THE MAGNETIC POLE.—A LAND JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA.
Sir John Ross and the _Victory_—First Steam Vessel employed in the
Arctic—Discovery of the Magnetic Pole—The British Flag waving over
it—Franklin and Richardson’s Journeys to the Polar Sea—The
Coppermine River—Sea Voyage in Birch-bark Canoes—Return
Journey—Terrible Sufferings—Starvation and Utter Exhaustion—Deaths
by the Way—A Brave Feat—Relieved at length—Journey to the Mouth of
the Mackenzie—Fracas with the Esquimaux—Peace Restored.
Immediately after the return of Parry’s expedition in 1827, Sir John Ross
submitted to the Admiralty the plans for the voyage of which we are about
to speak. Hitherto all voyages of discovery in the Arctic seas had been
made in sailing vessels. Ross deserves the credit of having been the first
to urge the employment of a steam-ship in that service. His proposals were
not accepted, and he therefore laid the scheme before a wealthy friend,
Mr. Sheriff Booth. At that time the Parliamentary reward of £20,000 was
still outstanding to the discoverer of a north-west passage, and Mr. Booth
declined to embark “in what might be deemed by others a mere mercantile
speculation.” Not long afterwards, the Government reward being withdrawn,
Mr. Booth immediately empowered Ross to provide, at his own private
expense, all that was necessary for the expedition. A paddle-wheel
steamer, the _Victory_, was purchased. The vessel was strengthened and
many other improvements made. She was provisioned for a thousand days, and
was to have been accompanied for some distance by a store-ship. The men on
the latter mutinied at Loch Ryan, and the larger part of them immediately
left the ship, which, to make a long story short, never proceeded on this
voyage. Misfortune befell the _Victory_; her engines proved a total
failure, and at the commencement of the voyage were the cause of much
anxiety and worry to the commander. It must be remembered that _sea-going_
steamers were then of very recent introduction, while long _ocean voyages_
in steam-ships were almost unthought of. Symington’s first _river_ steamer
had indeed made her first trip on the Clyde as early as 1788, but the
earliest _sea-going_ steamboat of which we have record did not make a trip
till 1815. The voyage was only from Glasgow to London. As we have seen, an
American steamer crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool in 1819; but it
was not till 1838, when the _Great Western_ and _Sirius_ crossed the
Atlantic, that this great steamship route was really opened. Ross was
therefore very early in the field, and should be regarded as a man of
penetration for his epoch. Nowadays, as we all know, vessels with at least
auxiliary, if not complete steam power, are nearly always employed in
Government expeditions, and even by whalers in the Arctic seas.
The expedition left England May 23rd, 1829, and arrived home again on
October 18th, 1833, having thus been absent for the lengthened period of
four years and five months. The coast surveys made by Ross of King
William’s Land and Boothia Felix (named after the munificent merchant who
had so liberally provided the expedition) were careful, and doubtless
accurate, but not very extensive. The most interesting feature of all was
the determination of the exact locality of the Magnetic Pole, which was
accomplished by the nephew of Sir John Ross (later Sir James Ross) on June
1st, 1831.
Before leaving the vessel it was perfectly understood that they were in
the immediate vicinity of the Magnetic Pole; and, indeed, it was
afterwards proved that Commander Ross had been, in a preceding land
journey in 1830, within ten miles of the spot, but had been unprovided
with the necessary instruments to determine that fact. The weather on the
trip was tempestuous and blustering, but no special disaster occurred, and
on the morning of May 31st they found themselves within fourteen miles of
the calculated position. Leaving behind the larger part of their baggage
and provisions on the beach, the party hurried forward in a state of
excitement pardonable under the circumstances. At eight o’clock the next
morning their journey was at an end, and never, doubtless, were exhausted
men more thoroughly happy. It will interest the reader to learn how the
Magnetic Pole looks.
“The land,” wrote Ross the younger, “at this place is very low near the
coast, but it rises into ridges of fifty or sixty feet high about a mile
inland. We could have wished that a place so important had possessed more
of mark or note. It was scarcely censurable to regret that there was not a
mountain to indicate a spot to which so much of interest must ever be
attached; and I could even have pardoned any one among us who had been so
romantic or absurd as to expect that the Magnetic Pole was an object as
conspicuous and mysterious as the fabled mountain of Sinbad, that it was
even a mountain of iron, or a magnet as large as Mont Blanc. But Nature
had here erected no monument to denote the spot which she had chosen as
the centre of one of her great and dark powers, and where we could do
little ourselves toward this end.... We were, however, fortunate in here
finding some huts of Esquimaux that had not long been abandoned.” A series
of scientific observations were at once made, the most conspicuous results
of which were as follows:—At their observatory the amount of the dip, as
indicated by the dipping-needle, was 89° 59’, being thus within one minute
of the vertical, while the proximity of the Magnetic Pole was confirmed by
the absolute inaction of the several horizontal needles. “These were
suspended in the most delicate manner possible, but there was not one
which showed the slightest effort to move from the position in which it
was placed.” In other words, the magnetic force was dead in that very spot
to which millions of compasses are ever pointing.
