A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16

by Robert Kerr

The fog being very thick, and the wind easterly, I now hauled to the southward; and, at ten o'clock the next morning, the fog clearing away, we saw the continent of America, extending from S. by E. to E. by S., and at noon, from S.W. 1/2 S. to E., the nearest part five leagues distant. At this time we were in the latitude of 69° 32', and in the longitude of 195° 48'; and as the main ice was at no great distance from us, it is evident that it now covered a part of the sea, which, but a few days before, had been clear, and that it extended farther to the S., than where we first fell in with it. It must not be understood, that I supposed any part of this ice which we had seen to be fixed; on the contrary, I am well assured, that the whole was a moveable mass.

Having but little wind in the afternoon, I sent the master in a boat, to try if there was any current, but he found none. I continued to steer in for the American land, until eight o'clock, in order to get a nearer view of it, and to look for a harbour; but seeing nothing like one, I stood again to the N., with a light breeze westerly. At this time, the coast, extended from S.W. to E., the nearest part four or five leagues distant. The southern extreme seemed to form a point, which was named Cape Lisburne. It lies in the latitude of 69° 5', and in the longitude of 194° 42', and appeared to be pretty high land, even down to the sea. But there may be low land under it, which we might not see, being not less than ten leagues distant from it. Every where else, as we advanced northward, we had found a low coast, from which the land rises to a middle height. The coast now before us was without snow, except in one or two places, and had a greenish hue. But we could not perceive any wood upon it.

On the 22d, the wind was southerly, and the weather mostly foggy, with some intervals of sunshine. At eight in the evening it fell calm, which continued till midnight, when we heard the surge of the sea against the ice, and had several loose pieces about us. A light breeze now sprung up at N.E., and as the fog was very thick, I steered to the southward to clear the ice. At eight o'clock next morning, the fog dispersed, and I hauled to the westward. For, finding that I could not get to the north near the coast, on account of the ice, I resolved to try what could be done at a distance from it; and as the wind seemed to be settled at north, I thought it a good opportunity.

As we advanced to the west, the water deepened gradually to twenty-eight fathoms, which was the most we had. With the northerly wind the air was raw, sharp, and cold, and we had fogs, sunshine, showers of snow and sleet, by turns. At ten in the morning of the 26th, we fell in with the ice. At noon, it extended from N.W. to E. by N., and appeared to be thick and compact. At this time, we were, by observation, in the latitude 69° 36', and in the longitude of 184°; so that it now appeared we had no better prospect of getting to the north here, than nearer the shore.

I continued to stand to the westward, till five in the afternoon, when we were in a manner embayed by the ice, which appeared high, and very close in the N.W. and N.E. quarters, with a great deal of loose ice about the edge of the main field. At this time we had baffling light winds, but it soon fixed at S., and increased to a fresh gale, with showers of rain. We got the tack aboard, and stretched to the eastward, this being the only direction in which the sea was clear of ice.

At four in the morning of the 27th, we tacked and stood to the W., and, at seven in the evening, we were close in with the edge of the ice, which lay E.N.E., and W.S.W., as far each way as the eye could reach. Having but little wind, I went with the boats to examine the state of the ice. I found it consisting of loose pieces, of various extent, and so close together, that I could hardly enter the outer edge with a boat; and it was as impossible for the ships to enter it, as if it had been so many rocks. I took particular notice, that it was all pure transparent ice, except the upper surface, which was a little porous. It appeared to be entirely composed of frozen snow, and to have been all formed at sea. For setting aside the improbability, or rather impossibility, of such huge masses floating out of rivers, in which there is hardly water for a boat, none of the productions of the land were found incorporated, or fixed in it, which must have unavoidably been the case, had it been formed in rivers, either great or small. The pieces of ice that formed the outer edge of the field, were from forty or fifty yards in extent, to four or five; and I judged, that the larger pieces reached thirty feet, or more, under the surface of the water. It also appeared to me very improbable, that this ice could have been the production of the preceding winter alone. I should suppose it rather to have been the production of a great many winters. Nor was it less improbable, according to my judgment, that the little that remained of the summer could destroy the tenth part of what now subsisted of this mass, for the sun had already exerted upon it the full influence of his rays. Indeed I am of opinion, that the sun contributes very little toward reducing these great masses. For although that luminary is a considerable while above the horizon, it seldom shines out for more than a few hours at a time, and often is not seen for several days in succession. It is the wind, or rather the waves raised by the wind, that brings down the bulk of these enormous masses, by grinding one piece against another, and by undermining and washing away those parts that lie exposed to the surge of the sea. This was evident, from our observing, that the upper surface of many pieces had been partly washed away, while the base or under part remained firm for several fathoms round that which appeared above water, exactly like a shoal round an elevated rock. We measured the depth of water upon one, and found it to be fifteen feet, so that the ships might have sailed over it. If I had not measured this depth, I would not have believed that there was a sufficient weight of ice above the surface to have sunk the other so much below it. Thus it may happen, that more ice is destroyed in one stormy season, than is formed in several winters, and an endless accumulation is prevented. But that there is always a remaining store, every one who has been upon the spot will conclude, and none but closet-studying philosophers will dispute.[³]

