Captain Lyon's Private Journal: Time-line and Milestones

Area of operations. IGLOOLIK island and Eskimaux settlement are located in Hooper Inlet, north-west of Ooglit Island.

CONTENTS CHAPTER I Departure from England- Sighting first iceberg off Greenland Chapter II Examine Hurd's Channel and discover Gore Bay - Enter Lyon inlet - Captain Parry meets natives - Take Winter quarters at Winter Island Chapter III Theatricals, school and observatory - Arrival of Eskimaux, and a pack of wolves - Snow houses - Tattooing - Honesty of the natives Chapter IV Voracious feeding - An eclipse - The thirteenth wolf killed - Charts obtained - Journey across the island - Beef stolen Chapter V The first thaw and arrival of birds - Death of a seaman - The gardens - Death of two seamen - Ice break up, and we leave the island Chapter VI Dangerous navigation - New natives at Igloolik - Land journey with Toolemak - Sledges - A ball - The koonik Chapter VII Enter strait of Fury and Hecla - Land journeys - Liddon and Amherst Islands - extraordinary currents - Seek winter quarters at Igloolik Chapter VIII Annatko - A man beats his wives - Geographical intelligence - Sun leaves us for 42 days - Distress of the natives - Effect of the climate Chapter IX This long chapter (67 pp) is an account of the Eskimaux way of life, skills, personalities, etc. Chapter X New Year's day - the sun returns - Man eaten by dogs - Scurvy - Arrangements for Fury to remain another year - Toolemak drunk - Vanity of a woman Chapter XI Journey in search of a western sea, and return - Arrival of strangers - Walrus sinks a boat - Reasons for the ships returning home Chapter XII Expedition returning - Account of Igloolik - The ships drive out of Lyon Inlet - Passage down Hudson's Strait and across the Atlantic - Arrival and hospitable reception at Lerwick (Return to the top ...) 1821 - CHAPTER I (p. 1) "At daylight of the 8th of May, 1821, his Majesty's ships Fury and Hecla, accompanied by the Nautilus transport, carrying stores, weighed, and stood out from the Little Nore." (p. 3) "In the forenoon of the 16th [June] an ice-berg was seen a-head. To one who, like myself, was a stranger to these climes, I need scarcely apologize for mentioning the novel beauty of the evening of this day. At a quarter past ten the sun set: the sky over-head was of the purest azure, here and there sprinkled with light silvery clouds of the most fantastic forms. At about mid-heaven, in the western sky, a range of purple clouds, edged with vivid gold, formed a delightful contrast with the softened crimson of the setting sun. In opposition to this glowing scene, the eastern heavens were filled with heavy clouds of a brilliant whiteness, and cold appearance, backed by a clear blue sky. The calm sea exhibited, in a softened degree, the beauties above it, and its surface was occasionally ruffled by the rapid motions of large shoals of porpoises, attended by multitudes of birds. The ships lay motionless together, and their bells alone broke the universal stillness. This delightful evening far excelled, in my opinion, any Italian sunset; but the presence of two large ice-bergs reminded us but too well that we were in a far different climate." (p. 4) "With but little abatement in the wind we came amongst a quantity of loose ice on the morning of the 18th, and at 9 A.M. in lat. 60o 53N long. 61o 39 W., we made the pack, or main body of ice, having many large bergs in and near it." (p. 7) "At noon [2 July], on the clearing up of a fog, which had for some time surrounded us, we discovered land about 10 miles from S.S.W. to W.N.W., which we immediately knew to be the Black Bluff, on Resolution Island ... We were now in the entrance of Hudson's Strait." (p. 11) "On the evening of the 16th [July] we contrived to join strange ships, and made fast to a floe near them; they proved to be Prince of Wales and Eddystone (the Hudson's Bay traders), with Lord Wellington, which had about 160 natives of Holland on board, who were going to settle at Lord Selkirk's colony on the Red River." (p. 34) "The 30th [July], and greater part of 31st, we were so enveloped in fog as to be under the necessity of keeping company by signal gun ... When it cleared, we again made some progress along shore, and in the evening saw Cape Dorset and Salisbury island." (p. 41) "The oomiak (umiak, Greenland), or luggage boat, is chiefly used for the purpose of removing the effects of families in their excursions during the summer season. The frame-work is of wood and whalebone, the bottom flat, and both head and stern nearly square. The skins which cover the frame are seal, and deprived of hair; they are at all times somewhat transparent, but more particularly so when wetted. Seats, to the amount of five or six, are placed in the boat, as with Europeans. Two very clumsy oars, with flat blades, are pulled by