RELICS.
From this point onward our march was attended with the most profitable
results. On the evening of the 4th of June we met a young man, named
Adlekok, who, during the previous summer, had found a new cairn erected
by white men near Pfeffer River, which had never been seen by any other
Inuits. Near by were three graves and a tent place in which he found a
pair of wire-gauze snow-goggles, which we bought from him. This
information seemed of sufficient importance to be followed up
immediately before any other natives should find and rob the cairn.
Consequently the next day Lieutenant Schwatka and I took a light
sled, with Toolooah to drive and Adlekok as guide, and visited the
spot. We took a day's rations with us, to use in case we did not get
back that night, and started with a head wind and storm that confined
our view to the immediate vicinity of the sledge. Our guide, however,
took us through this trackless waste of smooth ice, a distance of over
twenty-five miles, without deviation from the direct line, with no
landmarks or sun to steer by; but on he went with the unerring
instinct of a dog, until we struck the land at the western banks of
Pfeffer River. Arrived at the cairn we found it as he said, "a white
man's cairn" unmistakably, but before proceeding to take it down we
examined it carefully and found scratched on a clay stone with the
point of a sharp instrument,
MAY
H XII
1869
and on the opposite side,
ETERNAL HONOR TO THE DISCOVER-
ERS OF THE NORTH WE-
and knew it to be the cairn erected by our countryman, Captain Hall,
over the bones of two of Franklin's men which he speaks of having found
here. A portion of the inscription was lost by the breaking off of a
piece of the stone on which it was written. We did not take down the
monument, but after making a hasty sketch, returned to camp, having
travelled over fifty miles in ten hours.
At this camp we found another interesting relic, in a pine board that
seems to have been part of the head of a bunk or other permanent
fixture, and has the initials "L. F." in brass tacks upon it. This was
picked up on the west coast of Adelaide Peninsula, near where the ship
went down that drifted through Victoria Strait, and may serve to
identify that vessel, thus proving a most interesting and valuable
historic relic. At the next camp, which was our last stopping-place on
the main-land, we met an old woman named Tooktoocheer, widow of
Pooyetah, who was among the first to visit the boat place we saw a few
days ago. We were somewhat disappointed in her as a witness, for she
was so old that her memory was at fault, and she would wander about to
different places and relate circumstances without explanation. Her son,
who was present at the interview, was a lad of about twelve years when
he visited the boat place with his parents, and retained a vivid
recollection of the place. His testimony, therefore, proved to be what
we had hoped of his mother's. All the time he was talking the old woman
sat nodding approval as the circumstances he was relating were recalled
to her memory. His name is Ogzeuckjeuwock, and he is an aruketko, or
medicine-man, in his tribe. The recollection of the boat place was
somewhat impressed upon his mind by the explosion of a can of powder
with which he and another lad were playing after the articles were
found there. The effects of the explosion came near proving fatal at
the time, and when I met him during the fall on King William Land, he
told me he had never entirely recovered from the shock.
I give the interview with Tooktoocheer and her son as I recorded it in
my note-book at the time, so that each reader may draw his own
conclusions. Some of the statements will undoubtedly appear strange,
but in the main they are perfectly intelligible and exceedingly
interesting. Tooktoocheer said she was from Okbillegeok (Pelly Bay
of the charts), a portion of the Netchillik country. She is the widow
of Pooyetah, spoken of by Sir John Ross and Captain Hall. She appeared
to be about seventy years old, and was an object of high esteem by her
people, as was evinced in the care that was bestowed upon her comfort.
She said she had never seen any of Franklin's men alive, but saw six
skeletons on the main-land and an adjacent island--four on the
main-land and two on the island. This she pointed out on the southern
coast near ninety-five degrees west longitude. There were no graves
at either place. Her husband was with her at the time, and seven other
Inuits. This was when she was at the boat place west of Richardson
Point. In fact, she seemed to have the two places somewhat mixed up in
her mind, and Ogzeuckjeuwock took up the thread of the narrative here.
