girls, who had attended us the whole day, stepped down to the edge of
the water; having each of them previously drawn on a pair of gloves made
of white feathers. They first held out their arms, in an horizontal
position, with the fingers extended; then waved them to and fro, with an
undulating motion; and, at last, suddenly sunk them towards the earth.
Again, recommencing for a short time the waving of their hands, they
finished this affecting ceremony by extending both arms, to their full
extent, towards the right side, pointing their snow-white gloves towards
the sky. They continued to repeat the same motions without the least
variation, until we began to pull away from the shore; when they ceased
entirely, and retired into the crowd of natives, who had stood behind
the three girls during the foregoing exhibition, and, in profound
silence, appeared to be watching every motion. Never had we seen a more
interesting spectacle: the young _Esquimaux_ kept the most exact time
with each other, and accompanied their gestures by the most graceful
motion of their heads; their eyes bespeaking, at the same time, the most
tender solicitude for our safety. It is not a trifling matter that can
agitate, even for a moment, the rough feelings of a seaman; yet the
crews of our boats sat, during this scene, in mute astonishment, with
their mouths wide open; and at last, with the utmost reluctance, we tore
ourselves away.
Unlike the generality of savage nations, this people did not exhibit any
dances peculiar to themselves: the only instance that we observed, to
prove they have an idea of dancing, was on board the ship; here a young
girl threw one leg out, and then another, alternately, for some time;
when, stopping suddenly, she shut her eyes, and, holding her head down,
fell to moaning and howling, as if in great pain: next followed a
convulsive gurgling in the throat, and deep-drawn sighs; then gradually
opening her eyes, and relaxing her features into a smile, she repeated
the whole over again.
It is a curious fact, that the inland or hunting tribes of _Indians_ in
_Hudson’s Bay_ believe the _Esquimaux_ to be a nation of sorcerers.
Should the season prove a bad one in procuring their furs, they say that
the _Esquimaux_ have enchanted the game; and they then set off to the
northward, to punish them accordingly. Whenever they discover the tents
of the supposed magicians, they remain lurking about the place until a
favourable opportunity offers; when, raising the dreadful war-whoop,
they rush on to the attack with inconceivable fury. Every individual of
the vanquished is instantly massacred, whether they make resistance, or
implore for mercy. The animosity between them is hereditary, bloody, and
implacable.
When Mr. _Hearne_ travelled to the N. W. in search of the long-sought
passage to the _Southern Ocean_, he was escorted by a party of _Cree
Indians_, and was himself an eye-witness of the massacre of an
_Esquimaux_ tribe; although he used his most earnest entreaties with his
conductors, to spare an innocent-looking young girl who had supplicated
his protection: the _Indians_ frowned furiously upon him; and asking,
with haughty contempt, _if he wanted an Esquimaux wife_, they speared
her to death on the spot[17].
It is rather remarkable, that the habitations of the _Esquimaux_ had
never before been visited by the officers of the _Hudson’s-Bay_ ships,
although they had often landed in the Straits: but this may be explained
in two ways. In the first place, the _Esquimaux_ are evidently anxious
to conceal their places of abode; secondly, the commanders of the
_Hudson’s-Bay_ ships have directions from the Company not to go on shore
amongst the _Esquimaux_ themselves, nor to send their boats; and they
have orders also to be continually on their guard, in all communications
with this people. Possibly these orders have been issued since the
horrid termination of an attempt to establish a permanent white whale
fishery at _Richmond_; and probably that circumstance may have given
rise to the regulation. I shall relate the dreadful story in the sequel,
when I reach that part of my Narrative where it will be necessary to
give a short description of the factories in _Hudson’s Bay_: it would be
considered as too long a digression to insert it at present. We had the
good fortune, therefore, to be the first _Europeans_ who, for the last
forty years, have visited the habitations of the _Esquimaux_. I have
thus been enabled to describe them fully, from my own observations. And
there is another point upon which I am able to speak _positively_,
although the circumstance did not fall under my own inspection: I allude
to the manner of disposing of their dead.
