The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-10-18
ARCTIC EXPLORATION.
Capt. Tysons Account of the Voyage Of the
Florence.


Capt. Tyson's Account of the Voyage of the
Florence.
In pursuance of the orders of Capt.
Howgate, directing me to proceed ty
Cumberland gulf, or elsewhere in mig
discretion, for the purpose of collectins
skins, skin clothing, Esquimaux dogo
and sledges, and other material and sup
plies necessary for long Arctic voyage,
we sailed from New London, Ct, Aug.
2, 1877, at 10 80 a. m. After long and
tedious voyage of forty-one days we ar
rived Mt Cumberland gulf. Owing to
the large number of vessels we found
there, and the presence of others during
the summer which had left prior to our
arrival, there was very great dearth of
skins; IN fact, there were none. Two
OF these vessels-steamers carried
such Esquimaux as were there to the
southwark; other Esquimaux who were
accustomed to congregate there were of
in the mountains deer-hunting, and
these, before their departure, had con-
tracted with some of the vessels for the
skins they might obtain.
Under these circumstances you can
readily perceive the difficult position in
which we were placed. 1t being too
late to go elsewhere, L determined to
stay and do the best we could. Accord
ingly, We remained at Niantillic harbor
latitude 65 deg. 10 min. north, longitude
81 deg. 30 min. west awaiting the re-
turn of the Esquimaux, which con-
Guided would be about the last of Sep
TENDER or LIST of October. About the
last of the former month many arrived,
but they went Immediately to the Brit
ish vessels from Scotland with whom
they had contracted. On the 2Sth one
boats crew arrived and came immediate
ly to the Florence. These we engaged
and, on the LIST of October, we got I'M
der way, intending to winter at the
head of the gulf and remote from any
of the other vessels. My object in this
was to keep the Esquimaux we had Sc
cured from the influence of the whites
in the gulf
We visited the Keickertons islands
before going up, and, finding nothing
there, continued on our way and an
chored in AnnatOok harbOr, at the head
of the gulf, on Oct. Z, in latitude 66
degrees % minutes north, longitude 6S
degrees As minutes west. There we
passed the winter and spring, in the
meantime collecting quite number OF
skins. Some of these were made into
clothing. Those we obtained in the
spring, however, not having time to
make them, We secured and packed
away. On breaking out from our
winter quarters in the summer of the
present year we managed to induce five
men to accompany us to the coast of
Greenland. There were also five women
and five children, making fifteen in all,
and they carried with them large num-
Der of skins.
On July 10 we sailed for Disco island,
carrying with us the fifteen Esquimaux,
twenty-eight dogs, fair quantity of
skin clothing and a great many skins,
soon to be put into shape by the ma
nipulations of the women. We arrived
at Disco on the last day of July, where,
as of course you know, we did not meet
any expedition. We waited patiently
until Aug. %, receiving no letters and
no information concerning the vessels
proposed to be sent by the Government,
and then, despairing of any communities
ton, we started on our return to Cum
berland gulf, carrying everything with
us.
And now came the most difficult por-
ton of our voyage. The season has
been very prolific in ice, none of the
Scotch whalers being able to get through
to Melville bay on the Greenland side,
and up to the time we left Disco, the
Danish ships had been unable to reach
their upper settlements. We encoun-
tered the ice off Cape Mercy, latitude
GA degrees 45 minutes north, longitude
IS degrees 20 minutes west, and worked
our way through the pack a distance of
200 miles, often with the greatest labor
and at times threatened with serious ca
tastrophe Happily we arrived in the
gulf on the last day of August, and, as
the season was so far advanced that no
further delay was practicable, we paid
and discharged the Esquimaux on the
I'd of September, and at once started on
our return.
With the results of the voyage there
is every reason to be satisfied, though
the accomplishment of its immediate
purposes led to no practical end.