been a couple of hours previously at 41° below zero, and mercury solid
in the open air, we were delighted to see a solitary drop of water
trickle down the black paint of the "Pioneer's" side: at that moment,
oddly enough, the temperature in the shade was 36°--, and in the sun
the thermometer only rose to 2° below zero! Water, however, it
undoubtedly was, and as such we cheerfully hailed it, to prove the
increasing heat of the sun, and to promise a coming summer. All March
was a scene of constant business, diversified with sledge parades and
amusing military evolutions, recalling to our minds unpleasant
recollections of sweltering field-days and grand parades.
Having briefly touched upon the leading incidents connected with our
winter, and brought events up to the preparations for a search on foot,
it may not here be out of place to give a brief sketch of the causes
which had brought about the necessity for so many Englishmen to be
sojourning in these inclement regions, as well as occasioned the voyage
of that distinguished navigator whose squadron we hoped to rescue.
The seamen of Northern Europe, the Norsemen and Scandinavians, seem,
from the earliest records extant, to have sought for the glory
attendant upon braving the perils of Polar Seas. From A.D. 860 to 982,
from the sea-rover Naddod's discovery of Iceland, to Eirek "of the Red
Hand's" landing on Greenland, near Hergolf's Ness, neither wreck,
disaster, nor tempest, checked the steady, onward march of their
explorations; robbing, as they eventually did a century afterwards, the
immortal Genoese of one half his honours, by actually landing, under
the pirate Biarni, on the new continent south of the river St.
Lawrence.
In Greenland, a hardy race, the descendants of the Northland warriors,
appear to have multiplied; for, in A.D. 1400, a flourishing colony
stood on this threshold of the new world; converted to Christianity,
the cathedral of Garda had been constructed, and the archives in
Iceland proved it to have been successively held by no less than
seventeen bishops; the colonies were known under the general terms of
East and West Bygd (Bight), and numbered in all sixteen parishes, and
two hundred and eighty farms, numerously populated.
[Headnote: _NORTH-WEST DISCOVERY._]
Strict commercial monopoly, and the naturally secluded position of the
Scandinavian colony in Greenland, seemed to have occasioned its perfect
decadence, or, otherwise, as traditions tell us, a sudden hostile
inroad of the Esquimaux swept off the isolated Europeans: from either
cause there remained, after the lapse of two centuries, but the
moss-covered ruins of a few churches, some Runic inscriptions, and the
legends of the Esquimaux, who talked of a tall, fair-haired race, their
giants of old.
The heirloom of the northern pirates, the dominion of the sea, passed,
however, into England's hands, and with it that same daring love of the
difficult and unknown, which had led the Viking from conquest to
conquest: and whilst southern Europe sought for the wealth of the
Indies in the more genial regions of the south, English seamen pushed
their barks to the west, in the boisterous seas of high northern
latitudes. Confining myself purely to those who essayed the passage to
Cathay Cipango, and the Indies, by the north-west, first on the
glorious scroll stands Frobisher. That sturdy seaman of Elizabeth's
gallant navy, on the 11th of July, 1576, with three craft, whose united
burden only amounted to _seventy-five tons_,--this "proud admiral"
sighted the east coast of Greenland, in 61° north latitude. Unable to
approach it for ice, which then, as now, hampers the whole of that
coast, he was next blown by a gale far to the south-west on to the
coast of Labrador, reaching eventually to 63° north latitude, and
landing in Frobisher's Straits. He extricated his vessels with
difficulty, and returned home, carrying a quantity of mica, which was
mistaken for gold; and awakening the cupidity of the court, nobles, and
merchants, three more expeditions sailed, exhibiting laudable courage
and skill, but adding little to our geographical knowledge.
Such a succession of miscarriages damped the ardour for north-west
discovery for a while; until, in 1535, "divers worshipful merchants of
London, and the West country, moved by the desire of advancing God's
glory, and the good of their native land," equipped "John Davis" for a
voyage of discovery to the unknown regions of the north-west.
