A Boy's Life in Cumberland Sound

Last week I wrote about 13-year-old David Cardno's arrival in Cumberland Sound aboard a whaling ship in 1866. The adventure turned into an unexpected wintering at Niantilik Harbour, alongside six other Scottish and American ships.

Young David made friends with all of the Inuit of Niantilik, but one family with two young boys became his particular friends. Years later he recalled the joys of his carefree time with this family:

"We got a skin from their Mother and we had some great fun going up to the top of the hill, and laid the skin down on the snow and sat down on the skin, and we did come down that hill with some speed – our faces used to be covered with loose snow, the rate we came down. I may say I was nearly as much in their house as I was in the ship. When the father came home at night there was always a pan of boiled seal ready for him, so I came in for my share just the same as their own two, and I was picking up a word or two of their lingo, and when I felt very hungry I used to go to other igloos on Niantilik Island, as all the natives nearby lived there that was engaged to the ships. After we had dinner [on the ship], if there was any soup left, I got it from the cook into a beef tin and took it ashore and gave it to the children, and they did think a lot of that…"

One day, after being spanked by his father for arguing with some of the men over a card game, David embarked on his second run-away adventure.

As he told it, "The teasing I got from the crew was unbearable and I had to get away. Looking over the side of the ship I saw a native I had met before, Murloo, a boat puller, who often came to Niantilik for provisions."

Murloo was on his way back to the small island where he and his wife lived, 12 miles away. "As the sled passed within a few feet of the ship," Cardno wrote, "I dropped over the side and landed on top of it. Murloo was completely taken aback by my sudden appearance. ‘I'm going with you,' I shouted."

Murloo agreed and young Cardno lived for three weeks in a snowhouse with the man and his wife. "My new quarters were in a low hut made of frozen snow and lined with hides," Cardno recalled. "A seal oil lamp burned day and night keeping the place warm and comfortable. I made myself at home from the start and didn't give the consequences of my venture a second thought. That night, lying on a couch of deer skin, I slept as soundly as I ever did."

He passed the time playing hunting games with spears and bows and arrows during the day, and playing cards and dominoes at night. The idyll ended when his father arrived to take him back to the ship.

But life on a whaling ship was not without its dangers and David Cardno saw his share of disaster during his winter in Cumberland Sound. The Dublin, despite her name a Peterhead vessel, caught fire when a seal oil lamp fell onto some books in a library belonging to the blacksmith. The ship had taken two whales and the hold was filled with oil and blubber. When the flames reached the hold, an explosion occurred and the ship burned to the water line.

On a trip across the sound to Kekerten, a sailor, Peter Corduff, froze his feet. Back at the ship, his badly frost-bitten feet had to be amputated, a task performed by Johnny Bruce, the ship's cooper, who performed the task with a sealing knife without benefit of anaesthetic.

Two other Scotsmen and a 13-year-old Inuk boy died on a similar attempt to cross the sound.

But David Cardno relished the winter's pleasures and survived its ordeals. On Sept. 26, 1867, he and his father returned to Peterhead. Young Cardno wanted more. He wrote later, "My appetite for Arctic adventure was now stronger than ever and I couldn't wait for another chance to go North."

He would go the Arctic many more times, often but not always to Cumberland Sound. His last voyage as an active member of a whaling crew was in 1898. Following that it was local work at herring fishing and trawling or harbour construction at Peterhead.

But in 1910, at the age of 57, David Cardno would sail once more for Cumberland Sound, this time to manage a shore station.

Next Week – David Cardno at the Kekerten Station.

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 kennharper@hotmail.com.