Paucity of Arctic Expeditions in the Eighteenth Century—Phipps’
Voyage—Walls of Ice—Ferocious Sea-horses—A Beautiful
Glacier—Cook’s Voyage—A Fresh Attempt—Extension of the Government
Rewards—Cape Prince of Wales—Among the Tchuktchis—Icy Cape—Baffled
by the Ice—Russian Voyages—The Two Unconquerable Capes—Peter the
Great—Behring’s Voyages—Discovery of the Straits—The Third
Voyage—Scurvy and Shipwreck—Death of the Commander—New Siberia—The
Ivory Islands.
The eighteenth century was not remarkable for the number of northern
voyages instigated in England for geographical research. This was partly
due to the many previous failures, but still more to important discoveries
which were being made in other parts of the world, and which for the time
threw Arctic adventure in the shade. The land and river expeditions of
Samuel Hearne and Alexander Mackenzie to the shores or neighbourhood of
the Arctic Ocean do not come within the scope of this work, and strong
doubts have been expressed as to whether either of these explorers really
reached salt water, although both were undoubtedly near it.
The northern voyage of Captain Constantine John Phipps (afterwards Lord
Mulgrave) deserves some notice, inasmuch as it was a distinct attempt to
reach the North Pole. The Hon. Daines Barrington and others had, prior to
1773, agitated the subject before the Royal Society, and the President and
Council of that learned body had memorialised the Government to fit out an
expedition for the purpose, which His Majesty was pleased to direct should
be immediately undertaken. Two vessels, the _Racehorse_ and the _Carcass_,
were selected, the former having ninety and the second eighty men on
board. The ships left the Nore on June 10th, 1773, and seventeen days
later had reached the latitude of the southern part of Spitzbergen,
without having met ice or experiencing cold. But from the 5th of July
onwards, when off Spitzbergen, they met immense fields, almost “one
compact, impenetrable body,” and the most heroic and persevering efforts
failed to penetrate it or find an opening. In Waigatz Strait, where some
of the officers landed on a low, flat island, large fir-trees, roots and
all, and in other cases timber which had been hewn with an axe, were
noticed on the shore. These had, undoubtedly, drifted out from some of the
great rivers of the mainland. While here they wounded a sea-horse, which
immediately dived, and brought up a whole army of others to the rescue.
They attacked the boat, which was nearly upset and stove in, and wrested
an oar from one of the sailors.
[Illustration: ENCOUNTER WITH SEA-HORSES.]
On July 30th the weather was exceedingly lovely, and the scene around
them, says Captain Phipps, “beautiful and picturesque; the two ships
becalmed in a large bay, with three apparent openings between the islands
that formed it, but everywhere surrounded with ice as far as we could see,
with some streams of water; not a breath of air; the water perfectly
smooth; the ice covered with snow, low and even, except a few broken
pieces near the edges; the pools of water in the middle of the pieces were
frozen over with young ice.” On August 1st the ice began to press in, and
places which had before been flat and almost level with the water were
forced _higher than the main-yards_ of the vessels. The crews were set to
work to try and cut out the ships, and they sawed through ice sometimes as
much as twelve feet thick, but without effecting their escape. Meantime
the ships drifted with the ice into fourteen fathoms, and Captain Phipps,
greatly alarmed, at one time proposed to abandon the ships and betake to
the boats. On August 7th, keeping their launch out and ready for
emergencies, they crowded all sail on the vessels, and three days later,
after incurring much danger, reached the open water, and anchored in Fair
Haven, Spitzbergen. A remarkably grand iceberg,(27) or, more properly,
glacier, was observed here. The face towards the sea was nearly
perpendicular, and about 300 feet high, with a cascade of water issuing
from it. The contrast of the dark mountains and white snow, with the
beautiful green colour of the near ice, made a very pleasing and uncommon
picture. Phipps describes an iceberg which had floated from this glacier
and grounded in twenty-four fathoms (144 feet). It was fifty feet above
the surface of the water.
Captain Phipps did not pursue his investigations farther, but bore for
England, which he reached late in September. The unfavourable termination
of his voyage did not deter the Government from other efforts. Another
voyage was ordered, and the celebrated navigator, Captain James Cook,
appointed to the command. The object was to attempt once more the
north-west passage, but in a new manner. Hitherto all efforts had been
made from the Atlantic side; on this occasion the plan was reversed, and
the vessels were to enter the Polar seas from the Pacific Ocean. The two
vessels employed, the _Resolution_ and _Discovery_, are now historically
famous from the extensive voyages made in them, in the Pacific more
particularly. The first was commanded by Cook, and the latter by Captain
Clerke. By an Act of Parliament then outstanding a reward of £20,000 was
held out to ships belonging to any of His Majesty’s subjects which should
make the passage, but it excluded the vessels of the Royal Navy. This was
now amended to include His Majesty’s ships, and a further reward of £5,000
offered to any vessel which should approach within one degree of the North
Pole.
