Stray Leaves From An Arctic Journal Or Eighteen Months In The P

Chapter 12

Chapter 123,261 wordsPublic domain

Time enabled me to do little more than admire the perseverance displayed by Capt. Penny, his officers and men, in their preparations for travelling. Sledges, cooking apparatuses, tents, in short, every thing was ready, having been made by themselves in the course of the winter; and, on the 13th April, six sledges, drawn by seamen, with an officer to each, and provisioned for forty days, would start for Wellington Channel, there to part into two divisions,--Capt. Stewart, of the "Sophia," taking the one side of the Channel, whilst Capt. Penny, with two extra dog-sledges, would direct the search in general. Delighted with all the arrangements, and equally so with the high spirit of chivalrous devotion apparent in every word and action of these our gallant coadjutors in the purest of enterprises, my heart was full as I said "Good-bye" to my hospitable friend Penny, on the 11th of April; and a rapid drive by Mr. Petersen carried me to the "Pioneer" in less than three hours. After a short halt, Mr. P. returned to Assistance Harbour, doing full forty miles, within twelve hours, on his dog-sledge.

I was astonished to find, on my return, that as yet the temperature at our winter quarters had not been registered as being above zero; whereas, in Assistance Harbour, Capt. Penny's quarters, the thermometer had occasionally for the past week ranged above it, and on the day before I left showed 11° in the shade. This difference of temperature was, doubtless, occasioned by the radiation of heat from the land, by which they were, unlike ourselves, surrounded.

During my absence, I was told that Mr. M'Dougal, of the "Resolute," who had been despatched as early as the 4th April to inspect the dépôts formed in the autumn, had returned to the ships, and brought accounts of a wholesale destruction of the one on Somerville Island, by bears. Hunger and mischievousness seemed alike to have induced the brutes to break and tear to pieces what they could not possibly eat--such as tins of patent chocolate, some of which were fairly bitten through. This information induced us all to take extra precautions in securing the provisions, of which dépôts during the march were to be formed.

[Headnote: _SLEDGE EQUIPMENT._]

It is now time to describe the sledges and their equipment, upon the completeness of which the lives of our travellers so entirely depended.

The sledges, constructed of tough and well-seasoned wood, had been carefully constructed in Woolwich Dockyard. They were shod with iron, and the cross-bars or battens which connected the two runners, and formed the floor upon which the load was placed, were lashed in their places by us when required for use. At the four corners of the sledges light iron stanchions dropped into sockets, and formed the support for the sides of a species of tray or boat, capable of serving to ferry the sledge crew across water in an emergency, as well as to keep the provisions and clothing in it dry. This boat was made in some cases of gutta-percha, in others of oiled canvas;--

lbs.

And, together with the sledge and drag-ropes, which were made of horse-hair, to prevent their becoming hard and brittle from frost, weighed 120

Two fur blankets and spare blanket, two weighed 40

Nine blanket-bags for sleeping in 42

A tent of oblong form, made of a species of brown holland, supported by four boarding-pikes, and a line which served as a ridge-rope, and was set up to any heavy thing that came to hand 55

Mackintosh floor-cloth to spread over the snow or gravel 12

A shovel to dig out snow for banking-up with 5-1/2

A cooking apparatus, invented by Lieutenant M'Clintock, capable of cooking a pint apiece of tea, cocoa, or pemmican, with a spirit lamp, tallow lamp, and spare kettle 17

Sextant, 1 gun, and gear 10

A bag containing 5 tin pannikins and 5 spoons 5

A knapsack for each man, containing 1 flannel shirt, 1 Guernsey frock, 1 serge frock, 1 pair of drawers, flannel, 1 pair of boot hose, 1 pair of stockings, 2 pairs of blanket-socks, 1 towel, 1 comb, 1 lb. soap 48

Spare boots, and thick Guernsey frocks for sleeping in 36

A tin case, containing pepper, salt, herbs dried, lucifer matches, grog-measure, calico and flannel bandages, plaster adhesive, lint, liniment, eye-wash, pills, simple ointment, glycerine, lancet, tincture of opium, pins, needles, and thread 16

