Arctic Harpooner: A Voyage on the Schooner Abbie Bradford, 1878-1879 [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512815832

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ARCTIC HARPOONER

ARCTIC HARPOONER A Voyage on the Schooner Ahhie Bradford 1878-1879

By ROBERT FERGUSON Edited by LESLIE DALRYMPLE STAIR Illustrated by PAUL QUINN

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS: PHILADELPHIA:

I938

Copyright

1938

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Manufactured

in the United States of

PRESS America

LONDON HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

DEDICATED

TO

the Grandchildren of Captain Robert Ferguson

PREFACE HE first book relating some of R o b e r t Ferguson's adventures c o v e r e d a w h a l i n g v o y a g e to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the y e a r s 1880 to 1884. A s there w a s an abundance of material, both incident and detail, it was published in diary f o r m . *

T

T h i s second b o o k covers an earlier v o y a g e to H u d s o n B a y that lasted o n l y sixteen months. W h i l e the A r c t i c diary is f u l l of incident, its brief notes required elucidation and enlargement. It was believed that, to do full justice to Captain F e r g u s o n , a narrative w o u l d be m o r e readable than a d i a r y , provided w o r d s and style f o r e i g n to the diarist w e r e avoided and the same simple direct m o d e of expression w a s retained that he used w h e n telling his friends of his travels. A t the outset of this v o y a g e R o b e r t F e r g u s o n w a s not y e t t w e n t y - t h r e e y e a r s old, having been b o r n at G r e e n o c k , Scotland, on September 29, 1855. H e l e f t home to g o to sea at the age of seventeen, about nine years a f t e r the f a m i l y had settled in Philadelphia. His diaries c o v e r o n l y those v o y a g e s made b e t w e e n the years 1875 and 1885. In the ledgers containing them are also a n u m b e r of tales told him b y others, some of w h i c h are included here because t h e y are particularly apt and pertinent. F o r instance, N o r man M a c D o n a l d ' s story tells of places, men, and vessels not o n l y mentioned on this v o y a g e of the Abbie Bradford, but b y L i e u tenant W i l l i a m H . G i l d e r in Scbivatka's Search and b y F e r g u s o n in Harpooiier. It is n o t e w o r t h y that c o m p a r a t i v e reading of the w o r k s of m o r e recent travelers to the H u d s o n B a y area shows no conflict w i t h the observations of R o b e r t Ferguson. A m o n g these m a y be * Harpooner, by Robert Ferguson, edited by L. D. Stair, and published by University of Pennsylvania Press, 1936. vii

vili

PREFACE

mentioned: the reports of the Neptune and Diana Expeditions for the Dominion Government, Sails over Ice by Captain Bob Bartlett, The Fifth Thüle Expedition, by Knud Rasmussen, and Arctic Adventure, by Peter Freuchen. The observations on the Hudson Bav Eskimos are not only confirmed bv Gilder, Rasmussen, and Freuchen, but also contribute interesting and intimate information regarding their life and customs. Comparison with the writings of Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who wrote mainlv of natives much farther to the westward, shows a similarity in customs. Robert Ferguson's friends and family all tell of his great love for the North and the Eskimos. This warm feeling was continually evidenced in his conversations and throughout his diaries. Hunting was necessitated not only for food, but because fresh meat was considered a preventive and cure for scurvv. The diarist did much of the hunting, and his notes on Arctic mammals and the ways of hunting them are interesting and accurate. The inclusion of many Eskimo words in the original diary is natural, considering the time that Ferguson spent with the natives. The Eskimo language at that time was not a written one. It was phonetic, and because of peculiar guttural sounds not heard in any other language, no two people spelled the sounds alike. Such few Eskimo words as are found in this volume have been retained as closely as possible to Ferguson's spelling as representing the way that he heard them. Comparison with the list of Eskimo words in Schwatka's Search shows a remarkable similarity, probably because it comprises mainly those of the Iwella and Kinnepatoo tribes. Comparison with Schultz-Lorentzen's Dictionary of the West Greenland Language, a standard work of the basictongue, indicates mainly tribal differences. Birket-Smith's list, compiled for the Fifth Thüle Expedition, includes words used by the same tribes in the area that Ferguson visited years before, except that the spelling is that of a modern philologist and clearly indicates that the Eskimo words used bv Ferguson are Iwella (Aivilik) with a few that are undoubtedly Kinnepatoo (Qairnirmiut). For sheer pluck and nerve, to the whalers who braved the

PREFACE

ix

fierce gales, high tides, swift currents, uncharted waters, and dangerous ice of Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, in their tiny topsail schooners less than one hundred feet long, full credit must be given, especially when it is considered that many of these vessels were not particularly designed to withstand heavy ice conditions. The rig of a topsail schooner was probably better suited to meet sailing conditions in ice-infested waters than any other, as headway could be checked almost instantly. T h e harbor of Marble Island has been used by American whalers f o r their winter quarters for many years. It is a landlocked harbor surrounded by high hills that protect the ice-bound ships from the terrific gales and shifting ice. T h e Orray Taft, the wreck which lav in this harbor and is frequently mentioned b y Ferguson and Gilder, w as found there, a ship in her prime, by Norman .MacDonald in 1855. T h e Franklin Search Party, with Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka in command, was fitted out by private subscription under the direction of the American Geographical Society to search for the relics of the Sir John Franklin Expedition, which perished in King William I .and in 1H45. Lieutenant William H. Gilder, second in command, was engaged by the New York Herald to act as its correspondent. T h e schooner Kothen, Captain Harry, brought the expedition to Depot Island and later wintered at Marble Island with the Abbie Bradford, on which Ferguson was one of the harpooners. One of the natives who accompanied the Franklin Search Party was Joseph Ebicrbing (Eskimo Joe). He was well known by Ferguson from a previous voyage and is frequently mentioned in the diary. Other natives mentioned by Gilder are Aniow, "Prince Albert" and "Alex T a y l o r , " concerning whom much is told by Ferguson. T h e writer wishes to acknowledge with many thanks the assistance rendered by Mr. William H. Tripp of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society for the verification of dates, names, and ship data; the American Museum of Natural History for access to its library; Mr. D. C. W y s o r for information obtained from the National Museum of Canada and charts from the Hydrographie

X

PREFACE

Service of Canada; and Mr. Robert Bruen Ferguson, son of Captain Ferguson, and Mr. Irwin J. Fisher for their careful reviews of the manuscript.

Bay side, Long Island, Ν. Y.

L. D. S.

CONTENTS Chapter

Page PREFACE

I. II.

FROM THE

VII

NEW

BEDFORD TO I C E L A N D A N D T O

PASSAGE T H R O U G H

III.

W HALING

IV.

THE

IN

HUDSON

FRANKLIN

WHALING V. VI.

GETTING THE

FROZEN

VIII.

WINTER

X.

INTERESTING

XII.

OUI

XIV.

WHALING

XV. XVI. XVII.

XVIII.

AND

THE

WINTER

QUARTERS

AT

END

MARBLE

STORY OF A B R U T A L

OF

THE

ISLAND

OFFICER

A N D OTHER EXCURSIONS NATIVE

I09 ICE

OX H U N T I N G I N TO O P E N

12 1 I 32

TRIP

WATER

AGAIN

AND REPULSE

141 150

BAY

I 59

SEASON C O M E S T O A CLOSE

T O N ATIN E F R I E N D S AND

AND

THROUGH HUDSON MAC DONALD

STRAIT

THE VOYAGE

H O M E TO N E W

BACK

97

CUSTOMS

ROES W E L C O M E

T H E SHORT W H A L I N G I AREU'ELL

57

83

HARBOR

IN

47

70

T H E S H I P S O U T OF T H E

OF T H E

I 3 24

ROES W E L C O M E

PARTY

I

36

A CARIBOU AND M U S K

XIII.

BAY

VISITORS

A DF.ER H U N T

CUTTING

INTO HUDSON

FOR T H E W I N T E R

IX.

XI.

AND

STRAIT

SEASON

INTO

IN

BAY

SEARCH

BEACHCOMBER'S

VII.

HUDSON STRAIT

HUDSON

THE

MARBLE STORY

ISLAND OF

170

NORMAN I 77

BEDFORD

20J

T H E CREW OF T H E ABBIE BRADFORD Leaving New Bedford, May 8, 1878 Captain—Elnathan B. Fisher Mate—E. A. Potter Second Mate—Joseph (Anton) Cruise Third Mate—George H. Pollard Harpooner—Frederick T . Lane Harpooner—Orrick Smalley, Jr. Harpooner—Robert Ferguson Cooper—James L. Smith Steward—John J. Pete (Finny Lee) Coo¿—Chas. H. Walker (Ace Kent) Starboard Watch John H. Francis Dudley Davenport George W . Howard Frank S. Stevens Lofton J. Smith *Ben Cummings •Carl Ludwig

Port Watch George H. Estes Mordant H. Manchester Charles F. Augur Wm. W . Shiverick Salem F. Grew •Leroy Wood •Frank Cornell •Frank Hawkins

Note:—All of the above names arc included in both Robert Ferguson's diary and the New Bedford Whalemen's Shipping List, except those marked with an asterisk, which are included in the diarv onlv. The names in parentheses above are from Robert Ferguson's List.

CHAPTER I

FROM NEW BEDFORD TO ICELAND AND TO HUDSON STRAIT A letter fro?n Captain Fisher—In New Bedford againBuying goods for trading—The Abbie Bradford—Leaving New Bedford—Stormy weather—Green hands sick—Boat practice—The east coast of Greenland—The first whale of the season—Cutting hi—Boiling oil—Bad storms—Iceland—Passing Cape Farewell on the way to Hudson Strait. HIS is a tale of whaling in the icy waters of Roes Welcome at the northern end of Hudson Bay; of hunting walrus, seal, bear, caribou, and musk ox with the Eskimos; of living with the happv, genial natives to study their habits; and of the long winter evenings on board a ship that was housed in to withstand temperatures that froze up the thermometer. I want to tell you about all those things in the order that they happened. We used to sit around the stove in the winter evenings and tell many a tale of our own experiences and others that had been told to us. A few of the tales that had been told to me were written in my diary as soon as I could after I heard them, and before I could forget. And, because some of those stories tell of places, ships, and men that fit in with my own experiences, I am going to tell them to you, for I think you will find them as interesting as I did myself.

T

•

·

·

On my return from a voyage as liner Pennsylvania about the first waiting for me at Philadelphia. It tain Ε. B. Fisher, of the schooner I

·

·

quartermaster on the American of May, 1878, I found a letter was from my old friend, CapAbbie Bradford, with whom I

2

FROM N E W B E D F O R D T O

had been on a whaling voyage to Hudson Bay in 1876. The letter was over a week old and said that he expected to sail again for the North, leaving New Bedford about the end of the first week in May, and hoped that I could go with him. I required no urging, for I liked the excitement of whaling and hunting in the cold North. After spending a day with my folks in Philadelphia, I hurried on my way to N e w Bedford. The little schooner Abbie Bradford was lying alongside Merrill's wharf, looking very small as compared to the liner that I had just left. Captain Fisher was not on board, but it did not take me long to find him. He seemed glad to see me and said, "Hello, Scottie, will you be sailing with me?" I replied, "Yes, sir, I am looking forward to it." "You won't find any of your old shipmates on board. I have an entirely new crew. Get your things together, my boy, for we'll be sailing bright and early on Wednesday morning, the day after tomorrow." I needed some warm clothes, but only bought a few, as I figured on finding some of my old Eskimo friends up north from whom I would be able to get all of the warm fur and skin clothes that I wanted. Those would better withstand the icy blasts than anything I could buy in New Bedford. Buying as much as I could afford, I stocked up the best I could with small things that would go in my chest and that I knew the natives would want, such as beads, needles, thimbles, pocket knives, scissors, and looking-glasses. Some were for gifts to my native friends, but I figured to use the rest to trade for skins, furs, and winter clothing. There were a lot of whaling ships in the harbor that looked as if they would soon be leaving. So I looked around in all of the most likely places to see if I could find any of my old shipmates, but most of them were either at sea or else had quit it to go back home. I went on board to stow my purchases in my sea chest and to find out who had signed up for the voyage. Just as the captain had said, there was not a soul on the ship who had been with us when we left N e w Bedford on the previ-

ICELAND AND T O HUDSON

STRAIT

3

ous voyage two years before. I wondered where all those boys had got to, and wished that I could run across some of them to talk over old times. W e had had some thrilling times together. Of course you will want to know something about the Abbie Bradford. She was a two-masted topsail schooner built in the year i860 at Scituate, .Massachusetts. Her waterline measurements were: length, 87.4 feet; beam, 23.4 feet; and depth, 9.2 feet. She had a gross tonnage of 114.74 tons. For a ship to withstand the Arctic, she was staunch, but not specially built for heavy ice. That meant that we would always have to be very careful of the ship when in the ice, and be sure to get into winter quarters before the ice froze solid. T h e sun was shining bright on the morning of May 8, 1878, and the wind was fair. B y ten o'clock all of the men and all of the ship's papers were on board. There were a lot of people to see us off and say goodbye. I had no girl, nor was any member of my family there, but the other men of the crew came in for many a tender parting. Orders came to set the fore-topsail and head sails. Heading down the harbor, the Abbie Bradford, with Captain Ε. B. Fisher in command, passed Fort Phoenix and Clark's Point with all sails set, bowling along with a good breeze. W e cleared up the deck and coiled up all the rigging on the belaying pins. A f t e r we got everything straightened up, including our own belongings, we had dinner, although it was not much of a one. I figured that the cook and the steward had not yet found their bearings. A f t e r passing through Buzzard's Bay and getting well out into Long Island Sound, we found enough swell off Block Island to make the ship pitch a little. It was not long before the green hands began to feel squeamish. Their faces turned gray or yellowy-greenish as they hurried to the rail or made off to their bunks. Beyond Block Island, as we got clear of the land, the breeze freshened, causing the ship to throw considerable spray. W e had to take in the flying jib and gaff topsail. I furled the topsail myself. A t four o'clock all hands were called to pick the watches. It was the time when the men were equally divided into the port

