The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-11-09
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kxPLokINo ScEoosrR UsirEp Starts.
HARsaR OF HALIFAX, Oct. lsfI. (
J have the pleaesre to send YOU the fol
} loving secosns Of the proceedings Of sh
e1psdition to the Arctic seas, under m,
command, Subsequent to the l4th of August
ieoo. hy letter from Upper Navik 20 tn
contributors ef the e1peditieB, bearing III,
above date, will have instructed you Of M,
! movements mp TO that time.
We sailed from Upper Navik on the l6,l
Of August, 1860; but Gains detained US OF
our way to Tessuissak, and We did not reacE
the latter place until the 2lst. Having ther,
increased the number OF oar dogs by the ad
oision OF the Interpreters team, making 4
complement OF twenty FIVE animals, ans
having further increased nv crew by the ad
uition OF two Danes and an Esauimaus
hunter, We put TO sea again on the 22d, and
$1,000 norfnward. With fair wind. On ,he
morning OF the 23d we entered Melville Bay
20 the following day, at three O'Clock P. \.
We passed the Sabine Islands, thence We
made direct course for Cape York, which
Was reaced at 1--WE O'Clock P. u. of the 25,h,
Our passage through Melville Bay was
remarkable. No field Of ice was seen until
We reached within few miles Of Cape
iork, when We encountered q narrow
stream, which under full press of sail was
oored without difficulty. We were ouly fif,y-
j nve hours 10 edecting the passage of the bay.
Standing close in under Cape York,
kept careful watch from aloft for Esoni-
maui. and soon had the qualification to dis
cover group Of them moving down toward
the beach. The schooner beng hove to,
went ashore, and was met by Hans, DR..
kane's runaway boy, and other natives
Hans quickly recognized Mr.. Sonntag and
myself, and having expressed wIsh to go
Wit Us. took him together with his wife
and child, bis hunting equipment and two
dogs, on board and again stood northward.
At seven O'Clock Of the morning OF the
18th, we were brought up by heavy ice
pack twenty miles south Of Smiths Straits
There beng high sea setting directly
upon the ice, and tbs air being thick with
falling snow. We lost no time in plyinc
to w,ndward, and having obtained a good
othng, hove to, to await better weather.
The wind soon fell to a calm the clouds
broke during the night, and on the morning
Of the 9th we rounded the ice, in shore and
under a light northeast wind, stood out to-
ward the centre Of the strait, which We en-
entered at nine O'Clock r. y. Here we met
heavy pack, through which no practical
lead could be disting ushsd. Our examination
OF its margin, with the view of finding an
opening, was cut short by heavy gale which
suddenly broke upon US from the northeast.
The bergs being very thick about US, We
could not beave to, and We ran great risk of
losing every exposed sail. The gale lasted.
with very little abatement in its volume, du
ring the 2Sth and 23th. On the morning Of
the 3Oth, having carried away the foresail,
We were glad to reach a small cove, twelve
miles south Of Cape Alexander, and there
dropped anchor in four fathoms water Here
l obtained an excellent view from an eleva-
tion Of 1900 feet. The pack appeared to
be impenetrable, and very little water was
to be seen along the west shore. deter
termined, however, to attempt the passage.
had scarcely returned from my journey
| to the mountain when the gale again set in
| from the same quarter, and with violence
that have scarcely seen equalled. On the
morning OF the 3lst we were driven from
our moorings, and IN the effort to save our
anchors We were fored upon group of ice
bergs which had drifted in with the current,
and carried away our iibboom. The wind
moderated soon afterward, and We once
more entered the strait; but the gale set
ting in again the fore gaff was broken in
wearing, and being now obliged to heave
to We were third time driven ou, Of the
strait to seek shelter behind Cape Alex
ander. -
| Damages having been repaiaed, We again
entered the strait on the evening Of Sep
tember /. Discovering no lead through
the ice to the westward, We bore for Little
ton Island, with the hope Of finding near
the nose solid ice higher up the strait a
more practicable opening. The gale still
continued to blow With great force, and be-
ing under reduced canvass, We made but
little headway.
Littleton island was reached September
ID. Being unable to penetrate the ice to
the westward, l determined TO work US the
coast to Cape Hatherton, with the hope of
there finding the ice more open. The un-
dertaking was necessarily attended with
considerable risk to the vessel, on account
Of the heavy fields Of ice of Litt!eton
Island. The schooner frequently came 10
collision with ice fields from fifteen to
twenty feet in thickness. The quarter inch
| iron . ate on the cutwater was torn off,
and the false keel was carried away. Soon
afterward We encountered q severe "nip,"
and before the rudder could be shipped, the
two lower pintels we're broken off.
10 this crippled condition it vas impossi-
bic to make further headway. and, after
e1,ricating ourselves from the ice, we ran
down into Hsrtstein bay and anchored
During the Sd, 4th and 5sh Of September
the wind blew with great force from the
same quarter as before. On the 4th
reached, with much difficulty, Littleson
Island 10 a whale boat, and obtained view
TO the westward from m elevation Of some
four hundred feet. The ice was very heavs
10 the west and southeast-a thick impepe-
trabl. pack-but to the norshward, along
the land, il was loose, and the prospect oi
working westward from Cape Hathertor
vas encouraging.
| 90 the 9Th the wind fell to calm. The
boats were got out, and ve pnlled up te
Littleton leland; bot two days had complete.
" chaneed the position OF the ice. Betweef
Listlesou Island and Cape Hs,hertop, there
~as no opeo water. nor was there any visi.
Die from the top Of that Island TO the north
west, west or south. west. Unable TO ad
vspce, and fearful OF being frcaen IN, v,
again e1sricated the vessel from the ice
and ran back into Harsstein bay.
Everything aboos us nov began to wear I
vintry aspect. The temperature had fallen
70 eighteen degrees below Pressing. Thici
snow had fall ct intervals since August
Is. Our decks we're covered With ice. th'
sails and rigging were so stiff with IL tha
} they could barely be worked, the schooner
sides vere lined With = thick cru.s. and iargi
masses Of ice had accumulated on the cut
wsssr and forward rigging. The nsvigab.'
sessos ~as clearly drawing TO ciose.
Narth-east gales detained us daring tn
7sh and sth. and the Temperature consinu
, ing to fail. deemed IL imprudent again u
enter the ice, and aecardinxlv We went int