670 
 IS77 
 
 .r63 
 
 i 
 
 
 THE 
 
 ft OF THE 
 
 ii 
 
c^-i^M. Vw^> <--^ -4^ t-vv-iTW' 
 
 THE 
 
 Cruise OF THE Florence; 
 
 OR, 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE PRE- 
 LIMINARY ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 
 1877-78. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 . Captain H, W. Howgate, U, S, A. 
 
 WASHIXGTOX, D. C. : 
 
 James J. Chapman, Publisher. 
 
 1879. 
 
 CAI^ 
 
1871 
 .763 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 
 
 James J. Chapman, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
 By Bxchaage 
 Army And Navy Club 
 
 Thomas McGill & Co., 
 
 Printers and Stereotypers, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 

 Table of Contents. 
 
 Introductory, - - - - - - - -. 5 
 
 Part First. 
 Nenv London to Cumberland G-ulf, • - - - 13 
 
 Part Second. 
 Winter in Cumberland Gulf, - . . . . 33 
 
 Part Third. 
 Annanatook to Disco, - - ^ - - - - - 153 
 
 Part Fourth. 
 HoMEWARfD Bound, -.-__.. 174 
 
Introductory. 
 
 • A number of public spirited and generous citizens of 
 the United States, having faith in the success of the colon- 
 ization plan as a means of Arctic exploration, and believ- 
 ing in its ultimate approval by Congress, in substantial 
 accordance with the bill reported favorably from the Com- 
 mittee on Naval Affairs of the House of Representatives at 
 the last session of the Forty-fourth Congress, contributed 
 from their private means a sufficient sum for the purchase 
 and outfit of a small vessel to be sent to the Arctic seas 
 for the purpose of collecting such supplies during the 
 ensuing winter as might be usefulfor the main expedition 
 of 1878, if that expedition should be authorized. It was 
 at first intended to limit the mission of this vessel to the 
 collection of material only, but the opportunity for scien- 
 tific investigation was so inviting, and the added cost in- 
 curred thereby so very trifling in comparison with the 
 results to be attained, that space was made on board for 
 two observers and their necessary apparatus. One of these 
 observers was selected upon the recommendation of Pro- 
 fessor Elias Loomis, of Yale College, and instructed to pay 
 especial attention to meteorological phenomena ; while the 
 other was selected as naturalist of the expedition by Pro- 
 fessor Spencer F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution,^ 
 from w^hom he received special instructions. 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Captain George E. Tyson, who served on board the 
 Polaris with Captain Hall, was intrusted with the task of 
 selecting a suitable vessel for the preliminary expedition, 
 which, while large enough to accomplish the desired ob- 
 jects, would not exceed in cost the sum available for its 
 purchase and outfit. After careful examination he selected 
 the Florence, of New London, a schooner of fifty-six tons 
 burden, which was purchased upon his recommendation, 
 and the work of strengthening her for ice navigation at 
 once commenced under his personal supervision. It was at 
 first hoped to have the vessel ready for sailing on the 25th 
 of July, but the illness of Captain' Tyson and the preva- 
 lence of rainy w^eather delayed her until the* morning of 
 August 3, upon which date she sailed with a full crew^ and 
 complete outfit for one year's work, including the neces- 
 sary apparatus for a whaling voyage on a small scale, as 
 it was proposed that the vessel should bring on her return 
 voyage a cargo of bone and oil, and thus make the enter- 
 prise a self-supporting one if possible. 
 
 The public interest evinced in the proposed station with- 
 in the Arctic circle has been very gratifying from the first, 
 and the fitting out of the preliminary expedition brought 
 applications in great nunibers, both personal and by letter, 
 from parties desirous of accompanying it as members of 
 the crew, as passengers, or in any capacity that would 
 enable them to share in the prospective perils and honors 
 of the enterprise. The number of good men ofi'ered was 
 so large that it made the task of selection a diflficult one, 
 but it is believed that no little band better fitted out for 
 the work, by strong frames, courage, and endurance, have 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 7 
 
 ever gone forth to the Arctic seas than those who were 
 finally selected and who sailed upon the Florence. 
 
 The Florence was a good sea-boat, staunch, stout, sea- 
 worthy, and a fast sailer, and was thoroughly strengthened 
 for her encounters with the ice. The supply of provisions 
 and other stores for officers and crew was carefully select- 
 ed, and with proper economy would have proved ample for 
 the voyage. Kind friends from all parts of the country 
 contributed from their stores, in addition to articles of 
 food and clothing, a liberal supply of books and papers to 
 while away the long, weary hours of the sunless Arctic win- 
 ter. A spare berth in the forecastle was filled with story- 
 books, histories, novels, and volumes of poetry ; a large 
 trunk was filled to overflowing with papers, and still another 
 was loaded down with magazines ; the whole making a 
 library of considerable dimensions. The heads of several 
 departments of the Grovernment manifested a kindly inter- 
 est in the expedition, not merely by verbal approval, but 
 by substantial aid. The different bureaus of the War De- 
 partment, acting under the authority of the Secretary of 
 War, were particularly active in the matter. The Ord- 
 nance Office furnished rifles and muskets and necessary 
 ammunition. The Chief Signal Officer of the Army sup- 
 plied a complete outfit of necessary instruments for mak- 
 ing meteorological observations. The Surgeon - General 
 furnished a supply of medicines and the necessary minor 
 surgical instruments for use in case of accidents to mem- 
 bers of the expedition, and the Quartermaster - General 
 furnished tents and camp equipage. The Secretary of the 
 Navy furnished a complete outfit of maps, charts, and sail- 
 
8 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 ing directions. To these heads of departments and bureaus 
 the grateful thanks of the* friends of Arctic exploration are 
 due for th6ir timely and efficient aid. 
 
 The following instructions, furnished to Captain Tyson 
 upon the day of sailing, will give an idea of the aim, objects, 
 and scope of this preliminary expedition : 
 
 Washington, July 16, 1877. 
 Captain George E. Tyson, 
 
 Commanding Preliminary Arctic Expedition of 1877, 
 New London, Conn. 
 
 Sir : The command of tlie scliooiier Florence^ of the Prelim- 
 inary Arctic Expedition of 1877, is intrusted to yon, and the 
 officers and men forming the crew are enjoined to render strict 
 obedience to your orders. 
 
 In the event of your deatli while on this expedition— an event 
 which is to be devoutly hoped may not occur — the command 
 will devolve upon the first mate, and should he also be disabled 
 or die, upon the second mate ; and such survivor will carry out 
 to the best of his ability the objects of the expedition, keeping 
 a stout lieart and committing himself and comrades to tlie care 
 of Divine Providence. 
 
 THE OBJECT OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 The primary object of the ex]3edition is the collection of ma- 
 terial for the use of the future colony on the shores of Lady 
 Franklin Bay. This material will consist of Esquimaux to the 
 number of ten families, if that number can be obtained of young, 
 strong, healthy persons willing to be transferred to the location 
 of the future colony; of dogs, not less than twenty-five in num- 
 ber, mostly females, and selected for their docility, training, 
 strength, and endurance ; of sledges, two in number, and com- 
 pletely and carefully fitted up for travel; and of clothing in 
 ample quantities to supply fifty persons for three years. The 
 clothing will be carefully selected, of choice furs and skins, and 
 
INTKODUCTORY. 9 
 
 all made up by native women. TJie secondary object of the 
 expedition is the collection of scientific data and specimens, as 
 the field is a new one and possessino- unnsual interest. 
 
 WHALING EN VOYAGE. 
 
 The third, and to the crew most interestino« object, is the cap- 
 tnre of a sufficient amount of bone and oil to make a profitable 
 return cargo ; and this part of the work is so completely within 
 your own province that I will not venture to give an}^ instruc- 
 tions. I must caution you, however, to be on your guard against 
 letting the pursuit of gain interfere in any manner with the suc- 
 cessful issue of the two first-named objects of the expedition. It- 
 is from them tljat tlie lasting results of the voyage will be ob- 
 tained and the interests of science and commerce best subserved. 
 The precise locality of your winter quarters is left in a great 
 measure to your judgment, but should probably be on the north- 
 ern side of Cumberland Island. In making the selection, if the 
 st.ate of the weather and condition of the ice leave au}^ choice, the 
 Idcalit}" should be that which is best adapted for the collection of 
 supplies, and which offers the best facilities for breaking out in 
 the summer of 1878 in time to reach Disco by August 1, if possi- 
 ble, and certainly not later than August 6. 
 
 OARING FOR THE NATIVES AND DOGS. 
 
 Provision must be made for the proper maintenance and care 
 of the natives who are to become members of the future polar 
 colony ; and also of the dogs which are to form so important a 
 part of the outfit of that colony. They must be quartered as 
 comfortably as the limited accommodations of the schooner will 
 permit, fed well, and kept thoroughly clean. 
 
 THE SCIENTISTS. 
 
 The two scientific members of the expedition, while not form- 
 ing, strictly speaking, a part of the crew, will, in case of neces- 
 sity, be required to perform duty, and will at all times be sub- 
 ject to your orders and discipline. Every proper facility will 
 be given them in the discharge of their respective duties, and to 
 
10 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 aid ill securing' full aud valuable results from their labors. Mr. 
 Sherman will have charge of the meteorological instruments, 
 observations, and records, and of the pliotograpliic apparatus 
 and work. In" both of these duties it is my wish that joi\ should 
 aid him cheerfully and constantly, and in the event of his sick- 
 ness, or inabiUty, from any cause, to attend to his observations, 
 to make such arrangements as will insure a continuous series 
 of the most important ones. The utmost caution must be exer- 
 cised in handling the delicate instruments, to guard against their 
 breakage or other injury and the consequent interruption of the 
 observations. The results of the photographic work will be very 
 interesting to the general public as well as to the scientific stu- 
 dent, and ever}^ opportunity should be taken to secure good 
 negatives of places, localities, and objects, and also of the differ- 
 ent operations connected with the pursuit and capture of whales, 
 seals, &c. Mr. Kumlein, w^ho goes as the representative of the 
 Smithsonian Institution, under the instructions of Pi'ofessor 
 Spencer F. Baird, the distingnished naturalist, for the purpose 
 of collecting specimens of the flora and fauna of the countrj^, 
 will be accorded the most ample facilities for the performance 
 of his duties consistent with a proper regard for the main object 
 of the expedition. His labors, if properly supported and reason- 
 ably successfnl, will prove, it is hoped, of lasting advantage, and 
 make the expedition a notable one in scientilic annals. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION OF 1878. 
 
 On reaching Disco in Augnst, 1878, if the vessel carrying the 
 members and outfit of the colony has arrived, you will transfer 
 to such vessel the Esquimaux, dogs, sledges, and clothing col- 
 lected for the purpose, and take the commanding officer's receipt 
 for tlie same. This being done, you will return as rapid 1 3^ as 
 possible to New London, whence 3^ou will report by telegraph 
 to me at Washington, D. C, for further orders. If the coloni- 
 zation vessel has not arrived, 3^ou will wait for it until August 15, 
 when you will store the sledges and clothing to the care of the 
 Governor of Disco ; leave the dogs also in Iiis care, and return 
 
INTEODUCTORY. 11 
 
 the natives to their home on Cumberland Island. This done, 
 yon will return to IN'ew London and report, as before, for in- 
 structions. 
 
 Shonldanyof your crew wish to accompany the colonization ves- 
 sel, you will grant them permission to do so, with the consent of the 
 commander of that expedition, and provided you retain enough 
 men to bring the Florence safely back to the United States. 
 
 TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Great care must be exercised in the use of spirituous liquors, 
 both among the members of the expedition and in dealing with 
 the natives. Useful as liquor undoubtedly is in its place, and 
 under suitable restrictions, it is easily capable of the most fright- 
 ful abuse, and of leading this expedition to disaster, as it has 
 done others in the past. 1 trust in j^our strong good sense and 
 past experience to guard against danger from this source, and 
 desire you to know that I have only permitted a supply in 
 quantity of liquors to form part of the Florence''s outfit in defer- 
 ence to 3^our own strongly-expressed wishes. 
 
 DEALING WITH THE ABORIGINES. 
 
 In dealing with the natives it is my wish, as doubtless it is 
 your inclination, that you should be kind and liberal to the 
 extent of your means and ability, and in all points of difference, 
 should any arise, to be Just, but firm. 
 
 FINAL. 
 
 Bear constantly in mind the fact that this is not a whaling 
 voyage, but the tirst step in a work that will, I trust, when com- 
 pleted, be a noteworth)^ one in the annals of geographical and 
 scientific discovery. This fact should also be cai*efully impressed 
 upon the crew, in order that they may work intelligently and 
 with proper interest. 
 
 Be caVeful of the health of your men, using such measures for 
 the purpose as your long experience in Arctic waters suggests as 
 necessary. 
 
 In conclusion, I commend yourself and crew to the care of an 
 
12 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 All-wise Power, with the prayer that 3^our voyage may be pros- 
 perous and your return a safe and happy one. 
 
 H. W. HOWGATE, 
 
 United States Army, 
 
 Sailing from New London on August 8, 1877, the Flor- 
 •eiice reached St. Johns, Newfoundland, on her homeward 
 voyage, September 26, 1878. Here she remained, making 
 such repairs as had been rendered necessary by the rough 
 weather, until the 12th of October, when she sailed for 
 home, encountering a succession of storms, during which 
 anxious friends mourned for those on board as lost. She 
 fortunately rode out the storms in safety, and, after touch- 
 ing at Provincetown, Massachusetts, October 26, for sup- 
 plies, dropped anchor in New London harbor on the morn- 
 ing of the 30th, after an absence of fifteen months. 
 
 Although the voyage was not a profitable one financially, 
 owing to the unusual scarcity of whales in Cumberland 
 Gulf, in other respects it was satisfactory. 
 
 Clothing was accumulated, dogs purchased, and the serv- 
 ices of a sufficient number of the natives secured for the 
 proposed station at Lady Franklin Bay, and had Congress 
 granted the desired assistance, the Polar mystery would by 
 this date have been solved. 
 
 The following extracts from Captain Tyson's official jour- 
 nal are published, to complete in detail the record of the 
 expedition. 
 
 The scientific results of the voyage will be soon given to 
 the public. The report of the naturalist is now running 
 through the press, while that of the meteorologist is nearly 
 ready for the printer. 
 
The Cruise of the Florence. 
 
 ]^EW London to Pumberland puLF. 
 
 In the spring of 1877, nearly five years after my 
 return from the Polaris Expedition, Captain H. W. 
 Howgate, of the United States Army, conceived the 
 plan of forming a colony in the Arctic regions for 
 scientific observations, and also for the purpose of 
 reaching the North Pole, if possible. With this end 
 in view, he had many consultations with me and oth- 
 ers relative to the subject and the best mode of car- 
 rying it to a successful termination. It was finally 
 settled that he would either charter or purchase a 
 small vessel, to proceed to Cumberland Gulf, or else- 
 where, to procure Esquimaux, dogs, sledges, and all 
 the skins and skin-clothing that it was' possible to ac- 
 cumulate. The Esquimaux men were to be the dog- 
 drivers and the hunters of the expedition ; the women 
 were to be the boot-maivcrs and the tailors. The em- 
 ployment of the women was decided upon in view of 
 the fact that it would be impossible, or very difticalt, 
 to induce the men to leave their native mountains 
 
14 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 without their wives and children. . The preliminary 
 expedition was to sail one year previous to the grand 
 expedition, which it was supposed would start in the 
 spring of 1878. It— the preliminary — was to winter 
 in Cumberland Gulf, or elsewhere, where Esquimaux 
 and the above-mentioned articles could be found and 
 secured. In the spring of 1878, the vessel, on being 
 relieved from her winter quarters, was to proceed di- 
 rect to Disco Island, on the coast of Greenland, meet 
 the main expedition at that island, transfer whatever 
 had been collected, and return home. 
 
 Everj^thing being settled as to the future of the ex- 
 pedition, should Captain Howgate succeed in starting 
 one, a subscription list was opened in New York and 
 elsewhere, and the desired amount was soon collected, 
 and I was dispatched to procure a suitable vessel for 
 the purpose. I arrived in New London, Connecticut, 
 in the latter part of June, and there found the schoon- 
 er Florence^ belonging to Messrs. Williams & Haven. 
 The Florence had recently arrived from a whaling voy- 
 age around Cape Horn, and the firm was desirous of 
 selling her, as she was too small for its business. I 
 thought she would answer the desired purpose, and 
 the vessel was finally purchased for the sum of $4,000. 
 Mr. Williams generously gave $200 toward the enter- 
 prise. It was getting late in the season, and it was 
 necessary to make all possible haste in preparing the 
 vessel for sea and for sailing in the ice-ridden waters 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 15 
 
 of Davis's Strait. This was accomplished by the 2d of 
 August, and with a ''Farewell!'' and a "God bless 
 you!" to o'ur loved ones, we sailed from New London 
 harbor, to be gone probably fourteen months. The 
 crew consisted of the following named persons: 
 
 George E. Tyson, of New Jersey, master. 
 
 William Sisson, of Connecticut, first oflicer. 
 
 Denison Burrows, of Connecticut, second oflicer. 
 
 Eleazor Cone, of Connecticut, steward. 
 
 Richard B. York, of Connecticut, seaman. 
 
 William A. Albion, of Connecticut, seaman. 
 
 James W. Lee, of Connecticut, ordinary seaman. 
 
 Joel B. Butler, of Connecticut, seaman. 
 
 Charles H. Fuller, of Connecticut, green hand. 
 
 David T. Reese, of Connecticut, ordinary seaman. 
 
 John McPartland, of Connecticut, ordinary seaman. 
 
 The passengers and scientists were Orray Taft Sher- 
 man and Ludwig Kumlein. 
 
 The morning we sailed the wind was to the east- 
 ward, but we managed to fetch out of the harbor on 
 the port tack, and also through the race. We were 
 accompanied by quite a number of friends and ac- 
 quaintances, and also by the steam-tug Wellington, Cap- 
 tain Waterman, who was to take our temporary pas- 
 sengers back. My little boy also accompanied me; 
 but soon the motion of the schooner made him sea- 
 sick. I attempted to console him, but he requested 
 me not to talk to him, with the remark that I ought 
 
16 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 to kuow how it was myself. On getting well through 
 the race, and our friends now growing rather noisy, I 
 hailed the tug, and, heaving the schooner to, Captain 
 Waterman came alongside, and our friends, bidding 
 us God-speed and a safe return, left us. Man is sel- 
 dom or never contented. I must say I envied them. 
 They were going back to their friends and loved ones, 
 while I was going from them. 
 
 The wind was still to the eastward, so we kept beat- 
 ing to windward through the day. The ebb-tide swept 
 us out so that by midnight we were well clear of Mon- 
 tauk Point, the eastern point of Long Island. 
 
 Nothing of note occurred until the 8th of August, 
 when we sighted Sambro Light. It was comparative- 
 ly calm and somewhat foggy. Occasionally the mist 
 would lift, displaying to our view the rock -bound 
 coast of Nova Scotia, with its bold headlands, its farm 
 cottages, and the light-house, which looks like some 
 grim giant standing sentinel. It was my intention to 
 go through the straits of Belle Isle, to shorten, if pos- 
 sible, the passage north. This w^ould cut oft* some three 
 hundred miles, and I was in a hurry, as it was late in 
 the summer, and we should at that date have been 
 at our destination. We continued beating along the 
 coast, the wind remaining in the eastern quarter, — 
 now strong, then light; and it was nearly all the time 
 foggy. The vessel was kept close in with the land, — 
 so clof5e, indeed, that the breakers were seldom out of 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 17 
 
 hearing. I hoped in doing this to get a breeze from 
 the land. 
 
 On the 12th of August it was still foggy, though lift- 
 ing occasionally. At 10.30 a. m. we passed the island 
 (or, rather, rocks) of Scutari, the eastern end of the 
 coast of Nova Scotia, and entered the Gulf of St. Law- 
 rence. From the 12th to the 14th we had light east- 
 erly wind and fog. The fog lifting on the 14th, we 
 sighted the island of St. Paul, and in the afternoon the 
 island of Newfoundland. The wind still remaining 
 ahead, we had a dead beat of it. On the 16th the 
 wind blew strong and the weather was thick. The 
 schooner was brought down to close-reefed mainsail 
 and foresail, with bonnet of jib. As if to make the 
 weather more uncomfortable, it rained in torrents, but 
 without abating the wind. 
 
 On Sunday, August 19th, the wind died away, but 
 left us the fog and rain. The schooner was very deep, 
 and anything but comfortable in heavy weather, though 
 she acted nobly throughout. As the straits were not 
 altogether free from danger, I hauled up and bent the 
 larboard chain. I hoped it would not be needed, but 
 it was just possible that it might. The straits of Belle 
 Isle are not the most pleasant place in which to get on 
 shore. The wind continuing from the south and east, 
 we made but slow progress. On the 29th the fog 
 lifted for a few minutes, and we found ourselves in 
 the narrows of the straits, with a large bark in coni- 
 2 
 
18 THE CEUISE OF THE. FLORENCE. 
 
 pany. Being anxious to send word home, I watched 
 my opportunity, and, in spite of the fog, luffed close 
 ahead of the bark, dropped a boat and sent letters on 
 board. She was bound to Europe, and had been eight- 
 een days endeavoring to get out of the straits, but 
 could not on account of fog and head -winds. The 
 second mate, whom I sent on board with the letters, 
 did not ask her name, so I am unable to give it. 
 
 On the return of the boat we bore up again. The 
 wind was light and variable, and the fog, if anything, 
 more dense than ever. Now and then it would light 
 up, disclosing to our view the shore, the huts of the 
 fishermen, and their small craft moored along the 
 shore. Occasionally the fog would roll over its, en- 
 veloping us in its disagreeable, wet, and sombre man- 
 tle, and then the fog-horns would send forth their son- 
 orous sounds from the surrounding vessels, the small 
 craft joining in the chorus. In this manner we kept 
 along, our own fog-horn continually going. 
 
 On the 22d we sighted the Belle Isles, — ^Big Belle 
 and Little Belle. I wished to land on one or both of 
 the islands ; but being some distance from theni, and 
 as it might cause a long delay, if not worse conse- 
 quences, I decided not to do so. Towards evening a 
 breeze sprung up from the south-w^est, with rain. We 
 now stood out, between Great Belle and Little Belle, 
 into the North Atlantic Ocean. The wind soon in- 
 creased to a gale and brought us down to storm-sails. 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 19 
 
 The next day it was still blowing, but from the north- 
 east. Toward evening, however, it moderated, and 
 hauled to the south-east ; and so it continued^ — light 
 breeze from the south-east, with thick fog and heavy 
 swell; then light breeze from the north-east, thick fog 
 and heavy swell. In fact, we had light breezes from 
 every point of the compass, scarcely ever clear of fog, 
 and all the time a heavy swell. The atmosphere light- 
 ed up several times, however, and we could then see 
 the land, — the coast of Labrador, — which was not far 
 off. It seldom remained clear for more than an hour 
 at a time. We'seemed to carry the fog with us, — calm 
 and fog, light wind and fog, and heavy swell all the 
 time; so heavy, in fact, that to save the schooner's 
 sails I lowered them and tied them up, to keep them 
 from slating off* her. This weather lasted till the 2d 
 of September, with nothing to break the monotony 
 except the sight of two icebergs. On the 2d we sight- 
 ed Eesokition Island. The wind gave us a slant along 
 the coast. We stood across the mouth of Frobisher's 
 Straits. I intended to enter Coddino; Bav, and to sail 
 thence to New-gum-eute, to trade for skins, and, if 
 possible, to get some Esquimaux ; but my hopes were 
 premature. Again the fog shut down thicker than 
 ever. In fact, we had groped our way in the dark 
 from New London to Frobisher's Straits, and were yet 
 in the darkness. Here we were, right in among the isl- 
 and reefs, which lie some forty miles oft* the mainland. 
 
20 TPIE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 with strong cuiTents and bergs without number, a very 
 heavy swell which we could hear around us, and were 
 yet uncertain whether it was caused by the rocks or 
 bergs. Hauling the jib to the mast, — for there was a 
 light breeze from the south-east, — we lay quiet all 
 night, except now and then keeping off for a supposed 
 berg or an island. It. was too dense to distinguish 
 which, so we Went by the sound of the breakers and 
 avoided both. 
 
 The weather continuing bad, we finally determined, 
 as it was getting late, to run for the Gulf of Cumber- 
 land, and bore up on the 4th. Shortly after, hearing 
 breakers close aboard and directly ahead, held oft* and 
 passed near to several large bergs, against which the 
 surf was breaking furiously. 
 
 After clearing these mountains of ice we stood along 
 for some time, when breakers were again heard. This 
 time something besides ice was in the way. It proved 
 to be one of the many islands in that vicinity. About 
 the same time we sighted the island we discovered 
 a large berg directly to windward and close to, — so 
 close that I could have thrown a biscuit to it. It was 
 not safe to put the helm down and go in stays, for the 
 schooner would have gone directly into the berg, and 
 the island was close under our lee, its perpendicular 
 side dashing the spray high into the air. There was a 
 good breeze, and we were on the wind. We could 
 neither luft' nor keep oft', but must go between the berg 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 21 
 
 and the island ; and this we did. The Uttle schooner 
 shot through like a thing endowed with life, and in an 
 instant, almost, the berg and island were hidden from 
 view in the fog. Just previous to this we kept ofi' to 
 clear what we thought to be bergs ; but on getting to 
 leeward of them the fog lifted a very little and dis- 
 closed to us two islands within a stone's-throw. 
 
 I now tried to think where we were, and came to 
 the conclusion that we were off the southernmost cape 
 of the entrance to the gulf. 
 
 On the 5th the wind was strong from the north-east, 
 with rain and a heavy sea. We sighted land and 
 tacked close to it. The fog was too thick to permit 
 me to make out the locality. Towards evening the 
 wind backed to the north and blew strongly, which 
 brought us down under close -reefed sails. 
 
 On the 6th the wind was very strong from the north 
 and west. We could see the land, and ascertained 
 our position. We were in the mouth of the gulf. 
 
 The north-west wind was extremely cold. We had 
 warm east and south-east winds up to this date, and 
 therefore felt the cold severely. 
 
 The gale lasted until the 8th, when it moderated. 
 Towards evening a light breeze sprung up from the 
 south-east, and rain commenced falling. We were 
 now oft' Kuk-e-luyer Island, about twenty miles below 
 Niantilic Harbor. Towards evening the rain ceased 
 and the wind shifted to the north-west, and soon in- 
 
22 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 creased to a heavy gale. The schooner was put under 
 storm-sails, and began drifting out into the gulf. The 
 gale was fearful through the night and the sea ran 
 very high, and, to add terror to our situation, the 
 night was most intensely dark. At 3 o'clock on the 
 morning of the 10th, when the gale was at its height 
 and the sea running heavily, I found it necessary to 
 wear around on the other tack. 
 
 There was danger in such a storm and in such a sea, 
 but it must be done. All the sail the schooner was 
 able to carry was a close-reefed foresail, to keep her 
 from rolling to windward, of which there was great 
 danger. 
 
 There was another danger, greater than all the rest, 
 which none but myself knew. This was, of drifting 
 upon Wareman's Island, rising some two thousand 
 feet above the sea, and close under our lee. All hands 
 were called and everything made ready. The helm 
 was put hard-up, and in an instant her head payed oft*. 
 She lay deep in the swell, her lee rail and half of the 
 deck being under water; in fact, for an instant she 
 appeared to be on her beam ends. She obeyed her 
 helm admirably at this critical juncture, and as her 
 head payed oft' a little more, the pressure on her be- 
 came less, she righted, and, shaking herself like some 
 huge water-dog, bounded oft* before the wind. 
 
 Watching my opportunity, I brought her safely to 
 on the other tack, and she rode out the gale. In Ihe 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 23 
 
 morning the wind moderated, but at sunrise it was 
 still blowing strongly. The 11th brought no better 
 weather, until along towards evening, when the wind 
 died away, with occasional snow-squalls, and we passed 
 a comfortable night. 
 
 The damages by the gale may be summed up as fol- 
 lows: One boat stove in; one steering oar and one 
 barrel of onions swept overboard; and a good scare 
 for all hands. 
 
 Shortly after sunrise, on the 12th, the wind com- 
 menced to blow from the south-east. We were then 
 about thirty miles below Kuk-e-luyer Island, having 
 drifted about thirty miles in the gale. Making all 
 sail, we ran oft* before the wind, and at 3 o'clock that 
 afternoon were safely anchored in Niantilic Harbor. 
 
 At Niantilic we found the brig Alert, Captain Wat- 
 son, of Peterhead, Scotland, and the bark Polar Star, of 
 the same place. Parties from these vessels soon came 
 on board and gave us the news. The steamer Ezaii- 
 the, Captain Simon, and the steamer Windward, Cap- 
 tain Murray, had been in the gulf; but as soon as the 
 whaling was over had sailed for New-gum-eute, tak- 
 ing with them most of the Esquimaux. This was bad 
 news for us, as most of the skins worth purchasing 
 must certainly have been taken by the.^e vessels. They 
 had also carried away the natives whom we had hoped 
 to get. The Perseverance, Captain Brown, was at 
 Kickerton Island, on the. other side of the gulf. They 
 
24 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 expected Mm over in a few days, and that he would 
 winter here. 
 
 Murray, with his steamer, was coming back in the 
 fall, and he, too, was going to winter here. This was 
 a damper to all my hopes. What with four vessels 
 wintering here, all with large crews, and two steamers 
 at Kickerton Island with more men, who must all have 
 skin-clothing, and with plenty of truck or material to 
 trade for it, my chances were very poor of getting 
 skin-clothing and Esquimaux sufficient to satisfy those 
 who intrusted me with the command of the vessel for 
 that very purpose. It was too late to leave the gulf 
 and seek a more favorable place, so I concluded to 
 stay and do the best I could. The natives were oif 
 deer-hunting, and there were only two families left on 
 shore, those of old Tes-e-wane and another, both crip- 
 ples. Old Tes-e-wane has been a very useful man here- 
 tofore, but has recently been disabled by the premature 
 discharge of his gun. 
 