In answer to a question which we asked his mother, he said he saw books
at the boat place in a tin case, about two feet long and a foot square,
which was fastened, and they broke it open. The case was full. Written
and printed books were shown him, and he said they were like the
printed ones. Among the books he found what was probably the needle of
a compass or other magnetic instrument, because he said when it touched
any iron it stuck fast. The boat was right side up, and the tin case in
the boat. Outside the boat he saw a number of skulls. He forgot how
many, but said there were more than four. He also saw bones from legs
and arms that appeared to have been sawed off. Inside the boat was a
box filled with bones; the box was about the same size as the one with
the books in it.
He said the appearance of the bones led the Inuits to the opinion that
the white men bad been eating each other. What little flesh was still
on the bones was very fresh; one body had all the flesh on. The hair
was light; it looked like a long body. He saw a number of wire
snow-goggles, and alongside the body with flesh on it was a pair of
gold spectacles. (He picked out the kind of metal from several that
were shown him.) He saw more than one or two pairs of such spectacles,
but forgot how many. When asked how long the bodies appeared to have
been dead when he saw them, he said they had probably died during the
winter previous to the summer he saw them. In the boat he saw canvas
and four sticks (a tent or sail), saw a number of watches, open-faced;
a few were gold, but most were silver. They are all lost now. They were
given to the children to play with, and have been broken up and lost.
One body--the one with flesh on--had a gold chain fastened to gold
ear-rings, and a gold hunting-case watch with engine-turned engraving
attached to the chain, and hanging down about the waist. He said when
he pulled the chain it pulled the head up by the ears. This body also
had a gold ring on the ring finger of the right hand. It was taken off,
and has since been lost by the children in the same way that the other
things were lost. His reason for thinking that they had been eating
each other was because the bones were cut with a knife or saw. They
found one big saw and one small one in the boat; also a large red tin
case of smoking tobacco and some pipes. There was no cairn there. The
bones are now covered up with sand and sea-weed, as they were lying
just at high-water mark. Some of the books were taken home for the
children to play with, and finally torn and lost, and others lay around
among the rocks until carried away by the wind and lost or buried
beneath the sand.
His statement in reference to one of the deceased wearing a watch by a
chain attached to his ears appears strange, but I give the statement as
he made it. The chain may in some way have become attached to the ears,
or, ridiculous as the story sounds, there may have been some eccentric
person in the party who wore his watch in that way, and if such should
prove to be the case, this would certainly identify him beyond doubt.
While the old woman sat in our igloo giving her statement, or trying to
recollect the circumstances, I succeeded in getting a good portrait
sketch of her, which attracted considerable interest among the natives,
and Ogzeuckjeuwock, who toward the latter part of the interview had
begun to exhibit symptoms of impatience, turned quickly around as soon
as he had finished, and asked to have his portrait taken also, in which
I accommodated him, much to his gratification.
In reviewing the testimony of the foregoing witnesses it appears
confirmatory of the opinion that the skeletons found at this place were
the remains of some of the party who were seen by Ahlangyah and her
friends on Washington Bay. She said that "Toolooah," "Agloocar," and
"Doktook" wore spectacles, and spectacles were found at the boat place.
Gold watches being found, there is also an evidence that there were
officers in the party. It is probable that the five men who had a tent
on shore near the Inuit "tupics" were all officers. It is also a
very natural deduction that the books that were found in a sealed or
locked tin case, which had to be broken open by the natives, were the
more important records of the expedition, and in charge of the chief
surviving officers, as it is not probable that men who were reduced to
the extremity that these were, and having to drag everything by hand,
would burden themselves with general reading matter. The boat, judging
from the relics that we found, was a very heavy one, and copper
bottomed; for most of the kettles that we saw in use among the
Netchilliks were made of sheet copper that they said came from this and
the other boats in Erebus Bay. But the boat was an absolute necessity
and could not be abandoned. There is no doubt, however, that everything
superfluous had been dropped from time to time, until nothing remained
that could possibly be dispensed with, and such books as they had,
besides the Nautical Almanac and Ephemeris, if indeed under the
circumstances they would even carry them, were probably the most
important records of the expedition.
