Chapter 6 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

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Section I.-Superiority as an Arctic Navigator.

My Father's superiority as a fisherman, as exhibited in the foregoing pages, had an essential relation to his talents as a seaman and a navigator. The former, indeed, was in no inconsiderable degree a fruit of the latter; for it was his superiority as a navigator of ice-encumbered seas particularly, which, for a considerable series of years, enabled him generally to obtain a position in advance of his competitors, and thus yielded to him the best opportunities, whilst the ground was undisturbed, for making his fishery.

Not only, indeed, was he thus unrivalled among his associates in Arctic enterprise, but to him was due the introduction of a truly scientific system of arrangements, which, with their masterly application in practice, enabled him at all times, when "beating to windward" among crowded ices, or contending under the greatest obstructions and difficulties for a passage "to the northward," to take the lead.

The penetration of the Greenland ices, whilst in search of whales, being very prevalently pursued by beating to windward, or by sailing "on a wind,"-so prevalently, indeed, that, during a quarter of a century from my Father's commencement in command, nine days out of ten, or more, were spent in this description of navigation,-it became a matter of grand importance to have the ship, as "to trim," "cut of the sails," ballasting, etc., specially prepared for sailing "close-hauled."

For this style of navigation, the arrangements prevalent in the merchant service, at the time, were most ill adapted. When without cargo, the ships usually went in light "ballast-trim," and had their sails cut so as to "bag" into a deep concave on the side acted on by the wind,-conditions most unfavourable for "holding a good wind" or "working close."

The whalers were thus universally circumstanced at my Father's commencement. They went ordinarily ballasted, or, sometimes, "flying-light," not only because of this being accordant with the general practice with merchantmen, but with the view of lessening the concussions against the ice when coming into violent contact with it. My Father, on the contrary, adopted a totally different system. He caused such a large quantity of the lower and second tiers of casks to be filled with water (to which he subsequently added ballast of shingle or iron in the interstices of the casks of the "ground tier"), that the ship became as deep as with the third part of a cargo; his sails he had made to stand as flat, under the force of the wind, as possible; he had his ship denuded of all useless spars aloft, as well as of sails of little adaptation for sailing on a wind; and, finally, the braces of the yards, and other running geer, he had so adapted as to run free, and as light as consistent with safety.

His ship thus presenting the least possible quantity of surface to the leeward-tending action of the wind, being so fully ballasted, and having her sails, so far as he had the adjusting of them, adapted for standing flat and "near the wind," he was enabled to make a progress, in "windward sailing" among ice, which, during a long period of years, defied all competition.

But the adaptation of the ship, it was apparent, was not all. For the ships which he had himself prepared for sailing on this effective system, retained their advantage but very partially when they came under other management. The Henrietta, which for several years had taken the undisputed lead, was, after my Father left her, beaten by the Dundee, and the Dundee, in like manner, by the Resolution; and not by the ship, only, which he now commanded, was his former ship beaten, but by many competitors besides. The loss of character in the ship he had retired from, indeed, became a matter of much observation and remark both at sea and on shore; and the circumstance was justly enough accounted for under the quaint expression,-"she has lost her jockey."

It was, in fact, strictly so. The succeeding commander-clever as he might be in other respects, and successful as one, especially, of my Father's training was-had not the superiority in seamanship with which the ship had formerly been managed. The special adaptations, therefore, which my Father had turned to such good account, were now only partially available. Under considerable difficulties in the navigation, or against hard competitors in the navigators, the once leading ship was liable to fail, and very often did fail. The advantages provided in the adaptation of the ship were, in such cases, lost in the management. But where the navigator, as in my Father's case, was pre-eminently skilful, the adaptations for windward and ice-encumbered sailing became in the highest degree efficient, and resulted, as has been shown, in an unrivalled superiority.

A commander may sometimes become distinguished in war by successes acquired at an unusual sacrifice of life. His resulting superiority may, in certain cases, be dearly purchased. But there was no such counteracting element in the pre-eminence, as an Arctic navigator, gained by my Father. His deeply ballasted ship might have struck heavier against the ice than others, but she rarely was allowed to strike heavily. Concussions not unfrequently fell to the lot of other ships, light enough, and free to rebound as they might be, by which, nevertheless, bows or sides were stove in, and heavy expenses in damages consequently incurred; but no such disasters were encountered by him. His ship was wont to be a-head in adventure, navigating the most difficult positions, braving most alarming threatenings of the ices and the wind. But his ship went gallantly amid, and passed safely through, all these dangers. He knew precisely what his ship, in difficulties or dangers, might do; and that, under his commanding management, was done, and safely done. If, by the hundred chances which might thwart a difficult operation,-in the perpetual movements of the ice, the varying winds, the mistakes or defects of his helmsman, or the unpromptness of the men in management of the yards and sails,-his intended object or man?uvre should happen to be defeated, he was always ready, in his inexhaustible and well-considered resources, to save his ship from the imminent danger which a failure or blunder, in such cases, frequently involved. His quick apprehension of almost every possible contingency, served at once to develop and to bring into timely operation the resources which his fertile talent supplied; whilst his keen discernment of the quality and measure of the various movements of detached pieces or bodies of ice, as unequally acted upon by wind or currents, enabled him so to anticipate any probable risks, as to be prepared, however he might be baulked in his principal design, for some other furthering project, or, at all events, for a safe retreat.

