Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Volume I Part 8

If we happily reached the Pacific, we were to proceed to Kamschatka, from thence to the Sandwich Islands or Canton, and, having refitted the s.h.i.+ps and refreshed the crews, to return to England by such route as might be deemed convenient.

CHAPTER I.

Pa.s.sage across the Atlantic.--Removal of Stores from the Nautilus Transport, at the Margin of the Ice.--Departure of the Nautilus for England.--Enter the Ice in Hudson's Strait.--Perilous Situation of the Hecla, and Loss of her Anchor.--Meet with the Hudson's Bay s.h.i.+ps.--Pa.s.sage up the Strait, and Communication with the Natives inhabiting the Northern Sh.o.r.es.--Pa.s.s the Trinity Islands of Fox.--Arrival off Southampton Island, where the Researches of the Expedition commence.

The FURY, HECLA, and NAUTILUS transport were completed for sea towards the latter part of the month of April, and on the 29th, at ten A.M., the Fury was taken in tow by the Eclipse steamboat, which vessel had before taken us down the river on a similar occasion. The Hecla reached the moorings on the following day, and the Nautilus on the first of May.

Nothing of consequence happened during our pa.s.sage across the Atlantic; but, after entering Davis's Straits, we had for several days variable and unsettled weather, the wind blowing princ.i.p.ally from the southward, with a heavy swell from the same quarter. On the 14th we met with the first iceberg, being in lat. 60 48', long. 53 13'.

Having now reached the situation in which I was directed, by my instructions, to clear the Nautilus of our stores, I gave Lieutenant Scrymgour his instructions to return to England; and at one A.M. on the 1st of July he parted company, while the Fury and Hecla stood in towards the ice. A whaler, deeply laden, and apparently homeward bound, was at this time in sight to the eastward.

At seven P.M., Tuesday, 3d July, the ice opposed our farther progress to the westward, covering the whole sea as far as the eye could reach in that direction; the s.h.i.+ps were therefore, of necessity, hove to, in order to await some change in our favour.

The ice here consisted princ.i.p.ally of large though loose ma.s.ses of broken floes, none covering more than a quarter of an acre, and few so much, but having many high hummocks, and drawing a great deal of water. We counted also above thirty bergs in sight at one time, and observed that many of them were carried about by the tides with great rapidity.

The wind s.h.i.+fted to the southeastward in the night of the 5th, with a strong breeze and heavy rain; and, on the following morning, when the ebb-tide opened the ice a little, a considerable swell was admitted from the sea, causing the s.h.i.+ps to strike violently and almost constantly on the ma.s.ses of ice alongside of them. In this situation they continued for several hours so completely beset as to render it impossible to extricate them, and drifting about at random with the tides. The Hecla was, by a different set of the stream, separated five or six miles from the Fury, while both s.h.i.+ps were equally hampered.

On the 13th, both s.h.i.+ps' companies were exercised in firing at a target on the ice, as well for the purpose of giving them occupation as of finding out who were the best shots. On the same afternoon we saw two s.h.i.+ps beset to the northward, which we supposed to be those bound to the Hudson's Bay factories. They were joined the next day by a third s.h.i.+p, which afterward proved to be, as we conjectured, the Lord Wellington, having on board settlers for the Red River.

The ice being rather less close on the morning of the 16th, we made sail to the westward at 7.45 A.M., and continued "boring" in that situation the whole day, which enabled us to join the three strange s.h.i.+ps. They proved to be, as we had supposed, the Prince of Wales, Eddystone, and Lord Wellington, bound to Hudson's Bay. I sent a boat to the former to request Mr. Davidson, the master, to come on board, which he immediately did. From him we learned that the Lord Wellington having on board one hundred and sixty settlers for the Red River, princ.i.p.ally foreigners, of both s.e.xes and every age, had now been twenty days among the ice, and had been drifted about in various directions at no small risk to the s.h.i.+p. By the Prince of Wales we sent our last letters for our friends in England.

Proceeding slowly to the westward, we had reached at noon on the 21st the lat. of 61 50' 13", long., by chronometers, 67 07' 35".

