ROSS’S FAILURES AND PARRY’S SUCCESSES
While Buchan and Franklin were in difficulties in the ice off
Spitzbergen, Ross and Parry with the _Isabella_ (385 tons) and the
_Alexander_ (252 tons) were searching the shores of Baffin’s Bay for
the North-West Passage. They had set sail from Lerwick on May 3, and
by the end of June they were past Disco Island. Here, through the
medium of John Sackheuse, their invaluable interpreter, they opened
up very friendly relations with the natives, in whose honour they
gave a ball, which afforded immense entertainment to all concerned.
After this, progress became slower, for the sea was cumbered with
ice, and the crew were compelled to adopt the tedious expedient of
“tracking” the ship through it, that is to say, of going ashore with
a rope and dragging her through the obstruction. At the end of July,
however, Ross succeeded in reaching Melville Bay, which proved to be
one of the most important discoveries of the voyage, for the sea was
full of whales, and has proved a lucrative hunting-ground for whalers
ever since.
As they were nearing the northern shores of the Bay the voyage of the
_Isabella_ and the _Alexander_ came near to being summarily ended
by a terrific gale which drove the ice upon them in such quantities
that they were almost overwhelmed by it. Fortunately they both
survived, and shortly after the storm had subsided, a number of
natives with dog-sleighs were seen in the distance. All attempts at
enticing them nearer by means of presents proved vain, but eventually
the interpreter, Sackheuse, succeeded in getting into communication
with them. At first they were inclined to distrust the strangers,
imagining that the ships were some kind of weird animals with wings
which had come either from the sun or the moon, they could not be
sure which, with the express object of doing them an injury. The
misunderstanding, however, was eventually cleared up, and they were
induced to visit the ships, where everything that they saw was a
source of infinite interest to them, with the exception of the ship’s
biscuit and salted meat, for which they expressed supreme disdain.
Pressing on north, the explorers found the sea fairly clear of ice,
and they soon passed Cape Dudley Digges, Wolstenholme Island and
Whale Sound, none of which had been visited since Baffin’s day, and
which cartographers had thought fit to erase from the maps, believing
that Baffin had been the victim of hallucinations.
It was just after he had passed the Canary Islands that Ross made his
first great mistake. It must be remembered in his extenuation that he
was totally inexperienced in Arctic travel, and that he was unused
to the strange atmospheric phenomena and illusions which meet the
voyager in these regions at every turn. Even in the short period of
his stay in the Polar seas, however, he ought to have learnt enough
to prevent him from being beguiled into the belief that Smith’s
Sound was nothing but a bay headed by a huge range of impenetrable
mountains. That, however, was the conclusion to which he came, and he
made no effort to push further north than the entrance to the Sound.
Had he done so he would, of course, have found that his mountains
were nothing but weather-gleam.
He now put about and pushed south, taking very accurate bearings of
the various headlands which he passed. In the course of his voyage
he came upon the entrances to Jones and Lancaster Sounds, both of
which he was deterred from exploring by more ranges of impenetrable
mountains, through which, however, his own lieutenant, Parry, sailed
with perfect ease in the following year.
He reached Grimsby on November 14, meeting with no adventures worth
recording on the way home. His voyage had two great results. It
opened up an enormous and most lucrative whale fishery in and around
Melville Bay, and it vindicated Baffin’s position as an explorer.
Otherwise it was a little disappointing, for if he had not been so
obsessed with the idea that mountains hemmed him in on every side, he
might have accomplished much more than he actually achieved.
In the narrative of his voyage, which he published after his return,
Ross distinctly implies that his opinion as to the impossibility of
finding a passage through any one of these three sounds was shared
by the rest of his officers. This, however, appears to have been
very far from the truth, as Parry’s journals and letters attest. At
the time when the two vessels were cruising about in the mouth of
Lancaster Sound they were some three miles apart, the _Isabella_
being in advance. When the _Isabella_ put about, the crew of the
_Alexander_ were positively amazed, for so far as they could discern,
there was no land anywhere in sight.