 While awaiting the return of the Esquimaux we re- 
 paired our boat and the foresail which had been dam- 
 aged in the late gale. The weather at Niantilic on 
 the nights of the 10th and 11th was described as ter- 
 rific. The vessels Alert and Polar Star dragged their 
 anchors, although they held them down with a hun- 
 dred fathoms of chain out. Old Tes-e-wane said it 
 was the strongest wind he had ever seen in his life. 
 
 On the 14th the Scotch bark Perseverance arrived 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 25 
 
 Light north and west winds and snow-squalls prevail. 
 All hands were actively employed preparing boats for 
 Avhaling. At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Sherman, 
 we put up a tent on what we call " Arctic Island," so 
 that he would be able to take scientific observations, 
 which he was most eager to do. We had rain and we 
 had snow; then hail, and occasionally sunshine. Mr. 
 Kumlein employed his time shooting birds and collect- 
 ing other material on the shores and along the shore 
 at low water. September was drawing to a close, and 
 no natives yet. 
 
 September 27. — Some of the Esquimaux arrived 
 yesterday evening, but went directly to the Scotch 
 ships, the master having engaged them previous to 
 their starting on the hunting expedition. This morning, 
 after breakfast, we were surprised at seeing a number 
 of boats filled with Esquimaux, men, women, and chil- 
 dren, with a goodly mixture of dogs, rotten skins, rotten 
 fish, &c., coming toward the schooner. They were soon 
 alongside and over the rail on dey^k. What a motley- 
 looking set ! Their skins were strangely spotted, but 
 with what it was difficult to determine ; probably grease 
 and dirt. Here and there we could see, through the 
 dirt and grease, or between the spots, their dark-brown 
 skins. Many of them had sore eyes, and all were very 
 dirty. They had been off in the mountains for two 
 months, and had had no opportunity to wash. Soap 
 
26 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 is not manufactured among the Esquimaux, so that 
 those who are not convenient to the shipping stations 
 come into the world and go out of it without knowing 
 the kixurj^ of a wash ! They had come on board to pay 
 me a compUmentary visit, so it was necessarj' to enter- 
 tain them. The cabin was soon crowded, and not only 
 the cabin, but the cabin steps, the companion-way, and 
 the after-part of the deck, — all apparently eager to get 
 one word or look from an old acquaintance, or mayhap 
 to get a little fire-water or a piece of tobacco. Some 
 of them I knew years ago, in 1851 and 1852, the first 
 time white men ever ventured, to winter in Cumberland 
 Gulf. They were old men and old women now, and 
 there are only a few of them left. Many of my old 
 acquaintances had gone to the happy hunting-grounds, 
 where the deer and seals are more plentiful and the 
 weather not so cold. They all appeared happy to see me 
 once more among them ; but it soon became unpleas- 
 ant, to me, at least. What with the screeching of young 
 ones which many of the women had in their hoods on 
 their backs, the barking and howling of their dogs in 
 the boats alongside, and the continued clatter of the 
 tongues of all, — men, women, and half-grown chil- 
 dren, — I concluded to get rid of them as soon as possi- 
 ble. So, hauling out the bottle, I gave each a dram, 
 and then sent him or her on deck to make room for 
 the others, who were eager to get below. It took sev- 
 eral hours to get rid of them, but before doing so I 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 27 
 
 purchased some skins and obtained the promise of 
 more ; but it was very evident to me that the Scotch 
 whaler had got nearly their whole stock. 
 
 On the 29th two more boats arrived. One went 
 directly to the Scotchmen ; the other came alongside 
 the schooner. I looked over the side to see if it 
 was anybody I knew, and beheld Tyson. This must 
 not startle the reader. I will explain after a time. 
 And there was Mrs. Tyson, too, as beautiful and as 
 dirty as ever. And there were also two little Tysons, — 
 not genuine, though, but adopted. This Tyson is 
 about forty-five or forty-eight years of age. When 
 the ships first commenced to v/inter in the gulf, some 
 twenty-five years ago, the captains who hired the Es- 
 quimaux — and they all did so — finding it difficult to 
 recollect their native cognomens, would give them 
 English names; as, Tom, Charley, Dick, or Harry, 
 and others, again, which were not quite so euphonious 
 to the ear. This youngster, whose real name was Nep- 
 e-ken, was baptized Tyson; I know not for what 
 reason, unless it was because he was so handsome! 
 He is a great hunter, — the Nimrod of the gulf; and 
 he is also considered a good whaleman, and American 
 ships coming hei'e for that purpose endeavor to secure 
 his services. His wife, too, is good with the rifle and 
 the spear. She will kill her deer, catch her seal, or 
 face the polar bear. Nep-e-ken came on board, and 
 
28 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 I soon made arrangements with him to stop with me 
 through the winter. Of course his boat's-crew will do 
 as he tells them. From these natives I got some more 
 skins and made preparations to start for the head of 
 the gulf. The natives are to go with me. We got 
 under way on the morning of the 1st of October. It 
 was calm in the harbor, but I expected to get a breeze 
 outside. Putting the natives' boat ahead to tow while 
 we were securing the anchors, we were soon outside 
 the point of Mantilic Island, when we caught a nice 
 breeze from the south-east which carried the schooner 
 along six or seven knots an hour. It was my inten- 
 tion to cross the gulf to the Kickerton Islands, to 
 deliver three boxes sent to Captain John Roach, of 
 the schooner Helm F.^ at Kickerton station, but the 
 Helen F. was gone. The fall before, after getting 
 snugly stored into winter quarters, as the captain 
 thought, there came a gale of wind from the south- 
 east, with snow, which lasted several days, and before 
 it abated it carried the harbor ice out, and with it the 
 schooner, but not the anchors or the chains, which 
 were left behind on the bottom, the latter having 
 parted. The vessel drifted up and down the gulf sev- 
 eral days, and her captain was finally compelled to 
 run her on the rocks to save life. He was very glad 
 to have an opportunity to do that, as it was in Novem- 
 ber, and one strong northwester w^ould have decided 
 his fate and that of all hands. 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 29 
 
 Our fair wind from the south did not last long. We 
 soon had snow, and then the wind hauled to the north, 
 right ahead. This was not very pleasant, as I had 
 hoped to reach Kickerton Islands and be sheltered by 
 their friendly harbor by night. The schooner was 
 very deep, her decks being scarcely above the water. 
 We had an extra cargo on board, consisting of Esqui- 
 maux, men, women, and children, and all their house- 
 hold goods, including sleighs, dogs, and a whale-boat 
 which had been given to Nep-e-ken for his services 
 on board the American brig Isabella, Captain Keeny, 
 the previous year. 
 
 As the wind increased the sea rose slightly, but it 
 was not heavy. The schooner sat so deep, however, 
 that considerable water washed aci'oss her decks. An 
 Esquimaux has a horror of water. He thinks it should 
 only be used for drinking purposes. So to escape from 
 the water, which was by no means pleasant to feel on 
 the legs or running down the back, as it was nearly as 
 cold as ice, some went to the forecastle among the men, 
 and others took possession of the cabin. In fact, upon 
 going below I found one old woman — at least sixty, 
 and cross-eyed — in my berth. I let her remain there 
 and sought quarters elsewhere. 
 
 We did not get to the promised harbor that night, 
 as I have before intimated, but kept beating to wind- 
 ward, in the hope of getting in the next morning. It 
 was very dark, and we had a good strong breeze, which 
 
30 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 brought us down to reefed sails. In the morniug we 
 were to windward of and close to the harbor, and 
 shortly after came to an anchorage abreast of the 
 houses that comprise the station — one Scotch and 
 the other American, the latter belonging to Messrs. 
 Williams & Haven, of K^ew London, Conn. We had 
 scarcely let go the anchor when Captain Roach and 
 Captain Hall were on board. I delivered the three 
 boxes to Captain Roach. They were sent out by Mr. 
 Williams, and their contents proved to be ammuni- 
 tion, which was very much needed. I was now free to 
 go north to the head of the gulf, which was my inten- 
 tion when leaving Niantilic Harbor. It would not do 
 for me to winter among so many ships the masters of 
 which knew the object I had in view, and as they wish- 
 ed to retain the Esquimaux in the gulf to assist them 
 in their whaling expeditions, they would use all their 
 influence to prevent them from joining me in the pro- 
 posed migration to the East Land. 
 
 There was another reason for my proceeding north: 
 I hoped to get more skins at the head of the gulf than 
 could be obtained below. 
 
 It would debar me from spring whaling, but I was 
 after something besides whales. I took the precau- 
 tion to leave a large quantity of *^ trade" with Tes-e- 
 wane at Niantilic, he promising to purchase all the 
 skins he could. We remained at the Kickerton Isl- 
 ands awaiting an opportunity to run up to the head 
 
NEW LONDON TO CUMBERLAND GULF. 31 
 
 of the gulf — or the '' Aimanatook Harbor," as the 
 Esquimaux call it — until the 7th of October. 
 
 Previous to this we had chiefly north and north-west 
 winds, with snow. On the morning of the 7th the wind 
 was south-east, and it was quite clear. 
 
 The south-east wind is almost sure to bring snow 
 with it; but it is only sixty miles to Annanatook, and 
 I hoped to get there before the storm. Therefore, as 
 soon as breakfast was over we get under way, leaving 
 Kickerton at nine o'clock. On getting clear of the 
 harbor, the breeze was found quite strong. We were 
 making good headway, running off before the wind 
 with all sails set. As we got further along the wind, 
 increased. There was a harbor under my lee, and at 
 the rate we were going — ten or eleven knots — we 
 must soon be there. 
 
 We had the same cargo on board, and had we been 
 compelled to luff to I fear the Esquimaux would have 
 lost most of their household goods; but fortunately 
 this was not necessary. The little schooner bounded 
 over the water with great rapidity, and soon the har- 
 bor was in sight. The shores at the head of the gulf 
 are quite low, with many outlying reefs and islands, 
 and over these the sea was breaking with fearful force, 
 sending spray high into the air. 
 
 Such was the motion of the waters, that it was some 
 time before I could make out the entrance to the har- 
 bor. 
 
32 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 We took in all of our light sails as we drew close to 
 the entrance, and, keeping the schooner off a little to 
 clear a point of rocks which projected from the island 
 under which I intended to anchor, luffed close around 
 under the land, and w^as in smooth waiter. We let 
 go the anchor in twelve fathoms, and were as com- 
 fortable as w^e could be. We made the distance from 
 the Kickerton Islands to Annanatook in six hours. 
 
fart ^umtt 
 
 "]A^INTER IN pUMBERLAND pULF. 
 
 October 8. — We are now anchored in Annanatook 
 Harbor, where I intend to winter if God spares my life. 
 There we found three famiUes of Esquimaux : 0-ca- 
 ter and wife; Kuck-oo-jug and wife, and two children ; 
 Eg-e-low, single, (wife dead,) and one son ; Inue-mar- 
 ket, married to Nep-e-ken's sister, and the venerable 
 Metek, whom I had nearly forgotten. Metek is Esqui- 
 maux for " egg." The old man must be well along 
 in years. Twenty-six years ago he was an old man, 
 and yet I can see but little change in him. 
 
 We soon cleared the decks of all the rubbish, Esqui- 
 maux and all. This place has been, and is yet suppos- 
 ed to be, an excellent one for whaling in the fall season ; 
 but few ships stay here late in the year for fear of be- 
 ing frozen in and thus losing their spring whaling, as 
 the water would then probably be sixty or eighty miles 
 below them. 
 
 A lookout has been placed on the island. The men 
 performing this service are furnished a spy-glass, and 
 are relieved every two hours. We have also located 
 Mr. Sherman on shore again, and now I hope he will 
 be able to continue his meteorological observations 
 without further interruption. 
 3 
 
34 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 On Friday, October 12, the Scotch bark Perseverance 
 came in and anchored, having seen no whales at Ni- 
 antihc. The other two vessels are still at Niantilic. 
 The Perseverance reports that a large steamer, that had 
 been north whaling in Davis's Straits, came into the 
 harbor a few days ago, but did not intend to stay long, 
 and was bound home to Scotland. Captain Birnie, of 
 the Polar Star, wall send my letters by her. 
 
 We have had some snow, but none of any conse- 
 quence; some good strong wind, but no heavy gales. 
 They are having different w- eather below — more gales 
 and more snow. 
 
 On the 15th of October Captain Roach arrived with 
 two boats'-crews, looking for whale. His other crews 
 were left encamped near American Harbor, about 
 thirty miles from here in an easterly direction. He 
 staid with me two days and then left to join his other 
 boats. 
 
 On the 18th, Captain Brown, of the Perseverance, got 
 his vessel under way and left us for Niantilic, so we are 
 now alone in our winter quarters. The Esquimaux 
 report having seen smoke in the direction of American 
 Harbor. I suppose it to be Murray, with the Wind- 
 icarcL 
 
 On the 22d we were visited by three of Murray's 
 boats from American Harbor. They were all looking 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 35 
 
 eagerly for whale, but liad seen none. They reported 
 that Captain Roach's boats, in his absence, got a large 
 whale; also that Captain Watson, of the brig Alert, 
 lying at Eiantilic, had captured one. Captain Hall, 
 from the Kickerton Islands, has also been here with 
 three boats. 
 
 The lookout on the island signalled a whale on the 
 24th. The boats were instantly out, but it was not 
 seen again. Everj^ day when the weather would 
 permit the natives were off sealing, and at the same 
 time looking for whale, but up to this date in vain. 
 I should not care so much about not seeing or not 
 getting whales, — although I should like to get enough 
 to pay expenses, — if we could do anything else at this 
 season of the j^ear. This is the dry season. The na- 
 tives have given up hunting deer and are returning to 
 the sea-side preparatory to entering upon their winter 
 campaign against the seals. The women are idle. 
 They will not work on deer-skins until the ice makes ; 
 but they will work on seal-skins. Like all uncivil- 
 ized people, they are very superstitious, and they fear 
 if they work on deer-skins (took-too) out of the proper 
 season they or their friends will be unfortunate, per- 
 haps die ; so one must wait until the ice makes solid 
 before they will consent to make a suit of clothes, 
 though one be suffering for them. 
 
 Ifcp-e-ken and Kuck-oo-jug are off every day with 
 
30 THE CKUISE OF THE FLORENCE, 
 
 the boats. [N'ep-e-ken's boat is prepared tor whaling. 
 Kuck-oo-jug, whom I have not employed, goes in his 
 ow^n boat. It is rather an old one, to be sure, but 
 it will do for sealing. They generally keep within 
 sight of one another, so that if Nep-e-ken should see 
 whales and strike them Kuck-oo-jug could render him 
 assistance. They carry their rifles with them, so that 
 if they see no whales they can amuse themselves shoot- 
 ing seals, and they generally bring in two or three of 
 the latter to the schooner in the evening. My own 
 men I seldom send off*. Indeed, I will not unless they 
 signal from the shore that a whale is in sight. My 
 men are as yet too poorly clad to remain a long time 
 in the boats in such cold weather as. now prevails. 
 The Esquimaux tell me that last fall there were plenty 
 of whales within rifle-shot of where the schooner now 
 lies. In fact, I know that nearly every fall the whales 
 have been here in abundance. 
 
 It may be that they have met feed lower down the 
 gulf and have stopped there. 
 
 On the 29th of O'ctober Nep-e-ken came to me and 
 requested me to get the Esquimaux to " ankoot " for 
 whale, saying if I would do so, and pay the ankoot, 
 they would ascertain whether w^e were to get a whale 
 or not.. Of course I knew that the Esquimaux believ- , 
 ed in their ankoot as implicitly as we believe in our 
 doctors, or those who Qxpound the Bible to us ; and 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 37 
 
 I hiiraored them accordingly. Nep-e-ken delicately 
 hinted to me that as a preliminary to this grand calling 
 up of spirits from the vasty daep it would be necessary 
 for me to fm^nish them with some spirits to pour down 
 their own capacious and well-lined throats. At this I 
 did not demur, but gave them the " needful/' and all 
 was made ready to summon the supernatural that 
 evening. I did not go on shore to witness the sum- 
 moning, as the spirits become offended if an unbe- 
 liever be present, but of course was anxious as to the 
 results. Kuck-oo-jug was to be the ankoot. They 
 kept it up till early morning, and at breakfast I learn- 
 ed the result. We were to get a whale, but the spirits 
 would not inform Kuck-oo-jug whether it would be 
 this fall or next spring. I made him a present of a 
 large knife. He smiled, and, examining the knife, 
 turned to Nep-e-ken and said to him, in Esquimaux: 
 "'Now we will have a vv^hale.'' 
 
 On the last day of October, although it was late in 
 the season and dangerous to be out at that time in the 
 year, we weighed anchor early in the morning, with 
 the native boats' -crews aboard, some of them with 
 ankoot charms hanging about their persons, and stood 
 out in the gulf looking for whale ; but we looked in 
 vain. In the afternoon, the wind blowing strong in 
 the north-east, we reached the harbor just at dark. The 
 clays are very short now. 
 
38 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 The natives still prosecute sealing every favorable 
 day. They shot one oog-jook, good for boots. 
 
 • 
 
 On the 7th of November J!^ep-e-ken and Kuck-oo-jug 
 were oft*, as usual. Kuck-oo-jug soon returned and 
 informed me that he had seen a whale ; that it was 
 close to his boat, but he had no line, nor was he pre- 
 pared in any way for whaling. I had not hired him, 
 as I was afraid the stores would not permit me to feed 
 so many Esquimaux through the winter. I asked 
 where Nep-e-ken was, and learned that he could see 
 his boat when he started for the schooner, but did 
 not know whether he saw the whale or not.' The 
 lookout had seen nothing from the hill. 
 
 The whales are here, but it is very late. The ice 
 will soon form, as it seldom remains open as late as 
 the 7th of November. It is now forming near the 
 shores, and it will take but one night of calm weather 
 to cover the whole gulf with it. The lookout signal- 
 led that a boat was coming. It proved to be Nep-e- 
 ken, and he was soon alongside. The first words he 
 uttered were, '^ Ogbig ! ogbig! Asseawouk! asseawo- 
 uk ! " Which means, " Whale ! whale ! Lost ! lost ! " 
 He had seen a whale and struck it. It was a large 
 one. The whale took some twenty -ti^ve fathoms of 
 line, and then the line parted. This was bad news, 
 yet it might have been worse. 
 
 It was a daring act to strike a whale all alone and 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 39 
 
 at this time of the year. The days are short, and it 
 was then growing dark, so I made preparations to send 
 two boats ofi" in the morning. For this purpose all the 
 skin-clothing was collected and given to three men of 
 the forecastle, who were to make up the complement 
 of two boats'-crews with the Esquimaux, who were not 
 numerous enough to man two boats. They were pro- 
 visioned for two or three days, although I scarcely 
 thought they would be gone over night. Kuck-oo-jug 
 was to take the natives' boat, while Nep-e-ken was to 
 use his own. 
 
 They were ofl' at daybreak. The w^eather was fine, 
 but cold, with a good breeze from the north. When 
 some six miles off they were seen to take in their sails. 
 They had either seen or struck a whale. Shortly after- 
 wards they disappeared from sight. 
 
 The day passed away and night came on. It was 
 cold, and the wind blew from the north. They did 
 not come. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th the horizon was eagerly 
 scanned for the boats. " No boats in sight ! " All 
 that day a sharp lookout was kept, but no boats ap- 
 peared. Night came. The thermometer registered 
 minus 16°. The wind blew heavily from the north- 
 west. 
 
 The morning of the 10th was very cold, but there 
 was not so much wind. The harbor was frozen over 
 
40 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 and some of the Esquimaux children came to the 
 schooner upon the ice. • 
 
 The squaws and children were very anxious about 
 their husbands and relatives. We could see but little 
 to-day. Although the water is frozen in the harbor, 
 it is open outside. As fast as the ice forms, it is car- 
 ried away by the wind and currents. The steam or 
 frost arising from the water forms a dense fog. No 
 boats. Night came, cold and cheerless for those adrift 
 in the boats, who must, by this time, be out of provis- 
 ions. It seems certain that they have struck a whale, 
 and the wind being strong from the north-west, they 
 have had to go before it, and will bring up some thirty 
 or forty miles down the gulf, — probably at American 
 Harbor. 
 
 November 11. — No boats. It is verj^ cold. The 
 wind is from -the north. The gulf is still open outside 
 of the harbor, but that frost-smoke which shuts out 
 all view beyond a few yards prevails. The schooner 
 is in some danger, the wind being strong. I fear the 
 ice in the harbor will move and carry her outside 
 with it. 
 
 November 12. — No boats. The weather continues 
 about the same, — cold, and a breeze not- very stro ig, 
 and plenty of frost-smoke. The women and children 
 are getting almost inconsolable over the loss of their 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 41 
 
 husbands, fathers, and relatives. God grant them a 
 safe return, is my earnest prayer. About 3.30 p. m., 
 as I was sitting in the cabin, smoking a pipe and wish- 
 ing the lost or absent ones back safe and sound, we 
 were all startled by a hail alongside. Springing on 
 deck, I discovered the boats. They were some dis- 
 tance astern, to be sure, but they were safe. The}^ 
 could not get nearer on account of the ice. A line 
 was soon conveyed to them, and by hauling on it from 
 the schooner, the natives lifting the heads of the boats 
 at times when they broke through tlxe young ice, we 
 soon had them alongside and hoisted them aboard. 
 They were sorry-looking boats, almost entirely covered 
 with ice, and considerably battered; and the same can 
 be said of their crews. The oars were three times 
 their ordinary thickness, though the ice was frequently 
 beaten from them. It was no time to ask questions. 
 I wanted to see how my three men were. They could 
 scarcely stand, and all stao;o;ered as thev o-ained the 
 deck, on being helped out of the boat. Several of the 
 Esquimaux were but little better off, and reeled like 
 drunken men around the deck. 
 
 William Albion and Richard York had but little 
 feelino; in their fino-ers. A hole was soon cut throuo-h 
 the ice, and some cold sea-water drawn in a deck 
 bucket. In this their hands were immersed, and there 
 kept till feeling was restored. 
 . But not so with Lee. He had unfortunately got 
 
42 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 one of his legs, and consequents his foot, wet, even 
 through his skin moccasin. This had occurred three 
 days before. He could not get his foot warm after- 
 wards, he said, and finally ceased to have feeling in it. 
 I concluded that his case was a serious one, and would 
 not let him go near the fire. Drawing a bucket of 
 cold water, his foot was plunged in it, after cutting off 
 his moccasin, which could not be pulled off. Leg, 
 stocking, and moccasin were apparently frozen to- 
 gether. On immersing his foot in the water it became 
 incrusted with ice, which was the result of the frost 
 coming out of the flesh. After awhile the ice was 
 gently removed from the foot, but the frozen member 
 ^was still kept in the water and rubbed until circulation 
 was restored. It took all of an hour to soften the 
 flesh. This being accomplished, the foot was wrapped 
 up to protect it from the cold. The man was then 
 given a glass of spirits and sent below. 
 
 It was now the turn of the Esquimaux to be looked 
 after. They needed little care, however. They were 
 very tired, very hungry, and very thirsty. They drank 
 water by the quart, and then they wanted something 
 strongei', which was given them. Then they had some- 
 thing to eat, and while they were eating I gathered 
 from them information concerning their cruise. On 
 leaving the schooner they steered in the direction of 
 American Harbor. When about six miles from the 
 vessel they saw^ several whales. They then took in 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 43 
 
 their sails, as it was blowing a strong breeze, so that 
 they could manoeuvre for the whale witli a better 
 chance of success. The whales had two risings, but 
 were struck neither time. On the third rising Kuck- 
 oo-jug got fast. The whale sounded, and on coming 
 to the surface, it being very rough, Nep-e-ken failed 
 to kill him. The whale now started to run south and 
 carried them a long distance before Nep-e-ken was 
 enabled to kill him. It was then almost dark, and 
 some of the Esquimaux were desirous of letting the 
 whale go and of returning to the schooner; but Nep-e- 
 ken would not consent to this. He said, "The whale 
 must and shall be saved, if we have to tow him to 
 Kickerton Island," a distance pf some sixty miles from 
 the schooner and about forty from where they then 
 were. 
 
 By the time it was dark they had the whale's flukes 
 cut off and were ready to tow. The whale died on its 
 side, which made it very hard towing. It would have 
 been much better to have towed him by the head, 
 could' they have got hold of it; but the head was deep 
 in the water, and the sea was very rough and the wind 
 blowing strong. They towed all' night. Once they 
 parted from the whale. It was very dark, and they 
 had considerable difficulty in finding him again. 
 
 The morning of the 9th of November found them 
 about ten miles below American Harbor and about 
 
44 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 forty from the schooner. They were not far from the 
 land, and the wind and the sea were driving them di- 
 rectly towards it. 
 
 They soon reached land, and were fortnnate in 
 finding a little bay, sheltered from the sea, into which 
 they towed the whale. JSTep-e-ken w^as determined 
 to secure the whale; so, instead of starting for the 
 schooner, he waited until the tide rose so that he could 
 haul the prize high upon the beach. The tides on the 
 full and change of the moon were about twenty-two 
 feet at this time, and about eighteen feet at high water. 
 They hauled the whale as far upon the beach as they 
 could, and in assisting at this young Lee slipped over- 
 board from a rock, fortunately, however, getting only 
 one leg w^et. 
 
 It was now quite dark, and, as there was consider- 
 able young ice drifting in the gulf, they dared not start 
 for the schooner until daylight. They had no water. 
 Their provisions w^ere consumed, and their condition 
 was anything but enviable. They appeased their hun- 
 ger by eating black-skin cut from the whale, but it was 
 some time before the white men could be prevailed 
 upon to submit to this diet. Some blubber was also 
 cut from the whale and beaten 'into a jelly-like mass, 
 and, having a small piece of cotton canvas, they 
 picked it to pieces for wicking and then saturated it 
 with oil from the blubber. Setting fire to this mass 
 on the snow, they soon had the water running. Each 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 45 
 
 man in tnrn knelt down on the snow and drank tlie 
 greasj fluid; and thus was the thirst of the party, 
 which had begun to be almost intolerable, quenched 
 for a time. The natives laid down for a sleep, but the 
 white men could not sleep on the snow at first. When 
 they did get drowsy Nep-e-ken permitted them to rest 
 onl}' a short time, and then started them' up ; nor 
 would he allow them to lie down again, during the 
 night, more than ten minutes at a time. 
 
 On the morning of the 10th of November the wind 
 was blowing heavily from the north-west. The boats 
 would, therefore, have head -winds to contend with 
 had they started. They did not make the attempt. 
 More black-skin was cut and eaten, and water was 
 prepared for drinking purposes as on the night pre- 
 vious. 
 
 The weather was more favorable on the 11th, and 
 the party started for the schooner, but experienced 
 great difficulty in keeping clear of the young and drift- 
 ing ice. jS'ight overtook them before they reached 
 their destination, and they landed on a small island, 
 Where they suffered nmch from hunger, thirst, and 
 cold. At daybreak they started again. They could 
 not see for the frost fog, but managed to reach the 
 schooner just before dark. 
 
 Through the month of November, or what remained 
 
46 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 of the month, there was but little change in the wea- 
 ther. The ice made slowly and we had considerable 
 snow, which covered and protected the ice in the har- 
 bor. The sea was still open outside. 
 
 The Esquimaux, having recruited strength and over- 
 come the fatigues of their expedition, went out seal- 
 ing among the islands, w^here the ice had formed, but 
 with indifterent success. Mr. Kumlein ventured out 
 on the ice once with a bojit-hook, and fell or broke 
 through, but he escaped with a good wetting. 
 
 Some few ducks lingered still, loath to leave. Some 
 of them w^ere shot, and a few gulls were also captured. 
 Mr. Sherman was zealously employed in his scientific 
 observations on shore. 
 
 He has a good-sized canvas tent, with a stove in it. 
 As soon as the snow is in a condition to cut into blocks 
 the tent will be covered with a snow iglau, which will 
 make it quite comfortable. 
 
 December 1. — Ice formed out in the gulf, as far 
 as the eye can reach, in a single night! Some of the 
 natives ventured out on the newly-formed ice look- 
 ing for seal. 
 
 Upon examining Nep-e-ken's boat I found that it 
 was almost ruined. The copper sheathing was entirely 
 torn ofi:', her planking nearly cut through, and her two 
 after-thwarts split and splintered badly. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 47 
 
 On the 6th of December, the ice beuig in a good 
 condition, I was determined to get the bone from the 
 head of the whale captured by the natives, and con- 
 sulted Nep-e-ken. He was ready in a moment. The 
 natives were called and the dogs harnessed; tackle, 
 provisions, spades and axes to cut with, and finally 
 rum, were made ready for the expedition, — and they 
 were off with a hurrah ! It will be no easy task, I 
 know. Ice has covered the whale by this time, and, 
 as it lies in the shore ice, they will have to expend 
 much labor in getting to it. The upper surface of the 
 whale will be frozen very hard. But it is worth the 
 trial. It is a large cow-whale, and there are, probably, 
 two thousand pounds of bone in its head. If it could 
 have been brought alongside of the schooner, about 
 one hundred and forty barrels of oil could have been 
 extracted from the blubber. 
 
 Everything went along as usual until the 9th, when 
 a sleigh was reported coming from the south. I con- 
 cluded it was some of our natives returning from 
 the expedition to the whale. Mr. Burrows, the second 
 officer, who is of a very inquisitive turn of mind, 
 started oft' to meet the sled, which was not very far 
 away. He had gone about two hundred yards when 
 he came to a crack running from the small island 
 astern of the schooner to an island lying some six 
 hundred j^ards to the north. Not being troubled with 
 an overplus of caution, he did not notice that the tides 
 
48 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 had opened the crack and that young ice had formed 
 • in it. He stepped upon it, and down he went up to 
 his armpits. His situation was both dangerous and 
 comical. His lugubrious looks, as though he was 
 desirous of assistance, yet ashamed to ask for it, I 
 never shall forget. He finally got out without help. 
 He came on board all in a lump, with his arms 
 akimbo, changed his clothes, and concluded he was 
 the hero of the season. 
 
