Burial in the pack--Musk oxen in lat. 80° north--Thrift of the Arctic
fox--The aurora affects the electrometer--An Arctic
Christmas--Sufferings of Dr. Kane's deserters--Ice acted on by wind
only--How the sun ought to be welcomed--Constant action of the
ice--Return of the seals--Revolving storm.
{DEC., 1857.}
{BURIAL IN THE PACK.}
_4th Dec._--I have just returned on board from the performance of the
most solemn duty a commander can be called upon to fulfil. A funeral at
sea is always peculiarly impressive; but this evening at seven o'clock,
as we gathered around the sad remains of poor Scott, reposing under an
Union Jack, and read the Burial Service by the light of lanterns, the
effect could not fail to awaken very serious emotions.
The greater part of the Church Service was read on board, under shelter
of the housing; the body was then placed upon a sledge, and drawn by the
messmates of the deceased to a short distance from the ship, where a
hole through the ice had been cut: it was then "committed to the deep,"
and the Service completed. What a scene it was! I shall never forget it.
The lonely 'Fox,' almost buried in snow, completely isolated from the
habitable world, her colors half-mast high, and bell mournfully
tolling; our little procession slowly marching over the rough surface of
the frozen sea, guided by lanterns and direction-posts, amid the dark
and dreary depth of Arctic winter; the deathlike stillness, the intense
cold, and threatening aspect of a murky, overcast sky; and all this
heightened by one of those strange lunar phenomena which are but seldom
seen even here, a complete halo encircling the moon, through which
passed a horizontal band of pale light that encompassed the heavens;
above the moon appeared the segments of two other halos, and there were
also mock moons or paraselenæ to the number of six. The misty atmosphere
lent a very ghastly hue to this singular display, which lasted for
rather more than an hour.
Poor Scott fell down a hatchway two days only before his death, which
was occasioned by the internal injuries then received; he was a steady,
serious man; a widow and family will mourn his loss. He was our
engine-driver; we cannot replace him, therefore the whole duty of
working the engines will devolve upon the engineer, Mr. Brand.
_11th._--Calm, clear weather, pleasant for exercise, but steadily cold;
thermometer varies between -20° and -30°. At noon the blush of dawn
tints the southern horizon, to the north the sky remains inky blue,
whilst overhead it is bright and clear, the stars shining, and the
pole-star near the zenith very distinct. Although there is a light
north wind, thin mackerel-clouds are passing from south to north, and
the temperature has risen 10°.
[Illustration: A Funeral on the Ice. The effect of Paraselenæ--Mock
Moons.]
{MUSK OXEN IN LAT. 80° N.}
I have been questioning Petersen about the bones of the musk oxen found
in Smith's Sound; he says the decayed skulls of about twenty were found,
all of them to the north of the 79th parallel. As they were all without
lower jaws, he says they were killed by Esquimaux, who leave upon the
spot the skulls of large animals, but the weight of the lower jaw being
so trifling it is allowed to remain attached to the flesh and tongue.
The skull of a musk ox with its massive horns cannot weigh less than 30
lbs.
Although it has been abundantly proved by the existence of raised
beaches and fossils, that the shores of Smith's Sound have been elevated
within a comparatively recent geological period, yet Petersen tells me
that there exist numerous ruins of Esquimaux buildings, probably one or
two centuries old, all of which are situated upon very low points, only
just sufficiently raised above the reach of the sea; such sites, in
fact, as would at present be selected by the natives. These ruins show
that no perceptible change has taken place in the relative level of sea
and land since they were originally constructed. At Petersen's Greenland
home, Upernivik, the land has sunk, as is plainly shown by similar
ruins over which the tides now flow.