4

FROM N E W BEDFORD T O

and starboard watches. T h e chief mate always had first pick and headed the port watch. T h e second mate, who headed the captain's, or starboard watch, took second choice. T h e first and second mates then chose the men for their watches alternately, until all were chosen. After the watches were picked, the men were assigned their places in the whaleboats. T h e y might be shifted around later as found out from boat practice, some men fitting certain positions better than others. T h e foremast hands were all green men with the exception of Jack Francis and Fred Augur, who had been to sea before. Not counting Cornell and Wood, who were young farmers from up near Ithaca, N e w York, all the rest of the crew were local boys from around New Bedford. When supper, such as it was, came at six o'clock, there were not many of the boys forward who wanted any. A nasty drizzle of rain coming on in the evening, we three boatsteerers clewed up the fore-topsail and furled it because the green hands could not yet be trusted aloft. T h e sea kept getting rougher and rougher. T h e poor greenies were all seasick down below and feeling bad. I felt sorry for them. It was my first watch on deck at eleven o'clock and I had to keep an extra sharp lookout for ships as it was a nasty night. Just before changing watch at three o'clock when I was about to go down below, the mainsail had to be reefed. Although it was still blowing strong when I was called for breakfast, a man was sent to masthead on lookout for whales. For the rest of the voyage, we would have a lookout up aloft all the time from daylight to darkness when the weather was not too stormy. T h e man at masthead would be relieved every two hours. As the wind became stronger and stronger, we had to call down the lookout. T h e ship rolled heavily on the big swells. Water slopped over the lee rail and sloshed all over the deck. W e had to take in the jib and the mainsail. Since the green hands were all sick down below, we were rather shorthanded. After sunset, it blew still harder, a small gale, and how she rolled and pitched! T h e following morning the wind died down considerably and the weather cleared. W e set mainsail, foresail, jib, fore-staysail,

ICELAND A N D TO HUDSON STRAIT

5

and placed a lookout at masthead. W e broke out beef, pork, beans, rice, dried apples, vinegar, molasses, flour, hardtack, and sundries from the hold. T h e foremast hands had not yet entirely recovered from their seasickness, but w e had them all on deck to learn the rigging and the compass. I made several paper sketches of the points of the compass for the greenies so that they could learn the bearings. T h e officers and harpooners were busy getting their boats all ready f o r service. T h e whalelines were overhauled and coiled down in their tubs with the nippers fastened to the end of each whaleline. T h e mast, sail, oars, and paddles were checked over to see that they were sound. All of the whaleboat fittings, including the water keg, boat keg, boat spade, compass, hatchet, knives, bailer, waif, and everything else, were put in their proper places. As soon as the irons (harpoons) and lances were sharpened, keen as razors, and had their poles fitted to them, they were stowed where they belonged in the boats. All hands were kept busy, including the cooper, who made some deck buckets. T h e next day came in with fine weather, so two men were sent to masthead to scan the ocean for whales. A s the wind was light and the sea smooth, w e lowered all three boats to give the new men practice. T h e green hands were very clumsy, fairly tumbling into the boats. Noise or clumsiness would not do in the whaleboats or on board a whaler. Each man would have to learn to climb into a boat as quietly as a cat. Rowing around for a while, it was a poor showing that the new men made. Some of them had to be changed around in their places. T h e smartest man was always made bow oarsman. H e had to be fast and clever to take down the mast and sail quickly after a whale was struck, f o r both of those things had to be kept clear of the whaleline as it ran out a-whizzing. It was also his duty to attend the officer when he was busy lancing a whale, always keeping a lance ready f o r him. Furthermore, he had to haul on the line to keep the boat close up to the whale. T h e tub oarsman was told to see that the water keg was kept full of water at all times. T h e after oarsman was instructed to see that the bread bag was always kept full of hardtack; that the

6

FROM N E W BEDFORD T O

bailer was handy in its place; and how to hand the canvas nippers to the boatsteerer when holding the whaleline. T h e bailer was used to wet the whaleline when it ran out around the loggerhead so fast as to start smoking, otherwise the line might become burnt, either weakening or spoiling it. T h e new men were tired when we got back to the ship. Their backs and legs were stiff and sore. Their hands, being pretty soft, were blistered. However, the exercise did them good and gave them good appetites for supper. During dogwatch, all of the men were on deck getting acquainted with each other. On the whole, they seemed like a good and sturdy bunch of men. For several days the new men were busy learning how to coil down the whalelines in the proper manner; how to sharpen the irons and lances; and how to keep all things in their right places in the boats. T h e y were also kept busy studying the points of the compass and learning the rigging. Some of them began to go aloft, learning how to reef and furl the sails. By this time they had entirely recovered from their seasickness and felt fine and happy, except for a few who were a bit homesick. Every day that the weather permitted, we took the men out for boat practice and taught them how to handle the oars properly, to pull or go astern when told; to set the mast and sail, and to do those things without making the least bit of noise. T h e y were still awkward and clumsy, but had improved a lot as they got placed in positions where they could work to their best advantage. It was hard work, but it made them eat and sleep well. So far the only whale that we had seen was a finback. W e did not count that one as finbacks were too fast and dangerous to take. W e often saw porpoises, but they did not come close enough to the ship to get a dart at them. On the seventeenth of May we had a storm which became worse through the day. B y night we were lying-to under storm trysail and jib. All of the boats were hoisted on the upper cranes and had extra gripes put on to prevent them from being carried away. T h e hatches were all battened down. Everything that was loose had to be lashed down good. It was too rough all day to have a lookout at masthead. Everything was sopping wet, as the

ICELAND AND T O HUDSON S T R A I T

7

sea was very high and sloshing all over the deck. There was no danger, for the Abbie Bradford was a good ship and we had lots of sea room. After five long days of rough, stormy weather, it turned out fine and warm. All of the bovs got busy drying out their clothes. Anywhere you looked, vou could see clothes hung out to dry. The captain remarked to me, "Scottie, it looks just like a washerwoman's back yard!" The long stormy days had been discouraging to the men, but with better weather they were much more chipper. After supper we had a regular concert. George Estes, Dudley Davenport,* and George Howard were all good singers. When Howard felt like it, he could be a regular comedian, making the fellows laugh until the tears came. One day we passed a large four-masted ship from Dundee, Scotland, heading south. She was a beautiful sight with a cloud of canvas, double topsails, double topgallant sails, royals, skysails, and stunsails spread from her royal yards to the water's edge. Her painted ports and figurehead were fine to see. For a short while, we rnn alongside of her, but the beautiful ship went three feet to our one and just as steady as a house. All of the boys jabbered for a long time about that fine ship with her wide spread of canvas. As we got into the track of ocean-going liners, we had to keep a sharp lookout night and day, especially if the weather was a bit foggy. On the last day of May, we saw five large steamers, two brigs, three barques, and five ships, all going to and from England. The very next day we did not see a single ship, so we must have passed out of the ship track. In spite of a heavy swell, we lowered all of the boats to give the men practice, not only in the morning, but also in the afternoon. The new men were getting quite handy in the boats and did right well. Their muscles were toughening up. One could tell that, because at dogwatch the men were not too tired to * A f t e r this voyage, when Ferguson brought the barque Daylight home to Boston from St. Helena, he found Dudley Davenport again as a clerk in the Boston Custom House. See Sept. 27, 1883, in Harpooner.

8

FROM N E W BEDFORD T O

sing songs and play games. For the first time on the voyage, we felt the cool wind sweeping down over us from off the Arctic ice. T h e ship was headed to the west of Iceland and toward the coast of Greenland. Five weeks out of New Bedford and not a whale! W e ought to have had one as we were on good whaling ground off some islands on the east coast of Greenland. T h e hills were snowcapped and streams of water could be seen tumbling down the high, almost perpendicular rocks. Being so far north, the days were long and the nights short. T h e weather was very bleak, and all of the men felt it. In those northern latitudes, we had to shorten sail and lie hove-to all night. A t sunset, on June eleventh, we saw a right whale, but it was too late to lower the boats. W e must have got into the middle of quite a school of whales, for they could be heard spouting in different directions all around us any time during the night. One whale came right up close to the ship and lay there spouting for at least twenty minutes. It was tantalizing to all hands listening. Those were the first right whales that we had encountered on the voyage. All hands were excited and anxious to chase whales on the morrow. T h e next morning, the twelfth of June, men were placed on lookout at three o'clock, but it was not until nine that a whale was sighted about a mile off. W e hauled aback the foreyard, lowered the boats, and gave chase. T h e second mate, Mr. Cruise, soon got fast. T h e whale ran around for a long time with two boats dragging behind. T h e men finally hauled line up to the whale and killed it. Being green, they made mighty hard work of getting the whale alongside the ship. By the time the cutting gear was up in place and all rigged, it was seven o'clock in the evening. Then we had dinner and supper all in one. Most of us soon went down below for rest, wet and very tired. All hands were called at three o'clock the next morning to get the cutting tackle hooked and guyed out. T h e cutting stage was put over the side with its guys hauled out. In spite of a rough sea, we started to cut in. It was not easy work on account of the ship rolling so much. W e got the falls forward and to the

ICELAND AND T O HUDSON

STRAIT

9

windlass. W h e n readv, we hooked the falls on to the head. I tied the monkey rope around my waist and went overboard to un joint the head in the icy water. T o do that, when it was overhead and out of water one minute, and under water the next, was not easy. It was very cold. I stuck my feet into the warm carcass. T h a t kept them warm and I did not feel the cold so much until I came up on deck again after the head was freed from the bodv. I felt better after I changed clothes and had a cup of hot coffee. N e x t we started to cut in the bodv blubber from the carcass in blanket pieces twenty or twentv-five feet long. T h e whale was turned over and over until all of the blubber was peeled off. Because the ship was rolling so much, the blanket pieces kept slatting all round the deck. W o e be to a man if one of those big pieces ever hit him! T h e deck got so slippery from the water and grease that the men could hardly hold their feet. I went to work in the waist to help stow the blubber down below. W h e n the carcass was stripped, it was let go adrift. T h a t done, we hoisted the head in on deck and lashed it to the lash rail at the main rigging so that it would not roll around. T h e deck was scraped ¡ind cleaned with lifters made from the whale's fins. T h o s e were like rubber squeegees, only better. After everything was made snug and the men had their supper, thev were sent below to get some rest, except two to keep watch. It was a rough night with a gale of wind blowing. W e had done well to get the whale cut in when we did. A t ten o'clock I lay down on my sea chest using mv sea boots for a pillow and soon fell asleep. I was awakened later by some of the boys snoring so loud that I had thought it was thunder rumbling. Poor fellows! T h e y were tired out, not being used to the hard work and the greasy, slippery decks. T h e y had been soaked from the cold wet spray coming over the rail, and had many a fall on the slimy deck. T h e rough weather continued and prevented us from boiling oil. All we could do was to get the whaleboats and their gear ready for whaling again. T h e deck pots and the mincing machine w ere all made ready to start. O n June fifteenth, as the storm moderated some, one gang was

IO

FROM N E W BEDFORD T O

kept busy cutting up blubber into horse pieces, which in turn were minced bv another gang at the mincing machine. T h e weather being so bleak and raw, it felt mighty good to stand in front of the fires under the pots. After the oil was boiled out of the blubber, what was left was used for firing the pots. Whale scraps were good fuel and made a hot smoky fire. For that reason, from a distance a whaler was often mistaken for a smoking steamer. T h e minced blubber was forked into either of the two trv pots, each of which held about four barrels, or a total of about a hundred and twenty-five gallons. As the oil was tried out it was bailed into the coolers until cool enough to put into the casks. If hot oil were put into the casks, it would shrink the staves and keep the cooper busy driving up the hoops to prevent the casks from leaking. If the weather was too hot, the deck might be all littered up with casks of oil not cool enough to stow away. At other times, the casks of fresh water down in the hold were pumped out to receive the oil which, if sufficiently cool, was run down into them with a hose. If the sea got rough enough to make the ship roll badly, oil might slop over the pots into the fires underneath and set the ship on fire. W e worked steadily all through the night until the last of the blubber was put into the pots. All of the whalebone was split out of the gum, bundled, and taken down below. It was just as well that we finished boiling when we did, because the wind got to blowing up so strong, and kicking up such a rough sea, that we had to set the storm trysail and storm jib to steady the ship. W e also gave the deck a good scrubbing with Ive so that it would not be so slippery. Spray was being thrown over everything and the pots had to be covered up. I told the man who was on lookout to stand up on top of the tryworks to keep from getting drenched. All hands stayed below except one officer, one harpooner, one lookout, and the man at the wheel. W e had our usual dinner of salt beef, salt pork, baked beans, bread, tea, and duff. Early on the eighteenth of June it looked like a heavy blow coming, on account of the glass falling fast. Captain Fisher called all hands to stow oil down below and to hurry and get done before

ICELAND AND T O HUDSON

STRAIT

the storm broke. All oil was down below by the middle of the afternoon, some sixty barrels. If the whale had not been a " d r y skin," we would have had eighty barrels of oil instead of sixty. W e took eighteen hundred pounds of bone from the head. It was Iuckv that we finished all our work, for by seven o'clock the ship, with all hatches battened down and hardly a stitch o f canvas on her, was K ing down with the wind shrieking and howling through the rigging like a fiend in agony. T h e sea was one mass of foam. T h e spray stung so like hail that you could not face the wind for fear o f being blinded. However, we had plenty o f sea room. T h e captain stood on deck all night alongside of the wheel. I stood on watch on the main deck up to my knees in water, until Captain Fisher called me to come up to the quarterdeck beside the wheel. I fastened a rope around my waist and tied it to a ringbolt in the taffrail while I stood there. T h e men below could not get out, as all of the hatches were battened down. It was as dark as pitch except for the phosphorescence in the water. W h a t an awful night that was! In the morning the steward brought the captain and me some hot coffee that touched the right place. F o r five days the storm raged. N o t until the twenty-third of J u n e did it ease. W e managed to get the storm jib and storm t r y sail on her, and kept off before the wind trying to get to the leeward of an island. T h e rigging was all covered with ice. I took the wheel, and that soon warmed me up enough so that I had to peel off my coat. It was too cold to stand still in one place all the time, but if you were at the wheel, it kept you moving mighty lively in those high seas. I was three hours at the wheel. All the while, the captain stood alongside o f me, with a big fur coat on that reached clear down to his heels. W h e n we rounded to under the lee of the island, the water was smooth and there was hardly any wind. W e hove to, put the t r y sail on the mainmast, and she lay like a duck. It was an ironbound coast, and bold, with steep high rocks. All hands came up on deck to get a breath of fresh air and have a smoke. W e ate the first good meal in five days, for we had been just getting along on hardtack, molasses, and coffee.