 The sleigh contained Inue-mar-ket and Shu-mar- 
 ker. The latter had cut his head very badly with a 
 spade^a blubber spade. These spades are as sharp as 
 a razor. Mr. Sisson washed and dressed the wound 
 and put a few stitches in it. 
 
 The Esquimaux report ]S!"ep-e-ken and his men at 
 work on the whale. They have one side of the head 
 out, and will get the other out to-day. They want a 
 little more bread and considerably more rum, as t?ieir 
 supplies are running short. Those articles were got 
 ready, and Inue-mar-ket (whom we called Jonah) 
 will start early in the morning for the whale, leaving 
 Shu-mar-ker behind. I should not be surprised to 
 hear that the latter had been playing loose with J^ep- 
 e-ken's rum. He is excessively fond of spirits. 
 
 On the 11th the Esquimaux all returned, bringmg 
 with them a considerable quantity of the bone. They 
 had got it all out of the whale's head and stored it on 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 49 
 
 the rocks. I want tg secure the rest as soon us pos- 
 sible. I have arranged witli Nep-e-ken about going to 
 Molly Kater-nuna to trade for skins, and also to bring 
 two teams of dogs to assist in getting the bone to the 
 schooner. We have but few dogs. Many have died 
 this fall from a disease resembling hydrophobia. He 
 will start in the mornino*. Just before dark two sleii2:hs 
 were seen comins; from the eastward. The weather is 
 quite thick, with occasional snow-falls. 
 
 The sleighs arrived and were soon alongside the 
 schooner, and proved t.o*be in charge of Roach and 
 Hall, from Kickerton Island. They had started two 
 days previous, and slept one night on the ice. They 
 were going to Niantilic to spend the holidays with 
 the Scotchmen. Not being able to cross the gulf 
 direct, which would have been much the shorter route, 
 on account of water, they are taking the circuit around 
 its head. 
 
 We soon gave them a substantial supper, and they 
 were made as comfortable as possible. They are very 
 desirous that I shall accompany them. I do not feel 
 like going. It is a poor time of the year to travel, the 
 days being short and the ice, in many places between 
 the island and the shore, where the current runs strong, 
 being scarcely safe. 
 
 December 13. — Nep-e-ken started early this morning 
 for Moll}' Kater-nuna. Captain Hall and Mr. Kumlein 
 4 
 
50 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 are off sealing, and Captain Roach and myself amuse 
 ourselves as best we can. He related a little adven- 
 ture he had at Kickerton. Just as the ice made this 
 fall a large she-bear, vvith two cubs, made her appear- 
 ance on the island. Roach's natives got sight of her, 
 and were on the alert to shoot her. So was Roach, 
 who, in his eagerness to get a good shot, got too near. 
 Both the cubs were wounded and could not keep 
 up with the mother. She stood at bay and received 
 several bullets, but none brought her down. She 
 iinalh^ sighted Roach, and, rushing toward him, she 
 I'eared on her hind legs and placed her fore paws on 
 his shoulders and bore him down. Then the dogs 
 were at her hind parts, and she released Roach from 
 her grasp to attack them. Roach, thus relieved, re- 
 gained his feet; but she was loath to leave him, and 
 turned on him with more fierceness than before. He 
 Avas again borne down, but the infuriated beast was so 
 harassed by the men and dogs that she turned and 
 beat a precipitate retreat, receiving several shots as she 
 ran. The cubs were captured, and the mother was 
 next day found dead on a distant part of the island. 
 
 I have concluded to accompany Roach and Hall on 
 their trip to Niantilic. We start to-morrow. Captain 
 Hall and Mr. Kumlein returned to-day from sealing. 
 They had no luck. 
 
 On the morning of the 14th we were' off at daybreak, 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 51 
 
 It was blowing quite heavily, and the snow was drift- 
 ing very badly. I started on foot, as the sleigh was not 
 quite ready; but I had not gone very far before Cap- 
 tain Hall overtook me, and I got on liis sleigh. It ap- 
 pears that Roach had some difficulty in finding liis dogs, 
 whicli delayed him. We had gone ten miles, perhaps, 
 when we found it necessary to clean the dogs' harness. 
 There was yet no sign of Roach. I was not very well 
 clad, having on only a single suit of deer-skin, while- 
 the others had double suits. The wind was now blow- 
 ing very strong, and snow, to a height of eight or ien 
 feet above the ice, was flying so thick and with so 
 much violence that we could scarcely see the dogs 
 twenty feet ahead of us. 
 
 While the Esquimaux were cleaning the harness — 
 they both had Esquimaux drivers — I concluded to walk 
 ahead, expecting, of course, that the sleigh would fol- 
 low me in a few minutes. I kept on for some time, 
 when suddenly it occurred to me that the sleigh ought 
 to be up with me. I looked back, but could see noth- 
 ing; th8 snow was drifting too thick for that. I walk- 
 ed on again, thinking the sleigh must be near, and I 
 continued walking slowly about an hour longer, and 
 then began to get alarmed. I knew I had kept in the 
 right direction, having the wind and the heavens to 
 guide me. 
 
 Certainly the sleigh could not have passed me ! 
 
 I started back on my track to see what occasioned 
 
5Z THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 the delay, but went with very little hope of finding it. 
 I kept the trail for twenty or more minutes^ and then 
 lost it. 
 
 The drifting snow had covered it completely. I was 
 in- a rather awkward dilemma, but there was no alter- 
 native but to wait till the snow ceased to drift, so that 
 I could see land, which could be reached bv o-oins; 
 in the direction from which the wind came. I con- 
 - tinned walking about half an hour, when suddenly I 
 discovered a dark object through the drifting snow. 
 It disappeared almost immediately from sight. Soon 
 after I saw it; again, and it again vanished ; again it 
 appeared and vanished; but I was walking toward it. 
 A moment more and I saw two dark spots on the ice. 
 1 was soon up wdth the objects of my curiosity, which 
 proved to be Koach and Hall. 
 
 They were as surprised to see me as I was to see them. 
 
 Hall, on cleaning his harness, did not start, but 
 waited for Roach to come up. 
 
 Eoach had been delayed by his dogs, and it was 
 some time before he came. He had great cfifhculty 
 in seeing and keeping Hall's sled tracks, as they were 
 almost obliterated by the drifting snow when he pass- 
 ed over them. He had at one time almost resolved 
 to turn back, but he kept on. Upon his arrival he 
 Avas astonished and alarmed to learn that I had gone 
 on ahead. He instantly looked for my tracks near 
 the sleigh?, but could not find them. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 53 
 
 Roach was an old, experienced traveller, and he 
 knew niv peril. Both men immediately set about 
 finding my trail. Their sleighs were driven north 
 and then south, making an angle at every turn. They 
 hoped by that means to cross my track, and by fol- 
 lowing it overtake me. That was what they were do- 
 ing when I discovered them. 
 
 We stopped to refresh ourselves with a piece of froz- 
 en pork and biscuit, washed down with a little diluted 
 rum, and then continued on our way toward Molly 
 Kater-nuna. We could not see to guide the dogs, but 
 went by the wind, which was to the northward, and 
 kept it on our backs. 
 
 The sun went down about 2 o'clock p.m., and short- 
 ly after the wind died aw^ay. We found ourselves too 
 far oft' shore, and had to haul up some four or five 
 points for our place of destination. Night came on, 
 and we were still far from Molly Kater-nuna; but the 
 atmosphere was clear, and we had the moon to guide 
 us with her friendly light. 
 
 We had not proceeded far, after this, before we met 
 with a disagreeable mishap. We were going between 
 some islands, about seven miles from a settlement of 
 Esquimaux, when suddenly down went the sleigh that I 
 was on. I was half asleep, and was naturall}' somewhat 
 startled. I came near jumping in the water, but saw^ 
 the situation in time to save myself from a cold bath. 
 
 The after-part of the sleigh was partly submerged. 
 
54 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 and Koach's driver^ a young Esquimaux, went in the 
 water up to his armpits. 
 
 I threw myself forward as the sleigh went down, 
 and lay for a moment with my feet dangling in the 
 water. The sled was heavily laden with a trunk con- 
 taiiiing provisions, sleeping bags, deer-skins, and many 
 articles useful in this kin'd of travel. 
 
 The load was filled up to a height of three feet, and 
 on the top of this we sat, when we rode. 
 
 Eoach, who was driving, was sitting on the forward 
 end of the sled, which was still resting on the ice as 
 its rear went down. The dogs stopped short upon the 
 breaking of the ice, but it was only for a moment. 
 Eoach uttered a terrific yell, and, with a flourish of 
 the whip, made them. bound forward and draw the 
 sled — with Roach, myself, and the young Esquimaux 
 clinging to it — on safer ice, and there we halted. 
 Hall, who was in the rear, profited by our experience, 
 and avoided the weak spot in the ice. 
 
 As soon as we stopped the boy la}^ down in the 
 snow and began to roll. This was to dry his clothes; 
 probably upon the same principle as that on which 
 a dog dries himself by shaking when he comes out 
 of the water. He would roll awhile, then pound his 
 clothes with the butt of his whip, and repeat this ma- 
 noeuvre until he was satisfied. 
 
 We now refreshed ourselves again with a little froz- 
 en pork aud biscuit and some rum. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 55 
 
 Again we moved on. We had gone about four 
 miles, and were about three from the settlements just 
 mentioned, A\*lien the ice broke under us a second 
 time. The accident was not so serious this time, how- 
 ever, and I escaped with one wet moi'.casin and the 
 boy with two. 
 
 We resumed our journc}^ after a brief stoppage, and 
 reached the Esquimaux huts at 7.30 p. m. The natives 
 mustered in force to see who the new-comers were. 
 Among them I found Nep-e-ken. We had not seen his 
 back-track, and I concluded that he was still at Kater- 
 rmna. He arrived here on the evening of the^ same 
 day on X which he left the Florence. He traded for 
 quite a number of skins, and hired two sleighs, with 
 drivers, to accompany him back and assist in getting 
 the bone to the schooner. 
 
 All three sleisrhs started on the mornino; of the 14th 
 for the schooner. Thej" had just got clear of the shore 
 ice, when down went Nep-e-ken's sleigh, and he and 
 Eg-e-low, who was with him, went with it. The two 
 natives on the other sleighs assisted them to get out, 
 and they all returned to the huts, two of them wetter 
 if not wiser men. They were drying their clothes 
 when we arrived, and they intend to start again in the 
 morning. 
 
 On the morning of the 15th the weather proved 
 clear, but very cold, with a light breeze from the 
 
56 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 north-west. I concluded to return with JSTep-e-ken. 
 The men must be provided with provisions for their 
 journey, and they n)ust also be paid when through. 
 Then, too, we had a number of skins, and the squaws 
 must be put at work cleaning them and n^aking them 
 into clothing; and it is just about as difficult to get 
 some of these squaws to work as it is to get some of 
 their more favored sisters, in more civilized countries, 
 to do the same thing. 
 
 The sleighs were made ready for our journey, and, 
 wishing my companions a pleasant trip, we started for 
 the schooner. 
 
 ]^ep-e-ken's sleigh was heavily laden. It carried, 
 besides himself, Eg-e-low and a load of skins. An- 
 narkshuk, one of the hired natives, also had a load of 
 skins; but he had good dogs and a fast sleigh. So on 
 his sleigh I seated myself as soon as we got clear of 
 the shore ice. I suppose it was at least 10 o'clock in 
 the morning, (it is not daybreak until noon,) and it 
 was now near sunrise. 
 
 Avoiding the dangerous places of yesterday's jour- 
 ney, we weiit rapidly. The dogs seemed to be in their 
 best humor. Upon getting clear of the islands, we 
 found the ice clear and firm. 
 
 The gale of yesterday and the cold snap had done 
 much to improve it. We took a shorter route than 
 we traversed on the way up, as the weather was clear 
 and we could see where we were o'oino;. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 5/ 
 
 Coming to some holes, kept open by the strong cur- 
 rents, the natives stopped to get a seal, if possible; 
 bnt tliey did not succeed, and we started on. 
 
 Our dogs kept going at a rapid rate until we reach- 
 ed the schooner, which we did at 2.45 p. m., having 
 travelled some forty-five miles in less than six^ hours! 
 
 Nep-e-ken and the other sleigli arrived- before we 
 got through dinner. 
 
 On the morning of the 16th the natives were up and 
 doing bright and early. Three sleighs and three driv- 
 ers were started for the whale. The other natives 
 were away seahng. 
 
 On the 18th the slei2:hs returned with three li«:ht 
 loads of bone. 
 
 On the 19th they returned for the remainder, and 
 got back the same night, when the hired natives were 
 paid and started for their homes. 
 
 We were now settled down to the dull and monoto- 
 nous life of winter in the Arctic regions. 
 
 One at home cannot imagine how dull this life is. 
 Isolated from all the world, we must make a world of 
 o\ir own; we must build one in our imaginations, and 
 picture it with smiling faces; picture to ourselves the 
 grassy lawn of the new-born spring, the budding of 
 the trees, — their blossoming and leaving, their matur- 
 ity and decay. 
 
58 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 The old year is dying, "hoary and frosty with age." 
 How many hopes die with it! 
 
 The new year is coming. It is here even at this 
 moment. It is bona! — the year of our Lord 1878! 
 It comes to us wdth a smihng face, as if happy at be- 
 ing ushered into Time ! 
 
 We spent our New-Year as pleasantly as possible 
 under the circumstances, forgetting for a time at least 
 that w^e were in the icy solitudes of the Arctic, far 
 isolated from our homes and friends. 
 
 The Esquimaux are sealino; every favorable day, 
 but they are having poor success. ' 
 
 There is a scarcity of seals this winter. I am told 
 that last winter they were plenty. 
 
 Lee's foot is in a bad condition. The flesh is gone 
 entirely from the heel, leaving the bone bare. The 
 flesh is also gone from the side of the foot and the 
 toes, from one of which latter the bone is" protruding. 
 We keep a poultice on the foot continually, and I hope 
 to save the frozen member from amputation. The 
 other two men are all right. 
 
 Upon opening some boxes the other day I' found 
 one sent by Colonel Lupton, ai-i intimate friend of 
 the late Captain .Hall. It contained a small flag, 
 which, as Colonel Lupton writes, (for a letter was 
 also found in the box,) accompanied Doctors Kane 
 and Hayes, and also Captain Hall, in their perilous ex- 
 peditions in the Arctic seas. There was also a large- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 59 
 
 sized pliotographic portrait (filmed) of Captain ITall. 
 In this letter the Colonel requests that the flag, which 
 is now historical, be planted at the northernmost point 
 of the earth that we are able to reach. 
 
 The snow lies heavily upon the ice and presses it 
 down. Tlie water comes up through the pores of the 
 ice, and between water and snow the travelling could 
 not be worse. The slush is nearly knee-deep. The 
 natives are getting no seals, or, at least, but very few ; 
 and men, women, and children flock to the schooner 
 for something to eat, which cannot be refused them. 
 
 We get all the seal-meat we can for Lee, to prevent 
 the scurvy from getting in his foot. He is doing very 
 well, and the foot will be saved. 
 
 I have had several conversations with the Esqui- 
 maux in regard to their going with us to the East 
 Land, as the}" always call the coast of Greenland. 
 Some say they will go; others fear to go. The latter 
 are afraid of the "mulling" (sea) in such a little ves- 
 sel as the Florence, Others, again, have mothers who 
 do not w^ant them to go; then, again, brothers and 
 sisters, uncles and aunts and cousins, and I do not 
 know what else. 
 
 Nep-e-ken has promised to go; also Obe-tun, Thu-nu- 
 ping-nar, Inue-mar-ket, and Al-o-kee, making tive in 
 all. I have also the promise of several at Niantilic; 
 but lieaven only knows what the spring will bring 
 forth. If so manv vessels were not there, I coukl 
 
60 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 
 
 handle the natives better. Now I pretend indifference 
 whether thev 2:0 or not. 
 
 to^ 
 
 On the 1st of December we commenced on two 
 meals a day, — breakfast at 9 a. m. ; dinner at 3.30 p. 
 M. We thus save some provision and fuel, the latter 
 of which is o-ettins: low. 
 
 » 
 
 January passed as all the w^inter months generally 
 do in the Arctic. The weather was variable. On 
 some days the wind blew strong and snow fell or 
 drifted, and on others it was clear, but upon all cold. 
 The time was occupied principally in keeping the 
 snowbank around the ship in good order; cutting a 
 supply of ice from the fresh w^ater or ice ponds for 
 cooking and drinking purposes; keeping the squaws 
 at work when we could get them skins to work on ; 
 and trying to keep the devil as far from us as possible. 
 The natives have occupied their time, as usual, seal- 
 ing. 
 
 The mates and myself occasionallj' have to clean 
 our berths. They are directly under the companion- 
 way, and every time the doors are opened there is a 
 rush of cold air from above into the cabin, and our 
 state-rooms being directly under, it centers there and 
 turns into ice. 
 
 The lockers and the drawers are in the same con- 
 dition. Often, when about to retire, I find the blankets 
 
WINTER IN CUMBEKLAND GULF. 61 
 
 frozen to the side of the berth, and the books, papers, 
 and elothitig in a like condition from freezing. Our 
 kerosene oil is also frozen, and is consequently much 
 injured. 
 
 On the 24th of January the mate of the Helen F, 
 arrived from Kickerton Island, bringing Chunmiy, 
 ( Shu-mar-ping-uter,) who went over to American Har- 
 bor in one of Murray's boats hxst fall, on a visit, and 
 was carried to Niantilic. 
 
 The mate informed me that Koach and Hall reached 
 Niantilic on the fourth day after I left them, lie also 
 informed me that the only whale that had been cap- 
 tured by any of the four ships wintering at Niantilic 
 was that taken by Captain Watson, as already men- 
 tioned. The three other ships are clear. He told me 
 that the ships broke out from their winter quarters in 
 the tierce November gales and had a narrow escape, 
 but finally regained their quarters, Murray, with his 
 steamer, assisting them. 
 
 The number of whales taken during the fall in the 
 gulf now amounts to five, — Koach two. Hall one, AVat- 
 son one, and our crew one ; but all the others have a 
 chance for spring whaling, and I have none. 
 
 I concluded to go back with the mate, as it would 
 be a break in the monotonous life we w^ere leading, 
 and prevailed on Fred, the mate, to stop till the fol- 
 lowing day and give his dogs a good rest and feed, so 
 
62 THE CRUISE OF THE FLOEENCE. 
 
 that they would be in good condition to continue their 
 journey. 
 
 Fred had been two days coming from Kickerton to 
 Annanatook Harbor. He described the travelUng as 
 very bad. 
 
 The morning of the 26th we had an early start. We 
 w^ere accompanied by Eg-e-low, who, with iive dogs 
 antl a sleigh, was going to the Kickertons for a wife 
 (nuleanger). Oc-a-took, also with a like number of 
 dogs and a sleigh, was going to the whale for dog- 
 meat, and would spend a few days sealing at one of 
 the many holes kept open by the currents even in the 
 coldest winters. We had scarcely cleared the harbor 
 when w^e fell in with the snow. It was about three 
 feet deep, with water underneath. 
 
 The early snow was still there. A thin crust had 
 formed on the surface, protecting the light snow be- 
 neath from wind and frost. The surface crust was 
 not strong enough to bear the weight of the dogs 
 when they straightened in their harness to pull. 
 
 Fred, who had fifteen dogs but a very heavy sleigh, 
 had the lead, but he soon became exhausted driving 
 and urging the dogs along; so he gave three dogs to 
 Oc-a-took, and asked him to take the lead with his 
 eight and small sleigh. This he did, and we went 
 along somewhat faster; but we did not arrive at the 
 whale, which was on our line of journey, until even- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 63 
 
 ing. Here we slept. The dogs were exhausted. Their 
 feet and legs were cut by the snow crust and were 
 bleedhig at eveiy step. After eating a piece of bis- 
 cuit and frozen pork, we lay down on the ice to sleep. 
 
 In the morning we were up by daybreak. The dogs 
 were soon harnessed, and we we're olf. We hoped to 
 reach *Kickerton that day, have a good warm supper, 
 and sometliing besides ice to sleep on. Eg-e-low, who 
 was still with us, had a light sled; so Fred gave 
 him three doo:s and he took the lead. Eo;-e-low had 
 now eight dogs, and with his easy -running sleigh he 
 went along very well, but not fast. Our dogs were, 
 of course, anxious to keep up with him, and did keep 
 close to the stern of his sled. At sundown we were 
 abreast of Hay-stack Island, twelve miles from Kick- 
 erton. 
 
 This small island resembles a hay-stack in form; 
 hence its name. 
 
 It was getting dark, and though clear over head 
 the atmosphere was thick below. We kept on, hoping 
 to reach the station by 8 or 9 o'clock that evening. 
 About 5 o'clock in the evening we sighted an island 
 which is called Calle Corotes Ishmd. It is a small 
 one, about three miles from the station. We con- 
 tinued to drive toward the ishmd, but apparently got 
 no nearer. We kept on in this way until about 8 
 o'clock, when I told Fred that if it was not for the 
 north star, which we could see, I should think Eg-e-low 
 
64 THE CRUISE OE THE FLORENCE. 
 
 was driving around and around the island, for we were 
 certainly getting no nearer to it, but were apparently 
 about the same distance from it that we were three 
 hours before. 
 
 Fred finally called to Eg-e-low to stop, and they both 
 endeavored to ascertain where we were, which was a 
 difficult thing to do, owing to the mist. Presently the 
 native ejaculated, with a grunt, ^^'Kickertqjuck! Kick- 
 ertojuck!" '' The big island ! The big island!" And 
 he was right; we were in the entrance to Kingnito 
 Fiord, and the big island Kickertojuck stood before 
 us, with its bold shores reaching an elevation of some 
 three thousand feet above our heads. There was noth- 
 ing to do but to make the best of it. We had come 
 from Hay-stack Island to Kickertojuck, a distance of 
 twelve miles. The same amount of travel in the right 
 direction would have carried us to the station. We 
 were now about ten miles north-east of the station. 
 The poor dogs were moaning piteously with pain and 
 fatigue. 
 
 The weather, though clear in the zenith, was heavy 
 and thick below. 
 
 It was- necessary to pass another night on the ice; s:), 
 eating a piece of bread and pork, wo drew^ our deer-skin 
 jackets (couletangs) about us and composed ourselves 
 for sleep; at least I did. I w^as awakened several 
 times durinsr the nis-ht bv the moanino; of the doo's, 
 and by Fred in the morning, when he was stamping 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 05 
 
 his feet to get them warm and passing some cursory 
 remarks npon the dogs for eating their harness. 
 
 AFter making necessary repairs to the harness, we 
 started for the station, and arrived there about 2 
 o'clock p. M. We were met by the four captains, who 
 extended a warm greeting to us. 8oon we were re- 
 galed with something to eat, to which we did ample 
 justice. 
 
 ^I staid at the Kickertons until the 14th of February. 
 Nothing unusual occurred during my stay, except one 
 very heavy gale, which began on the 11th and abated 
 on the morning of the 13th. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, everything being ready 
 and the gale having died out. Roach and Fred decided 
 to go up w^ith me. The dogs w^ere harnessed, the sled 
 was loaded, and Kred got on the sleigh to drive the 
 do2:s down over the rou«:h shore ice, which here ex- 
 tended some four or live hundred yards, the shore 
 being tiat. 
 
 There was a track leadim>: throuo;h this rousrh ice, 
 made by the Esquimaux going to and fro from Kicker- 
 ton Island, some twelve miles to the north. The dogs, 
 being fresh, started oft' with a bound. On entering the 
 rough ice Fred was thrown some ten feet from the sleigh. 
 T'he dogs were now their own masters. They did not 
 stop, but continued on until they brought up at Hay- 
 stack Island, where they were stopped by the natives. 
 I walked back to the house with Roach. We were 
 5 
 
66 . THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 scarcely one hundred yards from it when the mishap 
 occmTcd. The dogs and sleigh Avere brought back 
 that night, and we conchided to make another start in 
 the morning. 
 
 . Tlie weather on the morning of the 14th was tine, 
 and w^e got away early. ' Roach had all hands out, and 
 lashing a long oog-jook line to the rear-part of the sleigh, 
 the men held on to the line while the sleigh was going 
 throuo-h the rouo;h ice. 
 
 Once getting through the shore ice, the dogs were 
 stopped and the harness was cleaned. Then we seated 
 ourselves on the sleigh, the dogs were let go, and away 
 we w^ent over the rough but hard ice ; now on top of 
 some rough piece of ice, and then down with the speed 
 of lightning on the other side. 
 
 Twice the sleigh brought up with such force as to 
 send us all headlong among the dogs. We continued 
 through this rough ice ten or twelve miles, and were 
 congratulating ourselves on having good though rough 
 travelling, w^hen suddenly wo struck the deep snow. 
 The dogs no longer w^ent on a clean run. They were 
 breast-deep in the soft snow, and even without a heavy 
 sleigh and load it w^ould have been severe pulling for 
 them. 
 
 The poor animals had at least one thousand or twelve 
 hundred pounds behind them. There were three good- 
 sized men, weighing in the aggregate at least tive hun- 
 dred pounds; two large bags of dog-meat, weighing 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 67 
 
 about three hundred; one chest of provisions, n saw, 
 knife, two guns, a spear, and two or three pieces of 
 bear and dog skin, which latter we intended using 
 for bedding should we be caught over night ; and then 
 there was the sleigh, weighing about one hundred 
 pounds. We had seventeen dogs, and good ones, too, 
 they were. With good sledding we would have gone 
 over the ice at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour. 
 As it was, we were not making more than two. We 
 went on wading through the snow, now jumping off 
 the sled to help the dogs, and, getting out of breath, 
 taking our places again on the sleigh, each taking his 
 turn at helping the dogs along, until late in the even- 
 ing, when, both men and animals being thoroughlj' 
 tired, we stopped and unharnessed' the dogs, to prevent 
 them from eating their harness during the night. We 
 took a few mouthfuls to eat, and, spreading our bear 
 and dog skins, we lay down to sleep. Twice I was 
 awakened in the night by Fred getting up and stamp- 
 ing to get his feet wai'm, and once by one of the dogs 
 trying to make a bed of my head. I objected. to the 
 latter proceeding, and the animal was content to lie 
 alongside of me. 
 
 The morning of the 18th was fine, and we were un- 
 der way by daybreak. The travel w^as nothing more 
 nor less than a repetition of the day before. It w^as evi- 
 dent that the heavy gale we had at Kickerton three days. . 
 
68 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 before did not reach here. The snow was, if anything, 
 deeper tlian when I came down. Just before dark we 
 struck an old track, and the dogs pricked up their ears, 
 threw up their tails, and went along much faster than 
 before. The snow, too, in this track was not so deep 
 as elsewhere, which made the travelling still better. 
 The wind breezed up from the west, bringing snow 
 with it; but the dogs had the trail, and it must, in- 
 deed, be a bad condition of weather that could make 
 them lose it. 
 
 The snow became less and less deep as "we went to- 
 ward the north-west. We were thus enabled to make 
 good headway, and at 6.30 o'clock we were alongside 
 the Florence. 
 
 The dogs were d'elighted to get to the vessel, and 
 did not stop until they had ascended the ice steps 
 which we have alongside. 
 
 I now learned that Nep-e-ken had been very sick, but 
 was convalescent ; also that the gale which we had at 
 Kickerton did not extend this far. The natives had 
 taken a few seals. Jonah and Chummy had gone to 
 Niantilic, — the tirst for a wife for himself, and the sec- 
 ond for a wife for Eg-e-low, who had failed to get one 
 at Kickerton. 
 
 Everything now goes along as usual. We eat, 
 drink, sleep, read, write, and play cards. 
 
 Roach and his mate started for home on the 18th. 
 Several dog -teams have arrived from Kater-nuna. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 69 
 
 One of the Esquimaux women from Molly Kiiter-nuna 
 2:ave birth to a child the morning of the 15th. She 
 is a .young squaw, but is more prolific than the abori- 
 gines of the Arctic regions usually are, as this makes 
 her third child now living. I was on shore the day 
 before her confinement, and noticed her husband 
 Winga was busy in building a small iglau or snow- 
 house, about tbe size of a dog kennel. T asked Roach 
 what in the world he was building such a small house 
 for. He answered that the man's wife was about to 
 be confined. Of course I then understood the situa- 
 tion. I have often seen these little snow huts put up 
 in the coldest weather, and the poor wife, no matter 
 how cold it is, is compelled to take shelter therein, 
 and,. without attendance, is tliere delivered. She is 
 her own doctress and nurse, and washes and dresses 
 the little strano-er. She remains in the hut a few davs, 
 and then returns to her people. 
 
 On the 19th Jonah and Chummy returned from 
 Niantilic, bringing two squaws: one, Chummy's wife; 
 the other, Tow-poung, the affianced of Eg-e-low. All 
 this means hard bread and pork from the Florence^ — 
 a fact of which I am duly made aware. It will be an 
 addition of two to our already large family. 
 
 Clunnmy reports that scurvy is raging among the 
 
 men at Niantilic. So far there has not been even the 
 
 least appearance of it among our creW; They are all 
 
 •well, excepting Lee, and his foot has healed and is as 
 
70 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 natural as before, save a small spot on the ball of the 
 heel. 
 
 On the 24th Koach's mate, Fred, came from Kick- 
 erton on a dog sled. He reports two very heavy 
 gales at Kickerton. We have had none here. An- 
 nanatook Harbor should be named Pacific Harbor. 
 
