The World of Waters - Mrs. David Osborne
CHARLES. "May we now steer north, and call at the Azores or Western
Isles? We shall then be half-way between Europe and America."
MR. WILTON. "We shall be very willing to accompany you, if you will
entertain us when there."
CHARLES. "That might be done at a moderate expense, for they are
delightful islands, with a fine climate, a spacious harbor, good
anchorage, and all essentials,--but they are subject to earthquakes;
therefore it is not advisable to prolong our visit One remarkable
circumstance I had almost forgotten is, that no noxious animal can
exist, or is ever to be found on these islands."
MRS. WILTON. "The Azores are also called the Land of Falcons,
because when discovered there were so many of these birds found tame
on the islands. They are 800 miles from the shores of Portugal, and
belong to that kingdom. Nature appears everywhere smiling; the
plains wave with golden harvests, delicious fruits adorn the sides
of the hills, and the towering summits are covered with evergreens.
But, as Charles observes, they are volcanic; and many new islands
have been raised from the bottom of the sea by volcanic action. In
the year 1720 one of these phenomena took place, on approaching
which next day an English captain observes:--'We made an island of
fire and smoke. The ashes fell on our deck like hail and snow, the
fire and smoke roared like thunder.' The inhabitants of the Azores
are an innocent, honest race, who prefer peace to conquest, and
distinction in industry rather than in arms."
EMMA. "My course is now tolerably plain; but while we are so near
Newfoundland, we may as well look in upon the people. This large
island shuts up the northern entrance into the Gulf of St. Lawrence;
is for the most part barren and unfruitful, and covered with
perpetual fogs."
MR. BARRAUD. "These fogs are, no doubt, produced by the currents
that flow from the Antilles, and remain for a time between the great
bank and the coast before they escape into the Atlantic Ocean."
CHARLES. "Sir, I do not understand how the currents can cause a
fog."
MR. BARRAUD. "It is because these streams, coming from tropical
regions, are warmer than the water surrounding the banks of
Newfoundland, and necessarily warmer than the atmosphere,
consequently they cause a vapor to arise which obscures the island
with a moist and dense air. Newfoundland was for a long time
considered the inhospitable residence of fishermen; but of late it
has doubled its population and industry, and the activity of the
British nation has added another fine colony to the civilized
world."
MRS. WILTON. "Newfoundland is the nearest to Great Britain of any of
our North American possessions. It is rather larger than England and
Wales. Its chief town is St. John's. It was discovered in 1497 by
John Cabot. The fisheries here are the chief wealth of the island,
and consist principally of codfish, herrings, and salmon. The great
Bank of Newfoundland, which appears to be a solid rock, is 600 miles
long, and in some places 200 broad."
CHARLES. "Newfoundland is famous for dogs; but I find the most
numerous there are not like those we call Newfoundland dogs, which
are large handsome animals, for _they_ are comparatively rare. The
most abundant are creatures with lank bodies, thin legs and tail,
and a thin tapering snout. They are very intelligent though, and
would beat the Chinese birds in catching fish; for Mr. Jukes, a
gentleman who has been to Newfoundland, says of one of these
dogs:--'He sat on a projecting rock beneath a fish-flake, or stage,
where the fish are laid to dry, watching the water, which had a
depth of six or eight feet, and the bottom of which was white with
fish-bones. On throwing a piece of cod-fish into the water, three or
four heavy, clumsy-looking fish, called in Newfoundland "sculpins,"
with great heads and mouths, and many spines about them, generally
about a foot long, would swim in to catch it. These he would watch
attentively, and the moment one turned his broadside to him, he
darted down like a fish-hawk, and seldom came up without the fish in
his mouth. As he caught them, he carried them regularly to a place a
few yards off, where he laid them down; and his owner told us that
in the summer he would sometimes make a pile of fifty or sixty a
day, just at that place. He never attempted to eat them, but seemed
to be fishing purely for his own amusement. I watched him for about
two hours; and when the fish did not come, I observed he once or
twice put his right foot in the water, and paddled it about. This
foot was white, and my friend said he did it to "toll" or entice the
fish.' Cunning dog was he not, George?"
