Pole._
The adventurous attempt to reach the _North Pole_, like that of the
"North-west Passage," may be considered as an enterprise peculiarly
British. Of six voyages expressly undertaken for this object, up to the
time, and inclusive of, Captain Buchan's, in 1818, there was no advance
beyond the 81st parallel. The highest latitude reached was by Captain
Phipps, in 1773, who advanced to 80° 48'. Captain Buchan's farthest was
about 80° 34'. And up to the present day we have no account which can be
fully relied upon of any ship, discovery ship or whaler, having approached
within forty geographical miles of the high northern latitude reached by my
Father in the year 1806.
The Honourable Daines Barrington, indeed, in his discussion of the question
of the "Probability of Reaching the North Pole," adduces a great variety
of instances of the advance of whalers to far higher positions of northern
latitude; but for the reasons stated in the "Account of the Arctic
Regions," (vol. i. p. 42,) I consider the authorities from which Mr.
Barrington derived his information as not satisfactory. As to the
defectiveness in authority of _mere recollections_, or even of the notes of
ordinary observers, in respect of adventures of this kind, I have a curious
example in the "Account of a Voyage to Spitzbergen," by a Greenland
Surgeon, who sailed in the Resolution professionally, on the very voyage on
which my Father made his greatest advance northward. The author, in respect
to this advance, thus states from his journal:--"May 28. Latitude by
observation 81° 50'. Sea almost clear of ice, with a great swell; weather
serene. Had our object been the making of discoveries, there was not
_apparently_ anything to have prevented us from going a good way farther to
the north; at least we did not perceive any large fields of ice in that
direction."
Now this is mainly erroneous. Instead of 81° 50', the highest latitude
_observed_ was only 81° 12' 42", and the statements as to the nature and
position of the ice, are equally diverse from what those circumstances
actually were.
* * * * *
My Father's notable enterprise in the attainment, probably, of the highest
latitude that had ever been reached by man was made in the ship Resolution,
in the voyage of 1806. Occupying, young as I was, the responsible office
of chief-mate in the ship, I have the records of the adventure preserved in
my journal in all their essential or important details.
The entrance into the ordinary fishing-stations on the western side of
Spitzbergen was, on this occasion, occupied by ice of extraordinary breadth
and compactness. We entered it on the 28th of April, in the latitude of 76°
N., and, pressing northward at every available opening, we reached the
latitude of 77° on the 7th of May. Several ships were then in sight. On the
10th, a gale setting in from the S.E., we were enabled to make considerable
progress through the encumbering ice, and soon left all our associate
whalers fairly out of sight; and from that time until the 19th of June
(after we had retraced much of our progress southward) we never saw a sail.
Up to the 13th of May, indeed, there was nothing unusual, as to the
practice of my Father, in the nature of the adventure. But on that day,
being in latitude about 78° 46', within sight of Charles Island, on the
western coast of Spitzbergen, he entered upon a new and apparently
dangerous enterprise,--the attempt to find, whilst the sea was apparently
_filled_ with ice, in this high latitude, a navigable sea still nearer the
Pole.
The ice around was singularly compact, and, to ordinary apprehension,
impenetrable. Northward of us it consisted, as far as our view extended, of
scattered masses of heavy drift-ice, closely cemented into a compact body
by recently formed _bay-ice_. To attempt a passage herein, if such were
possible, must, in any case, be a most difficult and laborious undertaking;
but if the compact body were entered, and not successfully penetrated and
passed beyond, it might involve a risk, which a considerable fleet actually
fell into, of the loss of the fishing season by a helpless besetment. There
were indications, however, which my Father's experienced eye alone
discerned,--of open water to the northward. The bright reflection of the
snow-covered ices in the sky, constituting the phenomenon of the "ice
blink," most certainly pointed out the continuous encumbering of the
navigation for a considerable way in advance; but, when elevated to the
very top of the mast, he could perceive a bluish grey streak _below_ the
ice-blink, parallel to and skirting the horizon, which he deemed a sure
indication of "clear water," _beyond_ the proximate "pack." Yet this grey
reflection, or "water-sky," might not be of any great extent? It might
arise from a transient vein of water capable of being obliterated on the
first change of wind? Were such the nature of the opening, it might prove,
even if reached, the more dangerous trap, as its position was more advanced
northward?
These considerations, of very serious import, were settled, happily, by
another sign which the watchful navigator got sight of. He discerned, for
short intervals, occasionally, a very slight motion, as he conceived, of
the water in contact with some of the large lumps of ice near the ship.
