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Table of Contents

1819-1827: Parry’s first voyage.—Object, to survey Lancaster Sound and prove the non-existence of Crocker Mountains.—Discovery of new lands.—Parry Islands.—Attains longitude 110° W., thereby winning the bounty of five thousand pounds offered by Parliament.—Winters near Melville Island.—Second voyage.—Ships Hecla and Fury.—Examines Duke of York Bay and Frozen Strait of Middleton.—Winters off Lyon Inlet.—Sledge journeys.—Object, to make Northwest Passage via Prince Regent Inlet.—Reached Port Bowen.—Ten months’ imprisonment.—Destruction of the Fury.—Hasty return to England. Fourth voyage.—Purpose to reach the Pole via Spitzbergen with sledge boats over ice.—Hecla as transport.—Parry’s farthest, 82° 45´ N., reached June 23, 1827.

PARRY’S FIRST VOYAGE

The principal object of Lieutenant W. E. Parry’s first voyage under the direction of the British Admiralty was to pursue the survey of Lancaster Sound, so abruptly discontinued by Captain Ross the previous year, and decide the probability of a northwest passage in that direction, thus settling the much-disputed question of the existence of the “Crocker Mountains,” which Parry, who had accompanied Ross, declared from the first to have been an ocular illusion. Should Lancaster Sound not prove navigable, Smith and Jones sounds were to be explored.

The Hecla, 375 tons, and the Griper, 180 tons, were strengthened and provisioned for two years. Sailing from the Thames May 11, 1819, they reached Davis Strait the last week in June, and here experienced a good deal of annoyance from ice, through which they made a slow and difficult passage by heaving and warping, reaching Possession Bay a month later. Upon landing the men were not a little surprised to see their own footprints of the previous year; a fox, a raven, some ring flowers, and snow-buntings were seen, also a bee. Tufts and ground plants grew in considerable abundance wherever there was moisture.

Proceeding on their voyage, they reached, by August 4, longitude 86° 56´ W., three degrees to the westward of where land had been laid down by Captain Ross. Passing through Barrow Strait, they found ice to such an extent north of Leopold Island that Parry determined to shape his course to the southward and explore the beautiful sheet of water to which he gave the name of Regent Inlet.

The compass now became useless, owing to the local attraction, and the binnacles were discarded. Having penetrated one hundred and twenty miles and having given the farthest point of land the name of Cape Kater, it was found necessary to return to the southward or be caught in the ice. Skirting the north shore of Barrow Strait, they later passed two large openings, to the first of which Parry gave the name of Wellington Channel, also naming various capes and inlets, as he passed them, Batham, Barlow, Cornwallis, Bowen, Byam Martin, Griffith, Lowther, Bathurst, and others.

Navigation now became extremely difficult, owing to thick fogs, but notwithstanding many obstacles they reached the coast of an island larger than any yet discovered, which they called Melville Island, and by the 4th of September Lieutenant Parry was able to make the joyful announcement to his crew that, having passed longitude 110° W., they were entitled to the reward of five thousand pounds promised by Parliament to the first ship’s company which should reach that meridian.

To celebrate their success, they gave the name of Cape Bounty to the farthest neck of land sighted in the distance. Every effort was now made to push forward in the hope of reaching longitude 130° W., thereby securing the second reward held out by the government. They had progressed but a short distance when, to their great disappointment, farther advance became impossible by reason of an impenetrable barrier of ice.

The approach of winter decided Lieutenant Parry to seek the shelter near Melville Island and there prepare for the long winter months.

To the group of islands in the vicinity of which he had taken refuge, he gave the name of Georgian Islands, in honour of His Majesty, King George III, but later the name was changed to Parry Islands.

