keep the ship under-way.
Several whales were seen, or heard blowing; all
our exertions, however, in pursuing them, amid
crowded ice and bewildering fog, were fruitless.
The temperature of the air being near the freez-
ing point, the fog was deposited on the rigging in
a thick coating of transparent ice. At every
movement in the rigging, this was dislodged in
hard sharp masses of several pounds weight, which
came down in such showers as to render it dan-
gerous to look upward.
On the 30th we had a fresh gale at south-west,
and a considerable fall of snow. At 4 A. M. it
was announced to me that the ship was nearly be-
set. Personally suffering at the time under a
severe cold and sore throat, with tormenting tooth-
ache, I was unable to "turn out." When I
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE WEST-LAND. 71
arose from my bed about noon, the ship was firm-
ly beset in the midst of a pack, consisting of a
wilderness of heavy, rugged drift-ice. Innu-
merable hummocky peaks were on every hand,
some of them reared to the height of 30 or 40 feet,
and exhibiting, in a striking manner, the prodigi-
ous effects of the occasional pressure. The next
day the wind chopped round to the northward,
and blew a hard gale. The effect was soon appa-
rent, the ice beginning to slack and separate in
all directions.
On the 1st of June, in the morning, the ice
had sufficiently relaxed its pressure to enable us
to move. A vein of water stretching far to the
eastward, having broken out a little to leeward,
we bored through the intervening ice into it,
without any canvas set, excepting the fore-sail oc-
casionally, and prevented the shocks the ship un-
der a fresh gale would otherwise have been ex-
posed to, by dragging a small piece of ice, of a
few fathoms diameter, astern. After a few leagues
of intricate sailing towards the north-east had
been accomplished, we fell into a clear sea, several
miles across, bounded on the SW, W, NW, and
N. by fields and floes. On stretching to the
northward, we came to the edge of a heavy floe,
8 or 10 miles in diameter, near which three or
four large whales were seen.
These all escaped
72
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
'
our harpoons; but another, the last that appeared
during the day, was struck. It remained about
forty minutes under water, without once coming
to the surface, and then rising in the midst of the
boats, was very soon dispatched. The flensing
was immediately undertaken, and accomplished
in about four hours. One ship was in sight, the
Altona of Altone, which also made a capture.
Sunday, June 2.-Several whales were seen
during the afternoon and evening; and the Al-
tona was observed to have all her boats in chace.
The harpooners were so tantalized by seeing
whales in considerable numbers, which they were
not allowed to pursue, that I was obliged to order
them from the mast-head, and to run the ship
out of the way.
As soon as the Sabbath was concluded, we ap-
proached the edge of a large floe, where the whales
had been seen, and soon had sufficient encourage-
ment to send all the boats to the chace. In a
bight formed by the angles of two or three floes,
an extraordinary number of "fish" were seen; they
were in shoals of half a dozen or more together,
sporting occasionally, and enlivening, by their fre-
quent appearance, this otherwise barren region of
solemn stillness and desolation. A thick fog set in
soon after the boats were dispatched, and hid seve-
ral of them from our observation for two or three
*
$
5.
GREAT NUMBER OF WHALES.
73
•
hours. The atmosphere then partially cleared,
and one of the boats was discovered with a jack
flying, the signal of being "fast." The situa-
tion, however, was a very unpromising one, the
ice in that particular place being rugged, and full
of small holes, which affording the whales conve-
nient apertures for "blowing;" and, at the same
time, sheltering them from our observation and
attacks, rendered the chance of capture very du-
bious. This being the case, I recalled three
boats out of seven, and sent them in pursuit of
other whales, many of which were yet blowing
around us.
One of these boats soon afterwards
rowed into the midst of a shoal of seven or eight
of the largest size. They were lying at the sur-
face, huddled together remarkably close; but the
weather being very still and calm, they all took
the alarm, while the amazed harpooner was stand-
ing aiming his weapon first at one and then at
another, until the whole shoal made their escape.
They were so near, that the water thrown up by
their tails flew in showers over the boat; while
the sea for a hundred yards round, was filled with
eddies and little whirlpools.
I now ran the ship into a deep "bight" of the
ice, where the "fast-boat" was lying, for the pur-
pose of directing the operations of the harpooners,
and looking out for the "fast-fish." Notwith-
74
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
#
standing all my endeavours, I could not discover
it; nor were the researches of parties of men that
were sent over the ice in various directions, more
successful. After it had dragged above a mile and
a-half of line out of the boat from whence it was
struck, and struggled for its liberty for almost
twelve hours, the harpoon at length gave way, and
the fish escaped us; but whether living or dead,
we could not tell.
Attempting now to leave the contracted bay
which we had entered, in pursuit of this whale,
a breeze sprung up from the south-east, and set
the ice so rapidly upon us, that before we could
beat out, two floes came in contact and cut off our
retreat. As the floes continued to approximate
with a velocity of upwards of a mile an hour, it
was not without difficulty that we reached a small
clear pool of water, about two furlongs in diame-
ter, without receiving a squeeze from the ice.
Here we moored the ship to a sheet of bay-ice,
connected with one of the floes, which appeared to
be the least dangerous part of the opening, in case
of a second crush. We had not been long at rest,
before two whales arose near us, and one of them
received a harpoon. It only " ran out" four lines
(480 fathoms), and then, very fortunately for us,
came up in the middle of the little lake wherein
the boats were dispersed: three more harpoons
NARWALS.
75
i
were presently struck, and within an hour and a
half after the first attack, it yielded its life to our
lances. It proved a good prize; the whalebone
measured 10 feet 3 inches, and the animal was
calculated to yield 14 or 15 tuns of oil.
The day following (June 4th), two floes ad-
joining us having separated, permitted us to re-
tire farther towards the west, into a more commo-
dious opening, where we were confined by a boun-
dary of impenetrable ice until the 7th.
During our detention here we saw a few
whales; but, towards the conclusion, not one had
appeared for eight-and-forty hours. A great
many narwals were often sporting about us, some-
times in herds or shoals of 15 or 20 together. Se-
veral of the shoals consisted entirely of male ani-
mals, each having a long horn (or tooth) projecting
from the forehead. They were extremely playful,
frequently elevating their horns, and crossing them
with each other, as in fencing. In the sporting of
these animals, they frequently emitted a very un-
usual sound, resembling the guggling of water in
the throat, which it probably was, as it only oc-
curred when they reared their horns, with the
front part of the head and mouth, out of the water.
Several of them followed the ship, and seemed to
be attracted by a principle of curiosity, at the sight
of so unusual a body. The water being perfectly
776
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
transparent, they could be seen descending to the
keel, and playing about the rudder for a consider-
able time, and then proceeding to a little distance,
before they ascended to breathe. They "blew"
with much force: an act of expiration always, I
observed, succeeded their first appearance at the
surface; and they invariably descended with the
lungs inflated. Their breathing resembles a puff
of steam or air; a pause of perhaps two or three
seconds occurs between each act of respiration,
and after it has been continued for eight or ten
times, the animal generally descends: but some-
times it will remain for several minutes afterwards
at the surface, without either breathing percepti-
bly or moving.
An observation for the latitude, on the 5th of
June, gave 74° 18'. From this it appeared, that
we had drifted with the ice nearly 100 miles to
the southward, besides a distance probably nearly
as great to the westward, in an interval of only
twelve days. Our course during this time had
been rather to the northward than otherwise.
On the 6th, in the morning, all the rigging of
the ship was thickly covered with a double fringe
of snowy crystals, consisting of the particles of fog
that had been deposited during the night on the
opposite sides of the ropes, as they were successive-
ly presented to the wind, on the ship being repeat-
DEPOSITION OF SNOWY CRYSTALS. 77
edly tacked. These fringes were beautifully white,
and the points or spines of which the fringes were
composed, were tapered and radiated. Hence every
rope or other substance, containing on its surface
small fibres, suitable for the attachment of the
frozen particles, became the centre or axis of a cy-
lindrical icy zeolite. The angles the rays formed
with each other, in consequence of the different
roots from which they sprung, were various, and
generally very acute. No doubt, the prevailing
angle of those crystals that arose from the same
root was 60°; but as the spines had various in-
dependent attachments, they became more nearly
parallel. Each fringe was formed of a chain of
beautiful rosettes of spines; each spine in the
rosette tending to its attachment very near the
common centre. Every spine consisted of a fas-
ciculus of needles, so arranged as to form a taper-
ing ray. The longest spines were about three-
fourths of an inch. The needles strongly magni-
fied, appeared like chains composed of drops of
richly cut crystal.
The fog which produced this beautiful appear-
ance, came in showers of varying density. The
particles were so small as to be quite invisible to
the eye; and as no dampness was perceptible, the
particles must have been extremely minute. The
temperature of the air during this deposition, was
f
"
78
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
·
26° to 28°; the barometer was at 29.60 inches;
the wind light and variable. On another occasion,
when similar fringes were produced, showers of
snow, consisting of prisms or needles, apparently of
the same description as those formed on the rigging,
were mixed or alternated with the fog. And pre-
vious to this fog, we had constant showers of the
same kind of snow, which had a similar effect on
the atmosphere, giving rise to the same kind of
clouds, as resulted from the fog productive of
fringes.
:
Hence, we may reasonably infer, that the for-
mation of prismatic or needle-formed snow, is a
progressive process, and similar to that by which
fringes on the rigging of a ship are produced; and
that snow-crystals in general (as is intimated in
the first volume of the Account of the Arctic
Regions) are not produced by a sudden crystalli
zation, but are derived from a progressive and con-
tinued attraction of aqueous particles in the air,
capable, under the influence of some law not yet
explained, of producing an endless variety of re-
gular figures. It is probable, that the first two
or three particles of vapour that are consolidated
in contact, become the nucleus of a crystal, by
which a regular arrangement of particles, as to the
angles they form, are attracted; and that the ba-
lancing or equalizing of these attractions, by the
FORMATION OF SNOWY CRYSTALS. 79
ļ
reception of an equal number of particles in six
different positions, may determine the regularity
of the figure produced. Thus, I apprehend, when
a nucleus of many particles receives an accession
to one of its sides or rays, an attractive energy
is
communicated to all the other five sides or rays,
which remains with undiminished energy, until
some particle comes within their influence, and
that it is not until each has received its share,
that the attractive force is neutralized. Some law
of this kind, I should imagine, must prevail, other-
wise the formation of regular crystals would be ab-
solutely inexplicable; and much more so the pro-
duction of crystals, of which the greatest propor-
tion of the snow that falls in severe frosts in the
Arctic Regions consists, wherein every ray, an-
gle, and side, are equal and similar.
It would appear that the general form of the
component parts of snowy fringes and depositions
of hoar-frost, as well as the general character of
the crystals of snow, has some relation to the tem-
perature of the atmosphere at the time. With
regard to snow-crystals, I have often observed,
that the prismatic, or needle form, is the most
common, when the temperature is near the freez-
ing point, having rarely seen it when the ther-
mometer was below 28° or 27°; while other delicate
crystals, of certain form and magnitude, only oc-
80
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
cur at low temperatures. In like manner, all the
varieties I have observed in snowy deposits on
the rigging, were produced under different tem-
peratures. At 10°, the form of the crystal of
the fringe was a beautiful feather, possessing a
perfect arrangement of the different parts, cor-
responding with the shaft, vane, and rachis*. At
a higher temperature, probably 22° or 23°, the
crystal consisted of a combination of angular cups,
inserted into one another in a herbaceous form,
not unlike a species of erica or heath. At 26° or
28°, it consisted of spines, or rosettes of spines, as
above and at the temperature of 30° or 32°, the
deposition was generally uncrystallized, forming
a glassy coating of transparent ice.
On the 7th of June, such finely marked ice-
blinks appeared in the atmosphere, in connection
with the horizon, as to present a perfect map of
all the ice and openings of water for twenty or
thirty miles round. The reflection was so strong
and definite, that I could readily determine the
figure and probable extent of all the fields and
floes within this limit, and could distinguish
packed or open ice, by its duller and less yellow
image; while every vein and lake of water, pro-
ducing its marked reflection by a deep blue, or
Vol. i. p. 438, &c. "Account of the Arctic Regions.”
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE WEST-LAND. 81
>.
bluish-black patch, amid the ice-blinks, enabled
me to ascertain where the most water lay, and
the nature of the obstacles that intervened. By
this means only, I discovered a large opening im-
mediately to the north-westward of the lake we had
so long navigated, with a considerable expanse in
the same direction, at a greater distance, bounded
by sheets of ice that appeared to be of prodigious
magnitude. This induced me to examine the ice
very closely in this quarter, when, in the very spot
marked by the blink as being the narrowest, the
ice was found to be in the act of opening, so as
to permit our passing through towards the north-
west. At the extremity of the first opening, or
lake, there was a compact barrier of floes, wherein,
however, after a few hours detention, we discovered
a narrow dubious channel, that eventually conduct-
ed us into the expanse of water pointed out by re-
flection in the atmosphere *.
This opening we crossed towards the NW.,-a
distance of nine or ten miles. Then, meeting
with ice, amid which we could not discover a pas-
sage, a thick fog having set in, we hove to for the
night. Our advance towards the west, we could
perceive, was bounded by a magnificent field, con-
* The phenomenon of the ice-blink is more fully de-
scribed in vol. i. p. 299. & p. 383. of the Account of the
Arctic Regions.
F
.
82
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
sisting of a single mass of the heaviest sheet-ice,
nearly twenty miles in diameter. By this field,
the clear sea we now navigated had been' pro-
duced, under the influence of south-westerly
winds, which had drifted away the smaller and
lighter ice from its eastern edge. In this way,
wherever the ice has room to move, considerable
spaces of water, free from any incumbrance, are
almost invariably produced on the lee-side of the
more ponderous fields and floes. The effect of
the larger fields is sometimes such, as to occasion
open lakes which the eye cannot compass from at
ship's mast-head.
The night of the 7th-8th was stormy, with
snow or fog; but, at four in the afternoon, the wind
having subsided, the sky became perfectly clear.
Land was then discovered, extending from N by
E (by the compass) to NW.; the nearest part sup-
posed to be at the distance of fifty miles. This
was the eastern coast of GREENLAND, being an
extension, or continuation towards the north, of
that coast on which the ancient Icelandic colonies
were planted in the tenth century. I looked on it
with intense interest, and flattered myself with
the hope of being able to land upon some of its
picturesque crags, where European foot had never
trod, before the season for the fishery should come
to a close. As no ship had ever before penetra-
1
PROGRESS TOWARDS THE WEST-LAND.
83
(
ted (I had reason to believe) within sight of this
coast; at so early a period of the summer, I was
encouraged to expect that my wishes would not
be difficult to accomplish and, as the main de
sign of my voyage was fortunately compatible
with researches about this.unknown region, I de
termined immediately to penetrate, as far as pos-
sible, towards the shore.
Our latitude being 74 6', I took the southern-
most land in sight to be the Hold-With-Hope of
Hudson; and the most northerly, having the ap-
pearance of an island, to be the eastern headland
of Gale Hamkes Bay, discovered, according to
the charts, in 1654.
5
ર
On attempting to proceed to the NW. we were
soon interrupted by an impervious barrier of fields
and floes closely wedged together. One opening
only was visible in this direction ; but it was not
accessible. We were obliged, therefore, to wait
until some alteration in the ice should take place,
and open us a passage. The evening being calm,
I took a boat, for the purpose of examining the
points of junction of the floes with each other,
that I might mark the first relaxation of pres-
sure, which often is found to occur in calms, and
take advantage of it, for accomplishing my design
of approaching the land. No relaxation, however,
sufficient for our purpose, was observed.
F 2
84
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
In this investigation, I was much struck with
the resemblance to works of art, of some of the
numerous ponderous blocks of ice past which we
rowed. One mass resembled a colossal human
figure, reclining in the position of the Theseus
of the Elgin collection. The profile of the head
was really striking; the eye, the forehead, and the
mouth, surmounted by mustaches, were distinct-
ly marked. Such resemblances in the forms as-
sumed by the drift-ice and hummocks, which oc-
cur in an infinite diversity in the Arctic Seas,
are not uncommon. In some instances, possibly,
the aid of a fertile imagination may be requisite
to put a shapeless lump of ice into form; but, in
others, the resemblances are so striking and cha-
racteristic, that the eye of the most incurious can
scarcely fail to be impressed by them. In the
course of my last voyage, I sketched about twenty
specimens of this kind, the whole of which had
something interesting or extraordinary in their
construction. Among these, were two masses,
presenting most excellent figures of the polar'
bear, one of them raised upon a pedestal of about
thirty feet in height,-several antique tables,-
a table sorrounded by a fringe of large stalactites
of crystalline ice,-resemblances of the heads of
lions, and other animals,-together with two or
three busts, and other pieces of very tolerable
1
1
INTERESTING FORMS OF ICE.
85
statuary,—and also a sort of portico, with doric
columns, consisting of capitals, with ovolo, astra-
gal, and other mouldings, with a portion of the
shaft, supported on a base of ice rendered invisi-
ble by its submersion in the sea.
These extraordinary resemblances occur the
most frequently in the drift-ice occupying the
skirts of the main body of the polar-ice, and par-
ticularly in those masses, on which prodigious
blocks or hummocks, the original effect of pressure,
are reared on separate bases. From the detrition
of the sea-water, during high winds and consider-
able swells, these shapeless masses are often worn
into such interesting and striking forms, as to
force themselves on the attention. The most com-
mon form of artificial appearance is the table.
In this the stalk is often perfectly circular and
vertical, and the top exactly on a level. The
mode of its formation is not difficult to explain.
The action of the sea, when the surface is ruffled,
but not turbulent, washes away the ice above the
floating level, and undermines the top. The oc-
casional revolutions of the ice, to which most of
the smaller pieces are liable, exposes every part
progressively to the detrition of the waves, and
thus produces a stem of a cylindrical form. In a
manner somewhat similar, I apprehend, the doric
columns above noticed were produced. In this
:
家
​86
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
¿
i
·
block of ice two perforations had been produced,
for which, either the unequal action of the waves
upon it, or an unequal breadth or degree of hard-
ness of the ice, might account. When the pillars
on each side of these perforations had become cy-
lindrical, like the stem of the table above de-
scribed, to which there is always a tendency in
such masses as revolve, suppose a piece of the
roof or entablature to break off, the base, relieved
of so much weight, would necessarily rise a little
in the water, and the pillars would be lifted up
along with it. A continuation of the detrition of
the wind-lipper, or smaller waves (the piece of ice
being now supposed to be in a situation sheltered
from the main swells of the ocean), would, no
doubt, reduce the columns below the level of the
former action, and thus produce a moulding: a
repetition of this process, after a second mass from
the top had been accidentally detached (a circum-
stance that is perpetually taking place), would ac-
count for the construction of a second moulding,
and so on, until the regular columns that I have
actually observed, not in one piece of ice only, but
in three different masses, were completed. Thus,
the production of architectural resemblances, of a
very artificial kind, may, I think, be satisfactorily
explained; but the development of many of the
other figures that I have seen, can be accounted
INTERESTING FORMS OF ICE.
87
for only on the principle, that, in a variety of ac-
cidental forms, which, with regard to the polar
ice, is almost infinite, such similitudes of animals
and of the works of art must occur. It should
be observed, however, that very few of the curious
figures in ice will maintain their character, when
examined in all positions; it is, perhaps, only in
one aspect that the appearance is at all interest-
ing. The outline is the principal thing necessary
for determining the resemblance, since the beauti-
ful whiteness and reflection of light are generally
such, as to conceal the defects of the surface, by
preventing the inequalities from being detected
by the eye*.
No alteration took place in the situation of the
ice on the 9th June. The weather was beauti-
* Some circumstances now stated, as well as other re-
marks and descriptions that are given in this volume, will
be found to be mentioned in Captain Manby's " Journal of
a Voyage to Greenland, in the year 1821." Both in justice
to Captain Manby and myself, I therefore think it proper
to remark, that such circumstances either occurred within
the observation of both of us, or that such remarks arose
out of my numerous and interesting conversations with
this intelligent friend, during the voyage in which he ac-
companied me to the whale-fishery; and, consequently, that
heir original suggestion, if not simultaneous or common to
oth, could scarcely be claimed by either.
88
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
fully fine. The sky being cloudless, the sun shone
with a degree of splendour and warmth that was
most exhilarating; yet the thermometer in the
`shade never rose higher than 36°.
1
LOCAL ATTRACTION OF THE BAFFIN. 89
}
CHAPTER IV.
SURVEY OF THE EAST COAST OF GREENLAND COM-
MENCED.-SEVERAL INLETS AND SOME ISLANDS DIS-
COVERED, AND NAMED.-GREAT ERRORS IN THE
CHARTS DETECTED.-BEAR KILLED.CURIOUS AT-
MOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
Monday, June 10th.—DURING this day we
had the wind in light or moderate breezes all
round the compass. As we were so completely
inclosed, in a recess of the floes, diminished to a
mere pool by the closing of the bounding ice,
that it was impossible to escape, or proceed to
any distance, I employed myself in making ob-
servations on the "local-attraction" of the Baffin.
Several plans have been suggested for the so-
lution of this important proposition; but most of
them, if not all, are attended with troublesome
calculations, or other difficulties. It appeared to
me, however, that a situation might be found at
the mast-head of a ship, free from local attrac-
tion, where the deviation of the steering or bin-
nacle compass might be at once ascertained by
comparative observations, made independent of
external objects. The crow's-nest of the Baffin,
+
90
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
which is fixed on the very summit of the main-
topgallant-mast, is just such a situation. No iron
whatever was employed in its construction, and
not any of this metal was to be found within fif-
teen feet of it; the iron that then occurs about the
mast, being of little bulk, and in a position directly
below the crow's-nest, was considered to be incapable
of producing any sensible influence on a compass
placed directly above it. Hence, it was presumed,
that, in a compass so situated, there could be no
deviation. This being the case, all that was ne-
cessary for determining the Baffin's deviation, on
any one course, was merely to compare the direc-
tion of the ship's head by the mast-head compass,
with that pointed out by the binnacle compass.
The difference of the two was the deviation on
that course. But for determining the deviation
on each point, I proceeded as follows:-The bin-
nacle-compass was removed, and an azimuth-com-
pass substituted in its place: an azimuth-compass
on Captain Kater's principle, furnished to me
by the Board of Longitude, was also substituted
for the little compass I usually carried in a box
fixed on the topgallant-mast-head. With these
instruments I could make the observations more
accurately than with the ordinary compasses.
Having previously ascertained that the main-
mast and fore-mast of the Baffin were upright, or
LOCAL ATTRACTION OF THE BAFFIN. 91
!
:
at least parallel, I now observed, by the compass
in the crow's-nest, the course on which the ship
lay, merely by taking the bearing of the fore-top-
gallant-mast, and noted at the same time the ex-
act course by the binnacle-compass, as read off by
the mate and surgeon. Then, putting the ship
successively on every point, as far round as the
wind would permit, I continued to observe the
bearings of the fore-topgallant-mast, and to com-
pare them with the course by the binnacle-com-
pass. These observations afforded data for the
deviation on twenty points out of thirty-two.
Fortunately the wind shifted during the opera-
tions, so that with the aid of a few observations
taken"
"in stays," the remaining twelve points
were likewise determined. On many courses
two, three, or more observations were taken. The
mean results of the whole are contained in the
following Table *.
* In this Table, the signs + and are used in the se-
cond column, to indicate that the errors (or corrections) are
to be added to, or subtracted from, the westerly variation;
the sum or difference obtained on any course being the cor-
rection for reducing the magnetic bearings taken on that
course to the True North and South. In the third column,
the letters N, S, E, and W, are used to point out the direc-
tion (whether towards the north, or south, or east, or west)
in which the correction of " approximate errors" is to be ap-
plied to the course by the binnacle-compass, for giving the
•
true course.
!
92
GREENLAND VOYAGE.

DEVIATION.
DEVIATION.
Course by
Binnacle
Compass.
Course by
Binnacle
Approxi
Obs ved.
Compass. Observed.
er
mate.
Approxi-
mate.
N.
6°
7 E
S.
+16° | 161 E.
!
NbE.
NNE.
8
8
SbW.
16
171
9/1/12
81
SSW.
17
17 S.
NEON.
NE.
9/1/20
sw bs.
17
171
8
Kok
SW.
16
16
NE 6 E.
17
swbw.
15
15%
ENE.
52
201
ко
6
WSW.
13
141
EbN.
41
Wbs.
11
125
E.
2
2 S.
W.
10/1/1
EUS..
0
ات اختر
E. WbN.
7
7
I
ESE.
+3
WNW.
42
SEbE.
1772/2/20
my
NW¿W.
20
1
SE.
11
10
NW.
0
1 N.
SE b S.
12
121
NWbN.
20
31
4
SSE.
14
141
NNW.
5
Sb E. 151/1 151
NbW.
4/1/1
61/
This Table of deviations is rather an uncommon
one; the points of change are E. & S., and
NW. W.; or S. 82° E. and N. 49° W. The
maximum error, additive to the variation, occurs
on a SSW. course, and amounts to 17 degrees;
while the maximum subtractive error, which oc-
curs on a NNE. course, is only 84 degrees, though,
in most ships, these two denominations are pretty
nearly equal *.
*I attribute the peculiarities, as well as extraordinary
quantity, of the deviation in the Baffin, to the influence of an
LOCAL ATTRACTION OF THE BAFFIN. 93
To prove the accuracy of the bearings taken
at the mast-head, and to satisfy myself that this
position was really free from local attraction in
every direction of the ship's head, I took a set of
azimuths, while the ship was on different tacks;
and I likewise observed the constant bearing of
the sun when the ship was in stays, and moving
progressively through twelve points of the com-
pass, the whole of which, allowing for the sun's
motion in the interval, agreed within the limit
of the errors of observation. For instance,
Ship on the starboard tack, at
6h 51' P. M.
O's azimuth, 314°
Larboard tack, 6h 53' P. M.
314° 30'
Correction for 2′ of time,
0 30
314
Starboard tack, 7h 1' P. M.
316° 15'
Correction for 8' of time,
20
3141
gh 9,
$16° 30
Correction for 9 of time,
2 15
314
1
When the ship was tacking,
and on various courses,
rgh 9',
318° 0
Correction for 16' of time,
(about)
4 0
314
iron tiller and iron rudder works, which, owing to the po-
sition of the wheel (being near the taffrail), are rather too
close to the binnacle.
94
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
The correspondence of these results is, I conceive,
decisive as to the accuracy of compass-bearings,
taken from the Baffin's main-topgallant-mast-
head.:
The Baffin's deviation being so very consider-
able, the observations now obtained were of the
utmost consequence to us. A simple example
will illustrate this. Suppose the Baffin to sail
with a fair wind 100 leagues on a SSW. course,
per compass, [the variation being 42° W.] and then
back again 100 leagues on a NNE. course by the
compass, it is evident, that if there were no de-
viation, or other cause of error, she would return
exactly to the point from whence she started;
but in consequence of the deviation only, her ac-
tual position would prove to be 123 miles to the
eastward, and 55 to the northward of the place
from whence she set out; or, sailing 200 leagues
on a SSW. course per compass, (a course often pur-
sued on the homeward passage from Greenland),
the error in the reckoning would be 86.4 miles too
far southerly, and 160.8 miles too far westerly!
That is, the ship would prove to be 189 miles to
the eastward and northward (or in the direction
of E. 27° N. true) of her position, as calculated
without the application of the correction for de-
viation. Such an error existing, without its be-
ing known or compensated, it is evident, might
be productive of the most fatal consequences.
LOCAL ATTRACTION OF THE BAFFIN. 95
The process I employed for determining the
Baffin's deviation, I might add, could be easily
practised in any ship for the same purpose, when
lying in a river, bay, wet-dock, or other situation
where the water was smooth. All that would be
requisite for supplying the want of a crow's-nest,
would be to rig a temporary stage of studding-
sail booms or planks, on the middle of the main-
topgallant-mast, where there would be no fear of
deviation; and on this stage, observations for de-
termining, by comparison, the error of the bin-
nacle-compass, when the ship's head was in diffe-
rent positions, might be easily made. When,
however, a very distant well-defined object can
be seen from the place occupied by the binnacle-
compass, perhaps a simple set of observations on
its bearings, with the ship's head on every point
of the compass, is the most easy of all other me-
thods for obtaining the deviation. But there are
few cases in which the bearings of such an object
could be accurately determined by the compass in
the binnacle, because of the difficulty and indeed
impossibility of employing the sight-vanes while
the compass is under cover, and because of the
liability there is of the deviation being changed,
by merely removing the compass out of the bin-
nacle, though it be placed within a foot or two of
its proper position.
96
GREENLAND voyage.
}
In connection with the observations for deter-
mining the Baffin's deviation, I took the neces-
sary altitudes and azimuths of the sun for the
variation of the compass, which, on a mean of
two sets, gave 42° 8' W. The latitude, at the
same time, was 73° 54′, and the longitude, by the
chronometer (its rate corrected by subsequent ob-
servations), was 16° 39′ W. I also took a set of
bearings of the most remarkable points, moun-
tains, and inlets of the coast of Greenland, a con-
siderable extent of which was in sight, for the
purpose of conducting a survey of this unknown
country, should sufficient opportunities during
the voyage occur.
The weather during this busy day was most
favourable for my various observations and ope-
rations. In the evening it was calm, with a bril-
liant sun, and very curious exhibitions of the phe-
nomena of unequal refraction. Hummocks of
ice assumed the forms of castles, obelisks, and
spires; and the land presented extraordinary fea-
tures. In some places, the distant ice was so
extremely irregular, and appeared so full of pin-
nacles, that it resembled a forest of naked trees,
(Plate II. Fig. 1.*): in others it had the cha-
* In the plates illustrative of the optical effects of un-
equal refraction, it should be observed, that many anachro-
•
ིག་
OPTICAL PHENOMENA of UNE QUAL REFRACTION
PLATE IT.


Fig. 1.- June 10th

Fig. 2.- June 19th
:
UNEQUAL REFRACTION.
97
:
racter of an extensive city, crowded with church-
es, castles, and public edifices. The land was
equally under the influence of this singular mi-
rage. Huge masses of rocks and summits of
mountains were reared to an enormous elevation,
distorted into singular shapes, and often seemed
to be detached from the rest of the land, and
freely suspended in the air. The horizon, bound-
ed by ice, which ought to have been pretty regu-
lar and uniform, was sometimes undulated and
broken.
Two ships, (the first that had been seen for
many days), came within sight; but they could
not join company, on account of the close contact
of the different sheets of ice around us.
Early in the morning of the 11th of June, du-
ing a stark calm, the pressure on the floes relax-
ed. As soon as there was room for the ship, we
began to track towards the north-west; and ha-
nisms have been introduced, for the purpose of giving as
many illustrations as possible of these interesting pheno-
mena. All the appearances represented in each figure (with
one or two exceptions) occurred on the day to which such
figure is referred, and generally within a few hours, and
sometimes minutes, of the same period; but they were sel-
dom, if ever, simultaneous: they also occurred while the
Baffin was pretty nearly in the same situation, but not with-
in the small apparent limits they occupy in the plate.
G
:
98
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
C
A
ving reached the edge of the large field mentioned
on the 7th, we landed all the crew upon it, and drag-
ged the ship by a rope two or three miles, until, on
the springing up of a breeze, we had room to take
sail. At 7 A. M. we reached a large opening,
which communicated, by various narrow and in-
tricate channels, with other openings towards the
north-west. These we traced to their utmost li-
mit, until the ice became a solid impervious body,
with scarcely a pool of water to be seen among
it, from the mast-head. Here, therefore, our ap-
proach towards the land was stopped.
In the evening, I observed in longitude, by chro-
nometer 17° 39′ W.; the latitude was 73° 43'. This
position, compared with the observations of the
preceding day, gave me a base line, from the ex-
tremes of which, I obtained intersecting bearings
of the land, that enabled me to lay down in a
chart the most prominent parts of the coast.
Wednesday, June 12th.-We had the wind
this day from various quarters, but chiefly from
the south-eastward. For nearly four days, or
ninety-six hours, previous to this, the weather
had been clear, and the sky almost constantly
cloudless; so that the sun, in making nearly four
revolutions in the heavens, was never for a mo-
ment obscured. The reflection of the sun's rays
from the ice, rendered the light excessively in-
*
SHIP ENCLOSED BY ICE.
099
tense, and often painful and injurious to the
eyes.
The land being now only ten or fifteen
leagues from us, and fortunately less disfigured
than usual, by refraction, I obtained a good sketch
of its appearance, and another set of observations
on its bearings. As no advance could possibly
be made towards the west, nor indeed in any di-
rection, our retreat having been cut off by the
closing of the ice in our rear, these occupations
served to amuse my mind, and fill up the hours
of tedious detention and inactivity.
In the night we saw a whale, the first that had
appeared near us for a-week. It only showed itself
once, and then passed out of sight.
4
;
The two following days we continued in the
same basin of water, cruising from end to end,
and penetrating almost every crack towards the
north-west, that would admit the ship a passage;
but no progress, I found, could be made, in the
destination I had assumed, while the ice continued
in the compact state it was then in. Our nearest
approach to the land was within about ten leagues;
beyond that point it was impossible to advance.
The ice between us and the coast was a heavy body
of fields and floes; and these were so compactly con-
gregated, that there was seldom the smallest speck
of water to be seen among them. In all direc-
G 2
100
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
tions, indeed, the ice was extremely crowded and
closely connected, so that we were unable either
to advance or to recede. Small changes, however,
occasionally took place in the ice immediately
around us; the floes between which we lay, fre-
quently coming into contact with considerable
violence, and others beyond them at the same
time separating. These changes obliged us to be
continually on the alert, to avoid the concussions
of the ice, which would probably have been de-
structive to the ship, and fatal to our lives. The
ice around was not of an ordinary kind; but was
the most ponderous and rugged that I almost
ever saw. The general elevation, and apparently
interminable extent of the floes, with the im-
mense load of hummocks on their edges, indica-
tive of the tremendous crushes that had recently
occurred, gave a grand but rather awful character
to the scenery. The hummocks on the edges of
the floes consisted of ridges, blocks, and hillocks of
ice, twenty, thirty, or even forty feet in elevation;
and in the interior of many sheets of ice, there were
great numbers of hummocks of twenty feet, and
upwards. It was impossible to contemplate these
vast elevations of ice, without reflecting on the
enormous power which must have been exerted to
rear ridges of many thousands of tons weight;
and to break and crumble the edges of fields
SHIP ENCLOSED BY ICE.
101
1
*
twenty or thirty feet in thickness, of solid ice, to
afford materials for such ponderous superstructures.
The dangerous and impervious qualities of the
ice, in this quarter, with the discouraging circum-
stance of the scarcity of whales, amounting almost
to a total want of them, rendered it a matter of
prudence to attempt a speedy change of our posi-
tion, into a more commodious and promising sta-
tion. And this was of the more consequence,
since the drift of the ice towards the south-west,
which, for three weeks preceding our entrance
amid the land floes, had averaged seven or eight
miles a-day, was found to be suspended; no change
having now taken place in our latitude for two or
three days. Hence, there appearing to be some
stoppage to the drift of the ice, it was to be ap-
prehended, that, instead of its becoming more
open, the pressure of the ice descending from the
north upon it, would occasion, if possible, an in-
creased accumulation.
Fortunately the time expended in fruitless ex-
ertions to reach the land was not lost. The
weather being almost constantly clear and fine,
the coast was continually visible, through an ex-
tent of ninety miles; and although we were far
from some of this coast, yet its great elevation and
boldness, rendering it visible, at least at twice the
distance we were from it, I had the opportunity
102
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
7
of obtaining a very tolerable survey of all the pro-
minent parts. In carrying on this work, I had
already had five or six stations, determined astro-
nomically, and had employed upwards: of fifty
angles or bearings.
The general trending of this coast, extending
from Gale Hamkes' Bay, in latitude 75°, to Bon-
tekoe Island and Hold-with-Hope, in 73° 30′, is
SSW., true. It is almost wholly mountainous,
rugged, and barren. Its general character is not
unlike that of Spitzbergen; but the quantity of
snow upon it seems to be generally less. Its or-
dinary height I estimated at 3000 feet; an ele-
vation which it probably attains within a mile or
two of the sea.
Of the land now surveyed, only three or four
places are noticed in the charts; these are Gale.
Hamkes Bay and Land at one extremity, and
Bontekoe Island and Hudson's Hold-with-Hope
at the other. There is also Broer Ruy's Land;
but I apprehended it is synonymous with Hold-
with-Hope. These places can only be recognised
from the latitude in which they are laid down;
the longitudes being extremely wide of the truth,
and their relative positions inaccurate. From
Gale Hamkes' Bay to Bontekoe Island, there are
no capes nor inlets laid down; whereas the coast
presents many striking headlands and deep in-

Bontekoe 1. N.59 W.
Cape Holland
Hold-with-Hope
PLATE III Page 102.
C.ArundelN279W
Jackson I
SCOTTS INLET
C. Brinkley
C. Herschell
C. Brinkley
C. Brisbane
YOUNG'S BAY
P
Drawn by W.Scoresby Jun.
WOLLASTON FORELAND
C. Clark N.7°E
C. Beaufoy
KATER BAY
9253-120%
GALE HAMKE'S BAY
CONTINUOUS VIEW OF THE COAST OF GREENLAND FROM BONTEKOE ISLAND TO GALE HAMKES' LAND.
Eng by W.H.Lizars
Gale Hamkes Land N40°E.
SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES.
103
i
dentations. Hence it became a matter of conve-
nience to give names to the most remarkable pro-
montories, inlets, and islands; and in this, I con-
sidered myself justified, by the example of former
navigators; particularly as my survey was the first
that had ever been attempted of this coast, and
many of my researches appeared to be original dis-
coveries. The names now applied I derived partly
from peculiar characters observed in the land; but
more generally from the remembrance of respect-
ed friends, to whom I was wishful to pay a com-
pliment that might possibly survive the lapse of
ages.
The northernmost land seen, as I have before
observed, coincided in latitude with the position
usually given to the Land of Gale Hamkes, said
to have been discovered in the year 1654, by a
Dutch whale-fisher of this name, commanding a
ship called the Orangebovn; and an inlet stretch-
ing to the north-west, adjoining it, had such an
appearance and position, as seemed to identify it
with Gale Hamkes Bay. The eastern head-land
of this bay lies in latitude, about 74° 59′, and in
longitude 18° 50′ W., differing from the meridian
given to it by the best charts about seven de-
grees, and from that given to it by the charts, pub-
lished for the use of the whale-fishers, 820 miles
of longitude, or nearly fourteen degrees!
A little to the south-west of Gale Hamkes'
104
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
Bay is another inlet, to which I gave the name
of KATER'S BAY; and to a bold tract of land ly-
ing a few leagues to the southward of this bay, I
applied the name of WOLLASTON FORELAND,
as a testimony of respect to two of the Commis-
sioners of longitude. An opening a little farther
south was named, in compliment to the Secretary
to the Board of Longitude, YOUNG'S BAY.
Wollaston Foreland will, I expect, prove to be
an island of about four leagues in extent. It is
remarkably black and mountainous; and at this
time was less clothed with snow than any of the
adjoining coast. After another tract of high land,
of a somewhat different character, a considerable
inlet was discovered, in latitude 74° 5', in which
no land towards the north-west was ever seen du-
ring our stay on the coast. It was named SCOTT'S
INLET, in honour of Sir Walter Scott. A fine
bold and picturesque foreland lies immediately to
the southward of Scots's inlet, to which the name
of Sir EVERARD HOME was applied.
In addition to the places now mentioned, other
Capes and Bays were named in compliment to the
following much respected individuals:-viz. Sir
THOMAS BRISBANE, Dr BRINKLEY, Colonel
BEAUFOY, Dr HOLLAND, Mr J. F. W. HER-
SCHEL, and my brothers-in-law the Rev. JOHN
ARUNDEL, Captain JACKSON, and Mr JOHN
CLARK, whose names appear in the northern part
SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES.
105
of the general chart of researches which accom-
panies this volume.
The southernmost land hitherto seen, lying
three or four leagues, S by E., true, from Home's
Foreland, was taken to be Bontekoe Island, a
place laid down in some charts, though not with-
in fifteen miles of the same latitude. It is high,
precipitous land, and of a particularly dark ap-
pearance. Its longitude I found to be 20° 40′ W.,
instead of 7°5′ W., the position given to it in the
charts for the whale-fisheries.
About half a degree of longitude to the west-
ward of Bontekoe Island, is a remarkable head-
land, which is probably the same that was disco-
vered by Henry Hudson, in the year 1607, and
named by him Hold-with-Hope. From thence
the land trends more to the westward.
In the midst of my operations for the survey
of this coast, it fortunately happened, that the
moon, at a convenient distance from the sun, for
determining the longitude, became visible. This
was a circumstance of great importance to me,
and was instantly embraced, for correcting the
rate of my chronometer; it being impossible alto-
gether to depend on the going of a single time-
piece. The weather was uncommonly favourable,
so as to enable me to take the distances with the
greatest precision. From six sets of distances
•
106
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
and altitudes, I obtained the mean longitude of
17° 54' 30" W., for the place of the ship on the
14th of June, and found the error of the chrono-
meter to be nearly four minutes of time *.
મ
These satisfactory observations for the longi-
tude (established by many subsequent proofs), ena-
bled me to ascertain the exact effect, in a particu-
lar case, of the extraordinary refractive property of
the atmosphere in the Arctic Seas, which, with-
out such proofs, would scarcely have been eredi
ble. The coast that has just been described, is
in general so bold, as to be distinctly visible in
the ordinary state of the atmosphere, at the dis-
tance of sixty miles; but on my last voyage into
these regions, one part of this coast was seen,
when at more than double this distance. The
particulars were these:-Towards the end of July
1821, being among the ice in latitude 74° 10,
and longitude, by lunar observation and chrono-
meter, (which agreed to twenty-two minutes of
longitude, or within six geographical miles), 12°
* This lunar observation was afterwards proved, by com-
paring my chronometer with one of Captain Bennet's, and
by correcting its rate by subsequent observations. All the
longitudes mentioned, therefore, in this narrative, are cor-
rected longitudes, and not exactly those given by the chro
- nometer, at its original rate, which proved to be nearly two
seconds per day wrong.
EXTRAORDINARY REFRACTION.
107
30 15', W., land was seen from the mast-head
to the westward, occasionally, for three successive
days. It was so distinct and bold, that Captain
Manby, who accompanied me on that voyage, and
whose observations are already before the public,
was enabled, at one time, to take a sketch of it
from the deck, whilst I took a similar sketch from
the mast-head, which is preserved in my journal
of that year.
The land at that time nearest
to us was Wollaston Foreland, which, by my late
surveys, proves to lie in latitude 74° 25′ (the mid-
dle part of it), and longitude 19° 50′: the dis-
tance, therefore, must have been at least 120
miles. But Home's Foreland, in 21° W. longi-
tude, distinguished by two remarkable hummocks
at its extremities, was also seen; its distance, by
calculation, founded on astronomical observations,
being 140 geographical, or 160 English miles.
In an ordinary state of the atmosphere (supposing
the refraction to be one-twelfth of the distance),
any land to have been visible from a ship's mast-
head, an hundred feet high, at the distance of 140
miles, must have been at least two nautical miles,
or 12,000 feet in elevation; but as the land in
question is not more than 3500 feet in altitude,
(by estimation), there must have been an extraor-
dinary effect of refraction equal to 8500 feet.
Now, the angle corresponding with an altitude of
8500 feet, and a distance of 140 miles, is 34′ 47″,
108
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
*
the value of the extraordinary refraction, at the
time the land was thus seen; or, calculating in the
proportion of the distance, which is the most usual
manner of estimating the refraction, it amounted
to one-fourth of the arch of distance, instead of
one-twelfth, the mean quantity..
That land was seen under these circumstances
there cannot be a doubt; for it was observed to
be in the same position, and under a similar form,
on the 18th, 23d, 24th, and 25th July 1821,
when the ship was in longitude from 12° 30, to
11° 50′ W., and on the 23d it remained visible
for twenty-four hours together; and though often
changing its appearance, by the varying influence
of the refraction, it constantly preserved a unifor-
mity of position, and general similarity of cha-
`racter. In my journal of this day, I find I have
observed, that my doubts about the reality of the
land were now entirely removed, since, with a te-
lescope, from the mast-head" hills, dells, patches of
snow, and masses of naked rock, could be satisfac-
torily traced, during four-and-twenty hours suc-
cessively." This extraordinary effect of refraction,
therefore, I conceive to be fully established *.
* I am not aware that this land was ever seen by any
British navigator, (excepting Hudson, and two or three
whale-fishers, who have, at different times, been forced to-
wards it by the ice, when closely beset), until the year 1817
1
A BEAR KILLED.
109
In the course of the night a bear was seen
prowling about upon one of the adjoining sheets
of ice, which, soon afterwards attempting to swim
across an opening near the ship, was immediately
pursued by one of our boats, and attacked by the
harpooner commanding it, who wounded it with
a lance, and, after it had bravely given battle for
some time, eventually overcame it. It was a fine
large specimen, the skin, which was very white, and
well furred, measuring about eight feet in length.
?
when it was seen by myself, on the 29th of July, when the
ship was in latitude 74° 0′, longitude 10° 37′ W. Its bear-
ing being W by N. (true), the part of the coast in sight
must have been Wollaston Foreland, at the distance of 152
miles, The apparent distance, however, being scarcely
one-half of the true distance, I was led into an error re-
specting the longitude of the "West-Land:" the reason of
which I take this opportunity of explaining. The sup-
posed situation of this land was mentioned in a letter to
the late Sir JOSEPH BANKS; through whom it was inserted
in some of the polar charts, in the longitude which I had
attributed to it. But the distance I calculated from was
merely conjecture; and from my ignorance at the time of
the full effects of the unequal refractions of these parallels,
my conjecture happened to be very wide of the truth.
Had I not had full proof, in the instance noticed above, of
the extraordinary extension of vision by refraction, I should
now have believed, that, however confident I was at the
time of its being the land that I saw, I must have been
mistaken.
+
110
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
We had expected to have seen very many of
these animals on the coast of Greenland, as in a
former voyage, on approaching this situation, we
saw about a hundred, of which more than twenty
were killed, and four taken alive; but in this ex-
pectation we were quite disappointed, not more
than three having yet been seen, and of these
only one, the bear now captured, having given us
a chance of attacking it, the other two prudently
keeping on the middle of a large field of ice, where
we had little encouragement to pursue them.
1
When the bear is found in the water, crossing
from one sheet of ice to another, it may generally
be attacked with advantage; but, when on the
shore, or more especially when it is upon a large
sheet of ice, covered with snow,-on which the bear
supporting itself upon the surface, with its ex-
pended paws, can travel with twice the speed of a
man, who, perhaps, sinks to the knees at every
step,-it can seldom be assailed with either safety
Most of the fatal accidents that have
occurred with bears, have been the result of ren-
counters on the ice, or injudicious attacks made
at such disadvantage.
or success.
A few years ago, when one of the Davis' Strait's
whalers was closely beset among the ice at the
"South-west," or on the coast of Labrador, a bear
that had for some time been seen near the ship,
BEARS.
111
at length became so bold, as to approach along-
side, tempted probably by the offal of the provi-
sion that had been thrown over-board by the
cook. At this time, the people were all at din-
ner, no one being required to keep the deck in
the then immoveable state of the ship. A hardy
fellow, who first looked out, perceiving the bear
so near, imprudently jumped upon the ice, armed
only with a handspike, with a view, it is supposed,
of securing all the honour of the exploit of captu-
ring so fierce a visitor to himself. But the bear,
regardless of such weapons, and sharpened pro-
bably by hunger, immediately, it should seem,
disarmed his antagonist, and, seizing him by the
back with his powerful jaws, carried him off with
such celerity, that, on his dismayed comrades
rising from their meal, and looking abroad, he
was so far beyond their reach as to defy their
pursuit.
A circumstance, communicated to me by Cap-
tain Munroe of the Neptune, of rather a humo-
rous nature as to the result, arose out of an equal-
ly imprudent attack made on a bear in the Green-
land fishery of 1820, by a seaman employed in
one of the Hull whalers. The ship was moored
to a field of ice, on which, at a considerable dis-
tance, a large bear was observed prowling about
for prey. One of the ship's company, embolden-
112
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ed by an artificial courage, derived from the
free use of his rum, which, in his economy, he
had stored for special occasions, undertook to pur-
sue and attack the bear that was within view.
Armed only with a whale-lance, he resolutely,
and against all persuasion, set out on his adven-
turous exploit. A fatiguing journey of about half
a league, over a surface of yielding snow, and
rugged hummocks, brought him within a few
yards of the enemy, which, to his surprise, un-
dauntedly faced him, and seemed to invite him
to the combat. His courage being by this time
greatly subdued, partly by the evaporation of
the stimulus he had employed, and partly by
the undismayed, and even threatening aspect
of the bear, he levelled his lance in an attitude
suited either for offensive or defensive action, and
stopped. The bear also stood still. In vain the
adventurer tried to rally courage to make the at-
tack; his enemy was too formidable, and his ap-
pearance too imposing. In vain also he shouted,
advanced his lance, and made feints of attack;
the enemy either not understanding them, or de-
spising such unmanliness, obstinately stood his
ground. Already the limbs of the sailor began to
shake,-the lance trembled in the rest,-and his
gaze, which had hitherto been stedfast, began to
quiver; but the fear of ridicule from his messmates
2
}
BEARS.
113
still had its influence, and he yet scarcely dared
to retreat. Bruin, however, possessing less re-
flection, or being more regardless of consequences,
began, with the most audacious boldness, to ad-
vance. His nigh approach, and unshaken step,
subdued the spark of bravery, and that dread of
ridicule, that had hitherto upheld our adventurer;
he turned and fled. But now was the time of
danger. The sailor's flight encouraged the bear
in his turn to pursue; and being better practised
in snow-travelling, and better provided for it, he
rapidly gained upon the fugitive. The whale-
lance, his only defence, encumbering him in his
retreat, he threw it down, and kept on. This for-
tunately excited the bear's attention; he stopped,
-pawed it,-bit it, and then resumed the chace.
Again he was at the heels of the panting sea-
man, who, conscious of the favourable effect of
the lance, dropped a mitten: the stratagem suc-
ceeded, and, while bruin again stopped to exa-
mine it, the fugitive, improving the interval,
made considerable progress a-head. Still the
bear resumed the pursuit, with the most provo-
king perseverance, excepting when arrested by
another mitten, and finally by a hat, which he
tore to shreds between his teeth and his paws,
and would no doubt have soon made the incau-
tious adventurer his victim, who was rapidly losing
H
114
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
strength and heart, but for the prompt and well-
timed assistance of his shipmates, who, observing
that the affair had assumed a dangerous aspect,
sallied out to his rescue. The little phalanx
opened him a passage, and then closed to receive
the bold assailant. Though now beyond the
reach of his adversary, the dismayed fugitive con-
tinued onward, impelled by his fears, and never
relaxed his exertions until he fairly reached the
shelter of the ship! Bruin once more prudently
came to a stand, and for a moment seemed to
survey his enemies with all the consideration of
an experienced general; when, finding them too
numerous for a reasonable hope of success, he very
wisely wheeled about, and succeeded in making a
safe and honourable retreat.
A thick fog prevailed the greater part of the
15th of June, and so bewildered us, that we with
difficulty found room for working the ship. As
we were anxious to escape from our confinement,
we occasionally explored the boundaries and re-
cesses of the ice to which we had access; and in
the evening, when thus employed, fortunately
discovered an outlet leading to windward, through
which we succeeded in beating a passage, though
the width was not above a hundred yards. This
led us to the west side of the field that had de-
tained us on the 10th, and some preceding days.
IN SEARCH OF WHALES.
115 -
}
Here we "dodged" during a gale of wind which
we had on the following day. Seven or eight
ships were at this time discovered from the mast-
head, at a distance to the eastward their ap-
pearance excited considerable interest with all
hands, from the circumstance of our having been
for a long time entirely alone.
On Monday morning, June 17th, we proceed-
ed in search of openings amid the southern floes,
and succeeded in finding an outlet in the desired
direction. In the afternoon, we fell into a sea of
a fine turbid green colour, which gave us increased
hopes of whales; and, about midnight, I was gra-
tified by the appearance of one, but it was at a
great distance, and retired out of sight before the
boats could reach the place.
The weather was perfectly clear, and the land
in sight all the day; although a few miles to the
eastward of us there was evidently a thick fog.
As we advanced to the southward, some addi-
tional headlands lying to the westward of us were
discovered, and the bearings of them taken. I
obtained good sights for the longitude, both in
the forenoon and afternoon, which agreed to a
mere trifle the mean was 17° 40′ 10″ W. A
set of azimuths gave the variation 43° 15′ W.
The latitude at noon was 73° 17'.
On the 18th, there being many appearances of
*
4
H 2
116
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
the proximity of whales, we penetrated the main
western ice, through a most intricate navigation,
for some miles; but finding the colour and quality
of the water changing to blue and transparent, we
returned.
An opportunity again occurred of prosecuting
my surveys, and some additional bays, islands,
and headlands appeared in sight; but the distance
was too great for getting the accurate outline.
An opening of the land, the head of which was
not seen, occurs about five leagues to the westward
of Bontekoe. It was named, in compliment to
Sir George S. Mackenzie, MACKEnzie's Inlet.
Its direction appears to be NW., true. To the
southward of this, is a bold foreland, the extremi-
ties of which are crested by two remarkable hills.
The northern one received the name of CAPE
GIESECKE, in compliment to Sir Charles Giesecké
of Dublin; and the southern one obtained the
name of CAPE FRANKLIN, after the persevering
commander of the overland expedition for explo-
ring the coasts of the Arctic Ocean. A cape a lit-
tle more southerly, was named in compliment to
the celebrated traveller Baron ALEXANDER DE
HUMBOLDT; and three others still farther to the
southward, out of respect to M. De ROSSEL, mem-
ber of the Institute of France; the Marquis de
la PLACE; and M. FREYCINET, who circumna-
UNEQUAL REFRACTION.
117
vigated the globe in the Uranio. A small island
lying to the westward of Bontekoe, I named after
Captain BENNET, of the Venerable whaler, who
furnished me with some chronometrical observa-
tions on the longitudes of two or three adjoining
headlands, which very nearly corresponded with
my own. Our latitude at noon was 73° 1';
longitude, by chronometer, 18° 1′ W.
In the evening, we stretched a few miles to the
eastward, and fell in with some whales. Two
ships that were on the "ground" before us made
captures. Several other vessels afterwards came
up, but neither they nor we were successful.
On the 19th of June, the weather was calm
and clear; the sun warm, and almost oppres-
sive. The sea reflected objects as accurately as a
mirror, its surface for hours being unruffled by a
breeze. The strong action of the sun's rays soon
produced such an unequal density in the atmo-
sphere, that some of the most extraordinary phe-
nomena to which this circumstance gives rise,
were exhibited. The land, to appearance, was
suddenly brought fifteen or twenty miles nearer
us; its boldness and clearness, as seen from the
deck, being superior to what its elevation and
distinctness had previously been, as seen from the
mast-head. The ice about the horizon assumed
various singular forms:-hummocks became ver-
118
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
•.
tical columns,floes and fields arose above the ho-
rizon, like cliffs of prismatic-formed spar,—and, in
many places, the ice was reflected in the atmo-
sphere at some minutes elevation above the ho
rizon. The ships around us, consisting of eight
or nine sail, presented extraordinary characters.
(Plate II fig. 2) Their sails and masts were
strangely distorted. Sometimes the courses would
be depressed to almost nothing; the top-sails ex-
panded to near four times their proper height,
and the topgallant-sails truncated. Occasionally
a very odd spectacle occurred: an additional sail
appeared above the topgallant-sail, like a royal
hanging loose and sometimes the expanded top-
sail, divided into two distinct sails, by the sepa-
ration of all the additional height given by the
refraction, which, slowly rolling upward, as it
were, like the lifting of a curtain, dispersed, and
became invisible, after leaving the mast-head.
Above some distant ships, there was an inverted
image in the air, many times larger than the ob-
ject itself: this, in some instances, was at a con-
siderable elevation above the ship; but it was
found to be of a less size whenever the original and
the image were not in contact. The image of
one ship was distinctly seen for several minutes
together, though the object to which it referred
i
was not in sight! One ship was crowned with
1
UNEQUAL REFRACTION.
119
9
two images; the first an inverted one, and the
second, a circumstance I never before observed,
in its proper position. Altogether, the shipping,
and other objects around us, presented a most
amusing spectacle. They were perpetually chan-
ging their appearance, and afforded me abundant
entertainment for hours together. The most re-
markable effect produced, was on the most dis-
tant objects, the interesting appearances of which
not being discernible without the use of a tele-
scope, probably escaped general observational
120
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
!
CHAPTER V.
i
LOSS OF A HARPOONER BY A WHALE.-TWO WHALES
AND THREE NARWALS TAKEN.-ANATOMICAL STRUC-
TURE OF THE NARWAL.-REMARKABLE ATMOSPHE-
RIC REFRACTIONS.
WE. had a breeze of wind on the 20th, under
which we cruised the whole day, among floes and
drift-ice, in search of whales. A straggler was
occasionally seen and pursued, though without
success; and, towards night, two or three were
discovered together, by the glass, at the distance
of about a league. All our boats were dis-
patched in pursuit, while we endeavoured to fol-
low them with the ship, through a narrow channel,
between a large floe and a quantity of crowded
drift-ice. But the wind being against us, and the
ice closing, we had to work in places not a hundred
yards wide, and these encumbered with "pieces,"
until at length there was scarcely room to get the
ship round. Not having a boat on board, we were
in much perplexity how to act; but having for-
tunately grappled a floe, we warped smartly to
windward, and just escaped at the moment that
the floe and loose ice came in contact, close to the
LOSS OF A HARPOONER.
121
ship's stern. Our difficulties, however, were not
yet over; for, on attempting to take sail, the ship
unavoidably struck the last piece of ice that was
in the way, and launched fast aground on a
"tongue" or shelf that projected from beneath
it, at the depth of twelve or fifteen feet. Here
we remained for two or three hours occupied in
fruitless exertions for our extrication. On the
arrival of some of the boats to our assistance,
other schemes were resorted to; but these were
not effectual, until an accidental fracture of the
ice occurred, and liberated us.
As soon as these annoying duties enabled me
to direct my attention to the boats, I found that
two of them were missing. I looked in vain for
them from the mast-head, sweeping the sea and
ice all round with the glass, and dwelling on
every different field of view that it embraced in
the circuit, until I was almost blinded by the
closeness of the observation, and the intensity of
the light. The arduous duties of my profession
had occupied me, at the mast-head, fifteen or
sixteen hours almost incessantly. The sky being
clear, the weather moderate or calm, and the sun
extremely brilliant, the light (reflected and direct)
became excessive: it was too much for the sight,
and produced such a degree of inflammation in
my eyes, and acute headache, that I was under
[
t
•
122
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the necessity of discontinuing the personal search
for the boats, and of retiring below to seek a lit-
tle rest. In the mean time, four boats were dis-
patched, in two parties, to look for their com-
rades; but, after a search of four hours, they re-
turned unsuccessful.
I now arose and renewed the examination of
the ice and sea around, and was at length rejoiced
by the sight of the boats in the eastern quarter,
pulling" towards the ship.
66
On their approach, we were a little surprised
by some unusual appearances, particularly by the
obvious want of their proper complement of oars,
and the solemn countenances of the rowers; but a
deficiency in the number of men was neither obser-
ved nor suspected. As soon as they came with-
in hail, my anxiety induced me to call out, and
enquire what had happened. "A bad misfortune
indeed,” replied the officer commanding the first
boat, "we have lost Carr!" This awful intel-
ligence, for which we were altogether unprepared,
shocked me exceedingly; and it was some time
before I was able to enquire into the particulars
of the accident, which had deprived us of one of
our shipmates. As far as could be collected from
the confused accounts of the crew of the boat, of
which he went out in charge, the circumstan-
ces were as follow. The two boats that had been
LOSS OF A HARPOONER.
123
£
so long absent, had, on the outset, separated from
their companions; and allured by the chace of a
whale, and the fineness of the weather, they pro-
ceeded until they were far out of sight of the ship.
The whale they pursued led them into a vast
shoal of the species: they were, indeed, so nume-
rous, that their "blowing" was incessant; and
they believed they could not have seen less than
a hundred. Fearful of alarming them without
striking any, they remained for some time motion-
less, watching for a favourable opportunity to com-
mence an attack. One of them at length arose
so near the boat of which William Carr was har-
pooner, that he ventured to pull towards it,
though it was meeting him, and afforded but an
indifferent chance of success. He, however, fatal-
ly for himself, succeeded in harpooning it. The
boat and fish passing each other with great rapi-
dity after the stroke, the line was jerked out of
its place, and, instead of "running" over the stem,
was thrown over the gunwale; its pressure in this
unfavourable position so careened the boat, that
the side sank below the water, and it began to
fill. In this emergency the harpooner, who was
a fine active fellow, seized the bight of the line,
and attempted to relieve the boat, by restoring
it to its place; but by some singular circumstance,
which could not be accounted for, a turn of the line
124
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
flew over his arm, in an instant dragged him over-
board, and plunged him under water, to rise no
more! So sudden was the accident, that only
one man, who had his eye upon him at the time,
was aware of what had happened; so that when the
boat righted, which it immediately did, though
half full of water, they all at once, on looking round
at an exclamation from the man who had seen him
launched overboard, enquired what had got Carr !
It is scarcely possible to imagine a death more
awfully sudden and unexpected. The murder-
ous bullet, when it makes its way through the air
with a velocity that renders it invisible, and seems
not to require a moment for its flight, rarely pro-
duces so instantaneous destruction. The velocity
of the whale on its first descent, is usually (as I
have proved by experiment) about 8 or 9 miles
per hour, or 13 to 15 feet per second. Now, as
this unfortunate man was occupied in adjusting
the line at the very water's edge, when it must
have been perfectly tight, in consequence of the
obstruction to its running out of the boat, the in-
terval between the fastening of the line about
him and his disappearance, could not have ex-
ceeded the third-part of a second of time; for in
one second only, he must have been dragged to
the depth of 10 or 12 feet! The accident was, in-
deed, so instantaneous, that he had not time for
!
LOSS OF A HARPOONER.
125
i
the least exclamation; and the person who wit-
nessed his extraordinary removal, observed, that
it was so exceedingly quick, that although his eye
was upon him at the instant, he could scarcely
distinguish the object as it disappeared.
As soon as the crew of the boat recovered from
their consternation, they applied themselves to
the needful attention which the lines required.
From the accompanying boat, on the rising of the
fish to the surface, a second harpoon was struck,
and some lances applied; but the melancholy pro-
vidence that had occurred, had cast such a damp
upon all the men employed in this business, that
they became timid, cautious, and inactive in their
subsequent duties. The fish, when nearly exhaust-
ed, was, in consequence of this, allowed to remain
for some minutes unmolested on the water, until
having recovered some degree of energy, it made
a violent effort, and disengaged itself from both
the harpoons.
Our exertions thus proved altogether fruitless;
and were attended with serious loss. In all
respects we were extremely unfortunate. Be-
sides the whale above mentioned that was lost
when in a dying state, two others, that were par-
tially harpooned, likewise escaped us; and ano-
ther, which a harpooner was just about to strike,
sank at the moment in a fright, occasioned, not
126
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
by the approach of the boat, but in consequence
of a fulmar's darting upon its back, and plunging
its beak in the skin. Several ships within sight
were more successful: the John killed two whales,
and two or three others a whale each.
A ship at a distance, supposed to be the Bre-
men of Bremen, was seen with an ancient flying,
a signal indicative in the whale-fishery of a full-
ship. The effect of a sight of this kind on the
minds of unsuccessful fishers, is of a painfully
despondent nature. They see their fortunate
neighbours returning prosperously home to their
families and friends, with the cheering conscious-
ness of their full cargo insuring them a welcome
from their employers; while the yet labouring fish-
ers, who have failed to succeed in their endeavours,
have the further and increased difficulties and
dangers of the foggy season to undergo, together
with the oppressive anxiety which the uncertain
issue of the voyage almost constantly calls forth.
These feelings are, doubtless, the most distressing,
where they are augmented by the influence of en-
vy; and they are the least felt by those who com-
mit their way unto the Almighty, and trust in
him, with full reliance on the promise that "he
will bring it to pass." The Bremen was early at
the sealing-stations, and made a most successful
attack upon these animals; her active commander
LOSS OF A HARPOONER.
127
then improving the opportunities for whaling
which he met with, made up his cargo at this
uncommonly early period of the fishery.
The latter part of this adventurous day (the
21st of June), together with the day following, we
spent in cruising about with unremitting perse-
verance among the drift-ice and floes, which were
in great quantities around us; but although we saw
several whales, and ships in all directions about
us were occasionally making captures, we were
altogether unsuccessful.
On the 23d, being Sunday, we rested. We had
public worship as usual; the weather being calm
during the service in the forenoon, all hands were
enabled to attend. The arduous, yet unsuccessful
labours of the preceding week, rendered repose
from the busy cares of our profession particularly
acceptable; and the melancholy loss of one of our
number had a solemnizing effect on every mind,
that was extremely favourable for devotion. As
my crew were entirely dependent on me for reli-
gious instruction, I thought it my duty to address
them, with the particular view of improving the
serious impression evidently made upon them, by
the awful death of William Carr. He was much
esteemed by all on board: he was the bosom friend
of one or two; the mess-mate and watch-mate of
many; the kind companion of all. All, therefore,
128
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
|
!
knew and respected him, and were deeply interest-
ed in his fate. The consciousness, that his fate
might have been any of theirs, naturally led to
the personal enquiry, whether they were prepared
to meet their God. The consciences of some,
no doubt, replied in the negative: they, perhaps,
discovered, for the first time, that religion was not
a mere name, or profession only, but an active in-
ternal principle; and that its general acknowledg-
ment, or even the performance of its outward du-
ties, could not benefit them, without their partak-
ing of its personal influence. The solemn demean-
our and striking attention of our little company,
marked the interest which every one felt on the
occasion. The eyes of many strongly indicated the
deep emotions of their hearts; and the weather-
beaten cheeks of some were suffused with a copi-
ous flow of tears, that forcibly displayed the
powerful feelings of benevolence or devotion by
which they were impressed.
A thick fog, which had prevailed for more than
four-and-twenty hours, dispersed about 10 P. M;
on which we found ourselves surrounded by floes,
and very nearly beset. We were unable to ex-
tricate ourselves until next morning, when, a
strong gale having put the ice in motion, we
found a passage to the eastward. In the night,
the weather became very bad, blowing excessively
A WHALE CAPTURED.
129
hard, with thick snow; so that there was consi-
derable difficulty in working the ship, among the
innumerable sheets of ice with which we were
encompassed. The whole of these we were not
so fortunate as to avoid; one piece was struck
in "stays," the ship having got " stern-way,
which materially damaged the rudder.
It continued to blow hard, with thick snow, the
whole of the 25th. Having obtained smooth-
water, under the lee of a floe, we were enabled,
notwithstanding the gale, to pursue several whales
that were seen in the course of the day. Some
near approaches were made by our different har-
pooners, and one of the fish was struck; but, af-
ter withdrawing about 300 fathoms of line, the
harpoon retracted, and the prey escaped. We
still kept the boats on the watch; and, towards
evening, another whale was harpooned in a man-
ner that proved effectual. It took 960 fathoms
of line from the "fast-boat," and was re-struck and
killed, after an interval of about three hours. It
proved a valuable prize, being estimated to yield
at least twenty tuns of oil, and a ton weight of
whale-bone. The longest lamina of the whale-
bone measured eleven feet three inches.
*
It、
At 6 o'clock of the following morning, (the
26th of June), the snow ceased, the weather clear-
ed, and the land was seen distinct and bold from
the deck.
I
130
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
The whales having all left us, we proceeded to
windward in search of them, into a large clear
opening, several leagues in breadth, which had
been produced by the influence of the gale. In
beating through a bar of ice to reach this open-
ing, the most extraordinary alterations in the co-
lour of the sea, that I ever witnessed, occurred.
The place where we made the last capture, was
an olive-green sea, very dark and turbid; but; in
making a stretch to the north-westward, we sud-
denly passed into a perfectly blue and transparent
water. Regular alternations of a green and blue
sea were afterwards observed on every tack the
ship made. So striking, in one place, was this,
change, that the eastern extremity of a piece of
ice not thirty yards in diameter, was in blue wa-
ter, and the western extremity in green; and the
line of separation of the two colours was so well
defined, that it could be determined to within a
yard. This circumstance was observed from the
mast-head, as the ship passed the piece of ice re-
ferred to; and the colours of the water were dis-
tinctly shewn by the light reflected from a tongue,
or shelf, of the ice, at a considerable depth under
the surface. And in proof that there was no optical
deception, other masses of ice, in the same general
line, exhibited similar appearances. On one of
these, repeated alternations of green and blue wa-
SURVEY CONTInued.
131
ter took place, and were clearly exhibited on its
encompassing tongues; from which, the line of
separation was found to be slightly waved. p
In the evening, we made a stretch toward the
land, which was nearer than usual. I took sights
for the longitude of the ship, which gave 18°
48′ W.; and found the latitude to be 71° 9′. A
series of bearings of the land, and a sketch of
about ninety miles of coast, were obtained in this
situation. The angular extent of the land in
sight was from NW by W. (true) to SW. A
strong refraction having occurred during the time
of making the observations, brought quite dis-
tinctly into view some land to the northward, that
was considered to be at the distance of nearly
eighty miles.
I had just finished my observations, when a
sail not hitherto seen, bore down to us, which
proved to be my Father's ship, the Fame. I
went on board of her, and had the happiness of
finding my Father, and my only brother, who ac-
companied him, in good health. Their success
exceeded ours, by one whale; but was not mate-
rially different as to the quantity of blubber ob-
tained. We proceeded to cruise for whales in
company. Towards the land, the ice, in this pa-
rallel, consisted of a large aggregation of fields
and floes, and appeared not yet to be pervious.
I 2
132
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
Two or three whales were seen about its margin.
The sea was almost covered with roaches (Little
Auks) which were busily engaged in picking up
the shrimps and other insects, that seem general-
ly to abound in the green coloured water.
We were employed most of the next day (the
weather being calm and foggy) in “making off”
the blubber of the whale captured on the 25th.
As the ice was too compact, in all directions,
to afford a safe passage towards the north, the
course I wished to pursue, while the weather was
foggy, we were obliged to remain stationary the
whole of the 28th; but, at an early hour of the
following morning, it "cleared up," and enabled
us to resume the search for whales.
During the fog, we killed a very large narwal.
It measured 15 feet 4 inches in length, and 9 feet
4 inches in circumference. It was a male, and
had a horn or tooth 7 feet 6 inches long, exter-
nally, besides 15 or 16 inches of the same imbed-
ded in the skull. Being an aged animal, the skin
was almost wholly white. On the back and sides,
however, there were a few grey oblong spots or
patches; and on the sides and belly a number of
bright yellow specks. This latter colour, which
was quite superficial, seemed to be the effect of
age, or of cutaneous disease. It was remarkably
fat, having a covering of blubber, over the muscu-
NARWAL.
133
lar parts, four inches in thickness. The tooth,
which in this animal is a solitary one, was covered,
over the greater part of its surface, with a greasy
substance, forming a blackish-brown incrustation.
The under side of the horn, however, and a few
inches of the point, were quite clean, white, and
polished. These parts, it would therefore seem,
are brought into some use, which prevents the
adherence to them of the common incrustation.
A thick fog set in on Saturday afternoon, and
continued almost the whole of Sunday, the 30th.
It was often so dense that we could scarcely see
far enough to tack the ship clear of the ice.
On Monday, July 1st, the fog gave place to
rain, which somewhat extended the limit of vi-
sion. We immediately made sail; and, after
beating all night to the south-eastward, to round
a point of ice, we penetrated between two chains
of floes towards the NNE, until we fell in with
several whales. Three vessels near us all made
captures; but we were not successful.
The next day was perfectly calm, and the
weather fine. In a bight formed by the union of
a floe with a body of drift-ice, a great number of
whales were discovered. All the boats were dis-
patched in pursuit, and remained on the watch,
or in chase, for about ten hours; but the weather
was so calm and still, that almost every fish they
Ꮵ
134
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
approached within a ship's length, took the alarm.
The boats having been recalled by signal, two
were sent, as a last effort, into a promising situa-
tion, on the borders of a floe, where they had not
remained long, before a large whale arose near
one of them, and received a harpoon. It re-
mained nearly an hour invisible, and then arose
exhausted to the surface, close to the place where
the ship was made fast to the ice. A second
harpoon was immediately fastened, and it was so
promptly plied with lances, that it had not power
to descend afterwards, but died in a few minutes,
within fifty yards of the ship, The extraordinary
exhaustion of this whale, was owing to the long
time it remained under water, and the depth to
which it descended: Most other animals, when
attacked, instinctively pursue a conduct which is
generally the best calculated to secure their escape;
but not so the whale. Were it to remain on the
surface after being harpooned,-to press steadily
forward in one direction,-and to exert the won-
derful strength that it possesses; or were it to
await the attacks of its enemies, and repel them by
well-timed flourishes of its tremendous tail, it
would often victoriously dispute the field with man,
whose strength and bulk scarcely exceeds a nine-
hundredth part of its own. But, like the rest of
the lower animals, it was designed by Him who
PRESSURE SUSTAINED BY THE WHALE. 135
"created great whales, and every living creature
that moveth," to be subject to man; and, there-
fore, when attacked by him, it perishes by its
simplicity. Instead of repelling his attacks, it
generally dives at once to an immense depth,
where, under a pressure often exceeding 200,000
tons upon its body, it becomes so exhausted,
that, on its return to the surface of the sea, it be-
comes an easy prey.
*
The conduct of the whale, in this respect, in-
timates, that the instinctive faculty generally pos-
sessed by the lower animals, and employed for the
purpose of self-preservation, directs it to descend
to the depths of the ocean for escaping its natu-
ral enemies in the same element; and it farther
intimates, that, whatever these enemies may con-
sist of, whether sword-fish, thrashers, or sharks,
since it avoids them by this means, it must be
able to descend lower, and to sustain a greater
degree of pressure from the superincumbent wa-
* It may assist our comprehension of the enormous
load that the whale endures, when it descends to the depth
of 800 fathoms, which it is often known to do, to be in-
formed, that the pressure of the water at this depth, on the
body of a whale, must sometimes exceed the weight of sixty
of the largest ships of the British navy, when manned, pro-
visioned, and fitted for a six months' cruise!—(Account of
the Arct. Reg., vol. ii. p. 250.)
1
136
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ter, than any of the animals that are in the ha-
bit of attacking it.
Besides the whale now captured, we killed,
during our stay near the same place, two female
narwals, one of which, a case most extraordinary,
if not unprecedented in this sex, had an external
horn. The horn was 4 feet 3 inches in length,
of which 12 inches were imbedded in the skull.
It had also a milk tusk, as is common in others
of the sex, 9 inches long, of a conical form, and
obliquely truncated at the thicker end, without
the knob found in many of the milk tusks. The
horn, as in the male, was on the left side of the
head, and the spiral dextrorsal. The length of
the animal was 13 feet 6 inches. It was beauti-
fully variegated with bluish-black or grey spots.
It differed in no respect from other females of the
same age, excepting with regard to the horn.
The other narwal that was killed at this time,
had two milk-tusks, as usual, concealed in the
bone of the skull. They were both eight inches
long, with a small oblique irregular knob at the
base.
My Father sent me the contents of the sto-
mach of a narwal, killed a few leagues to the west-
ward of us, which were very extraordinary. They
consisted of several half digested fishes, with
others, of which the bones only remained. Be-
NARWAL.
137
}
sides the beaks and other remains of the cuttle-fish,
which seems to constitute the general food of this
animal, there was part of the spine of a pleuro-
nectes, or flat-fish, probably a small turbot; frag-
ments of the spine of a gadus; the back-bone of a
raia; with another of the same genus, evidently
the R. batis, or skate, almost entire. The latter
was 2 feet 3 inches in length, and 1 foot 8 inches
in breadth. It comprised the bones of the head,
back, and tail; the side-fins, or wings, the eyes,
and considerable portions of muscular substance.
It appears remarkable, that the narwal, an ani-
mal without teeth, excepting an external one,
a small mouth, with stiff lips, and tongue that
does not seem capable of protrusion, should be able
to catch and swallow so large a fish as the skate,
the breadth of which is nearly three times as great
as the width of its own mouth. As the animal
in which these extraordinary remains were found,
was a male, with a horn of seven feet, I appre-
hend that this instrument had been employed in
the capture of the fishes on which it had recently
fed. It seems probable, that the skates had been
pierced with the horn and killed, before they were
devoured; otherwise it is difficult to imagine how
the narwal could have swallowed them; or how a
fish, of any activity, would have permitted itself
to be taken and sucked down the throat of a
;
བ་
138
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
།་
•
smooth-mouthed animal, without teeth to detain
and crush it, or any apparent means of compress-
ing it.
The occasional capture of the narwal, on this
and a former voyage, afforded me some new facts
in their natural history and anatomy, which it
may not be out of place to insert here.
The following description, as far as dimensions
are concerned, refers to a male narwal of fourteen
feet in length, exclusive of the horn. In other
respects, these particulars, with a very few ex-
ceptions, would equally apply to all the males of
the same species.
The colour of the skin was white, or yellowish-
white, with patches and irregular spots of grey
and brownish black. In younger animals, the
white is less predominant. In one of the same
sex, 10 feet 8 inches long, with an external horn
of 19 inches, the colour was much darker; the
back, head, and part of the sides, being black,
and the rest of the body speckled with grey or
white; but no part entirely white. The open-
ing of the ear was six inches behind the eye, on
the same horizontal line. Its diameter was not
greater than that of a small knitting-wire. The
eyes were fifteen inches distant from the snout.
The fin, which in the common whale is flat, is
་
ANATOMY OF THE NARWAL.
139
in this animal much curved. Where it is fixed
to the body, it is elliptical, the longest axis lying
longitudinally; so that when the fin is elevated
to its swimming position, it is horizontal. The
point, or tip, is bent upwards, or towards the
back; the fin, in a swimming posture, is conse-
quently concave above, and convex below. The
thick edge is forward; the thin edge towards the
tail. The use of the fin, being horizontal, in
swimming, is evidently to balance the animal;
while the tail is the chief organ of motion, and is
also used in turning. That the fins are not ge-
nerally used for either swimming or turning, ap-
peared probable, from several observations made
on these animals with a telescope from the mast-
head. The fins were always seen steadily ex-
tended; and when the animal changed its direc-
tion, the tail was bent suddenly and obliquely to
one side, and then slowly returned back, in such
a way, that a progressive motion and a change of
direction were produced by the same effort: the
fins mean time were motionless. In the mysti-
cetus, however, where the fin is much larger in
proportion than in the narwal, it may have other
uses. In all animals of the whale tribe, the fins
must be employed in turning to one side, or on
the back.
The blowhole is one external semilunar open-
140
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
ing, expanding immediately within the skin into
a sac, or air-vessel, six or eight inches wide, and
extending laterally and forward into two cavities
(a a of the annexed figure, which is the appear-
ance of the upper part of the head of the narwal,
when the skin and fat are sliced off horizontally),
one on each side, the extremities of which are
about twelve inches apart. These contain a por-
tion of a mucous substance. The whole sac is
lined with a thin greenish-black skin. At the
posterior extremity of the cavity, or sac, are seen
+

