Travels in North America Part 25

When they had approached near enough to the ships, for Sacheuse to be heard, he hailed them in his own language, and they answered him; but neither party seemed to be intelligible. For some time the strangers remained silent; but, on the ships' tacking, they set up a shout, and wheeled off, with amazing swiftness, towards the land.

On the ensuing day eight sledges were seen to approach the ships.

Sacheuse volunteered his services to go on the ice, with presents: this was done in the hope of bringing the people to a parley. They halted at some distance from the ships, and by the edge of a ca.n.a.l or chasm in the ice, which prevented any fear or danger of attack from either party.

Sacheuse soon discovered that these Indians spoke a dialect of his own language; and he invited them to approach nearer, but they replied, "No, no, go you away;" and one of them, drawing a knife out of his boot, exclaimed: "Go away; I can kill you." Sacheuse told them that he wished to be their friend; and, as a proof of it, he threw them, across the ca.n.a.l, some strings of beads, and a checked shirt. These were beheld with great distrust, and Sacheuse threw them a knife. They approached with caution, took up the knife, and then shouted and pulled their noses. These actions were imitated by Sacheuse, who, in return, called out, "Heigh-yaw!" pulling his nose, with the same gesture. They then pointed to the shirt, and asked him of what skin it was made; but some time elapsed before they would venture to touch it. After this they pointed to the ships, and eagerly enquired, "What are those great creatures? Do they come from the sun or the moon? Do they give us light by night or by day?" Sacheuse said that they were houses made of wood; but this, they replied, could not be the case, for the creatures were alive: they had been seen to flap their wings. Sacheuse again a.s.sured them of the truth of all he had told them, and that he was a man like themselves; then pointing towards the south, he said he came, in those houses, from a distant country in that direction. To this they replied, "No, that cannot be: there is nothing but ice there."

On Sacheuse asking these Indians who they were, they replied that they were men, and that they lived in a country towards which they pointed (in the north:) that they had there plenty of water; and that they had come to the present spot, to catch seals and sea-unicorns.

Sacheuse, wishing to become better acquainted with them, returned to the ship, for a plank, to enable him to cross over the chasm. He crossed it; but, on approaching them, they entreated that he would not touch them, as, in that case, they should certainly die. One of them, however, more courageous than the rest, ventured to touch his hand; then, pulling his own nose, he set up a loud shout, in which he was joined by Sacheuse and the other three.

The whole of the natives, eight in number, now came forward, and were met by the commanders of the vessels, and the other officers; but they were, evidently, in a state of great alarm, until the ceremony of pulling noses had been gone through by both parties, shouting, at the same time, _heigh-yaw_! With this people the pulling of noses is a mode of friendly salutation; and their interjection of "heigh-yaw!" is an expression of surprise and pleasure.

The officers gave to the foremost of the natives a looking-gla.s.s and a knife; and presented similar articles to the others, as they came up in succession. On seeing their faces in the gla.s.ses, their astonishment appeared extreme. They looked round in silence, for a moment, at each other, and at their visitors, and immediately afterwards set up a general shout: this was succeeded by a loud laugh, expressive of delight and surprise. Having, at length, acquired some degree of confidence, they advanced, and, in return for knives, gla.s.ses, and beads, gave their own knives, sea-unicorn's horns, and sea-horse teeth.

On approaching the ship, they halted, and were evidently much terrified; and one of the party, after surveying the Isabella, and examining every part of her with his eyes, thus addressed her, in a loud tone: "Who are you? Where do you come from? Is it from the sun or the moon?" pausing between every question, and pulling his nose with the greatest solemnity. This ceremony was repeated, in succession, by all the rest.

Sacheuse again a.s.sured them that the ships were only wooden houses; and he showed them the boat, which had been hauled on the ice, for the purpose of being repaired, explaining to them, that it was a smaller vessel of the same kind. This immediately arrested their attention: they advanced to the boat, and examined her, and the carpenter's tools and the oars, very minutely; each object, in its turn, exciting the most ludicrous e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of surprise. The boat was then ordered to be launched into the sea, with a man in it, and hauled up again; at the sight of this operation there seemed no bounds to their clamour. The cable and the ice-anchor, the latter a heavy piece of iron, shaped like the letter S, excited much interest. They tried in vain to remove it; and they eagerly enquired of what skins the cable was made.

