The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism Volume III Part 17

"I do not think the Esquimaux had discovered this skeleton, or they would have carried off the brush and comb. Superst.i.tion prevents them from disturbing their own dead, but would not keep them from appropriating the property of the white man, if in any way useful to them. Dr. Rae obtained a piece of flannel marked 'F. D. V., 1845,' from the Esquimaux of Boothia or Repulse Bay; it had doubtless been a part of poor Des Vux's garments."

It is impossible with the s.p.a.ce at command to give in detailed form the interesting narrative of M'Clintock's and Hobson's careful explorations.

"The Voyage of the _Fox_" should be read in the original by all interested in Arctic adventure, for the modest and graphic account of it given by M'Clintock bears the impress of absolute truth, without the slightest attempt at fine writing or exaggeration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RELICS BROUGHT BACK BY THE FRANKLIN SEARCH EXPEDITION.]

About twelve miles from Cape Herschel M'Clintock found a small cairn, built by Hobson's party, and containing a note for the commander. He had reached this, his extreme point, six days previously, without having seen anything of the wreck or of natives, but he had found a record-the record, so ardently sought for, of the Franklin expedition-at Point Victory, on the north-west coast of King William's Land. It read as follows:-

"'_28th May, 1847._-H.M. ships _Erebus_ and _Terror_ wintered in the ice in lat. 70 05' N., long. 98 23' W.

"'Having wintered, in 1846-7, at Beechey Island, in lat. 74 43' 28" N., long. 91 39' 15" W., after having ascended Wellington Channel to lat.

77, and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island.

"'All well.

"'Party, consisting of two officers and six men, left the ships on Monday, 24th May, 1847.

"'GM. GORE, Lieut.

"'CHAS. F. DES VUX, Mate.'

"Had this been all, it would have been the record of a grand success. But, alas! round the margin of the paper upon which Lieutenant Gore, in 1847, wrote those words of hope and promise another had subsequently written the following words:-

"'_April 25th, 1848._-H.M. ships _Terror_ and _Erebus_ were deserted on the 22nd April, five leagues NNW. of this, having been beset since 12th September, 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69 37' 42", long. 98 41' W. Sir John Franklin died on the 11th June, 1847; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been, to this date, nine officers and fifteen men.

"'(Signed) "'(Signed) "'F. R. M. CROZIER, "'JAMES FITZJAMES, "'Captain, and Senior Officer. "'Captain H.M.S.

_Erebus_.

"'And start (on) to-morrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River.'(39)

"In the short s.p.a.ce of twelve months how mournful had become the history of Franklin's expedition! how changed from the cheerful 'All well' of Graham Gore! The spring of 1847 found them within ninety miles of the known sea off the coast of America; and to men who had already, in two seasons, sailed over 500 miles of previously unexplored waters, how confident must they have then felt that that forthcoming navigable season of 1847 would see their ships pa.s.s over so short an intervening s.p.a.ce! It was ruled otherwise. Within a month after Lieutenant Gore placed the record on Point Victory the much-loved leader of the expedition, Sir John Franklin, was dead; and the following spring found Captain Crozier, upon whom the command had devolved, at King William's Land, endeavouring to save his starving men, 105 souls in all, from a terrible death, by retreating to the Hudson's Bay territories up the Back or Great Fish River.

"A sad tale was never told in fewer words. There is something deeply touching in their extreme simplicity, and they show in the strongest manner that both the leaders of this retreating party were actuated by the loftiest sense of duty, and met with calmness and decision the fearful alternative of a last bold struggle for life rather than perish without effort on board their ships. We well know that the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ were only provisioned up to July, 1848."

M'Clintock reached the western extremity of King William's Island on May 29th, and on the following day encamped alongside a deserted boat of considerable size, which had already been examined by Hobson, who had left a note. A quant.i.ty of tattered clothing, &c., remained near it.

"But," says M'Clintock, "all these were after observations; there was that in the boat that transfixed us with awe. It was portions of two human skeletons. One was that of a slight young person; the other of a large, strongly-made, middle-aged man. The former was found in the bow of the boat, but in too much disturbed a state to enable Hobson to judge whether the sufferer had died there; large and powerful animals, probably wolves, had destroyed much of this skeleton, which may have been that of an officer. Near it we found the fragment of a pair of worked slippers....

