CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE

The Chief of the Aivillingmiut.

REPORT

ON THE

DOMINION GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION

TO

HUDSON BAY AND THE ARCTIC ISLANDS

ON BOARD THE

D. G. S. NEPTUNE

1903 - 1904

BY

A. P. LOW, B.Sc., F.R.G.S.

Officer in charge.

OTTAWA

GOVERNMENT PRINTING BUREAU

1906

Ottawa, September 8, 1905.

Hon. Raymond Préfontaine, K.C.,

Minister of Marine and Fisheries.

Sir,—I have the honour to submit herewith my report on the expedition to Hudson Bay and northward thereof, in the steamship Neptune; to which, on your kind recommendation, I was appointed officer in charge by a commission authorized under an order in council of August 13, 1903.

Permit me to here acknowledge the kindly and valuable assistance afforded me by Colonel F. Gourdeau, Deputy Minister of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, by Commander G. O. V. Spain, and by all the officers of the department at Ottawa and Halifax, with whom it was my duty and privilege to work.

The greater part of the credit for the complete and successful accomplishment of all the instructions for the voyage is due to Captain S. W. Bartlett, the officers and the crew of the Neptune. Their prompt and cheerful attention to orders and their willing co-operation in all matters relating to the expedition deserve the highest praise.

I have great pleasure in calling attention to the valuable work of the scientific staff of the expedition. Dr. L. E. Borden, by his skill and attention, kept everybody in a good general state of health, and in addition rendered great assistance in the collection of specimens and data relating to ethnology, botany and zoology. Mr. Andrew Halkett, Naturalist of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, was indefatigable in the work of collecting specimens in all branches of natural history. Mr. C. F. King, who was attached from the staff of the Geological Survey, took charge in an able manner of the topographical work, and was willingly assisted by Messrs. Caldwell and Ross and by the officers of the ship.

In the preparation of this report, I have received much valuable assistance from Dr. Robert Bell, Acting Director of the Geological Survey, who has not only helped personally, but who also kindly allowed the very necessary assistance of the following members of the staff of that department: Mr. J. M. Macoun, who named and described the plants in the collections brought home; Mr. L. Lambe and Dr. H. M. Ami, who determined and named the collections of fossils, and Mr. F. Nicolas, who kindly edited the report and prepared the index to it. The map which accompanies the report was prepared under the direction of Mr. C. O. Senécal by Messrs. C. F. King and P. Frereault.

My thanks are due to Mr. W. McMahon, Superintendent of Printing, for his kindly advice and assistance in the publication of this report, and it is entirely due to him that the volume presents its creditable appearance.

I have the honour to be, sir,

Your humble servant,

A. P. LOW.

MINTO.

CANADA.

Edward the Seventh, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, etc.

To Albert Peter Low, of the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, in our Dominion of Canada, Esquire,—

Greeting:

E. L. Newcombe,

Deputy of the Minister of Justice,

Canada.

Know you that reposing trust and confidence in your loyalty, integrity and ability, We have constituted and appointed, and We do hereby constitute and appoint you the said Albert Peter Low to be officer in charge of the expedition to Hudson Bay and northward thereof in the Steamship Neptune,—

To have, hold, exercise and enjoy the said office of officer in charge of the expedition to Hudson Bay and northward thereof in the Steamship Neptune unto you the said Albert Peter Low, with all and every the powers, rights, authority, privileges, profits, emoluments and advantages unto the said office of right and by law appertaining during pleasure.

In Testimony Whereof, We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent, and the Great Seal of Canada to be hereunto affixed. Witness, Our Right Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin and Councillor the Right Honourable Sir Gilbert John Elliot, Earl of Minto and Viscount Melgund of Melgund, County of Forfar, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, Baron Minto of Minto, County of Roxburgh, in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baronet of Nova Scotia, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and Saint George, etc., etc., Governor General of Canada.

At Our Government House, in Our City of Ottawa, this Thirteenth day of August, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and three, and in the third year of Our Reign.

By Command,

P. PELLETIER,

Acting Under Secretary of State.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

SHIP’S COMPANY.

SCIENTIFIC STAFF.

A. P. Low, Commander and Geologist.

L. E. Borden, M.D., Surgeon and Botanist.

G. B. Faribault, M.D., Assistant-Surgeon.

A. Halkett, Naturalist.

C. F. King, Topographer and Meteorologist.

G. F. Caldwell, Photographer.

OFFICERS AND CREW.

NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE.

H. Ford, who had served as Eskimo interpreter on the Diana in 1896, was again engaged in that capacity, at Port Burwell, on the way north.

A Davis Strait Iceberg.

CHAPTER I.
VOYAGE TO THE BAY

The present report contains a narrative of the voyage of the D.G.S. Neptune, during the seasons 1903-04, to the northern parts of Hudson bay, and to the northeastern Arctic islands. Following this, under their respective headings, are a short historical account of earlier explorations and discoveries in northeastern Arctic America; a geographical sketch, together with summaries of what is at present known of the inhabitants and geology of the unorganized northeastern territories of the Dominion; short descriptions of the important whaling and sealing industries; and opinions as to the possible navigation of Hudson strait and Hudson bay.

The appendices contain the meteorological observations taken on the voyage, interesting notes on the thickness and growth of the ice; also lists of the birds, plants and fossils collected in these northern regions. All the collections, except that of the marine invertebrates, have been fully determined. The amount of new material in the latter required greater time for study than could be given before the publication of this report, and the results will be included in a future publication.

This report is based largely upon the knowledge obtained, during the voyage, by the scientific staff of the expedition; this has been freely supplemented by information taken from the reports of previous northern explorations. For the convenience of the reader, constant references are not made to these authorities in the text, a list of them being given in an appendix.

Special mention is here made of the indebtedness of the author to the valuable information contained in the works of Richardson, McClintock, Dawson, Bell and Sverdrup.

The accompanying map has been compiled by Mr. C. Frank King. It contains all the corrections to coastline made from his surveys. The ship’s track marked on the map will be found convenient in following the text of the narrative.

All bearings mentioned in the text refer to the true North, on account of the confusion arising from the great change in the variation of the compass at different localities included in the area covered by the report. For example, at Chesterfield inlet the compass points true North; while at Beechey island, in Lancaster sound, the variation amounts to 160 degrees, so that the north end of the needle points south-southwest.

The illustrations in the text of the report are from photographs taken by the author.

Acknowledgment is made of the kindness of Admiral Sir Arch. L. Douglas for his willing assistance in fitting out the Neptune at Halifax, where suitable Welsh coal and a fine steam launch, on his recommendation, were supplied by the Admiralty.

To Captain George Comer, of the American whaler Era, special thanks are due for his uniform kindness and courtesy during our long winter together, and for the valuable assistance rendered, by advice, information and services, to the expedition and to myself, personally.

The writer gratefully acknowledges a large amount of interesting details relating to the natives, whaling industry, geography and natural history obtained from the Rev. Mr. Peck, and from the Scottish whaling Captains Milne, Adams, Guy and Murray.

PRELIMINARIES TO AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE VOYAGE.

The Dominion government, in the spring of 1903, decided to send a cruiser to patrol the waters of Hudson bay and those adjacent to the eastern Arctic islands; also to aid in the establishment, on the adjoining shores, of permanent stations for the collection of customs, the administration of justice and the enforcement of the law as in other parts of the Dominion.

To perform these last duties, Major J. D. Moodie, of the Northwest Mounted Police, was appointed Acting Commissioner of the unorganized Northeastern Territories. Under his command were placed a non-commissioned officer and four constables of the Northwest Mounted Police, as a nucleus of the force that in the future would reside at these stations.

The Neptune, the largest and most powerful ship of the Newfoundland sealing fleet, was chartered as the most suitable vessel for the cruiser work. The Neptune is a stout wooden ship, built entirely of British oak, sheathed with ‘iron-bark’ and greenheart. Although built in 1873, she is quite sound throughout, and of amazing strength. Her sides are formed of an outer sheathing of four inches of greenheart, on top of four inches of oak, covering heavy oak timbers, with an inside lining of three inches; the space between the inner and outer skins and the timbers is solidly filled with rock-salt, so that the sides of the ship are practically eighteen inches thick in all parts where a contact with the ice is expected. The bow is further reinforced by a heavy sheathing of iron plates, and inside it is backed with deadwood, giving it a thickness of eight feet. The Neptune is of 465 tons net register, and has engines of 110 nominal horse-power. This means that the ship will carry about 800 tons of coal and cargo, and that her engines will develop about 550 indicated horse-power; sufficient to drive the loaded ship at the rate of eight knots an hour. The engines, unlike most of the whaling and sealing ships, are placed amidships, while the vessel is rigged as a three-masted schooner, with low masts and little sail power.

Early in June, 1903, I had the honour to be appointed, by the Honourable Mr. Préfontaine, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, to the command of the expedition to Hudson bay and northwards, on board the Neptune. I received instructions to proceed immediately to Halifax, to make necessary alterations to the ship, and to purchase all the provisions and outfit required for a two-years’ voyage in the Arctics.

The ship—which only had accommodation for a small crew—was in the same state in which she had returned from the spring sealing voyage. After a thorough cleaning, carpenters and machinists were put aboard, and the work of alteration rushed day and night. A bridge-deck, covering the boiler and engine, was erected, with a small chart-house upon it. Alterations were made to the after cabin, and a new saloon and staterooms, for the use of the scientific staff, were made between-decks, forward of the main hatch. The remainder of the between-decks forward was converted into storerooms and sleeping quarters for the petty officers and the Mounted Police detachment. The upper forecastle was fitted up for the crew and firemen. All the sleeping quarters were arranged so that a small air space separated the sides of the ship from the berths, and all ironwork was covered with wood. The value of these preparations was appreciated during the ensuing winter, when no frozen moisture was found in any part of the ship so treated, while elsewhere the bare sides had a thick coating of frost.

‘Neptune’ and ‘Era,’ Fullerton Harbour.

All these additions and alterations were made in a month’s time, during which the stores and provisions were purchased and delivered on board, together with materials for the stations on shore.

The preparations being completed, the Neptune hauled out from the dock and anchored in the harbour on the evening of the 22nd of August.

THE CRUISE TO WINTER QUARTERS IN HUDSON BAY.

All hands were busy during the morning of the 23rd of August, in securing the heavy deck-load, consisting of lumber for the stations, which was piled high on the afterdeck, and on both sides of the bridge. Oil barrels and tins completely covered the quarterdeck, while potatoes and other vegetables were stowed in all corners, even the rigging having its load of fresh meat.

At noon the anchor was lifted, and we steamed out of the harbour of Halifax, not to return until the middle of October of the following year. A favouring breeze helped the ship along, and in the evening we were well on our way eastward along the southern coast of Nova Scotia. The following evening the eastern end of Cape Breton was passed, and we stood northward to cross Cabot strait to Newfoundland. A strong breeze from the northwest sprang up in the night, when, owing to our heavy deck-load, the ship had to take shelter under St. Paul island, where we remained until the morning of the 26th. Fine weather favoured the passage across the gulf, and through the Strait of Belle Isle. Our first stop on the Labrador coast was made at Dominoe, where it was expected that a supply of codfish would be obtained. Unfortunately the season was very backward, and no dry fish had yet been made on the coast; a few pairs of sealskin boots were, however, obtained there. Continuing, with fine weather, northward along this grandly picturesque coast, Nachvak bay was reached on the 31st.