His Majesty’s ship _Brazen_, Captain _Stirling_, in the year 1813,
convoyed the _Hudson’s-Bay_ ships into the Bay. Captain _Stirling_ and
some of his officers landed in the Straits, but could not find any
habitations of the natives: however, in wandering about the hills, they
discovered an object of no less curiosity; namely, the dead body of an
_Esquimaux_: it was closely wrapt in skins, and laid in a sort of gully
between two rocks, as if intended to be defended from the cold winds of
the ocean: by the side of the corpse lay the bow and arrows, spears, and
harpoon of the deceased; together with a tin pot, containing a few beads
and three or four _English_ halfpence: the last articles had evidently
been procured by the deceased in traffic with the Company’s ships.
The reason of the body having been laid on the surface of the earth, is
in consequence of the impossibility of penetrating the flinty rock, of
which the whole coast is composed; and the custom of depositing his arms
by the side of the corpse of a deceased _Indian_, is common to many
barbarous nations.[18]
As it may be expected that something should be said respecting the
government and religion of the _Esquimaux_, I shall briefly state, that
they did not appear to me to trouble their heads with either. They
certainly paid great respect to the old man who sang to us the song
before mentioned; but it does not necessarily follow that he was either
a prince or a priest. It is probable that they venerated him more on
account of his age, than from any civil or ecclesiastical authority with
which he was invested. But the _Esquimaux_, and all other nations around
_Hudson’s Bay_, have a notion of a superior spirit, whom they concur in
styling _Manéto_, or _Good Spirit_. It is not known whether the
_Esquimaux_ have any idea of an Evil Being; but the _Cree Indians_
imagine that there is a great number of that species, whose sole delight
consists in tormenting mankind[19].
With respect to the language of the _Esquimaux_, I have been able to
collect a few specimens: and I shall insert, against each word, in what
part of the coast each expression was ascertained to be in use, and the
authority from whence I derived my information.
Words. Signification. Where used. Authority.
Chymo _Barter._ On the shores of Ascertained by
_Hudson’s myself.
Straits_.
Pillitay _Give me
something._
We-we _A white goose._
Wau-ve _An egg._
Muck Mhameek _A knife._
Kippy Swau, beck _A saw._
Muck-tu _A deer._
Twau-ve _Go away—begone._
Tuck-tu _Seal blubber._
Kiack _Canoe._ _Churchill_, and Ascertained by
in _Hudson’s one of the most
Straits_. respectable
Traders
belonging to
_Churchill
Factory_.
Omiack _A ship._
Kannau weet ameg _A dart._
Ye meck _Water._
Hennelay _A woman._
Aunay _Far off._
Cob-loo-nak _An Englishman._ _Churchill
Factory._
Mai _Good._
Nagga Mai _Not good._
Karrack _Wood._
Peo-me-wonga _I would have._ By the Natives By the _German_
of the Missionary
Missionary before mentioned.
Settlement.
Ak-ka-karor _It shall have
mapock payment._
Having given a short account of the _Esquimaux_, their manners, and
customs, I may now proceed with my Journal as before; and content myself
with making a few cursory remarks, as we sail along.
August _1st_.—The whole of this day we continued off _Saddle
Back_[20]; as the _Hudson’s-Bay_ ships had some arrangements to make,
previous to their final separation, which always takes place off
_Mansfield Island_, at the entrance of _Hudson’s Bay_. Towards evening,
we began to ply to windward, with a fresh breeze at west. Thermometer
40° in the shade.
August _2d_.—Beating to windward with a strong breeze, in the
afternoon we hove-to off _Icy Cove_, about a mile to the westward of two
remarkable hills, called the _Virgin’s Paps_, which last lay nine
leagues to the westward of _Saddle Back_. On firing a gun and hoisting
our colours, we were immediately visited by another party of
_Esquimaux_: there was no difference whatever in their appearance from
those we had seen before. One of our officers purchased a canoe of a
native, for which he paid a kettle, a lance, a saw, and a spoon. Our
curiosity was considerably excited, to observe in what manner this man
would contrive to reach the shore; and we really entertained serious
apprehensions for his safety, when we perceived him stretch himself out
upon his belly on another canoe, at the back of the man who used the
paddle. He was in this dangerous position conveyed to land, not daring
to lift his head, through fear of destroying the equilibrium of the
canoe; which did not swim two inches above the surface of the sea.
After night-fall, we were compelled to tack ship about, to avoid a
large patch of floating ice.
