The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3Whymper, Frederick
History
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3
Whymper, Frederick
Adventure and adventurers; Arctic regions; Ocean; Voyages around the world
something to our knowledge of geography. Baffin made more than one voyage
after this, accompanying one whaling expedition which consisted of ten
ships and two pinnaces. The results of some of these voyages will be more
particularly mentioned when we come to consider the inhabitants of the
Sea.
In 1619 Christian IV. of Denmark sent out an expedition to Greenland, and
for northern discovery generally, under the command of Jens Munk, an
experienced seaman. The two vessels employed were mainly manned by English
sailors who had served on previous Arctic voyages. Munk left Elsinore on
May 18th, and a month afterwards made Cape Farewell. He endeavoured to
stand up Davis’s Strait, but the ice preventing he retraced his course,
eventually passing through Hudson’s Strait, to which, with the northern
part of Hudson’s Bay, he attached new names, in apparent ignorance of
previous discoveries. He made the coast of America in latitude 63° 20’,
where he was compelled to seek shelter in an opening of the land, which he
named Munk’s Winter Harbour. To the surrounding country he gave the name
of New Denmark. The year being advanced—it was now September 7th—huts were
immediately constructed, and his company were at first very successful in
obtaining game—partridges, hares, foxes, and white bears. Several mock
suns were observed, and on December 18th an eclipse of the moon occurred,
during which this luminary was surrounded by a transparent circle, within
which was a cross quartering the moon. This phenomenon was regarded with
alarm, and as a harbinger of the misfortunes which soon followed. The
weather was intensely cold; their wine, beer, and brandy, were frozen, and
the casks burst. The scurvy made its appearance in virulent form, and a
Danish authority states it was mostly occasioned by the too free use of
spirituous liquors. Their bread and provisions became exhausted, and none
of them had strength to hunt or seek other supplies. One by one they
succumbed, till out of sixty-four persons hardly one remained. When Munk,
who, reduced to a skeleton, had remained for some time alone in a little
hut in an utterly hopeless and broken-hearted condition, ventured to crawl
out, he found only two others alive. But the spring had come, and, making
one last effort, they went forth, and removing the snow found some roots
and plants, which they eagerly devoured. They succeeded in obtaining a few
fish, and, later, killed some birds. Their strength returning, they
equipped the smaller vessel as well as they were able, and set sail on an
apparently hopeless voyage, but in spite of storms and other perils
succeeded at length in reaching Norway, where they were received as men
risen from the grave. Munk must have possessed an undaunted spirit, for we
find him almost immediately proposing to make an attempt at the north-west
passage, in spite of all the sufferings he had just undergone. A
subscription was raised, and a vessel prepared. On taking leave of the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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