Store-bag, containing broom or brush for sweeping the tent down with, spare boot-soles, wax, bristles, twine, shoe-tacks, crape awls, slow-match, nettle stuff, and strips of hide, cylinders for documents, printed records 11

Spare ammunition, cleaning rods, and wrench 14

Kites and string 12-1/2 ________

Dead weight, lbs. 440 ________

Such were the weights of the sledge equipment in the case of one of those intended for a long journey. Nothing, it will be seen, was forgotten, and there was nothing superfluous; yet, as the 440 lbs. had to be dragged by six men, there was already 73 lbs. per man, which would, from its nature, be hardly any lighter at the end of the journey; and as about 200 lbs. was judged to be as much as a man could drag, there only remained 172 lbs. per man available for provision and package.

[Headnote: _SCALE OF PROVISION._]

The daily scale of provision, as ordered by Capt. Austin, during the journeys, was to be as follows:--

Pemmican 1 lb. Boiled pork 6 oz. Biscuit 12 oz. Rum, concentrated 3/4 gill. Tobacco 1/2 oz. Biscuit dust 1 oz. Tea and sugar 3/4 oz. Chocolate and sugar (alternate days) 1-3/4 oz. Lime-juice (for 10 days) 1/2 oz.

The fuel allowed to cook this, for a party of seven men, amounted to one pint and one gill of spirits of wine, or one pound eight ounces of tallow.

A little calculation soon showed that about forty days' provision was as much as any one sledge could take with it, or for an outward journey of about twenty days; which, at an average distance of ten miles per diem, would only give an extent of coast-line examined by any one sledge of two hundred miles.

Before I endeavour to show how, by a system of dépôts and relays, greater distances were achieved, the complete load of a long-party sledge may as well be shown.

lbs. Total dead weight 440 Pemmican and cases 330 Biscuit and dust, &c. 278 Pork and packages 123 Tea, sugar, chocolate, tobacco, &c., in a case 47 Lime-juice and rum 67 Spirits of wine and tallow 78 Sundries, tins, &c. 45 _____ Number of men to drag, 7 1408 _____ 201 lbs. per man.

The officer's load consisted of a gun, powder and ball, telescope, compass, and note-book; and as all the party, in anticipation of cold weather, had to be heavily clad, it may be supposed that the total weight to be dragged through snow and over rough ice was quite as much as the stoutest physical powers were capable of. Several days previous to departure we had travelled short journeys, in perfect marching order, and sledges ladened,--an arrangement which was highly beneficial; and from the way the sledges went over the floe, they gave us high hopes of answering our expectations in the forthcoming march.

From head-quarters the following arrangement of sledges was made public:--

Capt. Erasmus Ommanney was to cross Barrow's Strait to Cape Walker, with the following sledges and officers under his orders: he there was to use his own judgment as to the disposal of the force, it being required, in the event of two routes showing themselves, viz., one to the S.W., and the other W., that Lieut. Sherard Osborn was to be ordered to take up the latter.

[Headnote: _GRAND SOUTHERN SEARCH._]

_CAPTAIN OMMANNEY'S COMMAND._

+-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Long-party sledge |Reliance | _Domine dirige nos_ |Captain Ommancy, | | | | |six men. | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Ditto ditto |True Blue | _Nil desperandum_ |Lieutenant | | | | |Osborn, seven | | |men. | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Supporting sledge |Succour | _Sequor juvare_ |Lieut. G. F. | | | | |Mecham, six men. | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | | | Gaze where some | | | | | distant speck | | | Ditto ditto |Enterprise | a sail implies, |Lieut. W. H. | | | | With all the |Browne, six men. | | | | thirsting gaze | | | | | of enterprise. | | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Ditto ditto }| | Nothing adventure, |Mr. Vesey | | to Lieutenant }|Adventure | Nothing win |Hamilton (mate), | | Osborne |seven men. | +-------------------------------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Ditto ditto |Inflexible | _Respice finem_ |Mr. Charles | | | | |Ede (assist. | | | | |surg.), six men. | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+ | Ditto ditto |Success | One and all |Mr. F. S. Crabbe | | | | |(2d master), | | | | |seven men. | +-------------------+-----------+---------------------+-----------------+

