Further Examination of Melville Island.--Continuation of our
Progress to the Westward.--Long detention by the Ice.--Party sent
on Shore to hunt Deer and Musk-oxen.--Return in three Days, after
losing their Way.--Anxiety on their Account.--Proceed to the
Westward till finally stopped by the Ice.--In returning to the
Eastward, the Griper forced on the Beach by the Ice.--Search for,
and Discovery of, a Winter Harbour on Melville Island.--Operations
for securing the Ships in their Winter Quarters.
As the wind still continued to blow strong from the northward on
the morning of the 6th, without any appearance of opening a
passage for us past Cape Hearne, I took the opportunity of sending
all our boats from both ships at eight A.M., to bring on board a
quantity of moss-peat which our gentlemen reported having found
near a small lake at no great distance from the sea, and which I
directed to be substituted for part of our usual allowance of
coals. Captain Sabine also went on shore to make the requisite
observations; and several of the officers of both ships to sport,
and to collect specimens of natural history.
The wind beginning to moderate soon after noon, and there being at
length some appearance of motion in the ice near Cape Hearne, the
boats were immediately recalled from the shore, and returned at
two P.M., bringing some peat, which was found to burn tolerably,
but a smaller quantity than I had hoped to procure. We then made
sail for Cape Hearne, which we rounded at six o'clock, having no
soundings with from seventeen to twenty fathoms of line, at the
distance of a mile and a quarter from the point.
I was beginning once more to indulge in those flattering hopes, of
which often-repeated disappointments cannot altogether deprive us,
when I perceived from the crow's-nest a compact body of ice,
extending completely in to the shore near the point which formed
the western extreme. We ran sufficiently close to be assured that
no passage to the westward could at present be effected, the floes
being literally upon the beach, and not a drop of clear water
being visible beyond them. I then ordered the ships to be made
fast to a floe, being in eighty fathoms' water, at the distance of
four or five miles from the beach. The season had now so far
advanced as to make it absolutely necessary to secure the ships
every night from ten till two o'clock, the weather being too dark
during that interval to allow of our keeping under way in such a
navigation as this, deprived as we were of the use of compasses.
On the morning of the 8th, there being no prospect of any
immediate alteration in the ice, I directed the boats to be sent
on shore from both ships, to endeavour to procure some game, as
well as to examine the productions of this part of the island. On
going to the masthead, shortly after the boats had been
despatched, I found that the bight of ice in which the ships were
lying was not one floe, but formed by the close junction of two,
so that our situation was by no means so secure as I had supposed
for this bight was so far from being a protection to us, in case
of ice driving on shore, that it would probably be the means of
"nipping" us between the floes which formed it. I therefore
determined on immediately removing the ships in-shore, and went in
a boat to look out for a place for that purpose, there being no
alternative between this and our returning some distance to the
eastward, into the larger space of clear water which we had there
left behind us. I found that a heavy piece of ice aground in
twelve fathoms, at the distance of three hundred yards from the
beach, would suit our purpose for the Hecla, and another, in ten
fathoms, still nearer in-shore, was selected for the Griper. These
masses were from twenty to thirty feet above the sea, and each
about the length of the respective ships.
At four P.M., the weather being quite calm, the ships were towed
in-shore by the boats, and made fast in the places selected for
them.
Impatient and anxious as we were to make the most of the short
remainder of the present season, our mortification will easily be
imagined at perceiving, on the morning of the 9th, not only that
the ice was as close as ever to the westward, but that the floes
in our immediate neighbourhood were sensibly approaching the
shore. As there was no chance, therefore, of our being enabled to
move, I sent a party on shore at daylight to collect what coal
they could find, and in the course of the day, nearly two thirds
of a bushel, being about equal to the Hecla's daily expenditure,
was brought on board. Our sportsmen, who were out for several
hours, could only procure us a hare and a few ducks.
