SECTION VIII.--_Devotional Habits, at Sea and on Shore._

At this period of my Father's life, his religious views and habits had

become matter of personal notice, and observation with myself,--so as, in

certain respects, to enable me to speak of them from distinct

recollections.

He always spoke of religion with reverence, and manifested a particular

regard for the institution of the Sabbath. He was strongly attached to the

Church, and attended its public services with most reverential and

undeviating regularity. In theological views, he inclined to those of the

Rev. John Wesley, of whose character and principles he was a great admirer.

Holding the system of that eminent servant of Christ as auxiliary to the

Church,--he became much attached to it, so that, for a considerable extent

of his life, whilst by profession a churchman, he was commonly the holder

of a pew in the old Wesleyan Chapel at Whitby, and, on the Sunday evenings

(after the services of the Church had closed) was a constant attendant, not

unfrequently being accompanied by some members of his family, at the

religious services conducted there.

This feeling and habit brought him into personal intimacy with the leading

Wesleyans resident at Whitby, and into friendly intercourse with the

officiating ministers of that body--to whom he always evinced pleasure in

showing kindness and hospitality.

It was in this connection that he made the acquaintance, and obtained the

friendship, of the late talented Mr. Drew, to whose brief memoir, published

in the "Imperial Magazine," which he edited, I have been indebted for

several particulars in my Father's early life, not elsewhere to be found.

His attachment to the Wesleyans, indeed, had a further expression than that

of often joining in their devotional services, and having much friendly

intercourse with their members; for it extended to several instances of

substantial good-will in the form of liberal contributions, as well as in

loans of money in aid of their chapels.

My Father's distinctive regard for religion, and religious ordinances, was

still further indicated by several circumstances which I had the

opportunity of noticing as prevalent with him when at sea. Among these

stand prominently in my recollection, the habit of having Divine service

performed on the Lord's-day, whilst I accompanied him during his command of

the Resolution of Whitby. On these occasions, the crew, summoned by the

tolling of the ship's bell, were assembled in the cabin, where my Father

conducted the service according to the form comprised in the Liturgy of the

Church, and afterwards (for some voyages at least,) read portions, such as

he deemed suitable, from some devotional book, or latterly, with my

assistance as I advanced in years and experience, from a collection of

plain, practical, and valuable sermons, which had been presented to me,

for the purpose, by that amiable and eminent servant of Christ, the Rev. T.

Dikes of Hull.

In addition to these devotional habits, may be noted, his habitual reliance

on the guidance and protection of Divine Providence. This was variously

indicated; not only by the use of pious expressions, which he was heard to

utter when he was about adventuring on some perilous enterprise, or when he

had been enabled safely to wend his adventurous way out of imminent

dangers, but in respect to a habit, which he suggested to me, as fitting to

be copied, of commencing his sea-journal with an appropriate prayer,

supplicatory of the Divine guidance and protection, and of inserting at the

conclusion of a successful fishery, a fitting collect of thanksgiving. The

insertion of the latter, in a foregoing section, may claim the addition

here of the form, as modified out of a collect in the Liturgy, for the

former, which I find uniformly inserted in many of my own

journals:--"Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in this our intended voyage, and

make it profitable to us, particularly by disposing us towards the

attainment of Thy everlasting salvation; that, among all the changes and

chances of this mortal life, we may ever be defended by Thy most gracious

and ready help, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

The journal from which this form is quoted comprises, too, a poetic attempt

by my Father,--an acrostic on my own name,--strikingly characterised by

sentiments of devotion, humiliation, and adoration.

Another practice, which he prevalently pursued when at sea, in addition to

the religious exercises already noted, was that of devotional reading when

in bed. I refer to this particularly, not only because it was a practice

that I had constant opportunities of observing, but because of the

admirable contrivance (applicable, I think, to the condition of many

invalids,) adopted for rendering this exercise and recreation convenient

and agreeable without the labour of holding the book, or the prevalent

exposure of the hands to the cold and often freezing temperature of his

"state-room."

The contrivance consisted in an open deal frame, about eighteen inches by

twelve inside, like a light flat picture-frame when empty, which, in my

Father's case, was fixed by hinges to the bulkhead forming the inner side

of his bed, so as to be turned up, flat against the side, when not in use.

Being hung on an oblique plane, it became, when let down for reading,

parallel to the position of the reader with his head, face upward, lying on

a pillow. The distance from the face was adjusted to his own reading focus;

but could easily be altered by different loops on the string or wire, by

which the end opposite to that affixed by hinges was supported from the

planking of the deck, or ceiling, overhead.

The book designed to be used was laid, with the open pages downward, upon

the interior of the frame, where it was supported by three parallel wires,

the side wires receiving the margins of the book, and the centre wire the

middle. These wires for the adjustment of distance were made to slide, by

loops at their ends, upon two other strong wires attached longitudinally to

the interior of the frame, so that the wires could be readily adapted for a

book of any size, from a large quarto down to the smallest volume.

* * * * *

The condition of my Father's mind, in reference to this all-important

subject, I find particularly indicated in two of his letters, fortunately

preserved, which were written to me at the period embraced by the present

chapter, whilst, as a youth, I was attending the scientific lectures of the

University of Edinburgh.[L] I select, with slight verbal correction, two or

three passages:--

"It is a great pleasure to us to learn that you know the value of time

which you have so nicely divided to suit the lectures, etc.; but, at the

same time, beg leave to say, that we think you have made a mistake when you

say, 'I intend, if all's well, to go to Mr. Wood's on Sunday, as, on that

day, I have no lectures to attend.' My dear son, I know it is too much the

custom to visit and take our pleasure on the Sabbath-day, which ought to be

strictly observed, as the wise Author of all things has appointed. He has

appointed one day in seven to Himself, that we may rejoice therein and

serve Him, as he has commanded us in the Holy Scriptures, desiring us

therein to search for wisdom, (as Solomon sought, and was blessed with

riches and honour,) which your Bible, and _Sunday Lectures_, and your own

prayers offered up to God, will procure for you, and He will yield His

peace which passeth all understanding. We are very poorly off indeed if

there be no better things in store for us than those of this world, which,

compared to spiritual things, are all vanity and vexation of spirit."

After a very gratifying notice of my "steady conduct," followed by some

judicious paternal counsel and warnings, the section of the letter now

quoted thus concludes:--"Hearken to the advice of a Father, and walk in the

_laws_ of the _Lord_, which you will find the greatest comfort this life

can afford."

The other letter, after a high commendation of diligence in the acquisition

of knowledge, and the citing, for one's example, the names and enterprises

of many of the most distinguished scholars and philosophers of antiquity,

proceeds as follows:--"But after a man may (like these distinguished

examples) have studied all arts and sciences, until he be as great a

proficient as Crichton, yet, _without religion_, he will, at the latter end

of his life, have, with Sir John Mason, to exclaim,--_Seriousness is the

greatest wisdom, Temperance the best physician, and a Good Conscience the

best estate._ Therefore, my son, with all thy getting, get wisdom and

understanding, and never be ashamed to carry a pocket Bible about with you,

wherein you may find comfort in every state of life, and, at the same time,

you will feel a thirst for every useful science, which, I flatter myself,

you will not relax in pursuit of."

* * * * *

In conclusion of this sketch of my Father's views and habits, religiously

considered, I may just notice, that, although his principles sometimes

failed under special temptations, as in the case of Sabbath-day fishing,

yet the feeling of reverence for the day appointed for rest and devotion,

was seldom without some manifestation. If whales were pursued when

incidentally seen on the sacred day, they were not sought for, nor were

boats sent out on watch, as on other days, nor was ordinary work ordered or

permitted to be done. During his latter voyages, however, his practice

became more decided in this respect; for the fishery itself, pressing as,

in a worldly view, its claims might seem, was suspended during the Sabbath;

and the day was generally given to the appointed objects of the gracious

and beneficent institution.

FOOTNOTES:

[H] The proportion of profit, it may be noted, did not equal that of the

relative produce obtained from the two fisheries, in consequence of the

additional expenses of the Davis' Strait voyage, in respect of the time

absent, and of the higher premium required for insurance.

[I] Given in substance in the "Account of the Arctic Regions," vol. ii.

page 360.

[J] It will here be proper to notice, that in the foregoing description of

this adventurous capture, we have taken occasion (in the way of

illustration generally) to fill up the picture, in regard to some

particulars of well known and prevalent experience, beyond the extent of

the leading facts and outlines, or memorial records, specially before us.

[K] This plan was first communicated to the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh,

and published in the second volume of its Memoirs. It was subsequently set

forth in a revised form, in the "Account of the Arctic Regions," published

in the year 1819.

[L] From attendance on the instructive lectures and demonstrations of

several of the most eminent men of science and learning of the day, during

a considerable portion of two sessions, I feel it a matter of grateful duty

here, by the way, to say, that I obtained a larger measure of general

information and scientific knowledge than, within like period, perhaps, any

other existing instrumentality could have yielded.

CHAPTER V.

FURTHER ENTERPRISES: GENERAL RESULTS.

SECTION I.--_The Greenock Whale-fishing Company._

In the summer of 1810, whilst I was on a recreative tour in Scotland, and

visiting at the house of a merchant in Greenock, my adventures and

experience in the northern whale-fishery became a frequent topic of

conversation. This was the means of eliciting, in respect to several

gentlemen with whom I had intercourse, a strong disposition to embark in

this, to them, _new_ department of commercial enterprise. My Father, at

this very time, being on the point of retiring from the command of the

Resolution, was informed of the circumstance, which speedily led to his

forming a new and satisfactory connection with some of the first men, in

character and position, in that enterprising port.

The associates, originally, were, I believe, George Robertson and William

Forsyth (of the house of Messrs. Robertson, Forsyth, and Co.), and David

Hyde, Esquires, who, with my Father, each holding equal, or one-fourth

shares, constituted the new firm of "The Greenock Whale-fishing Company."

Of this association, my Father was appointed the managing partner, with

authority to purchase and fit out one or not exceeding two ships, for the

Greenland fishery, in which he was to have the select or principal command.

Under this arrangement my Father proceeded to London, and purchased two

ships, only one of which, however, the _John_, was ultimately appropriated

to this Arctic adventure.

The John was a Batavia-built _teak_ ship, 316 tons burden. To ships built

of this species of timber, almost indestructible in respect of ordinary

decay, my Father was very partial; and, in purchasing the John, though she

proved more expensive than was expected (having cost 12,700_l._ to sea), he

was not, as to this peculiar and important quality of her timber,

disappointed. She proved a fine ship, an admirable "sea-boat," and, except

as to capacity, which was rather too small, fully answered his

expectations.

No time was lost in entering upon this new and responsible enterprise. The

John sailed, on her first voyage, in 1811, the season next succeeding my

Father's last command of the Resolution; and the result, as to its

successfulness, well satisfied the sanguine hopes of the parties associated

in the risk. The cargo obtained was sixteen stout whales, which yielded a

produce of 200 tuns of oil.

