SEEMANN'S VOYAGE OF THE HERALD"
A. SURVEY of the Western coast of America was the primary ob- ject of the Herald when she left Plymouth in 1845. After pass- ing between two and three years on this survey from Chili to Van- couver's Island, the Herald learned at Panama, in May 1848, that she was to proceed to the Arctic Sea in search of Sir John Frank- lin, by way of Behring's Strait. The earlier part of the voyage was accomplished with comparative ease on three different occa- sions, in 1848, 1849, and 1850 ; but the navigators were soon stopped by closely-packed fields of ice, not very far beyond the Icy Cape of Cook. The nature of the sea enabled. the Herald and her consort on each occasion to escape without difficulty 'from that winter's detention which frequently attends late navigation on the Eastern coast of America. The discovery of some islands and of land to the North trending in a North-western direction, and forming, it may be inferred, a Polar continent, is known from the official reports of the Expedition. The appearance of the land, and the mode of verifying the fact by taking possession, lest, like the American Exploring Expedition, they might be under some optical illusion and make a false report, is characteristic and fresh.
"At 9.40 the exciting report of Land ho!' was made from the mast- head. In running a course along the pack towards our first discovery, a small group of islands was reported on our port beam, a considerable distance within the outer margin of the ice. The pack here was not so close as we had found it in other places ; lanes of water could be seen reaching almost up to the group, but too narrow to enter unless the ship had been sufficiently fortified to force a hole for herself. These small islands at intervals were very distinct, and were not considered at the time far off. Still more dis- tant than this group, (from the deck,) an extensive and high land was re- ported, which,' says Captain Kellett, I had been watching for some time, and anxiously awaited a report from some one else. There was a fine clear atmosphere, (such a one as can only be seen in this climate,) except in the direction of this extended land, where the clouds rolled in numerous im- mense masses, occasionally leaving the lofty peaks uncapped, where could be distinctly seen columns, pillars, and very broken summits, which are cha- racteristic of the higher headlands in this sea—East Cape and Cape Lisburne, for example. With the exception of the North-cast and South-west ex- tremes, none of the lower land could be discerned, unless, indeed, what I took at first for a small group of islands within the pack-edge was a point of this Great Land. This island or point was distant twenty-five miles from the ship's track ; higher parts of the land seen not less, I consider, than sixty miles. When we hove-to off the first land observed, the Northern ex- treme of the Great Land showed out to the Eastward for a moment, and so clear as to cause some who had doubts before to cry out, "There, sir, is the land, quite plain."
"From the time land was reported until we hove-to under it, we ran twenty-five miles directly for it. At first we could not see that the pack joined the island, but as we approached it we found the pack to rest on its shores, and to extend from them as far as the eye could reach to the East- south-east. The weather, which had been fine all day, now changed sud- denly to dense clouds and snow-showers, blowing fresh from the South, with so much sea that we could not anchor as we intended. Captain Kellett lett the ships with two boats : Mr. Maguire, Mr. Collinson, and I in one ; Mr. Goodridge, Mr. Paken barn, and the Captain, in the other. The ship kept off and on outside the thickest part of the loose ice, through which the boats were obliged to be very careful in picking their way on the South-east side, where we thought we might have ascended. We reached the island, and found running on it a very heavy sea. The First Lieutenant, however, landed, having backed his boat in until he got foothold, (without swim- ming,) and then jumped overboard. The Captain followed his example, hoisted the jack, and took possession of the island, with the usual ceremonies, in the name of her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.
"After the unfortunate mistake in the Antarctic regions, it becomes a nervous affair to report a discovery of land in high latitudes ; but in this case there can be no doubt that we had found an unknown country, and that the high peaks we observed were a continuation of the range of mountains seen by the natives off Cape Jackan, as mentioned by. Wrangel in his Polar Voyages. That land, according to a belief current in Siberia, quoted by Cochrane, is inhabited by a people of whom we are at present entirely igno- rant."
