The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 9, 1.8540

land. floe._.Although the weather was very severe, so per-
fect is their clothing that the only injury they received
were some frost bites about the face. As they were with-
out food a description of their sufferings would be one of
thrilling interest, if we could understand their language
sufficiently to appreciate it.
A short time afterwards, on a general break up of the
ice, one man was carried away and lost. Finding he had
left a wife and two children, I sent a message to her to
come to the ship, and, on making her some useful presents
I endeavoured to have explained to a party assembled that
our business here was looking after other people who were
also in the ice, hoping it would have a tendency to gain
their assistance and friendship in favour of any of our par-
ties travelling along the coasts they frequent.
Several stratagems were tried to find out if we were on
the look-out at night : small parties, generally two or
three women, came alongside, and, on being sent away,
would make some excuse of going out sealing, or some such
pretence, to keep in our neighbourhood, but our watch was
always too vigilant for them. One man was caught in the
middle watch coming out of a tent erected over a theodo-
lite on the ice close to the ship, and was broUght on board
a prisoner. As ha had not been able to steal anything, the
case was not strong enough to inflict any punishment on
him, and he was permitted to go away the following day
at noon, with the promise of a good thrashing if he was
caught again. While he. was on board only four of five
women and the chief came near us. I was glad to see the
latter, as he witnessed our leniency on the occasion, butlie
seemed indifferent as to whether we had punished him or
not. This detection put a stop to their nightly excursions,
and left us unmolested.

A few of them from the first showed disinterested par-
tiality to us, which was appreciated, and they were in-
vited to; sleep on board on a few rare occasions. For some
time they were nervous about it, but mustered courage
enough after a little while. My object in allowing them
to do so was to give them confidence, and let them see
some more of our habits, which I thought would raise us
in their estimation.

In the early part of February we were startled by a na-
tive report that a large ship, with a great many men, was
wintering to the southward at Point Hope. A party be-
longing to Cape Smyth had lately returned from Point
Hope (a journey frequently made by them in the winter),
and had, it was said, been on board the ship; but, know-
ing it to be an impossibility for a ship to winter there, not
much attention was paid to it beyond thinking there gene-
rally exist some grounds for such reports, and, when well
sifted, they can sometimes be traced out. The present re-
port seemed to be a forerunner .of a party of natives be-
longing to Point Hope, who arrived at Point Barrow about
this time, and soon afterwards visited the ship. The in-
formation received from them was that there was a large
ship somewhere to the south with verylittle men onboard.
Whether we mistook their " little" for " few," most likely
it was one of many such stories these people have among
them, from the habit of repeating from one to the other,
without reference to date, as in this case, if the story men-
tioned was traced to its source, it would most likely prove
to be some whaler visited by them in the summer.
This circumstance is mentioned to account for the way
reports are carried along a great extent of coast by natives
meeting for a short time for the purpose of barter, and at
considerable distances from their respective settlement(
when, as may naturally be supposed, an interchange df
news takes place, and, thus becomes extended onwards,
subject to such. change of version as the repeating tribe are
