THE SECOND WINTER--DEPARTURE OF HALF OF THE CREW.
It was with mingled feelings that we neared the brig. Our little
party had grown fat and strong upon the auks and eiders and scurvy-grass;
and surmises were rife among us as to the condition of our comrades and
the prospects of our ice-bound ship.
The tide-leads, which one year ago had afforded a precarious passage to
the vessel, now barely admitted our whale-boat; and, as we forced her
through the broken ice, she showed such signs of hard usage, that I had
her hauled up upon the land-belt and housed under the cliffs at Six-mile
Ravine. We crossed the rocks on foot, aided by our jumping-poles, and
startled our shipmates by our sudden appearance.
In the midst of the greeting which always met our returning parties,
and which gave to our little vessel the endearing associations of a
homestead, our thoughts reverted to the feeble chances of our liberation,
and the failure of our recent effort to secure the means of a retreat.
The brig had been imprisoned by closely-cementing ice for eleven months,
during which period she had not budged an inch from her icy cradle.
[Sidenote: Cutting the Ice]
"_August 8._--This morning two saw-lines were passed from the open-water
pools at the sides of our stern-post, and the ice was bored for blasting.
In the course of our operations the brig surged and righted, rising two
and a half feet. We are now trying to warp her a few yards toward Butler
Island, where we again go to work with our powder-canisters. The blasting
succeeded; one canister cracked and uplifted 200 square yards of ice with
but five pounds of powder. A prospect showed itself of getting inside
the island at high water; and I determined to attempt it at the highest
spring-tide, which takes place on the 12th.
"_August 12._--The brig bore the strain of her new position very well.
The tide fell fifteen feet, leaving her high and dry; but, as the
water rose, everything was replaced, and the deck put in order for
warping again. Every one in the little vessel turned to; and after much
excitement, at the very top of the tide, she passed 'by the skin of her
teeth.' She was then warped in a bight of the floe, neat Fox-Trap Point,
and there she now lies.
"We congratulated ourselves upon effecting this crossing; Had we failed,
we should have had to remain fast probably for the high tides a fortnight
hence. The young ice is already forming, and our hopes rest mainly upon
the late gales of August and September.
"_August 15._--To-day I made another ice-inspection to the north-east.
The floe on which I have trudged so often, the big bay-floe of our former
mooring, is nearly the same as when we left it. I recognised the holes
and cracks, through the fog, by a sort of instinct. M'Gary and myself had
little difficulty in reaching the Fiord Water by our jumping-poles.
"I have my eye on this water, for it may connect with the north-east
headland, and hereafter give us a passage.
"The season travels on: the young ice grows thicker, and my messmates'
faces grow longer every day. I have again to play buffoon to keep up the
spirits of the party.
"A raven! The snow-birds begin to fly to the south in groups, coming at
night to our brig to hover on the rigging. Winter is hurrying upon us.
The poppies are quite wilted.
"Examined ice with Mr Bonsall, and determined to enter the broken
land-ices by warping; not that there is the slightest probability of
getting through, but it affords moral aid and comfort to the men and
officers: it looks as if we were doing something.
"_August 17._--Warped about 100 yards into the trash, and, after a long
day of labour, have turned in, hoping to recommence at 5 A.M.
to-morrow.
"In five days the spring-tides come back; should we fail in passing
with them, I think our fortunes are fixed. The young ice bore a man
this morning: it had a bad look, this man-supporting August ice! The
temperature never falls below 28°; but it is cold o' nights with no fire.
"_August 18._--Reduced our allowance of wood to six pounds a meal. This,
among eighteen mouths, is one-third of a pound of fuel for each. It
allows us coffee twice a day, and soup once. Our fare besides this is
cold pork boiled in quantity and eaten as required. This sort of thing
works badly; but I must save coal for other emergencies. I see 'darkness
ahead.'
[Illustration: Far North--_Page 117._]
"I inspected the ice again to-day. Bad! bad!--I must look another winter
in the face. I do not shrink from the thought; but, while we have a
chance ahead, it is my first duty to have all things in readiness to meet
it. It is _horrible_--yes, that is the word!--to look forward to another
year of disease and darkness, to be met without fresh food and without
fuel. I should meet it with a more tempered sadness if I had no comrades
to think for and protect.
