The Spectral Arctic

278 Pages·2017·22.51 MB·English

M
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O
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VISITORS TO THE ARCTIC enter places that have been R
traditionally imagined as otherworldly. This strangeness IS
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T S H A N E M C C O R R I S T I N E
fascinated audiences in nineteenth-century Britain when the IA
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idea of the heroic explorer voyaging through unmapped
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zones reached its zenith. The Spectral Arctic re-thinks our
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understanding of Arctic exploration by paying attention to
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the importance of dreams and ghosts in the quest for the
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Northwest Passage.
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T H E
The narratives of Arctic exploration that we are all familiar
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with today are just the tip of the iceberg: they disguise a great
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mass of mysterious and dimly lit stories beneath the surface.
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In contrast to oft-told tales of heroism and disaster, this book
reveals the hidden stories of dreaming and haunted explorers, T S P E C T R A L
of frozen mummies, of rescue balloons, visits to Inuit shamans, R
and of the entranced female clairvoyants who travelled to the
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Arctic in search of John Franklin’s lost expedition. Through
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new readings of archival documents, exploration narratives,

and fi ctional texts, these spectral stories refl ect the complex
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ways that men and women actually thought about the far
R A R C T I C
North in the past. This revisionist historical account allows
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us to make sense of current cultural and political concerns
in the Canadian Arctic about the location of Franklin’s ships. T
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S HANE MCCORRISTINE is a Lecturer in Modern British
A HISTORY OF DREAMS
History at Newcastle University. He is the author of Spectres E & A
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of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-seeing in England, P G H & GHOSTS IN POLAR
1750-1920 (2010) and William Corder and the Red Barn Murder: LOR HOS ISTO EXPLORATION
Journeys of the Criminal Body (2014). AT TS R
IO IN Y O
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FRONT COVER IMAGE:
‘The Moon with its Halo’.
Source: Julius Payer.
New Lands within the
Arctic Circle. London:
Macmillan and Co., 1876.
COVER DESIGN:
Jason Anscomb
The Spectral Arctic

The Spectral Arctic

A History of Dreams and Ghosts in
Polar Exploration
Shane McCorristine
First published in 2018 by
UCL Press
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
Available to download free: www.ucl.ac.uk/ ucl- press
Text © Shane McCorristine, 2018
Images © Copyright holders named in captions, 2018
Shane McCorristine has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from The British Library.
This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non- commercial
Non- derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY- NC- ND 4.0). This license allows you
to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-c ommercial use
providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Attribution should include
the following information:
McCorristine, S. 2018. The Spectral Arctic: A History of Dreams and Ghosts in Polar
Exploration. London: UCL Press. DOI: https:// doi.org/ 10.14324/ 111.9781787352452
Further details about Creative Commons licenses are available at
http:// creativecommons.org/ licenses/
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 247– 6 (Hbk.)
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 246– 9 (Pbk.)
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 245– 2 (PDF)
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 248– 3 (epub)
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 249– 0 (mobi)
ISBN: 978– 1– 78735– 250– 6 (html)
DOI: https:// doi.org/ 10.14324/ 111.9781787352452
Epigraphs

There can be no question that in the frozen wastes and snowy
wildernesses lurks a powerful fascination, which proves almost
irresistible to the adventurous spirit. He who has once entered the
Arctic World, however great his sufferings, is restless until he returns
to it. Whether the spell lies in the weird magnificence of the scenery,
in the splendours of the heavens, in the mystery which still hovers
over those far-o ff seas of ice and remote bays, or in the excitement of
a continual struggle with the forces of Nature, or whether all these
influences are at work, we cannot stop to inquire. But it seems to us
certain that the Arctic World has a romance and an attraction about
it, which are far more powerful over the minds of men than the rich
glowing lands of the Tropics (Adams, 1876, iii).
NOT HERE! THE WHITE NORTH HAS THY BONES; AND THOU
HEROIC SAILOR- SOUL
ART PASSING ON THINE HAPPIER VOYAGE NOW
TOWARD NO EARTHLY POLE
(Tennyson’s epitaph to Franklin, Westminster Abbey)
They were walking inland, walking the mainland – the nunamariq –
‘the real land’. They were a raggedy bunch and their clothing was
not well made. Their skins were black and the meat above their teeth
was gone; their eyes were gaunt. Were they tuurngait – spirits – or
what? (Towtongie qtd. in Eber 2008, xi).
v
Acknowledgements

Thanks to Michael Bravo for his guidance, input and friendship
throughout this project; to Chris Morash for his support in Ireland; to
Heather Lane, Naomi Boneham, Lucy Martin, Naomi Chapman, Kate
Gilbert, Rosie Amos, Julian Dowdeswell, Bryan Lintott and the entire
staff of the Scott Polar Research Institute for providing a supportive and
scholarly home in Cambridge for many years; to Claire Warrior at the
National Maritime Museum for her kind assistance; to Janice Cavell,
Russell Potter and my anonymous reviewers for sharing their knowledge
and expertise with me; to Chris Penfold at UCL Press, who was a pleasure
to work with; and to my wife and family.
This research was undertaken while I was a scholar at the Rachel
Carson Center for Environment and Society (LMU Munich), Maynooth
University and the Scott Polar Research Institute. This book was made
possible by an Irish Research Council CARA Marie Curie Fellowship, for
which I am immensely grateful.
Sections of chapter 6 appeared previously as: ‘The Spectral Presence
of the Franklin Expedition in Contemporary Fiction’, in Critique: Studies
in Contemporary Fiction, 55:4 (2014) (reprinted with the permission
of Taylor & Francis Ltd, http:// www.tandfonline.com); and ‘Searching
for Franklin: A Contemporary Canadian Ghost Story’, in British Journal
of Canadian Studies, 26:1 (2013) (reprinted with the permission of the
Licensor through PLSclear).
vi
Contents

