NARRATIVE OF PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD THE SHIP ESK, DURING A
WHALE-FISHING VOYAGE TO THE COAST OF SPITZBERGEN, IN THE YEAR
1816; PARTICULARLY RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE SHIP UNDER
CIRCUMSTANCES OF PECULIAR DANGER.
The ship Esk sailed from Whitby on the 29th of March, 1816. We
entered the frigid confines of the Icy Sea, and killed our first
whale on the 25th of April. On the 30th of April, we forced into
the ice with a favourable wind, and after passing through a large
body of it, entered an extensive sea, such as usually lies on the
western coast of Spitzbergen at this season of the year, early on
the morning of the following day. The wind then blowing hard south
south-east, we kept our reach to the eastward until three o’clock in
the afternoon, when we unexpectedly met with a quantity of ice, which
interrupted our course. We then _wared_ by the way of avoiding it,
but soon found, though the weather was thick with snow, that we were
completely embayed in a situation that was truly terrific.
In the course of fourteen voyages, in which I had before visited this
inhospitable country, I passed through many dangers wherein my own
life, together with those of my companions, had been threatened; but
the present case, where our lives seemed to be at stake for a length
of time, exceeding twelve hours, far surpassed in awfulness, as well
as actual hazard, anything that I had before witnessed. Dangers which
occur unexpectedly and terminate suddenly, though of the most awful
description, appear like a dream when they are past; but horrors
which have a long continuance, though they in some measure decrease
in their effect on the mind by a lengthened contemplation of them,
yet they leave an impression on the memory which time itself cannot
altogether efface. Such was the effect of the present scene. Whilst
the wind howled through the rigging with tempestuous roar, the sea
was so mountainous that the mast-heads of some accompanying ships,
within the distance of a quarter of a mile, were intercepted and
rendered invisible by the swells, and our ship frequently rolled the
lee-boats into the water, that were suspended with their keels above
the roughtree-rail!
At the same time, we were rapidly approaching a body of ice, the
masses of which, as hard as rocks, might be seen at one instant
covered with foam, the next concealed from the sight by the waves,
and instantly afterwards reared to a prodigious height above the
surface of the sea. It is needless to relate the means by which
we attempted to keep the ship clear of the threatened danger,
because those means were without avail. At eleven P.M. we were close
to the ice, when perceiving through the mist an opening a short
distance within, we directed the drift of the ship towards it. As we
approached the ice, the sails were filled, so that the first blow
was received obliquely on the bow, when the velocity of the ship was
moderate. In this place the pieces of ice were happily of smaller
dimensions; at least, all the larger masses we were able to avoid,
so that, after receiving a number of shocks, we escaped without any
particular accident into the opening or slack part of the ice above
noticed. This opening, as far as we could see, promised a safe and
permanent release.
But in this we were grievously disappointed: for, when we attempted
to ware the ship, which soon became necessary, she refused to turn
round, notwithstanding every effort, in a space which, in ordinary
circumstances, would have been far more than sufficient for the
evolution. In consequence of this accident, which arose partly from
the bad _trim_ of the ship, and partly from the great violence of
the wind, she fell to leeward into a close body of ice, to which we
could see no termination. The Mars, of Whitby, and another vessel,
which closely followed us as we penetrated the exterior of the ice,
being in better trim than the Esk, performed the evolution with
ease, and were in a few minutes out of sight. In this dreadful
situation, we lay beating against the opposing ice, with terrible
force, daring eight successive hours, all which time I was rocked
at the top-gallant mast-head, directing the management of the
sails, to avoid the largest masses of ice, any one of which would
have perforated the side of the ship. By the blessing of God, we
succeeded wonderfully; and at eight A.M., the 2nd of May, gained a
small opening, where we contrived to navigate the ship until the
wind subsided, and we had the opportunity of forcing into a more
commodious place. On examining the ship, we found our only apparent
damage to consist in the destruction of most of our rudder works, a
few slight bruises on the sides, and a cut on the lower part of the
stern of the ship.
