Sixteen of the men who had before been unable to form a letter could by Christinas write very well. That day was pa.s.sed with the usual festivities, the seamen being amply regaled with fresh beef, cranberry pies, and grog, when they drank, with three hearty cheers, the health of each officer in succession. The shortest day was scarcely observed; indeed, the sun did not entirely leave them.

A few hares were caught, with a purely white covering, which resembled swans'-down rather than hair, and about a hundred white foxes were snared in the nets. At first they were perfectly ungovernable, but in a short time the young ones threw off their timidity, and became tame.

The sky was frequently brilliantly lighted by the _aurora borealis_.

The light had a tendency to form an irregular arch, which in calm weather was very distinct. When the air became agitated, showers of rays spread in every direction with the rapidity of lightning.

Sometimes long streams of light were spread out with inconceivable swiftness. No rule could be traced in the movement of the light parcels which are called the "merry dancers." The sun and moon were often surrounded with haloes and concentric circles of vapour, tinted with the brightest hues of the rainbow. Parhelia, or mock suns, frequently shone in different quarters of the firmament. Still the life the explorers were compelled to lead was becoming very monotonous, when, on the morning of the ist of February, a number of figures were seen in the distance, moving over the ice. The spy-gla.s.ses were turned towards them, and they were p.r.o.nounced to be Esquimaux.

As it was important to establish friendly relations with these people, the two commanders, attended by a few men, proceeded towards them, walking in file behind each other, that they might cause no alarm. As the natives approached, they formed themselves into a line of twenty-one; then they advanced slowly, until, making a full stop, they saluted the English by the usual movement of beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

They were well clothed in rich deer-skins. On coming to the ships they immediately began to strip; and the females, finding that they could obtain knives, nails, and needles for their dresses, pulled them off, when it was discovered that they had others of a similar character beneath the outer ones.

A visit to their village, at their invitation, was paid; but at first no one could discover their habitations. They, however, led the way to a hill in the snow, through which they crept, on hands and knees, along a winding pa.s.sage of considerable length, until they reached a little hall with a dome-shaped roof, the doors of which opened into three apartments, each occupied by a separate family. This curious structure was tenanted by sixty-four men, women, and children. It was formed entirely of slabs of snow, about two feet long and half a foot thick.

On the outside a series of cupolas rose about seven feet above the ground, and were sixteen feet in diameter. A plate of ice in the roof served as a window.

When first seen the village appeared like a cl.u.s.ter of hillocks among the snow; but successive falls filled up the intervening s.p.a.ces, and converted it into one smooth surface, so that the boys and dogs were seen sporting over the roof. In each room, suspended from the roof, a lamp was burning, with a long wick formed from a species of moss, the oil being the produce of the seal or walrus. This lamp served at once for light, heat, and cooking.

A few hours had been sufficient to put up the village. The natives were as desirous of pleasing as they were ready to be pleased, and a favourable impression was thus made at the first interview, which was not diminished during a constant intercourse of between three and four months. They were strictly honest, and frequently returned articles which had been dropped by accident.

During a visit to the _Hecla_, the fiddler having struck up a tune, these merry people danced with the seamen for an hour, and then returned in high glee to their huts. They were highly delighted with the tones of the organ, as with the songs of the seamen and music of every description. They were very ingenious in employing such materials as they had at their disposal. A sledge being required to carry a lad to some distance, one of them set to work, and in a short time cut out of ice a serviceable little sledge, hollowed like a bowl, and smoothly rounded at the bottom. The thong to which the dogs were secured was fixed to a groove cut round its upper edge. Among the women was one named Iliglink, the mother of a lad called Toolooak, who had frequently come on board. She was a superior person, of great natural talent. Her voice was soft; she had an excellent ear for music, and a great fondness for singing. It was somewhat difficult, indeed, when she once began, to stop her. She made beautiful models of canoes, sledges, and other articles; but she showed her superior intelligence by the readiness with which she communicated her knowledge of the geographical outline of the sea-coast of the country and of the islands. Several sheets of paper were placed before her, and she drew roughly, on a large scale, an outline of the land about Repulse Bay and Lyon Inlet, continuing it northerly to the present winter station of the ships. Sheet after sheet was tacked on until she had completely lost sight of Winter Island, at the other end of the table. She afterwards drew, on a smaller scale, with wonderful accuracy, a chart embracing a much wider extent of coast.

