Taissumani, Jan. 1
Returning Light
The HMS Resolute was a Franklin search expedition under the command of Captain Horatio Austin.
It left London in the company of three other ships on May 3, 1850 and entered Lancaster Sound in mid-August. In September all ships were beset in the ice north-east of Griffith Island and the crews immediately began to prepare the ships for wintering.
These men were the farthest northern people in what is now Canada that winter, for they were north of where Inuit then lived.
It was important to keep the crew active throughout the winter, not just physically but mentally as well. One of the ways that this was accomplished on the Resolute was through the production of a handwritten newspaper, published monthly and circulated amongst the men aboard the vessel.
The format followed that of The Illustrated London News, and included articles, poems and announcements. The paper provides insight into the activities and events organized to maintain the crew’s morale during the long dark period of the Arctic winter.
In the latitude in which the Resolute wintered, near the site of the community that bears its name today, the sun is below the horizon for about ninety days. So it is not surprising that the newspaper for January began with some thoughts on the subject of light. December 21, the darkest day of the year, had passed, and the days were noticeably becoming longer.
The anonymous writer began by quoting from a poem:
“And now the Daylight comes; slowly it rides,
In ridgy lustre o’er the cloudy tides,
Like the soft foam, upon the billows breast;
Or feathery light, upon a shadowy crest.”
He continued with some thoughts on light and its effect on the human spirit:
“Is there amongst us one whose heart does not leap with fervent gratitude at the return of Light? No! Assuredly not. We all must feel that it, Heaven’s first born – blest harbinger of returning Summer – is replete with bright hopes and anticipations for each and all of us.
“A fresh gale after a long calm – Land after a dreary voyage – and sweeter still, Home! Peace! after buffeting in the ‘World’s broad field of battle,’ were, we once thought, Earth’s richest blessings. Are we wrong in saying that there is yet another second to none, and which perhaps far more than any other calls the contemplative mind from Nature to Nature’s God? It is light after darkness – It is indeed after so long a night a renewal of life.
“Fain would we impart to others the elasticity of spirits, the re-invigoration of hope, wrought in us by the fresh flood of health coursing in our veins.”
The author goes on to remember the important purpose of the expedition, the search for Franklin’s missing ships and crews:
“Saddened we grant we were as 1850 drew its sombre shroud around us, at the futility of our exertions, during that season, to reach our suffering countrymen. As the arch of sunlight overhead daily diminished, and the black North scowled more & more lowering on us, we could not but think of those who for the sixth time had seen the Sun quit their Heaven…”
Continuing that sombre task lay still ahead of them as they saw the first hints of a returning spring on the southern horizon. The ice-bound author concluded his piece with thoughts on the memories that the future would hold for those who had just passed the darkest time of the year together:
“Hailing with all heart-felt gladness the return of day, we would not have it supposed we couple the past period of ninety days with sadness as well as night. Far from it, for… we sincerely believe that in after years few of our past Christmas days will be remembered more deeply and pleasantly than that of 1850… We pledge then not to forget… the merry Christmas and Happy New Year of 1851, and Health & Happiness to all who enjoyed it with us in the Expedition of 1850.”
Happy New Year.
Taissumani recounts a specific event of historic interest. Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
