PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE. 113 



, to be worn as a kind of short veil attached to the 

 hat, which we found to be very serviceable. A still 

 more convenient mode, adopted by some of the officers, 

 was found equally efficacious ; this consisted in taking 

 the glasses out of a pair of spectacles, and substituting 

 black or green crape, the glass having been found to 

 heat the eyes arid increase the irritation." 



On the 16th of March the North Georgian Theatre 

 was closed with an appropriate address, and the general 

 attention was now turned to the means of extrication 

 from the ice. By the 17th of May the seamen had so 

 far cut it from around the ships as to allow them to 

 float ; but in the sea it was still immovable. 



This interval of painful inaction was employed by 

 Parry in an excursion across Melville Island. The 

 ground was still mostly covered with softened snow, 

 and even the cleared tracts were extremely desolate, 

 though checkered by patches of fine verdure. Deer 

 were seen traversing the plains in considerable num- 

 bers. Towards the north appeared another island, to 

 which was given the name of Sabine. It was found 

 that those parts of Melville Island which were clear of 

 enow produced the dwarf willow, sorrel, and poppy, 

 and that the moss was very luxuriant. On the second 

 day they saw a pair of ducks, and killed seven ptarmi- 

 gan ; sorrel and saxifrage were abundant. The party 

 found pieces of coal imbedded in sandstone ; passed a 

 very extensive, dreary, and uninteresting level plain, 

 covered with snow ; and this kind of ground, with occa- 

 sional ravines and foggy weather, continued for three 

 days, during which they saw not a living animal, except 

 one or two flocks of geese. 



Arrived at Bushman's Cove, in Liddon's Gulf, on the 

 western side of Melville Island, the party found " one 

 of the pleasantest and most habitable spots we bad yet 

 8 



