88 CRUISE OF THE NEPTUNE 



The wars with the American colonies and with France occu- 

 pied the undivided attention of the British nation until after 

 the final fall of Napoleon, and during this period nothing was 

 done to further the renewal of the search for a northwest 

 passage, until 1817, when Captain Scoresbj published an ac- 

 count of the great disruption of the ice in the Greenland seas, 

 and pointed to the ease with which explorations might then be 

 carried on in the Arctics. He was aided by Sir John Barrow, 

 secretary to the Admiralty, who, by his writings and personal 

 influence, induced the British government to again undertake a 

 series of Arctic explorations. 



Two ships, well equipped for wintering in the north, were 

 fitted out to explore the regions westward of Davis strait. The 

 Isabella, commanded by Captain John Ross, and the Alexander, 

 by Lieutenant William Edward Parry, were selected for this 

 undertaking. They sailed on the 3rd of May, and were first 

 stopped by ice just north of Disko island on the 17th of June. 

 Melville bay was crossed with some difficulty, and a delay of a 

 week occurred near Cape York. At midnight on the 19th of 

 August the Isabella was in latitude 76 54' K"., with the Gary 

 islands bearing southeast; this was the most northerly point 

 reached. Ross considered Smith sound a closed bay, and named 

 the capes forming each side of it Isabella and Alexander, after 

 the ships. He stated that the sound probably extended eighteen 

 leagues; sailing down the western side, the mouths of Jones 

 and Lancaster sounds were passed, both free from ice, but Ross 

 did not enter them. He described Lancaster sound as closed by 

 the Crocker mountains. The expedition returned to England in 

 October, having practically accomplished nothing beyond con- 

 firming the statements of Baffin made many years before. 



The report of Ross was not thought conclusive by the Ad- 

 miralty, and in 1819 the Hecla and Griper were commissioned 

 to explore Lancaster sound. Lieutenant Parry was given com- 

 mand in the Hecla, with Lieutenant Mathew Liddon in the 