From this time, to the 20th of May, the fishery was generally
interrupted by the formation of new ice, insomuch that during this
interval we killed but one whale, while few of our neighbours
succeeded so well. During the succeeding week, we became so fixed
that we never moved except occasionally a few yards. The next twelve
days were spent in most arduous labour in forcing the ship through
the ice. At length, on the 12th of June, we happily escaped, though
our companions were, for a short time, all left behind. On the 27th
of June, we had secured thirteen fish, and our quantity of oil was
about 125 tuns. This was a larger cargo than any ship had procured
that we had yet met with, excepting only one. On the 28th, the John,
of Greenock, commanded by my brother-in-law, Mr. Jackson, joined us.
After proceeding to the westward, the greater part of the 28th, we
arrived at the borders of a compact body of field-ice, consisting of
immense sheets of prodigious thickness. As I considered the situation
not favourable for fishing, the ship was allowed to drift to the
eastward all night. In the morning of the 29th, I found, however,
that she was very little removed from the place where she lay when
I went to bed. I perceived that the floes, between which there had
been extensive spaces, were now in the act of closing; and attempted,
by lowering four boats, to tow the ship through an opening at a
short distance from us. At the moment when we were about to enter
it, it closed. In attempting to get the ship into the safety of an
indentation, which appeared calculated to afford a secure retreat, a
small piece of ice came athwart her bow, stopped her progress, and
she was in a minute afterwards subjected to a considerable squeeze.
From none, however, of the pieces of ice around us did we apprehend
any danger, particularly as the motion of the ice soon abated. There
was a danger, however, on the larboard quarter, of which we were
totally unconscious. The piece of ice that touched the ship in that
part, though of itself scarcely six yards square, and more than one
yard above the water, concealed beneath the surface of the sea,
at the depth of ten or twelve feet, a hard pointed projection of
ice, which pressed against the keel, lifted the rudder, and caused
a damage that had nearly occasioned the loss of the ship. About an
hour and a half after the accident, the carpenter, having sounded
the pump, discovered to our great concern and amazement a depth of
eight and a half feet water in the hold. This was most alarming;
with despair pictured in every face, the crew set on the pumps; a
signal of distress was at the same time hoisted, and a dozen boats
approached us from the surrounding ships. In the space of four hours,
the water had lowered to nearly four feet, but one of the pumps
becoming useless, and bailing being less effectual than at first, the
water once more resumed its superiority and gained upon us.
Something, therefore, was now to be done, to stop, if possible, the
influx of the water. As the pumping and bailing could not possibly
be continued by our own ship’s company, it was necessary to make use
of some means to attempt a speedy remedy whilst our assistants were
numerous. As there was a probability that a bunch of rope-yarns,
straw, or oakum, might enter some of the larger leaks, and retard
the influx of water, if applied near the place through the medium
of a fothering-sail, (that is, a sail drawn by means of ropes at
the four corners, beneath the damaged or leaky part,) we in the
meantime prepared a lower studding-sail, by sewing bunches of
these materials, which, together with sheets of old thin canvas,
whalebone-hair, and a quantity of ashes, fitted it well for the
purpose. Thus prepared, it was hauled beneath the damaged place, but
not the least effect was yet produced. We set about unrigging the
ship, and discharging the cargo and stores, upon a flat place of the
floe, against which we had moored, with the intention of turning the
ship keel upward. My own sailors were completely worn out, and most
of our auxiliaries wearied and discouraged; some of them evinced, by
their improper conduct, their wish that the ship should be abandoned.
Before putting our plan in execution, we placed twenty empty casks
in the hold, to act against a quantity of iron ballast which was in
the ship, caulked the dark lights, removed all the dry goods and
provisions that would injure with the wet, secured all the hatches,
skuttles, companion, etc., then, erecting two tents on the ice,
one for sheltering myself, and the other for the crew, we ceased
pumping, and permitted the ship to fill. At this crisis, men of whom
I had conceived the highest opinion for firmness and bravery greatly
disappointed my expectations. Among the whole crew, indeed, scarcely
a dozen spirited fellows were to be seen.
