Our Sailors Part 10

CAPTURE OF AN ARMED SLAVER BY A FOUR-OARED GIG--1844.

On the 13th of August 1844, Mr John Francis Tottenham, mate of HMS _Hyacinth_, Commander Scott, performed a gallant and das.h.i.+ng exploit, which obtained for him his promotion to the rank of lieutenant, and the testimony of his commander to the coolness, decision, and gallantry displayed by him on the occasion. When off Fish Bay, on the West Coast of Africa, Mr Tottenham was sent in a four-oared gig, with one spare hand, to communicate with the Portuguese governor. The weather became thick, and he missed his port; but knowing that the _Hyacinth_ was working along the coast, he anch.o.r.ed for the night, and pulled to the southward. On the morning of the 13th he discovered a brig at anchor without colours, and saw her slip and make sail, on which he gave chase.

Being to windward, and the breeze light, he was enabled to approach her weather-beam, and fire a musket ahead, to induce her to heave to and show her colours. This and a second were disregarded; but a port was opened and a gun run out and brought to bear on the boat, which caused the officer to pull into her wake, when part of the crew of the brig commenced firing musketry, while the others got the gun on the p.o.o.p, and pointed it at the boat.

Mr Tottenham now commenced firing as fast as the spare hand could load for him, being just able to keep way with the brig.

Four of the men on board the brig having been hit, her crew left the gun, and after firing muskets for twenty minutes, finding that they were unable to weather the land or tack without being boarded by the boat, they ran the brig on sh.o.r.e. Here her crew, to the number of eighteen, including three wounded men, abandoned her, leaving another mortally wounded on board.

In the course of the afternoon the brig was perceived from the mast-head of the _Hyacinth_, which stood in and anch.o.r.ed, and hove her off; when she proved to be of 200 tons, fully equipped for conveying about 1000 slaves, with two guns of four pounds calibre loaded, a barrel of powder, and a quant.i.ty of langridge-shot, a number of muskets, swords, and bayonets on the deck. Almost every bullet expended in the gig was traced to the gun-carriage, or its immediate vicinity on the p.o.o.p.

A PINNACE ATTACKS A SLAVER--1845.

On the 12th of January 1845, Lieutenant Lodwick, first lieutenant of HM steamer _Growler_, Captain Buckle, who had been away for some time cruising in the pinnace on the look-out for slavers, fell in with a felucca, which, on seeing the pinnace, hove to. The lieutenant naturally expected that she would make no resistance, as she might have got away if she had chosen. When the pinnace, however, was within thirty yards of the felucca, a whole range of muskets was observed pointed over her bulwark. After this, Lieutenant Lodwick cheered his men on to get up to her before she discharged this fearful battery; but no sooner was the cheer uttered than the felucca opened on the boat.

This was a staggerer for the British boat; but fortunately the slaver's crew fired too high (the felucca had now filled, and was going just as fast as the boat could pull). Lieutenant Lodwick--the rim of whose hat was shot through--at once returned the first volley with a round shot and 180 b.a.l.l.s in a bag. A second volley from the felucca told with far more disastrous effect; two men were shot dead, and Lieutenant Lodwick and two men severely wounded--the lieutenant having been struck on the left knee and thigh. This left the pinnace with so few men, that, having also had six of her oars shot away, Lieutenant Lodwick was obliged to abandon the chase, and was picked up by the _Growler_, standing towards the _Gallinas_, boat and gear being literally riddled with shot.

Lieutenant Lodwick was promoted for his gallantry. The felucca had been chased by every vessel on the coast, and always got away clear. She was afterwards captured by a war-steamer, and bore evident marks of her conflict with the pinnace. There were about seventy men on board-- English, French, and Americans--and she was commanded by an Englishman.

ADVENTURE OF HMS "WASP"--1845.

