FURY.

In the year 1824, notwithstanding the repeated failures which had

attended the expeditions to the Polar Seas, the British government

determined to make another attempt to discover a passage between the

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; for this purpose Captain, now Sir Edward

Parry was appointed to the command of the Hecla, and a second vessel

was commissioned by Captain Hoppner, who was directed to put himself

under the orders of the beforenamed officer.

The vessels being fully equipped and furnished with provisions and

stores for two years, sailed from England on the 16th of May. Their

progress had been unexpectedly slow, from the quantity and magnitude

of the ice, which had kept the people constantly employed in heaving,

warping, or sawing through it, so that they did not arrive at the

entrance of Lancaster Sound until nearly the middle of September.

There was no doubt that the more than ordinary difficulties which they

encountered in crossing the barrier of ice in Baffin's Bay was owing

to a season of very unusual severity; indeed, Captain Parry was of

opinion, that but for Phillips's capstan, the Hecla and Fury would

have been obliged to winter in the middle of Baffin's Bay.

The season was now too far advanced to give any hopes of the ships

being able to penetrate to the westward, according to their

instructions, during the present year; Captain Parry determined,

therefore, to push on as far as the present season would permit, and

devote the whole of the next summer to the fulfilment of the object of

the expedition.

It is not our intention to enter into a detailed description of the

many difficulties which they met in their passage; it is enough to say

that their toils were incessant, and nothing but the most unwearied

vigilance and perseverance could have prevented the ships being

materially damaged by the enormous pressure of the ice.

Both officers and men were constantly employed, one time in getting

out the boats to tow or cut through the ice, at another, at what is

termed 'sallying,' or causing the ship to roll, by the men running in

a body from side to side, so as to relieve her from the adhesion and

friction of the young ice. It sometimes happened, also, that their

labour was in vain; for during the night a westerly wind would spring

up, and that, combined with a strong current, would drive the vessels

several leagues to eastward, thus compelling them to recommence their

work over again.

On the 27th of September they found themselves in a tolerably open

sea, and assisted by a fine working breeze they reached Port Bowen, in

Regent's Inlet. Here Captain Parry determined to make his winter

harbour, being convinced that it would be safer to remain there, than

run the risk of any further attempt at navigation during the present

year.

'To those who read,' writes Sir Edward Parry, 'as well as those who

describe, the account of a winter passed in these regions can no

longer be expected to afford the interest of novelty it once

possessed; more especially in a station already delineated with

tolerable geographical precision on our maps, and thus, as it were,

brought near to our firesides at home.'

Here it may be perhaps asked, why tell a thrice-told tale?--why go

over ground that has been so often trod before? The answer is, we are

not only writing for the information of the general reader, but also

for the seaman, in the hope that these examples may afford

encouragement to him, if ever thrown under similar circumstances to

those which befel the crews of the Hecla and Fury.

In a short time, the ships became embedded in ice, and in this remote

part of the globe were they destined to remain, in all probability,

for nine months, during the greater part of which they would not see

the light of the sun.

To the seaman, whose happiness is dependent upon a life of excitement

and adventure, such a change must be almost insupportable. As far as

the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen but trackless wilds of

snow; an awful stillness reigned around; even the indigenous animals

had for a time fled; and out of his ship, which is the world to him,

not a living creature breathed in this dreary desert. In order to

procure occupation and amusement for the men, it was necessary to hit

upon some expedient to keep their spirits from flagging. This was

found, by a proposal from Captain Hoppner, that they should attempt a

masquerade, in which both officers and men should join. The happy

thought was at once seized upon, the ship's tailor was placed in

requisition, admirably dressed characters were enacted, and mirth and

merriment rang through the decks of the Hecla. These réunions took

place once a month, alternately on board each ship, and not one

instance is related of anything occurring which could interfere with

the regular discipline of the ship, or at all weaken the respect of

the men towards their superiors. But an occupation which was of

benefit as much to the mind as to the body, was found in the

establishment of a school on board each of the ships. These were

superintended by Mr. Hooper, in the Hecla, and Mr. Mogg, in the Fury.

The men gladly seized this opportunity of instruction which was

afforded them, and in many a long winter evening the lower deck was

made a scene of rational employment, which was not only a lasting

benefit to themselves, but assisted materially in passing away the

time, which otherwise would have hung heavily on their hands.

We cannot refrain here from offering a few observations upon the good

results of education to the seaman.

In the beginning of the present century, and even in a much later

date, the majority of our seamen could neither read nor write; in the

present day it is quite the reverse. We may affirm, without

exaggeration, that two-thirds of them are more or less educated.