Besides these slippers there were a pair of small, strong, shooting half-boots. The other skeleton was in a somewhat more perfect state(40), and was enveloped with clothes and furs; it lay across the boat, under the after thwart. Close beside it were found five watches; and there were two double-barrelled guns-one barrel in each loaded and c.o.c.ked-standing muzzle upwards against the boat's side. It may be imagined with what deep interest these sad relics were scrutinised, and how anxiously every fragment of clothing was turned over in search of pockets and pocket-books, journals, or even names. Five or six small books were found, all of them Scriptural or devotional works, except the 'Vicar of Wakefield.' One little book, 'Christian Melodies,' bore an inscription on the t.i.tle-page from the donor to G. G. (Graham Gore?). A small Bible contained numerous marginal notes and whole pa.s.sages underlined. Besides these books, the covers of a New Testament and Prayer Book were found.

"Amongst an amazing quant.i.ty of clothing there were seven or eight pairs of boots of various kinds-cloth winter boots, sea-boots, heavy ankle-boots, and strong shoes. I noted that there were silk handkerchiefs-black, white, and figured-towels, soap, sponge, tooth-brush, and hair-combs; macintosh gun-cover marked outside with paint A 12, and lined with black cloth. Besides these articles we found twine, nails, saws, files, bristles, wax-ends, sailmakers' palms, powder, bullets, shot, cartridges, wads, leather cartridge-case, knives-clasp and dinner ones-needle and thread cases, slow-match, several bayonet-scabbards cut down into knife-sheaths, two rolls of sheet-lead, and, in short, a quant.i.ty of articles of one description and another truly astonishing in variety, and such as, for the most part, modern sledge-travellers in these regions would consider a mere acc.u.mulation of dead weight, but slightly useful, and very likely to break down the strength of the sledge crews.

"The only provisions we could find were tea and chocolate: of the former very little remained, but there were nearly forty pounds of the latter.

These articles alone could never support life in such a climate, and we found neither biscuit nor meat of any kind. A portion of tobacco, and an empty pemmican-tin capable of containing twenty-two pounds weight, were discovered. The tin was marked with an E; it had probably belonged to the _Erebus_. None of the fuel originally brought from the ships remained in or about the boat, but there was no lack of it, for a drift-tree was lying on the beach close at hand, and had the party been in need of fuel they would have used the paddles and bottom boards of the boat." In the after part of the boat twenty-six pieces of plate-spoons and forks-were found, bearing the crests or initials of Franklin and his officers. The reader can see all these interesting relics at Greenwich Hospital, and he will hardly examine them without dropping a tear at the remembrances they recall.

Although M'Clintock and Hobson put forth almost superhuman effort to discover the wrecks, they were never found, and the probability is that they had broken up and were carried to sea at the disruption of the ice.

After making every attempt possible to discover further traces of the lost party, M'Clintock and the rest returned to the _Fox_. On August 10th the vessel's bows were pointed homewards, and forty days later she reached the English Channel, after one of the most remarkable and successful Arctic voyages ever made.

The narrative is finished. It records one of the saddest tragedies of modern days. Amidst all the perils of wreck, and fire, and flood, there has generally been a loophole of escape for some few; here every man of those gallant crews perished, the larger part while helplessly endeavouring to reach a haven of safety. "They fell down and died as they walked along."

The Arctic medal was awarded to all the officers and crew of the _Fox_, and one of the first uses made by the men of their pay was to purchase for Captain M'Clintock a handsome gold chronometer. That brave and successful explorer was deservedly feted and honoured wherever he went, and, as most readers are aware, was subsequently knighted.

CHAPTER XXV.

KANE'S MEMORABLE EXPEDITION.

Dr. Kane's Expedition-His short but eventful Career-Departure of the _Advance_-Dangers of the Voyage-Grinding Ice-Among the Bergs-A Close Shave-Nippings-The Brig towed from the Ice-beach-Smith's Sound-Rensselaer Harbour-Winter Quarters-Return of an Exploring Party-Fearful Sufferings-To the Rescue-Saved-Curious Effects of Intense Cold.

