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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Journal of the Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage + + +Author: William Edward Parry + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: September 2, 2008 [eBook #26509] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL OF THE THIRD VOYAGE FOR +THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">cassell’s +national library</span>.</p> +<h1>JOURNAL<br /> +OF THE<br /> +THIRD VOYAGE<br /> +FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A<br /> +NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +CAPT. W. E. PARRY, R.N., F.R.S.,<br /> +<span class="smcap">and commander of the expedition</span>.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CASSELL & COMPANY, <span +class="smcap">Limited</span>:<br /> +<i>LONDON</i>, <i>PARIS</i>, <i>NEW YORK & MELBOURNE</i>.<br +/> +1889.</p> +<h2><!-- page 5--><a name="page5"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +5</span>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>William Edward Parry, the son of a physician, was born at Bath +in December, 1790. At the age of thirteen he was entered as +a first-class volunteer on board the flag-ship of the Channel +fleet, and after seven years’ service and careful study of +his profession he obtained a commission in 1810 as lieutenant in +the navy. He was then at once, aged twenty, sent to the +Arctic seas, where he was during two or three years in command of +a ship for protection of the British whale fisheries and for +revision of the admiralty charts. In 1813 he was recalled +from that service and sent on blockade service to the North +American station, where he remained about four years, and +occupied his leisure in writing a book on “Nautical +Astronomy by Night,” which he published upon his return to +England in 1817.</p> +<p>At that time the search for a North-West Passage to Eastern +Asia had been suspended for more than half a century. No +expedition had been sent <!-- page 6--><a name="page6"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 6</span>out since 1746. But after +Lieutenant Parry’s return from the North American station, +an expedition was prepared under Sir John Ross in the +<i>Isabella</i>, which sailed in April, 1818, accompanied by the +<i>Alexander</i>, to the command of which Parry was appointed, +Sir John Ross being chief of the expedition. They went by +Davis’s Straits to Lancaster Sound, where Sir John Ross +gave up hope of success and turned back; though Lieutenant Parry +would have gone on. Next year Parry was entrusted with an +expedition of his own, which set out in May, 1819, and reached +Lancaster Sound in July, discovered Prince Regent’s Inlet, +and Barrow Straits, named after Sir John Barrow, Secretary to the +Admiralty, who was active promoter of these expeditions. +Parry wintered among the ice and returned next year, having +pushed Arctic discovery by thirty degrees of longitude farther +than any who had gone before. That was Parry’s first +voyage, from which he returned to be received with triumph by his +countrymen. He was advanced to the rank of Commander in +November, 1820, and made a Fellow of the Royal Society. He +had shown in what direction to proceed with further search, and +at the age of thirty <!-- page 7--><a name="page7"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 7</span>had established for himself a place of +lasting honour in the history of English navigation.</p> +<p>Commander Parry was sent on a second expedition in 1821, from +which he returned in 1823. He was to explore the Fox +Channel, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it was connected +with the Arctic Sea of his first voyage. This voyage had no +important results; and in 1824 Parry started again on the third +voyage, of which this volume contains his Journal. In 1827 +he sailed again in the <i>Hecla</i>, but found himself sledging +over ice that floated southward as fast as he travelled forward +on it northward. He returned then to the work ashore, as a +hydrographer, for which his thorough knowledge of navigation +marked him out. Desire for a more active life caused him to +spend four or five years in Australia (from 1829 to 1834) as +Commissioner to the Agricultural Company of Australia. He +was knighted, and became in 1852 a Rear-Admiral. Sir Edward +Parry was Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital at the time +of his death, in July, 1855.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">H. M.</p> +<h2><!-- page 9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +9</span>THIRD VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST +PASSAGE.</h2> +<h3>INTRODUCTION.</h3> +<p>Notwithstanding the want of success of the late Expedition to +the Polar Seas, it was resolved to make another attempt to effect +a passage by sea, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. +The chief attentions in the equipment of the present expedition +consisted in the placing of Sylvester’s warming stove in +the very bottom of the ship’s hold, in substituting a small +quantity of salt beef for a part of the pork, and in furnishing a +much larger supply of newly corned beef. Preserved carrots +and parsnips, salmon, cream, pickles of onions, beetroot, +cabbage, and, to make the most of our stowage, split pease +instead of whole ones, were supplied. A small quantity of +beef pemmican, made by pounding the meat with a certain portion +of fat, as described by Captain Franklin, was also furnished.</p> +<p>To the officers, seamen, and marines my best acknowledgments +are once more due, for the zealous support I have at all times +received from them in the course of this service; and I am happy +to repeat my conviction that, had it depended on their conduct +and exertion, our most sanguine expectations would, long ere +this, have been crowned with complete success.</p> +<h3><!-- page 10--><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +10</span>CHAPTER I.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Passage to the Whale-fish Islands, and Removal +of Stores from the Transport—Enter the Ice in +Baffin’s Bay—Difficulties of Penetrating to the +Westward—Quit the Ice in Baffin’s Bay—Remarks +on the Obstructions encountered by the Ships, and on the Severity +of the Season.</p> +<p>The equipment of the <i>Hecla</i> and <i>Fury</i>, and the +loading of the <i>William Harris</i> transport, being completed, +we began to move down the river from Deptford on the 8th of May, +1824, and on the 10th, by the assistance of the steamboat, the +three ships had reached Northfleet, where they received their +powder and their ordnance stores. Two days were here +employed in fixing, under the superintendence of Mr. Barlow and +Lieutenant Foster, the plate, invented by the former gentleman, +for correcting the deviation of the compass produced by the +attraction of the ship’s iron; and the continuance of +strong easterly winds prevented our getting to the Nore till the +16th. During our stay at Northfleet the ships were visited +by Viscount Melville, and the other Lords Commissioners of the +Admiralty, who were pleased to approve of our general equipment +and arrangements.</p> +<p>During our passage across the Atlantic in June, and afterwards +on our way up Davis’s Strait, we threw overboard daily a +strong copper cylinder, containing the usual papers, giving an +account of our situation. We also took every opportunity +afforded by light winds, to try the temperature of the sea at +different depths, as compared with that at the surface.</p> +<p>I now determined, as the quickest and most secure mode of +clearing the transport, to anchor at the Whale-fish Islands, +rather than incur the risk of hampering and <!-- page 11--><a +name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>damaging her +among the ice. Fresh gales and thick weather, however, +prevented our doing so till the 26th, when we anchored at eight +A.M., in seventeen fathoms, mooring the ships by hawsers to the +rocks, and then immediately commenced our work. In the +meantime the observatory and instruments were landed on a small +island, called by the Danes Boat Island, where Lieutenant Foster +and myself carried on the magnetic and other observations during +the stay of the Expedition at this anchorage, of which a survey +was also made.</p> +<p>Early on the morning of the 3rd of July, the whole of our +stores being removed, and Lieutenant Pritchard having received +his orders, together with our despatches and letters for England, +the <i>William Harris</i> weighed with a light wind from the +northward, and was towed out to sea by our boats. The day +proving calm, we employed it in swinging the <i>Hecla</i>, in +order to obtain the amount of the deviation of the magnetic +needle, and to fix afresh the iron plate for correcting it. +On the following morning, the wind being southerly, the pilots +came on board, and the <i>Hecla</i> weighed to run through the +north passage; in doing which she grounded on a rock lying +directly in the channel, and having only thirteen feet upon it at +low water, which our sounding boats had missed, and of which the +pilot was ignorant. The tide being that of ebb we were +unable to heave the ship off immediately, and at low water she +had sewed three feet forward. It was not till half-past one +P.M., that she floated, when it became necessary to drop her down +between the rock and the shore with hawsers; after which we made +sail, and being soon after joined by the <i>Fury</i>, which came +out by the other channel, we stood round the islands to the +northwards. This rock was not <!-- page 12--><a +name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span>the only one +found by our boats which may prove dangerous to ships going in +and out of this harbour, and with which our pilots were +unacquainted. Another was discovered by Mr. Head, about +one-third of the distance across from Kron Prins Island to the +opposite shore of the S.E. entrance, and has not more than +eighteen feet water on it at low tide; it lies very much in the +way of ships coming in at that channel, which is the most +commonly used. The latitude of the island, on which the +observations were made, called by the Danes Boat Island, is +74° 28′ 15″; its longitude by our chronometers, +53° 12′ 56″; the dip of the magnetic needle, +82° 53′ 66″; and the variation, 70° 23′ +57″ westerly. The time of high water, at new moon, on +the 26th of June, was a quarter-past eight, the highest tides +being the third and fourth after the conjunction, and the +perpendicular rise seven feet and a half.</p> +<p>The ships standing in towards Lievely on the afternoon of the +5th, Lieutenant Graah very kindly came off to the <i>Fury</i>, +which happened to be the nearest in shore, for the purpose of +taking leave of us. On his quitting the ship a salute of +ten guns was fired at Lievely, which we returned with an equal +number; and I sent to Lieutenant Graah, by a canoe that came on +board the <i>Hecla</i>, an account of the situation of the rocks +we had discovered. Light northerly winds, together with the +dull sailing of our now deeply laden ships, prevented our making +much progress for several days, and kept us in the neighbourhood +of numerous icebergs, which it is dangerous to approach when +there is any swell. We counted from the deck, at one time, +no less than one hundred and three of these immense bodies, some +of them from one to two hundred feet in height above the sea; and +it was necessary, <!-- page 13--><a name="page13"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 13</span>in one or two instances, to tow the +ships clear of them with the boats. We had occasion, about +this time, to remark the more than usual frequency of fogs with a +northerly wind, a circumstance from which the whalers are +accustomed to augur a considerable extent of open water in that +direction.</p> +<p>The ice soon beginning to close around us, our progress became +so slow that, on the 17th, we saw a ship at the margin of the +“pack,” and two more on the following day. We +supposed these to be whalers, which, after trying to cross the +ice to the northward, had returned to make the attempt in the +present latitude; a supposition which our subsequent difficulties +served to strengthen. From this time, indeed, the +obstructions from the quantity, magnitude, and closeness of the +ice, were such as to keep our people almost constantly employed +in heaving, warping, or sawing through it; and yet with so little +success that, at the close of the month of July, we had only +penetrated seventy miles to the westward, or to the longitude of +about 62° 10′. Here, while closely beset, on the +1st of August, we encountered a hard gale from the south-east, +which pressing the ice together in every direction, by mass +overlaying mass for hours together, the <i>Hecla</i> received +several very awkward “nips,” and was once fairly laid +on her broadside by a strain which must inevitably have crushed a +vessel of ordinary strength. In such cases, the ice is +forced under a ship’s bottom on one side, and on the other +up her side, both powers thus acting in such a manner as to bring +her on her “beam-ends.” This is, in fact, the +most favourable manner in which a ship can receive the pressure, +and would perhaps only occur with ice comparatively not very +heavy, though sufficiently so, it is said, to have run completely +over a <!-- page 14--><a name="page14"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 14</span>ship in some extreme and fatal +cases. With ice of still more formidable dimensions a +vessel would probably, by an equal degree of pressure, be +absolutely crushed, in consequence of the increased difficulty of +sinking it on one side, and causing it to rise on the other.</p> +<p><i>Sept. 9th</i>.—I shall doubtless be readily excused +for not having entered in this journal a detailed narrative of +the obstacles we met with, and of the unwearied exertions of the +officers and men to overcome them, during the tedious eight weeks +employed in crossing this barrier. I have avoided this +detail because, while it might appear an endeavour to magnify +ordinary difficulties, which it is our business to overcome +rather than to discuss, I am convinced that no description of +mine, nor even the minute formality of the log-book, could convey +an adequate idea of the truth. The strain we constantly had +occasion to heave on the hawsers, as springs to force the ships +through the ice, was such as perhaps no ships ever before +attempted; and by means of Phillips’s invaluable capstan, +we often separated floes of such magnitude as must otherwise have +baffled every effort. In doing this, it was next to +impossible to avoid exposing the men to very great risk from the +frequent breaking of the hawsers. On one occasion, three of +the <i>Hecla’s</i> seamen were knocked down as +instantaneously as by a gunshot by the sudden flying-out of an +anchor; and a marine of the <i>Fury</i> suffered in a similar +manner when working at the capstan; but, providentially, they all +escaped with severe contusions. A more serious accident +occurred in the breaking of the spindle of the +<i>Fury’s</i> windlass, depriving her of the use of the +windlass-end during the rest of the season.</p> +<p>The constant besetment of the ships, and our daily <!-- page +15--><a name="page15"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +15</span>observations for latitude and longitude, afforded a +favourable opportunity for ascertaining precisely the set of any +currents by which the whole body of ice might be actuated. +By attending very carefully to all the circumstances, it was +evident that a daily set to the southward obtained, when the wind +was northerly, differing in amount from two or three to eight or +ten miles per day, according to the strength of the breeze; but a +northerly current was equally apparent, and fully to the same +amount, whenever the wind blew from the southward. A +circumstance more remarkable than these, however, forced itself +strongly upon my notice at this time, which was, that a +<i>westerly</i> set was very frequently apparent, even against a +fresh breeze blowing from that quarter. I mention the +circumstance in this place, because I may hereafter have to offer +a remark or two on this fact in connection with some others of a +similar nature noticed elsewhere.</p> +<p>With respect to the dimensions of the ice through which we had +now scrambled our way, principally by warping and towing a +distance of between three and four hundred miles, I remarked that +it for the most part increased, as well in the thickness as the +extent of the floes, as we advanced westward about the parallel +of 71°. During our subsequent progress to the north, we +also met with some of enormous dimensions, several of the floes, +to which we applied our hawsers and the power of the improved +capstan, being at their margin more than twenty feet above the +level of the sea, and over some of these we could not see from +the mast-head. Upon the whole, however, the magnitude of +the ice became somewhat less towards the north-west; and within +thirty miles of that margin the masses were comparatively <!-- +page 16--><a name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +16</span>small, and their thickness much diminished. Bergs +were in sight during the whole passage; but they were more +numerous towards the middle of the “pack,” and rather +the most so to the southward.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Enter Sir James Lancaster’s +Sound—Land at Cape Warrender—Meet with young +ice—Ships beset and carried near the shore—Driven +back to Navy-board Inlet—Run to the westward, and enter +Prince Regent’s Inlet—Arrival at Port Bowen.</p> +<p>All our past obstacles were in a moment forgotten when we once +more saw an open sea before us; but it must be confessed that it +was not so easy to forget that the middle of September was +already near at hand, without having brought us even to the +entrance of Sir James Lancaster’s Sound. That not a +moment might be lost, however, in pushing to the westward, a +press of canvas was crowded, and being happily favoured with an +easterly breeze, on the morning of the 10th of September we +caught a glimpse of the high bold land on the north side of the +magnificent inlet up which our course was once more to be +directed. From the time of our leaving the main body of ice +we met with none of any kind, and the entrance to the Sound was, +as usual, entirely free from it, except here and there a berg, +floating about in that solitary grandeur of which these enormous +masses, when occurring in the midst of an extensive sea, are +calculated to convey so sublime an idea.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 11th, the ships being taken a-back with +a fresh westerly breeze when near Cape Warrender, I landed in a +small bay close to the westward <!-- page 17--><a +name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>of it, +accompanied by several of the officers, in order to examine the +country, and to make the necessary observations.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 12th we were once more favoured with a +breeze from the eastward, but so light and unsteady that our +progress was vexatiously slow; and on the 13th, when within seven +leagues of Cape York, we had the mortification to perceive the +sea ahead of us covered with young ice, the thermometer having +for two days past ranged only from 18° to 20°. On +reaching it we had, as usual, recourse to “sallying,” +breaking it with boats ahead, and various other expedients, all +alike ineffectual without a fresh and free breeze furnishing a +constant impetus; so that, after seven or eight hours of +unsuccessful labour in this way, we were obliged to remain as we +were, fairly and immovably beset.</p> +<p>It now appeared high time to determine as to the propriety of +still continuing our efforts to push to the westward or of +returning to England, according to my instructions on that head +under particular circumstances. As the crossing of the ice +in Baffin’s Bay had of itself unexpectedly occupied nearly +the whole of one season, it could not, of course, be considered +that the attempt to penetrate to the westward in the manner +directed by their lordships had as yet been made, nor could it, +indeed, be made during the present year. I could not, +therefore, have a moment’s hesitation as to the propriety +of pushing on as far as the present season would permit, and then +giving a fair trial during the whole of the next summer to the +route I was directed by my instructions to pursue. In +order, however, to confirm my own opinion on this subject, I +requested to be furnished with that of Captain Hoppner; and +finding that his views entirely agreed with <!-- page 18--><a +name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>my own, I +resolved still to pursue our object by all the means in our +power.</p> +<p>The next breeze sprang up from the westward, drawing also from +the southward at times, out of Prince Regent’s Inlet, and +for three days we were struggling with the young ice to little or +no purpose, now and then gaining half a mile of ground to +windward in a little “hole” of open water, then +losing as much by the necessity of bearing up or wearing (for the +ice was too strong to allow us to tack), sallying from morning to +night with all hands, and with the watch at night, two boats +constantly under the bows; and, after all, rather losing ground +than otherwise, while the young ice was every hour increasing in +thickness.</p> +<p>On the 17th, when we had driven back rather to the eastward of +Admiralty Inlet, an easterly breeze again enabled us to make some +progress. The sea was now for the most part covered with +young ice, which had become so thick as to look white throughout +its whole extent. The holes of water could now, therefore, +be more distinctly seen, and by taking advantage of these we +succeeded in making a few miles of westing, the +“leads” taking us more in-shore, towards Admiralty +Inlet, than before. Towards sunset we became more and more +hampered, and were eventually beset during the night. A +breeze sprang up from the westward, which increasing to a fresh +gale, we found ourselves at daylight far to the eastward, and +also within two miles of the land, near a long low point, which +on the former voyages had not been seen. The sea was +covered with ice between us and the shore, all of this +year’s formation, but now of considerable thickness and +formidable appearance. The wind continuing strong, the +whole body was constantly pressed in upon the land, <!-- page +19--><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +19</span>bearing the ships along with it, and doubling one sheet +over another, sometimes to a hundred thicknesses. We +quickly shoaled the water from seventy to forty fathoms, the +latter depth occurring about a mile from the beach; and after +this we drifted but little, the ice being blocked up between the +point and a high perpendicular berg lying aground off it.</p> +<p>The sails being furled, and the top-gallant yards got down, we +now considered ourselves fortunate in our situation; for had we +been only a quarter of a mile farther out we should have been +within the influence of a current that was there sweeping the +whole body of ice to the eastward, at the rate of a mile and a +half an hour. Indeed, at times this current was disposed to +approach us still nearer, carrying away pieces of ice close to +our quarter; but by means of long hawsers, secured to the +heaviest and most compact of the small floes in-shore of us, we +contrived to hold on. Under such circumstances, it +evidently became expedient to endeavour, by sawing, to get the +ships as close in-shore as possible, so as to secure them either +to grounded ice or by anchoring within the shelter of a bay at no +great distance inside of us; for it now seemed not unlikely that +winter was about to put a premature stop to all further +operations at sea for this season. At all events it was +necessary to consult the immediate safety of the ships, and to +keep them from being drifted back to the eastward. I +therefore gave orders for endeavouring to get the ships in +towards the bay by cutting through what level floes still +remained. At the same time an officer was despatched to +examine the shore, which was found safe, with regular soundings +in every part. So strong had been the pressure while the +ice was forcing in upon us, that on the 20th, <!-- page 20--><a +name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>after +liberating the <i>Hecla</i> on one side, she was as firmly +cemented to it on the other as after a winter’s formation, +and we could only clear her by heavy and repeated +“sallying.” After cutting in two or three +hundred yards, while the people were at dinner on the 21st, our +canal closed, by the external pressure coming upon the parts +which we had weakened, and in a few minutes the whole was once +more in motion, or, as the seamen not inaptly expressed it, +“alive,” mass doubling under mass, and raising those +which were uppermost to a considerable height. The ice thus +pressed together was now about ten feet in thickness in some +places, and on an average not less than four or five, so that +while thus forced in upon a ship, although soft in itself, it +caused her to tremble exceedingly; a sensation, indeed, commonly +experienced in forcing through young ice of considerable +thickness. We were now once more obliged to be quiet +spectators of what was going on around us, having with extreme +difficulty succeeded in saving most of our tools that were lying +on the ice when the squeezing suddenly began. Towards +evening we made fast to a stationary floe, at the distance of one +mile from the beach, in eighteen fathoms, where we remained +tolerably quiet for the night, the ice outside of us, and as far +as we could see, setting constantly at a great rate to the +eastward. Some of our gentlemen, who had landed in the +course of the day, and who had to scramble their way on board +over the ice in motion, described the bay as deeper than it +appeared from the offing. Dr. Neill “found, on such +parts of the beach as were not covered with ice or snow, +fragments of bituminous shale, flinty slate, and iron-stone, +interspersed amongst a blue-coloured limestone gravel. As +far as he was able to travel inland, the surface was <!-- page +21--><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +21</span>composed of secondary limestone, partially covered with +a thin layer of calc-sinter. From the scantiness of the +vegetation here, the limestone seemed likely to contain a large +proportion of magnesia. Dr. Neill was about to examine for +coal, which the formation led him to expect, when the ice was +observed to be in motion, obliging him hastily to return on +board.” Lieutenant Ross “found, about +two-thirds up a small peaked insulated hill of limestone, between +three and four hundred feet above the level of the sea, several +pieces of coal, which he found to burn with a clear bright flame, +crackling much, and throwing off slaty splinters.”</p> +<p>Hares’ burrows were numerous on this hill; Lieutenant +Ross saw two of these animals, one of which he killed. A +fox was also observed in its summer dress; and these, with a pair +of ravens, some wingless ducks, and several snow-buntings, were +all the animals noticed at this place.</p> +<p>A sudden motion of the ice on the morning of the 22nd, +occasioned by a change of wind to the S.E., threatened to carry +us directly off the land. It was now more than ever +desirable to hold on, as this breeze was likely to clear the +shore, and at the same time to give us a run to the +westward. Hawsers were therefore run out to the land-ice, +composed of some heavy masses, almost on the beach. With +the <i>Hecla</i> this succeeded, but the <i>Fury</i>, being much +farther from the shore, soon began to move out with the whole +body of ice, which, carrying her close to the large berg off the +point, swept her round the latter, where, after great exertion, +Captain Hoppner succeeded in getting clear, and then made sail to +beat back to us. In the meantime the strain put upon the +<i>Hecla’s</i> hawsers being too great for them, they +snapped one after another, <!-- page 22--><a +name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>and a +bower-anchor was let go as a last resource. It was one of +Hawkins’s, with the double fluke, and immediately brought +up, not merely the ship, but a large floe of young ice, which had +just broken our stream-cable. All hands were sent upon the +floe to cut it up ahead, and the whole operation was a novel and, +at times, a fearful one; for the ice, being weakened by the +cutting, would suddenly gather fresh way astern, carrying men and +tools with it, while the chain-cable continued to plough through +it in a manner which gave one the idea of something alive, and +continually renewing its attacks. The anchor held +surprisingly, and after this tremendous strain had been put upon +it for above an hour, we had fairly cut the floe in two, and the +ship was riding in clear water about half a mile from the +shore.</p> +<p>I was now in hopes we should have made some progress, for a +large channel of clear water was left open in-shore; a breeze +blew off the land, and the temperature of the atmosphere had +again risen considerably. We had not sailed five miles, +however, when a westerly wind took us aback, and a most dangerous +swell set directly upon the shore, obliging me immediately to +stand off the land; and the <i>Fury</i> being still to the +eastward of the point, I ran round it, in order to rejoin her +before sunset. The current was here setting very fast to +the eastward, not less, I think, in some places, than two miles +an hour, so that, even in a clear sea, we had little chance of +stemming it, much less beset as we were in young ice during an +unusually dark night of nine or ten hours’ duration, with a +heavy fall of snow. The consequence was, that when we made +the land on the morning of the 23rd, we had been drifted the +incredible distance of eight or nine leagues during the night, +finding ourselves off the Wollaston <!-- page 23--><a +name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>Islands at +the entrance of Navy Board Inlet. We stood in under the +islands to look for anchorage during the night, but the water +being everywhere too deep close to the shore, we made fast at +sunset to some very heavy ice upon a point, which we took to be +the main land, but which Captain Hoppner afterwards found to be +upon one of the islands, which are at least four in number.</p> +<p>After midnight on the 27th the wind began to moderate, and by +degrees also drew more to the southward than before. At +daylight, therefore, we found ourselves seven or eight miles from +the land; but no ice was in sight, except the +“sludge,” of honey-like consistence, with which +almost the whole sea was covered. A strong blink, extending +along the eastern horizon, pointed out the position of the main +body of ice, which was farther distant from the eastern shore of +the inlet than I ever saw it. Being assisted by a fine +working breeze, which at the same time prevented the formation of +any more ice to obstruct us, we made considerable progress along +the land, and at noon were nearly abreast of Jackson Inlet, which +we now saw to be considerably larger than our distant view of it +on the former voyage had led us to suppose. We found also +that what at a distance appeared an island in the entrance was in +reality a dark-looking rocky hill, on the south side. A few +more tacks brought us to the entrance of Port Bowen, which for +two or three days past I had determined to make our +wintering-place, if, as there was but little reason to expect, we +should be so fortunate as to push the ships thus far. My +reasons for coming to this determination, in which Captain +Hoppner’s opinion also served to confirm me, will be +sufficiently gathered from the operations of the preceding +fortnight, which convinced me that the precarious chance <!-- +page 24--><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +24</span>of making a few miles’ more progress could no +longer be suffered to weigh against the evident risk now +attending further attempts at navigation: a risk not confined to +the mere exposure of the ships to imminent danger, or the hazard +of being shut out of a winter harbour, but to one which, I may be +permitted to say, we all dreaded as much as these—the too +obvious probability of our once more being driven back to the +eastward, should we again become hampered in the young ice. +Joining to this the additional consideration that no known place +of security existed to the southward on this coast, I had not the +smallest hesitation in availing myself of the present opportunity +to get the ships into harbour. Beating up, therefore, to +Port Bowen, we found it filled with “old” and +“hummocky” ice, attached to the shores on both sides, +as low down as about three-quarters of a mile below Stoney +Island. Here we made fast in sixty-two fathoms of water, +running our hawsers far in upon the ice, in case of its breaking +off at the margin.</p> +<p>On entering Port Bowen, I was forcibly struck with the +circumstance of the cliffs on the south side of the harbour +being, in many places, covered with a layer of blue +transparent-looking ice, occasioned undoubtedly by the snow +partially thawing there, and then being arrested by the frost, +and presenting a feature very indicative of the late cold +summer. The same thing was observed on all the land to +which we made a near approach on the south side of Barrow’s +Strait this season, especially about Cape York and Eardley Bay; +but as we had never been close to these parts of the shore in +1819, it did not occur to me as anything new or worthy of +notice. At Port Bowen, however, which in that year was +closely examined, I am quite certain that no such thing was to be +<!-- page 25--><a name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +25</span>seen, even in the month of August, the cliffs being then +quite clear of snow, except here and there a patch of drift.</p> +<p>Late as we had this year been (about the middle of October) in +reaching Sir James Lancaster’s Sound, there would still +have been time for a ship engaged in a whale-fishery to have +reaped a tolerable harvest, as we met with a number of whales in +every part of it, and even as far as the entrance of Port +Bowen. The number registered altogether in our journals is +between twenty and thirty, but I have no doubt that many more +than these were seen, and that a ship expressly on the look-out +for them would have found full occupation for her boats. +Several which came near us were of large and +“payable” dimensions. I confess, however, that +had I been within the Sound, in a whaler, towards the close of so +unfavourable a season as this, with the young ice forming so +rapidly on the whole extent of the sea, I should not have been +disposed to persevere in the fishery under circumstances so +precarious, and to a ship unprepared for a winter involving such +evident risk. It is probable, however, that on the outside +the formation of young ice would have been much retarded by the +swell; and I am inclined to believe that a season so unfavourable +as this will be found of rare occurrence.</p> +<p>We observed a great many narwhals in different parts of +Barrow’s Strait, and a few walruses, and should perhaps +have seen many more of both, but for the continual presence of +the young ice.</p> +<h3><!-- page 26--><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>CHAPTER III.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Winter Arrangements—Improvements in +Warming and Ventilating the Ships—Masquerades adopted as an +Amusement to the Men—Establishment of +Schools—Astronomical Observations—Meteorological +Phenomena.</p> +<p><i>October</i>.—Our present winter arrangements so +closely resembled, in general, those before adopted, that a fresh +description of them here would prove little more than a +repetition of that already contained in the narratives of our +former voyages. On each succeeding occasion, however, some +improvements were made which, for the benefit of those hereafter +engaged in similar enterprises, it may be proper to record. +For all those whose lot it may be to succeed us, sooner or later, +in these inhospitable regions, may be assured that it is only by +rigid and unremitted attention to these and numberless other +“little things” that they can hope to enjoy the good +state of health which, under the Divine blessing, it has always +been our happiness, in so extraordinary a degree, to +experience.</p> +<p>In the description I shall offer of the appearances of nature, +and of the various occurrences, during this winter, I know not +how I can do better than pursue a method similar to that +heretofore practised, by confining myself rather to the pointing +out of any difference observed in them now and formerly, than by +entering on a fresh description of the actual phenomena. To +those who read, as well as to those who describe, the account of +a winter passed in these regions can no longer be expected to +afford the interest of novelty it once possessed; more especially +in a station already delineated with tolerable geographical +precision on our maps, and thus, as it were, <!-- page 27--><a +name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 27</span>brought near +to our firesides at home. Independently, indeed, of this +circumstance, it is hard to conceive any one thing more like +another than two winters passed in the higher latitudes of the +Polar regions, except when variety happens to be afforded by +intercourse with some other branch of “the whole family of +man.” Winter after winter, nature here assumes an +aspect so much alike, that cursory observation can scarcely +detect a single feature of variety. The winter of more +temperate climates, and even in some of no slight severity, is +occasionally diversified by a thaw, which at once gives variety +and comparative cheerfulness to the prospect. But here, +when once the earth is covered, all is dreary, monotonous +whiteness—not merely for days or weeks, but for more than +half a year together. Whichever way the eye is turned, it +meets a picture calculated to impress upon the mind an idea of +inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor with which our +feelings have nothing congenial; of anything, in short, but +life. In the very silence there is a deadness with which a +human spectator appears out of keeping. The presence of man +seems an intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, +which even its native animals have for awhile forsaken.</p> +<p>As this general description of the aspect of nature would suit +alike each winter we have passed in the ice, so also, with very +little variation, might our limited catalogue of occurrences and +adventures serve equally for any one of those seasons. +Creatures of circumstance, we act and feel as we did before on +every like occasion, and as others will probably do after us in +the same situation. Whatever difference time or events may +have wrought in individual feelings, and however different the +occupations which those feelings may have suggested, <!-- page +28--><a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>they +are not such as, without impertinence, can be intruded upon +others; with these “the stranger intermeddleth +not.” I am persuaded, therefore, that I shall be +excused in sparing the dulness of another winter’s diary, +and confining myself exclusively to those facts which appear to +possess any scientific interest, to the few incidents which did +diversify our confinement, and to such remarks as may contribute +to the health and comfort of any future sojourners in these +dreary regions.</p> +<p>It may well be supposed that, in this climate, the principal +desideratum which art is called upon to furnish for the promotion +of health, is warmth, as well in the external air as in the +inhabited apartments. Exposure to a cold atmosphere, when +the body is well clothed, produces no bad effect whatever beyond +a frost-bitten cheek, nose, or finger. As for any injury to +healthy lungs from the breathing of cold air, or from sudden +changes from this into a warm atmosphere, or <i>vice +versâ</i>, it may with much confidence be asserted that, +with due attention to external clothing, there is nothing in this +respect to be apprehended. This inference, at least, would +appear legitimate, from the fact that our crews, consisting of +one hundred and twenty persons, have for four winters been +constantly undergoing, for months together, a change of from +eighty to a hundred degrees of temperature, in the space of time +required for opening two doors (perhaps less than half a minute), +without incurring any pulmonary complaints at all. Nor is a +covering for the mouth at all necessary under these +circumstances, though to most persons very conducive to comfort; +for some individuals, from extreme dislike to the condensation +and freezing of the breath about the “comforter” +generally used for this purpose, have never <!-- page 29--><a +name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 29</span>worn any such +defence for the mouth; and this without the slightest injurious +effect or uncomfortable feeling beyond that of a cold face, which +becomes comparatively trifling by habit.</p> +<p>In speaking of the external clothing sufficient for health in +this climate, it must be confessed that, in severe exposure, +quite a load of woollen clothes, even of the best quality, is +insufficient to retain a comfortable degree of warmth; a strong +breeze carrying it off so rapidly that the sensation is that of +the cold piercing through the body. A jacket made very +long, like those called by seamen “pea-jackets,” and +lined with fur throughout, would be more effectual than twice the +weight of woollen clothes, and is indeed almost +weather-proof. For the prevention of lumbago, to which our +seamen are especially liable, from their well-known habit of +leaving their loins imperfectly clothed, every man should be +strictly obliged to wear, under his outer clothes, a canvas belt +a foot broad, lined with flannel, and having straps to go over +the shoulder.</p> +<p>It is certain, however, that no precautions in clothing are +sufficient to maintain health during a Polar winter, without a +due degree of warmth in the apartments we inhabit. Most +persons are apt to associate with the idea of warmth, something +like the comfort derived from a good fire on a winter’s +evening at home; but in these regions the case is inconceivably +different: here it is not simple comfort, but health, and +therefore ultimately life, that depends upon it. The want +of a constant supply of warmth is here immediately followed by a +condensation of all the moisture, whether from the breath, +victuals, or other sources, into abundant drops of water, very +rapidly forming on all the coldest parts of the deck. A +still <!-- page 30--><a name="page30"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 30</span>lower temperature modifies, and +perhaps improves the annoyance by converting it into ice, which +again an occasional increase of warmth dissolves into +water. Nor is this the amount of the evil, though it is the +only visible part of it; for not only is a moist atmosphere thus +incessantly kept up, but it is rendered stagnant also by the want +of that ventilation which warmth alone can furnish. With an +apartment in this state, the men’s clothes and bedding are +continually in a moist and unwholesome condition, generating a +deleterious air, which there is no circulation to carry off; and +whenever these circumstances combine for any length of time +together, so surely may the scurvy, to say nothing of other +diseases, be confidently expected to exhibit itself.