By this time the officers of both the ships had surrounded the Indians; while the bow of the Isabella, which was close to the ice, was crowded with sailors; and a more ludicrous, yet more interesting scene, was, perhaps, never beheld, than that which took place whilst the Indians were viewing the ship. Nor is it possible to convey to the imagination any thing like a just representation of the wild amazement, joy, and fear, by which they were successively agitated. The circ.u.mstance, however, which chiefly excited their admiration, was a sailor going aloft; for they kept their eyes intently fixed upon him, till he had reached the summit of the mast. The sails, which hung loose, they supposed to be skins.

After this, they were conducted to the foot of a rope-ladder suspended from the deck of the ship; and the mode of ascending it was shown to them; but a considerable time elapsed before they could be prevailed with to ascend. At length one of them went up, and he was followed by the rest. The wonders with which they were now surrounded, excited additional astonishment.

The knowledge which these Indians had of wood seemed to be confined to some kinds of heath, which had stems not thicker than the finger: hence they knew not what to think of the timber with which the ships were constructed. Not being aware of its weight, two or three of them, successively, seized hold of the spare topmast, and evidently with an intention of carrying it off. The only object on board which they seemed to view with contempt, was a little terrier dog; judging, no doubt, that it was too small for drawing a sledge: but they shrunk back, in terror, from a pig, whose p.r.i.c.ked ears, and ferocious countenance, presented a somewhat formidable appearance. This animal happening to grunt, one of them was so much terrified, that he became, from that moment, uneasy, and impatient to get out of the ship. In carrying his purpose into effect, however, he did not lose his propensity to thieving, for he seized hold of, and endeavoured to carry off, the smith's anvil: but, finding it infinitely too heavy for his strength, he laid hold of the large hammer, threw it on the ice; and, following it himself, deliberately laid it on his sledge, and drove off. As this was an article that could not be spared, Captain Ross sent a man from the ship, who pursued the depredator, and, with some difficulty, recovered it.

The officers and men on board were much amused by putting into the hands of these Indians a magnifying mirror. On beholding themselves in it, their grimaces were highly entertaining. They first looked into, and then behind it, in hopes of finding the monster which was exaggerating their hideous gestures. A watch was held to the ear of one of them; and he, supposing it alive, asked if it was good to eat. On being shown the gla.s.s of the skylight and binnacle, they touched it, and desired to know what kind of ice it was.

Three of the men who remained on board were handed down into the captain's cabin, and shown the use of the chairs: this, however, they did not comprehend; for they appeared to have no notion of any other seat than the ground. They were shown paper, books, drawings, and various mathematical instruments, but these produced in them only the usual effect of astonishment. On being conducted to the gun-room, and afterwards round the ship, they did not appear to notice any thing particularly, except the wood that had been used in her construction.

They stamped upon the deck, as if in surprise at the great quant.i.ty of this valuable material which they beheld. By the direction of the officers, Sacheuse enquired of these people, whether their country had as many inhabitants as there were pieces of ice, floating round the ship: they replied, "Many more;" and it was supposed that at least a thousand fragments could be distinguished.

The men were now loaded with presents of various kinds, consisting of articles of clothing, biscuit, and pieces of wood; in addition to which the plank that had been used in crossing the chasm, was given to them.

They then departed, promising to return as soon as they had eaten and slept. The parting was attended, on each side, by the ceremony of pulling noses.

It has been remarked that these Indians were in possession of knives; and the iron of which their knives were made, was stated to have been procured from a mountain near the sea-sh.o.r.e. They informed Sacheuse that there was a rock, or great quant.i.ty of it; and that they cut off from this rock, with a sharp stone, such pieces as they wanted.

