mmmmmmmmmmmmm^m •-V!^Sr?^"'^' ''•f^^r'^'i:^^*-::'^-.: '^^'5^^ ■''.';.' JAMS S(h' 0^ S7^ I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/arcticworlditsplOOIondrich «/ - v/ ^, t. ^L-sf ^A^^/^^c-^^ - ^f^^ i/^s^ TIIF. rUKW OV TlIK 'MIAVSA" nilAOOlNi: T 11 i: I 11 r.OATS ACROSS THK IC K. See pn£f 357- THE ARCTIC WORLD: w. ITS PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. eciith a J)istorii-al Shctch of Jlvctic iliscobcnj, DiiWN TO THE BRITISH POLAR EXPEDITION: 1875-76. f. f^'>i'' I- I' ■ Here let Ilie Inllriw. stiffen, and have resi,'— COLERIDGR LONDON: T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW; E D I N D U R G H ; AND NEW YORK. ^G. PREFACE. jiNGLISHMEN have always felt a special interest in the regions of the icy North, from the days when Dr. Thome first proposed the search after a passage to the Pole, down to tliese present times, when the Expedition under Captains Nares and Stephenson has shown that such a passage is virtually impracticable. The interest originally kindled by commercial considerations has been maintained by purer and loftier motives, — by the thirst after knowledge, and the sympathy with the brave deeds of brave men. And it must bo admitted that our national virtues of resolute perseverance and patient courage have never been more hap^jily displayed than in the prosecution of the great work of Arctic Discovery. Our explorers have refused to know when they were beaten ; and in defiance of a terrible climate, of icebergs and ice-floes, of liurricanes and driving snow-storms, of obstacles, dangers, and difficulties, have pressed onward, until the latest adventurers have crossed the Threshold of the Unknown Region, and confronted the immense plain of ice that extends for four hundred miles from the Pole. Their labours, indeed, have been attended by the shadows of melancholy disasters, and the long Arctic night closes over the graves of many whom England was loath to lose ; but in their successful issue they have brought us acquainted with the phenomena of a strange and wonderful world, and opened up to us a succession of scenes of the most remarkable character. There can be no question that in the frozen wastes and snowy wildei'nesses lurks a powerful fascination, which proves almost iri-esistible to the adventurous spirit. He who has once entered the Arctic World, however great his sufferings, is restless until he returns to it. Whether the spell lies in the weird magnificence of the scenery, in the splendours of the heavens, in the mystery which still hovers over those far-off seas of ice and remote bays, or in the excitement of a continual struggle with the forces of Nature, or whether all these influences are at work, we cannot stop to inquire. But it seems to us certain that the Arctic World has a romance and an attraction about it, which are far more powerful over the minds of men than the rich glowing lands of the Tropics, or the "Summer-isles of Eden lying in dark -purple spheres of sea," which are crowned with the bread-fruit and the palm, the spontaneous gifts of a liberal soil. We follow with far deeper interest the footprints of a Parry and a Franklin than those of a Wallis, a Carteret, or even a Cook. i:.mmm n iv ritKFACE. Tlie genenil i-eader, therefore, may not be displeased at the attempt of the present writer to put before bim, with bold touclies, and in outhne rather than in detail, a picture of that Polar World which is so aw tul and yet so fascinating. In the Ibllowing pages he will find its principal featiu'es sketched, its chief characters legibly and clearly traced. They are not intended for the scientific, — though it is ht)ped the scientific, if they fall in with them, will find no ground for censure. They aim at describing the wonders of sky and sea and land ; the glories of the aurora; the beauty of the starry Arctic night; the majesty of iceljerg and glacier; the rugged dreariness of the hunnnocky fields of ice ; the habits of the Polar bear, the seal, and the walrus ; and the manners and customs of the various tribes which frequent the shores of the Polar seas and straits, or dwell on the border-land of the Frigid Zone. In a word, it has been the writer's object to bring together just such particulars as might enable the intelligent reader to realize to himself the true character of tlie world wliich extends around the North Pole. In carrying out this object, he has necessarily had recourse to the voyages of numerous explorers and the narratives of sundry scientific authorities ; and he believes that not a statement has been ventured which could not claim their suppoit. CONTENTS. CIIAFrEK I. Various routfs between fche Atlantic ami PatiHc Oceans described — Advantages of a North-West Passage, if practicable — What is to be gained from further Arctic exploration — What zoology would gain — The problem of the migration of birds — About the Knots — Bound- aries of the North Pola,r Eegions — Their principal geographical features — Divisions into two zones, or sections — The stony tundras — The flora of the North — The Silierian desert — Limits of perpetual snow — General character of life in the Polar World 9-21 CHAPTER II. An imaginary voyage — View of the Greenland coast — A splendid picture of land and sea — The winter night and its atmospheric phenomena — The aurora borervlis described — Its peculiarities and possible causes — Winds and whirlwinds — Phenomena of refraction — The " ice-blink " — Characteristics of the Arctic night — Described by Dr. Kane — Kemarkable atmospheric conditions — Effect of pro- longed darkness on animal life — Characteristics of the Arctic spring — A spring landscape described by Dr. Hayes — Summer in the North — The Northern heavens and the Pole-Star — List of Northern constellations — The Great Bear — Some conspicuous stars 22-40 CHAPTER III. The Polar seas — Form.ation of icebergs— Their dimensions and appear- ance — Description of colossal bergs — Their danger to navigation — Adventures with bergs — Quotations from v.arious writers — Dissolu- tion of an iceberg— Icebergs in Melville Bay — How icebergs are formed — Reference to icebergs in the Alpine lakes — Professor Tyn- dall quoted — Breaking up of a berg described by Dr. Hayes — A vision of icebergs — Their range— The "piick-ice" described — E.x- tent of the ice-fields — " Taking the p.ack" — An incident described by Admiral Beechey — D.angerous position of Captain Parry's ships — Character of an ice-field— Crossing an ice-field — Its extraordinary dimensions — Animal life in the Polar seas — Walrus-hunting — Quotation from Mr. Lamont — A disagreeable process — Natural history of the walrus— The walrus and the Polar bear — Historical sketch of the walrus-fishery— Adventure with walruses — A walrus- hunt described— Hunting in an Arctic gale— The Phocidre family — Natur.al history of the seal— Different genera— Seal's flesh, and its uses— An incident in Dr. Kane's expedition— An Eskimo hut— An Eskimo se.al-hunter— The whale, and all about it— The Green- land whale— What is whalebone ?— Food of the whale— The Nor- thern rorqual — Eskimo whale-fishers — About the narwhal— The black dolphin -The ore, or grampus — The PuUu bear — Bears and seals — Particulars of the habits of the Polar bear — His voracity — Affection of the bear for her young — An episode described — Battle with a bear — The bear and the Eskimo dogs— The Arctic night — Its various phases— Coming of the sun — Return of the birds — Guillemots and aides — Aliout the puffins — The mergansers — The smew, or white nun — The eider duck described — Eider ducks in Iceland — Collecting eider down — The wild swan— Fables about its death-song — The Arctic waters, and their teeming life — Migrations offish 11-107 CHAPTER IV. The formation of snow descTibed — Snow-crystals — Effects of the crys- tallizing force — Ice-flowers — Sir David Brewster's experiment with polarised light — Regelation and moulding of ice — Characteristics of glacier-ice — Cleavage in compact ice — The aspect of glaciers — On the motion of glaciers — History of its discovery — Moraines de- scribed — Theory of glacier-motion — Quotation from Professor Tyndall — Glaciers of the Polar Regions — Glacier in Bell Sound — Formation of icebergs — Icebergs in Baffin Bay — Glacier described by Dr. Hayes — The Greenland Mer de Glace — Glacier of Sermiat- sialik — The great Humboldt Glacier — Discovered by Dr. Kane — Description of its features— Kane's theory of icebergs — Notes on the glacier lOS-134 CHAPTER V. Red snow, what is it ? — First forms of vegetable life — The lichens, their variety— Reindeer moss — Rock-hair — Rock tripe, or tripe de roche — Used as food — Iceland moss and its properties — The mosses of the Arctic Regions — Scurvy-grass — The fly-agaric — Microscopic vegetation — A memorial of Franklin — Phienogamous plants of the North — Cryjitogamous plants — Vegetation in Novaia Zemlaia — In Spitzbergen — In Kamtschatka — The Fntallaria sarrana — The wooded .and desert zones— Forms of animal life — Natiu-.al historj- of the reindeer — His usefulness — His food — Reindeer and wolves- Cunning of the Arctic wolf — Domesticity of the wolf — The musk- ox described — Captain M'Clintock quoted — The Arctic fox — Hia wariness — A fox-trap — The bear and the fox — The Arctic hare — The Alpine h.are — The Hudson B,ay lemming — The JIustelidte family — The marten — The sable — The polecat — About the gbitton, or wolverine — anecdotes of his extraordinary sagacity — A great enemy to the trapper — The biter bit — Arctic birds — The falcons — The crows — Distriljution of animals l.'iD-iei CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. Iceland, its extent — Its history — Its volcinoes — Hekla and its erup- tions — Eruption of the Skaptd Jokul— The geysers, or boiling springs — Their phenomena described— Account of the Strokr — Coasts and valleys of Iceland — Tlie Thingv.alla — Description nf Reikiavik, the capital— Character of the Icelander— His haymak- ing operations — His dwelling described — An Icelandic church — Icelandic clergy — Travelling in Iceland — Its inconveniences — Fordinir the streams — Fishing in Tcelaml.... 102-17-1 CHAPTER VII. The land of the Eskimos — Range of the so-called Arctic Highlanders — Danish settlements in Greenland — tJpernavik described — Jacobs- hav'n — Godhav'n — Their Eskimo inh.abitants — The Moravian Missions — Characteristics of the nomadic Eskimos — Their physical qualities — Their mode of dress — An Eskimo hut — The Eskimo kayak^ or canoe — Their weapons and implements — Hostility be- tween the Eskimos and Red Indians— Eskimo settlement at Ana- toak— Eskimo singing — Food of the Eskimos — Dr. Hayes' inter- course with the Eskimos— The story of Hans the Hunter — The Eskimo dogs— Anecdote of Toodla — The Eskimo sledge— Equip- ment of the sledge — Equipment of an Eskimo hunter — General character of the Eskimos 175-190 CHAPTER VIII. Lapland, its divisions, extent, and boundaries — Its climate — Its in- habitants — Their physical characteristics — Dress of the Lapps — Their superstitions — The Mountain Lapps — Their migratory habits — Their ivguria, or huts, described — Milking the reindeer — Sledging and skating — A Lapp's skates — A Lapp's sledge — The Lapp hunters — Encounter with a bear — Intemperance of the Mountain Lapps — The Forest Lapps— Interior economy of a Lapl.and hut — Lapps at Bjorkholm — R.acial char.acteristics of the Lapps — Habits and manners of the Lapps — Tlie Lapp dialect — The Lapps and the Queues — The stationary Lapps, and their gdrds 197-207 CHAPTER IX. The .Samojedes — Their degrading superstitions — Samojede idol at Wai- gatz — The Tadchtsios, or spirits — Influence of the Tudibe, or sor- cerer—His mode of incantation — Customs of the Samojedes — The Osti.aks — Their Scfi/i'itans and Srhamans — Residence of the Ostiake — Hunting the wliite bear — Kamtschatka described — Its inhal)i- tants — Their physical peculiarities — The dog of Kamtschatka — His qualities — His usefulness — How he is trained — Siberia and its tribes — The Jakuts — Their jarts, or huts — Their hanly horses— The character of the .Takuts — Jakut travellers — Jakut merchants and their caravans — Dreariness of the country they inhabit — Hunting the reindeer— At Kolymsk — The Tungusi — His mode of travelling — His food — The Tchuktche, and their land — Their activity as traders — Tobacco, a staple of commerce — Visit to a Tchuktche f.amily- The Tenngyk and the Oukilon 20S-221 CHAPTER X. History of Discovery in the Arctic Regions — Expeditions of Thome and Hore — Of Sir Hugh Willoughby — Martin Frobisher and his .adventures — Discoveries of Davis — Hudson, his discovery of Hudson Bay, Jan Mayen, and Cape Wolstenholm — His fate — BafBn'.s voyages — Highway to the North Pole — Expedition of Ross and P.arry — Parry's second expedition — Loss of the Fit}!/ — Overland journeys — Franklin's la.st expedition — The search .after Franklin — Discovery of relics — Captain Penny's expedition — Sir Robert M'Clure's discovery of the North-West Passage — Voy.age of M'Clintock — Lieutenant Hobson's discoveries — Dr. Kane's ex- pedition — Explores Smith Sound — Discovers the Humboldt Glacier and Kennedy Chiinnel — Wintering in the Arctic Regions — Dr. Hayes' expedition — Voyage of the Gcrmania and the Hansa — Loss of the latter — Escape of the crew on an ice-raft — Arriv.al .at Green- hand — Adventures of the Gcrmania — Barents and C.arlsen — Austri.an expedition under Payer — Voyage of the Polaris — Death of Hall — Tyson's voyage on an ice-raft — Rescued by the Tigress — Captain Buddington abandons the Polaris — His winter quarters — Boat voyage — Safe arrival — British expedition of 1S75-7G — Departure of the Alert .and Discorery — Narnative of the expedition — Winter amusements — The sledging-parties — Import.ant discoveries — No road to the Pole — Return home — Cruise of the Paii(7or(i.... 222-337 NORTH POLAR REGIONS f> lod 7o(! .T0. THE BLACK-BACKED GULL, 51. THE EIDER-DUCK, 52. THE HAUNT OF THE WILD SWAN, ... 63. VARIOUS FORMS OF SNOW-CRYSTALS, 64. EXHIBITION OF ICE-FLOWERS BY PROJECTION, 65. ICE-FLOWERS, 66. MOULDING ICE, ... 67. A POLAR GLACIER, r,S. GLACIER, ENGLISH BAT, SPITZBEEGEN, .W. GLACIER, BELL SOUND, SPITZBERGEN, CO. STE,\MER "charging" AN ICEBERG, UPERNAVIK, GREENLAND (full-page), 01. FORCING A PASSAGE THROUGH THE ICE (FULL-P.VGE), 02. THE GLACIER OP SERMIATSIALIK, GREENLAND (FULL-PAGE), ... 03. PROTOCOCCUS NIVALIS, 04. WILD REINDEER, 05. THE MCSK-OX, ... CO ARCTIC FOXES, ... 67. A FOX-TRAP, 63. THE ERMINE, OR SABLE MARTEN, . . 09. THE GLUTTON, OR WOLVERINE, 70. PTARMIGAN, 71. AN ICELANDIC LANDSCAPE, 76 77 79 82 S3 84 94 97 98 91) lUO 101 103 103 105 109 110 110 112 113 119 120 121 125 129 136 145 150 152 153 156 157 160 163 LIST OF II 'STKATIONS. 72 MOUNl' HEKl.A, KlinM T]1K VALI.EV CIK >IKVrrA. 73 THK GREAT UEVNEK, 74. HARBOUR OF BEIKIAVIK, 75. ICELANDERS FlSHINc; FUR NAUWIIAL, 7«. UPEK.VAVIK, GliELM.ANII, 77. DISCO ISLAND, CKKENLANil, 78. noDHAV'N, DI»Ci) ISLAND, OKEENf.AND, 79. DANISH .SEITLE.MENI' OF .lACOBSHAV N, CKEENLAND, 80. BUILDING AN ESKIMO HUT, 81. THE ESKIMO KAYAK, 82. THE ESKIMO OOMIAK, ... 83. DR. HAYES FALLS IN WITH HAN.-i THK HUNTER (FULL-PAGE 84. ESKIMO DOGS, ... 85. ESKIMO SLEDGE AND TEAM (FULL-PAGE), .. SO. REINDEER IN LAPLAND, 87. TRAVELLING IN LAPLAND, 8S FISHER LAPPS, ... 89. 8AMOJEDE HUTS ON WAIG,\TZ ISLAND, 90. A SAMOJEDE FAMILY, 91. JAKUT HUNTER AND BEAK, 92. KAMTSCHATKANS, 93. A KAMTSCHATKAN SLEDGE AND TEAM, 94. THE LOSS OF THE "SQUIRREL,"... 95 SHIP OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 96. SCENERY OF JAN MAYEN, 97. THE "HECLA" AND "FURY" WINTERING AT WINTER ISLAND, 9-!. THE "fury" ABANDONED BY PARRY, 99 DISCOVERY OF THE CAIRN CONTAINING SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S PAPERS, 100 RELICS OP THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION BROUGHT BACK TO ENGLAND, ... 101. DISCOVERY OF ONE OF THE BOATS OF THE FRANKLIN E.X- PEDITION, ... 102. THE "three BROTHER TURRETS," 103. MORTON ON THE SHORE OF THE SUPPOSED POLAR OCEAN. 104. DR. KANE PAYING A VISIT TO AN ESKIMO HUT AT ETAH, 105. TRYING TO LASSO A BEAR (fULL-PAGe), ... 108. THE MIDNIGHT SUN, GREENLAND, 107. A BEAU AT ANCHOR, J'i4 lij; W.I 174 170 177 177 178 181 182 183 1S7 101 193 200 201 203 209 210 212 213 215 224 225 23B 229 230 236 238 240 •241 247 249 249 lllS SKATING— ilKF THE COAST OF GREENLAND, ... . . ?hO lull, SN(]\V LINNETS AND Bl'NTINGS VLSITlNi: THE CREW (iF THE " HANSA," .. ... 2.'.4 llu. THE CKEW (IF THE ■' HAN.SA " BIVOU.iCKING ON THE ICE (KILL-PAGEI, ... ... ... ... ... 2.55 HI. A RASH INTRUDER, ... ... ... ... ... ;'5J 112 BEAR-HUNTING, GREENLAND, ... ... ... ... 2IJ0 113, "INTO A WATEK-GAP," ,,. ... ... ... 201 114 J'HE CREW OF THE "GEKMAMA" IN A SNoW-STOUM (FILL- I'AGE). .. ... ... ... 2li3 115. MATERIALS FOR THE HOUSE, ... ... ... ... I'Ofl lllj. ATTACK ON A BEAR, ... ... ... ... ... 207 117. SETTING FO.X-TRAPS, ... ... ... ... ... 2113 lis. RELIEVED, ... ... ... ... ... 269 119. FUNERAL OF CAPTAIN HALL (FULL-PAGE), ... ... 273 120 AN ARCTIC SNOW-STOK-M, ... ... ... ... 27(i' 121. THE CASTAWAY'S ON THE ICE (FULL-PAGE), ... ... 279 122. ADRIFT ON THE ICE-FLOE, ... ... ... ... 281 123. RECOVERY OF THE BOAT BY CAPTAIN TY.SON, ... ... 282 124 lOLOES CONSTRUCTED BY THE CASTAWAY.S, ... ... 2-13 125 HANS MISTAKEN FOR A BEAR, ... ... ... ... 2.S4 126 DIFFICULT TRAVELLING (FULL-PAGE), ... ... ... 285 1-27 THE GUIDING LIGHT, ... ... ... ... ... 287 128 DRAGGING A SEAL, ... ... ... ... ... 238 129 RETURN OF THE SUN (FULL-PAGE), ... ... ... 289 130 SHOOTING NARWHAL, ... ... ... ... ... Z91 131. DRAGGING THE OOGJOOK, ... ... ... ... 292 132. SUNLIGHT EFFECT IN THE ARCTIC REGION (FULL-PAGE), ... 293 1.33 FIRST SIGHT OF A WHALE, ... ... ... ... 295 134. FACE TO FACE WITH A POLAR BEAR, ... ... ... 296 135 AN ARCTIC ICE-SCAPE (FULL-PAGE), ... ... ... 297 136. ON BOARD THE BOAT, ... ... ... ... ... 299 137. BREAKING UP OF THE ICE, ... ... ... ... 300 138. JOE CAPTURES A SEAL, ... ... ... ... ... 300 139. A NIGHT OF FEAR (FULL-PAGE), ... ... ... ... 301 140 A "HELL OF WATERS,"... ... ... ... ... 303 141. DRAGGING THE BOAT ON TO A FLI>E, ... ... ... 304 142. CLINGING TO THE BOAT (FULL-PAGE), ... ... ... 305 143. saved! (full-page), ... ... ... ... ... 309 THE ARCTIC WORLD. CHAPTER I. THE XORTH POLE THRESHOLD OF THE UNKNOWN WORLD THE CIKCUMPOLAR REGIONS THE FLORA OK THE NORTH LIKE IN THE POLAR WORLD — THE NORTH-WEST AND NORTH-EAST PASSAGES. ^S the reader knows, the Poles are the two extremities of the axis round which the Earth revolves. It is to the North Pole, and the regions surrounding it, that the following jjages will be devoted. The inhabitants of Western Europe, and mure paiticulaiiy those of the British Isles, have a peculiar interest in the North Polar Regions. Deriving their wealth and importance from their commercial enterprise, and that commercial eutei-prise leading their ships and seamen into the furthest seas, they have necessarily a vital concern in the discoveiy of the shortest possible route from that side of the Earth which they inhabit to the othei-, or eastern side ; and this, more particularly, because the East is rich in natural ])roductiuns which are of high value to the peoples of the West. Now a glance at the map \\ill show the reader that the traders of AN'estern Europe — the British, the French, the Dutch, the Scandinavians — are situated on the northern shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and that, to reach the Pacific Ocean or the Indian, only two routes are at present open. For instance, they may cross the Atlantic to the American coast, and, keeping south\\ard, strike through Magellan's stormy Strait or round the bleak promontory of Cape Horn into the Pacific, and then, over some thousands of miles of water, proceed to Australia or Hindustan or China ; or they may keep along the African coast to the Cape of Good Hope, its southernmost point, and so stretch across the warm Tropical seas to India and the Eastern Archipelago. A third, an artificial route, has indeed of late years been opened up ; and ship.s, entering the Mediterranean, may pass through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea. But this last-named route is unsuitable for sailing-shij^s, and all three routes are laborious and slow. How greatly the distance would be shortened were it possible to na\'igate the Northern Seas, and, keeping along the north coast of the American continent, to descend Behring's Strait into the Pacific ! In other words, were that North- West Passage practicable, whicli, for three centuries, our geographers and explorers so assidu<.)usly and courageousl}' toiled to discover ! But a still shorter route would be opened up, if we could follow a line drawn from the British Islands 10 EXTENT OF TITE UNKNOWN REGION. straight across the North Pole to Behring's Sea and the Aleutian Archipelago. This line would not exceed 5000 miles in length, and would bring Japan, China, and India within a very short voyage from Great Britain. We should lie able to reach Jajian in three or four weeks, to the obvious advantage of our extensive commerce. Hitherto, however, all efforts to follow out this route, and to throw open this great ocean- liighway between Europe and Asia, have failed. Man has been baffled by Nature ; by ice, and frost, and winds, and climatic influences. With heroic perseverance he has sought to gain the open sea which, it is believed, surrounds the Pole, but a barrier of ice has invariably arrested his progress. His researches have carried him within about 500 miles of the coveted point ; but he is as yet unable to move a step beyond this furthest limit of geographical discovery. Immediately around the North Pole, within a radius of eight to ten degrees or more, according to locality, still lies an Unknown Region, on the threshold of which Science stands expectant, eagerly look ing forward to the day when human skill and human courage shall penetrate its solitudes and reveal its secrets. This Unknown Region comprises an area of 2,500,000 square miles ; an immense jiortion of the terrestrial surface to be shut out from the knowledge of Civilized Man. Its further explor- ation, if practicable, cannot but be rich in valuable results. Not only would it furnish the shortest route from the West to the East, from progressive Europe to conservative Asia, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but it could not fail to add in a very important degree to our stores of scientific information. Sir Edward Sabine is surely right when he says, that it is the greatest geographical acliievement which can be attempted, and that it will be the crowning enterprise of those Arctic researches in which England has hitherto had the pre-eminence. We may briefly indicate to the reader some of the advantages wliich might be expected from exploration in the Unknown Region. It would unquestionably advance the science of hydrography, and lead to a solution of some of the more difficult problems connected with the Equatorial and Polar ocean-cuiTents, those great movements of the waters of which, as yet, we know so little. A series of pendulum observations, it is said, at and near the North Pole, would be of essential service to the science of geology. We are unable, at present, for want of sufficient data, to form a mathematical theory of the physical condition of the Earth, and to ascertain its exact configuration. No pendulum observations have been taken nearer than 600 or G20 miles to the North Pole. Again : what precious information respecting the strange and wonderful phenomena of magnetism and atmospheric electricity would certainly be acquired ! How much we have yet to learn in reference to the Aurora, which can be learned only in high latitudes, and at or near the point which apparently represents a magnetic focus or centre I It has also been pointed out by Mr. Markham that the climate of Europe is largely affected by the atmospheric conditions of the Polar area, in wliich the development of extremely low temperatures necessarily leads to corresponding extreme changes of pressure, and other atmos- pheric disturbances, whose influence extends far into the Temperate Zone. For the satisfactory appreciation of these phenomena, says Mr. Markham, a precise knowledge is required of the distribution of land and water within the Polar Region.; and any addition to our knowledge of its unknown area, accompanied by suitable observations of its meteorology, cannot fail to aflfbrd PROBABLE RESULTS OF CONTINUED I'OLAR EXPLORATION. 11 improved means of understanding the meteorology of our own country, and of the Earth generally. There can be no doubt, too, that geology would profit, if we could push our researches nearer to the Pole, and force our way through the great barrier of the Polar ice. It is highly desirable, too, that we should know more of that interesting class of animals, the Mollusca, both terrestrial and aquatic, fresh-water and salt-water. Again : what a wide field of inquiry is opened up by the Polar glaciers ; their extent, their elevation, their range, and the eftects produced by the slow but continuous motion of those huge ice -rivers over the surface of the country. And the botanist has a right to calculate uj)on the discovery of many precious forms of vegetable life in the Unknown Region. The Arctic flora is by no means abundant, but it is peculiarly interesting. In Greenland, besides numerous mosses, lichens, algae, and the like, flourish three hundred kinds of flowering plants, all of which are natives of the Scandinavian peninsula ; and Dr. Joseph Hooker remarks that they exhibit scarcely any admixture of American types, though these are found on the opposite coast of Labrador. It would seem probable that in the warm period Avhich preceded the Glacial Age, the Scandinavian flora spread over the entire area of the Polar Regions ; but that during the Age of Ice it was gradually driven within its present limits, only the hardier types surviving the blight of the long lingering winter. And what would be the gain to the zoologist ? Why, it is a well-known fact that life abounds in the Arctic waters, and especially those minute organisms which play so important a part in the formation of sedimentary deposits, and help to build wp the terrestrial crust. We have much to learn, moreover, of the habits and habitats of the fish, the echinoderms, the molluscs, the corals, the sponges of the extreme Northern Seas. There are questions connected with the migrations of birds which can be elucidated only by an exploration of the Unknown Region. Multitudes which annually visit our shores in the winter and spring, return in summer to the far North. This is their regular custom, and obviously would not have become a custom unless it had been found beneficial. Therefore we may assume that in the zone they frequent they find some water which is not always frozen ; some land on which they can rest their weary feet ; and an adequate supply of nourishing food. From Professor Newton we adopt, in connection with this consideration, a brief account of the movements of one class of migratory birds, — the Knots.* The knot, or sandpiper, is something half-way between a snipe and a plover. It is a very active and graceful bird, with rather long legs, moderately long wings, and a very short tail. It swims admirably, but is not often seen in the water; preferring to assemble with its fellows on the sandy sea-shores, where it gropes in the sand for food, or fishes in the rock-pools and shallow waters for the small crustaceans. It is known both as the red and the ash-coloured sandpiper, because it changes the colour of its plumage according to the season of the year ; a bright red in summer, a sober ashen-gray in winter. Now, in the spring the knot seeks our island in immense flocks, and after remaining on the coasts for about a fortnight, can be traced proceeding gradually northwards, until it finally takes leave of us. It has been noticed in Iceland and Greenland, but not to stay ; the summer there would be too rigorous for its liking, and it goes further and * Tho Tringa canutus of oriiithologists. 1-2 THP.ESHOLD OF THE UNKNOWN WORLD. further north. ^Vliitlier ? Where does it build its nest, and hatch its young ? We lose all trace of it for some weeks : wliat becomes of it ? Towards the end of suumier back it comes to us in larger flocks than before, and both old Ijirds and young birds remain upon our coasts until November, or, in mild seasons, even later Then it wino-s its fliidit to the south, and luxuriates in blue skies and balmy airs until the follow- ing spring, when it resumes the order of its migrations. Commenting upon these facts. Professor Newton infers that the lands visited liy the knot in the middle of summer are less sterile than Iceland or Greenland ; for certainly it would not pass over these countries, which are known to be the breeding-places for swarms of water-l)irds, to resort to regions not so well ])rovide(l with supplies of food. T\w food, however, chiefly depends on the cUtnate. Wherefore we conclude that beyond the nortliern tracts already exjilored lies a region enjoying in summer a climate more genial than they possess. Do any races of men with which we are now unacquainted inhabit the Unknown Region ? Mr. Markham observes that although scarcely one-half of the Arctic world has been explored, yet numerous traces of former inhabitants have been found in wastes which are at present aban- doned to the silence and solitude. Man would seem to migrate as well as the inferior animals, and it is possible that tribes may be dwelling in the mysterious inner zone between the Pole and the known Polar countries. The extreme points reached by our exjjlorers on the ice-bound Greenland coast are in aliout 82° on the west, and 7G° on the east side ; these two points lying about six hundred miles apart. As man has dwelt at both these points, and as they are sej^arated from the settlements further south by a dreary, desolate, uniiiliabitable interval, it is not an extravagant conjecture that the unknown land to the north has been or is inhabited. In 1818 a small trilje was discovered on the bleak Greenland coast between 76° and 79° N. ; their southward range being bounded by the glaciers of Melville Bay, and their nortliward Ijy the colossal mass of the Humboldt Glacier, while inland their way is barred l)y the Seruik-sook, a great glacier o£ the interior. These so-called Arctic Highlanders number about one lumdred and forty souls, and their existence " depends on open pools and lanes of water throughout the winter, which attract animal life." Wherever such conditions as these are found, man may be found. We know that there are or have been inhabitants north of the Humboldt Glacier, on the very threshold of the Unknown Region ; for Dr. Kane's ex})edition discovered the runner of a sledge made of bone lying on the beach immediately to the north of it. The Arctic Highlanders, moreover, cherish a tradition that herds of nuisk-oxen frequent an island situated far away to the noi'th in an iceloss sea. Traces of these animals were found by Captain Hall's expedition, in 1871-72, as i'ar north as 81° 30'; and similar indications have been noted on the eastern side of Greenland. In 1823, C^ajitain Clavcring found twelve natives at Cape Borlase Warren, in lat. 79° N. ; but wlieii Ciqttain Koldewey, of the German expedition, wintered in the same neigh- bourhood, in 18()9, they had disappeared, though there were traces of their occupancv, and ample means of subsistence. Yet they caiuiot have gone southward, owing to insuperable natural obstacles ; they must liave moved towards the North Pole. We have tluis indicated some of tlie resuUs which may be anticipated from further researclies in tlie riikiiown llegion. It is not to \>v forgotten, however, that " tlu' unexpected always hajipens," and it, is inqiossible to cah'ulate definitely the C(.)n.sequent'es whieli niav ensue from a, ij:\iits of the north polar region. 13 more exteiisive investigation. "Columbus," it has been justly said, "found very few to sjnu- pathize with liim, or perceive the utility of the effort on his part to go out into the unknown waste of waters beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, in search of a new country. Who can, at this time, estimate the advantages wliich have followed upon that adventure ? If now it should be possible to reach the Pole, and to make accurate observations at that point, from the relation which the Earth bears to the sun and to the whole stellar universe, the most useful results are very likely to follow, in a more thorough knowledge of our globe." The reader has now before him the particulars which will enable him to form an idea of the extent and character of the undiscovered region of the Pole. Roughly speaking, it is bounded by the 80th parallel of latitude on the European side, except at a few points where our A DESERT OF ICE IN THE ARCTIC REGION. gallant explorers have succeeded in crossing the threshold ; on the Asiatic side it descends as low as 75'; and to the west of Behring Strait as low as 72°. Thus, it varies from 500 or 600 to 1400 or 1500 miles across. Below these parallels, and bi)unded by the Arctic Circle, or, in some places, by the GOth parallel, extends a vast belt of land and water which is generally known as the Arctic or Circumpolar Regions. These have been more or less thoroughly explored ; and it is to a description of their principal features, their forms of animal and vegetable life, and their natural phenomena, that we propose to devote the present volume. It is important to remember that the northern shores of Europe, Asia, and America are skirted by the parallel of 70°, and that the belt between the 70th and 80th parallels, having been partially explored by the seamen and travellers of various nations, intervenes as a kind of neutral ground between the known and the unknown. We may, indeed, formulate our statement thus ; U GEOGRAPHY OF THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS. from the Pole to the 80th degree stretches the unknown ; .from the 80th to the 70th, the partially known ; while, south of the 70th, we traverse the lands and seas which human enter- prise has comjoletely conquered. The Circumpolar Zone includes the northernmost portions of the tliree great continents, Europe, Asia, and America ; and by sea it has three approaches or gateways : one, through the Northern Ocean, between Norway and Greenland ; another, through Davis Strait, — both tliese being from the Atlantic ; and a third, through Behring Strait, — the entrance from the Pacific. It will be seen that the Circumpolar Regions, as they are now understood, and as we shall describe them in the following pages, extend to the south of that imaginary line drawn by geographers round the North Pole, at a distance from it equal to the obliquity of the ecliptic, or 23° 30'. Within this circle, however, there is a period of the year when the sun does not set ; while there is another when he is never seen, Avhen a settled gloom spreads over the face of nature, — this period being longer or shorter at any given point according as that point is nearer to or further from the Pole. But as animal and vegetable life are largely affected by climate, it may be justly said that wherever an Arctic climate prevails there we shall find an Arctic or Polar region ; and, hence, many countries below even the GOth parallel, such as Kamtschatka, Labrador, and South Green- land, fall within the Circumpolar boundary. The waters surrounding the North Pole bear the general designation of the Arctic Ocean. But here again it is almost impossible to particularize any uniform limit southward. It joins the Pacific at Behring Strait in about lat. 66° N., and consequently in this quarter extends fully lialf a degree beyond the Arctic Circle. At Scoresby Sound, as at North Cape, where it meets the Atlantic, it is intersected by the jiarallel of 71°, and consequently falls short of the Arctic Circle by about 4° 30'. In the Old World, the Polar Ocean, if we include its gulfs, extends, in the White Sea, fully two degrees beyond the Arctic Circle ; while at Cape Severo, the northernmost point of Asia, in lat. 78° 25' N., it is 11° 55' distance from it. Finally, in the New World it is everywhere con- fined ivithin the Circle ; as much as 5° at Point Barrow, about 7° 30' at Barrow Strait, and about 3° at the Hecla and Fury Strait. We may add that, so far as temperature is concerned, the great gulfs known, in memory of their discoverers, as Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, and Hudson Bay, are portions of the Ai-ctic Ocean. Of the more southerly area of tliis great ocean, the only section ^^■llich has been adequately explored to a distance from the continent, and in the direction of the Pole, is that which washes the north-east of America. Here we meet, under the collective name of the Polar Archipelago, with the following islands : — Banks Land, Wollaston Land, Prince Albert Land, Victoria Laud, Prince Patrick Island, Princess Royal Islands, Melville Island, Cornwallis Island, North Devon, Beechey Island, Grinnell Land, and North Lincoln. Further to the cast lie Spitzbergen, Jan Mayen Island, Novaia Zendaia, New Siberia, and the Liakhov Islands. The chief straits and inluts are Lancaster Sound, liarrow Strait, Smith Sound, Regent Inlet, Hecla and Fury Strait, Wellington Channel, and Cumberland Sound; wliile further westward are Belcher Channel, Melville Sound, M'Clintock Channel, Banks Strait, and Prince of Wales Strait. THE STONY TUNDRAS. 