With this commencement, the residue of the adventure of this concern amply

corresponded. During the four voyages to which the co-partnery extended,

103 whales were captured, and a produce of 837 tuns of oil, averaging 209

tuns a season, brought into port. In the last voyage of the series, that of

1814, thirty-four whales, yielding 249 tuns of oil, were taken; being, as

to quantity, the best of all my Father's adventures. The cargo of the

preceding year, however, was, on account of the very high price of oil, the

most remunerative. The gross receipts of that year, on account of a cargo

of 190 tuns of oil, and about ten tons of whalebone, amounted to the

extraordinary sum of about 11,000_l._!

The entire successes of this _fourth_ command of my Father's, as thus

exhibited, not merely equalled, it is seen, but actually exceeded any one

of his former enterprises. Though his cargoes, however, were nearly double

the general average of the fishery, there were now competitors, in this

field of enterprise, who, _within this limited and particular period_,

equalled or even outrun him in the race. The only accurate comparison which

I am here enabled to make, is with respect to the successes of the Hull

fishermen. And here I find two,--Captain Joseph Sadler, of the Gilder, and

Captain Harrison, of the Walker,--whose enterprises during these four years

were highly productive; having yielded, as to the former, something more

than the John's cargoes, and as to the latter, just about the same amount.

But in both these cases, it may be noticed, that the tonnage of the ships

was advantageously larger than that of the John.

Before proceeding with an account of the concluding enterprises of the

subject of these memorials, we have an incident to notice, which, however

trifling in itself, may, it is hoped, interest the reader, because of its

characteristic nature and somewhat amusing result.

SECTION II.--_"Cum au greim a gheibhthu."_

The capacity for receiving knowledge, and the capability of applying the

knowledge possessed, are characteristics of very different qualities of

mind. The latter of these qualities is, _per se_, incomparably the most

important and valuable. For one man, with comparatively moderate

attainments, but having a facility in applying the knowledge he has

acquired, will be a far more useful member of society, and is capable of

becoming a more distinguished character, than another of vastly superior

acquirements in learning, who does not possess the faculty of application.

Thus one, like the skilful mechanician, may be able out of small variety of

materials to construct apparatus of indefinite extent of usefulness, or,

like the expert and talented smith, may be able to construct out of one

material every species of instrument (to use a sailor's phraseology), "from

a needle to an anchor," whilst another, though possessing almost unlimited

stores of materials, may have little capacity for bringing them out and

applying them to purposes of usefulness. The former case is that of one

who is of himself a practical artist in knowledge; the latter, of one who

requires others to bring out and apply the knowledge which he has been

careful to store up.

My Father, in a truly eminent degree, possessed the first of these

characteristics of mind. Whatever knowledge he might gain he was apt in

applying, and so applying, by the powers of a vigorous intelligence, as to

make the result strikingly original.

The incident which I here record, was, indeed, of itself, rather curious

and amusing, than important or specially useful. But in it we find

developed an order of mind which, if it possess but one fact of a

particular species, will, if occasion should ever require, or admit of its

being done, turn that one fact to account.

Whilst resident for considerable intervals of time in Scotland, during his

engagement with the Greenock Whale-fishing Company, my Father had been

thrown into intercourse with some of the Gaelic speaking population of the

district. Some of their phrases had struck him as being curious and

forcible, especially in relation to the economics of worldly policy. Among

these, one phrase in particular had been fixed in his memory--"Cum au greim

a gheibhthu;" which, being interpreted in Scottish idiom, he understood to

imply, "Haud," or "Keep the grip you have got."

The occasion on which this phrase, somewhat felicitously, was brought into

use, was the following:--Returning from one of his voyages to the

Greenland seas, whilst sailing from the port of Greenock, they had

stretched, under a prevalence of south-westerly gales, to leeward of the

northern shore of the island of Mull, forming part of the county of Argyle.

The wind not availing for convenient progress on the destined course, they

took shelter in Tobermory, near the head of the Sound of Mull. This port,

as a site for commercial enterprise, was brought into consideration (undue

consideration as the trial has proved) by the "Board of Trustees for the

Encouragement of the Fisheries," a little more than half a century ago. The

place naturally attracting my Father's attention, he went on shore with

little delay. He proceeded to the inn first of all, and indicated his wish

to the landlord to have dinner provided for him before he returned to his

ship. The interval he naturally employed in examining the place and the

neighbouring scenery.

During the time whilst he remained at the inn, and was in communication

with its inmates, he observed,--when ordering his dinner, and when being

waited on as he was eating, as also, subsequently, when he asked the cost

of the entertainment he had received,--no language was spoken betwixt the

landlord and his wife (who mutually contributed to his requirements) but

the Gaelic. And on two or three occasions, especially on a discussion, as

he fancied, of the important matter of the reckoning, there seemed to be a

considerable difference of opinion betwixt the parties as _to the amount_

to be charged. Nevertheless whilst by the significant action, and

whispering tone, he gathered, or supposed he gathered, so much of the

purport of the discussion, not one word of what was said, as they had

justly inferred, could he strictly or certainly interpret.

But a trifling incident, by which his acquaintance with the maxim above

spoken of was elicited, gave a new and somewhat astounding annunciation to

his Gaelic-speaking hosts.

Some little time before his departure, being in want of some carbonate of

soda, which he occasionally took for a not unfrequent annoyance of acidity

at the stomach, a messenger, a little son of the landlord, was sent to the

apothecary, to procure what was required, he being furnished with sixpence

as payment for the same. On his return with the article it happened that

the parents of the boy, who had just finished one of their Gaelic

discussions, were both in the room, and were observant of his delivering

the carbonate, and, along with it, twopence, the amount of the change.

This, my Father declined receiving; but the boy, not thoroughly assured of

the intention, turned to his parents for directions how to act, who,

participating in his perplexity about retaining it, motioned him to return

the pence again. On his second essay to do this, he was met by the most

expressive and intelligible injunction,--"Cum au greim a gheibhthu,"--an

injunction which the lad received with not less surprise than satisfaction.

Whilst my Father, with his characteristic self-possession and coolness,

practised this little device, he was greatly amused in marking the

wonderful effects of his Gaelic maxim upon the minds and feelings of his

hosts. The mere utterance of a few words in a language supposed to be

unknown to their guest, might have sufficed, under any circumstances, to

have occasioned some surprise; but the so felicitous an application of a

national phrase in the peculiar circumstances of the case, seemed

absolutely to overwhelm them with consternation. For they naturally

inferred that their guest must be familiar with a language which he had

thus idiomatically employed, and therefore that he must have understood the

discussions, designed to be _most private_, which had been held in his

hearing. From that moment there was an obvious change of manner and conduct

towards their guest by his hosts; not that they were less respectful, but

more cautiously reserved; and it seemed not a little curious, after so much

of the native tongue had been heard, that not another word of Gaelic was

ever uttered by any of the household in my Father's hearing so long as he

remained among them.

SECTION III.--_Subsequent and concluding Enterprises._

On the retirement of my Father from the Greenock Whale-fishing Company, the

command of the John, with the advantages and perquisites enjoyed by her

original commander, was transferred to his son-in-law, Captain Thomas

Jackson. Having previously, during a period of three years, held a command

in the transport service, besides having been associated with my Father in

his voyages of 1813 and 1814, Mr. Jackson took up this somewhat novel

service with that spirit, talent, and enterprise, which, in their action

and results, were alike commendatory and successful.

My Father, meanwhile, whose spirit of enterprise, if not wearied, had

become somewhat less constraining in furtherance of fresh undertakings, was

content, for the first time during a period of above thirty years service,

to remain for a season (that of the year 1815) unemployed. But, ill at ease

in a condition of entire idleness, he undertook, for a couple of voyages,

to sail out of Whitby (without engagement of property in the adventure) in

charge of the _Mars_, a new ship of 343 tons, belonging to his old and

steady friends, Messrs. Fishburn and Brodrick. The cargoes, in this

instance obtained, did not correspond with those which had hitherto claimed

for him an unrivalled superiority. They were still characterised, when

compared with the results of the fishery in general, as superior; but

superior only to an extent of one-fourth or one-fifth beyond the common

average.

Another year of retirement from the sea-service, as a commander, succeeded

his engagement in the command of the Mars; but the time was not spent, as

before, without any professional object; my Father, in the autumn of 1817,

having purchased, solely on his own account, another teak-built ship, the

_Fame_, of 370 tons burden, originally brought into England as a prize from

the French.

The fitting out of the Fame was deferred until a period very inconveniently

late, under the idea, perhaps, of her being employed by the Government for

Arctic researches,--just at this time proposed to be renewed; and this idea

he might well be supposed to entertain, because of the knowledge of the

fact,--that it was in consequence of information communicated by myself to

the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks, that the attention of

the Council of the Royal Society and the Government had been directed to

the long dormant enterprise, and that that distinguished patron of science,

with whom we both had frequent intercourse, was very desirous that I should

be employed (having requested me to be sent for to London with this view)

in the proposed adventure.[M]

Our expectations herein, however, I need hardly add, were altogether

disappointed, and, so far as _expense_, at least, was concerned, much to

the national disadvantage, as we could have accomplished one of those

enterprises (the Polar research of 1818) at one-tenth of the cost of the

appointed expedition, and, at all events, with as much effectiveness; for,

on that unfortunate occasion, _less_ could not have been accomplished.

In consequence of the delay by this and other causes induced, it was not

without very great efforts that the Fame was got ready for the fishery of

the ensuing season, 1818. The requisite preparations however, were

completed, whilst there was yet time for the adventure, and the ship, for

the first attempt, being put under my command, sailed from Liverpool on the

2nd April. Having obtained, for the season, which was not a prosperous one,

a good cargo, we returned, August the 18th, (as had been arranged) to

Whitby.

In the following spring my Father re-assumed his habitual occupation in

command of the Fame; but the great draught of water and somewhat sharp

build of the ship, rendering the tide-harbour, to which, in this first

instance, she had resorted, both inconvenient and unsafe, her port was

again changed for Hull, to which, with but a moderate cargo, she returned.

The next voyage, that of 1820, was, for the somewhat unfavourable season, a

very successful one; that of 1821 was moderately good; that of 1822

returned only an average cargo; and the attempt of 1823 was prematurely

arrested by the unfortunate destruction of the ship by fire.

The Fame had been fitted out for this contemplated voyage with unusual care

and expense,--considerable alterations and improvements, independent of

repairs, having been made; she had proceeded northward as far as the

Orkneys, where she had taken up an anchorage for the completion of her crew

with boatmen, when the catastrophe, which summarily frustrated the

undertaking, brought my Father's Arctic adventures at the same time to a

sudden termination; for after so long a pursuance of his arduous

enterprises, and the acquisition of a handsome and ample competency, there

were much stronger motives for inducing him now to remain on shore, "for

the enjoyment of the fruits of his labours," than to stimulate to further

efforts in any new undertaking.