likely to give it ; making it necessary to consider their re-
ports well before taking much notice of them, unless ac-
companied by some token of their authority.
The chief of this party was a pleasing, spirited man, about
35 years of age, and was accompanied by his two wives, who
were good-looking young women. He bad come on a barter-
ing expedition to obtain some copper kettles, giving glut-
ton skins in exchange. Ho recognised Mr. Simpsdn, the
surgeon, as having seen him at Hotham's Inlet, and he was
also familiar with the name of Captain Moore, and some
of the former officers of the ship. He described his jour-
ney to us, of which I was anxious to get the particular ;
he had slept 15 times, eight of them on the snow, but he
showed no signs of having suffered from cold. He de-
scribed the sea as being open all along the coast to the
southward, but he was not familiar with ships, which I
accounted for by the lowness of the land about Point Hope
deterring the whalers from closing it, otherwise there are
many in that latitude in the summer. He seemed to be a
poet, and favoured us with an extempore song of some
length, which included the name of the ship and some 'of
our own. He afterwards passed his hand down his stomach
several times expressive of great friendship, and then fixed
his forehead against mine, and used it as a fulcrum to rub
noses several times—a ceremony not very agreeable in his
heated state from singing. A chief of this place was of
the party, which made him feel quite at his ease ; other-
wise they are mistrustful on the first visit. He described
his people's barter with the Asiatics of the opposite coast
(the Tchnk-chi, or as they call themselves Tsau-chu) to
consist of the martin (sable), fox, wolverine, wolf, and I
bear skins, and sometimes whale oil and fish, for which
they get in exchange kettles, tobacco, beads, knives (Ros-
siya), and walrus teeth. While we remained he was a
welcoine and constant visitor. The southern natives are
far more agreeable than those to the northward, who have
been rarely visited. The officers speak of the former as
more grateful and modest, particularly the women; while
the latter are thought impudent and ungrateful. On leav-
ing, he sang of the good name he should give the ship on
his way down the coast, which will be of benefit to our
boats on their expedition to Cape Lisburne.
About the middle of February a great many of the na-
tives removed into the interior to hunt the reindeer, found
very numerous on these vast plains, which form the north-
western termination of America. As I was curious to see
something of the country and their mode of living at this
inclement season, I thought my making an excursion to
their hunting-grounds would show we placed every confi-
dence in them. I accordingly left the ship on the Ist of
March, accompanied by Mr. Gordon, mato, two seamen,
with a native guide, and a sledge drawn by six dorrs, car-
rying a tent, guns, and provisions. Our route into the in-
terior was S.S.W. (true), across snowy plains, differing
little in appearance from the bay ice, except on the ap-
proach to a lake, when the rise became more sudden, and,
being exposed to the sweeping winds, grass was occasion-
ally seen in spots through the snow, offering, with deer,
of which we saw great many, the only thing worthy of
notice. Three and a-half days heavy travelling brought us
to an encampment on the bank of a river; they had a hole
through the ice, which we found to be seven feet thick,
and reaching within one of the bottom. Their houses dif-
fered from those described by Captain• Parry, being exca-
vated in the snow lodged on the river, the ice of which
formed a perfectly even floor. Their position from outside
was only observable by seeing the implements of chase be-
longing to the owners in a group over the top. We found
thorn in no instance wanting in kindness, but their char-