</p> +<p>With a strong conviction of these facts, arising from the +extreme anxiety with which I have been accustomed to watch every +minute circumstance connected with the health of our people, it +may be conceived how highly I must appreciate any means that can +be devised to counteract effects so pernicious. Such means +have been completely furnished by Mr. Sylvester’s warming +apparatus—a contrivance of which I scarcely know how to +express my admiration in adequate terms. The alteration +adopted on this voyage, of placing this stove in the very bottom +of the hold, produced not only the effect naturally to be +expected from it, of increasing the rapidity of the current of +warm air, and thus carrying it to all the officers’ cabins +with less loss of heat in its passage; but was also accompanied +by an advantage scarcely less important, which had <i>not</i> +been anticipated. This was the perfect and uniform warmth +maintained during the winter in both cable-tiers, which, when +cleared of all the stores, gave us another habitable deck, on +which more <!-- page 31--><a name="page31"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 31</span>than one-third of the men’s +hammocks were berthed, thus affording to the ships’ +companies, during seven or eight months of the year, the +indescribable comfort of nearly twice the space for their beds, +and twice the volume of air to breathe in. It need scarcely +be added, how conducive to wholesome ventilation, and to the +prevention of moisture below, such an arrangement proved; suffice +it to say, that we have never before been so free from moisture, +and that I cannot but chiefly attribute to this apparatus the +unprecedented good state of health we enjoyed during this +winter.</p> +<p>Every attention was, as usual, paid to the occupation and +diversion of the men’s minds, as well as to the regularity +of their bodily exercise. Our former amusements being +almost worn threadbare, it required some ingenuity to devise any +plan that should possess the charm of novelty to recommend +it. This purpose was completely answered, however, by a +proposal of Captain Hoppner, to attempt a masquerade, in which +officers and men should alike take part, but which, without +imposing any restraint whatever, would leave every one to their +own choice, whether to join in this diversion or not. It is +impossible that any idea could have proved more happy or more +exactly suited to our situation. Admirably dressed +characters of various descriptions readily took their parts, and +many of these were supported with a degree of spirit and genuine +humour which would not have disgraced a more refined assembly; +while the latter might not have disdained, and would not have +been disgraced by copying the good order, decorum, and +inoffensive cheerfulness which our humble masquerades +presented. It does especial credit to the dispositions and +good sense of our men that, though all the officers entered <!-- +page 32--><a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +32</span>fully into the spirit of these amusements, which took +place once a month alternately on board each ship, no instance +occurred of anything that could interfere with the regular +discipline, or at all weaken the respect of the men towards their +superiors. Ours were masquerades without +licentiousness—carnivals without excess.</p> +<p>But an occupation not less assiduously pursued, and of +infinitely more eventual benefit, was furnished by the +re-establishment of our schools, under the voluntary +superintendence of my friend Mr. Hooper in the <i>Hecla</i>, and +of Mr. Mogg in the <i>Fury</i>. By the judicious zeal of +Mr. Hooper, the <i>Hecla’s</i> school was made subservient, +not merely to the improvement of the men in reading and writing +(in which, however, their progress was surprisingly great), but +also to the cultivation of that religious feeling which so +essentially improves the character of a seaman, by furnishing the +highest motives for increased attention to every other +duty. Nor was the benefit confined to the eighteen or +twenty individuals whose want of scholarship brought them to the +school-table, but extended itself to the rest of the ship’s +company, making the whole lower-deck such a scene of quiet, +rational occupation as I never before witnessed on board a +ship. And I do not speak lightly, when I express my +thorough persuasion that to the moral effects thus produced upon +the minds of the men were owing, in a very high degree, the +constant yet sober cheerfulness, the uninterrupted good order, +and even, in some measure, the extraordinary state of health +which prevailed among us during this winter.</p> +<p>Immediately after the ships were finally secured, we erected +the observatory on shore, and commenced our arrangements for the +various observations to which our <!-- page 33--><a +name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>attention was +to be directed during the winter. The interest of these, +especially of such as related to magnetism, increased so much as +we proceeded, that the neighbourhood of the observatory assumed +ere long almost the appearance of a scattered village, the number +of detached houses, having various needles set up in them, soon +amounting to seven or eight.</p> +<p>The extreme facility with which sounds are heard at a +considerable distance in severely cold weather has often been a +subject of remark; but a circumstance occurred at Port Bowen +which deserves to be noticed, as affording a sort of measure of +this facility, or at least conveying to others some definite idea +of the fact. Lieutenant Foster, having occasion to send a +man from the observatory to the opposite shore of the harbour, a +measured distance of 6696 feet, or about one statute mile and +two-tenths, in order to fix a meridian mark, had placed a second +person half-way between to repeat his directions; but he found, +on trial, that this precaution was unnecessary, as he could +without difficulty keep up a conversation with the man at the +distant station. The thermometer was at this time -18°, +the barometer 30.14 inches, and the weather nearly calm, and +quite clear and serene.</p> +<p>The meteorological phenomena observed during this winter, like +most of its other occurrences, differed so little in character +from those noticed on the former voyages, as to render a separate +description of each wholly unnecessary.</p> +<p>This winter certainly afforded but few brilliant displays of +the Aurora. The following notice includes all that appear +to me to require a separate description.</p> +<p>Late on the night of the 21st of December the phenomenon +appeared partially, and with a variable light, <!-- page 34--><a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>in different +parts of the southern sky for several hours. At seven on +the following morning it became more brilliant and stationary, +describing a well-defined arch, extending from the E.S.E. horizon +to that at W.N.W., and passing through the zenith. A very +faint arch was also visible on each side of this, appearing to +diverge from the same points in the horizon, and separating to +twenty degrees distance in the zenith. It remained thus for +twenty minutes, when the coruscations from each arch met, and +after a short but brilliant display of light, gradually died +away. Early on the morning of the 15th of January, 1825, +the Aurora broke out to the southward, and continued variable for +three hours, between a N.W. and S.E. bearing. From three to +four o’clock the whole horizon, from south to west, was +brilliantly illuminated, the light being continuous almost +throughout the whole extent, and reaching several degrees in +height. Very bright vertical rays were constantly shooting +upwards from the general mass. At half-past five it again +became so brilliant as to attract particular notice, describing +two arches passing in an east and west direction, very near the +zenith, with bright coruscations issuing from it; but the whole +gradually disappeared with the returning dawn. At dusk the +same evening, the Aurora again appeared in the southern quarter, +and continued visible nearly the whole night, but without any +remarkable feature.</p> +<p>About midnight on the 27th of January, this phenomenon broke +out in a single compact mass of brilliant yellow light, situated +about a S.E. bearing, and appearing only a short distance above +the land. This mass of light, notwithstanding its general +continuity, sometimes appeared to be evidently composed of +numerous pencils of <!-- page 35--><a name="page35"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 35</span>rays, compressed, as it were, +laterally into one, its limits both to the right and left being +well defined and nearly vertical. The light, though very +bright at all times, varied almost constantly in intensity, and +this had the appearance (not an uncommon one in the Aurora) of +being produced by one volume of light overlaying another, just as +we see the darkness and density of smoke increased by cloud +rolling over cloud. While Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, and +myself, were admiring the extreme beauty of this phenomenon from +the observatory, we all simultaneously uttered an exclamation of +surprise at seeing a bright ray of the Aurora shoot suddenly +downward from the general mass of light, and between us and the +land, which was there distant only three thousand yards. +Had I witnessed this phenomenon by myself, I should have been +disposed to receive with caution the evidence even of my own +senses, as to this last fact; but the appearance conveying +precisely the same idea to three individuals at once, all +intently engaged in looking towards the spot, I have no doubt +that the ray of light actually passed within that distance of +us.</p> +<p>About one o’clock on the morning of the 23rd of +February, the Aurora again appeared over the hills in a south +direction, presenting a brilliant mass of light, very similar to +that just described. The rolling motion of the light +laterally was here also very striking, as well as the increase of +its intensity thus occasioned. The light occupied +horizontally about a point of the compass, and extended in height +scarcely a degree above the land, which seemed, however, to +conceal from us a part of the phenomenon. It was always +evident enough that the most attenuated light of the Aurora +sensibly dimmed the <!-- page 36--><a name="page36"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 36</span>stars, like a thin veil drawn over +them. We frequently listened for any sound proceeding from +this phenomenon, but never heard any. Our +variation-needles, which were extremely light, suspended in the +most delicate manner, and from the weak directive energy +susceptible of being acted upon by a very slight disturbing +force, were never in a single instance sensibly affected by the +Aurora, which could scarcely fail to have been observed at some +time or other, had any such disturbance taken place, the needles +being visited every hour for several months, and oftener, when +anything occurred to make it desirable.</p> +<p>The meteors called Falling-stars were much more frequent +during this winter than we ever before saw them, and particularly +during the month of December. On the 8th, at a quarter past +seven in the evening, a particularly large and brilliant meteor +of this kind fell in the S.S.W., the weather being very fine and +clear overhead, but hazy near the horizon. On the following +day, between four and five P.M., another very brilliant one was +observed in the north, falling from an altitude of about +thirty-five degrees till lost behind the land; the weather was at +this time clear and serene, and no remarkable change took +place. On the 12th, no less than five meteors of this kind +were observed in a quarter of an hour, and as these were attended +with some remarkable circumstances, I shall here give the account +furnished me by Mr. Ross, who with Mr. Bell observed these +phenomena. “From seven to nine P.M. the wind suddenly +increased from a moderate breeze to a strong gale from the +southward. At ten it began to moderate a little; the haze, +which had for several hours obscured every star, gradually +sinking towards the horizon, and by <!-- page 37--><a +name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>eleven +o’clock the whole atmosphere was extremely clear above the +altitude of five or six degrees. The thermometer also fell +from -5° to -9° as the haze cleared away. At a +quarter past eleven my attention was directed by Mr. Bell to some +meteors which he observed, and in less than a quarter of an hour +five were seen. The two first, noticed only by Mr. Bell, +fell in quick succession, probably not more than two minutes +apart. The third appeared about eight minutes after these, +and exceeded in brilliancy any of the surrounding stars. It +took a direction from near β Tauri, and passing slowly +towards the Pleiades, left behind it sparks like the tail of a +rocket, these being visible for a few seconds after the meteor +appeared to break, which it did close to the Pleiades. The +fourth meteor made its appearance very near the same place as the +last, and about five minutes after it. Taking the course of +those seen by Mr. Bell, it passed to the eastward, and +disappeared half way between β Tauri and Gemini. The +fifth of these meteors was seen to the eastward, passing through +a space of about five degrees from north to south parallel to the +horizon, and moving along the upper part of the cloud of haze +which still extended to the altitude of five or six +degrees. It was more dim than the rest, and of a red colour +like Aldebaran. The third of these meteors was the only one +that left a tail behind it, as above described. There was a +faint appearance of the Aurora to the westward near the +horizon.</p> +<p>On the 14th of December several very bright meteors were +observed to fall between the hours of five and six in the +evening, at which time the wind freshened from the N.W. by N. in +a very remarkable manner. On this occasion, as well as on +the 12th of December, there <!-- page 38--><a +name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 38</span>appeared to +be an evident coincidence between the occurrence of the meteors +and the changes of the weather at the time.</p> +<p>Particular attention was paid to the changes in the barometer +during this winter, to which much encouragement was given by the +excellence of the instruments with which we were now +furnished. The times of register at sea had been three and +nine, A.M. and P.M.; those hours having been recommended as the +most proper for detecting any horary oscillations of the +mercurial column. When we were fixed for the winter, and +our attention could be more exclusively devoted to scientific +objects, the register was extended to four and ten, and +subsequently to five and eleven o’clock. The most +rigid attention to the observation and correction of the column, +during several months, discovered an oscillation amounting only +to ten thousandth-parts of an inch. The times of the +maximum and minimum altitude appear, however, decidedly to lean +to four and ten o’clock, and to follow a law directly the +reverse, as to time, of that found to obtain in temperate +climates, the column being highest at four, and lowest at ten +o’clock, both A.M. and P.M.</p> +<p>The barometer did not appear to indicate beforehand the +changes of the weather with any degree of certainty. Indeed +the remark that we had always before made, that alterations in +the mercurial column more frequently accompany than precede the +visible changes of weather in these regions, was equally true of +our present experience; but on one or two occasions hard gales of +considerable duration occurred without the barometer falling at +all below the mean altitude of the column in these regions, or +even rose steadily during the continuance of the gale. <!-- +page 39--><a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +39</span>During one week of almost constant blowing weather, and +two days of very violent gales from the eastward, in the month of +April, the barometer remained considerably above thirty inches +the whole time. It is necessary for me here to remark that +the unusual proportion of easterly winds registered in our +journals during this winter must, in my opinion, be attributed to +the local situation of our winter-quarters, which alone appears +to me sufficient to account for the anomaly. The lands on +each side of Port Bowen, running nearly east and west, and rising +to a height of six to nine hundred feet above the sea, with deep +and broad ravines intersecting the country in almost every +direction, may be supposed to have had considerable influence on +the direction of the wind. In confirmation of this +supposition, indeed, it was usually noticed that the easterly +winds were with us attended with clear weather, while the +contrary obtained with almost every breeze from the west and +north-west, thus reversing in this respect also the usual order +of things. It was moreover observed that the clouds were +frequently coming from the north-west, when the wind in Port +Bowen was easterly. I must, however, except the gales we +experienced from the eastward, which were probably strong enough +to overcome any local deflection to which a light breeze would be +subject; and indeed these were always accompanied with overcast +weather and a high thermometer. After the middle of October +the gales of wind were very few till towards the middle of April, +when we experienced more blowing weather than during the whole +winter.</p> +<h3><!-- page 40--><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +40</span>CHAPTER IV.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Meteorological Phenomena +continued—Re-equipment of the Ships—Several Journeys +undertaken—Open Water in the Offing—Commence sawing a +Canal to liberate the Ships—Disruption of the +Ice—Departure from Port Bowen.</p> +<p>The height of the land about Port Bowen deprived us longer +than usual of the sun’s presence above our horizon. +Some of our gentlemen, indeed, who ascended a high hill for the +purpose, caught a glimpse of him on the 2nd of February; on the +15th it became visible at the observatory, but at the ships not +till the 22nd, after an absence of one hundred and twenty-one +days. It is very long after the sun’s reappearance in +these regions, however, that the effect of his rays, as to +warmth, becomes perceptible; week passes after week with scarcely +any rise in the thermometer except for an hour or two during the +day; and it is at this period more than any other, perhaps, that +the lengthened duration of a polar winter’s cold is most +wearisome, and creates the most impatience. Towards the +third week in March, thin flakes of snow lying upon black painted +wood or metal, and exposed to the sun’s direct rays in a +sheltered situation, readily melted. In the second week of +April any very light covering of sand or ashes upon the snow +close to the ships might be observed to make its way downward +into holes; but a coat of sand laid upon the unsheltered ice, to +the distance of about two-thirds of a mile, for dissolving a +canal to hasten our liberation, produced no such sensible effect +till the beginning of May. Even then the dissolution was +very trifling till about the first week in June, when pools of +water began to make their appearance, and not long <!-- page +41--><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>after +this a small boat would have floated down it. On shore the +effect is in general still more tardy, though some deception is +there occasioned by the dissolution of the snow next the ground, +while its upper surface is to all appearance undergoing little or +no change. Thus a greater alteration is sometimes produced +in the aspect of the land by a single warm day in an advanced +part of the season than in many weeks preceding, in consequence +of the last crust of snow being dissolved, leaving the ground at +length entirely bare. We could now perceive the snow +beginning to leave the stones from day to day as early as the +last week in April. Towards the end of May a great deal of +snow was dissolved daily, but owing to the porous nature of the +ground, which absorbed it as fast as it was formed, it was not +easy to procure water for drinking on shore, even as late as the +10th of June. In the ravines, however, it could be heard +trickling under stones before that time, and about the 18th, many +considerable streams were formed, and constantly running both +night and day. After this, the thawing proceeded at an +inconceivably rapid rate, the whole surface of the floes being +covered with large pools of water rapidly increasing in size and +depth.</p> +<p>We observed nothing extraordinary with respect to the +sun’s light about the shortest day; but as early as the +20th of November Arcturus could very plainly be distinguished by +the naked eye, when near the south meridian at noon. About +the first week in April the reflection of light from the snow +became so strong as to create inflammation in the eyes, and +notwithstanding the usual precaution of wearing black crape veils +during exposure, several cases of snow-blindness occurred shortly +afterwards.</p> +<p>There are perhaps few things more difficult to obtain <!-- +page 42--><a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +42</span>than a comparative measure of the quantity of snow that +falls at different places, owing to the facility with which the +wind blows it off a smooth surface, such as a floe of level ice, +and the collection occasioned by drift in consequence of the +smallest obstruction. Thus, its mean depth at Port Bowen, +measured in twenty different places on the smooth ice of the +harbour, was three inches on the 5th of April, and on the 1st of +May it had only increased to four and a half inches, while an +immense bank, fourteen feet deep, had formed on one side of the +<i>Hecla</i>, occasioned by the heavy drifts. The crystals +were, as usual, extremely minute during the continuance of the +cold weather, and more or less of these were always falling, even +on the clearest days.</p> +<p>The animals seen at Port Bowen may now be briefly +noticed. The principal of those seen during the winter were +bears, of which we killed twelve, from October to June, being +more than during all the other voyages taken together; and +several others were seen. One of these animals was near +proving fatal to a seaman of the <i>Fury</i>, who, having +straggled from his companions, when at the top of a high hill saw +a large bear coming towards him. Being unarmed, he +prudently made off, taking off his boots to enable him to run the +faster, but not so prudently precipitated himself over an almost +perpendicular cliff, down which he was said to have rolled or +fallen several hundred feet; here he was met by some of the +people in so lacerated a condition as to be in a very dangerous +state for some time after.</p> +<p>A she-bear, killed in the open water on our first arrival at +Port Bowen, afforded a striking instance of maternal affection in +her anxiety to save her two cubs. She might herself easily +have escaped the boat, but would not <!-- page 43--><a +name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 43</span>forsake her +young, which she was actually “towing” off by +allowing them to rest on her back, when the boat came near +them. A second similar instance occurred in the spring, +when two cubs having got down into a large crack in the ice their +mother placed herself before them, so as to secure them from the +attacks of our people, which she might easily have avoided +herself.</p> +<p>This unusual supply of bear’s flesh was particularly +serviceable as food for the Esquimaux dogs we had brought out, +and which were always at work in a sledge; especially as, during +the winter, our number was increased by the birth of six others +of these useful animals.</p> +<p>One or two foxes (<i>Canis Lagopus</i>) were killed, and four +caught in traps during the winter, weighing from four pounds and +three-quarters to three pounds and three-quarters. The +colour of one of these animals, which lived for some time on +board the <i>Fury</i> and became tolerably tame, was nearly pure +white till the month of May, when he shed his winter-coat and +became of a dirty chocolate colour, with two or three light brown +spots. Only three hares (<i>Lepus Variabilis</i>) were +killed from October to June, weighing from six to eight pounds +and three-quarters. Their fur was extremely thick, soft, +and of the most beautiful whiteness imaginable. We saw no +deer near Port Bowen at any season, neither were we visited by +their enemies the wolves. A single ermine and a few mice +(<i>Mus Hudsonius</i>) complete, I believe, our scanty list of +quadrupeds at this desolate and unproductive place.</p> +<p>Of birds, we had a flock or two of ducks occasionally flying +about the small lanes of open water in the offing, as late as the +3rd of October; but none from that time to the beginning of June, +and then only a single pair was <!-- page 44--><a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>occasionally +seen. A very few grouse were met with also after our +arrival at Port Bowen; a single specimen was obtained on the 23rd +of December, and another on the 18th of February. They +again made their appearance towards the end of March, and in less +than a month about two hundred were killed; after which we +scarcely saw another, for what reason we could not conjecture, +except that they might possibly be on their way to the northward, +and that the utter barrenness of the land about Port Bowen +afforded no inducement for their remaining in our +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>Lieutenant Ross, who paid great attention to ornithology, +remarked that the grouse met with here are of three kinds, +namely, the ptarmigan (<i>Tetrao Lagopus</i>), the rock-grouse, +(<i>Tetrao Rupestris</i>), and the willow-partridge (<i>Tetrao +Albus</i>). Of these only the two former were seen in the +spring, and by far the greater number killed were of the +first-mentioned species. They usually had in their maws the +leaves of the <i>Dryas Integrifolia</i>, buds of the <i>Saxifraga +Oppositifolia</i>, <i>Salix Arctica</i>, and <i>Draba Alpina</i>, +the quantities being according to the order in which the plants +have here been named. A few leaves also of the <i>Polygonum +Viviparum</i> were found in one or two specimens. The +snow-bunting, with its sprightly note, was, as usual, one of our +earliest visitants in the spring; but these were few in number +and remained only a short time. A very few sand-pipers were +also seen, and now and then one or two glaucous, ivory, and +kittiwake gulls. A pair of ravens appeared occasionally +during the whole winter here, as at most of our former winter +stations.</p> +<p>With a view to extend our geographical knowledge as much as +our means permitted, three land journeys were undertaken as soon +as the weather was sufficiently warm <!-- page 45--><a +name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>for procuring +any water. The first party, consisting of six men, under +Captain Hoppner, were instructed to travel to the eastward, to +endeavour to reach the sea in that direction and to discover the +communication which probably exists there with Admiralty Inlet, +so as to determine the extent of that portion of insular land on +which Port Bowen is situated. They returned on the 14th, +after a very fatiguing journey, and having with difficulty +travelled a degree and three-quarters to the eastward of the +ships, in latitude 73° 19′, from which position no +appearance of the sea could be perceived. Captain Hoppner +described the ravines as extremely difficult to pass, many of +them being four or five hundred feet deep and very +precipitous. These being numerous and running chiefly in a +north and south direction, appearing to empty themselves into +Jackson’s Inlet, preclude the possibility of performing a +quick journey to the eastward. During the whole +fortnight’s excursion scarcely a patch of vegetation could +be seen. Indeed, the hills were so covered in most parts +with soft and deep snow that a spot could seldom be found on +which to pitch their tent. A few snow-buntings and some +ivory gulls were all the animals they met with to enliven this +most barren and desolate country; and nothing was observed in the +geological character differing from that about Port Bowen.</p> +<p>In the bed of one of the ravines Captain Hoppner noticed some +immense masses of rock, thirty or forty tons in weight, which had +recently fallen from above, and he also passed over several +avalanches of snow piled to a vast height across it.</p> +<p>The two other parties, consisting of four men each, under the +respective commands of Lieutenants Sherer <!-- page 46--><a +name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 46</span>and Ross, +were directed to travel, the former to the southward, and the +latter to the northward, along the coast of Prince Regent’s +Inlet, for the purpose of surveying it accurately, and of +obtaining observations for the longitude and variation at the +stations formerly visited by us on the 7th and 15th of August, +1819. I was also very anxious to ascertain the state of the +ice to the northward to enable me to form some judgment as to the +probable time of our liberation.</p> +<p>These parties found the travelling along shore so good as to +enable them not only to reach those spots, but to extend their +journeys far beyond them. Lieutenant Ross returning on the +15th, brought the welcome intelligence of the sea being perfectly +open and free from ice at the distance of twenty-two miles to the +northward of Port Bowen, by which I concluded—what, indeed, +had long before been a matter of probable conjecture,—that +Barrow’s Strait was not permanently frozen during the +winter. From the tops of the hills about Cape York, beyond +which promontory Lieutenant Ross travelled, no appearance of ice +could be distinguished. Innumerable ducks, chiefly of the +king, eider, and long-tailed species, were flying about near the +margin of the ice, besides dovekies, looms, and glaucous, +kittiwake, and ivory gulls. Lieutenant Sherer returned to +the ships on the evening of the 15th, having performed a rapid +journey as far as 72¼°, and making an accurate survey +of the whole coast to that distance. In the course of this +journey a great many remains of Esquimaux habitations were seen, +and these were much more numerous on the southern part of the +coast. In a grave which Lieutenant Sherer opened, in order +to form some idea whether the Esquimaux had lately been here, he +found the body apparently quite <!-- page 47--><a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>fresh; but as +this might in a northern climate remain the case for a number of +years, and as our board erected in 1819 was still standing +untouched and in good order, it is certain these people had not +been here since our former visit. Less numerous traces of +the Esquimaux, and of older date, occur near Port Bowen and in +Lieutenant Ross’s route along shore to the northward, and a +few of the remains of habitations were those used as winter +residences. I have since regretted that Lieutenant Sherer +was not furnished with more provisions and a larger party to have +enabled him to travel round Cape Kater, which is probably not far +distant from some of the northern Esquimaux stations mentioned in +my Journal of the preceding voyage.</p> +<p>Towards the end of June, the dovekies (<i>Colymbus Grylle</i>) +were extremely numerous in the cracks of the ice at the entrance +of Port Bowen, and as these were the only fresh supply of any +consequence that we were able to procure at this unproductive +place, we were glad to permit the men to go out occasionally with +guns, after the ships were ready for sea, to obtain for their +messes this wholesome change of diet; while such excursions also +contributed essentially to their general health and +cheerfulness. Many hundreds of these birds were thus +obtained in the course of a few days. On the evening of the +6th of July, however, I was greatly shocked at being informed by +Captain Hoppner that John Cotterell, a seaman of the <i>Fury</i>, +had been found drowned in one of the cracks of the ice, by two +other men belonging to the same party who had been with him but a +few minutes before. We could never ascertain precisely in +what manner this accident happened, but it was supposed that he +must have overreached himself in stooping for a bird <!-- page +48--><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>that +he had killed. His remains were committed to the earth on +Sunday the 10th, with every solemnity which the occasion +demanded, and our situation would allow; and a tomb of stones +with a suitable inscription was afterwards erected over the +grave.</p> +<p>In order to obtain oil for another winter’s consumption +before the ships could be released from the ice, and our +travelling parties having seen a number of black whales in the +open water to the northward, two boats from each ship were, with +considerable labour, transported four miles along shore in that +direction, to be in readiness for killing a whale and boiling the +oil on the beach, whenever the open water should approach +sufficiently near. They took their station near a +remarkable peninsular piece of land on the south side of the +entrance to Jackson’s Inlet, which had on the former voyage +been taken for an island. Notwithstanding these +preparations, however, it was vexatious to find that on the 9th +of July the water was still three miles distant from the boats, +and at least seven from Port Bowen. On the 12th, the ice in +our neighbourhood began to detach itself, and the boats under the +command of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross being launched on the +following day, succeeded almost immediately in killing a small +whale of “five feet bone,” exactly answering our +purpose. Almost at the same time, and as it turned out very +opportunely, the ice at the mouth of our harbour detached itself +at an old crack, and drifted off, leaving only about one mile and +a quarter between us and the sea. Half of this distance +being occupied by the gravelled canal, which was dissolved quite +through the ice in many parts and had become very thin in all, +every officer and man in both ships were set to work without +delay to commence a fresh canal from the open water, to <!-- page +49--><a name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +49</span>communicate with the other. This work proved +heavier than we expected, the ice being generally from five to +eight feet, and in many places from ten to eleven, in +thickness. It was continued, however, with the greatest +cheerfulness and alacrity from seven in the morning till seven in +the evening daily, the dinner being prepared on the ice and eaten +under the lee of a studding sail erected as a tent.</p> +<p>On the afternoon of the 19th a very welcome stop was put to +our operations by the separation of the floe entirely across the +harbour, and about one-third from the ships to where we were at +work. All hands being instantly recalled by signal, were on +their return set to work to get the ships into the gravelled +canal, and to saw away what still remained in it to prevent our +warping to sea. This work, with only half an hour’s +intermission for the men’s supper, was continued till +half-past six the following morning, when we succeeded in getting +clear. The weather being calm, two hours were occupied in +towing the ships to sea, and thus the officers and men were +employed at very laborious work for twenty-six hours, during +which time there were, on one occasion, fifteen of them overboard +at once; and, indeed, several individuals met with the same +accident three times. It was impossible, however, to regret +the necessity of these comparatively trifling exertions, +especially as it was now evident that to have sawed our way out, +without any canal, would have required at least a fortnight of +heavy and fatiguing labour.</p> +<h3><!-- page 50--><a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +50</span>CHAPTER V.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Sail over towards the Western Coast of Prince +Regent’s Inlet—Stopped by the Ice—Reach the +Shore about Cape Seppings—Favourable Progress along the +Land—Fresh and repeated Obstructions from Ice—Both +Ships driven on Shore—Fury seriously +damaged—Unsuccessful Search for a Harbour for heaving her +down to repair.</p> +<p><i>July</i> 20.—On standing out to sea, we sailed with a +light southerly wind towards the western shore of Prince +Regent’s Inlet, which it was my first wish to gain, on +account of the evident advantage to be derived from coasting the +southern part of that portion of land called in the chart +“North Somerset,” as far as it might lead to the +westward; which, from our former knowledge, we had reason to +suppose it would do as far at least as the longitude of 95°, +in the parallel of about 72°. After sailing about eight +miles, we were stopped by a body of close ice lying between us +and a space of open water beyond. By way of occupying the +time in further examination of the state of the ice, we then bore +up with a light northerly wind, and ran to the south-eastward to +see if there was any clear water between the ice and the land in +that direction; but found that there was no opening between them +to the southward of the flat-topped hill laid down in the chart, +and now called Mount Sherer. Indeed, I believe that at this +time the ice had not yet detached itself from the land to the +southward of that station. On standing back, we were +shortly after enveloped in one of the thick fogs which had, for +several weeks past, been observed almost daily hanging over some +part of the sea in the offing, though we had scarcely experienced +any in Port Bowen until the water became open at the mouth of the +harbour.</p> +<p><!-- page 51--><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +51</span>On the clearing up of the fog on the 21st, we could +perceive no opening of the ice leading towards the western land; +nor any appearance of the smallest channel to the southward along +the eastern shore. I was determined, therefore, to try at +once a little farther to the northward, the present state of the +ice appearing completely to accord with that observed in 1819, +its breadth increasing as we advanced from Prince Leopold’s +Islands to the southward. As, therefore, I felt confident +of being able to push along the shore if we should once gain it, +I was anxious to effect the latter object in any part rather than +incur the risk of hampering the ships by a vain, or, at least, a +doubtful attempt to force them through a body of close ice +several miles wide, for the sake of a few leagues of southing, +which would soon be regained by coasting.</p> +<p>Light winds detained us very much, but being at length +favoured by a breeze, we carried all sail to the north-west, the +ice very gradually leading us towards the Leopold Isles. +Having arrived off the northernmost on the morning of the 22nd, +it was vexatious, however curious, to observe the exact +coincidence of the present position of the ice with that which it +occupied a little later in the year 1819. The whole body of +it seemed to cling to the western shore, as if held there by some +strong attraction, forbidding, for the present, any access to +it. We now stood off and on, in the hope that a southerly +breeze, which had just sprung up, might serve to open us a +channel. In the evening the wind gradually freshened, and +before midnight had increased to a strong gale, which blew with +considerable violence for ten hours, obliging us to haul off from +the ice and to keep in smooth water under the eastern land until +it abated; after which not a moment was lost in again standing +over to the westward. <!-- page 52--><a +name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>After running +all night, with light and variable winds, through loose and +scattered ice, we suddenly found ourselves, on the clearing up of +a thick fog, through which we had been sailing on the morning of +the 24th, within one-third of a mile of Cape Seppings, the land +just appearing above the fog in time to save us from danger, the +soundings being thirty-eight fathoms, on a rocky bottom. +The <i>Fury</i> being apprised by guns of our situation, both +ships were hauled off the land, and the fog soon after +dispersing, we had the satisfaction to perceive that the late +gale had blown the ice off the land, leaving us a fine navigable +channel from one to two miles wide, as far as we could see from +the mast-head along the shore. We were able to avail +ourselves of this but slowly, however, in consequence of a light +southerly breeze still blowing against us.</p> +<p>We had now an opportunity of discovering that a long neck of +very low land runs out from the southernmost of the Leopold +Islands, and another from the shore to the southward of Cape +Clarence. These two had every appearance of joining, so as +to make a peninsula, instead of an island, of that portion of +land which, on account of our distance preventing our seeing the +low beach, had in 1819 been considered under the latter +character. It is, however, still somewhat doubtful, and the +Leopold Isles, therefore, still retain their original designation +on the chart. The land here, when closely viewed, assumes a +very striking and magnificent character, the strata of limestone, +which are numerous and quite horizontally disposed, being much +more regular than on the eastern shore of Prince Regent’s +Inlet, and retaining nearly their whole perpendicular height of +six or seven hundred feet, close to the sea. The +south-eastern promontory of the southernmost <!-- page 53--><a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>island is +particularly picturesque and beautiful, the heaps of loose +<i>débris</i> lying here and there up and down the sides +of the cliff giving it the appearance of some huge and +impregnable fortress, with immense buttresses of masonry +supporting the walls. Near Cape Seppings, and some distance +beyond it to the southward, we noticed a narrow stratum of some +very white substance, the nature of which we could not at this +time conjecture. I may here remark that the whole of +Barrow’s Strait, as far as we could see to the N.N.E. of +the islands, was entirely free from ice; and from whatever +circumstance it may proceed, I do not think that this part of the +Polar Sea is at any season very much encumbered with it.</p> +<p>It was the general feeling, at this period, among us, that the +voyage had but now commenced. The labours of a bad summer, +and the tedium of a long winter, were forgotten in a moment when +we found ourselves upon ground not hitherto explored, and with +every apparent prospect before us of making as rapid a progress +as the nature of this navigation will permit towards the final +accomplishment of our object.