Several expeditions have, at different times, been fitted out, for the
purpose of ascertaining whether there exists a north-west passage, or
navigable communication, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The
supposed points of communication are the north-western side of Baffin's
Bay, on the east, and Behring's Strait on the west. Within the last four
years the attention of the public has been more particularly called to
this subject, by the fitting out, and progress, of two successive
expeditions into Baffin's Bay. To the commander of each, instructions
were given that he should, if possible, effect a passage thence,
westward, into the Pacific. The first of these expeditions, under the
command of Captain Ross, sailed from England in the month of April,
1818: the other, under Captain Parry, who, in the previous expedition,
had accompanied Captain Ross as the second in command, sailed on the
10th of May, 1819. Some of the most interesting adventures which they
each experienced, and of the most important discoveries which they
effected, will now require our attention.
_A Narrative of_ CAPTAIN ROSS'S _Voyage of Discovery, for the
purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the probability of
a North-west Passage._
The Isabella and Alexander, commanded by Captain Ross and Lieutenant
Parry, passed _Cape Farewell_, the south-eastern extremity of Greenland,
on the 26th of May, 1818. The voyagers had previously seen a great
number of icebergs, or islands of ice, of various shape and size, and of
singular and grotesque figure. The height of one of them was estimated
at three hundred and twenty-five feet; and a torrent of water was
pouring down its side. On another, to which the ships were, for a while,
made fast, a stratum of gravel, and stones of various kinds was
observed.
Whilst the vessels were near this iceberg, which was in latitude 68
degrees, 22 minutes, they were visited by some Esquimaux, inhabitants of
the adjacent country. From these persons they learnt that it had
remained aground since the preceding year; and that there was ice all
the way thence to _Disco Island_.
In the evening of the 12th of June, the weather being clear and serene,
the sky and the water presented one of the most beautiful scenes that
can be imagined. The former, near the horizon, was interspersed with
light and fleecy clouds, which decreased gradually in colour and
density, according to their height; until, in the zenith, they
disappeared entirely, and there the sky assumed a rich cerulean blue.
The water, on the other hand, presented a spectacle superbly grand. Let
any one fancy himself (says Captain Ross) in the midst of an immense
plain, extending further than the eye can penetrate, and filled with
masses of ice, which present a greater variety of form than the most
fertile imagination can conceive; and as various in size as in shape,
from the minutest fragments, to stupendous islands, more than one
hundred feet in perpendicular height above the surface of the ocean.
In the afternoon of the 14th of June, being near the Danish settlement,
on _Kron Prins Island_, in latitude 63 degrees, 54 minutes, the governor
of the settlement came on board the Isabella. This person stated that
the weather of the preceding winter had been unusually severe; and that,
during his residence of eleven years, in Greenland, the intensity of the
cold had gradually continued to increase. The whole population of the
island consisted of himself and family, six Danes, and one hundred
Esquimaux, whose occupation consisted chiefly in the capture of whales
and seals.
The vessels proceeded northward, along the edge of the ice, through a
crooked and narrow channel, in the midst of a firm field of ice, and a
tremendous ridge of icebergs.
At _Wayat's_ or _Hare Island_, the astronomical instruments were landed,
and some important errors, both of latitude and longitude, were
discovered and corrected. Thirty or forty whale-ships were seen fastened
to the icebergs along the shore of this island. The only four-footed
animals observed on it were white hares and a fox: the birds were
ptarmigans, snipes, snow-buntings, and larks.
Beyond Wayat's Island the ships were surrounded by ice of various and
extensive forms; and much skill, ardour, and perseverance, were
manifested by the navigators working through the narrow channels and
floes. On the 23d, and at the distance of ten miles north of Wayat, they
reached _Four Island Point_, where they found several whalers which had
been stopped by the ice.
A sort of Danish factory was established at this spot, and some Indian
huts were seen; but they were in ruins and apparently deserted. Captain
Ross sent to the shore one of his crew, an Esquimaux, named John
Sacheuse. This man, who had been resident nearly two years in England,
and had acquired some knowledge of the English language, had been taken
on board the Isabella as an interpreter.
