The highest point attained by me I have called Cape Lieber; a remarkable peak rising above it, Church's Monument; and the Bay, which lies below it, is named in respectful remembrance of Lady Franklin. The conspicuous headland which I vainly attempted to reach, on the last day of my northward journey, I have named Cape Eugénie, thinking, in this manner, to express my high appreciation of the many acts of kindness to this expedition and to myself which I owe to French citizens, by remembering their Empress. Another prominent headland appearing beyond it I designate as Cape Frederick VII., in honor of the King of Denmark, to whose subjects in Greenland I am indebted for so many serviceable attentions. And to the noble headland which, in faint outline, stood against the dark sky of the open sea—the most northern known land upon the globe—I name Cape Union, in remembrance of a compact which has given prosperity to a people and founded a nation. In naming the bay which lies between Cape Union and Cape Frederick VII., I am desirous of expressing my admiration of Admiral Wrangel, whose fame in connection with Arctic discovery is equaled by that of Sir Edward Parry only. And the lofty peak which overlooks the Polar Sea from behind Cape Eugénie, I name Parry Mountain. With this eminent explorer I will now divide the honors of extreme northern travel; for, if he has carried the British flag upon the sea nearer to the North Pole than any flag had been carried hitherto, I have planted the American flag further north upon the land then any flag has been planted before. The Bay between Capes Frederick VII. and Eugénie I name in honor of the distinguished geographer, Dr. Augustus Peterman; and two large bays lower down the coast I call, respectively, after Carl Ritter and William Scorsby.
WASHINGTON LAND.
In plotting my survey I have been a little puzzled with the Washington Land of Dr. Kane's map, and I am much tempted to switch it off twenty miles to the eastward; for it is not possible that Kennedy Channel can be less than fifty miles wide; and, since I believe that Smith Sound expands into the Polar Basin, I must look upon Washington Land merely as an island in its centre,—Kennedy Channel lying between it and Grinnell Land on the west, and Humboldt Glacier filling up what was once a channel on the right.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
INSPECTION OF THE SCHOONER.—METHOD OF REPAIRING.—THE SERIOUS NATURE OF THE INJURY.—THE SCHOONER UNFIT FOR ANY FURTHER ICE-ENCOUNTERS.—EXAMINATION OF MY RESOURCES.—PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.
The extracts from my journal quoted in the preceding chapter will have sufficed to give the reader an understanding of the results of my spring and summer sledging, and he will have perceived that they were regarded by me as having laid down a correct basis for future exploration. With the character of the Smith Sound ice I had become more familiar, and the accurate determination of the coast-lines enabled me more readily to calculate upon the influence of the summer drift; while the rotten state of the ice in Kennedy Channel, even at so early a period of the season as May, and the existence of open water beyond it, left no doubt upon my mind as to the practicability of getting a vessel through under ordinarily favorable conditions of the season.
It will be perceived, therefore, that my future course was dependent upon the condition of the schooner.
Although I have not made more than a passing allusion to the report of Mr. McCormick as to the damage sustained by the vessel, yet the reader will have gathered from my journal that it caused me much anxiety. I was too much prostrated after my return from the journey to make, during the first few days, that thorough inspection which was needed to form a correct judgment. I was consoled, however, in some measure for the delay, by realizing the necessity of writing up the occurrences of my return journey, while they were fresh in my mind, and of defining on my chart the observations and geographical discoveries which I had made.
INSPECTION OF THE SCHOONER.