Off Cape Warrender--Sight the whalers again--Enter Pond's
Bay--Communicate with Esquimaux--Ascend Pond's Inlet--Esquimaux
information--Arctic summer abode--An Arctic village--No intelligence
of Franklin's ships--Arctic trading--Geographical information of
natives--Information of Rae's visit--Improvidence of
Esquimaux--Travels of Esquimaux.
{OFF CAPE WARRENDER.}
_16th July._--To borrow a whaling phrase, we are "dodging about in a
hole of water" off Cape Warrender. I recognize the little bay just to
the west of the cape where Parry landed in September, 1824. The "immense
mass of snow and ice containing strata of muddy-looking soil" is there
still, and, I should think, had considerably increased. Here his party
shot three reindeer out of a small herd. We have narrowly scanned the
steep hill-sides with our glasses, but without discovering any such
inducement to land.
No cairns are visible upon Cape Warrender; the natives have probably
removed them. Dense pack prevents us from approaching Port Dundas or
crossing to the southern shore. We all find these vexatious delays are
by no means conducive to sleep. The mind is busy with a sort of
magic-lantern representation of the past, the present, and the future,
and resists for weary hours the necessary repose.
_17th._--Last night's calm has allowed the pack to expand so much, that
to-day we have steamed through it until within three miles of the noble
cliffs of Cape Hay; and now we are drifting eastward with the ice
precisely as did the 'Enterprise' and 'Investigator,' in September, '49.
Upon that occasion we were set free off Pond's Bay. There is a very
extensive _loomery_ at Cape Hay; we regret the circumstances which
prevent our levying a tax upon it. Here, if anywhere, I expected to find
a clear sea, but east winds have prevailed for twenty days out of the
last twenty-five, and this accounts for the present state of the sea;
the next succession of west winds will probably effect a prodigious
clearance of ice.
{THE WHALERS AGAIN.}
_21st._--The 'Tay' was seen to-day in loose ice, and much further off
the land. She gradually steamed through it to the southward, and by
night was almost out of sight. Her appearance surprised us, as we
supposed she must have reached Pond's Bay long ago. Ten hours'
struggling with steam and sails at the most favorable intervals has only
advanced us five miles. The weather is remarkably warm, bright, and
pleasant. A very large bear came within 150 yards, and was shot by
Petersen, the Minié bullet passing through his body. This beast measured
8 ft. 3 in. in length; his fat carcase was hoisted on board with great
satisfaction, as our dogs' food was nearly expended.
_24th._--Last night the ice became slack enough to afford some prospect
of release, so we charged the nips vigorously, and steamed away through
devious openings towards Cape Fanshawe. For several hours but little
progress was made, but this morning the ice became more open; clear
water was seen ahead, and reached by noon. Although it is calm I prefer
waiting for a breeze to expending more coals. We are only ten miles from
Possession Bay. The air is so very clear that the land appears quite
close to us. All that is not mountainous is well cleared of snow. There
is immense refraction. Only a single iceberg in sight. The sea-water is
light green, as remarked by Parry in 1819.
{OFF CAPE WALTER BATHURST.}
_26th._--A vessel was seen yesterday morning; the day continuing calm,
we steamed through some loose ice, and joined her off Cape Walter
Bathurst in the evening. It proved to be the 'Diana;' she parted from us
on the 16th of June in Melville Bay, has everywhere been obstructed by
the pack, as we have been, and only reached Cape Warrender three days
before us. From thence to Possession Bay she met with _no obstruction_.
The subsequent east winds brought in all the ice which has so much
retarded us.
The 'Diana' has already captured twelve whales. Taking the hint from
Capt. Gravill, we have made fast to a loose floe, and are drifting very
nearly a mile an hour to the southward along the edge of a very
formidable land-ice, which is seven or eight miles broad. All to seaward
of us is packed ice. The old whaling seamen of the 'Diana' are
astonished at the unusual and unaccountable abundance of ice which
everywhere fills up Baffin's Bay. All the 'Diana's' steaming coals, her
spare spars, wood and even a boat, have been burnt in the protracted
struggle through the middle ice.