Piteous as were his hardships--doleful as were his tales of the "lothsome
view of y^e shore, and y^e irksome noyse of y^e yce," "y^e stinking fogs
and cruelle windes" of Desolation Land--the seamen of that day seemed
each to have determined to see and judge for himself, and ably were they
supported by the open-handed liberality of wealthy private individuals,
and the corporation of London merchants; whose minds, if we may judge of
them by such men as Sir John Wolstenholme, Digges, Jones, and others,
soared far above Smithfield nuisances and committees on sewers. After
Davis we see Waymouth, then Hudson, who perished amid the scenes of his
hardships and honours. Captains Button and Bylot, followed by the ablest,
the first of Arctic navigators--Baffin,--he sweeping, in one short
season, round the great bay which records his fame, showed us of the
present day the high-road to the west; and did more; for he saw more of
that coast than we modern seamen have yet been able to accomplish.
Lastly, in that olden time, we have the sagacious and quaint Nor-West
Fox, carrying our flag to the head of Hudson's Bay; whilst James's
fearful sufferings in the southern extreme of the same locality,
completed, for a while, the labours of British seamen in these regions.
[Headnote: _ENGLISH N.W. DISCOVERIES._]
A lull then took place, perhaps occasioned by the granting of a charter
to certain noblemen and merchants in 1668, under the title of "Governor
and Company of Adventurers of England," trading into Hudson's Bay, with
the understanding that the discovery of a north-west passage was to be
persevered in by them. During a century, they accomplished, by their
servants, "Hearne and Mackenzie,"--the former in 1771, and the latter
in 1789,--the tracing of the Copper-mine and the Mackenzie rivers to
their embouchures into an arctic sea in the 70° parallel of north
latitude; whilst a temporary interest, on the part of Great Britain,
during the reign of George the Third, occasioned two names, dear to
every seaman's recollection, to be associated with the accomplishment
of geographical discovery in the same direction: the one was Nelson,
who served with Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, in his
attempt to pass over the Pole; and the other, the greatest of English
navigators--Cook, who, in 1776, failed to round the American continent
by coming to the eastward from Behring's Straits.
At the commencement of the current century, our knowledge of the
northern coast of the American continent amounted to a mere fraction.
On the west, Cook had hardly penetrated beyond Behring's Straits; and
on the east, Hudson's and Baffin's Bay formed the limit of our
geographical knowledge; except at two points, where the sea had been
seen by Hearne and Mackenzie.
Shortly after the Peace, one whose genius and ability were only to be
equalled by his perseverance, the late Sir John Barrow, Secretary of
the Admiralty, turned his attention to Arctic discovery, and especially
the north-west passage. He had himself been to Spitzbergen, and as far
north as the 80th parallel of latitude. Combating the prejudiced,
convincing the doubtful, and teaching the ignorant, he awakened
national pride and professional enterprise in a cause in which English
seamen had already won high honours, and Great Britain's glory was
especially involved. What difficulties he mastered, and how well he was
seconded by others, and none more so than by the enlightened First Lord
of the Admiralty, Viscount Melville, Sir John Barrow himself has told,
in the able volumes which imperishably chronicle the deeds of ancient
and modern explorers in Polar regions. Since 1818, with the exception
of Sir John Ross's first voyage, we may have been said to have
constantly added to our knowledge of the north-west.
It was in 1819 that Parry sailed to commence that magnificent series of
discoveries which, since completed by Franklin, Richardson, Beechey,
the Rosses, Back, Simpson, and Rae, have left us, after thirty-five
years of well-spent toil and devotion, in perfect possession of the
geographical features of Arctic America, and added _three thousand
six hundred and eighty miles_ of coast-line to our Polar charts. Is
this nothing? If the mere _quid pro quo_ is required of public
servants, surely the Arctic navigator has far better repaid to his
country the pay and food he has received at her hands than those who,
in a time of universal peace, idle through year after year of foreign
service in her men-of-war; and most assuredly, if we are proud of our
seamen's fame and our naval renown, where can we look for nobler
instances of it than amongst the records of late Arctic voyages and
journeys. The calm, heroic sufferings of Franklin,--always successful,
let the price be what it would; the iron resolution of Richardson;
Back's fearful winter march to save his comrades; the devoted Hepburn,
who, old though he be, could not see his former leader perish without
trying to help him, and, whilst I write these lines, is again braving
an Arctic winter in the little "Prince Albert;" Parry, who knew so well
to lead and yet be loved; James Ross, of iron frame, establishing, by
four consecutive years of privation and indomitable energy, that high
character which enabled him to carry an English squadron to the
unvisited shores of Victoria Land at the southern pole; and lastly, the
chivalrous men, who, again under Franklin, have launched, in obedience
to their Queen and country, into the unknown regions between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to execute their mission or fall in the
attempt.