12

T O HUDSON STRAIT

Three days later we were cruising along the rugged, wildlooking coast of Iceland. From masthead, I could see a little village of small stone houses. There were some small fishing boats hauled up on the beach. Great flocks of eider duck and other birds were to be seen all along the coast. Iceland belongs to Denmark and is a very large island, said to be about forty thousand square miles in extent. It is mostly a high plateau two thousand feet above sea level. This table-land is dotted with a hundred volcanic peaks, some of them over six thousand feet high. A large portion of the higher land is covered with snow and ice, forming many glaciers. Lava has flowed from many of the volcanoes. This makes much of the land barren and desolate. T h e only mineral of any importance is sulphur, and there are many sulphur springs. T h e principal town is Reykjavik, quite a large town with a good harbor. There is no railroad on the island. It is a healthy place to live, in spite of the strong bitter winds that blow down from the north. T h e people raise some cattle and sheep, but mostly catch cod and herring for a living. It was the second time that I had been up there. W e did not go on shore. After breakfast, all hands were called to set the foresail, mainsail, fore-staysail, jib, flying jib, and topsails. It was the twenty-sixth day of June. T h e ship then bore awav to the southwest for Cape Farewell on the southernmost point of Greenland. All hands were glad to leave the dismal, stormy place. T h e sea was still running high, but it was more of a ground swell, and the water was not breaking over the rail any more. After passing Cape Farewell, we headed for Hudson Strait, looking for whales all the while, but without success.

CHAPTER II

T H E PASSAGE THROUGH HUDSON STRAIT INTO HUDSON BAY Fields of ice—Icebergs—Perilous progress—Boxed hi by bergs—Almost crushed—Maris hair turned white—The ship's bow stove—Shifting weight—Conference about abandoning ship—Patching the bou;—How Fisher Strait got its name—Walrus Rock. n the last day o f J u n e , I was awakened b y the continual noise of ice grinding alongside and hurried on deck. N o clear water could be seen a n y w h e r e , nothing but fields o f ice in all directions, ahead, abeam, and astern. F r o m masthead I could see about t h i r t y large icebergs o f all shapes and sizes, some only t w e n t y feet high, while others appeared to be nearly t w o hundred feet high, resembling enormous snow-white castles and cathedrals. As only one-ninth of an iceberg appears above the surface, the bulk of some o f them must have been tremendous. W i t h o u t doubt we were in the ice fields o f f the mouth o f Hudson Strait. It was slow g o i n g and w e had t o feel o u r w a y carefully, keeping out o f the w a y o f the big cakes and fending off the smaller ones. W e planned t o get the hawser on the rudder to keep it f r o m being carried a w a y b y the ice, as soon as w e could find a large enough floe t o tie up to.

O

F o r t w o days m o r e w e f o u g h t our w a y toward Hudson Strait. W e passed t h r o u g h m u c h heavy field ice speckled with many bergs before w e w e r e able t o make out B u t t o n Island on the L a b r a d o r side, and Cape Best on Resolution Island t o the north. T o get into Hudson B a y , w e would have to fight ice fields f o r seven hundred and fifty miles. T h e ice was a moving, grinding mass, driven b y winds that w e r e often very strong and which c a m e from all directions on a c c o u n t o f the high hills. In many 13

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T H E PASSAGE THROUGH

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places in the Strait the currents were s w i f t and sometimes as much as five knots. Because of the high tides that ran as high as twenty feet in some of the bays and inlets, the ice was always on the move. A l l of those things made Hudson Strait a dangerous place f o r a sailing vessel. A s f o r the compass, it could not be trusted on account of varying as much as six or seven points. T h e man at the wheel always had to look ahead and be careful where he steered the ship. Sometimes, when wind and current w e r e both against us, w e did not even have steerage w a y . A t other times, the swirling movements of the water made the schooner roll around like an oval football on a lumpy field. T h e a w f u l noise of the ice cakes grinding against each other and against the sides of the ship made it hard to sleep at night. Captain Fisher, M r . Pollard,* and I took turns up aloft piloting the ship through the ice. A s soon as the chance came, the captain pulled the ship alongside of a large cake of ice, where w e quickly made her fast with ice hooks. W e then got the hawser on the rudder, making it fast with a fish-tackle on each side so that w e did not need to be afraid anv more that the ice would carry a w a y our rudder. I was getting used to the snow and ice and it did not feel so cold to me. W h e n the sun shone bright on the snow, it was blinding. A l l of us had to wear goggles to keep f r o m snowblindness. On the Fourth of J u l y w e were about t w o miles f r o m the r o c k y coast on the Labrador side of the Strait. Torrents of water were seen rushing down over the rocks into the sea, making such a noise that it was plainly heard on the ship. A t times ice could be seen falling down f r o m the rocks into the water with big splashes. Although it was our National Holiday, w e had salt beef f o r dinner just the same. T h e sun was so bright and w a r m that the men had their dinners up on deck. W h e n G e o r g e H o w a r d was asked to say grace, these were the words he used: • When Ferguson was on the Kathleen, he met George Pollard at the Azores. See September 23, 1880, in Harpooner.

S T R A I T I N T O HUDSON BAY

15

Old horse, old horse, what brought you here From off the plains to Portsmouth Pier? Worked in a cart for many a year Till broken down by ill abuse, Then salted down for sailor's use. Afterwards there were speeches, comic and otherwise. T h e next morning was fine and clear with broad daylight at three o'clock. U p on the foreyard, I found an opening in the ice that let us through for several miles. Then we came bang up against solid ice that stretched from shore to shore. Scattered here and there in the pack were a few big bergs with sides so straight and sheer that they might have been cut with a knife. W e had fair headway past Dyke Head and three small islands. Green Island lay on our port quarter. T h e island was anything but green, all barren rock with patches of snow and ice here and there. I came down from masthead as hungry as a bear and did full justice to a pot of beans. After being blocked for two days by the pack, the ice finally opened up. W e released the ice hooks from the big floe that we were hooked up to and went on in a blinding snow storm. T h e snow flakes, or rather chunks of flakes, were soft and damp. T h e y were the largest that I had ever seen, nearly as big as your fist. T h e deck was covered in no time. A t eight o'clock in the evening the sun came out bright again, but the wind swung around to the north and it rapidly got colder. On the tenth of July things went from bad to worse. There was no wind. Consequently we drifted wherever the current took us. There was one huge iceberg nearly four hundred feet long on one side of us. It seemed to be fast on the bottom. On the other side was another, not quite so high and only about two hundred feet long. That berg was drifting with the current slowly toward us! Both of them towered above our masts. T h e smaller berg drifted closer and closer. There was still no wind! W e just had to stand there and watch that berg approach nearer and nearer. It finally closed in astern of us and against the big berg. T h e current then started to swing it in forward, with its heel resting against the big berg for a pivot. W e were in between the

16

T H E PASSAGE T H R O U G H HUDSON

jaws of a gigantic pair of pincers. As it slowly swung, we thought our end had come! Luckily, the smaller iceberg was curved concave toward us and that part of it which was under water must have stuck out, perhaps against the same sort of a projection on the larger berg. The smaller berg at last came to a stop, leaving only a very narrow cleft forward between the two bergs. Although both bergs were very close to the sides of the ship, we saw that the upper portions were not going to crush us. Here we were, absolutely locked in, with no way to get out! From the deck we could not even see out. We were caught in a perfect pocket. Had the bergs come five feet closer together, we would have been crushed like an eggshell! For the sake of comparison, the Abbie Bradford was only about twenty-four foot beam, and drew a little over nine feet of water. The captain gave strict orders for everybody to be careful and make no noise, because even that might cause ice to topple down on us from above and crumple up the ship. If that happened, no one would ever know what became of us. The captain certainly looked worried. He would not leave the deck. Well, as for me, it was the toughest scrape that I had ever been in! I went below to get some sleep. I got to thinking about what might happen if one of the bergs rolled over. If a big chunk of ice fell off the top, the berg might lose its balance and make it roll over. Awful thoughts and fears raced through my mind. What a terrible feeling, waiting to be crushed to death, and with no hope of getting away from it! After saying a prayer, I turned in and had a sound sleep. I woke up feeling good and with all fear gone. On the second day after we had been boxed in, some of the men told me that for two nights they had been unable to get any sleep for fear of what might happen at any moment. When I went up on deck, the captain asked, "Scottie, would vou be afraid to go aloft and take a look around?" I answered, "I have no fear any more!" Without making anv noise, I went aloft very cautiously clear up to the truck. When I came down I told Captain Fisher, "You

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HUDSON

can only see through a narrow gap ahead and nowhere eke. T h e bergs are much higher than our masts. Even the smaller berg is at least twelve feet higher than the truck." T h e captain said, " I f the small berg is that tall, then the big one must be forty or fifty feet higher. Our truck is not quite ninety feet above the water. W h y , Scottie, that means that the big berg which is stranded on the bottom must be nearly one hundred and twenty fathoms deep! I wonder how that checks up with the soundings on the Admiralty chart?" I remarked, "Captain, don't vou think vou ought to go below and get some rest?" "I guess I'd better, Scottie." Captain Fisher had been on deck for three days and two nights, pacing back and forth, never eating anything cooked, just hardtack. W e had two more days of anxious, torturing misery, and then it looked to me as if the narrow gap was widening! I pointed for Captain Fisher to look. T h e bergs were actually swinging apart, but so slowly that it could hardly be noticed. "You are right, Scottie," the captain whispered, "the gap is getting wider." After several long weary hours of watching, the opening became wide enough to let us out, but the current held us back against the big berg. Of course we had no wind. T h e bergs shut that off. W e lowered two boats and towed the ship into the clear. T h e water ahead looked to be free of ice for some distance. T h e two boats were hoisted on board and we got all sail on the ship. I tell you, that was a big relief to all of us! T h e hair of one of our men, who had made many voyages to the north, had turned snow-white after this scrape. Yet he was a brave man, a quiet, good man, and a fine harpooner. At three o'clock in the morning of July sixteenth, three days later, I came on deck just as Mr. Pollard was going up on the foreyard to pilot the ship. There was not much ice, only a few scattered cakes. It gave us plenty of steerage way, but at the same time we had to be careful not to strike any of the cakes. As I was standing on the quarterdeck directing the steering, Mr. Potter,

STRAIT INTO HUDSON BAY

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the mate, came and asked me to bring him a cup of coffee. I went into the galjev and brought it, boiling hot. Just then, the third mate, Mr. Pollard, sang out, "Starboard. Put your wheel down." T h e man did put the wheel down, but he was standing on the port side of it, so he swung the ship in the wrong direction. Mr. Pollard yelled quickly, " H a r d a sta'board!" But as he spoke, the ship crashed into a large cake of ice! I jumped to the wheel, but too late. T h e port bow was stove at the water's edge. Alen came running aft out of the forecastle saying that the water was pouring in fast. I called as loud as I could f o r all hands fore and aft to come and help me. Taking a tarpaulin off the tryworks and tying some iron weights to it, w e went forward and quickly dropped it over the side to cover the stove place. T h e pressure would hold the tarpaulin in place, thus preventing the water from coming in too fast. " G o o d bov, Scottie," the captain said, " v o u don't lose your head anyhow." W e soon had a gang moving the anchors aft. W e also took twenty-seven tons of coal out of the peak and carried it aft on the starboard side to shift the weight and raise the hole out of water. While that was going on, the harpooners took the lines out of the whaleboats. T h e boats were stocked with provisions and water, all ready to lower in case of necessity, and provided with everything needed f o r a long trip. Using the ice hooks, the ship was hooked up and made fast alongside of a large cake of ice. With the weight shifted aft, the place where the bow was stove was raised about a foot out of water. T h e captain called the three officers and Jim Smith,· our cooper, down into the cabin and held a consultation as to what would be the most advisable thing to do; to abandon ship and g o back in the whaleboats to St. John's, Newfoundland, or to try to mend the bow. It was not believed safe to try to work the ship back home with that hole in her. T o try to reach St. John's in the whaleboats would be an awful long pull. * On the voyage of the Kathleen, Ferguson met Jim Smith at the Azores. See September 13, 1880, in Harpooner.

