Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-03-27
PARRY'S VOYAGE.
One Of the Most Remarkable Of Arctic
Expeditions.
CProf. Richard A. Proctor.l

Onc OF the Ne 0Sd EscsnarkdDse Oh ArCtAC
Expeditions.
[Prof. Richard A. Proctor.l
In 1927 Sir Edward Parry was COM
missioned by the English Government
to attempt to reach the North pole. A
large reward was promised in case he
succeeded, or even il he could get with
in five degrees of the North pole. The
plan which he adopted seemed prom
Using. Starting from port in Spitz-
bergen. he proposed to travel as far
northward as possible in sea boats, and
then, landing upon the ice, to prosecute
his voyage by means of sledges. Few
narratives of Arctic travel are more in
teresting than that which Parry has left
of this famous "boat-and-sledge" ex.
petition. The voyagers were terribly
harassed by the difficulties of the way );
and, after time, that most trying Of all
Arctic experiences, the bitterly-cold
wind which comes from out the dreadful
north, was added to their trials. Yet
still they plodded steadily onward,
tracking their way over hundreds of
miles Of ice with the confident expecta-
ton of at least attaining to the eighty
fifth parallel, if not to the pole itself.
But most grievous disappointment
was in store for them. Parry began to
notice that the astronomical observation,
by which in favorable weather he esti-
mated the amount of their northerly
progress, showed o want Of correspond
ence with the actual rate at which they
were travelling. At first he could hardly
believe that there was not some mis-
take; but at length the unpleasing con-
victicn was forced upon him that the
whole ice-feld over which he and his
companions had been toiling so pain
fully was setting steadily southwark be.
fore the wind. Each day the extent of
this set became greater and greater, un-
til, at length, they were actually carried
as fast toward the south as they could
travel northward.
Parry deemed it useless to continue
the struggle. There were certainly two
chances IN his favor. It was possible
that the north wind might cease to blow,
and it was also possible that the limit of
the ice might soon be reached, and that
his boats might travel easily northward
upon the open sea beyond. But he had
to consider the exhausted state of his
men. and the great additional danger to
which they were subjected by the NOV
able nature Of the ice-felds. IF the ice
should break up, or if heavy and long
continued southerly winds should blow,
they mis bit have found it very diff
fcult to regain their port of refuge in
Spitzbergen before winter set in or their
stores were exhausted. Beside there
were no signs Of water in the direction
they had been taking. The water-sky
of Arctic regions can be recognized by
the experienced seaman long before the
open sea itself is visible. On every
side, however, there were the signs Of
widely extended ice-felds. It seemed,
therefore, hopeless to persevere, and
Parry decided on returning with all
possible speed to the haven of refuge
prepared for the party in Spitzbergen.
He had succeeded in reaching the high
est northern ATTITUDES ever yet attained
by man.
The most remarkable feature of this
expedition, however, is not the high
latitude which the party attained, but
the strange circumstance which led to
their discontinue. What opinion are
we to form of an ocean at once wide and
deep enough to float an ice-feld which
must have been 10000 or 10000 square
miles in extent Parry had travelled
upward of 800 miles across the field,
and we may fairly suppose that he
might have travelled forty or fifty miles
farther without reaching open water;
also that the field extended fully fifty
miles on each side of Parry's northerly
track. That the whole of so enormous a
field should have foated freely before
the Arctic winds is indeed an astonish-
ing circumstance. On every side of this
floating island there must have been
seas comparatively free from ice and,
could stout ship have forced its way
through these seas, the ATTITUDES to
which it could have reached would have
been far higher than those to which
Parry's party was able to attain. For
moments consideration Will show that
the part of the great ice-feld where
Parry was compelled to turn back must
have been floating in far higher lati-
tudes when he first set out. He reck-
oned that he had lost more than 100
miles through the southerly motion of
the ice-feld, and by this amount, of
course, the point he reached had been
nearer the pole. It is not assuming too
much to say that a ship which could
have forced its way round the great float
ing ice-feld would certainly have been
able to get within four degrees of the
pole. It seems to us highly probable
that she would even have been able to