The British flag was fixed on the spot, and the discoverers took
possession of the Magnetic Pole in the name of Great Britain and King
William IV. A limestone cairn was erected, in which a canister containing
the record of the visit of Ross and his companions was deposited. Ross
says that “had it been a pyramid as large as that of Cheops, I am not
quite sure that it would have done more than satisfy our ambition under
the feelings of that exciting day. The latitude of this spot is 70° 5’
17", and its longitude 96° 46’ 45" W.” On the return journey to the ship
they encountered blinding snow-storms, but eventually reached it in
safety, after an absence of twenty-eight days.
[Illustration: DR. (AFTERWARDS SIR) JOHN RICHARDSON.]
[Illustration: FORT ENTERPRISE.]
[Illustration: RICHARDSON’S ADVENTURE WITH WHITE WOLVES.]
In 1819-22 Franklin made a most remarkable and perilous land and river
journey to the shores of the Polar Sea, which will be only briefly noticed
here for obvious reasons. The party consisted of Franklin, Dr. Richardson,
Back, Hood, and a sailor named Hepburn, who is very highly commended in
the narrative. They left England May 22nd, 1819, and reached York Factory,
Hudson’s Bay, at the end of August. Thence they proceeded to Cumberland
House, whence Franklin, Back, and Hepburn, travelled to Carlton House and
Chipewyan, a winter journey of 857 miles; the others followed, and a
number of _voyageurs_ were engaged. In the spring they again started,
reaching Fort Providence on July 28th, 1820, from which place they
proceeded to a point situated by Winter Lake, where they determined to
erect a house and pass the winter. The house, or post, was named Fort
Enterprise. Back and others travelled backwards and forwards this winter
1,104 miles in order to fetch up a sufficient quantity of provisions for
their next summer’s work, and suffered severely from the intense cold and
from something like starvation on many occasions. The last day of June,
1821, the party reached and embarked upon the Coppermine River, and
eighteen days later reached the sea-coast, about 317 miles from their last
winter quarters. The canoes and baggage had been dragged over snow and ice
for 117 miles of this distance, and they had successfully passed many
rapids. They were now in the country of the Esquimaux, and exposed to
fresh anxieties from the unfriendly feeling which existed between them and
the Indians. Dr. Richardson, one night, whilst on the first watch, had
seated himself on a hill overhanging the river; his thoughts were possibly
engaged with far distant scenes, when he was roused by an indistinct noise
behind him, and, on looking round, perceived that nine white wolves had
ranged themselves in the form of a crescent, and were advancing,
apparently with the intention of driving him into the river. On his rising
up they halted, and when he advanced, they made way for his passage down
to the tents. He had his gun in his hand, but forbore to fire, lest he
should alarm any Esquimaux who might possibly be in the neighbourhood. The
Canadian _voyageurs_ were delighted with their first view of the sea, and
amused at the sight of the seals gambolling and swimming about, but were
not unnaturally terrified at the idea of the voyage, through an icy sea,
now proposed by Franklin. On July 21st, with only fifteen days’ provisions
on board, they commenced an eastward trip of 550 miles, which is little
less than the direct distance between the Coppermine River and Repulse
Bay, which Franklin had at one time fondly hoped to reach. Storms arose;
their canoes were badly shattered and their provisions nearly exhausted,
and at a position now marked on the map as Point Turnagain they desisted
from further attempts. He determined to steer westward at once for Arctic
Sound, and by Hood’s River attempt to reach their old quarters at Fort
Enterprise. They had a somewhat chilling prospect before them, for as
early as August 20th the pools were frozen over, snow on the ground, and
the thermometer down to freezing point at noon. The hunters were
unsuccessful, and they made “a scanty meal off a handful of pemmican,
after which only half a bag remained.” Bad as were the canoes, and worse
as was the weather, they managed to paddle along bravely till, on the
26th, they reached Hood’s River. “Here,” says Franklin, “terminated our
voyage on the Arctic Sea, during which we had gone over 650 geographical
miles.” “Our Canadian voyagers,” Franklin mentions, “could not restrain
their joy at having turned their backs on the sea, and they spent the
evening in talking over their past adventures with much humour and no
little exaggeration. It is due to their character to mention that they
displayed much courage in encountering the dangers of the sea, magnified
to them by their novelty.” They proceeded a few miles up the river, and
then encamped.
