CHAPTER XI.

Progress down the Western Coast of Baffin's Bay.--Meet with the

Whalers.--Account of some Esquimaux in the Inlet called the River

Clyde.--Continue the Survey of the Coast till stopped by Ice in

the Latitude of 68¼°.--Obliged to run to the Eastward.--Fruitless

Attempts to regain the Land, and final Departure from the

Ice.--Remarks upon the probable Existence and Practicability of a

Northwest Passage, and upon the Whale Fishery.--Boisterous Weather

in Crossing the Atlantic.--Loss of the Hecla's Bowsprit and

Foremast.--Arrival in England.

The wind continuing fresh from the northward on the morning of the

1st of September, we bore up and ran along the land, taking our

departure from the flagstaff in Possession Bay, bearing W.S.W.

five miles, at half past four A.M.

The ice led us off very much to the eastward after leaving Pond's

Bay; and the weather became calm, with small snow towards

midnight. In this day's run, the compass-courses were occasionally

inserted in the logbook, being the first time that the magnetic

needle had been made use of on board the Hecla, for the purposes

of navigation, for more than twelve months.

On the morning of the 3d we passed some of the highest icebergs I

have ever seen, one of them being not less than one hundred and

fifty to two hundred feet above the sea, judging from the height

of the Griper's masts when near it.

The vegetation was tolerably luxuriant in some places upon the low

land which borders the sea, consisting principally of the

dwarf-willow, sorrel, saxifrage, and poppy, with a few roots of

scurvy-grass. There was still a great deal of snow remaining even

on the lower parts of the land, on which were numerous ponds of

water; on one of these, a pair of young red-throated divers, which

could not rise, were killed; and two flocks of geese, one of them

consisting of not less than sixty or seventy, were seen by Mr.

Hooper, who described them as being very tame, running along the

beach before our people, without rising, for a considerable

distance. Some glaucous gulls and plovers were killed, and we met

with several tracks of bears, deers, wolves, foxes, and mice. The

coxswain of the boat found upon the beach part of the bone of a

whale, which had been cut at one end by a sharp instrument like an

axe, with a quantity of chips lying about it, affording undoubted

proof of this part of the coast having been visited at no distant

period by Esquimaux; it is more than probable, indeed, that they

may inhabit the shores of this inlet, which time would not now

permit us to examine. More than sixty icebergs of very large

dimensions were in sight from the top of the hill, together with a

number of extensive floes to the northeast and southeast, at the

distance of four or five leagues from the land.

While occupied in attending to the soundings, soon after noon, our

astonishment may readily be conceived on seeing from the masthead

a ship, and soon after two others, in the offing, which were soon

ascertained to be whalers, standing in towards the land. They

afterward bore up to the northward along the edge of the ice which

intervened between us, and we lost sight of them at night. It was

now evident that this coast, which had hitherto been considered by

the whalers as wholly inaccessible in so high a latitude, had

become a fishing station, like that on the opposite or Greenland

shore; and the circumstance of our meeting so few whales in Sir

James Lancaster's Sound this season was at once accounted for by

supposing, what, indeed, we afterward found to be the case, that

the fishing-ships had been there before us, and had, for a time,

scared them from that ground.

It was so squally on the morning of the 5th that we could scarcely

carry our double-reefed topsails, while, as we afterward learned

from the fishing-ships, which were in sight at daylight, there was

scarcely a breath of wind at a few leagues' distance from the

land. We coasted this low shore, as we had done in the preceding

voyage, at the distance of two or three miles, having from

twenty-three to twenty-nine fathoms water. We here met with

another of our fishing-ships, which proved to be the Lee, of Hull,

Mr. Williamson, master; from whom we learned, among other events

of a public nature which were altogether new to us, the public

calamity which England had sustained in the death of our late

venerable and beloved sovereign, and also the death of his Royal

Highness the Duke of Kent. Mr. Williamson, among others, had

succeeded in getting across the ice to this coast as high as the

latitude of 73°, and had come down to this part in pursuit of the

fish. One or two of the ships had endeavoured to return home by

running down this coast, but had found the ice so close about the

latitude of 69½° as to induce most of the others to sail back to

the northward, in order to get back in the same way that they

came. Mr. Williamson also reported his having, a day or two

before, met with some Esquimaux in the inlet named the River Clyde

in 1818, which was just to the southward of us. Considering it a

matter of some interest to communicate with these people, who had,

probably, not been before visited by Europeans, and that it might,

at the same time, be useful to examine the inlet, I bore up, as

soon as I had sent our despatches and letters on board the Lee,

and stood in towards the rocky islet, called Agnes's Monument,

passing between it and the low point which forms the entrance to

the inlet on the northern side.

At six in the evening of the 6th, being near the outermost of the

islands with which we afterward found this inlet to be studded, we

observed four canoes paddling towards the ships; they approached

with great confidence, and came alongside without the least

appearance of fear or suspicion. While paddling towards us, and,

indeed, before we could plainly perceive their canoes, they

continued to vociferate loudly; but nothing like a song, nor even

any articulate sound, which can be expressed by words, could be

distinguished. Their canoes were taken on board by their own

desire, plainly intimated by signs, and with their assistance, and

they at once came up the side without hesitation. These people

consisted of an old man, apparently much above sixty, and three

younger, from nineteen to thirty years of age. As soon as they

came on deck, their vociferations seemed to increase with their

astonishment, and, I may add, their pleasure; for the reception

they met with seemed to create no less joy than surprise. Whenever

they received a present or were shown anything which excited fresh

admiration, they expressed their delight by loud and repeated

ejaculations, which they sometimes continued till they were quite

hoarse and out of breath with the exertion. This noisy mode of

expressing their satisfaction was accompanied by a jumping, which

continued for a minute or more, according to the degree of the

passion which excited it, and the bodily powers of the person who

exercised it; the old man being rather too infirm, but still doing

his utmost to go through the performance.

After some time passed on deck, during which a few skins and ivory

knives were bought from them, they were taken down into the cabin.

The younger ones received the proposal to descend somewhat

reluctantly, till they saw that their old companion was willing to

show them the example, and they then followed without fear.

Although we were much at a loss for an interpreter, we had no

great difficulty in making the old man understand, by showing him

an engraved portrait of an Esquimaux, that Lieutenant Beechey was

desirous of making a similar drawing of him. He was accordingly

placed on a stool near the fire, and sat for more than an hour

with very tolerable composure and steadiness, considering that a

barter for their clothes, spears, and whalebone was going on at

the same time near him. He was, indeed, kept quiet by the presents

which were given him from time to time; and when this failed, and

he became impatient to move, I endeavoured to remind him that we

wished him to keep his position, by placing my hands before me,

holding up my head and assuming a grave and demure look. We now

found that the old gentleman was a mimic, as well as a very

good-natured and obliging man; for, whenever I did this he always

imitated me in such a manner as to create considerable diversion

among his own people as well as ours, and then very quietly kept

his seat. While he was sitting for his picture, the other three

stood behind him, bartering their commodities with great honesty,

but in a manner which showed them to be no strangers to traffic.

If, for instance, a knife was offered for any article, they would

hesitate for a short time, till they saw we were determined to

give no higher price, and then at once consented to the exchange.

In this case, as well as when anything was presented to them, they

immediately licked it twice with their tongues, after which they

seemed to consider the bargain satisfactorily concluded. The

youngest of the party very modestly kept behind the others, and,

before he was observed to have done so, missed several presents,

which his less diffident, though not importunate companions had

received. As the night closed in they became desirous to depart,

and they left us before dark, highly delighted with their visit.

As I had purchased one of their canoes, a boat was sent to land

its late owner, as only one person can sit in each. Mr. Palmer

informed me, that, in going on shore, the canoes could beat our

boat very much in rowing whenever the Esquimaux chose to exert

themselves, but they kept close to her the whole way. During the

time that they were on board, we had observed in them a great

aptness for imitating certain of our words; and, while going on

shore, they took a particular liking to the expression of "Hurra,

give way!" which they heard Mr. Palmer use to the boat's crew, and

which they frequently imitated, to the great amusement of all

parties.