GEORGE. "Yes; he would make his master's fortune if the fish he
caught were worth selling."
EMMA. "To get into Baffin's Bay, we must go through Davis's Straits,
so called from their discoverer, John Davis, who sailed through them
in 1585; and following the coast on the north side, we shall pass
South-east Bay and Coburg Bay. In 1818 Captain Ross completed the
circumnavigation of this oblong bay. The middle of it seems
everywhere occupied with impenetrable ice, between which and the
land is the only passage for ships."
MRS. WILTON. "That portion of the bay you have just described washes
the shores of Greenland and the Arctic Regions. Greenland is
considered as a peninsula attached to America, wretchedly barren,
for no trees grow there. But God, who made man of the dust, also
promised to supply his wants, and most wonderfully is this
exemplified with regard to Greenland. To provide the inhabitants
with the means of warming and nourishing their bodies, God causes
the sea to drive vast quantities of wood from distant shores, and
with thankfulness the poor Greenlanders regularly gather these
providential supplies from their own coasts. Some parts of Greenland
are nothing more than huge masses of rocks, intermingled with
immense blocks of ice, thus forming at once the image of chaos and
winter."
GEORGE. "Is it not near Greenland the ships go to catch whales?"
MR. BARRAUD. "Yes; and, as you have mentioned the subject, we may as
well stop and inquire into the particulars of this fishing."
GEORGE. "I remember reading that there are three sorts of
whales--the finback, the right whale, and the sperm whale; but I
should like to hear how they are caught."
MR. BARRAUD. "A man is stationed at the mast-head to look out, and
as soon as he perceives a whale, he shouts, 'There she blows!'
Immediately all hands are on the move to prepare the boats: this
takes but a short time, and the chase commences. I will now give you
an American account of such a chase.
"'The moment of intense excitement now arrived. We pulled as if for
life or death. Not a word was spoken, and scarcely a sound was heard
from our oars. One of the men sprang to his feet, and grasped a
harpoon. A few more strokes of the oar, and we were hard upon the
whale. The harpooner, with unerring aim, let fly his irons, and
buried them to the sockets in his huge carcass. "Stern all!"
thundered the mate. "Stern all!" echoed the crew, but it was too
late. Our bows were high and dry on the whale's head! Infuriated
with the pain produced by the harpoons, and, doubtless, much
astonished to find his head so roughly used, he rolled half over,
lashing the sea with his flukes (tail), and in his struggles dashing
in two of the upper planks. "Boat stove! boat stove!" was the
general cry. "Silence," thundered the mate as he sprang to the bow,
and exchanged places with the harpooner; "all safe, my hearties!
stern hard! stern! stern! before he gets his flukes to bear upon
us." "Stern all!" shouted we, and in a moment more we were out of
danger. The whale now "turned flukes," and dashed off to windward
with the speed of a locomotive, towing us after him at a tremendous
rate. We occasionally slacked line in order to give him plenty of
play. A stiff breeze had sprung up, causing a rough, chopping sea;
and we leaked badly in the bow-planks; but, notwithstanding the
roughness of the sea, we went with incredible swiftness. "Hoorah!"
burst from every lip. We exultingly took off our hats, and gave
three hearty cheers; but while we were skimming along so gallantly,
the whale suddenly turned, and pitched the boat on her beam-ends.