{ENTER POND'S BAY.}
_27th._--After putting our letter-bag on board the 'Diana' this morning
we steamed on for Pond's Bay, and at noon made fast near Button Point to
the land-ice, which still extends across it.
{COMMUNICATE WITH ESQUIMAUX.}
For four hours Petersen and I have been bargaining with an old woman and
a boy, not for the sake of their seal-skins, but in order to keep them
in good humor whilst we extracted information from them. They said they
knew nothing of ships or white people ever having been within this
inlet, nor of any wrecked ships. They knew of the depôt of provisions
left at Navy Board Inlet by the 'North Star,' but had none of them. The
woman has traced on paper the shores of the inlet as far as her
knowledge extends, and has given me the name of every point. She says
the ice will break up with the first fresh wind. These two individuals
are alone here. They remained on purpose to barter with the whalers,
and cannot now rejoin their friends, who are only 25 miles up the inlet,
because the ice is unsafe to travel over and the land precipitous and
impracticable.
This afternoon the 'Tay' stood in towards us, and Captain Deuchars
kindly sent his boat on board with an offer to take charge of our
letters. The 'Tay' reached this coast only a few days ago, having met
with the same difficulties which we experienced. The 'Innuit' was last
seen nearly a month ago beset off Jones' Sound. The remaining steamer,
the 'Chase,' has not been seen or heard of.
_29th._--The old woman's denial of all knowledge of the wrecks or
cast-away men was very unsatisfactory. I determined to visit her
countrymen at their summer village of Kapar[=o]ktolik, which she
described as being only a short day's journey up the inlet.
{EXAMINE NATIVE CÂCHES.}
Petersen and one man accompanied me. We started yesterday morning with a
sledge and a Halkett boat. Although the ice over which we purposed
travelling broke away from the land soon after setting out, yet we
managed to get half way to the village before encamping. This morning we
learnt the truth of the old woman's account. A range of precipitous
cliffs rising from the sea cut us off by land from Kapar[=o]ktolik, so
we were obliged to return to the ship. Our walk afforded the
opportunity of examining some native encampments and câches. We found
innumerable scraps of seal-skins, bird-skins, walrus and other bones,
whalebone, blubber, and a small sledge. The latter was very old, and
composed of pieces of wood and of large bones ingeniously secured
together with strips of whalebone. Five preserved-meat tins were found;
some of them retaining their original coating of red paint. Doubtless
these were part of the spoils from Navy Board Inlet depôt. The total
absence of fresh wood or iron was strongly in favor of the old woman's
veracity. Since yesterday, ice, about 16 miles in extent, has broken up
in the inlet, and is drifting out into Baffin's Bay.
During my absence our shooting parties have twice visited a _loomery_
upon Cape Graham Moore, and each time have brought on board 300 looms.
Very few birds and no other animals were seen during our walk over the
rich mossy slopes to-day. I saw a pair of Canadian brown cranes, the
first of the species I have ever seen so far north, though Sir Robert
M'Clure found them, I know, on Banks Land.
The lands enjoying a southern aspect, even to the summits of hills 700
or 800 feet in height, were tinged with green; but these hills were
protected by a still loftier range to the north. Upon many
well-sheltered slopes we found much rich grass. All the little plants
were in full flower; some of them familiar to us at home, such as the
buttercup, sorrel, and dandelion. I have never found the latter to the
north of 69° before.
The old woman is much less excited to-day; she says there was a wreck
upon the coast when she was a little girl; it lies a day and a half's
journey, about 45 miles, to the north; and came there without masts and
very much crushed; the little which now remains is almost buried in the
sand. A piece of this wreck was found near her _abode_,--she has neither
hut nor tent, but a sort of lair constructed of a few stones and a
seal-skin spread over them, so that she can crawl underneath. This
fragment is part of a floor timber, English oak, 7-1/2 inches thick; it
has been brought on board.
{ASCEND POND'S INLET.}
_30th._--A gale of wind and deluge of rain has detained the ship until
this evening; we are now steaming up the inlet, having the old lady and
the boy on board as our pilots; they are delighted at the prospect of
rejoining their friends, from whom they were effectually cut off until
the return of winter should freeze a safe pathway for them; they had,
however, abundance of looms stored up _en câche_ for their subsistence.
She has drawn me another chart, much more neatly than the former, but so
like it as to prove that her geographical knowledge, and not her powers
of invention, have been taxed. She is a widow; her daughter is married,
and lives at a place called Igloolik, which is six or seven days'
journey from here,--three days up the inlet, then about three days
overland to the southward, and then a day over the ice.
{ESQUIMAUX INFORMATION.}
Thinking it not quite impossible that this Igloolik might be the place
where Parry wintered in 1822-3, I told Petersen to ask whether ships had
ever been there? She answered, "Yes, a ship stopped there all one
winter; but it is a long time ago." All she could distinctly recollect
having been told about it was, that one of the crew died, and was buried
there, and his name was Al-lah or El-leh. On referring to Parry's
'Narrative,' I found that the ice-mate, Mr. Elder, died at Igloolik!
This is a very remarkable confirmation of the locality,--for there are
several places called Igloolik. She also told us it was an island, and
near a strait between two seas. The Esquimaux take considerable pains to
learn, and remember names; this woman knows the names of several of the
whaling captains, and the old chief at De Ros Islet remembered Captain
Inglefield's name, and tried hard to pronounce mine.
She now told us of another wreck upon the coast, but many days' journey
to the south of Pond's Bay; it came there before her first child was
born. Her age is not less than forty-five.
{AUG., 1858.}
_August 4th._--Our Esquimaux friends have departed from us with every
demonstration of friendship, to return to their village. We have had
free communication with them for four days--not only through Mr.
Petersen, but also through our two Greenlanders; the result is, that
they have no knowledge whatever of either of the missing or the
abandoned searching ships. Neither wrecked people nor wrecked ships have
reached their shores. They seemed to be much in want of wood; most of
what they have consists of staves of casks, probably from the Navy Board
Inlet depôt.
{TOOLS USED BY THE ESQUIMAUX.}
In their bartering with us, saws were most eagerly sought for in
exchange for narwhal's horns; they are used by them in cutting up the
long strips of the bones of whales with which they shoe the runners of
their sledges, also the ivory and bone used to protect the more exposed
parts of their kayaks and the edges of their paddles from the ice.
Files were also in great demand, and I found were required to convert
pieces of iron-hoop into arrow and spear heads. If any suspicion existed
of their having a secret supply of wood such as a wreck or even a boat
would afford, it was removed by their refusing to barter the most
trifling things for axes or hatchets.
But I must relate the events of the last few days as they occurred. When
17 miles within the inlet we reached the unbroken ice and made the ship
fast. Here the _strait_--originally named Pond's _Bay_, and more
recently Eclipse _Sound_--appears to be most contracted, its width not
exceeding 7 or 8 miles. Both its shores are very bold and lofty, often
forming noble precipices. The prevailing rock is grey gneiss, generally
dipping at an angle of 35° to the west.
Early on the 1st of August I set out for the native village with Hobson,
Petersen, two men, and the two natives from Button Point. Eight miles of
wet and weary ice-travelling, which occupied as many hours, terminated
our journey; the surface of the ice was everywhere deeply channelled and
abundantly flooded by the summer's thaw; we were almost constantly
launching our small boat over the slippery ridges which separated pools
or channellings through which it was generally necessary to wade.
{ARCTIC SUMMER ABODES.}
After toiling round the base of a precipice, we came rather suddenly in
view of a small semicircular bay; the cliffs on either side were 800 or
900 feet high, remarkably forbidding and desolate; the mouth of a valley
or wide mountain gorge opens out into its head. Here, in the depth of
the bay, upon a low flat strip of land, stood seven tents,--the summer
village of Kapar[=o]ktolik. I never saw a locality more characteristic
of the Esquimaux than that which they have here selected for their
abode; it is widely picturesque in the true Arctic application of the
term.
{AN ARCTIC VILLAGE.}
Although August had arrived, and the summer had been a warm one, the bay
was still frozen over; and if there was an ice-covered _sea_ in front,
there was also abundance of ice-covered _land_ in the rear--a glacier
occupied the whole valley behind and to within 300 yards of the chosen
spot!