From the ease with which the ice was reached, and the insu- perable difficulty it at once opposed to the progress of the ships, the Arctic expedition has neither the varlet; nor the interest which attends voyages proceeding through Baffin's Bay, where danger, or gloom, or the sternest magnificence of nature, con- tinually excites some feeling in the reader. • The Plover, the Herald's consort, indeed, wintered in Kotzebue's Sound; but, though frozen in, she did not encounter the total absence of day- light, the intense severity of cold, or the risk of uncertain de- tention, which attend wintering in the further North on the Atlantic side of the Continent. The expedition, however, had many interviews with the Esquimaux ; who left a more favour- • Narrative of the Voyage of H. M. S. Herald, during the years 1845-51, under the command of Captain 'Henry Kellett, R.N.? C.B.; beings Circumnavigation of the Globe, and three Cruises to the Arctic Regions in Search of Sir John Franklin. By Berthold Seernann, F.L.S., &c., Naturalist to the Expedition. In two volumes.
rublished by Reeve and Co. • -
able impression than their brethren on the Eastern side of the con- tinent. The voyage to the Arctic Sea was not without novelty ; leading through little-frequented tracks, and bringing the voyagers in connexion with Ramtchatka and the Russian settlements. At the capital of those regions, Petropaulowski, they seem to have had a pleasant time of it.
"As the inhabitants of Petropaulowski, and especially the Governor, had treated us with great kindness, both on our first and this second visit, we were desirous to show that we entertained the same feelings towards them. All our 'actors' having been informed that they must exhibit their dramatic talents before the belles of the Kamtchatka capital, a spacious building on shore was hired. It was necessary to have the entertainment on terra firma, because, on a previous occasion' when Captain Kellett gave a dinner-party on heard, several ladies had been affected by the motion of the vessel, and felt' symptoms of sea-sickness. Great was the delight of the Russians on seeing our theatrical performance, and, though few of them were able to understand what we said, the applause we were favoured with was as hearty as we could have wished. After the play was over, the visitors were conducted to the supper-room, when another strange scene presented itself to our friends. It is customary at Petropaulowski, at the conclusion of a ball or party, for the ladies to go home quite unattended, and for the gentlemen to remain and take a good supper. The company was therefore not little surprised when—the number of guests being great, and the room too small—all the places at table were offered to the ladies, and the gentlemen had to follow our example and wait upon them. Meanwhile, the stage was cleared away, and when supper was finished dancing commenced, and was kept up until morning. The next day the ladies expressed themselves highly pleased with the entertainment ; but nothing seemed be more appreciated than that we had broken through an absurd custom, and given them the precedence at supper, which they looked upon as a forerunner of a reform in that direction."
The narratives of the outward voyage, and of the survey along the Pacific coast of America, have little attraction beyond the man- ner of telling them, and the scientific information poured into them by the narrator. The description of the places touched at has not much novelty, from having been lately described by more than one writer. Adventures often took place during the detention of the ship at different places ; and Mr. Seemann made several land- excursions in Mexico, Peru, and the Isthmus of Panama. As na- turalist to the expedition, his primary object was scientific ; but his journies were not devoid of incident or observation on life. This was an adventure in the Isthmus.