Experience has taught those placed at the head of naval affairs the

advantages arising from the improvement of the minds of the seamen of

our navy; every ship has now a seaman schoolmaster, and a well

selected library; and there is no doubt that the moral effect thus

produced, adds in no small degree to the preservation of that

discipline which is so necessary for the comfort and welfare of a

ship's company.

In corroboration of the above, we cannot do better than quote the

words of Sir Edward Parry:--'And I do not speak lightly when I express

my thorough persuasion that to the moral effect thus produced upon the

minds of the men were owing to a very high degree the constant yet

sober cheerfulness, the uninterrupted good order, and even in some

measure the extraordinary state of health which prevailed among us

during winter.'

With the amusement before mentioned, varied now and then, as the days

grew longer, by the excitement of killing a bear, entrapping foxes,

or shooting grouse, the men continued to pass the winter months. To

the officers, higher and more intellectual enjoyments were afforded by

making observations, studying astronomy, and witnessing the brilliant

appearance of the Aurora Borealis.

About the end of March, or beginning of April, 1825, thin flakes of

snow, lying upon painted wood or metal, exposed to the sun's direct

rays, began to melt. These signs of returning spring were hailed as

indications of their approaching deliverance from their winter

quarters. Towards the middle of June, information was brought that the

sea was clear of ice about twenty miles from Port Bowen. On the 12th

of July, the ice began to break away, leaving the ship about one mile

and a quarter from the open sea. All hands were set to work to saw

through this barrier, the men being employed from seven in the

morning, till seven in the evening. On the 19th, after the most

incessant labour, which was performed with the greatest cheerfulness

and alacrity, Captain Parry had the satisfaction of seeing the two

vessels once more floating in their proper element.

After a winter of unusual severity, but of unprecedented good health,

they sailed out of Port Bowen on the 20th of July, the expedition

being in every respect in the most perfect condition, and the season

remarkably forward and fine. Pushing over to the west coast of Prince

Regent's Inlet, which it was Captain Parry's intention to coast

northward and then westward, till they could strike off to the

continental shore, the prospect seemed as favourable as could possibly

be expected. The season continued unusually warm, and channels of open

water always occurred along the shore with particular winds. The ice

was entirely detached from the shores, very much broken up, and

lighter than they had yet navigated.

Proceeding as usual, taking advantage of every opening, and

sheltering the ships on shore when the ice closed, the Fury, on the

1st of August, was unfortunately pressed by the ice in such a manner,

while she also took the ground, that her main keel, stern-post, and

cutwater were immediately broken, and four pumps were necessary to

keep her free.

It was now evidently impossible to proceed without heaving the Fury

down to repair, her officers and men being in a few days almost

exhausted with excessive fatigue; the men's hands having become so

sore from the constant friction of the ropes, that they could hardly

handle them any longer without the use of mittens.

The shore being a straight and exposed one, the principal difficulty

consisted in securing the ship from the inroads of the ice during the

operation. There was little hopes of discovering a harbour for this

purpose, and the only alternative was to endeavour to make one. This

was done by passing lower cables round grounded masses of ice, and

setting them up to anchors buried on the beach, so as to form a basin

for the reception of the ships.

We have now arrived at the period when the labour of heaving down the

Fury commenced; and, for the better information of the reader, we will

at once lay before him the account of the future proceedings, as

related by Sir Edward Parry.[17]

'The ice remaining quite close, on the 6th every individual in both

ships, with the exception of those at the pumps, was employed in

landing provisions from the Fury, together with the spars, boats, and

everything from off her upper deck. The ice coming in in the

afternoon with a degree of pressure which usually attended a northerly

wind on this coast, twisted the Fury's rudder so forcibly against a

mass of ice lying under her stern, that it was for some hours in great

danger of being damaged, and was, indeed, only saved by the efforts of

Captain Hoppner and his officers, who, without breaking off the men

from their other occupations, themselves worked at the ice-saw.

'On the following day, the ice remaining as before, the work was

continued without intermission, and a great quantity of things landed.

The two carpenters, Messrs. Pulfer and Fiddis, took the Fury's boats

in hand themselves, their men being required as part of our physical

strength in clearing the ship. The armourer was also set to work on

the beach in forging bolts for the martingales of the outriggers. In

short, every living creature among us was somehow or other employed,

not even excepting our dogs, which were set to drag up the stores on

the beach, so that our little dockyard soon exhibited the most

animated scene imaginable. The quickest method of landing casks, and

other things not too weighty, was that adopted by Captain Hoppner, and

consisted of a hawser secured to the ship's mainmast head, and set up

as tight as possible to the anchor on the beach,--the casks being

hooked to a block traversing on this as a jack stay, were made to run

down with great velocity. By this means, more than two were got on

shore for every one handed by the boats; the latter, however, being

constantly employed in addition. The Fury was thus so much lightened

in the course of the day, that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to

keep her free, and this number continued requisite until she was hove

down. Her spirit room was now entirely clear, and on examination the

water was found to be rushing in through two or three holes that

happened to be in the ceiling, and which were immediately plugged up.

