The American Encyclopedia of History, Biography and Travel / Comprising Ancient and Modern History: the Biography of Eminent Men of Europe and America, and the Lives of Distinguished Travelers.

by Thomas H. Prescott

Captain Parry was to pass, if possible, through Lancaster’s Sound to Behring’s Strait. If he succeeded, he was to proceed to Kamtschatka and return to England round Cape Horn. Other instructions were given, but much was left to his own discretion. He sailed in the beginning of May, and proceeded up the straits of Davis, where he found the ice close packed. As he was making his way towards the western shore, on the 25th of June, the ice closed round the ships and arrested their progress. Here the ice was so close, that the whales could not descend in the usual way, but were obliged to go down tail first, much to the amusement of the Greenland sailors. Their situation during the 28th was unpleasant, and would have been dangerous to ships built in the ordinary way. Each roll of the sea forced the heavy masses of ice against the rudder and counter with great violence; but being so well strengthened, they escaped without damage. While in this state, a large white bear approached the Griper, attracted by the smell of some red herrings, which the men were frying at the time. They killed him, but he sunk between the pieces of ice, and they were unable to obtain him. On the 30th, the ice began to slacken a little about the ships, and after two hour’s heaving, they succeeded in moving the Hecla about her own length to the eastward; and the ice continuing open after eight hours’ incessant labor, they hauled both ships into open water.

Captain Parry having failed in his first attempt to approach the western shore, came to the determination of trying to effect this object, about the latitude of mount Raleigh, which forms one side of the narrowest part of Davis’ Strait. They kept on during the 1st and 2d of July, without finding any opening. On the third day, the wind having shifted to the south-west, another large chain of icebergs was seen to the northward. They could find no bottom near these icebergs with one hundred and ten fathoms of line. At four A. M. on the 4th, they came to a quantity of loose ice floating among the bergs. The breeze blew lightly from the southward, and wishing to avoid going to the eastward, they pushed the Hecla into the ice, in hopes of being able to make way through it. But it immediately fell calm and the ship becoming perfectly unmanageable, was for some time at the mercy of swells, which drifted her fast towards the bergs. The Griper’s signal was made not to enter the ice, and after two hours’ hard pulling, they succeeded in getting the Hecla clear of the icebergs, which it is very dangerous to approach whenever there is a swell.

The ice was now so close that they found it impossible to proceed further westward; and they made the best way they could, by beating northward, until the 10th, when a thick fog came on, which made it necessary to use great caution in sailing, to avoid the icebergs. The reflection of light, however, is so strong from these vast bodies of ice, that in the thickest fog they can be seen at a sufficient distance to enable the navigator, if in smooth water, to keep clear of them. The people succeeded in killing a large bear, which was seen near them on a piece of ice, and towed it on board. These animals sink immediately on being wounded, and to secure them, it is necessary to throw a rope over the neck, at which the Greenland seaman are very expert. After encountering many difficulties from the tenacity of the ice, on the 21st Captain Parry reached latitude 73 deg. As he was unwilling to increase his distance from Lancaster’s Sound, he determined to enter the ice here. He accordingly ran in among the floes, and on the evening of the 22d, the ships were so beset, that no open water could be seen from the mast-head. The weather being clear on the next day, and a few narrow lanes of water appearing to the westward, they proceeded to warp the ships through the ice. At eight P. M., they had advanced four miles to westward, and having come to the end of clear water, they secured the ships in a deep bight or bay in a floe, called by the sailors, Natural Dock. On the next day, a boat was sent to try to find a lane of clear water leading to the westward. She returned without success, and the weather was so foggy, that it was with difficulty she found her way back to the ships by means of muskets and other signals.

On Tuesday 27th the clear water had made so much to the westward, that a narrow neck of ice was all that separated the ships from a large open space in that quarter. The men were just ordered out to saw off the neck, when the floes suddenly opened and allowed the Griper to push through under all sail. Although they lost no time in attempting to get the Hecla through after her, yet before they could effect it, the passage was completely blocked up by a piece of floating ice, which was drawn after the Griper, by the eddy produced in her motion. Before they could haul it out of the channel, the floes pressed together and wedged it immovably, and although the saws were used with great effect, it was not until after seven hours’ labor, that they succeeded in getting the Hecla into the lanes of clear water, which opened towards the westward. They now perceived with pleasure, a pitching motion of the vessel, which, from the closeness of the ice, does not often occur in those regions, as a sure indication of an open sea. The wind breezing up by one o’clock P. M., the ice had all disappeared, and the sea was free from obstructions of any kind. Here they found the whales so numerous, that no less than eighty-two are mentioned in this day’s log. It is commonly thought by the Greenland fishermen, that the presence of ice is necessary to insure the finding of whales; but no ice was seen this day, when they were most numerous. At half past five P. M., the high land about Possession bay came in sight. Lancaster’s Sound was now open to the westward, and the experience of a former voyage had given Captain Parry reason to believe that the two best months for the navigation of those seas were yet to come. This, together with the magnificent view of the lofty Byaur Martin Mountains, which recalled forcibly to his mind the events of the preceding year, animated him with expectation and hope. On the 31st, they anchored in Possession bay and discovered a flag staff which had been erected on the former expedition. The only animals found here were a fox, a raven, some ring plovers, snow-buntings, and a wild bee. Several tracks of bears and reindeers were also seen upon the moist ground. Three black whales were seen in the bay, and the crown bones of several others were lying near the beach. The tide rises here about eight feet, and the flood seems to come from the northwest.