The summary of these two latter enterprises, it will naturally have been

anticipated, does not correspond with that of the three-and-twenty years of

all but continuous successes. For though the cargoes obtained in his six

last voyages were, on the whole, considerably above the ordinary average,

yet they by no means maintained the claim to superiority.

This change, however, in my Father's position as a fisherman, admits of a

satisfactory explanation. The circumstances on which success was now

dependent had, in some most essential particulars, changed. Superior

knowledge of the Arctic ices, and consummate skill in penetrating and

navigating the compact or tortuous interruptions to the usual retreats of

the whales, which with _him_ were so characteristic, were now no longer

available. So greatly had the whales been reduced in number, apparently,

by the enormous slaughter of their species during the last quarter of a

century; and so much scattered had the residue been by the perpetual harass

and attacks to which they had been subjected, that the positions, wherein

the _opportunity_ for making a successful voyage used to be constantly

afforded, were now almost entirely deserted. Hence the enterprise and

skill, enabling the fisherman to take the lead in penetrating the ice,

which had been wont to be eminently rewarded, had now become of little

avail. No one could calculate on the positions in which fish might be

found. In places apparently most likely, not a fish, perhaps, was to be

seen; whilst in circumstances least expected success might be met with. And

although a few active, enterprising, and clever men, were now and then

found taking a lead in respect to proportionate success, yet the fishery

altogether had become very precarious; so increasingly precarious, indeed,

that within about half-a-dozen years of this time the whale-fishery of the

Greenland seas proved so utterly unremunerative, as to be all but abandoned

as a distinct commercial enterprise. The port of Hull, for example, which

during the whole period of my Father's command of a whaler had, on an

average, sent out twenty-two ships annually to the Greenland fishery,--in

1828, only five years after he discontinued the pursuit, had only one

Greenlandman, and the year following none.

His retirement from so active and enterprising a pursuit as had engaged the

subject of these records during a period, altogether, of six-and-thirty

years of his life, was by no means an event of unmixed benefit. It was far

otherwise. For the effect of wear and tear on the constitution, whilst for

this long period subjected to circumstances of peculiar anxiety and

excitement of adventure, soon became apparent under the trial of absolute

leisure and the deprivation of ordinary stimulus. It is, indeed, a

well-ascertained characteristic of the human system, strikingly indicative

of the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, to derive temporary energy from

the very stimulus of the demands for energy. Thus strength, beyond all

previous imagination, is often yielded for special occasions, whilst the

capability of action is wonderfully maintained for the period of protracted

necessity or duty. But the trial comes when the tension of the mysterious

fabric of the human system has to be relaxed. The strength, for the

occasion, being beyond the ordinary powers of renovation, is maintained by

the nervous stimulant at the expense of a wear and tear which not only

becomes apparent on the cessation of the undue exercise, but in aggravated

proportion by reason of the natural reaction.

How far these operations in a too long continued stretch of the natural

powers might have induced the inferior state of my Father's health, during

the six years of his life succeeding the time of his retirement from the

sea, it is impossible to say; though the fact of this deterioration of

health, in the interval of leisure, was abundantly apparent.

SECTION IV.--_General Results of his entire Whale-fishing Adventures._

In conclusion of these records of my Father's Arctic enterprises,

commercially, there remain yet to be given the _general_ comparisons and

results, in which we shall again find them to be great and pre-eminent. The

materials for these comparisons, on my Father's part, are compendiously

exhibited in the following summary of his various voyages:--

TABULAR VIEW OF THE SUCCESSES OF THE LATE

W. SCORESBY, ESQ., IN HIS ADVENTURES IN

THE GREENLAND WHALE-FISHERY.

---------------------------------------------------------

| | | Cargo obtained.

No. of | | |-----------------------

Voyage. | Year.| Ship commanded. | Whales. | Tuns of Oil.

--------+------+-----------------+---------+-------------

1 | 1791 | Henrietta. | clean. | nil.

2 | 1792 | " | 18 | 112

3 | 1793 | " | 6 | 90

4 | 1794 | " | 6 | 120

5 | 1795 | " | 25 | 143

6 | 1796 | " | 9 | 112

7 | 1797 | " | 16 | 152

8 | 1798 | Dundee. | 36 | 198

9 | 1799 | " | 12 | 144

10 | 1800 | " | 3 | 45

11 | 1801 | " | 23 | 225

12 | 1802 | " | 20 | 200

13 | 1803 | Resolution. | 13 | 164

14 | 1804 | " | 33 | 188

15 | 1805 | " | 30 | 196

16 | 1806 | " | 24 | 216

17 | 1807 | " | 13 | 213

18 | 1808 | " | 27 | 210

19 | 1809 | " | 26 | 216

20 | 1810 | " | 28 | 214

21 | 1811 | John. | 16 | 200

22 | 1812 | " | 25 | 198

23 | 1813 | " | 28 | 190

24 | 1814 | " | 35 | 249

-- | 1815 | [on shore.] | -- | --

25 | 1816 | Mars. | 20 | 170

26 | 1817 | " | 6 | 82

-- | 1818 | [on shore.] | -- | --

27 | 1819 | Fame. | 10 | 120

28 | 1820 | " | 10 | 184

29 | 1821 | " | 9 | 143

30 | 1822 | " | 6 | 70

The total number of voyages in which he held the command in the fishery,

from first to last, was just thirty. The entire cargoes obtained, under

this personal guidance, comprised the produce of 533 whales,--"a greater

number," says his friend Mr. Drew, "than has fallen to the share of any

other individual in Europe,"--with that of many thousands of seals, some

hundreds of walruses, very many narwals, and probably not less than sixty

bears. The quantity of oil yielded by this produce was 4664 tuns, of

whalebone about 240 tons weight, besides the skins of the seals, bears, and

walruses taken.

From hence we derive a general average, during the thirty voyages, of

eighteen whales, yielding 155·5 tuns of oil per voyage; or, omitting the

first voyage, which, for reasons stated in Chapter II., ought fairly to be

excluded, the average would be 18·4 whales, yielding 160 tuns of oil for

each voyage.

In comparison of the general average of the British whale-fishery, this, no

doubt, stands singularly high. But not having the materials for the exact

determination of this general comparison, we may take the Hull

whale-fishery for our guidance, which, from the large number of ships

regularly engaged therein, will, it is believed, afford a fair estimate.

And this section of the fishery, we find, comprised, betwixt the years 1791

and 1822 inclusive, an average of twenty-two ships annually, the cargoes of

which, during that period, averaged 84·5 tuns of oil a voyage per ship.

Compared with this, it is seen, that my Father's yearly average was almost

double the quantity!

It is not possible, because of the lack of accounts as to several of my

Father's ships, to ascertain, except proximately, the actual value of the

produce now determined; but, from the variety of information now before me,

as to the marketable value of Greenland produce during a considerable

majority of the years corresponding with these voyages, I have been enabled

to calculate the gross proceeds of the whole thirty years adventures, in

money, at 196,591_l._, or possibly a full 200,000_l._!

The proportion of expenses due to these enterprises and results may, in

like manner, be proximately calculated. For, if the Hull fishery, with

little more than half of my Father's success, were fairly remunerative,--as

it obviously must have been to induce perseverance therein,--then, the

residue of his catch above that average may, mainly, be considered as clear

profit; for, in such estimate, we set off the _additional_ expenses

incurred where there is superior success against the actual remunerating

profits in the inferior success. On this estimate we should have the value

of, say, seventy-five tuns of oil and four tons of whalebone for the clear

profit; or, out of a gross annual produce of the value of 6600_l._, a

residue calculated to yield about 3000_l._ a voyage profit.[N]

This estimate would give the sum of 90,000_l._, or, omitting the first

voyage, 87,000_l._ for the amount of this individual skill and enterprise,

divided, in the shape of profits, among the owners embarked in the general

enterprise! On another ground of calculation, guided by the proportion of

expenses in certain known cases, the expenses were taken at two-fifths the

produce, which would reduce the profits (probably too low) to about

80,000_l._

In setting forth this result as very remarkable, it is with reference, it

should be observed, to the instrumentality and _capital_ employed. It is no

uncommon thing for a sum like this, or much greater than this, to be

realized in commercial enterprises; but, in such cases, there are generally

many instruments and a large capital employed in the business. But here,

under the one individual direction, there was but one ship employed,

involving an investment of capital of from 6000_l._ to 12,700_l._, or, on

an average, not exceeding 9000_l._, and this small investment yielding,

through a series of about thirty years, no less a sum than 3000_l._ a year,

being at the rate of 33-1/3 per cent per annum on the capital employed.

SECTION V.--_Unusual Capture of Walruses._

This incident, which belongs to the period of the Fame's voyages, is here

introduced, in conclusion of the general series of my Father's Northern

adventures, as presenting something of novelty in the modern whale-fishery.

The _walrus_ or _sea-horse_, as the whalers designate it, is one of those

extraordinary animals so prevalent in the Arctic regions, in which, like

the whale, are comprised the mixed characteristics of the inhabitants of

sea and land. The body, generally, from its extensive conformity, might be

supposed to be that of a huge seal; but the head is peculiar, approaching

the nearest, but only in rude and diminutive resemblance, to that of the

elephant, as being somewhat square-faced, with a hard and massive skull,

scarcely pervious to a musket-ball, and with two large external tusks

pointing downward. The fore paws may be compared to webbed hands; the hind

feet, in their ordinary position when at rest, form an expansive tail. The

skin, covered with short hair, is of remarkable substance, so as to produce

a strong, but rather porous leather, of about an inch in thickness. A thin

layer of fat lies beneath the skin.

As met with on the coast of Spitzbergen, this animal is found of the

length, ordinarily, of twelve to fifteen feet, and eight to ten feet in

circumference. But specimens elsewhere found on the coasts of some Arctic

countries, are represented as extending to twenty feet in length. The

Spitzbergen animal, full grown, is about the bulk of an ox; its weight, as

I have estimated it, being from fifteen to twenty-four hundredweight. But a

twenty-feet walrus could hardly weigh less than three tons.

Though the tusks, the fat, and the skins, have a fair commercial value, the

animal is never sought after as a special object of enterprise by the

whalers, except incidentally, and very few are taken. Large captures,

indeed, were occasionally made of sea-horses, in the early periods of

adventure after the discovery of Spitzbergen; but these animals have seldom

been met with by our modern whalers in any considerable number together,

and their capture, consequently, has very rarely exceeded half-a-dozen in a

voyage. No summary mode of killing them, indeed, had been prevalent or

understood by which due advantage might be taken of any extraordinary

opportunity. If met with in the water, where they might be attacked with

muskets or lances, the chance of capture was but small, as the wounded

animal would generally dive and escape. Formerly, I remember, harpoons of a

_small_ kind were provided expressly for the sea-horse; but with the whale

harpoon, now only used, the tough skin of the creature is hard to be

penetrated. If met with on shore or on ice, lances and muskets were more

available, and in such positions the principal, though scanty, captures of

modern times were wont to be made.