ANATOMY OF THE NARWAL.
141
the blow-holes, now divided into two and form-
ing distinct canals in the skull. They are closed
by a valve b b (represented on an enlarged scale
in the adjoining figure) resembling what is called
a hare-lip, one lobe of which covers each canal.
This valve, in the narwal, does not enter the ca-
nal in the skull (as it does in the whale), but
merely closes flat down upon it; yet it effec-
tually excludes the sea-water from the lungs,
whatever be the pressure: it becomes, in fact,
firmer and closer in proportion as the weight of
water is greater. The valve is about six inches
wide, and is opened and shut by two radiated
muscles, c c. It is detached from the skull be-
neath, about six inches from the pipes towards
the snout. In consequence of this separation,
the valve has sufficient freedom in itself, and
sufficient room in the adjoining sac, to be drawn
upward and forward, so as to expose the breath-
ing canals; or falling upon them, like the valve
or clapper of a pump-box, to secure them against
the entrance of water. The two lobes of the
valve are united together by a fleshy septum,
connected slightly with the cartilaginous part of
I
1
I

142
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
..
the bony septum between the blow-holes in the
skull.
On the 3d of July no whales were to be seen.
Having a fine breeze from the northward, we
cruized the whole day in the recesses of the floes;
and in the night, under a fresh gale of wind, we
made a stretch of about twenty miles to the east-
ward, and back again. It blew a strong gale all
the next day, during which we made fast to a large
floe, and made-off the blubber of our last captured
fish. The weather was thick, with fog or snow,
the greater part of the gale; but in the evening
it cleared up, and soon afterwards the wind mo-
derated. An immense quantity of roaches (Alca
alle) flew past the ship towards the west. For
many hours successively, perhaps from one to
three flocks, consisting on an average of about
two or three hundred birds, passed us per mi-
nute, all winging their way in the same direc-
tion. I calculated that near half a million of
these birds appeared within sight in the course of
twelve hours.
On the 5th at noon, we were in latitude 71° 7',
longitude 18° 40′ W. Having reached a consider-
able distance to the northward, we fell in with a
large fleet of ships. In the evening, I was visited
by my Father, and also by the captains of the
ATMOSPHERIC KEFRACTION.
143
John and Venerable. With Captain Bennet, of
the latter ship, who had a chronometer with him,
I compared the time, and found to my satisfac-
tion that our chronometers only differed fifty-five
seconds.
On the 6th and 7th, we had a brisk gale from
the northward, with snow, sleet, rain, or fog con-
tinually. Though we were beating to windward
most of the time in smooth water, and apparently
made great progress, carrying a pressure of sail,
yet we eventually found, that the southerly cur-
rent had so operated against us, that we scarcely
increased our latitude a league.
The 8th of July was a fine clear day, with
brilliant sunshine. Some land to the northward
being seen for the first time, I attempted to carry
on my survey; but the whole coast was found to
be so disfigured by refraction, that I could not re-
cognise a single mountain or headland. The wind
having changed to southwest, we made rapid pro-
gress towards the north. At midnight, we hove-
to, at the edge of a large heavy field, where a
narwal and several razor-backs (Balana physa-
lis) had been seen, but no whales.
The morning of the 9th was brilliant, with
light winds, and a highly refractive state of the
atmosphere. The land, and a number of ships
that came within sight, as well as the ice, and
1
144
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
•
indeed all distant objects, were strangely distort-
ed. Inverted images of two ships, occasionally
double, were seen in the air, which, I imagine,
were at least ten miles beyond the limit of direct
vision; for we approached them about this distance
without being able to see them. (See Plate IV.
fig. 1.). In addition to the phenomena observed
and described on the 19th of June &c. I noticed
several vessels that had their hulls elevated to
the apparent magnitude of a castle; the height
of the hull, in some instances, being equal to that
of the masts: in two or three positions, the courses
seemed to be separated twenty or thirty yards
from the hull, instead of being nearly in contact,
(Plate IV. fig. 2.). So unequal was the refraction,
and so various in its effects, that while in one
ship the masts were uniformly expanded, or the
hull magnified, in another ship the courses and
topgallant-sails were heightened, and the inter-
mediate sails, the top-sails, contracted to one-
fourth their proper size,--and in a third, a very
little distance from this, the courses and topgal-
lant-sails were contracted, and the top-sails ex-
panded. In all these examples, the peculiarities
were continually varying. No sooner had one
appearance been examined and sketched, than it
changed, and often exhibited the most uncouth
proportions. The distant ice partook also of the
OPTICAL PHENOMENA of UNEQUAL REFRACTION
PLATE IV.

All
Fig.1.-July 9th

Fig 2-July 9th
ΥΓ
Published by A Constable & C? Edin*1823.
WH Luzars sculp¹
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
145
same influence, and presented very extraordinary
and often beautiful resemblances to magnificent
architectural structures.
These interesting exhibitions were at length
closed by the commencement of a dense fog, which
was productive of a most, disagreeable transition
of feeling :-from the exhilarating enjoyment of
a pure atmosphere, and warm sunshine, with ex-
tensive and interesting prospects, we were in a
moment enveloped by a depressing and impene-
trable gloom. Our latitude at noon was 72° 10′,
and longitude 180 W. Saw two or three whales.
The two following days were intensely foggy,
so that we could seldom see the ice above a hun-
dred yards. During a few hours when it was at
the densest, it neither wetted the rigging nor the
decks of the ship,-a circumstance not very com-
mon in the arctic fogs; but it was followed by a
fog so damp, that it loaded the sails and rigging
with ice.
On the 12th, we had the wind almost all round
the compass, and blowing of various strengths,
between a gale and a calm. Having stood for
several hours to the westward in the thick, we
found ourselves nearer to the land, when it clear-
ed up,
than we had hitherto been. Our longi-
tude, by chronometer, was 20° 0′ W. Bearings
and sketches of the land to a considerable extent
K
146
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
!
:
were obtained. Though there was a great deal
of ice about us, yet we could have penetrated
farther, by doubling a chain of floes, had we had
any encouragement to proceed. On the contrary,
however, the sea was blue and transparent,—all
the birds had deserted us,-and every usual sign
of whales had disappeared. Anxious as I was
to get close in-shore, for purposes of investigation,
I could not justify myself in attempting research
in a case where it was apparently at variance with
the probable success of the voyage. I was there-
fore reluctantly constrained to retire.
The night was calm and foggy, but the next
morning having a brisk breeze, we steered to the
eastward most of the day. At 8 P. M. we fell in
with a large field of ice, the edge of which we
traced nearly twenty miles towards the east and
north-east at midnight hove-to.
It is somewhat remarkable, that, for several
days and even weeks preceding this date, a lower
temperature was experienced with southerly than
with northerly winds. During a fresh gale from
the NbE., for example, on the 6th and 7th of
July, the temperature was within the limits of
35 and 32 degrees. From the 8th of July to
this day (13th), when the wind was mostly from
the southward, the mean temperature was about
32°; and in the evening of this day, with a south
;
SABBATH-DAY.
147
wind, which, it is presumed, ought to be the
warmest, the thermometer fell to 29°.
On the 14th, being Sunday, we remained as
nearly stationary as the crowded state of the ice
by which we were enveloped would permit, for
the purpose of "honouring the Sabbath," and
giving all hands an opportunity of joining in pub-
lic worship, and spending the day in religious
exercises.
K 2
4
*
148
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
CHAPTER VI. !
A SMALL WHALE CAPTURED.-REMARKS ON ITS ANATO-
MICAL STRUCTURE-ITS BLOW-HOLE VALVES.—ITS
WEIGHT.
ITS PHYSIOLOGY. — FÓGGY WEATHER.
CAUSE OF ARCTIC FOGS.—BEAUTIFUL AND SINGULAR
EXAMPLES OF THE OPTICAL EFFECTS OF UNEQUAL
REFRACTION.—REMARKS ON THE CAUSE OF THESE
PHENOMENA.
VERY early on Monday morning (15th July), a
small whale, the first of the species that had been
seen for nearly a week, made its appearance very near
the ship. Two boats were dropped immediately,
and the fish was harpooned and captured. Though
it was little above the age and length of a "suck-
er," the whalebone only measuring 2 feet 8 inches,
it was so extremely fat, that we obtained a quan-
tity of blubber from it, calculated to yield six tuns
of oil; a produce equal to that of " a size-fish” of
6 or 7 feet bone.
As the whale is flensed while afloat, with nearly
the whole of the carcass under water, few opportu-
nities of examining its anatomical structure occur.
The smallest animals of the species, mere cubs or
ANATOMY OF THE WHALE.
149
“ suckers,”, may, indeed, be hoisted upon deck; and
it is in their case only, that I have had the chance
of inspecting them entirely out of the water.
The head of the whale now taken was hoisted on
board in a mass; and the body, when stripped of
the fat, was so small, as to be quite within the
powers of our tackles. Some new facts, respect-
ing the anatomy of the whale, arose out of the in-
vestigation of this and another of the species
killed in the summer of 1821, which I shall now
attempt to describe. The following measure-
ments and weight, it must be observed, all refer
to a sucking whale, that at the time of capture
was under maternal protection; but the other de-
tails, in general, may be considered as applying
to the whole species of the Balæna mysticetus.
This whale, though a "sucker," was 19 feet in
length, and 14 feet 5 inches in circumference, at
the thickest part of the body. The external skin,
consisting of cuticle and rete mucosum, was, on
the body, an inch and three-quarters thick, being
about twice the thickness of the same membranes
in a full grown animal. The blubber, on an aver-
age, was 5 inches in thickness. The largest of
the whalebone measured only 12 inches; about
one-half of which was imbedded in the gum. The
external part of these fringes, not exceeding 6 in-
ches in length, did not seem sufficient to enable
150
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the little whale yet to catch by filtration out of
the sea, the shrimps and other insects on which
the animal in a more advanced stage is dependent
for its nourishment; maternal assistance and pro-
tection appeared, therefore, to have been essential
for its support.
The muscles about the neck, appropriated to
the movements of the jaws, formed a bed, if ex-
tended, of nearly 5 feet broad, and a foot thick.
The central part of the diaphragm was 2 inches
in thickness. The two principal arteries in the
neck (the carotid) were so large, as to admit a
man's hand and arm.
The brain lies in a small cavity in the upper
and back part of the skull. The cavity included
within the pia mater, exclusive of the foramen
magnum, measured only 8 inches by 5. The up-
per part of the brain lies very near the surface of
the skull. The convolutions of the cortical sub-
stance lie in beautiful fringed folds, attached to
the medullary portion, which is white, as in the
human brain. The general appearance of the
brain is not unlike that of other mammalia; but
its smallness is remarkable. The quantity of brain
in a human subject of 140 or 160 pounds weight,
is, according to Haller, 4 pounds;-in this whale
of 11,200 pounds, or seventy times the weight of
a man, the brain was only 3 pounds 12 ounces.
ANATOMY OF THE WHALE.
151
According to Cuvier, the brain in man varies from
one thirty-first to one twenty-second part of his
weight*; whereas in this animal, the proportion
of brain was only a three-thousandth part.
The heart, which is of an oblong form, much
compressed, resembles in colour and substance the
heart of an ox. The breadth of it, in this speci-
men, was 29 inches, the height 12, the thickness 9,
and the weight of it 64 pounds. Diameter of the
aorta about 6 inches.
Large as the whale is in bulk, the throat is but
narrow. In this animal, the diameter of the œso-
phagus, when fully distended, was scarcely 25 in-
ches; with difficulty admitting my hand.
The epiglottis is a beautiful valve, formed al-
most like the termination of the proboscis of an
elephant. Though the larynx in the whale has
a free communication with the mouth, as in qua-
drupeds, yet the mysticetus does not appear to
have any voice. In other cetacea, however, this
is not always the case; some of the Dolphins, in
particular, having been heard to emit a shrill
*
Leçons d'Anat. Comp. ii. p. 149. The proportion the
human brain bears to the weight of the body, appears to be
less on an average, than is stated by Cuvier. According to
Haller, the proportion in a man of 160 lb. weight, is 1-40th ;
in a man of 140 lb., 1-35th; and in a child, six years old,
1-22d.
152
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
THE
sound, which, in the beluga, may be perceived
before the animal arises to the surface of the
water*.
The external blowholes or spiracles, were, in
the sucking whale, 4 inches in length; in the full
grown animal, they form two curved slits, above
10 inches long. In passing downward through
the blubber, the blowholes, which at the surface
are nearly longitudinal, as in the annexed figure
·a
Posterior.

16
Anterior.
pe-
a, a, twist into a semi-circular and transverse posi-
tion, in the form of the dotted line bb; then
netrating the skull, they proceed backward and
downward in two conical parallel canals, un-
til they open near the back of the under-part of
the skull, where they inosculate, and form a single
membranous sac, within a few inches of the epi-
glottis. The first impression of each blowhole on
the upper part of the skull, is marked by an ob-
long cavity b b in the following cut (represent-
ing the upper surface of the anterior part of the
whale's skull, the skin and fat being removed;)
* Captain PARRY's "Voyage for the Discovery of a North-
west Passage,” p. 35.
ANATOMY OF THE WHALE.
153

Anterior.
which is the seat of a muscular substance, attached
by its anterior extremity to the surface of the skull,
and also attached by its posterior and inferior extre-
mity to the interior of the skull, at some depth in
the blowing canal aa. The part of this muscle that
penetrates the bony canal, is of a conical form, the
apex downward or within, represented at b, in the
annexed figure of a vertical section of the skull;

a
Anterior. portion,
so that when this interior portion contracts, the
muscular cone b, is drawn tight into the orifice,
and completely closes the breathing-canal a a;
while, on the other hand, the action of the external
part of the muscle, draws the conical plug forward
and upward, and affords a free passage for the air in
respiration. This beautiful structure it is, (aided,
154
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
}
perhaps, by the epiglottis), that enables the animal
under the immense pressure to which it is some-
times exposed, to exclude the sea-water from its
lungs. This pressure, at some depths to which the
whale has been known to descend, is upwards of a
ton upon every square inch; yet, so far from the
water being forced down the canals or spiracles,
the enormous load serves only more effectually to
press down and close the valves, that defend the
passages to the lungs.
The whale has no external ear; and the open-
ing of the passage to this organ is so small,
as not to be easily discovered. In the sucking
whale, it was only one-sixth of an inch in diame-
ter. An elegant contrivance appears in the me-
atuş auditorius externus, for protecting the ear
against pressure from without. It consists of a
little plug, like the end of the finger, inserted in
a corresponding cavity in the midst of the canal,
by a slight motion of which the opening can ei-
ther be effectually shut, for the exclusion of the
sea-water, or unclosed for the admission of sound.
In the sucking-whale, the skull or crown-bone
was six feet in length, from the anterior extremi-
ty to the condyles. In a full grown animal, in
which the whalebone was 10 feet 4 inches, the
length of the skull, measured along the upper
and convex side of the curve, was 20 feet 8 in-
►
1
155
WEIGHT OF THE WHALE.
ches: the cavity on the crown of the same, occu-
pied by the muscular valves of the blowholes, was
14 inches wide and 24 inches long.
The whale being very nearly of the same spe-
cific gravity as sea-water (some few individuals
sinking, and others barely floating when dead),
the weight may be calculated with considerable
precision. The body of the whale may be divid-
ed into three segments, forming tolerably regular
geometric solids. First; the head, a parabolic
conoid, which, in the sucking-whale, is 4 feet in
diameter, and 5 feet in height; its solid content
about 34 cubic feet. Secondly; the middle seg-
ment, extending from the head to the thickest
part of the body: this is a frustum of a cone, in
the sucking-whale, 3 feet in length, and 4 to 5 feet
in diameter, producing a solid content of 48 cu-
bic feet. Thirdly; the posterior segment, ex-
tending from the greatest circumference to the
tail: this segment is a paraboloid, or parabolic
conoid, with its smaller end truncated. Its length
in the sucking-whale is 8 feet; its diameters 1 and
5 feet; and its solid content 81 cubic feet. And,
to these products may be added about 10 cubic
feet, the estimated bulk of the fins and tail, which
make an amount of 174 cubic feet: this
this sum, di-
vided by 35, the number of cubic feet of sea-water
in the Greenland ocean, in a ton weight, gives
·
156
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
the weight of the animal 5 tons within a cubic
foot.
One of the largest mysticete, of 60 feet in
length, the head 20 feet in length, by 12 feet in
diameter, the middle section 6 feet by 13 dia-
meter, the third section 26 feet in length, by
12 and 2 feet diameter, will appear, (if calculated
the same way, with an allowance of five tons for
the fins and tail,) to be of the prodigious weight
of 114 tons! But as the last section is some-
what more slender than the body to which it is
referred, this calculation may be a little in excess.
The largest animals of this species may, however,
I conceive, be safely stated at a hundred tons in
weight; and an ordinary full grown animal, at
seventy tons!
The most useful and ennobling view of natural
history is unquestionably that which gives us the
most exalted conceptions of the wisdom, goodness,
and power of the Creator. And the branch of
this science, that is in the highest degree caleu-
lated to assist us in tracing "the works of Nature
up to Nature's GOD," is probably the physiology
of animals. In every genus of animals, we discover
peculiar marks of adaptation for their economy or
mode of life; and an endless variety of inimitable
contrivances for accomplishing this adaptation.
The whale, which is a mammiferous animal, and
PHYSIOLOGY OF WHALES.
157
The
closely allied, in its anatomical structure, to the
class of quadrupeds, affords, in the modifications
of the parts and principles of land animals, for
applying them to a tribe inhabiting the sea, a
great number of those striking displays of wisdom
and power, the very contemplation of which, is
calculated to elevate, in no inconsiderable degree,
our conceptions of the Great Supreme.
mysticetus feeds on the smallest insects;-its ca-
pacious mouth, with the two vast fringes of whale-
bone, which is a most admirable filter, enables it
to receive some tuns of water at a mouthful, and
to separate every substance from it, of the size of
a pin's head, and upwards. The physalis feeds
on herrings, mackrel, and other fishes of a similar
kind;-its whalebone, therefore, is shorter, strong-
er, and less compact than that of the mysticetus,
and the filter formed by it less perfect.
As the whale' must rise to the surface of the
sea to breathe, its tail is placed horizontally, to
enable it to ascend and descend more quickly; and
its nostrils or blowholes, instead of being placed at
the snout, are generally on the most elevated part
of the head, that they may be readily lifted clear
of the water.
When the whale descends to the depths of the
ocean, it becomes exposed to an enormous pres-
sure from the superincumbent water. This pres-
sure is sufficient to force the water through the
Le
158
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
pores of the hardest wood; yet it is effectually re-
sisted by the skin of the whale, though it is re-
markably soft and flexible. To exclude the water
from the lungs, which would occasion suffocation,
if admitted, the blowholes are defended by the pe-
culiar valves that have been already described.
The variety discovered in the structure of the
valves of the blowholes of whales, is by no means
one of the least interesting parts of their physio-
logy. In other classes of animals, whose habits
are similar, we often find, that each organ is the
same as the corresponding one, in almost all the
species of the same genus, or even of the same or-
der; excepting when their peculiar habits, or ne-
cessities, require a modification of the general
structure or principle. But in whales, as if it
were intended, not only to exhibit the matchless
wisdom of the Creator, but, to show that his re-
sources are unlimited, the structure of the breath-
ing canals is varied in the different genera of ce-
taceous animals, and a number of contrivances,
alike extraordinary, equally beautiful, and equally
efficient, are adopted for performing the same of-
fice.
In the afternoon of the 15th, the continuance
of the fog preventing our cruising in search of
whales, we made the ship fast to a heavy lump of
ice, for the purpose of repairing the damage sus-
FOGGY WEATHER.
159
tained by the rudder, in the night of the 24th of
June. The rudder, on being unshipped and
hoisted upon deck, was found to be greatly twist-
ed and bruised; one piece of timber in it broken,
most of the braces bent, and some of them nearly
torn off. Having fortunately an armourer, with
a forge, on board, and also three carpenters, the
rudder was put into excellent order; and this im-
portant machine repaired and replaced in the
course of the night.
Some of the ship's company were employed, du-
ring our detention here, in procuring water from
the surface of the piece of ice to which we were
moored. It formed pools of considerable extent;
the produce of melted snow.
During the preceding twenty days, the great-
er part of the time (nearly three-fourths) was fog-
gy. In consequence of this bewildering obscuri-
ty, we were seldom able to cruise to any distance,
and only saw two or three whales for the last
thirteen days of this interval. Yet tedious as
this continuance of fog was, I have often ob-
served it still more obscure and constant, at a
greater distance from the land.
In the year 1817, in the 76th parallel of lati-
tude, and between the fifth and tenth degrees of
west longitude, among open ice, we had a fog
which never once cleared away for fifteen days,
and
very seldom permitted us to see the distance
160
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
"
1
of a mile. And in 1821, from the 11th of July
until the 21st of August, an interval of forty-one
days, we only had three entire days that were
free from fog. During this interval, we naviga-
ted a sea generally embarrassed with ice, included
between the 76th and 67th parallels of latitude,
and between the 3d and 15th degrees of west lon-
gitude.
This extraordinary prevalence of foggy weather
in the polar seas, during the summer months, is
a fact which, though well known, has not, that I
am aware of, been explained. The fogs to which
the icy seas are subject, frequently rest on the
surface of the water, and extend only perhaps to
the height of 150 to 200 feet, the sky, in the ze-
nith, being often perfectly clear, while objects
near the horizon, or surface of the sea, cannot be
discerned at the distance of 150 yards. In con-
sidering this circumstance, it occurred to me, that
the cause of these low fogs was probably a diffe-
rence of temperature between the upper and low-
er parts of the foggy stratum; the cold, during
such fogs, being perhaps greater at the surface
than at considerable elevations. The inverse of
this, indeed, is generally found to occur before the
foggy season sets in, the temperature, on the ave-
rage of a great number of observations, having
been found to be two or three degrees lower at
CAUSE OF THE ARCTIC FOGS.
161
the height of the mast-head, than on the level of
a ship's deck. But this seems to be only the case
while the thermometer continues below the freez-
ing point; for the foggy season generally sets in
as soon as a thawing temperature occurs, with
any degree of prevalence. One set of observations
made during a thick fog, with a bright sunshine
and clear sky aloft, were in confirmation of the
opinion suggested above. The temperature about
11 A. M.,.at the mast-head, 100 feet above the le-
vel of the sea, was 35°; on the level of the deck,
by the same thermometer, 333°; near the water's
edge 34°; and of the water at the surface 34°.
The ice, at the same time, must have been, at the
highest, 32 degrees. Hence, it would appear,
that the fog is generally occasioned by the damp
air, near the level of the sea, being chilled by con-
tact with, or radiation from, the ice, which occa-
sions a condensation of that proportion of mois-
ture, which the diminished temperature prevents
the air from retaining.
About 11 a. M. of the 16th, the fog dispersed.
The sky immediately became quite clear, the sun
shone with cheering brightness, and formed a most
striking contrast to the uncongenial and bewil-
dering gloom that had so long prevailed.
Not seeing any whales, we proceeded under a
smart breeze from the south-west, all the after-
L
+
*
162
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
noon and night towards the north, the sea all the
way being tolerably open. About mid-night we
fell in with a large field, along the edge of which
we coasted for six or eight hours, and accomplish-
ed a distance of thirty or forty miles. This field
could not be less than thirty miles in diameter,
and probably contained a surface of 700 or 800
square miles in a single sheet!
We were now in latitude 72° 33′ by meridian
observation, and longitude 19° 8′ 45″ W. by chro-
nometer. The land was in sight from NNE. (com-
pass bearing) to NW by W., which filled up the
interval not before seen, and enabled me to deter-
mine the general position and trending of the coast,
from latitude 75° down to 70°.
The ice, from hence, towards the land, being
very compact, and apparently impervious, we were
obliged to proceed on a more easterly course: still
meeting with no whales (with the exception of
one that only appeared for a few moments), we
made a stretch of about fifty miles due east, pass-
ing innumerable sheets of ice, which, however,
were so well separated in this direction, that they
afforded us a very good passage.
In the evening we fell in with a fleet of about
twenty ships, that, like us, had been unsuccess-
ful in their search for whales. As we had seen
but three fish during three weeks, after leaving
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
163
the latitude of 71°, I thought it advisable to take
advantage of a favourable change of wind, and re-
turn to that parallel. We accordingly bore away
to the south-westward, so as to keep a more east-
ern meridian than that on which we ascended to-
wards the north. Four ships followed our exam-
ple, a considerable number proceeded on a more
westerly course, while the remainder hove to, ap-
parently for the want of a determination.
•
The next day, July 18th, we accomplished a dis-
tance of about 100 miles towards the SW. and W.
The land was not seen, though the weather was
perfectly clear, until the evening, when the tops of
the mountains appeared above the refracted ice.
As soon as the fog had cleared away, on the
16th, the influence of the sun that was then most
powerful, soon began to produce a rapid evapora-
tion from the surface of the sea and ice,-this gave
rise to the optical phenomena of unequal refrac-
tion, which continued to operate with ever vary-
ing effect, for sixty or seventy hours. At one pe-
riod (about 10 P. M. of the 16th) the phenomenon
was so universal, that the space in which the ship
navigated seemed to be one vast circular area,
bounded by a mural precipice, of great elevation,
of basaltic ice. In some places, where water, in-
stead of ice, was seen through the refracting me-
J
L 2
164
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
dium, the cliff it seemed to constitute had the co-
lour and appearance of real basaltic columns; and
where both water and ice were refracted, the
specks and patches of ice had sometimes so much
of the character and appearance of land, that one
of my principal officers, who was familiar with the
general phenomena, was deceived by it. Some-
times the effect of the refraction was similar in all ·
quarters; at others it presented various striking
differences. Often the hummocky parts of the
horizon were reared into various architectural
figures of extraordinary elevation: and occasional-
ly, as observed in a former instance, the whole dis-
tant margin of ice was deeply serrated, in resem-
blance of an innumerable collection of spires and
pinnacles, or in the form of a thick forest of naked
trees.
In the evening of the 18th, a great number of
ships (to the amount of about thirty) being in
sight, several novelties, with regard to their refract-
ed appearance occurred, together with some pecu-
liarities in the form and character of the land.
On the preceding day, as well as on the 9th of
July, when the atmosphere was in a similar state,
the refracted forms of the ships were generally in-
distinct, and somewhat confused; but this even-
ing, about 9 P. M., the refracted ships, with their
repeated images, were most beautifully and dis-
OPTICAL PHENOMENA of UNEQUAL REFRACTION. PLATE V.