August _3d_.—We continued plying to windward all this day; and in
the evening we had reached _Upper Savage Island_. It lays about
twenty-three leagues to the west of _Saddle Back_, in an opening which
has never been explored. Thermometer 32° in the sun.
August _4th_.—Towards the evening of this day we had a fair wind,
the ship butting her way through immense quantities of ice. Passed by a
bluff cape, called _Point Look-out_. This cape is eight leagues to the
west of _Upper Savage Island_. We saw a number of _Esquimaux_ following
us among the windings of the loose ice. These poor creatures laboured
hard to overtake us, hallooing and shouting “_Chymo!_” but we were now
exceedingly anxious to get forward, and therefore could not wait for
them; at which their disappointment must have been great.
August _5th_.—This morning forcing our way with difficulty through
the ocean of ice that surrounded us; at length, being enveloped in a
thick fog, and the wind dying away, we lashed our ship to a large piece
of ice; and firing three guns as a signal for our convoy to do the same,
we were astonished at the effect produced by the cannon, The explosion
issued like thunder over the ice; then appeared to roll rumbling back
towards the ship; bellowing forth again in tremendous peals. The echo
died away in distant reverberation.
Shortly afterwards, we imagined that we could distinguish the sound
of voices through the fog: we immediately beat the drum, to point out
our situation; and, in a few minutes, we plainly heard the shouting of
the _Esquimaux_: they soon came alongside the ship, with the usual
expressions of delight. It is really surprising that this people should
venture so far from the land, in such frail barks, through a mass of ice
which is enough to daunt an _European_, even in a stout-built ship.
The fog clearing away, we cast the ship loose, and endeavoured to
force our way forward among the ice; until, from its increasing
consolidation, we were again obliged to lash to a large piece of it.
This operation is called _grappling_; and it is performed by running the
vessel alongside of the piece of ice to which it is intended to make her
fast: two men then leap on the ice: the one runs, with a sort of
pickaxe, to dig a hole in it, using the precaution to stand with his
back to the ship; and the other man follows the first, with a
serpent-like iron on his back, having a strong rope affixed to one end
of it: this serpent (or ice-anchor, as it is termed) is hooked into the
hole on the ice, and the rope is fastened on board the ship. Other
ice-anchors and ropes are then hooked to different parts of the piece of
ice; and the number of ropes is varied according to the state of the
weather. In a gale of wind, we had generally five anchors a-head; and
with a moderate breeze, not more than two. The whole manœuvre of
grappling is generally accomplished in five minutes; and although the
ship be lashed to windward of a clump of ice, yet the action of the wind
on a vessel’s masts, yards, &c. turns the ice round, and she will
consequently soon be under the lee of it, with water as smooth as a
mill-pond.
We were employed this evening in filling our casks from a pool of
snow-water on the ice; and our people were highly diverted with running
upon it, leaping, playing at foot-ball, and shooting at seals. At
length, four of the seamen were so imprudent as to venture on a sort of
peninsula which projected from the main body of the ice; when the
isthmus instantly gave way, leaving them adrift on a small piece that
was barely sufficient to sustain their weight. It was long after
night-fall, and with the utmost exertion and difficulty, that we
succeeded in getting them safe on board again, by the help of a boat.
August _6th_.—In the middle of the night, the prospect from the ship
was one of the most awful and sublime that I ever remember having
witnessed, during a life spent entirely upon the ocean: and I regret
that no language of mine can give an adequate idea of the grandeur of
the scene. As far as the eye could reach, a vast alabaster pavement
overspread the surface of the sea, whose dark blue waters could only be
seen at intervals, where parts of the pavement appeared to have been
convulsively torn up, and heaped upon each other in ruined fragments.
The snow-white surface of this immense plain formed a most striking
contrast to the deep black clouds of a stormy night; through which,
uninterrupted flashes of forky lightning succeeded each other with great
rapidity, as if intending, by their fiery glare, to shew to us the
horrors of our situation, and then to magnify them by leaving us in
utter darkness. Add to this, the reiterated peals of thunder that burst
forth, in a thousand roaring echoes, over the surrounding ice; also the
heavy plashing of the rain, which poured down in torrents; the distant
growling of affrighted bears, the screams of sea-birds, and the loud
whistling of the wind;—the whole forming a midnight prospect which I
would have gone any distance to see; but having once beheld, never wish
to witness again.