As HMS _Wasp_, Captain Usherwood, was cruising in the Bight of Benin, near Lagos, on the 27th of February 1845, a strange sail was seen, and Lieutenant Stupart was immediately ordered in pursuit. At about eight o'clock in the evening he came up with her, and found her to be the _Felicidade_, a Brazilian schooner, fitted for the slave trade, with a slave-deck of loose planks over the cargo, and a crew of twenty-eight men. With the exception of her captain and another man, they were transferred to the _Wasp_; and Lieutenant Stupart, with Mr Palmer, mids.h.i.+pman, and a crew of fifteen English seamen, remained in charge of the prize. On the 1st of March, the boats of the _Felicidade_, under Mr Palmer, captured a second prize, the _Echo_, with 430 slaves on board, and a crew of twenty-eight men, leaving Mr Palmer, with seven English seamen and two Kroomen, on board the _Felicidade_. Several of the _Echo's_ crew were also sent on board as prisoners, with their captain. Soon afterwards Mr Palmer and his small crew were overpowered and murdered by the crew of the _Felicidade_, and an unsuccessful attempt made by the miscreants to gain possession of the _Echo_. The _Felicidade_ was seen and chased on the 6th of March by HMS _Star_, Commander Dunlop. When she was boarded, no one was on her deck, the crew being concealed below; and on being found and questioned, they stated the vessel to be the _Virginie_, and accounted for their wounds by the falling of a spar; but there were traces of a conflict, and many tokens which proved that English seamen had been on board. She was then sent to Sierra Leone, in charge of Lieutenant Wilson and nine men.

Whilst on the pa.s.sage, during a heavy squall, the schooner went over, filled, and sank, so as only to leave part of her bow rail above water.

When the squall pa.s.sed, the whole of the crew were found clinging to the bow rail. Some expert divers endeavoured to extract provisions from the vessel, but without success; and nothing but death stared them in the face, as the schooner was gradually sinking. Lieutenant Wilson ascertained that there were three common knives among the party, and it was resolved to make a raft of the main-boom and gaff, and such other floating materials as remained above water. These they secured by such ropes as could be cut and unrove from the rigging, and a small quant.i.ty of cordage was retained to make good any defects they might sustain by the working of the spars; a small topgallant studding-sail was obtained for a sail; and upon this miserable raft the ten persons made sail for the coast of Africa, distant 200 miles, without rudder, oar, compa.s.s, provisions, or water.

Being almost naked, and washed by every wave, their sufferings were very great. Dest.i.tute of food or fresh water, scorched by a burning sun during the day, and chilled with cold during the night, they thus remained twenty days. Delirium and death relieved the raft of part of its load of misery, two blacks being the first to sink under their sufferings.

The question naturally suggests itself, How did the survivors support life? Some persons would be almost afraid to put the question, or hear the answer. There is nothing, however, to wound our feelings, but much to admire in the admirable conduct of Lieutenant Wilson and his men during these melancholy and miserable twenty days. Showers of rain occasionally fell; they caught some water in their little sail, which they drank, and put some into a small keg that had floated out of the vessel. The sea was almost always breaking over the spars of the raft, which was surrounded by voracious sharks.

The famis.h.i.+ng sailors actually caught with a bowling-knot a shark eight feet in length, with their bare hands, and hauled it upon the raft; they killed it, drank the blood, and ate part of the flesh, husbanding the remainder. In this way three other sharks were taken, and upon these sharks the poor fellows managed to prolong their lives till picked up (in sight of the land) in what may be termed the very zero of living misery. Lieutenant Wilson and four seamen survived, and recovered their strength. Order and discipline were maintained upon the raft; fort.i.tude, forethought, a reliance upon Divine Providence, and good conduct, enabled these Englishmen to surmount such horrible sufferings, while the Kroomen and Portuguese sank under them.

CAPTURE OF A SLAVER--1845.

HMS _Pantaloon_, ten-gun sloop, Commander Wilson, had been for two days in chase of a large slave-s.h.i.+p, and succeeded in coming up with her becalmed, about two miles off Lagos, on the 26th May 1845. The cutter and two whale-boats were sent, under the command of the first lieutenant, Mr Lewis D.T. Prevost, with the master, Mr J.T. Crout, and the boatswain, Mr Pasco, some marines and seamen, amounting to about thirty altogether, to make a more intimate acquaintance with the stranger. The pirate gave the boats an intimation of what they were to expect as they neared, by opening on them a heavy fire of round shot, grape, and canister, in so spirited a style, that after returning the compliment by a volley of musketry, the boats prepared for hard work.