{THRIFT OF THE ARCTIC FOX.}
Anything which illustrates the habits of animals in such extremely high
latitudes I think is most interesting; their instincts must be quickened
in proportion as the difficulty of subsisting increases. Foxes, white
and blue, are very numerous; all the birds are merely summer visitors,
therefore the hare is the only creature remaining upon which foxes can
prey; but the hares are comparatively scarce: how then do the foxes live
for eight months of each year? Petersen thinks they store up provisions
during the summer in various holes and crevices, and thus manage to eke
out an existence during the dark winter season; he once saw a fox carry
off eggs in his mouth from an eider-duck's nest, one at a time, until
the whole were removed; and in winter he has observed a fox scratch a
hole down through very deep snow, to a câche of eggs beneath.
The men are exercised at building snow-huts; for winter or early spring
travelling, this knowledge is almost indispensable. Upon a calm day the
temperature of the external air being -33°, within a snow-hut the
thermometer stood 17° higher, this important difference being due to the
transmission of heat through the ice from the sea beneath.
Evaporation goes on through ice from the water underneath it. The
interior of each snow-hut is coated with crystals, and the ice upon
which the huts are built is four feet thick, but when no longer in
contact with water I cannot discover any evaporation from ice. For
instance, a canvas screen on deck which became wet by the sudden thaw
last month still remains frozen stiff.
{THE AURORA.}
_14th._--Of late there has been much damp upon the lower deck. This has
now been remedied by enclosing the hatchway within a commodious
snow-porch, which serves as a condenser for the steam and vapor from the
inhabited deck below.
_19th._--Light N.W. winds, with occasional mists; the temperature is
comparatively mild: -12° to -25°.
It is now the time of spring-tides; they cause numerous cracks in the
ice; but why so, at such a great distance from the land, I cannot
explain. The three nearest points of land are respectively 110, 140, and
180 miles distant from us.
Much aurora during the last two days. Yesterday morning it was visible
until eclipsed by the day-dawn at 10 o'clock. Although we could no
longer see it, I do not think it ceased: very thin clouds occupied its
place, through which, as through the aurora, stars appeared scarcely
dimmed in lustre. I do not imagine that aurora is ever visible in a
_perfectly_ clear atmosphere. I often observe it just silvering or
rendering luminous the upper edge of low fog or cloud banks, and with a
few vertical rays feebly vibrating.
Last evening Dr. Walker called me to witness his success with the
electrometer. The electric current was so very weak that the gold-leaves
diverged at regular intervals of four or five seconds. Some hours
afterwards it was strong enough to _keep_ them diverged.
_21st._--Midwinter day. Out of the Arctic regions it is better known as
the _shortest_ day. At noon we could just read type similar to the
leading article of the 'Times.' Few people could read more than two or
three lines without their eyes aching.
{AN ARCTIC CHRISTMAS.}
_27th._--Our Christmas was a very cheerful, merry one. The men were
supplied with several additional articles, such as hams, plum-puddings,
preserved gooseberries and apples, nuts, sweetmeats, and Burton ale.
After Divine Service they decorated the lower deck with flags, and made
an immense display of food. The officers came down with me to see their
preparations. We were really astonished! The mess-tables were laid out
like the counters in a confectioner's shop, with apple and gooseberry
tarts, plum and sponge-cakes in pyramids, besides various other unknown
puffs, cakes, and loaves of all sizes and shapes. We bake all our own
bread, and excellent it is. In the background were nicely-browned hams,
meat-pies, cheeses, and other substantial articles. Rum and water in
wine-glasses, and plum-cake, were handed to us: we wished them a happy
Christmas, and complimented them on their taste and spirit in getting up
such a display. Our silken sledge-banners had been borrowed for the
occasion, and were regarded with deference and peculiar pride.
In the evening the officers were enticed down amongst the men again, and
at a late hour I was requested, as a great favor, to come down and see
how much they were enjoying themselves. I found them in the highest good
humor with themselves and all the world. They were perfectly sober, and
singing songs, each in his turn. I expressed great satisfaction at
having seen them enjoying themselves so much and so rationally. I could
therefore the better describe it to Lady Franklin, who was so deeply
interested in everything relating to them. I drank their healths, and
hoped our position next year would be more suitable for our purpose. We
all joined in drinking the healths of Lady Franklin and Miss Cracroft,
and amid the acclamations which followed I returned to my cabin,
immensely gratified by such an exhibition of genuine good feeling, such
veneration for Lady Franklin, and such loyalty to the cause of the
expedition. It was very pleasant also that they had taken the most
cheering view of our future prospects. I verily believe I was the
happiest individual on board, that happy evening.