the women, and one is used by the person who steers." (p. 50) [on the Duke of York's Bay] "... observations ... now convinced us that we had discovered one of the most magnificent and commodious harbours perhaps in the world, in which the whole British navy might find anchorage. The soundings were good, the bottom of strong clay, and the entrance so formed as to be capable of being most completely fortified." (p. 55) "Thus our examination of this much-doubted place were terminated; and the veracity of poor Middleton, as far as regards this bay at least, was now at length established; and in looking down the strait we passed, he was fully justified in calling it a "frozen strait". We were now indisputably on our scene of future action, the coast of America; and it only remained for us to follow minutely the line of shore in continuation from Repulse Bay." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER II (p. 56) [August 23 - 28] Hurds's channel explored. (p. 64) "The forenoon of the 28th [of August] was devoted to taking angles, obtaining sights, &c.; and having in the course of these duties, ascended a steep mountain, we saw the formation of the northern land more clearly than before, and that it encircled a noble bay, in which lay a few small islands. This place I had the pleasure of naming Gore Bay ..." (p. 65) "Red snow was brought off to the Fury ... the colouring matter of red snow was proved, before our leaving England, to consist of a species of fungus, capable of re-production by artificial cold ... Of all the reasons given for the remarkable appearance, that by a Peter Paterson, who in 1671, visited Sptzbergen, is the most amusing: "The stones of the rocks are full of white, red, and yellow veins, like marble; upon any alteration of the weather, these stones sweat, which, together with the rains, tinges the snow red." (p. 67) "In our walk we found a large mass of black mica, from which we obtained specimens of eight or ten inches in length, and five or six in thickness." (p. 69) "A prevalence of fog, northerly wind, and heavy ice in floes of some miles in circumference, had carried us, in spite of constant labour and exertions ... to the very spot in which we were on the 1st of August! and three days were sufficient for the purpose. Thus on the 3rd of September we found that, after having with infinite anxiety and trouble traced the coast to the northward for upwards of a month, we were now again on the spot from whence we had commenced our operations." (p. 70) "It was not until the 5th that we could get forward ... Having made a large inlet [named Lyon Inlet] or opening of the land, we anchored for the night at its mouth, and weighing at daylight on the 6th, ran up it for about twenty-five miles, its breadth being about eight." (p. 77) "While we remained at our anchorages, our sportsmen had been pretty successful, and, to explain what I mean by this term, I subjoin a list of animals and birds killed by the Hecla's people in a fortnight: 4 deer, 40 hares, 82 ptarmigan, 50 ducks, 3 divers, 3 foxes, 3 ravens, 4 seals, ermines, marmottes, mice." (p. 81) "With four boats Captain Parry and myself sounded for some hours, and at length succeeded in finding a snug cove, into which we gladly ran the ships. In this place, which from its security obtained the name of Safety Cove, we remained a week, during which we had so severe a northerly gale as to oblige us to strike the lower yards and topmasts ..." (p. 85) "With a fresh breeze from N.N.W. we weighed on the morning of the 6th [October], and ran down the strait; but towards noon the wind ceased in great measure, and we came amongst young ice ... In this bay we found the young floe rapidly forming. Having, as well as circumstances would permit, ascertained the safety of the anchorage, we brought the ships in after noon. The ice continuing to form solidly round the ships..." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER III (p. 87) "On the afternoon of the 8th [October] I accompanied Captain Parry on shore, to examine from the hills the distant sea ice. Every thing indicated the settled commencement of the winter, and it was decided to remain in our present position with the ships." (p. 92) "THEATER ROYAL: Winter Isle. The Public are most respectfully informed that this little, yet elegant, theatre will open for the season, on Friday next, the 9th of November, 1821, when will be performed Sheridan's celebrated Comedy of THE RIVALS." (p. 97) "December 22nd, our shortest day, was extremely fine, and the sun rose to 37' above the horizon, giving us three hours' daylight, at least sufficiently clear to allow of our taking a long walk. How great the difference between this place and Melville island, where, for ninety days, the sun was not seen! Comfortless as an arctic winter certainly is, yet it has degrees of