In this situation several islands were in sight to the northward and westward, and, among the rest, a remarkable one called Saddle-back on account of its shape. The wind backing to the westward in the afternoon, we anch.o.r.ed the s.h.i.+ps to the largest floe-piece we could find, there not being room to beat to the windward. While thus employed we heard voices in-sh.o.r.e, which we soon knew to be those of some Esquimaux coming off to us. Shortly after, several canoes made their appearance, and seventeen of these people came alongside the Fury. Having hauled their _kayaks_ (canoes) upon the floe, they began to barter their commodities, consisting of seal and whale blubber, whalebone, spears, lines, and the skins of the seal, bear, fox, deer, and dog. Our first endeavour was to procure as much oil as possible, of which, as we had been informed by the Hudson's Bay s.h.i.+ps, several tons are thus almost annually obtained from these people. We soon found that they had been well accustomed to bargain-making, for it was with some difficulty that we could prevail on them to sell the oil for anything of reasonable value. They frequently gave us to understand that they wanted saws and harpoons in exchange for it, and as these were articles which we could not spare, it was not without trouble that we obtained, in the course of the evening, two barrels of blubber in exchange for several knives, large nails, and pieces of iron hoop, which was certainly a dear bargain on our side. If they saw more than one of these at a time, they would try hard to get the whole for the commodity they were offering, though, when we had for some time persisted in refusing, they would not only accept what was offered, but jump for joy at having obtained it. They always licked the articles given them, and in one instance only did we notice any inclination to break the contract after this process had been gone through.

Shortly after these men had arrived, a large _oomiak_, or woman's boat, made its appearance, containing six or seven females and four men, the oldest of the latter, as is usual among them, steering the boat with a rude oar of wood. The women could not be induced to land upon the floe, but held up skins and small narrow strips of well-tanned leather to exchange, loudly vociferating _pilletay_ (give me) the whole time. There were in this boat several skins of oil and blubber, which I tried hard to purchase, but nothing could induce the old man to part with more than one skin of it; for what reason I could not tell, except that he hoped, by perseverance, to obtain a higher price. On my desiring our men to hand out a second skin of oil, as an equivalent for which I put into the old man's hand a second knife, he resisted most vehemently, pus.h.i.+ng our men aside in the boat with a violence I have never seen the Esquimaux use on any other occasion. One of the younger men then came forward, and was lifting up the stretcher of their boat to strike our people, who were good-humouredly laughing at the old man's violence, when I thought it high time to interpose, and, raising a boat-hook over the head of the Esquimaux, as if about to strike them, soon brought them into a cooler mood; after which, to prevent farther altercation, I ordered our people out of the boat. We had by this time succeeded in purchasing all the oil brought by the first canoes; and as the old fellow, who was commanding officer of the _oomiak_, obstinately persisted in his refusal to sell his, I ordered him away, when he immediately rowed to the Hecla, and, as I was afterward informed by Captain Lyon, sold his oil for less than he might have obtained at first. Four other _oomiaks_ afterward came from the sh.o.r.e, from which we were distant five or six miles. Each of these contained from fourteen to twenty-six persons, the majority being females and young children.

Upon the whole, not less than one hundred of the natives visited the s.h.i.+ps in the course of the evening.

These people possessed in an eminent degree the disposition to steal all they could lay their hands on, which has almost universally been imputed to every tribe of Esquimaux hitherto visited by Europeans. They tried more than once the art of picking our pockets, and were as bold and unembarra.s.sed as ever immediately after detection. It is impossible to describe the horribly disgusting manner in which they sat down, as soon as they felt hungry, to eat their raw blubber, and to suck the oil remaining on the skins we had just emptied, the very smell of which, as well as the appearance, was to us almost insufferable.

The disgust which our seaman could not help expressing at this sight seemed to create in the Esquimaux the most malicious amus.e.m.e.nt; and when our people turned away, literally unable to bear the sight without being sick, they would, as a good joke among themselves, run after them, holding out a piece of blubber or raw seal's flesh dripping with oil and filth, as if inviting them to partake of it. Both the men and women were guilty of still more disgusting indecencies, which seemed to afford them amazing diversion. A worse trait even than all these was displayed by two women alongside the Hecla, who, in a manner too unequivocal to be misunderstood, offered to barter their children for some article of trifling value, beginning very deliberately to strip them of their clothes, which they did not choose to consider as included in the intended bargain.