</p> +<p>Early on the morning of the 25th, we passed the opening in the +land delineated in the former chart of this coast, in latitude +73° 34′, which we now found to be a bay about three +miles deep, but apparently open to the sea. I named it +after my friend, Hastings Elwin, Esq., of Bristol, as a token of +grateful esteem for that gentleman. The wind falling very +light, so that the ships made no progress, I took the opportunity +of landing in the fore-noon, accompanied by a party of the +officers, and was soon after joined by Captain Hoppner. We +found the formation to consist wholly of lime, and now discovered +the nature of the narrow white stratum observed the day <!-- page +54--><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +54</span>before from the offing, and which proved to be gypsum, +mostly of the earthy kind, and some of it of a very pure +white. A part of the rock near our landing-place contained +a quantity of it in the state of selenite in beautiful +transparent laminæ of a large size. The abundance of +gypsum hereabouts explained also the extreme whiteness of the +water near the whole of this part of the coast, which had always +been observed in approaching it, and which had at first excited +unnecessary apprehensions as to the soundings along the +shore. This colour is more particularly seen near the +mouths of the streams, many of which are quite of a dirty milk +colour, and tinge the sea to the distance of more than a mile, +without any alteration in the depth, except a gradual diminution +in going in. The vegetation in this place was, as usual, +extremely scanty, though much more luxuriant than on any of the +land near our winter quarters, and no animals were seen. +The latitude of our landing-place was 73° 27′ +23″, the longitude by chronometers 90° 50′ +34.6″, and the variation of the magnetic needle 125° +34′ 42″ westerly. From half-past nine A.M. till +a quarter past noon the tide fell two feet three inches; and as +it was nearly stationary at the latter time, it was probably near +low water.</p> +<p>A breeze enabling us again to make some progress, and an open +channel still favouring us of nearly the same breadth as before, +we passed during the night a second bay, about the same size as +the other, and also appearing open to the sea; it lies in +latitude (by account from the preceding and following noon) +73° 19′ 30″, and its width is one mile and a +half. It was called Batty Bay, after my friend Captain +Robert Batty, of the Grenadier Guards. We now perceived +that the ice closed completely in with <!-- page 55--><a +name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>the land a +short distance beyond us, and having made all the way we could, +were obliged to stand off and on during the day in a channel not +three-quarters of a mile wide. This channel being still +more contracted towards the evening, we were obliged to make fast +to some grounded land ice upon the beach in four fathoms water, +there to await some change in our favour. We here observed +traces of our old friends the Esquimaux, there being several of +their circles of stones, though not of recent date, close to the +sea. We also found a more abundant vegetation than before, +and several plants familiar to us on the former voyages, but not +yet procured on this, were now added to our collections. +The geological character of the land was nearly the same as +before, but we found here some gypsum of the fibrous kind, +occurring in a single stratum about an inch and a half +wide. About a mile to the north of us was a curious cascade +or spout of water, issuing from a chasm in the rock, and falling +more than two hundred feet perpendicular. Our gentlemen, +who visited the spot, described it as rendered the more +picturesque by innumerable kittiwakes having their nests among +the rocks, and constantly flying about the stream. The +latitude was 73° 06′ 17″, the longitude by +chronometers 91° 19′ 52.3″, the dip of the +magnetic needle 88° 02.1′, and the variation 128° +23′ 17″ westerly.</p> +<p>The ice opening in the afternoon of the 27th, we cast off and +run four or five miles with a northerly breeze. This wind, +however, always had the effect of making the ice close the shore, +while a southerly breeze as uniformly opened it, so that on this +coast, as on several others that I have known, a contrary +wind—however great the paradox may seem—proved, on +the whole, the most favourable for making progress. This +circumstance is simply to be <!-- page 56--><a +name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>attributed to +the greater abundance of open water in the parts we have left +behind (in the present instance the open sea of Barrow’s +Strait) than those towards which we are going. We were once +more obliged to make fast, therefore, to some grounded ice close +to the beach, rather than run any risk of hampering the ships, +and rendering them unable to take advantage of a change in our +favour.</p> +<p>A light southerly breeze on the morning of the 28th gradually +cleared the shore, and a fresh wind from the N.W. then +immediately succeeded. We instantly took advantage of this +circumstance, and casting off at six A.M. ran eight or nine miles +without obstruction, when we were stopped by the ice, which, in a +closely packed and impenetrable body, stretched close into the +shore as far as the eye could reach from the crow’s +nest. Being anxious to gain every foot of distance that we +could, and perceiving some grounded ice which appeared favourable +for making fast to, just at a point where the clear water +terminated, the ships were run to the utmost extent of it, and a +boat prepared from each to examine the depth of water at the +intended anchoring place. Just as I was about to leave the +<i>Hecla</i> for that purpose, the ice was observed to be in +rapid motion towards the shore. The <i>Fury</i> was +immediately hauled in by some grounded masses, and placed to the +best advantage; but the <i>Hecla</i> being more advanced was +immediately beset in spite of every exertion, and after breaking +two of the largest ice-anchors in endeavouring to heave in to the +shore, was obliged to drift with the ice, several masses of which +had fortunately interposed themselves between us and the +land. The ice slackening around us a little in the evening, +we were enabled, with considerable labour, to get to some +grounded masses, where we lay much exposed, as the <!-- page +57--><a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +57</span><i>Fury</i> also did. In this situation, our +latitude being 72° 51′ 51″, we saw a +comparatively low point of land three or four leagues to the +southward, which proved to be near that which terminated our view +of this coast in 1819.</p> +<p>On the 29th, the ice being slack for a short distance, we +shifted the <i>Hecla</i> half a mile to the northward, into a +less insecure berth. I then walked to a broad valley facing +the sea near us, where a considerable stream discharged itself, +and where, in passing in the ships, a large fish had been +observed to jump out of the water. In hopes of finding +salmon here, we tried for some time with several hand-nets, but +nothing was caught or seen. In this place were a number of +the Esquimaux stone circles, apparently of very old date, being +quite overgrown with grass, moss, and other plants. In the +neighbourhood of these habitations the vegetation was much more +luxuriant than anything of the kind we had seen before during +this voyage. The state of this year’s plants was now +very striking, compared with those of the last, and afforded +strong evidence, if any had been wanting, of the difference +between the two seasons. I was particularly struck with the +appearance of some moss collected by Mr. Hooper, who pointed out +to me upon the same specimen the last year’s miserable +seeds just peeping above the leaves, while those of the present +summer had already shot three-quarters of an inch beyond +them. Another circumstance which we noticed about this +time, and still more so as the season advanced, was the rapid +progress which the warmth had already made in dissolving the last +year’s snow, this being always easily known by its dingy +colour, and its admixture with the soil. Of the past +winter’s snow not a particle could be seen at the close of +July on any part of <!-- page 58--><a name="page58"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 58</span>this coast. These facts, +together with the beautiful weather we had enjoyed for many weeks +past, all tended to show that we were now favoured with an +unusually fine summer. We found in this place, in the dry +bed of an old stream, innumerable fossils in the limestone, +principally shells and madrepore. On a hill abreast of the +<i>Hecla</i>, and at an elevation of not less than three or four +hundred feet above the sea, one particular spot was discovered in +which the same kind of shells first found in Barrow’s +Strait in 1819 occurred in very great abundance and perfection, +wholly detached from the lime in which for the most part they +were found embedded in other places on this coast. Indeed, +it was quite astonishing, in looking at the numberless fossil +animal remains occurring in many of the stones, to consider the +countless myriads of shell fish and marine insects which must +once have existed on this shore. The cliffs next the sea, +which here rise to a perpendicular height of between four and +five hundred feet, were continually breaking down at this season, +and adding, by falls of large masses of stone, to the slope of +<i>débris</i> lying at their foot. The ships lay so +close to the shore as to be almost within the range of some of +these tumbling masses, there being at high water scarcely beach +enough for a person to walk along the shore. The time of +high water, near the opposition of the moon this night, was +between half-past eleven and midnight, being nearly the same as +at Port Bowen at full and change.</p> +<p>The ice opening for a mile and a half along shore on the 30th, +we shifted the <i>Hecla’s</i> berth about that distance to +the southward, chiefly to be enabled to see more distinctly round +a point which before obstructed our view, though our situation, +as regarded the security of the ship, was much altered for the +worse. The <i>Fury</i> remained <!-- page 59--><a +name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>where she +was, there being no second berth even so good as the bad one +where she was now lying. In the afternoon it blew a hard +gale, with constant rain, from the northward, the clouds +indicating an easterly wind in other parts. This wind, +which was always the troublesome one to us, soon brought the ice +closer and closer, till it pressed with very considerable +violence on both ships, though the most upon the <i>Fury</i>, +which lay in a very exposed situation. The <i>Hecla</i> +received no damage but the breaking of two or three hawsers, and +a part of her bulwark torn away by the strain upon them. In +the course of the night we had reason to suppose, by the +<i>Fury’s</i> heeling, that she was either on shore, or +still heavily pressed by the ice from without. Early on the +morning of the 31st, as soon as a communication could be +effected, Captain Hoppner sent to inform me that the <i>Fury</i> +had been forced on the ground, where she still lay; but that she +would probably be hove off without much difficulty at high water, +provided the external ice did not prevent it. I also +learned from Captain Hoppner that a part of one of the propelling +wheels had been destroyed, the chock through which its axis +passed being forced in considerably, and the palm broken off one +of the bower anchors. Most of this damage, however, was +either of no very material importance, or could easily be +repaired. A large party of hands from the <i>Hecla</i> +being sent round to the <i>Fury</i> towards high water, she came +off the ground with very little strain, so that, upon the whole, +considering the situation in which the ships were lying, we +thought ourselves fortunate in having incurred no very serious +injury. The <i>Fury</i> was shifted a few yards into the +best place that could be found, and the wind again blowing strong +from the northward, the ice remained <!-- page 60--><a +name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>close about +us. A shift of wind to the southward in the afternoon at +length began gradually to slacken it, but it was not till six +A.M. on the 1st of August that there appeared a prospect of +making any progress. There was, at this time, a great deal +of water to the southward, but between us and the channel there +lay one narrow and not very close stream of ice touching the +shore. A shift of wind to the northward determined me at +once to take advantage of it, as nothing but a free wind seemed +requisite to enable us to reach this promising channel. The +signal to that effect was immediately made, but while the sails +were setting, the ice, which had at first been about +three-quarters of a mile distant from us, was observed to be +closing the shore. The ships were cast with all expedition, +in hopes of gaining the broader channel before the ice had time +to shut us up. So rapid, however, was the latter in this +its sudden movement, that we had but just got the ships’ +heads the right way, when the ice came bodily in upon us, being +doubtless set in motion by a very sudden freshening of the wind +almost to a gale in the course of a few minutes. The ships +were now almost instantly beset, and in such a manner as to be +literally helpless and unmanageable. In such cases, it must +be confessed that the exertions made by heaving at hawsers or +otherwise are of little more service than in the occupation they +furnish to the men’s minds under circumstances of +difficulty; for when the ice is fairly acting against the ship, +ten times the strength and ingenuity could in reality avail +nothing.</p> +<p>The sails were, however, kept set, and as the body of ice was +setting to the southward withal, we went with it some little +distance in that direction. The <i>Hecla</i> after thus +driving, and now and then forcing her way through <!-- page +61--><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 61</span>the +ice, in all about three-quarters of a mile, quite close to the +shore, at length struck the ground forcibly several times in the +space of a hundred yards, and being then brought up by it +remained immovable, the depth of water under her keel abaft being +sixteen feet, or about a foot less than she drew. The +<i>Fury</i> continuing to drive was now irresistibly carried past +us, and we escaped, only by a few feet, the damage invariably +occasioned by ships coming in contact under such +circumstances. She had, however, scarcely passed us a +hundred yards when it was evident, by the ice pressing her in, as +well as along the shore, that she must soon be stopped like the +<i>Hecla</i>; and having gone about two hundred yards farther she +was observed to receive a severe pressure from a large floe-piece +forcing her directly against a grounded mass of ice upon the +beach. After setting to the southward for an hour or two +longer the ice became stationary, no open water being anywhere +visible from the mast-head, and the pressure on the ships +remaining undiminished during the day. Just as I had +ascertained the utter impossibility of moving the <i>Hecla</i> a +single foot, and that she must lie quite aground fore and aft as +soon as the tide fell, I received a note from Captain Hoppner +informing me that the <i>Fury</i> had been so severely +“nipped” and strained as to leak a good deal, +apparently about four inches an hour; that she was still heavily +pressed both upon the ground and against the large mass of ice +within her; that the rudder was at present very awkwardly +situated; and that one boat had been much damaged. As the +tide fell the <i>Fury’s</i> stern, which was aground, was +lifted several feet, and the <i>Hecla</i> at low water having +sewed five feet forward and two abaft, we presented altogether no +very pleasing or comfortable spectacle. However, about high +<!-- page 62--><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +62</span>water, the ice very opportunely slacking, the +<i>Hecla</i> was hove off with great ease, and warped to a floe +in the offing to which we made fast at midnight. The +<i>Fury</i> was not long after us in coming off the ground, when +I was in hopes of finding that any twist or strain, by which her +leaks might have been occasioned, would, in some measure, have +closed when she was relieved from pressure and once more fairly +afloat. My disappointment and mortification, therefore, may +in some measure be imagined, at being informed by telegraph, +about two A.M. on the 2nd, that the water was gaining on two +pumps, and that a part of the doubling had floated up. The +<i>Hecla</i> having in the mean time been carried two or three +miles to the southward, by the ice which was once more driving in +that direction, I directed Captain Hoppner by signal to endeavour +to reach the best security in-shore which the present slackness +of the ice might permit, until it was possible for the +<i>Hecla</i> to rejoin him. Presently after perceiving from +the mast-head something like a small harbour nearly abreast of +us, every effort was made to get once more towards the +shore. In this the ice happily favoured us, and after +making sail and one or two tacks we got in with the land, when I +left the ship in a boat to sound the place and search for +shelter. I soon had the mortification to find that the +harbour which had appeared to present itself so opportunely, had +not more than six or seven feet water in any part of it, the +whole of its defences being composed of the stones and soil +washed down by a stream which here emptied itself into the +sea. From this place, indeed, where the land gradually +became much lower in advancing to the southward, the whole nature +of the soundings entirely altered, the water gradually shoaling +in approaching the beach, so that the ships <!-- page 63--><a +name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 63</span>could +scarcely come nearer, in most parts, than a quarter of a +mile. At this distance the whole shore was more or less +lined with grounded masses of ice; but after examining the +soundings within more than twenty of them, in the space of about +a mile, I could only find two that would allow the ships to float +at low water, and that by some care in placing and keeping them +there. Having fixed a flag on each berg, the usual signal +for the ships taking their stations, I rowed on board the +<i>Fury</i>, and found four pumps constantly going to keep the +ship free, and Captain Hoppner, his officers and men, almost +exhausted with the incessant labour of the last eight-and-forty +hours. The instant the ships were made fast, Captain +Hoppner and myself set out in a boat to survey the shore still +farther south, there being a narrow lane of water about a mile in +that direction; for it had now become too evident, however +unwilling we might have been at first to admit the conclusion, +that the <i>Fury</i> could proceed no farther without repairs, +and that the nature of those repairs would in all probability +involve the disagreeable, I may say the ruinous, necessity of +heaving the ship down. After rowing about three-quarters of +a mile we considered ourselves fortunate in arriving at a bolder +part of the beach, where three grounded masses of ice, having +from three to four fathoms water at low tide within them, were so +disposed as to afford, with the assistance of art, something like +shelter. Wild and insecure as, under other circumstances, +such a place would have been thought for the purpose of heaving a +ship down, we had no alternative, and therefore as little +occasion as we had time for deliberation. Returning to the +ships, we were setting the sails in order to run to the appointed +place, when the ice closed in and prevented our <!-- page 64--><a +name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>moving, and +in a short time there was once more no open water to be +seen. We were, therefore, under the necessity of remaining +in our present berths, where the smallest external pressure must +inevitably force us ashore, neither ship having more than two +feet of water to spare. One watch of the +<i>Hecla’s</i> crew were sent round to assist at the +<i>Fury’s</i> pumps, which required one-third of her +ship’s company to be constantly employed at them.</p> +<p>The ice coming in with considerable violence on the night of +the 2nd, once more forced the <i>Fury</i> on shore, so that at +low water she sewed two feet and a half. Nothing but the +number and strength of the <i>Hecla’s</i> hawsers prevented +her sharing the same fate, for the pressure was just as much as +seven of these of six inches and two stream-cables would +bear. The <i>Fury</i> floated in the morning, and was +enabled to haul off a little, but there was no opening of the ice +to allow us to move to our intended station. The more +leisure we obtained to consider the state of the <i>Fury</i>, the +more apparent became the absolute, however unfortunate, necessity +of heaving her down. Four pumps were required to be at work +without intermission to keep her free, and this in perfectly +smooth water, showing that she was, in fact, so materially +injured as to be very far from seaworthy. One-third of her +working men were constantly employed, as before remarked, in this +laborious operation, and some of their hands had become so sore +from the constant friction of the ropes, that they could hardly +handle them any longer without the use of mittens, assisted by +the unlaying of the ropes to make them soft. When, in +addition to these circumstances, the wet state of the decks and +the little room left, as well as the reduced strength for working +the ship or heaving at hawsers among the ice, be <!-- page +65--><a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +65</span>considered, I believe that every seaman will admit the +impracticability of pursuing this critical navigation till the +<i>Fury</i> had been examined and repaired. As, therefore, +not a moment could be lost we took advantage of a small lane of +water deep enough for boats, which kept open within the grounded +masses along the shore, to convey to the <i>Hecla</i> some of the +<i>Fury’s</i> dry provisions, and to land a quantity of +heavy ironwork and other stores not perishable; for the moment +this measure was determined on I was anxious, almost at any risk, +to commence the lightening of the ship as far as our present +insecurity and our distance from the shore would permit.</p> +<p>The wind blowing fresh from the northward, which always +increased our difficulties on this coast, the ice pressed so +violently upon the ships as almost to force them adrift during +the night, employing our people, now sufficiently harassed by +their work during the day, for two or three hours in still +further increasing our security by additional hawsers. We +continued landing stores from the <i>Fury</i> on the 4th, and at +night a bower cable was passed round one of the grounded masses +alongside of her; for if either ship had once got adrift, it is +difficult to say what might have been the consequence.</p> +<p>At two A.M. on the 5th, the ice began to slacken near the +ships, and as soon as a boat could be rowed along shore to the +southward, I set out, accompanied by a second from the +<i>Fury</i>, for the purpose of examining the state of our +intended harbour since the recent pressure, and to endeavour to +prepare for the reception of the ships by clearing out the loose +ice. On my arrival there, the distance being about a mile, +I found that one of the three bergs had shifted its place so +materially by the late movements of the ice, as not only to alter +the disposition of these masses, <!-- page 66--><a +name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>on which our +whole dependence rested, very much for the worse, but also to +destroy all confidence in their stability upon the ground. +Landing upon one of the bergs to show the appointed signal for +the ships to come, I perceived, about half a mile beyond us to +the southward, a low point forming a little bay, with a great +deal of heavy grounded ice lying off it. I immediately +rowed to this, in hopes of finding something like a harbour for +our purpose, but on my arrival there, had once more the +mortification to find that there were not above six feet of water +at low tide in any part of it, and within the grounded ice not +more than twelve. Having assured myself that no security or +shelter was here to be found, I immediately returned to the +former place, which the <i>Hecla</i> was just reaching. The +<i>Fury</i> was detained some time by a quantity of loose ice +which had wedged itself in, in such a manner as to leave her no +room to move outwards; but she arrived about seven o’clock, +when both ships were made fast in the best berths we could find, +but they were still excluded from their intended place by the +quantity of ice which had fixed itself there. Within twenty +minutes after our arrival, the whole body of ice again came in, +entirely closing up the shore, so that our moving proved most +opportune.</p> +<h3><!-- page 67--><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>CHAPTER VI.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Formation of a Basin for heaving the Fury +down—Landing of the Fury’s Stores, and other +preparations—The Ships secured within the +Basin—Impediments from the pressure of the Ice—Fury +hove down—Securities of the Basin destroyed by a Gale of +Wind—Preparations to tow the Fury out—Hecla +re-equipped, and obliged to put to Sea—Fury again driven on +Shore—Rejoin the Fury; and find it necessary finally to +abandon her.</p> +<p>As there was now no longer room for floating the ice out of +our proposed basin, all hands were immediately employed in +preparing the intended securities against the incursions of the +ice. These consisted of anchors carried to the beach, +having bower-cables attached to them, passing quite round the +grounded masses, and thus enclosing a small space of just +sufficient size to admit both ships. The cables we proposed +floating by means of the two hand-masts and some empty casks +lashed to them as buoys, with the intention of thus making them +receive the pressure of the ice a foot or two below the surface +of the water. By uncommon exertions on the part of the +officers and men, this laborious work was completed before night +as far as was practicable until the loose ice should set out; and +all the tents were set up on the beach for the reception of the +<i>Fury’s</i> stores.</p> +<p>The ice remaining quite close on the 6th, every individual in +both ships, with the exception of those at the pumps, was +employed in landing provisions from the <i>Fury</i>, together +with the spars, boats, and everything from off her upper +deck. The ice coming in, in the afternoon, with a degree of +pressure which usually attended a northerly wind on this coast, +twisted the <i>Fury’s</i> rudder so forcibly against a mass +of ice lying under her <!-- page 68--><a name="page68"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 68</span>stern that it was for some hours in +great danger of being damaged, and was indeed only saved by the +efforts of Captain Hoppner and his officers, who, without +breaking off the men from their other occupations, themselves +worked at the ice-saw. On the following day, the ice +remaining as before, the work was continued without intermission, +and a great quantity of things landed. The two carpenters +(Messrs. Pulfer and Fiddis) took the <i>Fury’s</i> boats in +hand themselves, their men being required as part of our physical +strength in clearing the ship. The armourer was also set to +work on the beach in forging bolts for the martingales of the +outriggers. In short, every living creature among us was +somehow or other employed, not even excepting our dogs, which +were set to drag up the stores on the beach; so that our little +dockyard soon exhibited the most animated scene imaginable. +The quickest method of landing casks and other things not too +weighty, was that adopted by Captain Hoppner, and consisted of a +hawser secured to the ship’s main mast-head, and set up as +tight as possible to the anchor on the beach; the casks being +hooked to a block traversing on this as a jack-stay, were made to +run down it with great velocity. By this means more than +two were got on shore for every one landed by the boats, the +latter, however, being constantly employed in addition. The +<i>Fury</i> was thus so much lightened in the course of the day +that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to keep her free, and +this number continued requisite until she was hove down. +Her spirit-room was now entirely clear, and, on examination, the +water was found to be rushing in through two or three holes that +happened to be in the ceiling, and which were immediately plugged +up. Indeed; it was now very evident that nothing but <!-- +page 69--><a name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +69</span>the tightness of the Fury’s diagonal ceiling had +so long kept her afloat, and that any ship not thus fortified +within could not possibly have been kept free by the pumps.</p> +<p>At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began +to move to the southward, and soon after came in towards the +shore, again endangering the <i>Fury’s</i> rudder, and +pressing her over on her side to so alarming a degree, as to warn +us that it would not be safe to lighten her much more in her +present insecure situation. One of our bergs also shifted +its position by this pressure, so as to weaken our confidence in +the pier-heads of our intended basin; and a long +“tongue” of one of them forcing itself under the +<i>Hecla’s</i> forefoot, while the drift-ice was also +pressing her forcibly from astern, she once more sewed three or +four feet forward at low water, and continued to do so, +notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul her off, for four +successive tides the ice remaining so close and so much doubled +under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a single +inch. Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did +not remain idle on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging +the <i>Fury</i>, and landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, +and other top-weight.</p> +<p>The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were +employed in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the +<i>Hecla</i>, which still grounded on the tongue of ice every +tide. After four hours’ labour, they succeeded in +making four or five feet of room astern, when the ship suddenly +slid down off the tongue with considerable force, and became once +more afloat. We then got on shore the <i>Hecla’s</i> +cables and hawsers for the accommodation of the +<i>Fury’s</i> men in our tiers during the heaving <!-- page +70--><a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>down, +struck our top-masts which would be required as shores and +outriggers, and, in short, continued to occupy every individual +in some preparation or other. These being entirely +completed at an early hour in the afternoon, we ventured to go on +with the landing of the coals and provisions from the +<i>Fury</i>, preferring to run the risk which would thus be +incurred, to the loss of even a few hours in the accomplishment +of our present object. As it very opportunely happened, +however, the external ice slackened to the distance of about a +hundred yards outside of us on the morning of the 10th, enabling +us, by a most tedious and laborious operation, to clear the ice +out of our basin piece by piece. The difficulty of this +apparently simple process consisted in the heavy pressure having +repeatedly doubled one mass under another—a position in +which it requires great power to move them—and also by the +corners locking in with the sides of the bergs. Our next +business was to tighten the cables sufficiently by means of +purchases, and to finish the floating of them in the manner and +for the purpose before described. After this had been +completed, the ships had only a few feet in length, and nothing +in breadth to spare; but we had now great hopes of going on with +our work with increased confidence and security. The +<i>Fury</i>, which was placed inside, had something less than +eighteen feet at low water; the <i>Hecla</i> lay in four fathoms, +the bottom being strewed with large and small fragments of +limestone.</p> +<p>While thus employed in securing the ships, the smoothness of +the water enabled us to see in some degree the nature of the +<i>Fury’s</i> damage; and it may be conceived how much pain +it occasioned us plainly to discover that both the stern-post and +forefoot were broken and turned <!-- page 71--><a +name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 71</span>up on one +side with the pressure. We also could perceive as far as we +were able to see along the main-keel, that it was much torn, and +we had therefore reason to conclude that the damage would +altogether prove very serious. We also discovered that +several feet of the <i>Hecla’s</i> false keel were torn +away abreast of the fore-chains, in consequence of her grounding +forward so frequently.</p> +<p>The ships being now as well secured as our means permitted +from the immediate danger of ice, the clearing of the <i>Fury</i> +went on during the 11th with increased confidence, though greater +alacrity was impossible, for nothing could exceed the spirit and +zealous activity of every individual, and as things had turned +out, the ice had not obliged us to wait a moment, except at the +actual times of its pressure. Being favoured with fine +weather, we continued our work very quickly, so that on the 12th +every cask was landed and also the powder; and the spare sails +and clothing put on board the <i>Hecla</i>. On the 13th we +found that a mass of heavy ice, which had been aground within the +<i>Fury</i>, had now floated off alongside of her at high water, +still further contracting our already narrow basin, and leaving +the ship no room for turning round. At the next high water, +therefore, we got a purchase on it and hove it out of the way, so +that at night it drifted off altogether. The coals and +preserved meats were the principal things now remaining on board +the <i>Fury</i>, and these we continued landing by every method +we could devise as the most expeditious. The tide rose so +considerably at night, new moon occurring within an hour of high +water, that we were much afraid of our bergs floating: they +remained firm, however, even though the ice came in with so much +force as to break one of our hand-masts, <!-- page 72--><a +name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 72</span>a fir spar of +twelve inches diameter. As the high tides and the +lightening of the <i>Fury</i> now gave us sufficient depth of +water for unshipping the rudders, we did so, and laid them upon +the small berg astern of us, for fear of their being damaged by +any pressure of the ice.</p> +<p>Early on the morning of the 14th, the ice slackening a little +in our neighbourhood, we took advantage of it, though the people +were much fagged, to tighten the cables, which had stretched and +yielded considerably by the late pressure. It was well that +we did so; for in the course of this day we were several times +interrupted in our work by the ice coming with a tremendous +strain on the north cables, the wind blowing strong from the +N.N.W., and the whole “pack” outside of us setting +rapidly to the southward. Indeed, notwithstanding the +recent tightening and readjustment of the cables, the bight was +pressed in so much as to force the <i>Fury</i> against the berg +astern of her twice in the course of the day. Mr. Waller, +who was in the hold the second time that this occurred, reported +that the coals about the keelson were moved by it, imparting the +sensation of a part of the ship’s bottom falling down; and +one of the men at work there was so strongly impressed with that +belief that he thought it high time to make a spring for the +hatchway. From this circumstance it seemed more than +probable that the main keel had received some serious damage near +the middle of the ship.</p> +<p>From this trial of the efficacy of our means of security, it +was plain that the <i>Fury</i> could not possibly be hove down +under circumstances of such frequent and imminent risk; I +therefore directed a fourth anchor, with two additional cables, +to be carried out, with the hope <!-- page 73--><a +name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>of breaking +some of the force of the ice by its offering a more oblique +resistance than the other, and thus by degrees turning the +direction of the pressure from the ships. We had scarcely +completed this new defence, when the largest floe we had seen +since leaving Port Bowen came sweeping along the shore, having a +motion to the southward of not less than a mile and a half an +hour; and a projecting point of it just grazing our outer berg, +threatened to overturn it, and would certainly have dislodged it +from its situation but for the cable recently attached to +it. A second similar occurrence took place with a smaller +mass of ice about midnight, and near the top of an unusually high +spring tide, which seemed ready to float away every security from +us. For three hours about the time of this high water, our +situation was a most critical one, for had the bergs, or indeed +any one of them, been carried away or broken, both ships must +inevitably have been driven on shore by the very next mass of ice +that should come in. Happily, however, they did not suffer +any further material disturbance, and the main body keeping at a +short distance from the land until the tide had fallen, the bergs +seemed to be once more firmly resting on the ground. The +only mischief, therefore, occasioned by this disturbance was the +slackening of our cables by the alteration in the positions of +the several grounded masses, and the consequent necessity of +employing more time, which nothing but absolute necessity could +induce us to bestow in adjusting and tightening the whole of them +afresh.</p> +<p>The wind veering to the W.N.W. on the morning of the 15th, and +still continuing to blow strong, the ice was forced three or four +miles off the land in the course of <!-- page 74--><a +name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 74</span>a few hours, +leaving us a quiet day for continuing our work, but exciting no +very pleasing sensations when we considered what progress we +might have been making had we been at liberty to pursue our +object. The land was, indeed, so clear of ice to the +southward that Dr. Neill, who walked a considerable distance in +that direction, could see nothing but an open channel in-shore to +the utmost extent of his view. We took advantage of this +open water to send the launch for the <i>Fury’s</i> +ironwork left at the former station; for though the few men thus +employed could very ill be spared, we were obliged to arrange +everything with reference to the ultimate saving of time; and it +would have occupied both ships’ companies more than a whole +day to carry the things round by land.</p> +<p>The <i>Fury</i> being completely cleared at an early hour on +the 16th, we were all busily employed in “winding” +the ship, and in preparing the outriggers, shores, purchases, and +additional rigging. Though we purposely selected the time +of high water for turning the ship round, we had scarcely a foot +of space to spare for doing it, and indeed, as it was, her +forefoot touched the ground, and loosened the broken part of the +wood so much as to enable us to pull it up with ropes, when we +found the fragments to consist of the whole of the +“gripe” and most of the “cutwater.” +The strong breeze continuing, and the sea rising as the open +water increased in extent, our bergs were sadly washed and +wasted; every hour producing a sensible and serious diminution in +their bulk. As, however, the main body of ice still kept +off, we were in hopes, now that our preparations were so near +completed, we should have been enabled in a few hours to see the +extent of the damage, and repair it sufficiently to <!-- page +75--><a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>allow +us to proceed. In the evening we received the +<i>Fury’s</i> crew on board the <i>Hecla</i>, every +arrangement and regulation having been previously made for their +personal comfort, and for the preservation of cleanliness, +ventilation, and dry warmth throughout the ship. The +officers of the <i>Fury</i>, by their own choice, pitched a tent +on shore for messing and sleeping in, as our accommodation for +two sets of officers was necessarily confined. On the 17th, +when every preparation was completed, the cables were found again +so slack, by the wasting of the bergs in consequence of the +continued sea, and possibly also in part by the masses having +moved somewhat in-shore, that we were obliged to occupy several +hours in putting them to rights, as we should soon require all +our strength at the purchases. One berg had also, at the +last low water, fallen over on its side in consequence of its +substance being undermined by the sea, and the cable surrounding +it was thus forced so low under water as no longer to afford +protection from the ice should it again come in. In +tightening the cables, we found it to have the effect of bringing +the bergs in towards the shore, still further contracting our +narrow basin; but anything was better than suffering them to go +adrift. This work being finished at ten P.M. the people +were allowed three hours’ rest only, it being necessary to +heave the ship down at or near high water, as there was not +sufficient depth to allow her to take her distance at any other +time of tide. Every preparation being made, at three A.M. +on the 18th, we began to heave her down on the larboard side, but +when the purchases were nearly a-block, we found that the strops +under the <i>Hecla’a</i> bottom, as well as some of the +<i>Fury’s</i> shorefasts, had stretched or yielded so much, +that they could not bring <!-- page 76--><a +name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>the keel out +of water within three or four feet. We immediately eased +her up again, and readjusted everything as requisite, hauling her +farther in-shore than before by keeping a considerable heel upon +her, so as to make less depth of water necessary; and we were +then in the act of once more heaving her down, when a snowstorm +came on and blew with such violence off the land, as to raise a +considerable sea. The ships had now so much motion as to +strain the gear very much, and even to make the lower masts of +the <i>Fury</i> bend in spite of the shores: we were, therefore, +most unwillingly compelled to desist until the sea should go +down, keeping everything ready to recommence the instant we could +possibly do so with safety. The officers and men were now +literally so harassed and fatigued as to be scarcely capable of +further exertion without some rest; and on this and one or two +other occasions, I noticed more than a single instance of stupor +amounting to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering +the individual so affected quite unable at first to comprehend +the meaning of an order, though still as willing as ever to obey +it. It was therefore perhaps a fortunate necessity which +produced the intermission of labour which the strength of every +individual seemed to require.</p> +<p>The gale rather increasing than otherwise during the whole day +and night of the 18th, had on the following morning, when the +wind and sea still continued unabated, so destroyed the bergs on +which our sole dependence was placed, that they no longer +remained aground at low water; the cables had again become slack +about them, and the basin we had taken so much pains in forming +had now lost all its defences, at least during a portion of every +tide. It will be plain, too, if I have succeeded in <!