The following is little more than a diary of a voyage made by me on the whaler Aurora of Dundee in 1884. I cannot imagine its being read by many, as the subject can only interest a few who have themselves gone down to the sea in ships. The Arctic whaling industry is I fear becoming a thing of the past, and this prompts me to have the record of our successful voyage printed. Some mention has been made of the Greely Relief Expedition, as the relief ships were with the whalers during the passage to

"A thousand miles from land are we, Tossing about on the roaring sea; From billow to bounding billow cast Like fleecy snow on the stormy blast." Steaming down the river we landed quite a lot of stowaways at Broughty Perry about 4.30 P. M., just as it was becoming dark. Tea was served at five,—my first meal on board the Aurora . The Captain and myself sat on the starboard side of the table. Wm. Adam, the mate, Alexander McKechnie, second mate, and Wm. Smith, chief engineer, sat on the other side.

"Such are the charms to barren states assyn'd, Their wants but few, their wishes all confin'd." Our first possession across the sea was Newfoundland, and I made the voyage to it 400 years after John Cabot, the discoverer. The Mathew of Bristol first sighted Cape Bonavista, which was the first point seen by the Aurora . Cabot was a Venetian sailing out of Bristol for a time, and for his great discovery, which gave England her vast American possessions, King Henry gave John ten pounds a year. Cabo

"The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around; It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound." March 10th . At five A. M. all was life on board the Aurora . On awaking, I had coffee, which was in the cabin, and, muffling up well, I went on deck, as it was bitterly cold. The night was cloudy and dark but the ship was illuminated with torches, and on each side of the gangway stood the mate and ice-master, calling the roll. The Newfoundland men came on board

"Now, Brothers, for the icebergs of frozen Labrador Floating spectral in the moonshine, along the low black shore! When the mist the rock is hiding and the sharp reef lurks below And the white squall smites in summer, and the autumn tempests blow." The work of discharging our cargo began at once—first the sculps on deck, then those in the 'tween-decks and then those in the tanks. Thereafter the ship was given a rough cleaning; new berths were erected in the 'tween-decks and quarter-hatch but not

"But 'tis not mine to tell their tale of grief, Their constant peril and their scant relief, Their days of danger and their nights of pain; Their manly courage e'en when deemed in vain." One of the interesting things about our trip to the Arctic Seas was the possibility of seeing Greely or of possibly finding him or something about him. I shall here give a brief outline of what had been done up to this time towards rescuing the gallant explorer and his intrepid followers. Every one I met in Newf

"The Arctic sun rose broad above the wave, The breeze now sank, now whispered from his cave." Newfoundland looked more attractive in April than it did when we left, doing about was pleasanter and we saw everything worth seeing in the neighborhood of St John's. On board, great changes took place. All the sheathing was torn off and the ship cleaned inside and out. Her overhauling was complete. The rigging was set up, the masts were scraped and oiled and the ship painted. The punts were all cleared

"We have fed our sea for a thousand years, And she calls us, still unfed, Though there is never a wave of all our waves But marks our English dead." — Kipling. It may be of interest to recount here the story of the Chieftain's mishap, which was the worst accident of the year. The Chieftain was one of the Dundee whaling fleet. When we left she was fitting out for the Greenland sealing and bottlenose whaling. Leaving Dundee on March 6th, under the command of Captain Gellatley, she lost four of her

"The shuddering tenant of the frigid zone Boldly proclaims the happiest spot his own; Extols the treasures of his stormy seas, And his long nights of revelry and ease." We were now crossing Davis Straits and felt that the whaling voyage had fairly begun. Reference was seldom made to the places already visited, but those we expected to see were discussed, and stories told of previous experiences there. Nothing was spoken of but Greenland and its settlements. The weather was very cold and on Thurs

"The shapeless bear With dangling ice, all horrid, stalks forlorn, Slow paced, and sourer as the storms increase, He makes his bed beneath the inclement drift, And with stem patience, scorning weak complaint, Hardens his heart against the assailing want." May 20th. Tuesday. We were quite close to Disco in the morning. However, the Captain decided not to go into the settlement, Godhaven, where many other ships lay, but to go west, as the straits appeared tolerably free from ice in that direction.

