THE OPEN POLAR SEA:

A

NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
TOWARDS THE NORTH POLE,

IN THE

SCHOONER "UNITED STATES."

BY

Dr. I. I. HAYES.

NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON,
1867.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
I. I. Hayes,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.

I HAD INTENDED TO DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO
WILLIAM PARKER FOULKE,
Of Philadelphia,
To whom I am indebted
for all that a powerful intellect and
a generous friendship could do, to give practical
shape to my plans, and to insure success to an enterprise
in which I had embarked, with the simple advantage of an aim,
and with no better guide than the impulse of youth: but
since it is denied me to pay that tribute of my
admiration to one of the noblest of men,
I now inscribe it to his
MEMORY.

PREFACE.

The design of this book may be briefly explained. I have attempted little more than a personal narrative, endeavoring to select from my abundant notes such scenes and incidents of adventure as seemed to me best calculated to bring before the mind of the reader, not merely the history of our voyage, but a general view of the Arctic regions,—its scenery and its life, with a cursory glance at those physical forces which, in their results, give characteristic expression to that remote quarter of the world. A day of months, followed by a night of months, where the mean annual temperature rises but little above zero, must necessarily clothe the air and the landscape with a sentiment difficult to appreciate, or, I might perhaps say, feel, without actual observation. I shall be abundantly rewarded if I have succeeded in impressing upon the reader's mind, with any degree of vividness, the wonders and the grandeur of Nature as unfolded to us under the Arctic sky.

I know it is usually thought that a book of travels should be simply a diary of events and incidents; but this, of necessity, involves a ceaseless repetition, and it seemed to me that I would do better to drop from my diary all that did not appear as immediately relevant to the scene; and, indeed, where the occasion appeared to require concentration, to abandon the diary altogether, and use the more concise form of descriptive narrative.

The reader will observe that I have not attempted, in any sense, to write a work of Science. True, the purpose of the voyage was purely a scientific one,—its chief object and aim being to explore the boundaries of the Open Polar Sea; at least to determine if such a sea did exist, as had been so often asserted; but while I have given a general discussion of the conditions of the Polar waters and the Polar ice, and have recorded many new facts in various departments of physical and natural science, yet I have desired to treat the subject in a manner which, as it seemed to me, would be most acceptable to the general reader, rather than to the scientific student,—preferring to direct the latter to those more strictly scientific channels where my materials have been or are about being published.

Soon after returning from the North, my principal records were placed at the disposal of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington; and I have employed such leisure as I could command in their elaboration and discussion,—the principal labor, however, falling upon Mr. Charles A. Schott, Assistant, United States Coast Survey, who brought to the task the best faculties of a well-stored mind, and unusual powers of patient investigation; and papers, giving a full analysis of the magnetic, meteorological, astronomical, geographical, pendulum, and tidal observations, were prepared, and were accepted for publication in the Smithsonian "Contributions to Knowledge." I regret to say that the publication of these papers has been much delayed. Deeming it desirable that some of the general conclusions to which we had arrived in our discussion of the observations should be given to the world without further postponement, I proposed to embody some leading facts in a short Appendix to this volume. Upon submitting the matter to the learned Secretary of the Institution, it was, however, claimed by him that, since I had intrusted the materials to his care, the Institution now possessed the exclusive right to whatever advantage was to be derived from their publication. To a proposition so eminently reasonable I readily assented, especially as I was informed that the papers were already in type and were to be published immediately; and, considering myself thus absolved from any further responsibility to the scientific world for the long delay, I accordingly abandoned the idea of the Appendix. The Chart exhibiting the track and discoveries of my voyage, and of my various sledge journeys, was claimed, in like manner, as the exclusive property of the Smithsonian Institution, and, like the papers, was to be published immediately. Hence it is that the small map which illustrates this volume is but a copy (reduced ten diameters) of my field chart, projected on the spot from my unrevised materials. It is perhaps needless for me to observe that entire accuracy was not attainable in the field, inasmuch as I had neither the leisure nor the facilities for reducing the magnetic variation, nor for obtaining the absolute time. I am happy to say, however, that no greater discrepancy exists than the one which places my highest latitude two minutes too far south on the field chart; but the reductions having been made, and a chart projected therefrom, I had confidently relied upon this source for the correct information which the Smithsonian Institution now alone possessed. This failing me, I was obliged to fall back upon my original resources, as the time was too short for a new reduction. I am glad to say, however, that the field chart is sufficiently accurate for every practical purpose, and differs chiefly from the one prepared, with greater carefulness, and of large size, for the Smithsonian "Contributions to Knowledge," in the unimportant feature of the names applied to newly discovered places, some of which were changed after my return. No list of these alterations having been preserved, and being unable to get the more accurate map again into my hands from the Secretary of the scientific institution in whose care it had been placed, as before observed, for publication, I have simply adopted the original nomenclature, and have used the names as they appear in my journal and on my field chart. This explanation is made in anticipation of the possible contingency of the Smithsonian Institution publishing the map, for some years past in its possession,—an event which I think unlikely to happen, and which will now be unnecessary, the more especially as I am at present engaged in a new reduction of my materials, and the projection of a new map, the publication of which, in sufficiently large form to give it topographical as well as geographical value, has been proposed by my distinguished and very kind friend, Dr. Augustus Petermann, Gotha, in his Geographical Journal.

Papers descriptive of the botanical collection, prepared by Mr. Elias Durand; of the algæ, by Mr. Ashmead; of the lichens, by Professor James; of the birds, by Mr. John Cassin; of the invertebrata, by Dr. William Stimpson; of the mammalia, by Dr. J. H. Slack; of the cetacea, by Professor E. Cope; of the infusoria, by Dr. F. W. Lewis; of the fishes, by Dr. Theodore Gill; and of the paleontology, by Professor F. B. Meek, have appeared from time to time in the "Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia," excepting the last, which was published in the American "Journal of Arts and Sciences." Dr. J. Atkin Meigs has in preparation a monograph on ethnology, based upon a collection of upward of one hundred and forty specimens, and I shall soon have completed a more elaborate discussion of the Greenland Glaciers and other collateral topics than has been allowed me by the limits and character of this work.

I should do great injustice to my own feelings, did I not here express the acknowledgment of my obligation to those societies, associations, and individuals who united themselves with me in effecting the organization of the Expedition, and who liberally shared with me its expenses. My wishes were always promptly met by them, to the extent of their ability; and the enterprise was sustained with a zeal and interest rarely accorded to a purely scientific purpose. That I have not before published an account of my voyage, or presented any detailed statement of my discoveries to those who had a natural right to expect it, has been entirely owing to the circumstance that my time has been wholly occupied in the public service, from the period of my return until late last year; and they will, I trust, accept as a sufficient excuse for my silence during that period, the fact that the command of an army hospital, with from three to five thousand inmates, which devolved upon me during the greater part of the recent war, allowed me little leisure for literary or scientific work. It will also be understood that the temporary abandonment of the exploration was due to the same general cause.

October 23d, 1866.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS

TO THE

EXPEDITION.[1]

[1] The author has reason to suppose that there are several persons to whom the Expedition is indebted for support whose names, not having been furnished him, do not appear in this list. Desiring to make it entirely complete, he will feel personally obliged to any one whose name is omitted to notify him of the fact, through the agency by which the subscription was furnished.

THROUGH A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL SOCIETY, NEW YORK. EGBERT L. VIELE, Chairman; HENRY GRINNELL, Treasurer.

THROUGH COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF TRADE AND ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. FRANCIS COPE, Treasurer.

THROUGH COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS, ALBANY, N. Y. D. V. N. RADCLIFFE, Treasurer.

THROUGH THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE AND COMMITTEE OF THE ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, BOSTON. RICHARD BAKER, Jun., Treasurer.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

EXPLANATION OF TAIL-PIECES.

Drawn on wood by G. G. White from Photographs and Sketches by Dr. Hayes. Engraved mostly by J. A. Bogert.

