THE VOYAGE OF BUCHAN AND FRANKLIN
What with the American War and the Napoleonic Wars, our sailors had
their hands so full at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning
of the nineteenth centuries, that they had no time to spare for
unnecessary exploration, and there is, in consequence, a hiatus of
forty years in the story of Arctic discovery. In 1817, however,
Captain William Scoresby, junior, one of the most famous of Scotch
whalers, reported to Sir Joseph Banks that he had found nearly 2000
square leagues of the Spitzbergen Sea free from ice, and that he had,
in consequence, been able to sight the eastern coast of Greenland,
at a meridian usually considered inaccessible, adding that it would
be greatly to the advantage of our whale fishery if expeditions were
sent out to continue the work of exploration which had remained in
abeyance for so long. Both Sir Joseph Banks and Sir John Barrow, then
Secretary to the Admiralty, were much impressed by this report and
it was through their representations that the Government decided to
send out two expeditions in 1818, one of which was to make an effort
to reach the Pole, while the other was to search for the elusive
North-West Passage. The list of the officers of these two expeditions
included six names which were destined to become famous all over the
world for their Arctic work—those of Back, Beechey, Franklin, Parry,
John Ross, and James C. Ross.
The ships detailed for the first of these two expeditions were the
_Dorothea_ (370 tons) and the _Trent_ (250 tons), two stout whalers
which were specially strengthened for work in the ice with all the
extra wood and iron that they could carry. They were provisioned
for two years, and the leadership of the expedition was entrusted
to Captain Buchan, who sailed on the _Dorothea_, while Franklin
commanded the _Trent_, with Beechey as his lieutenant. The object of
the mission was scientific as well as geographical, and it was hoped
that many useful investigations would be made into the atmospheric,
meteorological, and magnetic phenomena of the unknown region which it
was to traverse.
The expedition sailed on April 25, the Arctic circle was crossed on
May 18, and Bear Island sighted on the 24th. Standing north for the
south cape of Spitzbergen, the ships met with their first serious
opposition from the ice. They succeeded in making their way through
the belt, however, and they were soon lying in Magdalena Bay. Further
progress north was summarily checked by a vast field of ice through
which it was impossible to penetrate, for the moment at any rate.
Accordingly, Buchan decided to spend some time in exploring Magdalena
Bay, in the hope that the conditions would change, and that he would
be able to pass through it. His second venture, however, met with no
better success. Indeed, disaster very nearly cut short the career
of the two ships, for, while they were coasting along the pack, the
breeze suddenly dropped, and they were driven by the swell into the
midst of the innumerable floes which were constantly being dashed by
the rollers against the main sheet of ice. So fierce was the impact
of these floes that they were crumbled to pieces, and for miles
around the sea was covered with a thick pasty substance, known as
brash ice, which often extended to a depth of five feet.
Fortunately, however, a breeze arose which carried them out of their
dangerous predicament, and they were able to proceed on their way.
Continuing their reconnaisance to the west, they found but little
change in the condition of the pack, and they decided to desist for
the present from their attempts to find a way through it. Accordingly
they put about and made for Spitzbergen, where they found that the
pack, though still impenetrable, had shifted a little, leaving a
passage between it and the land. Rather unwisely, perhaps, Buchan
attempted to make his way along this channel, and he had only just
passed Red Cliff when the ice closed in upon him on every side,
making it impossible for him either to advance or to retreat.
Here they remained for thirteen days with little to do except to
observe the habits of the animals which appeared on all sides, and
to indulge in a little hunting when the opportunity offered. In this
connection Beechey tells a rather interesting story illustrating the
ingenuity of the Polar bear. “Bears, when hungry,” he writes, “seem
always on the watch for animals sleeping on the ice, and endeavour
by stratagem to approach them unobserved: for, on the smallest
disturbance, the animals dart through holes in the ice, which they
always take care to be near, and thus evade pursuit. One sunshiny
day a walrus, of nine or ten feet in length, rose in a pool of water
not very far from us, and after looking round, drew his greasy
carcase upon the ice, where he rolled about for a time, and at length
laid himself down to sleep. A bear which had probably been observing
his movements, crawled carefully upon the ice at the opposite side
of the pool, and began to roll about also, but apparently more with
design than amusement, as he progressively lessened the distance
that intervened between him and his prey. The walrus, suspicious of
his advances, drew himself up, preparatory to a precipitate retreat
into the water, in case of a nearer acquaintance with his playful
but treacherous visitor; on which the bear was instantly motionless
as if in the act of sleep, but after a time began to lick his paws
and clean himself, and occasionally to encroach a little more on
his intended prey. But even this artifice did not succeed; the wary
walrus was far too cunning to allow himself to be entrapped, and
suddenly plunged in the pool.” The bears, however, were not always so
unlucky in their hunting, for in the stomach of one that they killed
they found a Greenlander’s garter.
Walrus hunting also afforded them a little sport, and on one occasion
the crew were so unwise as to attack a herd in the ordinary ship’s
boats. Immediately the walruses rose on all sides, and it was no easy
matter to prevent them from staving in the sides of the boats with
their tusks, or dragging them under water. “It was the opinion of
our people,” says Beechey, “that in this assault the walruses were
led by one animal in particular, a much larger and more formidable
beast than any of the others; and they directed their efforts more
particularly towards him, but he withstood all the blows of their
tomahawks without flinching, and his tough hide resisted the entry
of the whale lances, which were, unfortunately, not very sharp, and
soon bent double. The herd were so numerous, and their attacks so
incessant, that there was not time to load a musket, which, indeed,
was the only mode of seriously injuring them. The purser fortunately
had his gun loaded, and the whole crew being now nearly exhausted
with chopping and sticking at their assailants, he snatched it up,
and thrusting the muzzle down the throat of the leader, fired into
his body. The wound proved mortal, and the animal fell back amongst
his companions, who immediately desisted from the attack, assembled
round him, and in a moment quitted the boat, swimming away as hard as
they could with their leader, whom they actually bore up with their
tusks, and assiduously prevented from sinking.”
The release which they had been praying for came at last, but it
brought little improvement to their position, for a terrific gale
arose which drove both the ships into the pack, with the result that
half the timbers of the _Trent_ were strained, while the _Dorothea_
was reduced to something little better than a wreck. To attempt any
further exploration was hopeless, so they made for Spitzbergen, where
they found a safe anchorage in South Gat. Here the vessels were
put into a state of repair, the officers in the meantime exploring
the part of the island on which they found themselves, and making
observations. On August 30 they put to sea once more, and arrived
safely in England on October 22.