Animated by the show of resistance, each boat now emulated the other in reaching the enemy, the pirate continuing a sharp fire as they steadily advanced, the marines as briskly using their muskets. In half a hour from the discharge of the first gun from the slaver, the boats of the _Pantaloon_ were alongside; Lieutenant Prevost and Mr Pasco on the starboard, and Mr Crout, in the cutter, on the port side. The pirate crew, sheltering themselves as much as possible, nevertheless continued to fire the guns, loading them with all sorts of missiles, bullets, nails, lead, etcetera; and, amidst a shower of these, our brave sailors and marines dashed on board. Lieutenant Prevost and his party, in the two boats, were soon on the deck of the prize. The master boarded on the port bow, and, despite the formidable resistance and danger, followed by one of his boat's crew, actually attempted to enter the port as they were firing the gun from it. He succeeded in getting through, but his seconder was knocked overboard by the discharge. The gallant fellow, however, nothing daunted, was in an instant up the side again, taking part with the master, who was engaged in a single encounter with one or two of the slaver's crew. Having gained the deck after a most determined resistance, they now encountered the pirates hand to hand, when the cutla.s.s and bayonet did the remainder of the work. Lieutenant Prevost finally succeeded in capturing the vessel, but the pirates fought desperately; and it was not until seven of their number lay dead on the deck, and seven or eight more were severely wounded, that they ran below and yielded. In the encounter, two British seamen were killed; the master and boatswain, and five others were severely wounded.

Lieutenant Prevost received immediate promotion.

AN ATTEMPT TO RECAPTURE A PRIZE--1847.

On the 22nd of July 1847, HMS _Waterwitch_, with HMS _Rapid_ in company, captured the Brazilian brigantine _Romeo Primero_, which was subsequently given in charge to Lieutenant W.G. Mansfield, RN, and four seamen, to be conveyed to Saint Helena for adjudication. Owing to adverse winds, and the unmanageable qualities of the prize, the officer in command found it necessary to alter his destination, and to bear up for Sierra Leone.

On the 11th of August, about midday, two of the crew being engaged aloft, and the others in the bunks, where the arms were stowed, the lieutenant being at the moment pulling a rope which had been recently spliced, was murderously a.s.sailed from behind by one of the prisoners, with an axe used for chopping firewood. There were four of them who were during the daytime allowed the liberty of the vessel. At the same moment, the other three prisoners furiously attacked the sailors in the bunks, who, from the unexpected nature of the a.s.sault, were driven from their post wounded and unarmed. Lieutenant Mansfield, laying hold of a piece of firewood, gallantly but unequally contended with a Brazilian armed with a cutla.s.s. In the course of a desperate struggle, the officer received no fewer than nine wounds, more or less severe; a greatcoat which he wore being, under Providence, the means of saving him from instant death. The two sailors who had been occupied in the shrouds, having reached the deck, of course unarmed, the lieutenant, nearly exhausted by profuse haemorrhage, made a violent effort to join them, in which he fortunately proved successful, though in his progress one of the prisoners discharged at him a marine's musket, the contents of which took effect, inflicting a most dangerous wound in his head, and bringing him for an instant to the deck. Having succeeded in recovering his feet and gaining his men, he encouraged them to rush aft upon their armed antagonists--a piece of service which three of their number performed in the most daring manner; the fourth seaman (since dead) being _hors de combat_ from his wounds, and the lieutenant himself fainting at the instant from loss of blood. The intrepidity of the three British tars rendered them more than a match for their armed antagonists, whom they speedily overpowered, one of the prisoners leaping overboard and peris.h.i.+ng in the waves. Believing their officer to be killed, the seamen, in the excitement of the moment, were about to hurl the surviving prisoners over the gangway, when Lieutenant Mansfield, partially reviving, ordered them to be imprisoned, that their wounds should be washed, and that they should be reserved to be dealt with by the authorities at Sierra Leone.

