Narrative of discovery and adventure in the polar seas and regions

Front matter

aiss_

*

PKESHXTHI) I3Y

Preface

The design of the present work is to exhibit a complete and connected view of the successive voyages made to the Arctic regions. In those climates Nature is marked by the most stupendous features, and the forms which she assumes differ from her appearances in our milder latitudes almost as widely as if they belonged to another planet. There the scenery is awful and dreary, yet abounds in striking, sublime, and even beautiful objects. The career of the navigators, who at various times have traversed the northern seas, amid tempest, darkness, and mountains of floating ice, presents such a series of peril and vicissitude, and has given rise to so many extraordinary displays of intrepidity and heroism, as cannot fail to render most interesting the story of their several adventures. When we consider also, that in this field of discovery England laid the foundation of her maritime preeminence, and that the men who have earned the greatest glory in it have been chiefly British, it will be admitted that the History of Northern Navigation must have a peculiar charm for the English reader.

The narrative of these Voyages has been carefully drawn from the most authentic sources, by

VI PREFACE.

Mr. Hugh Murray ; and the most distinguished men of science in Scotland have lent their aid to illustrate that wonderful order of nature which prevails within the Arctic Circle. Professor Leslie has commenced the volume with a full examination of the Climate and its Phenomena, — subjects so prominent in those high latitudes, that, without a preliminary knowledge of them, the progress of discovery would be but imperfectly understood. A general Survey of all that is known of the Geological Structure of the same interesting regions is given by Professor Jameson. The chapter on Natural History, though it treats the subject rather in a popular than in a scientific manner, has received the careful revision of a distinguished naturalist.

The Whale-fishery forms an essential branch of the present work. Of its daring operations, and its various perils — as they occur in the depth of the Polar seas — the description here introduced may be the more acceptable, as it is presumed to be the only one hitherto attempted within a moderate compass.

It might, perhaps, be expected that this work should embrace an account of the expeditions performed, by land or in boats, to ascertain the northern boundaries of America and Asia : such a narrative, however, was found quite incompatible with the object of the present undertaking. The relation of these enterprises may find a place in some future volumes devoted expressly to the history of adventure on the remote shores of those two continents.

Contents

Chap. I. — The Climate of the Polar Regions ... 9 11. — Animal and Vegetable Life in the Polar

Regions . S2

III. — ^Ancient Voyages to the North .... 83 IV. — Voyages in Search of a North-East Passage 90 V. — Early Voyages towards the Pole . . . .132 VI. — Early Voyages in Search of a North- West

CHAPTER I. The Climate of" the Polar Regions*

The climate and seasons within the Arctic circle exhibit most peculiar and striking features, which modify in a singular manner the whole aspect of na ture. An investigation of those phenomena seems therefore necessary for enabling the reader to comprehend the narrative, and to follow through such icy regions the paths of the daring navigators. And the more fully to eluQidate the subject, it will be proper to give some explication of the principles that regulate generally the distribution of heat over the surface of our globe.

Many of the facts relating to the Polar climate have been collected in the course of the bold and arduous attempts to penetrate to India across the northern seas. Projects of this kind, after being long suspended, were, in 1818, renewed, and embraced with peculiar ardour by the English government. For two or three years previous to 1818, the captains of ships employed in the northern whale-fishery had generally concurred in representing the Arctic sea as of a sudden become almost open and accessible to the adventurous navigator. By the more speculative relaters, it had been supposed that the vast icy barrier which, for many ages, obstructed those forlorn regions was at last, by some revolution of our globe, broken up and dispersed. The project of finding a north-west passage to Asia, — a project so often attempted and so long abandoned, — was by conse quence again revived ; and the more daring scheme of penetrating to the Pole itself had likewise been seriously proposed. Of the complete success of either plan, the hopes of sober thinkers were indeed extremely slender ; yet the prospect held forth seemed to be more inviting, on the whole, than at any former period when such bold undertakings had been attempted. The discovery of a north-west passage, were it ever attainable, could hardly, it is true, be of any real benefit to our commerce ; since, in such high latitudes, where only it must be sought for, it would at all times be very precarious, and liable to interruption from the prevalence of ice. The scheme of actually reaching that northern point on the surface of our globe, which terminates its axis of rotation, however interestmg m it philosophical view, can only be regarded as an object of pure curiosity, and not likely to lead to any useful or practical results. Yet was it befitting the character of a great maritime nation to embrace every chance of improving geographical knowledge, and of extending the basis of natural science.