[Headnote: _NORTH-WEST DISCOVERY._]
It was to save these devoted servants, that the spring of 1851 saw full
500 British and American seamen within the frigid zone. That portion of
them that had come by Baffin's Bay had been so far successful in their
mission, that they had dispelled all the visions--gratuitous enough--of
Franklin having perished by shipwreck or other disaster in his passage
across the bay.
We had seen his winter quarters; we had seen his lookout posts, and the
trail of his explorations. They all said, Onward! To be sure, we did
not at once know by which route he had gone onward. The uncertainty,
however, gave a spur to those about to be engaged in the searching
parties, and each man thought there were especial reasons for believing
one particular route to be the true one. The majority--indeed all those
who gave the subject any consideration--believed Franklin to have gone
either by Cape Walker, or to the north-west by Wellington Channel.
Hope, thank God, rode high in every breast, and already did the men
begin to talk of what they would do with their new shipmates from the
"Erebus" and "Terror" when they had them on board their respective
ships: and I have no doubt they would have done as one gallant fellow
replied, when I asked him if he thought himself equal to dragging 200
lbs., "O yes, sir, and Sir John Franklin too, when we find him."
Increasing light, decreasing cold, plenty to do, and certain
anticipations upon each man's part, that he would be the fortunate one
to find and save Franklin, made the month of April come in on us before
we had time to think of it, but not before we were ready.
The original intention was for the sledges to have started on the
different routes laid down by our commodore on the 8th of April; but a
fall of temperature on the 6th altered this plan, and a delay of one
week was decided upon. I therefore availed myself of the occasion to
visit Captain Penny's winter quarters; proceeding there on the
dog-sledge of Mr. Petersen, who happened to be on board our vessel at
the time.
Nothing, I conceive, can be more exhilarating than dog-sledging in the
Arctic regions on a fine day, especially when, as in my case, the whole
affair has the charm of novelty. The rattling pace of the dogs, their
intelligence in choosing the road through the broken ice; the strict
obedience paid by the team to one powerful dog whom they elect as
leader; the arbitrary exercise of authority by the said leader; the
constant use of the whip, and a sort of running conversation kept up by
the driver with the different dogs, who well knew their names, as in
turn Sampson! Caniche! Foxey! Terror! &c., &c., were duly
anathematized, afforded constant amusement; apart from Petersen's
conversation, which was replete with interest, and the information he
gave me of the distances accomplished on the coast of Greenland by the
Danes with dog-sledges, made me regret much we had not provided
ourselves with a team or two for accomplishing any necessarily rapid
journey.
When Mr. Petersen, at Uppernavik, had so nobly thrown up an appointment
under the Danish crown to serve as interpreter with Penny in the search
for Franklin, he brought with him a sledge and a few dogs: these had
twice littered, and the numerous puppies were already grown into
serviceable dogs, forming two efficient teams. The major part of the
winter, scarcity of food, such as seal and bear, had told severely upon
the poor creatures; but an Esquimaux dog lives on little when not
worked; and, with a little oatmeal and grease, they had all outlived
the severe season; and some bear's flesh having been luckily procured,
there was every probability of good service being rendered by them. Our
rate of travelling was over five miles per hour, and though making a
considerable détour to avoid broken ice, I was shaking Penny by the
hand four hours after leaving the "Pioneer:" the distance between the
squadrons being about twenty miles in a straight line.