He found a village, consisting of a few huts, formed of seal-skins, and
sufficient for the residence of about fifty persons. Being desirous of
obtaining from these persons a sledge and dogs, in exchange for a
rifle-musket, he conducted seven of them, in their canoes, to the ship.
As soon as the bargain was made, they went on shore, and returned, with
the sledge and dogs, in a larger canoe, rowed by five women in a
standing posture, and all dressed in deer-skins. These people were
highly pleased with the treatment they received; and, having partaken of
some refreshment in the cabin, they danced on the deck with the sailors,
to the animating strains of a Shetland fiddler. Two of the women were
daughters of a Danish resident, by an Esquimaux woman: one of the men
was the son of a Dane; and they were all of the colour of Mulattoes.
After the dance, coffee was served; and, at eight o'clock, the party
returned to land.
The progress of the vessels had hitherto been much impeded by the state
of the ice. This, however, now began to separate, and they once more
proceeded on their voyage; passing among hundreds of icebergs, of
extraordinary colours, and the most fantastical shapes.
In latitude 74 degrees 30 minutes, the Isabella was jammed in by the
ice, and sustained a severe pressure; being lifted several feet out of
the water, but she did not receive any material injury. On the 31st of
July, whales were seen in great numbers; and, the boats being sent in
pursuit of them, one was killed: it measured forty-six feet in length,
and yielded thirteen tons of blubber.
On the 6th and 7th of August, the two ships were again in great danger
from the ice. Whilst they were in the midst of the icebergs, they were
driven, by a gale of wind, so forcibly against each other, that their
sterns came violently in contact, and crushed to pieces a boat that
could not be removed in time; and, had not the vessels themselves been
excessively strong, they must have been totally destroyed. Attempts were
made to liberate them by sawing through the ice: not long after the
commencement of the operation, two immense masses of ice came violently
in contact, and one of them, fifty feet in height, suddenly broke. Its
elevated part fell back with a terrible crash; and overwhelmed, with its
ruins, the very spot which the officers had marked out as a place of
safety for the ships. Soon afterwards the ice opened, and they were once
more out of danger.
The gale having abated, and the weather, which of late had been snowy,
having cleared up, land was seen in latitude 75 degrees 54 minutes; and
on the 9th of August, the voyagers beheld, at a distance, upon the ice,
some people who seemed to be hallooing to the ships. At first they were
supposed to be shipwrecked sailors, whose vessel had perished in the
late gale; the ships, therefore, were steered nearer to the ice, and the
colours were hoisted. It was, however, now discovered, that they were
natives of the country, drawn by dogs on sledges, and with wonderful
velocity.
When they had approached near enough to the ships, for Sacheuse to be
heard, he hailed them in his own language, and they answered him; but
neither party seemed to be intelligible. For some time the strangers
remained silent; but, on the ships' tacking, they set up a shout, and
wheeled off, with amazing swiftness, towards the land.
On the ensuing day eight sledges were seen to approach the ships.
Sacheuse volunteered his services to go on the ice, with presents: this
was done in the hope of bringing the people to a parley. They halted at
some distance from the ships, and by the edge of a canal or chasm in the
ice, which prevented any fear or danger of attack from either party.
