Part 127

A light southern breeze enabled them to steer towards Prince Leopold’s Isles, which they found more encumbered with ice than before. Here they saw a great number of nar-whales, lying with their backs above the water in the same manner as the whale, and frequently with their horns erect and quite stationary for several minutes together. Three or four miles to the northward, they discovered an opening, having every appearance of a harbor, with an island near the entrance. It was named Jackson’s Bay. The whole of the 14th was consumed in the attempt to find an opening in the ice, but as it remained perfectly close and compact, on the 15th Captain Parry went on shore to make observations. He landed in one of the numerous valleys, which occur on this part of the coast, very much resembling bays, being bounded by high hills, which appear like bluff head-lands. He ascended the hill on the south side of the ravine, which is very steep, and covered with detached blocks of lime-stone, some of which are constantly rolling down, and which afford a very insecure footing. From the top of the hill no water could be seen over the ice to the northwest; and the whole space comprised between the islands and the northern shore, was covered with a bright dazzling blink.

It was a satisfaction, however, to find that no land appeared, and captain Parry was too well aware of the suddenness with which obstructions, occasioned by the ice, are often removed, to be at all discouraged by present appearances. On the top of this hill, he deposited a bottle containing a short notice of his visit, and raised over it a small mound of stones. The wind was light the next day, and the ice being closed, the ships scarcely changed their position. Despairing of being able to penetrate westward, in the neighborhood of Prince Leopold Isles, captain Parry determined to stand towards the northern shore again, and after beating for some hours among the drift ice, the ships got into clear water near the coast. They had just light enough at midnight to see to read and write in the cabin. Passing along the shore, they left the ice behind them, and on the 21st they had nothing to hinder their passage westward, but want of wind. But the wind freshening soon after, all sail was made to the westward, where the prospect began to wear a more and more interesting appearance. It was soon perceived that the land along which they were sailing, and which had appeared to be continuous from Baffin’s Bay, began now to trend much to the northward, leaving an open space between that coast, and a distant land to the westward, which appeared like an island, of which the extremes to the north and south were distinctly visible. The latter was a remarkable headland, and was named Cape Hotham. They discovered also several headlands on the eastern land; between the northernmost of which and the island to the westward, there was a channel of more than eight leagues in width, in which neither land nor ice could be seen from the mast head. The arrival off this noble channel, to which captain Parry gave the name of Wellington, was an event for which they had all been anxiously looking; for the continuity of land to the northward, had always been a source of uneasiness to them, from the possibility that it might take a turn to the southward, and unite with the coast of America. Every one thought that they were now finally disentangled from the land, which forms the western side of Baffin’s Bay; and that in fact they had actually entered the Polar Sea. Fully impressed with this idea, captain Parry gave to this opening the name of Barrow’s Straits.

Two thirds of the month of August had now elapsed, and they expected that the sea would remain navigable six weeks more. The ships had suffered no injury, they had a plenty of provisions, the crews were in high health and spirits, and the sea before them, if not open, was at least navigable. On the 23d, a fresh breeze sprung up, and although Wellington channel was open to the northward, captain Parry judged it best to try a large opening south of Cornwallis’ island. But their disappointment was extreme, when it was suddenly reported from the crow’s nest, that their passage was obstructed by a large body of ice. Lieutenant Beechy discovered, however, that one part of the barrier consisted of loose pieces of ice, and the Hecla being immediately pushed into this part of it, succeeded, after a quarter of an hour’s ‘boring,’ in forcing her way through the neck. The Griper followed, and they continued their course to the westward, having once more a navigable sea before them. At 2 P. M., having reached longitude 95 deg. 67 min., they came to two extensive floes, which obliged the ships to tack, as there was no passage between them. They then beat to the northward in search of a passage, but none was found. After several unsuccessful attempts to force a passage, they at last succeeded by ‘boring’ through several heavy streams, and at midnight were enabled to pursue their course to the westward.

The ships made very little way this night, but in the morning they advanced with more speed, and more land was seen to the westward. The space to the westward was now so broad, that captain Parry thought best to appoint a place where the Griper should find the Hecla in case of a separation. But about 7 P. M., this precaution was found to have been needless, for the ice stretched across the strait, and barred the passage. Captain Parry now resolved to seek a passage along the northern shore. As the vessels were rounding the eastern side of the island captain Sabine was despatched to make observations, and examine the natural productions of the shore. He reported that he had found the island much more interesting than any other parts of the shores of the polar regions they had yet visited. The remains of Esquimaux habitations were found in four different places. Some of them are described by captain Sabine, as consisting of stones rudely placed in an elliptical form. They were from seven to ten feet in diameter, the flat sides of the stones standing vertically, and the whole structure being similar to that of the summer huts of the Esquimaux, which had been seen the preceding year. Attached to each were smaller circles of about four or five feet in diameter, and from the moss and sand which covered some of the lower stones, the whole encampment appeared to have been deserted for several years. The fogs now froze hard upon the rigging, which made it difficult to work the ship, as each rope was increased to twice or three times its proper diameter.

