A bear-fight--An ice-nip--Strong gales, rapid drift--The 'Fox' breaks
out of the pack--Hanging on to floe-edge--The Arctic bear--An ice
tournament--The 'Fox' in peril--A storm in the pack--Escape from the
pack.
{A BEAR-FIGHT.}
_9th March._--A bear was seen this morning; but as he was going away
from us, the dogs were brought out in the hope that they might keep him
at bay until the sportsmen came up. It was very pretty to see them take
up the scent, the moment they caught sight of him they set off at full
speed. Bruin had seen them first, and increased his pace to a clumsy
gallop, yet the dogs were soon around him; he seemed to care but little
about them, steadily making off and following the trending of a recently
frozen crack in search of clear water, evidently aware that his
persecutors would not follow him there.
After five hours all returned on board again; out of the ten dogs four
were wounded by his claws,--skin deep only,--but one of the wounds was
seven inches in length, as if made with a sharp knife! this was sewed
up, the others were merely trimmed, and nature, I am informed, will do
all the rest. It is really wonderful what cures nature and instinct
effect: notwithstanding the extreme cold, no external dressings are
applied, because the animal must not be prevented from licking its
wound. Petersen says this bear must be very thin, else he could not run
so fast. I think it very probable that he has been hunted before, and
that fear lent him wings. A black whale has been seen.
{SEAL STEAKS.}
_11th._--Two small seals free from taint were shot yesterday, so we had
fried liver and steaks for breakfast this morning; both were good, but
the steaks were preferred; they were very dark and very tender, had been
cut thin, deprived of all fat, and washed in two or three waters to get
rid of the blubber.
_16th._--Several long lanes of water have again opened, but now all of
them extend parallel to the direction of the straits; one lane passed
within 120 yards of the ship; its extremes are not visible even from
aloft; the ice upon its east side has a more rapid southerly motion than
that upon its west side.
_18th._--Last night the ice closed, shutting up our lane, but its
opposite sides continued for several hours to move past each other,
rubbing off all projections, crushing, and forcing out of water masses
four feet thick: although 120 yards distant, this pressure shook the
ship and cracked the intervening ice.
{AN ICE-NIP.}
I went out with a lantern to see the nip,--it certainly was
awe-inspiring; no one in his senses could avoid reflecting upon the
inevitable fate of a ship if exposed to such fearful pressure. It is now
spring tides.
_19th._--All yesterday the lane remained open; in the evening it closed
with but slight pressure; yet as the opposing fields of ice continued to
move in opposite directions, all jagged points were brushed off, and the
débris thus formed between their edges presented a heaving surface of
ice-masses,--an ice river. On the separation of the floes, mass after
mass forced itself up to the surface, until at length all the submerged
ice had risen, except such as had been forced quite under their edges.
One seldom meets with a cleanly fractured floe-edge, they are usually
fringed with crushed-up ice or newly formed sludge.
_23rd._--Seals and dovekies are now common; the latter have already made
considerable advances towards their summer plumage.
Yesterday there was a very heavy S.E. gale; it blew so furiously, and
the snow-drift was so dense, that we could neither hear nor see what was
going on twenty yards off; at night the ship, becoming suddenly detached
from the ice, heeled over to the storm; until the cause was ascertained
we thought the ice had broken up and pressed against the ship. It was
not so; but when the weather moderated we found that there had been
heavy pressure upon the edge of the floes,--so much, indeed, that the
lane of water was now within 70 yards of the 'Fox;' and that ice 4-1/2
feet thick had been crushed during the storm for a distance of about 50
yards.
{STRONG GALES.}
_25th._--Strong N.W. winds lately, the ship rocking to the breeze, and
rubbing her poor sides against the ice, producing a creaking sound which
is far from pleasant. More ice squeezing, and a further inroad upon our
barrier; it has yielded slightly, nipping the ship, inclining her to
port, and lifting her stern about a foot. Occasional groanings within,
and surgings of the ice without.
Our boats, provisions, sledges, knapsacks, and equipment are ready for a
hasty departure,--beyond this we can do nothing; as long as our friendly
barrier lasts we need not fear, but who can tell the moment it may be
demolished, and the ship exposed to destruction? I am scribbling within
a foot of the sternpost--in fact, there is a notch in my table to
receive it; and I sympathize with its constant groanings; the ice allows
it no rest.
_27th._--Strong N.W. gale with a return of cold weather. We have drifted
39 miles in the last forty-eight hours! The lane is open; the whole pack
appears to have plenty of room to drift, and, I am happy to add, is
taking advantage of it,--so much so that the smaller pieces floating
freely in the lane can hardly go at the same pace. Our remaining winter
companion, the iceberg, was in sight a few days ago, far away to the
N.W.; it may be still visible from aloft, but these March gales cut so
keenly, that the crow's-nest is but seldom visited.
