The northern whale-fishery

by William Scoresby

NARRATIVE OF PROCEEDINGS ON BOARD THE SHIP ESK, DURING A WHALE-FISHING VOYAGE TO THE COAST OF SPITZBERGEN, IN THE YEAR 1816; PARTICULARLY RELATING TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE SHIP UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES OF PECULIAR DANGER.

The ship Esk sailed from Whitby on the 29th of March, 1816. We entered the frigid confines of the Icy Sea, and killed our first whale on the 25th of April. On the 30th of April, we forced into the ice with a favourable wind, and after passing through a large body of it, entered an extensive sea, such as usually lies on the western coast of Spitzbergen at this season of the year, early on the morning of the following day. The wind then blowing hard south south-east, we kept our reach to the eastward until three o’clock in the afternoon, when we unexpectedly met with a quantity of ice, which interrupted our course. We then wared by the way of avoiding it, but soon found, though the weather was thick with snow, that we were completely embayed in a situation that was truly terrific.

In the course of fourteen voyages, in which I had before visited this inhospitable country, I passed through many dangers wherein my own life, together with those of my companions, had been threatened; but the present case, where our lives seemed to be at stake for a length of time, exceeding twelve hours, far surpassed in awfulness, as well as actual hazard, anything that I had before witnessed. Dangers which occur unexpectedly and terminate suddenly, though of the most awful description, appear like a dream when they are past; but horrors which have a long continuance, though they in some measure decrease in their effect on the mind by a lengthened contemplation of them, yet they leave an impression on the memory which time itself cannot altogether efface. Such was the effect of the present scene. Whilst the wind howled through the rigging with tempestuous roar, the sea was so mountainous that the mast-heads of some accompanying ships, within the distance of a quarter of a mile, were intercepted and rendered invisible by the swells, and our ship frequently rolled the lee-boats into the water, that were suspended with their keels above the roughtree-rail!

At the same time, we were rapidly approaching a body of ice, the masses of which, as hard as rocks, might be seen at one instant covered with foam, the next concealed from the sight by the waves, and instantly afterwards reared to a prodigious height above the surface of the sea. It is needless to relate the means by which we attempted to keep the ship clear of the threatened danger, because those means were without avail. At eleven P.M. we were close to the ice, when perceiving through the mist an opening a short distance within, we directed the drift of the ship towards it. As we approached the ice, the sails were filled, so that the first blow was received obliquely on the bow, when the velocity of the ship was moderate. In this place the pieces of ice were happily of smaller dimensions; at least, all the larger masses we were able to avoid, so that, after receiving a number of shocks, we escaped without any particular accident into the opening or slack part of the ice above noticed. This opening, as far as we could see, promised a safe and permanent release.

But in this we were grievously disappointed: for, when we attempted to ware the ship, which soon became necessary, she refused to turn round, notwithstanding every effort, in a space which, in ordinary circumstances, would have been far more than sufficient for the evolution. In consequence of this accident, which arose partly from the bad trim of the ship, and partly from the great violence of the wind, she fell to leeward into a close body of ice, to which we could see no termination. The Mars, of Whitby, and another vessel, which closely followed us as we penetrated the exterior of the ice, being in better trim than the Esk, performed the evolution with ease, and were in a few minutes out of sight. In this dreadful situation, we lay beating against the opposing ice, with terrible force, daring eight successive hours, all which time I was rocked at the top-gallant mast-head, directing the management of the sails, to avoid the largest masses of ice, any one of which would have perforated the side of the ship. By the blessing of God, we succeeded wonderfully; and at eight A.M., the 2nd of May, gained a small opening, where we contrived to navigate the ship until the wind subsided, and we had the opportunity of forcing into a more commodious place. On examining the ship, we found our only apparent damage to consist in the destruction of most of our rudder works, a few slight bruises on the sides, and a cut on the lower part of the stern of the ship.

From this time, to the 20th of May, the fishery was generally interrupted by the formation of new ice, insomuch that during this interval we killed but one whale, while few of our neighbours succeeded so well. During the succeeding week, we became so fixed that we never moved except occasionally a few yards. The next twelve days were spent in most arduous labour in forcing the ship through the ice. At length, on the 12th of June, we happily escaped, though our companions were, for a short time, all left behind. On the 27th of June, we had secured thirteen fish, and our quantity of oil was about 125 tuns. This was a larger cargo than any ship had procured that we had yet met with, excepting only one. On the 28th, the John, of Greenock, commanded by my brother-in-law, Mr. Jackson, joined us.

