As the spring approached, the ships were made ready for the first opportunity to escape from the ice, which, however, remained impenetrable.
On the 1st of June an excursion was made across Melville Island by Lieutenant Parry and others, carrying provisions for three weeks. They found such parts of the ground as were free from snow covered with dwarf willow, sorrel, and poppy, also moss and saxifrage. A few ducks and ptarmigan were killed. Upon his return to the ship the middle of June, Captain Parry ordered his men to make daily excursions after sorrel, which they procured in large quantities and greatly enjoyed. On the western side of the island at Bushman’s Cove, in Liddon’s Gulf, they found “one of the pleasantest and most habitable spots we had yet seen in the Arctic regions, the vegetation being more abundant and forward than in any other place, and the situation sheltered and favorable for game.”
Though channels and pools were everywhere forming, it was not until the second of August that the great mass of ice broke up and floated out. The ship now made for the open water, but after a short advance, in spite of every effort, they found themselves once more prevented by the impenetrable barrier of ice from making their way westward. There seemed no alternative but a return homeward, and after taking certain additional observations of the two coasts extending along Barrow Strait, they set sail for England.
A warm welcome awaited the daring navigators, who had reached a longitude greater by more than 30° than any other explorer; who had discovered many new lands, islands, and bays; had established the fact of a polar sea north of America; and had wintered successfully in the Arctic, bringing back his crew in good condition.
PARRY’S SECOND VOYAGE
Parry’s unprecedented success and the enthusiasm for Arctic exploration throughout England decided the British Admiralty to send out a second expedition to attempt a passage in a lower latitude than that of Melville Island. The Hecla and the Fury were manned and provisioned and put under the command of Captain Parry and Lieutenant Lyon, whose travels in Tripoli, Mourzouk, and other parts of northern Africa had already brought him consideration and some degree of renown. The transport Nautilus was to accompany the ships as far as the ice, and transship extra provisions and stock as soon as room could be found for them.
The ships sailed from the Nore on the 8th of May, 1821, and by the 2d of July were at the mouth of Hudson Strait, having parted with the Nautilus the previous day. Icebergs in formidable numbers had already been encountered, and the desolate condition of the shores, the naked rocks, the snow-covered valleys, and the thick fogs encountered were anything but encouraging.
Progress was now made through very heavy floes, and between strong currents, eddies, and icebergs they were menaced by serious danger for more than ten days. While embayed in the ice, they sighted near Resolution Island three strange ships also fast in the ice. These they later managed to join, and found them to be Hudson Bay Company’s traders, the Prince of Wales, the Eddystone, and the Lord Wellington, chartered to convey one hundred and sixty emigrants, who intended settling on Lord Selkirk’s estate at the Red River. Of these people Lieutenant Lyon writes an interesting account:—
“While nearing these vessels, we observed the settlers waltzing on deck for above two hours, the men in old-fashioned gray jackets, and the women wearing long-eared mob caps, like those used by Swiss peasants. As we were surrounded by ice, and the thermometer was at the freezing point, it may be supposed that this ball al vero fresco afforded us much amusement.”
Some days later they fell in with some Eskimos, who came out to the ships, the men in their kayaks, the women in their special “oomiaks.” The natives boarded the ships and, says Captain Lyon:—