Indeed it was now very evident that nothing but the lightness of the

Fury's diagonal ceiling had so long kept her afloat, and that any ship

not thus fortified within could not possibly have been kept free by

the pumps.

'At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began to

move to the southward, and soon after came in towards the shore, again

endangering the Fury's rudder, and pressing her over on her side to so

alarming a degree, as to warn us that it would not be safe to lighten

her much more in her present insecure situation.

'One of our bergs also shifted its position by this pressure, so as to

weaken our confidence in the pier heads of our intended basin; and a

long 'tongue' of one of them, forcing itself under the Hecla's

fore-foot, while the drift-ice was also pressing her forcibly from

astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water,

and continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul

her off, for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close, and so

much doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a

single inch.

'Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain idle

on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and

landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, and other top weight.

'The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were

employed in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the Hecla, which

still grounded on the tongue of ice every tide. After four hours'

labour, they succeeded in making four or five feet of room astern,

when the ship suddenly slided down off the tongue with considerable

force, and became once more afloat. We then got on shore the Hecla's

cables and hawsers for the accommodation of the Fury's men in our

tiers during the heaving down; struck our topmasts, which would be

required as shores and outriggers; and, in short, continued to occupy

every individual in some preparation or other.

'These being entirely completed at an early hour in the afternoon, we

ventured to go on with the landing of the coals and provisions from

the Fury, preferring to run the risk which would thus be incurred, to

the loss of even a few hours in the accomplishment of our present

object. As it very opportunely happened, however, the external ice

slackened to the distance of about a hundred yards outside of us, on

the morning of the 10th, enabling us by a most tedious and laborious

operation, to clear the ice out of our basin piece by piece. The

difficulty of this apparently simple process consisted in the heavy

pressure having repeatedly doubled one mass under another, a position

in which it requires great power to move them, and also by the corners

locking in with the sides of the bergs.

'Our next business was to tighten the cables sufficiently by means of

purchases, and to finish the floating of them in the manner and for

the purpose before described. After this had been completed, the ships

had only a few feet in length, and nothing in breadth to spare, but we

had now great hopes of going on with our work with increased

confidence and security. The Fury, which was placed inside, had

something less than eighteen feet at low water; the Hecla lay in four

fathoms, the bottom being strewed with large and small fragments of

limestone.

'While thus employed in securing the ships, the smoothness of the

water enabled us to see, in some degree, the nature of the Fury's

damage; and it may be conceived how much pain it occasioned us,

plainly to discover that both the stern-post and fore-foot were broken

and turned up on one side with the pressure. We could also perceive,

as far as we were able to see along the main-keel, that it was much

torn, and we had therefore reason to conclude that the damage would

altogether prove very serious. We also discovered that several feet of

the Hecla's false keel were torn away abreast of the fore chains, in

consequence of her grounding forward so frequently.

'The ships being now as well secured as our means permitted from the

immediate danger of ice, the clearing of the Fury went on with

increased confidence, though greater alacrity was impossible, for

nothing could exceed the spirit and zealous activity of every

individual, and as things had turned out, the ice had not obliged us

to wait a moment except at the actual times of its pressure. Being

favoured with fine weather, we continued our work very quickly, so

that on the 12th every cask was landed, and also the powder; and the

spare sails and clothing put on board the Hecla.

'On the 13th, we found that a mass of heavy ice which had been aground

with the Fury, had now floated alongside of her at high water, still

further contracting her already narrow basin, and leaving the ship no

room for turning round. At the next high water, therefore, we got a

purchase on it, and hove it out of the way, so that at night it

drifted off altogether.

'The coals and preserved meats were the principal things now remaining

on board the Fury, and these we continued landing by every method we

could devise as the most expeditious. The tide rose so considerably at

night, new moon occurring within an hour of high water, that we were

much afraid of our bergs floating; they remained firm, however, even

though the ice came in with so much force as to break one of our

hand-masts, a fir spar of twelve inches in diameter. As the high

tides, and the lightening of the Fury, now gave us sufficient depth

of water for unshipping the rudders, we did so, and laid them upon the

small berg astern of us, for fear of their being damaged by any

pressure of the ice.