Two small canoes having been constructed from the remains of the older and
now almost useless ones, they, on the 1st of September, left the river,
the commander having determined to make a direct line for Point Lake, 149
miles distant. Having proceeded a dozen or so miles, they encountered a
severe snow-storm, which obliged them to encamp, and it raged so violently
that they were obliged to stop there, muffled up in their blankets and
skins, for nearly a week. On the 3rd of September the _last_ piece of
pemmican and a small quantity of arrowroot were served out, and with no
fire, a temperature below freezing, and wet garments, they were in a
miserable plight. The storm abated on the 7th, but when they attempted to
proceed Franklin was seized with a fainting fit, in consequence of sudden
exposure and exhaustion. Several of the men, with much kindness, urged him
to eat a morsel of portable soup, the small and only remaining meal,
which, after much hesitation, he did, and was much revived. The
canoe-carriers were so weak that they were constantly blown down, and one
of their little boats was crushed to pieces by a fall. They utilised it by
making a fire to cook the remnant of portable soup and arrowroot—their
last meal. For the next two days they had to live on the lichen named by
the Canadians _tripe de roche_, but on the 10th they killed a large musk
ox—which, by-the-bye, was a cow—and they enjoyed a good meal. Soon again
all supplies failed them, and a fatal despondency settled upon many of the
men, who, giving up all hope, left behind articles of incalculable value
to the expedition, including the second canoe and their fishing-nets. It
must be remembered that they were passing over a most rugged country,
where they had constantly to cross streams and rivers, and were living
mainly on a scanty supply of _tripe de roche_. At this depressing moment a
fine trait of disinterestedness occurred. As the officers stood together
round a small fire, enduring the very intensity of hunger, Perrault, one
of the Canadians, presented each of them with a piece of meat out of a
little store which he had saved from his allowance. “It was received,”
says Franklin, “with great thankfulness, and such an instance of
self-denial and kindness filled our eyes with tears.” Back, the most
active and vigorous of the party, was sent forward with some of the
hunters to apprise the people at Fort Enterprise of the approach of the
rest. Credit and Junius followed them, also to hunt. Credit returned, but
Junius was missing and was never after heard of. They had now reached a
branch of the Coppermine River, and it became necessary to make a raft of
willows, which occupied them to the 29th. Then all attempts to cross the
river in it failed.
[Illustration: PERRAULT DIVIDING HIS LITTLE STORE.]
“In this hopeless condition,” says Franklin, “with certain starvation
staring them in the face, Dr. Richardson, actuated by the noble desire of
making a last effort for the safety of the party, and of relieving his
suffering companions from a state of misery which could only terminate,
and that speedily, in death, volunteered to make the attempt to swim
across the stream, carrying with him a line by which the raft might be
hauled over.
“He launched into the stream with the line round his middle, but when he
had got to a short distance from the opposite bank his arms became
benumbed with cold, and he lost the power of moving them; still he
persevered, and turning on his back, had nearly gained the opposite shore,
when his legs also became powerless, and to our infinite alarm we beheld
him sink; we instantly hauled upon the line, and he came again on the
surface, and was gradually drawn ashore in an almost lifeless state. Being
rolled up in blankets, he was placed before a good fire of willows, and
fortunately was just able to speak sufficiently to give some slight
directions respecting the manner of treating him. He recovered strength
gradually, and through the blessing of God was enabled in the course of a
few hours to converse, and by the evening was sufficiently recovered to
remove into the tent. We then regretted to learn that the skin of his
whole left side was deprived of feeling, in consequence of exposure to too
great heat. He did not perfectly recover the sensation of that side until
the following summer. I cannot describe what every one felt at beholding
the skeleton which the doctor’s debilitated frame exhibited when he
stripped; the Canadians simultaneously exclaimed, ‘_Ah! que nous sommes
maigres!_’ I shall best explain his state and that of the party by the
following extract from his journal:—
“‘It may be worthy of remark that I should have had little hesitation in
any former period of my life at plunging into water even below 38°
Fahrenheit; but at this time I was reduced almost to skin and bone, and,
like the rest of the party, suffered from degrees of cold that would have
been disregarded in health and vigour. During the whole of our march we
experienced that no quantity of clothing would keep us warm whilst we
fasted; but on those occasions on which we were enabled to go to bed with
full stomachs we passed the night in a warm and comfortable manner.’”
