A Whale killed.--Other Charts drawn by the Esquimaux.--Account of a
Journey to the Narrows of the Strait.--Discovery of the Sea to the
Westward.--Total Disruption of the Ice at the Eastern Entrance of
the Strait.--Instance of local Attraction on the Compasses.--Sail
through the Narrows, and again stopped by fixed Ice.--Account of
several Land Journeys and Boat Excursions.--Observations on the
Tides.--Continued Obstacles from fixed Ice.
_Aug._ 1.--The information obtained by Captain Lyon on his late journey
with the Esquimaux served very strongly to confirm all that had before
been understood from those people respecting the existence of the
desired passage to the westward in this neighbourhood, though the
impossibility of Captain Lyon's proceeding farther in that direction,
combined with our imperfect knowledge of the language, still left us in
some doubt as to the exact position of the strait in question. While,
therefore, Captain Lyon was acquainting me with his late proceedings, we
shaped a course for Igloolik, in order to continue our look-out upon the
ice, and made the tents very accurately by the compass, after a run of
five leagues.
The present state of the ice, which was thin and "rotten,", served no
less to excite our surprise than to keep alive our hopes and
expectations. The spaces occupied respectively by ice and holes were
about equal; and so extensive and dangerous were the latter, that the
men could with extreme difficulty walk twenty or thirty yards from the
ship to place the anchors, and that at no small risk of falling through.
We were astonished, therefore, to find with what tenacity a field of
ice, whose parts appeared thus loosely joined, still continued to hang
together, notwithstanding the action of the swell that almost constantly
set upon its margin.
We had for several days past occasionally seen black whales about the
ships, and our boats were kept in constant readiness to strike one, for
the sake of the oil, in which endeavour they at length succeeded this
morning. The usual signal being exhibited, all the boats were sent to
their assistance, and in less than an hour and a half had killed and
secured the fish, which proved a moderate-sized one of above "nine feet
bone," exactly suiting our purpose. The operation of "flinching" this
animal, which was thirty-nine feet and a half in length, occupied most
of the afternoon, each ship taking half the blubber and hauling it on
the ice, "to make off" or put into casks.
As soon as we had completed the stowage of the blubber, and washed the
ships and people's clothes, we cast off on the 6th, taking in tow the
carcass of the whale (technically called the "crang") for our friends at
Igloolik. The wind dying away when the ships were off the northeast end
of the island, the boats were despatched to tow the whale on shore,
while Captain Lyon and myself went ahead to meet some of the canoes that
were paddling towards us. We soon joined eleven of them, and on our
informing the Esquimaux of the prize the boats were bringing them, they
paddled off with great delight. When they arrived at the spot, and had
civilly asked permission to eat some of it, they dropped their canoes
astern to the whale's tail, from which they cut off enormous lumps of
flesh and ravenously devoured it; after which they followed our boats
in-shore, where the carcass was made fast to a mass of grounded ice for
their future disposal.
As we made several tacks off the island next to the northward of
Igloolik, called by the Esquimaux _Neerlo-Nackto_, two canoes came off
to us, in one of which was Toolemak. He and his companions came on board
the Fury, when I employed him for a couple of hours in drawing a chart
of the strait. Toolemak, though a sensible and intelligent man, we soon
found to be no draughtsman, so that his performance in this way, if
taken alone, was not a very intelligible delineation of the coast. By
dint, however, of a great deal of talking on his part, and some exercise
of patience on ours, we at length obtained a copious verbal illustration
of his sketch, which confirmed all our former accounts respecting the
existence of a passage to the westward in this immediate neighbourhood,
and the large extent of land on the northern side of the strait.
Toolemak also agreed with our other Esquimaux informants in stating,
that from the coast of Akkoolee no land is visible to the westward; nor
was any ever heard of in that direction by the Esquimaux. This fact they
uniformly assert with a whine of sorrow, meaning thereby to intimate
that their knowledge and resources are there both at an end.
The disruption of the ice continued to proceed slowly till early on the
morning of the 14th; the breeze having freshened from the northwest,
another floe broke away from the fixed ice, allowing us to gain about
half a mile more to the westward; such was the vexatious slowness with
which we were permitted to advance towards the object of our most
anxious wishes!
On the 14th I left the ship with Mr. Richards and four men, and
furnished with provisions for ten days, intending, if possible, to reach
the main land at a point where we could overlook the strait. In this we
succeeded after a journey of four days, arriving on the morning of the
18th at the extreme northern point of a peninsula, overlooking the
narrowest part of the desired strait, which lay immediately below us in
about an east and west direction, being two miles in width, apparently
very deep, and with a tide or current of at least two knots, setting the
loose ice through to the eastward. Beyond us, to the west, the shores
again separated to the distance of several leagues; and for more than
three points of the compass, in that direction, no land could be seen to
the utmost limits of a clear horizon, except one island six or seven
miles distant. Over this we could not entertain a doubt of having
discovered the Polar Sea; and, loaded as it was with ice, we already
felt as if we were on the point of forcing our way through it along the
northern shores of America.