'Early on the morning of the 14th, the ice slackening a little in our

neighbourhood, we took advantage of it, though the people were much

fagged, to tighten the cables, which had stretched and yielded

considerably by the late pressure. It was well that we did so, for in

the course of this day we were several times interrupted in our work

by the ice coming with a tremendous strain on the north cables, the

wind blowing strong from the N.N.W., and the whole 'pack' outside of

us setting rapidly to the southward. Indeed, notwithstanding the

recent tightening and re-adjustment of the cables, the bight was

pressed in so much, as to force the Fury against the berg astern of

her, twice in the course of the day. Mr. Waller, who was in the hold

the second time that this occurred, reported that the coals about the

keelson were moved by it, imparting the sensation of part of the

ship's bottom falling down; and one of the men at work there was so

strongly impressed with that belief, that he thought it high time to

make a spring for the hatchway. From this circumstance, it seemed more

probable that the main keel had received some serious damage near the

middle of the ship.

'From this trial of the efficacy of our means of security, it was

plain that the Fury could not possibly be hove down under

circumstances of such frequent and imminent risk. I therefore directed

a fourth anchor, with two additional cables, to be disposed, with the

hope of breaking some of the force of the ice, by its offering a more

oblique resistance than the other, and thus by degrees turning the

direction of the pressure from the ships. We had scarcely completed

this new defence, when the largest floe we had seen since leaving

Port Bowen came sweeping along the shore, having a motion to the

southward of not less than a mile and a half an hour, threatened to

overturn it, and would certainly have dislodged it from its situation

but from the cable recently attached to it.

'A second similar occurrence took place with a smaller mass of ice

about midnight, and near the top of an unusually high spring tide,

which seemed ready to float away every security from us. For three

hours about the time of this high water, our situation was a most

critical one, for had the bergs, or, indeed, any one of them, been

carried away or broken, both ships must inevitably have been driven on

shore by the very next mass of ice that should come in. Happily,

however, they did not suffer any further material disturbance, and the

main body keeping at a short distance from the land until the tide had

fallen, the bergs seemed to be once more firmly resting on the ground.

The only mischief, therefore, occasioned by this disturbance was the

slackening of our cables by the alteration in the position of the

several grounded masses, and the consequent necessity of employing

more time, which nothing but absolute necessity could induce us to

bestow, in adjusting and tightening the whole of them afresh.

'The wind veering to the W.N.W. on the morning of the 15th, and still

continuing to blow strong, the ice was forced three or four miles off

the land in the course of a few hours, leaving us a quiet day for

continuing our work, but exciting no very pleasant sensations, when we

considered what progress we might have been making had we been at

liberty to pursue our object.

'The land was indeed so clear of ice to the southward, that Dr. Neill,

who walked a considerable distance in that direction, could see

nothing but an open channel in shore to the utmost extent of his view.

We took advantage of this open water to send the launch for the

Fury's ironwork, left at the former station; for though the few men

thus employed could very ill be spared, we were obliged to arrange

everything with reference to the ultimate saving of time; and it would

have occupied both ships' companies more than a whole day to carry the

things round by land.

'The Fury being completely cleared at an early hour on the 16th, we

were all busily employed in 'winding' the ship, and in preparing the

outriggers, shores, purchases, and additional rigging. Though we

purposely selected the time of high water for turning the ship round,

we had scarcely a foot of space for doing it, and indeed, as it was,

her fore-foot touched the ground; and loosened the broken part of the

wood so much as to enable us to pull it up with ropes, when we found

the fragments to consist of the whole of the gripe, and most of the

'cutwater.' The strong breeze continuing, and the sea rising as the

open water increased in extent, our bergs were sadly washed and

wasted; every hour producing a sensible and serious diminution in

their bulk. As, however, the main body of ice still kept off, we were

in hopes, now that our preparations were so near completed, we should

have been enabled in a few hours to see the extent of the damage, and

repair it sufficiently to allow us to proceed.

'In the evening we received the Fury's crew on board the Hecla, every

arrangement and regulation having been previously made for their

personal comfort, and for the preservation of cleanliness,

ventilation, and dry warmth throughout the ship. The officers of the

Fury, by their own choice, pitched a tent on shore for messing and

sleeping in, as our accommodation for two sets of officers was

necessarily confined. On the 17th, when every preparation was

completed, the cables were found again so slack, by the wasting of

the bergs, in consequence of the continued sea, and possibly also in

part by the masses being moved somewhat in shore, that we were obliged

to occupy several hours in putting them to rights, as we should soon

require all our strength at the purchases. One berg also had, at the

last low water, fallen over on its side, in consequence of its

substance being undermined by the sea, and the cable surrounding it

was thus forced so low under water as no longer to afford protection

from the ice should it again come in. In tightening the cables, we

found it to have the effect of bringing the bergs in towards the

shore, still further contracting our narrow basin; but anything was

better than suffering them to go adrift.

