The voyage of the 'Fox' in the Arctic seas : a narrative of the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his companions

Dedication

My dear Lady Franklin,

There is no one to whom I could with so much propriety or willingness dedicate my Journal as to you. For you it was originally written, and to please you it now appears in print.

To our mutual friend, Sherard Osborn, I am greatly obliged for his kindness in seeing it through the press — a labor I could not have settled down to so soon after my return ; and also for pointing out some omissions and technicalities which would have rendered parts of it unintelligible to an ordinary reader. These kind hints have been but partially attended to, and, as time presses, it appears with the mass of its original imperfections, as when you read it in manuscript. Such as it is, however, it affords me this valued opportunity of assuring you of the real gratification I feel in having been instrumental in accomplishing an object so dear to you; To your devotion and self-sacrifice the world is indebted for the deeply interesting revelation unfolded by the voyage of the

Chapter I

Cause of delaj in equipment — Fittings of the 'Fox' — Volunteers for Arctic service — Assistance from public departments — Reflections upon the undertaking — Instructions and departure — Orkneys and Greenland — Fine Arctic scenery — Danish establishments in Greenland — Frederickshaah, in Davis' Straits, .... Page 1

Chapter II

Fiskernaes and Esquimaux — The * Fox ' reaches Disco — Disco Fioi'd

— Summer scenery — Waigat Strait — Coaling from the mine — Purchasing Esquimaux dogs — Heavy gale off Upernivik — Melville Bay

— The middle ice — The great glacier of Greenland — Reindeer cross the glacier, 19

Chapter III

Melville Bay — Beset in Melville Bay — Signs of winter — The coming storm — Drifting in the pack — Canine appetite — Resigned to a winter in the pack — Dinner stolen by sharks — The Arctic shark — White whales and killers, 35

Chapter IV

Snow crystals — Dog will not eat raven — An Arctic school — The dogs invade us — Bear-hunting by night — Ice-artillery — Arctic palates — Sudden rise of temperature — Harvey's idea of a sortiC; . . 51

Chapter V

Burial in tlie pack — Musk oxen in lat. 80° north — Thrift of the Arctic fox — The aurora affects the electrometer — An Arctic Christmas — Sufferings of an Arctic jiarty — Ice acted on by wind only — How the sun ought to be welcomed — Constant action of the ice — Return of the seals — Revolving storm, 67

Chapter VI

A bear-fight — An ice-nip — Strong gales, rapid drift — The ' Fox ' breaks out of the pack — Hanging on to floe-edge — the Arctic bear — An ice tournament — The 'Fox' in peril — A storm in the pack — Escape from the pack, ........ 84 xxii CONTENTS.

Chapter VII

A holi(l:iy in Greenland — A lady blue with cold — The loves of Grccnlanders — Close shaving — Meet the whalers — Information of whalers — Disco — Danish hospitality — Sail from Disco — Kindness of the whalers — Danish establishments in Greenland, . ■ 100

Chapter VIII

' Fox ' nearly wrecked — Afloat, and push ahead — Arctic Iiairbrcadth escapes — Nearly cau^'ht in the pack — Shooting little auks — Tho Arctic Ili-^hlandcrs — Cape York — Crimson snow — Stru;:gling to the westward — Reach the AVest-land — Ofl" the entrance of Lancaster Sound, 116

Chapter IX

Off Cape "Warrendcr — Sight the wlialers again — Enter Pond's Bay — Communicate with Esquimaux — Ascend Pond's Inlet — Esqnimaiix information — Arctic summer abode — An Arctic village — No intelligence of Franklin's ships — Arctic trading — Geographical information of natives — Information of Rae's visit — Imj)rovidence of Esquimaux — Travels of Esquimaux, 132

Chapter X

Leave Pond's Bay — A gale in Lancaster Sound — The Becchey Island Depot — An Arctic monnment — Reflections at Becchey Island — Proceed up Barrow's Strait — Peel Sound — Port Leopold — Prince Regent's Inlet — Bellot Strait — Flood-tide from tlie west — Unsuccessful efforts — Fox's Hole — No water to the west — Precautionary measures — Fourth attempt to pass through, 153

Chapter XI

Proceed westward in a boat — Cheerless state of the western sea — Struggles in Bellot Strait — Falcons, good Arctic Aire — The resources of Bootliia Felix — Future sledge travelling — Heavy gales — llobson's party start — Winter quarters — BcUot's Strait — Advanced depot established — Observatories — Intense cold — Autumn travellers — Narrow escape, 174