After despatching one of our party to the foot of the point for some of
the sea-water, which was found extremely salt to the taste, we hailed
the interesting event of the morning by three hearty cheers and by a
small extra allowance of grog to our people, to drink a safe and speedy
passage through the channel just discovered, which I ventured to name,
by anticipation, THE STRAIT OF THE FURY AND HECLA. Having built a pile
of stones upon the promontory, which, from its situation with respect to
the Continent of America, I called CAPE NORTHEAST, we walked back to our
tent and baggage, these having, for the sake of greater expedition, been
left two miles behind; and, after resting a few hours, set out at three
P.M. on our return.
We reached the ships at ten o'clock P.M. on Tuesday the 20th. On almost
all the shores both of the main land and islands that we visited, some
traces of the Esquimaux were found; but they were less numerous than in
any other places on which we had hitherto landed. This circumstance
rather seemed to intimate, as we afterward found to be the case, that
the shores of the strait and its immediate neighbourhood are not a
frequent resort of the natives during the summer months.
We got under way on the 21st, were off Cape Northeast on the 26th, and I
gave the name of CAPE OSSORY to the eastern point of the northern land
of the Narrows; but on that day, after clearing two dangerous shoals,
and again deepening our soundings, we had begun to indulge the most
flattering hopes of now making such a rapid progress as would in some
degree compensate for all our delays and disappointments, when, at once
to crush every expectation of this sort, it was suddenly announced from
the crow's nest that another barrier of _fixed_ ice stretched completely
across the strait, a little beyond us, in one continuous and
impenetrable field, still occupying its winter station. In less than an
hour we had reached its margin, when, finding this report but too
correct, and that, therefore, all farther progress was at present as
impracticable as if no strait existed, we ran the ships under all sail
for the floe, which proved so "rotten" and decayed that the ships forced
themselves three or four hundred yards through it before they stopped.
Keeping all our canvass spread, we then tried to break the thin edges
about the numerous holes, by dropping weights over the bows, as well as
by various other equally ineffectual expedients; but the ice was "tough"
enough to resist every effort of this kind, though its watery state was
such as to increase, if possible, our annoyance at being stopped by it.
The passage to the northward of the island was not even so clear as this
by above two miles of ice, so that in every respect our present route
was to be preferred to the other; and thus, after a vexatious delay of
six weeks at the eastern entrance of the strait, and at a time when we
had every reason to hope that nature, though hitherto tardy in her
annual disruption of the ice, had at length made an effort to complete
it, did we find our progress once more opposed by a barrier of the same
continuous, impenetrable, and hopeless nature as at first!
As soon as the anchors were dropped, my attention was once more turned
to the main object of the expedition, from which it had for a moment
been diverted by the necessity of exerting every effort for the
immediate safety of the ships. This being now provided for, I had
leisure to consider in what manner, hampered as the ships were by the
present state of the ice, our means and exertions might, during this
unavoidable detention, be employed to the greatest advantage, or, at
least, with the best prospect of ultimate utility.
Whatever doubts might at a distance have been entertained respecting the
identity, or the contrary, of the place visited by Captain Lyon with
that subsequently discovered by myself, there could be none on a nearer
view; as, independently of the observed latitude, Captain Lyon could
not, on approaching the narrows, recognise a single feature of the land;
our present channel being evidently a much wider and more extensive one
than that pointed out by Toolemak, on the journey. It became, therefore,
a matter of interest, now that this point was settled and our progress
again stopped by an insuperable obstacle, to ascertain the extent and
communication of the southern inlet; and, should it prove a second
strait, to watch the breaking up of the ice about its eastern entrance,
that no favourable opportunity might be missed of pushing through it to
the westward. I therefore determined to despatch three separate parties,
to satisfy all doubts in that quarter, as well as to gain every possible
information as to the length of the strait, and the extent of the fixed
ice now more immediately before us.
