646 



Captain Lj/oii's Private JournaL 



PRIVATE JOURNAL 



OP 



CAPTAIN G. F. LYON, 



OF H.M.S. HECLA, 



llurinir 



THE RECENT VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 



UNDER CAPTAIN PARRY. 



1 vol. 8vo. IGs. 



[Captain Lyon has presented the public 

 with his own familiar Journal, written 

 for his friends, and thereby introduced 

 lis to his Esquimaux friends with all hia 

 own feelings. His book is very enter- 

 taining, and tells us all that we can 

 desire to know relative to these desolate 

 regions. The engravings, too, are ex- 

 cellent.] 



DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND. 



• At daylight of the 8th of May, 1821, 

 his Majesty's ships* Fury and Hecla, 

 accompanied by ti)e Nautilus transport, 

 carrying; stores, wcit;hcd, and stood out 

 from the Little Nore. 



ICEBERGS. 



On the ovenint; of tlie 1 1th of June 

 we saw our first iceberg ; anil all those 

 to whom such oi)jccls wore new, 

 afforded much amusement to the old 

 hands, by their anxiety to sea it, I 

 was amono;st tlic number, and gladly 

 made a sketch of it, considcriiij; it 

 would always be interes(in<j: to look 

 back to my first introduction to these 

 wondrous floatinpc iii;ikscs. It was not 

 a large berj;, and near it were several 

 flocks of rotzcs (aica alle), which did 

 not appear alarmed by the ships sail- 

 ing amongst them. 



In the forenoon of the 16th an ice- 

 berg was seen a-hcad. To one who, 

 like myself, was a stranger to these 

 climcK, I need scarcely apologize for 

 mentioning the novel beauty of the 

 evening of this day. At a quarter past 

 ten the sun set : the sky over-head was 

 of tlie purest azure, here and liiore 

 sprinkled with light silvery clouds of 

 the most fantastic forms. At about 

 mid-haven in the western sky, a range 

 of pinplc clouds, edged with vivid gold, 

 formed a delightful contrast with the 

 softened crimson of the setting sun. 

 In opposition to this glowing scene, 

 the eastern heavens were filled with 

 heavy clouds of a brilliant whiteness, 

 and cold appearance, backed by a clear 

 blue sky. The calm sea exhibited, in 

 a softened degree, the beauties above 

 it, and its surface was occasionally 

 ruffled by tlie rapid motions of large 



■• We suppose he means public or na- 

 tional ships.— Ed. 



shoals of porpoises, attended by nuil< 

 titudes of birds. Thesliipslay motion- 

 less together, and tlioir bells alone 

 broke the universal stillness. This 

 delightful evening far excelled, in my 

 opinion, any Italian sun-set ; but the 

 presence of two large ice-bergs reminded 

 lis but two well that we were in a far 

 ditTfrent climate. 



The altitude of one was 258 feet 

 above the surface of the sea : its total 

 height therefore (allowing one-soventli 

 only to be visible) must have been 

 about 1806 feet ! We had scarcely 

 [)asscd this floating mountain, when tho 

 eddy tide drifted us with great rapidity 

 among.st a large cluster of eleven bergs 

 of a great size, and having a beautiful 

 diversity of forms. The laigest of 

 these was 210 feet above the water. 



DUTCH EMIGRANTS. 



On the evening of the IGtli of July 

 We contrived to join the strange ships, 

 and made fast to a floe near them ; they 

 proved to be the Prince of Wales and 

 Eddystone (the Hudson's Bay tradqrs), 

 with the Lord Wellington, which had 

 about 160 natives of Holland on hoard, 

 who were going to settle at Lord 

 Selkirk's colony on the Red River. 

 While nearing those vessels we observed 

 the settlers waltzing on deck for above 

 two hours ; the men in old-fashioned 

 grey jackets, and the women wearing 

 long-eared mob caps, like those used 

 by the Swiss peasants. 



The Dutchmen behaved very philoso- 

 phically during this period, and sccmeii 

 determined on being merry, in spite of 

 the weather. Several marriages ha<l 

 taken place, (the surgeon, who was 

 accompanying them to their colony, 

 acting as parson,) and many more were 

 in agitation ; each happy couple always 

 deferring the ceremony until a fine day 

 allowed of an evening's ball, which was 

 only terminated by a fresh breeze or a 

 fall of snow. 



WANTON ATROCITY. 



During the evening we saw a very 

 large bear lying on a piece of ice, a-head 

 of us. Two boats were instantly sent 

 in chase of him, and approached very 

 close before he moved; when, appearing 

 to scent them, he quietly took to the 

 water. It was with great difficulty be 

 was killed, and he boldly turned to 

 face his pursuers as long as he had suf- 

 ficient strength, for he swam rapidly, 

 and could make long springs in the 

 water. As these animals, although very 

 fat and bulky, sink the instant they die, 

 he was lashed to a boat, and brought 