 Having forgotten or neglected to bring ink, I am 
 compelled to manufacture mj^ own, which is done 
 with gunpowder and vinegar. 
 
 Koach's mate staid two days, and then left for home. 
 
 Nep-e-ken, Ete-tun, Kim-mock-kone, Eg-e-low% Al-o- 
 kee, Inue-mar-ket, and families have removed to Glou- 
 cester Island, some ten or twelve miles distant, where 
 they hope to get seal. This makes my family at the 
 schooner somewhat smaller; but we appear to have 
 just as many to feed. Every Monday, all through the 
 winter, has been provision day ; that is, the day the 
 provision or w^eekly allowance was dealt out to the 
 squaws and children. In the commencement of the 
 winter I forbade the squaws and children coming to 
 the vessel. In lieu thereof I gave them four pounds 
 of bread, one cup of green tea or coffee, and one quart 
 of molasses weekly ; but, seals being scarce, and some 
 of the squaws having two or three children, they would 
 soon consume that small allowance, and of course I 
 could not see them suffer. After their allowance was 
 gone I let them come to the vessel for additional sup- 
 plies, and gave to each a little boiled meal and mo- « 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 71 
 
 lasses and a cup of coftec or tea. In this waj' I have 
 fed, including the crew, tliirty-tive or forty persons 
 Bince the 1st of October. 
 
 Nothing strange or new has occurred during the 
 month of Februar3\ 
 
 We have had snow-storms now and then through- 
 out the month. 
 
 March ushered itself in without ceremonv. The 
 weather was very cold, but it was bright and sunshiny. 
 We received occasional visits from the natives en- 
 camped at Gloucester Island, but they brought but 
 little seal-meat. They had caught but few seals ; in 
 fact, scarcely enou2:h to furnish them oil for their 
 lamps. Captain Hall's cooper was here recently look- 
 ing for seal-skin, for which he wished to trade. 
 
 March 15. — The last fourteen days have been in- 
 tensely cold. The thermometer indicated minus 35° 
 to 45° daily. The Esquimaux are catching a few 
 seals, but even they complain of the cold. 
 
 Nep-e-ken was here on the 13th, after the weekly 
 allowance to the natives at Gloucester Island. He 
 brought us some skins and seal-meat, and reports very 
 strong wind at the island. We have experienced no 
 unusual winds here, — a strange fact, in view of the 
 proximity of the two localities. I dispatched Oc-a- 
 took with a quantity of "trade" to Molly Kater-nuna 
 
i Z THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 this morning, to trade for skins, and lie took two deer- 
 skins, wliicli are used instead of tliread in niakmo; up 
 skin-clotliing. He only had iive dogs liitched to his* 
 sleigh. Nearly all of our dogs have died. The weath- 
 er is now moderating. The thermometer registered 
 minus 35° last night, and this morning minus 12°. 
 It is still getting warmer, and a storm is threatening. 
 
 In a few days the natives will choose their locations 
 for the young sealing. Each Esquimaux takes a par- 
 ticular section, several miles in extent. These seals — 
 tiie 'Mietzik" of the Esquimaux — .are their chief food 
 in winter, and furnish the skins of which they make 
 their summer clothing. They are smaller than the 
 kiolick — or, as the English call them, the ''saddle- 
 back" — of the east coast of Greenland and the coast 
 of Labrador. Great numl)ers of them are taken each 
 spring by English, Scotch, and Newfoundland whaling 
 crews, and one would naturally suppose that this whole- 
 sale destruction would destroy them in these seas; 3'et, 
 strange to say, it has caused no appreciable diminution 
 of their numbers. 
 
 The kiolick or saddle-back seal has its young on the 
 drift or pack ice, and this renders them easy to capture 
 when the vessel once gels among them. They lie on 
 the ice by the thousand ; at times they extend as far' 
 as the eye can reach from the crow's nest — or, as an 
 American would say, from the mast-head — with a good 
 telescope. In hunting them, there is nothing to do 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. ^3 
 
 but <2;et ott'tbe vessel to tlie ice und knock tlierii in the 
 Ijeiurwitli a seal club, and tben skin tbeni and di'ag 
 tbeni to the sbip. 8onie of the birge steamers carry 
 iiKiny men, — IVom one bunch'cd to two hundred. 
 Tlierefore the work of destruction goes on rapidly. 
 
 The men are most all experienced hands, many of 
 them havino; followed the business for vears. The 
 netzik — more timid than its cousin, the kiolick — has 
 its young under the ice, or, more properly speaking, 
 between the ice and snow. It chooses a place where 
 the snow^ lies deep upon the ice, and, commencing 
 underneath, will burrow with its fore flippers a hole 
 through the hard sea ice until it comes to the snow, 
 when it stops boring upward and begins to burrow 
 longitudinally along the hard surface of the ice under 
 the snow. It makes its eglow or burrow quite large ; 
 perhaps fifteen feet long and six wide. The hole 
 through the ice i'urnishes access to the sea. The eg- 
 low is covered with from two to five feet of snow, and 
 this makes it impossible to hunt them without the aid 
 of dogs, which scent the eglows thrv)ugli the snow. 
 The dogs, being harnessed and held in by a strap or 
 line, will lead the hunter to a spot directly over the 
 eglow, and will then stop and whine and scratch. The 
 hunter then breaks through the snow% and often se- 
 cures both old* and young; but if the young one be 
 well grown both mother and young will escape into 
 
74 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 the sea, unless the hunter is quick in making his 
 attack. 
 
 These seals are very beautiful when young. Their 
 coats are white and their hair silky, making excellent 
 winter clothing. When about two weeks old they 
 commence to shed their coats, which are replaced by 
 others of hght gray in color and silky in texture. They 
 are at this time ver}^ delicate eating. 
 
 Al-o-kee has just returned from Gloucester Island. 
 He reports that very few seals have been causrht there. 
 
 I have just received from Shu-mar-ker a neat wood- 
 en case, containing three ivory needles. Attached to 
 the case were a leather and an ivory thimble, such as 
 are used bj" the natives when they are not in commu- 
 nication with the ships. They also make from bone, 
 knives, seal spears, and harpoons; the latter for use in 
 capturing the great bow-head whale. 
 
 Tradition teaches the Esquimaux that many years 
 ago they were very numerous, and that game was 
 then more abundant than now; that their forefathers 
 enjoyed themselves hugely, some of them having 
 many wives; that the men of different tribes warred 
 with one another, one tribe often surprising another 
 and steahng its women; and that to avoid surprises 
 tribes often encamped and fortified themselves upon 
 high islands, from w^hich they hurled down death and 
 destruction upon the invader. 
 
 They believe in a Supreme Being, and their ankoots 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 75 
 
 are supposed to communicate with it. They also be- 
 lieve in an evil spirit, and think that after death the 
 bad will go to a different place from the good. Upon 
 the death of one of their number they place all his 
 hunting implements beside his grave, to assist him in 
 his* journey to the next world. They also carry food 
 to his grave and deposit it there. For three days the}^ 
 do this; then the}^ suppose he is far enough on his 
 journey to need no more. The men are separated 
 from the women in confinement, and in their monthly 
 sickness, or menses. Infanticide is practiced, but the 
 females are the ones generally destroyed. Among the 
 western tribes this terrible practice prevails to such an 
 extent that there are not women enough to furnish 
 wives for the men. They are a small race, resembling 
 the Chinese or Japanese. They have very small hands 
 and feet, and dark and coarse hair. As yet I have 
 not seen one bald. They have fine teeth, and some of 
 the young girls are quite good-looking; but thej break 
 down early, and after this they are hideous. 
 
 Chastity is unknown among them. The men often 
 exchange wives for a time. No marriage rites or forms 
 are observed. The man merely chooses a companion, 
 and if she does not suit she is soon cast aside. 
 
 They eat their meat and fish both raw and cooked. 
 The storj^ of their drinking large quantities of train 
 oil is a fable. They take a little blubber with their 
 meat, to help digestion, as we eat fat with ours. 
 
76 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 They are dirty from circumstances. Put a white 
 man here Without soap or water and he would be no 
 cleaner than the Esquimaux. In fact, the Esquimaux 
 are much cleaner than some' of our neighbors, whom 
 it is very difficult to distinguish from the dirty and 
 dark natives of the Arctic zone. . • 
 
 March 16. — A stormy day, with a strong breeze 
 from the north-west and snow. The thermometer, 
 which had been ranging very low through the early 
 part of the month, fell to zero. 
 
 Nep-e-ken and his party, bag and baggage, arrived 
 m the evening. He had come for a visit prior to his 
 departure for the young sealing. He informed us that 
 at Gloucester Island, a place formerly noted for its 
 abundance of seals, they could scarcely catch enough 
 to eat. The same scarcity prevailed, he said, at all 
 other parts of the gulf that we have heard from. 
 
 The Esquimaux here catch little or nothing, and we 
 must, of course, feed them. I believe that had the ships 
 not visited Cumberland Gulf this season the natives 
 would have suffered greatly for food. 
 
 We cleaned out the run of the Florence to-day, hav- 
 ing used all the coal from that quarter. 
 
 March 17. — The storm is over; the weather this 
 morning was clear and cold. The thermometer stood 
 at minus 25°. Nep-e-ken brought me off' a young seal. 
 
WINTER IN. CUMBERLAND (UILF. /7 
 
 It had apparently just made its debut, and it as quick- 
 ly made its exit. It was about sixteen inches long. I 
 wished to get it stuffed for my little boy. 
 
 There was a beautiful halo around the moon last 
 night, a mock moon appearing on each side of the real 
 moon and on the ring of the halo. As for the auroras, 
 we see them often, but none very brilliant this winter. 
 Mr. Sherman, who is up at all times in the night, has 
 reported some very brilliant displays. 
 
 Chummy tells us that at times in these northern lat- 
 itudes it rains tish, flesh, and fowl. He also tells me 
 that very often the Innuits or Esquimaux see white 
 deer and white seals, and that they (the latter) come 
 direct from the heavens. 
 
 Oc-a-took arrived this evenin<.r from Molly Kater- 
 nuna, bringing a strange native with hini. He brought 
 also six deer-skins, three seal-skins suitable for cloth- 
 ing, a good quantity of ewidlow, (deer-sinew,) and a 
 piece of oog-jook, which will be good for boot soles. 
 This was not a very extensive trade. There are too 
 many ships in the gulf, and it makes the skin market 
 poor for the buyer and correspondingly good foi* the 
 seller. Oc-a-took reports a very heavy gale of wind 
 at Kater-nuna last night, which was still raging when 
 he left. Ete-tun reports very heavy winds at Glouces- 
 ter Island. He arrived with his family to-day. While 
 I am writing this we have another arrival, Pe-ker, from 
 Kater-nuna, who brings six deer-skins for trade. We 
 
78 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 have fed about forty persons to-day — men, women, and 
 children. 
 
 March 18. — Weather clear and cold. Thermom- 
 eter indicates minus 25°. Most of the Esquimaux are 
 ofl' seal-hunting. They returned this evening with 
 only one seal. This is allowance day, and bread, mo- 
 lasses, tea, and coftee were dealt out to the women. 
 Nep-e-ken brought me nineteen seal-skins yesterday. 
 We have quite a number in the hold, but cannot do 
 much with them until the weather gets warmer. 
 
 March 19. — Clear and cold. Esquimaux otf seahng. 
 They returned without game, but were ready for their 
 mush, bread, and park. Sawed, split, and sent wood 
 to the observatory to-day for Mr. Sherman. Pe-ker 
 left to-day for Kater-nuna, promising to bring me some 
 young seal-skins this spring. 
 
 March 20. — Light northerly wind. Thermometer 
 fell in the night to minus 35°. It rose in the middle 
 of the day to minus 15°. Some of the Esquimaux are 
 preparing to start for the young sealing. 
 
 Kim-mock-kone and Inue-mar-ket have gone to- 
 day with sled and dogs to make a track to the young- 
 sealing place. 
 
 We have had as yet no indications of the equinoc- 
 tial gales. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 79 
 
 Marcli 21. — Cloudy, with light snow and Hght west- 
 erly wind. 
 
 I?'ep-e-ken and his party are preparing to leave for 
 the vouno^ sealins;. 
 
 Shu-niar-ker yesterday found two seals that had 
 been captured by foxes, and their heads were eaten 
 ott*. The foxes destroy in this manner many young 
 seals. The natives returned this evening from their 
 seal-hunt without game. I am almost out of patience 
 with them. Their failure to get seals makes it bad 
 for us. They devour our food, and we get in return 
 neither seal-meat nor skins. I have fitted out Nep-e- 
 ken and his party with bread, coffee, tea, molasses, and, 
 of course, tobacco and pipes. They start in the morn- 
 ing, to be gone, I hope, a month or six weeks. 
 
 March 22. — This morning, about 3 o'clock,* a very 
 strong wind began blowing from the south-east, with 
 snow. The barometer, however, was rising fast, and 
 I knew that the gale could not last long. As I conjec- 
 tured, at sunrise the gale abated and the wind hauled 
 to the westward ; byt it had lasted long enough to 
 frighten the Esquimaux from their contemplated jour- 
 ney. Thermometer phis 15° this noon, — the warmest 
 day we have had lor some time. 
 
 March 23. — Cloudy and ver^ warm. Thermometer 
 plus 22° at noon. Nep-e-ken and party started early 
 
80 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 this morning. Shii-niar-ker caught a young seal and 
 its mother. I have i)rocnred the vouno: one for a 
 
 i I/O 
 
 specimen. 
 
 Two Esquimaux came from Kater-nuna yesterday. 
 I traded with them for four young seal-skins, one bear- 
 skin, and some deer-sinews. • One of these Esquimaux, 
 who is without that very necessary but sometimes un- 
 ruly convenience, a wife, w^ished to carry away one of 
 the fair damsels of Annanatook. All that was want- 
 ing was the fair one's consent; but she was cay. 
 
 Eg-e-low arrived this morning with his bride. They 
 had spent their honeymocm in a snow bnt, put up for 
 the occasion, somewhere between here and Gloucester 
 Island. 
 
 March 2-1. — -Clear and warm. Little puddles of 
 snow and ice water were noticed on deck, — a cheering 
 sign of the approach of warmer weather. . This has 
 been an exceptional month. The tirst eighteen or 
 twenty days w^ere very cold, with light wind, at least 
 at Annanatook, and now the weatlrer has suddenly 
 moderated and the thermometei; shows a change of 
 from minus 40° or 50° to the freezing point, — a change 
 of from 70° to 80° in temperature. 
 
 The Esquimaux are all ofi" young sealing. Eg-e- 
 low departed with his bride this morning for a sealing 
 trip. His outfit consisted of one rather dilapidated 
 sleigh, three good dogs and one lame one, four or five 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 81 
 
 deer-skins for his nuptial couch, sundry pieces of bhih- 
 ber and seal-meat, five pounds of bread, one quart of 
 molasses, and two ounces of tea. One can easily per- 
 ceive that the necessities of these aborigines are but 
 few. Where night overtakes them they put up a few 
 blocks of snow to protect themselves from the wind, 
 spread their skins on the ice, and sleep. 
 
 March 25. — Cloudy, light snow, and light southerly 
 wind. Some of the Esquimaux are ofi:' hunting young 
 seal. One of them, Shu-mar-ker, is laid up with snow- 
 blindness. Others are making snow-shoes, as the snow 
 is quite deep and travelling difficult. The spoils of 
 jesterday's hunt were twelve seals — ten young ones 
 and two old ones. One of the old ones was a male. 
 The netzik male seal at five years of age has a most 
 disgusting smell. The natives, however, relish the 
 meat. Indeed, some of them prefer it to the younger 
 and sweeter meat. I breakfasted this morning on the 
 liver of the female seal caught yesterday. These livers 
 are very sweet, and we prize them highly. The liver 
 of the large bearded seal is corrupt ; not edible. So, 
 also, is the liver of the polar bear, especially the old 
 ones. The oog-jook of Davis's Strait, Cumberland 
 Gulf, Hudson's Strait, and adjacent waters, I consider 
 the same as the oosurk (or ursurk, or oozook) of Green- 
 land. It has an attuk (here called an eglow) or blow- 
 hole in the ice. I have sden .them cau2:ht throusrh 
 6 
 
82 THE CKUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 these holes the same as they would catch a netzik 
 seal. The young I have taken from the mother wlien . 
 nearly ready to be delivered. They are of a dark, 
 bluish color. 
 
 March 26. — Cloudy, with occasional snow. The 
 thermometer has been plus 33°. All winter our deck 
 has been covered with about one foot of snow. This 
 covering we kept on the deck to keep the frost out of 
 the Florence, To-day we uncovered, and the w^ater 
 commenced to run freely on the deck. The snow on 
 the ice has softened, the water has pressed its way 
 through the ice, and now it stands about six inches 
 deep, with about two feet of snow on top, making it 
 ver\ bad travelling. 
 
 The natives yesterday captured twelve seals. Some 
 of them remained at home to-day to make snow-shoes. 
 Shu-mar-ker continues to suffer from snow-blindness. 
 Mr. Sisson, who, I believe, is the best mechanic on 
 board, is repairing one of the natives' sleighs. Mr. 
 Sisson is our cooper, our carpenter, and, indeed, our 
 everything in the way of mechanics. 
 
 It has been nearly calm all day, but while I am 
 writing this the wind has suddenly come on butt-end 
 foremost from the south-east. The Florence trembled 
 for a moment and then shook herself free from her 
 winter prison, throwing up her stern some six inches, 
 and breaking the snowbank which is around her in 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 83 
 
 every direction. The vessel is nowvery much b}^ the 
 head, and has a bad Ust a-port. 
 
 March 27. — Cloudy; wmd quite heavy from the 
 south-east; occasional snow. Thermometer plus 30°. 
 Owing to bad weather, only one of the Esquimaux is 
 oft' hunting to-day. Yesterday they got six seals. The 
 boats which we put on the ice last fall were completely 
 buried in snow. I had them dug out to-day. I also 
 righted the schooner by removing some weight from 
 port to starboard. 
 
 William Albion's hand is in a terrible condition. I 
 am afraid he will lose the use of it. 
 
 It is said by all of the Esquimaux with whom I have 
 conversed that the time for niditication of the Arctic 
 raven is February and March; also, that the eggs of 
 this bird will freeze and crack without receiving such 
 injury as will prevent their hatching. 
 
 The much -talked -of animal, the wolverine, has 
 been described to me as being of a light gi'ay color; 
 smaller than a wolf; thick-set, with sharp, long claws; 
 very powerful and ferocious. The Esquimaux all have 
 a wholesome fear of coming in contact with, this ani- 
 mal. I have heard the same description from Mr. 
 Erkims, in Hudson's Strait. 
 
 I have been trying to ascertain from, Chummy, who 
 has been to the United States with me and is quite 
 intelligent, where the Esquimaux tirst procured their 
 
84 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 clogs. The tradition is, that in the beginning the 
 primitive Esquimaux or Innuits felt great need of 
 some beast to drag them to and fro in their hunting 
 expeditions, and their ankoots importuned the Great 
 Spirit for relief. They then made some harnesses, 
 and placed them by some large white rocks in the far 
 north, and in due time a fine team of dogs made their 
 appearance in harness, to the gratification of the Es- 
 quimaux. 
 
 Shu-mar-ker, who was the only one off hunting jes- 
 terday, found only two young seals, and they w^ere 
 partly eaten by foxes and ravens. This voracious bird, 
 the Arctic raven, destroys many young seals. They 
 even attack and kill the young deer and the puppies 
 of the Esquimaux dogs. 
 
 March 28. — Snowing, with light wind from the west. 
 Thermometer has fallen to plus 20°, and still falling. 
 A sleigh arrived from Kater-nuna last night with one 
 man and an old squaw. All the trade they had were 
 ;Some deer-skins, which I bought for a little bread. 
 
 Mar<3h 29. — Cloudy; wind blowing strong from the 
 :SOutl>east, with occasional squalls. This long contin- 
 uation of southerly wind, I fear, will bring the pack- 
 ice of Davis's Strait into the gulf. The Esquimaux 
 ^ud ourselves are entirely out of seal-meat, the weather 
 being so bad as to make it impossible to hunt with sue- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. * 85 
 
 cess. Only one 3'oiing seal was caught yesterday. They 
 are ver}^ small as yet, and are scarcely lit to eat. One 
 young seal would make about a meal for one native. 
 I have heard nothing from Nep-e-ken since he de- 
 parted on the 23d instant. 
 
 March 30. — Light wind from the south-east. There 
 is an occasional spitting of snow, and the weather is 
 quite warm. The Esquimaux got only one young 
 seal yesterday. A sleigh arrived from Kater-nuna last 
 evening witli several natives. They had no trade. 
 
 March 31. — Cloudy; occasional snow-squalls, with 
 a strong breeze from the north-west; quite cold. Two 
 of the six Esquimaux who were hunting yesterday 
 returned last night, bringing one seal. The other 
 four have not returned. 
 
 There was a very fine display of the aurora last 
 night to the south and east of our position. 
 
 A sleigh arrived last night from Molly Kater-nuna, 
 bringing me a pair of moccasins and mittens. To bring 
 these the native in charge of the sleigh had to travel 
 about forty miles coming, and, of course, will have to 
 go the same distance returning. He left this morn- 
 ing. 
 
 The late warm weather has nearly destroj^ed the 
 eglows or snow huts of the natives, and it has left 
 many of the Esquimaux with very bad coughs. One 
 
80 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 of the squaws, Kuck-oo-jug's wife, is seriously ill. Pul- 
 irionaiy diseases are the onty ones indigenous to the 
 climate, or, at least, they are the cause of four-tifths of 
 all the deaths that occur among the Esquimaux. 
 
 I called all hands this morning to turn the boats 
 bottom-up on the ice. I was surprised at the response* 
 two men and one lame dog! I did not realize that 
 the crew were so few in number until they were col- 
 lected together. We have only six men in the fore- 
 castle. Two of them are laid up, — one with a frozen 
 foot and the other with a sore hand. One man is ap- 
 pointed to attend the two disabled ones; another is 
 assisting Mr. Sherman in his scientific observations. 
 That *takes four from ship duty, leaving only two, be- 
 sides the officers, stew^ard, and cabin boy. We man- 
 aged, however, to turn the boats by calling on the 
 squaws who were off to the schooner waiting for their 
 mush. 
 
 April 1. — Cloudy, with quite a breeze from the north 
 and west. Five natives who were ofi* sealing returned 
 last night, after an absence of thirty-six hours. They 
 were very tired and hungry, but had been quite fortu- 
 nate in their hunt. Kuck-oo-jug, his son, and son-in- 
 law caught nineteen young seals and one old one; Al- 
 o-kee and Shu-mar-ker, seven young and two old ones. 
 The old ones were left behind, for the present, on ac- 
 count of the bad travelling. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 87 
 
 Two sleighs arrived from Kater-nuna last evening. 
 One of the natives, Eva by name, has been all sum- 
 mer and winter in the vicinity of Kennedy's Lake, 
 engaged in deer-hunting, but," owing to deep snow, he 
 could not bring his skins, of which he saj's he has 
 plenty, down to the ship. 
 
 Two Esquimaux came with the other sleigh. They 
 are apparently in search of a runaway wife, or, at least, 
 one of them is; but the fair and frail one will not ac- 
 company her lord and master back to his castle of 
 snow at Kater-nuna. 
 
 Kim-mock-kone likewise arrived to-day. He went 
 away with Nep-e-ken, but he and Inue-mar-ket sepa- 
 rated from him, so that each would have a better 
 chance in the Hunt. They have taken quite a number 
 of seals, and come down to-day for their allowance of 
 provisions and tobacco. 
 
 April 2. — Clear- and sunshiny, with strong breeze 
 from the north-west. We were employed to-day break- 
 ing out the hold, doing some little carpentering, clear- 
 ing the decks, &c. Two Esquimaux got three seals 
 yesterday. The others, having rested from the fatigue 
 of their thirty-six-hour journey, started out this morn- 
 ing for another hunt. The fair damsel mentioned 
 yesterday fled rather than submit to the wishes of her 
 lord. 
 
 The spring tides of March give to the massive ice 
 
88 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 snrronnding our little vessel a rise and fall of twenty- 
 four feet and some inches. At the full tides the crunch- 
 ing and grinding of the ice, the dashing of the water, 
 the gurgling of the eddies, and the toppling over of 
 the nicely-poised ice tables along the shores convey a 
 most striking impression of the power that is thus 
 brought into action. The coldest of winters fails to 
 freeze the water in certain localities here. The most 
 solid winter ice is open here and there in pools and 
 patches worn by currents and tides. Similar openings 
 have been found by all previous explorers in the Arc- 
 tic seas. Such w^ere the open spaces found by Parry 
 in Wellington Channel; such are the streamholes 
 (stromholes) of the Greenland coast, the polynia of 
 the Eussians; and such we have here in the most rig- 
 orous of winters. The seals resort to these holes in 
 great numbers through the winter, and, of course, they 
 are favorite places for the Esquimaux hunters, whose 
 chief rehance for sustenance through the long Arctic 
 winters is the netzik seal. 
 
 The hunting of the seal at the streamholes is not 
 without danger to the hunter. At the spring tides or 
 full tides of w^inter — or, more properly speaking, at the 
 full and change of the moon, and for several days 
 before and after — the tides run very swift, often with 
 such velocity as to break large masses of ice (though 
 it be several feet in thickness) surrounding the holes, 
 and, lifting them up edgewise, carry them under the 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 89 
 
 main floes. Many seals are lost at. these holes after 
 being shot, the current carrying them down and under 
 the ice before the hunter can spear them and draw 
 them out. Several of our Esquimaux have had nar- 
 row escapes this winter while hunting at these holes. 
 
 In breaking out to-day I found that we have nearly 
 all of our fresh meats, soups, peaches, and milk left. 
 AVe have used scarcely any of these articles as yet. 
 "We have subsisted on pork, hard bread, meal, rice, 
 and seals, and thus far not one man has been sick. 
 We use no lime juice. 
 
 We have not been housed over, but have left our 
 little schooner open and free to the Arctic winds and 
 storms, thereby gaining a free circulation of good and 
 pure air. At times the thermometer has indicated 
 minus 50°, but we were very comfortable, although 
 we had the cabin companion-slide partly ofl:^ and the 
 doors open some of the time. With a cheerful mind, 
 a cleanly person, pure air, and, of course, something to 
 eat, one can defy the scurvy for years. I have no fear 
 that my men will be atflicted with it. They eat seal- 
 meat, raw or cooked, equal to the Esquimaux. Yes- ' 
 terday thej^ were all on deck surrounding a seal fresh- 
 ly killed and skinned. The seal soon disappeared, 
 leaving no trace except a few bones and the bloody 
 hands and faces of the men. 
 
 April 3. — Clear and sunshiny ; strong breeze from 
 
90 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 the west. Thermometer at early morning minus 5°. 
 The Esquimaux were all off hunting this morning. 
 They got but few seals yesterday. I find upon break- 
 ing out and taking an inventory of our stores that we 
 have remaining about twenty-two hundred pounds of 
 bread, thirteen barrels of meat, about nine barrels of 
 flour, one barrel of meal, rice, beans, all our hams 
 and nearly all our preserved meats and vegetables, 
 fruits, &c., notwithstanding the fact that we have fed 
 on an average forty persons since October. We have 
 only four casks of coal — probably about three tons — 
 remaining, but I think, with the wood we have, it will 
 be sufficient to see us through, as we can soon do with- 
 out fires, except for cooking purposes. 
 
 There was a very beautiful display of the aurora 
 last evening from 9 p. m. until after midnight. It ex- 
 tended from the north in an arch to the south-west, 
 and consisted of a dark segment, of a haz}^ or slaty 
 appearance, surmounted by an arch of light; from 
 which luminous streamers quivered and darted toward 
 the zenith. 
 
 April 4. — Clear and cool, with light breeze from the 
 north-west. This morning, while half asleep, or in 
 that dreamy state between sleeping and wakefahiess, 
 I heard a quick, sharp tread upon deck. The cabin 
 doors were thrown open violently, and an intruder de- 
 scendedj.without ceremony, and drew aside my state- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 91 
 
 room door, wishing me good morning. Looking up I 
 discovered Mr. Hall, of Kickerton station, standing in 
 the doorway, dressed in his travelling suit 9f deer- 
 skins. The steward and hoy were instantly called, 
 and as soon as Hall could divest himself of his cloth- 
 ing breakfast was served. He had started from the 
 Kickertons the day before, but when about Iralf-way 
 to Annanatook he met with bad travelling — deep snow 
 and water on the ice ; so that he was compelled to 
 pass the night upon the floe. After breakfast Cap- 
 tain Hall ordered his native driver to bring down a 
 certain rubber water -bag, capable of holding three 
 quarts of water. The native shortly appeared, hold- 
 ing the bag in his hands, and, with a most woeful ex- 
 pression on his face, he exclaimed : " As-se-a-wake ! 
 as-se-a-wake ! " The bag was collapsed. I soon dis- 
 covered that it was not water they had lost, but some- 
 thing stronger, and, from its scarcity, considered more 
 precious. 
 
 There is no news of interest from below. They are 
 preparing for the spring whaling. A fly made its ap- 
 pearance in our cabin yesterday. T have seen nothing 
 of it to-day. It probably ventured too near the cabin 
 door and was singed by the cold air. 
 
 Captain Hall tells me that 'quite a number of the 
 men at Niantilic are down with the scurvy. Eg-e-low 
 arrived from JSTep-e-ken's sealing grounds, bringing 
 some few skins and a little meat. He reports good 
 
92 THE CRUISE OF THE FLOEENCE. 
 
 sealing at their station. He returns to-morrow with 
 provisions and tobacco. 
 