As no ship could with propriety venture near us, to assist in turning
the Esk over, on account of the hazardous position of the ice around
her, we had no other means of attempting this singular evolution
than by attaching purchases to the ice from the ship. Everything
being prepared, while the water flowed into the ship, I sent our
exhausted crew to seek a little rest. For my own part, necessity
impelled me to endeavour to obtain some repose. I had already been
fifty hours without rest, which unusual exertion, together with the
anxiety of mind I endured, caused my legs to swell and become so
extremely painful, that I could scarcely walk. Spreading, therefore,
a mattress upon a few boards, laid on the snow within one of the
tents, notwithstanding the coldness of the situation, and the
excessive dampness that prevailed from the constant fog, I enjoyed a
comfortable repose of four hours, and arose considerably refreshed.
Immediately afterwards, about three P.M., on the 1st of July, I
proceeded with all hands to the ship, which, to our surprise, we
found had only sunk a little below the sixteenth mark externally,
while the water but barely covered a part of “’tween decks within.”
Perceiving that it was not likely to sink much further, on account of
the buoyancy of the empty casks, and the materials of which the ship
was composed, we applied all our purchases, but with the strength of
150 men we could not heel her more than five or six stakes. When thus
careened, with the weight of two anchors suspended from the mast,
acting with the effect of powerful levers on the ship, I accompanied
about 120 men on board. All these being arranged on the high side
of the deck, ran suddenly to the lower side, when the ship fell so
suddenly on one side that we were apprehensive she was about to
upset, but after turning a little way the motion ceased. The tackles
on the ice being then hauled tight, the heeling position of the ship
was preserved, until we mounted the higher part of the deck, and
ran to the lower as before. At length, after a few repetitions of
this manœuvre, no impression whatever was produced, and the plan of
upsetting the ship appeared quite impracticable.
The situation of the ship being now desperate, there could be no
impropriety in attempting to remove the keel and garboard strake,
which prevented the application of the fothering, for, whatever might
be the result, it could scarcely be for the worse. These incumbrances
being removed, the sail for fothering was immediately applied to
the place, and a vast quantity of fothering materials thrown into
its cavity, when it was fairly underneath. Over this sail we spread
a fore-sail, and braced the whole as tight to the ship as the
keel-bolts, which yet remained in their horizontal position, would
admit. The effect was as happy as we could possibly have anticipated.
Some time before all these preparations were completed, our people,
assisted by the John’s crew, who, after a short rest, had returned to
us, put the three pumps and bailing tubs in motion, and applied their
energies with such effect that in eleven hours the pumps sucked! In
this time, a depth of thirteen feet water was pumped out of the
hold, besides the leakage. The John’s crew on this occasion exerted
themselves with a spirit and zeal which were truly praiseworthy.
As the assistance of carpenters was particularly needed, we fired
a gun, and repeated our signal of distress, which brought very
opportunely two boats, with six men each, from the Prescot, and the
same number from our tried friend, Mr. Allen, of the North Britain.
As we likewise procured the carpenters of these ships, together with
those of the John, they commenced operations by cutting through the
ceiling, between two frames of timbers directly across the hold,
at the distance of about twenty-six feet from the stern-post; a
situation which, we were assured, was on the fore part of the leak,
or between the leak and the body of the ship. The timbers in this
place were unhappily found so closely connected that we had to cut
away part of one of the floors, that we might come at the outside
plank, and caulk the crevices between it and the timbers; which
operation, on account of the great depth of timber, and the vast
flow of water that issued at the ceiling, was extremely difficult,
tedious, and disagreeable.
Meanwhile that we had good assistance, I allowed our crew four hours’
rest, half of them at a time, for which purpose some of their beds
were removed from the ice to the ship. Here, for the first time
during four days, they enjoyed their repose; for on account of the
cold and damp that prevailed when they rested on the ice, several of
them, I believe, never slept. Some of the John’s people returning to
us, swayed up the top-mast, and rigged most of the yards, while our
men were employed stowing the main-hold, which, by the floating of
the casks, was thrown into a singular state of disorder. Some of the
casks were found without heads, and all the blubber lost, and many
were found bilged, or otherwise damaged.
After the carpenters had completely cleared the roomstead—that is,
the space between any two ribs or frames of timbers in a ship—they
drove oakum into it, along with an improved woollen sheathing
substance; and occasionally, where the spaces were very large, pieces
of fat pork. The spaces or crevices between the planks of the ceiling
and the timber being then filled, all the above substances were
firmly driven down by means of pine wedges, and the spaces between
each of the wedges caulked. This would have been very complete, had
not the increased flow of the water overcome the pumps, and covered
the ceiling where the carpenters were at work. They were therefore
obliged to wedge up the place with great expedition; and being at
the same time greatly fatigued, the latter part of the operation was
accomplished with much less perfection than I could have wished.