During the year and a half that the 'Erebus' and 'Terror'
were frozen fast in the Victoria Strait, the officers had probably
surveyed the adjacent shores very carefully, and had undoubtedly made
observations that were highly important. Especially would this be the
case with their magnetical observations, as they were right upon the
magnetic pole. We saw some tall and very conspicuous cairns near Cape
Felix, which had no records in them, and were apparently erected as
points of observation from the ships. As their terrible experience
commenced after abandoning the vessels, it is probable that their time
previous to that was occupied in a manner creditable to themselves and
exceedingly valuable to all interested in scientific work. The records
of these observations were in all probability contained in the tin box
which Ogzeuckjeuwock speaks of as having been found and lost beyond
recovery.
An old Netchillik, named Ockarnawole, stated that five years ago he and
his son, who was also present in the igloo, made an excursion along the
north-western coast of King William Land. Between Victory Point and
Cape Felix they found some things in a small cask near the salt water.
In a monument that he did not take down, he found between the stones
five jack-knives and a pair of scissors, also a small flat piece of
tin, now lost; saw no graves at this place, but found what, from his
description of the way the handle was put on, was either an adze or a
pickaxe. A little north of this place found a tent place and three tin
cups. About Victory Point found a grave, with a skeleton, clothes, and
a jack-knife with one blade broken. Saw no books. In a little bay on
the north side of Collinson Inlet saw a quantity of clothes. There was
plenty of snow on the ground at the time they were there.
[Illustration: SNOW-HUTS ON CAPE HERSCHEL.]
Viewing this statement in the light of our subsequent search upon this
ground, I am inclined to believe that the grave they found was not at
Victory Point, but was Irving's grave, about three miles below there.
We saw no evidence of any grave at Victory Point, though we made a
particularly extended search around that entire section of the country.
The little bay spoken of is also probably the little bay where
Lieutenant Irving's grave was discovered. There is a little bay on the
north side of Collinson Inlet, but Lieutenant Schwatka and I visited it
several times without finding any traces of clothing or any other
evidences of white men having been there; and from what we saw at other
places it seems almost impossible that there could have been much there
as late as five years ago without some indications remaining. The
vicinity of places where boats had been destroyed, or camps where
clothing was found, were invariably indicated by pieces of cloth among
the rocks, at greater or less intervals, for a long distance--sometimes
as far as one or two miles on either side, and it would be almost
impossible to escape seeing the principal point when led to it by such
gradually cumulative evidence.
From this camp we went in two marches to Cape Herschel, where we left
the heaviest of our baggage, with Joe and the other Inuits, taking only
the white men of the party, with Toolooah and his family, and Owanork,
Equeesik's youngest brother, to assist in the management of the sled,
and started for Cape Felix on the 17th. We left instructions with Joe
to remain at Cape Herschel as long as they could find enough to eat
there; but if there was more game further down the coast, or on the
main-land, to go there, and leave stones to indicate their route, so
Toolooah would know where to look for them when we returned from Cape
Felix. We took a course but little west of north, and at night encamped
at the head of Washington Bay. Here we left the salt-water ice and
started across land, keeping the same direction, with the intention of
striking Collinson Inlet near its head. Our surprise can then be
imagined when, after two days' travelling, we came out on Erebus Bay,
which we thought was far to the west. This discrepancy was afterward
accounted for when we found, by a comparison with the position of
points between Cape Jane Franklin and Cape Felix, established by Sir
James Ross, and confirmed by the officers of the 'Erebus' and
'Terror', that Cape Herschel is really about eighteen or twenty
miles further west than mapped on the Admiralty charts.
The travelling across land was exceedingly heavy and tedious, owing to
the softening condition of the snow, and to the lakes being covered
with water to the depth of about six or eight inches. In the morning
the slight crust on the snow, formed during the night, would break
through at nearly every step; while during the rest of the day it was
simply wading through slush or water. We found the salt-water ice also
in a bad condition for travelling. It was very old ice, and as hummocky
as it is possible for ice to be. We usually kept near the coast, where
we found pretty good sledging; but one day we took to the hummocks, to
avoid a great detour that following the shore ice would have entailed
upon us, and did it to our sorrow. The fall snows and winter winds had
piled up around and among the hummocks, filling in the interstices, so
that, were the snow frozen, the sledging would not have been so very
difficult; but the sun had already poured his rays upon it, day and
night, for so long a time that the snow was soft, and nearly every step
would break through.