Our Christmas-box has come in the shape of northerly winds, which bid
fair to drift us southward towards those latitudes wherein we hope for
liberation next spring from this icy bondage.
_28th._--We have been in expectation of a gale all day. This evening
there is still a doubtful sort of truce amongst the elements. Barometer
down to 28·83; thermometer up to +5°, although the wind has been strong
and steady from the N. for twenty-four hours, low scud flying from the
E., snow constantly falling. An hour ago the wind suddenly changed to
S.S.E.; the snowing has ceased; thermometer falls and barometer rises.
{JAN., 1858.}
{NEW YEAR'S DAY.}
_2nd Jan., 1858._--New Year's day was a second edition of Christmas, and
quite as pleasantly spent. We dwelt much upon the anticipations of the
future, being a more agreeable theme than the failure of the past. I
confess to a hearty welcome for the new year--anxious, of course, that
we may escape uninjured, and sufficiently early to pursue the object of
our voyage.
Exactly at midnight on the 31st December the arrival of the new year was
announced to me by our band--two flutes and an accordion--striking up at
my door. There was also a procession, or perhaps I should say a
continuation of the band; these performers were grotesquely attired,
and armed with frying-pans, gridirons, kettles, pots, and pans, with
which to join in and add to the effect of the _other_ music!
{SUFFERINGS OF AN ARCTIC PARTY.}
We have a very level hard walk alongside the ship; it is narrowed to two
or three yards in width by a snow-bank four feet high. In the face of
this bank some twenty-five holes have been excavated for the dogs, and
in them they spend most of their time. It looks very formidable in the
moonlight, being a good imitation of a casemated battery.
After our rubber of whist on New Year's night Petersen related to us
some of his dreadful sufferings when with the party which had left Dr.
Kane. They spent the months of October and November in Booth Sound, lat.
77°; all that time upon the verge of starvation, unable to advance or
retreat. For these two months they had no other fuel than their small
cedar boat, the smoke of which was not endurable in their wretched hut,
and without light, for the sun left them in October, unless we except
one inch and a half of taper daily, which they made out of a lump of
bees'-wax that accidently found its way into their boat before leaving
the ship. In December they regained their vessel. I am surprised that no
account of the extreme hardships of this party--so far exceeding that of
their shipmates on board--has ever appeared; and I regret it, as I
believe they owed their lives to the experience and fidelity of their
interpreter Petersen. At first the Esquimaux assisted them; latterly
they were quite unable to do so, and became anxious to get rid of their
visitors. Observing how weakened they had become, the Esquimaux
endeavored to separate them from their guns and from each other, and
even used threatening language.
{ICE ACTED ON BY WIND ONLY.}
During December we drifted 67 miles, directly down Baffin's Bay towards
the Atlantic, and are now in lat. 74°. Although it is quite impossible
to discriminate between the several influences which probably govern our
movements, or to ascertain how much is due to each of them--such as the
relative positions of ice, land, and open water, winds, currents, and
earth's rotation--yet it appears in the present instance that the wind
is almost the sole agent in hastening this vast _continent_ of ice
towards the latitudes of its dissolution. We move before the wind in
proportion to its strength: we remain stationary in calm weather.
Neither surface nor submarine current has been detected; the large
icebergs obey the same influences as the surface ice. We have noticed a
slight set to the westward--it is not likely to be produced by current,
and may be the result of the earth's motion from west to east.
_6th._--Many lanes of water. A seal has been seen, the only one for six
weeks. Of the old ice which so closely hemmed us in up to the middle of
September, there is hardly any within several miles of us except the
large floe-piece we are frozen to. Every crack or lane which opens is
quickly covered with young ice, so that it cannot close again; and in
this manner the old ice has been spread out. I rejoice in its
dispersion!
