Ilatsiak - 9

The supply ship Barretto Junior which was to carry much of the livestock and additional food supplies for the period to be spent in the ice finally arrived in Stromness. Being somewhat smaller than the ship David was aboard, she had left several days previous to them, but had not been able to make as good time in the foul weather coming up the east coast of England in spite of the Erebus having put in at both Harwick and Aberdeen. But now, once again, after their brief stay, an Orkney crowd was in a jovial mood watching the ships drop their lines from the tugboats. Flags rose lightly to the sunny breeze in the Scapa Flow. The docks and the slate roofs of the dockside warehouses glistened from a sudden brief shower as if washed especially for the departing ships. On board, the men set the main-sails while everyone cheered them on. The ships’ bows fell off the wind which bellied the canvas and then, gaining leeway, their bows turned towards the north Atlantic Ocean and the real voyage began. Two steamers accompanied them out into Hoy Sound and continued as far as Cape Smith. Here they gave the expedition another hearty cheer. The day was clear with a fair wind. The next landfall would be the western coast of Greenland, where the livestock would be transferred, and any men found unfit would also be transhipped over to the Barretto Junior to return to England.
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Crossing the Atlantic the ships experienced every sort of weather one might expect on such a voyage, some days really lovely, clear and sunny with a fair breeze, while others nothing but annoying with stubborn southerly winds or no wind at all, simply a rolling and uncomfortable sea . Finally on the 22nd of June a NE gale struck the ships and continued to blow fiercely for three days. The seas it created were steep and high but did allow the ships to run faster than ever towards the Greenland coast. The whole crew were in a high state of anxiety as much with the winds as with the thick fog and haze which restricted their view ahead into seas known to be ice filled...
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On the 25th, the winds died suddenly to a flat calm. At first David assumed the whiteness off the port bows were clouds on the horizon. The next time he had a chance to slip up on deck, several hours later, the clouds had turned into white, glacial mountains complete with patches of dark rock sticking out here and there. The sea was beginning to be dotted with large pieces of ice, the famous icebergs which sailors with more experience than he were talking about in the forecastle at night. Hitting even a smallish bit of ice could damage even a ship as large as the Erebus, so considerable caution was to be taken. More than once, Mr Reid, who was really the ice-master on board, required David to carry messages between the helmsman and the officers' quarters below where decisions were made on the best route to take. For the first time in his life David heard the growling of the pack-ice which kept them from approaching too close to the Greenland coast.
Later in the day, the Terror was sighted and the two ships sailed to within a half mile of each other on the calm sea. Fairholme and Le Visconte took one of the inflatable boats with which Sir John was experimenting and together with a couple of crew, paddled over to visit her. It seemed to David the paddle took a while and that for all the effort it took, they didn’t stay long. One thing they did was to get a list of all of Terror’s library books so that all aboard would be able to know who had what in their libraries. All together, there were sufficient books that no one should lack for things to read during the year or two of the voyage! Fairholme was very excited about his paddle in the inflatable boat, but again was quite tired from his sudden exercise. He also mentioned to David that they were definitely on the better ship, saying twice that he would not switch ships with anyone!
Twice, during the previous night, the ship had had to change course to a more southernly route because of the movement of the ice. Now, with the sun shining brightly from the south, Erebus was able to pick up speed and David could feel the excitment growing on the ship. In three more days, at the whaling depot in Disko Bay, West Greenland, they would rendezvous with Terror and the transport ship, the final crew would be selected and the voyage into the icy Passage itself would begin. David already knew of several men on board who would probably not continue because of illness or accident. In particular, he had overheard Fitzjames and the Surgeon, Mr. Stanley discussing the fact that several men were thought to have signs of tuberculosis. In fact, the Armourer, Mr Burt, was already confined to his bunk by Mr. Stanley so he would be leaving the ship when they arrived. There was also a rumour in the forecastle that several men were also caughing up blood and should stay behind as well. Things being what they were, with so much riding on the success of the voyage, those who were sick were hiding it as best they could. Afterall, who wanted to miss being on the voyage that finally solved the riddle of the Passage? They would be famous on their return to England, with tales to last a lifetime. There was even talk they might become rich from this trip.