On the 1st of September the _Romeo Primero_, the scene of this b.l.o.o.d.y encounter, entered the port. Lieutenant Mansfield, who, since the day of the conflict, had scarcely been able to stir hand or foot, was promptly conveyed to sick-quarters, and for many days his life was entirely despaired of by his medical attendants. The gallant little crew, all wounded, were also looked after in the best manner which skill and sympathy could suggest; but two were soon beyond the reach of human succour,--one dying of the direct consequences of his wounds, and the second of fever induced by them. After a fortnight of extreme danger on sh.o.r.e, Lieutenant Mansfield showed symptoms of recovery, and in the same year received the rank of commander.

ATTEMPT TO RETAKE A PRIZE--1848.

The _Grecian_ having captured a clipper Brazilian hermaphrodite brig, with nearly 500 slaves on board, Lieutenant D'Aguilar was placed in charge of her as prizemaster, with ten men, and ordered to proceed to Bahia, the sloop following him thither. The prize duly arrived, and anch.o.r.ed at Bahia before the _Grecian_, and not the slightest suspicion was entertained but that she was safe. In the course of the day, however, Lieutenant D'Aguilar received some hints to the effect that a combination was being made on sh.o.r.e among the slavers to attempt to retake the prize; and, although nothing definite was communicated, it was sufficient warning to him to be on the alert, and to take precautions which saved him and his men from being ma.s.sacred. The evening pa.s.sed off without disturbance; but about ten o'clock at night several boats from the sh.o.r.e were seen pulling for the brig, containing, it was estimated, 150 Brazilians. As they neared the prize, they were hailed, and ordered to keep off, but with some boldness they advanced alongside. The strangers having approached too near to be agreeable, Lieutenant D'Aguilar endeavoured to check them by a discharge of musketry. This commenced a most severe conflict, the fire being returned by the pirates as they dashed alongside and attempted to board.

That firmness and undaunted bravery, however, which is characteristic of British seamen, was here displayed in an eminent degree; and the Brazilians, with their overpowering numbers, were completely beaten off by Lieutenant D'Aguilar and his little band, with a loss, on the enemy's side, it is said, of upwards of ten killed and thirty wounded. As may naturally be supposed, where the contest was one at close quarters, and where each of the gallant defenders had so many a.s.sailants to wait upon, they did not come out of the _melee_ unscathed. Scarcely one of them escaped a mark, and several of them were severely wounded. Lieutenant D'Aguilar received many hurts about the head. It subsequently transpired that it was the intention of the Brazilians to have silently got alongside the vessel, and to have secured the prize-crew. They would then have cut the cables and made sail, to land the cargo of slaves at another part of the coast. This affair was the theme of general applause in the squadron on the station.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

THE RECAPTURE OF THE EMILY SAINT PIERRE BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM WILSON--1862.

The recapture of the _Emily Saint Pierre_ reminds us of the fighting days of the wars with France and America, when several similar events took place; but during the whole course of English naval history we find no deed more gallant or more worthy of record. The _Emily Saint Pierre_ was a large Liverpool East Indian trader, commanded by Captain William Wilson. She left Calcutta on the 27th of November 1861, with orders to make the coast of South Carolina, to ascertain whether there was peace or war. If peace had been declared, Captain Wilson was to take a pilot and enter the port of Charleston; if there was a blockade, he was to proceed to Saint John's, New Brunswick.

On the 8th of March 1862, he considered his vessel to be about twelve miles off the land, when a steamer was made out approaching. When the steamer, which proved to be a Federal vessel of war, the _James Adger_, came within hail, the _Emily Saint Pierre_ was ordered to heave to, and was soon afterwards boarded by two boats, whose officers and crews took possession of her. Filling on the main-yard, they steered for the Federal squadron. Captain Wilson was now ordered into the boat, and carried on board the flags.h.i.+p, when he was informed by flag-officer Goldboursh that his vessel had saltpetre on board, and that consequently she was a lawful prize to the Federal Government, but that he might take a pa.s.sage on board her to Philadelphia. He replied that his cargo was not saltpetre, that his s.h.i.+p was British property, and that he could not acknowledge her a lawful prize.