[Headnote: _ADVANTAGE OF WINTERING IN HARBOUR._]
I was much struck with the great advantage of wintering in harbour, and
near the shore, over a position, such as our squadron's, in the midst
of the floe. There was a cheerfulness in the vicinity of the land,
barren though it was, quite refreshing to one who had always a mile to
walk during the winter to reach Griffith's Island, or remain satisfied
with the monotony of the ice-field around the "Pioneer." Besides being
snug in harbour, Captain Penny, satisfied of the security of his
vessels, intended to leave only one man in each of them,--every other
soul being told off for sledge-parties,--whereas our squadron would
have some sixty men and officers left behind to take care of them,
exposed as they were to be swept into Barrow's Strait, or farther, by
any sudden disruption of the ice. I, therefore, mentally gave my
adhesion to the opinion expressed by authorities at home, to secure
winter quarters in some bay or harbour, and not to winter in the pack,
unless it is unavoidable.
The oldest English officer who had ever wintered within the Arctic
circle on a voyage of discovery, Sir John Ross, was not likely to be
forgotten by me; and I sincerely congratulated the veteran on his
escape from sickness during the past winter: and, though a wonderful
instance of physical endurance, I, with others, could not but feel
regret that a Naval officer so advanced in years, and who had served so
long, should be necessitated to undergo privations, of which those who
did not witness them can form no conception.
Time enabled me to do little more than admire the perseverance
displayed by Capt. Penny, his officers and men, in their preparations
for travelling. Sledges, cooking apparatuses, tents, in short, every
thing was ready, having been made by themselves in the course of the
winter; and, on the 13th April, six sledges, drawn by seamen, with an
officer to each, and provisioned for forty days, would start for
Wellington Channel, there to part into two divisions,--Capt. Stewart,
of the "Sophia," taking the one side of the Channel, whilst Capt.
Penny, with two extra dog-sledges, would direct the search in general.
Delighted with all the arrangements, and equally so with the high
spirit of chivalrous devotion apparent in every word and action of
these our gallant coadjutors in the purest of enterprises, my heart was
full as I said "Good-bye" to my hospitable friend Penny, on the 11th of
April; and a rapid drive by Mr. Petersen carried me to the "Pioneer" in
less than three hours. After a short halt, Mr. P. returned to
Assistance Harbour, doing full forty miles, within twelve hours, on his
dog-sledge.
I was astonished to find, on my return, that as yet the temperature at
our winter quarters had not been registered as being above zero;
whereas, in Assistance Harbour, Capt. Penny's quarters, the thermometer
had occasionally for the past week ranged above it, and on the day
before I left showed 11° in the shade. This difference of temperature
was, doubtless, occasioned by the radiation of heat from the land, by
which they were, unlike ourselves, surrounded.
During my absence, I was told that Mr. M'Dougal, of the "Resolute," who
had been despatched as early as the 4th April to inspect the dépôts
formed in the autumn, had returned to the ships, and brought accounts
of a wholesale destruction of the one on Somerville Island, by bears.
Hunger and mischievousness seemed alike to have induced the brutes to
break and tear to pieces what they could not possibly eat--such as tins
of patent chocolate, some of which were fairly bitten through. This
information induced us all to take extra precautions in securing the
provisions, of which dépôts during the march were to be formed.
[Headnote: _SLEDGE EQUIPMENT._]
It is now time to describe the sledges and their equipment, upon the
completeness of which the lives of our travellers so entirely depended.
The sledges, constructed of tough and well-seasoned wood, had been
carefully constructed in Woolwich Dockyard. They were shod with iron,
and the cross-bars or battens which connected the two runners, and
formed the floor upon which the load was placed, were lashed in their
places by us when required for use. At the four corners of the sledges
light iron stanchions dropped into sockets, and formed the support for
the sides of a species of tray or boat, capable of serving to ferry the
sledge crew across water in an emergency, as well as to keep the
provisions and clothing in it dry. This boat was made in some cases of
gutta-percha, in others of oiled canvas;--
lbs.
