CHAPTER II.

WINTER QUARTERS AT FULLERTON.

The _Neptune_ had safely arrived at Fullerton harbour on the 23rd September, and had dropped anchor close alongside the _Era_. Major Moodie, after looking over the ground, decided to erect a Police Post on the large island at the rear of the harbour. The lumber for the building was immediately landed, and before the ship left for Chesterfield inlet the frame of the dwelling had been erected and its sides partly boarded.

The harbour of Fullerton is formed by a number of small islands, situated on the east side at the mouth of a long bay, and about five miles from Cape Fullerton, at the entrance to Roes Welcome. The harbour is quite small, with room for about three ships, and is fully protected by the islands and reefs surrounding it. The usual entrance is from the westward, where the channel is not above fifty yards wide, and the water at high tide is only five fathoms deep. The eastern entrance is narrower, and a ship is obliged to make several sharp turns when passing through it. Owing to the low even coast, without any landmark in the vicinity, the position of the harbour is difficult to locate without entering the wide danger-zone of shoals. The wide fringe of islands to the westward practically ends at Fullerton, so that a ship making the coast may know the position by the presence or absence of islands; but as the islands are very low it is hard to distinguish them from the mainland at a safe distance away, as the shoals and reefs extend more than five miles beyond the harbour. The surveys made in the spring of 1904 show that a fairly safe channel will be found by keeping well to the eastward of the harbour, and by then following a northwest course, keeping in line the beacons on a small island about a mile outside the harbour. When the Beacon island is reached the ship should pass in mid-channel between it and the adjoining island to the westward; passing these, the outer harbour island should be given a wide berth, until the entrance to the harbour is opened fully, a long shoal extending from the western point of the island.

On the return of the _Neptune_ to Fullerton, immediate preparations were made for the coming winter. The first undertaking was the cutting of a large quantity of ice, from a fresh-water pond close to the house and about a mile distant from the ship. The ice was about nine inches thick, and one day’s work, by the entire crew, sufficed to cut and to store enough to supply the ship with fresh water until the ponds melted again in the spring. The detachment of Mounted Police, assisted by some of the crew of the _Era_, were busily engaged in finishing their house and shed. Floating ice soon hampered landing operations. On the 17th October the ice in the harbour set fast and, soon after, the work of transporting materials to and from the shore was done with sleds.

By the end of the month, the ship had been placed in a north-and-south position, so that her bow faced north into the prevailing cold winds. The decks were covered with a temporary roof, made from a part of the lumber intended for the police buildings. This housing kept the snow from the decks, and greatly increased the inclosed space on the ship. It later proved so comfortable that the carpenter worked in it, almost without interruption, throughout the winter, at the repairs to the launch. The house and shed were made weather-proof, and a supply of provisions and outfit, sufficient to keep the ship’s company until the following summer, was stored in them, as a precaution against the destruction of the ship by fire. The galley was moved from the deck to between-decks, and the range connected with two large copper tanks, in which the daily supply of ice was melted; at the same time all the provisions likely to be injured by frost were stored alongside the range. All the oil and powder were stored on an island away from the provisions, and the boats placed either on shore, or on the ice alongside the ship.

Shortly after our arrival the natives congregated about the ships, and to avoid misunderstanding, an agreement was made with Captain Comer, that he should care for the Aivillik tribe, while the Kenipitu tribe would belong to the _Neptune_. By this arrangement, about a dozen able-bodied men and their families fell to our portion, and about double that number to the _Era_. The men were employed, during our stay at Fullerton, in banking the ship with snow, hauling ice and other necessary outside work. Several of them hunted continuously, and at small cost kept the ship in fresh caribou meat throughout the winter. They received little pay beyond their food, which consisted chiefly of the scraps left from the meals.

Dr. Faribault had shown signs of mild insanity, almost from the time of leaving Halifax. On the 1st of November he became violently insane, when, on the advice of Dr. Borden, he was placed in charge of the police as a dangerous lunatic. The poor man had to be confined in a cell, and watched continuously. His condition became worse and worse, until he was happily released by death on the 27th of April following.

As soon as the ice became sufficiently thick to bear the load, a wall of snow about three feet thick was erected around the ship, and raised to the top of the temporary decking. Sails, spread on the roof, were covered with about a foot of snow. By these means all draughts were effectually kept out of the ship, and the temperature of the interior was raised several degrees. Holes were cut in the banking to allow light to enter the ports and windows, and snow porches were erected over the exits on each side; the deep holes at the ports resembled embrasures, and the general appearance of the ship was that of a floating fort.

When the labour for preparing for the winter was finished, the ordinary work about the ship was hardly enough to keep the crew in health, and all were encouraged to hunt or attend lines of fox-traps for exercise. This proved much better than formal exercise at stated times, and the general health remained good throughout this long period of enforced idleness.