15 The Arctic Lands compieliend two well-defined sections, or zones ; that of the forests, and the treeless wastes. To the latter belong the islands wdthin the Arctic Circle, and also a considerable tract of the northern continents, forming the " barrens " of North America, and the " tundras " and " steppes " of European Russia and Siberia. The treeless character of this vast area of wilderness is owing to the bleak sea-winds which drive, without let or hindrance, across the islands and level shores of the Polar Ocean, compelling even the most vigorous plant to bend before them and creep along the ground. Drearier scenes are nowhere presented than these stony tundras, or their boundless swamps. Almost the only vegetation are a few gray lichens, a few dull blackish-looking mosses ; the stunted flowers or crawling grasses that here and there occur do not relieve the uniform desola- tion, — they serve simply to enhance its gloomy character. In summer, indeed, the tundras are full of life ; for the spawning instinct of the salmon and the sturgeon impels them to enter tlieir rivers and seek the quiet recesses of their mysterious lakes. The reindeer assemble in numerous herds to feed on the herbage warmed into temporary vitality by the upward-slanting sun ; the whirr of countless wings announces the coming of the migratory birds to breed, and feed tlieir young, on the river-banks and the level shores ; and in their trail arrive the eagle and the hawk, intent on prey. But with the fir.st days of September a change passes over the scene. Animal life hastens to the more genial south ; the birds aliandon the frozen wastes ; the reindeer retires to the shelter of the forests ; the fish desert the ice-bound streams ; and a terrible silence reigns in the desolate wilderness, broken only by the harsh yelp of a fox or the melancholy hooting of a snow-owl. For some eight or nine months a deep shroud or pall of snow lies on the whitened plains. No cheerful sunbeams irradiate it with a rosy glow ; the sky is dull and dark ; and it seems as if Nature had been abandoned to eternal Night. But blank and dreary as the limitless expanse of snow appears, it is the security of man in these far northern regions. It affords the necessary protection to the scanty vegetable life against the riofour of the lone winter season. In Rensselaer Bav, Dr. Kane found, when the surface temperature had sunk to — 30°, a temperature at two feet deep of — 8°, at four feet deep of -+- 2°, and at eight feet deep of -I- i:6°, or no more than 6° below freezing-point. Hence, under- neath their thick frozen pall, the Arctic grasses and lichens maintain a struggling existence, and are able to maintain it until thoroughly resuscitated by the summer sun. It is owing to this wise and beneficent provision that, in the highest latitudes, the explorer discovers some feeble foiTns of vegetation. Thus, as Hartwig reminds us, Morton gathered a crucifer at Cape Constitution, in lat. 80° 45' N. ; and Dr. Kane, on the banks of the Minturn River, in lat. 78° 52', met with a flower-growth which, though fully Arctic in its type, was gaily and richly coloured — including the purple lychnis, the starry chickweed, and the hesperis, among the festuca and other tufted grasses. In the tundras, the most abundant vegetable forms, next to the lichens and mosses, are the grasses, the crucifers, the saxifrages, the caryophyles, and the compositfB. These grow fewer and fewer as we move towards the north, but the number of individual plants does not decrease. Where the soil is fairlv drv, we shall find an extensive o^rowth of lichens ; in moister grounds, these are intermingled with the well-known Iceland mo.ss. Lichens are everywhere, except in o llj THE REGIONS OF THE -BARRENS." the sparse tracts of uieaJow-lanil lyino- at tlie t'o(jt of .sheltering hills, or in those alluvial inuudateel hollows which are tliiekly planted with " whisperhig reeds" and dwarf willows. It is not easy to trace exactly the lioundary between the tundras and the forest zone. The fjrnier descend to the south, and the latter advances to the north, according- to the climatic influ- ences which prevail ; following the isothennic lines of uniform temperature, and not the mathe- matical limits of the geographical parallels of latitude. Wliere the ground undulates, and hilly ridges break the fury of the icy blasts, the forests encroach on the stony treeless region ; but the desolate plains strike into the wooded zone in places where the ocean-winds range with unchecked sway. The southernmost limit of the " barrens" is found in Labrador, where they descend to lat. 57^ ; nor is this to l)e wondered at, when we remember the peculiar position of that gloomy penin- sula, with icy seas washing it on three sides, and cold winds sweeping over it fi-oni the north. On the op]iosite coasts of ] fud^on Bay they do not strike lower than fiO° ; and they continue to THE SW.iMPS UF THE OBI. rise as we ])roceed westward, ujitil in the Mackenzie Valley we find the tall forest growth reach- ing as far north as GS or even 70'. Thence they recede gradually, until, on the l)leak shore of Behring Sea, they do not rise higher than (!.') . Crossing into the eastern continent, we find them bcgimiing, in the la.nd of the Tuski (or Tchuktchi'), in G.) , and tVom thence encroaching gradually upon tin/ tundras until, at the Lena, they reach as high as 71 . From the Lena to the ( )bi till' tundras gain upon the forests, and in the (Jbi Valley descend below the .Vrctic (.'ircle ; but from the Ubi to the Scandinavian coast tlie forests gain upon the tundras, terminating, after many variations, in lat. 70". Tin; result to which this rapid siu'Vey brings us is, that the "'tundras" ov ".barrens" of Europe, Asia, and America occupy an area larger than the whole of Euro]n'. The Siberian wild(-'rness is more extensive tlian tlie .\IVieaTi Sahai-a or the South Amci'ican Pampas. Lut of still vaster area are tlu; Ai'ctic tbri'st T-t^tiMoiis, whii'h stretch in an "almost contimious belt" THE FLORA OF THE NORTH. 19 through three quarters of the world, with a breadtli of from 15' to 20° — that is, of 1000 to 1400 miles. And it is a peculiarity of these Circumpolar woods, that they are almost wholly composed of conifers, and that frequently a wide space of ground is covered for leagues upon leagues witli a single kind of tir or pini\ " Tills is the forest |iriiiie\Ml. The uiiinmiriiig pines ami tlie iiemli)c,-l;s, BleiiJeil with moss, aud in giinneuta greeu, iuilistiiict in tlie twilight, Stand lilerians burrow in the snow, and their howling, at intervals of six or eight hours, interrupts the general silence of winter. The aliundance of fur-bearing animals in the less rigorous parts of the tundras has induced the hardy Russians to colonize and liuild towns on these confines of the Frozen Worlil. Yakutsk, on the river Lena, in G2' 1' 30" N., may be regarded, perhaps, as the coldest town on the Earth. The ground is perpetually frozen to the depth of more than 400 feet, of which three feet only are thawed in summer, when Fahrenheit's thermometer frerpiently marks 77" in the shade. Yet in winter the rigour of the climate is so extreme that mercury is constantly frozen for two and occasionally even for three months. From the data set ibrth in the preceding pages, the reader will conclude that, as indeed results from physical laws, the line of perpetual snow will l)e found to descend lower and lower on advancing to the Pole. By the line of per})etual snow we mean, of course, the limit above which a continual frost endures. Now, this limit varies according to climate. The lower the tem]M'rature, the lower the snow-line; tlie highei' the temperature, the higher the snow-line. In the Tropics it does not sink below the sununits of the lottiest mountains. Thus, at 1° tVom the Equator, where the mean temperature at the sea-level is 84'.:2, tlie snow-line must be sought at the elevation of 15,203 feet; in 51° 30' lat., the latitude of London, it is u.sually found at about 5900 feet; in lat. 80°, where the mean tempei-ature is 33'.6, it sinks to 457 feet. These figures, however, represent its normal elevations ; but temperature, as we all know, is greatly affected bv local circumstances, and therefore the perpetual snow-line varies greatlv in heieht. Owino- to causes already explained, the snow-line in the Circumpolar Regions sinks to a very low level ; and, therefore, many mountainous regions or elevated tabic lands, such as Spitzbergcn, Greenland, and Nov.-iia Zenilain, wliidi, in a iiion' temperate climate, wovdd bliMuu with (■merald slopes and LIFE IN THE POLAR WORLD. 21 waving woods, are covored with liuge glaciers and fields of ice, with appur^'ntly interminable reaches of untrodden snow. It should be noted, however, that nowhere does the perpetual snow-line descend to the water's edge; nowhere has the spell of winter absolutely crushed the life out of all vegetation. Lichens and grasses, on which the reindeer gains its liardy subsistence, ai'c found near lat. 80° ; even on the awful plains of Melville Island the snow melts at midsummer ; and the deserts of New Siberia afford food for considerable numbers of lemmings. As far as man has reached to the north, says a popuLir and accurate writer, vegetation, when fostered by a sheltered situation and the refraction- of solar heat from the rocks, has everywhere been found to rise to a considerable altitude above the level of the sea ; and should there be land at the North Pole, we may reasonably supjiose that it is destitute neither of animal nor vegetable life. It would be quite wrono' to conclude that the cold <>f winter invariably increases as we approach tlie Pole, the O til temperature of a laud being controlled by many other causes besides its latitude. Even in tlie most northern regions visited by man, the influence of the sea, particularly where favoured by warm currents, considerably mitigates the severity of the winter, while at the same time it diminishes the heat of summer. On the other hand, the large continental tracts of Asia or America that slope towards the Pole, possess a more rigorous winter and a fiei'cer summer than many coast lands or islands situated far nearer to the Pole. For example : the western shores of Novaia Zemlaia, fronting a wide expanse of sea, have an average winter tempei'ature of only — 4", and a mean summer temperature which rises ver}- little above the freezing-point of water (+36° 30'); while Yakutsk, situated in the centre of Siberia, and 20' nearer to the Equator, has a winter temperature of — 36° 6', and a summer of + 66' 6'. But though such are the physical conditions of the Polar Regions, it must not be supposed that Nature wears only a severe and repellent aspect. There is something beautiful in the vast expanse of snowy plain when seen by the light of a cloudless moon ; something majestic in the colossal glaciers which fill up the remote Arctic valleys ; something picturesque in the numerous icebergs which grandly sail down the dark Polar waters ; something mysterious and wonderful in the coruscations of tlie Aurora, which illuminates the darkness of the winter nights with the glory of the celestial fires. The law of compensation prevails in the far North, as in the glowing and exuberant regions of the Tropics. CHAPTER II. THE ARCTIC IIEAVKNS : ATMOSPHERIC AND METEORIC PHENOMENA. KT the reader fancy liiinself — sin mid he be reading' these pages on a warm summer's day, the fancy Avill not be unpleasant ! — let tlie reader iancy himself on board a well- fduiid, steutlydjuilt \\haling-vessel, and rapidl}^ approaching the coast of Greenland. But the heavy mist hangs over the legend-haunted shores, and we can but catch the sound of the clanging surf as it rolls upon them. All ai-ound us spreads the mist, — dense, impenetrable. What is that before us ? The dead white mass of an iceberg, slowly drifting with the current, and almost upon us before the look-out man discovered it. But the helm has been sharply handled ; our good ship has put aliout ; and we sail clear of the mighty jjyramid. Fully one hundri'd and fifty feet high, we can assure you, and twice as broad at its base. A sudden break in the mist reveals its radiant spire, with white I'lnud-wrcaths circling and dancing round it in the sunlight. And now, as we steadily move forward, the fog is lifted up lilce a curtain, and before U3, like a scene in a panorama, looms the Greenland coast in all its austere magnificence : yonder are its broad ice-filled valleys, its snow-clad ravines, its noble mountains, its iron-bound range of cliffs. Its general aspect of solemn desolation. Away over the westward sea fiy the scattered vapours, disclosing iceberg after iceberg, likti the magical towers in some of Turner's })ictures. We seem to have been drawn by some irre- sistible spell into a world of enchantment, and all the old Norse romance comes back upon the memory, with its picturesque associations. Yonder lies tlie Valhalla of tlie ancient ocean- rovers ; yonder the dazzling city of the sun-god Freya, one of the most popular of the Scandina- vian divinities, as well he might be; yoniler the elfin caves of Alfheim ; and Glitner, with its walls of gold and roofs of silver; and the radiant Gimele, the home of the blessed; and there, too, towering above the clouds, the bridge Bifrost, l)y which the heroes ascended from earth to heaven. Heimdall, wlio can see for i'ully a hundred leagues, as well by night as by day, stands sentiiR'l upiiu it, jux'jiared to sound his hurn (ijallar, if intruders should attempt to cross it! The sea is smooth as glass; not a ]-i]iple breaks the wonderful calmness of its surface. It is midnight, but in this strange Arctic woi'ld the sun still hangs close upon tlie northern liorizon ; the icebergs I'ear their dazzling crests around, like iloating spires, and turrets, and many-towered minsters ; tlie dark headlands are boldly outlined against the sky ; and sea, and sky, and mountains, and icebergs are sulfused in a Avildly beautiful atmosphere of crimson, gold, and luii-plc. The picture is like a poet's vision ; and so startlingly unreal, that it is difficult lor the unaccustomed spectator to believe it other than an illusion. A GLORIOUS LANDSCAPE AND SEASCAPE. 25 We adopt the following description from the vivid language of Dr. Hayes, who displays a keen feeling for the beauties of the I'olar world. The air was warm, he says, almost as a summer's night at home, and yet there were the icebergs and the bleak mountains, with which the fancy, in our own land of green hills and wav- ing woods, can associate nothing but what is cold and i-epellent. Bright was the sky, and soft and strangely inspiring as the skies of Italy. The bergs had wholly lost their chilly aspect, and, olitterinof in the blaze of the brilliant heavens, seemed, in the distance, like masses of burnished metal or solid flame. Nearer at hand they were huge blocks of Parian marble, encrusted with colossal gems of pearl and ojial. < )ne in [)articular exhibited the perfection of grandeur. Its UiF THE COAST Of GKEEXLAXH. form was not unlike that of the Coliseum, and it lay so far away that half its height was buried beneath the line of blood-red waters. The sun, slow moving along its path of glory, passed behind it, and the old Roman ruin seemed suddenly to break into flame I Nothing, indeed, but the pencil of the artist could depict the wonderful richness of this com- bined landscape and seascape. Church, in his great picture of " The Icebergs," has grandly exhibited a scene not unlike that we have attempted to describe. In the shadows of the bergs the water was a rich green, and nothing could be more soft and tender than the gradations of colour made by the sea shoaling on the sloping tongues of some of these floating masses. The tint increased in intensity where the ice overhung the waters, and a deep cavern in one of them exhibited the solid colour of the malachite mingled with the trans- 26 CONTRASTS IN THE POLAT! WORLD, parency of the einei'ald, while, in wtrange coutra.st, a broad belt of cobalt blue shot diagonally thi-ough its body. The enchantineiit of the scene was heightened by a thousand little cascades which flashed into the sea from the icebergs, the water being discharged from basins of melted snow and ice which tranquilly reposed far up in the hollows of their topmost surface. From other bergs large boulders were occasionally detached, and these jtlunged into the water with a deafening din, while the roll antl rush of the ocean resounded like the music of a soleuui diro^e throufifh theii broken archways. The contrasts and combinations of colour in the I'ular world ai'e, indeed, among its parti- cular attractions, and of their kind they cannot be surpassed oi- imituted even in the gorgeous realms of the Trojncs. The pule azui-e gleam of the ice, the dazzling whiteness of the snow, the vivid verdure of the suidit plains, the deep emerald tints, crossed with sapphire and ultramarine, of the waters, would in themselves afford a nuiltiplicity of rich and beautiful effects ; but to these we must add the magical influences of the coruscations of the Arctic heavens, with the glories of the miduiiiii-t sun and the wonders of the Aurora. MOONLIGHT I.N TllK I'0[.An WORLD. Even moonlight in the Polar world is unlike moonlight anywhere else; it has a character all its own, — strange, weird, supernatural. Niglit after night the sky will be free from cloud or shadow, and the radiant stars shine out with a singular intensity, seeming to cut the air like keen swords. The moonbeams are thrown back with a ])ale lustre by ice-tloe and glacier and snow drift, and the ordy relief to the brisrhtness is where the ilark cliffs throw a shadow over the IX THE LONG WINTER-NIGHT. 27 landscape. Gloriously beautiful look the snow-clad mountains, as the moonlight pours upon them its serene splendour, interrupted only by the occasional passage of a wreath of mist, which is soon transformed into sparkling silver. The whole scene produces an impression of awe on the mind of the thoughtful spectator, and he feels as if brought face to face with the visible presence of another world. The prolonged wintei" night is in itself well calculated to affect the imagination of the Euro- pean. He reads of it in travels and books of astronomy ; but to know what it is, and what it means, he must submit himself to its influence, — he must " winter" in the Polar Regions. Not to see sunrise and sunset, and the changes they bring with them, day after day, enlivening, inspirit- ing, strengthening, is felt at first as an intolerable burden. The stars shining at all hours with equal brilliancy, and the lasting darkness which reigns for twenty days of each winter month when the moon is below the horizon, become a weariness and a discomfort. The traveller longs for the reappearance of the moon ; and yet before she has iim her ten days' course, he feels fatigued by the uniform illumination. But sometimes a relief is supplied by the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. We inha- bitants of the United Kingdom know something of the rare beauty of the " northern lights," when the heavens kindle with a mysterious play of colours which reminds us of the strange weird radiance that occasionally kindles in our dreams ; yet these are poor and trivial when compared with the auroral display. Let us endeavour to realize it from the glowing description painted by one of the most eloquent and observant of Arctic exj^lorers. He was groping his way among the ice-hummocks, in the deep obscurity of the mid-winter, when suddenly a bright I'ay darted up from behind the black cloud which lay low down on the horizon before him. It lasted but an instant, and, having filled the air with a strange illumina- tion, it died away, leaving the darkness even greater dai'kness than before. Presently an arc of coloured light sprang across the sky, and the aurora became gradually more fixed. The space enclosed by the arc was very dark, and was filled with the cloud. The play of the rays which rose from its gradually brightening border was for some time very capricious, modifying the burst of flame from what seemed a conflagration of the heavens to the soft glow of early morn. Gradually the light grew more and more intense, and from irregular bursts it settled into an almost steady sheet of splendour. This sheet, however, was far from uniform, and may best be described as "a flood of mingling and variously-tinted streaks." The exhibition, at first tame and cjuiet, developed by degrees into startling brilliancv. The broad dome of night seemed all a-blaze. Lurid fires, fiercer than those which reddened the heavens from burning Troy, flashed angrily across the zenith. The stars waned before the mar- vellous outburst, and seemed to recede further and further from the Earth ; "as when the chariot of the sun, driven by Phaeton, and carried from its beaten track by the ungovernable steeds, iiished madly through the skies, parching the world and withering the constellations. The gentle Andromeda flies tremblinof from the flame : Perseus, with his flashinsf sword and Goro^on shield, retreats in fear ; the Pole-Star is chased from the night ; and the Great Bear, faithful sentinel of the North, quits his guardian watch, following the feeble trail." The colour of the light was chiefly red, but this was not permanent, and ever}- hue mingled in the wonderful display. Blue and yellow streamers shot athwart the lurid fire ; and, sometimes starting side by side 28 A VISION OF MANY COLOURS. tVoiu tJie wide expanse of the illumined arc, they melted into each uther, and Hung a weird glare of green over the landscape. Again tliis green overcame the red ; blue and yellow blended with each other in their swift flight; violet-tinted arrows flashed through a broad glow of orange, and countless tongues of white flame, formed of these uniting streams, rushed aloft and clasped the skies. The effect of the many-coloured lustre upon the surrounding objects was singularly wonderful. The weird forms of innumerable icebergs, singly and in clusters, loomed above the sea, and around their summits hovered the strange gleam, like the fires of Vesuvius over the villas and temples of Mm- '¥l l'. i ■ ■ 11' 'M " "' ^■_. i ir '51 '•: 1 if m TUE ADP.OP.A IIOREALIS. Pompeii. All along tlie white surface (jf the frozen sea, upon the mountain-peaks and the lofty cliffs, the light glowed and dimmed and glowed again, as if tla- aii- were filled with graveyard meteors, flitting wildly above some vast illimitalilc city of the dead. The scene was noiseless, yet the senses were deceived, for sounds not oi' earth or sea seemed to follow tlie swift coruscations, and to fall upnn the ear like "Tlje livii.l ( )t' |ili:iiiluiiis ilrenil, Willi li.-imirr, ,ni(l s|if':ir, Mini tl.inie." Tliough the details, so to s|u'ak, are not always the same, the general chai-aeter n\' the aurora changes very sliehtly, and, IVom u comparison of nunu^rous accounts, the gradation of the pheno- nu'non would seiuii to be as follows : — The sky slowly assumes a tint ol' brown, on which, as mi a background, is soon developed a nebulous segment, bordiired by a s])acious arc of d;iz/.liii'_; whiteness, which seems ineess.antly CHANGES OF THE AUP.ORA BOREALIS. 29 aoitated by a tremulous motion. Fixnn this arc an incredible number of shafts and rays of light leap upwards to the zenith. These luminous columns pass through all the hues of the rainbow, — from softest violet and intensest sapphire to green and purple-red. Sometimes the rays issue from the resplendent arc mingled with darker flashes ; sometimes they rise simultaneously at different points of the horizon, and unite in one broad sea of flame pervaded by rapid undulations. On other occasions it would seem as if invisible hands were unfurling fiery dazzling banners, to THE AURORA BOREAMS — THE COROVA. : -C' 5, -r^iM.,- ■. "-'--^ stream, like meteors, in the troubled air. A kind of canopy, of soft and tranquil light, which is known as the corona, indicates the close of the marvellous exhibition ; and shortly after its ajipearance the luminous rays begin to deci'ease in splendour, the richly-coloured arcs dissolve and die out, and soon of all the gorgeous spectacle nothing remains but a whitish clmidy liaze in those parts of the firmament which, but a few minutes before, blazed with the mysterious fires of the auroi'a borealis. The arc of the aurora is only part of a broad circle of light, which is elevated considerably above the surface of our globe, and the centre of which is situated in the vicinity of the Pole. It is not difficult, therefore, to account for the different aspects under which it is presented to observers placed at different angles to the focus of the display. A person some degrees south of tlie ring neces.sarily sees but a very small arc of it towards the north, owing to the interposition of the earth between him and it; if he stood nearer the north, the arc would appear larger and 30 rilF,N()MI';NA OF TH K AURORA. liiglier ; if innnediately lielow it, he would see it ajiparently traversing- the zenith; or if within the ring, and still further north, he would see it culminating in the south. It has been supposed that the centre of tlie ring corresponds with the magnetic north pole in the island of Boothia Felix. Generally the ]>henomenon lasts for several hours, and at times it will he varied by jieculiar features. Now it will seem to jiresent the hemispherical segment of a c(^lossa,l wheel ; now it will Avave and droop like a I'ieli tapestry of many-coloured light, in a tliousand prismatic folds ; and now it exhibits the array of innumerable dazzling streamers, waving in the dark and intense sky. The arc varies in elevation, V)ut is seldom more than ninety miles above the terrestrial sur- face. Its diameter, however, must be enormous, for it has been known to extend southward to Italy, and has been simultaneously visible in Sardinia, Connecticut, and at New Orleans. According to some authorities, the phenomenon is accompanied by noises resembling the discharge of fireworks, or the crackling of silk when one piece is folded rjver another ; but this statement is discredited by the most trustworthy observers. Mrs. Somerville's description is worth quoting, as taking up more emphatically some 2toints to which we have already alluded : — The aurora, she says, is decidedly an electrical (or, more strictly speaking, a magneto- electrical) phenomenon. It generally appears soon after sunset in the form of a luminous arc stretching more or less from east to west, the most elevated point being always in the magnetic meridian of tlie j^lace of the observer ; across the arc the coruscations are rapid, vivid, and of various colours, darting like liglitning to the zenith, and at the same time flitting laterally with incessant velocity. The brightness of the rays varies in an instant ; they sometimes surpass the splendour of stars of the first magnitude, and often exhibit colours of admirable transparency, — blood-red at the base, emerald-green in the middle, and clear yellow towards their extremity. Sometimes one, and sometimes a quick succession of luminous currents run from one end of the arc or l)ow to the other, so that the rays rapidly increase in lirightness ; but it is impossible to say whether the coruscations themselves are actually aftected by a horizontal motion of transla- tion, or whether the more vivid light is conveyed from ray to ray. The rays occasionally dart far past the zenith, vanish, suddenly reappear, and, being joined by others from the arc, form a magnificent corona or immense dome of light. The segment of the sky below the arc is cjuite black, as if formed by dense clouds ; yet M. Struve is said to have seen stars in it, and so it would appear that the blackness of which several observers speak must l:ie the effect of contrast. The lower edge of the arc is evenly defined ; its upper margin is fringed by the coruscations, their convei-gi^icc towards the north, and that of the arc itself, being probably an effect of ]ierspective. The am-ora, exercises a remarkahle influence on the magnet'c needle, even in places where the display is not visililc. Its vibrations seem to be slower or quicker according as the auroral light is quiescent or in motion, and the variations of the comjiass during the day show that the aurora is not ]iecnliai- to night. I|. lias been ascertained hv cai'eful ol)servations (liat tlie dLsturbanees of the magnetic needle and tlie aui-oral displays were simultaneous at Toronto, in ATMOSrHERIC TIIENOMENA DESCRIBED. 31 Canada, on thirtuen dnys out of twenty-t'cjur, the reniainin;,' days liaving been clouded ; and contemporaneous observations show that in these thirteen days there were also magnetic dis- turbances at Prague and Tasmania; so that the occurrence of" auroral phenomena at Toronto on these occasions may be viewed as a local manifestation connected with magnetic effects, wliich, whatever may have been their origin, probably prevailed on the same dai/ over the ivhole surface of the globe. Among the atmospherie jihenomena of the outer world we are justified in reckoning the Winds, which are remarkable for their variability. Their force is considerably diminished when they pass over a wide surface of ice ; sometimes the ice seems even to beat back the breeze, and turn it in a contrary direction. The warm airs from the south grow cool as they sweep across the frozen expanse, and give up their moisture in the form of snow. In a region so bleak and chill it is not often that clouds are created, the atmosj'lieric vapom-s Ijeing condensed into snow or liail without passing through any intermediate condition. Whirlwinds of frozen snow are formidable enemies to the seaman forced to traverse the ice on foot, or in a sledge drawn by Eskimo dogs. Dense showers lash and sting the unfortunate traveller's face, penetrate his mouth and nostrils, freeze together his very eyelids, and almost blind him. His skin assumes a bluish tint, and burns as if scarred by the keen thongs of a knout. An optical illusion of frequent occurrence in the Polar Regions makes objects appear of dimensions much larger tlian they really possess. A fox assumes the proportions of a bear ; low banks of ice are elevated into lofty mountains. The eye is fatigued by dwelling upon the horizon of lands which are never approached. Just as in the sandy deserts of tlie Sahara the distances of real objects are apparently diminished, so the Arctic explorer, misled by the aerial illusion, advances towards a goal which seems always near at hand, l)ut is never attained. Another source of error, common both to the Arctic and the Tropical deserts, is the mirage, a phenomenon of refraction, which represents as susjiended in air the images of remote objects, and thus gives rise to the most curious illusions and fantastic scenes. Dr. Scoresby one day perceived in the air the reversed representation of a ship which he recognized as the Fame, connnanded by his father. He afterwards discovered that it had lieeii lying moored in a creek about ten leagues from the point where the mirage had played with his imagination. Again, in approaching a field of ice or snow, the traveller invariably descries a belt of resplendent white immediately above the horizon. This is known as the "ice-blink," and it reveals to the Arctic navigator laeforehand the character of the ice he is approaching. At times, too, a i-ange of icebergs, or of broken masses of ice, will be reflected in colossal shadows on the sky, with a strange and even weird effect. But, after all, the special distinction between the Arctic lands and the other regions of the globe is their long day and longer night. Describing an innnense spiral curve upon the horizon, the sun gradually mounts to 30°, the highest jwint of its course ; then, in the same manner, it returns towards the horizon, and bids farewell to the wildernesses of the North, slowly passing away behind the veil of a gloomy and ghastly twilight. When the navigator, says Captain Parry, finds himself for the first time buried in the silent shadows of the Arctic night, he cannot conquer an involuntary emotion of dread ; he feels 32 A ?>[(Hixi,!(;irr XKiiii' ix thk xokth. ATMII.SI'IIKIIH' rilKN'iMENnN IN THE AKL'TR' REGIONS: — REFLECTION OF ICEBERGS. tian«j)()rt(.'d out of tlio sphoi'o (jf ordiiiury, i-oiiiiiioii|ilai-o L'xi.steuee. 'J'he deadly and sombre deserts of the Pole seem like those uiiereated voids which Milton has phu'ed between the realms (jf life ;nid death. The very a.nimals are affected by the profound melancholy which saddens the face of Nature. Who can r(_';id with(.)ut emotion the followino- passages fi'om Dr. Kane's .Journal '.-■■ "October ;JS, Frifhiij.— 'YXxa moon has reached her greatest northern es n<.it exhibit itself in all the Ireshness of its beauty until May. The temperature rises daily in the interval ; the winter fall ot snow, which has so long shi-ouded the gaunt hills and lain upon tlie \allevs, rolls up l)efore the rays ot the rising sun : and the melted simw pours in noisy torrents and Hashing cascades through the rugged I'aviucs and over the dark sides of tlie lofty clitfs : everywhere the air resounds with the din of falling waters. Early in June the traveller sees witli delight the signs ot returning vegetation. The willow-stems grow green with the fresh and living sap ; mosses, and poppii's, ;ind saxifrages, and the cochlearia, with other hardy plants, begin to spi'out ; the wi'lcoine wliii-r of wiii'^s is bron.