Read Ebook: The Christian View of the Old Testament by Eiselen Frederick Carl

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The Saddle-back islands were passed in the evening; they number at least twenty, or double the number laid down on the chart. There are indications of good harbours between them. Soundings taken in the vicinity of the supposed Gripper shoal did not indicate any such obstruction to navigation. A large number of icebergs were passed during the day, having been apparently drifted into the strait by the westerly current of its north side, probably aided by favouring easterly winds. They were not very numerous to the westward of Big island.

The morning of the 10th the ship was off Douglas harbour, and, from there, coasted along the south side of the strait to Cape Weggs, whence a passage was taken for the east end of Charles island. The north side of that island was closely followed, in order to survey it.

Near the western end of the island many walrus were seen in the water and upon a small islet close to the shore. As several of these animals were required for dog-food during the coming winter, the ship was anchored in a small harbour near by, and early next morning the small launch was lowered ready for the chase. Soon after leaving the ship, several hundred walruses were seen sporting in the water about the islet. They were in bands, varying in numbers from ten to twenty, each band probably composed of an old male and his harem. A band would be singled out, and the launch, at full speed would put after it. When the animals became aware that they were being chased, they would endeavour to escape by diving, always keeping close together. At first they would remain under several minutes, and would travel four hundred yards; as the chase became hotter and hotter, the length of the dives gradually decreased, so that, finally, the animals could hardly remain below the surface. The launch was forced among the tumbling mass of frightened creatures, and when directly over them, a man in the bow would select a large one, and drive a harpoon into it. The head of the harpoon was fastened by a few fathoms of line to an empty water keg, and as soon as the harpoon was fast the keg was thrown overboard. This harpooning is necessary, as the animals sink as soon as they are killed, and the buoyancy of the keg is required to keep them from being lost. When one had been harpooned, the launch was stopped, and the rest of the band continued to flee. Now comes the dangerous moment of the chase. The wounded walrus rises to the surface, and immediately attacks the launch, which it endeavours to capsize by fixing its tusk over the side. Quick shooting is the order, and even with a storm of bullets, many a monster has to be rapped over the head or pushed away with guns and spears. After this experience with the few first killed, it was found that by keeping the propeller in motion and the whistle blowing, they would not attack the launch, but would waste their energies in an endeavour to destroy the keg; consequently the danger of the sport was considerably lessened. Upwards of half a dozen shots, at close range, were necessary to kill each walrus. As soon as one was dispatched, it was towed to the ship, or to a convenient cove at the shore. Seven were captured during the day, and hoisted on board, where they completely filled the after deck. Owing to the difficulty of securing these large animals, at least twice that number, fatally wounded, were lost; we later found this to be the usual proportion of killed to captured, where these animals are hunted for their skins and blubber, a waste of life altogether too great.

That evening the ship was headed for Cape Wolstenholme, and early next morning came to anchor in Erik cove, close to that headland. Advantage was taken of a fine convenient stream of fresh water to fill the nearly empty tanks. During the day, two large white bears were killed by the hunters. The first was seen climbing along the steep cliffs fronting the harbour, the second being found in a deep hole that it had dug into a large snowbank, on the side of a high hill, and into which it had retired for a cool sleep.

Erik cove is an excellent harbour formed by a wide gully in the high hills of this part of the coast. The bay extends inland about two miles from the general coast-line; and good anchorage is found within a quarter of a mile of its head. On both sides, hills from 800 feet to 1,500 feet afford good protection against all but north winds. Unfortunately the bay is V-shaped, and quite open to the north, so that with strong winds from that direction it would be unsafe, and, during the season of ice, the danger would be considerably enhanced, as, owing to its shape, the ice would be liable to block, and to force a ship on shore without much chance of escape. A small river which flows down the continuation of the gorge winds from side to side of a low plain, which narrows as it extends backwards from the sea, up the valley. An excellent site for houses might be found on the plain near the mouth of the river.

HUDSON BAY.