 April 5. — ^Last evening the wind suddenlj^ hauled 
 to the south-east, and before midnight it was blowing 
 hard, with heavy snow falling. Captain Hall had 
 made preparations to start for home, but this morning 
 he concluded to postpone his departure until the storm 
 breaks. The wind havino; moderated alono; toward 
 noon, Eg-e-low started on his return. The snow is very 
 deep and,, of course, travelling is difficult. One little 
 snowbird, wdth white and dark plumage, was seen 
 to-day. The Florence has on her bridal robes again 
 to-day. She is covered with frost from deck to truck, 
 and from a little distance presents a most beautiful 
 appearance. She is often thus. I attribute it to the 
 great quantity of water on the ice, which keeps the 
 snow continually saturated and the air full of vapor,' 
 which settles and condenses on our rigging, giving the 
 vessel a very picturesque appearance. 
 
 It is quite warm. The thermometer showed plus 
 24° at noon. 
 
 April 6. — Cloudy, but warm and pleasant. Captain 
 Hall left this morning at 4 o'clock. All hands were 
 employed at cutting fresh-water ice. The Esquimaux 
 were — all but three — oif sealing again. The three at 
 home are laid up with sore eyes. The squaws are at 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 98 
 
 work on skin-clothing', but they work very slow. The 
 only thing the Esquimaux are punctual in is their 
 meals. Although they have no clocks, they never 
 miss the time; and when breakfast or dinner is ready 
 they are there promptly for it. 
 
 As soon as they are through with the spring seahng, 
 I must either send or go myself to the Kickerton Isl- 
 ands. I wish to get a large sleigh — one capable of 
 carrvino; a whale-boat or lar2:e casks. I must 2:et 
 casks down to the whale which we captured hxst fall 
 and try and save some blubber from the body ; also, 
 if possible, get the jaw-bones for the north polar expe- 
 dition. The whale is at present buried in the shore 
 ice. It will be a difficult and tedious task to cut him 
 out, but I think we will make the attempt. 
 
 It is astonishing to see how fleshy the most of the 
 crew have grown since leaving home. Certainly the 
 Arctic regions must agree with them. My cabin boj^ — 
 I am almost afraid to call him *'boy" now — has in- 
 creased in bulk from one hundred and sixteen to one 
 hundred and sixty pounds ; and Mr. Burrows, the sec- 
 ond officer, can scarcely see out of his eyes for fat ; 
 while some of the others are not far behind him. 
 
 The temperature rose this afternoon to plus 32°, 
 again threatening the Esquimaux' eglows with destruc- 
 tion. This morning it was daylight at 8 o'clock. It 
 gets dark about 9 p. m. I am glad that the dark sea- 
 son has passed, for our kerosene is getting low. The 
 
94 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 crew and the squaws are on the ice this evening play- 
 ing ball. Even the little children join in the game. 
 All appear to be happy and free from care. The in- 
 valids are improving rapidly, under the combined in- 
 fluence of warm weather and seal-meat. 
 
 April 7. — Broken clouds ; warm and pleasant ; wind 
 south-east. It is Sunday, and, of course, we do nothing 
 to-day, or, at least, only what is absolutely necessary. 
 The Esquimaux, however, do not cease their hunting. 
 They have no Sunday ; therefore no day of worship. 
 One of the squaws brought me a very fine deer-skin 
 jacket this morning. I have considerable clothing 
 made up, but not as much as I hope to get. My cabin 
 boy and one of the foremast hands ventured out 
 sealing this morning. They returned this evening 
 thoroughly " beat out." Of course they had no seals. 
 
 April 8. — It is a beautiful morning — one of the soft, 
 balmy, sunshiny days that would be enjoyable at home 
 and is dehghtful here. The snow is disappearing 
 very fast. The snow embankment around the vessel, 
 which was several feet thick, has almost disappeared. 
 The men begin to straighten up, and the kinks are 
 fairly gone from some of their backs. It is remark- 
 ably mild for this time of the year. We have no tire ; 
 the cabin doors are open, and it is much pleasanter on 
 deck than below. This is allowance dav. Earlv this 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 95 
 
 morning the squaws came oli" from the shore, accom- 
 panied by the children and dogs. Several had young 
 seals, just skinned, in their hands ; — these, I suppose, 
 to better their chances for some warm coftee. The 
 hunters yesterday got quite a number of young seals. 
 To-day they are laid up with sore eyes. We were em- 
 ployed most of the day in cleaning up the Florence 
 and in making needed repairs. The thermometer 
 showed plus 29° early this morning. 
 
 April 9. — Wind blowing strong from the north- 
 west. Last night the air was thick with light snow. 
 The two natives who went sealing yesterday remained 
 off all night. They returned this morning with four- 
 teen seals. I have just sent one of the men to the 
 shore for two young seals for breakfast. We consume 
 from four to live daily. The meat is very sweet and 
 is as tender as a spring chicken. It is not only very 
 palatable, but it keeps the crew in good health. 
 
 While it is fresh in my memory, I think I had bet- 
 ter write, not what I know, but what I hear, of Lake 
 Kennedy. This lake is supposed to be situated in lat- 
 itude QG^ north and longitude 73*^ west. It is so placed 
 on the charts, but by whose authority I cannot say, as 
 I have neither read nor heard of any white man hav- 
 ing visited it until Captain John Roach did so in the 
 year 1876. lie went there deer-hunting, in company 
 with some Esquimaux, in the spring of that year. lie 
 
96 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 went in the month of April, before the land had thrown 
 off its winter coat, and before the sun had thawed the 
 lake ice. I had often heard the Esquimaux speak of 
 this great lake; of its abundance offish; of the great 
 quantity of game which resorts there'; of their not be- 
 ing able to see land from one shore toward the other; 
 of the land being entirely level, — in fact, a vast plain 
 or prairie, stoneless and treeless, but covered in sum- 
 mer with tall grass, in which the natives would secrete 
 themselves and await the approach of their unsus- 
 pecting prey, the reindeer. While thus secreted in 
 the grass, the Esquimaux have shot down as many as 
 tw^enty or thirty deer before the herd took alarm and 
 lied. I have been more particular in my inquiries 
 this time than heretofore concerning this lake, as I 
 w^ished to get all the information possible about it. 
 With this in view, I have heard Mr. Roach's story, 
 although he was there at a time when everything was 
 locked fast by the frost. He started with two sleighs, 
 manned by Esquimaux. He was four days on the 
 way between Kickerton and Kennedy Lake. He saw 
 thousands of reindeer; went up a deep fiord just a 
 short distance from Kater-nuna. On arriving at the 
 head of the fiord he crossed a low, narrow neck of 
 land, about a hundred yards in width, then entered on 
 the lake ice ; followed the lake about fifteen miles or 
 more; came to another narrow neck of land, about 
 two hundred yards in breadth, which he crossed and 
 
WINTER IN CUxMBERLAND GULF. 97 
 
 entered on another lake ; followed this lake about 
 thirty miles, then came to another narrow neck of land, 
 which he also crossed and entered on Kennedy Lake. 
 After leaving the first lake he lost sight of the moun- 
 tains to the eastward, and to the westward neither hill 
 nor mound broke the view as far as he could see. It was 
 a vast snow-white and snow-covered prairie. Ken- 
 nedy Lake and everything surrounding it were locked 
 in ice. He discovered that the lake was dotted with 
 hundreds of small islands, many of them not larger 
 than an ordinary parlor floor. The Esquimaux visit 
 this lake every spring for the purpose of hunting the 
 reindeer, of which they get great numbers. Some re- 
 main at or near the lake all Avinter, as did Eva, who 
 was here a few days ago. The}^ all have one story to 
 tell of the vastness of this lake; of the abundance of 
 game; of the large salmon and many other species of 
 fish which inhabit its waters; and of the many seals 
 of the netzik species which are found there. Among 
 the game described I can make out three kinds of 
 geese, many ducks, and other birds without number. 
 The squaws destroy the young goslings as food for the 
 dogs. The land is entirely free from stones. Its soil 
 is dark and abounds with fossils. One native tells me 
 that last summer he was at the lake's western extrem- 
 ity; that, looking to the westward, he could see no 
 land — nothing but water; and he thought he saw a 
 ship there. This lake empties into Fox Channel, oi- 
 7 
 
93 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 what is called Dorchester Bay, all still unexplored. 
 The Esquimaux carry their large and heavy boats 
 from here to this lake. They have also carried the 
 large and clumsy Scotch boats there. 
 
 ' Considered from a scientific point of view, these 
 lakes — I 'say "lakes," because there are three — open 
 a vast field- to the explorer. In a pecuniary point of 
 view, I believe it would pay to work it. There are 
 fish, seal, birds, and deer. Hundreds upon hundreds 
 of thousands of pounds of deer-meat, fish, eggs, feath- 
 ers, and down could be preserved. Then there are 
 oil from the seals, skin from the seals and deer, thou- 
 sands of geese and ducks. All could be put up in cans 
 there — at least those articles suitable for preservation 
 in this way — and easily sent to salt water, and thence 
 home to tKe markets. Where is the Yankee who will 
 undertake this enterprise ? I believe there is a mine 
 of wealth there. If I could spare time I would visit 
 this lake — or, rather, these lakes — now. To explore 
 them, and others probably adjacent, would require a 
 whole summer. The natural resources of the section 
 (5an only be ascertained by systematic and careful 
 exploration. 
 
 April 10. — Yesterday afternoon and last night the 
 north-west wind blew very strong, with heavy snow- 
 drift. The thermometer fell from plus 19° to minus 
 5°. This morning the weather is better, but still a 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 99 
 
 good breeze prevails, and it is quite cold. An aurora 
 was seen last night about midnight. Some of the 
 Esquimaux are hiid up with ophthalmia. Since the 
 squaws received their allowance, on Monday, I have 
 not seen one at the schooner; but I fear we will have 
 a storm of them here to-day. They are fond of hot 
 coffee and mush, and are as vain and proud of a calico 
 skirt as their favored sisters of a more genial clime 
 would be of silks and satins. 
 
 April 11. — Clear and fine weather. Early this morn- 
 ing the thermometer indicated 2°. The Esquimaux, 
 having partly recovered from snow-blindness, aue off 
 sealing. Mr. Kumlein has gone with them to try his 
 luck. The native Eva and his wife arrived last night 
 from Gloucester Island, bringing me five young seals 
 and a promise of more as soon as he gets them. The 
 late gale and low temperature have improved the trav- 
 elling somewhat. The native who was in pursuit of his 
 runaway wife, (Neleanger,) and who has been loitering 
 around here in hope, I suppose, that she would return 
 to his dirty, dusk}', and greasy embrace, departed to- 
 day in despair. The wife has fled to her uncle for 
 protection. Although the thermometer stands in the 
 middle of the day at or in the vicinity of zero, the side 
 of the vessel that receives the sun's rays will almost 
 burn the hand. The Esquimaux, when in pursuit of 
 seals this time of the year, are careful, on killing one,. 
 
100 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 to cover it well with snow before they go in pursuit 
 of more. Should they neglect to do this, and leave 
 the seal uncovered for a short time, the hair on the 
 side exposed to the sun's rays will come oft* as easily 
 as the hair of a scalded hog. The eft'ect of the sun- 
 on the human skin is to turn it black or very dark, 
 ver}^ often removing the cuticle or scarfskin, unless 
 the face be well protected with a shade. 
 
 "We are employed to-day at getting out some pro- 
 vision from the hold for use. Mr. Sisson is putting 
 bone shoeing on the small boat. We shoe the keels 
 of our boats with bone from the jaw^s of the whale, so 
 as to^ make them easy to haul over the ice. Very soon, 
 now, we will have the long Arctic day, — continual 
 daylight ; no night, no stars. One will scarcely know^ 
 when to go to rest, but I have a solution for that prob- 
 lem — if, indeed, it should prove one : I shall go to bed 
 when I need rest. This is a land of extremes, — either 
 all dark or all light ; all cold or all warm ; very bad 
 or very good w^eather. 
 
 I have just had five young seals, skinned and read}' 
 to cook, brought aboard. They will do for two meals 
 for all hands. By this it will be seen that the white 
 man has but little to boast of, in the way of eating 
 meat, over his brother Esquimaux. I think, of the two, 
 the white man is the most voracious. 
 
 April 12.^ — Cloudy and warm. Thermometer regis- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 101 
 
 terecl plus 32° this morning. We have another warm 
 spell upon us. It is very evident that below us the 
 winds are to the southward. 
 
 I get the information from Eva, who was here yes- 
 terday, that Capt. Murray's steamer Windicord, which 
 wintered at Niantilic or at Harrison's Point, a cape 
 which extends some five miles out from the main har- 
 bor, is now at New Norvion, a cape some twenty miles 
 to the north of Niantilic. The crews of the four ships 
 which wintered at this exposed point for the purpose 
 of getting out early in the spring, should the water 
 extend up the gulf at that time, commenced to saw 
 out in the- warm weather which we had the latter part 
 of March, the water being then only about one hun- 
 dred yards from the vessels. I understand that Cap- 
 tain Murray, on getting his vessel out of her winter 
 quarters, discovered that the long continuation of 
 southerly winds had brought the Davis Strait pack-ice 
 into the gulf, and, to prevent his ship from being clos- 
 ed in by it, he steamed up to the head of the water 
 which is at New Norvion. Should the south winds 
 continue, even this will not save him from being in- 
 closed hi the pack; for it will surely come up, unless 
 there is a long spell of north-west wind. I regret very 
 much to hear that the Davis Strait pack-ice found its 
 way into the gulf, as, once getting fairly lodged there, 
 it is liable to remain all summer, and may make it 
 
102 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 very difficult for me to get out in time to join the 
 polar expedition. 
 
 The Esquimaux captured a few seals yesterday. 
 Mr. Kumlein did not get any. I do not think he will 
 go immediately on another seal-hunt with the Esqui- 
 maux. They cover too much ground in a day for an 
 ordinary traveller to compass. They are always trav- 
 elling, either in the mountains deer-hunting, or over 
 the snow-clad lioes in winter hunting the seal or polar 
 bear. They are fight, strong, and muscular, and are 
 therefore better fitted to travel the snow and ice fields 
 than their more unwieldy white brethren. They have, 
 also, another advantage. When tired or fatigued they 
 will lie down on the ice and go to sleep; when hungry 
 the}^ will open a seal, if they have captured one, drink 
 a portion of its blood, and eat as much of the meat or 
 entrails as they want; and thus their strength is re- 
 stored. I do not say that a white man could not get 
 along just as well if accustomed to such a life ; but he 
 is not accustomed, and, so far as I am concerned, I do 
 not want to be. 
 
 All hands, except the scientists, were engaged to- 
 day breaking out the hold of the Florence and getting 
 things to rights generally. Nep-e-ken arrived this 
 evening, bringing some seal-meat and one young seal. 
 He has taken quite a number, but did not bring them 
 down. He brought his little boy As-see-wer, who is 
 named "Boatswain" by the sailors, and who is very 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 103 
 
 fond of pork. It has been very warm to-day, the ther- 
 mometer going up as high as plus 34°. Nep-e-ken 
 tells me that his boy As-see-wer, who cannot be more 
 than five years of age, has caught six 3'oung seals this 
 spring, and that he successful!}^ hunted them last spring 
 also. I know that he can chew and smoke equal to 
 an old tar. They commence young in this country. 
 I have seen some of the little girls, not older than 
 this boy, chewing and smoking tobacco. Such things 
 show the kind of missionary work that has been done 
 among these people. 
 
 April 13. — Cloudy; light, variable winds, with high 
 barometer. Thermometer plus 9°. jSTep-e-ken left 
 early this morning for his sealing station. Two sleighs 
 arrived from Kickerton Island late last evening. The 
 party . consisted of five persons, men and squaws. The 
 Esquimaux were not very successful in yesterday's 
 hunting. Nearly all of them are laid up to-day wdth 
 snow-blindness. The natives who arrived last night 
 bring no new^s of interest, except that there is a scar- 
 city of seals below and that the Esquimaux are scat- 
 tering to difterent parts of the gulf in search of them. 
 Evervthino; is o-oincr on in a drearv, monotonous uni- 
 formity; no hair-breadth escapes; no combats with the 
 polar bear. The weather is at times remarkably fine. 
 I do not thinlr that any climate in the world is supe- 
 rior to that of the Arctic regions in. the months of. 
 
104 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 April, May, and June. This evening all Nature lies 
 here in quiet repose, like Innocence asleep. 
 
 April 14. — It is really a beautiful day. The sun has 
 a "peculiar silverj' whiteness, like a burnished silver 
 mirror. Not a cloud is to be seen in the heavens. 
 According to meteorological theory and the laws of 
 storms, we have several days been at the outer hmit 
 of a great storm. The hght, variable winds, the very 
 fine weather, and the extra-high barometer all signify 
 tliis. 
 
 lioach's Esquimaux left this morning, ^^ homeward 
 bound." How pleasant the sound of those words! 
 But how much more pleasant will it be to realize that 
 we are homeward bound in reality ! 
 
 Many of the Esquimaux who have recovered from 
 their eye-sickness have gone sealing to-daj'. Some of 
 the men whose eyes are not affected by the brightness 
 of the sun reflected from the snow-covered mountains 
 and ice, are otf for a quiet stroll over the floe or on 
 the land. Kim- mock -kone arrived this afternoon 
 from his and Inue-mar-ket's sealing station. He came 
 on foot, and thinks of returning to-morrow. He in- 
 forms me that they have quite a number of young, 
 seals, but I cannot ascertain the number, as few of the 
 Esquimaux can count beyond six. Nep-e-ken man- 
 aged to tell me, when he was here, that 'he had taken 
 as many as twelv-e in a day. He conveyed the number 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 105 
 
 by holding up his lingers. I hope to get a number ol 
 these young seal-skins, as they make excellent clothing ; 
 but it takes so many to supply them and their families 
 that I do not know how I shall succeed. 
 
 April 15. — Clear and cold; light breeze from the 
 north-west. Barometer still very high; thermometer 
 minus 3° last night. Since removing the embank- 
 ment fro 111 around the vessel we lind it quite cold, 
 particularly at night, when there is a breeze from the 
 north or west. It was so wasted by the recent warm 
 weather that I thought it best to have it and tlie dirt 
 which necessarily accumulated removed. Since the 
 removal of the embankment, if the temperature falls 
 to zero and a light breeze prevails, it will freeze quite 
 hard in the cabin at night when the fires are out. That 
 is the case about every night now, as we cannot afi:brd 
 to be too free with our fuel, which is getting low. 
 
 There was an aurora last nio:ht about midnio-ht. I 
 did not see it, but Mr. Sherman considered it very in- 
 teresting, fi'om the fact of its hanging over and appa- 
 rently emerging from some water holes, which are kept 
 open by the current, to the eastward of the Florence. 
 The vessel lies with her head to the north and west, 
 so as to take the winter storms head and stern, as they 
 generally prevail from the north-w^est and south-east. 
 13y dropping the squaresails we make quite a shelter, 
 when the wind is from the western quarter, for those 
 
106 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 who are at work'on deck. Under this shelter Mr. Sis- 
 son is now atw^ork putting a bone shoeing on the keel 
 of the small boat, as before mentioned. Mr. Burrows 
 is replenishing our supply of fresh-w^ater ice from the 
 ponds on the land. We do not use snow water. I 
 consider it injurious to health. 
 
 Not a cloud to be seen again to-day. The heavens 
 have a pale, bluish color, and the sun is \evy bright 
 and white. Eva has just arrived from the Gloucester 
 Islands. He brought me a live seal, but the poor lit- 
 tle fellow was badly bitten by one of the dogs when 
 he was captured. It is allowance day again, and we 
 have been harassed all day by the squaws, clamoring 
 for their weekly provender. 
 
 The Esquimaux have a peculiar way of designat- 
 ing or noting distances. For instance, "con-e-took" 
 means but a short distance, — it may be one hundred 
 yards or ten miles; "coning-twadle" means such a 
 distance that one does not want to undertake the jour- 
 ney without steam and good weather; *^wes-er pook" 
 means such a distance that one was never known to get 
 to his journey's end; " wes-er-twadle" means such a 
 distance that it is utterly impossible for a man to get 
 there in his short span of life. 
 
 April 16. — Fine weather. * Jjarometer still high; 
 thermometer last night minus 3"^. Beautiful cirro- 
 stratus clouds to-day. The cirro-stratus is markedly 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 107 
 
 a precursor of storms, and from its greater or less 
 abundance and permanence it gives some indication 
 of the time when the storm may be expected. A very 
 brilliant aurora was visible last night, extending from 
 the north-east to the south-west. 
 
 My little seal is dead. It died last night about mid- 
 night. The poor httle thing was wounded more dan- 
 gerously than I thought at first; It mc^aned like a child 
 in pain, and would look up, with its great round black 
 eyes, as if imploring relief from its sufferings. I re- 
 ceived another live one to-day, however. He is a 
 white-coat, or this spring's seal, probabh^ about fifteen 
 days old. He is as ugly and as savage as a young dog, 
 and will bite at any and every thing within his reach. 
 He is now on deck sunning himself. 
 
 Traded for seven young seals to-day, brought by a 
 native from Molly Kater-nuna. They are just as they 
 were when taken, so I have the skins as well as the 
 meat. Mr. Kumlein is making a drawing of the young 
 seal that died. Nearly all the Esquimaux were off 
 hunting yesterday. Last night they brouglit back 
 quite a number of young seals. As I have no go^Jes 
 to give them, they fall back on their primitive spec- 
 tacles. They are made of wood, fitted to the shape of 
 the nose, or at least that part of the face where the 
 spectacles will bear. There are two slits for the ej'es, 
 with a little shelf projecting over them. They are se- 
 cured to the head by a seal thong. This contrivance 
 
108 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 protects the eyes somewhat, but does not-always save 
 them from snow-brmdness. 
 
 April 17.^ — Clear weather. Not a cloud to be seen. 
 Tlie wind is blowing quite strong, with a high barom- 
 eter and wind north-west. There is so much wind 
 that the Esquimaux did not go sealing to-day. The 
 moon fulled yest(?rday, with the wind north- w^est, where 
 I suppose it will remain the greater part of this moon. 
 A fine aurora appeared last night, its arch extending to 
 and across the moon's disk, although the moon was very 
 bright at that time. My second seal died last night, 
 from what cause I know not; it appeared strong and 
 wxll. Excepting two of the crew — the one with the 
 sore hand and Lee with his frozen foot — we have not 
 had a case of sickness since leaving home. 
 
 April 18. — We are getting our boats from shore to- 
 day. It is my intention to have them fitted for whaling, 
 so that at the time we are released from winter quar- 
 ters — which I hope and expect will be as soon as the 
 15th of July — we will be ready to take a whale, should 
 w^e be fortunate enough to see one. If the ice does not 
 form a most serious obstruction, I hope to arrive on 
 the coast of Greenland by the 3d or 6th of August. 
 I am very anxious to get one more whale before we 
 leave. 
 
 It is a very fine, warm day, with light, variable 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 109 
 
 winds. The Esquimaux are oft' on the hunt to-day. 
 Ev^ery morning I dispatch the cabin boy, Charles Ful- 
 ler, (who, a liglit deUcate youth eight months ago, now 
 weighs, I should think, 170 pounds,) to the shore for 
 our daily allowance of meat, lie generally brings 
 four, and sometimes ttve seals. These are for one 
 day's feeding. He has a small hand sleigh to bring 
 them on, and every morning regularly this poor, dear 
 little 170-pounder can be seeh wending his way to the 
 shore for seal-meat. He is young, only eighteen, and 
 is as round-faced as the full moon ; therefore a great 
 favorite with the dusky damsels, and will get seal- 
 meat where others might fail. 
 « 
 
 April 19. — Fine weather. Last night we had a light 
 fall of snow. A sleigh arrived this morning from 
 Kater-nuna. It brought no trade, except two small 
 seal-skins. The Esquimaux are getting but few skins 
 now. The young seals are getting old enough to take 
 to the water, and many, therefore, escape. Pumped 
 the bilge-water out of the schooner to-daj'. In the 
 lower part of the hold the water did not freeze through 
 the winter. Had we not had a heavy bank of snow 
 around the vessel — which, of course, excluded the cold 
 air and prevented the warmth generated by the tires 
 from escaping — such would not have been the case. 
 
 The thermometer went up to plus 32° yesterday, but 
 soon fell again. This morning it is plus 14". All 
 
110 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 hands employed at general ship duty. Mr. Sisson is 
 coopering barrels and casks. Mr. Burrows and men 
 are coiling whale-lines and preparing whale -gear. I 
 was somewhat surprised at the appearance of Two- 
 poung this morning. This is the squaw who recently 
 ran away from her husband. She is here again, and 
 I scarceh' know what to do with her, unless I set her 
 to work making clothing; that will help pay for her 
 board. Kim-raock-kone arrived to-dav, brino-ino; some 
 seal-meat. He returns to-morrow with a reinforce- 
 ment of dogs, so as to bring the natives back, as the 
 young sealing is about over. Very soon I may expect 
 my larofe family all collected around the schooner. 
 
 Oc-a-took and wife left for Molly Kater-nuna this 
 afternoon, to be gone some days, on a visit to his 
 mother. This is a young, strong, and intelligent Es- 
 quimaux. I wish sincerely that I could persuade him 
 to accompany me to the east coast of Greenland, but 
 I cannot, on account of his mother, who does not want 
 him to go. 
 
 April 20. — Light snow, with light southerly winds. 
 Kim-mock-kone left early this morning. The ther- 
 mometer fell last night to plus 3^. The natives have 
 no dogs, and, it being bad weather, they are not seal- 
 ing. 
 
 April 21. — Cloudy; light breeze from the south- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. Ill 
 
 oust; spittinscs of snow. It is Sunday. We are doing 
 no work to-day. Some of the natives are oti" sealing. 
 Inue-mar-ket, who arrived yesterday from his sealing 
 station, was unable to bring all of his seals. He has 
 gone after them to-day. A sleigh arrived from Molly 
 Kater-nuna last evening. The weather is very warm 
 for this time of the season ; plus 18^ this ^lorning. It 
 is thawing on deck, where the cold air does not l^each. 
 I have been trying again to persuade some of the Es- 
 quimaux to accompany me to the coast of Greenland, 
 and they promise to do so. We shall see. My " meat 
 cart" has just arrived, bringing our daily allowance of 
 meat. It returns to the shore laden with seal-skulls 
 for Mr. Kumlein, the naturalist. 
 
 April 22. — Strong breeze frohi the south-east, 'with 
 snow. The Esquimaux are not sealing, on account of 
 the bad weather, but have gone with a team to bring 
 in some seals, buried in the ice, which they captured 
 some time ago. They often, when hunting, kill more 
 seals than they are able to bring back on the sleigh, 
 particularly when their dogs are scarce. Some of the 
 Esquimaux only possess one dog; others two or three. 
 If one is the proprietor of half a dozen he is considered 
 rich. AVe broke out a cask of bread this morning, 
 and were very much surprised and disappointed to 
 fiiid it only partly full. The cask contained whale- 
 line, flags, and bread, and had not more than one hun- 
 
112 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 dred pounds of the latter; whereas had it been full, 
 as I supposed, there would have been nearly four hun- 
 dred pounds. This is the squaws' allowance day. It 
 reminds me of wash day at home. 
 
 April 23. — Clear and sunshiny. Were employed 
 to-day at ship duty. Oc-a-took returned last night 
 from Kater-nuna. Inue-mar-ket has gone with a team 
 of dogs to assist Nep-e-ken in bringing his family 
 and the seals he has caught to the schooner. Only 
 two of the natives are sealing to-day. Ar-but, one of 
 the natives belonging to the brig Alert, Captain Wat- 
 son, came here to-day. • lie has been engaged at young 
 sealing in this vicinity during the last month. A few 
 davs as-o he unfortunatelv cut off the end of his third 
 finger. He came here to have it doctored. He brought 
 six young seal, skins and all, as a fee. I have got the 
 seals and he has departed satisfied. 
 
 April 24. — Cloudy, but pleasant and warm weather; 
 light north-east wind. We were employed to-day at 
 repairing the vessel. Most of the Esquimaux are out 
 sealing. 
 
 April 25. — Clear and fine. Light breeze from the 
 north-east. This has been a warm spring, and an 
 exceptional one. I was employed to-day doing some 
 little carpenter work around the Florence, repairing 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 113 
 
 steariiig-gear, &c. Nep-e-ken returned last evening 
 from his yonng-sealing expedition. lie has been very 
 successful. This morning I got quite a number of seals 
 from him, and have set the squaws at work skinning 
 and drying them. They are drying in the sun, the 
 only curing process they undergo. We have now no 
 night proper. It is dusky at midnight, or what we 
 would call midnight if it was dark-. Last night at 12 
 o'clock it was hght enough to see to read large print. 
 We have had a regular storm of Esquimaux this after- 
 noon at dinner. None of the men are sealing to-day. 
 They are taking a holiday, I suppose, to commemorate 
 their success in the young seahng. Men, squaws, and 
 children to the number of twenty-two were here at 
 dinner, — quite a large family. They dine, of course, 
 after we are through. The elite come first here as well 
 as elsewhere, — they have the best; then the ordinary 
 follow, — they have second best; then the squaws and 
 children, and they have third best, which amounts to 
 little. The sun has a hazy appearance this evening, 
 which portends a storm, I fear. 
 
 April 26. — Cloudy; light breeze from the westward, 
 accompanied by snow. Last evening the wind hauled 
 to the south-east, and some little snow fell through the 
 night. This morning the wind is as above, but I f^iink 
 it is only a local breeze, as the weather is too warm 
 8 
 
114 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 for westerly winds. Water is running on the schoon- 
 er's deck. The Esquimaux are housed. 
 