^ht upon the bive/.e : the clitfs are alive with the little auks; Hocks ol stately eider ducks sail into the creeks and sounds; the graceful ti'rns scream and dart over the si'a ; the. buigomasters and the gvrfalcons mo\e to and fVo \\\\\\ greater die'uitv ; the long-tailed duck tills the echoes with its shrill \n'wv \ the snipes ho\ei- about the fresh-water I A rOLAR LANDSCAPE IN SPRTNCi. 35 pools; tliL' sjianows chirp froin rock to rock ; long lines of cackling geese sail in the l)lue clear- ness overhead on their wav to a rcunoter nortli : tlie walrus and the seal hask on the ice-iloes '3|--.ri.|^(tout 1° .30' from it. Owing, however, to the motion of the pole of the celestial ecjuator round that of the ecliptic, it will, in about 2000 A.n., approach Avithin 28' of the north pole ; but after reaching this point of ajjproximation it will begin to recede. At the time of Hipparchus it was 12° distant from it (that is, in 15(3 n.c); in 1785, 2° 2'. You may easily find its place in the '• stellar firmament," fur a line drawn l)etween the stars a and ft (hence called the "Pointers") of the constellation Uv.va. Major, or the (Jreat Bear, and j)roduced in a northerly direction for about four and a half times its own length, will almost touch the Pole-Star. Two thousand years this post of honour, so to speak, was occupied by the star ft of Ursa Majnr ; while, in aliout twelve thousand years, it will be occupied by the star Vega in Li/r<(, which will be within 5" of tlie north jiole. The constellation of Ursa Major is always above the horizon of Europe, and hence it has been an object of curiosity to its inhabitants from the remotest .'nitii|uity. (Jur I'eaders may easily recognize it by three stars which form a triangle in its tail, while four more form a quadrangle in the body of th(^ imaginary bear. In the triangle, the first star at the tip of the tail is Benetnasch of the second magnitude ; the second, ]\Iizar ; and the third, Alioth. In the quadrangle, the first star at the root of the tail is named Megrez ; the second below it, Phad ; the third, in a hori/ontal direction, Merak ; and the fourth, above the latter, I )uhhc, of the first magnitude. In Ursa Minor the only conspicuous star is Pohiris, of \\hich we t'HMA MAJOR AND I'RSA MISOl!. Ikivc recenllv spoken. We suhjoin a list ol the northern constellations, iiicludin"' th names o f tl lose wuo A LIST OF NORTHERN CONSTELLATIONS. 37 formed tlieui, the nuiubur of their visible stars, and tlie names of tlie most impoi-tant and conspicuous. NORTHERN CONSTELLATIONS. COXSTELLATIONS. Author. No OF Stars. Pkixcipal Star-s. Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear Aratus. 24 Polaris, 2. Aratus. Aratus. Ai'atus. Aratus. Aratus. 87 G6 .54 80 Dubhe, 1 ; Alioth, 2. Algenib, 2; Algol, 2. Capella, 1. Arcturus, 1. R.-istaben, 3. Perseus and Head of Medusa Cepheus .. . .. . . Aratus. Hfvelius. Ha 2.5 Alderamin, 3. Canes Venatici, the Greyhounds Chara and Asteria.. Cor Caroli, Heart of Charles II Halley. 3 Triangulum, the Triangle Ai-atus. 16 Triangulum Minus, the Lesser Tnangle Hevelius. 10 Musca, the Fly. Bode. Hevelius. Hevelius. Tycho Brahe. 44 .53 43 Leo Minqr the Lesser Lion . Coma Berenices, Berenice's Hair. Cameleopardalis, the Giraffe Hevelius. 58 Mons Menehius, Aloiuit ilenelaus Hevelius. Aratus. 11 21 Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown Serpens, the Serpent Aratus. U4 Scutum Sobieski, Sobieski's Shield.. . Hevelius. 8 Hercules, with Cerberus Aratus. 113 Ras Algratha, 3. Serpentarius, or Ojihiuchus, the Serpent -Bearer Aratus. 74 Ras Aliagus, 2. Taurus Poniatowski, or the Bull of Poniatowski Poezobat. 7 Lyi-a, the Harp Aratus. 22 Vega, 1. Vulpeculus et Anser, the Fox aiid tlie Goose ... .. . Heveliiis. 37 Sagitta, the Arrow jVratus. IS xVquila, the Kagle, with Antinon.-^ Aratus. 71 Altair, 1. Belphinus, the Dolphin Aratus. 18 Cygnus, the Swan Aratus. SI Deneb, 1. Cassiopeia, the Lady in lier ( 'hair Aratus. 55 Equulus, the Horse's Head Ptok-niv. 10 Lacerta, the Lizard .. ... Hevelius. 11) Pegasus, the Flying Hni-fti' Aratus. 811 Wiirkab, 2. Andromeda Aratus. (;() Ahnaac, 2. Turandus, the Reindeer Lemonnier. 12 A few remark.s in reference to some of these constellations, and the glorious orbs which they help to indicate to mortal eyes, may fitl}' close this chapter. We have already alluded to Ursa Major, which forms one of the mo.st conspicuous objects of the northern heavens. It has V)orne different names, at different times, and among different peoples. It was the 'Ajo/cto? /xeydXij of the Greeks; the " Septem triones "" of the Latins. It is known in some parts as David's Chariot ; the Chinese call it, TcJieou-pey. Night and day this constellation watches above the northern horizon, revolving, witli slow and majestic march, around Polaris, in four and twenty hours. The quadrangle of stars in the body of the Great Bear forms the wheels of the chariot ; the triangle in its tail, the chariot-pole. Above the second of the three latter shines the small star Alcor, also named the Horseman. The Arabs call it Saidak, or "the Test," because they use it to try the range and strengih of a person's vision. This brilliant northern constellation, composed, witli tlie exception of (\ of stars of the second magnitude, has frequently been celebrated by iioets. We may jiaraphrase, for the advantage of our readers, a glowing apostrophe from the pen of the American AA'are : — With what grand and majestic steps, he says, it moves forward in its eternal circle, follow ing among the stars its regal way in a slow and silent splendour I Mighty creation, I salute thee ! 38 THE "POETrvY OF IIKAVKX." 1 luve to see thee wandering in tlie shining paths hke a giant prund uf his strong girdle — severe, indefatigable, resolved — whose feet never lag in the road which lies before them. Other tribes aliandon their nocturnal ccjursc and rest tlieir weary urbs under the waves; but thou, thou never closest thv burning eyes, and never suspendest thy determined steps. Forward, ever forward I While systems change, and suns retire, and worlds fall to sleep and awake again, thou pursuest thy endless march. The near horizon attempts to check thee, but in vain. A watchfid sentinel, thnu never quittest thy age-long duty ; but, without allowing thyself to be sui-})rised by sleep, thou guardest the tixed light of the universe, and ju'ex'entest the north from e\er forgetting its place. Seven stars dwell in that shining company ; the eye embraces them all at a single glance ; their distances from one another, lujwever, are not less than the distance of each from Earth. And tliis tigain is the I'eciprocal distance of the celestial centres or foci. From deptlis of heaven, imexplored by thought, the piercing ra3's dart across the void, revealing t<.) our senses innumer- able worlds and systems. Let ns arm our vision with the telescoije, and let us survey the firmament. The skies open Avide ; a shower of sparkling tires descends uj>on our head ; the stars close up their ranks, are condensed in regions so remote that their swift ravs (swifter than aught else in creation) must travel for centuries before they can reach our Earth. Earth, sun, and ye constellations, what are ye among this infinite innnensity and the multitude of the Divine works! ]f we face towards the Fole-Star, which, as we have seen, preserves its place in the centre of the northei'ii region of the sky, we have the south behind us, the east is on our right, the west upon our left. All the stars revolving round the l\.ile-,Stai-, from right to left, should be recognized according to their mutual relations rather than referred to the cardinal points. On the other side of Polaris, a,s t-ompared with the Great Bear, we find another constellation which is easily recognized. If from the central star S we cany a line to the l^ole, and then prolong it for an equal distance, we traverse tlie c(.)nstellation of Cassiopeia, conqiosed of five stars of the third magnitude, disposed somewhat like the outer jand_)s of the letter j\I. The small star x. terminating the square, gives it also the form of a chair. This grou|) occupies every possible situation in i-evolving round the Pole, being at one time above it, at another below, now on tlie left, and then on the right ; but it is always readily found, because, like Ursa Major, to which it is invariably o}>posite, it never sets. Tlie Pole-Star is the axle round which these two constella- tions revolve. If we now draw, frling the triangle in Ursa Major. These three bel(.)ng to the constellation of And I'onieda (a, ft, and 7), and themselves abut on another three-orbed group, that of Perseus. Till' last star in the scpiare of Perseus is also the first a of Andromeda : the other three are named, Algenib, 7 ; Markab, « ; and Scheat, ft. To the north of Andromeda ft, and near a small star, 1', the Arctic traveller w 111 disccin an oblong nebula, which may be compared to the light of a taper seen through a, slu'i/t of lioi-n ; this is the first nebula to wliich any allusion occurs in the annals of astronomy. in /'t-rseiis «, an orb of great brilliancy, on the prolonged plane of the three principal stars of .\ ml rmneda, shines with steady lustre between two less dazzling s[)heres, VIEW OF 'I'TIE NORTHERN CONSTELLATIONS. 39 and tonus in conjunction witli tlu.-ni a concave arc very easily (listiiigiii.sLeJ. (Jf this arc we may avail ourselves as a new point of departure. By prolongino- it in tlie direction of o, we come to a very In-ij^lit star of the first magnitude, the (Ju((l. By forming- a right angle to this prolongation in a southerlv direction we come to that o-lorious mass of stars, not very frequently above the Polar horizon, the Pleiads. These were held in evil repute among the ancients. Their apjiearance was supposed to be ominous of violent storms, and Valerius Flaccus S2:)eaks of them as fatal to ships. Algol, or Medusa's Head, known to astronomers as Perseas 13, belongs to the singular class of \'ariable Stars Instead of shining with a constant lustre, like other orl)s, it is sometimes very brilliant, and sometimes very pale; passing, apparently, from tlie second to the fourth magni- tude. According to Goodricke, its period of variatit)n is 2 days 20 hours 48 minutes. This ]ihenoinennl cliaracter was first observed by Maraldi in iG!)4; but the duration of the change was determined by Goodricke in 1782. For two days and fourteen hours it continues at its brightest, and shines a glory in tlie heavens. Then its lustre suddenly begins to wane, and in tliive hcau's and a half is reduced to its mininunn. Its weakest ])eriod, however, does not last more tluui about fii'teen minutes. It then begins to increase in brightness, and in three hours and a half more it is restored to its full s})lendoui- ; thus jiassing thi'ough its succession ([uadruple systems, each composed of binaiy or twin-stars. The hne drawn from Arcturus to Vega cuts the constellation of Hercules. Between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor may be olxserved a ])rolonged series of small stars, coiling, as it were, in a number of convolutions, and extending towards Vega : these belong to the constellation of the Dirujoii. Such are the ]irini_-ipal objects which attract the attention of the traveller, \\hen contemplat- ing the star-studded firmament of the Art'tic night. CHAPTER III. THE POLAR SEAS ! ICEBERGS ICE-FLOES THE SEAL THE WALRUS THE NARWHAL — THE WHALE SUNDRY FORMS OF MARINE LIFE. I HOSE masses of ice wliicli, towering to a considerable elevation above the surface of the water, are carried hither and thitlier by the currents of the Polar Sea, are known as Icehevys. They are fresh-water formations, originating in the great glaciers of the northern highlands. For as the rivers continuously pour their waters into the ocean, so do the glaciers incessantly glide downward from the head of the valleys which they occupy, until, arrivino- on the coast, they throw off their terminal projections, to be carried afar by the action of the tidal waves. These bero-s, or floating mountains, are sometimes 250 to 300 feet aliove the level of the sea, and their capacity or bulk is invariably equal to their height. From their specific gravity it has been calculated that the volume of an iceberg hdow the water is eight times that of the portion rising above it. They are frequently of the most imposing magnitude. Ross, in his first exjae- dition, fell in with one in Baffin Bay, at a distance of seven leagues from land, which had gone aground in sixty-one fathoms water. Its dimensions, according to Lieutenant Parry, were 4,169 yards in length, 3,869 yards in breadth, and 51 feet in height. Its configuration is described as resemblino- that of the back of the Isle of Wight, wliile its clifts recalled those chalky ramparts wdiich stretch their glittering line to the west of Dover. Its weight was computed at 1 ,292,397,673 tons. Captain Graab examined a mass, on the west coast of Greenland, which i-ose 120 feet out of the water, measured 4,000 feet in circumference at the base, and was calculated to be equal in bulk to upwards of 900,000,000 cubic feet. Dr. Hayes took the measurements of a berg which had stranded off the little harbour of Tessuissak, to the north of Melville Bay. The square wall which faced towards his base of triangulation was somewhat more than three-quarters of a mile in length, and 315 feet in height. As it Avas nearly square-sided above the sea, it would be of the same shape beneath it ; and, according to the ratio already given, must have drifted aground in a depth of fully half a mile. In other words, from base to summit it must have stood as high as the peak of Snowdon. Its cubical contents cannot have been less than about 27,000,000,000 feet, nor its weight than 2,000,000,000 tons ! When seen from a distance, the spectacle of any considerable number of these slowly-moving mountains is very impressive, and it becomes particularly magnificent if it should be lit up by the splendour of the midnight sun. They are not only majestic in size, but sublime in appearance, at one time assuming the likeness of a grand cathedral church, at another, of a lofty obelisk ; now of a dazzling pyramid, and now of a cluster of lofty towers. Nature would seem to have 42 Di:. RANK'S ADVKX'rrni;. :i)ii-x AllCUELl KliUEUG ull' THE CUl^ENLANU COAST. lavished u|i(iii theiu all liur arcliitt-'i-tural faiicv ; ami as they are n'randly swe]>t alon^', one uiiL;'ht he pai-iloiied thr siqiposiiiL;' theiu to hi' the sea-washed paJaees ot" a, raee of ocean Titans. In IMulville Bay, Dr. ]vane's ship anrlioi-ed to an iceh(.'i'L;', which |>roti_'cteil it rnuii the i'ury of a violent q'a.le. Ihit he had nut \^'\\'X enjoyed tlie tnuninil shelter it ait'orded, wlien a din of loud ciacklliiL;' scjnnds was he:u'd alidVe ; and small tV.'ii^'nients of ice, not lari^'i^r than a walnnt, began to dot tlie water, like the Hrst hi<4 drops of a thunder-shower. ])r, \\^^^\^• and his crew did not neglect these indications : lliey liad hai-ely time to cast otf, howe\'er, before the i'ace of the icy cliff fell in ruins, crashing like neai' ,-irtillei-v. FLOATING ISLES OF ICE. 43 Aftci'\vai-(ls he made fest to a laro-er ber"' whieli he describes as a inoviiigf breakwater, and of gigantic proportions ; it kej)t its course steadily towards the nortli. When he got under weigli, and made i'or the north-east, tlirough a hibyrinth of ice-floes, he was f'avoureil witli a gorgeous sj^ectacle, wliicli liardly any excitement of peril could have induced him to overlook. The midnight sun came out over the northern crest of the huge berg, kindling variously-coloured iires on every pai-t of its surface, and making the ice around one sublime trans parency of illuminated gem-work, blazing carbuncles, and rubies and molten gold. ])r. Hayes describes an immense bei'gwhich lesembled in its general aspect the Westminster Palace of Sir Charles Barry's creation. It went to ruin before his eyes. First one tall tower tumbled headlong into the water, starting from its surface an in- numerable swarm of gulls ; then another followed ; and at length, after five luiurs of terrible disrujition and crashing, not a fragment that rose fifty AMdNCi TUE BEROS — A NARROW E^SCA^E. feet above the water remained of this archi- tectural colossus of ice. These flouting isles of ice are carried south- ward lulh* two thou- sand miles from their parent giaciei-s to melt in the Atlantic, where they communicate a perceptible coldness to the water for thirty or forty miles around, while their influence on the atmospheric temperature may be recognized at a greater distance. Their num- ber is extraordinary. As many as seven hundred bergs, each loftier tliau the dome of St. Paul's, some than the cross of St. Peter's, have been seen at once in the Polar basin ; as if the Frost King had despatched an armada to oppose the rash enterprise of man in penetrating within his dominions. The waves break against them as against an iron-bound coast, and often the spray is flung over their very summits, lilve the spray of the rolling waters of the Channel over the crest of the Eddystone Lighthouse. The ice crumbles from their face, and tumbles down into the sea with a roar like that of artillery ; and as they waste away, through the combined action of air and water, they occasionally lose their equilibrium and topple over, producing a swell and a violent commotion which break up the neighbouring ice-fields : the tumult spreads far and wide, and thunder seems to peal around. The fractures or rents frequently visible in the glittering clifls of the icebergs are of an eme- rald green, and look like patches of beautiful fresh sward on cliffs of chalk ; while pools of water of the most exquisite sapphiiine blue shine resplendent on their surface, or leap do^n their craggy sides in luminous cascades. Even in the night they are readily distinguished from afar by their effiilgence ; and in foggy, hazy weathei', by a peculiar blackness in the atmosphere. As the Greenland Current frecpiently drifts them to the south of Newfoundland, and even to the 40th or 39th parallel of latitude, the sliips and steamers crossing between Europe and America 44 ADVENTURES WITH ICEBERGS. sometimes meet them on their track. To come into colUsiun with tliem is certain destruction ; and it is probable that some of those ill-fated vessels which have left their liarlxmrs in safety, but have never since been heard of,— as, for example, the steamer President, — have perished through this cause. But if they are sometimes dangerous to the mariner, they often prove his security. As most of their bulk lies below the water-surface, they are either carried along by under-currents ao-ainst the wind, or else from their colossal size they are able to defy the strongest gale, and to move alono- with majestic slowness when every other kind of ice is driven swiftly past them. And hence it happens that, when the wind is contrary, the wlialer is glad to bring his ship into smooth water under their lee. In describing the difficulties of his passage through the loose and drifting ice near Cape York, and the broken ice-fields. Dr. Kane records the assistance he derived from the large icebergs, to which he moored his vessel, and thus was enabled, he says, to liold his own, however rapidly the surface-floes were passing by him to the south. Yet anchoring to a berg brings with it an occasional peril. As we have already said, large pieces frequently loosen themselves from the summit or sides, and fixll into the sea with a far- resounding crash. When this operation, " calving," as it is called, takes place, woe to the unfor- tunate ship which lies beneath ! All ice becomes excessively brittle under the influence of the sun or of a temperate atmos- phere, and a single blow from an axe will suffice to split a huge berg asunder, burying the heed- less adventurer beneath the ruins, or hurling him into the yawning chasm. Dr. Scoresby records the adventure of two sailors who had been sent to attach an anchor to a berg. They set to work to hew a- hole in the ice, but scarcely had tlie first blow been struck, when the colossal mass rent from top to bottom and fell asunder, the two halves falling in oppo- site directions with a tremendous uproar. (Jne of the sailors, wdth remarkable presence of mind, instantly clambered up the huge fragment on which he was sitting, and remained rocking to and fro on the dizzy summit until its equilibrium was restored ; the other, falling between the masses, would probably have been crushed to death if the current caused by their commotion had not swept him within reach of the boat that was waiting for them. Fastening to a berg, says Sherard Osborn, has its risks and dangers. Sometimes the first stroke of the man setting the ice-anchoi-, by its concussion, causes the iceberg to break up, and the people so employed run great risk of being injured ; at another time, vessels obliged to make fast under the steep side of a berg have been seriously damaged by pieces detaching themselves from overhead ; and, again, the projecting masses, called tongues, which form under water the base of the berg, have been known to break off, and strike a vessel so severely as to sink her. All these perils are duly detailed by every Arctic navigator, who is always mindful, in mooring to an iceberg, to look for a side whirh is low and sloping, without any tongues under water. Captain Parry was once witness of that sublime spectacle, which, though of frequent occur- rence, is seldom seen l)y human eyes, the entire dissolution of an enormous iceberg. Its huge size and massiveness had been specially remarked, and nuii tlmuglit that it might well resist "a century of sun and tliaw." It looked as large as \\\'stininster Abbey. All on board Captain I'arry's ship descrilicd as a most wondrrCiil spectacli' tliis ic(_>berg, without any warning, complctclv breaking up, 'I'lic sea around it lKM-;inic n scefliing caldi'on, from tlir violent plunging of the masses, as they bi'oke and re broke in a thousaiKl pieces. The tloes, torn TN MELVILLE BAY. 45 up for a distance of two uiilus around it, by the violent action of the rolling waters, threatened, from the agitation of the ice, to destroy any vessel that had been amongst them ; and Captain Parry and his crew congratulated themselves that they n-ere sufficiently far from the scene to witness its sublimity without being involved in its danger. Icebero-s chieHy aV)onnd in Baffin Bay, and in the gulfs and inlets connected with it. They are particularly numerous in the great indentation known as Melville Bay, the whole inte- rior of the country bordering upon it being the seat of immense glaciers, and these are constantly " shedding off" icebergs of the largest dimensions. The greater bulk of these is, as we have explained, below the water-line ; and the consequent depth to which they sink when floating ICEiiEKG AND ICEFIELD, MELVIM.E BAY, GllEENLANU subjects them to the action of the deeper ocean-currents, wliile their broad surface above the water is, of course, acted on by the wind. It happens, therefore, as Dr. Kane remarks, that they are found not infrequently moving in different directions from the floes around them, and preventing them for a time from freezing into a united mass. Still, in the late winter, when the cold has thoroughly set in, Melville Bay becomes a continuous mass of ice, from Cape "i ork to the Devil's Thumb. At other times, this region justifies the name the whalers have bestowed upon it of " Bergy Hole." Captain Beechey, in his voyage with Buchan, in 1818, had an opportunity of witnessing the formation of a "berg," or rather of two of these inunense masses. In !Magdalena Bay he had 46 A COLOSSAL ICEDKltO. taken tlui ship's launch near the shi.iro to exaniim.^ a mayniticeut ^'hicier, \\'li(_'n thi- (Hsfharg'(? of a o'un caused an instantaneous (Hsruption of its hull^. A noise rcsembhrn;' thunth.'r was heard in tile direetion of th(,' glacier, and in a few seeomls more an immense [liece hroke away, and fell headlong" into the sea. The crew of the launch, supjjosing themselves beyond the reach of its influence, ([uietly looked ujion the scen(_', wla^n a sea arose and I'olled towards tlie sliore with such rapidity that the boat v\'as washed upon the beach and tilled. As soon as their astonish- ment had subsided, they examined the boat, and found her so bailly stove that it was necessary to repair her before they could return to their shi]i. They had also the curiosity to measure the distance the l>oat had been cai-ried 1)V the wave, and ascertained that it was ninety-six feet. A short time afterwards, when Cajitain Beechey and Lieutenant Franklin had approached one of these stuj)endous walls (if ice, and were endeavouring to search into the innermost recess of a deep cavern that lay near the foot of the glacier, they suddenly heard a report, as of a cannon, .and turning to the quarter whence it |n'oceeded, perceived an immense section of the front of the glacier sliding down from the height of two hundred feet at least into the sea, and dispersing the water in every direction, accompanied I)y a loud grinding noise, and followed by an outflow of water, which, being previously lodged in the fissures, now made its escape in innu- merable tiny fla.shing rills and cataracts. The mass thus disengaged at first disappeared wholly under -water, and nothing could be seen but a vioh.-nt seething of the sea, and the ascent (_)f cL^uds of glittering sjtray, such as that which oc(.'urs at the foot of a great waterfall. But after a short time it re-appeared, raising its head fully a hundred feet above the surface, with water streaming down on every side ; and then labouring, as if doulitful whid and forty feet high, and aground in one^ liundred and twenty fathoms, so that its whole height nuist have exceeded eight hundred feet ; that is, it was of a, bulk equal to St. Catherine's Down in the Isle of Wight. In his second voyage Parry speaks of fifty-four icebergs visible at one time, some of which were not less than two Inmdred feet above the sea ; and again of thirty of these huge masses, many of them whirled ab(jut by the tides like straws on a mill-stream. Icebergs can originate only in regions where glaciers abound : the former are the oftspiing of the latter, aniii, NXil' ' ICbbEUliS — EXTENSIuN OF A (JLACIEH SEAWARDS. discharge enormous masses into the ocean. Some of these drift on the adjacent sliores, and often maintain them- selves for years. Others float away to the southward, and pass into the broad Atlantic, where they are finally dissolved. But a vast amount of heat is demanded for the simple liquefaction of ice, and the melting of icebergs is on this account so slow that, when large, they sometimes maintain themselves till they have been drifted two thousand miles from their place of biiih. Icebergs, then, are fresh- water formations, and though they are found on a colossal scale only in the Polar seas, yet they are by no means uncommon among the lofty Alpine lakes. The monarch of European ice-rivers is the great Aletsch glacier, at the head of the valley of the Rhone. It is about twenty miles in length, and collects its materials from the snow-drifts of the grandest mountains of the Bernese Oberland — the Jungfrau, the Monch, the Trugberg, the Aletschhorn, the Breithorn, and the Gletscherhorn. From the peak of the ^ggiscliliorn the Alpine traveller obtains a fine view of its river-like course, and lie sees beneath him, on the right hand, and surrounded by sheltering mountains, an object of almost startling beauty. " Yonder," says Tyndall,* " we see the naked side of the glacier, cxj)osing glistening ice-clifts si.xty or seventy feet high. It would seem as if the Aletsch * Tvudull, "Funus of Water," ].. l;37. 4 iS GLACIEES IN SWITZERLAND. THE ALETSCII GLACIKR, SVVlTZEKIjAND, I'RUM THE vtGGlsrHHuRN, SHOWING ITS MiiIlAINES. here were engaged in the vain attempt to tlinist an arm tlirough a hxteral valley. It once did so ; but the arm is now incessantly broken off close to the body of the glacier, a great space formerly covered by ,,—=-= „=^=-=^-„=,.-^^^^,^^^-^=--.™^=^ the ice being occu- pied by its water of liquefaction. In this wayalakeofthelove- liest blue is formed, Avhich reaches quite to the l)ase of the ice-cliffs, saps them, as the Arctic waves sap the Greenland glaciers, and receives from them tlie broken masses wl i icl i it has underminnl. As we loulv (low II upon the lake, small icebergs sail over the tran([uil smt'at'e, each resembling a- and on looking towards the water ? The ber<'- 1 TII MAUJKLKN SEA, SWITZEULAND. could see the water teemiiii>' from its sides. snowy swan accom- panied by its shadow." This lake is the Miiijelen Sea of the Swiss. Professor Tyndall goes on to describe a sjiectacle which he witnessed, and which, as we have seen, is of frequent occurrence in the Arctic Seas. A large and lonely ice- berg was floating in the middle of the lake. Suddenly he heard a sound like that of a cataract, Whence came the iceherg lad liccome toii lica\'V throUijh tlic meltiii"' uiiduriicath ; it was in the act i. V O O BFvEAKING-UP OF A BERG. 49 of performing a somersault, and in rolling over carried with it a vast quantity of water, wdiich rushed like a waterfall down its sides. And the iceberg, which, but a moment before, was snowy white, now exhibited the delicate blue colour characteristic of compact ice. It would soon, how- ever, be rendered white again Ijy the action of the sun. We may contrast this picture of the solitary iceberg in the centre of the dark-blue lake Avith one which Dr. Hayes describes in his i)icturesque voyage in the open Polar Sea. After passing Upernavik he saw a heavy line of icebergs lying across his course, and having no alternative, shot in among them. Some of them proved to be of immense size — upwards of two hundred feet in height, and a mile in length ; others were not larger than the schooner which woimd her way amongst them. Their forms were as various as their dimensions, from solid wall- sided masses of dead whiteness, with waterfalls tumbling from them, to an old weather-worn accumulation of Gothic spires, whose crystal peaks and sharp angles melted into the blue sky. They seemed to be endless and innumerable, and so close together that at a little distance they appeared to form uptMi the sea an unbroken canopy of ice. Dr. Hayes I'ecords an adventure which may serve to give the I'eader an idea of the nature of the perils encountered by the Arctic explorer. The ocean-current was carrying his schooner towards a labyrinth of icebergs at an uncomfortably rapid rate. A boat was therefore lowered, to moor a cable to a berg which lay grounded at about a hundred yards distant. While this was being done the schooner absolutely grazed the side of a berg which rose a hundred feet above her topmasts, and then slipped past another of smaller dimensions. But a strong eddy at this moment carried her against a huge floating mass, and though the shock was slight, it proved sufficient to disengage some fragments of ice large enough to have crushed the vessel had they struck her. The berg then began to revolve, slowly and ponderously, and to settle slowly over the threatened ship, whose destruction seemed a thing of certainty. Fortunately, she was saved by the action of the l)erg. An immense mass broke off from that j^art which lay beneath the water-surflice, and this colossal fragment, a dozen times larger than the schooner, came rushing up within a few yards of them, sending a vast volume of foam and water flying from its sides. This rupture arrested the rotatory motion of the berg, which then beo-an to settle in another direction, and the schooner was able to sheer oft'. At this moment the crew were startled by a loud report. Another and another followed in quick succession, until the din grew deafening, and the whole air seemed a reservoir of chaotic sounds. The opposite side of the berg had split off*, piece after piece, topj^ling a vast volume of ice into the sea, and sending the berg revolving back upon the shi}). Then the side nearest to them underwent the same singular process of disiaxption, and came plunging wildly down into the sea, sending over them a shower of spray, and i-aising a swell which rocked the shij) to and fro as in a gale of wind, and left her grinding in the debris of the crumbling ruin. " The ice was here. The ice was there, Tlie ice was all aroiiml ; It creaked aud growled, And roared and howled, Like demous iii a swoiuid." It is impossible, we slioulil say, for any one wlio has not liad actual experience of the conditions of the Arctic woi'ld, to comprehend or imagine the inunense (juantity of ice upborne 50 A VISION OF ICEBERGS. on its cold bleak waters. The mere enumeration of the Hoating bergs at times defies the navigatoi-. Dr. Hayes once counted as far as five hundred, and then gave up in despair. Near by they stood out, he says, in all the rugged harshness of their sharp outlines; and from this, softening Avith the distance, they melted away into the clear gray sky ; and there, far of!" upon the sea of li(piid silver, the imagination cctnjured up the strangest and most wonderful groups and objects. Birds and beasts and luunan forms and architectural designs took shape in the distant masses of blue and white. The dome of .St. Peter's was recognizable here ; then the spire of a village church rose sliai'p and distinct ; and under the shadow of the Pyramids nestled a Byzantine tower and a Grecian temple. " To the eastward," says Dr. Hayes, describing a similar scene, " the sea was dotted with little islets — dark sjjccks upon a biilliant surface. Icebergs, great and small, crowded through the channels Avlrich divided them, until in the far distance they appeared massed together, termi- nating against a snow-covered plain that slo]»ed upward until it was lost in a dim line of bluish whiteness. This line could be traced behind the serrated coast as far to the north and south as the eye could carrv. It was the yreat Mer cle Glace* which covers the lenafth and breadth of the Greenland continent. The snow-covered slope was a glacier descending therefrom — the parent stem from which had been discharged, at irregular intervals, many of the icebergs which troubled us so much." We have now brought together a sufficient number of data to assist the reader in forming a vivid conception of tliose monsters of the Polar Seas, the icebergs ; and to enable him, unless he is very slow of imagination, to realize to himself what they aj'e, and what their general aspect is. But we may add one interesting detail, noticed by Mr. Lainout, the persevering seal-huntei", which is A'ei'y generally ovurluokud. In the course of the brief Arctic summer the increased solar Avarmth has a perceptible effect u])on the solid ice, and it becomes undermined and honeycombed, or, as the sailors call it, " rotten," like a chalk clilf. It decays fastest, apparently, "between wind and water," so that enormous caverns are excavated in the sides of the bergs. Poets never dreamed of anything more beautiful than these crystal vaults, which sometimes appear of a deeji ultramarine blue, and at others of an emerald-green tint. One could fancy them the faAt.airite haunts of mermaids and juermen, and of every kind of sea monster; but, in truth, no animal ever enters them; the water dashing in and out through their icy caves and tunnels makes a sonorous but rather monotonous and melancholy sound In moderately calm weather many of these excavated bergs assume the form of gigantic nuislirooms, and all kinds of fantastic outlines ; but as soon as a breeze of wind a ri.ses they break up into little pieces with great rapidity. Icebergs are met with (m every side of the Southern I'ole, and on every meridian of the great Antarctic Ocean. But such is not the case in the North. In the oGOth meridian of longi- tude wliicli intersects the parallel of 70° N., icebergs spread over an extent only of about fiftv- five degrees, nnd tliis is immediately in and about Greenland and Bailin liay. Or, as Admiral Osborn ])uts it, for 1,;)75 miles of longitude we have icebergs, and then for 7,G35 get)grapliical miles none are met with. This fact is, as tlie same writer calls it, most interesting, and points strongly to the probaljility that no extensive area of land exists about the North Pole; a sup- * Tin.' iiHUK- nivi'ii (u a jilaili of icu ueai' Mniil Diane. IHIfliiuanitiitiiiiiiiiiiiiMiipiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin^^^ I/'!' I i: PERILS OF PACK-ICE. 53 position sti'engthened by another fact, tliat the vast ice-fields oft' Spitzbergen sliow no signs of ever having been in contact with land or gi'avel. Another difficulty which besets the Arctic navigator is the " pack-ice." In winter, the ice from the North Pole descends so far south as to render the coast of Newfoundland inaccessible ; it envelops Greenland, sometimes even Iceland, and always sur- rounds and blocks up Spitzbergen and Novaia Zendaia. But as tlie sun comes north this vast frozen expanse, which stretches over several thousands of square miles, breaks up into enormous masses. When these extend horizontally for a considerable distance they are called ice-fields. IN AN ICE-PACK, MELVILLE BAT. A. floe is a detached portion of a field ; a large area of floes, closely compact together, is known as pach-ice ; while drift-ice is loose ice in motion, and not so firmly welded as to prevent a ship irom forcing her way through the yielding fragments. This " pack-ice," however, is the great obstacle to Arctic exploration ; and frequently it pre- sents a barrier which no human enterprise or skill can overj^ass. At times, it has been found possible to cut a channel through it, or it breaks up and opens a water-way through which the bold adventurer steers. In 1806, Captain Scoresby forced his shi|) through two hundred and fifty miles of pack-ice, in imminent peril, until he reached the parallel of 81° 50', — his nearest approach to the Pole. In 1827, Sir Edward Parry gained the latitude of 82 45', l>y drao-o-ino- 54 TTTE rCE-FTELDS OF THE NORTH. a boat over the ice-fields, but was then compelled to abandon his daring and hazardous attempt, because the current carried the ice southward more rapidly than he could traverse it to the north. In warm sunmiers this mass of ice will suddenly clear away and leave an oj)en streak of silver sea along the west coast of Sintzbergen, varying in width from sixty to one liundred and fifty miles, and reaching as high as 80" or 80° 30' N. latitude. It was through this channel that Scoresby bore his ship on the expedition to which we have just alluded. A direct course iVc^m the Thames, CHANNEL IN AN ICE-FIEI,b. across the Pole, to Behring Strait is 3,570 geographical miles; by Lancaster Sound it is 4,GG0 miles. The Russians would be saved a voyage of 18,000 geographical miles could they strike across the P(jle and through Behring Strait to British Columbia, instead of going by Cape Horn. Ice-fields, twenty to thirty miles across, are of frequent occurrence in the great Northern Ocean ; sometimes they extend fully one hundred miles, so closely and solidly packed that no opening, even for a boat, intervenes between them ; they vary in thickness from t6n to forty or even fifty feet. At times these fields, which are many thousand millions of tons in weight, acquire a rapid rotatory motion, and dash against one another with a fury of which no words can give an accurate idea. The reader knows what awful results are pro- duced liy the collision of two railway trains, and may succeed, perhaps, in fomiing some feeble con- ception of this still more appalling scene wlu'ii he remembers the hug(! dimensions and solidity of the opposing forces. y *5C- NIPPED IN AN ICF.