Chapter XII

Death of our engineer — Scarcity of game — The cold unusally trying — JoUj', under adverse circumstances — Petersen's information — ijeiurn of the sun of 1859 — Early spring sledge parties — Unusual severity of the winter — Severe harilships of early sledging — Tiie western shores of Bootliia — Meet the EscjuinKuix — Intelligence of Franklin's shijis — Return to the ' Fox ' — Allen Young returns, .... 192

Chapter XIII

Dr. "Walker's sledge journey — Snow-blindness attacks Young's party — Departure of all slcdgc-jiartics — Equipment of sicdge-parties — Meet the same party of natives — Intelligence of the second ship — My depot robbed — Part company from Hobson — Matty Island — Deserted snow-huts — Native sledges — Land on King William's Land, iil7

CONTENTS. xxiii

Chapter XIV

Meet Esquimaux — News of Franklin's people — Frighten a solitary party — Reach the Great Eish River — On Montreal Island — Total absence of all relics — Examine Ogle Peninsula — Discover askeleton — Vagueness of Esquimaux information — Cape Herschel — Cairn, 235

Chapter XV

The cairn found empty — Discover Hobson's letter — Discovery of Crozier's record — The deserted boat — Articles discovered about the boat — The skeletons and relics — The boat belonged to the ' Erebus ' — Conjectures, 253

Chapter XVI

Errors in Franklin's records — Relics found at the cairn — Reflections on the retreat — Returning homeward — Geological remarks — Difficulties of summer sledging — Arrive on board the ' Fox ' — Navigable N.W. passage — Death from scurvy — Anxiety for Captain Young — Young returns safely, 272

Chapter XVII

Signs of release — Dearth of animal life — Owl is good beef — Beat out of winter quarters — Our game-list — Reach Fury Beach — Escape from Regent's Inlet — In Baffin's Bay — Captain Allen Young's journey — Disco ; sad disappointment — Part from our Esquimaux friends — Adieu to Greenland — Arrive home, 292

Appendix

No. I. — A Letter to Viscount Palmerston, K.G., &c., from Lady Franklin, 319

No. II. — Memorial to the Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston, M.P., G.C.B., 329

No. III. — List of Relics of the Franklin Expedition brought to England in the ' Fox ' by Captain M'Clintock, . . . 334

No. IV. — Geological Account of the Arctic Archipelago, by Professor Haugliton, 341

No. V. — List of Subscribers to the 'Fox' Expedition, . . 373

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

The 'Fox ' steaming out of the Rolling Pack. Drawn

hy Captain May Frontispiece.

Sketch Map of the Drift of the 'Fox' down BaflBn's

Bay in the floating Ice To face pofje ix

Sketch Map of Arctic Regions at the time of Franklin's

Last Expedition — xii

A Funeral on the Ice — the effect of Paraselcna (Mock

Moons). Drawn hy Captain May — 68

The Greenlander's Supper appi-opriated by a Bear.

Ditto — 93

The ' Fox 'on a Rock near Buchan Island. Ditto — 116

Esquimaux imitating animals to induce Europeans to

approach. From a Sketch by Captain Allen Young — 123

The Village and Glacier of Kaparoktolik. Drawn by

Captain May — 141

The ' Fox ' arriving at Beechey Island. Ditto — 1 55

M'Clintock in his Boat sailing through Bellot Strait.

Ditto — 174

A Dog Sledge or Scout Party — 182

Interior of tlie Observatory- Ditto — 187

Moonlight in tlic Arctic Regions. Ditto — 217

M'Clintock's Travelling Party discovering the Remains

of Cairn at Cape Herschel. Drawn by Captain

Facsimile of the Record found of Franklin's Expedition. — 255

Isolated Iceberg. Drawn by P. SIcel ton, from a SIcetch

by Captain Allen Young — 279

Walrusses — a Family Party. From a Sketch by Captain Allen Young — 295

Geological Map of the Arctic Regions — 341

Cape Bunny, Peel Sound Page 346

Map of the North- West Passage, by John Arrowsmith,

xxiv

JOUKNAL OF THE SEARCH

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN

CHAPTEE I.

Cause of delay in equipment — Fittings of the ' Fox ' — Volunteers for Arctic service — Assistance from public departments — Reflections upon the undertaking — Instructions and departure — Orkneys and Greenland — Fine Arctic scenery — Danish establishments in Greenland — Frcderickshaab, in Davis' Straits.