Our interpreter was supposed to reside here, but on reaching the small Hudson’s Bay post, it was found that he was at Port Burwell, at the mouth of Hudson strait. More sealskin boots and a couple of barrels of trout were purchased from the agent; then, as our tanks were low, we steamed some ten miles to the head of the bay, to a small river of excellent water. The scenery about the bay is very grand; cliffs of 3,000 feet present their rugged barren faces on both sides, rising directly from the water and terminating skywards in lofty mountains with sharp peaks. Large patches of snow fill the upper valleys, where they accentuate the rocky desolation of the peaks.

Another clear, calm day brought us to Port Burwell, a few miles inside Cape Chidley, the northern point of the Atlantic coast, where the division line is drawn between the territory to the eastward, under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland, and that of the Dominion to the westward. Between Nachvak and the cape, the mountains of the coast reach their highest elevations, some of the peaks rising to upwards of 6,000 feet. The outline is extremely rough, the land rises abruptly from the coast and the scenery is very grand. As Cape Chidley is approached, the general elevation becomes lower; the land finally sinks into the sea with the Button islands, which form a group extending some miles beyond the cape. The heavy tides of Ungava bay exhaust themselves in the passages between the islands, and, in doing so, cause very dangerous currents. Gray strait, lying between the cape and the inner islands, would form an excellent ship canal, if it were not for these strong currents, which cause a dangerous sea when the tide is running against the wind, especially when the wind is eastward and the Atlantic swell heaves into the strait.

Crew of the ‘Neptune’ in Winter Costume.

Port Burwell is an excellent harbour, sheltered from all but the southwest winds, and, even with these, distant capes break the force of the wind and sea. The harbour lies on the western side of Gray strait, and about fifteen miles from Cape Chidley. It was originally discovered by Commander Gordon, who erected one of the Observation Stations there in 1885. The surrounding country, although low in comparison with that to the southward, is rugged, with steep rocky cliffs, that rise from 100 to 500 feet above the water of the harbour. There is little level ground in the neighbourhood, and the trading post established there is situated on a small inside harbour, which cannot be seen from the anchorage. Trade is carried on with some dozen families of Eskimos living on the coast, and this is supplemented by the seals caught by the agent.

This is probably the most convenient and safest place for the establishment of a customs station for the regulation of the shipping trade, entering or leaving Hudson strait, and a small expenditure for lights would make it a safe port of entry at all times. The south side of the mouth of Hudson strait, during the season of ice, is much less embarrassed than the northern side; as a rule, Port Burwell is free of ice early and late in the season.

Some little trouble occurred in securing the services of Ford as interpreter, he being under employment at the station; but the matter was finally satisfactorily arranged with the agent.

PORT BURWELL TO CUMBERLAND GULF.

On the following day the voyage was continued northward from Port Burwell. A fog came on shortly after we left, and continued for three days, during which land was only sighted twice. When the fog partly lifted, on the evening of the 4th, we found ourselves close to the shore of Cumberland gulf, and about twenty miles east of Blacklead island. The ship anchored in one of the many bays of the high rugged islands that fringe the coast.

A landing was made near the anchorage, and a few hours spent in climbing over the steep, high hills of gneiss and granite, which rise from 500 to 1,000 feet above the sea, while the summits of the hills on the mainland behind often attain an elevation of 2,000 feet. Almost continuous inland navigation is afforded by the channels, behind the islands, lying along the entire southern coast of the gulf. The hills are very rugged, and show signs of glaciation, though much less marked than those on the hills of the Labrador coast. The higher valleys are filled with snow, but there are no real glaciers.

The weather cleared about noon next day, and towards evening the mission and whaling stations at Blacklead island were reached. A series of photographs of the place and of its natives was taken while Major Moodie was explaining the intentions of the Government to the missionaries and to the agent of the whaling establishment.

The settlement consists of a dozen small, one-storied, wooden buildings, comprising the house and storehouses of the whaling station, the church, hospital, dwelling house and outbuildings of the missionaries. All are located at the southeast end of the island, a few feet above tide water. The surface is rock, or very moist boulder clay, without drainage, and the refuse from the native encampment makes the surroundings very filthy. The water supply is obtained from small ponds, in hollows of the rocks on the hill behind the houses. As the neighbourhood is overrun with dogs, and as the natives often build their snow houses directly over the ponds, the quality of the water is very bad, and probably accounts for much of the sickness prevalent here.

Head of Nachvak Bay, Labrador.

The mission is under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Peck, who for many years has devoted his life to the instruction and welfare of the Eskimo about Hudson bay, and, of late years, on Baffin island. He is ably assisted by two younger men, both of whom have had medical training. The headquarters of the mission are at Blacklead, from which place the missionaries travel, several times a year, to Kekerten, on the north side of the gulf, and to Cape Haven, on Cyrus Field bay, to the south. In this manner all the natives of the southeastern part of Baffin island are reached. The work of combating ancient superstitions has been hard and slow, but the results of the mission are beginning to tell, and the natives are now taking rapidly to the teaching and precept of the missionaries. The total number of Eskimos reached is about five hundred, and they are all connected with, and depend upon, the whaling stations of Blacklead, Kekerten and Cape Haven.

During the summer months all the able-bodied men, with some of the women and children, proceed to the head of the bays, and thence far inland, to hunt the barren-ground caribou, to secure a supply of skins for winter clothing and bedding. They are absent until September. On their return they are employed at the whale fishery until the gulf freezes fast, usually early in December. During the remainder of the winter, they maintain themselves by harpooning seal through breathing-holes in the solid ice, or by killing them in the open water, at the edge of the floe. Whaling is resumed in March and continues until the ice breaks up; then the seal hunt begins and ends only when the time arrives to go inland again.

The whaling operations are carried on in a similar manner at all of the stations. At each, there are one to three white men in charge, but the actual work is done by the natives. The whales are taken by harpooning them from boats cruising among the broken ice, at the edge of the solid floe. Each station has from four to six boats; consequently nearly every able-bodied native is employed in them during the whaling season. They and their families, at such times, are fed with biscuit, coffee and molasses from the supplies of the station, but supply their own animal food. The men are paid irregularly for their work, usually in tobacco, ammunition and clothing, and they receive extra pay when a whale is captured. Of course the pay alone does not at all represent the value of the whale, but the expense of the station, and the few whales killed prohibit a large expenditure. On the whole, the whalers may be taken as beneficial to the Eskimos, and now that the latter have long been dependent upon the whalers for guns, ammunition and other articles of civilization, there is no doubt that many would perish should the whaling stations be closed without other provision being made for the accustomed supplies.

Having obtained a pilot at Blacklead, we crossed, the next morning, to Kekerten, which is situated on one of a group of small islands forming a harbour a few miles from the mainland of the north side of the gulf. Owing to the rocks, cargo can only be landed here at high water; the harbour is open to the south, so that the anchorage is not safe during the continuation of winds from that quarter.

A three-masted Norwegian schooner was found at anchor, discharging supplies, and loading the oil, whalebone and skins taken during the past year. The captain of the schooner and Mr. Noble, the son of the owner of the station, from Aberdeen, boarded us shortly after arriving; from Mr. Noble we learned that two whales had been taken in Cumberland gulf during the past year. The oil and bone from these, together with the oil and pelts of 3,000 seals, and some bear, wolf, fox and walrus skins would realize a handsome profit, and lend encouragement to the continuation of the stations, which, for several years previous, had not cleared expenses.

Port Burwell at Eastern Entrance to Hudson Strait.

Mr. Noble informed us that white whales are abundant at the head of the gulf during the summer, where they frequent the flat, muddy mouth of a river. They are driven by whaleboats up the river, on the rising tide, and kept there until the tide falls, when they become stranded upon the mud flats and are easily killed. This fishery has only been prosecuted in a desultory manner, and would probably pay if handled with judgment.

Two rivers on the north side, and one at the head of the gulf, are famous for their large Arctic trout, or salmon, which abound in the mouths of these streams during August. There is no doubt that a profitable fishery could be prosecuted in all these streams, as well as in many others along the coast to the northward and southward of Cumberland gulf, but as yet no attempt has been made to fish them for export.

The station at Kekerten consists of the usual half-dozen small buildings, all nicely painted, with the whaleboats ranged on skids, and barrels and tanks alongside clean and ready for use.

The same evening a return was made to Blacklead, where, taking on board Captain Jackson, the new master of Cape Haven station, and his boat’s crew of natives, we left again, under a brilliant moon, for Cape Haven. The south shore of the gulf was closely followed, past innumerable bays and narrow channels formed by the islands and deeply indented shores of that side.

Cyrus Field bay was reached late the next afternoon, with a strong northwesterly breeze. As the approach to Cape Haven is filled with dangerous shoals, it was thought unadvisable to attempt to enter it so late in the day, and the ship was headed up the bay, for a harbour known as Frenchman cove. We arrived at dusk, to find the narrow entrance blocked by a large iceberg, and the water too deep to anchor outside. A boat was sent off, and soon returned, reporting a narrow passage between the ice and rocks; with some danger this was passed, and the ship anchored safely in the small bay. Two small deserted houses perched on a narrow ledge of rock, close to the water, with a number of oil barrels in the rear, represent the remains of a former small trading station. The diminutive harbour is surrounded by sharply ragged hills of granite, whose summits are splotched with patches of snow; the valleys between are narrow and irregular, and are so thickly strewn with boulders and broken rock that nearly every trace of soil is hidden. The scant Arctic vegetation and the deserted houses enhance the desolation of the scene.

Having taken on board the casks of oil and a supply of fresh water, the ship was headed for Cape Haven, where a station, similar to those already described, was found on a snug harbour, behind a large island, near the end of the cape. This station belongs to Potter and Wrightington, of Boston, United States. For several years past it has been unlucky, and the few whales taken have paid neither the expenses of maintaining the station nor the cost of supplying it by a special vessel. Natives sufficient to man four whaleboats live about this station.

The general aspect of the country about Cyrus Field bay is somewhat similar to that of Cumberland gulf: high, rugged hills of gneiss and granite rise from 500 feet to 1,000 feet above the sea. The land on the northern side of the bay is lower, and the waters of this portion are broken by low islands and reefs, many of which become connected at low tide.

A long chain of islands separates this bay from Frobisher bay to the southward. These islands are all high and rocky; strong tides rush through the channels between them, and although several of the channels are reported to be safe for large ships, they are only used by the natives as short cuts to Frobisher bay.

Blacklead Island, Cumberland Gulf.

Cape Haven was left late on the afternoon of the 8th, and Hall island, at the eastern extremity of the chain separating the bays, was passed in the early evening. The course was then laid across the mouth of Frobisher bay, to pass to the eastward of the great island of Resolution, lying on the north side of the entrance to Hudson strait.

