this part of the polar world: the monotonous, rounded outline of the
adjacent hills, as well as the flat, unmeaning valleys, were of one
uniform colour, either deadly white with snow or striped with brown
where too steep for the winter mantle as yet to find a holding ground.
You felt pity for the shivering blade of grass, which, at your feet,
was already drooping under the cold and icy hand that would press it
down to mother earth for nine long months. Talk of "antres vast and
deserts idle,"--talk of the sadness awakened in the wanderer's bosom by
the lone scenes, be it even by the cursed waters of Judea, or afflicted
lands of Assyria,--give me, I say, death in any one of them, with the
good sun and a bright heaven to whisper hope, rather than the solitary
horrors of such scenes as these. The very wind scorned courtesy to such
a repulsive landscape, and as the stones rattled down the slope of a
ravine before the blast, it only recalled dead men's bones, and motion
in a catacomb. A truce, however, to such thoughts--May's merry
recognition breaks the stillness of the frosty air. He has been to the
point, and finds it an island; he says--and I vow he means what he
says--that May Island is a beautiful spot! it has grass and moss upon
it, and traces of game: next year he intends to bag many a hare there.
Sanguine feelings are infectious; I forget my own impressions, adopt
his rosy ones, and we walk back to our tent, guided by the smoke,
plotting plans for shooting excursions in 1851!
"Pemmican is all ready, sir!" reports our Soyer. In troth, appetite
need wait on one, for the greasy compound would pall on moderate taste
or hunger. Tradition said that it was composed of the best rump-steaks
and suet, and cost 1s. 6d. per pound, but we generally voted it
composed of broken-down horses and Russian tallow. If not sweet in
savour, it was strong in nourishment, and after six table-spoonfuls,
the most ravenous feeder might have cried, hold! enough!
Frozen pork, which had been boiled on board the ship, was quite a
treat, and decidedly better than cold, thawed pork could have been;
this, with plenty of biscuit and a "jolly hot" basin of tea, and, as
one of the seamen observed, "an invitation to Windsor would have been
declined." The meal done, the tent was carefully swept out, the last
careful arrangement of the pebbles, termed "picking the feathers," was
made, and then a water-proof sheet spread, to prevent our warm bodies,
during the night, melting the frozen ground and wetting us through.
Then every man his blanket bag, a general popping thereinto of the legs
and body, in order that the operation of undressing might be decently
performed, the jacket and wet boots carefully arranged for a pillow;
the wolf-skin robes,--Oh, that the contractor may be haunted by the
aroma of the said robes for his life-time!--brought along both over and
under the party, who lie down alternately, head and feet in a row,
across the tent. Pipes are lighted, the evening's glass of grog served
out; and whilst the cook is washing up, and preparing his things ready
for the morning meal, as well as securing the food on the sledges from
foxes, or a hungry bear, many a tough yarn is told, or joke made, which
keep all hands laughing until the cook reports all right, comes in,
hooks up the door, tucks in the fur robe; and seven jolly mortals, with
a brown-holland tent over their heads, and a winter's gale without, try
to nestle their sides amongst the softest stones, and at last drop into
such a sleep as those only enjoy who drag a sledge all day, with the
temperature 30° below freezing point.
[Headnote: _AUTUMNAL TRAVELLING._]
Friday morning, at seven o'clock, we rolled up our beds, or rather
sleeping-bags, stowed the sledge, drank boiling hot chocolate, and
gnawed cheerily at frozen pork and biscuit; the weather beautiful,
calm, and very cold, below zero, we started, skirting round the bay. By
noon a gale sprung up, sending a body of icy spiculæ against our faces,
causing both pain and annoyance. Two mock suns for the first time were
seen to-day. At noon we sat down under the lee of our sledge, and
partook of a mouthful of grog and biscuit, and again marched rapidly
towards "Cape No Name!" By the evening we had marched fourteen miles,
the entire circuit of the bay, without observing any trace of Franklin
having visited the neighbourhood; and as frost-bites began to attack
our faces, we erected our tent as expeditiously as possible, and in it
took shelter from the wind and cold. The pungent smoke of the lignum
vitæ kept us weeping, as long as the cooking went on; and between the
annoyance of it, the cold, and fatigue, we all dropped off to sleep,
indifferent to a falling temperature, prowling bears, or a violent
gale, which threatened to blow us from the beach on which we had
pitched our fluttering tent.