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T H E PASSAGE THROUGH

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T h e captain asked the cooper if he thought that he could mend the bow. He replied that the only pieces of lumber he had were some two-inch by eight-inch planks seven or eight feet long, and that he had no spikes whatever. T h e cooper further said, "I'll have to give it up, f o r I have nothing to work with to bend the planks into place. I would need a lot of tools and spikes." Later, I heard from the cooper that the officers had quite an argument about it. In fact, it was he who told me what was said at the consultation. T h e steward came up to me on deck and said, "Scottie, the captain wants to see you down in the cabin." I found everybody standing around the cabin table looking v e r y glum. Of course, I thought that the captain had called me below to find out how the bow came to be stove in. I asked, "Captain, did you send for me?" "Yes, Scottie, I sent for vou to find out if you could mend the bow and stop the leak. T h e cooper says it cannot be done with the tools we have." Turning to the cooper, I asked, "What have you in the w a y of materials?" "Only some two-inch by eight-inch planks seven or eight feet long, and there are no spikes at all," he replied. " I won't need any spikes. I'll use trunnels," I told him. "But how will you bend the planks?" the cooper asked. " I don't know now, but when the time comes, I shall have a w a y of bending them," I answered, not telling him that I already had several ideas of how it might be done. Captain Fisher ordered all hands on deck to be under my orders until the job was finished. A f t e r the cooper fetched what tools he had, I got him to sharpen them up good. I then set some of the men to making trunnels (treenails). Others were put to planing and beveling the ends of the planks. Next I had a heavy blanket brought and had it completely covered with tar. It was to be handed to me when called for. I got down on the ice cake close to the stove bow and spread some thin boards to stand on. All of the broken wood around the opening was cleared away. When that was done to my satisfaction, I called f o r the blanket

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and some more tar. T h e hole was then covered with the blanket, first smearing the edges with tar. T h e end o f one plank was put into place and trunneled tight, but unluckily it split, and some oak wedges had to be driven in. T h e other end of the plank stuck out seven or eight inches from the ship. It had to be bent into place and was done by first boring a hole in the plank and then a corresponding hole through the side of the ship. A rope was run through the hole in the plank and knotted on the outside. I had the third mate run the ship's end of the rope through a snatchblock fastened to a timber in the fore-peak scuttle, and then through a fish-tackle up along the mast and to the windlass. W h e n the men heaved on the windlass, it bent the unfastened end of the plank right into place. T h e end was then well trunneled into position before the rope was slackened. W h e n the first plank was firmly in place and found to hold good and tight, I saw a broad smile come on the captain's face. " B y ginger!" he said. " Y o u thought that out all right, S c o t t i e ! " T h e other planks followed suit until they were all in place. I then took some three-eighth inch thick hoop iron, t w o inches wide, and punched some holes in the strips. I asked the captain to let me have some lance shanks to cut up for spikes. T o make a spike, I had one of the men heat one end o f a lance shank in the cook fire and hammer a head on it, holding the piece in the vise. W h e n cold, the spikes were pointed by grinding them on the grindstone. T h e strips of hoop iron were spiked on with our home-made spikes fore and aft over the new planks that now covered the stove place. T h e iron strips were to serve as fenders to prevent the ice from tearing out the new patch. Finally, everything was well caulked and painted. I heard the captain sav to the cooper, "See, that's a Scotchman for y o u ! " W h e n the j o b was finished, I had been working steadily for forty-eight hours, only stopping long enough for an occasional drink of coffee. Luckily, it was daylight and good weather all o f the time. It was a job that just had to be done before a storm came. W h e n it was all over, the captain said, "Scottie, it's a good job,

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well done. N o w come up on deck and get a bite to eat. Then go and get some sleep." He gave the steward orders not to call me, just to let me sleep until I awakened myself. W h e n I woke up, it was twenty hours later. Going up on deck, I found everything all right and the ship sailing up the Strait. W e had made fairly good headway. Charles Island was astern and Salisbury and Nottingham islands were ahead. T h e ice began to get heavy and lumpy again. Some of the heavy ice must have come down from Fox Channel. However, the hands were in good spirits. As for the captain, I had not seen him looking so happy in weeks. T h e hummock ice got so high that we had to put some of the boats up in the rigging, and two of them in on deck, for fear that the ice would crush or carry them away. W e got stuck fast in the floe and pack ice. It got to blowing and making music in the rigging. So we furled all the sails and put ice hooks out on the ice. T h e captain told the mate, Mr. Potter, not to stand watch any more at night, and that either Mr. Pollard or I would take his place. Mr. Potter seemed to be gone in the head. I wondered if the time when we were boxed in between the two bergs had preyed on his mind so that it gave way. I hoped that he would get better, as he was a fine man and had been an able whaling captain for many years. I was shifted to the port watch with Mr. Pollard and helped him throw the ice away from the bow. For a couple of days we moved along very slowly. T h e wind had shifted to the west and started the ice moving, grinding, crunching, and tumbling about. W e came along the edge of the ice floe abreast of Mansel Island looking for open water, and gradually worked our way toward Southampton Island. T h e captain came up on deck to take a look around, and said to me, "Don't work in too close to shore, Scottie. T h e ice might crush us against the rocks." I pointed out to him a clear place that I wanted to reach. It turned out to be open water as far as we could see. W e set all sail and got to going good. Once in a while I wondered about

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the patch on the bow and if it would hold. So far it had given us no trouble. On J u l y twenty-fourth, with a fair steady wind from the north and smooth water, we entered Evans Strait. U p to thirteen years ago, it was known as Evans Inlet, and supposed to be merely an inlet on the eastern side of Southampton Island. A t that time, our captain, Ε. B. Fisher, found that he could go all the way through to the west and into Hudson Bay. W h e n the British Admiralty learned of that, they named the west end of the strait after him, Fisher Strait. Captain Fisher's discovery divided the island into two islands, Northampton and Southampton.* T h e r e was a large rock in the middle of the Strait called W a l r u s R o c k . It w as well named, for I saw about thirty large walrus on it and many more swimming around in the water looking at us with their round fiery eyes. T h e r e were also several others sleeping on a big cake of ice. As we would soon be whaling in the open water of Hudson Bay, we put the crow's nest up on the topmast. It consisted o f a board to stand on and some iron rings with canvas around them to keep the cold wind away from the lookout when he stood inside looking for whales. W h e n whaling, a lookout had to be in the crow's nest from sunrise to sunset, each man being relieved every two hours. It had to blow pretty hard before the lookout was called down from above. * Present-day maps show the northerly island as Southampton and the more southerly one as Coates Island.

CHAPTER III

WHALING IN HUDSON BAY AND ROES WELCOME The second tóbale—The first Eskimos come on board— Ferguson's native chum arrives—Ferguson presents a knife to his chum—The story of hoiv Ferguson got the Toledo blade in Cuba—Gamming the brig A. J. Ross. n July twenty-sixth, with Fisher Strait behind us, we sailed into Hudson Bay and a smooth sea with no ice and fine weather. From masthead I saw a few seals, some walrus, and one large polar bear on the shore ice. T h e bear was trying to fish up a seal for its breakfast. I went below for a nap, but was soon awakened by the welcome c r v from above, " T h e r e she blows! There she blows!" I dressed in a few minutes, found the deck alive with men getting the boats ready, and saw one lone whale working slowly to the south. After hauling aback the foreyard to stop the ship's headway, the larboard and waist boats were lowered.

O

T h e whale sounded, but at the first rising the second mate got fast with both irons in good and solid. It was rather a simple job, for he had no trouble killing it in short order. In less than two hours the whale, with the fluke chains on, was alongside the ship. T h e fluke chains are heavy chains that are passed around the base or small of the whale's tail to keep the whale alongside. W e got out the cutting gear, the falls, the guys, and put the cutting stage over the side. After dinner we started to cut in the blubber and peel it off the carcass. T h e head was un jointed and hoisted in on deck. W e finished cutting in about ten o'clock, started the tryworks, and got the fires going good and hot, while the men cut up and minced the blubber. *4

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W H A L I N G IN HUDSON BAY

That whale was only the second one taken since leaving N e w Bedford nearly twelve weeks back. Whales were what we wanted, so every man on board was working with a will; cutting up the blanket pieces into horse pieces, which were in turn minced in the mincing machine; keeping the pots full of blubber; firing the pots; bailing the hot oil into the cooler; separating the whalebone from the gum; and bundling the bone. Someone saw three kayaks (canoes made of skin) coming off shore toward us. When they reached the ship, three Eskimos clambered on board. One of them, as soon as he saw me, came running along the deck up to me and said, "Scuttle, koon-eegloo!" In the Eskimo language, that meant to rub noses and showed a liking for you, a good deal like a handshake does with our own folks. This native, a very fine fellow, whom we all called "Charlie," I knew very well from my last voyage of two years ago. Charlie and I had become regular chums after we had been out hunting together a few times. His Eskimo name was too long and too hard to pronounce, so we nicknamed him "Charlie" for short. After we got through rubbing noses, all the rest of the boys gave me the laugh but I did not care. Charlie remarked, "Li-pun-go oo-mee-ak," meaning that there was another ship in the bay. I asked him, "What ship is it?" He replied, "Ah-mee-ah-soot." (I don't know.) "Do you need any tobacco, Charlie?" He nodded, so I gave him some. In return, he took the koo-Ieetang (outer deerskin coat) off his back and wanted me to take it. I said, "No, Charlie, that's all right. I'm giving you the tobacco. You put your coat on again. Now then, tell me, is there anything else that you need?" He shook his head and told me that he was married now, and that I knew his koo-nee. That word really meant "doe" in his language, but I understood that it meant his wife. " W h o is she?" "Netick," he replied. I knew Netick. She was a very fine young woman. I gave Charlie some needles of different sizes and a thimble, telling him

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to give them to her as a present from me. T o him I gave a big box of matches and a good knife with a sheath. On seeing me give away the knife, one of the mates, George Pollard, asked, "Bob, are vou giving that good knife to that native?" "Sure I am. He is my Eskimo chum and a fine fellow. He will have much more use f o r it than I will. There's quite a story about the way I got that knife. Remind me of it some evening and I'll tell vou all about it." Charlie needed powder too, but because he had nothing to give me in return, seemed to be kind of sorry or sad about it. I went to Captain Fisher, and asked him if he would sell me some powder to give to my old Eskimo friend. T h e captain gave me five pounds but would not charge a cent for it. It pleased Charlie very much when I gave him the powder. I told him that if he would get me plenty of took-too (deer), I would give him some more. When anybody spoke of took-too, caribou were always meant, for there were no other kinds of deer in that part of the country. In addition to the powder, I gave him all the hardtack that I could wrap up in an old shirt of mine. M y native friend, who could talk a little English, said, " N e x t moon, when small, look f o r ship off Yellow Bluff or Whale Point. Have deer, salmon, and new clothes for you." T h e sea was getting quite rough, and as he was a good eight miles from shore, Charlie climbed down into his canoe and said, "Tah-boo-tee" (goodbye). H e left feeling very happy, laughing part of the time, or shouting "tah-boo-tee" every once in a while. He and his kayak rode the waves just like a duck. T h e other two natives followed him in their kayaks, which were loaded down deep with whale meat. W e stood at the rail for a while watching them dip their paddles deep, making good time, and listening to them singing or shouting, "Tah-boo-tee, tah-boo-tee!" Charlie was a native whom I had helped when up there on my last voyage. He was an outcast from the Kinnepatoo (Quairnirmiut) tribe from up Ferguson River way. His tribe hunted caribou mostly, and as compared with the Iwella (Aivilik) tribe,

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28

did but little hunting along the seacoast for walrus and seal. Their main hunting grounds Were inland, south and west of Chesterfield Inlet and Baker Lake. At the time I first ran across him, he was a young man about twenty-two years old who did not seem to have a friend. I gave him a flintlock musket, some powder, and some knives. That gave him a start in life. Late in the season, he brought in more deer than any other two natives, but would not give them to anyone but me. He was a splendid hunter and not afraid of anything. I once saw him tackle a large polar bear with onlv a knife, his koolee-tang wrapped around his left arm, and let the bear hug him. He had an old Eskimo woman not onlv make me mittens and stockings of the best of deerskin, but deerskin clothing and kummins (moccasins) as well. T o repav him, I gave him a lot of things from my sea chest just before leaving to go back home to New Bedford. Like most of the Eskimos up there, Charlie was as honest as could be. He was verv good-natured, and would share his last scrap of food with vou. There was nothing that he would not have done for me. After supper that night, when all of us harpooners were sitting around talking, George Pollard reminded me that I was going to tell the story of how I got the knife that I gave to Charlie. Well, it was a mightv fine knife about twenty inches long, with rather a broad blade that had a verv keen edge, and came to a sharp point. I got it from an old Spaniard to whom I had rendered a service in Santiago, Cuba. He said that it was a Toledo blade, and you know the Spaniards turned out wonderful knives in Toledo. Seeing that I admired it, he presented it to me just before I left for home. N o w for the storv. *

*

*

*

*

In the winter of 1875 I shipped as a sailor before the mast with old Captain Kellv on the Benjamin B. Church, a fine three-masted schooner of over five hundred tons, bound from New Bedford for Santiago, Cuba. The captain was taking his wife along with him on this voyage. The schooner had a fine cabin and nice large staterooms that were well fitted out and carpeted all over. There

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was a place at the foot of the cabin stairs where you could leave vour oilskins and gum boots, so that you would not have to take them into your stateroom. T h e table slid up to the ceiling out of the way when not in use. A t one end of the cabin was another small table with a big drawer for the charts, together with the ruler and compasses. T h e r e was also quite a bookshelf of fine books. As the weather was verv good, the captain's wife whiled the time away sitting on deck in a wicker chair. W e all enjoyed the passage along the island of Cuba, looking at the feathery palm trees waving in the tropical breeze. T h e water was smooth, only broken by the schools of flying fish darting in all directions. O n c e in a while you could see a dolphin chasing after them. Again, there were schools of porpoises racing, sporting, playing, and skipping along b y the thousands with their glossy sides shining. W i t h the island o f Jamaica on the port side and Cuba on the starboard, we entered the harbor of Santiago. It \vas a beautiful harbor with deep water and surrounded by high hills. T h e entrance was narrow with strong forts on each side. T h e r e was lots of shipping there; small barques; brigs; t w o - and three-masted schooners, mostly Yankees; and some fine ships. T h e Spaniards and Cubans seemed to be doing a thriving trade, but they had a bad feeling for all Americans. Because of so much gun-running, they were suspicious of every vessel that came in, each of them being carefully searched. Even the officers and men f r o m the ships were closely watched whenever they went out for a walk. O n e day I took the small boat, pulled across the harbor, and \vas about to land when the guards told me to go back to my ship. T h e scenery around Santiago harbor was grand. T h e city itself was fine and had many large stores. Business was mainly done along the waterfront on a wide street shaded with large trees. T h e suburbs were built up with large handsome houses. T h o s e were back up on the hills and were owned by wealthy Cubans of Spanish descent. T h e population at that time was about sixty-two thousand, including both blacks and whites. Some of the wealthy class still had slaves to work around their places.