{RETURN OF THE SUN.}
To-day I put a tumblerful of our strong ale (Allsopp's) on deck to
freeze: this was soon effected, the temperature being -35°. After
bringing it below, and when its temperature had risen to 17°, it was
almost all thawed--at 22° it was completely so: it looked muddy, but
settled after standing for a couple of hours, when I drank it off, in
every way satisfied with my experiment and my beer: it seemed none the
worse for its freezing, but rather flat from its long exposure in a
tumbler.
_17th._--Northerly winds blow almost constantly. We have drifted 60
miles since the 1st, and are only 115 miles from Upernivik,--once more
upon confines of the habitable world! good light for three hours daily;
all this is cheering. We continue our snow-hut practice, and can build
one in three-quarters of an hour.
_28th._--The upper edge of the sun appeared above the horizon to-day,
after an absence of eighty-nine days; it was a gladdening sight. I sent
for the ship's steward and asked what was the custom on such occasions?
"To hoist the colors and serve out an extra half-gill, sir," was the
ready reply: accordingly, the Harwich lion soon fluttered in a breeze
cool enough to stiffen the limbs of ordinary lions, and in the evening
the grog was issued.
{THE SICK LIST.}
_30th._--Our messmate Pussy is unwell, and won't eat; in vain has Hobson
tempted her with raw seal's flesh, preserved salmon, preserved milk,
etc.; at length castor-oil was forcibly administered. Puss is a great
favorite. Our finest dog, Sultan, is also sick, and his coat is in bad
order; blubber has been prescribed for him;--and poor old Mary has fits,
not uncommon after the long winter. Petersen immediately ordered her to
be bled by slitting her ear; but Christian, in his fright and haste,
cropped the tip of it off These comprise our only medical cases. A
dovekie, in its white winter plumage, and two seals have been seen
lately.
{FEB., 1858.}
_15th Feb._--The returning daylight cheers us up wonderfully--not that
we were suffering, either mentally or bodily, but the change is most
agreeable; we can take much longer walks than were possible during the
dark period. The men have been supplied with muskets, and go out
sporting as ardently as schoolboys. I took a long walk towards one of
our iceberg companions, but could not quite reach it, as weak ice
intervened, each step producing an undulation. Finding the point of my
knife went through it with but very slight resistance, I gave up the
attempt and turned back. The ship's masts were scarcely visible in the
distance; almost the whole of the intervening ice was of this winter's
growth, and in many places much crushed up.
{CONSTANT ACTION OF THE ICE.}
Daylight reveals to us evidences of vast ice movements having taken
place during the dark months when we fancied all was still and quiet;
and we now see how greatly we have been favored, what innumerable
chances of destruction we have unconsciously escaped! A few days ago the
ice suddenly cracked within ten yards of the ship, and gave her such a
smart shock that every one rushed on deck with astonishing alacrity. One
of these sudden disruptions occurred between me and the ship when I was
returning from the iceberg; the sun was just setting as I found myself
cut off. Had I been on the other side I would have loitered to enjoy a
refreshing gaze upon this dark streak of water; but after a smart run of
about a mile along its edge, and finding no place to cross, visions of a
patrol on the floe for the long night of fifteen hours began to obtrude
themselves! At length I reached a place where the jagged edges of the
floes met, so crossed and got safely on board. Nothing was seen during
this walk of nearly 25 miles except one seal. Recent gales have drifted
us rapidly southward; cracks and lanes are very numerous.
{RETURN OF A DESERTER.}
On the 1st a blue (or sooty) fox was shot. Although 130 geographical
miles from the nearest land he was very fat, hence we argue dovekies
were much more numerous during winter than we supposed. We have often
noticed the tracks of foxes following up those of the bears, probably
for discarded scraps of the seals upon which they prey. Hobson's
favorite dog "Chummie" has returned, after an absence of six days,
decidedly hungry, but he can hardly have been without food all that
time; some fox may have lured him off. He evinced great delight in
getting back, devoted his first attentions to a hearty meal, then rubbed
himself up against his own particular associates, after which he sought
out and attacked the weakest of his enemies, and, soothed by their
howlings, coiled himself up for a long sleep.