His careful scrutiny of the masses, under an anxiously watchful eye, at
length assured him that there _was_ a movement. Experience then certified
that the movement could only arise from a _swell_, and that the swell must
proceed either from the main ocean, southward, or else from some immense
interglacial lake, or what is technically called "a sea of water,"
northward. That it _did not_ come from the southern ocean, the distance to
which he had penetrated, and the unmixed brightness of the ice-blink in
each of the southern quarters, convinced him; and that it _did_ come from
the northward he was able to satisfy himself, by carefully observing the
points or places on the masses of ice where the alteration of level in the
water was the greatest; for this scrutiny sufficed to show, that the axial
position of the ice, which the motion pointed out, was in strict
parallelism with a wave coming directly from the place of the "water-sky"
to the northward.
Encouraged by these indications, he determined on leaving a position
recently attained, where the ship had some little room, and pushing, at all
risks, into the formidable body of consolidated ices still beyond him. This
arduous and adventurous purpose was commenced on the 13th of May, with a
moderate breeze (favourable to our advance) from the south-west. Little
progress was, indeed, then made; but laborious perseverance, rendered
effective by a consummate application of all the means and resources
available for our furtherance, ultimately yielded the desired, and I might
add, deserved success. During five successive days, a series of labours
were carried on of the most energetic and persevering description. The
transit through the intervening ice,--which consisted, as we have
intimated, of extensive sheets of bay-ice, with heavy lumps and masses
consolidated therein,--was urged by all the variety of aids that were known
to be applicable. These aids, beyond the available force of occasional
favourable winds, consisted in the cutting of tracks or channels with
ice-saws, where the thickness was too great to be broken, or, where
thinner, in breaking the ice under the bows by boats suspended beneath the
bowsprit, whilst their crews rolled them violently, from side to side, as
in "sallying;" in making canals, by well-laden boats being run across
extensive planes of ice, where their weight, with that of their crews,
might be sufficient to break the resisting surface; in "warping" through
encumbered channels, or amid lumps of more ponderous ices; in "towing" with
boats, or "tracking" by men on the ice, during calms, along any clear
channels of water which might have been opened out a-head; and, finally, by
_sallying the ship_, in aid of any of these resources, for widening the
space in which she floated, so as to leave her free to move, where room
might exist in advance. And here, I think it due to my Father to notice, in
regard to the sallying of the ship,--an oscillating or rolling motion
accomplished by the running of the crew, simultaneously, from side to side
across the deck,--that the application of this most important auxiliary
process was original with him, and, as far as I can remember, _now_ for the
first time employed. It is a process, I may add, which has subsequently
been adopted by fishermen and discoverers in general, as a mean which may
often be made effective when, _under all other means_ for the promotion of
progress, the wedged-up or ice-bound ship has become utterly immoveable.
The manner in which these various operations were carried on was laborious
in an extreme degree. Whilst the crew were allowed but limited and distant
periods for rest, my Father's exertions were such as, except under the
pressure of circumstances involving the alternative of life or death, I
think I never saw equalled. Not only was he always at his post directing,
instructing, stimulating his men when progress was being made or attempted,
but often looking out when the hands in general slept, or continuing his
superintending toils, watch after watch, when portions of the crew had,
alternately, their intervals of rest. In that severe service, indeed, few
men could have so persevered. An extraordinary vigour and strength of
constitution enabled him to accomplish, in labours of this kind, for which
he had so high capabilities, what most men would have broken down in
attempting.
His exertions and talents, as we have indeed anticipated, had their due
recompense in the most successful results of the enterprise. After passing
an icy barrier of extraordinary tenaceousness and compactness, as well as
of formidable extent, we reached a region, in the 80th parallel, of
incomparably greater openness than we could have anticipated,--"a sea of
water,"--to which we could see no bounds, but the ice we had passed through
on the south side, and the land to the eastward.
Under a brisk gale of wind and with fine clear weather, we were enabled
rapidly to explore through a considerable portion of its extent, the
immense interglacial sea upon which we had entered. It was found to stretch
east and west, or E.N.E. and W.S.W. more nearly, to an extraordinary
extent, and to be bounded to the northward as well as to the southward by
packed ice of undeterminable extent,--the two bodies of ice being ten to
twenty leagues apart. And within this vast opening, though not till after
the northern and southern ices had closed together and joined to the
westward, we made the principal part of our fishery.
