21 chapters
6 hour read
Selected Chapters
21 chapters
INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
On the 25th of September, 1880, the leading English newspaper published the following words:— "Lieutenant Schwatka has now resolved the last doubts that could have been felt about the fate of the Franklin expedition. He has traced the one untraced ship to its grave beyond the ocean, and cleared the reputation of a harmless people from an undeserved reproach. He has given to the unburied bones of the crews probably the only safeguard against desecration by wandering wild beasts and heedless Esqui
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA CAMP DALY IN SUMMER ESQUIMAUX GOING TO THE HUNTING-GROUND A CAIRN CAIRN MARKING DEPOSIT OF PROVISIONS THE SHIPS IN WINTER QUARTERS ESQUIMAU PLAYING THE KI-LOWTY CAMP DALY IN WINTER DOWN-HILL WITH THE SLEDGES HUNTING MUSK-OXEN THE GREAT BEND IN HAYES RIVER THE SOURCES OF THE HAYES RIVER MEETING WITH THE OOKJOOLIKS THE NETCHILLIK AMBASSADRESS THE COUNCIL WITH THE NETCHILLIKS SNOW-HUTS ON CAPE HERSCHEL CROSSING EREBUS BAY CURIOUS FORMATION OF CLAY-STONE CLAY-STONE MOUNDS THE BREAKING UP OF THE ICE THE MARCH SOUTHWARD SCHWATKA'S PERMANENT CAMP HENRY KLUTSCHAK'S CAMP VIEW ON BACK'S RIVER THE DANGEROUS RAPIDS, BACK'S RIVER THE MARCH IN EXTREME COLD WEATHER VIEW ON CONNERY RIVER ESQUIMAUX BUILDING A HUT SECTION AND PLAN OF ESQUIMAUX HUT ESQUIMAU WOMAN COOKING
LIEUTENANT SCHWATKA CAMP DALY IN SUMMER ESQUIMAUX GOING TO THE HUNTING-GROUND A CAIRN CAIRN MARKING DEPOSIT OF PROVISIONS THE SHIPS IN WINTER QUARTERS ESQUIMAU PLAYING THE KI-LOWTY CAMP DALY IN WINTER DOWN-HILL WITH THE SLEDGES HUNTING MUSK-OXEN THE GREAT BEND IN HAYES RIVER THE SOURCES OF THE HAYES RIVER MEETING WITH THE OOKJOOLIKS THE NETCHILLIK AMBASSADRESS THE COUNCIL WITH THE NETCHILLIKS SNOW-HUTS ON CAPE HERSCHEL CROSSING EREBUS BAY CURIOUS FORMATION OF CLAY-STONE CLAY-STONE MOUNDS THE BREAKING UP OF THE ICE THE MARCH SOUTHWARD SCHWATKA'S PERMANENT CAMP HENRY KLUTSCHAK'S CAMP VIEW ON BACK'S RIVER THE DANGEROUS RAPIDS, BACK'S RIVER THE MARCH IN EXTREME COLD WEATHER VIEW ON CONNERY RIVER ESQUIMAUX BUILDING A HUT SECTION AND PLAN OF ESQUIMAUX HUT ESQUIMAU WOMAN COOKING
[Map: THE OVERLAND ROUTE OF THE Exploring Expedition of Lieut. Schwatka to and from KING WILLIAM'S LAND. 1879-1880.] * * * * *...
44 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
SCHWATKA'S SEARCH. CHAPTER I.
SCHWATKA'S SEARCH. CHAPTER I.
"Haul in the gang-plank;" "Let go the tow-line," shouted the captain of the 'Fletcher'. Then he signalled the engineer to go ahead, and the little schooner 'Eothen' was abandoned to her own resources and the mercy of the mighty ocean. The last frantic handshaking was over, and only wind-blown kisses and parting injunctions passed back and forth as the distance between the voyagers and their escort kept continually increasing, until nothing could be heard but the hearty cheers that wished for us
18 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER II.