To the highly important direction northward up the unknown channel of Byam Martin Island, and which, as Lieut. Aldrich very properly thought, would intercept the course of Franklin, should he, from Wellington Channel, have sailed north about for Behring's Straits, two sledges were told off under that officer:--

Lastly to Melville Island, on which route a dépôt, forty miles in advance, had already been placed in the autumn, and renewed in the spring, the following party was appointed: Lieut. M'Clintock, on his reaching the said island, acting as he should judge fit as to despatching Mr. Bradford along the northern shores, whilst he prosecuted the search to and beyond Winter Harbour:--

Mr. M'Dougal, I have before said, started during the first week of April with his sledge, the "Beaufort,"--

That future pilgrims of the wave may be Secure from doubt, from every danger free.

He had to replenish the dépôt formed for Lieut. M'Clintock, and then to connect the search round a deep bay, which connected Bathurst and Cornwallis Lands, for separate islands they were proved by him no longer to be.

[Headnote: _DIVISIONS OF SLEDGES._]

Thus fifteen sledges, manned by one hundred and five men and officers, were equipped for the search, leaving on board the four vessels of the squadron, seventy-five souls, which number was afterwards further reduced by Mr. R. C. Allen being sent to search the islands to the westward with the sledge "Grinnell" and seven men.

It now only remains for me to show in what manner it was proposed to enable the supporting sledges to apply their resources, so that the long-parties should reach far beyond the two hundred miles, or twenty days' journey, of which they were alone capable when dependent on their own provision.

The plan proposed in the southern division will give the best idea. The supporting sledge "Success" was capable of feeding all the division for five days, by which time we hoped to be at Cape Walker, and then have sufficient to return back to the squadron, where it could again replenish, and, returning to the same point at which we had separated from it, form such a dépôt that each of the sledges in return would find five days' provisions to carry them home. By this means six out of the seven sledges in the southern search will be seen to reach a point fifty miles from their original starting-point in perfect condition so far as their provisions are concerned.

We will, for the sake of clearness, cause these six sledges to divide into three divisions, of two each, viz., a long-party sledge and a support: in each case the support can feed the long party for ten days, and then, forming a dépôt of provisions equal to ten days more, have sufficient left to reach back to Walker, and thence home. The long party are now still complete, after receiving two supports, equal to fifteen days, or 150 miles; and two dépôts stand in their rear, the one for ten days, the other for five days. The long party now starts, consuming its own provision (forming its own dépôts for the returning march), advances for twenty days, and accomplishes 200 miles; which, with that done whilst supported, makes in all a journey outward of thirty-five days, or 350 miles from the ships. Of course, with an increased number of supports, this distance and time may be carried on as long as the strength of the men will endure, or the travelling season admit of.

On the 12th of April, the day calm and cold, some 50° below freezing-point, a scene of bustle and merriment showed that the sledges were mustering previous to being taken to the starting-point, under the north-west bluff of Griffith's Island, to which they marched with due military pomp in two columns, directed by our chiefs. Our sense of decorum was constantly overthrown by the gambols of divers dogs, given to us by Captain Penny, with small sledges attached to them, on which, their food duly marked and weighed, with flags, mottoes, &c., in fact, perfect fac-similes of our own, were racing about, entangling themselves, howling for assistance, or else running between the men's legs and capsizing them on the snow, amidst shouts of laughter, and sly witticisms at the _tenders_, as they were termed. Reaching the halting-place, tents were pitched, luncheon served out, and all of us inspected, approved of, ordered to fall in, a speech made, which, as was afterwards remarked, buttered us all up admirably; the thanks of our leader given to Mr. M'Clintock, to whose foresight, whilst in England, and whose valuable information collated during his travelling experience under Sir James Ross, we were so entirely indebted for the perfect equipment we now had with us.

[Headnote: _SLEDGES READY TO START._]

The inspection over, we trudged back to our ships, Sunday being spent by the men in cooking and eating, knowing as they did that there were a good many banian days ahead, packing up and putting away their kits, and making little arrangements in the event of accidents to themselves. Monday was no day for a start; but on the evening of the 15th April the breeze slackened, and the temperature only some 14° below freezing-point, we donned our marching attire, girded up our loins, and all hands proceeded to the sledges.