acter for begging had not Men off since leaving 'Point
Barrow. Their mode of killing the reindeer is novel, and
such as nature has pointed out. The country is so open
that they have no means of approaching the animals under
any cover ; they therefore dig deep pits in the snowy
ravines, selecting places where the surface is even, and
cover them lightly over with slabs of snow ; the moment
the animal puts his feet upon them, he is precipitated into
the pit, the depth of which is too great for them to leap
from.

Having effected my purpose of visiting and going among
them, I returned to the ship, after an absence of seven.
days. The position of the place, by astronomical observa-
tions, was S. 40 W., 38 miles from the ship.
Nothing further worthy of remark occurred in our inter-
course until I was setting out on a journey along the coast
to the eastward; when some of the worst disposed tried to
deter a young man from accompanying me as guide, by
threatening to follow and murder us when we slept—the
guide among the number, among whom it appeared to have
no effect, beyond his repeating the story, and advising that
the men should not be allowed into the ship during my ab-
sence. This report made it evident that the fact of our
force being divided had been talked of, and I felt sorry
our residence among them for so long had produced no
better feeling; but I considered it necessary to show we
were capable of defending ourselves, and travelling when
we found it necessary. If this was not established, our
position, confined to the ship by a tribe of unarmed sav-
ages, would not be very flattering. With these feelings I
set out on my journey, well satisfied with the resources of
my party, and with the judgment and discretion of the
officer, Lieutenant Vernon, in whose charge the Plover
was left. On my return, after an absence of 25 days, I was
glad to find everything going on as favourably as possible.
The natives were returning from the interior in large num-
bers, and the day previous, April 27, as many as 40 sledges,
with 93 people, crossed the bay to the village from the
hunting grounds.
From thia time we procured an abundant supply of
venison, the only instance during our stay of receiving any
benefit from our proximity to them. It lasted nearly two
months, and had the effect of restoring, for a time, the
health of the crew, previously much debilitated and ex-
posed to scurvy.
The season for their whale fishing was now approaching,
and commenced on the' 7th of May. The distance to the
open water was about four miles W. (true) of Point Bar-
row. On the 11th, hearing they had caught a whale, I
made an excursion to the scene, with the hope of being in
time to witness its distribution ; but, on arriving, the only
remains we could discover were about half-of-pound of
blubber, to so good an account do they seem to turn every
part of the animal. We found the open water extending
E.N.E. and W.S.W. (true), and no bottom with 10
fathonis. The ice to the southward seemed open, and I
supposed the water was free in that direction to Behring's
Straits. It would be interesting to be able to conjecture
its north-eastern extent, the wind blowing, it may be said,
constantly from that quarter ; if the ice should happen to
be broken it must clear a large space of water.
This pursuit occupied them until the 21st of June,
when most of their " oomaiks" were brought to the land
to be prepared for their summer journey to the eastward,
previous to which they seem to allow themselves ten days'
enjoyment, which are passed in eating, smoking, and danc-
ing ; then they commence the work of preparation.
While treating on this subject, it is worthy of being
mentioned that the natives state the whales make their
appearance off Point Hope in April and May, when the ice
there breaks up into fields, and that most of them have
disappeared by the time the ships arrive. About the same
time these animals also appear at this place, and are pur-
sued by the natives in their " ooniaiks, as mentioned be-
fore, until June, when few are seen, and in July none in
this neighbourhood ; and the people believe they retire
northward, to return this way in August and September.
The masters of whaling vessels have informed me that
whales are less abundant in the open water in July and
August than in September.
A month previous to this time we received, quite by ac-
cident, some very useful information. Two of the officers,
Lieutenant Vernon and Mr. Simpson (surgeon), conversing
with one of the chiefs more intelligenttand communicative
than the rest, asked him if he had ever seen any boats like
ours along the coast, when he said he had, near the Colville
River. Finding that Mr. Simpson, by turning over the
leaves of Commander Pullen's journal, was able to describe
the occurrences that took place, the man unwittingly gave
a detail of the whole affair, which corresponded with the
written account, even to the wind, by which it appears that
the chief of this place, with his Hudson's Bay gun—Barnett,
1843 (vide evidence taken before the Arctic Committee,
questions 1,384-5-6 - is the person deseribed by Commander
Pullen, and he appears to have taken a large number of
men with him to follow the boats. The man afterwards.
seemed uneasy, and was perhaps thrown off his
guard so mac& ; but the officers supposed that
he thought, if the book told so much, they must also be
whveenr7 he
told
acquainted with every circumstance by the same means,
and that he was doing no harm in acknowledging the facts.
He was very anxious from the first to learn the names of
Commander Pullen and his companion, Lieutenant Hooper
(a prevalent habit with them), but he was not told until•
he had identified them in the most minute way. In fur-
ther conversations connected with the foregoing circum-
stances, we were enabled to identify this people as the
-western Esquimaux, anci the same man traced out for us the
different stages of the journey. This point had been one of
doubt with us ; supposing the distance from Point Bar-
row to Barter Island to be 240 miles of an exposed coast,
it could not be accomplished by them in the abort season
of open water, as their skin boats, when deeply laden, are
not adapted for a seaway. These difficulties were explained
by saying they took the boats away on sledges a month