After proceeding to the westward, the greater part of the 28th, we arrived at the borders of a compact body of field-ice, consisting of immense sheets of prodigious thickness. As I considered the situation not favourable for fishing, the ship was allowed to drift to the eastward all night. In the morning of the 29th, I found, however, that she was very little removed from the place where she lay when I went to bed. I perceived that the floes, between which there had been extensive spaces, were now in the act of closing; and attempted, by lowering four boats, to tow the ship through an opening at a short distance from us. At the moment when we were about to enter it, it closed. In attempting to get the ship into the safety of an indentation, which appeared calculated to afford a secure retreat, a small piece of ice came athwart her bow, stopped her progress, and she was in a minute afterwards subjected to a considerable squeeze. From none, however, of the pieces of ice around us did we apprehend any danger, particularly as the motion of the ice soon abated. There was a danger, however, on the larboard quarter, of which we were totally unconscious. The piece of ice that touched the ship in that part, though of itself scarcely six yards square, and more than one yard above the water, concealed beneath the surface of the sea, at the depth of ten or twelve feet, a hard pointed projection of ice, which pressed against the keel, lifted the rudder, and caused a damage that had nearly occasioned the loss of the ship. About an hour and a half after the accident, the carpenter, having sounded the pump, discovered to our great concern and amazement a depth of eight and a half feet water in the hold. This was most alarming; with despair pictured in every face, the crew set on the pumps; a signal of distress was at the same time hoisted, and a dozen boats approached us from the surrounding ships. In the space of four hours, the water had lowered to nearly four feet, but one of the pumps becoming useless, and bailing being less effectual than at first, the water once more resumed its superiority and gained upon us.

Something, therefore, was now to be done, to stop, if possible, the influx of the water. As the pumping and bailing could not possibly be continued by our own ship’s company, it was necessary to make use of some means to attempt a speedy remedy whilst our assistants were numerous. As there was a probability that a bunch of rope-yarns, straw, or oakum, might enter some of the larger leaks, and retard the influx of water, if applied near the place through the medium of a fothering-sail, (that is, a sail drawn by means of ropes at the four corners, beneath the damaged or leaky part,) we in the meantime prepared a lower studding-sail, by sewing bunches of these materials, which, together with sheets of old thin canvas, whalebone-hair, and a quantity of ashes, fitted it well for the purpose. Thus prepared, it was hauled beneath the damaged place, but not the least effect was yet produced. We set about unrigging the ship, and discharging the cargo and stores, upon a flat place of the floe, against which we had moored, with the intention of turning the ship keel upward. My own sailors were completely worn out, and most of our auxiliaries wearied and discouraged; some of them evinced, by their improper conduct, their wish that the ship should be abandoned. Before putting our plan in execution, we placed twenty empty casks in the hold, to act against a quantity of iron ballast which was in the ship, caulked the dark lights, removed all the dry goods and provisions that would injure with the wet, secured all the hatches, skuttles, companion, etc., then, erecting two tents on the ice, one for sheltering myself, and the other for the crew, we ceased pumping, and permitted the ship to fill. At this crisis, men of whom I had conceived the highest opinion for firmness and bravery greatly disappointed my expectations. Among the whole crew, indeed, scarcely a dozen spirited fellows were to be seen.

As no ship could with propriety venture near us, to assist in turning the Esk over, on account of the hazardous position of the ice around her, we had no other means of attempting this singular evolution than by attaching purchases to the ice from the ship. Everything being prepared, while the water flowed into the ship, I sent our exhausted crew to seek a little rest. For my own part, necessity impelled me to endeavour to obtain some repose. I had already been fifty hours without rest, which unusual exertion, together with the anxiety of mind I endured, caused my legs to swell and become so extremely painful, that I could scarcely walk. Spreading, therefore, a mattress upon a few boards, laid on the snow within one of the tents, notwithstanding the coldness of the situation, and the excessive dampness that prevailed from the constant fog, I enjoyed a comfortable repose of four hours, and arose considerably refreshed.

Immediately afterwards, about three P.M., on the 1st of July, I proceeded with all hands to the ship, which, to our surprise, we found had only sunk a little below the sixteenth mark externally, while the water but barely covered a part of “’tween decks within.” Perceiving that it was not likely to sink much further, on account of the buoyancy of the empty casks, and the materials of which the ship was composed, we applied all our purchases, but with the strength of 150 men we could not heel her more than five or six stakes. When thus careened, with the weight of two anchors suspended from the mast, acting with the effect of powerful levers on the ship, I accompanied about 120 men on board. All these being arranged on the high side of the deck, ran suddenly to the lower side, when the ship fell so suddenly on one side that we were apprehensive she was about to upset, but after turning a little way the motion ceased. The tackles on the ice being then hauled tight, the heeling position of the ship was preserved, until we mounted the higher part of the deck, and ran to the lower as before. At length, after a few repetitions of this manœuvre, no impression whatever was produced, and the plan of upsetting the ship appeared quite impracticable.