[2] ‘Blink of the ice.’—This is an arch formed upon the clouds by the reflection of light from the packed ice. [↑]
CHAPTER IV.
The Author in great peril, from the vast rise and fall of the tide in the polar sea—Brief account of his observations at Seaborn’s Land—He takes formal possession of the country, in the manner usual in such cases, in the name and on behalf of the United States—Leaves a sealing party on one of the islands near the coast, and proceeds to the south, to extend his discoveries.
I had slept some hours, when I was awakened by Mr. Boneto’s order, and informed that the land appeared to rise very much. I went immediately on deck, and was astonished to see the land appear more than three times as high as when we came to anchor. I at first attempted to account for it by supposing some change in the atmosphere which caused the land to loom; but was soon undeceived. One of the seamen called out that there was a shoal even with the water close by. The lead was immediately cast to see if the ship was driving, and but two fathoms water were found alongside. In half an hour more we were high and dry. Such was the astonishing rise and fall of the tide in this high latitude! The bay, which had twenty fathoms water in the centre at full sea, and ten fathoms a mile from the shore, was almost entirely emptied; a small channel in the middle, not more than half a mile wide, being all that was not left quite bare. There was no immediate inconvenience to be apprehended from this circumstance; but I was aware, that a tide that fell 70 or 80 feet perpendicular, must return in a bore with prodigious violence, and was under more apprehension of the consequences, than at any other period of my voyage. I however concealed my fears from my officers and people, who were much amused with the circumstance, and my apparent vexation at finding my vessel high and dry on a mud bank, near the south pole. My greatest fear was, that the tide might come in in a bore thirty or forty feet high, and, striking the vessel as she lay aground, tumble her over and dash her to pieces, no frame of timber being sufficient to withstand such a shock. Happily, the stream of the ebb tide had left us exactly stern to the flood. I ordered the boats to be hoisted in and secured, and the anchors to be taken up, fastened in the dead lights, put every thing below that was moveable, directed the men to provide themselves with strong lashings, and ordered the engineer to raise a head of steam, and have the engine in readiness for instant motion. Thus prepared, I awaited the return of the tide. It came in due time; and now my officers and men, who had been so merry at my expense, evinced great consternation. The muscles of Slim’s face were actually convulsed with terror at the sight of a wall of water, stretching quite across the bay, apparently 30 or 40 feet high, rolling towards us like a tremendous breaker, and with a roaring noise like thunder. To all appearance, it would break over our mast head, and consign us to one common grave. In mercy to the trembling Slim, I desired him to step below and bring me my pea jacket, well knowing he would not come up again until the danger was over. I then ordered the companion-way and the hatches to be secured, directed my people to lash themselves fast, and quietly wait the result. Here, I must confess, I put up a silent prayer to Heaven, after a sailor’s fashion, for preservation from the impending danger.
I have always found the fears and anticipation of danger to exceed the reality. When the bore approached us, the bottom came rather faster than the top, and its face was not quite perpendicular. The vessel was fairly afloat on the foot of the wave, before the main body of it struck her; and taking it square astern, she split and rose over it in the most beautiful manner, without sustaining the slightest injury. By backing with the paddles, we kept clear of the shore, on which the impetus of the wave would have driven us, and soon after anchored again in the middle of the bay in twenty fathoms water.
And here I would recommend to all navigators of the polar seas, to avoid anchoring in less than twenty fathoms, until they have accurately ascertained the rise and fall of the tides, at the full and change of the moon.
When the companion-way was unbarred, Slim came up with my pea jacket, and coolly observed, he was glad there was no damage done, adding, “I was really afraid it might break our paddles.” In consequence of this occurrence, I named this bay Take-in harbour.
We were occupied until noon, in returning things to their places, getting the boats out, and preparing for an excursion on shore. At noon I observed the altitude of the sun, and, after making accurate allowance for the refraction, found Take-in harbour to be in latitude 83° 3′ south. This was much further south than the distance run by log would make us, which I attributed to a strong current setting us rapidly in that direction; but this I soon found to be an error, and that the difference between the latitude by observation and dead reckoning, arose from the form of the globe at the poles, lessening the degrees of latitude.
After dinner, I landed with a strong party, leaving the vessel in charge of Mr. Boneto. I took the horses and mules on shore, with provisions for a week, intending to march to the highest land we could find, to gain at once an extensive view of the coast and country. We landed on the south side of the bay, and shaped our course for a moderately elevated spot, which appeared to be the highest land, due south about ten miles distant. We found the shore much like that of the Falkland Islands, the only difference being that this was much more level, and had greater extent of tussoc. After passing through a border of tussoc about three miles wide, we reached an open prairie country, with grass about four inches high. We were three hours in gaining the elevated spot, from which we were enabled to see the coast for a great distance on our left, and the sea along its border, studded with islands. On the right, we could see nothing but boundless prairie, with here and there a ridge like the one we were upon. To the south, in the horizon, appeared something like a hill, and to that I determined to go. Having taken some refreshments, we took up the line of march. Slim, who was with me, as I did not think it prudent to leave him on board, had been very docile until now: on finding me determined to push into the interior so great a distance, he became evidently uneasy. He dared not express his fears to me, but took care that I should overhear him say to one of the men, “I hope the captain won’t waste so much time in exploring this desert, that we shall be obliged to go away without a full cargo of skins, or run the risk of being obliged to winter here, so near the pole, where we should certainly all freeze to death, in spite of every thing we could do.” As this was a reasonable apprehension in the mind of an ignorant man, I endeavoured to remove his fears by calling his attention to the tussoc grass and other plants, and asked him how they survived the winter, if the cold was so intense as he supposed? and advanced the opinion that wherever plants can sustain the cold of winter, and retain their vitality, man can exist, with the aid of good clothing and artificial heat.