wretchedness, amongst which the absence of light is the most severely felt." (p. 98) "I never indeed saw more general good humour and merriment on a Christmas day since I went to sea. A pretty compliment was paid to all the officers by a well meaning, but certainly not very sober crew, by absolutely forcing each in turn, beginning with myself, to go out on the lower deck, and have his health drank with three hearty cheers. On the 26th, we sent all the people for a run on the ice, in order to put them to rights, but thick weather coming on, it became necessary to recall them, and, postponing the dinner hour, they were all danced sober by 1 p.m. the fiddler being, fortunately, quite as he should be." (p. 98) "We had now reached the end of our first year, without having experienced any weighty difficulties, and both officers and men enjoyed excellent health. ... blessed with spirits and zeal for the renewal of our exertions. ... Our men had taken the greatest pleasure in their school, which might in some measure be attributed to their having the management of it in their own hands. There was not a man in the ship who could not, by this time, read and write, and on Christmas day I received sixteen copies from those who, two months before, scarcely knew their letters. These little specimens were all well written, and sent with as much pride, as if the writers had been good little schoolboys, instead of stout and excellent seamen." (p. 101) "I have never contemplated the aurora without experiencing the most awful sensation, and can readily excuse the poor untutored Indians for supposing that in the restless motions of the northern lights they behold the spirits of their fathers roaming in freedom through the land of souls." (Return to the Contents ...)

A.D. 1822 - CHAPTER III (cont'd) (p. 109) "An unexpected and most welcome break in the tedium of our winter's confinement was announced on he morning of the 1st of February, by a cry of Eskimaux! Eskimaux! from some of our people, who were taking their solitary diurnal walk on deck, and we saw a large troop of strangers coming over ice from the westward, and occasionally heard them set up a loud shout. ... The party consisted of twenty-one men, two very old women, and two children." (p. 114) "At an early hour on the 2nd, I accompanied Captain Parry and several officers to pass the day at the huts ... There were five clusters of huts, some having one, some two, and others three domes, in which thirteen families lived, each occupying a dome or one side of it, according to their strength. The whole number of people were 21 men, 25 women, and 18 children, making a total of 64. The entrance to the dwellings was by a hole about a yard in diameter, which led through a low-arched passage of sufficient breadth for two to pass in a stooping posture, and about 16 feet in length; another hole then presented itself, and led through a similarly shaped, but shorter passage, having at its termination a round opening, about two feet across. Up this hole we crept one step, and found ourselves in a dome about seven feet in height, and as many in diameter, from whence the three dwelling-places, with arched roofs were entered.... each dwelling might be averaged at 14 or 16 feet in diameter by 6 or 7 in height ... We soon learned that the building of a house was but the work of an hour or two, and that a couple of men, one to cut the slabs and the other to lay them, were labourers sufficient." (p. 119) "While examining the interior of the huts, we found many opportunities of establishing ourselves in the favour of the Eskimaux by attention to their children, whose first appearance gave me a most favourable idea of their quiet and unobtrusive manners, and I never afterwards had occasion to alter my opinion of them. I could not look at these modest little savages, without being obliged to draw comparisons rather disadvantageous to many sweet little spoiled children in England, and I only determined, should I ever be blessed with a family of my own, to tell them many stories of these Indians, whose orderly behaviour might be an example to them." (p. 121) "My curiosity determined me on seeing how the kekeen (or tattoe) was performed, and I accordingly put myself in the hands of Mrs. Kettle. ... She commenced her work by blackening the thread with soot, and taking a pretty deep but short stitch in my skin, carefully pressing her thumb on the wound as the thread passed thourgh it, and begining each stitch at the place where the last ceased ... I could now form an idea of the price paid by the Eskimaux females for their embellishments, which for a time occasion a slight inflamation and some degree of pain." (p. 123) "We were all in admiration of the honesty of the natives, who would not even appropriate a bead dropped by accident, without permission, even although novelty and