-- +page 77--><a name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +77</span>giving a distinct description of our situation, that, +independently of the security of the ships, there was now nothing +left to seaward by which the <i>Hecla</i> could be held out in +that direction while heaving the <i>Fury</i> down, so that our +preparations in this way were no longer available. After a +night of most anxious consideration and consultation with Captain +Hoppner, who was now my messmate in the <i>Hecla</i>, it appeared +but too plain, that, should the ice again come in, neither ship +could any longer be secured from driving on shore. It was +therefore determined instantly to prepare the <i>Hecla</i> for +sea, making her thoroughly effective in every respect; so that we +might at least push her out into comparative safety among the +ice, when it closed again, taking every person on board her, +securing the <i>Fury</i> in the best manner we could, and +returning to her the instant we were able to do so, to endeavour +to get her out, and to carry her to some place of security for +heaving down. If, after the <i>Hecla</i> was ready, time +should still be allowed us, it was proposed immediately to put +into the <i>Fury</i> all that was requisite, or at least as much +as she could safely carry, and towing her out into the ice, to +try the effect of “foddering” the leaks by sails +under those parts of her keel which we knew to be damaged, until +some more effectual means could be resorted to.</p> +<p>Having communicated to the assembled officers and ships’ +companies my views and intentions, and moreover given them to +understand that I hoped to see the <i>Hecla’s</i> +top-gallant-yards across before we slept, we commenced our work; +and such was the hearty goodwill and indefatigable energy with +which it was carried on, that by midnight the whole was +accomplished, and a bower-anchor and cable carried out in the +offing, for the double <!-- page 78--><a name="page78"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 78</span>purpose of hauling out the +<i>Hecla</i> when requisite, and as some security to the +<i>Fury</i>, if we were obliged to leave her. The people +were once more quite exhausted by these exertions, especially +those belonging to the <i>Fury</i>, who had never thoroughly +recovered their first fatigues. The ice being barely in +sight, we were enabled to enjoy seven hours of undisturbed rest; +but the wind becoming light, and afterwards shifting to the +N.N.E., we had reason to expect the ice would soon close the +shore, and were, therefore, most anxious to continue our +work.</p> +<p>On the 20th, therefore, the reloading of the <i>Fury</i> +commenced with recruited strength and spirits, such articles +being in the first place selected for putting on board as were +essentially requisite for her re-equipment; for it was my full +determination, could we succeed in completing this, not to wait +even for rigging a topmast, or getting a lower yard up, in the +event of the ice coming in, but to tow her out among the ice, and +there put everything sufficiently to rights for carrying her to +some place of security. At the same time, the end of the +sea-cable was taken on board the <i>Fury</i>, by way of offering +some resistance to the ice, which was now more plainly seen, +though still about five miles distant, A few hands were also +spared, consisting chiefly of two or three convalescents, and +some of the officers, to thrum a sail for putting under the +<i>Fury’s</i> keel; for we were very anxious to relieve the +men at the pumps, which constantly required the labour of eight +to twelve hands to keep her free. In the course of the day, +several heavy masses of ice came drifting by with a breeze from +the N.E., which is here about two points upon the land, and made +a considerable swell. One mass came in contact with our +bergs, which, though only held by the cables, brought it up in +time to <!-- page 79--><a name="page79"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 79</span>prevent mischief. By a long and +hard day’s labour, the people not going to rest till two +o’clock on the morning of the 21st, we got about fifty +tons’ weight of coals and provisions on board the +<i>Fury</i>, which, in case of necessity, we considered +sufficient to give her stability. While we were thus +employed, the ice, though evidently inclined to come in, did not +approach us much; and it may be conceived with what anxiety we +longed to be allowed one more day’s labour, on which the +ultimate saving of the ship might almost be considered as +depending. Having hauled the ships out a little from the +shore and prepared the <i>Hecla</i> for casting by a spring at a +moment’s notice, all the people except those at the pumps +were sent to rest, which, however, they had not enjoyed for two +hours, when at four A.M. on the 21st, another heavy mass coming +violently in contact with the bergs and cables, threatened to +sweep away every remaining security. Our situation, with +this additional strain, the mass which had disturbed us fixing +itself upon the weather-cable, and an increasing wind and swell +setting considerably on the shore, became more and more +precarious; and indeed, under circumstances as critical as can +well be imagined, nothing but the urgency and importance of the +object we had in view—that of saving the <i>Fury</i> if she +was to be saved—could have prevented my making sail, and +keeping the <i>Hecla</i> under way till matters mended. +More hawsers were run out, however, and enabled us still to hold +on; and after six hours of disturbed rest, all hands were again +set to work to get the <i>Fury’s</i> anchors, cables, +rudder, and spars on board, these things being absolutely +necessary for her equipment, should we be able to get her +out. At two P.M. the crews were called on board to dinner, +which they had not finished when several not very large masses +<!-- page 80--><a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +80</span>of ice drove along the shore near us at a quick rate, +and two or three successively coming in violent contact either +with the <i>Hecla</i> or the bergs to which she was attached, +convinced me that very little additional pressure would tear +everything away, and drive both ships on shore. I saw that +the moment had arrived when the <i>Hecla</i> could no longer be +kept in her present situation with the smallest chance of safety, +and therefore immediately got under sail, dispatching Captain +Hoppner with every individual, except a few for working the ship, +to continue getting the things on board the <i>Fury</i>, while +the <i>Hecla</i> stood off and on. It was a quarter-past +three P.M. when we cast off, the wind then blowing fresh from the +north-east, or about two points upon the land, which caused some +surf on the beach. Captain Hoppner had scarcely been an +hour on board the <i>Fury</i>, and was busily engaged in getting +the anchors and cables on board, when we observed some large +pieces of not very heavy ice closing in with the land near her; +and at twenty minutes past four P.M., being an hour and five +minutes after the <i>Hecla</i> had cast off, I was informed by +signal that the <i>Fury</i> was on shore. Making a tack +in-shore, but not being able, even under a press of canvas, to +get very near her, owing to a strong southerly current which +prevailed within a mile or two of the land, I perceived that she +had been apparently driven up the beach by two or three of the +grounded masses forcing her onwards before them, and these, as +well as the ship, seemed now so firmly aground as entirely to +block her in on the seaward side. As the navigating of the +<i>Hecla</i> with only ten men on board required constant +attention and care, I could not at this time with propriety leave +the ship to go on board the <i>Fury</i>. This, however, I +the less regretted as Captain <!-- page 81--><a +name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 81</span>Hoppner was +thoroughly acquainted with all my views and intentions, and I +felt confident that, under his direction, nothing would be left +undone to endeavour to save the ship. I, therefore, +directed him by telegraph, “if he thought nothing could be +done at present, to return on board with all hands until the wind +changed;” for this alone, as far as I could see the state +of the <i>Fury</i>, seemed to offer the smallest chance of +clearing the shore, so as to enable us to proceed with our work, +or to attempt hauling the ship off the ground. About seven +P.M. Captain Hoppner returned to the <i>Hecla</i>, accompanied by +all hands, except an officer with a party at the pumps, reporting +to me that the <i>Fury</i> had been forced aground by the ice +pressing on the masses lying near her, and bringing home, if not +breaking, the seaward anchor, so that the ship was soon found to +have sewed from two to three feet fore and aft.</p> +<p>With the ship thus situated, and masses of heavy ice +constantly coming in, it was Captain Hoppner’s decided +opinion, as well as that of Lieutenants Austin and Ross, that to +have laid out another anchor to seaward would have only been to +expose it to the same damage as there was reason to suppose had +been incurred with the other, without the most distant hope of +doing any service; especially as the ship had been driven on +shore, by a most unfortunate coincidence, just as the tide was +beginning to fall. Indeed, in the present state of the +<i>Fury</i>, nothing short of chopping and sawing up a part of +the ice under her stern could by any possibility have effected +her release, even if she had been already afloat. Under +such circumstances, hopeless as for the time every seaman will +admit them to have been, Captain Hoppner judiciously determined +to return for the present, as directed by my <!-- page 82--><a +name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>telegraphic +communication; but being anxious to keep the ship free from water +as long as possible, he left an officer and a small party of men +to continue working at the pumps so long as a communication could +be kept up between the <i>Hecla</i> and the shore. Every +moment, however, decreased the practicability of doing this; and +finding, soon after Captain Hoppner’s return, that the +current swept the <i>Hecla</i> a long way to the southward while +hoisting up the boats, and that more ice was drifting in towards +the shore, I was under the painful necessity of recalling the +party at the pumps, rather than incur the risk, now an inevitable +one, of parting company with them altogether. Accordingly +Mr. Bird, with the last of the people, came on board at eight +o’clock in the evening, having left eighteen inches of +water in the well, and four pumps being requisite to keep her +free. In three hours after Mr. Bird’s return, more +than half a mile of closely-packed ice intervened between the +<i>Fury</i> and the open water in which we were beating, and +before the morning this barrier had increased to four or five +miles in breadth.</p> +<p>We carried a press of canvas all night, with a fresh breeze +from the north, to enable us to keep abreast of the <i>Fury</i>, +which, on account of the strong southerly current, we could only +do by beating at some distance from the land. The breadth +of the ice in-shore continued increasing during the day, but we +could see no end to the water in which we were beating, either to +the southward or eastward. Advantage was taken of the +little leisure now allowed us, to let the people mend and wash +their clothes, which they had scarcely had a moment to do for the +last three weeks. We also completed the thrumming of a +second sail for putting under the <i>Fury’s</i> keel +whenever we should be enabled to haul her off the shore. It +fell <!-- page 83--><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +83</span>quite calm in the evening, when the breadth of the ice +in-shore had increased to six or seven miles. We did not +during the day perceive any current setting to the southward, but +in the course of the night we were drifted four or five leagues +to the south-westward, in which situation we had a distinct view +of a large extent of land, which had before been seen for the +first time by some of our gentlemen who walked from where the +<i>Fury</i> lay. This land trends very much to the +westward, a little beyond the Fury Point, the name by which I +have distinguished that headland near which we had attempted to +heave the <i>Fury</i> down, and which is very near the southern +part of this coast, seen in the year 1819. It then sweeps +round into a large bay, formed by a long, low beach several miles +in extent, afterwards joining higher land, and running in a +south-easterly direction to a point which terminated our view of +it in that quarter, and which bore from us S. 58° W. distant +six or seven leagues. This headland I named Cape Garry, +after my worthy friend Nicholas Garry, Esq., one of the most +active members of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and a gentleman +most warmly interested in everything connected with northern +discovery. The whole of the bay (which I named after my +much esteemed friend, Francis Cresswell, Esq.), as well as the +land to the southward, was free from ice for several miles, and +to the southward and eastward scarcely any was to be seen, while +a dark water-sky indicated a perfectly navigable sea in that +direction; but between us and the Fury there was a compact body +of ice eight or nine miles in breadth. Had we now been at +liberty to take advantage of the favourable prospect before us, I +have little doubt we should without much difficulty have made +considerable progress.</p> +<p><!-- page 84--><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>A southerly breeze enabling us to regain our northing, +we ran along the margin of the ice, but were led so much to the +eastward by it, that we could approach the ship no nearer than +before during the whole day. She appeared to us at this +distance to have a much greater heel than when the people left +her, which made us still more anxious to get near her. A +south-west wind gave us hopes of the ice setting off from the +land, but it produced no good effect during the whole of the +24th. We, therefore, beat again to the southward to see if +we could manage to get in with the land anywhere about the shores +of the bay; but this was now impracticable, the ice being once +more closely packed there. We could only wait, therefore, +in patience, for some alteration in our favour. The +latitude at noon was 72° 34′ 57″, making our +distance from the <i>Fury</i> twelve miles, which by the morning +of the 25th had increased to at least five leagues, the ice +continuing to “pack” between us and the shore. +The wind, however, now gradually drew round to the westward, +giving us hopes of a change, and we continued to ply about the +margin of the ice, in constant readiness for taking advantage of +any opening that might occur. It favoured us so much by +streaming off in the course of the day, that by seven P.M. we had +nearly reached a channel of clear water, which kept open for +seven or eight miles from the land. Being impatient to +obtain a sight of the <i>Fury</i>, and the wind becoming light, +Captain Hoppner and myself left the <i>Hecla</i> in two boats, +and reached the ship at half-past nine, or about three-quarters +of an hour before high water, being the most favourable time of +tide for arriving to examine her condition.</p> +<p>We found her heeling so much outward, that her main channels +were within a foot of the water; and the large <!-- page 85--><a +name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>floe-piece, +which was still alongside of her, seemed alone to support her +below water, and to prevent her falling over still more +considerably. The ship had been forced much further up the +beach than before, and she had now in her bilge above nine feet +of water, which reached higher than the lower-deck beams. +On looking down the stern-post, which, seen against the +light-coloured ground, and in shoal water, was now very +distinctly visible, we found that she had pushed the stones at +the bottom up before her, and that the broken keel, stern-post, +and deadwood had, by the recent pressure, been more damaged and +turned up than before. She appeared principally to hang +upon the ground abreast of the gangway, where, at high water, the +depth was eleven feet alongside her keel; forward and aft from +thirteen to sixteen feet; so that at low tide, allowing the usual +fall of five or six feet, she would be lying in a depth of from +five to ten feet only. The first hour’s inspection of +the <i>Fury’s</i> condition too plainly assured me that +exposed as she was, and forcibly pressed up upon an open and +stony beach, her holds full of water, and the damage of her hull +to all appearance and in all probability more considerable than +before, without any adequate means of hauling her off to seaward, +or securing her from the further incursions of the ice, every +endeavour of ours to get her off, or if got off, to float her to +any known place of safety, would be at once utterly hopeless in +itself, and productive of extreme risk to our remaining ship.</p> +<p>Being anxious, however, in a case of so much importance, to +avail myself of the judgment and experience of others, I directed +Captain Hoppner, in conjunction with Lieutenants Austin and +Sherer, and Mr. Pulfer, carpenter, being the officers who +accompanied me to the <i>Fury</i>, to <!-- page 86--><a +name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>hold a survey +upon her, and to report their opinions to me. And to +prevent the possibility of the officers receiving any bias from +my own opinion, the order was given to them the moment we arrived +on board the <i>Fury</i>.</p> +<p>Captain Hoppner and the other officers, after spending several +hours in attentively examining every part of the ship, both +within and without, and maturely weighing all the circumstances +of her situation, gave it as their opinion that it would be quite +impracticable to make her seaworthy, even if she could be hauled +off, which would first require the water to be got out of the +ship, and the holds to be once more entirely cleared. Mr. +Pulfer, the carpenter of the <i>Fury</i>, considered that it +would occupy five days to clear the ship of water; that if she +were got off, all the pumps would not be sufficient to keep her +free, in consequence of the additional damage she seemed to have +sustained; and that, if even hove down, twenty days’ work, +with the means we possessed, would be required for making her +seaworthy. Captain Hoppner and the other officers were, +therefore, of opinion that an absolute necessity existed for +abandoning the <i>Fury</i>. My own opinion being thus +confirmed as to the utter hopelessness of saving her, and feeling +more strongly than ever the responsibility which attached to me +of preserving the <i>Hecla</i> unhurt, it was with extreme pain +and regret that I made the signal for the <i>Fury’s</i> +officers and men to be sent for their clothes, most of which had +been put on shore with the stores.</p> +<p>The <i>Hecla’s</i> bower-anchor, which had been placed +on the beach, was sent on board as soon as the people came on +shore; but her remaining cable was too much entangled with the +grounded ice to be disengaged without great loss of time. +Having allowed the officers and men <!-- page 87--><a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>an hour for +packing up their clothes, and what else belonging to them the +water in the ship had not covered, the <i>Fury’s</i> boats +were hauled up on the beach, and at two A.M. I left her, and was +followed by Captain Hoppner, Lieutenant Austin, and the last of +the people in half an hour after.</p> +<p>The whole of the <i>Fury’s</i> stores were of necessity +left either on board her or on shore, every spare corner that we +could find in the <i>Hecla</i> being now absolutely required for +the accommodation of our double complement of officers and men, +whose cleanliness and health could only be maintained by keeping +the decks as clear and well ventilated as our limited space would +permit. The spot where the <i>Fury</i> was left is in +latitude 72° 42′ 30″, the longitude by +chronometers is 91° 50′ 05″, the dip of the +magnetic needle 88° 19′ 22″, and the variation +129° 25′ westerly.</p> +<p>When the accident first happened to the <i>Fury</i>, I +confidently expected to have been able to repair her damages in +good time to take advantage of a large remaining part of the +navigable season in the prosecution of the voyage; and while the +clearing of the ship was going on with so much alacrity, and the +repairs seemed to be within the reach of our means and resources, +I still flattered myself with the same hope. But as soon as +the gales began to destroy, with a rapidity of which we had +before no conception, our sole defence from the incursions of the +ice, as well as the only trustworthy means we before possessed of +holding the <i>Hecla</i> out for heaving the <i>Fury</i> down, I +confess that the prospect of the necessity then likely to arise +for removing her to some other station, was sufficient to shake +every reasonable expectation I had hitherto cherished of the +ultimate accomplishment of our object. Those <!-- page +88--><a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +88</span>expectations were now at an end. With a +twelvemonth’s provisions for both ships’ companies, +extending our resources only to the autumn of the following year, +it would have been folly to hope for final success, considering +the small progress we had already made, the uncertain nature of +this navigation, and the advanced period of the present +season. I was, therefore, reduced to the only remaining +conclusion that it was my duty, under all the circumstances of +the case, to return to England, in compliance with the plain +tenor of my instructions. As soon as the boats were hoisted +up, therefore, and the anchor stowed, the ship’s head was +put to the north-eastward, with a light air off the land, in +order to gain an offing before the ice should again set +in-shore.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">Some Remarks upon the loss of the +Fury—And on the Natural History, &c., of the Coast of +North Somerset—Arrive at Neill’s Harbour—Death +of John Page—Leave Neill’s Harbour—Recross the +Ice in Baffin’s Bay—Heavy Gales—Aurora +Borealis—Temperature of the Sea—Arrival in +England.</p> +<p>The accident which had now befallen the <i>Fury</i>, and +which, when its fatal result was finally ascertained, at once put +an end to every prospect of success in the main object of this +voyage, is not an event which will excite surprise in the minds +of those who are either personally acquainted with the true +nature of this precarious navigation, or have had patience to +follow me through the tedious and monotonous detail of our +operations during seven successive summers. To any persons +thus qualified to judge it will be plain that an occurrence of +this nature was at all times rather to be expected than +otherwise, <!-- page 89--><a name="page89"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 89</span>and that the only real cause for +wonder has been our long exemption from such a catastrophe. +I can confidently affirm, and I trust that on such an occasion I +may be permitted to make the remark, that the mere safety of the +ships has never been more than a secondary object in the conduct +of the expeditions under my command. To push forward while +there was any open water to enable us to do so has uniformly been +our first endeavour; it has not been until the channel has +actually terminated that we have ever been accustomed to look for +a place of shelter, to which the ships were then conducted with +all possible despatch; and I may safely venture to predict that +no ship acting otherwise will ever accomplish the Northwest +Passage. On numerous occasions, which will easily recur to +the memory of those I have had the honour to command, the ships +might easily have been placed among the ice and left to drift +with it in comparative, if not absolute, security, when the +holding them on has been preferred, though attended with hourly +and imminent peril. This was precisely the case on the +present occasion; the ships might certainly have been pushed into +the ice a day or two, or even a week beforehand, and thus +preserved from all risk of being forced on shore; but where they +would have been drifted, and when they would have been again +disengaged from the ice, or at liberty to take advantage of the +occasional openings in-shore (by which alone the navigation of +these seas is to be performed with any degree of certainty), I +believe it impossible for any one to form the most distant +idea. Such, then, being the necessity for constant and +unavoidable risk, it cannot reasonably excite surprise that on a +single occasion out of so many in which the same accident seemed, +as it were, impending, it should actually have taken place.</p> +<p><!-- page 90--><a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +90</span>The ice we met with after leaving Port Bowen, previously +to the <i>Fury’s</i> disaster, and for some days after, I +consider to have been much the lightest as well as the most +broken we have ever had to contend with. During the time we +were shut up at our last station near the <i>Fury</i>, one or two +floes of very large dimensions drifted past us; and these were of +that heavy “hummocky” kind which we saw off Cape +Kater in the beginning of August, 1819. On the whole, +however, Mr. Allison and myself had constant occasion to remark +the total absence of floes, and the unusual lightness of the +other ice. We thought, indeed, that this latter +circumstance might account for its being almost incessantly in +motion on this coast; for heavy ice, when once it is pressed home +upon the shore, and has ceased to move, generally remains quiet, +until a change of wind or tide makes it slacken. But with +lighter ice, the frequent breaking and doubling of the parts +which sustain the strain, whenever any increase of pressure takes +place, will set the whole body once more in motion till the space +is again filled up. This was so often the case while our +ships lay in the most exposed situations on this unsheltered +coast, that we were never relieved for a moment from the +apprehension of some new and increased pressure.</p> +<p>The summer of 1825 was, beyond all doubt, the warmest and most +favourable we had experienced since that of 1818. Not more +than two or three days occurred, during the months of July and +August, in which that heavy fall of snow took place which so +commonly converts the aspect of Nature in these regions, in a +single hour, from the cheerfulness of summer into the dreariness +of winter. Indeed, we experienced very little either of +snow, rain, or fog; vegetation, wherever the soil allowed any to +spring <!-- page 91--><a name="page91"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 91</span>up, was extremely luxuriant and +forward; a great deal of the old snow which had laid on the +ground during the last season was rapidly dissolving even early +in August; and every appearance of Nature exhibited a striking +contrast with the last summer, while it seemed evidently to +furnish an extraordinary compensation for its rigour and +inclemency.</p> +<p>We have scarcely ever visited a coast on which so little of +animal life occurs. For days together, only one or two +seals, a single sea-horse, and now and then a flock of ducks, +were seen. I have already mentioned, however, as an +exception to this scarcity of animals, the numberless kittiwakes +which were flying about the remarkable spout of water; and we +were one day visited, at the place where the <i>Fury</i> was +left, by hundreds of white whales sporting about in the shoal +water close to the beach. No black whales were ever seen on +this coast. Two reindeer were observed by the gentlemen who +extended their walks inland; but this was the only summer in +which we did not procure a single pound of venison. Indeed, +the whole of our supplies obtained in this way during the voyage, +including fish, flesh, and fowl, did not exceed twenty pounds per +man.</p> +<p>During the time that we were made fast upon this coast, in +which situation alone observations on current can be +satisfactorily made, it is certain that the ice was setting to +the southward, and sometimes at a rapid rate, full seven days out +of every ten on an average. Had I now witnessed this for +the first time in these seas, I should probably have concluded +that there was a constant southerly set at this season; but the +experience we had before obtained of that superficial current +which every breeze of wind creates in a sea encumbered with ice, +<!-- page 92--><a name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +92</span>coupled with the fact that while this set was noticed we +had an almost continual prevalence of northerly winds, inclines +me to believe that it was to be attributed—chiefly at +least—to this circumstance, especially as, on one or two +occasions, with rather a light breeze from the southward, the ice +did set slowly in the opposite direction. It is not by a +few unconnected observations that a question of this kind is to +be settled, as the facts noticed during our detention near the +west end of Melville Island in 1820 will abundantly testify; +every light air of wind producing, in half an hour’s time, +an extraordinary change of current setting at an incredible rate +along the land.</p> +<p>The existence of these variable and irregular currents adds, +of course, very much to the difficulty of determining the true +direction of the flood-tide, the latter being generally much the +weaker of the two, and therefore either wholly counteracted by +the current, or simply tending to accelerate it. On this +account, though I attended very carefully to the subject of the +tides, I cannot pretend to say for certain from what direction +the flood-tide comes on this coast; the impression on my mind, +however, has been, upon the whole, in favour of its flowing from +the southward. The time of high water on the full and +change days of the moon is from half-past eleven to twelve +o’clock, being nearly the same as at Port Bowen; but the +tides are so irregular at times, that in the space of three days +the retardation will occasionally not amount to an hour. I +observed, however, that, as the days of full and change, or of +the moon’s quarter approached, the irregularity was +corrected, and the time rectified, by some tide of extraordinary +duration. The mean rise and fall was about six feet.</p> +<p><!-- page 93--><a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +93</span>The weather continuing nearly calm during the 26th, and +the ice keeping at the distance of several miles from the land, +gave us an opportunity of clearing our decks, and stowing the +things belonging to the <i>Fury’s</i> crew more comfortably +for their accommodation and convenience. I now felt more +sensibly than ever the necessity I have elsewhere pointed out, of +both ships employed on this kind of service being of the same +size, equipped in the same manner, and alike efficient in every +respect. The way in which we had been able to apply every +article for assisting to heave the <i>Fury</i> down, without the +smallest doubt or selection as to size or strength, proved an +excellent practical example of the value of being thus able, at a +moment’s warning, to double the means and resources of +either ship in case of necessity. In fact, by this +arrangement, nothing but a harbour to secure the ships was +wanted, to have completed the whole operation in as effectual a +manner as in a dockyard; for not a shore, or outrigger, or any +other precaution was omitted, that is usually attended to on such +occasions, and all as good and effective as could anywhere have +been desired. The advantages were now scarcely less +conspicuous in the accommodation of the officers and men, who in +a short time became little less comfortable than in their own +ship; whereas, in a smaller vessel, comfort, to say nothing of +health, would have been quite out of the question. Having +thus experienced the incalculable benefit of the establishment +composing this expedition, I am anxious to repeat my conviction +of the advantages that will always be found to attend it in the +equipment of any two ships intended for discovery.</p> +<p>A little snow, which had fallen in the course of the last two +or three days, now remained upon the land, <!-- page 94--><a +name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 94</span>lightly +powdering the higher parts, especially those having a northern +aspect, and creating a much more wintry sensation than the large +broad patches or drifts, which, on all tolerably high land in +these regions, remain undissolved during the whole of each +successive summer. With the exception of a few such patches +here and there, the whole of this coast was now free from snow +before the middle of August.</p> +<p>A breeze from the northward freshening up strong on the 27th, +we stretched over to the eastern shore of Prince Regent’s +Inlet, and this with scarcely any obstruction from ice. We +could, indeed, scarcely believe this the same sea which, but a +few weeks before, had been loaded with one impenetrable body of +closely packed ice from shore to shore, and as far as the eye +could discern to the southward. We found this land rather +more covered with the newly fallen snow than that to the +westward; but there was no ice, except the grounded masses, +anywhere along the shore. Having a great deal of heavy work +to do in the re-stowage of the holds which could not well be +accomplished at sea, and also a quantity of water to fill for our +increased complement, I determined to take advantage of our +fetching the entrance of Neill’s Harbour to put in here, in +order to prepare the ship completely for crossing the +Atlantic. I was desirous also of ascertaining the depth of +water in this place, which was wanting to complete Lieutenant +Sherer’s survey of it. At one P.M., therefore, after +communicating to the officers and ships’ companies my +intention to return to England, I left the ship, accompanied by +Lieutenant Sherer in a second boat, to obtain the necessary +soundings for conducting the ship to the anchorage, and to lay +down a buoy in the proper berth. Finding the harbour an +<!-- page 95--><a name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +95</span>extremely convenient one for our purpose, we worked the +ship in, and at four P.M. anchored in thirteen fathoms, but +afterwards shifted out to eighteen on a bottom of soft mud. +Almost at the moment of our dropping the anchor, John Page, +seaman of the <i>Fury</i>, departed this life; he had for several +months been affected with a scrofulous disorder, and had been +gradually sinking for some time.</p> +<p>The funeral of the deceased took place after Divine service +had been performed on the 28th; the body being followed to the +grave by a procession of all the officers, seamen, and marines of +both ships, and every solemnity observed which the occasion +demanded. The grave is situated near the beach close to the +anchorage, and a board was placed at the head as a substitute for +a tombstone, having on it a copper-plate with the usual +inscription.</p> +<p>This duty being performed, we immediately commenced landing +the casks and filling water; but notwithstanding the large +streams which, a short time before, had been running into the +harbour, we could hardly obtain enough for our purpose by sinking +a cask with holes in it. I have no doubt that this rapid +dissolution of all the snow on land so high as this, was the +result of an unusually warm summer. This work, together +with the entire re-stowage of all the holds, occupied the whole +of the 29th and 30th; during which time Lieutenant Sherer was +employed in completing the survey of the harbour, more especially +the soundings, which the presence of ice had before +prevented. These arrangements had just been completed when +the north-easterly wind died away, and was succeeded on the +morning of the 31st by a light air from the north-west. As +soon as we had sent to ascertain <!-- page 96--><a +name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 96</span>that the sea +was clear of ice on the outside, and that the breeze which blew +in the harbour was the true one, we weighed and stood out, and +before noon had cleared the shoals at the entrance.</p> +<p>Neill’s Harbour, the only one on this eastern coast of +Prince Regent’s Inlet, except Port Bowen, to which it is +far superior, corresponds with one of the apparent openings seen +at a distance in 1819, and marked on the chart of that voyage as +a “valley or bay.” We found it not merely a +convenient place of shelter but a most excellent harbour, with +sufficient space for a great number of ships, and holding-ground +of the best quality, consisting of a tenacious mud of a greenish +colour, in which the flukes of an anchor are entirely +embedded. A great deal of the anchoring ground is entirely +land-locked, and some shoal points which narrow the entrance +would serve to break off any heavy sea from the eastward. +The depth of water in most parts is greater than could be wished, +but several good berths are pointed out in the accompanying +survey made by Lieutenant Sherer. The beach on the west +side is a fine bold one, with four fathoms within twenty yards of +low water mark, and consists of small pebbles of limestone. +The formation of the rocks about the harbour is so similar to +that of Port Bowen that no description of them is +necessary. The harbour may best be known by its latitude; +by the very remarkable flat-topped hill eight miles south of it, +which I have named after Lieutenant Sherer who observed its +latitude; by the high cliffs on the south side of the entrance, +and the comparative low land on the north. The high land is +the more peculiar, as consisting of that very regular horizontal +stratification appearing to be supported by buttresses, which +characterises a large portion of the <!-- page 97--><a +name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 97</span>western shore +of Prince Regent’s Inlet, but is not seen on any part of +this coast so well marked as here. It is a remarkable +circumstance, and such as, I believe, very rarely occurs, that +from the point of this land forming the entrance of the harbour +to the southward, and where the cliffs rise at once to a +perpendicular height of not less than five or six hundred feet, a +shoal stretches off to the distance of one-third of a mile, +having from three to eight fathoms upon it. I have reason +to think indeed that there is not more than from ten to fourteen +fathoms anywhere across between this and the low point on the +other side, thus forming a sort of bar, though the depth of water +is much more than sufficient for any ship to pass over. The +latitude of Neill’s Harbour is 73° 09′ 08″; +the longitude by chronometers 89° 01′ 20″.8; the +dip of the magnetic needle 88° 08′.25, and the +variation 118° 48′ westerly.</p> +<p>I have been thus particular in describing Neill’s +Harbour, because I am of opinion that at no very distant period +the whalers may find it of service. The western coast of +Baffin’s Bay, now an abundant fishery, will probably, like +most others, fail in a few years; for the whales will always in +the course of time leave a place where they continue year after +year to be molested. In that case, Prince Regent’s +Inlet will undoubtedly become a rendezvous for our ships, as well +on account of the numerous fish there, as the facility with which +any ship, having once crossed the ice in Baffin’s Bay, is +sure to reach it during the months of July and August. We +saw nine or ten black whales the evening of our arrival in +Neill’s Harbour; these, like most observed hereabouts, and +I believe on the western coast of Baffin’s Bay generally, +were somewhat below the middle size.</p> +<p><!-- page 98--><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +98</span>Finding the wind at north-west in Prince Regent’s +Inlet, we were barely able to lie along the eastern coast. +As the breeze freshened in the course of the day, a great deal of +loose ice in extensive streams and patches came drifting down +from the Leopold Islands, occasioning us some trouble in picking +our way to the northward. By carrying a press of sail, +however, we were enabled, towards night, to get into clearer +water, and by four A.M. on the 1st of September, having beat to +windward of a compact body of ice which had fixed itself on the +lee shore about Cape York, we soon came into a perfectly open sea +in Barrow’s Strait, and were enabled to bear away to the +eastward. We now considered ourselves fortunate in having +got out of harbour when we did, as the ice would probably have +filled up every inlet on that shore in a few hours after we left +it.</p> +<p>The wind heading us from the eastward on the 2nd, with fog and +wet weather, obliged us to stretch across the Sound, in doing +which we had occasion to remark the more than usual number of +icebergs that occurred in this place, which was abreast of Navy +Board Inlet. Many of these were large and of the long flat +kind, which appear to me to be peculiar to the western coast of +Baffin’s Bay. I have no doubt that this more than +usual quantity of icebergs in Sir James Lancaster’s Sound +was to be attributed to the extraordinary prevalence and strength +of the easterly winds during this summer, which would drive them +from the eastern parts of Baffin’s Bay. They now +occurred in the proportion of at least four for one that we had +ever before observed here.</p> +<p>Being again favoured with a fair wind, we now stretched to the +eastward, still in an open sea; and our curiosity was +particularly excited to see the present <!-- page 99--><a +name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>situation of +the ice in the middle of Baffin’s Bay, and to compare it +with that in 1824. This comparison we were enabled to make +the more fairly, because the season at which we might expect to +come to it coincided, within three or four days, with that in +which we left it the preceding year. The temperature of the +sea-water now increased to 38°, soon after leaving the Sound, +where it had generally been from 33° to 35°, whereas at +the same season last year it rose no higher than 32° anywhere +in the neighbourhood, and remained even so high as that only for +a very short time. This circumstance seemed to indicate the +total absence of ice from those parts of the sea which had last +autumn been wholly covered by it. Accordingly, on the 5th, +being thirty miles beyond the spot in which we had before +contended with numerous difficulties from ice, not a piece was to +be seen, except one or two solitary bergs; and it was not till +the following day, in latitude 72° 45′, and longitude +64° 44′, or about one hundred and twenty-seven miles to +the eastward of where we made our escape on the 9th of September, +1824, that we fell in with a body of ice so loose and open as +scarcely to oblige us to alter our course for it. At three +P.M. on the 7th, being in latitude 72° 30′, and +longitude 60° 05′, and having, in the course of eighty +miles that we had run through it, only made a single tack, we +came to the margin of the ice, and got into an open sea on its +eastern side. In the whole course of this distance the ice +was so much spread, that it would not, if at all closely +“packed,” have occupied one-third of the same +space. There were at this time thirty-nine bergs in sight, +and some of them certainly not less than two hundred feet in +height.