Soon after we had landed on the 7th, the old Esquimaux and one of

his younger companions paddled over from the main land, and joined

us upon the island. They brought with them, as before, some pieces

of whalebone and sealskin dresses, which were soon disposed of,

great care being taken by them not to produce more than one

article at a time; returning to their canoes, which were at a

little distance from our boat, after the purchase of each of their

commodities, till their little stock was exhausted. Considering it

desirable to keep up among them the ideas of fair and honest

exchange, which they already seemed to possess in no ordinary

degree, I did not permit them to receive anything as presents till

all their commodities had been regularly bought. While we were

waiting to obtain the sun's meridian altitude, they amused

themselves in the most good-natured and cheerful manner with the

boat's crew; and Lieutenant Hoppner, who, with Mr. Beverly, had

joined us in the Griper's boat, took this opportunity of making a

drawing of the young man. It required, however, some show of

authority, as well as some occasional rewards, to keep him quietly

seated on the rock for a time sufficient for this purpose; the

inclination they have to jump about, when much pleased, rendering

it a penalty of no trifling nature for them to sit still for half

an hour together. To show their disposition to do us what little

service was in their power, he afterward employed himself in

sharpening the seamen's knives, which he did with great expertness

on any flat smooth stone, returning each, as soon as finished, to

its proper owner, and then making signs for another, which he

sharpened and returned in the same way, without any attempt, and

apparently without the smallest desire, to detain it. The old man

was extremely inquisitive, and directed his attention to those

things which appeared useful rather than to those which were

merely amusing. An instance of this occurred on my ordering a tin

canister of preserved meat to be opened for the boats' crews'

dinner. The old man was sitting on the rock, attentively watching

the operation, which was performed with an axe struck by a mallet,

when one of the men came up to us with a looking-glass. I held it

up to each of the Esquimaux, who had also seen one on the

preceding evening, and then gave it into each of their hands

successively. The younger one was quite in raptures, and literally

jumped for joy for nearly a quarter of an hour: but the old man,

having had one smile at his own queer face, immediately resumed

his former gravity, and, returning me the glass, directed his

whole attention to the opening of the canister, and, when this was

effected, begged very hard for the mallet which had performed so

useful an office, without expressing the least wish to partake of

the meat, even when he saw us eating it with good appetites. Being

prevailed on, however, to taste a little of it, with some biscuit,

they did not seem at all to relish it, but ate a small quantity,

from an evident desire not to offend us, and then deposited the

rest safely in their canoes. They could not be persuaded to taste

any rum after once smelling it, even when much diluted with water.

I do not know whether it be a circumstance worthy of notice, that

when a kaleidoscope or a telescope was given them to look into,

they immediately shut one eye; and one of them used the right, and

the other the left eye.

In getting out of their canoes, as well as into them, great care

is required to preserve the balance of these frail and unsteady

coracles, and in this they generally assist each other. As we were

leaving the island, and they were about to follow us, we lay on

our oars to observe how they would manage this; and it was

gratifying to see that the young man launched the canoe of his

aged companion, and, having carefully steadied it alongside the

rock till he had safely embarked, carried his own down, and

contrived, though with some difficulty, to get into it without

assistance. They seem to take especial care, in launching their

canoes, not to rub them against the rocks, by placing one end

gently in the water, and holding the other up high, till it can be

deposited without risk of injury. As soon as we commenced rowing,

the Esquimaux began to vociferate their newly-acquired expression

of "Hurra, give way!" which they continued at intervals,

accompanied by the most good-humoured merriment, as we crossed

over to the main land. There being now a little sea, occasioned by

a weather tide, we found that our boats could easily beat their

canoes in rowing, notwithstanding their utmost endeavours to keep

up with us.

The two Esquimaux tents which we were now going to visit were

situated just within a low point of land, forming the eastern side

of the entrance to a considerable branch of the inlet, extending

some distance to the northward. The situation is warm and

pleasant, having a southwesterly aspect, and being in every

respect well adapted for the convenient residence of these poor

people. We landed outside the point, and walked over to the tents,

sending our boats, accompanied by the two canoes, round the point

to meet us. As soon as we came in sight of the tents, every living

animal there, men, women, children, and dogs, were in motion; the

latter to the top of the hill out of our way, and the rest to meet

as with loud and continued shouting; the word _pilletay_ (give me)

being the only articulate sound we could distinguish amid the

general uproar. Besides the four men whom we had already seen,

there were four women, one of whom, being about the same age as

the old man, was probably his wife; the others were about thirty,

twenty-two, and eighteen years of age. The first two of these,

whom we supposed to be married to the two oldest of the young men,

had infants slung in a kind of bag at their backs, much in the

same way as gipsies are accustomed to carry their children. There

were also seven children, from twelve to three years of age,

besides the two infants in arms, or, rather, behind their mothers'

backs; and the woman of thirty was with child.

We began, as before, by buying whatever they had to dispose of,

giving in exchange knives, axes, brass kettles, needles, and other

useful articles, and then added such presents as might be farther

serviceable to them. From the first moment of our arrival until we

left them, or, rather, till we had nothing left to give, the

females were particularly importunate with us, and "pilletay"

resounded from the whole troop, wherever we went; they were

extremely anxious to obtain our buttons, apparently more on

account of the ornament of the crown and anchor which they

observed upon them than from any value they set upon their use;

and several of these were cut off our jackets to please their

fancy. When I first endeavoured to bargain for a sledge, the

persons I addressed gave me distinctly to understand by signs that

it was not their property, and pointed towards the woman who owned

it; though my ignorance in this respect offered a good opportunity

of defrauding me, had they been so inclined, by receiving an

equivalent for that which did not belong to them: on the owner's

coming forward, the bargain was quickly concluded. The pikes which

I gave in exchange underwent the usual ceremony of licking, and

the sledge was carried to our boat with the most perfect

understanding on both sides. In another instance, an axe was

offered by some of the Griper's gentlemen as the price of a dog,

to which the woman who owned the animal consented. To show that we

placed full confidence in them, the axe was given to her before

the dog was caught, and she immediately went away with a kind of

halter or harness of thongs, which, they use for this purpose, and

honestly brought one of the finest among them, though nothing

would have been easier than to evade the performance of the

contract. The readiness, however, with which they generally parted

with their commodities, was by no means the effect of fear, nor

did it always depend on the value of the articles offered in

exchange; for having, as I thought, concluded a bargain for a

second canoe belonging to the old woman, I desired the men to hand

it down to the boat; but I soon perceived that I had misunderstood

her, for she clung fast to the canoe, and cried most piteously

till it was set down; I then offered a larger price than before,

but she could not be induced to part with it.

The stature of these people, like that of Esquimaux in general, is

much below the usual standard. The height of the old man, who was

rather bent by age, was four feet eleven inches; and that of the

other men, from five feet four and a half to five feet six inches.

Their faces are round and plump in the younger individuals; skin

smooth; complexion not very dark, except that of the old man;

teeth very white; eyes small; nose broad, but not very flat; hair

black, straight, and glossy; and their hands and feet extremely

diminutive. The old man had a gray beard, in which the black hairs

predominated, and wore the hair rather long upon his upper lip,

which was also the case with the eldest of the three others.

The grown-up females measured from four feet ten to four feet

eleven inches. The features of the two youngest were regular;

their complexions clear, and by no means dark; their eyes small,

black, and piercing; teeth beautifully white and perfect; and,

although the form of their faces is round and chubby, and their

noses rather flat than otherwise, their countenances might,

perhaps, be considered pleasing, even according to the ideas of

beauty which habit has taught us to entertain. Their hair, which

is jet-black, hangs down long and loose about their shoulders, a

part of it on each side being carelessly platted, and sometimes

rolled up into an awkward lump, instead of being neatly tied on

the top of the head, as the Esquimaux women in most other parts

are accustomed to wear it. The youngest female had much natural

bashfulness and timidity, and we considered her to be the only

unmarried one, as she differed from the other three in not being

tattooed upon the face. Two of them had their hands tattooed also,

and the old woman had a few marks of the same kind about each

wrist. None of the men or children were thus distinguished.

The children were generally good-looking, and the eldest boy,

about twelve years of age, was a remarkably fine and even handsome

lad. They were rather scared at us at first; but kind treatment

and a few trifling presents soon removed their fears, and made

them almost as importunate as the rest.