[Sidenote: Hope Abandoned]
"_August 20._--Rest for all hands. The daily prayer is no longer, 'Lord,
accept our gratitude, and bless our undertaking,' but, 'Lord, accept our
gratitude, and restore us to our homes.' The ice shows no change: after a
boat and foot journey around the entire south eastern curve of the bay,
no signs!"
My attempt to reach Beechy Island had disclosed, as I thought it would,
the impossibility of reaching the settlements of Greenland.
Everything before us was now involved in gloomy doubt. Hopeful as I had
been, it was impossible not to feel that we were near the climax of the
expedition.
I determined to place upon Observatory Island a large signal-beacon or
cairn, and to bury under it documents which, in case of disaster to
our party, would convey to any who might seek us intelligence of our
proceedings and our fate. The memory of the first winter-quarters of Sir
John Franklin, and the painful feelings with which, while standing by
the graves of his dead, I had five years before Sought for written signs
pointing to the fate of the living, me careful to avoid a similar neglect.
A conspicuous spot was selected upon a cliff looking out upon the icy
desert, and on a broad face of rock the words--
ADVANCE,
A.D. 1853-54,
were painted in letters which could be read at a distance. A pyramid of
heavy stones, perched above it, was marked with the Christian symbol
of the cross. It was not without a holier sentiment than that of mere
utility that I placed under this the coffins of our two poor comrades. It
was our beacon, and their gravestone.
[Sidenote: Memorials Placed]
Near this a hole was worked into the rock, and a paper, enclosed in
glass, sealed in with melted lead. It read as follows:--
"Brig 'Advance,' _August_ 14, 1854.
"E. K. Kane, with his comrades, Henry Brooks, John Wall Wilson, James
M'Gary, I. I. Hayes, Christian Ohlsen, Amos Bonsall, Henry Goodfellow,
August Sontag, William Morton, J. Carl Petersen, George Stephenson,
Jefferson Temple Baker, George Riley, Peter Schubert, George Whipple,
John Blake, Thomas Hickey, William Godfrey, and Hans Christian, members
of the Second Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin and the
missing crews of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_, were forced into this harbour
while endeavouring to bore the ice to the north and east.
"They were frozen in on the 8th of September 1853, and liberated----
"During this period the labours of the expedition have delineated 960
miles of coast-line, without developing any traces of the missing ships
or the slightest information bearing upon their fate. The amount of
travel to effect this exploration exceeded 2000 miles, all of which was
upon foot or by the aid of dogs.
"Greenland has been traced to its northern face, whence it is connected
with the further north of the opposite coast by a great glacier. This
coast has been charted as high as lat. 82° 27′. Smith's Sound expands
into a capacious bay: it has been surveyed throughout its entire extent.
From its northern and eastern corner, in lat. 80° 10′, long. 66°, a
channel has been discovered and followed until further progress was
checked by water free from ice. This channel trended nearly due north,
and expanded into an apparently open sea, which abounded with birds and
bears and marine life.
"The death of the dogs during the winter threw the travel essential to
the above discoveries upon the personal efforts of the officers and men.
The summer finds them much broken in health and strength.
"Jefferson Temple Baker and Peter Schubert died from injuries received
from cold while in manly performance of their duty. Their remains are
deposited under a cairn at the north point of Observatory Island.
"The site of the observatory is 76 English feet from the northernmost
salient point of this island, in a direction south 14° east. Its position
is in lat. 78° 37′ 10″, long. 70° 40′. The mean tidal level is 20 feet
below the highest point upon this island. Both of these sites are further
designated by copper bolts, sealed with melted lead into holes upon the
rocks.
"On the 12th of August 1854, the brig warped from her position, and,
after passing inside the group of islands, fastened to the outer floe
about a mile to the north-west, where she is now awaiting further changes
in the ice.
(Signed) "E. K. Kane,
"Commanding Expedition.
"Fox-Trap Point, _August_ 14, 1854."
The following note was added some hours later:--
"The young ice having formed between the brig and this island, and
prospects of a gale showing themselves, the date of departure is left
unfilled. If possible, a second visit will be made to insert our dates,
our final escape being still dependent upon the course of the season.
"E. K. Kane."