Knowing well that good spirits meant good health in the tedious winter months, Lieutenant Parry established a school for his men, as well as the diversion of a newspaper, and the ship’s crew acted several plays, which were most enthusiastically received. In spite of enforced exercise and other methods for keeping in good physical condition, scurvy showed itself among the crew, and such antiscorbutics as lemon juice, pickles, mustard, cress, and spruce-beer were put into requisition. Later, snow-blindness afflicted some of the men, but was relieved by washes and the wearing of black crape before the eyes.

As the spring approached, the ships were made ready for the first opportunity to escape from the ice, which, however, remained impenetrable.

On the 1st of June an excursion was made across Melville Island by Lieutenant Parry and others, carrying provisions for three weeks. They found such parts of the ground as were free from snow covered with dwarf willow, sorrel, and poppy, also moss and saxifrage. A few ducks and ptarmigan were killed. Upon his return to the ship the middle of June, Captain Parry ordered his men to make daily excursions after sorrel, which they procured in large quantities and greatly enjoyed. On the western side of the island at Bushman’s Cove, in Liddon’s Gulf, they found “one of the pleasantest and most habitable spots we had yet seen in the Arctic regions, the vegetation being more abundant and forward than in any other place, and the situation sheltered and favorable for game.”

Though channels and pools were everywhere forming, it was not until the second of August that the great mass of ice broke up and floated out. The ship now made for the open water, but after a short advance, in spite of every effort, they found themselves once more prevented by the impenetrable barrier of ice from making their way westward. There seemed no alternative but a return homeward, and after taking certain additional observations of the two coasts extending along Barrow Strait, they set sail for England.

A warm welcome awaited the daring navigators, who had reached a longitude greater by more than 30° than any other explorer; who had discovered many new lands, islands, and bays; had established the fact of a polar sea north of America; and had wintered successfully in the Arctic, bringing back his crew in good condition.

PARRY’S SECOND VOYAGE

Parry’s unprecedented success and the enthusiasm for Arctic exploration throughout England decided the British Admiralty to send out a second expedition to attempt a passage in a lower latitude than that of Melville Island. The Hecla and the Fury were manned and provisioned and put under the command of Captain Parry and Lieutenant Lyon, whose travels in Tripoli, Mourzouk, and other parts of northern Africa had already brought him consideration and some degree of renown. The transport Nautilus was to accompany the ships as far as the ice, and transship extra provisions and stock as soon as room could be found for them.

The ships sailed from the Nore on the 8th of May, 1821, and by the 2d of July were at the mouth of Hudson Strait, having parted with the Nautilus the previous day. Icebergs in formidable numbers had already been encountered, and the desolate condition of the shores, the naked rocks, the snow-covered valleys, and the thick fogs encountered were anything but encouraging.

Progress was now made through very heavy floes, and between strong currents, eddies, and icebergs they were menaced by serious danger for more than ten days. While embayed in the ice, they sighted near Resolution Island three strange ships also fast in the ice. These they later managed to join, and found them to be Hudson Bay Company’s traders, the Prince of Wales, the Eddystone, and the Lord Wellington, chartered to convey one hundred and sixty emigrants, who intended settling on Lord Selkirk’s estate at the Red River. Of these people Lieutenant Lyon writes an interesting account:—

“While nearing these vessels, we observed the settlers waltzing on deck for above two hours, the men in old-fashioned gray jackets, and the women wearing long-eared mob caps, like those used by Swiss peasants. As we were surrounded by ice, and the thermometer was at the freezing point, it may be supposed that this ball al vero fresco afforded us much amusement.”

Some days later they fell in with some Eskimos, who came out to the ships, the men in their kayaks, the women in their special “oomiaks.” The natives boarded the ships and, says Captain Lyon:—

“It is quite out of my power to describe the shouts, yells, and laughter of the savages, or the confusion which existed for two or three hours. The females were at first very shy, and unwilling to come on the ice, but bartered everything from their boats. This timidity, however, soon wore off, and they, in the end, became as noisy and boisterous as the men.”

“The strangers were so well pleased in our society,” continues Captain Lyon, “that they showed no wish to leave us, and when the market had quite ceased, they began dancing and playing with our people, on the ice alongside.