The reality of my Father's superiority, as a navigator, now being described, admits, as to me it seems, of conclusive evidence in these two remarkable facts,-that, for the long series of voyages in which he held his first three or four commands, his ship, in all difficulties where talent could be availing, always took the lead; and that, for the whole time of his command, wherein he was wont to take the lead, equally in danger as in advanced position, he was always enabled, under the constantly recognised and sought-for blessing of Providence, to pursue his adventurous object safely, or without damage of any essential consideration, to his ship!

Within my own experience, whilst I accompanied him during nine voyages, from a mere child to adult age, I had perpetual opportunities of discerning his superiority over all the competitors we met with; and, during the same experience, I had repeated occasions for noticing with proud admiration, his wonderful skill in beating to windward amongst intricate ices, so as to leave every ship that we found near us in succession behind. In the morning, perhaps, at the commencement of a progress amid encumbering ices, I have seen around the Resolution, in various positions, to windward as well as to leeward, a considerable fleet of companion-whalers; and in the evening of the same day, after twelve or fourteen hours efforts in getting to windward, I have been able to see no ship whatever within the limits of vision from the level of the deck. On ascending then to the top-mast head, where the extent of vision became vastly increased; I have generally found the pursuing fleet, bent on the same course, to be far away from us; some ships being left so much behind, perhaps, as to have disappeared, not from fog, or darkness, but from mere distance to leeward!

This striking feat of skill-differing in degree of course, according to the nature and extent of the navigable interstices of the ice, and the force and direction of the wind, with the sailing qualities of the competing ships likewise, as well as the seamanship of their commanders-was, as I have intimated, repeatedly performed under my own observation. But the like triumph of superiority was also gained, and that on different occasions within my personal observation, when the competing progress was being made through a compact body of ice into the northern fishing stations, and where the penetration, in anticipation of the general fleet, gained its due reward in an early and superior success.

The voyage of 1806, described in Chapter IV. Section VII., exhibited a striking example of the successful application of this talent; and in that of 1809, the same result was interestingly realized.

We had taken the ice, in the latter case, with the view of penetrating the barrier betwixt the free northern ocean and the fishing stations in the seventy-ninth and eightieth degree of latitude, along with a large fleet of other whalers. For some days, whilst no material progress could be made, we remained in varying relative positions presenting but little decided advantage. At length, when circumstances gave room for the due exercise of talent and perseverance, we made a progress so much beyond that of our associates, that we gradually left them, farther and farther, behind us, until the whole of the fleet were out of sight. We thus gained the "northern water" considerably before the others, and, falling in with whales in abundance, soon commenced a most encouraging fishery. By and by, others of the fleet began to make their appearance; and I well remember the astonishment of the captains and men of three ships which came close up to us on the 5th of June, just as we had taken in our fourteenth whale, whilst they had only obtained six amongst them. One of these ships had been near us, or in company with us, on the 27th of May, the day on which we succeeded in surmounting the icy-barrier. She, however, had only made the same passage the day before this, and had made but trifling progress in the fishery.

As there is no portion of the navigable ocean throughout the globe, at all comparable, as a field for the exercise of superior talent in seamanship, with the ice-encumbered regions around the poles; so my Father's capabilities in this beautiful practical science, had, at once, the requisite scope for their abundant exercises, and their admirable triumphs. No matter what the species of man?uvre or operation might be, he was equally superior in all. In "making fast" to the ice in gales of wind-an operation of singular difficulty and ofttimes of no small risk,-the manner in which he brought up his ship to the nearest possible proximity with the place of the ice-anchor, afforded time and opportunity for getting out and attaching the mooring hawser, and then, with progressively reduced sails, eased the ship's action on the rope till fairly brought up, head to wind,-was in the highest degree masterly and beautiful. Repetitions of trial, and failure on failure, with much useless toil and re-setting of sails, and, not unfrequently, with very hard blows against the ice, were matters of such perpetual experience among the inferior navigators engaged in the service, as to render the operations we have just attempted to illustrate, the more conspicuously admirable.

Section II.-Natural Science.

To my Father's natural science, or original, almost intuitive, perception and application of scientific principles, I have already made repeated allusion. But this characteristic of originality, as well as superiority of mind, deserves, I think, more special consideration.

Having to deal with circumstances perpetually varying, and frequently presenting features entirely new, the profession to which he had devoted himself afforded almost the best possible opportunities for the development and application of this quality of mind. And, in a greater or less degree, every voyage he undertook as commander served to elicit this admirable characteristic. Those who understood him not, very naturally ascribed many of his novel proceedings to eccentricity, and these might be liable to run into this very usual extreme; but, for the most part, the apparent eccentricity was, in reality, a sound result of reflective, philosophical consideration. I might adduce some incidents, perhaps, in which the originality of conception was pushed into an extreme: yet I could recal, possibly, hundreds of others in which such conceptions resulted in proceedings at once admirable, in their fitness, and, as such, worthy of imitation.

1. Take, for example, the process of sallying the ice-bound ship for relieving her of any remediable pressure, and giving free action to the power of wind or "warps" for promoting her progress. And in this we have an adaptation of a previously unapprehended mean and provision, always at hand, possessing extraordinary capabilities as a mechanical force. It may not be uninteresting to elucidate this fact.