On returning to his s.h.i.+p in about an hour, he found that all his crew had been taken away except the cook and steward, and that a fresh s.h.i.+p's company had been placed on board, consisting of Lieutenant Stone, a master's mate, twelve men, and an engineer, a pa.s.senger, fifteen in all.

Having weighed anchor, they proceeded to sea. Captain Wilson felt confident of the illegality of the capture, and that if he could regain possession of his s.h.i.+p, he was justified in making the attempt. He had studied the characters of his cook and steward, and knew that he could trust them. He waited his opportunity. There was, however, not much time to spare. The 21st of March arrived. The commanding officer, Lieutenant Stone, had the watch on deck. It was about half-past four, and still dark, when Captain Wilson called his steward and cook into his state-room, and told them that he was resolved to regain his s.h.i.+p or lose his life. He asked their a.s.sistance, which they at once promised to afford. He then gave them each a pair of irons, which he had secured, and a sheet, and told them to follow him, as the moment for action had arrived. The master's mate was asleep in his berth. Captain Wilson opened the door, and walked in. After handing out his revolver and sword, he grasped the mate's hands. In an instant the gag was in his mouth, and the irons were fixed. The brave captain, with his two followers, then went to the pa.s.senger's cabin, and having taken the arms from his berth, secured him in the way they had the mate. The most difficult part of the undertaking was now to overcome the commanding officer, who, unsuspicious of danger, was walking the deck of his prize.

However, retaining wonderful coolness, and undaunted by the hazard he ran, Captain Wilson went on deck, as if he had just turned out, and joined Lieutenant Stone in his walk, making some remarks as to the state of the weather. After walking for about ten minutes, he induced him to go down into the cabin to look at the chart which he had himself been examining, taking up on his way, as he followed, a belaying-pin. Now was the critical moment--the cook and steward stood in ambush behind the door. They reached the door of the after-cabin, where the chart was spread out, when, lifting up the belaying-pin, Captain Wilson told the lieutenant that if he moved he was a dead man, and that the s.h.i.+p should never go to Philadelphia; when the cook and steward, springing on him, had in a moment the irons on his wrists and the gag in his mouth, and he was pitched without ceremony into a cabin, and the door locked upon him.

The crew had next to be mastered. Three were walking the deck, another was at the helm, and a fifth was on the look-out forward.

With truly wonderful nerve and command of voice, Captain Wilson called the three men aft, and pointing to the hatchway of the store-room, near the helm, told them that a coil of rope was wanted up. He then shoved off the hatch, and as he showed them the corner where it was, they all three jumped down. Quick as lightning he replaced the hatch, which his followers secured, while he warned the man at the helm that his life would pay the penalty if he moved or uttered a word. The look-out was then called aft, and being seized, was asked if he would a.s.sist in navigating the s.h.i.+p to a British port. On his declining to do so, he was handcuffed and secured in a cabin. Captain Wilson then called the watch, knowing well that they would not all come on deck together. He was consequently able to secure two before the suspicions of the rest were aroused. The third, however, drew his knife as the steward was about to seize him, when the latter shot him in the shoulder with his pistol, and he was seized. The remaining men, jumping on deck, were knocked over and secured.

Once more Captain Wilson had entire command of his s.h.i.+p, but with a crew of two men, neither of whom could even steer, nor were they accustomed to go aloft; while he had fifteen prisoners below, who would naturally lose no opportunity of retaking the s.h.i.+p. His greatest difficulties were only now beginning. What consciousness of his superlative seaman-like qualities, what perfect and just self-reliance he must have possessed, to have undertaken the task of navigating a s.h.i.+p completely across the Atlantic with such means at his disposal! Considerate and generous, as well as brave, as soon as he had shaped a course for England, he went below, and announced to Lieutenant Stone that the s.h.i.+p was his own again; but offered to take the gag out of his mouth and the irons off his wrists if he would consent to remain a prisoner in his berth, and make no attempt to regain possession of the s.h.i.+p.