The Admiralty seems to have had some inkling of the truth, for
shortly after their return, Parry and Franklin were summoned into
the presence of Lord Melville, and they gathered from the words
that he let fall that he was of opinion that Lancaster Sound was a
passage leading into some sea to the westward, an opinion which they
heartily endorsed. The result was that, when it was decided to send
out another expedition in the following spring, Parry was offered the
command. This expedition was to consist of two ships, the _Hecla_,
a bomb of 375 tons, and the _Griper_, a gunboat of 180 tons. Both
of these ships were selected by Parry before he knew that he was to
be placed in command, and it was under his supervision that they
were put in thorough repair, and specially strengthened for work in
the Arctic regions. Parry himself was to command the _Hecla_, while
the _Griper_ was to be entrusted to Lieutenant Liddon. The full
complement of both ships was ninety-four, and the Admiralty had no
difficulty in finding excellent seamen, for they offered double pay
to all those who took part in the expedition. Captain Sabine, whose
name subsequently became famous for his excellent scientific work,
was appointed naturalist and astronomer, and among the officers were
Lieutenants Beechey and Hoppner. The object of the mission, as stated
in the Admiralty instructions, was to seek out a north-west passage
from the Atlantic to the Pacific either through Lancaster, Jones or
Smith Sounds.
The ships weighed anchor on May 5, 1819, and at first progress was
slow, for the _Griper_ proved such a bad sailor that the _Hecla_ had
to take her in tow. On the 23rd they sighted the ice of Davis Strait,
and for a while they were obliged to bear to the eastward of it owing
to its thickness. On July 21, however, Parry was able to set his
course westwards, and eight days later they sighted the mountains at
the southern entrance of Lancaster Sound.
Parry unquestionably had excellent luck at this part of his voyage.
A good easterly breeze sprang up and the ships bowled merrily along
under all the sail that they could carry. The sea was practically
open, no land could be seen ahead, and the shores of the sound were
thirteen leagues apart. The one and only drawback was the poor
sailing powers of the _Griper_.
At midnight on August 4 the sun being then, of course, as bright as
at midday, they reached long. 90, and here they were pulled up by a
barrier of ice that stretched from shore to shore. The part of the
sound in which he now found himself Parry named Barrow Strait, while
to two islands which lay ahead of him he gave the names of Leopold
Islands, after Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. To the westward of the
islands he perceived a bright light in the sky which is known to
Arctic sailors as “ice-blink” and which told him that there was no
chance of a passage in that direction; to the south of him, however,
there was a broad open space and over it was a dark water-sky, so he
determined that, as he could not push forward for the present, he
would set his course southward.
The wind was favourable and the ships soon found themselves bowling
along down an inlet at least ten leagues broad at the mouth, to
which Parry subsequently gave the name of Prince Regent’s Inlet. He
explored this inlet for about 120 miles in the hope that he might
find a passage leading westward but in this he was disappointed, and
perceiving presently that icebergs covered the whole of the westerly
horizon, he put about, and on the 13th was once more off Leopold
Islands. The sea was still covered with ice, but in a few days this
obstruction had cleared away completely and he was able to make his
way along the coast of North Devon.
The question of the continuity of land to the north had for some time
been worrying Parry, for there was a possibility that it might take a
turn to the south and join the coast of America. Presently, however,
his eyes were gladdened by the sight of a broad passage leading to
the north through which he hoped that he would be able to sail if it
proved impossible for him to make his way further westward, and to
which he gave the name of Wellington Channel. There was no necessity,
however, to explore it yet, for their way was still open before them,
and they sailed merrily along passing and naming, of course, at the
same time, Cornwallis, Griffith and Bathurst Islands. Towards the end
of August, however, the sea began to fill with ice, and Parry saw
that it was high time for him to begin to look for winter quarters.
These he eventually found in Hecla and Griper Bay, on the coast of
Melville Island, and here the ships were made snug for the winter,
though not until after the expedition had had the satisfaction of
crossing the meridian 110° W., thus earning the reward of £5000
offered by the Government to the first British subject who should
penetrate so far within the Arctic circle. They found that they were
none too soon, for the bay, when they reached it, was already covered
with a coating of ice, through which they had to carve a way for the
ship with saws.