-FIELD. The waters seethe and foam, as if lashed by a tremendous tempest ; the air is smitten into stillness by the chaos of sounds, the creaking, and rend- ing, and cracking, and heaving, as the two ice- fields are hurled against each other. Woe to the ship caught between these grinding "TAKING THE PACK." 55 masses ! No vessel ever Iniilt by luunaii bands could resist their pressure ; and many a whaler, navigating amid the floating fields, especially in foggy weather, has thus been doomed to destruc- tion. Some have been caught up like reeds, and flung helplessly upon the ice ;• others have been overrun by the ice, and buried beneath the accumulated fragments ; others have been dashed to pieces, and have gone down suddenly with all on board. The records of Arctic exploration are full of stories of " liairbrt-adtli escapes " from the perils of the ice-field and the ice-floe. Here is one which we borrow from the voyage of the Dorothea and the Trent, under Captain Buchan and Lieutenant Franklin. The two vessels were making for Magdalena Bay, when they were caught in a vi(jlent storm, and compelled to heave-to under storm stay-sails. Next morning (June 30) the ice was seen along the lee, with a furious sea breaking upon it. Close-reefed sails wei'e out in the hope of weathering the danger. When Buchan found that this could not be effected by his ship, a slow and heavy sailer, he resolved on the desperate expedient of "taking the pack," in preference to falling, broadside on, among the roaring breakers and crashing ice. "Heaven help them !" was the involuntary cry of those on board the Trent, and tlie prayer was all the more earnest from the conviction that a similar fiite would soon l)e their own. The Dorothea wore, and, impelled by wind and sea, rushed towards what seemed inevitable destruction; those in tlie Trent held their breatli wliilr tliey watcht'd the perilous exploit. The suspense lasted but a moment, for the vessel, like a snow-flake before the storm, drove into the a%\'ful scene of foam, and spray, and broken ice, which formed a wall impenetrable to mortal eye- sight. Whether she was lost or saved, the gallant hearts on board the Trent would never know until they too were forced into a manoeuvre which appeared like rushing into the jaws of death. But it was inevitable ; and when Franklin had made all his preparations, he gave, in firm, decisive tones, the order to "put up tlic helm." No language, says Admiral Beechey, who was then serving as a lieutenant on board the Trent, can convey an adequate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effects produced bv the collision of "the ice and the tempestuous ocean. No language, on the other hand, can convey an idea of the heroic calmness and resolution of Franklin and his crew. As they approached the terrible scene, Franklin watched for one opening less hazardous than another ; but there was none. Before them stretched one long line of frightful breakers, immense blocks of ice heaving, rearino-, and hurtling against one another with a din which rendered the loud voice of the gallant commander almost inaudible. On the crest of a huge billow the little Trent rushed into the horrible turmoil ; a shock, which cjuivered tlirough tlie ship from stem to stern, and the crew were flung upon the deck, and the masts bent lil^e willow wands. "Hold on, for your lives, and stand to the helm, lads!" shouted Franklin. "Ay, av, sir," was the steady response from many a heroic heart. A billow came thundering against the stern of the brig ; would the brig be engulfed, or would she drive before it ? Happily, she forged ahead, though shaking like a spent race-horse, and with every timber straining and creakino-. Now, thrown broadside on, her side was remorselessly battered by the floe pieces ; then, tossed by the sea over ice-block after ice-block, she seemed like a plaything in the grasp of an irresistible power. For some hours this severe ti-ial of strength and fortitude endured ; then the storm subsided as rapidly as it had arisen, and their gratitude for their own escape was mingled with joy at the safety of the Dorothea, wliich they could see in tlie di.stance, still afloat, and with her crew in safetv. 56 PERILOUS I'OSITION OF TAKKY'S SHU'S. On Captain Parry's second expedition, in 182i!, liis sliiits, tlie llechi and tlie Fiirij, were placed in a ])o.sition of scarcely lews danger. Thus we read of the Ilecla, which at the time had been made ftist by means of cables to the land-ice, that a very heavy and extensive floe caught her on her liroadside, and, being backed by another large body of ice, gradually lifted her stern as if by the action of a wedge. Tlie weight every moment increasing, her crew were obliged to veer on tlie hawsers, whose friction was so great as nearly to cut through the Ijitt-heads, and ultimately set them on fire, so that it became requisite to jiour upon them Ijuckets of water. At length the pressure ])roved irresistible ; the cables snapped; but as tlie sea was too full of ice to allow the shij) to drive, the only way in which she could yield to the enormous buiden lirought to bear u]>on her was by leaning over the land-ice, while her stern at the same time was lifted clean out of the water for fully five feet. Had another floe backed the one wdiich lifted her, the ship must inevitably have rolled broadside over, or been rent in twain. But the pressure which had been so dangerous eventually proved its safety ; for, owing to its increasing weight, the floe fm which she was carried burst upwards, unable to resist its force. The Ilecla then righted, and a small channel opening up amid the driving ice, she was soon got into comparatively smooth water. (_)n the fiillowiiig day, shortly before noon, a heavy floe, measuring some miles in length, came down towards the Funj, exciting the gravest apprehensions for her safety. In a few minutes it came in contact, at the rate of a mile and a half an hour, with a point of tlie land-ice, breaking it up with a tremendcnis roar, and forcing numberless immense masses, perhaps many tons in weight, to the height of fifty or sixty feet ; whence they again rolled down on the inner or land side, and were quickly succeefled by a fresh siqiply. While tliey were compelled to remain passive spectators ctf this grand Ijut terrific sight, l)eing within five or six hundred yards of the ])oint, the danger they incurred was twofold : first, lest the floe should swing in and serve the ship in the same unceremonious manner ; and, seconilly, lest its jiressure should detach the land-ice to which they were secured, and cast them adrift at the mercy of the tides. Fortunately, neither of these terril)le alternatives occurred, the floe remaining stationary for the rest of the tide, and setting off with the ebb when the tide soon afterwards turned. The reader must not imagine that an ice-field is a smooth and uniform plain, as level as an English meadow ; it is, on the contrary, a rugged succession of hollows, and of jirotuberances called "hummocks," interspersed with pools of water, and occasionally intei'sected by deep fissures. In many parts it can l)e compared only to a jiromiscuous accumulation of rocks closely packed together, and piled up over the extensive dreary space in great heaps and endless ridges, leaving scarcely a foot of level surfiiee, and compelling the traveller to thread his way as best he can among the perplexing inequalities ; sometimes mounting unavoidable obstructions to an elevation of ten, and again more than a hundred feet, above the general level. The interspaces between tliese closely accumulated ice-masses are filled up to some extent with drifted snow. Now, let the reader endeavour to form a definite idea of the scene presented by an ice-field. Let him watch the slow progress of the sledges as they wind thiough the labyrinth of i)roken ice- tables, the men and dogs pulling and ]>ushing up their respective loads, as Napoleon's soldiers may have done when drawing their artlllei'V through the rugged Alpine passes, or Tjord Napier's FORMATION OF AN ICE-FLOE. 59 heroes when they scaled the steep Abyssiniuu heights. He will see them clambering over the very summit of lofty ridges, where no gap occurs, and again descending on the other side, the sledge frequently toppling over a precipice, sometimes capsizing, and sometimes breaking. Again : he will see the adventurous party, when baffled in their attempt to cross or fiiid a pass, breaking a track with shovel and handspike ; or, again, unable even with these ajipliances to accomplish their end, they retreat to seek an easier route. Perhaps they are fortunate enough to discover a kind of gap or gateway, and upon its winding and uneven surface accomplish a mile or so with comparative ease. The snow-drifts sometimes prove an assistance, but more fre- quently an obstruction ; for though their surface is always hard, it is not alwaj^s firm to the foot. Then the crust gives way, and the foot sinks at the very moment when the other is lifted. But, worse than this, the chasms between the hummocks may l)e overarched with snow in such a manner as to leave a considerable space at the bottom void and emj)ty ; then, when everything looks auspicious, down sinks one of the hapless explorers to his waist, another to the neck, a tliird is " lost to sight," the sledge gives way, and all is confusion worse confounded ! To educe order out of the chaos is probably the work of hours ; especially if the sledge, as is often the case, must be unloaded. Not unfrequently it is necessary to carry the cargo in two or three loads ; the sledges are coming and going continually ; and the day is one " endless pull and haul." Dr. Hayes speaks of an ice-floe, crested with hummocks, and covered with crusted snow, the solid contents of which he estimated, in round numbers, at 6,000,000,000 of tons, its depth being aljout one hundred and sixty feet. All around its border was banked up a kind of rampart of last year's ice, the loftiest pinnacle of which rose fully one hundred and twenty feet above the sea- level. This ice-tower consisted of blocks of ice of every shape and size, piled one upon an- other in the greatest disorder. Numerous other towers, or bastions, equally rugged, though of less elevation, sprang from the same ridge, and from every part of this desolate area; and "if a thousand Lisbons were crowded together and tumbled to pieces by the shock of an earthquake, the scene could hardly be more rugged, nor to cross the ruins a severer task." We must date the origin of a floe like this back to a very remote period. Probably it was cradled, at the outset, in some deep recess of the land, where it remained until it had accumulated to a thickness which defied the summer's sun and the winter's winds. Then it would grow, as the glacier grows, from above ; for, like the glacier, it is wholly composed of fresh ice — that is, of frozen snow. Thus it will be seen, to quote Dr. Hayes once more, that the accumulation of ice upon the mountain-tops is in nowise different from the accumulation which takes jilace upon these floating fields, where every recurring year marks an addition to their depth. Vast as they are to the sight, and pigmies as they are compared with the inland Mer de Glace, yd, in all that con- cerns their growth, they are truly glaciers, dwarf floating glaciers. That only in this manner can they grow to so great a depth will at once be conceded by the reader, if he recollects that ice soon reaches a maximum thickness by direct freezing, and that its growth is arrested by a natural law. Necessarily, this maximum thickness varies according to the temperature of the locality : but the ice is in itself the sea's protection. The cold air cannot absorb the .warmth of the water through more than a certain thickness of ice, and that thickness attains a final limit long before the winter has reached its close. The depth of ice formed on the first night is greater than that formed on the second ; on the second is greater than on the third ; on the third greater than on 60 WALRUS-HUNTING. the fourtli ; and no it contiiuiu.s, until tliu iiicreasu no lunyer Takt's ])laco. In othtT wuids, the ratio of increase of the thickness of ice is in inverse jjroportiun to the (hiiation of the period of freezing. There comes a time when the water beneath the ice no longer congeals, because the ice-crust above it protects it fi'om the action of the atmosphere. Dr. Hayes asserts tliat he never saw an Arctic 'ice-tuhle Jo j'tiied hij tl i irvt JrcezDir/ thut exceeded eighteen feet; and he justly adds, that were it not for this all- wise jirovision of the Deity, — this natural law, as our men of science term it, — the Arctic waters would, ages ago, have been solid seas of ice to their pro- foundest depths. Haviny saitl thus much about the various forms whicli the ico assumes in the Polar seas, — about their icebergs and ice-fields, jiack-ice and drift-ice, and the thick belt of ice which surrounds their shores, — we may now direct the reader's attention t(j their Animal Life ; to the creatures which inhabit them, walrus and seal and wiiale, the fishes, the molluscs, and even minuter organisms. And first wc shall beain with the Walrus, which finds a congenial home in the Arctic wildernesses. Wali-us-hunting is the principal, or at all events the most lucrative, occupation of the Norse fishermen, who annually betake themselves to the cheerless shores of Spitzbergen in search of booty. Their life is a terribly hard and dangerous one ; and Mr. Lamf)nt, who has had much experience of them, observes that they all have a restless, weary look ab(.)ut the eyes, — a look as if contracted by being perpetually in the presence of peril. They are wild, rougli, and reckless; but they are also bold, hardy, and enduring of cold, hunger, fatigue ; active and energetic while at sea, though sadly intemperate during their winter-holiday. The vessels engaged in the seal-fishery and walrus-hunting are fitted out by the merchants of Tromsoe and Hammerfest, who have, of late years, adopted the system of sharing their proceeds with their crews, thus giving them a direct interest in the ])r(^sperity of the expedition. The ship is fitted out and provisioned by the owners, who also ad\ance to tlie men what money they may require to purchase clothing and to make pro\'ision foi- their families during their absence. Then they allot one-third of the gross receipts of the adventure to the crew, di\i(ling it into shares, three for the captain, two for the harpooneer, and one each for the conmion men. So that if a fairly successful voyage should realize in skins, blubber, and ivory a sum of two thousand dollars, and the number of hands amounts to ten, the usual strength of a seal-ship's crew, each will receive forty-seven and a half dollars, or about £10, — a very considerable sum for a Norwegian. Each ship carries a couple of boats, and a walrus-boat, capalik' of Irokling five men, Avhich measures twenty-one feet in length by five feet beam, having her main breadth at about seven feet from the l>ow. She is bow-shaped at both ends, and so built as to turn easily on her own centre, besides being strong, light, and easy to row. Each man plies a ]>air of oars hung in "grummets" to stout tbole-])ins ; the steersman directs the boat by also rowing a pair of oars, but with his face to the bow ; and as there are six thwarts, he can, if necessary, sit and row like the others. By this arrangement the strength of the men is econtanized, and the boat is more swiftly turned when in pursuit of the walrus. WALRUS-H U NTING. CI The steersman als() acts as liai-]i()(inuer, and, df course, sits in the bow. The strongest man in tlie boat is usually placed next to liini, to hold and haul in the line when a walrus is struck, and it is his duty to hand the harpoons and lances to the harj>ooneer as required. Each boat — which, by the way, is painted white, so as to resemble the ice amongst which it moves — is usually provided with three harpoon-heads inside the bow, on each side : these fit into little racks of painted canvas, so that their keen points and edges may not be blunted, and to prevent them from injuring the men. The harpoons serve equally well for seal and walrus, and, simple as they seem and are, answer admirably the purpose for which they are designed. The weapon is thrust into the animal ; its struggles tighten the line ; the large outer barb then catches up a loop of its tenacious hide, or the tough reticulated fibres containing its lilubber; HUNTING THE WALRUS. while the small inner liarl), like that of a lish-hook, prevents it from being detached or loosened. When a walrus has been properly struck, and the line hauled taut, it rarely escapes. To each harpoon a line of twelve or fifteen fathoms long is attached : a sufficient length, as the walrus is seldom found in water more than fifteen fathoms deep ; and even if the water should exceed that depth, it cannot drag the boat imder, because it is unable to exert its full strength when subjected to the pressure of twelve or fifteen fathoms of water. Besides the harpoons, each boat is jirovided with four or five enormous lances; the shaft being made of pine-wood, nine feet long, and one inch and a half thick at the handle, increasing upwards to a thickness of two inches and a half where it enters the iron socket. This would seem 62 A DISAGKEEABLE PliOCESS. a formidable weaj)Oii, and formidable it is in the stout hands of a Norse har[)Ooneer; yet, frequently, the iron shank is bent (loul)le, or the strong shaft snapped like a reed, in the violent resistance of the sea-horse ; and, therefore, to prevent the head being lost, it is fastened to the shaft by a double thong of raw seal-skin, tied round the shaiJi and nailed to the handle for about three feet up. The shaft may seem of disproportionate length, but it is necessary to give the buoyancy sufficient for floating the heavy iron spear if it should fall into the water. This spear, or lance, is not used for seals, because it would spoil the skins. Notwithstanding the destruction effected by the yearly expeditions of the walrus-hunters, the sea-horses are still found in large herds in many parts of the Polar woild. Mr. Lamont describes a curious and exciting spectacle, where four large flat icebergs were seen to be so closely packed with these animals that tliey were sunk almost level with the water, and presented the appear- ance of " solid islands of walrus I " The walrus lay with their heads reclining on one another's backs and hind-quarters, just as rhinoceroses lie asleep in the dense shade of the African forests, (^r, to use a more commonplace but familiar comparison, as hogs slumber and wallow in a British farmyard. Such a sight was a temptation not to be withstood Ijy a walrus-hunter, and Mr. Lamont and his hari^ooneer speedily disturbed the repose of the monsters, which chiefly consisted of cows and young bulls. After slaying their victims, and getting them on board, came the disagreeable but necessary task of separating the blubber from the skins to stow it in the barrels ; a process which is performed in the following manner : — Across the ship's deck, immediately aft the hatchway, is erected a kind of framework or stage of stout timber, about four feet in height, but slojiing down at an angle of about sixty degrees, with the deck at the forward side : on the other side it is jierjjendicular, and there the two spevhsioneerti (or "blubber-cutters") jjost themselves, clad, not in armour, but in oil-skin from top to toe, and armed with large keen knives, curved on the edge. Then the skins are hoisted out of the hold, and, two at a time, are suspended across the frame, with the blubber side uppermost : tlie fat, or blubber, is next removed by a kind of uiowimj motion of the knife, which is lield in both hands, and swayed from left to right. Only long practice, and great steadiness of wrist, can give the dexterity I'equisite for the due performance of this difficult operation. Even in skinning a walrus, skill is imperative. As the blubber is mown off, it is divided into slabs, weighing twenty or thirty pounds each, and flung down the hatchway, Avhere two men are stationed to receive it, and pack it into the casks, which ^\'hen full are securely fastened up. The skin, whieli is taken oft" the animal in two longitudinal halves, is a valuable commodity, and sells at the rate nf iiom two to four dollars jier half skin. The principal purchasers are the Russian and Swedish mercliants, and its princii)al uses are for harness cllish the Scandinavian mytholog}-. The walrus has no canine teeth in the lower jaw. Its incisors are small, and ten in numlier ; six in the upper and four in the lower jaw. The molars, at first five on each side in each jaw, 64 TlIK WALRUS AND THE POLAR BEAR. but fewer in the adult, are simple and not large ; their cr(.)wns are ol)li(]uely worn. The nostrils wtadd seem to he displaced by the sockets of the tusks ; at least they both open almost directly upwards at some distance from the muzzle. The eyes are small, but savage ; there are no exter- nal ears. The Arctic Avalrus is the sole known species of the genus. It is a gregarious animal, always assembling in large herds, which occasionally leave the water to take their rest upon the shore or A WALRUS FAMILY. on the ice ; and it is at such times the hunters chiefly attack them, since their movements out of the water are ver}^ laborious and awkward. They defend them- selves against their enemies, of which the Polar bear is chief, with their formidable tusks ; and these they also use in their fierce combats with one anothei'. They figiit with great deter- mination and ferocity, using their tusks much in the same manner as game-cocks use their beaks. From the uu- KICIIl' niriWI'.K.N A WALKIS AM) A I'OLAIl llliAl!. wieldy appearance of the animal, and the position of its tusks, an inexperi- enced sjiectator would suppose tliat the latter could be em]il(iyed only in a (loirninifd stroke ; but, on the contrary, it turns its neck with so much ease and rapidity that it can strike in all directions with erpial t( tree. Old bulls verv fre- KAELY HTSTOT'.Y OF THE WATJtUS FTSTTFJtY. 67 quently have one or both of their tusks broken ; which may arise either from fighting or from using them to assist in scaling the rocks and ice-floes. But these Ijroken tusks are soon worn down again and sharpened to a point by the action of the sand, as the wah-us, like the elephant, employs its tusks in digging its food out of the ground, — that is, out of the ocean- bed. Its food principally consists of stai-fish, shrimps, sandworms, clams, cockles, and algie ; and Scoresby relates that lie bas found tbc remains of young seals in its stomach. In reference to the gradual decay, or, more coi'rectly speaking, extermination of tlie walrus, the following particulars seem to be authentic. When the pursuit of the walrus was first systematically organizt'd from Trotnsciu and Ham- merfest, much larger vessels were em])loyed than are now in vogue ; and it was usual for tlicm to obtain their fir.st cargo about Bear Island eaily in the season, and two additional cargoes at Spitzbergen before the summer passed away. Tliis icgular and wholesale slaughter drove away the sea-horse herds from their haunts about Bear Island ; but even afterwards it was not a rare occurrence to procure three cargoes in a season at Spitzbergen, and less than tw(j full cargoes was regarded as a lamentable mishap. Now, however, more than one cargo in a season is very seldom obtained, and many vessels return, after four months' absence, only half full. It is estimated that about one thousand walrus and twice that number of bearded seals (Phoca harhata) are annually captured in the seas about Spitzbergen, exclusive of those wliicli sink or may die of their wounds. Some idea, therefore, may be formed of the number of sea- horses which still ride the waves of the Polar seas. But it is quite clear that they are under- going a rapid diminution of numbers, and also that they are gradually withdrawing into the inaccessible solitudes of the remotest North. We learn from the voyage of Ohthere, which was undertaken ten centuries ago, that the walrus then abounded even on the very coast of Finmarken. They have abandoned that region, however, for some centuries, though individual stragglers were captured up to witliin the last forty years. After their desertion of Finmarken, they retreated to Bear Island ; thence they wei-e driven to the Thousand Islands, Hope Island, and Pv,yk-Yse Island ; and thence, again, t(i the banks and skerries to the north of Spitzbergen. It is fortunate for the persecuted walrus that the latter districts are accessible only in open seasons, or perhaps once in every three or four summers ; so that they obtain a respite and time to breed and replenish their numbers. Other- wise the end of the present century would mark also the total extinction of the walrus on the island-shores of Northern Europe. We ao-ree with Dr. Kane that the resemlilance of tlie walrus to man has been absurdlv overstated. Yet the notion is put forward in some of our systematic treatises, and accompanied by the suggestion that we are to look for the t\"pe of the merman and mermaid in this animal. If we look we .shall not find. Tlie walrus has a square-shaped Jiead, with a frontal bone presenting a steep descent to the eyes, and any likeness to humanity nnist exist in the imagination of the spectator. Some of the seals exhibit a nnieli greater resemblance : the size of the head, the regularity of the facial oval, the drooping shoulders, even the movements of the seal, remind us impressively of man. And certainly, when seen at a distance, with head rai.sed above the waves, it aftbrds some justification for tlie fanciful conception of the nymphs of ocean, the mermaids who figure so attractively in song and legend. GS ADVENTUKKS WTTTF WALRUS. ])v. Kane I'finai'ks tliat the in.stiiict of attack, wliich is strong in the wah'us, though so feeble in the si'al, and is a well-known chai'aetei'istic of the jiachyderins, is interesting to the naturalist, as assisting to establish the afKnitv of the walrus to the latter. When wounded, it rears its body high out of the water, plunges hea\ily against the iee, and strives to raise itself upon the surface by means of its fore-flippers. As the ice gives way under its weight, its coun- tenance assumes a truly ferocious exjiression, its bark elianges to a roar, and the foam pours out from its jaws till it froths its beard. Even when not ex- .^ -- _^ ^=^- ' cited, the walrus man- ages its tusks bravely. So strong are they that they serve as gra}> pling-irons with which to hold on to the sur- face of the steep rocks and ice-banlvs it loves to clindi ; and thus it can ascend rocky islands that ai'e sixty and a hundred feet above the sea-level. It can deal an ojipon- ent a fearful blow, but it prefers to charge, like a veteran warrior ; and man, unless well armed, often comes oft' second l)est in the con- test. (lovernor Flaischer told Dr. Kane that, in 1830, a brown walrus — and the Eskimos say that the brown the lance. In vain the older and more wary hunters advised him to forbear. I'lGHT WITH A W.iLRU.S. walrus are the fiercest — after being speared and wounded near U])ernavik, put to flight its numerous assailants, and drove them in fear to seek help from the Danish settlement. So violent were its movements as to jerk out the harpoons that were launched into its body. The governor slew it with much difficulty after it had I'eceived several rifle-shots and lance-wounds from his whale-boat. ( tn am )ther occasion, a young and atlventui'- ous Innuit plunged his naler/eit into a brown walrus ; but, alarmed by the savage demean- our of the beast, called for help before using It is a brown walrus!" they cried; "" Aih'ohKaiok ! Hold back!" Finding the caution disregarded, his only brother i-owed forward, and hurled the second harjioon. Almost instantaneously the infuriated beast charged, like the wild boar, on tlie unfortunate young Tnnuit, and ri[i])ed oprn his body. Here is a descrijition of a walrus-hunt: — (h^ fii-st setting out, the hunters listen eagerly for some sounds by whicli to discover the habitat of the animal. The walrus, like amateur vocalists, is partial to its own music, and will lie foi' houi's enjoying the monotonous vocalization in which it is accustometl to indulge. This is descrilied as soincthing between the mooing of a cow and the deepest baying of a niastill'; very AN ESKIMO HUNTER. 69 round and full, with its "barks" or "detached notes" repeated seven to nine times in rather quick succession. The hunters hear thti bellow, and press turwai'd in sin^'le iilc ; wiudiuL;' behind ice-hununocks and ridges in a serpentine apiuoai-li towards a L;'rnu]i of " ponddiko discolorations," recently frozen ice-sj^ots, which are surrounded by (dder and tinner ice. In a few minutes they coiiie in sight of the walrus. There they are, five in number, rising at intervals through the ice in a body, and breaking it up with an explosion which sounds like the report of heavy ordnance. ( 'onspicuous as the leaders of the herd are two large and fierce- looking' males. Now for a display oi' dexterity and skill. While the walrus remains abo\-e water, the hunter lies flat and motionless; when it begins to sink, behold, the hunter is alert and ready to spring. In fiict, scarcely is the tuskc^d head below the waterdine before every man is in a rapid run; while, as if by instinct, before it returns all are prone behind protecting knolls of ice. They seem tt) guess intuitively, not only how long it will be absent, but the veiy point at whieh it will reappear. And, in this way, hiding and advancing by turns, they reach a plate of thin ice, scarcely strong enough to bear a mart's weight, on the very briidc of the dark pool in whii-h the walrus are gambolling. The phlegmatic Eskimo harjiooneer now wakens into a n(n'el condition of excitement. His coil of walrusdiide, a well-trimmed line of maiiy fathoms length, lies at his side. He attaches one end to an iron barb, and this he fastens loosely, l)y a socket, to a shaft of unicorn's horn ; the other end is already loosed. It is the work of a second I He has grasped the harpoon. The water eddies and whirls ; puffing and panting, up conies the unwieldy seadioi'se. The Eskimo rises slowly; his right arm thrown back, his left hanging close to his side. The walrus looks about him, and throws the water off his crest; the Eskimo launches the fatal weajion, and it siidvs deep into the animal's side. Down goes the wounded awak, but the Eskimo is already speeding with winged feet from the scene of combat, letting his coil run out freely, but clutching the final loop with a desperate grip. As he runs, he seizes a small stick of bone, roughly pointed with iron, and Ijy a swift strong movement thrusts it into the ice ; he twists his line around it, and prepares for a struggle. The wounded walrus plunges desperately, and (hiirus the ice-pool into foam ; meantime, the line is hauled tight at one moment, and loosened the next ; for the hunter lias kept his station. But the ice crashes ; and a couj)le of walrus rear up through it, not many yards from the spot where he stands. ( )ne of them, a male, is excited, angry, partly alarmed; the other, a female, looks calm, but bent on revenge. Down, after a rapid survey of the field, they go again into the ocean-depths ; and immediately the harpooneer has chosen his position, carrying with him his coil, and fixing it anew. Scarcely is the mana'uvre accomplished before the pair have once more risen, breaking up an area of ten feet in diameter about the very spot he left. They sirdc for a second time, and a second time he changes his place. And thus continues the battle between the strength of the beast and the address of the man, till the former, half exhausted, receives a second wound, and gives up the contest. The E.skimos regard the walrus with a certiun degree of sujjerstitious reverence, and it is their belief that it is under the guardianship of a special representative or prototype, who does 70 AN AP.CTTC (lALIv not, indeed, interfere to ]irotect it tVdiii Ix/iiiL;' iiuiitcd, but is caret'ul tiiat it sliall lie hunted under toleral>ly fair I'duditions. They assert that near a remarkable conical peak, Avhicli rises in the solitudes of Force Bay, a jji'reat walrus lives all alone, and when the moon is absent, creeps (.)ut to the l)rink (if a ravine, where he bclhiws with a voice of tremendous ])Ower. The walrus-hunter, unless he keeps to the sea-shore, and the ice-floes within reach of a bdat, must be prepared to undergo many hardships, and to confront with a calm heart the most batfling and terrible dangers. He may be overtaken by a gale ; and a gale in the wild remote North, far from any shelter, — a gale which drives before it the blinding snow and jjitiless icicles, — a gale wdiich sweeps unresisted and irresistible over leagues of frozen snow, — a gale which comes down from the mountain-recesses whei-e the glaciers take their rise, — is something so dread, so ghastly, that the dweller in temperate regions can form no idea of it. We remend.)er that one of the ffiillaTit seekers after Franklin describes an Arctic arale, and its effects. He says that the ice, at a short distance from the shore, had in many jilaces been swept bare of snow Ity the dilving blast; and ovvv the glassy sheet he and his companions were helplessly carried along before the gale. The dogs, seldom stretching their traces, ran howling in front of the sledges, which pressed upon their heels. Wild was the scene, and dark. The moon had sunk tar behind the snow-shrouded moun- tains, and the travellers had no other light than the shimmer of stars. 