[Illustration: CAMP DALY IN SUMMER.] Meanwhile we had need of patience. Our camp, which was in latitude 63 deg. 51 min. north and 90 deg. 26 min. 15 sec. west of Greenwich, had been named by Lieutenant Schwatka after the president of the American Geographical Society. The tents that had been provided for the expedition proving quite inadequate for our wants, Captain Barry got Armow (the Wolf), one of the most influential natives, to let us have his tent, one that had been made by the crew of the
27 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER III.
There being no cairn, as a matter of course there was no guide to conduct us to it; but instead of returning to New York from Camp Daly, as he would have been justified in doing, Lieutenant Schwatka determined to make the summer search in King William Land, in order to find the records, if possible; or, at any rate to so conduct the search as to make it final and conclusive of the Franklin expedition. Lieutenant Schwatka was much impressed with the statements made by Nutargeark, especially as th
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER IV.
It was eleven o'clock on the morning of the 1st of April when the three heavily laden sledges moved out from Camp Daly on to the shore ice of Hudson's Bay, and commenced the long march toward King William Land. Lieutenant Schwatka's preliminary sledge journey in the direction of Wager River, during midwinter, had determined him upon taking that route, though across land entirely unknown either to previous explorers or to any natives with whom we had come in contact. Whether we would find practic
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER V.
We left camp at half-past seven in the morning of the 15th, a sharp wind blowing in our faces. We had not gone far when the dogs began to prick up their ears, and finally started off on a brisk run, barking and manifesting great excitement. The Inuits at once attributed this unwonted energy on the part of the dogs to the fact that there were people not far distant, and, sure enough, we soon saw several igloos about three-quarters of a mile ahead, with poles sticking in the snow around them—an ev
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VI.
Such was the statement of Ahlangyah the Netchillik. When she had finished it we gave her some needles, spoons, a tin pan, and other articles that well repaid her for the trouble she had taken to reach us. Here was a woman who had actually seen the poor, starving explorers, and her story was replete with interest for us. Every word she uttered seemed fraught with the dread tragedy, and she appeared to share our interest, for her face was full of expression. At times it was saddened with the recit
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VII.
From this point onward our march was attended with the most profitable results. On the evening of the 4th of June we met a young man, named Adlekok, who, during the previous summer, had found a new cairn erected by white men near Pfeffer River, which had never been seen by any other Inuits. Near by were three graves and a tent place in which he found a pair of wire-gauze snow-goggles, which we bought from him. This information seemed of sufficient importance to be followed up immediately before
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER VIII.
CHAPTER VIII.
The next day we stayed at Cape Jane Franklin to make a preliminary search of the vicinity. Lieutenant Schwatka and I went up Collinson Inlet, but saw no traces of white men. Henry and Frank, who had been sent up the coast, were more fortunate. About a mile and a half above camp they came upon the camp made by Captain Crozier, with his entire command from the two ships, after abandoning the vessels. There were several cooking stoves, with their accompanying copper kettles, besides clothing, blank
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
We left Cape Felix on the 7th of July, reluctantly satisfied that Sir John Franklin had not been buried in that vicinity. The minuteness of our search will appear in the number of exploded percussion caps, shot, and other small articles that were found in various places. The Inuits who were with us evinced a most remarkable interest in our labors, and with their eagle eyes were ever finding things that would have escaped our attention. Everything they did not fully understand they brought to us,
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER X.
CHAPTER X.
We were now on the march from Cape Felix. Lieutenant Schwatka had kept about a mile east of Frank and Henry, who walked along the coast, and I about a mile and a half east of Lieutenant Schwatka. When about a mile and a half above our old camp at Wall Bay, he found a cairn very similar in construction to the one he found inland from Cape Felix. The top had been taken down, but in the first course of stones, covered and protected by those thrown from the top, he found a piece of paper with a care
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XI.