Next day, my work being done, we struck homeward for the squadron, and
reached it the same evening, the said 12th of October being the last
autumnal travelling of our squadron.
The following week the temperature rallied a little, and the weather
was generally finer; our preparations for wintering were nearly
completed, and the poor sickly sun barely for two hours a day rose
above the heights of Griffith's Island.
To our great joy, on the 17th of October, Captain Penny came over from
Assistance Harbour. He had happily decided on taking up the search of
Wellington Channel; and an understanding was come to, that his squadron
should carry out the travelling operations next spring on that route,
whilst our squadron accomplished the farthest possible distance towards
Melville Island, and from Cape Walker to the south-west.
Captain P. expressed it as his opinion that the Americans had not
escaped out of Barrow's Strait, in consequence of a sudden gale
springing up from the southward, shortly after they had passed his
winter quarters. This supposition we of course afterwards found to be
true, although at the time we all used to speak of the Americans as
being safe and snug in New York, instead of drifting about in the ice,
within a few miles of us, as was really the case.
With Penny's return to his vessels, may be said to have closed all the
Arctic operations of the year 1850. Our upper decks were now covered
in; stoves and warming apparatus set at work; boats secured on the ice;
all the lumber taken off the upper decks, to clear them for exercise in
bad weather; masts and yards made as snug as possible; rows of posts
placed to show the road in the darkness and snow-storms from ship to
ship; holes cut through the ice into the sea, to secure a ready supply
of water, in the event of fire; arrangements made to insure cleanliness
of ships and crews, and a winter routine entered upon, which those
curious in such matters may find fully detailed in Parry's "First
Voyage," or Ross's "Four Years in Boothia."
The building of snow-walls, posts, houses, &c., was at first a source
of amusement to the men, and gave them a great field in which to
exercise their skill and ingenuity. People at home would, I think, have
been delighted to see the pretty and tasteful things cut out of snow:
obelisks, sphinxes, vases, cannon, and, lastly, a stately Britannia,
looking to the westward, enlivened the floe, and gave voluntary
occupation to the crews of the vessels. These, however, only served for
a while; and as the arctic night of months closed in, every one's wits
were exerted to the utmost to invent occupation and entertainment for
our little community.
[Headnote: _AN ARCTIC PRAYER._]
On November the 8th, two officers ascended the heights of Griffith's
Island, and at noontide caught the last glimpse of the sun, as it
happened to be thrown up by refraction, though in reality it was
seventeen miles below our horizon. We were now fairly about to undergo
a dark, arctic winter, in 74-1/2 degrees of north latitude; and
light-hearted and confident as we felt in our resources of every
description, one could not, when looking around the dreary scene which
spread around us on every side, but feel how much our lives were in His
hands who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb; and wanting must he have
been in feeling who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer that returning
day and returning summer might find him able and fit to undergo the
hardship and fatigue of journeys on foot, to seek for his long-lost
fellow-seamen. On leaving England, amongst the many kind, thoughtful
presents, both public and private, none struck me as being more
appropriate than the following form of prayer:--
A PRAYER FOR THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
"O Lord God, our Heavenly Father, who teachest man knowledge, and
givest him skill and power to accomplish his designs, we desire
continually to wait, and call, and depend upon Thee. Thy way is in
the sea, and Thy paths in the great waters. Thou rulest and
commandest all things. We therefore draw nigh unto Thee for help in
the great work which we now have to do.
"Leave us not, we beseech Thee, to our own counsel, nor to the
imaginations of our own foolish and deceitful hearts: but lead us
by the way wherein we should go, that discretion may preserve us,
and understanding may keep us. Do Thou, O Lord, make our way
prosperous, and give us Thy blessing and good success. Bring all
needful things to our remembrance; and where we have not the
presence of mind, nor the ability, to perform Thy will, magnify Thy
power in our weakness. Let Thy good providence be our aid and
protection, and Thy Holy Spirit our Guide and Comforter, that we
may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body,
and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul.
Endue us with such strength and patience as may carry us through
every toil and danger, whether by sea or land; and, if it be Thy
good pleasure, vouchsafe to us a safe return to our families and
homes.