opportunity might have been offered as an excuse for them." (p.125) "...very few of the people took a full meal while we were with them. What they did eat was in as many instances raw as boiled, and both food and utensils were so indescribably filthy and oily, that the stomachs of many of our party were quite turned. I however had fortunately served a kind of apprenticeship to bad and unsavory food, and therefore managed better. My friends, the Arabs, were frequently brought to my remembrance by the repeated and satisfactory eructations of both sexes." (p. 126) "We returned on board at dusk, highly delighted with our visit, and inclined to think most favourably of our new acquaintances." (p. 128) "On the 4th [of February ], I again went to the huts ... On pointing out the woman whom I had seen suckling her son on the first day, she repeated this little scene of tenderness immediately; but not content with this exhibition, she squirted her child's provision over us with such spirit, as to drive us out of the hut." (p. 129) "... the women [were] busily occupied in making shoes, boots, and other articles for the market; and now, for the first time, we observed the peculiar manner in which they use their needles; this is, by holding them betwixt the thumb and middle finger, while the impetus is given by the fore-finger ... Their manner of work is extremly neat and regular ..." (p. 134) "Captain Parry invited me on board the Fury to an Eskimaux concert in which five ladies and a gentleman performed. Their tunes were extremly monotonous, but sung in good time." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER IV (p. 139) "On the 13th [of February], three more seals were taken, and all past miseries were forgotten, in the enormous feeding which now took place. Every lamp was alight; and boiling and stewing went in great spirits." (p. 140) "Our hungry visitors were no sooner fed, than the game of leap-frog was set on foot by our seamen. The Eskimaux having no idea of jumping in this manner, afforded much amusement. The younger men took such over-leaps, as frequently to pitch upon their heads, when, with great unconcern and much good humour, they again returned to the game, although the blows they received brought the water into their eyes." (p. 141) "On the 16th, I rejoiced to find that the seal hunters had been successful; blood, blubber, entrails, skins, and flesh, lying sociably intermixed in savoury heaps. Abundant smoking messes were in preparation, and even dogs looked happy as they uninterruptedly licked the faces of the children, who were covered with blood and grease from the chin to the eyes." (p. 142) "... I found beyond a doubt, that women do not eat with the men; but waiting until they are satisfied, then enjoy a feast by themselves. [...] Both sexes eat in the same manner, although not in equal proportions; the females very seldom, and the men very frequently stuffing until quite stupefied. A lump of meat being given to the nearest person, he first sucks it all round, and then pushes as much as he can into his mouth, cutting it off from the larger piece close to his lips, to the great danger of them and of his nose. " (p. 143) "The swallows of the Eskimaux are of such marvelous capacity, that a piece of flesh of the size of an orange very rarely receives half a dozen bites before it is bolted, and that without apparent exertion." (p. 147) "...I was surprised to hear, that the immense store of flesh which I had seen on the preceding day was entirely consumed, and that every one complained of hunger, although, on a moderate average, each person must have eaten ten pounds in the course of the preceding night." (p. 157) "This quarrel confirmed me in an opinion I was very unwilling to admit, the when seal's flesh and oil for the lamps were abundant, no one cared for us, or for the provisions we had given them; while, on the other hand, a day of famine rendered them altogether as grateful. I should not state this want of proper feeling, had we not gradually been led to remark it; for, where people possess so few bad qualities, and so many good ones, it is painful to be obliged to discover faults." (p. 160) "During the last few days we had been most agreeably employed in obtaining charts of the countries around us, from Ilifliak and Eewerat, who were our hydrographers... I was for some time incredulous as to their knowledge of the position of the cardinal points of the compass ... I was ultimately ... led to suppose that the stars, and particularly the constellation Ursa Major, were their chief guides in this respect." (p. 161) "So singularly happy is the disposition of the Eskimaux, that when their wants are for a moment relieved, they forget that they have ever suffered from hunger, or that they may on the morrow be again in the same distress." (p. 174) "A most shocking theft