CONTENTS.

[INTRODUCTION].

PAGE

Plan of the Expedition.—First Announcement.—Appeal to Scientific Societies.—Aid solicited.—Public Lectures.—Liberality of various Societies and Individuals.—Vessel purchased in Boston.—Interest manifested in that City.—Difficulty in obtaining a proper Crew.—Organization of the Party.—Scientific Outfit.—Abundant Supplies

[1]

[CHAPTER I.]

Leaving Boston.—At Anchor in Nantasket Roads.—At Sea

[13]

[CHAPTER II.]

Passage to the Greenland Coast.—Discipline.—The Decks at Sea.—Our Quarters.—The First Iceberg.—Crossing the Arctic Circle.—The Midnight Sun.—The Endless Day.—Making the Land.—A Remarkable Scene among the Bergs.—At Anchor in Pröven Harbor

[16]

[CHAPTER III.]

The Colony of Pröven.—The Kayak of the Greenlander.—Scarcity of Dogs.—Liberality of the Chief Trader.—Arctic Flora

[28]

[CHAPTER IV.]

Upernavik.—Hospitality of the Inhabitants.—Death and Burial of Gibson Caruthers.—A Lunch on Board.—Adieu

[35]

[CHAPTER V.]

Among the Icebergs.—Dangers of Arctic Navigation.—A Narrow Escape from a Crumbling Berg.—Measurement of an Iceberg

[44]

[CHAPTER VI.]

Entering Melville Bay.—The Middle Ice.—The Great Polar Current.—A Snow-Storm.—Encounter with an Iceberg.—Making Cape York.—Rescue of Hans

[57]

[CHAPTER VII.]

Hans and his Family.—Petowak Glacier.—A Snow-Storm.—The Ice-Pack.—Entering Smith Sound.—A Severe Gale.—Collision with Icebergs.—Encounter with the Ice-Fields.—Retreat from the Pack.—At Anchor in Hartstene Bay.—Entering Winter Quarters

[68]

[CHAPTER VIII.]

Our Winter Harbor.—Preparing for Winter.—Organization of Duties.—Scientific Work.—The Observatory.—Schooner Driven Ashore.—The Hunters.—Sawing a Dock.—Frozen up.—Sunset

[92]

[CHAPTER IX]

Sunset.—Winter Work.—My Dog-Teams.—"My Brother John's Glacier."—Hunting.—Peat Beds.—Esquimau Graves.—Putrefaction at Low Temperatures.—Sonntag climbs the Glacier.—Hans and Peter.—My Esquimau People.—The Esquimau Dog.—Surveying the Glacier.—The Sailing-Master.—His Birthday Dinner

[101]

[CHAPTER X]

Journey on the Glacier.—The First Camp.—Scaling the Glacier.—Character of its Surface.—The Ascent.—Driven back by a Gale.—Low Temperature.—Dangerous Situation of the Party.—A Moonlight Scene

[127]

[CHAPTER XI]

Important Results of the recent Journey.—The Glacier System of Greenland.—General Discussion of the Subject.—Illustrations drawn from the Alpine Glaciers.—Glacier Movement.—Outline of the Greenland Mer de Glace

[137]

[CHAPTER XII]

My Cabin.—Surveying.—Castor and Pollux.—Concerning Scurvy.—Dangers of eating Cold Snow.—Knorr and Starr.—Frost-Bites.—Hans, Peter, and Jacob again.—Coal Account.—The Fires.—Comfort of our Quarters.—The House on Deck.—Mild Weather.—Jensen.—Mrs. Hans.—John Williams, the Cook.—A Cheerful Evening

[149]

[CHAPTER XIII]

Increasing Darkness.—Daily Routine.—The Journal.—Our Home.—Sunday.—Return of Sonntag.—A Bear-Hunt.—The Open Water.—Accident to Mr. Knorr.—A Thaw.—"The Port Foulke Weekly News."—The Tide-Register.—The Fire-Hole.—Hunting Foxes.—Peter

[165]

[CHAPTER XIV]

Midwinter.—The Night of Months.—Brilliancy of the Moonlight.—Mild Temperatures.—Remarkable Weather.—A Shower.—Depth of Snow.—Snow Crystals.—An Epidemic among the Dogs.—Symptoms of the Disorder.—Great Mortality.—Only one Team left.—New Plans.—Schemes for reaching the Esquimaux in Whale Sound

[192]

[CHAPTER XV]

The Arctic Midnight.—Sonntag starts for Whale Sound.—Effects of Darkness on the Spirits.—Routine of Duties.—Christmas Eve.—Christmas Day.—The Christmas Dinner

[200]

[CHAPTER XVI]

The New Year.—Looking for Sonntag.—The Aurora Borealis.—A Remarkable Display.—Depth of Snow.—Strange Mildness of the Weather.—The Open Sea.—Evaporation at Low Temperatures.—Looking for the Twilight.—My Pet Fox

[212]

[CHAPTER XVII]

The Arctic Night.

[222]

[CHAPTER XVIII]

Prolonged Absence of Mr. Sonntag.—Preparing to look for him.—Arrival of Esquimaux.—They report Sonntag dead.—Arrival of Hans.—Condition of the Dogs.—Hans's Story of the Journey

[227]

[CHAPTER XIX]

Sonntag.—Twilight increasing.—A Deer-Hunt.—The Arctic Foxes.—The Polar Bear.—Adventures with Bears.—Our New Esquimaux.—Esquimau Dress.—A Snow House.—Esquimau Implements.—A Walrus Hunt

[236]

[CHAPTER XX]

Looking for the Sun.—The Open Sea.—Birds

[248]

[CHAPTER XXI]

Sunrise.

[251]

[CHAPTER XXII]

Spring Twilight.—Arrival of Esquimaux.—Obtaining Dogs.—Kalutunah, Tattarat, Myouk, Amalatok and his Son.—An Arctic Hospital.—Esquimau Gratitude

[255]

[CHAPTER XXIII]

Kalutunah returns.—An Esquimau Family.—The Family Property.—The Family Wardrobe.—Myouk and his Wife.—Peter's Dead Body found.—My New Teams.—The Situation.—Hunting.—Subsistence of Arctic Animals.—Pursuit of Science under Difficulties.—Kalutunah at Home.—An Esquimau Feast.—Kalutunah in Service.—Recovering the Body of Mr. Sonntag.—The Funeral.—The Tomb

[265]

[CHAPTER XXIV]

Starting on my First Journey.—Object of the Journey.—A Mishap.—A Fresh Start.—The First Camp.—Hartstene's Cairn.—Exploring a Track.—A New Style of Snow-Hut.—An Uncomfortable Night.—Low Temperature.—Effect of Temperature on the Snow.—Among the Hummocks.—Sighting Humboldt Glacier.—The Track impracticable to the Main Party.—Van Rensselaer Harbor.—Fate of the Advance.—A Drive in a Gale

[277]

[CHAPTER XXV]

Sending forward Supplies.—Kalutunah as a Driver.—Kalutunah civilized.—Mr. Knorr.—Plan of my Proposed Journey.—Preparing to set out.—Industrious Esquimau Women.—Death and Burial of Kablunet.—The Start

[290]

[CHAPTER XXVI]

The First Day's Journey.—A Fall of Temperature.—Its Effect upon the Men.—Camped in a Snow-Hut.—The Second Day's Journey.—At Cairn Point.—Character of the Ice.—The Prospect.—Storm-stayed.—The Cooks in Difficulty.—Snow-Drift.—Violence of the Gale.—Our Snow-Hut

[297]

[CHAPTER XXVII]

The Storm continues.—At Work.—Among the Hummocks.—Difficulties of the Track.—The Snow-Drifts.—Slow Progress.—The Smith Sound Ice.—Formation of the Hummocks.—The Old Ice-Fields.—Growth of Ice-Fields.—Thickness of Ice.—The Prospect