'J'he deep shadows of the cliffs, towering a thousand feet above their heads, lay heavily ujjon them, and enhanced the midnight gloom. The patches of snow clinging to the sharp angles of the colossal wall; the white shroud lying on its lofty summit; the glaciers which here and there protruded through its clefts, brought out into striking relief the blackness of its cavernous recesses. The air was filled with clouds of drift, which sometimes oimpletely hid the land, and swept relentlessly before the explorers, as they tottered across the frozen plain. Suddenly a dark line became visible across their path ; its true nature revealed by circling wreaths of " frost-smoke." " Emerk ! emrrh ! " (Water ! water !) shouted the drivers, checking as suddenly as possible the headway of the sledges, but not until the party were within a few feet of a recently opened and rapidly widening crack, — a fissure in the ice-crust, already twenty feet across. Some of the travellers now clambered to the summit of a jiile of hummocks, and endeavoured to pierce the obscurity. A headland, laid down on the map as Cape Alexander, lay only a few miles in advance. The ice in the shallow bay on its southern side Avas rent in all directions ; while beyond, from the foot of the cajie, a bi'oad slieet of water extended westward. The wind diversified its dark surface with ridges of snowy spray; while liere and there a frosty surf tumbled in breakers over a small berg oi- drifting floe. The pieces of ice lying along its margin were in motion, and the crasli of their hard surfaces could be heard as they came into constant collision. Their sti'ident clanioiii-, the ceaseless washing of the surface, tlie moaning of the wind, the steely rush of the dril't, i\\r piteous wail of the dogs, and all tlie strange noises and voices of the storm, added to the gloom and awful melancholy of that moonless night. We need not wonder that the Eskimos of the Arctic wilderness are as feaiful of a tempest as are the Uedouiiis of the African desert. It o\( rwhelms the one with a cloud of snow, and it buries the other in a I'lond of sand ; and each demands and receives its quota of victims. THE GREAT PHOCID.E FAMILY. 71 That seal-hunting- hhuuld Ije more extensively pursued than wali-us-liunting is natural ; for if less exciting, it is also less dangerous ; and the seal is not only a more valuable prey than the walrus, but is more easily cajitured. The Phocidse are well represented in the Arctic waters. In Behring Sea we encounter the sea-lion and the sea-bear ; while from the Parry Islands to NoA^aia Zemlaia extends the range of the harp seal {Phoca Grcenlandica), the bearded seal (PJioca harhata), and the hispid seal {Phoca hispida). The skins of all these species are more or less valuable ; their oil is much esteemed ; and their flesh supj>lies the wild northern tribes with one of their principal articles of subsistence. The structure of the seal is admirably adapted in every detail to an acjuatic life. It lives Ur.lUi OK SEALS, NEAR THE DEVILS THUMB, liAKFlN SEA, GREENLAND. chiefly in the water, wliei-e its motion.s are always easy and graceful ; but it spends a part of its time in enjoying the sunshine on ice-fields, ojien shores, rocks, and sandy beaches ; and the female brings forth her young on land. The body of the seal is elongated, and tapers considerably from the chest to the tail. The head has been compared to that of the dog ; the brain is generally voluminous. The feet are short, and little more than the paw extends beyond the integument of the body ; they are webbed, and pentadactylous, or five-toed : the fore feet are set like those of other quadrupeds ; but the hind feet are directed backwards, with toes which can be spread out widely to act as paddles. The tail is short. 72 DIFFERENT GENERA OF SEALS. The motions of tlio seal on land are constrained and peruliar. The fore feet are but little used, and tlie body is thrown forward in a succession of jerks produced by a contraction of tlie spine. Awkward as tliis mode of jn'ooression seems, it is, nevertheless, exceedingly rapid. The seal, liowever, never ventures far from the shore, and tlie moment it is disturbed or alarmed it plunges into the water. The physiognomy of the animal is in perfect accord with its character, and expresses a con- siderable degree of intelligence combined with much mildness of disposition. The eyes are large, black, and brilliant ; the nose is broad, with oblong nostrils ; and there are large whiskers. The seal has no external ears, but in the auricular orifices exists a valve which can be closed at will, and protects the internal organism from the water ; the nostrils possess a similar valve. The body is thickly garnished with stiff glossy hairs, very closely set against the skin, and plentifully lubj-icated with an oily secretion, so that the surface is always smcjoth, a,nil unaffected by water. The teeth ditil-r in difi'crent genera, but in all are specially adapted for the seizure of fish and other slippery prey, though the seals are omnivorous in their habits, and will partake both of vegetable and animal food. There are either six or four incisors in the upper, and four or two in the lower jaw ; the canines are invariably large and strong ; and the molars, usually five or six on either side, in each jaw, are sharp-edged or conical, and bristle with points. The seal is fond of swallowing large stones ; for wh:it pui'[)ose is not certain, but, probably, to assist digestion. Seals live in herds, more or less numerous, along the frozen shores of the Arctic seas; and on the lonely deserted coasts they bring forth their young, over Avhich they watch with singular affection. They swim with nmch rapidity, and can remain a considerable time under water. They are migratory in their habits, and at least four species visit our British waters. Un the northern coasts of Greenland they are observed to take their departure in July and to return again in September. They produce two or three young at a time, and suckle them for six or seven weeks in remote caverns and secpiestered recesses ; after which they take to the sea. The young exhibit a remarkable degree of tractability ; will recognize and obey the maternal sunmions ; and assist each other in distress or danger. Many, if not all, of the species are polygamous, and the males frec^uently contend with desperate courage for the j)ossession of a favourite female. There is not much difference in the habits of the different genera or sj^ecies of the Phocidse ; but while the great Arctic seal dives like the walrus, making a kind of semi-revolution as it goes down, the common seal {PJioca vitulina), called by the hunters the stein-cohbe, from its custom of basking on the rocks, dives by suddenly dropping under water, its nose being the last part of its body which disapjiears, instead of its tail. The connuon seal has a very fine spotted skin, and weighs about sixty or seventy pounds. It is much fatter, in ])ro]iorti(_in to its size, than the bearded seal, and its carcass, consecpiently, having less sjiecific gravity, floats nmch longer on the water after death. A third kind of seal found in the Spitzbcrgen seas is, probably, the Plioca hispida, though the hunters know it only by the names of the "springer," and Jan IMayen sral. In the s]U'ing months it is killt;d in large numbiM-s by the whalers among the vast ice-fields \Ahich encircle the solitary rocks of Jan IVfaycn Island. Mr. Lanxiiit <.)l)scr\'es that llicsc seals, though existing in siieli enormous numbers to the THE PHOCA HISPIDA, OR "SPRINGER." 73 west, are not nearly so numerous in fcipitzbergen as the great, or even as the much less abundant common seal. They are gregarious, which neither of the other vaiieties are, and generally consort in hands of fifty to five huiidred. '^I'hey are extremely dirticult to kill, as during the summer months they very seldom go upon the ice; they seem nuich less curious than the other seals, and go at such a rapid pace through the water as to defy pursuit from a boat. On coming up to breathe, these seals do not, like their congeners, take a de- liberate breath and a leisui-ely survey, but the whole trooj^ make a sort of simultaneous flying leap through the air like a shoal of porpoises, as they go along, and reappear again at an incredible distance from their preceding breathing- ^'l>k:^- THE COMMON SEAL. place. Hence the name of " .springers " given to them by the whalers. The Jan May en seal weighs from 200 to 300 lbs., and is described as the fat- test and most buoy- ant of the Arctic manuuals. We have spoken of seal's flesh as an important article of subsistence to the Eskimo tribes. Our Arctic voyagers and explorers have fre- quently been glad to nourish themselves upon it, and speak of it as somewhat resembling veal in flavour. Not once or twice, but several times, it has saved the hardy pioneer of civilization from destruction, and the discovery of a stray seal has been the means of preserving a whole expedition. There is a very striking incident of this kind in the narrative of Dr. Kane. He and his party had reached Cape York on their waj to the Danish settlements, after their long but fruit- less search for Sir John Franklin. They were spent Avith fatigue, and half-dead from hunger. A kind of low fever crippled their enei'gies, and they were unable to sleep. In their frail and unseaworthy boats, which were scarcely kept afloat by constant bailing, they made but slow pro- gress across the open bay; when, at this crisis of their fortunes, they descried a large seal floating, as is the wont of these animals, on a small patch of ice, and apparently asleep, — a seal so large that at first they mistook it for a walrus. Trembling with anxiety, Kane and his companions prepared to creep down upon the monster. One of the men, Petersen, with a large English rifle, was stationed in the bow of the boat, and stockings were drawn over the oars as mufilers. As they approached the animal, their excitement became so intense that the men could hardly keep stroke. That no sound might be heard, Dr. Kane communicated his orders by signal ; and when about three hundred yards oft' the oars were taken in, and they moved on, stealthily and silently, with a single scull astern. The seal was not asleep, for he reared his head when his enemies were almost within rifle- shot ; and long afterwards Dr. Kane could remember the hard, careworn, almost despairing 74 Di;. KANE'S NAllliATIVE. expression of the men's liaggard faces as they saw him nKJve ; their lives depended on his capture. Dr. Kane lowered his hand, as a signal fur Petersen to fire. IM'Gorry, who was rowiny, hung, he says, upon his oar, and tlie boat slowly Ijut noiselessly forging ahead, did not seem within range. Looking at Petersen, he saw that the poor fellow was pai'alyzed hy his anxiety, and was \-ainly seeking to find a rest for his gun against the cut-water of the boat. The seal rose on his llijjpers, gazed at his antagonists for a moment with mingled curiosity and alarm, and coiled himself for a plunge. At that moment, simultaneously with the crack of the rifle, he relaxed his huge bulk on the ice, and, at the very brink of the water, his head fell helplessly on one side. SHOOTING A SEAL. Dr. Kane would have ordered another shot, but no discipline could liave controlled his men. With a wild yell, each vociferating according to his own im|iulse, they urged both boats upon the floes. A crowd of hands seized the preci(jus boot}^, and ]h)\v it uji to safer ice. The men seemed half crazy, they had l)een so reduced b_y f;imine. They ran o\-er the floe, crying and laughing, and brandishing their knives. ]3efore five minutes had elapsed, each man was sucking his streaming fingers or mouthing long sti'ips of raw blubber. Not an ounce of this seal was wasted ! The intestines found their way into the soup-kettles without any observance of the pre- liminary home-}>rocesses. The cartilaginous parts of the fore-flip[)ers were cut off in tbe melee, and passed round Ibr the operation of chewing ; and even the liver, A\ai'm and raw as it was, bade fair to be eaten befoi-e it had seen the ]iot. That night, on the large halting-floe to which, in contempt of the dangers of drifting, the hapjiy adventurers had haided their boats, two entire planks of the Red Eric were devoted to the kindling of a large cooking-fire, and they enjoyed a bountiful and savagre feast. A SACEED DOMIClLlv 75 Such is an experieiicu of Arctic life ; (jf tlie liaidships ciulurcrl by the heroic men who go forth to do the work of Science and Civilization. Returning- to the seals, we may remark that, accordin<,f to a scientific authority, the angle of weedy rock on which a phoca is accustomed to rest with his family comes to be regarded as his property, and no other individuals of his species are entitled to lay claim to it. Although in the water these animals congregate together in numerous herds, and protect and courageously defend one another, yet, when they have once emerged from their favourite element, they regard themselves on their own space of rock as in a sacred domicile, where no comrade has a right to intrude on their domestic tra!i(|uillity. If any stranger approach this family centre, the chief — or shall we call him the father ? — prepares to repel by force what he considers an unwarrantable encroachment ; and a terriljle combat invariably ensues, which terminates only with the death of the lord of the rock, or the compulsory retreat of tlie intruder. But a family never -^_^- seizes upon a larger tract than it absol- utely requires, and lives peaceably with neighbouring famil- ies, from which it is seldom separated by a greater interval than forty or fifty paces. If compelled by necessity, they will even live on amicable terms at much closer quarters. Three or four families will share a rock, a cavern, or an ice-fioe ; but each occupies the "^ =Ei ^■^^^^-'^ place allotted to it at " ^^ ,^ ^^=^.=2^^^^^;.-^ ,^,.',^^^^^ The remarks we the orieinal aiipor- have been making S' J- 1 THE OTARV. ° tionment, and shuts ''^Pplj more particu- larly to the common seal {Phoca vltulina), or small Spitzbergen seal, which measures from four to five feet in length. The Greenland or harp seal {Phoca Grobnlandica), to which we have already alluded, is larger and fatter, and is distinguished by the changes of colour it undergoes before it reaches maturity. We have also sjioken of the bearded seal {Phoca barbata), which sometimes attains a leng-th of ten feet, and is known, not only by its size, but its thick and strong moustaches. The hooded seal {Stemmatopua cristatus) is distinguished by the globular and expansible sac situated on the summit of the head of the males. This species grows to the length of seven or eight feet, and inhabits the waters of Newfoundland and Greenland. himself witJiin it, so to speak, nor ever meddles with indi- viduals of another family. Our modern na- turalists divide the Phocidse into two distinct orders : the Phocce properly so called, which have no external ears, but only an auditory ori- fice on the surface of the head ; and the Otarice, which are provided with exter- nal organs. 76 AN ESKIMO HUT. The value of tlio seal to the Eskimo tiiljus Avill host be understood tVoiu a desci-i|iti(jii of the uses to wliicli various parts of the animal are applied in an Eskimo luit. We will suppose -^=^ -^-~r this hut to measure about five or live and a half feet in heio-]it, and about ten feet in diaineter. The walls are made r)f ^{\ stones, moss, and the bones of seals, narwhals, whales, and other ocean - crea- tures. They are not arched, but recede inward gradually from the foundation, and are capped by lono- oblontf slabs of slate-stone extending from side to side. THE HOODED SEAL. We enter ; the floor- ing consi.sts of thin Hat stones. At the bark ]>art of the hut the floor rises about a toot, and this hreck, as tlie elevation is called, serves both as couch and seat, being covered with a thick layer of dried moss and gi'ass, under Seal -skins, dog-skins, and bear - skins. Similar elevations are }>laced at the corners in front ; under one of which will lie, jjerhajis, a litter of pups, with their mother, and under the otlier a poi'tion of seal's meat. In the square front of the hut, above the passage-way, a window is inserted ; the light being admitted through a square sheet of strips of dried intestines, sewed together. The entrance is in the floor, close to the front wall, and is covered with a piece of seal-skin. Seal-skins are hung aliout the walls to dry. At the edge of the hifcl:, on either side, sits a woman, each, busily engaged in attending to a smoky lamp, fed with seal's (jil. These lamps are made of soapstnne, and in shape I'esemble a clam-shell, being about eight inches in diameter. The cavity is filled with oil obtained from seal's blubljer ; and on the straight edge the flame burns quite vividly, the wick which furnishes it being made of moss. The business of the AVouieii is a])|)arently to prevent tlie lamjts from smoking, and to kee]> tliem sujijilied \\\i\\ l)lubber, large pieces of which are placed in the cavity, the heat drawing out the oil. About tliree inches above this flami' hangs, suspended from the ceiling, an oblong scpiare jxit made of the same material as the lamj), in which a joint of seal is simmering slowly. Above this hangs a I'ack, made oi' bare lib-lxnus, IxjiiikI togi.'ther crosswise, on wliich stockings and mittens, and wirious g:irments made of seal-skin, ai'e laid to dry. No other tire can be seen than that which the lanqis sup])ly, nor is any other needed. So many persons are crowded into the conlined interior that it is insutl'erably hot, while tbe Asholc ])lace reeks with the smell of seal-flesli, seal-oil, and seal-skin ! It is natural enough that we slmuld here introduci' an account of the Eskimo mode of catching seals. The gi-eat season of the seal-hunt is the s]irlng, when the inotfensive pliocat gambol and spoi't in the open wato'-ways near tin- coasts, oi- clambei' on the ice-floes to I'ujoy the rays of the tardy sun. They are of a. waiy and timid disjiosition, and we may suppose that their THE ESKIMO SEAL-HUNTEi:. 77 traditions have taught theia tu he iJii their guard against man ; Init as all their habits and ways are well known to the Eskimo, they do not succeed in eluding his dexterous perseverance. . Some- times the hunter attii'cs liimself in a seal-skin, and so exactly imitates their: appearance and movements that he approaches within spear-range of them before the disguise is detected ; or else he creeps into their haunts behind a white screen, which is propelled in front of him by. means. of a sledge. As the season verges upon midsummer less precaution becomes necessary ; the eyes of the seals being so congested by the fierce i-adiance of the sun that they are often nearly blind. • In winter they are assailed while labouring at their breathing-holes, or when they rise for the pur- pose of respiration. If an Eskimo satisfies himself iliat a seal is working away Ijeneath the ice, he takes up his station at the suspected jinint, and seldom ([uits it, hdwever severe the weather, until he has captured the animal. To protect himself from the freezing blast, he throws up a snow-wall about AN ESKIMO SEAL-HUXTEU. four feet in height, and seating himself in its shade, he rests his spears, lines, and other appliances on a number of little forked sticks inserted into the snow, in order that he may move them, when wanted, without making the slightest noise. He carries his caution to such an excess, that he even ties his own knees together with a thong to prevent his garments from rustling !. . To discover whether the seal is still gnawing at the ice, our patient watcher makes use of his keep-kuttuk ; a slender rod of bone, no thicker than ordinary I)ell-wire, cleverly rounded, with a knob at one end and a shai'p jioint at the other. This implement he thrusts into the ice, and the knol>, which remains above the surface, informs him by its motion whether the animal is still engaged in making his hole ; if it does not move, the attempt is given up in that place, and the hunter betakes himself elsewhere. When he supposes the hole to be nearly completed, he stealthily raises his sjiear, and as soon as he can hear the blowing of the seal, and knows therefore that the ice-crust is very thin, he drives it into the unsusj^ecting animal w ith all his might ; and then hacks away with liis sharp-edged 78 ABOUT TUK WHALE. knife, or jHtiina, the intervening- ice, .so as to repeat his hlows, and secure his victim. The iirittilc, or Phoca hispichi, being- the smallest seal, is lield A\hile struggling, either by tlie hand, or by a line one end of wliirh is twisted i-ound a spear driven into the ice. In the case of the bearded seal, or o best and most foi-niidable weapons which scientific ingenuity can devise. Still they find the enterprise one of peril iiiid liardship, and it is universally recognized as reipiiring in those who embark in it no ordinary powei's of eu(hirance, as well as courage, patience, and perseverance. Yet the Asiatic \\\A American trilx's do not fear to confront the oceandeviathan with the simplest of WHAJ.E-FISHERY IX THE NORTHERN WATERS. 81 arms. The Aletit embarks in liis little iskiti', or hf(iut in ordinary (though not in all) cases one only, and tliis in the male, is fully develojicd, the other remaining in a rudimentary condition — even as botli do in the female. The narwlial, from mouth to tail, is al)out twenty feet long, though individuals measuring thirty feet are sometimes met with. Its head is short, and the upper part convex; its nmuth small ; its spiracle, or res^iiratory vent, duplicate within ; its tongue long ; tlie pectoral fins small, '^llie back, whicli is convex and rather 'wide, lias no fins, and sliarpens gradually towards tlie tail, whicli, as in other (A'tacea, is horizontal. The fooits are remarkably liacific, consists of medusa', the smaller kinds of flat fish, and other marine animals. A striking spectacle whicli frequently greets the eye of the voyager in t]>e Arctic seas is that of a shoal of doljthins ganibolling and leajiing, as if in tlie very heyday of enjoyment. The beluga., sometimes called the vliite whale (/A/yA/^H.s' U/itcus), attracts attentii>ii by tlie dazzling whiteness of its body and the swiilness of its mo\ements. It frecpieiits the esLuai'ies of the Ubi THE BLACK DOLPHIN. 83 and the Irtish, tlie Arackun/iu and the Cuppermiiie, wliicli it sometimes ascends to a considerable distance in pursuit of the sahnon. Its length varies i'irey the bear e.vhiliits an astuteness and a skill wliii-li overpass the bounds of instinct, and ajij^roaeh elosely to those (tf reas(.)n. From its scent and by its (juick strong vision the bear apprehends the position of the seal. Then it tlirows itself }iroiie upon the ice, and jiroHting by inequalities which are invisible to human eyes, gradually steals upon its destined vi(_-tim l)y a soft and scai'cely perceptible movement of the hind feet. To hide its lilack muzzle, it constantly uses its foi'e feet; and thus, only the dingy- white of its coat being visible, it is scarcely to be distinguished from the general mass of the floe. Patiently it draws nearer ant much inferior to tlmse of the seal, and down they go together ! Sometimes the bear proves victorious, owing to mortal injuries inflicted ujion the seal before it reaches the water ; sometimes it may be seen reappearing at another hole in the floe, or clambering up another loose piece of ice, apparently nuicli mortified by its want of success. As we liave said, the bear dives well, and is nearly as nuich at home in the water as upon the ice. If it catches sight of a seal U[)on a drifting floe, it will slide quietly into the sea, swim with only the tip of its nose al)ove the watei', and, diving under the floe, reach the very spot which the hajiless seal has regarded as an oasis of safety. It is this stratagem of its enemy wliirh has taught the seal to watch its hoh' so warily. Even on extensive ice- fields fast to tlie land, where the bear cannot conceal its approach by taking advantage of hunnnocks or other meipialitii's, the seal is not safe; for thvn Bruin dro|)s down a hole, and swims along undei' the it-e-crust until it reaches the one where the poor seal is all unwittingly enjoying its last rays of sunshln(\ The l)ear's season of [ileiity begins with the coming of the spring. In February and ^larch BEAR CATCIIINU A SEAL. ABOUT THE BEAR. 87 the .seal is oiviug- birtli to Iier young, who are born blind and helplesR, and for ten days are unable to take to the water. The poor mothers use every effort to protect them, Ijut, in s{>ite of tlieir affectionate exertions, a perfect massacre of the innocents takes place, in which, not improbably, the Arctic wolf is not less guilty than the Arctic bear. Voracity, however, frequently proves its own Nemesis, and the bear, in its eager pursuit of prey, often involves itself in serious disaster. The seal instinctively breeds as close as possible to the open water. But the ice-floes, during the early equinoctial gales, will sometimes break up and drift away in the form of pack-ice ; a matter of indifference, says Osborn, to the seal, but a question of life and death to the bear. Borne afar on tlieir little islets of ice, rocked by tem- pestuous waters, buftetetl by icy gales, numbers of these castaways are lost along the whole area of the Polar Sea. It is said that when the gales blow down from the north, bears are some- times stranded in such numbers on the .shores of Iceland as to endanger the safety of the flocks and herds of the Icelandic peasants ; and they have been known to reach the coasts of Norway. Bears drifting about at a considerable distance from the land are often enough seen by the whalers. They have been discovered fully sixty miles from shore, in Davis Strait, without any ice in sio-ht, and utterly exhausted by long swimming. It is thus that Nature checks their too rapid increase ; for beyond the possibility of the wolf hunting it in packs and destroying the cubs, there seems no other limitation of their numbers. The Eskimos are too few, and too badly pro- vided with weapons, to slaughter them very extensively. "Wherever seals abound, so do bears ; in Barrow Strait and in the Queen's Channel they have been seen in very numerous troops. The Danes assert that they are plentiful about the northern settlement of Upernavik in Greenland, for nine months in the year ; and from the united testimony of the natives inhabiting the north- eastern portion of Baffin Bay, and that of Dr. Kane, wlio wintered in Smith Sound, it is evident that they are plentiful about the polyiiias, or open pools, formed there by the action of the tides. In the summer months, when the bear is loaded with fat, it is easily hunted down, for then it can neither move swiftly nor run long; but in deep winter its voracity and its great strength render it a formidable enemy to uncivilized and unarmed man. Usually it avoids coming into contact with our British seamen, though instances are on record of fiei-cely contested engagements, in which Bruin has with difficulty been defeated. It is folly, says Sherard Osborn, to talk ijf the Pt)lar bear hibernating : whatever bears may do on the American continent, there is only one Arctic navigator who ever saw a bear's nest ! Bears were seen at all points visited by our sailors in the course of M'Clure's expedition ; at all times and in all temperatures ; males or females, and sometimes females with their cubs. In niid-winter, as well as in mid-sunnuer, they evidently frequented spots where tides or currents occasioned either water to constantly exist, or only allowed such a thin coating of ice to form that the seal or Avalrus could easily break through. That the Polar bear does not willingly attack man, except when hotly pursued or when suf- fering from extreme want, is asserted by several good authorities, and confirmed by an experience which Dr. Hayes relates. He was strolling one day along the shore, and observing with much interest the effect of the recent spring-tides upon the ice-foot, when, rounding a point of land, he suddenly found himself confronted in the full moonlight by an enormous bear. It had just sprung down from the land-ice, and met Dr. Hayes at full trot, so that they caught sight of each 88 A VORACIOUS INTKUDER. otliL'i', man and brute, at the same m(jment. Being without a ritle or otlier means of defence, Dr. Hayes suddenly wheeled towards his ship, with much the same reflections, probably, about dis- cretion and valour as occurred tu old Jack Falstatf when the Douglas set u}>on him; but discover- ing, after a few lengihy strides, that he was not "gobbled ujj," he looked back over his shoulder, when, to his gratification as well as surj^rise, he saw the bear speeding towards the open water with a celerity which left no doubt as to the state of its mind. It would be difficult to determine which, on this occasion, was the more frightened, the bear- or Dr. Hayes ! A curi(jus illustration of the condjined voracity and epicureanism of Bruin is recorded by Dr. Kane. A cache, or depot of provisifins, which had been constructed by one of his exploring parties with great care, and was intended to supply them with stores on their return journey, they found completely destroyed. It had been built, with every possible precaution, of rocks brought together by heavy labour, and adjusted in the most skilful manner. So far as the means of the builders permitted, the entire construction was most eftective and resisting. Yet these "tigers of the ice " seemed to have scarcely encountered an obstacle. Not a morsel of ]iemniican (preserved meat) re- mained, except in tlie iron cases, which, being round, with conical ends, defied both claw and teeth. These they had rolled and pawed in every direction, — tossinu; them about like foot- balls, although up- wards of eighty pounds in weight. An alcohol - case, strongly iron-bound, was dashed into small fragments ; and a tin can of liquor twisted almost into a ball. The bears' strong- claws had perforated the metal, and torn it up as with a chisel. But the burglars were too dainty foi- salt meats. For gi'ound cofi'ee they had evidently a relish ; old canvas was also a favourite, — dc ijustihus non est disputandam ; even the flag which had been reared " to take possession " of the icy wilderness, was gnawed down to the very staft'. It seemed that the bears had enjoyed a regular frolic ; rolling the bread-barrels over the ice-foot and into tlie broken outside ice ; and finding themselves unable to masticate the heavy India-rubber cloth, they had amused tliemselves by tying it up in unimaginable hard knots. HEAUS DESTROYING A CACHE. The she-bear displays a- strong affection for her young, which she will not desert even in the exti'emity of peril. The explorer already quoted furnishes an interesting narrative of a pursuit of mother and cub, in whicli the former's maternal qualities were touchingly exhibited. On the appearance of the lauiting party and tlieir dogs, the bear fled ; but the little one being unable either to kee]) ahead of the dogs or to maintain the same rate of speed as its mother, the latter turned bauck-sliot. She dropped, but instantly rose, and getting her cub into its former j)0siti()n, away she sped I And this time she would undoubtedly have effected her escape, but for tlie admirable tactics of Dr. Kane's canine Eskimo allies. The Smith Sound dogs, he says, are educated more thoroughly than any of their more southern l:»rethren. Next to the seal and the walrus, the bear supplies the sta}>le diet of the tribes of the North, and, except the fox, furnishes the most important element of their wardrolie. Unlike the dogs Dr. Kane had brou^iit with him from Baffin Bay, tlie Smith Sound dogs were trained, not to attack, l)ut to embarrass. They revolved in circles round the perplexed liear, and wlien pursued would keep ahead with regulated gait, their comrades accomplishing a diversion at the critical moment liy a nip at the nanuook's hind-quarters. This was done in the most systematic manner possible, and with a truly wonder- ful composure. " I have seen bear-dogs elsewdiere," says Dr. Kane, " that had been drilled to relieve each other in the melei', and avoid the direct assault ; but here, two dogs, without even a demonstrati()n of attack, would |)ut themselves before the })ath of the animal, and retreating right and left, lead him into a profitless jiursuit that checked his advance completely." The unfortunate animal was still fighting, and still retreating, embarrassed by the dogs, yet affectionately cari-ying along her wounded cub, and tliough wounded, Ideeding, and fatigued, gaining ground upon her pursuers, when Hans and Dr. Kane secured the victory, such as it was, for their own side, by delivering a coujile of rifle-balls. She staggered in front of her young one, confronted her assailants in death-like defiance, a-ncl did not sink until pierced by six more bullets. When her b(_)dy was skinned, no fewer than nine balls were discoveretl. She proved to be of medium size, very lean, and without a. jiarticle of food in her stomach. Hunger, probably, had stimulated her courage to desiieration. The net weight of the cleansed carcass was 300 pounds ; that of the entire animal, (ifjO pounds ; her length, only 7 feet 8 inches. It is said tliat liears in tins li^-iii condition arc more palatablr and w Imlcsomc^ tliaii when flit ; and that tlu; inipi-cgnation of fatty oil tlirono'li tlie cdlnlar tissues makes a. well-fed hear nearly uneatable. The llesli of a famished beast, though less nutritious as body fuel or as a stimulating diet, is rather sweet and tender than otherN\ise. J/aral : starve your bear In-fore vou eat him I The little cub was larger than the ipialifying adjectixe would inijily. She was taller than ESKIMO DOGS AND POLAR BEARS. 