pute the dearly-acquired right of distributing the immortality which a northern cape can confer. Yet this crowd of familiar names produces an impression which does not well harmonize with that inspired by these dark and distant boundaries of the earth. In particular, we would suggest, whether our Peers and Statesmen, as they now stand in full array facing the northern ocean, should not lay down those conventional titles by which they are recognised in court and city. Sir G. Clerk's island, Sir P. Malcolm's river, Sir H. Martin's point, do not seem at all in good keeping with the place and scene. Reflecting farther upon this subject, we could not help amusing ourselves with considering, how far the late revolutions in the cabinet, had they been known in due time, might not have acted upon the nominal destinies of the Arctic world. We would by no means insinuate, that the descent of Lord Goderich and Mr Huskisson from their stations in the ministry, would have precipitated them from those which they still hold in the range of the Rocky mountains. But we do pretty confidently surmise, that we should have had Wellington Gulf, Anglesea Cape, and Murray's Inlet ; and really, on looking round the shores of this newly-discovered world, we cannot but feel some wonder, that none of the heroes of Waterloo should have had their names inscribed in it.

It would be unfair to dismiss this volume, without noticing the extreme beauty of those views of Arctic scenery with which it is both illustrated and embellished. They supply, in a great measure, the absence of picturesque description, and delineate with singular truth, the striking peculiarities which distinguish the aspect of these regions from that of the temperate climates.

But another part of our task yet awaits us. We must follow Captain Parry in his more daring expedition, almost contemporaneous with that of Captain Franklin, of which the object was, to reach the point of the earth farthest removed from mortal view, the centre of the regions of ice and snow,-the Pole of the earth.

The scheme of penetrating to India across the pole is by no means of recent origin. In 1527, Mr Robert Home, one of the chief adventurers in the first voyages to America, and a main instrument in the discovery of Newfoundland, wrote a treatise to prove its practicability, and offered his substance in aid of the undertaking; but the scheme, even in that enterprising age, appeared too daring. The discussion was revived on several subsequent occasions; but the first actual attempt was made by the bold genius of Hudson. He directed his course to Spitzbergen, and penetrated farther north than any preceding navigator, and

nearly as far as any previous to Captain Parry; but the barrier of ice was found by him to be too strong. Yet the merchant adventurers afterwards sent out one James Poole twice to Cherry Island, with some ulterior aim at the pole; but in neither case with any effect. Fotherby and Baffin were employed by the same body, and made vigorous efforts, which were also arrested nearly at the same point with Hudson.

A long pause of polar enterprise ensued, till, in 1773, the Royal Society, with a view to the improvement of science and curiosity only, solicited an expedition, which might make as near an approach as possible to the pole. Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, was dispatched on this mission, and reached without difficulty the northern shore of Spitzbergen. Here, however, in coasting along for ten degrees of longitude, he found a compact and impenetrable body, which he called the main ice; and he communicated to the public the idea, that a fixed icy barrier, at a little beyond eighty degrees, arrested all navigation to the northward. Mr Daines Barrington, however, endeavoured to support an opinion already advanced by Frobisher, that ice is formed only upon or in the vicinity of land, and that an open and deep sea most probably afforded, even under the pole itself, a free scope for navigation.

In the late era of enterprise, it was natural that this scheme also should be revived. Colonel Beaufoy republished Mr Barrington's essay, with additional observations; and its doctrines obtained favour in the most influential quarters. At the same time that Captain Ross was fitted out for Baffin's Bay, Captain Buchan, in the Dorothea, and Lieutenant Franklin, in the Trent, were appointed to steer towards Spitzbergen, and endeavour to achieve that in which Hudson and Mulgrave had failed. But, exposed to an accidental concussion from the ice, Captain Buchan's vessel was disabled, and he was obliged to return, without having given any fair trial to the project. The attempt was not renewed. A prolongation of Arctic experience showed, that the opinion on which it rested was unfounded; and that ice, though of a softer and looser texture, may be formed even on the most open sea. Another mode of approach, therefore, was

now to be attempted.

Mr Scoresby, in a paper submitted to the Wernerian Society, first started the idea of a journey to the pole, conducted as a land journey, over the frozen surface of the ocean. This idea, at first treated in high quarters as chimerical, was afterwards taken up, and matured into a plan, of which Captain Parry himself undertook the execution.

Captain Parry was fitted out most amply with whatever could

promote the success of this daring expedition, and secure every measure of comfort compatible with its nature. Two boats, or waggons, calculated either for sailing or drawing, were constructed in such a manner, as to combine the greatest possible strength and lightness. Being formed of a succession of thin planks, of tough and pliant timber, with layers of felt and waterproof canvass interposed, they were found to combine strength and buoyancy in a degree which fitted them admirably for the hard duty to which they were called. They were stocked amply with flannel shirts, frocks, drawers, comforters, and with thick fur suits for sleeping in. The provisions, which may be the subject of some farther observation, consisted of biscuit, pemmican, cocoa powder, and a small allotment of the strongest rum. The fuel consisted exclusively of spirits of wine.