[307]

[CHAPTER XXVIII]

The Difficulties multiplying.—Sledge broken.—Reflections on the Prospect.—The Men breaking down.—Worse and Worse.—The Situation.—Defeat of Main Party.—Resolve to send the Party back and continue the Journey with Dogs

[315]

[CHAPTER XXIX]

The Main Party sent back.—Plunging into the Hummocks again.—Advantages of Dogs.—Camp in an Ice-Cave.—Nursing the Dogs.—Snow-Blindness.—A Chapter of Accidents.—Cape Hawks.—Cape Napoleon.—Storm-stayed.—Grinnell Land looming up.—Discovering a Sound.—Ravenous Disposition of Dogs.—A Cheerless Supper.—Camping in the Open Air.—Prostration of Men and Dogs.—Making the Land at last

[322]

[CHAPTER XXX]

The Prospect Ahead.—To Cape Napoleon.—To Cape Frazer.—Traces of Esquimaux.—Rotten Ice.—Kennedy Channel.—Mildness of Temperature.—Appearance of Birds.—Geological Features of Coast.—Vegetation.—Accident to Jensen

[333]

[CHAPTER XXXI]

A New Start.—Speculations.—In a Fog.—Polar Scenery.—Stopped by Rotten Ice.—Looking Ahead.—Conclusions.—The Open Sea.—Climax of the Journey.—Returning South

[343]

[CHAPTER XXXII]

The Open Polar Sea.—Width of the Polar Basin.—Boundaries of the Polar Basin.—Polar Currents.—Polar Ice.—The Ice-Belt.—Arctic Navigation and Discovery.—The Russian Sledge Explorations.—Wrangel's Open Sea.—Parry's Boat Expedition.—Dr. Kane's Discoveries.—Expansion of Smith Sound.—General Conclusions drawn from my own Discoveries and those of my Predecessors

[353]

[CHAPTER XXXIII]

On Board the Schooner.—Review of the Journey.—The Return down Kennedy Channel.—A Severe March in a Snow-Storm.—Rotten Ice.—Effects of a Gale.—Returning through the Hummocks.—The Dogs breaking down.—Adrift on a Floe at Cairn Point.—The Open Water compels us to take to the Land.—Reaching the Schooner.—Projecting a Chart.—The New Sound.—My Northern Discoveries

[363]

[CHAPTER XXXIV]

Inspection of the Schooner.—Method of Repairing.—The Serious Nature of the Injury.—The Schooner unfit for any further Ice-Encounters.—Examination of my Resources.—Plans for the Future

[376]

[CHAPTER XXXV]

The Arctic Spring.—Snow disappearing.—Plants show Signs of Life.—Return of the Birds.—Change in the Sea.—Refitting the Schooner.—The Esquimaux.—Visit to Kalutunah.—Kalutunah's Account of the Esquimau Traditions.—Hunting-Grounds contracted by the Accumulation of Ice.—Hardships of their Life.—Their Subsistence.—The Race dwindling away.—Visit to the Glacier.—Re-survey of the Glacier.—Kalutunah catching Birds.—A Snow-Storm and a Gale.—The Mid-day of the Arctic Summer

[381]

[CHAPTER XXXVI]

The Arctic Summer.—The Flora.—The Ice dissolving.— A Summer Storm of Rain, Hail, and Snow.—The Terraces.—Ice Action.—Upheaval of the Coast.—Geological Interest of Icebergs and the Land-Ice.—A Walrus Hunt.—The "Fourth."—Visit to Littleton Island.—Great Numbers of Eider-Ducks and Gulls.—The Ice breaking up.—Critical Situation of the Schooner.—Taking Leave of the Esquimaux.—Adieu to Port Foulke

[396]

[CHAPTER XXXVII]

Leaving Port Foulke.—Effort to reach Cape Isabella.—Meet the Pack and take Shelter at Littleton Island.—Hunting.—Abundance of Birds and Walrus.—Visit to Cairn Point.—Reaching the West Coast.—View from Cape Isabella.—Plans for the Future.—Our Results.—Chances of reaching the Polar Sea discussed.—The Glaciers of Ellesmere Land

[416]

[CHAPTER XXXVIII]

Leaving Smith Sound.—Crossing the North Water.—Meeting the Pack.—The Sea and Air teeming with Life.—Remarkable Refraction.—Reaching Whale Sound.—Surveying in a Boat.—The Sound traced to its Termination.—Meeting Esquimaux at Iteplik.—Habits of the Esquimaux.—Marriage Ceremony.—The Decay of the Tribe.—View of Barden Bay.—Tyndall Glacier

[426]

[CHAPTER XXXIX]

Homeward Bound.—Entering Melville Bay.—Encounter with a Bear.—Meeting the Pack.—Making the "South Water."—Reaching Upernavik.—The News.—To Goodhaven.—Liberality of the Danish Government and the Greenland Officials.—Driven out of Baffin Bay by a Gale.—Crippled by the Storm and forced to take Shelter in Halifax.—Hospitable Reception.—Arrival in Boston.—Realize the State of the Country.—The Determination.—Conclusion

[439]

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INTRODUCTION.

PLAN OF THE EXPEDITION.—FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT.—APPEAL TO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.—AID SOLICITED.—PUBLIC LECTURES.—LIBERALITY OF VARIOUS SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS.—VESSEL PURCHASED IN BOSTON.—INTEREST MANIFESTED IN THAT CITY.—DIFFICULTY IN OBTAINING A PROPER CREW.—ORGANIZATION OF THE PARTY.—SCIENTIFIC OUTFIT.—ABUNDANT SUPPLIES.

I purpose to record in this Book the events of the Expedition which I conducted to the Arctic Seas.

PLAN OF THE EXPEDITION.

The plan of the enterprise first suggested itself to me while acting as Surgeon of the Expedition commanded by the late Dr. E. K. Kane, of the United States Navy. Although its execution did not appear feasible at the period of my return from that voyage in October, 1855, yet I did not at any time abandon the design. It comprehended an extensive scheme of discovery. The proposed route was that by Smith's Sound. My object was to complete the survey of the north coasts of Greenland and Grinnell Land, and to make such explorations as I might find practicable in the direction of the North Pole.

My proposed base of operations was Grinnell Land, which I had discovered on my former voyage, and had personally traced beyond lat. 80°, far enough to satisfy me that it was available for my design.

Accepting the deductions of many learned physicists that the sea about the North Pole cannot be frozen, that an open area of varying extent must be found within the Ice-belt which is known to invest it, I desired to add to the proofs which had already been accumulated by the early Dutch and English voyagers, and, more recently, by the researches of Scoresby, Wrangel, and Parry, and still later by Dr. Kane's expedition.

It is well known that the great difficulty which has been encountered, in the various attempts that have been made to solve this important physical problem, has been the inability of the explorer to penetrate the Ice-belt with his ship, or to travel over it with sledges sufficiently far to obtain indisputable proof. My former experience led me to the conclusion that the chances of success were greater by Smith's Sound than by any other route, and my hopes of success were based upon the expectation which I entertained of being able to push a vessel into the Ice-belt, to about the 80th parallel of latitude, and thence to transport a boat over the ice to the open sea which I hoped to find beyond. Reaching this open sea, if such fortune awaited me, I proposed to launch my boat and to push off northward. For the ice-transportation I expected to rely, mainly, upon the dog of the Esquimaux.

How far I was able to execute my design these pages will show.

It will be remembered that the highest point reached by Dr. Kane with his vessels was Van Rensselaer Harbor, latitude 78° 37´, where he wintered. This was on the eastern side of Smith's Sound. It seemed to me that a more favorable position could be attained on the western side; and from personal observations made in 1854, while on a sledge journey from Van Rensselaer Harbor, it appeared to me probable that the degree of latitude already indicated might be secured for a winter station and a centre of observation.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS.

