A Whaling Cruise to Baffin's Bay and the Gulf of Boothia, and an Account of the Rescue of the Crew of the Polaris
Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration Series

First published in 1874, this illustrated work by Albert Hastings Markham (1841?1918) recounts his experiences aboard the Dundee steam whaler Arctic. Markham also gives an account of the rescue of the crew of the American vessel Polaris, crushed by ice in 1872 during its attempt to reach the North Pole. The work is enhanced by details of meetings with Inuit, encounters with polar wildlife, oceanographic observations, and meteorological events. Appropriately, fellow naval officer and explorer Sherard Osborn (1822?75) wrote the introduction: he had a long interest in Arctic exploration, advocated the benefits of using steam ships in icy waters, and encouraged Markham to embark on the whaling cruise. The appendices include a 'list of birds shot', as well as data on botanical and geological specimens. Also reissued in this series are Markham's The Great Frozen Sea (1878), Northward Ho! (1879) and A Polar Reconnaissance (1881).

Dedication; Introduction; 1. The Dundee whalers; 2. 'Spanning on'; 3. The south-west fishing; 4. 'Flinching' and 'making-off'; 5. Navigation of Davis' Straits; 6. Disco; 7. Upernivik and Melville Bay; 8. The north water; 9. Middle ice fishing; 10. More whales at middle ice; 11. Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait; 12. Port Leopold; 13. The Polaris expedition; 14. Again in Baffin's Bay; 15. Admiralty Inlet; 16. Prince Regent's Inlet; 17. Fury Beach; 18. Cape Garry; 19. Homeward bound; 20. Conclusion; Appendices A-E.