by a series of soundings and observations taken in the Red Sea, now the great highway of overland eastern traffic, rendered its navigation more secure and punctual. How was he rewarded by the then existing ministry? Take a more recent instance in the indefatigable energy of Lieutenant Waghorn, R.N., the enterprising pioneer of the overland route to India. What does not the commerce, the character, the reputation, of this country owe to his indefatigable exertions, in bringing the metropolis into closer connexion with our vast and important Indian empire? And what was the reward he received for the sacrifices he made of time, money, health, and life? A paltry annuity to himself of 1007., and a pension to his widow of 251. per annum ! Is it creditable to us, as the first naval power of the world, that we should thus dole out miserable pittances, or entirely overlook the successful patriotic exertions and scientific enterprises and discoveries of private adventurers, or public commanders ? The attractions of a summer voyage along the bays and seas where the sun shines for four months at a time, exploring the bare rocks and everlasting ice, with no companion but the white bear or the Arctic fox, may be all very romantic at a distance; but the mere thought of a winter residence there, frozen fast in some solid ocean, with snow a dozen feet deep, the thermometer ranging from 40° to 50° below zero, and not a glimpse of the blessed sun from November to February, is enough to give a chill to all adventurous notions. But the officers and men engaged in the searching expeditions after Sir John Franklin calmly weighed all these difficulties, and boldly went forth to encounter the perils and dangers of those icy seas for the sake of their noble fellow-sailor, whose fate was so long a painful mystery to the world. It has been truly observed, that "this is a service for which all officers, however brave and intelligent they may be, are not equally qualified; it requires a peculiar tact, an inquisitive and persevering pursuit after details of fact, not always interesting, a contempt of danger, and an enthusiasm not to be damped by ordinary difficulties." The records which I shall have to give in these pages voyages and travels, unparalleled in their perils, their duration, and the protracted sufferings which many of them entailed on the adventurers, will bring out in bold relief the prominent characters who have figured in Arctic Discovery, and whose names will descend to posterity, em of blazoned on the scroll of Fame, for their bravery, their patient endurance, their skill, and, above all, their firm trust and reliance on that Almighty Being who, although He may have tried them sorely, has never utterly forsaken them. CAPT. JOHN Ross's VOYAGE, 1818. IN 1818, His Royal Highness the Prince Regent having signified his pleasure that an attempt should be made to find a passage_by_sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were pleased to fit out four vessels to proceed towards the North Pole, under the command of Captain John Ross. No former expedition had been fitted out on so extensive a scale, or so completely equipped in every respect as this one. The circumstance which mainly led to the sending out of these vessels, was the open character of the bays and seas in those regions, it having been observed for the previous three years that very unusual quantities of the Polar ice had floated down into the Atlantic. In the year 1817, Sir John Barrow relates that the eastern coast of Greenland, which had been shut up with ice for four centuries, was found to be accessible from the 70th to the 80th degree of latitude, and the intermediate sea between it and Spitzbergen was so entirely open in the latter parallel, that a Hamburgh ship had actually sailed along this track. On the 15th of January, 1818, the four ships were put in commission-the Isabella, 385 tons, and the Alexander, 252 tons-under Captain Ross, to proceed up the middle of Davis's Strait, to a high northern latitude, and then to stretch across to the westward, in the hope of being able to pass the northern extremity of America, and reach Behring's Strait by that route. Those destined for the Polar sea were, the Dorothea, 382 tons, and the Trent, 249 tons, which were ordered to proceed between Greenland and Spitzbergen, and seek a passage through an open Polar sea, if such should be found in that direction. I shall take these voyages in the order of their publication, Ross having given to the world the account of his voyage shortly after his return in 1819; while the narrative of the voyage of the Dorothea and Trent was only published in 1843, by Captain Beechey, who served as Lieutenant of the Trent, during the voyage. The following were the officers &c. of the ships under Captain Ross : Isabella. Captain-John Ross. Lieutenant-W. Robertson. Purser-W. Thom. Surgeon-John Edwards. Assistant Surgeon-C. J. Beverley. Admiralty Midshipmen-A. M. Skene and James Clark Ross. Midshipman and Clerk-J. Bushnan. Greenland Pilots-B. Lewis, master; T. Wilcox, mate. John Sacheuse, an Esquimaux interpreter. Alexander. Lieutenant and Commander-William Edward Parry, Lieutenant-H. H. Hoppner (a first-rate artist.) Greenland Pilots-J. Allison, master; J. Philips, mate. Clerk-J. Halse. 