26 GiilÆ. APPROACH TO GOODHAAB.
Jug. 4.—Once more an unsuccessful effort has been made to reach Frederickshaab,
the entii-e coast being still blocked up with an impenetrable bai-rier of ice.
The ‘ Bulldog’s ’ head is therefore turned northward, and, with the ‘ Cicerone ’
in tow, she goes in quest of a more hospitable port higher up Davis Straits.
Jug. 5.—We passed through a very large quantity of pack-ice yesterday,
and met with some unavoidable concussions, but no serious injury. The day
was tolerably fine, and afforded us an opportunity of seeing several magnificent
peaks and glaciers on the coast. Although none of the latter are comparable,
in point of extent, with the great “ Ice Blinlv ” near- Frederickshaab, they far
outstrip it in scenic grandeur". In one instance, the abruptly terminated face of
the glacier clearly indicated the recent projection of several bergs.
I t rained all night. At an early hour the ‘ Bulldog ’ was close in shore.
But the sudden fall of the barometer, and the advent of a heavy swell from the
southward, rendered it necessary to run out to sea without a moment’s delay.
,By 9 A.M. the wind had already increased to a gale. The ‘ Cicerone ’ was being
fairly dragged through the seas, which swept her deck from stem to stern. The
strain becoming too great, the hawser parted. For a few moments the little
vessel staggered, as if in hesitation whether she should go down head first or
capsize. But she was too skilfully handled to yield even in the presence of
such danger. In the twinkhng of an eye a close-reefed topsail was set, and
under it and a jib, which had providentially been hoisted before the tow-rope
gave way, the gallant craft dashed off to windward and was soon lost to view in
the distance.
J„y_ 7._Yesterday forenoon, the gale having moderated, the ‘ BuUdog’
stood in towards land, and made it some miles to the northward of Baal s Eiver.
This morning she steamed dorvn along the outer margin of the innumerable
rocky islets that gii'd the coast, and arrived at the mouth of the inlet about
10 A.M., escorted by a small fleet of Esquimaux kayaks.
Although there was less ice along the portion of the coast we had traversed
to the northward than had been met with in the direction of Frederickshaab,
the entire surface of Baal’s Eiver and the fiords branching off from it, was
covered with such a dense mass that it was with great difficulty, and only under
the exercise of the utmost skill, that a passage through it was effected. About
4 P.M. the ‘ Bulldog’s ’ anchor dropped in the harbour of Goodhaab.
CHA P T E R HI.
HARBOUR AT GOODHAAB. — BESET IN THE ICE. — ^AMERICAN ENTERPRISE. —
DANISH SETTLEMENTS.—SEVERITY OP SEASON.—DEPTH OF FIORDS.—DREDGING
UNDER DIFFICULTIES.-METHOD OF DETERMINING IMMERSION OF ICE.—
BOULDERS.—MOUNTAIN TARN.—MICROSCOPIC ALGÆ.—ESQUIMAUX AND THEIR
KAYAKS. — OOMIAKS. — DEPARTURE PROM GOODHAAB. — FREDERICKSHAAB
AGAIN.—CAPE DESOLATION.-ICE AND ICEBERGS.—SOUNDINGS ACROSS DAVIS
STRAITS.—ANCHOR IN HAMILTON INLET.
A f t e r being tempest-tossed for nearly three weeks in the midst of an ice-covered
sea, it is pleasant to find ourselves, in company with four other vessels, resting
placidly in a land-locked bay, over which the Arctic blasts may blow their fiercest,
but whose surface they would find it difficult to arouse into any greater commotion
than a ripple. On three sides it is encompassed by steep hills rising up to
a height of several hundred feet, with deep water extending almost to their
bases. On the fourth, a long spit of rock stretches to the westward and overlaps
a bluff headland that closes in the harbour from the fiord outside. Away to the
southward, the peaks of “Hiorte Tok," or the “ Stag’s-horn” mountain, rise above
the boundary-walls of our anchorage, whilst an intermediate range sweeps round
the eastern margin of the broad fiord, from which it is separated by the spit
already referred to.
The other vessels consist of a couple of Danish barks of about six hundred tons
burden, come in here for shelter until the state of the ice admits of their going
into a southern port to load with cryolite; a smart-looking American schooner,
carrying a living cargo of fifty students of Williams’ College, Massachusetts,
bound to these parts on a scientific excursion, under the superintendence of
Professor Chadbourne ; and lastly our collier brig.
The American was strenuously endeavouring to beat up the channel as we
steamed in, but was baffled by the immense quantity of ice about. At the
request of her Captain, who came on board, she was towed in to the anchorage
by the ‘ Bulldog.’
Aug. 8.—The scene around us today is both unexpected and interesting.
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