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After we arrived, the captain and his wife went to stay with the American Consul. On being asked that evening to fetch a hamper from the cabin and take it to the captain's wife, I started out, and was about halfway up the hill on which the Consul lived, when I heard a peculiar muffled cry. Peering into the darkness at the side of the road, I saw a girl struggling with a man who had thrown a coat or something over her head! I dropped the hamper, tripped up the ruffian, knocked him down and kicked him in the ribs a couple of times. In falling, the rascal hit a stone and lay unconscious. As I freed the girl, she screamed. I turned to pick up the hamper and go on my way. Just then an old man came at me with a knife in his hand! T h e girl held him back, jabbering all the while in Spanish. Pointing at me, she shook her head. She pointed to the man lying at her feet and nodded. T h e old man put his knife away and apparently tried to make all kinds of apologies to me. He must have thought at first that I had attacked the girl. W e shook hands and I went on my way to deliver the hamper. Later, when I was on my way back to go on board my ship, a girl came up to me and said in English that her father wished to speak with me. I then noticed that she was the same little girl who had been in trouble up on the hill. W e went over to a store where her father was standing in the door. He closed up the store and we all went into a large dining room at the back. It was a magnificent room furnished with everything of the very best. T h e elderly Castilian was exceedingly nice to me, but I could not talk Spanish and he could not talk English. His daughter had to talk for both of us. T h e young lady was real good to look at and had the most pleasant smile. She had beautiful eyes with long dark lashes. T h e y seemed to pierce you through and through. Her father was tall and thin, but broad shouldered. His hair was beginning to turn gray and his skin was well tanned. His movements were those of an old soldier. Although his expression was very pleasant, yet he had the appearance of being stern. He brought out some liquor and some glasses from a large cabinet. When I declined to drink with him, he became very angry. T h e girl looked frightened. T h e old man picked up the bottle

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and pointed to the label. I told the girl to tell her father that I had never drank liquor of any kind in all my life, nor used tobacco in any form. W h e n she told her father, he suggested coffee. I nodded m y head. T h e young lady ordered a servant to get some. W h e n the coffee came, it was delicious, and I drank two cups. It pleased the old man to see me enjoy the coffee. There was also a glass of goat's milk, rich and good. I drank that too. T h e daughter explained to me that it was an awful affront to refuse to drink in a home when asked. H e r father wanted to know if I was an American. I told him that I was a Scotchman. At that he seemed glad, grasped me by the hand, laid his other hand on my shoulder, and gave me a pressing invitation to come up for dinner on Sunday. I thanked him and accepted the invitation. I then said goodnight to them both and went back to the ship. On Sunday I received a warm welcome from the dignified old Spanish gentleman. H e made me feel right at home. Through his daughter he asked me many questions about my life and my people. All this time I thought the little girl was about fourteen years old. I was much astonished to find out that she was nineteen. I told her that I was not quite two years older. T h e old man was sixty-eight. H e had lived in Cuba seventeen years. His wife had died when the little girl was only nine. I was invited to come again on Wednesday evening and take the young lady to a dance at some relative's home. " T h a t will be good," I said. "I like to dance." After a very pleasant evening, I returned to the ship, charmed by the courtesy of those people. On Wednesday afternoon I happened to see the girl coming down to the dock and left the ship to meet her. She said that she would enjoy looking around the ship. I showed her everything. She was quite interested and said that I had pleased her very much. Just as we were going on shore, Captain Kelly saw us. Later, he asked me in a gruff voice, "Did you have that girl on board?" I replied, "Yes, sir." He was very angry with me. W h a t could I say? I was in the

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wrong. I should have asked permission from him first to bring her on board, but he was not about at the time. T h e captain thought that she was some common girl from the dance halls. I assured him that she was a very fine young lady and that I knew her father. That evening I cleaned up good, put on some light clothes, and reached the old Don's house about eight o'clock. T h e little Spanish lady was all dressed up in a dancing dress with a low-cut neck. T h e dress came down to her ankles. Her skin was as white as a lily and made a big contrast to her dark features. She was very beautiful. I could hardly keep my eyes from her. She had on a mantilla of some very fine stuff, lace mavbe. Her father told us to have a good time. Noticing that she carried a stiletto, I asked where it had been the night the ruffian had attacked her. She replied that she had changed her dress just before starting out that night and had forgotten to bring it along. W e walked about four blocks to a large mansion that stood about two hundred feet back from the street. It was all lit up and strains of music were coming from the big house. Quite a number of people were strolling on the veranda. As we went in, she handed her cloak and my hat to a young girl who was some relative of hers. It seemed that the owner of the mansion was related to her father. It was a grand fine place. I was introduced to several people. T h e dancing floor was smooth and highly polished. I judged that there were about fifteen couples dancing, mostly young people. While we were dancing the lancers I saw Captain Kelly and his wife standing at the side looking on. T h e captain came over to where the girl and I were sitting when the square dance was over. I introduced him to the little Spanish lady and noticed his look of astonishment. He said, "Bob, my wife would like you to dance with her. If that is the young lady who was on board the ship this afternoon, I'm sorrv that I spoke so sharp." "That's all right, sir. I shall be verv glad to have a dance with your wife." I excused myself from my partner, and asked Mrs. Captain

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Kelly to dance with me. W e had a very pleasant dance together. She was a good dancer, but not to be compared to the little Spanish lady. When the dance was over, the captain's wife remarked, "What a pretty girl you were dancing with! I may not be as good a partner as she, but I hope w e mav have another dance later." " I shall be looking forward to it," I replied. Returning to Felicia, the little Spanish girl, we first had an oldfashioned square dance followed by a Virginia reel. M v , how that girl could step it! She was just as light as a feather on her feet and as lively as a cricket. I told her rather sorrowfully, " I have promised to give the captain's wife another dance. I hope YOU won't mind." Felicia protested, "Only one, because I want you to dance the fandango with me." When we danced the fandango,* everybody stood watching us. Without doubt, she was the most wonderful dancer I had ever danced with. Everybody applauded and clapped their hands. Felicia looked up at me and said something in Spanish that I did not understand. I told her that never before did I know what it was to have a really fine dancer for a partner. What a smiling glance I got! Although I danced with quite a f e w of the other young ladies, none of them were as graceful as my little partner. When we returned to her home after the dance, her father was waiting. I had to come in and have some coffee and cakes. I told Felicia to tell him what a fine time I had had. T h e y both invited me to come again soon and spend the evening. T h e next day Captain Kelly came on board at three o'clock and said that we would be sailing the following day at noon. His wife remarked, " M r . Ferguson, I noticed that you had a real good time last night. Y o u r partner was a very pretty girl and a beautiful dancer. I also heard all about your adventure from the girl's aunt. W h y didn't you tell us about it?" I replied, " I was not sure that the young lady would wish it." A s this was our last evening in port I went on shore to say * Ferguson was reminded of this dance and mentioned it in under date of March 28, 1884.

Harpooner

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goodbye to the old Spanish gentleman and his daughter. T h e old man shook hands with me over and over again. Felicia told me that he was expressing his thanks for saving her from the hands of that brute. When he left the room she said that he wanted to show his gratitude by having me accept a little present from him. He returned in a f e w moments with a package which he pressed into my hand. I opened it and saw a beautiful knife about twenty inches long. Felicia said, "This knife was made in Toledo and has been in our family for many years. Father wants you to have it for what you did f o r me." I did not know what to say, but went to her father and took his hand in both of mine and tried to show how much I appreciated his gift. Felicia then shook hands with me and said, "Scotchman, I shall miss you. Do come and see us whenever you come into port." Her father said goodbye in Spanish. I told them that I hoped my ship would come to Santiago often. I said, "Goodbye, señor. Goodbye, Felicia," with the little girl holding on to my hand. I was sorry to leave those fine people, f o r they had been very kind to me. W e sailed out of the harbor with all sails set, and having unusually favorable winds all the w a y , made a very fast voyage back to N e w Bedford. •

·

·

*

·

One of the boys asked, "Did you ever see the girl again?" " N o , I never saw her again, nor have I ever been back to Santiago." Three days later, as the weather was rough, w e had to keep off before the wind in order to stow down the oil, some forty-three barrels, that we got from the whale taken on J u l y twenty-sixth. W e were now cruising off Whale Point. A lookout was sent to masthead. T h e boats and their gear were made all ready f o r whaling again. T h e deck was given a good cleaning so that it would not be so slippery. W e saw another ship under the lee of Cape

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35

Fullerton, but lost sight of her in a squall of snow that lasted for some time. On the last day of July we were cruising in Roes Welcome with all sail set, the weather having moderated. Sighting a ship, we ran down to her. It was the brig A. f . Ross with Captain James G. Sinclair in command. She was built at Searsport, Maine, in 1858, and had a gross tonnage of about one hundred and seventv-five tons. Captain Sinclair was the verv man we took home on our last voyage, after his barque, the A. Houghton, was crushed on the rocks of Cape Jelliper.* We found that Captain Sinclair had no oil yet. He had, however, spoken the brig Abbott Laurence, Captain Joseph A. Mosher. t That was interesting because Captain Mosher was our first mate when we were up there two years before. The Abbott Lawrence had been luckier than the A. /. Ross, having already taken one right whale. On the way up, the Abbott Lawrence had lost a big sperm whale. Apparently the harpooner had missed it. Away went the sperm whale, a good chance gone. The very next day we sighted a whale and lowered the boats. It was a miserable damp raw day. It was cloudy, with light snow squalls from the north, and the sea rough. As the whale went to windward, we sailed right up to it. Although the whale gave us a pretty fight, we killed it and had it alongside in less than an hour. W e had a rough, tough job cutting in, and it took us until four o'clock in the morning to finish. W e ran for smooth water in the lee of Cape Fullerton so that we could boil oil safely. W e stayed in the lee of the land until the fourth of August, when we finished stowing down the last of the oil. It was a good-sized whale, for we got eighty-three barrels of oil from it, as well as a lot of bone from the head. * This is the spelling given by Mr. Ferguson. The cape is not shown on any charts found by the editor, although it is believed to lie between Cape Fullerton and Depot Island. t When Ferguson was on the Kathleen, he met Captain Mosher (Moyser) at the Azores; see June 16, 1880, in Harpooner.

CHAPTER

IV

THE FRANKLIN SEARCH PARTY AND THE END OF THE WHALING SEASON Spoke the schooner Eothen—Members of the Franklin Search Party—Gammed Captain Sinclair and his brig, the A. J . Ross—Terrible gale—Spoke the brig Isabella—The loss of the A. J. Ross—The Ross' men apportioned to the other three ships—The cren' of the Ross landed at Depot Island—Native chum brings deer meat—A ninety-five foot inhale—Stone Age natives of Southampton Island— Ferguson receives gift of Eskimo dog—Men at Depot Island picked up—On the way to winter quarters at Marble Island. in the morning of August seventh we spoke the small schooner Eothen, that had been fitted out at New York for the Franklin Search Party. This party had been arranged with the aid of private subscriptions, and under the direction of the American Geographical Society, to search for any remaining relics of the ill-fated Sir John Franklin Expedition which perished in King William's Land in 1845 when trying to discover a Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. The Franklin Search Party consisted of five men. Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, U.S.A., was in command. Lieutenant William H. Gilder, U.S.A., was second in command, and was also engaged bv the New York Herald to act as correspondent.* Henry Klutschak, a civil engineer and meteorologist with Arctic experience; Frank E. Melms, an experienced whaleman; and Joseph Ebierbing ARI.Y

E

* For the complete story of the Franklin Search Party, see Scbwatka's Search by Lieutenant Wm. H. Gilder, published in 1881 by Charles Scribner's Sons.

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(Eskimo Joe), native guide, made up the other members of the party. I knew Eskimo Joe very well from my former voyage up there two years back. The schooner Eothen, that had been selected to make the voyage for the Search Party, was a stout vessel of a little over one hundred tons. The vessel, w ith Captain Thomas F. Barry as master, carried a crew of three mates, carpenter, blacksmith, cooper, steward, cook, and twelve men before the mast. She had left New York on June 19, 1878, and was going to land the Franklin Search Party at Depot Island. After that she was going to cruise for whales and go into winter quarters at Marble Island. Lieutenant Schwatka planned to live on the shore of the mainland opposite Depot Island with the natives, to learn their ways, and get accustomed to the Eskimo diet which was believed best to follow so as to come through the long cold Arctic winter without getting scurvy. From there they planned to go overland, starting in January 1879, when travel by sleds would be best. They expected to take along some natives with dog teams and make their way to King William's Land (now King William Island). It meant a sledge journey of probably over twelve hundred miles in each direction. The Eothen landed Lieutenant Schwatka and his party at Depot Island about four o'clock in the afternoon of August seventh. W e , however, did not land at that time, for it looked as if a bad blow was coming. Captain Fisher spoke the brig A. J. Ross, Captain Sinclair, and advised leaving Roes Welcome at once because a hard blow was on the wav. N o ship could stand a bad gale in Roes Welcome. Both ships up helm and got out as quickly as they could before it came. The wind kept getting stronger and stronger. The Abbie Bradford got into the lee of the land and was lying snug when night came on. Where the A. J. Ross got to, we did not know. The next morning, from our sheltered position we watched the full fury of the gale outside in the bay. The wind, fairly shrieking and howling, tore the water out in the bay into a smother of froth. It looked just like smoke low down and traveling fast. N o ship could live in it and stand up. The waves could

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not rise, being just beaten down. Flurries of snow straight f r o m the north whirled down Roes Welcome at an awful speed. W e were lucky to be in good shelter. All of us were wondering where the other ships were and how they were faring. T h e storm blew itself out on the following day. T h e sea became fairly smooth again. Captain Fisher was very much worried about Captain Sinclair and his ship. W e set sail to look for the A. f . Ross, but w e could not see her anywhere. W e did, however, speak the brig Isabella, and asked her captain to keep an eye out for the A. J. Ross, as we feared f o r her in the bad storm. T h e Isabella had a queer rig, a leg-of-mutton mainsail and a ringtail topsail, and was down by the head. Yet she was a good strong brig, a good sea boat, flush-decked, and hailed from N e w London, Connecticut. She was built at Derby, Connecticut, in 1845, and had a tonnage of a little over one hundred and thirty tons. Captain George S. Garvin was in command of her, and Thomas McPherson was first mate. T h e Isabella usually cruised up in Cumberland Inlet (Cumberland Sound), which is farther north and on the easterly side of Baffin Island. One of our harpooners had formerly sailed on her as second mate. He spoke well of her and said she was a comfortable brig and sound. On the morning of the eleventh of August, the man on lookout reported that a lot of canoes or boats were making out from the land about eight miles off, and heading for the ship. When they were only four miles away, masthead reported that they looked like whaleboats. Captain Fisher said, "In that case they can't be natives because they only have two boats in all, and one of those is down at Whale Point. I wonder who they could be?" When the boats were nearly alongside, w e saw that they were all from the A. J. Ross. There were five boats altogether, and Captain Sinclair was in one of them. H e told us that his brig had been lost in that awful storm three days before. Of course he was much depressed at losing the ship, but glad that he had not lost a man. T h e brig went on the rocks somewhere up near Cape Kendall on Southampton Island.