</p> +<p>The narrowness and openness of the ice at this season, <!-- +page 100--><a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +100</span>between the parallels of 73° and 74°, when +compared with its extent and closeness about the same time the +preceding year, was a decided confirmation, if any were wanting, +that the summer of 1824 was extremely unfavourable for +penetrating to the westward about the usual latitudes. How +it had proved elsewhere we could not of course conjecture, till, +on the 8th, being in latitude 71° 55′, longitude +60° 30′, and close to the margin of the ice, we fell in +with the <i>Alfred</i>, <i>Ellison</i>, and <i>Elizabeth</i>, +whalers of Hull, all running to the northward, even at this +season, to look for whales. From them we learned that the +<i>Ellison</i> was one of the two ships we saw, when beset in the +“pack” on the 18th July, 1824; and that they were +then, as we had conjectured, on their return from the northward, +in consequence of having failed in effecting a passage to the +westward. The master of the <i>Ellison</i> informed us +that, after continuing their course along the margin of the ice +to the southward, they at length passed through it to the western +land without any difficulty, in the latitude of 68° to +69°. Many other ships had also crossed about the same +parallels, even in three or four days; but none, it seemed, had +succeeded in doing so, as usual, to the northward. Thus it +plainly appeared (and I need not hesitate to confess that to me +the information was satisfactory) that our bad success in pushing +across the ice in Baffin’s Bay in 1824, had been caused by +circumstances neither to be foreseen nor controlled; namely, by a +particular position of the ice, which, according to the best +information I have been able to collect, has never before +occurred during the only six years that it has been customary for +the whalers to cross this ice at all, and which, therefore, in +all probability, will seldom occur again.</p> +<p><!-- page 101--><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +101</span>If we seek for a cause for the ice thus hanging with +more than ordinary tenacity to the northward, the comparative +coldness of the season indicated by our meteorological +observations may perhaps be considered sufficient to furnish +it. For as the annual clearing of the northern parts of +Baffin’s Bay depends entirely on the time of the disruption +of the ice, and the rate at which it is afterwards drifted to the +southward by the excess of northerly winds, any circumstance +tending to retain it in the bays and inlets to a later period +than usual, and subsequently to hold it together in large floes, +which drive more slowly than smaller masses, would undoubtedly +produce the effect in question. There is, at all events, +one useful practical inference to be drawn from what has been +stated, which is that, though perhaps in a considerable majority +of years a northern latitude may prove the most favourable for +crossing in, yet seasons will sometimes intervene in which it +will be a matter of great uncertainty whereabouts to make the +attempt with the best hope of success.</p> +<p>As the whaling ships were not homeward bound, having as yet +had indifferent success in the fishery, I did not consider it +necessary to send despatches by them. After an hour’s +communication with them, and obtaining such information of a +public nature as could not fail to be highly interesting to us, +we made sail to the southward: while we observed them lying-to +for some time after, probably to consult respecting the unwelcome +information with which we had furnished them as to the whales, +not one of which, by some extraordinary chance, we had seen since +leaving Neill’s Harbour. As this circumstance was +entirely new to us, it seems not unlikely that the whales are +already beginning to shift their ground, in <!-- page 102--><a +name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 102</span>consequence +of the increased attacks which have been made upon them of late +years in that neighbourhood.</p> +<p>On the 10th we had an easterly wind, which, gradually +freshening to a gale, drew up the Strait from the southward, and +blew strong for twenty-four hours from that quarter. In the +course of the night, and while lying-to under the storm-sails, an +iceberg was discovered, by its white appearance, under our +lee. The main-topsail being thrown aback we were enabled to +drop clear of this immense body, which would have been a +dangerous neighbour in a heavy seaway. The wind moderated +on the 11th, but on the following day another gale came on, which +for nine or ten hours blew in most tremendous gusts from the same +quarter, and raised a heavy sea. We happily came near no +ice during the night, or it would scarcely have been possible to +keep the ship clear of it. It abated after daylight on the +13th, but continued to blow an ordinary gale for twelve hours +longer. It was remarkable that the weather was extremely +clear overhead during the whole of this last gale, which is very +unusual here with a southerly wind. Being favoured with a +northerly breeze on the 15th we began to make some way to the +southward. From nine A.M. to one P.M. a change of +temperature in the sea water took place from 37° to +33°. This circumstance seemed to indicate our approach +to some ice projecting to the eastward beyond the straight and +regular margin of the “pack,” which was at this time +not in sight. The indication proved correct and useful; for +after passing several loose pieces of ice during the night, on +the morning of the 15th, just at daybreak, we came to a +considerable body of it, through which we continued to run to the +southward. We were now in latitude 68° 56′, and +in longitude 58° 27′, in which <!-- page 103--><a +name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>situation a +great many bergs were in sight, and apparently aground. We +ran through this ice, which was very heavy, but loose and much +broken up, the whole day; when having sailed fifty-three miles +S.S.E., and appearances being the same as ever, we hauled to the +E.S.E., to endeavour to get clear before dark, which we were just +enabled to effect after a run of thirty miles in that direction, +and then bore up to the southward. After this we saw but +one iceberg and one heavy loose piece previous to our clearing +Davis’s Strait.</p> +<p>On the 17th at noon we had passed to the southward of the +Arctic Circle, and from this latitude to that of about 58° we +had favourable winds and weather; but we remarked on this, as on +several other occasions during this season, that a northerly +breeze, contrary to ordinary observation, brought more moisture +with it than any other. In the course of this run we also +observed more drift-wood than we had ever done before, which I +thought might possibly be owing to the very great prevalence of +easterly winds this season driving it further from the coast of +Greenland than usual. We saw very large flocks of +kittiwakes, some of the whales called finners, and, as we +supposed, a few also of the black kind, together with multitudes +of porpoises.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 24th, notwithstanding the continuance of +a favourable breeze, we met, in the latitude of 58½°, +so heavy a swell from the north-eastward as to make the ship +labour violently for four-and-twenty hours. The northerly +wind then dying away was succeeded by a light air from the +eastward with constant rain. A calm then followed for +several hours, causing the ship to roll heavily in the hollow of +the sea. On the morning of the 25th we had again an +easterly wind, <!-- page 104--><a name="page104"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 104</span>which in a few hours reduced us to +the close-reefed topsails and reefed courses. At eight P.M. +it freshened to a gale, which brought us under the main-topsail +and storm-staysails, and at seven the following morning it +increased to a gale of such violence from N.E.b.N. as does not +very often occur at sea in these latitudes. The gusts were +at times so tremendous as to set the sea quite in a foam, and +threatened to tear the sails out of the bolt-ropes. It +abated a little for four hours in the evening, but from nine P.M. +till two the following morning blew with as great violence as +before, with a high sea, and very heavy rain; constituting +altogether as inclement weather as can well be conceived for +about eighteen hours. The wind gradually drew to the +westward, with dry weather, after the gale began to abate, and at +six A.M. we were enabled to bear up and run to the eastward with +a strong gale at north-west.</p> +<p>The indications of the barometer previous to and during this +gale deserve to be noticed, because it is only about Cape +Farewell that, in coming from the northward down Davis’s +Strait, this instrument begins to speak a language which has ever +been intelligible to us as a weather-glass. As it is also +certain that a “stormy spirit” resides in the +neighbourhood of this headland, no less than in that of more +famed ones to the south, it may become a matter of no small +practical utility for ships passing it, especially in the autumn, +to attend to the oscillations of the mercurial column. It +is with this impression alone that I have detailed the otherwise +uninteresting circumstances of the inclement weather we now +experienced here; and which was accompanied by the following +indications of the barometer. On the 24th, notwithstanding +the change of wind from north to east, <!-- page 105--><a +name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 105</span>the mercury +rose from 29.51 on that morning, to 29.72 at three A.M. the +following day, but fell to 29.39 by nine P.M., with the strong +but not violent breeze then blowing. After this it +continued to descend very gradually, and had reached 28.84, which +was its minimum, at three P.M. on the 26th, after which it +continued to blow tremendously hard for eleven or twelve hours, +the mercury uniformly though slowly ascending to 28.95 during +that interval, and afterwards to 29.73 as the weather became +moderate and fine in the course of the three following days.</p> +<p>After this gale the atmosphere seemed to be quite cleared, and +we enjoyed a week of such remarkably fine weather as seldom +occurs at this season of the year. We had then a succession +of strong southerly winds, but were enabled to continue our +progress to the eastward, so as to make Mould Head, towards the +north-west end of the Orkney Islands, at daylight on the 10th of +October; and the wind becoming more westerly we rounded North +Ronaldsha Island at noon, and then shaped a course for +Buchaness.</p> +<p>In running down Davis’s Strait, as well as in crossing +the Atlantic, we saw on this passage as well as in all our former +autumnal ones, a good deal of the Aurora Borealis. It first +began to display itself on the 15th of September, about the +latitude of 69½°, appearing in the (true) south-east +quarter as a bright luminous patch five or six degrees above the +horizon, almost stationary for two or three hours together, but +frequently altering its intensity, and occasionally sending up +vivid streamers towards the zenith. It appeared in the same +manner on several subsequent nights in the south-west, west, and +east quarters of the heavens; and on the 20th a bright arch of it +passed across the zenith from S.E. to N.W., appearing to be very +<!-- page 106--><a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +106</span>close to the ship, and affording so strong a light as +to throw the shadow of objects on the deck. The next +brilliant display, however, of this beautiful phenomenon which we +now witnessed, and which far surpassed anything of the kind +observed at Port Bowen, occurred on the night of the 24th of +September, in latitude 58½°, longitude +44½°. It first appeared in a (true) east +direction, in detached masses like luminous clouds of yellow or +sulphur-coloured light, about three degrees above the +horizon. When this appearance had continued for about an +hour, it began at nine P.M. to spread upwards, and gradually +extended itself into a narrow band of light passing through the +zenith and again downwards to the western horizon. Soon +after this the streams of light seemed no longer to emanate from +the eastward, but from a fixed point about one degree above the +horizon on a true west bearing. From this point, as from +the narrow point of a funnel, streams of light, resembling +brightly illuminated vapour or smoke, appeared to be incessantly +issuing, increasing in breadth as they proceeded, and darting +with inconceivable velocity, such as the eye could scarcely keep +pace with, upwards towards the zenith, and in the same easterly +direction which the former arch had taken. The sky +immediately under the spot from which the light issued appeared, +by a deception very common in this phenomenon, to be covered with +a dark cloud, whose outline the imagination might at times +convert into that of the summit of a mountain, from which the +light proceeded like the flames of a volcano. The streams +of light as they were projected upwards did not consist of +continuous vertical columns or streamers, but almost entirely of +separate, though constantly renewed masses, which seemed to roll +themselves <!-- page 107--><a name="page107"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 107</span>laterally onward with a sort of +undulating motion, constituting what I have understood to be +meant by that modification of the Aurora called the “merry +dancers,” which is seen in beautiful perfection at the +Shetland Islands. The general colour of the light was +yellow, but an orange and a greenish tinge were at times very +distinctly perceptible, the intensity of the light and colours +being always the greatest when occupying the smallest +space. Thus the lateral margins of the band or arch seemed +at times to roll themselves inwards so as to approach each other, +and in this case the light just at the edges became much more +vivid than the rest. The intensity of light during the +brightest part of the phenomenon, which continued three-quarters +of an hour, could scarcely be inferior to that of the moon when +full.</p> +<p>We once more remarked in crossing the Atlantic that the Aurora +often gave a great deal of light at night, even when the sky was +entirely overcast, and it was on that account impossible to say +from what part of the heavens the light proceeded, though it was +often fully equal to that afforded by the moon in her +quarters. This was rendered particularly striking on the +night of the 5th of October, in consequence of the frequent and +almost instantaneous changes which took place in this way, the +weather being rather dark and gloomy, but the sky at times so +brightly illuminated, almost in an instant, as to give quite as +much light as the full moon similarly clouded, and enabling one +distinctly to recognise persons from one end of the ship to the +other. We did not on any one occasion perceive the +compasses to be affected by the Aurora Borealis.</p> +<p>As we approached the Orkneys, I demanded from the officers, in +compliance with my instructions from my <!-- page 108--><a +name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 108</span>Lords +Commissioners of the Admiralty, all the logs, journals, drawings, +and charts, which had been made during the voyage. After +rounding the north end of the Orkneys on the 10th of October, we +were on the 12th met by a strong southerly wind when off +Peterhead. I, therefore, immediately landed (for the second +time) at that place; and, setting off without delay for London, +arrived at the Admiralty on the 16th.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the ill success which had attended our late +efforts, it may in some degree be imagined what gratification I +experienced at this time in seeing the whole of the +<i>Hecla’s</i> crew, and also those of the <i>Fury</i> +(with the two exceptions already mentioned), return to their +native country in as good health as when they left it eighteen +months before. The <i>Hecla</i> arrived at Sheerness on the +20th of October, where she was detained for a few days for the +purpose of Captain Hoppner, his officers, and ship’s +company, being put upon their trial (according to the customary +and indispensable rule in such cases) for the loss of the +<i>Fury</i>; when, it is scarcely necessary to add, they received +an honourable acquittal. The <i>Hecla</i> then proceeded to +Woolwich, and was paid off on the 21st of November.</p> +<h3><!-- page 109--><a name="page109"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 109</span>ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX OF MELVILLE +PENINSULA AND THE ADJOINING ISLANDS,</h3> +<p class="gutsumm">More particularly of Winter Island and +Igloolik.</p> +<p>The number of individuals composing the tribe of Esquimaux +assembled at Winter Island and Igloolik was two hundred and +nineteen, of whom sixty-nine were men, seventy-seven women, and +seventy-three children. Two or three of the men, from their +appearance and infirmities, as well as from the age of their +children, must have been near seventy; the rest were from twenty +to about fifty. The majority of the women were +comparatively young, or from twenty to five-and-thirty, and three +or four only seemed to have reached sixty. Of the children, +about one-third were under four years old, and the rest from that +age upwards to sixteen or seventeen. Out of one hundred and +fifty-five individuals who passed the winter at Igloolik, we knew +of eighteen deaths and of only nine births.</p> +<p>The stature of these people is much below that of Europeans in +general. One man, who was unusually tall, measured five +feet ten inches, and the shortest was only four feet eleven +inches and a half. Of twenty individuals of each sex +measured at Igloolik, the range was:—</p> +<p>Men.—From 5 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 11 in. The average +height, 5 ft. 5⅓ in.</p> +<p><!-- page 110--><a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +110</span>Women.—From 5 ft. 3½ in. to 4 ft. +8¾ in. The average height, 5 ft. ½in.</p> +<p>The women, however, generally appear shorter than they really +are, both from the unwieldy nature of their clothes and from a +habit, which they early acquire, of stooping considerably forward +in order to balance the weight of the child they carry in their +hood.</p> +<p>In their figure they are rather well-formed than +otherwise. Their knees are indeed rather large in +proportion, but their legs are straight, and the hands and feet, +in both sexes, remarkably small. The younger individuals +were all plump, but none of them corpulent; the women inclined +the most to this last extreme, and their flesh was, even in the +youngest individuals, quite loose and without firmness.</p> +<p>Their faces are generally round and full, eyes small and +black, nose also small and sunk far in between the cheek bones, +but not much flattened. It is remarkable that one man, +<i>Tē-ă</i>, his brother, his wife, and two daughters +had good Roman noses, and one of the latter was an extremely +pretty young woman. Their teeth are short, thick, and +close, generally regular, and in the young persons almost always +white. The elderly women were still well furnished in this +way, though their teeth were usually a good deal worn down, +probably by the habit of chewing the seal-skins for making +boots.</p> +<p>In the young of both sexes the complexion is clear and +transparent, and the skin smooth. The colour of the latter, +when divested of oil and dirt, is scarcely a shade darker than +that of a deep brunette, so that the blood is plainly perceptible +when it mounts into the cheeks. In the old folks, whose +faces were much wrinkled, the skin appears of a much more dingy +hue, the dirt being less <!-- page 111--><a +name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 111</span>easily, and +therefore less frequently, dislodged from them. Besides the +smallness of their eyes, there are two peculiarities in this +feature common to almost all of them. The first consists in +the eye not being horizontal as with us, but coming much lower at +the end next the nose than at the other. Of the second an +account by Mr. Edwards will be given in another place.</p> +<p>By whatever peculiarities, however, they may in general be +distinguished, they are by no means ill-looking people; and there +were among them three or four grown-up persons of each sex who, +when divested of their skin-dresses, their tattooing, and, above +all, of their dirt, might have been considered pleasing-looking, +if not handsome, people in any town in Europe. This remark +applies more generally to the children also; several of whom had +complexions nearly as fair as that of Europeans, and whose little +bright black eyes gave a fine expression to their +countenances.</p> +<p>The hair both of males and females is black, glossy, and +straight. The men usually wear it rather long, and allow it +to hang about their heads in a loose and slovenly manner. A +few of the younger men, and especially those who had been about +the shores of the <i>Welcome</i>, had it cut straight upon the +forehead, and two or three had a circular patch upon the crown of +the head, where the hair was quite short and thin, somewhat after +the manner of Capuchin friars. The women pride themselves +extremely on the length and thickness of their hair; and it was +not without reluctance on their part, and the same on that of +their husbands, that they were induced to dispose of any of +it. When inclined to be neat they separate their locks into +two equal parts, one of which hangs on each side of their heads +and in front of their shoulders. To <!-- page 112--><a +name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>stiffen and +bind these they use a narrow strap of deerskin attached at one +end to a round piece of bone, fourteen inches long, tapered to a +point, and covered over with leather. This looks like a +little whip, the handle of which is placed up and down the hair, +and the strap wound round it in a number of spiral turns, making +the tail thus equipped very much resemble one of those formerly +worn by our seamen. The strap of this article of dress, +which is altogether called a <i>tŏglēēgă</i>, +is so made from the deerskin as to show, when bound round the +hair, alternate turns of white and dark fur, which give it a very +neat and ornamental appearance. On ordinary occasions it is +considered slovenly not to have the hair thus dressed, and the +neatest of the women never visited the ships without it. +Those who are less nice dispose their hair into a loose plait on +each side, or have one <i>tŏglēēgă</i> and +one plait; and others again, wholly disregarding the business of +the toilet, merely tucked their hair in under the breast of their +jackets. Some of the women’s hair was tolerably fine, +but would not in this respect bear a comparison with that of an +Englishwoman. In both sexes it is full of vermin, which +they are in the constant habit of picking out and eating; a man +and his wife will sit for an hour together performing for each +other that friendly office. The women have a comb, which, +however, seems more intended for ornament than use, as we seldom +or never observed them comb their hair. When a +woman’s husband is ill she wears her hair loose, and cuts +it off as a sign of mourning if he dies—a custom agreeing +with that of the Greenlanders. It is probable also, from +what has been before said, that some opprobrium is attached to +the loss of a woman’s hair when no such occasion demands +this sacrifice. The men wear the hair on the upper lip and +<!-- page 113--><a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +113</span>chin, from an inch to an inch and a half in length, and +some were distinguished by a little tuft between the chin and +lower lip.</p> +<p>The dresses both of male and female are composed almost +entirely of deer-skin, in which respect they differ from those of +most Esquimaux before met with. In the form of the dress +they vary very little from those so repeatedly described. +The jacket, which is close, but not tight, all round, comes as +low as the hips, and has sleeves reaching to the wrist. In +that of the women, the tail or flap behind is very broad, and so +long as almost to touch the ground; while a shorter and narrower +one before reaches half-way down the thigh. The men have +also a tail in the hind part of their jacket, but of smaller +dimensions; but before it is generally straight or ornamented by +a single scollop. The hood of the jacket, which forms the +only covering for their head, is much the largest in that of the +women, for the purpose of holding a child. The back of the +jacket also bulges out in the middle to give the child a footing, +and a strap or girdle below this, and secured round the waist by +two large wooden buttons in front, prevents the infant from +falling through, when, the hood being in use, it is necessary +thus to deposit it. The sleeves of the women’s +jackets are made more square and loose about the shoulders than +those of the men, for the convenience, as we understood, of more +readily depositing a child in the hood; and they have a habit of +slipping their arms out of them, and keeping them in contact with +their bodies for the sake of warmth, just as we do with our +fingers in our gloves in very cold weather.</p> +<p>In winter every individual, when in the open air, wears two +jackets, of which the outer one +(<i>Cāppĕ-tēggă</i>) has the hair outside, +and the inner one (<i>Attēēgă</i>) next the <!-- +page 114--><a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +114</span>body. Immediately on entering the hut the men +take off their outer jacket, beat the snow from it, and lay it +by. The upper garment of the females, besides being cut +according to a regular and uniform pattern, and sewed with +exceeding neatness, which is the case with all the dresses of +these people, has also the flaps ornamented in a very becoming +manner by a neat border of deer-skin, so arranged as to display +alternate breadths of white and dark fur. This is, +moreover, usually beautified by a handsome fringe, consisting of +innumerable long narrow threads of leather hanging down from +it. This ornament is not uncommon also in the outer jackets +of the men. When seal-hunting they fasten up the tails of +their jackets with a button behind.</p> +<p>Their breeches, of which in winter they also wear two pairs, +and similarly disposed as to the fur, reach below the knee, and +fasten with a string drawn tight round the waist. Though +these have little or no waist-band, and do not come very high, +the depth of the jackets, which considerably overlap them, serves +very effectually to complete the covering of the body.</p> +<p>Their legs and feet are so well clothed, that no degree of +cold can well affect them. When a man goes on a sealing +excursion he first puts on a pair of deer-skin boots +(<i>Allĕktēēgă</i>) with the hair inside and +reaching to the knee, where they tie. Over these come a +pair of shoes of the same material; next a pair of dressed +seal-skin boots perfectly water-tight; and over all a +corresponding pair of shoes, tying round the instep. These +last are made just like the moccasin of a North American Indian, +being neatly crimped at the toes, and having several serpentine +pieces of hide sewn across the sole to prevent wearing. The +water-tight boots and shoes are made of <!-- page 115--><a +name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 115</span>the skin of +the small seal (<i>neitiek</i>), except the soles, which consist +of the skin of the large seal (<i>oguke</i>); this last is also +used for their fishing-lines. When the men are not prepared +to encounter wet they wear an outer boot of deer-skin with the +hair outside.</p> +<p>The inner boot of the women, unlike that of the men, is loose +round the leg, coming as high as the knee-joint behind, and in +front carried up, by a long pointed flap, nearly to the waist, +and there fastened to the breeches. The upper boot, with +the hair as usual outside, corresponds with the other in shape, +except that it is much more full, especially on the outer side, +where it bulges out so preposterously as to give the women the +most awkward, bow-legged appearance imaginable. This +superfluity of boot has probably originated in the custom, still +common among the native women of Labrador, of carrying their +children in them. We were told that these women sometimes +put their children there to sleep; but the custom must be rare +among them, as we never saw it practised. These boots, +however, form their principal pockets, and pretty capacious ones +they are. Here, also, as in the jackets, considerable taste +is displayed in the selection of different parts of the +deer-skin, alternate strips of dark and white being placed up and +down the sides and front by way of ornament. The women also +wear a moccasin (<i>Itteegĕgă</i>) over all in the +winter time.</p> +<p>One or two persons used to wear a sort of ruff round the neck, +composed of the longest white hair of the deerskin, hanging down +over the bosom in a manner very becoming to young people. +It seemed to afford so little additional warmth to persons +already well clothed, that I am inclined rather to attribute +their wearing it to some superstitious notion. The children +between two and <!-- page 116--><a name="page116"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 116</span>eight or nine years of age had a +pair of breeches and boots united in one, with braces over their +shoulders to keep them up. These, with a jacket like the +others and a pair of deer-skin mittens, with which each +individual is furnished, constitute the whole of their +dress. Children’s clothes are often made of the skins +of very young fawns and of the marmot, as being softer than those +of the deer.</p> +<p>The Esquimaux, when thus equipped, may at all times bid +defiance to the rigour of this inhospitable climate; and nothing +can exceed the comfortable appearance which they exhibit even in +the most inclement weather. When seen at a little distance +the white rim of their hoods, whitened still more by the breath +collecting and freezing upon it, and contrasted with the dark +faces which they encircle, render them very grotesque objects; +but while the skin of their dresses continues in good condition +they always look clean and wholesome.</p> +<p>To judge by the eagerness with which the women received our +beads, especially small white ones, as well as any other article +of that kind, we might suppose them very fond of personal +ornament. Yet of all that they obtained from us in this way +at Winter Island, scarcely anything ever made its appearance +again during our stay there, except a ring or two on the finger, +and some bracelets of beads round the wrist: the latter of these +was probably considered as a charm of some kind or other. +We found among them, at the time of our first intercourse, a +number of small black and white glass beads, disposed alternately +on a string of sinew, and worn in this manner. They would +also sometimes hang a small bunch of these, or a button or two, +in front of their jackets and hair; and many of them, in the +course of the <!-- page 117--><a name="page117"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 117</span>second winter, covered the whole +front of their jackets with the beads they received from us.</p> +<p>The most common ornament of this kind, exclusively their own, +consists in strings of teeth, sometimes many hundred in number, +which are either attached to the lower part of the jacket, like +the fringe before described, or fastened as a belt round the +waist. Most of these teeth are of the fox and wolf, but +some also belong to the musk-ox +(<i>ōōmĭngmŭk</i>), of which animal, though +it is never seen at Winter Island, we procured from the Esquimaux +several of the grinders and a quantity of the hair and +skin. The bones of the +<i>kāblĕĕ-ārioo</i>, supposed to be the +wolverine, constitute another of their ornaments; and it is more +than probable that all these possess some imaginary qualities, as +specific charms for various purposes. The most +extraordinary amulet, if it be one, of this kind was a row of +foxes’ noses attached to the fore-part of a woman’s +jacket like a tier of black buttons. I purchased from +Iligliuk a semicircular ornament of brass, serrated at the upper +edge and brightly polished, which she wore over her hair in front +and which was very becoming. The handsomest thing of this +kind, however, was understood to be worn on the head by men, +though we did not learn on what occasions. It consisted of +a band two inches in breadth, composed of several strips of skin +sewn together, alternately black and yellow; near the upper edge +some hair was artfully interwoven, forming with the skin a very +pretty chequer-work: along the lower edge were suspended more +than a hundred small teeth, principally of the deer, neatly +fastened by small double tags of sinew, and forming a very +appropriate fringe.</p> +<p>Among their personal ornaments must also be reckoned <!-- page +118--><a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +118</span>that mode of marking the body called tattooing, which, +of the customs not essential to the comfort or happiness of +mankind, is perhaps the most extensively practised throughout the +world. Among those people it seems to be an ornament of +indispensable importance to the women, not one of them being +without it. The operation is performed about the age of +ten, or sometimes earlier, and has nothing to do with marriage, +except that, being considered in the light of a personal charm, +it may serve to recommend them as wives. The parts of the +body thus marked are their faces, arms, hands, thighs, and in +some few women the breasts, but never the feet as in +Greenland. The operation, which by way of curiosity most of +our gentlemen had practised on their arms, is very expeditiously +managed by passing a needle and thread (the latter covered with +lamp-black and oil) under the epidermis, according to a pattern +previously marked out upon the skin. Several stitches being +thus taken at once, the thumb is pressed upon the part while the +thread is drawn through, by which means the colouring matter is +retained, and a permanent dye of a blue tinge imparted to the +skin. A woman expert at this business will perform it very +quickly and with great regularity, but seldom without drawing +blood in many places, and occasioning some inflammation. +Where so large a portion of the surface of the body is to be +covered, it must become a painful as well as tedious process, +especially as, for want of needles, they often use a strip of +whalebone as a substitute. For those parts where a needle +cannot conveniently be passed under the skin they use the method +by puncture, which is common in other countries, and by which our +seamen frequently mark their hands and arms. Several of the +men were marked on the back part of <!-- page 119--><a +name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>their +hands; and with them we understood it to be considered as a +souvenir of some distant or deceased person who had performed +it.</p> +<p>In their winter habitations, I have before mentioned that the +only materials employed are snow and ice, the latter being made +use of for the windows alone. The work is commenced by +cutting from a drift of hard and compact snow a number of oblong +slabs, six or seven inches thick and about two feet in length, +and laying them edgeways on a level spot, also covered with snow, +in a circular form, and of a diameter from eight to fifteen feet, +proportioned to the number of occupants the hut is to +contain. Upon this as a foundation is laid a second tier of +the same kind, but with the pieces inclining a little inwards, +and made to fit closely to the lower slabs and to each other, by +running a knife adroitly along the under part and sides. +The top of this tier is now prepared for the reception of a third +by squaring it off smoothly with a knife, all which is +dexterously performed by one man standing within the circle and +receiving the blocks of snow from those employed in cutting them +without. When the wall has attained a height of four or +five feet, it leans so much inward as to appear as if about to +tumble every moment; but the workmen still fearlessly lay their +blocks of snow upon it, until it is too high any longer to +furnish the materials to the builder in this manner. Of +this he gives notice by cutting a hole close to the ground in +that part where the door is intended to be, which is near the +south side, and through this the snow is now passed. Thus +they continue till they have brought the sides nearly to meet in +a perfect and well-constructed dome, sometimes nine or ten feet +high in the centre; and this they take considerable <!-- page +120--><a name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +120</span>care in finishing, by fitting the last block or +keystone very nicely in the centre, dropping it into its place +from the outside, though it is still done by the man +within. The people outside are in the meantime occupied in +throwing up snow with the <i>pŏoāllĕrāy</i>, +or snow-shovel, and in stuffing in little wedges of snow where +holes have been accidentally left.</p> +<p>The builder next proceeds to let himself out by enlarging the +proposed doorway into the form of a Gothic arch three feet high, +and two feet and a half wide at the bottom, communicating with +which they construct two passages, each from ten to twelve feet +long and from four to five feet in height, the lowest being that +next the hut. The roofs of these passages are sometimes +arched, but more generally made flat by slabs laid on +horizontally. In first digging the snow for building the +hut, they take it principally from the part where the passages +are to be made, which purposely brings the floor of the latter +considerably lower than that of the hut, but in no part do they +dig till the bare ground appears.</p> +<p>The work just described completes the walls of a hut, if a +single apartment only be required; but if, on account of +relationship, or from any other cause, several families are to +reside under one roof, the passages are made common to all, and +the first apartment (in that case made smaller) forms a kind of +ante-chamber, from which you go through an arched doorway, five +feet high, into the inhabited apartments. When there are +three of these, which is generally the case, the whole building, +with its adjacent passages, forms a tolerably regular cross.</p> +<p>For the admission of light into the huts a round hole is cut +on one side of the roof of each apartment, and a circular plate +of ice, three or four inches thick and two <!-- page 121--><a +name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 121</span>feet in +diameter, let into it. The light is soft and pleasant, like +that transmitted through ground glass, and is quite sufficient +for every purpose. When after some time these edifices +become surrounded by drift, it is only by the windows, as I have +before remarked, that they could be recognised as human +habitations. It may, perhaps, then be imagined how singular +is their external appearance at night, when they discover +themselves only by a circular disc of light transmitted through +the windows from the lamps within.</p> +<p>The next thing to be done is to raise a bank of snow, two and +a half feet high, all round the interior of each apartment, +except on the side next the door. This bank, which is +neatly squared off, forms their beds and fireplace, the former +occupying the sides, and the latter the end opposite the +door. The passage left open up to the fireplace is between +three and four feet wide. The beds are arranged by first +covering the snow with a quantity of small stones, over which are +laid their paddles, tent-poles, and some blades of whalebone; +above these they place a number of little pieces of network, made +of thin slips of whalebone, and, lastly, a quantity of twigs of +birch and of the <i>andromeda tetragona</i>. Their +deer-skins, which are very numerous, can now be spread without +risk of their touching the snow; and such a bed is capable of +affording not merely comfort but luxurious repose, in spite of +the rigour of the climate. The skins thus used as blankets +are made of a large size, and bordered, like some of the jackets, +with a fringe of long narrow slips of leather, in which state a +blanket is called <i>kēipik</i>.</p> +<p>The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp, +or shallow vessel of <i>lapis ollaris</i>, its form being the +lesser segment of a circle. The wick, composed of <!-- page +122--><a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +122</span>dry moss rubbed between the hands till it is quite +inflammable, is disposed along the edge of the lamp on the +straight side, and a greater or smaller quantity lighted, +according to the heat required or the fuel that can be +afforded. When the whole length of this, which is sometimes +above eighteen inches, is kindled, it affords a most brilliant +and beautiful light, without any perceptible smoke or any +offensive smell. The lamp is made to supply itself with +oil, by suspending a long thin slice of whale, seal, or sea-horse +blubber near the flame, the warmth of which causes the oil to +drip into the vessel until the whole is extracted. +Immediately over the lamp is fixed a rude and rickety framework +of wood, from which their pots are suspended, and serving also to +sustain a large hoop of bone, having a net stretched tight within +it. This contrivance, called <i>Innĕtăt</i>, is +intended for the reception of any wet things, and is usually +loaded with boots, shoes, and mittens.</p> +<p>The fireplace, just described as situated at the upper end of +the apartment, has always two lamps facing different ways, one +for each family occupying the corresponding bed-place. +There is frequently also a smaller and less-pretending +establishment on the same model—lamp, pot, net, and +all—in one of the corners next the door; for one apartment +sometimes contains three families, which are always closely +related, and no married woman, or even a widow without children, +is without her separate fireplace.</p> +<p>With all the lamps lighted and the hut full of people and +dogs, a thermometer placed on the net over the fire indicated a +temperature of 38°; when removed two or three feet from this +situation it fell to 31°, and placed close to the wall stood +at 23°, the temperature of the open <!-- page 123--><a +name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 123</span>air at the +time being 25° below zero. A greater degree of warmth +than this produces extreme inconvenience by the dropping from the +roofs. This they endeavour to obviate by applying a little +piece of snow to the place from which a drop proceeds, and this +adhering is for a short time an effectual remedy; but for several +weeks in the spring, when the weather is too warm for these +edifices, and still too cold for tents, they suffer much on this +account.