CHAPTER I.
Passage across the Atlantic.—Removal of Stores from the Nautilus
Transport, at the Margin of the Ice.—Departure of the Nautilus
for England.—Enter the Ice in Hudson's Strait.—Perilous
Situation of the Hecla, and Loss of her Anchor.—Meet with the
Hudson's Bay Ships.—Passage up the Strait, and Communication with
the Natives inhabiting the Northern Shores.—Pass the Trinity
Islands of Fox.—Arrival off Southampton Island, where the
Researches of the Expedition commence.
The FURY, HECLA, and NAUTILUS transport were completed for sea towards the latter part of the month of April, and on the 29th, at ten A.M., the Fury was taken in tow by the Eclipse steamboat, which vessel had before taken us down the river on a similar occasion. The Hecla reached the moorings on the following day, and the Nautilus on the first of May.
Nothing of consequence happened during our passage across the Atlantic; but, after entering Davis's Straits, we had for several days variable and unsettled weather, the wind blowing principally from the southward, with a heavy swell from the same quarter. On the 14th we met with the first iceberg, being in lat. 60° 48', long. 53° 13'.
Having now reached the situation in which I was directed, by my instructions, to clear the Nautilus of our stores, I gave Lieutenant Scrymgour his instructions to return to England; and at one A.M. on the 1st of July he parted company, while the Fury and Hecla stood in towards the ice. A whaler, deeply laden, and apparently homeward bound, was at this time in sight to the eastward.
At seven P.M., Tuesday, 3d July, the ice opposed our farther progress to the westward, covering the whole sea as far as the eye could reach in that direction; the ships were therefore, of necessity, hove to, in order to await some change in our favour. The ice here consisted principally of large though loose masses of broken floes, none covering more than a quarter of an acre, and few so much, but having many high hummocks, and drawing a great deal of water. We counted also above thirty bergs in sight at one time, and observed that many of them were carried about by the tides with great rapidity.
The wind shifted to the southeastward in the night of the 5th, with a strong breeze and heavy rain; and, on the following morning, when the ebb-tide opened the ice a little, a considerable swell was admitted from the sea, causing the ships to strike violently and almost constantly on the masses of ice alongside of them. In this situation they continued for several hours so completely beset as to render it impossible to extricate them, and drifting about at random with the tides. The Hecla was, by a different set of the stream, separated five or six miles from the Fury, while both ships were equally hampered.
On the 13th, both ships' companies were exercised in firing at a target on the ice, as well for the purpose of giving them occupation as of finding out who were the best shots. On the same afternoon we saw two ships beset to the northward, which we supposed to be those bound to the Hudson's Bay factories. They were joined the next day by a third ship, which afterward proved to be, as we conjectured, the Lord Wellington, having on board settlers for the Red River.
The ice being rather less close on the morning of the 16th, we made sail to the westward at 7.45 A.M., and continued "boring" in that situation the whole day, which enabled us to join the three strange ships. They proved to be, as we had supposed, the Prince of Wales, Eddystone, and Lord Wellington, bound to Hudson's Bay. I sent a boat to the former to request Mr. Davidson, the master, to come on board, which he immediately did. From him we learned that the Lord Wellington having on board one hundred and sixty settlers for the Red River, principally foreigners, of both sexes and every age, had now been twenty days among the ice, and had been drifted about in various directions at no small risk to the ship. By the Prince of Wales we sent our last letters for our friends in England.
Proceeding slowly to the westward, we had reached at noon on the 21st the lat. of 61° 50' 13", long., by chronometers, 67° 07' 35". In this situation several islands were in sight to the northward and westward, and, among the rest, a remarkable one called Saddle-back on account of its shape. The wind backing to the westward in the afternoon, we anchored the ships to the largest floe-piece we could find, there not being room to beat to the windward. While thus employed we heard voices in-shore, which we soon knew to be those of some Esquimaux coming off to us. Shortly after, several canoes made their appearance, and seventeen of these people came alongside the Fury. Having hauled their kayaks (canoes) upon the floe, they began to barter their commodities, consisting of seal and whale blubber, whalebone, spears, lines, and the skins of the seal, bear, fox, deer, and dog. Our first endeavour was to procure as much oil as possible, of which, as we had been informed by the Hudson's Bay ships, several tons are thus almost annually obtained from these people. We soon found that they had been well accustomed to bargain-making, for it was with some difficulty that we could prevail on them to sell the oil for anything of reasonable value. They frequently gave us to understand that they wanted saws and harpoons in exchange for it, and as these were articles which we could not spare, it was not without trouble that we obtained, in the course of the evening, two barrels of blubber in exchange for several knives, large nails, and pieces of iron hoop, which was certainly a dear bargain on our side. If they saw more than one of these at a time, they would try hard to get the whole for the commodity they were offering, though, when we had for some time persisted in refusing, they would not only accept what was offered, but jump for joy at having obtained it. They always licked the articles given them, and in one instance only did we notice any inclination to break the contract after this process had been gone through.