The books and memoirs which contain the latest accounts of the state of the northern seas, either suggested the enterprise then pursued, or were brought forward in consequence of its adoption. Mr. Daines Barrington, a man of learning and some ingenuity, embraced with ardour the opinion of the possibility of approaching to the Pole. In successive papers communicated to the Royal Society of London he not only condensed the information furnished by the older voyagers, but exhibited the results of the numerous queries relating to the same object, which he had circulated among persons engaged in the Greenland fishery. He thus proved, that in certain favourable seasons, the Arctic seas are for several weeks so open, that intrepid navigators might safely penetrate to a very high latitude. In compliance with his sanguine representatiims, the Admiralty, in 1773, despatched Captain Phipps to explore those regions ; but this commander was unsuccessful in the attempt, having reached only the lat itude of SOh degrees when his ship got surrounded by a body of ice near Spitzbergen, and escaped v^ith extreme difficulty, though many of the whaleis had in that summer advanced farther. Mr. Barring! on did not, however, despair ; and, following out his -views, he induced Mr. Naire and Dr. Higgins to mak(i experiments on the congelation of sea-water. The various facts were collected in a small volume, to which Colonel Beaufoy subjoined an appendix, containing the answers made to his queries by Russian hunters (who are accustomed to spend the whole year in Spitzbergen), relative to the probability of travelling from that island to the Pole during winter, in sledges drawn by rein-deer. The reports of these hardy men were sufficiently discouraging. They pi(*tured the winter at Spitzbergen as not only severe but extremely boisterous, the snow falling to the depth of three or five feet, and drifting so much along the shores by the violence of the winds as often to block up all communication. The danger of being surprised and overwhelmed by clouds of snow, rair^ed in sudden gusts, was so great, that they never ventured to undertake any long journeys over the ice. Nov did they think it at all practicable to have loaded sledges dragged over a surface so rough and liilly, by the force of reindeer or dogs.

The speculations of Mr. Scoresby had more than ordinary claims to attention, as exhibiting the conclusions oi* a most diligent, accurate, and scientific observer. Trained from infancy to the navigation of the frozen seas, under the direction of his father, a most enteiprising and successful leader, he conjoined exp(iiience with ingenuity and judgment. For several years, during the intervals of his Greenland voyages, he prosecuted a regular course of study^ which enriched his mind with liberal attainments, and gave a new impulse to his native ingenuity and ardour. It was exceedingly to be regretted that any jealousies or official punctilios should have prevented government from intrusting the principal command of the Polar expedition to him who not only proposed it originally, but whose talents and science, joined to his activity, perseverance, and enthusiasm, afforded assuredly the best promise of its ultimate success.

Hans Egede, a benevolent enthusiast, formed a plan of reclaiming the natives of Greenland from the errors of Paganism. After various ineffectual attempts, he at last procured, by subscription, the sum of £2000, with which he purchased a vessel, and car* ried his family and forty settlers to Baal's river, in the 64th degree of north latitude, where he landed on the 3d of July, 1721. He was afterward appointed missionary, with a small salary by the Danish government, which occasionally granted some aid to the colony. During his stay, which lasted till 1736,^ he laboured with great zeal in his vocation. In 1757, the year before his death, he printed his Description of Greenland, in the Danish language, at Copenhagen. A translation of that work, much improved and enlarged, with useful additions by the editor, contains valuable information, tinged with a large portion of credulity.