And now came the question of the second winter--how to look our enemy
in the face, and how to meet him. Anything was better than inaction;
and, in spite of the uncertainty which yet attended our plans, a host of
expedients were to be resorted to, and much Robinson Crusoe labour ahead.
Moss was to be gathered for eking out our winter fuel, and willow-stems,
and stonecrops, and sorrel, as anti-scorbutics, collected and buried in
the snow. But while all these were in progress came other and graver
questions.
Some of my party had entertained the idea than an escape to the south
was still practicable; and this opinion was supported by Mr Petersen,
our Danish interpreter, who had accompanied the Searching Expedition of
Captain Penny, and had a matured experience in the changes of Arctic
ice. They even thought that the safety of all would be promoted by a
withdrawal from the brig.
"_August 21._--The question of detaching a party was in my mind some
time ago; but the more I thought it over, the more I was convinced that
it would be neither right in itself nor practically safe. For myself
personally, it is a simple duty of honour to remain by the brig: I could
not think of leaving her till I had proved the effect of the later tides;
and after that, as I have known all along, it would be too late. Come
what may, I share her fortunes.
"But it is a different question with my associates. I cannot expect them
to adopt my impulses; and I am by no means sure that I ought to hold them
bound by my conclusions. Have I the _moral right?_ for, as to nautical
rules, they do not fit the circumstances; among the whalers, when a ship
is hopelessly beset, the master's authority gives way, and the crew
take counsel for themselves whether to go or stay by her. My party is
subordinate and well-disposed; but if the restlessness of suffering makes
some of them anxious to brave the chances, they may certainly plead that
a second winter in the ice was no part of the cruise they bargained for.
[Sidenote: A New Difficulty]
"But what presses on me is of another character. I cannot disguise it
from myself that we are wretchedly prepared for another winter on board.
We are a set of scurvy-riddled, broken-down men; our provisions are
sorely reduced in quantity, and are altogether unsuited to our condition.
My only hope of maintaining or restoring such a degree of health among us
as is indispensable to our escape in the spring has been and must be in a
wholesome, elastic tone of feeling among the men: a reluctant, brooding,
disheartened spirit would sweep our decks like a pestilence. I fear the
bane of depressing example.
"I know all this as a medical man and an officer; and I feel that we
might be wearing away the hearts and energies, if not the lives of
all, by forcing those who were reluctant to remain. With half a dozen
confiding, resolute men, I no fears of ultimate safety.
"I will make a thorough inspection of the ice to-morrow, and decide
finally the prospects of our liberation.
"_August 23._--The brig cannot escape. I got an eligible position
with my sledge to review the floes, and returned this morning at two
o'clock There is no possibility of our release, unless by some extreme
intervention of the coming tides. I doubt whether a boat could be forced
as far as the Southern Water. When I think of the extraordinary way in
which the ice was impacted last winter, how very little it has yielded
through the summer, and how early another winter is making its onset
upon us, I am very doubtful, indeed, whether our brig can get away at
all. It would be inexpedient to attempt leaving her now in boats--the
water-streams closing, the pack nearly fast again, and the young ice
almost impenetrable.
"I shall call the officers and crew together, and make known to them
very fully how things look, and what hazards must attend such an effort
as has been proposed among them. They shall have my view unequivocally
expressed. I will then give them twenty-four hours to deliberate; and at
the end of that time all who determine to go shall say so in writing,
with a full exposition of the circumstances of the case. They shall have
the best outfit I can give, an abundant share of our remaining stores,
and my good-bye blessing.
"_August 24._--At noon to-day I had all hands called, and explained to
them frankly the considerations which have determined me to remain where
we are. I endeavoured to show them that an escape to open water could not
succeed, and that the effort must be exceedingly hazardous: I alluded to
our duties to the ship; in a word, I advised them strenuously to forego
the project. I then told them that I should freely give my permission to
such as were desirous of making the attempt, but that I should require
them to place themselves under the command of officers selected by them
before setting out, and to renounce in writing all claims upon myself and
the rest who were resolved to stay by the vessel. Having done this, I
directed the roll to be called, and each man to answer for himself."
[Sidenote: Division of the Crew]
In the result, eight out of the seventeen survivors of my party resolved
to stand by the brig. It is just that I should record their names. They
were Brooks, M'Gary, Wilson, Goodfellow, Morton, Ohlsen, Hickey, and
Christian.
