, 1861-10-28
Cbitago Gtiibt1tte
THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION,
0AeIaI Account OF The Recent Voyage
Of The United States By BF. HnTeA.


of The United STATES b7 Br. HAYES:
EWzoREa SCHOONER UH17Ep STATES Il
HARBoR OF HALIFAX, Oct. !, 1861. !
have the pleasure to send You the follow. |
ing account OF the proceedings Of the expedt !
ton to the Arctic seas, under my command, |
eubss quert to the 18th Of August, 1860 Ny |
letter from Upper NaVik to the contributors |
Of the expedition, bearing the above date, will |
that time.
| We sailed from Upper Nayik on the 10Th |
August, 16G0; but ca1us detained us on our |
way to Fessniesab, and We did not reach the |
latltr place until the 21st- Having there In |
| creased the number Of our dogs by the sdoi |
| tion Of the Interpreters team, making con- |
| ple1neat Of twenty-five animals, and having !
further increased my crew BY the addition Of |
! two Danes and an Esquimsux hunter, we put |
| with q 1air wind. On the morning of the |
| 23d We entered Melville Bay. On the follow |
day, ct three o'clock r. N, We passed the 81 |
bine ls1ands, thence we mades direct course for |
Cape York, which Was reached at five O'Clock
| Our passage through Melville Bay was re-
! uarknble. No field ice wRs seen until ne
reached within feW mlea Of Cape YORK,
when re encountered ad9I na11ox % stream Khlch
difficulty. We were only fltyfy hours in ef:
| fecting the passage Of TIE bay.
Standing close in under Cape York, kept
| careful watch from aloft for Esquimaux, and
Of them moving down toward the beach. The
schooner being hoye to, I went ashore, and
| Was met by Hans, DR.. Kane's runaway boy,
snd other nativeg. Hans quickly recognized
bfr. Solntag and myself, and having expressed
wish to go with Us, I took him, together
with his wife and child, bis hunting equip
raent and two dogs, on board and again stood
1t eeven O'Clock of the morning Of the 26th,
We we're brought W By 2 heavy leo psck,
being high ses setting directly upon the ice,
and the ar being thick with falling snow, we
lost no time in plying to wind~ard, and hay
ing obtained good citing, hove to, to await
better weather.
The wind soon fell to calm; the clouds
broke during The night, and on the morning
Of the 9Th ne rounded the ice, in shore, and,
Under light northeast wind, stood ont to-
wa1d the centre Of the strait, which We en-
tered at nine o'clock F. n. Here re met
heavy pack; through which NO practical lead
could be distinguished Our examination of
it's margin, With the view Of finding an open
ing, was cut short by heavy gale which sud
de11y broke upon Us from the northeast The
be1Ee being very thick about us, we could not
hta7e to, and We ran great risk Of losing every
{ exposed sail The gale lasted, with very little
abate mert in its volume, during the 28th AID
29!h On the morning Of the 30th, having
carried away the foresail, We were glad to
] reach small cove, twelve miles south Of Cape
Alexander, and there dropped anchor in four
tathoms water. Here obtained an excellent
t. view from an elevation Of 1900 feet. The
: little water was to be seen along the west
! ehore. / determined, however, to attempt
thu passage.
I had scarcely returned from my journey tc
the mountain when the gale again set in fran1
the same quarter, and with q violence that
= have scarcely seen equalled. On the morning
< of the 31st we were driven from our moorings
= end in the effort to cave our anchors We vert
forced upon group Of tcebergs which hat
drited in With the current, and carried a#a!
our jibboom- The wind moderated soon at
terwards, and ne once more entered the strait
| but the gale setting in again, the fore gaf wa
- broken in wearing, and being now obliged to
heaye to, We were a third time driven out @
the Strait to seek shelter behind Cape Alex
ander.
4 Damages having been repaired, We agaal
y, y entered the strait On the evening OF septem
i her l. Discovering no lead through the ic
to the westward, We bore for Littleton Island
with the hope of finding near the more soil
&, ice higher up the strait a more1 practicabl
Opening, Tie gale still continued to blo7
with great force, fand being under reduce'
he CANVAS, we made but little he2dway.