"And hark! The lengthening roar continuous runs Athwart the rifted deep, at once it bursts And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds." June 1st. Sunday . Owing to a change of wind the ice had loosened and during the night we managed to push on to Berry Island. The Bear and Thetis appeared upon the scene during the afternoon, and we saw the Bear strike a sunken rock. We hooked on to the small island with several of the other ships, the Bear being on our starboard side, and the Narwhal, Arctic

"And now there came both mist and snow And it grew wondrous cold, And ice, mast-high, came floating by As green as emerald." I noticed a rather curious phenomenon while coming up the Greenland coast, but thinking that there was probably some simple explanation, made no note of it. One evening while in the passage at the foot of the stairs I heard a peculiar whistling. It was like the noise one sometimes hears when standing beside a telegraph pole. The steward was in the pantry and I drew his att

"Here winter holds his unrejoicing court; And through his airy hall the loud misrule Of driving tempest is forever heard. Here the grim tyrant meditates his wrath, Here arms his winds and all-subduing frost. Moulds his fierce hail and treasures up his snows With which he now oppresses half the globe." June 22nd. Sunday . It was blowing very hard from the south, and there was much ice, so we had a difficult time picking our way. The weather was also bitterly cold. Again birds were very numerous.

"Hoist out the boat at once and slacken sail." July 5th. Saturday . A beautiful day. After breakfast I was in a bran boat on the starboard side of the ship and one hundred and fifty yards away, when I heard a commotion on board, and in less time than it takes to tell, all our boats, except the upper quarter ones, were in the water and hurrying off: towards us. Our steering oar was holding the boat to the ice, so it did not take long to get away, and we pulled hard for several minutes before the

"Look through the sleet and look through frost, Look to the Greenlands' caves and coast. By the iceberg is a sail Chasing of the swarthy whale; Mother doubtful, mother dread, Tell us, has the good ship sped?" July 10th. Thursday. We moved from our neighbor, the Esquimaux , and dodged north under canvas, hooking on five or six miles away. The Sound was frozen completely across this year, and during our stay, the ice never opened. Probably we could have forced our way in had we been bent on explor

"White, quiet sails from the grim icy coasts, That bear the battles of the whaling hosts, Whose homeward crews, with feet and flutes in tune, And spirits roughly blithe, make music to the moon." July 22nd. Tuesday. During the night the rain changed into snow and in the morning it was blowing a gale. In fact, it was a wild, winter's day. We were amongst loose ice, with our main yard aback and there was no open water to be seen anywhere. During the day the snow ceased but the wind kept up until la

"To claim the Arctic came the sun, With banners of the burning zone Unrolled upon their airy spars. They froze beneath the light of stars, And there they float, those streamers old, Those Northern Lights, forever cold." The neighborhood of Cape Byam Martin was considered good whaling ground, so we spent the next few days cruising off it and the coast further down, but without seeing anything of interest. Even seals were scarce. It was remarkable how few we saw north of the Arctic circle. By goin

THE ESQUIMAUX—THE LOSS OF TWO MEN. The Esquimaux , Capt. Milne, arrived in the Tay last night from Davis Straits, and will be docked with this morning's tide. The Esquimaux was unsuccessful at the Newfoundland seal fishing, only 1,900 seals having been secured; but she has brought a fair cargo from Davis Straits, consisting of 11 whales, which will yield 140 tons of oil and 6 tons of whalebone. Two fatalities have, unfortunately, occurred during the voyage. Early in the season a young man named

DAVIS STRAITS WHALE FISHING—ARRIVAL OF AURORA. The steamer Aurora, belonging to Messrs. Alex. Stephen & Sons, arrived at Dundee yesterday afternoon from the Davis Straits whale fishing. The Aurora , commanded by Capt. Jas. Fair-weather, has had a very successful voyage. At Newfoundland 28,150 seals were secured during the two trips, the Aurora being the only one of the Dundee fleet which was fortunate in securing a good catch. On the 8th May she left St. John's for Davis Straits, and on