The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-11-04 00:00:00

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.

NARRATIVE OF THE CUAPLAIN OF
THE "DISCOVERY."
The Times of Tuesday publishes the following harra-
tive, as given by the Rev. Mr. Hodson, Chaplain of
the Discovery. After referring to the first incidents of
the trip, already reported in despatches from Uper-
navik, he goes on to say :
"We next arrived at a settlement called Proven, where we
took on board an Esquimaux dog driver, named Hans
Christian, who had accompanied Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, and
Captain Hall in their respective expeditions. In about a day
afterwards we arrived at Uperavik, which is the most
northerly Danish settlement of any importance, and from
here we made our last communication by means of letters
with home. We only remained here pert of the day, and
left in the evening. We then proceeded north through
Baffin's Bay, and arrived at Cape York on Vie 25th of July,
where we saw a number of Highlander Enanimaux, who came
in dog sledges over the floe to the sides ef the ships.
We get into the ice I should have mentioned,
' soon after leaving Cape Farewell and met with occasional
Ice all along • but we were not seriotuly obstructed
by it up to this. We waited here—Cape York—two or three
hours; on leaving which one of our boats harpooned a whale
and we gave some skin and blubber to the Elquimaux, who
devoured it most ravenously. We then proceeded northward,
passed the Crimson Cliffs, and after a few days arrived at
Port Foulke, the winter quarters of Dr. Kane, where we
spent a day; and here one party of ours had a ramble on
I Brother John ' glacier, during which they shot a bear, the
only one seen during the whole time we were out. They
also shot a lot of birds. The next morning we left
Port Foulke, and crossed Smith Sound. Being somewhat
obstructed by the ice we succeeded in reaching Cape
Isabella in two days. We had to steam, being unable to'cail,
as there was no wind up there, and sometimes we had to
wait until the ice opened out to give us a passage, We
were delayed here about three weeks by the ice, during
which we found some Eiquimaux remains on shore. We
-kVA no vestige a -Dr. Hayes travels, except at Port
Foulke, where we found-the remains of his expedition—a
journal, a few books, and documents. The place in which
e found the Esqulmaux remains is called Hagers Sound,
and it!; situated at the other side of Smith sound. We cruised
about there for tome time, and gradually worked up to the
north of Hayes Sound, and reached Cape Frazer, where we
were delayed some few days by the ice. Alter that we
crossed Kennedy Channel. by the east side, and entered
Peterman Fiord. We left there after a few hours and crossed
the Channel again, arriving in the commodious; harbour on
the 2eth of August. This was Made the winter quarters of
the Discovery. The Alert left us after a couple of days, and
proceeded further northward for 60 miles, where her further
progress was obstructed by heavy ice, and she wintered
there in the west side of the Channel, Robeson Channel, as
it is there called. I should have mentioned that the Alert,
which preceded the Discovery, was the first to enter the com-
modious harbour where the Discovery wintered, and here
they saw 54 musk oxen, 11 of whim' they succeeded in
shooting. After the Discovery got into the harbour
the crew commenced unloading her of boats, spars, dcc., in
order that they might prepare for winter. About a week
afterwards the frost set in, the sea became frozen all
round the ship, and they were able to leave the ship in
about a week and tale° to the ice. We managed to shoot
a number of musk oxen during the autumn, 30 or 40,
I think, and a few more in the present year. The harbour
was surrounded by hills of perhaps 2,090 feet high,
and we gave it the name of Discovery Harbour. Close to
the ship's anchorage there seas a place which enanled us
to land with ease. When the harbour was frozen all
rouuit sledging commenced, and they made short sledging
expilliitions, though not much in this way was done during
the autumn by our ship, but the harbour was surveyed by
the men and officers going out in dog sledges. As soon as
the ice was strong enough to hear it, we common :eel building
round the ship houses of ice for magnetic observations. We
first of all built a smithy, with gable ends, which was finished
on the 11th of November, 1876. Our blacksmith and stoker
were dressed in sealskins, and they found the walls of the
smithy remarkably conveeient for cooling their Loon, and in,
the course of time the walls became penetrated in holes right
through. We built an ice theatre, which we opened on the;
anniversary of the Princess of Wales' birthday, and called*
It Alexandra. It took about ten days' work of the whole
ship's company to build it. It was COM long and 2711.
broad, the root being made of sails, and snow and water
being used for cements. It contained a green room, a draw-
ing room, and stage raised one foot above the body of the
theatre
"Mr. Miller, one of our engineers, drew out the designs;
for, all-the btelldines. The theatre was opened with the!
farce, My Turn Next, acted by some of the officers, and:
some sop gs 'were eubsequently sung from time to time during
the winter. Plays were acted in this theatre by the officers:
and men alternately. On the 6th of November we had a'
bora], e on the ice and burned "Guy," and we let cif rockets
ant blue lights. We lost the sun in the middle of October,
and there were splendid effects in the sky about that time.