My Father's enterprise, therefore, in the case now referred to, was the

more remarkable, not only because of the unusual number captured, but

because of the novelty adopted in the mode of attack, by which mainly the

success was gained.

Being on the coast of Spitzbergen, in the Fame, in the summer of 1819, when

no incumbrance was met with from ice, my Father was induced to stretch into

one of the fine picturesque inlets with which this remarkable region

abounds, Magdalena Bay, where an extraordinary sight on the beach attracted

his attention. Hundreds, if not thousands, of animals, which on their near

approach proved to be sea-horses, were seen congregated on the sloping

shore, thickly huddled together, basking in the bright sunshine and genial

warmth of the sheltered position.

No one on board having ever seen anything of the kind before, all were in

a state of excitement, which soon became naturally diverted into ardour for

conflict and capture. Measures were speedily concerted by which a due

harvest might, if possible, be reaped out of this wonderfully stocked

field. Muskets, evidently, could do little, as the vast herd, on being

alarmed, would doubtless hurry into the sea, before the discharged arms

could be reloaded, and harpoons could be of no avail. Lances and

whale-knives, however, promised a better instrumentality, and especially

one kind of the latter, the _tail-knife_, which in reality proved the most

effective of all. This instrument, designed for making perforations in the

tail and fins of the captured whale, when preparing to be towed to the

ship, constitutes a portion of the furniture of every whale-boat, and

consists of a nearly three-feet straight sharp-pointed blade, with a wooden

handle of like measure. It resembles the blade of a cutlass, out of which

weapon, indeed, this kind of knife is frequently constructed.

From accounts which at different times I have received from individuals

participating in the affair, I am enabled to offer such description of the

plan and proceedings as may serve, I hope, to give a tolerably correct

notion of this curious and novel kind of exploit.

Well furnished with what appeared to be the best weapons for the attack,

the boats set out on the adventure, spreading themselves, whilst at a

distance, so as to make a simultaneous and warlike descent upon the beach.

As this animal is but imperfectly adapted for locomotion on land, and its

progress, usually, sluggish and slow, there was a chance with the

individuals which had adventured highest up the slope of doing some

considerable execution among them. Though the walrus, ordinarily, appears

singularly fearless,--it might be said, stupidly fearless,--yet the whole

herd, in this case, was soon put into a state of commotion and alarm. The

principal attack on the flanks having arrested several of the number, the

general mass began a scrambling retreat, assuming a strangely formidable,

yet otherwise grotesque appearance, whilst, in their haste, the huge

carcasses were seen, in their mutual interferences, rolling one over

another down the beach.

Two or three of the leaders of the attacking party,--the foremost among

whom was, I believe, Mr. William Jackson, afterwards a successful

commander,--perceiving the risk of the vast herd escaping before they

should have time for any considerable success in captures, boldly threw

themselves betwixt the affrighted walruses and the sea, so as, to the

extent their means of destruction might enable them, to cut off their

retreat. And now it was that the _tail-knife_ was found to be a most

admirable weapon for the occasion, its sharpness of point, and length of

blade, yielding mortal results at almost every stroke, and its length of

handle enabling its wielder to avoid the formidable tusks of the creature

whilst attacking it close to hand.

The result exceeded the most sanguine expectations of the assailants. Many

wounded ones, I believe, escaped into the sea, but a famous slaughter and

advantageous spoil rewarded the adventure. One hundred and thirty of these

animals remained as trophies of the sailors' victory, yielding, besides the

corresponding quantity of hides, a large weight of tusks and teeth, adapted

for dental purposes, and a quantity of oil, which, perhaps, we may roughly

estimate at 1500 to 2000 gallons.

FOOTNOTES:

[M] This fact having been differently reported and understood, the reader

who feels any interest in the subject may satisfy himself, I believe, of

the reality by reference to an article in the "Edinburgh Philosophical

Journal," vol. xx. 1835-6, "On some Circumstances connected with the

Original Suggestion of the Modern Arctic Expeditions."

[N] This estimate of profits, though exceeding those of the Resolution,

already given, may be still maintained, on the ground of the price of

provisions and the high rates of seamen's wages and insurance, pertaining

to a period, except as to one year, of continuous war.

CHAPTER VI.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

SECTION I.--_Superiority as an Arctic Navigator._

My Father's superiority as a fisherman, as exhibited in the foregoing

pages, had an essential relation to his talents as a seaman and a

navigator. The former, indeed, was in no inconsiderable degree a fruit of

the latter; for it was his superiority as a navigator of ice-encumbered

seas particularly, which, for a considerable series of years, enabled him

generally to obtain a position in advance of his competitors, and thus

yielded to him the best opportunities, whilst the ground was undisturbed,

for making his fishery.

Not only, indeed, was he thus unrivalled among his associates in Arctic

enterprise, but to him was due the introduction of a truly scientific

system of arrangements, which, with their masterly application in practice,

enabled him at all times, when "beating to windward" among crowded ices, or

contending under the greatest obstructions and difficulties for a passage

"to the northward," to take the lead.

The penetration of the Greenland ices, whilst in search of whales, being

very prevalently pursued by beating to windward, or by sailing "on a

wind,"--so prevalently, indeed, that, during a quarter of a century from my

Father's commencement in command, nine days out of ten, or more, were spent

in this description of navigation,--it became a matter of grand importance

to have the ship, as "to trim," "cut of the sails," ballasting, etc.,

specially prepared for sailing "close-hauled."

For this style of navigation, the arrangements prevalent in the merchant

service, at the time, were most ill adapted. When without cargo, the ships

usually went in light "ballast-trim," and had their sails cut so as to

"bag" into a deep concave on the side acted on by the wind,--conditions

most unfavourable for "holding a good wind" or "working close."

The whalers were thus universally circumstanced at my Father's

commencement. They went ordinarily ballasted, or, sometimes,

"flying-light," not only because of this being accordant with the general

practice with merchantmen, but with the view of lessening the concussions

against the ice when coming into violent contact with it. My Father, on the

contrary, adopted a totally different system. He caused such a large

quantity of the lower and second tiers of casks to be filled with water (to

which he subsequently added ballast of shingle or iron in the interstices

of the casks of the "ground tier"), that the ship became as deep as with

the third part of a cargo; his sails he had made to stand as flat, under

the force of the wind, as possible; he had his ship denuded of all useless

spars aloft, as well as of sails of little adaptation for sailing on a

wind; and, finally, the braces of the yards, and other running geer, he had

so adapted as to run free, and as light as consistent with safety.

His ship thus presenting the least possible quantity of surface to the

leeward-tending action of the wind, being so fully ballasted, and having

her sails, so far as he had the adjusting of them, adapted for standing

flat and "near the wind," he was enabled to make a progress, in "windward

sailing" among ice, which, during a long period of years, defied all

competition.

But the adaptation of the ship, it was apparent, was not all. For the ships

which he had himself prepared for sailing on this effective system,

retained their advantage but very partially when they came under other

management. The Henrietta, which for several years had taken the undisputed

lead, was, after my Father left her, beaten by the Dundee, and the Dundee,

in like manner, by the Resolution; and not by the ship, only, which he now

commanded, was his former ship beaten, but by many competitors besides. The

loss of character in the ship he had retired from, indeed, became a matter

of much observation and remark both at sea and on shore; and the

circumstance was justly enough accounted for under the quaint

expression,--"she has lost her jockey."

It was, in fact, strictly so. The succeeding commander--clever as he might

be in other respects, and successful as one, especially, of my Father's

training was--had not the superiority in seamanship with which the ship had

formerly been managed. The special adaptations, therefore, which my Father

had turned to such good account, were now only partially available. Under

considerable difficulties in the navigation, or against hard competitors in

the navigators, the once leading ship was liable to fail, and very often

did fail. The advantages provided in the adaptation of the ship were, in

such cases, lost in the management. But where the navigator, as in my

Father's case, was pre-eminently skilful, the adaptations for windward and

ice-encumbered sailing became in the highest degree efficient, and

resulted, as has been shown, in an unrivalled superiority.

A commander may sometimes become distinguished in war by successes acquired

at an unusual sacrifice of life. His resulting superiority may, in certain

cases, be dearly purchased. But there was no such counteracting element in

the pre-eminence, as an Arctic navigator, gained by my Father. His deeply

ballasted ship might have struck heavier against the ice than others, but

she rarely was _allowed_ to strike heavily. Concussions not unfrequently

fell to the lot of other ships, light enough, and free to rebound as they

might be, by which, nevertheless, bows or sides were stove in, and heavy

expenses in damages consequently incurred; but no such disasters were

encountered by him. His ship was wont to be a-head in adventure, navigating

the most difficult positions, braving most alarming threatenings of the

ices and the wind. But his ship went gallantly amid, and passed safely

through, all these dangers. He knew precisely what his ship, in

difficulties or dangers, _might_ do; and that, under his commanding

management, was done, and safely done. If, by the hundred chances which

might thwart a difficult operation,--in the perpetual movements of the ice,

the varying winds, the mistakes or defects of his helmsman, or the

unpromptness of the men in management of the yards and sails,--his intended

object or manoeuvre should happen to be defeated, he was always ready, in

his inexhaustible and well-considered resources, to save his ship from the

imminent danger which a failure or blunder, in such cases, frequently

involved. His quick apprehension of almost every possible contingency,

served at once to develop and to bring into timely operation the resources

which his fertile talent supplied; whilst his keen discernment of the

quality and measure of the various movements of detached pieces or bodies

of ice, as unequally acted upon by wind or currents, enabled him so to

anticipate any probable risks, as to be prepared, however he might be

baulked in his principal design, for some other furthering project, or, at

all events, for a safe retreat.

The reality of my Father's superiority, as a navigator, now being

described, admits, as to me it seems, of conclusive evidence in these two

remarkable facts,--that, for the long series of voyages in which he held

his first three or four commands, his ship, _in all difficulties where

talent could be availing_, always took the lead; and that, for the whole

time of his command, wherein he was wont to take the lead, equally in

danger as in advanced position, he was always enabled, under the constantly

recognised and sought-for blessing of Providence, to pursue his adventurous

object safely, or without damage of any essential consideration, to his

ship!