On the evening of the 29th, a very thick fog came on, and they sailed under such circumstances as have seldom occurred in navigation. Observing that the wind always blew some hours steadily from one quarter, the quarter-masters steered by the vane at the mast head, instead of the compass, which was here utterly useless. At night the ships made fast to a floe, about six or seven feet thick, which was covered with numerous pools of water, all hard frozen. The officers amused themselves in skating upon the pools, and the men in sliding, foot-ball, and other games. Thus the ships remained until the 21st, when a new expedient for sailing was adopted.

Before the fog commenced, and while they were sailing on a course, which they knew to be the right one, the Griper was exactly astern of the Hecla, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile. The quarter master stood aft, near the taffrail, and kept her constantly astern, by which means they were enabled to steer a tolerably straight course to the westward. The Griper, on the other hand, kept the Hecla right ahead, and thus they steered one ship by the other, for the distance of ten miles out of sixteen and a half, which they traversed between one and eleven P. M. The morning of the first of September brought a breeze, and with it a snow storm, so that they were unable to shape their course that afternoon. At one on the 2d, a star was seen, the first that had been visible for more than two months. The fog came on again, and there was not wind enough to enable them to keep the ships under command. On the morning of the 3d, a northern breeze enabled them to make considerable progress, and on the 4th, at nine P. M., they crossed the meridian of 110 deg. west from Greenwich, latitude 74 deg. 44 min. 20 sec., by which the ship’s company became entitled to a reward of 5000 pounds, offered by the king’s order in council ‘to such British subjects as might penetrate so far west within the Arctic circle.’ On the 5th, they found the passage blocked up again, and as no change seemed likely to take place, they came to anchor in a tolerable roadstead, a mile and a half from the northern shore. In the evening, Captain Sabine and some of the other officers landed on an island, to which they gave the name of Melville Island. Here they saw several flocks of ducks and gulls; tracks of the deer and musk ox were also observed, and some addition made by the gentlemen to their collection of marine insects. The bay of the Hecla and Griper, as they called the roadstead where the ships lay, was the first place in which they had dropped anchor since leaving England. The flags were hoisted in honor of the epoch; the first time that the eye of civilized man had looked on that barren and inhospitable region. In the afternoon the ice was observed to be in motion; and the ship got under way and sailed a short distance. But finding no opening, the ships were secured to a floe, which it was necessary to do every night, the weather being too dark to allow them to keep under way. Captain Parry, fearing that the floes might change their position, determined to remove nearer the shore. Two large masses lay aground, and the vessels were secured between them and the shore. Parties went out and returned with a white hare, some fine ptarmigans, a few snow-buntings, skulls of the musk ox, and several reindeer’s horns; but they were unable to meet with either of the two latter animals. Several lumps of coal were also picked up, and were found to burn with a clear lively flame, like canalcoal, but without splitting and crackling in the same manner. At five A. M., on the 10th, a floe ran against the berg, within which the Hecla was secured and turned it round as on a pivot.

They were now so surrounded with ice, that all they could do was to attend carefully to the safety of the ships. On the 11th, one of the officers killed the first musk ox they had yet been able to approach.

The packed ice remained immovable, and the ‘young ice’ rapidly forming, farther progress was considered impracticable that season. Captain Parry thought it best to run back to the bay of Hecla and Griper and to pass the winter there. The signal for weighing anchor was given on the 22d, but the cables had become so stiff with frost, that it was five P. M. before the anchors were brought on board; and they did not reach the anchorage till the evening of the next day. A proper place being found, the ships dropped anchor on the edge of the bay of ice, in the evening of the 24th; and on the next day, they commenced cutting a canal. Two parallel lines were marked out a little more than the breadth of the ships apart; along these lines, a cut was then made with an ice saw, and others again at right-angles with them, at intervals of from ten to twenty feet. The pieces thus cut, were again divided diagonally, in order to give room for their being floated out of the canal. The seamen, who are fond of doing things in their own way, took advantage of a fresh northerly breeze, by setting some boat’s sails on the pieces of ice, a contrivance which saved both time and labor.