In the course of the three following days, the Isabella changed her station some miles westward. At length she was again moored near the ice; and, shortly afterwards, three of the natives appeared at a distance. Sacheuse, who had been furnished with presents, and sent to speak with them, induced them to drive, on their sledges, close to the vessel. The dogs attached to each sledge were six in number. Each dog had a collar of seal-skin, two inches wide, to which one end of a thong, made of strong hide, and about three yards in length, was fastened: the other end was tied to the front of the sledge: thus the dogs were ranged nearly abreast, each dog drawing by a single trace, and without reins.

No sooner did they hear the crack of the driver's whip, than they set off at full speed, while he managed them with the greatest apparent ease, guiding them partly by his voice, and partly by the sound of his whip. One of these men pointed out to Captain Ross his house, which was about three miles distant, and could be discerned with a telescope.

A party of ten natives approached the ship, on the ensuing day. These having with them a seal-skin bag filled with air, they began to kick it at each other and at the strangers: in this play the Englishmen joined, to the great amus.e.m.e.nt of both parties. The inflated skin was what the men had been using as the buoy to a harpoon, in the killing of a sea-unicorn. They gave to Captain Ross a piece of dried sea-unicorn's flesh, which appeared to have been half roasted. This gentleman had already seen them eat dried flesh; and he now had an opportunity of ascertaining that they did not scruple to eat flesh in any state; for, one of them who had a bag full of marine-birds, took out one and devoured it raw.

The officers, desirous of ascertaining whether these Indians had any amus.e.m.e.nts of music or dancing, prevailed with two of them to give a specimen of their dancing. One of them began to distort his features and turn up his eyes. He then proceeded to execute, in succession, a variety of strange gestures and att.i.tudes, accompanied by hideous distortions of countenance. His body was generally in a stooping posture; and his hands rested on his knees. After a few minutes, he began to sing; and, in a little while, the second performer, who, hitherto, had been looking on, in silence, began to imitate his comrade. They then sang, in chorus, the word, "_hejaw! hejaw!_" After this had continued, with increasing energy, for several minutes, the tune was suddenly changed to one of shrill notes, in which the words "_weehee! weehee!_" were uttered with great rapidity. They then approached each other, by slipping their feet forward: they grinned, and, in great agitation, advanced until their noses touched, when a loud and savage laugh terminated the extraordinary performance.

While this performance was going on, one of the Indians, seeing that the attention of every person was engaged, seized the opportunity of descending into the state-room, and of purloining Captain Ross's best telescope, a case of razors, and a pair of scissors, which he artfully concealed in his tunic, rejoining the party and the amus.e.m.e.nts, as if nothing had happened. He did not, however, escape detection, for the ship's steward had witnessed the theft, and, now charging him with it, made him return all the articles he had stolen.

Captain Ross gave the name of _Arctic Highlands_ to the country inhabited by these Indians, and that of _Prince Regent's Bay_, to the place where the vessels had anch.o.r.ed. It is situated in the north-east corner of Baffin's Bay, between the lat.i.tudes of 76 and 79 degrees north; and is bounded, towards the south, by an immense barrier of mountains covered with ice. The interior of the country presents an irregular group of mountainous land, declining gradually towards the sea, which it reaches in an irregular manner, the cliffs ranging from five hundred to one thousand feet in height. This tract was almost covered with ice, and appeared to be impa.s.sable.

On the surface of the land, above the cliffs, a scanty appearance of vegetation, of a yellowish green colour, and, in some places, of a heathy brown, was to be seen; and, at the foot of the cliffs, similar traces of a wretched verdure were also apparent. Among the cliffs were seen deep ravines filled with snow, through which the marks of torrents were perceptible. These cliffs run out, in many places, into capes, and are skirted by islands, which, at this time, were clear of ice, and consequently were washed by the waves. Many species of wild-fowl were seen.

The vegetable productions of this country may be said to consist of heath, moss, and coa.r.s.e gra.s.s. There is nothing like cultivation, nor did it appear that the natives used any kind of vegetable food. The moss is in great abundance: it is six or eight inches in length, and, when dried and immersed in oil or blubber, it serves for a wick, and produces a comfortable fire for cooking and warmth, as well as for light.