Hitherto calm weather, with thick fog, having constantly prevailed,
was the occasion of several ships remaining by us and affording
assistance, which would otherwise have left us. But the weather
having now become clear, and a prospect of prosecuting the fishery
being presented, every ship deserted us, except the John, and she
was preparing to leave us likewise. In the state of extreme jeopardy
in which we were still placed, the love of life, on the part of the
crew, determined them to attempt to quit the ship, and take refuge in
the John as soon as she should attempt to leave us. I was confident,
through the information I had received, that unless the assistance of
the John were secured, the Esk, after all the labour bestowed on her,
and the progress which had been made towards her preservation, must
yet be abandoned as a wreck. At length, I yielded to the request of
my whole crew, and made a proposal to captain Jackson, who agreed on
certain conditions, involving the surrender of a large proportion of
our cargo, to stay by us and assist us until our arrival at some port
of Shetland. The original of this contract was voluntarily signed by
every individual of both ships’ companies. A subsequent agreement of
a more explicit kind, on the part of masters and owners of the Esk
and the John, was drawn out and signed by myself and Mr. Jackson.
These agreements being fully understood and signed, the John hauled
alongside of the ice, which had now opened near the Esk for the first
time since the accident, and took on board the whole of our loose
blubber, estimated at seventy-eight butts and fifty-eight butts,
in twenty-five casks, together with half our whalebone, as agreed.
Everything now went on favourably, and whilst our crew and assistants
were in full and vigorous employment, I retired to seek that repose
which my wearied frame stood greatly in need of. On the 5th July,
assisted by all hands from the John, the stowing of the hold and
the rigging of the ship were completed, and, under a moderate
breeze of wind, we left the floe, but what was our astonishment and
mortification to find that the ship could not be guided! The rudder
had become perfectly useless, so that with the most appropriate
disposition of the sails possible, and the requisite position of the
helm, the ship could not be turned round, or diverted in the least
from the course in which the impetus of the wind on the sails was
the most naturally balanced. This was an alarming disappointment.
However, as the ship was in such constant danger of being crushed
in the situation where she lay, the John, with the greatest
difficulty imaginable, towed us three or four miles to the eastward,
into a place of comparative safety. Here we rectified our rudder,
and arranged for the trimming of the ship more by the stern, to
compensate in some degree for the loss of the after-keel. When these
matters were completed, on account of strong wind and thick weather,
we could not, without imminent danger, attempt to penetrate the
compact body of ice which at this time barred our escape to the sea,
and I took the advantage of the opportunity to procure a long rest.
The attention of the carpenters in caulking the ceiling of the ship,
together with the advantage derived from the fothering sails, had now
produced an effect so considerable, that on Sunday, the 7th of July,
the original leakage was found to be reduced nearly four-fifths.
During an hour, in which we were engaged in Divine service, the pumps
were allowed to “stand;” two and a half feet of water, which in this
interval flowed into the hold, was pumped out in twenty minutes.
After various alarms and careful attention to the leakage, together
with the unremitting diligence of the crew in the use of the pumps,
we descried land on the 23rd of July, and approached within three
or four miles of the coast of Shetland. In the evening, the John
having fulfilled the articles of agreement as far as was required,
we sent the twelve men belonging to her crew on board, and after
receiving from them a supply of fresh water, they left us with three
cheers, and the usual display of colours. We were now left to sail by
ourselves; our progress was in consequence rather slow. At daylight
of the 27th, we were rejoiced with a sight of our port. Knowing
the flow of water to be sufficient for the ship, and there being a
probability of reaching the harbour before the tide was too much
fallen, we pressed towards it with every sail we could set, and
having received a pilot as we approached the pier, we immediately
entered the harbour, and grounded at half-past five A.M. in a place
of safety.