It would be needless for me to attempt to illustrate the value of such a centre for the purpose of scientific inquiry. It was not alone the prospect of the satisfaction to be achieved by completing our geographical knowledge of that portion of the globe, nor that of solving definitely the problem of an Open Polar Sea, that encouraged me in the task which I had undertaken. There were many questions of physical science to be settled, and I hoped to take with me a corps of well-instructed observers. The movements of the currents of the air and water, the temperature of these elements, the pressure of the former and the tides of the latter, the variations of gravity, the direction and intensity of the "magnetic force," the Aurora Borealis, the formation and movement of the glaciers, and many important features of Natural History remained to be solved by observations about the centre indicated. Years of profitable labor might indeed be expended in that locality by an enterprising force of skilled workers.

With these objects in view, I applied with great confidence to the scientific men of the world and to the enlightened public sentiment of my country-men.

The response, although in the end highly gratifying, was more tardy in its coming than had been at first anticipated. There were indeed many circumstances of discouragement, not the least of which was an impression which then had possession of the public judgment, that any further efforts toward the North Pole must be fruitless, and must involve an unjustifiable loss of life. It was only after many endeavors that here and there the influences favorable to the design began to affect the community. The most important of these was, of course, the sanction given to the project by those associations whose opinions govern the mass of men in relation to scientific matters.

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT.

The first public announcement of it was made to the American Geographical and Statistical Society, before which body I read a paper in December, 1857, setting forth the plan, and the means proposed for its accomplishment. It was on this occasion that I first experienced the discouragement to which I have already referred, and it became evident to all who had thus far interested themselves in the subject, that it would be necessary to instruct the public mind in relation to the practicability of the proposed exploration, and its comparative freedom from danger, before any earnest support could be anticipated.

To this task I at once addressed myself, although, indeed, I might with some show of reason have abandoned the undertaking altogether; but at twenty-five one is not easily discouraged. In concert with the friends of the enterprise, I caused it to be understood that I was open to invitations from any of the numerous literary societies and clubs who were organizing popular courses of lectures for the winter. Such lectures were at that time quite the fashion, and almost every little town in the country could boast of its "course." The invitations which reached me were very numerous, and I availed myself of them to the full limit of my time. The scientific and literary journals and the press, ever ready to aid in the advancement of liberal and enlightened purposes, gave very cordial support; and, when the spring of 1858 opened, we had the satisfaction to perceive that we had dispelled some of the popular illusions respecting the dangers of Arctic exploration. Among the most important of the lectures given at this period was a course which I delivered at the instance of Professor Joseph Henry, in the fine lecture-room of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. These lectures were the more important, in that they secured to the undertaking the friendship and support of Professor A. D. Bache, the learned and efficient chief of the United States Coast Survey.

SCIENTIFIC INTEREST.

In April, 1858, I brought the subject before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at its annual meeting held in Baltimore; and that body of representative men, at the suggestion of Professor Bache, appointed sixteen of its leading members a committee on "Arctic Exploration."

It remained now only to secure the necessary material aid. With this object in view, committees were promptly appointed by the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the American Geographical Society, the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Boston Society of Natural History.

Subscription lists were at once opened by these several committees, and Professor Bache, at all times foremost to promote scientific discovery, headed the list with his powerful name.

The learned Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Professor Joseph Henry, further strengthened the cause by the proffer of scientific instruments, and this was followed by the earnest support of Mr. Henry Grinnell, whose zealous efforts and sacrifices in behalf of Arctic exploration are too well known to gain any thing from my commendation.

At a subsequent period I addressed the Chamber of Commerce in New York, and the Board of Trade in Philadelphia. The latter promptly appointed a committee with the same objects as those previously appointed by the scientific societies. Still later I spoke to a large audience in the lecture-room of the Lowell Institute, Boston, assembled under the auspices of the committee of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, on which occasion, after eloquent addresses by the chairman, the late Hon. Edward Everett, and Professors Agassiz and W. B. Rogers, a committee of citizens was appointed to coöperate with the committees already named.

PUBLIC LECTURES.

The system of public lecturing which had been improved with such satisfactory advantage in the beginning, was continued, and, in addition to the increased public interest which the lectures created, they proved a source of more substantial benefit. Two of them were delivered under the auspices of the American Geographical Society. The value of these last was derived from the circumstance that public support was given to the project by Dr. Francis Lieber, the late Rev. Dr. Bethune, Rev. J. P. Thompson, the late Professor (afterward Major-General) O. M. Mitchel, and Mr. (now Brigadier-General) Egbert L. Viele, who spoke on the occasion. The principal address was made by Dr. Lieber, and it was characteristic of that able and learned writer.

FOREIGN SUPPORT.

The interest manifested among geographers abroad was scarcely less than that shown by scientific men at home. The eminent President of the Geographical Society of London, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, in announcing the proposed renewal of Arctic discovery to that distinguished body, expressed the earnest desire of the society for the success of the undertaking; and the enlightened Vice-President of the Geographical Society of Paris, M. de la Roquette, promptly offered, as an earnest of his good will, a liberal contribution to the fund.

The Masonic Fraternity in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia also gave their assistance, and it was not the less appreciated that it was spontaneous and unexpected.

Notwithstanding the unceasing efforts which were thus made in every quarter, and the almost universal interest which the undertaking at length excited, it was not until the beginning of June, 1860, that I was able to commence my preparations. My plans of exploration had been based upon the expectation of being able to start with two vessels,—one a small steamer, to be taken out under sails, and the steam-power only to be used when actually among the ice;—the other a sailing vessel, to be employed as a tender or store-ship.

It now became evident to us that if my departure was deferred to another year, the chances of my sailing at all would be diminished rather than increased; and we therefore determined to do the best we could with the means at hand. These means would enable us to fit out and man only one small sailing vessel.

VESSEL PURCHASED.

To Mr. Richard Baker, Jr., the energetic chairman of the Boston Committee, (aided by a sub-committee consisting of Mr. Warren Sawyer, Mr. John Stetson, Mr. O. W. Peabody, and Mr. J. D. W. Joy,) was intrusted the selection and purchase of such a craft as would best compromise between the services to be performed and the state of our finances; and the duty was accomplished with characteristic sagacity. When I reached Boston, a few days after the purchase had been made, I found the vessel lying at a wharf, heavily laden with a cargo brought from the West Indies. She was a strong, snug, jaunty looking craft, and appeared to be well adapted for the peculiar service to which she was destined. Her "register" quaintly set forth that she was "A 1," that she measured one hundred and thirty-three tons burden, that she was a fore-and-aft schooner, drew eight feet of water, and was named Spring Hill. For this name we at once substituted United States, which change was, upon my memorial, subsequently confirmed by act of Congress.

The season was now growing very late. Before the vessel had been purchased it was fully time that I should have been upon my voyage, and every day's delay added to my anxiety lest I should be unable to penetrate the Baffin's Bay ice, and secure a harbor before the winter had shut out all access to the land. It was therefore with no small degree of satisfaction that I saw the schooner on the ways in the shipyard of Mr. Kelly in East Boston, and the work of refitting her going rapidly forward.

As a protection against the wear and pressure of the ice, a strong sheathing of two and a half inch oak planking was spiked to her sides, and the bows were cased with thick iron plates as far aft as the fore-chains. Internally she was strengthened with heavy beams, crossing at intervals of twelve feet a little below the water-line, which, as well as the deck-timbers, were supported by additional knees and diagonal braces. For convenience of working; among the ice, her rig was changed from a fore-and-aft to a foretop-sail schooner.

PREPARATION.

Owing to many unavoidable delays, the month of June had almost passed before the schooner was brought to the wharf in Boston to receive her cargo. Much of this cargo was made up of voluntary gift offerings, "in the cause of science," and came from various places, and, as these "offerings" arrived irregularly, there was naturally much confusion in the storage. It will not therefore appear surprising that our departure was several days delayed. One month was indeed a short time, even under the most favorable circumstances, to fit a vessel, purchase and store a complicated cargo, construct and get together sledges, boats, and other equipments for travelling, obtain instruments and all the requisite materials for scientific exploration,—in short, to accumulate the various odds and ends necessary for so unusual and protracted a voyage. It was a busy month, and into no equal period of my life did I ever crowd so much labor and anxiety.