With intense interest it was found that she drew the extreme northern boundary of America, or rather its north-east extremity, round which Captain Parry had received instructions to proceed, if possible.

The armourer's forge especially attracted her attention, and she expressed great astonishment at seeing two pieces of iron welded together. She was rather spoiled, however, by the attention paid her, and seemed to claim as a right her privilege of coming on board whenever she pleased.

Early in April some of the tribe deserted their habitations, proceeding to the westward in search of food, and at the end of May the whole party announced that they were about to migrate to the northward. On receiving what they considered the most valuable presents from the commander, the women broke into such immoderate fits of laughter as to be almost hysterical, finishing by bursting into tears.

The men were thankful, but less noisy in expressing their satisfaction.

As these good-humoured and very cheerful people took their departure, they greeted the voyagers with three cheers, in true English style.

While preparations were being made for sailing three deaths occurred, two on board the _Fury_, and one seaman of the _Hecla_.

On the 2nd of July the ships moved out of their winter quarters, but they did not put to sea until the 8th. They were almost immediately exposed to most terrific danger, being driven along the ice at a furious rate, frequently almost nipped by it. At one time the _Hecla's_ stern was lifted more than five feet out of the water, and her rudder unslung by a violent jerk. Had another floe backed the one which lifted her, the ship must inevitably have turned over or parted amidships.

Providentially she righted, and drove several miles to the southward before her rudder could be again slung. The _Fury_ was exposed to almost equal peril of destruction. By long and unremitting perseverance, and by taking advantage of every opening and breeze of wind, the ships moved to the northward as far as lat.i.tude 67 degrees 18 minutes, to the mouth of a fresh water river. The boats were lowered, and parties landed and proceeded up the banks of the river, where, at about two and a quarter miles from the entrance, they found a fine waterfall, the scenery being romantic and beautiful in the extreme. It was named Barrow, after the Secretary of the Admiralty. Its beauties were enhanced by the vegetation on its banks, the enlivening brilliancy of a cloudless sky, and the animation given to the scene by several reindeer, which were grazing beside the stream.

On the 14th of July the ships reached the island of Amitiske, which by Iliglink's chart appeared near the strait which they had reason to believe would conduct them to the polar sea. Here they saw an enormous herd of walruses, lying piled up over each other on the loose drift ice.

A boat's crew from each ship was sent to attack them, but the animals-- some with their cubs on their backs,--making a most determined resistance, kept their a.s.sailants at bay. One of them, rushing forward, tore the planks of a boat in several places, and very nearly sank her.

Three only were killed.

Sailing on, a strait was seen stretching westward in long perspective; but the hopes of the explorers were soon disappointed, when the ice was discovered extending in one unbroken line across it, from sh.o.r.e to sh.o.r.e.

This pa.s.sage was named Fury and Hecla Strait. Hoping ultimately, however, to force the ships through, Parry made an expedition along the surface of the strait, and from an elevation saw a wide pa.s.sage opening out to the west, inducing him to believe that he saw before him the polar sea. Scarcely, however, had he returned when the ice began to break in rents and fissures, and, soon entirely disappearing, the vessels floated in open water. With a brisk breeze he stood on, but at the end of five days it was announced from the crow's nest that ice in a continuous field occupied the whole breadth of the channel. On examining it, however, it was found to be rotten, and the captain, therefore, determined to try and force the ships through it. With all canvas set, they had proceeded three or four hundred yards, when they stuck, and, in spite of all their efforts, were unable to make the slightest advance during the remainder of the season. With the greatest difficulty they were at length extricated, and proceeded to the neighbouring harbour of Igloolik, into which, by the usual operation of sawing, they made their way. Here they prepared to spend another winter. The two ships were at some distance from each other, though not sufficiently so to prevent constant intercourse. They were prevented, however, from continuing their theatrical entertainments, but schools were carried on as industriously as before. A wall of snow, twelve feet high, was built round the _Fury_, at a distance of twenty yards from her, forming a large square, like that of a farmyard, by which not only was the snow-drift kept out, but a good walk, sheltered from every wind, was afforded. Before long the Esquimaux appeared, among whom were several of their old friends; but Iliglink did not arrive, nor was any reason given for her not coming. The winter was less pleasantly spent than the former, while some slight cases of scurvy appeared, arising from the want of fresh anti-s...o...b..tic plants. At length, when the month of August arrived, the ships were as securely confined in the ice as in the middle of winter, except that a pool of water, about twice their own length and diameter, had opened round them. There was a distance of four or five miles between the ships and the sea, yet notwithstanding, Captain Parry determined to commence the laborious task of sawing his way through it.