Sacheuse soon discovered that these Indians spoke a dialect of his own
language; and he invited them to approach nearer, but they replied, "No,
no, go you away;" and one of them, drawing a knife out of his boot,
exclaimed: "Go away; I can kill you." Sacheuse told them that he wished
to be their friend; and, as a proof of it, he threw them, across the
canal, some strings of beads, and a checked shirt. These were beheld
with great distrust, and Sacheuse threw them a knife. They approached
with caution, took up the knife, and then shouted and pulled their
noses. These actions were imitated by Sacheuse, who, in return, called
out, "Heigh-yaw!" pulling his nose, with the same gesture. They then
pointed to the shirt, and asked him of what skin it was made; but some
time elapsed before they would venture to touch it. After this they
pointed to the ships, and eagerly enquired, "What are those great
creatures? Do they come from the sun or the moon? Do they give us light
by night or by day?" Sacheuse said that they were houses made of wood;
but this, they replied, could not be the case, for the creatures were
alive: they had been seen to flap their wings. Sacheuse again assured
them of the truth of all he had told them, and that he was a man like
themselves; then pointing towards the south, he said he came, in those
houses, from a distant country in that direction. To this they replied,
"No, that cannot be: there is nothing but ice there."
On Sacheuse asking these Indians who they were, they replied that they
were men, and that they lived in a country towards which they pointed
(in the north:) that they had there plenty of water; and that they had
come to the present spot, to catch seals and sea-unicorns.
Sacheuse, wishing to become better acquainted with them, returned to the
ship, for a plank, to enable him to cross over the chasm. He crossed it;
but, on approaching them, they entreated that he would not touch them,
as, in that case, they should certainly die. One of them, however, more
courageous than the rest, ventured to touch his hand; then, pulling his
own nose, he set up a loud shout, in which he was joined by Sacheuse and
the other three.
The whole of the natives, eight in number, now came forward, and were
met by the commanders of the vessels, and the other officers; but they
were, evidently, in a state of great alarm, until the ceremony of
pulling noses had been gone through by both parties, shouting, at the
same time, _heigh-yaw_! With this people the pulling of noses is a mode
of friendly salutation; and their interjection of "heigh-yaw!" is an
expression of surprise and pleasure.
The officers gave to the foremost of the natives a looking-glass and a
knife; and presented similar articles to the others, as they came up in
succession. On seeing their faces in the glasses, their astonishment
appeared extreme. They looked round in silence, for a moment, at each
other, and at their visitors, and immediately afterwards set up a
general shout: this was succeeded by a loud laugh, expressive of delight
and surprise. Having, at length, acquired some degree of confidence,
they advanced, and, in return for knives, glasses, and beads, gave their
own knives, sea-unicorn's horns, and sea-horse teeth.
On approaching the ship, they halted, and were evidently much terrified;
and one of the party, after surveying the Isabella, and examining every
part of her with his eyes, thus addressed her, in a loud tone: "Who are
you? Where do you come from? Is it from the sun or the moon?" pausing
between every question, and pulling his nose with the greatest
solemnity. This ceremony was repeated, in succession, by all the rest.
Sacheuse again assured them that the ships were only wooden houses; and
he showed them the boat, which had been hauled on the ice, for the
purpose of being repaired, explaining to them, that it was a smaller
vessel of the same kind. This immediately arrested their attention:
they advanced to the boat, and examined her, and the carpenter's tools
and the oars, very minutely; each object, in its turn, exciting the most
ludicrous ejaculations of surprise. The boat was then ordered to be
launched into the sea, with a man in it, and hauled up again; at the
sight of this operation there seemed no bounds to their clamour. The
cable and the ice-anchor, the latter a heavy piece of iron, shaped like
the letter S, excited much interest. They tried in vain to remove it;
and they eagerly enquired of what skins the cable was made.
By this time the officers of both the ships had surrounded the Indians;
while the bow of the Isabella, which was close to the ice, was crowded
with sailors; and a more ludicrous, yet more interesting scene, was,
perhaps, never beheld, than that which took place whilst the Indians
were viewing the ship. Nor is it possible to convey to the imagination
any thing like a just representation of the wild amazement, joy, and
fear, by which they were successively agitated. The circumstance,
however, which chiefly excited their admiration, was a sailor going
aloft; for they kept their eyes intently fixed upon him, till he had
reached the summit of the mast. The sails, which hung loose, they
supposed to be skins.
