A herd of musk-oxen being seen at a little distance from the ships, a party was despatched in pursuit; and Messrs. Fisher and Bushnan were fortunate in killing a fine bull, which separated from the rest of the herd, being too unwieldy to make such good way as the others. He was, however, by no means caught by our people in fair chase; for, though these animals run with a hobbling sort of canter, that makes them appear as if every now and then about to fall, yet the slowest of them can far outstrip a man. In this herd were two calves, much whiter than the rest, the older ones having only the white saddle. In the evening, Sergeant Martin succeeded in killing another bull; these two animals afforded a very welcome supply of fresh meat, the first giving us three hundred and sixty-nine, and the other three hundred and fifty-two pounds of beef, which was served in the same manner as before.[*]
[Footnote: The total quantity of game obtained for the use of the expedition during our stay upon the shores of Melville Island, being a period of nearly twelve months, was as follows: 3 musk oxen, 24 deer, 68 hares, 53 geese, 59 ducks, 144 ptarmigans: affording 3766 pounds of meat.]
It was gratifying to me to find that the officers unanimously agreed with me in opinion that any farther attempt to penetrate to the westward in our present parallel would be altogether fruitless, and attended with a considerable loss of time, which might be more usefully employed. They also agreed with me in thinking that the plan which I had adopted, of running back along the edge of the ice to the eastward, in order to look out for an opening that might lead us towards the American Continent, was in every respect the most advisable; and that, in the event of failing to find any such opening after a reasonable time spent in search, it would be expedient to return to England rather than risk the passing another winter in these seas, without the prospect of attaining any adequate object; namely, that of being able to start from an advanced station at the commencement of the following season.
At three P.M. we were abreast of Cape Hearne; and, as we opened the bay of the Hecla and Griper, the wind, as usual on this part of the coast, came directly out from the northward; but, as soon as we had stretched over to Bounty Cape, of which we were abreast at eight P.M., it drew once more along the land from the westward. The distance between the ice and the land increased as we proceeded, and at midnight the channel appeared to be four or five miles wide, as far as the darkness of the night would allow of our judging; for we could at this period scarcely see to read in the cabin at ten o'clock. The snow which fell during the day was observed, for the first time, to remain upon the land without dissolving; thus affording a proof of the temperature of the earth's surface having again fallen below that of freezing, and giving notice of the near approach of another long and dreary winter.
At seven P.M., a fog coming on, we hauled up close to the edge of the ice, both as a guide to us in sailing during the continuance of the thick weather, and to avoid passing any opening that might occur in it to the southward. We were, in the course of the evening, within four or five miles of the same spot where we had been on the same day and at the same hour the preceding year; and, by a coincidence perhaps still more remarkable, we were here once more reduced to the same necessity as before, of steering the ships by one another for an hour or two; the Griper keeping the Hecla ahead, and our quartermaster being directed to keep the Griper right astern, for want of some better mode of knowing in what direction we were running. The fog froze hard as it fell upon the rigging, making it difficult to handle the ropes in working the ship, and the night was rather dark for three or four hours.
At a quarter past three on the morning of the 30th, we bore up to the eastward, the wind continuing fresh directly down Barrow's Strait, except just after passing Prince Leopold's Islands, where it drew into Prince Regent's Inlet, and, as soon as we had passed this, again assumed its former westerly direction; affording a remarkable instance of the manner in which the wind is acted upon by the particular position of the land, even at a considerable distance from it. The islands were encumbered with ice to the distance of four or five miles all found them, but the Strait was generally as clear and navigable as any part of the Atlantic.
Having now traced the ice the whole way from the longitude of 114° to that of 90°, without discovering any opening to encourage a hope of penetrating it to the southward, I could not entertain the slightest doubt that there no longer remained a possibility of effecting our object with the present resources of the expedition; and that it was therefore my duty to return to England with the account of our late proceedings, that no time might be lost in following up the success with which we had been favoured, should his majesty's government consider it expedient to do so. Having informed the officers and men in both ships of my intentions, I directed the full allowance of provisions to be in future issued, with such a proportion of fuel as might contribute to their comfort; a luxury which, on account of the necessity that existed for the strictest economy in this article, it must be confessed, we had not often enjoyed since we entered Sir James Lancaster's Sound. We had been on two thirds allowance of bread between ten and eleven months, and on the same reduced proportion of the other species of provisions between three and four; and, although this quantity is scarcely enough for working men for any length of time, I believe the reduction of fuel was generally considered by far the greater privation of the two.
As it appeared to me that considerable service might be rendered by a general survey of the western coast of Baffin's Bay, which, from Sir James Lancaster's Sound southward, might one day become an important station for our whalers, I determined to keep as close to that shore during our passage down as the ice and the wind would permit; and as the experience of the former voyage had led us to suppose that this coast would be almost clear of ice during the whole of September, I thought that this month could not be better employed than in the examination of its numerous bays and inlets. Such an examination appeared to me more desirable, from the hope of finding some new outlet into the Polar Sea in a lower latitude than that of Sir James Lancaster's Sound; a discovery which would be of infinite importance towards the accomplishment of the Northwest Passage.
CHAPTER XI.
Progress down the Western Coast of Baffin's Bay.—Meet with the
Whalers.—Account of some Esquimaux in the Inlet called the River
Clyde.—Continue the Survey of the Coast till stopped by Ice in
the Latitude of 68¼°.—Obliged to run to the Eastward.—Fruitless
Attempts to regain the Land, and final Departure from the
Ice.—Remarks upon the probable Existence and Practicability of a
Northwest Passage, and upon the Whale Fishery.—Boisterous Weather
in Crossing the Atlantic.—Loss of the Hecla's Bowsprit and
Foremast.—Arrival in England.