By the 6th of August, about four hundred yards of ice were sawn through, leaving a broad ca.n.a.l, eleven hundred yards in length. By this and the disruption of the floe on the 8th of August, the _Fury_ floated once more in open water, and was followed on the 12th by the _Hecla_.

Captain Parry had come to the resolution of sending the _Hecla_ home, and by taking such stores and provisions as could be spared from her on board the _Fury_, with her alone to brave a third winter in the polar regions; but on desiring the medical officers to furnish him with their opinions as to the probable effect that a third winter pa.s.sed in these regions would produce on the health of the ship's company, they expressed it very strongly to the effect that it would be dangerous in the extreme. Captain Lyon fully agreed with this, and the ships, therefore, stood out eastward. The current rapidly hurried them along to the southward, their drift being twenty-one miles in twenty-four hours, though closely beset, without a single pool of water in sight the whole time. As they approached a headland, they were whirled round it at the rate of two or three knots an hour, and on pa.s.sing Barrow River were drifted nine or ten miles off land by the current setting out of it.

On the 17th of September, a strong westerly breeze clearing them from the ice, enabled them to shape their course for Trinity Islands in a perfectly open sea, from whence they ran down Hudson's Straits, without meeting with any obstruction. The favourable wind still continued, and on the 10th of October they anch.o.r.ed in Bra.s.sa Sound, off Lerwick, where they enjoyed their first sight of civilised man, after an absence of seven and twenty months.

They were received by the people of Lerwick in the warmest manner. The bells were set ringing, the town was illuminated, and people flocked in from all parts of the country, to express their joy at their unexpected return.

On the 18th Captain Parry arrived at the Admiralty, and the ships were paid off on the 16th of November.

The idea being entertained that the pa.s.sage westward into the Pacific might be made through Prince Regent's Inlet, Captain Parry was appointed to the command of another expedition for the purpose of ascertaining if this could be done. The _Hecla_ was re-commissioned, he taking command of her, while Commander Hoppner was appointed to the _Fury_, with Horatio Thomas Austin and James Clark Ross as his lieutenants. The _Hecla_ carried sixty-two and the _Fury_ sixty persons.

The ships sailed from the Nore on the 19th of May, 1824, accompanied by the _William Harris_ transport. Captain Parry received his instructions to make the best of his way to Davis Straits, to cross over to Lancaster Sound, and, proceeding through Barrow Straits, endeavour to make through Prince Regent's Inlet a pa.s.sage into the sea which bounds the American continent on its northern coast, and thence westward to the Pacific. At the Danish settlement of Lievely the ships received their stores from the _William Harris_, which returned home. On leaving the harbour, the _Hecla_ struck on a sunken rock, but without receiving much damage. On the 17th of July the ice began to close round the ships, and from that time forward the crews were constantly employed in warping or sawing through the frozen ma.s.s. On several occasions the _Hecla_ received awkward nips, and it was not until the 9th of September that they got into open water. On the 10th of September they entered Lancaster Sound, and found it free from ice; but on the 13th they had the mortification of perceiving the sea ahead covered with young ice, through which they made their way until they came to the entrance of Port Bowen, into which the ships were warped by the ist of October, and here took up their winter station. The usual preparations for pa.s.sing that dreary season were made. Numerous whales were seen off the coast, which would have afforded a rich harvest to a whaler.

Parry's first care was to find occupation and diversion for the seamen.