It is now a matter of history how Government and private expeditions prosecuted, with unprecedented zeal and perseverance, the search for Sir John Frankhn's ships, between the years 1847-55 ; and that the only ray of information gleaned was that afforded by the inscriptions upon three tombstones at Beechey Island, briefly recording the names and dates of the deaths of those individuals of the lost expedition, who thus early fell in the cause of science and of their country.

In this manner were we made aware of the locality where the Franklin expedition passed its first Arctic winter. The traces assuring us of that fact, were discovered in August, 1850, by

2 FORMER EXPEDITIONS. Chap. I.

Captain Ommanney, RN., of H.M.S. * Assistance,* and by Captain Penny, of the ' Lady Franklin.*

In October, 1854, Dr. Kae brought home the only additional information respecting them which has ever reached us. From the Esquimaux of Boothia Felix he learned that a party of about forty white men were met on the west coast of King William's Island, and from thence travelled on to the mouth of the Great Fish Kiver, where they all perished of starvation, and that this tragic event occurred apparently in the spring of 1850.

Some relics obtained from these natives, and brought home by Dr. Rae, were proved to have belono:ed to Sir John Franldin and several of his associates.

The Government caused an exploring party to descend the Fish River in 1855 ; but, although sufficient traces were found to prove that some portion of the crews of the ^ Erebus ' and ' Terror' had actually landed on the banks of that river, and traces existed of them up to Franklin Eapids, no additional information w^as obtained either from the discovery of records, or through the Esquimaux. Mr. Anderson, the Hudson Bay Companj's officer in charge, and his small party, deserve credit for their perseverance and skill ; but they were not furnished with the necessary means of accomplishing their mission. Mr. Anderson could not obtain an interpreter, and the two frail bark

Ape. 1857. CAUSE OF DELAY R? EQUIPMENT. 3

canoes in which, his whole party embarked were almost worn out before they reached the locality to be searched. It is not surprising that such an expedition caused very considerable excitement at home.

Lady Franklin, and the advocates for further search, now pressed upon government the necessity of following up, in a more effectual manner, the traces accidentally found by Dr. Rae, and, in fact, of rendering the search complete by one more eifort, involving but little of hazard or expense. It was not until April, 1857, that any decisive answer was given to Lady Franklin's appeal. (See Appendix No. 1.)

Sir Charles Wood then stated " that the members of Her Majesty's Government, having come, with great regret, to the conclusion that there was no prospect of saving life, would not be justified, for any objects which in their opinion could be obtained by an expedition to the Arctic seas, in exposing the lives of officers and men to the risk inseparable from such an enterprise."

Lady Franklin, upon this final disappointment of her hopes, had no hesitation in immediately preparing to send out a searching expedition, equipped and stored at her own cost. But she was not left alone. Many friends of the cause — including^ some of the most distina-uished scientific men in England,* and especially Sir Roderick

* A list of them and their subscriptions to be given in Appendix.

4 N03kUNATI0N OF COMMANDER. Chap. I.

Murchison, whose zeal was as practical as it was enlightened — hastened to tender their aid, and soon a very considerable sum was raised in furtherance of so trul}^ noble an effort.

On the 18th of April, 1857, Lady Franklin did me the honor to offer me the command of the proposed expedition ; it was of course most cheerfully accepted. As a post of honor and some difficulty, it possessed quite sufficient charms for a naval officer who had already served in three consecutive expeditions from 1848 to 1854. I was thoroughly conversant with all the details of this peculiar service ; and I confess, moreover, that my whole heart was in the cause. How could I do otherwise than devote myself to save at least the record of faithful service, even unto death, of my brother officers and seamen ? and, being one of those by whose united efforts not only the Franklin search, but the geography of Arctic America, has been brought so nearly to completion, I could not willingly resign to posterity, the honor of tilling up even the small remaining blank upon our maps.

To leave these discoveries incomplete, more especially in a quarter through which the tidal stream actually demonstrates the existence of a channel — the only remaining hope of a practicable north-west passage — would indeed be leaving strong inducement for future explorers to reap the rich reward of our long-continued exertions.

Ai-K. 1857. PURCHASE OF THE 'FOX.' 5

I immediately applied to the Admiralty for leave of absence to complete the Franklin search ; and on the 23d received at Dublin the telegraphic message from Lady Franklin: "Your leave is granted ; the ^ Fox ' is mine ; the refit will commence immediately." She had already purchased the screw-yacht 'Fox/ of 177 tons burthen, and now placed her, together with the necessary funds, at my disposal.

