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 following season, Captain Clavering, commander of H. M. S. _Griper_,
conveyed a Captain Sabine to Hammerfest in Norway, where Sabine desired
to make certain scientific observations on the comparative length of
the pendulum as affected by the principle of attraction. Other northern
points were to be touched for similar purposes, and Spitzbergen and the
east coast of Greenland were designated, the latter point being reached
early in August. “He landed his passenger and the scientific apparatus
on two islands detached from the eastern shore of the continent, which
he called the Pendulum Islands, and of which the outermost point is
marked by a bold headland rising to the height of three thousand feet.”
(“Arctic Adventures,” Sargent.) While waiting for Captain Sabine,
Clavering reconnoitred the coast, and was more fortunate than Scoresby in
running across some of the natives, who closely resembled those described
by Parry. By the beginning of September, Sabine having completed his
observations, the _Griper_ made her way, not without difficulty and
delays, by way of Drontheim, back to England.
[Sidenote: _MELVILLE PENINSULA_]
In 1824, Captain Lyon, commanding the _Griper_, was given the task of
the survey of Melville Peninsula, adjoining straits, and the shore of
Arctic America. Overladen and unseaworthy, the _Griper_ was totally unfit
for such an expedition, and upon reaching Roe Welcome, she was struck
by a gale which threatened the destruction of both the ship and crew.
After being battered around at the mercy of the storm for three days and
nights, in which commander and crew had taken no rest or sleep, she was
finally brought to anchor in a shallow bay, later designated as God’s
Mercy. Here she was still in imminent danger of being grounded, and
there seemed little hope of her surviving the high seas then running.
The crew were ordered to prepare for the worst, and to this end each man
was commanded to put on his warmer clothing. Of this scene, Captain Lyon
writes:—
“Each, therefore, brought his bag on deck and dressed himself, and in
the fine athletic forms which stood exposed before me, I did not see one
muscle quiver, nor the slightest sign of alarm. Prayers were read, and
they then all sat down in groups, sheltered from the wash of the sea by
whatever they could find, and some endeavored to obtain a little sleep.
Never, perhaps, was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of my little
ship, when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of the
British sailor is always allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not
believe it to be possible that among forty-one persons, not one repining
word should have been uttered. Each was at peace with his neighbor and
all the world; and I am firmly persuaded that the resignation which was
then shown to the will of the Almighty, was the means of obtaining His
mercy. God was merciful to us, and the tide, almost miraculously, fell no
lower.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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