It is remarkable, that two centuries of extreme activity should have added so very little to our knowledge of the Arctic regions. The relations of the earlier navigators to those parts possess an mterest which has not been yet eclipsed. The voyage of Martens from Hamburgh to Spitzbergen may be cited as still the most instructive. But the best and completest work on the subject of the northern fisheries, is a treatise in three volumes octavo, translated from the Dutch language into French by Bernard de Reste, and published at Paris in 180 !♦ under the title Histoire des Peches, des Dicouvertes, et des Etablissemens des Hollandais dans les Mers du Kord.

The Arctic expedition, which in 1818 attracted the attention of the public, proposed two distinct objects, — to advance towards the Pole — and to explore a north-west passage to China. These were no doubt splendid schemes ; but, in order to form a right estimate of the plan and some anticipation of its probable results, it was necessary to proceed with caution, and employ the lights of science to guide our steps. The facts alleged, respecting the vast islands or continents of ice recently separated and dispersed from the Arctic regions, gave occasion to much loose reasoning, to wild and random conjectures, and visionary declamation. Glowing anticipations were confidently formed of the future amelioration of climate, which would scarcely be hazarded even in the dreams of romance. Every person possessing a slight tincture of physical science, conceived himself qualified to speculate concerning the phenomena of weather, in which he feels a deep interest ; and hence a very flimsy and spurious kind of philosophy, however trifling or despicable it may appear in the eyes of the few who are accustomed to think more profoundly, gained currency among certain classes of men, and engendered no small share of conceit. Meteorology is a complex science, depending on so many subordinate principles, that require the union of accurate theory with a range of nice and various observations, as to have advanced very slowly towards perfection.

With regard to the nature and real extent of the change which had taken place in the condition of the icy seas, the reports have no doubt been greatly exaggerated. To reduce them to their just amount, it would be necessary to estimate the annual effects produced in those regions, and likewise to compare the observations of a similar kind made by expe- B rienced navigators at fonner periods. From a critical examination of the various facts left on record, it will perhaps appear, that those Arctic seas have been more than once, in the course of the last half century, as open as they are now represented.

To discuss with accuracy the question of the periodical formation and destruction of the Polar ice, it becomes necessary to explain the true principles which regulate the distribution of heat over the globe. This I shall attempt to perfonn, independent of every hypothesis, by a direct appeal to experiment and observation.

If, at any place we dig into the ground, we find, by the insertion of a thermometer, that, as we successively descend, we approach constantly to some limiting temperature, which below a certain depth continues unchanged. This depth of equilibrium varies in different soils ; but seldom exceeds thirty or fifty feet. If the excavation be made about the commencement of winter, the temperature will appear to increase in the lower strata ; but, on the contrary, if the pit be formed in the beginning of summer, it will be found to grow colder as we descend.* Hence, the mass of the earth merely transmits very slowly the impressions of heat or of cold received at its surface. The external temperature of any given day will perhaps take near a month to penetrate only one foot into the ground. By digging downwards in summer, we soon reach, therefore, the impressions of the preceding spring and winter ; but the same progress into the ground brings us back to the

* In the dreary climate of Hudson's Bay, it is remarked by the residents, that, even during the summer months, in digging through the ground for a grave, they always come at the depth of a few feet to a stratum of frozen earth. A singular feature of the remoter Arctic tracts is the frequent appearance of red snow. This deception is occasioned by the interspersed multitudes of minute plants, now termed Protococcus Nivalis^ a species oCAlgcB, which penetrate to a great depth through the snow, and vegetate in the severest weather temperatures of the autumn and of the summer. Still lower, all the various fluctuations of heat become intermingled and confounded in one common mean. Such observations are more easily and correctly made, by having thermometers, with long stems, sunk to different depths in the ground ; and from an extensive register we may conclude, that the temperature of the ground is always the mean result of the impressions made at the surface during a series of years. The successive strata, therefore, at great depths, may be regarded as permanent records of the average state of the weather in distant ages. Perhaps the superficial influence will scarcely descend fifty feet in the lapse of a century. Copious springs, which percolate the bowels of the earth, and rapidly convey the impressions of subterranean heal to the surface, will consequently furnish the most accurate reports of the natural register of climate. These, if rightly chosen, differ not sensibly in their temperature at all seasons ; and, whether they have their seat at a depth of one hundred or of five hundred feet, they affect the thermometer alike.* We are hence entitled to conclude, that however the weather may have varied from year to year, or changed its character at intervals of short periods of years, it has yet undergone no material alteration during the efflux of many ages.