Monumental and Lady Franklin islands lie some twenty miles off the mouth of Cyrus Field bay, and are about ten miles apart. A continuous string of large icebergs stretched in a line between the islands, and continued for some miles beyond them, both north and south. They showed that the islands were but the exposed portions of a long dangerous bank, upon which the bergs had grounded. A similar line of bergs was observed about ten miles inside and parallel to the outer line. As this is the only knowledge possessed of these reefs, ships crossing them should use caution, although, in most places, sufficient water will probably be found.

HUDSON STRAIT.

The bold, rocky shores of Resolution were passed during the night and early morning, and during the afternoon we steamed westward along the southern shores of Baffin island.

The channel between Resolution and Baffin islands is some miles wide, but is obstructed by a number of smaller islands. Very strong tides rush backwards and forwards through the channel, rendering dangerous an otherwise good passage.

The southern shore of Baffin island is indented with many bays, and no doubt when this coast is surveyed excellent harbours will be found along it. The land rises rapidly from the coast, to an elevation of upwards of 2,500 feet; far inland is seen the glistening white surface of the great Grinnel glacier, which flows northward into Frobisher bay. Not being very active, it does not discharge icebergs.

The Saddle-back islands were passed in the evening; they number at least twenty, or double the number laid down on the chart. There are indications of good harbours between them. Soundings taken in the vicinity of the supposed Gripper shoal did not indicate any such obstruction to navigation. A large number of icebergs were passed during the day, having been apparently drifted into the strait by the westerly current of its north side, probably aided by favouring easterly winds. They were not very numerous to the westward of Big island.

The morning of the 10th the ship was off Douglas harbour, and, from there, coasted along the south side of the strait to Cape Weggs, whence a passage was taken for the east end of Charles island. The north side of that island was closely followed, in order to survey it.

Kekerten Harbour, Cumberland Gulf.

Near the western end of the island many walrus were seen in the water and upon a small islet close to the shore. As several of these animals were required for dog-food during the coming winter, the ship was anchored in a small harbour near by, and early next morning the small launch was lowered ready for the chase. Soon after leaving the ship, several hundred walruses were seen sporting in the water about the islet. They were in bands, varying in numbers from ten to twenty, each band probably composed of an old male and his harem. A band would be singled out, and the launch, at full speed would put after it. When the animals became aware that they were being chased, they would endeavour to escape by diving, always keeping close together. At first they would remain under several minutes, and would travel four hundred yards; as the chase became hotter and hotter, the length of the dives gradually decreased, so that, finally, the animals could hardly remain below the surface. The launch was forced among the tumbling mass of frightened creatures, and when directly over them, a man in the bow would select a large one, and drive a harpoon into it. The head of the harpoon was fastened by a few fathoms of line to an empty water keg, and as soon as the harpoon was fast the keg was thrown overboard. This harpooning is necessary, as the animals sink as soon as they are killed, and the buoyancy of the keg is required to keep them from being lost. When one had been harpooned, the launch was stopped, and the rest of the band continued to flee. Now comes the dangerous moment of the chase. The wounded walrus rises to the surface, and immediately attacks the launch, which it endeavours to capsize by fixing its tusk over the side. Quick shooting is the order, and even with a storm of bullets, many a monster has to be rapped over the head or pushed away with guns and spears. After this experience with the few first killed, it was found that by keeping the propeller in motion and the whistle blowing, they would not attack the launch, but would waste their energies in an endeavour to destroy the keg; consequently the danger of the sport was considerably lessened. Upwards of half a dozen shots, at close range, were necessary to kill each walrus. As soon as one was dispatched, it was towed to the ship, or to a convenient cove at the shore. Seven were captured during the day, and hoisted on board, where they completely filled the after deck. Owing to the difficulty of securing these large animals, at least twice that number, fatally wounded, were lost; we later found this to be the usual proportion of killed to captured, where these animals are hunted for their skins and blubber, a waste of life altogether too great.

That evening the ship was headed for Cape Wolstenholme, and early next morning came to anchor in Erik cove, close to that headland. Advantage was taken of a fine convenient stream of fresh water to fill the nearly empty tanks. During the day, two large white bears were killed by the hunters. The first was seen climbing along the steep cliffs fronting the harbour, the second being found in a deep hole that it had dug into a large snowbank, on the side of a high hill, and into which it had retired for a cool sleep.

Erik cove is an excellent harbour formed by a wide gully in the high hills of this part of the coast. The bay extends inland about two miles from the general coast-line; and good anchorage is found within a quarter of a mile of its head. On both sides, hills from 800 feet to 1,500 feet afford good protection against all but north winds. Unfortunately the bay is V-shaped, and quite open to the north, so that with strong winds from that direction it would be unsafe, and, during the season of ice, the danger would be considerably enhanced, as, owing to its shape, the ice would be liable to block, and to force a ship on shore without much chance of escape. A small river which flows down the continuation of the gorge winds from side to side of a low plain, which narrows as it extends backwards from the sea, up the valley. An excellent site for houses might be found on the plain near the mouth of the river.

HUDSON BAY.

Squalls of snow delayed us until the afternoon of the 13th, when we steamed westward along the north side of Digges islands. A bear was seen climbing over the cliffs, and a boat was lowered in chase, but the animal escaped. In the evening, the course was changed to northward, up Fox channel. At daylight the next morning ice was met with some ten miles from Leyson point. Steaming slowly through it, Seahorse point, on Southampton island, was reached at noon, and a landing was made with the launch. During the absence of the launch, the ship was sent out into the ice to the northeast, in order to examine its condition. It was found to be in large cakes of heavy rafted ice, too solid to penetrate at such a late date.

Walrus in Smith Sound.

Seahorse point is at the junction of the granites and gneisses with the Silurian limestones. There is here a marked difference between the southern limestone area and the northern country, underlain by the crystalline rocks, with its typical long, low, rounded hills, lying in roughly parallel ridges, and separated by wide shallow valleys, dotted with lakes and ponds, or filled with coarse boulder clay, with boulders scattered in bewildering profusion everywhere. This land, although high by contrast with the limestone country, seldom reaches an elevation of 500 feet, and that only far inland. There is one conspicuous peak, which rises like a great sugar loaf, far inland, its snow-capped summit of the lightest blue.

The limestone country occupies all the southern part of this great island, and also underlies the large islands of Coats and Mansfield farther to the south. The same physical characteristics prevail wherever the limestone is found. The low shores are bounded by gradually deepening water, broken by dangerous reefs that extend several miles from the land. The country rises very slowly inland, from the shores, in a succession of low, broad terraces, each a few feet higher than the one in front. These terraces are covered to a depth of several feet by broken limestone, which affords perfect drainage, and in consequence the surface is so dry that it will not even support a covering of the hardy Arctic plants. This absence of vegetation leaves the monotonous light-yellow shingle quite unrelieved by any dash of other colour, and the general view is one of dry desolation, much worse than that of the hilly country. The limestone region never reaches an elevation of one hundred feet within walking distance of the shore.

The ship lay-to during the night, among scattered pans of ice, about five miles from the land, and in forty fathoms of water. Late in the evening two walruses were killed on ice pans close to the ship.

A return to the southward was made at daylight, and the ice was finally left after passing Leyson point. During the passage through the ice, in the early morning, hundreds of walrus were seen asleep on the floating pans, and were left undisturbed. Skirting the low shores of the so-called Bell island, Evans strait was entered, and, late in the afternoon, we passed close to Walrus island in Fisher strait. This island is composed of crystalline rocks, and although not very high, it is conspicuous in contrast to the low shores on both sides of the strait. The island is much smaller than shown on the chart, and is only one island, not two, as marked there.

While passing through Evans and Fisher straits, soundings were taken every five miles. The bottom was found to be very even, and covered with fine sand or limestone debris. During the day the low shores of Southampton were in sight, without any feature sufficiently marked to afford a triangulation point.

The absence of ice in any part of Fisher strait led to the belief that no channel existed between Bell island and Southampton. This has since been confirmed by the captains of the Era and Active, both having narrowly escaped trouble in trying to pass through this supposed channel, which, if it does exist, is very shallow and narrow, even at high tide, and is so obstructed with shoals as to be absolutely dangerous.

During the night of the 15th we passed the western entrance of Fisher strait, and turned northward, up the west coast of Southampton. Frequent soundings, taken as the ship passed over, or very close to, the position of Tom island on the chart, gave no indications of it.

This island was placed on the chart, on the authority of Captain Lyon, but nobody has since seen it.

Fullerton Harbour.

The 16th was thick and foggy, so that when the distance to Cape Fullerton had been run down in the evening, and the water had shoaled to twenty-five fathoms, the ship lay-to for the night. In the morning, standing to the westward, breakers were seen at nine o’clock; shortly after, several low islands were passed, and at noon the launch was sent ahead to sound the way into a long bay, which subsequently proved to be Winchester inlet. A good harbour, sheltered by islands, was found on the east side of the bay, and about three miles from its mouth, where the anchor was dropped at six o’clock in the evening.

The country surrounding Winchester inlet is very similar to that bounding the whole of the northwestern part of Hudson bay. The country is underlain by Archæan crystalline rocks, and has all the physical characteristics common to similar areas in the south. Long, gently rounded hills, of slight elevation, form the higher grounds, with wide, shallow valleys between them. The whole has been intensely glaciated, and the abrasion of the great ice-cap has reduced the general surface to as near a level surface as is possible, considering the varying resisting properties of the different rocks found here.

There is no soil upon the rocky hills, while that of the valleys is largely boulder clay, in which the coarser material predominates, leaving little room for the growth of Arctic vegetation upon the finer materials of the soil. Boulders scattered in profusion over the rocky hills give to the latter a peculiar ragged appearance. Lakes and ponds dot the valleys, and much of the land surrounding these is low and swampy.

The shores of the bay are low, and are masked, in most places, by a wide fringe of low rocky islands, while beyond the islands the danger zone is continued several miles seaward by a labyrinth of sunken reefs. The bottom of the bay, beyond these reefs, continues very uneven, so that in the portion between Winchester and Chesterfield inlets there is danger of a ship grounding, when beyond the sight of the low shores. The proximity to the magnetic pole accounts for the sluggishness of the compass in these waters, where no reliance can be placed on it. This, with the uncharted, low coast, bare of prominent landmarks, renders the approach to any of the harbours uncertain and dangerous.

Inland from the shores the country rises slowly; indeed, the general elevation does not increase towards the interior above ten feet a mile, while along the shores there are no hills more than fifty feet high.

Our instructions were to find, and, if possible, to pass the winter in company with the American whaling ship known to be in Hudson bay. The whalers formerly wintered at Marble island, or at Depot island; the former is to the southward of the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, the latter close to the entrance of Winchester inlet. Marble island has long been abandoned, chiefly on account of its insufficient water supply. Within the last few years a more convenient harbour was found close to Cape Fullerton, and the large launch was fitted out to search for it, the Era not being in the harbour at Depot island.

