Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/706

 670 ARCTIC DISCOVERY additional reward of 5,000 was offered to the crew that should penetrate to within 1 of the pole. In 1789 Mackenzie, in a land expedition, discovered and traced to its mouth the river called after him. The next two expeditions set sail in 1818: one under the command of Capt. Ross and Lieut. Parry, to discover the north- west passage; the other under Capt. Buchan and Lieut. (Sir John) Franklin, to penetrate to the north pole. Of the latter expedition the objects were entirely scientific. The com- manders were instructed to pass northward between Spitzbergen and Greenland without stop, and to make every effort to reach the pole. They found the temperature along the western shore of Spitzbergen unexpectedly mild ; but they did not succeed in penetrating further than 80 34', and did not get clear of the ice without encountering great danger. One of the ships, the Dorothea, being much shattered by the ice, the expedition was finally abandoned, and the two vessels returned home. With the other expedition it was proposed to explore the great openings reported by Baffin to exist at the western extreme of Baffin bay. The expedition sailed April 18, 1818, passed along the Greenland coast, and finally, Aug. 30, entered Lancaster sound. They were now upon unexplored ground. It was not supposed that Lancaster sound was in point of fact more than a bay, and the vessels were steered into it with many misgivings. After sailing up some 60 m. it was thought that land was dis- covered, extending completely across from shore to shore of the supposed bay ; and, the weather threatening a storm, the vessels were put about. After exploring the coast to the southward and eastward for some distance, the vessels returned to England, where they ar- rived in October of the same year. Capt. Ross reported Lancaster sound to be a bay through which there was no practicable outlet to the ocean beyond. In this opinion several of his officers by no means agreed; and it appears that he failed to convince the scientific public of England of the correctness of his view. Lieut. Parry, who was as positive and sanguine that Lancaster inlet was a sound as was Ross that it was a bay, was intrusted with another expedition. The Hecla was his own vessel. The Griper, under the command of Lieut. Lid- don, was the consort. The expedition num- bered 94 men, and was fitted out with provi- sions for two years. The vessels sailed May 11, 1819, first fell in with ice June 18, and found themselves firmly beleaguered on the 25th. They entered Lancaster sound July 30, but it was not till Aug. 3 that both vessels were able to lay their course fairly up the channel. Then they made a rapid run as far as the mouth of Barrow strait, and on passing the mouth of Prince Regent inlet had ad- vanced further than any mariners had ever gone before them. They were approaching the magnetic pole, and found their compasses of little use. Proceeding through Melville sound, on Sept. 4 Parry announced to his crew that, having passed the 110th meridian, they were entitled to the reward of 5,000 offered by parliament for this achievement. On Sept. 20 they were imbedded in ice, and further progress was stopped. They cut their way out and returned to Melville island, where they passed the winter. On Aug. 2 of the following year the mass of ice broke up and floated out, setting the explorers at liberty. By the 15th they were again imbedded in ice, having made but little advance. They finally put about for home, reaching Britain in safety, and with the crews in a healthy condition. So successful a voyage raised high the expecta- tions of all interested, and it was determined to send Parry out again. He accordingly sailed, in command of the Hecla and Fury, in May, 1821, with instructions to make for Re- pulse bay by way of Hudson strait, with the expectation of thus avoiding much of the ice. Before this, however, in September, 1819, an overland expedition was sent out from York Factory, on the western shore of Hudson bay, with instructions to explore the northern coast of America, from the mouth of the Cop- permine eastward. This expedition consisted of Lieut. (Sir John) Franklin. Dr. (Sir John) Richardson, two midshipmen, Messrs. Hood and Back, and a seaman named Hepburn. In the event of Parry's making the coast on his first expedition, the two expeditions were to co- operate. They reached Chipewyan on March 26, having accomplished a foot journey of 856 m. with the weather so intensely cold that the mercury sank to the bulb of the thermometer and then froze. In July, 1820, they travelled 500 m. more to Fort Enterprise, where the party wintered, while Mr. (Sir George) Back returned to Fort Chipewyan, to hurry along the supplies necessary for the next season's operations. Mr. Back, after innumerable hardships, returned to Fort Enterprise March 17, 1821, having travelled over 1,100 m., some- times two or three days without tasting food, with no covering at night but a blanket and deerskins, and with the thermometer ranging between 47 and 57 below zero. On June 30, 1821, the party having dragged their canoes and supplies from Fort Enterprise to the Cop- permine, 80 m., embarked on that stream and floated seaward. They reached the sea July 18, and immediately commenced paddling to the east. They sailed and paddled along shore 550 m., and imagined themselves upon the point of emerging into the vast Arctic ocean, when, to their dismay, they discovered that they had just reached the bottom of a huge bay. With but three days' provisions remain- ing, they turned back, Sept. 1, and, unable even to reach their starting point, built two small canoes of their larger ones, and ascended Hooc? river, a short distance west of Point Turnagain, the spot where they gave up further progress eastward. Short of food, in a country deserted by animals, ill provided with all that could