“In order to amuse our new acquaintances as much as possible, the fiddler was sent on the ice, where he instantly found a most delightful set of dancers, of whom some of the women kept pretty good time. Their only figure consisted in stamping and jumping with all their might. Our musician, who was a lively fellow, soon caught the infection, and began cutting capers also. In a short time every one on the floe, officers, men, and savages, were dancing together, and exhibited one of the most extraordinary sights I ever witnessed. One of our seamen, of a fresh, ruddy complexion, excited the admiration of all the young females, who patted his face and danced round him wherever he went. The exertion of dancing so exhilarated the Eskimos, that they had the appearance of being boisterously drunk, and played many extraordinary pranks. Among others, it was a favorite joke to run slyly behind the seamen, and shouting loudly in one ear, to give them at the same time a very smart slap on the other. While looking on, I was sharply saluted in this manner, and, of course, was quite startled, to the great amusement of the bystanders. Our cook, who was a most active and unwearied jumper, became so great a favorite, that every one boxed his ears so soundly as to oblige the poor man to retire from such boisterous marks of approbation. Among other sports, some of the Eskimos, rather roughly but with great good humor, challenged our people to wrestle. One man in particular, who had thrown several of his countrymen, attacked an officer of a very strong make, but the poor savage was instantly thrown, with no very easy fall; yet, although every one was laughing at him, he bore it with exemplary good humor. The same officer afforded us much diversion by teaching a large party of women to bow, courtesy, shake hands, turn their toes out, and perform other polite accomplishments; the whole party, master and pupils, presenting the strictest gravity.

“Toward midnight all our men, except the watch on deck, turned into their beds, and the fatigued and hungry Eskimos returned to their boats to take their supper, which consisted of lumps of raw flesh, and blubber of seals, birds, entrails, etc.; licking their fingers with great zest, and with knives or fingers scraping the blood and grease which ran down their chins into their mouths.”

FROZEN STRAIT OF MIDDLETON

Parry made an examination of Duke of York Bay, and the 20th of August reached the Frozen Strait of Middleton. Two days later the Hecla and Fury got well into Repulse Bay, and a careful examination of the shores was made by parties of officers and men in boats. By the 31st of August they reached Gore Bay, which was packed with ice. Encountering thick fogs, northerly winds, and heavy ice-floes, they found that in spite of every exertion they were being carried back to the spot in Fox Channel from which they had started some days before. However, they later made some advance and anchored near Lyon Inlet.

Early in October the sludge, or young ice, began to form, a warning of approaching winter, to be followed shortly by the pancake ice and bay ice, which necessitated finding at once winter quarters for the ships. The southeast extremity of an island off Lyon Inlet was selected, and called Winter Island, and the monotonous winter closed in upon them shortly after.

TEN MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT

The usual theatrical diversions were provided for the entertainment of the crew, and the “Rivals” was presented as well as another successful play. The crew took kindly to a school established by the officers and to other forms of mental and physical activity designed to keep the expedition in good health and spirits. Christmas was celebrated with especial good cheer, and English roast beef, which had been kept by being frozen, was served, as well as cranberry pies and plum puddings. The effect of the intense cold upon certain of their stores is interesting:—

“Wine froze in the bottles. Port was congealed into thin pink laminæ, which lay loosely, and occupied the whole length of the bottle. White wine, on the contrary, froze into a solid and perfectly transparent mass, resembling amber.”

