drink. In his majesty's harem water from which the calcoon has there are one thousand ladies, and been smoked ; another is to subject he is the father of one hundred them to be clawed by a cat: occachildren. The ladies punish their sionally they beat them soundly, slaves in a variety of ways, one of with the heels of their shoes, and which is to make them drink the shave their heads.

NARRATIVE of an Attempt to reach the North Pole, in Boats fitted for the purpose, and attached to his Majesty's Ship Hecla, in the year 1827, under the command of CAPTAIN WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.

a

The object of the present expe- stood on to the northward, among dition was to reach the North Pole loose and broken ice, in search of by means of two sledge-boats, so the main body, as far as 81° 5' 32"; constructed as either to travel over but not finding anything like a the ice, or sail or row through field of ice, she stood back to the spaces of open water, as circum- southward, and on the 19th of stances might require. Captain June discovered a bay on the north Parry's old ship, the Hecla, was coast of Spitzbergen, in which the appointed to carry him and his Hecla was anchored in latitride companions to Spitzbergen, and 79° 55' N., longitude 16° 54' E. there to wait in some secure har- On the 21st of June, Captain bour for his return. The vessel Parry set out on his arduous unleft the Nore on the 4th of April, dertaking, with two boats named reached Hammerfest on the 18th, the Enterprize and Endeavour; and on the 27th, having received Mr. Beverly, the surgeon, being on board a number of trained rein- attached to his own, and lieutenant deer (which proved useless), made Ross, accompanied by Mr. Bird in sail to the northward. On the the other; lieutenant Foster being 14th of May, the Hecla was left in charge of the Hecla. At abreast of Hakluyt’s Headland, Little Table Island, the highest when she was obliged to run into latitude of land known on the the main-ice for security in a globe, they left a deposit of proheavy gale of wind.

visions for their return. The mode mained beset and drifting about in which the party pursued their with the ice, chiefly to the east- journey is described by captain ward, for four-and-twenty days, Parry as follows: when, on the 8th of June, she “ It was my intention to travel was liberated by a southerly wind wholly at night, and to rest by dispersing the ice.

day, there being, of course, conOn reaching the Seven Islands, stant daylight in these regions duthey were found to be all shut in ring the summer season. The adby land-ice; but the party depo- vantages of this plan, which was sited on one of them, Walden occasionally deranged by circumIsland, a store of provisions for stances, consisted, first, in our their return. Captain Parry then avoiding the intense and oppres

She re

sive glare from the snow during This, indeed, was of no conses the time of the sun's greatest alti- quence, beyond the discomfort of tude, so as to prevent, in some first putting them on in this state, degree, the painful inflammation as they were sure to be thoroughly in the eyes, called " snow blind- wet in a quarter of an hour after ness,' which is common in all commencing our journey ; while, snowy countries. We also thus on the other hand, it was of vital enjoyed greater warmth during importance to keep dry things for the hours of rest, and had a better sleeping in. Being “rigged" for chance of drying our clothes; be- travelling, we breakfasted upon sides which, no small advantage warm cocoa and biscuit, and after was derived from the snow being stowing the things in the boats harder at night for travelling. The and on the sledges, so as to secure only disadvantage of this plan was, them as much as possible, from that the fogs were somewhat more wet, we set off on our day's jourfrequent and more thick by night ney, and usually travelled from than by day, though even in this five to five and a half hours, then respect there was less difference stopped an hour to dine, and again than might have been supposed, travelled four, five, or even six the temperature during the twen- hours according to circumstances. ty-four hours undergoing but little After this we halted for the night, variation. This travelling by night as we called it, though it was and sleeping by day so completely usually early in the morning, inverted the natural order of things, selecting the largest surface of ice that it was difficult to persuade we happened to be near, for haulourselves of the reality. Evening the boats on, in order to avoid the officers and myself, who were the danger of its breaking up, by all furnished with pocket chrono- coming in contact with other masmeters, could not always bear in ses, and also to prevent drift as mind at what part of the twenty, much as possible. The boats were four hours we had arrived ; and placed close along-side each other, there were several of the men who with their sterns to the wind, the declared, and I believe truly, that snow or wet cleared out of them, they never knew night from day and the sails, supported by the during the whole excursion. bamboo masts and three paddles, ti “ When we rose in the evening placed over them as awnings, an we commenced our day by prayers, entrance being left at the bow. after which we took off our fur Every man then immediately put sleeping-dresses, and put on those on dry stockings and fur boots, for travelling; the former being after which we set about the nemade of camblet, lined with ra- cessary repairs of boats, sledges, or coon-skin, and the latter of strong clothes ; and, after serving the problue box-cloth. We made a point visions for the succeeding day, we of always putting on the same went to supper. Most of the offistockings and boots for travelling cers and men then smoked their in, whether they had dried during pipes, which served to dry the the day or not; and I believe it boats and awnings very much, and was only in five or six instances usually raised the temperature of at the most, that they were not our lodgings 10° or 15. This either still wet or hard-frozen. part of the twenty-four hours was