Upon the whole, it was impossible for us not to receive a very unfavourable impression of the general behaviour and moral character of the natives of this part of Hudson's Strait, who seem to have acquired, by an annual intercourse with our s.h.i.+ps for nearly a hundred years, many of the vices which unhappily attend a first intercourse with the civilized world, without having imbibed any of the virtues or refinements which adorn and render it happy.

Early on the morning of the 22d a number of canoes repeated their visit to us, the Esquimaux having hauled them upon a piece of ice to lodge for the night. In the forenoon an _oomiak_ also came from the sh.o.r.e, and as no intercourse with them was permitted till after divine service, they became very impatient to barter their commodities, and walked on the ice alongside the s.h.i.+ps, with a number of trifling things in their hands, vociferating "pilletay"

to such a degree that we could hardly hear ourselves speak. Some more oil was obtained in exchange for pieces of iron hoop, and, at a quarter before noon, the wind coming more to the southward, and the ice being somewhat less close than before, we cast off and made sail up the strait.

The wind and ice combined to favour us more and more as we proceeded, the former both in strength and direction, and the latter by opening into loose streams, so that, for the first time since we entered Hudson's Strait, we were now enabled to set all the studding-sails, with some prospect of deriving advantage from them. The Hudson's Bay s.h.i.+ps remained at anchor some time after we made sail, and in the course of the evening we finally lost sight of them. From this circ.u.mstance, as well as from the unimpeded progress we had just begun to make to the westward, it was now only that we considered our voyage as having fairly commenced.

We continued, on the first of August, to beat to the westward, between Nottingham Island and the North Sh.o.r.e, the distance between which is about four leagues, and the latter fringed with numerous islands. In the course of the morning, several canoes and one _oomiak_ came off from the mainland, containing about twenty persons, more than half of whom were women and children. They brought a little oil, some skin dresses, and tusks of the walrus, which they were willing to exchange for any trifle we chose to give them. They had also a number of toys of various kinds, such as canoes with their paddles, spears, and bows and arrows, all on a very large scale. Many of the jackets of these people, and particularly those of the females, were lined with the skins of birds, having the feathers inside; and they had also in the boat several other skins in a prepared state, taken from the throat of the _colymbus glacialis_, which splendid bird, though we had twice found its skin in possession of the Esquimaux, we had yet not met with ourselves.

The expedition being now about to enter upon ground not hitherto explored, it became necessary for me to decide upon the route it would be most advantageous to pursue for the accomplishment of the princ.i.p.al objects pointed out in my instructions.

CHAPTER II.

Review of the Geographical Information obtained by the Researches of former Navigators on the Coast of the American Continent, in the Neighbourhood of Wager River.--Discover and enter the Duke of York's Bay, supposing it to be a Pa.s.sage into the Sea called the Welcome.--Leave the Duke of York's Bay, and proceed to the Northwestward.--Pa.s.sage of the Frozen Strait and Arrival in Repulse Bay.--Continuity of Land there.--Observations on Sh.o.r.e.--Remarks concerning the Geography, Tides, and Natural History of this Part of the Continental Coast.

After the most anxious consideration, I came to the resolution of attempting the direct pa.s.sage of the Frozen Strait; though, I confess, not without some apprehension of the risk I was incurring, and of the serious loss of time which, in case of failure either from the non-existence of the strait or from the insuperable obstacles which its name implies, would thus be inevitably occasioned to the expedition.

The accounts given by Captain Middleton of the lat.i.tude of the western entrance of the Frozen Strait are so confused, and even contradictory, that the present appearance of the land perplexed me extremely in deciding whether or not we had arrived at the opposite end of the opening to which he had given that name. That immediately before us to the westward, though it agreed in lat.i.tude within five or six miles with the southernmost parallel he has a.s.signed to it, appeared much too narrow to answer his description of the pa.s.sage we were in search of. Upon the whole, however, I thought it most probable that this was the strait in question; and as, at all events, the opening between Southampton Island and the land to the northward of it, in whatever lat.i.tude it might be found, and whether wide or narrow, was the pa.s.sage through which it was our present object to penetrate into Repulse Bay, I decided on using our utmost exertions to push through the narrow strait now before us.

On the morning of the 13th we observed something very like smoke rising from about Cape Welsford, which, being confined to one spot, was thought likely to be occasioned by the fires of natives.