Squalls of snow delayed us until the afternoon of the 13th, when we steamed westward along the north side of Digges islands. A bear was seen climbing over the cliffs, and a boat was lowered in chase, but the animal escaped. In the evening, the course was changed to northward, up Fox channel. At daylight the next morning ice was met with some ten miles from Leyson point. Steaming slowly through it, Seahorse point, on Southampton island, was reached at noon, and a landing was made with the launch. During the absence of the launch, the ship was sent out into the ice to the northeast, in order to examine its condition. It was found to be in large cakes of heavy rafted ice, too solid to penetrate at such a late date.

Seahorse point is at the junction of the granites and gneisses with the Silurian limestones. There is here a marked difference between the southern limestone area and the northern country, underlain by the crystalline rocks, with its typical long, low, rounded hills, lying in roughly parallel ridges, and separated by wide shallow valleys, dotted with lakes and ponds, or filled with coarse boulder clay, with boulders scattered in bewildering profusion everywhere. This land, although high by contrast with the limestone country, seldom reaches an elevation of 500 feet, and that only far inland. There is one conspicuous peak, which rises like a great sugar loaf, far inland, its snow-capped summit of the lightest blue.

The limestone country occupies all the southern part of this great island, and also underlies the large islands of Coats and Mansfield farther to the south. The same physical characteristics prevail wherever the limestone is found. The low shores are bounded by gradually deepening water, broken by dangerous reefs that extend several miles from the land. The country rises very slowly inland, from the shores, in a succession of low, broad terraces, each a few feet higher than the one in front. These terraces are covered to a depth of several feet by broken limestone, which affords perfect drainage, and in consequence the surface is so dry that it will not even support a covering of the hardy Arctic plants. This absence of vegetation leaves the monotonous light-yellow shingle quite unrelieved by any dash of other colour, and the general view is one of dry desolation, much worse than that of the hilly country. The limestone region never reaches an elevation of one hundred feet within walking distance of the shore.

The ship lay-to during the night, among scattered pans of ice, about five miles from the land, and in forty fathoms of water. Late in the evening two walruses were killed on ice pans close to the ship.

A return to the southward was made at daylight, and the ice was finally left after passing Leyson point. During the passage through the ice, in the early morning, hundreds of walrus were seen asleep on the floating pans, and were left undisturbed. Skirting the low shores of the so-called Bell island, Evans strait was entered, and, late in the afternoon, we passed close to Walrus island in Fisher strait. This island is composed of crystalline rocks, and although not very high, it is conspicuous in contrast to the low shores on both sides of the strait. The island is much smaller than shown on the chart, and is only one island, not two, as marked there.

While passing through Evans and Fisher straits, soundings were taken every five miles. The bottom was found to be very even, and covered with fine sand or limestone debris. During the day the low shores of Southampton were in sight, without any feature sufficiently marked to afford a triangulation point.

During the night of the 15th we passed the western entrance of Fisher strait, and turned northward, up the west coast of Southampton. Frequent soundings, taken as the ship passed over, or very close to, the position of Tom island on the chart, gave no indications of it.

This island was placed on the chart, on the authority of Captain Lyon, but nobody has since seen it.

The 16th was thick and foggy, so that when the distance to Cape Fullerton had been run down in the evening, and the water had shoaled to twenty-five fathoms, the ship lay-to for the night. In the morning, standing to the westward, breakers were seen at nine o'clock; shortly after, several low islands were passed, and at noon the launch was sent ahead to sound the way into a long bay, which subsequently proved to be Winchester inlet. A good harbour, sheltered by islands, was found on the east side of the bay, and about three miles from its mouth, where the anchor was dropped at six o'clock in the evening.

The country surrounding Winchester inlet is very similar to that bounding the whole of the northwestern part of Hudson bay. The country is underlain by Archaean crystalline rocks, and has all the physical characteristics common to similar areas in the south. Long, gently rounded hills, of slight elevation, form the higher grounds, with wide, shallow valleys between them. The whole has been intensely glaciated, and the abrasion of the great ice-cap has reduced the general surface to as near a level surface as is possible, considering the varying resisting properties of the different rocks found here.