The glacier's height appeared to be from 150 to 200 feet; its sea-face
extending across the valley,--a probable width of 300 or 400 yards,--was
quite perpendicular, and fully 100 feet high. All last winter's snow had
thawed away from off it and exposed a surface of mud and stones,
fissured by innumerable small rivulets, which threw themselves over the
glacier cliffs in pretty cascades, or shot far out in strong jets from
their deeply serried channels in its face; whilst other streamlets near
the base burst out through sub-glacial tunnels of their own forming.
What a strange people to confine themselves to such a mere strip of
beach! Upon each side they have towering rocky hills rising so abruptly
from the sea, that to pass along their bases or ascend over their
summits, is equally impossible; whilst a threatening glacier immediately
behind, bears onward a sufficient amount of rock and earth from the
mountains whence it issues, to convince even the unreflecting savage of
its progressive motion.
[Illustration: The Village and Glacier of Kapar[=o]ktolik, Greenland.]
The land is devoid of game, although lemmings and ermines are tolerably
numerous; it only supplies the moss which the natives burn with blubber
in their lamps, and the dry grass which they put in their boots; even
the soft stone, _lapis ollaris_, out of which their lamps and cooking
vessels are made and the iron pyrites with which they strike fire, are
obtained by barter from the people inhabiting the land to the west of
Navy Board Inlet. But the sea compensates for every deficiency. The
assembled population amounted to only 25 souls: 9 men, the rest women
and children.
All of them evinced extreme delight at seeing us; as we approached the
huts the women and children held up their arms in the air and shouted
"Pilletay" (give me), incessantly; the men were more quiet and
dignified, yet lost no opportunity, either when we declined to barter,
or when they had performed any little service, to repeat "Pilletay" in a
beseeching tone of voice.
We walked everywhere about the tents and entered some of them, carefully
examining every chip or piece of metal; our visit was quite unexpected.
They had only two sledges; both were made of 2-1/2 inch oak-planks,
devoid of bolt-holes or treenails, and having but very few nail-holes.
These sledges had evidently been constructed for several years, the
parts not exposed to friction were covered with green fungus: one of
them measured 14 feet long, the other about 9 feet; we were told the
wood came from a wreck to the southward of Pond's Bay. Most of the
sledge cross-bars were ordinary staves of casks. Amongst the poles and
large bones which supported the tents we noticed a painted fir oar.
Some pieces of iron-hoop and a few preserved-meat tins--one of which was
stamped "Goldner,"--completed their stock of European articles.
{NO INTELLIGENCE OF FRANKLIN.}
Petersen questioned all the men _separately_ as to their knowledge of
ships or wrecks; but their accounts only served to confirm the old
woman's story. None of them had ever heard of ships or wrecks anywhere
to the westward. Both individually and collectively we got them to draw
charts of the various coasts known to them, and to mark upon them the
positions of the wrecks. The two chiefs, N[=o]o-luk and A-w[)a]h-lah,
soon made themselves known to me, and, when we desired to go to sleep,
sent away the people who were eagerly pressing round our tent. All these
natives were better-looking, cleaner, and more robust than I expected to
find them.
A-w[)a]h-lah has been to Igloolik; one of his wives, for each chief has
_two_, has a brother living there. I spread a large roll of paper upon a
rock, and got him to draw the route overland, and also round by the
coast to it; this novel proceeding attracted the whole population about
us; A-w[)a]h-lah constantly referred to others when his memory failed
him; at length it was completed to the satisfaction of all parties. When
I gave him the knife I had promised as his reward, and added another for
his wives, he sprang up on the rock, flourished the knives in his hands,
shouted, and danced with extravagant demonstrations of joy. He is a
very fine specimen of his race, powerful, impulsive, full of energy and
animal spirits, and moreover an admirable mimic. The men were all about
the same height, 5 feet 5 in.; they eagerly answered our questions, and
imparted to us all the geographical knowledge, although at first they
hesitated when we asked them about Navy Board Inlet, in consequence of
the depôt placed there having been plundered; but we soon found that
they were easily tired under cross-examination, and often said they knew
no more; it was necessary to humor them.