I divided to the others their portion of our resources justly and even
liberally; and they left us on Monday, the 28th, with every appliance our
narrow circumstances could furnish to speed and guard them. One of them,
George Riley, returned a few days afterward; but weary months went by
before we saw the rest again. They carried with them a written assurance
of a brother's welcome should they be driven back; and this assurance was
redeemed when hard trials had prepared them to share again our fortunes.
The party moved off with the elastic step of men confident in their
purpose, and were out of sight in a few hours. As we lost them among the
hummocks, the stern realities of our condition pressed themselves upon
us anew. The reduced numbers of our party, the helplessness of many, the
waning efficiency of all, the impending winter, with its cold dark night,
our penury of resources, the dreary sense of increased isolation,--these
made the staple of our thoughts. For a time Sir John Franklin and his
party, our daily topic through so many months, gave place to the question
of our own fortunes,--how we were to escape, how to live. The summer
had gone, the harvest was ended, and--- We did not care to finish the
sentence.
We were like men driven to the wall, quickened, not depressed. Our plans
were formed at once: there is nothing like emergency to speed, if not to
instruct, the energies.
It was my first definite resolve that, come what might, our organization
and its routine of observances should be adhered to strictly. It is the
experience of every man who has either combated difficulties himself,
or attempted to guide others through them, that the controlling law
shall be systematic action. Nothing depresses and demoralises so much
as a surrender of the approved and habitual forms of life. I resolved
that everything should go on as it had done. The arrangement of hours,
the distribution and details of duty, the religious exercises, the
ceremonials of the table, the fires, the lights, the watch, even the
labours of the observatory and the notation of the tides and the
sky,--nothing should be intermitted that had contributed to make up the
day.
My next was to practise on the lessons we had learned from the
Esquimaux. I had studied them carefully, and determined that their form
of habitation and their peculiarities of diet, without their unthrift
and filth, were the safest and best to which the necessity of our
circumstances invited us.
My journal tells how these resolves were carried out:--
"_September 6._--We are at it, all hands, sick and well, each man
according to his measure, working at our winter's home. We are none of us
in condition to brave the frost, and our fuel is nearly out.
"The sledge is to bring us moss and turf from wherever the men can scrape
it. This is an excellent non-conductor; and when we get the quarter-deck
well padded with it, we shall have a nearly cold-proof covering. Down
below we will enclose a space some eighteen feet square, and pack it from
floor to ceiling with inner walls of the same material. The floor itself
we are calking carefully with plaster of Paris and common paste, and
will cover it, when we have done, with Manilla oakum a couple of inches
deep, and a canvas carpet. The entrance is to be from the hold, by a low,
moss-lined tunnel, the _tossut_ of the native huts, with as many doors
and curtains to close it up as our ingenuity can devise. This is to be
our apartment of all uses,--not a very large one; but we are only ten to
stow away, and the closer the warmer.
"_September 9._--All hands but the carpenter and Morton are again out
'mossing.'
[Sidenote: Seal Hunting]
"_September 10._--'The work goes bravely on.' We have got moss enough for
our roof, and something to spare for below. To-morrow we begin to strip
off the outer-deck planking of the brig, and to stack it for firewood. It
is cold work, hatches open and no fires going; but we saved time enough
for our Sunday's exercises, though we forego its rest.
"I determined to try a novel expedient for catching seal. Not more than
ten miles to seaward the icebergs keep up a rude stream of broken ice
and water, and the seals resort there in scanty numbers to breathe. I
drove out with my dogs, taking Hans along; but we found the spot so
hemmed in by loose and fragile ice that there was no approaching it. The
thermometer was 8°, and a light breeze increased my difficulties.
"_Deo volente_, I will be more lucky to-morrow. I am going to take
my long Kentucky rifle, the kayack, an Esquimaux harpoon with its
attached line and bladder, _naligeit_ and _awahtok_, and a pair of large
snow-shoes to boot. My plan this time is to kneel where the ice is
unsafe, resting my weight on the broad surface of the snow-shoes, Hans
following astride of his kayack, as a sort of life-preserver in case of
breaking in. If I am fortunate enough to stalk within gun-range, Hans
will take to the water and secure the game before it sinks. We will be
gone for some days probably, tenting it in the open air; but our sick
men--that is to say, all of us--are languishing for fresh meat."
