In view of the possibility that Lady Franklin Bay might become a permanent station, all the preliminary arrangements were made as complete as possible. A steamer called the Proteus was secured for conveying the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, and she was ordered to await the arrival of the explorers at the port of St. John’s, in Newfoundland. Lieutenant Lockwood sailed in a steamer from Baltimore with the party and reached St. John’s late in June.
Here it may not be out of place to submit a few remarks on the utility of these Arctic explorations, which are sometimes criticised by people who, without due consideration, jump to hasty conclusions. In former times their main object was to find open passages between the northern regions of Europe, Asia, and America, and to settle the problem of the north pole; and statistics show that when these expeditions have confined their operations within reasonable limits, the mortality attending them has been remarkably small—less than in ordinary commercial voyages. Sir John Franklin went far beyond these limits, and left no monuments by which he could be traced. De Long put his ship into the polar ice with the design of moving with the polar drift. The Greely Expedition was expected to be confined, and was confined, to the well-known waters of Smith’s Sound. It could, therefore, be reached at any time, and, if necessary, it could fall back upon a point accessible at all times. All that was required to secure its safe return was a well-chosen base, and an absolute certainty that this base would be maintained. Unfortunately, neither requirement was fulfilled, and hence nineteen men lost their lives. Sledge-journeys from established bases, though fraught with great labor and discomfort, have never been attended with serious loss of life. It is now about one thousand years since the first Arctic voyage was made, and their aggregate usefulness can hardly be questioned when we remember that they have developed fisheries that have built up the commerce and navies of nations, and that the direct return into the exchange of England has been far more than the cost to her of all her Arctic explorations. The Polar Commission, already alluded to, inaugurated a new policy in regard to Arctic explorations, and one whose utility can not be questioned. It had its origin, in 1875, in the mind of a German discoverer named Carl Weyprecht; and in the opinion of many of the leading minds of the world, the meteorological observations inaugurated by him have done much, and will do much more, to rectify errors in the polar problem and bring to light information about the ice zones, which will give the observers a prominent position in scientific history. According to Professor Joseph Henry, the problems connected with physical geography and science, which are yet unsolved, are the determination of the figure and of the magnetism of the earth, complete knowledge of the tides of the ocean, the winds of the globe, and the influence of extreme cold on animal and vegetable life. Surely the men who voluntarily toil and suffer in their efforts to obtain the needed light on all these subjects, are quite as worthily employed as those who struggle for riches or political fame. In the Professor’s opinion, all the branches of science above mentioned are indirectly connected with the well-being of man, and tend not only to enlarge his sphere of mental activity, but to promote the application of science to the arts of life. A French writer, after applauding the plans of the Polar Commission, concludes his remarks as follows: “The larger number of the civilized nations are striving by scientific means to wrest the mysterious secrets of the deep from the hidden recesses of the North.” In 1884 the number of nations that had entered heartily into the project was thirteen; fifteen polar stations, and over forty auxiliary stations, had already been established. That the reader may fully understand the operations and exploits which are to be chronicled in the subsequent pages of this volume, it may be well to submit the subjoined extract from the official report of General W. B. Hazen, Chief of the United States Signal Service, for the year 1881: “Owing to the very mobile nature of the atmosphere, the changes taking place on one portion of the globe, especially in the Arctic zone, quickly affect regions very distant therefrom. The study of the weather in Europe and America can not be successfully prosecuted without a daily map of the whole northern hemisphere, and the great blank space of the Arctic region upon our simultaneous international chart has long been a subject of regret to meteorologists. The general object is to accomplish, by observations made in concert at numerous stations, such additions to our knowledge as can not be acquired by isolated or desultory traveling parties. No special attempt will be made at geographical exploration, and neither expedition is in any sense expected to reach the north pole. The single object is to elucidate the phenomena of the weather and of the magnetic needle as they occur in America and Europe, by means of observations taken in the region where the most remarkable disturbances seem to have their origin.”
While the foregoing were to be considered as the primary considerations, it was expressly stated in the official instructions, that sledging parties, generally, should work in the interests of exploration and discovery, and should be conducted with all possible care and fidelity. Careful attention was also to be given to the collection of specimens of the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. It will be seen that all that was accomplished by Lieutenant Lockwood was instigated by the mandate connected with the use of the sledge.