On the first of August, Captain Parry finding that the Griper could not keep up with the Hecla, determined to leave her. He appointed the middle of Lancaster Sound as a place of rendezvous, and crowding all sail on the Hecla, he came towards evning in sight of the northern shore of the sound; and the next day had a clear view of both sides of it.

Having run due west nearly out of sight of the Griper, the Hecla hove to for her to come up in longitude 83 degrees 12 minutes west from Greenwich, there being not the slightest appearance of land to the westward. The only ice met consisted of a few large bergs, much worn by the washing of the sea. Whales were seen, and the wind increased so that the top-gallant-yards were taken in. On the 4th, Lieutenant Beechy discovered, from the crow’s nest, breakers to the northward. They sounded, and found bottom with forty-five fathoms of line. The Griper coming up, the vessels bore away to the westward. The sea was here so clear of ice, that they began to flatter themselves, that they had indeed entered the Polar Sea. Their vexation was therefore extreme, when, towards evening, land was seen ahead. At eight P. M., they came to a stream of ice extending several miles in a direction parallel to their course; and after sailing for two hours along the edge of the ice, they found it proceeded from a compact body of floes, which completely cut off their passage. The weather here was calm and foggy, and the men amused themselves in pursuing white whales, which were swimming about the ships in great numbers. But these animals were so wary, that they seldom suffered the boats to approach within thirty or forty yards of them, without diving. They also saw for the first time, one or two shoals of nar-whales, called by the sailors sea-unicorns. Finding that the sound or strait was closed, excepting in one place to the southward, to this opening they directed their course. They had sailed but a few hours, however, when it fell calm; and the Griper, having spread both her top-masts, advantage was taken of the calm weather to shift them. The Hecla’s boats were at the same time employed in bringing aboard ice to be used as water. Berge-ice is preferred for this purpose, but that of floes which is in fact the ice of sea water, is also used. One of the boats was upset by the fall of a mass of ice, but fortunately no injury was sustained. A breeze springing up from the north-north-west, they made sail and stood to the southward. After sailing a short time, they discovered that they were entering a large inlet about ten leagues wide at its mouth, and in the centre of which no land could be distinguished. The western shore was so encumbered with ice that it was impossible to sail near it. They therefore ran along between the ice and the eastern shore, where there was a broad channel, with the intention of seeking a lower latitude or a clearer passage to the westward. Since they had first entered Lancaster’s Sound, the sluggishness of the compasses, and the irregularity produced by the attraction of the ship’s iron, had been found to increase rapidly as they proceeded to the westward. The irregularity increased as they advanced to the southward, which rendered it not improbable that they were approaching the magnetic pole. The compasses therefore were no longer fit for the purposes of navigation, and the binnacles were removed as useless lumber into the carpenter’s store-room, where they remained during the rest of the season. Being desirous of obtaining all the magnetic observations they were able, on a spot which appeared so full of interest in this department of science, two boats were dispatched from each ship to the nearest eastern shore, under the command of Lieutenant Beechy and Hoppner, who, together with Captain Sabine, were directed to make the necessary observations. As soon as the boats returned, the ships hove to the southward, along the edge of the ice, and by midnight the channel was narrowed to about five miles. They could find no soundings; the weather was serene, and the sun for the second time that season just dipped below the northern horizon, and reappeared a few moments after. They had hoped to find a passage to the south of the ice, especially as the inlet widened considerably as they advanced in that direction; but on the morning of the 8th, they perceived that the ice ran close in with a point of land, which seemed to form the southern extremity of the eastern shore. The prospect from the crow’s nest began to assume a very unpromising appearance. The whole western horizon from north round to south by east, being completely covered with ice, beyond which no indication of water was visible. Captain Parry therefore determined, as the season was fast advancing, to return immediately to the northward, in the hope of finding the channel between Prince Leopold’s Isles and Maxwell Bay more open than when they left it, in which there could be little doubt of effecting a passage to the westward. They had sailed to the southward in this inlet about one hundred and twenty miles, Cape Kater being by the observations in latitude 71 deg. 53 min. 30 sec., longitude 90 deg. 03 min. 45 seconds. They returned to the northward with a light but favorable breeze. On the 10th, the weather was thick with snow, which was succeeded by rain and fog. The ships moored to a floe, but when the weather cleared, they found themselves drifting with the floe upon another body of ice to leeward. They therefore cast off and beat to the northward, which was very difficult to do, on account of the drift ice with which the whole inlet was now covered. Although several days were thus passed in contending with fogs, head winds, and all the difficulties of arctic navigation, yet neither officers nor crews lost health or spirits. They repined not at the dangers and difficulties of their situation, but because the accomplishment of their hopes was delayed.