93 a dot)-, and her weight 114 lbs. She sprang upon the corpse of her skiughtered mother, and rent the air with woful lamentations. All efforts to noose her she repelled with singular ferocity ; but at last, being completely muzzled with a line fastened by a ruiuiing knot between her jaws and the back of her head, she was dragged- off to the brig amid the uproar of the dogs. Dr. Kane asserts that during this fight, and the compulsory somersets which it involved, not a dog suffered seriously. He expected, from his knowledge of the hugging propensity of the plantigrades, that the animal would rear, or if she did not rear, would at least use her fore arms ; but she invariably seized the dogs with her teeth, and after disposing of them for a time, refrained from following up her advantage, — probably because she had her cub to take care of. The Eskimos state that this is the habit of the hunted bear. (3ne of the Smith Sound dogs made no exertion whatever when he was seized, but allowed himself to be flung, with all his muscles relaxed, a really fearful distance ; the next instant he rose and renewed the attack. According to the Eskimos, the dogs soon learn this " possum-playing " habit. It would seem that the higher the latitude, the more ferocious the bear, or that he increases in ferocity as he recedes from the usual hunting-fields. At Oominak, one winter day, an Eskimo and his son were nearly killed by a bear that had housed himself in an iceberg. They attacked him with the lance, but he boldly turned on them, and handled them severely before they could make their escape. The continued hostility of man, however, has had, in Dr. Kane's opinion, a modifying influence upon the ursine character in South Greenland ; at all events, the bears of that region never attack, and even in self-defence seldom inflict injury upon, the hunters. Many instances have occurred where they have defended themselves, and even charged after having been wounded, but in none of them was life lost. A stout Eskimo, an assistant to a Danish cooper of Upernavik, fired at a she-bear, and the animal closed at the instant of receiving the ball. The man had the presence of mind to fling himself prone on the ground, extending his arm to protect his head, and afterwards lying perfectly motionless. The beast was deceived. She gave the arm a l)ite or two, but finding her enemy did not stir, she retired a few paces, and sat upon her haunches to watch. But her watch was not as wary as it should have been, for the hunter dexterously reloaded his rifle, and slew her with the second shot. It has been pointed out that in approaching the bear the hunters should take advantage of the cover afforded by the inequalities of the frozen surface, such as its ridges and hillocks. These vary in height, from ten feet to a hundred, and frequently are packed so closely together as to leave scarcely a yard of level surface. It is in such a region that the Polar bear exhibits his utmost speed, and in such a region his pursuit is attended with no slight difiiculty. And after the day's labour comes the night's rest ; but what a night ! We know what night is in these temperate climes, or in the genial southern lands ; a night of stars, with a deep blue sky overspreading the happy earth like a dome of sapjjhire : a night of brightness and serene glory, when the moon is high in the heaven, and its soft radiance seems to touch tree and stream, hill and vale, with a tint of silver ; a night of storm, when the clouds hang low and heavily, and tlie rain descends, and a wailing rushing wind loses itself in the recesses of the shuddering 94 'JIIK ARCTIC NIGHT. wlkkIs ; wf kiiuw Mliiit iiinlit is, in tlieso temperate ret^'ions, under all its various aspects, — now mild and I)eautit'ul, now ^-loomv and sad, now o-rand and temjiestuous ; the lono- dark night of winter Avith its frosty airs, and its drooping shadows thrown hack hy the dead surface of the snow ; the brief bright night of sunnner, \\iiich foi'ms so slnirt a pause between the evening of one dav ami tlie morning of another, that it seems intended imly to afford the luisy earth a breath- ing-time ; — but we can form no idea of what an Arctic Niijlit is, in all its mystery, magnificence, and wonder. Strange stars light up the heavens; the forms of earth are strange; all is unfami- liar, and almost miintelligible. STALKING ,V liKAi;. It is not that the Arctic rjight makes a lieaxy demand on our physical faculties. Against its rig(.)ur man is alile to defend linnst'lf ; but it is less easy to provide against its sti'ain on the moi'al and intellectual faculties. 'J'hu da.rkue.ss whicli clotlies Nature for .so long a period reveals to the senses of the European ex])lorer wliat is virtually a new world, and the senses do not well adapt themselves to tliat world. The cheering inllucnces of the rising sun, which invite to labour; tlie sootliing inilucnces of the eAem'ng twilight, which beguile to I'est ; that quick change ,Vable glow ; and a mysterious change passes over the face of the ocean ; and all Nature acknowledges the- [)resence of the sun ! "The parent of light ami life everywhere," says Dr. Hayes, "he is the same within these solitudes. Tlie germ awaits liim liere as in the (Jrieiit ; but tlicrc it rests only through the short hours of a summer night, wliile here it reixises for months under a sheet of snows. But after a while the l)riglit sun will tear this sheet asunder, and will tumble it in gushing fountains to the sea, and will kiss the cold earth, and give it warmth and life : and the flowers will bud and Iilooni, and will turn their tiny faces smilingly and gratefully up to him, as he wanders over these ancient hills in the long summer. The very glaciers will weep tears of joy at his coming. The ice will loose its iron grip iqnui the waters, and will let the wild waves play in freedom. The reindeer will skip gleefully over the mountains to welcome his return, and will look longingly U) him fir the green pastures. The sea-fowls, knowing tliat he will give them a resting-place for their feet on the rocky islands, will come to seek the nio.ss-beds which he spreads for their nests; and the sparrows will come ou his life-giving rays, and will sing their love-songs through the endless day." With the sun return the Arctic birds, and bilbre we quit (lie realm of waters we propose to i>lance at a few of tliose which fiXMiueiit tlie cliffs and shores durin<'- the brief Polar summer. Among the first-comers is the dove-kie or black guillemot {Uria endiiailar cliffs stretching from Flam- borough Head to Filey Bay. Here, on the fiare ledges of this colossal ocean-wall, the guillemot GUILLEMOTS AND AUKS 97 lays its c'l^'y.s, IjiU witlnuit tlii; pi'utectioii ol' a ucst ; souiu of tliciii |)ariillul with tlie cdn'c uf the shelf, others nearly so, and others with their hlunt and sharp ends indiscriminately pointing to the sea. They are not athxed to tlie rock hy any glntinous mutter, or any foreign substance whatever. Vou may see as many as nine or ten, or sometimes twelve, old guillemots in a line, so near to each other that their wings almost touch. The eggs vary greatly in size and .shape and coloui'. Some a,re lai'ge, others small ; some exceedingly sharp at oiu' c'ml, others rotund and globular. It is said that, if uiidisturl)ed, the guillemot never lays more than one egg; but if that be taken away, .she will lay another, and so on. I Jut Audubon a.s.serts that he has seen these birds sitting on as many as three eggs at a time. SliA-UIKDS IN TUE roL.\K UKUIONS. The black guillemot differs from the foohsh guillem<.>t {Urin truilr) only in the colour of its plumage, whit-li, with the exception of a large white patch on the coverts of each wing, is black, silky, and glossy; the feathers appearing to be all unwebbed, like silky filaments or fine hair. The bill, in all the species, is slendei', strong, and pointed ; the up[)er mandil)le bending slightly near the end, and the base covered with soft short feathers. The food of the guillemot consists offish and other marine products. The AlcidiV, or auks, are also included amongst the Arctic birds. The little auk {Aivtica (dca) frequents the countries stretching northwards from our latitudes to the regions of perpetual ice, and is found in the Polar Regions both of the Old World and the New. Here, indeed, they congregate in almost innumerable flocks. At early morn they sally forth to get their l)reakfast, which consists of dift'erent varieties of marine invertebrates, chiefly crustaceans, with which the Arctic waters teem. Then tliey return to the shore in immense swarms. It would be impos- 98 AUKS AND STARAKIS. wible, says an Arctic voyager, to convey an adequate idea of the numbers of these birds wliich swarmed around him. Tlie slope on both sides of tlie valley in wliich he had pitched his camp rose at an angle of about forty-five degrees to a distance of from 300 to 500 feet, where it met the cliffs, which stood about 700 feet liigher. These hill-sides are composed of the loose rocks making in their ra- pid Hight the whole length of the hill, thev returned hioiier in tlie air, j^erform- ing over and over again the complete circuit. Occasionally a few liundreds or thousands of them would dro]! down, as if following some leader ; and in an in- stant the rocks, for a space of several rods, would swarm all over with them, their black backs and pure white breasts sjieckling the liill very prettily. detached from the cliffs by the action (jf the frost. The birds crawl among these rocks, winding far in through nar- row jilaces, and there deposit their eggs and hatch their young, secure from their great enemy, the Arctic fox. On one occasion, tliey were congre- gated along a slope, fully a mile in length, and over this slope rushed a constant stream of birds, only a few feet above the stones ; and, after Though quantities are destroyed by the crews of vessels as well as by the Eskimos, their numbers never seem to decrease. Their flesh is both wholesome and delicate, and afibrds a wel- come change of diet to the mariner weary of salt meat and pemmican. They are Aery tame, and easily captured, — in some j^laces being actually caught in hand-nets, like moths or butterflies; and they pass a great portion of their time on the ocean, where they disport themselves with equal grace and self-possession. The starakis [Phaleridina) inhabit tlie archipelagoes which lie between China and North America. They assemble in small flocks, and swim about in quest of the crustaceans, molluscs, and otlier marine animals on which they feed. At nightfall they return to land, where they find shelter under the ledges of the rocks, or in burrows dug with their bill and feet. The female lays a solitary egg. The auks abound in the liigli nuitlicrn latitudes. They are all ocean-birds, and are never fnuiid, like the divers, in fresh-water streams and lakes. Those species which possess the power of flight nestle on the rocky cliit's and icebergs, where they lay a, single egg, of conical form ; a shape which prevents it fVom i-nlling away, or moving, except within a very narrow circle, on the bare rocky ledge where it is deposited. The puffins (^Fratfi-cola), which in winter abound on our own shores, li\e chiefly on the water. They dive and swim with dexterity, but, owing to the shortness of their wings, are capable only HUFFINS AND MERGANSERS. 99 of liinitod flight. Their phimagu is thick, siiiDuth, and douse, and so completely throws off the water that it is c|uite impervious to wet ; while their deep, compressed, and pointed beak, resembling exactly a double keel, is admirably adapted as an instrument for cutting the waves Avhen the bird wishes to dive. The puffins live principally upon sprats and other small fishes ; and the food intended for their young they retain until partially digested, Avhen they disgoi'ge it into their mouths. Like all the auks, the mother-bird lays but one egg. The appearance of an island or iceberg frequented by these birds is very vividly sketched by Audubon, than whom no naturalist has ever more completely attained a thorough acquaint- ance with the Bird- World. He tells us that on every crag or stone stood a jiuffin, at the entrance of every hole another, and yet the sea was covered and the air filled with them. The burrows were all inhabited by young birds, of different ages and sizes ; and clouds of puffins f^ew over us, eacli individual liold- ;-P|ipiw .fcigiiil,, ^>^^.^ijjZ&^^0^>^-- ing a small fish by the head. The burrows all comnumicated with each other in various wavs, so that the whole island seemed to be perforated by a multitude of subterranean labyrinths, over which it was impossible to run without the risk of falling at almost every step. The voices of the young sounded beneath the traveller's foot like voices from the grave, and the stench was exceedino'ly disaofreeable. Something must next be said <>f the mergansers [Mcrgince), a sub-family of the palmipeds, which also belong to the Polar world. Their principal characters may thus be stated : a straight bill, much compressed on the sides, and convex towards the tip, which is furnished witli a broad and nmch-hooked nail ; the wings are moderate, and pcjinted ; the tail is short and rounded ; the tarsi are short, and the toes moderate, the outer being as long as the middle, the three anterior ones united by a full web, M'hilo the hind toe is moderate, elevated, and provided with a broad web on its maririn. From these characters it is easy to infer that the bird is aquatic in its habits ; that it can swim and dive well ; that it is also capable of strong, swift flight ; and that its food will consist chiefly of fishes. The dun diver or gt)osander (Mergus merganser) is widely distributed throughout the Polar Regions botli of the eastei-n and western continents. During its southern migration, it 100 THE WHTTK ArEKOANSEP.. visits the United States, as well as Fi'aiice, Hollaiul, and ( urniany ; l)ut on tlie approach of summer it retires to Siberia and Kamtsehatka, leL-lantl, (jSret^nlaiuI. and tlie ^Vretic shoi'es oi' North Anieriea. In these localitic^s it eonstrncts its nest — always near the edge of the water : huildinL;- it u]i witli little regard to synnnetry, and linin'^- it with down. It ends being equally of grass, roots, and siniilai- materia is placed some- times amono- the mossy, weedy stones ; and sunie- times it is con- cealed in the long grass, or under tlje cover of bushes, or in the stumps or hollows of decayed trees. The female la.ys fr(.>m twelve to I'ourteen eggs, of a cream-yellow colour ; their form is a lonof oval, both THE OOSSANDEl;. obtuse. The goos- ander may be said to spend its time HI the air and on the watei- ; and, in truth, on the land it moves hut hibcjri- ously and awk wardly, owing to the backward posi- tion of its legs. It rises with difficulty from the ground ; but when once on the wing, its course is swift, strong, and steady. As it lives mainly upon Hsh. its tiesh is oily and ilhtlavoured ; a cir- cumstance which goes far to comiiensate the spoi'tsman for the frequent failure of his attempts to capture it. It is a wild and wary bird, and as it swims with rapidity and dives with ease, it generally etiects its escape from all but the most ex]ierienced huntens. Another species which abounds in noiihern latitudes is the smew {Mcrtius alhdhis), also known as the white nun or white merganser. This palmiped is about the size of a widgeon ; is of elegant form; and its ijlumage beautifully coloured with black and white. Its bill is of a dusky blue, nearly two inches long, thickest at the base, and tapering into a slenderer aiid more narrow shape towards the pr)int. \\\ oval black patch, glossed with green, marks each side of the head ; the under part of the crest is black ; but all the rest of the head and neck, as well as the graceful breast and the bt'lly, are white as snow, with the exception of a curved black line on each side of the u])|ier part of the breast, and similar mai'ks on the lower part ; the back, the coverts on the ridge of the wings, imd the prniiary (juills are black ; the secondaries and greater coverts are white-tip|ieil ; while the sides of the body, under the wings to the tail, exhibit a curious variegation of dark wavy lines. The legs and feet are of a h'aden blue. The range ol' the smew is \-ei-y extensive, for it migrates as far southward ;is the Mediter- ranean, while it is found every wiiere in the Arctic Hegions. On the shores of Ncjvaia Zendaia, as on those of Sj>itzbei'gen, the sea-l)irds arrive in count less hosts as soon as the sunnner sun has removed the long and dreary s])ell under which Nature laboui's through llie winter months. The iiari-ow iMekdedges on which tliey congregate, and where aid/X- ^.: 'i.^==. THE Bt.ACK-B.VCKEO GnLI.. beautiful, of the birds is the eider-duck {So- materia molUssima) , which also frequents the shores of Baffin and Hudson Bays, Lapland, Greenland, and Spitzbergen. It loves to breed on the small flat islands which lie off the coast, such as Akeney, Flutry, and Videy, mots. In Iceland one of the most useful, and certainly not the least where it is secure from the attacks of the Arctic fox. Its breeding-places in Iceland are private property, and some of them have been for centuries in the possession of the same families, which owe to the birds all their wealth and prosperity. Hence they are very vigilantly guarded. Whoever kills one is fined thirty dollars ; and to secrete an egg, or pocket a few downs, is an offence punishable by law. The chief occupation of some of the proprietors is to examine through their tele- scopes all the boats that approach, so as to be sure that there are no guns on board. As the birds on these islands are quite tame, the eider-down is easily collected. The female having laid five or six j^ale greenish-olive eggs, in a nest fashioned witli marine plants, and thickly lined with down of the i^.r^.f^m-^.- - TIIK KinER-nUCK. cacy, the collectors carefully remove her, rob the nest of its precious lining, and then replace the bird. Immediately she be- gins to lav afresh, and again has re- course to the down on her body to pro- tect her eggs ; and should her own stock be exhausted, as is not unfrequently the case, she is furnished with an auxiliary supply by the male. most exquisite deli- Even this second lining is often taken away, and the poor bird a third time repeats the process, both as regards the eggs and the down ; but if the plunderers do not spare her now, she after- wards abandons the nest, and seeks a home in some more sequestered nook. As it comes to the European markets, this down, which is highly valued on account of its lightness, elasticity, and warmth, occurs in balls about the size of a man's fist, and weighing from three to four pounds. Such is its fineness and elastic quality, that when a ball is opened. 104 ETDER-DUCKS IN ICELAND. and cautiously laid n^ar the tire to L'Xj)aiid, it will roniplutfly liU a (juilt live feet square. It should lie ui.ited, however, that the down i'roni dead liirds is of coniparativelv little value, having lost its elasticity. An interesting account of a visit to Vii;!' in the Isafjardardjufs, a favourite resort of the eider-duck in the north of Iceland, is furnished hy ]\[r. She])hei'd :- As he approached the island, he says, he could see Hocks ujion tlocks of the saci'ed birds, and could hear their cooinys at a yreat distance. Landiu''- on a rockv wave-^\■orn shore, ac-'ainst which tlie waters scarcely rippled, lie set uH' to survey the island. The shore he describes as "the most wonderful ornitliulogical sight imaginable." The ducks and their nests were every- where. Great bi-own dui-ks started U]j under his feet at every step ; and it was with diffi(adty that he avoided tivading on some of the nests. As the island is but threc-ipuxrtcrs of a mile across, the o])posite slun-e is soon reached. ( )n tlie coast was a wall built u]i of large .stones, just above the high watei'-mai-k, about thi'ee teet high, and of considerable thi<-kness. At the liottom, on both sides of it, alternate stones had been left out, forming a series of sijuare comjiaitnu-nts in which the ducks might make their nests. Almost every com])artment was occupied ; and as the human intruder walked alonu- the shore, a lonsj- line of startled ducks flew out one after the other. The surface of the water also was white with (hu-ks, who welcomed their "brown wives" with loud and clamorous cooing. Mr. Shejiherd, on arriving at tlie fannhouse, was received in the most hospitable manner, hospitality being one of tlie special virtues of the Icelander. lie was nuich impressed by the appearance of the liouse, which seemed to be converted into one large (J/ickeri/. The eartlien wall suiTounding it,- and the window-emln'asures, were tilled with ducks; on tlie ground, encircling the house, was a ring of ducks; on the sloping roof wi-re seated ducks; and a duck was perched on the door-scraper ! A grassy bank close by had been cut iiit(j scpiare jiatches like a chess-board (a square of turf of about eighteen inches being removed, and a hollow excavated), and all these squares were occupied by ducks. A windmill was infested with thein, and so were all the out-houses, mounds, rocks, and crevices. In fact, the ducks were everywhere. Many of them were so tame as to allow the stranger to stroke them on their nests; and their mistress said there was scarcely a duck on the island which woidd not allow her to take its eggs without flight or fear. When she first became possessor of the island, the ])i'oduce of down iVoiii the duc]ni. THE WILD SWAN. 105 The kiai^ eider (Soiiinfi'i-ia sjx'ctuJ/ihd) belongs to tlie .same genus as the f'onaer. We suppose tliai. every readei- is aoquaiiit(^uriiig coutitnum.sly fnnii tliu oreatiuii uf man to tin- jireseiit J.ay, to count the number of urgani.sms contained in two miles of tlie green water. MARINE LIFE. 107 of small crustaceans which infest these noi-thern waters, and, like the ants in the equatorial forests, perform the part of scavengers of the deep. It is evident, from the observations of Professor Forbes, that deptli, has a very considerable influence in the distribution of marine life. From the suiiace to the depth of 1380 feet eight distinct zones or regions have been mapped out in the sea, each of which has its own vegetation and inhabitants ; and the number of these regions must now be increased, after the astonishing results of tlie deep-sea soundings of Dr. Carpenter and Professor Wyville Thomson. The changes in the different zones are not abrupt : some of the creatures of an under region always appear before those of tlie region above it vanish; and though there ai'e a few species the same in some of the eight zones, only two are connnou to all. It is to be observed that those near the surface have forms and colours analogous to the inhabitants of southern latitudes, while those at a greater depth are analogous to the animals of northern waters. Hence, in the sea, depth corresponds with latitude, as heiijJit does on land. Mrs. Somerville adds, in language of much terseness, that the extent of the geographical distribution of any species is proportioned to the depth at which it lives. Consequently, those which live near the surface are less widely dispersed than those inhabiting deep water. The larger and more active inhabitants of the seas obey the same laws with the rest of creation, though their provinces, or regions, are in some instances very extensive. Above the 44th parallel the Atlantic species frequently correspond with those of the Pacific. The salmon of America is identical with that of the British Isles, and the coasts of Sweden and Norway ; the same is true of the Gadidce, or cod. The Cottas, or bull-head ti'ibe, are also the same on both sides of the Atlantic ; increasing in numbers and specific differences on approaching the Arctic seas. The same law holds good in the North Pacific, but the generic forms differ from those in the Atlantic. From the propinquity of the coasts of America and Asia at Behring Strait, the fish on both sides are nearly alike, down to Admiralty Inlet on the one side, and the Sea of Okhotsk on the other. CHAI'THi; IV. TJih i;lacikr,s. S iiitrniluctoi-y to a dt'scriptioii nf the Arctic (ilacici's, a few words <>ii tlie foriiiatioii of snow .seem necessaiw. I^rietiy. it may lie said tliat snow is the result of the crystal- lization of watei". The molecules and atoms of all suljstances, when not coiij^trauied by some external power, laiild themselves up into crystals. This is true of the metals and minerals, if, after having been melted, they are allowed to cool yradually. liismnth develops the process in a very impressive manner, and when properly fused and solidified exhibits larm'-sized crystals of singular bi'auty. In like maimer, sugar dissolved in water produces, after cva|poratiou has taken place, crystals of sugar-candy. 'J'he ready crystallization of alum is known to every sc-hooliioy who has dabbled in "chemical ex])eriments." Chalk dissohfd and crystallized bei'omes Iceland sjiar, and assumes a vaiiety of fanciful and graceful shapes. The diamond is crystallized carbon; and the crystallizing power is inherent in all our precious stones,- sapphire, topaz, emerald, beryl, amethyst, ruliy. In the process of crystallization, it is i'ound tliat thi; minutest particle of matter is possessed of an attractive and a repellent pole, and that l)y their natural action the form and structure of the crystal are determinetl. The attractmg poles, in the solid condition of any given substance, are iirnily interlocked; l>ut dissolve the cohesion by tin: apj)lica.tion of sufKcient heat, and the poles will recede so far as to be practically beyond each other's range. And thus the natui'al tendency of the molecules to build themselves together is neutralized. Water, for example, as a ]i(piid is, to all appearance, without form ; but when sulHcieiitly c()oled, its molecules are brought mider thf inllui.'Uce of the crystallizing force, and then ari-aiige themselves in the most varied and l>eautiful shapi's. \\'hen snow falls in calm air, the icy particles present themselves in the form of si\-rayed stars. From this ty]K' then.' is no departure, though tlie appearance of the snow-stars in other respects is infinitely varied. It is worth pausing, as Professor Tyndall remai'ks, to think what wondeiful work is going on in the atmosphere during the formation and descent of every snow-showi'i- : wJiat " building power" is l)rougbt into play! and how impeifect seem the productions of human minds and hands when comjianxl with those produced by tin.' foi'ccs of Nature ! We have spoken of attracting and repe-lling poles; luit a few words of explanation seem CRYSTALLIZINO FOltCE IN ICE. 1U9 magnet, , devoid desirable. Every niagiK't possesses two .such poles ; and it' iron Hlino-s be scattered over a each particle becomes also endowed with twd poles. Now suppose that similai' particle? of weight, and floating in the atmos- phere, come together, what will happen ? Obviously, the repellent poles will retreat from each other, while tlie attractive will approacli, and ultimately interlock. Further : if the particles, instead of a single pair, possess several pairs of poles arranged at definite points over their surfaces, you can then picture them, in obedience to their mutual attrac- tions and repulsi(jns, building them- selves together in masses of definite shape and structure. You have, then, only in imagine the aciueous particles in cold calm air to be gifted witli poles of this descrip- tion, compelling the said [)articles to assume certain definite aggregates, and you liuve l)efore your mind's eye the invisible architecture which creates the visible and beautiful crystals uf the snow. VAIIIOUS KOIillS OF SNOW-CllVSTALS. The important part phiyetl liy this ci^ystallizing force in ice as well as snow, will be under- stood from the following remarks by Professor Tyndall, who ma}' justly be described as the most eminent living authority on the subject : — At any temperature below 32 F., — that is, freezing-pointj — the movement of heat is sufficient to loosen the molecules of water from their ligid lionds of cohesion. But at 32" the movement is so diminished that the atoms lock themselves together, and imite in a solid. This act of union, however, is controlled by well-known laws. To the unintelligent eye a block of ice seems neither more interesting n(.)r more beautiful than a sheet of glass ; but to the instructed mind the ice is to the sjlass what an oratorio of Handel is to the scream of a ballad-singfer. Ice is music, glass is noise ; ice represents order, glass confusion. In the latter, the molecular forces have brought about an inextricable intertangled network ; in the former, they have woven a rich and regular embroidery, the designs of which are infinitely beautiful. Let us suppose ourselves examining a bk)ck of ice. In what way shall we get at its structure ? A sunbeam, or if that be wanting, a ray of electric light is the anatomist to which we must confide the vvoik of dissection. We direct this ray straight from our lamp across the plate of transparent ice. It shivers into pieces the icy edifice, exactly reversing the order of its architecture. The crystallizing force, for example, had silently and systematically built up atom after atom ; the electric ray dislocates them (so to speak) just as silently and systematically. We elevate the ice-block in front of the lamp, so that the light may now pass through its 110 SIX-KAYED ICE-FLOWERS. substance. ComjDare the ray as it enters with the ray as it makes its exit ; to the eye there is no perceptible difference, and its intensity seems scarcely diminished. But not so with its heat. As a thermic agent, the ray was more powerful before its entrance than it was after its emer- £,rence. A portion of its heat is arrested, is detained in the ice, and of this jiortion we now proceed to avail ourselves. What will it effect ? We place a lens in front of the ice upon the screen. Now, observe this image (see Illustra- tion), the beauty of which is still very far fi-om the real effect. Here is one star; yonder is another ; and in proportion as the action continues, the ice apjjears to resolve itself more and more into stars, all of six rays, like snow- crystals, and resembling a beautiful flower. By mov- ing the lens in and out, we Iiring new stars into sight ; and while the action continues, the edge of the petals is covered with indentations lilve those of the leaf of a fern. Probably, few of our readers have any conception of the magical beauties concealed in a block of ice ! Let them remember that prodigal Nature worlds in this way throughout the whole world. Every atom of the solid crust which covers the frozen waters of r r V :# IT 1.11 ^* 'f 4yfe,3iBMi.iaai!iw Miiai^iiiiiiiiaaiiiiiBaites EXHIBITION OF ICE-FLOWERS BT PROJECTION. ICR-FLOWERS. the North, has been wrought out in oliedience to tlie law we have enunciated. Nature is always and everywhere harmonious ; and it is the mission of Science to awaken us to an appreciation of its concords. There is anotlicr point of our ex]>eriment to which the reader's attention nuist be directed. He sees the flowers illuminated by the ray whicli traverses them. But if he examines them, while turning upon tbem a ray which they will i-eflect and send back to his own eye, he will see in the centi'e of each a sjiot with tlie brightness of liui'iiished silver, lie will be tempted SIR DAVID BREWSTER'S EXPERIMENT. Ill to think that this spot is u bubble of air; l)ut, by iiuiuersiug the ice in hot water, you can melt the ice all around the spot, — and when it alone remains, you will see it diminish and disappear without any trace of air. The spot is a vacuum. Such is the faithfulness to herself with A\hich Nature operates ; thus, in all her operations, does slie submit to her own laws. We know that ice, in melting, contracts ; and here we arrest the contraction, as it were, in the very act. The water of the flowers cannot fill the space occupied by the ice which by its fusion has given birtli to them; hence the pioduction of ;x vacuum, the inseparable companion of each liquid flower. The fragment of compact ice whose elements assume such beautiful crystalline forms is itself a crystal. This was shown by Sir David Brewster, who employed for the pui-pose of analysis that modified form of light which we call polarised Hijlii. It is singularly well adapted to l>ring out the peculiarities of the main structure of substances, owing to the coloured figures which it outlines on a screen after passing through them. All crystals with an axis — such, for instance, as Iceland spar — yield a series of brilliantly-tinted rings, traversed by a regularly-formed cross entirely black. As ice produces the same figures, ^ve are justified in attributing to it the same kind of crystallization. We must note, howevei", that we are referring now to the thick ice formed on our canals and lakes. If we examined the first film formed on the surface of the water, we should discover in it a comjiletely irregular crystallization, the ray of polarised light producing only a mosaic of varied tints, distributed without any order. But it is ea.sy to explain the way in which this primary crust or film is produced. Those portions of the fluid mass in contact with the air are the first to freeze, but each molecule of ice abandons its heat to the contiguous water, which thereby is slightly raised in temperature, and the result is a partial congelation. The surface we are examining then presents a network of tine needles intercrossed in every direction, and forming a kind of delicate lace, the meshes ov intervals of which are gradualh' filled up. When the network is transformed into a continuous sheet, the loss of heat is diminished more and more as this external crust grows thicker and thicker ; but the development of the ice invariably takes place by means of long interlaced needles, as the reader may see for himself by breaking off a portion from the nearest pond (in winter), and examining the sectional surface. Having said thus mucli in reference to the crystallization of ice and snow, we proceed to exjslain the regelation and vioulding of ice. Some years ago, Faraday astonished the scientific world by a very curious experiment. Splitting into two parts a piece of ice, he brought together the parts at the moment that fusion took place on their surfaces, and they united immediately. How are we to account for this effect, which can be produced even in hot water ? Wlien the temperature of water rises, the surface molecules first become liquid, then gaseous ; being placed beyond the coercitive action of tlie surrounding particles, they are easily set free ; transported, on the contrary, into the centre of the mass, they are brought absolutely under the influence of this action, which induces a new solidification, — or, to use the scientific term, a regelation. In tliis way it becomes easy to understand how very various forms can be communicated by simple j^ressure to a fragment of ice. If the observer successively places a straight bar in moulds of increasing curvature, he may easily comjjel it to assume the shape of a ring or even of a knot. In each mould, it is true, the ice breaks ; but if the pressure is kept . up, the surfaces of the fragments are brought into contact, and adhere so as to re-establish a 112 CHARACTERS OF GLACIER-ICE. condition of continuity. A snowhall may thus be convurtyd into a sphere of ice, and the .sphere, hy constant pressure, into a cup (ir a statue. Professcjr Tyndall refers to a remarkable instance of regelation wliicli lie oUserved one day in earlv s])rin<;'. A layer of sncjw, not ipiite two inches tliick, liad fallen i>n the o'lass roof of a small conservatory, and the internal air, warming the ,v " })anes, had melted the snow so far as it Avas in im- '/"'''' - mediate contact with them. The entire layer had *^~ij slipped down the pane, and projected beyond the y,' I " ^' !