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Page 9
_Departure from Saeglek. Fruitless attempt to reach Nachvak.
Retreat into Nullatartok Inlet. Slate Bay. Detention on account
of the Ice. Arrive at Nachvak._
July 2d.--At one A.M. we set sail, steering for _Nachvak_, a distance of
about thirty miles. Here a chain of mountains runs north and south,
nearly parallel with the coast. The coast itself is of moderate height,
but very steep, and not being defended by any island, the approach to it
as a lee-shore, is very dangerous. It runs generally in a pretty strait
line about forty miles, when a wide bay opens, in which lies, towards
the north, an island called _Karngalersiorvik_, where there is said to
be a good harbour for boats. The rocks, of which the mountains are
composed, are of a white grey colour, streaked almost perpendicularly
with veins of black stone, about two feet broad. The intermediate strata
may be about eight times as broad. We had hoped to reach Nachvak in the
morning, by continuing our course through the following night, though
the wind was weak and variable, but in the evening we got into
drift-ice: yet as the shoals were not close together, we worked our way
through them; and stood on with the little wind we had at S.E.
3d. At dawn of day, and being still four miles distant from Nachvak, we
perceived both in the open sea, and all along the shore, that our
passage was completely occupied with floating ice, which drove towards
us, and forced us back. We then endeavoured to find shelter in a bay
bounded by high mountains, but found none, the wind driving the ice
after us into it, and soon filling it. Jonathan frequently cried out
with a plaintive voice: "Alas, alas, we shall soon be without a boat!"
We now hastened to the opposite shore to find some cove or inlet, but
getting more and more entangled among the ice, were at last obliged,
some to land, and haul the boat with ropes round the points, and others
with boat-hooks and spars, to keep her off the rocks. Two or three times
she stuck fast on sunken rocks, but by God's mercy always got off again
without damage. At length we discovered three narrow inlets, the
middlemost forming a bay, being the estuary of a river, which runs
W.S.W. about eight or ten miles up the country, and is called
Nullatartok. Into this we pushed, when shortly after our entrance, the
ice entirely filled up the passage, and we were compelled to retreat to
the uppermost part, choosing the shallowest possible spot to anchor in.
The bay itself is about two miles in breadth, and only in the middle
deep enough to admit the larger fields of drift ice to float into it.
The strand is broad, and slopes off gently. It is covered with large
tables of slate. The mountains on each side are high, and seem to
consist of ferruginous slate, the lamina or plates of which are of such
immense size, that they might serve for entire walls. Towards the sea,
there exudes from these rocks, a yellowish white substance, which has a
strong sulphureous smell. It was so powerful, that if a drop fell on a
piece of tinned iron, it removed the tin in a few minutes.
The vallies in the neighbourhood were green and full of flowers.
Not far from the spot where we had pitched our tents, (which rested upon
a carpet of _potentilla aurea_, in full bloom, bringing to our minds the
European meadows, full of butter-cups), the river, which is of
considerable breadth, falls into the bay. It abounds with fine
salmon-trout. Farther to the westward, two other rivers flow into it,
one of which is much broader than the other, and has a large cataract at
some distance from its mouth. The upper parts of the mountains are
covered partly with moss, and partly with low brush-wood, birch, and
alder, and many berry-bearing shrubs and plants, but no high trees. We
found here both arnica and colts-foot in great plenty. Brother
Kohlmeister gathered and dried a quantity of each, as they are used in
medical cases, and the former cannot be procured from England.
The slate is extremely shivery, and is found in slabs, either lying or
standing upright from four to eight feet square, most easily splitting
into thin plates. Ascending the mountain, they are soon dislodged, by
the tread of a man's foot, and glide down towards the beach with a
rattling, tinkling noise. At low water, we noticed a bed of stone
resembling cast iron, of a reddish hue, and polished by the friction of
the water. After supping on salmon-trout, caught in the first-mentioned
river, we retired to rest; but had some fears even here for the safety
of our boat, the ice pushing in towards us, and our people being
employed day and night in warding off the large shoals with their
boat-hooks.
4th. The weather being fair, Brother Kmoch ascended to the top of the
highest part of the mountain near us, from whence he could see nothing
but drift-ice, powerfully in motion towards the bay. Four of our
Esquimaux went up the country to hunt reindeer; saw eight head and two
fawns; but got none.
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