= Litrleton Island was reached September Il
, Being unable to penetrate the Ice to the We5
- ward, determined to work up the coast
Cspe Hathertou, with the hope Of there fiadin
the ice more open. The Undertaking vi
~. necessarily attended with considerable risk
Ice lying Of Littleton Island. Tha schoon
n: trequertly came in collision with ice tel
*, from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness. Fl
g quarter inch iron plate on the cutwater #
f' tom of, AID the false stern was carried ava
ZK Soon atterward we encountered severe 'tnil
- and before the rudder could be shipped, t
u two lower pintels were broken of
In this crippled condition it was impossit
to make further headWay, and, atEer eXtrls
n. ting ourselves from the ice, we Ian down in
's' EaFtttein bay aud anchored. During the
4th find 5th Of September the wind blew vi
and great force from the same quarter as befo
On the 4th reached, With much di1heul
!. Litt1eton Island in a Whn1e boat, and obtain
ana some four hundred feet The Ice WAS "
." heavy to the weet and Southwest thick, i
pena'rable pack-but to the northward, alo
sry the Land, it WAS loose, and the prospect
10. 2. working westward from Cape Hathezton =
y On the 61G the wind fell to calm. The bo
= were got out, and We pulled up to Iittlet
O Island; but two days hsd completely chang
9. Island and Cape Hatherton there was no Of
water, nor WAS there any visible from the
aolz Of that island to the north west, west or sol
west. Unable to advance, and fearful OF be
In frozen in, We again extncated the vessel #
oAo @ the ice, and ran back into Hartstein bay
4
Efnt1y aspect. The temperature had fal1e1
eighteen degrees below freezing. Thick Fl
, tho had been falling at intervals since August
n, Of Our decks we're covered with Ice, tha sails
1 4 FL rigging were SO stiff with II that they ca
geaIs barely be worked, the schooner'e eides y
: the lined with o thick crust, and large masses
s3aa ice had accumulated on the cutwater and
ward rigging. The naVigab1e Season
~; "a; cleSrly drawing to close.
- and 81h, and the temperature continuing
fall, I emed 1t imp1udent again to enter
- ice, ard accordingly We went into wi
quarters on the 9th, in blight at the hea
Hartstein Bay. The schooners were MOT
by four hawse1s, forty yards from shore
seven fathoms Of water. The sails we're
bent, and the top-masts housed, and {
giving the crew holiday, cur winter pz
TatioIs were commenced. The stores
deposited IN house built tor the purpos
ehore. The hold was converted Into {
Portable room tor the men, and the upper
Eas housed over with boards. Owing to
weather, three weeks elapsed before thes
raDRements we're completed.
Our winter halbor, which I named
Foulke, In honor Of William Parker Fo
Esq, Of Philadelphia, Was well sheltered
cept to the southwest Observations ma
n hi. sonntag, at thei observatory, erecte
H- shore near the 7esse!, gave its position
IL miles further South than DR.. Ksne's n
,csgo. quarters, and distant from 1t By the coast
ork. II miles,
I need hardly gay that deeply regret
i. we could not attain higher latitude wlt
to or. the vesael; particularly do l regret tbs
i.Hand could not reach the west coast. That
aalie5s R WIS wholly unapproachable with sailing
' sci.
Bags The weather continued boisterous thr
I93.ly out the autumn, and, indeed, during the
rv er part Of the winter. In consequence G
- Il repeated gales the water of the harbc
not frozen over until March, 80 that
A. travelling to the northTnrd Was impract
- md during lie month Of October, at which I
had expected to carry ont provision depc
nssa 10 use in ftheEpriug. Mr. so1ntag made
tempt to reach Rensselaer, harboT in N
Der, and although the darkness Of the
= 4 !. Pr had then set in. he Was bafled by the
waters.
HAH. TIE winter brought, however, some 8
~ misfortnres. 4 disease which had bee
W., vailing in North Greenland during the L
Jears b1oke out among the dogs, and
fine pack which had taken from the
settlements only eleven remained alive
&AA"7 20th Of December. You are well awaI
my plans Of explorations wss wholly ba:
on doge ns means Of transport across
= ere. and situated as I WAS, on the eass side
EAk IA | ID, NV @,,{1nu