Chap. IV. PARRY'S FIRST VOYAGE. 103 



not, however, be said to be wholly wanting in interest, espe- 

 cially when associated in the mind with the peculiarity of 

 our situation, the object which had brought us hither, and 

 the hopes which the least sanguine among us sometimes 

 entertained, of spending a part of our next winter in the 

 more genial climate of the South-Sea Islands. Perhaps too, 

 though none of us then ventured to confess it, our thoughts 

 would sometimes involuntarily wander homewards, and in- 

 stitute a comparison between the rugged face of nature in 

 this desolate region, and the livelier aspect of the happy 

 land which we had left behind us." — pp. 124, 125. 



Nothing could be more judicious than the arrange- 

 ments made for the employment of the men each 

 day in the week ; and on Sundays divine service 

 was invariably performed, and a sermon read, on 

 board both ships. " The attention," says Parry, 

 " paid by the men to the observance of their reli- 

 gious duties was such as to reflect upon them the 

 highest credit, and it tended in no small degree to 

 the preservation of that regularity and good con- 

 duct for which, with very few exceptions, they were 

 invariably distinguished." The minor arrange- 

 ments made by Parry to find employment and to 

 vary the occupations of both men and officers, dur- 

 ing the long unbroken night of three months, appear 

 to have been very judicious. The former, after at- 

 tending divisions morning and evening, cleared up 

 the decks, attended the officers round the ships, ex- 

 amined their berths and bed-places, and in the even- 

 ing went to their supper, while the officers took their 

 tea. After this the men were permitted to amuse 