The dress of the men consists of a sealskin jacket, with a hood,

which is occasionally drawn over the head, of which it forms the

only covering. The breeches are also generally of sealskin, and

are made to reach below the knee; and their boots, which meet the

breeches, are made of the same material. In this dress we

perceived no difference from that of the other Esquimaux, except

that the jacket, instead of having a pointed flap before and

behind, as usual, was quite straight behind, and had a sort of

scallop before in the centre. In the dress of the women there was

not so much regard to decency as in that of the men. The jacket is

of sealskin, with a short, pointed flap before, and a long one

behind, reaching almost to the ground. They had on a kind of

drawers, similar to those described by Crantz as the summer dress

of the Greenland women, and no breeches. The drawers cover the

middle part of the body, from the hips to one third down the

thigh, the rest of which is entirely naked as far as the knee. The

boots are like those of the men; and, besides these, they have a

pair of very loose leggins, as they may be called, which hang down

carelessly upon the top of the boots, suffering their thighs to be

exposed in the manner before described, but which may be intended

occasionally to fasten up, so as to complete the covering of the

whole body. The children are all remarkably well clothed; their

dress, both in male and female, being in every respect the same as

that of the men, and composed entirely of sealskin very neatly

sewed.

The tents which compose their summer habitations are principally

supported by a long pole of whalebone, fourteen feet high,

standing perpendicularly, with four or five feet of it projecting

above the skins which form the roof and sides. The length of the

tent is seventeen, and its breadth from seven to nine feet, the

narrowest part being next the door, and widening towards the inner

part, where the bed, composed of a quantity of the small shrubby

plant, the _Andromeda Tetragona_, occupies about one third of the

whole apartment. The pole of the tent is fixed where the bed

commences, and the latter is kept separate by some pieces of bone

laid across the tent from side to side. The door, which faces the

southwest, is also formed of two pieces of bone, with the upper

ends fastened together, and the skins are made to overlap in that

part of the tent, which is much lower than the inner end. The

covering is fastened to the ground by curved pieces of bone, being

generally parts of the whale; the tents were ten or fifteen yards

apart, and about the same distance from the beach.

The canoe which I purchased, and which was one of the best of the

five that we saw, is sixteen feet eleven inches in length, and its

extreme breadth two feet one inch and a half; two feet of its fore

end are out of the water when floating. It differs from the canoe

of Greenland in being somewhat lower at each end, and also in

having a higher rim or gunwale, as it may be termed, round the

circular hole where the man sits, which may make them somewhat

safer at sea. Their construction is, in other respects, much the

same; the timbers or ribs, which are five or six inches apart, as

well as the fore and aft connecting pieces, being of whalebone or

drift-wood, and the skins with which they were covered, those of

the seal and walrus. When the canoes are taken on the shore, they

are carefully placed upon two upright piles or pillars of stones,

four feet high from the ground, in order to allow the air to pass

under to dry them, and prevent their rotting. The paddle is double

and made of fir, the edges of the blade being covered with hard

bone to secure them from wearing.

The spears or darts which they use in killing seals and other sea

animals, consist, like the harpoons of our fishermen, of two

parts, a staff, and the spear itself; the former is usually of

wood, when so scarce and valuable a commodity can be obtained,

from three and a half to five feet in length, and the latter of

bone, about eighteen inches long, sometimes tipped with iron, but

more commonly ground to a blunt point at one end, while the other

fits into a socket in the staff, to which it is firmly secured by

thongs. The lines which they attach to their spears are very

neatly cut out of sealskins, and, when in a state of preparation,

are left to stretch till dry between the tents, and then made up

into coils for use. They make use of a bladder fastened to the end

of the line, in the same manner as the other Esquimaux. Besides

the spears, we purchased an instrument having a rude hook of iron

let into a piece of bone, and secured by thongs to a staff, the

hook being sharply pointed, but not barbed. While we were on the

island (to which I had applied the name of Observation Island), it

happened that a small bird flew near us, when one of the Esquimaux

made a sign of shooting it with a bow and arrow in a manner which

could not be misunderstood. It is remarkable, therefore, that we

could not find about their tents any of these weapons, except a

little one of five or six inches long, the bow being made of

whalebone and the arrow of fir, with a feather at one end and a

blunt point of bone at the other, evidently appearing to be a

child's toy, and intended, perhaps, to teach the use of it at an

early age.

The runners of the only sledge we saw were composed of the right

and left jawbones of a young whale, being nine feet nine inches

long, and one foot seven inches apart, and seven inches high from

the ground. They are connected by a number of parallel pieces,

made out of the ribs of the whale, and secured transversely with

seizings of whalebone, so as to form the bottom of the sledge, and

the back is made of two deers' horns placed in an upright

position. The lower part of the runners is shod with a harder kind

of bone, to resist the friction against the ground. The whole

vehicle is rudely executed, and, being nearly twice the weight of

the sledges we saw among the northern Esquimaux, is probably

intended for carrying heavy burdens. The dogs were not less than

fifty or sixty in number, and had nothing about them different

from those on the eastern coast of Baffin's Bay, except they do

not stand near so high as those of the latitude of 76°. They are

very shy and wild, and the natives had great difficulty in

catching them while we were by, as well as holding them in when

caught. Some of them have much more of the wolf in their

appearance than others, having very long heads and sharp noses,

with a brushy tail, almost always carried between the legs; while

the bodies of others are less lank, as well as their noses less

sharp, and they carry their tails handsomely curled over their

backs: their colour varied from quite dark to brindled. The

ravenous manner in which they devour their food is almost

incredible. Both the old and young ones, when a bird is given

them, generally swallow feathers and all; and an old dog that I

purchased, though regularly fed while on board by a person

appointed for that purpose, ate up, with great avidity, a large

piece of canvass, a cotton handkerchief, which one of the men had

just washed and laid down by his side, and a part of a check

shirt. The young dogs will at any time kill themselves by

over-eating if permitted. The children appeared to have some right

of property in the smaller puppies, or else their parents are very

indulgent to them, for several bargains of this kind were made

with them, without any objection or interference on the part of

the parents, who were standing by at the time.

Within a few stones, irregularly placed in a corner of each tent,

was a lump of oil and moss, and over each of these was suspended a

small stone vessel of an oblong shape, and broader at the top than

at the bottom, containing a large mess of seahorse flesh, with a

great quantity of thick gravy. Some ribs of this meat were by no

means bad looking; and, but for the blood mixed with the gravy,

and the dirt which accompanied the cooking, might perhaps be

palatable enough. I bargained with a woman for one of the stone

vessels, giving her a brass kettle in exchange. Before she gave it

into my possession, she emptied the meat into another vessel, and

then, with the flap of her jacket, wiped out the remains of the

gravy; thus combining with what our notions of cleanliness incline

us to consider a filthy act, an intention of decency and a desire

to oblige us, which, however inconsistent, it was pleasing to

observe. Some of their vessels are made of whalebone, in a

circular form, one piece being bent into the proper shape for the

sides, and another flat piece, of the same material, sewn to it

for a bottom, so closely as to make it perfectly water tight.

Their knives are made of the tusks of the walrus, cut or ground

sufficiently thin for the purpose, and retaining the original

curve of the tusk, so as to resemble the little swords which

children have as toys in England. As they do not appear to have

any instrument like a saw, great time and labour must be required

in making one of these knives, which seem to answer most of the

purposes to which they have occasion to apply them.

From the description given to us by Mr. Williamson, we found that

these were the same persons who had been seen by the Lee's people;

but we had several proofs of their having had some previous

communication, directly or indirectly, with the civilized world;

such as some light-blue beads, strung by themselves on thin

leathern threads; and an instrument for chopping, very much

resembling a cooper's adze, which had evidently been secured to a

handle of bone for some time past, and of which the iron was part

of an old file.

The short time we were among them, as well as the want of an

interpreter, prevented our obtaining much of the information,

which would have been interesting, respecting the language,

manners, and number of this tribe of Esquimaux. They call the bear

_nennook_, the deer _tooktook_, and the hare _ookalik_, being

nearly the same words as those used on the eastern coast of

Baffin's Bay. As it was considered a matter of some interest to

ascertain whether they were acquainted with the musk-ox, a drawing

of that animal was put before the men who were on board. The small

size of it seemed, at first sight, to confound them; but, as soon

as the real head and horns were produced, they immediately

recognised them, and eagerly repeated the word _oomingmack_, which

at once satisfied us that they knew the musk-ox, and that this was

the animal spoken of by the Esquimaux of Greenland, under the same

name, somewhat differently pronounced.