1

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often a time, and the only one, of somewhat pinched for room, and real enjoyment to us; the men therefore obliged to stow rather told their stories, and 'fought all closer than was quite agreeable. their battles o'er again, and the The temperature, while 've slept labours of the day, unsuccessful as was usually from 36° to 45°, acthey too often were, were forgot- cording to the state of the external ten. A regular watch was set atmosphere; but on one or two during our resting-time, to look occasions, in calm and warm weaout for bears or for the ice break- ther, it rose as high as 60° to 66°, ing up around us, as well as to obliging us to throw off a part of our attend to the drying of the clothes, fur dress. After we had slept seven each man alternately taking this hours, the man appointed to boil duty for one hour. We then con- the cocoa roused us, when it was cluded our day with prayers, and ready, by the sound of a bugle, having put on our fur dresses, lay when we commenced our day in down to sleep with a degree of the manner before described. comfort, which perhaps few per

“ Our allowance of provisions sons would imagine possible under for each man per day was as folsuch circumstances ; our chief in- lows:convenience being, that we were Biscuit

10 ounces. Pemmican.

9 Sweetened Cocoa Powder

to make one pint. Rum

1 gill. Tobacco

3 ounces per week. “Our fuel consisted entirely of continued to be covered with loose, spirits of wine, of which two pints rugged masses of ice, separated only formed our daily allowance, the by narrow pools of water, which cocoa being cooked in an iron boiler obliged them constantly to launch over a shallow iron lamp, with the boats down one piece and haul seven wicks; a simple apparatus, them up another, having first unwhich answered our purpose re- loaded, not only to lighten them markably well. We usually found but to save the provisions from one pint of the spirits of wine suf- risk of loss. To these rugged maeficient for preparing our breakfast, ses next succeeded small floes of that is, for heating twenty-eight ice, on the upper surfaces of which pints of water, though it always were numberless irregular needlecommenced from the temperature like crystals, placed vertically, of 32°. If the weather was calm nearly close together, varying in and fair, this quantity of fuel length from five to ten inches, in brought it to the boiling point in breadth half an inch, but pointed about an hour and a quarter ; but at both ends, loose and moveable, more generally the wicks began to fatiguing to walk over, and cutting go out before it had reached 200° the boots and feet. These floes This, however, made a very com- were generally covered with high fortable meal to persons situated and irregular hummocks of ice, as we were."

over which the boats were to be This adventurous party soon began hauled, sometimes almost perpento experience difficulties. The sea dicularly; not unfrequently the

men.

surface was covered with deep half. It may, therefore, be imasnow, into which, being half gined how great was our mortifimelted, the men slipped up to their cation in finding that our latitude, knees at every other step, so that by observation at noon, was only they were sometimes five minutes 82° 36' 52", being less than five together in moving a single empty miles to the northward of our boat with all their united strength. place at noon on the 17th, Sometimes they had to drag the since which time we had certainly boats and sledges through large travelled twelve in that direction." pools of water; and in all cases This discouraging circumstance they had to make three or four was carefully concealed from the journeys over the same floe, to On the 22nd they had the bring up the boats, the sledges, satisfaction of observing that the ice and the provisions. The conse, had certainly improved; though the quence of all this was, that they floes had not extended their surfrequently advanced only two, faces so as to entitle them to be sometimes three, and seldom more called “fields, yet hopes were than four or five miles, directly now entertained that their progress north, in the course of a day. On would be more commensurate with one occasion, after six hours of in- their exertions. In proportion, cessant toil and great risk, both to then, to the hopes they had begun the boats and men, they had only to entertain, was their disappointaccomplished about a mile and a ment in finding, at noon, that they quarter. Add to all this, the snow were in latitude 82° 43' 5", or not at one time fell heavily; and at quite four miles to the northward others, the rain came down in tore of the observations of the preceding rents, keeping their clothes in a day, instead of the ten or eleven constant state of wetness. Once it which they had travelled! The continued without intermission for weather was in general sufficiently twenty-one hours, and was suc

