The ship left Upernavik on the 29th, and, keeping the inner passage, made her way toward the north.
While crossing Melville Bay on the 30th, there was no ice in sight except bergs, and the sun shone brightly. That state of things was a great surprise to the explorers, as here it was that McClintock was frozen in for a whole year, and Nares congratulated himself in having passed the bay without detention. Indeed, Melville Bay has always been regarded as the bête noire of Arctic travel. An Arctic bear found on a broken pack of floating ice was killed by Lieutenant Kislingbury, and, when hoisted on board, was found to weigh a thousand pounds and to measure seven feet two inches in length. They were probably fifty miles from land at the time.
On the last day of July, the Proteus party sighted land, which they supposed to be Cape Dudley Diggs, north of Melville’s Bay. Much old floating ice was seen, but so rotten as to offer no obstruction. Several seals and many little auks were killed and secured.
About this time Lockwood and others observed tokens of disrespect and insubordination on the part of some of the men, which were traced to a certain corporal as ringleader. Lockwood watched him with care, and urged the propriety of sending him home by the first opportunity, which was afterward done.
On one occasion, toward evening, the voyagers witnessed the overturning of an iceberg three hundred feet long and one hundred and fifty feet high. After capsizing, it continued to revolve on several axes for some time. Its change of base was preceded by the fall of several detached pieces, thus shifting its center of gravity.
The next day, August 1st, was clear and cool, and without fog. Passed Dudley Diggs at noon and then steered for Gary Islands, sighting them three hours later. The officers looked hard for the crimson cliffs near Dudley Diggs noticed by Sir John Ross, but observed only some slight discoloration of the snow. The glacier near this cape seemed to be two or three miles long; at the sea-shore, of inconsiderable height, but in the background, attaining an imposing elevation. The ship’s compasses, as usual in this latitude, were all crazy, occasioning some bewilderment to the captain. The bear and seal meats were duly served on shipboard, and pronounced palatable by all, though to some the bear-meat was slightly fishy. Two boats with all the officers and others landed on the most easterly of the Cary Islands, and proceeded at once to find and inspect the cache of provisions—thirty-six hundred rations—left there by Sir George Nares for his own safety. They were apparently in good condition, notwithstanding many of the barrels resting on their ends afforded opportunity for rain and snow-water to enter. Some biscuits were found moldy. Replaced the Nares record by a copy, and also left a full record of the Proteus. There was found there an excellent whale-boat, turned bottom upward, with oars and sails complete. This Lockwood urged Lieutenant Greely to take along, but he preferred getting the one at Foulke Point. The former regarded the supply of boats as too small, and circumstances might arise which would cause them to regret not using this one. They had only the steam-launch, a twenty-four-feet whale-boat, and a small, fourteen-feet row-boat—the whale-boat being the only one to be depended on in case of accident. The boat at Point Foulke was thought to be inferior. They picked up driftwood, an oar, and some burned pieces of a ship’s stem or stern. They also saw some red snow, and shot several eider-ducks. The Cary Islands were found to be barren masses of rocks without vegetation.
The steamer came to anchor at Littleton Island at 9 A. M. on the 2d of August, just as the steering-gear gave way. A party went to “Life-boat Cove” and brought back a number of articles left by the Polaris Expedition of 1873. They saw neither Esquimaux nor reindeer, but shot a walrus. Lieutenant Greely made an effort to find the cairn left there by Nares, and the letters left for Nares by the Pandora. He found the letters but not the cairn, though there was a dismantled cairn afterward seen by others. Lockwood with a party of men put ashore several tons of coal, which, as it had to be carried up some thirty feet above the sea-level, he found no easy job. While thus engaged, this party had an adventure with some walruses, not unattended with danger. Having excited a drove of them by a simultaneous fire, the animals came toward the boat, and at one time held its inmates in peril. Lockwood alone was prepared to meet the foremost, and by good luck slew one of them, when all the rest disappeared. The walrus can be killed only through the brain, and when wounded, the animal is exceedingly ferocious. Numberless boats have been destroyed by them. Lamont thinks the walrus superior to the bear for food. Those they saw were evidently a female and her young, and their safety was in having killed the mother. Littleton Island affords a good illustration of these shores. The sides rise precipitously, sometimes in steps composed of immense cubes of trap-rock, sometimes in steep slopes formed from the crumbling of the same. The top of the island is seven hundred feet high, according to Nares, and generally quite level. Of soil, there is none. The summit afforded a fine view of the sound, though somewhat obstructed by fog. No floating ice; and the western coast with its snowy mountains quite distinct.
Having crossed the strait during the night of the 2d of August, in the early morning they ran along the western coast, which was very distinct and picturesque, the bluffs and headlands being reflected by the smooth sea. Striking the western coast near Cape Sabine, at 8 A. M. they reached Cape Hawkes, a headland over a thousand feet high and very picturesque. While Lieutenants Greely and Kislingbury visited the cairn there, Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Lockwood went to find the record on Washington Irving Island, both left by Nares. They then continued their way with slight interruptions from fogs until abreast of Franklin Island, when they were obliged to lay-to because of fog. They had not been delayed a moment by ice, and were surprised to see so little of it. Their success emboldened them to hope that they might reach Lady Franklin Bay without obstruction. Indeed, they even thought of inducing Captain Pike to run on until he reached the north pole itself, or at least till he attained a higher latitude than did Nares. One of the dogs having died, they became impressed with the thought that the poor curs suffered much from being cooped up and from the damp weather. The party continued on their way up Kennedy Channel with everything favorable, having the finest weather yet seen; air soft and balmy, sky clear, and water smooth.
On reaching the vicinity of Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay, they left there a small deposit of hard bread, pemmican, and rum, and continued on their way rejoicing; and so onward until nearly 10 P. M., when, just above Cape Lieber, they encountered an impenetrable pack extending all the way across the channel, and as far ahead as they could see. The ship made a savage dash at it, but in vain, and thus, but eight miles from Lady Franklin Bay, and with Cape Baird in full view, they were brought to a standstill. The mountains along the coast were covered with snow, but the valleys and low places were bare. The prominent objects of the landscape were all distinctly seen from their position—Capes Lieber and Baird on the left, Franklin, Hans, and Hanna Islands in the rear and left, and, in the far distance, Polaris Promontory and Petermann’s Fiord, with the glacier beyond. A party that went on shore saw traces of the musk-ox, but no animals were seen.
Several of the officers and men attempted the ascent of the promontory of Cape Lieber, a precipitous cliff three thousand feet high, which seemed but a stone’s throw away, but to reach which required a long, cold row, and then a fatiguing and painful climb. Lockwood and two only of the party succeeded. The difficulty was in the giving way of the crumbling slate-rock, which formed an incline of 45°. Those that reached the summit were rewarded by a grand view, extending to the limit of vision. On their return, after clambering over some rocks cropping out of the slippery snow and ice, they chose a short cut and came down at a run, or rather slide, followed by a miniature avalanche of débris. On the 6th of August, it was found that the icy barrier, which evidently came from the Polar Sea, was moving south, carrying the steamer along. Some game was seen in both air and water, but none taken. Parties attempted to reach the shore on the ice, but were recalled by signal, as moving ice was seen from the ship, and also open water near the shore.