To judge by their appearance, and what is, perhaps, a better

criterion, the number of their children, there could be little

doubt that the means of subsistence which they possess are very

abundant; but of this we had more direct proof by the quantity of

seahorses and seals which we found concealed under stones along

the shore of the north branch, as well as on Observation Island.

Mr. Fife reported that, in sounding the north branch, he met with

their winter huts above two miles above the tents on the same

shore, and that they were partly excavated from a bank facing the

sea, and the rest built round with stones.

We saw no appearance of disease among the seventeen persons who

inhabited the tents, except that the eyes of the old couple were

rather blear, and a very young infant looked pale and sickly. The

old man had a large scar on one side of his head, which he

explained to us very clearly to be a wound he had received from a

_nennook_ (bear). Upon the whole, these people may be considered

in possession of every necessary of life, as well as of most of

the comforts and conveniences which can be enjoyed in so rude a

state of society. In the situation and circumstances in which the

Esquimaux of North Greenland are placed, there is much to excite

compassion for the low state to which human nature appears to be

there reduced; a state in few respects superior to that of the

bear or the seal which they kill for their subsistence. But, with

these, it was impossible not to experience a feeling of a more

pleasing kind: there was a respectful decency in their general

behaviour, which at once struck us as very different from that of

the other untutored Esquimaux, and in their persons there was less

of that intolerable filth by which these people are so generally

distinguished. But the superiority for which they are the most

remarkable is, the perfect honesty which characterized all their

dealings with us. During the two hours that the men were on board,

and for four or five hours that we were subsequently among them on

shore (on both which occasions the temptation to steal from us was

perhaps stronger than we can well imagine, and the opportunity of

doing so by no means wanting), not a single instance occurred, to

my knowledge, of their pilfering the most trifling article. It is

pleasing to record a fact no less singular in itself than

honourable to these simple people.

Having made the necessary observations, we went to the tents to

take leave of our new acquaintance. The old man seemed quite

fatigued with the day's exertions; but his eyes sparkled with

delight, and we thought with gratitude too, on being presented

with another brass kettle to add to the stores with which we had

already enriched him. He seemed to understand us when we shook him

by the hand; the whole group watched us in silence as we went into

the boat, and, as soon as we had rowed a few hundred yards from

the beach, quietly returned to their tents.

The wind being contrary on the 8th, we made very little progress

to the southward. The soundings continuing as regular as before,

we stood in-shore to eleven fathoms, and put the trawl overboard

for an hour or two in the afternoon, bringing up a great quantity

of sea-eggs, a few very small oysters, and some marine insects,

but nothing that could furnish us with a fresh meal.

The wind having fallen, we made little progress to the southeast

till the morning of the 12th, when a light breeze springing up

from the southwest, all sail was made to examine the state of the

ice. On approaching the floes, however, we found such a quantity

of bay-ice, the formation of which upon the surface had been

favoured by the late calm weather, that the Hecla was soon stopped

altogether; a circumstance which gave us, as usual, much trouble

in extricating ourselves from it, but not very material as

regarded our farther progress to the southward, the floes being

found to stretch quite close in to the land, leaving no passage

whatever between them. The compasses now traversed very freely,

and were made use of for the purposes of navigation in the

ordinary way.

The fog continued so thick on the 16th as to oblige us to keep the

ships fast to the floe. In the afternoon the deep-sea clamms were

sent down to the bottom with two thousand and ten fathoms of line,

which were fifty-eight minutes in running out, during which time

no perceptible check could be observed, nor even any alteration in

the velocity with which the line ran out. In hauling it in again,

however, which occupied both ships' companies above an hour and a

half, we found such a quantity of the line covered with mud as to

prove that the whole depth of water was only eight hundred and

nine fathoms, the rest of the line having continued to run out by

its own weight, after the instrument had struck the ground. I have

before had occasion to remark that, on this account, it is not

easy to ascertain the actual depth of the sea in the usual manner

when it exceeds five or six hundred fathoms.

The ships were secured to a berg at six P.M. of the 18th, and the

wind having freshened up to a gale from the N.W.b.N., with some

swell, we were much annoyed during the night by the ice which

drifted under the lee of it, and on which the ships were

constantly striking with a heavy shock, such as no others could

have long withstood. This danger is avoided by ships lying very

close under the lee of a berg, but a much greater is thereby

incurred from the risk of the berg's upsetting; a circumstance

which is always to be apprehended in a swell, and which must be

attended with certain destruction to a ship moored very near to

it.

On the 24th and 25th we continued our progress to the southward,

but without any success in approaching, or even getting sight of,

the land; the ice being as close and compact as when we sailed

along the margin of it in July of the preceding year. Soon after

noon on the 24th we crossed the Arctic Circle, having been within

it fourteen months and three weeks.

On the morning of the 26th we again stood to the westward as much

as the ice would allow, but were soon obliged by it to keep away

to the southward, precluding every hope of making the land on that

part of the coast which it would have been most interesting to

explore. In the afternoon, after various attempts to get to the

westward, appearances became more unpromising than ever, the

packed ice extending from N.b.E. round to S.W. There were, indeed,

parts of the ice which, with constant daylight, a ship might have

entered with some probability of success; but, with twelve hours'

night, the attempt must have been attended with a degree of risk

which nothing but a very important object could justify. The wind

had now freshened up from the N.N.W., and the mercury in the

barometer fell with unusual rapidity, with every other appearance

of an approaching gale. I was therefore under the necessity of

admitting the conclusion that, under existing circumstances, the

season was now too far advanced, and the state of the ice too

unfavourable, to allow of any farther examination of the coast;

and I determined, therefore, to make the best of my way to

England. The boats were accordingly hoisted in, and the ships made

snug while in smooth water under the lee of the ice, and a course

was then shaped to the E.S.E., in order to obtain an offing before

we bore away to the southward.

On the second of October, in scudding before the wind under the

main-topsail, a heavy sea struck the Hecla on the larboard

quarter, rendering it necessary to press her forward under more

canvass, by which we lost sight of the Griper in the course of the

morning. As soon as the weather moderated, we hove-to for her;

but, as she did not make her appearance, having, as we afterward

learned, been obliged to lie-to during the height of the gale, we

continued our course out of the Straits, and did not again meet

with the Griper till our return to England.

On the afternoon of the 16th, the sea being very high and

irregular, and the ship pitching with considerable violence, the

bowsprit was carried away close to the gammoning, and the foremast

and main-topmast immediately followed it over the side. The wreck

was quickly cleared; and, by the greatest activity and energy on

the part of the officers and men, the mainyard and mainmast were

saved, the latter having been endangered by the foremast falling

across the stay, and the former by the wreck of the main-topmast

and top-sail-yard lying upon it. Notwithstanding the continuance

of the gale, and the uneasy motion of the ship for the next two

days, we succeeded in getting up our jury masts so as to make sail

on the evening of the 18th.

On the 29th we made Buchaness, and on the following day, the wind

having come to the southward, so as to make our progress very

slow, I landed at Peterhead, accompanied by Captain Sabine and Mr.

Hooper; having first, in compliance with their lordships'

directions, demanded from the officers, petty officers, and all

other persons on board the Hecla, the logs, journals, charts,

drawings, and other documents which the voyage had furnished, and

directed Lieutenant Beechey to proceed with all possible despatch

to Leith. Captain Sabine and myself proceeded without delay to

London, where we arrived on the morning of the 3d of November.

SECOND VOYAGE

FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A

NORTHWEST PASAGE

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.

The discoveries made by the expedition to the northwest in the

years 1819-20 being such as to afford a strong presumption in

favour of the existence of a passage from the Atlantic to the

Pacific in that direction, his majesty commanded another attempt

to be made to effect that object; and the lords commissioners of

the admiralty were pleased once more to honour me with the command

of an expedition, to be equipped at Deptford for that purpose. The

Hecla having been found well adapted to this service, a second

ship of precisely the same class was now selected, and I received

my commission for his majesty's ship the Fury, of three hundred

and seventy-seven tons burden, on the 30th of December, 1820. The

Hecla was recommissioned by Captain George Francis Lyon on the 4th

of January following.

