60 CRUISE OF STEAMER COR WIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



and progress being naturally slow through the broken ice, which, according to Captain Bouldy's 

 account, was so heavy that it was only by carrying all sail that the spars would stand with a fair 

 wind, that lie could keep way on his vessel at all. She would naturally reach the place where the 

 passage had existed between the point of the northern pack, and the field of ice filling the center 

 of the sea several days after the Helen Mar had passed through and escaped. Strong southerly 

 winds followed the northern, which assisted the Helen Mar to force her way out, and the effect of 

 this would be to set this body of ice to the northward against the northern pack, thus cutting off 

 all egress by the way of the eastern part of the sea, while to the west and southwest the sea was 

 free from old ice for many miles. Finding escape by the usual route cut oft' they would naturally 

 follow the western edge of this ice in the hope of passing through or around it in that way, or at 

 least of reaching the coast of Asia, where they might find safe winter quarters. 



According to native accounts, along the Siberian coast at that time heavy ice reached so far off 

 shore that no water could be seen, and from the testimony of the whalers, we know that the body 

 of ice, which tilled the center of the sea, reached to the straits, tilling the west side and resting on 

 the Siberian coast from Cape Serdzeto East Cape, thus rendering it impossible for them to either 

 escape by way of the straits or reach the coast, and the result would be that the vessel would be 

 frozen in oft' the coast of Siberia, near the southern limit of this open water. The season was not 

 an open one in the western portion of the Arctic Basin, and it is probable that the wreck remained 

 frozen in far to the westward of the limits of navigation, until late in the season when she was 

 liberated and driven down upon the coast by the northwest gales which prevailed at that time. 



Supposing the foregoing to be in the main correct the fact that but four bodies were found on 

 board the wreck, although her own crew would amount to over thirty men, still remains a mystery, 

 and in my opinion is much more difficult of explanation than the -presence of the vessel on the Siberian 

 coast. The fact that the boats were gone appears as if an attempt might have been made to 

 reach the land by crossing over the ice. If the vessel was auy considerable distance from the land 

 such an attempt in the winter season would be almost sure to prove fatal to men poorly fitted as 

 they were. That none of the party survived until spring appears evident, as at that time the 

 passage to the land could easily have been made, and undoubtedly would have been, as there could 

 be no object in remaining by a dismantled, waterdogged hulk, if escape to the shore were possible. 



The coast of Siberia from Cape Serdze to Cape North contains native settlements every few 

 miles. Their inhabitants are constantly traveling back and forth, and had any white man reached 

 the shore they would have known it, and rendered them assistance; and the fact of their landing 

 would have been known the entire length of the coast in a few weeks. Therefore we may safely 

 conclude that not one of them reached the shore. Whether they perished in the attempt to do so, 

 or died of hunger and disease on board and were buried in the sea by the survivors, we may uevei 

 know, for unfortunately the natives have a superstitious dread of books and papers, and although 

 they say they saw plenty of them in the cabin not one was brought away. The absence of the 

 boats may be accounted for without supposing that they had been used in an attempt to reach the 

 land. They may easily have been stove at the cranes by high ice. In fact, unless taken on board 

 this would be pretty sure to happen. Several times during the two seasons the Corwin spent in 

 the Arctic we found it necessary to take our boats on board to save them from being crushed by 

 the ice. They received more than one hard thump, and once, in steaming out of Plover Bay 

 through heavy broken ice, which was being tossed around in a lively manner by a considerable 

 roll of the sea, we came near losing all our boats through neglecting to take them on deck before 

 entering the ice, and they were saved only by the greatest effort. The discovery of the wreck of 

 the Vigilant with the corpses on board, the probability of the crew of the other vessel having 

 taken refuge on board of her, the absence of any tidings of her white men having reached the 

 land, which was ascertained by a careful examination of the entire coast line of both continents 

 between Cape North and Point Barrow, and the further knowledge that they did not reach Herald 

 or Wrangel Island, destroy all hope of any members of either crew being alive at this time. 



It is also probable that the wreck did not long remain afloat after drifting oft' shore from Wan- 

 kerem. Although the natives could give me no information in the matter, except that the wreck 

 was surrounded by ice, I am of the opinion that she was frozen into a field and in this way was 

 prevented from sinking. This, however, would be likely to break up during the fall gales, in wdiich 