'This work being finished at ten P.M., the people were allowed three

hours' rest only, it being necessary to heave the ship down at, or

near, high water, as there was not sufficient depth to allow her to

take her distance at any other time of tide. Every preparation being

made, at three A.M., on the 18th, we began to heave her down on the

larboard side; but when the purchases were nearly a-block, we found

that the strops under the Hecla's bottom, as well as some of the

Fury's shore-fasts, had stretched or yielded so much, that they could

bring the keel out of water within three or four feet. We immediately

eased her up again, and re-adjusted everything as requisite, hauling

her further in shore than before by keeping a considerable keel upon

her, so as to make less depth of water necessary; and we were then in

the act of once more heaving her down, when a snow storm came on, and

blew with such violence off the land, as to raise a considerable sea.

The ships had now so much motion as to strain the gear very much, and

even to make the lower mast of the Fury bend in spite of the shores.

We were, therefore, most unwillingly compelled to desist until the

sea should go down, keeping everything ready to recommence the instant

we could possibly do so with safety. The officers and men were now

literally so harassed and fatigued as to be scarcely capable of

further exertion without some rest; and on this and one or two other

occasions, I noticed more than a single instance of stupor amounting

to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering the individual

so affected quite unable at first to comprehend the meaning of an

order, though still as willing as ever to obey it. It was, therefore,

perhaps, a fortunate necessity which produced the intermission of

labour which the strength of every individual seemed to require.

'The gale rather increasing than otherwise, during the whole day and

night of the 18th, had, on the following morning, when the wind and

sea still continued unabated, so destroyed the bergs on which our sole

dependence was placed, that they no longer remained aground at low

water; the cables had again become slack about them, and the basin we

had taken so much pains in forming had now lost all its defences, at

least during a portion of every tide. It will be plain, too, if I have

succeeded in giving a distinct description of our situation, that

independently of the security of the ships, there was now nothing left

to seaward by which the Hecla could be held out in that direction

while heaving the Fury down, so that our preparations in this way were

no longer available.

'After a night of most anxious consideration and consultation with

Captain Hoppner, who was now my mess-mate in the Hecla, it appeared

but too plain that, should the ice again come in, neither ship could

any longer be secured from driving on shore. It was therefore

determined instantly to prepare the Hecla for sea, making her

thoroughly effective in every respect; so that we might at least push

her out into comparative safety among the ice, when it closed again,

taking every person on board her; securing the Fury in the best manner

we could, and returning to her the instant we were able to do so, to

endeavour to get her out, and to carry her to some place of security

for heaving down. If, after the Hecla was ready, time should still be

allowed us, it was proposed immediately to put into the Fury all that

was requisite, or at least as much as she could safely carry, and

towing her out into the ice, to try the effect of 'foldering' the

leaks, by sails under those parts of her keel which we knew to be

damaged, until some more effectual means could be resorted to.

'Having communicated to the assembled officers and ships' companies my

views and intentions, and moreover given them to understand that I

hoped to see the Hecla's top-gallant yards across before we slept, we

commenced our work, and such was the hearty good-will and

indefatigable energy with which it was carried on, that by midnight

the whole was accomplished, and a bower-anchor and cable carried out

in the offing, for the double purpose of hauling out the Hecla when

requisite, and as some security to the Fury if we were obliged to

leave her. The people were once more quite exhausted by these

exertions, especially those belonging to the Fury, who had never

thoroughly recovered their first fatigues. The ice being barely in

sight, we were enabled to enjoy seven hours of undisturbed rest; but

the wind becoming light, and afterwards shifting to the N.N.E., we had

reason to expect the ice would soon close the shore, and were,

therefore, most anxious to continue our work.

'On the 20th, therefore, the re-loading of the Fury commenced with

recruited strength and spirits, such articles being in the first place

selected for putting on board as were essentially requisite for her

re-equipment; for it was my full determination, could we succeed in

completing this, not to wait even for rigging a topmast, or getting a

lower yard up, in the event of the ice coming in, but to tow her out

among the ice, and there put everything sufficiently to rights for

carrying her to someplace of security. At the same time, the end of

the sea-cable was taken on board the Fury, by way of offering some

resistance to the ice, which was now more plainly seen, though still

about five miles distant. A few hands were also spared, consisting

chiefly of two or three convalescents and some of the officers, to

thrum a sail for putting under the Fury's keel; for we were very

anxious to relieve the men at the pumps, which constantly required the

labour of eight to twelve hands to keep her free. In the course of the

day several heavy masses of ice came drifting by with a breeze from

the north-east, which is here about two points upon the land, and made

a considerable swell. One mass came in contact with our bergs, which,

though only held by the cables, brought it up in time to prevent

mischief. By a long and hard day's labour, the people not going to

rest till two o'clock on the morning of the 21st, we got about fifty

tons weight of coals and provisions on board the Fury, which, in case

of necessity, we considered sufficient to give her stability.