On the 28th of May, being in latitude 80° 8', we killed our first whale;
and within the next fortnight, and near the same position, sixteen others
yielded their lives to our harpoons and lances. On the 29th of June, only
two-and-thirty days from the time of our first capture, we completed our
cargo, being "a full ship," with the produce of twenty-four whales, one
narwal, two seals, two walruses, and two bears. This cargo, by far the
largest, I believe, of the season, yielded 216 tuns of oil, and almost
eleven tons of whalebone. The fishery, in consequence of the peculiar
position of the ice, and the unusual inaccessibility of the best fishing
stations, proved generally bad. Judging from the returns in my possession,
comprising the successes of twenty-four of the Greenland whalers of that
year, I should calculate the general average at about fifty tuns of oil per
ship, or less than one-fourth of the Resolution's cargo. The united cargoes
of nine ships, out of eighteen, from one port (taking, of course, the worst
fished ships), exceeded only by a few tuns the single cargo which resulted
from the singular enterprise of my Father.
* * * * *
But we return to the grand exploration of a region which, as far as
conclusive records go, has not, before or since, ever been _navigated_.
In the first instance, after our arrival in this vast northern opening of
the ice, we proceeded to the westward, and, finding no whales, tacked, when
we had reached the longitude of about 8° W., in the parallel of 79° 30' N.
We then stretched to the northward and eastward, proceeding, generally,
near to or within sight of the northern "pack," for a distance of above 300
miles,--a direct uninterrupted progress in this high latitude quite
unparalleled. On the 23d-24th, at midnight, an altitude of the sun, below
the Pole, carefully taken with a fifteen-inch sextant by Ramsden, gave the
latitude 81° 12' 42". We continued our progress until (early the following
morning) we had reached the longitude of 19° E., when our latitude, as
estimated from the recent observation, was 81° 30' N. This was our farthest
advance northward, in which we had gained a position within about 510 miles
of the Pole! Even then, the navigation was still quite open to the E.N.E.,
(true) and from that point round to the S.E.; so open, that, as we could
certainly gather from the appearance of the sky, we could have easily
advanced many many leagues farther in the direction we had so extensively
pursued.
Our situation, at our farthest advance, was singular and solitary indeed.
No ship, no human being, it was believed, was within 300 or 350 miles of
us. Unquestionably, the crew of the Resolution now occupied the most
northern position of any individuals in the world! The sea began to freeze
and threatened our detention. We had made no progress in the fishery, nor
could we find any whales. The seamen began to be anxious, fearful, and
troublesome, so that abundant considerations urged our return to the
westward, where, as has been shown, our commercial enterprise became so
signally successful.
The accuracy of the determinations for the latitude we have stated, was
variously verified during our progress both ways. Thus, going
north-eastward, we observed, May 23d, at noon, in lat. 80° 50' 28"; at next
midnight, as we have noted, in 81° 12' 42". At the succeeding noon, after
above eight hours sailing on our return, we again observed in 81° 1' 53";
and, still running south-westerly, we sighted at 8 P.M. of the same day
Hackluyt's Headland, some forty miles still to the southward of our
position.
We have spoken of this adventure as reaching to the highest latitude ever
attained, as far as we have conclusive records, _by sailing_. Captain
Parry, in his Polar attempt of 1827, indeed, went beyond my Father's
greatest attainment a distance of seventy or eighty miles; but this advance
was wholly gained by travelling across the ice. For with all the advantage
of a later period in the summer, and the penetration of the loose ice by
boats, the _travelling_ had to be commenced on attaining the latitude of
81° 13'.
In referring to this attempt, one can hardly refrain from expressing regret
at the success of an expedition so energetically pursued being marred by
circumstances which, under better arrangements, might have been avoided.
For had the plan as originally suggested, about twelve years before this
adventure, been acted on, I have no hesitation in affirming, that _a far
greater advance_ northward, if not complete success, must have attended the
daring enterprise. It falls not, indeed, within the object of the present
Memorials to take up again a question which is discussed in detail in a
communication of mine to the "Edinburgh Philosophical Journal," and
published in the number for July 1828; but it may suffice to say, that the
opinion offered just above has now the sanction of the gallant conductor
of the enterprise himself, who, in a letter published by the late Sir John
Barrow, in his volume of "Arctic Voyages" (p. 313) states, that "he
believes it to be an object of no very difficult attainment, if set about
in a different manner." And, it may be added, a plan for that adventure is
given in the letter now quoted, substantially embodying the characteristic
points of my original scheme,[K] and, indeed, in no essential particular,
except the suggestion for spending the previous winter at Spitzbergen,
differing from it.
Under such support in the idea, from one of the best authorities amongst
those experimentally acquainted with the difficulties of the undertaking, I
am led, not only to an increased conviction of the practicability of the
enterprise, but to the entertaining of the belief, that the triumph is yet
in store for the daring and adventurous nation
"Whose _flag_ has braved a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze;"
when
"The meteor flag of England"
shall wave upon the axial point of the world at the Northern Pole!