Communication with the natives, from Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage by John Ross (London, 1835)

Despite the way it’s often imagined, the history of exploration in the Arctic regions has regularly been one of failure. Rarely were the goals of a given expedition attained, whether they were to locate the fabled Northwest Passage, to rescue comrades lost in the ice or to reach the coveted North Pole. When returning from these voyages, travellers were mindful of the fact that in order to maintain their reputation as respectable explorers, the narratives surrounding their – at times disastrous – expeditions had to be carefully curated.

Accounts of expeditions were therefore presented in exciting ways to appeal to broad public audiences. Explorers partnered with influential publishers, and often novelists, to produce spectacular descriptions of their ‘voyages of discovery’. These books proved to be immensely popular and allowed readers to travel with explorers as they traversed the fabulous, otherworldly landscapes being described.

Two aspects of these narratives proved to be particularly appealing to readers. The first was descriptions of the explorers’ encounters with the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic. These were typically filled with exoticised (and often racist) language and presented Arctic peoples as exciting curiosities with peculiar cultures and customs. The second was the use of lavish illustrations to accompany the narrative. Paintings, drawings, engravings and woodcuts were variously used to present Arctic environments as a combination of threatening, enticing and awe-inspiring landscapes.

This illustration uses both of these strategies. Appearing in John Ross’s account, entitled Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-West Passage, the image depicts the

moment on 9 January 1830 when the crew of the Victory came into contact with the Netsilingmiut community of Boothia Peninsula (in the Kitikmeot region in modern-day Nunavut). The illustration shows the explorers dropping their weapons and approaching the group of huddled Inuit, raising their arms to signal that they mean no harm.

Like many previous attempts, Ross’s voyage in search of the Northwest Passage didn’t result in the discovery of the fabled route. Although his nephew, James Clark Ross, did reach the magnetic North Pole for the first time, that particular achievement was only of interest to those with a keen interest in science. The ultimate outcome of this expedition was therefore one of failure, yet one would be forgiven for forgetting this fact when reading Ross’s account and studying the associated illustrations.