QUOITELU STIFIED
Fig. 1.-July 18th

Fig. 2.- July 24th
Published by A. Constable & C°Edin 1823.
1
WHluws sculp*
.
A
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
165
tinctly defined, and especially the latter, which
appeared as usual, in an inverted position in the
air. (Plate V. Fig. 1.) Of some vessels, whose
hulls were beyond the horizon, there were two,
and of one ship three, distinct inverted images,
each exhibited in a different stratum of refracted
ice, one above another, the lowest image being at
an altitude of more than the apparent height of
the ship's mast, above the mast-head of the origi-
nal. And of two vessels there were well defined
images, in an inverted position, though the ships
to which they referred were not within sight! It
should be observed, that the inverted images were
visible on this occasion, only, when an appearance
of ice, produced either by reflection or refraction,
occurred above the regular line of the horizon, in
the quarter occupied by the ships: in the clear in-
tervals of the lower atmosphere between the strata
of refracted ice no image was seen; and when the
stratum was too narrow to comprise the whole
of the image, a part of it only appeared. And it
should be also observed, that these phenomena
were principally telescopic, both the ships and
images being so distant, that, to the naked eye,
they only appeared as indistinct specks. The in-
verted images occurred either in the south-west,
or north-east quarter; but at the same time, the
ships in the north-west quarter were only sub-
166
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ject to a distortive influence;-these appeared
above a cliff of ice, elevated by refraction, like ob-
long black streaks, lengthened out, but compressed
almost to the breadth of a line.
ances.
The land also exhibited some curious appear-
In many places there were patches resem-
bling two obtuse pyramids united by their apices,
the upper one, though quite as distinct as the
other, being evidently the inverted image only of
the lower one. In occasional positions, where
two of these double pyramids were near together,
the upper limbs of the higher pyramids coalesced,
so as to present the appearance of prodigious
bridges, some leagues in extent, with a clear at-
mosphere beneath them. Sometimes these pyra-
mids were so compressed and multiplied, that
three or four were seen in a vertical series, forming
so many distinct horizontal strata, joining in the
middle, but all detached at the extremities.
The general telescopic appearance of these
coasts, when under the influence of unequal refrac-
tion, is frequently that of an extensive ancient
city, abounding with the ruins of castles, obelisks,
churches, and monuments, with other large and con-
spicuous buildings. Some of the hills often appear
to be surmounted with turrets, battlements, spires,
and pinnacles; while others, subjected to another
kind of refraction, exhibit large masses of rock, ap-
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
167
parently suspended in the air, at a considerable
elevation above the actual termination of the
mountains to which they refer. The whole exhi-
bition is frequently a grand and interesting phan-
tasmagoria. Scarcely is the appearance of any ob-
ject fully examined and determined, before it
changes into something else. It is, perhaps, alter-
nately a castle, a cathedral, or an obelisk: then ex-
panding and coalescing with the adjoining moun-
tains, it unites the intermediate valleys, though
they may be miles in width, by a bridge of a
single arch of the most-magnificent appearance.
The cause of these phenomena, as far as they
depend on refraction, is, I imagine, the rapid eva-
poration which takes place in a hot sun, from the
surface of the sea; and the unequal density occa-
sioned by partial condensations, when the moist air
becomes chilled, by passing over considerable sur-
faces of ice. The vapour produced by evaporation
and partial condensation, is sometimes perceptible
to the eye, rising like transparent steam in all direc-
tions, in little curling clouds, and passing along
with the breeze near the surface of the sea. Its in-
fluence can sometimes be perceived at the distance
of a few fathoms, or, perhaps, half a furlong, by the
tremulous motion it appears to give to all bodies
on the water or near it. In this case, it has a ten-
dency to produce a serrated or basaltic appearance
168
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
Bett
of the ice on the horizon, similar to what occurred
on the 10th and 19th of June. But at other
times, when repeated, well-defined and proportion-
ate images of ships appear in the air, the vapour
giving rise to the unequal density, obtains more of
a stratified arrangement. In its distortive effect,
it seems to act like clear glass, of unequal surface
er thickness; consequently it disfigures all objects
seen through it. In its looming effect, or that
property of it by which bodies on the horizon, or be-
yond, appear to be greatly elevated, or suspended,
as it were, in air, it seems to act by that kind of
refraction common to other mediums, when the
density about the object seen is greater than at
the eye of the observer. The lesser density of
the air about the observer, arises from the elevated
position he occupies when at the mast-head, where
the phenomena are always the most striking.
Hence, while near objects, which are seen through
a very rare portion of this vapour, are little or no-
thing elevated; bodies at the distance of the ho-
rizon, which are seen through a mass of it seve-
ral miles in thickness, are elevated ten, fifteen,
twenty, or even thirty minutes of altitude. And
when ships or ice within a few furlongs distance
are disfigured by the action of this vapour, so as
to present a varying and tremulous outline; other
similar objects, at the distance of several miles,
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
169
are, perhaps, steadily elevated. In most cases, the
refracted portion of the distant ice is closely con-
nected with the ice of the horizon, from whence
it takes its rise; and when it assumes the
columnar form, it presents the appearance of
a vast amphitheatre, which is so disposed, that
every observer, whatever may be his position,
imagines himself to be in the centre of it. But
in some instances, and these not unfrequent,
the stratum of refracted ice is completely de-
tached from the horizon, and appears to form
a white horizontal streak in the lower part of the
atmosphere. And occasionally, multiplied images
of the ice, as well as other objects, occur, forming
a parallel vertical series. According to the laws
of optics, were the vapour universally distributed,
and of regular density, there might be an eleva-
tion of the distant objects, which would be equal
and uniform; but there could be no extraordinary
rearing of some, with the distortion of others, such
as I have had occasion to describe these pheno-
mena, therefore, must be owing to unequal and
changeable density; and some of them, such as
the repetition of images, to alternations of parallel
strata of different densities, in the medium through
which the refracted objects are seen
*
* Dr Wollaston, with his usual ingenuity and preci-
sion, suggests an explanation of the ordinary phenomena of
¡
170
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
There was an anomaly in these optical phe-
nomena, with regard to the land, which was, for a
this order (such as the exhibition of one erect and one in-
verted image of distant objects, under the influence of un-
usual atmospheric refraction, &c.), which may, perhaps, be
extended to the illustration of the more complicated pheno-
mena. This explanation refers to the peculiar refractive
effects of media of various densities, when brought into con-
tact, or united by mutual penetration; and is satisfactorily
and beautifully illustrated, by experiments with liquids of
different specific gravities, and air of different densities.
The first mode of illustration was accomplished, by putting
a small quantity of clear syrup into a. square phial, and
carefully pouring on the top of it an equal quantity of
water; small objects seen through the incorporated medi-
um (namely, through that part of the phial where the syrup
and the water had slightly combined), appeared inverted
with an erect image above. A similar experiment with
water and spirit of wine above it, gave similar results ;
but when the object examined was placed nearer to the
rarer medium (the spirit of wine), the inverted and erect
images were seen below. Analogous effects were also ob-
served, by looking along the side of a red-hot poker, at a
paper ten or twelve feet distant. (Philos. Trans. for 1810.)
Another ingenious illustration of these phenomena was
contrived by Dr Brewster. His very satisfactory experiment
"consists in holding a heated iron above a mass of water,
bounded by parallel plates of glass. As the heat descends
through the fluid, we have a regular variation of density,
which gradually increases from the surface to the bottom.
If we now withdraw the heated iron, and substitute a cold
body in its place, or even allow the air to act alone, the su-
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
171
long time, a great difficulty with me. At the
very moment when the ice and other objects about
the horizon were evidently raised several minutes
of altitude, by being seen through the highly re-
fractive medium, the effect of which has been so
fully stated, the upper parts of the land were
sometimes totally unaffected by it, remaining at
their proper level, while the lower parts were in-
tercepted by so much, as the horizon seemed to be
elevated above its real position. As such, it ap-
peared, that the influence which caused the loom-
ing of the ice, by some peculiarity or other, did
not extend to the land. It seemed to intimate,
either that the looming of the ice was owing to
reflection rather than refraction, or, that the
tops of the mountains were above the vapour,
and my position at the mast-head (the place
from whence most of my observations were made)
also above it, so that no influence could be ex-
perficial strata of water will give out their heat, so as to have
an increase of density from the surface to a certain depth
below it." Through the medium thus constituted, many of
the phenomena of unusual refraction may be seen in the
most beautiful and satisfactory manner, though the diffe-
rence of density in the medium employed, is only that pro-
duced by the agency of heat alone. (See Edinburgh Ency-
clopædia, article Heat, vol. x. p. 675.; and a valuable trea-
tise on Optics, in the same work, vol. xv. p. 617.-620.)
172
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
erted by the refractive medium, but on the base
of the land, which was concealed by the looming
of the ice.
That the latter opinion is the correct solution
of this anomaly, further experience seemed fully
to prove. On the 19th of July, while the atmos-
phere continued in this state, we sailed towards
the land the whole of the day. During the great-
er part of our progress, the refracted ice constant-
ly intercepted the lower part of the coast, to an
altitude of twenty minutes or more; while the
tops of the mountains, from the middle upwards,
were clearly seen: but when we came so near the
shore, that the refracted ice disappeared, the land
acquired an additional altitude, as measured from
the apparent horizon, just equal to the portion
that the ice had been elevated by the refraction.
As the more extraordinary and beautiful effects
of unequal refraction cannot be fully discovered,
without the use of a telescope, they escape gene-
ral observation; and as the looming of the dis-
tant ice, or distortion of objects, is the most com-
mon effect of this state of the atmosphere, it
becomes a considerable annoyance to persons not
interested in the phenomena. As in this case,
the vapour gives an indefinite and tremulous out-
line to every object beyond a certain distance;
ships, a mile or two off, cannot be recognised ;-a
1
ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIONS.
173
wall of ice seems to surround the navigator, the
openings and leads in which cannot be discerned
at a distance; and, of the actions and employ-
ment of remote vessels, within sight, a knowledge
of which is often of great importance to the
unoccupied fisher, no correct conception can be
formed.
174
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
CHAPTER VII.
DISCOVERED.-HEAD-
APPROACH THE COAST OF GREENLAND.-SURVEY EE-
SUMED.-SEVERAL ISLANDS
LANDS, BAYS, AND ISLANDS NAMED.-EXTRAORDI-
NARY MOUNTAINS.-ICEBERGS.-FIRST LANDING ON
THE COAST.-DISCOVER TRACES OF RECENT INHABI-
TATION. INVERTED IMAGE OF A SHIP SEEN IN THE
AIR, RECOGNISED.-LARGE INLET DISCOVERED, AND
EXAMINED.-SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH LAND-
ING EFFECTED.
Friday, July 19th.—OUR endeavours to find
whales at a distance from the land, having, for
nearly three weeks, almost altogether failed, I
now considered myself to be fully justified, in at-
tempting researches more immediately about the
coast. My propensity to enterprise and investi-
gation had long inclined me to try this station;
but until the present time, the main design of my
voyage (for any deviation from which I was entirely
responsible) did not seem to be compatible with
my wishes.
wishes. It was, therefore, with a high exci-
tation of feeling, that I this day directed my atten-
tion to the discovery of channels, however intricate,
through an intervening barrier of fields and floes;
APPROACH TO THE COAST.
175
and it was with much satisfaction that I marked
our rapid advance directly towards the land, under
favour of a smart breeze and clear weather, until
our progress was bounded by a strip of floe-ice,
about a couple of leagues in breadth, that was fast
frozen to the shore. Although the land was seen
quite bold from the deck before we entered the
barrier; the passage of it occupied us fifteen or
sixteen hours, going three or four knots, directly
in-shore. Several ships accompanied us in this
navigation; and having reached the "land-ice,"
turned up along shore, in company with us, to-
wards the south-west, there being a commodious
and clear opening between the land-ice and the
floes in the offing.
22
The land-ice consisted of heavy consolidated
floes, having embedded in it several icebergs of a
larger size than I ever remember to have seen before.
These being probably aground, served to stake
the whole of this ice firmly to the shore, where it
appeared to have remained undisturbed for some
years. One of the icebergs, that had an elevated
peak at its extremity, was estimated to be 150 feet
above the level of the sea; and another that was
quite square, with vertical sides, was the height
of a ship's mast, or about 100 feet. These ice-
bergs were generally of a white and chalky ap-
pearance; some, however, were of a greenish-grey
L
176
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
colour on the sides; and others, having a favour-
able surface and position, reflected the sun's rays
with almost silvery brilliancy.
The place where we fetched in with the land,
was at the mouth of a small bay or inlet, in lati-
tude 71° 2′, which was named after Chevalier MAS-
CLET, late French Consul at Liverpool. Close by
this bay is a remarkable mountain, that was called
CHURCH MOUNT, from its striking resemblance
to a church; and two adjoining headlands, separa-
ted by Masclet Bay, I named in compliment to
two respected clergymen of Liverpool, CAPE
JONES and CAPE BUDDICOM. Another head-
land, a little farther to the southward, received
the name of CAPE GREG, out of respect and re-
gard to Mr Samuel Greg of Quarry Bank; and a
contiguous inlet, was named after another esteem-
ed friend, HOLLOWAY BAY.
The land at this time in sight was the most
extraordinary of any that I had ever before seen;
but its more particular description is reserved for
the following day.
Several sets of altitudes were taken for the lon-
gitude, as we approached the shore; and also ob-
servations for the variation, &c. Our latitude, at
mid-night, by meridian altitude below the pole,
was 71° 0′; and longitude, by chronometer, 21°15′
W., the nearest land being distant about six
miles.
1
1
SURVEY CONTINUED.
177
"
On the 20th, the weather was generally foggy,
but it fortunately cleared up near the land, where
we were, in the morning, and continued fine until
2 P. M., so that I had sufficient time for making
all requisite observations. At 8 A. M. we tacked
within four or five miles of the shore, and within
a mile of a small island near the edge of the land-
ice. Here I took a series of angles, and then
standing off a sufficient distance, I took corre-
sponding bearings, and also another set, on again
returning to the land-ice. The intersections gave
me the position of the most remarkable parts of
the coast, within twenty-five miles. At noon,
the latitude observed was 70° 44′ 57″ N.; the
longitude, by chronometer, 21° 9′ W.; and the
variation of the compass 44° 30′ W. Depth of
water 155 fathoms.
The land at this time surveyed and projected
(including fifteen miles of coast to the southward
and twenty-five to the northward) is mountainous,
dark, and sterile in the extreme. Nothing can
be conceived more rugged than it is; yet nothing
that I have ever seen equals it in bold grandeur,
and interesting character. There is nothing in
it that is tame, smooth, or insignificant. The
mountains consist of an innumerable series of ele-
vated peaks, cones, or pyramids, with the most
rugged assemblage of sharp rocks jutting from the
M
178
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
sides. They take their rise from the very beach,.
and ascend by steep and precipitous cliffs. Most
generally, they have obtuse or rectangular sum-
mits, with equally sloping sides, and acuminated
crests; but some of them have acute terminations
of a very extraordinary appearance. Most of the
summits from latitude 70° 33′, to 71° 12′, are sur-
mounted by ranges of vertical pinnacles, so uni-
form and parallel, as to resemble ranks of soldiers.
These pinnacles, in a mountain in latitude 71° 13′
N., consist of six or seven tall parallel chimneys,
increasing progressively in height, and forming a
beautiful series; and, although they are probably
of the height of near 500 feet above the connected
summit of the mountain, they stand singly and
detached from each other.
Another mountain, in latitude 71° 4′ (Church
Mount) has, at the summit, two vertical towers,
with gable-formed tops, closely studded with
pinnacles. The height of this mountain was
found, by the angle under which it appeared at a
known distance, to be 2967 feet. The height of
another mountain, which I named Double Mount,
from its two similar summits, came out, by calcu-
lation, 3444 feet. And one of a range of moun-
tains lying between latitude 70° 33′ and 70° 41',
was found to be 3690 feet high. This chain,
which, in most parts, has sharp summits, thickly
ISLANDS DISCOVERED AND NAMED. 179
One of
crested and serrated with pinnacles, was named
ROSCOE MOUNTAINS, in compliment to the re-
spected author of the "Life of Lorenzo de Me-
dici." The general height of this coast, I esti-
mated at 3000 feet. Several islands were disco-
vered on the skirts of the coast. These were of a
different character, being more rounded and unin-
teresting in the structure of the rocks, than the
land which we considered as the main.
the southernmost of these, lying in latitude 70° 40′,
having an insulated peak jutting into the sea, with
a rock on the summit, resembling the ruins of a
castle, I named after my esteemed friend Mr
WILLIAM RATHBONE; and another island,
about half a league to the northward, in compli-
ment to Mr B. A. HEYWOOD. A third island,
nearly adjoining the latter, I named Sandbach
ISLAND, after another much respected friend;
and a small one intermediate between the two
latter, after Mr CHARLES PARKER.
}
There was very little snow upon this land: the
acuteness of the summits of the mountains, in-
deed, and the steepness of the sides, seem to pre-
clude any considerable lodgment of snow on the
coast. Two or three glaciers, or parent icebergs,
were here observed: one of them, in latitude
70° 58', is of very considerable elevation and ex-
tent.
1
་
5
M 2
180
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
On the 21st and 22d of July, the weather was
very boisterous and generally foggy. Sometimes
we had shelter under the lee of a floe; but having
stood into the land-water, during a clear interval,
we became exposed to a considerable sea, and
spent the night, which was extremely thick with
fog, in much perplexity and danger, owing to
heavy lumps of ice that were sometimes met with,
when we could scarcely see a distance sufficient
to enable us to avoid them.
The weather moderated a little on the 23d, on
which we made sail, and stood towards the land.
As we approached the coast, the density of the
fog began to diminish, and at noon we obtained a
clear view of the land. At noon we tacked, and
hove to close to the land-ice, in latitude 70° 36′,
and longitude, by chronometer, 21° 14′ W., which
agreed with the observations taken on the 20th,
(compared by respective bearings of Rathbone
Island), to half a minute. The land-ice was still
found to retain its winter's position, being fast
glued to the shore, and filling most of the bays
a long the coast, and channels among the islands.
A little to the southward of us, however, water
was, for the first time, observed to extend to the
very beach. Twelve or fourteen icebergs were
visible from hence, several of them near us. Some
of them appeared to be at least a hundred feet.
HEADLANDS DISCOEVERD AND NAMED. 181
above the level of the sea, and four or five hun-
dred feet in diameter. As the depth of water at
the ship was only eighty-two fathoms, there was
reason to believe that the whole of the icebergs
in-shore of us were aground. At this time, we
were within three miles of an apparently insular
foreland (bearing WNW. true) presenting a pre-
cipitous face towards us, of above 2000 feet in
elevation. This I named RAFFLES ISLAND,
out of respect to the Reverend Dr Raffles of Li-
verpool.
Another headland, of very similar appearance
and steepness, also at the distance of about three
miles from us, bearing WSW. (true), was named
CAPE HODGSON, after another esteemed friend,
and was found to be 2580 feet high.
2
The coast from latitude 71° 30' to Cape Hodg-
son in 70° 32′, trends nearly north and south,
true, and is entirely mountainous: to the south-
ward of Cape Hodgson, however, its direction be-
comes south-westerly, and its elevation gradually
diminishes to a low sloping point in 70° 28', that
received the name of CAPE SWAINSON, in com-
pliment to the author of "Zoological Illustra-
tions." Here the land running more westerly,
disappeared; but reappeared again with its usual
mountainous character, at the distance of about
20 miles to the southward of Cape Swainson.
2
182
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
..
The clear interval between this cape and the dis-
tant land proved to be a wide inlet, penetrating
to a great but unknown extent to the westward.
The height of the land near us,-its dark co-
lour, deepened by contrast with a few patches of
snow,-its precipitous sides,-sharp and rugged
summits,-with the abrupt terminations of the
northern parts of Raffles' Island and Cape Hodg-
son,-gave it a character at once interesting and
sublime.
The wind blowing fresh, with a good deal of
sea, I could not carry on the survey of the land,
by bearings taken at the mast-head. And as no
bearings taken about the deck of the ship could
be depended on, because of the great "deviation,"
and its varying quantity on different parts of the
deck, I was obliged to take all the required angles
by a sextant, and to connect the series with an
azimuth of the sun. The angular distance be-
tween the sun and Cape Swainson being thus
obtained, and the same reduced to the horizontal
angle by calculation; this angle was applied to
the sun's true azimuth, likewise obtained by cal-
culation, which of course gave the true bearing of
Cape Swainson. And by the application of the
observed angle between this cape and other head-
lands, to the position of the cape deduced from
the sun's azimuth, the true bearings of these head-
lands were likewise determined.
>
RESEARCHES CONTINUED.
188
A thick fog set in about 4 P.M., and prevented
any farther observations on the form and position
of the land during the day; and soon afterwards
a strong gale arose, which obliged us for safety
to stand off to the eastward. In the night, when
the obscurity produced by the fog was at the
greatest, we got entangled among a quantity of
heavy drift-ice, which perplexed us excessively.
Escaping from thence, we stood backward and
forward in the "land-water," fearful, on the one
hand, of running on shore, and on the other of
coming in contact with the ice.
Next morning (July 24th), on the wind mo-
derating, we made a stretch to the northwest-
ward. As we approached the land, the fog be-
gan to break, and when we arrived within seven
or eight miles of the shore, we emerged into a
eloudless sky, and bright sunshine. An extra-
ordinary quantity of ice that had formed in the
rigging during the morning of this day, was soon
dislodged by the warmth of the sun. It fell in
large transparent rods, several pounds in weight,
and cut the faces of some of the men who were
so imprudent as to look upward.
Being anxious to land upon a coast, on which
no navigator (a whale-fisher or two perhaps ex-
cepted) had ever set foot, I thought this a favour-
able opportunity for gratifying my curiosity. This
184
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
curiosity was heightened almost to the utmost
pitch, by the historical recollections of the Ice-
landic colonies that had at a remote period been
planted a few degrees to the southward, upon the
same line of coast,—and particularly by the hope
which I could not avoid indulging, that I might
be able to discover some traces of those hardy
people, the fate of whom, for near four centuries,
has been a problem of such intense and almost
universal interest. An additional interest attached
to the investigation of this country (if the interest
excited by the above considerations were capable of
augmentation), was the circumstance of the singu-
lar and total failure of the many attempts of the
Danes to reach this coast, for the recovery of the
ancient colonies,-together with the peculiar en-
joyment that necessarily arose out of the convic-
tion, that the shore on which I designed to land
was entirely unknown to Europeans, and totally
unexplored.
As we stood in, I obtained several series of
bearings of headlands, &c. with altitudes of the
sun for the longitude, designed for the extension
of my survey. Finding the coast bold, we reach-
ed within three quarters of a mile of the beach,
where we had soundings in 25 fathoms: the wea-
ther being then extremely fine, and highly fa-
vourable for my purpose, I took a boat at 5 P.M.
and proceeded to the shore. I landed in fifteen
OBSERVATIONS ON SHORE.
185
1
minutes on a rocky point, named CAPE LISTER,
after a reverend friend, lying in latitude 70° 30',
and longitude 21° 30′ W. The coast here having
changed its mountainous character, and become
more level towards the south and west, we were
enabled to reach the top of the cliff, which was
only 300 or 400 feet high, and to travel along its
brow to the westward. The rocks we ascended
consisted chiefly of hornblende, in sharp, angular,
irregular masses, much broken, with some of the
same rock, of the slaty kind, containing much
mica, and veins of feldspar. The brow of the
cliff, instead of soil and verdure, presented either
a naked or lichen-clad pavement of loose angular
stones. Most of these, consisting principally of
white quartz, with intermixed masses of sienite
and hornblende-rock, had suffered so little from
exposure to the atmosphere for numerous ages,
excepting as to fracture, that their angles were
as sharp as if they had been newly broken. Bor-
dering the sea, these stones were almost enveloped
in a covering of black lichens; but on ascending
over a sheet of snow to a superior eminence, the
lichens became much less abundant. The almost
total want of soil was an effectual preventive to
verdure; the vegetation was therefore confined
to a few hardy lichens, with an occasional tuft of
the Andromeda tetragona, Saxifraga oppositifo-
:
186
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
..
lia, Papaver nudicaule, and Ranunculus niva-
lis.
Sending the boat along shore, I traced the hill
towards the west for three or four miles, passing
over a continued surface of loose stones, or over
beds of ice and snow, and then descended near
Cape Swainson, towards the beach, consisting
here of a strip of flat strand, about a furlong in
breadth. Here, the first interesting object was
discovered, consisting of a circle of stones, so ar-
tificially placed, that there could be no doubt but
it was the work of man; and soon afterwards
other appearances of manual arrangement were
met with. These were the remains of habita-
tions, consisting of two circular walls, or in some
places merely of rows of stones, inclosing a clear
area of about five yards in diameter, laid out ex-
actly in the manner in which the Esquimaux pre-
pare the ground for their summer huts. Besides
these, there were several hollow tumuli, neatly
arched in the form of a bee-hive, with an open-
ing either at the top or on one side. These re-
sembled the stores wherein the Esquimaux are
known to deposit the produce of their fishing or
hunting, when too considerable for present use.
They varied in size from 24 to 41 feet, interior dia-
meter. The principal part of these remains occur-
red on the west side of Cape Swainson, where also
፡
OBSERVATIONS ON SHORE.
187
+
some other still more striking evidences of recent
inhabitation were found. These consisted of two
cavities, inclosed by stones, on the edge of a bank,
that had been employed as fire-places, and in which
were the remains of the fuel that had been used
in them, consisting of charred drift wood, with half-
burnt moss, and a quantity of ashes. The latter,
being of so light a nature as to be liable to be
carried away by the melting of snow about them,
impressed me with the opinion, that they had not
been here during the preceding winter, but that
the persons who used these simple contrivances
for fire-places, must have been on the spot even
in the present summer. As there were no per-
manent residences to be found, this place appear-
ed to have been either resorted to as a summer
fishing-station by some of the natives, or touched
at, in their excursions along the coast. In addi-
tion to these evidences of the present existence of
inhabitants, we met with several pieces of bone
and wood, which had undergone artificial fabrica-
tion; and also the head of an arrow or small dart,
rather neatly made of bone, armed with a small
piece of iron. It is difficult to say whether this
iron was native, or whether it was carried on shore
in the timbers of some wreck. The manufacture
was a good deal similar to that of the iron imple-
ments of the Arctic Highlanders, discovered by
:
188
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
Captain Ross; and it is not improbable but it
had a similar origin. The state and situation in
which it was found, indicated that it had not been
long out of use. It was found lying in a little
cavity of the rock, where we first landed, in a
pool of sea-water; yet it was not greatly corroded
by rust. On the contrary, it was so little acted
upon, that it did not seem to have lain many
months.
Scarcely any birds were seen on the shore,
though there were abundance of roaches, dovecas,
and some eider-ducks in the water. I only ob-
served an arctic gull, and two small birds (one
resembling a wag-tail and the other a red-pole)
during the whole excursion. Numbers of winged
insects, however, were met with, particularly on
the hills among the stones. These consisted of
several species of butterflies, with bees, and mus-
quitoes! Near the beach were several plants in
flower, with a few that were farther advanced,
and in a state of fructification. I obtained beau-
tiful specimens of Ranunculus nivalis and An-
dromeda tetragona, two or three species of Saxi-
fraga, Epilobium latifolium, Potentilla verna,
&c. with the Cochlearia anglica, Rumex digynus,
and a species of Salix. The latter was the
only arborous plant met with. This willow ex-
pands to the extent of three or four feet, or more,
I
:
SINGULAR EFFECT OF REFRACTION.
189
and grows to the thickness of the little finger;
yet so is it accommodated to the nature of the
climate, that it only spreads laterally, never be-
ing observed to rise higher than two or three
inches above the ground.
No other object of interest was observed, ex-
cepting some horns of rein-deer, and the bones of
these or other animals; most of the bones were
found about the site of the tents and huts, or in
the tumuli adjoining. No sea-weed was seen on
the beach, nor any shells; but in deep water, near
the shore, both these productions were observed.
There was a considerable tide: it seemed to
have ebbed while we were on shore, but the pe-
riod of high-water was not determined.
On my return to the ship, about 11 o'clock,
the night was beautifully fine, and the air quite
mild. The atmosphere, in consequence of the
warmth, being in a highly refractive state, a great
many curious appearances were presented by the
land and icebergs. The most extraordinary effect
of this state of the atmosphere, however, was the
distinct inverted image of a ship in the clear sky,
over the middle of the large bay or inlet before
mentioned,-the ship itself being entirely beyond
the horizon. Appearances of this kind I have
before noticed, but the peculiarities of this were,-
the perfection of the image, and the great dis-
$
!
190
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
tance of the vessel that it represented. It was so
extremely well defined, that when examined with
a telescope by Dollond, I could distinguish every
sail, the general" rig of the ship," and its particu-
lar character; insomuch that I confidently pro-
nounced it to be my Father's ship, the Fame, which
it afterwards proved to be;-though, on comparing
notes with my Father, I found that our relative
position at the time gave our distance from one
another very nearly thirty miles, being about se-
venteen miles beyond the horizon, and some leagues
beyond the limit of direct vision. (Plate V.
fig. 2.) I was so struck by the peculiarity of the
circumstance, that I mentioned it to the officer
of the watch, stating my full conviction that the
Fame was then cruizing in the neighbouring inlet.
July 25th.—In the course of the night, ha-
ving occasionally a light breeze of wind, we stood
to the westward, into the entrance of the spa-
cious inlet that was first seen on the 23d. At
six in the morning, we were almost in the middle
of the entrance, in which situation we had a
clear view of the interior of the inlet. Towards
the west. (true) no land was in sight. From Cape
Swainson, the northern coast trends WSW.
(true), to another low point about six miles dis-
tant, that was named CAPE TOBIN, in compli-
ment to Sir John Tobin of Liverpool. This is
1
SURVEY CONTINUED.
191
1
the southernmost headland of the coast recently
surveyed; beyond which it runs more northerly.
About five leagues to the westward (true) of this
cape, a new coast appears, which being rather low
land, of a smooth surface, and regular brown co-
lour, has a totally different character from the
adjoining country. It received the name of
JAMESON'S LAND, in token of friendship to Pro-
fessor Jameson, the highly respected President of
the Wernerian Society.
The coast on the southern side of the great in-
let is entirely mountainous. It is terminated to
the eastward by a bold narrow promontory, which
I named CAPE BREWSTER, in compliment to
another much esteemed friend, the Secretary to
the Royal Society of Edinburgh. From Cape
Brewster, the land runs nearly due west, for about
twenty miles, and then about WNW. to a still
greater distance.
Cape Brewster was surrounded by thin land-
floes, thickly studded with icebergs; several dozens
of which were at this time visible from the mast-
head. This ice extended more than half-way across
the mouth of the inlet, from the southern coast;
but the northern side was quite clear. We hove
to near the edge of the land-floes, about 7 A. M.,
and remained nearly stationary, until I obtained
a series of bearings, and altitudes of the sun for
!
192
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ascertaining the longitude by chronometer. Just
as I finished, the wind died away, when there was
found to be a current setting due west at the rate
of about half a knot: the influence of this carry-
ing us almost against the ice, we were obliged to
lower several boats to tow the ship off. On try-
ing for soundings, there was no bottom with 220
fathoms of line.
With the first breeze of wind that sprung up,
we stood to the north-west into the bay, accom-
panied by three ships that had joined us in the
night. We now got sight of the ship, whose
image had been seen in the air, and found it to
be the very ship I had announced. At noon our
latitude was 70° 24′ 42″ by observation; and lon-
gitude 22° 10′ W., Cape Brewster bearing S 8° E
(true). In the afternoon we had advanced to within
four or five miles of the north-western point of the
land, connected with Cape Tobin, (which I named
CAPE HOPE, from respect to Mr Samuel Hope
of Everton), when it was observed, that the chan-
nel separating this coast from Jameson's, Land
was about five miles in breadth, at the entrance,
where it is the narrowest, and that it extends due
north, without any visible termination. This ex-
tensive channel was named HURRY'S INLET, out
of respect to Mr Nicholas Hurry, managing-own-
er of the Baffin.
RESEARCHES CONTINUED.
193
1
The weather being still fine, and the ship almost
becalmed, I had an opportunity of landing at
Cape Hope, where I took a series of angles and
bearings, for the advancement of my survey. The
result of my observations on the appearance and
products of this station, will be found embodied
with the description of the main-inlet, and account
of other visits to the shore. On my return to the
ship, I took occasion to call on board of the Fame,
which was now not very distant from the Baffin,
when I was informed by my Father, that he had
seen two whales in this inlet (where he had already
cruized for two or three days);—and that his boats
had explored Hurry's Inlet, though without suc-
cess, to an extent of thirty or forty miles towards
the north; and also the inlet to the westward of
Jameson's Land, to an almost equal distance from
his ship.
July 26th.-Two whales having been seen in
the night, I was encouraged to prolong my stay
here, which afforded me another opportunity of
visiting the shore, in a more interesting spot than
formerly, on the east side of Jameson's Land.
The place I selected for landing upon was CAPE
STEWART, so called after Professor Dugald Stew-
art, which lies nearly in the same parallel as Cape
Hope, directly across the mouth of Hurry's In-
let. Not only its appearance, but its structure,
N
:
194
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
;
is totally different from any of the surrounding
country that I had an opportunity of visiting,-
the whole of these being primitive formations,
whilst on Jameson's Land, as far as examined, no
primitive rocks were found, but only such rocks as
belong to the series of the coal formation.
The latitude this day was 70° 25′; longitude
22° 21′ 45″ W.
Not having met with a sufficient number of
whales to tempt us to remain in this inlet, we be-
gan to beat out of it with the first breeze, which
set in from the south-east. At midnight (26th,-
27th) we stood close in with the southern shore,
which was here clear of ice, and sent a boat to-
wards a creek, about five miles to the westward of
Cape Brewster, for the purpose of collecting spe-
cimens of the vegetable and mineral productions.
The party sent on this excursion, ascended one of
the mountains until they got a view of the sea
to the southward, and traced the coast along, al-
most up to Cape Brewster: they remained on
shore all night, and returned about ten in the
morning. I was much disappointed in the result
of this expedition; for although the officer who
had the charge of the party, had accompanied me
on a former excursion, and had witnessed the man-
ner of collecting specimens, yet he contented him-
self with gathering a few pieces of calcedony, and
RESEARCHES CONTINUED.
195
髯
​other loose stones, the whole of which were car-
ried in a small pocket handkerchief, and scarcely
exceeded a handful. On being reproved for ne-
glecting to bring me specimens of the rocks, he
excused himself, by stating, that he thought them
useless, as they were exactly the same (in his
opinion) as those I had collected on Jameson's
Land.
To compensate for the deficiencies of this ex-
cursion, I was preparing to undertake the exami-
nation of the rocks myself, when a gale of wind,
at south-east, suddenly commenced, and blew with
considerable violence, for an hour or two, directly
into the bay it then began to subside, but, by
this time we had got too far from the southern
shore to render a landing convenient. The even-
ing was again fine and moderate. The wind veer-
ing to the south-west, we were enabled to lead out
of the inlet. At 8 P. M. we were in a line be-
tween Cape Brewster and Cape Tobin, where we
hove to until the Fame, which was in company,
sounded; the depth of water was 310 fathoms.
4
My researches in this interesting inlet being
now brought to a close, I shall, before taking leave
of it, give, in a separate chapter, the result of such
observations as my limited stay and opportunities
permitted me to make.
N 2
196
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
CHAPTER VIII.
SE-
LARGE INLET NAMED AFTER CAPTAIN SCORESBY,
NIOR, SCORESBY'S SOUND.— DESCRIPTION OF ITS DIF-
FERENT RAMIFICATIONS.-HALL'S INLET.—HURRY'S
INLET. RESEARCHES AT CAPE HOPE AND ON JAME-
SON'S LAND.—DESERTED HAMLET.-ESQUIMAUX RE-
MAINS.-CAPE BREWSTER.—PECULIAR TIDES AND
CURRENTS.GREAT DEPTH OF WATER.
VERY little assistance was hitherto afforded me
by any individual, in the investigation of these
regions; but where any valuable information had
been received, I considered it incumbent on me to
compliment the person, whose researches had been
useful to me, by applying his name to the portion
of land, or sea, respecting which he had supplied
the information. Agreeable to this practice, I
could not, without evident injustice, overlook the
very important researches of my Father in this
inlet,—who not only was, I had reason to believe,
the original discoverer of it, but who was the
first navigator who entered it, and determined its
general position, and who, with a peculiar perse-
verance, sent his boats and examined two of its
SCORESBY'S SOUND..
197
extensive ramifications, to a distance of sixty miles
from the extreme capes, or entrance of the inlet.
As such, after some scruples of delicacy, lest it
should be considered as bordering on self-compli-
ment, I ventured to name this capacious inlet, in
honour of my Father, SCORESBY'S SOUND*.
The extreme headlands, which may be consi-
dered as forming the entrance of Scoresby's Sound,
are Cape Hodgson on the north, and Cape Brew-
ster on the south, which lie about twenty-four
miles apart, in a direction SW b S., true. But
between Cape Brewster and Cape Tobin, that lie
nearly in the same meridian, the width diminishes
to about fourteen miles, beyond which the Sound
again expands. From Cape Tobin, on the north
side, where the land declines to the beach, the
coast trends WNW. (true) to Cape Hope, and
from thence, by a low regular shore, towards the
north, in a direction parallel to the eastern coast,
thus giving the land a peninsular form, with the
appearance of an island. To the southern and
* The term Sound, by the British, is generally applied
to channels between islands, or to passages between islands
and the main-land; but in the north of Europe, and in the
coasts of Baffin's Bay, as also in those of Spitzbergen, &c.,
this term is given (and I conceive with considerable pro-
priety) to any apparently interminable arm of the sea. I
have, therefore, adopted it in the naming of this inlet.
1
198
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
eastern sides of this tract of land, I gave the
name of THE LIVERPOOL COAST, because of
its headlands and islands having been chiefly
named after Liverpool friends. The western
part of this is washed by Hurry's Inlet, which
separates it from Jameson's Land. My Father
had boats between thirty and forty miles up this
inlet, without finding a termination. They found
the general width of the inlet from two to three
leagues; and, near the extremity of their excur-
sion, discovered three islands which were called,
after my Father's ship, FAME Islands. Two
prominences in this inlet, received the names of
GIBSON'S POINT, and PHILLIPS' POINT, after
two of my partners in the Baffin; and a third,
LLOYD'S POINT, after the captain of the Trafal-
gar (one of the ships in company) who made some
useful investigations about this inlet.
The eastern coast of Jameson's Land, which
generally lies north and south, true, trends to-
wards the south-west, below Cape Stewart, with
a low flat shore, as far as the southern point, that
received the name of CAPE HOOKER, after Dr
Hooker, Professor of Botany in Glasgow. This
coast then winds towards the W., NW., and N.,
so as to constitute Jameson's Land either into a
peninsula or an island. It has indeed every ap-
pearance of an island; but no opportunity of de-
MILNE LAND.
199
termining its complete insularity occurred. About
ten leagues north-west, true, from Cape Hooker,
a bold promontory was discovered, and named af
ter Captain Ross, the commander of the first of
the recent expeditions towards the north-west,
and surveyor of Baffin's Bay; but it could not be
ascertained whether this cape belonged to Jame-
son's Land, or to some other distinct region.
From Cape Brewster, the southern coast of
Scoresby's Sound was seen to extend W: and
WNW., true, for about fifty miles, where the
most distant point (which was named after Mr Ro-
BERT STEVENSON, civil-engineer), was observed.
The width of the Sound, included between this
coast and Jameson's Land, is about fourteen
miles, the narrowest part being in the meridian
of Cape Hooker. To the westward of this, it ex-
pands into a sea, supposed to be twenty-five miles
broad, which is divided into two branches by a
large and very distant tract of land, lying nearly
in the middle, to which I gave the name of
MILNE LAND, in compliment to Sir David
Milne.
The south-eastern point of Milne Land was
named CAPE LESLIE, in compliment to the Pro-
fessor of Natural Philosophy in the Edinburgh
College. Between this headland and Cape Ste-
venson, the main Sound continues its penetration
K
F
200
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
to the westward, to an extent that could not be de-
termined, as no land was ever visible in this open-
ing from the Baffin's mast-head, nor could any
land be seen in it by my Father's officer, who
was sent to explore the Sound to the westward of
Cape Hooker.
6
Another ramification of this Sound runs to the
northward or north-westward, between Jameson's
Land and Milne Land, which received the name
of Hall's Inlet, out of respect to Captain Ba-
sil Hall of the Royal Navy. This branch of the
Sound was examined by my Father, to an extent
of about thirty miles from Cape Hooker, beyond
which there appeared an interminable expanse of
ice, without any land visible towards the north-
west, true. Hall's Inlet, therefore, if we may
judge from the general height of the adjoining
country, almost any of whose coasts may be seen
sixty miles from the deck of a ship, must extend
at least seventy miles beyond Cape Hooker, or
ninety miles from Cape Brewster. The southern
ramification of the Sound being full of ice, pre-
cluded all particular examination with the boats;
and we could not unfortunately be justified in un-
dertaking any travelling exploration, because, in
such, there could be no chance of capturing whales,
or in any way promoting the chief designs of the
voyage; whereas, in examinations with the boats.
DISSOLUTION OF BAY-ICE.
201
we were fully justified, being always prepared to
attack any whale that might chance to appear.
The ice that occupied these western inlets, prin-
cipally consisted of thin sheets or floes, apparently
the product of the preceding winter. Such of the
ice as yet remained was in a state of rapid disso-
lution; and, wherever it had been fully exposed
to the solar action, it had already disappeared.
Thus in Hurry's Inlet,-which, lying direct-
ly north and south, is exposed to the most
powerful action of the sun, about the meridian,
and also receives an extraordinary influence from
the morning and afternoon beams, that are re-
ceived almost vertically upon its sloping banks,-
the whole of the bay-ice had disappeared, no ice
whatever having been seen in it for the whole ex-
tent of ten or twelve leagues, to which it was ex-
amined, excepting an occasional fragment of an
iceberg. But, on the other hand, a very large
quantity of bay-ice, apparently of interminable
extent, still remained on the southern side of the
Sound, above Cape Hooker; and particularly in
the south-western ramification, because there it
was defended, during the height of the day, by
the penumbra of the adjoining mountains, whose
great elevation, and transverse position, skreened
the ice near their bases, from the solar rays.
When we first entered the Sound, there were
202
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
some extensive sheets of bay-ice lying about Cape
Brewster; but these were in such a rapid state of
decay, that, within three days, the whole of the
larger sheets were broken into pieces, and great
quantities dissolved. There were also several
very large icebergs: these, however, defied the
immediate action of the sun, and might remain
for many years, unless drifted away into a warm-
er climate. I have intimated, that the southern
part of the Liverpool Coast is low land, at the
water's edge, from whence it gradually rises to a
mountainous height. On this aspect, though it
fronts the south, there was yet a considerable
quantity of snow, in different patches, princi-
pally lying in dells and cavities, in which large
masses had been collected during the winter and
spring. The western coast of this land, that
borders Hurry's Inlet, is more regular than any
thing I have seen in Greenland. From the shore,
where it is low and almost even with the water's
edge, it rises, with an easy slope, to the height
of perhaps 1500 or 2000 feet perpendicular; and
it is so uniform in its ascent and termination, that
it constitutes a level ridge, regularly diminishing,
to appearance, by the effect of perspective, until it
sinks down to the level of the sea, in the extreme
distance. This ridge, which was named PER-
SPECTIVE RIDGE, from its form and appearance,
LANDING AT CAPE HOPE.
203
was spotted with numerous little patches of snow,
but by far the greater proportion of the surface of
the ground was bare.
Near the southern extremity of Perspective
Ridge, I landed, on the afternoon of the 25th, at
Cape Hope. I selected this spot, on account of
an irregular rocky point jutting into the sea,
which promised to afford something more inte-
resting in the mineralogy, than the adjoining
flat shore: but this was not particularly the case,
the rocks being entirely primitive, and resembling
those at Cape Lister.
Again we discovered traces of inhabitants, in
the remains of summer-huts and tumuli, similar
to those before observed. We also obtained se-
veral fragments of the horns of rein-deer, which
had been artificially divided; with human bones,
and the bones of dogs, hares, and some other
quadruped. The skull of a dog was found in a
small grave, which was probably that of a child,
as Crantz informs us, in his excellent "History of
Greenland," that the Greenlanders lay a dog's
head by the grave of a child, considering that, as
a dog can find its way every where, it will shew
the ignorant babe the way to the land of souls.
There were very few living creatures to be seen
excepting insects; scarcely any birds, and no qua-
drupeds but three white hares (Lepus glacialis
2
204
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
of Leach), one of which I shot. It was a young
animal, not larger than a rabbit. The eyes were
of a brown colour. The fur was extremely fine
and soft; the colour entirely white. The flesh
was remarkably fair and well flavoured. It proved
the most delicious eating of any of the produce of
the polar countries I ever tasted. The insects
were numerous, consisting of mosquitoes, and se-
veral species of butterflies.
The heat among the rocks was most oppressive;
so much so, that my excursion was greatly.con-
tracted, and my research limited, by the painful
languor which the uncommonly high temperature
produced. Unfortunately I had no thermometer
with me, but I think the temperature could not
be below 70°: to my feelings, it was equal to the
greatest heat of summer in England. Its effect
on the vegetation was indeed so great, that most
of the plants met with had already seeded, and
some were quite dried and decayed.
Jameson's Land, it has been observed, is of a
totally different appearance and character, from
any other polar lands that I have seen. At a
distance, it appears low, and undulating, and of
a light-brown colour: while all the surrounding
coasts, with the exception of Perspective Ridge,
are rugged, mountainous, and of a blackish-brown
colour.
And what rendered it still more strik-
JAMESON'S LAND:-NEILL'S CLIFFS. 205
ing at this time, was the remarkable freedom of
the southern part from the least vestige of snow.
I landed near Cape Stewart, in the morning of
the 26th, on a low sandy beach, about a mile from
a range of cliffs, that were named after Mr PA-
TRICK NEILL, Secretary to the Wernerian and
Horticultural Societies, where there was a shore
of low, level land, about 200 yards in breadth,
on which we discovered a great many huts, and
other proofs of the place having once been in-
habited. This was by far the most interesting
spot I visited, both as regards its mineralogical,
botanical and other natural products, and its Es-
quimaux remains. Immediately to the southward
of Neill's Cliffs, a vein or dike of greenstone (whin-
stone) occurs, consisting of erect prismatic co-
lumns, 60 or 100 feet in height, and from 1 to
3 feet in diameter. The columns are not, how-
ever, very regular, nor are they divided into
joints, in the manner of some of the trap-rocks.
They were found to consist of a fineish granular
greenstone, not unlike that of the Shiant Islands,
to which the columns bear a close resemblance.
Proceeding from thence towards the north, along
a fine smooth beach of white quartzose sand, we
came to a river of some consequence for such a
country, the bed of which being filled with large
stones, and these concealed by the tumbling
་་་
206
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
¡
stream, rendered the fording of it a little difficult.
We landed at the foot of Neill's Cliffs, on a
slightly elevated flat of ground, forming a tract
about 300 yards in breadth, between the beach
and the cliffs, and abounding in vegetable pro-
ductions of a very grateful fragrance, and in in-
teresting Esquimaux remains. Neill's Cliffs were
found to be about 300 feet in height, full two-
thirds of which were concealed by the debris of
the higher strata: on this I ascended to the rock
in situ; and found it to consist of a thick bed
of bituminous slate,-coarse conglomerate, with
a base of sandstone,-sandstone flag, or slaty
sandstone,-calcareous sandstone,-fine granu-
lar limestone, full of organic remains, and a
coarse grained limestone of a grey colour, contain-
ing numerous large specimens of pectenites and
other bivalve shells.
These were the principal rocks; but scattered
specimens were also found of clay ironstone, slate-
clay, common slate-coal, jet, splintery limestone,
arenaceous limestone, &c.
Most of these rocks were of a friable texture,
and the general colour was light-brown. This tint.
gives the peculiar appearance to the cliffs of Ja-
meson's Land which first excited my attention.
The rocks I had previously met with were, al-
most without an exception, primitive; and the
1
JAMESON'S LAND:-MINERALOGY. 207
general structure of this country, as far as the ex-
tensive researches of Sir Charles Giesecké go, is
also primitive; but now I was in a tract of land be-
longing to a formation not previously known to
exist in Greenland, namely, the Coal-formation.
Though none of the transition rocks were found,
it is probable that these occur more inland. From
the discovery of some loose masses of primitive
clay-slate, and from the general character of the
adjacent country, it is further probable, that the
primitive rocks would have been discovered ari-
sing in succession behind and from beneath, had
we had an opportunity of penetrating into the in-
terior of the country. Only two other specimens
of primitive rocks, besides the clay-slate, were
found here, consisting of gneiss and red granite:
these being taken from rolled masses on the
beach might have been carried thither by the ice *.
In the examination of the mineralogical specimens
from this country, and in the descriptions of the geological
character of the different places where I landed, I have to
acknowledge considerable assistance received from my
friends, Professor Jameson and Dr Traill. A general list
of the rocks collected is included in the Appendix, No. I.,
to which I beg leave to refer such of my readers as either
may wish for further information on the subject, or may be
desirous of forming their own conclusions as to the geolo-
gy of this part of Greenland.
208.
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
Traces of inhabitation, some of them recent, oc-
curred all over the plain at the foot of Neill's
Cliffs. The most considerable and striking, con-
sisted of the remains of a hamlet (Plate VI.) com-
posed of nine or ten huts in close combination,
besides many others scattered about the margin
of the flat. This place, indeed, afforded the most
admirable site that could have been selected, for
the structures used by the Esquimaux for their
winter's residences; being elevated about 50 feet
above the beach, perfectly dry, and presenting a
rapid slope towards the river that limits the
plain on the south side, and towards the beach
which forms the eastern boundary. The roofs of
all the huts had either been removed or had fallen
in; what remained, consisted of an excavation in
the ground at the brow of the bank, about 4 feet
in depth, 15 in length, and 6 to 9 in width. The
sides of each hut were sustained by a wall of
rough stones, and the bottom appeared to be gra-
vel, clay, and moss. The access to these huts,
after the manner of the Esquimaux, was a horizon-
tal tunnel perforating the ground, about 15 feet in
length, opening at one extremity on the side of the
bank, into the external air, and, at the other, com-
municating with the interior of the hut. This
tunnel was so low, that a person must creep on
his hands and knees to get into the dwelling:
སྭ
REFERENCE.
Graves
Tumuli
Subterranean entrance to the huts
C
PLAN OF A DESERTED HAMLET, DISCOVERED ON JAMESON'S LAND
PLATE VI
page
208

Williers soup ?.
JAMESON'S LAND:—HABITATIONS.
209
•
The
it was roofed with slabs of stone and sods. This
kind of hut being deeply sunk in the earth, and
being accessible only by a subterranean passage,
is generally considered as formed altogether un-
der ground. As, indeed, it rises very little above
the surface, and as the roof, when entire, is ge-
nerally covered with sods, and clothed with moss
or grass, it partakes so much of the appearance
of the rest of the ground, that it can scarcely be
distinguished from it. I was much struck by its
admirable adaptation to the nature of the climate
and the circumstances of the inhabitants.
uncivilized Esquimaux, using no fires in these
habitations, but only lamps, which serve both for
light and for warming their victuals, require, in the
severities of winter, to economise, with the great-
est care, such artificial warmth as they are able to
produce in their huts. For this purpose, an un-
der-ground dwelling, defended from the penetra-
tion of the frost by a roof of moss and earth, with
an additional coating of a bed of snow, and pre-
served from the entrance of the piercing wind, by
a long subterranean tunnel, without the possibi-
lity of being annoyed by any draught of air, but
what is voluntarily admitted,-forms one of the
best contrivances which, considering the limited
resources, and the unenlightened state of these
people, could possibly have been adopted. The
}
..
•
210
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
}
plan of the tunnel is ingenious. It always has
its opening directed to the southward, both that
the meridian rays of the spring and autumn sun
may pierce it with their genial warmth, and that
the north, east, and west winds, whose, severity
must be most intense, may blow past without
penetrating. In some cases, the bottom of the
tunnel is on a level with the floor of the hut;
but, in others (when there is, perhaps unwitting-
ly, a practical application of a scientific principle)
the tunnel is so much below the hut, that the
roof of the former coincides with the floor of the
latter. On this plan, the cold air which creeps
along the tunnel, being denser than the air in the
hut, can have no tendency to rise into it, but the
contrary, unless a circulation were intentionally,
encouraged, by allowing the escape of the warm
air from the windows or roof. In general, it ap-
pears, that the interchange of air must be effected
by the slow and almost imperceptible currents
passing and repassing in the contracted tunnel.
In the hamlet now described, six of the huts
were in a row, and very near together, on the
southern bank of the plain, with openings or tun-
nels pointing to the southward: the easternmost
of these was at the corner of the bank, where it
began to trend to the northward; and, near this,
were three others, on the eastern bank, with their
1
JAMESON'S LAND—GRAVES.
211
entrances obliquely directed towards the south or
south-east.
Adjoining the huts, there were numerous exca-
vations in the ground, that had apparently been
employed for stores, and other offices. There
were also several tumuli, and a considerable num-
ber of graves scattered about the hamlet. Many
of the graves were immediately behind the huts;
others were among them, or in front; and two
or three were found in the floors of some of the
older looking huts, which had probably become
the burying-places of the last of the occupiers.
These graves, in general, contained human bones:
A very perfect skull was taken out of one of them;
which, containing a fine set of teeth, with the
dentes sapientes just protruding, and being of a
small size, was supposed to have been a female of
about twenty years of age. Many of the graves
contained, in addition to the human bones, frag-
ments of the implements used by the natives in
their fishing and hunting. Among these, were a
few pieces of "unicorn's horn," (the tooth of the
narwal); some branches of rein-deers' horn; and
several bits of wood that had undergone a rude sort
of fabrication. These deposits of useful utensils,
was an additional characteristic of the habits of
the Esquimaux. This people, it is well known,
in their natural and totally uncultivated state;
02
212
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
are of opinion, that they shall require their im-
plements for their maintenance after death.
The highest virtue, in the opinion of many Es-
quimaux, consisting in a dexterous, successful, and
industrious application to the business of hunt-
ing, &c.—and the best of their enjoyments, in
connection with the support of life, being derived
from the produce of their sealing and hunting,-
they rest their title to happiness, in another state
of existence, to the greatness of their exploits, or
to the hardships they may have suffered; and
they make the enjoyments of their Elysium, to
consist in a perpetual day and endless summer;
and, above all, in " an exuberance of fowls, fishes,
rein-deer, and their beloved seals," which are to be
caught without toil †. Some, indeed, believe that
these animals will be provided, and cooked for
them, without any care of their own; but others,
less sanguine in their expectations, consider that
they shall require their spears and darts to kill
them (which are, therefore, buried along with
them, when they die), but that they will be in
such abundance as to render the capture of them
rather an occupation of pleasure than of labour.
In some of the graves that we examined, pieces
* CRANTZ'S Hist. of Greenland, vol. i. p. 237.
✦ Ibid, vol. i. p. 201..
1
*
JAMESON'S LAND:-RELICS OF NATIVES, 213
of seal-skin or deer-skin were found among the
bones: these were evidently the remains of the
dresses in which the bodies had been interred.
The graves were all dug in the earth, not built
above the surface, as is the practice in rocky dis-
tricts, and were covered over with slabs of sand-
stone or slate, with pieces of wood or bone laid
across; and the bottom of many was lined with
clay-slates. In all the human skulls found, it
was remarked that the chin was very prominent,
and the forehead greatly retreating.
Numerous pieces of rein-deers' horns were
found about the hamlet. These had been artifi-
cially divided, in a manner that I should think
peculiar to these people. Not having any instru-
ment of the nature of a saw, the natives evidently
effect the division of hard bones by drilling rows
of contiguous holes. In this way, branches had
been separated from the rein-deers' horns; and
even longitudinal sections of unicorns' horns, of
more than two inches in diameter, had been ac-
complished. As this latter. substance is a real
ivory, and consequently hard and close-grained, it
cannot be drilled, I imagine, but with the use of
iron. I sought in vain for any thing like a drill;
but these instruments being probably of great
value to the natives, had been carefully collected
when the hamlet was deserted, and only the less
214
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
important articles left behind. On some pieces
of ivory and bone that we found, there were evi-
dent marks of an axe, or other sharp tool. It
might, however, have been formed of stone, as the
impression was not decidedly that of an iron in-
strument. Two axes made out of bone were
picked up; and several bits of wood, rather rudely
cut, and partly fabricated into domestic utensils,
by burning.
Among the bones discovered in the hamlet, we
could distinguish those of seals, walrusses, bears,
rein-deer, dogs, narwals and whales. The thigh-
bone of some large animal was also met with, the
species of which we could not determine.
The number of inhabitants that have, at no
very distant period, resided in Jameson's Land,
must have been very considerable, since the re-
mains of huts, with graves, were found all along
the shore, in almost every place suitable for their
erection.
The vegetation in Jameson's Land is superior
to any thing that I could have expected in such
a latitude. About the hamlet, the ground was
richly clothed with grass, a foot in height; and
more inland, my Father, who explored this coun-
try to a great extent, discovered considerable tracts
that might justly be denominated green-land,
patches of several acres, occurring here and there,
JAMESON'S LAND:-PRODUCTIONS.
215
(according to the testimony of Mr Scott, surgeon
of the Fame)," of as fine meadow-land as could
be seen in England." There was a considerable
variety of grasses, and many other plants in a
beautiful state. A good deal of the vegetation,
however, that was without shelter, was complete-
ly parched up by the heat of the sun. The most
luxuriant tracts were those little low plains, simi-
lar to that near Neill's Cliffs, which were covered
with a tolerable soil, where the percalation of the
water from the melted snows of the higher land,
produced a fruitful irrigation of the plains below.
I obtained here very fine specimens, though most-
ly of the dwarf kind, of Ranunculus nivalis, Saxi-
fraga cernua, S. nivalis, S. caespitosa or Groen-
landica, S. oppositifolia, Eriophorum capitatum,
Epilobium latifolium, Dryas octopetala, Papaver
nudicaule, Rhodiola rosea, &c. with the creeping
dwarf willows before met with. The whole num-
ber of species that I collected was about forty.
The produce of Jameson's Land, in the zoolo-
gical department, as far as our researches extend-
ed, consisted, in quadrupeds, of rein-deer, white
hares, and a new species of mouse, which has been
named Mus Groenlandica * ;-in birds, of eider-
ducks, brent-geese, partridges, plover, and the
* See Appendix No. III.
216
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
usual arctic aquatic birds, though few in number;
—and in insects, of butterflies, moths, bees, gnats,
&c.* Some of the Fame's people discovered a bee's
nest, which, after braving a formidable attack
from the little inhabitants, they contrived to rob
of the honey, which these industrious insects had
stored for their future provision.
As the sun crossed the meridian whilst I re-
mained on shore, with an unclouded sky, the
heat became excessive. It produced such a de-
gree of relaxation and thirst, that we were glad
not only to drink of every refrigerant stream, but
particularly to make use of the mountain-sorrel
(Rumex digynus), which fortunately grew in in-
numerable tufts about the plain and along shore,
whose acid properties were extremely grateful and
refreshing. Mr Lloyd, captain of the Trafalgar,
who, with my Father, accompanied me in part of
this excursion, took advantage of a fresh breeze
of wind from the southward, and sailed in his
boat about twenty miles or more up Hurry's In-
let, where he landed on a projection of Jameson's
Land. Here he experienced a degree of heat,
as oppressive to his feelings, as he ever suffered
either in the East or West Indies, to which tor-
rid regions he had been a frequent visitor. It so
* See Appendix No. III.
JAMESON'S LAND :—HOT WEATHER. 217
The
far overcame some of his men, who had attempt-
ed to climb an adjoining hill, that they could not
proceed, but lying down fell fast asleep, where
they remained until some of their comrades, by an
uncommon effort of perseverance and fatigue, for-
tunately succeeded in discovering them.
power of the sun was such as to occasion a very
painful degree of ophthalmic inflammation, which
they did not recover for several days. The mos-
quitoes, which were very numerous, likewise added
to the inconveniences they suffered from the heat,
by biting them with great severity. It is a re-
markable fact, that while the wind on the surface
of the water, in Hurry's Inlet, blew a smart gale,
on the top of the hills it was a stark calm.
The effect of the heat on the ground was such,
that in some places where the Fame's people dis-
covered turf, it was so dry that it lit with a
match, and afforded them a ready fire. By this
moons, some of the sailors, in one of their long
ex sions, who had been more provident than
the rest, in taking out the necessary vessels and
materials, boiled their coffee-pots, and cooked such
victuals as the success of their sporting supplied
them with. This proved an unfortunate contri-
vance for our zoological collection; for several ducks,
partridges, and other birds that they had shot, in-
stead of being carefully preserved and brought on
218
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
board, were, without scruple or care, coarsely
skinned, broiled, and eaten on the spot.
When we landed at Cape Stewart, which was
at 10 h 30 m A. M., apparent time, of the 27th
of July, the tide had ebbed, as observed by its
mark on the shore, about two feet perpendicular;
and at 30 m past twelve, it seemed to be at the
lowest, after which it began to flow. At this
time (neap-tides), the rise and fall appeared to be
three or four feet perpendicular. The flood-tide,
on this part of Jameson's land, sets along-shore to-
wards the WSW. (per compass); ebb-tide ENE,
at the foot of Neill's Cliffs: but it is probable that
the tide divides here about, different streams pro-
ceeding up the different inlets.
Striking is the contrast between the appear-
ance of Jameson's Land and the southern coast of
Scoresby's Sound, extending from Cape Brewster,
westward. Jameson's Land, and, indeed, thr
posite side of Hurry's Inlet also, has a comer-
able resemblance to the coast of Shetland in win-
ter, being a dark coloured, naked, comparatively
low, and undulating land, and giving rise to no
icebergs: but the southern coast is a bold and
mountainous country, much of it ice-clad, and of
a beautifully interesting character. In its moun-
tainous elevation and contour, it resembles the