In our official instructions I was directed to proceed, as quickly

as might be consistent with every precaution, towards or into

Hudson's Strait until the ice was met with, when the Nautilus

transport, which was directed by the navy board to be placed at my

disposal, was to be cleared of its provisions and stores. We were

then to penetrate to the westward, through Hudson's Strait, until

we reached (either in Repulse Bay, or on other part of the shores

of Hudson's Strait to the north of Wager River) some part of the

coast, which I felt convinced was a portion of the _Continent_ of

America.

If we happily reached the Pacific, we were to proceed to

Kamschatka, from thence to the Sandwich Islands or Canton, and,

having refitted the ships and refreshed the crews, to return to

England by such route as might be deemed convenient.

CHAPTER I.

Passage across the Atlantic.--Removal of Stores from the Nautilus

Transport, at the Margin of the Ice.--Departure of the Nautilus

for England.--Enter the Ice in Hudson's Strait.--Perilous

Situation of the Hecla, and Loss of her Anchor.--Meet with the

Hudson's Bay Ships.--Passage up the Strait, and Communication with

the Natives inhabiting the Northern Shores.--Pass the Trinity

Islands of Fox.--Arrival off Southampton Island, where the

Researches of the Expedition commence.

The FURY, HECLA, and NAUTILUS transport were completed for sea

towards the latter part of the month of April, and on the 29th, at

ten A.M., the Fury was taken in tow by the Eclipse steamboat,

which vessel had before taken us down the river on a similar

occasion. The Hecla reached the moorings on the following day, and

the Nautilus on the first of May.

Nothing of consequence happened during our passage across the

Atlantic; but, after entering Davis's Straits, we had for several

days variable and unsettled weather, the wind blowing principally

from the southward, with a heavy swell from the same quarter. On

the 14th we met with the first iceberg, being in lat. 60° 48',

long. 53° 13'.

Having now reached the situation in which I was directed, by my

instructions, to clear the Nautilus of our stores, I gave

Lieutenant Scrymgour his instructions to return to England; and at

one A.M. on the 1st of July he parted company, while the Fury and

Hecla stood in towards the ice. A whaler, deeply laden, and

apparently homeward bound, was at this time in sight to the

eastward.

At seven P.M., Tuesday, 3d July, the ice opposed our farther

progress to the westward, covering the whole sea as far as the eye

could reach in that direction; the ships were therefore, of

necessity, hove to, in order to await some change in our favour.

The ice here consisted principally of large though loose masses of

broken floes, none covering more than a quarter of an acre, and

few so much, but having many high hummocks, and drawing a great

deal of water. We counted also above thirty bergs in sight at one

time, and observed that many of them were carried about by the

tides with great rapidity.

The wind shifted to the southeastward in the night of the 5th,

with a strong breeze and heavy rain; and, on the following

morning, when the ebb-tide opened the ice a little, a considerable

swell was admitted from the sea, causing the ships to strike

violently and almost constantly on the masses of ice alongside of

them. In this situation they continued for several hours so

completely beset as to render it impossible to extricate them, and

drifting about at random with the tides. The Hecla was, by a

different set of the stream, separated five or six miles from the

Fury, while both ships were equally hampered.

On the 13th, both ships' companies were exercised in firing at a

target on the ice, as well for the purpose of giving them

occupation as of finding out who were the best shots. On the same

afternoon we saw two ships beset to the northward, which we

supposed to be those bound to the Hudson's Bay factories. They

were joined the next day by a third ship, which afterward proved

to be, as we conjectured, the Lord Wellington, having on board

settlers for the Red River.

The ice being rather less close on the morning of the 16th, we

made sail to the westward at 7.45 A.M., and continued "boring" in

that situation the whole day, which enabled us to join the three

strange ships. They proved to be, as we had supposed, the Prince

of Wales, Eddystone, and Lord Wellington, bound to Hudson's Bay. I

sent a boat to the former to request Mr. Davidson, the master, to

come on board, which he immediately did. From him we learned that

the Lord Wellington having on board one hundred and sixty settlers

for the Red River, principally foreigners, of both sexes and every

age, had now been twenty days among the ice, and had been drifted

about in various directions at no small risk to the ship. By the

Prince of Wales we sent our last letters for our friends in

England.

Proceeding slowly to the westward, we had reached at noon on the

21st the lat. of 61° 50' 13", long., by chronometers, 67° 07' 35".

In this situation several islands were in sight to the northward

and westward, and, among the rest, a remarkable one called

Saddle-back on account of its shape. The wind backing to the

westward in the afternoon, we anchored the ships to the largest

floe-piece we could find, there not being room to beat to the

windward. While thus employed we heard voices in-shore, which we

soon knew to be those of some Esquimaux coming off to us. Shortly

after, several canoes made their appearance, and seventeen of

these people came alongside the Fury. Having hauled their _kayaks_

(canoes) upon the floe, they began to barter their commodities,

consisting of seal and whale blubber, whalebone, spears, lines,

and the skins of the seal, bear, fox, deer, and dog. Our first

endeavour was to procure as much oil as possible, of which, as we

had been informed by the Hudson's Bay ships, several tons are thus

almost annually obtained from these people. We soon found that

they had been well accustomed to bargain-making, for it was with

some difficulty that we could prevail on them to sell the oil for

anything of reasonable value. They frequently gave us to

understand that they wanted saws and harpoons in exchange for it,

and as these were articles which we could not spare, it was not

without trouble that we obtained, in the course of the evening,

two barrels of blubber in exchange for several knives, large

nails, and pieces of iron hoop, which was certainly a dear bargain

on our side. If they saw more than one of these at a time, they

would try hard to get the whole for the commodity they were

offering, though, when we had for some time persisted in refusing,

they would not only accept what was offered, but jump for joy at

having obtained it. They always licked the articles given them,

and in one instance only did we notice any inclination to break

the contract after this process had been gone through.

Shortly after these men had arrived, a large _oomiak_, or woman's

boat, made its appearance, containing six or seven females and

four men, the oldest of the latter, as is usual among them,

steering the boat with a rude oar of wood. The women could not be

induced to land upon the floe, but held up skins and small narrow

strips of well-tanned leather to exchange, loudly vociferating

_pilletay_ (give me) the whole time. There were in this boat

several skins of oil and blubber, which I tried hard to purchase,

but nothing could induce the old man to part with more than one

skin of it; for what reason I could not tell, except that he

hoped, by perseverance, to obtain a higher price. On my desiring

our men to hand out a second skin of oil, as an equivalent for

which I put into the old man's hand a second knife, he resisted

most vehemently, pushing our men aside in the boat with a violence

I have never seen the Esquimaux use on any other occasion. One of

the younger men then came forward, and was lifting up the stretcher

of their boat to strike our people, who were good-humouredly

laughing at the old man's violence, when I thought it high time to

interpose, and, raising a boat-hook over the head of the Esquimaux,

as if about to strike them, soon brought them into a cooler mood;

after which, to prevent farther altercation, I ordered our people

out of the boat. We had by this time succeeded in purchasing all

the oil brought by the first canoes; and as the old fellow, who was

commanding officer of the _oomiak_, obstinately persisted in his

refusal to sell his, I ordered him away, when he immediately rowed

to the Hecla, and, as I was afterward informed by Captain Lyon,

sold his oil for less than he might have obtained at first. Four

other _oomiaks_ afterward came from the shore, from which we were

distant five or six miles. Each of these contained from fourteen to

twenty-six persons, the majority being females and young children.

Upon the whole, not less than one hundred of the natives visited

the ships in the course of the evening.

These people possessed in an eminent degree the disposition to

steal all they could lay their hands on, which has almost

universally been imputed to every tribe of Esquimaux hitherto

visited by Europeans. They tried more than once the art of picking

our pockets, and were as bold and unembarrassed as ever

immediately after detection. It is impossible to describe the

horribly disgusting manner in which they sat down, as soon as they

felt hungry, to eat their raw blubber, and to suck the oil

remaining on the skins we had just emptied, the very smell of

which, as well as the appearance, was to us almost insufferable.