The two ships, after making many discoveries in the Pacific, entered
Behring Strait on August 9th, 1779, and anchored near a point of land
which has been subsequently found to be the extreme western point of North
America, and to which Cook gave the name Cape Prince of Wales. Some
elevations, like stages, and others like huts, were seen on this part of
the coast, and they thought also that some people were visible. A little
later Cook stood over to the Asiatic coast, where, entering a large bay,
he found a village of the natives known now-a-days as Tchuktchis. They
were found to be peaceable and civil, and several interchanges of presents
were made.
In 1865 and 1866 the writer of these pages, when in the service of the
Russian-American Telegraph Expedition, had an opportunity of visiting an
almost identical village in Plover Bay, Eastern Siberia.(28) The bay
itself, sometimes called Port Providence, has generally passed by the
former name since the visit of H.M.S. _Plover_, which laid up there in the
winter of 1848-9, when employed on the search for Sir John Franklin. Bare
cliffs and rugged mountains hem it in on three sides, and a long spit, on
which the native village is situated, shelters it on the ocean (or Behring
Sea) side. The Tchuktchis live in skin tents. _The remains of underground
houses are seen, but the people who used them have passed away._ The
present race makes no use of such houses. Although their skin dwellings
appear outwardly rough, and are patched with every variety of hide—walrus,
seal, and reindeer—with here and there a fragment of a sail obtained from
the whalers, they are in reality constructed over frames built of the
larger bones of whales and walruses, and very admirably put together. In
this most exposed of villages the wintry blasts must be fearful, yet these
people are to be found there at all seasons. Wood they have none,(29) and
blubber lamps are the only means they have for warming their tents. The
frames of some of their skin canoes are also of bone. On either side of
these craft, which are the counterpart of the Greenland canoes it is usual
to find a sealskin blown out tight and the ends secured. These serve as
floats to steady the canoe. They have very strong fishing-nets, made of
thin strips of walrus hide.
[Illustration: TCHUKTCHI INDIANS BUILDING A HUT.]
The Tchuktchis are a strongly-built race, although the inhabitants of this
particular village, from intercourse with whaling vessels, have been much
demoralised. One of these natives was seen carrying the awkward burden of
a carpenter’s chest weighing two hundred pounds without apparently
considering it a great exertion. They are a good-humoured people, and not
greedier than the average of natives; they are very generally honest. They
were of much service to a large party of men who wintered there in 1866-7,
at the period when it was proposed to cross Behring Straits with a
submarine cable in connection with the land lines then partly under
construction by the Western Union Telegraph Company of America.
“The children are so tightly sewn up in reindeer-skin clothing that they
look like walking bags, and tumble about with the greatest impunity. All
of these people wear skin coats, pantaloons, and boots, excepting only on
high days in summer, when you may see a few old garments of more civilised
appearance that have seen better days, and have been traded off by the
sailors of vessels calling there.
“The true Tchuktchi method of smoking is to swallow all the fumes of the
tobacco; and I have seen them after six or eight pulls at a pipe fall
back, completely intoxicated for the time being. Their pipes are
infinitely larger in the stem than in the bowl; the latter, indeed, holds
an infinitesimally small amount of tobacco.
“It is said that the Tchuktchis murder the old and feeble, but only with
the victim’s consent! They do not appear to indulge in any unnecessary
cruelty, but endeavour to stupify the aged sacrifice before letting a
vein. This is said to be done by putting some substance up the nostrils;
but the whole statement must be received with caution, although we derived
it from a shrewd native who had been much employed by the captains of
vessels in the capacity of interpreter, and who could speak in broken
English.
“This native, by name ‘Nau-Kum,’ was of service on various occasions, and
was accordingly much petted by us. Some of his remarks are worthy of
record. On being taken down into the engine-room of the steamer _Wright_,
he examined it carefully, and then shaking his head, said solemnly, ‘_Too_
muchee wheel, makee man too muchee think!’ His curiosity when on board was
unappeasable. ‘What’s that fellow?’ was his constant query with regard to
anything, from the ‘donkey-engine’ to the mainmast. On one occasion he
heard two men discussing rather warmly, and could not at all understand
such unnecessary excitement. ‘That fellow crazy?’ said he. Colonel Bulkley
(engineer-in-chief of the telegraph enterprise) gave him a suit of clothes
with gorgeous brass buttons, and many other presents. The whalers use such
men on occasions as pilots, traders, and interpreters, and to Naukum in
particular I know as much as five barrels of villanous whiskey have been
entrusted, for which he accounted satisfactorily. The truth-loving
Chippewa, when asked, ‘Are you a Christian Indian?’ promptly replied, ‘No,
I whishkey Injen!’ and the truthful Tchuktchi would say the same. They all
appear to be intensely fond of spirits. The traders sell them liquors of
the most horrible kind, not much superior to the ‘coal oil’ or ‘kerosene’
used for lamps.” So much for natives, who, in Captain Cook’s time, were
doubtless much more innocent and unsophisticated.