On the 11th there was no alteration in the ice near the ships and
Mr. Bushnan, whom I despatched at daylight to the western cape,
reported on his return, that appearances were equally unpromising
in that quarter. Mr. Dealy was fortunate enough to kill the first
musk-ox that our sportsmen had yet been able to get near; but, as
it was at the distance of eight or ten miles from the ships, our
present situation with regard to the ice would not allow of my
sending a party of men to bring it on board. A piece of the meat
which Mr. Dealy brought with him was considered to taste tolerably
well, but its smell was by no means tempting.
I must now mention an occurrence which had caused considerable
apprehension in our minds for the last two days, and the result of
which had very nearly proved of very serious importance to the
future welfare of the expedition. Early on the morning of the 11th
I received a note from Lieutenant Liddon, acquainting me that, at
daylight on the preceding day, Mr. Fife, with a party of six men,
had been despatched from the Griper, with the hope of surprising
some reindeer and musk-oxen, whose tracks had been seen in a
ravine to the westward of the ships. As they had not yet returned,
in compliance with the instructions given to Mr. Fife, and had
only been supplied with a small quantity of provisions, it was
natural to apprehend that they had lost their way in pursuit of
game. I therefore recommended to Lieutenant Liddon to send a party
in search of his people, and Messrs. Reid, Beverly, and Wakeham,
who immediately volunteered their services on the occasion, were
accordingly despatched for this purpose. Soon after their
departure, however, it began to snow, which rendered the
atmosphere so extremely thick, especially on the hills along which
they had to travel, that this party also lost their way, in spite
of every precaution, but fortunately got sight of our rockets
after dark, by which they were directed to the ships, and returned
at ten o'clock, almost exhausted with cold and fatigue, without
any intelligence of the absentees.
At daylight on the following morning, I sent Lieutenant Hoppner,
with the Heck's fore-royal-mast rigged as a flagstaff, which he
erected on a conspicuous hill four or five miles inland, hoisting
upon it a large ensign, which might be seen at a considerable
distance in every direction. This expedient occurred to us as a
more certain mode of directing our absentees towards the ships
than that of sending out a number of parties, which I could not,
in common prudence as well as humanity, permit to go to any great
distance from the ships; but the snow fell so thick, and the drift
was so great during the whole of the 12th, that no advantage could
at that time be expected from it, and another night came without
the absent party appearing.
Our apprehensions on their account was by this time increased to a
most painful degree, and I therefore ordered four parties, under
the command of careful officers, to be prepared to set out in
search of them the following morning. These parties carried with
them a number of pikes, having small flags attached to them, which
they were directed to plant at regular intervals, and which were
intended to answer the double purpose of guiding themselves on
their return and of directing the absent party, should they meet
with them, to the ships. For the latter purpose a bottle was fixed
to each pike, containing the necessary directions for their
guidance, and acquainting them that provisions would be found at
the large flagstaff on the hill. Our searching parties left the
ships soon after daylight, the wind still blowing hard from the
westward, with incessant snow, and the thermometer at 28°. This
weather continued without intermission during the day, and our
apprehensions for the safety of our people were excited to a most
alarming degree, when the sun began to descend behind the western
hills for the third time since they had left the ship; I will not,
therefore, attempt to describe the joyful feelings we suddenly
experienced, on the Griper's hoisting the signal appointed, to
inform us that her men, or a part of them, were seen on their
return. Soon, after we observed seven persons coming along the
beach to the eastward, who proved to be Mr. Nias and his party,
with four out of the seven men belonging to the Griper. From the
latter, consisting of a corporal of marines and three seamen, we
learned that they had lost their way within a few hours after
leaving the ship, and had wandered about without anything to guide
them till about ten o'clock on the following day, when they
descried the large flagstaff at a great distance. At this time the
whole party were together; but now unfortunately separated, in
consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the flagstaff,
which Mr. Fife mistook for a smaller one that had been erected
some days before at a considerable distance to the eastward of our
present situation; and with that impression, walked away in a
contrary direction, accompanied by two of his men. The other four,
who had now returned (of whom two were already much debilitated),
determined to make for the flagstaff. When they had walked some
distance and were enabled to ascertain what it was, one of them
endeavoured to overtake Mr. Fife, but was too much fatigued, and
returned to his comrades. They halted during a part of the night,
made a sort of hut of stones and turf to shelter them from the
weather, and kindled a little fire with gunpowder and moss to warm
their feet; they had never been in actual want of food, having
lived upon raw grouse, of which they were enabled to obtain a
quantity sufficient for their subsistence. In the morning they
once more set forward towards the flagstaff, which they reached
within three or four hours after Lieutenant Beechey had left some
provisions on the spot; having eaten some bread, and drunk a
little rum and water, a mixture which they described as perfectly
tasteless and clammy, they renewed their journey towards the
ships, and had not proceeded far, when, notwithstanding the snow
which was constantly falling, they met with footsteps which
directed them to Mr. Nias and his party, by whom they were
conducted to the ships.
