442 Tke yJrclic Expedition. 



when the fog was thick, as a change of wind would sometimes 

 clear the atmosphere sufficiently f<n" the sun to penetrate it. 



One morning, having run about 100 miles in a thick fog, they 

 made the land, but could not tell wlietlier it was a new discovery, 

 or the island which they had left the day before, until the longi- 

 tude was ascertained upon a floe of ice : it then proved to be Mel- 

 ville Island. 



Considerable discoveries were made in the variation, dip of the 

 compass, and magnetism in ge;)eral during the voyage. On the 

 IGth of September the sea was first frozen over, which carried the 

 ships into dangerous situations, and rendered them immoveable. 

 This obliged them to get into port for the winter, and by the 26th 

 of September, a passage of three miles into Winter Harbour, 

 Melville Island, was cut for the purpose. Soon after this pe- 

 riod the thermometer fell below zero ; in November it stood at 

 50 below, and in April following at 55 ; which latter is the 

 greatest degree of cold ever registered. 



On the 16th of November the sun set from them, and did not 

 rise again till the 6th of February. On the 21st of December, 

 at noon, they could just read small print by turning the leaf to 

 the light. They saw no clouds during the winter, and but little 

 snow fell. The aurora horealis was frequently seen, but never 

 brilliantly displayed. It was bitter cold when the wind blew, 

 but at other times bearable. Its intensity may be judged of from 

 the fact that port wine in the officers' cabins froze and burst the 

 bottles ; and on the officers' beds the thermometer stood from 

 16 to 20 below the freezing point. 



In April (1S20) partial symptoms of thaw appeared. By the 

 end of May pools and streams of water made their appearance, 

 and soon after a regular thaw commenced. Captain Parry with a 

 party now crossed Melville Island, and reached the sea on the 

 opposite side in Int. 75° N. where they discovered another island. 

 Fourteen days were occupied in this excursion, and making ob- 

 servations on the animal and mineral productions. Vegetation 

 had now become active ; and sorrel was found in such cpiantitv 

 as to remove all symptoms of scurvy from the crew. By the end 

 of .Iidv the ice disappeared in Winter Harbour ; but it was not till 

 the last day of the month that the outside ice was rent sufficiently 

 to permit their departure; and on the (Jth of August they reached 

 the western termination of Melville Island, when the floe ice was 

 from forty to sixtv feet thick, and so compact that not a hole of 

 water could be seen amongst it. The ships waited here eleven 

 days (one-third of the summer in that clime) ; when seeing no 

 change, and the general opinion being that all attempts to pro- 

 ceed westward in that parallel were useless, on tlie 23d of August 

 tiiey steered to the eastwardj searching for a passage to the 



st)Ulh- 