According to their account the depôt was discovered and robbed by people
living further west. This is probably true, as so few relics were to be
seen here, which would not be the case if such active fellows as
A-w[)a]h-lah and N[=o]o-luk had received the first information of its
proximity. These people of Kapar[=o]ktolik are the only inhabitants of
the land lying eastward of Navy Board Inlet, and live entirely upon its
_southern_ shore. In a similar manner, it is only the _southern_ coast
of the land to the west of Navy Board Inlet that is inhabited. After
distributing presents to all the women and children, and making a few
trifling purchases from the men, we returned next day to the ship.
{AGAIN IN DANGER.}
During my absence more ice had broken away, involving the ship and
almost forcing her on shore. It required every exertion to save her.
For two hours she continued in imminent danger, and was only saved by
the warping and ice-blasting, by which at last she got clear of the
drifting masses, _four minutes_ only before these were crushed up
against the rocks!
{GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION OF NATIVES.}
Four Esquimaux came off to the ship in their kayaks, bringing whalebone,
narwhals' horns, etc., to barter. Next to handsaws and files, they
attached the greatest value to knives and large needles. These men
remained on board for nearly two days, and drew several charts for us.
N[=o]o-luk explained that seven or eight days' journey to the southward
there are _two_ wrecks a short day's journey apart. The southern is in
an inlet or strait which contains several islands, but here his
knowledge of the coast terminates. The man A-ra-neet said he visited
these wrecks five winters ago. All of them agreed that it is a very long
time since the wrecks arrived upon the coast; and N[=o]o-luk, who
appears to be about forty-five years of age, showed us how tall he was
at the time.
In the 'Narrative of Parry's Second Voyage,' at p. 437, mention is made
of the arrival at Igloolik of a sledge constructed of ship-timber and
staves of casks; also of two ships that had been driven on shore, and
the crews of which went away in boats. In August, 1821, nearly two years
previous to the arrival of this report through the Esquimaux to
Igloolik, the whalers 'Dexterity' and 'Aurora' were wrecked upon the
west coast of Davis' Strait, in lat. 72°, 70 or 80 miles southward of
Pond's Bay. The old man, Ow-wang-noot, drew the coast-line northwards
from Cape Graham Moore to Navy Board Inlet, and pointed out the position
of the northern wreck a few miles east of Cape Hay. Had it been
conspicuous, we must have seen it when we slowly drifted along that
coast.
These people usually winter in snow-huts at Green Point, a mile or two
within the northern entrance of Pond's Bay. They hunt the seal and
narwhal, but when the sea becomes too open they retire to
Kapar[=o]ktolik; and when the remaining ice breaks up--usually about the
middle of August--a further migration takes place across the inlet to
the S.W., where reindeer abound, and large salmon are numerous in the
rivers. Every winter they communicate with the Igloolik people. Two
winters ago (1856-7) some people who lived far beyond Igloolik, in a
country called A-ka-nee (probably the Ak-koo-lee of Parry), brought from
there the information of white people having come in two boats, and
passed a winter in snow-huts at a place called by the following
names:--A-mee-lee-oke, A-wee-lik, Net-tee-lik.
{INFORMATION OF RAE'S VISIT.}
Our friends pointed to our whale-boat, and said the boats of the white
people were like it, but larger. These whites had tents inside their
snow-huts; they killed and ate reindeer and narwhal, and smoked pipes;
they bought dresses from the natives; none died; in summer they all went
away, taking with them two natives, a father and his son. We could not
ascertain the name of the white chief, nor the interval of time since
they wintered amongst the Esquimaux, as our friends could not recollect
these particulars.[14]
The name of the locality, A-wee-lik (spelt as written down at the
moment), may be considered identical with "Ay-wee-lik," the name of the
land about Repulse Bay in the chart of the Esquimaux woman, Iligliuk
(Parry's 'Second Voyage,' p. 197).
We were of course greatly surprised to find that Dr. Rae's visit to
Repulse Bay was known to this distant tribe; and also disappointed to
find they had heard nothing of Franklin's Back-River parties through the
same channel of communication. They were anxiously and repeatedly
questioned, but evidently had not heard of any other white people to the
westward, nor of their having perished there.