Some philosophers attempt to explain such facts as are now stated, from the supposed internal heat of the globe, caused by the action of central fires ; and pretend, in support of their favourite hypothesis,

* The celebrated fountain of Vaucluse, situate in the latitude of 43° 55', and 360 feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea, has been observed to acquire its highest temperature about the first day of Septenjber, and to reach the lowest at the beginning of April, the former being 660.3, and the latter 54°. 1 by Fahrenheit's scale ; which gives 550.2 for its mean heat. The waters are collected from the fissures of an extensive limestone rock, and seem to receive the superficial impressions in the space of three months. They burst forth with such a volume as to form, only a few yards below their source, the translucid Sorgue, a river ncarcely iiferior in its discharge to the Tay above Perth.

that the temperature always increases near the bottom of very deep mines. But this observation holds only in particular situations, where the warm exhalations from the burning of lamps and the breathing of the workmen are collected and confined under the roofs of the galleries. In the case of a deep open pit, the effect is quite reversed, the bottom being always colder than the mean temperature. This is owing to the tendency of the chill air to descend by its superior density. The superficial impressions of heat and cold are thus not sent equally downwards ; so that the warmth of summer is dissipated at the mouth of the pit, while the rigours of winter are collected below. A similar modification of temperature we shall find occurs in profound lakes, in consequence of the disposition of the colder and denser portions of the water always to sink down.

The permanent heat of the ground is, therefore, produced by the mere accumulation of incessant external impressions. These impressions are received, either directly from the sun's rays, or circuitously, through the medium of atmospheric influence. But air is better fitted for diffusing than for storing up heat. The whole mass of the atmosphere, it maybe easily shown, does not contain more heat than a stratum of water only ten feet thick, or one of earth measuring fifteen feet. According to their relative temperature, the winds, in sweeping along the ground, either abstract or communicate warmth. But the sun is the great and original fountain of heat, which the internal motion excited in the atmosphere only serves to distribute more equally over the earth's surface. The heat imparted to the air, or to the ground, is always proportional to the absorption of the solar beams; and the results are hence still the same, whether we embrace the simple theory, that heat is only the subtle fluid of light, in a state of combination with its substratum ; or prefer the opinion, that light has always conjoined with it a certain admixture of the invisible matter of heat.

Owing to the spherical form of the earth, and the obliquity of its axis, very different quantities of liorht or heat are received in the several latitudes. The same portion of heat which would raise the temperature of 135 pounds of water a degree on Fahrenheit's scale, is only capable of melting one pound of ice. The measure of ice dissolved is, therefore, the simplest and most correct standard for estimating the quantity of heat expended in that process. If we apply calculation to actual experiment, we shall find that the entire and unimpaired light of the sun would, at the Equator, at the mean latitude of 45°, and at the Pole, be sufficient to melt a thickness of ice expressed by 38.7, 25.9, and 13.4 feet. Of this enormous action, the greatest portion is no doubt wasted in the vast abyss of the ocean ; and, of the remainder, a still larger share is perhaps detained and dissipated in the upper atmosphere, or projected again in a soft phosphorescence. Yet the light which, after those defalcations, finally reaches the surface of the earth, if left to accumulate there, would create such inequality of temperature as must prove quite insupportable.

The slow conducting quahty of the ground, if not altered by extraneous influence, would fix the heat where it was received, and thus perpetuate the effect of the unequal action of the sun's beams. The mobility of the atmosphere hence performs an important office in the economy of nature, as a great regulator of the system, dispensing moderate warmth, and attempering the extremities of climate over the face of the globe. As the heat accumulates within the tropics, it will occasion currents of cold air to rush from the higher latitudes. But the activity of the winds thus raised, being proportional to their exciting cause, must prevent it from ever surpassing certain limits. A perpetual commerce of heat be- B2

CLIMATE.

tween the Poles and the Equator is hence maintained, by the ag-ency of opposite currents in the atmosphere. These currents will often have their direction modified ; and they may still produce the same effects, by pursuing" an oblique or devious course. The actual phenomena of climate only require the various w^inds, tluroughout the year, to advance southw^ards or northwards at the mean rate of almost two miles an hour, or to perform in effect three journeys of transfer annually from the Equator to either Pole. Not that these currents carry the impressions of heat or cold directly from one extremity of the globe to the other, but, by their incessant play, they contribute, in the succession of ages, to spread them gradually over the intervening space.

