CHAPTER XI—MELVILLE BAY
"And hark! The lengthening roar continuous runs
Athwart the rifted deep, at once it bursts
And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds."
June 1st. Sunday. Owing to a change of wind the ice had loosened and during the night we managed to push on to Berry Island. The Bear and Thetis appeared upon the scene during the afternoon, and we saw the Bear strike a sunken rock. We hooked on to the small island with several of the other ships, the Bear being on our starboard side, and the Narwhal, Arctic and Thetis on the port. I saw Commander Schley going on board the Bear and examining her with a water telescope. His boat passed very close to our quarter and the Captain spoke to him as he went.
The ships were all lying close to the shore floe with this low island in front of them, and it looked as if they might be there some time, so I went on shore with the surgeon of the Arctic. There was a camera sitting on the ice near the Thetis, so the ships were evidently being photographed. We wandered about the inhospitable place for a time and came on board. The perpetual daylight made me very irregular in my movements, coming and going at all hours; my day was regulated by my meals. Those who had watches to keep slept and got up with their usual regularity.
June 2nd. Monday. The day fine, and we were still tied up at the island. I took a gun and went on shore after breakfast, but there was not much to shoot. In a little valley I saw a quantity of dead grass sticking out of the ice. On going over and examining, I found a number of human skeletons. Wherever there was a big bunch of grass, there I found an ice-covered skeleton. Probably they were Eskimos. When I returned to the ship there were a number of natives on board. They came from Tassuisak and had some seal skins to trade.
Some of our men had visited the Arctic. She had been in Godhaven, so had much trade and our men procured some of it. Afterwards I bought a kayak model from one of these. It was very beautifully made. The skin tobacco pouches and slippers made by natives in Godhaven looked nicer than any I saw from other settlements.
The southern Greenland towns were better than those further north, but the whalers seldom called at any further south than Holstenborg. I went on board the Bear for awhile during the evening with Dr. Crawford and met Lieutenant Emory. During the day I saw several very beautiful glaucous gulls. They are called burgomasters by the sailors.
June 3rd. Tuesday. Immediately to the north of where we lay there were a great many icebergs. They presented a very fine appearance with the sun shining on them. The Thetis and Bear started off amongst these bergs. We tried to move out to the west, but did not accomplish much; for when evening came we were no further north than when we started. In the distance and to the west of us we saw a berg on the top of which there was a black spot. What could it be? From the crow's nest the telescope revealed nothing but a black spot on the icy slope.
There was a narrow lead going in this direction, so the mate and myself went with a boat's crew to solve the mystery. We were able to take a whale boat a long distance through the lead, and then we walked the rest of the way. I had brought a rifle in case there should be a chance of a shot. On getting up to the berg we found that it was not fast, but that owing to its great depth in the water it had a motion independent of its floe. On one side there had been a great slide, and up this we proposed going.
Just at this place the motion of the berg had ground up a lot of ice at its base, and also some of the floe, so that one had very unstable footing to jump to and from in crossing the surrounding fissure.
However, we all managed without mishap and ascended the slide to within six or eight feet of the top. I was then pushed up this little cliff and found that, with the exception of the place we had come up, the sides were sheer precipices. It was necessary to traverse a snowy undulation before the black object came into view. The mate joined me with some of the others and it was exciting for a few minutes, but disappointing when we found only a big black stone which the berg had picked up probably during its glacial days.
The islands of ice often turn over owing to the frost splitting them when the weather is cold. This frequent alteration of their centre of gravity makes them very undesirable neighbors, especially in the autumn. While it was disappointing finding only a stone when we expected something wonderful, yet the view from the summit was magnificent.
Immediately around little but ice could be seen, with here and there some black threads of water and many great bergs scattered about.
In the distance the coast of Greenland looked bold. It had been rather high all the way up from Upernivik, but Cape Shackleton, rising to a height of thirteen hundred feet, looked very imposing, being precipitous. There was a great loomery on its cliffs, which was probably the home of the thousands of those birds which we saw every day flying along the cracks, or about the pools of open water. There was much less trouble getting down the berg than getting up, but we were all tired when we reached the ship as we were not accustomed to long walks.
June 4th. Wednesday. The morning was fine, and many ships were in sight. During the night we had passed Cape Shackleton. To the south we saw the Thetis, evidently in the rips off Horse Heade, with the Bear astern of her. The Nova Zembla and Triune were several miles to the west, and caught in the pack, while all the other ships were together. During the morning the Thetis, Bear and Polynia came up and joined us in our feeble attempt to push along.