As many of their former amus.e.m.e.nts were worn threadbare, he proposed a masquerade, in which officers and men alike took part. Admirably dressed characters of various descriptions made their appearance, and were supported with a degree of spirit and humour which would not have discredited a more refined a.s.sembly. It does especial credit to the disposition and good sense of the men that, although the officers entered fully into the spirit of these amus.e.m.e.nts, which took place once a month alternately on board each ship, no instance occurred of anything that could interfere with the regular discipline, or at all weaken the respect of the men towards their officers. Mr Hooper, purser of the _Hecla_, superintended the school, aided by other officers. The progress of the men was surprisingly great. He also attended to the cultivation of that religious feeling which so essentially improves the character of seamen, by furnishing the highest motives for increased attention to their other duties. The officers also found full employment in the various observations to which their attention was directed. An expedition was also made to the eastward, under Commander Hoppner. On his return, two other parties, under the respective commands of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, travelled, the former to the southward, and the latter to the northward, along the coast of Prince Regent's Inlet, for the purpose of surveying it accurately. The travelling along the sh.o.r.e was so good that they were enabled to extend their journeys far beyond the points intended. On returning, Lieutenant Ross brought the welcome intelligence that the sea was perfectly open at a distance of twenty-two miles northward of Port Bowen. On the 12th of July the ice began to break up, and by the 20th, owing to the sudden separation of the floe, the ships got free. They first crossed over to the western sh.o.r.e of Prince Regent's Inlet, then proceeded southward, close in with the land, having alternately open water and floating ice, to which they had occasionally to make fast. Before long, however, the ice was observed to be in rapid motion towards the sh.o.r.e. The _Hecla_ was immediately beset, in spite of every exertion, and, after breaking two of the largest ice-anchors, in endeavouring to heave in to the sh.o.r.e, she was compelled to drift with the ice. Both ships were in extreme danger. The cliffs next the sea, four or five hundred feet in perpendicular height, were constantly breaking down, and the ships lay so close in sh.o.r.e as to be almost within range of some of these falling ma.s.ses. The following day the _Hecla_ managed to get to a greater distance; but the _Fury_ remained where she was, and on the 31st a hard gale brought the ice closer and closer, until it pressed with very considerable violence on both ships, though mostly on the _Fury_, which lay in a very exposed position. Shortly afterwards the _Fury_ was forced on the ground, where she lay, but was got off again at high water. A broad channel appearing and a fresh breeze springing up, an attempt was made to reach the water; but the ice came bodily in upon the ships, which were instantly beset in such a manner as to be literally helpless and unmanageable.

Thus they were carried southward, when the _Hecla_, driving close in sh.o.r.e, struck the ground several times, and remained immovable. The _Fury_ was seen driving past, narrowly escaping being forced on board her. She was driven about three hundred yards, powerfully pressed by the ice, until she became so severely nipped and strained as to leak a good deal, when she was again forced ash.o.r.e. Both ships, however, got off at high water, but on the 2nd of August the _Fury_ was again driven on the beach, and the _Hecla_ narrowly escaped. Captain Parry went on board the former vessel, and found four pumps going, and Commander Hoppner and his men almost exhausted with the incessant labours of the last eight and forty hours. They were now looking out for a spot where the Fury might be hove down, when again the ice drove down upon them.

Once more freed, however, the ships proceeded to a place where there were three bergs, at which it was determined to heave down the _Fury_.

The formation of a basin was at once commenced, and completed by the 16th of August, and on the 18th all the _Fury's_ stores, provisions, and other articles, were landed, and she was hove down. Scarcely, however, had this been done when a gale of wind came on, which destroyed the bergs, and made it necessary to tow both the ships away from the land.

The _Fury_ was again reloaded, but on the 21st was once more driven on sh.o.r.e. It was now seen that any attempt to carry her to a place of safety, even should she be got off, would be hopeless and productive of extreme risk to the remaining ship, and that an absolute necessity existed for abandoning her. Her crew, with such stores as were required, were transferred to the _Hecla_, and every effort was made to carry the surviving ship into clear water.

Five and twenty days of the time when navigation was practicable had been lost. As soon, therefore, as the boats had been hoisted up and stowed, they sailed away to the north-eastward, with a light air off the land, in order to gain an offing before the ice should again set in sh.o.r.e. The _Hecla_ was at length worked out of Prince Regent's Inlet, and arrived safely at Melville Harbour, where the necessary repairs were effected for enabling her to cross the Atlantic.

Weighing anchor on the 1st of September, the _Hecla_ entered Barrow Strait, where the sea was found perfectly open, and she was thus enabled to bear away to the eastward. In crossing Lancaster Sound more than the usual quant.i.ty of icebergs were seen. For ten miles she had only to make one tack, when she reached the margin of the ice, and got on its eastern side into the open sea. On the 10th of October the Orkney Islands were sighted, and on the 12th Captain Parry landed at Peterhead.