Suppose a ship, navigating the Arctic seas, to be held firmly on the sides by the contact of two large sheets, or numerous compacted pieces, of ice. The ice just a-head may be less compact, or there may be a proximate channel, available for "boring" or sailing, if the existing pressure could be relieved so that the ship might be free to move. For the relief of this lateral pressure, no mechanical force, except the action of the wind on the sails when coming somewhat in the direction of "the beam," had heretofore been considered as available, or had been applied. But my Father's device afforded a novel, as well as a powerfully available, agency. In what degree powerful is easily estimated. The ship, in the case referred to, we will suppose is tolerably flat-sided (like the Resolution), and floats, ordinarily, at the depth of the greatest width. Now the power yielded by sallying may be considered as corresponding with that obtained by a wedge acted on by a heavy weight; the wedge, in this case, being the portion of the ship's side that becomes depressed, operating by virtue of the expansion of the ship's width when heeling, and the force acting on the wedge being the weight transferred from an even distribution with an upright position of the ship, to an accumulation of weight on one side, inducing a heeling position. Let the extent of heeling be considered as a "streak" of nine inches, in which case, as the opposite side will be proportionally and equally raised, the width of the line of flotation will be increased, altogether (in a main breadth of 26 feet), about half an inch, or a quarter inch on either side. The depressed side, then, in its progress under water, as far as nine inches, will have expanded a quarter of an inch in width, and the raised side an equal quantity; and both sides will act on the contiguous ices with the mechanical force of a wedge of nine inches long and a quarter-inch at the thick end,-exhibiting, on the ordinary mode of calculating the power of the wedge, a gain of power for either side in the proportion of twice the length of the wedge,[O] or 18 inches, to a quarter inch, or as 72 to 1.

The force acting on these wedges is that of the weight of the men employed in sallying, when all are placed on one side of the deck right over the head or back of one of the wedges. In a whaler carrying fifty men, the weight available for this purpose, say that of forty-six or forty-eight of the crew, may be estimated at about three tons, one half of which only would act downward, the other half being expended in the resistance upward, of the opposite side.

Hence the mechanical force hereby derived, as represented by these data, would appear to be that of two wedges of a power of seventy-two to one, each acted on by a weight of a ton and a half, that is, a force of the weight of 108 tons acting towards the separation of the ice and ship on each side. But only half the amount of these two forces, it will be obvious, comes effectively into operation; for the wedges, being on opposite sides of the ship, act antagonistically, thus spending one-half of their power against each other, in the compressing of the opposite sides of the ship together. The force really in operation, then, serving to push off the ice from each side, or tending to separate the compressing masses of ice, will be equivalent to two weights of fifty-four or altogether to a weight of 108 tons.

If there were no resistance either from the friction of the ice on the ship's sides, or from the stability of the ship, the estimated mechanical force, for the case assumed, would no doubt take effect. The resistance from friction cannot, it is evident, be determined; but that of the ship's stability might be easily represented. At the commencement of the heeling position, however, the resistance from this source would be but trifling. In its actual influence, in ordinary cases, the stability might abstract, perhaps, a quarter or a third part from the entire force exerted, but still leaving a free action equivalent to the weight of seventy or eighty tons towards the separation of the ices, right and left.

But the force ultimately brought into operation, after a sallying motion is once obtained, becomes still greater and more effective,-acting now and then, in the nature of concussion from the momentum of a portion of the ship's weight, as thus may be illustrated:-

The weight of the crew, in the outset of the operation, being placed all on one side of the deck, and then suddenly transferred to the other, will, after the overcoming of the friction originally induced by the ice, cause the ship to heel, and, on the reversing of the action (by the men running back again across the deck) the direction of the heeling will be also reversed. The process being carried on with a strict attention to the adjustment of the moment of the running of the men (indicated by the word of command, "over") to the time of change in the natural oscillations of the ship,-these oscillations (supposing the ice to be gradually receding) will increase to a maximum, whilst the incidental concussions of the ship's sides against the contiguous ices will act as a "ram" on the wedge-like expansion of the width of her two broadsides. The additional force thus incidentally applied, it is evident, may be enormous. Hence the wonderful effects sometimes produced by my Father's ingenious device of sallying,-effects not less important and striking when "clawing" to windward of masses of ice in boring, when, by the mere action of the wind on the sails the ship may have come to a stand, as when stuck fast betwixt equally compressing ices on both broadsides at once. The moment the sallying is perceived, the ship realises such relief from both pressure and friction, as to start a-head as if acted on by a magical power!

It hardly requires, perhaps, to be explained, that our investigations of the operation of sallying in urging a path through encumbering ices, are, strictly, only illustrative. For the action of the ship's side which we have considered as that of a regular straight wedge is, in reality, curvilinear, and, ordinarily, would be unusually thin at the apex, thus giving, at the commencement of the heeling movement, a much higher degree of mechanical power. The extent of the compression on the ship's sides, too, we could only consider in a particular case, such as one of thin ice, or ice touching the sides to no great depth. In case of compression from thick ice, having contact with the ship's sides to a considerable depth, the resistance to the sallying would, of course, be much increased, and, by consequence, the operation less effective.

It may just be added that the principle of sallying is evidently capable of still more powerful application by aiding the weight of the men, in the first instance of movement, by auxiliary loads of guns, chains, casks, or other heavy bodies transferred to one side of the deck; or, in a still higher degree, by an auxiliary mechanical force derived from a "purchase" from the ship's lowermast, or top-mast head, to an anchor fixed in a distant part of the ice on either side. An enormous power, it is evident, might be derived from a leverage of this kind, sufficient almost to compress or squeeze in the very timbers of the hull.