-> edg'c of the roof, without falling, and had bent and curved as recpiired, just like a flexiljle body. ci ' - -_-^ ' .-:|:' The snow-fields wdiich overspread the upper part '^ " ' of eveiy glacier, whether in the Arctic Kegions or MOULDING ICE. , , l i. 11 • i elsewhere, are composed ot crystallized snow, whose fragile, delicate, and fairy-like architecture endures so long as it remains dry, but undergoes a great transformation when the sun, melting the ujiper stratum, allows the water to interpene- trate its substance. The fluid, congealing anew during the night, transforms the snow into the condition technically known as nh'c ; a term given by the Swiss physicists to a granular mass composed of small rounded icicles, disaggregated, Ijut more adhesive than snow-flakes, and of a density intermediate between that of snow and that of ice. Under the pressure of new layers, and as a result of infiltrations of water, the nevi, unites, and solders into ice of constantly increasing compactness. But glacier-ice jiresents some other curious peculiarities. Every abundant snowfall on the summit of the mountains forms a layer easily distinguishable from preceding layers — which, in most cases, have already passed into the neve condition. This stratification becomes more apparent when the whiteness of the surface has been sullied by dirt or dust wafted on "the wings of the wind." It is percejitible also in ice ; l)ut here we must not confound it with another phenomenon of which the cause is ditterent, the veined strueture. In jilaces where glaciers have been accidentally cut doun in an almost vertical dii-ection, the section is found to exliibit a series of parallel veins, funned by a beautiful and very transparent aziu'e ice in tlie midst (-)f the general mass, 'whicii is uf a whitish colour, and sliglitly opaque. In different glaciers, and in different parts of the same glacier, these blue veins will vary in number and intensity of colouring. They are specially beautiful in crevasses of recent formation, and on the sides of channels excavated in the ice by tiny rills resulting from superficial fusion. Not a few glaciers exhil)it this remarkaljle veined structure througli(_)ut their entire extent. When a vertical cutting exposes the delicate azure network to atinosj)heric influences, the softer ice melts prior to the fusion of the blue ice which then remains in their detached leaflets. On examining these attentively, we cannot fail to remark the absence, or, at all events, the extreme rarity, of air-bubbles, though they arc so plentiful m the coarser ice. Professor Tyndall's exjilanation of this ])henomenon is as interesting as it is ingenious. While on a visit of insj)ectiiin fi) the slate-ipiarries of A\'ales, he had occasion to study the cleavaije of the rocks which compose thi'iii ; in dtlirr words, their ficulty of dividing naturally, a property f'LEAVACP: IX CO.Ml'ACr JCK. 113 inherent in all crystals. The schistous slate separates easily into sheets, and in traversing ditierent quarries one sees that all the planes of cleavage are parallel in each. From this circumstance our men of science were at tiist induced to look upon slates as the i^roducts of the stratification of difterent deposits. Such an explanation, however, could not be accepted by Tyndall, when he observed that the minute fossils embedded in them were constantly misshapen and flattened in the direction of the plane of cleavage, because the great modification they liad undergone could not have taken place in superimposed strata at the bottom of the primeval sea. He concluded that these schists, therefore, must have been subjected to a considerable pressure ; and further, that this pressure must have been exercised at right angles with tlie plane of separation of the difiereut layers. A long series of exjteriments jjroved that many bcxlies, \\\\v\i t'urcibly compressed, exhibit in their structure a very distinctly marked lamination, and frculd be drained dry, and life would cease, as well as water, to circulate throughout our world. The Creator, however, in order to ensun; the permanence of His almighty work, has called into existence the vast and powerful law of circulation, and this law the careful observer sees reproduced in all tlie economy of Nature. The water circulates from the ocean into the air, from the air it spreads over the earth, and frle. Two branch glaciei's, the Lauteraar and the Finsteraar, unite at a iiromontory called the Abschwung to form the trunk glacier of tlie Unteraar, wliicli cai-ries a great medial moraine along its colossal baclv. Here in 1827, an "intrepid and enthusiastic" Swiss professor, Hugi, of Si)lotliurm (or Soleure), erected a small caliin of stones for the juu'pose of observations upon the glacier. The hut moved, and he toi.ik ste|is to measure its motion. In tln-ee years, 18i!7 to 1830, it moved 330 feet downwards. In 18:50 it had descended 2354 feet; and in 1 841, it had accompHshed a journey of 4712 feet. [Tliis was at the rate of about 336 feet a year.] « In 1840, M. Agassiz, with some scientific friends, jNIessrs. Desor, Vogt, and Nicolieb, established themselves under a great overhanging slab of rock on the same moraine, and by means of side walls, and other appliances, consti-ucte/ \\ ing to the greater central motion of a glacier, its creva.sses invariably assume a curved outline, of which the convexity advances towards the bottom of the valley. It has also been ascertained that the superficial part of a glacier moves more rapidly than its base. Again: Tyndall and Hirst, by employing instruments of great precision, have demonstrated that the maxinunn of motion is not to be found exactly in the centre, but that, according to the windings of the valley through which the glacier flows, it moves sometimes to the right of the centre, and sometimes to the left. Now, the progression of a river exhibits all the characters we have just enumerated, and the truth foreshadowed by Rendu has been confirmed in every detail. The glacier is a " river of ice." The reader will naturally ask, How can a substance of sucli apparent rigidity as ice obey, as it does obey, the same laws which regulate the movement of fluids ? I can understand, he may say, how water flows in such and sucli a manner : it is a licpiid, and its molecules are deficient in the property of cohesion ; but that so solid, and firm, and unimpressible a substance as ice should lie capable of motion st'cms imiiossible. I can understand very easily that a mass of ice, when loosened or detached from its resting-j)lace, will glide downwards until arrested by some adequate obstacle; but this is not the kind of motion you are describing. ^Vccording to vour explanations, every constituent portion of the glacier moves, and the central faster than the lateral, and the surface faster than the base. These objections were advanced l)y men of .science when the motion of glaciei's was first put forwai'd as a theorv ; and (lie answer '■■i\cn bv Sclieuclizer was, that a ijlacier miijht be cimi- THEORY OF GLAriKlt-MOTIOX. 117 pared, in the suiniiier season, to a sponge saturated witli water, wliieli, when afterwards congealed 1>y the cold teniperatmv of autunni and winter, expanded, and ]irn(hieed a dilatation of the mass in every direction. Then, as it cmdd not recede, as it could not i-eascoid its valley-slope, the augmentation nf size wnidd necessarily take place in its lower pnition. It is unnecessary for us to explain why this answer was unsatisfactory. Subsequent obser- vations, however, proved its impossibility, and Professor Forbes then put forward his ideas of the viscous character of ice. But these, too, did not meet the conditions of the jihenomenon ; and the view now adopted is that of Professor Tyndall, who has shown that it is the result of the resfelation we have alnadv described. Professor Forbes enunciated his theory in words to tlie following effect : " A glacier is an imperfect fluid or viscous l)ody, wliich is urged down slopes of certain inclination by the natural pressure of its parts." But we know the exceeding brittleness of ice, and how is viscosity com- patible with brittleness ? We know, too, that crevasses and fissures will suddenly form on a glacier, like the cracks on a j)ane of glass. But if ice were vLscous, and could expand, dilate, or stretch as viscous substances do, these crevasses would be impossible. They would gradually close up, like an indent in a mass of jelly. And yet it cannot be denied that a glacier does move like a viscous body ; the centre flowing past the sides, the top flowing over the bottom, while the motion through a curved valley corresponds to fluid motion. How are we to reconcile these apparently conflicting circumstances ? By Professor Tyndall's regelation theory, wliich is founded on a fact already mentioned ; namely, that when two pieces of thawing ice are brought in contact, they freeze together. This /aci, and its application irres^aective of the cause of regelation, may be thus illustrated : " Saw two slabs from a block of ice, and bring their flat surfaces into contact ; they immediately freeze together. Two plates of ice, laid one upon the other, with flannel round them overnigiit, are sometimes so firmly frozen in the morning that they will rather break elsewhere than along their surface of junction, if you enter one of the dripping ice-caves of Switzerland, you have only to press for a moment a slab of ice against the roof of the cave to cause it to freeze there and stick to the roof " Place a numlier of frao-ments of ice in a basin of water, and cause them to touch each other ; they freeze together where they touch. You can form a chain of such fragments ; and then, by taking hold of one end of the chain, you can draw the whole series after it. Chains of iceberofs are sometimes formed in this way in the Arctic seas." From these observations we deduce the following result : — Snow consists of small particles of ice. Now, if by pressure we squeeze out the air entangled in thawing snow, and bring the little ice-granules into close contact, they may be expected, as they do, to freeze together ; and shoiild the expulsion of the air be complete, the squeezed snow Avill assume the appearance of compact ice. It is in this way that the consolidation of the snows takes place in the Arctic as in the higher Alpine regions. The deeper layers of the neve are converted into more or less perfect ice by the pressure of the superjacent layers ; and further, they are made to assume the shape of the valley which they fill, by the slow and continuous pressure of its sides. In glaciers, as Professor Tyndall points out, we have ample illustrations of rude fracture and regelation; as, for example, in the opening and closing of crevasses. The glacier is broken on 11'8 GLACIERS OF THE TOLAK WOItLD. tlie cascades, and niondt'd at tliuir bases. Wlien two branch o'lacitjrs lay their sides together, the rcgelation is so firm tliat they begin inmiL'diately to How in tlic triuik glacier as in a single stream. The medial moraine gives no indication by its slowness of motion that it is derived from the sluo'yish ice of the sides of the branch glaciers. We may sum up the regelation theory in few woids. The ice of glaciers changes its form and i-etains its continuity under j^rc.s'.s-^rt' which keeps its particles together. But when subjected to tension, sooner than stretch, it breaks, and behaves no longer as a viscous body. These are Professor Tyndall's words, and the fact which they embody it would be difficult to set fortli more clearlv or more concisely. A I'OLAU Ij LACIER. Having said thus much of the structure, causes, characteristics, and movement of glaciers, we proceed to consider some of the nKjre I'emarkable of those which are situated in the Arctic World. The glaciers of the Polar Regions do not differ in structure or mode of formation from those of other countries. Yet they possess some jaeculiar features, and to a superficial observer might seem independent of the j^hysical laws we have attempted to explain. That this is not the case has been sliown by Charles Martins, who carefxdly studied the glaciers of Spitzbergen on the occasion of the cxiiloring voyage of tlie J'fchcrchr to that island, and has demonstrated that their differences ar(^ but a |iaiticulai- caso of the general phenomenon. As s]ieci,-d rli;ir;ictei-s lie [loints out, first, the rarity of needles and prisms of ice, wliicli he ICE-CAVERNS AND OLACIEKS. 119 attributes to the slight inclination and the uniformity of the slopes, as well as to the diminution of the solar heat, which, evon in the long sunnner days, does not melt the surface. There are no rills or streams capable of hollowing out crevasses and moulding protuberances or projections. But transversal crevasses produced by the movement of the glaciers are immerous, and these are often veiy wide and very deep. In the terminal escarpment, which melts in jiroportion as it plunges into the sea, immense caverns are sometimes seen ; caverns so immense that the azure-gleaming grottoes of the Arveii'on and Grindelwald, so much admired by European travellers, are but miniatures. " One day," says Charles Martins, " after having ascertained the temperature of the sea off the great glacier of Bell Sound, I proposed to the sailors who accompanied me to carry our boat into its cavern. I explained to them the risk we should incur, being unwilling to attempt anything without their consent. When our boat had crossed the threshold, we found ourselves in an inmiense Gothic GL.iCIER, ENGLISH BAY, .SPITZBERciEN. cathedral ; long conical-pointed cylindei's of ice descended from the roof ; the recesses seemed so many chapels opening out of the principal nave ; liroad fissures divided the walls, and the open intervals, like arches, sprang towards the summits ; azure gleams played over the icy surface, and were reflected in the water. The sailors, like myself, were dumb with admiration. But a too prolonged contemplation would have been dangerous ; we soon regained the narrow opening through which we had penetrated into this winter temple, and, returning on board our vessel, preserved a discreet silence respecting an escapade which might have been justl}' blamed. In the evening, we saw* from the shore our cathedral of the morning slowly bend forwards, detach itself from the parent glacier, crash into the waves, and reappear in a thousand blocks and fragments of ice, which tlie retiring tide carried slowly out to sea." 120 FORMATION OF ICEBERGS. GLACIER, BELL SOUND, SPITZBERGEN. The Spitzborgen o-laciers do not exhibit those numerous uiorainos which are observed on the majority of those of SwitzerLind. The mountains, not being very lofty, are buried, as it were, under tlieir burden of glaciers, instead of preponderating over them, and seem witli difficulty to lift their }:)eaks out of the mass of ice and snow surr(.)nnding them. Con- sequently, there aru no considerable land- slips or falls of earth and stone, which, accumulating along the borders of the glaciers, might f )rm moraiues. jMartins is of opinion tliat the Spitzbergen glaciers i.-orrespond to the u])]ier part of the glaciers of Switzerland ; to so much, that is to say, as lies above the perpetual snow-line. Now, he says, the higher we ascend on an Alpine glacier, the more do the lateral and medial moraines diminish in width and form, until they taper away and finally disappear under tlie higli )icrcs of the amphitheatres from which the glacier issues, just as the mountain torrents often take theii' rise in one or in several lakes terraced one above the other. For all these reasons, he adds, the medial and lateral m(.)raines are scarcely conspicuous on the glaciers of Spitzbergen ; a number of stones and boulders may be seen along their sides, and sometimes in their centre, but the ice is never hidden, as in the Alps, under the mass of debris accumulated upon it. As for the terminal moraines, they must be sougiit at the bottom of the sea, since the terminal escarpment nearly always overhangs it. Hence, the blocks of stone fall simul- taneously with the blocks of ice, and f >rm a submarine frontal moraine, of which the two extremities are occasionally visible ujion the shore. In a jn'evious chapter we have alluded to the manner in whicli icebergs are formed by the detachment from the seaward extremity of the glacier of huge masses of ice, which the current carries out into the open sea. To the desci'iption already given, Ave may here add that which Charles Martins furnishes in his valuable and interesting record of persevering scientific enterprise, " Du Spitzberg an Sahara" : — I n Spitzbergen. he says, the glacier, after a traject of more or less con- siderable duration, I'eaches the sea. If the shore be rectilineal, it advances no further ; but, in the recess of a bay, where the shore is curved, it continues its progression, sujiporting its bulk on the sides of the bay, and aelvancing above the water, whicli it overliangs. This is easily understood. In sunnner the sea-water at the liottom (_>f the bays is always at a tem|H'rature a little above 32°; on coming in contai't witli this conijiaratively warm water the glacier melts, and, at low tide, an interval is perceptible between the ice and the surface of the water. The glacier being no longer supported, partially crnnddes and gives way; innnense blocks detach themselves, fall into the sea, disajjpear beneath the watei', reappear i-evohing on their own axes, and oscillate for a few moments until they have taken up their position of equilibrium. Tlie blocks thus detached from the floating masses, of all sizes and sliapes, are called icebergs. Our traveller records tliat twice a day, in Magdalena Bay and Bell Souiul, he was an eye- witness of this jiartial ruin ol' tlie extremity (if the glaciers. Their iVdl was accomjianied by a ICEBERGS AS IMrEDIMENTS TO NAVKIATION. 123 noise like that of tJiuiKka- ; the swollen sea rushed upon the sliore in a succession of gigantic waves ; the gulf was covered with icebergs, which, caught in the swirl and eddy, issued out of the bay, like immense fleets, to gain the sea beyond, or were stranded here and there at points where the water was shallow. The icebergs seen by M. Martins were not, however, of any surprising- magnitude ; he estimates their average height at thirteen to sixteen feet. We have seen that those of Baffin Bay ai'e tenfold more considerable and imposing ; but then, in that bay the tem- perature of the sea is below 32°; the glacier does not melt when it enters the water; it sinks to the bottom of the sea ; and the portions detached from it are all of greater height than even the submerged jxirt of the icebergs which drift tu and fro in the bays and gulfs of Spitzbergen. We may follow up tliis description with some observations by Lieutenant Bellot, the chivalrous young Freiichman who perished in one of the expeditions desj^atched in search of Sir John Franklin and his companions. He is sjjeaking of the masses of ice his ship encountered soon after doubling Cape Farewell, the south point of Greenland, and he remarks, that as Baffin Bay narrows towards the south, the icebergs, first set in motion higher up the bay by the northern gales, necessarily tend to accumulate in the gorge thus formed, and so to impede and block up Davis Strait, even wlicu the higher waters are quite free. It is only through a series of alternate movements of advance and recession that the bergs finally jiass beyond the barrier, and float out into the Atlantic, to undergo a slow process of dissolution. The mobility of the Ijergs, though necessary to navigation, forms at the same time its peculiar danger, since a vessel is often placed between the shore and the colossal masses driven forward by the wind, or between these and the solid ice which as yet has not broken up. It is useless to dwell upon the immense force possessed by masses which are frequently several square leagues in extent, and which, once in movement, cannot be stayed by any human resistance. A sailing- vessel finds herself placed in conditions all the more unfavourable, because the winds lilow from the very direction which she is bound to take in order to open up a way through the floes. Now, if the gale is violent, it is perilous indeed to push forward in tlie midst of a labyrinth of bergs, which form so many floating rocks ; if a calm prevails, a ship can move forward only by laborious hauling or towed by the boats. The application of the screw-propeller to steam-sliips has given to them a great superiority, because they are not liable to any accident to paddle-wheels, exposed as such must be to collision with the floating ice. It is recorded that, on one occasion, a screw- steamer, near Upernavik, on the coast of Greenland, actually charged an iceberg, and drove rig] it through it, as a railway-engine might crash through a fence or hurdle. Of course, the berg was of no great elevation ; but its solid mass yielded to the inmiense force of the steam-ship, and split into large fragments. In the convulsions caused by furious tempests, which are far from being so rare within the Arctic Circle as is popularly supposed, the shape of the bergs becomes very irregular, and the configuration of the ice-fields is constantly undergoing modification. Hence it often happens that the voyager sees before him an open basin of water of greater or less extent, from w^hich he is separated only by a narrow stri]) of ice. In such a case he endeavours to eflfect an opening, either by driving his ship at full speed against the weakest part of the ice, or with the helj^ of immense saws, twenty feet in length, which are worked with a roi)e and ])ulley i>laced at the top of a triangle formed of long poles ; or, finally, by exploding a mine. When the ice is not very solid. 124 MOVING ISLANDS IN BAFFIN BAY. the .ship is ibrccd into tlie opening, against the sides of which it acts like a wedge. It will sonio- times occur, in the course of the ojieration, that the ice-fields, set in motion by tlie wind or the currents, close in together, after having treacherously sej^arated for a moment, and the vessel is then subjected to a dangerous pressure. Unhappy the mariner who docs not foresee or sufficiently note the warning signs of this accident, which is almost always accompanied bj' fatal consequences. The ice, which nothing can check, passing underneath the ship, capsizes it, — or, if it resists, crushes it. AVe ha.ve alluded to the colossal bergs of Baffin Bay. These are thrown off from the northern glaciers, and particularly from the enormous ice-river named after Humboldt, which cumbers the declivities of the Greenland Alps, beyond the 79th parallel. It has been a frequent source of surprise to navigators that these mighty masses should float in a contrary direction to that of the ice-fields which descend with the Polar current towards the Atlantic. They reascend with such rapidity that they shatter the so-called " ice-foot," or belt of ice, still adhering to the shore. Captain JMaury has collected numerous observations on this imj^ortant suliject, and he quotes the case of a ship which was being laboriously hauled against the current, when an enor- mous floating mountain coming up from the south steered against it, but fortunately did not come into collision with it, and forging ahead, very quickly disappeared. How is such an incident to be explained ? By the existence of a submarine counter-current, acting on the lower extremity of the submerged portion of the berg, which, as we have stated, is always seven or eight times larger than the bulk above the surface of the waves. Our whalers, in their hazardous expeditions, often derive assistance from these moving islands. They seek shelter under their lee when sudden storms arise ; for the huge bergs are scarcely affected by the most violent gales. They find their shelter valuable also during certain operations f)f the fishery for wliich rest and quiet are necessary. Yet it is not absolutely exempt from danger. The seeming friend may prove to be a concealed foe. The iceberg may collapse, or be capsized ; or formidal^le fragments, loosened from their sides or summits, may topple headlong and threaten to overwhelm the ship beneath : but as on these and other accidents we have already dwelt at length, Ave refrain from wearying our readers with a twice-told tale. The repetition in which, to some extent, we have indulged, was needful, in order to show the reader in what way the dissolution of the lower extremity of the glaciers is efiected in the Arctic world. In the neighbourhood of Cape Alexander, one of the headlands of Smith Strait, Dr. Hayes met witli a glacier, of which he gives an interesting description in his narrative of an " Arctic Boat Journey," (1854): — It was the first, protruding into the ocean, which lie had had an opportunity of inspecting closely ; and though small, compared with other similar formations, it had nevertheless all their principal characteristics. It presented to the sea a convex mural face, seventy feet in height and about two miles in length, its centre projecting into the water beyond the general line of the coast to the east and west of it. The surface rose abruptly to the height of about two hundred feet, and, sloping thence backward with a gentle inclination, seemed to be connected with an extensive mer de c/Iace above. Several fissures or crevasses, apparently of great depth, struck vertically through its body, and extundct! far up into its interior; and others, more shallow, which THE ARCTIC MEU DE GLACE. 127 seemed to have been formed by the streams of melted snow that poured in cataracts down into the sea. Dr. Hayes remarks that he was impressed by its viscous appearance ; but we have shown that a certain amount of viscosity naturally appertains to glacier ice. Parallel with its convex face ran a succession of indistinctly marked lines, which gave it the aspect of a semi-fluid mass moving downward upon an inclined surface ; and this idea was con- firmed by its appearance about the rocks on either side. Over these it seemed to have flowed ; and, fitting accurately into all their inequalities, it gave the efiect of a huge moving mass of partially solidified matter suddenly congealed. Of still greater interest is the same adventurous explorer's description of the great Arctic Mer de Glace which lies inland from Rensselaer Bay, in about lat. 79° N., and long. 68° W. Dr. Hayes and his party had set out on an expedition into the interior, and after passing through a really picturesque landscape, enriched with beds of moss and turf, patches of jjurple andromeda, and the trailing branches of the dwarf-willow, they emerged upon a broad plain or valley, in the heart of which reposed a frozen lake, about two miles in length by half a mile in width. They traversed its transparent surface. On either side of them rose rugged bluffs, that stretched off into long lines of hills, culminating in series in a broad-topped mountain-ridge, which, running away to right and left, was cut by a gap several miles wide that opened directly before them. Immediately in front was a low hill, around the base of which flowed on either side the branches of a stream whose course they had followed. Leaving the river-bed just above the lake, they climbed to the summit of this hillock ; and there a sight burst upon them, grand and impos- ing beyond the power of words adequately to describe. From the rocky bed, only a few miles in advance, a sloping wall of pure whiteness rose to a bi'oad level plain of ice, which, apparently without limits, stretched away toward the unknown east. It was the great mer de glace of the Arctic continent. Here then was, in reality, the counterpart of the river-systems of other lands. From behind the granite hills the congealed drainings of the interior water-sheds, the atmospheric precipitations of ages, were moving in a mass, which, though solid, was jalastic, moving down through every gap in the mountains, swallowing up the rocks, filling the valleys, submerging the hills : an onward, irresistible, crystal tide, swelling to the ocean. The surface was intersected by numerous vertical crevasses, some of considerable depth, which had drained oft' the melted snow. It was midnight when the explorers approached this colossal reservoir. The sun was several degrees beneath the horizon, and afforded a fixint twilight-gleam. Stars of the second magnitude were dimly perceptible in the cold, steel-blue Arctic heavens. When they Avera within about half a mile of the icy wall, a brilliant meteor fell before them, and, by its reflection upon the glassy surface beneath, greatly increased the magical effect of the scene ; while loud reports, like distant thunder or the roll of artillery, broke at intervals from the depths of the frozen sea. On closer insj^ection it was found that the face of the glacier ascended at an angle of from 30° to 35°. At its base lay a high bank of snow, and the wanderers clambered up it about sixty feet ; but beyond this their efforts were defied by tlic exceeding smoothness of the ice. The mountains, which stood on either hand like giant-warders, were overlapped, and to some extent submerged, by the glacier. From the face of the huge ice-river innumerable little rivulets ran 9 128 Cl.AClKli UV .SKltMlATSlALIK. (Itiwii tlie L'liaiim'ls tlieir nrtiou liad o-raduall}- excavated, or gurgled fioni Leiieath the ice; form- ing, oil tlie le\el lands Ix'low, a sort of marsh, not twenty yards from the icy wall. Here, in strange contrast, hloomt'd heds of verdurous moss; and in these, tufts of dwarf-willows were wrcathino- their tinv arms and rootlets ahout the fecldur tiower-iifrowths ; and tliei't', clustered together, crouching among the gi-ass, and sheltered hy the leaves, and feeding ou the bed of lichens, flourished a tiny, white-blossomed draba and a white chickweed. Dotting the few feet of green around might be seen the j'ellow flowers of the more hardy Jioppy, the purple jDoteiitilla, and saxifrages yellow, ])iirple, and white. The great glacier t)f Serniiatsialik is one of the arms, or outlets, of this immense reservijir of ice. It occupies the bed of a valley, varying from three and a half to five miles in width, and attaining at certain points a depth of upwards of three hundred and seventy feet. This valley opens upon the fiord of Serniiatsialik, which is separated from that of Julianshaab by the range of mountains culminating in the peak of Redkammen. We owe to Dr. Hayes a lively description of the Sermiatsialik glacier, which he thinks must at scjiiie places be more than seven hundred and fifty feet in depth, overflowing the borders of the valley like a swollen torrent. For upwards of four leagues, the icebergs which tlirong the fiord, or gulf, are those of the glacier itself and terminating in a wedge-like (outline, disappear in the vast sea of ice ex])anding to right and left above the loftiest summits, and di-awing irresist- ibly the eye to its rippled surface, — boundless, apparently, like that of ocean. As the voyager sails up thi' gulf he gradually loses sight of the frozen slope, and then of the white line of the me)' (hi (jlace : he finds himself in front of an immense cliff, from one hundred to two hundred feet in height, diaphanous as the purest crystals, and reflecting all the hues of heaven. One almost shudders as one approaches this vast domain of Winter. Collecting in copious streams, the ice and snow melted on the surf^xce of the glacier pour over its Itiiiik, forming float- ing clouds of spray, irradiated by I'aiidjow colI' CLACIKi;. iulLTior with wliicli it (■(iiiiuiiniii-atL's, ami i'linii which it isssues, is uii luiexjildix'd rncr de ylace, ill! icu-occau, of ajt]iarfiitly Ijouiidlcss (liiiR'ii.sioiis. Such is thf •'luiglity crystal brid^'e " which connects the two continents of America and Gieenland. ^Ve say, continents; for Greenland, as Dr. Kane remarks, liowever insidated it mav idtiniatt'ly prove to be, is in mass strictly continental. Its least |)ossil)le axis, measured from ( 'a])e Farewell to the line of the ][nniboldt (llacier, in the neig-hbourhood of the 80th parallel, gives a length of upwards of twelve hundred miles. — not materially less than that of Australia from its iKjrthern to its southern cape. Imagine tlie centre of such a (.•(.>ntinent, says ])i\ Kane, occupietl through nearly its whole extent liy a dee]i, mdu-oken sea of ice, that gathers pei-ennial increase from the water-shed of vast snow-covered moimtains and all the jirecipitations ot the atniospheri' upon its own surface. Imagine this, mo\ing onward like a great glacial river, seeking outlets at every ti(.)rd and valley, rolling icy cataracts into the Atlantic and (Jreeuland seas; and, having at last reached the northern limit of the land that has borne it u]), pouring out a mighty frozen torrent into unknown Arctic space. •' It is thus," I'emarks Dr. Kane, "and only thus, that we must form a just conception of a phenomenon like this great glacier. I had looked in my own mind for such an ajipearance, should I ever be fortumite enough to reach the northern coast of Greenland. But now that it was before me, I could hardly I'ealize it. 1 had recognized, in my (puet library at Irjuic, the beautiful analogies which Forbes and Studei' have developed between the glacier and the river; but I could not coni[ireliend at first this complete substitution of ice for water. " It was slowly the c(.inviction dawned on me that I was hooking upon the counterjiart of the great river-system of Arctic Asia and America. Yet here were no water-feeders fi'om the south. Every j)article of moistiu'e had its origin within tlie Polar Circle, and had been converted into ice. There were no vast alluvions, no forest or animal traces borne down by licjuid torrents. Here was a plastic, moving, semi-solid mass, obliterating life, swallowing rocks and islands, and l)louo'hina' its wav with irresistible march through the crust of an investino- sea." When, at a later period. Dr. Kane made a closer examination of tliis great natural wondei', he found that previously he had not realized the full grandeur of the spectacle. He noted that the trend of the glacier was a few degrees to the west of north; and he remarks, as the jieculiarity of its aspect, that it did not indicate repose, but activity, energy, movement. Its surface seemed to follow that of the basis-country over which it flowed. It was undulat- ing on and about the horizon, but as it descended towards tbe sea it represented a broken plain with a general inclinatirod action, is an ^_- extraordinary illustration of the fact that the smallest and rS,k,ii yimj^lest organized object is in itself, and, for the part it 'V'W>'''*\v''.l*'i '■ *'''^^ created to perform in the operations of nature, as admirably adapted as the largfest and most complicated." ritOTOCOCCUS NIVALIS. - 1 C J. The tirst vegeta1.)le forms to make their appearance at the limits (_)f the sni)\v-line. whether in liigh latitudes or on mountain-sununits, are lichens ; which flourish on rocks, or stones, or trees, or wherever they can obtain sufficient moisture to supjtort existence. Upwards of two thousand four hundred species are known. The same kinds prevail throughout the Arctic Kegions, and the sjiecies common to both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres are very numerous. They lend the beauty of colour to many an Arctic scene which would otherwise be inexpressibly dreary; the most rugged rock acquiring a certain air of pictures(pieness through their luxuriant dis- play. Their forms are wonderfully varied ; so that they present to the student of Nature an almost inexhaustil)le field of inquiry. In their most rudimentary asjiects they seem to consist of nothing more than a collection of powdery granules, so minute that the figure of each is scarcely distin- guishable, and so dry and so deficient in organization that \\e cannot but wonder how they live and maintain life. Now they are seen like ink-sjiots on the trunks of fallen trees ; now they are freely sjirinkled in white dust over rocks and withered tufts of moss , others apjiear m gray filmy patches ; others again like knots or rosettes of various tints ; and some are pulpy and gelatinous, like aerial sea-weeds which the receding tide leaves bare and naked on inland rocks, A greater complexity of structure, however, is visible in the higher order of lichens, — antl we find them either tufted and shrubby, like miniature trees ; or in clustering cu|)s, which, Hebe-likc', present their " dewy offerings to the sun," In the I^)lal■ World, and its regions of eternal winter, where snow and ice, and daik diear waters, huge glacier and colossal berg, combine to foiin an awful and impressive i)ictiu'e, the traveller is thankful for the abundance of these humble and primitive forms, which communicate the freshness and variety of life to the otherwise painful and death-like uniformity of the frost- bound Nature, 1 1 is true that here, *' AltO\'L'. .