To resume our narrative: Cook again crossed to the northern American
coast, and on August 17th reached a point encumbered with ice, which
formed an impenetrable field. To this point he gave the name Icy Cape, and
it was the furthest east he was able to proceed. While he made every
effort to fulfil the object of his mission he was baffled at every point,
and on August 30th he turned the vessels’ bows southward. After many
explorations of both the Asiatic and American coasts, it will be
remembered that he lost his life at the Sandwich Islands. He was succeeded
by Captain Clerke, who in 1779 again attempted to make the passage, but
with even less success than had been attained by Captain Cook.
In order that the various sections of this subject should not become
confused or involved, mention of many Russian voyages, which had for their
aim the exploration of the coasts of Northern Asia, and among which were
several direct attempts at making the north-east passage, has been
purposely omitted till now. As early as 1648 Deshneff undoubtedly made a
voyage from the mouth of the Kolyma round the extreme eastern point of
Asia, and through Behring Straits to the Anadyr. In very early times the
Russians used to creep along the coast at the other end of the continent,
from Archangel to the Obi, and in the eighteenth century, in particular,
many efforts were made to extend the explorations eastward. In brief,
several explorers, Lieutenants Maravief, Malgyn, and Shurakoff, between
the years 1734 and 1738, sailed from Archangel to the Obi, doubling the
promontory; Lieutenant Koskelof made a successful voyage from the Obi to
the Yenesei in 1738; and in 1735 Lieutenant Pronchishchef, who was
accompanied by his wife, got very close to Cape Chelyuskin (or North-east
Cape) on its eastern side, his vessel being frozen in near that point.
Both himself and his wife died there. In 1742 Lieutenant Chelyuskin
reached the northernmost cape, which bears his name, by a sledge journey.
The North East Cape (Cape Chelyuskin) and the neighbouring Cape Taimyr(30)
had never been rounded, till Professor Nordenskjöld only the other day
succeeded in passing both, thus making the long-sought north-east passage.
From the Lena eastward to the Kolyma voyages have often been made, and, as
we have seen, Deshneff had completed the circuit of the coast from the
Kolyma eastward at a very early period. The records of this voyage were
entirely overlooked for a century, when they were unearthed at Yakutsk, in
Siberia, by Müller, the historian of the voyages about to be narrated.
Inseparably connected with the history of Arctic voyages are those of
Vitus Behring, an explorer who deserves to rank among the greatest of his
century, although his several adventurous attempts are comparatively
little known. Behring was a Dane who had been attracted into the Russian
service by the fame of Peter the Great, and his expeditions had been
directly planned by that enterprising and sagacious monarch. The emperor,
however, did not live to see them consummated. Their main objects were to
determine whether Asia and America did or did not join at some northern
point and form one continent; and if detached, how nearly the coasts
approached each other. “The Empress Catherine,” says Müller, the historian
of Behring’s life, “as she endeavoured in all points to execute most
precisely the plans of her deceased husband, in a manner began her reign
with an order for the expedition to Kamtschatka.” Behring was appointed
commander, having associated with him Lieutenants Spanberg and
Tschirikoff. They took their final orders on February 5th, 1725, and
proceeded overland through Siberia to the Ochotsk Sea. It certainly gives
some idea of the difficult nature of the trip in those days when we find
that it occupied them _two years_ to transport their stores and outfit to
Ochotsk. A vessel was specially constructed, in which they crossed to
Bolcheretsk, in Kamchatka,(31) and the following winter their provisions
and naval stores were transported to Nishni (new) Kamchatka, a small town,
or rather village, which is still one of the few settlements in that great
peninsula. “On the 4th of April, 1728,” says Müller, “a boat was put upon
the stocks, like the packet-boats used in the Baltick, and on the 10th of
July was launched, and named the boat _Gabriel_.” On the 20th of the same
month Behring left the river, and following the east coasts of Kamchatka
and Siberia, reached as far north as 67° 18’ in the straits which now bear
his name. Here, finding the land trend to the west, he came to the
conclusion that he had reached the extreme point of Asia, and that the
continent of America, although contiguous, did not join it. Of course we
know that in the latter and main point he was right. He discovered St.