Drawn by W.Scoresby Jan
Note. Some additional Ships are introduced to indicate the distance & height of the Land.
10 & 720 CONTINUOUS VIEW OF THE LAND ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF SCORESBYS SOUND, BEARING SOUTH WEST.
Published hu A Constable & Co Edin7823
PLATE VII page 218.
Engraved by WHLizars.
CAPE BREWSTER,
219
?
sea-ward coast of Greenland in general; but there
is a beautiful peculiarity in the stratification of
the rocks. The structure of the mountains facing
the north, are in general distinguished by nume-
rous parallel, horizontal strata or beds, forming
ledges not unlike steps, on a gigantic scale, which
strata are distinguished from the rest of the dark
coloured precipitous surfaces, by fine white lines
of snow, that give the whole coast a beautiful and
picturesque appearance. (See Plate VII). This
structure appears to be rather similar to that
which Captain Parry remarked in the land on the
north side of Barrow's Strait. The height of the
land on this border of the Sound, was estimated,
in general, at 2600 feet. Two of the mountains
were measured, by the angle subtended at a known
distance, from which their height appeared to be
2604 feet, and 3000 feet. This coast is a grand
source of icebergs. Every valley and ravine from
Cape Brewster, for many leagues towards the west,
is filled with ice. This, in some places, forms
pro-
digious beds on the top of the front range of hills
(which are in general of less elevation than the
second range), extending, in a single surface, for
many miles together. These ices or glaciers,
evidently give rise to the numerous floating bergs
with which the sea is strewed to an extent of thir-
ty or forty miles, to the castward and southward of
220
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the south-eastern cape; the whole of which, though
some of them reached the magnitude of 150 feet,
or more, above the surface of the sea, or probably
1000 feet in thickness, and a mile in circumfe-
rence, were mere dismemberments of these nume-
rous and extensive glaciers. The site was, indeed,
one of the best that could be imagined for their
formation. Facing the north, the range of moun-
tains behind forms a constant skreen, which, du-
ring ten or twelve hours at the height of the
day, keeps the glaciers in the shade, and permits
an uninterrupted accumulation of every moist de-
position upon them, without ever being subjected
to the height of summer temperature, with which
all the other aspects of the Sound are more or less
visited *.
The tint of this coast, at a little distance, is
bister-brown. This general colour, contrasted with
its vast beds of ice, and extensive tracts of snow,
and connected with the beautiful structure of the
mountains, their elevated character, and irregular
summits, is productive of a highly pleasing and
picturesque scene.
The rocks of which this coast is chiefly com-
• The formation of these arctic glaciers is particularly
described in the account of the Arctic Regions, vol. i.
p. 107, 258.
CAPE BREWSTER.
221
posed, and which give it the peculiar form and
structure, are probably secondary trap, consisting
principally of greenstone and amygdaloid,―spe-
cimens of these rocks being brought by a party
that I sent on shore near Cape Brewster, and
others of a similar kind, being found in great a-
bundance on some of the floating icebergs in
the neighbourhood, which doubtless had their
origin here.
In addition to the secondary or
floetz-trap rocks met with upon these icebergs, we
likewise found specimens of clay-slate of the tran-
sition series, precisely like that which predomi-
nates in Dumfriesshire, and also a number of
primitive rocks, consisting of granular felspar,
hornblendic mica-slate, with gneiss and granite.
Hence, we may infer, that this striking portion
of the country contains several kinds of primitive
and transition rocks, besides those of the second-
ary series. The party sent to collect mineralogi-
cal specimens near Cape Brewster, ascended over
a fixed iceberg or glacier, to the top of a moun-
tain, about 1500 feet high, where the acclivity
was so steep, that when a stone was shaken loose,
it rolled to the bottom, with accelerated velocity.
I was disappointed in the result of their investi-
gation, in the main, because they neglected to col-
lect specimens of the rocks in general; but some
of the little fragments they brought were of con-
#..
222
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
siderable interest. These consisted of common
calcedony, grey amethyst, crystallized white ame-
thyst, magnetic greenstone, coarse brown coal, &c.
This brown coal belongs to the secondary or floetz-
trap formation, and is of the same description as
the brown coal met with in nearly the same pas
rallel, on the opposite side of the country, in
Disco Island.
The plants collected in our different landings
at Cape Hope, Cape Stewart, Cape Brewster,
and on the shores of Hurry's Inlet, &c. amounted
to about forty-six species*. Of these, the most
interesting may be considered to be, the Arnica
angustifolia, Stellaria nitida (nova spec.), Pedi
cularis hirsuta, Lusula arcuata, and the Salix, of
which the species is doubtful. Fuci were very
scarce. I only obtained specimens of two species;
Fucus ciliatus, and Ulva umbilicalis.
No shells were seen, excepting two or three
washed specimens of bivalves, of no particular in-
terest or beauty.
The currents in Scoresby's Sound are somewhat
remarkable. There seems to be an interchange of
waters, produced by the operation of superior and
* A catalogue of my little Flora, is given in Appen-
dix No. II.: for which, including the description of new
species, I have been indebted to Dr Hooker.
SCORESBY'S SOUND,-CURRENTS.
993
inferior streams. By the action of the latter, it
was presumed, a quantity of icebergs that were ob-
served on our entrance to be within Cape Brew-
ster, were, in the course of three days, carried out
quite beyond this headland; while, by the action
of the former, operating at the same time, we
found the ships so retarded, that on attempting
to beat out of the Sound, with a south-easterly
wind, we could make little or no progress.
Besides these currents, there is also a regular
tide of considerable strength, but of a very pecu-
liar character, being so superficial, that it carries
shallow floating bodies along with it; while those
extending to the depth of several fathoms, are lit-
tle or nothing affected by it. Its depth, I imagine,
is sometimes not more than a fathom: For when,
on leaving the Sound, we had arrived between the
two headlands forming its entrance, we hove to for
the purpose of sounding, and we were much aston-
ished by the nature of the ship's drifting. The
sails being all aback, the ship's head south-east,
and the wind south-west, our drift ought to have
been towards the ENE. or NE.; but according
to the wake of the ship (the eddy produced in
the sea by the ship's motion), she appeared to be
drifting towards the NW., or directly a-stern.
It would seem, that the lower parts of the ship
were in still water; while a very superficial stra-
tum, being the stream of the tide, was running
224
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
+
·
past her, at the rate of a knot or more, directly out
of the sound. With a similar rate and direction
it passed all the deeper ice, forming a strong eddy
running to the south-eastward; but it was ob
served to carry all the thinnest ice before it. While
we remained in the sound, I often observed, that
when sailing across this tide in light winds, the
ship could not be steered. Under a two-knot breeze,
the ships in company were sometimes turned quite
round. And, it was observable, when sailing
nearly in the direction of the tide, that, on one
tack, the ships could not be kept to, though each
had its jib hauled down to assist the helm; and,
on the other, they could scarcely be kept out of the
wind, under the best arrangement of the sails.
The direction of the tide is so modified by the
different inlets, and probably, also by the wind,
that I could by no means determine its particular
sets. Its general direction, however, in mid-chan-
nel of the main inlet, was SE. and NW. by the
compass,―nearly E. and W., true.
We met with no dangers in this sound. There
is, indeed, a small rock above water near Cape
Hope, and a shoal near Cape Stewart; but at a
fair distance from the shore, the navigation, as far
as we had an opportunity of observing, is without
encumbrance. About the south-eastern shore of
Jameson's Land, the water is more shallow than
SCORESBY'S SOUND.
225
t:
in any other part of the sound that we examined.
Our boats grounded on a sand-bank, about 200
yards from the beach, near Cape Stewart, and a
considerable flat of sand skirts the shore opposite
to Neill's Cliffs. The river adjoining the hamlet
carries out with it a quantity of sand, which it
deposits in its confluence with the sea, and forms
one of those banks above noticed, extending about
200 yards off shore. In the middle of the sound
there is very deep water. Due south of Cape
Hope, and mid-way between Cape Brewster and
Cape Tobin, there are more than 300 fathoms;
and within a mile of the land we generally found
150 or 200 fathoms water. To the SE. of Cape
Stewart, however, in the direction of the sand-
banks, the depth is less considerable, the sound-
ings being 125 fathoms, about two miles from the
shore.
Calm weather is found greatly to prevail here
at this season. In the height of summer, when
the air is inclined to calm along the coast, a gen-
tle or sometimes a fresh sea-breeze sets in about
one or two o'clock in the afternoon. This at least
was our experience whilst we remained in Scores-
by's Sound. In the mornings, the wind was ge-
nerally from the west or north-west; and in the
afternoon from the south-eastward. In Hurry's
Inlet, where the heat is very great, the sea-breeze
P
*
*
2
226
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
L
sets directly up it, or from the south-west, and
frequently blows very fresh. The night wind or
land breeze, on the contrary, is probably in an op-
posite direction.
During our stay in the sound, I carried on the
operations for my survey, both on board and on
shore, at every opportunity; whereby I obtained a
very good plan of the principal inlet, together
with a considerable extent of the ramifications
proceeding from it. I had observations for the
latitude, longitude, and variation of the compass,
three times within the sound, and eight or nine
series of bearings of the most remarkable head-
lands, hills, inlets, &c., and several sets of alti-
tudes, for obtaining the height of the adjoining
mountains.
A LONG DAY.
227
CHAPTER IX.
COAST EXAMINED DOWN TO LATITUDE SIXTY-NINE.-
ISLANDS, INLETS, AND HEADLANDS DISCOVERED AND
NAMED. RETURN TO THE NORTHWARD.NUMEROUS
ICEBERGS.TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA AT THE BOT-
TOM.-FORMATION OF ICEBERGS, AND ENLARGEMENT
OF FIELDS.-SEARCH FOR WHALES, AT A DISTANCE
FROM THE LAND, UNSUCCESSFUL.-AGAIN APPROACH
THE COAST.
Sunday, July 28th.-IN the night we stood
to the south-eastward, as far as the loose ice; and
then off and on during the day. The Fame and
Trafalgar were in company. The wind was west-
erly, a gentle breeze; the weather clear and plea-
sant. At the preceding midnight the sun de-
scended, until, in its apparent position, it just
came to the horizon with its centre. It now quite
disappeared, on crossing the meridian below the
pole, thus setting for the first time in a period of
ninety-three days. Notwithstanding this constant
day-light, I have frequently used, in this journal,
the terms Night and Day, because they are the
most convenient and familiar, for the principal
division of the twenty-four hours.
P 2
1
228
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
#
In the morning of the 29th, we fell in with an
extraordinary chain of icebergs, which obliged us
to stand nearly thirty miles off shore to double it.
These icebergs were so numerous, that 140 were
counted from the mast-head at one time: Our la-
titude was 69° 85' 47", by meridian observation;
and the longitude 21° 39′ W., by chronometer.
Having a light breeze from the northward, we
steered to the WNW., until we came within six-
teen miles of the land, and then proceeded to the
westward, along shore. At 8 P. M. we were be-
calmed near a chain of floes and icebergs, stretch-
ing across our track. There were numbers of open-
ings, however, in the chain, so that had we had
a breeze, we could easily have penetrated through
it, and could have reached a situation beyond,
where there appeared to be a sufficiently free na-
vigation. Here we made fast to a floe, until we
replenished our stock of fresh-water, from one of
the numerous pools upon its surface.
A little before midnight the sea froze all over,
though the thermometer never sank below 31° at
the height of the ship's deck. The sky being per-
fectly clear, and the sun in the horizon, this ef-
fect was attributable to the radiation, productive
of cold, on which Dr Wells has founded his in-
teresting theory of Dew. A curious optical de-
ception occurred, when the sun was just about
SURVEY CONTINUED.
229
setting, respecting the distance of objects. See-
ing a piece of ice at the apparent distance of two
or three miles, on which there was a great load
of rocks, I sent a boat for the purpose of getting
specimens from it. To the surprise of the people
in the boat, as well as myself, they rowed hard for
two or three hours before they reached it, when
the mass of ice that had appeared to be only a few
feet in height, under the erroneous idea we had
formed of its distance, proved to be higher than
a ship's mast-head.
From hence the coast, to an extent of 110
miles, was in sight; which, indeed, was seen the
whole of the day. Roscoe Mountains were dis-
tinctly visible, even out of the cabin-windows, in
an ordinary state of the atmosphere, when at the
distance, by observation, of sixty-five miles. To
the southward of Cape Brewster, the coast, as
far as we could perceive it, trends nearly south-
west, true. To an extent of forty miles, during
this day's sailing, I obtained a survey of the land
from intersecting bearings, with a similar extent
from a single set of bearings and estimated dis-
tances. The whole addition to my survey, there-
fore, amounted to about eighty miles of coast;
one-half of which may be considered as very well
laid down. At the distance of six or eight leagues
from Cape Brewster, there are two glaciers, or
230
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
land icebergs, which are somewhat remarkable for
their extent. To the southward of these, the
coast seemed to be flanked with islands to a con-
siderable distance; several were distinctly made
out; and as these, with an extensive tract of
coast adjoining, were entirely free from snow,
whilst the land considered as the main, had a con-
siderable quantity of snow upon it and was like-
wise of a very different character, I could not but
suspect that the islands were much more nume
rous than they appeared to be. The northernmost
island discovered, which is a small one, was named
after Mr CHARLES STEWARD of Yarmouth, who,
several years ago, became my companion in one of
my voyages to the whale-fishery. The next island,
which is several miles in extent, I named after Cap-
tain G. W. MANBY, whose extraordinary exer-
tions and success in the rescue of ship-wrecked
mariners, entitles him to the gratitude of every sea-
man; and whose very gentlemanly conduct and
pleasing society, were the means of rendering a re-
cent voyage, wherein he accompanied me to the Po-
lar Seas, one of the most agreeable I ever under-
took. A third island, contiguous to the last men-
tioned, received the name of TURNER'S ISLAND,
in compliment and respect to Mr Dawson Turner
of Yarmouth : and a fourth was named after Dr
HENRY of Manchester. These four islands lie
:
2
RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES.
231
within the latitudes of 69° 32′ and 69° 47'. Two
bold headlands, a little farther towards the south-
west, were named after Mr JOHN DALTON, and
Mr PETER EWART, of Manchester; and the ex-
treme headland seen, lying in latitude about
69°12′ and longitude 24° 25′ (?) W., was called
CAPE BARCLAY, after Dr John Barclay of Edin-
burgh. Between Cape Barclay and Cape Ewart,
there is an interval of some leagues, wherein I
could not perceive any land. This inlet was
named KNIGHTON BAY, in honour of Sir Wil-
liam Knighton, Private Secretary to his Majesty.
In addition to these islands, capes and inlets,
some others on this coast likewise received names.
A bay to the south-west of Cape Brewster was
named WALLACE BAY, and three contiguous
headlands, CAPE RUSSELL, CAPE GRAHAM and
CAPE PILLANS, after four of the Professors in
the University of Edinburgh.
July 30th.-Being now nearly two degrees of
latitude farther south than the lowest parallel in
which I had ever pursued the whale-fishery to ad-
vantage, and being disappointed in our expecta-
tions of finding whales in this extreme southern
station, it was mutually agreed between my Fa-
ther, Captain Lloyd, and myself, that we should
proceed, in company, to the northward, and make
extensive researches for whales in other quarters.
232
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
One whale was indeed seen, but this being in ra-
pid motion, was neither sufficient encouragement
to remain, nor to persevere into a still more south-
ern latitude, to which my desire for further dis-
coveries strongly inclined me.
In the forenoon, having a light breeze from the
westward, we bore away to the eastward, for the
purpose of doubling the chain of icebergs lying
off Cape Brewster. Their number was found to
be still greater than I had before apprehended.
The sea, throughout an area of almost twenty
miles in diameter, was almost covered with these
prodigious floating bodies. At one time, I count-
ed above 500 from the mast-head, of which scarce-
ly any was less than the hull of a ship. About a
hundred of them appeared to be as high as our
mast-head. Some were certainly twice this
height, or 200 feet above the surface of the sea,
and several hundreds of yards in extent. One,
which I had a good opportunity of estimating,
was at least a mile in circumference, and 100 feet
in height; three others were about 1800 feet in
circumference, and 150 feet in height; and an-
other was about 1000 feet in circumference, and
200 feet in height. They assumed a great va-
riety of forms, and some difference of tints; but
the prevailing appearance was that of cliffs or
islands of chalk. In recent fractures, however, the
WEIGHT OF ICEBERGS.
233
colour is a fine emerald green; and, in cavities,
where the light is transmitted through a portion
of the ice, it is a brilliant blue. Many of the
icebergs contained strata of earth and stones, and
some were loaded with beds of rock of great thick-
ness, and weighing, by calculation, from 50,000
to 100,000 tons. One, in particular, was observed
(if it was indeed an iceberg) that was loaded to the
height of a ship's mast-head with such piles of rock,
that only a very few specks of ice were visible. I
obtained specimens of rocks from several of these,
which consisted of gneiss, basaltic greenstone, some
of it strongly magnetic, granular felspar, transition
clay-slate, hornblendic mica-slate, a kind of gra-
nite, &c.
The weight of some of the icebergs is enor-
mous. One of those above mentioned, was a mile
in circumference, or 1500 feet square, and a hun-
dred feet above the level of the sea. As it was
nearly a parallelopipedon, its weight may easily
be determined. Had its upper surface been ex-
actly horizontal, the quantity of the mass below,
to that above the level of the water, would have
been in the proportion of 8.2 to 1*; but, as there
were some irregularities, the quantity of ice below
in this berg may be considered as seven times
Account of the Arctic Regions. vol. i. p. 234.
234
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
greater than the quantity floating above the sur-
face of the sea. Hence its weight must have
been equivalent to a mass of sea-water of 1500
feet square, and 700 feet thick, being the quan-
tity that it displaced. The solid content of the
water displaced, equal 1,575,000,000 cubic feet,
divided by 35, the number of cubic feet of water
of the Greenland Sea, in a ton weight, affords a
quotient of forty-five millions of tons for the weight
of the iceberg.
On the 31st of July, we continued our course
to the north-eastward, under a light breeze of
wind, southerly, skirting the western edge of the
floes, and towards evening penetrating among
them. The latitude, at noon, was 70° 25′; lon-
gitude 19° 11′ W. An angle of the highest peak
of Roscoe Mountains, taken in passing them at a
considerable distance, gave the altitude 4370 feet,
which is probably a little too high. Saw a "razor-
back," and several narwals.
Early in the morning of the 1st of August, a
thick fog set in, and continued with little altera-
tion the whole of the day. The next afternoon,
having made a long stretch to the north-west-
ward, in latitude 71° 50′, we got a glimpse of the
land, at the distance of about twenty miles.
Then tacking, we stood off, as directly as the na-
ture of the ice and bewildering fog would permit.
IN SEARCH OF WHALES.
235
In consequence of our return to the northward,
the sun once more appeared on the horizon at
midnight. Its centre, as elevated by the ordinary
refraction of the atmosphere, had an altitude of
about 0° 8'. But this was the last time that it
performed a circuit without setting.
On the 3d, we saw two whales, and sent seve-
ral boats in pursuit of them. They were in ra-
pid motion, however, and gave us no chance of
approaching them. In the afternoon, having
stood a few miles to the westward, we got so
unexpectedly involved in a heavy body of ice, that
we found it expedient to moor all the ships to a
floe, which had fortunately a clear side to leeward.
Soon afterwards it cleared up, and we had plea-
sant weather for a few hours; but within two leagues
to the eastward of us the "fog-bank" remained
undispersed. The land was in sight, at the dis-
tance of fifty miles. Struck soundings in 192
fathoms, our latitude being about 72° 0′ N., and
longitude 19° 16′ W.
Sunday, 4th of August.-The three ships
being made fast within a hundred yards of each
other, part of the Trafalgar's crew attended Di-
vine Worship along with our people: and in the
evening some of our seamen joined the crew of
the Fame in their concluding Services of the Sab-
bath. The whole of the people attending these
1
1
236
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
services manifested a seriousness of deportment,
and an apparent reverence for the presence of the
Almighty, seldom exceeded in the best regulated
and most devotional congregation on shore.
The weather was intensely foggy the whole of
the day, which prevented us from perceiving the
state of the ice around. A number of loose pieces
set about us, but we were fortunately enabled to
remain fastened to the floe until midnight, when
a large sheet of ice was observed to be rapidly ad-
vancing towards us, which was only at the distance
of fifty or sixty fathoms when it was discovered.
Within five minutes we had the sails set, and the
ship under-way. In the mean time, I sent a
message to the Fame, which lay a little to wind-
ward of us, and not in sight of the place where
the ice threatened in a few minutes to close her
in, to warn my Father of the approaching dan-
ger. His habitual promptitude enabled him to
make his escape, notwithstanding the extreme
denseness of the fog, though, by this time, there
was scarcely a ship's length space between the
floes*.
The liability to the sudden discovery of danger,
among the whale-fishers, when deeply immersed in the ice
and bewildered by foggy weather, requires them to be in a
state of constant preparation, and to apply the most prompt
IN SEARCH OF WHALES.
237
On the 5th we made a small remove to the
ENE.; but the fog never wholly clearing away,
we found it expedient to make fast again. Sound-
ed in 155 fathoms, at 10 A. M., and in 129 fathoms
in the evening; soft clay or mud.
August 6th.-No improvement in the weather
still took place, excepting an occasional attenua-
tion of the fog, so far, that we could see a distance
of three or four miles; but this only occurred
about mid-day.
At 10 A. M., being in latitude 72° 7′, and lon-
gitude 19° 11′ W., we obtained soundings in 118
and vigorous efforts for their preservation. Hence, when
they moor to the ice, under such circumstances, they do not
"hand❞ their top-sails, but let them either remain "sheeted
home," with the yards lowered down on the caps, or else
clew them up at the mast-heads. In the former case, in
getting suddenly under-way, they have only to hoist up the
yards; and in the latter, they have merely to haul home the
top-sail sheets; either of which operations may be accom-
plished within five minutes. As an additional facility, the
courses are now usually set with a yard or boom at the foot, so
as to require neither tacks nor sheets, but merely a tackle to
the middle of the yard, to stretch the sail. With this ar-
rangement, the courses are hauled up so snugly, as not to
require any additional furling; and when needed, they can
be set in a minute. Thus three-fourths of the time, or more,
that is requisite in an ordinary merchantman, to set her
sails, is saved; and a state of preparation secured, which is
in many instances needful, for the preservation of the ship.
2
238
GREENLAND VOYAGE:
fathoms; muddy bottom. From the angle form-
ed by the line, there appeared to be some little
current setting towards the NW., true. The
temperature of the sea, at the surface, wás 34°;
and within five fathoms of the bottom, by a Six's
thermometer, it was 29°. The air, at the same
time, was 42°.
In all former experiments upon the tempera-
ture of the Greenland Sea, I have invariably
found it to be warmer below than at the surface.
This exception, therefore, is remarkable. On my
first trial, made in the summer of 1810, in lati-
tude 76° 16', longitude 9° 0′ E., the temperature,
at the depth of 1380 feet, was found to be 33°.3
(by the water brought up), whilst at the surface
it was 28°.8. In nearly twenty subsequent expe-
riments, an increase of temperature was in like
manner discovered on bringing water from below,
or on sending down a register-thermometer to a
considerable depth. In one instance (the latitude
béing 79° 0′ N., and longitude 5° 40′ E.) there
was an increase of 7° of temperature on descend-
ing 600 feet; and in another series of experi-
ments, near the same place, an increase of 8° was
found at the depth of 4380 feet.
What renders this increase of temperature on
descending in the Spitzbergen Sea, the more ex-
traordinary, is the fact, that, in almost all other
.
TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA.
239
regions of the globe, as far as observations have
been made, a contrary law prevails, the sea being
colder below than at the surface. This, at least,
has been found to be generally the case in the
Atlantic, in the Pacific, in the South Sea, and
even in Baffin's Bay. These facts then intimate,
that the cause, whatever it may be, which occa-
sions the peculiar warmth in the Spitzbergen Sea,
at great depths, does not operate in other regions
generally, and not even in the contiguous seas on
the coast of Greenland. The increase of tempe-
rature below, as I have formerly suggested, is pro-
bably occasioned by a stream of water ascending
towards the north, near the western coast of Spitz-
bergen, which, on meeting with water near the
ice of an inferior specific gravity, sinks below the
surface, and becomes an under-current, counter
to the prevalent superficial one running to the
south-west *. It would therefore appear, that if
this explanation be correct, the same counter un-
der-current does not prevail on the coast of Green-
land, but is confined, so far as observations on
submarine temperature enable us to judge, to the
seas contiguous to the western coasts of Norway
and Spitzbergen.
As soon as the experiments on the tempera-
*
Account of the Arctic Regions, vol. i. p. 209,
240
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ture of the sea, at the bottom, were completed,
we got under-way, with a strong breeze from the
south-west, and proceeded towards the NE. until
1 P. M., when, falling in with a body of ice, we
hauled up NW. After standing about 15 miles
in this direction, along the "weather-side” of a
large field, we doubled the western point among
very crowded ice, and then, hauling up to the
eastward under its lee, hove to.
The next day, though the weather continued
foggy, and became rather windy, we renewed our
search for whales, determined to make every exer-
tion for improving our little cargo, during the
short period for the fishery which yet remained.
But we soon got involved in new difficulties, ha-
ving been tempted into a "bight" of the ice,
from whence there was no outlet to leeward. All
our seamanship was required to beat out of this si-"
tuation, where we had not only to contend against
a narrow navigation, and numerous encumbrances
from pieces of drift-ice, but against a remarkable
superficial current, which almost prevented the
ship steering, and greatly impeded her sailing.
August 8th.-We were engaged all night in
retracing our way back to the field we had recent-
ly left, and were still inconvenienced by the gene-
ral prevalence of the fog, and endangered, while
among rank ice, by a gale of wind. In the af
1
FORMATION OF ICEBERGS.
241
ternoon, we stood to the south-eastward, until we
were stopped by a chain of floes, through which
we could not discover a passage. In the even-
ing the weather moderated, and the fog increased
in density to that degree, that we had no safety
but in having the ships moored to the ice: the
three ships were therefore made fast to a floe.
The influence of a temperature some degrees
above the freezing point, with the action of wet-
ting fogs and a little rain, had formed lakes upon
the surface of the sheet of ice to which we moor-
ed, so large, that, while the fog continued, we
could not see across them. Where the snow was
not wholly dissolved, there was another effect of
this state of the weather, deserving attention, in-
asmuch as it casts a considerable light upon the
mode of formation of icebergs, and of the enlarge-
ment of ice-fields. The upper stratum of the
floe, which had originally consisted of loose light
snow, was now much reduced in thickness, and
formed, by the infiltration of the dissolving sur-
face, into vertical needles, and irregular prisms of
transparent ice. These prisms, upon a sheet of
ice, formerly examined, that was in a similar
state, were five or six inches in length, and seem-
ed to have given form one to another, the num-
ber of sides in each, like what occurs in pillars of
basalt, being equal to the number of prisms or
Q
•
I
242
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
columns that come in contact with it. They
seemed to have a very slight attachment to the
surface of ice upon which they were found, and
little or none to one another. On another mass
of ice, under similar circumstances, all the snow
that remained on the surface was converted in-
to small transparent bits of ice. These, accord-
ing to their situation, varied from the size of a
pea to that of a nutmeg, or even of a walnut.
They were somewhat globular, but, being like the
prisms bounded by a varying number of planes,
they seemed to have derived their form partly from
the shape and number of the contiguous pieces,
and partly from a tendency to crystallization.
Several very perfect figures were observed, which,
had they been found detached, would have been
considered as ice-crystals, and their formation the
sole effect of crystallization. These were in particu-
lar dodecahedrons, cubes, rhomboids, prisms, and
pyramids. This conversion of snow into transpa-
rent pieces of ice, under a thawing temperature,
may serve to account for the parallel lines of air-
bubbles, that occur in most masses of fresh-water
ice; also, for the resolution of ice into vertical
prisms, when it is slowly dissolved in a proper po-
sition; for the formation of fields of fresh-water
ice; and for the manner in which the icebergs
receive their enlargement. The enlargement of
:
FORMATION OF ICEBERGS.
243
fields or icebergs, by the consolidation of a stra-
tum of these icy-nodules and crystals, admits of a
very easy explanation. It is only necessary to sup-
pose,
that when the surface is still in a loose state,
it is cooled down to a low temperature by a keen
frost, and then visited by a wetting fog or shower
of rain: in this state, it is evident, that the mois-
ture received among the icy-crystals will be con-
solidated, so long as their temperature remains
below the freezing point, and that even after this,
if the consolidation be merely sufficient to pre-
vent the escape of the rain-water, a recurrence of
the frost will convert the whole into a solid stra-
tum of ice.
August, 9th.-The wind, which for several
days in succession had blown from the south-
ward or south-westward, now shifted to the oppo-
site quarter. It soon increased to a stiff gale,
and was attended by an incessant fall of rain.
Having failed in our hopes of falling in with
whales, in the various directions we had searched
at a distance from the land, it was agreed, at a
consultation held with my Father and Captain
Lloyd, that we should as a last effort revisit the
coast. This was a measure to which I was strong-
ly inclined, both on account of some little expec-
tation that I still indulged of meeting with
whales, and, in the event of failing in this,
Q 2
244
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
because of the hope there was of obtaining amuse-
ment and useful employment, by extending my
surveys and researches in the latitude of 72°, a
parallel in which I had had but few observations
on the position of the land, and these obtained
very imperfectly, in consequence of the great dis-
tance at which they were made.
As soon, therefore, as we had obtained a little
rest, we made sail, and proceeded to the SW.,
W. and NW., accordingly as the openings among
the fields and floes admitted the best passage;
and though the extent to which we could see was
very small, on account of a heavy and incessant
fall of rain, we accomplished, in the course of the
day, a distance of about 50 miles. At night, we
made fast to a floe, with the expectation of being
able to reach the land the next day.
•
APPROACH TO THE COAST.
245
CHAPTER. X.
AGAIN APPROACH THE COAST.-ISLANDS AND INLETS
DISCOVERED AND NAMED. LAND UPON TRAILL
ISLAND.-RELICS OF NATIVES MET WITH.-NARROW
ESCAPE OF THE SHIP FROM A DANGEROUS SITUA-
TION. STRONG TIDES IN THE OPENING OF DAVY'S
SOUND.—RESEARCHES MADE BY TWO PARTIES OF MEN
SENT ON SHORE.—SURVEY OF THE COAST CONTINU-
ED. DESCRIPTION OF ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
EARLY in the morning of Saturday the 10th of
August, blowing fresh at NE., we cast loose from
the ice, and renewed our exploration towards the
NW., for the purpose of getting in-shore. The
weather being either hazy, with rain, or thick with
fog, we experienced considerable difficulties in at-
taining our object; but having taken advantage
of the more lucid intervals, between the showers,
for penetrating the different chains of floes that
thwarted our course, we made very rapid progress
towards the coast. At 2 P. M. we descried land;
and soon afterwards, the weather having cleared
up near the shore, we discovered an opening ex-
tending to the very beach. We pursued this
"lead" until we came into 13 fathoms water, at the
?
246
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
distance of 2 miles from the land. Here we
made fast to a large sheet of land-ice, that was
not yet broken up, stretching from within a fur-
long of the shore (the ice being dissolved in the
shallow water,) to the extent of six or eight miles
towards the E. and beyond the reach of vision to-
wards the NE. A separation having taken place
in this ice, in the line of our approach, directly
across it, from SE. to NW., the disengaged sheets
had been drifted to the southward, while the ice
to which we moored remained fast staked to the
spot, by means of a number of grounded icebergs.
Hence, a perfectly clear lake, of two or three
leagues diameter, was produced by this separation
in the land-ice, under the action of recent north-
erly gales. The Fame and Trafalgar, which
were still in company, likewise moored to the
land-ice, with the design of examining the coast,
and contiguous inlets, by means of the boats, and
with some slight hopes of discovering whales.
As far as my experience enabled me to judge,
this seemed the most likely situation for afford-
ing whales that we had for some time visited.
The ice ran almost close to the shore, and it; form-
ed a fine clear bay to the southward, which was
occupied by the ships. It appeared to me, that
were any whales to visit the coast during our
stay, this would be the most probable situation
TRAILL ISLAND.
247
for their appearance. And in this opinion both
the captains of the ships in company acquiesced.
The land, abreast of the ship (bearing NWbW.
true) had every appearance of an island. It was
named TRAILL ISLAND, in compliment to a high-
ly esteemed friend, Dr Thomas Stewart Traill of
Liverpool. The latitude of the middle of it, is
about 72° 12. The south-eastern part of it is a
stupendous cliff, rising from the very sea, without
a yard of beach, at an angle of fifty degrees,
or upwards, to the height of about 1300 feet.
This cliff is of singular beauty. The prevailing
colour, which is slate-blue, or bluish-grey, is inter-
sected and variegated by zig-zag strata of bright
yellow and red. From the peculiar structure and
distribution of the strata of this part of the coast,
it received the name of VANDYKE CLIFFS. The
northern termination of these cliffs, consists of an
acute ridge, jutting into a short promontory, which
was named CAPE MOORSOM, out of respect to Mr
Richard Moorsom junior of Whitby; and ano-
ther headland, a little farther north, was call-
ed CAPE MEWBURN, after an old school compa-
nion and fellow collegian.
The summit of the ridge on Cape Moorsom,
consists of a series of sharp and elevated pinna-
cles. Some of these are so particularly slender,
so full of rents, and so devoid of support, except-
1
248
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ing from the narrow base on which they stand,
that it seems surprising how they retain their po-
sition. It appeared indeed probable, from the great
mass of rocks at the foot of the ridge, apparently
the ruins of the pinnacled summits, that every
heavy gale of wind brings some of them down.
The most remote headland of Traill Island that
was seen, lies about five miles to the northward
of Cape Moorsom: this was named, after a reve-
rend friend in Whitby, CAPE YOUNG.
Traill Island lies rather within, or to the west-
ward of, the general line of the coast. Its extent
in latitude is about ten miles. To southward of
it, a very large inlet was discovered, which I
named Davy's SOUND, in honour of the much
respected President of the Royal Society. And,
to the northward, another opening was observed,
that received the name of MOUNTNORRIS IN-
LET, in honour of Lord Mountnorris. The
northern boundary of the latter inlet lies nearly
east and west, true, and is terminated to the east-
ward by a bold headland, to which the name of
our enterprising and highly respected north-west-
ern navigator, Captain PARRY, was applied.
To the southward of Traill Island, the land was
but imperfectly seen, on account of a constant ha-
ziness in that quarter, which did not wholly dis-
perse for some days.
RESEARCHES ON SHORE.
249
Soon after the three ships were made fast, there
being an interval of fair weather, and tolerably
clear, a boat from each ship proceeded to the
shore. I landed under Vandyke Cliffs, near
Cape Moorsom, on a steep slope, formed by the
debris of the rocks above. After one unsuccess-
ful attempt to ascend, I entered upon a slope in-
cluded between two precipitous rocks, and with
much labour accomplished about 500 feet, above
which, the cliff rising vertically, prevented farther
progress in that direction; but, after skirting the
brow of another precipice below me, where the in-
clination was at least 50°, and the surface entirely
composed of loose sharp stones, I reached the bot-
tom of a chasm between two prodigious pinnacles,
and again proceeded upward. This attempt, which
I was induced to undertake for the purpose of col-
lecting specimens of the rocks and plants, even-
tually assumed such a hazardous aspect, that I
would gladly have relinquished it, could I have
conveniently returned. The rocks of the pinna-
cles bounding the chasm, distant about twenty feet
from each other, were vertical on both sides. One
of these rocks, which was greatly decomposed and
broken, so as to afford by no means a firm hold, I
was obliged to grasp with my left hand, and to
thrust my right hand among the loose stones,
while every step was accomplished; and it fre-
250
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
quently required considerable deliberation before
a second step could be attempted. A slip of the
foot here, might have been fatal, as the bottom
of the chasm opened on a precipice of 400 or 500
feet, over which, whenever I moved, a large shower
of the loose stones about me, were immediately pre-
cipitated. At the top, I expected to find at least
some portion of flat surface, that I hoped would re-
pay me by its productions, for the hazardous ex-
ploit into which my anxiety for specimens of mi-
nerals, plants, and animals, had unexpectedly be-
trayed me. But, to my surprise, the top proved
to be a ridge (with the sea on both sides) narrower
and sharper than the top of the highest pitched
roof. Here I rested for a few minutes, seated on
the ridge, with a leg over each side, pointed to
the water, under two terrific vertical pinnacles,
between two and three hundred feet in elevation.
These actually vibrated with the force of the wind,
and appeared altogether so shattered and unstable,
that it was astonishing how they remained erect.
I was far from being at ease in such a threatening
situation, and therefore made a hasty retreat, by
sliding down the side opposite to that by which I
had ascended, a good deal rejoiced to find that
this, being less steep, and not so dangerously in-
terrupted by precipices, afforded a much safer de-
scent than the other.
RESEARCHES ON SHORE.
251
In this excursion, not a vestige of vegetation,
excepting two or three lichens, was observed.
There was not, indeed, the least portion of mould
for their growth, the whole surface of the ridge
at Cape Moorsom, as well as the bases of Vandyke
Cliffs, consisting of a deep bed of sharp stones.
My mineralogical object, however, was quite suc-
cessful. I got access to all the most curious and
interesting rocks that were seen, and was enabled
to collect specimens from many of the veins, by
which the predominant rock was variously inter-
sected. The prevailing rock was found to be
slate-clay, in some places inclining to bituminous
shale. The strata at Vandyke Cliffs lie nearly
vertical; but near Cape Moorsom, where there is
a sudden dislocation, the beds become horizontal.
The lowest visible rock at this Cape is a bed of
slate-clay rock, some hundreds of feet in thick-
ness; then occurs a horizontal stratum of highly
crystallized porphyry, of a red colour on the surface.
This is surmounted by another thick bed of slate-
clay, which, inclining to the nature of bituminous
shale, is much less compact than the lower bed,
yet sufficiently solid under a horizontal arrange-
ment of the strata, to form the magnificent pin-
nacles of this Cape. With any other direction of
the stratification, however, it is evident that these
immense irregular columns could never have been
r
252
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
į
}
1
sustained. Occasional unequal veins of green-
stone, and different varieties of porphyry, occur to-
wards the summit of the cliffs, and in some places
appear to intersect the pinnacles.
About the middle of Vandyke Cliffs, where the
beautiful structure of the rocks, and fine alterna-
tions of colour are observable, the slate-clay, in its
vertical arrangement, forms lanceolate pinnacles,
and is repeatedly intersected, in waving lines, run-
ning horizontally, with yellow and red-stained
porphyry; so that the back pinnacles, as they pro-
gressively attain a greater elevation, and become
visible one over another, present numerous paral-
lel zig-zag or serpentine bands of various colours.
. These striking colours, which are remarkably
bright, were traced to the decomposition of iron-
pyrites. The yellow bands, or veins, were found
to consist of whitish porphyry, containing a great
abundance of imbedded grains, and small cubical
crystals of common iron-pyrites, by the decompo-
sition of which the yellow incrustation on the sur-
face was produced. The red bands were either
porphyry or slate-clay, which also obtained their
colour from an incrustation with the decomposed
pyrites, in a different state of oxidation.
This interesting part of the country appeared
to be principally composed of secondary or floetz-
trap, and secondary porphyry. Both these rocks
RESEARCHES ON Shore.
253
were associated with varieties of slate-clay, some-
times inclining to bituminous shale, and with
quartzy sandstone. The whole of the cliffs ap-
peared to be traversed in all directions, by veins
of greenstone, porphyry, and compact felspar,
the latter sometimes passing into claystone.
After sliding down the steep of Cape Moorsom,
I skirted the base of the cliff to the northward
with some difficulty, until I reached a stripe of
ice firmly frozen to the ground, and partly under
water. On this I was enabled to travel to an ex-
tensive plain near Cape Mewburn, the surface of
which is an uninterrupted expanse of loose stones
and gravel, remarkable for its nakedness as to ve-
getation. Here I observed renewed traces of in-
habitants. The ground-plots of two summer huts
were clearly laid out; and an external fire-place,
with ashes, and portions of charred wood, yet re-
mained. Numbers of pieces of manufactured
bones were also picked up: on some of these, as
before observed, the rows of holes, by which they
had been divided, were very apparent.
My Father, who crossed the country behind
Vandyke Cliffs, from Cape Moorsom to the south-
eastern headland of the island, which we named
CAPE SIMPSON, met with numerous relics of the
natives. On a flat of land, having a southern
aspect, he found the remains of at least fifty sum-
254
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
mer residences. Great quantities of bones (among
which skulls of bears, narwals, rein-deer, and other
animals were recognised), were scattered about
this plain. It was observable, that all the bears'
heads wanted the lower jaw; while the upper jaw,
in many, retained all the teeth, and was quite per-
fect.
As the ship was stationary, and it was not con-
venient to remove, for getting intersecting bear-
ings of the coast, to carry on my survey,
I was
obliged to take a series of observations on shore.
The station I selected was Cape Moorsom, from
whence the distance of the Baffin was found, by
the angle which her mast subtended, to be 14,514
feet, or 2 miles, 2434 feet. With this distance,
as a base, and intersecting bearings taken at the
extremities, the form and position of the contigu-
ous head-lands were determined. The angle sub-
tended by Vandyke Cliffs, at the ship, was 4° 36',
which gave the height 1292 feet.
The heavy fall of rain with which we had been
constantly visited for thirty hours, previous to our
landing on Traill Island, was only suspended for
a few hours. It recommenced at 10 P. M., and
drew a veil over the land, before my observations
were quite completed.
Sunday, 11th August.-The land-floe to
which the three ships were moored, being held by
4
RESEARCHES FOR WHALES.
255
the grounded icebergs with which it was pierced,
fortunately remained secure the whole day, (though
it blew tremendously hard at NE.,) and kept a
clear lake to leeward for the ships to ride in.
The gale was so heavy, that we were obliged to
moor with two hawsers and a warp; and still
feeling ourselves insecure, we thought it neces-
sary to have our anchors in readiness for bringing
the ship up, in the event of any thing giving way.
After these necessary arrangements were made,
we attended to the sacred duties of the Sabbath
without interruption. The rain continued heavy
and incessant.
Early on Monday morning, the wind having
rather moderated, and the rain being less heavy,
agreeable to previous arrangement, we joined the
Fame and Trafalgar, in forming two parties for
the examination of the inlets bordering Traill
Island. The ostensible object of these expeditions
was to search for whales. It was presumed, that
such secluded inlets would be congenial to the ha-
bits of these animals. If any were met with, either
of the two parties was sufficiently strong to make a
powerful attack upon them for the general bene-
fit. The equipment of the boats with sails and
provisions was completed about 6 A. M., when two
of our boats, accompanied by two of the Trafal-
gar's and three of the Fame's, proceeded towards
256
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
Mountnorris' Inlet, and a similar party, under
the direction of Captain Lloyd, into Davy's
Sound.
We had soon occasion, however, to repent of
this arrangement; for the wind and rain, instead
of subsiding, as we had hoped, greatly increased.
And to add to the evil, the land-ice broke across,
and the bergs supporting it were forced off the
bank by the pressure of ice to windward; so that
the part to which the ships were moored was li-
berated. We now found ourselves in motion to-
wards the south-west, and rapidly approaching a
body of ice that was brought up by the land
to leeward of us. This obliged us to get hastily
under-way, and beat to windward on the eastern
side of the floes connected with the land. The
Fame and Trafalgar followed our example; Cap-
tain Lloyd having fortunately returned to his
ship at this critical juncture.
This being the anniversary of his Majesty's
birth-day, though the weather and our situation
were both extremely unfavourable for social en-
joyment, was, nevertheless, remembered by us
with due loyalty; and the King's health, with best
wishes for a long and prosperous reign, was drank
with much warmth of feeling. Had opportunity
offered, it was the mutual wish of myself and my
father to have taken formal possession of the coun-
FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR WHALES. 257
try on this day, for which occasion the ceremony
was deferred. In the fulfilment of this desire
we were disappointed; and, unfortunately, no
other opportunity of landing occurred during our
stay upon the coast.
We continued to stand off and on the whole
day, in anxious expectation of the return of our
boats. In the evening two of them arrived; at
10 P. M. another came on board; and a little af
ter midnight, to my great comfort, and not less
so to the comfort of the sailors who had been on
this service, the last reached the ship. Having
hove-to for some little time, to get the boats
hoisted up and secured, we suddenly, and unex-
pectedly perceived, through the haziness occa-
sioned by the rain, that we were close down to
the lee ice, and drifting towards it with extraor-
dinary rapidity. This was the effect of a strong
tide, of the existence of which we had not before
been aware, as no stream whatever was observed
while we lay off Cape Moorsom. All sail that
could be carried with safety was immediately
made; and after some almost fruitless tacks, we
succeeded in weathering a point of the lee ice,
that had interrupted our reach to the eastward,
and appeared then to be out of danger.
As I was greatly fatigued by keeping the deck
most of the day, exposed to a fall of rain so
R
i
258
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
heavy and incessant, as to defy every precaution
for its exclusion, and to be the means of wetting
me to the skin three or four different times, I
retired to bed about midnight, leaving the ship
in charge of the chief-mate. After two hours
spent in disturbed and unrefreshing rest, my at-
tention was attracted, by observing that the ship
was twice tacked within five minutes. Alarmed
by such a mark of entanglement and contracted
navigation, I instantly jumped up, and slipping
on a large wrapper, ran upon deck. The moment
was a most important and critical one; the ship
being again involved in the very "bight" out of
which I had so recently extricated her, with the
ice rapidly closing about her on every side. The
width of the bight when I went below, (included
between the loose eastern floes and a chain of floes
to the westward, that was brought upby the shore),
was about two miles; but now it was reduced to a
quarter of that distance. Our position in the
bight was most unfavourable, being between a
large floe to the eastward, and a sheet of thin land-
ice to the westward, which were fast approaching
each other; and the width already diminished to
150 yards. More sail was instantly spread,—all
our seamanship was called into action; and not-
withstanding the narrowness of the channel and
leewardly current, the ship was worked with such
1
- DANGEROUS SITUATION.
259
i.
i
effect, that we were within ten yards of doubling
the point lying to the eastward; but, on attempt-
ing another tack, we found the width diminished
to sixty yards, which, defying all our efforts,
obliged us to push into the bay-ice to the westward,
and endeavour to force a passage through it. A
pressure of canvas, and the best possible manage-
ment were indispensable for success. Though it
blew a strong gale at the time, we set top-gallant
sails upon double-reefed topsails, and gave the ship
every sail that her masts could sustain. Thus im-
pelled; she accomplished an entrance into the
ice, and still more powerfully urged by keeping
off the wind with the yards a little squared, she
continued to advance, though the ice in many
places proved to be from 12 to 18 inches in
thickness. Sometimes, indeed, our progress seem-
ing to be suspended, occasioned the most anxious
feelings of apprehension; but eventually, the ex-
terior edge of the ice gave way under the pressure
of the ship, and released us into a more navigable
situation. Still, however, we were in jeopardy, as
in this delay we had been carried by the tide deep
into the bight, where it was contracted to very
small dimensions. Here the excellent properties
of the ship availed us; and after a tack or two,
which called forth all the dexterity of which we
were capable, we happily gained ground, (though
"
R 2
260
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the tide or current was setting to the WSW.,
or almost directly to leeward, at the rate of
nearly three knots), and eventually doubled the
point of the eastern floe, where the width ex-
panded to nearly a league. Finding this channel
also closing, we penetrated the eastern boundary,
consisting of a chain of floes, through which we
fortunately discovered a passage. Then stretch-
ing five or six miles to the eastward, we fell into
a commodious opening amid the floes, where we
were enabled to reduce sail at the moment that it
was indispensable so to do, on account of a great
increase of the gale. The rain continued un-
abated, descending almost in torrents.
Soon after we reached a place of safety, we saw
the Fame following us, under a pressure of canvas
that few ships perhaps could have sustained. The
Trafalgar, however, though she was considerably to
windward of us at the time we doubled the point
of difficulty, having inadvertently stood a little to
the westward of it, (the captain not being aware
of what was going forward,) was intercepted by
the same point on her return. All exertions to
weather it afterwards, it seems, were fruitless.
The tide, indeed, set so fiercely to leeward, and
the bight was so much contracted, that, in a short
time, she was completely hemmed in, without
room to make a tack. In the morning this ship
!
}
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.
261
was seen at a distance, closely beset, in a situation
which, in this advanced state of the season, when
the ice was fast packing upon the shore, could not
be considered in any light but that of great
danger: it was a situation, indeed, from which,
had a strong wind from the eastward arisen, there
seemed to be little prospect of escaping.
It is observable, in a personal review of the
events of life, especially with those who pursue an
adventurous occupation, that some of the most im-
portant circumstances appear to result from a mere
simple accident, or from a chain of contingencies,
apparently of the most trivial nature. Thus, as
an acute and judicious author observes," the most
trivial events may determine our state in the
world. Turning up one street instead of another,
may bring us into company with a person whom
we should not otherwise have met; and this may
lead to a train of other events, which may deter-
mine the happiness or misery of our lives*." It
was such a trifling circumstance as my rising from
my bed at night, without being apprised of danger
(a step which it might appear romantic, to repre-
sent as having been taken in consequence of
dreams of involvement and shipwreck), that be-
came the means of our escape from a hazardous
* Remains of the Rev. Richard Cecil, p. 104.
262
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
?
·
:
-entanglement, the particulars of which have been
detailed. And on this apparently casual circum-
stance, it was, subsequently, most satisfactorily
proved, depended the ultimate success of our
voyage and probably our safety also. For it is very
certain, that, had I remained five minutes longer
below, or had any part of the great exertion we
made been neglected, our future success would
have been prevented, and our safety highly en-
dangered. I do not scruple to attribute this cir-
cumstance so important to us, (for we must he
permitted to consider that of importance which
effectually furthered us in the chief object of the
voyage), to a providential influence on the mind;
my principles, my feelings, and my consciousness,
all forbid:mento call it accidental. Neither do I
F
i
consider it right to omit this reflection, which
arose out of the subsequent events of this week:
for I conceive it would be a blameable and weak
concession to the opinions of those who do not
think with myself, to shrink from the acknow-
ledgment of those superior influences, of a provi-
dential nature and tendency, when so many re-
marks of a nautical or philosophical kind, and
some of these for the connection of events neces-
sarily of an uninteresting description, are, with-
out scruple, admitted; and when no other obser-
vation, that has any claim to importance, is ever
:
TIDES OF DAVY'S SOUND.
263
1
withheld. And if that philosophy which investi-
gates the laws, properties, and phenomena of mat-
ter, is worthy of occupying the minds of those
who stand highest in the scale of human intelli-
gence; the philosophy of a Particular Providence,
by which we discover innumerable marks of bene-
ficence towards ourselves, which can scarcely fail to
excite grateful feelings in our hearts towards the
Author of them, must, in a far higher degree, be
worthy of the consideration and regard of all
classes of mankind.
The fierce tides in the opening of Davy's Sound,
when there is much ice about, render the approach
to the land, especially on the southern side of the
Sound, not a little dangerous: For, when any of
the heavy floes take the ground, or come in con-
tact with grounded bergs, or other ice, so as to
be brought up, the neighbouring floes are swept
against them by the strong influx of water, with
great rapidity and with astonishing force. Be-
sides, the set of the tide is so various, in different
positions (determined probably by the nature of
the adjoining coasts, or inlets, and possibly in-
fluenced by the position of the ice) that the effect
can seldom be fully estimated. On passing the
point of the floe which we experienced so much
difficulty in doubling, there was a rippling on the
surface of the water, like " a race," arising appa-
1
264
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
rently from a change in the set of the tide; and,
on crossing it, the ship refused the helm, though
her head-way was rapid, and the gale strong, so as
to spring up against the helm nearly head to wind.
When we first moored to the ice, abreast of Cape
Moorsom, we observed very little stream, though
the tide was so fierce a few miles to the north-
ward. Hence it is likely that the tide may divide
in this position, being nearly in the middle be-
tween Mountnorris Inlet and Davy's Sound, and
a separate branch run up each inlet. This proba-
ble division of the stream, would well account for
the still water we experienced off Cape Moorsom.
In Davy's Sound, the stream of tide was found
to be so strong, that our people could scarcely
stem it in the fastest boats. The rise and fall on
the beach was also considerable. We had no op-
portunity of determining it with any degree of
accuracy; but I imagine it to be about eight or ten
feet perpendicular at the springs.
Some little information was derived from the
investigations made in the contiguous inlets by
the boats; but, as no whales were met with, the
grand object for which they were dispatched al-
together failed. In Mountnorris Inlet, several
islands were discovered by my officers. A large
one seems to lie near the middle, and a number
of small ones (seven I was informed were counted)
RESEARCHES ON SHORE.
265
on the northern side of the inlet. Though the
position and form of these could not be determined,
yet, as their existence is certain, I considered my-
self entitled to name them; and accordingly, call-
ed the group CRAIG ISLANDS, after a much re-
spected Episcopalian clergyman of Edinburgh.
The ice having set down upon the shore by the
force of the wind, the interior of Mountnorris In-
let was rendered inaccessible to the boats. Cape
Young was the limit to which they could advance
in this direction. This party, though they land-
ed several times, saw no vegetation but what was
completely beaten down by the heavy rains. No
traces of inhabitants were observed. These were
not to be expected, indeed, in such a situation,-a
place with a northern aspect not being congenial
to the habits, nor suitable for the residences of the
Esquimaux. They brought a few specimens of
the rocks, consisting principally of nodules of iron-
clay, pieces of slate-clay, porphyry, and amygda-
loid.
The other party that proceeded into Davy's
Sound, found the southern shore of Traill Island
clear of ice; and, had the weather been favour-
able, might have made very extensive, and no
doubt interesting researches. The relics of the
natives upon this shore were extremely numer-
ous. On one flat of land, a little to the westward
1
266
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
of Cape Simpson, they observed several dozens of
old huts and ground-plots of summer tents. A
lamp, of the kind commonly used by the Esqui-
maux, was picked up by one of the Trafalgar's
sailors. Our people found a great many frag-
ments of bones, pierced with holes, that had evi-
dently been used for the keels of sledges. These
consisted of slices of the bones of whales, and of
the horns or teeth of narwals. One piece of the
latter was nearly two feet in length; and another
fragment, not quite so long, measured 24 inches
in diameter. It was observable that these, like
former specimens met with, had been divided lon-
gitudinally, by drilling two rows of contiguous
holes through the substance of the bone, begin-
ning at opposite sides, and then split asunder.
It appeared also, that, after this operation, the
segments had been roughly dressed by a kind of
axe, or other cutting instrument, by which the
surface was marked and torn. These bones were
all flat on one side, and convex or semi-cylindri-
cal on the other: the flat side was evidently de-
signed to be applied to the sledge, and the con-
vex side to the friction of the ground. The great
quantity of these fragments intimated, not only
that the inhabitants had once been numerous
liere, but that they must make great use of their
sledges, to afford so many pieces of these half worn
EXTRAORDINARY FALL OF RAIN. 267
4
defences for the keels. One large piece of main-
keel was found entire. It was composed of fir
wood (probably drift-timber) and defended by a
row of pieces of bone, fastened to it by wooden pegs
inserted in holes ths of an inch in diameter.
There were remains and bones of rein-deer, dogs,
narwals, seals, bears, &c. about the old hamlets
they visited, and these in very great abundance.
Several partridges were seen, which were so tame
that some of them were knocked down with stones,
and a small bird was taken up alive by the hand.
The long and tedious gale which commenced
blowing at NE., in the night of the 10th-11th of
August, about noon of the 13th, began to sub-
side; and the rain, which had fallen in one heavy
and incessant shower that lasted sixty-two hours,
at length abated. With little intermission, in-
deed, we had heavy rain from Thursday morning
until this day, the Tuesday following,-a period
of 130 hours. During this interval we never saw
the sun for a moment; and so great was the den-
sity of cloud above us, that I never even observed
any superior brightness in the quarter of the hea-
vens occupied by the sun. The quantity of rain
that fell far exceeded any thing of the kind I ever
before witnessed. Our boats were likely to be torn
from the tackles by the weight of water that col-
lected in them before it was observed; and, after
that, they were emptied repeatedly.
-
268
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
As soon as the wind began to subside, the Fame
made sail and proceeded to windward, in search of
two of her boats yet absent. The Trafalgar at
the same time making a signal, which we inter-
preted to indicate a state of danger, we approached
her as near as we prudently could, and then hove
to, or stood off and on, the remainder of the day
and succeeding night.
In the evening, there was a short interval of par-
tially clear weather. The land became visible from
NEN. (per compass) to SW b W. The coast
seemed to be an assemblage of islands, with inlets,
some of them of considerable width, among them.
Vandyke Cliffs were found to be distant 11 miles.
This distance, with the bearing of these cliffs, and
of other points of land before observed from Cape
Moorsom, enabled me to determine their respec-
tive positions. And it was remarkable, that the
distances by protraction, and the estimated dis-
tances of five or six headlands, several leagues
from both the stations, generally coincided to with-
in 1 miles, and some of them exactly.
$
Wednesday, 14th August.-The morning was
calm and foggy; but very fortunately the sun be-
came visible a few minutes before twelve o'clock,
so that I obtained an excellent observation for the
latitude, and afterwards got good sights for the
longitude and variation. These observations were
$
SURVEY CONTINUED.
269
of the greatest consequence to me, for without
them, all that had previously been accomplished,
towards the survey of Traill Island and the adja-
cent inlets, would have been in a great measure
useless. While we lay off Cape Moorsom, I was
most anxious to have determined the position of
the ship; but the sun never for a moment appear-
ed, until long after the ice broke away, and obliged
us to retire from the shore. The plan I now a-
dopted for rendering my previous operations effi-
cient, was by ascertaining the true bearing and
exact distance of Vandyke Cliffs. The direction
of these cliffs, observed by an azimuth compass
from the mast-head, and corrected for the varia-
tion, afforded, with little trouble, the true bear-
ing; and an altitude of the cliffs above the hori-
zon, taken with a sextant, enabled me, knowing
their real elevation, to calculate the exact dis-
tance. These results applied, in a converse di-
rection, to the place of the ship determined by
celestial observations, gave, with great accuracy,
the position of Vandyke Cliffs, and consequently
enabled me to determine the latitude and longi-
tude of every other headland, whose position in
relation to these cliffs had been previously laid
down.
The land being in sight from S 46° W to N
31° E., per compass, and every part very distinct,
270
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
I took a sketch of the whole visible coast, and the
bearings of every remarkable headland, bay, and
mountain. The northern limit of the particular
survey made on the 20th of July, was now the
most southern object in view, bearing very nearly
due south: this fortunate position of a point of
land determined twenty-five days before, enabled
me, not only to connect the two surveys, indepen-
dently of the chronometrical observations now ob
tained, but also to correct the rate of my chrono-
meter. The longitude of the ship, determined
by the bearing of the land, was 21° 22′ W., and
by the chronometer, 21° 42′ 30″ W. This diffe-
rence of 20′ 30″ arose from the error in the origi-
nal rate of the instrument, which was not at this
time exactly known; but it was subsequently com-
pensated with all possible care, and the observa
tions for longitude given throughout this volume
corrected. The variation, by the mean of two
sets of observations, appeared to be 43° 22′ W.
The first set gave 43° 20′, and the second 43° 24'.
The coast now in sight was nearly ninety miles
in extent, north and south, of which, by the aid
of observations made on the 26th of June, and on
the 8th, 12th, 17th and 20th of July, I was ena-
bled to obtain a very good survey.
From a point of land, in latitude 71° 14′, the
northern limit of the survey accomplished on the
SURVEY CONTINUED.
271
20th of July, the coast continues to trend nearly
north and south, true, as far as 71° 33', where the
Liverpool coast terminates in a bold headland.
This was named CAPE GLADSTONE, in compli-
ment to John Gladstone, Esq. M. P., of Liver-
pool. Beyond this cape the coast trends to the
south-west, true, so as to form a deep inlet, two
or three leagues in width, which, running towards
Hurry's Inlet, and being seen to meet it within
about fifteen miles, renders it probable that the Li-
verpool coast is an island, and that Hurry's Inlet is
a sound or channel, separating it from the islands
or main, lying to the westward. To the north-
west of Cape Gladstone, the whole coast has the
appearance of islands. A considerable tract of
bold land, in latitude 71° 36′ to 71° 47′, that
seemed to be insular, received the name of CAN-
NING ISLAND, after one of the Secretaries of
State, many years representative of Liverpool;
and a contiguous smaller island was named after
Sir JAMES EDWARD SMITH, President of the
Linnean Society.
Our position at this time was nearly in the mid-
dle of the opening of Davy's Sound, of which, the
two islands last mentioned, and other land to the
westward of them, constitute the southern boun-
dary, and Traill Island the northern boundary;
the width of the sound betwixt them being about
272
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
sixteen miles. A distant tract of a mountainous
country was seen to run across the interior of
Davy's Sound. But it appears to be insular, and
does not close up the Sound. Three capes that
were distinctly defined on the southern part of
this island, received the names of CAPE BIOT,
CAPE ROSSILY, and CAPE BUACHE, in compli-
ment to three French Philosophers, members of
the Institute; and the north-eastern Cape of the
same island was called after Professor PICTET of
Geneva. To the westward of this island there is
a small chain of the most elevated mountains
hitherto met with upon this coast. This chain,
named WERNER MOUNTAINS, in respect to the
memory of the celebrated geologist, is distinctly
seen at the distance of between thirty and forty
leagues, in the ordinary state of the atmosphere,
and is so bold that it gives to the mountainous
coast before it, the appearance of low hummocky
land. To the southward of Cape Biot is a rami-
fication of the Main Sound, which was named
FLEMING INLET, after the esteemed author of
the "Philosophy of Zoology," penetrating to the
westward and southward; and between Cape Pic-
tet and Traill Island, Davy's Sound runs towards
the north-west, to an extent that, being beyond
the reach of vision, could not be determined.
As we had no opportunity of getting intersect-
ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
273
ing bearings of the land in the interior of Davy's
Sound, an accurate survey could not be obtained;
but all that could be expected from a careful and
repeated examination of the coast, for estimating
the distances, and discovering the indentations
and promontories, was accomplished. Two head-
lands, in Fleming Inlet, received the names of
CAPE SEAFORTH, and CAPE CARNEGIE, in
compliment to two much respected families of
Edinburgh; and some promontories in the north-
ern branch of Hurry's Inlet, were called after
different friends, chiefly resident in the Scottish
capital, whose names appear in the general chart.
f
In the evening of this day, after an interval of
about five hours of clear weather, the fog drew its
bewildering skreen over the prospect, and put a
stop to my observations on the coast. But
another exhibition, of a very interesting nature,'
fully compensated for the curtailing of my sur-
veying operations, at this time, especially as I had
other opportunities of completing them to my en-
tire satisfaction. This exhibition consisted in a
splendid display of five concentric coronæ, or pris-
matic circles, produced by the action of the sun'
on a low stratum of fog. These phenomena had
often been observed in the preceding parts of the
voyage; but as this was by far the most interest-
$
•
274
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
3
"
ing appearance of the kind that occurred, the de-
scription has been reserved for this occasion. In
the following remarks on coronæ, &c. I have taken
advantage of my former observations on the sub-
ject; and instead of confining myself to a parti-
cular description of what occurred on this day
only, I have preferred giving a more general ac-
count of the phenomena.
Coronæ may be observed whenever the sun
shines during foggy weather; and this is often
the case, the polar fogs frequently consisting mere-
ly of a thin stratum, partaking of the nature of
clouds, resting on the surface of the sea, and ex-
tending only to the height of fifty or sixty yards.
At such times, though objects on the water can
scarcely be discerned at the distance of a hundred
yards, sometimes not more than fifty, the sun is
frequently not only visible, but shines with near-
ly the effulgence it exhibits in a clear sky. Under
such circumstances, an observer, elevated on a
ship's mast, ninety or a hundred feet above the
level of the sea, will perceive one or more prisma-
tic circles depicted on the fog. These circles are
all concentric, the centre being in a line drawn.
from the sun through the point of vision, until it
meets the visible vapour in a situation 180° dis-
tant from, or exactly opposite to, the sun. The
number of coronæ varies from one to four or five.
ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
275
·
They are generally the most numerous, and the
colours the most brilliant, when the sun is bright-
est, and the fog most dense, and low or partial.
In all cases, the shadow of the head of the observer
is seen in the centre of the circles, together with
the shadow of the "crow's-nest," at the mast-head,
or other place from whence the observation is
made, and also of the masts and sails immediate-
ly adjoining. The interior circle, occurring at the
centre, is so small, that, being highly luminous, it
forms a brilliant anthelion, or glory, round the
spectrum of the observer.
On the 23d of July 1821, latitude 74° 10, lon-
gitude 12° 30′ W., 200 miles within the verge of
the polar ice, the corona were the most brilliant
and beautiful that I ever observed them; so that
their description may serve for that of the pheno-
mena in general. These coronæ (as seen from
the mast-head, 105 feet above the level of the sea)
were four in number, and, as usual, all concentric.
When the fog was the most dense, the sun fortu-
nately shone with peculiar brightness, and gave
to each of the two inner circles, 1 and 2 of the an-
nexed figure, a distinct series of the colours of the
spectrum; but when the fog in the intervals of the
showers, became more attenuated, these two were
apparently intermingled, so as to present a single
luminous zone, or diffuse glory.
1
$ 2
276
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
The order of the colours, reckoned from the in-
terior, was, as far as I could determine, as follows.
In No. 1., white or yellow, red, purple: in No. 2.,
blue, green, yellow, red, purple: in No. 3., green,
whitish (or faint yellow), red, purple: and, in
5

