1823.] of the Expedition under Capt. Parry. 165 



Cumberland Straits, is the main channel by which it communi'- 

 cates with the Northern Atlantic. Through these Straits then 

 we assume that Capt. Parry, agreeably to his own expectations 

 and speculations, made good his entrance in the summer of 1821. 

 The question comes, where is he now ? and what is to become 

 of him ? It would indeed be most gratifying, could a reply of 

 definite probability be given to this question ; were it but to 

 soothe the mind for a time into tranquillity, and to dissipate a 

 portion of that uneasiness which must otherwise be felt. But 

 this is not to be done, and we must be content with such con- 

 jectures as circumstances seem to warrant. 



It is quite needless to imagine that they could have got 

 through into Behring's Straits the first season. Such a supposi- 

 tion, though favourable to their object, is fatal to their existence; 

 because they must have been either at home, or heard of, long 

 a°o. There can be no hesitation then in rejecting this notion. 



The Jirst supposition we shall hazard, then, is, that during the 

 summer of 1821 they found admission somewhere in the vicinity 

 of the channel already specified, and that favoured by their 

 former experience, the accidental openness of the season, the 

 lower degree of latitude, and other concurrences, and keeping 

 the American coast fast on board, they penetrated to a consider- 

 able distance, say beyond the longitude of the Copper Mine 

 River, and that on the return of summer 1 822, they recommenced 

 operations, went forward, passing Mackenzie's River, and 

 pushed through into Behring's Straits, either by some outlet 

 north of Cape Prince of Wales, such as Kotzebue's Sound, or 

 by doubling Icy Cape, probably last September. This is clearly 

 the most favourable supposition that can be made. Should it 

 prove correct, we may begin to expect intelligence very soon, 

 or in the course of the ensuing spring, either by the Isthmus of 

 Darien and the West Indies, or we may see them by the East 

 Indies, or Cape Horn, according to the route by which they 

 return, which will doubtless be left to Capt. Parry's discretion.* 

 We cannot anticipate early news by Kamtschatka and Petersburg, 

 the journey being so long and tedious. 



The supposition now made, however, though a possible case, 

 is a barely possible one. The presumptions are all adverse to it. 

 Vv e have placed our adventurers at the end of the first season 

 beyond the mouth of the; Copper Mine River, for the sake of 

 making every allowance, rather than because it is probable they 

 could have reached thus far. The probability is, they did not, 

 and this is corroborated by another probability, that they may 

 have been detained a long time, perhaps nearly a season, in 

 doing little more than finding a channel by which they might 

 advance, as happened to a certain extent in the former voyage, 



* From this view it is obvious, that the circumstance of our not yet having heard of 

 them ought not, by itself, to occasion the least disquietude. 