The whale-fishery might, undoubtedly, be pursued with great success, in this bay and its vicinity. The whales are here not only large and numerous, but, probably from their having been undisturbed, they are tame, and easy to be approached.

The dress of the Arctic Highlanders, as Captain Ross has denominated the people of this country, consists of three pieces, which are all comprised in the name of _tunic_. The upper piece is made of seal-skin, with the hair outside; and is open near the top, so as to admit the wearer's face. The hood part is neatly trimmed with fox's-skin, and is made to fall back on the shoulders, or to cover the head, as may be required. The next piece of dress, which scarcely reaches to the knee, is made of bear's or dog's skin. The boots are of seal-skin, with the hair inward. In the winter this people have a garment of bear-skin, which they put on as a cloak.

The Arctic Highlanders are of a dirty copper colour. Their stature is about five feet: their bodies are corpulent, and their features much resemble those of the Esquimaux. Their cheeks are full and round. Their lips are thick, their eyes are small, and their hair is black, coa.r.s.e, long, and lank. These people appear to be filthy in the extreme. The faces, hands, and bodies of such as were seen by the voyagers, were covered with oil and dirt; and they seemed never to have washed themselves since they were born: even their hair was matted with filth.

Some attempts were made to ascertain the religious notions of the Arctic Highlanders, but these seem to have proved unsatisfactory; and, perhaps, from the inability of Sacheuse to question them on such a subject. They had a king, whom they represented to be a strong man, very good, and greatly beloved. His house was described to be of stone, and nearly as large as the ship; and they said that every man paid to him a portion of all which they caught or found. They could not be made to understand what was meant by war, nor did the voyagers see, among them, any warlike weapons. It is peculiarly deserving of remark, that these Indians, who derive much of their subsistence from the water, have no canoes or vessels of any description, in which they can go afloat; nor do they appear to have any names by which boats or canoes are designated. It is true that they have no wood for the construction of floating vessels; but such might, without difficulty, be constructed of bone covered with skins.

On the 16th of August, the ice had become sufficiently open, to permit the pa.s.sage of the vessels to the northward; and they consequently proceeded on their voyage.

In these high lat.i.tudes, a kind of marine birds, called Little Awks (_alca alle_) were observed in countless mult.i.tudes, and afforded to the sailors, a grateful supply of fresh food. With three muskets, no fewer than one thousand two hundred and sixty-three of them were killed in one day; and, of this number, ninety-three were brought down by one discharge of the muskets.

When the ships were in lat.i.tude 75 degrees 54 minutes, the snow on the face of the cliffs was observed to be stained of a deep crimson colour.

Some of this snow being collected in buckets, it was found to resemble, in appearance, raspberry ice-cream: when dissolved, the liquor seemed not unlike muddy port-wine; and the sediment appeared, through a microscope, to be composed of dark-red globules. Some of this sediment was brought to England, and it is generally supposed to have been a vegetable substance, the seed, probably, of some species of fungus; or, perhaps, to have been itself a minute kind of fungus.

On the 18th of August, the ships pa.s.sed _Cape Dudley Digges_, six miles northward of which a majestic glacier, or ma.s.s of ice, was remarked to occupy a s.p.a.ce of four miles square, extending one mile into the sea, and rising to the height of at least a hundred feet. On the same day the vessels pa.s.sed _Wolstenholme_ and _Whale Sounds_.

About midnight of the 19th, _Sir Thomas Smith's Sound_ was distinctly seen. Captain Ross considered the bottom of this sound to have been eighteen leagues distant; but its entrance, he says, was completely blocked up by ice. On the 21st, the ships stood over to explore an opening, supposed to have been that called _Alderman Jones's Sound_; but Captain Ross says that the ice and fog prevented a near approach.

The night of the 24th of August was remarkable for having been the first on which the sun had been observed to set, since the 7th of June. The land was now seen to take a southerly direction; and the ships proceeded along it, as near as they could conveniently approach for the floating ma.s.ses of ice.

