The Great Frozen Sea: A Personal Narrative of the Voyage of the "Alert"

"Still in the yawning trough the vessel reels, Ingulfed beneath two fluctuating hills; On either side they rise, tremendous scene, A long dark melancholy vale between. The balan...

"These high wild hills, and rough uneven ways, Draw out our miles and make them wearisome; And yet your fair discourse hath been as sugar, Making the hard way sweet and delectab...

"Give me some ink and paper in my tent, I'll draw the form and model of our battle: Limit each leader to his several charge, And put in just proportions our small force."

The old year dies on southern skies, And leafless woods that moan and quiver; The shadows creep o'er ocean deep, And silent lake and rustling river; And all is gloom around the...

"We are well persuaded We carry not a heart with us from hence That grows not in a fair consent with ours; Nor leave not one behind, that doth not wish Success and conquest to a...

"Is not short payne well borne, that brings long ease, And layes the soule to sleepe in quiet grace? Sleepe after toyle, port after stormie seas, Ease after warre, death after l...

"Behold I see the haven nigh at hand, To which I meane my wearie course to bend; Vere the maine shete and beare up with the land, The which afore is fayrly to be kend, And seeme...

"Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost Candies the grass, or calls an icy cream Upon the silver lake or crystal stream,...

"He rose, the coast and country to survey, Anxious and eager to discover more. It looked a wild uncultivated shore, But whether human kind or beast alone Possessed the new-found...

"And here on snows, where never human foot Of common mortal trod, we nightly tread And leave no traces, o'er the savage sea, The glassy ocean of the mountain ice; We skim its ru...

"The cold earth slept below, Above the cold sky shone, And all around With a chilling sound, From caves of ice and fields of snow The breath of night like death did flow Beneath...

"And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold. And ice, mast high, came floating by, As green as emerald. And through the drifts, the snowy cliffs Did send a...

Excessive caution was necessary in handling the ship amongst these ponderous floes. Patience combined with perseverance are essential virtues inseparable to successful ice navig...

"When suddenly a grosse fog over spred, With his dull vapour all that desert has, And heaven's cheerfull face enveloped; That all things one, and one as nothing was, And this gr...

"Behold the wandering moon Riding near her highest noon, Like one that hath been led astray Through the heavens' wide pathless way; And oft as if her head she bowed, Stooping th...

"Now from the sight of land, our galleys move; With only seas around, and skies above. When o'er our heads descends a cloud of rain, And night with sable clouds involves the mai...

"Vitailled was the shippe, it is no drede, Habundantly for hire a ful long space: And other necessaries that shuld nede She had ynow, heried be Godde's grace: For wind and weath...

_1st Keeper._--"That cannot be: the noise of thy cross-bow will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost. Here stand we both, and aim we at the best."--_Henry VI._

"So Zembla's rocks, the beauteous work of frost, Rise white in air, and glitter o'er the coast; Pale suns, unfelt, at distance roll away, And on the impassive ice the lightnings...

"Now far he sweeps, where scarce a summer smiles, On Behring's rocks, or Greenland's naked isles. Cold on his midnight watch the breezes blow, From wastes that slumber in eterna...

"Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful jollity, Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, Sport that wrinkled Care derides, A...

"You were used to say, Extremity was the trier of spirits, That common chances common men could bear, That when the sea was calm, all boats alike Showed mastership in floating."

"Let winter come! let polar spirits sweep The dark'ning world and tempest-troubled deep. Though boundless snows the withered heath deform, And the dim sun _ne'er_ wanders throug...

"Most glorious orb! that were a worship, ere The mystery of thy making was revealed! Thou earliest minister of the Almighty Which gladdened on their mountain tops the hearts Of...

"So now is come our joyful'st feast, Let every man be jolly, Eache roome with yvie leaves is drest, And every post with holly; Now all our neighbours' chimneys smoke, And Christ...

"Embark with me, while I new tracts explore, With flying sails and breezes from the shore. Not that my song, in such a scanty space, So large a subject fully can embrace. Not th...

The morning following our arrival in Alexandra Harbour saw us again battling with the ice in Hayes Sound, having been deluded into leaving our comfortable snug quarters by the r...

