A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the North-West Passage
While in Search of the Expedition under Sir John Franklin

An eye-witness account, published in 1857, of a five-year Arctic voyage in extreme conditions, ending with the crew abandoning ship.

Alexander Armstrong (Author)

9781108033350, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 14 July 2011

654 pages, 1 b/w illus. 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 3.7 cm, 0.82 kg

The H.M.S. Investigator spent the years 1850–4 in the Western Arctic engaged in a search for the lost expedition of the explorer Sir John Franklin. In this 1857 publication Alexander Armstrong (1818–99), surgeon and naturalist to the ship, gives a first-hand account of life on board during the voyage, as testimony to the 'heroism, devotion, and endurance' of his shipmates. He describes the harsh conditions that the crew had to endure, and argues convincingly that no travel 'more thoroughly tests man's powers of endurance, both morally and physically' than travelling in the Arctic. He also notes that lemon juice proved the most effective remedy against scurvy. Armstrong's natural history research was cut short when the ship was abandoned and his collections left behind, but he includes an appendix listing the animals and birds observed on the voyage, and the Arctic plants collected by a friend and colleague.

Preface
1. Departure from England
2. Preparations for leaving the Strait
3. Departure from Honolulu
4. Enter the ice
5. Difficulties in working to the north-east
6. Weather
7. Weather
8. Departure from Cape Bathurst
9. Young ice
10. Appearance of weather
11. Departure of the travelling party
12. The first day of 1851
13. An unexpected arrival
14. State of the ice
15. Departure from Prince of Wales' Strait
16. Weather and prospects
17. Weather
18. Position on 23rd September
19. The hunting
20. First day of 1852
21. Laborious occupation of the crew
22. The year 1853
23. The 'Resolute'
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH]