On the Navigation of Smith Sound, As a Route to the Polar Sea Author(S): G
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On the Navigation of Smith Sound, as a Route to the Polar Sea Author(s): G. S. Nares Source: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 21, No. 4 (1876 - 1877), pp. 274-287 Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1799958 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 17:35 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Wiley and The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:35:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 274 THE NAVIGATIONOF S}IITH SOUND [AI.KR.2G, 1877-. coast in any quarterof the worldwhere he llad not done lTaluablework, and provedhis scientificaccura,cy, and the laboriousmode ill which he carriedout his sllrveys. Such men werenot easily replaced. There were but few in a generation,and when one of them passed away, those who lrnew what they had done were bound to pay them the tribute of affectionateregret. The specialbusiness of the evening Bas the Paperthat had been announced on Smith Sound by CaptainSir GeorCeNares. When the Society first gave a cordialwelcome to the officersof the Arctic Expedition at St James's lIally they were inforrnedthat as it wotlld be impossibleon that occasionto enter into any discussion,another opportunity would be affordedfor Menlberswho- were inclined to discllss the georraphicalresults that had been achieved. The- presentevening had been therefoleset apart for that ptlrposee The following Paper was read:- On the Xaviyationof SmithSound, as a Routeto the Pola} Sea. By Gapt.Sir G. S. NARES, R.N., E.C.B. MY present Paper on the navigation of Smith Sound will, I trusts be accepted as a continuation of the one on the Polar Area, whick I recently had the honour of reading before this Society; rather than as being in itself an exhaustive description of the locality. Our knowledge of the water-passage leading from Baffin Bay to t:henorthward into the Polar Ocean,is derived from observations madeby explorerswho have passed eleven summersand si2 winters in the neighbourhood. Of the four Expeditions specially equipped for the exploration of Smith Sound,three were despatchedfrom the UrlitedStates and one from this country. In 1852, the present Admiral Inglefield visited the entrance of the Sound, and discovered the south shore of Grinnell Land; alsa that the coast of Greenland,north of Cape Alexander, trended tcs the north-east for a considerablSedistance, but he did not land on either shore. In 1853 Dr. Rane, with his snall sailingwessel,- was the first who succeededin foreing a passage within the sea; but? after a xnost determined and spirited struggle, he was finally irnprisoned by the ice in ReusslaerBay for two winters. FroIn there one of his sledge-parties,under Morton,e:xplored the Greenlandshores to Cape (::onstitution;and another, under Dr. Hayes, landed on Grinnell Land; both journeys displaying the very highest qualities in alI engaged in them. He was followed in 1860 by Dr. Eayes, who unable in his sailing-schooner to enter the sea, was forced to willter in Port Foulke. In the following spring, after a most harassing and determined march across the heavy Polar pack in Kane Sea over which he This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:35:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions IAR. 26n 1877.] AS A ROUTETO THE POLAR SEA. 275 found it impossible to drag his boat he aseended Eennedy- Chan- nel; making one of the most brilliant Arctic sledge-journeys on -record. In 1871 Captain Hall, in a small steain-vessel, made his very successful run to the head of Robeson Channel, where he was stopped by icef and forced to winter in Polaris Bay. From thence, sledge-parties explored to the northward of New- man Bay; but, like all previous travellers except Sir Edward Parry, they mrereunable to drag their navigable boats over ths zough ice. On her return voyage, the Polariswas caught in the paclt and driven into Lifeboat Coxe, where she was obligecl to be run on shore. In. 187S, the lnost powerful Expedition of a.ll, consisting of two .steam-vessels,admirably equipped, was sent out froin this country un er my comrnand. We succeeded in reaehing the head of Robeson Channel, where ve were stopped by the ice, and passed the xvinter on the west shore of the channel. Sledge-parties explored the whola of the neighbouring shores, and determined the existence of an extensive sea; but, like all our predecessors,we were unable to transport navigable boats for any great distance across the ice, away from the land, during the short season wl-lenexploration by llleans of sledging is possible. The coast of GreenAandboldering Smith Sound, so far as can be sighted fronl the sea, lies completely imbedded in ice in summer as well as in winter without one mountain-peak showing itself <1bovethe very slightly inclined skyline of perpetual ice. The glaciers descending from this ice-cap are, however, mostly melted before reaching the coast7 leaving a border of land clear of ice near the sea. tiartstene Bay, situated at the head of BafEnBay, on the C8wreen- 3andshore, is washed by a warm ourrent eoming from the south- ward; and is proteeted fiom the cold Aretie floxvby the projeeting promontories, whieh form the western eapes of Greenland. In eonsequenee,the neighbourhood,as first pointed out ky Dr. Hayes, enjoys a eomparatively mild elimate; and on the vegetated lands fronting the ice-eap, as well as in the neighbouring sea, Aretie life is found in its greatest abundanee. As e2cperieneesllows that, in all but very exeeptional seasons,the position ean be yeally visited frorn the southward, the neighbour- hood forms a valuable and important base for exploration in more northern latitudes. It is, in faet, the most norther]y position, where an abundanee of galne is procurableb; experieneed hunters This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:35:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 276 THE NAVIGATION OF SAIITH SOUND, [AIAR. OG, 1877> within a restricted area. At no other northern position yet ex- plored is game now to be obtained in sufficient quantities to enable even a party of Eskiino to exist throughout the year on their own l esources. On the opposite coast of Ellesmere Land, on the west side of the- channel, the country in the interior is not so completely buried in ice as the Greenlandhills, and the Inountain-topsall project above the ice-cap. South of Cape Sabine, the glaciers on the hill-sides extend into the sea, and few bare places are left fit for feeding-grounds; but northward of it, along the southern shores of Hayes Sollnd, the line of perpetual snow and ice as on the Greenland coast-is at a considerableheight above the sea-level; consequentlythe glaciers, instead of estending to the sea, are fronted by vegetated Nalleys, and heights free from ice. One spot partially exploredby the late Expedition-Twin Glacier Valley and the heights about Alexandra Haven exhibited many recent traces of Arctic life; and the nunlerous ancient Eskinlo reanainsfound there would denote that game had alwaJTsfrequented the neighbourhood. An e2mploringparty travelling up the Sound, on the interesting dutJrof ascertaining whether a water-passage exists extending to the Western Sea, may thereforeexpect to obtain a small supply of fresh food on the south coast of Grinnell Land. North of Hayes Sound, the lnountains are remarkably free of any ice-cap; the valleys contain small glaciers; but extensive tracts of land are free from snow durint, the short summer, yet the ]ocality is decidedly unfavoured by game. While our ships were detained by the ice near the coast, only a few hares and ptarmigan were obtained. Sledge-travellerswill be unusually fortunate if they there obtain any gatne at all. In Rawlings Bay, at the south entrance to Rennedy Channel,a iw ancient decayedmusk-ox bones were foulld; but I think that few of these animals wander so far away from the morefavoured grazing- grounds in the large valleys near Mount Grant, in the United States Range. As we advance to the northward, up Kennedy Channel, the sea-life rapidly diminishes, and tlle bears who prey upon it are found in ever-decreasing numbers. At Polaris Bay, where the winds and currents contribute to keep the water-spaces more open than elsewhere, a few seals and sea-birds congregate during the summer. North of RobesonChannel, few, even of these, are met with, and the bears and dovekies are quite left behind. Throughoutthe whole area north of Srnith Sound the lllibratory This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:35:09 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions DIAR 26, 1877.] AS A ROUTETO THE POLAR SEA, 27, birdsin small numbersrear their young in the favouredvalleys and plainsduring the shortsurnmer.