A light southern breeze enabled them to steer towards Prince Leopold’s Isles, which they found more encumbered with ice than before. Here they saw a great number of nar-whales, lying with their backs above the water in the same manner as the whale, and frequently with their horns erect and quite stationary for several minutes together. Three or four miles to the northward, they discovered an opening, having every appearance of a harbor, with an island near the entrance. It was named Jackson’s Bay. The whole of the 14th was consumed in the attempt to find an opening in the ice, but as it remained perfectly close and compact, on the 15th Captain Parry went on shore to make observations. He landed in one of the numerous valleys, which occur on this part of the coast, very much resembling bays, being bounded by high hills, which appear like bluff head-lands. He ascended the hill on the south side of the ravine, which is very steep, and covered with detached blocks of lime-stone, some of which are constantly rolling down, and which afford a very insecure footing. From the top of the hill no water could be seen over the ice to the northwest; and the whole space comprised between the islands and the northern shore, was covered with a bright dazzling blink.

It was a satisfaction, however, to find that no land appeared, and captain Parry was too well aware of the suddenness with which obstructions, occasioned by the ice, are often removed, to be at all discouraged by present appearances. On the top of this hill, he deposited a bottle containing a short notice of his visit, and raised over it a small mound of stones. The wind was light the next day, and the ice being closed, the ships scarcely changed their position. Despairing of being able to penetrate westward, in the neighborhood of Prince Leopold Isles, captain Parry determined to stand towards the northern shore again, and after beating for some hours among the drift ice, the ships got into clear water near the coast. They had just light enough at midnight to see to read and write in the cabin. Passing along the shore, they left the ice behind them, and on the 21st they had nothing to hinder their passage westward, but want of wind. But the wind freshening soon after, all sail was made to the westward, where the prospect began to wear a more and more interesting appearance. It was soon perceived that the land along which they were sailing, and which had appeared to be continuous from Baffin’s Bay, began now to trend much to the northward, leaving an open space between that coast, and a distant land to the westward, which appeared like an island, of which the extremes to the north and south were distinctly visible. The latter was a remarkable headland, and was named Cape Hotham. They discovered also several headlands on the eastern land; between the northernmost of which and the island to the westward, there was a channel of more than eight leagues in width, in which neither land nor ice could be seen from the mast head. The arrival off this noble channel, to which captain Parry gave the name of Wellington, was an event for which they had all been anxiously looking; for the continuity of land to the northward, had always been a source of uneasiness to them, from the possibility that it might take a turn to the southward, and unite with the coast of America. Every one thought that they were now finally disentangled from the land, which forms the western side of Baffin’s Bay; and that in fact they had actually entered the Polar Sea. Fully impressed with this idea, captain Parry gave to this opening the name of Barrow’s Straits.

Two thirds of the month of August had now elapsed, and they expected that the sea would remain navigable six weeks more. The ships had suffered no injury, they had a plenty of provisions, the crews were in high health and spirits, and the sea before them, if not open, was at least navigable. On the 23d, a fresh breeze sprung up, and although Wellington channel was open to the northward, captain Parry judged it best to try a large opening south of Cornwallis’ island. But their disappointment was extreme, when it was suddenly reported from the crow’s nest, that their passage was obstructed by a large body of ice. Lieutenant Beechy discovered, however, that one part of the barrier consisted of loose pieces of ice, and the Hecla being immediately pushed into this part of it, succeeded, after a quarter of an hour’s ‘boring,’ in forcing her way through the neck. The Griper followed, and they continued their course to the westward, having once more a navigable sea before them. At 2 P. M., having reached longitude 95 deg. 67 min., they came to two extensive floes, which obliged the ships to tack, as there was no passage between them. They then beat to the northward in search of a passage, but none was found. After several unsuccessful attempts to force a passage, they at last succeeded by ‘boring’ through several heavy streams, and at midnight were enabled to pursue their course to the westward.

The ships made very little way this night, but in the morning they advanced with more speed, and more land was seen to the westward. The space to the westward was now so broad, that captain Parry thought best to appoint a place where the Griper should find the Hecla in case of a separation. But about 7 P. M., this precaution was found to have been needless, for the ice stretched across the strait, and barred the passage. Captain Parry now resolved to seek a passage along the northern shore. As the vessels were rounding the eastern side of the island captain Sabine was despatched to make observations, and examine the natural productions of the shore. He reported that he had found the island much more interesting than any other parts of the shores of the polar regions they had yet visited. The remains of Esquimaux habitations were found in four different places. Some of them are described by captain Sabine, as consisting of stones rudely placed in an elliptical form. They were from seven to ten feet in diameter, the flat sides of the stones standing vertically, and the whole structure being similar to that of the summer huts of the Esquimaux, which had been seen the preceding year. Attached to each were smaller circles of about four or five feet in diameter, and from the moss and sand which covered some of the lower stones, the whole encampment appeared to have been deserted for several years. The fogs now froze hard upon the rigging, which made it difficult to work the ship, as each rope was increased to twice or three times its proper diameter.