"Remedios lies on the high-road which connects David, Santiago, and Panama, the three chief places of the Isthmus. The road is perfectly safe: highway robberies are never committed, and attacks upon the life of travel- lers have never been known. All the people go unarmed,—a striking con- trast indeed to Mexico, where one is never sure that the person approaching is not a bandit. There is, however, one part of the road, the beach of Chiru, which is rather dangerous; at least I have good reason to consider it so. I was once on my way to Panama, and having travelled all day, I arrived much fatigued, about eight o'clock in the evening, at the beach of Chiru, where I had to wait for the ebbing of the tide, for this beach can only be traversed When the sea has retired. Having on one side a wall of almost perpendicular racks, on the other the ocean, it must be approached with cau- tion by every traveller, for wo to him who is too late, and overtaken by the flow ! Nothing can save him : he is either drowned by the returning waves or dashed to pieces against the cliffs. "About midnight my servant informed me that the ebb was just making, and the beasts were ready for starting. I hastily threw my poncho over my shoulders, put on my straw hat and spurs, and a few minutes after had left the hospitable roof under which the first part of the night had been passed. In less than a quarter of an hour we stood on the beach of Chiru. The moon, just peeping behind dark clouds, dimly illumined the broad Pacific, which in solemn grandeur stretched before us. The ebbing had commenced, and the time for passing the beach arrived. The waters had retired, leaving all along the strand a road of hard sand, the whiteness of which, and its re- flection of the sun's rays, are objections to traversing this beach during the day-time. We had continued our journey for about an hour without inter- ruption, when one of the beasts, being a little lame, was unable to proceed, and it became necessary to distribute its load among the others. Quickly as this task was performed, it took nearly three-quarters of an hour. In every other locality such an accident would havebeen hardly noticed, but happen- ing on the beach of Chiru it was highly dangerous. The guides were fully sensible of it : having completed the arrangements, they used every means of quickening the pace of the animals; and whenever there was an occasion for regulating the burdens., it was done with an activity which signally con- trasted with their former Indolence, and fully revealed their apprehensions.
"Yet all precaution was of no avail. We had scarcely travelled two bourn more when the waves exhibited symptoms of approach. The moon had now entirely disappeared ; darkness reigned far and wide ; but at a distance fiery masses seemed to rise one above the other. They came nearer and nearer. Ave Maria purissima! Madre de Dice!' exclaimed the guides, 'the tide is setting in.' We pushed on as fast as the exhausted state of the beasts would admit, but had a terrible persecutor. The ocean already washed the feet of the animals. Every moment the danger became more evident ; and, aided by a strong breeze, the sea rose with more than usual rapidity. The beasts could hardly keep a footing ; and to prevent them from being carried away, we took a rope, connected with it the different cargoes, and laid hold of it ourselves. Whenever fresh rollers reached us, we halted, and directly they retired proceeded a few steps.
"Our progress was extremely slow, and in vain did we look ahead to dis- cover the road to San Carlos; in vain did the people invoke the Holy Virgin and call on all the saints to protect them : no miracle interposed. The ocean continued roaring, and the water reached to our saddles. Terrible moment ! All hopes of deliverance seemed to vanish. Our only safety lay in pressing forward. I felt my heart beat heavily, and I had already mentally bidden farewell to my friends and relations, when suddenly the cry of The road to San Carlos l' restored me to life. Between two rocks opened the long- expected road. We were now safe, and in a few minutes we all stood on solid ground.
" The roaring of the elements seemed now to have reached its height : with fearful energy the phosphorescent waves were thrown against the stony masses; the road behind us appeared like one great fire. I could hardly believe that that was the way we had conic. My feelings overcame me; my strength began to fail; the sudden change from the anticipation of death to the consciousness of life was too great. I felt my eyes growing dim, my thoughts departing, and, exhausted by fatigue and anxiety, I fell senseless to the ground."
—The narrative has not been composed under the most favourable oWenTstances. Mr. Edmonston was the original naturalist to the but he unfortunately, was killed by an accident in the first year of the voyage, and Mr. Seemann was directed to join at Panama. The early part is therefore compiled from the notes of one or two of the officers ; and for the time after Mr. Seemann had joined, the journals of several persons engaged in the expedition contribute greatly to the story. This mixture of different men's observations does not tend to give unity to the work, though it increases its facts. At the same time, if the narrative were to be compiled in this manner, it could not have fallen into better hands. With extensive knowledge in geography and its cognate sciences, Mr. Seemann possesses a close and sober but vivid style, which expresses his ideas not only with clearness but animation.
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