As we shut in our wooden homes with a projecting point of Griffith's Island, the weather suddenly changed, and a fast increasing breeze enveloped us in snow-drift. Reaching the sledges, and shaking them clear from the snow of the last two days, a hasty cup of tea and a mouthful of biscuit were partaken of, a prayer offered up, beseeching His mercy and guidance whose kind providence we all knew could alone support us in the hazardous journey we were about to undertake; hearty farewells, in which rough jokes covered many a kindly wish towards one another; and then, grasping their tracking lines, a hundred hoarse voices joined in loud cheers, and the divisions of sledges, diverging on their different routes, were soon lost to one another in snow and mist.

An April night, with its gray twilight, was no match for the darkness of a snow-storm from the S.W., and we had almost to feel our road through the broken ice off the bluffs of Griffith's Island.

At two o'clock in the morning we reached much piled-up ice; and in the hope of clearer weather in the evening, the word to halt and pitch the tents was given. The seven sledges of the division, picking out the smoothest spots, were soon secured. The tents fluttering in the breeze, a little tea cooked, short orders given, and then each man got into his blanket-bag, and dreamed of a fine day and finding Sir John Franklin.

In the evening the weather was still thick as pea-soup, with a double-reef topsail breeze blowing in our teeth; but detention was impossible, so we again packed up after a meal of chocolate and biscuit, and facing towards Cape Walker, we carried the hummocks by storm. Ignorance was bliss. Straight ahead, over and through every thing, was the only way; and, fresh, hearty, and strong, we surmounted tier after tier, which more light and a clearer view might only have frightened us from attempting. Here, a loud cheer told where a sledge had scaled the pile in its path, or shot in safety down the slope of some huge hummock. There, the cry, one! two! three! haul! of a party, and quizzical jokes upon name, flag, or motto, betokened that "Success" or "True Blue" had floundered into a snow-wreath, above which the top of the sledge-load was only to be seen, whilst seven red-faced mortals, grinning, and up to their waists in snow, were perseveringly endeavouring to extricate it; officers encouraging, and showing the way; the men labouring and laughing. A wilder or more spirit-stirring scene cannot be imagined.

A hard night's toil cleared all obstacles, and nothing but a fair, smooth floe was before us, sweeping with a curve to the base of Cape Walker; but a fresh difficulty was then met with, in the total absence of hummock or berg-piece, by which to preserve a course in the thick, foggy weather, that lasted whilst the warm south wind blew. Imagine, kind reader, a grayish haze, with fast-falling snow, a constant wind in the face, and yourself trying to steer a straight course where floe and sky were of one uniform colour. A hand dog-vane was found the best guide, for of course it was impossible to keep a compass constantly in hand; and the officers forming in a line ahead, so as just to keep a good sight of one another, were followed by the sledges, the crews of which soon learned that the easiest mode of travelling, and most equal division of labour, consisted in marching directly after one another; and as the leading sledge had the extra work of forming the road through the snow, and straining the men's eyes in keeping sight of the officers, the foremost sledge was changed every half hour or hour, according to their will.

[Headnote: _TRAVELLING BY NIGHT._]

It will be seen that we travelled by night, and hoped by such means to avoid the glare of the sun, and consequent snow-blindness. It entailed, however, at this early season of the year, great suffering in the shape of cold, the people being exposed to the weather during the severest part of the day. From the 15th to the 19th the weather was of the same nature,--constant gales of wind in our faces, snow-storms, and heavy drift; against which we struggled, helped by a rising temperature, that we flattered ourselves would end in summer,--a mistake for which we afterwards suffered bitterly, the men having, from the ease with which they kept themselves warm, become careless of their clothing, and heedless of those precautions against frost-bite which a winter's experience had taught them.

Easter Sunday came in gloomily, with a wind inclined to veer to the northward, and with every appearance of bad weather. Setting our sails on the sledges, and kites likewise when the wind served, the division hurried on for Cape Walker, which loomed now and then through the snow-drift ahead of us. The rapidity of the pace at which we now advanced--thanks to the help afforded by the sails--threw all into a profuse perspiration, especially the seamen, who really looked as if toiling under a tropical sun rather than in an arctic night, with the temperature below freezing-point. Fatigue obliged us to halt short of the land, and postpone for another day's march the landing on the unvisited shores of Cape Walker.