2. Another example of the application of the principles of natural science, may be adduced with respect to my Father's practice in the capture of certain harpooned whales. In the most usual habits of the mysticetus, when struck in the Greenland seas, it descends to a considerable depth, generally 600 or 700 fathoms, and, after an interval of about half an hour, or so, returns spontaneously to the surface for respiration. But sometimes, especially when a taught strain has been held on the line, the whale continues to press so determinately into the depths of the ocean that it dies by a process similar to drowning. In that case the heaving up of the capture becomes a matter of great labour and difficulty, and, because of the liability of the harpoon to draw, or of the lines to part, of much uncertainty as to the result. It is a matter, therefore, of much importance to avoid the possible contingency of a harpooned whale "dying down." The process ordinarily adopted for inducing the return of the fish to the surface, after the downward course is suspended, is to haul on the lines as soon as any impression can be produced, so as to stimulate to action and urge an ascending motion. In very many cases this process is effective, but by no means in all. For sometimes so desperate and continuous is the effort to get down that, when necessity might urge a return to the surface for respiration, the power to return no longer remains, and the helpless monster dies at its utmost depression.

My Father, with his peculiar felicity of consideration and device, assumed a measure of proceeding as apparently unfitting as it was novel in its character. When the usual processes for the obtaining of the fish's return to the surface had failed, and no prospect remained but that it must die where it was, he would throw off the turns of his line round the stem or "loggerhead" of the boat, and allow an extent of fifty or a hundred fathoms more to run freely out and sink in the water.

The meaning of the device was this:-The entangled whale had no doubt descended deep in the water, as its ordinary mode of escaping from its natural enemies; but the attachment and restraint of the line it could not escape from. It was an instinct with it, therefore, as he conceived,-as in the case of some well-known quadrupeds, which may be driven but will not be led,-to resist the restraining force, and to struggle to distance the point from which the restraint proceeds. The untoward effect of this instinct, my Father supposed, might be diverted by rapidly slacking out a large extent of the entangling line, so that it might sink below the place of the fish, and so draw downward; for the same instinct which had incited it so perseveringly to dive, might naturally be expected to urge it, under this change of circumstances, to an upward course.

The experiment on being tried proved, in different cases, successful. The whale, stimulated to a new course by a new direction being given to the restraining line, returned to the surface, where it was received by its waiting assailants, and, when deprived of its life, became a prompt and easy prize, instead of an uncertain, hard-earned object of pursuit!

3. Besides the cases just recited of aptness in natural science, another occasion is before my recollection in which, during his varied adventures in the whale-fishery, this characteristic of mind, with my Father, was strikingly developed. A large whale had been "struck" on the borders of a vast sheet of ice, denominated a "field," which took refuge beneath the frozen surface, and, after suffering the deprivation of air for a period too considerable for its capabilities of endurance, died there.

After a long interval of patient waiting, on the part of the whalers, for the turning out of the expected capture (for the compactness of a firm field of ice generally obliges the whale to return to the outside for the purpose of respiration), they proceeded to haul on the line to try to facilitate their expectation. But when as much force had been applied as the line might safely bear, their efforts came to a stand. There was no reactive motion indicative of life in the whale, nor any progress towards its withdrawal, if dead.

Various repetitions of a similar effort, after slacking out a quantity of line to give some change to the direction of the tension, ended in the same discouraging manner; so that a doubt arose whether the harpoon were yet attached to the line, or whether it might have got entangled on some submerged irregularity of the ice.

My Father at length left the ship to give his personal attention to this difficult business. His first care was to examine the line at its fullest tension; but the exact direction was not discoverable because of the thickness of the verge of the ice. Slacking out, therefore, a considerable quantity of the line, he caused the boat to be backed off to a little distance, and, whilst it was kept off as much as possible by the oars of several boats attached, the line was hauled in, till, becoming nearly horizontal by tension, its direction beneath the ice could be clearly determined. By this direction he traced, by the eye, an imaginary corresponding line on the surface of the ice-field, which, by means of numerous irregularities and hummocks, he was enabled to do satisfactorily,-noticing particularly a very high and conspicuous hummock in this exact direction, and at about the distance to which the quantity of line run out might be supposed to reach. His next step, and that a truly scientific one, was to try to vary the line of direction, so that he might determine, by the intersection of lines, the position of the harpoon. This he effected by again slacking out the line, but to a much greater extent, and then causing the position of the boat to be changed by rowing slowly in a direction parallel to, and at some distance from, the edge of the ice, until the new direction might make a large angle with that previously determined. Time being allowed for the rope to subside into its position of rest, tension was given to it, as before, and another imaginary line traced by the eye on the ice. My Father now perceived that the point of intersection corresponded very nearly with the position of the remarkable hummock, almost a mile distant, before noticed, and that it must be immediately beyond it.

Taking a whale-lance in his hand he walked over the ice to the place, and just beyond the hummock he found a thin flat surface of much younger ice. Striking his lance repeatedly into this, he gradually effected its perforation; when, to his no small delight and to the amazement of the men who had followed his steps, his lance struck against a soft and elastic substance beneath:-it was the back of the dead whale!

Aid of hands and instruments being now obtained, the thin sheet of ice was partly cut out and the fragments removed till the attached line could be got at. When effected, it was again slacked out of the boat, and the end firmly secured to the slender part of the body of the fish adjoining the tail. The two lobes of the tail were then partly cut off, so as to hang down in the water as sustained by a slight attachment, and thus by their gravity to help to sink the carcass whilst they no longer were calculated to catch the irregularities of the submerged surface of the ice, as the tail, when perfect in structure and position, had previously done. A considerable weight, I believe, in sand-bags, was also hung upon the "bight" of the line for helping to sink the fish clear of obstructions above, and, finally, the line being hauled on in the boat from whence the fish had been originally harpooned, it progressively yielded to the force applied, and in due time the loud and cheerful huzzas of the sailors announced the completion of the capture in its appearance outside!

Section III.-Improvements and Inventions.