Within my own experience, whilst I accompanied him during nine voyages,

from a mere child to adult age, I had perpetual opportunities of discerning

his superiority over all the competitors we met with; and, during the same

experience, I had repeated occasions for noticing with proud admiration,

his wonderful skill in beating to windward amongst intricate ices, so as to

leave every ship that we found near us in succession behind. In the

morning, perhaps, at the commencement of a progress amid encumbering ices,

I have seen around the Resolution, in various positions, to windward as

well as to leeward, a considerable fleet of companion-whalers; and in the

evening of the same day, after twelve or fourteen hours efforts in getting

to windward, I have been able to see _no_ ship whatever within the limits

of vision from the level of the deck. On ascending then to the top-mast

head, where the extent of vision became vastly increased; I have generally

found the pursuing fleet, bent on the same course, to be far away from us;

some ships being left so much behind, perhaps, as to have disappeared, not

from fog, or darkness, but from mere distance to leeward!

This striking feat of skill--differing in degree of course, according to

the nature and extent of the navigable interstices of the ice, and the

force and direction of the wind, with the sailing qualities of the

competing ships likewise, as well as the seamanship of their

commanders--was, as I have intimated, repeatedly performed under my own

observation. But the like triumph of superiority was also gained, and that

on different occasions within my personal observation, when the competing

progress was being made through a compact body of ice into the northern

fishing stations, and where the penetration, in anticipation of the general

fleet, gained its due reward in an early and superior success.

The voyage of 1806, described in Chapter IV. Section VII., exhibited a

striking example of the successful application of this talent; and in that

of 1809, the same result was interestingly realized.

We had taken the ice, in the latter case, with the view of penetrating the

barrier betwixt the free northern ocean and the fishing stations in the

seventy-ninth and eightieth degree of latitude, along with a large fleet of

other whalers. For some days, whilst no material progress could be made, we

remained in varying relative positions presenting but little decided

advantage. At length, when circumstances gave room for the due exercise of

talent and perseverance, we made a progress so much beyond that of our

associates, that we gradually left them, farther and farther, behind us,

until the whole of the fleet were out of sight. We thus gained the

"northern water" considerably before the others, and, falling in with

whales in abundance, soon commenced a most encouraging fishery. By and by,

others of the fleet began to make their appearance; and I well remember the

astonishment of the captains and men of three ships which came close up to

us on the 5th of June, just as we had taken in our _fourteenth_ whale,

whilst they had only obtained six amongst them. One of these ships had been

near us, or in company with us, on the 27th of May, the day on which we

succeeded in surmounting the icy-barrier. She, however, had only made the

same passage the day before this, and had made but trifling progress in the

fishery.

As there is no portion of the navigable ocean throughout the globe, at all

comparable, as a field for the exercise of superior talent in seamanship,

with the ice-encumbered regions around the poles; so my Father's

capabilities in this beautiful practical science, had, at once, the

requisite scope for their abundant exercises, and their admirable triumphs.

No matter what the species of manoeuvre or operation might be, he was

equally superior in all. In "making fast" to the ice in gales of wind--an

operation of singular difficulty and ofttimes of no small risk,--the manner

in which he brought up his ship to the nearest possible proximity with the

place of the ice-anchor, afforded time and opportunity for getting out and

attaching the mooring hawser, and then, with progressively reduced sails,

eased the ship's action on the rope till fairly brought up, head to

wind,--was in the highest degree masterly and beautiful. Repetitions of

trial, and failure on failure, with much useless toil and re-setting of

sails, and, not unfrequently, with very hard blows against the ice, were

matters of such perpetual experience among the inferior navigators engaged

in the service, as to render the operations we have just attempted to

illustrate, the more conspicuously admirable.

SECTION II.--_Natural Science._

To my Father's _natural science_, or original, almost intuitive, perception

and application of scientific principles, I have already made repeated

allusion. But this characteristic of originality, as well as superiority of

mind, deserves, I think, more special consideration.

Having to deal with circumstances perpetually varying, and frequently

presenting features entirely new, the profession to which he had devoted

himself afforded almost the best possible opportunities for the development

and application of this quality of mind. And, in a greater or less degree,

every voyage he undertook as commander served to elicit this admirable

characteristic. Those who understood him not, very naturally ascribed many

of his novel proceedings to eccentricity, and these might be liable to run

into this very usual extreme; but, for the most part, the apparent

eccentricity was, in reality, a sound result of reflective, philosophical

consideration. I might adduce some incidents, perhaps, in which the

originality of conception was pushed into an extreme: yet I could recal,

possibly, hundreds of others in which such conceptions resulted in

proceedings at once admirable, in their fitness, and, as such, worthy of

imitation.

* * * * *

1. Take, for example, the process of _sallying_ the ice-bound ship for

relieving her of any remediable pressure, and giving free action to the

power of wind or "warps" for promoting her progress. And in this we have an

adaptation of a previously unapprehended mean and provision, always at

hand, possessing extraordinary capabilities as a mechanical force. It may

not be uninteresting to elucidate this fact.

Suppose a ship, navigating the Arctic seas, to be held firmly on the sides

by the contact of two large sheets, or numerous compacted pieces, of ice.

The ice just a-head may be less compact, or there may be a proximate

channel, available for "boring" or sailing, if the existing pressure could

be relieved so that the ship might be free to move. For the relief of this

_lateral_ pressure, no mechanical force, except the action of the wind on

the sails when coming somewhat in the direction of "the beam," had

heretofore been considered as available, or had been applied. But my

Father's device afforded a novel, as well as a powerfully available,

agency. In what degree powerful is easily estimated. The ship, in the case

referred to, we will suppose is tolerably flat-sided (like the Resolution),

and floats, ordinarily, at the depth of the greatest width. Now the power

yielded by sallying may be considered as corresponding with that obtained

by a wedge acted on by a heavy weight; the _wedge_, in this case, being the

portion of the ship's side that becomes depressed, operating by virtue of

the expansion of the ship's _width_ when heeling, and the _force_ acting on

the wedge being the weight transferred from an even distribution with an

upright position of the ship, to an accumulation of weight on one side,

inducing a heeling position. Let the extent of heeling be considered as a

"streak" of nine inches, in which case, as the opposite side will be

proportionally and equally raised, the width of the line of flotation will

be increased, altogether (in a main breadth of 26 feet), about half an

inch, or a quarter inch on either side. The depressed side, then, in its

progress under water, as far as nine inches, will have expanded a quarter

of an inch in width, and the raised side an equal quantity; and both sides

will act on the contiguous ices with the mechanical force of a wedge of

nine inches long and a quarter-inch at the thick end,--exhibiting, on the

ordinary mode of calculating the power of the wedge, a gain of power for

either side in the proportion of twice the length of the wedge,[O] or 18

inches, to a quarter inch, or as 72 to 1.

The force acting on these wedges is that of the _weight_ of the men

employed in sallying, when all are placed on one side of the deck right

over the head or back of one of the wedges. In a whaler carrying fifty men,

the weight available for this purpose, say that of forty-six or forty-eight

of the crew, may be estimated at about three tons, one half of which only

would act downward, the other half being expended in the resistance upward,

of the opposite side.

Hence the mechanical force hereby derived, as represented by these data,

would appear to be that of two wedges of a power of seventy-two to one,

each acted on by a weight of a ton and a half, that is, a force of the

weight of 108 tons acting towards the separation of the ice and ship on

each side. But only half the amount of these two forces, it will be

obvious, comes effectively into operation; for the wedges, being on

_opposite_ sides of the ship, act antagonistically, thus spending one-half

of their power against each other, in the compressing of the opposite sides

of the ship together. The force really in operation, then, serving to push

off the ice from each side, or tending to separate the compressing masses

of ice, will be equivalent to two weights of fifty-four or altogether to a

weight of 108 tons.

If there were no resistance either from the _friction_ of the ice on the

ship's sides, or from the _stability_ of the ship, the estimated mechanical

force, for the case assumed, would no doubt take effect. The resistance

from friction cannot, it is evident, be determined; but that of the ship's

stability might be easily represented. At the _commencement_ of the heeling

position, however, the resistance from this source would be but trifling.

In its actual influence, in ordinary cases, the stability might abstract,

perhaps, a quarter or a third part from the entire force exerted, but still

leaving a free action equivalent to the weight of seventy or eighty tons

towards the separation of the ices, right and left.

But the force ultimately brought into operation, after a sallying motion is

once obtained, becomes still greater and more effective,--acting now and

then, in the nature of concussion from the momentum of a portion of the

ship's weight, as thus may be illustrated:--

The weight of the crew, in the outset of the operation, being placed all on

one side of the deck, and then suddenly transferred to the other, will,

after the overcoming of the friction originally induced by the ice, cause

the ship to heel, and, on the reversing of the action (by the men running

back again across the deck) the direction of the heeling will be also

reversed. The process being carried on with a strict attention to the

adjustment of the moment of the running of the men (indicated by the word

of command, "over") to the time of change in the natural oscillations of

the ship,--these oscillations (supposing the ice to be gradually receding)

will increase to a maximum, whilst the incidental concussions of the ship's

sides against the contiguous ices will act as a "ram" on the wedge-like

expansion of the width of her two broadsides. The additional force thus

incidentally applied, it is evident, may be enormous. Hence the wonderful

effects sometimes produced by my Father's ingenious device of

sallying,--effects not less important and striking when "clawing" to

windward of masses of ice in boring, when, by the mere action of the wind

on the sails the ship may have come to a stand, as when stuck fast betwixt

equally compressing ices on both broadsides at once. The moment the

sallying is perceived, the ship realises such relief from both pressure and

friction, as to start a-head as if acted on by a magical power!

It hardly requires, perhaps, to be explained, that our investigations of

the operation of sallying in urging a path through encumbering ices, are,

strictly, only illustrative. For the action of the ship's side which we

have considered as that of a regular straight wedge is, in reality,

curvilinear, and, ordinarily, would be unusually thin at the apex, thus

giving, at the commencement of the heeling movement, a much higher degree

of mechanical power. The _extent_ of the compression on the ship's sides,

too, we could only consider in a particular case, such as one of thin ice,

or ice touching the sides to no great depth. In case of compression from

thick ice, having contact with the ship's sides to a considerable depth,

the resistance to the sallying would, of course, be much increased, and, by

consequence, the operation less effective.

It may just be added that the principle of sallying is evidently capable of

still more powerful application by aiding the _weight_ of the men, in the

first instance of movement, by auxiliary loads of guns, chains, casks, or

other heavy bodies transferred to one side of the deck; or, in a still

higher degree, by an auxiliary mechanical force derived from a "purchase"

from the ship's lowermast, or top-mast head, to an anchor fixed in a

distant part of the ice on either side. An enormous power, it is evident,

might be derived from a leverage of this kind, sufficient almost to

compress or squeeze in the very timbers of the hull.

