WINTER QUARTERS OF THE “ALERT.”
Meantime, on the Discovery something very similar was occurring. As soon as the ice would bear it, they commenced erecting houses, including a magnificent observatory, an ice theatre, and a smithy. The theatre was opened on December 1st. It was the plan for plays to be produced by officers and men alternately. The entertainments were varied by songs and recitations, not a few of these being original. On November 5th they had a bonfire on the ice, and burned the “Guy,” according to the usual custom, with rockets and blue lights.
The Rev. Charles Hodson, chaplain of the vessel, says:—“As soon as the ice was sufficiently firm, a walk of a mile in length was constructed by shovelling away the snow. This place was generally used as an exercise ground during the winter. We also constructed a skating-rink there. A free hole in the ice was always kept near the ship. From time to time this gradually closed up, and it then had to be sawn with ice saws or else blasted with gunpowder. The dogs lived on the open floe all the winter. The changes in the temperature are very rapid, and I have known the variation to be as great as 60° in a few hours. The coldest weather we had was in March, when one night the glass showed 70½° below zero.
“And now a few words as to the manner in which we kept Christmas. First of all, in the morning we had Christmas Waits in the usual manner. A sergeant of marines, the chief boatswain’s mate, and three others, went round the ship singing Christmas carols suited to the occasion, and made a special stay outside the captain’s cabin. On the lower deck in the forenoon there were prayers, and after that captain and officers visited the mess in the lower deck, tasted the pudding, inspected the decorations which [pg 105]had been made, and so on. Then the boxes of presents given by friends in England were brought out, the name of him for whom it was intended having been already fixed to each box, and the presents were then distributed by the captain. Ringing cheers, which sounded strange enough in that lone place, were given for the donors, some of them very dear indeed to the men who were so far away from their homes. Cheers were also given for the captain and for absent comrades in the Alert. A choir was then formed, and ‘The Roast Beef of Old England’ had its virtues praised again. The men had their dinner at twelve o’clock, and the officers dined together at five. We had brought fish, beef, and mutton, all of which we hung up on one of the masts, and it was soon as hard as a brick, and perfectly preserved. We had also brought some sheep from England with us, and they were killed from time to time. When we arrived in Discovery Bay, as we called it, six of them were alive, but on being landed they were worried by the dogs, and had to be slaughtered. During the winter the men had to fetch ice from a berg about half a mile distant from the ship in order to melt it for fresh water. This used to be brought in sledges.
“The sun returned on the last day in February. From November till February, with the exception of the starlight and occasional moonlight, we had been in darkness, not by any means dense, but sufficiently murky to excuse one for passing by a friend without knowing him.”
Captain Nares states that one day early in March, during a long continuance of cold weather, the thermometer on the Alert registered a mean or average of minus[16] 73° 7′, or upwards of 105° below the freezing point of water. On the Discovery for seven consecutive days the thermometer registered a mean temperature of minus 58° 17′. On the Alert for thirteen days a mean temperature of minus 58° 9′ was experienced, and for five days and nine hours a mean temperature of minus 66° 29′. During February the mercury remained frozen for fifteen consecutive days, which it could not have done had not the temperature remained at least 39° below zero. Subsequently the mercury was frozen solid for an almost identical period. One curious effect of the cold was that their breech-loading guns sometimes proved useless, for the barrels contracted so much that the cartridges could not be inserted. Nevertheless the huntsmen were often out, and were fairly successful. The Alert’s game-bag for winter and early spring included six musk-oxen, twenty hares, seventy geese, twenty-six ducks, ten ptarmigan, and three foxes. That of the Discovery, in a lower latitude, was much larger as regards the oxen and hares. The crew of the latter also killed seven seals.
And now the spring sledging season approached, and Captain Nares, anxious to communicate with the Discovery, seized the first favourable opportunity (March 12th, 1876) to despatch Sub-Lieutenant Egerton in charge of a sledge. He was only accompanied by Lieutenant Rawson and Christian Petersen, their interpreter. Four days afterwards the little party returned to the ship, in consequence of the severe illness of poor Petersen, who [pg 106]had succumbed to a terrible attack of frost-bite and cramp in the stomach. His feet were almost destroyed and utterly useless; his hands were paralysed, and his face raw. Nothing could keep him warm, though the officers, to their credit, deprived themselves of nearly all their thick clothing for his benefit. After very great persistence they could, indeed, to a certain limited extent, restore the circulation to his extremities, but it became obvious that with the existing temperatures it would be folly to proceed with such a drag and encumbrance on their enterprise. The temperature inside the tent at night was intensely cold, and they had to burrow out a snow hut for the use of the sufferer. Even inside this all the means at their command did not suffice to raise the temperature much above zero, it being 24° below zero at the time in the open air. The hut was simply a hole about six feet by four, and six feet deep, covered over with the tent-sledge, &c., and it had occupied them six hours even to accomplish this much for their patient’s comfort. Lieutenant Egerton says, in his report to Captain Nares, that Petersen, when asked if he was warm in his feet and hands, constantly responded in the affirmative, but that when examined by them they were found to be gelid and hard. The fact was that all feeling had departed; and it occupied Egerton and Rawson two hours on one occasion to restore circulation to his feet, which they eventually succeeded in doing by rubbing them with their hands and flannels. Leaving a part of their provisions and outfit, they, at eight o’clock on the morning of March 15th, were under way on their return to the vessel. With some assistance, Petersen, after taking a dose of thirty drops of sal-volatile and a little rum—the only thing, indeed, which he could keep on his stomach—got over the first portion of the journey, which was the worst; and as soon as the travelling became easier he was lashed on the sledge and covered with robes. His circulation was so feeble that his face and hands were constantly frost-bitten and his limbs cramped, entailing frequent stoppages, while the two officers did their best to restore the affected parts. This happened over and over again; and there can be no doubt that both Egerton and Rawson behaved in the most humane and heroic manner, suffering as they were in some degree from frost-bite themselves, and having the constant care of the sledge and nine unruly dogs, while the preparations for camping and cooking, into the bargain, fell to their lot. On arrival at the ship every care was taken to relieve Petersen, but eventually his feet had to be amputated, while not all the professional skill and unremitting care of Dr. Colan could save his life. He expired from utter exhaustion three months afterwards. The two brave officers just mentioned, accompanied by two seamen, subsequently made a successful trip to and from the Discovery, and afterwards there was frequent communication, as well as co-operation, on the part of both crews, in regard to some of the sledging parties.
AN “ALERT” SLEDGE PARTY EN ROUTE TO THE “DISCOVERY.”