A strong gale lasted from the 18th to the 22nd, and we were very lucky to be in such a good harbour. While awaiting an abatement of the gale, several Eskimos came overland to the ship, and were taken aboard. They were from Cape Fullerton, and were going inland from Winchester inlet to kill barren-ground caribou for their winter clothing. They had seen the ship as she passed, but could not reach us with their whaleboats owing to the gale. We learned from them that the Era was already in winter quarters at Fullerton. This information rendered the proposed trip in the launch useless, and it was therefore determined to send her up Chesterfield inlet, as the only place where a sufficient supply of deerskins for our winter clothing could be procured from the natives. The services of an old Eskimo, named Scotty, were secured as pilot for the launch, while another, Gilbert, consented to pilot the ship to Fullerton harbour.

The crew of the launch consisted of the second mate, third engineer, a fireman, sailor, the interpreter, Scotty and myself. We left the ship early on the morning of the 23rd, and the launch behaved admirably in the heavy head sea raised by the recent gale. A southerly course was followed, past Depot island, but the numerous shoals gradually forced us away from the mainland, so that the boat was ten miles from the mainland at the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, and even at that distance considerable difficulty was experienced in keeping clear of the shoals. They were eventually passed without mishap, and the course was changed to westward along the south side of Promise island, and then along that of the inlet, so that by dark we were fifty miles above its mouth. After steaming twenty miles farther, on the following morning the lower Eskimo settlement was reached, situated on a large bay on the north side of the inlet. All the men were absent hunting deer, and although there were many skins about the encampment, the women would not part with them without the permission of the men. The latter were not expected back until the next evening, so it was determined to continue on to the upper encampment, located thirty miles above the lower, on the southern channel, past Bowell island, where the inlet discharges from Baker lake. This encampment was reached early in the afternoon, and the absent hunters were signalled for with smoke. They arrived about two hours after us, and a lively barter was kept up until after dark, upwards of fifty skins and a considerable quantity of meat being purchased for powder, tobacco, knives and files. Four tents of Eskimos were at this place, which is a noted crossing of the deer in their annual migrations to the north and south. Great numbers had already been killed, and half-putrid heads were scattered in all directions about the tents.

Early next morning the launch was headed east, and, assisted by a strong tide, soon reached the lower encampment. The men were still absent, and did not return until the following morning, when we secured about as many skins and as much meat as at the upper camp. Leaving early in the afternoon, we continued down the inlet; at dark, the pilot became confused amongst the many islands off Dangerous point, and advised anchoring until daylight. An anchor watch was set, and the remainder of the crew went to sleep, to be awakened at midnight by the startling news that the launch was aground and the tide still falling. Efforts were immediately made to float her, but without avail. She soon fell over on her side, when the water rushed in, partly filling her. Some of the crew were then set to ferrying the cargo to a neighbouring island, while the rest bailed out the water and endeavoured to keep it out as the tide rose again, but without success, so the energies of all were devoted to saving everything possible. Many things were lost during the hurry and darkness, and daylight came to a cold and forlorn party stranded on a small island. Arrangements were made, during the morning, to erect the boat mast as a Spanish windlass, and with the assistance of the small boat to raise the launch upright with the next rising tide. Unfortunately the tide did not fall low enough to free the boat of water, or to permit a fair trial of our improvised tackle. The ponds of fresh water were already frozen over, and the weather was becoming cold and boisterous; not a day, therefore, could be lost in sending the twelve-foot dinghy to Fullerton for assistance. The energies of the party were now devoted to transferring the goods and cargo from the island to the mainland, about a mile distant, as it would not do to leave the party on an island without means of reaching the shores of the inlet. This work continued until dark, when, after a hurried meal, Wells, Ford and Scotty were sent off in the dinghy, with instructions to reach the Neptune as soon as possible; the remainder of the party, wrapped in their blankets, laid down for a deserved rest. The following days were spent in drying and cleaning the skins and other articles saved from the wreck, and in hunting and fishing, neither of which was successful.

Wreck Camp, Chesterfield Inlet.

During these days the weather became cold, and several inches of snow fell, which added to the discomfort of our temporary shelter. Early on the afternoon of the 3rd of October the smoke of the Neptune was seen far down the inlet, and she came to anchor at dark in a harbour about ten miles to the east of the camp. Captain Comer, of the Era, in one of his whaleboats manned by natives was the first to arrive the next morning, and was followed later by three of the ship’s boats. Ropes were fastened to the launch and boats, and as the tide rose the wreck was lifted from the bottom and buoyed into shoaler water alongside the island, where it was left until the next tide. Leaving sufficient men to continue the work, Captain Bartlett and the writer started in the whaleboat, double-manned, for the ship late in the afternoon. We had gone only a short distance when a heavy snowstorm came on. We continued rowing in this very thick weather until ten o’clock, when, within a couple of miles of the ship, we were obliged to stop owing to the intense darkness. We landed on a small island and made a partial shelter from the storm by placing the boat sail against a low cliff. The quarters were so small that all were obliged to stand, and so the night was passed. Next morning it took two hours to dig the sail from under the snow, after which we resumed our journey to the ship and only reached it by the help of a long line attached to a keg, paid out to us from the ship, which was reached at eleven o’clock, after an exciting and exhausting twenty-four hours.

The crew of the dinghy had made excellent time on their trip to Fullerton to seek relief. The first night they made only a few miles, being very tired and having a strong tide against them. The next day the mouth of the inlet was reached; the night following they slept at Depot island. Next day with a fair wind and heavy sea they arrived close to Fullerton, and reached the ship the following morning. The Neptune started to our relief that afternoon, and anchored for the night off Depot island, Captain Comer, who had kindly volunteered, acting as pilot. The next day, when out of sight of land, on the north side of the entrance to Chesterfield inlet, the ship struck twice, and was in shallow water all the way to Promise island, after which the water of the inlet was found to be uniformly deep.

The gale in which we reached the ship continued for three days. On the evening of the 3rd of October the men with the boats returned to the ship, and reported having had a very rough time of it, in the makeshift camp there. On the 8th the ship steamed up the inlet and anchored close to the sunken launch. Efforts to bring her alongside the ship were immediately undertaken, and next morning she was successfully hoisted aboard. In the afternoon we started down the inlet, and anchored for the night a few miles above Promise island. On the 10th a heavy gale blew from the westward, accompanied by frequent, thick snow squalls. The anchor was raised at daylight on the morning following, when, keeping well to the southward of the shoals beyond the mouth of the inlet, we arrived safely at Fullerton at dusk that evening.

‘Neptune’ in Winter Quarters.

Southampton Island.

CHAPTER II.
WINTER QUARTERS AT FULLERTON.

The Neptune had safely arrived at Fullerton harbour on the 23rd September, and had dropped anchor close alongside the Era. Major Moodie, after looking over the ground, decided to erect a Police Post on the large island at the rear of the harbour. The lumber for the building was immediately landed, and before the ship left for Chesterfield inlet the frame of the dwelling had been erected and its sides partly boarded.

The harbour of Fullerton is formed by a number of small islands, situated on the east side at the mouth of a long bay, and about five miles from Cape Fullerton, at the entrance to Roes Welcome. The harbour is quite small, with room for about three ships, and is fully protected by the islands and reefs surrounding it. The usual entrance is from the westward, where the channel is not above fifty yards wide, and the water at high tide is only five fathoms deep. The eastern entrance is narrower, and a ship is obliged to make several sharp turns when passing through it. Owing to the low even coast, without any landmark in the vicinity, the position of the harbour is difficult to locate without entering the wide danger-zone of shoals. The wide fringe of islands to the westward practically ends at Fullerton, so that a ship making the coast may know the position by the presence or absence of islands; but as the islands are very low it is hard to distinguish them from the mainland at a safe distance away, as the shoals and reefs extend more than five miles beyond the harbour. The surveys made in the spring of 1904 show that a fairly safe channel will be found by keeping well to the eastward of the harbour, and by then following a northwest course, keeping in line the beacons on a small island about a mile outside the harbour. When the Beacon island is reached the ship should pass in mid-channel between it and the adjoining island to the westward; passing these, the outer harbour island should be given a wide berth, until the entrance to the harbour is opened fully, a long shoal extending from the western point of the island.

On the return of the Neptune to Fullerton, immediate preparations were made for the coming winter. The first undertaking was the cutting of a large quantity of ice, from a fresh-water pond close to the house and about a mile distant from the ship. The ice was about nine inches thick, and one day’s work, by the entire crew, sufficed to cut and to store enough to supply the ship with fresh water until the ponds melted again in the spring. The detachment of Mounted Police, assisted by some of the crew of the Era, were busily engaged in finishing their house and shed. Floating ice soon hampered landing operations. On the 17th October the ice in the harbour set fast and, soon after, the work of transporting materials to and from the shore was done with sleds.

By the end of the month, the ship had been placed in a north-and-south position, so that her bow faced north into the prevailing cold winds. The decks were covered with a temporary roof, made from a part of the lumber intended for the police buildings. This housing kept the snow from the decks, and greatly increased the inclosed space on the ship. It later proved so comfortable that the carpenter worked in it, almost without interruption, throughout the winter, at the repairs to the launch. The house and shed were made weather-proof, and a supply of provisions and outfit, sufficient to keep the ship’s company until the following summer, was stored in them, as a precaution against the destruction of the ship by fire. The galley was moved from the deck to between-decks, and the range connected with two large copper tanks, in which the daily supply of ice was melted; at the same time all the provisions likely to be injured by frost were stored alongside the range. All the oil and powder were stored on an island away from the provisions, and the boats placed either on shore, or on the ice alongside the ship.

Shortly after our arrival the natives congregated about the ships, and to avoid misunderstanding, an agreement was made with Captain Comer, that he should care for the Aivillik tribe, while the Kenipitu tribe would belong to the Neptune. By this arrangement, about a dozen able-bodied men and their families fell to our portion, and about double that number to the Era. The men were employed, during our stay at Fullerton, in banking the ship with snow, hauling ice and other necessary outside work. Several of them hunted continuously, and at small cost kept the ship in fresh caribou meat throughout the winter. They received little pay beyond their food, which consisted chiefly of the scraps left from the meals.

Dr. Faribault had shown signs of mild insanity, almost from the time of leaving Halifax. On the 1st of November he became violently insane, when, on the advice of Dr. Borden, he was placed in charge of the police as a dangerous lunatic. The poor man had to be confined in a cell, and watched continuously. His condition became worse and worse, until he was happily released by death on the 27th of April following.

As soon as the ice became sufficiently thick to bear the load, a wall of snow about three feet thick was erected around the ship, and raised to the top of the temporary decking. Sails, spread on the roof, were covered with about a foot of snow. By these means all draughts were effectually kept out of the ship, and the temperature of the interior was raised several degrees. Holes were cut in the banking to allow light to enter the ports and windows, and snow porches were erected over the exits on each side; the deep holes at the ports resembled embrasures, and the general appearance of the ship was that of a floating fort.

When the labour for preparing for the winter was finished, the ordinary work about the ship was hardly enough to keep the crew in health, and all were encouraged to hunt or attend lines of fox-traps for exercise. This proved much better than formal exercise at stated times, and the general health remained good throughout this long period of enforced idleness.

Only two meals were cooked daily during the short days of mid-winter, breakfast being at ten and dinner at four, an informal supper being provided in the evening.