before the i broke up, and the exposed parts of the oast
and large bays are avoided by an inland navigation through
rivers and lakes, of which we were ignorant.
The first stage ofithe journey is the Colville, and occu-
pies 10 days, where they meet a. friendly tribe of Esqui-
maux, called Nuna-tag-miutes (supposed by Messrs. Deese-
and Simpson to be a name for the Russians), but there is
no doubt of-their being Eiquimaux, and wearing the lip
ornaments peculiar to them. They cobfine themselves to
the river and land, from which the name " Nuna" (land)
is derived, and have a communication through the rivers
of the interior to the coast about Hotham's Inlet. As our
informant told us; he had met a woman two successive
seasons at the Colville, who had been frequently aboaid
this ship in Kotzebue Sound in the winter of 1849, and
had travelled thence through the interior without having
touched upon the intermediate coast.
The journey to the Colville is anticipated by them with
much pleasure, particularly this, year, as they frequently
spoke of telling of the wonders seen on board this ship, in
addition to the pleasing thoughts of feasting and dancing
which they were to enjoy with their friends. Thence a
select party extend themselves to Barter Island, the women
accompanying them to within a day's journey of meeting
the eastern people, when the men advance and conclude
their business as expeditiously as possible. They give an
amusing account of the mutual distrust that exists between
the two parties. The western people never sleep while
they are in sight of the eastern, and all bargains seem to
be made knife in hand. The articles and system of bar-
tering appear to .be as described by Sir John Franklin;
but I think later writers on the subject have supposed that
Russian goods find their way to the north coast from posts
on the Colville, which we nave not been able to verify.
This tribe receives Russian (Siberian) articles from the
Point Hope people, previously alluded to, which they con-
vey to the eastward, and exchange for English knives pro-
cured from the Hudson's Bay posts, but there is no inter-
mediate supply from the Russians that we could hear of.
The journey east from the Colville takes them 10 days, and
they describe it as being always against the wind, and the
return to Point Barrow and Point Berens occupies little
more than two, during which they speak of sleeping in the
boats, and allowing them to drift before the wind ; this
would make it appear that easterly winds must be very
prevalent in the early part of August. Mr. Simpson, who
has token much pains to inform himself on the subject,
considers the 25th of July the time of their departure from
the Voiville. This has beef' further established by the fact
of the party who attacked Commander Pullen on the 9th
of August at Return Reef being then on their return from
Barter Island—,the time of their annual visit never differ-
ing, probably, three days, as we have found them generally
as accurate in that way as if they were acquainted with
dates. From this information .it may be concluded that
the Esqnlmaux make one-third of their summer journeys
by carrying their boats over the ice, before a ship or her
boats become' available, which gives them a season so much
longer at a. time when the weather is very favourable.
This will have been pointed out to them by necessity, from
the shortness of- the season of open water, which, if they
confined themselves to it, would limit their excursions to
a very short range. Their return for the winter takes
place, as we have seen, about the 10th of September, and
seems to end their labours for the year.
Two *lays after receiving the above information (May
20) a native man- was observed outside the ship wearing a
small canvas bag with an address written on it—" To the
Chief Trader of the Russian Settlement, North America,"
which caused considerable curiosity on our parts, and, on
making further inquiries, he told us he had the paper in
his hut that was -originally in it, on which he was des-
patched with the promise of a large reward of tobacco if
he brought it to the ship. Some hours afterwards he re-
turned with two torn pieces of paper, complaining that his
little girl had destroyed the rest ; fortunately, the most
important part was preserved, which has been enclosed.
This information is so far satisfactory, as it shows Com-
mander M'Clure to have been 'making his passage along
shore, which has been further confirmed by natives here,
who were on board her at Point Berens'or Return Reef,
where they describe her to have had an easterly wind, with
no ice in sight. The Enterprise, it has been mentioned,
was visited the year following, not so far to the eastward.
by 80 miles. From these positions it is reasonable to in-
fer they. had not again communicated with the shore to the
westward of the Mackenzie, as the natives of the place,
who are in yearly communication with the _Esquimaux
who frequent the mouth of the river, have, to our repeated
inquiries as to whether they had heard if the ships had
been seen by the other people, answered they had not, or
they would have heard of it. It will give some idea of the
difficulty of making the Esquimaux comprehend the mean-
ing of our notions, when it is considered that the Investi-
gator had an interpreter on board, who explained the ob-
ject of the letter given by Commander M`Clure, and we
had been eight months constantly making inquiries for
such things; and endeavouring to explain our business
here without the persons charged with the paper knowing
what it was for, and if the canvas bag had not been found
useful its contents would never have been known.
In order to impress upon them the value of such things
as papers and messages, I gave the man a considerable pre-
sent of tobacee, very much to his surprise and that of his
companions, which had the effect of producing 'an old
American song book, the only article of paper remaining
in their possession. .

I have now to mention the occurrence of a native man
being shot by accident, which at the time caused us consi-
derable trouble and uneasiness ; but eventually I have had
reason to believe it was viewed by most of the Esquimau%
in its time light.
On the morning in question (Juno 8) the quartermaster
of the watch, David.Dunstall, came into my onion and in-
formed me had had a dreadful misfortune and, to my
horrer, I learnt he had shot a native alongside of the ship,
and, on hurrying outside, I found the man was shot through
the head, ancrmust have died instantaneously. The man
who had been the cause of the unlooked-for event showed
by his manner that it was an accident, and, on making
some further inquiries, I found that several natives had
arrived alongside the ship before the time allowed, and
although desired on that account to go away Feversl times,
they could not be induced, to do so, when the quaifermae-
ter of the watch took out a fowling-piece in his hand in
order to frighten them, and, on motioning with it for them
to go away,. it went off and lodged the contents of the bar-

