220 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1945 



tions to find openings west of Hudson Bay dampened interest in the 

 search in this direction, and for a time exploration was neglected. 



After the Napoleonic Wars, expeditions from the British Navy 

 renewed the search for a northern route through the sea reported north 

 of America. Edward Parry entered Lancaster Sound in 1819 and 

 twisted through eastward-moving ice floes as far as Melville Island 

 before freezing his ship in for the winter. The next season ice choking 

 the channel to the westward prevented further progress, and Parry 

 returned to England. In 1821 Parry tried the southern route through 

 Hudson Strait and Foxe Channel, and reached the entrance to Fury 

 and Hecla Strait before being stopped by ice. Later attempts to pass 

 through this strait also failed, and it has not yet been navigated by 

 other than Eskimo mariners. Further exploration by John Ross, 

 beginning in 1829, confirmed the existence of Boothia Peninsula ex- 

 tending north from the mainland of Canada and discouraged all hopes 

 for a passage through this region. Since Ross did not see Bellot Strait, 

 the strategic opening to the west, it was believed that Somerset Island 

 was part of this long barrier peninsula. 



In 1845 Sir John Franklin led a British naval expedition into Lan- 

 caster Sound, and, after being stopped by ice in Barrow Strait, win- 

 tered at Beechey Island, the southwestern corner of Devon Island. 

 The next year he continued westward and was lost, never to be seen 

 again. Despite the fact that 16 rescue expeditions entered the Arctic 

 from both the east and the west, discovered 6,000 miles of new coast 

 line in their search, and covered about 40,000 miles by winter sledge 

 trips, Franklin's fate remained a mystery until M'Clintock brought 

 out some clues in 1859. This extensive search well illustrated the 

 vastness of the Canadian Arctic. Many famous explorers, whose 

 names are now commemorated on our maps, traveled widely by small 

 boat in summer and by sledge in winter, and their mapping brought 

 forth the first definite outlines of the Arctic islands. All their ac- 

 counts lay stress on the short navigation season after the land-fast 

 ice breaks up, on being obstructed by extensive masses of pack ice 

 moving eastward from the Arctic Ocean through the many channels of 

 the Arctic islands to Baffin Bay and the North Atlantic, and on an 

 early freeze-up followed by a severe winter, with sledges as the only 

 means of travel. 



In 1854 the long-sought Northwest Passage was finally traversed by 

 Captain M'Clure and part of his crew. They abandoned their ice- 

 bound ship north of Banks Island in 1853 and sledged eastward to meet 

 Captain Kellett at Dealey Island. The next spring M'Clure sledged 

 to Beechey Island and was brought out from there by ship. When 

 the news that the difficult route had been found was combined with 

 geographic information which was reported on ice and navigation 