'While we were thus employed, the ice, though evidently inclined to

come in, did not approach us much; and it may be conceived with what

anxiety we longed to be allowed one more day's labour, on which the

ultimate saving of the ship might almost be considered as depending.

Having hauled the ships out a little from the shore, and prepared the

Hecla for casting by a spring at a moment's notice, all the people

except those at the pumps were sent to rest, which, however, they had

not enjoyed for two hours, when, at four A.M. on the 21st, another

heavy mass coming violently in contact with the bergs and cables,

threatened to sweep away every remaining security. Our situation, with

this additional strain,--the mass which had disturbed us fixing itself

upon the weather-cable, and an increasing wind and swell setting

considerably on the shore,--became more and more precarious; and

indeed, under circumstances as critical as can well be imagined,

nothing but the urgency and importance of the object we had in

view--that of saving the Fury, if she was to be saved--could have

prevented my making sail, and keeping the Hecla under way till matters

mended. More hawsers were run out, however, and enabled us still to

hold out: and after six hours of disturbed rest, all hands were again

set to work to get the Fury's anchors, cables, rudder, and spars on

board, these things being absolutely necessary for her equipment,

should we be able to get her out. At two P.M. the crews were called on

board to dinner, which they had not finished, when several not very

large masses of ice drove along the shore near us at a quick rate, and

two or three successively coming in violent contact either with the

Hecla or the bergs to which she was attached, convinced me that very

little additional pressure would tear everything away, and drive both

ships on shore. I saw that the moment had arrived when the Hecla could

no longer be kept in her present situation with the smallest chance of

safety, and therefore immediately got under sail, despatching Captain

Hoppner, with every individual, except a few for working the ship, to

continue getting the things on board the Fury, while the Hecla stood

off and on. It was a quarter-past three P.M. when we cast off, the

wind then blowing fresh from the north-east, or about two points on

the land, which caused some surf on the beach. Captain Hoppner had

scarcely been an hour on board the Fury, and was busily engaged in

getting the anchors and cables on board, when we observed some large

pieces of not very heavy ice closing in with the land near her; and at

twenty minutes after the Hecla had cast off, I was informed, by

signal, that the Fury was on shore. Making a tack in shore, but not

being able, even under a press of canvass, to get very near her, owing

to a strong southerly current which prevailed within a mile or two of

the land, I perceived that she had been apparently driven up the beach

by two or three of the grounded masses forcing her onwards before

them, and these, as well as the ship, seemed now so firmly aground,

as entirely to block her in on the seaward side. We also observed that

the bergs outside of her had been torn away, and set adrift by the

ice. As the navigating of the Hecla with only ten men on board

required constant attention and care, I could not at this time with

propriety leave the ship to go on board the Fury. This, however, I the

less regretted, as Captain Hoppner was thoroughly acquainted with all

my views and intentions, and I felt confident that, under his

direction, nothing would be left undone to endeavour to save the ship.

I, therefore, directed him by telegraph, 'if he thought nothing could

be done at present, to return on board with all hands until the wind

changed;' for this alone, as far as I could see the state of the Fury,

seemed to offer the smallest chance of clearing the shore, so as to

enable us to proceed with our work, or to attempt hauling the ship off

the ground.

