trating so far westward within the Arctic circle, as to entitle themselves to the reward of 5000l. allotted by Act of Parliament for the achievement of that enterprise. In order to commemorate this success, a bluff head which they had just passed was called Bounty Cape; and Captain Parry, having assembled the crews after Divine service on the 5th, announced to them their good fortune, and ordered an addition to their allowance for the day. We may be permitted, here, to remark, en passant, that nothing could well have exceeded the attention to the minutest circumstances which regarded his seamen, the inventive powers for the promotion of good humour, or the zeal and benevolence with which he put his plans into execution, than was evinced by the commander of this expedition throughout the whole of the voyage. Shortly after this, a fresh gale arising from the northward, and the ice continuing to oppose an impenetrable barrier to their further progress, they dropped anchor in a bay of Melville Island, which they named the Bay of the Hecla and Griper. Some of the crew landed on this island, where they collected in a day two thirds of a bushel of coals, being equal to the daily consumption of the Hecla; and Mr. Dealy was fortunate enough to kill the first musk ox to which the sportsmen could get near. It was at such a distance, however, from the ship, that they could not transport it thither; but a piece of the beef was brought as a sample, the taste of which appears to have been much more inviting than the perfume. The crews of both vessels suffered here the most serious apprehensions for the safety of Mr. Fife, and a party from the Griper, who had lost their way on the island, while deer hunting. The whole earth was one waste of white around them; and the snow continued to fall so incessantly, that the various flagstaffs which were set up as guides could not be discerned at a few yards' distance. Just, however, as the sun was descending on the third day from their departure, a signal from the Griper announced the joyful in- . telligence that they were descried on their return. The account which they gave was, that they had lost their way a few hours after their

separation from the ship, and had wandered about ever since. At night they endeavoured to shelter themselves from the inclemency of the weather, by erecting little huts of stones and turf, and setting fire with gunpowder to the loose moss. Their food consisted of raw grouse, of which fortunately they were able to obtain sufficient for their subsistence. They were much debilitated, and severely frost-bitten, both in the toes and fingers; and the night on which they returned proved so dreadfully inclement, that their exposure under it must have been certain death. In gratitude for this signal escape, they distinguished the western head-land by the title of Cape Providence.

Captain Parry had been given the option by the Admiralty of returning to England after he had minutely explored Lancaster's Sound, or of wintering in the Arctic regions, as he thought proper. He preferred the latter; and the increasing perils of the navigation, the unpromising appearance of the ice to the westward, together with the advanced period of the season, admonished him that it was now high time to look out for winter quarters. He determined to return to the Bay of the Hecla and Griper, as being the only one which he had observed as at all calculated for security. He proceeded, therefore, on his return; which was effected slowly, and with considerable difficulty, owing to the perpetual formation of the ice, which was never interrupted, although the waters were agitated by a hard gale. What was their mortification, on their arrival off Fife's Harbour, to find that the whole bay was covered with one solid sheet of ice, which had been formed since their previous visit! It became, however, absolutely necessary to secure themselves for the winter; and in doing this, the sailors displayed wonderful ingenuity and perseverance. The only way to preserve the ships was, by cutting a passage for them through the ice; and to accomplish this, they, in the face of snow storms, actually worked nineteen hours during the first day! Our readers may have some idea of the extent of this undertaking, when we inform them that the length of this canal was 4082 yards, and that the average thickness of the ice was

seven inches. At a quarter past three on the third day, they tracked the ships through this canal into winter quarters, an event which was commemorated by three hearty cheers. Here then they were to remain for at least eight months; during three of which a glimpse of the sun would not be visible; and it became immediately necessary to commence preparations for meeting this new and extraordinary situation. Not a moment was lost in the commencement of their operations. The masts were all dismantled, except the lower ones; and a kind of housing was formed on deck by lashing the yards fore and aft amidships, and supporting them by upright planks, 'over all of which, a thick waddingtilt, such as usually covers waggons, was thrown by way of roof, and formed a comfortable shelter, at least trom the snow and wind. The boats, spars, running sails, and rigging, were all removed to the land, in order to afford the crews room for exercising on deck, whenever the inclemency of the weather prevented their going ashore. The next consideration was the preservation of the health of the 'crews during this trying period. The difficulty of keeping the bed-places dry, may be gathered from the fact of a crust of ice forming every night of more or less thickness, according to the temperature of the atmosphere, on the inner partition of all sides of the vessel. The steam arising from their brewing was so annoying, that, valuable an anti-scorbutic as beer was, they were obliged to discontinue their brewery. The cold was obviated by means of heated airpipes; and a strict attention to diet, except in one instance, effectually counteracted the scurvy. The men were obliged to drink a certain proportion of lime-juice, sugar, and water, every day, in the presence of an officer. The allowance of bread was diminished to two thirds; and a pound of Donkin's preserved meat, together with one pint of vegetable or concentrated soup, was substituted for one pound of salt beef weekly. Sour krout and pickles, with as much vinegar as could be used, were issued at regular intervals. The men were carefully mustered every morning and evening, and a medical inspection of them took place