List of illustrations viii
Introduction: Arctic dreams 1
1. Toward no earthly pole: Otherworldly quests for a
Northwest Passage 19
2. Spectral geographies of the Arctic: Shamanism, reveries,
wandering 52
3. Mesmerism, clairvoyance and the search for
the lost Franklin expedition 79
4. Spiritual routes and revelations: The Franklin mystery
renewed 139
5. Polar queens, ghosts and mummies: Women in Arctic
discourses 170
6. The spectral place of the Franklin expedition in
contemporary culture 201
Afterword: The discoveries of the Erebus and Terror 227
Notes 234
Bibliography 241
Index 261
vii
List of illustrations

Figure 0.1 ‘A Vision of Home’. Source: Richard W. Bliss.
Our Lost Explorers: The Narrative of the Jeannette
Expedition as Related by the Survivors, etc. Hartford,
Connecticut: American Publishing Co., 1883. 3
Figure 0.2 ‘Lost on the Ice- Cap’, from a painting by Albert
Operti. Source: Rudolf Kersting. The White World:
Life and Adventures Within the Arctic Circle Portrayed
by Famous Living Explorers. New York:
Lewis, Scribner & Co., 1902. 6
Figure 0.3 ‘Map of the Diocese of Moosonee’. Source: Arthur
Lewis. The Life and Work of the Rev. E.J. Peck Among
the Eskimos. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son, 1904. 7
Figure 0.4 ‘The Late Sir John Franklin’. Source:
Wellcome Library, London. 10
Figure 0.5 ‘A strange animal was bounding along within a
cable’s length from the ship’. Source: Jules Verne.
At the North Pole; or, The Adventures of Captain
Hatteras. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1874. 13
Figure 1.1 Untitled Map of Arctic and Northwest Passage
(1578) by George Best and James Beare. Source:
Osher Collection, www.oshermaps.org/ map/ 309. 20
Figure 1.2 Mermaid sighted by Hudson’s crew at 75° 7’N.
Source: Thomas A. Janvier. Henry Hudson:
A Brief Statement of his Aims and Achievements.
New York: Harper, 1909. 25
Figure 1.3 ‘The Dream – Midnight – Middle Watch’, by
George F. MacDougall. Source: Sherard Osborn and
George F. MacDougall eds. Facsimile of the Illustrated
Arctic News, etc. London: Ackermann, 1852. 27
Figure 1.4 Map of the Canadian Arctic with inset. 45
viii
Figure 2.1 ‘Wizard preparing for a “spirit flight” ’. Source:
Knud Rasmussen. Eskimo Folk- tales. London:
Gyldendal, 1921. 56
Figure 2.2 ‘Manner of Making a Resting Place on a Winter’s
Night’, engraved by Edward Finden after George
Back. Source: John Franklin. Narrative of a Journey to
the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819, 20,
21 and 22. London: John Murray, 1823. 67
Figure 2.3 ‘H.M. Ships Hecla & Griper in Winter Harbour’,
William Westall, after William Frederick Beechey.
Source: William Edward Parry. Journal of a Voyage for
the Discovery of a North- West Passage from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, etc. London: John Murray, 1821. 69
Figure 2.4 ‘Portrait of Parry, probably drawn by Toolooak’.
Source: Scott Polar Research Institute,
University of Cambridge, with permission:
SPRI 76/ 6/ 2+a (reverse). 72
Figure 2.5 ‘An Eskimaux Grave’, engraved by Edward Finden
after George Lyon. Source: George Lyon.
A Brief Narrative of an Unsuccessful Attempt to reach
Repulse Bay: Through Sir Thomas Rowe’s ‘Welcome’ in
His Majesty’s Ship Griper, in the Year 1824. London:
John Murray, 1825. 74
Figure 3.1 ‘A Mesmerist using Animal Magnetism on a
woman who responds with convulsions’. Source:
Wellcome Library, London. 82
Figure 3.2 ‘Esquimaux Chart’. Source: Illustrated London News,
October 13, 1849. 95
Figure 3.3 Jane Franklin. Source: James Parton. Daughters of
Genius: A Series of Sketches, etc. Philadelphia:
Hubbard Brothers, 1888. 97
Figure 3.4 Untitled (portrait of man in front of moving
panorama with Arctic theme), c.1850– 7.
Daguerreotype. Source: Museum purchase,
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Tribute
Fund, 1993.2. Image copyright the Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco. 119
Figure 4.1 William Parker Snow. Source: ‘Character Sketch:
April’, The Review of Reviews, April 1893. 141
LiSt of iLLuStrationS ix