Only two meals were cooked daily during the short days of mid-winter, breakfast being at ten and dinner at four, an informal supper being provided in the evening.

Games and cards were provided for the use of all; musical instruments, including a piano, were in frequent use, while a weekly lecture, dance and newspaper went far to agreeably pass away the long winter evenings, which were further relieved by visits between the ships, and to the snowhouses of the natives built on the ice close alongside.

On the night of the 11th of December a second sad occurrence happened. When everybody was busy preparing letters for the mail about to be sent to Churchill by a couple of Eskimos from Baker lake, James O’Connel, a cabin-boy of weak mind, left the ship to go to the snowhouses, and wandered away in a snowstorm, which commenced shortly after his departure. He had been in the habit of hiding behind the launch, or in other places about the decks, where he would remain for hours, and, in consequence, his absence was unnoticed by his mess mates until the following morning. Immediately upon the alarm being given, the crews of both ships and all the natives turned out and searched systematically, in all directions from the ship, but, owing to the blizzard, without success. The storm continued to rage during the next two days, so that it was only on the 15th that definite information concerning his fate was obtained by the natives, who traced his track in the snow to the open water in the southwest some three miles from the ship, where the poor fellow had gone before the strong wind. There is no doubt that death came quickly, and we were relieved of the thoughts of his possible sufferings had he continued to wander about the country and finally died of exhaustion and cold.

The short days of mid-winter and the excessive cold of the early spring practically rendered impossible any surveying or other outside scientific work until the month of April, when preparations were made for exploratory and surveying work. During the winter Mr. Crossman made a very efficient ice-boring machine, which worked admirably in making holes for sounding through the thick ice. Weather observations were taken five times daily during our stay at Fullerton, and these, together with the readings taken on the voyage, are printed in Appendix No. I., where also will be found a summary of the climatic conditions, prepared from the observations by Mr. Stupart, Superintendent of the Canadian Meteorological Service. A list giving the thickness, week by week, of the ice in the harbour, will also be found in that appendix, and is interesting as showing to what a late date the ice continues to increase, the maximum thickness of seventy-four inches having been obtained on the 25th April.

SPRING EXPLORATIONS.

On the 11th April Mr. Caldwell left the ship, accompanied by five natives, with instructions to explore the coast northward to Wager inlet; and if the conditions of weather, food and dog-food would permit, to continue his work to Repulse bay, returning before the ice along the coast broke up. His outfit and provisions were carried upon two dog sleds, one of which was to return after helping him over the rough ice of the shore of Roes Welcome. He succeeded in the exploration of Wager inlet, but, owing to the delays caused by bad weather, was unable to reach Repulse bay. Mr. Caldwell on his trip did a large amount of excellent work in surveying the coast-line and examining the rocks met with along the route.

At the same time Mr. King was engaged, when the weather permitted, in making an accurate plan of Fullerton harbour, the channel of approach and the environments within a radius of thirty miles of the ship. Several hundred soundings were made with the aid of the boring machine, the soundings being under the charge of Mr. Ross. As a result an accurate chart of the harbour and channel has been prepared for the use of the ships calling there.

Owing to the serious illness of Dr. Faribault, whose death was expected daily, and to other causes, I could not leave the ship on any long trips at this time, and my out-door work was confined to the superintendence of the surveys, and to such geological work as could be accomplished within a day’s journey of the ship.

On the 4th of May, accompanied by two Eskimos, I left for an exploratory trip along the coast to the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, in order to connect the work of Caldwell with that of Tyrrell. This work was accomplished in ten days, during part of which we were confined to our tent, and almost buried by the heaviest snowstorm of the year. A sketch survey was carried to the mouth of the inlet, and all rock exposures on the way were examined. The rocks met with were chiefly granite, with masses of dark schists inclosed in the granite areas. Some of the schists were cut by quartz veins, which carried small quantities of pyrite, but nowhere sufficiently concentrated to be of value. The most promising locality seen was on the islands a few miles to the westward of Fullerton, where the veins were numerous, and where the natives report some veins well mineralized.

On the return journey the country about Winchester inlet was examined inland for a distance of forty miles. A description of its physical character has already been given.

Mr. Caldwell arrived back safely on the 30th of May. The first rain fell on the 21st, after which the weather gradually lost its wintry character, and although by no means warm, was sufficiently moderate to allow the surveying work to go on without much discomfort.

From the first week in June all hands were busy removing the winter coverings, and getting the ship in order for the coming summer.

WHALEBOAT TRIP TO SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND.