In the morning, we were surprised by the appearance of two
_Esquimaux_, who had contrived to reach the ship, although we were at
least seven leagues from the land, and the ice closely hemming us round
on all sides: the Indians had effected their passage by dragging their
canoes over the different fields of ice which obstructed their progress.
At 4 A.M. we got under sail; as there appeared a possibility of our
pushing through, the ice having loosened a little; however, we looked in
vain for an opening. The ship running fast, with a fair breeze, struck
violently upon a large field, and the shock fairly lifted up her bows.
We continued butting through until 8 A.M. when we grappled to a large
field of ice, as an impenetrable mass now presented itself on all sides
of us: the wind shifted into the N. W. and blew a heavy gale,
accompanied by drifts of snow and sleet. We lay in this position all
night, closely hemmed in, with five ice-anchors a-head. An inspection
being made by the carpenter, he found that the heavy shocks which the
ship had received this day had started the ceiling about her bows, and
also twelve or fourteen of the trunnels.
August _7th_.—During the whole of this day, we continued closely
wedged in by the ice. It blew a hard gale from the west, attended by a
heavy fall of snow and sleet. The loose ice was incessantly varying its
position: at one time, we were so closely hemmed in as to be hardly able
to discern any water; then, suddenly, the ice would again open to a
considerable distance. This is easily accounted for; as the light pieces
of ice drift much faster before the wind than the heavier masses, which
are deeper in the water: it will naturally occur, therefore, that the
three ships would alter their position, according to the size of the
clump to which they were fastened. The _Eddystone_ was three miles to
the east of us last night; and at sunset this evening, she was as far to
the west; yet that ship was still grappled to the same piece of ice as
before; and, from the coagulated mass which surrounded us, one would
have been led to conclude that the relative distance from each other
could not have been so easily altered: but it varies according to the
depth and solidity of the ice to which the ships are affixed.
August _8th_.—In the forenoon, the snow ceased to fall, and we had a
finer day. Latitude, by an observation at noon, 62°. 54′. N. The ice
loosened considerably in the course of the day, but not sufficiently for
us to get under sail. At night-fall, we lost sight of the _Eddystone_,
to the west.
August _9th_.—The day had just began to dawn, when an animal was
observed swimming near the ship: we at first conjectured it to be a
seal, and accordingly sent a quarter-master over the ice, to knock it on
the head, if it attempted to get upon it; but the man was fain to make a
rapid retreat, when he discovered the form of a prodigious bear emerging
from the water. This enormous creature came close to the ship’s head;
and had I been armed with a pistol only, it would have been easy to have
dispatched him; but during the time we were all bustling for a musquet,
the bear marched up the field of ice. Mr. _Wells_, a young midshipman,
and myself, instantly pursued him, by different routes; but the grey of
the twilight was favourable to him; and his hide being but a shade or
two deeper than the ice itself, he escaped unseen. We afterwards traced
his footsteps to the edge of the ice, opposite the spot where he landed,
and he must therefore have replunged into the sea from that place. I
mention this circumstance to shew in what manner these animals contrive
to procure subsistence: they swim, during the night, in the quiet manner
now described; and drawing close to a piece of ice, they immediately
smell if there be any seals upon the top of it; in which case they
ascend gently on the opposite side, and suddenly springing upon the
sleeping seal, they instantly tear it in pieces.—As this proved to be a
fine day, we drew our seamen out upon the ice, and exercised them by
firing at a target. Towards evening the ice began to loosen
considerably.
August _10th_.—A fine day; but the ice still close. Wind remains at
N. W. During the last twenty-four hours, the _Eddystone_ again appeared
in sight; and towards evening, she again neared us considerably. We
believed this to be owing to her having got into a southerly current.
Our latitude this day was 62°. 50′. N.; and at night-fall the
thermometer stood at 28°.
August _11th_.—At 4 A.M. ungrappled, and got under sail, with a fair
wind, running a zig-zag course amongst the ice; the ship, at intervals,
striking excessively hard. Towards evening, we again grappled to a piece
of ice; and, upon inspection, we found several more trunnels started,
and the ship much shaken, by her repeated blows. The Admiralty must
certainly have been deceived by the _Hudson’s-Bay_ Company, respecting a
Voyage to _Hudson’s Bay_; or they certainly would never have sent a ship
of war to perform it, without previously strengthening her for the
occasion. It is exceedingly dangerous for any ship to attempt a passage
through the sea of ice in _Hudson’s Straits_, unless her bows be doubled
with oak-plank and heavy blocks of wood, bolted to each side of her
cutwater; as the floating masses of ice may be considered so many _rocks
of crystal_.