Nothing could exceed the fineness of the weather about this time; the climate was, indeed, altogether so different from that to which we had before been accustomed in the icy seas, as to be a matter of constant remark. The days were temperate and clear, and the nights not cold, though a very thin plate of ice was usually formed upon the surface of the sea in sheltered places, and in the pools of water upon the floes. After sunset we descried land, appearing very distant, through the middle of the strait, which we considered to be that on the American side of the Welcome. At this time, also, we observed some ice in the centre of the strait heavier than that which covered the rest of the sea, and apparently aground in shoal water, as afterward proved to be the case.

On the 15th we were within a league of a remarkable headland on Southampton Island, which I named CAPE BYLOT, as being probably the westernmost land seen by that navigator in 1615. In the mean time, the Hecla, still continuing very closely beset, had, in spite of every exertion, drifted back with the ice several miles to the northward and eastward, so that in the course of the evening we lost sight of her altogether. This latter circ.u.mstance was, however, owing in great measure to the extraordinary refraction upon the horizon, making terrestrial objects at the distance of six or seven miles appear flattened down or depressed, as well as otherwise much deformed.

At six P.M., having beat up within five or six miles of the entrance of the strait, and being anxious to sound the channel, which appeared narrow, but without any ice in it to offer us obstruction, I left the s.h.i.+p in the gig, accompanied by Mr. Ross, for this purpose.

The part of Southampton Island on which we landed is about a thousand feet high, and composed of gneiss. Every here and there along the sh.o.r.e, between the projecting points of rocks, is a small cove or bay, having a beach composed of small pieces of limestone, which make the water almost as white as milk. Landing in one of these coves, we carried the boat above high-water mark; and making a tent of her sail, lay very comfortably during the night. When the boat first touched the beach, we observed an innumerable quant.i.ty of the little fish called sillocks swimming about, several of which were killed by the boat-hooks or taken in the hand. A great number of white whales, seals, and narwhals were also playing about near the beach during the night. The white whales were the most numerous; the noise these animals made resembled a hoa.r.s.e, low-toned barking more than any other to which I can compare it; and we remarked that their colour was whiter than any we had before seen.

As soon as it was daylight Mr. Ross and myself ascended the hill above our sleeping-place, from whence we could perceive land stretching round to the westward and northward, so as apparently to leave no opening in that quarter. We were much surprised at the low and yellowish appearance of this land, both of which circ.u.mstances we were at a loss to reconcile with Captain Middleton's description of the bold sh.o.r.e of the American Continent, on the western side of the Welcome, about this lat.i.tude. It was pleasing, however, to observe a large expanse of sea, wholly unenc.u.mbered with ice, in the direction we were now about to pursue; and we therefore hastened to the beach to continue the survey of the strait, that no time might be lost in taking advantage of this favourable circ.u.mstance.

After completing our observations and examination of the channel, we reached the s.h.i.+p by eight A.M., the Fury having, with great attention, been kept close off the entrance of the strait during the night. The Hecla had at this time just hove in sight, under a press of sail, to the eastward, having at length, with much difficulty, succeeded in getting into clear water.

At half past nine on the 17th we got under way, and stood under all sail to the N.N.E., where alone, as on the preceding evening, there appeared the smallest chance of finding any outlet.

Having determined the continuity of land all round this magnificent bay, possessing so many advantages that would render it invaluable in a more temperate climate, the officers honoured it with the name of the DUKE OF YORK'S BAY, in consequence of the expedition having first entered it on the birthday of his royal highness.

It being now evident that the inlet into which, in the course of our endeavours to penetrate to the westward, we had unavoidably been led, would afford us no pa.s.sage in that direction, I gave orders for weighing at the turn of tide, being determined at once to run back through the narrow channel by which we had entered, and to push to the northward without delay, in search of some more favourable opening.

Our uncertainty respecting the true situation of the Frozen Strait, together with the want of observations during the day, left us, at this time, in doubt whether we had already penetrated through that pa.s.sage, or had still to encounter the difficulties which the former accounts of it had led us to antic.i.p.ate.