Games and cards were provided for the use of all; musical instruments, including a piano, were in frequent use, while a weekly lecture, dance and newspaper went far to agreeably pass away the long winter evenings, which were further relieved by visits between the ships, and to the snowhouses of the natives built on the ice close alongside.

Snowhouses on Ice, near the ‘Neptune.’

On the night of the 11th of December a second sad occurrence happened. When everybody was busy preparing letters for the mail about to be sent to Churchill by a couple of Eskimos from Baker lake, James O’Connel, a cabin-boy of weak mind, left the ship to go to the snowhouses, and wandered away in a snowstorm, which commenced shortly after his departure. He had been in the habit of hiding behind the launch, or in other places about the decks, where he would remain for hours, and, in consequence, his absence was unnoticed by his mess mates until the following morning. Immediately upon the alarm being given, the crews of both ships and all the natives turned out and searched systematically, in all directions from the ship, but, owing to the blizzard, without success. The storm continued to rage during the next two days, so that it was only on the 15th that definite information concerning his fate was obtained by the natives, who traced his track in the snow to the open water in the southwest some three miles from the ship, where the poor fellow had gone before the strong wind. There is no doubt that death came quickly, and we were relieved of the thoughts of his possible sufferings had he continued to wander about the country and finally died of exhaustion and cold.

The short days of mid-winter and the excessive cold of the early spring practically rendered impossible any surveying or other outside scientific work until the month of April, when preparations were made for exploratory and surveying work. During the winter Mr. Crossman made a very efficient ice-boring machine, which worked admirably in making holes for sounding through the thick ice. Weather observations were taken five times daily during our stay at Fullerton, and these, together with the readings taken on the voyage, are printed in Appendix No. I., where also will be found a summary of the climatic conditions, prepared from the observations by Mr. Stupart, Superintendent of the Canadian Meteorological Service. A list giving the thickness, week by week, of the ice in the harbour, will also be found in that appendix, and is interesting as showing to what a late date the ice continues to increase, the maximum thickness of seventy-four inches having been obtained on the 25th April.

SPRING EXPLORATIONS.

On the 11th April Mr. Caldwell left the ship, accompanied by five natives, with instructions to explore the coast northward to Wager inlet; and if the conditions of weather, food and dog-food would permit, to continue his work to Repulse bay, returning before the ice along the coast broke up. His outfit and provisions were carried upon two dog sleds, one of which was to return after helping him over the rough ice of the shore of Roes Welcome. He succeeded in the exploration of Wager inlet, but, owing to the delays caused by bad weather, was unable to reach Repulse bay. Mr. Caldwell on his trip did a large amount of excellent work in surveying the coast-line and examining the rocks met with along the route.

At the same time Mr. King was engaged, when the weather permitted, in making an accurate plan of Fullerton harbour, the channel of approach and the environments within a radius of thirty miles of the ship. Several hundred soundings were made with the aid of the boring machine, the soundings being under the charge of Mr. Ross. As a result an accurate chart of the harbour and channel has been prepared for the use of the ships calling there.

Owing to the serious illness of Dr. Faribault, whose death was expected daily, and to other causes, I could not leave the ship on any long trips at this time, and my out-door work was confined to the superintendence of the surveys, and to such geological work as could be accomplished within a day’s journey of the ship.

Hauling the Winter Water Supply.

On the 4th of May, accompanied by two Eskimos, I left for an exploratory trip along the coast to the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, in order to connect the work of Caldwell with that of Tyrrell. This work was accomplished in ten days, during part of which we were confined to our tent, and almost buried by the heaviest snowstorm of the year. A sketch survey was carried to the mouth of the inlet, and all rock exposures on the way were examined. The rocks met with were chiefly granite, with masses of dark schists inclosed in the granite areas. Some of the schists were cut by quartz veins, which carried small quantities of pyrite, but nowhere sufficiently concentrated to be of value. The most promising locality seen was on the islands a few miles to the westward of Fullerton, where the veins were numerous, and where the natives report some veins well mineralized.

On the return journey the country about Winchester inlet was examined inland for a distance of forty miles. A description of its physical character has already been given.

Mr. Caldwell arrived back safely on the 30th of May. The first rain fell on the 21st, after which the weather gradually lost its wintry character, and although by no means warm, was sufficiently moderate to allow the surveying work to go on without much discomfort.

From the first week in June all hands were busy removing the winter coverings, and getting the ship in order for the coming summer.

WHALEBOAT TRIP TO SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND.

Captain Comer had kindly invited me to accompany his boats on a whaling trip to Southampton island, and for this purpose had lent me two boats fitted with covers for the trip. Accompanied by Dr. Borden, two seamen and six Eskimos, we left the ship on the morning of the 15th June, being transported to Cape Fullerton over the shore-ice by dog-teams to where the boats were found hauled out on the ice close to its edge. The morning was quite cold and boisterous, and not at all pleasant for a boat cruise. Our boats and the four belonging to the Era were soon loaded and launched. A fair wind allowed us to sail northward through a narrow lead of open water between the shore-ice and the moving pack, which completely covered the sea outside. Early in the afternoon we reached the other boats, manned by natives, hauled out on the ice and covered in for cooking operations. A cup of hot coffee soon reduced the chill received in the boats. The journey was then resumed, but in a short time the ice closed in on the shore, obliging us to haul our boats on to the solid ice, where they were propped upright, and soon roofed with cotton covers stretched over light wooden frames. This turned each boat into commodious and comfortable sleeping quarters, and soon the evening meal was being cooked over the oil stoves. The ice remained tight on the coast, and it was only with great difficulty that the boats were forced through it a few miles to Whale point, where we remained hemmed in the next day.

At Whale point a small house was erected some years ago as a station by one of the American whalers. It is situated on the summit of the point, and a ladder leads to the roof, where a small platform served as a lookout station for whales swimming in the ice-laden waters of Roes Welcome. This is a favourite camping ground for the Aivillik natives in the early summer, whales, seals and walrus being then plentiful in the adjoining waters, and the barren-ground caribou numerous within a short distance of the coast.

According to Captain Comer, more whales have been killed within sight of Whale point than in all the rest of Hudson bay; on this account, and from the ease with which it might be supplied, it would probably prove an excellent place for a post from which to control the whale fishery. The water supply, obtained from small pools in the rocks, is rather bad, owing to the number of dogs and natives about.

Mr. Caldwell Starting North.

Two days were occupied in crossing from Whale point to Southampton island, and as Roes Welcome was full of floating ice, several exciting moments were experienced when the ice came together with each change of tide, threatening to crush the boats if not quickly hauled out on a convenient heavy pan. The monotony was also broken by the capture of a bear and several large seals. We remained in company with the whalers for two days after reaching the island, and coasted southward to Cape Kendall without seeing any sign of a whale. As our work was chiefly on land, we then determined to part company, they continuing southward while we made inland excursions. The ice was still fast to the shore, from which it extended seaward from two to six miles. The boats were of necessity at the edge of the ice, and the long tramp through deep slush and water to and from the shore was fatiguing and cold. Only the ridges on the land were free of snow, which was still deep in all the hollows. The weather was now sufficiently warm to keep the snow soft and wet, and to make a passage from one ridge to another necessitated wading waist deep through the snow. Under these conditions extensive journeys inland were impossible, and we were confined to the shores of the island. Good collections of fossils from the limestones of the island were obtained, and a large number of bird skins and eggs were collected. It was unfortunately too early in the season for plants.

The western shores of Southampton are low. The land behind rises in a succession of ridges each a few feet higher than the one immediately in front. These ridges are formed of broken limestone, evidently the surface portion of underlying ledges. Very little vegetation grows on the ridges, but in the wide depressions between them there is a profusion of grasses and other Arctic plants on the wet ground surrounding the many ponds and lakes found there. The shores and islands of these lakes are the breeding grounds of a number of rare birds, among which may be mentioned Sabine’s Gull, Arctic Tern, Whistling Swan, Hutchen’s Goose, Snow Goose, Jager, Little Blue Crane and Red Phalarope.

The water is usually very shallow for two or three miles from the land, and reefs of limestone extend much farther out. About Cape Kendall dangerous reefs are found at least eight miles from the land.

We remained on the island a week, gradually working northward, until we were about ten miles to the north of our original landing place, or some forty miles beyond Cape Kendall. Advantage was taken of a fine evening to re-cross Roes Welcome, and we started at midnight in broad daylight. Shortly after leaving, a large whale came to the surface close to the boats and remained in the vicinity for upwards of thirty minutes. The crossing was safely made during the day, the only incident being the meeting in mid-channel of an extensive mass of very heavy ice, some of its pinnacles being upwards of thirty feet above the water; the natives said it was a large floe from Fox channel. We were obliged to sail several miles to the northward in order to pass this floe, and so reached the mainland a few miles south of the mouth of Wager inlet, and a like distance from Yellow bluff, where the Aivilliks spend the late summer. Nothing of note occurred on the passage down the coast, and the ship was again reached on the 2nd of July.

Little change was apparent in the condition of the ice since our departure, and the solid floe, extending a couple of miles beyond the harbour, gave little hope of the ship being released by the approaching high tides. The ship was now ready to leave as soon as the ice would permit, but this did not happen until the 18th, a marvellous change taking place daily in the condition of the ice for a week previous to that date.

American Whaleboats in Roes Welcome.

A Greenland Iceberg.

CHAPTER III.
SUMMER CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE IN 1904.

HUDSON BAY.

The anchor was hoisted and the moorings to the ice cast off at two o’clock on the morning of the 18th of July, when the Neptune proceeded to break her way out of Fullerton harbour, after having been nine months there fast frozen in the ice. Little difficulty was experienced in breaking the harbour ice, when, following a pilot boat, the narrow eastern entrance was soon passed and the ship was once more free. Loose stringers of small ice extended a few miles from the shore, after which only occasional lumps were seen during the day, as the ship steamed across to Cape Kendall, and then followed the west coast of Southampton southward. The southwest point of the island was passed before midnight. This point lies well to the northward of its position on the chart, or in about 63° N. latitude.

The low southern shore of Southampton was followed during the night, and only a few stringers of ice were met with. At four o’clock in the morning the island was lost to sight, and by noon we were steaming along the equally low shores of Coats island, with the small but prominent Walrus island in sight to the northward. Ice to the northward gradually forced the ship closer to the shores of Coats, where, after passing a wide bay, partly filled with large, low islands, we coasted within two miles of a prominent headland about four hundred feet high, which forms the northeast cape of Coats, and which was named Cape Préfontaine in honour of the Honourable the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. These highlands appear to traverse the island diagonally in a southwest direction, coming out at a lower altitude on the south side of the island several miles west of Cape Pembroke. This ridge is due to a band of crystalline rocks, which rises from beneath the low flat limestones forming the remainder of the island. A large whale was seen while passing through Fisher strait.

Beyond Cape Préfontaine the ice became more plentiful, and many large pans were met with. The ice had the appearance of being lately broken up, and owing to its smooth unrafted condition we judged it came from Fisher strait, rather than from Fox channel to the northward. During the night this ice forced the ship southward into the channel between Coats and Mansfield, so that the western shore of the latter was reached some twenty-five miles to the south of its northern end.

