height of five feet out of the water! The lower deck beams now complained very much, and the whole frame of the ship underwent a trial which would have proved fatal to any less strengthened vessel. At the same moment the rudder was unhung with a sudden jerk, which broke up the rudder case, and struck the driver-boom with great force. We were in this state when, at 9 A.M., I made known our distresses to Captain Parry by telegraph, as I clearly saw that, in the event of another floe backing the one which lifted us, the ship must inevitably turn over, or part in midships. The pressure, however, which had been so dangerous to us, now proved our best friend; for the floe on which we were borne burst upwards, unable to resist its force; the ship righted, and, a small slack occurring in the water, drove several miles to the southward before she could again be secured and get the rudder hung; a circunstance much to be regretted at the moment, as our people had been employed, with little intermission, for three days and nights, attending to the safety of the ship in this tremendous tide-way.'-Capt. Lyon's Journal.

But the most hazardous situation in which the vessels were at any time placed, occurred on the homeward voyage. They were both beset,' and drifted along with the ice, at the mercy of the current. The frozen masses which surrounded them, were carried by the indraught up Lyon Inlet, and the ships drove the whole way close to the shore,' passing dangerous shoals at the distance of only a cable's length, with the ice running two knots.' If they had grounded in shoal water, the whole body of ice must have slid over' them; but,' writes Capt. Lyon, as that good old seaman, Baffin, expresses himself," God, which is greater than either ice or tide, always "delivered us." During the twelve days which they passed in this suspense, they suffered more anxiety than at any other period of the voyage. Ten of the twelve nights were passed by Capt. L. on deck, in expectation, each tide, of some decided change in their affairs, either by being left on the rocks, or by taking the ground.

It will be recollected, that, in the first voyage, the Hecla was the principal ship, and that her companion, the Griperthe miserable little Griper'-proved in all respects unfit for the service on which she was employed. A plan was accordingly adopted for the second expedition, which answered completely, and of which, indeed, the advantages were so obvious, that some surprise is excited by its non-employment in the first instance. A consort, the Fury, was provided for the Hecla, as nearly as possible on the same scale of size, accommodation, and equipment. Thus, every article used on board one of the vessels, became, on any emergency, applicable to the use of the other. Masts, yards, sails, anchors, were all of similar dimensions, and by thus being made duplicates of each other,

were available in either case. The good effects of this systems were actually experienced in the important article of anchors, several of which were broken by various mischances, and their loss was in this way supplied. Every possible method of counteracting the rigours of the Polar climate, and of adding to the comforts of the officers and crew, was adopted, a number of important improvements on the former arrangements being introduced. With a view to lighten the vessels as far as possible, while crossing the Atlantic, the Nautilus transport was appointed for the conveyance of stores as far as the margin of the ice. On Tuesday, May 8th, 1821, the squadron sailed from the Nore. July 1st, the Nautilus, having been cleared of her supplies, left for England; and on the following day, the Fury and Hecla were off Resolution Island at the entrance into Hudson's Straits. Their first interview with the natives was on the 21st of the same month; and a more disgusting set of beings can hardly be imagined than these Hyperboreans appear in the somewhat too minute description of Captain Lyon. We dare not risk the annoyance of our readers by even approaching some of his details; but other particulars are so graphically illustrative both of the habits of savage life, and the humour of English seamen, that we shall select a few points of the general sketch. They were determined thieves, possessing, as Captain Parry rather daintily phrases it, in an eminent degree the disposition to steal all they could lay 'their hands on,' and even aspiring to a rivalry with more civilized depredators, by making sundry meritorious essays in the art of picking pockets. They were evidently practised in the matter of driving a bargain, and, though they were ultimately contented with humbler articles of traffic, made many attempts to procure saws and harpoons, in exchange for their oil and skins.

In order to amuse our new acquaintance as much as possible, the fiddler was sent on the ice, where he instantly found a most de lightful set of dancers, of whom some of the women kept pretty good time. Their only figure consisted in stamping and jumping with all their might. Our musician, who was a lively fellow, soon caught the infection, and began cutting capers also. In a short time every one on the floe, officers, men, and savages, were dancing together, and exhibited one of the most extraordinary sights I ever witnessed....... The exertion of dancing so exhilirated the Eskimaux, that they had the appearance of being boisterously drunk, and played many extraordinary pranks. Amongst others, it was a favourite joke to run slily behind the seamen, and, shouting loudly in one ear, to give them at the same time a very smart slap on the other. ....Our cook, who was a most active and unwearied jumper, became so great a favourite, that every one boxed his ears so soundly, as

to oblige the poor man to retire from such boisterous marks of approbation. Amongst other sports, some of the Eskimaux, rather roughly, but with great good humour, challenged our people to wrestle. One man, in particular, who had thrown several of his countrymen, attacked an officer of a very strong make; but the poor savage was instantly thrown, and with no very easy fall; yet, although every one was laughing at him, he bore it with exemplary good humour. The same officer afforded us much diversion, by teaching a large party of women to bow, curtsy, shake hands, turn their toes out, and perform sundry other polite accomplishments; the whole party, master and pupils, preserving the strictest gravity. As sailors seldom fail to select some whimsical object on whom to pass their jokes, they soon found one in the person of an ugly old man, possessing a great stock of impudence, and a most comic countenance. He had sold all his clothes, with the exception of his breeches; and in this state they made him parade the decks, honoured by the appellation of king. Some rum was offered to this exalted personage, but he spat it out again with signs of great disgust. In order to shew him that it might be drank, one of the seamen was told to finish the glass; but he refused to touch it "after such a brute." The boatswain, however, with much humour and a knowing look, stepped forward, saying, "Here, hand me the glass, I'll drink with the gentleman," and nodding a health, which was returned by our king, he drank off the grog. Sugar was offered to many of the grown people, who disliked it very much, and, to our surprise, the young children were equally averse to it.' Captain Lyon's Journal.