ref in the back part of the poor man's head. The remain-
der of the party, five or six, ran away so speedily that
there were .no means of overtaking them, and, the body
being left, it became necessary to consider the best moans
of disposing of it. We soon afterwards removed it to
such a distair.ss from the ship that the natives Could ad-
vance to 'it. without fear of us, and at the same time it
gave them no pretext for coming any nearer to the ship.
When this had been clone, and a large quantity of tobacco
left with the body as an intimation of our friendship, all
that we could do was to hope that some of our friends
among them would still have sufficient confidence to come
down and give us an opportunity of explaining the aff;.dr.
In this expectation we were not disappointed, as two of
the chief men came to the ship at once, having, before
leaving the settlement, exerted their influence to quiet the
people in their first outbreak. One of these men, who was
remarkable for his intelligence, was made to comprehend
the possibility of such an accident ; and great pain& were
taken to show_him that the charge shot was intended for
birds, not men. When this impression was established we
requested -them to go back and explain it to the people.
By the time they had arrived at the place where the body
had been left, a great many had collected, among them the
wife and friends of the unfortunate deceased, who I was
glad to find had left no children. They sat round, and
appeared deeply engaged in conversation for about two
hours, listening, as we supposed, to the explanation. Then
they seemed to examine the body ; and, his own deer skins
having been brought down, he was wrapped in them, and
placed on a'sledge, which was drawn by, his wife (leading)
and four inen, ono following, across the bay to the, ceme-
tery near. Point Barrow. Nene of the others accompanied
the procession.. A. few of them came; as usual, alougside
the ship ; but as they consisted for the most part of those
known not to be friendly to us, our people were kept on
board to. Avoid apy treacherous retaliation. During the
day I was gratified to find the wives of the principal chiefs
come on board and express their sorrow at the absence of
their husbands, who were at the open water looking after
whales ; but they had been sent for, and were coming on
board as soon as they returned. They told us, also, that
all work was stopped among them for five days, the women
not being allowed. to sew for that time (which seems to be
a general custom on the occasion of any deaths), and re-
marked that we ought not to have any hammering on board
for the same time; and, as I was anxious to show every
sympathy in our power, the caulkers at work outside were
ordered t 0 cease work, and the ensign was hoisted half-
mast—the meaning of which was explained and understood
by them. In the evening one of the chiefs, who had been
the first down after the accident, visited us with his wife,
and brought the intelligence that a division existed in the
camp as to avenging themselves on us ; but, as the chiefs
were unwilling to favour it, it seemed probable nothing of
the sort would be attempted. However, proper precau-
tions were taken to avoid any surprise, particularly as a
thick fog at the time of sleep favoured such a design.
On the following day the four chiefs with their wives
came on board, when, with the assistance of the officers,
the whole affair was again explained, when they seemed to
comprehend, and appeared to entertain no fear of - going
below, as usual, when asked. We were quite aware of
their inability to control individuals; but they have, to a
certain degree, a good deal of sway, and recommended us
to make presents to all the people who lived in the same
house as the deceased, and cautioned us not to stay away
from the neighbourhood of the ship, as the feeling of a
great many of them was uncertain. On their leaving they
received presents, and were desired to bring the house party
to the ship at the expiration of five days— the time they
strictly confine themselves to the house, during which, I
believe, they are seldom, intruded upon. They arrived
at the ship in due time, numbering as many as ten
accompanied by the chiefs. The widow v-as young; anj
seemed in unaffected grief, which the large present she
received did not dissipate ; but time and a continual
course of kindness on our parts brought her to forget her
loss so far, that she regretted to me, and I believe in sin-
cerity, the thoughts of the ship going away. Our inter-
course from this time, as might be expected, could not be
conducted with the same satisfaction it had previously
been, although-no trouble or inconvenience was spared to
do away with their unfavoUrable impression. The views
they entertained of the case very much assisted a recon-
ciliation. As they had no idea of any such thing as a ge-
neral control existing among us, the act was set down as
purely an individual one, and the whole fault of it attri-
buted to the man as an act of his own, while they seemed
to consider the remainder not in any way concerned in it.
About fourteen days after the occurrence a large callec-
tion of people had assembled at Point Barrow to witness
some dancing festival previously to setting out to the east-
ward.