The selection of my ship's company gave me not a little concern. Of material from which to choose there was quite an ample supply. In numbers there were indeed enough to have fitted out a respectable squadron; but it was not easy to find those whose constitutions and habits of life fitted them for the service. The greater number of the volunteers had never been to sea, and most of them were eager "to serve in any capacity,"—a declaration which, too often on this, as on other occasions, I have found to signify the absence of any capacity at all.

I esteemed myself fortunate in securing the services of my former companion and friend in the Grinnell Expedition, Mr. August Sonntag, who early volunteered to join me from Mexico, in which country he was engaged in conducting some important scientific explorations. He even proposed to me that he should abandon the work upon which he was then employed, in order to aid me in the preliminary preparations. Returning to the United States in 1859, he was appointed to the Dudley Observatory, Albany, and, to accompany me, he sacrificed the fine position of Associate Director of that institution.

OFFICERS AND CREW.

My party, when at length completed, numbered fourteen persons all told, as follows:—

SCIENTIFIC OUTFIT.

Our equipment for scientific observations was reasonably perfect. The Smithsonian Institution furnished a good supply of barometers and thermometers, besides other apparatus not less important, and also spirits, cans, and other materials for the collection and preservation of specimens of Natural History. In this latter department I owe especial obligations to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and also to the Cambridge Museum. From the skilful maker, Mr. John Tagliabeau, of New York, I had a handsome present of spirit thermometers. From the Topographical Bureau at Washington, through the courtesy of its chief, I was supplied with two pocket-sextants, instruments which could not have been obtained either by purchase or loan elsewhere. I had hoped to secure from the National Observatory the use of a deep-sea sounding apparatus, until it was made known to me that the concession was not provided for by act of Congress. Outside of the limits of nautical routine I fared better. The Chief of the Coast Survey furnished me with a vertical circle, which contained the double advantage of a transit and theodolite, a well-tested unifilar magnetometer, a reflecting circle, a Wurdeman compass, and several other valuable instruments. We had five chronometers,—three box and two pocket, which last were intended for use in sledge travelling. We had an excellent telescope, with a four and a half inch object-glass; and, under the joint superintendence of the late Professor Bond, of Cambridge, and Mr. Sonntag, I caused to be constructed a pendulum apparatus after the plan of Foster's instrument.

I lacked not instruments, but men. My only well-instructed associate was Mr. Sonntag.

Our outfit was altogether of the very best description, and our larder contained every thing that could reasonably be desired. An abundant supply of canned meats, vegetables, and fruits insured us against scurvy, and a large stock of desiccated beef, beef soup, (a mixture of meat, carrots, onions, &c.,) and potatoes, prepared expressly for me by the American Desiccating Company of New York, gave us a light and portable food for the sledge journeys. I preferred the food in this form to the ordinary pemican. We were amply provided with good warm woollen clothing, and four large bales of buffalo-skins promised each of us the materials for a coat and protection against the Arctic winds. A good stock of rifles and guns, and a plentiful supply of ammunition, finished our guarantees against want. We had forty tons of coal and wood in the hold, and a quantity of pine boards, intended for housing over the upper deck when in winter quarters.

Our sledges were constructed after a pattern furnished by myself, and the tents, cooking-lamps, and other camp fixtures, were manufactured under my personal supervision. From numerous friends, whose names I cannot here mention without violating the obligations of confidence, we received books and a great quantity of "small stores" which were afterward greatly appreciated during our winter imprisonment in the ice.

READY TO SAIL.

We had expected to sail on the 4th of July, and the friends of the Expedition were invited by the Boston Committee, through its secretary, Mr. O. W. Peabody, to see us off. Although the day was dark and drizzly many hundreds of persons were present. Through some unavoidable accident we did not get away. The guests, however, made us the recipients of their best wishes, and when the members of my little command (assembled together on that day for the first time) found themselves addressed in turn by the Governor of the State, the Mayor of the City, and the President of Harvard, and by renowned statesmen, orators, divines and merchants of Boston, and by savans of Cambridge, the measure of their happiness was full. Inspired by the interest thus so conspicuously manifested in their fortunes, they felt ready for any emergency.

THE OPEN POLAR SEA.

CHAPTER I.

LEAVING BOSTON.—AT ANCHOR IN NANTASKET ROADS.—AT SEA.

Late in the evening of July 6th, 1860, the schooner United States was hauled into the stream, prepared to leave port the following morning.

The morning dawned clear and auspicious. Upon going on board, I found that a number of friends whom I had invited to accompany us down the bay had preceded me by half an hour. Among them were His Excellency the Governor of the State, and representatives of the Boston, New York and Philadelphia committees.

The fine, large steam-tug R. B. Forbes soon came alongside, alive with a gay party of well-wishers, and, taking the end of our hawser, started us from our anchorage. As we passed Long Wharf we were honored with a salute from a battery which the Mayor of the city had sent down for that purpose, and numerous parting cheers greeted us as we steamed down the bay.

The wind being unfavorable, we dropped anchor for the night in Nantasket Roads. The tug took most of our friends back to Boston, and I was left in my cabin with the official representatives of the promoters of the enterprise, engaged in the last of our numerous consultations. A handful of papers were put into my possession, and I became the sole owner of the schooner United States and the property on board of her. The sun had set before our conference ended, and the wind promising to hold from the eastward during the night, I returned to Boston with Mr. Baker, in his yacht.

Upon arriving at the schooner next morning, I found that the executive officer had availed himself of the delay to break out the ship's hold and effect a better stowage of the deck cargo. Indeed, we were in no condition for going to sea. Many of the stores were hurried on board at the last moment, and the deck was literally covered with boxes and bales, which, in the haste of departure, could not be stowed away. It was long after nightfall when the hatches were closed and every thing secured; but as the pilot did not come on board, we were compelled to wait until daylight.

I passed the night on Mr. Baker's yacht, which lay near by, with some kind friends who would not quit us until they saw us fairly off. The pretty yachts Stella and Howard, to whose gentlemanly owners I was indebted for courteous attentions, also kept us company.

LEAVING BOSTON.

With the first gray streak of the dawning day, this little fleet tripped their anchors and glided home, bearing our last good-byes, while we, with a fair wind, stood out to sea.

FIRST NIGHT AT SEA.

Before the night closed in, the coast had sunk out of sight, and I was once more tossing on the waves of the broad Atlantic. Again I saw the sun sink beneath the line of waters, and I watched the changing clouds which hung over the land I had left behind me, until the last faint flush of gold and crimson had melted away into the soft twilight. Creeping then into my damp, narrow bunk, I slept the first long, unbroken sleep I had had for weeks. The expedition which had absorbed so much of my attention during the past five years was now fairly on its way. Trusting in Providence and my own energy, I had faith in the future.

CHAPTER II.

PASSAGE TO THE GREENLAND COAST.—DISCIPLINE.—THE DECKS AT SEA.—OUR QUARTERS.—THE FIRST ICEBERG.—CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.—THE MIDNIGHT SUN.—THE ENDLESS DAY.—MAKING THE LAND.—A REMARKABLE SCENE AMONG THE BERGS.—AT ANCHOR IN PRÖVEN HARBOR.

I will not long detain the reader with the details of our passage to the Greenland coast. It was mainly devoid of interest.