warm,

though frequently wet and ceeded by dense fogs. In one foggy, and the ice again became place it required two hours of hard broken into small rugged patches. labour to proceed one hundred and “ The weather improving tofifty yards. In another, afterwards noon on the 26th, we obeleven hours of actual and se- tained the meridian altitude of the vere labour, requiring the whole sun, by which we found ourselves strength of the party to be exerted, in latitude 82° 40' 23'' ; so that, the space travelled over did not ex- since our last observation (at mid. ceed four miles, of which scarcely night on the 22nd), we had lost by two were made good to the north- drift no less than thirteen miles ward. But this slowness of ap- and a half; for we were now parent progress was not the worst more than three miles to the southof their misfortunes; small as it ward of that observation, though was, it was not real. On the 20th we had certainly travelled between of July, captain Parry says, ten and eleven due north in

“ We halted at seven A. M., ha- this interval! Again, we were ving, by our reckoning, accom- but one mile to the north of our plished six miles and a half in a place at noon on the 21st, though N. N. W. direction, the distance we had estimated our distance traversed being ten miles and a made good at twenty-three miles.

Thus it appeared that, for the last to the southward, and captain five days, we had been struggling Parry observes, “ I can safely say, against a southerly drift exceeding that dreary and cheerless as were four miles per day.

the scenes we were about to leave, · The very highest point of lati- we never turned homewards with tude that was reached captain so little satisfaction as on this ocParry considers to be 82° 45', on casion.” The difficulties for some the meridian of 19° 25' east of time were not less than before, but Greenwich, he says,

they felt confident that, on return“ At the extreme point of our ing to the southward, they should journey, our distance from the keep all they gained, and, proHecla was only one hundred and babīy, by the southern set, make a seventy-two miles in a S. 8° W. good deal more, which turned out direction. To accomplish this dis- to be the case. tance we had traversed, by our The further they proceeded reckoning, two hundred and nine southerly, the ice became thinner, ty-two miles, of which about one and more frangible, the snow hundred were performed by water, softer, and the surface more frepreviously to our entering the ice. quently covered with pools of As we travelled by far the greater water: the men were afflicted part of our distance on the ice with chilblains, and the epidermis,

, three, and not unfrequently five or scarf-skin, in many peeled off times over, we may safely multiply in large flakes, from every part of the length of the road by two and the body. A large she-bear was a half; so that our whole distance, killed, and the men spent the whole on a very moderate calculation, day in frying and devouring bear amounted to five hundred and steaks, the consequence of which eighty geographical, or six hundred was, that for several days many of and sixty-eight statute miles, being them complained of violent pains : nearly sufficient to have reached they all,” says captain Parry, the Pole in a direct line. Up to “ amusingly enough, attributed this period we had been particu- this effect to the quality and not larly fortunate in the preservation the quantity of meat they had of our health ; neither sickness nor eaten." The officers, who ate casualties having occurred among less intemperately suffered nothing us, with the exception of the tri- of the kind. At length on the fling accidents already mentioned, 11th of August, in latitude 81° 34' a few bowel complaints, which they reached the open sea, " which

“ were soon removed by care, and was dashing with heavy surges some rather troublesome cases of against the outer masses," and chilblains arising from our constant finally quitted the ice, after haexposure to wet and cold.”

ving sojourned upon it for fortyThe party rested on the 26th, eight days. which happened to “be one of The next day, steering through the warmest and most pleasant to the fog by compass, they made the the feelings," though the thermo- Little Table Island, right a-head. meter was only from 31° to 36° in Here they soon discovered that the the shade, and 37° in the sun, but bears had devoured all the bread it was calm and dry.

they had deposited. From hence In the afternoon of the following they bore up for Walden Island, day, the party turned their faces and reached it in the evening.