{MAR., 1858.}
_1st March._--February has been a remarkably mild, cloudy, windy month:
the winter temperature may be said to have passed away by the 10th, the
average temperature for the first ten days being -25°, whilst for the
remainder of the month it was -11°. Had one fallen asleep for a month at
least, he could not reasonably have expected to find a greater change on
awaking. Our drift has been also great,--166 miles. We are south of the
70th parallel, and may soon be expelled from our icy home.
On the 24th there was a fearful gale of wind. Had not our housing been
very well secured, it must have been blown away. We are preparing for
sea, removing the snow from off the deck and round the ship; our
sky-lights have been dug out (in winter they are always covered with a
thick layer of snow), and the flood of light which beams down through
them is quite charming. How intolerably sooty and smoke-dried everything
looks!
{RETURN OF THE SEALS.}
On the 27th the first seal of this year was shot; it came in good time,
for the fifty-one seals shot in autumn were finished only two days
before: our English supply of dogs' food therefore remains almost
untouched. Snow was observed to melt against the ship's side exposed to
the sun, the thermometer in the shade standing at -22°! A very fine dog
has died from eating a quantity of salt fish, which he managed to get at
although it was supposed to be quite out of his reach.
One of the two large icebergs which commenced this voyage with us last
October, in 75-1/2° N., has drifted out of sight to the S.E., the other
one is far off in the N.W. I attribute these increased distances solely
to the spreading abroad of the intervening ice.
When we were far north, and probably drifting more slowly than the ice
in the stream of Lancaster Sound to the westward of us, the ship's head
turned very gradually from right to left, from N.N.W. to W.; when about
the parallel of 72° N., we supposed ourselves to be drifting faster than
the western ice; in this, as in the previous case, comparing our drift
with that of Lieutenant De Haven, the ship's head slowly shifted back
to the right as far as W.N.W.; latterly it has not changed at all: we
are in a narrower part of Davis' Strait, where the winds probably blow
with equal force from shore to shore and drift the whole pack at a
uniform rate.
_5th._--On the 2nd four fat seals and some dovekies were shot; the
largest seal weighed 170 lbs., the smallest 150 lbs.; they were males of
the species _Phoca hespida_, or _Phoca f[oe]tida_, the latter epithet
being by far the most appropriate at this season; the disagreeable odor
resembles garlic, and taints the whole animal so strongly that even
Esquimaux are nearly overpowered by it: this is almost the only
description of seal we have obtained, but the females are at all seasons
free from fetor. Several long lanes of water extend at right angles to
the straits.
{REVOLVING STORM.}
The Doctor has taken a photograph of the ship by the albumen process on
glass; the temperature at the time was below zero. Upon the 3rd and 4th
a well-remarked revolving storm passed nearly over us to the W.N.W.; its
extreme diameter was 30 hours, that of the strength of the gale 18
hours; its centre probably passed about one-tenth of its diameter to the
S.W. The barometer was rather high, having risen just before the wind
commenced at N.E.; but it now fell half an inch in ten hours, and
continued to fall until the wind shifted--almost suddenly--through S.E.
to S.S.W.; immediately the barometer got up rapidly. As the barometer
fell, the temperature rose from zero to +18°, and fell again after the
change of wind. This violent storm brought with it a smart hail-shower.
{DISCO SIGHTED.}
The depression of the ice about the bows, in consequence of a vast
accumulation of snow-drift upon it, brought the ship down by the head
considerably; to-day this ice suddenly detached itself, and the fore
part of the vessel sprang up; she still remains frozen and held down
abaft. The snow-banking looks very woe-begone after this _ice-quake_; it
inclines out from the ship, and in many places has been prostrated by
the shock.
Early on the morning of the 7th the high land of Disco was seen; its
distance was upwards of 90 miles.