After this, they were conducted to the foot of a rope-ladder suspended
from the deck of the ship; and the mode of ascending it was shown to
them; but a considerable time elapsed before they could be prevailed
with to ascend. At length one of them went up, and he was followed by
the rest. The wonders with which they were now surrounded, excited
additional astonishment.
The knowledge which these Indians had of wood seemed to be confined to
some kinds of heath, which had stems not thicker than the finger: hence
they knew not what to think of the timber with which the ships were
constructed. Not being aware of its weight, two or three of them,
successively, seized hold of the spare topmast, and evidently with an
intention of carrying it off. The only object on board which they
seemed to view with contempt, was a little terrier dog; judging, no
doubt, that it was too small for drawing a sledge: but they shrunk back,
in terror, from a pig, whose pricked ears, and ferocious countenance,
presented a somewhat formidable appearance. This animal happening to
grunt, one of them was so much terrified, that he became, from that
moment, uneasy, and impatient to get out of the ship. In carrying his
purpose into effect, however, he did not lose his propensity to
thieving, for he seized hold of, and endeavoured to carry off, the
smith's anvil: but, finding it infinitely too heavy for his strength, he
laid hold of the large hammer, threw it on the ice; and, following it
himself, deliberately laid it on his sledge, and drove off. As this was
an article that could not be spared, Captain Ross sent a man from the
ship, who pursued the depredator, and, with some difficulty, recovered
it.
The officers and men on board were much amused by putting into the hands
of these Indians a magnifying mirror. On beholding themselves in it,
their grimaces were highly entertaining. They first looked into, and
then behind it, in hopes of finding the monster which was exaggerating
their hideous gestures. A watch was held to the ear of one of them; and
he, supposing it alive, asked if it was good to eat. On being shown the
glass of the skylight and binnacle, they touched it, and desired to know
what kind of ice it was.
Three of the men who remained on board were handed down into the
captain's cabin, and shown the use of the chairs: this, however, they
did not comprehend; for they appeared to have no notion of any other
seat than the ground. They were shown paper, books, drawings, and
various mathematical instruments, but these produced in them only the
usual effect of astonishment. On being conducted to the gun-room, and
afterwards round the ship, they did not appear to notice any thing
particularly, except the wood that had been used in her construction.
They stamped upon the deck, as if in surprise at the great quantity of
this valuable material which they beheld. By the direction of the
officers, Sacheuse enquired of these people, whether their country had
as many inhabitants as there were pieces of ice, floating round the
ship: they replied, "Many more;" and it was supposed that at least a
thousand fragments could be distinguished.
The men were now loaded with presents of various kinds, consisting of
articles of clothing, biscuit, and pieces of wood; in addition to which
the plank that had been used in crossing the chasm, was given to them.
They then departed, promising to return as soon as they had eaten and
slept. The parting was attended, on each side, by the ceremony of
pulling noses.
It has been remarked that these Indians were in possession of knives;
and the iron of which their knives were made, was stated to have been
procured from a mountain near the sea-shore. They informed Sacheuse that
there was a rock, or great quantity of it; and that they cut off from
this rock, with a sharp stone, such pieces as they wanted.
In the course of the three following days, the Isabella changed her
station some miles westward. At length she was again moored near the
ice; and, shortly afterwards, three of the natives appeared at a
distance. Sacheuse, who had been furnished with presents, and sent to
speak with them, induced them to drive, on their sledges, close to the
vessel. The dogs attached to each sledge were six in number. Each dog
had a collar of seal-skin, two inches wide, to which one end of a thong,
made of strong hide, and about three yards in length, was fastened: the
other end was tied to the front of the sledge: thus the dogs were ranged
nearly abreast, each dog drawing by a single trace, and without reins.
No sooner did they hear the crack of the driver's whip, than they set
off at full speed, while he managed them with the greatest apparent
ease, guiding them partly by his voice, and partly by the sound of his
whip. One of these men pointed out to Captain Ross his house, which was
about three miles distant, and could be discerned with a telescope.