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One of the men from the A. J. Ross told me that the gale had laid the brig over on her beam ends and had blown every stitch of canvas to ribbons and from the yards. When she struck the rocks, her bilge was stove. Finally, the terrible wind and the heavy seas crushed her like an eggshell and battered her into little bits. The boats had an awful time to get clear before she struck. Bucking that storm, it was all the men could do to get the boats into a sheltered place and on shore. At last they managed with difficulty to get them hauled up on the beach, where they turned them upside down and crawled under for protection. Whaleboats can't be beat in a rough sea if handled right by men who know how. W e gave the wrecked crew a lunch of hardtack and hot coffee. Captain Fisher told Captain Sinclair that if he should keep all of the shipwrecked crew on board, the Abbie Bradford would be uncomfortably crowded. The two captains decided that it would be best to start out and look for the other ships. W e found the Abbott Lawrence, Isabella, and Eothen without any trouble and divided the men as well as we could among the four ships. All of the captains had a gam about what was best to be done. It was decided to take the crew of the lost A. J. Ross to Picciulok (Depot Island). It was the best place for the men to stay until time for us to pick them up when on our way to winter quarters at Marble Island. On the fourteenth of August, all of the crew of the A. J. Ross, except for a man or two that the ships wanted to keep, but including Captain Sinclair and all of his officers, were landed at Depot Island. W e left them their five boats, guns, powder, ammunition, canvas for tents, pots, pans, cooking utensils, and enough provisions to last for a month. Of course we figured that they would be able to get plenty of seal and walrus besides finding salmon in the river at the mainland. The men from the A. J. Ross could work from there until it was time for us to take them to Marble Island for the winter. T w o days later, on our way to the whaling ground, we chased a small whale and killed it. Then we went over to the place where the A. J. Ross had been wrecked. For two days we searched care-

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T H E FRANKLIN SEARCH P A R T Y

fully all along the shore where she was said to have broken up. W e could not find a single sign of her, not a plank nor a spar. Nothing was left to tell the tale! W e could not spare any more time to look further. T h e season was getting short. There would probably be only three or four weeks more at the best before it was likely to freeze up. It would be all day with us if we could not get into winter quarters before that happened. W e wanted whales and we had to get busy looking for them. As we were heading toward Whale Point, a kayak was seen paddling furiously toward us about a mile away astern. T h e man in the kayak seemed to be shouting and yelling. T h e captain asked, " W h a t do you suppose that fellow wants? He looks to be all excited." I replied, "I think that is my old Eskimo chum, Charlie. He will probably have some deer meat for us." W e hauled aback until the native came alongside. Sure enough it was Charlie. He said that he had four deer for me that he had killed only two days before. He also had a lot of salmon and a bundle of clothing on shore, all for me. T h e y had been left on shore because he could not carry them in his kayak. He had, however, brought four fine large salmon with him. W h e n I told the captain about the deer, he said, "Come on, Scottie. We'll take Charlie in the starboard boat and go in and get them. He can leave his kayak on board." Charlie had four nice fresh deer, ten more large salmon, and a big bundle of clothing for me. The bundle contained two deerskin koo-lee-tangs, two more of fine sealskin, three pairs of dogskin mittens, three pairs of sealskin socks, and three pairs of longlegged deerskin stockings. T h e deerskin and sealskin clothes had been made for me by Netick, his wife. Netick must have worked hard and she certainly had done a wonderful job. I did not see her so I told Charlie to thank her for me. T h e captain remarked, "Scottie, that lad must like you." " W e l l , sir," I said, "when he came to the ship on our last voyage up here he was an outcast from his tribe and had no friends. I gave him the old flintlock musket that you had given me, and fitted him out the best I could with what I had. He has never for-

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41

gotten it and has since tried to repay me in many ways, although I have never asked anything from him for myself." W e rowed back to the ship with Charlie and the meat. Charlie brought along his old flintlock as I had told him that I would overhaul it and put it in good shape. T h e captain saw the old flintlock and gave him a much better gun in place of it. T h a t pleased Charlie very much. I looked his new gun all over and cleaned it up good. W e gave him five pounds of powder, a small bag of buckshot and a big handful of bullets. I told Charlie that we were going into winter quarters at Alarble Island in about a month, and as soon as the ice was solid between the island and the mainland, he was to come and bring us plenty of deer. He promised that he would. I knew that we could count on him. Before he left I gave him some colored beads and other trinkets to take to Netick, his wife. I had known her before she was married to him when I was up there last voyage. She was a very fine girl. Knowing that a good manv needles would get broken while sewing skins, I also gave him a lot of needles of different sizes to take to her. For his own use, I gave him a white shirt, a cap, and a pair of pants. W h e n he put them on, he pointed to himself and said, "Kob-loon-ah (white man)," and laughed. A f t e r he went over the side of the ship I handed him each package, until he had them all carefully stowed away in his kayak. H e had quite a heavy load for his frail craft, but it made him a happy lad. As he left us he yelled, "Scuttie, tah-boo-tee!" T h e little kayak was deep in the water, but he had only a quarter of a mile to go to reach the rocky shore. I watched him until he landed safely and saw Netick come down to help him carry the bundles up to the toopick (skin tent). W e had a large baked salmon for supper which went fine f o r a change from salt horse and grumph (pig). W e would have good living for a few weeks. T h e deer and salmon were split and hung up in the rigging. It was cold enough to keep them nice and fresh. Before daylight on the morning of the twenty-fourth of August a large whale lay spouting alongside of the ship. T h e second mate got his bomb gun and shot it in the shoulder. It gave one snort and disappeared in the dim light. As soon as it became day-

4*

T H E FRANKLIN SEARCH P A R T Y

light, the man at masthead saw the whale lying on its side about a quarter of a mile off. Two boats were lowered to tow the whale to the ship. The weather was mild and the sea a dead calm. That whale was about ninety-five feet long, considerably longer than the ship! It was very large and the blubber was eighteen inches thick in places. All of the officers said that it was the largest right whale that they had ever seen. It took us until seven o'clock that night to finish cutting in. T o get the huge head hoisted in on deck was some hard job. W e had to hustle to get the slabs of bone out of the gum and everything cleared away. The ship was made snug because a storm was coming. The glass was falling fast. The men were very tired, but we up sails and ran for shelter under the lee of the land around Cape Fullerton. W e had no more than got into shelter and hove to in smooth water, before the gale broke. For two or three days we were as busy as bees, what with boiling oil and cleaning the slabs of whalebone. When I tell you that whale gave us one hundred and thirty barrels of oil and twentynine hundred pounds of bone, scraped and bundled, you may get some idea of how big it was! As for the bone, it was very large, exceptionally long and broad. On the first fine day, we ran down to Depot Island to see how the shipwrecked crew was getting along. When they saw us coming, they came out to meet us in two of the boats. They were all well and happy, but none of the other ships had yet stopped to see them. W e gave them two large salmon and a fore saddle of venison. They had caught several walrus and lots of seal. Fried walrus liver is very good eating and walrus blubber makes a hot fire to cook with. Seal liver is like calves' liver and seal meat is very good in a stew. Those boys were getting fat, with nothing to do. We told them that we would be back in a couple of weeks to pick them up on our way to winter quarters. They said that they would be ready and not keep us waiting. On the twenty-ninth of August bound for Yellow Bluff with all sail set, we saw a vessel off our quarter, boiling oil, but she was too far off to make her out. W e ran to the north, past Whale Point, up around Wager Bay and Repulse Bay. We spoke the

AND T H E END OF T H E WHALING SEASON

43

brig Abbott Lawrence off Wager Bay. Keeping on over toward Fox Channel, we sighted some natives on shore and some deer browsing back on the hills, which looked quite green in places. The ship going slow off Whale Point two days later, some natives came alongside in a whaleboat. They stayed on board all day and traded furs and skins for tobacco, beads, and needles. It was ten o'clock at night before they left the ship to go on shore. However, the water was smooth and the women did the rowing as usual for the five miles that thev had to go. They rowed double-banked and did as well as any men. They were a happy crowd from the Iwella (Aivilik) tribe that lived on Whale Point. You could hear them singing and laughing until they got on shore. At masthead at five o'clock in the morning of the fifth of September, it was cold and raw and bleak. I was about to be relieved when I saw a lone whale. We gave chase and killed it in short order. From this whale we stowed down eighty-four barrels of oil and a lot of bone. On the seventh of September, we spoke the Abbott Laurence, the Isabella, and the Eothen. All four ships had a gam. It was agreed to go into winter quarters at Marble Island on the fifteenth of September. Each ship was to stop at Depot Island, pick up her share of the men from the A. J. Ross, and take care of them all winter. The following day as we stood in toward Southampton Island, a very large and high island, we noticed a group of natives. It was the first time that we had ever seen any on that island. An Eskimo, who was on board with us, said that he did not know of any natives being there. The day being nice, and the water smooth, the captain decided to lower a boat and go on shore, taking me along with him. After landing on a fine pebbly beach, we went up to the too-picks. The natives were very shy at first, and would not come near. Our Eskimo tried to talk to them, but they could not understand him, nor could he understand a word of their tongue. The captain was afraid to go near them as he did not know what kind of people thev were. I walked up to the oldest-looking man in the group and held out my hand. He came

44

T H E FRANKLIN SEARCH P A R T Y

toward me, talking and looking very friendly. Of course I did not know what he said. Then some of the other natives gathered around me, friendly and quite pleasant, and looked me all over. T h e buttons on my coat were a curiosity. I could tell from the look in their eyes that they thought I was some kind of a curiosity too. T h e y had tools made of bone, ivory, and flint, but I did not see any iron of any description, nor wood of any kind. Their clothing was neat and clean, all made of seal or deerskin, trimmed with Arctic fox. All wore bearskin shoes. On the whole, they were a fine lot of natives, clean, healthy, and goodnatured. Their needles were about as thick as a slate pencil, made of ivory, and with the hole for the eye bored with a piece of flint. T o make their snow knives, they had either taken walrus tusks and split them, or had carved them out of bone. I did not know how they could have split the ivory. I had tried it, but without success. Having some colored beads in mv pockets I handed one string of them to an old woman and another to a young girl standing near me. I opened a paper of needles and showed them how to thread one with sinew, and also how to sew with it. T h e native women were amazed. I gave the old woman a thimble, showing her how to use it by pushing the needle through a piece of deerskin. I had to show her the right way to make the stitches. She was amazed at the fine stitches that I made with the needle. T h e old woman caught on to the idea and began to show the others how to do it. T h e young girl to whom I had given the beads came over close. I put a thimble on her finger and gave her a half dozen needles stuck in a piece of deerskin. T h e young girl did not know what the string of beads was for. She just carried them around in her hand. I went up to her and put the beads around her neck. She was all smiles and showed the old woman the beads. She wanted to give me many things, but I would take nothing from her nor from any of those people. I distributed everything that I had in my pockets and they were much pleased. Those things had cost me almost nothing back home in New Bedford. T h e poor old soul whom I showed how to sew came and patted me on the shoulder, talking a blue streak all the while.

A N D T H E E N D OF T H E W H A L I N G

SEASON

45

I was the whole attraction! N o n e of the other men had thousrht O of putting anv gifts in their pockets for the natives. T h e half dozen thimbles that I had in my pockets were all given awav, two of them going to the voung girl as well as a sheath knife with an edge like a razor. When I showed her how easy it would cut deerskin, she called a voung man and showed it to him. T h e v wanted to give me clothes. Finally, she went up to her too-pick and brought down a fine dog. She pointed to the dog and said, " O p i t a c k . " Maybe that was the dog's name. Captain Fisher said, "Scottie, take that dog. It is one of the finest I have ever seen and a young dog too. If you don't want it, I'll take it home to mv b o y . " I had nothing else to give her but m v small pocket knife with two blades. It was very sharp and I showed her how to open and shut it. All of the natives crowded around me to look at it. It must have been a wonderful thing to them. T h e v all talked at once, jabbering like a Portuguese parliament. Those people did not seem to have any kayaks, but they came down to the beach to look at the boat and the ship. There were lots of sealskins and walrus tusks around their tents. Inside the too-picks, piles of bearskins covered the floor. Their arrowheads were made of flint and lashed with sinew to bone shafts. I thought that the shafts must have been made from the leg bones of some bird as they were quite straight. T h e feathering of the arrows \vas also tied on with sinew. Apparently those natives had never before seen white men at close quarters. T h e y were bright people and very industrious.* Standing on the beach, they watched us until we got on board. W e stopped at Whale Point on the tenth of September to put our native on shore. Captain Fisher told him to have his friends bring plenty of deer meat down to Marble Island for the ships when thev got into winter quarters. * Lieutenant Gilder mentions natives on Southampton Island as belonging to the Sedluk tribe. Rasmussen mentions a primitive people on this island as the Tunit tribe. Birket-Smith tells of a tribe or people called the Sadlermiut. In any case, they were an entirely different people, with a very different language and still living in the Stone Age.