Sometimes we would sink to our waists, and then our legs would be
dangling in slush and water without finding bottom. The sled would
often sink so that the dogs could not pull it out, light as was the
load, and when we would gather round to help them, we could only get an
occasional foothold, perhaps by kneeling in a hummock, or holding on
with one hand while we pulled with the other. Even the dogs could not
pull to any advantage. Some would be floundering in the slush and
water, while others were scrambling over the broken ice, and yet under
all these disadvantages we were able to make a march of ten miles,
through the skill and experience of our Inuit dog driver. Without the
assistance of dogs and natives, it is altogether probable that we would
not have been able to accomplish more than two or three miles at the
best; and I can well understand that Dr. Hayes had so much difficulty
in crossing Smith Sound through the heavy hummocks in the spring of
1861. But at the same time I feel pretty well convinced that with
plenty of good dogs and competent native drivers to manage the sledges,
there is no ice in the Arctic that would prevent an average march of
ten miles a day, with light loads, during the long days of spring. I
would not even stipulate for such an exceptionally excellent guide and
driver as our faithful Toolooah. Such as he are rare anywhere, and
especially so among the Esquimaux. He is not only the best hunter in
his tribe, but the best dog driver, and the most energetic man I have
seen among all the tribes with whom I have come in contact. He is more
like a capable white man, in that respect, than an Esquimau, and there
is a legend in his tribe that he was never known to be tired. It is
certain that to him, more than to all the other natives with us,
combined, is due the success of our enterprise.
When the weather was unpropitious for hunting, and we would be
without food, it was nothing more than the usual Inuit custom to say,
"Ma-muk-poo-now" ("No good"), and sit down to wait for the weather
to improve. But under such circumstances I have known our brave-hearted
Toolooah rise equal to the emergency and go out to hunt for game until
he found it. The others would perhaps go out and look around for a
short time, and if they saw no game would come in, while he would not
get in until nearly midnight, if, as was seldom the case, he came in
empty-handed. I remember one time when we were without food, and moving
into a portion of the country which we knew to be but thinly stocked
with game. The hunters all went out, though the weather was thick with
snow, and the only probability of seeing reindeer was that they might
stumble upon them unobserved by the accident of approaching them
against the wind. The others came in about noon, discouraged, having
seen no game. Toolooah, on the contrary, did not get in until about
five hours later; then he came in for the dogs, to bring in three
reindeer that he had killed a few miles north of the camp. He went out
in a south-westerly direction, and started to make a circuit of the
camp on a radius of about five miles. By this ingenious course he came
upon the fresh tracks of three reindeer, and at once started in
pursuit, determined to follow them until he came up to them. The days
were short, and he had to move rapidly, so that he absolutely ran about
twelve miles until he overtook and killed them. I merely mention this
incident to show the kind of metal our Toolooah is made of; not as a
sample of Inuit character, but as a remarkable contrast to it.
[Illustration: CROSSING EREBUS BAY.]