This last voyage to discover the north-west pa.s.sage, though less successful than the former ones, equally exhibited the courage, perseverance, and hardihood which had before distinguished the officers and crews employed; while we cannot help contrasting the admirable discipline maintained with the sad want of it displayed in so many of the voyages described in the preceding pages.

In 1827 Captain Parry commanded an expedition, which was fitted out in the hopes of reaching the north pole by way of Spitzbergen, when, accompanied by Captain Ross, he performed a long and hazardous journey over the ice; but, after travelling six hundred miles, it was found that they had only made good, owing to the drift of the ice, one hundred and seventy miles.

As a reward for his laborious services, he received the honour of knighthood, and Admiral Sir Edward Parry will ever be remembered as one of the bravest, most sagacious, and enterprising officers who have done honour to the British Navy.

The voyages of Sir John Franklin will now occupy us in succession to the heroic Parry.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITIONS.

Birth and youthful career of Franklin--His service at sea--Appointed to survey the Coppermine River--His expedition--His second expedition to the Arctic regions--Made Governor of Tasmania--His return--The last Franklin expedition.

Sir John Franklin, whose Arctic expeditions and their consequences will form the subject of this chapter, was born at Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, on the 16th of April, 1786. He was the youngest son of most respectable parents and intended for the Church, but as he preferred the sea service, his father yielded, and got him appointed a middy at fourteen years of age. Young Franklin soon saw some service. He was present at Copenhagen in 1801, and was appointed to the _Investigator_, which, under his cousin Captain Flinders, explored the Australian coast. The _Investigator_ went to grief, and when the crew were transferred to the _Porpoise_ she was wrecked, the ship's company and officers living on a sandbank for fifty days. After being taken off, Franklin was carried to Canton, and when he eventually reached England he was appointed to the _Bellerophon_, and was present at the battle of Trafalgar, where he was signal midshipman, and behaved splendidly.

For several years he served in the _Bedford_, and was engaged and wounded at New Orleans. In 1818 he was put in command of the _Trent_ to find an Arctic pa.s.sage to India, and in this Captain Buchan, in the _Dorothea_, took command. But the latter vessel being damaged, the expedition returned to England, though Franklin wished to proceed alone.

After this, his reputation having been well established, not only as a thorough seaman but as a man of science, he was appointed to the expedition to cross the continent from Hudson's Bay to the Coppermine, and explore the coast eastward.

We will now, as briefly as possible, give the interesting narrative of Franklin's Arctic expeditions.

While Sir Edward Parry, whose expedition we have already detailed, was endeavouring to cross the Polar Sea westwards, Lieutenant John Franklin was commissioned by the Admiralty to ascertain the sources of the Coppermine River. At the same time Doctor Richardson and Messrs. Hood and Back were also nominated, with two English sailors, to accompany him. This small party embarked on board the Hudson Bay Company's vessel _Prince of Wales_ on the 23rd of May, 1819, and after some perils they arrived off York Factory, on the Hudson Bay sh.o.r.e, in August of the same year.

On the 9th of September the party commenced their exploration, and reached c.u.mberland House on the 22nd of October. Franklin, notwithstanding the advanced period of the year, determined to push on, and after a delay he set out, accompanied only by Lieutenant Back, on the 18th of January, 1820. Doctor (afterwards Sir John) Richardson and Mr Hood were to bring up the baggage and more stores in the early spring. The enterprising pair then journeyed more than eight hundred miles in the terrible Arctic winter, and reached Fort Chepeywan on the 26th of March following.

Meanwhile Doctor Richardson and Mr Hood remained at c.u.mberland House engaged in congenial pursuits and studying the Cree Indians, with other natural history subjects. The notes they give concerning the manners and customs of the Indians are extremely interesting, but are by this time pretty well known. Their dexterity in hunting and hawking are particularly commended, and much useful information concerning the fauna of the district was collected by Doctor Richardson and his companion.

When spring began to appear Doctor Richardson and his friend, with the Indian hunters, set out to join Franklin, and the "misery"--there is no other name for it--which the party endured, not from cold but from the mosquitoes, must be read about in detail to be even partially appreciated. This is a fearful plague of the northern regions just as Nature is beginning to clothe herself anew in green, and the white mantle of winter has disappeared in those places where snow is not perpetual.