There is no soil upon the rocky hills, while that of the valleys is largely boulder clay, in which the coarser material predominates, leaving little room for the growth of Arctic vegetation upon the finer materials of the soil. Boulders scattered in profusion over the rocky hills give to the latter a peculiar ragged appearance. Lakes and ponds dot the valleys, and much of the land surrounding these is low and swampy.

The shores of the bay are low, and are masked, in most places, by a wide fringe of low rocky islands, while beyond the islands the danger zone is continued several miles seaward by a labyrinth of sunken reefs. The bottom of the bay, beyond these reefs, continues very uneven, so that in the portion between Winchester and Chesterfield inlets there is danger of a ship grounding, when beyond the sight of the low shores. The proximity to the magnetic pole accounts for the sluggishness of the compass in these waters, where no reliance can be placed on it. This, with the uncharted, low coast, bare of prominent landmarks, renders the approach to any of the harbours uncertain and dangerous.

Inland from the shores the country rises slowly; indeed, the general elevation does not increase towards the interior above ten feet a mile, while along the shores there are no hills more than fifty feet high.

The crew of the launch consisted of the second mate, third engineer, a fireman, sailor, the interpreter, Scotty and myself. We left the ship early on the morning of the 23rd, and the launch behaved admirably in the heavy head sea raised by the recent gale. A southerly course was followed, past Depot island, but the numerous shoals gradually forced us away from the mainland, so that the boat was ten miles from the mainland at the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, and even at that distance considerable difficulty was experienced in keeping clear of the shoals. They were eventually passed without mishap, and the course was changed to westward along the south side of Promise island, and then along that of the inlet, so that by dark we were fifty miles above its mouth. After steaming twenty miles farther, on the following morning the lower Eskimo settlement was reached, situated on a large bay on the north side of the inlet. All the men were absent hunting deer, and although there were many skins about the encampment, the women would not part with them without the permission of the men. The latter were not expected back until the next evening, so it was determined to continue on to the upper encampment, located thirty miles above the lower, on the southern channel, past Bowell island, where the inlet discharges from Baker lake. This encampment was reached early in the afternoon, and the absent hunters were signalled for with smoke. They arrived about two hours after us, and a lively barter was kept up until after dark, upwards of fifty skins and a considerable quantity of meat being purchased for powder, tobacco, knives and files. Four tents of Eskimos were at this place, which is a noted crossing of the deer in their annual migrations to the north and south. Great numbers had already been killed, and half-putrid heads were scattered in all directions about the tents.

The gale in which we reached the ship continued for three days. On the evening of the 3rd of October the men with the boats returned to the ship, and reported having had a very rough time of it, in the makeshift camp there. On the 8th the ship steamed up the inlet and anchored close to the sunken launch. Efforts to bring her alongside the ship were immediately undertaken, and next morning she was successfully hoisted aboard. In the afternoon we started down the inlet, and anchored for the night a few miles above Promise island. On the 10th a heavy gale blew from the westward, accompanied by frequent, thick snow squalls. The anchor was raised at daylight on the morning following, when, keeping well to the southward of the shoals beyond the mouth of the inlet, we arrived safely at Fullerton at dusk that evening.