The disgust which our seaman could not help expressing at this

sight seemed to create in the Esquimaux the most malicious

amusement; and when our people turned away, literally unable to

bear the sight without being sick, they would, as a good joke

among themselves, run after them, holding out a piece of blubber

or raw seal's flesh dripping with oil and filth, as if inviting

them to partake of it. Both the men and women were guilty of still

more disgusting indecencies, which seemed to afford them amazing

diversion. A worse trait even than all these was displayed by two

women alongside the Hecla, who, in a manner too unequivocal to be

misunderstood, offered to barter their children for some article

of trifling value, beginning very deliberately to strip them of

their clothes, which they did not choose to consider as included

in the intended bargain.

Upon the whole, it was impossible for us not to receive a very

unfavourable impression of the general behaviour and moral

character of the natives of this part of Hudson's Strait, who seem

to have acquired, by an annual intercourse with our ships for

nearly a hundred years, many of the vices which unhappily attend a

first intercourse with the civilized world, without having imbibed

any of the virtues or refinements which adorn and render it happy.

Early on the morning of the 22d a number of canoes repeated their

visit to us, the Esquimaux having hauled them upon a piece of ice

to lodge for the night. In the forenoon an _oomiak_ also came from

the shore, and as no intercourse with them was permitted till

after divine service, they became very impatient to barter their

commodities, and walked on the ice alongside the ships, with a

number of trifling things in their hands, vociferating "pilletay"

to such a degree that we could hardly hear ourselves speak. Some

more oil was obtained in exchange for pieces of iron hoop, and, at

a quarter before noon, the wind coming more to the southward, and

the ice being somewhat less close than before, we cast off and

made sail up the strait.

The wind and ice combined to favour us more and more as we

proceeded, the former both in strength and direction, and the

latter by opening into loose streams, so that, for the first time

since we entered Hudson's Strait, we were now enabled to set all

the studding-sails, with some prospect of deriving advantage from

them. The Hudson's Bay ships remained at anchor some time after we

made sail, and in the course of the evening we finally lost sight

of them. From this circumstance, as well as from the unimpeded

progress we had just begun to make to the westward, it was now

only that we considered our voyage as having fairly commenced.

We continued, on the first of August, to beat to the westward,

between Nottingham Island and the North Shore, the distance

between which is about four leagues, and the latter fringed with

numerous islands. In the course of the morning, several canoes and

one _oomiak_ came off from the mainland, containing about twenty

persons, more than half of whom were women and children. They

brought a little oil, some skin dresses, and tusks of the walrus,

which they were willing to exchange for any trifle we chose to

give them. They had also a number of toys of various kinds, such

as canoes with their paddles, spears, and bows and arrows, all on

a very large scale. Many of the jackets of these people, and

particularly those of the females, were lined with the skins of

birds, having the feathers inside; and they had also in the boat

several other skins in a prepared state, taken from the throat of

the _colymbus glacialis_, which splendid bird, though we had twice

found its skin in possession of the Esquimaux, we had yet not met

with ourselves.

The expedition being now about to enter upon ground not hitherto

explored, it became necessary for me to decide upon the route it

would be most advantageous to pursue for the accomplishment of the

principal objects pointed out in my instructions.

CHAPTER II.

Review of the Geographical Information obtained by the Researches

of former Navigators on the Coast of the American Continent, in

the Neighbourhood of Wager River.--Discover and enter the Duke of

York's Bay, supposing it to be a Passage into the Sea called the

Welcome.--Leave the Duke of York's Bay, and proceed to the

Northwestward.--Passage of the Frozen Strait and Arrival in

Repulse Bay.--Continuity of Land there.--Observations on

Shore.--Remarks concerning the Geography, Tides, and Natural

History of this Part of the Continental Coast.

After the most anxious consideration, I came to the resolution of

attempting the direct passage of the Frozen Strait; though, I

confess, not without some apprehension of the risk I was

incurring, and of the serious loss of time which, in case of

failure either from the non-existence of the strait or from the

insuperable obstacles which its name implies, would thus be

inevitably occasioned to the expedition.

The accounts given by Captain Middleton of the latitude of the

western entrance of the Frozen Strait are so confused, and even

contradictory, that the present appearance of the land perplexed

me extremely in deciding whether or not we had arrived at the

opposite end of the opening to which he had given that name. That

immediately before us to the westward, though it agreed in

latitude within five or six miles with the southernmost parallel

he has assigned to it, appeared much too narrow to answer his

description of the passage we were in search of. Upon the whole,

however, I thought it most probable that this was the strait in

question; and as, at all events, the opening between Southampton

Island and the land to the northward of it, in whatever latitude

it might be found, and whether wide or narrow, was the passage

through which it was our present object to penetrate into Repulse

Bay, I decided on using our utmost exertions to push through the

narrow strait now before us.

On the morning of the 13th we observed something very like smoke

rising from about Cape Welsford, which, being confined to one

spot, was thought likely to be occasioned by the fires of natives.

Nothing could exceed the fineness of the weather about this time;

the climate was, indeed, altogether so different from that to

which we had before been accustomed in the icy seas, as to be a

matter of constant remark. The days were temperate and clear, and

the nights not cold, though a very thin plate of ice was usually

formed upon the surface of the sea in sheltered places, and in the

pools of water upon the floes. After sunset we descried land,

appearing very distant, through the middle of the strait, which we

considered to be that on the American side of the Welcome. At this

time, also, we observed some ice in the centre of the strait

heavier than that which covered the rest of the sea, and

apparently aground in shoal water, as afterward proved to be the

case.

On the 15th we were within a league of a remarkable headland on

Southampton Island, which I named CAPE BYLOT, as being probably

the westernmost land seen by that navigator in 1615. In the mean

time, the Hecla, still continuing very closely beset, had, in

spite of every exertion, drifted back with the ice several miles

to the northward and eastward, so that in the course of the

evening we lost sight of her altogether. This latter circumstance

was, however, owing in great measure to the extraordinary

refraction upon the horizon, making terrestrial objects at the

distance of six or seven miles appear flattened down or depressed,

as well as otherwise much deformed.

At six P.M., having beat up within five or six miles of the

entrance of the strait, and being anxious to sound the channel,

which appeared narrow, but without any ice in it to offer us

obstruction, I left the ship in the gig, accompanied by Mr. Ross,

for this purpose.

The part of Southampton Island on which we landed is about a

thousand feet high, and composed of gneiss. Every here and there

along the shore, between the projecting points of rocks, is a

small cove or bay, having a beach composed of small pieces of

limestone, which make the water almost as white as milk. Landing

in one of these coves, we carried the boat above high-water mark;

and making a tent of her sail, lay very comfortably during the

night. When the boat first touched the beach, we observed an

innumerable quantity of the little fish called sillocks swimming

about, several of which were killed by the boat-hooks or taken in

the hand. A great number of white whales, seals, and narwhals were

also playing about near the beach during the night. The white

whales were the most numerous; the noise these animals made

resembled a hoarse, low-toned barking more than any other to which

I can compare it; and we remarked that their colour was whiter

than any we had before seen.

As soon as it was daylight Mr. Ross and myself ascended the hill

above our sleeping-place, from whence we could perceive land

stretching round to the westward and northward, so as apparently

to leave no opening in that quarter. We were much surprised at the

low and yellowish appearance of this land, both of which

circumstances we were at a loss to reconcile with Captain

Middleton's description of the bold shore of the American

Continent, on the western side of the Welcome, about this

latitude. It was pleasing, however, to observe a large expanse of

sea, wholly unencumbered with ice, in the direction we were now

about to pursue; and we therefore hastened to the beach to

continue the survey of the strait, that no time might be lost in

taking advantage of this favourable circumstance.

After completing our observations and examination of the channel,

we reached the ship by eight A.M., the Fury having, with great

attention, been kept close off the entrance of the strait during

the night. The Hecla had at this time just hove in sight, under a

press of sail, to the eastward, having at length, with much

difficulty, succeeded in getting into clear water.

At half past nine on the 17th we got under way, and stood under

all sail to the N.N.E., where alone, as on the preceding evening,

there appeared the smallest chance of finding any outlet.

Having determined the continuity of land all round this

magnificent bay, possessing so many advantages that would render

it invaluable in a more temperate climate, the officers honoured

it with the name of the DUKE OF YORK'S BAY, in consequence of the

expedition having first entered it on the birthday of his royal

highness.