On the 15th of March, a party under Captain Lyon started out to explore the land near the ships; they were provisioned for three or four days, but their experience was most unfortunate. The cold was intense, their tents at night affording little protection against the frightfully low temperature. They spent some time digging out a snow hut, which they hoped would prove warmer, but this was hardly more satisfactory. The following morning they found themselves almost buried with snow which had drifted at night during a fierce gale which now raged. All paraphernalia, sledges, etc., were completely buried. To remain where they were was as impracticable as to move on. Carrying with them a few pounds of bread, some rum, and a spade, the party set out in the hope of reaching the ships. Captain Lyon records their sufferings as follows:—

“Not knowing where to go, we wandered among heavy hummocks of ice, and suffering from cold, fatigue, and anxiety, were soon completely bewildered. Several of our party now began to exhibit symptoms of that horrid kind of insensibility which is the prelude of sleep. They all professed extreme willingness to do what they were told in order to keep in exercise, but none obeyed; on the contrary, they reeled about like drunken men. The faces of several were severely frost bitten, and some had for a considerable time lost sensation in their fingers and toes; yet they made not the slightest exertion to rub the parts affected, and even discontinued their general custom of warning each other on observing a discoloration of the skin. Mr. Palmer employed the people in building a snow wall, ostensibly as a shelter from the wind, but in fact to give them exercise when standing still must have proved fatal to men in our circumstances. My attention was exclusively directed to Sergeant Speckman, who, having been repeatedly warned that his nose was frozen, had paid no attention to it, owing to the state of stupefaction into which he had fallen. The frost bite now extended over one side of his face, which was frozen as hard as a mask; the eyelids were stiff and one corner of the upper lip so drawn up as to expose the teeth and gums. My hands being still warm, I had happiness in restoring circulation, after which I used all my endeavors to keep the poor fellow in motion; but he complained sadly of giddiness and dimness of sight, and was so weak as to be unable to walk without assistance. His case was so alarming that I expected every moment he would lie down never to rise again.

“Our prospect now became every moment more gloomy, and it was but too probable that four of our party would be unable to survive another hour. Mr. Palmer, however, endeavored, as well as myself, to cheer the people up, but it was a faint attempt, as we had not a single hope to give them. Every piece of ice, or even of small rock or stone, was now supposed to be the ships, and we had great difficulty in preventing the men from running to the different objects which attracted them, and consequently losing themselves in the drift. In this state, while Mr. Palmer was running round us to warm himself, he suddenly pitched on a new beaten track, and as exercise was indispensable, we determined on following it, wherever it might lead us. Having taken the Sergeant under my coat, he recovered a little, and we moved onward, when to our infinite joy we found that the path led to the ships.”

It was not until the 2d of July that the ships, free from ice for the first time in 267 days, put to sea, but not without danger of squeezes from the moving ice-floes which frequently threatened the destruction of the ship. Pushing to the northward, they entertained high hopes of making the looked-for passage to the Polar Sea, but unfortunately a formidable line of impenetrable ice barred the way and determined Parry to make an expedition along the frozen surface of the strait in which they found themselves.

For four days Parry, accompanied by a party of six, made a laborious and fatiguing advance over the uneven hummocks of ice that confronted them. At times open water made the journey still more perilous. Their exertions were at last repaid when they came in view of a bold cape, where they found the strait at its narrowest part about two miles across. To the westward the land receded until it became invisible, and Captain Parry beheld the great Polar Sea, into which he had long hoped to force his way. Naming this the Fury and Hecla Strait, he made ready for the return to the ships.

Taking advantage of every favourable condition, Captain Parry now made as rapid progress toward his goal as the ice would permit. Under full sail they pushed into the rotten ice that formed the barrier to the open water, but suddenly they became fixed,—not another yard could be gained. It was now found necessary to extricate the vessels and seek shelter for another long winter. On the 30th of October, by the usual operation of sawing, the ships were drawn into the harbour of Igloolik, and made ready for the winter, which was now rapidly closing.

Excursions were occasionally made with dogs and sledges bought of the Eskimos, but the season settled down with unusual severity and the second long winter’s night proved much more trying than the first. Death and scurvy made their lamentable appearance, and although Captain Parry desired to make another effort the following year by transferring to the Fury all provisions that could be spared, and sending the Hecla home with the sick, this project was abandoned, and on the 9th of August they turned their faces homeward.