</p> +<p>The most important perhaps of the domestic utensils, next to +the lamp already described, are the +<i>ōōtkŏŏsĕĕks</i> or stone pots +for cooking. These are hollowed out of solid <i>lapis +ollaris</i>, of an oblong form, wider at the top than at the +bottom, all made in similar proportion, though of various sizes, +corresponding with the dimensions of the lamp which burns under +it. The pot is suspended by a line of sinew at each end to +the framework over the fire, and thus becomes so black on every +side that the original colour of the stone is in no part +discernible. Many of them were cracked quite across in +several places, and mended by sewing with sinew or rivets of +copper, iron, or lead, so as, with the assistance of a lashing +and a due proportion of dirt, to render them quite +water-tight. I may here remark that as these people +distinguish the Wager River by the name of +<i>Oōtkŏŏsĕĕksălik</i>, we were at +first led to conjecture that they procured their pots, or the +material for making them, in that neighbourhood; this, however, +they assured us was not the case, the whole of them coming from +Akkoolee, where the stone is found in very high situations. +One of the women at Winter Island, who came from that country, +said that her parents were much employed in making these pots, +chiefly it seems as articles of barter. The asbestos, which +they use in the shape of a roundish pointed stick called +<i>tatko</i> for <!-- page 124--><a name="page124"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 124</span>trimming the lamps, is met with +about Repulse Bay, and generally, as they said, on low land.</p> +<p>Besides the ootkooseeks, they have circular and oval vessels +of whalebone of various sizes, which, as well as their ivory +knives made out of a walrus’s tusk, are precisely similar +to those described on the western coast of Baffin’s Bay in +1820. They have also a number of smaller vessels of skin +sewed neatly together, and a large basket of the same material, +resembling a common sieve in shape, but with the bottom close and +tight, is to be seen in every apartment. Under every lamp +stands a sort of “save-all,” consisting of a small +skin basket for catching the oil that falls over. Almost +every family was in possession of a wooden tray very much +resembling those used to carry butcher’s meat in England, +and of nearly the same dimensions, which we understood them to +have procured by way of Noowook. They had a number of the +bowls or cups already once or twice alluded to as being made out +of the thick root of the horn of the musk-ox. Of the +smaller part of the same horn they also form a convenient +drinking-cup, sometimes turning it up artificially about +one-third from the point, so as to be almost parallel to the +other part, and cutting it full of small notches as a convenience +in grasping it. These, or any other vessels for drinking, +they call <i>Immōōchiuk</i>.</p> +<p>Besides the ivory knives, the men were well supplied with a +much more serviceable kind, made of iron, and called +<i>panna</i>. The form of this knife is very peculiar, +being seven inches long, two and a quarter broad, quite straight +and flat, pointed at the end, and ground equally sharp at both +edges; this is firmly secured into a handle of bone or wood, +about a foot long, by two or three iron rivets, and has all the +appearance of a most destructive <!-- page 125--><a +name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 125</span>spear-head, +but is nevertheless put to no other purpose than that of a very +useful knife, which the men are scarcely ever without, especially +on their sealing excursions. For these, and several knives +of European form, they are probably indebted to an indirect +communication with our factories in Hudson’s Bay. The +same may be observed of the best of their women’s knives +(<i>ooloo</i>), on one of which, of a larger size than usual, +were the names of “Wild and Sorby.” When of +their own manufacture, the only iron part was a little narrow +slip let into the bone and secured by rivets. It is curious +to observe in this, and in numerous other instances, how exactly, +amidst all the diversity of time and place, these people have +preserved unaltered their manners and habits as mentioned by +Crantz. That which an absurd dread of innovation does in +China, the want of intercourse with other nations has effected +among the Esquimaux.</p> +<p>Of the horn of the musk-ox they make also very good spoons +much like ours in shape; and I must not omit to mention their +marrow spoons (<i>pattēkniuk</i>, from +<i>pāttĕk</i>, marrow), made out of long, narrow, +hollowed pieces of bone, of which every housewife has a bunch of +half a dozen or more tied together, and generally attached to her +needle-case.</p> +<p>For the purpose of obtaining fire the Esquimaux use two lumps +of common iron pyrites, from which sparks are struck into a +little leathern case containing moss well dried and rubbed +between the hands. If this tinder does not readily catch, a +small quantity of the white floss of the seed of the ground +willow is laid above the moss. As soon as a spark has +caught, it is gently blown till the fire has spread an inch +around, when, the pointed end of a piece of oiled wick being +applied, it soon bursts into a <!-- page 126--><a +name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>flame, the +whole process having occupied perhaps two or three minutes.</p> +<p>Among the articles in their possession, which must have been +obtained by communication along shore with Hudson’s Bay, +were two large copper kettles, several open knives with crooked +wooden handles, and many fragments of copper, iron, and old +files. On a small European axe was observed the name of +“Foster.”</p> +<p>In enumerating the articles of their food, we might perhaps +give a list of every animal inhabiting these regions, as they +certainly will at times eat any one of them. Their +principal dependence, however, is on the reindeer +(<i>tōōktoŏ</i>), musk-ox +(<i>ōōmĭngmŭk</i>)(in the parts where this +animal is found), whale (<i>āggăwĕk</i>), walrus +(<i>ēi-ŭ-ĕk</i>), the large and small seal +(<i>ōgŭke</i> and <i>nēitiek</i>), and two sorts +of salmon, the <i>ēwĕe-tārŏke</i> (<i>salmo +alpinus</i>?) and <i>ichlūŏwŏke</i>. The +latter is taken by hooks in freshwater lakes, and the former by +spearing in the shoal water of certain inlets of the sea. +Of all these animals they can only procure in the winter the +walrus and small seal upon this part of the coast; and these at +times, as we have seen, in scarcely sufficient quantity for their +subsistence.</p> +<p>They certainly in general prefer eating their meat cooked, and +while they have fuel they usually boil it; but this is a luxury +and not a necessary to them. Oily as the nature of their +principal food is, yet they commonly take an equal proportion of +lean to their fat, and unless very hungry do not eat it +otherwise. Oil they seldom or never use in any way as a +part of their general diet; and even our butter, of which they +were fond, they would not eat without a due quantity of +bread. They do not like salt meat as well as fresh, and +never use salt themselves; but ship’s pork, or even a red +herring, did not come amiss <!-- page 127--><a +name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 127</span>to +them. Of pea-soup they would eat as much as the sailors +could afford to give them; and that word was the only one, with +the exception of our names, which many of them ever learned in +English. Among their own luxuries must be mentioned a rich +soup called <i>kāyŏ</i>, made of blood, gravy, and +water, and eaten quite hot. In obtaining the names of +several plants, we learned that they sometimes eat the leaves of +sorrel (<i>kōngŏlek</i>), and those of the ground +willow; as also the red berries (<i>paōōna-rootik</i>) +of the <i>vaccinium uliginosum</i>, and the root of the +<i>potentilla pulchella</i>; but these cannot be said to form a +part of their regular diet; scurvy grass they never eat.</p> +<p>Their only drink is water; and of this, when they can procure +it, they swallow an inconceivable quantity; so that one of the +principal occupations of the women during the winter is the +thawing of snow in the ootkooseks for this purpose. They +cut it into thin slices, and are careful to have it clean, on +which account they will bring it from a distance of fifty yards +from the huts. They have an extreme dislike to drinking +water much above the temperature of 32°. In eating +their meals the mistress of the family, having previously cooked +the meat, takes a large lump out of the pot with her fingers, and +hands it to her husband, who placing a part of it between his +teeth cuts it off with a large knife in that position, and then +passes the knife and meat together to his next neighbour. +In cutting off a mouthful of meat the knife passes so close to +their lips, that nothing but constant habit could ensure them +from the danger of the most terrible gashes; and it would make an +English mother shudder to see the manner in which children, five +or six years old, are at all times freely trusted with a knife to +be used in this way.</p> +<p><!-- page 128--><a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +128</span>The length of one of the best of seven canoes belonging +to these Esquimaux was twenty-five feet, including a +narrow-pointed projection, three feet long at each end, which +turns a little upward from the horizontal. The extreme +breadth, which is just before the circular hole, was twenty-one +inches, and the depth ten inches and a half. The plane of +the upper surface of the canoe, except in the two extreme +projections, bends downwards a little from the centre towards the +head and stern, giving it the appearance of what is in ships +called “broken-backed.” The gunwales are of +fir, in some instances of one piece, three or four inches broad +in the centre and tapering gradually away towards the ends. +The timbers, as well as the fore-and-aft connecting pieces, are +of the same material, the former being an inch square, and +sometimes so close together as to require between forty and fifty +of them in one canoe: which when thus “in frame” is +one of the prettiest things of the kind that can be +imagined. The skin with which the canoe is covered is +exclusively that of the <i>neitiek</i>, prepared by scraping off +the hair and fat with an <i>ooloo</i>, and stretching it tight on +a frame over the fire; after which and a good deal of chewing, it +is sewn on by the women with admirable neatness and +strength. Their paddles have a blade at each end, the whole +length being nine feet and a half; the blades are covered with a +narrow plate of bone round the ends to secure them from +splitting: they are always made of fir, and generally of several +pieces scarfed and woolded together.</p> +<p>In summer they rest their canoes upon two small stones raised +four feet from the ground; and in winter, on a similar structure +of snow; in one case to allow them to dry freely, and in the +other to prevent the snow-drift <!-- page 129--><a +name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 129</span>from +covering, and the dogs from eating them. The difficulty of +procuring a canoe may be concluded from the circumstance of there +being at Winter Island twenty men able to manage one, and only +seven canoes among them. Of these indeed only three or four +were in good repair, the rest being wholly or in part stripped of +the skin, of which a good deal was occasionally cut off during +the winter, to make boots, shoes, and mittens for our +people. We found no <i>oomiak</i>, or women’s boat, +among them, and understood that they were not in the habit of +using them, which may in part be accounted for by their passing +so much of the summer in the interior; they knew very well, +however, what they were, and made some clumsy models of them for +our people.</p> +<p>In the weapons used for killing their game there is +considerable variety, according to the animal of which they are +in pursuit. The most simple of these is the +<i>ōōnăk</i>, which they use only for killing the +small seal. It consists of a light staff of wood, four feet +in length, having at one end the point of a narwhal’s horn, +from ten to eighteen inches long, firmly secured by rivets and +wooldings; at the other end is a smaller and less effective point +of the same kind. To prevent losing the ivory part in case +of the wood breaking, a stout thong runs along the whole length +of the wood, each end passing through a hole in the ivory, and +the bight secured in several places to the staff. In this +weapon, as far as it has yet been described, there is little art +or ingenuity displayed; but a considerable degree of both in an +appendage called <i>siātkŏ</i>, consisting of a piece +of bone three inches long, and having a point of iron at one end, +and at the other end a small hole or socket to receive the point +of the oonak. Through the middle of this instrument is +secured <!-- page 130--><a name="page130"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 130</span>the <i>āllek</i>, or line of +thong, of which every man has, when sealing, a couple of coils, +each from four to six fathoms long, hanging at his back. +These are made of the skin of the <i>oguke</i> as in Greenland, +and are admirably adapted to the purpose, both on account of +their strength, and the property which they possess of preserving +their pliability even in the most intense frost.</p> +<p>When a seal is seen, the siatko is taken from a little +leathern case, in which, when out of use, it is carefully +enclosed, and attached by its socket to the point of the spear; +in this situation it is retained by bringing the allek tight down +and fastening it round the middle of the staff by what seamen +call a “slippery hitch,” which may instantly be +disengaged by pulling on the other end of the line. As soon +as the spear has been thrown, and the animal struck, the siatko +is thus purposely separated; and being slung by the middle, now +performs very effectually the important office of a barb, by +turning at right angles to the direction in which it has entered +the orifice. This device is in its principle superior even +to our barb; for the instant any strain is put upon the line it +acts like a toggle, opposing its length to a wound only as wide +as its own breadth.</p> +<p>The <i>āklĕak</i>, or <i>aklēēgă</i>, +used for the large seal, has a blown bladder attached to the +staff, for the purpose of impeding the animal in the water. +The weapon with two long parallel prongs of bone or iron, +obtained from the natives of the Savage Islands, these people +also called <i>akleak</i>, and said it was for killing seals.</p> +<p>The third and largest weapon is that called <i>katteelik</i>, +with which the walrus and whale are attacked. The staff of +this is not longer but much stouter than that of the others, +especially towards the middle, where there is <!-- page 131--><a +name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>a small +shoulder of ivory securely lashed to it for the thumb to rest +against, and thus to give additional force in throwing or +thrusting the spear. The ivory point of this weapon is made +to fit into a socket at the end of the staff, where it is secured +by double thongs, in such a manner as steadily to retain its +position when a strain is put upon it in the direction of its +length, but immediately disengaging itself with a sort of spring, +when any lateral strain endangers its breaking. The siatko +is always used with this spear; and to the end of the allek, when +the animal pursued is in open water, they attach a whole +seal-skin (<i>hŏw-wūt-tă</i>), inflated like a +bladder, for the purpose of tiring it out in its progress through +the water.</p> +<p>They have a spear called <i>īppoo</i> for killing deer in +the water. They described it as having a light staff and a +small head of iron, but they had none of these so fitted in the +winter. The <i>nūgŭee</i>, or dart for birds, +has, besides its two ivory prongs at the end of the staff, three +divergent ones in the middle of it, with several small double +barbs upon them turning inwards; they differ from the +<i>nuguit</i> of Greenland, and that of the Savage Islands, in +having these prongs always of unequal lengths. To give +additional velocity to the bird-dart, they use a throwing-stick +(<i>noke-shak</i>) which is probably the same as the +“hand-board” figured by Crantz. It consists of +a flat board about eighteen inches in length, having a groove to +receive the staff, two others and a hole for the fingers and +thumb, and a small spike fitted for a hole in the end of the +staff. This instrument is used for the bird-dart +only. The spear for salmon or other fish, called +kākĕe-wĕi, consists of a wooden staff with a spike +of bone or ivory, three inches long, secured at one end. On +each <!-- page 132--><a name="page132"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 132</span>side of the spike is a curved prong, +much like that of a pitchfork, but made of flexible horn, which +gives them a spring, and having a barb on the inner part of the +point turning downwards. Their fish-hooks +(<i>kakliōkia</i>) consist only of a nail crooked and +pointed at one end, the other being let into a piece of ivory to +which the line is attached. A piece of deer’s horn or +curved bone, only a foot long, is used as a rod, and completes +this very rude part of their fishing-gear.</p> +<p>Of their mode of killing seals in the winter I have already +spoken in the course of the foregoing narrative, as far as we +were enabled to make ourselves acquainted with it. In their +summer exploits on the water, the killing of the whale is the +most arduous undertaking which they have to perform; and one +cannot sufficiently admire the courage and activity which, with +gear apparently so inadequate, it must require to accomplish this +business. Okotook, who was at the killing of two whales in +the course of a single summer, and who described the whole of it +quite <i>con amore</i>, mentioned the names of thirteen men who, +each in his canoe, had assisted on one of these occasions. +When a fish is seen lying on the water, they cautiously paddle up +astern of him, till a single canoe, preceding the rest, comes +close to him on one quarter, so as to enable the man to drive the +<i>katteelik</i> into the animal with all the force of both +arms. This having the <i>siatko</i>, a long <i>allek</i>, +and the inflated seal-skin attached to it, the whale immediately +dives, taking the whole apparatus with him except the +<i>katteelik</i> which, being disengaged in the manner before +described, floats to the surface and is picked up by its +owner. The animal re-appearing after some time, all the +canoes again paddle towards him, some warning being <!-- page +133--><a name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +133</span>given by the seal-skin buoy floating on the +surface. Each man being furnished like the first, they +repeat the blows as often as they find opportunity, till perhaps +every line has been thus employed. After pursuing him in +this manner, sometimes for half a day, he is at length so wearied +by the resistance of the buoys, and exhausted by loss of blood, +as to be obliged to rise more and more often to the surface, +when, by frequent wounds with their spears, they succeed in +killing him, and tow their prize in triumph to the shore. +It is probable that with the whale, as with the smaller +sea-animals, some privilege or perquisite is given to the first +striker; and, like our own fishermen, they take a pride in having +it known that their spear has been the first to inflict a +wound. They meet with the most whales on the coast of +<i>Einwīllik</i>.</p> +<p>In attacking the walrus in the water they use the same gear, +but with much more caution than with the whale, always throwing +the <i>katteelik</i> from some distance, lest the animal should +attack the canoe and demolish it with his tusks. The walrus +is in fact the only animal with which they use any caution of +this kind. They like the flesh better than that of the +seal; but venison is preferred by them to either of these, and +indeed to any other kind of meat.</p> +<p>At Winter Island they carefully preserved the heads of all the +animals killed during the winter, except two or three of the +walrus, which we obtained with great difficulty. There is +probably some superstition attached to this, but they told us +that they were to be thrown into the sea in the summer, which a +Greenlander studiously avoids doing; and, indeed, at Igloolik, +they had no objection to part with them before the summer +arrived. As the blood of the animals which they kill is all +used as <!-- page 134--><a name="page134"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 134</span>food of the most luxurious kind, +they are careful to avoid losing any portion of it; for this +purpose they carry with them on their excursions a little +instrument of ivory called <i>tŏopōōtă</i>, +in form and size exactly resembling a “twenty-penny” +nail, with which they stop up the orifice made by the spear, by +thrusting it through the skin by the sides of the wound, and +securing it with a twist. I must here also mention a simple +little instrument called <i>keipkūttuk</i>, being a slender +rod of bone nicely rounded, and having a point at one end and a +knob or else a laniard at the other. The use of this is to +thrust through the ice where they have reason to believe a seal +is at work underneath. This little instrument is sometimes +made as delicate as a fine wire, that the seal may not see it; +and a part still remaining above the surface informs the +fishermen by its motion whether the animal is employed in making +his hole: if not, it remains undisturbed, and the attempt is +given up in that place.</p> +<p>One of the best of their bows was made of a single piece of +fir, four feet eight inches in length, flat on the inner side and +rounded on the outer, being five inches in girth about the +middle, where, however, it is strengthened on the concave side, +when strung, by a piece of bone ten inches long, firmly secured +by tree-nails of the same material. At each end of the bow +is a knob of bone, or sometimes of wood covered with leather, +with a deep notch for the reception of the string. The only +wood which they can procure not possessing sufficient elasticity +combined with strength, they ingeniously remedy the defect by +securing to the back of the bow, and to the knobs at each end, a +quantity of small lines, each composed of a plait or +“sinnet” of three sinews. The number of lines +thus reaching from end to end is generally about <!-- page +135--><a name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +135</span>thirty; but besides these, several others are fastened +with hitches round the bow, in pairs, commencing eight inches +from one end, and again united at the same distance from the +other, making the whole number of strings, in the middle of the +bow sometimes amount to sixty. These being put on with the +bow somewhat bent the contrary way, produce a spring so strong as +to require considerable force as well as knack in stringing it +and giving the requisite velocity to the arrow. The bow is +completed by a woolding round the middle and a wedge or two, here +and there, driven in to tighten it. A bow in one piece is, +however, very rare; they generally consist of from two to five +pieces of bone of unequal lengths, secured together by rivets and +tree-nails.</p> +<p>The arrows vary in length from twenty to thirty inches, +according to the materials that can be commanded. About +two-thirds of the whole length is of fir rounded, and the rest of +bone let by a socket into the wood, and having a head of thin +iron, or more commonly of slate, secured into a slit by two +tree-nails. Towards the opposite end of the arrow are two +feathers, generally of the spotted oval, not very neatly lashed +on. The bow-string consists of from twelve to eighteen +small lines of three-sinew sinnet, having a loose twist, and with +a separate becket of the same size for going over the knobs at +the end of the bow.</p> +<p>We tried their skill in archery by getting them to shoot at a +mark for a prize, though with bows in extremely bad order, on +account of the frost, and their hands very cold. The mark +was two of their spears stuck upright in the snow, their breadth +being three inches and a half. At twenty yards they struck +this every time; at thirty, sent the arrows always within an inch +or two of it; and at forty or fifty yards, I should think, would +generally hit <!-- page 136--><a name="page136"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 136</span>a fawn if the animal stood +still. These weapons are perhaps sufficient to inflict a +mortal wound at something more than that distance, for which, +however, a strong arm would be required. The animals which +they kill with the bow and arrow for their subsistence are +principally the musk-ox and deer, and less frequently the bear, +wolf, fox, hare, and some of the smaller animals.</p> +<p>It is a curious fact that the musk-ox is very rarely found to +extend his migrations to the eastward of a line passing through +Repulse Bay, or about the meridian of 86° west, while in a +northern direction we know that he travels as far as the +seventy-sixth degree of latitude. In Greenland this animal +is known only by vague and exaggerated report; on the western +coast of Baffin’s Bay it has certainly been seen, though +very rarely, by the present inhabitants; and the eldest person +belonging to the Winter Island tribe had never seen one to the +eastward of Eiwillik, where, as well as at +Akkōōleĕ, they are said to be numerous on the +banks of fresh-water lakes and streams. The few men who had +been present at the killing of one of these creatures seemed to +pride themselves very much upon it. Toolooak, who was about +seventeen years of age, had never seen either the musk-ox or the +<i>kābleĕ-ārioo</i>, a proof that the latter also +is not common in this corner of America.</p> +<p>The reindeer are killed by the Esquimaux in great abundance in +the summer season, partly by driving them from islands or narrow +necks of land into the sea, and then spearing them from their +canoes; and partly by shooting them from behind heaps of stones +raised for the purpose of watching them and imitating their +peculiar bellow or grunt. Among the various artifices which +they employ for this purpose, one of the most ingenious <!-- page +137--><a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +137</span>consists in two men walking directly from the deer they +wish to kill, when the animal almost always follows them. +As soon as they arrive at a large stone, one of the men hides +behind it with his bow, while the other, continuing to walk on, +soon leads the deer within range of his companion’s +arrows. They are also very careful to keep to leeward of +the deer, and will scarcely go out after them at all when the +weather is calm. For several weeks in the course of the +summer some of these people almost entirely give up their fishery +on the coast, retiring to the banks of lakes several miles in the +interior, which they represent as large and deep and abounding +with salmon, while the pasture near them affords good feeding to +numerous herds of deer.</p> +<p>The distance to which these people extend their inland +migrations, and the extent of coast of which they possess a +personal knowledge, are really very considerable. Of these +we could at the time of our first intercourse form no correct +judgment, from our uncertainty as to the length of what they call +a <i>seenik</i> (sleep), or one day’s journey, by which +alone they could describe to us, with the help of their imperfect +arithmetic, the distance from one place to another. But our +subsequent knowledge of the coast has cleared up much of this +difficulty, affording the means of applying to their +hydrographical sketches a tolerably accurate scale for those +parts which we have not hitherto visited. A great number of +these people, who were born at Amitioke and Igloolik, had been to +<i>Noowook</i>, or nearly as far south as Chesterfield Inlet, +which is about the <i>ne plus ultra</i> of their united knowledge +in a southerly direction. Not one of them had been by water +round to Akkoolee, but several by land; in which mode of +travelling they only consider that country <!-- page 138--><a +name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 138</span>from three +to five days’ journey from Repulse Bay. Okotook and a +few others of the Winter Island tribe had extended their +peregrinations a considerable distance to the northward, over the +large insular piece of land to which we have applied the name of +Cockburn Island; which they described as high land and the resort +of numerous reindeer. Here Okotook informed us he had seen +icebergs, which these people call by a name +(<i>pīccălōōyăk</i>) having in its +pronunciation some affinity to that used in Greenland. By +the information afterwards obtained when nearer the spot, we had +reason to suppose this land must reach beyond the seventy-second +degree of latitude in a northerly direction; so that these people +possess a personal knowledge of the continent of America and its +adjacent islands, from that parallel to Chesterfield Inlet in +63¾°, being a distance of more than five hundred miles +reckoned in a direct line, besides the numerous turnings and +windings of the coast along which they are accustomed to +travel. Ewerat and some others had been a considerable +distance up the Wager River; but no record had been preserved +among them of Captain Middleton’s visit to that inlet about +the middle of the last century.</p> +<p>Of the continental shore to the westward of Akkoolee, the +Esquimaux invariably disclaimed the slightest personal knowledge; +for no land can be seen in that direction from the hills. +They entertain, however, a confused idea that neither Esquimaux +nor Indians could there subsist, for want of food. Of the +Indians they know enough by tradition to hold them in +considerable dread, on account of their cruel and ferocious +manners. When, on one occasion, we related the +circumstances of the inhuman massacre described by Hearne, they +crowded <!-- page 139--><a name="page139"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 139</span>round us in the hut, listening with +mute and almost breathless attention; and the mothers drew their +children closer to them, as if to guard them from the dreadful +catastrophe. It is worthy of notice that they call the +Indians by a name (<i>Eērt-kĕi-lĕe</i>), which +appears evidently the same as that applied by the Greenlanders to +the man-eaters supposed to inhabit the eastern coast of their +country, and to whom terror has assigned a face like that of a +dog.</p> +<p>The Esquimaux take some animals in traps, and by a very +ingenious contrivance of this kind they caught two wolves at +Winter Island. It consists of a small house built of ice, +at one end of which a door, made of the same plentiful material, +is fitted to slide up and down in a groove; to the upper part of +this a line is attached, and, passing over the roof, is let down +into the trap at the inner end, and there held by slipping an eye +in the end of it over a peg of ice left for the purpose. +Over the peg, however, is previously placed a loose grummet, to +which the bait is fastened, and a false roof placed over all to +hide the line. The moment the animal drags at the bait the +grummet slips off the peg, bringing with it the line that held up +the door, and this falling down closes the trap and secures +him.</p> +<p>A trap for birds is formed by building a house of snow just +large enough to contain one person, who closes himself up in +it. On the top is left a small aperture, through which the +man thrusts one of his hands to secure the bird the moment he +alights to take away a bait of meat laid beside it. It is +principally gulls that are taken thus; and the boys sometimes +amuse themselves in this manner. A trap in which they catch +foxes has been mentioned in another place.</p> +<p><!-- page 140--><a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +140</span>The sledges belonging to these Esquimaux were in +general large and heavily constructed, being more adapted to the +carriage of considerable burdens than to very quick +travelling. They varied in size, being from six and a half +to nine feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in +breadth. Some of those at Igloolik were of larger +dimensions, one being eleven feet in length, and weighing two +hundred and sixty-eight pounds, and two or three others above two +hundred pounds. The runners are sometimes made of the right +and left jaw-bones of a whale; but more commonly of several +pieces of wood or bone scarfed and lashed together, the +interstices being filled, to make all smooth and firm, with moss +stuffed in tight, and then cemented by throwing water to freeze +upon it. The lower part of the runner is shod with a plate +of harder bone, coated with fresh-water ice to make it run +smoothly and to avoid wear and tear, both which purposes are thus +completely answered. This coating is performed with a +mixture of snow and fresh water about half an inch thick, rubbed +over it till it is quite smooth and hard upon the surface, and +this is usually done a few minutes before setting out on a +journey. When the ice is only in part worn off, it is +renewed by taking some water into the mouth, and spirting it over +the former coating. We noticed a sledge which was extremely +curious, on account of one of the runners and a part of the other +being constructed without the assistance of wood, iron, or bone +of any kind. For this purpose a number of seal-skins being +rolled up and disposed into the requisite shape, an outer coat of +the same kind was sewed tightly round them; this formed the upper +half of the runner, the lower part of which consisted entirely of +moss moulded while wet into the <!-- page 141--><a +name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>proper +form, and being left to freeze, adhering firmly together and to +the skins. The usual shoeing of smooth ice beneath +completed the runner, which for more than six months out of +twelve, in this climate, was nearly as hard as any wood; and for +winter use no way inferior to those constructed of more durable +materials. The crosspieces which form the bottom of the +sledge are made of bone, wood, or anything they can muster. +Over these is generally laid a seal-skin as a flooring, and in +the summertime a pair of deer’s horns are attached to the +sledge as a back, which in the winter are removed to enable them +when stopping to turn the sledge up, so as to prevent the dogs +running away with it. The whole is secured by lashings of +thong, giving it a degree of strength combined with flexibility +which perhaps no other mode of fastening could effect.</p> +<p>The dogs of the Esquimaux, of which these people possessed +above a hundred, have been so often described that there may seem +little left to add respecting their external appearance, habits, +and use. Our visits to Igloolik having, however, made us +acquainted with some not hitherto described, I shall here offer a +further account of these invaluable animals. In the form of +their bodies, their short pricked ears, thick furry coat, and +bushy tail, they so nearly resemble the wolf of these regions +that, when of a light or brindled colour, they may easily at a +little distance be mistaken for that animal. To an eye +accustomed to both, however, a difference is perceptible in the +wolf’s always keeping his head down and his tail between +his legs in running, whereas the dogs almost always carry their +tails handsomely curled over the back. A difference less +distinguishable, when the animals are apart, is the superior size +and more muscular make of the <!-- page 142--><a +name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>wild +animal, especially about the breast and legs. The wolf is +also, in general, full two inches taller than any Esquimaux dog +we have seen; but those met with in 1818, in the latitude of +76°, appear to come nearest to it in that respect. The +tallest dog at Igloolik stood two feet one inch from the ground, +measured at the withers; the average height was about two inches +less than this.</p> +<p>The colour of the dogs varies from a white, through brindled, +to black-and-white, or almost entirely black. Some are also +of a reddish or ferruginous colour, and others have a +brownish-red tinge on their legs, the rest of their bodies being +of a darker colour, and these last were observed to be generally +the best dogs. Their hair in the winter is from three to +four inches long; but besides this, Nature furnishes them during +this rigorous season with a thick under-coating of close soft +wool, which they begin to cast in the spring. While thus +provided, they are able to withstand the most inclement weather +without suffering from the cold; and at whatever temperature the +atmosphere may be, they require nothing but a shelter from the +wind to make them comfortable, and even this they do not always +obtain. They are also wonderfully enabled to endure the +cold even on those parts of the body which are not thus +protected, for we have seen a young puppy sleeping, with its bare +paw laid on an ice-anchor, with the thermometer at -30°, +which with one of our dogs would have produced immediate and +intense pain, if not subsequent mortification. They never +bark, but have a long melancholy howl like that of the wolf, and +this they will sometimes perform in concert for a minute or two +together. They are besides always snarling and fighting +among one another, by which several of them are generally +lame. When much <!-- page 143--><a name="page143"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 143</span>caressed and well fed, they become +quite familiar and domestic; but this mode of treatment does not +improve their qualities as animals of draught. Being +desirous of ascertaining whether these dogs are wolves in a state +of domestication, a question which we understood to have been the +subject of some speculation, Mr. Skeoch, at my request, made a +skeleton of each, when the number of all the vertebra was found +to be the same in both, and to correspond with the well-known +anatomy of the wolf.</p> +<p>When drawing a sledge, the dogs have a simple harness +(<i>annoo</i>) of deer or seal skin, going round the neck by one +bight, and another for each of the fore-legs, with a single thong +leading over the back and attached to the sledge as a +trace. Though they appear at first sight to be huddled +together without regard to regularity, there is, in fact, +considerable attention paid to their arrangement, particularly in +the selection of a dog of peculiar spirit and sagacity, who is +allowed, by a longer trace, to precede the rest as leader, and to +whom, in turning to the right or left, the driver usually +addresses himself. This choice is made without regard to +age or sex, and the rest of the dogs take precedency according to +their training or sagacity, the least effective being put nearest +the sledge. The leader is usually from eighteen to twenty +feet from the fore part of the sledge, and the hindmost dog about +half that distance, so that when ten or twelve are running +together, several are nearly abreast of each other. The +driver sits quite low on the fore part of the sledge, with his +feet overhanging the snow on one side, and having in his hand a +whip, of which the handle, made either of wood, bone, or +whalebone, is eighteen inches, and the lash more than as many +feet in length. The part of the thong next the handle is +plaited a little <!-- page 144--><a name="page144"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 144</span>way down to stiffen it and give it a +spring, on which much of its use depends; and that which composes +the lash is chewed by the women to make it flexible in frosty +weather. The men acquire from their youth considerable +expertness in the use of this whip, the lash of which is left to +trail along the ground by the side of the sledge, and with which +they can inflict a very severe blow on any dog at pleasure. +Though the dogs are kept in training entirely by fear of the +whip, and indeed without it would soon have their own way, its +immediate effect is always detrimental to the draught of the +sledge; for not only does the individual that is struck draw back +and slacken his trace, but generally turns upon his next +neighbour, and this, passing on to the next, occasions a general +divergency, accompanied by the usual yelping and showing of +teeth. The dogs then come together again by degrees, and +the draught of the sledge is accelerated; but, even at the best +of times, by this rude mode of draught, the traces of one-third +of the dogs form an angle of thirty or forty degrees on each side +of the direction in which the sledge is advancing. Another +great inconvenience attending the Esquimaux method of putting the +dogs to, besides that of not employing their strength to the best +advantage, is the constant entanglement of the traces by the dogs +repeatedly doubling under from side to side to avoid the whip, so +that, after running a few miles, the traces always require to be +taken off and cleared.</p> +<p>In directing the sledge the whip acts no very essential part, +the driver for this purpose using certain words, as the carters +do with us, to make the dogs turn more to the right or +left. To these a good leader attends with admirable +precision, especially if his own name be <!-- page 145--><a +name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 145</span>repeated at +the same time, looking behind over his shoulder with great +earnestness, as if listening to the directions of the +driver. On a beaten track, or even where a single foot or +sledge mark is occasionally discernible, there is not the +slightest trouble in guiding the dogs; for even in the darkest +night and in the heaviest snowdrift there is little or no danger +of their losing the road, the leader keeping his nose near the +ground, and directing the rest with wonderful sagacity. +Where, however, there is no beaten track, the best driver among +them makes a terribly circuitous course, as all the Esquimaux +roads plainly show; these generally occupying an extent of six +miles, when with a horse and sledge the journey would scarcely +have amounted to five. On rough ground, as among hummocks +of ice, the sledge would be frequently overturned, or altogether +stopped, if the driver did not repeatedly get off, and, by +lifting or drawing it to one side, steer it clear of those +accidents. At all times, indeed, except on a smooth and +well-made road, he is pretty constantly employed thus with his +feet, which, together with his never-ceasing vociferations and +frequent use of the whip, renders the driving of one of these +vehicles by no means a pleasant or easy task. When the +driver wishes to stop the sledge, he calls out “Wo, +woa,” exactly as our carters do; but the attention paid to +this command depends altogether on his ability to enforce +it. If the weight is small and the journey homeward, the +dogs are not to be thus delayed; the driver is therefore obliged +to dig his heels into the snow to obstruct their progress; and +having thus succeeded in stopping them, he stands up with one leg +before the foremost cross-piece of the sledge, till, by means of +laying the whip gently over each dog’s head, he has <!-- +page 146--><a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +146</span>made them all lie down. He then takes care not to +quit his position; so that should the dogs set off he is thrown +upon the sledge, instead of being left behind by them.