"And, as Thy Holy Word teaches us to pray for others, as well as
for ourselves, we most humbly beseech Thee, of Thy goodness, O
Lord, to comfort and succour all those who are in trouble, sorrow,
need, sickness, or any other adversity, especially such as may now
be exposed to the dangers of the deep, or afflicted with cold and
hunger. Bestow upon them Thy rich mercies, according to their
several wants and necessities, and deliver them out of their
distress. They are known to Thee by name, let them be known of Thee
as the children of Thy grace and love. Bless us all with Thy
favour, in which is life, and with all spiritual blessings in
Christ Jesus; and grant us so to pass the waves of this troublesome
world, that finally we may come unto Thy everlasting kingdom. Grant
this, for Thy dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. _Amen._"
While touching on a religious point connected with our expedition, I
must say, that as yet we have not in the Navy a single good set of
sermons adapted to interest and instruct the seamen. The commander, or
commanding officer, of a man-of-war usually reads, in the absence of
the chaplain, the Divine Service on Sundays. We, of course, did not
fail to do so; but I never saw an English sailor who would sit down and
listen attentively to the discussion of some knotty text, exhibiting
far more ingenuity on the part of some learned commentator, than
simplicity and clearness adapted to plain, uninformed minds: in a
future expedition, and, indeed, in the Navy generally, it is to be
hoped this deficiency will be remedied. Sermons in the pure and
Christianlike tone of Porteus's Lent Lectures, I would humbly recommend
as a guide for those who may be inclined to take the good work in hand.
[Headnote: _WINTER OCCUPATIONS._]
A theatre, a casino, and a saloon, two Arctic newspapers, one of them
an illustrated one, evening-schools, and instructive lectures, gave no
one an excuse for being idle. The officers and men voluntarily imposed
on themselves various duties in connection with the different
departments; one was scene-painter, and under his talented pencil the
canvas glowed with pictures one almost grieved to see thus employed.
Decorators and statuaries produced effects which, with such limited
means, were really astounding; vocalists and musicians practised and
persevered until an instrumental band and glee-club were formed, to our
general delight; officers and men sung who never sang before, and
maybe, except under similar circumstances, will never sing again;
maskers had to construct their own masks, and sew their own dresses,
the signal flags serving in lieu of a supply from the milliner's; and,
with wonderful ingenuity, a fancy dress ball was got up, which, in
variety and tastefulness of costume, would have borne comparison with
any one in Europe.
Here, editors floundered through a leader, exhibiting French ingenuity,
in saying their say without bringing themselves within the grasp of the
censors; here, rough contributors, whose hands, more accustomed to the
tar-brush than the pen, turned flowing sentences by the aid of old
miscellanies and well-thumbed dictionaries. There, on wooden stools,
leaning over long tables, were a row of serious and anxious faces,
which put one in mind of the days of cane and birch,--an Arctic school.
Tough old marines curving "pot-hooks and hangers," as if their very
lives depended on their performances, with an occasional burst of
petulance, such as, "D---- the pen, it won't write! I beg pardon, sir;
this 'ere pen will splutter!" which set the scholars in a roar. Then
some big-whiskered top-man, with slate in hand, reciting his
multiplication-table, and grinning at approval; whilst a "scholar," as
the cleverest were termed, gave the instructor a hard task to preserve
his learned superiority.
In an adjoining place, an observer might notice a tier of attentive,
upturned faces, listening, like children to some nursery-tale. It was
the first lieutenant of the "Resolute," my much-loved, faithful friend;
he was telling them of the deeds of their forefathers in these regions.
Parry's glorious pages open by his side, he told those stern men with
tender hearts, of the sufferings, the enterprise, the courage, and the
reward of imperishable renown exhibited and won by others. The
glistening eye and compressed lip showed how the good seed had taken
root in the listeners around, and every evening saw that sailor
audience gather around him whom they knew to be the "gallant and true,"
to share in his feelings and borrow from his enthusiasm.
[Headnote: _WINTER SCENERY._]
For some time after the sun had ceased to visit our heavens, the
southern side of the horizon, for a few hours at noon, was strongly
illumined, the sky being shaded, from deep and rosy red through all the
most delicate tints of pink and blue, until, in the north, a cold
bluish-black scowled angrily over the pale mountains, who, in widowed
loneliness, had drawn their cowls of snow around, and, uncheered by the
roseate kiss of the bridegroom sun, seemed to mourn over the silence
and darkness at their feet. Such was a fine day in November, and
through the gray twilight the dark forms of our people, as they
traversed the floe, or scaled the cliffs of Griffith's Island, or,
maybe, occasionally hunted a bear, completed the scene.
