CONCLUSION. 191 



edge of the ice within a hundred miles of this 

 parallel, or to the northward of 80° 16' N. 



Notwithstanding this very unfavourable state 

 of the northern seas, the expedition attained 

 nearly as high a latitude as any that had previ- 

 ously been reached, if we except Mr. Scoresby's 

 singular advance to 82° N. ; and, from the fact 

 that no other expedition has since been under- 

 taken for the same purpose, it would appear that 

 the fulness of the attempt made by Captain Bu- 

 chan has been admitted. 



Here, strictly speaking, the Polar voyages 

 have been brought to a close, but there is yet 

 one attempt so immediately connected with this 

 subject, and of so enterprising a character, besides 

 reflecting so much lustre upon our hardy country- 

 men by whom it was executed, that it must on 

 no account be omitted. It was a project no less 

 bold and daring than that of endeavouring to 

 reach the Pole by means of two small boats, so 

 constructed that they might either be used as 

 sledges upon the ice, or rowed in the open water. 



The expedition consisted of twenty-eight per- 

 sons, under the command of our great Polar 

 navigator, Sir Edward Parry, distinguished alike 

 for his courage and perseverance, as for his 

 patient endurance and humane consideration of 

 those under his command. His former ship, the 