</p> +<p>With heavy loads the dogs draw best with one of their own +people, especially a woman, walking a little way ahead; and in +this case they are sometimes enticed to mend their pace by +holding a mitten to the mouth, and then making the motion of +cutting it with a knife, and throwing it on the snow, when the +dogs, mistaking it for meat, hasten forward to pick it up. +The women also entice them from the huts in a similar +manner. The rate at which they travel depends, of course, +on the weight they have to draw, and the road on which their +journey is performed. When the latter is level and very +hard and smooth, constituting what in other parts of North +America is called “good sleighing,” six or seven dogs +will draw from eight to ten hundredweight, at the rate of seven +or eight miles an hour, for several hours together, and will +easily under those circumstances perform a journey of fifty or +sixty miles a day; on untrodden snow, five-and-twenty or thirty +miles would be a good day’s journey. The same number +of well-fed dogs, with a weight of only five or six hundred +pounds (that of the sledge included), are almost unmanageable, +and will on a smooth road run any way they please at the rate of +ten miles an hour. The work performed by a greater number +of dogs is, however, by no means in proportion to this, owing to +the imperfect mode already described of employing the strength of +these sturdy creatures, and to the more frequent snarling and +fighting occasioned by an increase of numbers.</p> +<p>In the summer, when the absence of snow precludes the use of +sledges, the dogs are still made useful on <!-- page 147--><a +name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>journeys +and hunting excursions, by being employed to carry burdens in a +kind of saddle-bags laid across their shoulders. A stout +dog thus accoutred will accompany his master, laden with a weight +of about twenty to twenty-five pounds. When leading the +dogs, the Esquimaux take a half hitch with the trace round their +necks to prevent their pulling, and the same plan is followed +when a sledge is left without a keeper. They are also in +the habit of tethering them, when from home, by tying up one of +the fore-legs; but a still more effectual method is similar to +that which we saw employed by the Greenlanders of Prince +Regent’s Bay, and consists in digging with their spears two +holes in the ice in an oblique direction and meeting each other, +so as to leave an eye-bolt, to which the dogs are fastened.</p> +<p>The scent of the Esquimaux dogs is excellent; and this +property is turned to account by their masters in finding the +seal holes, which these invaluable animals will discover entirely +by the smell at a very great distance. The track of a +single deer upon the snow will in like manner set them off at a +full gallop, when travelling, at least a quarter of a mile before +they arrive at it, when they are with difficulty made to turn in +any other direction; and the Esquimaux are accustomed to set them +after those animals to hunt them down when already wounded with +an arrow. In killing bears the dogs act a very essential +part, and two or three of them when led on by a man will eagerly +attack one of those ferocious creatures. An Esquimaux +seldom uses any other weapon than his spear and <i>panna</i> in +this encounter, for which the readiness of the dogs may be +implied from the circumstance of the word “nennook” +(bear), being often used to encourage them when running in a +sledge. Indeed, the only animal <!-- page 148--><a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>which they +are not eager to chase is the wolf, of which the greater part of +them seem to have an instinctive dread, giving notice at night of +their approach to the huts by a loud and continued howl. +There is not one dog in twenty among them that will voluntarily, +or indeed without a great deal of beating, take the water if they +think it is out of their depth, and the few that would do so were +spoken of as extraordinary exceptions.</p> +<p>The Esquimaux in general treat their dogs much as an unfeeling +master does his slaves; that is, they take just as much care of +them as their own interest is supposed to require. The +bitches with young are in the winter allowed to occupy a part of +their own beds, where they are carefully attended and fed by the +women, who will even supply the young ones with meat and water +from their mouths as they do their own children, and not +unfrequently also carry them in their hoods to take care of +them. It is probably on this account that the dogs are +always so much attached to the women, who can at any time catch +them or entice them from the huts when the men fail. Two +females that were with young on board the <i>Fury</i> in the +month of February brought forth six and seven at a litter, and +the former number were all females. Their feeding, which, +both in summer and winter, principally consists of +<i>kāŏw</i>, or the skin and part of the blubber of the +walrus, is during the latter season very precarious, their +masters having then but little to spare. They therefore +become extremely thin at that time of the year, and would +scarcely be recognised as the same animals as when regularly fed +in the summer. No wonder therefore that they will eat +almost anything however tough or filthy, and that neither +whipping nor shouting will prevent their turning out of the road, +even <!-- page 149--><a name="page149"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 149</span>when going at full speed, to pick up +whatever they espy. When at the huts they are constantly +creeping in to pilfer what they can, and half the time of the +people sitting there is occupied in vociferating their names and +driving them by most unmerciful blows out of the +apartments. The dogs have no water to drink during the +winter, but lick up some clean snow occasionally as a substitute; +nor indeed if water be offered them do they care about it unless +it happens to be oily. They take great pleasure in rolling +in clean snow, especially after or during a journey, or when they +have been confined in a house during the night. +Notwithstanding the rough treatment which they receive from their +masters their attachment to them is very great, and this they +display after a short absence by jumping up and licking their +faces all over with extreme delight. The Esquimaux, +however, never caress them, and indeed scarcely ever take any +notice of them but when they offend, and they are not then +sparing in their blows. The dogs have all names, to which +they attend with readiness, whether drawing in a sledge or +otherwise. Their names are frequently the same as those of +the people, and in some instances are given after the relations +of their masters, which seems to be considered an act of kindness +among them. Upon the whole, notwithstanding the services +performed by these valuable creatures, I am of opinion that art +cannot well have done less towards making them useful, and that +the same means in almost any other hands would be employed to +greater advantage.</p> +<p>*****</p> +<p>In the disposition of these people, there was of course among +so many individuals considerable variety as to <!-- page 150--><a +name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 150</span>the minute +points; but in the general features of their character, which +with them are not subject to the changes produced by foreign +intercourse, one description will nearly apply to all. The +virtue which, as respected ourselves, we could most have wished +them to possess is honesty, and the impression derived from the +early part of our intercourse was certainly in this respect a +favourable one. A great many instances occurred, some of +which have been related, where they appeared even scrupulous in +returning articles that did not belong to them; and this too when +detection of a theft, or at least of the offender, would have +been next to impossible. As they grew more familiar with +us, and the temptations became stronger, they gradually relaxed +in their honesty, and petty thefts were from time to time +committed by several individuals both male and female among +them.</p> +<p>The bustle which any search for stolen goods occasioned at the +huts was a sufficient proof of their understanding the estimation +in which the crime was held by us. Until the affair was +cleared up they would affect great readiness to show every +article which they had got from the ships, repeating the name of +the donor with great warmth, as if offended at our suspicions, +yet with a half-smile on their countenances at our supposed +credulity in believing them. There was, indeed, at all +times some degree of trick and cunning in this show of openness +and candour; and they would at times bring back some very +trifling article that had been given them, tendering it as a sort +of expiation for the theft of another much more valuable. +When a search was making they would invent all sorts of lies to +screen themselves, not caring on whom besides the imputation +fell; and more than once they directed our people to the +apartments of others who were innocent of the <!-- page 151--><a +name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>offence in +question. If they really knew the offender, they were +generally ready enough to inform against him, and this with an +air of affected secrecy and mysterious importance; and, as if the +dishonesty of another constituted a virtue in themselves, they +would repeat this information frequently, perhaps for a month +afterwards, setting up their neighbour’s offence as a foil +to their own pretended honesty.</p> +<p>In appreciating the character of these people for honesty, +however, we must not fail to make due allowance for the degree of +temptation to which they were daily exposed amidst the boundless +stores of wealth which our ships appeared to them to +furnish. To draw a parallel case, we must suppose a +European of the lower class suffered to roam about amidst hoards +of gold and silver; for nothing less valuable can be justly +compared with the wood and iron that everywhere presented +themselves to their view on board the ships. The European +and the Esquimaux who, in cases so similar, both resist the +temptation of stealing, must be considered pretty nearly on a par +in the scale of honesty; and judging in this manner, the balance +might possibly be found in favour of the latter when compared +with any similar number of Europeans taken at random from the +lower class.</p> +<p>In what has been hitherto said, regard has been had only to +their dealings with us. In their transactions among +themselves there is no doubt that, except in one or two +privileged cases, such as that of destitute widows, the strictest +honesty prevails, and that as regards the good of their own +community they are generally honest people. We have in +numberless instances sent presents by one to another, and +invariably found that they had <!-- page 152--><a +name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>been +faithfully delivered. The manner in which their various +implements are frequently left outside their huts is a proof, +indeed, that robbery is scarcely known among them. It is +true that there is not an article in the possession of one of +them of which any of the rest will not readily name the owner, +and the detection of a theft would therefore be certain and +immediate. Certainty of detection, however, among a lawless +and ferocious people, instead of preventing robbery, would more +probably add violence and murder to the first crime, and the +strongest would ultimately gain the upper hand. We cannot, +therefore, but admire the undisturbed security in which these +people hold their property without having recourse to any +restraint beyond that which is incurred by the tacitly received +law of mutual forbearance.</p> +<p>In the barter of their various commodities their dealings with +us were fair and upright, though latterly they were by no means +backward or inexpert in driving a bargain. The absurd and +childish exchanges which they at first made with our people +induced them subsequently to complain that the Kabloonas had +stolen their things, though the profit had been eventually a +hundredfold in their favour. Many such complaints were made +when the only fault in the purchaser had been excessive +liberality, and frequently also as a retort by way of warding off +the imputation of some dishonesty of their own. A trick not +uncommon with the women was to endeavour to excite the +commiseration and to tax the bounty of one person by relating +some cruel theft of this kind that had, as they said, been +practised upon them by another. One day, after I had bought +a knife of Togolat, she told Captain Lyon, in a most piteous +tone, that <i>Parree</i> had stolen her last <i>ooloo</i>, that +she did not know what to do <!-- page 153--><a +name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>without +one, and, at length coming to the point, begged him to give her +one. Presently after this, her husband coming in and asking +for something to eat, she handed him some meat accompanied by a +very fine ooloo. Her son, being thus reminded of eating, +made the same request, upon which a second knife was produced, +and immediately after, a third of the same kind for +herself. Captain Lyon, having amused himself in watching +these proceedings, which so well confirmed the truth of the +proverb that certain people ought to have good memories, now took +the knives, one by one, out of their hands, and holding them up +to Togolat, asked her if Parree had not stolen her last +ooloo. A hearty laugh all round was the only notice taken +by them of this direct detection of the deceit.</p> +<p>The confidence which they really placed in us was daily and +hourly evinced by their leaving their fishing gear stuck in the +snow all round the ships; and not a single instance occurred, to +my knowledge, of any theft committed on their property. The +licking of the articles received from us was not so common with +them as with Esquimaux in general, and this practice was latterly +almost entirely left off by them.</p> +<p>Among the unfavourable traits in their character must be +reckoned an extreme disposition to envy, which displayed itself +on various occasions during our intercourse with them. If +we had made any presents in one hut, the inmates of the next +would not fail to tell us of it, accompanying their remarks with +some satirical observation, too unequivocally expressed to be +mistaken, and generally by some stroke of irony directed against +the favoured person. If any individual with whom we had +been intimate happened to be implicated in a theft, the +circumstance <!-- page 154--><a name="page154"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 154</span>became a subject of satisfaction too +manifest to be repressed, and we were told of it with expressions +of the most triumphant exultation on every occasion. It was +indeed curious, though ridiculous, to observe that, even among +these simple people, and in this obscure corner of the globe, +that little gossip and scandal so commonly practised in small +societies among us were very frequently displayed. This was +especially the case with the women, of whom it was not uncommon +to see a group sitting in a hut for hours together, each relating +her quota of information, now and then mimicking the persons of +whom they spoke, and interlarding their stories with jokes +evidently at the expense of their absent neighbours, though to +their own infinite amusement.</p> +<p>In extenuation, however, of these faults, it must be allowed +that we were ourselves the exciting cause which called them into +action, and without which they would be comparatively of rare +occurrence among them. Like every other child of Adam, they +undoubtedly possess their share of the seeds of these human +frailties; but even in this respect they need not shrink from a +comparison with ourselves, for who among us can venture to assure +himself that if exposed to similar temptations he would not be +found wanting?</p> +<p>To another failing to which they are addicted the same excuse +will not so forcibly apply, as in this respect our acquaintance +with them naturally furnishes an opportunity for the practice of +a virtue, rather than for the development of its opposite +vice. I have already, in the course of the foregoing +narrative, hinted at the want of gratitude evinced by these +people in their transactions with us. Among themselves, +almost the only case in which this sentiment can have any field +for exertion is <!-- page 155--><a name="page155"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 155</span>in the conduct of children towards +their parents, and in this respect, as I shall presently have +occasion to notice, their gratitude is by no means +conspicuous. Anything like a free gift is very little, if +at all, known among them. If A gives B a part of his seal +to-day, the latter soon returns an equal quantity when he is the +successful fisherman. Uncertain as their mode of living is, +and dependent as they are upon each other’s exertions, this +custom is the evident and unquestionable interest of all. +The regulation does credit to their wisdom, but has nothing to do +with their generosity. This being the case, it might be +supposed that our numerous presents, for which no return was +asked, would have excited in them something like thankfulness, +combined with admiration; but this was so little the case that +the <i>coyenna</i> (thanks) which did now and then escape them, +expressed much less than even the most common-place “thank +ye” of civilised society. Some exceptions, for they +were only exceptions, and rare ones, to this rule have been +mentioned as they occurred; but, in general, however considerable +the benefit conferred, it was forgotten in a day; and this +forgetfulness was not unfrequently aggravated by their giving out +that their benefactor had been so shabby as to make them no +present at all. Even those individuals who, either from +good behaviour or superior intelligence, had been most noticed by +us, and particularly such as had slept on board the ships, and +whether in health or sickness had received the most friendly +treatment from everybody, were in general just as indifferent as +the rest; and I do not believe that any one amongst them would +have gone half a mile out of his road, or have sacrificed the +most trivial self-gratification, to have served us. Though +the riches lay on our side, they possessed abundant means of +making some <!-- page 156--><a name="page156"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 156</span>nominal return, which, for the sake +of the principle that prompted it, would of course have been +gratifying to us. Okotook and Iligliuk, whom I had most +loaded with presents, and who had never offered me a single free +gift in return, put into my hand, at the time of their first +removal from Winter Island, a dirty crooked model of a spear, so +shabbily constructed that it had probably been already refused as +an article of barter by many of the ship’s company. +On my accepting this, from an unwillingness to affront them, they +were uneasy and dissatisfied till I had given them something in +return, though their hands were full of the presents which I had +just made them. Selfishness is, in fact, almost without +exception their universal characteristic, and the main-spring of +all their actions, and that, too, of a kind the most direct and +unamiable that can well be imagined.</p> +<p>In the few opportunities we had of putting their hospitality +to the test, we had every reason to be pleased with them. +Both as to food and accommodation, the best they had were always +at our service; and their attention, both in kind and degree, was +everything that hospitality and even good breeding could +dictate. The kindly offices of drying and mending our +clothes, cooking our provision, and thawing snow for our drink +were performed by the women with an obliging cheerfulness which +we shall not easily forget, and which commanded its due share of +our admiration and esteem. While thus their guest, I have +passed an evening not only with comfort, but with extreme +gratification; for with the women working and singing, their +husbands quietly mending their lines, the children playing before +the door, and the pot boiling over the blaze of a cheerful lamp, +one might well forget for the time that an Esquimaux hut was the +scene of this <!-- page 157--><a name="page157"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 157</span>domestic comfort and tranquillity; +and I can safely affirm with Cartwright, that, while thus lodged +beneath their roof, I know no people whom I would more +confidently trust, as respects either my person or my property, +than the Esquimaux. It is painful, and may perhaps be +considered invidious after this, to inquire how far their +hospitality would in all probability be extended if interest were +wholly separated from its practice, and a stranger were destitute +and unlikely soon to repay them. But truth obliges me to +confess that, from the extreme selfishness of their general +conduct, as well as from their behaviour in some instances to the +destitute of their own tribe, I should be sorry to lie under the +necessity of thus drawing very largely on their bounty.</p> +<p>The estimation in which women are held among these people is, +I think, somewhat greater than is usual in savage life. In +their general employments they are by no means the drudges that +the wives of the Greenlanders are said to be; being occupied only +in those cares which may properly be called domestic, and as such +are considered the peculiar business of the women among the lower +classes in civilised society. The wife of one of these +people, for instance, makes and attends the fire, cooks the +victuals, looks after the children, and is sempstress to her +whole family; while her husband is labouring abroad for their +subsistence. In this respect it is not even necessary to +except their task of cutting up the small seals, which is, in +truth, one of the greatest luxuries and privileges they enjoy; +and even if it were esteemed a labour, it could scarcely be +considered equivalent to that of the women in many of our own +fishing-towns, where the men’s business is at an end the +moment the boat touches the beach. The most laborious of +their tasks occurs <!-- page 158--><a name="page158"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 158</span>perhaps in making their various +journeys, when all their goods and chattels are to be removed at +once, and when each individual must undoubtedly perform a full +share of the general labour. The women are, however, good +walkers, and not easily fatigued; for we have several times known +a young woman of two-and-twenty, with a child in her hood, walk +twelve miles to the ships and back again the same day for the +sake of a little bread-dust and a tin canister. When +stationary in the winter, they have really almost a sinecure of +it, sitting quietly in their huts, and having little or no +employment for the greater part of the day. In short, there +are few, if any, people in this state of society among whom the +women are so well off. They always sit upon the beds with +their legs doubled under them, and are uneasy in the posture +usual with us. The men sometimes sit as we do, but more +generally with their legs crossed before them.</p> +<p>The women do not appear to be in general very prolific. +Illumea, indeed, had borne seven children, but no second instance +of an equal number in one family afterwards came to our +knowledge; three or four is about the usual number. They +are, according to their own account, in the habit of suckling +their children to the age of three years; but we have seen a +child of five occasionally at the breast, though they are +dismissed from the mother’s hood at about the former +age. The time of weaning them must of course, in some +instances, depend on the mother’s again becoming pregnant, +and if this succeeds quickly it must, as Crantz relates of the +Greenlanders, go hard with one of the infants. Nature, +however, seems to be kind to them in this respect, for we did not +witness one instance, nor hear of any, in which a woman was put +to this inconvenience and distress. It is not uncommon to +see one <!-- page 159--><a name="page159"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 159</span>woman suckling the child of another, +while the latter happens to be employed in her other domestic +occupations. They are in the habit also of feeding their +younger children from their own mouths, softening the food by +mastication, and then turning their heads round, so that the +infant in the hood may put its lips to theirs. The chill is +taken from water for them in the same manner, and some fathers +are very fond of taking their children on their knees and thus +feeding them. The women are more desirous of having sons +than daughters, as on the former must principally depend their +support in old age.</p> +<p>Twelve of the men had each two wives, and some of the younger +ones had also two betrothed; two instances occurred of the father +and son being married to sisters. The custom of betrothing +children in their infancy is commonly practised here, in which +respect these people differ from the natives of Greenland, where +it is comparatively rare. A daughter of Arnaneelia, between +two and three years old, had long been thus contracted to +Okotook’s son, a hero of six or seven, and the latter used +to run about the hut, calling his intended by the familiar +appellation of <i>Nŏŏllē-ă</i> (wife), to the +great amusement of the parents. When a man has two wives, +there is generally a difference of five or six years in their +ages. The senior takes her station next the principal fire, +which comes entirely under her management; and she is certainly +considered in some respects superior to the other, though they +usually live together in the utmost harmony. The men +sometimes repudiate their wives without ceremony, in case of real +or supposed bad behaviour, as in Greenland, but this does not +often occur. There was a considerable disparity of age +between many of the men and their wives, the husband being +sometimes the oldest <!-- page 160--><a name="page160"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 160</span>by twenty years or more, and this +also when he had never married any former wife. We knew no +instance in which the number of a man’s wives exceeded two, +and indeed we had every reason to believe that the practice is +never admitted among them. We met with a singular instance +of two men having exchanged wives, in consequence merely of one +of the latter being pregnant at the time when her husband was +about to undertake a long journey.</p> +<p>The authority of the husband seems to be sufficiently +absolute, depending nevertheless in great measure on the +dispositions of the respective parties. Iligliuk was one of +those women who seemed formed to manage their husbands; and we +one day saw her take Okotook to task in a very masterly style for +having bartered away a good jacket for an old useless pistol +without powder or shot. He attempted at first to bluster in +his turn, and with most women would probably have gained his +point. But with Iligliuk this would not do; she saw at once +the absurdity of his bargain, and insisted on his immediately +cancelling it, which was accordingly done, and no more said about +it. In general, indeed, the husband maintains his +authority, and in several instances of supposed bad behaviour in +a wife, we saw obedience enforced in a pretty summary +manner. It is very rare, however, to see them proceed to +this extremity; and the utmost extent of a husband’s want +of tenderness towards his wife consists in general in making her +walk or lead the dogs, while he takes his own seat in the sledge +and rides in comfort. Widows, as might be expected, are not +so well off as those whose husbands are living, and this +difference is especially apparent in their clothes, which are +usually very dirty, thin, and ragged; when indeed they happen to +have <!-- page 161--><a name="page161"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 161</span>no near relatives, their fate, as we +have already seen, is still worse than this.</p> +<p>I fear we cannot give a very favourable account of the +chastity of the women, nor of the delicacy of their husbands in +this respect. As for the latter, it was not uncommon for +them to offer their wives as freely for sale as a knife or a +jacket. Some of the young men informed us that, when two of +them were absent together on a sealing excursion, they often +exchanged wives for the time, as a matter of friendly +convenience; and indeed, without mentioning any other instances +of this nature, it may safely be affirmed that in no country is +prostitution carried to greater lengths than among these +people. The behaviour of most of the women when their +husbands were absent from the huts plainly evinced their +indifference towards them, and their utter disregard of connubial +fidelity. The departure of the men was usually the signal +for throwing aside restraint, which was invariably resumed on +their return. For this event they take care to be prepared +by the report of the children, one of whom is usually posted on +the outside for the purpose of giving due notice.</p> +<p>The affection of parents for their children was frequently +displayed by these people, not only in the mere passive +indulgence, and abstinence from corporal punishment, for which +Esquimaux have before been remarked, but by a thousand playful +endearments also, such as parents and nurses practise in our own +country. Nothing indeed can well exceed the kindness with +which they treat their children; and this trait in their +character deserves to be the more insisted on, because it is in +reality the only very amiable one which they possess. It +must be confessed, indeed, that the gentleness and docility of +<!-- page 162--><a name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +162</span>the children are such as to occasion their parents +little trouble, and to render severity towards them quite +unnecessary. Even from their earliest infancy, they possess +that quiet disposition, gentleness of demeanour, and uncommon +evenness of temper, for which in more mature age they are for the +most part distinguished. Disobedience is scarcely ever +known, a word or even a look from a parent is enough; and I never +saw a single instance of that frowardness and disposition to +mischief which with our youth so often requires the whole +attention of a parent to watch over and to correct. They +never cry from trifling accidents, and sometimes not even from +very severe hurts, at which an English child would sob for an +hour. It is indeed astonishing to see the indifference with +which, even as tender infants, they bear the numerous blows they +accidentally receive when carried at their mothers’ +backs.</p> +<p>They are just as fond of play as any other young people, and +of the same kind; only that while an English child draws a cart +of wood, an Esquimaux of the same age has a sledge of whalebone; +and for the superb baby-house of the former, the latter builds a +miniature hut of snow, and begs a lighted wick from her +mother’s lamp to illuminate the little dwelling. +Their parents make for them, as dolls, little figures of men and +women, habited in the true Esquimaux costume, as well as a +variety of other toys, many of them having some reference to +their future occupations in life, such as canoes, spears, and +bows and arrows. The drum or tambourine, mentioned by +Crantz, is common among them, and used not only by the children, +but by the grown-up people at some of their games. They +sometimes serrate the edges of two strips of whalebone and whirl +them round their heads, just as <!-- page 163--><a +name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 163</span>boys do in +England to make the same peculiar humming sound. They will +dispose one piece of wood on another, as an axis, in such a +manner that the wind turns it round like the arms of a windmill; +and so of many other toys of the same simple kind. These +are the distinct property of the children, who will sometimes +sell them while their parents look on, without interfering or +expecting to be consulted.</p> +<p>When not more than eight years old the boys are taken by their +fathers on their sealing excursions, where they begin to learn +their future business; and even at that early age they are +occasionally intrusted to bring home a sledge and dogs from a +distance of several miles over the ice. At the age of +eleven we see a boy with his watertight boots and moccasins, a +spear in his hand, and a small coil of line at his back, +accompanying the men to the fishery, under every circumstance; +and from this time his services daily increase in value to the +whole tribe. On our first intercourse with them we supposed +that they would not unwillingly have parted with their children +in consideration of some valuable present, but in this we +afterwards found that we were much mistaken. Happening one +day to call myself Toolooak’s <i>attata</i> (father), and +pretend that he was to remain with me on board the ship, I +received from the old man, his father, no other answer than what +seemed to be very strongly and even satirically implied, by his +taking one of our gentlemen by the arm and calling him his son; +thus intimating that the adoption which he proposed was as +feasible and as natural as my own.</p> +<p>The custom of adoption is carried to very great lengths among +these people, and served to explain to us several apparent +inconsistencies with respect to their relationships. <!-- +page 164--><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +164</span>The adoption of a child in civilised countries has +usually for its motive either a tenderness for the object itself, +or some affection or pity for its deceased, helpless, or unknown +parents. Among the Esquimaux, however, with whom the two +first of these causes would prove but little excitement, and the +last can have no place, the custom owes its origin entirely to +the obvious advantage of thus providing for a man’s own +subsistence in advanced life; and it is consequently confined +almost without exception to the adoption of sons, who can alone +contribute materially to the support of an aged and infirm +parent. When a man adopts the son of another as his own, he +is said to “<i>tego</i>,” or take him; and at +whatever age this is done (though it generally happens in +infancy), the child then lives with his new parents, calls them +father and mother, is sometimes even ignorant of any such +transfer having been made, especially if his real parents should +be dead; and whether he knows it or not, is not always willing to +acknowledge any but those with whom he lives. Without +imputing much to the natural affection of these people for their +offspring, which, like their other passions, is certainly not +remarkable for its strength, there would seem, on the score of +disinterestedness, a degree of consideration in a man’s +thus giving his son to another, which is scarcely compatible with +the general selfishness of the Esquimaux character; but there is +reason to suppose that the expediency of this measure is +sometimes suggested by a deficiency of the mother’s milk, +and not unfrequently perhaps by the premature death of the real +parent. The agreement seems to be always made between the +fathers, and to differ in no respect from the transfer of other +property, except that none can equal in value the property <!-- +page 165--><a name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +165</span>thus disposed of. The good sense, good fortune, +or extensive claims of some individuals were particularly +apparent in this way, from the number of sons they had +adopted. Toolemak, deriving perhaps some advantage from his +qualifications as Angetkook, had taken care to negotiate for the +adoption of some of the finest male children of the tribe; a +provision which now appeared the more necessary from his having +lost four children of his own, besides Noogloo, who was one of +his <i>tego’d</i> sons. In one of the two instances +that came to our knowledge of the adoption of a female child, +both its own parents were still living, nor could we ascertain +the motive for this deviation from the more general custom.</p> +<p>In their behaviour to old people, whose age or infirmities +render them useless and therefore burdensome to the community, +the Esquimaux betray a degree of insensibility, bordering on +inhumanity, and ill-repaying the kindness of an indulgent +parent. The old man Hikkeiera, who was very ill during the +winter, used to lie day after day little regarded by his wife, +son, daughter, and other relatives, except that his wretched +state constituted, as they well knew, a forcible claim upon our +charity; and, with this view, it was sure to excite a whine of +sympathy and commiseration whenever we visited or spoke of +him. When, however, a journey of ten miles was to be +performed over the ice, they left him to find his way with a +stick in the best manner he could, while the young and robust +ones were many of them drawn on sledges. There is, indeed, +no doubt that, had their necessities or mode of life required a +longer journey than he could thus have accomplished, they would +have pushed on like the Indians and left a fellow-creature to +perish. It was certainly considered incumbent on his son to +support him, <!-- page 166--><a name="page166"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 166</span>and he was fortunate in that +son’s being a very good man; but a few more such journeys +to a man of seventy would not impose this incumbrance upon him +much longer. Illumea, the mother of several grown-up +children, lived also in the same apartment with her youngest son, +and in the same hut with her other relations. She did not, +however, interfere, as in Greenland, with the management of her +son’s domestic concerns, though his wife was half an +idiot. She was always badly clothed, and even in the midst +of plenty not particularly well fed, receiving everything more as +an act of charity than otherwise; and she will probably be less +and less attended to in proportion as she stands more in need of +assistance.</p> +<p>The different families appear always to live on good terms +with each other, though each preserves its own habitation and +property as distinct and independent as any housekeeper in +England. The persons living under one roof, who are +generally closely related, maintain a degree of harmony among +themselves which is scarcely ever disturbed. The more +turbulent passions, which when unrestrained by religious +principle or unchecked by the dread of human punishment, usually +create so much havoc in the world, seem to be very seldom excited +in the breasts of these people, which renders personal violence +or immoderate anger extremely rare among them; and one may sit in +a hut for a whole day, and never witness an angry word or look, +except in driving out the dogs. If they take an offence, it +is more common for them to show it by the more quiet method of +sulkiness; and this they now and then tried as a matter of +experiment with us. Okotook, who was often in this humour, +once displayed it to some of our gentlemen in his own hut, by +turning his back and frequently <!-- page 167--><a +name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>repeating +the expression “Good-bye,” as a broad hint to them to +go away. Toolooak was also a little given to this mood, but +never retained it long, and there was no malice mixed with his +displeasure. One evening that he slept on board the +<i>Fury</i> he either offended Mr. Skeoch, or thought that he had +done so, by this kind of humour; at all events, they parted for +the night without any formal reconciliation. The next +morning Mr. Skeoch was awakened at an unusually early hour by +Toolooak’s entering his cabin and taking hold of his hand +to shake it by way of making up the supposed quarrel. On a +disposition thus naturally charitable, what might not Christian +education and Christian principles effect! Where a joke is +evidently intended, I never knew people more ready to join in it +than these are. If ridiculed for any particularity of +manner, figure, or countenance, they are sure not to be long +behindhand in returning it, and that very often with +interest. If we were the aggressors in this way, some +ironical observation respecting the <i>Kabloonas</i> was +frequently the consequence; and no small portion of wit as well +as irony was at times mixed with their raillery.</p> +<p>In point of intellect, as well as disposition, great variety +was of course perceptible among the different individuals of this +tribe; but few of them were wanting in that respect. Some, +indeed, possessed a degree of natural quickness and intelligence +which perhaps could hardly be surpassed in the natives of any +country. Iligliuk, though one of the least amiable, was +particularly thus gifted. When she really wished to develop +our meaning, she would desire her husband and all the rest to +hold their tongues, and would generally make it out while they +were puzzling their heads to no purpose. In <!-- page +168--><a name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +168</span>returning her answers, the very expression of her +countenance, though one of the plainest among them, was almost of +itself sufficient to convey her meaning; and there was in these +cases a peculiar decisive energy in her manner of speaking, which +was extremely interesting. This woman would indeed have +easily learned anything to which she chose to direct her +attention; and had her lot been cast in a civilised country +instead of this dreary region, which serves alike to +“freeze the genial current of the soul” and body, she +would probably have been a very clever person. For want of +a sufficient object, however, neither she nor any of her +companions ever learned a dozen words of English, except our +names, with which it was their interest to be familiar, and +which, long before we left them, any child could repeat, though +in their own style of pronunciation.</p> +<p>Besides the natural authority of parents and husbands, these +people appear to admit no kind of superiority among one another, +except a certain degree of superstitious reverence for their +<i>angetkooks</i>, and their tacitly following the counsel or +steps of the most active seal-catcher on their hunting +excursions. The word <i>nallegak</i>, used in Greenland to +express “master,” and “lord” in the +Esquimaux translations of the Scriptures, they were not +acquainted with. One of the young men at Winter Island +appeared to be considered somewhat in the light of a servant to +Okotook, living with the latter, and quietly allowing him to take +possession of all the most valuable presents which he received +from us. Being a sociable people, they unite in +considerable numbers to form a settlement for the winter; but on +the return of spring they again separate into several parties, +each appearing to choose his own route, without regard to that +<!-- page 169--><a name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +169</span>of the rest, but all making their arrangements without +the slightest disagreement or difference of opinion that we could +ever discover. In all their movements they seem to be +actuated by one simultaneous feeling that is truly admirable.