Charmed as we were with the evanescent colouring of our sky on a fine
day, it was in loveliness far surpassed by the exceeding beauty of
Arctic moonlight. Daylight but served to show the bleakness of frozen
sea and land; but a full, silvery moon, wheeling around the zenith for
several days and nights, threw a poetry over every thing, which reached
and glowed in the heart, in spite of intense frost and biting breeze.
At such a time we were wont to pull on our warm jackets and seal-skin
caps, and, striding out upon the floe, enjoy to the utmost the
elasticity of health and spirits with which we were blest under so
bracing a climate. There, with one's friend, the mutual recognition of
Nature's beauties and congratulations, at being there to witness it,
richly rewarded us for our isolation from the world of our fellow-men;
and general enthusiasm had its full sway as, from the heights of
Griffith's Island, we looked down on our squadron, whose masts alone
pierced the broad white expanse over Barrow's Strait, and threw long
shadows across the floe. The noble mission for which they had been sent
into the north was ever present to us, and away instinctively flew our
thoughts to our gallant friends in the "Erebus" and "Terror:" thus
alternately elated and saddened, we enjoyed, with earnest feelings, the
wondrous scene around us.
Imagine yourself, dear reader, on the edge of a lofty table-land,
which, dipping suddenly at your feet, sloped again to the sea of ice,
at a distance of some 500 feet below; fancy a vast plain of ice and
snow, diversified by tiers of broken-up ice and snow-wreaths, which,
glistening on the one side, reflected back the moonlight with an
exceeding brilliancy, whilst the strong shadow on the farther side of
the masses threw them out in strong relief; four lone barks, atoms in
the extensive landscape,--the observers' home,--and beyond them, on the
horizon, sweeping in many a bay, valley, and headland, the coast of
Cornwallis Island, now bursting upon the eye in startling distinctness,
then receding into shadow and gloom, and then anon diversified with
flickering shades, like an autumnal landscape in our own dear land, as
the fleecy clouds sailed slowly across the moon,--she the while riding
through a heaven of deepest blue, richly illuminated by the
constellations of the northern hemisphere, wheeling around the Polar
Star like armies in review,--and say if the North has not its charms
for him who can appreciate such novel aspects of Nature.
If you still doubt it, let us descend the adjacent ravine, formed as if
some giant hand had rent the firm cliff from crown to basement; stand
we now at its upper entrance, where it slopes away to the table-land
behind,--didst ever see a sight more wildly beautiful? The grim and
frowning buttresses on either hand, too steep for even the snow-flake
to rest upon, whilst over its brow a pigmy glacier topples with
graceful curve, or droops in many an icy wreath and spray, threatening
us with destruction as we slide down the sharp declivity. Now, with
many a graceful curve, the gorge winds down to the frozen sea, a
glimpse of which forms the background to the lower entrance. Observe
how the snow, which, by wintry gales, has been swept into the ravine,
has hardened into masses, resembling naught so much as a fierce rapid
suddenly congealed; and then look overhead, to a deep blue sky,
spangled with a million spheres; if thou couldst have seen this, and
much more than pen or tongues can tell, and not admire it, then I say,
"God help thee,
Thou hast reason to be sad."
[Headnote: _OPEN WATERS IN BARROW'S STRAIT._]
As late as the 18th of November, water, in a broad lane, was seen to
the S.E. from the extreme of Griffith's Island, showing the pack to be
in motion in Barrow's Strait, a belief we otherwise arrived at from the
frequent appearance of a water-sky in the same direction, especially
after spring-tides or strong N.W. gales. A few bears, perhaps eight in
all, visited our ships during the closing period of 1850, showing they
did not hibernate immediately the sun disappeared; indeed, so long as
there was water near us, they would find seal, their usual, perhaps
their only, food. And, apart from the appearance of water in our
immediate neighbourhood, we were convinced that Lancaster Sound was
still open, from the sudden rise of the temperature of the air,
whenever the wind drew to that quarter; and, what was more
extraordinary still, whenever the wind was from the northward, a black
vapour, a certain indication of water, was seen to be rolling past Cape
Hotham out of Wellington Channel: could that have been open so long
after the sea in our neighbourhood was closed?