* * * * *

2. Another example of the application of the principles of natural science,

may be adduced with respect to my Father's practice in the capture of

certain harpooned whales. In the most usual habits of the mysticetus, when

struck in the Greenland seas, it descends to a considerable depth,

generally 600 or 700 fathoms, and, after an interval of about half an hour,

or so, returns spontaneously to the surface for respiration. But sometimes,

especially when a taught strain has been held on the line, the whale

continues to press so determinately into the depths of the ocean that it

dies by a process similar to drowning. In that case the heaving up of the

capture becomes a matter of great labour and difficulty, and, because of

the liability of the harpoon to draw, or of the lines to part, of much

uncertainty as to the result. It is a matter, therefore, of much importance

to avoid the possible contingency of a harpooned whale "dying down." The

process ordinarily adopted for inducing the return of the fish to the

surface, after the downward course is suspended, is to haul on the lines as

soon as any impression can be produced, so as to stimulate to action and

urge an ascending motion. In very many cases this process is effective, but

by no means in all. For sometimes so desperate and continuous is the effort

to get down that, when necessity might urge a return to the surface for

respiration, the power to return no longer remains, and the helpless

monster dies at its utmost depression.

My Father, with his peculiar felicity of consideration and device, assumed

a measure of proceeding as _apparently_ unfitting as it was novel in its

character. When the usual processes for the obtaining of the fish's return

to the surface had failed, and no prospect remained but that it must die

where it was, he would throw off the turns of his line round the stem or

"loggerhead" of the boat, and allow an extent of fifty or a hundred fathoms

more to run freely out and sink in the water.

The meaning of the device was this:--The entangled whale had no doubt

descended deep in the water, as its ordinary mode of escaping from its

natural enemies; but the attachment and restraint of the line it could not

escape from. It was an instinct with it, therefore, as he conceived,--as in

the case of some well-known quadrupeds, which may be driven but will not be

led,--to resist the restraining force, and to struggle to distance the

point from which the restraint proceeds. The untoward effect of this

instinct, my Father supposed, might be diverted by rapidly slacking out a

large extent of the entangling line, so that it might sink _below_ the

place of the fish, and so _draw downward_; for the same instinct which had

incited it so perseveringly to dive, might naturally be expected to urge

it, under this change of circumstances, to an upward course.

The experiment on being tried proved, in different cases, successful. The

whale, stimulated to a new course by a new direction being given to the

restraining line, returned to the surface, where it was received by its

waiting assailants, and, when deprived of its life, became a prompt and

easy prize, instead of an uncertain, hard-earned object of pursuit!

* * * * *

3. Besides the cases just recited of aptness in natural science, another

occasion is before my recollection in which, during his varied adventures

in the whale-fishery, this characteristic of mind, with my Father, was

strikingly developed. A large whale had been "struck" on the borders of a

vast sheet of ice, denominated a "field," which took refuge beneath the

frozen surface, and, after suffering the deprivation of air for a period

too considerable for its capabilities of endurance, died there.

After a long interval of patient waiting, on the part of the whalers, for

the turning out of the expected capture (for the compactness of a firm

field of ice generally obliges the whale to return to the outside for the

purpose of respiration), they proceeded to haul on the line to try to

facilitate their expectation. But when as much force had been applied as

the line might safely bear, their efforts came to a stand. There was no

reactive motion indicative of life in the whale, nor any progress towards

its withdrawal, if dead.

Various repetitions of a similar effort, after slacking out a quantity of

line to give some change to the direction of the tension, ended in the same

discouraging manner; so that a doubt arose whether the harpoon were yet

attached to the line, or whether it might have got entangled on some

submerged irregularity of the ice.

My Father at length left the ship to give his personal attention to this

difficult business. His first care was to examine the line at its fullest

tension; but the exact direction was not discoverable because of the

thickness of the verge of the ice. Slacking out, therefore, a considerable

quantity of the line, he caused the boat to be backed off to a little

distance, and, whilst it was kept off as much as possible by the oars of

several boats attached, the line was hauled in, till, becoming nearly

horizontal by tension, its direction beneath the ice could be clearly

determined. By this direction he traced, by the eye, an imaginary

corresponding line on the surface of the ice-field, which, by means of

numerous irregularities and hummocks, he was enabled to do

satisfactorily,--noticing particularly a very high and conspicuous hummock

in this exact direction, and at about the distance to which the quantity of

line run out might be supposed to reach. His next step, and that a truly

scientific one, was to try to vary the line of direction, so that he might

determine, by the intersection of lines, the position of the harpoon. This

he effected by again slacking out the line, but to a much greater extent,

and then causing the position of the boat to be changed by rowing slowly in

a direction parallel to, and at some distance from, the edge of the ice,

until the new direction might make a large angle with that previously

determined. Time being allowed for the rope to subside into its position

of rest, tension was given to it, as before, and another imaginary line

traced by the eye on the ice. My Father now perceived that the point of

intersection corresponded very nearly with the position of the remarkable

hummock, almost a mile distant, before noticed, and that it must be

immediately beyond it.

Taking a whale-lance in his hand he walked over the ice to the place, and

_just beyond_ the hummock he found a thin flat surface of much younger ice.

Striking his lance repeatedly into this, he gradually effected its

perforation; when, to his no small delight and to the amazement of the men

who had followed his steps, his lance struck against a soft and elastic

substance beneath:--it was the back of the dead whale!

Aid of hands and instruments being now obtained, the thin sheet of ice was

partly cut out and the fragments removed till the attached line could be

got at. When effected, it was again slacked out of the boat, and the end

firmly secured to the slender part of the body of the fish adjoining the

tail. The two lobes of the tail were then partly cut off, so as to hang

down in the water as sustained by a slight attachment, and thus by their

gravity to help to sink the carcass whilst they no longer were calculated

to catch the irregularities of the submerged surface of the ice, as the

tail, when perfect in structure and position, had previously done. A

considerable weight, I believe, in sand-bags, was also hung upon the

"bight" of the line for helping to sink the fish clear of obstructions

above, and, finally, the line being hauled on in the boat from whence the

fish had been originally harpooned, it progressively yielded to the force

applied, and in due time the loud and cheerful huzzas of the sailors

announced the completion of the capture in its appearance outside!

SECTION III.--_Improvements and Inventions._

We have had occasion, in the course of our memorial records, to describe

several important inventions or improvements of my Father's in connection

with his professional occupations. There remain yet to be mentioned a

variety of other contributions, of a like order, to Greenland apparatus or

operations pertaining to the fishery, and also to objects of public

consideration generally.

As to whale-fishing apparatus and operations, his contributions in the form

of new contrivances and improvements were numerous, and, many of them, of

considerable importance. These, we shall not attempt to describe in any

measure of detail, but chiefly in the manner of notices.

In the stowage of his ship, for the economising of space and facilitating

the depositing of cargo, his improvements were valuable.

His _casks_ he had built on a plan adapted for the accurate filling of the

space in the "hold," comprising special deviations from the general size

and form in the introduction of large "leagers" for the midships (on the

kelson), adjusted, in length, to the exact spaces of the stantions of the

hold beams, as also of narrow, short, or irregularly formed casks for the

extremities of the hold, fore and aft.

The _deck_ on the hold beams, instead of being laid, as usual, in a

continuous series of planks, was cut up into hatches, and laid level

betwixt the beams, so as, whilst forming a flat and even platform when laid

down, to open out the hold, on the removal of the hatch-like planking,

without other incumbrance against the stowing and filling of the casks

beneath, except the naked beams and their essential fastenings.

In the suspension of the _boats_, with regard to facility in lowering or

hoisting, as well as for safety, his improvements were of great importance.

It had been the practice in whale ships' equipments, to suspend the boats,

usually seven in number, in double tiers at both _quarters_, one at the

"waist," on each side, and one over the stern. The arrangements for these

objects were at once clumsy and incommodious. In place of the huge lofty

beams across the quarter-deck, from the extremities of which were suspended

the four "quarter boats," my Father substituted compact, but lofty oak

"davits," which, with their associate "skids" (upright timbers against

which the sides of the boats press and slide), were removable when not

required. For the double tier at the quarters, he substituted an additional

length of boats over the main chains, thus constituting an even running

series of three lengths of boats, having the advantage of great facility in

being lowered or hoisted, as well as a much improved security against

accidents in the passing of hummocks of ice, or from the sea in gales of

wind, to which the _lower_ quarter-boats, on the old plan of suspension,

were frequently exposed.

In _fishing_ and other _apparatus_, my Father made various improvements. In

the harpoon, the improvement consisted mainly in the mode of keeping it in

condition for use,--_bright_ and _clean_ as well as sharp; but in the lance

he altered the form of the blade, which had usually been sharp-pointed and

only moderately hardened, for a somewhat rounded point and a better quality

of steel with greater hardness,--the advantage of which was, that if

striking against a bone, the point was not liable to be fixed by its deep

penetration, nor to be turned up or broken, as often happened, by the

collision.

Some of the "flensing" apparatus, and one or two of the instruments used in

"making-off" the blubber, he variously modified and improved, substituting

for some very clumsy contrivances employed in the latter operation, compact

and well-adapted instruments.

The _ice-drill_, a handy and very effective instrument for setting an

_ice-anchor_, was his contrivance, being a great improvement upon the old

_ice-axe_.

* * * * *

The talent for contrivance and improvement, as thus practically evinced,

was by no means limited in its exercises to subjects of a mere

professional nature. The town and harbour of Whitby, with regard to some

important modern improvements, have reaped conspicuous benefits from my

Father's suggestions.

His views on various matters of improvement in the town and harbour, with

their respective approaches, were first put forward in a pamphlet which he

published in the winter of 1816-17; and in 1826, about three years after

his retirement from the sea, the substance of the original pamphlet,

revised, extended, and illustrated by engraved plans, was again brought out

under the title of "An Essay on the Improvement of the Town and Harbour of

Whitby, with its Streets and neighbouring Highways; designed also for the

Maintenance of the labouring Classes who are out of Employment."

The improvements herein suggested, appear so far to have commended

themselves to the local executive authorities, that, in certain important

particulars, corresponding improvements have already been carried into

effect.

Of these various suggestions, the one by far the most important of all is

evidently that designed for deepening the harbour-channel, and rendering

the entrance more safe and accessible.

For a long period the harbour of Whitby had been protected, seaward, by two

principal piers,--one running from the eastern cliff about 215 yards, in a

north-westerly direction, and the other (a fine specimen of massive and

substantial architecture) running north-north-easterly, along the western

side of the harbour, and extending beyond the line of the west cliff, a

distance of about 940 feet into the sea. This longer pier, at the time my

Father wrote, stretched out a distance of about 100 yards (reckoned from

the general direction of the coast) farther than the head of the other,

leaving, however, a clear width, for the entrance of the harbour, of about

ninety-two yards.

The effect of this arrangement, as to the extension of the western pier so

far beyond the other, was, as my Father well observed, extremely injurious;

for a deep bed of sand was constantly found encumbering the entrance by the

formation of a "bar," which not only rendered the channel tortuous and

incommodious, but not unfrequently diminished the otherwise available depth

on the firmer bed of the river to an extent of several feet. And besides

this mischief to a harbour almost drying at low water,--the access, with

_scant_ winds from the westward, was rendered at once difficult and

dangerous because of the flood-tide sweeping strongly across the

harbour-mouth to the eastward, and tending, by its leeward set, to carry

the ship attempting to enter, against, or beyond, the left-hand pier, and

thus to risk her total destruction by stranding on the contiguous dangerous

scar.