</p> +<p>Superior as our arts, contrivances, and materials must +unquestionably have appeared to them, and eager as they were to +profit by this superiority, yet, contradictory as it may seem, +they certainly looked upon us in many respects with profound +contempt, maintaining that idea of self-sufficiency which has +induced them, in common with the rest of their nation, to call +themselves, by way of distinction, <i>Innŭee</i>, or +mankind. One day, for instance, in securing some of the +gear of a sledge, Okotook broke a part of it composed of a piece +of our white line, and I shall never forget the contemptuous +sneer with which he muttered in soliloquy the word +“Kabloona!” in token of the inferiority of our +materials to his own. It is happy, perhaps, when people +possessing so few of the good things of this life can be thus +contented with the little allotted them.</p> +<p>The men, though low in stature, are not wanting in muscular +strength in proportion to their size, or in activity and +hardiness. They are good and even quick walkers, and +occasionally bear much bodily fatigue, wet, and cold, without +appearing to suffer by it, much less to complain of it. +Whatever labour they have gone through, and with whatever success +in procuring game, no individual ever seems to arrogate to +himself the credit of having done more than his neighbour for the +general good. Nor do I conceive there is reason to doubt +their personal courage, though they are too good-natured often to +excite others to put that quality to the test. It <!-- page +170--><a name="page170"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 170</span>is +true, they will recoil with horror at the tale of an Indian +massacre, and probably cannot conceive what should induce one set +of men deliberately and without provocation to murder +another. War is not their trade; ferocity forms no part of +the disposition of the Esquimaux. Whatever manly qualities +they possess are exercised in a different way, and put to a far +more worthy purpose. They are fishermen, and not warriors; +but I cannot call that man a coward who, at the age of +one-and-twenty, will attack a Polar bear single-handed, or +fearlessly commit himself to floating masses of ice which the +next puff of wind may drift for ever from the shore.</p> +<p>If, in short, they are deficient in some of the higher +virtues, as they are called, of savage life, they are certainly +free also from some of its blackest vices; and their want of +brilliant qualities is fully compensated by those which, while +they dazzle less, do more service to society and more honour to +human nature. If, for instance, they have not the +magnanimity which would enable them to endure without a murmur +the most excruciating torture, neither have they the ferocious +cruelty that incites a man to inflict that torture on a helpless +fellow-creature. If their gratitude for favours be not +lively nor lasting, neither is their resentment of injuries +implacable, nor their hatred deadly. I do not say there are +not exceptions to this rule, though we have never witnessed any; +but it is assuredly not their general character.</p> +<p>When viewed more nearly in their domestic relations, the +comparison will, I believe, be still more in their favour. +It is here as a social being, as a husband and the father of a +family, promoting within his own little sphere the benefit of +that community in which <!-- page 171--><a +name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 171</span>Providence +has cast his lot, that the moral character of a savage is truly +to be sought; and who can turn without horror from the Esquimaux, +peaceably seated after a day of honest labour with his wife and +children in their snow-built hut, to the self-willed and +vindictive Indian, wantonly plunging his dagger into the bosom of +the helpless woman whom nature bids him cherish and protect!</p> +<p>Of the few arts possessed by this simple people some account +has already been given in the description of their various +implements. As mechanics, they have little to boast when +compared with other savages lying under equal disadvantages as to +scantiness of tools and materials. As carpenters, they can +scarf two pieces of wood together, secure them with pins of +whalebone or ivory, fashion the timbers of a canoe, shoe a +paddle, and rivet a scrap of iron into a spear or arrow +head. Their principal tool is the knife (<i>panna</i>), +and, considering the excellence of a great number which they +possessed previous to our intercourse with them, the work they do +is remarkably coarse and clumsy. Their very manner of +holding and handling a knife is the most awkward that can be +imagined. For the purpose of boring holes they have a drill +and bow so exactly like our own that they need no further +description, except that the end of the drill-handle, which our +artists place against their breast, is rested by these people +against a piece of wood or bone held in their mouths, and having +a cavity fitted to receive it. With the use of the saw they +were well acquainted, but had nothing of this kind in their +possession better than a notched piece of iron. One or two +small European axes were lashed to handles in a contrary +direction to ours; that is, to be used like an adze, a form +which, according to the observation <!-- page 172--><a +name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 172</span>of a +traveller well qualified to judge, savages in general +prefer. It was said that these people steamed or boiled +wood in order to bend it for fashioning the timbers of their +canoes. As fishermen or seamen, they can put on a woolding +or seizing with sufficient strength and security, and are +acquainted with some of the most simple and serviceable knots in +use among us. In all the arts, however, practised by the +men, it is observable that the ingenuity lies in the principle, +not in the execution. The experience of ages has led them +to adopt the most efficacious methods, but their practice as +handicrafts has gone no further than absolute necessity requires; +they bestow little labour upon neatness or ornament.</p> +<p>In some of the few arts practised by the women there is much +more dexterity displayed, particularly in that important branch +of a housewife’s business, sewing, which even with their +own clumsy needles of bone they perform with extraordinary +neatness. They had, however, several steel needles of a +three-cornered shape, which they kept in a very convenient case, +consisting of a strip of leather passed through a hollow bone and +having its ends remaining out, so that the needles which are +stuck into it may be drawn in and out at pleasure. These +cases were sometimes ornamented by cutting; and several thimbles +of leather, one of which in sewing is worn on the first finger, +are usually attached to it, together with a bunch of narrow +spoons and other small articles liable to be lost. The +thread they use is the sinew of the reindeer (<i>tooktoo +ĕwāllŏŏ</i>), or, when they cannot procure +this, the swallow-pipe of the <i>neitiek</i>. This may be +split into threads of different sizes, according to the nature of +their work, and is certainly a most admirable material. +This, together with any other articles of a similar kind, they +<!-- page 173--><a name="page173"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +173</span>keep in little bags, which are sometimes made of the +skin of birds’ feet, disposed with the claws downwards in a +very neat and tasteful manner. In sewing, the point of the +needle is entered and drawn through in a direction towards the +body, and not from it or towards one side, as with our +sempstresses. They sew the deer-skins with a “round +seam,” and the water-tight boots and shoes are +“stitched.” The latter is performed in a very +adroit and efficacious manner, by putting the needle only half +through the substance of one part of the seal-skin, so as to +leave no hole for admitting the water. In cutting out the +clothes, the women do it after one regular and uniform pattern, +which probably descends unaltered from generation to +generation. The skin of the deer’s head is always +made to form the apex of the hood, while that of the neck and +shoulders comes down the back of the jacket; and so of every +other part of the animal, which is appropriated to its particular +portion of the dress. To soften the seal-skins of which the +boots, shoes, and mittens are made, the women chew them for an +hour or two together, and the young girls are often seen employed +in thus preparing the materials for their mothers. The +covering of the canoes is a part of the women’s business, +in which good workmanship is especially necessary to render the +whole smooth and water-tight. The skins, which are those of +the <i>neitiek</i> only, are prepared by scraping off the hair +and the fleshy parts with an <i>ooloo</i>, and stretching them +out tight on a frame, in which state they are left over the lamps +or in the sun for several days to dry; and after this they are +well chewed by the women to make them fit for working. The +dressing of leather and of skins in the hair is an art which the +women have brought to no inconsiderable degree of <!-- page +174--><a name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +174</span>perfection. They perform this by first cleansing +the skin from as much of the fat and fleshy matter as the +<i>ooloo</i> will take off, and then rubbing it hard for several +hours with a blunt scraper, called <i>siākŏŏt</i>, +so as nearly to dry it. It is then put into a vessel +containing urine, and left to steep a couple of days, after which +a drying completes the process. Skins dressed in the hair +are, however, not always thus steeped; the women, instead of +this, chewing them for hours together, till they are quite soft +and clean. Some of the leather thus dressed looked nearly +as well as ours, and the hair was as firmly fixed to the pelt; +but there was in this respect a very great difference, according +to the art or attention of the housewife. Dyeing is an art +wholly unknown to them. The women are very expert at +platting, which is usually done with three threads of sinew; if +greater strength is required, several of these are twisted +slackly together, as in the bowstrings. The quickness with +which some of the women plat is really surprising; and it is well +that they do so, for the quantity required for the bows alone +would otherwise occupy half the year in completing it.</p> +<p>It may be supposed that among so cheerful a people as the +Esquimaux there are many games or sports practised; indeed, it +was rarely that we visited their habitations without seeing some +engaged in them. One of these our gentlemen saw at Winter +Island, on an occasion when most of the men were absent from the +huts on a sealing excursion, and in this Iligliuk was the chief +performer. Being requested to amuse them in this way, she +suddenly unbound her hair, platted it, tied both ends together to +keep it out of her way, and then, stepping out into the middle of +the hut, began to make the most hideous faces that can be +conceived, by drawing both <!-- page 175--><a +name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 175</span>lips into +her mouth, poking forward her chin, squinting frightfully, +occasionally shutting one eye, and moving her head from side to +side as if her neck had been dislocated. This exhibition, +which they call <i>āyŏkĭt-tāk-poke</i>, and +which is evidently considered an accomplishment that few of them +possess in perfection, distorts every feature in the most +horrible manner imaginable, and would, I think, put our most +skilful horse-collar grinners quite out of countenance.</p> +<p>The next performance consists in looking stedfastly and +gravely forward and repeating the words +<i>tăbāk-tabak</i>, <i>kĕibō-keibo</i>, +<i>kĕ-bāng-ĕ-nū-tŏ-ĕĕk</i>, +<i>kebangenutoeek</i>, <i>ămātămā</i>, +<i>amatama</i>, in the order in which they are here placed, but +each at least four times, and always by a peculiar modulation of +the voice, speaking them in pairs, as they are coupled +above. The sound is made to proceed from the throat in a +way much resembling ventriloquism, to which art it is indeed an +approach. After the last <i>amatama</i> Iligliuk always +pointed with her finger towards her body, and pronounced the word +<i>angetkook</i>, steadily retaining her gravity for five or six +seconds, and then bursting into a loud laugh, in which she was +joined by all the rest. The women sometimes produce a much +more guttural and unnatural sound, repeating principally the word +<i>īkkĕrĕe-ikkeree</i>, coupling them as before, +and staring in such a manner as to make their eyes appear ready +to burst out of their sockets with the exertion. Two or +more of them will sometimes stand up face to face, and with great +quickness and regularity respond to each other, keeping such +exact time that the sound appears to come from one throat instead +of several. Very few of the females are possessed of this +accomplishment, which is called <i>pitkoo-she-rāk-poke</i>, +and it is not <!-- page 176--><a name="page176"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 176</span>uncommon to see several of the +younger females practising it. A third part of the game, +distinguished by the word <i>keitīk-poke</i>, consists only +in falling on each knee alternately, a piece of agility which +they perform with tolerable quickness, considering the bulky and +awkward nature of their dress.</p> +<p>The last kind of individual exhibition was still performed by +Iligliuk, to whom in this, as in almost every thing else, the +other women tacitly acknowledged their inferiority, by quietly +giving place to her on every occasion. She now once more +came forward, and letting her arms hang down loosely and bending +her body very much forward, shook herself with extreme violence, +as if her whole frame had been strongly convulsed, uttering at +the same time, in a wild tone of voice, some of the unnatural +sounds before mentioned.</p> +<p>This being at an end, a new exhibition was commenced, in which +ten or twelve women took a part, and which our gentlemen compared +to blind man’s buff. A circle being formed, and a boy +despatched to look out at the door of the hut, Iligliuk, still +the principal actress, placed herself in the centre, and after +making a variety of guttural noises for about half a minute, shut +her eyes, and ran about till she had taken hold of one of the +others, whose business it then became to take her station in the +centre, so that almost every woman in her turn occupied this +post, and in her own peculiar way, either by distortion of +countenance or other gestures, performed her part in the +game. This continued three-quarters of an hour, and, from +the precaution of placing a look-out, who was withdrawn when it +was over, as well as from some very expressive signs which need +not here be mentioned, there is reason to believe that it is +usually <!-- page 177--><a name="page177"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 177</span>followed by certain indecencies, +with which their husbands are not to be acquainted. +Kaoongut was present indeed on this occasion, but his age seemed +to render him a privileged person; besides which his own wife did +not join in the game.</p> +<p>The most common amusement, however, and to which their +husbands made no objection, they performed at Winter Island +expressly for our gratification. The females, being +collected to the number of ten or twelve, stood in as large a +circle as the hut would admit, with Okotook in the centre. +He began by a sort of half-howling, half-singing noise, which +appeared as if designed to call the attention of the women, the +latter soon commencing the <i>Amna Aya</i> song hereafter +described. This they continued without variety, remaining +quite still while Okotook walked round within the circle; his +body was rather bent forward, his eyes sometimes closed, his arms +constantly moving up and down, and now and then hoarsely +vociferating a word or two, as if to increase the animation of +the singers, who, whenever he did this, quitted the chorus and +rose into the words of the song. At the end of ten minutes +they all left off at once, and, after one minute’s interval +commenced a second act precisely similar and of equal duration, +Okotook continuing to invoke their Muse as before. A third +act which followed this varied only in his frequently towards the +close throwing his feet up before and clapping his hands +together, by which exertion he was thrown into a violent +perspiration. He then retired, desiring a young man (who, +as we were informed, was the only individual of several then +present thus qualified) to take his place in the centre as master +of the ceremonies, when the same antics as before were again gone +through. After this <!-- page 178--><a +name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>description +it will scarcely be necessary to remark that nothing can be +poorer in its way than this tedious singing recreation, which, as +well as everything in which dancing is concerned, they express by +the word <i>mŏmēk-poke</i>. They seem, however, +to take great delight in it; and even a number of the men, as +well as all the children, crept into the hut by degrees to peep +at the performance.</p> +<p>The Esquimaux women and children often amuse themselves with a +game not unlike our “skip-rope.” This is +performed by two women holding the ends of a line and whirling it +regularly round and round, while a third jumps over it in the +middle according to the following order:—She commences by +jumping twice on both feet, then alternately with the right and +left, and next four times with the feet slipped one behind the +other, the rope passing once round at each jump. After this +she performs a circle on the ground, jumping about half-a-dozen +times in the course of it, which bringing her to her original +position, the same thing is repeated as often as it can be done +without entangling the line. One or two of the women +performed this with considerable agility and adroitness, +considering the clumsiness of their boots and jackets, and seemed +to pride themselves in some degree on the qualification. A +second kind of this game consists in two women holding a long +rope by its ends and whirling it round in such a manner, over the +heads of two others standing close together near the middle of +the bight, that each of these shall jump over it +alternately. The art therefore, which is indeed +considerable, depends more on those whirling the rope than on the +jumpers, who are, however, obliged to keep exact time, in order +to be ready for the rope passing under their feet.</p> +<p>The whole of these people, but especially the women, <!-- page +179--><a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>are fond of music, both vocal and instrumental. +Some of them might be said to be passionately so, removing their +hair from off their ears and bending their heads forward, as if +to catch the sounds more distinctly, whenever we amused them in +this manner. Their own music is entirely vocal, unless +indeed the drum or tambourine before mentioned be considered an +exception.</p> +<p>The voices of the women are soft and feminine, and when +singing with the men are pitched an octave higher than +theirs. They have most of them so far good ears that, in +whatever key a song is commenced by one of them, the rest will +always join in perfect unison. After singing for ten +minutes, the key had usually fallen a full semitone. Only +two of them, of whom Iligliuk was one, could catch the tune as +pitched by an instrument; which made it difficult with most of +them to complete the writing of the notes, for if they once left +off they were sure to re-commence in some other key, though a +flute or violin were playing at the time.</p> +<p>During the season passed at Winter Island, which appears to +have been a healthy one to the Esquimaux, we had little +opportunity of becoming acquainted with the diseases to which +they are subject. Our subsequent intercourse with a greater +number of these people at Igloolik having unfortunately afforded +more frequent and fatal instances of sickness among them, I here +insert Mr. Edwards’s remarks on this subject:—</p> +<p>“Exempted as these people are from a host of diseases +usually ascribed to the vitiated habits of more civilised life, +as well as from those equally numerous and more destructive ones +engendered by the pestilential effluvia that float in the +atmosphere of more favoured climes, the diversity of their +maladies is, as might <i>à priori</i> be <!-- page +180--><a name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +180</span>inferred, very limited. But, unfortunately, that +improvidence which is so remarkable in their kindred tribes is +also with them proof against the repeated lessons of bitter +experience they are doomed to endure. Alternate excesses +and privations mark their progress through life, and consequent +misery in one or another shape is an active agent in effecting as +much mischief amongst them as the diseases above alluded to +produce in other countries. The mortality arising from a +few diseases and wretchedness combined, seems sufficient to check +anything like a progressive increase of their numbers. The +great proportion of deaths to births that occurred during the +period of our intercourse with them has already been noticed.</p> +<p>“It is doubtful in what proportion the mortality is +directly occasioned by disease. Few perhaps die, in the +strict sense of the term, a natural death. A married person +of either sex rarely dies without leaving destitute a parent, a +widow, or a helpless female infant. To be deprived of near +relations is to be deprived of everything; such unfortunates are +usually abandoned to their fate, and too generally perish. +A widow and two or three children left under these circumstances +were known to have died of inanition, from the neglect and apathy +of their neighbours, who jeered at the commanders of our ships on +the failure of their humane endeavours to save what the Esquimaux +considered as worthless.</p> +<p>“Our first communication with these people at Winter +Island gave us a more favourable impression of their general +health than subsequent experience confirmed. There, +however, they were not free from sickness. A catarrhal +affection in the month of February became generally prevalent, +from which they readily recovered after the exciting +causes—intemperance and exposure to <!-- page 181--><a +name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +181</span>wet—had ceased to operate. A solitary +instance of pleurisy also occurred, which probably might have +ended fatally but for timely assistance. Our intercourse +with them in the summer was more interrupted; but at our +occasional meetings they were observed to be enjoying excellent +health. It is probable that their certain supplies of food, +and the nomad kind of life they lead in its pursuit during that +season, are favourable to health. Nutrition goes on +actively, and an astonishing increase of strength and fulness is +acquired. Active diseases might now be looked for, but that +the powers of nature are providentially exerted with effect.</p> +<p>“The unlimited use of stimulating animal food, on which +they are from infancy fed, induces at an early age a highly +plethoric state of the vascular system. The weaker +over-distended vessels of the nose quickly yield to the increased +impetus of the blood, and an active hemorrhage relieves the +subject. As the same causes continue to be applied in +excess at frequent intervals, and are followed by similar +effects, a kind of vicarious hemorrhage at length becomes +established by habit; superseding the intervention of art, and +having no small share in maintaining a balance in the circulating +system. The phenomenon is too constant to have escaped the +observation of those who have visited the different Esquimaux +people; a party of them has indeed rarely been seen that did not +exhibit two or three instances of the fact.</p> +<p>“About the month of September the approach of winter +induced the Esquimaux at Igloolik to abandon their tents and to +retire into their more established village. The majority +were here crowded into huts of a permanent construction, the +materials composing the sides being stones and the bones of +whales, and the roofs being formed <!-- page 182--><a +name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 182</span>of skins, +turf, and snow; the rest of the people were lodged in +snow-huts. For a while they continued very healthy; in +fact, as long as the temperature of the interior did not exceed +the freezing-point, the vapours of the atmosphere congealed upon +the walls, and the air remained dry and tolerably pure; besides, +their hard-frozen winter stock of walrus did not at this time +tempt them to indulge their appetites immoderately. In +January the temperature suffered an unseasonable rise, some +successful captures of walrus also took place, and these +circumstances, combined perhaps with some superstitious customs, +of which we were ignorant, seemed the signal for giving way to +sensuality. The lamps were accumulated and the kettles more +frequently replenished, and gluttony in its most disgusting form +became for a while the order of the day. The Esquimaux were +now seen wallowing in filth, while some surfeited lay stretched +upon their skins enormously distended, and with their friends +employed in rolling them about to assist the operations of +oppressed nature. The roofs of their huts were no longer +congealed, but dripping with wet and threatening speedy +dissolution. The air was in the bone-huts damp, hot, and, +beyond sufferance, offensive with putrid exhalations from the +decomposing relics of offals, or other animal matter, permitted +to remain from year to year undisturbed in these horrible +sinks.</p> +<p>“What the consequences might have been had this state of +affairs long continued, it is not difficult to imagine; but, +fortunately for them, an early and gradual dispersion took place, +so that by the end of January few individuals were left in the +village. The rest, in divided bodies, established +themselves in snow-huts upon the sea-ice at some distance from +the land. Before this change had <!-- page 183--><a +name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>been +completed, disorders of an inflammatory character had +appeared. A few went away sick, some were unable to remove, +and others taken ill upon the ice, and we heard of the death of +several about this period.</p> +<p>“The cold snow-huts into which they had moved, though +infinitely preferable to those abandoned, were ill-suited to the +reception of people already sick or predisposed, from the +above-named causes, to sickness; many of them were also deficient +in clothing to meet the rigorous weather that followed. +Nevertheless, after this violent excitement had passed away, a +comparatively good condition of health was enjoyed for the +remainder of the winter and spring months.</p> +<p>“Their distance from the ships at once precluded any +effectual assistance being rendered them at their huts, and their +removal on board with safety; the complaints of those who died at +the huts, therefore, did not come under observation. It +appears, however, to have been acute inflammation of some of the +abdominal viscera, very rapid in its career. In the +generality the disease assumed a more insidious and sub-acute +form, under which the patient lingered for a while, and was then +either carried off by a diarrhœa or slowly recovered by the +powers of nature. Three or four individuals who, with some +risk and trouble, were brought to the ships, we were +providentially instrumental in recovering; but two others, almost +helpless patients, were so far exhausted before their arrival +that the endeavours used were unsuccessful, and death was +probably hastened by their removal.</p> +<p>“Abdominal and thoracic inflammations, in fact, seem to +be the only active diseases they have to encounter. Where a +spontaneous recovery does not take place, these <!-- page +184--><a name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +184</span>prove fatal in a short time. The only instance +among them of chronic sequels to those complaints occurred in an +old man almost in dotage, whose feeble remains of life were +wasting away by an ulceration of the lungs.</p> +<p>“No traces of the exanthematous disorders met our +observation. A solitary case of epilepsy was seen in a deaf +and dumb boy, who eventually died. Chronic rheumatism +occurs, but it is rare and not severe. I have some doubt in +saying that scurvy exists among them. A disease, however, +having a close affinity to it was witnessed, but as in the only +case that came fairly under our notice it was complicated with +the symptoms of a previous debilitating disease, the diagnosis +was difficult. During the patient’s recovery from one +of the abdominal attacks above mentioned, the gums were observed +to be spongy, separated from the teeth and reverted, bleeding, +and in various parts presenting the livid appearance of scorbutic +gums. At the same period arose pains of an anomalous +description, and of considerable severity about the shoulders and +thorax. These gradually yielded as he recovered strength, +but were succeeded by other pains and tenderness of the bones and +muscles of the thighs and legs. The citric acid was given +to him freely from the beginning, until it interfered with his +appetite and bowels, when it was omitted. Topical +applications were at the same time used, and afterwards +continued. Signs of amendment appeared before it became +necessary to withhold the vegetable acid, and it was not recurred +to while he remained on board. Urged by impatience of +control, he left us to join his countrymen before he had well +regained his strength; but we saw him on board several times +afterwards in a progressive state of improvement, and, though yet +weak, free from scorbutic symptoms. <!-- page 185--><a +name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>Another +instance offered in a woman, whom I saw but once. Her gums +were spongy and reverted, but not discoloured; her countenance +sallow, lips pale, and she suffered under general debility, +without local pain or rigidity of the limbs. She remained +in this state for a long time, and eventually, as the weather +improved, recovered without assistance.</p> +<p>“That affection of the eyes known by the name of +snow-blindness, is extremely frequent among these people. +With them it scarcely ever goes beyond painful irritation, whilst +among strangers inflammation is sometimes the consequence. +I have not seen them use any other remedy besides the exclusion +of light; but as a preventive a wooden eye-screen is worn, very +simple in its construction, consisting of a curved piece of wood +six or seven inches long and ten or twelve lines broad. It +is tied over the eyes like a pair of spectacles, being adapted to +the forehead and nose, and hollowed out to favour the motion of +the eyelids. A few rays of light only are admitted through +a narrow slit an inch long, cut opposite to each eye. This +contrivance is more simple and quite as efficient as the more +heavy one possessed by some who have been fortunate enough to +acquire wood for the purpose. This is merely the former +instrument complicated by the addition of a horizontal plate +projecting three or four inches from its upper rim, like the peak +of a jockey’s cap. In Hudson’s Strait the +latter is common, and the former in Greenland, where also we are +told they wear with advantage the simple horizontal peak +alone.</p> +<p>“There are upon the whole no people more destitute of +curative means than these. With the exception of the <!-- +page 186--><a name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +186</span>hemorrhage already mentioned, which they duly +appreciate, and have been observed to excite artificially to cure +head-ache, they are ignorant of any rational method of procuring +relief. It has not been ascertained that they use a single +herb medicinally. As prophylactics they wear amulets, which +are usually the teeth, bones, or hair of some animal, the more +rare apparently the more valuable. In absolute sickness +they depend entirely upon their Angekoks, who, they persuade +themselves, have influence over some submarine deities who govern +their destiny. The mummeries of these impostors, consisting +in pretended consultations with their oracles, are looked upon +with confidence, and their mandates, however absurd, +superstitiously submitted to. These are constituted of +unmeaning ceremonies and prohibitions generally affecting the +diet, both in kind and mode, but never in quantity. +Seal’s flesh is forbidden, for instance, in one disease, +that of the walrus in the other; the heart is denied to some and +the liver to others. A poor woman, on discovering that the +meat she had in her mouth was a piece of fried heart instead of +the liver, appeared horrorstruck; and a man was in equal +tribulation at having eaten, by mistake, a piece of meat cooked +in his wife’s kettle.</p> +<p>“This charlatanerie, although we may ridicule the +imposition, is not, however, with them, as it is with us, a +positive evil. In the total absence of the medical art, it +proves generally innoxious; while in many instances it must be a +source of real benefit and comfort, by buoying up the sick spirit +with confident hopes of recovery, and eventually enabling the +vital powers to rise superior to the malady, when, without such +support, the sufferer <!-- page 187--><a name="page187"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 187</span>might have sunk under its +weight. It was attempted to ascertain whether climate +effected any difference in animal heat between them and ourselves +by frequently marking the temperature of the mouth; but the +experiments were necessarily made, as occasion offered, under +such various states of vascular excitement, as to afford nothing +conclusive. As it was, their temperature varied from +97° to 102°, coinciding pretty nearly with our own under +similar circumstances. The pulse offered nothing +singular.</p> +<p>“I may here remark that there is in many individuals a +peculiarity about the eye, amounting in some instances to +deformity, which I have not noticed elsewhere. It consists +in the inner corner of the eye being entirely covered by a +duplication of the adjacent loose skin of the eyelids and +nose. This fold is lightly stretched over the edges of the +eyelids, and forms, as it were, a third palpebra of a crescentic +shape. The aperture is in consequence rendered somewhat +pyriform, the inner curvature being very obtuse, and in some +individuals distorted by an angle formed where the fold crosses +the border of the lower palpebra. This singularity depends +upon the variable form of the orbit during immature age, and is +very remarkable in childhood, less so towards adult age, and +then, it would seem, frequently disappearing altogether; for the +proportion in which it exists among grown-up persons bears but a +small comparison with that observed among the young.</p> +<p>“Personal deformity from mal-conformation is uncommon, +the only instance I remember being that of a young woman, whose +utterance was unintelligibly nasal, in consequence of an +imperfect development of <!-- page 188--><a +name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>the +palatine bones leaving a gap in the roof of the mouth.”</p> +<p>The imperfect arithmetic of these people, which resolves every +number above ten into one comprehensive word, prevented our +obtaining any very certain information respecting the population +of this part of North America and its adjacent islands. The +principal stations of these people not visited by us are +<i>Akkoolee</i>, <i>Toonoonee-roochiuh</i>, <i>Peelig</i>, and +<i>Toonoonek</i>, of whose situation I have already spoken. +The first of these, which is the only one situated on the +continent, lies in an indentation of considerable depth on the +shores of the Polar Sea, running in towards Repulse Bay on the +opposite coast, and forming with it the large peninsula situated +like a bastion at the north-east angle of America, which I have +named Melville Peninsula, in honour of Viscount Melville, the +First Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. From what we know +of the habits and disposition of the Esquimaux, which incline +them always to associate in considerable numbers, we cannot well +assign a smaller population than fifty souls to each of the four +principal stations above-mentioned; and including these, and the +inhabitants of several minor ones that were occasionally named to +us, there may perhaps be three or four hundred people belonging +to this tribe with whom we have never had communication. In +all their charts of this neighbourhood they also delineate a +tract of land to the eastward, and somewhat to the northward, of +Igloolik, where they say the <i>Seadlērmeoo</i>, or +strangers, live, with whom, as with the Esquimaux of Southampton +Island, and all others coming under the same denomination, they +have seldom or never any intercourse, either of a friendly or a +hostile <!-- page 189--><a name="page189"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 189</span>nature. It is more than +probable that the natives of the inlet called the river Clyde, on +the western coast of Baffin’s Bay, are a part of the people +thus designated; and, indeed, the whole of the numerous bays and +inlets on that extensive and productive line of coast may be the +residence of great numbers of Esquimaux, of whom these people +possess no accurate information.</p> +<p>Whatever may be the abundance sometimes enjoyed by these +people, and whatever the maladies occasioned by their too +frequent abuse of it, it is certain that they occasionally suffer +very severely from the opposite extreme. A remarkably +intelligent woman informed Captain Lyon that two years ago some +Esquimaux arrived at Igloolik from a place near Akkoolee, +bringing information that during a very grievous famine one party +of men had fallen upon another and killed them; and that they +afterwards subsisted on their flesh while in a frozen state, but +never cooked nor even thawed it. This horrible account was +soon after confirmed by Toolemak on board the <i>Fury</i>; and +though he was evidently uneasy at our having heard the story, and +conversed upon it with reluctance, yet by means of our questions +he was brought to name, upon his fingers, five individuals who +had been killed on this occasion. Of the fact therefore +there can be no doubt; but it is certain, also, that we ourselves +scarcely regarded it with greater horror than those who related +it; and the occurrence may be considered similar to those +dreadful instances on record, even among civilised nations, of +men devouring one another, in wrecks or boats, when rendered +desperate by the sufferings of actual starvation.</p> +<p>The ceremony of crying, which has before been <!-- page +190--><a name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +190</span>mentioned as practised after a person’s death, is +not, however, altogether confined to those melancholy occasions, +but is occasionally adopted in cases of illness, and that of no +very dangerous kind. The father of a sick person enters the +apartment, and after looking at him for a few seconds without +speaking, announces by a kind of low sob his preparation for the +coming ceremony. At this signal every other individual +present composes his features for crying, and the leader of the +chorus then setting up a loud and piteous howl, which lasts about +a minute, is joined by all the rest, who shed abundant tears +during the process. So decidedly is this a matter of form, +unaccompanied by any feeling of sorrow, that those who are not +relatives shed just as many tears as those that are; to which may +be added that in the instances which we witnessed there was no +real occasion for crying at all. It must therefore be +considered in the light of a ceremony of condolence, which it +would be either indecorous or unlucky to omit.</p> +<p>I have already given several instances of the little care +these people take in the interment of their dead, especially in +the winter season; it is certain, however, that this arises from +some superstitious notion, and particularly from the belief that +any heavy weight upon the corpse would have an injurious effect +upon the deceased in a future state of existence; for even in the +summer, when it would be an easy matter to secure a body from the +depredations of wild animals, the mode of burial is not +essentially different. The corpse of a child observed by +Lieutenant Palmer, he describes “as being laid in a regular +but shallow grave, with its head to the north-east. It was +decently dressed in a good deer-skin jacket, <!-- page 191--><a +name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 191</span>and a +seal-skin, prepared without the hair, was carefully placed as a +cover to the whole figure, and tucked in on all sides. The +body was covered with flat pieces of limestone, which, however, +were so light that a fox might easily have removed them. +Near the grave were four little separate piles of stones, not +more than a foot in height, in one of which we noticed a piece of +red cloth and a black silk handkerchief, in a second a pair of +child’s boots and mittens, and in each of the others a +whalebone pot. The face of the child looked unusually clean +and fresh, and a few days only could have elapsed since its +decease.”</p> +<p>These Esquimaux do not appear to have any idea of the +existence of One Supreme Being, nor indeed can they be said to +entertain any notions on this subject, which may be dignified +with the name of Religion. Their superstitions, which are +numerous, have all some reference to the preternatural agency of +a number of <i>toōrngŏw</i>, or spirits, with whom, on +certain occasions, the Angetkooks pretend to hold mysterious +intercourse, and who in various and distinct ways are supposed to +preside over the destinies of the Esquimaux. On particular +occasions of sickness or want of food the Angetkooks contrive, by +means of a darkened hut, a peculiar modulation of the voice, and +the uttering of a variety of unintelligible sounds, to persuade +their countrymen that they are descending to the lower regions +for this purpose, where they force the spirits to communicate the +desired information. The superstitious reverence in which +these wizards are held, and a considerable degree of ingenuity in +their mode of performing their mummery, prevent the detection of +the imposture, and secure implicit confidence in these absurd +oracles. My <!-- page 192--><a name="page192"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 192</span>friend Captain Lyon having +particularly directed his attention to this part of their history +during the whole of our intercourse with these people, and +intending to publish his Journal, which contains much interesting +information of this nature, I shall not here enter more at large +on the subject. Some account of their ideas respecting +death, and of their belief in a future state of existence, have +already been introduced in the course of the foregoing pages, in +the order of those occurrences which furnished us with +opportunities of observing them.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNAL OF THE THIRD VOYAGE FOR THE +DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 26509-h.htm or 26509-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/5/0/26509 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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