1
No. 4., greyish-white, darker on the edges. The
colours of No. 1., were occasionally very vivid, and
also of No. 2.; but the colours of No. 3., which
ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
277
only appeared at intervals, were very faint; and
the colours of No. 4. merely luminous shades of
grey. Having carried a pocket sextant with me.
to the mast-head, I took so:ne pains to determine
the diameters and breadths of the different coro-
næ; but I found the reflections in the glasses of
the sextant so faint, that they could not be mea-
sured in the ordinary way. I therefore hove the
ship to, and waited until a small lump of ice,
floating on the water, came in a line with the out-
er circle. This being a conspicuous object, I
brought its image in the sextant, in contact with
the glory in the centre, and consequently deter-
mined the radius of the circle. The following re-
sults were thus obtained. Radius of the circle
No. 4.,-inner edge, 36° 50′; middle, about 38° 50′;
outer edge, about 41° or 42°; breadth of the circle,
about 5°. The greatest semi-diameter of the pri-
mary rain-bow, with which this circle might be fair-
ly compared, is 42° 17′; so that it is not improba-
ble but this might have proved the same, had it
been sufficiently defined to admit of accurate mea-
surement. The semi-diameter of No. 3., was, by
estimation, about 6° 30′; of No. 2., the exterior li-
mit by measurement, about 4° 45'; and of No. 1.,
by estimation, from 11° to 2°. The sun's altitude at
this time was 35° 42', consequently, the depression
of the glory below the horizon the same. The
278
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
upper edge of the circle No. 4., extended about &
above the horizon; and the reflected image of the
sun on the water was 108° 36′ distant from the
glory. The fog only extending 8 or 10° above
the horizon, the upper edge of the fourth corona
was sometimes very near the summit of the "fog,
bank." The sky above being perfectly cloudless,
the sun shone with uncommon splendour. The
shadows of the ship's masts, sails, and rigging, as
well as that of the observer, were evidently im-
pressed on the water, since they continued, with-
out alteration, after the dispersion of the fog: but
the coloured circles were all dependent on the fog,
strengthening (during the height of the sun) as
the fog became denser, and appearing more and
more faint, as the fog became more attenuated.
The same effects, it was observed, took place in a
ruffled rea, as in a calm smooth surface. It re-
quired a high degree of illumination, and a very
dense fog, to produce No. 3. Part of these phe-
nomena were observed from the deck, an elevation
not exceeding sixteen feet; but they were confined
to a faint glory, and a broad white circle, corre-
sponding, in diameter, with No. 4.
These phenomena, with some slight differences,
were repeated on the 27th July (the same year),
during thick fog-showers, with a fresh breeze of
wind. During the greater part of this day the
ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
279
fog was high and dense. Two circles only then
occurred; an interior one, nearly corresponding in
diameter with No. 2., and an exterior one, simi-
lar to No. 4. On the fog becoming less dense,
the sun's rays had then to pass through a thinner
stratum, and produced the coronæ No. 1. and 2.,
with vivid colours, in the precise order as those
formerly observed, and already described. The
diameter of No. 2. seemed to the eye, to vary con-
siderably, being much more diffuse at one time
than at another. When the sun declined near
the horizon, and the fog became more elevated,
the prismatic circles almost entirely disappeared.
From the circumstance of a ship near us being
enveloped in fog a few minutes before it reached
the Baffin, I was enabled to determine, by the
known height of her masts, the elevation of the
stratum of mist. Two observations of the same
nature, gave the total thickness of the fog 160
feet. In the fog that occurred in both the in-
stances here recorded, I observed many shining
spiculæ in the air, supposed to be crystals of snow,
but so small that I was unable to discover them
in
any situation but when floating in the breeze;
so that I could not apply the microscope for exa-
mining their form. It appeared to me doubtful,
whether these spiculæ might not contribute to-
wards the production of some of the phenomena
!
280
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
now described, to account for which, on the ordi-
nary principles of reflection and refraction from
globular bodies, seems to be difficult, if at all
practicable.
I have often contemplated these beautiful spec-
trums with peculiar pleasure. The prospect, at
the time of their occurrence, being circumscribed
by the fog, to an area of a few acres, serves to fix
the attention more closely on the only interesting
object that meets the eye, whose radiance, and har-
mony of colouring, added to the singular appear
ance of the observer's shadow, dignified, as it were,
by an attendant glory, can scarcely fail to be pro-
ductive of sensations of admiration and delight.
In the year 1820, I recollect observing another
çircle besides those that have been described, of
larger diameter than No. 4. As it was a faint
whitish-grey circle, while No. 4., seen at the
same time, was variegated with the principal co-
lours of the spectrum, it seems probable that it
was merely the secondary rain-bow continued
throughout the circle. The same number of co-
ronæ also occurred on the day of the present
voyage under which these remarks are introduced.
The three interior circles were prismatic, the
colours being in the same order as in those seen
on the 23d July 1821, excepting No. 2., which
seemed to commence with yellow towards the
centre, then red, purple, blue, &c. No. 1. was ra-
ANTHELIA AND CORONÆ.
281
1
ther indistinct: No. 2. extremely bright: No. 3.
rather faint. These three coronæ were very near
together, the colours following in such close suc-
cession as nearly to coalesce. No. 4. (?) was of a
faint grey colour; and No. 5. (?) smoke-grey, broad
and distinct. The fog, at this time, was only 150
to 200 feet high: sun's altitude about 8°.
As the fourth and fifth circles seem to corre-
spond, in appearance and diameter, with the pri-
mary and secondary rain-bows, it is reasonable to
look for an explanation of the phenomena in the
same cause, namely, the reflection of the rays of
the sun, decomposed by different refractions, in
minute globules of water, of which the mist,
wherein the coronæ occur, in a great measure ap-
pears to consist. The anthelion, in the centre,
may possibly be occasioned by the reflection of
the sun's direct rays, falling on the central parts of
the globules of vapour. Each globule will thus
reflect two specks of light, one from the nearest,
and another from the most remote surface; conse-
quently, the combined reflections may be abun-
dantly sufficient for the production of a glory in
the centre of the coronæ : and, as the figure of the
observer is in a straight line between the sun and
the centre of the whole of the circles, the shadow
of his head is necessarily encompassed by this glory.
As the glory is often beautifully coloured exter-
nally, may not the rays of light falling near
282
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the axis of the globules, immediately around the
centre of the circles, undergo a slight refraction
from the circumstance of being out of the cen-
tre, and thus exhibit the prismatic colours?
But, admitting the explanations now offered
to be agreeable to the laws of dioptries, it will
not, I believe, be possible to account for the
formation of the second and third coronæ, by
any probable combination of reflections and re-
fractions by globular particles. Hence, it is
not improbable, that the snowy spiculæ ob-
served in both the instances here recorded, may
have had a share in the production of the pheno-
mena. And this idea, I perceive, is supported by
the opinion of M. Bouguer, who observed anthe-
lia and coronæ, somewhat similar, on the top of
Mount Pichinca, one of the Cordilleras, at the
time of sun-rising. His description, which only
recently fell under my observation, is given in the
"Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences" of
France, for the year 1744. Among many judi-
cious and correct observations on the subject, he
remarks, that "Le phénomène outre cela ne se
trace que sur les nuages, et même sur ceux dont
les particules sont glacées, et non pas sur les gout-
tes de pluie, comme l'arc-en-ciel."
The figure of the observer in the centre of the
anthelion, witnessed by M. Bouguer, was impressed
on the edge of a cloud :-in all the cases that have
+
ANTHELIA AND CORONA.
283
come under my observation, however, the shadows
were evidently reflected from the surface of the
sea, remaining unaltered after the dispersion of
the fog, and the consequent disappearance of the
egronæ,
The anthelion has generally been considered as
a rare phenomenon; and especially when com
bined with the concentric crowns, has, I believe,
been observed by very few individuals. Mr
Swinton, who saw an anthelion near Oxford, in
the year 1762, was only able to meet with two
instances upon record, one observed near Dant-
zic, by Hevelius, in 1661; and another seen at
Wittemberg, 18th January 1738 *.
Dr (Thomas) Young, in his theory of haloes,
observes, that equilateral prismatic crystals of ice
(of 60°) produce a deviation of 23° 37′, “for rays
forming equal angles with its surfaces, and the
angle of deviation varies at first very slowly, as
the inclination changes, the variation amounting
to less than 3°, while the inclination changes
30°." The effect of such prisms, he conceives, if
placed at all possible angles in the air, between
an observer and the sun, would be to produce a
circle of light at the angular distance of about 28°
37′, or within 3° of it, which is the usual diameter of
the halo; and the halo of 47° he accounts for on
* Phil. Trans. vol. lii. p. 94.
284
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
"
1
the supposition of a considerable part of the light
falling, after one refraction, on a second particle;
so as to double the effect. "If," as Dr Young
further suggests, "the prisms be so short as to form
triangular plates, these plates, in falling through
the air, will tend to assume a vertical direction,
and a much greater number of them will be in
this situation than in any other. The reflection
from their flat surfaces, will consequently produce
a horizontal circle of equal height with the sun;
and their refraction will exhibit a bright parhe-
lion immediately over the sun, with an appear-
ance of wings or horns, diverging upwards from
the parhelion."
I state these opinions of Dr Young, on the
cause of phenomena, nearly allied to the anthelia
and coronæ, that have now been described, both
because they may serve, perhaps, to explain the
origin of the second and third crowns, and be-
cause they are opinions that receive considerable
support from the circumstance of snow, of a pyra-
midal, lamellar, and prismatic form, being fre-
quently seen in the Arctic Regions, where the
phenomena of haloes and parhelia are particularly
common. On a recent voyage, indeed, to the
coast of Greenland, two parhelia, and a horizon-
tal band of white light, were observed at a time,
when snow of a prismatic form, among many other
figures, was seen falling.
A RUN OF FISH.
285
:
39
CHAPTER XI.
A RUN OF FISH. -FIVE VERY LARGE WHALES STRUCK,
AND THREE OF THEM CAPTURED, IN ONE DAY.-ICE
FORMED ON THE SEA, THE AIR BEING ABOVE THE
FREEZING TEMPERATURE. SURVEYS AND RESEARCH-
ES CONTINUED.-ADVENTURES OF SOME OF THE FAME'S
CREW ON SHORE.—TREMENDOUS GALE.—SHIP GROUND-
ED UPON A SHELF OF ICE, SQUEEZED OFF again, and
PROVIDENTIALLY RESCUED FROM A SITUATION OF EX-
TREME PERIL.-SURVEY OF THE COAST CONCLUDED.
-INDICATIONS OF APPROACHING WINTER.-FINÁL
DEPARTURE FROM THE COAST.
DURING the six preceding weeks, our search
for whales proved almost wholly unsuccessful,-
few of these animals, not perhaps a dozen in all,
having been seen in this long interval, of which,
a small one only became our prize. The fishing
season was now drawing to a close ;--the land had
already assumed its winter covering of snow,—the
sea began to freeze in the evenings, and the
gloom produced by the departure of the sun every
night, marked the approach of winter, and warned
us, that the time for leaving the coast was almost
at hand. The only hope of additional success,
i
·
286
GREENLAND VOYAGE,
that we could indulge, depended on our vicinity
to this coast; and the Trafalgar and Fame, being
both beset, (the latter having also got hemmed in
by the ice, whilst pressing in-shore for the recov-
ery of her boats), had claims upon our attendance
in this very place. These were important rea-
sons why we should persevere to the utmost limit
of time, which the needful regard to personal safe-
ty, and the preservation of our own ship, would at
all warrant.
The resolution to which these considerations
gave rise, proved a most important one to every
person interested in the prosperity of our voyage,
as the proceedings and occurrences of this day, the
15th of August, will sufficiently illustrate.
About four in the morning, the weather being
calm and foggy, I had notice given me, that some
animals of the whale tribe had been heard “blow-
ing;" but it was feared that they were not the
species of which we were in search (the mystice-
tus), but the "razor-back," or some other kind
of whale, the capture of which we had not the
means of accomplishing. On sending a boat, how-
ever, to ascertain the species, we were most agree-
ably surprised with the exclamation, so delightful
to the ear of a whale-fisher, of "A falla fall!"
Fortunately the weather cleared up at this inte-
resting crisis, and the boat that had been sent out
A RUN OF FISH.
287
on observation, was seen with its jack flying, as a
token of being “fast to a fish." Misled by a whale
that passed the ship as the boats were lowered,
which was mistaken for the "fast-fish," most of
our officers pursued it to such a distance, that the
real object of capture had nearly been abandoned
in their thoughtless eagerness for the chase. One
boat, only, out of six, joined the fast-boat, near
which, in a state of great exhaustion, the fast-fish
soon afterwards arose, and received another har-
poon. A reserve boat that had luckily been kept
on board, was now dispatched to their assistance,
and after a bold and energetic attack with this
small force, had been continued for some time,
the capture of the animal was accomplished. The
sea here not being unfathomable, as in the more
eastern fishing-stations, the line of the "first fast-
boat" had lain on the bottom: on its being hauled
in, several fine specimens of the beautiful spe-
cies of star-fish called Asterias Caput Medusa,
were found clinging to it. The depth of water
was about 250 fathoms.
Having taken the whale alongside, we ran the
ship a little off the land-floes, under a light breeze
from the westward, and moored to a piece of ice.
Several whales being astir, and the weather fine,
we did not immediately secure our prize, but sent
all the boats out again in pursuit. These whales
288
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
T
3
were rather numerous,-four or five being some
times seen at a time. The usual stay of a whale
at the surface, for breathing, is about two minutes,
seldom much longer; but it was a remarkable cir-
cumstance in the conduct of these whales, that
they remained regularly from five to fifteen mi
nutes at a time, and some nearly half an hour, be-
fore they descended out of sight. During this
long interval, they were generally perfectly mo-
tionless, and afforded the most excellent opportu-
nities for attacking them. Soon after the depar
ture of the boats, two whales were harpooned;
but to our great grief and disappointment, both
of them escaped, by the breaking of the "fore-
ganger," or that part of the line immediately con-
nected with the harpoon. In one case, the line,
which had been much exposed to damp weather,
appeared to have been faulty; but in the other,
the line retained its full strength, and appeared to
have been broken, by being wrapped round the
tail of the fish, in a way that no cordage of ordi-
nary thickness, under the tension sometimes oc-
casioned by the bending of this member, could
sibly withstand.
pos-
Notwithstanding these discouragements, we con-
tinued to persevere for several hours, and at length
another whale was struck. Assistance not being
at hand, it was nearly two hours before a second
THREE LARGE WHALES CAPTURED. 289
harpoon was fastened, on the striking of which,
without the application of a single lance, the
wounded animal dived to the bottom, and died
there. Probably it had been stunned by the blow
it received against the rocks. The hauling of
this fish up by the lines, and the clearing it after-
wards of a floe, under which it was carried by the
current, proved a tedious business, having occu-
pied all hands for several hours. Just before these
measures were completed, another whale having
arisen within sight of the people in the boats, was
pursued and entangled. This, after much chasing,
and many displays of its formidable tail in the
air, as if in resistance of our attacks, likewise fell
under our lances.
The inset of Davy's Sound had, by this time,
brought the ship close to the land-ice, that had
now accumulated and packed to the breadth of
fourteen miles from the shore, and obliged us to
cast loose from the ice, and get under-way, though
deprived of the assistance of all our boats, and
with only four persons (none of whom were sea-
men) to assist me in setting the sails, and work-
ing the ship. About 2 A. M., of the 16th of Au-
gust, we joined some of the boats, and having af-
terwards got our prizes in tow, we stretched about
a league to the eastward, that we might be well
clear of the land-ice: we then moored to the first
T
290
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
little floe we met with, and began to flense the
whales we had captured, for their final security.
While we were employed in these interesting
occupations, the Trafalgar escaped from the criti-
cal state of besetment in which she became in-
volved on the 12th. We observed that she join-
ed a strange sail that hove in sight at the time,
and not being aware how we were engaged, stood
away in company with her to the eastward, and
was not afterwards seen. The Fame likewise suc-
ceeded in making her escape from the entangle-
ment and danger of the land-ice; but too late, un-
fortunately, for benefitting by the "run of fish,"
which we were enabled so well to improve.
The day having been clear and fine through-
ont, I obtained a very excellent series of bearings
of headlands, &c.. with observations for the latitude,
longitude, and variation. These enabled me to
correct my former projection of the coasts of Davy's
Sound, and contiguous lands; and to determine
the situation of the nearer headlands and islands,
with sufficient accuracy.
In the night of the 15th-16th, stars were seen
for the first time, during fifteen weeks. The sky
being beautifully clear, the sea, as usual on such
occasions, began to freeze as soon as the sun de-
scended within four or five degrees of the horizon,
though the temperature was considerably above
REMARKABLE FREEZING OF THE SEA.
291
the freezing point of sea-water. This circumstance
must be attributed to the cooling of the surface
of the water, agreeable to the theory of Dr Wells
as to the cause of Dew, by the effect of radiation
between the surface of the sea and the atmosphere.
Whether the heat of the water be ejected into
the atmosphere, or whether a cold influence from
the atmosphere be conveyed to the water, may be
a doubtful question;-but the fact of the abstrac-
tion of the heat of the water, when exposed to the
full aspect of a cloudless sky, is certain and ob-
vious. In cloudy weather, no freezing of the sea,
I believe, ever occurs, when the temperature is
above 29°; but in clear calm weather, the sea in
the interstices of the ice, generally freezes on the
decline of the sun towards the meridian below the
pole, though the temperature be 32°, or higher.
In the instance now alluded to, the freezing com-
menced when the temperature was 36°, being 73°
or 8° above the freezing point of sea-water.
About 2 A. M. the thermometer in the air fell to
38°, by which time the bay-ice was of such con-
sistence, that the head-way of the ship, under a
light breeze, was sometimes stopped by it.
The flensing of our three whales, including an
interval of three hours allowed the people for rest-
ing, occupied nearly four-and-twenty hours. Not
having been accustomed, for many weeks, to se
J
T 2
292
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
•
vere exertion, the whole crew were greatly fa-
tigued. In the blubber of one of the fish, the
head of a harpoon was found imbedded. It was
entirely concealed beneath the skin, and its place
only marked by a whitish cicatrice. It seemed
to have been a long time in this situation, the
shank of the instrument having been separated,
apparently by the decay of the iron protruding
through the skin. The fish, nevertheless, was
evidently in a healthy state, as appeared from its
great produce in blubber. The total produce of
the three fish was calculated to yield sixty tuns of
oil, and three tons of whalebone,-the united va-
lue of which proved to be about L. 2,100. This
was an important accession to our former cargo,
and raised us at once to the level of the most suc-
cessful fishers of the season.
It is a circumstance that appears to be worthy
of observation, that these three whales were all
males; and another killed by the crew of the
Fame, near the same place, a day or two after-
wards, was of the same sex. This fact intimates a
separation of the sexes at this season of the year;
as upon all other occasions, I have almost invari-
ably found an indiscriminate mixture of males
and females. The females, perhaps, retire into
the interior of the bays and sounds at this season,
which is generally considered as the commence-
STORMY WEATHER.”
293
ment of the period of gestation; or they may seek
the same retreat for the purpose of training their
young.
On the 17th of August, some whales again
made their appearance, and were pursued by two
of our boats; but the people not having had suffi
cient rest to refresh them, made little effort, and
were unsuccessful. We were indeed obliged to
recall them from the chase, in consequence of a
fresh gale of wind having arisen at NE,, which
soon carried us almost into contact with the land-
ice. On casting-off, to seek for a place of greater
security, we found the ship so tender (yielding
greatly to the influence of the wind), that we could
scarcely carry sail. This arose from the great
weight of blubber taken into the 'tween-decks,
where its tendency to diminish the stability of the
ship, operated to such an unfavourable extent, that
we could scarcely stand upon the deck. Added
to this inconvenience, we found that the ship had
sprung a leak, owing to her increased draught of
water, that kept the pumps in almost constant ac-
tion.
After stretching a few miles to the eastward,
we were glad to get once more moored to a floe,
where, for a little time, we rode in safety.
Sunday, 18th August.-The gale continued
all night, attended with heavy rain. About six
294
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
in the morning, we found ourselves again drifting
into a body of floes, which obliged us to cast-off,
notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the
weather, and to beat to windward, into a more
commodious and safer situation. This was ac-
complished with difficulty, as the decks were lum-
bered with casks and whalebone, so as to be al-
most impassable; and the ship yielding to the gale,
so as to be almost "on her beam-ends." About
noon, having reached an eligible situation, we
made fast to a small floe, where we rode out the
gale.
The following day the wind abated, and en-
abled us to undertake the needful operation of
making-off, until the performance of which, the
ship was in a very disagreeable and unsafe state.
Before midnight, the whole of our casks that yet
contained water as hallast, were emptied, and the
contents replaced with blubber.
On the 20th, the weather, which had been
foggy for some time, cleared up, and we found,
as usual, that the ship was again almost along-
side of the land-ice, having been set thither by
the influence of a westerly current. We imme-
diately made sail, but owing to the want of wind
at the time, it was twelve hours before we got
out of the crowded ice, into a roomy situation a
few miles to the eastward. Here we were joined
SURVEY CONTINUED.
295
?
by the Fame, and both ships made fast to a piece
of ice.
Having had a few hours of clear weather in
the course of the day, very excellent observations
were obtained for the continuation of my survey.
The latitude at mid-day was 71° 50′ 28″. In the
afternoon, the longitude was 20° 43′ 15″ W., and
the variation of the compass 43° 24′ W. Some
headlands being seen that were particularly well
marked, received names. A cape of this descrip-
tion, forming the north-eastern point of Canning
Island, was named after Mr ROBERT WARDLAW
of Tillicoultry; and three others on the eastern
side of the same island were called CAPE ALLAN,
Cape CrawfORD, and CAPE FLETCHER, after
different Edinburgh friends. Another headland,
about 6 leagues to the westward of Cape Wardlaw,
was named CAPE BROWN, after the celebrated
botanist. And two more capes within the sup-
posed northern entrance of Hurry's Inlet, were
distinguished with the names of the Russian na-
vigator Captain KRUSENSTERN, and the cele-
brated Geological traveller Baron Von BUCH.
My Father visited me in the evening, and in-
formed me that his two boats, with thirteen men,
whose absence had caused him such anxiety and
loss, were abroad nearly forty hours in the severe
storm of the 12th and 13th. Being provided with
296
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
fuel and provisions, they made fires in tents con-
structed with their boat-sails and oars on shore,
whereby they not only derived a comfortable de-
gree of warmth, but likewise the means of dressing
their food. In this way they soon got their clothes
partially dried, and themselves a little refreshed.
On looking out for the ships, in a moment of com-
parative clearness of the atmosphere, they were
thrown into great consternation to find that they
were all out of sight, and that a large body of ice had
interposed between the ships and the shore. They
immediately repaired to their boats, and proceed-
ing along shore, in a channel fortunately left by
the grounding of the ice, that was sufficient for
them, they reached Cape Moorsom, near which the
ships were moored at the time they entered upon
their expedition. But as no ship was yet to be seen,
they stood off the land, threading the interstices
of the floes, and climbing almost every elevated
hummock they passed, in the hope of discovering
the object of their search. But their anxious
and laborious researches, rendered particularly
trying by the inclemency of the weather, proved,
during many hours, entirely discouraging and
fruitless. The heavy rain that continued inces
santly falling, had long wetted them to the skin,
and served greatly to accelerate the depression of
spirits, that threatened to paralyze their exer,
ADVENTURES OF THE FAME'S CREW. 297
tions. Their provisions not having been hus-
banded with any care in the outset, were almost
expended; and as they knew that the land, in
this quarter, afforded no nourishment that they
could obtain, excepting an occasional partridge,
they became almost overwhelmed with apprehen-
sions of perishing from the want of food. The
body of ice that had packed against the land, ap-
pearing to these despairing seamen interminable,
they were afraid that the ships must be forced
off to such a distance as to render their junction
extremely doubtful. In the height of their ap-
prehensions, many schemes were alternately sug-
gested for their preservation, and then rejected
as impracticable. Some would return to the
shore, where their sails would at least afford them
shelter, and where they might obtain a fire and
dry their dripping clothes; but doing this, they
found, would only prolong their miseries, and
diminish their chance of meeting with one or
other of the ships. Others talked of trying to
reach Iceland,―of pulling out to sea, to seek for
other whalers,—of going along the coast to the
southward,—and of attempting several other
schemes, none of which, on reflection, afforded a
probability of preserving life, in the event of their
not falling in with their ship. It is scarcely pos-
sible for a person who has not been in circum-
298
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
•
stances somewhat similar, to imagine the extent
of their delight, when, in the night of the 13th,
they discovered the Fame standing towards the
land, and boldly penetrating the dangerous body
of ice that intervened, for their rescue. Some
of the people were already ill; one man declared
that he could not have survived half an hour;
and others were in the lowest state of desponden-
cy and weakness. Their junction with the Fame
at this critical period, was a deliverance, of the
providential nature of which, it was hoped, that
some of them were not insensible. Unfortunately
it fell calm when the ship was in this situation,
and, before they could accomplish their retreat,
the ice collapsed around, and closed them in.
On the 21st of August, the weather was almost
constantly foggy. We renewed the operation of
making-off, as soon as our coopers had prepared a
sufficient number of casks. For the convenience of
stowage, many of our casks had been taken down,
and formed into "packs." The rebuilding, or
setting up, of these occupies a great deal of time,
and renders the closing operations of a successful
fishery extremely slow and tiresome.
The following day, this tedious business was
completed, and the ship once more put into or-
der. This was a circumstance of great import-
ance to me, as the greasiness of the decks, and
HARD GALE.
299
frequent instability of the ship, rendered me at
once uncomfortable and anxious during the whole
of the interval between the capture of the three
whales, and the conclusion of the process of ma-
king-off.
Being greatly incommoded by ice of a formida-
ble quality, we shifted our moorings, during this
day, to three different floes. The last to which
we made fast, was remarkable for its thickness and
solidity. It was about a mile in medial breadth,
of a flat uniform surface, and forty feet in thick-
ness of solid ice. As this floe was little affected
by the influence of a fresh breeze that at this
time blew from the ENE, whilst the less ponder-
ous sheets around obtained a sensible drift to lee-
ward, it promised to afford us comfortable moor-
ings, and to enable me to acquire a quiet night's
rest, of which, for nearly a fortnight, I had gene-
rally been deprived. But the appearance of safe-
ty was entirely deceptive, as the events of another
day,-a day of adventure and peril, will not fail
to prove.
Friday, 23d August.-We had a heavy fall
of rain in the night, with a fresh of wind at NE. :
in the morning, about five o'clock, it veered to N.,
and increased to a hard gale. As, however, the
wind was directly off the side of the floe, to which
we were moored, we hoped to be able to ride out
300
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
A
the gale in safety. The first circumstance of dif-
ficulty was the sight of an iceberg "setting up”
to windward, in a straight line for the ship. Per-
ceiving, however, as it rapidly neared us, that it
would pass across our stern if we could heave the
ship a little a-head, we made the attempt, and
succeeded. It passed within a few feet of the
rudder; and, when at a very little distance, di-
vided into two, and both parts upset with a terri-
ble commotion. Had it broken against the ship,
its effects might have been destructive. The fra-
gility of icebergs, at this season, is well known,
and their liability to break and turn over, quite
notorious. In the summer of 1821 the captain
of a whaler that had been wrecked in Baffin's Bay,
wishing to make himself useful in the ship that he
had fled to for refuge, offered to assist in fixing
an anchor in an iceberg, to which it was expe-
dient that the ship should be made fast. He was
accompanied by a sailor to the berg, and began to
make a hole for the reception of the ice-anchor;
but almost the first blow that he struck with the
axe, occasioned an instantaneous rent of the mass
of ice through the middle, and the two portions
fell in opposite directions. The captain, aware
of his danger, the instant the ice began to move,
ran up
the division on which he was situated, in
the contrary direction of its revolution, and for-
DANGEROUS GALE.
301-
tunately succeeded in balancing himself on the
changeable summit until it attained an equili
brium. But his companion fell between the two
masses, and would probably have been instantly
crushed or suffocated, had not the efflux of water,
produced by the rising of the submerged parts of
the ice, hurried him from between them, almost
alongside of a boat that was waiting near the
place.
The rain of the fore-part of the day, gave place,
about noon, to hail, which was so sharp that it
was scarcely possible to face to windward; and
this was succeeded with an intermixture of soft
flaky snow, that covered the deck to the depth
of several inches. The wind, in the mean time,
became more and more fierce, until it blew almost
a hurricane. So long as the floe to which we were
moored maintained its position, we rode in toler-
able safety; but, as the wind increased, it began
to" slue" or revolve, until it brought the ship
alongside of it. As the fierceness of the gale, and
the thickness of the weather, rendered it impossi-
ble for human exertion or care to keep a ship in
safety under-way, surrounded as we were with ice
in innumerable sheets, we determined to retain
our hold of the floe as long as practicable; and we
were encouraged in this resolution, by observing
that, about 4 P. M., the revolution of the ice had
302
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ceased, whilst the ship yet rode "head-to-wind."
To be prepared for all events, however, we close-
reefed the top-sails, and stowed the courses; took
out "springs” from the quarters, for casting the
ship; had axes in readiness for cutting the hawsers,
if necessary; and made every other arrangement
for providing against ordinary casualties, which my
experience in similar adventures could suggest.
About 6 P. M. the snow became so thick that
we could scarcely see a hundred yards distinctly,
and the wind was, if possible, more furious. Two
small icebergs now appeared setting towards the
ship; but as they were not of a magnitude suf
ficient to endanger us, without auxiliary pressure,
we quietly awaited their approach. The first,
which was about thirty-six feet above the level of
the sea, struck the ship on the starboard quarter,
and turned her broadside to the wind; it then
slipped clear, after obliging us to lower three of
our boats to preserve them, without occasioning
us any damage whatever. The second iceberg
approached us with more alarming rapidity; but
as we had not the power of getting clear of it, we
were obliged to receive the shock upon whatever
part of the ship it might chance to fall. It came
in contact with the rudder, and slightly bruised
one of its timbers; then grazing the ship's quar-
ter and broadside, it passed forward to the bows,
DANGEROUS GALE.
303
**
and being fortunately kept from close contact
aloft, by a tongue projecting from its base, it clear-
ed all our boats, and occasioned only a trifling in-
jury to some of the skeeds in its progress. At this
juncture, when the ship was so much involved
with icebergs as to render casting off impracti-
cable, had the state of the weather permitted it,
two floes came in sight from different quarters.
One of these appeared to be rapidly closing upon
us from the west, and the other from the south,
which, with the floe that we were moored to, oc-
cupying the eastern quarter, almost completely
locked us in. To secure ourselves as far as possi-
ble against the crush, which now appeared cer-
tain, we fastened, by a hawser, a large heavy piece
of ice ahead of the ship, where the floes threatened
the first contact; with the view of subjecting the
interposed mass to the pressure, and with the
hope of being then defended from partaking of it.
The last iceberg that passed yet annoying us, we
slacked the ship astern until it was quite clear
ahead, and had placed itself across the bows,
with the deceitful appearance of affording an ad-
ditional safeguard. As we became more and
more exposed to danger from the floe setting up
from the southward, as we slacked the ship down,
and at the same time retreated from the protec-
tion the pieces of ice ahead seemed to promise,—it
304
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
appeared to me that the nearer the ship was kept to
these, so long as they were fairly clear, the greater
would be our safety. But an unfortunate revo-
lution among the ice disappointed these expecta
tions, and overcame all our precautions. The first
shock of the floes was sustained, as we had expected,
by the mass of ice that was expressly placed near
the ship for the purpose, and for some time after-
wards, all things seemed quiet and safe. Sudden-
ly, however, the pressure was renewed, in conse
quence, it was presumed, of some new stoppage to
the drift of the floes, with tenfold violence. Our
barrier was squeezed deeply into the floe, and pro-
digious blocks of ice were broken off, and reared
up by the pressure. While we contemplated these
mighty effects with much anxiety, the berg a-
head of the ship began a revolving and a retro-
grade motion, so quick, as to overtake us before we
could get the ropes off to slack astern, and sudden-
ly nipped the ship on the larboard beam and bow,
against the floe by which we rode. The force was
irresistible. It thrust the ship completely up-
on a broad tongue, or shelf under water, of the floe,
until she was fairly grounded, and continued to
squeeze her rapidly up the inclined plane formed
by the tongue, until the ice came in contact be-
neath the keel. This was the work of a few mo-
ments, and in ten minutes all was again at rest.
DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP. 305
When the pressure ceased, we found that the ship
had risen six or eight feet forward, and about two
feet abaft.
The floe on the starboard side was about a mile
in diameter, and forty feet in thickness, having a
regular wall-side of solid ice, five feet in height
above the sea; on the tongue of this the ship was
grounded. The iceberg on the larboard side was
about twenty feet high, and was in contact
with the railing at the bows, and with the gun-
wale and channel-bends amidships. This berg
was connected with a body of floes to the west-
ward, several leagues in breadth. The only clear
place was directly astern, where a small interstice
and vein of water was produced, by the interven-
tion of the bergs. Any human exertion for our
extrication, from such a situation, was now in
vain; the ship being firmly cradled upon the
tongues of ice, which sustained her weight. Every
instant we were apprehensive of her total destruc-
tion; but the extraordinary disposition of the ice
beneath her, was the means of her preservation.
The force exerted upon the ship, to place her in
such a situation, must evidently have been very
violent. Two or three sharp cracks were heard at
the time the ship was lifted, and a piece of plank,
which proved to be part of the false keel, was torn
off and floated up by the bows; but no serious injury.
was yet discovered. Our situation, however, was
306
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
at this time almost as dangerous and painful, im-
mediate hazard of our lives excepted, as possible.
Every moment threatened us with shipwreck;
while the raging of the storm,-the heavy bewil-
dering fall of sleet and snow,-and the circum-
stance of every man on board being wet to the
skin, rendered the prospect of our having to take
refuge on the ice most distressing. Our only
hope of safety in such a calamity, was the sup-
posed proximity of the Fame. Yet we well knew
that she must also be in danger; and, perhaps,
in a situation as bad as our own. We could look
to no other refuge; since we had reason to appre-
hend, that the whole of the Greenland fleet, with
the exception of a single ship, had left the coast,
and proceeded either homeward, or at least to the
skirts of the ice. Even in the event of the safety
of the Fame, as she was not near us, nor had we
any conception of her position, we could not have
obtained protection from her before a change
of weather; and, in the mean time, exposed to
such a storm, without the possibility of erecting
tents for our shelter, it was to be feared that
many of our crew would have sunk under the in-
clemency of the weather. Impressed with this
apprehension, the people not being required to
attend to any duty in the immoveable state of the
ship, employed themselves in making preparation
for the catastrophe that seemed to await us.
DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP. 307
.
1
We remained in this state of anxiety and ap-
prehension about two hours. On the one hand,
we feared the calamity of shipwreck; on the other,
in case of her preservation, we looked forward to
immense difficulties, before the ship so firmly
grounded could be got afloat. While I walked
the deck under a variety of conflicting feelings,
produced by the anticipation of probable events,
and under the solemnizing influence natural to a
situation of extreme peril, I was suddenly aroused
by another squeeze of the ice, indicated by the
cracking of the ship and the motion of the berg,
which seemed to mark the moment of destruction.
But the goodness of the ALMIGHTY proved bet-
ter to us than our fears. This renewed pressure,
by a singular and striking providence, was the
means of our preservation. The nip took the ship
about the bows, where it was received on a part
rendered prodigiously strong by its arched form,
and the thickness of the interior "fortifications."
It acted like the propulsion of a round body
squeezed between the fingers, driving the ship
astern, and projecting her clear of all the ice, fair-
ly afloat, with a velocity equal to that of her first
launching!
Fortunately the ropes and anchors held until
her stern-way was overcome. As soon as she was
brought up, our attention was instantly turned to
U 3
308
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
more dangers; and our previous state of anxious
inaction instantly gave place to the most perse-
vering and vigorous exertions for our preservation.
Hitherto, while the floes were in contact abouť
the ship, there had been a clear vein of water
leading directly to leeward, in which it appeared
that the ship might ride, under the protection of
the icebergs, in safety. But two points of the
bounding floes, betwixt which the ship lay, were
now observed to be rapidly closing upon us, and
threatening us with another squeeze. As the
channel running to leeward was so narrow, that
there was not room to swing the ship so as to get
under-way, our only chance of safety depended
upon our being able to drop to leeward with a
considerable velocity *. Though we had little
hope of accomplishing this under such a gale,
without some of the ropes or anchors giving way,
which would have been almost certain ruin, yet
having no other resource, we were obliged to un-
dertake the risk. With all imaginable care and
To drop a ship is a nautical phrase, expressive of the
operation of removing under the simple action of the wind,
by veering out the ropes by which the ship is moored.
Thus, in the present example, the wind, blowing directly
down the channel betwixt the two floes where the ship was
moored, forced her to leeward along the channel, when-
ever the ropes were slacked.
1
་
DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP. 309
prudence, we began to slack astern, using two
hawsers on an end for greater despatch; these
carried us past the nearest points, at the moment
when they had closed within two or three feet of
the breadth of the ship. In five minutes they
were in contact, and some hundreds of tons of ice
gave way, and squeezed up under the pressure.
Before another rope, that had been employed in
aid of the hawsers, could be disengaged from its an-
chor, and replaced near the ship for continuing our
movement to leeward, other two points of the floes
appeared astern in rapid approximation. Remain-
ing where we were, though but for five minutes, was
inevitable shipwreck; and to trust to the strength
of a warp of five inches circumference, the only
mooring rope we had now at command, afforded
but small hope of a better fate; for, in the event
of the ship breaking adrift, as there was not
breadth between the floes to swing, she must fall
astern with such a shock against the ice, as could
scarcely fail to be destructive. Possible safety,
however, was preferred to certain destruction. We
now slacked astern by the warp fastened to the
second hawser, which, to our astonishment and
delight, sustained the prodigious strain; and al-
though it was not capable of bringing the ship up,
yet it so far resisted her velocity, that at the mo
ment when it came to an end, a hawser, that was
310
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
meanwhile hauled on board, was fastened to ano-
ther anchor placed for its attachment, whereby
the motion astern was suspended. On this occa-
sion, we again escaped the nip by only three or
four feet, and the floes came in contact with un-
abated violence, scarcely a ship's length ahead.
But more and more approximating points appear-
ing astern, we dropped the ship the whole length
of our last hawser, with the hope of avoiding them;
but it only carried us clear of the first. We
were then brought to a stand; for the other hawsers
and warp, forming a continuous line of 700 yards
in length, got entangled, and nipped by the floes,
so that we were under the necessity of slipping the
end and fastening it to the ice. As we had now
no rope left of sufficient strength with which to
shift the hawser, our progress would have been sus-
pended, and our previous exertions rendered nuga-
tory, had we not brought into use a small mooring
chain that was fortunately at hand. Before the
hawser was again fastened, however, the hook of
the chain broke, and the ship was entirely adrift.
But it providentially happened, that the people
who were on the ice having seized upon the end
of the hawser, were enabled to cast it over an an-
chor that an officer was engaged in setting, at the
very last moment that could have served for our
preservation! The severe strain to which this
DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE SHIP. 311
hawser was subjected, broke one of its strands,
and called for the instant renewal of the chain.
This was a most narrow escape; but there was
another that succeeded which was equally stri-
king. When slacking astern by the hawser, the
ship swung alongside the eastern floe into a little
bight, and the rudder unfortunately caught be-
hind a point which projected some feet to wind-
ward. The floes were so nearly close, that we had
not time to heave ahead, had this measure been
practicable under such a storm. We were in a
state of extreme jeopardy. One of the after-sails
was instantly loosed, and hauled over to the star-
board quarter; the action of this, happily coinci-
ding with a momentary diminution of the wind,
when the tension of the ropes drew the ship ahead,
turned her stern clear of the point. We instant-
ly slacked astern and dropped beyond this danger.
It might be tedious to describe all the subse-
quent exertions made for our deliverance, under
the repeated difficulties we encountered. These
difficulties will be readily appreciated by persons
acquainted with the management of a ship, when
they are informed, that our movements, to a con-
siderable distance, were effected by means of a
stranded (or partly broken) rope, and a doubtful
chain, at a time when the wind blew with such vio-
lence, that I could scarcely make myself heard with
312
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
a speaking trumpet, from the companion to the
windlass. It may be sufficient to say, in addi-
tion, that by a most striking and remarkable provi-
dence aiding our exertions, suggesting precautions,
and timeing our various removals, we continued to
drop the ship down the narrow dangerous chan-
nel betwixt the floes, until their approximation
ceased. Thus was the ship most miraculously
preserved, throughout a removal of a mile, under
the most dangerous, difficult, and discouraging
circumstances, when there was not a single spot
in all the distance that we accomplished, in
which a ship remaining five or ten minutes after
we left it, could have been saved from being
crushed. The reason of this was evident. The
two floes betwixt which we were involved, though
full of little prominences or points, were, in the
main, of a circular form. As these were revol-
ving against each other in contrary directions, like
the action of a pair of toothed wheels, when one
is put in motion by the other, every part of the
circumference of each floe became in its turn the
point of contact.
These anxious and energetic operations conti-
nued until midnight, when we obtained the first
respite, on observing that the floes had ceased to
revolve. But we were still in jeopardy. A large
body of ice having been drifted by the violence of
A
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.
318
the gale against the floe that we were moored to,
urged it so rapidly to leeward for some time, that
the southern ice, to which we were now exposed,
began to set up with alarming velocity. Nothing
dangerous, however, came in the way during the
continuance of the gale; and, to our great com-
fort, about 4 A. M. the weather cleared up, and
immediately began to moderate.
By this time our people were so much exhaust-
ed by fatigue, that on undertaking the recovery
of our ropes, which cost a labour of some hours,
several of our able-seamen withdrew from their
duty, making a sacrifice of their character and
hopes of preferment, and exposing themselves to
the loss of their wages, for the sake of the indul-
gence in a little rest.
After recovering all our ropes, we cast-off from
this place of peril, and made sail to the eastward,
into ample room. We were rejoiced to find, that
the ship was not rendered leaky, by the coarse
treatment experienced; and that no damage, either
inside or without, of any consequence, could be
discovered. The Fame was not in sight when we
got under-way, and I was greatly anxious respect-
ing her. Shortly afterwards, however, to our great
satisfaction, the Fame was discovered standing to
the westward, and apparently safe; but not so the
Dundee, the only other ship near,-this vessel,
!
#
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
314
when seen, proving to be dismasted. The Fame
joined company with her, and was observed to be
employed in towing her out from among the land-
floes.
We joined both these vessels in the night, and
learnt that the Fame, like ourselves, was exposed
to considerable danger; but fortunately, being
able to keep fast to the ice all the gale, escaped
without any material damage. The extraordina
ry violence of the wind was fully proved (had
such proof been necessary), by its effects on the
Dundee. This ship was under-way at the com-
mencement of the gale, and, under close reefed
topsails, foresail, &c. attempted to get to the east-
ward of some floes under her lee, for the purpose
of obtaining a wider navigation, at a greater dis-
tance from the land. The main-staysail and
mizen-topsail blew to pieces, and shortly after-
wards the bowsprit was carried away, and was
followed by the foremast and main-topmast.
this disabled state she drifted between two floes.
Fortunately falling under the lee of one of them,
into a sheltered situation, she was secured to the
ice, and wonderfully preserved. At the conclu-
sion of the gale, they made a signal of distress,
that soon brought the Fame to their assistance,
which dragged them out of their hazardous posi-
tion among the land-floes, into a commodious
In
SURVEY CONCLUDED.
315
#
opening, a little to the eastward. They lost all
the wreck of their masts, sails, and rigging, and
some of their boats; but the hull of the ship being
uninjured, the crew now commenced, with the
help of materials from the Fame, to refit with
jury-masts.
On the 25th, being Sunday, we made fast,
along with the Fame, for the purpose of honour-
ing the Sabbath day. Our recent extraordinary
deliverance from threatened shipwreck, called for
our united thanksgivings to Almighty God; and
as the circumstances were most strikingly provi-
dential, they produced an impression on the minds
of the sailors, of a very devotional and solemn de-
scription. The weather was fine and calm, with
bright sunshine; so that we experienced no inter-
ruption to our religious services.
August 26th.—As we had drifted considerably
to the southward, in the late gale, I obtained a
new and important station, for the conclusion of
my survey; and as the weather fortunately conti-
nued calm and clear, I obtained the requisite ob-
servations with all desirable accuracy. Our ob-
served latitude was 71° 24' 40"; longitude by
chronometer 20° 56'; being a position interme-
diate between my last station and the most north-
erly of my former stations on the Liverpool Coast.
This enabled me to connect the surveys of the
316
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
=
20th of July and the 20th of August, in the most
satisfactory manner. Our distance from the land
was about sixteen miles, Cape Gladstone bearing
WNW N., true; and a headland named after
Mr JOHN TOPHAM, bearing due west. The Li-
verpool Coast was in sight as far down as Roscoe
Mountains, and even the land about Cape Brew-
ster, distant seventy-five miles. Two small islands
were discovered lying off Cape Gladstone. The
most northerly was named MURRAY ISLAND,
after my respected friend Admiral Murray; and
the other REYNOLDS ISLAND, in compliment to
different respected individuals, descendents of the
late Mr Richard Reynolds, of Bristol, universal-
ly known and esteemed for his extraordinary phi-
lanthropy *
The inset of the current, found to prevail so
strongly near Davy's Sound, was likewise observed
in our present situation, though clear of all large
inlets. On sounding, we found the current set-
ting due west, or directly towards the land, at the
rate of a quarter or half a knot. The depth was
185 fathoms: temperature at the bottom 32° ;
at the surface the same.
* Some other names, applied in the chart to the northern
part of the Liverpool Coast, were derived from different
friends, chiefly resident in Manchester.
INDICATIONS OF APPROACHING WINTER. 317
The great hazard we encountered in the gale
of the 23d, with numerous tokens observed that
were indicative of approaching winter, warned us
to quit a coast which was daily becoming more
and more dangerous. In the early part of this
month we experienced the heat of a British sum-
mer; and the sea, in many places, was covered
with birds. But the land had already received
its mantle of snow, and many of the birds had re-
treated to their winter quarters. This was par-
ticularly the case with regard to the little auks
and guillemots, the former of which, a few weeks
ago, were seen in innumerable quantities, either
feeding in the water, or taking their daily flight
towards the sea in the morning, and towards the
land at night, but now scarcely one of either
species was to be seen.
Another intimation of approaching winter, to
which we are very little accustomed in the Green-
land whale-fishery, was the setting of the sun, and
the rapid shortening of the days. On the 2d of
this month, it was observed that the sun was
above the horizon at midnight; but now we
had seven hours thirty-six minutes betwixt sun-
setting and sun-rising, with an increase of ten
minutes in the length of each succeeding night.
Hence the shortening of the days was so rapid as
to be almost perceptible between one day and the
318
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
next, without the use of a watch. Added to the
gloom common to the night, in the absence of
the moon, we experienced the inconvenience of
extraordinary darkness, amounting almost to a
total want of light, produced by the general pre-
valence of hazy or foggy weather. This circum-
stance greatly augmenting the danger of our pre-
sent situation, with little prospect of farther suc-
cess in the fishery to counterbalance it, induced
us to decide upon leaving the coast of Greenland
with the first opportunity. According to this
determination, we made sail in the evening, a
breeze having then sprung up from the north-
east, and proceeded to the eastward, in company
with the Fame and Dundee,-the latter ship be-
ing, by this time, tolerably well refitted with jury-
masts, and furnished with every required material
and assistance that the Fame, which principally
attended her, could supply.
1
RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF RESEARCHES. 319
↑
CHAPTER XII.
RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF RESEARCHES MADE UPON THE
EASTERN COAST OF GREENLAND.-EXTENT SURVEY-
ED.-MODE OF CONDUCTING THE SURVEY.-COMPA-
RISON WITH PREVIOUS CHARTS.-GENERAL CHARAC-
TER OF THE COUNTRY.-MOUNTAINOUS.—PERFORA-
TED WITH INLETS.-PROBABLY AN ASSEMBLAGE OF
ISLANDS. SOME OF THE INLETS SEEM TO PASS
THROUGH THE COUNTRY INTO BAFFIN'S BAY.-PRO-
DUCTS OF THE COUNTRY.-INHABITANTS STILL EX-
IST.—THEIR
IST. THEIR NUMBER CONSIDERABLE.—EVIDENCES
OF AN ADMIXTURE WITH CIVILIZED NATIONS.-CUR-
RENTS OF THE GREENLAND SEAS.-DANGERS OF THE
AUTUMNAL STORMS.-STATE OF THE WEATHER.
BEFORE I take my final leave of the coast of
Greenland, I think it may be proper to give a re-
trospective view of the investigations and discove-
ries made, which will afford me an opportunity
also of adding some general descriptions that could
not be conveniently introduced in the course of the
journal.
The trigonometrical operations of the 20th and
26th of August, connected the surveys made in
this interesting region, so as to complete a conti-
nuous line of coast, with the exception of some in-
}
320
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
lets apparently interminable, included between
the latitudes of 75° and 69°. The extent surveyed,
measured, in a waving line from headland to head-
land, (which is the distance that a vessel would
run along it, sailing parallel to the shore,) is about.
400 geographical miles; but, if measured so as
to include all the coast delineated, in its various
windings and sinuosities, the extent amounts to
nearly 800 miles.
Nearly four-fifths of this extent was laid down
from intersecting bearings, and the remaining one-
fifth was projected from single bearings, with es-
timated distances. About one-half of the whole
extent, the part included between latitude 691
and latitude 724°, was surveyed at a convenient dis-
tance from the shore; but the other half, though
partly derived from intersecting bearings, was sur-
veyed at such a distance as to render the detail
of the coast somewhat uncertain. An inspection
of Plate III., however, containing a representa-
tion of the coast, on the northern limit of the
survey, from Gale Hamkes' Land down to Hud-.
son's Hold-with-Hope, will, I think, give satis-
factory evidence, that the coast was in general
so bold and well-defined, as to afford sufficient
opportunity for obtaining a good general survey.
Should there happen to be any very low land, in-
deed, along this coast, I acknowledge that we were:
SURVEYING OPERATIONS.
321
too far distant to see it; but, as no land of this de-
scription occurred through an extent of 200 or 300
miles of coast, that we had an opportunity of close-
ly examining, there is reason to believe that the
northern coasts, which had a similar character and
general elevation, is also entirely mountainous.
In the course of this survey, I employed above
fifty stations*, chiefly determined astronomically,
and made use of nearly five hundred angles or
bearings, besides two or three hundred more, for
ascertaining the variation and deviation of the
compass.
The principal instruments employed in this
business, were azimuth compasses, sextants, and
a chronometer. The angles and bearings were
generally derived from observations made with an
azimuth compass, on Captain Kater's principle,
which was found to answer so admirably, that, in
moderate weather, no other instrument was neces
sary. All the magnetic observations, whether for
* In the general chart which accompanies this volume,
the principal part of these stations are laid down, for the
purpose of shewing the nature of the opportunity that I had
for carrying on the survey; and a distinction is made in the
shading of the chart, which shews, by inspection, whether
the position of the land was determined by intersecting
bearings, by single bearings with estimated distances, or by
investigations in the boats.
X
}
$
322
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
.
determining the bearingsof the land, or the azimuth
of the sun, were taken at the mast-head, because
this was the only part of the ship where compass-
bearings could be relied on. In every other part
of the ship, indeed, that could be conveniently
resorted to, there was so much "local-attraction,"
or" deviation," that observations taken therein,
with the magnetic needle, were useless. During
boisterous weather, when the mast was so un-
steady as to prevent the employment of the azi-
muth-compass in the crow's-nest, all required an-
gles were taken with a sextant, and the bearings
derived from them, by connecting one of the se-
ries with the angular distance of the sun. The
longitudes were chiefly determined by the chiro-
nometer, its rate being corrected by subsequent
observations made on known coasts, by positions
formerly determined, — by lunar observation,
and by a comparison with another chronometer.
Only two opportunities for obtaining lunar obser-
vations occurred during the voyage. One of
these was taken advantage of; but, on the other
occasion, I was unfortunately on shore at the time
the moon appeared, which set before I returned
on board, and never rose again during the luna-
tion. Sometimes, when the sun was invisible,
both latitude and longitude were determined by
the bearings of two objects, the correct positions
-
SURVEYING OPERATIONS.
323
of which had before been laid down; and occa-
sionally the same results were obtained, by ob-
serving the bearing, and measuring the angle sub-
tended by any cliff or mountain whose elevation
had previously been ascertained.
In many of these investigations and operations,
I laboured under great disadvantages, as not only
all calculations, but also all observations, of every
description, devolved upon myself, not having a
person among my ship's company who could be
depended upon to take a bearing or an angle;
nor even a set of altitudes, either for determining
the longitude by the chronometer, or the varia
tion, by the sun's azimuth. Hence in finding
the variation, I had first to take the altitude of
the sun, and mark the time by my watch, and
then to ascend the mast, and take the azimuth
from the crow's-nest. This process necessarily
involved me in a troublesome calculation to as-
certain the change of azimuth for the elapsed in-
terval. When the interval, however, happened
to be very short, an allowance of a degree of azi-
muth for every four minutes of elapsed time, was
sufficiently accurate; but, in most cases it was
necessary to resort to calculation for this correo-
tion. In observations for the longitude, by chro-
пometer, I observed the time, took the altitudes,
and noted them down; and, in lunar observations,
X 2
324
GREENLAND VOYAGE..
I took the moon's altitude,-the distance between
the sun and moon,-noticed the time, and regis-
tered the whole of these data,-being only assist-
ed in the altitude of the sun, for calculating the
effects of parallax and refraction: and even this
I was obliged to repeat afterwards, for obtaining
the apparent time at the ship. From extensive
practice, however, these difficulties, in a great
measure disappeared, (at least so far as affected the
correctness of the different observations), and the
same results, as to accuracy, were obtained as if
I had had the usual number of experienced as-
sistants.
As a part of the eastern coast of Greenland
was discovered by Henry Hudson, in 1607, (from
latitude 72° to 731°) and as some insulated points
have been seen by some of the whalers within the
last few years, it is difficult, and indeed impossible,
-to ascertain what proportion of the researches of
this voyage is original discovery. The position and
form, however, given to this coast in our best charts,
are so different from the reality, that the greater
part, if not the whole extent of these investiga-
tions, may perhaps be considered as a new coun-
try. The errors in the longitude prove to be very
great. It has already been noticed, that the land
in the 75th parallel of latitude differs from the
meridian given to it by the best charts, about 7°,
.:
ERRORS OF FORMER CHARTS.
325
and from that given to it by the charts published
for the use of the whale-fishers, about 820 miles
of longitude, or nearly 14°. In most of our maps,
the eastern coast of Greenland, between Hold-
with-Hope, in latitude 7310, and the Arctic Cir-
cle, or the latitude of 661°, trends towards the
south-west, in an irregular continuous line, drawn
apparently according to the fancy of the hydro-
grapher. Whereas the true position of at least
one-half of this interval, is very nearly north and
south, and is pierced with a number of such wide
and extensive inlets, as could not possibly have
been overlooked, had the land ever been exa-
mined. It may be proper here to acknowledge,
however, that, in some of our nautical charts, the
same continuity of the coast is not laid down;
but then the errors, in the longitude and direction
of the coast, are in these charts excessive. The
only inlets that bear any relation to the reality
are three fiords, laid down in the latitude of
72° 15′, which occupy a parallel not very different
from that of Davy's Sound, or Mountnorris In-
let. But, as these are made to penetrate either
north or north-west into a coast running east and
west, instead of having a westerly direction in a
coast that actually lies almost north and south,
the difference becomes so great, that they cannot, I
conceive, be considered as the same; especially as

326
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
f
no one who had seen the real inlets could possibly
have mistaken west for south, and north or north-
west, for west or south-west. At any rate, a mere
inspection of the annexed comparative map (Plate
VIII.), giving the position of the land by the
nautical charts,-by the best maps, and by the
recent surveys, will prove that no correct descrip-
tion of this coast was hitherto given, and that the
insular structure of the land was altogether un-
known *
The general character of this country, from one
extremity to the other, of the extent of my re-
searches, is barren, rugged, and mountainous. The
average elevation of the coast is about 3000 feet.
Several mountains were measured trigonometri-
cally about the Liverpool Coast, and near Cape
Brewster, some of which reached 4000 feet; and
Werner Mountains, in Davy's Sound, were esti-
+:
* These remarks do not extend to an assertion that the
greater part of this coast has not, within the last two or three
years, been seen by other whale-fishers as well as myself.
My Father, indeed, in the summer of 1821, saw the land
generally, from latitude 74° to 70°; and, in a former voyage,
traced the coast, at a distance, from latitude 71° or 72°,
down to 68° or 67°: so that, although the survey and de-
scription of this coast are entirely original, it is impossible
to say what proportion is original discovery.