The work of putting the ships in order for the winter was instantly
begun. The upper masts were dismantled, the lower yards were lashed
fore and aft amidships and a roofing erected over the deck in order
that the men might have a fairly warm house in which to take exercise
when the rigours of the winter made it impossible for them to venture
ashore. The question of how to provide his crew with that rational
amusement which was absolutely necessary for them if they were to
remain in good health next occupied Parry’s attention. He was himself
an excellent amateur actor, and as there were a couple of books
of plays on board, he promptly founded the Royal Arctic Theatre.
The scene-painting and rehearsals kept officers and men occupied
for weeks, and on November 5, the theatrical season opened with a
brilliant performance of “Miss in her ’teens,” with Parry as Fribble,
and Beechey as Miss Biddy.
At the same time, Sabine founded a weekly paper entitled the _North
Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle_, to which most of the officers
became regular contributors. Parry suddenly displayed poetic gifts of
which he had never before been suspected, Sabine showed a perfect
genius for dramatic criticism, while humorists galore sprang into
being.
One or two extracts from the Gazette may here be quoted. In the
issue of November 29, for example, we find an advertisement for “a
middle-aged woman, not above thirty, of good character, to assist
in DRESSING the LADIES at the THEATRE. Her salary will be handsome
and she will be allowed tea and small beer into the bargain.”
This drew forth a reply from Mrs Abigail Handicraft, who wrote as
follows: “I am a widow, twenty-six years of age, and can produce
undeniable testimonials of my character and qualifications; but
before I undertake the business of dressing the ladies at the
theatre, I wish to be informed whether it is customary for them to
keep on their breeches; also if I may be allowed two or three of
the stoutest able-seamen or marines, to lace their stays.” From the
following issue we learn that Mrs Handicraft was duly engaged and
that she was granted her two assistants who were to be equipped
with “marline-spikes, levers, and white-line” for the reduction of
Beechey’s waist to more reasonable proportions.
The theatricals, though they provided great amusement for the crew,
were often conducted under great difficulties, for the temperature
on the stage sometimes sank below zero, and on one occasion Captain
Lyon, when playing in “The Heir-at-Law” had to go through the last
act with two of his fingers frost-bitten.
[Illustration: CUTTING A PASSAGE INTO WINTER HARBOUR
FROM A SKETCH BY LIEUT. BEECHEY]
At the beginning of February the sun returned once more, but it
brought with it very little improvement in the temperature, and the
thermometer sometimes sank as low as 55° below zero. Several of the
men were badly frost-bitten, notably Smith, Sabine’s servant, who,
in his anxiety to save the dipping needle from a fire which broke out
in the observatory, ran out without putting on his gloves. As soon as
he returned to the ship, the surgeon plunged his hands into a basin
of icy water, the surface of which was immediately frozen by the cold
thus communicated to it.
During the latter part of the winter some exceedingly beautiful
atmospheric phenomena were seen. On March 4, for example, a halo
appeared round the sun, consisting of a circle which glowed with
prismatic colours. “Three parhelia, or mock suns, were distinctly
seen upon this circle; the first being directly over the sun and one
on each side of it, at its own altitude. The prismatic tints were
much more brilliant in the parhelia than in any other part of the
circle; but red, yellow and blue were the only colours which could be
traced, the first of these being invariably next the sun in all the
phenomena of this kind observed. From the sun itself, several rays of
white light, continuous but not very brilliant, extended in various
directions beyond the halo, and these rays were more bright after
passing through the circle than within it. This singular phenomenon
remained visible nearly two hours.”
On March 19 the theatrical season came to an end with performances
of “The Citizen” and “The Mayor of Garratt,” in which Parry took
the parts of old Philpot and Matthew Mug. The severest part of the
winter was now over, but the ice showed as yet no signs of breaking
up. Indeed, though a great deal of the snow melted during April and
May, there seemed to be no chance either of continuing the voyage
or of returning to England. June passed, and brought no prospect of
release, and Parry began to fear that he was doomed to spend another
winter in the ice, an eventuality for which he was but ill prepared.
Towards the end of July, however, the thaw began to have its effect
upon the ice of the harbour, and on August 1 the two ships were able
to weigh anchor and sail out of the bay.
They were not destined, however, to achieve much more. For several
weeks they were checked by contrary winds and battered by the ice,
till at last, on August 23, Parry decided that, as the season for
navigation would be coming to an end in a fortnight, he had better
return to England. This he accordingly proceeded to do, and the two
ships reached Peterhead in safety on October 29.