To this Lieutenant Stone consented, and dined at table every day under guard, while the crew were supplied with an ample allowance of bread, beef, and water. Four of their number, after some consideration, volunteered, rather than remain prisoners, to lend a hand in working the s.h.i.+p; but as they were landsmen, they were of no use aloft. It seems surprising that Captain Wilson should have trusted them; but undoubtedly his bravery must have inspired them with such awe that they dared not prove treacherous.

But few days had pa.s.sed after he had commenced his homeward pa.s.sage, with his crew of six landsmen, than it came on to blow so hard that he had to close reef the topsails. Placing his cook and steward at the helm, he made the other men take reef tackles to the capstern, while he went alone aloft, lay out on the yard, pa.s.sed the earings, and tied the reef-points, keeping an eye all the time at the helm, and directing his two faithful men by signs how to steer. The wind increased till it blew a heavy gale, and the sea getting up, the tiller by a sudden jerk was carried away. He now began for the first time, perhaps, to have fears that he might not after all make his pa.s.sage; but undaunted, he set to work to repair the mischief as well as he was able. His strength and energies, as well as those of his brave companions, were tried to the utmost. They had both to navigate the s.h.i.+p, to watch the four men who had been liberated, and to feed and attend to their prisoners.

Providence favoured them; the weather moderated, the wind was fair, and without accident Captain Wilson brought the _Emily Saint Pierre_ into the Mersey thirty days after he had retaken her, having accomplished a pa.s.sage of nearly 3000 miles. As an act of individual courage, forethought, coolness, nerve, and the highest seaman-like qualities, the recapture of the _Emily Saint Pierre_ stands unsurpa.s.sed by any performed by a sailor of any period, rank, or country.

Captain Wilson received the welcome he so richly deserved on his arrival at Liverpool, from the mercantile as well as all other cla.s.ses. The Council of the Mercantile Marine Service presented him with a gold medal, and silver medals with suitable inscriptions to the steward and cook; they also each of them received a purse with twenty guineas, and 170 merchants of Liverpool bestowed on Captain Wilson the sum of 2000 guineas; while numerous other presents were made by various companies, eager to show him in what high estimation his gallantry was held. His officers and crew who had been made prisoners by the Federals, on their arrival at Liverpool after their release, presented to him a valuable s.e.xtant, to show their sense of his kindness to them during the voyage from India, and of his n.o.ble conduct.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

ARCTIC EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS.

THE NORTH-WEST Pa.s.sAGE.

The discovery of a pa.s.sage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean has been the darling project of numberless Englishmen of science as well as navigators, from the time of Henry the Eighth down to the present day.

A short account of the various expeditions, and of the adventures of the gallant men who have made the attempt, would alone fill a volume. By these expeditions, unsuccessful though they mostly were in accomplis.h.i.+ng their object, the names of many of the bravest and best of England's naval commanders have become immortalised. Well indeed may Englishmen be proud of men such as Ross, Parry, Clavering, Lyon, Beechey, and Franklin, and of others who have in still later days exhibited their dauntless courage and perseverance in the same cause--Collinson, McClure, McClintock, Sherard Osborn, Forsyth, and many more.

Nowhere can all the n.o.ble qualities which adorn the British seaman be more fully called forth than during a voyage in the Arctic seas, and the detention to which he is subject for years together on its ice-bound sh.o.r.es. From the first entering these regions, dangers beset him.