Let me explain what is here implied by the simple word refit. The velvet hangings and splendid furniture of the yacht, and also every thing not constituting a part of the vessel's strengthening, were to be removed; the large skjT'-lights and capacious ladderways had to be reduced to limits more adapted to a polar clime ; the whole vessel to be externally sheathed with stout planking, and internally fortified by strong cross-beams, longitudinal beams, iron stanchions, and diagonal fastenings ; the false keel taken off, the slender brass propeller replaced by a massive iron one, the boiler taken out, altered, and enlarged ; the sharp stem to be cased in iron until it resembled a ponderous chisel set up edgeways ; even the yacht's rig had to be altered.

She was placed in ^le hands of her builders, Messrs. Hall & Co., of Aberdeen, who displayed even more than their usual activity in effecting these necessary alterations, for it was determined that the ' Fox ' should sail by the 1st July.

6 FITTINGS OF THE 'FOX.' Cii.vr. I-

Internally she was fitted up with the strictest economy in every sense, and the officers were crammed into pigeon-holes, styled cabins, in order to make room for provisions and stores; our mess-room, for five persons, measured 8 feet square. The ordinary heating apparatus for winter use was dispensed with, and its place supplied by a few very small stoves. The ^ Fox ' had been the property of the late Sir Richard Sutton, Bart., who made but one trip to Norway in her, and she was purchased by Lady Franklin from his executors for 2000/.

Havmg thus far commenced the refit of the vessel, I turned my attention to the selection of a crew and to the requisite clothing and provisions for our voyage.

Many worthy old shipmates, my companions in the previous Arctic voyages, most readily volunteered their services, and they were as cheerfully accepted, for it was my anxious wish to gather round me av ell-tried men, who -svere aware of the duties expected of them, and accustomed to naval discipline. Hence, out of the twenty-five souls composing our small company, seventeen had previously served in the Arctic search.

Expeditions of this kind are always popular with seamen, and innumerable were the applications sent to me ; but still more abundant were the offers to '■' serve in any capacity " which poured in from all parts of the country, from

Apk. 1857. OFFICEES OF THE EXPEDITION. 7

people of all classes, many of whom had never seen the sea. It was, of course, impossible to accede to any of these latter proposals, yet, for my own part, I could not but feel gratified at such convincing proofs that the spirit of the country was favorable to us, and that the ardent Jove of hardy enterprise still lives amongst Englishmen, as of old, to be cherished, I trust, as the most valuable of our national characteristics — as that which has so largely contributed to make Eno;land what she is.

My second in command was Lieutenant W. E. Hobson, E.N., an of&cer already distinguished in Arctic service. Captain Allen Young joined me as sailing-master, contributing not only his valuable services but largely of his private funds to the expedition. This gentleman had previously commanded some of our very finest merchant ships, the latest being the steam-transport ' Adelaide ' of 2500 tons : he had but recently returned, in ill health, from the Black Sea, where he was most actively employed during the greater part of the Crimean campaign. Nothing that I could say would add to the merit of such singularly generous and disinterested conduct. David Walker, M.D., volunteered for the post of surgeon and naturalist ; he also undertook the photographic department; and just before sailing, Carl Petersen, now so well known to Arctic readers as the Esquimaux

8 ASSISTANCE FROM PUBLIC DEPARTMENTS. Chap. L

interpreter in the expeditions of Captain Penny and Dr. Kane, came to join me from Copenhagen, although landed there from Greenland only six days previously, after an absence of a year from his family : we were indebted to Sir Roderick Murchison and the electric telegraph for securino: his valuable services.

Like the Paris omnibuses we were at length tout complete and quite as anxious to make a start.

Ample provisions for twenty-eight months were embarked, including preserved vegetables, lemon-juice, and pickles, for daily consumption, and preserved meats for every third day : also as much of Messrs. Allsopp's stoutest ale as we could find room for. The Government, although declining to seud out an expedition, 3-ct now contributed liberally to our supplies. All our arms, powder, shot, powder for ice-blasting, rockets, maroons, and signal mortar, were furnished by the Board of Ordnance. The Admiralt}' caused GG82 lbs. of pemuiican to be prepared for our use. Not less than 85,000 lbs. of this invaluable food have been prepared since 1845 at the Eoyal Clarence Victualing Yard, Gos2:)ort, for the use of the Arctic Expeditions. It is composed of prime beef cut into thin slices and dried over a wood fire ; then pounded up and mixed with about an equal weight of melted beef fat. The pemmican is then pressed into cases capable of containing 42 lbs. each. The Admiralty supplied us with all the requisite

FIG 1.

isr

6KET( H MAP OF THE DRIFT OF THE ' POX ' DOWN BAFFIN'S HAT 1» THE Fl.OATI>0 ICK.

