In going to the westward we passed a shoal and open bay, immediately adjacent to the harbour which we were now about to examine, and soon after came to a reef of rocks, in some parts nearly dry, extending, about three quarters of a mile to the southward of a low point on the southeastern side of the harbour. On rounding the reef, on which a quantity of heavy ice was lying aground, we found that a continuous floe, four or five inches in thickness, was formed over the whole harbour, which in every other respect appeared to be fit for our purpose; and that it would be necessary to cut a canal of two miles in length through the ice, in order to get the ships into a secure situation for the winter. We sounded the channel into the harbour about three quarters of a mile, by making holes in the ice and dropping the lead through, and found the depth from five to six fathoms.
The ships weighed at six A.M. on the 24th. the wind being still at north, and the weather moderate and fine. As soon as the Hecla was under sail, I went ahead in a boat to sound, and to select an anchorage for the ships. Near the southwestern point of this harbour there is a remarkable block of sandstone, somewhat resembling the roof of a house, on which the ships names were subsequently engraved by Mr. Fisher. This stone is very conspicuous in coming from the eastward, and, when kept open to the southward of the grounded ice at the end of the reef, forms a good landing mark for the channel into the harbour. Off the end of the reef the water deepened to six fathoms, and the Hecla's anchor was dropped in eight fathoms, half a mile within the reef, and close to the edge of the ice through which the canal was to be cut. The Griper arrived soon after, and by half past eight A.M. both ships were secured in the proper position for commencing the intended operations.
As soon as our people had breakfasted, I proceeded with a small party of men to sound and to mark with boarding-pikes upon the ice the most direct channel we could find to the anchorage, having left directions for every other officer and man in both ships to be employed in cutting the canal. This operation was performed by first marking out two parallel lines, distant from each other a little more than the breadth of the larger ship. Along each of these lines a cut was then made with an ice saw, and others again at right angles to them, at intervals of from ten to twenty feet; thus dividing the ice into a number of square pieces, which it was again necessary to subdivide diagonally, in order to give room for their being floated out of the canal. On returning from the upper part of the harbour, where I had marked out what appeared to be the best situation for our winter-quarters, I found that considerable progress had been made in cutting the canal and in floating the pieces out of it. To facilitate the latter part of the process, the seamen, who are always fond of doing things in their own way, took advantage of a fresh northerly breeze, by setting some boats sails upon the pieces of ice, a contrivance which saved both time and labour. This part of the operation, however, was by far the most troublesome, principally on account of the quantity of young ice which formed in the canal, and especially about the entrance, where, before sunset, it had become so thick that a passage could no longer be found for the detached pieces without considerable trouble in breaking it. At half past seven P.M. we weighed our anchors and began to warp up the canal, but the northerly wind blew so fresh, and the people were so much fatigued, having been almost constantly at work for nineteen hours, that it was midnight before we reached the termination of our first day's labour.
All hands were again set to work on the morning of the 25th, when it was proposed to sink the pieces of ice, as they were cut, under the floe, instead of floating them out, the latter mode having now become impracticable on account of the lower part of the canal, through which the ships had passed, being, hard frozen during the night. To effect this, it was necessary for a certain number of men to stand upon one end of the piece of ice which it was intended to sink, while other parties, hauling at the same time upon ropes attached to the opposite end, dragged the block under that part of the floe on which the people stood. The officers of both ships took the lead in this employ, several of them standing up to their knees in water frequently during the day, with the thermometer generally at 12°, and never higher than 16°. At six P.M. we began to move the ships. The Griper was made fast astern of the Hecla, and the two ships' companies being divided on each bank of the canal, with ropes from the Hecla's gangways, soon drew the ships along to the end of our second day's work.
Sunday, 26th.—I should on every account have been glad to make this a day of rest to the officers and men; but the rapidity with which the ice increased in thickness, in proportion as the general temperature of the atmosphere diminished, would have rendered a day's delay of serious importance. I ordered the work, therefore, to be continued at the usual time in the morning; and such was the spirited and cheerful manner in which this order was complied with, as well as the skill which had now been acquired in the art of sawing and sinking the ice, that although the thermometer was at 6° in the morning, and rose no higher than 9° during the day, we had completed the canal at noon, having effected more in four hours than on either of the two preceding days. The whole length of this canal was four thousand and eighty-two yards, or nearly two miles and one third, and the average thickness of the ice was seven inches.
At half past one P.M. we began to track the ships along in the same manner as before, and at a quarter past three we reached our winter-quarters, and hailed the event with three loud and hearty cheers from both ships' companies. The ships were in five fathoms water, a cable's length from the beach on the northwestern side of the harbour, to which I gave the name of WINTER HARBOUR; and I called the group of islands which we had discovered in the Polar Sea the NORTH GEORGIAN ISLANDS.
CHAPTER V.
Precautions for securing the Ships and Stores.—For promoting Good
Order, Cleanliness, Health, and Good-Humour among the Ships'
Companies.—Establishment of a Theatre and of the North Georgia
Gazette.—Erection of an Observatory on Shore.—Commence our
Winter's Amusements.—State of the Temperature, and various
Meteorological Phenomena.—Miscellaneous Occurrences to the Close
of the Year 1819.
Having, on the 19th October, reached the station where, in all probability, we were destined to remain for at least eight or nine months, during three of, which we were not to see the face of the sun, my attention was immediately and imperiously called to various important duties; many of them of a singular nature, such as had, for the first time, devolved on any officer in his majesty's navy, and might, indeed, be considered of rare occurrence in the whole history of navigation. The security of the ships and the preservation of the various stores were objects of immediate concern. A regular system to be adopted for the maintenance of good order and cleanliness, as most conducive to the health of the crews during the long, dark, and dreary winter, equally demanded my attention.
Not a moment was lost, therefore, in the commencement of our operations. The whole of the masts were dismantled except the lower ones and the Hecla's main-topmast; the lower yards were lashed fore and aft amidships, to support the planks of the housing intended to be erected over the ships; and the whole of this framework was afterward roofed over with a cloth. The boats, spars, running rigging, and sails were removed on shore; and, as soon as the ships were secured and housed over, my whole attention was directed to the health and comfort of the officers and men. The surgeon reported that not the slightest disposition to scurvy had shown itself in either ship.