of reaching the North Pole. SI 



Now, I have no hesitation in asserting, without the fear of 

 contradiction, that whatever other pecuhar difficulties may be- 

 long to the season I have suggested, none of these striking and 

 formidable peculiarities would have been met with, except the 

 first, and that that difficulty would necessarily have occurred 

 much less frequently, and, possibly, for days together not at all. 

 Because in the month of May, as I have already said, the ge- 

 neral character of the ice is field-like, and the constant tenden- 

 cy to be continuous ; — because in May there is no rain, except 

 at the borders of the ice, and even there it is so uncommon as 

 to be quite a phenomenon ; — because in May the surface of the 

 ice, where bare of snow, though having a granular roughness, 

 is free from sharp crystals ; — and because in May the snow u}3- 

 on the ice is unmixed with water, and no pools or lakes, unless 

 from orifices admitting ponds of sea-water, which are not fre- 

 quent, occur on the floes. That the disadvantages belonging 

 to the season, therefore, at which the adventure was under- 

 taken, are great and formidable, and for the most part might 

 be avoided, I trust what has been said amounts to proof. 



I nmst not neglect, however, to concede to the plan of the 

 recent expedition an accidental delay of almost twenty-one days, 

 nor would I omit acknowledging that this brief space of time 

 might have proved of much importance to their greater success, 

 by enabling them to reach the field-ice before the commence- 

 ment of the rains. It was the intention of Captain Parry to 

 have " set out from Spitzbergen, if possible, about the begin- 

 ning of June, and to occupy the months of June, July, and 

 August in attempting to reach the Pole, and returning to the 

 ship*;"" but, in consequence of the instructions which had been 

 given him, he had first to find a place of security for the ship, 

 in efi^ecting which, in connection with several days besetment in 

 the ice, he was so delayed that he was not able to proceed on 

 his expedition until the 21st of June. No doubt he would have 

 been justified in departing from his instructions in this particu- 

 lar, as he had indeed designed, could he have left the Hecia in 

 a place of probable safety, and with a competent crew. But 

 the situation on the northern face of Spitzbergen on which they 

 sought for shelter (probably owing to their being forced thither 



• Introduction, p. xiii. 



