Part 24 (2/2)
It is now called _Cook's River_.
The inhabitants who were seen during the examinations of this river, appeared to resemble those of Prince William's Sound. They essentially differed from those of Nootka Sound, both in their persons and language.
The only articles seen among them, which were not their own manufacture, were a few gla.s.s beads, the iron points of their spears, and their knives of the same metal. A very beneficial fur-trade, might be carried on with the inhabitants of this vast coast; but, without a practical northern pa.s.sage, the situation is too remote to render such a trade of any advantage to Great Britain.
A long peninsula, called _Alyaska_, extends, from the mouth of Cook's River, in a westerly direction; and, from its extremity a chain of islands stretches almost to the coast of Asia. The main land was observed, by Captain Cook, to be mountainous; and some of the mountains towered above the clouds. One of them, of conical shape, was discovered to be a volcano: smoke issued from its summit.
Northward of Alyaska is a promontory to which Captain Cook gave the name of _Cape Newenham_. At this place he directed one of his lieutenants to land: this gentleman ascended the highest hill within sight, but from its summit he could not see a tree or shrub of any description. The lower grounds, however, were not dest.i.tute of gra.s.s and herbage.
At the entrance of _Behring's Strait_, is a point of land which Captain Cook called _Cape Prince of Wales_, and which is remarkable as being the most westerly extremity of America hitherto explored. It is not forty miles distant from the coast of Siberia. From near this place, Captain Cook crossed to the opposite sh.o.r.e of Asia; and he continued to traverse the Frozen Sea, in various directions, and through innumerable difficulties, till, at length, the increase of the ice prevented his further progress northward, and he returned into the Pacific Ocean.
Twenty-fifth Day's Instruction.
DAVIS'S STRAIT AND BAFFIN'S BAY.
Several expeditions have, at different times, been fitted out, for the purpose of ascertaining whether there exists a north-west pa.s.sage, or navigable communication, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The supposed points of communication are the north-western side of Baffin's Bay, on the east, and Behring's Strait on the west. Within the last four years the attention of the public has been more particularly called to this subject, by the fitting out, and progress, of two successive expeditions into Baffin's Bay. To the commander of each, instructions were given that he should, if possible, effect a pa.s.sage thence, westward, into the Pacific. The first of these expeditions, under the command of Captain Ross, sailed from England in the month of April, 1818: the other, under Captain Parry, who, in the previous expedition, had accompanied Captain Ross as the second in command, sailed on the 10th of May, 1819. Some of the most interesting adventures which they each experienced, and of the most important discoveries which they effected, will now require our attention.
_A Narrative of_ CAPTAIN ROSS'S _Voyage of Discovery, for the purpose of exploring Baffin's Bay, and enquiring into the probability of a North-west Pa.s.sage._
The Isabella and Alexander, commanded by Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry, pa.s.sed _Cape Farewell_, the south-eastern extremity of Greenland, on the 26th of May, 1818. The voyagers had previously seen a great number of icebergs, or islands of ice, of various shape and size, and of singular and grotesque figure. The height of one of them was estimated at three hundred and twenty-five feet; and a torrent of water was pouring down its side. On another, to which the s.h.i.+ps were, for a while, made fast, a stratum of gravel, and stones of various kinds was observed.
Whilst the vessels were near this iceberg, which was in lat.i.tude 68 degrees, 22 minutes, they were visited by some Esquimaux, inhabitants of the adjacent country. From these persons they learnt that it had remained aground since the preceding year; and that there was ice all the way thence to _Disco Island_.
In the evening of the 12th of June, the weather being clear and serene, the sky and the water presented one of the most beautiful scenes that can be imagined. The former, near the horizon, was interspersed with light and fleecy clouds, which decreased gradually in colour and density, according to their height; until, in the zenith, they disappeared entirely, and there the sky a.s.sumed a rich cerulean blue.
The water, on the other hand, presented a spectacle superbly grand. Let any one fancy himself (says Captain Ross) in the midst of an immense plain, extending further than the eye can penetrate, and filled with ma.s.ses of ice, which present a greater variety of form than the most fertile imagination can conceive; and as various in size as in shape, from the minutest fragments, to stupendous islands, more than one hundred feet in perpendicular height above the surface of the ocean.