We have had occasion, in the course of our memorial records, to describe several important inventions or improvements of my Father's in connection with his professional occupations. There remain yet to be mentioned a variety of other contributions, of a like order, to Greenland apparatus or operations pertaining to the fishery, and also to objects of public consideration generally.

As to whale-fishing apparatus and operations, his contributions in the form of new contrivances and improvements were numerous, and, many of them, of considerable importance. These, we shall not attempt to describe in any measure of detail, but chiefly in the manner of notices.

In the stowage of his ship, for the economising of space and facilitating the depositing of cargo, his improvements were valuable.

His casks he had built on a plan adapted for the accurate filling of the space in the "hold," comprising special deviations from the general size and form in the introduction of large "leagers" for the midships (on the kelson), adjusted, in length, to the exact spaces of the stantions of the hold beams, as also of narrow, short, or irregularly formed casks for the extremities of the hold, fore and aft.

The deck on the hold beams, instead of being laid, as usual, in a continuous series of planks, was cut up into hatches, and laid level betwixt the beams, so as, whilst forming a flat and even platform when laid down, to open out the hold, on the removal of the hatch-like planking, without other incumbrance against the stowing and filling of the casks beneath, except the naked beams and their essential fastenings.

In the suspension of the boats, with regard to facility in lowering or hoisting, as well as for safety, his improvements were of great importance.

It had been the practice in whale ships' equipments, to suspend the boats, usually seven in number, in double tiers at both quarters, one at the "waist," on each side, and one over the stern. The arrangements for these objects were at once clumsy and incommodious. In place of the huge lofty beams across the quarter-deck, from the extremities of which were suspended the four "quarter boats," my Father substituted compact, but lofty oak "davits," which, with their associate "skids" (upright timbers against which the sides of the boats press and slide), were removable when not required. For the double tier at the quarters, he substituted an additional length of boats over the main chains, thus constituting an even running series of three lengths of boats, having the advantage of great facility in being lowered or hoisted, as well as a much improved security against accidents in the passing of hummocks of ice, or from the sea in gales of wind, to which the lower quarter-boats, on the old plan of suspension, were frequently exposed.

In fishing and other apparatus, my Father made various improvements. In the harpoon, the improvement consisted mainly in the mode of keeping it in condition for use,-bright and clean as well as sharp; but in the lance he altered the form of the blade, which had usually been sharp-pointed and only moderately hardened, for a somewhat rounded point and a better quality of steel with greater hardness,-the advantage of which was, that if striking against a bone, the point was not liable to be fixed by its deep penetration, nor to be turned up or broken, as often happened, by the collision.

Some of the "flensing" apparatus, and one or two of the instruments used in "making-off" the blubber, he variously modified and improved, substituting for some very clumsy contrivances employed in the latter operation, compact and well-adapted instruments.

The ice-drill, a handy and very effective instrument for setting an ice-anchor, was his contrivance, being a great improvement upon the old ice-axe.

The talent for contrivance and improvement, as thus practically evinced, was by no means limited in its exercises to subjects of a mere professional nature. The town and harbour of Whitby, with regard to some important modern improvements, have reaped conspicuous benefits from my Father's suggestions.

His views on various matters of improvement in the town and harbour, with their respective approaches, were first put forward in a pamphlet which he published in the winter of 1816-17; and in 1826, about three years after his retirement from the sea, the substance of the original pamphlet, revised, extended, and illustrated by engraved plans, was again brought out under the title of "An Essay on the Improvement of the Town and Harbour of Whitby, with its Streets and neighbouring Highways; designed also for the Maintenance of the labouring Classes who are out of Employment."

The improvements herein suggested, appear so far to have commended themselves to the local executive authorities, that, in certain important particulars, corresponding improvements have already been carried into effect.

Of these various suggestions, the one by far the most important of all is evidently that designed for deepening the harbour-channel, and rendering the entrance more safe and accessible.

For a long period the harbour of Whitby had been protected, seaward, by two principal piers,-one running from the eastern cliff about 215 yards, in a north-westerly direction, and the other (a fine specimen of massive and substantial architecture) running north-north-easterly, along the western side of the harbour, and extending beyond the line of the west cliff, a distance of about 940 feet into the sea. This longer pier, at the time my Father wrote, stretched out a distance of about 100 yards (reckoned from the general direction of the coast) farther than the head of the other, leaving, however, a clear width, for the entrance of the harbour, of about ninety-two yards.

The effect of this arrangement, as to the extension of the western pier so far beyond the other, was, as my Father well observed, extremely injurious; for a deep bed of sand was constantly found encumbering the entrance by the formation of a "bar," which not only rendered the channel tortuous and incommodious, but not unfrequently diminished the otherwise available depth on the firmer bed of the river to an extent of several feet. And besides this mischief to a harbour almost drying at low water,-the access, with scant winds from the westward, was rendered at once difficult and dangerous because of the flood-tide sweeping strongly across the harbour-mouth to the eastward, and tending, by its leeward set, to carry the ship attempting to enter, against, or beyond, the left-hand pier, and thus to risk her total destruction by stranding on the contiguous dangerous scar.

For the correction of the evil and danger thus, apparently, induced, my Father proposed the extension of the east-pier by a bend in a more northerly direction, so that, whilst the reflux of the harbour water, and the natural stream of the Esk, might, within the narrowed and extended channel, carry out the loose sand of the bar into the sea, and thus deepen the entrance,-the projection of the east pier might serve at once to guide the tidal coast-stream of flood with more force into the harbour, and to render the access more easy and safe by such a protection immediately under the lee of any ship coming in with a scant wind from the westward.