28 petty officers, seamen, &c. Whole complement, 37. On the 2nd of May, the four vessels being reported fit for sea, rendezvoused in Brassa Sound, Shetland, and the two expeditions parted company on the following day for their respective destinations. On the 26th, the Isabella fell in with the first iceberg, which appeared to be about forty feet high and a thousand feet long. It is hardly possible to imagine anything more exquisite than the variety of tints which these icebergs display; by night as well as by day they glitter with a vividness of colour beyond the power of art to represent. While the white portions have the brilliancy of silver, their colours are as various and splendid as those of the rainbow; their ever-changing disposition producing effects as singular as they are new and interesting to those who have not seen them before. On the 17th of June, they reached Waygatt Sound, beyond Disco Island, where they found forty-five whalers detained by the ice. Waygatt Island, from observations ken on shore, was found to be 5° longitude and 30 miles of latitude from the situation as laid down in the Admiralty Charts. They were not able to get away from here till the 20th, when the ice began to break. By cutting passages through the ice, and by dint of towing and warping, a slow progress was made with the ships until the 17th of July, when two ice-floes closing in upon them, threatened inevitable destruction, and it was only by the greatest exertions that they hove through into open water. The labours of warping, towing, and tracking were subsequently very severe. This tracking, although hard work, afforded great amusement to the men, giving frequent occasion for the exercise of their wit, when some of the men occasionally fell in through holes covered with snow or weak parts of the ice. Very high mountains of land and ice were seen to the north side of the bay, which he named Melville's Bay, forming an impassable barrier, the precipices next the sea being from 1000 to 2000 feet high. On the 29th of June, the Esquimaux, John Sacheuse, who had accompanied the expedition from England as interpreter, was sent on shore to communicate with the natives. About a dozen came off to visit the ship, and, after being treated with coffee and biscuit in the cabin, and having their portraits taken, they set to dancing Scotch reels on the deck of the Isabella with the sailors. Captain Ross gives a pleasant description of this scene -"Sacheuse's mirth and joy exceeded all bounds; and with a good-humoured officiousness, justified by the important distinction which his superior knowledge now gave him, he performed the office of master of the cere monies. An Esquimaux M.C. to a ball on the deck of one of H.M. ships in the icy seas of Greenland, was an office somewhat new, but Nash himself could not have performed his functions in a manner more appropriate. It did not belong even to Nash to combine in his own person, like Jack, the discordant qualifications of seaman, interpreter, draughtsman, and master of ceremonies to a ball, with those of an active fisher of seals and a hunter of white bears. A daughter of the Danish resident (by an Esquimaux woman), about eighteen years of and by age, far the best-looking of the half-caste group, was the object of Jack's particular attentions; which being observed by one of our officers, he gave him a lady's shawl, ornamented with spangles, as an offering for her acceptance. He presented it in a most respectful, and not ungraceful, manner to the damsel, who bashfully took a pewter ring from her finger and gave it to him in return, rewarding him, at the same time, with an eloquent smile, which could leave no doubt on our Esquimaux's mind that he had made an impression on her heart." (Vol. 1, p. 67-8.) On the 5th of August the little auks (Mergulus alle,) were exceedingly abundant, and many were shot for food, as was also a large gull, two feet five inches in length, which, when killed, disgorged one of these little birds entire. A fortnight later, on two boats being sent from the Isabella to procure as many of these birds as possible, for the purpose of preserving them in ice, they returned at midnight with a boat-load of about 1500, having, on an average, killed fifteen at each shot. The boats of the Alexander were nearly as successful. These birds were afterwards served daily to each man, and, among other ways of dressing them, they were found to make excellent soup-not inferior to hare soup. Not less than two hundred auks were shot on the 6th of August, and served out to the ships' companies, among whose victuals they proved an agreeable variety, not having the fishy flavour that might be expected from their food, which consists of crustacea, small fishes, mollusca, or marine vegetables. 66 On the 7th of August the ships were placed in a most critical situation by a gale of wind. The Isabella was lifted by the pressure of ice floes on each side of her, and it was doubted whether the vessel could long withstand the grips and concussions she sustained; every support threatened to give way, the beams in the hold began to bend, and the iron water-tanks settled together. The two vessels were thrown with violent concussion against each other, the ice-anchors and cables broke one after the other, a boat at the stern was smashed in the collision, and the masts were hourly expected to go by the board; but at this juncture, when certain destruction was momentarily looked for, by the merciful interposition of Providence the fields of ice suddenly opened and formed a clear passage for the ships." A singular physical feature was noticed on the part of the coast near Cape Dudley Digges:-"We have discovered (says Ross) that the snow on the face of the cliff's presents an appearance both novel and interesting, being apparently stained or covered by some substance which gave it a deep crimson colour This snow was penetrated in many places to a depth of ten or twelve feet by the colouring matter.' There is nothing new, however, |