Open leads in the ice were found from three to five miles from that island, and no difficulty was experienced in gaining its north end. This island of limestone is somewhat higher than Coats and Southampton, rising inland in low broad terraces to an elevation of upwards of a hundred feet. Small patches of snow were seen under banks and along the faces of the terraces, but elsewhere the green colour showed that considerable vegetation covered the greater part of its surface.

Midnight in Smith Sound.

Similar lanes of water, between large cakes of ice, afforded an easy passage from Mansfield to Digges islands. A great amount of ice was seen to the southward, apparently completely filling the channel between Mansfield and the mainland. To the northward some open water occurred, but the patches became smaller and smaller as Digges was approached, and finally ceased to the eastward of these islands, the southern part of the western end of Hudson strait being completely filled with ice.

A strong southerly wind had been blowing all day, and it was hoped that it had loosened the ice along the southern shore of the strait. The ship was taken under the land, but without success, so that after butting through the slowly closing ice all night, we were finally tightly beset in the early morning, about three miles from the eastern Digges island. The 21st was foggy, with snow flurries in the morning and showers in the afternoon; the ice remained tight about the ship all day, and she drifted eastward with the ice, passing Cape Wolstenholme, and in the evening being about five miles to the east of Erik cove. At that time considerable open water could be seen about five miles from the ship to the eastward, with a few narrow lanes in the rear, and other small openings to the northward, where the dark sky showed considerable open water beyond our view.

HUDSON STRAIT.

Persistent ramming forced the ship through about five miles of ice on the morning of the 22nd, when she was again tightly beset until the evening, at that time being about twenty-five miles to the eastward of Cape Wolstenholme, this distance having been made by the drift of the ice. The ice slackened again at eight o’clock in the evening, when after an hour’s heavy work we got into a lead of open water under the land, and continued at full speed all night, steaming east in a lane from two to four miles wide.

At five o’clock next morning we were off Deception bay and the western end of Charles island. The bold coast along which we had been passing all night now became less abrupt, and this change was accompanied by shallower water in the sea fronting it, so that when seven miles from the mouth of the bay, soundings taken at the edge of the ice only gave twelve fathoms, with indications of an uneven bottom, where it would be dangerous to be caught in the ice if the wind should change and force it upon the land. The ship was turned into the ice, and in an hour had reached a place of safety. In the afternoon, with clearing weather, the ice opened, and not much difficulty was experienced in forcing between the loose pans, first towards the east end of Charles island and later more easterly, so that when the ice again closed we were about ten miles northeast of Cape Weggs.

During the night and following morning we continued to drift rapidly to the eastward. Before noon we were opposite the mouth of Douglas harbour, having made fully twenty miles of drift during that interval.

The ice began to slacken at ten o’clock, when we got under way, and forcing the ship towards the north at noon we were in open water, with a heavy northerly swell, which showed an open sea in that direction. Only a few small icebergs and broken pans of ice were seen during the remainder of the trip to Port Burwell, which we reached on the evening of the 25th, but in crossing Ungava bay the lower temperature and an ice-glint to the southward indicated some ice in the southern part of that bay.

The following summary of the condition and extent of the ice met with on the passage from Fullerton to Port Burwell may prove of interest and value. The northwestern part of Hudson bay was quite free of ice, and none to obstruct navigation was found in Fisher and Evans straits. Large quantities of ice were encountered between the mouth of Evans strait and Digges at the western end of Hudson strait, but without serious trouble safe passages were found through it, and there is no doubt that an ordinary unprotected iron steamship would have passed through it at that time without trouble or danger. This ice, evidently the product of the past winter, consisted chiefly, as has been mentioned, of large flat sheets that had only a short time previously broken from their original position, for there were no signs that it had been subjected to pressure or to the action of a swell. The edges of these large cakes had not been crushed, and many soft thin spots were seen which would disappear with the slightest pressure or swell. Along with the predominating flat ice was a considerable amount of rafted ice of the same character, and also of portions apparently subjected to pressure during the past winter. All the ice was comparatively light and thin, which led to the belief that it had come out of Fisher strait, and from the southward up the channel between Mansfield and the eastern mainland, the meeting of these streams producing the blockade at the western end of Hudson strait. Owing to its thinness and rotten character, the greater part of this ice would melt a few days after we passed it.

The ice in the western part of Hudson strait was somewhat heavier than that described above. Much of it was rafted ice in small cakes, and there was a small number of ancient, heavy, discoloured pans that had evidently come from Fox channel. This ice completely filled the side of the strait, and probably extended to Nottingham island, but there was open water on the north side of the strait through which the whaler Active had already passed on her way into Hudson bay. The important point to be noted is that during all the times that the Neptune was beset by the ice during the passage east along the south side of the strait, there was never any sign of the surrounding ice rafting by the pressure occasioned at the change of tides, and never was the pressure about the ship sufficient to cause damage to an unprotected iron ship.

There is little doubt that if a more northerly course had been taken on the passage eastward much more open water would have been found, including an unobstructed passage from at least the western end of Charles island, while to the westward open lanes would probably have extended from the neighbourhood of Nottingham island.

During the early part of July ships proceeding out of Hudson bay will probably find on the southern side of Hudson strait, or rather on the southern side of the mid-channel, the best and safest passage, owing to the easterly currents of that side. Ships entering Hudson bay at this time should follow the northern side of the strait, keeping as far as possible away from the land, especially that of Big island, until that island is passed, when the mid-channel should be held past Nottingham island, and from there the course should be laid to pass within easy distance of the north end of Mansfield island. The strong tides in the eastern part of the strait, and especially about Big island, cause the ice to close with considerable pressure at the change of tide, and this dangerous pressure is most severe close to the land.

We arrived at Port Burwell on the date arranged before leaving Halifax for meeting the relief ship. By a coincidence the Erik, bringing our supply of coal and fresh provisions, arrived in port only an hour ahead of the Neptune. The ships were soon moored alongside, and the mail from civilization was distributed to the ship’s company, this being the first news of the outside world received in eleven months.

Ice off Cape Wolstenholme.

VOYAGE TO THE ARCTIC ISLANDS.

A week was spent at Port Burwell, transferring the coals and provisions from the Erik to the Neptune, and in landing a large quantity of coal and provisions for the use of the Northwest Mounted Police. All this work having been finished, both ships weighed anchor early on the morning of the 2nd of August, the Erik bound south for Newfoundland and the Neptune northward for Smith sound.

Major Moodie having decided to return to Ottawa, left on the Erik, and that ship also carried our second steward, who was invalided home, along with a sailor of the Era who, during the past winter, had nearly died of scurvy.

The course was laid across the mouth of the strait, and at noon the snow-covered cliffs of Cape Resolution bore north-northeast, distant about twenty miles. A few icebergs were passed during the afternoon, but no field ice was seen until the following evening, when a few heavy pans were met. As the weather was thick with fog the ship slowed down for the night, and the course was changed more to the eastward. Thick fog continued until the afternoon of the 6th, when, the weather clearing, we found ourselves about twenty miles to the westward of the great island of Disko, on the coast of Greenland. The scenery of the island is very grand; the shore-line is deeply indented by narrow bays, from which the land rises abruptly into irregular mountain masses, terminating in sharp peaks, whose loftier summits were hidden in the straight line of clouds formed from the recently risen fog. All the higher valleys were filled with great glaciers pouring slowly down into a sea dotted with numerous fantastic icebergs. The contrast between the dark sombre rocks of the hills and the dazzling whiteness of the glaciers was enhanced by the streams of sunlight which flooded the interior, while the coast was veiled by the fog clouds.

The weather remained clear throughout the night and next day, as we passed northward along the rugged coast of Greenland, catching many views of its great ice-cap behind the numerous high islands that fringe the coast. The greater part of the surface of these islands was free from snow; glaciers were only seen in the higher valleys. The ice in the long fiords and the channels had broken up and been carried away, so that only numerous icebergs were seen along the shores. In the afternoon considerable heavy field ice was passed on the west. Our noon observation placed us about twenty miles off the Danish settlement of Upernivik, to the northward of which the sea was filled with great icebergs, they being especially numerous in the neighbourhood of the Devils Thumb island, so named on account of the prominent peak bearing some resemblance to that member.

When the Duck islands had been reached the ship’s course was changed to westward to cross the dreaded Melville bay. This great bay owes its bad name to the quantities of heavy ice infesting its waters during the early summer, and the whalers count themselves lucky if the delay does not exceed three weeks.

We steamed directly across for Cape York, ahead of a strong gale of wind accompanied by heavy rain and sleet, and saw no ice until within a short distance of the cape, where broken floes and icebergs formed a fringe extending a mile or so from the land. Continuing westward close along the outer margin of the ice we were abreast of Cape York at three in the afternoon, having made a record passage across the bay.

Parker Snow Bay, North Greenland.

The weather becoming very thick, we shortly after stood inside the outer stringers of ice, and kept close to the ironbound coast in order to sight Conical island, and so reach the fine harbour of Parker Snow bay just inside the island; this was successfully accomplished, and the ship was brought to anchor near the head of the bay. The wind freshened during the night, and in the morning blew so strongly that it was impossible to reach the shore with the ship’s boat. At noon the wind registered forty-eight miles an hour, and some of the gusts were much stronger.

The wind fell towards evening, allowing us to land. We were now well north of the Arctic circle, and a bright sun remained visible all night.

An ascent of one of the glaciers at the head of the bay afforded valuable information concerning the ice-cap and glacial phenomena, discussed later in the report. A sharp rocky hill, 960 feet high, divides the glaciers; this was crossed and the descent made by the second glacier, where much trouble was experienced crossing the deep gullies cut into it by surface streams of water. Neither of these glaciers discharges into the sea, their fronts terminating against high steep banks of boulder clay brought from above by the moving ice. A light pink gneiss, cut by many veins of quartz apparently all quite barren, is the chief rock of these hills. The hills surrounding Parker Snow bay rise in abrupt cliffs nearly 1,500 feet above the water; the country then rises less abruptly another thousand feet to the lower level of the great ice-cap which covers the entire interior of Greenland.

SMITH SOUND.

On our return to the ship the anchor was raised and we left the bay, passing the great Petiwik glacier at midnight, with the sun shining over the top of its five-mile front of ice, which ends in abrupt low cliffs of ice rising directly from the sea. Large icebergs are frequently broken from this long face, and hundreds of them are seen aground on ledges for miles on both sides of the glacier.

The westward course was followed a few miles farther, after which the ship turned north through the fine channel between Cape Atholl and Wolstenholm island. A small amount of loose ice was met with in the channel and in the crossing to Saunders island. The crystalline rocks which occupy the coast from Cape York give place here and to the northward to almost horizontal beds of sandstones and lighter coloured rock, probably limestone. Large masses of dark trap are associated with these bedded rocks, either as sills injected along the bedding, or as dikes approaching more or less closely to the vertical.

Cape Parry was passed at eight o’clock on the morning of the 10th, when, crossing the mouth of Whale sound, we followed the channel between Northumberland and Herbert islands, having a fine view of their high cliffs of sandstone and light-coloured rock, which rise almost perpendicularly from 500 to 1,000 feet above the sea. Similar cliffs occupy the coast of the mainland from the north side of Inglefield gulf to the neighbourhood of Etah, at the narrowest part of Smith sound. The day was very fine, and only a few loose pans of floe ice and many icebergs embarrassed the course followed by the ship.

