72 CRUISE OP STEAMER CORWIN IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



noticed by those on the Daniel Webster, who still supposed them to be ahead, and only learned 

 their mistake when they came in sight of the end of the lead near Point Barrow, which was found 

 to be rapidly closing. Of course an attempt was made to beat out, but the strong northerly 

 current and the narrowness of the lead, which gave them barely room to work ship, rendered this 

 impracticable. • Running alongside of the shore ice they made fast and held on, hoping the pack 

 would set offshore again; but no such good fortune was in store for them, for in less than an hour 

 the lead closed entirely, and the pack and shore ice coming together crushed in the bottom of the 

 vessel as if made of paper, barely giving the crew time to get out on the ice. The wreck occurred 

 within 5 miles of Point Barrow, and the natives being on hand in force, of course helped them- 

 selves to whatever they could carry away. After being crushed the vessel fell over on the ice, 

 remaining in this position twenty minutes or more before sinking. 



The crew, having escaped to Point Barrow, lived with the natives for some time, and although 

 not treated with very great consideration, they were furnished with shelter at night and with food 

 enough to sustain life. Upon learning that some of the men were still on shore, we stood in to 

 within 2 miles of the land, and followed the coast line to the north, keeping a sharp lookout for 

 boats or traveling parties on the beach. At midnight we stopped at Wainwright Inlet and sent 

 an officer on shore with the interpreter to communicate with the natives, but could learn nothing 

 additional in relation to the wrecked men. 



Continuing northward as close to the shore as possible during the rest of the night, we 

 arrived on the following morning, August 16, at a small settlement called Saurarua, about 20 

 miles from Point Barrow. From the natives, whom we found very busy fishing, we learned that 

 several whaling vessels had been seen to pass up the coast the previous evening, and that 

 probably the men had been picked up. The ice had left the shore the day before. These peo- 

 ple knew all about the wreck of the Webster, and the efforts of her crew to get south along the 

 coast. They said some had turned back from the Cogma River, near Point Belcher. This we 

 subsequently learned to be true. The river had to be forded, and being quite full from the 

 melting snow the party that decided to keep on followed its banks inland for 20 miles before 

 finding a place sufficiently shallow to admit of their crossing. The natives at Saurarua assured 

 us that they had treated the wrecked men with great consideration, giving them food and shelter. 

 We expressed our gratitude for their kindness, although we placed little-confidence in their story, 

 and giving them a bucketful of hard bread and a few hands of tobacco proceeded on our way, not, 

 however, without a good deal of difficulty. The shore was lined with large pieces of grounded 

 ice, extending out to 10 fathoms of water, and a fog shutting down off Refuge Inlet, we had to 

 proceed very cautiously, feeling our way along by the lead, and did not reach Point Barrow until 

 evening; when the fog cleared away we found several vessels at anchor, they having arrived a 

 few hours before. The remaining members of the crew of the Webster were still at Point Bar- 

 row, and were divided up among the different vessels, nine being taken on board the Corwin. 

 We investigated a report of the death of one of the men by starvation and found it incorrect; 

 the man had lost his mind temporarily and had wandered away from the rest, but returned 

 subsequently. Thus every man was accounted for. Extra rations were also furnished to such 

 vessels as required them on account of the extra men. One of the vessels at anchor at Point 

 Barrow proved to be the bark Legal Tender, Captain Fisher, which had sailed from San Francisco 

 June 11, and bringing letters and papers of that date, which were gladly received, it being our 

 first mail since leaving San Francisco. We also procured from the Legal Tender a lot of fresh 

 vegetables. A vessel is sent to the Arctic each year to bring to San Fraucisco the oil and bone 

 taken by the fleet in the early part of the season, in order to reduce as much as possible the risk 

 attending the fall whaling. 



On the 17th we got under way and steamed to the eastward of the point for the purpose of 

 boarding the bark Rainbow at anchor there, returning in the afternoon, and before coming to 

 anchor boarded several vessels which had arrived during the day. The ice was in sight from the 

 shore both to the west and north, but appeared to be working off. It had left the shore to the 

 eastward as far as we could see from our farthest point, probably 20 miles. The steam whaler 