However, to return to the bears. Whenever an unlucky brute was seen,
the severe competition as to who should possess his skin, entailed no
small risk of life upon the hunters as well as the proprietor of the
coveted prize; and crossing the line of fire was recklessly performed,
in a manner to have shocked an "Excellent" gunner or a Woolwich
artilleryman. Discretion was the better part of Ursine valour, and one
brute was alone bagged, although a good many were very much frightened;
the frequent chases, and constant failures, giving rise to much
quizzing on the part of the unsportsmanlike, and learned dissertations
by the Nimrods upon the rules to be observed in bear-shooting. As
instances of what risks the community ran, whilst the furor for skins
was at its height, I will merely say, that two unconscious mortals who
had got on a hummock to see around, were mistaken in the twilight for
bears, and stood fire from a rifle, which, happily for them, on this
occasion, missed its mark; and one day, a respectable individual,
trotting among the snow ridges, was horrified to see on a piece of
canvas, in large letters, "Beware of spring-guns!" Picture to oneself
the person's feelings. How was he to escape? The next tread of his
foot, and, maybe, off into his body might be discharged the murderous
barrel secreted for a bear. Fate decreed otherwise; the alarmed seaman
escaped; and the spring-gun was banished to some lonely ravine, from
which the proprietor daily anticipated a dead bear, and I, a dead
shipmate; some of whom, pining for forlorn damsels at home, were led to
sentimentalize in retired places.
My captain of the forecastle, whose sporting propensities I have
elsewhere noted, cured me of a momentary mania for trophies of the
chase, thus: a large bear and cub, after coming towards the "Pioneer,"
for some time halted, and were fired at by three officers with guns: of
the three barrels only one went off, wounding the cub, which, with its
mother, made for Griffith's Island. I chased, followed by some of the
men, the foremost of whom was my ancient mariner, who kept close to my
heels, urging me on by declaring we were fast catching the brutes. We
decidedly had done so. By the time I reached the island, and both bears
were within shot, climbing up, with cat-like agility, the steep face of
the cliffs, again and again I failed to get my gun off; and as the
she-bear looked at one time inclined to come down and see who the
bipeds were that had chased her, I looked round at my supporters, who
were vehemently exclaiming that "we should have her in a minute!" They
consisted of Old Abbot, armed with a snow-knife, and some men who ran,
because they saw others doing so. Now, a snow-knife consists of nothing
more than a piece of old iron beaten out on an anvil so as to cut snow,
having an edge, which, when I anxiously asked if it was sharp, I was
figuratively told, "The owner, John Abbot, could have ridden to the
devil upon it without injury to his person." Yet, with this, I verily
believe, the old seaman would have entered the list against the teeth
and talons of Mistress Bruin. I objected, however, and allowed her to
escape with becoming thankfulness.
[Headnote: _CHRISTMAS-DAY ON BOARD._]
Christmas-day was, of course, not forgotten, and our best, though
humble fare was displayed in each of the vessels. Hospitality and
good-fellowship, however, were not confined to this day alone; and had
not the bond of friendship, which knit the officers and men of the
squadron together, taught them the necessity of sharing the little they
had, the open-handed liberality of our hospitable leader would have
done so. At his table, petty differences, professional heart-burnings,
and quarter-deck etiquette, were forgotten and laid aside. A liberal
and pleasant host made merry guests; and amongst the many ways in which
we strove to beguile the winter of 1850-51, none have more agreeable
recollections than his dinner-parties.
It may not here be out of place to describe the ordinary clothing worn,
as yet, by officers and men: the temperature ranging often as low as
35° below zero, with strong gales:--
_Clothing when indoors._
1 Flannel shirt with sleeves.
1 Cotton ditto.
1 Waistcoat with sleeves, lined with flannel.
1 Drawers flannel.
1 Pair trowsers, box-cloth, lined with flannel.
1 Pair thick stockings.
1 Do. thin ditto.
1 Horse-hair sole.
1 Pair carpet boots.
_Additional for walking_.
Box-cloth pea jacket.
Welsh wig.
Seal-skin cap.
Beaver-skin mitts.
Shawl or comfortable.
Men with tender faces required a cloth face-cover in the wind.