A party of ten natives approached the ship, on the ensuing day. These
having with them a seal-skin bag filled with air, they began to kick it
at each other and at the strangers: in this play the Englishmen joined,
to the great amusement of both parties. The inflated skin was what the
men had been using as the buoy to a harpoon, in the killing of a
sea-unicorn. They gave to Captain Ross a piece of dried sea-unicorn's
flesh, which appeared to have been half roasted. This gentleman had
already seen them eat dried flesh; and he now had an opportunity of
ascertaining that they did not scruple to eat flesh in any state; for,
one of them who had a bag full of marine-birds, took out one and
devoured it raw.
The officers, desirous of ascertaining whether these Indians had any
amusements of music or dancing, prevailed with two of them to give a
specimen of their dancing. One of them began to distort his features and
turn up his eyes. He then proceeded to execute, in succession, a variety
of strange gestures and attitudes, accompanied by hideous distortions of
countenance. His body was generally in a stooping posture; and his hands
rested on his knees. After a few minutes, he began to sing; and, in a
little while, the second performer, who, hitherto, had been looking on,
in silence, began to imitate his comrade. They then sang, in chorus, the
word, "_hejaw! hejaw!_" After this had continued, with increasing
energy, for several minutes, the tune was suddenly changed to one of
shrill notes, in which the words "_weehee! weehee!_" were uttered with
great rapidity. They then approached each other, by slipping their feet
forward: they grinned, and, in great agitation, advanced until their
noses touched, when a loud and savage laugh terminated the extraordinary
performance.
While this performance was going on, one of the Indians, seeing that the
attention of every person was engaged, seized the opportunity of
descending into the state-room, and of purloining Captain Ross's best
telescope, a case of razors, and a pair of scissors, which he artfully
concealed in his tunic, rejoining the party and the amusements, as if
nothing had happened. He did not, however, escape detection, for the
ship's steward had witnessed the theft, and, now charging him with it,
made him return all the articles he had stolen.
Captain Ross gave the name of _Arctic Highlands_ to the country
inhabited by these Indians, and that of _Prince Regent's Bay_, to the
place where the vessels had anchored. It is situated in the north-east
corner of Baffin's Bay, between the latitudes of 76 and 79 degrees
north; and is bounded, towards the south, by an immense barrier of
mountains covered with ice. The interior of the country presents an
irregular group of mountainous land, declining gradually towards the
sea, which it reaches in an irregular manner, the cliffs ranging from
five hundred to one thousand feet in height. This tract was almost
covered with ice, and appeared to be impassable.
On the surface of the land, above the cliffs, a scanty appearance of
vegetation, of a yellowish green colour, and, in some places, of a
heathy brown, was to be seen; and, at the foot of the cliffs, similar
traces of a wretched verdure were also apparent. Among the cliffs were
seen deep ravines filled with snow, through which the marks of torrents
were perceptible. These cliffs run out, in many places, into capes, and
are skirted by islands, which, at this time, were clear of ice, and
consequently were washed by the waves. Many species of wild-fowl were
seen.
The vegetable productions of this country may be said to consist of
heath, moss, and coarse grass. There is nothing like cultivation, nor
did it appear that the natives used any kind of vegetable food. The moss
is in great abundance: it is six or eight inches in length, and, when
dried and immersed in oil or blubber, it serves for a wick, and
produces a comfortable fire for cooking and warmth, as well as for
light.
The whale-fishery might, undoubtedly, be pursued with great success, in
this bay and its vicinity. The whales are here not only large and
numerous, but, probably from their having been undisturbed, they are
tame, and easy to be approached.
The dress of the Arctic Highlanders, as Captain Ross has denominated the
people of this country, consists of three pieces, which are all
comprised in the name of _tunic_. The upper piece is made of seal-skin,
with the hair outside; and is open near the top, so as to admit the
wearer's face. The hood part is neatly trimmed with fox's-skin, and is
made to fall back on the shoulders, or to cover the head, as may be
required. The next piece of dress, which scarcely reaches to the knee,
is made of bear's or dog's skin. The boots are of seal-skin, with the
hair inward. In the winter this people have a garment of bear-skin,
which they put on as a cloak.