Every one who could grasp a thwart hung on to it, and we were all
fortunate enough to keep our seats. For as much as a ship's length
the boat flew through the water on her gunwale, foaming and whizzing
as she dashed onward. It was a matter of doubt as to which side
would turn uppermost, until we slacked out the line, when she
righted. To have a boat, with all her iron, lances, gear, and oars,
piled on one's head in such a sea, was rather a startling prospect
to the best swimmer. Meantime, the whale rose to the surface to
spout. The change in his course enabled another boat to come up, and
we lay on our oars, in order that Mr. D----, (the other mate) might
lance him.--He struck him in a vital part the first dart, as was
evident from the whale's furious dying struggles; but in order to
make sure, we hauled up and lanced the back of his head. Foaming and
breaching, he plunged from wave to wave, flinging high in the air
torrents of blood and spray. The sea around was literally a sea of
blood. At one moment his head was poised in the air; the next, he
buried himself in the gory sea, carrying down, in his vast wake, a
whirlpool of foam and slime. But this respite was short; he rose
again, rushing furiously upon his enemies; but a slight prick of a
lance drove him back with mingled fury and terror. Whichever way he
turned, the barbed irons goaded him to desperation. Now and again
intensity of agony would cause him to lash the waters with his huge
flukes, till the very ocean appeared to heave and tremble at his
power. Tossing, struggling, dashing over and over in his agony, he
spouted up the last of his heart's blood. Half an hour before, he
was free as the wave, sporting in all the pride of gigantic strength
and unrivalled power. He now lay a lifeless mass; his head towards
the sun, his tremendous body heaving to the swell, and his
destroyers proudly cheering over their victory.'"
EMMA. "It seems very cruel to catch these poor creatures."
MRS. WILTON. "They are tortured as little as possible; but they are
so strong, that it requires immense skill and bravery to contend
with them. Their usefulness justifies the act, for I know not what
we should do without some of the comforts produced from these
monsters of the deep."
EMMA. "What part does the oil come from?"
MR. BARRAUD. "First, from the blubber which is the outer covering,
or, as whalers call it, the 'blanket-piece;' this is stripped off by
means of an ingenious contrivance, cut into pieces, and the oil
boiled out. Secondly, from the head, which is called the 'case,' and
sometimes contains from ten to fifteen barrels of oil and
spermaceti. A sperm whale frequently yields as much as 120 barrels
of oil. Forty-five barrels is considered a medium size."
GEORGE. "I hope, when we go to Jamaica, we shall see some whales."
MR. WILTON. "No doubt we shall. I have often seen them rolling and
spouting in the wide Atlantic: and you will also see the flying fish
skimming in the hollows of the waves: they are very pretty."
GRANDY. "Yes, they are, poor unfortunates! for, though possessing
the qualifications of a bird as well as a fish, they are so
persecuted by enemies in both elements, that, whether taking their
temporary flight through the air, or gliding through the waters,
their double faculty proves insufficient to defend or secure them
from pursuit."
CHARLES. "What creatures war against these innocent fish, madam?"
GRANDY. "While in the air the man-of-war bird pounces upon them; and
they are chased in the water by the bonito and albacore: thus
constantly persecuted, they do not become very numerous."
CHARLES. "Icy Peak, in Greenland, is an enormous mass of ice near
the mouth of a river: it diffuses such a brilliancy through the air,
that it is distinctly perceived at a distance of more than ten
leagues. Icicles, and an immense vault, give this edifice of crystal
a most magic appearance."
EMMA. "Shall we now continue our voyage through Lancaster Sound?"
MRS. WILTON. "I have been considering whether it would not be better
to finish with these northern latitudes before we proceed on our
voyage. In that case we will test the hospitality of the people of
Spitzbergen, Iceland, Nova Zembla, Ferroe Isles, and sundry others
in this part of the Atlantic and Frozen Ocean, and then descend to
warmer climates."