In the afternoon of the 14th of June, being near the Danish settlement, on _Kron Prins Island_, in lat.i.tude 63 degrees, 54 minutes, the governor of the settlement came on board the Isabella. This person stated that the weather of the preceding winter had been unusually severe; and that, during his residence of eleven years, in Greenland, the intensity of the cold had gradually continued to increase. The whole population of the island consisted of himself and family, six Danes, and one hundred Esquimaux, whose occupation consisted chiefly in the capture of whales and seals.
The vessels proceeded northward, along the edge of the ice, through a crooked and narrow channel, in the midst of a firm field of ice, and a tremendous ridge of icebergs.
At _Wayat's_ or _Hare Island_, the astronomical instruments were landed, and some important errors, both of lat.i.tude and longitude, were discovered and corrected. Thirty or forty whale-s.h.i.+ps were seen fastened to the icebergs along the sh.o.r.e of this island. The only four-footed animals observed on it were white hares and a fox: the birds were ptarmigans, snipes, snow-buntings, and larks.
Beyond Wayat's Island the s.h.i.+ps were surrounded by ice of various and extensive forms; and much skill, ardour, and perseverance, were manifested by the navigators working through the narrow channels and floes. On the 23d, and at the distance of ten miles north of Wayat, they reached _Four Island Point_, where they found several whalers which had been stopped by the ice.
A sort of Danish factory was established at this spot, and some Indian huts were seen; but they were in ruins and apparently deserted. Captain Ross sent to the sh.o.r.e one of his crew, an Esquimaux, named John Sacheuse. This man, who had been resident nearly two years in England, and had acquired some knowledge of the English language, had been taken on board the Isabella as an interpreter.
He found a village, consisting of a few huts, formed of seal-skins, and sufficient for the residence of about fifty persons. Being desirous of obtaining from these persons a sledge and dogs, in exchange for a rifle-musket, he conducted seven of them, in their canoes, to the s.h.i.+p.
As soon as the bargain was made, they went on sh.o.r.e, and returned, with the sledge and dogs, in a larger canoe, rowed by five women in a standing posture, and all dressed in deer-skins. These people were highly pleased with the treatment they received; and, having partaken of some refreshment in the cabin, they danced on the deck with the sailors, to the animating strains of a Shetland fiddler. Two of the women were daughters of a Danish resident, by an Esquimaux woman: one of the men was the son of a Dane; and they were all of the colour of Mulattoes.
After the dance, coffee was served; and, at eight o'clock, the party returned to land.
The progress of the vessels had hitherto been much impeded by the state of the ice. This, however, now began to separate, and they once more proceeded on their voyage; pa.s.sing among hundreds of icebergs, of extraordinary colours, and the most fantastical shapes.
In lat.i.tude 74 degrees 30 minutes, the Isabella was jammed in by the ice, and sustained a severe pressure; being lifted several feet out of the water, but she did not receive any material injury. On the 31st of July, whales were seen in great numbers; and, the boats being sent in pursuit of them, one was killed: it measured forty-six feet in length, and yielded thirteen tons of blubber.
On the 6th and 7th of August, the two s.h.i.+ps were again in great danger from the ice. Whilst they were in the midst of the icebergs, they were driven, by a gale of wind, so forcibly against each other, that their sterns came violently in contact, and crushed to pieces a boat that could not be removed in time; and, had not the vessels themselves been excessively strong, they must have been totally destroyed. Attempts were made to liberate them by sawing through the ice: not long after the commencement of the operation, two immense ma.s.ses of ice came violently in contact, and one of them, fifty feet in height, suddenly broke. Its elevated part fell back with a terrible crash; and overwhelmed, with its ruins, the very spot which the officers had marked out as a place of safety for the s.h.i.+ps. Soon afterwards the ice opened, and they were once more out of danger.
The gale having abated, and the weather, which of late had been snowy, having cleared up, land was seen in lat.i.tude 75 degrees 54 minutes; and on the 9th of August, the voyagers beheld, at a distance, upon the ice, some people who seemed to be hallooing to the s.h.i.+ps. At first they were supposed to be s.h.i.+pwrecked sailors, whose vessel had perished in the late gale; the s.h.i.+ps, therefore, were steered nearer to the ice, and the colours were hoisted. It was, however, now discovered, that they were natives of the country, drawn by dogs on sledges, and with wonderful velocity.
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