The Arctic Highlanders are of a dirty copper colour. Their stature is
about five feet: their bodies are corpulent, and their features much
resemble those of the Esquimaux. Their cheeks are full and round. Their
lips are thick, their eyes are small, and their hair is black, coarse,
long, and lank. These people appear to be filthy in the extreme. The
faces, hands, and bodies of such as were seen by the voyagers, were
covered with oil and dirt; and they seemed never to have washed
themselves since they were born: even their hair was matted with filth.
Some attempts were made to ascertain the religious notions of the Arctic
Highlanders, but these seem to have proved unsatisfactory; and, perhaps,
from the inability of Sacheuse to question them on such a subject. They
had a king, whom they represented to be a strong man, very good, and
greatly beloved. His house was described to be of stone, and nearly as
large as the ship; and they said that every man paid to him a portion of
all which they caught or found. They could not be made to understand
what was meant by war, nor did the voyagers see, among them, any warlike
weapons. It is peculiarly deserving of remark, that these Indians, who
derive much of their subsistence from the water, have no canoes or
vessels of any description, in which they can go afloat; nor do they
appear to have any names by which boats or canoes are designated. It is
true that they have no wood for the construction of floating vessels;
but such might, without difficulty, be constructed of bone covered with
skins.
On the 16th of August, the ice had become sufficiently open, to permit
the passage of the vessels to the northward; and they consequently
proceeded on their voyage.
In these high latitudes, a kind of marine birds, called Little Awks
(_alca alle_) were observed in countless multitudes, and afforded to the
sailors, a grateful supply of fresh food. With three muskets, no fewer
than one thousand two hundred and sixty-three of them were killed in one
day; and, of this number, ninety-three were brought down by one
discharge of the muskets.
When the ships were in latitude 75 degrees 54 minutes, the snow on the
face of the cliffs was observed to be stained of a deep crimson colour.
Some of this snow being collected in buckets, it was found to resemble,
in appearance, raspberry ice-cream: when dissolved, the liquor seemed
not unlike muddy port-wine; and the sediment appeared, through a
microscope, to be composed of dark-red globules. Some of this sediment
was brought to England, and it is generally supposed to have been a
vegetable substance, the seed, probably, of some species of fungus; or,
perhaps, to have been itself a minute kind of fungus.
On the 18th of August, the ships passed _Cape Dudley Digges_, six miles
northward of which a majestic glacier, or mass of ice, was remarked to
occupy a space of four miles square, extending one mile into the sea,
and rising to the height of at least a hundred feet. On the same day
the vessels passed _Wolstenholme_ and _Whale Sounds_.
About midnight of the 19th, _Sir Thomas Smith's Sound_ was distinctly
seen. Captain Ross considered the bottom of this sound to have been
eighteen leagues distant; but its entrance, he says, was completely
blocked up by ice. On the 21st, the ships stood over to explore an
opening, supposed to have been that called _Alderman Jones's Sound_; but
Captain Ross says that the ice and fog prevented a near approach.
The night of the 24th of August was remarkable for having been the first
on which the sun had been observed to set, since the 7th of June. The
land was now seen to take a southerly direction; and the ships proceeded
along it, as near as they could conveniently approach for the floating
masses of ice.
On the 30th they entered a wide opening in the land, the _Sir James
Lancaster's Sound_ of Baffin. On each side of this opening was a chain
of high mountains. The sea was perfectly free from ice, and the vessels
proceeded on a westward course for several leagues. The weather had, for
some time, been hazy; but, on its clearing up, Captain Ross states that
a range of mountains about twenty-four miles distant, were seen to
occupy the centre of the inlet. To these he gave the name of _Croker
Mountains_, and, imagining that no passage existed through them, he
returned into the open sea, and, not long afterwards, sailed for
England.
Twenty-sixth Day's Instruction.