The Great White North: The story of polar exploration from the earliest times to the discovery of the poleWright, Helen S. (Helen Saunders)
History
The Great White North: The story of polar exploration from the earliest times to the discovery of the pole
Wright, Helen S. (Helen Saunders)
Arctic regions; North Pole
the shrouds and were thus guided, rather by the ear than by the eye, to
her position, and soon afterwards found ourselves on board, where we were
received once more as those from the dead.
“These short journeys, however arduous, in which caches were established
for future use, were only preliminary skirmishes to the ‘grand journey’
planned by Captain Kennedy with much forethought and in preparation for
which days had been occupied in making suitable apparel, trappings,
and sledges. It was expected that the journey would take at least
three months. The particular direction our route ought to assume, was,
of course, a matter to be regulated very much by the nature of the
circumstances that might arise in the course of it. On one point only we
were decided, viz. that it should embrace Cape Walker to which, as the
point of departure of Sir John Franklin for the unknown regions to the
W. and S.W., had he decided upon this course, and not gone up Wellington
Channel, much interest naturally attached.
“There were fourteen of the crew disposable in the ship,” continues
Captain Kennedy, “of whom four picked men were to go with Mr. Bellot and
myself to Cape Walker, while the rest were to accompany us, as a fatigue
party, as far as Fury Beach, which was to form the starting-point of the
journey. Parties sent out on different occasions during the last two
months, had taken in advance six cases of pemmican, six muskets, and
a bag of coals. One case of pemmican, as already mentioned, had been
deposited in January a few miles north of Fury Point. Our provisions,
clothing, and bedding, drawn upon two Indian sleighs by our five dogs,
had, of course, been reduced to whatever was strictly indispensable. Five
gallons of spirits of wine were taken as a substitute for fuel. With
proper management and economy, we hoped to make this last us till the
spring, when, by the plan we proposed adopting, of travelling during the
night instead of the day, we trusted, should a necessity arise for so
doing, to be able to dispense with the use of fuel altogether.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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