The upper portions of Whale sound, Inglefield gulf and McCormick bay were filled with ice, which from a distance appeared to be still unbroken from the shores. During the day walrus were frequently seen in groups upon the floating pans of ice, where many large seals lay basking in the sun. The walrus were most numerous on the ice between Cape Alexander and Etah, where attempts were made to photograph the larger groups, but without success, as it was late in the evening and the animals were unusually wild.

As the coast is followed northward the cliffs and the mainland behind become lower, so that about Cape Alexander the general level of the front of the ice-cap does not appear to be greatly over 1,000 feet in elevation.

A Glacier of Bylot Island.

On the trip northward the ship passed close to several of the places where the Eskimo usually reside during the summer months, but no signs of them were seen as far north as the Littleton islands, whence we crossed to Cape Sabine, after making a call into the harbour of Etah, famous as the most northern human habitation on the earth, being 78° 30´ N. latitude. At Etah we saw a number of deserted underground houses, where the natives live during the winter, and a small quantity of coal left by Peary, who used this place as headquarters during one of his attempts to reach the pole.

Our voyage northward was stopped by heavy sheets of Arctic ice coming down Smith sound in the vicinity of the Littleton islands. Into this neighbourhood it would be dangerous and foolish to force the ship for no definite purpose. A crossing was therefore made to Cape Sabine, and considerable anxiety for the ship’s safety was felt passing between the great pans of thick solid ice, some of which were miles in extent, and rose from three to six feet above the water, with pinnacles of much greater height. Some very hard knocks were given to the ship as she was forced through the heavy ice from one lead of water to the next, and everybody felt relieved when the little harbour at Cape Sabine was reached in safety.

A landing was made here, and a visit paid to the last winter quarters of Peary, which are situated near the eastern end of the cape on the side of Payer harbour, formed by a few small islands lying a short distance from the cape. The harbour being full of ice, the ship could not enter it, but stood off under steam, it being dangerous to anchor with the large sheets of heavy ice passing southward on the tide. The landing was made about a mile from the house, which was reached by climbing over the granite cliffs of the shore, at two o’clock on a delightfully calm, clear morning, with the sun well above the horizon.

The station consists of two small houses, that belonging to Peary being the old deck-house of his ship the Windward, the other, a small building with single-boarded sides, in which the Stein expedition spent two winters. The houses were only a few yards apart, both about fifty yards from the water, and surrounded with the usual heaps of old tin cans and empty boxes found about northern quarters where the staples of food are carried in cases. A large amount of putrid walrus blubber was scattered everywhere about the place, and the smell from it was far stronger than that of a deserted snowhouse in springtime, which was our previous limit to pungent and disagreeable odours. On a low rocky hill, a few yards behind the houses, were the burial-mounds of five Eskimos, four adults and one child, all wrapped in musk-ox skins and loosely covered with stones. An old gun, snow knives and other gear belonging to the dead were placed alongside the graves. These must have been very pleasant company during the long Arctic night, especially so close to the scene of the Greely disaster, where many of that party died of starvation and sickness before relief could reach them.

When one has been at the headquarters of these Arctic expeditions, a good idea is gained of the difficulties and privations of those engaging in polar research. Peary was here, over eight hundred miles in a straight line from the pole, forced to make many trips to transport his provisions and outfit to the farthest land before he could attempt his dash across the rough Arctic pack for the pole. The pluck and daring of such men are to be admired, but the waste of energy, life and money in a useless and probably unsuccessful attempt to reach the pole can only be deplored, as no additional scientific knowledge is likely to be gained by this achievement.

Cape Herschel, Ellesmere Island.

On our return to the boat, we found that a very large floe had come between us and the ship, and in doing so a corner of it had caught on a small island and had gone completely over it, showing the momentum of these great cakes, and the hopelessness of the attempt to build a ship sufficiently strong to withstand the pressure exerted by such ice moving on the tide when suddenly arrested by land or by motionless ice. A narrow lane of water still showed between the floe and the land, and by hard rowing we got safely through before it closed, when the ship butted the way through other ice and finally took us on board.

Ross bay was now crossed in order that a record might be left at Cape Herschel on the mainland of the great island of Ellesmere, Cape Sabine being on an island separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. When about a mile from Cape Herschel, going full speed, and while an attempt was made to pass between two small icebergs, the ship struck heavily on a sharp point of rock. Luckily she did not hang, but bounced over it, striking again amidships and finally on the stern post. A sounding taken within two hundred yards of the rock gave a depth of seventy fathoms, from which it was concluded that the rock was a sharp submerged peak, with the icebergs grounded on two sides of it. The pumps were immediately sounded, but the ship was found to be making very little water, and the full extent of the damage was not known until the vessel was placed in dry-dock at Halifax, when it was found that the blow in the bow had loosened the iron stemplate, which was subsequently lost in butting the heavy ice, and the lower stem was carried away to the ends of the planking. Luckily the Neptune is eight feet thick in the bow, and could stand a great deal of damage there without serious danger to her floating qualities. Seventy-five feet of the keel was removed by the second blow and the stern-post twisted and broken by the third.

It took little time to attend to the duties of the landing at Cape Herschel, where a document taking formal possession in the name of King Edward VII., for the Dominion, was read, and the Canadian flag was raised and saluted. A copy of the document was placed in a large cairn built of rock on the end of the cape.

The return to the ship was made at half past six in the morning, when, steaming southward, the heavy dangerous ice from Smith sound was soon left behind. We continued southward all day, passing as close to the land as the ice would allow, so as to make a chart of this badly surveyed coast. The survey was carried to a point about fifteen miles to the south of Cape Isabella, where the weather became foggy, and progress through the ice was only possible by following leads of open water running southeast or diagonally away from the coast.

The ice met with during the crossing of Smith sound and for a few miles southward of Cape Sabine was chiefly large masses of thick Arctic ice, lately brought south by the northern current from Kennedy channel, where the fast ice appeared to have broken loose only a short time previous to our arrival, and was quickly emptying out of the great channel leading direct to the Arctic sea. All of this ice was solid, and from twenty to forty feet in thickness, and could not be of the previous winter’s formation as no ice of that thickness can be formed in one season. The greater part of it probably had been formed on the surface of the Arctic ocean, during one or more years’ drift across the polar regions before it entered the northern part of Kennedy channel, where it had remained during the past winter, and was now passing south to mingle with the other ice of the ‘middle pack’ of Baffin bay. Much of the ice met with to the southward was composed of large sheets of similar heavy Arctic ice cemented together by thinner ice of one season’s formation, evidently drifted out of some bay to the southward of Cape Sabine. It had quite recently broken away in great sheets (one of which took three-quarters of an hour to steam past) from the mouths of the bays whose inner surfaces were still tightly frozen as we passed them. The diverse character of these large sheets is further increased by the number of small icebergs often seen frozen into the mass along with the polar sea ice.

The eastern side of Ellesmere island is quite high, the probable general elevation exceeding 2,000 feet and perhaps 3,000 feet. The coast-line is broken by many deep bays and prominent headlands. The land rises precipitously from the frozen sea into irregular mountains, whose partly rounded peaks are as a rule masked by an ice-cap which appears to be continuous along this eastern coastal region, although it is said not to continue for any great distance inland. Great glaciers fill all the valleys and actively discharge icebergs into the bays. Only the projecting rocky headlands and some of the lower points facing south in the bays are free of snow and ice, so that at least nine-tenths of the surface is permanently covered by an icy mantle. This is in marked contrast to the Greenland coast opposite, where all the outer cliffs and the shores are comparatively free from snow and ice. The cause of this marked difference of climate is probably due to a divergence of direction of currents along these coasts. On the Greenland side a southerly current, comparatively free of ice, allows the open sea to raise the general temperature, while on the Ellesmere side the Arctic current, with its continuous stream of ice, blocks the bays and does not allow the open water to ameliorate the cold of the ice-covered lands. The prevailing easterly winds also carry more moisture to the west side, causing it to be masked by fog at the time of brilliant sunshine on the opposite coast.

The 12th proved thick and dirty, with much rain. Land was only seen in the early morning, and not again until five o’clock in the evening, when a number of small islands showed our position to be off Cape Horsburg, the northeastern point of Philpot island, on the northern side of the entrance to Lancaster sound; we had therefore passed across the mouth of Jones sound without a sight of the land on either side.

LANCASTER SOUND.

Short glimpses of the land on the north side of Lancaster sound were obtained when the fog lifted at intervals during the night. These showed a high country, with many moderately sharp peaks rising in the foreground above the white mantle of ice of the great glaciers of the valleys. Discharging glaciers were particularly numerous along the head of the wide Croker bay.

At eight o’clock in the morning we arrived at the mouth of Cuming creek, a long narrow bay a few miles west of Croker bay. Being short of fresh water, and the weather promising to be bad, we proceeded ten miles up the bay before finding a place sufficiently shallow to drop anchor, but this was finally done on the edge of a bank formed by the material brought down by a small river flowing into the head of the bay. We remained at anchor here until the next evening, the wind during that time blowing strongly from the eastward, accompanied with thick fog and occasional flurries of snow.

The crystalline rocks, which occupy the eastern part of the great island of North Devon, are overlaid by nearly flat-bedded limestones, in the western part commencing on the west side of Croker bay. This change of rock is accompanied by a change in the physical character of the coast as the ragged irregular granite hills of the eastern land are replaced by a flat tableland which rises in nearly perpendicular cliffs directly from the sea to elevations varying from 800 to 1,200 feet. Behind these the land rises in steps to nearly 2,000 feet, where it is lost beneath the ice-cap of the interior. The cliffs of limestone have been deeply sculptured by all the streams of water, great and small, so that the coast resembles on a gigantic scale the banks of a stream flowing through a clay country. This portion of the coast extending to Beechey island at the southwest point of North Devon, is deeply indented with many long narrow bays similar to Cuming creek, in which we were anchored. While there, landings were made to collect plants and fossils, and an attempt was made to reach the tableland, but proved unsuccessful owing to the impossibility of scaling the perpendicular cliff near the summit. The land about the bay was particularly desolate and barren, the little vegetation found being along the courses of the small streams. No trace of land animals was seen. Walruses and seals were observed sporting in the waters of the bay, and a large colony of Burgomaster gulls pointed to the presence of fish.

The anchor was lifted at eight o’clock on the evening of the 14th, and two hours later we were steaming westward close under the cliffs in order to make a survey of the coast. This was completed to Beechey island by eleven o’clock next morning, when the ship again came to anchor.

The cliffs to the westward of Cuming creek gradually become lower, and the crystalline rocks below the limestones soon disappear beneath the sea. A few small glaciers discharge into the sea in the neighbourhood of that place, but as the coast is followed westward the ice-cap retreats inland, and is finally lost sight of, nothing being left to break the monotony of the dirty yellow colour of the limestone except a few patches of struggling vegetation that increase towards the westward where the climate is evidently milder.