The hills assumed a gold and purple tint from the time the
sun disappeared until its return. The men had an extra glass
of grog served out to them, a walk of a mile in length was
made upon the ice by scraping away the snow, and this walk
for exercise was kept clear during the winter. We also con-
structed a skating rink near the ship, as the surface was very
rough, and we accomplished this by clearing away a large
circle of snow, and then poutettg water over the cleared space,
which soon became frozenLai4 much better ice. We always
kept a hole in the ice for the purpose of getting a supply of
water, and the ice over this was broken every belt hour.
From time to time this aperture closed up, and then it had
to be sawn up or else retested with powder, which used to
shake the whole ship. The dogs were allowed to winter out
on the floe, but they did not appear to mind the cold in the
least The changes of temperature were wry rapid and re-
markable. I have known it to change 60 deg in a few hours.
The coldest weather we experienced was in March, when one
night the glass showed 701 deg. below zero, which is the coldest
temperature yet reported by an expedition. During this time
We wore very thick underclothing of bet cloth, very thick
blue cloth troueers or seal skins. The first intimation we
had of Christmas was hearing Sergeant Making, the boat-
swain's mate, and a few others going round the ship at four
am. sit:ging hymns and Chestnut; carols. In the toren° n
the captain and officers visited the men on the lower deck,
and, after admiring the Christmas decorations, distributed
presents given by friends in England. The names of those
for whom the presents were intended had been already
affixed to them. After the distribution of the presents
cheers were given for the donors, for the captain, and for
,bient comrades in the Alert. The officers spent a happy
Caristmas Day also. They had brought some sheep with
them, which got frozen in the rigging, and were thus
preserved. Tne festivities wound up with the singing of
' The Roast Beef of Old England.'
"The winter passed gradually away, and the men had' to
draw fresh ice from the berg about halt a mile distant on
sledges for the purpose of supplying fresh water. It was
perfeAly dark during the whole winter, except when we got
the moon. It was dark from November until February.
The sun returned on the last day of February, but we could
not see it until the 4th of March, owing to the fog and mist
which prevailed. Near the end of March a sledge with two
men arrived from the Alert, and the glass was then standing
at a minus of 40, about 70 deg. below freezing point, and
they had a jouriey of about al.l days in a dog sledge.
They all started a week before in still colder weather,
but were compelled to return in three or four days, because
Petersen, the Danish interpreter, was severely frost bitten.
They returned to the Alert, and brought hire back just
alive, as he died soon after. Directly after they reached the
Discovery, preparations began to be made for sledging. Two
officers and three men set out Ins dog sledge across Robeson
Channel to Hall's Rest, the winter quarters of the Polaris,
to report any stores that might be found there. Five days
after this another party, consisting of eight men and one
officer, went on an exploration of Lady Franklin Sound.
I They were supported by another sledge party of 11 men in
charge of an officer, who carried provisions, enc. There
I were therefore 4i of the men from the Discovery ein-
ployed in explorations, 24 being up north and 20 being
engaged in Lady Franklin Sound. The latter part
were accompanied by Captain Stephenson and five men,
with a dog sledge, but the Captain returned in a
week. The support party returned in a fortnight with
their sledge broken and damaged from the difficulty which
they experienced in getting over the rugged ice. One of the
men, a marine, had been attacked with frost bite and he had
to be dragged. The explorers in Lady Franklin Sound con-
tinned their journey until they established the fact that the
sound was not what it was supposed to be—a strait, but a
sound or fiord, about 60 miles deep. At the end of this
seuud they obseived three or four glaciers falling down the
bill,, which were estimated to be about 3,000 ft. high. They
also saw a herd of musk oxen, which on the approach of the
' expedition bolted wildly up the steep side of the hill, throw-
ing down great masses of loose stones. Not ce e of these
antmais could be shot, though at the time fresh food
would have been desirable, owing to scurvy having
manifested itself. It was observable that at certain
seasons these oxen were quite tame, while at other
times they showed a contrary disposition. The
Lady Franklin Sound party returned after about three
or )ur weeks. It was now May, and the weather was be.
ginning to get very much warmer; the ice was rapidly melt-
ing and the glass on one occasion registered 120 degrees he
the sun. A few days after the return of the Lady Franklin
Sound sledge party they set out to cross to Hall's Rest at
Polaris Boy, taking with them a quantity of provisions, for
the purpose of supporting the North Greenland party on
their way south. They also carried with them a lifeboat in
case the ice should break up in the channel. This was
afterwards found to be a necessary precaution, for the ice
had broken up, and they could not have crossed to Polaris
Bay but for the boat. Having laid out a depot a few miles
to the north, and left two officers and two men behind with
a dog sledge, they proceeded to explore Peterman Fiord.