The system of opposite aerial currents leads to the same law of the gradation of temperature in different latitudes, as the celebrated Professor Mayer of Gottingen deduced from an empirical process. It would appear that the variation of the mean temperature at the level of the sea is always proportional to the sine of twice the latitude. Thus, for the parallels of every five degrees, the arrangement is simple : —

Latitude. Mean Temperature.

0°

84°

50°

53°.5

83 .8

49 .2

82 .4

45 .0

80 .7

41 .3

77 .9

38 .1

74 .9

35 .5

70 .9

33 .6

67 .0

32 .4

62 .4

32 *

58 .0

Latitude. Mean Temperature.

* Perhaps the gradation of temperature would, in the higher latitudes, require a small modification. Instead of assuming 32^ as the medium at the Pole, it might be more exact to adopt 28°, or the melting point of the ice of sea-water. But the recent voyagers have registered the coldness in advancing northwards as much more intense. It is evident, how

The arithmetical mean, or 58°, corresponds to the middle latitude of 45° ; but the real mean of the temperature over the whole surface of the globe is 67°, which should occur on the parallel of 35° 51 J'.

The system of currents maintained in the atmosphere likewise contributes essentially, by its unceasing agency in transferring and dispersing heat, to prevent the excessive inequality of seasons in the higher latitudes. But the motions produced in such a vast mass of fluid must evidently follow, at long intervals, the accumulated causes which excite them. Hence probably the origin of those violent winds which, succeeding to the sultry warmth of summer and the sharp frosts of winter, prevail in the months of September and March, and are therefore called by seamen the Equinoctial Gales, In the Arctic seas nature has made a farther provision for correcting the excessive irregularity of the action of the sun's rays. This luminary, for several months in winter, is totally withdrawn from that dreary waste ; but, to compensate for his long absence, he continues during an equal period in summer to shine without interruption. Now, from a beautiful arrangement, the surface of the ocean itself, by its alternate freezing and thawing, presents a vast substratum, on which the excesses of heat and of cold in succession are mutually spent. In ordinary cases, the superficial water, as it cools and therefore contracts, sinks down into the abyss by its superior gravity ; but when it grows warmer it expands, and consequently floats incumbent, communicating afterward its surplus heat with extreme slowness to the mass below. But the seas within the Arctic circle being always near the verge of congelation, at which limit

ever, that their thermometrical observations must be affected by some latent and material inaccuracy. Were the mean temperature of the Arctic regions really below the point of salinp congelation, the annual formation of ice in those seas would exceed the quantity dissolved, and therefore the extension of the frozen fields would, contrary to fact, be constantly progressive.

water scarcely undergoes any sensible alteratichi of volume even from a considerable change of temperature, the superficial stratum remains constantly stagnant, and exposed to receive all the variable impressions of the sweeping winds. The piercing cold of winter, therefore, spends its rage in freezing the salt water to a depth proportional to its intensity and continuance.* The prolonged warmth of summer again is consumed in melting those fields of ice, eveiy inch of which in thickness requiring as much absorption of heat as would raise the temperature of a body of water 104 feet thick a whole degi'ee. The summer months are hence nearl}'- gone before the sun can dissolve the icy domes, and shoot with entire effect his slanting rays. It may be shown, that under the Pole the action of the solar light is, at the time of the solstice, one-fourth part greater than at the equator, and sufficient in the course of a day to melt a sheet of ice an inch and a halt thick.