It being now evident that the inlet into which, in the course of

our endeavours to penetrate to the westward, we had unavoidably

been led, would afford us no passage in that direction, I gave

orders for weighing at the turn of tide, being determined at once

to run back through the narrow channel by which we had entered,

and to push to the northward without delay, in search of some more

favourable opening.

Our uncertainty respecting the true situation of the Frozen

Strait, together with the want of observations during the day,

left us, at this time, in doubt whether we had already penetrated

through that passage, or had still to encounter the difficulties

which the former accounts of it had led us to anticipate.

We stood up the bay towards daylight, and at seven A.M. I left the

Fury, accompanied by a large party of officers, having by signal

requested Captain Lyon to join us. We landed upon a point just to

the eastward of this bight, in which neighbourhood are several

little islands and coves, probably affording good anchorage, but

which the more immediate objects we had in view did not permit us

to examine. Upon the point we found the remains of no less than

sixty Esquimaux habitations, consisting of stones laid one over

the other in very regular circles, eight or nine feet in diameter,

besides nearly a hundred other rude, though certainly artificial

structures, some of which had been fireplaces, others storehouses,

and the rest tolerably-built walls four or five feet high, placed

two and two, and generally eight or nine feet apart, which these

people use for their canoes, as well as to keep the dogs from

gnawing them. A great many circles of stones were also seen more

inland. About three miles to the N.N.W. of our landing-place, our

people reported having seen fifteen others of the same kind, and

what they took to be a burying-ground, consisting of nine or ten

heaps of large stones, of three feet in diameter, and as many in

height. Under these were found a variety of little implements,

such as arrow or spear heads tipped with stone or iron, arrows,

small models of canoes and paddles, some rough pieces of bone and

wood, and one or two strips of asbestos, which, as Crantz informs

us, is used by the natives of Greenland for the wick of their

lamps, and for applying hot, in certain diseases, to the afflicted

part.[*] Under these articles were found smaller stones, placed as

a pavement, six or seven feet in length, which, in the part not

concealed by the larger stones, was covered with earth. Our men

had not the curiosity or inclination to dig any deeper, but a

human scull was found near the spot. Our people also reported

that, several miles inland of this, they observed stones set up as

marks, many of which we also met with in the neighbourhood of the

point. Of these marks, which occur so abundantly in every part of

the American coast that we visited, we could not then conjecture

the probable use, but we afterward learned that the Esquimaux set

them up to guide them in travelling from place to place, when a

covering of snow renders it difficult to distinguish one spot from

another. We found among the stones some seals' bones, with the

flesh still upon them, which seemed to indicate that the natives

had occupied this station during a part of the same season and

judging from the number of circles collected in this place, and

still more from our subsequent knowledge of these people, it is

probable that not less than one hundred and twenty persons had

taken up their residence here at the same time.

[Footnote: Crantz, i., 236. The Esquimaux on this part of the

coast use it only as sticks for trimming their lamps.]

The latitude observed on shore was 66° 30' 58", being the first

observation we had yet obtained so near the Arctic Circle, but far

to the southward of that given by Captain Middleton.[*] The

longitude, by chronometers, was 86° 30' 20"; the dip of the

magnetic needle, 88° 07' 28"; and the variation, 48° 32' 57"

westerly; being only a degree and a half less than that observed

by Middleton in 1742.

[Footnote: The difference amounts to about twenty miles. It is but

justice, however, to the memory of Captain Middleton to add, that

several miles of this error may have been occasioned by the

imperfection of nautical instruments in his day, combined with the

unavoidable inaccuracy of observations made by the horizon of the

sea when encumbered with much ice. On this latter account, as well

as from the extraordinary terrestrial refraction, no observation

can be here depended upon, unless made with an artificial

horizon.]

CHAPTER III.

Return to the Eastward through the Frozen Strait.--Discovery of

Hurd Channel.--Examined in a Boat.--Loss of the Fury's

Anchor.--Providential Escape of the Fury from Shipwreck.--Anchor

in Duckett Cove.--Farther Examination of the Coast by Boats and

Walking-parties.--Ships proceed through Hurd Channel.--Are drifted

by the Ice back to Southampton Island.--Unobstructed Run to the

Entrance of a large Inlet leading to the Northwestward.--Ships

made fast by Hawsers to the Rocks.--Farther Examination of the

Inlet commenced in the Boats.

Having now satisfactorily determined the non-existence of a

passage to the westward through Repulse Bay, to which point I was

particularly directed in my instructions, it now remained for me,

in compliance with my orders, to "keep along the line of this

coast to the northward, always examining every bend or inlet which

might appear likely to afford a practicable passage to the

westward." It was here, indeed, that our voyage, as regarded its

main object, may be said to have commenced, and we could not but

congratulate ourselves on having reached this point so early, and

especially at having passed, almost without impediment, the strait

to which, on nearly the same day[*] seventy-nine years before, so

forbidding a name had been applied.

[Footnote: Middleton discovered the Frozen Strait on the 20th

August 1742, according to the New Style.]

All sail was made at daylight on the 23d along the northern shore

of the Frozen Strait, which here continues about the same height

as that of Repulse Bay, and was at this time quite free from snow.

At nine A.M. the weather became squally with thick snow, which

rendered great caution necessary in running. There was something

in the appearance of this part of the coast which held out so

favourable a prospect of a direct passage to the northward, that I

determined more closely to examine it. Having beat up to the mouth

of an opening which, the nearer we approached, assumed a more and

more favourable appearance, we found that a body of ice occupied

the greater part of the channel, rendering it impracticable then

to enter it either with the ships or the boats. The only mode

left, therefore, of examining it without loss of time, was to

despatch a party equipped for travelling by land, to ascertain

enough of its extent and communications to enable me to decide as

to our farther progress. As, however, in their present situation,

I did not feel myself justified in leaving the ships, I requested

Captain Lyon to undertake this service. He was accompanied by Mr.

Bushnan and two seamen from each ship, and was furnished with a

tent, blankets, and four days' provisions.

Captain Lyon, on his return, at the end of two days, reported that

he had landed on an island, which he called BUSHNAN'S ISLAND, had

then crossed a strait, to which afterward the name of HURD'S

CHANNEL was given, and landed on a steep point called by him CAPE

MONTAGU. From hence his party proceeded to a high and remarkable

hill called BROOKS'S BLUFF: following the strait to the northward,

they passed the remains of many Esquimaux habitations; and, though

their short journey had been unsatisfactory on account of the

badness of the weather, there was still sufficient to cause the

most lively interest, and give strong hopes of the existence of

some passage to the northeast of the small inlet they had

examined.

At eight P.M., having shoaled the water from sixty to forty, and

then to thirty-two fathoms, and the weather still continuing

extremely thick, I suspected that the tide was taking us too close

to Passage Island, which was the nearest land when the fog came

on. A large space of open water was at this time not more than a

quarter of a mile distant from us in the opposite direction; but,

before the ships could be moved by warps or any other means within

our power, the tide was observed to be setting her directly

between the island and the little yellow-looking rock I have

before mentioned as lying on its eastern side. The anchors were

kept ready to drop in an instant should the ship drive into shoal

water; had we grounded, and the heavy masses of ice continued to

drive upon us, little less than the total destruction of the ship

was to be apprehended. The natural direction of the stream,

however, effected for us that which, hampered as we were, our own

exertions must have failed in accomplishing; the ship drove

through, at the distance of one hundred yards from the rock and

about one hundred and forty from Passage Island, having no less

than twelve fathoms; and soon after deepened the water to

thirty-five and forty, and then to no bottom with ninety.

After this providential escape we lay-to within the island, in

order to drift to the northward and westward of it with the flood

tide, which runs stronger here than in any other part of the

Frozen Strait. The night was fine, but extremely dark, so that

after ten o'clock we could not distinguish where the land lay, and

the compasses could not be depended on. After an ineffectual

attempt to push through the ice towards the middle of the Strait,

in order to avoid the danger of being entangled among the numerous

islands lying off this shore, we were literally obliged to let the

ship take her chance, keeping the lead going and the anchors in

readiness.

The Hecla having got clear of the ice the preceding evening, and

narrowly escaped an adventure similar to that which we had

experienced, rejoined us early in the morning, when Captain Lyon

returned to her to prepare a boat for his intended excursion. We

then stood in under all sail for the land, and at eleven A.M.