_31st._--Another N.W. gale; it is also spring tides, and this
conjunction makes one fearful of ice movement and pressure; but it seems
as if the pack had more room to move in, as it does not close much.
Seals are often shot, bear tracks are common, and narwhals are
frequently seen migrating northward. The bears must prefer the
night-time for wandering about, else we could not help seeing them; we
often find their tracks within a few hundred yards of the ship.
Although the last, yet this is the coldest day of the month--the
thermometer down to -27°. The mean temperature for March has been
unusually high, -3°; whilst Lieutenant De Haven's was -17°.
Notwithstanding that heavy S.E. gales have three times driven us
backward, yet we have advanced 100 miles further down Davis' Straits.
{APR., 1858.}
{BREAKING UP OF ICE.}
_6th April._--To-day we enjoy fine weather, the more so since it comes
after a tremendous northerly gale of forty-eight hours' duration. Two
days ago the friendly old floe, so long our bulwark of defence, was
cracked; the lane of water thus formed soon widened to 60 yards, passed
within 30 yards of the 'Fox,' and cut off three of our boats. Yesterday
morning another crack detached the remaining 30 yards from us, and as it
widened the ship swung across the opening; as quickly as we could effect
it the ship was again placed alongside the ice and within a projecting
point; had it closed only a few feet whilst she lay across the lane, the
consequences must have been very serious. Even to effect this slight
change of position we were fully occupied for four hours; for the gale
blew furiously, and thermometer stood at 12° below zero, and the cold
was very much felt; our hawsers were frozen so stiff as to be quite
unmanageable, and we were obliged to use the chain cables to warp the
ship into safety.
Throughout yesterday the wind continued extremely strong and
keen,--fortunately the ice remained perfectly still: our funnels refused
to draw up the smoke; so that between the suffocation, the cold, and
anxiety lest the ice should move, our Easter Monday was sufficiently
miserable. The half of our poor dogs were cut off from the ship by the
lane, and continued to howl dismally until late, when the new ice over
the lane was strong enough to bear them, and they came across to us.
To-day we have recovered the boats, shot four seals, seen two whales,
and much water to the eastward; we are in latitude 67° 18' N., and
highly delighted with the rapidity of our southern drift.
{OUT OF THE PACK.}
_10th._--Yesterday evening the setting sun rendered visible the western
land, probably Cape Dyer. We have drifted 70 miles in the last week, and
are only 18 miles from De Haven's position of escape; but as we are two
months earlier, we must expect to be carried farther south.
_12th._--This morning we drifted ingloriously out of the Arctic regions,
and with what very different feelings from those with which we crossed
the Arctic circle eight months ago! However, we have not done with it
yet; directly the ice lets us go, we will (D. V.) re-enter the frigid
zone, and "try again," with, I trust, better success.
A gull and a few terns appeared to-day; these are the first of our
summer visitors. The temperature improves; yesterday at one o'clock it
was +19° in the shade, +15° in the crow's-nest 70 feet high, and +51°
against a black surface exposed to the sun.
_16th._--Last night a bear came to the ship, was wounded, but escaped;
to-day the tracks were followed up for three miles, the bear found, and
again wounded--finally the unlucky beast was shot in the water seven
miles from the ship; it was lost in consequence of the rapid drifting of
the ice, which ran over the floating carcase.
To-night a dense fog-bank rests upon the water to the southward; its
upper edge is illuminated by aurora, showing a faint tremulous light.
_17th._--Another northerly gale; holding fast to the ice with three
hawsers; snow-drift limits the view to a couple of miles, so all to the
eastward appears water, and to the westward ice.
Last night the ice opened considerably; to secure the ship occupied us
for six hours; several of the dogs were again cut off; as the ice they
were on was rapidly drifting away, I sent a boat to recover them; it was
a difficult and hazardous business, but at length the boat and dogs
returned in safety, to my great relief, for it was both dark and late.
{DOGS LOST.}
_18th._--Yesterday morning when I wrote up my journal, I was hoping to
hold on quietly to the floe-edge until the wind moderated, when with
clear weather we could take advantage of the openings and make some
progress towards the clear sea. We were unable to hold on, for the
floe-edge broke away, setting us adrift; some time was occupied in
fetching off the boats and dogs,--five of the latter unfortunately would
not allow themselves to be caught. As speedily as possible the rudder
was shipped and sail set, and before three o'clock the ship was running
fast to the eastward! During the night the ice closed, and at daylight
scarcely any water was visible; with the exception of a couple of
icebergs, all the ice in sight was not more than two days old; it
mainly owes its origin and rapid growth to the immense quantities of
snow blown off the pack.
It still blows hard, and the thermometer stands at 11°. A sudden opening
of the ice this forenoon allowed us to run a few miles southward, and
then it closed again; we are now surrounded by young ice.
_20th._--We have been carried rapidly past the position where the Arctic
discovery ship 'Resolute' was picked up.
{THE ARCTIC BEAR.}
Yesterday three bears, a fulmar petrel, and a snow bunting were seen;
to-day a fine bear came within 150 yards, and was shot by our sportsmen;
as they were standing round it afterwards upon the ice, a small seal,
the only one seen for several days, popped up its head as if to exult
over its fallen enemy--it was of course instantly shot: we have learnt
to esteem seal's liver for breakfast very highly.
It seems hardly right to call polar bears _land_ animals; they abound
here,--110 geographical miles from the nearest land,--upon very loose
broken-up ice, which is steadily drifting into the Atlantic at the rate
of 12 or 14 miles daily; to remain upon it would insure their
destruction were they not nearly amphibious; they hunt by scent, and are
constantly running across and against the wind, which prevails from the
northward, so that the same instinct which directs their search for
prey, also serves the important purpose of guiding them in the direction
of the land and more solid ice.
I remarked that the upper part of both Bruin's fore-paws were rubbed
quite bare; Petersen explains that to surprise the seal a bear crouches
down with his fore-paws doubled underneath, and pushes himself
noiselessly forward with his hinder legs until within a few yards, when
he springs upon the unsuspecting victim, whether in the water or upon
the ice. The Greenlanders are fond of bear's flesh, but never eat either
the heart or liver, and say that these parts cause sickness. No instance
is known of Greenland bears attacking men, except when wounded or
provoked; they never disturb the Esquimaux graves, although they seldom
fail to rob a câche of seal's flesh, which is a similar construction of
loose stones above ground.
A native of Upernivik, one dark winter's day, was out visiting his
seal-nets. He found a seal entangled, and, whilst kneeling down over it
upon the ice to get it clear, he received a slap on the back--from his
companion as he supposed; but a second and heavier blow made him look
smartly round. He was horror-stricken to see a peculiarly grim old bear
instead of his comrade! without deigning further notice of the man,
Bruin tore the seal out of the net and commenced his supper. He was not
interrupted; nor did the man wait to see the meal finished.
I had long ago resolved, if we escaped before the 15th, or the 20th
April at the latest, to go to Newfoundland to refresh the crew and to
refit, even if no damage from the ice should be sustained. In order to
do so it would have been necessary for us to visit a Greenland port for
a supply of water. We could not have calculated upon much assistance
from our engines upon such a voyage, Mr. Brand alone being capable of
working the engines, so that ten or twelve hours daily is all the
steaming that could have been expected.
But we are still ice-locked, so I purpose going to Holsteinborg in
preference to a more southern port, as there we may expect to get
reindeer and a small supply of stores suitable to our wants. The whalers
sometimes reach Disco in March, Upernivik in May, and the North Water
early in June. Unless we should be at once set free, we would not have
time to spare for a Newfoundland voyage.
{THE OCEAN SWELL.}
{AN ICE-TOURNAMENT.}
_24th._--Another anxious week has passed. Latterly we have experienced
south-westerly currents similar to those which Parry describes when
beset here in June, 1819. To-day we have had a strong S.E. breeze, with
snow and dark weather. The wind had greatly moderated when the swell
reached us about eight o'clock this evening. It is now ten o'clock; the
long ocean swell already lifts its crest five feet above the hollow of
the sea, causing its thick covering, of icy fragments to dash against
each other and against us with unpleasant violence. It is however very
beautiful to look upon, the dear old familiar ocean-swell! it has long
been a stranger to us, and is welcome in our solitude. If the 'Fox' was
as solid as her neighbors, I am quite sure she would enter into this
ice-tournament with all their apparent heartiness, instead of audibly
making known her sufferings to us. Every considerable surface of ice has
been broken into many smaller ones; with feelings of exultation I
watched the process from aloft. A floe-piece near us, of 100 yards in
diameter, was speedily cracked so as to resemble a sort of labyrinth,
or, still more, a field-spider's web. In the course of half an hour the
family resemblance was totally lost; they had so battered each other,
and struggled out of their original regularity. The rolling sea can no
longer be checked; "the pack has taken upon itself the functions of an
ocean," as Dr. Kane graphically expresses it.
_26th._--At sea! How am I to describe the events of the last two days?
It has pleased God to accord to us a deliverance in which His merciful
protection contrasts--how strongly!--with our own utter helplessness; as
if the successive mercies vouchsafed to us during our long, long winter
and mysterious ice-drift had been concentrated and repeated in a single
act. Thus forcibly does His great goodness come home to the mind!
I am in no humor for writing, being still tired, seedy, and perhaps a
little seasick; at least I have a headache, caused by the rolling of the
ship and rattling noise of everything.
{THE 'FOX' IN PERIL.}
On Saturday night, the 24th, I went on deck to spend the greater part of
it in watching, and to determine what to do. The swell greatly
increased; it had evidently been approaching for hours before it reached
us, since it rose in proportion as the ice was broken up into smaller
pieces. In a short time but few of them were equal in size to the ship's
deck; most of them not half so large. I knew that near the pack-edge the
sea would be very heavy and dangerous; but the wind was now fair, and
having auxiliary steam-power, I resolved to push out of the ice if
possible.
Shortly after midnight the ship was under sail, slowly boring her way to
the eastward; at two o'clock on Sunday morning commenced steaming, the
wind having failed. By eight o'clock we had advanced considerably to the
eastward, and the swell had become dangerously high, the waves rising
ten feet above the trough of the sea. The shocks of the ice against the
ship were alarmingly heavy; it became necessary to steer exactly
head-on to swell. We slowly passed a small iceberg 60 or 70 feet high;
the swell forced it crashing through the pack, leaving a small
water-space in its wake, but sufficient to allow the seas to break
against its cliffs, and throw the spray in heavy showers quite over its
summit.
{CLEAR OF THE PACK.}
The day wore on without change, except that the snow and mists cleared
off. Gradually the swell increased, and rolled along more swiftly,
becoming in fact a very heavy regular sea, rather than a swell. The ice
often lay so closely packed that we could hardly force ahead, although
the fair wind had again freshened up. Much heavy hummocky ice and large
berg-pieces lay dispersed through the pack; a single thump from any of
them would have been instant destruction. By five o'clock the ice became
more loose, and clear spaces of water could be seen ahead. We went
faster, received fewer though still more severe shocks, until at length
we had room to steer clear of the heaviest pieces; and at eight o'clock
we emerged from the villanous "pack," and were running fast through
straggling pieces into a clear sea. The engines were stopped, and Mr.
Brand permitted to rest after eighteen hours' duty, for we now have no
one else capable of driving the engines.
Throughout the day I trembled for the safety of the rudder, and screw;
deprived of the one or the other, even for half an hour, I think our
fate would have been sealed; to have steered in any other direction than
_against_ the swell would have exposed, and probably sacrificed both.
{DANGER FROM ICE-MASSES.}
Our bow is very strongly fortified, well plated externally with iron,
and so very sharp that the ice-masses, repeatedly hurled against the
ship by the swell as she rose to meet it, were thus robbed of their
destructive force; they struck us obliquely, yet caused the vessel to
shake violently, the bells to ring, and almost knocked us off our legs.
On many occasions the engines were stopped dead by ice choking the
screw; once it was some minutes before it could be got to revolve again.
Anxious moments those!
After yesterday's experience I can understand how men's hair has turned
grey in a few hours. Had self-reliance been my only support and hope, it
is not impossible that I might have illustrated the fact. Under the
circumstances I did my best to insure our safety, looked as stoical as
possible, and inwardly trusted that God would favor our exertions. What
a release ours has been, not only from eight months' imprisonment, but
from the perils of that one day! Had our little vessel been destroyed
after the ice broke up, there remained no hope for us. But we have been
brought safely through, and are all truly grateful, I hope, and believe.
I grieve to think of poor Lady Franklin and our friends at home.
Severely as we have felt the failure of our first season's operations,
yet the ordeal is now over with us: not so with her and them,--they have
still to experience that bitter disappointment.
Our distance within the pack-edge, where we first made sail yesterday,
was 22 miles. Before we got clear of the ice the height of the waves was
13-1/2 feet; after passing through the last of it there was no increase,
but the sea was more confused; in fact, within the ice all minor
disturbances were quelled or merged into one regular fast-following
swell. The ship and her machinery behaved most admirably in the
struggle; should I ever have to pass through such an ice-covered,
heaving ocean again, let me secure a passage in the 'Fox.'
During our 242 days in the packed-ice of Baffin's Bay and Davis' Straits
we were drifted 1194 geographical or 1385 statute miles; it is the
longest drift I know of, and our winter, as a whole, may be considered
as having been mild, but very windy.
{STEERING FOR HOLSTEINBORG.}
We are steering now for Holsteinborg, where I intend to refit and
refresh the crew; it is reputed to be the best place for reindeer upon
the coast.