564 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



the promptings of revenge, and, moreover, directed his attacks 

 upon the weakest part of the ship. 



The whale of Captain Deblois, of the ship Ann Alexander, was 

 a still more remarkable animal. When harpooned, instead of 

 seeking to escape, he turned upon the boat, and, in the language 

 of an eye-witness, " chawed it to flinders." The second boat 

 met the same fate. The whale then dashed upon the ship, and 

 broke through her timbers, letting the water in in torrents. In an 

 hour the vessel lay a wreck upon the ocean. Four months after- 

 wards, the crew of the Rebecca Sims captured a whale of large 

 size but of enfeebled energies. He was found to have a damaged 

 head, with large fragments of a ship's fore-timbers buried in 

 his flesh ; while two harpoons, sunk almost to his vitals, and 

 labelled "Ann Alexander," designated him as the fierce but 

 now exhausted antagonist of Captain Deblois, of New Bedford. 



In 1827 — to return to the Arctic explorations — a new idea 

 was broached with reference to the Pole and the most likely 

 method of reaching it. Captain Parry, despairing of getting 

 there in ships, conceived the plan of constructing boats with run- 

 ners, which might be dragged upon the ice, or, in case of need, 

 he rowed through the water. The Government approved of the 

 idea, and two boats were specially constructed for the service : 

 each one, with its furniture and stores, weighed three thousand 

 seven hundred and fifty-three pounds. They were placed on 

 board the sloop-of-war Hecla ; and the expedition left the Nore 

 on the 4th of April, 1827, for Spitzbergen. At Hammersfeld, 

 in Norway, they took on board eight reindeer and a quantity 

 of moss for their fodder. 



After experiencing a series of tremendous gales, being beset 

 in the ice till the 8th of June, the Hecla was safely anchored 

 on the northern coast of Spitzbergen, in Hecla Cove. Parry 

 gave his instructions to his lieutenants, Foster and Croz v ier, and 

 on the 22d left the ship in the two boats, having named them 

 the Enterprise and Endeavor, with provisions for seventy-one 