This plan, with some little deviation, has already been carried into effect. The pier has been lengthened in a N. by W. (westerly) direction, by sections of fifty feet at a time, in the proposed direction; at each section, now increased altogether to about 300 feet, the channel has been found to be deepened and rendered less tortuous, and the entrance has become more safe,-exactly as the projector of the improvement had anticipated.[P]

A grand improvement, as to the change of aspect and accommodation, to the inner harbour, was also suggested by my Father, but has not yet been carried into effect. The improvement suggested was for the formation of the large space, above bridge, which is filled at spring tides from the sea, into a permanent floating-dock,-a scheme which he conceived could be easily effected by a wall, with gates, across the harbour, at, or near, the place of the present bridge.

The effect of such an arrangement, indeed, is not easy to be anticipated. How far the overflow of water would suffice to keep the channel clear of sandy deposits? or to what extent the body of debris and shale from the mines above might, in such case, make lodgment in the bed of the inner harbour? cannot be certainly determined. Yet as there are existing wears at some distance from the town across the river bed, and no permanent deposits, except in their immediate contiguity, I believe, induced, it seems not improbable but that with a sufficient number of escape sluices in the seaward bounding-wall, the efflux, whilst carrying off the considerable supply of water yielded by the river, might suffice, at the same time, to urge outward the descending debris, and keep the channel free.

In conclusion of these notices respecting my Father's inventions and suggestions for improvements, it will not be out of place to add the substance of an interesting and curious autograph document (which fell into my hands after his decease) referring to other speculations, contemplated evidently as practicable, though neither explained, as to principle or process, nor attempted to be carried out.

The document, which as to its manner reminds one of the Marquis of Worcester's "Century of Inventions," bears the date of London, 23d December, 1824, and is aptly entitled-"Hints; or Outlines of Improvements conceived by W. Scoresby." These outlines, of which the following are pretty nearly literal and verbal extracts, are, in the original, thus introduced:-

"How swift is a glimpse of the mind!

Compared with the speed of its flight,

The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light!"

"During forty years occupation at sea, (the document then proceeds to set forth,) when duty called me to watch, my mind was, at intervals, employed about many things which might have been made useful to the public, had they been brought forward in due time.

Amongst these conceptions may be particularised the following:-

1. An improved method of ship-building, both as to ships-of-war and merchantmen, by adding to their strength in framing, and promoting velocity by placing the masts and rigging, and also adding to their durability by preventing in a great measure the attack of dry-rot.

2. Seasoning timber to prevent the dry-rot in ships, churches, and other buildings.

3. To deepen the water on bar-harbours, and in navigable rivers, so as to give easy access to all friends, and to shut out, when necessary, the enemies of our highly favoured land!

4. To build breakwaters in any depth, not exceeding twelve or fourteen fathoms water, of materials that will not yield to the surge of the sea, and, when immersed in the briny flood, will become tenacious and durable as terra-firma, even as the granite rock.

5. To secure the banks of rivers, [subject to encroachments,] and to support [endangered] buildings of any magnitude.

6. To improve low, wet, barren lands, near tide-flowing rivers, that bear up only mire and dirt, by draining on the ebb and warping on the flood-tide.

7. To draw off the foul and inflammable air from coal-pits and other mines liable to explosion.

8. To lay out new streets, nearly level, over uneven ground, with vaults under them for containing fuel, etc. for the inhabitants, and so arranged as to admit of pipes for gas, water, etc., being laid or altered without molesting the pavements.

9. To improve the hanging of venetian blinds in windows, [and to render them more manageable and useful] for keeping out the sun.

10. To prepare oatmeal for the table by a new method of drying and shelling the corn.

11. "To keep in health" by regimen.

12. To improve the making of lasts, so that the boot or shoe may comfortably fit the foot of the wearer.

13. An improved method of pulling down decayed buildings in towns, in order to rebuilding, as also of making new roads, to the honour of the British nation, the accommodation of trade, commerce, and of the public.

14. Lastly, To beautify the Church and draw man unto it, [not by mere outward architecture and adorning, however admirable,] but by appointing and supporting faithful pastors now when the current of prejudice is setting in so strongly against it!"

Some few of my Father's original ideas, on such topics as these, were occasionally elicited in conversation, but, unfortunately, no record was made of them by those immediately in intercourse with him, nor were any papers, generally expository of his views, met with among those amid which this curious and interesting document was found.

Section IV.-Miscellaneous and concluding Notices.

The originality of mind, superiority of intelligence and peculiar abilities of the subject of these records, were characteristics yielding much variety of illustration in the foregoing pages.

His peculiar abilities as a whale-fisher, as may have been already inferred, were conspicuous in every department, and in every practical operation connected with the adventurous pursuit. If he could successfully attack, and safely subdue, a vicious and dangerous whale which was working destruction upon others who had assailed it; so he could harpoon a whale, under circumstances of difficulty or distance, when no less powerful and expert an arm could reach it. In the primary attack, the aim of the harponeer is to get the boat fairly on the back of the whale, that he may the more effectually bury his barbed weapon deep in its body; but, as ofttimes happens, the whale retires from the surface before the boat can come up to it, and must then be assailed, if the distance will permit, by the projecting of the harpoon with an energetic heave. To strike the retiring or affrighted fish in this manner, with a weapon, which, with its immediately attached line, is of the weight of eleven or twelve pounds, is an operation requiring both strength and skill. Comparatively few harponeers are able to perform this important object, effectually, beyond a distance of twenty to twenty-two feet; and the distance of four fathoms, or twenty-four feet, requires superior expertness. This, however, was an easy range with my Father; whilst he has been known to heave his harpoon with precision and success even as far as twenty-six or twenty-eight feet.

