The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1821-07-12 00:00:00

CAPTAIN PARRY'S EXPEDITION

NITRACT •ROY CAPT. PARRY./ JOURNAL Or ♦ VOYAGg

ros THE DIBOOT/LILT OF • 111011 TO-W EST PAUAOE.

[From " The NIPICI Monthly Magazine."

It was in the morning of this day, Sunda;.,
(ember 5, that the ships had crossed the meridian
of 110. west from Greenwich, in the latitude of 74.
44. 2., by which they became entitled to the sum
of five thousand pounds; the reward offered by
'Act of Parliament to such of his Majesty's sub-
jects as should penetrate thus far to the westward„
within the Arctic Circle. The nearest headland was
io consequence, denominated BOUNTY C•PB, by
the men, to whom Capt. Parry communicated this
cheering intelligence after divine service; exhorting
them at Ike same time to make the most strenuous
exertions dating the short remainder of the sensors
before them, s s fie bad little doubt of their accom-
plishing their enterprise before the close of the fol-
lowing one, if they e'chld penetrate a few degrees
farther to the westward, before the ships were laid
op for the winter.
For several days after this auspicious event the
ships were unable to proceed farther than o little
coasting romid the island, on account of contrary
windy and the rapid accumulation of ice, which
exposed them to the greatest danger, and the crews
to incessant fatigue. This was the more mortify-
ing, as Captain Parry had always looked forward to
the month of September as the period shove all
others favourable to the more rapid prosecution of
the object of his voyage. To add to his 'anxiety,
a party of men, who had been sent on shore in
search of deer, loot their way, and during three days
created the most distressing apprehensions for their
fate; nor were they finally recovered without con-
siderable danger to those who went in search of
them, and who, had their recovery been delayed
one night longer, must have perished with them, us
the thermometer fell before midnight to 50.; a
temperature which it would have been impossible
for them to have survived exposure to, debilitated
as they were by.excessive fatigue. In gratitude to
God for their ~reservation, the toarest headland was
called CAPE PROVIDENCE.

The increasing dangers and difficulties attendant
on continuing the navigation westward, by which
lli-y lord already been placed in situations of the
moil.. in:id: nem peril, the rapid formation of the
ice, the shortness of the day-fight, and the eft; cts
which the crew of the Griper, in particular, which
had been forced on shore by the ice, began to feel
from the effort. constantly necessary 10 work her, all
compelled Captain Parry to turn his thoughts to it e
providing of winter quarter', for which lie finally
fixed ou the eastern side of Melville island. The
labottrof cutting a canal through the ice, in order
to get he ships into a place of gaiety for the winter,
may be imagined by our readers, • Len then are in-
formed that the length of it was four thousand and
eighty-two yards, unit the average thickness of the
ice seven inches. Ors Sunday, the 26th of Sep-
tember, the Plops were securely harboured, and the
joyful event •was hailed by both their companies
with three heathy cheers.
" Having now," sat s Captain Parry, " reached
the station, where, in all probability, we were des.
tined to remain for ut least eight or trine months,
during three of which we were not to set the face
of the sun, my attention was immediately and im-
periously called to various important duties;
marry of them of a singular nature, such as had,
for the first time, devolved on any officer in his
Majesty's navy, and might indeed be considered of
rare occurrence iu the whole history of navigation.
The irecuri f the ships, and the preservation of
the vsrio es, were objects of immediate con-
cern. Are ar system to he adopted for the main-
Itenance of good order and cleanliness, as most
conducive to the health of the crews during the
long, dark, and dreary winter, equally demanded
my attention.
" Nut • moment was lost, therefore, in the com-
mencement of our operations. The whole of the
masts were dismantled except the lower one., and
the Heck's main-top-mast, the latter being kept
fidded for the purpose of occasionally hoisting up
the electrometer-chain, to try the effect of atmo-
spherical electricity. The lower yards were lashed
fore and aft amidships, at a sufficient height to
support the planks of the housing intended to be
erected over the ships, the lower ends of which
rested on the gunwale ; and the whole of this frame-
work was afterwards roofed over with a cloth, com-
posed of wadding-tilt, with which waggons are
usually covered ; and thus was formed a comfort-
able shelter from the snow and wind. The boats,
spate, funning rigging, and sails, were removed on
shore, in order to give as much room as possible on
our upper deck, to enable the people to take exer-
cise on board, whenever the weather should be too
inclement for walking on shore. It was absolutely
necessary, also, for the preservation of our sails and
ropes, all of which were hard-frozen, that they
should be kept in tbat state till the return of spring;
for, asit was now impassible to get them dried, owing
to the constantly low temperature of the atmosphere,
they would, probably, have soon rotted had they been
kept in any part of the ships, where the warmth
we'll(' occasion them to thaw ; they were, therefore,
placed with the boats on shore, and a covering of
canvass fixed over them. This covering, however,
a' we afterwards found, might better have been dig.
penoed with ; for as we had not the means of con-
structing s roof sufficiently I,izlit to keep out the
fine snow which fell dtivirorthe winter, it only
served, by the eddy wind which it created, to make
the drift about it greater ; and I have now no doubt
that, with stores in the state in which I have de-
scribed our sails to be, it would be better simply to
lay them on some spare to keep them off the ground,
allowing the arrow to cover them as it fell. Fur
want of experietsco in these matters, we also took a
great deal of Nemec vvvvv trouble iii carrying the
anchors over the ice t beach, with an idea of
f
securing the ships tu. slime p
me at the brenking u
ile
of the ice in the sprig; a precaution for %%Welt
there was trot the smallest °moos's, and by which
the cables suffered unnecessary exposure during the
whiter.

1000 as the ships were secured and housed
over, my ■adivided attention wart in the next
place, directed t, the comfort of the officers au.l
men, sod to tbe preservation of that extraordinary
degree or halal& which we had hitherto enjoyed iii
both ships."
Autoortaptaia Party's judicious regulations for