This day, in a vacancy between the ice, we saw the first regular
whale. On his second rising to blow, I discharged a load of small shot
into his back; at which, however, he did not even seem to feel the least
annoyance, though we saw him no more.
August _12th_.—At day-light, ungrappled, with a light wind at south;
but, to our great mortification, we were again obliged to anchor, at
noon, to a field of ice about half a mile long; and both the other ships
made fast to the same piece, so that we could walk across the ice to
visit each other. Our people were immediately set to work; and in three
hours’ time, we had filled fifty-six casks with snow-water, from a large
pond on the ice. We had _Charles’ Island_ in sight, bearing W. N. W.
about nine leagues distant. This small island is on the southern shore
of the Straits, in the narrowest part; the channel there not being above
twenty miles broad. _Charles’ Island_ lies about twenty-one leagues to
the west of _Lady Lake’s Inlet_; and hence the ships leave the northern
shore, and steer for the south end of _Salisbury Island_, lying off Cape
Diggs, at the western extremity of _Hudson’s Straits_.
The ice continuing very close all around us, we were compelled to
remain in this situation, without ungrappling, for five days; in which
nothing occurred worthy of notice.
[Illustration: _Appearance of the Entrance of Prince of Wales’s Sound,
bearing S.W.½W. about nine leagues.—taken August 17, 1814._]
[Illustration: _The Rosamond grappled among close Ice._]
August _17th_.—In the morning, we were opposite a deep inlet, called
_Prince of Wales’s Sound_, on the southern shore of the Straits, which
has never been explored. All this coast, as well as the northern shore,
is fringed with islands; the principal of which are called _King
George_, _Prince of Wales_, _Maiden’s Paps_, and _Mannil’s Islands_; and
they doubtless afford shelter to many fine harbours.
August _18th_.—We did not grapple during the night, but hove to, for
about two hours, whilst it continued dark; and at day-light we again
bore up, and continued running through loose ice. Towards noon it fell
nearly calm: we observed seven large seals, basking on a piece of ice;
but as soon as we approached them in a boat, they rolled into the water,
and disappeared. We were visited by two _Esquimaux_ in the afternoon:
they had nothing remarkable about them, except that their mustachios
were rather more bushy than those we had seen before. In the evening it
fell quite calm, and we grappled.
August _19th_.—During the night, the other ships had fallen
considerably to the eastward; but the wind coming round to the
south-west, we ungrappled, and waited for their coming up. _Queen Anne’s
Foreland_, a high cape on the north shore, bore E. N. E. nine leagues;
and although at so great distance, we were visited by three canoes of
_Esquimaux_, bringing their usual commodities for traffic. Our latitude
this day was observed to be 63°. 38′. N.; longitude, 72°. 45′. W. We
grappled again in the evening, and lay so until—
August _21st_.—At 2 A.M. was presented one of those awful
appearances which are so common in these hyperborean regions. The water,
for some distance around the ship, had, for a time, been partially
cleared of the ice; when, on a sudden, a noise was heard like very
distant thunder, and the crackling of falling beams in some immense
conflagration. The loose ice, which had appeared so distant before, now
approached on all sides with an unusual rapidity; the pieces driving one
over another in their course, and seeming to menace the destruction of
our ship. In ten minutes we were completely hemmed in, on all sides; and
a person might travel for miles over a space which had just before been
an expanse of water. The ice must have been forced together by some
extraordinary meeting of the currents, as there was but a slight breeze
at the moment.
At noon, the wind became fair: we ungrappled, and steered through
loose weighty ice until 8 P.M. when a thick fog came on, and we again
grappled for the night. About 10 P.M. the deep darkness of the sky was
suddenly changed to a bright twilight; and having continued so for about
five minutes, it again relapsed into its former gloom. This singular
appearance was occasioned by a streamer of the _aurora borealis_
bursting through the thick fog which surrounded us.—Thermometer 29°.