'About seven P.M., Captain Hoppner returned to the Hecla, accompanied

by all hands, except an officer with a party at the pumps, reporting

to me that the Fury had been forced aground by the ice pressing on the

masses lying near her, and bringing home, if not breaking, the seaward

anchor, so that the ship was soon found to have swerved from two to

three feet fore and aft. The several masses of ice had, moreover, so

disposed themselves, as almost to surround her on every side where

there was sufficient depth of water for hauling her off. With the ship

thus situated, and masses of heavy ice constantly coming in, it was

Captain Hoppner's decided opinion, as well as that of Lieutenants

Austin and Ross, that to have laid out another anchor to seaward would

have only been to expose it to the same danger as there was reason to

suppose had been incurred with the other, without the most distant

hope of doing any service, especially as the ship had been driven on

shore by a most unfortunate coincidence, just as the tide was

beginning to fall. Indeed, in the present state of the Fury, nothing

short of chopping and sawing up a part of the ice under her stern

could by any possibility have effected her release, even if she had

been already afloat. Under such circumstances, hopeless as, for the

time, every seaman will allow them to have been, Captain Hoppner

judiciously determined to return for the present, as directed by my

telegraphic communication; but being anxious to keep the ship free

from water as long as possible, he left an officer and a small party

of men to continue working at the pumps, so long as a communication

could be kept up between the Hecla and the shore. Every moment,

however, decreased the practicability of doing this; and finding, soon

after Captain Hoppner's return, that the current swept the Hecla a

long way to the southward while hoisting up the boats, and that more

ice was drifting in towards the shore, I was under the painful

necessity of recalling the party at the pumps, rather than incur the

risk, now an inevitable one, of parting company with them altogether.

Accordingly Mr. Bird, with the last of the people, came on board at

eight o'clock in the evening, having left eighteen inches water in

the well, and four pumps being requisite to keep her free. In three

hours after Mr. Bird's return, more than half a mile of closely packed

ice intervened between the Fury and the open water in which we were

beating, and before the morning this barrier had increased to four or

five miles in breadth.

'We carried a press of canvas all night, with a fresh breeze from the

north, to enable us to keep abreast of the Fury, which, on account of

the strong southerly current, we could only do by beating at some

distance from the land. The breadth of the ice inshore continued

increasing during the day, but we could see no end to the water in

which we were beating, either to the southward or eastward. Advantage

was taken of the little leisure now allowed us to let the people mend

and wash their clothes, which they had scarcely had a moment to do for

the last three weeks. We also completed the thrumming of a second sail

for putting under the Fury's keel, whenever we should be enabled to

haul her off the shore. It fell quite calm in the evening, when the

breadth of the ice inshore had increased to six or seven miles. We did

not, during the day, perceive any current setting to the southward,

but in the course of the night we were drifted four or five leagues to

the south-westward, in which situation we had a distinct view of a

large extent of land, which had before been seen for the first time by

some of our gentlemen, who walked from where the Fury lay. This land

trends very much to the westward, a little beyond the Fury Point, the

name by which I have distinguished that headland, near which we had

attempted to heave the Fury down, and which is very near the southern

part of the coast seen in the year 1819. It then sweeps round into a

large bay, formed by a long, low beach, several miles in extent,

afterwards joining higher land, and running in a south-easterly

direction to a point which terminated our view of it in that quarter,

and which bore from us S. 58° W., distant six or seven leagues. This

headland I named Cape Garry, after my worthy friend, Nicholas Garry,

Esq., one of the most active members of the Hudson's Bay Company, and

a gentleman most warmly interested in everything connected with

northern discovery. The whole of the bays which I named after my much

esteemed friend, Francis Cresswell, Esq., as well as the land to the

southward, was free from ice for several miles; and to the southward

and eastward scarcely any was to be seen, while a dark water-sky

indicated a perfectly navigable sea in that direction; but between us

and the Fury there was a compact body of ice eight or nine miles in

breadth. Had we now been at liberty to take advantage of the

favourable prospect before us, I have little doubt we could, without

much difficulty, have made considerable progress.

'A southerly breeze enabling us to regain our northing, we ran along

the margin of the ice, but were led so much to the eastward by it,

that we could approach the ship no nearer than before during the whole

day. She appeared to us, at this distance, to have a much greater heel

than when the people left her, which made us still more anxious to get

near her. A south-west wind gave us hopes of the ice setting off from

the land, but it produced no good effect during the whole of the 24th.

We therefore beat again to the southward, to see if we could manage to

get in with the land anywhere about the shores of the bay; but this

was now impracticable, the ice being once more closely packed there.

We could only wait, therefore, in patience for some alteration in our

favour. The latitude at noon was 72° 34' 57", making our distance from

the Fury twelve miles, which by the following morning had increased to

at least five leagues, the ice continuing to pack between us and the

shore. The wind, however, now gradually drew round to the westward,

giving us hopes of a change, and we continued to ply about the margin

of the ice in constant readiness for taking advantage of any opening

that might occur. It favoured us so much by streaming off in the

course of the day, that by seven P.M. we had nearly reached a channel

of clear water which kept open for seven or eight miles from the land.

Being impatient to obtain a sight of the Fury, and the wind becoming

light, Captain Hoppner and myself left the Hecla in two boats, and

reached the ship at half-past nine, or about three-quarters of an hour

before high water, being the most favourable time of tide for arriving

to examine her condition.