This, the first appearance of the "Hyperboreans," was eminently successful, and elicited both laughter and applause from our very appreciative and demonstrative audience. Mademo...

Cape Isabella, 357; letters from home, 358; bad weather, 359; Whale Sound, 359; off Lancaster Sound, 360; reappearance of fulmar petrels, 361; reach Godhavn, 362; receive letter...

Heavy ice encountered, 273; road-making over the ice, 275; struggling over hummocks, 278; daily routine, 279; continued cold, 280; excellence of the sledges, 281; first symptoms...

Preparations for abandoning ship, 344; communicate with "Discovery," 345; discovery of Eskimo relics, 347; a severe nip, 348; critical situation of ship, 349; Discovery Harbour,...

New Year's Day, 202; mustard and cress, 205; heavy snow-drifts, 206; returning light, 207; severe cold, 208; an alarm in the observatory, 209; condition of the Eskimo dogs, 210;...

Departure of the sun, 178; Guy Fawkes' Day, 179; scientific observations, 180; the moon, 181; open-air exercise, 181; inconvenience from drip, 182; fluctuations of temperature,...

An Eskimo dance, 28; Eskimo dogs, 29; amusements at Godhavn, 30; ascent of the Lyngenmarkfjeld, 31; aid from the "Valorous," 33; tradition of Disco, 34; Ritenbenk, 35; part comp...

Homeward bound, 312; increased sufferings, 314; courage of the men, 316; extreme weakness of the men, 316; abandonment of the second boat, 318; a snow-bunting seen, 319; the lan...

Cape Hawks and Dobbin Bay, 83; discovery of an ancient cairn, 85; cutting a dock, 87; struggles through the ice, 90; dangerous position, 91; Cape Fraser, 92; junction of two tid...

Preparations for sledging, 231; weights, 232; auxiliary sledges and depôts, 234; tents, 235; cooking apparatus, 236; scale of provisions, 237; lime-juice, 238; medical instructi...

Causes of scurvy, 329; anxiety for Aldrich, 331; May sent to his rescue, 331; return of Aldrich, 332; care of the sick, 333; the welcome back, 335; decide to return to England,...

Tests of physical capacity, 15; regular issue of lime-juice, 16; gales of wind in the Atlantic, 17; slow progress, 19; whales, 20; the first ice, 22; the Land of Desolation, 22;...

Robeson Channel, 110; stopped off Cape Beechey, 113; Shift-Rudder Bay, 114; floe-bergs, 114; the first lemming, 115; marine shells above sea-level, 116; depôt established at Lin...

Saved by floe-bergs, 125; precarious winter quarters, 126; a reconnaissance in dog-sledges, 128; habits of Eskimo dogs, 130; Dumb-bell Bay, 131; eider-ducks, 132; two boats adva...

Scurvy, 299; difficulties increasing, 300; struggling northwards, 301; hummocks discoloured by mud, 301; condition of party, 303; issue of lime-juice, 304; scorbutic symptoms, 3...

Decide to communicate with "Discovery," 247; departure of Egerton and Rawson, 248; their return, 249; Petersen frost-bitten, 249; heroic conduct, 251; efforts to save Petersen,...

Departure of the sledges, 258; first camp, 260; intense cold, 262; arrival at the autumn depôt, 263; the parties separate, 264; duties of cook, 265; sledging breakfast, 266; lun...

Life-boat Cove, 53; visit winter quarters of "Polaris," 54; Littleton Island, 55; Cape Isabella, 56; stopped by the ice, 57; Payer Harbour, 58; first experiences in sledging, 59...

Description of ships, 2; special fittings, 3; selection of officers and men, 5; kindness of friends, 6; games and musical instruments, 7; visitors to the ships, 8; departure, 9;...

Cape Constitution, 98; difference in appearance of coast-lines, 99; Hall Basin blocked with ice, 100; Bessels Bay, 100; Hannah Island, 101; cross Kennedy Channel, 103; musk-oxen...

Cairn Hill, 220; the sun's return, 221; intense cold, 223; experiments on various substances during extreme cold, 223; daylight, 225; alarm of fire, 226; dismantling the observa...

Autumn travelling, 138; discomforts, 139; liability to frost-bites, 142; difficulties, 145; cheerfulness of the men, 146; highest position reached in the autumn, 147; frost-bite...