We stood up the bay towards daylight, and at seven A.M. I left the Fury, accompanied by a large party of officers, having by signal requested Captain Lyon to join us. We landed upon a point just to the eastward of this bight, in which neighbourhood are several little islands and coves, probably affording good anchorage, but which the more immediate objects we had in view did not permit us to examine. Upon the point we found the remains of no less than sixty Esquimaux habitations, consisting of stones laid one over the other in very regular circles, eight or nine feet in diameter, besides nearly a hundred other rude, though certainly artificial structures, some of which had been fireplaces, others storehouses, and the rest tolerably-built walls four or five feet high, placed two and two, and generally eight or nine feet apart, which these people use for their canoes, as well as to keep the dogs from gnawing them. A great many circles of stones were also seen more inland. About three miles to the N.N.W. of our landing-place, our people reported having seen fifteen others of the same kind, and what they took to be a burying-ground, consisting of nine or ten heaps of large stones, of three feet in diameter, and as many in height. Under these were found a variety of little implements, such as arrow or spear heads tipped with stone or iron, arrows, small models of canoes and paddles, some rough pieces of bone and wood, and one or two strips of asbestos, which, as Crantz informs us, is used by the natives of Greenland for the wick of their lamps, and for applying hot, in certain diseases, to the afflicted part.[*] Under these articles were found smaller stones, placed as a pavement, six or seven feet in length, which, in the part not concealed by the larger stones, was covered with earth. Our men had not the curiosity or inclination to dig any deeper, but a human scull was found near the spot. Our people also reported that, several miles inland of this, they observed stones set up as marks, many of which we also met with in the neighbourhood of the point. Of these marks, which occur so abundantly in every part of the American coast that we visited, we could not then conjecture the probable use, but we afterward learned that the Esquimaux set them up to guide them in travelling from place to place, when a covering of snow renders it difficult to distinguish one spot from another. We found among the stones some seals' bones, with the flesh still upon them, which seemed to indicate that the natives had occupied this station during a part of the same season and judging from the number of circles collected in this place, and still more from our subsequent knowledge of these people, it is probable that not less than one hundred and twenty persons had taken up their residence here at the same time.

[Footnote: Crantz, i., 236. The Esquimaux on this part of the coast use it only as sticks for tr.i.m.m.i.n.g their lamps.]

The lat.i.tude observed on sh.o.r.e was 66 30' 58", being the first observation we had yet obtained so near the Arctic Circle, but far to the southward of that given by Captain Middleton.[*] The longitude, by chronometers, was 86 30' 20"; the dip of the magnetic needle, 88 07' 28"; and the variation, 48 32' 57"

westerly; being only a degree and a half less than that observed by Middleton in 1742.

[Footnote: The difference amounts to about twenty miles. It is but justice, however, to the memory of Captain Middleton to add, that several miles of this error may have been occasioned by the imperfection of nautical instruments in his day, combined with the unavoidable inaccuracy of observations made by the horizon of the sea when enc.u.mbered with much ice. On this latter account, as well as from the extraordinary terrestrial refraction, no observation can be here depended upon, unless made with an artificial horizon.]

CHAPTER III.

Return to the Eastward through the Frozen Strait.--Discovery of Hurd Channel.--Examined in a Boat.--Loss of the Fury's Anchor.--Providential Escape of the Fury from s.h.i.+pwreck.--Anchor in Duckett Cove.--Farther Examination of the Coast by Boats and Walking-parties.--s.h.i.+ps proceed through Hurd Channel.--Are drifted by the Ice back to Southampton Island.--Un.o.bstructed Run to the Entrance of a large Inlet leading to the Northwestward.--s.h.i.+ps made fast by Hawsers to the Rocks.--Farther Examination of the Inlet commenced in the Boats.

Having now satisfactorily determined the non-existence of a pa.s.sage to the westward through Repulse Bay, to which point I was particularly directed in my instructions, it now remained for me, in compliance with my orders, to "keep along the line of this coast to the northward, always examining every bend or inlet which might appear likely to afford a practicable pa.s.sage to the westward." It was here, indeed, that our voyage, as regarded its main object, may be said to have commenced, and we could not but congratulate ourselves on having reached this point so early, and especially at having pa.s.sed, almost without impediment, the strait to which, on nearly the same day[*] seventy-nine years before, so forbidding a name had been applied.

[Footnote: Middleton discovered the Frozen Strait on the 20th August 1742, according to the New Style.]