At half past seven P. M., they weighed anchor, and began to warp up the canal; but the wind blew so fresh, and the people were so much fatigued, that it was midnight before they reached the termination of their first day’s labor. All hands were again set to work on the morning of the 25th, when it was proposed to sink the pieces of ice under the floe instead of floating them out. To effect this it was necessary for some to stand on the end of the piece of ice, which it was intended to sink, while others hauling upon ropes attached to the opposite end, dragged the block under that part of the floe, on which the people stood. The officers took the lead in this employ, and were frequently up to their knees in water during the day, with the thermometer generally at 12 deg. and never higher than 16 deg. At six P. M. the Griper was made fast astern of the Hecla, and the two ships’ companies, being divided on each bank of the canal, soon drew the ships to the end of their second day’s work. The next day at noon, the whole canal was completed, a length of four thousand and eighty-two yards through ice seven inches thick. The wintering ground was called winter harbor, and the group of which the island formed a part, was denominated Georgian Islands, in honor of the reigning sovereign of Great Britain.

Having reached the place where they were probably to pass nine months, and three of them in the absence of the sun, Captain Parry was called upon to act in circumstances in which no British naval officer had before been placed. The security of the ships, the preservation of the stores, a regular system for the maintenance of good order, cleanliness, and consequently good health; amusement and employment for the men, were all to be attended to. Scientific observations were also to be made, and Captain Sabine employed himself immediately in selecting a place for an observatory, which was erected in a convenient spot, about seven hundred yards to the westward of the ships. The whole of the masts were dismantled, except the lower ones and the Hecla’s main-top-mast; the lower yards were lashed fore and aft amidships, to support the planks of the housing intended to be erected over the ships; and the whole of this frame work was afterwards roofed over with a cloth. This done, Captain Parry’s whole attention was directed to the health and comfort of the officers and men. The surgeon reported that not the slightest disposition to scurvy had shown itself in either ship. In order to preserve this healthy state of the crew, arrangements were made for the warmth and dryness of the berths and bedplaces; and finding that when the temperature had fallen considerably below zero, the steam from the coppers began to condense into drops on the beams and sides, they were obliged to adopt such means for producing a sufficient warmth, combined with due ventilation, as might carry off the vapor and thus prevent its settling on any part of the ship. For this purpose, a large stone oven, cased with cast iron, in which all their bread was baked in the winter, was placed on the main-hatch-way, and the stove pipe led fore and aft on one side of the lower deck, the smoke being thus carried up the fore hatch-way. On the opposite side of the deck, an apparatus had been attached to the galley-range for conveying a current of heated air between decks. For the preservation of health, a few alterations were made in the quantity and quality of the provisions issued. The allowance of bread was reduced to two-thirds. A pound of preserved meat, together with a pint of vegetable or concentrated soup per man was substituted for one pound of salt beef weekly; and a small quantity of sour krout and pickles, with as much vinegar as could be used, was issued at regular intervals. They were obliged to institute the most rigid economy, with regard to their coals, as they were unable to find any on the island, excepting a few lumps; and the moss which grew in abundance was found totally unfit for the purposes of fuel.

Great attention was paid to the clothing of the men, and one day in the week was appointed for the examination of the men’s shins and gums by the medical gentlemen, in order that any slight appearance of the scurvy might be at once detected and checked by timely and adequate means.

Under circumstances of leisure and inactivity, such as they were now placed in, and with every prospect of its continuance, Captain Parry was desirous of finding some amusement for the men during this long and tedious interval. He proposed, therefore, to get up a play occasionally on board the Hecla; and his proposal being readily seconded by the officers, Lieutenant Beechy having been chosen manager, the performance was fixed for the 5th of November, to the great delight of the ships’ companies. In order still further to promote good humor, and to afford amusing occupation during the hours of constant darkness, they set on foot a weekly newspaper, which was to be called the North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle, and of which Captain Sabine undertook to be the editor, under the promise of being supported by original contributions from the officers of the two ships. The meridian altitude of the sun was observed, for the last time, on the 16th of October.

On the 26th the light was sufficient to allow of reading and writing in the cabins, from half past nine till half past two. The rest of the hours were spent by lamp light. It now became rather a painful experiment to touch any metallic substance in the open air, with the naked hand; the feeling produced by it exactly resembling that occasioned by the opposite extreme of intense heat; and taking off the skin from the part affected. They found it necessary, therefore, to use great caution in handling the sextants and other instruments; particularly the eye-pieces of the telescopes, which, if suffered to touch the face, occasioned an intense burning pain; but this was easily remedied by covering them over with soft leather. The month of November set in with mild weather. The fourth was the last day that the sun, independently of refraction, would be seen above the horizon for ninety-six days; but the weather was too thick for making any observations. On the 5th, their theatre was opened, with the representation of Miss in her Teens; which afforded the men a great fund of amusement. Even fitting up the theatre and taking it to pieces again, was a matter of no small importance; as it kept the men employed a day or two before and after each performance, which was a considerable object gained.

