"No language," he says, "I am convinced, can convey an adequate idea of the terrific grandeur of the effect now produced by the collision of the ice and the tempestuous ocean.

But when the moment arrived that the strength of the little bark was to be placed in competition with that of the great icy continent, and doubts might reasonably have arisen of her surviving the unequal conflict, the crew preserved the greatest calmness and resolution. Captain Beechey says:

"If ever the fortitude of seamen was fairly tried, it was assuredly not less so on this occasion; and I will not conceal the pride I felt in witnessing the bold and decisive tone in which the orders were issued by the commander of our little vessel (Franklin), and the promptitude and steadiness with which they were executed by the crew. Each person instinctively secured his own hold, and, with his eyes fixed upon the masts, awaited in breathless anxiety the moment of concussion. It soon arrived; the brig, cutting her way through the light ice, came in violent contact with the main body. In an instant we all lost our footing, the masts bent with the impetus, and the cracking timbers from below bespoke a pressure which was calculated to awaken our serious apprehensions."

Captain Beechey proceeds to give a vivid and graphic account of the state of the ship, accompanied by a spirited. and well-executed print, descriptive of her situation. "Her motion," he says, was so great, that the ship's bell, which in the heaviest gale of wind had never struck of itself, now tolled so continually that it was ordered to be muffled for the purpose of escaping the unpleasant association it was calculated to produce." After a few hours the gale ceased, and the pack broke up sufficiently to release the ships, which were so disabled that the

Dorothea was in a foundering condition. They made the best of their way to Fair Haven in a sinking state, where they repaired their damages as well as they could; it was obvious, however, there was an end to any further attempt as regarded the main object of the expedition. The Trent being the less damaged of the two, Lieutenant Franklin requested that he might be allowed to proceed alone in the execution of the service. This could not be acceded to, as, in the event which had occurred, Captain Buchan was directed by his instructions to take command of the Trent, provided her consort was rendered unserviceable; had he done so, the Dorothea, unaccompanied in her way home, might have risked the lives of her crew in a ship so shattered and unsafe. It was therefore decided that both should return home; and on the 30th of August they put to sea, and on the 22d of October arrived at Deptford.

SITUATION OF THE TRENT.

MUCH dissatisfaction was felt in England at the result of Ross's expedition, described in the last chapter. The grounds, in particular, on which Lancaster Sound, an opening so spacious, and in a position so favorable in respect to western discovery, had been so abruptly quitted, appeared inadmissible. The "Croker Mountains, " which had barred the progress of Sir John Ross, were affirmed by some who had borne part in the abortive voyage to be an ocular illusion. This opinion was very decidedly espoused by Lieut. Parry, the second in command. It was determined, therefore, that a fresh expedition should be equipped and intrusted to him, that he might fulfil, if possible, his own sanguine hopes, and those of the government.

He was furnished with the Hecla, of 375 tons, and a crew of fifty-eight men; and with the Griper gun-brig, of 180 tons, and thirty-six men, commanded by Lieut. Liddon. These ships were made as strong as possible for the navigation of the Arctic seas; and were stored with ample provisions for two years, a copious supply of anti-scorbutics, and everything which could enable

the crews to endure the most extreme rigors of a polar winter.

Lieut. Parry, destined to outstrip all his predecessors. in the career of northern discovery, weighed anchor at the Nore on the 11th May, 1819, and on the 20th rounded the remotest point of the Orkneys. He endeavored to cross the Atlantic about the parallel of 58°, and, though impeded during the first fortnight of June by a course of unfavorable weather, obtained, on the 15th, from the distance apparently of not less than forty leagues, a view of the lofty cliffs composing Cape Farewell. On the 18th the ships first fell in with icebergs, the air being also filled with petrels, kittiwakes, terns, and other winged inhabitants of the northern sky. He now made an effort to push north and west, through the icy masses, in the direction of Lancaster Sound; but these suddenly closed upon him; and on the 25th both vessels were so immovably beset, that no power could turn their heads a single point of the compass. They remained thus fixed, but safe, when, on the morning of the second day, a heavy roll of the sea loosened the ice, and drove it against them with such violence, that only their very strong construction saved them from severe injury. The discoverers, therefore, were fain to extricate themselves as soon as possible; and, resigning the idea of reaching Lancaster Sound by the most direct course, resolved to steer northward along the border of this great icy field till they should find open water. In this progress they verified the observation of Davis, that in the narrowest part of the great sea, misnamed his Strait, the shores on each side could be seen at the same moment. Thus they proceeded till they reached the Women's Islands and Hope Sanderson, in about latitude 73°. As every step was now likely to carry them further from their destination, Parry deter

Favored

mined upon a desperate push to the westward. with a moderate breeze, the ships were run into the detached pieces and floes of ice, through which they were heaved with hawsers; but, the obstacles becoming always more insuperable, they were at length completely beset, and a heavy fog coming on, made them little able to take advantage of any favorable change. Yet, in the course of a week, though repeatedly and sometimes dangerously surrounded, they warped their way from lane to lane of open water, till only one lengthened floe separated them from an open sea. By laboriously sawing through this obstruction, they finally penetrated the great barrier, and saw the shore, clear of ice, extending before them.

The navigators now bore directly for Lancaster Sound, and on the 30th July found themselves at its entrance. They felt an extraordinary emotion as they recognized this magnificent channel, with the lofty cliffs by which it was guarded, aware that a very short time would decide the fate of their grand undertaking. They were tantalized, however, by a fresh breeze coming directly down the sound, which did not suffer them to make more than a very slow progress. Still, there was no appearance of obstruction either from ice or land, and even the heavy swell which they had to encounter, driving the water repeatedly in at the stern windows, was hailed as an indication of open sea to the westward.

The Hecla left the Griper behind, but still without making any great way herself, till the 3d August, when an easterly breeze sprang up, carrying both vessels rapidly forward. A crowd of sail was set, and they proceeded triumphantly in their course. The minds of all were filled with anxious hope and suspense. The mastheads were crowded with officers and men, and the successive reports brought down from the highest pinnacle