4

6

T H E FRANKLIN SEARCH PARTY

My dog was sick, either seasick or homesick, I didn't know which. I called him "Opitack," that being the name that the young girl called him, but I didn't know what it meant. Three days later we stopped at Depot Island to pick up the shipwrecked crew and found the other three vessels already there. The men from the A. J. Ross were divided among the four ships, and their personal belongings brought on board. Their boats were turned upside down with their things under them, covered with the tent canvas, and everything weighted or lashed down good. W e were fortunate to have had perfect weather on the day that we picked up the men. Wishing to make the most of the good weather, we started at once with a fine fair breeze on the run to Marble Island. The four ships kept in sight of each other all through the day of the fourteenth, going along at eight knots in a good wind. At sunset we saw Marble Island looming up big, its white marble rock glistening in the sun. W e shortened sail, got the anchor ready to let go if necessary, and hove to until morning. At daylight, about full tide, we planned to enter the narrow channel into the inner harbor.

CHAPTER V

GETTING INTO WINTER QUARTERS AT MARBLE ISLAND The race for the harbor—A dangerous channel—The Abbie Bradford first to the inner harbor—The Abbott Lawrence jammed in the channel—All jour ships inside —The fresh-water pond—The wreck of the Orray Taft —Her devil of a captain—Most of her crew lost from scurvy—Kerrigan's catch of bone—Ferguson's tale of a brutal second mate on the Mohawk Chief—Ships in final position for the winter—Catching salmon—Housing in the ship—Cutting fresh-water ice. EING a little excited about getting into harbor, I was up on deck before daylight. It was the fifteenth day of September. The weather was wonderfully fine with a nice breeze. All four vessels had been hove-to under short sail all night and were now about twelve miles off the mouth of the harbor. Marble Island lay on our starboard side. The only safe time to get into the inner harbor was at full tide, which would be soon after daylight. It looked as if all four ships were going to have a race to the outer harbor. First there, first through the channel. The Eothen was close by with all sail set. She had the start on us, but as soon as we set our big square topsail, she dropped astern. The Eothen then set a large fisherman's staysail and came up on us. Afterwards, the Isabella took the lead with every stitch of canvas set. Captain Fisher called me to take the wheel as I knew the coast. He told me to steer full-and-by and to keep the luff of the foretopsail shaking. He warned me not to get near the rocks, although we both knew that the water was deep close up to the shore. W e drew ahead of the Isabella and the rest of the fleet as we ap-

B

47

48

GETTING INTO WINTER

proached the outer harbor. T h e outer anchorage lay between the mouth of the inner harbor and Deadman's Island, the near shore of which was about one quarter of a mile from Marble Island. T h e channel between the outer and inner harbors was about two fathoms deep at low water, but with a tide of nine to twelve feet we would have a good three and a half to four fathoms at full tide. As every one of the four ships drew less than eleven feet, there would be plenty of water below our keels. Just at the entrance to the channel was a large rock that showed plainly at low tide, but at high tide was covered by water. In the past at least five or six ships had been wrecked on that rock. Their bones still lay rotting along the shore. T h e channel was about one-eighth of a mile long, narrow and crooked. T h e full width of the waterway was about two hundred feet in places, but the sailing channel was less than that. If a vessel tried to go in or out when the tide was running, the current was so swift as to make it very dangerous. T h e inner harbor was about one and a quarter miles long by a half a mile wide and with a depth up to twenty fathoms. That gave a pretty big volume of tidewater to pass through the narrow channel, or gut, as we called it. Then too, along the channel, because of the steep hills that were much higher than our masts, the wind was mighty tricky for a sailing vessel. T h e man at the wheel had to be alert and very quick. T h e captain told Mr. Pollard to stand by me as we drew near the mouth of the channel, to keep his ears open and watch me. Captain Fisher went forward on the bow to pilot the ship through the dangerous passage. W e entered the channel with all sail set and with the men stationed at the topsail braces. T h e orders came fast: "Port a little—hard a-starboard—steadyport a little—meet her—brace the topsail hard a-starboard—steady —meet her—clew up the topsails—and let go the anchor!" Down went the anchor in twenty fathoms of water and all sail hanging. W e never so much as creased the sides. T h a t was good work. N o matter from which direction the wind blew, nor how hard, ships were safe in the inner harbor. It was a land-locked harbor surrounded by high hills on all sides. T h e ships might be

QUARTERS A T MARBLE ISLAND

49

frozen in tight, but there would be no danger from shifting ice. When Captain Mosher of the Abbott Lawrejice tried to follow us, his ship got jammed across the entrance to the channel. All of the other ships' crews had to go on shore with poles and ropes to get her hauled around straight. We worked fast, but the tide was on the ebb when she got into the inner harbor. The Abbott Laivrence was a brig with a length of 97.5 feet, a beam of 23.7 feet, and a depth of 9.7 feet. Her gross tonnage was about one hundred and sixtv tons. She was built at Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 1849, and had a square stern and a bullet head. Captain Joseph A. Mosher was in command, and had Andrew J . Baker for first mate and Frederick B. Russell for second mate. The Isabella and the Eothen had to wait until the next high tide. It was too dangerous to try to get into the inner harbor at any other time, for at ebb tide there was not enough depth of water, and when the tide was running the current was much too swift. At the next full tide Captain Fisher, our captain, piloted the Isabella in. Fred Lane, one of our harpooners, took the wheel. They got her inside safelv and without the least bit of trouble. Captain Barry took in his little schooner, the Eothen, all by himself. All four ships were in the harbor until the following spring, safe and sound, and anchored two and two about a half a mile away from the gut or channel. At the west end of the harbor, less than half a mile back from the shore, up in the hills, was a fresh-water pond. That was the place where the whalers always got their water for drinking and cooking purposes. Before everything froze up, we would roll the empty casks up to the pond, fill them, roll them downhill to the shore, and tow them to the ship. When the pond froze over, we used to cut the ice into large cakes and stand them on end, not only to be able to find them easily when the snow was on the ground, but to tilt them on to the sleigh without trouble. Whenever we needed fresh water in winter we used to haul the cakes on sleds to the ship and melt them. It was about a mile haul for the dogs and men, but it was mostly down hill, and the men needed the exercise. On the westerly shore of the harbor, just about where you

G E T T I N G INTO WINTER

5o

WHALERS WINTER Q U A R T E R S .

SSASaiiS

SSL&HB

O l . » " S p o t . L » t 62*·11*Ί9"Ν*

L o n g 91'iXlTV."

Scale:

MARBLE

ISLAND

I Mile » 5 * 6 0

ft.

HARBOR

(from British Admiralty Chart)

went up to the fresh-water pond, lay the wreck of the Orray Taft. She had been lying there ever since the middle of September in 1872. A Captain MacPherson was in command of her at the time. I was told that MacPherson was a Scotchman and a devil, as hard a man as ever went north. He was as mean and dirty as they came, and cruel to his men. He swore and cursed in all the languages that he knew. He belonged to Aberdeen and feared neither God nor man. After the Orray Taft was wrecked, her men had a terrible time that winter. Out of a crew of thirty men, only eleven of them got home. All the rest of them had died of scurvy. The men gave MacPherson an awful name.

QUARTERS A T MARBLE ISLAND

5'

One of the Orray Tuffs crew, a harpooner named Kerrigan, stayed and lived up there several years with the natives. H e whaled it from the shore in a whaleboat, using a native crew. T h e whales he got were given to the Eskimos, all but the whalebone. That he kept, cleaning and bundling it. When he was ready, one of the whaling ships took him and his store of bone back home. He had sixteen thousand dollars' worth of bone that he had taken during the time he was there. All of the Eskimos liked Kerrigan. E v e r y one of them had a good word to sav for him. On the same day that we arrived at Marble Island and were just sitting around after supper not having very much to do, w e got to talking about MacPherson and some of the other brutes we had encountered on our voyages. I told the boys of a story that had been told to me in St. Helena by an old beachcomber. From the w a y that the old fellow had told it, I knew it was a true tale and as he had described the surroundings in detail, I felt sure that he must have been there himself. A f t e r hearing the yarn, I hurried away to write it down real quick before I could forget it. It was all about a brute of a man and his tragic ending. Orrick Smalley, one of the harpooners, said, " G o ahead, Bob, tell it to us. W e ' d like to hear it." I replied, " N o , not tonight, make it some other night when I don't feel so tired. It's a rather long story and I feel like turning in early." T h e boys kept on coaxing until I said, "Well, all right, I'll tell you another story, a shorter one, all about the time I met up with a bully on a N e w York packet ship, the Mohawk Chief." » · · · · T h e Mohawk Chief ran into a gale that blew her into Buzzard's Bay while she was on her w a y to Liverpool. A bunch of her crew stole a boat, got on shore, and ran away. T h e shipping commissioner at N e w Bedford, T o m Codd,* got * The New Bedford Directory for 1877-78 gives: Thomas A . Codd, United States Deputy Shipping Commissioner, ship broker and commission merchant, 18 So. Water St.

5

2

GETTING INTO

WINTER

eighteen of us to take the places of the men who ran away. T h e packet ship was one of a line of windjammers sailing between N e w York and Liverpool. T h e vessels of that line were good staunch ships. T h e feed was good, but the officers had the reputation of being cruel and abusive to the men. Knowing that, the eighteen of us took an oath in T o m Codd's office to act as one man and always help one another. Those men were the roughest, toughest lot of men that I had ever fallen in with, and I had met plenty of tough ones. T o each other, they were good-hearted and true as steel. N o work was too hard or dangerous for them. T h e way they would fearlessly tackle a job, and with a will, did credit to their early training on deepwater ships. W e intended to stand no abuse from officers or master. W e would play fair, but agreed to stand for no bullying from anybody. It fell to my lot to get into the starboard watch headed by a second mate whose name was Lawrence. He was a young man about thirty years old. He was a smart enough officer, but a bully who liked to show his authority. W e got into a hard blow east of the Banks that lasted for a week, with the ship lying under bare poles. W h e n we tried to set the main topsail, the topsail sheets parted at the clew. At the time I was holding on to the topsail clewline. T h e second mate shouted some order. T h e next thing I saw was the second mate kicking Black Pete, one of my watchmates, who had fallen on deck. I bawled to him to stop kicking Pete, but he came at me with a heaver, and swinging as hard as he could, struck me on the shoulder! It made me let go the clewline and the topsail tore out of the bolt ropes and into ribbons. T w o of the men wrenched the heaver from the mate and threw it overboard. One of them handed me a sheath knife and told me to go and cut his guts out. T h e mate backed away and pulled a gun out of his hip pocket. T h e men told him to put the gun away or the whole watch would jump him. Just then it rang eight bells and the chief mate, a big burly fellow, came on deck. He called the captain. All hands were called aft to the break of the poop. T h e captain then made inquiries. T h e second mate said that I had drawn a knife on him. Big

QUARTERS A T MARBLE ISLAND

53

Andv, another of my shipmates, stepped forward and told the captain that I had not drawn a knife because he had handed his own knife to me when the second mate had drawn his gun, and after the brute had clubbed me on the shoulder with a heaver. T h e captain asked me what I was doing when Lawrence clubbed me. I told him that after the topsail sheets had parted, I was holding on to the topsail clewline and easing off, but had to let go when the second mate struck me. T h e wind then tore the sail out of the bolt ropes. I said the second mate got angry and clubbed me without anv reason. T h e whole crew backed up what I said. T h e captain asked to see my shoulder. It was a w f u l sore and all black and blue. He gave me some liniment and told me to take it easy for a f e w days until my shoulder was better. He also asked if I was an able seaman. I said that I would show him my papers. I brought up my ticket as second officer signed by the commissioner. A f t e r six days I came on deck, but my shoulder was still too sore to take the wheel or go aloft. T h e second mate never came near me. Even later, when I was able to take my trick at the wheel, he never came near, not even to take a look at the compass in the binnacle. One of the men said, "Bob, w h y don't you knife him? W e ' l l help you throw him overboard!" I replied, " N o ! M y hands so far are clean. T h e y have not been stained with blood as yet. What good would it do if the mate turned up missing some stormy night? I would probably be jailed for it whether I did it or not. I don't want to be hanged on account of a cur like him. But I would give my pay f o r a fight with him." Big A n d y said, "Bob, do you think you could pound him?" " I have no doubt about it, or else I would not undertake it." " A s soon as vour shoulder is well enough, let me give you a f e w pointers about fighting," A n d y volunteered. "Fine," I replied. "I'll need the practice and the limbering up too." W e went to it not long afterwards. A n d y was bigger and stronger than I, and a very good-natured fellow, even after I got

54

G E T T I N G INTO WINTER

to him a few times. We boxed two rounds. I saw right away that he knew the science of fighting. He said, "Bob, where did you learn some of those tricks?" I answered, "From a professional." "Well, I've found out that I can't teach you anything. Not only that, but I'll back you against almost any odds. Come on down below now, and I'll give your back and shoulder a good rub-down." In due time our ship entered the mouth of the Mersey. As we fastened to the Waterloo docks, Big Andy came to me and said, "The second mate is going on shore. You go and get him good when he's on the dock. There he goes now!" I sprang over the rail and ran through the big shed after him. I grabbed him by the back of the neck. He did not get a chance to hit me before I had him down on his back. I worked fast, pounding his face and jumping on his chest. I cut up his face until it was all raw. Big Andy came up on the run, pulled me off the dirty cur, and said, "Get away from here before the police get you!" I ran to the gate. The gatekeeper wanted to stop me, but I said, "There's a man badly hurt and I'm hurrying to get a doctor." Again he tried to stop me, saying, "You have blood on your clothes!" T o that I replied, "Yes, I got that when I picked up the man to look at him." I pushed past the gatekeeper and ran toward the African docks. I stopped once and gathered some mud out of the gutter to rub on my clothes to hide the blood spots. When I reached the African docks, a small barque was pulling out. I helped let go one of the hawsers. The captain swore at me and said, "Get on board. What the hell are you hanging back for?" I yelled, "Aye, aye, sir," and jumped on board. In the morning when all hands were called, the captain had no name for me. He asked, "Where do you fit in?" I replied, "It was a pier-head jump, sir, as I thought you were shorthanded. You bade me jump on board."

