Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1825, 1826, and 1827

by John Franklin; Sir John Richardson

As soon as the latitude had been obtained, we embarked, favoured by wind and tide, to cross the bay, which has been named in honour of the Marquess Camden. The water was of a seagreen colour, perfectly salt, and from three to five fathoms deep; the temperature 35° at the surface, that of the air, 43°. The day was very clear, and exposed to our view the outline of the Romanzoff chain of Mountains, whose lofty peaks were covered with snow. At the end of ten miles we observed four tents planted on a reef, and several women standing about them, who made many signs for us to land, but the surf was rolling too heavily on the beach. As we proceeded, their husbands were perceived on the main shore, in pursuit of a large herd of rein-deer, which they seemed to be surrounding so as to drive the deer into the water, where they would probably spear them to more advantage.

Continuing along the shore beyond the reef at the distance of two miles from the land, the boats touched the ground several times, which made us conclude we were steering into a bay, though its outline could not be seen. The wind changed at the time to the north, blew strong, and raised a heavy swell, which induced us to haul out to seaward, and we soon afterwards discovered an island, which we just reached under sail. From its summit we perceived a chain of low reefs, extending from its northern point for several miles to the westward, on which the wind was then blowing, and bringing down the drift ice. We were, therefore, compelled to halt, and await more moderate weather. This island, like the projecting points of the main shore, is a mere deposit of earthly mud, covered with verdure, about twenty or twenty-five feet high. There was another island adjoining, which seemed to be a collection of boulder stones; from whence it was named.

The ice appeared closely packed to the seaward; nearer to the island were icebergs aground, and within these, streams of loose pieces driving towards the reefs. In the hurry of embarkation from Barter Island, one of the crew of the Reliance left his gun and ammunition, which we regretted the more, from being apprehensive that an accident might happen to the natives. The circumstance was not known before the boats were a great distance from the island, or we should have put back to have recovered it.

A very thick fog came on in the evening. This weather, however, did not prevent our receiving a visit from two of the natives about midnight, who told Augustus that, having scented the smoke of a fire from the opposite side of the bay, they had come to ascertain who had made it. They were armed with bows and arrows, and advanced towards the tent without any alarm. We found that they had been hunting, with several other men, at the foot of the Romanzoff Mountains, and that they were now going to rejoin their friends at Barter Island, with the fruits of a successful chase. Their knowledge of the coast terminated at this place, which is as far to the westward as any of the party from Herschel Island travel.

The western Esquimaux had parted from them seven nights before, but they supposed that they had not made much progress, as their oomiaks were heavily laden. Those people had informed them that the coast to the westward was low, and fronted by reefs, like that we had already passed; the water also was very shallow; they therefore recommended that we should keep on the outside of every reef. Our visitors had no sooner received their presents than they raised a loud cry, which was intended to bring their friends. On the dispersion of the fog at the time, we discovered an oomiak, filled with people paddling, and some other men wading towards us. Saturday, 5th.It being calm, and the swell having abated, we did not wait for their arrival, but embarked at one in the morning of the 5th, and pursued our course to the westward, keeping on the outside of the reefs. The water, however, was very shallow, even at the distance of two miles, and we were much teased by the boats repeatedly touching the ground. This was particularly the case when we arrived opposite to the large river, which was named in honour of the late Mr. Canning, where we found the water perfectly fresh, three miles from the land. The ice being more loose abreast of this river, we pulled out to seaward into deep water. The land was then hidden from our view by the haze, though not more than four miles distant, and our course was directed by the masses of ice lying aground; but at the end of three miles, our further progress was stopped at six a.m., by the ice being closely packed on the outer border of a reef, in latitude 70° 7' N.; longitude 145° 27' W.

We perceived, on landing, by the driving of the loose pieces of ice, that the tide was running strongly to the eastward, through the channel we had passed along, and that it continued to do so, until ten this morning, during which time the water was falling. It changed at ten, and the water rose one foot before one p.m. This observation would indicate the flood to come from the eastward, though contrary to what was remarked at Barter Island the day before; but in a sea so closely beset with ice, no accurate observations as to the direction of the tide could be obtained.

The Rocky Mountains either terminated abreast of our present situation, or receded so far to the southward as to be imperceptible from the coast a few miles beyond this reef. The ice being somewhat loosened by the flood tide, we embarked at one p.m., to force the boats through the narrow channels, and in the course of two hours reached Point Brownlow, where we landed, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the ice could be avoided by passing into the bay that then opened to our view, trending to the south. We perceived that this bay was in every part flat, and strewed with stones; and that the only prospect of getting forward was by entering the ice again, and pushing to an island about two miles further to the west, which we reached after receiving several heavy blows in passing through the loose ice at the entrance of the strait, between the central reef and the island, where the pieces were much tossed by the tide.

The view from the south-east part of the island led us, at first, to suppose that we might proceed by keeping close to its south shore; but in making the attempt, the boats repeatedly took the ground, and we were obliged to seek a passage by the north side of the island. At the end of a mile in that direction we were stopped by the ice being unbroken from the shore, and closely packed to seaward. Since the day after our departure from the Mackenzie, when we first came to the ice, we had not witnessed a more unfavourable prospect than that before us. No water was to be seen, either from the tents, or from the different points of the island which we visited, for the purpose of examining into the state of the ice. We were now scantily supplied with fuel; the drift timber being covered by the ice high up the bank, except just where the boat had landed.

In the evening a gale came on from the east, and blew throughout the following day: we vainly hoped this would produce some favourable change; and the water froze in the kettle on the night of the 5th. The position of the encampment was ascertained by observation to be, Sunday, 6th.latitude 70° 11' N.; longitude 145° 50' W.; variation 42° 56' E.; so that notwithstanding the obstructions we had met, an advance of two degrees of longitude had been made in the two preceding days.

This island received the name of Flaxman, in honour of the late eminent sculptor. It is about four miles long and two broad, and rises, at its highest elevation, about fifty feet. In one of the ravines, where a portion of the bank had been carried away by the disruption of the ice, we perceived that the stratum of loose earth was not more than eighteen inches thick, the lower bed being frozen mud; yet this small quantity of soil, though very swampy, nourished grasses, several of the arctic plants, and some few willows, that were about three inches high. Several boulder stones were scattered on its beach, and also in the channel that separates it from the main shore.