My first concern was to regulate the domestic affairs of my little company; my second, to make the schooner as tidy and comfortable as possible. The former was much more easily managed than the latter. Calling the officers and crew together, I explained to them that, inasmuch as we would for a long time constitute our own little world, we must all recognize the obligations of a mutual dependence and the ties of mutual safety, interest, and ambition. Keeping this in view, we would find no hardship in making all selfish considerations subordinate to the necessities of a mutual accommodation. The response was highly gratifying to me, and I had afterward abundant reason to congratulate myself upon having at the outset established the relations of the crew with myself upon such a satisfactory footing. To say nothing of its advantages to our convenience, this course saved much trouble. From the beginning to the end of the cruise I had no occasion to record a breach of discipline; and I did not find it necessary to establish any other rules than those which are usual in all well disciplined ships.

THE DECKS.

To make the schooner comfortable was impracticable, and to make her tidy equally so. I found myself rocking about on the Atlantic with decks in a condition to have sorely tried the patience of the most practised sailor. Barrels, boxes, boards, boats, and other articles were spiked or lashed to the bulwarks and masts, until all available space was covered, and there was left only a narrow, winding pathway from the quarter to the forecastle deck, and no place whatever for exercise but the top of the trunk cabin, which was just twelve feet by ten; and even this was partly covered, and that too with articles which, if they have existence, should at least never be in sight on a well-regulated craft. But this was not to be helped,—there was no room for any thing more below hatches; every nook and cranny in the vessel was full, and we had no alternative but to allow the decks to be "lumbered up" until some friendly sea should come and wash the incumbrance overboard. (We were entirely too prudent to throw any thing away.) That such an event would happen seemed likely enough, for we were loaded down until the deck, in the waist, was only a foot and a half above the water; and, standing in the gangway, you could at any time lean over the monkey-rail and touch the sea with your fingers. The galley filled up the entire space between the fore hatch and the mainmast; and the water, coming in over the gangway, poured through it frequently without restraint. The cook and the fire were often put out together, and the regularity of our meals was a little disturbed in consequence.

THE CABIN.

My cabin occupied the after-half of the "trunk," (which extended two feet above the quarter-deck,) and was six feet by ten. Two "bull's-eyes" gave me a feeble light by day, and a kerosene lamp, which creaked uneasily in its gimbals, by night. Two berths let, one into either side, furnished commodious receptacles for ship's stores. The carpenter, however, fixed up a narrow bunk for me; and when I had covered this with a brilliant afghan, and enclosed it with a pair of crimson curtains, I was astonished at the amount of comfort which I had manufactured for myself.

The narrow space in front of my cabin contained the companion ladder, the steward's pantry, the stove-pipe, a barrel of flour, and a "room" for Mr. Sonntag. Forward of this, two steps down in the hold, was the officers' cabin, which was exactly twelve feet square by six feet high. It was oak-panelled, and had eight bunks, happily not all occupied. It was not a commodious apartment. The men's quarters were under the forecastle deck, close against the "dead-wood" of the "ship's eyes." They, too, were necessarily crowded for room.

Our course from Boston lay directly for the outer capes of Newfoundland, inside of Sable Island. Every one who has sailed down the coast of Nova Scotia knows the nature of the fogs which hang over the banks, especially during the warm season of the year; and we had our full measure of the embarrassing fortune which usually befalls the navigator of those waters.

We ran into a fog bank on the second day out from Boston, and for seven days thereafter were enveloped in an atmosphere so dense as completely to obscure the sun and horizon. We could, of course, obtain no "sights," and, during that period, were obliged in consequence to rely for our position upon the lead line and our dead reckoning. Uncertain currents made this last a method of doubtful dependence.

On the sixth day of this seemingly endless fog I grew rather more than usually uneasy; but the sailing-master assured me that he was certain of our position; and, with the map before us on the table, he proved it by the soundings. We would clear Cape Race in the morning watch.

"BREAKERS AHEAD."

The morning watch found me on deck, and, as before, our position was shown by the record of the lead. The lead was a false prophet, for instead of running outside we were rushing squarely upon the cape. Satisfied, however, by the assurances which I had received, I went below to breakfast, and had scarcely been seated when that most disagreeable of all cries,—once heard, never to be forgotten,—"Breakers ahead!" startled us. Upon reaching the deck, I found the sails shivering in the wind, and almost within pistol-shot rose a great black wall, against which the sea was breaking in a most threatening manner. Fortunately the schooner came quickly to the wind and held in stays, otherwise we must have struck in a very few minutes. As it was, we settled close upon the rocks before the sails filled and we began to crawl slowly off. The spray, thrown back from the sullen cliff, actually fell upon the deck, and it seemed as if I could almost touch the rocks with my hand. We were soon relieved by seeing the dark fog-veil drawn between us and danger. But the danger was, apparently, not yet passed. In half an hour the wind died away almost to a calm, leaving us a heavy sea to fight with, while out of the blackness came the wail of the angry surf bemoaning the loss of its prey.

The wind increased toward noon, and freed us from suspense. Resolved this time to give Cape Race a wide berth, we ran off E. S. E., and not until I was sure, by the color of the water, that Newfoundland was at a safe distance, did I let the schooner fill away on her course toward Cape Farewell. By this time a stiff breeze was blowing from the south, and as the night closed in we were running before the wind under a close-reefed topsail.

A succession of southerly gales now chased us northward, and we hauled in our latitude with gratifying rapidity. In a few days we were ploughing the waters which bathe the rock-bound coasts of Greenland.

ACROSS THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

On the 30th of July I had the satisfaction of being once more within the Arctic Circle. That imaginary line was crossed at eight o'clock in the evening, and the event was celebrated by a salute from our signal-gun and a display of bunting.

We now felt that we had fairly entered upon our career.

We were twenty days out from Boston, and had made throughout an average run of a hundred miles a day. The schooner had proved herself an excellent sea-boat. The coast of Greenland was about ten leagues away, obscured by a cloud; we had Cape Walsingham on the port beam, and the lofty Suckertoppen would have been visible over the starboard quarter had the air been clear. We had not yet, however, sighted the land, but we had made our first iceberg, we had seen the "midnight sun," and we had come into the endless day. When the hour-hand of the Yankee clock which ticked above my head pointed to XII., the sunlight still flooded the cabin. Accustomed to this strange life in former years, the change had to me little of novelty; but the officers complained of sleeplessness, and were lounging about as if waiting for the old-fashioned darkness which suggests bed-time.

THE FIRST ICEBERG.

The first iceberg was made the day before we passed the Arctic Circle. The dead white mass broke upon us out of a dense fog, and was mistaken by the lookout for land when he first caught the sound of breakers beating upon it. It was floating directly in our course, but we had time enough to clear it. Its form was that of an irregular pyramid, about three hundred feet at its base, and perhaps half as high. Its summit was at first obscured, but at length the mist broke away, disclosing the peak of a glittering spire, around which the white clouds were curling and dancing in the sunlight. There was something very impressive in the stern indifference with which it received the lashings of the sea. The waves threw their liquid arms about it caressingly, but it deigned not even a nod of recognition, and sent them reeling backward, moaning and lamenting.

We had some rough handling in Davis' Strait. Once I thought we had surely come ingloriously to grief. We were running before the wind and fighting a wretched cross-sea under reefed fore and mainsail and jib, when the fore fife-rail was carried away;—down came every thing to the deck, and there was left not a stitch of canvas on the schooner but the lumbering mainsail. It was a miracle that we did not broach to and go to the bottom. Nothing saved us but a steady hand at the helm.

The following entry in my journal, made at this period, will exhibit our condition and the temper of the crew:—

"Notwithstanding all this knocking about, every body seems to take it for granted that this sort of thing is very natural and proper, and a part of the engagement for the cruise. It is at least gratifying to see that they take kindly to discomfort, and receive every freak of fortune with manly good nature. I really believe that were affairs otherwise ordered they would be sadly disappointed. They are 'the small band of brave and spirited men' they read about in the newspapers, and they mean to show it. The sailors are sometimes literally drowned out of the forecastle. The cabin is flooded at least a dozen times a day. The skylight has been knocked to pieces by the head of a sea, and the table, standing directly under it, has been more than once cleared of crockery and eatables without the aid of the steward. My own cabin gets washed out at irregular intervals, and my books are half of them spoiled by tumbling from their shelves in spite of all I can do to the contrary. Once I caught the whole library tacking about the deck after an unusually ambitious dive of the schooner, and the advent of a more than ordinarily heavy rush of water through the 'companion-way.'"