For the correction of the evil and danger thus, apparently, induced, my

Father proposed the extension of the east-pier by a bend in a more

northerly direction, so that, whilst the reflux of the harbour water, and

the natural stream of the _Esk_, might, within the narrowed and extended

channel, carry out the loose sand of the bar into the sea, and thus deepen

the entrance,--the projection of the east pier might serve at once to guide

the tidal coast-stream of flood with more force into the harbour, and to

render the access more easy and safe by such a protection immediately under

the lee of any ship coming in with a scant wind from the westward.

This plan, with some little deviation, has already been carried into

effect. The pier has been lengthened in a N. by W. (westerly) direction, by

sections of fifty feet at a time, in the proposed direction; at each

section, now increased altogether to about 300 feet, the channel has been

found to be deepened and rendered less tortuous, and the entrance has

become more safe,--exactly as the projector of the improvement had

anticipated.[P]

A grand improvement, as to the change of aspect and accommodation, to the

inner harbour, was also suggested by my Father, but has not yet been

carried into effect. The improvement suggested was for the formation of

the large space, above bridge, which is filled at spring tides from the

sea, into a permanent floating-dock,--a scheme which he conceived could be

easily effected by a wall, with gates, across the harbour, at, or near, the

place of the present bridge.

The effect of such an arrangement, indeed, is not easy to be anticipated.

How far the overflow of water would suffice to keep the channel clear of

sandy deposits? or to what extent the body of debris and shale from the

mines above might, in such case, make lodgment in the bed of the inner

harbour? cannot be certainly determined. Yet as there are existing wears at

some distance from the town across the river bed, and no permanent

deposits, except in their immediate contiguity, I believe, induced, it

seems not improbable but that with a sufficient number of escape sluices in

the seaward bounding-wall, the efflux, whilst carrying off the considerable

supply of water yielded by the river, might suffice, at the same time, to

urge outward the descending debris, and keep the channel free.

* * * * *

In conclusion of these notices respecting my Father's inventions and

suggestions for improvements, it will not be out of place to add the

substance of an interesting and curious autograph document (which fell into

my hands after his decease) referring to other speculations, contemplated

evidently as practicable, though neither explained, as to principle or

process, nor attempted to be carried out.

The document, which as to its manner reminds one of the Marquis of

Worcester's "Century of Inventions," bears the date of London, 23d

December, 1824, and is aptly entitled--"Hints; or Outlines of Improvements

conceived by W. Scoresby." These outlines, of which the following are

pretty nearly literal and verbal extracts, are, in the original, thus

introduced:--

"How swift is a glimpse of the mind!

Compared with the speed of _its_ flight,

The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light!"

"During forty years occupation at sea, (the document then proceeds to set

forth,) when duty called me to watch, my mind was, at intervals, employed

about many things which might have been made useful to the public, had they

been brought forward in due time.

Amongst these conceptions may be particularised the following:--

1. An improved method of ship-building, both as to ships-of-war and

merchantmen, by adding to their strength in framing, and promoting velocity

by placing the masts and rigging, and also adding to their durability by

preventing in a great measure the attack of dry-rot.

2. Seasoning timber to prevent the dry-rot in ships, churches, and other

buildings.

3. To deepen the water on bar-harbours, and in navigable rivers, so as to

give easy access to all friends, and to shut out, when necessary, the

enemies of our highly favoured land!

4. To build _breakwaters_ in any depth, not exceeding twelve or fourteen

fathoms water, of materials that will not yield to the surge of the sea,

and, when immersed in the briny flood, will become tenacious and durable as

_terra-firma_, even as the granite rock.

5. To secure the banks of rivers, [subject to encroachments,] and to

support [endangered] buildings of any magnitude.

6. To improve low, wet, barren lands, near tide-flowing rivers, that bear

up only mire and dirt, by draining on the ebb and warping on the

flood-tide.

7. To draw off the foul and inflammable air from coal-pits and other mines

liable to explosion.

8. To lay out new streets, nearly level, over uneven ground, with vaults

under them for containing fuel, etc. for the inhabitants, and so arranged

as to admit of pipes for gas, water, etc., being laid or altered without

molesting the pavements.

9. To improve the hanging of venetian blinds in windows, [and to render

them more manageable and useful] for keeping out the sun.

10. To prepare oatmeal for the table by a new method of drying and shelling

the corn.

11. "To keep in health" by regimen.

12. To improve the making of _lasts_, so that the boot or shoe may

comfortably fit the foot of the wearer.

13. An improved method of pulling down decayed buildings in towns, in order

to rebuilding, as also of making new roads, to the honour of the British

nation, the accommodation of trade, commerce, and of the public.

14. Lastly, To beautify the Church and draw man unto it, [not by mere

outward architecture and adorning, however admirable,] but by appointing

and supporting _faithful pastors_ now when the current of prejudice is

setting in so strongly against it!"

* * * * *

Some few of my Father's original ideas, on such topics as these, were

occasionally elicited in conversation, but, unfortunately, no record was

made of them by those immediately in intercourse with him, nor were any

papers, generally expository of his views, met with among those amid which

this curious and interesting document was found.

SECTION IV.--_Miscellaneous and concluding Notices._

The originality of mind, superiority of intelligence and peculiar abilities

of the subject of these records, were characteristics yielding much variety

of illustration in the foregoing pages.

His peculiar abilities as a whale-fisher, as may have been already

inferred, were conspicuous in every department, and in every practical

operation connected with the adventurous pursuit. If he could successfully

attack, and safely subdue, a vicious and dangerous whale which was working

destruction upon others who had assailed it; so he could harpoon a whale,

under circumstances of difficulty or _distance_, when no less powerful and

expert an arm could reach it. In the primary attack, the aim of the

harponeer is to get the boat fairly on the _back_ of the whale, that he may

the more effectually bury his barbed weapon deep in its body; but, as

ofttimes happens, the whale retires from the surface before the boat can

come up to it, and must then be assailed, if the distance will permit, by

the projecting of the harpoon with an energetic _heave_. To strike the

retiring or affrighted fish in this manner, with a weapon, which, with its

immediately attached line, is of the weight of eleven or twelve pounds, is

an operation requiring both strength and skill. Comparatively few

harponeers are able to perform this important object, effectually, beyond a

distance of twenty to twenty-two feet; and the distance of four fathoms, or

twenty-four feet, requires superior expertness. This, however, was an easy

range with my Father; whilst he has been known to heave his harpoon with

precision and success even as far as twenty-six or twenty-eight feet.

His management in the urging and furthering of the general operations of

the fishery was sometimes attended with extraordinary results. Thus, on one

occasion, during his command of the John of Greenock, he captured thirteen

whales in thirty hours, and flensed five of them, comprising a produce of

about eighty tuns of oil, of the commercial value (inclusive of the

whalebone) of about 3500_l._! The ice, in this case, closing and

threatening besetment, other ships in company urgently made their escape;

my Father, judiciously weighing the risks and probable advantages,

determined to abide the issue. He did so, his ship got beset, but, as he

had anticipated, was soon released, and on the relaxation of the pressure,

just as the ice was opening, whales again appeared, and he made further

important progress in the fishery!

* * * * *

The originality of talent and tact so observable in the various records

heretofore given, became equally conspicuous, as occasions offered, in an

enlarged and general scope of application. The following case, though I do

not remember how I learnt it, is so characteristic of my Father, that I

cannot hesitate in offering it for illustration.

He had a remarkable keenness and power in the eye, which, in the case

referred to, he turned to account with a curious and surprising result.

Having occasion to visit a ship lying in a _tier_ in a dock, he

encountered, in his transit across from vessel to vessel, a fierce and

dangerous dog. Though warned against venturing to cross the deck on which

this formidable looking animal was placed as guardian, he, relying on the

power of the human eye, which he believed no animal, if its gaze were once

fixed, could bear, determined to venture on the experiment. Immediately on

the dog observing the approach of an intruder on its domain, it exhibited

the most expressive tokens of the intention to resist; and when my Father

put his leg over the bulwark of the contiguous vessel it flew fiercely

towards him. Pausing in this position, he strove to catch the eye of the

dog, an attempt which for some time it contrived to evade. But at length

succeeding so that whenever it glanced towards his face it met his steady,

stern, and penetrative gaze, an effect, in the discomposed expression of

the creature, became soon observable. Whilst thus obtaining and holding its

unwilling look, my Father moved his other leg over and slowly advanced with

one foot upon the rail of the guarded vessel,--a movement which was

resisted by fierce barking and sundry traverse-like springs, but, withal,

an obvious indisposition to attack the being whose eye was so over-awing.

Another step forward renewed the display of noise and action, but the

stern, fixed look, now perpetually watched, repelled the assailant. He next

stood firm on the forbidden deck, and yet was free from attack; he advanced

a step, and the dog still bounding from side to side, or forward and

backward in front, came no nearer. Another and another step was

deliberately, but determinately pushed forward, whilst the dog, repelled by

the immovable gaze, yielded the ground. The result, as I have understood,

was, that when the dog had been driven entirely across the deck where there

happened to be no defence as bulwark, betwixt the rail and the ship's side,

my Father sprung a step or two suddenly forward, as if designing, in turn,

to become the assailant, when the panic-stricken brute, as suddenly

backing, unconsciously passed beneath the railing and fell overboard!

* * * * *

As it has not been our plan in these memorial records to give a regular and

general biography, few circumstances in respect to habits on shore,

domestic relations, and private life, have been introduced. We may here,

however, supply some incidental matters in brief notices.

His habits of life were, in respect to matters of self-indulgence,

generally moderate and temperate. At sea, his favourite beverage was tea;

and though not connected with any Temperance Society, nor practising total

abstinence from stimulating drinks, he was a great tea-drinker. On

occasions of long exposure at the mast-head, or after irritation of the

throat by much exertion with the speaking-trumpet in giving directions to

the men at a distance, when on ice or in boats, he was wont to take what

was called an "egg-dram," consisting of a raw egg beat up with a spoonful

or two of ardent spirits. This was not unfrequently carried up to him by

the steward, and taken in the crow's-nest; but he almost regularly, except

at the dinner hour, resorted to tea on each succeeding occasion when

refreshment was needed. Under hard and prolonged engagements in fishing, or

penetrating the ice, when from twelve to eighteen hours (with but very

brief intervals below) might be spent aloft, his call to the steward, as

he anticipated a few minutes of respite, was often heard to prepare tea.

And "tea," "tea," some four or five or even six times, betwixt rising from

and retiring to his bed, has been the chief orders for refreshment in his

hard and protracted exertions.