Later in the day the weather turned cold and cloudy, but no storm came, and the ice was very tight at bedtime.
June 5th. Thursday. A beautiful day with sunshine and blue sky. Nearly all the ships were anchored to the ice or stuck in our immediate vicinity. We were hooked on in a large lake and close to us there were a number of great bergs. During the morning I took the dingey and rowed amongst them, as there was no floe ice near.
The silence was very impressive, the only sound being that made by the splashing of water as it trickled down the icy sides of the bergs, or the cry of some seabird. I traced the base of one of these hoary giants a long way into the depths, but the water of the Arctic sea is by no means clear, owing to the vast numbers of animalculae which inhabit it.
I shot a big bag of little auks here, but was careful not to do any shooting whilst close to the bergs, as the concussion might have brought down ice. During the afternoon the floe opened a little, and the expedition ships came close to us, but the Nova Zembla and Triune still appeared to be held in the pack. We all watched like hawks for a chance to reach the Duck Islands, now only a few miles ahead. Greely might have been there.
June 6th. Friday. This was one of the most exciting days we had—eight of us all on edge and each trying to get ahead of his neighbor. This friendly rivalry added zest to the trip. We were quite close to the Duck Islands, which made the starting point of the Melville Bay passage.
The day was glorious and we spent most of it fast to a floe. The exciting thing was when late in the evening a crack occurred near the Arctic. It was not more than a mile or two across the floe to the open water at the Duck Islands, and this crack appeared to extend the whole way. When it was wide enough the Arctic and Aurora immediately entered, but before we had gone any distance, the ice closed astern of us, preventing any of the others entering. For a short time we were caught, and it looked like the nips, then the floe seemed to swing, closing behind us and opening in front, so that we steamed away with a cheer, leaving the others barred out. The Bear, after a short time, succeeded in breaking a way for herself and the Thetis, and all the rest followed like ducks.
I was aloft for a time watching this game of follow the leader and keenly interested in this Arctic race. We entered the patch of open water about midnight, and steaming across made fast to the ice at the islands.
June 7th. Saturday. It was wonderful how little we slept when there was excitement. I enjoyed it' so much that I was afraid of missing anything by going below, but after the race we had just finished, as we had all hooked on, I felt that it was safe to turn in as there was nothing but dense pack ahead. The Arctic and Aurora were lying very close to the Bear, and the Thetis was not far off. We were on the west side of the Middle Duck, the rest of the fleet being on the other side. It was evident that there were no explorers here to be rescued, for the approach of the fleet was rather imposing and they would have seen it.
After a rest, taking a gun I made my way on shore. We were too early for eggs, but there were plenty of ducks and the shooting was rather good. Numbers of phalarope (Lobipes Hyperboreus) were about. They were graceful little birds and no doubt bred here later. Coming back for the dingey I rowed out to a point of ice past which there was a flight of ducks, but was astonished to find the birds so shy in such a quiet place. Perhaps the sight of the ships invading this sanctuary made them a little nervous. I managed, however, to add considerably to my bag. There did not appear to be any loosening of the ice, so none of the ships made any effort to move. I went on board the Arctic during the afternoon and received a supply of apples from Captain Guy. The surgeon returned with me and spent the evening on the Aurora. As our boiler required some repair this was attended to during the day and it made a wonderful difference to the temperature of the cabin having no heat in the engine room for a few hours.
June 8th. Sunday. A peaceful day and perfectly calm with some fog. All the ships were hooked on to the floe. Crawford of the Arctic came on board and we took our dingey and went to one of the islands. Some men from the relief ships were there. They were shooting with eight bores, the first time I had ever seen guns of that calibre; I saw them make some long shots. We secured a few ducks, eider and long tailed.
During the afternoon we went on board the Bear, and again met Lieutenant Emory and his officers. Lieutenant Colwell showed us the ship. The arrangement of the berths in the cabin was splendid; they were curtained off by drawing out poles, and by pushing these in the sleeping quarters were reduced in size, and the saloon enlarged.
I should say that the Bear was the fastest ship of the fleet, except, perhaps, the Arctic, which had powerful engines. The only thing against the Arctic was her great length which made it difficult to turn her about in small water holes, and to manouvre amongst the ice as some of the others were able to do.
The Wolf and Narwhal had moved off and were caught in the pack by bedtime.