Laurence Island, and in the autumn returned successfully to the town from
which he had sailed. In a second voyage contrary winds baffled all his
efforts to reach and examine the coasts of America, and eventually he
doubled the southern point of Kamchatka, and returned viâ the Siberian
overland route to St. Petersburg.
It is to the third voyage of Behring that the greatest interest attaches.
His first attempt had been successful in its main object, and both the
leader and his officers were fired with an ambition to distinguish
themselves in further explorations. Müller says:—“The design of the first
voyage was not brought on the carpet again upon this occasion, since it
was looked upon as completed; but instead of that, orders were given to
make voyages, as well eastward to the continent of America as southward to
Japan, and to discover, if possible, at the same time, _through the frozen
sea the north passage_ (the italics are ours—ED.), which had been so
frequently attempted by the English and Dutch. The Senate, the Admiralty
Office, and the Academy of Sciences, all took their parts to complete this
important undertaking.” Behring and his faithful lieutenants were
promoted, and a number of naval officers were ordered to join the
expedition. Several scientific professors, John George Gmelin, Lewis de
Lisle de la Croyère, S. Müller, and one Steller, a student, volunteered to
accompany Behring. Two of these latter never went to sea—a probably
fortunate circumstance for themselves, as the sequel will show—but
confined themselves to land researches in Siberia.
After long and tedious journeyings, and great trouble in transporting
their stores across the dreary wilds of Siberia, they at length reached
Petropaulovski, Kamchatka, and having constructed vessels, left that port
on July 4th, 1741, on their eventful voyage. Early in its history the
ships became separated during the continuance of a terrible gale. Behring
discovered many of the Aleutian and other islands nearer the American
coast. The scurvy making its appearance, this brave commander endeavoured
to return to Kamchatka. The sickness increased, and they became so
exhausted that “two sailors who used to be at the rudder were obliged to
be led in by two others who could hardly walk. And when one could sit and
steer no longer, another, in little better condition, supplied his place.
Many sails they durst not hoist, because there was nobody to lower them in
case of need.” At last land appeared, and they endeavoured to sail towards
it; getting near it, the anchor was dropped. A violent gale arose, and the
vessel was driven on the rocks, which she touched; they cast a second
anchor, but its cable was snapped before it took ground. Their little
barque was thrown bodily over the rocks by a sea which threatened to
overwhelm them, but, fortunately, inside the reef the water was calmer,
and the crew, having rested, managed to launch their boat, and some of
them reached the shore. There was scarcely any drift-wood on the beach,
and no trees on the island; hence they determined to roof over some small
ravines or gullies near the beach. On the “8th of November a beginning was
made to land the sick, but some died as soon as they were brought from
between-decks in the open air, others during the time they were on the
deck, some in the boat, and many more as soon as they were brought on
shore.” The following day the commander, Behring—himself terribly
prostrated with scurvy—was brought ashore on a hand-barrow, and a month
later died on the island which is now known by his name. “He may be said
to have been buried half alive, for the sand rolling down continually from
the side of the ditch in which he lay, and covering his feet, he at last
would not suffer it to be removed, and said that he felt some warmth from
it, which otherwise he should want in the remaining parts of his body; and
thus the sand increased to his belly, so that after his decease they were
obliged to scrape him out of the ground in order to inter him in a proper
manner.” Poor Behring! It was a melancholy end for an explorer so great.
Their vessel, lying unprotected, became an utter wreck, and the larger
part of their stores and provisions was lost. They subsisted for a
considerable time on dead whales which had been driven ashore. At last, in
the spring they resolved to construct a small vessel from the wreck, which
was at length completed, and they left the dreary scene of their
sufferings. Never were shipwrecked mariners more rejoiced than when once
more they sighted and reached the coast of Kamchatka. Behring’s companion,
Tschirikoff, had preceded them the previous autumn, having lost twenty-one
men by scurvy; and the Professor de la Croyère, who had lingered till the
last moment, died in sight of Petropaulovski.
In 1770 a Russian merchant, named Liakhof, crossed on the ice from the
mainland to the islands in the Polar Ocean which now bear his name,
although sometimes called New Siberia. Immense quantities of mammoth bones
were discovered, and he obtained from the Empress Catherine the exclusive
right of digging for them. As late as the year 1821 as much as nine to ten
tons per annum of this fossil ivory were being obtained from this source.
Hedenström, in 1809, and Anjou, in 1821, examined these islands in detail.
The latter travelled out on the ice to a considerable distance north of
the islands, and found _open water_.