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Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6 cover

Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6

Chapter 2: SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA
By Edward L. Moss
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About This Book

The narrative recounts an 1875–76 naval Arctic expedition that sails into pack ice, explores Greenland’s coasts and channels, and reaches latitudes farther north than previously attained by ship. It combines day-to-day shipboard life, the establishment of winter quarters, sledging journeys across floes, natural-history observations of plants, birds, mammals, and glacial landscapes, and encounters with local Arctic inhabitants and their material traces. Practical details include hunting, dog teams, depôts, and the effects of extreme cold on equipment and human bodies, while numerous sketches and chromolithographs accompany descriptive chapters on ice phenomena, geographical discoveries, and the hardships and routines of polar exploration.

Shores of the Polar Sea.

EDWARD L. MOSS.

SHORES

OF

THE POLAR SEA

A NARRATIVE OF

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 1875-6

BY
DR. EDWARD L. MOSS, H.M.S. “Alert”

ILLUSTRATED BY
Sixteen Chromo-Lithographs and numerous Engravings
From Drawings made on the spot by the Author

London:
MARCUS WARD & CO., 67 & 68, CHANDOS STREET, STRAND
And ROYAL ULSTER WORKS, BELFAST
1878

Printed by
MARCUS WARD & CO.,
Royal Ulster Works,
Belfast.

PREFACE.

I PLACE these Sketches in the hands of my Publishers, believing that careful chromo-lithographic fac-similes of them will convey a fuller and perhaps more novel idea of Arctic scenery than any rendering in black and white. As Sketches from Nature, they, for obvious reasons, illustrate rather the scenery of our Expedition than its leading events; the latter are the prerogative of the Historian, and do not come within the scope of a Sketch-book, in which the letterpress is subordinate, and intended merely to connect and describe the pictures. Whatever may be the artistic value of the Sketches—and they lay claim to none—they are at least perfectly faithful efforts to represent the face of Nature in a part of the world that very few can ever see for themselves.

EDWARD L. MOSS.

2nd February, 1877.

CONTENTS

Page
CHAPTER I
Entering the Arctic Circle—Continuous Daylight—Dispersion of the Squadron—Rendezvous at Godhavn—The Lost Norse Settlements—Embarkation of Eskimo Dogs and their Driver—Ascent of Hills at Disco—The “Lyngemarken”—A Paradise for Botanists—Education at Disco—Parting from the Valorous—Proven—Sanderson’s Hope—The “North Water”—Northern Limit of Human Habitation—Melville Bay—Northumberland and Hakluyt Islands, 9
CHAPTER II
Classic Ground—A Ramble over the “Doige Mountains”—Foulke Fiord—The Mer de Glace—Pack Ice—The First Check—Hayes’ Sound—Twin Glacier Valley—Charged by a Berg—Varying Fortunes—Walrus, 15
CHAPTER III
A Haul of the Dredge—Norman Lockyer Island—Traces of an Eskimo Exodus—Midnight on the 12th August—Mysterious Cairns—Forcing the Tidal Barrier—“Kane’s Open Polar Sea”—Hannah Island—Grant Land Reached—Musk Oxen—“Discovery’s” Winter Quarters, 21
CHAPTER IV
The Ships Part Company—Robeson Channel—Strange Ice—Lincoln Bay—A Gale—A Rush North—The “Alert” reaches a Latitude never before attained by Ship, and enters a Polar Sea—Precarious Position—Disappointment—No Land to the North—Perennial Ice—Altered Prospects—Autumn Sledging—Pioneering—Dog-sledging—Romance and Reality, 27
CHAPTER V
Exploration to the Westward—Dumb-bell Bay—A Seal—Search for Game—Lonely Lake—Fish in the Lake—A Gale—Return of the Boat Party—An Opportunity fortunately lost—The Expedition becomes the most Northern—Depôts sent forward—Frost-bite Range—Attempts to communicate with H.M.S. “Discovery”—Unexpected Difficulties—Soft Snow—Sunset—Preparations for Winter—The Snow Town—Building Snow Houses—Twilight Walk Shoreward, 32
CHAPTER VI
End of Twilight—Moonlight—Daily Life in Winter Quarters—Condensation—Breakfast—Morning Prayers—Outdoor Work—Exercise—The Ladies’ Mile—A Walk to Flagstaff Point—Sounds from the Pack—Optical Phenomenon—Dinner—Our Cat “Pops”—Occupation during Winter—Mock Moons—“Sally”—The Darkness, 40
CHAPTER VII
Winter Climate—Preservative Effect of Cold—Falling Temperature—Unprecedented Cold—Extreme Low Temperature not Unendurable—A Visitor from the Shore—Cold v. Vitality—Sudden Changes—A Breeze from the South—Warm Wind Aloft—Danger from East Wind—Dawn—Brilliant Effect of Low Sunlight—Lemming—Sunrise—Preparations for Spring—Snow-shoes—Our Prospects—Motion of the Floes—A Tide Wave, 46
CHAPTER VIII
The Sledging Campaign Opens—A Push for the “Discovery”—Petersen Breaks Down—Shelter in a Snowdrift—Difficulties in Retreat—A First of April Chase—Programme of Spring Sledging—Limited Hopes—Departure of Main Detachments—Double Banking—The Camp—A Night in a Tent—A Typical Floeberg—The Hare’s Sanctuary—Coat of Arms—Castle Floe—Parhelia—Road-finding in the Fog—Mirage—A Crevasse, 53
CHAPTER IX
News from the “Discovery”—Sickness—Petersen’s Death and Burial—The Relief of the Northern Detachment—The most Northern Grave—The March to 83° N. Lat.—Its Results—The Advance of the Season—Anxiety for the Safety of the Western Party—Its Return—Two Hundred Miles to the West—Further Efforts Poleward Hopeless, 62
CHAPTER X
Arctic Summer—Flowers and Butterflies—Feathered Visitors—A Strange Shot—Deceptive Game Tracks—The Land Ransacked—No Vestige of Man—Nature’s Records—The Raised Beaches—The Break-up—Farewell to Floeberg Beach—Running the Gauntlet—Robeson Channel Ice-drift—A “Nip”—Walled in by Floebergs—Escape—Re-union with the “Discovery,” 69
CHAPTER XI
Serious News—The North Greenland Detachments—The Missing Sledge-crews—Drifting with the Polar Pack—A Forced March of Thirty-two Hours—“Chatel’s Grotto” and the “Coal Mine”—Climate Past and Present—The Return Southward—A Pool in Kennedy Channel—Race against Winter—New Ice—Out Fires—The North Water at Last—The “Pandora’s” Depôt—News from Home—Conclusion, 75