The Open Polar Sea: A narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States"Hayes, I. I. (Isaac Israel)
History
The Open Polar Sea: A narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States"
Hayes, I. I. (Isaac Israel)
Arctic regions; United States (Schooner)
It was all we could do to bring up the balance of our cargo to where
we cached our load yesterday. I must not overtax the dogs; for, if
they give out, I am done for. They are much fatigued to-night and must
be nursed; so I directed Jensen to make them a warm supper of meat
and potatoes and lard, and plenty of it. Nothing could exceed their
ravenous hunger. The ferocity with which they tear into their food
exceeds any thing that I have ever seen, and nothing escapes their
sharp fangs. They eat up their harness if not closely watched, and we
are obliged to bring every thing made of skin inside the hut. Several
of the traces have disappeared down their rapacious throats; and,
with these swallowings and the breakings, we are now so badly off that
we must fall back upon rope to replace the skin lines. To add to our
embarrassments, Jensen forgot last night to cover over his sledge,
(Knorr's makes the roof of our hut,) and when we went out in the
morning, the sledge was torn to pieces, the lashings were all eaten,
and the pieces of the sledge were scattered over the snow all around
the camp.
I have nearly eight hundred pounds of dog food, but the daily drain
is very great; and this, taken in connection with the slowness of our
progress, looks unpromising.
May 1st.
[Sidenote: THE COAST IN VIEW.]
We found it impossible to get on to-day with even one half the cargo,
and were therefore forced to make three parcels of it,--one of which I
estimate that we have brought nine miles, as traveled, though probably
not one third that distance in a straight line. It is impossible to
describe the nature of the ice over which we have struggled. It is even
worse than any thing we have encountered before. The run of to-day has
brought the coast quite conspicuously in view. I am coming upon my old
survey of 1854, and am not far from my return track at that time; but
how different the condition of the ice! Then my principal difficulty
was in the outward journey, due north from Van Rensselaer Harbor.
Returning further down the Sound, near where we now are, the ice was
found to be but little broken, and I crossed from shore to shore in two
days.
I have now a much finer opportunity for observation than I had then,
for there was on the former occasion much fog, and I was constantly
snow-blind. The coast of Grinnell Land is clearly somewhat further
north than I then placed it; for we are by my observation and
reckoning, within ten miles of the shore, if the map is correct. The
two bold capes to which Dr. Kane applied the names Bache and Henry (the
Victoria Head and Cape Albert, of Captain Inglefield) appear to be
large islands, in the mouth of a sound from thirty to forty miles wide.
I reserve further judgment for further observation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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