Arctic exploration

by J. Douglas Hoare

In those days, of course, navigation by steam was in the very earliest stages of its development, and the experiment of sailing the Arctic seas in a boat propelled by the new motive power had yet to be tried. The disadvantages of paddles in the ice were many and obvious, but they were minimised by an ingenious contrivance whereby the paddles could be lifted out of the water in a minute; while the Victory was also so fitted out that she could be used as a sailing vessel if necessary.

No sooner was the news of the preparation of the expedition made known, than Ross received offers of service from many experienced Arctic navigators, among them being Lieutenant Hoppner, Parry’s former colleague, and Captain Back, Franklin’s friend and companion. He had, however, already selected his nephew, Lieutenant James Clark Ross, as his second in command, and he could not, in consequence, accept their proposals.

The Victory set sail on May 23, 1829, and it was soon found to be fortunate that she had her sails to fall back upon, for the machinery, which was of the crudest description, was constantly getting out of working order, and, bit by bit, was ultimately rejected and thrown away.

Lancaster Sound was reached without any serious misadventure, and on August 10 the Victory rounded Cape York and entered Prince Regent’s Inlet. Ross then headed for the western shore, and he was soon off the place where the Fury had been lost on Parry’s previous expedition. The weather was bad, but he eventually succeeded in effecting a landing within a quarter of a mile of that ill-fated spot. Of the Fury herself no trace was to be seen, but the shore was strewn with coal, while in the officers’ mess-hut, which Parry had erected before leaving, were quantities of stores which proved of inestimable value to the present party of explorers. The bears had evidently been bestowing their attentions upon the contents of the store-house, but they had been unable to make anything of the preserved meats and vegetables which, in spite of their four years’ exposure to the weather, were in an excellent state of preservation.

The Victory had been originally provisioned for a thousand days, and as he had already drawn pretty freely upon his stores, Ross decided to make up the deficit from the hoard left by the Fury. They consequently took on board enough stores and provisions to complete their equipment for two years and three months, and set sail for the south.

On August 15 they passed Cape Garry, the furthest point of the coast yet discovered. From this point onwards, of course, they devoted themselves to mapping out and naming the principal features of the seaboard along which they sailed; and in due course they reached what appeared to them to be a continuous stretch of land, which they named Boothia, in honour of Mr Felix Booth, who had equipped the expedition.

Whether it was ill luck, or whether it was a lack of perspicacity, it is difficult to say, but certain it is that Ross seemed always to be foredoomed just to miss the prize for which he was seeking. On his former voyage he mistook Lancaster Sound for an inlet, and, in consequence, the kudos which he might have gained from its discovery went to Parry instead. But on this occasion he was even more unfortunate, for, just before he reached Boothia, he passed Bellot Strait, which, as Kennedy subsequently discovered, leads directly into the Arctic Sea, the very North-West Passage, in fact, for which he was looking. He again missed his chance, however, and, failing to recognise it as a strait, he named it Hazard Inlet and went on his way without the remotest idea of the discovery which he might have made had he taken the trouble to examine the inlet a little more closely.

Soon after this the Victory fell in with the ice and her voyage became one of the most hazardous description. Over and over again she seemed in imminent danger of being sunk, but she always managed to pull through, and eventually, on October 1, Ross found himself in a bay which seemed to be designed by nature for his winter quarters.

Here, accordingly, he decided to stay and his vessel was soon put ship-shape and in order for what ultimately proved to be the longest sojourn ever made by an explorer in the Arctic regions till then. It was not, indeed, until four winters had passed that the party was able to leave this dreary quarter of the world, and even then they were obliged to abandon their ship and take to the boats.

Very little that is worthy of note occurred during the first winter. The monotony of the excessively dull season was, however, relieved by the appearance of a party of Eskimos, who proved to be thoroughly friendly, except on one occasion when they nearly assassinated half the party because they imagined that they had caused the death of one of the members of their tribe by witchcraft. The white men, by the way, won their sinister reputation in a rather curious way. One of the Eskimos had had the misfortune to lose a leg during an altercation with a bear. The ship’s carpenter, seeing how severely handicapped the man was, thoughtfully provided him with a wooden leg, to the amazement and delight of himself and his fellows, who imagined that their new friends must be possessed of some very extraordinary powers to be able to provide the legless with fresh means of locomotion. One of them was so fascinated by the carpenter’s ingenuity that, having done some slight damage to one of his own legs, he suggested that it would not be amiss if he were provided with a new one. On being informed, however, that it would be necessary to cut the other off first, he regarded the scheme with less enthusiasm.