was on this evening committed by a man and his little son; which was no less that the last piece of English corned beef, belonging to the midshipmen. Had it been an eighteen pound carronade, or even one of the anchors, the thieves would have been welcome to it; but to purloin English beef, in such a country, was quite unpardonable." (p. 177) "In a chart of Illigliak's, which I have in my possession, she connected the land, from our winter quarters to the N.W. sea, rounding and terminating the northern extremity of this part of America, by a large island, and a strait of sufficient magnitude to afford a safe passage for the ships. This little North-West passage set us all castle-building, and we already fancied the worst part of our voyage over ..." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER V (p. 178) "As it was now a week since any seals or walruses had been taken, and as the weather had been very bold and windy, the distress of the Eskimaux were extreme. [...] about thirty men, women and children, had taken their goods, and departed with sledges over the ice, to the westward, without having ever given us the slightest hint of their intentions." (p. 187) "I had several times, in my rambles through the world, seen huts which I imagined could not be equalled in point of wretchedness of appearance; but I was yet to learn that of all miserable places on earth, a snow village recently deserted is the most gloomy." (p. 200) "...on the 16th [May], while employed aloft, he [seaman James Pringle] fell from the mizen-topmast head to the deck; his jaw was fractured, his neck dislocated, and the poor fellow never moved more. This fatal event threw a general gloom over every one, the deceased having been a good and respectable seaman, and highly esteemed by all his shipmates." (p. 204) "Captain Parry having determined on cutting a canal for the ships to get to the open water ... both crews were accordingly set to work at sawing a track which had been marked out, being 197 feet in width at the outer end, and fifty near the ships, while in length it was 2058 feet." (p. 205) "On the 9th, [June], I brought off the first flowers we had seen in blossom; they were of the saxifraga oppositifolia; and it is singular, that on the same day of the same month, the same flower was first seen at Melville island. This tardy appearance of vegetation, at a place nine degrees to the southward of the winter-quarters of the last expedition, offers a strong argument in favour of the hypothesis, that latitude makes but little or no difference as far as regards this portion of the polar regions." (p. 207) "The canal was now completely finished ... This truly arduous task had occupied our people for fifteen days, from six A.M. to eight P.M. ; but even, under such constant exertion, there never was a set of men who laboured with more spirit and good-humour ..." (p. 209) "... during the night of the 18th [June], on which we had built our castles, the whole body of ice astern broke, filled up our hard-wrought canal, and fixed us as firm as ever; some grounded bergs, on a shoal without the bay, preventing the harbour floes from going to sea." (p. 210) "There was one remarkable feature of this island ... on the most elevated spots it was common to find ridges of rounded shingles, as if thrown up by action of the waves ... On some of these inland beaches I found fossil marine shells in masses of limestone." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER VI (p. 214) "With a fresh breeze from the N.W. we made sail from our winter quarters at 7 A.M. having been frozen in for two hundred and sixty seven days!" (p. 216) "Since leaving Winter Island we had been in the habit of remarking the amazing regularity of the soundings, which at some miles from the shore always were between forty and fifty fathoms." (p. 219) "... we found the flood-tide coming from the northward, and generally running nine hours, while the ebb seldom exceeded three or four." (p. 230) "... we learnt that the land was insular, and was called Igloo-lik, the northernmost inhabited island laid down by Iligliak. [...] There were at this time seventeen tents along the beach, and we supposed the natives to amount in number to 120." (p. 236) "I am led to believe that the island of Igloolok must have been, for centuries, the residence of Eskimaux. It is strange that the skulls of men should have been left to lie neglected under-foot among those of all kinds of animals: but the natives treated the matter with the utmost indifference; and a lad who accompanied me a few miles inland to shoot, carried down to the boat for me a couple of human heads, I had found near the lake, wit the same willingness as some ducks which I had killed." (p. 238) "The little girls assembled to the number of eleven, to sing and make faces, and squatted down before us for that