Although the expedition about to be described left the United States in 1852-several years before M'Clintock's memorable voyage-and although it was organised especially for the Franklin search, its consideration has been deferred till now, in order not to interfere with the narrative of the discoveries relative to the lost expedition. Dr. Kane was not, indeed, to share with Rae and M'Clintock the honour of determining the fate of Franklin and his brave companions, but he was, and long must be, destined to hold a foremost place among the great Arctic explorers of all ages, while his work is one of the cla.s.sics of Arctic literature.(41)

Dr. Kane was in the field of action he eventually chose one of the most ardent and enthusiastic workers; indeed, the untiring energy and perseverance with which he laboured in the face of all difficulties ent.i.tle him to be considered a model explorer. His short life had been full of adventure. Born on February 3rd, 1820, he became at a very early age an a.s.sistant-surgeon in the United States navy, and visited most parts of the world, including China, India, Ceylon, and the coasts of Africa. At a station of the latter he was stricken down with "coast fever," and never entirely recovered from the effects. He was engaged in the Mexican war with the United States, and succeeded in pa.s.sing through the enemy's lines with an oral despatch to the American head-quarters, when several others had failed. On the voyage from New Orleans to Mexico he was shipwrecked, and was afterwards laid low with typhus fever in the latter country. His first visit to the Arctic was, as already mentioned, in company with Lieutenant De Haven. He died at Havana, shortly after his return from the expedition we are about to record. His slight frame had been too severely tested; the flesh was weaker than the spirit; and at the early age of thirty-seven he pa.s.sed away, leaving behind a reputation scarcely second to that of any Arctic explorer. Ambitious always, he was nevertheless one of the most thoughtful and humane of commanders. When his men were almost starving, he travelled, sometimes alone, long distances on the ice and snow for succour and relief; when nearly every member of his party was stricken down with scurvy, he nursed, cooked, and cared for them, oft-times when enfeebled, downhearted, and scarcely able to stand himself.

His naval education had made him appreciate the value of discipline, but where humanity was concerned self-abnegation was his leading characteristic. Kane could most a.s.suredly be termed a _practical_ Christian. All honour to his memory!

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHALE SOUND, GREENLAND]

Dr. Kane received special orders in December, 1852, from the then Secretary of the United States navy, "to conduct an expedition to the Arctic seas in search of Sir John Franklin." The n.o.ble-hearted American merchant, Mr. Grinnell of New York, who had organised De Haven's expedition, placed a brig, the _Advance_, at his disposal. Mr. Peabody, the American benefactor of the London poor, contributed handsomely to the outfit, which was aided by several scientific inst.i.tutions. The United States Government detailed ten officers and men from the navy, which with seven others made up the full complement of the expedition. Leaving New York on May 30th, 1853, South Greenland was reached on July 1st. Several Danish settlements were visited on the way north, where they received much hospitality, and obtained skins, fur clothing, and native dogs.

As we have already seen, Baffin was the discoverer of Smith's Sound. From the year 1616, the date of his visit, until Kane explored it, no European or American had sailed over its waters. The voyage of the _Advance_ thither was one of peril and difficulty. Storm succeeded storm; the little brig was constantly beset and nearly crushed in the ice, and sometimes heeled over to such an extent that it seemed a miracle when she righted.

Dr. Kane's description of some of the dangers through which they pa.s.sed is very graphic.

"At seven in the morning we were close on to the piling ma.s.ses. We dropped our heaviest anchor with the desperate hope of winding the brig; but there was no withstanding the ice-torrent that followed us. We had only time to fasten a spar as a buoy to the chain, and let her slip. So went our best bower.

"Down we went upon the gale again, helplessly sc.r.a.ping along a lee of ice seldom less than thirty feet thick; one floe, measured by a line as we tried to fasten to it, more than forty. I had seen such ice only once before, and never in such rapid motion. One upturned ma.s.s rose above our gunwale, smashing in our bulwarks, and depositing half a ton of ice in a lump upon our decks. Our staunch little brig bore herself through all this wild adventure as if she had a charmed life.

"But a new enemy came in sight ahead. Directly in our way, just beyond the line of floe-ice against which we were alternately sliding and thumping, was a group of bergs. We had no power to avoid them; the only question was, whether we were to be dashed in pieces against them, or whether they might not offer us some providential nook of refuge against the storm. But as we neared them we perceived that they were at some distance from the floe-edge, and separated from it by an interval of open water. Our hopes rose as the gale drove us towards this pa.s.sage and into it; and we were ready to exult when, from some unexplained cause-probably an eddy of the wind against the lofty ice-walls-we lost our headway. Almost at the same moment we saw that the bergs were not at rest, that with a momentum of their own they were bearing down upon the other ice, and that it must be our fate to be crushed between the two.