We were then on the threshold of Melville Bay, the reputation of which was most unsavory.
Perhaps the most interesting occurrence there during historic times was the loss of nineteen ships and a total of £140,000 damage to the fleet on June 19th, 1830. This event has been called the Baffin's Bay Fair, because the one thousand men who suddenly found themselves homeless upon the ice, made the best of their circumstances and enjoyed themselves immensely.
Before the ships went down they secured quantities of liquor and food and afterwards established comfortable camps. There was an abundance of wood from the wrecks, so they made bonfires around which they danced. The curious part of it was that no lives were lost, and that the entire party ultimately reached home safe.
There is an interesting oil painting of this event in the museum at Peterhead.
June 9th. Monday. We seemed permanent fixtures now and felt that we owned the place in spite of the ducks. I took the dingey with a boy and pulled off to a long point of ice on the west side of the island not far from where we lay. We were able to hide behind a heavy piece of ice with the boat and I shot a number of ducks in the handsome plumage of that season. Then landing, found numbers of old nests made of feathers and down. They had been driven into crevices of rock by storms and one could have collected a quantity of down. While on the island I saw and heard my first finner whale. He was making a great noise as he breathed. Finners have little oil and short bone, so they are not pursued. They are also very quick in their movements and consequently dangerous. This one came up several times in different water holes about the islands and then disappeared.
At dinner we were discussing vegetables and all agreed that the best on board the ship were the tinned carrots. They were simply boiled and put up in pieces six or seven inches long. They were absolutely as fresh and sweet as the day on which they were prepared. We called them Carnoustie carrots, as they had come from that place. Our Dundee meat was excellent at this time. We had a good supply of it, and very seldom saw salt beef or salt pork on the cabin table during the voyage.
The steak for breakfast was served on a sort of metal basket; a handle crossed the middle of this and on each side there was a lid. The steak was under one lid and fried onions under the other. We also had hot rolls every morning, although ship's bread was always on the table.
June 10th. Tuesday. Early in the morning the Aurora unhooked and for a little while managed to push her way northwest. The Wolf and Narwhal had gained by moving on. There was always a chance of a lead opening and letting one through. We had reached the Duck Islands first, by taking the lead while the others hesitated. We now entered the pack further than we wished to and then spent some time trying to extricate ourselves.
There was always danger of being beset in the pack and carried down the straits again; in it there was no safe anchorage, as it might twist and turn in any direction, and a low temperature might even freeze the ship up, whereas following the shore floe gave one a lead of open water every time the pack floated off, and should it be driven in the ship could generally find a bay or indentation in which she was fairly safe.
In consequence of this the captains became nervous when they found themselves beset in the pack. At night we were almost out of sight of the islands. The Wolf and Narwhal were not far from us.
June 11th. Wednesday. Before morning we managed to work north some distance. The Wolf, Narwhal and Arctic were close to us. The relief ships during the day were joined by the Triune, Cornwallis and Nova Zembla.
We all made some headway, but in the afternoon we were so nearly caught once or twice that we steamed back towards the islands and arrived almost at our old anchorage by the following morning.
June 12th. Thursday. In the morning a lot of us were back at the old anchorage again, but the Arctic was still to the north, close to the Thetis and Bear. The Wolf and Narwhal were out in the pack to the west of us, but in the afternoon these last joined us. During the day I shot a lot of ducks, all eider and king eider, afterwards landing on a floe from which a peninsula ran out having a narrow isthmus covered with very high hummocks. Crossing this isthmus to the peninsula beyond, I came upon the perfectly fresh footprints of a bear and two cubs, leading from the water to the big hummocks over which I had come and over which my route back lay. Having only a sixteen bore and number four shot, this discovery was disquieting for a time, as a bear with cubs might fight. However, she did not materialize.
All the other ships were closer inshore during the evening, while we moved west a little. During the night we moved off up a lead.
June 13th. Friday. We were hard and fast, the Cornwallis, Triune, Esquimaux and Narwhal in sight close inshore. The Arctic and Wolf out with the expedition ships. They were apparently beset. We lay frozen up all day, with not even a duck to shoot. The Sugarloaf, a high mountain on the Greenland coast, showed up well and made a good landmark.
June 14th. Saturday. The day began with a heavy snow storm, but shortly after breakfast it cleared off. The ice opened to the west, so we steamed in that direction, leaving the fleet of older ships apparently fast inshore, and we did not see any of them again for a long time. We made very little headway at first, but found the ice slack after dinner and managed to push through it.