 April 27. — We have a strong breeze to-day from 
 the north-west, with severe squalls. We were em- 
 plo3' ed in getting ice for drinking purposes. Eg-e-low 
 returned last evening from young sealing. He brought 
 many seals. The natives are all here now, to the num- 
 ber of twenty-five — men, women, and children. Our 
 bread disappears very fest. All opportunities for 
 spring whaling have been lost through mj desire to 
 keep the Esquimaux away from the influences of those 
 who are inimical to the undertaking. I have another 
 one of my crew partly laid up. The cabin boy, I fear, 
 is threatened with a felon on one of his fingers. We 
 can laugh at the scurvy, but sore fingers abound. 
 
 April 28. — We have a strong and cold wind from 
 the north. The sun occasionally shines, but the weather 
 is in the main cloudy. Thermometer fell to minus 7° 
 last night, if one may call all daylight night. It is 
 Sunday. The cleaning and drying of skins go on as 
 fast as the weather will permit. I received twenty 
 young seals from Inue-mar-ket this morning. 
 
 April 29. — It is clear, with a strong breeze from the 
 north-west. Thermometer last night minus 1°. The 
 wind makes it very unpleasant. It feels almost as 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 115 
 
 cold as when minus 40^. Allowance day. Two fami- 
 lies are about to start on a visit to Niantilic to see 
 their tViends. It was light enough last night when the 
 sun was making the^ circumpolar circuit to read at 
 midniglit. 
 
 April 30.— Apfil has taken its departure in rather 
 a rough manner. It is snowing quite fast, and the 
 temperature being high enough to thaw the snow as 
 it comes in contact with the skin or with clothing, of 
 course it is very unpleasant. None of the Esquimaux 
 are hunting, and they have postponed their contem- 
 plated journey to Niantilic. I was prepared to send 
 a sleigh to Kickerton Island, but that, too, must be 
 postponed on account of the weather. The time drags 
 heavily and wearily. I could be in a manner content 
 if I were only sure of success. I lie dow^n nights and 
 think, and then, falling asleep, dream of what should 
 be done to insure success; but all amounts to a head- 
 ache in the end. 
 
 May 1. — It has been a beautiful day, the sun shining 
 l)riglitl3' and the wind blowing slightly from the north- 
 west, with a cloudless sky. Yesterday afternoon tlie 
 wind hauled to the west and snow ceased fallino^. 
 Through the night the wind blew quite strong; at its 
 maximum, al)Out thirty miles an hour. It was quite 
 cold also, minus. 5°; but this, the first of May, is 
 
116 THE CRUISE OF THl^ FLORENCE. 
 
 splendid, with its warm sun and light wind. Wo 
 commenced on our next to the last cask of coal to- 
 day. We have enough to last, probably, six weeks. 
 
 Nep-e-ken and family and Mr.^ Kumlein started for 
 the Kickertons this morning. I have written to Captain 
 Eoach, of that station, to send me up a large sleigh — 
 one that is capable of carrying a heavy cask. I shall 
 try to save some of the blubber of the w^hale killed 
 last fall. We had an increase in our family last night. 
 Polly, (Kim-ik-pak-jic,) wii'e of Ete-tun, was delivered 
 of a male child in the night. Both mother and child, 
 I believe, are doing well. This will prevent their 
 going to NtantiUc, as the}^ contemplated. Inue-mar- 
 ket and family and Chummy have gone, however. 
 
 May 2. — Fine weather; clear and cold. The ther- 
 mometer fell last night to minus 9°. The wind is 
 from the north-west. It is bright and sunshiny. Em- 
 ployed at setting up a cask. None of the Esquimaux 
 out sealing to-day, I suppose, on account of some 
 superstitious notion. The mother and the late addi- 
 tion to the ship's company are doing well. The season 
 is more backward thaiv I anticipated. Everything is 
 as yet covered with its winter coat of snow^ It will 
 be a relief to see once more the bare rocks and the 
 blue sea. Mr. Sherman is making preparations to 
 observe the transit of Mercury across the sun, which 
 occurs May 6. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 117 
 
 MrtV 3. — Fair weather, but notliing to boast ot. 
 Oirrus clouds, denoting wind. Strong wind yesterday 
 afternoon from west and soutji-west. The thermom- 
 eter did not fall to zero; pUis 9° was the lowest point 
 reached. A few of the Esquimaux went sealing this 
 mornina'. Of course we have but a few dogs to work 
 with, as the travellers to Kickerton and Niantilic car- 
 ried off all but six, and one of them I have on board, 
 she having given birth to young last night. I hope to 
 save these pups, as they will be excellent dogs to carry 
 on the expedition. We still keep up the system of 
 two meals a day. We are compelled to do so on 
 account of the growing scarcity of both food and fuel. 
 We have plenty of meat, but bread must be used with 
 economy. 
 
 May 4.— Cloudy, warm weather. A light, vaViable 
 wind prevails. Inue-mar-ket returned last night. He 
 did not go any farther than Kater-nuna. Chunmiy 
 continued on to Niantilic. The Esquimaux returned 
 last night, bringing four seals, the spoil of the day's 
 hunt. They are not off to-day, the most of them 
 being troubled with ophthalmia. I lost three of my 
 young puppies last night. I suppose they got chilled 
 with cold through the neglect of the mother. The re- 
 maining four are doing well. Employed to-day over- 
 hauling all the schooner's gear. We find it in rather 
 a bad condition. The two men with sore hands and 
 
118 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 the one with sore foot are convalescing slowly. I con- 
 sider the saving of Lee's foot next to miraculous. 
 
 Ete-tun-winger, husband of Kim-ik-pak-jic, came 
 to me this morning and wished me to give him some 
 bi'^ead for his ^yife. I gave it to him. He stood a few 
 moments and very delicately hinted that Polly — we 
 always call her '•Polly" — would like a little butter 
 (aksunk) to eat with her bread. I gave him a little 
 butter, but it was evident that his errand was not fin- 
 ished. He was fidgety. In a few moments he hauled 
 out one of the cast-away pepper-boxes of the steward's 
 and requested me to give him a small quantity of sugar 
 for his wife. I gave it to him. The poor squaw must 
 suffer a great deal from the efiects of her late confine- 
 ment. It is very evident, however, that they are get- 
 ting civilized fast. 
 
 At ]ioon to-day, the sun being out and quite bright, 
 I concluded to try the thermometer in the sun's rays 
 alongside of the schooner. For that purpose I hung 
 it on the port side of the vessel, suspending it by a 
 string, the instrument being in its box, the box leaning 
 against the black-painted side of the schooner and ele- 
 vated four feet from the ice. It rose to plus 73^. I then 
 placed the thermometer on the other side of the vessel, 
 in the shade, and in about the same position in regard 
 to the ice. It fell to plus 35° — a difterence of 38°. I 
 then buried the thermometer, it being in the box, one 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 119 
 
 foot deep in the snow. It fell to plus 28°. On shore 
 Mr. Sherman's thermometer read at noon plus 24°. 
 
 May 5. — We have a bright and beautiful day. 
 Scarcely a cloud is to be seen. Although we have 
 generally fine and warm days, we have also cool 
 nights. We call it " night," from habit, though it be 
 not dark. The sun gives us but very little heat when 
 low in the northern horizon. Last night the thermom- 
 eter fell to plus 5°. This morning shortly after sunrise 
 it read plus 20*^. Chummy arrived last night from 
 the south. Tes-e-wane and his wife also came from 
 Niantilic, bringing me a few skins. I left a quan- 
 tity of trade with him last fall for the purpose of 
 procuring skins. This is the second time he has sent 
 me some. 
 
 The vessels that wintered at Niantilic succeeded in 
 getting into the water in the latter part of March or 
 the fore part of April, and they are now at the floe 
 edge. As yet they have not taken any whales. One 
 of them — the steamer — is frozen in the floe nearly in 
 the centre of the gulf. 
 
 It is Sunday. Everything is quiet. Some of the 
 men are taking a stroll on the ice; others on the shore. 
 Some few of the Esquimaux are oft' sealing. Mr. 
 Kumlein and Nep-e-ken, witli all the party who went 
 to the Kickertons, arrived here this evening. They 
 had not as good travelling as they anticipated. They 
 
120 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 were twenty-three hours in reaching there. They 
 staid there one day and then started on their return. 
 They were forced to sleep on the ice last night. 
 Captain Roach, has sent me a large sleigh ; also some 
 liags to flag casks with. Captain Hall sent me a 
 line lot of coffee mugs or drink cups ; also a crow- 
 bar, of which we were in need. They are anxious- 
 ly looking for whales, but as yet have seen none. 
 All the vessels, I understand, have been frozen in the 
 young ice in and about the centre of the gulf. Only 
 two have succeeded in getting out of it. 
 
 Mr. Kumlein's expedition to the Kickertons was 
 not void of good, as he was fortunate in collecting 
 some rare specimens. Among the collection wgs one 
 line large bear's head, skeletons of the netzik seal and 
 oog-jook, and some fossil remains of marine animals 
 from Kennedy Lake. As it is not generally known, 
 I will here mention that the young of the bearded 
 seal — or '"^oog-jook," as the Esquimaux call it — sheds 
 its coat of dark-blue hair before birth. 
 
 May 6. — The sun was clear and bright this morning. 
 Shortly after sunrise, however, a hght breeze sprang 
 up from the north-east, brhiging with it a damp fog. 
 The only instrument Mr. Sherman had for observing 
 the transit of Mercury was a three-inch terrestrial tel- 
 escope. We were employed to-day setting up rigging. 
 The work progresses very slowly, and it is quite warm. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 121 
 
 Owing to the warm air and the foo; combined the snow 
 is disappearing rapidly. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon 
 the fog became dense, and lias nndoiibtedlj^ interrupt- 
 ed Mr. Sherman's observations. He saw the greater 
 portion of the transit, however. This has been allow- 
 ance, or squaw's day. 
 
 May 7. — Cloudy, with some little haze; the sun, 
 however, shining occasionally. A bright parhelion was 
 observed this morning ; also cirrus clouds. So we 
 mav look for a storm soon. A sleisrh arrived from 
 Kater-nuna, bringing me seventy skins of young seals, 
 which I traded for. Most of the Esquimaux are seal- 
 ing to day. Tes-e-wane started on his return to the 
 south, and I am not sorry; for not only are the Esqui- 
 maux a great deal of trouble, but so many dogs around 
 the schooner make the night hideous. Emploj^ed to-day 
 in getting fresh-water ice, coopering casks, and repair- 
 ing sails. 
 
 May 8. — Hazy, warm weather. Thermometer plus 
 46^. The ice is, of course, wasting very fast under the 
 combined influences of heat and currents. Here at 
 Annanatook the current is very strong, and I expect 
 the Florence will be afloat long before the gulf ice 
 will allow us to depart from the harbor. It will need 
 some care to prevent her from being shoved on shore 
 by these floating masses of ice. We are preparing to 
 
122 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 go to the whale and try to save some of the bhibber. 
 Of course in this matter we have to depend upon the 
 Esqmmaux for help. If it was not for them I could 
 do nothing with the whale ; in fact, I could accomplish 
 but very httle here in an}^ matter without their aid. 
 They returned late last night from sealing, bringing 
 some half-dozen seals. They are preparing to vacate 
 their snow io-laus, which have sheltered them during; 
 the winter, and betake themselves to their skin huts 
 or ''tapigs" — their summer residences. 
 
 May 9. — Cloudy and foggy. It has evidently been 
 storming during the last three days around and near 
 us, but, excepting a light fall of snow and a heavy fog 
 w^hich hangs around and over the land, we have not felt 
 or seen any of its effects. Thermometer yesterda}' plus 
 .48°; this morning plus 36°; last night it did not fall 
 below 27°. The burgomaster-gulls have made tlieir 
 appearance. So, too, the little snowbirds. They have 
 been, to the south of us, near and about the water for 
 the last month. Many ducks are swimming near the 
 Hoe edge. Everything has a lively and spring-like ap- 
 pearance. The wind is from the south. It looks dark 
 and heavy down the gulf. Some few of the Esquimaux 
 are sealing; others are busy getting their tapigs or 
 summer huts ready. The warm weather has likewise 
 destroyed the snow covering of the observatory, and 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 128 
 
 its occupants have to rely upon the bare canvas for 
 shelter. 
 
 May 10. — The weather still remains thick; snow, 
 fog, and southerly wind. It is so warm, however, that 
 the snow melts about as fast as it falls. The weather 
 is bad for drying skins, and little progress is made in 
 that direction. It is a bad time for the Esquimaux, 
 as they are continually kept wet by the falling and 
 melting snow, which keeps their tapigs in a dirty and 
 wretched condition. They brought some few seals last 
 night or this morning; for they were gone until morn- 
 ing. Cracks are opening in the ice. Here and there, 
 too, are some little pools of water. For several hours 
 this afternoon a heavy rain fell, and during the con- 
 tinuance of the storm there was scarcely a dry spot to 
 be found in the vessel's cabin. The cold, dry, frosty 
 weather of winter has so shrunken thcw^ood-woi'k that 
 water is free to enter. I can call to mind but one 
 rain-storm in my experience in the Arctic regions in 
 the month of May, and that, I think, was in 1861. 
 We have washed decks all day, the first time in 1878. 
 
 May 11. — Still cloudy and thick. Kain fell the 
 entire night. We had a strong breeze from the south 
 last night, which has moderated to-day. I sent two 
 sleighs, carrying seven casks, down to the whale. If 
 
124 THE CRUISE OF THE FLOEENCE. 
 
 the weather is favorable the Esquimaux will follow 
 to-morrow. 
 
 May •12. — Wind still strong from the south-east. 
 , Some little rain fell last evening. The Esquimaux 
 returned with the two sleighs at 11 p. m. It is Sunday. 
 All quiet. 
 
 May 13. — Heavy southerly wind. I dispatched one 
 sleigh-load of casks to the whale this morning. Esqui- 
 maux off sealing yesterday. They brought back a few^ 
 seals. Four of them have not returned yet. It is 
 quite warm, and the ice is wasting fast. Many gulls 
 and ducks were seen to-day. They are on their v>^ay 
 to the holes cut through the ice by the currents in 
 this vicinity. If this southerly wind continues much 
 longer I fear the pack-ice of Davis's Strait wall enter 
 the gulf. 
 
 May 14. — Somewhat foggy this morning, but as the 
 sun gained strength the fog disappeared, and it is now^ 
 warm and sunny. Kim-mock-kone returned at mid- 
 night from carrying casks to the whale. Al-o-kee 
 started this morning for the Kickertons to procure a 
 w^ife. This native promises to go to the East Land, or 
 coast of Greenland, to join the expedition there. He 
 is desirous of a wife before he starts. I shall be com- 
 pelled to wait until he returns ])efore I can send down 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 125 
 
 to the whale, on account of the scarcity of dogs. We 
 were emploj'ed to-day painting l)oats, coo[)ering casks, 
 &c. 
 
 May 15. — Weather somewhat thick; wind south- 
 east; snow this morning. Tlie weather is very warm, 
 even when the sun is low; at night ice scarcely makes. 
 This warm, sultry weather prevents the drying and 
 curing of skins, and I much fear we shall lose many 
 from that cause. I to-day dispatched a sleigh with a 
 load of casks to the whale. 
 
 May 16. — The weather is fine and warm, with light 
 southerly wind. The sun is extremely hot, and this, 
 of course, denotes more southerly or easterly weather. 
 Nep-e-ken, my namesake, has started with all the male 
 Esquimaux — to the number of ten — down to the 
 whale. If it is not possible to cut up the carcass, the}^ 
 will seal a few days. All the squaws are busy making 
 tapigs and cleaning and drying skins. We are em- 
 ployed to-day coopering casks, painting the boats, and 
 drying the skin-clothing, which latter had been some- 
 what damp. 
 
 May 17. — Cloudy; southerly wind, with snow. The 
 remarkably warm weather has brought forth new 
 grass. Some flowers are also making their appear- 
 ance on the southern exposures. Flies are abundant. 
 
126 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 Sdow disappears as fast as it falls. We are on our 
 last cask of coal. It now contains about one-third of 
 a ton. Mr. Kumlein's forefinger of the left hand is 
 quite soi^. This makes the third man in the crew so 
 afflicted. One of the three came very near losing the 
 use of his hand for life, and I greatly fear he will lose 
 the use of one finger, notwithstanding all the care that 
 has been bestowed upon him. 
 
 May 18. — Sky overcast; weather quite warm ; light 
 airs from the west. We had a little hail last evening. 
 Al-o-kee returned last night from his search after a 
 wife. He did not succeed in finding one. This morn- 
 ing he started for the whale, to join his brother Esqui- 
 maux. No news of interest from the Kickertons. We 
 have some half-dozen barrels of seal blubber, collected 
 from the Esquimaux. We were employed to-day get- 
 ing fresh-water ice from the land, making a water 
 butt, &c. 
 
 May 19. — Sky still overcast. Yesterday, toward 
 evening, the westerly wind hicreased to a moderate 
 gale, accompanied at times by snow. Through the 
 night the thermometer fell to plus 18^. It is a warm 
 day and we have southerly wind. I hear nothing from 
 Nep-e-ken and his party. His wife (0-cas-e-ak-ju) 
 sent for me last night to attend her little son, who 
 was taken suddenly ill. I found him in a higli fever. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND" Gulf. 127 
 
 lie had probably taken cold playing in the damp snow. 
 He is somewhat better this morning. It is Sunday, 
 and no work, of course, is going on. The men cleaned 
 themselves up a little and took a stroll. 
 
 May 20. — Yesterday the southerly wind gradually 
 increased until night, when it culmitiated in a gale. 
 We had all varieties of weather — rain, hail, snow, and 
 sleet — until 3 o'clock this morning, when the wind sud- 
 denly hauled to the west, where it is now. Snow con- 
 tinues to fall and water is making fast. The currents 
 and ahnost unprecedented warm weather are doing 
 their work of destruction, and its results are visible 
 from hour to hour. It is now unsafe to venture on 
 the ice on the port side of the vessel, it is so wasted. 
 Holes miles in extent have formed to the north and 
 west. The ice on the south, or down the gulf, is as 
 yet tirm and strong. In a few days all the ice in the 
 head of the gulf will be wasted away, leaving, how- 
 ever, miles of it still firmly adhering to the land be- 
 low us. 
 
 Eva, accompanied by another native and his squaw, 
 came from Kater-nuna last night. They had consid- 
 erable difficulty in getting here on account of the 
 wasted condition of the ice. Eva brought me only 
 three skins. The travelling has been so bad that he 
 failed to get the skins which he had cached near Ken- 
 nedy Lake. The other native bi'ought me sixteen 
 
128 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 skins of young seals and one cleer-skin. These twenty 
 skins I cansider worth a hundred dollars to the expe- 
 dition. The two Esquimaux have heard somewhere 
 that the Davis Strait pack-ice is in the gulf. I hope 
 the rumor wdll prove untrue. It is quite cool again 
 this evening. Therraoiiieter plus 20^. 
 
 May 21. — Quite clear and cold. The thermometer 
 fell last night to plus 15^. It read plus 20° this morn- 
 ing. We have a strong l)reeze from the north-west, 
 and every evidence of niore wind. If it does no other 
 good, I sincerely hope if will clear the gulf of pack- 
 ice. The flies, which were so abundant a few days 
 ago, have disappeared, the cold snap having killed 
 them. 
 
 At 5 o'clock p. M. Nep-e-ken and his party, all but 
 tw^o, returned from the whale. ()c-a-took and Pe-ker 
 went to get some deer-meat which they buried in the 
 mountahis last summer. They will also look for deer. 
 Nep-e-ken informs me that the shore ice around the 
 whale is still very heavy, and he proposes to postpone 
 the cutting up until a more auspicious time. The par- 
 ty encamped one night on the ice going down and one 
 night coming back. They report the ice very much 
 wasted, even as low down as they have been. Indeed, 
 Nep-e-ken says he never before saw it so rotten at this 
 time in the vear. The ice alono; the shore al)ove low^- 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 129 
 
 water mark lies in larsje, heavy, broken masses, and 
 under one of these the whale if lyin^^. 
 
 May 22. — We have line weather to-day ; hght breeze 
 from the north-west, and clear but cool. The ther- 
 mometer fell last night to plus 15°. We were em- 
 ployed to-day cleaning the l)one from the whale's 
 head. We find the slabs a little over ten feet in 
 length. It is not as large a head as I had hoped. The 
 slabs from a very large head will measure from eleven 
 to thirteen feet, and the jaw-bones of a large whale 
 will measure from seventeen to seventj^ feet. The 
 two Esquimaux, Pe-ker and Oc-a-took, retui'ned late 
 last night, or early this morning. The cabin boy fell 
 through the ice yesterday while going ashore for our 
 supply of meat. While I am writing this the wind 
 hauls to the south-east. There are indications of bad 
 weather again. We are certain!}^ having a trying 
 time of it this spring. One bad spell of weather fol- 
 lows another in quick succession. Under the com- 
 bined action of warm and bad weather and currents, 
 I do not think the ice can last longer than the 15th of 
 June. That is one month earlier than it generally 
 disappears in the gulf. This evening I went on shore 
 to ascertain, if [)Ossible, something about that deer- 
 meat. I found it, but concluded to let it remain, as it 
 was rather too old for our use. 
 9 
 
130 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 May 23. — We have light southerly winds and snow 
 to-day. It is quite waftn. 
 
 May 24. — Very fine weather to-day ; light easterly 
 winds; sun very hot. This morning the thermometer 
 in the sun read plus 70°. Kuck-oo-jug and son started 
 for the Kickerton Islands this morning. Nep-e-ken and 
 three others have gone to the whale. They will bring 
 back the lines, tubs, and whahng-gear which were left 
 there last fall. I expect another south-east storm by 
 to-morrow. 
 
 May 25. — The storm anticipated yesterday from the 
 south-east did not come. Instead, we have a strong 
 breeze from the west. Yesterday afternoon or evening 
 the dark, heavy bank of clouds which was seen down the 
 gulf from early morning came rolling up to the north 
 and west, covering the entire sky. We all looked for 
 a severe storm and hoped to have better weather after 
 it, but we were disappointed. It was quite cool this 
 morning. Thermometer read plus 23°. Two Esqui- 
 maux arrived from the Kickertons yesterday even- 
 iilg. They report nothing doing there, and that no 
 whales have been seen. Some of the Esquimaux are 
 quite sick, and the ankoots are, therefore, hard at work. 
 
 May 26. — This is what may be termed " variety " 
 weather,^ Yesterday we had a strong, cold wind from 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 131 
 
 the north-west, which abated in the evening. The 
 clouds again rolled up from the' south and east to the 
 north. At 12 midnight frozen snow fell. The wind 
 veered quickly to the north and west and blew with 
 violence. It is in the same quarter to-day, but it is 
 somewhat more moderate. The Esquimaux who 
 came from the south day before yesterday are not 
 from the Kickertons, as I supposed, but from Sha-meer, 
 a place a little to the north of Cape Storey, the north- 
 ern cape at the entrance to the gulf. They report a 
 great deal of ice in Davis's Strait. They brought 
 two very fine bear-skins to the Florence^ one from an 
 old be^r and the other from a yomig one. The mer- 
 cury fell to plus 18° last night. Ice made in the 
 washing vessel in my state-room. We keep no fire 
 in pleasant weather, as there is no coal to spare. It 
 is Sunday. We are doing nothing, excepting, of 
 course, the scientific work, which never stops. 
 
 May 27. — Fair weather; light breeze from the 
 north-west. It was cool last night; mercury plus 30°. 
 I say "night"; of course we have no night, the sun 
 merely dipping the northern«edge of the horizon. We 
 are still employed cleaning the whalebone. We find 
 it very dirty. Nep-e-ken, Ete-tun, Al-o-kee, Chum- 
 my, and Inue-mar-ket all promise to accompany me 
 to the coast of Greenland, and are making prepara- 
 tions to do so. 
 
132 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 May 28. — To-day we have cloudy weather, with 
 light breeze from the south-east. We were employed 
 repairing sails. All the male Esquimaux except two 
 have been away for several daj^s; some deer-hunting, 
 others seal-hunting. The two remaining at the schoon- 
 er are Ete-tun and Oc-a-took. The latter is sick. Mr. 
 Sherman has been surveying the harbor and vicinity 
 and taking the altitudes of the prominent headlands. 
 Froze quite hard last night. 
 
 May 29. — We had quite a gale of wind from the 
 south-east last night. Three inches of snow fell. The 
 wind is to the south to-day and more moderate. It 
 looks wild and bad down the gulf Two Esquimaux 
 returned from a deer and seal hunt last night. They 
 killed one deer and several seals. Ete-tun, who 
 went out yesterday, brought back four seals. ]S"ot- 
 withstanding the southerly wind, the mercury fell to 
 plus 24° last night. It thawed freely this morning. 
 Broached a tierce of hams to-day, the iirst we have 
 used. The wind blew at the rate of thirty-five miles 
 an hour this evening. It is snowing, and the snow is 
 drifting. • 
 
 May 30. — Cloudy; hght precipitation of snow, with 
 variable wind. Nep-e-ken and party returned last 
 night, bringing our whale-lines and tubs. Al-o-kee 
 also returned from Kickerton Islands. He reports no 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 133 
 
 whales as yet. The Esquimaux brought in some few 
 seals. They iutbi:m me that the ice is in such a rotten 
 condition that they are unable to seal upon it with any 
 fair chance of success. It is certainly bad enough in 
 this immediate vicinity. It is dismal, dreary weather. 
 
 May 31. — Fair to-day; quite a strong breeze from 
 the west. Employed cleaning bone, repairing sails, 
 &c. 
 
 June 1 . — Cloudy; light south-east wind. We were 
 employed again to-day cleaning bone, repairing sails, 
 &c. It was quite cold last night, and the temperature 
 was but little higher this morning. 
 
 June 2. — The south-east wind of yesterday increased 
 to a gale last night and was accompanied by hail and 
 sleet. The ice to the north of Annanatook has so 
 wasted that holes of water mile§ in extent are visible. 
 Last night the ice outside of the harbor, and for a long 
 distance* to the south and east, gave way and drifted 
 to the north into these vacant places. This has af- 
 forded us quite a sea of water, which is not now more 
 than seventy yards from the stern of the Florence, 
 Some miles below this, again, there is a solid barrier 
 of ice, extending from shore to shore and some fifty 
 or sixty miles north-west, and vice versa, still adhering 
 to the land. It is, of course, uncertain when this will 
 
134 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 give way; but I do not think it can remain long, 
 with water to the north and south qf it. 
 
 Kuck-oo-jug and son, who went to the Kickertons 
 some days ago, arrived last night. They had to make 
 a long circuit to the westward, and came up the south 
 shore, where the ice is still quite firm. I received a 
 letter from Captain Hall by Kuck-oo-jug. He in- 
 formed me that the pack-ice of Davis's Straits has 
 been up to the floe edge or fast ice ; that only lately 
 it has drifted away, leaving them a chance to get their 
 boats in the water to look for whales. He thinks the 
 pack-ice is but a short distance below Warren's Island. 
 As no whales are seen at the Kickertons, he supposes 
 they are in the loose pack below. 
 
 The wind is still in the south-east, weather thick, 
 and snow falling. 
 
 June 3. — We cannot complain of the weather to- 
 day. It is very tine, with light, warm, variable winds. 
 We broke the wasted ice around the vessel and hauled 
 her to a safer position. The ice was so wasted on 
 each side of the schooner for some distance that it 
 ^vas difficult to get on or ofl:' the vessel. Yesterdaj^ 
 we had to use the small boat to break away between 
 the vessel and the tirm ice. We were employed to- 
 day getting everything oft* the ice and stowed in the 
 hold, to be ready for a general break-up. 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 135 
 
 June 4. — The light, variable wind and fine weather 
 of yesterday did not last long. Toward evening the 
 wind settled in the south-east and blew hard. At 6 
 o'clock p. M. it was blowing at the rate of thirty-six 
 miles an hour, and it continued at this rate through 
 the night. Some of the squalls must have travelled 
 fifty miles an hour. The wind blow^s directly into the 
 harbor. All the brQken ice outside — and there were 
 many miles of it — has gone to the north. The gale 
 was not so violent this morning, but was still strong, 
 with thick snow. The ice on the port side of the ves- 
 sel has given away; also that attached to the little isl- 
 and about sixty yards to the south of the us. All of 
 this ice is now^ pressing on the vessel, which is in turn 
 pressing on the still-fast harbor ice to the north. We 
 are in no immediate danger, however. 'The ice has 
 given way a month earlier than usual. This has de- 
 stroyed the sealing, the best month for that purpose 
 being June. Of course, without ice very few seals 
 are captured. 
 
 The strong belt of ice down the gulf is still fast. 
 If it had given way it would have come to the north 
 with the southerly wind. 
 
 June 5. — The wind continued to blow all day yes- 
 terdayi and was accompanied by snow, hail, sleet, and 
 rain. At 12 o'clock midnight snow commenced fall- 
 ing in earnest, and lay as it fell. This morning at 8 
 
136 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 o'clock six inches of snow had fallen. At 12 o'clock 
 meridian it was still snowing fast. We hove up one 
 anchor to-day, washed deck, and are getting read}^ for 
 a general tear-up. The ice is so wasted that one can 
 scarcely reach the shore, and then it is done at the risk 
 of falling through. Outside of the harbor it is all pack- 
 ice, drifting with currents and wind. 
 
 June 6. — Shortly after 12 o'clock yesterday the wind 
 veered to the north-west, and it continued to blow, ac- 
 connpanied by snow, till 2 o'clock this morning, when 
 the snow ceased, the wind keeping up. The sun shines 
 to-day, but it is quite cold. Thermometer last night 
 read plus 23°. The land, which was getting clear of 
 snow, is entirely covered again. We were employed 
 to-day freeing the vessel and boats from snow and ice. 
 
 Mr. Sherman still travels to and fro between the 
 vessel and the shore to take his observations, though 
 he does so at the risk of a wet jacket. The Esqui- 
 maux men manage as yet to get out to the schooner 
 and their meals. The women and children do not 
 
 venture. 
 