I started with Hans and five dogs, and in a couple of hours we emerged
upon a plain unlimited to the eye and smooth as a billiard-table.
Feathers of young frosting gave a plush-like nap to its surface, and
toward the horizon dark columns of frost-smoke pointed clearly to the
open water. This ice was firm enough; our experience satisfied us that
it was not a very recent freezing. We pushed on without hesitation,
cheering ourselves with the expectation of coming every minute to the
seals. We passed a second ice-growth; it was not so strong as the one we
had just come over, but still safe for a party like ours. On we went at
a brisker gallop, maybe for another mile, when Hans sang out, at the top
of his voice, "Pusey! puseymut! seal, seal!" At the same instant the dogs
bounded forward, and, as I looked up, I saw crowds of grey netsik, the
rough or hispid seal of the whalers, disporting in an open sea of water.
I had hardly welcomed the spectacle when I saw that we had passed upon
a new belt of ice that was obviously unsafe. To turn was impossible; we
had to keep up our gait. We urged on the dogs with whip and voice, the
ice rolling like leather beneath the sledge-runners; it was more than a
mile to the lump of solid ice. Fear gave to the poor beasts their utmost
speed, and our voices were soon hushed to silence.
[Sidenote: A Serious Accident]
This desperate race against fate could not last: the rolling of the
tough salt-water ice terrified our dogs; and when within fifty paces
from the floe they paused. The left-hand runner went through; our leader
"Toodlamick" followed, and in one second the entire left of the sledge
was submerged. My first thought was to liberate the dogs. I leaned
forward to cut poor Tood's traces, and the next minute was swimming in
a little circle of pasty ice and water alongside him. Hans, dear good
fellow, drew near to help me, uttering piteous expressions in broken
English; but I ordered him to throw himself on his belly, with his hands
and legs extended, and to make for the island by cogging himself forward
with his jack-knife. In the meantime--a mere instant--I was floundering
about with sledge, dogs, and lines, in confused puddle around me.
I succeeded in cutting poor Tood's lines and letting him scramble to the
ice, for the poor fellow was drowning me with his piteous caresses, and
made my way for the sledge; but I found that it would not buoy me, and
that I had no resource but to try the circumference of the hole. Around
this I paddled faithfully, the miserable ice always yielding when my
hopes of a lodgment were greatest. During this process I enlarged my
circle of operations to a very uncomfortable diameter, and was beginning
to feel weaker after every effort. Hans meanwhile had reached the firm
ice, and was on his knees, like a good Moravian, praying incoherently in
English and Esquimaux; at every fresh crushing-in of the ice he would
ejaculate "God!" and when I recommenced my paddling he recommenced his
prayers.
I was nearly gone. My knife had been lost in cutting out the dogs; and
a spare one which I carried in my trouser-pocket was so enveloped in
the wet skins that I could not reach it. I owed my extrication at last
to a newly broken team dog, who was still fast to the sledge, and in
struggling carried one of the runners choke against the edge of the
circle. All my previous attempts to use the sledge as a bridge had
failed, for it broke through, to the much greater injury of the ice.
I felt that it was a last chance. I threw myself on my back, so as to
lessen as much as possible my weight, and placed the nape of my neck
against the rim or edge of the ice; then with caution slowly bent my leg,
and, placing the ball of my mocassined foot against the sledge, I pressed
steadily against the runner, listening to the half-yielding crunch of the
ice beneath.
Presently I felt that my head was pillowed by the ice, and that my wet
fur jumper was sliding up the surface. Next came my shoulders; they were
fairly on. One more decided push, and I was launched up on the ice and
safe. I reached the ice-floe, and was rubbed by Hans with frightful zeal.
We saved all the dogs; but the sledge, kayack, tent, gun, snow-shoes, and
everything besides, were left behind.
On reaching the ship, after a twelve-mile trot, I found so much of
comfort and warm welcome that I forgot my failure. The fire was lit up,
and one of our few birds slaughtered forthwith. It is with real gratitude
that I look back upon my escape, and bless the great presiding Goodness
for the very many resources which remain to us.
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