They touched at Winter Island and found radishes, mustard, cress, and onions that they had planted the previous year still alive. The ships were drifted about in a stormy sea at the mercy of ice-floes and adverse currents. Not until September 23 did they get free into the Atlantic; and, the 10th of October, 1823, reached Lerwick, Scotland.

DESTRUCTION OF THE FURY

This expedition having proved the impracticability of a passage through the western extremity of Melville Island or by way of Fury and Hecla Strait, it was hoped that a passage might be accomplished through Prince Regent Inlet. For this purpose, Captain Parry was again fitted out in the Hecla and in the accidental absence of Captain Lyon, Lieutenant Hoppner was put in command of the Fury. The expedition sailed from Northfleet on the 19th of May, 1824, and entered Davis Strait about the middle of June. Lancaster Sound was not reached until September 10, and Port Bowen was made their winter quarters. After ten months’ imprisonment, the ships were once more free, but, later overtaken by gales, both ships sustained serious damage. Drift ice caught them and threatened immediate destruction. The Fury was thrown on shore and seriously damaged. Later it was found necessary to abandon her. The Hecla, now overcrowded by the provisions and crew of the Fury, could no longer pursue her course and was forced to return to England. Bitter as was his disappointment, Parry clung to the idea that a northwest passage would some day be accomplished, and to this end he wrote:—

“I feel confident that the undertaking, if it be deemed advisable at any future time to pursue it, will one day or other be accomplished; for setting aside the accidents to which, from their very nature, such attempts must be liable, as well as other unfavorable circumstances which human foresight can never guard against, or human power control, I cannot but believe it to be an enterprise of practicability. It may be tried often and fail, for several favorable and fortunate circumstances must be combined for its accomplishment: but I believe, nevertheless, that it will ultimately be accomplished.”

“I am much mistaken, indeed,” he continues, “if the Northwest Passage ever becomes the business of a single summer; nay, I believe that nothing but a concurrence of very favorable circumstances is likely ever to make a single winter in the ice sufficient for its accomplishment. But there is no argument against the possibility of final success; for we know that a winter in the ice may be passed not only in safety, but in health and comfort.”

PARRY’S FOURTH VOYAGE

“I in April, 1826,” writes Captain Parry, “proposed to the Right Honorable Viscount Melville, the first lord commissioner of the Admiralty, to attempt to reach the North Pole by means of travelling with sledge-boats over the ice, or through any spaces of open water that might occur. My proposal was soon afterward referred to the president and council of the Royal Society, who strongly recommended its adoption; and an expedition being accordingly directed to be equipped for this purpose, I had the honour of being appointed to the command of it; and my commission for his majesty’s ship the Hecla, which was to carry us to Spitzbergen, was dated the 11th of November, 1826.

Entering Lancaster Sound

“Two boats were constructed at Woolwich, under my superintendence, after an excellent model suggested by Mr. Peake, and nearly resembling what are called ‘troop-boats,’ having great flatness of floor, with the extreme breadth carried well forward and aft, and possessing the utmost buoyancy, as well as capacity for storage. Their length was twenty feet, and their extreme breadth seven feet. The timbers were made of tough ash and hickory, one inch by half an inch square, and a foot apart, with a ‘half timber’ of smaller size between each two. On the outside of the frame thus formed was laid a covering of Mackintosh’s water proof canvas, the outer part being covered with tar. Over this was placed a plank for fir, only three-sixteenths of an inch thick; then a sheet of stout felt; and over all, an oak plank of the same thickness as the fir; the whole of these being firmly and closely secured to the timbers by iron screws applied from without.”

“On each side of the keel,” continues Captain Parry, “and projecting considerably below it, was attached a strong ‘runner’ shod with smooth steel, in the manner of a sledge, upon which the boat entirely rested while upon the ice.” Two wheels were also attached, but soon discarded as useless, owing to the unevenness of the ice.