QUARTERS A T MARBLE ISLAND

55

The captain said, "Well, I can't put you off now. Are you an able seaman?" "Yes, sir, I am." "All right," he said, "I will assign you to the mate's watch." • · · « · "Did you ever hear from the police or the second mate again?" Fred Lane asked. "No, I never did. I said to myself, however, that there would be no more packet ships with foul-mouthed brutes of officers for me. I was disgusted with them. Now, boys, I'm going to leave you and get some rest." The day following our arrival in the harbor, we got the ships in their final position for the winter, all heading in the same direction, two and two. The Abbott Laivrence and our vessel were paired, and the Isabella and the Eotben lay abreast of each other. The position of the ships was such that we would be out of the currents near the gut, and yet where we would have the least ice to cut when ready to leave the harbor in the spring. The captain sent two boats early in the morning to Ranken Inlet and Ferguson River to catch salmon. They had about thirty miles to go, away over to the mainland. Another boat was sent to the sandy beach at the far end of the harbor to get planks from the wreck of the Orray Taft. The planks were to be used for housing in the ship. My dog was well again, and had become a great favorite with everybody. He seemed to enjoy life on a whaling ship. The two boats that had been sent to the mainland got back two days later with about four tons of salmon. One boat was full and the other about half full. They had had good weather and fair winds. On the same day I went on shore with the captain to take a look at the fresh-water pond, and found ice already forming. In spite of the cold nights, there were swarms of mosquitoes in the tall weeds around the edge of the pond. They nearly ate us alive. W e picked a few blueberries, the last of the season. My dog came

56

WINTER

QUARTERS

with us for a run and seemed to enjov it. How he scampered over the hills! He started up some wild swans, but unfortunately we had no guns with us. When I called, "Opitack!" the dog came back to me right awav. On reaching the boat, he jumped into it, right at home. Using the planks that we got from the Orray Taft, we began to house in the ship for the winter. Ice saws and ice axes were brought out, ready to cut fresh-water ice for drinking and cooking purposes. Casks were broken out of the hold so that they would not burst when the harbor froze over and the ice began to squeeze the sides of the ship. As pudge ice was forming, it would not be long before the harbor was frozen over solid. Five days after we got into harbor, the men started to cut ice up on the fresh-water pond. T h e ice was already fifteen inches thick. Fresh water always freezes much quicker than salt water. The harbor ice was not yet solid. W e cut the ice cakes about six feet square and stood them on end so that we could dump them over on the sleigh whenever we should want them during the winter. T h e ice was crystal clear because the water was the finest of spring water. The weather certainly favored us. After a long day's work cutting ice, the boys felt good and hungry, and ate a big supper of salmon, hardtack, hot tea, and molasses. Supper was no sooner over than the boys got to pestering me to tell them the story that the old beachcomber had told me in the governor's garden in St. Helena. Among those that stayed to listen were two of the mates, the other two harpooners, the cooper, the steward, and even Captain Fisher.

C H A P T KR

VI

T H E BEACHCOMBER'S STORY OF A BRUTAL OFFICER KFOR κ starting the talc of the old bcacliconiber I explained, " T h i s is a yarn of w o o d e n ships, of hardy sailors and g o o d seamen that I heard when four of us were sitting on a bench in the g o v e r n o r ' s garden in St. Helena. I was waiting f o r m y ship to c o m e in. T h e other three men were all much older than I. O n e of them w as u n d o u b t e d l y a very old, but w ell-educated man. H i s complexion was that of an old w o r n - o u t wrinkled tan shoe and his hair a wreath of snow. Old he might have been, but he was as straight as a mast and full of that e n e r g y that one imbibes f r o m a y o u t h spent on the high seas. H e must have been well in his seventies. I asked him to spin a sea yarn. H e said that he w o u l d tell us as tragic a tale as ever happened of the days when w i n d jammers carried passengers and were manned b y brutal officers. H e also r e m a r k e d that yarns were mostly lies, sometimes f u n n y , but funnier still when they attempted to be tragic. H e did not scruple about using u n c o m p l i m e n t a r y language concerning the actors in this t r a g e d y . H e maintained that the tale had been told to him b y one of the actors in it, but I always thought that he rem e m b e r e d it all too clearly f o r that. W e l l , here g o e s . "

Β

*

*

*

*

*

B a d g e r H i g g i n s was chief mate of one of a line of windjammers that carried passengers to and f r o across the Atlantic. N o d o u b t the men b e f o r e the mast in those d a y s were mostly t o u g h characters. Chief mates had to qualify as bruisers as well as navigators. H i g g i n s did not have to p r o v e himself a fighter. H e secured his berth because he looked like a cross between a rough-and-tumble, kick-bite-and-gouge pugilist and a catch-as-catch-can wrestler. H e had the j a w of a bulldog. H i s b r o w had such a slant to it 57

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T H E BEACHCOMBER'S S T O R Y

that should a decent idea ever happen to strike there, it would ricochet off and seek lodgment in a more commodious cranium. Although a hard cruel bully, he was no coward. He would mercilessly kick and cuff a poor slim lightweight who talked back to him, but should some man bigger than himself cry "Shame," he would turn upon that husky and slug him until he cried for quarter. Higgins was before my time. But even when I was quite young, his name and fame were still fresh in the memories of the old gray packet-rats who had sailed under him. I had only to mention his name to one of them to hear some new story of his brutal exploits, such as licking the whole starboard watch when they came on board drunk, ugly, hilarious, and looking for trouble. He would sail right in and fairly send them flying to their bunks to escape his fists. O f all the stories about this bucko, the one that interested me the most was the one that I have been leading up to. An American packet was three days out from Liverpool, bound for New York, when a stowaway made his appearance on deck. It being the afternoon watch, Higgins had the deck. T h e stranger, a man as husky as himself, faced him and said that he was an able seaman and willing and eager to work the rest of his way across. T h e bucko kept perfectly calm and cool, and in a manner so mild that the stowaway fancied himself in luck, started to ask some questions. " W h a t is your name?" "Obid Zane." " T a c k the word 'Sir' on to your answers! Thev must have been queer officers that vou have been sailing with if they could not teach you manners. What is your native place?" "New Jersey, sir." Higgins grinned bitterly at this as he was a New Yorker with that low grade of intelligence which despises a "Sand-Spaniard," and asked, "Where have you been stowed?" "In the lazaret, sir." " W h o has been feeding you during the time that you were there?"

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" N o one, sir. I had sandwiches in mv pockets and I used to slip out at night for a bottle of water, sir." " O n e more question. W h y didn't you apply to the captain of this ship three days ago for permission to work your passage?" "Because I was afraid he would refuse, sir." Smash! Higgins' fist landed under the man's jaw. D o w n he went for the count, while the bucko did the counting with kicks. W h e n the stowaway finally got up on his feet again, Higgins said, "You'll be in mv watch. I've just given you a sample of what you are likely to get if you don't behave. If you don't prove to be a sailor, I'll make you swim back to England or drown." " J e r s e y , " as the mate nicknamed him, turned out to be an able seaman all right and might have got by with just the ordinary amount o f abuse that the bucko dealt out impartially to every man, but for a conversation that the overbearing mate heard one night between the stowaway and a man in his watch whom he had picked for a confidant. W h y Zane should have picked such a man as J a c k W h i t e for a chum, the rest of the watch could never understand. W h i t e was not sociable, neither was he surly nor ill natured. H e was just a man of few words, one of those radical thinkers who takes it out in thought and is liable to go into surprising action when least expected. In his Match below W h i t e preferred to study books on navigation to playing poker or spinning yarns. His watch let him severely alone. On a moonless night in mid-watch, Zane and W h i t e sat side b y side on a spare spar near the mainmast. T h e mate, who had been swaggering on the quarterdeck until he heard the t w o men talking, pussy-footed in behind the mast and listened intently. Jersey was saying, " T h e big stiff with a loaded gun in his pocket knocked me cold and kicked me while I was down. W h a t would vou do in a case like that?" W h i t e replied, " I don't care to discuss it. H e has never kicked me yet. W h y don't you consider how provoking it is for a man to keep stowed away until it is too late to land him b a c k ? " " I don't give a damn for that," Zane said. " W h e n this ship lands in N e w Y o r k it will be m y turn. I'll get ashore first and lay for

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him. I'll get behind a tree until he comes abreast of it and then hop out and lambaste the stuffing out of him!" " W h a t do you think he'll be doing?" "Getting hell knocked out of him, that's what!" That was all Higgins wanted to know or hear. He resumed his pacing on the quarterdeck and made his plans. He could have beaten up the man then and there, but he wanted daylight and spectators. He also wanted Zane to suspect his chum of having betrayed him. Besides, he did not want the name of being a sneaking eavesdropper. T h e next morning Higgins had the watch from eight to twelve. Zane and White, standing in the lee gangway near the mainmast, noticed that something out of routine was going on because the second mate, Mr. Doherty, and the men in his watch remained on deck instead of going below when relieved by the chief mate's watch. Several English passengers, as well as some from the steerage, came on deck just abaft the foremast where a rope had been stretched from rail to rail. Higgins, the chief mate, who was on the forecastle, hailed Jersey and White, "Come forward, both of you. Get a move on! Get inside of the rope. Yes, I want both of you." Turning to Mr. Doherty, the mate asked, "Will you oblige me by stepping in here? Do you know anything of the rules of the London prize ring?" T h e red-headed second mate grinned and replied, "I'm an Irishman." "That's the stuff," said Higgins. "I want you to act as referee." "Here, White, you hold this revolver of mine. Keep it until I am done here. I'm going to find out if a big stiff like me can't knock a man cold without having a gun in mv hip pocket. Zane is just a New Jersey clodhopper to imagine that trees are growing around the docks of N e w York City. There are more there like this foremast which was once a tree. Now, Jersey, imagine that this ship is docked in N e w York and that vou are laying for me behind a tree. I am going aft to the mainmast and shed my uniform coat and cap. T h a t will put us in the same rank."

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W i t h that he went aft. Zane cast a nervous look at his pal and growled, "You damn squealer! I'll get vou for this!" "Here, here, W h i t e , " interposed the second mate, pushing W h i t e , who was about to retort, hack against the rail, "vou stand here and hold vour tongue. You, Zane, get vourself in fighting trim. Don't waste vour wind. You'll have need of it all." Zane threw off his jumper and rolled up his sleeves, none too soon, for the bucko was sw aggering forward, tucking up his own sleeves. Higgins cried out, "Here I come! I have just stepped ashore and am walking along the street all unawares. You, Jersey, are laving for me behind that tree. W h e n I get abreast of it, vou hand me a knock-out wallop. You'd better!" Dohcrtv had his watch out, and as soon as Higgins got inside of the rope, sang out, "Time! Go to i t ! " T h e men were well matched in size, weight, and strength. T h e s t o w a w a y proved capable of taking a lot of punishment, but he was no match for the practiced slugger. T h e fight lasted eight minutes. Zane was knocked down three times. On the third he was counted out. " N o w , maybe you'll feel better," Higgins remarked, "and if y o u don't feel better I'll lick y o u again w h e n w e get to N e w York. Thank you, Mr. Dohertv, for seeing fair play in the bout." " N o w , W h i t e , hand back m y pistol and keep a w a y from that bum. Have nothing to say to him. If he bothers y o u , let me know." T h a t night Higgins had the watch from eight to midnight. J a c k W h i t e had the first trick at the wheel. T h e ship's course lay in the steamer track and she was sailing full and by. T h e mate went aft to the wheel and asked, " H o w is she heading?" "Due west, sir." "Keep her close to the wind. Keep the leech of that main topsail lifting. B y the w a v , W h i t e , what did Jersey say to y o u tod a y when I handed vou m y g u n ? " " H e called me a damn squealer, sir, and said that he would get me for this."

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" W h a t did you say in reply?" "Mr. Doherty butted in, sir, and told me to keep quiet." "Jersey thinks that you put me wise to his plans. Well, let him keep on thinking so." "That won't do, sir. He'll post me all over the ship as a sneaking tale-bearer. Do you think I want that sort of a reputation? I'll fight as vou did, make him swallow his words, or take a licking!" At that the mate slapped White's face so hard he would have fallen but for his grip on the spokes of the wheel, and at the same time, "I'll give you a licking worse than I gave him if I ever catch you speaking to him again." It was a mean, dirty slap. If White had fallen or let go the wheel, the ship would have luffed into the wind. As she would have been taken flat aback, her masts would have snapped off. N o one knew that better than the bully who dealt the blow. White's eyes were blazing. He looked all around to see if there had been a witness to the cowardly blow, but not a soul had seen it. He felt relieved, and called to the mate, "Mr. Higgins, just a moment, please." T h e bully swaggered back with, " W h a t the hell do you want, another smack?" " N o , sir, I want you to hear me take my oath. You will never hear nor see me speak to that fellow again. As long as you want me to bear the reputation of a snitch and a sneak on board, I'll do it, but I'll get my revenge in another way." "All right, that is where your head is level," said the bucko as he strutted forward, his own head too thick to read between the lines. At four bells, ten o'clock, White was relieved from the wheel. As he walked forward, he heard the gruff voice of Higgins giving orders, "Jersey, didn't you hear four bells? G o climb up that tree and when you come to the branches that are called crosstrees, relieve the man on lookout. Keep a sharp lookout for green, red, and white lights." Zane swung himself into the shrouds and ran aloft. Tickled with his own conceit, the bucko strutted aft toward

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