POLAR REGIONS. 



35 



Polar articles GREENLAND, Ice, ICELAND, and 



J.uGY. 



The return of the Second Expedition, termed the 

 North-West, under Captain Parry, affording us some 

 additional knowledge of the Polar Regions, and much 

 interesting information respecting the Esquimaux of 

 the north-eastern peninsula of America, we shall ap- 

 pend to this article some account of the recent voyage. 

 Ttiis expedition consisted of two ships, the Fury and 

 Hecla ; the latter under the command of Captain Lyon. 

 These ships, accompanied by the Nautilus transport, 

 iKiU-d from the Nore on the 8th of May, 1821. 



The first iceberg was seen in latitude, 60 48' longi- 

 tude 53-> 13,' on the 14th of June; and the expedition 

 reached the edge of the packed ice, at the mouth of 

 Hudson's Strait, on the 18th. On the 1st of July, the 

 Nautilus, being cleared of the stores she conveyed for 

 the expedition across the Atlantic, returned to Eng- 

 land, having augmented their resources to three years 

 provision, &C. at full allowance. 



At their first entrance into Hudson's Strait, they en- 

 countered considerable impediments from packed drift 

 ice, so that on the 20th of July, they had penetrated 

 little more than two degrees of longitude beyond Re- 

 solution Island, at the entrance of the Strait. At this 

 point the ships were visited by several Esquimaux, 

 whose manners were disgusting in the extreme. The 

 impression made on the mind of Captain Parry, as to 

 their moral condition, was so unfavourable, that he 

 remarks that the nations of this part of Hudson's 

 Strait seem to have acquired, by an annual inter- 

 course with our ships for nearly a hundred years, many 

 of the vices which unhappily attend a first intercourse 

 with the civilized world, without having imbibed any 

 of the virtues or refinements which adorn and render 

 it happy. * A better behaved party, however, of the 

 same nation, visited the expedition on the 31st of July, 

 higher up the Strait. 



The greatest obstruction of the navigation of Hud- 

 son's Strait from ice, occurs in the first five degrees of 

 longitude, or as far as Savage Island ; afterwards, with 

 the exception of a small patch near Charles Island, 

 little or no obstruction is usual. And such was the ex- 

 perience of Captain Parry. 



After leaving Hudson's Strait, the expedition pro- 

 ceeded up Fox's Channel, to he eastward of Southamp- 

 ton Island. It came to new ground on the 8th of Au- 

 gust, near Baffin's Island, which lies on the north-east 

 of Southampton, where the discoveries of Captain 

 Parry may be said to commence. 



The interruption from ice now became constant, so 

 that the progress made was often extremely tardy. 

 Their object was to penetrate through Frozen Strait, 

 or the channel on the north of Southampton Island, 

 and to proceed round to the westward into Repulse 

 Bay, to examine whether the American continent did 

 not here terminate. This bay they entered on the 21st 

 of August, and on the day following satisfactorily de- 

 termined the continuity of the land all round. The 

 account of Repulse Bay, as given by Captain Middle- 

 ton, was found to be very accurate, with the excep- 

 tion of its geographical position, the fixing of which our 

 early navigators had not the means of accomplishing. 



The land to the north and north- east of Repulse 

 Bay was named Melville Peninsula, the coast of which 

 was now examined towards the north. Part of the 



northern boundary of Frozen Strait WAS found to con- 

 sist of islands, betwixt which and the main a small 

 channel was discovered. This afforded them a short 

 but dangerous passage into a es much encumbered 

 with ice. Having moored to a large piece on the 1st 

 of September, they drifted during a gale from the 

 northward to the very spot, near Southampton Island, 

 where they had been nearly a month before. 



On the 5th, having had a clear run to the northward, 

 they came to the entrance of a fine opening into the 

 main land, running towards the north-west, which it 

 now became an object with them to explore. The 

 ships penetrated a few leagues, and the examination 

 was completed in the boats by Captain Parry in person. 

 This inlet, which was named after Captain Lyon, was 

 closely explored to its termination in Ross's Bay, a 

 distance of 50 miles from the ship. In this examina- 

 tion, which occupied seven or eight days, a party of 

 Esquimaux was discovered. Captain Parry, who visit- 

 ed their hut, thought them a good-humoured decent sort 

 of people, not devoid, however, of the propensity to 

 thieving which is too common in people of this class. 

 Among the Esquimaux remains found here was a cu. 

 rious net, formed of rings of whalebone, tied together 

 by fibres of the same. 



An interval of land between this place and Hurd's 

 Channel being yet unknown, Captain Parry next 

 employed himself in tracing it in a boat, which occu- 

 pied him nine days, in consequence of a detention 

 from the ice setting upon the shore, The entire conti- 

 nuity of the land, however, was clearly made out. 



In proceeding out of Lyon's Inlet, they encountered 

 a heavy gale of wind, accompanied by all the signs of 

 incipient winter. It commenced on the 30th of Sep- 

 tember, and continued three days. They fortunately 

 sheltered in a small nook, that was called, in conse- 

 quence of the retreat it afforded, Safety Cove. 



By this time they had fairly made their way out of 

 the inlet, the sea became covered with new ice, as well 

 as encumbered by old. Intercepting their progress to 

 the northward was an island lying off the eastern head- 

 land of Lyon's Inlet, which it was necessary to double. 

 Before, however, they could accomplish this object, 

 the rapid increase of new ice, (with a fall of the ther- 

 mometer to zero on the 8th,) put a stop to their pro- 

 gress, and induced them to seek out for winter-quar- 

 ters. The most suitable situation that offered was a 

 small bay at the southern corner of the contiguous 

 island, (which they named Winter Island,) where the 

 ships were hauled inshore, in a place defended by 

 some masses of grounded ice, on the 8th of October. 

 Their position was in latitude 66 11' 26", and longi- 

 tude 83* 9' 49" west, where they remained in security 

 the whole of the winter. This parallel being without 

 the arctic circle, does not properly belong to our ar- 

 ticle ; but the climate being here truly polar, we shall 

 not withhold some remarks respecting it. 



On the 2 1 st of October, the thermometer fell to 13, 

 when the timbers of the ships began to crack, " in con- 

 sequence," as they considered, " of the freezing of the 

 juices of the wood." The true cause of this phenome- 

 non, however, we conceive to be in the extraordinary 

 dryness of the air at low temperatures. On the 25th 

 the thermometer rose to -f 25, when they experienced 

 an inconvenient degree of warmth. 



An admirable system for economizing heat and wann- 

 ing the ships devise by Mr. Sylvester of London, which 



* Journal of a Second Voyage, p. 15. It will not be necessary to quote this work regularly as we proceed, because we are indebted to it 

 principally for the account of the voyage we here give. 



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