Suddenly he finds his vessel among immense fields of floating ice, through which he can with difficulty force a pa.s.sage or escape s.h.i.+pwreck. Then, in the darkness of night, icebergs of vast height are seen close aboard, towering above the mast-heads, the sea das.h.i.+ng with fury round their bases, from which, should he not sc.r.a.pe clear, his destruction is certain. Sometimes, to prevent his vessel being drifted on icebergs, or the rocky sh.o.r.e, or fields of ice, to leeward, he secures her on the lee side of some large berg. The base of the ma.s.s beneath the water is continually melting; and, while he fancies himself secure, it decreases so much as to lose its balance, and its lofty summit bending down, it may overwhelm him in its ruins. Then, again, large ma.s.ses become detached from its base, and, rising up violently from far down in the sea, strike the bottom of the vessel with terrific force, capable of driving in her planks and breaking her stout timbers.

Often, also, he has to saw his way through sheets of ice, cutting out ca.n.a.ls with untiring perseverance to gain a piece of clear water beyond.

Sometimes his vessel is so tightly frozen within a field of ice that he has no power to extricate her; then the field, urged by the tides or wind, moves on at a rapid rate for hundreds of miles, till it encounters some other field or a projecting sh.o.r.e. Now commences a scene of horror which may well make the stoutest heart tremble. The field breaks into thousands of fragments; huge ma.s.ses of many hundred tons weight, and larger than his s.h.i.+p, are thrown up, one on the other, rising almost as if they had life, till they tower far above the sides of his vessel, and appear ready every instant to crush her, as she lies helplessly among this icy ma.s.s of a seeming ruined world. Sometimes a huge lump, bigger than the s.h.i.+p herself, becomes attached to her bottom; and as the ma.s.s around her melts, it rises to the surface, and throws her on her beam-ends. Sometimes, as she is sailing in an open s.p.a.ce, two fields suddenly close in on her. If her crew have time to cut a dock in the field nearest her, or find a bay ready formed, she may escape; if not, when the fields meet, her stout ribs are crushed in as if they were of wax, and the explorer is fortunate if he escapes to the ice with some of his boats and a few provisions and clothes before his vessel disappears, to encounter a voyage without shelter in that frigid region, till he falls in with some whale s.h.i.+p, or can gain its inhospitable sh.o.r.es. But suppose he escapes the dangers of the sea I have described, and many others, and takes shelter for the winter in some bay or gulf, ice-bound, he must remain during the winter without any communication with the rest of his fellow-creatures besides those who form his own adventurous band.

The sun sinks below the horizon, and it is not seen again for months together; darkness is around him, and one dreary ma.s.s of snow covers the face of nature. The intense cold prevents him often from venturing beyond the shelter with which he has surrounded his vessel; or if he is tempted to do so, frost-bites may attack his hands and his feet, and deprive him of their use. Sometimes the Arctic explorer has had to journey for weeks together across the barren waste of ice or snow-covered ground, dragging his sledge after him, and sleeping night after night under the thin roof of a canvas tent; and, as summer draws on, often wet through from the melting snow, without an opportunity of drying his clothes. Seldom has he an abundance, and often he suffers from a scarcity, of provisions; while, if his strength fails him from illness or injury, he can scarcely hope to regain his s.h.i.+p alive. The first exploring expedition which was sent out during the reign of Queen Victoria was placed under the command of Sir George Back, in the _Terror_; but winter setting in early, his s.h.i.+p was caught by the ice, thrown on her beam-ends, and nearly destroyed. Though in a dreadfully shattered condition, she was providentially enabled to return home. It was not till the year 1845 that a new expedition by sea was determined on, and the command given, at his earnest request, to Sir John Franklin--an expedition over the fate of which for many long years hung a mysterious uncertainty, full of pain and anxiety. Notwithstanding the hazardous nature of the work in which they were to be engaged, numbers of officers and men eagerly pressed forward as volunteers to serve under the veteran Arctic explorer. The chief difficulty was in selecting the most fit among the many applicants, and happy did those consider themselves who were chosen.

The following is a list of the officers who were finally appointed to the expedition:--

"_Erebus_."

Captain, Sir John Franklin, KCH; Commander, James Fitzjames; Lieutenants, Graham Gore, Henry T. Le Vesconte, James William Fairholm; mates, Charles T. des Vaux, Robert O'Sargent; second master, Henry F.