purposes, as hi gun, when in ottr possession, was found
well loaded with hall cartridge.
I accompanied one party a short distance on their jour-
ney to see if I could gain any useful hints for our own
boats. The " somiaks" were secured on small sledges, and I
seemed to be easily drawn by these people. The principal
part of their barter, whale blubber and seal oil, was carried
on small truck sledges drawn by women and dogs, the men
seeming to confine themselves to the charge of the ,boats ;
but as fanes of water and difficult passages they mutually
assist each other ; the style of travelling, while moving,
was expeditious, but they made frequent halts to smoke,
and before I left them, although near their place of en-
campment, they eat a hearty meal.
Between the 4th and 7th of July as many as 27 to 30
" oomiaks," accompanied by 150 people, passed to the east-
ward, much to our satisfaction, as it left us with eompara-
tively few to trouble us in sur prepurations for sending
away the boats.
On the 7th I made an excursion across the bay to ob-
serve the state of the sea ice, and walked two miles to the
westward in the offing, without being able to get a glimpse
of the open water in any direction from the highest hum-
mock. This made me form the idea of taking the boats
over the ice to the southward until we fell in with it.
On the morning of the 9th I left the ship with the gig
and whaleboat, intended for Cape Lisburne. They were
placed on two strong sledges, drawn by their own crews
and officers—Lieutenant Vernon and Mr. Gordon (mate)
—assisted by an auxiliary party of 10, including myself
and the carpenter, making up 20 in all ; 31 days' provisions
for the boats' crew, clothing, ammunition, he., were car-
ried on two native sledges, drawn by dogs—a third con-
veying provisions for the auxiliary party. Parts of the
transit over the ice were attended with difficulty, and the
whole was very laborious, requiring the utmost strength of
all the party, assisted at times by natives, and for two days-
by a strong and favourable breeze, enabling us to make sail
on the boats, which lightened the labour very much. Tra-
velling to the southward for three days, the open water ap-
peared within two miles of the beach, at what seemed a
most eligible place for launching the boats. I walked, ac-
companied by Lieutenant Vernon to the open water, but
the humm, .cks intervening seemed to offer too great an
obstacle to the transit ; however, on the following morn-
ing, July 12, as the weather was favourable, I decided on
attempting it, and succeeded in launching the boats safely
at noon.. They soon after shoved off with a favourable
breeze, which they held for eight hours only.
°lithe 15th, while calculating on the progress they might
have made, a party of people.were observed coming down
at eight a'clock in the evening tracking an " oomiak," and
on making out some of our people among them, our, astonish-
ment was so great we could hardly believe our own eyes. I
went without loss of time to meet them not in a very
agreeable state of mind, but when I counted, the full number
Of the party I was comparatively easy. It appears that on
the night of the 13th, finding the ice closing on them,
they managed to get the boats on to the floe, and fancied
themselves safe, although drifting to the northward. The
ice continued to press in towards the land, crushing the
floe, and piling it up to nearly 20 feet in height, and at
length the floe gave way beneath them, mid the gig was
partly filled
.with pieces, and could not be withdrawn fur-
ther towards the land. The whaler, a lighter boat, was
also stove, and, as she could not be brought further, the
whole party were obliged to make the best of their way to
the' hore before the ice should ease off, as it seemed in-
clined to do, and leave them on detached pieces. Fortu-
nately, the danger so imminent, was of that slow but over-
whelming nature that they had time to provide themselves
With three days' preserved meats and their arms and am-
munition, with which they, Were enabled to reach the ship.
I have forwarded Lieutenant Vernon's journal, which will
show their lordships how that officer and his companion,
Mr;Gordon, acquitted themselves on the occasion, and I
have much satisfaction in mentioning the high terms in
which he spoke of the' conduct-of the crews, not a man of
whom expressed his opinion until he had decided on de-
serting the boats, when, from their manner, he concluded
they thought it high time to do so ; and he further de-
scribes them as obedient, cool, and intrepid from the com-
mencement of the danger until their return on board.
The loss of the ship's boats was a heavy misfortune, but
when itwas considered the whOle party had found their
way safely to the ship, we were too much rejoiced to give
a loOk of regret atter the boats, which could- nothave been
• •- •
saved. - • ... '
Two days after the return of the boat parties I had seri-
onti.thoughts of despataing another in a native oomiak, to
keep our appointment 'at Cape Lisburne, but on weighing
the matter maturely I gave up the idea, as by no means in
our power could it reach the rendezvous by the appointed
time ; and as the ship would be obliged to wait for the re-
turn of the party, the delay would render it impossiblo to
regain this place as a winter station, in the event of ,its
being so ordered. With those considerations,.and a p.esent
prospect of an early release, I thought it better not to divide
our small force at a time when the services of every one
would be required to extricate the ship, and to take the
earliest opportunity of going' to the south, in order to re:
cruit the health of the ship's company.
As early as July 25 we were enabled to swing the ship
for local attraction, and the ice,having been cleared •aaivaY
for a considerable space in our neighbourhood, we moved
into the fairway, to be ready for the first opening in 'the
offing..
The natives brought us a report this morning- that our
deserted boats had been seen drifted near the shore at the
Seahorse Islands, and their contents made n prize of by a
small party, who succeeded in .bringing the gig to the land.
On our passage down, beating close along, shore, some, na-
tives brought the shell of the boat off, exchanging her
readily for a native oomiak we had provided ourselves with
in the meantime.

