^ ?*^^"*A of reaching the North Pole. 41 



must have been some other cause or causes that affected the re- 

 sult, and these, I humbly submit, have been pointed out in the 

 preceding remarks, as consisting chiefly in the too great weight 

 of the boats, — in the lateness of the season when the enterprize 

 was attempted, and, in another particular, which could not 

 have been anticipated, that is, the easterly/ meridian on which 

 the experiment was made*. 



Captain Parry, with whom I have the honour of being ac- 

 quainted, having made respectable mention of my name and 

 publications, in his " Narrative of an Attempt to reach the 

 Pole," I felt considerable hesitation in offering these remarks, 

 especially as there was no possibility of vindicating the plan ori- 

 ginally submitted to the Wernerian Society, for approaching 

 the Pole, without comparing it with the plan of the recent expe- 

 dition. And I regret that these remarks have assumed (unin- 

 tentionally and unavoidably indeed) the appearance of a criti- 

 cism on Captain Parry^s attempt ; but it must be obvious to 

 any one, that the object of this paper could not have been suffi- 

 ciently accomplished without it. And that I ought, with the 

 views I still hold of the practicability of the project, to attempt 

 its vindication, 1 trust the introductory remarks to this paper, 

 which were written some months ago, will justify ; for it might 

 naturally be said, that I considered the project of reaching the 

 Pole^ by a transglacial journey, as feasable, and proposed a plan 

 for carrying it into effect ; but as Captain Parry has attempted 

 the project, and, on a plan in many respects similar, has failed, 

 it must therefore be inferred that the undertaking is not prac- 

 ticable. Hence I am driven to the necessity, if I speak at all 

 in my own vindication, of criticising the defects of the plan of 

 the late expedition. And that I refer onlt/ to the plan, I con- 

 ceive it justice to my own feelings, as well as to the persevering 

 adventurers, explicitly to state ; for I give full praise to the great 



• It might be objected, as affecting this conclusion, that the less success of 

 Captain Parry, than the other adventurers alluded to, might be owing to a 

 difference in the state of the ice ; but it may be sufficient to answer, that the 

 difference in the season of the year, and state of the weather, were probably 

 quite sufficient to account for any difference that might exist in the surfaces 

 across which the parties respectively travelled. 



3 