As a voyage of discovery, the exertions of the expedition may be considered as commencing on the north-eastern shores of Southampton Island. The first attention of Captain Parry was directed to the solution of the long doubtful questions respecting the insularity of the extensive tract just named, and the real character of Repulse Bay. Any person who may have had occasion to examine the maps of these regions, previously to the present survey, must have been struck with the uncerainty which pervades them; and whoever may have paid any attention to the controversy respecting the accuracy of Captain Middleton's observations and inferences in 1742, will find them here verified in all their leading features. The Frozen Strait of that officer, fully justifies its name; Southampton Island is correctly so termed; and the shore of Repulse Bay has been traced from Beach Point to Cape Montagu. The line of coast on the north-eastern quarter of the island just mentioned, is deeply indented by one of the most magnificent and commodious harbours, perhaps, in the known world;' having but the one defect of being altogether useless, since, though the whole British navy might find anchorage' in it, not a single line of battle ship is ever likely to seek shelter in such an outof-the-way sort of place.

From about the middle of August until the 8th of October, was occupied in most intricate and frequently hazardous operations. The exploration of two capacious indentations of the continent, Gore Bay and Lyon Inlet, besides the investigation of the islands and channels, among and through which the vessels were navigated, took up much time, and involved many anxieties. At one period, after having worked through the principal dangers and difficulties of their sinuous track, they were drifted so far back, though by a different and less circuitous course, as to find themselves, in the beginning of September, at nearly the same spot as that on which they had been on the 6th of August. Early in October, the signs of approaching winter became unequivocal, and the ships were placed in a situation of imperfect security, in a bay on the southern coast of an island off the northern cape of Lyon Inlet, in latitude 66°. 11'. 24". 5. N. longitude 83°.09'.49".6. W.

In reviewing the events of this our first season of navigation, and considering what progress we had made towards the attainment of our main object, it was impossible, however trifling that progress might appear upon the chart, not to experience considerable satisfaction. Small as our actual advance had been towards Behring's Strait, the extent of coast newly discovered and minutely explored in pursuit of our object, in the course of the last eight weeks, amounted to more than two hundred leagues, nearly half of which belonged to the continent of North America. This service, notwithstanding our constant exposure to the risks which intricate shoal and unknown channels, a sea loaded with ice, and a rapid tide, concurred in presenting, had providentially been effected without injury to the ships, or suffering to the officers and men; and we now had once more met with tolerable security for the ensuing winter, when obliged to relinquish further operations for the season. Above all, however, I derived the most sincere satisfaction from a conviction of having left no part of the coast from Repulse Bay eastward in a state of doubt as to its connexion with the continent.'

Captain Parry's Journal.

The arrangements made for the warmth and comfort of the crews, seem to have answered satisfactorily. Among the amusements which were devised for passing away the time, and keeping up the spirits of the men, theatrical exhibitions were not forgotten. Divine service, too, was performed at the stated seasons, and psalmody was duly executed by a barrel organ, which played at proper intervals.' A reading and writing school was well attended in the evening of the week days. Against the danger which was incurred by the free use of fire in heating the flues, the most judicious precautions were adopted; and among these was not forgotten the very

important expedient of keeping open holes in the ice, that a full supply of water might be constantly at hand. These orifices swarmed with myriads of small shrimps (cancer nugax); and these ravenous little animals made strange depredations on the different articles of food which were occasionally immersed in the sea for the purpose of being thawed or deprived of part of their salt. It had been for some time remarked, that the meat which was put down to soak, came up most unaccountably diminished in substance; but the cause remained unsuspected, until a goose, belonging to the officers of the Hecla, having been left in the water eight and forty hours, made its re-appearance picked to the bone, and presenting the mortifying aspect of a skeleton most delicately cleaned.' After this, the voracity of these dexterous anatomists was turned to better account and only such small animals as it might be desirable to preserve as osteological specimens, were entrusted to their skill as dissectors. Captain Lyon says, that they never devoured the sinews.' Captain Parry, on the contrary, states, that several specimens were rendered imperfect by their undiscriminating ravenousness, and that it became, in consequence, necessary to enclose the subject in a net, or bag with holes, to which the shrimps could have access, but which prevented the loss of any of the limbs, should the cartilage of the joints be eaten.' On Christmas Eve, two farces and phantasmagoria amused the crews. On Christmas day in the morning, church service edified them; and the festival closed with a dinner of fresh roast beef, cranberry pies, and puddings of every shape and size, with full allowance of spirits.

Among the meteorological phenomena, the Aurora Borealis was the most conspicuous and impressive.

As we now had seen the darkest, although not by many degrees the coldest season of the year, it may not here be irrelevant to men. tion the beautiful appearance of the sky at this period. To describe the colours of these cloudless heavens would be impossible, but the delicacy and pureness of the various blended tints excelled any thing I ever saw, even in Italy. The sun shines with a diminished lustre, so that it is possible to contemplate it without a painful feeling to the eyes; yet, the blush colour which in severe frost always accompanies it, is, in my opinion, far more pleasing than the glittering borders which are so profusely seen on the clouds in warmer climates. The nights are no less lovely, in consequence of the clearness of the sky. The moon and stars shine with wonderful lustre, and almost persuade one to be pleased with the surrounding desolation. The aurora borealis does not appear affected by the brilliancy even of the full moon, but its light continues still the same. The first appearance of this phenomenon is generally in showers of falling rays, like those thrown from a rocket, although not so bright. These being in constant and