MR. WILTON. "A very good plan, if we do not get blocked up by the
ice in these dreadful seas. By-the-by, there is an account of such a
calamity happening to a vessel some years ago.--In the year 1775,
Captain Warrens, master of the 'Greenland,' a whale-ship, was
cruising about in the Frozen Ocean, when at a little distance he
observed a vessel. Captain Warrens was struck with the strange
manner in which her sails were disposed, and with the dismantled
aspect of her rigging. He leaped into his boat with several seamen,
and rowed towards her. On approaching, he observed that her hull was
miserably weather-beaten, and not a soul appeared on deck, which was
covered with snow to a considerable depth. He then hailed her crew,
but no answer was returned. Previous to stepping on board, an open
port-hole near the main-chains caught his eye; and, on looking into
it, he perceived a man reclining back in a chair, with writing
materials on a table before him; but the feebleness of the light
made everything very indistinct. The party went upon deck, and,
having removed the hatchway, descended to the cabin. They first came
to the apartment which Captain Warrens viewed through the port-hole.
A terror seized him as he entered it: its inmate retained his former
position, and seemed to be insensible to strangers. He was found to
be a corpse! and a green damp mould had covered his cheeks and
forehead, and veiled his open eyeballs. He had a pen in his hand,
and a log-book lay before him. The last sentence in its unfinished
page ran thus:--
"'Nov. 14th, 1762.
"'We have now been enclosed in the ice seventeen days. The fire went
out yesterday, and our master has been trying ever since to kindle
it again without success. His wife died this morning. There is no
relief!'
"Captain Warrens and his seamen hurried from the spot without
uttering a word. On entering the principal cabin, the first object
that attracted their attention was the dead body of a female,
reclining on a bed in an attitude of deep interest and attention.
Her countenance retained the freshness of life: but a contraction of
the limbs showed that her form was inanimate. Seated on the floor
was the corpse of an apparently young man, holding a steel in one
hand and a flint in the other, as if in the act of striking fire
upon some tinder which lay beside him. In the fore-part of the
vessel several sailors were found lying dead in their berths, and
the body of a boy crouched at the bottom of the gangway stairs.
Neither provisions nor fuel could be discovered anywhere; but
Captain Warrens was prevented by the superstitious prejudices of his
seamen from examining the vessel as minutely as he wished to have
done. He, therefore, carried away the log-book, and immediately
steered to the southward, impressed with the awful example he had
just witnessed of the danger of navigating the Polar Seas in high
northern latitudes. On returning to England, and inquiring and
comparing accounts, he found that this vessel had been blocked up by
the ice for upwards of thirteen years!!! Yes!--
"'There lay the vessel in a realm of frost,
Not wrecked, nor stranded, yet forever lost;
Her keel embedded in the solid mass;
Her glistening sails appear'd expanded glass.'"
[Illustration: THE GEYSERS.]
GRANDY. "A most awful situation to be placed in, surrounded on
all sides by impenetrable ice, which closeth up the water as with a
breast-plate."
MRS. WILTON. "Iceland is first in point of distance. It is situated
south east of Greenland, in the North Atlantic Ocean, and considered
an appendage to America; although it was known seven centuries
before the time of Columbus. It is truly, a land of prodigies: where
the subterranean fires of the abyss burst through a frozen soil;
where boiling springs shoot up their fountains, amidst eternal
snows; and where the powerful genius of liberty and the no less
powerful genius of poetry have given brilliant proofs of the
energies of the human mind at the farthest confines of animated
nature."
CHARLES. "There are twelve volcanoes in Iceland; the most celebrated
of which is Mount Hecla, situated in the southern part of the
island: its elevation is about 4800 feet above the level of the
sea."
GEORGE. "And there are hot springs, too, in this island; but they
have not all the same degree of heat. Mamma, do you know anything of
them?"