Captain Comer had kindly invited me to accompany his boats on a whaling trip to Southampton island, and for this purpose had lent me two boats fitted with covers for the trip. Accompanied by Dr. Borden, two seamen and six Eskimos, we left the ship on the morning of the 15th June, being transported to Cape Fullerton over the shore-ice by dog-teams to where the boats were found hauled out on the ice close to its edge. The morning was quite cold and boisterous, and not at all pleasant for a boat cruise. Our boats and the four belonging to the _Era_ were soon loaded and launched. A fair wind allowed us to sail northward through a narrow lead of open water between the shore-ice and the moving pack, which completely covered the sea outside. Early in the afternoon we reached the other boats, manned by natives, hauled out on the ice and covered in for cooking operations. A cup of hot coffee soon reduced the chill received in the boats. The journey was then resumed, but in a short time the ice closed in on the shore, obliging us to haul our boats on to the solid ice, where they were propped upright, and soon roofed with cotton covers stretched over light wooden frames. This turned each boat into commodious and comfortable sleeping quarters, and soon the evening meal was being cooked over the oil stoves. The ice remained tight on the coast, and it was only with great difficulty that the boats were forced through it a few miles to Whale point, where we remained hemmed in the next day.

At Whale point a small house was erected some years ago as a station by one of the American whalers. It is situated on the summit of the point, and a ladder leads to the roof, where a small platform served as a lookout station for whales swimming in the ice-laden waters of Roes Welcome. This is a favourite camping ground for the Aivillik natives in the early summer, whales, seals and walrus being then plentiful in the adjoining waters, and the barren-ground caribou numerous within a short distance of the coast.

According to Captain Comer, more whales have been killed within sight of Whale point than in all the rest of Hudson bay; on this account, and from the ease with which it might be supplied, it would probably prove an excellent place for a post from which to control the whale fishery. The water supply, obtained from small pools in the rocks, is rather bad, owing to the number of dogs and natives about.

Two days were occupied in crossing from Whale point to Southampton island, and as Roes Welcome was full of floating ice, several exciting moments were experienced when the ice came together with each change of tide, threatening to crush the boats if not quickly hauled out on a convenient heavy pan. The monotony was also broken by the capture of a bear and several large seals. We remained in company with the whalers for two days after reaching the island, and coasted southward to Cape Kendall without seeing any sign of a whale. As our work was chiefly on land, we then determined to part company, they continuing southward while we made inland excursions. The ice was still fast to the shore, from which it extended seaward from two to six miles. The boats were of necessity at the edge of the ice, and the long tramp through deep slush and water to and from the shore was fatiguing and cold. Only the ridges on the land were free of snow, which was still deep in all the hollows. The weather was now sufficiently warm to keep the snow soft and wet, and to make a passage from one ridge to another necessitated wading waist deep through the snow. Under these conditions extensive journeys inland were impossible, and we were confined to the shores of the island. Good collections of fossils from the limestones of the island were obtained, and a large number of bird skins and eggs were collected. It was unfortunately too early in the season for plants.

The western shores of Southampton are low. The land behind rises in a succession of ridges each a few feet higher than the one immediately in front. These ridges are formed of broken limestone, evidently the surface portion of underlying ledges. Very little vegetation grows on the ridges, but in the wide depressions between them there is a profusion of grasses and other Arctic plants on the wet ground surrounding the many ponds and lakes found there. The shores and islands of these lakes are the breeding grounds of a number of rare birds, among which may be mentioned Sabine’s Gull, Arctic Tern, Whistling Swan, Hutchen’s Goose, Snow Goose, Jager, Little Blue Crane and Red Phalarope.

The water is usually very shallow for two or three miles from the land, and reefs of limestone extend much farther out. About Cape Kendall dangerous reefs are found at least eight miles from the land.

We remained on the island a week, gradually working northward, until we were about ten miles to the north of our original landing place, or some forty miles beyond Cape Kendall. Advantage was taken of a fine evening to re-cross Roes Welcome, and we started at midnight in broad daylight. Shortly after leaving, a large whale came to the surface close to the boats and remained in the vicinity for upwards of thirty minutes. The crossing was safely made during the day, the only incident being the meeting in mid-channel of an extensive mass of very heavy ice, some of its pinnacles being upwards of thirty feet above the water; the natives said it was a large floe from Fox channel. We were obliged to sail several miles to the northward in order to pass this floe, and so reached the mainland a few miles south of the mouth of Wager inlet, and a like distance from Yellow bluff, where the Aivilliks spend the late summer. Nothing of note occurred on the passage down the coast, and the ship was again reached on the 2nd of July.

Little change was apparent in the condition of the ice since our departure, and the solid floe, extending a couple of miles beyond the harbour, gave little hope of the ship being released by the approaching high tides. The ship was now ready to leave as soon as the ice would permit, but this did not happen until the 18th, a marvellous change taking place daily in the condition of the ice for a week previous to that date.