With this view, I requested Captain Lyon to take with him Mr. Griffiths
and four men, and proceed overland in a S.b.E. direction, till he should
determine, by the difference of latitude, which amounted only to sixteen
miles, whether there was or was not a strait leading to the westward,
about the parallel of 69° 26', being nearly that in which the place
called by the Esquimaux _Kh=emig_ had been found by observation to
lie. In the mean time, Lieutenant Palmer was directed to proceed in a
boat to Igloolik, or Neerlo-Nackto, as might be necessary, to ascertain
whether the passage leading towards Kh=emig was yet clear of ice; and,
should he find any one of the Esquimaux willing to accompany him to the
ships with his canoe, to bring him on board as a pilot. The third party
consisted of Mr. Bushnan, with three men, under the command of
Lieutenant Reid, who was instructed to proceed along the continental
coast to the westward, to gain as much information as possible
respecting the termination of our present strait, the time of his return
to the ships being limited to four days, at the expiration of which the
other two parties might also be expected to reach us.
On the morning of the 29th, the wind being light from the eastward, but
the weather much more clear than before, we weighed and stood over to
the mainland with the intention of putting our travellers on shore, but
found that coast now so lined with the ice which had lately broken
adrift that it was not possible for a boat to approach it. Standing off
to the westward, to see what service the late disruption had done us, we
found that a considerable floe had separated, exactly in a line between
the island off which we lay and a second to the westward of it,
subsequently named in honour of LORD AMHERST. Tacking at the
newly-formed margin of the fixed ice, we observed, not only that it was
still firmly attached to the shores, but that it was now almost entirely
"hummocky," and heavier than any we had seen since making Igloolik; some
of the hummocks, as we afterward found, measuring from eight to ten feet
above the surface of the sea.
The different character now assumed by the ice, while it certainly
damped our hopes of the passage being cleared this season by the gradual
effects of dissolution, confirmed, however, in a very satisfactory
manner, the belief of our being in a broad channel communicating with a
western sea. As the conclusions we immediately drew from this
circumstance may not be so obvious to others, I shall here briefly
explain that, from the manner in which the hummocky floes are formed, it
is next to impossible that any of these of considerable extent can ever
be produced in a mere inlet having a narrow communication with the sea.
There is, in fact, no ice to which the denomination of "sea-ice" may be
more strictly and exclusively applied than this; and we therefore felt
confident that the immense floes which now opposed our progress must
have come from the sea on one side or the other; while the current,
which we had observed to run in an easterly direction in the narrows, of
this strait, precluded the possibility of such ice having found its way
in from that quarter. The only remaining conclusion was, that it must
have been set into the strait from the westward towards the close of a
summer, and cemented in its present situation by the frost of the
succeeding winter.
A great deal of snow having fallen in the last two days, scarcely a dark
patch was now to be seen on any part of the land, so that the prospect
at daylight on the 30th was as comfortless as can well be imagined for
the parties who were just about to find their way among the rocks and
precipices. Soon after four A.M., however, when we had ascertained that
the drift-ice was no longer lying in their way, they were all
despatched in their different directions. For each of the land-parties a
depôt of several days' provision and fuel was, in case of accidents,
established on the beach; and Lieutenant Palmer took in his boat a
supply for nine days.
On the 31st the wind blew fresh and cold from the northwest, which
caused a quantity of ice to separate from the fixed floe in small pieces
during the day, and drift past the ships. Early in the morning, a
she-bear and her two cubs were observed floating down on one of these
masses, and, coming close to the Hecla, were all killed. The female
proved remarkably small, two or three men being able to lift her into a
boat.
At half past nine on the morning of the 1st of September, one of our
parties was descried at the appointed rendezvous on shore, which, on our
sending a boat to bring them on board, proved to be Captain Lyon and his
people. From their early arrival we were in hopes that some decisive
information had at length been obtained; and our disappointment may
therefore be imagined, in finding that, owing to insuperable obstacles,
on the road, he had not been able to advance above five or six miles to
the southward, and that with excessive danger and fatigue, owing to the
depth of the snow, and the numerous lakes and precipices.
At nine A.M. on the 2d, Lieutenant Reid and his party were descried at
their landing-place, and a boat being sent for them, arrived on board at
half past eleven. He reported that the ice seemed to extend from Amherst
Island as far as they could see to the westward, presenting one unbroken
surface from the north to the south shore of the strait.
Notwithstanding every exertion on the part of our travellers, their
labours had not thrown much light on the geography of this part of the
coast, nor added any information that could be of practical use in
directing the operations of the ships. The important question respecting
a second passage leading to the westward still remained as much a matter
of mere conjecture as at first; while the advanced period of the season,
and the unpromising appearance of the ice now opposing our progress,
rendered it more essential than ever that this point should, if
possible, be decided. Under this impression it occurred to me, that the
desired object might possibly be accomplished by pursuing the route
along the head or western shore of Richards's Bay, part of which I had
already traversed on my former journey, and found it much less laborious
walking than that experienced by Captain Lyon on the higher and more
rugged mountains inland. I determined, therefore, to make this attempt,
taking with me Mr. Richards and most of my former companions.