His management in the urging and furthering of the general operations of the fishery was sometimes attended with extraordinary results. Thus, on one occasion, during his command of the John of Greenock, he captured thirteen whales in thirty hours, and flensed five of them, comprising a produce of about eighty tuns of oil, of the commercial value (inclusive of the whalebone) of about 3500l.! The ice, in this case, closing and threatening besetment, other ships in company urgently made their escape; my Father, judiciously weighing the risks and probable advantages, determined to abide the issue. He did so, his ship got beset, but, as he had anticipated, was soon released, and on the relaxation of the pressure, just as the ice was opening, whales again appeared, and he made further important progress in the fishery!

The originality of talent and tact so observable in the various records heretofore given, became equally conspicuous, as occasions offered, in an enlarged and general scope of application. The following case, though I do not remember how I learnt it, is so characteristic of my Father, that I cannot hesitate in offering it for illustration.

He had a remarkable keenness and power in the eye, which, in the case referred to, he turned to account with a curious and surprising result. Having occasion to visit a ship lying in a tier in a dock, he encountered, in his transit across from vessel to vessel, a fierce and dangerous dog. Though warned against venturing to cross the deck on which this formidable looking animal was placed as guardian, he, relying on the power of the human eye, which he believed no animal, if its gaze were once fixed, could bear, determined to venture on the experiment. Immediately on the dog observing the approach of an intruder on its domain, it exhibited the most expressive tokens of the intention to resist; and when my Father put his leg over the bulwark of the contiguous vessel it flew fiercely towards him. Pausing in this position, he strove to catch the eye of the dog, an attempt which for some time it contrived to evade. But at length succeeding so that whenever it glanced towards his face it met his steady, stern, and penetrative gaze, an effect, in the discomposed expression of the creature, became soon observable. Whilst thus obtaining and holding its unwilling look, my Father moved his other leg over and slowly advanced with one foot upon the rail of the guarded vessel,-a movement which was resisted by fierce barking and sundry traverse-like springs, but, withal, an obvious indisposition to attack the being whose eye was so over-awing. Another step forward renewed the display of noise and action, but the stern, fixed look, now perpetually watched, repelled the assailant. He next stood firm on the forbidden deck, and yet was free from attack; he advanced a step, and the dog still bounding from side to side, or forward and backward in front, came no nearer. Another and another step was deliberately, but determinately pushed forward, whilst the dog, repelled by the immovable gaze, yielded the ground. The result, as I have understood, was, that when the dog had been driven entirely across the deck where there happened to be no defence as bulwark, betwixt the rail and the ship's side, my Father sprung a step or two suddenly forward, as if designing, in turn, to become the assailant, when the panic-stricken brute, as suddenly backing, unconsciously passed beneath the railing and fell overboard!

As it has not been our plan in these memorial records to give a regular and general biography, few circumstances in respect to habits on shore, domestic relations, and private life, have been introduced. We may here, however, supply some incidental matters in brief notices.

His habits of life were, in respect to matters of self-indulgence, generally moderate and temperate. At sea, his favourite beverage was tea; and though not connected with any Temperance Society, nor practising total abstinence from stimulating drinks, he was a great tea-drinker. On occasions of long exposure at the mast-head, or after irritation of the throat by much exertion with the speaking-trumpet in giving directions to the men at a distance, when on ice or in boats, he was wont to take what was called an "egg-dram," consisting of a raw egg beat up with a spoonful or two of ardent spirits. This was not unfrequently carried up to him by the steward, and taken in the crow's-nest; but he almost regularly, except at the dinner hour, resorted to tea on each succeeding occasion when refreshment was needed. Under hard and prolonged engagements in fishing, or penetrating the ice, when from twelve to eighteen hours (with but very brief intervals below) might be spent aloft, his call to the steward, as he anticipated a few minutes of respite, was often heard to prepare tea. And "tea," "tea," some four or five or even six times, betwixt rising from and retiring to his bed, has been the chief orders for refreshment in his hard and protracted exertions.

In character, my Father was patriotic, benevolent, and philanthropic; in temper, quick and passionate, but soon composed, and singularly free from animosity against those with whom he had been at variance, and most forgiving to those who had injured him.

He was an enthusiastic admirer of the British Constitution, in Church and State; an ardent loyalist, and a sincere respecter of magisterial authority. He loved his country, and made neither few nor unexpensive efforts for the public benefit. On the last renewal of the Whitby Pier Act, when difficulty and opposition were expected, he spent a considerable sum in the engaging of professional assistance with the view to the renewal and improvement of an Act so important to Whitby and the coasting navigation.

His course through life, though of almost uninterrupted prosperity, was not of unmixed quietude. Jealousies and envyings on the part of some; opposition, arising from misconceptions as to what they could not understand, prevailed with others. But with those amongst whom he was cast, of superior intelligence, he not unfrequently made his way satisfactorily and agreeably. His personal superior intelligence and originality of conception commended him to the favourable consideration of many of our most eminent engineers and naval architects, and others professionally engaged in public works. He was well known to the late Sir John Barrow, and was a rather frequent visitor at the scientific assemblages at the house of Sir Joseph Banks, as also many times a guest at the hospitable table of that distinguished patron of science.

At all periods of his life, he was well estimated by many of those whose judgment and superiority were publicly recognised; and, after his decease, most of those who had not understood him, received new and favourable impressions concerning him.

