PARRY’S FIRST VOYAGE
The principal object of Lieutenant W. E. Parry’s first voyage under the direction of the British Admiralty was to pursue the survey of Lancaster Sound, so abruptly discontinued by Captain Ross the previous year, and decide the probability of a northwest passage in that direction, thus settling the much-disputed question of the existence of the “Crocker Mountains,” which Parry, who had accompanied Ross, declared from the first to have been an ocular illusion. Should Lancaster Sound not prove navigable, Smith and Jones sounds were to be explored.
The Hecla, 375 tons, and the Griper, 180 tons, were strengthened and provisioned for two years. Sailing from the Thames May 11, 1819, they reached Davis Strait the last week in June, and here experienced a good deal of annoyance from ice, through which they made a slow and difficult passage by heaving and warping, reaching Possession Bay a month later. Upon landing the men were not a little surprised to see their own footprints of the previous year; a fox, a raven, some ring flowers, and snow-buntings were seen, also a bee. Tufts and ground plants grew in considerable abundance wherever there was moisture.
Proceeding on their voyage, they reached, by August 4, longitude 86° 56´ W., three degrees to the westward of where land had been laid down by Captain Ross. Passing through Barrow Strait, they found ice to such an extent north of Leopold Island that Parry determined to shape his course to the southward and explore the beautiful sheet of water to which he gave the name of Regent Inlet.
The compass now became useless, owing to the local attraction, and the binnacles were discarded. Having penetrated one hundred and twenty miles and having given the farthest point of land the name of Cape Kater, it was found necessary to return to the southward or be caught in the ice. Skirting the north shore of Barrow Strait, they later passed two large openings, to the first of which Parry gave the name of Wellington Channel, also naming various capes and inlets, as he passed them, Batham, Barlow, Cornwallis, Bowen, Byam Martin, Griffith, Lowther, Bathurst, and others.
Navigation now became extremely difficult, owing to thick fogs, but notwithstanding many obstacles they reached the coast of an island larger than any yet discovered, which they called Melville Island, and by the 4th of September Lieutenant Parry was able to make the joyful announcement to his crew that, having passed longitude 110° W., they were entitled to the reward of five thousand pounds promised by Parliament to the first ship’s company which should reach that meridian.
To celebrate their success, they gave the name of Cape Bounty to the farthest neck of land sighted in the distance. Every effort was now made to push forward in the hope of reaching longitude 130° W., thereby securing the second reward held out by the government. They had progressed but a short distance when, to their great disappointment, farther advance became impossible by reason of an impenetrable barrier of ice.
The approach of winter decided Lieutenant Parry to seek the shelter near Melville Island and there prepare for the long winter months.
To the group of islands in the vicinity of which he had taken refuge, he gave the name of Georgian Islands, in honour of His Majesty, King George III, but later the name was changed to Parry Islands.
Knowing well that good spirits meant good health in the tedious winter months, Lieutenant Parry established a school for his men, as well as the diversion of a newspaper, and the ship’s crew acted several plays, which were most enthusiastically received. In spite of enforced exercise and other methods for keeping in good physical condition, scurvy showed itself among the crew, and such antiscorbutics as lemon juice, pickles, mustard, cress, and spruce-beer were put into requisition. Later, snow-blindness afflicted some of the men, but was relieved by washes and the wearing of black crape before the eyes.