MRS. WILTON. "Those springs, whose tepid waters issue as gently as
an ordinary spring, are called Langers, or baths; others that throw
up boiling water with great noise, are denominated Caldrons, in
Icelandic 'Hverer.' The most remarkable is the Geyser, which is
found near Skalholdt, in the middle of a plain, where there are
about forty springs of a smaller size. It rises from an aperture
nineteen feet in diameter, springing at intervals to the height of
fifty or even ninety feet. In these hot springs, which formerly
served to baptize their Pagan ancestors, the Icelanders boil their
vegetables, meat, eggs, and other articles of food; but it is
necessary to cover the pot suspended in these steaming waters, in
order to prevent the volcanic odor from imparting a taste to their
contents. Iceland is not so barren as you might imagine from its
extreme cold, for gardening is cultivated throughout the island: but
there are no large trees."
MR. WILTON. "The present houses of the Icelanders differ little from
those used by their ancestors, who first colonized the island, and
are, no doubt, the best fitted for the climate. They are only one
story high; the stone walls have all the interstices stuffed with
moss, and are about six feet in thickness. In the better sort of
houses, the windows are glazed, in the others, secured by a thin
skin stretched over the frames. They have no chimney or grates; the
smoke escapes through a hole in the roof. The beds are merely open
frames filled with feathers or down, over which they throw their
blankets, and cover themselves with a counterpane of divers colors.
Their seats are, in general, the bones of a whale or a horse's
skull. But much is said and done in these rude huts which would
astonish you."
EMMA. "Are the Icelanders civilized people: I mean, at all refined?"
MRS. WILTON. "Every Icelander knows how to read, write, and
calculate, which is more than we can say of the English. They are a
grave, honest, benevolent people, but not remarkable for their
industry. Their favorite amusements, when assembled together,
consist in reading history or poetry, in singing, or playing at
chess, in which game they take great delight, priding themselves on
their skill. They are refined enough to admire poetry and music: I
think I need say no more. We will now visit Spitzbergen."
EMMA. "Spitzbergen is a group of three large islands, and a number
of lesser ones near the North Pole. The mountains crowned with
perpetual snow, and flanked with glaciers, reflect to a considerable
distance a light equal to that of a full moon. The Icy Sea washes
its shores, and abounds with whales, who love to roll their enormous
bodies among the marine forests of the sea. In the vicinity is found
the polar bear, which pursues everything animated with life, devours
every animal he encounters, and then, roaring with delight, seats
himself enthroned on the victorious trophy of mutilated carcasses
and bones."
CHARLES. "The only tree growing in Spitzbergen is the dwarf willow,
which rises to the vast height of two inches! towering with great
pride above the mosses, lichens, and a few other cumbent plants."
GEORGE. "What a ridiculous little shrub! We might just as well
dignify mustard and cress with the title of trees. To whom does this
_very fertile_ island belong?"
MRS. WILTON. "To the Russians; and it certainly is not an enviable
possession, for the climate is most wretched. From the 30th of
October, until the 10th of February, the sun is invisible; it is as
one long dreary night, and bitterly cold. The inhabitants sit by
dull fires during this season, immersed in furs, and endeavor to
doze through the tedious gloom. They are chiefly of Russian
extraction, and many of them natives of Archangel."
MR. WILTON. "Other animals are found in these regions besides the
bear and whale: for we read of foxes, reindeer, walruses, and seals
being occasionally caught by the people; and many islands about here
(for the Frozen Sea is full of islands, principally composed of turf
hills,) are the dreary abodes of bears and reindeer."
EMMA. "The Ferroe Isles, belonging to Denmark, are seventeen in
number; they produce agate, jasper, and beautiful zeolites, and
export feathers, eider-down, caps, stockings, tallow, and salted
mutton."
CHARLES. "I do not think that can be very nice: I wonder who buys
it?"
EMMA. "It always finds purchasers: therefore some folks are not so
fastidious as Mr. Charles Dorning."
GEORGE. "Mamma, let us go back past Norway, and see what are all
these little islands on the coast."
MRS. WILTON. "As you please, George; but most of the islands are
barren, uninhabited spots. Those worthy of notice are Karen, Bommel,
Sartar, Hittern, at the entrance of the Gulf of Drontheim; the
Victen or Victor Isles, and the Luffoden Isles: the latter are the
most numerous and extensive, and noted for the whirlpool Maelstrom,
which has drawn so many fine ships into its abyss, and from which
even the bellowing struggles of the great whale will not suffice to
redeem him if once he gets within the vortex."
