OFF AGAIN.
DR. KANE'S party came home, as we have seen, in the fall of 1855. Dr.
Hayes, with whom we have become acquainted as one of that number, began
immediately to present the desirableness of further exploration in the
same direction to the scientific men of the country, and to the public
generally. His object was to sail to the west side of Smith's Sound,
instead of the east, as in the last voyage, and to gather additional
facts concerning the currents, the aurora, the glaciers, the directions
and intensity of "the magnetic force," and so to aid in settling many
interesting scientific questions. He aimed also, of course, to further
peer into the mysteries of the open Polar Sea.
These efforts resulted in the fitting out for this purpose, in the
summer of 1860, the schooner "United States," and the appointment of Dr.
Hayes as commander. She left Boston July sixth, manned by fourteen
persons all told. The vessel was small, but made for arctic warfare, and
as she turned her prow North Poleward, she bore a defiant spirit, and,
like all inexperienced warriors, reckoned the victory already hers. But
if the vessel was "green" her commander was not. He was well able to
help her in the coming battle with icebergs and floes.
Among her men were only two besides the doctor who had seen arctic
service, one of whom was Professor August Sontag, who had been of Kane's
party, and had also been of the number who accompanied Dr. Hayes in the
attempt to escape. Of the rest of the crew were two young men nearly of
an age, about eighteen, who are represented as joining the expedition
because they would, and in love of adventure. Their names were George F.
Knorr, commander's clerk, and Collins C. Starr. Both pressed their
desire to go upon Dr. Hayes, and Starr told him that he would go in
_any_ capacity. The commander told him he might go in the forecastle
with the common sailors, and the next day, to the surprise of the
doctor, he found him on board, manfully at work with the roughest of the
men, having doffed his silk hat, fine broadcloth, and shining boots of
the elegant young man of the day before. The commander was so pleased
with his spirit that he promoted him on the spot, sending him off to be
sailing-master's mate.
In a little less than four weeks of prosperous sailing, the "United
States" was at the Danish port of Proven, Greenland. It was the
intention of the commander to get a supply here of the indispensable
dog-teams, but disease had raged among them, and none could be bought.
The vessel was delayed, in order that the chief trader, Mr. Hansen, who
was daily expected from Upernavik, might be consulted in the matter.
When he arrived he gave a gloomy account of the dog-market, but kindly
_gave_ the expedition his own teams. The couriers which had been sent
out to scour the country for others, returned with four old dogs and a
less number of good ones.
On the evening of the twelfth of August the explorers arrived at
Upernavik. The Danish brig "Thialfe" lay at anchor in the harbor, about
to sail for Copenhagen with a cargo of skins and oil, so the first
letters to the dear ones at home were hastily written to send by her.
They bore sad news to at least one family circle. Mr. Gibson Caruther
retired to his berth well on the evening of their arrival, and in the
morning was found dead. He had escaped the perils of the first Grinnell
Expedition under Capt. De Haven to die thus suddenly ere those of his
second voyage had begun. He was beloved, able, and intelligent, and his
death was a great loss to the enterprise. His companions laid him away
in the mission burial-ground, the missionary, Mr. Anton, officiating.
Before leaving Upernavik, Dr. Hayes secured the services of an Esquimo
interpreter, one Peter Jensen, who brought on board with him one of the
best dog-teams of the country; and soon after he came, two more Esquimo
hunters and dog-drivers were enlisted; and a still better addition to
the expedition were two Danish sailors, one of whom is our old friend
whom we left here some five years ago rejoicing in re-union with wife
and children--Carl Christian Petersen. Petersen enlisted as carpenter
as well as sailor.
With these six persons added to her company, making it twenty in all,
the "United States" left Upernavik to enter upon the earnest work of the
expedition. The settlement had scarcely faded in the distance, when the
icebergs were seen marshaling their forces to give the little voyager
battle. A long line of them was formed just across her course, some more
than two hundred feet high and a mile long. They were numberless, and at
a distance seemed to make a solid, jagged ice-wall. When the schooner
was fairly in among them, the sunlight was shut out as it is from the
traveler in a dense forest. She felt the wind in a "cat's-paw" now and
then, and so the helm lost its control of her, and she went banging
against first one berg and then another. The bergs themselves minded not
the little breeze which was blowing, but swept majestically along by the
under current. The navigators were kept on the alert to keep the vessel
from fatal collision with its huge, cold, defiant enemies, as the
surface current drove it helplessly onward. Sometimes, as they
approached one, the boats were lowered, and the vessel was towed away
from danger; at another crisis, as it neared one berg, an anchor was
planted in another in an opposite direction, and she was warped into a
place of security. Occasionally they tied up to a berg and waited for a
chance for progress.
While thus beset with dangers, there were occasions of some pleasant
excitement. The birds were abundant and of many varieties, affording
sport for the hunters and fresh food for the table; the seals sported in
the clear water, and were shot for the larder of the dogs; and Dr. Hayes
and Professor Sontag found employment with their scientific instruments.
Such had been the state of things for four days, when one morning the
vessel was borne toward a large berg, of a kind the sailors called
"touch-me-nots." It was an old voyager, whose jagged sides, high towers,
deep valleys and swelling hills, showed that time, the sun, and the
tides, had laid their hands upon it. Such bergs are about as good
neighbors as an avalanche on a mountain side, just ready for a run into
the valley below. Warps and tow-boats, instantly and vigorously used,
failed to stop the schooner's headway. She touched the berg, and down
dropped fragments of it larger than the vessel, followed by a shower of
smaller pieces; but they went clear of the vessel. Now the berg began to
revolve, turning toward the explorers, and as its towering sides settled
slowly over them, fragments poured upon the deck--a fearful hail-storm.
There was no safety for the men except in the forecastle, and there
appeared to be no escape for the schooner. But just in time an immense
section of the base of the berg, which seemed to be far below the water
line, broke off, and rose to the surface with a sudden rush, which threw
the sea into violent commotion. The balance of the berg was changed; it
paused, and then began, slowly at first but with increasing rapidity,
to turn in the opposite direction. If this was intended as a retreat of
the bergy foe, it defended well its rear. At its base, from which the
piece had just been broken, was an icy projection toward the vessel; as
the berg revolved, this tongue came up and struck the keel. It seemed
intent upon tossing the vessel into the air, or rolling her over and
leaving her bottom side up upon the sea. The men seized their poles and
pushed vigorously to launch the vessel from the perilous position, but
in vain. Just in time again the unseen Hand interfered for their
deliverance. Deafening reports, like a park of artillery, saluted their
ears, and a misty smoke arose above the berg. Its opposite side was
breaking up, and launching its towering peaks into the sea. The berg
paused again and began to roll back, and thus for the moment released
the vessel. The boat had in the meantime fastened an anchor in a
grounded berg, and the welcome shout came, "Haul in!" Steadily and with
a will the men drew upon the rope, and the vessel moved slowly from the
scene of danger, not, however, before the returning top of the berg had
launched upon her deck a shower of ice-fragments, in fearful assurance
that its whole side would soon follow and bury them as the shepherd's
hut is buried by a mountain slide. A few moments later and the side came
down with a tremendous crash, sending its spray over the escaped vessel,
and tossing it as the drift-wood is tossed in the eddies beneath a
water-fall.
All that day the roar of the icy cannon was continued, as if a naval
battle was in progress for the empire of the north, and berg after berg
went down, strewing the sea with their shattered fragments, while misty
clouds floated over the field of conflict.