The Hecla rounded Hakluyt Headland and reached the high latitude of 81° 5′ N. on June 14th, 1827. Parry then placed the ship in a good harbour called Hecla Cove, on the north coast of Spitsbergen, in 79° 55′ N. and 16° 53′ E. Crozier was left in command, and Foster was fully occupied with his scientific observations. The two boats, called the Enterprise and Endeavour, left Hecla Cove on the 21st of June, Parry and Dr Beverley being in the first, James Ross and Bird in the second, with ten seamen and two marines in each. The boats were flat-bottomed, 20 feet long, with an extreme width of 7 feet carried well fore and aft. Their timbers were of tough oak and hickory. On the outside of the frame a new system of planking was adopted, in order to secure elasticity in the frequent concussions with the ice. It consisted first of a covering of waterproof canvas coated with tar, then a thin fir plank, then a sheet of felt, and lastly a thin oak plank, all secured to the timbers by screws. On each side of the keel there was a strong runner shod with metal, on which the boat rested when on the ice. A hide span across the fore part of the runners had two horsehair drag-ropes attached to it. The boats had two thwarts, a locker at each end, and a light framework along the sides for provisions and spare clothing; they carried a bamboo mast and tanned duck sail, 14 paddles, and a steer oar. They started with 71 days’ provisions. The weight of each boat was 1539 lb., when loaded 3753 lb., or 268 lb. per man, besides four light sledges weighing 26 lb. each. The daily allowance for each man was 10 oz. of biscuit, 9 oz. of pemmican, 1 oz. of cocoa, and a gill of rum. They slept in the boats and travelled at night.
When they started the weather was calm and clear, and as they paddled past the Seven Islands with loose sailing ice ahead the prospect looked very favourable. But on the 23rd they came to the close pack and hauled the boats up on the ice in 81° 12′ 5″ N. The travelling work then began and was most laborious and disheartening. The floes were of small extent intersected by high ridges of hummocks, necessitating constant launching and hauling up of the boats. The snow was soft, and there were pools of water knee-deep on the floes. It was not until July 7th that they reached a level floe, and on the 11th ridges of hummocks 30 and 40 feet high were again encountered. On the 22nd they at length came to large floes some miles in extent, but it was too late. The southerly drift of the ice was increasing to such an extent that they lost by drift as much as they gained by many hours of laborious and fatiguing work at the drag-ropes. Parry at length determined to retrace his steps. His highest latitude was 82° 45′, the highest that anyone attained for the next half-century. They were 172 miles from the Hecla, having travelled over 292 miles of ground—200 by water before reaching the ice and 92 over the floes.
After an absence of 61 days the boats reached Hecla Cove on the 21st August, and the ship arrived in the Thames on the 6th of October, 1827. If Parry had wintered in Hecla Cove and started in February he would have probably reached a much higher latitude. But success was not possible owing to the southerly drift of the polar ice. The weight of 264 lb. per man was much too great to drag for a lengthened period, and the daily allowance of food was too small. Experience would have corrected these details, and Sir Edward Parry, it should be remembered, was the pioneer of Arctic travelling without the mistakes of others to guide him.
Parry returned to his work as Hydrographer. Of his companions, James Ross, Crozier, and Bird afterwards won renown as Antarctic discoverers.
Parry was knighted on the 29th of April, 1829. Although his Arctic work was over, he was hard at work and in harness for the rest of his life. In 1829 he was offered the difficult post of Agent to the Australian Agricultural Company. Its affairs had been neglected and mismanaged, and the Directors turned to Parry, as a most able organiser, to restore their affairs to a proper footing. He was appointed Commissioner to the Agricultural Company in New South Wales, receiving also the D.C.L. at Oxford. He held the appointment for several years, returning to England in June, 1834. In 1839 he organised the Holyhead Packet Service, and in the same year became Comptroller of Steam Machinery. During Parry’s time as Comptroller an immense advance was made in the use of steam, and it was due to his strong advocacy that the screw propeller was adopted for naval ships. In 1846 he was appointed Captain Superintendent of Haslar Hospital and Clarence Yard, a position which he occupied for five years, retiring in 1851.
Sir Edward took the warmest interest in the searches for his intimate and dear friend Franklin. His visit to the Assistance at Greenhithe was ever a sacred memory to us all. In 1853 he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and began to reside in January, 1854. He died at Ems on the 8th of July, 1855, and was buried at Greenwich.
Sir Edward Parry, as we have said, must be ranked as one of the greatest of polar explorers. No one else had so many and such great qualifications. His life was wholly devoted first to his country and next to the good of his fellow men. It has been the privilege of few men to have done so much good in his generation. His life story has been beautifully told by his son, and should be read by all.
CHAPTER XXIV
DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH COAST OF AMERICA. FRANKLIN—RICHARDSON—BACK—DEASE—SIMPSON—RAE
Hitherto the northern coasts of North America had remained completely unknown save for the work of Hearne and Mackenzie, and it was felt that something should be done to fill up the large area of blank on the map. The Secretary of State for the Colonies now resolved that, with the co-operation of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the coast-line should be discovered and surveyed.
The officer selected for this arduous duty was Lieutenant John Franklin, who had just returned from the command of the Trent in the Spitsbergen seas. Few officers of his age had seen so much service. A Lincolnshire lad, born at Spilsby and educated at Louth Grammar School, Franklin entered the navy at the age of 14, and in his very first ship, the Polyphemus, he was at the battle of Copenhagen and closely engaged. Next he joined the discovery ship Investigator under his relative Captain Flinders[124], and was for two years engaged in the survey of the coast of the great island to which Flinders gave the name of Australia. At last the old Investigator was found to be no longer seaworthy. She was condemned, and her captain, officers, and crew were embarked on board H.M.S. Porpoise for a passage to England.