And, together with the sledge and drag-ropes, which
were made of horse-hair, to prevent their becoming
hard and brittle from frost, weighed 120
Two fur blankets and spare blanket, two weighed 40
Nine blanket-bags for sleeping in 42
A tent of oblong form, made of a species of
brown holland, supported by four boarding-pikes,
and a line which served as a ridge-rope, and was
set up to any heavy thing that came to hand 55
Mackintosh floor-cloth to spread over the snow
or gravel 12
A shovel to dig out snow for banking-up with 5-1/2
A cooking apparatus, invented by Lieutenant M'Clintock,
capable of cooking a pint apiece of tea, cocoa, or
pemmican, with a spirit lamp, tallow lamp, and spare
kettle 17
Sextant, 1 gun, and gear 10
A bag containing 5 tin pannikins and 5 spoons 5
A knapsack for each man, containing 1 flannel shirt,
1 Guernsey frock, 1 serge frock, 1 pair of drawers,
flannel, 1 pair of boot hose, 1 pair of stockings,
2 pairs of blanket-socks, 1 towel, 1 comb, 1 lb. soap 48
Spare boots, and thick Guernsey frocks for sleeping in 36
A tin case, containing pepper, salt, herbs dried,
lucifer matches, grog-measure, calico and flannel
bandages, plaster adhesive, lint, liniment, eye-wash,
pills, simple ointment, glycerine, lancet, tincture
of opium, pins, needles, and thread 16
Store-bag, containing broom or brush for sweeping the
tent down with, spare boot-soles, wax, bristles, twine,
shoe-tacks, crape awls, slow-match, nettle stuff, and
strips of hide, cylinders for documents, printed
records 11
Spare ammunition, cleaning rods, and wrench 14
Kites and string 12-1/2
________
Dead weight, lbs. 440
________
Such were the weights of the sledge equipment in the case of one of
those intended for a long journey. Nothing, it will be seen, was
forgotten, and there was nothing superfluous; yet, as the 440 lbs. had
to be dragged by six men, there was already 73 lbs. per man, which
would, from its nature, be hardly any lighter at the end of the
journey; and as about 200 lbs. was judged to be as much as a man could
drag, there only remained 172 lbs. per man available for provision and
package.
[Headnote: _SCALE OF PROVISION._]
The daily scale of provision, as ordered by Capt. Austin, during the
journeys, was to be as follows:--
Pemmican 1 lb.
Boiled pork 6 oz.
Biscuit 12 oz.
Rum, concentrated 3/4 gill.
Tobacco 1/2 oz.
Biscuit dust 1 oz.
Tea and sugar 3/4 oz.
Chocolate and sugar (alternate days) 1-3/4 oz.
Lime-juice (for 10 days) 1/2 oz.
The fuel allowed to cook this, for a party of seven men, amounted to
one pint and one gill of spirits of wine, or one pound eight ounces of
tallow.
A little calculation soon showed that about forty days' provision was
as much as any one sledge could take with it, or for an outward journey
of about twenty days; which, at an average distance of ten miles per
diem, would only give an extent of coast-line examined by any one
sledge of two hundred miles.
Before I endeavour to show how, by a system of dépôts and relays,
greater distances were achieved, the complete load of a long-party
sledge may as well be shown.
lbs.
Total dead weight 440
Pemmican and cases 330
Biscuit and dust, &c. 278
Pork and packages 123
Tea, sugar, chocolate, tobacco, &c., in a case 47
Lime-juice and rum 67
Spirits of wine and tallow 78
Sundries, tins, &c. 45
_____
Number of men to drag, 7 1408
_____
201 lbs. per man.
The officer's load consisted of a gun, powder and ball, telescope,
compass, and note-book; and as all the party, in anticipation of cold
weather, had to be heavily clad, it may be supposed that the total
weight to be dragged through snow and over rough ice was quite as much
as the stoutest physical powers were capable of. Several days previous
to departure we had travelled short journeys, in perfect marching
order, and sledges ladened,--an arrangement which was highly
beneficial; and from the way the sledges went over the floe, they gave
us high hopes of answering our expectations in the forthcoming march.
From head-quarters the following arrangement of sledges was made
public:--
Capt. Erasmus Ommanney was to cross Barrow's Strait to Cape Walker,
with the following sledges and officers under his orders: he there was
to use his own judgment as to the disposal of the force, it being
required, in the event of two routes showing themselves, viz., one to
the S.W., and the other W., that Lieut. Sherard Osborn was to be
ordered to take up the latter.
[Headnote: _GRAND SOUTHERN SEARCH._]
_CAPTAIN OMMANNEY'S COMMAND._