Polar Explorations. 133 
ger of being crushed, being beset by immense fields of ice, 
and once the Fury was near shipwreck. The expedition 
ersisted in ineffectual efforts, until again compelled to re- 
tire to winter quarters in September, “ satisfied that no navi- 
gable passage existed for ships in that quarter.” 
The whole progress made during the summer of 1822 was 
only 3° north, and that had been accomplished principally by 
mere drifting, while the ships were beset by the ice. An arti- 
ficial harbor was made near the land by sawing the ice, and 
the ships once more frozen up for the winter. At this date, 
Capt. Parry remarks that, “ flattering as were our prospects 
at the commencement of the past summer, little satisfaction 
remained at the close of the season, but the consciousness 0 
e mentioned also, the want of fresh vegetables, the gloom 
i ily prospect, and the absence 
cochlearia or scurvy grass, were almost the only vegeta- 
bles yielded by the sterile soil. Of these, the little ob- 
tained were of essential service to the indisposed. ere 
as it was now time to provide for the coming winter, 
upon weighing these considerations it was determined to re- 
‘turn to England. Before coming to this conclusion, Capt. 
rry observes, that, “as the sun went down, we obtained 
from the mast head a distinct view in that quarter, and it is 
impossible to conceive a more hopeless prospect. One vast 
* Crantz, Greenland. 