Thus, through the peculiar favour of God, by whose influence our
perseverance was stimulated, and by whose blessing our contrivances
were rendered effectual, happily terminated a voyage at once
hazardous, disastrous, and interesting. Men whose lives have
been exposed to dangers so fearful and imminent, may reasonably
be expected to be influenced by a vivid sense of the nearness of
eternity, and to feel the powers of the world to come. It is the
prerogative of the Christian religion, whilst it prepares men for
death, to take away undue apprehensions of it; to furnish consolation
of unspeakable value, when it is present; and to light up the distant
and unknown future, with the peace and happiness of the hope of
eternal life. To the rude and courageous mariner, as well as to the
inhabitants of refined and luxurious homes, God’s message is one
and the same. It is suitable, and worthy of acceptation, on sea and
on land, in sickness and in health, when we expect instant removal
from our present temporary dwelling-place, or look forward to the
activities and cares of a protracted life. To every one of us the
Almighty is saying, Repent, believe, and live—promising a free and
complete pardon through the death of his Son, and engaging, to those
who welcome and obey his message, that they shall live under the
smile of His countenance and the protection of his power.
Intelligence relative to the distressed state of the ship, and the
helplessness of her situation, reached Whitby the day before us, and,
in consequence of exaggerations respecting the loss of the crew,
involved every interested person in deep distress. Throughout the
town, and in a great measure throughout the neighbourhood, the event
was considered as a general calamity. Some of the underwriters on the
Esk, I was informed, had offered sixty per cent. for the reassurance
of the sums for which they were liable, but such was the nature
of the risk, as ascertained from the information of some ships’
crews, by whom we had been assisted, that no one would undertake
the assurance, even at this extraordinary premium. The hearty
congratulations I received on landing, from every acquaintance, were
almost overwhelming, and these, with the enhanced endearments of my
affectionate and enraptured wife, amply repaid for all the toils and
anxieties of mind that I had endured.
On the tide ebbing out, the Esk was left dry, on which, for the first
time since the accident, the whole of the water was drawn out of the
hold by the pumps. The next tide, the ship was removed above the
bridge to a place of perfect safety, where the pumps being neglected,
the water in the course of two tides rose nearly as high within as
without. After the cargo was discharged, the ship was put into dock,
and it was found that, excepting the loss of twenty-two feet of
keel, and the removal of a piece of the starboard garboard strake,
nine feet in length, with a portion of dead-wood brought home upon
deck, no other damage of consequence had been produced by the ice.
The whole expense of repairs did not, I believe, exceed £200. Though
the sacrifice of nearly one-half of our cargo was a considerable
disappointment to the owners, who had been apprized of our success in
fishery, yet, when compared with the salvage, which might have been
demanded had no contract been entered into for the assistance of the
John, the sacrifice appeared to have been a material benefit, having
been productive of the saving of perhaps £2,000. The approbation
of my conduct by the owners, Messrs. Fishburn and Brodrick, was
testified by their presenting to me a gratuity of £50; and the sense
entertained by the Whitby underwriters, of the preservation of the
ship, was pleasingly manifested by a present of a handsome piece of
plate.
I may add, in conclusion, that the whole of my crew, excepting one
individual, returned from this adventurous and trying voyage in
safety, and in general in a good state of health. Several of the
men, indeed, were affected more or less by the excessive fatigue,
and by the painful exposure to cold and damp, while resting on the
ice; but all of them were, in a great measure, restored before our
arrival at home, excepting one man; he, poor fellow, being of a weak
constitution, suffered severely from the inclement exposure, and died
soon after he arrived in port.
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY: INSTITUTED 1799.
Transcriber’s Notes
pg 26 Changed period after: this, in 1749 to: comma
pg 27 Changed equipped from Embden to: Emden
pg 47 Changed misspelling of "sails becomes neccessary" to: necessary
pg 64 Removed repeated word it from: It it bears this
pg 74 Added period to the end of: moment of danger
pg 75 Changed comma to period at: requiring extreme dispatch
pg 78 Changed rate of 816 to: 8·16 and 718 to: 7·18
pg 80 Added period to: 3,104,640 lbs
pg 115 Changed to provent them to: prevent
pg 165 Added period to: not been felt
pg 185 Changed swayed up the topmast to: top-mast
Various hyphenated and non-hyphenated words left as written