Captain Lyon left the Hecla, while the ships tacked off and on to

await his return. At nine P.M. Captain Lyon returned, acquainting

me that he had met with a small bay having no stream of tide, and

being at present clear of ice, he thought it might answer our

purpose, but he wished me to see it before the ships were taken

in.

A boat from each ship being prepared, Captain Lyon and myself left

the cove at three P.M. to proceed on the proposed examination. We

separated at Point Cheyne, Captain Lyon having pointed out to me

the broad eastern channel from which the tide appeared to come,

and which if was my intention to examine, while he directed his

attention to the smaller passage he had described as leading to

the northward. It was agreed that we should return to the ships

with as little delay as was consistent with the object we had in

view, namely, to ascertain through which of the two channels it

was expedient or practicable to bring the ships.

The breeze moderated soon after our landing, and a fine clear

night succeeded. At four in the morning Mr. Ross and myself

ascended the nearest hill, in the hope of being able to satisfy

ourselves respecting the existence of a passage for the ships in

at least one direction. I therefore directed the tents to be

struck, and everything to be in readiness for moving on our

return. On reaching the summit of the first hill, however, we

found, as is not unfrequently the case, that our view was but

little improved, and that no prospect could be obtained to the

northward without ascending the higher hill seen the preceding

evening, which we now found still several miles beyond us. While

preparing for this, I felt so much indisposed, that, being

apprehensive of laying myself up at a time when I could least

afford to do so, I determined to intrust the proposed service to

Mr. Ross, in whose zeal and ability to accomplish it I felt the

utmost confidence. Mr. Ross and his party accordingly set out for

the hill at six A.M. On his return in the evening Mr. Ross

reported that, having reached a commanding hill, he found himself

overlooking a sea of considerable extent to the eastward, and

washing the foot of the hill on which he stood. This sea appeared

to have some islands scattered about it, and was much encumbered

with ice. To the southeastward there seemed to be several openings

between islands, of which the land we stood then upon appeared to

form one, the sea sweeping round to the northward and westward, as

if to join the strait discovered by Captain Lyon. Mr. Ross

described the country over which he passed as much intersected by

lakes, some of them not less than two or three miles in length,

and having in their neighbourhood abundance of grass, moss, and

other fine feeding for the deer. The report of Mr. Ross,

accompanied by an eye-sketch made upon the spot, left no doubt of

the existence of an outlet to the eastward, and enabled me to

decide without hesitation upon attempting the passage of the

narrows with the ships, leaving our subsequent route to be

determined on according to the report of Captain Lyon.

Piles of stones and the remains of Esquimaux habitations were

everywhere to be seen, and Mr. Ross met with their marks even on

the highest hills; but none appeared of recent date. The reindeer

were here very numerous. Mr. Ross saw above fifty of them in the

course of his walk, and several others were met with near the

tents. A large one was shot by one of the men, who struck the

animal; as he lay on the ground, a blow on the head with the butt

end of his piece, and, leaving him for dead, ran towards the tents

for a knife to bleed and skin him; when the deer very composedly

got on his legs, swam across a lake, and finally escaped. A small

fawn was the only one killed. Three black whales and a few seals

were playing about near the beach.

Our people being somewhat fatigued with walking, were allowed to

rest till half past one in the morning of the 29th, when, it being

high water, the tents were struck and the boat loaded. I found

that Captain Lyon had returned on board the preceding evening,

having accomplished his object in a shorter time than was

expected.

That no time might be lost in running the ships through the

narrows, I directed three boats from each to be prepared, for the

purpose of sounding every part of this intricate, and, as yet,

unknown passage, which I named after Captain THOMAS HURD, of the

royal navy, hydrographer to the admiralty. Giving to the officer

commanding each boat a certain portion to accomplish, I reserved

for my own examination the narrowest part of the channel; and at

thirty minutes past one P.M., as soon as the flood tide began to

slacken, we left the ships and continued our work till late at

night, when, having received the reports of the officers, and made

out a plan of the channel for each ship, I directed everything to

be in readiness for weighing at the last quarter of the ebb on the

following morning. Much as I lamented this delay, at a period of

the season when every moment was precious, it will not appear to

have been unnecessary, when it is considered that the channel

through which the ships were to be carried did not in some places

exceed a mile in breadth, with half of that space encumbered with

heavy masses of ice, and with an _ebb_ tide of six knots running

through it.

At fifteen minutes past three P.M. on the 30th, a light air of

wind springing up from the eastward, we weighed, and, having

warped out by kedges till we had cleared the shoal-point of the

cove, made sail for the channel, and, with the assistance of the

boats, got the Fury into the fair set of the tide before it made

very strong to the eastward. At a quarter before seven, when in

the narrowest part, which is abreast of a bold headland on the

south shore, where the tide was now driving the ice along at the

rate of five or six knots, the wind came in a sudden gust from the

southwest, scarcely allowing us to reduce and trim our sails in

time to keep the ship off the north shore, which is not so safe as

the other. By carrying a heavy press of canvass, however, we

succeeded in forcing through the ice, but the Fury was twice

turned completely round by eddies, and her sails brought aback

against the helm; in consequence of which she gathered such fresh

sternway against several heavy floe-pieces, that I apprehended

some serious injury to the stern-post and rudder, if not to the

whole frame of the ship. The Hecla got through the narrows soon

after us; but Captain Lyon, wishing to bring away the flags and

staves set up as marks, had sent his little boat away for that

purpose during the continuance of the calm weather. When the

breeze suddenly came on she was still absent, and, being obliged

to wait for some time to pick her up, the Hecla was about dusk

separated several miles from us.

I was sorry to perceive, on the morning of the 1st of September,

that the appearance of the ice was by no means favourable to our

object of sailing to the northward, along the Sturges Bourne

Islands; but at ten A.M., the edge being rather more slack, we

made all sail, with a very light air of southerly wind, and the

weather clear, warm, and pleasant. We were at noon in lat. 66° 03'

35", and in long. 83° 33' 15", in which situation a great deal of

land was in sight to the northward, though apparently much broken

in some places. From N.E. round to S.S.E. there was still nothing

to be seen but one wide sea uninterruptedly covered with ice as

far as the eye could reach.

At forty-five minutes past one P.M. we had come to the end of the

clear water, and prepared to shorten sail, to await some

alteration in our favour. At this time the weather was so warm

that we had just exposed a thermometer to the sun to ascertain the

temperature of its rays, which could not have been less than 70°

or 80°, when a thick fog, which had for some hours been curling

over the hills of Vansittart Island, suddenly came on, creating so

immediate and extreme a change, that I do not remember to have

ever experienced a more chilling sensation. As we could no longer

see a hundred yards around us in any direction, nothing was to be

done but to make the ships fast to the largest piece of ice we

could find, which we accordingly did at two P.M., in one hundred

and fifty-eight fathoms. Just before dark the fog cleared away for

a few minutes, when, perceiving that the wind, which was now

increasing, was likely to drift us too near the islands, we took

advantage of the clear interval to run a mile farther from the

land for the night, where we again made fast to a large floe-piece

in two hundred fathoms.

The wind, drawing round to the northward and westward, on the

morning of the 2d, increased to a fresh gale, which continued to

blow during the night, notwithstanding which, I was in hopes that

the immense size of the floe to which the ships were attached

would enable us to retain our station tolerably. It was

mortifying, therefore, to find, on the morning of the 2d, that we

had drifted more than I remember ever to have done before in the

same time under any circumstances. It was remarkable, also, that

we had not been set exactly to leeward, but past Baffin Island

towards two remarkable hills on Southampton Island, from which we

were at noon not more than seven or eight leagues distant. Thus,

after a laborious investigation which occupied one month, we had,

by a concurrence of unavoidable circumstances, returned to nearly

the same spot on which we had been on the 6th of August. To

consider what might have been effected in this interval, which

included the very best part of the navigable season, had we been

previously aware of the position and extent of the American

Continent about this meridian, is in itself certainly unavailing;

but it may serve to show the value of even the smallest

geographical information in seas where not an hour must be thrown

away or unprofitably employed.

In the afternoon an attempt was made to move, for the mere sake,

it must be confessed, of moving and keeping the people on the

alert, rather than with the slightest prospect of gaining any

ground; but, by the time that we had laid out the hawsers, the

small hole of water that had appeared again closed, and we were

obliged to remain as before.