Ow-wang-noot lived at Igloolik in his early days, and made a chart of
the lands adjacent, but said he was so young at the time that "it seemed
like a dream to him." He was acquainted with Ee-noo-l[=o][=o]-apik, the
Esquimaux who once accompanied Captain Penny to Aberdeen, and told us he
had died, lately I think, at a place to the southward called
Kri-merk-s[=u]-malek, but that his sister still lives at Igloolik.
{BARTER WITH NATIVES.}
Although they told us the Igloolik people were worse off for wood than
they were themselves, yet it was evident that here also it is very
scarce. We could not spare them light poles or oars such as they were
most desirous to obtain for harpoon and lance staves and tent-poles; and
they would willingly have bartered their kayaks to us for rifles (having
already obtained some from the whaling-ships), but that they had no
other means of getting back to their homes, nor wood to make the light
framework of others.
They collect whalebone and narwhal's horns in sufficient quantity to
carry on a small barter with the whalers. A-w[)a]h-lah showed us about
thirty horns in his tent, and said he had many more at other stations. A
few years ago, when first this bartering sprang up, an Esquimaux took
such a fancy to a fiddle that he offered a large quantity of whalebone
in exchange for it. The bargain was soon made, and subsequently this
whalebone was sold for upwards of a hundred pounds! Each successive
year, when the same ship returns to Pond's Bay, this native comes on
board to visit his friends, and goes on shore with many presents in
remembrance of the memorable transaction. It is much better for him thus
to receive annual gifts than to have received a large quantity at first,
as the improvidence of these men surpasses belief.
{TEMPTATIONS TO BARTER.}
Of the "rod of iron about four feet long, supposed to have been at one
time galvanized," which was brought home in 1856 by Captain Patterson,
and forwarded to the Admiralty, I could obtain no information. The
natives were shown galvanized iron, and said they had never seen any
before; if their countrymen had any, it must have come from the whalers;
none like it was found in the wrecks. Rod-iron is very valuable to
Esquimaux for spears and lances, and narwhals' horns very tempting to
the seamen, not only as valuable curiosities, but the ivory is worth
half a crown a pound; and I have but little doubt that many of the
things said to have been stolen by the natives were fraudulently
bartered away by the sailors. That there was no galvanized iron on board
any of the Government searching-ships, nor in the missing expedition
which sailed from England as far back as 1845, I am almost certain. But
is it _certain_ that this rod was galvanized? The natives gave Captain
Patterson to understand that they got it from the wreck to the north.
In July, 1854, Captain Deuchars was at Pond's Bay, and many natives
visited his ship, coming over the ice on twelve or fourteen sledges
made of ship's planking. Now at this time Sir Edward Belcher's ships
were still frozen up in Barrow Strait. My own impression is that the
natives whom Captain Deuchars communicated with in 1854 were visitors at
Pond's Bay--certainly from the _southward_--and probably attracted by
the barter recently grown up at that whaling rendezvous. Having
discovered the use of the saws obtained by barter from our whalers, they
had successfully applied them to the stout planking of the old wrecks,
which they could not have stripped off with any tools previously in
their possession.
{TRAVELS OF ESQUIMAUX.}
That the various tribes, or rather groups of families, occasionally
visit each other, sometimes for change of hunting-grounds, but more
frequently for barter, is well known. Captain Parker told me that a
native whom he had met one summer at Durbin Island, came on board his
ship at Pond's Bay the following year. The distance between the two
places, as travelled by this man in a single winter, is scarcely short
of 500 miles; and the information given us of Rae's wintering at Repulse
Bay, information which must have travelled here in two winters, shows
that these natives communicate at still greater distances.
Did other wrecks exist nearer at hand, our Pond's Bay friends would be
much better supplied with wood. If the Esquimaux knew of any within
300, 400, or even 500 miles, the Pond's Bay natives would at least have
heard of them, and could have had no reason for concealing it from us. I
only regret that we had not the good fortune to see more than a few
natives, and but two sledges of ship's planking; otherwise our own
information might have been more copious, and the origin of the fresh
supply of planking decisively ascertained.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] Dr. Rae wintered at Repulse Bay in _stone_ huts in 1846-7. Again
wintered there in _snow_ huts in 1853-4.