If horizontal winds serve to balance the imequal action of the solar beams over the surface of the globe, the rising and descending currents excited in the body of the atmosphere still more effectually maintain the equilibrium of day and night. After the ground has become heated by the direct illumination of the sun, it warms the lowest portion of the incumbent air, which, being thus dilated, begins to ascend, and therefore occasions the descent of an equal portion of the fluid. But these vertical currents, being once created, will continue their motion long after the primary cause has ceased to impel them, and may protract, during the night, the accu-

* At Melville Island, in the latitude of 74° 45', Captain Parry observed ice to form of a tbickness from three to five inches, around the ship's sides, in the space of twenty-four hours ; and in one instance it gained in that time the thickness of 7^ inches, Fahrenheit's thermometer being then 12^ below zero. Such power of congelation, it might be com . puted, would require the full refrigerating action of a stratum of air at that temperature, and rather mo*"* f^*'> a mile in height.

mulation of chilled air on the surface of the earth. This effect is farther augmented, in general, by the frigorific impressions which are at all times darted downwards from a clear sky.* By the operation of this combined system, therefore, the diurnal vicissitudes of temperature are diminished in the temperate and torrid zones. Another consequence results from such rapid and continual interchange of the higher and lower strata, that the same absolute quantity of heat must obtain at every altitude in the atmosphere.

This equal distribution of heat at all elevations is moulded, however, by another principle, which causes the regular gradation upwards of a decreasing temperature. In fact, air is found to have its capacity for heat enlarged by rarefaction ; so that any portion of the fluid carried to the higher regions, where it by consequence expands, will have its temperature proportionally diminished. The decrease of temperature in ascending the atmosphere is not far from being uniform, at the rate of about one de gree for every hundred yards of elevation. Hence the limit of perpetual congelation forms a curve, which is nearly the same as the Companion of the Cycloid, bending gradually from the equator, reverting its inflexure at the latitude of 45°, and grazing the surface at the Pole. The mean heights of eternal frost, under the equator, and at the latitudes of 30° and 60°, are respectively 15207, 11484, and 3818 feet.

It is important to remark, that the heat of large collections of water will seldom agree precisely with the mean temperature corresponding to the latitude. The variable impressions received at the surface from the atmosphere will not, as on land, penetrate

* See Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. iii. part i. p. 177 ; or Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. viu. part 'iL p. 465 slowly into the mass, and become mingled and equalized at a moderate depth. Heat is conducted through liquids chiefly by the internal play resulting from their partial expansion. In the more temperate regions of the globe, the superficial waters of lakes or seas, as they grow warmer, and, therefore, specifically lighter, still remain suspended by their acquired buoyancy. But whenever they come to be chilled, they sufi'er contraction, and are precipitated by their greater density. Hence the deep water, both of lakes and of seas, is always considerably colder than what floats at the surface. The gradation of cold is distinctly traced to the depth of twenty fathoms, below which the diminished temperature continues nearly unifoiTn as far as the sounding-line can reach. In shallow seas however, the cold substratum of liquid is brought nearer to the top. The increasing coldness of water, drawn up from the depth of only a few fathoms, may hence indicate to the navigator who traverses the wide ocean his approach to banks or land.

These principles, however, will not apply to the peculiar circumstances of the Arctic seas. Water differs essentially, in its expansion by heat, from mercury, oil, or alcohol : far from dilating uniformly, a property which fits the latter substances for the construction of thermometers, it swells from the point of congelation, or rather a very few degrees above it, with a rapid progression, to that of boiling. Near the limit of its greatest contraction, the volume of water is scarcely affected at all by any alteration of heat. When the surface of the ocean is depressed to a temperature between 28 and 44 (^egrees of Fahrenheit's scale, it will remain almost stagnant, and therefore exposed to the full impression of external cold. Hence the Polar seas are always ready, under the action of any frosty wind, to suff*er congelation. The annual variations of the weather are in those seas expended on the superficial waters, without disturbing the vast abyss below. Contrary to what takes place under milder skies, the water drawn up from a considerable depth is often warmer within the Arctic circle than what lies on the surface. The floating" ice accordingly begins to melt generally on the under side, from the slow communication of the heat sent upwards.