#historical terrors

[konstantinshenkov]

“Crozier was the first victim of the unstable ice. While walking with Parry, Crozier found himself separated from the others by a yawning crack in the ice. The plank was far too short to bridge the gap and swimming in the freezing waters would be suicidal. But Crozier, imperturbable and resourceful, calmly dropped the gear he was carrying and moved up the open lane, finding its narrowest point and where he could see large chunks of ice floating in the flowing water. Steeling himself, Crozier began leaping from floe to floe as lumps of ice bobbed along in the current. After a few perilous leaps, he managed to find more solid ground and cheerfully returned tot he ship unharmed and seemingly untroubled by his near-fatal ordeal.”

     - Francis Crozier: Last Man Standing by Michael Smith

[konstantinshenkov]

“One indisputable fact about the early life of Francis Crozier is that he enjoyed only a very short childhood. In the summer of 1810, at the age of thirteen, Francis was plucked from the cosy security of the family home and sent off to join the Royal Navy[...]

But the enrolment of Francis in the navy was at odds with the pattern being established elsewhere in the Crozier family at the time. Although earlier generations of Croziers had served as professional soldiers, George Crozier appears to have broken the mould by steering his sons towards peaceful occupations in the Church or the world of commerce[...]

Francis was the exception and it is unclear why George Crozier allowed his adolescent son to forego his affluent life in Banbridge for the brutal rigours of the Royal Navy, which at the time was embroiled in the bloody Napoleonic Wars with France[...]

So eager was George Crozier to get his son into uniform that he turned to his influential coterie of friends for help. During the early months of 1810, he approached Lord Downshire to see whether he might pull a few strings a the Admiralty.”

- Captain Francis Crozier: Last Man Standing by Michael Smith

This is so intriguing... What the heck, Papa Crozier?

[konstantinshenkov]

Also I’m too lazy to type out the whole thing, so let me just tell you about another excellent Francis being Francis moment on his first expedition with Parry... So he’d been sent out with a couple marines in a small boat to measure the tides at the head of Fury and Hecla Strait. They had four days worth of supplies, but not long after they’d left, the weather went to shit. The temperature plunged and it got real heckin’ wimdy. 

Back on Fury, Parry looked out the gale and began to Fret. He quickly decided to take a rescue party out to retrieve Francis and the boys, before the route back to the ship was totally closed off by the shitty weather. 

The party struggled ashore, fighting the godawful wind. They fired musket shots to the alert the missing men, but the sound was drowned out by the roaring wind. There was no sign of them anywhere.

Parry was beginning to suspect the worst when suddenly he happened upon a large rock. And behind the rock, sheltered from the wind, was Francis, quietly jotting down his tidal observations, apparently completely oblivious to the tempest raging around him.

And then, one can imagine, he looked up and said, “Oh, hey, Captain Parry. What are you doing here?” 

This man...

[konstantinshenkov]

"He was a modest, unassuming man who received scant reward from his superiors and who was never asked to write a book about his adventurous life and great exploits. Alone among his renowned circle of friends and fellow explorers - among them Parry, Ross, and Franklin - Crozier did not receive a knighthood or any notable commendations for his prodigious efforts.“

~Francis Crozier: Last Man Standing by Michael Smith

[konstantinshenkov]

I’ve just started reading Michael Smith’s Last Man Standing so chances are exceedingly good that I’ll be spamming you all with quotes and screeching into the void for the foreseeable future. 

[konstantinshenkov]

Fate

A wee ficlet written in honor of James Clark Ross' 221st birthday

James had never seen a sky as blue as the one that had graced them on cloudless days in the Arctic, and he had never seen eyes as blue as Francis Crozier’s. He found himself regarding them with a similar sense of wonder. “Breathtaking” was the word that came to mind.

Those eyes found him now, from across the Fury’s deck, which was quickly becoming crowded with guests. Captain Parry had seen fit to host a farewell ball, given all the excitement over their voyage, and it looked set to be a popular affair.

Francis was fidgeting as he approached, trying to smooth an invisible wrinkle form his sleeve. James smiled. “You’re not nervous, are you?”

Those blue eyes snapped up to meet his. “Is it that obvious?” he asked, tugging at his other sleeve.

James cast a glance at the guests and crew nearby. “I don’t think anyone else has noticed,” he said with a reassuring grin.

“Good,” Francis sighed. “The less I’m noticed, the better.”

James regarded his new friend fondly and shook his head. “You’d best get used to being noticed,” he said, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “If we succeed, you’re going to be quite famous.”

Francis looked horrified at the thought. Then he shook his head. “Not me,” he said.

“All of us,” James insisted. “Years from now, you’ll be an old man, and people will still ask you every where you go what it was like to be aboard the Fury when she first traversed the Northwest Passage.”

James watched as those striking blue eyes were lit by a familiar light. “You really think we’ll find it, then?”

“I do,” James said, nodding decisively. “Do you believe in Fate, Crozier?”

“Please, call me Francis,” the other man said. “If we’re to become famous together, I think we ought to be friends.”

His smile was somewhat shy, but utterly charming, and James smiled brightly in return. “I’d like that,” he said. “Do you believe in Fate then, Francis?”

Francis tilted his head thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” he said after a moment. “I can’t say I’ve ever given it much thought.”

“Well, I do,” James said decisively. “And I feel that Fate has great things in store for us.” He looked up then, peering into the darkness above at the stars that shimmered there.

“I feel it in my bones, Francis.”