This night proved the coldest we had experienced during the present
season, and the thermometer stood at 24° when I left the ships at four
A.M. on the 3d, having previously directed Captain Lyon to remain as
near their present station as might be consistent with safety, and
carefully watch for any alteration that might occur in the western ice.
Being favoured by a strong northwesterly breeze, we reached the narrows
at half past six A.M., and immediately encountered a race or ripple, so
heavy and dangerous that it was only by carrying a press of canvass on
the boat that we succeeded in keeping the seas from constantly breaking
into her. This rippling appeared to be occasioned by the sudden
obstruction which the current meets at the western mouth of the narrows,
aided, in the present instance, by the strong breeze that blew directly
upon the corner forming the entrance on the south side.
Having landed at Cape Northeast, I made sail for the isthmus at ten
A.M., where we arrived after an hour's run; and hauling the boat up on
the rocks, and depositing the greater part of our stores near her, set
off at one P.M. along the shore of Richards's Bay, being equipped with
only three days' provision, and as small a weight of clothing as
possible. The coast, though not bad for travelling, led us so much more
to the westward than I expected, in consequence of its numerous
indentations, that, after above five hours' hard walking, we had only
made good a W.S.W. course, direct distance six miles. We obtained on
every eminence a distinct view of the ice the whole way down to
Neerlo-nakto, in which space not a drop of clear water was discernible;
the whole of Richards's Bay was filled with ice as before.
We moved at six P.M. on the 4th, and soon came to a number of lakes from
half a mile to two miles in length occurring in chains of three or four
together, round which we had to walk, at the expense of much time and
labour. At half past six, on gaining a sight of the sea from the top of
a hill, we immediately recognised to the eastward the numerous islands
of red granite described by Captain Lyon; and now perceived, what had
before been surmised, that the south shore of Richards's Bay formed the
northern coast of the inlet, up which his journey with the Esquimaux had
been pursued. Our latitude, by account from noon, being now 69° 28', we
felt confident that a short walk directly to the south must bring us to
any strait communicating with that inlet, and we therefore pushed on in
confident expectation of being near our journey's end. At seven P.M.,
leaving the men to pitch the tent in a sheltered valley, Mr. Richards
and myself ascended the hill that rose beyond it, and, on reaching its
summit, found ourselves overlooking a long and narrow arm of the sea
communicating with the inlet before seen to the eastward, and appearing
to extend several miles nearly in an east and west direction, or
parallel to the table-land before described, from which it is distant
three or four miles. That the creek we now overlooked was a part of the
same arm of the sea which Captain Lyon had visited, the latitude, the
bearings of Igloolik, which was now plainly visible, and the number and
appearance of the Coxe Islands, which were too remarkable to be
mistaken, all concurred in assuring us; and it only, therefore, remained
for us to determine whether it would furnish a passage for the ships.
Having made all the remarks which the lateness of the evening would
permit, we descended to the tent at dusk, being directed by a cheerful,
blazing fire of the _andromeda tetragona_, which, in its present dry
state, served as excellent fuel for warming our provisions.
Setting forward at five A.M. on the 5th, along some pleasant valleys
covered with grass and other vegetation, and the resort of numerous
reindeer, we walked six or seven miles in a direction parallel to that
of the creek; when, finding the latter considerably narrowed, and the
numerous low points of its south shore rendering the water too shoal, to
all appearance, even for the navigation of a sloop of ten tons, I
determined to waste no more time in the farther examination of so
insignificant a place. The farther we went to the westward, the higher
the hills became; and the commanding prospect thus afforded enabled us
distinctly to perceive with a glass that, though the ice had become
entirely dissolved in the creek, and for half a mile below it, the whole
sea to the eastward, even as far as Igloolik, was covered with one
continuous and unbroken floe.
Having now completely satisfied myself, that, as respected both ice and
land, there was no navigable passage for ships about this latitude, no
time was lost in setting out on our return.
At half past eight we arrived on board, where I was happy to find that
all our parties had returned without accident, except that Lieutenant
Palmer had been wounded in his hand and temporarily blinded by a gun
accidentally going off, from which, however, he fortunately suffered no
eventual injury.
The result of our late endeavours, necessarily cramped as they had been,
was to confirm, in the most satisfactory manner, the conviction that we
were now in the only passage leading to the westward that existed in
this neighbourhood. Notwithstanding, therefore, the present unpromising
appearance of the ice, I had no alternative left me but patiently to
await its disruption, and instantly to avail myself of any alteration
that nature might yet effect in our favour.