purpose, with great glee. They were pretty children, of from five to ten years of age ..." (p. 238) "Landing again on the 24th [July], we found that a man had arrived from a distance with a cargo of salmon, which luxury was eagerly purchased, as the greatest treat we had met with since leaving England; the fish were small, from 18 inches to 2 feet in length." (p. 242) "Of the neroo-ka I also tasted a small portion, considering that no man who wishes to conciliate or inquire into the manners of savages should scruple to fare as they do while in their company. I found this substance acid and rather pungent, resembling, as near as I could judge, a mixture of sorel and radish leaves." (p. 243) This excursion had given me many opportunities of observing the dexterity with which the sledges and dogs are managed, and which I had never seen to advantage at Winter Island. [...] It was a beautiful sight to observe the two sledges racing at full speed to the same object, the dogs and men in full cry, and the vehicles splashing through the holes of water with the velocity and spirit of rival coaches." (p. 250) "During the showers of rain which fell frequently throughout the day, the inmates of whichever tent I was detained in, did all they could to amuse me. The men showed some curious knots on their fingers, and other puzzles, for which in return I exhibited the cat's cradle. The little girls were expert in a singular but dirty amusement, which consisted in drawing a piece of raw sinew up their nostrils, and producing the end out of their mouth." (p. 251) " these people ... put very rational questions respecting our food, dress, country, wives, &c., and in a quite way awaited my answers. The women were particularly inquisitive about their own sex; and when I went so far as to say, rather too boldly, "that they never wore the breeches," a general cry was raised, "how cold they must be!" and it excited equal astonishment when I explained that they were so void of taste as not to be tattoed." (p. 257) "On the following day this old man [Toolemak] with another came on board, and made some charts; in all of which we clearly perceived that a passage must exist somewhere to the N.W." (p. 259) "On the 14th, Captain Parry determined on setting out over the western ice to the land in that quarter, in order to have ocular proof that a sea actually existed immediately beyond it, as had been constantly asserted by the Eskimaux. [...] The season had now advanced to a ,most alarming period, strong ice having formed almost every night of calm; the month of August was half expired, and in this high latitude we could not expect to navigate for many days in September." (p. 261) "From Captain Parry I learnt that he had discovered a large opening to the W.N.W., beyond which, as far as he could observe, there lay a clear sea, which he considered as being the place laid down in all the Eskimaux charts." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER VII (p. 262) "The morning of the 26th [August] was fine, and favoured by a light breeze, we ran with great anxiety for the mouth of the new strait. [Fury and Hecla Strait]" (p. 269) "On the 4th [September] I landed on an island [Amherst Island] about six miles westward from the ships. [...] From the appearance of the ground, where some chasms occurred, it was the opinion of the seamen who accompanied me, and who was born amongst coal mines, that coal must lie a short distance below the surface." (p. 275) "For some days repeated attempts had been made by boats, by patent logs, and various contrivances from the ships, to ascertain the actual state of the tides or currents which set from under the ice; but the results merely tended to prove them extraordinary, and out of the usual nature of these phenomena." (p. 276) "No doubt now remained of our being in the only navigable entrance (of course I mean if unimpeded by ice) to the Polar Sea, immediately round the N.E. point of America, which, from its appearance, breadth, set of the current, and other circumstances, was a discovery of the highest interest..." (p.278) "We had now been sixty-five days struggling to get forward; but though we had suffered the anxieties and difficulties of a long voyage, we had only in that time reached about forty miles to the westward of Igloolik. For twenty five days we had awaited the breakup of the ice in the strait, and now left it almost as we found it." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER VIII (p. 288) "In one of my visits to the huts, I observed a young girl (Sheega) racking herself from leg to leg as if nursing and infant, and on asking the cause, she very innocently produced from her hood a large roll of deer-skin, having one end rounded and dressed in a linen cap, bordered with red flannel, which she told me was her little child. This was the first and only instance I met with of the young Eskimaux girls amusing themselves with dolls ..." (p. 298) "The 2d of December was a day of some importance to us, as we saw the sun for the last time. The upper limb was seen for a few minutes at noon; but so dimly, and so curiously distorted by refraction, that its appearance can scarcely be conceived by those who I hope may never pass a day without being blessed with the light of the Almighty's most glorious work." (p. 304) "As for ourselves, in the ships we were blessed with excellent health, and enjoyed excellent comfort which our splendid outfit and the nature of our situation permit. In this second winter, however, we very readily admitted the truth of the old naval adage, that "the second year tries a man;" for those who felt the least inconvenience from the cold at Winter Island were now as much distressed by it as the others. (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER IX Section headings of this chapter are as follows: (p. 307) Of the persons and features of the Eskimaux (p. 311) Dress and ornaments (p. 318) Occupation of women (p. 320) Canoes, sledges, weapons (p. 325) Spears (p. 327) Bow and arrows (p. 332) Dogs (p. 335) Land animals, and how procured (p. 340) Manner of Fishing (p. 341) Travelling, and extent of geographical knowledge (p. 347) GENERAL DISPOSITION: Honesty, Envy, Begging, Gratitude, Lying, Hospitality, Temper, Revenge, Courage. (p. 351) Marriage, Bigamy, &c. (p. 353) Estimation of women (p. 355) Treatment of children (p. 356) Conduct to the aged (p. 357) Care of the sick and dead (p. 358) Superstitions (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER X (p. 375) "A.D. 1823 - New Year's Day was, as might have been expected, welcomed by us all, even with the certainty that many tedious months must yet pass away before the slightest change could be perceptible on the show-covered land." (p. 379) [19th January]. "We had not seen the sun at the time it should properly have appeared, the forty-second day from its setting, in consequence of the thick weather, so that forty-nine days have now elapsed since it had last shone on us. The poor Eskimaux were no less delighted than ourselves at its appearance, and on its morning all faces were as gay and cheerful as the bright scene around." (p. 381) "An officer, who was present at the time, agreed with me in fancying that Takkalikkita, from his words and actions, intimated a wish that the living child might be enclosed with its mother. [...] for according to Cranz and Eged, the Greenlanders are, or were, in the habit of burying their motherless infants, from a persuasion that they must otherwise starve to death, and also from being unable to bear the cries of the little ones while lingering for several days without sustenance." (p. 397) "Winter was now decidedly giving way to spring. [...] In the course of the last two months, some of the officers of each ship had been more or less attacked by scurvy ... It appears somewhat remarkable, that the officers alone should have been thus affected; but some reason may be assigned for the excellent health of the men, who were daily obliged to take regular exercise, who had no salt provisions, and who were carefully examined twice a day to see if they were sufficiently clothed. The officers, on the other hand, only took exercise as inclination led them." (p. 398) "We also reared mustard and cress until the last of April, which gave sometime two or three ounces to every man at one cutting. In somewhat above four months 178 lbs were grown. In boxes around my stove I procured 14 lbs for my own and my servant's consumption, and at the same time derived amusement from attending to my little garden." (p. 400) "With these arguments before us, it was resolved that, although both ships could not remain out, yet one by receiving a year's provisions from the other, might do so. [...] Circumstances, however, were to guide Captain Parry in his intended route, and he nobly resolved that while means were afforded him he would persevere in his arduous undertaking; and thus repel any future idea, that while British ships and seamen were on the spot they neglected the slightest opportunity of adding to the knowledge already obtained of these countries." (p. 403) "The first general thaw took place on the 4th of May, the thermometer rising to 3 above the freezing point; two hundred and thirty four days had now passed since it had been so high in the shade!" (p. 414) "June 1st. May had now passed, yet such had been the severity of the season, that, with the exception of a few days at the beginning of the month, the thermometer rarely rose at noon to the freezing point, and at night fell many degrees below it." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER XI (p. 416) "Journey in search of the western sea. On the 7th [June], the weather being tolerably favourable, we left the ships at noon. [...] Our sledge, which weighed 191 pounds, carried twelve hundred weight more, besides my men and myself, who all rode while on the sea ice." (p. 439) "On the 4th [August], the crews of both ships commenced sawing [a channel in ice], and were thus employed until the 7th, when we perceived that the ice in shore of the Fury had separated from the land. The people were in consequence instantly recalled, and every preparation was made for leaving our winter quarters." (p. 439) "On the morning of the 8th I received a letter on service from Captain Parry ... desiring me to give my opinion as to the future operations of the Fury, and asking if I still thought it would be for the benefit of the service that she should remain out. ... I had no hesitation in answering Captain Parry ..."The health of your crew being of the utmost importance ... I now beg to advise that the Fury and Hecla return to England together, as soon as such arrangements ... you may judge proper to make shall be completed." (p. 442) "We had now passed three hundred and nineteen days in our winter quarters, of which three hundred and ten were in the floe from which we had just cleared ourselves. I shall not attempt a description of our sensations on this day; there are some people who can easily imagine them, and those who cannot, will never have waded thus far through my journal. We had now been part of every month in the year in confinement, having entered on the 24th of September, and being freed on the 9th of August." (Return to the Contents ...)

CHAPTER XII (p. 445) "In the forenoon [11th August] a party of three boats were sent to the main land with the Fury's hand-mast, which with a large ball at its head, and good strong rigging, was set up on a point, in obedience to the Admiralty instructions, as a mark for Captain Franklin, should he pass this way. Letters were buried at the foot of the mast." (p. 446) "We were fortunate enough, after passing a very unpleasant night, to get to sea in the forenoon of the 12th, in a very dense fog, a southeast wind blowing; the sea was full of loose and heavy ice, amongst which we beat all day. In the evening, after some heavy rain, we saw ourselves near Sunday Island." (p. 453) "By eight A.M. on the 28th [August] we were six miles to the southward of Point Elizabeth, still close beset and driving with ice. At noon, being twenty miles to the northward of Winter Island, we saw its highest hills from the deck." (p. 455) "We had now been nineteen days coming from Igloolik, and had been carried three degrees entirely at the mercy of the ice. In no part of our voyage, even at the commencement of winter, had we been kept in such a state of constant suspense and anxiety as to the fate of the ships ..." (p. 463) "We had now [17th September] been thirty-five days beset, and in that period had driven with the ice above three hundred miles without any exertion on our part, and also without a possibility of extricating ourselves. We had by this means abundant proof of the strong and continual set from the northward, and the impossibility of a ship making any way against it, unless, as in our case in 1822, she started before the land ice had separated from the shore..." (p. 464) "We continued running four and five knots with a south-easterly wind all the 21st and 22nd. On the forenoon of the 23rd we made, and in the evening passed, Resolution Island, at about mid-channel ... before dark we were in the offing and swell of the Atlantic." (p. 465) "With variable but favourable winds, we continued to lay our course and averaged above 120 miles a day ... In the blowing weather, we had an excellent opportunity of observing how the Hecla behaved; and it was agreed by all, that her qualities as a good sea boat were established; we rolled very deep, but so easy, as on no occasion to give any apprehension of carrying away any of her spars." (p. 466) "In the forenoon [9th October] we made the land of Orkney, having only been three weeks in running from the ice off Southampton Island, and sixteen days from Resolution Island; and amazingly speedy and no less desirable passage ..." (p. 466) "The strong southerly wind continued all night, and at one A.M. on the 10th, we passed Fair Island, between Orkney and Shetland; we then bore up for Lerwick in Shetland, at which port we arrived and anchored at noon." (p. 468) "The wind ceased during the night, and on the morning of the 13th, came around from the northward; at noon we weighed, and, accompanied by all the gentlemen of the place, sailed from the port ... and with fair wind we ran for the coast of England. On the 16th, Captain Parry landed at Whitby, and his Majesty's ships Fury and Hecla made for the Thames, which we entered on the 21st, after an absence of two years and a half" (Return to the top ...)