Franklin adds:—“In following the detail of our friend’s narrow escape, I
have omitted to mention that when he was about to step into the water he
put his foot on a dagger, which cut him to the bone; but this misfortune
could not stop him from attempting the execution of his generous
undertaking.”
But although they had crossed the river they had much before them, and a
fearful amount of despondency prevailed. Franklin wishing one day to reach
one of his men three-quarters of a mile distant, spent _three hours_ in a
vain attempt to wade through the snow. Hood was reduced to a perfect
skeleton, Richardson was lame as well as exhausted, and even Back, the
energetic and unconquerable, had to use a stick. The _voyageurs_ were
somewhat stronger, but seem to have given up all hope; Hepburn alone seems
to have remained cheerful and resigned, and he was indefatigable in
collecting _tripe de roche_. On October 4th it was determined that
Franklin, with eight of his party, should push forward, and endeavour to
send back assistance. Four of these broke down almost immediately, and
endeavoured to return to the last camp; only one arrived; the other three
_were no more heard of_. Franklin succeeded in reaching Fort Enterprise,
where they found neither inhabitants nor supplies. On the way they had
literally eaten a part of their boots, and at the house were only too glad
to boil bones and pieces of skin for their sustenance. It is almost
impossible to give the reader in few words a fair idea of the terrible
condition in which they were. Franklin determined to push forward to the
next fort, but found that he had made but four miles in the first six
hours’ travel, and he, therefore, reluctantly returned to the house,
letting two of the Canadians proceed. Eighteen days elapsed, and then Dr.
Richardson and Hepburn arrived. Mr. Hood had, meantime, been shot by
Michel, one of their Indians, who it was believed had also been the
murderer of the three exhausted men who had been missing. He had remained
in strong and vigorous condition when the rest were utterly exhausted. Dr.
Richardson, being thoroughly convinced of these facts, killed Michel with
a pistol-shot shortly afterwards. “The emaciated countenances of the
doctor and Hepburn” gave evidence of their debilitated state. “The
doctor,” says Franklin, “particularly remarked the sepulchral tones of our
voices, which he requested of us to make more cheerful, if possible,
unconscious that his own partook of the same key.” Hepburn had shot a
partridge on the way, and the _sixth part of this_ was the first morsel of
flesh Franklin and his three companions had tasted for thirty-one days. At
length the long-expected relief from Back arrived by three Indians, but
not till two of the Canadians had succumbed. Back himself, in spite of his
splendid constitution, had suffered privations hardly second to those
recorded above. But from this period no great difficulties were
encountered on the return to Fort York, and Franklin and his brave
companions, poor Hood excepted, eventually reached England in safety.
Many would have been content to rest on their laurels; not so Franklin,
Richardson, or Back, who almost immediately afterwards volunteered to
again dare the perils of these same regions. The “second expedition to the
shores of the Polar Sea” was not marked by those disasters which had
befallen the previous one, but was none the less remarkable and daring. It
was, however, much better provided. Three light boats were built at
Woolwich specially for this expedition, and a fourth, covered with
india-rubber canvas, called the _Walnut Shell_, was taken for the purpose
of crossing rivers and for easy transportation.
Passing over all previous matters, suffice it to say that Franklin and his
party successfully reached the mouth of the great Mackenzie River, where,
on Garry Island, says Franklin’s narrative, “the men had pitched the tent
on the beach, and I caused the silk union flag to be hoisted which my
deeply-lamented wife(34) had made and presented to me as a parting gift,
under the express injunction that it was not to be unfurled before the
expedition reached the sea. I will not attempt to describe my emotions as
it expanded to the breeze; however natural, and, for the moment,
irresistible, I felt that it was my duty to suppress them, and that I had
no right, by an indulgence of my own sorrows, to cloud the animated
countenances of my companions. Joining, therefore, with the best grace
that I could command, in the general excitement, I endeavoured to return,
with corresponding cheerfulness, their warm congratulations on having thus
planted the British flag on this remote island of the Polar Sea.
“Some spirits which had been saved for the occasion were issued to the
men, and with three fervent cheers they drank to the health of our beloved
monarch and to the continued success of our enterprise. Mr. Kendall and I
had also reserved a little of our brandy in order to celebrate this
interesting event; but Baptisto, in his delight at beholding the sea, had
set before us some salt water, which, having been mixed with the brandy
before the mistake was discovered, we were reluctantly obliged to forego
the intended draught, and to use it in the more classical form of a
libation poured on the ground.”