* * * * *

In character, my Father was patriotic, benevolent, and philanthropic; in

temper, quick and passionate, but soon composed, and singularly free from

animosity against those with whom he had been at variance, and _most

forgiving_ to those who had injured him.

He was an enthusiastic admirer of the British Constitution, in Church and

State; an ardent loyalist, and a sincere respecter of magisterial

authority. He loved his country, and made neither few nor unexpensive

efforts for the public benefit. On the last renewal of the Whitby Pier Act,

when difficulty and opposition were expected, he spent a considerable sum

in the engaging of professional assistance with the view to the renewal and

improvement of an Act so important to Whitby and the coasting navigation.

His course through life, though of almost uninterrupted prosperity, was not

of unmixed quietude. Jealousies and envyings on the part of some;

opposition, arising from misconceptions as to what they could not

understand, prevailed with others. But with those amongst whom he was cast,

of superior intelligence, he not unfrequently made his way satisfactorily

and agreeably. His personal superior intelligence and originality of

conception commended him to the favourable consideration of many of our

most eminent engineers and naval architects, and others professionally

engaged in public works. He was well known to the late Sir John Barrow, and

was a rather frequent visitor at the scientific assemblages at the house of

Sir Joseph Banks, as also many times a guest at the hospitable table of

that distinguished patron of science.

At all periods of his life, he was well estimated by many of those whose

judgment and superiority were publicly recognised; and, after his decease,

most of those who had not understood him, received new and favourable

impressions concerning him.

* * * * *

In his regard to religion, there was no special profession. There was as

much freedom from ostentation as there was from hypocrisy, which he

despised. As to those things which mankind are prone to fail in, and as to

results in life in which it is found "that by reason of the frailty of our

nature we cannot always stand upright,"--I never recollect, in his own

case, his excusing them, or expressing views derogatory to Divine Grace, or

tending to the _abuse_ of its consoling doctrines. It was most manifest,

that his simple and entire reliance for justification before God, was in

Christ, and Christ alone; and it was equally manifest that he recognised

and held the duties of Christianity in their broad and practical bearing,

as of grand and indispensable importance for life and godliness.

But not to anticipate further another opinion, which may serve for a

conclusion of these records, I proceed again to quote from Mr. Drew, who,

after speaking, in summary, of his life as a seaman and a whale-fisher,

noticing very approvingly his improvements in the whale-fishery, and the

benefits conferred by his experience and observations on navigation and

commerce, proceeds (writing, it will be observed, whilst the subject of his

memoir was yet living,) in these commendatory terms:--

"In the career of this man we behold the progress of natural genius and

superior talents, surmounting every impediment, and conducting him from a

team of oxen and the plough to wealth and reputation, and to the highest

honours that the whale-fishery can bestow.

"To this it is pleasing to add, that, instead of imitating the conduct of

too many engaged in his profession, ascribing success to _luck_ or

_fortune_,--Mr. Scoresby, throughout the whole of his dangerous course,

acknowledges the overruling Providence of God, and does not forget, though

an inhabitant of time, that he has an interest in eternity.

"Of benevolent institutions he is the patron and friend, and the poor of

Whitby have experienced his bounty. The diffusion of the truths of

Revelation throughout the world has his best wishes and his [most liberal]

support. He views Christianity, not merely as a system of ethics, but as

possessing a soul-transforming power, which renovates the heart and

regulates the life, and as that alone which can make men wise unto

salvation."

* * * * *

Reader! If _very_ much has been said, in the foregoing pages, in respect of

superiority of talent, and energy and originality of mind in the individual

whose acts and adventures it has been my object to describe, the statements

and facts adduced will, I trust, be found to justify the terms made use of;

but if commendations beyond what some might be disposed to yield, have, in

any case, been bestowed, or if admiration extending to partiality may have

appeared to characterise any of my comments, I would confidently ground my

claim on your indulgence in consideration of the circumstance, that the

revered subject of these records was

MY FATHER!

Printed by M. MASON, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.

FOOTNOTES:

[O] The inexperienced mechanic is liable to be puzzled with the action of

the _wedge_, because of its being estimated, in some modes of its

application, in the _double_ proportion of its length to that of once its

thickness, giving to it, _apparently_, twice the force of the other

mechanical powers. It may not be unfitting, for the sake of our young

readers, to explain the little difficulty. The wedge when acting against

one fixed and immoveable body for the removal of another body, has then,

only, the like force as the lever,--a force proportionate to the extent of

space passed over, in driving, by the length, with respect to the increase

in the thickness, of the wedge; but when acting for the separation of two

bodies, both moveable, both sides then become effective, and it necessarily

exerts double that power. And so does the lever. For if the lever be

employed in like manner, the action in separating two moveable bodies will

be just double that of its ordinary action where the fulcrum is absolutely

fixed. This, indeed, is obviously the same with all the mechanical powers.

Action and reaction being equal, the power exerted in raising or moving one

heavy body must be exerted reversely against the earth, or other fixed body

serving as a fulcrum to the lever, or for the attachment of one extremity

of a tackle or series of pullies, or for the securing of the capstan

spindle. Let the attachments of the machine and its object, however, be

both afloat, and then any of the mechanical powers, like that of the wedge,

will have an efficiency of double that of its ordinary operation where one

part is a fixture.

[P] This important work not being yet brought to a completion,--the

ultimate and abiding influence of the alterations cannot be accurately

predicted. The entrance of the harbour, by the new extension of the east

pier, having been narrowed, perhaps too considerably, a temptation is

offered to cast the terminal length, or head, in a bell-mouthed fashion

more easterly. If such an arrangement were made (as my intelligent

connection, Mr. Jackson of Whitby, suggests) it _might_ produce a very

mischievous effect by giving a broad fan-tail exit to the escaping ebb-tide

waters, and so diminishing their force at the very point where

concentration and compactness of efflux are of the greatest importance in

scouring the entrance and keeping it clear of sandy deposits.

PUBLICATIONS BY THE REV. W. SCORESBY, D.D. F.R.S.S., LOND. AND EDIN.,

MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE,

PHILADELPHIA, ETC.

BY LONGMAN & CO.

MEMORIALS OF THE SEA:

1. Sabbaths in the Arctic Regions:

Second Edition. _Post 8vo._, cloth boards, 3_s._ 6_d._

2. The Mary Russell:

Second Edition. _Post 8vo._, cloth boards, 3_s._ 6_d._

3. My Father:

Being RECORDS of the adventurous Life of the late WILLIAM

SCORESBY, Esq. of WHITBY.

THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION: _8vo. cloth boards, with two large Charts, 6s._

Remarks on Researches for North-west Passage: the Public Duty concerning

our gallant Countrymen--Historical Sketch of the Plans and Outset of the

Missing Expedition, and of Researches made for its Relief--Suggestion of a

Plan for present Measures of Search--the Passage of the Middle Ice of

Baffin Bay, with illustrative Incidents--on Aids to the furtherance of

Research--with an Appendix.

MAGNETICAL INVESTIGATIONS: _8vo., with Plates. Part I., 5s.: Part II., 10s.

6d._

Comprising original Researches on,--the Magnetic Capabilities of various

descriptions of Steel and Iron--the Ratios of Increase of Power by

Combinations of Bars and Plates--the Effects of Hardness, Quality, Form,

and Mass on the resulting Magnetic Power--the Determination of the Quality

and Temper of Steel best adapted for Compasses, with original Modes of

testing the Quality of Iron and Steel, and greatly improving Magnetical

Instruments in general.

ZOISTIC MAGNETISM: _8vo. 6s._

Consisting of original Researches in Mesmeric Phenomena, with the view of

eliciting the Scientific Principles of this mysterious Agency--and in which

Experiments are described eliciting strong Electric or Magneto-electric

Conditions, with the intercepting of the Mesmeric Influence by Electrics,

and the neutralizing of the Effects of Substances, having an ungenial

Influence on the Subject, by the same Process as was found to neutralize

the Electricity of Sealing-wax, etc., as acting on the Electroscope.

JEHOVAH GLORIFIED IN HIS WORKS:

A Sermon preached in St. James' Episcopal Chapel, Edinburgh, August 4,

1850, on occasion of the Meeting of the British Association for the

Advancement of Science.--1_s._

ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS:

_2 vols. 8vo.--Out of print._

VOYAGE TO THE NORTHERN WHALE FISHERY:

Including Researches and Discoveries on the Eastern Coast of Greenland in

1822.--_1 vol. 8vo.--Out of print._

="William Scoresby's des Jüngern Tagebuch einer Riese auf den

Wallfischfang:"=

A German Translation by Professor FREDERICK KRIES, published in Hamburgh

1825.

BY NISBET & CO.

MEMORIAL OF AN AFFECTIONATE AND DUTIFUL SON:

Frederick R. H. S., who fell asleep in Jesus, Dec. 31, 1834; aged 16

years:--_12mo. 4s._

DISCOURSES TO SEAMEN:

Consisting of Fifteen Sermons, preached in the Mariners' Church, Liverpool,

treated, for the most part _generally_, on subjects of Christian Practice

and Doctrine: _12mo. 4s._

BY SAMPSON LOW & D. BOGUE.

THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN:

As gathered by the Rev. H. CHEEVER, on a Voyage undertaken for his Health,

and Edited and Revised by the Rev. W. SCORESBY, D.D.

London; Printed by M. MASON, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.

TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES

Page 4: The notation [=e] represents an e with macron in the original text

Page 17: villany as in the original

Page 28, Footnote F: incidently as in the original

Pages 34, 210: taught as in the original

Page 42: sea-faring standardised to the more common seafaring

Page 43: seaman-like standardised to the more common seamanlike

Pages 44, 101, 109, 113, 225: harponeers as in the original

Page 71: Section VI corrected to Section V

Page 81: teazing as in the original

Page 82: reconnoissance as in the original

Page 93: thermometic as in the original

Page 94: hybernating as in the original

Page 103, 183: inconsistent hyphenation of Greenlandman/Greenland-man as in

the original

Page 105: stratagy as in the original

Pages 106, 118: inconsistent hyphenation of leeside/lee-side as in the

original

Page 112: correspondently as in the original

Page 127, 146, 225: harponeer as in the original

Page 132: cabouse as in the original

Pages 141, 190: inconsistent hyphenation of hundredweight/hundred-weight as

in the original

Pages 143, 165: inconsistent hyphenation of goodwill/good-will as in the

original

Page 144: masthead standardised to the more common mast-head

Page 159: tenaceousness as in the original

Page 174: mechanician as in the original

Page 197: geer as in the original

Pages 200, 209: topmast standardised to the more common top-mast

Page 204: recal as in the original

Page 216: kelson, stantions as in the original

Advertisements: Rries corrected to Kries

End of Project Gutenberg's Memorials of the Sea, by William Scoresby