once a week. Captain Parry himself examined the beds every day; and when the crews could not exercise on shore, they were obliged to run on deck for several hours, keeping time to some merry tune. The consequence of these very judicious arrangements was, that only one instance of mortality occurred during the entire expedition; and that was hastened, if not altogether created, by predisposing causes. Placed in this novel and awful situation, Captain Parry proposed the erection of a theatre on deck, and that performances should take place during the winter-a proposition which was gratefully acceded to; and accordingly, on the 5th of November, sailors, officers, and commander, all appeared in Miss in her Teens, to the great satisfaction, as the play-bills would express it, of a crowded and delighted audience. A weekly newspaper, called the North Georgia Gazette, was also actually composed and printed on board, the officers becoming voluntary contributors, and Captain Sabine acting as Editor. We are a little jealous that it was not a Magazine; but it must be confessed, that the establishment of a newspaper was a tempting speculation, where there was neither a stampoffice, nor an Attorney-General.

The effects of the cold were most distressing: the least exposure of the hand in the open air, caused such severe frost-bites, that amputation became sometimes unavoidable, and the skin generally adhered to any metallic substance with which it came in contact! In one or two instances, persons labouring under the consequences of severe cold seemed to have had their minds, as well as their persons torpified; they looked wild, spoke thick, and inarticulately; and, when recovering, exhibited all the symptoms of complete intoxication; so much so, indeed, that Captain Parry could not have credited that they were sober, if he had not perfect demonstration that they had taken nothing stronger than snow water. On the 4th of November, the sun bade them farewell, and did not appear again above their horizon, till the 8th of February, an interval of ninety-six days! The North Georgia Gazette, which is now in the London press, the theatre

once a fortnight, the Aurora Borealis at times, and the howling of wolves, trapping of white foxes, and tracing of wild deer, were their principal occupations. We find that there were not only political, but dramatic authors on board; for a play was actually written on board the Hecla, and played, with the thermometer below Zero, on the stage. The piece. had decided success; though we apprehend there was not much clapping of hunds during its performance. The wearing of leather on the feet even caused such frost-bites, that the Captain was obliged to substitute a kind of canvass boot, lined with woollen. During their refuge in winter quarters, they formed a number of hunting parties, and obtained by that means, not only some amusement, but a considerable supply of fresh provisions. The following is a list of the game killed on the shores of Melville Island, for the use of the expedition, during a period of twelve months: Three musk oxen, twentyfour deer, sixty-eight hares, fiftythree geese, fifty-nine ducks, 144 ptarmigans, making a sum total of 3,766 lb. of fresh meat. Captain Parry, also, by artificial means, contrived to grow some small sallads on board the vessel; but his seeds all perished in soil to which vegetation seems to have sworn eternal hostility. By the bye, it is very plain that our gallant author has hunted after game much more by sea than land, from the circumstance of his always calling a pack of grouse, a

covey.

It is very remarkable, that some of their dogs formed a very close, and even tender acquaintance, with the wolves on Melville Island, so much so, as to stay away for days and nights from the ship, and only one was lost; but whether he was a voluntary exile, or whether he was devoured by the male wolves, remains a problem: the latter, we fear, was the case, from the circumstance of one of the captain's own favourites returning, after a long visit, severely lacerated. Some of the animals in these regions appear, indeed, to have been remarkably tame; and there is a very entertaining account given by Captain Parry, of his forming an acquaintance with a rein-deer, in his excursion across

Melville Island. Captain Sabine and he, having been considerably a-head of the rest of the party, sat down to wait for them, when a fine deer came up, and began to gambol round them, at a distance of thirty yards. They had no gun; and at all events: considered that hostility would have. been but a bad return for the confidence reposed in them. When the rest of the party appeared, the deer ran to pay them a visit; but they being less scrupulous, fired two shots at him without effect, when he returned again to Captain Parry even nearer than before, accompanying him, and trotting round him like a dog, until the rest of the party came up; upon which, with much good sense, he disappeared.

4

We are sorry we have not room to detail Captain Parry's account. of his tour through Melville Island, which possesses considerable interest. They collected some specimens of mineralogy; and, amongst others, a piece of fossil wood;saw abundance of sorrel and sax-? ifrage; and in many places, a great deal of grass and poppies. The whole island bore evident marks of being frequented much by game; and, from the marks in several places, seemed to abound in musk oxen, deer, hares, foxes, grouse, plover, geese, and ptarmigan. The wolves appear to prey upon the foxes; and a beautiful little white one, which was caught in a trap near the Hecla, showed evident symptoms of alarm when it heard their howl. The monthof July turning out very favourable, the ice began gradually to disappear; and on the 1st of August, the ships. took their departure from Winter Harbour, where they had lain for very near twelve months. Even after leaving this, they were terribly impeded by the ice; and the Captain called a council of the officers, to have their advice upon his future operations. They all agreed that it would be most wise to run a little, along the edge of the ice to the eastward, in the hope of finding an opening to lead to the American continent; and, if this should fail, that then they should, after a reason able time spent in the search, return to England. This return was rendered doubly necessary, as the exhaustion of their principal antiscor❤