They could not, however, proceed more than 28 miles up,
having been ..stopped by very heavy glaciers and
Ice with large crevices. Being thus Impeded, the
party retraced their steps, calling at the depat near Polaris
Bay. Here they found Lieutenant Rewsou's party after their
return from North Greenland exploration, having lost one
man by scurvy. The others were also suffering from scurvy,
with the exception of Lieutenant Rawson and a Marine.
The man had died after reaching the place, which was about
June 3, 1876. One of the two officers who had explored Peter-
man Fiord was Surgeon Coppinger, and he on pining Lieu-
tenant Rawson treated the men who were lying sick. Hans,
the Esquimau; was detailed to shoot seals for the purpose
of food. Seals make excellent food, as they are succulent
and nutritious, and the soup prepared from them is especially
good. Besides this they had molasses and rum, with pre-
served meats, a portion of the American stores that had been
left there by the Polaris. Under this treatment, and the
attention of Dr. Cappteger, the patients soon improved.
Becoming anxious for the fate of the second party. under
Lieutenant Beaumont, who had gone out on a North Green.
land exploration, Lieutenant Rawson, accompanied by Dr.
Coppinger and the Esquimaux, set out with a dog sledge in
search, and after teu days' journeying they came upon
them in a most exhausted condition. Four men were
laid up in a sledge, being utterly crippled with scurvy, and
the remaining three men were almost exhausted from
having to pull the entire burden of the sledge. The food
supply was also nearly run out, and all, including the
First Lieutenant, were more or less affected by scurvy.
It was resolved to remain on the spot, and with
that view tents wore erected, and an encampment
made on. the ice, the sleeping requirements conaiating of
sleeping hags, with floor cloths stretched on the ice and a
thick double sheet placed over them. The Esquimau' was
sent to shoot seal;, but he returned after a day without
success. It was deemed expedient to convey two of the men
who were the worst in the dog sledge to Hall's Rest, and this
they succeeded in doing alter a day's travelling. The day ,
following, however, one of the men die& The other man
was in a critical condition for a long time, but be ultimately
recovered. The sledge then went back and fetched the other
two men to Hall's Rest. An officer and two men, with a dog
. and a sledge, were despatched to proceed to the Discovery
and report how matters stood. They cloned the ice with
great difficulty, and several got immersed, the ice having
broken up in several places. They reached the Discovery in
three days, and the captain immediately had a relief party
fitted oat with seven of the strongest men in the ship, and he
himself accompanied the party with medical comforts, do.
They started the following morning, earrying a boat and sledge
in a four-wheeled car ; and crossing the land about eix
miles to the po'nt where it was necessary to take the sea,
they finally reached their destination, and in the course of
a few days returned with halt of the sick men, leaving
the others, whose condition rendered removal dangerous,
to improve. In the begie; ing of August an officer
arrived overland from the Alert, reporting the vessel was
cominz south and was then is mg ten miles off, her further
pri greis south having been obstructed by the ice. The
officer stated that Captain Nares had resolved to return
home, if possible, this year. Two days subsequently
the Alert joined the Discovery. Lieutenant Beeumont
had not uow returned to the Discovery, and Captain
Nares cetermined to take the Alert ',sato the channel to
look for hind. He sent 20 or 80 men who were sick to the
Discovery, and, borrowing some men from the latter, he
• proceeded. The Alert, however, was not able to proceed
further than the entrance to the harbour, the progress Nang
barred ay the ice. Lieutenant Beaumont and party, how-
ever, aeon after turned up. They had been drifting to the
west and had great difficulty in fetching the ship, Both
ships te en prepared to return home. After being delayed a
few days by the ice, e vesseis got out of the harbour on
Sunday, August 20. On their way south they were much ob-
structed for a few weeks—so much so, indeed, that they al-
most despaired of being able to work their way out until the
following year. They had frequently to cut the ice, and even
. Q blast it with gunpowder, In order to cut thelg way out,