Severe weather compelled them to return up the river to their station at
Fort Franklin on this occasion, but they returned to the mouth of the
Mackenzie in the following season, where they nearly had a serious
difficulty with the natives. Franklin had been ashore, and had noted on
one of the islands a number of tents, with Esquimaux strolling about. He
hastened back to the boats to prepare presents for them. Some
seventy-three canoes and five large skin boats were soon seen approaching,
with perhaps three hundred persons on board. They speedily showed a great
desire to trade. Augustus, the interpreter, explained the objects of the
visit, and that if they should succeed in finding a navigable channel for
large ships a great trade would be opened with them. This delighted them,
and they shouted with the greatest vigour. Unfortunately, just after this,
“a kaiyack being overset by one of the _Lion’s_ (the leading boat) oars,
its owner was plunged into the water with his head in the mud, and
apparently in danger of being drowned. We instantly extricated him from
his unpleasant situation, and took him into the boat until the water could
be thrown out of his kaiyack; and Augustus, seeing him shivering with
cold, wrapped him up in his own great-coat. At first he was exceedingly
angry, but soon became reconciled to his situation, and, looking about,
discovered that we had many bales and other articles in the boat, which
had been concealed from the people in the kaiyacks by the coverings being
carefully spread over all. He soon began to ask for everything he saw, and
expressed much displeasure on our refusing to comply with his demands. He
also, we afterwards learned, excited the cupidity of others by his account
of the inexhaustible riches in the _Lion_, and several of the younger men
endeavoured to get into both our boats, but we resisted all their
attempts.”
They, however, tried hard to steal everything on which they could lay
hands. One of the crew noticed that the native who had been upset had
stolen a pistol from Lieutenant Back, which he endeavoured to conceal
under his shirt, and the thief, finding it was observed, jumped out of the
boat into the shallow water, and escaped.
“Two of the most powerful men,” says Franklin, “jumping on board at the
same time, seized me by the wrists, and forced me to sit between them; and
as I shook them loose two or three times, a third Esquimaux took his
station in front to catch my arm whenever I attempted to lift my gun or
the broad dagger which hung by my side. The whole way to the shore they
kept repeating the word ‘_teyma_’ beating gently on my left breast with
their hands and pressing mine against their breasts. As we neared the
beach two oomiaks, full of women, arrived, and the ‘_teymas_’ and
vociferations were redoubled. The _Reliance_ was first brought to the
shore, and the _Lion_ close to her a few seconds afterwards. The three men
who held me now leaped ashore, and those who had remained in their canoes,
taking them out of the water, carried them a little distance. A numerous
party then, drawing their knives and stripping themselves to the waist,
ran to the _Reliance_, and, having first hauled her as far up as they
could, began a regular pillage, handing the articles to the women, who,
ranged in a row behind, quickly conveyed them out of sight.” In short,
Lieutenant Back, who had desisted from any violence up to this period, now
ordered his men to level their muskets on them, but not to fire till the
word of command. The effect was magical as a stage effect: in a few
minutes not an Esquimaux was to be seen. They made for the shore, and hid
behind the piles of drift-wood on the beach. Augustus, the interpreter,
subsequently made speech to them, showing them that their conduct had been
very bad, and that the “white man” could well take care of himself. “Do
not deceive yourselves,” said he, “and suppose they are afraid of you. I
tell you they are not, and that it is entirely owing to their humanity
that many of you were not killed to-day; for they have all guns, with
which they can destroy you either when near or at a distance. I also have
a gun, and can assure you that if a white man had fallen I would have been
the first to have revenged his death.” The language, of course, is
Franklin’s; but these were the general sentiments expressed in their
tongue. It was received with shouts of applause; and a little later they
pleaded that having seen so many fine things new to them they could not
resist the temptation of stealing. They promised better behaviour, and,
what is more to the point, restored the articles which they had purloined.
Thus, what might have proved a serious affray was prevented. The
Esquimaux, like all unsophisticated natives, are, or were then, mere
children, but children capable of doing much harm.
[Illustration: ESQUIMAUX KAIYACKS AND BOAT.]
Franklin traced the coast in a westerly direction to latitude 70° 24’ N.,
longitude, 149° 37’ W., and discovered several large rivers. Fogs, gales,
rain, and drift ice interrupted their progress, but they were enabled to
examine close on 400 miles of a new coast. Dr. Richardson meantime traced
the coast eastward from the Mackenzie to the Coppermine River, afterwards
travelling by land and river to Fort Franklin. Thanks to the excellent
arrangements made, his party endured no great privations, and this second
series of journeys to the Polar Sea formed a pleasant sequel to the first,
which were marked by so many disasters.