It had been my intention to stop at Egedesmindie, or some other of the lower Danish stations, on the Greenland coast, to obtain a stock of furs, and at the upper settlements to procure the needful supply of dogs for sledge travelling; but, the wind being fair, I resolved to hold on and trust to obtaining every thing required at Pröven and Upernavik.

A LAND-FALL.

We made our first land-fall on the 31st. It proved to be the southern extremity of Disco Island. The lofty mountains broke suddenly through the thick mist, and exposed their hoary heads, not a little to our astonishment; but they vanished again as quickly as they had appeared. But we had got a clutch upon the land, and found that, befogged though we were, we had calculated our position to a nicety. From this moment the interest of our cruise was doubled.

The next day we were abreast the Nord Fiord of Disco, in latitude 70°, and, gliding on with a light wind, the Waigat and Oominak Fiord were soon behind us; and on the evening of August 2d we were approaching the bold promontory of Svarte Huk, which is only forty miles from Pröven, whither we were bound.

"A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." Just as we were congratulating ourselves upon the prospect of getting an appetite for breakfast among the Greenland hills, the wind began to show decided symptoms of weakness; and, after a succession of spasmodic efforts to recover itself, prolonged through the next four and twenty hours, it at length died away completely, and left us lying on the still waters, impatient and ill at ease. We were sadly disappointed; but the sun scattered the vapors which had hung so long about us, and, in the scene which broke out of the dissolving mist, we buried our vexation.

VIEW OF GREENLAND.

Greenland had been for some time regarded by my companions as a sort of myth; for, although frequently only a few miles from its coast, so thick and constant had been the clouds and fogs, that, except for a few brief minutes, it had been wholly hidden from our view. Here, however, it was at last, shaking off its cloud mantle, and standing squarely out before us in austere magnificence,—its broad valleys, its deep ravines, its noble mountains, its black, beetling cliffs, its frowning desolation.

AMONG THE ICEBERGS.

As the fog lifted and rolled itself up like a scroll over the sea to the westward, iceberg after iceberg burst into view, like castles in a fairy tale. It seemed, indeed, as if we had been drawn by some unseen hand into a land of enchantment, rather than that we had come of our own free will into a region of stern realities, in pursuit of stern purposes;—as if the elves of the North had, in sportive playfulness, thrown a veil about our eyes, and enticed us to the very "seat eternal of the gods." Here was the Valhalla of the sturdy Vikings; here the city of the sun-god Freyer,—Alfheim, with its elfin caves,—and Glitner, with its walls of gold and roofs of silver, and Gimle, more brilliant than the sun,—the home of the happy; and there, piercing the clouds, was Himinborg, the Celestial Mount, where the bridge of the gods touches Heaven.

It would be difficult to imagine a scene more solemnly impressive than that which was disclosed to us by the sudden change in the clouded atmosphere. From my diary I copy the following brief description of it:—

"Midnight.—I have just come below, lost in the wondrous beauty of the night. The sea is smooth as glass; not a ripple breaks its dead surface, not a breath of air stirring. The sun hangs close upon the northern horizon; the fog has broken up into light clouds; the icebergs lie thick about us; the dark headlands stand boldly out against the sky; and the clouds and sea and bergs and mountains are bathed in an atmosphere of crimson and gold and purple most singularly beautiful."

BEAUTY OF THE ICEBERGS.

In all my former experience in this region of startling novelties I had never seen any thing to equal what I witnessed that night. The air was warm almost as a summer's night at home, and yet there were the icebergs and the bleak mountains, with which the fancy, in this land of green hills and waving forests, can associate nothing but cold repulsiveness. The sky was bright and soft and strangely inspiring as the skies of Italy. The bergs had wholly lost their chilly aspect, and, glittering in the blaze of the brilliant heavens, seemed, in the distance, like masses of burnished metal or solid flame. Nearer at hand they were huge blocks of Parian marble, inlaid with mammoth gems of pearl and opal. One in particular exhibited the perfection of the grand. Its form was not unlike that of the Coliseum, and it lay so far away that half its height was buried beneath the line of blood-red waters. The sun, slowly rolling along the horizon, passed behind it, and it seemed as if the old Roman ruin had suddenly taken fire.

Nothing indeed but the pencil of the artist could depict the wonderful richness of this sparkling fragment of Nature. Church, in his great picture of "The Icebergs," has grandly exhibited a scene not unlike that which I would in vain describe.

In the shadows of the bergs the water was a rich green, and nothing could be more soft and tender than the gradations of color made by the sea shoaling on the sloping tongue of a berg close beside us. The tint increased in intensity where the ice overhung the water, and a deep cavern near by exhibited the solid color of the malachite mingled with the transparency of the emerald; while, in strange contrast, a broad streak of cobalt blue ran diagonally through its body.

The bewitching character of the scene was heightened by a thousand little cascades which leaped into the sea from these floating masses,—the water being discharged from lakes of melted snow and ice which reposed in quietude far up in the valleys separating the high icy hills of their upper surface. From other bergs large pieces were now and then detached,—plunging down into the water with deafening noise, while the slow moving swell of the ocean resounded through their broken archways.

I had been watching this scene for hours, lost in reverie and forgetfulness, when I was brought suddenly to my senses by the master's mate, who came to report, "Ice close aboard, sir." We were drifting slowly upon a berg about the height of our topmasts. The boats were quickly lowered to pull us off, and, the schooner once more in safety, I went to bed.

I awoke after a few hours, shivering with the cold. The "bull's-eye" above my head was open, and a chilly fog was pouring in upon me. Hurrying on deck, I found the whole scene changed. A dense gray mist had settled over the waters and icebergs and mountains, blending them all in chaotic gloom.

Twenty-four days at sea had brought the water very low in our casks, and I took advantage of the delay to send off to a neighboring iceberg for a fresh supply. The water of these bergs is pure and clear as crystal.

NEARING HARBOR.

AT PRÖVEN.

Getting at last a slant of the wind, we ran in among the low islands which line the coast above Svarte Huk; and Sonntag, who had gone ahead in a boat to Pröven, having sent off to us a swarthy-looking pilot, we wound our way slowly through the tortuous passage, and at a little after midnight of August 6th we dropped anchor in the snuggest of little harbors. The loud baying of dogs, and an odor, baffling description,—"a very ancient and fish-like smell,"—first warned us of our approach to a Greenland settlement.

CHAPTER III.

THE COLONY OF PRÖVEN.—THE KAYAK OF THE GREENLANDER.—SCARCITY OF DOGS.—LIBERALITY OF THE CHIEF TRADER.—ARCTIC FLORA.

We were escorted into the harbor of Pröven by the strangest fleet of boats and the strangest-looking boatmen that ever convoyed a ship. They were the far-famed kayakers of Greenland, and they deserve a passing notice.

THE KAYAK OF THE GREENLANDER.

The kayak of the Greenlander is the frailest specimen of marine architecture that ever carried human freight. It is eighteen feet long and as many inches wide at its middle, and tapers, with an upward curving line, to a point at either end. The skeleton of the boat is made of light wood; the covering is of tanned seal-skin, sewed together by the native women with sinew thread, and with a strength and dexterity quite astonishing. Not a drop of water finds its way through their seams, and the skin itself is perfectly water-proof. The boat is about nine inches deep, and the top is covered like the bottom. There is no opening into it except a round hole in the centre, which admits the hunter as far as his hips. This hole is surrounded with a wooden rim, over which the kayaker laces the lower edge of his water-tight jacket, and thus fastens himself in and keeps the water out. He propels himself with a single oar about six feet long, which terminates in a blade or paddle at either end. This instrument of locomotion is grasped in the centre, and is dipped in the water alternately to right and left. The boat is graceful as a duck and light as a feather. It has no ballast and no keel, and it rides almost on the surface of the water. It is therefore necessarily top-heavy. Long practice is required to manage it, and no tight-rope dancer ever needed more steady nerve and skill of balance than this same savage kayaker. Yet, in this frail craft, he does not hesitate to ride seas which would swamp an ordinary boat, or to break through surf which may sweep completely over him. But he is used to hard battles, and, in spite of every fortune, he keeps himself upright.