The harbour of Fullerton is formed by a number of small islands, situated on the east side at the mouth of a long bay, and about five miles from Cape Fullerton, at the entrance to Roes Welcome. The harbour is quite small, with room for about three ships, and is fully protected by the islands and reefs surrounding it. The usual entrance is from the westward, where the channel is not above fifty yards wide, and the water at high tide is only five fathoms deep. The eastern entrance is narrower, and a ship is obliged to make several sharp turns when passing through it. Owing to the low even coast, without any landmark in the vicinity, the position of the harbour is difficult to locate without entering the wide danger-zone of shoals. The wide fringe of islands to the westward practically ends at Fullerton, so that a ship making the coast may know the position by the presence or absence of islands; but as the islands are very low it is hard to distinguish them from the mainland at a safe distance away, as the shoals and reefs extend more than five miles beyond the harbour. The surveys made in the spring of 1904 show that a fairly safe channel will be found by keeping well to the eastward of the harbour, and by then following a northwest course, keeping in line the beacons on a small island about a mile outside the harbour. When the Beacon island is reached the ship should pass in mid-channel between it and the adjoining island to the westward; passing these, the outer harbour island should be given a wide berth, until the entrance to the harbour is opened fully, a long shoal extending from the western point of the island.

Dr. Faribault had shown signs of mild insanity, almost from the time of leaving Halifax. On the 1st of November he became violently insane, when, on the advice of Dr. Borden, he was placed in charge of the police as a dangerous lunatic. The poor man had to be confined in a cell, and watched continuously. His condition became worse and worse, until he was happily released by death on the 27th of April following.

When the labour for preparing for the winter was finished, the ordinary work about the ship was hardly enough to keep the crew in health, and all were encouraged to hunt or attend lines of fox-traps for exercise. This proved much better than formal exercise at stated times, and the general health remained good throughout this long period of enforced idleness.

Only two meals were cooked daily during the short days of mid-winter, breakfast being at ten and dinner at four, an informal supper being provided in the evening.

Games and cards were provided for the use of all; musical instruments, including a piano, were in frequent use, while a weekly lecture, dance and newspaper went far to agreeably pass away the long winter evenings, which were further relieved by visits between the ships, and to the snowhouses of the natives built on the ice close alongside.

On the night of the 11th of December a second sad occurrence happened. When everybody was busy preparing letters for the mail about to be sent to Churchill by a couple of Eskimos from Baker lake, James O'Connel, a cabin-boy of weak mind, left the ship to go to the snowhouses, and wandered away in a snowstorm, which commenced shortly after his departure. He had been in the habit of hiding behind the launch, or in other places about the decks, where he would remain for hours, and, in consequence, his absence was unnoticed by his mess mates until the following morning. Immediately upon the alarm being given, the crews of both ships and all the natives turned out and searched systematically, in all directions from the ship, but, owing to the blizzard, without success. The storm continued to rage during the next two days, so that it was only on the 15th that definite information concerning his fate was obtained by the natives, who traced his track in the snow to the open water in the southwest some three miles from the ship, where the poor fellow had gone before the strong wind. There is no doubt that death came quickly, and we were relieved of the thoughts of his possible sufferings had he continued to wander about the country and finally died of exhaustion and cold.

SPRING EXPLORATIONS.

On the 11th April Mr. Caldwell left the ship, accompanied by five natives, with instructions to explore the coast northward to Wager inlet; and if the conditions of weather, food and dog-food would permit, to continue his work to Repulse bay, returning before the ice along the coast broke up. His outfit and provisions were carried upon two dog sleds, one of which was to return after helping him over the rough ice of the shore of Roes Welcome. He succeeded in the exploration of Wager inlet, but, owing to the delays caused by bad weather, was unable to reach Repulse bay. Mr. Caldwell on his trip did a large amount of excellent work in surveying the coast-line and examining the rocks met with along the route.

At the same time Mr. King was engaged, when the weather permitted, in making an accurate plan of Fullerton harbour, the channel of approach and the environments within a radius of thirty miles of the ship. Several hundred soundings were made with the aid of the boring machine, the soundings being under the charge of Mr. Ross. As a result an accurate chart of the harbour and channel has been prepared for the use of the ships calling there.

Owing to the serious illness of Dr. Faribault, whose death was expected daily, and to other causes, I could not leave the ship on any long trips at this time, and my out-door work was confined to the superintendence of the surveys, and to such geological work as could be accomplished within a day's journey of the ship.

On the 4th of May, accompanied by two Eskimos, I left for an exploratory trip along the coast to the mouth of Chesterfield inlet, in order to connect the work of Caldwell with that of Tyrrell. This work was accomplished in ten days, during part of which we were confined to our tent, and almost buried by the heaviest snowstorm of the year. A sketch survey was carried to the mouth of the inlet, and all rock exposures on the way were examined. The rocks met with were chiefly granite, with masses of dark schists inclosed in the granite areas. Some of the schists were cut by quartz veins, which carried small quantities of pyrite, but nowhere sufficiently concentrated to be of value. The most promising locality seen was on the islands a few miles to the westward of Fullerton, where the veins were numerous, and where the natives report some veins well mineralized.

On the return journey the country about Winchester inlet was examined inland for a distance of forty miles. A description of its physical character has already been given.

Mr. Caldwell arrived back safely on the 30th of May. The first rain fell on the 21st, after which the weather gradually lost its wintry character, and although by no means warm, was sufficiently moderate to allow the surveying work to go on without much discomfort.

From the first week in June all hands were busy removing the winter coverings, and getting the ship in order for the coming summer.

WHALEBOAT TRIP TO SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND.

At Whale point a small house was erected some years ago as a station by one of the American whalers. It is situated on the summit of the point, and a ladder leads to the roof, where a small platform served as a lookout station for whales swimming in the ice-laden waters of Roes Welcome. This is a favourite camping ground for the Aivillik natives in the early summer, whales, seals and walrus being then plentiful in the adjoining waters, and the barren-ground caribou numerous within a short distance of the coast.

According to Captain Comer, more whales have been killed within sight of Whale point than in all the rest of Hudson bay; on this account, and from the ease with which it might be supplied, it would probably prove an excellent place for a post from which to control the whale fishery. The water supply, obtained from small pools in the rocks, is rather bad, owing to the number of dogs and natives about.

Two days were occupied in crossing from Whale point to Southampton island, and as Roes Welcome was full of floating ice, several exciting moments were experienced when the ice came together with each change of tide, threatening to crush the boats if not quickly hauled out on a convenient heavy pan. The monotony was also broken by the capture of a bear and several large seals. We remained in company with the whalers for two days after reaching the island, and coasted southward to Cape Kendall without seeing any sign of a whale. As our work was chiefly on land, we then determined to part company, they continuing southward while we made inland excursions. The ice was still fast to the shore, from which it extended seaward from two to six miles. The boats were of necessity at the edge of the ice, and the long tramp through deep slush and water to and from the shore was fatiguing and cold. Only the ridges on the land were free of snow, which was still deep in all the hollows. The weather was now sufficiently warm to keep the snow soft and wet, and to make a passage from one ridge to another necessitated wading waist deep through the snow. Under these conditions extensive journeys inland were impossible, and we were confined to the shores of the island. Good collections of fossils from the limestones of the island were obtained, and a large number of bird skins and eggs were collected. It was unfortunately too early in the season for plants.

The western shores of Southampton are low. The land behind rises in a succession of ridges each a few feet higher than the one immediately in front. These ridges are formed of broken limestone, evidently the surface portion of underlying ledges. Very little vegetation grows on the ridges, but in the wide depressions between them there is a profusion of grasses and other Arctic plants on the wet ground surrounding the many ponds and lakes found there. The shores and islands of these lakes are the breeding grounds of a number of rare birds, among which may be mentioned Sabine's Gull, Arctic Tern, Whistling Swan, Hutchen's Goose, Snow Goose, Jager, Little Blue Crane and Red Phalarope.

The water is usually very shallow for two or three miles from the land, and reefs of limestone extend much farther out. About Cape Kendall dangerous reefs are found at least eight miles from the land.

We remained on the island a week, gradually working northward, until we were about ten miles to the north of our original landing place, or some forty miles beyond Cape Kendall. Advantage was taken of a fine evening to re-cross Roes Welcome, and we started at midnight in broad daylight. Shortly after leaving, a large whale came to the surface close to the boats and remained in the vicinity for upwards of thirty minutes. The crossing was safely made during the day, the only incident being the meeting in mid-channel of an extensive mass of very heavy ice, some of its pinnacles being upwards of thirty feet above the water; the natives said it was a large floe from Fox channel. We were obliged to sail several miles to the northward in order to pass this floe, and so reached the mainland a few miles south of the mouth of Wager inlet, and a like distance from Yellow bluff, where the Aivilliks spend the late summer. Nothing of note occurred on the passage down the coast, and the ship was again reached on the 2nd of July.

Little change was apparent in the condition of the ice since our departure, and the solid floe, extending a couple of miles beyond the harbour, gave little hope of the ship being released by the approaching high tides. The ship was now ready to leave as soon as the ice would permit, but this did not happen until the 18th, a marvellous change taking place daily in the condition of the ice for a week previous to that date.

HUDSON BAY.

The low southern shore of Southampton was followed during the night, and only a few stringers of ice were met with. At four o'clock in the morning the island was lost to sight, and by noon we were steaming along the equally low shores of Coats island, with the small but prominent Walrus island in sight to the northward. Ice to the northward gradually forced the ship closer to the shores of Coats, where, after passing a wide bay, partly filled with large, low islands, we coasted within two miles of a prominent headland about four hundred feet high, which forms the northeast cape of Coats, and which was named Cape Pr?fontaine in honour of the Honourable the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. These highlands appear to traverse the island diagonally in a southwest direction, coming out at a lower altitude on the south side of the island several miles west of Cape Pembroke. This ridge is due to a band of crystalline rocks, which rises from beneath the low flat limestones forming the remainder of the island. A large whale was seen while passing through Fisher strait.

Beyond Cape Pr?fontaine the ice became more plentiful, and many large pans were met with. The ice had the appearance of being lately broken up, and owing to its smooth unrafted condition we judged it came from Fisher strait, rather than from Fox channel to the northward. During the night this ice forced the ship southward into the channel between Coats and Mansfield, so that the western shore of the latter was reached some twenty-five miles to the south of its northern end.

Open leads in the ice were found from three to five miles from that island, and no difficulty was experienced in gaining its north end. This island of limestone is somewhat higher than Coats and Southampton, rising inland in low broad terraces to an elevation of upwards of a hundred feet. Small patches of snow were seen under banks and along the faces of the terraces, but elsewhere the green colour showed that considerable vegetation covered the greater part of its surface.

Similar lanes of water, between large cakes of ice, afforded an easy passage from Mansfield to Digges islands. A great amount of ice was seen to the southward, apparently completely filling the channel between Mansfield and the mainland. To the northward some open water occurred, but the patches became smaller and smaller as Digges was approached, and finally ceased to the eastward of these islands, the southern part of the western end of Hudson strait being completely filled with ice.

A strong southerly wind had been blowing all day, and it was hoped that it had loosened the ice along the southern shore of the strait. The ship was taken under the land, but without success, so that after butting through the slowly closing ice all night, we were finally tightly beset in the early morning, about three miles from the eastern Digges island. The 21st was foggy, with snow flurries in the morning and showers in the afternoon; the ice remained tight about the ship all day, and she drifted eastward with the ice, passing Cape Wolstenholme, and in the evening being about five miles to the east of Erik cove. At that time considerable open water could be seen about five miles from the ship to the eastward, with a few narrow lanes in the rear, and other small openings to the northward, where the dark sky showed considerable open water beyond our view.

HUDSON STRAIT.

Persistent ramming forced the ship through about five miles of ice on the morning of the 22nd, when she was again tightly beset until the evening, at that time being about twenty-five miles to the eastward of Cape Wolstenholme, this distance having been made by the drift of the ice. The ice slackened again at eight o'clock in the evening, when after an hour's heavy work we got into a lead of open water under the land, and continued at full speed all night, steaming east in a lane from two to four miles wide.

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