The account they gave us of Mr. Fife and his two companions led us
to believe that we should find them, if still living, at a
considerable distance to the westward; and some parties were just
about to set out in that direction, when the trouble and anxiety
which this mistake would have occasioned us were prevented by the
arrival of another of the searching parties, with the information
that Mr. Fife and the two men were on their way to the ships,
being about five miles to the eastward. Some fresh hands were,
immediately sent to bring them in, and they arrived on board at
ten P.M. after an absence of ninety-one hours, and having been
exposed during three nights to the inclemency of the first wintry
weather we had experienced. Almost the whole of this party were
much exhausted by cold and fatigue, and several of them were
severely frostbitten in their toes and fingers; but, by the skill
and unremitted attention of our medical gentlemen, they were in a
few days enabled to return to their duty.
At three A.M. of Tuesday, the 14th, the thermometer fell to 9°;
and from this time the commencement of winter may fairly be dated.
On the 20th I considered it a duty incumbent upon me to call for
the opinions of the senior officers of the expedition as to the
expediency of immediately seeking a harbour in which the ships
might securely lie during the ensuing winter. The opinions of the
officers entirely concurring with my own as to the propriety of
immediately resorting to this measure, I determined, whenever the
ice and the weather would allow, to run back to the bay of the
Hecla and Griper, in which neighbourhood alone we had any reason
to believe that a suitable harbour might be found.
At half past two on the morning of the 22d, the night signal was
made to weigh, and we began to heave at our cables; but such was
the difficulty of raising our anchor and of hauling in our
hawsers, owing to the stiffness of the ropes from frost and the
quantity of ice which had accumulated about them, that it was five
o'clock before the ships were under way. Our rudder, also, was so
choked by the ice which had formed about it, that it could not be
moved till a boat had been hauled under the stern, and the ice
beaten and cut away from it. We ran along to the eastward without
any obstruction, in a channel about five miles wide, till we were
within four or five miles of Cape Hearne, where the bay-ice, in
unbroken sheets of about one third of an inch in thickness, began
to offer considerable impediment to our progress. We at length,
however, struck soundings with twenty-nine fathoms of line, and at
eight P.M. anchored in nine fathoms, on a muddy bottom, a little
to the eastward of our situation on the 5th.
In going to the westward we passed a shoal and open bay,
immediately adjacent to the harbour which we were now about to
examine, and soon after came to a reef of rocks, in some parts
nearly dry, extending, about three quarters of a mile to the
southward of a low point on the southeastern side of the harbour.
On rounding the reef, on which a quantity of heavy ice was lying
aground, we found that a continuous floe, four or five inches in
thickness, was formed over the whole harbour, which in every other
respect appeared to be fit for our purpose; and that it would be
necessary to cut a canal of two miles in length through the ice,
in order to get the ships into a secure situation for the winter.
We sounded the channel into the harbour about three quarters of a
mile, by making holes in the ice and dropping the lead through,
and found the depth from five to six fathoms.