On the 11th, the thermometer fell to 26½ for the second time. The wolves began to approach the ships boldly, howling most piteously on the beach near, and sometimes coming along side the ships, when everything was quiet at night; but they seldom saw more than one or two together, and therefore could form no idea of their number. The white foxes used also to visit the ships at night, and one of these was caught in a trap, set under the Griper’s bows.

The stars of the second magnitude in Ursa Major were perceptible to the naked eye, a little after noon on the 11th of December, and the Aurora Borealis appeared faintly in the south-west at night. The cold continued to increase. About the middle of the month, a serious loss took place in the bursting of the bottles of lemon juice; in some boxes of which, two thirds of the contents were found to be destroyed. The vinegar also froze in the same manner, and lost much of its acidity, when thawed. A few gallons of highly concentrated vinegar congealed into a consistence like honey.

Theatrical entertainments took place regularly once a fortnight, and continued to prove a source of infinite amusement to the men; and more than one or two plays were performed, with the thermometer below zero, on the stage on board the Hecla.

The _North Georgia Gazette_, which we have already mentioned, was a source of great amusement, not only to the contributors, but to those who, from diffidence of their own talents, or other reasons, could not be prevailed on to add their mite to the little stock of literary composition, which was weekly demanded; for those who declined to write were not unwilling to read, and more ready to criticise than those who wielded the pen; but it was that good humored sort of criticism that could not give offense.

On Christmas day the weather was raw and cold, with a considerable snow drift, although the wind was only moderate from northwest. Divine service was performed on board. The men’s usual proportion of fresh meat was increased, as also their allowance of grog, and the day passed with much of the same kind of festivity by which it is usually distinguished at home.

On the first of January scurvy made its appearance among them. Mr. Scallon, gunner of the Hecla, had complained for some days, and the symptoms were now decidedly scorbutic. It was found to be owing to the dampness of his bedding, and proper measures were taken to prevent an increase of the malady. By raising mustard and cress in small boxes near the cabin stove, they were able to give Mr. Scallon and one or two more patients nearly an ounce of salad per day. The vegetables thus raised were necessarily colorless from the privation of light; but they had the same taste as if raised in ordinary circumstances. So effectual were they in the case of Mr. Scallon, that he recovered in less than a fortnight.

Toward the end of the month they began to look out for the sun from the mast head. On the morning of the third of February, the weather being clear, a cross, consisting of the usual vertical and horizontal rays, was seen about the moon. At twenty minutes before noon the sun was seen from the Hecla’s maintop, at the height of fifty-one feet above the sea, being the first time it had been seen for eighty-four days, twelve days less than its actual stay below the horizon. There was now, from eight o’clock till four, sufficient light for any kind of work, and on the seventh they began to collect ballast for the Hecla, to make up for the expenditure of stores.

The coldest part of the year was now approaching; yet the sun had sufficient power to affect the thermometer, which rose from 40 deg. to 35 deg. when exposed to its rays. The distance at which sounds were heard in the open air during the continuance of this intense cold was truly surprising. Conversation carried on a mile off could be distinctly heard. The smoke from the ships, too, owing to the difficulty it has to rise in a low temperature, was carried horizontally to a great distance. On the 15th, the mercury sunk to 55 deg. below zero, which was the most intense degree of cold observed during the winter. Mercury was malleable in this state of the atmosphere.

From this time the temperature gradually rose. The length of the days had so much increased by the 26th of February, that a very sensible twilight was visible in the north.

For the last three or four days of April, the snow on the black cloth of the housing had begun to thaw a little during a few hours in the middle of the day, and on the 30th so rapid a change took place in the temperature of the atmosphere, that the thermometer stood at the freezing, or, as it may more properly be termed in this climate, the thawing point, being the first time that such an event had occurred for nearly eight months, or since the 9th of the preceding September.

This rapid change in the weather revived their hopes of a speedy departure from Melville Island; and they all had sanguine expectations of leaving their winter quarters before July. On the first of May, however, it blew a gale, and the sun was seen at midnight for the first time that season. On the 6th, the people began the operation of cutting the ships out of the harbor; and on the 17th, the ships were once more afloat. On the 21st, some of the officers took a walk inland, and were able to fill a pint bottle with water from a pool of melted snow, which was the first they had seen; a proof of the extreme severity of the climate.