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mated, by the distance at which they were seen,
and the elevation they assumed above the ordi
nary mountains, to be at least 6000 feet. The
particular description of the beautifully serrated
group on the Liverpool Coast, and of the interest-
ing chain on the southern side of Scoresby's Sound,
will serve to illustrate the prevailing appearance of
the whole range along the coast.
This coast is so deeply and frequently pierced
with inlets running to the westward, and having
internal ramifications stretching either to the
northward or the southward, that there can be lit-
tle doubt of the country, to the extent seen, be-
ing an assemblage of islands. On looking at the
map towards the portion best surveyed, included
between Cape Parry and Cape Brewster, scarcely
a doubt, I think, will be entertained, that such
is the structure of the country. Thus, Hurry's
Inlet having been examined from the south, as high
as a place that was called POINT CONSTABLE,
-and a corresponding inlet being observed to ex-
tend from the north as far as another point, only
five or six leagues from the former, that was
named CAPE MACKNIGHT, we have almost the
strongest intimation, short of actual examination,
of the continuance of Hurry's Inlet throughout.
In this case, the Liverpool Coast becomes an
island. In like manner, the corresponding direc-
•
328
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
tions of Hall's Inlet and Fleming's Inlet, are
strongly indicative of the insularity of Jameson's
Land. And there is seen to be a similar indica-
tion, with regard to the insularity of the country
of which Cape Brewster forms the eastern pro-
montory, by the direction pursued by Scoresby's
Sound and Knighton Bay.
But in addition to this general structure of the
land about the coast, there are good reasons for
believing that the whole country of Greenland is
likewise a great compact archipelago. One argu-
ment in support of this opinion, is the apparently
interminable extent of some of the inlets. It
has been shewn, (page 200. of this volume), that
Scoresby's Sound and Hall's Inlet, penetrate at
least to the depth of ninety miles towards the
west. Now, on the opposite coast of Greenland,
it is worthy of remark, there is a corresponding
inlet (Jacob's Bight) penetrating towards the east,
the extent of which, to all appearance, is boundless.
According to Sir Charles Giesecké, whose manu-
script map I have been favoured with a sight
of, Jacob's Bight, lying nearly in the same par-
allel as Scoresby's Sound, stretches about 150
miles to the eastward, beyond the general line of
the western coast; and there expands into an ap-
parently interminable sea. The interior structure
of this Bight, which is laid down in the compar
1
GREENLAND:-INSULAR STRUCTURE.
329
ative map from Sir Charles Giesecké's chart, is
such, that there seems to be the greatest probabi-
lity, that it continues through the country to a
conjunction with Scoresby's Sound; and, perhaps,
also, with some of the more northern inlets. The
distance across, beyond the observed extent of
these inlets, is about 380 miles, as measured up-
on the map. But this is not the only place where
the western coast is broken by inlets. On the
contrary, Sir Charles Giesecké found, that, to the
northward of Disco Island, as high as latitude
761°, the coast is not continuous, as at a distance
it seems to be, but consists entirely of a range
of islands.
These facts, however, though they render the
assumed opinion respecting the structure of Green-
land extremely probable, must be acknowledged
to leave it still in a conjectural condition. The
statement of another circumstance, however, rela-
ting to the current, will carry the opinion, I should
think, almost beyond a doubt. Wherever a cur-
rent is observed to set regularly into a sound or
other inlet, carrying floating bodies along with it,
and not returning them back again, it is evident
such inlet must have another, or interior commu-
nication with the sea; otherwise, the perpetual
inset of a body of water would produce such an
accumulation within, as not only to prevent any
ļ
330
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
further influx, arising from an accidental cause,
but also to occasion a reflux of the portion of
water thus urged above its level. Now, it was
observed during our stay in the neighbourhood of
Davy's Sound, that there was such a decided and
constant inset as we have just supposed. As
this inset was not returned by Mountnorris Inlet,
nor by any other opening immediately to the
southward of Davy's Sound, it is evident, that
the influx of water must have been carried off by
some interior channel connected with the ocean.
The certainty of this inset rests upon the follow
ing facts.
+
When we first approached the land opposite to
Traill Island, we had a clear communication with
the shore. The ice previously floating at a dis-
tance to the eastward, however, soon began to set
in, not by the influence of the wind, because the
wind blew directly along shore (or rather off
shore as otherwise), until a body of ice had accu
mulated many leagues in width. The navigation
was clear to the very beach at Cape Moorsom, on
the 12th of August; but on the 15th, the quan-
tity of ice that had set in, prevented us getting
within fourteen miles of Traill Island; and on
the 20th, in the opening of Davy's Sound, we
were forced off to the distance of twenty miles
from the land.
GREENLAND-PRODUCTS.
331
On the 26th, the day of our departure, our dis-
tance, at the edge of the land-ice, when clear of
the principal indraught, was sixteen miles. Now,
this must have been the mere action of the inset,
since the wind, which was the only other known
cause that could have produced such an effect, was
almost constantly northerly, blowing in such a di-
rection, indeed, as was calculated to set the ice off
the land rather than in shore. Another fact, the
result of a similar influence, affords the same con-
clusion. In the interval betwixt the 14th and
26th of August, we had frequent occasion to moor
the ship to a piece of ice. So situated, we ought to
have kept at a uniform distance from the land,
while the wind blew along the coast; but it was
invariably observed that we constantly set in to-
wards land; so that in every instance when we
cast off, we were obliged so to do, because of our
coming into contact with the land-ice; though, in
some cases, we ran off to the distance of several
miles before we made fast.
The products of this country, as far as our ex-
amination extended, in the departments of minera-
logy, botany, and zoology, have been already noticed;
and asthey form three distinct articles in the appen-
dix, any particular observation here on these sub-
jects becomes unnecessary. One remark, however,
1
332**
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
respecting the birds frequenting this region, may
be admissible. As soon as the ice begins to clear
away, the coast is visited by prodigious quantities
of birds, particularly roaches or little auks, which
find here in the water, not only an abundant sup-
ply of shrimps and other insects suitable for
their food, but on the land, that quietness and
warmth that are congenial to their habits, and
suitable for their necessities at the time of incu-
bation. They get to the coast probably in May
or June; and leave it towards the end of August
or beginning of September. They then migrate
to the southward, taking advantage of a northerly
gale for assisting their flight.
The migration of aquatic birds may be easy,
because they can rest, when necessary, by the way.
But how such small birds as the plover, red-pole,
ice-bird, &c. accomplish the passage, is difficult to
explain. It is evident, that when these birds are
on their way, if a change of wind should occur, in
such a direction as to keep them off the coast to
which their flight is directed, they must perish.
We often, indeed, in the spring of the year, ob-
serve these bir:ls alighting about our ships as we
approach the ice or arctic lands; and not unfre-
quently find them in a state so exhausted by fa-
tigue or want, as to permit themselves to be
caught, and taken up alive.
GREENLAND:-INHABITANTS.
333
any
We were not so fortunate as to meet with.
human beings in a living state,-though the traces
of their recent existence were innumerable. These
traces consisted of numerous huts, hunting uten-
sils, portions of sledges, bones that had been di-
vided artificially, domestic implements, and depo-
sitories of the dead, containing human skeletons,
or even bodies, as I was informed, only partially
decayed. In some instances, these relics were of
such a nature, as to indicate a very recent deser-
tion of the inhabitants. Such, in particular, was
the intimation afforded by the fire-places contain-
ing ashes, which we found at Cape Swainson and
on Traill Island. These appeared to be the remains
of recent fires, perhaps of the preceding spring or
summer; for it is scarcely probable that the light
ashes of wood and moss could have long resisted
either being washed away by the melting of the
snow, or scattered about by the violence of the
tempests. There is another evidence, though of
a collateral kind, that may be mentioned, which
would, I conceive, almost of itself establish the
opinion of the present existence of inhabitants
upon this coast, were any further proof requisite.
Captain Johan Haacke, of the ship Patriot Gleoj-
stein, a Bremen whaler, found a dead sea-horse
(walrus), in the summer of 1820, within sight of
the east coast of Greenland, in the latitude of 73º,
334
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
in which there were two harpoons, such as are
used by the Esquimaux. These harpoons, which
were found sticking in the animal, appeared to
have been the cause of its death. From the state
of the carcass, it was evident that the animal had
not been long dead; and from the attachment of
filaments of sea-horse skin to the harpoons, that
had been used in the place of cordage, which were
not yet decayed, it was further evident that these
harpoons had not been long fastened. Hence,
there could be no doubt but this sea-horse had
received the harpoons found in its body, from the
hand of some inhabitant of the east coast of Green-
land; and the probability was, that the time when
the attack was made, was within a few days of that
in which the animal was found.
From the evidently recent character of some of
the remains found, it was not improbable but there
might be existing inhabitants even on some of the
parts at which we touched. Doubtless, the sight
of such an extraordinary object to them as a ship,
* This circumstance was communicated to me by an
intelligent navigator of Bremen, Captain Haacke, of the
ship Bremen, and brother to the person who picked up the
sea horse. The harpoons were about four inches long.
They were formed of bone, armed with iron. To one of
them, a thong of hide, two fathoms in length, was attached,
and to the other a similar thong, six fathoms in length.
GREENLAND:~INHABITANTS.
335
1.
would excite their alarm. It is most likely, that,
to people who had never seen a vessel of any de-
scription, not even of the size of a boat, impelled
by sails, an object of this description so perfectly
under command, and capable of such velocity,
would be mistaken for a living creature. If so, it
would not be surprising, if any inhabitants that
we might have been near, should have fled on our
approach, and concealed themselves until we re-
tired.
Perhaps, however, they had retired from these
haunts that we visited, to some neighbouring dis-
tricts, to which the seals, birds, and other animals,
affording them subsistence, had retreated. All
along this coast, where we touched, the fewness
of the animals was remarkable; and this circum-
stance alone was sufficient to account for the de-
sertion of the different hamlets that we discovered.
The place of resort of the seals and other marine
animals, is probably determined by the supply of
food which the contiguous seas afford. Now, this
supply, on account of the constant action of cur-
rents, is continually varying. But as the natives
of such a country must be chiefly dependent on
these animals for their subsistence, they must
pursue them to whatever part they may retreat
to, whether it be immediately on the sea coast, or
whether it be in the depths of the great inlets, by
336
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
which the coast is so extensively pierced. Thus,
wherever the seals are found along shore, there,
we must suppose, the inhabitants would be met
with. There is little to be gathered from the
state of the hamlets discovered, as respects the time
of their desertion. The huts being without roofs
was no argument for their antiquity; because the
framing being of wood, a material of extraordina-
ry value in a country in which none is produced,
would doubtless be removed, and carried away on
the desertion of the hamlets by the inhabitants.
This country, barren and desolate as it is, ap-
pears to be by no means so thinly inhabited as
might have been expected. The numbers, in-
deed, in the parts we examined, must have been
very considerable. For it is worthy of remark,
that we never landed, in any one instance, upon any
coast having a southern aspect, and possessing the
least portion of flat land near the beach, without
finding traces of inhabitants; and sometimes such
traces were met with, even on the coasts fronting
the east and north. I believe there were but two
or three places, out of the numerous landings that
were made by myself, and by the captains and
officers of the Trafalgar and Fame, in which no
traces of inhabitants were met with.
Most of the relics of inhabitants discovered in
this country were indicative of the people, by
GREENLAND:-INHABITANTS.
337
whom they had been left, being Esquimaux. But
there were some exceptions. The division of
hard bones and the ivory of unicorn's horns, by
drilling contiguous series of holes, is a process,
which, as far as I know, is not usually practised by
Esquimaux. Now, this was apparently the plan
that these people invariably adopted for cutting
hard substances; and it may be considered as in-
dicative of their having had some communication
with people of other habits than those natural to
the Esquimaux. Another circumstance, of a still
more striking description, was the discovery of a
wooden coffin in a grave at Cape Hope. This was
almost a proof of some connection with Europe-
ans; but it could not be satisfactorily determined,
that, in this solitary example, the coffin was posi-
tively deposited by any of the natives.
On the whole, however, I conceive, that the re-
mains we met with were not entirely Esquimaux.
They indicated practices among the inhabitants
that were in favour of the supposition of an ad-
mixture with some other nation,-doubtless the
ancient colonies planted by the Icelanders. Hence,
there is some reason to believe, that these colonies
were not entirely depopulated,—that they are not
yet extinct; though it is more than probable, that
such of the colonists as outlived the "black-death,"
and the privation they must have suffered, when
Y
f
$
338
GREENLAND VOYAGE...
their supplies were cut of, as it is said they were,
by the descent of the polar ice, would cease to be
a distinct people for being then reduced to the
necessity of following the occupation of the Es-
quimaux, and of copying their manners, they
would probably become gradually incorporated
with the aborigines, until few traces of their ori-
ginal civilization remained.
The very extraordinary circumstances connect-
ed with these colonies of Icelanders, as regards
their original planting,-flourishing condition,-
reception of Christianity, and their total separa-
tion from the world, since the beginning of the
fifteenth century-and the very important ques-
tion respecting their fate, to which their early his
tory gives rise, rendered researches for inhabitants
on this coast an object to me of the most intense
interest. Hence, it may readily be conceived
what was the nature of my disappointment, when,
on descending to the latitude of 69° 30', where I
was only at the distance of about seventy leagues
from the site of the northern colonies, as given by
Crantz, the main interests of my voyage obliged
me to put about, and return to the northward.
This disappointment was the greater, since I could
observe no other hinderance to my penetration.
along the coast. I had reason, indeed, to believe,
that could I have been justified in devoting three
GREENLAND-CURRENTS.
339
or four weeks of my time entirely to research, I
might have coasted the land down to Cape Fare-
well, and seen every station of the colonies by the
way. In such an investigation I apprehended
little difficulty The chief difficulty that of
obtaining an entrance through anbody sofrice,
100 to 150 miles in width) which skirted and de-
fended the coast, was already overcome and as
in the 70th, Wistrand: 72d parallels of latitude,
we found the best navigation close in shore, we
had some reason to expect that we should not, at
any rate, have met with any thing insurmount
able to obstruct our way to the southward, even
down to the extreme promontory of Green-
land.
The Currents upon the eastern coast of Green-
land require a few remarks. The main current
here, as in other parts of the Greenland and Spitz-
bergen Seas, sets to the south-westward, but there
is a peculiarity along the coast of great import
ance to the navigator. This is a periodical offset
and inset; the latter apparently occasioned by the
action of the great inlets that intersect the coast
in such various positions. It would appear, that
there is an offset from the coast in the months of
Jane and July, produced probably by the quanti
ty of water poured into the sea on the melting of
Y 2
340
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the snow on the land. This offset it is, aided, per-
haps, by north-west winds, which, in opposition
to the general indraught of the sounds and inlets,
clears the bays and coast, so as to afford access to
the navigator in the height of summer. But as
soon as the discharge of water from the moun-
tains ceases, this offset appears also to cease, and
an inset then takes place, which chokes up the
bays and sounds with ice, and packs the whole of
the body floating to the eastward in close contact
upon
the shore. The indraught which takes place
at the close of the summer, as far as regards the
present season, has been sufficiently proved; and
the offset, or at least a suspension of the inset, is
rendered equally certain, by the progressive sepa-
ration observed to take place in the ice, and more
especially by the vein of clear water found in
many places betwixt the coast and the ice. The
inset that occurs in the end of summer, renders
the West Land fishing not a little dangerous at
this season; and of this tendency the fisher should
be always on his guard.
•
In addition to this danger to the navigator, of
his being hemmed in by the closing ice, and of
being detained throughout the winter, there is
another, which greatly affects the safety of the
fisher, and must not be forgotten. This is the
prevalence (if we may judge by one year's expe-
GREENLAND:-STORMS.
341
rience) of heavy gales of wind in the month of
August. These gales, which were probably the
most violent immediately upon the coast, were, in
this season, all from the northward; and were so
prevalent, as to blow violently during six full
days out of sixteen. In such gales, it is scarcely
possible for human power to manage a ship,
among ice, with any degree of safety, even in day
light, and smooth water. And much less possible
is it for the navigator to keep himself safe, when
overtaken by them during the darkness of night,
and in a turbulent sea. The situation of greatest
peril, in the season when these storms occur, must
be when the ships are about leaving the ice. If a
ship be lost in smooth water, in the interior of the
ice, there is a hope of the crew escaping, by the as-
sistance of some other vessel; but if such a calami-
ty should overtake them, in the tremendous swell
that generally occurs at the edge of the ice in a
gale, their situation, if not hopeless, must be peri-
lous in the extreme *.
Just as this sheet was about to be put to press, I re-
ceived a letter from the Captain of a whaler, that was later
on the fishing stations near the West Land than myself,
giving an interesting account of the difficulties he encoun-
tered from the ice and weather, in the beginning of Sep-
tember, which fully corroborates the views above taken, of
342
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
The gales we experienced were always accom-
panied by a heavy fall of rain, hail, snow, or sleet;
but most commonly zain. The quantity which fell
exceeded, in a given interval of two or three days,
any thing. I ever before witnessed, either at sea
or on shore. This circumstance is to be attributed
to the action of partial winds. A stream of air
proceeding entirely from the north, could not de-
posit any thing like the quantity of moisture that
occurred, when, passing towards a warmer climate.
Most probably the wind aloft was from the south-
ward, at the time of the northerly storms by which
we were visited for an admixture of warm air,
saturated with moisture from the south, with cold
air from the north, could alone explain, on any
reasonable principle, the vast and continued fall
of rain, that we experienced.
་་
{
Though the sea shallows considerably on ap-
proaching the West Land, it seems to be in
general very free from dangers. We saw some
few rocks above water; but did not fall in with
any that could be considered dangerous to ship-
ping.
the dangerous nature of these regions at this season. This
communication being, I conceive, of importance to the whale-
fisher, is, in substance, inserted in the Appendix, No. V.
GREENLAND-WEATHER.
348
The weather, in the months of June and July,
is found to be particularly fine upon this coast;
and the thick fogs with which the adjoining re-
gions are visited, seldom remain long at a time on
the land. We frequently observed, that when
there was a thick "fog-bank" to the eastward,
the weather was clear near the shore; and some-
times, in standing to the westward, we emerged
as we approached the land, into a clear sky
and bright sunshine. The total freeness from
clouds of the atmosphere near shore, is often re-
markable. The sun sometimes sweeps for days
together, round and round the heavens, without,
for a moment, being concealed by a cloud. The
heat on shore, I have had occasion to remark, is,
in such cases, very intense. The constant action
of the sun, without the suspension of night, pro-
duces an influence on the vegetation, which ex-
ceeds, perhaps, any thing that elsewhere occurs
even in the finest regions of the globe. The whole
process of vegetation, from the first mark of vitali-
ty in the seed deposited in the ground, to the
flowering and seeding of another series, is accom-
plished in a few weeks; and this process, it is
evident, must be completed within the limited
period, in every indigenous plant, or its species
would become extinct.
The superior heat of the land, to that of the
*
7.
i
344
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
sea, was most remarkable and striking. When
the temperature on shore was not less than 70°,
the thermometer on board of the ship, even near
the shore in Scoresby's Sound, never rose, I be-
lieve, in the shade, above 40°.
i
PROGRESS OUT OF THE ICE.
345
簪
​CHAPTER XIII.
GET CLEAR OF THE ICE.REMARKABLE COLOUR OF
THE SEA.—EXAMINATION OF THE CAUSE.-INNUMER-
ABLE ANIMALCULES. STORMY WEATHER. FAROE
ISLANDS. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CAUSE OF THE
SUSPENSION OF CLOUDS.-APPEARANCE OF FAROE. cino
MAKE THE LEWISES.-TREMENDOUS GALE.—A PRIN-
CIPAL OFFICER WASHED OVERBOARD.- -DANGEROUS
SITUATION OF THE SHIP.-REMARKS ON LIGHTS.
DIFFICULTIES OF THE NAVIGATION OF THE NORTH
CHANNEL.- ARRIVAL AT LIVERPOOL.
Tuesday, 27th August.-A THICK fog having
set in, in the night, we lost sight of the coast of
Greenland, and never saw it afterwards. We
pursued our reach all the day to the eastward,
with an occasional tack, among fields, floes, and
drift-ice. As we had a smart breeze, we made ra-
pid progress, though a good deal bewildered with
the thick fog that generally prevailed. About
mid-day we fell in with a compact chain of floes,
lying directly across our course, wherein, for some
time, no passage whatever could be discovered.
Fortunately the fog dispersed at a convenient
moment, and the atmosphere exhibited fine blinks
3
346
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
of the ice that proved of the greatest consequence
to us. By means of this reflection, which present-
ed a distinct map of the various bodies of ice and
intervening channels of water, we perceived that
the chain of floes a little to the northward of us,
was slightly divided, so as to promise to afford us
a passage. In beating up to this position we had
some difficult and narrow sailing; but, having
reached the place indicated as an opening by the
sky, we found a clear channel which conducted us
through the chain of floes into a tolerably open
navigation to the eastward. At sun-set, the
wind blowing strong, we made fast, along with
the Fame, to a small floe, for safety during the
night. The Dundee unluckily parted company
in the fog, by steering a more southerly course
than that which we pursued.
The night was excessively dark and boisterous.
All the ice was in motion, and annoyed us much.
At day-break, a floe set up so near us, that we
were obliged to get under-way. Though the
weather was very thick, we continued our course
to the eastward, under a brisk sail. At first we
were greatly embarrassed by a body of floes, which,
after putting the ships about, and obliging us to
pursue every possible course, eventually afforded
us a passage. The latter part of the day being
less windy, and the sea more open, we advanced
PROGRESS OUT OF THE ICE.
347
with greater safety, though we were not so fortu-
nate as to avoid all the pieces of ice in our way.
We struck a blow against a tongue of ice, that
occasioned some alarm, being received upon the
part of the ship that had sustained some injury in
the gale of the 23d, from whence another piece of
false-keel was now disengaged. In the evening,
the weather becoming extremely thick and dark,
and the wind blowing fresh at SSE., we made
fast to a loose piece of ice. But we were not per-
mitted to remain long, as several lumps of heavy
ice setting towards us, forced us from our moor-
ings before day-light.
The fog was intensely thick the whole of the
29th; but the weather was fortunately calm.
We now found that we were approaching the
sea, both from a swell that penetrated and put
the ice in motion, and from the loud roaring of
the contiguous streams. We moored again in
the night to several pieces of ice, no single piece
about us being sufficiently large to make fast to.
The night was so dark that the Fame, at the dis-
tance of 150 or 200 yards, was not seen for some
hours. The sea was highly luminous.
August 30th.-A considerable swell setting
in, and the ice accumulating greatly around us,
our situation, in the event of a gale of wind,
threatened to be a very critical one. Fortunate-
348
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
?
ly, in the forenoon, the density of the fog rather
diminished, so that we could sometimes see a
distance of half a league. We immediately cast
off, having a breeze from the SSW., and, directed
to windward by the loud roaring of the ice, came,
after a few hours sailing, to the border of a com-
pact aggregation of ice, that had every appearance
of being the " sea-stream." As we continued
plying to windward, along its inner margin, a
break in its ranks was happily discovered, through
which, along with the Fame, we succeeded in ac-
complishing a safe passage to sea. We now made
all sail, and proceeded towards the south-east,-
a course that soon took us entirely clear of the
ice.
It was a great relief to my mind to be thus
able to extricate ourselves, in safety, from the
mazes of the polar ice, now rendered particularly
dangerous by the boisterous winds of this season,
and foggy weather, with dark nights, rapidly in-
creasing in length. The comfortable feelings now
excited by our comparative freedom from danger
and anxiety, were not, I trust, unaccompanied by
gratitude to a Superior Power for our constant
preservation through a period of fourteen weeks,
or, more exactly, a hundred days, during which we
had been constantly encompassed by ice, at the dis-
tance generally of 100 or 150 miles from the sea,
and often in circumstances of no ordinary peril.
GET CLEAR OF THE ICE.
349
It is not easy for a person, unacquainted with
the navigation of the polar seas, to judge of the
perpetual anxiety that the commander of a ship
suffers, while involved among the crowded, ex-
tensive, and dangerous ices with which these re-
gions abound. Among drift-ice, whenever the
wind is high, ships are liable to receive blows that
might be destructive: and, among fields and floes,
when the weather is thick, so that the dangers of
the navigation cannot always be discerned before
it is too late, they are exposed to the closing of
these irresistible masses of ice upon them, which
are capable of crushing them in pieces in a mo-
ment. Ships under-way are almost perpetually
exposed to one or other of these dangers: nor are
ships moored to the ice by any means in safety,
as our experience this voyage too powerfully de-
monstrated. Where floes abound, they are al-
most continually revolving and driving about in
various directions, and frequently coming into mu-
tual contact, with tremendous concussions. Dif-
ferent causes operate in bringing separate masses
into contact, the combined influence of which, is
often altogether incalculable. Thus, superficial
currents, which are not uncommon, operate more
powerfully upon light ice than upon heavy ice, so
as to carry the former with greater velocity than
the latter. The wind also, which acts upon all
+
350
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
ice, and gives it a universal tendency to leeward,
operates more powerfully on light and hummocky
ice, than on heavy and flat ice, so that the two
former descriptions drift faster than the two lat-
ter. This general tendency of the ice is modified
by the influence of other ice in connection or con-
tact with it, also by the different forms which the
sheets of ice assume, and by the position in which
they lie, in reference to the wind. For instance:
while circular sheets of ice, or sheets having a re-
gular polygonal form, generally drift directly "be-
fore the wind,"-oblong pieces pursue a medium
course between that of the direction of the wind,
and the point to which the leeward extremity of
their longest axis is directed. Hence it is evi-
dent, that the united effect of these various causés
influencing “the set of the ice," can never be ful-
ly anticipated.; although long experience in navi-
gating the polar seas, will enable a person of ob
servation, in most cases, to form a tolerably cor-
rect judgment of the safety or danger of almost
any situation. Such being the anxieties and dan-
gers attendant on the navigation among the north-
ern ices, the relief that the captains of the whalers
experience, when they get clear out to sea, must
be in some degree appreciated. My Father has
been heard to express his feelings on this subject,
when fairly at sea, with the characteristic obser-
vation, that his watch was out.
鑒
​REMARKABLE COLOUR OF THE SEA. 351
The last day of August was foggy, with mo-
derate variable winds. We steered principally
SE. and S., but did not make much way.
Sunday, 1st September.-The weather conti-
nued foggy. The wind was easterly. Our course
SE b S., true. During this day's sailing, we
passed through several veins or patches of a re-
markable brown-coloured, or sometimes yellow-
ish-green coloured, water, presenting a striking
contrast to the blue sea around them. These
patches ran in various directions, generally form-
ing long streaks or veins, extending as far as the
eye could discern the peculiar colour. Their
breadth was small, seldom exceeding forty or fifty
yards, and sometimes much less considerable. The
separation of the two qualities of water, the ordi-
nary blue and the brown, was generally well de-
fined. The appearance of the brown patches was
similar to that of the muddy water issuing from a
large river, at its confluence with the sea. A wa-
ter somewhat similar, I observed, in the month of
July 1820, in the Greenland Sea; and Captain
Parry notices water of a similar appearance, ob-
served on his entrance into Davis' Strait, which
he attributes to " the admixture of a large por-
tion of fresh water, supplied by the melting of the
snow and ice *" A bucket of the peculiar co-
* Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West
Passage, p. 7.
352
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
$
loured water passed through this day, was taken
up and preserved for future examination.
The morning of Monday was hazy and squally,
with dark threatening clouds, collected in the
southern quarter. Beginning to blow hard, we
were soon put under close-reefed topsails. At
noon, however, the sky broke, and the wind sud-
denly moderated, and veered from E. to SSE.
Deceived by the improved appearance of the
heavens, without consulting the more faithful
monitor, the barometer, we shook out the reefs of
the topsails, and set top-gallant sails. But this
moderation of the gale was of short continuance.
It chopped again round to the E., and presently
obliged us to reduce our canvas. Towards night,
the barometer sank to 28.35.; which, being a
greater depression than I had ever before observed
on the homeward passage,' indicated a hard gale.
We made all possible preparation with this ex-
pectation; but fortunately, the easterly wind con-
tinued with us, and resisted the force of the storm
predicted by the barometer, that evidently pre-
vailed with prodigious violence at a short distance
to the westward of us. Of this we had sufficient
evidence in the rising of a "head-sea" so tremen-
dous, that it greatly endangered our bowsprit and
masts.
In the course of the day I obtained two or
ANIMALCULES IN SEA-WATER.
353
:
three glimpses of the sun, which gave the lati-
tude 68° 26', and the longitude 11° 55′ W.
The brown-coloured sea-water, taken up on
Sunday, was now submitted to examination un-
der the microscope. The colouring substance had
subsided, and combined into filaments and fasci-
culi of particles. These were evidently the re-
mains of animalcules; but their exact form and
magnitude could not be determined, on account
of their close and intimate combination. From
their general appearance, however, I make no
doubt, but they are of a kind similar to that which
gives the yellowish-green colour to the sea, ob-
served on this and on a former occasion.
As the examination of the yellowish-green sea,
discovered in the summer of 1820, in latitude
70° 34', was conducted with great care, I shall
give an account of those observations, which may
serve to explain the cause of this and similar ap-
pearances in the waters of the ocean, better than
the details of the imperfect examination now ac-
complished.
In the case to which I now refer, (namely, the
observations made in the year 1820), the surface
of the sea to an extent of several leagues, was va-
riegated by large patches, and extensive streaks of
a yellowish-green colour; having the appearance
of an admixture with flowers of sulphur or mus-
Z
354
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
!
tard. Whenever the ship passed through any of
this peculiar water, the patch or streak was di-
vided, and did not again unite; from which cir-
cumstance it appeared, that the colouring matter
was quite superficial. Suspecting it to be of an
animal nature, a quantity of the yellowish-green
water was procured; and, on examination by the
microscope, was found to contain animalcules in
immense numbers. The larger proportion of
these, consisting of a transparent substance of a
lemon-yellow colour, and globular form, appeared
to possess very little power of motion; but a part,
amounting, perhaps, to a fifth of the whole, were
in continual action *. Some of these being seen
advancing by a slightly waving motion, at the
rate of th of an inch in a second; and others
spinning round with considerable celerity, gave
great interest and liveliness to the examination.
But the progressive motion of the most active,
however distinct and rapid it might appear under
a high magnifying power, was, in reality, extremely
slow; for it did not exceed an inch in three mi-
nutes. At this rate, they would require 151
days to travel a nautical mile. The Condur, it
is generally believed, could fly round the globe
at the equator, assisted by a favourable gale, in
180
*This kind resembled the animalcula represented in
the "Account of the Arctic Regions," Plate xvi. Fig. 18.
!
ANIMALCULES IN SEA-WATER.
355
about a week; these animalcules, in still water,
could not accomplish the same distance in less
than 8935 years.
Few circumstances among the minuter works
of creation, have struck me with so much surprise,
as the appearance of these animalcules, occurring
in such myriads, in a sea perpetually covered with
ice,-exposed to an average temperature fifteen
degrees below the freezing point,-and subject to
be frozen, on some occasions at least, during every
month of the
year.
The vastness of their numbers, and their ex-
ceeding minuteness, are circumstances, discovered
in the examination of these animalcules, of un-
common interest. In a drop of water examined
by a power of 28.224, (magnified superficies),
there were fifty in number, on an average, in each
square of the micrometer glass, of th of an inch
in diameter; and as the drop occupied a circle on
a plate of glass containing 529 of these squares,
there must have been in this single drop of water,
taken out of the yellowish-green sea, in a place
by no means the most discoloured, about 26,450
animalcules. Hence, reckoning sixty drops to a
dram, there would be a number in a gallon of
water, exceeding, by one-half, the amount of the
population of the whole globe! It gives a power-
ful conception of the minuteness and wonders of
Z 2
356
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
creation, when we think of more than 26,000 ani-
mals living, obtaining subsistence, and moving
perfectly at their ease, without annoyance to one
another, in a single drop of water!
व्र
The diameter of the largest of these animal-
cules, was only the oath of an inch, and many on-
ly the oth. The army which Buonaparte led
into Russia in 1812, estimated at 500,000 men,
would have extended, in a double row, or two
men abreast, with 2 feet 3 inches space for each
couple of men, a distance of 106 English miles;
-the same number of these animalcules arranged
in a similar way in two rows, but touching one
another, would only reach 5 feet 2 inches. A
whale requires a sea, an ocean to sport in ;-about
a hundred and fifty millions of these animal-
cules, would have abundant room in a tumbler of
water.
About day-break of the 3d of September, the
wind rather subsided, and encouraged us to make
sail. But veering to the northward in the after-
noon, it immediately began to blow. The bad
weather so long predicted by the barometer, had,
I began to hope, taken place in some other lati-
tude, and passed us by; but it at length overtook
us. The gale increased so rapidly, and attained
such a degree of violence, that before we could
HEAVY GALE.
357
get in our canvas sufficiently, the "leach-rope"
of the main topsail gave way, and the sail in-
stantly split.
When the gale reached its height, the scene
around us assumed a sublime aspect. The ship
scudding before the tempest, attained a velocity
of ten knots, which, accustomed as we had long
been to smooth seas and slow removes, occasioned
a peculiar excitation of feeling. The sea, however,
rose to such an alarming height, that the pleasant
sensations commonly excited by rapid motion,
were considerably suppressed. Wave after wave
followed us in rapid and varied succession, break-
ing and roaring along both sides of the ship, and
occasionally throwing their sprays over the deck.
The heavens were shrouded in a murky veil; the
view of the horizon was intercepted, and the
lower atmosphere obscured by the scum of the
breaking waves.
Just as we had got the main topsail replaced,
a heavy sea struck the rudder and broke the " til-
lar ropes." Scudding as we were at the time with
the wind on the quarter, the ship necessarily
"broached to;" but, such was her excellent adap-
tation and buoyancy, she did not receive a drop of
water on board, under circumstances in which hun-
dreds of ships have been dismasted and many have
foundered. We lay to under a close-reefed main
358
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
topsail, until new wheel-ropes were arranged, and
then pursued our course to the southward. At
midnight we were in the latitude of the northern
part of Iceland, a parallel that we crossed in a
dark tempestuous night with considerable anxi-
ety. The sight of the sun obtained on the 2d,
gave, by the chronometer, a longitude a little to
the eastward of this island; but as its rate had
not yet been sufficiently determined, there was a
possibility that it might not be correct. This
suspicion, however, was fortunately not realized;
and we ran safely during the remainder of the
gale. It is observable, that the barometer, which
had been at 28.35 for upwards of thirty hours be-
fore the commencement of the gale, began to rise
the moment the gale attained its height. It rose
about ths of an inch, in a very short interval.
This rising of the mercury, at the commencement
of a storm, is a circumstance that I have frequent-
ly observed. It is not indicative, however, either
of a short duration or an approaching cessation of
the gale, for after such a rise, I have known many
gales to continue for thirty or forty hours unaba-
ted.
I
The gale began to subside soon after day-light
appeared, and at 8 A. M. we were enabled to make
sail. The latitude at noon was 64°.56'; longitude
10° 7′ W. Towards evening, the barometer ha-
FAROE ISLANDS.
359
ving again fallen to 28.60, and the weather being
dark, rainy, and threatening, we considered it
prudent to make preparation for another gale.
Fortunately, however, it did not reach us, though
a mountainous sea, which arose from the westward,
proved that it prevailed at no great distance.
On the 5th, the weather continued squally and
unsettled, and we had heavy seas from different
quarters. In the evening there was a faint ap-
pearance of the aurora borealis. Our course this
day was SW. by the compass, which, it was ex-
pected, would take us clear of the Faroe Islands.
But the wind in the night veering to the south-
ward, obliged us to take a more easterly course,
that brought us within sight of land at 10 A. M. It
proved to be Myngeness, the most western of the
Faroe Islands. Sights for the longitude being ob-
tained near this land (which has been well sur-
veyed by the Danes), I was enabled to ascertain
the error of my chronometer. The longitude of
Myngeness, as determined by the chronometer,
was 8° 10′ W. instead of 7° 25′, the position given
to it by the charts. The difference of 45′ of lon-
gitude, or three minutes of time, appeared to be
the error of the chronometer *.
* This error does not affect the longitudes previously
given in this Journal: because, as I have before noticed, the
corrections now obtained, as well as subsequent corrections,
have been applied to all the longitudes observed during the
voyage.
k
་
360
GREENLAND VOYAGE,
In the afternoon, within six leagues of Myn-
geness, we passed through a number of little
patches of a dark brown water; different, however,
both in tint, and in the form of the patches, from
that scen on the 1st. Some of our sailors, who
had been employed in the herring fishery, attri-
buted it to herrings or to herring-spawn. A large
net (that was constructed for the purpose of col-
lecting marine insects by an obliging female
friend), being put oyerboard, as we passed through
one of the brown patches, caught a number of
medusæ, a small star fish, and two shrimps. One
of the medusa was a small species, resembling in
shape and dimensions, the thimble used for sew-
ing; but with this difference, the tube was com-
pressed instead of being cylindrical. The star
fish was gelatinous. It was scarcely the size of
a hazel-nut. It had, I believe, eight rays, with
a gelatinous sack appended to the radiating point,
Besides these animals taken up by the net, there
were multitudes of large medusæ, from six to nine
inches in diameter, in the water. The chief kind
was the M. purpura.
In the evening, the wind coming to NW b W.,
and blowing fresh, we tacked to the southward;
and, under a pressure of canvas, succeeded in
weathering the Faroe Islands.
The tops of the higher cliffs of Kalsoe and
1
THEORY OF CLOUDS.
361
Ostroe, it was remarked, were capped with clouds,
which remained in a state of apparently calm re-
pose upon the summits, while a breeze, little short
of a gale of wind, carried all other clouds along
with great velocity. This is a circumstance so
common in these islands, and indeed in all moun-
tainous countries, that it would scarcely have me-
rited observation, had it not formerly suggested
to me an explanation of the phenomenon of the
suspension of clouds, which, as far as I know, is
new*. The force acting against the suspension
of clouds, is gravity, which, on account of the re-
sistance that very minute substances, such as the
almost invisible particles of vapour in clouds, meet
with in their descent, from the air, can be pro-
ductive of no great velocity; but the force acting
against the retention of clouds on the tops of
mountains, in boisterous weather, is the wind,
which may have a velocity of fifty miles an hour,
or upwards. Hence whatever cause is sufficient for
the retention of clouds upon mountains, against
the action of the wind, must be sufficient (all
other circumstances being the same) for the sus-
* The first observation of this circumstance occurred
in 1820, while passing the Faroe Islands, in a gale of wind.
The theory of the suspension of clouds that was suggested
by is, was first communicated to the Liverpool " Society of
Travellers into Foreign Countries," about two years ago,
362
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
pension of clouds in the air, where the tendency
to quit their position is induced by a force per-
haps not one-tenth so great as the former. In
the case of the retention of clouds upon moun-
tains, it might be objected, that, notwithstanding
a gale may be blowing in the lower parts of the
atmosphere, the air on the tops of the mountains
may be calm. It must be admitted, that the
various currents known to exist in the atmo-
sphere, at the same time, in different strata,
might justify this supposition, were there no
facts that could be brought forward to prove the
prevalence of the wind aloft as well as below, in
instances where the clouds were retained. These
facts, indeed, being so much within every person's
observation, who has visited mountainous coun-
tries, scarcely require an example. Two instances,
however, may be given. On a former voyage,
when the highest summit of Ostroe was observed
to be covered with a stationary cloud, during a
strong gale, the lower atmosphere was full of those
scattered clouds called by the sailors" scud,"
whose flight, in storms, is so striking and rapid.
Some of these patches of cloud were evidently at
the same level as that of the highest land; be-
cause, in a large patch passing across the summit,
it was sometimes observed that a portion of it
coalesced with the cloud reposing thereon, and
THEORY OF CLOUDS.
363
the rest flew away, with undiminished velocity
to leeward. The other example that I have to
mention, relates to Benlomond. I ascended this
mountain on a fine clear day, in the month of Oc-
tober. There were indeed some flying clouds in
the air, the wind being high, but these were
small and few. The summit of Benlomond, how-
ever, was capped with a stationary cloud. This
cloud proved to be of the nature of mist, of the
densest kind. The particles of vapour were re-
markably small, and were flying rapidly past me
by the action of the wind. At the very top, in-
deed, the gale was so strong that I could scarcely
keep my feet; yet the cloud steadily maintained
its position for several hours. Now, as the cloud
could not possibly remain stationary on the moun-
tain, without moving to windward with a velocity
equal to that of the gale, a notion which it would
be absurd to entertain, its apparent fixedness can
only be attributed to progressive deposition of
aqueous vapour, or formation, on the one hand,
and to equal solution and dispersion on the other.
It is, therefore, absolutely certain, that the sta-
tionary appearance of the cloud, in this instance,
was the effect of condensation produced on the air,
as it approached the mountain, and absorption
as it receded from it; so that, while the cloud
seemed, to a distant observer, to be the same
364
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
mass of vapour, neither varying in size nor form,
for a quarter of an hour together, it was in reality
changing the whole of the particles of which it
consisted, perhaps every minute. The cause of
this phenomenon is to be looked for either in elec-
tricity or temperature. In the case before us,
however, the agent is most probably electricity.
Thus damp air, otherwise transparent, when it
comes in contact with elevated peaks, or rather
within the sphere of its electric atmosphere, be-
comes obscure from the deposition of moisture:
this obscurity continues during its passage through
the sphere of electrical influence, and then is im-
mediately redissolved, and disappears.
This doctrine, substituting changes of tempera-
ture or changes of humidity, for changes in the
electrical action, will enable us, I conceive, to ex-
plain the phenomenon of the suspension of clouds,
without resorting to the unphilosophical opinion
of the existence of vesicular vapour lighter than
air. We shall suppose two portions of perfectly
humid air, of different temperatures, to be com-
bined, no matter by what cause, in that part of
the atmosphere usually occupied by clouds. The
effect, on the principle of Dr Hutton's ingenious
theory of rain, must be a condensation of a portion
of moisture in the form of vapour. This vapour,
however fine its particles, or whether its particles
THEORY OF CLOUDS.
365
be vesicular or not, if it be water, must be heavier
than air, and will consequently descend. After
a certain distance accomplished in its descent, the
aqueous vapour perhaps passes into a stratum or
patch of comparatively dry air, or air not satu-
rated with moisture, where the attraction of the
air for water will necessarily occasion the solution
of the vapour, and its disappearance. Thus we
can account for the suspension of clouds on prin-
ciples universally known and admitted. The
steady form and position sometimes maintained
by the clouds in the open atmosphere, I appre-
hend to be, as in those on the tops of mountains,
rather apparent than real;-the visible suspen-
sion being the effect of continual condensations
of moisture on the upper, and solutions on the
lower parts.
For a further illustration of this opinion, let us
suppose three horizontal strata of air, a, b, c, in a