It thus appears that the Greely expedition was not only intended to accomplish a good work, but that in all human probability the same might have been accomplished without serious loss of life. That there was a deplorable loss of life, we can only lament, leaving for others to point out the causes of the disaster which befell the expedition.
VII.
FROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO LADY FRANKLIN BAY.
All things being ready, the Greely Expedition left St. John’s, Newfoundland, for Lady Franklin Bay, on Thursday, July 7, 1881, in the steamer Proteus, Captain Pike. She was a barkentine, measuring two hundred and fifty feet in length, and having a burden of six hundred tons. Built in Scotland for the whaling and sealing service, she had already made several successful voyages within the Arctic Circle and on the Labrador coast. The departure of the ship elicited no demonstration from the people on the dock, excepting a few cheers from some warm-hearted fishermen. Whether the good people of Newfoundland were disgusted because they could not sell any more supplies at extravagant prices, or were displeased with the Yankee explorers for presuming to compete with Englishmen in the icy North, are questions not to be easily solved.
During his stay in St. John’s, Lieutenant Lockwood wrote a letter to his mother, in which he gave the following account of the city:
“St. John’s is a queer and forlorn old place; everything is antiquated, slow, and behind the times in every respect. The few hotels are more like third-class boarding-houses; a livery-stable is not to be found in this city of thirty thousand. This condition of affairs is said to be due to the religion of the place, which is Roman Catholic. It is charged that ignorance and poverty are what this church most thrives on, and it is certainly a thriving church here. The other day the shops were all closed, and the place assumed the appearance of Sunday—it was a holy day for their patron saints, Peter and Paul. Only two classes here—the poor and the rich—and everything accords with the former class. Crooked streets and mean, forlorn, dirty houses everywhere. The only respectable public buildings are the Catholic churches and the convents.”
With the wind favorable, the sea calm, the sky clear, and all in good spirits, away went the vessel on her voyage to the North. A steam-launch, called the Lady Greely, rested securely on the main deck. It was arranged that the sergeants of the expedition should sleep in the cabin, eating at the second table, and the rest of the men live forward; and, though somewhat crowded, it was hoped they would all be comfortable. During the first twenty-four hours, two hundred miles were made. Lieutenant Greely and most of the men were sea-sick. At sunset on the second day out, the first iceberg was seen, and attracted the special attention of the land-lubbers. On the 9th, gales from the northwest set in, and the sick men became worse—the thermometer marking forty degrees, the air being damp and uncomfortable. The wind moderated in the evening, but left the sea very rough, so that the steam-launch had to be secured in her cradle by braces. Although then in the track of the St. Lawrence trade, not a single vessel was seen, suggesting the idea that business was not flourishing. As to Lieutenant Lockwood, he was in good spirits, and amused himself by reading Kennan’s interesting book on Siberian life. On the following day the sea went down, and the sick men came up from their berths and were able to resume their places at the table, Lockwood and Kislingbury being the only ones who had escaped sea-sickness. When the former had finished Kennan’s book, he took up Barrow’s “Voyage within the Arctic Circle,” reading it in the presence of several icebergs, which appeared as if they intended to welcome the band of Yankee adventurers to their inhospitable domain.
On the morning of the 11th, notwithstanding the promise of fine summer weather, the sky became overcast, and at noon the captain, assisted by the volunteers, including Lockwood, Israel, and Gardiner, could hardly succeed in getting observations, and though they reckoned the latitude at 58°, it was not reliable. Rain, attended with high winds or gales, succeeded, the sufferers from sea-sickness finding refuge in their berths. Ellis, one of the sergeants, suffered more than the others, having refused all food since leaving port. They could give him no aid save a little wine and beef-tea. The cold, cheerless weather depressed the spirits of all, but they hoped to get used to it. The days were sensibly growing longer, beginning at 1.45 A. M. and closing at 10 P. M. They now remarked the absence of icebergs and ice-floes, and wondered whether this meant that the previous winter in the north had been so mild that but little ice had formed, or that the spring had been so backward that but little had become detached and drifted southward. They had learned at St. John’s that the late winter had been the mildest ever known there. At the close of the 11th, no land was in sight, and they had made seven hundred miles. The steward informed Lockwood that the men were growling about their food, which was the same as that received in the cabin. He thought this a bad sign for Arctic explorers, but tried to make matters more satisfactory.