■IVnUllil. lli'lriW. I )ii iiiiiiiiitaiii 111' ill glen, Niir tice, iinv sliiiili, mil' ]ilaiit, ma' tlnwi'i'." may be found in the lauds l)eyond the line of jierpetual snow ; it is true that '■ All is rucks iit raiulom tlirnwn. Black waves, bare crags, anil lianks uf stmic ; A.s if were here denied The summer's sun, the spring's sweet dew, That I'lnthe with many a varied hue The lile.akest mountain-side ; " but vegetation is not absolutely wanting, and the lichens are so largely developed and so widely distributed as to impart cjuite a peculiar and distinctive character to the scenery. TJCIIEXS AND TITEri! f'll A RArTFlR.S. l.iT A lirhen wliicli is disroverLHl in Mhiiost every Z(jne of altitude and latitude which rauo-es from tlie wild shores of Mel\ille Island in the Arctic to those of Deception Islam! in the Antarctic circle, — which hloonis on the crests of the Himalayas, on the lofty j)ea.k of (Jhindiorazo, and was found by Ag-assiz near the top of Mont Blanc, — is the Lecidea fjeuyraji/u'ca, a Ijeautiful bright-green lichen, whose clusters assume almost a kaleidoscopic appearance. A lichen of great importance in the Arctic world is the welldcnown Cladonia raixji/eriii'i. or reindeer moss, which forms the staple food of that animal during the long Arctic winter. In the vast tundras, or steppes, of Lapland it flourishes in the greatest profusion, completely covering the ground with its snowy tufts, which look like the silvery sprays of some magic plant. According to Linn;eus, it thrives more luxuriantly than any other plant in the pine-forests of Lapland, the surface of the soil being carjieted with it for many niiles in extent; and if the forests are accidentally bui'iied to the ground, it quickly reappears, and grows with all its original \igour. These plains, which seenr to the traveller smitten with the curse of desolation, the Lajjlander regards as fertile pastures ; and here vast herds i)f reindeer roam at w'ill, thriving where the horse, the elephant, and even the camel would jjerish. This useful animal is dependent almo.st entirely on a lichen for su]ij)ort. What a deep interest is thus attached to it! That vast numbers of families, living in pastoral simplicity in the cheerless and inhospitable Polar Regions, should depend for their subsistence upon the uncultui-ed and abundant supply of a plant so low in the scale of organization as this, is, says Dr. Macmillaii, a striking proof of the great importance of even the smallest and meanest objects in nature. When the ground is crusted with a hard and frozen snow, which prevents it from obtaining its usual food, the reindeer turns to another lichen, called rock-hair {Alectoria juhata), that grows in long bearded tufts on almost every tree. In winters of extreme rigour, the Laplanders cut down whole forests of the largest trees, that their herds may browse freely on the tufts which clothe the higher branches. Hence it has been justly said that " the vast dreary pine-forests of Lapland possess a character which is peculiarly their own, and are perhajis more singular in the eyes of the traveller than any other feature in the landscapes of that remote and desolate region. This character they owe to the immense numl^er of lichens with which they abound. The ground, instead of grass, is carpeted with dense tufts of the reindeer moss, wliite as a shower of new fallen snoAV ; while the trunks and branches of the trees are swollen fiir beyond their natural dimensions with huge, dusky, funereal liranches of the rock-hair, hanging down in masses, exhaling a damp eartlry smell, like an old cellar, or stretching from ti-ee to tree in long festoon.=!, waving with every breath of wind, and creating a perpetual melancholy sound." In regions furthest north are found \'arious sj)ecies of licliens belonging to the genera Gyrophora and Umhilicuria, and known in the records of Arctic travel as rock tripe, or /ri/je de roche ; a name given to them in consequence of their blistered thallus, which I)ears a faint resemblance to the animal substance so called. They afford a coarse kind of food, and proved of the greatest service to the expeditions under Sir .John Franklin ; though their nutritious properties are not considerable, and, .such as they are, are unfortunately impaired by the presence of a bitter principle which is apt to induce diarrhoea. In Franklin and Richardson's terrible overland journey from the Coppermine River to Fort Enterprise it w^as almost the sole support, at one time, of the heroic little company. Di'. Richardson says they gathered four species of 138 r.OCK LICHEN, OR STONE-MOSS. Gyrophora* and used tliein all as articles of food ; "but uot having the means of extractino- the bitter jirincijilu tVoni them, they proved nauseous to all, and noxious to several of the jmrty, producing severe bowel complaints." Franklin on one occasion remarks : " This was the sixth day since we had enjoyed a good meal ; the tripe de roche, even wlien we got enough, only serving to allay the pangs of hunger for a short time." Again, we read : " The want of trij^e ic vegetation wt-vc discovered; and as it was thought they might, if carefully examined, afford some clue to the- fate (jf Franklin's expedition, they were submitted to Mr. Bei'kcJey, a well-known naturalist. In the report which he addressed to the Admiraltv, he stated that the vegetation in l)0th cases resembled the dark olive mottled patches with which wooden structures in this c(jiuitry, if exposed to atmos])heric influences, are speedily covered. The lileached cells and fibres of the tVagment of elm were filled up with slender fungoid forms, nn/celi(P; while on its different suifa-ces appeared several dark-coloured specks, l)elonging to the genus PIiohki. As it was not pi-obable that jilants so minute could have retained, through the terrible severity of an Arctic winter, their delicate naked spores in the jiei'fect condition in which they were found. Mr. Berkele}' concluded that they must have been developed through that same .sununer ; \\ bile from three to four years, in tlio.se high latitudes and amid the rigour of stcjrmy ice-covered seas, would suffice to produce the bleached appearance of" the wood. Hence be inferi'ed that the pl.-inlv hud not been long exposed. ( )n the other fragment of drifY-wood he discovert'd some deeply-eml)edded minute black fungoid foi'ms, called Sjii'Du'iIrsmiNin lfj>riiriop{)y and sorivl, andnjmeda, and several species of heath, are mentioned by Dr. Kane as blooming in the neighbourhood of Smith Strait. On the south coast of the Polar Sea Dr. Richardson found a considerable variety of vegetation. We noticed, he says, about one hundred and seventy phaenogainous or flowering plants ; being one- fifth of the number of species which exist fifteen degrees of latitude further to the southward. He adds : — The grasses, bents, and rushes constitute only one-fifth of the number of species on the coast, but the two formei- tribes actually cover more ground than all the rest of the vege- tation. The crucifene, or t-ross-like tribe, afford one-seventh of the species, and the compound flowers are nearly as numerous. The shruhhii phaitti that reach the sea-coast are the common juniper, two species of willow, the dwarf-birch, the common alder, the hippophae, a gooseberry, the red bear berry {arbutus uva ursi), the Labrador tea-plant, the Lapland rose, the bog- whortleberry, and the crowberry. The kidney-leaved oxyria grows in great abundance there, and occasionally furnished us with an agreeable addition to our meals, as it resembles the garden- sorrel in flavour, but is more juicy and tender. It is eaten by the natives, and must, as well as many of the cress-like plants, prove an excellent corrective of the gross, oily, rancid, and fre- quently jDutrid meat on which they subsist. The small balls of the Alpine bistort, and the long, succulent, and sweet roots of many of the astragaleaj, N\hi(ii grow on the sandy shores, are eatable ; but it does not seem that the Eskimos are acquainted with their use. A few cluni])s of white spruce- fir, with some straggling black spruces and canoe-birches, grow at the distance of twenty or thirty miles from the sea, in sheltered situatif)ns on the banks of rivers. It lias been pointed out that the princijjal characteristic of the vegetation of the Arctic Regions is the predominance of perennial and cryptogamous plants ; but further southward, where night begins to alternate with day, ov in what may l)e called the sub-arctic zone, a difference of species appears which greatly enhances the beauty of the landscape. A lich and vividly-coloured flora adorns these latitudes in Europe as well as in Asia dui-ing their brief but ardent summer, with its intense radiance and intense warmth, — consi.sting of potentillas, gentians, starry chick- weeds, spreading saxifrages and sedums, spirreas, drabas, artemisias, and the like. The jiower of the sun is so great, and the consequent rapidity of growth so extraordinarv. that these plants spring up, and blossom, and germinate, and perish in six weeks. In a lower latitude many ligneous plants are found, — as berry-bearing shrubs, the glaucous kalmia, the trailing azalea, the full -blossomed rhododendron. The Siberian floi-a differs from the European in the same latitudes by the inclusion of the North American genera, |>hlox, mitella. and claytonia, 142 VEGETATION IN THE I'OLAi; WORLD. and l>y tliu luxuriance of its asters, spireeas, niilk-vetches, and the saline plants goosefbot and saltwort. In Novaia Zemlaia and other northern regions the vegetation is so stunted that it barely covers the ground, but a much greater variety of minute plants of considerable Ijcauty are aggre- gated there in a limited space than in the Alpine climes of Europe where the same genera occur. This is due to the feebleness of the vegetation ; for in the Swiss Alps the same plant frequently usurps a large area, and drives out every other, — as the dark blue gentian, the violet-tinted pansy, and the yellow and pink stone-croj)s. But in the far north, where vitality is weak and the seeds do not ripen, thirty different species, it has been observed, may be seen "crowded together in a brilliant mass," no one being powerful enough to overcome its companions. In these frozen cli- mates jilants may be said to live between the air and tlii^ earth, for they scarcely raise their heads aljove the soil, and their roots, unable to penetrate it, creep along the surface. All the woody plants — as the betula nava, the reticulated willow, andromeda tetragona, with a few bacciferous shrubs — trail upon the ground, and never rise more than an inch or two above it. The Salix lanata, the giant of the Arctic forests, is about five inches in height ; while its stem, ten or twelve feet long, lies hidden among the moss, and owes shelter, almost life, to its humble neighbour. From Novaia Zemlaia we pass to Spitzbergen, whose flora contains about ninety-three species of flowering or phrenogamous plants, which, like those already mentioned, generally grow in tufts or patches, as if for the sake of mutual protection. The delicate mosses wliich clothe the moist lowlands, and the hai'dy lichens wliich incrust the rocks up to the remotest limits of vege- tation, are very numerous. Some of the Spitzbergen plants are found on the Alps, at elevations varying from 9000 to 10,000 feet above the sea-level ; such as the Arenaria hijfora, the Cerastium alptnum, and the Ranunculus glacialis. The only esculent plant is the Cochlearia fenestrata, which here loses its bitter principles, so much complained of by our Arctic explorers, and may be eaten as a salad. Iceland moss and several grasses afford sustenance for the reindeer. A very different description is given of Kamtschatka, to wliit'h we are once more brought in the course of our rapid survey. Its climate is much more temperate and uniform than that of Siberia, and as the air is humid, the herbaceous vegetation is extraordinarily luxuriant. Not only along the banks of the rivers and lakes, but in the avenues and copses of the \\'oodlands, the grass attains a height of fully twelve feet, while the size of some of the compositte and luiibelli- fer83 is really colossal. For example, the ITeradium dulce and the Senecio cannahifolius fre- cpiently grow so tall as to overto]) a rider upon horseback. The pasturage is so rich that the grass generally yields three crops every summer. A species of lily, the dai'k purple Fritallaria sarrana, is very abundant, and the inhabitants use its tubers instead of bread and meal. If the fruits of the In'cad-fruit tree are pre-eminent among all others, as affording man a peifect substi- tute for bread, the roots of the sarrana, wliich are very similar in taste, rank peihaps immediately after them. The collection of tliese tubers in the meadows is an important summer occupation of the women, and one which is rather troublesome, as flic plant never grows gregariously, so tliat each root has to be dug out separately with a knife. Fortunately the work of gathering the tubers is much lightened by the activity of the Siberian field-vole, a\ hich excavates an ample THE WOODED AND DESERT ZONES. 143 burrow, and stores it fur wiutur pruvisiuu with a large supply of roots, chicriy those of the sarrana. To sum up : — What may be called the Arctic climate extends over nearly the whole of Danish America, the newly-acquired possessions of the United States, the original Hudson Bay Territory, and Labrador, down to that unimportant watershed which separates from the tributaries of Hudson Bay the three great basins of the St. Lawi-ence, the five great lakes, and the Mississippi. This line of watershed undulates between the 52nd and 49th parallels of latitude, from Belle Isle Strait to the sources of the Saskatchewan, in the Rocky Mountains, where it inflects towards the Pacific Ocean, skirting on the north the basin of the Columbia. Thus bounded on the south, the Arctic lands of America, including the groups of islands lying to the north and north-east, cannot occupy less than 560,000 square leagues. They exceed, therefore, the superficial area of the European lands, estimated at alxnit 4!)0,000 square leagues. We propose to divide these lands into two zones or regions, the wooded and the desert zones : the former, in America, includes the basins of the TTpper Mackenzie, the Churchill, the Nelson, and the Sevei'u. In the wooded zone the thermometer does not rise above zero until the month of May. Then, under the influence of a more genial temperature, the breath of life passes into the slum- bering, inert vegetation. Then the reddish shoots of the willow^s, the poplars, and the birches hang out their long c(jttony catkins ; a pleasant greenness spreads over copse and thicket ; the dandelion, the burdock, and the saxifrages lift their heads in the shelter of the rocks ; the sweet- brier fills the air with fragrance, and the gooseberry and the strawberry are put forth by a kindly nature ; while the valleys bloom and the hill-sides are glad with the beauty of the thuja, the larch, and the pine. The boundary between the \\'oodt'd zone and the barren ^\■l:)uld be shown by a line drawn from the mouth of the Churchill in Hudson Bay to Mount St. Elias on the Pacific coast, traversing the southern shores of the Bear and the Slave Lakes. To the north, this barren zone touches on eternal snow, and includes the ice-bound coasts of the Parry Archipelago ; to the east and the north-east, identity of climate and uniform character of soil firing within it the greatest part of Labrador and all Greenland. In Asia the isothermal line of 0° descends towards the 55th parallel of latitude, one lower than in America, — though to the north of it some important towns are situated, as Tobolsk, lat. 58' 11'; Irkutsk, lat. 58° 16'; and Yakutsk, lat. 62°. In Continental Europe, the only Arctic lands jaroperly so called, and distingniished by an Arctic flora, are Russiair Lapland and the deeply-indented coast of Northern Russia. Far away to the north, and separated from the continent by a narrow arm of the sea, lie the three almost contiguous islands known as Novaia Zemlaia (lat. 68° 50' to 76° N.). And still further north, almost equidistant from the Old World and the New, lies the gloomy mountainous archipelago of Spitzbergen (lat. 77° to 81°, and long. 10° to 24). We have now only to recapitulate the general characters of the x\rctic flora, as thej' would 10 144 FOmtS OF ANIMAL LTFK, present themselves to a traveller advancing from the Avooded zone into the desert, and thence to the borders of the Polar Sea. On the southern margin of the wooded region, as in Sweden, Eussia, and Siberia, extend immense forests, chiefly of coniferous trees. As we move towards tlie north these forests dwindle into scattered woods and isolated copj^ices, composed chiefly of stunted jtoplars and dwarf birches and willows. The sub-alpine myrtle, and a small creeping honeysuckle with rounded leaves, are met with in favourable situations. Continuing our northerly progress, we wholly leave behind the arborescent species ; but the rocks and clifis are bright with plants belonging to the families of the ranunculacete, saxifragaceae, cruciferje, and gramineoe. To the tlwarf firs and pigmy willows succeed a few scattered shrubs — such as the gooseberry, the sti-aw- berry, the raspberry, pseudo-mulberry {Hiibus ch(fina'nior((f!) — indigenous to this region, and the Lapland oleander [Rliododendron laponicuin). Still advancing northward, we find, at the extreme limits of the mainland, some drabas [Cruciferce), potentillas {Rosacea), burweeds and rushes [Cijperacew), and lastly a great abun- dance of mosses and lichens. The commonest mosses are the SplecJinum, which resembles small umbels; and, in moist places, the Sphaijnum, or bog-moss, whose successive accumulations, from a remote epoch, have formed, with the detritus of the CyperacccB, extensive areas of peat, which at a future day will perhaps be utilized for fuel. We come now to examine the forms of Animal Life which exist under the conditions tif climate and vegetation we have been describing. Foremost we nuist place the animal which, in the Arctic World, occupies much the same position as the camel in the Tropical, — the reindeer {Cervus tuvandus). \i\ size the reindeer resembles the English stag, but his form is less graceful and more com- pressed. He stands about four feet six inches in height. Long, slender, bi'anching horns embellish his head. The upper part of his body is of a brown colour, the under part is white ; but as the animal advances in years his entire "cotitf cliai»g;es to a gra^'ish- white, and, in not a few cases, is pure white. The nether jiart of the neck, oi' dewlap, droops like a pendent beard. The hoofs are large, long, and black ; and so are the secondary lioofs on the hind feet. The latter, when the animal is running, make by their collision a curious clattering sound, which may be heard at a considerable distance. The reindeer anciently invaded Europe and Asia to a comparatively low latitude : and Julius Ceesar includes it among the animals of the great Hercynian forest. Even in our ouii time large herds traverse the wooded heights of the southern prolongation of the Ouralian i-anL;e. Between the Volga and the Don they descend to the 4Gtli parallel; and they extend tlicu- wanderings as far as the very foot of the Caucasus, on tlie banks of tlie Kouma. Still, the proper habitat of the reindeer is that region of ice and snow l^iiuuded liy the Arctic Circle, — or, more exactly, by the isothermal line of ' ('. Both the wild and the tame species change their feeding-grounds with the seasons. Li winter they come down into the plains and valleys ; in summer they retire to the mountains, where the wild herds gain the most elevated terraces, in order to escape the pertinacious attacks of their insect-enemies. It is a fact worthy of note that every species of animal is infested by a parasitical insect. The oestre so terrifies the reindeer that the mere appearance of one in the air USEFULNESS OF THE REINDEErv. 145 will infuriate a troop of a tliousaud animals. In thu moulting season these insects deposit their eggs in the skin of the unfortunate animal, and there the larvse lodge and multiply ad iiiji)iiturn, incessantly renewing centi'es of suppuration. To the natives of North America the reindeer is invalual)lt>. There is hardly a part of the animal not made available for some useful purpose. Clothing made of its skin is, according to Sir J. Richardson, so imjjervious to cold, that, Avith the addition of a coverlet made of the same material, any one so protected may bivouac on the snow with safety in the most intense cold of the Arctic nio-ht. The venison, when in hioh condition, has several inches of fat on the haunches, and is said to equal that of the fallow-deer in our English parks ; the tongue, and a portion of the tripe, are reckoned most delicious morsels. Pemmican is made by pouring one-third part of WILD REINDEER. fat over two-third parts of the pounded meat, and mixing fat and meat thoroughly together. The Eskimos and Greenlanders consider the stomach, or jiaunch, with its contents, a special delicacy ; and Captain Sir James Ross says that the contents form the onl}^ vegetable food ever tasted by the natives of Boothia. For the reindeer is a herbivorous animal, and feeds upon the mosses and grasses. The I'eindeer is by no means a graceful animal ; its joints are large, and powerful in propor- tion to its size ; the divided hoofs are very large, and as the animal is compelled to lift its feet high when going over the snow, its gallop has none of that beautiful elastic spring wliich char- acterizes the deer of our own islands, though its pace is "telling," and soon carries it ahead of everything but the long-winded, long-legged wolf The stags cast their antlers, and the does drop their young, in jNIay or June, about the time of the first thaw. The males and females are then verv seldom found too-ether ; the female deer collecting in small herds with their young; the little creatures, which seem all eyes, ears, and 14G HERBIVOROUS ANIMALS AND THEIR FOOD. legs, taking alarm at any uuaceustoined sound or the slightest appearance of danger. The summer vegetation fattens the bucks and does amazingly, and the fawns thrive and develojJ ; all three, says Osborn, liaving a comparative lioliday, and getting into condition to face the trials of the coming winter ; while the wolf and the fox, their sworn enemies, are pursuing the infant seals and bears, or attending to their iiwn little domestic duties. But when the autumn frost sets in, and hardens the ground, and the dense snow once more overspreads the dreary northern landscajie, the wolves resume their attacks on the unfortunate deer. For warmth or protection, and following the natural instincts of gregarious animals, they now begin to collect together in large herds of bucks, does, and fawns, numbering as many as sixty and seventy head. The stags seem to undertake the discipline of these large companies, as well as to be responsible for tlieir safety. Captain Mecham relates that, in October 1852, when crossing that j^art of Melville Island which intervenes between Liddon Gulf and Winter Harbour, he fell in with as many as three hundred head of deer ; and he adds that reindeer were always in sight, in herds varying from ten to sixty in number. One of these herds, containing twenty males, he tried to stalk up to on the 7th of October, but failed in getting a shot at them ; for although the does, with the inherent weakness of their sex, showed an excessive curiosity, and made one or two efforts to desert the herd and examine the sti-anger, the stags would in nowise tolerate such conduct, but chastised them smartly with their antlers, and kept the herd together and in motion by running rapidly round and round, uttering at the same time a strange noise Avliich seemed to alarm the herd, and keep it flying from the suspected danger. The coat of the reindeer in summer-time is remarkably thin, and adapted admirably in colour to that of the snow-denuded soil ; but as winter approaches, it thickens, and gradually resumes its snowy whiteness. Though not, strictly speaking, a fur, it forms an admirable non- conducting substance. As winter, " ruler of the inverted year," extends his sway over the Polar World, and food grows scarce and indifferent, and has to be sought over larger areas, the herds break up into companies of ten or twenty animals ; the lichens, the reindeer moss already described [Cetravia IsIancUca), and the sprouts of the creeping willow forming their principal food. On this branch of our subject Admiral Sherard Osborn makes two suggestive remarks. Arctic vegetation, he observes, has no time in the autumn to wither or decay — while in full bloom, and before the juices have time to return into the jiarent root or be otherwise dissipated, the " magic hand of the frost king " strikes them ; and tlms the wi-sdom of the Creator has provided for the nourislnnent of his creatures a fresh and warmth-creating food, l,ying hid under a mantle of snow, which the instinct of those Arctic animals teaches them to remove and reach the stores so Ijeneficently preserved l)eneath. Moreover, most li(.'rl)iv(_)rous animals have a slow system of digestion, even in a domestic state; as, for instance, our cattle and sheep. This a])pears to be more conspicuously the case in the musk-ox, the reindeer, and the Arctic hare, and is of great utility in lands where vegetation is scanty and widespread, and the weatlier occasionally so severe as to compel these creatures, for two or three days at a time, to think only of their safety by seeking shelter from the snow-storms in deep ravines m' under lofty cliflf's. It appears in their case as if Nature extracted from tluir food a greater ipiantity of nourishment tlian she does fi'om that of animals in more southern REINDEER AND THE WOLVES, 147 latitudes ; or possibly, the food, by the mere act of remaining in the stomach or intestines, serves to check the cravings of appetite, though no further nutriment should be extracted. Most of the musk-oxen and deer shot in Captain M'Clintock's expedition, and especially the musk-oxen, liad their entrails distended with food apparently quite digested, while the surround- ing country in many cases was absolutely barren and lifeless, — inducing the conclusion that these creatures had been a long time collecting their supplies, as also that it liad been a long time swallowed, and necessitated the full activity of the vital principle to prevent the food from proving a source of disease. This, indeed, was clearly proved in the case of the musk-oxen, which, if shot, and left twelve hours Avithout being disembowelled, grew tainted throughout with a strong- musky odour, rendering the flesh uneatable. It may ^Iso be stated, as an illustration of the facility witli which the reindeer can Avinter in high latitudes, that in Lapland, whei'e they are used as beasts of draught, a daily supplj' of four pounds of lichen (Cenomyce rangiferina) is considered ample for a working animal ; and on this dietary a reindeer will be in sufficiently good condition to go witliout food occasionally for two or three days, and yet, to all appearance, not to be distressed. Thus, as regards its stores of food, and its provision against the severity of the Arctic winter, the reindeer would seem to be suitably and amply endowed ; and its greatest trial is the incessant rapacity of the wolves that follow its track throughout the winter season. As that season advances, the unfortunate animal apparently resigns itself to an evil which it cannot avoid or avert ; and the calm composure with which a small troop of these creatures will graze with an entourage of half a dozen wolves is not less curious to the observer than philosophical on the part of the reindeer ! " A herd of deer," says an ej'e-witness, " thus surrounded by the wolves, who were too great cowards to rush in upon their prey, would be startled every now and then by the long-drawn unearthly howl of the hungry brutes ; sometimes a frightened deer, horror-stricken at the abomi- nable chant, dashes madly away from the herd, — away all, or a portion, of the wolfish fraternity go after it. In many cases the scene may be briefly summed up with the old three-volume denouement of — a rush, a shriek, a cranching of bones, and snai-ling of beasts of prey, and all is over ! for the wonderful powers of swallow and horrid voracity of an Arctic wolf must be seen to be understood ; no Avriter would jieril his reputation for veracity by repeating what has been seen on that head. But souietimes the frightened deer gains the open country, and goes wonderful distances dogged by the persevering wolf, who assuredly has it, unless another herd is met which admits the hunted deer into its ranks. " Occasionally, whilst a herd of deer are grazing, one of them may happen to hit upon a spot where the food is plentiful ; it naturally lingers there, while the herd is moving slowly on against the wind. The wolves immediately mark the straggler, and stealthily crawl on, their object lieing to cut him off" from the herd ; that effected, there is a howd and a rush, which if the deer does not evade by extraordinary exertions, his fate is instantly sealed." These scenes are enacted throughout the long iVrctic winter. When sight is rendered useless, scent comes to the aid of the rapacious destroj'er ; and we can well believe that manv an exjilorer, in the December darkness of the frozen wastes, has often wished his olfactory nerves were as sensitively organized as those of the wolf For although he can then hear the reindeer, it is imjiossible to see them, except when they liurry across the dark but sno\\'y landscape ; and 148 CUKNING OF THE AJIC'J'IC WOLF. many a bad shot has been made by a hungry «eam;ui at a hirge pair of melancholy eyes wliich peered out of the enveloping mist, because he could not tell, for the life of him, whether the animal was distant two or twenty yards. In the dreadful winter of 1852-53, the deer approached close to tlie exidoring-ship Inveii- titjator, having qnitted the land and traversed the belt of ice. It is difficult to say whether this was done with a view of seeking the warmth which instinct, if not scent, told them radiated from the vessels, — the vessels, compared with the temperature everywhere prevailing (namely, 9" 5' below freezing-point), being complete volcanoes of heat ; or whether it was for security against their wolfish enemies. Probably, it was for the first-named reason ; inasmuch as it is recorded that the foxes of Leopold Harljour, in 1848, soon became aware of the warmer atmosphere pro- duced by the i)resence of Sir James Eoss's squadron, and sagaciously burrowed and bred in the embankments thrown u}> arcmnd the ships. But, at length, winter and its sorrows pass away, and early in the new year a happier life dawns on the nuich-tried reindeer. In February and March the seals begin to breed, and as the attention of the wolves and other beasts of prey is then drawn to the helpless young, which are truly " delicious morsels," the holidays of the reindeer may be said to commence. We may remind the reader also that the Arctic hare and the lemming winter in the icy north, and yield occasional meals to wolf and f()X. The spring returns, and as the sun rises above the horizon, the great herds gradually break up and scatter abroad ; and the deer may then be seen in wandering groups of three or four, until once more the autumn-twilight deepens, and they reassemble in numerous companies. As the reindeer is the camel of the Polar World, so the Arctic wolf may be said to occupy the place of the tiger ; so daring is its courage, and so fierce its lust of l)lood. Assembling in large packs, they are not afraid to haunt the immediate neighbourhood of man. In Captain M'Clintock's expedition, they gathered round the Investigator at such close quarters, that it was unsafe for the crew to leave the ship, unless in companies, and well-armed ; and with their melancholy howls they made night hideous. Five of them attempted to pounce on an Eskimo dog which had long been the pet of the Incestujatur. One of these brutes is described as a " perfect giant," standing nearly four feet high at the shoulder, and having a footmark as big as a reindeer's. (Jur English seamen planned many a clever scheme to entrap these wary ci-eatures, but all failed, while some of the encounters with them were unpleasantly close, and the risk very con- siderable. One day, the boatswain, while out shooting, broke by a shot two of the legs of a fine buck reindeer. Evening coming on, and he knowing the animal could not drag itself far, returned to the ship. Next morning, he started at an early hour to secure his jirize. ^^'hat was his disgust, when he arrived at the })lace, to find his booty in the possession of five large wolves and several foxes ! Detei'mined to have, at all events, a share, the boatswain advanced, shouting with all his might, and hurling at the thieves every opprobrious plu-asu Ik' could invent, yet afraid to fire his single-bai'rellod gun at any one of them, for fear the rest shnuld serve him as they were serving the Inick ; more particularly as they appeared inclined to sliow fight, and made no sign of retreat until he was within four yards. Even then only four had the grace to nu)ve away, sitting down a |iistii]-shot