In his regard to religion, there was no special profession. There was as much freedom from ostentation as there was from hypocrisy, which he despised. As to those things which mankind are prone to fail in, and as to results in life in which it is found "that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright,"-I never recollect, in his own case, his excusing them, or expressing views derogatory to Divine Grace, or tending to the abuse of its consoling doctrines. It was most manifest, that his simple and entire reliance for justification before God, was in Christ, and Christ alone; and it was equally manifest that he recognised and held the duties of Christianity in their broad and practical bearing, as of grand and indispensable importance for life and godliness.

But not to anticipate further another opinion, which may serve for a conclusion of these records, I proceed again to quote from Mr. Drew, who, after speaking, in summary, of his life as a seaman and a whale-fisher, noticing very approvingly his improvements in the whale-fishery, and the benefits conferred by his experience and observations on navigation and commerce, proceeds (writing, it will be observed, whilst the subject of his memoir was yet living,) in these commendatory terms:-

"In the career of this man we behold the progress of natural genius and superior talents, surmounting every impediment, and conducting him from a team of oxen and the plough to wealth and reputation, and to the highest honours that the whale-fishery can bestow.

"To this it is pleasing to add, that, instead of imitating the conduct of too many engaged in his profession, ascribing success to luck or fortune,-Mr. Scoresby, throughout the whole of his dangerous course, acknowledges the overruling Providence of God, and does not forget, though an inhabitant of time, that he has an interest in eternity.

"Of benevolent institutions he is the patron and friend, and the poor of Whitby have experienced his bounty. The diffusion of the truths of Revelation throughout the world has his best wishes and his [most liberal] support. He views Christianity, not merely as a system of ethics, but as possessing a soul-transforming power, which renovates the heart and regulates the life, and as that alone which can make men wise unto salvation."

Reader! If very much has been said, in the foregoing pages, in respect of superiority of talent, and energy and originality of mind in the individual whose acts and adventures it has been my object to describe, the statements and facts adduced will, I trust, be found to justify the terms made use of; but if commendations beyond what some might be disposed to yield, have, in any case, been bestowed, or if admiration extending to partiality may have appeared to characterise any of my comments, I would confidently ground my claim on your indulgence in consideration of the circumstance, that the revered subject of these records was

MY FATHER!

Printed by M. Mason, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.

FOOTNOTES:

[O] The inexperienced mechanic is liable to be puzzled with the action of the wedge, because of its being estimated, in some modes of its application, in the double proportion of its length to that of once its thickness, giving to it, apparently, twice the force of the other mechanical powers. It may not be unfitting, for the sake of our young readers, to explain the little difficulty. The wedge when acting against one fixed and immoveable body for the removal of another body, has then, only, the like force as the lever,-a force proportionate to the extent of space passed over, in driving, by the length, with respect to the increase in the thickness, of the wedge; but when acting for the separation of two bodies, both moveable, both sides then become effective, and it necessarily exerts double that power. And so does the lever. For if the lever be employed in like manner, the action in separating two moveable bodies will be just double that of its ordinary action where the fulcrum is absolutely fixed. This, indeed, is obviously the same with all the mechanical powers. Action and reaction being equal, the power exerted in raising or moving one heavy body must be exerted reversely against the earth, or other fixed body serving as a fulcrum to the lever, or for the attachment of one extremity of a tackle or series of pullies, or for the securing of the capstan spindle. Let the attachments of the machine and its object, however, be both afloat, and then any of the mechanical powers, like that of the wedge, will have an efficiency of double that of its ordinary operation where one part is a fixture.

[P] This important work not being yet brought to a completion,-the ultimate and abiding influence of the alterations cannot be accurately predicted. The entrance of the harbour, by the new extension of the east pier, having been narrowed, perhaps too considerably, a temptation is offered to cast the terminal length, or head, in a bell-mouthed fashion more easterly. If such an arrangement were made (as my intelligent connection, Mr. Jackson of Whitby, suggests) it might produce a very mischievous effect by giving a broad fan-tail exit to the escaping ebb-tide waters, and so diminishing their force at the very point where concentration and compactness of efflux are of the greatest importance in scouring the entrance and keeping it clear of sandy deposits.

PUBLICATIONS BY THE REV. W. SCORESBY, D.D.

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"William Scoresby's des Jüngern Tagebuch einer Riese auf den Wallfischfang:"

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THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN:

As gathered by the Rev. H. Cheever, on a Voyage undertaken for his Health, and Edited and Revised by the Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D.

London; Printed by M. Mason, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.

TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES

Page 17: villany as in the original

Page 28, Footnote F: incidently as in the original

Pages 34, 210: taught as in the original

Page 42: sea-faring standardised to the more common seafaring

Page 43: seaman-like standardised to the more common seamanlike

Pages 44, 101, 109, 113, 225: harponeers as in the original

Page 71: Section VI corrected to Section V

Page 81: teazing as in the original

Page 82: reconnoissance as in the original

Page 93: thermometic as in the original

Page 94: hybernating as in the original

Page 103, 183: inconsistent hyphenation of Greenlandman/Greenland-man as in the original

Page 105: stratagy as in the original

Pages 106, 118: inconsistent hyphenation of leeside/lee-side as in the original

Page 112: correspondently as in the original

Page 127, 146, 225: harponeer as in the original

Page 132: cabouse as in the original

Pages 141, 190: inconsistent hyphenation of hundredweight/hundred-weight as in the original

Pages 143, 165: inconsistent hyphenation of goodwill/good-will as in the original

Page 144: masthead standardised to the more common mast-head

Page 159: tenaceousness as in the original

Page 174: mechanician as in the original

Page 197: geer as in the original

Pages 200, 209: topmast standardised to the more common top-mast

Page 204: recal as in the original

Page 216: kelson, stantions as in the original

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