Later a series of good leads opened up and we worked a long way north. When I turned in, the relief ships with the Arctic and Wolf were in sight ahead of us.
We passed a curious pillar of rock called the Devil's Thumb; it was a long way off. Every one took off his hat to it as was the custom.
Steering amongst ice was sometimes very dangerous for the man at the wheel, because the ship going astern was liable to bump her rudder against the ice. This, of course, sent the wheel flying around. We had a man hurt in this way by receiving a blow from the wheel during the afternoon.
June 15th. Sunday. We had good leads all the morning and were never blocked for any length of time. By breakfast time we overtook the Arctic and Wolf with relief ships. Then we all hooked on to a heavy floe in an open pool of water. Very shortly we were off again, but it looked dangerous, so we tied up. The Wolf was the first to be free. She entered a lead and it closed behind her, exactly as it had done with us at the Duck Islands. However, later in the day the pack drew off and we all steamed along the edge of the shore floe, the Thetis bringing up the rear. This was an exciting race, and no one turned in while the water remained open. The Wolf had the lead, the Arctic and Aurora being together. Occasionally some of us would diverge a little, but we were in line pretty well all the time.
June 16th. Monday. I turned in when I found the way blocked and all the ships tied up, as everything seemed frozen solid, except the pool in which we lay. Seven bells awoke me to find things as they had been. Captain Fairweather shot a Sabine gull after breakfast and I shot some looms, which were picked out of the water by Jock the dog, who retrieved very well. I went on board the Wolf with the Captain, and saw Captain Burnette. During the evening the Arctic steamed off and we followed with the Wolf, but the lead closed so we all were caught. The Aurora. managed to push out into the loose ice in a little while, but the Wolf remained and the Arctic was fairly in the nips.
The evening was fine and we saw land to the north and dozens of bergs to the east of us. There was a crack running into the floe for two hundred yards close to our ship. It was probably twenty-five yards wide at the entrance. A great many looms flew up this and returned when they found it a blind lead. The dingey was lowered and the Captain and myself had a few hours' shooting and secured a great many. They were tied in bunches and hung upon the chains connecting the quarter davits.
June 17th. Tuesday. All were frozen up. I tried stalking a seal, as there were several in sight, but I could not get near any of them. The Arctic was still nipped, the Wolf was with us and the relief ships a little way east. During the evening we were all moving around, except the Arctic.
We were ahead and the Wolf next, the Bear bringing up the rear. Later the Thetis fell back, for she could not keep up. Cape York was in sight and all four of us were rather close together.
With the Aurora leading, we kept this up all night, every one greatly excited. In the small hours we were all up to a barrier. Among the Arctic ice it would have been useless to roll the ship as we had done at Newfoundland, the young ice on that coast being very different from the Arctic floe met with in Melville Bay.
June 18th. Wednesday. The race for Cape York and the north was far too exciting to permit of sleep, so for the following few days I never undressed, but kept going up and down all the time. If we stuck I lay down, and when the engine started I went up.
At one A. M. we were with the Wolf and relief ships, pounding away at the floe which separated us from the open water at Cape York. The Aurora was the first to break through, when we all gave a great cheer and shouted, "The north water!" I immediately went forward, and sitting on the jib-boom, realized that I was the nearest white man to Greely, possibly the nearest to the pole. I sat there for a long time as we were steaming fast towards the land through open water.
As we neared the shore the Bear passed us. She was a faster ship and she reached the shore floe some minutes before us.
Seeing a party land on the ice from the Bear, we turned off southwest. As the Thetis and Wolf were coming up, the Captain went on board the former and bade the commander good-by, and good luck, then we crept off to the southwest with the Wolf. The Bear having spoken the Thetis, steamed west after us, the weather being rather thick.
Finding the ice heavy to the west, we tried a lead to the north, but were beset for some time.
The fog was so thick that nothing could be seen ahead. We saw nothing further of the Thetis as she remained at Cape York to pick up the party landed by the Bear.
I turned in for a time during the night, as the ship was beset by heavy ice. We had now completed the passage of Melville Bay without accident and nearly every one on board felt that the greatest danger of the voyage was over, so we would work our way to the west and look for whales. In the race from St. John's to Cape York we had been beaten by the Bear only, and that by just a few minutes. The Arctic, Thetis and Wolf were all close, but in the last lap the Aurora and Bear were neck and neck almost to the winning post.