I watched their movements with much interest as they collected about the schooner. Among the benefits which they had derived from civilization was an appreciation of the value of rum, coffee, and tobacco; and they were not overly modest in their demands for these articles. Most of them had, however, something to trade, and went home with their reward. One old fellow who had managed to pick up a few words of English, without being particularly clear as to their meaning, was loud in his demands for a "pound rum, bottle sugar," offering in exchange a fine salmon.

SCARCITY OF DOGS.

I had intended to remain at Pröven only a single day, and then to hasten on with all possible speed; but our stay was prolonged by circumstances to which I was forced to submit with as good a grace as possible. It was idle for me to leave without a supply of dogs, for my plans and preparations were entirely based upon them; and the prospect of accomplishing my design in this respect appeared, from the first, very feeble. In order to save time, Sonntag had gone to the village when we lay becalmed off Svarte Huk, and he returned on board with the most discouraging accounts of the poverty of the settlements in that which was such an essential addition to our equipment. A disease which had prevailed among the teams, during the past year, had diminished the stock to less than half of what was required for the prosperity of the people; and all our offers to purchase, either with money or provisions, were at first flatly refused, and were in the end only partially successful.

Mr. Sonntag had called upon the Assistant Trader immediately after his arrival, and was at once informed by that official of the unfortunate state of affairs. He would, however, personally interest himself in the matter, and advised that we should await the arrival of the Chief Trader, Mr. Hansen, who resided at Upernavik, which is forty miles to the north, and would be in Pröven in a day or so. It was evident that nothing could be done without the aid of this all-powerful public functionary, for whose arrival we had no alternative but to wait. If we went on to Upernavik we ran the hazard of missing him; and, by not seeing him until his return to that settlement from his southern tour, of losing the advantage of his prompt coöperation.

Mr. Hansen arrived the following day, and assured me that he would do what was in his power; but he feared that he should have little success. As an earnest of his good-will, he informed me, with a delicate courtesy which made me for the moment wonder if a lordly son of Castile had not wandered to this land of ice, and disguised himself in a seal-skin coat, that his own teams were at my disposal. Beyond this, however, he could neither advise nor command. There was no public stock from which to supply my wants; and so great and universal had been the ravages of disease among the animals, that many hunters were wholly destitute, and none were in possession of their usual number. He however at once dispatched a courier to Upernavik, and others to various small settlements, and thus heralded the news that any hunter who had an extra dog would find a market for it by bringing it forthwith to Pröven or Upernavik.

LIBERALITY OF THE CHIEF TRADER.

This action of the Chief Trader was the more appreciated that it was disinterested, and was uncalled for either by any official demands which were laid upon him, or by any special show of dignity or importance with which the insignificant schooner lying in the harbor could back up my claims. The State Department at Washington had, at my solicitation, requested from the Danish Government such recognition for me as had been hitherto accorded to the American and English naval expeditions; but the courteous response which came in the form of a command to the Greenland officials to furnish me with every thing in their power did not reach the settlements until the following year. The commands of his Majesty the King could not, however, have stood me in better stead than the gentlemanly instincts of Mr. Hansen.

There is little in the history of Pröven, either past or present, that will interest the readers of this narrative. What there is of it stands on the southern slope of a gneissoid spur which forms the terminus of one of the numerous islands of the vast archipelago lying between the peninsula of Svarte Huk and Melville Bay. A government-house, one story high and plastered over with pitch and tar, is the most conspicuous building in the place. A shop and a lodging-house for a few Danish employees stands next in importance. Two or three less imposing structures of the pitch and tar description, inhabited by Danes who have married native women; a few huts of stone and turf, roofed with boards and overgrown with grass; about an equal number of like description, but without the board roof, and a dozen seal-skin tents, all pitched about promiscuously among the rocks, make up the town. There is a blubber-house down by the beach, and a stunted flag-staff on the hill, from which the Danish Flag gracefully waving in the wind, gave the place a show of dignity. The dignity of civilization was further preserved by an old cannon which lay on the grass under the flag, and whose rusty throat made the welkin ring as our anchor touched the Greenland rocks.

THE SETTLEMENT.

The settlement, or Colonien, as the Danes distinguish it, dates back almost to the days of good old Hans Egede, and its name, as nearly as can be interpreted, signifies "Experiment;" and, after the Greenland fashion, a successful experiment it has been. Its people live, chiefly, by hunting the seal; and, of all the northern colonies, few have been as prosperous. The collections of oil and skins during some years are sufficient to freight a brig of three hundred tons.

The place bears ample evidence of the nature of its business. Carcasses of seals and seal's offal lay strewn along the beach, and over the rocks, and among the huts, in every stage of decomposition; and this, added to every other conceivable accumulation that could exhibit a barbarous contempt for the human nose, made the first few hours of our stay there any thing but comfortable.

ARCTIC FLORA.

A better prospect, however, greeted us behind the town. A beautiful valley lay there, nestling between the cliffs, and rich in Arctic vegetation. It was covered with a thick turf of moss and grasses, among which the Poa Arctica, Glyceria Arctica, and Alopecurus Alpinus were most abundant. In places it was, indeed, a perfect marsh. Little streams of melted snow meandered through it, gurgling among the stones, or dashing wildly over the rocks. Myriads of little golden petaled poppies (Papaver nudicaule) fluttered over the green. The dandelion (Leontodon palustre), close kindred of the wild flower so well known at home, kept it company; the buttercup (Ranunculus nivalis), with its smiling, well-remembered face, was sometimes seen; and the less familiar Potentilla and the purple Pedicularis were dotted about here and there. The saxifrages, purple, white, and yellow, were also very numerous. I captured not less than seven varieties. The birch and crowberry, and the beautiful Andromeda, the heather of Greenland, grew matted together in a sheltered nook among the rocks; and, in strange mimicry of Southern richness, the willows feebly struggled for existence on the spongy turf. With my cap I covered a whole forest of them.

VALUE OF DOGS

I had been in Pröven in 1853, and the place had not changed in the interval. The old ex-trader Christiansen was there, a little older, but not less frugal than before. He complained bitterly of Dr. Kane not having kept his promises to him, and I endeavored to mollify his wrath by assuring him that Dr. Kane had lost his vessel and could not return; but his life had been made unhappy during seven long years by visions of a barrel of American flour, and he would not be comforted. He was scarcely able to crawl about; but, when I sent ashore to him the coveted treasure, he found strength to break the head out of the cask, to feast his eyes on the long-expected gratuity. His sons, each with a brood of Esquimaux visaged, though flaxen-haired children, crowded around the present. My diary records that they were the best hunters in the settlement, and that they had the best teams of dogs; and it also mentions, with a little chagrin, that they would not sell one of them. I attributed this obstinacy, at the time, to their cross old paternal relative; but there were better reasons than this. They knew by bitter experience the risks of going into the long winter without an ample supply of dogs to carry them over the ice upon the seal hunt, and to part with their animals was to risk starvation. I offered to give them pork and beef and canned meats, and flour and beans; but they preferred the seal and the excitement of the hunt, and refused to trade.

At last the couriers had all come in, bringing unwelcome news. A half-dozen old dogs and a less number of good ones were all that I had to console myself for the delay; but the Chief Trader had returned to Upernavik, from which place I had received more encouraging accounts than from the lower stations.