As many of the crew as could be spared were allowed to land at Beechey island to visit this historic spot, where the ill-fated and heroic Franklin and the crews of the Erebus and Terror spent their last winter on land, and where the headquarters of the search party was established in subsequent years.

Beechey island is comparatively small, being only a square mile or so in extent. It lies at the southwest end of North Devon, and is connected at low tide by a narrow neck with the larger island, thus forming the good anchorage of Erebus harbour. The southern side of the island is a small hill, from three to four hundred feet high, with steep cliffs facing the water and less abrupt slopes northward, where it falls to the level of the low plain of the rest of the island. A flagstaff crowns the summit of the hill. The lower part of the island rises from the waters of the harbour in a succession of three or four low terraces each a few feet above the one in front, and all covered with small loose limestone shingle, where a few hardy flowers struggle for existence on the dry barren surface.

The ancient settlement was placed on the edge of the plain, close to the foot of the hill, and facing eastward. On the shore are the ice-battered remains of a small sloop, now completely dismantled, and a large mahogany lifeboat badly broken by the ice. On the first terrace, a few yards above the high-water mark, stands the frame of the ancient house, with a low stone wall along its north and west sides. Inside and between the walls are many casks of provisions, all of which have been broken open and the contents spoiled. A small platform cart, showing few signs of its long exposure to the weather, stood beside the house, and was brought home as a souvenir. Scattered in profusion over the terrace and along the shore were the empty tins of the notorious Goldner’s Patent, which had been opened, found rotten and condemned by Franklin, thus reducing his stock of supposed tinned provisions. Old cask staves and hoops were mingled with hundreds of leather boot soles, evidently left by some of the relief expeditions.

Franklin Monument at Beechey Island.

On the next terrace, a few yards in rear of the house, a wooden cenotaph surmounted by a round ball and set in a small platform of cemented limestone was erected to the memory of Franklin and his heroic associates by one of the subsequent expeditions, and to-day stands in a fair state of repair. Resting face-downward on the platform, alongside of the cenotaph, was a large marble slab, inscribed, as a tribute to the memory of Franklin and the crews of the Erebus and Terror, by citizens of the United States. A brass plate, affixed to the lower part of the slab, records that it had been brought from Disko to its present resting place by McClintock in the Fox, when he obtained final proof of the total destruction of Franklin’s ill-fated party. The slab was raised and photographed, and then replaced on the ground to avoid the danger of its being broken by the winds. If another expedition visits this place the material for a suitable foundation for the slab should be taken, so that it may be erected as originally intended.

On the barren plain, a few hundred yards from the house, are four graves marked by small wooden crosses, the last resting place of two of Franklin’s crews and two belonging to the search parties.

A sealed tin case was found attached to the cenotaph, and on opening it a record of the Norwegian Magnetic Pole Expedition was found. The record stated that the Gjoa, with the expedition on board, had arrived here in the latter part of August, 1903, after having picked up the provisions left for them at Dalrymple island by one of the Scotch whalers, and were proceeding immediately down Peel sound in order to get their ship as near as possible to the magnetic pole before the sound became frozen over. As this was the last tidings from this expedition the record was taken away, and since our return has been forwarded to the Norwegian government. The Gjoa in which the expedition sailed is a small but stout sloop, with auxiliary power supplied by a gasolene engine. The only danger to the party is in event of the Gjoa being unable to free herself from the ice when the time comes for a return. As the expedition is aware of the whaling and police establishments in the northwestern part of Hudson bay a retreat there may be made without great difficulty, if accompanied by natives.

We were forced to leave Beechey island hurriedly, owing to a large quantity of ice being driven rapidly out of the harbour by a fresh breeze and a falling tide, which threatened to separate us from the ship.

From the island no ice could be seen to the westward or northward in Wellington channel and Barrow strait. Our instructions limited the cruise westward in Lancaster sound to our present position, and the damaged condition of the ship, together with a supply of provisions insufficient for another winter in the ice, all militated against the desire to attempt the Northwest Passage, which under favourable conditions seemed possible in our staunch powerful steamship.

We left Erebus harbour at half-past two in the afternoon, standing southward across Lancaster sound for North Somerset island. At five o’clock some loose stringers of ice were met, and the course was changed to the eastward to avoid them. The north wind freshened to a gale accompanied by fog, and trouble was experienced in making the channel between Leopold island and Cape Clarence, at the mouth of Prince Regent inlet. The cape was passed at ten o’clock. The ship then steamed south, along the high cliffs of limestone, for Port Leopold, where we arrived at midnight. These cliffs rise 1,000 feet perpendicularly, being formed of nearly horizontal beds of limestone of different thicknesses and various shades of yellow, so that the cliff has a marked horizontal banding. The rocks appear to have long been submitted to the action of the weather and of small streams, each of which has cut a more or less marked gully into the face of the cliff, and the whole, taken together, give the appearance of vertical fluting, while the weathered tops have a castellated finish like that of some gigantic fortress. The cliffs fall away abruptly into a long low point of shingle which partly closes the mouth of the spacious and safe harbour of Port Leopold.

Provisions Left for the ‘Gjoa’ at Port Leopold.

As we steamed into the harbour what appeared to be an overturned boat with a wooden ‘lean-to’ built against it was seen at the end of the low point, with a small Danish flag flying. The whistle was blown, but no sign of life appeared about the place, and thinking that the Magnetic Pole expedition might perhaps have met with some disaster and that the survivors might be in want, a boat was lowered and the doctor was sent ashore with stimulants and warm blankets. Happily his services were not required; the supposed boat proved to be the boiler of a steam launch, left here by one of the Franklin search parties. Against it were piled a number of cases of provisions left a few days previously by the whaler Windward for the Gjoa, and marked by a small flag flying above them.

The light-coloured limestone forms the bottom of the harbour, and gives the water a dangerous looking, light tinge, which is quite misleading, as the depth is sufficient for the largest ships. The east and west sides of the harbour are bounded by high cliffs, while at the northern end the land is low, and it is not far across it to the bay on the northern coast lying directly west of Cape Clarence.

North Somerset has physical characteristics closely resembling those of North Devon; the limestone cliffs of the northern shore, however, appear to be somewhat lower and more broken than those of the northern island, while the amount of snow and ice of the land is considerably less. The high perpendicular cliffs of the east side appear to continue far to the southward down Prince Regent inlet.

The wind increased during the night, and blew a gale all next day, strong and almost continuous gusts from the high hills sweeping the crests from the waves and rendering a landing impossible. The wind fell away towards morning. On the 17th a landing was made on the point, the flag was hoisted and a copy of the Proclamation and of the Customs Regulations was left in the boiler. Close alongside lay the wreck of the launch, destroyed by the ice, only the keel, some of the timbers and lower planking remaining. Signs of the whalers and of natives were plentiful on the point, where the circles of stones and fireplaces marked the tents of the former, and other fireplaces showed where the whalers had been ‘trying-out’ whale blubber. A curious sled-runner of teak was picked up on the beach. It was about six feet long and full of holes bored for lashing on the shoeing, which was of walrus ivory, and further secured to the runner by wooden pegs. The wood was either from the wreck of the launch, or more likely from that of the Fury, lost early in last century, some miles to the southward of Port Leopold, on the western side of Prince Regent inlet. The evidence of great age in the runner points to the latter origin.

Port Leopold was left shortly before noon, and we were soon tossing in the head sea caused by the past gale. The wind changed to eastward, and within an hour of leaving the harbour we were again inclosed in a thick fog, which rendered a return impossible. The fog lasted until the next evening. During the interval we steamed cautiously across the mouth of Prince Regent, Admiralty and Navy Board inlets, and with clearing weather found ourselves outside the Wollaston islands that lie a few miles from the northwest corner of Bylot island. A parting between the lower and upper fog gave a beautiful ribbon-like picture of the rough snow-covered coast and peaks of Bylot island flooded with bright sunshine, in marked contrast to the gloomy, foggy weather about the ship.

A wide belt of heavy field ice, which was dangerous to enter in the low fog that obscured the shores, lay along the land; consequently the impressions of the northern part of the island were obtained from a distant view between the banks of fog. The scenery was characteristic of the northern lands occupied by the crystalline rocks, the principal feature being sharp rugged peaks upwards of 1,500 feet in height, rising above the deep glaciers of the valleys and backed by a continuous ice-cap a few miles inland.

PONDS INLET.

During the night much field-ice and many icebergs were passed as we steamed along the shores. Next morning at eleven o’clock, having rounded Cape Graham Moore, we came to an Eskimo encampment just inside Button point on the north side of the entrance to Ponds inlet. A landing was made at the mouth of a small stream, on the clay banks of which were located thirteen cotton and skin tents of these natives. All the able-bodied men were away in the whaleboats, either at Erik harbour, on the south side of the inlet, or some distance up it. There were a large number of women and children who, with a few sick men, completely filled a whaleboat in which they visited the ship in search of food. Many were sick with a disease resembling typhoid-pneumonia, being troubled by internal bleeding and a high fever.

We secured the services of a very intelligent man as pilot to the place some miles up the inlet where the Scotch whalers were anchored. From him we learned that the sloop Albert had wintered in Erik harbour, and that two small whales had been captured by natives in her boats during the early summer. Continuing our way up the inlet, a second encampment of six tents was passed about six miles beyond Button point. From the pilot we learned that the total native population about Ponds inlet comprised thirty-five families, or one hundred and forty-four persons. The only other band on the northern shores of Baffin island lived at Admiralty inlet, and does not exceed forty persons in all. Members of this band annually visit Ponds inlet to trade for the necessary supplies of ammunition, knives and other articles to be obtained from the whalers. At this time over one-half of the population of Ponds inlet were away inland to the southwest after a supply of deerskins for winter clothing, and would not return before the snow fell. The deer country is free from snow during the summer, and consists partly of rolling country, with a few high hills, but principally of a plain, cut by many streams and dotted with numerous lakes, the deer feeding on the grass and shrubs which are plentiful in the interior.

Bylot island is everywhere high and rough, and supports few deer except in the northeastern interior. The ice-cap, seen everywhere from the coast, does not extend far inland, where much of the land is bare in summer. The natives of Ponds inlet frequently cross to Fox channel and Repulse bay. During the past winter a party returning from the latter place brought letters from the whaling station at Repulse bay. They also occasionally cross to North Somerset, where of late years musk-oxen have been killed. This journey is at rare intervals continued across Lancaster sound to North Devon, where many deer and musk-oxen are found along the western side, while bears and walrus are plentiful among the ice of Wellington channel. In the winter all congregate at Button point, where the early part of the season is spent in houses built half into the ground, the low walls being made of boulders and whalebones cemented together with clay and sods, the roof being a portion of the summer tent. The ordinary snowhouse is used, as in other places, after the snow falls and until the late spring. During the winter food is obtained by killing narwhals and occasional seals and walrus in the open water at the edge of the solid ice near the mouth of the inlet. The whales come in July and sport about the mouth of the inlet until the ice breaks up, when they either follow the solid edge in its retreat up the inlet, or pass southward along the coast. In former years at least half of the whales taken by the Scotch whaling fleet were captured in the vicinity of Ponds inlet.