ď
с
vertical series, at a considerable altitude, and in
different states or velocities. Let the two upper
366
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
strata a, b, be of unequal temperature, (saya = 40°;
b= 50°) and moving either with different veloci
ties, or in different directions. Their unequal
motion would produce an admixture, which, in
the case of their being perfectly humid, must oc-
casion condensation. The vapour thus condensed,
would descend by the action of gravity, and would
continue to present the appearance of a cloud, so
long as it was passing through absolutely damp
air of uniform temperature; but on falling into a
third stratum, c, of dryer air, of a similar tempera-
ture, it would be absorbed and disappear. This
would mark the lower edge of the cloud. But
should the descending vapour, instead of a third
stratum of less humid air, meet with a continued
stratum, damp to saturation, it must fall to the
earth; and if the temperature of the lower air
should be higher than that of the vapour, the air
would lose some of its heat in raising the tempera-
ture of the vapour to a mean, which would cause
a deposition of moisture from this stratum also,
(because, if it were perfectly humid in its former
temperature, it could not contain all its moisture
under a less heat), whereby the aqueous parti-
cles, being now brought nearer together by their
increased numbers, would have a greater tenden-
cy to coalesce, until they were enlarged to the
magnitude of drops, that should be productive of
THEORY OF CLOUDS.
367
showers of rain. It is, therefore, satisfactory to
notice, that the explanation now offered, of the
cause of the suspension of clouds, is perfectly con-
sistent with our ideas respecting the general cause
of rain; and, indeed, that the same principles that
are requisite to account for the one phenomena,
are equally applicable to the solution of the other.
There is no great difficulty in accounting, on this
theory, for the limited space occupied by clouds;
though it could scarcely be expected to extend to
an explanation of the various modifications ob-
served, unless we had correct observations on the
hygrometrical and thermometrical states of the at-
mosphere, where these different modifications oc-
cur. Instead of a continuous stratum of cloud
being formed by the process above stated, there
would be a termination of the cloud, giving a de-
finite edge, whenever the strata a and b became
of the same temperature. Thus, all other things
being the same, suppose the stratum b, which has
been taken at the uniform temperature of 50° to
be 40° at the place d. This being the same tem-
perature as that of the upper stratum, could be
productive of no deposition; consequently the
cloud at this point would terminate. And again,
let us suppose the strata b and c to be at rest, and
the stratum a in motion, and, while the tempera-
ture of a is uniformly the same, let that of the
368
GREENLAND VOYAĠE.
1
upper edge of b, be in alternate patches at the
températures of 40° and 50°, all damp to satura-
tion ;-then the cloud produced at e, would assume
the form of the masses of air that had the highest
temperature, and might consist of innumerable
streaks or patches, of varying magnitude and den-
sity.
But, let it be observed, these remarks do not
extend to the denial of the electrical origin of
some clouds, nor indeed to the denial of an occa-
sionally electrical agency in the production of
rain. For it is highly probable, if not certain,
that the thunder-cloud receives its peculiar form
and character from its electrical state; and that
thunder showers, hail in summer, and the forma
tion of lumps of ice in the atmosphere, are phe-
nomena, in the production of which electricity is
an important agent.
The northern face of the Faroe Islands abounds
with huge perpendicular cliffs, somewhat colum
nar, rearing their proud crests over the ocean, to
the height of 1500 and 2000 feet; and defying, ap-
parently, the ravages of time, and the rage of the
elements. I once approached one of these cliffs
under circumstances of extraordinary interest.
The weather was thick and stormy: we were anxi-
ously looking out for the land. A shower pass-
FAROE ISLANDS.
369
ing us, the prospect was a little extended, when,
suddenly, a tremendous precipice towering almost
over our mast-head, appeared within a quarter of
a mile to leeward of us. The sea broke with
pro-
digious force against its base, and in some places
threw up columns or jets of water to the height
of more than a hundred feet. The partial obscu-
ration of the summit of the cliff, which could just
be discovered peeping through the clouds,-the
forbidding blackness of the rocks,-the magnitude
and elevation of the precipice, which is stated to
be 2400 feet perpendicular, the foaming of the
waters, the raging of the storm,-the universal
gloom and obscurity around us,—and the threat-
ening of danger, though rather apparent than real,
formed altogether one of the most truly sublime
scenes I ever witnessed.
These islands are visited by an extraordinary
share of thick and stormy weather. I have seen
them repeatedly; but it was almost always under
similar circumstances. On passing under their
lee in the spring of 1821, the whole range of
islands was continually capped with a dense mass
of gloomy clouds. These clouds extended to lee-
ward, or to the westward, as far as the eye could
reach, and frequently emitted showers of rain and
heavy squalls; while both to the northward and
southward of the land, the sky was comparatively
A a
870
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
clear. This covering of cloud was so thick, con-
sisting of innumerable patches of compact cumu-
li, that the light transmitted through it, gave
to the land the effect of a gloomy panorama;
while the bright specks of sun-beam that occasion-
ally broke through, and cast a brilliant light on
different sublime promontories, cliffs, or elevated
peaks, produced a variety and changeableness of
appearance, similar to that given by an unequally
illuminated phantasmagoria. The effect was at
once surprising and beautiful. The squalls expe-
rienced, under the elevated cliffs of Faroe, are
often exceedingly fierce. They seem to be occa-
sioned by some retarding force on the wind, (whe-
ther electrical or not, is difficult to ascertain),ex-
erted by the higher hills, until the obstruction
produces such a condensed and accumulated mass
of air, that at length overcomes the attractive or
retarding force, and bursts upon any leeward ob-
jects it may encounter, with a degree of violence
that endangers the masts of shipping, and throws
the waters into foam.
September 7th.-The sea in the night was lu-
minous, in large globular spots,-probably the ef-
fect of a continuation of the numerous large me-
dusæ seen the preceding evening. The wind was
on the whole fair, but our progress to the south-
BUTT OF THE LEWIS.
371
ward was greatly retarded, in consequence of heavy
swells from the NW., WSW., and S., prevailing
at the same time. Our latitude at noon was 60°28',
longitude 7° 30′ W.
Several small land-birds. and hawks were seen
flying about. These were all so wearied with
their flight, that they generally alighted on the
ship; and several of both kinds were caught alive.
The pursuit of the hawks was supposed to be the
reason of these little birds leaving the land.
The heavy sea continued all the next day.
Though we had a moderate breeze "right aft,"
we made but little progress, and sometimes the
re-action of the head-sea was so equal to the ac
tion of the wind, that the head-way of the ship
was fairly stopped.
1
At 6 A. M., of the 9th of September, we made
land, which proved to be the Butt of the Lewis,
and at 1 P. M. tacked close in with Gallan Head.
The weather had a stormy appearance, which was
indicated by the character of the clouds, and by
the frequent occurrence of rainbows and "wea-
ther-galls." In the afternoon, the wind coming
at NW. by N., and blowing strong, we attempted
to advance on our course to the westward of the
Lewis, but the night proving threatening and
dark, with rain and strong squalls, high sea and
scant wind, I considered it too great a risk to at-
A a 2
372
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
tempt to proceed along a lee-shore under such cir--
cumstances. We therefore stood off and on du-
ring the night.
About midnight we had thunder and lightning,
and very hard squalls, with intervals of moderate
weather. The squalls coming on without warn-
ing, the jib, which was imprudently set, was split
from head to foot.
At day-light, the weather looking somewhat
better, we made a stretch to the south-westward,
and passed betwixt the Flannen Islands and Gal-
len Head at 8 A. M. The swell, however, and scant
wind setting us rapidly towards the eastern land,
we tacked at 11 A. M., and stood off, the sea then
breaking terrifically on this "iron-bound shore."
We weathered the Flannen Islands in the even-
ing, and passed within a mile of them. Among
this group, there is only one that is covered with
herbage, as far as I could perceive, and of sufficient
importance to be entitled to the name of an island.
This is about a quarter of a mile in diameter.
Another, nearly of the same size, but apparently
quite barren, lies about half a league from it. The
rest are mere rocks, rising very little above the
surface of the water; but the larger islets, fortu-
nately for the navigator, are so considerably ele-
vated, that they may be seen five or six leagues from
a ship's deck. As I did not perceive any broken.
TREMENDOUS STORM.
373
water among them, I apprehend there are no
sunken rocks lying at a distance; there appeared,
indeed, to be a passage for shipping betwixt the
two largest islands of the group.
•
The islands, or skerries, which here and there
skirt the forbidding coast on the western side of
the Hebrides, appeared to me, from some bearings
taken at noon, to lie farther off the main than re-
presented in the charts. This seemed to be par-
ticularly the case with Gashere, which, according
to my observations, is considerably more in the
way of the coasting navigator, than he would ex-
pect from the appearance of the chart.
Towards midnight we encountered heavy.
squalls, with rain, which increased to that degree
that put us under close-reefed topsails. The
night was excessively dark; the only object that
could be seen a ship's length from us, was the bro-
ken water on the tops of the waves, which was ren-
dered visible by its fiery luminousness. The sea
increased until it became tremendously heavy.
Two or three seas broke upon deck, and carried
away our waist-boards.
Dreading to fall in with St Kilda in the dark,
which we were likely to do, because of the wind
having shifted to SSE, we wore at 1 A. M., and
stood to the eastward; and at 3 A. M., the wind
having unfortunately westered, we wore again to
}
374
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
the NNW. The storm raged with great violence
the whole of the day (the 11th); notwithstanding
which, we were obliged to carry as much canvas
as possible, to endeavour to gain an offing from
the dangerous coast to the eastward. But the
frequent shifting of the wind happened unfavour-
ably for us, and at mid-day we could not calculate
upon being above five or six leagues from the land.
In the afternoon the sun broke through the
dense atmosphere that had hitherto prevailed and
screened its rays; but instead of cheering us with
its presence, it only illuminated the edges of the
black tempest-threatening clouds, and partial
spots of the surface of the turbulent sea, throwing
the other portions of the sky and sea into tenfold
gloom, and portentous obscurity. The gate for a
few minutes rather subsided; but the tempestuous
expression of the heavens was too well marked,
and the low state of the barometer (28.50) too
strongly indicative of a storm, to allow us to hope
for a present cessation of the gale. The deceit
ful lull* was only an interval of accumulation; for
the wind now chopping round to NW. by N., (a
direction "dead" upon the land), its pent up stores
suddenly burst upon us with the fury of a hurri-
* Brief interval of moderate weather in a storm.
TREMENDOUS STORM.
375
cane. The yards, sustaining no other canvas but
two topsails, reduced to the smallest possible com-
pass by four reefs, quivered under the pressure;
and the ship was forced almost on her "beam-
ends*" We were not only exposed to the over-
whelming violence of this fearful storm (by far
the heaviest I ever encountered), and to the ac-
tion of a mountainous sea, rendered awfully heavy
and cross by the sudden changing of the wind;
but to all the anxieties attendant on a situation
so near a lee-shore.
At first it appeared to me the most practicable
measure, to attempt to double the Butt of the
Lewis, as there seemed little hope of being able
to clear the land, standing to the south-westward.
With this view, therefore, after taking in the
main-topsail, and employing every other practi-
cal means of assisting the ship to wear, we got her
head round to the NE.; but, notwithstanding
our critical situation, we were unable to spread a
stitch of canvas excepting a reefed try-sail, for
nearly two hours.
No water had yet been shipped, though the
tremendous sea that was running, was received
upon the ship's quarter, or beam, being in a di-
*The state of a ship when inclining dangerously to
one side.
376
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
rection of all others the most dangerous. A fatal
wave, however, at length struck the quarter*,
with tremendous violence, and throwing up a
vast weight of water carried along with it, in its
passage across the deck, one of our harpooners, or
principal officers (who, along with several others,
was employed on the weather-rail endeavouring to
secure one of the boats hanging over the side)
quite over the heads of his companions, and swept
him overboard! Most of the crew being under
water at the same time, his loss was not known
until he was discovered just passing under the
ship's stern, but out of reach, and lying apparent-
ly insensible upon the wave. He was only seen
for a few seconds, and then disappeared for ever.
For some minutes, it was not known who the
sufferer was. Every one was greatly distressed;
and each, in his anxious exclamations, revealed
his fears for his friend. "It is Shields Jack,"
cries one. "No," replies a voice of feeling selfcon-
gratulation, "I am here."-"It is Jack O'Neill,"
“I
exclaims another;-"Aye, poor fellow,it is Jack
O'Neill." Butadripping stupor-struck sailor, cling-
ing by the weather-raill, comes aft at the moment,
and replies, "No, I am here." After a pause of
* The side of the ship towards the stern.
LOSS OF A PRINCIPAL OFFICER. 877
suspense, one adds, "It is Chambers."" Ah!
it must be Sam Chambers," cries another; and
no voice contradicted the assertion,-for his voice,
poor sufferer, was already choked with the wa-
ters, and his spirit had fled to meet its GOD!
Happily he was an excellent man; and there was
no doubt with those who knew his habitual piety,
and consistency of conduct, that he was prepared
to die. His conduct, in every case, was worthy
of his profession; and was a sufficient proof, if
such proof could be necessary, that religion, when
real, gives confidence and courage to the sailor,
rather than destroys his hardihood and bravery.
He was always one of the foremost in a post of
danger, and met with his death in an exposed si-
tuation, to which duty called, where he had vo-
luntarily posted himself.
*
Melancholy as the loss of a comrade was, the
individual and personal danger of all hands, pre-
vented any one from dwelling at that time, upon
an event calculated, under other circumstances, to
arouse the keenest sympathies of the most thought-
less. Several others of the people had very narrow
escapes. Another harpooner, who was in a simi-
lar situation with Chambers, and close by him,
was washed up into the mizen-rigging; and, on
recovering his recollection, found himself instinc-
tively grasping the rope that saved him.
378
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
#
It was now sun-set, and we had the terrible
prospect before us of a dark and dismal night, in
which we must encounter the several dangers of
stormy wind, tremendous sea, neighbouring rocky
islands, and a lee-shore.
Hitherto, for nearly two hours, the ship, though
rapidly nearing the land, was laid-to under bare
poles. This was a matter of prudence as well as
necessity; because, had we set any canvas while
the hurricane lasted (for such was the character the
gale for a time assumed) the loss of the sails, if not
of the masts, seemed inevitable. In either case,
we must have drifted on shore in a few hours, and
nothing could have saved us. Soon after ship-
ping the fatal sea, however, the hurricane charac
ter of the gale began to change, and the wind
fortunately veered a little more towards the north,
so that we found, if we could carry sail, we might,
under the blessing of GOD, be able yet to clear the
land on the starboard tack. We therefore set a
treble-reefed foresail, giving it every support that
we could contrive, and wore to the westward.
We then added the close-reefed main-topsail, and
reefed trysail, which was all the canvas the ship
could safely bear. Under this sail, we were urged
to the westward, against the sea, which now
and then broke over the ship, threatening to
sweep every thing away. St Kilda now lying di-
TREMENDOUS STORM.
379
rectly in our way, and being near us, became an
object of great alarm. We were apprehensive
that, should we fall in with it at night, we should
not find room to wear clear of it. Every possi-
ble precaution was used. A " hand" was lashed
in the fore-rigging to look out: others were sta-
tioned wherever they could be secured; and the
remainder of the crew were kept in readiness be-
low, to come up at a moment's warning. Provi-
dentially, we passed the night, a dangerous and
anxious night, of uncommon darkness,-without
falling in with any thing, or experiencing any ac-
cident, excepting the washing away of our bul-
warks fore and aft,-the staving of one of our
boats, and the loss of another. This damage
and loss was sustained by the reflux of water,
principally taken over the gunwale and rail to
leeward, knots of seas sometimes bursting from
under the ship's lee, and rising to the height of
two or three yards above the deck.
Joyful was the appearance of day-break. I never
before understood the full force of the expression
of the Psalmist," My soul waiteth for the Lord,
more than they that watch for the morning."-
When the curtain of night began to be withdrawn,
a marked darkness appeared on our lee-bow, which,
as day-light advanced, proved to be the object of
our apprehension, St Kilda, at the distance only
380
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
of three or four miles. The weather now begin-
ning to moderate, we were enabled, with such a
good land-mark, to bear away to the southward;
and under such improved prospects, that the pain-
ful anxiety continued through a night of extra-
ordinary danger, at once gave place to feelings of
gratitude, and almost turbulent exhilaration *.
The barometer again proved a faithful moni-
tor. It fell to 28.5, a little before the commence-
ment of the gale, and steadily maintained its
level, until the tremendous fury of the evening
storm had overtaken us: it then began to rise,
and anticipated the amendment of the weather in
a regular proportion. At 4 A. M. of the 12th, it
*In this, and several other instances, that placed me in cir-
cumstances of danger during this voyage, I have frankly ex-
pressed my feelings when my life has been in peril. This is,
perhaps, not the usual practice with those engaged in naval
affairs, as it might be construed, by illiberal persons, into a
deficiency of personal courage; but I make no scruple in as-
serting, that there is much affectation and insincerity in the
words of one, who, in a case of known danger, where the
mind has no other occupation than its contemplation, can
set lightly by the value of his life. True religion is, doubt-
less, the only principle that can enable a man, conscious of
his situation, and of the importance and reality of a future
state, to meet death with calmness and fortitude. If such
feelings are otherwise experienced in the deliberate expec-
tation of death, they can only be attributed either to insen-
sibility, or to some other false principle of repose.
NORTH CHANNEL.
381
was at 29.2, and at noon 29.8, being a rise of 1.3
inches in sixteen hours.
;
The day so improved, that before evening it
became pleasant. We passed within sight of
Barra Head before sun-set; and the next day,
September 13th, having a slant of wind from the
eastward, we fetched the coast of Ireland, near
Inistrahull Island. This was the first day of sum-
mer weather that we had had. The sky was
clear, the sea smooth, and the wind moderate :
the thermometer, however, never rose above 58°.
We were busily employed in getting the whale-
lines suspended for drying, and then in packing
them away in separate coils for future service.
د
September 14th.-Blowing fresh all day di-
rectly against us. The tides, which run strongly
in the North Channel, were found to be unfavour-
able to our progress, the ebb running longer out-
ward than the flood sets in. Our progress, there-
fore, to windward, under a pressure of canvas all
day, was only about fifteen miles.
1
In the afternoon I took a set of observations,
for proving the rate of the chronometer. When
compared with the longitude of Inishoen Head,
as given by the charts, it appeared to be 2′ 49″ too
slow, which was very satisfactory, differing only
11 seconds from the error given by the observa-
tions made off Faroe.
382
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
7
The sun exhibited a curious appearance at set-
ting. A little before the lower limb had descended
to the horizon, it became suddenly elongated
downwards, in the form of a prodigious balloon of
fire; and what added to this similarity, was its
intersection, horizontally, with two or three streaks
of black cloud, resembling belts. This appear-
ance occurred when the sun was directly in a line
with Inisterhol, which not only eclipsed the light
upon this island, but emblazoned it with the most
splendid luminary in our system.
Sunday, 15th of September.-The wind con-
tinuing at SE., and blowing fresh with hard
squalls, we made but small progress, having only
gained about twelve miles in four-and-twenty
hours: At 10 A. M. we tacked within two miles
of the magnificent basaltic promontory, Bengore
Head; but before sun-set we were driven, by
the ebb-tide, several miles to leeward.
We had Divine Service as usual. It is a little ·
remarkable, that, during the whole of the voyage,
no circumstance ever occurred to prevent us en-
gaging in public worship on the Sabbath day in
a few instances, the hour of worship could not
exactly be kept; but opportunity was always
found, of having each of the services in succession,
on the plan adopted at the commencement of the
voyage. It is also worthy of observation, that in
SABBATH-DAY.
388
no instance, when on fishing-stations, was our re-
fraining from the ordinary duties of our profession
on the Sunday, ever supposed to have been event-
ually a loss to us; for we, in general, found, that
if others, who were less regardful, or had not the
same view, of the obligatory nature of the com-
mand respecting the Sabbath-day, succeeded in
their endeavours to promote the success of the
voyage, we seldom failed to procure a decided ad-
vantage in the succeeding week. Independently,
indeed, of the Divine Blessing on honouring the
Sabbath day, I found, that the restraint put up-
on the natural inclinations of the men, for pursu-
ing the fishery at all opportunities, acted with
some advantage, by proving an extraordinary
stimulus to their exertions, when they were next
sent out after whales; moreover, when the pre-
ceding week happened to have been laboriously
occupied, the day of rest thus obtained had a be-
neficial effect, by restoring the energies of the
people, and fitting them for a renewal of their ar-
duous duties.
* Were it not out of place here, I could relate several
instances, in which, after our refraining to fish on the Sab
bath, while others were thus successfully employed, our
subsequent labours succeeded under circumstances so
striking, that there was not, I believe, a man in the ship,
who did not consider it the effect of the Divine Blessing-
384
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
·
The night of Sunday was dark and squally.
Under the influence of strong tides, the sets of
which are not well described, we navigated the
narrows, between Rachlin Island and the dangers
on the east side of the Mull of Kinho, in much
anxiety. This channel, subject to bad weather,
having strong tides in it, and being encumbered
with various dangers, is in great need of some ad-
ditional lights. There are only two (one at Inis-
trahull and another at Fannat Point), in the
whole outlet of the channel from the Mull of Can-
tyre to the exterior coasts at Barra Head on the
north, and Tory Island on the south, comprising
in the two lines of coast an extent of 200 miles*
A good light on Rachlin Island would, I con-
ceive, be a great advantage to the navigation,
particularly as the tides about it are very strong,
and have various sets, which it is difficult to cal-
culate. Such a light would be a great advantage
to ships attempting to pass the narrows of the
channel at night, and particularly to those en-
deavouring to beat through it in the dark. Ano-
• There is now a light on the Mull of Cantyre; but
being on the fixed principle, it can only be seen at a short
distance on one side, and is intercepted by a point of land
on the other. It is, however, in a useful position, and will,
hereafter, become of more importance, as I understand the
light is about to be improved.
7
2
LIGHTS OF THE NORTH-CHANNEL.
385
ther on the rocks of Skerivore, lying fifteen or
sixteen miles to the SW. of Tiree Island, and
abounding with dangers, would be a valuable
safeguard to vessels making the land from the
westward, and entering the channel, or contend-
ing with adverse winds within it*.
* The danger of the Skerivore is of no ordinary nature.
Though some of these rocks are above water, and may be
seen at the distance of four leagues, in clear weather; yet
"there is a rock, dry at half-ebb, near a mile east of it; and
another rock lying WSW W from it, about 2 miles, also
drying at half-ebb." This rock is fifteen miles from Tiree,
the only conspicuous land; and half way between it and
Tiree, "lies Boinshly Rock, which is very dangerous, being
seldom uncovered." These rocks, which greatly impede
and endanger the navigation of the North Channel, would
be much less formidable, were there a good light on the
Skerivore. It would be also desirable, that the lights be
produced by gas derived from oil, not merely for the en-
couragement of our fisheries, but because of this light being
the most brilliant and effective that could be employed in
this way.
It is the intention, I understand, of the Commissioners of
the Northern Light-houses, to have a light-house on the Ske-
rivore; but as it is expected to prove an expensive under-
taking, it is to be apprehended that it will be some years
before it is erected. Another light designed by the Commis-
sioners, is, I am informed, to be placed upon the Runs of
Isla. This will, no doubt, be of great use to the navigation;
and may, perhaps, answer in place of a light on Rachlin.
B b
386
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
:
The only objection to the multiplication of
light-houses, (excepting the expence, towards
which there is no one who knows and experiences
the value of them, that would not cheerfully con-
tribute), is the possibility of mistaking one light
for another. There are several principles, how-
ever, now usually employed as a distinction of
lights, that are quite effectual when known. A
fixed, or uniform light, and a revolving light, are
differences so striking that they cannot be mis-
taken these are also varied by the use of coloured
skreens; and the latter are further defined by a dif-
ference in the period of the revolution of the lights.
Some other principles might be adopted, I conceive,
that would render the lights still more effective.
In all elevated lights, for instance, a simple indi-
cation of direction and distance might possibly be
given, by the use of coloured skreens, to be applied
only in such a way as to produce their effect a-
round the limits of any particular danger. Or
the same object might, perhaps, be accomplished,
by having a secondary light in the same building,
that should be so guarded by opaque skreens, that
it could only be seen by the navigator on his ad-
vance into danger; or what would amount to the
same thing, it might be eclipsed in certain posi-
tions by an opaque skreen, so as to mark by its
disappearance the proximity of danger. And in
REMARKS ON LIGHT-HOUSES.
387
those cases, where two light-houses are erected
near together, in place of one, for the sake of
distinction, the line of their direction might not
only be arranged, so as to mark the position of
the most dangerous rock or shoal, as is commonly
practised; but such a difference might be given
to their altitudes, as should point out the dis-
tance of such rock or shoal, by the two lights ap-
pearing at the same horizontal level in a fair-way
for passing these dangers.
+
Distinct as all neighbouring lights generally
are, their peculiarities and descriptions are not
sufficiently known to render the differences suffi-
cient to prevent occasional mistakes. There is
a defect in this part of the system, indeed, which
is in great need of being supplied. Some of the
Directions sold with nautical charts, contain
an account of many of the lights; but this
is often imperfect, and sometimes it is altoge-
ther omitted. There is, in fact, no complete de-
scription of the lights to be had, though it is well
known, that, for the want of such a description,
many fatal accidents (arising from the mistake of
lights) have been occasioned about the British
coasts. To remedy this important defect, I would
beg leave to suggest, that the different Light-
house Boards of England, Scotland and Ireland,
should publish conjunctly, to be renewed occa-
B b 2
388
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
sionally, a complete list of all the light-houses in
the United Kingdom*, containing a particular
description of each; its bearings, per compass,
from neighbouring dangers, headlands, &c.; with
such practical remarks as may be useful to the
navigator: which list might be put in the way of
every sailor, by being stitched up with the Nau-
tical Almanack, Nautical Ephemeris, and all
works on navigation in general; and, what would
still farther secure its universal circulation, it
might be kept at all the custom-houses, and a
copy given or sold to all persons paying for lights
on their clearing outwards. Such a measure
would relieve the mind of the navigator from nu-
merous embarrassments, and would enable him to
proceed with confidence and safety amid différent
lights, where now they are often very perplexing
to strangers, to whom their distinguishing cha-
racters are not known †.
* Mr Robert Stevenson, civil-engineer, has in hand an
Account of the Bell-Rock Light-House, with an introduc-
tory description of the Northern Light-houses in general,
which will afford all the materials necessary for the pro-
posed descriptive list of the lights belonging to Scotland.
+ It was not until within a few years, that any particu-
lar list and description of the lights about our coasts became
of any consequence, since they were previously so few, and
generally so remote from each other, that they could scarce-
ly be mistaken. Now, however, the number has become
DIFFICULTIES OF THE NORTH-CHANNEL. 389
In the afternoon of Monday (16th of Septem-
ber) the wind still continuing contrary, we stood
close in with Bengore Head, that we might have
the advantage of the earliest flood-tide. I now
designed to attempt the " Sound of Rachlin,” by
which we should not only get much farther to
windward, than by going to the northward of
Rachlin Island, but should have an earlier and a
stronger tide. With this view, we stood close up
along shore, passing within 200 or 300 yards of
Sheep Islands; but when we had nearly reached
the Bull of Rachlin, the wind headed us, and
fell nearly calm. As I did not like to pursue a
navigation with which I was unacquainted in the
dark, and there was now no possibility of accom-
plishing it with day-light, I thought it prudent
to bear up, and go to the northward of the island.
Having passed Rachlin, the wind rather favoured
us, in consequence of which, with a strong tide
under our lee, we weathered the Mull of Cantyre,
at midnight, at the distance of about a mile. In
this position, we had reached a different set of the
so great, that the want of such a descriptive list will be evi-
dent, when I mention, that the number of lights on the
eastern coast of Ireland only, is thirteen or more, and on
the opposite coast of Britain above twenty, of which num-
ber, at least thirty might occasionally be seen from a vessel
passing quite through the Irish Channel.
390
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
J.
斧
​tide; so that, had the breeze continued, we should
have been benefited by the ensuing ebb coming
out of the Firth of Clyde, and Loch Fine; but
the wind unfortunately died away, and it fell
stark calm. The ebb now beginning to run; first
swept us to the westward, clear of the Mull of
Cantyre, and then towards the WNW., with an
alarming velocity. In fifteen or twenty minutes,
the bearing of the Mull Light changed from
Nb E., to Eb N. Being now completely at the
mercy of the tide, and in deep water, we could
only sound occasionally, and have all in readiness
for bringing up, if we seemed to be falling into
danger; but the extreme darkness of the night,
and fierceness of the tide, defied all ordinary pre-
cautions. At this very anxious and critical pe-
riod, a loud roaring was heard towards the north,
which was at first mistaken for breakers on the
shore. It was the effect, however, of a fresh of
wind that fortunately sprung up from the north-
ward. The ship's head being turned to the SSE.,
we attempted to sail up channel; but such was the
rapidity of the tide, that, for four or five hours,
when making five and a-half or six knots way
through the water, we did not alter the bearing
of the Mull light on the beam, above half a point,
and probably did not gain a furlong of ground
:
At day-light the tide began to slack, and we
་
APPROACH TO LIVERPOOL.
391
soon afterwards got clear of this dangerous and
perplexing strait.
Pursuing our course up the channel, we got
sight of the Isle of Man, in the afternoon, and
at 8 P. M., passed the Calf. On this rock or
island (the Calf of Man) there are two excellent
lights on the revolving principle, erected by
Mr Robert Stevenson, that are remarkably well
situated. These lights, when they appear in a
line, mark the direction of a small rock, called the
Chicken, which is the only danger in the way.
As we had now a brisk breeze, in a favourable
direction, there was a probability of our reaching
our port in the course of the ensuing day. On
this near approach to home, after an absence of
almost six months, without receiving from our
friends the least token of their welfare, and with-
out the possibility, even of being reached by the
excursive breath of rumour, there is an anxiety,
respecting the fate of our nearest and dearest con-
nections, in whose welfare our temporal happi-
ness, in a considerable degree depends, which is
of the most intense and awful description. This
anxiety with myself, on this occasion, was such,
as almost totally to suppress those joyous anticipa-
tions, which, on their approach to home, after a long
absence, I find many persons around me, unre-
servedly indulging. In the ordinary separation
392
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
of friends, their approach and reunion is general-
ly intimated, and the most momentous events
that may have taken place during their separa-
tion made known, by letter, or other means of
communication;-but in our case, no such har-
bingers of joy or sorrow can be dispatched, so that
if loss and distress, and domestic affliction, be the
portion of the returning mariner, the intelligence
reaching him, without the softening action of dis-
tance, of preparation, or of rumour, comes with
awful suddenness and violence. Hence, it is a
matter of prudence, as well as of Christian pre-
paration and resignation, to keep the expectations
low, by which, blessings, if in store, become en-
hanced; and trials, if such be ordered by Unerring
Wisdom, are disarmed, in some degree, of their
overwhelming severity *.
Wednesday, 18th September.-The wind de-
clined and scanted during the night, so that we
could not fetch our port; but succeeded in reach-
* The striking applicableness of these reflections to the
circumstances that personally concerned me, in the loss,
during my absence, of a beloved wife, Whose affection was
unbounded, and whose chief enjoyment was to promote my
happiness, might seem to be an interpolation. But I con-
ceive it right to mention, that this was not the case; these
reflections being taken entirely, and very nearly verbatim
from my Journal.
CONCLUSION.
393
ing Great Orme's Head, at 10 A. M., within four
miles of which we tacked. The weather being
hazy, we found a difficulty in finding a pilot-boat;
but at 1 P. M., we fortunately got sight of one,
from which we received a pilot, who relieved me
from further anxiety respecting the charge of the
ship.
Here my original Journal closes. The melan-
choly and distressing intelligence that awaited
my arrival at home, prevented its being concluded.
Memory, however, requires no artificial aid to en-
able it to recall those circumstances, which the
power of agonizing feelings has indelibly stamped
upon the heart; but on the contrary, in a case like
this, it foregoes its natural frailty, and, as a great
poet observes, becomes immortal.
The pilot who was received on board off the
Orme's Head, from real or well-feigned igno-
rance, gave no satisfactory answer to my anxious
enquiries respecting my family and friends. We
were unable to reach our port on the day of his
arrival. I had, therefore, to endure another night
of suspense, which was productive of feelings of
anxiety, so painful as entirely to subdue the
394
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
pleasurable sensations, natural to the expectation
of reaching home, after a long and dangerous voy-
age. Next morning, aided by a strong flood-tide,
we entered the channel; but before we could
round the "Black Rock," to get into the Mer-
sey, the tide failed us, and we were obliged to
bring up.
Numbers of boats and steam-vessels were pass-
ing and re-passing, while we lay at anchor. Some
of the former boarded us. They contained the
friends of different individuals on board. I was
in constant expectation of some person coming to
inquire for one or other of our late officers and
companions, whose death, during the voyage, we
had to lament; and had the painful prospect of
communicating the distressing tidings to such in-
quirers, who must now look in vain for their
friends. These feelings, however, were eventually
absorbed, in the heart-rending intelligence in store
för myself.
Notwithstanding the number of boats that
came alongside, no information whatever respect-
ing the welfare of my nearest connections, the
subject now paramount in my mind, could be ob-
tained. This surprising ignorance, of so many
persons, on a subject to which I was so much alive,
increased my anxiety; but on marking the coun-
tenances and conduct of the boatmen, there was
CONCLUSION.
395
so much of the appearance of unmeaning indiffe-
rence, or ordinary cheerfulness, that no indication
of concealment could be traced or suspected.
At length, while pacing the deck with an in-
tensity of anxiety, the bare remembrance of which,
at the present moment, throws my whole frame
into a tremor, I perceived a boat with passengers
approaching. As it rapidly advanced before wind
and tide, I took the glass, and descried the face
of a friend. The first emotion in my mind, at
this recognition, was that of hope." He is a
good man, and cometh with good tidings!" But
on a second inspection of the boat, some peculia-
rities in the conduct of the passengers checked
the transitory joy which this frail hope had crea-
ted. The sail was taken down, and the men lay
upon their oars, while the boat approached only un-
der the influence of the tide. The kind considera-
tion of my friends, had, on former occasions, when
they came to welcome my arrival, always relieved
my suspence, while yet at a distance, by some
token of good news. Now, however, panting with
agitation, I watched in vain for some encouraging
action or word. I supposed they had not seen
I showed myself at the gangway, but their
averted faces, and downcast looks, too strongly in-
dicated that they were the harbingers of sorrow.
I could no longer sustain an agony of feeling,
me.
396
GREENLAND VOYAGE.
1
which silence and uncertainty rendered intoler-
able. I called out, "Is all well?"-A languid
look, and an evasive reply, confirmed my apprehen-
sion, and sank me in despair. I could no longer
support myself on the deck. I rushed into my
cabin. In a few minutes my friend was in my
presence. I saw him struggling with himself,
and about to endeavour, by a well meant circumlo-
cution, to break the dreadful tidings he had to com-
municate. "Let me know," cried I," the worst,-
tell it me at once." He grasped my hand with the
fervour of friendship, while the tear of sympathy
gushed from his eyes." I am sorry,"-(my
agony obliged him to speak out), “Mrs S-
is no more.”
Some of those who glance over these pages,
may have been the "sons and daughters of afflic-
tion." They may know what it is to suffer. Such
will not withhold the sympathetic sigh from one,
who, having begun this narrative, in the hope of
obtaining some alleviation from the poignancy of
sorrow, finds its concluding pages blotted with
his tears.
$
;
1
APPENDIX.
( 399 )
APPENDIX.
No. I.
LIST of SPECIMENS of the ROCKS brought
from the Eastern Coast of Greenland, with Geo-
gnostical Memoranda. By Professor JAMESON.
I. SPECIMENS Found on Icebergs near Cape Brewster.
1. Transition clay-slate.
2. Slaty talcose granite.
3. Granular felspar.
4. Hornblendic mica-slate.
5. Gneiss.
6. Basaltic greenstone.
Remarks.-The specimens above enumerated, inde-
pendent of those collected on the coast, would have afford-
ed proofs of the existence in this country of Primitive, Tran-
sition, and Secondary rocks; the talcose granite, gneiss,
hornblendic mica-slate, and granular felspar, being primi-
tive; the clay-slate, transition; and the greenstone, second-
ary. So that thus a few stray specimens on an iceberg,
would have enabled the mineralogist, who had no oppor-
tunity of landing, to correct and confirm, to a certain extent,
400
[APP. Nº. I.
MINERALOGY.
1
the inferences as to the composition of the country, drawn
from the shape and grouping of the mountains, and the
forms of the cliffs as seen in the distance.
II. SPECIMENS FROM Cape Lister, and along the Coast
TO CAPE SWAINSON.
1. Black mica.
2. Mica-slate, inclining to gneiss, and in some specimens
mixed with hornblende.
3. Quartz, common variety.
4. Common calcedony.
5. Red gneiss.
6. Grey gneiss, like that of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, and
Freyberg in Saxony.
7. Coarse granular hornblendic gneiss.
8. Gneiss passing into granite.
9. Syenite, in which the felspar is deep flesh-red, and con-
taining disseminated epidote.
10. Hornblende-slate, with intermixed quartz and felspar.
11. Coarse red granular syenite of Werner.
12. Red granite, in which the mica is disposed in six-
sided tables and prisms.
13. Secondary greenstone, probably from a vein or overly-
ing mass; the calcedony evidently from the greenstone.
Remarks.-The rocks of this set of specimens, with ex-
ception of the greenstone, belong to the primitive class,
and are varieties of those original rocks that probably form
the most extensive tracts in Greenland. The red Granite
may have belonged to some central imbedded mass of that
rock, or it may have been broken from a bed in the gneiss,
or from a vein traversing the strata of that rock; but
whatever its situation was, it is evidently a true granite.
APP. N°. Ì‚]
401
MINERALOGY:
The Syenite, I suppose, formed a bed in the gneiss. From
the number of specimens of Gneiss, and other circumstances,
it appears that it was the predominating rock on this coast,
and that the mica-slate, syenite, and hornblende-slate, were
subordinate to it. The red gneiss is that often met with
near granite, and in districts abounding in red granite,
while the grey gneiss occurs abundantly without granite,
or in such districts as contain grey granite.
The greenstone, from its association with calcedony, ap-
pears to be secondary, and may have been derived from a
vein, resembling those so frequently met with in Scotland
traversing our primitive rocks.
III. SPECIMens from Neill's Cliffs and Cape STEWART
In Jameson's Land.
1. Sandstone composed of quartz, felspar, flinty slate,
and silver-white mica.
2. Same sandstone, with imbedded crystals of red felspar.
3. Slaty sandstone.
4. Sandstone impregnated with red iron-ore.
5. Common grey sandstone.
6. Common sandstone, stained yellow.
7. Common sandstone, but of coarse grains.
8. Sandstone with pebbles, the size of a bean, of common
quartz.
9. Coarse granular common grey sandstone.
10. Common grey sandstone, shewing well its constituent
parts, which are grey disintegrated felspar, grey
quartz, and silver-white mica. This specimen con-
tains intermixed portions of common black bitumis
nous slate-coal.
11. Sandstone partly conglomerated.
12. Slaty common grey sandstone.
402
[APP. N° 1.
MINERALOGY.
13. Sandstone flag.
14. Common sandstone, weathered.
15. Calcareous sandstone.
16. Coarse variety of common state-coal.
17. Bituminous shale.
18. Slate-clay inclining to bituminous shale.
19. Slate-clay with disseminated mica.
20. Clay-ironstone.
21. Grey, coarse spintery limestone, with imbedded por-
tions of grey quartz and red felspar.
22. Limestone, with imbedded fragments of bivalve shells.
23. Arenaceous limestone, with scales of silver-white mica.
24. Coarse grey limestone, with imbedded scales of mica.
25. Arenaceous limestone passing into calcareous sandstone.
26. Limestone passing into calcareous sandstone; the im-
bedded minerals, quartz, mica, and felspar.
27. Limestone, with imperfectly preserved pectinites.
28. Greenstone.
29. Greenstone, with minute plates of diallage or hyper-
stene.
Remarks.-The grey, often micaceous sandstone, slate-
clay, bituminous shale, clay-ironstone, grey splintery lime-
stone, and slate-coal, characterise this interesting series of
rocks as belonging to a Coal Formation. On comparing
the individual characters and general relations of these
rocks, there can be little doubt of their belonging to that
coal formation, in which all our principal British coal-
mines are situated, namely, the Great Coal Formation,
which lies upon old red sandstone and mountain limestone,
and is covered in the regular series by magnesian limestone
and new red sandstone. A few specimens of red gneiss and
red granite were picked up on the beach; but these appear
to have been accidental.
APP. N° 1.]
40%
MINERALOGY.
IV. SPECIMens from Traill Island.
1. Greenstone.
Trap Rocks.
2. Decomposed felspathose greenstone, with disseminated
iron-pyrites.
3. Compact felspar, inclining to claystone.
4. Compact felspar, tinged green, with augite or horn-
blende.
5. Grey compact sandstone, with disseminated iron-py-
rites.
6. Quartzy sandstone.
7. Rock crystal.
* Porphyry rocks.
8. State-clay, inclining to bituminous shale. Some va-
rieties incline to slaty compact felspar, as is shewn
by the white crust.
9. Compact slate-clay, with waved structure.
10. Slate-clay, with concentric lamellar structure.
11. Calcareous slate-clay.
12. Porphyry.
13. Porphyry, highly crystallised.
14. Porphyry, with cubic iron-pyrites.
15. Porphyry, with abundant cubic iron-pyrites. The
mass principally compact felspar.
16. Weathered porphyry, the reddish crust owing to
decomposing iron-pyrites.
17. Vesicular porphyry, with imbedded quartz crystals
and iron-pyrites.
18. Claystone porphyry, with imbedded crystals of quartz
and felspar.
C c 2
404
[APP. N° I.
MINERALOGY.
Remarks -The form of this island, as represented in the
drawing, is so different from that of Jameson's Land, and
the coast about Cape Lister, &c. as to lead to the conclu-
sion that its geognostical composition must be different,
and consequently containing neither the coal formation
in its most frequent form, nor primitive rocks. This in-
ference is justified by an appeal to the rocks in this list,
which are of the Secondary Trap and Porphyry formations.
The secondary trap-rocks above enumerated are green-
stone, compact felspar, more or less tinged with augite or
hornblende. No basalt, nor tuffa, nor amygdaloid, were
met with. The porphyry rocks are the usual varieties with
basis of claystone or felspar, and these, like the green-
stone, contained disseminated iron-pyrites. These two
sets of rocks were arranged together, but in what order
could not be determined, from want of time. The slate-
clay, and slate clay inclining to bituminous shale, and sand-
stone, like the traps and porphyries, also contain iron-
pyrites. The whole may be a portion of the coal formation,
in which, as on the coast of Fifeshire, and other parts of
Scotland, the trap-rocks are predominant, while the sand
stone, slate-clay, bituminous-shale, &c. are so inconsider-
able in quantity, as to be very subordinate to them, and
to contribute very little to the general features of the
physiognomy of the country. Or it may be that these
trap and porphyry rocks are connected with some of the
newer sandstones. The fact of the whole of the members
of this series of rocks, viz. the greenstone, porphyry, slate,
and sandstone being impregnated with the same iron-py-
rites, would seem to point out a similar mode of formation
to the whole,—a conjecture in opposition to that opinion
APP. N° I.]
405
MINERALOGY.
which maintains the volcanic origin of such greenstone and
porphyry rocks.
V. SPECIMENS FROM CAPE BREWSTER.
1. Greenstone.
2. Greenstone,-secondary.
3. Decayed greenstone.
4. Botryoidal calcedony.
5. Common calcedony, inclining to splintery quartz.
6. Calcedony and grey amethyst.
7. Crystallised white amethyst and calcedony,
8. Calcedony and green earth,
9. Composed of calcedony, cacholong, and fibrous zeolite,
10. White amethyst,
11. Amygdaloid.
12. Coarse brown coal.
13. A specimen of agate, composed of calcedony and
cacholong.
Remarks.-This headland, from the specimens collect-
ed, appears to be composed of rocks of the secondary trap
series, and to have the same general and particular charac-
ters as that formation exhibits in this country in the
Islands of Mull, Canna, Skye, &c. The brown coal would
seem to shew, that the trap-rocks here are probably asso-
ciated with a new limestone or sandstone formation, and
not with the old coal formation, such as that of Jameson's
Land, which does not contain true brown coal.
VI. LOOSE SPECIMENS.
Loose Specimens,-locality not known.
1. Mixture of talc and mica.
2. Primitive clay-slate.
!
406
[APP. No I.
MINERALOGY.
3. Red Granite.
4. Red Gneiss.
Remarks.-These specimens are also from the tracts
surveyed by Captain Scoresby, but the locality unfortu-
nately was lost. The most interesting specimen of the set
is No. 2., which is a well marked clay-slate, of that va-
riety which we in this country sometimes find in beds in
mica-slate, or in stratified masses resting upon it. This
specimen completes the series of the principal primitive
rocks, and shews that, in West Greenland, as in all other
great tracts of country, the Granite, Gneiss, Mica slate, and
Clay-slate, make their appearance together.
GENERAL REMARKS.
1. Primitive Rocks.
From Captain SCORESBY's drawings of the east coast of
West Greenland, it would appear that a great portion of
it, and also of the mountains in the interior, as of the co-
lossal " Werner Mountains," are formed of primitive
rocks. Further, judging from the rock specimens brought
home, and already enumerated, and considering the gene-
sal nature of the country on the west side, as described by
Sir Charles Giesecké, the intelligent and intrepid explorer
of that desolate region, it would seem that all the principal
and subordinate rocks of that class, from granite down to
clay-slate, enter into its composition. These rocks exhibit,
in this remote region, the same varieties of structure as
those on the west coast of Greenland, and these again do
not differ from the primitive rocks of Britain, and other
<countries; thus affording another proof of the uniformity of
APP. N° L.]
40%
MINERALOGY.
character, similarity of position, and universality of distri
bution of the primitive rocks, in all parts of the world.
Judging from what is known of the imbedded minerals on
the west coast of East Greenland, and reflecting on the
agreement of the rocks, both on the east and west sides of
the country, we may infer, that if Captain Scoresby had
had leisure for minute investigation, his scientific zeal
would have been rewarded by the discovery of the hitherto
rare cryolite, the sodalite and allanite, with magnificent
tourmalines and garnets,-interesting varieties of zircon,-
splendid specimens of hyperstene, the remarkable dichroit,
and with all the species of the felspar genus.
There
does not appear any reason why the ores of iron, lead, tin,
and
copper, of the West coast, should not occur in the same
rocks upon the East; and the fine displays of apatite,
calcareous-spar, fluor-spar, and of other simple minerals,
on the West coast, which have been the source of so
much instruction and delightful contemplation to the scien-
tific inquirer, may, in some future voyage, present them-
selves, in the newly discovered countries, to the eye and
intelligence of the naturalist.
2. Transition Rocks.
The specimens of Transition rocks, although few in num-
ber, are highly interesting, as proving the existence of
that class in Greenland, and thus adding a new feature to
its geognosy, for Giesecké does not enumerate any of the
slates he met with, as members of the transition series.
This fact is also a further proof of the wide distribution of
these rocks; and shews, in opposition to certain speculative
views, that they are not confined to a few narrow corners
of the globe, but, like gneiss, mica-slate, &c. may be consi-
408
[APP. No. 1
MINERALOGY.
dered as occurring in most extensive tracts of country, and
that, therefore, the series is to be associated with the uni
versal formations. We do not know of any example of
transition rocks having been met with in so high a latitude,
3. Secondary Rocks.
The secondary rocks, as appears from the preceding enu-
meration, seem to be distributed into at least two forma
tions, viz. the Coal Formation, and the Secondary Trap
and Porphyry Formation.
1. Coal Formation.-Giesecké does not mention the coal
formation, and therefore it is now for the first time enumera-
ted amongst the rock formations of Greenland. It exhibits
the same characters in Greenland as in Europe, and other
quarters of the globe, and its prevalence in Jameson's
Land is that which gives this great tract of country its pe-
culiar characters, (vide page 191.), thus affording another
example of the connection of the general and particular
forms of the surface of a country, with its geognostical
structure and composition. From this series of rocks al-
ways containing numerous remains, more or less mineral-
ised, of plants, many of which have a tropical aspect, its
occurrence in this high northern latitude, in this region of
snow and ice, becomes particularly interesting. The coal
formation in Melville Island, where the summer lasts but a
few weeks, I found, on examining a series of specimens, to
contain various tropical looking fossil plants, resembling
those met with in the coal-fields in this country; and, as
the same formation occurs in the high latitude of Jameson's
Land, it is very probable that future naturalists will de-
tect in its strata fossil remains of plants of a similar nature.
APP. No. I.]
409
MINERALOGY.
Remains of plants with tropical characters, in their native
place of growth, under the 70th degree of North latitude,
is a fact which leads to very extensive and remarkably cu-
rious discussions, in regard to the former state of the cli-
mate of the northern regions of the globe, but which can-
not be considered here.
From the apparent great extent of the coal formation in
Jameson's Land, it is highly probable that it abounds in
beds of coal, and if this shall prove to be the case, it may,
at some period, become useful to man.
In Greenland, as in Scotland, the coal-formation is tra-
versed by veins (dikes) of greenstone,-another fact, illus
trative of the similarity of this formation in both countries.
2. Secondary Trap and Porphyry Formation.-The
occurrence of secondary trap and porphyry rocks, at Cape
Brewster and Traill Island, affords an important contribu-
tion to their geographical distribution; and those who ad-
vocate the volcanic theory of their formation, will adduce
the facts brought to light by Captain Scoresby's investiga-
tions, as proofs of the former operations of volcanoes in
Greenland. The hot-springs in the Island of Ouanastok,
in Lat. 60°, on the west coast, mentioned by Giesecké, and
the report of Zenetti, of the former existence of volcanoes
in a state of activity in Greenland, will, by volcanists, be
considered as favourable to the volcanic origin of the rocks
just mentioned.
410
[APP. N° II.
BOTANY.
!
C
No. II.
LIST OF PLANTS, from the East Coast of
Greenland, with some remarks, by Dr HOOKER,
Professor of Botany, Glasgow.
1. Veronica alpina.
2. Eriophorum vaginatum? (a very imperfect speci-
men; or it may be, and probably is, the same as
the following).
3. Eriophorum capitatum.
4. Festuca vivipara.
5. Alopecurus alpinus.
6. Aira spicata, Linnæus and Wahlenberg.
7. Juncus arcuatus of Wahlenberg, (Luzula arcuata
of Hooker in the Flora Londinensis), which Mr
Greville, Mr Arnott and myself found, last au-
tumn, on the summit of the Grampian Moun-
tains; where it had, indeed, been previously de-
tected by Mr G. Don, but never before been pub
lished as British.
8. Oxyria reniformis, Hook. Ft. Scot. (Rheum digy-
num, Wahlenberg, Flora Lapponica; Rumex di
gynus, Linn.)
3
9. Epilobium latifolium.
10. Polygonum viviparum.
11. Polygonum viviparum, (another specimen, less vi-
viparous than the above).
12. Andromeda tetragona, (beautiful specimens).
13. Vaccinium pubescens, Flora Danica. This precisely
APP. N°II.]
411
BOTANY.
accords with my specimens of the plant, received
from Dr Hornemann; but I do not consider it dif
ferent from a dwarf state of V.uliginosum, and even
Hornemann suspects it may be the same.
be the same. Neither
in the specimens of that botanist, nor in those of
Mr Scoresby, can I see the pubescence, described
as existing on the leaves.
14. Saxifraga nivalis.
15. Saxifraga cernua, two specimens; (it is a very va-
riable species).
16. Saxifraga cespitosa, var. grænlandica of Wahlen-
berg and Hooker's Flora Scotica.
17. Saxifraga oppositifolia.
18. Saxifraga; a very imperfect specimen.
19. Silene acaulis.
20. Stellaria nitida (nova spec.), caule inferne pubes-
cente, foliis lanceolatis nitidis siccitate subtriner-
vibus marginibus basi ciliatis, floribus subpanicu-
latis, petalis bipartitis calyce longioribus.
Caules 3-4 pollicares, erecti, ramosi, tetragoni, basi
subpurpurascentes atque pubescentes, superne gla-
berrimi, virides. Folia remotiuscula, erectiuscula,
opposita atque basi connata, lanceolata, nitida,
acuta, subrigida, siccitate obscure trinervia, margine
inferne ciliata. Flores terminales, majusculi, rarius
solitarii, plerumque paniculati; Pedicelli glabri,
quorum unus elongatus, reliqui magis minusve
breviores, ad basin bracteis duobus ovatis, conca-
vis, acutis, viridibus vel purpurascentibus, mem-
branaceis, marginibus diaphanis suffulti. Calyx
pentaphyllus, foliolis ovatis, obtusis, viridibus, uni-
vel obscure tri-nervibus, margine lato diaphano, al-
bo, sub lente ciliato. Petala calyce longiora, alba,
412
[APP. Nº II.
BOTANY.
*
bipartita, segmentis ovato-lanceolatis, obtusis, ve-
nosis. Stamina decem, inæqualia, petalis multo
breviora,"basi glandula annulari unita. Filamenta
subulata, alba; Anthera flavæ, ovatæ. Germen
ovatum, viride. Styli tres, erecti, apicibus paulu-
lum incurvatis. Capsulam maturam non vidi.
In no author have I been able to find any species of
Stellaria corresponding with the present, my ac-
quaintance with which originated in specimens com-
municated to me by the late Dr Wright of Edin-
burgh, and gathered by his nephew, Dr William
Wright, in Greenland; but in what particular part
of that interesting country, I have no means of as-
certaining. Nothing similar to it exists in the many
species of Greenland plants which have been sent
to me by my friend Professor Hornemann of Co-
penhagen, and which were collected by Worm-
skiold; nor is there any thing like it among the
numerous plants of that country figured in the
Flora Danica. With the Stellaria grænlandica
of that work, it has nothing but a generic resem-
blance. The leaves of that individual are quite
different in form, texture, &c. and the petals are
much larger, and only bifid at the extremity. In
general habit it comes near to our Stellaria glau
ca, graminea, and Holostea; but its small size,
glossy rigid leaves, ciliated margins, broad and
deeply divided petals (not to mention other charac-
ters), will keep it abundantly distinct.
I purpose soon to figure this species in the Flora
Exotica.
APP. N° II.]
413
BOTANY.
21. Cerastium latifolium. Exactly such as I have in-
tended to define under that name in Flora Sco
tica, and different from C. alpinum.
22. Cerastium-
; the specimen wants flower, but
I think it is C. alpinum. ·
23. Potentilla verna.
24. Dryas octopetala, undoubtedly, with deep crenatures
at the margins of the leaves. The specimens of
Dryas which I have formerly received from Green-
land, have been the Dryas integrifolia.
25. Papaver nudicaule.
26. Poa laxa, Willdenow, Wahl. and of Flora Scotica,
(Poa flexuosa, Eng. Botany).
27. Ranunculus nivalis, (very fine).
28. Pedicularis hirsuta. A Lapland plant, but which
has not, that I am aware, been found before in
Greenland.
29. Draba hirta.
30. Cochlearia anglica.
31. Cochlearia anglica? perhaps C. grænlandica, but
there is no fruit nor flower on the specimen.
32. Arabis alpina.
33. Gnaphalium alpinum.
34. Arnica angustifolia, Vahl, and Fl. Dan. v. 9. t. 1524.
Unquestionably distinct from Arnica montana, of
..
which Linnæus and Wahlenberg have made it
their var. ß.
35. Erigeron uniflorum. This species differs from our
British E. uniflorum, in the extremely woolly and
purple involucre, and is doubtless the species in-
tended by Wahlenberg. But I am still uncertain
414
[APP. N° II.
BOTANY.
if its characters are sufficient to separate it, as a
species from E. alpinum.
36. Carex.-This is in too early a state for me to speak
with certainty as to its species; but I apprehend
it to be C. saxatilis of Linnæus and Wahl. Fl.
Lapponica. This, again, is hardly different from
C. rigida of English Botany, which I have, in
Flora Scotica, reduced to a var. of C. caspitosa.
37. Salix
two plants. No doubt the male and fe-
male of the same species of Salix; but, although
they do not accord accurately with any specimens or
descriptions to which I have access, yet, without
more numerous individuals, and in different stages
of growth from Greenland, than are here present,
I should not dare to constitute them a new species.
They belong to the division of Wahlenberg,
"Germinibus sessilibus," and to the subdivision
“Germinibus villosis;" and the species to which
they come the nearest in the Flora of that author,
are the S. glauca and S. limosa *. They differ
from both in the form and villosity of the leaves,
and from the former still more decidedly, in the
long style which supports the stigma. The fol-
lowing description may be worth noting: "Fru-
tex parva, cortice pallide fusca, nitida. Folia ob-
ovata, vel elliptica, non raro rotundata, utrinque
pilosiuscula, juniora valde pilosa, sericea; supra
viridia, inferne pallidiora subglaucescentia, minime
tomentosa (ut in S. limosa). AMENTA mascula
elliptica. Squamæ rotundatæ, subemarginatæ, fus-
cæ, pilosa, pilis longis, sparsis, sericeis. Stamina
* S. arenaria, Smith.
APP. N°IL]
415
BOTANY.
duo. AMENTA fœminea ovato-cylindracea. Squa-
ma ut in mare, sed magis nigrescentes rigidiores-
que, piloso-sericeæ. Germina oblongo-lanceolata,
pulcherrime sericea, squamis paululum longiora.
Stylus germine dimidio brevior. Stigma bifidum,
divaricatum, segmentis bifidis. Capsule tres-qua-
tuor lineas longa."
The female catkins, I may observe, have a beautiful
appearance, from the contrast between their almost
black scales, and the pure silky whiteness of their
germens.
38. Salix
The same Salix as the last, but in
a more advanced state.
39. Empetrum nigrum.
40. Rhodiola rosea, masc. et fœm.
41. Stereocaulon paschale.
42. Cetraria nivalis.
43. Fucus aculeatus.
44. Bryum ? no fructification, but probably
---
barren shoots of B. carneum.
45. Trichostomum lanuginosum.
Note:-Some notices respecting the Localities of these
plants will be found at pages 188, 215. & 222.
•
416
[APP. Nº 111.
ZOOLOGY.
No. III.
LIST OF ANIMALS met with on the Eastern
Coast of West Greenland, with Notes and
Memoranda *.
I. MAMMALIA.
TRICHECUS Rosmarus:-Walrus, Morse, or Sea-horse of
the whale-fishers.
Numerous remains of this animal were found on the
shore, among the deserted huts of the natives. But no
living specimen was found, along the coast, during this
voyage; though I have seen it on a former occasion.
PHOCA Vitulina :-Common Seal.
A few of this species of seal was seen, during our stay
upon the coast; but they were in general remarkably
scarce near the shore.
PHOCA Hispida?—The Rough Seal.
An occasional individual, supposed to be of this species,
was met with; but none of them were killed on this voy-
age.
Mus Grænlandicus:-Greenland Mouse.
Two or three specimens of this animal, which appears.
to be a new species, were found by my father's sailors on
Jameson's Land.
• For the Notes and Memoranda on the Insecta, I have been indebted
to Professor Jameson; and for the Description of the Mus Grænlandica
principally to Dr Traill.
}
APP. N° III.]
417
ZOOLOGY.
This animal does not answer the description of any of
the genus in our systematic authors. In some respects
it approaches to Mus Hudsonius, and by some might be
considered as a mere variety of that species. The diffe-
rence of colour, however, the want of the dorsal stripe, and
(though the specimen preserved for examination seemed to
be a male) the absence of the remarkable peculiarity of
the double claws on the fore-feet, seemed sufficient dis-
tinctions to mark this animal, as a species hitherto unno-
ticed by naturalists.
It evidently belongs to Cuvier's subdivision Lemming,
or mouse with very short ears and tail, and fore-feet formed
for burrowing. It may therefore be named either Green-
land Mouse; or, if we adopt the subdivisions of the
French naturalist, Greenland Lemming.
Mus Grænlandicus.
Char. Specific..
Mus brachyurus; auriculis nullis externis, palmis te-
tradactylis; corpore supra cano, fusco distincto, sub-
tus rufescente.
Short-tailed mouse; without external ears, with four
claws on the fore feet; back grey, mottled with
dark brown; lower parts rufescent.
Description.-The skin of this little animal measures,
from the nose to the tip of the tail, 5.5 inches. It is co-
vered with a thick and beautifully soft fur, the hairs of
which are, toward the roots, of a deep blackish-grey, and
toward the tips are varied in colour on the different parts,
* Linnæus, Pallas, Shaw, Cuvier.
Dd
1
418
[APP. No III.
ZOOLOGY.
1
as will be seen in the sequel of the description. The head
is rather small; the muzzle pointed, being suddenly com-
pressed from the anterior angle of the cheek-bones. The
front-teeth of both jaws would appear to be exerted during
the life of the animal. The vibrissæ are numerous, strong,
and measure upwards of one inch in length. Some of
them are deep brown, others white. Some long hairs also
spring from each supercilium. The eyes are large, and
are not more than 0.5 inches asunder.
An ill defined greyish-black streak runs from the point
of the nose to the nape. The sides of the head are of a
more unmixed grey than the rest of the fur. There are
no visible external ears; but the situation of the aper-
tures leading to the organ of hearing, is marked by mi-
nute tufts of rufescent hairs.
The whole upper part of the body is elegantly mottled
with a mixture of ash-grey, of blackish and reddish
brown. The whole lower parts are rufescent; and this
hue not only extends to the throat and chin, but also to
the sides of the upper jaw. The boundary between the
colours of the upper and under parts is distinguished by
an undulating line of a deeper brown, which passes along
the sides of the face, neck and trunk, and is darkest about
the fore legs. The tail is very short. Its vertebræ do
do not extend more than 0.5 inch from the rump, but a
pencil of very stiff white hairs, reaching about inch be-
yond the last vertebra, forms almost the whole caudal ap
pendage which appears without the fur of the animal.
12
The legs are extremely short, and, from their strength
and position, seem well adapted for burrowing. All the
feet are well covered with long white hairs, which extend,
especially on the hind-feet, even beyond the extremities of
the claws.
APP. N° III.]
419
ZOOLOGY.
The fore extremity has some resemblance to that of the
mole. Is is furnished with four sharp claws, of which the
two middle are much longer and stronger than the rest,
and are much hooked. The second claw is considerably
the largest. There is no appearance of that induration of
the skin below the claws of this foot, which has been de-
scribed as a double claw, and as peculiar to the male of
the Hudson's Bay mouse. The length of the fore extre-
mity measured, along the curvature of the foot and claws,
does not exceed 1.1 inch, and is not quite 0.8 in a straight
line. The longest claw 0.4 inch. The palms are hairy.
The posterior extremity is rather longer than the other.
The foot from the heel to the end of the claws 0.8 inch.
It has four claws, of which the three middle are nearly of
equal length, but they are much less than those of the
fore feet. The soles of the feet are thickly covered with a
white fur, and the hair on the outside of the foot and leg
descends below the heel.
Memorandum by Professor JAMESON.
Hitherto no native species of the mouse tribe have been
met with in Greenland, for neither Müller nor Giesecké
mention any native animals of this description. It is true
the black rat and the common mouse are enumerated in
the Fauna Grolandica, but both these are foreigners im-
ported by the shipping. Had Captain Scoresby found
the brown or black rat, or common mouse on the West
Coast of Greenland, it would have gone far to settle the
disputed point in regard to the ancient European settle-
ments in that country. The species here described by
Dr Traill, from its near affinity to the M. Hudsonius, be-
longs to the Lemming group, and probably is for West
Greenland what the common Lemming is for Europe;
Dd 2
420
[APP. N° III.
ZOOLOGY.
朧
​}
the Mus torquatus for Asia; and the Mus Hudsonius
for North America.
URSUS Maritimus:-Polar Bear.
The white bear sometimes occurs in considerable num-
bers on the ice, near the coast of Greenland.
Great quan-
tities of the bones of this animal were found among the de-
serted huts on shore, but no living specimens.
LEPUS Glacialis:-White Hare.
A small animal of this kind was shot by myself at Cape
Hope, and several others were seen here and at C. Brewster.
CANIS-Dog.
Several skulls, and other bones of dogs, were found
on shore. One of them was taken out of a small grave,
supposed to be that of a child.
BALENA Mysticetus :-The common Black Whale, or
Greenland Whale.
A great number of this valuable species were seen near
the coast about the middle of August, in the opening of
Davy's Sound. Prior to this time they were only seen at
a considerable distance from the land; but in some places,
particularly in the parallel of 72°, they occurred in consi-
derable numbers.
B. Gibbar (La Cepede)—B. Physalis of Linné, or Razor-
Back of the whalers.
Several of these animals, whose capture is seldom at-
tempted by the northern whalers, in consequence of their
rapid flight when attacked giving little chance of success,
were seen at a few leagues distance from the land, but none
were met with in-shore.
MONODON Monoceros (Linné):-Narwal or Unicorn of
the whalers.
APP. N° III.]
421
ZOOLOGY.
This animal occurred in considerable numbers near the
coast. We killed four of them during our stay; one of
which being a female, had an external tooth or horn, which
is an appendage rarely, if ever before, observed in this sex.
II. AVES.
ANAS Bernicla:-Brent Goose.
Only a solitary specimen of this bird was, I think, seen
during our stay on the coast.
ANAS Mollissima :-Eider-Duck.
This bird, so common in some parts of Greenland, was
only met with in small numbers.
ALCA Arctica :-Puffin or Greenland Parrot.
Not numerous.
ALCA Alle :-Little Auk or Roach.
This was the most numerous species seen.
some places, was literally covered with them.
The sea, in
Nearly half
a million were supposed to have passed within 200 or 300
yards of the ship, in the course of twelve hours.
PROCELLARIA Glacialis: -Petrel, Fulmar, or Mallemuk.
Numerous throughout the polar seas.
COLYMBUS Grylle:-Tyste or Doveca.
Pretty frequent.
COLYMBUS Troile:-Foolish Guillemot or Loom.
Met with in considerable numbers.
STERNA Hirundo :-Great Tern or Sea Swallow.
Seen near Bontekoe Island in the month of June, and
also on Jameson's Land in July.
+
422
[APP. Nº III,
ZOOLOGY.
LARUS Rissa:-Kittywake.
Common throughout the Greenland Seas.
LARUS Parasiticus:-Arctic Gull.
Seen occasionally; but not numerous.
LARUS Crepidatus:-Black-toed Gull or Boatswain.
Seen at Cape Swainson, &c.; but not numerous.
LARUS Eburneus:-Ivory Gull (Phipps), or Snow Bird.
Seen in considerable numbers along the coast.
LARUS Glaucus :-Burgomaster.
Many of these birds were met with, and several very
fine specimens were shot and preserved.
EMBERIZA Niyalis:-Snow Bunting.
Not numerous.
CHARADRIUS Hiaticula:-Ring Plover.
Shot at Cape Hope, and on Jameson's Land.
TETRAO Lagopus ?-Ptarmigan?
This bird, of which several were seen by the sailors, and
some of them killed, both on Jameson's Land and Traill
Island, was not brought on board. It was so tame that it
was knocked down with stones. The sailors described it
as a partridge. Professor Jameson thinks it was most pro-
bably the white grouse, or ptarmigan, which is mentioned
by Fabricius, Giesecké, and Ross, as occurring in Green-
land. The tameness is indeed somewhat characteristic of
this species, even in those found among the mountains in
Scotland.
FRINGILLA Linaria ?-Lesser Redpole.
Several birds, supposed to be of this species, were seen
among the rocks at Cape Hope, and on different parts of
Jameson's Land. They are mentioned by Müller and
Giesecké, as natives of the Western Coast of Greenland.
APP. N° III.]
423
ZOOLOGY.
III. PISCES.
SQUALUS Borealis :-Greenland Shark.
This shark grows to the length of twelve or sixteen
feet, or more, and is remarkable for a vermiform appen-
dage to each of its eyes, affixed to the edge of the iris. It
is a recent species, first described in the Account of the
Arctic Regions, Vol. I. p. 538.
GADUS Carbonarius (?):-Coal-Fish.
The remains of some fishes, supposed to be of this
species, were found by my father in the stomach of a nar-
wal, killed within sight of the coast of Greenland.
RAIA Batis-Skate. Found almost entire, by my fa
ther, in the stomach of a narwal.
PLEURONECTES
?-The remains of a fish of this ge-
nus was likewise found by my father, in the same nar-
wal that afforded the last.
IV. MOLLUSCA.
CLIO Helicina :-Sea Snail. Very numerous in some
parts of the Greenland Sea near the shore.
CLIO Borealis :-Seen in vast quantities near the coast of
Greenland.
SEPIA? Cuttle-Fish. Frequently found in the sto-
mach of the narwal, of which animal it seems to consti-
tute the most general food.
V. INSECTA.
1. PAPILIO Palano (Linn.) Le Solitaire of the French.
This butterfly was brought from Jameson's Land. It
424
[APP. N° III.
ZOOLOGY.
occurred in great numbers both here, at Cape Lister, and
at Cape Hope.
2. PAPILIO Dia (Linn.)
Found along with the former, and likewise in conside-
rable numbers.
Besides these butterflies, several other insects were seen,
and specimens of some of them collected; but these re-
ceived so much injury on their passage to England, that
the species could not be satisfactorily made out. The fol-
lowing memoranda, however, respecting the imperfect spe-
cimens, and the description of the two butterflies above
mentioned, have been kindly furnished to me by Professor
Jameson, and appear to me to be interesting to the en-
tomologist.
Memoranda by Professor JAMESON.
T
The few insects presented for determination, were in so
mutilated a state, that two only of them could be satisfac-
torily made out. The first, No. 1., is the Papilio Pa-
lano, Lin. Fa. Suec. 1041.; the other, No. 2., Papilio Dia,
Lin. Fab. Mant. Ins. ii. p. 61. n. 581. Both species are
now, for the first time, enumerated as productions of
Greenland; for the only butterfly met with in this coun-
try, and that on the opposite coast by Fabricius, and de-
scribed in his admirable Fauna Groenlandica, is the Papilio
Tullia of Müller, Prodr. 1319. Fabricius enumerates
eight species of moth or phalæna as natives of Greenland :
one of the four specimens above enumerated was of that
genus; but its mutilated state prevented the determination
of the species. Five Tipulæ are described by Fabricius,
and the fourth specimen was evidently of that genus, ha-
ving a black abdomen and clouded wings; but the species,
APP. N° III.]
425
ZOOLOGY.
owing to the state of the specimen, could not be determin-
ed.
The mosquitoes mentioned by Captain Scoresby, were
probably the Culex pipiens, Lin., or Gnat, which Fabri-
cius and Gieseké enumerate amongst the insects of Green-
land. The Honey Bee seen by Captain Scoresby, may
have been the Apis alpinus. Lin., concerning which Fabri-
cius remarks," Habitat passim, in sinubus frequentior,
mel suum ex plantis sedulo sub stridore colligens, in fanós
suos subterraneos, ubi hibernat. Groenlandi mel suis in-
uentum fugere solent, nec tamén magni habent."
My friend and pupil Mr James Wilson, also examined
the insects, and added the following interesting notes. No. 1.
is clearly the Papilio Palano of Linnæus, called Le Solitaire
by the French. It is found in France, Germany, and Swe-
den. I do not know whether it has yet occurred in Bri-
tain; but its most nearly allied species, the P. edusa,
(common in Spain), is figured by Donovan as an English
insect. It belongs to the section Danai candidi; and,
like many of these, is subject to a considerable range in the
shade of its colouring. Yellow is the prevailing and cha-
racteristic colour; but in some it admits of a shade of
green; in others, of a tinge of orange. This interesting
Greenland specimen belongs to the latter variety. The
dark band which marks the exterior margins of the wings,
is likewise known to vary from black to brown. This band
is sometimes entire, and sometimes clouded or broken. I
mention these particulars, to show that there is no reason
for ranking the specimen in question as a distinct species,
merely because it may not tally in every particular with
the individuals preserved in other cabinets.
"Le papillon soufre” (P. Palano Lin., Fabr.) says La-
treille, "est d'un jaune pale; la bordure brune des ailes est
426
[APP. N° III
ZOOLOGY.
tachete dans les deux sexes; les ailes inferieures n'ont qu'un
seul œil bien distinct au milieu du disque inferieur."
According to D'Engramelle, in his beautiful work on
the European Papiliones, "les ailes inferieures n'ont pas
de tache au milieu; les dessus des quatre ailes est d'un
jaune pale un peu verdâtre, avec un bordure noir qui n'est
pas coupée; en dessous la partie qui correspond à cette
bordure est d'un verd clair."
This genus is referrable to the modern genus called Co-
lias, proposed by Fabricius and adopted by Latreille,
Should it occur like the Colias edusa (to which it is so
nearly allied), in the south of Spain, its geographical distri-
bution will extend over about 32 degrees of latitude. The
generic characters are: "Palpi valde compressi, articulo ul-
timo brevissimo. Antenna breves, in capitulum obconicum
sensim abeuntes." The specific characters are: "Colias Pa-
lano,-Alis integerrimis rotundatis flavis apice nigris mar-
gineque flavis; posticis subtus puncto argenteo. Faun.
Suec. 1041. Habitat. in Europæ Pteride aquilina."
No. 2.-The specimen marked No. 2. belongs to that
division of the genus Papilio, called Nymphales Phalerati
by Linnæus; and to that section, well named by Latreille
Perlati, from the beautiful pearly spots with which the un-
der surface of the inferior wings is usually adorned. I
should consider it as an interesting variety of the Papilio
Dia of Linnæus, rather than as a new species. It occurs
in England, is common in Austria, and is likewise well
known in France under the name of La Petite Violette. Its
discovery in Greenland, therefore, gives it a wide geogra-
phical range, from the Austrian territory south of Vienna,
to Jameson's Land in Greenland. This insect is described
and figured by D'Engramelle, Plate XV. No. 21. It is
APP. `Nº III.]
427
ZOOLOGY.
one of the group of butterflies known to English Entomo-
logists by the name of Fritillavies. It is thus described by
Mr Stewart in his Elements of Natural History.
"Papilio Dia. Wings tawny, with black spots; the
posterior wings purplish below, with yellow and silvery
spots at the base, and a silvery obsolete fascia in the mid-
dle.
"Inhabits Europe. B. Esp. I. Tab. 16. f. 4.
"Larger than the Lucina, but less than the Cuixia,
which it resembles in the upper surface of the wings. The
caterpillar feeds on the Kola; it is grey, with alternate
rows of white and furruginous spines; the pupa yellowish,
variegated with black.”
Latreille's description is much the same: "Ailes fauves,
tres tachetées de noir; les inferieures d'un pourpre foncé
en dessous, avec des taches argentées et de taches jaunes;
une bande plus claire et un ligne d'yeux argentes; un se-
rie de petites taches argentées au bord posterieur. En
Mai et en Aôut, sur la violette."
The special habitat given by Linnæus is Austria. I
may add, that the chief variation observable between Cap-
tain Scoresby's specimen, and others with which I have
compared it, is in the figure of the silvery spots on the un-
der surface of the inferior wings. In the Greenland speci-
mens, the larger spot is bifurcated at either end, in the
Continental it is irregularly oval, or egg-shaped.
I conclude these memoranda by observing, that it had
been previously shewn by the Fauna Grænlandica of
Otho Fabricius, that the entomology of Greenland, so far
as it was known, bore a close resemblance to that of Den-
mark, Sweden, and more especially Swedish Lapland; and
the observations of Captain Scoresby forms a link which
*
428
[APP. N° III,
ZOOLOGY.
connects it with still more southern countries. The dis-
tance between Spain and Greenland is no doubt great, and
the range of climatic temperature still greater than even a
more extensive separation under two points of lower lati-
tude would produce. Yet, in so far as regards mere lati-
tudinal distance, we shall find the extreme points, in the
distribution of several other species, to be separated by a
greater number of degrees. The Papilio cardui, or Paint-
ed Lady Butterfly, for example, which is a well known
English and Swedish insect, is likewise found at the Cape
of Good Hope, and the Sphinx Celesio, or Silver Stripe
Hawk-moth, one of the rare British Sphinges, is known to
occur in the Isle of France. A coleopterous aquatic insect,
the Dytiscus griseus, well known in Piedmont and the
South of France, has also been found in the waters of Ben-
gal.
VI. CRUSTACEA.
GAMMARUS Arcticus (Leach) :-Mountebank Shrimp.
This species, which is recent, is described in the Ac
count of the Arctic Regions, Vol. I. p. 541.
CANCER Boreas.-Found in the stomach of the narwal.
CANCER Ampulla.-Found in the stomachs of the narwal
and shark.
ONISCUS Ceti (Linn.); LARUNDA Ceti (Leach, Crust.
Pl. 21):-Whale's Louse. Found generally adhering
to the skin of the mysticetus, under the fins, &c.
VII. RADIARIA.
ASTERIAS Caput Medusa:-Star Fish.
Several specimens of this beautiful animal were found
APP. N° III.]
429
ZOOLOGY.
adhering to a whale line, that had lain on the bottom of
the sea for some hours, off Traill Island.
VIII. PROTOZOA.
MEDUSA:-Sea Blubber. Various species were met with,
and in considerable quantities; but only the M. pi-
leus was recognised. These animals, with different
species of shrimps, seem to contribute the principal
food of the mysticetus.
430 METEOROLOGICAL TABLE.
[APP. N° IV.
No. IV.
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, including
the daily Latitude and Longitude of the Ship.
REMARKS ON THE METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c.
This Register is by no means so complete as I could
have wished. The variety of occupations that I was en-
gaged in, prevented me from paying that attention to it
that it might otherwise have met with.
The Latitudes and Longitudes marked with an aste-
risk, were deduced from celestial observations, and are con-
sequently accurate.
The direction of the Winds is reckoned from the true
meridian, the correction for variation being applied to the
direction by the compass.
For the sake of brevity, in the column of Winds, I have
distinguished the progressive veering of the wind between
two points, and the progressive change between two deno-
minations of strength or " Force," by the intervention of
the particle to. And the same application of the word to,
has been used to connect the winds of two contiguous
days.
APP. N° IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C.
431
APRIL 1822.

THERMOMETER.
Latitude.
Longi-
tude.
BARO-
METER.
Winds.
Weather, &c.
Max. Min. Med.
1
Loch Ryan.
2
3
4
5
6
NW.erly
NNW
Fine weather
Ditto
NW to N
Fresh breezes
NW.erly
Ditto
NW.erly
Mod. or fresh br.
NW.erly
Rainy
Var
Light br.; calm
7
8
North Channel,
9 55.51*
1056.26 *
7.40 W.
11 57.47*
9.16
12 60.21 *
8.46
30.18
to E
13 62.42
8.16
Ε
14 64.32
7.46
E
NE to NNW
NNE to NE
to E and S
ESE to ENE
Fine weather
Light winds
Ditto
Fine weather
Brisk breezes
Ditto; hazy
Made the ice
15 64.41
6,31
43
-33 38
30.10
Ebs to SE
Fine aurora bor.
1665.35
4.23
34
30.02
SE to S
Fine wr.; calm
17 65.58
3.53
36
3435
29.98
E.erly; W.erly
18 66.49 3,0
35
3434.5
29.80
SE to S
Aurora borealis
Foggy
19 68.45*
0.8
38
34 36
29.78
SE to Eb S
20 69,30
0.18 E.
36
3234
29.45
NNE
21 69.24*
3.26
38
34 36
29.35
to N
22 69.37*
550
33
29.60
to W & SSW
23 70.23*
6.50
42
3639
29.95
Variable
2471.56 8.9 *
38
35 36.5
29.80
E.erly
2575.5 *
9.18
40
38 39
29.95
E.erly
26 77.16
8.8
36
34 35
29.95
to SE b S
27|79.36
8.0
34
29.90
28 80.30
9.0
34
29 80.31*
8.0
32
215
Var
SW, NNW
30 80.19* 3.0
10
2 7 29.96
Var
S.erly; ENE
Fresh br.; calm
Calm; fresh br.
Hard gale
to calm
Weather-gall
Fresh gale
Ditto; hazy
Ice
Spitzbergen
Ditto in sight
Strong gale
to calm
432 METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c. [APP. N° IV.
MAY 1822.

THERMOMETER.
1822.
Latitude. Longitude.
BAROMETER.
Max. Min. Med.
May 1
80.34
0.30 E.
8
0
4,0
30.00
2
79.44
1.0
18
4
9.3
29.80
3 79.41
4.0
26
20
23.0
29.70
4
78.26*
2.30
20
14
17.0
29.98
5
78.27
5.0
24
14
19.0
30.00
6
79.31
4.0
26
20
23.0
29.80
7
79.35
2.0
26
12
19.0
8
79.45
1.50
12
4
8.0
| 1
9
79.45
0.30
2
10
79.50
1.0
8
CO LO
8
- 3.0
30.18
+ 1.7
30.15
11 79.58
2.0
14
+8
11.3
30.20
12 79.59
2.30
16.
12 14.0
30.15
13
79.40*
2.0
22.
16
19.0
30.20
14
79.26*
1.50
22
14 18.0
30.10
15 79.80
1.50
20
14 17.0
30.12
16
79.30
1.36
26
22
24.0
30.12
17
79.30
1.25
26
24
25.0
30.00
18 79.24
1.20
19 79.12
1.0
·
26
128
24.0
29.50
20 23.0
29.50
20
79.0
1.0
24
20 22.0
29.58
21 77.42
2.0
26
25
25.5
29.60
22 76.24
0.10
30
24
27.0
29.95
23
75.43 *
2.0 W.
30
26
28.0
29.90
24 75.48
3.30
30
25
27.5
29.75
25 75.50
4.20
34
30
32.0
29.15
•
26 75.52
3.30
30
28 29.0
29.55
27 75.30
3.50
34
32 33.0
29.35
28 75.26
3.58
36
32 34,0
29.20
3
29 75.16
5.20
34
32
33.0
29.15
30 75.8
5.16
35
32
33.7
29.15
31
74.46
4.50
36
30
33.0
29.10
APP. N°IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c. 433
1
Direction.
WINDS.
MAY 1822.