Captain Parry moved down the Thames on the 25th March, touched at Hammerfest in Norway, and arrived on the 12th May at Hackluyt's Headland, near the north-western extremity of Spitzbergen. The commodious harbour, however, which had been here expected, was blocked up by an impassable barrier of ice; and more than a month, the best of the season, was consumed, in beating along the coast of Spitzbergen in search of a station, where the ship could be placed in safety, and might certainly be found on the return of the boats. At length, a commodious lodgment was effected in Hecla Cove, at the bottom of a bay laid down in the Dutch maps, under the name of Treurenberg. Then, on the 21st June, the adventurers, after the usual salutation of three cheers, got into their boats, and made direct for the great body of the northern ice, which they entered on the 23d. The details of this perilous and dreary journey over ocean and ice, and in a sphere beyond that of habitable existence, are few, but striking.

Our plan of travelling being nearly the same throughout the excursion, after we had first entered upon the ice, I may at once give some account of our mode of proceeding. It was my intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, of course, constant daylight in these regions during the summer season. The advantages of this plan, which was occasionally deranged by circumstances, consisted, first, in our avoiding the intense and oppressive glare from the snow during the time of the sun's greatest altitude, so as to prevent, in some degree, the painful inflammation in the eyes, called snow-blindness, which is common in all snowy countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth during the hours of rest, and had a better chance of drying our clothes; besides which, no small advantage was derived from the snow being harder at night for travelling. This travelling by night, and sleeping by day, so completely inverted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were

all furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they never had been able to distinguish night from day during the whole excursion.

When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers; after which, we took off our fur sleeping dresses, and put on those for travelling. We made a point of always putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they had dried during the day or not; and I believe it was only in five or six instances at the most, that they were not either still wet or hard frozen. This, indeed, was of no consequence, beyond the discomfort of first putting them on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey; while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. Being "rigged" for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit; and afterstowing the things in the boats and on the sledges, so as to secure them as much as possible from wet, we set off on our day's journey, and usually travelled from five to five and a half hours, then stopped for an hour to dine, and then travelled four, and even six hours, according to circumstances. After this, we halted for the night, as we called it, though it was usually early in the morning, selecting the largest surface of ice we happened to be near, for hawling the boats on, in order to avoid the danger of its breaking up, to come into contact with other masses, and also to prevent drift as much as possible. The boats were placed close alongside each other, with their sterns to the wind, the snow or wet cleared out of them, and the sails, supported by the bamboo masts and three paddles, placed over them as awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. Every man then immediately put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which we set about the necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes; and after serving the provisions for the succeeding day, we went to supper. Most of the officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry boats and awnings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our lodgings 10° or 15°. This part of the twenty-four hours was often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment to us; the men told all their stories, and fought all their battles over again, and the labours of the day, unsuccessful as they too often were, were forgotten. We concluded our day with prayers; and having put on our fur dresses, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort, which, perhaps, few persons would imagine possible under such circumstances.

'As soon as we arrived at the end of a floe, or came to any difficult place, we mounted one of the highest hummocks of ice near at hand, (many of which were from fifteen to twenty-five feet above the sea,) in order to obtain a better view around us; and nothing could well exceed the dreariness which such a view presented. The eye wearied itself in vain, to find an object but ice or sky to rest upon; and even the latter was often hidden from our view, by the dense and dismal fogs which so generally prevailed. For want of variety, the most trifling circumstance engaged a more than ordinary share of our attention; a passing gull, or a mass of ice of unusual form, became objects which our situation and circumstances magnified into ridiculous importance; and we have since

often smiled, to remember the eager interest with which we regarded many insignificant occurrences. It may well be imagined, then, how cheering it was to turn from this scene of inanimate desolation to our two little boats in the distance, to see the moving figures of our men winding with their sledges among the hummocks, and to hear once more the sound of human voices breaking the stillness of this icy wilderness.'

In this painful struggle against the most formidable of the elements, every individual of the party seems to have displayed all that zeal and perseverance which was to be expected from British seamen, in an enterprise, the success of which would have been so glorious to them. The result, however, did not correspond either with the amount of the means prepared, or the vigour and spirit with which they were employed. The utmost latitude at which they arrived fell short of eightythree degrees; and consequently, though the highest, probably, ever attained by man, it comprised only a small part of the progress towards that high boundary, which it was their object to reach.

What conclusion, then, are we to draw from so signal a failure, in which the skill, intrepidity, and enthusiasm of British seamen, in their utmost exertion, failed in even an approach to the accomplishment of their object? Must the hope be finally renounced of ever reaching that grand boundary of nature? Must we seek no more to invade the secrets of that vast and awful domain, which has remained for so many ages unexplored by mortals?

We do really feel a considerable interest in this questionand would not willingly give a discouraging answer. There is something sublime in the idea of reaching this high and solitary pinnacle of nature, and looking down at once upon both hemispheres. To the glories which already circle the brow of Britain, it were something to add that of first reaching the pole of the earth. Pondering the subject under these impressions, and comparing together the two plans, one pursued by Captain Parry, and the other recently proposed by Mr Scoresby, we do not feel exactly satisfied with either; and shall therefore venture to suggest a third, by which there does seem to us to be a fair hope, without any very mighty difficulty or danger, of bringing to a happy issue this extraordinary adventure.

In regard to the course pursued by the late expedition, although it would be excessively unfair to impute blame to those who engaged in it with such slender experience, it seems fully ascertained that its mere repetition would issue in a repetition of failure. Other seasons and other points might be somewhat more favourable; But the rugged and irregular surface, the VOL. XLVIII. NO. 96.

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