The ships weighed at six A.M. on the 24th. the wind being still at
north, and the weather moderate and fine. As soon as the Hecla was
under sail, I went ahead in a boat to sound, and to select an
anchorage for the ships. Near the southwestern point of this
harbour there is a remarkable block of sandstone, somewhat
resembling the roof of a house, on which the ships names were
subsequently engraved by Mr. Fisher. This stone is very
conspicuous in coming from the eastward, and, when kept open to
the southward of the grounded ice at the end of the reef, forms a
good landing mark for the channel into the harbour. Off the end of
the reef the water deepened to six fathoms, and the Hecla's anchor
was dropped in eight fathoms, half a mile within the reef, and
close to the edge of the ice through which the canal was to be
cut. The Griper arrived soon after, and by half past eight A.M.
both ships were secured in the proper position for commencing the
intended operations.
As soon as our people had breakfasted, I proceeded with a small
party of men to sound and to mark with boarding-pikes upon the ice
the most direct channel we could find to the anchorage, having
left directions for every other officer and man in both ships to
be employed in cutting the canal. This operation was performed by
first marking out two parallel lines, distant from each other a
little more than the breadth of the larger ship. Along each of
these lines a cut was then made with an ice saw, and others again
at right angles to them, at intervals of from ten to twenty feet;
thus dividing the ice into a number of square pieces, which it was
again necessary to subdivide diagonally, in order to give room for
their being floated out of the canal. On returning from the upper
part of the harbour, where I had marked out what appeared to be
the best situation for our winter-quarters, I found that
considerable progress had been made in cutting the canal and in
floating the pieces out of it. To facilitate the latter part of
the process, the seamen, who are always fond of doing things in
their own way, took advantage of a fresh northerly breeze, by
setting some boats sails upon the pieces of ice, a contrivance
which saved both time and labour. This part of the operation,
however, was by far the most troublesome, principally on account
of the quantity of young ice which formed in the canal, and
especially about the entrance, where, before sunset, it had become
so thick that a passage could no longer be found for the detached
pieces without considerable trouble in breaking it. At half past
seven P.M. we weighed our anchors and began to warp up the canal,
but the northerly wind blew so fresh, and the people were so much
fatigued, having been almost constantly at work for nineteen
hours, that it was midnight before we reached the termination of
our first day's labour.
All hands were again set to work on the morning of the 25th, when
it was proposed to sink the pieces of ice, as they were cut, under
the floe, instead of floating them out, the latter mode having now
become impracticable on account of the lower part of the canal,
through which the ships had passed, being, hard frozen during the
night. To effect this, it was necessary for a certain number of
men to stand upon one end of the piece of ice which it was
intended to sink, while other parties, hauling at the same time
upon ropes attached to the opposite end, dragged the block under
that part of the floe on which the people stood. The officers of
both ships took the lead in this employ, several of them standing
up to their knees in water frequently during the day, with the
thermometer generally at 12°, and never higher than 16°. At six
P.M. we began to move the ships. The Griper was made fast astern
of the Hecla, and the two ships' companies being divided on each
bank of the canal, with ropes from the Hecla's gangways, soon drew
the ships along to the end of our second day's work.
Sunday, 26th.--I should on every account have been glad to make
this a day of rest to the officers and men; but the rapidity with
which the ice increased in thickness, in proportion as the general
temperature of the atmosphere diminished, would have rendered a
day's delay of serious importance. I ordered the work, therefore,
to be continued at the usual time in the morning; and such was the
spirited and cheerful manner in which this order was complied
with, as well as the skill which had now been acquired in the art
of sawing and sinking the ice, that although the thermometer was
at 6° in the morning, and rose no higher than 9° during the day,
we had completed the canal at noon, having effected more in four
hours than on either of the two preceding days. The whole length
of this canal was four thousand and eighty-two yards, or nearly
two miles and one third, and the average thickness of the ice was
seven inches.
At half past one P.M. we began to track the ships along in the
same manner as before, and at a quarter past three we reached our
winter-quarters, and hailed the event with three loud and hearty
cheers from both ships' companies. The ships were in five fathoms
water, a cable's length from the beach on the northwestern side of
the harbour, to which I gave the name of WINTER HARBOUR; and I
called the group of islands which we had discovered in the Polar
Sea the NORTH GEORGIAN ISLANDS.