Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 1

by Sir William Edward Parry

To furnish rational and useful occupation to the men on the other evenings, a school was also established for the instruction of such of the men as were willing to take advantage of this opportunity of learning to read and write, or of improving in those acquirements.

While these internal arrangements were making, the interests of science were not neglected. A day or two after our arrival, Mr. Fisher and myself selected a spot for the portable observatory, which was immediately erected for the purpose of making magnetic observations; and, as soon as the carpenters could be spared from the necessary duties of the ships, a house was built for the reception of the instruments requisite in conducting the other observations and experiments.

Soon after our arrival here, Captain Lyon expressed a wish that his officers and men, with himself, should attend divine service on board the Fury during the continuance of the ships in winter-quarters. This arrangement was accordingly made, and we formed one congregation for the rest of the winter. Our lower deck afforded abundance of accommodation in this respect; some psalm tunes, which had been purposely set upon an organ, were played at the proper intervals of the service, and our little church formed a pleasing and interesting scene to such as are disposed to be interested by scenes of this nature.

I have before mentioned the myriads of small shrimps (cancer nugax) which for some weeks past had been observed near the surface of the sea. These insects were found to be still as numerous as ever in any hole we made in the ice; and such was the extreme avidity with which they immediately seized upon any meat put overboard, to thaw or soak for the sake of freshness, that Captain Lyon to-day sent me a goose to look at, belonging to the officers of the Hecla, that had been thus deposited within their reach only eight and forty hours, and from which they had eaten every ounce of meat, leaving only a skeleton most delicately cleaned. Our men had before remarked that their meat suffered unusual loss of substance by soaking, but did not know to what cause to attribute the deficiency. We took advantage, however, of the hunger of these depredators to procure complete skeletons of small animals, for preservation as anatomical specimens, enclosing them in a net or bag with holes, to which the shrimps could have access, but which prevented the loss of any of the limbs, should the cartilage of the joints be eaten. For want of this latter precaution some specimens were at first rendered imperfect.

A pair of snow-boots were now issued gratis to each individual in the expedition, being part of a stock of extra warm clothing liberally furnished by government, to be supplied to the officers and men at my discretion, as occasion should require. These boots were made of strong drab cloth, with thick soles of cork, the slowly conducting property of which substance, together with their large size, allowing a free circulation to the blood, afforded the utmost comfort that could be desired. Boots or shoes of leather never retain the warmth long, under circumstances of very severe exposure.

The wind veering to the S.E. on the 24th and 25th, the thermometer gradually rose to +23°. I may possibly incur the charge of affectation in stating that this temperature was much too high to be agreeable to us; but it is nevertheless the fact, that everybody felt and complained of the change. We had often before remarked, that considerable alterations in the temperature of the atmosphere are as sensibly felt by the human frame at a very low part of the scale, as in the higher. The difference consists only in this, that a change from -40° upward to about zero is usually a very welcome one, while from zero to the freezing point, as in the instance just alluded to, it becomes, to persons in our situation, rather an inconvenience than otherwise. This may be more readily imagined by considering that our clothing, bedding, fires, and other precautions against the severity of the climate having been once adapted to a low degree of cold, an increase of temperature renders them oppressive and inconvenient; while any reduction (of the first two, at least) is impracticable with safety. To this must be added, that at this temperature the snow becomes too soft for convenient walking, and the accumulation of ice in the crevices and linings of the officers' cabins is converted into a source of extreme annoyance, which, while it continues solid, is never experienced. It is true that these inconveniences occur in a much greater degree in the spring; but being then hailed as the harbingers of the return of permanent warmth, it is easy to obviate some, and would be hard to complain of any of them.

Nov. 6.—For several days about this period the weather continued remarkably mild, the thermometer generally rising as high as from +20° to +28° in the course of the day, from the 6th to the 16th. Most of our necessary arrangements for the security of the ships and stores during the winter being now completed, the people were employed in what they called "rigging the theatre," and on the evening of the 9th the officers performed the play of the "Rivals," to the infinite amusement of both ships' companies.

On the 1st of December there was a space of many miles in which none of the "old ice" was visible. The sea was here for the most part covered with a very thin sheet of "young" ice, probably the formation of a single day, since the westerly wind had driven the 'floes' off the land. The whole of this was in motion with the tide, which, breaking the thin floes, left several spaces of clear water. It was observable that, though a considerable frost-smoke arose from the young ice, it was not so dense as that from the clear water, immediately over every pool of which a little thick cloud floated, corresponding as well in size as in situation with the pond from whence it issued. A number of dovekies were swimming about the point; and it being desirable, if possible, to obtain some of them for the sake of ascertaining their plumage at this season, we hauled the small boat over and launched her. Mr. Ross succeeded in killing one of the birds, which was preserved as a specimen, but it was with great difficulty that the boat avoided being carried away from the shore by the young ice. I was, on this account, afraid of repeating the attempt during the rest of the winter. One grouse was seen on shore; it appeared entirely white, except having its tail black near the tip.

I was this day under the necessity of closing in my stern dead-lights, and fixing cork shutters between the double window-frames of my cabin, the temperature having lately fallen rather low at night; in consequence of which, one of the chronometers had stopped on the 26th of November. We had before this time banked the snow up against the sides; but it was now thrown higher, and its thickness at the bottom increased to about four feet. Besides this, a bed of snow, three feet deep, was subsequently laid on the deck over my cabin, and also on the forecastle over the sick-bay, to assist in retaining the warmth in those parts of the ship; an office which it seemed to perform very effectually. It was impossible, however, as the cold increased, to keep up a tolerably comfortable temperature in the cabin if the fire was suffered to go out for several hours: for instance, the night after the above arrangements had been made, the fire was out for only six hours; and the consequence was, that the thermometer fell to 27°, and could be got no higher on the following day, in the after part of the cabin, though only nine feet from the stove, than 33°. This was, indeed, a most inclement day, the temperature of the atmosphere having for the first time fallen to -27°, accompanied by a fresh wind from the northward and westward.

A great squeezing of the young floes took place at the S.E. point of the island on the 12th. The noise it makes when heard at a distance very much resembles that of a heavy wagon labouring over a deep gravelly road; but, when a nearer approach is made, it is more like the growling of wild animals, for which it was in one or two instances mistaken. It was, however, rather useful than otherwise, to encourage the belief that bears were abroad, as, without some such idea, people are apt to become careless about going armed.