In watching the dissolution of the bay ice, had flat-
tered ourselves this season was 14 clays before, the last,
which it really was in the thinness of the ice, but, from the
absence of strong winds, it remained stationary at a time
when the sea was open the preceding year. Every day at
this period (the end of July) seemed to effect a Marked
change in the ice, and on the 30th a perceptible motion to
thO northward was observed in some of the heavy hum-.
mocks in-the- offing, and a lace of water, anfidaient for the
ship, was found by Mr. Hull (second coaster), whom I sent
to observe the state of the ice to seaward.
In consequence of this report, I set out in a boat on the
following day to trace its extent, preparatory to moving
•the ship,. and to sound along .shore to find how close we
could -approach in case of necessity. .
' Everything -seemed favourable to our purpose, and I
fully expected to return in- the -evening and g:et under, way,
but, ow approaching Cape Smyth, I had the mortification
to find the lane of water terminate so close with the shore
that a Mitivp oomiak could not have passed. This was one
of'the disappointments of ice navigation whicfli teaches one
patience, and reoires to be borne with in addition to
others we are liable to even under favourable circum-
stances.

'roria the Ist to the 6th of August an officer was sent
each day to Cape Smyth to bring the earlim ct intelligence
of any change in our favour, but each day brought the
same unwelcome report that the ice was still c :lose with the
shore, and•no 'open -water to be seen. It sec :ms a strange
complaint in
,these• latitudes, but the fineness of the pre-
sent season was,the • cause of our detention. During the
month of July the wind was registered one .day from 5 to
6 in force, for few, days 4, .and the remaining 26 barely
averaged 2, proviiag the extreme of fine weather to be a
greater obstacle in removing masses of .ice than the reverse
state of it. • . •

. .
On the 7th a fresh breeze from, the eastward gave me some
hopes of a change• in our favour, and on visiting Cape
Smyth I observed a narrow lane. of . water extending as far
as the eye could -reaoh. to the. southward. On getting on
board at 8 p.m., we-left our anchorage, where we had found
shelter for 11 months and four days, seven d.sy s later in the
season than Captain'Parry had been enabled to leave Mel-
vdlle Island. We •carried a- favourable 'breeze for eight
hours, and had made considerable progress, when the wind'
shifted to S.W., with thick weather and hear), rain, which
made it diffiiiiit to avoid Coining in contact with the ice
from the narrowness of the channel we had to beat in. A
continuation of thick weather and light contrary winds on
the following day prevented our making any progress, and
in the afternoon finding we were losing ground, I made
fast to a large floe piece, when we found the drift to be
:one,mile an hour ea t, being very nearly i a the opposite
direction to our course. After a few hours we were ena-
bled to cast off, on a light wind springing up from the
northward, and run along shore to the S.W., but the ice
hadibecome gradually closer during the few hours of wes-
terly winds, and we had much difficulty in picking onr
.way during the night, as a thick fog prevailed. On the
following morning, August 9, the outer edges of the land
floe, in the depth of Peard Bay, was found to extend, un-
broken, from the land to a distance of nine miles, and the
ice outside seemed too close to offer us a passage in the
desired direction; but as the wind was fresh and favour-
able the ship was forced into open water by 10 a.m., hav-
ing sustained some severe, but unavoidable, shocks in doing
so. I was now anxions to keep close in with the land, in
order to stop any boats that might be making their way to
Point Barrow, in consequence of onr failing to reach Cape
Lisburne ; and at 2 p.m., in passing the Seahorse Islands,
we got into three fathoms in endeavouring to close the
shore for the purpose of sending a boat to put up a mark,
which we were not able to accomplish, as the wind was
found to blow rather on shore, and was too strong to admit
of the ship lying off and on with safety. I accordingly
bore up to run for Cape Lisburne, and on `the following
(lay, August 10, at 11 a.m., communicated with her Ma-
jesty's ship Amphitrite, Captain Frederick, from, whom I
received their Lordships' orders directing me to remain at
Point Barrow ; but the health of my crew would have pre-
vented my doing so had I received the order previous to
leaving, and as there seemed no difficulty in returning
`during the, present season, I repaired, in company with
the Amphitrite, to Port Clarence to await the arrival of
the Rattlesnake, and to obtain the changes found. necessary
,iii the crew, with an increased supply of provisions •and
feul for another year.