Apk. 1857. DONATION FROM EOYAL SOCIETY. 9

ice-gear, such as saws from ten to eighteen feet in length, ice-anchors, and ice-claws : also with our winter housing, medicines, pure lemon-juice, seamen's hbrarj, hydrographical instruments, charts, chronometers, and an ample supply of arctic clothing which had remained in store from former expeditions. The Board of Trade contributed a variety of meteorological and nautical instruments and journals ; and I found that I had but to ask of these departments for what was required, and if in store it was at once granted. I asked, however, only for such things as were indispensably necessary.

The President and Council of the Eoyal Society voted the sum of 60/. from their donation fund for the purchase of magnetic and other scientific instruments, in order that our anticipated approach to so interesting a locality as the Magnetic Pole might not be altogether barren of results.

Being desirous to retain for my vessel the privileges she formerly enjoyed as a yacht, my wishes were very promptly gratified ; in the first instance by the Eoyal Harwich Yacht Club, of which my officers and myself were enrolled as members — the Commodore, A. Arcedeckne, Esq., presenting my vessel with the handsome ensign and burgee of the Club ; and shortly afterwards by my being elected a member of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club for the period of my voyage.

10 REFLECTIONS UPON THE UNDERTAKING. Chap. I.

Lastly, upon the very day of sailinj^, I was proposed for the Pioyal Yacht Squadron, to wliich the yacht had previously helonged -when the property of Sh' Richard Stratton.

Throughout the whole period required for our equipment, I constantly experienced the heartiest co-operation and earnest good will from all with whom my varied duties brought me in contact Deep sympathy with Lad}'' Franklin in her distress, her self-devotion and sacrifice of fortune, and an earnest desire to extend succor to any chance survivors of the ill-fated expedition who might still exist, or at least, to ascertain their fate, and rescue from oblivion their heroic deeds, seemed the natural promptings of every honest Ena;lish heart. It is needless to add that this experience of public opinion confirmed my own impression that the glorious mission intrusted to me was in reality a great mdional dniij. I could not but feel that, if the fjio-antic and admirablv equipped national expeditions sent out on precisely the same duty, and reflecting so much credit upon the Board of Admiralit}^, were ranked amonQ;st the noblest efforts in the cause of humanity any nation ever engaged in, and that, if high honor was awarded to all composing those splendid expeditions, surely the effort became still more remarkable and worthy of approbation when its means were limited to one little vessel, containing but twenty-five souls, equipped and pro-

Apr. 1857. LADY FRANKLIN'S VISIT. H

visioned (although efficiently, yet) in a manner more according with the limited resources of a private individual than with those of the public purse. The less the means, the more arduous I felt was the achievement. The greater the risk — for the 'Fox' was to be launched alone into those turbulent seas from which every other vessel had long since been withdrawn — the more glorious would be the success, the more honorable even the defeat, if again defeat awaits us.

Upon the last day of June, Lady Franklin, accompanied by her niece Miss Sophia Cracroft, and Capt. Maguire, R. N., came on board to bid us farewell, for we purposed sailing in the evening. Seeing how deeply agitated she was on leaving the ship, I endeavored to repress the enthusiasm of my crew, but without avail ; it found vent in three prolonged, hearty cheers. The strong feeling which prompted them was truly sincere ; and this unbidden exhibition of it can hardly have gratified her for whom it was intended more than it did myself

I must here insert the only written instructions I could prevail upon Lady Franklin to give me ; they were not read until the 'Fox ' was fairly in the Atlantic.

Aberdeen, June 29, 1857.

Mt dear Captain M'Clintock,

You have kindly invited me to give you "Instructions," but I cannot bring myself to feel that it would be right

12 LADY FRANKLIN'S INSTRUCTIONS. Ciiai'. L

in me in any wny (o influence your judgment in the conduct of your noble undertaking; and indeed 1 have no temptation to do so, since it appears to me that your views are almost identical with those w'lieh I had independently formed before I had the advantage of being thoroughly possessed of yours. But had tliis been otherwise, I trust you would have found me ready to prove the implicit confidence I place in you by yielding my own views to your more enlightened judgment; knowing too as I do that your whole heart also is in the cause, even as my own is. As to the objects of the expedition and their relative importance, I am sure you know that the re-cue of any possible survivor of the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' would be to me, as it would be to you, the noblest result of our efforts.