Two officers and twelve men were selected for each boat’s crew. The Hecla, acting as transport for the adventure, sailed March 27, 1827, and made Hakluyt’s Headland by the 13th of May, where she was shortly beset by an ice-floe which carried her off to the eastward, causing both delay and vexation. For the safety of the Hecla it was found necessary to return to Spitzbergen and secure anchorage in a safe harbour. This Parry accomplished and, finding a convenient recess, which he named Hecla’s Cove, made ready for the main object of the expedition.

Having with him seventy-one days’ provisions, consisting of pemmican, biscuit, cocoa, and rum, with spirit of wine to be used as fuel, changes of warm clothing, thick fur dresses for sleeping in, and stout Eskimo boots, he got away June 22, and proceeded in open water some eighty miles, when the boats came to a trying condition of mixed surface ice and water, through which it was found necessary alternately to haul and float them. Owing to the better condition of the ice, it was deemed best to reverse the usual course of life.

“Travelling by night and sleeping by day,” writes Captain Parry “so completely inverted the natural order of things that it was difficult to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at which part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never knew night from day during the whole excursion. When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers; after which we took off our fur sleeping dresses and put on clothes for travelling, the former being made of camlet lined with raccoon skin, and the latter of strong blue cloth. We made a point always of putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they had been dried during the day or not, and I believe it was only in five or six instances at the most that they were not either still wet or hard frozen. This indeed was of no consequence, beyond the discomfort of first putting them on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey; while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being ‘rigged’ for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit, and after stowing the things in boats, and on the sledges, so as to secure them as much as possible from the wet, we set off on our day’s journey and usually travelled four, five, or seven hours, according to circumstances.”

They made very slow progress in spite of their strenuous exertions, owing to the floes being small, exceedingly rough, and intersected by lanes of water which could not be crossed without unloading the boats. Rain added to their discomfort, causing the ice to form into numberless irregular needle-like crystals, which proved very trying to the feet. Elevated hummocks presented themselves, over which it was almost impossible to draw the boats.

Even by the utmost efforts they could not make an advance of more than a mile and a half or two miles in five or six hours. Realizing the unfavourable conditions for reaching the pole, owing to the advanced season of the year, Parry soon relinquished that hope and bent his energies to reaching at best the 83° parallel, if possible. But now to his utter discouragement it was found that the drifting of the snow fields was gradually carrying them backward, and that, in spite of every attempt to advance, they were daily losing ground.

On July 23, they reached their farthest north, 82° 45´. “At the extreme point of our journey,” says Parry, “our distance from the Hecla was only one hundred and seventy-two miles in a S. W. direction. To accomplish this distance, we had traversed, by our reckoning, two hundred and ninety-two miles, of which about one hundred were performed by water previously to our entering the ice. As we travelled by far the greater part of our distance on the ice three, and not unfrequently five, times over, we may safely multiply the length of the road by two and a half; so that our whole distance, on a very moderate calculation, amounted to five hundred and eighty geographical, or six hundred and sixty-eight statute miles, being nearly sufficient to have reached the pole in a direct line. Up to this period, we had been particularly fortunate in the preservation of our health.”

Owing to the increased softness of the ice, the return trip was even more difficult than the advance, the men sinking to their thighs in the ice slush. By the 11th of August the joyful sound of the surf breaking against the margin of the ice was heard, and later the boats were launched into open water, and in another ten days they rejoined the Hecla, and soon afterward sailed for England.

Parry’s remarkable voyages, besides reaping a rich harvest of scientific data, had proved the navigability of Lancaster Sound, the non-existence of the Crocker Mountains, and that Prince Regent Inlet opened into Barrow Strait, which in turn widened into Melville Sound, and thence opened into the polar ocean. He had added to the map the important archipelago or Parry Islands, many of which he named and explored; had outlined the sounds, bays, and inlets through which he had sailed; discovered Hecla and Fury Strait; and demonstrated the impracticability of making the northwest passage by way of Frozen Strait.