Meteors and
Weather.
Situation and
Remarks.
Force.
3
4
5
1 S, to W to NbE
SSW to E
2
to NE
to NbW; var
NNW to WNW
Mod. to fresh br.
Calm to fr. gale
Fresh gales
Frost-rime
Near the N. ice
Snow
Among ice
Sunshine
Ice-streams
Strong gale
Fresh breezes
Cloudy
6
W to N
to mod. breezes
Frost-rime
Fine weatherMuch open ice
Ditto.
Much ice near
7
to NW b N
to strong gale
Snow
Open ice
8
N to NE
to mod. breezes
Frost-rime
Ditto
9
NNE
Fresh gale
Ditto
Ditto
10
NNE
Fresh gale
Ditto
Ditto
11
to NNW
to fresh breeze
Ditto
Ditto
12
N to ENE
Fresh breeze
Snow
Ditto
13
to SE
to light breeze
Snow showers
Ditto
[&c.
14
to ENE
Fresh breeze
Cloudy
Much ice; floes,
15
to N; W.erly
Moderate breeze
Ditto
Ditto
16
E.erly; var
Light breeze
Clear
Ship frozen up
17
SSE to ESE
Moderate breeze
Cloudy
Ship beset
18
ESE
Ditto
Hazy
Ditto.
19
to N.erly
Light winds
Clear
Ditto
20
NW to NE
Moderate breeze
Ditto
Ship released
21
N to NW
Brisk breezes
Snow showers
At sea
22
to W
Calm to fresh br.
Ditto
Ditto
:
23
to SW
Mod. or fresh br.
Ditto
Open pack
24
to var
Light breeze
Thick snow
Crowded ice
25
Variable
to hard gale
Fog; snow
Ditto
26
W.erly, N, E
to calm
Fog
Ditto
27
E to S
to fresh breeze
28
E
Moderate breeze
Foggy
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
29
to SSW
Fresh breezes
Fog; sleet
Ditto
30
to ESE
Fresh gales
Fog; snow
Ship beset
31 S, NNE to NW
Hard gales
Snow
Ditto
Ее
484
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C. [APP. N° IV.
JUNE 1822.

THERMOMETER.
1822. Latitude. Longitude,
BAROMETER.
Max. Min. Med.
June 1
14.39
4.10 W.
2
74.36
7.20.
74.26
8.10
74.20
9.30
32
5
74.18
10.20
6
74.14
11.10
་
74.18
13.0
8 76.6
9
74.1 •
10 73.54
16.39
36
11
73.43
17.39
12 73.40
17.45
13 78.35
17.50
14 73.36
17.54 *
15 13:34
17.30
16 73.24
16.40
17 73.17*
17.40
18
78.1 *
18.10
1972,51*
16.20
20 72.30
15.40
21
72.20
17.20
22 72.5
18.50
23
72.10
18.50
24
72.0
18.30
CAACAGIA⠀⠀ER‡ / 998 /838*
30 31.0
30.50
30 32.0
30.70
30
32.0
29.80
30
31.0
29.84
25
29.0
29.70
26
29.0
29.60
32.0
27
30.5
29.30
27
31.5
29.50
27
30.5
27
30.5
40
30
35.3
30
35.0
32 38.0
29.70
30
32.0
32 39.8
34
41.0
50
36 43.0
44
47.0
32
38.0
36
34 35.0
29.50
34 32 33.0
29.45
25 71.40
18.40
34
30 32.0
26
11.9 *
18.48
34
31 32.7
27 71.10
18.10
34
32
33.0
"
2871.20
17.55
33 32
32.5
29.65
29 71.25
18.45
34
30
32.0
30 71.22
16.55
34
32
33.0
APP. N' IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c. 435
| Days.
Direction.
WINDS.
JUNE 1822.

Meteors and
Weather.
Situation and
Remarks.
Force.
to NW
1
NW to SW
to $
to E; var
W.erly; S
i
Str. gale to fr. br.
Fresh breeze
to Calm
to Fresh breeze
Fresh breeze
Subw; cloudy
Cloudy
Floes & drift-ice
Many Floes
Foggy; cloudy
Surrounded by do.
Thick snow
Partly beset
Foggy
Ditto
A
6 S to E and NE
Mod. br. to Calm
Ditto
7
S
to Strong breeze
Ditto
8
var.
Fr. gale to Calm | Foggy; clear
9
NNE; var
Light breeze
Clear
10
Variable
to Mod. br.; Calm
Ditto
11
Ditto
to Mod. breeze
Ditto
12
Ditto
Moderate breeze
Ditto
13
Ditto
to Light breeze
Clear; foggy
Ditto; ditto
14
Ditto
Fresh breeze
Snow; fog
15
Ditto
Fr. breeze; Calm
Foggy
Ditto
16 NNE to WNW | to Strong gale
Fog; cloudy
17
to SW.
Fr. gales; mod. br.
Clear
18
to W.erly
Moderate breeze
Ditto
19
Var
to Calm
Ditto
20
E.erly
Mod. br.; Calm
Ditto
21
SW
to Mod. breeze
Clear; hazy
Ditto
Fields and floes
West Land in sight
Ditto; much ice
Var. 42° 8' W.
West Land in sight
Ditto; much ice
Numerous floes
Large field
Var. 43° 15′ W.
Bontekoe I. NbW
Ditto in sight
Much ice
Drift-ice & floes
22
to S
Moderate breeze
Cloudy; foggy
Ditto
23
Var
Light br.; Calm
Fog; snow
Dittó
24
NE to N
Strong gale.
Snow
Ditto
25
N
Fresh gale
Thick snow
Ditto
26
N; NW
to Fresh breeze
Clear
Ditto
27
W to S
to Calm
Clear; foggy
Ditto
28
SW; SSW
Fresh breeze
Foggy; hazy
Ditto
29
SW; SSE
to Mod. breeze
Clear; foggy
Ditto
30
to NE
Moderate breeze
Thick fog
Ditto
E e 2
436
METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C. [APP. N°IV.
JULY 1822.

THERMOMETER.
1822, Latitude. Longitude.
Meteors and
Weather.
Max. Min. Med.
July 1 71.20
17:30 W.
Rain
271.15
18.5
42
29
36.3
Foggy; clear
3 71.8
18.15
35
33
34
Cloudy; foggy
4 70.50
18.15
34
Foggy
5 71.7 *
18.40*
35
32
33.5
Cloudy; foggy
6 71.17
18.15
35
32
33.5
Snow; rain
7 71.20
17.45
32
Foggy
8 71.28
19.42
Clear; curious ref.
9 72.11*
17.55
36
30
33
Curious refraction
10 72.10
18.0
34
30
32
Thick fog
11 72.8
18.15
34
30
32
Ditto
12 71.20
20.0 *
Fog; clear
13 71.24*
19.15
34
29
31.5
Thick fog
14 71.55
17.15
38
34
36
Constant fog
15 71.50
17.20
Ditto
[tion
16 71.40
17.35
40
34
36.7
Unequal refrac-
17 72.33*
19.9
Ditto
18 72.0
16.0
Ditto
1971.7
19.5
45
40
42.5
Clear; uneq. ref.
20 70.45
21.9 *
36
30
33
Fog; clear
21 70.30
20.2
38
31
34.5
Foggy; hazy
22 70.37* 20.15
32
30
31
Thick fog
23 70.36
21.14*
33
31
32
Foggy
24 70.29
21.25
25 70.25
22.10 *
26 70.25*
22.22*
37 70.17*
21.57
28 70.0
20.30
29 69.36*
21.39*
31
30 69.35*
21.45
Foggy; clear
Clear; warm wr.
Hot weather
Cloudy
Cloudy; clear
Clear
Ditto
31 70.25*
19.11*
48
32
40
Fine clear weath.
1
APP. N°IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C. 437
[ Days.
Direction.
JULY 1822.

WINDS.
Force.
Situation and
Remarks:
Strong gale
Fresh gale
Moderate breezes
1
2
ENE to S
E.erly
Light breezes
to Calm
3 NbE to NNW
to Fresh gale
4
to WNW
5
NW to W
Fresh breeze
6
NW.erly
7
NW.erly; var
to Calm
W to S
9
to SSE
10
to SE
11
SSE
to Light breezes
to Fresh breezes
12
Var
13
SSE to SE
14
to ENE
15
16
S.erly
S
17 to SW and NNE
1
18
N to NW
19
S; var
20
S to SSW
21
SSW
22
SSW
23
SSW
24
to SW
25
Variable
26
W; E; var
27
E.erly; S
28
Var
29
NW.erly
30
Var
31
SSE
Moderate breezes
Fresh gale to Calm
Moderate breeze
Light breeze
Fresh breeze
Moderate breeze
| Fresh breeze
to Moderate breeze
Moderate breezes
to Fresh gale
Strong gale
Ditto
to Moderate breeze
Fresh gale; light br.
Light breezes
Ditto
Fresh gale, moder.
to Light breeze
to Calm
$
Numerous floes
Many whales
Much ice
Land in sight
Ditto
Open ice
Ditto
Land in sight
Ditto
Much ice
Open ice
Land in sight
Open ice: field
Large field
Ditto
Fields and floes
Land in sight
Fields and floes
Near the coast
Variation 44° 30′ W.
Large floes
In the Land-water
Very near the land
Landed at Cape Lister
In Scoresby's Sound
Landed at Ca, Stewart
Landed at Ca. Brewster
Loose ice and icebergs
Land bold
Light breeze; calm Numerous icebergs
Light breeze
Land in sight
438
着
​METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c. [APP. N°IV.
AUGUST 1822.

THERMOMETER.
1822. Latitude. Longitude.
BAROMETER.
Max. Min. Med.
Aug. 1 71.20
19.45 W.
40
34 36.7
2 71.50
20.35
42
32 37
3
72.0
19.16
36.
34 435...
4
72.0
19.11
34
34
35
5
72.2
19.15
36
30
32.7
6
72.11
19.5
42:1
31
36.5
7
72.40
18.45
40
33
36.3
8
72.30
17,15
38 34
36
9 72.25
16.50
33
29.30
10
72.10
20.0
33.
29.33
11
72.11
21.45
33
29.30
12
72,14
21.45
33
29.35
13
72.3
21.20
35
33
34.
29.50
14
71.57
21.22
15
72.2
21.9
33
16
72.0
21.0
17
71.53
20.58
36
34
35
18 71.55
20.50
19 71.51
20.50.
20 71.50
20,43
21 71.50
20.30
22 71.48
20.15
36
34
35
23
71.40
20.25
34.
32
33**
29.35
24
71.22
20.35..
36
32
34
29.60
25
71.18
20.43
38
35
36.5
29.67
26. 71.25
20.37
38
36
37.
29.70
27 71.50
19.50
38 34
36
29.73
28 71.40
16.30
38.
29
70.30
15.10
389
29.75
30 70.30
15.50
31 70.24
15.10
38
APP. N°IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &c. 439
,
1 Days.
Direction.
WINDS.
AUGUST 1822.

Meteors and
Weather.
Situation and
Remarks.
Force.
142
S
S, N
Light to fresh br.
Constant fog Open ice
Fresh breeze
Foggy
Saw land
3
N, S.erly
to Calm
Ditto
Much ice
4
SSE
Fresh breeze
Constant fog | Ditto
5
to SE
to Light breeze
Ditto
Ditto
6
S
to Fresh gale
Ditto
Crowded ice
7
to SSE
Fresh gales
Ditto
Ditto
8
S to SE
Ditto
Rain or fog
Ditto
9
10
11
12
13
ZZZZZ
N
Ditto
Heavy rain
Floes and drift-ice
N
Ditto
Ditto
N
Hard gale
Ditto
N
Strong gale
Ditto
to Moderate br.
Ditto
Landed on Traill
[Island
Near the land
Land in sight
14
Variable
to Calm
Fog; clear
Var. 43° 22′ W.
15
Ditto
Light airs
Clear
Numerous whales
16
SE.erly; var
Ditto
Ditto
Land in sight
17
to N
Strong gale
Heavy rain
Much ice
18
19
ZZ
N
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
N
to Calm
Rain; fog
Near land-ice
20
21
Variable
S.erly
Fog; clear
22
to NNE
Ditto
23
N to NW
19 20 2
24
NW
25
Variable
26
Var.; N
27
Nb W
28
N to E
29
E.erly
30
S.erly
31
to SW
Light br.; calm
Moderate breeze
Fresh breeze
Tremendous gale
to Light breeze
to Calm
to Mod. breeze
Fresh breeze
Fr. gale; mod. br.
to Light breeze
Calm; mod, br.
Moderate breeze
Foggy
Rain; snow
Snow; clear
Clear
Clear; foggy
Rain; fog
Thick fog
Ditto
Near land-ice
Ditto
Ship grounded on
Near land-ice
Near the coast
Left the coast
Much ice
Ditto
Left the ice
Var. 43° 24′ W.
[the ice
Ditto
Ditto
At sea
J
i
440. METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C. [APP. N° IV.
N°IV.
SEPTEMBER 1822.

THERMOMETER.
1822. Latitude.
Longitude.
BAROMETER:
Max. Min. Med.
Sept. 1 69.28
13.40 W.
48
46
2
68.26
12.15
47
45
3
67.14
12.12
46
42
尚​忠​粉
​4
64.56 *
9.22
5
63.1
9.25
6
•
62.5
7.57 *
7
60.28
7.30
52
8
59.38
7.13
52
9
58.26*
7.30
10
58.5 *
7.45
| 98 |
48
50
48
11
58.25
8.50
12
57.15
8.0
13
55.50
7.40
58
14
55.28
6.59
15
55.22
6.32
16
55.30
6.30
17
54.48
5.30
59*9958588|||
4.7
46
28.35
44
28.35
45
28.60
48
28.90
47
29.10
50
29.10
51
29.15
50
29.50
29.50
28.50
29.80
29.90
18
53.30
4.3
19
Liverpool | Channel.
APP. N° IV.] METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, &C.
441
| Days.
A
Direction.
WINDS.
SEPTEMBER 1822.

Meteors and
Weather.
Situation and
Remarks.
Force.
1
E.erly
Fresh breeze
Thick fog
At sea
2
E.erly
Strong ga.; mod.
Rain
Ditto
3
to NW
Hard gale
Ditto
Ditto
4
W to N, E
to Fresh gale
Cloudy; rain
Ditto
5
Variable
Fresh gale
Rain
Ditto
6
་
S.erly; NNW
to Strong breeze
Ditto
Made Faroe
7
8
9
N to W
10
to S and SE
Variable
Fresh gales
Ditto
W to N
to Mod. breeze
11 to S, W and NW
NWbN
to Fresh gale
to Strong gale
| Hurricane
to Fresh gale
to Mod. breeze
Fresh gales
Ditto
Rain; haze
Lightning
Ditto
Rain; hazy
Cloudy
Fine weather
Cloudy
Ditto
At sea
Ditto
Made the Lewis
Off Flannen Isi.
Near land.
Off Barra Head
Ireland
Off Inishoan
12
13
to E
14
to SE
15
ESE
Off Rachlin Isk
16
to SSE
Hazy
Ditto
17
NNW
Calm to fresh br.
Rain; clear
Off Port-Patrick
18
E.erly
Fresh breeze
Hazy
19
NE.erly
Ditto
Clear
Off Liverpool
Ditto
to Fresh breeze
442
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL [APP. N° v.
No. V.
JOURNAL of PROCEEDINGS on Board of
the Hercules of Aberdeen, Captain THOMAS
FAIRBURN, on the East Coast of West-Green-
land, from the 22d of August, to the 11th of
September 1822.
THE following narrative is taken, with little more than
a few verbal alterations, from a communication by Mr
Fairburn. It is particularly interesting to the whale-
fisher. It gives an account of the capture of two whales
at a very late season of the year, and includes some import-
ant observations, strikingly corroborative of my remarks on
the dangerous nature of the eastern coast of Greenland, as
a fishing station, at the end of summer. It also proves, what
I indeed fully expected, that the packing of the ice upon the
coast at this season, took place in other parallels than those
to which my observations extended.
After many unsuccessful searches for fish, between the
latitude of 80° 20′ N. and the parallel of Jan Mayen
Island, where I was on the 22d of July, with a clean ship,
and not a fish to be seen, I was determined, God willing,
to proceed to the north into Lat. 74°, and there go in with
the land, where I had seen fish late in the season in 1820.
Hence I proceeded to the north and west, as fast as cir-
cumstances would admit.
APP. N° v.] OF THE SHIP HERCULES.
443
On the 17th of August, in latitude 73° 30′, fell in with
the King George of London, and, being late in the season,
we agreed to keep company. This ship had three fish,
about 35 tons of blubber, that were taken in the fore part
of the season.
Thursday, Aug. 22d.-We came to a compact barrier
of floes and loose ice to the NE., and proceeded to the
westward, keeping to the northward as much as possible.
Had stormy weather all night, and in the morning (Friday
23d), having an increasing gale from the eastward, accom-
panied with thick weather, it was necessary to make fast;
and accordingly both ships were secured to the best floe
we could find. At 11 A. M. the gale was very heavy, with
much rain. The floes slueing about endangered us; but,
fortunately, having the advantage of a good natural dock,
in which we moored head and stern, we were able to keep
clear of the floe when brought to windward, where there was
only windlipper on the weather edge. The other ship, in
the act of shifting under a point of the floe, had the mis-
fortune to go adrift, and, endeavouring to set his main-top-
sail, it blew to shivers. On seeing this, and knowing his
ship's company were not in the best of spirits, I instantly
sent a boat and crew on board to their assistance, and they got
to windward again, after about three hours of complete hard
beating amongst heavy ice. In the mean time, we made a
good hole, and placed ice-anchors in readiness for him to
catch hold of. At 8 P. M. the gale abated, and we had
moderate weather.
Saturday, Aug. 24.-Had light easterly winds and fog
all the day, so that we lay fast to the floe.
Sunday, Aug. 25.-At 9 A. M., having fine clear wea-
ther, with a light wind from the northward, both ships cast
off, and proceeded to the westward, amongst sailing ice.
444
[APP. N° V.
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL
}
At noon had a good observation in 73° 41′ N. The land
was in sight from WNW. to NNE., which I supposed was
fifty or sixty miles distant; and the ice had every appear-
ance of affording a favourable passage in-shore. The wind
having shifted to the westward, we proceeded to the north-
ward with all possible sail; and at 4 P. M., I saw two fish
from the mast-head, and boats were sent out on watch.
►
Monday, Aug. 26. —At 4 a. M. I was welcomed on
deck with the noise of a second boat lowering down (a
token of whales), and was glad to behold as fine a morning
as ever I saw in Greenland. Our situation had a favour-
able appearance; three fish had been seen already, and
the ice was fine and open every way, a small floe and a
little brash-ice only separating us from the land water,
which appeared to be entirely free from ice. The nearest
spot of land was a small island (Jackson's Island), at
NNW. At 6 a. M. the King George got fast to a fish,
but lost her, by the line breaking. We now reached into
the open water, and soon saw fish in every direction, all
apparently travelling to the north-westward. From 4 a. m.
until 7, the fish were numberless; but notwithstanding
our boats pulled about the whole day, it was 8 г. M. be-
fore we had luck to get fast. We fortunately got her kill-
ed before dark, and had fine weather all night, so that we
had her flensed by morning. Amongst this run of fish,
the king George was fast to three, but lost them all.
Tuesday, Aug. 27.-All this day light NE. winds, and
fine weather. A fine fish appeared this morning, but got
We reached the ships in-shore, but, seeing no fish,
stood off to the ice. The night advanced with strong
ENE. winds, and thick weather. Having plenty of water,
we shortened sail, and dodged all night. In the morning
away.
最
​APP. N° V.
445
OF THE SHIP HERCULES.
1
our partner was out of sight, having, as I supposed, stood
to the eastward.
Wednesday, Aug. 28.-Strong ENE. winds and cloudy
weather. We plyed to the NE. amongst floes and loose
ice, without seeing a fish. It was dark and cloudy all night,
and we dodged under easy sail until morning.
Thursday, Aug. 29.-All this day had light ENE.
winds and fog, which opportunity we took to make-off our
fish, while lying fast to a floe. Gloomy weather all night.
Friday, Aug. 30.-This day commenced with light SW.
winds and fog. Cast off at daylight, and drifted to the
NE. amongst loose ice. At 9 A. M. made fast to a floe,
and sounded in 83 fathoms mud, latitude supposed 74° 15′
N. Had gloomy weather and intervals of calm through
the night.
Saturday, Aug. 31. commenced with more favourable
weather, and light ESE. winds. At 5 A. M. cast off and
proceeded to the NE. amongst sailing ice. At noon had
clear weather, and strong ENE. winds. A great change
had now taken place in the situation of the ice, the floes
having set more in-shore, and the land-water being in a
great measure covered with drift ice, which had evidently
come from the NE. We had yet, however, plenty of
room to sail in any direction, and I stood in-shore amongst
sailing ice. At 3 P. M. was within three miles of the land,
without seeing a fish. It was my design to have plyed
to windward into a large lane of water, entirely free from
ice in-shore, in order to dodge there all night, with an
intention, if the morning was fine, to send the boats in-
shore in search of fish. But, on seeing the King George
to leeward, I endeavoured to join him, if possible, before
dark; but at 4 P. M. coming on thick, I stood to the SE.,
being the most likely road to fall in with him, for he was
446
[APP. N° V.
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL
standing off when last seen. At 11 P. M. made fast to a
floe, and had strong winds all night.
Sunday, Sept. 1. commenced with strong ENE. gales,
and cloudy weather. At 5 A. M. sighted the other ship.
Cast off, and, having joined the King George, plyed to
windward to a good floe, where we secured both ships at
4 P. M., in order to lie still until morning. Strong ENE.
gales and cloudy all night.
Monday, Sept. 2.-More moderate and clear weather.
At 8 A. M. cast off, and stood towards the land amongst
floes and loose ice. At noon was nearly in-shore, in lati-
tude 73° 37′ N.; but on seeing no fish, and finding it im-
possible to beat to the NE. to the place from whence we
had drifted, in any reasonable time, we steered from the
wind, and proceeded along the land to the SW. amongst
floes and very heavy pieces of loose ice. Passed some large
icebergs; and on steering between Broer Ruys' Land and
Bontekoe Island, amongst some very ragged ice, we saw a
fish, which we struck at 7 P. M., and got her killed and
alongside at 11 P. M. The King George having sent a
boat to our assistance, struck at a loose fish, but lost her,
with half a line. Both ships were made fast to a floe, and
we began to flench; but being dark, and having two boats
away getting in the lines, which were thirteen in number,
we only got slowly on. At midnight, strong ENE, winds
and snow showers. We repeatedly fired a gun, and had a
light at the mast-head, during the night.
Tuesday, Sept. 3. commenced with strong gales and
snow. At 3 A. M. got one of the boats and crew on board,
after a wet and laborious pull to windward. But the other
boat, having put off from the ship about an hour before
this, gave me some uneasiness for their safety; for the
weather was very tempestuous. At 6 A. M. the King
APP. Nº V.]
447
OF THE SHIP HERCULES.
George broke adrift, and drove to the WSW. under bare
poles, it blowing too hard to set canvas. But, blowing as
it did, had our people been on board, and the ship clear,
I would have cast off and gone along with him, for the
wind was along the floe, and a heavy surge set in on the
edge of it, so that our situation was not one of the safest.
We soon, however, had smooth water, in consequence of
the ice setting toward us, and in a short time were beset.
At 1 P. M. the gale rather abated, and the weather was
more clear. We now got sight of our absent people upon
the floe to leeward, who were almost exhausted with hun-
ger and cold. One of them, indeed, had entirely lost the
use of every faculty, both of body and mind, but he happi-
ly recovered, and all the rest got well again. In the after-
noon the weather was more clear, and I saw the King
George about ten miles to the SW. apparently beset as we
were. There appeared to be a great body of ice within
us and the land. It was evident we had drifted a great
way to the southward, for, by the appearance of the land,
we were fifteen or eighteen miles from the place where the
fish was struck. This space appeared to be entirely cover-
ed with a compact mass of ice. There was much water in
sight, however, to the SSE., which had a good effect in
keeping up the spirits of the people. We lay fast beset all
night, which was dark and gloomy.
Wednesday, Sept. 4.-In the morning we had moderate
ENE. winds and sleet. In the afternoon, being fine clear wea-
ther, I sent two boats and crews away in search of the boat
and lines that were to leeward of the floe. At 4 P. M. the
ice slacked, and enabled us to get under-way, and to get
out into sailing ice. The King George was likewise un-
der-way at the same time, standing to the SE., and appa
448
[APP. N° V.
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL.
rently had plenty of room, for I did not see her tack the
whole afternoon, until I lost sight of her in the dark. At
8 P. M. the boats returned on board, but without finding
the whale-lines. We dodged all night, in order to search
for the lines or fish in the morning; but a change of wea-
ther occurring, made an alteration in our plans.
Thursday, 5th Sept.-Strong ENE. winds, and thick
weather. At 5 A. M. proceeded to the southward amongst
floes and loose ice. At 8 A. M. fell in with a compact
mass of floes, and was obliged to ply to the eastward. At
7 P. M. got sight of a very large floe, and apparently a sea
of water to the SE. It was now blowing very strong, but
more clear. I carried as much sail as possible, in order to
get made fast to the floe before dark; where we were well
secured by 10 P. M. Very thankful I was for my appa-
rently good situation; for the weather had every appear-
ance of an increasing storm through the night. At 11
P. M. the gale was tempestuous, accompanied with snow.
It indeed blew a mere hurricane through the night. It was
so dark, that we were not able to see from one end of the
ship to the other.
Friday, 6th Sept.-At 8 A м. it was more clear, and
the gale a little abated; but the wind shifting to the NE.,
we were soon annoyed with drift-ice setting along the edge
of the floe. We therefore shifted into a bight in the floe,
that was hard by, and made her well fast for another night's
lodgings. Moderate winds and clear towards night. The
land in sight forty or fifty miles distant. The ice, where
we came out, which only the other night was very open,
was now a compact and impenetrable pack. The ice to
the eastward had also set in greatly towards us; but yet
we had a large hole of water. Light NE. winds and fine
weather all night.
ÁPÉ. N° V.] OF THE SHIP HERCULES.
449
Saturday, 7th Sept. commenced with light ENE. winds
and fine clear weather, and a moderate frost. At 3 a. M.
cast off and proceeded to the eastward, along the edge of
the floe about three miles, and then came to a compact
barrier of floes. This chain having a lane of water to
leeward, with the packed ice on the west side, we proceed-
ed along it, with but little interruption, to the southward,
until we were without all the floes, with loose ice, to the
eastward. At 10 A. M. strong winds and hazy weather.
Finding the ice slack, proceeded to the SE. as fast as pos-
sible. At noon strong gales at ENE., but more clear,
and plenty of water to the southward, with a pack to the
westward. At 4 P. M., after steering about thirty miles
SE. amongst sailing ice, we got into an open sea, where
there was much swell. We stood all night to the SSE.,
and had dark gloomy weather.
Sunday, 8th Sept.-Strong ENE. gales, and thick
weather. At 6 A. M. fell in with streams of very heavy
ice, and apparently much ice to the southward. I there-
fore wore and stood to the westward, for I then reckoned the
ship to be in latitude 71°30', about the parallel of Jan Mayen.
To make sure of going to the westward of the island, we
stood in all the day, and dodged all night, having dark
stormy weather.
Monday, 9th Sept.-At 5 A. M. more moderate, but hazy
weather. Made sail and proceeded to the SE.; but soon
came to a solid pack of ice, along which we steered to the
WSW. At 8 A. M. it cleared up, and we saw the land on-
ly thirty or forty miles distant, which I did not expect to
be in sight of; but our having been continually in a heavy
SE. sea, from the time of getting out of the pack, may per-
haps account for our getting so much westing. Within this
heavy pack was a large lane of water, entirely free from
F f
450
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL. [APP. Nº v.
•
iee, stretching along the land to the SW.; and also clear
water to the NE. At noon had a good observation in
"70° 40′ N. ´ I was convinced, from the situation of the ice,
that plying round the NE. of the pack to the eastward,
was the most safe and certain way of getting out. Ac-
cordingly, we beat to windward until dark, and dodged all
night under a point of ice in smooth water. Strong winds
from 2 P. M., and a strong gale all night, with some snow.
· Tuesday, 10th September.—At 3 A. M. móre moderate
and clear. Made all sail, and plyed to the eastward.
noon had a good observation in 70° 26′ N.
in sight at NW., fifty or sixty miles distant. At this time
weathered the pack, and steered to the SSE. in an open
sea.
The land was
At 2 P. M. strong winds and hazy. At 4 P. M. fell
in with heavy loose ice, after sailing twenty-five or thirty
miles from the pack. As the night was fast approaching,
and the weather stormy, I wore, and stood into clear wa-
ter, where we close reefed our topsails, in order to dodge
all night, which was very dark.
Wednesday, 11th Sept.-Strong gales at ENE., and hazy
weather. At 4 A. M. proceeded to the SSE. amongst
heavy loose ice. At 7 got out into clear water, and were
no more troubled with ice. We carried strong ENE.
gales and thick weather until next morning, when we had
a change of wind to the WNW; observation 68° 15′ N.
We had, for the most part, moderate winds from SSW.
to W. the remainder of our voyage, and arrived at Aber-
deen 24th September, with two fish, that produced 33 tons
of oil.
Note. The last time I saw the King George was on
the 4th September, when she was proceeding to the SE.
with all sail set. It is evident, if he continued making the
A
1
APP. N° V.]
451.
MEMORANDUM.
1
best of his way out of the ice, that he would be about the
outside of the pack, if not amongst the sea streams, on
Thursday the 5th, at night, or on Friday morning, which
commenced with a most heavy ENE. gale, and snow. As
this ship has not yet been heard of, it is probable that she
was entirely lost amongst the heavy streams that were drift-
ed in various directions from the pack. Such, at least, I
imagine, has been the fate of that unfortunate ship and
crew; though some are of opinion that she has been beset
among the land-ice, and there either lost or imprisoned for
the winter.
Memorandum respecting the King George, and the Suffer-
ings of some of her Crew in the Whale-fishery.
The King George, Captain Proven, sailed from London
to the Greenland whale-fishery in the spring of 1822. A
peculiar fatality seemed to attend her in the outset. Mr
Gibson, surgeon of the Trafalgar, gave me the following
particulars respecting the sufferings of part of her crew,
who were a long time absent from the ship in a severe frost,
soon after she entered the fishing stations. The crew of
the King George, it appears, struck a fish during one of
those severe gales which we had in the month of May,
when the thermometer fell to zero or below. Thick weather
setting in, they lost sight of the ship, and were exposed to
the severities of the most intense cold and violent storm, for
fifty hours. One man fell a victim to the cold while on
the ice, and another died soon after he reached his ship.
All of them suffered from the severity of the exposure,
more or less. Some lost their fingers,-others their toes,
some their hands,-and others their feet. The surgeon
Ff2
452
[APP. N° V.
MEMORANDUM.
}
ર
of the King George told Mr Gibson, who supplied him
with some dressings, that he had amputated thirty-five fin-
gers and toes in one day! An example was given of the
severity of the cold, by one of the King George's sailors,
who stated, that a quantity of beef that was sent in the
boats to the men upon the ice, when they first saw them,
was taken hot out of the coppers; but before they reached
the ice, though at no great distance, it was frozen so hard
that they had to cut it in pieces with hatchets.
:
•
?
APP. N° VI.] Extract of a JOURNAL. 453
No. VI.
JOURNAL of PROCEEDINGS on Board of
the Trafalgar of Hull, Captain LLOYD, on the
East Coast of West Greenland, from the 12th
to the 31st of August 1822,
THE Trafalgar of Hull was long in company with the
Baffin, on the voyage narrated in this volume, and was at
last separated from us by getting beset on the 12th of Au-
gust. Her situation at the time was supposed to be one
of great danger; but it proved to have been still more ex-
treme than we expected. Having, as this Appendix was
printing, unexpectedly met with a journal kept by Mr
John Erskine Gibson, who was surgeon of the Trafalgar,
I considered a part of it so interesting, as to form a de-
sirable article for my Appendix. The following particu-
lars, relating, 1st, to the dangerous state of the Trafalgar
while beset; 2d, to her equally dangerous situation in the
gale of the 23d of August; and, 3d, to the adventures of
five of her men, who were left all night in the midst of this
storm upon a piece of ice,-are extracted in substance, and
in some places verbatim, from Mr Gibson's journal. The
first section shews, that the narrow escape we made from
an entanglement similar to that of the Trafalgar's, was
fully as remarkable and important as I then considered it
to be*; the second shews the great danger of the storms
which occur, at the close of the fishing season, on the east
coast of Greenland, particularly to ships about leaving the
* See pages 261. and 268. of this volume.
·
454
[APP. Nº VI.
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL
ice; and the last gives an example of one of the most ex-
traordinary deliverances from premature death, which the
records of the whale-fishery perhaps can furnish.
Monday, Aug. 12.-At 4 P. M., blowing a fresh gale
with rain, the floe to which the ships were made fast set
down towards the lee ice, so as to render our situation peril-
ous. The Baffin and Fame having cast off, we followed
their example. Some of our boats that had been sent to
look out for fish in the inlets on each side of Traill Island,
had by this time returned on board, and at 7 P. M. the last
reached the ship. Towards midnight we became unex-
pectedly entangled among heavy rank ice and floes, so that
we had to call all hands to take care of the ship. Soon af-
terwards, while endeavouring to pass through betwixt a
large floe, and some loose ice that was setting down upon
it, the ship received some severe blows on the bows. Find-
ing it then impossible to get out, we lay to, and in half an
hour the ship was close beset. The Baffin and Fame got
out just as the ice closed, and, in the mist, we soon lost
sight of them. Though this discouraged us, we were quite
confident that they would hover about until we got free
again, or pick us up, in the event of the ship going down,
Tuesday, 13th.-Though I retired to bed when the ship
was fast enclosed, I endeavoured in vain to sleep, as I
every minute expected to be called to quit the ship. About
3 A. M. a large piece of ice pressing on the outside of the
ship, opposite to my bed-cabin, broke two or three of the
timbers, with a dismal noise. Thinking all was over, I
sprung out of bed. The first person I saw was the mate,
who was employed filling a canvas-bag with flannel shirts,
stockings, &c. out of his chest. Being greatly alarmed, I
hurried on my clothes, and then followed his example, in se-
t
APP. N° VI.] OF the ship trafalgar.
455
+
curing some of the warmest of my Greenland apparel. On
going upon deck, to my great consternation, I found the
ship under an enormous pressure, from numerous huge
masses of ice surrounding her on all sides, without an open-
ing of water sufficient for a boat within two miles; and
what greatly augmented my concern was, that no ship was
in sight, though the weather was now tolerably clear. Most
of the crew were now engaged in providing for shipwreck,
by filling their bags (which they carry for this purpose)
with clothes, and some of them tying up their hammocks,
to be ready for another ship. Many of the people, conscious
of their great danger, were employed in supplications to
Divine Mercy for deliverance; and I likewise sought re-
fuge from the painful apprehensions of threatening death,
in a similar occupation. At 8 A. M. sounded in 142 fa-
thoms. At 9 A. M. the captain gave up all hopes of saving
the ship; and faint were mine of saving ourselves. With
the confident expectation of shipwreck, we made such pre-
parations for this calamity as circumstances would admit.
Four days allowance of provisions were cooked with all
speed; other provisions were taken upon deck; and every
thing of importance placed in readiness for being thrown up-
on the ice. At 11 A. M., however, our drooping spirits were
greatly revived, by observing a slight relaxation of pressure;
but in half an hour we were again thrown into despair by
the return of the pressure. At noon, a man at the mast-
head saw a ship (the Baffin), on which we instantly made sig-
nals of distress. At this time a dead silence prevailed through-
out the ship; the crew looking on one another in awful sus-
pense. At 1 P. M. the pressure was so strong, that the
pannels of the captain's state-room door were forced out of
the framing. About half an hour after this, the ship was
suddenly thrown upon her larboard side, on which all
T
1
456
[APP. N° VI...
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL
hands, each carrying his bag of clothing, sprung upan
deck, I shall never forget the confusion of the poor men,
nor their wild looks, when they gained the deck, for the
half of them happened to be below at the time of the shock,
and, from the smallness of the hatch, could only get up
one at a time. "Some leaped upon the ship's side, and were
going upon the ice, when the captain cried out to them to
behave like men, and stick by the ship, so long as she re-
mained above water." We all stood on that part of the
ship nearest to the ice, with our bags on our shoulders.. I
kept close by the captain, in a state of mind easier to be
conceived than related. For fifteen minutes we had pa
tiently awaited our doom, when, by the interposition of Di-
vine Providence, the wind changed, the ice began to set
off from the ship, and in fifteen minutes more she recover-
ed an upright position. The water now rapidly spread
among the surrounding ice, and we threw our bags below,
and prepared for warping. Some of the hands were then sent
below to recruit their strength with a little rest. At 6 P. M.
called all hands to warp the ship into a place, about twenty
yards a-head, of less danger, in which we succeeded, after
considerable labour. At 8 left off warping. About mid-
night the captain and myself went below and rested on the
cabin-floor, with our knapsacks as pillows, and a sail as our
bed-clothes.
Wednesday, 14th.-At 4 A. M., called all hands to warp
the ship clear of a great body of ice, that threatened im-
mediate destruction. In this, contrary to general expecta-
tion, we succeeded. At 7 some of the hands were sent
below, and at 9 they were called up to renew their labours.
On this summons, the men who were asleep mistaking it
for a call to quit the ship, came bouncing upon deck with
their bags in their hands, in great alarm. This curious
APP. № VI.] OF THE SHIP TRAFALGAR.
457
e, notwithstanding our uncomfortable situation, occa-
sioned considerable amusement. At mid-day it was dark
and foggy, but mild and calm. At 5 P. M. all hands were
again called to track the ship along the side of some floes.
The ice became more open as we advanced, and at 7 P. M.
we were so free, that a boat was sent a-head to tow the
ship, the weather being quite calm. Soon afterwards, a
breeze springing up, we made sail, and appeared to be out
of danger.
Thursday, 15th.-"At 2 A. M. I was awoke by the mate;
who desired me to rise, and he would shew me a pleasant
sight. I accordingly rose, and he shewed me his clothes,
taken from the bag, and neatly packed in his chest." He
also gratified me with the information, "that the ship
made no water, and as yet they could observe no material
damage." At 5 A. M. we considered ourselves quite safe.
The weather clearing up, we saw a ship standing to the
SE., which we afterwards joined. It proved to be the
North Britain of Hull. "When I went upon deck, it
was like visiting one's friends on the morning of a new-
year's day. Every one came to congratulate me on our
narrow escape, with countenances very different from those
they had a little before wore. The happiest of them, I
need hardly observe, was not happier than I. At 8 a. M,
saw a fish, which we pursued, unsuccessfully. At noon
observed in Lat. 71° 52′ N."
*
#
Thursday, 22d of August.-Moderate weather in the
morning. Stood to the eastward, until the ship got among
immense fields and other large masses of heavy ice. At 4
P. M. the weather was clear; but at 5 it became so thick
that we could not see eight yards from the ship. In the
evening blowing fresh with heavy rain. Latitude ob
served at noon 72° 50′ N.
1
458
[APP. Nº VI.
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL
Friday, 23d.—At 2 A. M., plying to windward in com-
pany with the Elizabeth, it began to blow hard with sleet.
At 4 A. M., blowing still harder, we called all hands to take
care of the ship. But the sea now beginning to run high,
and the thickness of the weather preventing us from keep-
ing clear of the ice, the ship received some heavy blows on
both sides. At 8 A. M. it blew a tremendous gale, and
the sea was higher than any one on board had ever seen it
among the ice.
"We made several attempts to bring the
ship alongside of a floe, and make her fast; but the floes
being all to leeward of us, we were driven against them
with great violence, and received considerable damage.
Thus situated, we stood out from among the floes, and
plyed to windward among the loose ice." "By the force
of the waves, the ice was now driven against the ship with
such violence as alarmed the boldest of the crew. At 1
F. M., received a dreadful blow upon the starboard bow,
which we thought had stove the ship. I was not singular,
at this instant, in my dismal apprehensions of a watery
grave; as the heavy sea would have swamped any boat
that we might have endeavoured to save ourselves by." At
2 P. M., carried away the mizen-topmast, and half an hour
afterwards one of the boats was washed away, but hauled
on board again by the line, which was fortunately fastened
to the rigging. At 3, we passed under the stern of the
"At.
Elizabeth, that had contrived to make fast to a floe.
first we were greatly enlivened by the sight of this ship,
but our thoughts took a different turn when we perceived
that her whole starboard broadside was stove, and the ship,
to all appearance, almost full of water." She made signals
of great distress, but we could not afford her any assis
"At 4 P. M., while tacking, our ship was driven
against the corner of a floe, and her starboard-bow com-
pletely stove." On attempting to get her off, she struck a
tance.
APP. N° VI.] OF THE SHIP TRAFALGAR.
459
large mass of ice, which laid her almost upon her beam-
ends alongside of the floe. For a quarter of an hour she
was unmanageable. The blows she received were prodi-
gious. Cries of "water in hold," and "the ship's sinking,"
now called forth ejaculations bearing the form of pray-
ers, from the most hardened,-and "excited thoughts
which are not to be conceived but by one who has been in
a similar situation." The ship, however, did not fill, and
we succeeded in getting clear of the floe; but were once
more at the mercy of the ice and waves. Both pumps
were now required to keep the hold free of water. From
this time, for three or four hours, we were plying to wind-
ward, under a brisk sail; but encountering great and con-
tinued difficulties from the sea and ice, and the severity
of the weather. At 9 P. M. we made another attempt to
moor the ship to a floe. Five active men were sent to fix
some anchors, and two warps were fastened to them. Two
of the men in the boat returned for another anchor, and
just as they got hold of the ship, both the warps broke that
were fast to the ice; and the ship turning quickly round,
received a dreadful shock on her quarter against the floe.
This compelled us to stand out amongst the loose ice again;
about an hour afterwards we returned, and sent a boat to
endeavour to bring on board those unfortunately left upon
the ice. But the sea was so heavy that the men refused to
risk themselves in the boat, and it returned without them.
We now were obliged to reach off to the eastward, among
the loose ice, to the distance of nearly twenty miles from
the poor men on the floe. Here we had room to beat to
windward. At midnight the wind veered to the eastward,
and began to abate.
Saturday, 24th.-Towards morning the weather cleared
up, and the wind abated, on which we commenced a care-
460
EXTRACT OF A JOURNAL [APP. N°. VI.
ful search for the five absent men, though with very small
hopes of ever seeing them again. But, after standing four
hours to the westward, to our great joy, we got sight of
them with the glass from the mast-head, upon a small piece
of ice, and at 8 A. M., sent a boat and took all of them on
board alive; and, considering the severities they had en-
dured, from cold, wet, and hunger, in better health tham
could possibly have been expected. The same hardships
must have killed any one not accustomed to these regions.
It was indeed a deliverance of the most extraordinary de-
scription. The account they gave of their perilous adven-
tures, was to the following effect:
Shortly after the departure of the boat which had at-
tempted their rescue, a portion of the floe upon which they
stood broke off by the action of the swell, and before they
could step across to the main sheet, the water intervened
and prevented their retreat. They soon drifted from be-
neath the shelter of the floe into a heavy sea. Almost
every other wave now washed over the piece of ice, so that
to secure themselves, they were obliged to lie down flat on
their bellies, and cling to the edge of the ice with their
hands. In this state of dreadful suffering and danger,
they remained until about midnight, when the mass of ice
to which they clung was dashed by the waves against ano-
ther lump, and broke into three pieces. They were fortu-
nately on the largest part (which, however, was only a
few yards in diameter), and on this they spent a dis-
mal and hopeless night, frequently washed over by the sea,
and in perpetual expectation that the next heavy wave
would force them from their imperfect hold, and bury them
in the deep. As soon as the sea began to fall, they con-
trived to stand upright, and to move about, so as to gain a
little warmth. But this measure was likely to fail, when, on
APP. N° VI.] OF THE SHIP TRAFALGAR.
461
/
the clearing away of the mist, they were overwhelmed in
despair, on finding there was no ship within sight. The
Trafalgar, they now apprehended, had foundered in the
gale, and if so, their situation was indeed without hope.
The usual effect of severe exposure, in occasioning drowsi-
ness, then began to make its appearance amongst them,
and one man expressed great desire to sleep, which, how-
ever, his companions very prudently prevented; otherwise,
it is probable, he would have awoke no more. Soon after-
wards they were rejoiced by a sight of the ship, whose
approach gave some stimulus to their spirits, and enabled
them to make that exertion which was necessary for pre-
serving life, until they could be taken from their perilous
situation,
At 10 A. M., saw the Kiero of Hull, made fast to a
floe, which ship we joined for the benefit of the assistance
of her carpenters to endeavour to repair our damages. At
noon the weather fell calm, and the sea, which a short time
before had been so turbulent, was now as smooth as a mirror.
The Captain of the Kiero gave us every assistance in his
power. The Trafalgar was hove down; but the princi-
pal leak proving to be near the keel, was unfortunately
inaccessible. Both pumps at work all the day.
While these operations were going on, the Kiero, which
had safely rode out the gale fast to the floe, sent two boats
to the assistance of the Elizabeth, that was seen at a con-
siderable distance, and appeared to be in a very bad state.
Her mizen-mast was gone, several of her yards were
broken, and three of her boats washed away.
As soon as these ships were sufficiently refitted, to en-
able them to undertake the passage home, they proceeded
to the eastward in company, and got clear of the ice on the
31st of August.
1
462 LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. [APP. N°VII,
↑
+
•
No. VII.
TABLE OF LATITUDES AND LONGI
TUDES of Headlands, Bays, and Islands,
on the Eastern Coast of Greenland.
[The Latitudes or Longitudes marked thus*, are some-
what doubtful, being derived from the position of the
ship when at too great a distance; and those marked ‡,
are still more doubtful, owing to the want of sufficient
bearings and observations respecting them. Those
without any particular mark, are considered as suffi-
ciently accurate for all purposes of navigation.]
Latitude.
Allan, Cape
71 48 N.
Longitude.
21.53 W.
Arundel, Cape
73 57
21 0
Barclay, Cape
69 13 ±
24 25+
Beaufoy, Cape
74 42 *
20 0
Bennet Island,
73 29
21 37
Biot, Cape
71 53+
28 20 +
Bontekoe Island,
73. 29
20 40
Brewster, Cape
70 11
22 0
Bright, Cape
74 52 *
19 22 *
Brinkley, Cape
74 6*
21 15*
Brisbane, Cape
74 16*
20 30 *
Brown, Cape
71 48
22 54 +
Buache, Cape
71 48
23 38
Buch, Cape
71 28
22 20 *
APP. N°VII.] LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES.
463.
Latitude.
Longitude.
Buddicom, Cape
71° 1′ N.
21° 31 W.
Campbell Bay
71 18
21 30
Canning Island (middle),
71 43 *
22 ID
Carnegie, Cape
71 45+
23 35+
Clark, Cape
74 32
19 51 *
Constable, Point
70 57 ‡
22 361
Craig Islands,
72 22
22 20
Crawford, Cape
71 40
21 57
Church Mount,
71
4
21 37
Dalton, Cape
69 26 *
23 37 *
Davy's Sound, (middle of the en-
trance),
71 58
22 0
Double Mount,
71
Ö
21 39
Ewart, Cape
69 22
23 50*
Fame Islands,
70 58 +
22 30
+
Fleming Inlet, (middle of the en-
trance),
71 50 ‡
23 10+
Fletcher, Cape
71 36
22 4
Franklin, Cape
73 20
21 53 *
Freycinet, Cape
72 45
22 8*
Gale Hamke's Bay (middle of the
entrance),
74 57*
19 10*
Gibson, Point
70 34
22 22
Giesecké, Cape
73 26
21 50*
Gladstone, Cape
71 33
21 38
Glasgow Island,
70 48
21 31
Graham, Cape
69 47
22 43 *
Greg, Cape
Greville, Cape
Henry Island,
Herschel, Cape
Hewitt, Cape
70 57
21 31
71 23 ±
22 10 *
+
69 33
23 12
I
74 20
19 58*
71 27
21. 30
:
5
-464
LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. [APP; VI.
Latitude.
• Longitude.
Heywood Island,
70° 43′ N.
21 31′ W.
Hodgson, Cape
70 32
21423
Hold-with-hope,
78 30
21 16*
Holland, Cape
73 43
21 5
Holloway Bay,
70 55
21 36
Home Foreland (middle)
73 51
210°
0*
Hooker, Cape
70 24
22 57
Hope, Cape
70 29
22 19
Humboldt, Cape
73 16
21 57
Jackson Island,
73 56
20 8*
Jones, Cape
71 4
21 33
Kater Bay (middle of entrance), 74 48 *
20 0*
Krusenstern, Cape
71 32
22 12*
Laplace, Cape
72 59
22 17
*
Leitch, Cape
72 57
22 14 *
Leslie, Cape
72 30 ‡
24 50 t
Lister, Cape
70 30
21 30
Mackenzie Inlet (middle of the
entrance,
73 28 *
21 43 *
Macknight, Cape
71 14 ±
<
22 20 ‡
+
Masclet Bay,
71 2
21 33
Manby Island (middle),
69 43
22 42
Mewburn, Cape
72 12
21 54
Moorsom, Cape
72 11
21.51
Mountnorris Inlet (middle of the
entrance),
72 22
21 50
Murray Island,
71 33
21 31
Neild Bay,
Neill's Cliffs,
Parker Island,
Parry, Cape
71 23
21 30
70 30
22 37
I
70 43
21 20
72 27 *
21 45 *
APP N VII.] LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. 465
Latitude.
Longitude.
Phillips, Point
Pictet, Cape
70° 35′* N.
72
71
22° 40′ W.
23.15 ‡
Pillans, Cape
69.53
22 30
Pinnacle Mount,
71 13
21.37
Raffles Island,
70 37
21 27
Rathbone Island (E. end),
70.40
21 15
Reynolds Island,
71 31
21 80
Roscoe Mountains (middle),
70 36
21 40
Ross, Cape
70 48 ‡
24 0
Rossel, Cape
73 6
22 17 *
Rossilly, Cape
71 50 ‡
23 30‡
Russell, Cape
70 2
22 23
Sandbach Island,
70 44
21 32
Scoresby's Sound (middle of the
entrance),
70 19
21 58
Scott's Inlet (middle of the en-
trance),
74 3
21 0
Seaforth, Cape
71 46±
24 0
Simpson, Cape
72
7
22 6
Smith, Cape
Smith's Island,
Stevenson, Cape
Stewart, Cape
Steward Island,
Swainson, Cape
Tattershall, Cape
Tobin, Cape
71 14
21 30
71 49
22 17
70 22 *
24 23 *
·
70 28
22 36
69 47
22 30
70 28
21 37
71
8
21 33
70 26
21 55
Topham, Cape
71 20
21 27
Traill Island (middle),
72 12
22 20
Turner Island,
70 38
22 53 *
Vandyke Cliffs,
Wallace Bay,
72 10
21 57
I
70 4
22 23
G g
466 LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. [APP. N°V11.
Latitude,
Longitude.
Wardlaw, Cape
71° 47′ N.
2250 W.
Werner Mountains,
72
51
24 10
Wollaston Foreland (middle),
74 25
19.50
Wood, Cape
71 18‡
22.27*
Young's Bay,
74 21 *
20 85*
Young, Cape
72 16
21.52
APP. N°VIII.] STRUCTURE OF GREENLAND, 467
No. VIII.
REMARKS on the STRUCTURE of GREENLAND,
in support of the opinion of its being an assem-
blage of Islands, and not a Continent. By Sir
CHARLES GIESECKE'*.
It is past doubt, that the whole coast of Greenland
formerly consisted of large islands, which are now, as it
were, glued together by immense masses of ice.
Such inlets, or rather firths (fiords), which once formed
sounds or passages, terminate always, according to my ob-
servations, with glaciers filling up the valleys at each end.
Such is (to confine myself to the more northern latitudes),
the ice-firth, or ice-bay, of Disco Bay, in 68° 40′. Such, al-
so, is Cornelius Bay (North-east Bay, or Omenak's Fiord),
711°, the north-eastern arm of which is blocked up at both
ends with ice running through a valley, and bending ra-
ther towards the ENE.
It is only by this arm of the bay that we can suppose
an ancient communication with the eastern coast, as its
* This important article was received from Sir Charles Giesecké, in a
letter to the author, dated 13th of February 1823. It ought to have been
embodied in Chapter XII. at page 329., but did not arrive in time. By the
same communication, Sir Charles very politely granted me the use of his
interesting original chart in MS. of the east side of Baffin's Bay and Davis
Straits, a part of which being of great consequence for the illustration of the
opinion respecting the structure of this country given in Chapter XII., is
included in the Comparative Map, Plate VIII.
468 STRUCTURE OF GREENLAND. [APP. N°VIII.
3
south-eastern arm is surrounded by high mountains. The
natives have no tradition with respect to this bay. There
is another bay, which I could not investigate to its bottom,
on account of the immense masses of ice that were setting
out, and which is called by the natives Ikek and Ikaresak
(sound). It runs between Karsarsuk and Kingitok, and
its length is from Karsarsuk to its end about fifteen Ger-
man miles it is situated in 72° 48', and the sea, at its
entrance, is covered by numerous islands. All the natives
living in this neighbourhood, assured me unanimously, that
there had been a passage formerly to the other side of the
land. They told me also, that they were afraid, that, with
heavy north-easterly gales, the ice would go off again, and
that the people from the other side, whom they describe as
barbarians, would come over and kill them. They stated,
that, from time to time, carcasses of whales, which had been
killed on the other side, pieces of wood, and fragments of
utensils, were to be seen driving out of this bay. The
currents set out of it in the same manner as in Icy Bay *.
The most northern bay which I had the good fortune
to examine, stretches towards the north-west, and is bound-
ed on the north-east and south-east (two different arms) by
immense glaciers. It is situated in 75°.10', and the land
around it is rather low. The depth of the sea near the
glaciers in Icy Bay exceeds 300 fathoms, which may be
easily ascertained by calculating the height of the floating
ice-mountains above the surface of the sea. In Cornelius
Bay, I measured the depth with a whale-line, and found it
150 fathoms.
* The outset from these bays, and the inset on the western side of the
country, are almost demonstrative of the complete perforation of Greenland
by inlets or firths, and of its insular structure.-(See page 329).
APP. N° IX.] TECHNICAL TERMS.
469
•
No. IX.
Explanation of some of the TECHNICAL
TERMS made use of in the foregoing Jour-
nal.
?
Bay-ice.-Ice newly formed upon the sea.
Bearing. The direction of an object in reference to the
points of the compass, or the true meridian. In the
former case it is the magnetic bearing, in the latter the
true bearing.-See Trend.
Beset.-The state of a ship when so closely encompassed
by ice, as to render her incapable of moving.
Bight.-A bay in the outline of the ice.
Blink.-A stratum of lucid whiteness which usually appears
in the lower part of the atmosphere, over icc and land
covered with snow. The latter, called land-blink, is
commonly of a yellowish colour. The former, called
ice-blink, bright white.
Bore, or Boring. — The operation of forcing a passage
through loose ice, under a pressure of sail, is termed
"boring."
Brash-ice-Small nodules and fragments of ice, broken off
by the attrition of one piece against another.
Calf.-A portion of ice beneath a large mass, but not frozen
to it, which shews itself on one side, and is apt to be dis-
engaged by a slight motion.
Clear-water.-Either an opening among the ice, or an en-
tire sea quite unincumbered with ice.
Cross-ice.-Loose ice, affording a dubious and difficult pas-
sage to a ship.
470
[APP. N° IX.
TECHNICAL TERMS.
Crow's Nest.-A circular box, like a small pulpit, fixed at
the mast-head, for the accommodation of the captain or
officer, when employed in navigating the ship through
ice, or looking out for whales. This structure, which
is extremely commodious, was the invention of Captain
Scoresby senior, and is now universally used by the
northern whalers.
Drift-ice.-Masses of floating ice, of the sheet kind, of va-
rious shapes and magnitudes, up to, perhaps, à quarter
of a mile in diameter.
Field. A sheet of ice so extensive, that its limits cannot be
discerned from a ship's mast-head.
Floe.-A large sheet of ice, whose extent can be seen from
a ship's mast-head. This term is seldom applied to
pieces of ice of less diameter than a quarter of a mile.
Frost-rime.—A sort of fog that appears on the surface of
the sea, in severe frosts, produced by the condensation
of the vapour arising from the water, in consequence of
its being much warmer than the air.
Heavy ice.-A term applied to thick ponderous ice, in con-
tradistinction to "light," or thin ice.
Hummock.-A protuberance, the effect of pressure, raised
upon any plain of ice above the common level.
Iceberg.—The polar glacier. The same term is also applied
to large elevated floating masses, sometimes called ice-
islands, which are merely dismemberments of the land
icebergs.
Ice-blink.-The same as blink.
Land-ice. - Grounded ice, or ice attached to the land,
whether in floes, or closely aggregated drift-ice, some-.
times extending several miles from the shore.
Lane, or vein.—A narrow opening, in which a ship may
conveniently sail, in a pack or other large collection of
ice.
1
APP. N° IX.]
471 +
TECHNICAL TERMS.
+
•
A Lead.-A channel or passage among ice, nearly synoni-
mous with a "lane of water,” but it may be more com-
plex. Thus, a lane of water is always a "clear lead,"
but a lead may also be "cross," or bad, or dangerous.
Light-ice. Thin ice, or ice not generally dangerous to
shipping. The different terms bay-ice, light-ice, and
heavy-ice, are distinguishable of various thicknesses.
Thus bay-ice may be said to extend from the first pel-
licle of ice formed on the water up to a foot in thick-
ness; or, in the case of floes, to a little greater thick-
ness. Light-ice, from a foot to a yard, or at most a fa-
thom in thickness; and heavy ice, from about a fathom
upwards.
Loose-ice.-Open drift-ice, among which a ship may find a
passage.
Open-ice, or sailing-ice. Drift-ice or floes, so separated as
to afford a convenient passage for ships. It differs lit-
tle from loose-ice.
Pack.-A body of drift-ice of such magnitude, that its ex-
tent is not discernible. A pack is said to be open, when
the pieces of ice, though very near each other, do not
generally touch; or close, when the pieces are in com-
plete contact.
Patch.-A collection of drift-ice or bay-ice of a circular or
a polygonal form. In point of magnitude, a pack cor-
responds with a field, and a patch with a floe.
Rank-ice-Crowded drift-ice.
Sailing-ice.-Open or loose ice.
Sludge.—A stratum of detached ice-crystals, or of snow, or
of the smaller fragments of brash-ice, floating on the sur-
face of the sea.
Stream.-An oblong collection of pieces of drift-ice, or bay-
ice, the pieces of which are continuous. It is called a
472
[APP. Nº IX.
TECHNICAL TERMS.
83
sea-stream, when it is exposed on one side to the ocean;
and affords shelter from the sea or waves, to vessels
within it.
Tongue.A point or shelf of ice projecting nearly horizon-
tally from the part of a mass that is under-water.
Tongues are firmly attached to the pieces of ice from
which they project, and are sometimes so deep under-
water, that ships are either grounded upon them, or sail
over thein.
Trend, or Trending.-The direction of a line of coast, or
of ice as regards the points of the compass, or the true
meridian. Thus, ice or land is said to trend to the south-
ward, when its direction in the part referred to lies near-
ly north and south. Trending differs from bearing, in-
asmuch as it is generally used to describe the direction of a
coast or line of ice in regard to itself; whereas the bearing.
usually refers to the direction of an object, in regard to
the place of the observer. Thus the trending of a coast
betwixt two points of land, A and B may be north and
south, or south from A to B, whilst the bearing of A
from the observer, is perhaps west, and of B perhaps
south-west. The bearing of land is variable, depending
on the situation of the observér: the trending fixed, de-
pending on the situation of the land.
Water-sky.--A dark appearance of the atmosphere, near
the horizon, indicating clear water below it.
FINIS.
DR 60/6
17 248AA 20131-A
:
•
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