To this object I wish every other to be subordinate ; and next to it in importance is the i^ecovery of the unspeakably precious documents of the expedition, public and private, and the personal relics of my dear husband and his companions.

And lastly, I trust it may be in your power to confirm, directly or inferentially, the claims of my husband's expedition to the earliest discovery of the passage, which, if Dr. Rae's report be true (and the Government of our country has accepted and rewarded it as such), these martyrs in a noble cause achieved at their last extremity, after five long years of labor and suffering, if not at an earlier period.

I am sure you will do all that man can do for the attainment of all these objects ; my only fear is that you may spend ycurselves too much in the effort ; and you must therefore let me tell you how much dearer to me even than any of them is the preservation of the valuable lives of the little band of heroes :who are your companions and followers.

May God in his great mercy preserve you all from hai in amidst the labors and jierils which await you, and restore you to us in health and safety as well as honor ! As to the honor I can have no misgiving. It will be yours as much if you fail (since you may fail in spite of every effort) as if you succeed ; and be assured that, under any and all circumstances w/ialcver.

SKETCH MAP OF AKCTIO BKOIOKS AT THE TIME OF PKAhKLISS LA8T EXPEDIMON.

July, 1857. ORKNEYS AND GEEENLAND. 13 ;

such is my unbounded confidence in you, you will ever possess and be entitled to the enduring gratitude of your sincere and attached friend,

Jane Franklin.

We were not destined to get to sea that evening. The ' Fox/ hitherto during her brief career, accustomed only to the restraint imposed upon a gilded pet in summer seas, seemed to have got an inkling that her duty henceforth was to combat with difficulties, and, entering fully into the spirit of the cruise, answered her helm so much more readily than the pilot expected that she ran aground upon the bar. She was promptly shored up, and remained in that position until next morning, when she floated off unhurt at high water, and commenced her long and lonely voyage.

Scarcely had we left the busy world behind us when we were actively engaged in making arrangements for present comfort and future exertion. How busy, how happy, and how full of hope we all were then !

On the night of the 2d of July we passed through the Pentland Firth, where the tide rushing impetuously against a strong wind raised up a tremendous sea, amid which the little vessel struggled bravely under steam and canvas. The bleak wild shores of Orkney, the still wilder pilot's crew, and their hoarse screams and unintelligible dialect, the shrill cry of innumerable 2

14 GREE^^LAND. Chap. I.

sea-bird?, the howling breeze and angry sea, made us feel as if we had suddenly awoke in Greenland itself. The southern extremity of that ice-locked continent became visible on the 12th. It is quaintly named Cape Farewell ; but whether by some sanguine outward-bound adventurer who fancied that in leaving Greenland behind him he had already secured his passage to Cathay ; or whether by the wearied homesick mariner, feebly escaping from the grasf) of winter in his shattered bark, and firmly purposing to bid a long farewell to this cheerless land, history altogether fails to enlighten us.

From January until July this coast is usually rendered unapproachable by a broad margin of heavy ice, which drifts there from the vicinity of Spitzbergen, and, lapping round the Cape, extends alonsfshore to the northward about as far as Baal's River, a. distance of 250 miles. Although it effectually blockades the ports of South Greenland for the greater part of the summer, and is justlydreaded by the captains of the Greenland traders, it confers important benefits upon the Greenlander by bearing to his shores immense numbers of seals and many bears. The same current which conveys hither all this ice is also freighted with a scarcely less valuable supply of driftwood from the Siberian rivers.

About this time, one of my crew showing symptoms of diseased lungs, I determined to

JuLT, 1857. SPITZBERGEN ICE. Ig,

embrace tlie earliest opportunity of sending him home out of a climate so fatal to those who are thus affected ; and having learnt from Mr. Petersen, who had quitted Greenland only in April last, that a vessel would very soon leave Frederickshaab for Copenhagen, I resolved to go to that place in order to catch this homeward-bound ship.

It was necessary to push through the Spitzbergen ice, and we fortunately succeeded in doing so after eia;hteen hours of buffetino; with this formidable enemy ; at first we found it tolerably loose, and the wind being strong and favorable, we thumped along pleasantly enough ; but as we advanced, the ice became much more closely packed, a thick fog came on, and many hard knocks were exchanged; at length our steam carried us through into the broad belt of clear water between the ice and land, which Petersen assures me always exists here at this season.