The prosecution of our search had been largely dependent upon our imitation of the life of the Esquimaux, and I should omit an important chapter in "Arcticology" if I did not leave on record the story of our exploits as amateur Esquimaux in subsisting upon the resources of the country through which our little exploring party passed, going and coming, in pursuit of its chief object. The seal was our beef and the walrus our mutton in this long journey. Seal-hunting varies with the time of the year
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
The staple food of the Esquimaux of North Hudson's Bay and Melville Peninsula is "ivick" (walrus). The season for killing the walrus lasts nearly all the year—that is, all the time when the natives are not inland hunting reindeer, in order to secure sufficient skins to make their winter clothing and sleeping blankets. The Kinnepatoos, who inhabit the shore of Hudson's Bay in the vicinity of Chesterfield Inlet and its tributaries, are the only tribe I know of who live almost exclusively upon the
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
We reached our permanent camp on our return from King William Land on September 19th. It was about six miles south-east of Gladman Point, and at the foot of a high hill, which Toolooah remarked would make a good look-out tower for deer-hunting. All along this part of the coast, where Simpson Strait is narrowest, would soon swarm with reindeer waiting for the salt water to freeze, so they could continue their navigation southward. It is for this reason that we selected it as our permanent camp wh
27 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
The last day we travelled on the river, December 28th, the thermometer had registered during the day -69 degrees in the morning, -64 degrees at noon, and -68 degrees at five o'clock in the evening; the lowest, 101 degrees below the freezing-point. Toolooah, Joe, and Ishnark went hunting the next day, but were unfortunate in not being able to secure any game, though they saw a small herd of reindeer. Toolooah reported the land sledging in good condition toward the south-east, much better than upo
25 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XV.
We had, of course, had abundant opportunities to study the habits of the people among whom we had lived so long. The government among the Inuit tribes, where they have any at all, is patriarchal, consisting of advice from the older and more experienced, which is recognized and complied with by the younger. Parental authority is never strictly enforced, but the children readily defer to the wishes of their parents—not only when young, but after reaching man's estate. The old people are consulted
24 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Notwithstanding the natural anxiety to return again to our native land after so long an absence, it was with genuine regret that we parted from our poor savage friends on Depot Island to embark upon the vessel that was to carry us home. Nor was the sorrow to us alone, for these simple children of the ice have warm hearts. Some of the old women embraced us tenderly, while the salt tears cut deep furrows through the dirt upon their faces. The younger ones exclaimed, and evidently with truth, "Watc
26 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
I will briefly bring this record to a conclusion. The map that accompanies it will give the reader an opportunity to more clearly understand the nature of the search conducted by Lieutenant Schwatka over the route of the retreating crews of the 'Erebus' and 'Terror', and by it he can also trace the sledge journey to and from King William Land as well as the preliminary sledge journeys in the winter of 1878 and 1879. The location of each spot where skeletons of the brave fellows were found is mar
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
Perhaps no branch of Arctic research is of more interest to the scholar than the language of the people who inhabit that region. A careful comparison of the dialect of the different tribes is of great value in ascertaining their history, the origin of the race and the gradual extension of their journeyings to the remotest point from their native land yet reached by them. It is generally admitted that the North American Esquimaux are of Mongolian extraction; that at some period the passage of Beh
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
GLOSSARY.
GLOSSARY.
The following glossary comprises all the words in general use in conversation between the natives and traders in Hudson Bay and Cumberland Sound, and a thorough knowledge of it would enable the student to make himself understood throughout the entire Arctic, with the assistance of a few signs which would naturally suggest themselves at the proper time: Arrow—Kok'-yoke. Arm—Tel'-oo. Another—I-pung'-er. All night—Kuee-en'-nah. Angry—Mar-me-an'-nah. All—Ter-mok-er-mingk. Autumn—Oo-ke-uk'-shark. Afr
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter