308 EXPEDITIONS OF PARRY AND ROSS— 1S27-3S. 



and that nothing now remained for us but to return home and be happy for 

 the rest of our days." 



There was nothing in the appearance of this famous spot to indicate that 

 this was the centre, or the position on the earth's surface of the centre, of 

 one of the greatest and most mysterious of earth's influences — terrestrial 

 magnetism. The land was low near the coast, and rose in ridges of fifty or 

 sixty feet high about a mile inland. No striking feature in the landscape 

 arrested the eye ; and " Nature had here no monument to denote the spot 

 which she had chosen as the centre of one of her great and dark powers." 

 Eoss had therefore to content himself with noting by mathematical numbers 

 and signs what it was difficult to distinguish in any other manner. An 

 encampment was speedily formed, and the necessary observations were 

 commenced. " The amount of dip," says Eoss, "as indicated by my dipping 

 needle, was 89° 59', being thus within one minute of the vertical ; while the 

 proximity at least of this pole, if not its actual existence where we stood, 

 was further confirmed by the action, or rather by the total inaction, of the 

 several horizontal needles then in my possession. These were suspended in 

 the most delicate manner possible, but there was not one which showed the 

 slightest effort to move from the position in which it was placed, a fact 

 which even the most moderately informed of readers must now know to be 

 one which proves that the centre of attraction lies at a very small horizontal 

 distance, if any." 



Having thus ascertained tliat he had reached the position of the Mag- 

 netic Pole on the earth's surface — that, in fact, he was actually standing upon 

 that hitherto unknown spot — Ross communicated to his companions the 

 result of their joint labours, after which, amid mutual congratulations, he, 

 with their co-operation, planted the British flag upon the spot, and " took 

 possession of the North Magnetic Pole and its adjoining territory in the name 

 of Great Britain and William IV." A lofty cairn, under which was buried 

 a canister containing a record of the discovery, was raised, and the latitude 

 was determined to be 70° 5' 17" N., long. 96° 46' 45" W. The return journey 

 was commenced on the 2d, and successfully finished on the 13th June. 



This famous and important discovery was the one great scientific achieve- 

 ment of the expedition, and from this point onwards there is little to note, 

 further than the various and disheartening attempts made by the explorers 

 to escape from the ice, until we come to record more in detail the heroic 

 efforts by which, abandoning their vessel, they at last reached the open sea 

 in their boats. 



The summer of 1831 was chilly, and brought with it no promise of relief 

 to the ice-bound explorers. On the night of the 3d July water, previously 

 open, froze to the thickness of an inch and a half. During this month an 

 immense number of fish were caught, and pickled in hot vinegar, dried, or 



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