258 A HISTORY OF THE WHALE FISHERIES 



in a sailing ship if they can possibly get into a 



steamer." 



In the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay fishing it was 

 customary for the whalers to commence operations 

 off Resolution Island off the south-west extremity of 

 Baffin Land, and afterwards make up through Davis 

 Strait and Baffin Bay to the whaling grounds off 

 Melville Bay and down Lancaster Sound on the east 

 side of Baffin Bay. Now the entrance to the north 

 water was often closed in Melville Bay by pack ice of 

 varying density even though there was open water 

 beyond (to the northward). Working through this 

 pack ice was a laborious and lengthy job for a sailing 

 vessel, though the time varied considerably from 

 year to year according to the state of this drift ice. 

 For a steamer the passage of this ice was in any but 

 the most extraordinarily severe seasons a matter 

 which could be accomplished with certainty and 

 safety in a few days, and it was this fact which, more 

 than any other, proved the immense superiority of 

 the steamer over the sailer. This is quite clearly 

 brought out by Barron in his account of his voyage 

 in 1 86 1, when he was master of the famous True love. 

 " After toiling all day we only succeeded in getting a 

 mile. The s.s. Narwhal came to our relief, and 

 towed us into clear water without the least difficulty. 

 This showed the superiority of steam over sailing 

 vessels." 



Markham, 1 writing of his experiences at the Arctic 



1 " A Whaling Cruise to Baffin Bay and the Gulf of Boothia," 

 by A, H. Markham, London, 1875. 