GEORGE. "What causes this whirlpool?"
MR. BARRAUD. "When two currents of a more or less contrary direction
and of equal force meet in a narrow passage, they both turn, as it
were, upon a centre, until they unite, or one of the two escapes.
This is what is termed a whirlpool or eddy. There are three
celebrated whirlpools noticed in geography--the Maelstrom, the
Euripus, near the island of Eubaea, and Charybdis, in the Straits of
Sicily."
CHARLES. "Bergen, one of the principal towns of Norway, stands on
the North Sea: it is seated in the centre of a valley, forming a
semicircle round a small gulf of the sea. On the land side it is
defended by mountains; and on the other, by several fortifications.
This city is chiefly constructed of wood, and has been many times
destroyed by fire. So dreadful was the last conflagration, in 1771,
that it is said the flames were visible in the Isles of Shetland, or
at least the red lurid glare of them in the sky."
MR. WILTON. "There are silver mines in Norway; but the iron mines
are the most profitable. We have to thank Norway for the magnet, of
such inestimable value to the navigator."
GEORGE. "Papa, who found out the use of the magnet?"
MR. WILTON. "Flavio Gioia was the author of the great discovery of
the property of the magnet, about the year 1302. He was a citizen of
Amalfi, a town in Naples."
EMMA. "Is there not a destructive little animal, native of Norway,
called a lemming?"
MR. BARRAUD. "It is called the lemming, or Norwegian mouse; it comes
from the ridge of Kolen; and sometimes spreads desolation, like the
locust. These animals appear in vast numbers, proceeding from the
mountain towards the sea, devouring every product of the soil, and,
after consuming everything eatable in their course, they at last
devour each other. These singular creatures are of a reddish color,
and about five inches in length."
EMMA. "We may now return to our station in Lancaster Sound, pass
Croker's Bay, and enter Barrow's Straits which wash the shores of
North Devon."
GEORGE. "In the New Archipelago, north of Barrow's Straits, are the
Georgian Isles. They are numerous, and the principal are Cornwallis,
Bathurst, and Melville. The latter is the largest, being 240 miles
long, and 100 miles in breadth."
MR. BARRAUD. "Here is another dreary land where no tree or shrub
refreshes the eye. The climate is too cold for any person to live
there; and, from its vicinity to the magnetic meridian, the compass
becomes useless, remaining in whatever position it is placed by the
hand."
EMMA. "Prince Regent's Inlet will lead us into Bothnia Gulf, thence
through Fury and Hecla Straits,[11] which are between the peninsula
of Melville and Cockburn Island, we can enter Foxes Channel, pass
through Frozen Straits, and launch on the great waters of Hudson's
Bay."
[Footnote 11: So named because these two vessels were here frozen up
from October 20th, 1822, to August 8th, 1823.]
MRS. WILTON. "We enter Hudson's Bay on the north, close by
Southampton, a large island inhabited chiefly by Esquimaux. Nothing
can exceed the frightful aspect of the environs of this bay. To
whichsoever side we direct our view, we perceive nothing but land
incapable of receiving any sort of cultivation, and precipitous
rocks that rise to the very clouds, and yawn into deep ravines and
narrow valleys into which the sun never penetrates, and which are
rendered inaccessible by masses of ice and snow that seem never to
melt. The sea in this bay is open only from the commencement of July
to the end of September, and even then the navigator very often
encounters icebergs, which expose him to considerable embarrassment.
At the very time he imagines himself at a distance from these
floating rocks a sudden squall, or a tide, or current, strong enough
to carry away the vessel, and render it unmanageable, all at once
hurries him amongst an infinite number of masses of ice, which
appear to cover the whole bay."