A thick fog, which came on while I was thus employed with the boats, hastened me aboard, rather sooner than I could have wished, with one sea-horse to each ship. We had killed more, but could not wait to bring them with us. The number of these animals, on all the ice that we had seen, is almost incredible. We spent the night standing off and on amongst the drift ice; and at nine o'clock the next morning, the fog having partly dispersed, boats from each ship were sent for sea-horses. For, by this time, our people began to relish them, and those we had procured before were all consumed. At noon, our latitude was 69° 17', our longitude 183°, the variation by the morning azimuths, 25° 56' E., and the depth of water twenty-five fathoms. At two o'clock, having got on board as much marine beef as was thought necessary, and the wind freshening at S.S.E., we took on board the boats, and stretched to the S.W. But not being able to weather the ice upon this tack, or to go through it, we made a board to the east, till eight o'clock, then resumed our course to the S.W., and before midnight were obliged to tack again, on account of the ice. Soon after, the wind shifted to the N.W., blowing a stiff gale, and we stretched to the S.W., close hauled.

In the morning of the 29th, we saw the main ice to the northward, and not long after, land bearing S.W. by W. Presently after this, more land shewed itself, bearing W. It shewed itself in two hills like islands, but afterward the whole appeared connected. As we approached the land, the depth of water decreased very fast; so that at noon, when we tacked, we had only eight fathoms, being three miles from the coast, which extended from S., 30° E., to N., 60° W. This last extreme terminated in a bluff point, being one of the hills above mentioned.

The weather at this time was very hazy, with drizzling rain; but soon after it cleared, especially to the southward, westward, and northward. This enabled us to have a pretty good view of the coast, which, in every respect, is like the opposite one of America; that is, low land next the sea, with elevated land farther back. It was perfectly destitute of wood, and even snow; but was, probably, covered with a mossy substance, that gave it a brownish cast. In the low ground, lying between the high land and the sea, was a lake, extending to the S.E., farther than we could see. As we stood off, the westernmost of the two hills before mentioned came open off the bluff point, in the direction of N.W. It had the appearance of being an island; but it might be joined to the other by low land, though we did not see it. And if so, there is a two-fold point, with a bay between them. This point, which is steep and rocky, was named Cape North. Its situation is nearly in the latitude of 68° 56', and in the longitude of 180° 51'. The coast beyond it must take a very westerly direction; for we could see no land to the northward of it, though the horizon was there pretty clear. Being desirous of seeing more of the coast to the westward, we tacked again at two o'clock in the afternoon, thinking we could weather Cape North. But finding we could not, the wind freshening, a thick fog coming on, with much snow, and being fearful of the ice coming down upon us, I gave up the design I had formed of plying to the westward, and stood off shore again.

The season was now so far advanced, and the time when the frost is expected to set in so near at hand, that I did not think it consistent with prudence, to make any farther attempts to find a passage into the Atlantic this year, in any direction, so little was the prospect of succeeding. My attention was now directed toward finding out some place where we might supply ourselves with wood and water; and the object uppermost in my thoughts was, how I should spend the winter, so as to make some improvements in geography and navigation, and, at the same time, be in a condition to return to the north, in farther search of a passage, the ensuing summer.