 » 
 
 June 7. — Weather quite fine to-day; light breeze 
 from north-west. Mr. Kurnlein was oft' with the small 
 boat collecting specimens. The ice has closed and 
 shut oft' his passage to the vessel. At 6.30 p. m. he 
 was trying to haul the boat over the ice to the open 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 137 
 
 wiiter near the scliooner. We were occupied with 
 general ship work. 
 
 June 8. — Rain conimenced falling this morning and 
 it continued all day. Some of the Esquimaux are 
 sealing, among the drifting cakes of ice, in kyacks and 
 the small hoat. Mr. Kumlein shot some few ducks 
 and sandpipers and a glaucus-guU yesterday. 
 
 June 9. — Clear and iine. Rained nearly all night. 
 Thermometer reads plus 55°. Mr. Kumlein is off for 
 specimens, and some few of the Esquimaux are seal- 
 ing to-day. Nep-e-ken brought me two burgomaster- 
 gull's eggs last night. 
 
 June 10. — It was calm and quite warm in the 
 morning. Toward evening a strong breeze sprang up 
 from the north-west. Some of the Esquimaux are 
 deer-hunting; others are sealing. iS''ep-e-ken brought 
 one brent-goose .to the vessel this evening. It ia the 
 first one I ever saw in Cumberland Gulf. Nep-e-ken, 
 however, has seen them here before. 
 
 Engaged in sawing ice to-day to clear the vessel. 
 I heard water running freely dow^n the mountain side 
 yesterday for the first time this season. Noticed nu- 
 merous burgomaster-gulls and ducks around the pack 
 or broken ice outside the harbor. There are indica- 
 tions of a storm this evening. 
 
138 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 June 11. — Wind quite heavy to-day from north- 
 west. At 11.30 A. M. the ice to the west of the schoon- 
 er started and quickly fouled our hawser. It contained 
 many acres, and, therefore, pressed the vessel heav- 
 ily. Everything w^as prepared for just such an occur- 
 rence, however. Bending on our buoy rope, we let 
 the. cable run, and, hoisting jib and foresail, we were 
 once more under way. The water makes from the 
 w^est side of Annanatook Harbor to the north shore 
 in a semicircle. There is good working room for a 
 vessel while north-west winds prevail, as they drive all 
 loose ice dow^n the gulf until it meets the solid barrier 
 below. Into this water we lay under short sail until 
 the ice drifted out of the harbor, and then we returned 
 to our anchorage. The vessel is light, which compelled 
 us to work under short sail. On rounding the point 
 to return to the anchorage we found it necessar}^ to set 
 the mainsail. It was reefed, but it keeled the schoon- 
 er until the lee boats were in the water. I think that 
 in some of the squalls the wind travelled sixty miles 
 an hour. 
 
 Shortly after returning to our anchorage I attempt- 
 ed to go on shore. The ice in the inner harbor is 
 quite good as yet, but it seems I found a weak spot in ' 
 it, for I got a cold bath before reaching the shore. 
 
 The ice down the gulf appears to be solid and firm. 
 T must try and secure the schooner's safety as soon as 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 139 
 
 the weather moderates. There is too much current 
 here; hence a great deal of heavy drift ice. 
 
 June 12. — The gale still continues, and it is blowing 
 very heavy. We are lying by one anchor, as we were 
 unable to get the buoyed one last evening. The ice 
 in the north section of the harbor still holds. The 
 scientitic observations are still kept up. It is only 
 about one hundred yards from the vessel to the fast 
 ice, which still remains in the inner harbor, and about 
 three hundred yards more to the shore, where the 
 observatory is situated. By manning a boat strong 
 we can pull to the fast ice, land on it, and walk to the 
 shore. Althous^h the wind is strong; the sea is not 
 rough. The wind is directly off the land, and, sur- 
 rounded as we are by land and ice, no sea can rise. 
 
 June 13. — We have still a strong breeze from the 
 nortli-west. Everything remains about the same. The 
 ice at the head . of the harbor still holds, but, fearing 
 it might come down upon the Florence and cause her 
 to slip from her only anchor, we cut or sawed a dock 
 in the ice in the inner harbor after breakfast this morn- 
 ing, which ice still holds firm and strong. By 12 me- 
 ridian we had the Florence safe in the dock. I do not 
 think that the drifting ice can cause any trouble here, 
 as we lie in a snug little cul-de-sac, and, for the present, 
 are clear of drift ice. This evening there is very little 
 
140 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 wind, but the weather has a "baleful, sombre appear- 
 ance, and the thermometer is still inclined downward. 
 After securing the schooner, we broke out the hold 
 and stowed back, to be in readiness to take aboard 
 some fresh water. We also repaired the gaff of the 
 mainsail, which we found badly split at the jaws. 
 
 June 14. — Last night the wind came on very sud- 
 denly from the south-east, bringmg snow and sleet. 
 This morning it ceased and we have a light wind from 
 the north-west, and, according to the appearance of 
 the sky, a promise of plenty more. Employed to-day 
 in hauling water and stowing it, preparatory to getting 
 under way. It will l)e necessary, if we carry natives 
 and dogs to the coast of Greenland, to take a large 
 supply of water. Al-o-kee and Eg-e-low arrived from 
 the Kickerton Islands last night. They report that 
 one of the sealing steamers from Scotland has entered 
 the gulf for whales, having failed in the sealing. 
 
 June 15. — Quite a breeze last night, which contin- 
 ued up to 3 o'clock to-day. Some of the Esquimaux 
 have returned from deer-hunting. They killed two 
 deer ; two that were wounded escaped. We were em- 
 ployed to-day scraping, scouring, and Avashing the 
 schooner preparatory to painting. Early this morn- 
 ing, when the breeze was the strongest, the whole 
 mass of ice at the head of the outer harbor gave way 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 141 
 
 and drifted out. We would have had trouble had we 
 remained at our former anchorage, but in this quiet 
 little nook we are safe, at least for the present. The 
 wind is again to the south-east this evening. 
 
 June 16. — Last night the south-east wind brought 
 sleet, rain, and snow. This morning the wind was to 
 the north-west. In the afternoon it commenced to 
 blow hard, with snow and sleet. We certainly have 
 bad w^eather. The Esquimaux returned last night from 
 duck-shooting, bringing some few ducks. We are pre- 
 serving the skins for foot-gear. 
 
 June 17. — All Irfst night we had snow and sleet, and 
 I think at times it might have been called rain. We 
 had the wind from about every quarter. This morn- 
 ing the wind settled in the north-west, and from this 
 quarter it continued to blow. The weather is vSO un- 
 settled that we cannot do anything. We have prepared 
 the vessel for painting, but cannot paint in such weather. 
 The Esquimaux cannot hunt, nor can the squaws drj^ or 
 cure .skins. 
 
 June 18. — All kinds of weather. Last night the 
 wind turned to the south and east. We have had 
 snow, hail, sleet, and rain. Mr. Kumlein, with a na- 
 tive, went off in the little boat and brought back five 
 ducks, two divers, and a^ull. JSTep-e-ken also shot sev^- 
 
142 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 eral on the ice close to the schooner. We had duck for 
 dinner, whale-meat for breakfast, and I think we will 
 have lobster for lunch — canned, however. All we 
 needed to make a full bill of fare was fog, and that is 
 coming now^ 
 
 June 19. — Variety weather. Last night we had 
 wind from the south-east. It rained, hailed, and blew 
 strong until early morning, when it let go. The long- 
 absent sun then condescended to show his face once 
 more, and, as if to make up for his neglect, shone 
 with great brilliancy and heat. Taking advantage of 
 this, we commenced to saw the schooner farther into 
 the ice, as that around us was gefting rather weak. 
 Mr. Sherman prepared his camera to take photographs 
 of surrounding scenery, and Mr. Kumlein took the 
 small boat, two Esquimaux, guns and ammunition, 
 and launched forth on a day's hunt. Shortly after 12 
 meridian the heavens became darkened and it began 
 to rain. The camera was abandoned, work on the 
 vessel ceased, and all sought shelter except the hunt- 
 ers, who were far away and were soaked with raiix. 
 
 Kuck-oo-jug started for the Kickertons yesterday, 
 and I fear he w^ill not be able to get back, as I think 
 the ice down the gulf has given way, and all we need 
 is a good northwester to drive it out. The present 
 wind from the south-east is holding it up. Nep-e-ken 
 and Ete-tun shot two oog-jooks this morning. I have 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 148 
 
 secured one of the bodies as a specimen for Kunilein. 
 The skins will do for moccasin soles. 
 
 June 20. — The rain continued until 10.30 to-day, 
 when the sun again shone for a sh">rt time. At me- 
 ridian the sky again became clouded and tlie wind 
 veered from the south to south-east, and there it re- 
 mains. 
 
 Last evening, at 8.30 o'clock, the whole of the ice 
 in the inner harbor made an effort to force its way 
 out of the north passage. As the Florence is docked 
 into this ice, it created for a time some little uneasi- 
 ness, but the attempts of the ice to move out were 
 futile. The passage was too small, and, after forcing 
 its way some seventy yards, it stopped. 
 
 The Esquimaux shot another oog-jook this after- 
 noon. Mr. Sherman has been forced to give up his 
 observations at the observatory on account of the bad 
 state of the ice. He continues them, however, on 
 board. 
 
 I have been sounding up the lagoon leading to the 
 north-west to-day, endeavoring to find some safer an- 
 chorage for the vessel, where she would be clear of 
 drift ice, but none was found. We are still holding 
 on to our dock in the ice, but we may have to let go 
 at any moment. The ice barrier between here and 
 the Kickertons has given way, but, instead of going 
 down the gulf, it has gone to the head, having been 
 
144 THE CRUISE OF THE FLOPENCE. 
 
 forced up by the southerly winds. There are only two 
 small islands betw^een the drifting mass of ice and the 
 vessel to protect her. 
 
 June 21. — The wdnd continued from the south and 
 cast during the night, holding the broken floes hard 
 pressed against the little islands which protect the ves- 
 sel. Early this morning the wind came out from 
 the north, with heavy snow^-squalls. I was asleep in 
 my berth at the time, but the wdld roaring of the 
 wind would have awakened Kip Van Winkle had he 
 been asleep here. I got up and went on deck, when 
 a scene of wild confusion presented itself. The ice 
 outside of the harbor, feeling the force of the wind 
 and tide, which latter was on the ebb, was moving 
 southward with great rapidity, the heavier and strong- 
 er masses rushing on over the lighter and weaker, and 
 in their headlong course grinding them to atoms. The 
 noise accompanying this, the wild roaring of the wind, 
 and the flying snow made up an awe-inspiring scene. 
 The harbor ice soon commenced moving, this time try- 
 ing to force its way out of the south-east passage, but 
 it also proved too narrow, and the ice brought up hard 
 against the land on both sides of the passage, and there 
 it remains, and we remain with it, but not in an envi- 
 able situation ; for we are surrounded by small islands 
 and reefs, upon which the heavy ice may press the 
 vessel at any moment. However, we have been at 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 145 
 
 work to-day, and hope to prevent any such termina- 
 tion of the " prehminary Arctic expedition." We have 
 now about fifty yards of ice ott" one end, or fifty yards 
 of scarf which set adrift about an acre of ice, and this 
 gives us a chance to haul the Florence clear of dttn- 
 ger. 
 
 This evening the weather is moderate. Through 
 all the turmoil to-day, we have prepared our boats for 
 whaling. The Esquimaux and myself sawed ice and 
 the crew got the boats ready. 
 
 June 22. — Yesterday evening our north-west wind 
 entirely left us. The tide was on the flood, and the 
 piece of ice in which we were docked commenced 
 moving toward the north-west shore, carrying the 
 vessel into very shoal w^ater. We just slipped our 
 lines in time and towed clear. Towing out into the 
 outer harbor, we dropped anchor in nine fathoms of 
 water, and there lay through the night. Early this 
 morning the wind came again from the south and east 
 and I made an anchorage some hundred yards fur- 
 ther in shore, hoping thereby to get out of the strength 
 of the current and thus keep clear of the drift ice. 
 The wind has been light all day, and the sky has been 
 overcast. I was on the hill to-day and examined the 
 ice to the south. There was nothing to be seen but a 
 heavy mass of broken floes, interspersed here and 
 there with a lonely space of water. The floes are 
 10 
 
140 THE CRUISE OF THE FLOKENCE. 
 
 again pressing hard upon the little islands which pro- 
 tect US. 
 
 June 23. — Last evening, at 10 o'clock, the inner- 
 harljor ice threatened our little vessel again. The 
 wind came from the south, and the flood-tide was in 
 its strength when the ice attempted to force its way 
 out through the north passage into the outer harbor 
 where the schooner lay. We prepared everything for 
 its reception as best we could and waited. It jammed 
 between the points of the two islands, and as the ebb- 
 tide is making it must remain there till the next flood. 
 At 5 A. M. it will be low water. At 4 I examined 
 the situation. It was blowing a good breeze from the 
 south, with occasional squalls from the south-east, and 
 rain. It was not favorable. The attempt to move 
 a vessel against a strong breeze and tide, with no room 
 to w^ork in except with lines, is not a pleasant task. 
 Running a line, however, to the weather point of the 
 ice, we tripped our anchor, and by hard hauling drew 
 the vessel up to that point. We had just succeeded 
 in doing this when the whole mass started. Running 
 a line to the small island on which it had been jam- 
 med, we trusted to the schooner's strength, swung 
 clear of the troublesome mass, and let it pass by, which 
 it soon did. I was determined to get the schooner into 
 the inner harbor if possible, and for that purpose now 
 ran some three hundred and fifty fathoms of line in 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 147 
 
 near the oI)serv^atory, and then, slacking both lines, 
 brought the vessel clown over the buoj^ecl anchor, 
 which was secured. The Esquimaux now came on 
 board, which gave us strength, and by dint of hard 
 hauling we managed to get the Florence into the inner 
 harbor by 12 o'clock, when we had breakfast. The 
 weather is most wretched. 
 
 The heavy floes are piled hard up against the little 
 island, making it impossible to go out of the harbor, 
 even with a kyack or boat. 
 
 June 24. — Cloudy, dreary weather. This morning 
 early we were compelled to shift our anchorage again, 
 as a large piece of ice threatened to foul the schooner. 
 It has been calm most of the day. As for the sun, 
 we scarcely know there is one, it so seldom shines. 
 Shortly after diiiner — 3.30 p. m. — the wind breezed 
 from the north-west and rain began falling. Mr. 
 Kumlein went out to-day with some Esquimaux on a 
 l)ird and egg hunt. As we are anchored close to the 
 observatory, Mr. Sherman has resumed his observa- 
 tions. There is no appreciable cliange in the condition 
 ol' the' heavy floes outside. 
 
 June 25. — Rain fell till about 10 o'clock last ni^-ht. 
 It has been cloudy, damp, and chilly. The mists hang 
 low on the mountains and the w^eather has a dreary, 
 sombi'e aspect. The ice has moved down the gulf 
 
148 THE CRUISE OF THE FiORENCE. 
 
 some little distance, giving the boats a chance to move 
 out of the harbor. Nep-e-ken has taken advantage of 
 this, and gone, with nine others, bird and egg hunting. 
 Mr. Kumlein brought back a few ducks and about 
 two hundred eggs from yesterday's hunt. He also 
 brought back quite a hole in the boat, caused by the 
 premature discharge of his gun. He did not return 
 till 6 o'clock this morning. Of course we are still at 
 work tr^'ing to cure and dry skins, of which we have 
 a fair quantity, yet not as many as I had hoped to get. 
 We have a light breeze from the south this evening. 
 
 June 26. — Light westerly wind, accom[)anied by 
 snow and sleet. The southerly wind held until 6 
 o'clock A. M., filling the harbor with ice. With the 
 change of wind, however, the ice all disappeared. Ete- 
 tun shot and secured two oog-jooks yesterday evening. 
 As the skin of the oog-jook is the only one suitable for 
 moccasin soles in this latitude, I am very much grat- 
 ified to get them. We were employed to-day taking 
 water on board. If this wind holds it will set the pack- 
 ice down the gulf, and we will then get under way. 
 
 June 27. — "We have it!" Southerl}^ wind, which 
 is blowing strong, with sleet and rain. The ice is 
 again hard packed on the land. Nep-e-ken and his 
 party, who are ott' egg, bird, and seal hunting, cannot 
 get here until there is a change in the w^ind. There 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 149 
 
 is quite u swell heaving from the south-east u[) the 
 gulf — a certain sign that there is no pack-ice at tlie 
 mouth. The weather is* fearfully bad, and we are get- 
 ting mouldy from the long-continued dampness. 
 
 June 28. — The weather was much l)etter to-day. 
 Thei'e was a light south-east wind, and it was warm 
 and sunny. The wind holds the ice still pressed fast 
 on the land. It lessens our prospect of getting a whale 
 this summer. We should be out now looking for one, 
 but we cannot go on account of ice. Nep-e-ken and 
 party have not arrived, nor can they get here until 
 there is a change in the wind. The squaws were act- 
 ively at work to-day preparing skins. The air was 
 about calm this evening. 
 
 JuiTe 29. — Cloudy, with indications of rain. The 
 wind is to the south-east and the ice still jammed hard 
 upon the land. I see no prospect of a change, at least 
 for some time to come. The Esquimaux shot three 
 more oog-jooks yesterday, and we have secured the 
 skins. 
 
 June 30. — Cloudy and calm. The ice remains un- 
 changed. Nep-e-ken and party managed to reach the 
 vessel to-day by hauling their boat over the ice. When 
 they had approached within a mile of the schooner a 
 sleigh was sent to their assistance. This morning sev- 
 
150 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 eral boats were discovered on the ice toward the north 
 shore. They were being hauled over the broken floes, 
 now and then finding a Uttle lake of w^ater into which 
 they were launched. The party reached here at 2 p. 
 M., and I found it composed of Captain Eoach and 
 several men from the Kickerton station. They left 
 the station last Thursday, and are looking for wdiales. 
 I hope for a north or north-west wind within twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 July 1. — Calm and foggy the fore part of the day, 
 and the latter part we had a light breeze from the 
 west, which lasted only a few hours. In the evening 
 the wind came fresh from the south-east, with fog and 
 heavy rain. T can see no hope of escape for an in- 
 definite time. Eoach and party are encamped on the 
 ice in the little bay to the south-west of the hai*bor. 
 
 July 2. — Strong breeze from the south-east, with 
 fog and rain. The harbor is full of broken ice. 
 
 July 3. — Eain fell in torrents all night. This morn- 
 ing the sky was overcast and a fog prevailed. The 
 breeze was not quite as strong as it was j^esterday. 
 This evening there were indications of more rain. 
 There has been no change in the ice. The harbor is 
 still packed full. The Esquimaux come and go upon it 
 
WINTER IN CUMBERLAND GULF. 151 
 
 between the vessel and shore. The temperature was 
 somewhat cooler this evening. 
 
 July 4. — Rain commenced falling at 10 o'clock last 
 night and continued until 6 this morning, when the 
 wind veered to the west. All daj^ the wind was ligjlit 
 and the sky overcast. The rain-clouds hung heavily 
 and threateningly over us. This evening the wind 
 breezed freshly from the west and rain fell. The 
 harbor, which has been so packed with ice that it was 
 almost impossible to reach the shore with a boat, was 
 quite clear at 6 o'clock p. m. This is so, at least, in 
 the vicinity of the schooner, and we can reach the 
 shore once more. Two hours before this the male 
 Esquimaux came to the vessel over the broken pieces 
 of ice. The women and children, however, did not 
 venture. Roach is still detained here by the ice, but 
 if this wind holds I hope to see water in the morning, 
 which will free him and us also. 
 
152 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 *'avt ©Uivd. 
 
 Annanatook to Disco. 
 
 , July 5. — Last evening, after a contest of an hour or 
 two between the south-east and w^esterly winds, the 
 south-easter succumbed. We had quite a good breeze 
 during the night. This morning it was light, but, 
 notwithstanding this, 1 concluded to get under way. 
 Tiiere was some little difficulty in getting the Esqui- 
 maux, their dogs, kyacks, and all their traps on board; 
 but this was accomphshed by 3 o'clock p. m., and then 
 we started. Our first attempt was to get down the 
 south shore, but at the Gloucester Islands, about twelve 
 miles from the harbor, we met w^ith ice packed hard 
 against the land. Turning from that, w^e headed for 
 the north shore, which we managed to reach a little 
 below American Harbor, where we were again stopped 
 by the ice. We then attempted to enter American 
 Harbor, but the wind left us, and although we soon 
 had two boats towing, the strong current refused to let 
 us enter. So at 11 o'clock p. m., the time of the pres- 
 ent writing, we are dodging about in the ice. 
 . July 6. — Shortly after midnight last night the west- 
 erly wind died away, leaving us becalmed until morn- 
 ing. This morning, at 6 o'clock, the wind came from 
 the south-east. As the weather has had a threatening 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 153 
 
 appearance during the last twenty-four hours, I con- 
 cluded tliat the most prudent thing for us to do would 
 he to make a harhor as soon as possible. American 
 Harbor was then about twelve miles off, and was l)y 
 all a[)pearances free from ice. We endeavored once 
 more to enter this harbor and headed for it. Rain 
 soon began falHng, the breeze freshened, and the ice 
 to the south of ns was coming up before tlie wind. 
 We pressed on all canvas, and, in spite of the strong 
 currents, we reached an anchorage in the harbor at 
 10.30 A. M. The water is very deep here — twenty-five 
 fixthoms, with mud bottom. Although the weather is 
 bad, we manned a l)oat this afternoon, and Messrs. 
 Kumlein and Sherman went to the shore, the former 
 to collect specimens, and the latter to try, in the storm, 
 to get some photographs of the place. Rain fell heav- 
 ily all day and the wdnd this evening blew strong. It 
 is almost impossible, with the annoyance of the Esqui- 
 maux children, the howling of the dogs, and an unset- 
 tled mind, to get any rest. The babies cry, the dogs 
 howl, and the puppies cry, all in chorus. 
 
 July 7. — Until 2 o'clock a. m. the gale continued 
 with fearful violence. It was just as nmch as we could 
 do to breast the storm when walking from aft forward 
 on the vessel's deck. Rain poured down in torrents. 
 At 9 o'clock this evening we canted the schooner's 
 head in close to the island \vhich shelters her from the 
 
154 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 fury of the storm and drifting ice, and let go the big 
 anchor. Fortunately no heavy ice fouled the vessel, 
 nearly all of it sweeping some iifty yards to the east- 
 ward of where she lay. At 2 o'clock the wind abated. 
 All hands were called and the big anchor was hove 
 up, to prevent its fouling with the other anchor. 
 
 To-day we have westerly wind, with rain, hail, and 
 sleet at times. Mr. Sherman persisted in stopping on 
 shore last night to measure the tides and, if possible, 
 to do something else in his line. This morning I sent 
 a boat for him. He says he managed to get the tides, 
 and, judging by his appearance, I think also one of 
 the worst soakings he ever had. 
 
 July 8. — During the night the wind hauled to the 
 south-east, and was accompanied by rain, snow, and 
 sleet. At 12 meridian to-day the sun attempted to 
 shine, and did actually appear for a few minutes, and 
 then vanished. In spite of the bad weather, I con- 
 cluded to take a boat and an Esquimaux boat's-crew 
 and go down to see if there was anything left of the 
 whale, and if not to bring back our canvas tent, cut- 
 ting spades, tackle, &c., that were carried there in the 
 spring. We started at 10 a. m., and after a good long 
 pull, hauling over ice, and getting thoroughly wet, we 
 succeeded in reachinsr within about four hundred vards 
 of the carcass, where we were stopped by such ice as 
 one could neither haul over nor pull through without 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 155 
 
 running the risk of a stoven l)oat or a wet jacket. I 
 was m no humor for either of these alternatives, and 
 so we stopped. .We could see the carcass and cask. 
 They were still there; hut whether there is any oil 
 left in the hlubber, I cannot tell. We put about and 
 started for the schooner. We had considerable diffi- 
 culty in navigating through the ice to open water. 
 We reached the vessel at 9 o'clock p.m., having picked 
 up on the way a few ducks, a seal, and a white whale, 
 which latter we found dead. Mr. Kumlein, who was 
 with us, wished to save the bones of the whale for 
 specimens ; so I had it towed to a piece of ice, and, 
 hauling it out of the water, the Esquimaux soon dis- 
 sected it. We then put in the boat such parts of the 
 remains as we wished to preserve, and proceeded on 
 our way to the schooner. The ice is very much wast- 
 ed, and it cannot interfere with us much longer. 
 
 July 9. — We have a fresh breeze from the south-east 
 to-day. The weather is cloudy and a fog hangs heavily 
 over the land. Mr. Sherman is on shore, trying to ascer- 
 tain the elevation of some of the prominent mountains. 
 Mr. Kumlein is also on shore, cleaning and preparing 
 his white-whale specimen. The Esquimaux are assist- 
 ing him. We on board are getting water and break- 
 ing out provisions, — enough, I hope, to last until we 
 get clear of the Esquimaux ; and by getting out enough 
 provisions now we need not encroach upon their do- 
 
156 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 main until we arrive at Disco Island. The weather is 
 so very bad that I fear some of the skins which could 
 not be dried will spoil. 
 
 July 10. — Cloudy and foggy over the land. A fresh 
 breeze prevails from the south-east. Rain fell by spells 
 all night. There is considerable ice outside of the har- 
 bor. Mr. Kumlein and some of the Esquimaux were 
 oft' gathering specimens to-daj^ and Mr. Sherman was 
 engaged taking photographs of the surrounding coun- 
 try fromx the deck of the schooner. If there is an 
 opportunity, we will get under way again to-night or 
 to-morrow. 
 
 July 11. — Cloudy; occasional showers of rain. All 
 the morning the wind was light and variable. This 
 afternoon we had a light breeze from the north. The 
 ice outside of the harbor is in much the same condition. 
 Some of the skins which we have heretofore been 
 unable to dry, and which we had barreled up, were 
 found this morning to be spoiling. I therefore sent 
 them ashore, and the squaws with them, to dry them, 
 if possible. I fear it will be difficult to do so if the 
 prevailing showers continue. 
 
 The Esquimaux are oft* sealing in their boats. They 
 will, if possible, before their return, ascertain the posi- 
 tion of the ice to the south-east of us. But the wind 
 hangs to the south-east, and that is dead ahead. We 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DIvSCO. 157 
 
 have another niau down with a sore hand. • We were 
 employed to-day getting some fresh water; with tlie 
 Esquimaux and dogs, we use it very fast. 
 
 July 12. — Quite clear to-day. Our northerly wind 
 yesterday lasted about an hour; then it hauled to the 
 south-east and brought rain. It did not have any ap- 
 preciable effect on the ice outside. I sent a boat to 
 the point at which the whale Ues to bring back all our 
 gear remaining there. As it is getting late in the sea- 
 son we wall have no time to spare, and will therefore 
 have to leave at the first opportunity. 
 
 The Esquimaux shot two more oog-jooks yesterday. 
 The squaws are at work on the shore drying the skins. 
 For a wonder, it does not rain to-day. We had a light 
 breeze from the south, and the air is dark and heavy 
 down the gulf, as if another storm was close upon us. 
 The ice outside is merely a shell. With a fair wind 
 for a few hours we would be free. The boat returned 
 from the whale at 4 o'clock this afternoon. The crew 
 report considerable water below. We will try in the 
 morning to break through the ice between the vessel 
 and open water. We have quite a number of skins 
 on shore drying. 
 
 July 13. — Clear and fine. This morning at five 
 o'clock all hands were called to get under way. It 
 was calm, but the tide was at the flood, and I intended 
 
158 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 to take the strong ebb-tide, and, with the aid of the 
 freshet, get a good ofRng before the return tide. The 
 half-cured skins and the dogs were soon on board, we 
 tripped our anchor, and, with the aid of boats, soon 
 cleared the harbor. On getting well off shore a light 
 west wind rendered the use of boats no longer neces- 
 sary, and ihej were hoisted. We went along finely. 
 The water was as smooth as a mirror. We steered 
 directly for New N^orvion, on the south side of the gulf 
 and about ninety miles, distant. As we approached 
 this place we found it surrounded by ice, and while 
 working through this we heard several guns fire in 
 shore. We stood in the direction of the reports, and 
 soon saw two boats coming. They came alongside, 
 and proved to contain crews of Esquimaux who had 
 been in the service of the Scotch during the last year. 
 I soon got the information that they were off on a 
 deer-hunt, and that the Esquimaux who had promised 
 to go with me to the coast of Greenland had gone 
 deer-hunting several days ago. I endeavored to pre- 
 vail upon some of these to accompany me, but they 
 would not listen to it. I now paid off and left two 
 Esquimaux families that we had taken from Niantilic 
 to Annanatook last fall. This leaves me JSTep-e-ken 
 and his family, Ete-tun and his family. Chummy, and 
 Al-o-kee — four men, two squaws, and four children. 
 After getting clear of these Esquimaux we imme- 
 diately bore up for the Kickertons, then about fifty 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 150 
 
 miles distant. At 12 o'clock midnight we luid no 
 wind. At 12 o'clock midday on the 14th there was 
 still no wind, and one boat was out towing. We have 
 not force enough to man two boats. Kickerton was 
 at this time about eight miles oft*. I could see no 
 vessel in the harbor. 
 
 July 15. — Clear and fine. Yesterday we managed 
 to reach an anchorage at Kickerton Island by dint of 
 hard rowing, assisted a little by fitful winds. Here I 
 heard from Mr. Meech, wdio has charge of the Scotch 
 station now, that the vessels have all left for home, and 
 that Captain Koach has broken up the American sta- 
 tion by order of Mr. Williams, of New London ; also 
 that he and his crew have gone home by way of Scot- 
 land. Captain Roach left me two fine sleighs and 
 some jawM3ones of whales, to be used in making other 
 sleighs; also paint, kerosene oil, varnish, and a signal 
 lantern. Had w^e reached here a few days ago we 
 could liave procured quite an addition to our store of 
 skins. The Scotch vessels have all failed in the wlial- 
 ing this season. Two have got nothing ; one ship has 
 one whale and another two. We. are actively at work 
 getting everything in order for a final start to the coast 
 of Greenland. I sent a number of skins on shore this 
 morning to be cleaned and dried. They were spoiling. 
 