'We found her heeling so much outward, that her main-channels were

within a foot of the water; and the large floe-piece which was still

alongside of her, seemed alone to support her below water, and to

prevent her falling over still more considerably. The ship had been

forced much farther up the beach than before, and she had now in her

bilge above nine feet of water, which reached higher than the

lower-deck beams. On looking down the stern-post, which, seen against

the light-coloured ground, and in shoal water, was now very distinctly

visible, we found that she had pushed the stones at the bottom up

before her, and that the broken keel, stern-post, and dead wood had,

by the recent pressure, been more damaged and turned up than before.

She appeared principally to hang upon the ground abreast the gangway,

where, at high water, the depth was eleven feet alongside her keel;

forward and aft, from thirteen to sixteen feet; so that at low tide,

allowing the usual fall of five or six feet, she would be lying in a

depth of from five to ten feet only. The first hour's inspection of

the Fury's condition too plainly assured me, that, exposed as she was,

and forcibly pressed up upon an open and stony beach; her holds full

of water, and the damage of her hull, to all appearance and in all

probability, more considerable than before, without any adequate means

of hauling her off to the seaward, or securing her from the incursions

of the ice, every endeavour of ours to get her off, or _if_ got off,

to float her to any known place of safety, would at once be utterly

hopeless in itself, and productive of extreme risk of our remaining

ship.

'Being anxious, however, in a case of so much importance, to avail

myself of the judgment and experience of others, I directed Captain

Hoppner, in conjunction with Lieutenants Austin and Sherer, and Mr.

Pulfer, carpenter, being the officers who accompanied me to the Fury,

to hold a survey upon her, and to report their opinions to me. And to

prevent the possibility of the officers receiving any bias from my own

opinion, the order was given to them the moment we arrived on board

the Fury.

'Captain Hoppner and the other officers, after spending several hours

in attentively examining every part of the ship, both within and

without, and maturely weighing all the circumstances of her situation,

gave it as their opinion that it would be quite impracticable to make

her sea-worthy, even if she could be hauled off, which would first

require the water to be got out of the ship, and the holds to be once

more entirely cleared. Mr. Pulfer, the carpenter of the Fury,

considered that it would occupy five days to clear the ship of water;

that if she were got off, all the pumps would not be sufficient to

keep her free, in consequence of the additional damage she seemed to

have sustained: and that, if even hove down, twenty days' work, with

the means we possessed, would be required for making her sea-worthy.

Captain Hoppner and the other officers were therefore of opinion, that

an absolute necessity existed for abandoning the Fury. My own opinion

being thus confirmed as to the utter hopelessness of saving her, and

feeling more strongly than ever the responsibility which attached to

me of preserving the Hecla unhurt, it was with extreme pain and regret

that I made the signal for the Fury's officers and men to be sent for

their clothes, most of which had been put on shore with the stores.

'The Hecla's bower-anchor, which had been placed on the beach, was

sent on board as soon as the people came on shore; but her remaining

cable was too much entangled with the grounded ice to be disengaged

without great loss of time. Having allowed the officers and men an

hour for packing up their clothes, and what else belonging to them the

water in the ship had not covered, the Fury's boats were hauled up on

the beach, and at two A.M. I left her, and was followed by Captain

Hoppner, Lieutenant Austin, and the last of the people in half an hour

after.

'The whole of the Fury's stores were, of necessity, left either on

board her or on shore; every spare corner that we could find in the

Hecla being now absolutely required for the accommodation of our

double complement of officers and men, whose cleanliness and health

could only be maintained by keeping the decks as clear and well

ventilated as our limited space would permit. The spot where the Fury

was left is in latitude 72° 42' 30"; the longitude by chronometers is

91° 50' 05"; the dip of the magnetic needle, 88° 19' 22"; and the

variation 129° 25' westerly.'

There now remains little more to be told--the accident that befel the

Fury, the lateness of the season, and the crowded state of the Hecla,

deprived Sir Edward Parry of all hopes of being able that season of

accomplishing the object for which the expedition had been despatched.

Under all these untoward circumstances, he determined to return to

England, and on the 2nd of September the crew of the Fury were taken

on board the Hecla, the boats hoisted up, the anchor stowed, and the

ship's head put to the north-eastward.

After a prosperous voyage, the whole of the Hecla and Fury's crews,

with but two exceptions, returned in safety to their native country,

arriving at Sheerness on the 20th of October, in as good health as

when they quitted England eighteen months before.

Lieutenant, now Captain Austin has, since these pages were written,

been appointed to the command of an expedition in search of Sir John

Franklin and his brave companions.

Captain Sir Edward Parry at present holds the appointment of

Superintendent of the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard, and Haslar

Hospital, Portsmouth.