Our return seemed the more necessary as their Lord-
ships' instructions direct provisions to bo left in the neigh-
bourhood of Point Barrow, which I had not done, con-
sidering at the time I left it was probable I should return.
A reference to Sir E. Belcher's instructions relative to the
north coast seemed, also, to make it desirable that the
Plover should return to the station she was known to oc-
cupy -by that officer, in the event of any of his parties
advancing with the certain hope of succour at Point
Barrow.

A party from Cape Smyth afterwards endeavoured to get
up a united force to attack the ship without being able to
succeed. However, the chief and a good many of the Point
Barrow people wishing to make a merit, for which to be
rewarded, of their not joining our enemies, I was, obliged
to tell them I should be very sorry if the people came down
with bows to the ship again, but if they a good many
would be killed. This appears to have put an end to it, as
we were next told of the departure of the hostile party,
and were not troubled with any more reports of that de-
scription.
We now watched with some anxiety the preparations
for the departure of the natives, as the time was approach-
ing for the departure of our boats from Cape Lisburne, and
their transit over the ice could not be effected without
some risk of interruption until their numbers became de-
creased, so that wo were much
.pleased to see them in a

ROCHFORT MAGUIRE, Commander,
Her Majesty's ship Plover.
Port Clarence, Aug. 21, 1853.

Gig.—Lieutenant C. E. H. Vernon, George Stocker,
coxswain ; Edward Sutton, John Bright, John Magra.
Whalen.—Mr. G. T. Gordon, acting-mate ; Alexander
Kew, coxswain ; Robert Macfailane, Walter Daw, Edward
Clarke.
Tuesday, 12th July, 1853.—At noon, after returning
three hearty cheers given by Captain Maguire and party,
we started from the edge of theice, with every prospect of
a. successful cruise to the southward, there being no ice to
seaward with the exception of a few small pieces ; wo fol-
lowed along the edge of the land floe under oars and sail,'
with a light breeze from E.S.E. making a S.W. course for
about 30 miles. In the evening the wind fell light and
variable, then veered to S.W. with showers of rain. By
10 p,m. we had apparently reached the extreme of the
open water where the main pack was close in with the land
floe ; but we continued to pull, taking every opportunity '
of getting the boats through any lanes that opened to the
southward and eastward. At midnight, seeing no passage
and the men being much fatigued, stopped to give them I
some rest.

state of forwardneis. On July 4they commenced leaving,
and continued to follow for three successive days. Each
party halted to sleep near the ship, to have an opportunity
of begging from us till the last moment, and, as I had pre-
pared-some printed papers for them to distribute among
the eastern Esquimaux at Barter Island, they were treated
with every indulgence, and those intrusted with the
printed papers received a present of tobacco, some buttons
prepared in England, bearing information concerning the
Arctic search, and some other small trifles to keep them
reminded of their charge, and they faithfully promised to
pass on. I redeemed a long-made promise to the chief—
giving
him some gunpowder. I think it had the good
effect of showing we had no fear of them, and I was fully
aware that he had a sufficient quantity for inischievious

Wednesday, 13th of July, 1853, 2h. 30m, a.m.—Ob-
served the ice in motion setting north about two knots an
hour; took advantage of some lanes to the S.S.E., and
made but little progress, having to haul the boats up oc-
casionally to avoid being nipped; continued till noon,
when the main pack setting in shore broke up the land floe
into small pieces, which were wheeling round and packing
up in all directions around the boats. By using our ut-
most exertions we succeeded in hauling the boats up on a
heavy floe, which was driving in, not, however, before the
whaler had received considerable damage (one plank being
split fore and aft, and several butts started), and the gig
slightly so (some butts having started and several nails
drawn.) We now thought ourselves secure, and at 2 p.m. i
dined. Fuel all expended, extremes of land N.N.E. anti i
Nothing was to be seen now but closely packed ice,