In Search Of The Northwest Passage - cruising Greenland and the Arctic regions

We walked the beach at Pond Inlet accompanied by a Scottish-born guide who had spent 29 years in the Arctic, first as a Presbyterian missionary and now as a cultural historian and naturalist. We encountered a freshly killed ringed seal and poked around a Thule encampment dating from sometime between AD 900 and 1700; the Thule people were direct ancestors of the present-day Inuit.

Cruising Milne Inlet one evening, a pod of narwhals spouted and surfaced, and we kept them in view while the staff grilled steak, sausage, wahoo, and caribou ribs for an outdoor meal consumed under the coldest dining conditions that I have ever experienced. However, the barbecue served as a good primer for what the 19th century expeditions had encountered when searching for the Northwest Passage that would extend across the top of Canada and lead to the Orient.

On the desolate shores of Beechey Island, three graves marked the site where members of British explorer John Franklin's ill-fated 1845 expedition had met their ends. And as we would learn, they may have been the lucky ones, for the rest of the party died an agonizing death of lead poisoning from cans containing preserved meat. Hundreds of empty tins scattered nearby eventually led researchers to uncover the grisly trail of death.

Landing on Devon Island, the largest uninhabited island in the world, we encountered our first sight of a polar bear and cub, walrus lounging on bergy bits, and the bloodied ice where a ringed seal had been recently killed. The closest approach turned out to be a musk ox, a bedraggled-looking beast with two layers of fur, which pawed the tundra when someone moved in too closely.

Finally debarking at the tiny community of Arctic Bay, we visited classes at an Inuit school, a modern complex that would be the envy of any small town. We ate a box lunch in the gym while watching the kids doing gymnastics, then we boarded yellow school buses bound for the airport, located some distance inland.

Boarding the charter flight, a wintry wind whipped snow across the gravel runway, indicating high time to head south, where both the calendar and climate coincided with the tail end of summer.

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

* Arctic Cruises: Besides the Northwest Passage voyages, additional summer cruises aboard the Marine Discovery explore the sub-Arctic, Hudson Bay, Atlantic Canada, and circumnavigate Newfoundland. Sample rates for the Northwest Passage itinerary, per person, depending on sailing, begin at $1,945 to $2,345 quad occupancy, $2,295 to $3,395 double occupancy, and include air transportation between Ottawa and the ship, all transfers, and shore excursions; dues and taxes are an additional $395 (rates shown are from 2000; 2001 rates unavailable at press-time). For more information contact your travel agent or Marine Expeditions (Cruise Travel Magazine), 890 Yonge St./3rd floor, Toronto, ON M4W 3P4 Canada; 800-263-9147; web site, www.marineex.com.

* Ottawa Stopover: For the overnight stopovers in Ottawa at both ends of the cruise, the centrally located Les Suites Hotel, linked to the airport by an efficient van transfer, is recommended over one near the airport. The rooms are large, and have separate sitting rooms, kitchens, and laundry facilities. Rates are $79-120; phone 800-267-1989. The Byward Market, a mecca for restaurants, art galleries, and craft stores, begins a block away from the hotel. Also within walking distance are tours of the splendid Victorian Gothic national capital buildings overlooking the Rideau River and Canal, the excellent National Gallery of Canada, and across the river in Hull, the spectacular Museum of Civilization. If possible, allow two full days to visit the charming Canadian capital.