Our ten-mile march through Erebus Bay occupied fifteen hours, and we
were all pretty well worn out when we reached the shore and encamped,
still some distance below Franklin Point. We lay over the next day, for
Toolooah, who had exerted himself even beyond his great powers of
endurance, was still quite exhausted, and though he expressed his
readiness to resume the journey, Lieutenant Schwatka did not think it
sufficiently urgent to run the risk of breaking him down altogether;
not only out of personal regard for the noble fellow, but, as he was
our sole dependence, losing his services would have been a sad if not a
fatal disaster to the entire party. During the day I shot two of an
apparently distinct species of snipe, to preserve their skins for the
Smithsonian Institute collection. One of them was distinguished by a
sweet, simple song, somewhat similar to the lark's, its silvery tones
gushing forth as if in perfect ecstasy of enjoyment of sunshine and
air; at the same time rising and poising itself upon its wings. It
seemed almost inhuman to kill the sweet little songster, particularly
as it was the only creature I saw in the Arctic that uttered a pleasant
note. All other sounds were such as the scream of the hawk and the
gull, the quack of the duck, the yell of the wolf, the "Ooff! ooff!" of
the walrus, or the bark of the seal--all harsh and unmelodious, save
the tones of this sweet little singer. Nothing but starvation or
scientific research could justify the slaughter of one of these
innocents. I believe I shut my eyes when I pulled the trigger of my
gun, and I know my heart gave a regretful thump when I heard the thud
of its poor, bleeding body upon the ground. When we started for
Franklin Point the next day, Lieutenant Schwatka concluded to follow
Toolooah's advice, and keep upon the smooth ice near the shore, even
though it should increase the distance marched. Our experience of the
hummocks of Victoria Strait was not one that we were anxious to repeat.
We had a short stretch of similar work in crossing the mouth of an
inlet just below Franklin Point, and we were glad enough when we got
through. The thermometer registered thirty-seven degrees in the shade,
and sixty degrees in the sun. There was scarcely any wind, and coats
were a burden of which we had soon to relieve ourselves. The heat while
walking was quite as exhausting as ninety-eight degrees in the shade at
New York. We saw a number of seals on the ice opposite the mouth of the
inlet, and Toolooah shot one which was an unusually big specimen. In
fact, the average of those we saw in this part of the country is much
larger than those at Hudson's Bay.
During the entire day and night small flocks of ducks were flying
swiftly past the tent, and so unaccustomed are they to meeting human
beings in that wilderness, that they would be almost directly on the
tent before they saw it, which only caused them to deviate a little to
the right or left, or put on a little more steam. Lieutenant Schwatka
seated himself on a rock alongside the tent, with his double-barrelled
breech-loading shot-gun in his hand, and in a short time stopped
three--two drakes and a duck. The drakes are exceedingly pretty,
especially about the head and neck. The head is of a pale olive-green
hue, a fashionable color in silks a few years ago, and known by the
extraordinary name of "Elephant's Breath." This gradually merges into a
very pale, warm gray, the line of demarcation between it and the very
dark brown, which constitutes the general color of the body, being very
abrupt. The bill is of a vermilion red, and surmounted by a bright
orange-colored crest, with a black border as positively marked as if of
black tape. At this season we usually see the drakes flying together,
and the ducks in separate bands, reminding one of the division of sexes
in a country meeting-house. We often came upon an immense body of
drakes sitting upon the edge of an ice-floe, looking very much like a
regiment of hussars at a distance drawn up in line of battle. The duck
is not so gaudy as her husband. She is quite contented in a full suit
of mottled brown and olive gray, presenting a texture on the back
somewhat similar to the canvas-back species of Chesapeake Bay. About
half-past ten o'clock in the evening, Toolooah and I walked up to the
crest of a ridge, north of camp, to see if there were any points still
to the north of us in this meridian. We found the coast bearing off
well toward the eastward, and then toward the north-east, and knew it
to be the upper coast of Franklin Point. We also saw a reindeer, which
Toolooah shot before returning to camp.
When we left Franklin Point, the four white men of the party kept upon
the land near the coast, and left the sled in charge of the Inuits to
follow along the shore ice. The snow was entirely off the ridges, and
only lay in great patches of soft slush in the valleys and upon
occasional marshes. We spread out on the land, so as to cover as much
ground in our search as possible, moving along like a line of
skirmishers, with instructions that in case we saw anything that we did
not understand, or which required further investigation, to make
signals to assemble. In this way, before reaching Collinson Inlet, we
found the graves of two white men, near one of which was lying the
upper part of a skull; while within the pile of stones we found the
upper maxilla, with two teeth, and a piece of the cheekbone. No other
human bones were found; but these were laid together for burial on our
return, when we could give a more thorough search.