 July 16. — Cloudy and foggy. Yesterday afteinoon 
 
160 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 rain commenced falling. The skin -drying had, of 
 course, to be abandoned. We were employed to-day 
 preparing a place in the vessel's hold for the Esqui- 
 maux to live in during the passage to Greenland. 
 Rain fell in the latter part of the day. A strong wind 
 from the south-east prevailed. It was my intention 
 to get under way this evening, but I concluded to 
 remain here until there was a favorable change in the 
 weather. With the present weather we could make 
 no headway. 
 
 July 17, — Cloudy, with light, variable wind. This 
 m.orning we commenced to get the Esquimaux and 
 dogs on board for a start. By 1 o'clock p. m. this 
 was accomplished and we got under way. On getting 
 outside of the harbor we found the wind very light 
 from the south, scarcely strong enough to afford steer- 
 age-way. At the Kickerton Islancis we got an addition 
 of one native, three squaws, and two children to our 
 crew. We have now five men, five squaws, and five 
 children on board, and I think that will be enough. 
 We have also nearly thirty dogs, with sledges, &c. 
 We are now bound for Niantilic, to get some skins 
 left for me by Tes-e-wane, the native with whom we 
 left the trade last fall 
 
 July 18. — The weather remained calm until 9 
 o'clock last evening. Then we got a light breeze? from 
 
ANNANATOQK TO DISCO. 161 
 
 the south-south-east, almost directly ahead, as Niantilic 
 is south of the Kickertons. The breeze lasted until 12 
 midnight, when it died away, leaving us becalmed in 
 a thick fog. This morning, at 9 o'clock, the fog lifted, 
 and at 12 noon we were favored with another light 
 breeze from the same quarter as the one last night. 
 
 July 19. — Very fine weather. We managed to 
 reach Blacklead Island, five miles from Niantilic, at 
 
 3 o'clock this morning. I toc^k a boat and an Esqui- 
 maux crew and went on shore to allow the Esquimaux 
 to have a talk with their friends and relatives. We 
 bade them good-by and returned to the Florence, At 
 
 4 o'clock p. M. we set all sail, having a good breeze 
 from the north-west, and stood down the gulf. At 5 
 p. M. we were abreast of Leopold and Coburg Island, 
 ofl:* Cape Mercy. There is some Httle ice and a num- 
 ber of bergs, but nothing as yet to stop our way. The 
 weather is delightful. It is bright and sunny, with a 
 good strong breeze. Mr. Kumlein is now sketching 
 the cape, a very bold, time, weather, and ice worn 
 headland, in latitude 64° 50' north, longitude 63° 30' 
 west. 
 
 July 20. — We had fine weather and light variable 
 
 winds during the night. At 7 o'clock a. m. we dis- 
 
 coverecl a bear among the fioating ice-floes. It was 
 
 soon dispatched and on board, and it proved to. be 
 
 11 
 
162 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 quite a large one. To-day we had wind from the 
 south. At 12 meridian the weather was very fine, 
 with the barometer inclined downward. I think at 12 
 we were nearly, if not entirely, clear of the drifting 
 floes of ice. Some of them are very heavy, and, hav- 
 ing to force our way through a narrow stream, last 
 night we struck one of them a severe blow, which I 
 fear has set the schooner leaking somewhat. Cape 
 Walsingham was in sight this noon. 
 
 July 21. — The weather is very bad. We have 
 strong winds and thick fog. The Florence is under 
 close -reefed sails, and we are beating at random 
 through the fog. I hoped last night that we were 
 clear of ice, but we still lind plenty of it, and it is 
 heavy, there being many bergs, making navigation 
 dangerous. 
 
 July 22. — The weather is still foggy. Yesterday, 
 toward evening, the wind died awa}^ leaving us almost 
 becalmed. The air still remained denselj^ thick with 
 fog, but we went groping along among the floes. 
 Upon going to the mast-head I could see no outlet 
 ahead; — nothing but a mass of heavy floes. To the 
 north-east there was the appearance of water, but 
 how much it was impossible to tell. . I detern^ined to 
 get the vessel there if possible. All hands were called, 
 and both boats were put ahead to tow and assist in 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 163 
 
 tacking the schooner, as it was almost calm and there 
 was but small beating space between the floes. One 
 boat was manned hj the Esquimaux ; the other by our 
 own crew. By their aid and quick work we managed 
 to get the schooner into water where there was room 
 to work her, when all hands were called on board. 
 Sail was made to beat up to the north-east to the open 
 water. At this time the fog shut down again, but I 
 had taken the bearings of the water, and, having a 
 little breeze, I supposed I would soon reach it. We 
 now took in the flying-jib and gafftopsail, hauled the 
 jib to the mast, and lay-to. 
 
 July 23. — Ice in every direction ; thick fog and rain ; 
 wind from the south-east. We are dodging in a hole 
 of water. How much water or how much ice there is 
 around us, we cannot tell in this thick weather. It is 
 w^eary work. Time is shpping fast and it is impossible 
 to do anj^thing. This is the third day of thick weather 
 and easterly winds. 
 
 July 24. — Heavy wand from the east ; weather thick 
 and rainy. We have been beating all day to the east 
 through the broken floes. This evening, at 7.30, we 
 tied up to a piece of ice. The weather is very hard. 
 We have a head-wind and plenty of ice. We are now 
 in latitude 66^ north, longitude 59° west. There ap- 
 pears to be no end to the ice. The nights are some- 
 
164 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 what dark at midnight, and that, with the fog and a 
 gale of wind, renders it dangerous to attempt to work 
 through the floating masses. We have been all day 
 under close-reefed sails. 
 
 July 25. — The heavy wind from the east continues. 
 Last night we were busy until 12 o'clock trying to 
 keep the vessel from collision with the heavy floes. 
 There is quite a swell under the ice, and it is very 
 dangerous to let the schooner get between two floes 
 or bergs, as there are spurs projecting under the water 
 from them all. At 12 the wind died away, leaving us 
 fog and rain. This morning the sun was out, but the 
 weather had a threatening look. At 12 meridian our 
 latitude was 65° 55' north and our longitude 58° west. 
 It is the only day since our departure from Mantilic 
 that was favorable for an observation. After 12 it 
 commenced to blow, with rain and thick weather. 
 The barometer is very low and still inclined down. 
 Everybody is gloomy, and even the dogs howl in their 
 distress. It is, indeed, a gloomy and cheerless time. 
 Never before have I experienced such a continuation 
 of bad weather on this coast. 
 
 July 26. — Cloudy and hazy; fresh breeze from 
 south-south-east. At 10 a. m. we cast off' oar lines 
 from the piece of floe to which we had been fastened 
 the last two days. We then made sail and commenced 
 
ANNAN ATOOK TO DISCO. 165 
 
 working to windward. The ice is quite close, and a 
 vessel longer than the Florence would scarcely work 
 through it. Last night, at 12, a very heavy wind pre- 
 vailed. Yesterday afternoon one of the Esquimaux 
 came and asked me to let one of the women ankoot 
 for better weather. I could see that they were getting 
 nervous over the long spell of bad weather ; so, to 
 encourage them, I consented to give her a skirt as a 
 fee. They had it hot and heavy last night. The re- 
 sult was somewhat better weather this morning, but 
 the wind was still ahead. We were at noon in lati- 
 tude 65° 55' north, longitude 58° west. 
 
 July 27. — Cloudy, with strong breeze from the south- 
 south-west. At 8 o'clock last evening we succeeded 
 in getting out of the ice. We came out under close- 
 reefed sails, and if the schooner Florence was ever in 
 danger of having her sides stove in, she was then. 
 We pressed on all the canvas she could bear on get- 
 ting out, so as to make an opening and get clear of 
 bergs and scattered pieces, but at 1 o'clock a. m. the 
 sea was so heavy and the wind so strong that we were 
 compelled to come under storm-sails. The poor Es- 
 quimaux and dogs suffer a great deal, as they are not 
 accustomed to the sea. We have the Esquimaux and 
 the puppies battened down in the hold of the vessel. 
 
 July 28. — Hazy, but sun shone, with light breeze 
 
166 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 from east and north-east. We kept oft' for Disco yes- 
 terday as the wind moderated. We are now about 
 eighty-five miles from the island, and are running 
 wdth light wind. 
 
 July 29. — Yesterday afternoon our light wind and 
 fair weather did not last long. Toward evening the 
 wind commenced to blow from the north-north-east, 
 and by 2 a. m. we were under storm-sails. The weather 
 had a most ominous appearance. The wind swept 
 down upon us with great force. Shortly after a dense 
 black bank of cloud came sweeping down toward the 
 schooner, and we were soon enveloped in as dense a 
 black fog as I ever saw. The fog had a tendency to 
 kill the wind somewhat, but we were under storm-sails 
 all night. This morning we set foresail and mainsail, 
 both close reefed, with bonnet out of jib. At 10 a. m. 
 the sea is still quite bad and the weather no better; 
 thick and rainy. We are near land and not far from 
 Disco Island, but dare not steer for it in this dense 
 weather and heavy sea. This evening the wind was 
 from the western quarter, direct!}^ on the land, but I 
 am very uncertain whether it will remain there. One 
 of our dogs died or was killed last night. 
 
 July 30. — Cloudy, with light breeze from the north- 
 north-east and quite a heavy swell. Kain fell heavily 
 all night and the air was thick. This morning the 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DIteCO. 167 
 
 coast of Greenland was in sight, about fifty miles dis- 
 tant. The wind is directly ahead, and it is light; the 
 swell is heavy. We are making but httle headway. 
 We have now lost two dogs. A great many birds are 
 in sight, and we have passed hundreds. 
 
 July 31. — Cloud3% and very thick at times. Yes- 
 terday evening the wind hauled to the north. Rain 
 has commenced falling again, and the atmosphere has 
 become foggy. I can only guess as to our position, as 
 it has been impossible to get observations. At 11 
 o'clock we sighted the island. We made Fortune 
 Bay, a short distance to the west of the harbor of Disco. 
 The wind left us at 5 o'clock A. m. I called all hands 
 and sent two boats ahead to tow. The air had become 
 so thick that at times, though close in, we could not 
 see the shore ; but we pulled through and managed to 
 get safely anchored at 8 o'clock a. m. Here we tind a 
 Danish bark, but no American vessel. 
 
 August 1. — Cloudy and foggy; wind south-east. 
 Two steamers hove in sight to-day from the north. 
 One came into the harbor and towed out the Danish 
 bark, the captain of which is bound to Upernavik. The 
 Danish and Scotch vessels have been unable to reach 
 Upernavik this season on account of ice. This has 
 been one of the most icy seasons known for many 
 years. We caught quite a quantity of codfish to-day, 
 
168 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 which, of course, made a feast for us. We are looking 
 anxiously for the expedition. 
 
 August 5. — The weather during the last four days 
 has been very fine, and we have taken advantage of it 
 to paint our vessel. Every morning the Esquimaux 
 are sent to feed the dogs^ which have been landed on 
 one* of the outer islands, and there they remain until 
 night. We have no communication whatever with 
 the people on shore. On our arrival here Governor 
 Smith was absent. One or two of his subordinates 
 to-day came alongside and informed me that the Gov- 
 ernor had left orders that there should be no commu- 
 nication between the vessel and shore. I asked the 
 reason of this strange order, and was informed that 
 one Captain Adams of the Scotch steamer Arctic had 
 been here in the early spring and told the Governor 
 that the Esquimaux and crew of the schoonev Florence 
 were all diseased. I asked permission to land my 
 dogs remote from the town, which was accorded. 
 The following day one of the inhabitants came off in 
 a kyack, paddled alongside, and brought me some late 
 papers. Messrs. Sherman and Kumlein, with an Es- 
 'quimaux crew, went to the Blue Mountains to-day, 
 for the purpose of ascertaining something about the 
 meteoric stones found there. 
 
 August 6. — Cloudy and foggy. It is difficult to tell, 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 169 
 
 in this little basin, which way the wind is from. Messrs. 
 Sherman and Kumlein have not returned yet. We 
 were employed to-day scraping our masts and booms. 
 I feel very .ranch disappointed at the non-appearance 
 of the expedition and at having received no word from 
 Captain Howgate or from home. There is a I'umor 
 here that the American Government has bought the 
 English steamer Pandora, and that she is to come here. 
 
 August 7. — ^^Very fine weather. Having about all 
 our work done, the crew were oft* fishing to-day, to 
 make our provisions hold out. Messrs. Sherman and 
 Kumlein returned this morning at 4 o'clock. They 
 found the place at which Nordenskjold discovered me- 
 teoric stones and brought back a few specimens ; very 
 small ones, however. They were told by a native 
 whom they found encamped near by that he knew the 
 locality of two large ones. If the weather permits we 
 will try to find them. Mr. Kumlein has been quite 
 successful in his line, as he has got several rare birds. 
 
 August 8. — Quite fine weather. Last night it was 
 very foggy. We were employed to-day getting fresh 
 water and fishing for codfish, on which latter we dine 
 every day. We made a trade to-day for a piece of 
 meteoric stone from the BUie Mountains. One of the 
 natives brought it. It will weigh about two pounds. 
 
170 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 August 9. — Veiy fine weather. We have, of course, 
 daylight during most of the twenty-four hours, and 
 nearly contmuous sunshine. If it were not for the 
 mosquitoes one could enjoy a ramble on the shore. 
 They number millions, and even attack us on the ves- 
 sel. Several of the crew are fairly poisoned with their 
 bites. Messrs. Sherman and Kumlein again went to 
 the Blue Mountains to-day, and were accompanied by 
 a native boat-crew. They were provided with tackle, 
 crowbars and rope, to raise any meteoric stones that 
 they may find, if not too heavy. If they find any 
 stones so heavy that they cannot raise them, I will go 
 dbwn with the schooner, if the weather permits, and 
 render assistance. A l>anish brig entered the harbor 
 last evening. 
 
 August 10. — Very fine weather. The crew were 
 off" fishing to-day. We must catch fish for dog -food, 
 as we have no other. The name of the Danish brig is 
 the Whalejish, and the captain's name is Kettles. The 
 captain was on board last evening. He cannot speak 
 much English, nor can I much Danish, but we man- 
 age to understand each other. This morning a small 
 schooner of about ten tons came in. 
 
 August 11. — Cloudy and cool. It is the only day 
 since we came here on which we have not been riio- 
 lested by mosquitoes. The wind is from the north 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 171 
 
 and east, and the atmosphere is somewhat foggy over 
 the hmd. Messrs. Sherman and Kumlein returned 
 last evening. Sherman found two fair specimens of 
 what is supposed to be meteoric stone. Kumlein se- 
 cured a tounkfish and some few birds. He also added 
 somewhat to his collection in botany. It is Sunday, 
 and the little bell on shore summoned the people to 
 church. We have no communication with them. 
 Every day the boats from shore, containing the half- 
 breeds of the settlement, come around the schooner to 
 gaze upon the West Land Esquimaux, but none of 
 these visitors are allowed on board. There is now^ 
 scarcely a pure-blooded Esquimaux on the coast of 
 Greenland. Light hair, red hair, and blue eyes are 
 •c^ommon. No expedition yet. We are out of fuel. 
 
 August 12. — Strong wind to-day, but pleasant with- 
 al. We were employed to-day getting water. We 
 will get under way on the '15th, if the weather is favor- 
 able. 
 
 August 13. — Cloudy weather, with a strong breeze 
 from the north-east. We were employed to-day fish- 
 ing. Mr. Kumlein is repainting the name of the 
 schooner, which had been erased when she received 
 her new coat of paint, soon after our arrival here. 
 .Mr. Smith, the inspector, sent a boat yesterday after- 
 noon with a request for me to come on shore, as he 
 
172 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 wished to see me. He says that the surgeon and cap- 
 tain of the steamer Arctic informed him that there was 
 a great deal of sickness among the Esquimaux in the 
 gulf, and that it was only to protect his own Esquimaux 
 from disease that he issued the order forbidding com- 
 munication with us. I shall get what I need here, — 
 some little coal, some sugar, coffee, and tobacco. 
 Then I must take the Esquimaux and their dogs to 
 their native land. After that w^e shall be homeward 
 bound ! Mr. Smith informs me that he read in a 
 Danish paper that the expedition had been postponed 
 until next year. 
 
 August 14. — We are having another spell of bad 
 weather. The wind is from the north-east, but it is 
 only local, as there is a heavy sea comhig from the 
 south and east. Kain is falling. Mr. Kumlein, Mr. 
 Sherman, and myself were on shore to-day, and dined 
 with the inspector. This is the first sign of civiliza- 
 tion we have had the pleasure of seeing for more than 
 a year. Mr. Smith has a very pleasant family, and so 
 has Mr. Fingers, the government store-keeper. I 
 bought of the inspector one and a half tons of coal, 
 forty pounds of coffee, forty pounds of sugar, and 
 twenty-five pounds of tobacco. 
 
 The Danish brig left early this morning. I expected 
 to leave to-morrow, but Mr. Smith is looking constant-- 
 ly for dispatches by two vessels that sailed from Den- 
 
ANNANATOOK TO DISCO. 173 
 
 mark in July, and he thinks there will Ije letters for 
 the Florence by them. The straits have not been so 
 full of ice for many years. 
 
 August 15. — Very bad weather. The wind strong 
 from the south-east. It is raining also. We did noth- 
 ing to-day, as it was stormy. We will wait till better 
 weather before \ve get our coal, &c. 
 
 August 18. — The weather for the last three days has 
 been anything but good. We have had strong wind 
 and rain continuously. To-day we made an attempt 
 to feed our dogs, but were unable to effect a landing 
 on account of the heavy sea. It rained very hard. 
 The wind here in the harbor is eastw^ard, but outside 
 it must be from the south-east, or we would not have 
 had such a sea. The inspector is looking every mo- 
 ment for late letters from Denmark, and we hope to 
 receive some also. 
 
 August 21. — Yesterday we had clear weather, for 
 the first time in several days. To-day it is also pleas- 
 ant. Neither letters nor vessels have arrived. The 
 inspector fears for the safety of the vessels. We, of 
 course, cannot wait much longer. 
 
174 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 ^OMEWARD EOUND. 
 
 August 22. — This evening, at 8 o'clock, we got un- 
 der way. About the time we were starting word came 
 from the shore that a Danish vessel was in sight. The 
 inspector came on board and wished me to await her 
 arrival, as he thought she must have letters for us. 
 But I had waited long enough and was determined to 
 go. I bought of the inspector a half-ton more coal, 
 forty pounds of sugar, forty pounds of coffee, twenty- 
 five pounds of tobacco, and three hundred and seven- 
 ty-tive pounds of bread. If the pack-ice is at Cum- 
 berland now, we may be a month landing the Esqui- 
 maux and the dogs, and it is only prudent that we 
 should provide for such an emergency. On getting 
 out to the island where our dogs have been domiciled 
 during our stay at Disco, I sent a boat for them, and 
 as soon as the}' were on board we started down the 
 straits. 
 
 August 23. — Weather quite line; wind to the north- 
 west. We have sighted ice, and are steering a little 
 on the coast of Greenland to avoid it. 
 
 August 24. — We have a fresh breeze from the east- 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 175 
 
 south-east, accompanied by rain. We were under 
 storm-sails in the evening or early night. The wind 
 is increasing and the rain continues. 
 
 August 25. — Strong wind from south-east. We are 
 under storm-sails. The weather is rainy and thick. 
 The Esquimaux are barred down under the hatches.. 
 The doo-s sufter a OTcat deal from the sea washino; over 
 them and from hunger. 
 
 August 26. — The weather to-day was, if anything, 
 worse than yesterday. 
 
 August 27. — Last night was one of the worst I ever 
 passed at sea. The wind blew heavily and the sea ran 
 high. We are surrounded by many icebergs, which 
 we see occasionall}^ through the storm. The greater 
 part of the tirpe, however, we cannot see more than 
 ten yards from the schooner. So far we have drifted 
 clear of ever3^thing. The gale began to abate this 
 afternoon. The wind hauled to the south and the 
 atmospViere cleared a little. At 3.30 p. m. land was 
 sighted. I instantly wore the vessel around, put the 
 jib on, shook one reef out of the foresail, and, with her 
 head offshore, let her go. The sea was running very 
 high, and at every plunge the schooner's head would 
 disappear beneath the waves; so we had to reef the 
 
176 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 foresail again; with bob-jib, close-reefed foresail, and 
 storm-staysail we worked oft' shore. 
 
 August 31. — For nearly three days we have had 
 quite cairn weather. The wind was very light, and 
 fog prevailed the greater part of the time. Last night 
 we doubled Cape Mercy, and reached Mantilic Har- 
 bor at 3 o'clock p. M. to-day. Here we found the 
 American schooner Franklin, of New^ Bedford, Massa- 
 chusetts. We heard from Captain Church, of the 
 Franklin, that a bark from the same place is at the 
 Kickertons. 
 
 September 2. — Yesterday, being Sunday, w^e rested, 
 and indeed the men need rest; for they have had but 
 little for the last nine days. To-day I discharged the 
 Esquimaux. I gave them one boat, four guns, all the 
 remaining ammunition, two opera-glasses, one suit of 
 clothing each, nearly all of the Danish bread we bought 
 at Disco, some little molasses, and one tent. We will 
 now get water and prepare for the home voyage. 
 
 September 8. — We have been quite idle during the 
 last six days. The wind has been principally from the 
 south, when a calm did not prevail. Yesterday a rain- 
 storm came, accompanied by very strong wind from 
 the south-east. To-day the wind is from the west. I 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 177 
 
 shall wait until the full of the luoou before startins; 
 for home. 
 
 September 11. — We have a high wind from the 
 north -west to-day. I intended to start for home 
 this morning, but the wind blew so strong that it was 
 impossible to get our anchors. Yesterday we had a 
 south-east snow-storm. The land is covered with 
 snow, and it looks like early w^inter. The fresh-water 
 ponds are freezing. Ice is also making on our decks. 
 The water has fallen in temperature the last three days 
 from plus 38° to plus 33°. 
 
 September 12. — All 3'esterday and up to 12 o'clock 
 last nio-ht the wind blew from the north-west w^ith ter- 
 rible violence. The vessel trembled in every timber. 
 Both anchors are ahead and both chains are out their 
 full length. At times the snow was so dense that we 
 could see only a few yards. At 12 midnight the wind 
 abated and hauled to the south-east. It is still snow- 
 ing heavily. I wish to get under w^ay, but cannot in 
 such weather. It is very cold and ice is making fast. 
 
 September 13. — Yesterday afternoon the wind veer- 
 ed again to the west. At 3.30 o'clock we got under 
 way. At 5 o'clock the wind blew heavily, accompa- 
 nied at times with snow. We are running under close- 
 reefed foresail and bonnet out of jib. Toward mid- 
 12 
 
178 • THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 night the storm abated a httle. Snow stopped falUiig, 
 and I am glad of it; for there are many bergs about. 
 The sea is very heavy, and as it sweeps across our 
 decks it leaves them covered with pash-ice. One sea 
 came over the stern, and a portion of it landed in the 
 cabin. To-day the weather is better, but we have a 
 strong breeze from the west. At noon we sighted 
 Lady Frankhn Island. There are many bergs here- 
 about. Yesterday, on coming out of the harbor, we 
 spoke the Eliza P. Simmons, schooner. Captain James 
 Budington. He came on board and informeci us that 
 his vessel passed last winter in Eepulse Bay. The 
 w^haling having failed there, he has come to the gulf 
 in the hope of getting something this fall. Captain 
 Spicer's bark Nile is also here, and has hkewise failed. 
 The schooner Era, Captain Miner, is at New-gum- 
 eute, clean. All three vessels wintered in Hudson's 
 Straits last winter. 
 
 September 14. — Weather quite fiiie to-day. Yester- 
 day and last night we had a strong breeze from the 
 west and north-west. A very heavy sea is running. 
 We have passed many bergs and smaller pieces of ice. 
 The small pieces are the most dangerous, as it is diffi- 
 cult to see them in the night, especially when we are 
 running in heavy weather. It is difficult at times to 
 distinguish ice from sea-caps. At noon we were in 
 latitude 60^ 10'. We have made a run in the last two 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. * 170 
 
 days of three himdred and fifty miles. Ice made quite 
 freelj^last night, but the temperature is moderating to- 
 ilay. Many bergs were in sight this afternoon. Tlie 
 barometer is high, and the cirrus clouds denote* more 
 wind. Our longitude is approximately 62° west. We 
 are about sixty miles oft* Cape Chidleigli, the south 
 cape of Hudson's Straits. We had snow-squalls 
 through the night. 
 
 September* 15. — Last evening the wind veered to 
 the east. The clouds had a dark and threatening 
 appearance, and we all looked for another storm. 
 Through the night, however, the weather remained 
 very moderate ; indeed, nearly calm. We had occa- 
 sional snow-squalls, but there was only slight wind in 
 them. The weather has been calm nearly all day to- 
 day. This ^veiling we have a light breeze from the 
 north. We still see bergs. Our longitude, by obser- 
 vation, is 60° 7' west; latitude at nobn 58° 59'. 
 
 September 16. — Cloudy, heavy -looking weather. 
 The wind this afternoon hauled from north-west to 
 south-west. We had considerable snow and a very 
 strong breeze last night. In fact, the wind, if we had 
 not been running oft' before it, would have been called 
 a gale. One berg was seen last night. Many land 
 birds are around us, some of which come on board, 
 
180 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 rest awhile, and then depart landward. Latitude at 
 noon 57° 9' north, longitude 58° 25' west. 
 
 September 17. — Yesterday evening the wind hauled 
 to the south-east. It soon increased to a strong breeze, 
 accompanied by rain. The temperature, which has 
 been quite low, has moderated. The wind in the night 
 brought us down to storm-sails, but it has decreased 
 to-day. It is raining. We have seen no ice since 
 night before last. 
 
 September 18. — We had calm weather last night. 
 This morning, at 4 o'clock, the wind breezed from 
 the south-south-east and brought a very dense fog with 
 it. We are making very slow progress. The wdnd is 
 dead ahead. 
 
 September 19. — Yesterday evening the wind blew^ 
 strong from the south-south-east, with rain. Toward 
 midnight it veered to the south-w^est and brought the 
 Florence down to storm-sails. This morning it was 
 more moderate, but was still sti'ong. We kept oft' 
 under three reefed sails. The day is clear and bright. 
 A heavy sea is running. At noon our latitude was 
 55° 46' north, longitude 53° 39' west. 
 
 September 20. — Wind strong from the south. The 
 vessel is under storm -sails. Raining. The weather 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 181 
 
 is the worst tliat can be imagined. One cannot con- 
 ceive anything eqnal to it. One storm follows another 
 in quick succession. Night after night we do not 
 know what it is to undress to sleep. It seems as though 
 all our efforts are required to keep the schooner above 
 water. 
 
 September 21. — We were under storm-sails all night. 
 Toward morning the wind veered to the west and staid 
 in that quarter two or three hours. It was very light, 
 however. At daybreak it hauled to the east, but con- 
 tinued light. As there was a heavy sea running, it 
 was impossible to make any sail. At 9 a. m. I put 
 three reefed sails on the vessel. There were then a 
 strong breeze from the south-east, a thick fog, and a 
 heavy swell, from yesterday's and last night's gale. 
 If this weather continues much longer we shall all be 
 web-footed. At 3 p. m. we again hove-to under close- 
 reefed foresail, with the wind about south true and 
 south-west by compass. The variation is 45° to the 
 west. Latitude 55° north, longitude 51° west. 
 
 September 22. — All last night the wind raged furi- 
 ously. We had no sail on the schooner except close- 
 reefed foresail, with the throat hauled down and the 
 storm-staysail loweVed, so as to expose as little canvas 
 as possible to the fury of the blast. Toward morning 
 the wind abated, and at a, m. it had ceased entirelv. 
 
182 THE CRUISE OF THE FLORENCE. 
 
 We are iiow lying rolling in the heavy swell left by 
 the gale. The weather is cloudy and heavy-looking. 
 
 September 23. — We lay all day yesterday wallowing 
 in the swell. At 3 p. m. a heavy, dense fog set in, and 
 at 8 a breeze came from the north-east, bringing rain. 
 The weather soon became squally, the wind coming 
 from north-east and north. The night was intensely 
 dark and stormy. At 11 p. m. the jibstay parted. 
 As this supported our mast, quick work was necessary 
 to secure it. All hands w^ere called and all sail w^as 
 taken off the vessel, and she was kept directly before 
 the wind, to continue that course until such time as 
 the miast could be secured by tackle. In doing this 
 she reeled heavily and put three men under water, but 
 fortunately the plunge did no other damage. By 1 
 o'clock A. M. everything had been secured, and we re- 
 sumed our course under the squaresail. This morning 
 the wind was north, or a little west of north. I set a 
 close-reefed foresail. Eaining and blowing fresh. 
 
 September 24. — Yesterday, at 11.30 a. m., the wind 
 hauled to the north-east and rapidly increased in force. 
 A very heavy sea was running. At 12 meridian w^e 
 came under storm-sails. 
 
 September 25. — The gale has been most terrific. 
 At times we thought the little schooner could not live 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 183 
 
 through it. It moderated this evening and rain com- 
 menced falHng. At 11 p. m. we kept oft' under close- 
 reefed foresail, storm-staysail, and bonnet ofl' jib. 
 
 September 26. — Came to anchor at St. Johns, New- 
 foundland, and here will rest awhile to recruit. While 
 here we will repair our jibstay and bend a new fore- 
 sail. In such weather as we have had we need every- 
 thing new and strong. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 029 708 233 4