On the 30th they entered a wide opening in the land, the _Sir James Lancaster's Sound_ of Baffin. On each side of this opening was a chain of high mountains. The sea was perfectly free from ice, and the vessels proceeded on a westward course for several leagues. The weather had, for some time, been hazy; but, on its clearing up, Captain Ross states that a range of mountains about twenty-four miles distant, were seen to occupy the centre of the inlet. To these he gave the name of _Croker Mountains_, and, imagining that no pa.s.sage existed through them, he returned into the open sea, and, not long afterwards, sailed for England.

Twenty-sixth Day's Instruction.

DAVIS'S STRAIT AND BAFFIN'S BAY CONCLUDED.

The accounts that had been given by Captain Ross, particularly respecting the apparent mountains, named by him _Croker Mountains_, across Sir James Lancaster's Sound, not proving either conclusive or satisfactory, the Lords of the Admiralty ordered two ships, the Hecla and Griper, to be prepared for a further voyage of discovery in Baffin's Bay. The command of these vessels, as already stated, was given to Captain Parry, who, in the previous expedition, had been second in command under Captain Ross. It was one important part of his instructions, that he should advance to the northward, as far as the opening into Lancaster's Sound; that he should explore the bottom of that Sound, and, if possible, pa.s.s through it to Behring's Strait. The number of men in both the vessels was ninety-four; and many of them were those who had accompanied Captain Ross.

_Narrative of_ CAPTAIN PARRY'S _Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Pa.s.sage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean._

Captain Parry arrived at the entrance into _Lancaster's Sound_, on the 30th of July, 1819; and, this day, saw no fewer than eighty-two whales.

Some of the officers and men landed at _Possession Bay_, and recognized many objects which they had seen there, when with Captain Ross. The tracks of human feet were observed upon the banks of a stream. These at first excited much surprise; but, on examination, they were discovered to have been made by the shoes of some of the same party, eleven months before.

In sailing, westward, up the Sound, Captain Parry says that it is more easy to imagine than to describe the almost breathless anxiety which was visible in every countenance, as the breeze, which had hitherto impelled the vessels, increased to a fresh gale. The mast-heads were crowded by the officers and men looking out; and an unconcerned observer, if, on such an occasion, any could be unconcerned, would have been amused by the eagerness with which the various reports from those stations were received.

After the vessels had proceeded a considerable distance, they pa.s.sed some bold headlands, and high mountains. They also pa.s.sed an inlet, to which Captain Parry gave the name of _Croker's Bay_, and which he is of opinion may, hereafter, be found a pa.s.sage from Lancaster's Sound into the Northern Sea. They were thence carried along briskly for three days.

On the 4th of August, there was, from the mast-head, an exclamation of "land!" and that sound, which, on ordinary occasions, is of all others the most joyful to a seaman's ears, was, on this, the signal for disappointment and mortification. The land, however, proved to be an island.

The vessels continued their progress, and several bays, capes, and headlands, were successively discovered. On the 22d there was a clear and extensive view to the northward; the water was free from ice, and the voyagers now felt that they had entered the Polar Sea. The magnificent opening through which their pa.s.sage had been effected, from Baffin's Bay, to a channel dignified with the name of _Wellington_, was called, by Captain Parry, _Barron's Straits_.

In lat.i.tude 75 degrees 3 minutes, and longitude 103 degrees 44 minutes, an island was discovered; and Captain Sabine, with two other officers, landed on it. They found, in four different places, the remains of Esquimaux habitations. These were from seven to ten feet in diameter; and to each was attached a circle four or five feet in diameter, which had probably been the fire-place. The whole encampment appeared to have been deserted for several years; but recent footsteps of rein-deer and musk-oxen were seen in many places.

The circ.u.mstances under which the voyagers were now sailing were, perhaps, such as had never occurred since the early days of navigation.

There was land towards the north; ice, it was supposed, was towards the south; the compa.s.ses by which the vessels had been steered, now varied so much, that they had become useless; and all the surrounding objects were obscured by a dense fog: consequently, there was now no other mode of regulating the course of the ships, than by trusting to the steadiness of the wind.