their sails; nevertheless, by the 30th of the month they passed Winter Island, having been carried three degrees by the drift in which they were beset. On the 9th of October, they made the Orkney Islands, and on the 10th reached Lerwick in Shetland, where they were received with many congratulations on their safe

return.

CAPTAIN PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE OF

DISCOVERY.

The British Government having resolved to fit out a third expedition, under Captain Parry, the Hecla and Fury were made ready for sea, the latter under the command of Captain Hoppnet, and sailed from England on the 16th of May 1824. They were to attempt the northwest passage at Prince Regent's Inlet. Having crossed the Atlantic without any material adventure, they made the bay of Lievely in Disko Island on the 5th of July.

Sailing up Baffin's Bay, on the 17th the ships came to the ice, and after many obstructions, only penetrated seventy miles to the westward. Here they encountered a hard gale, and sustained several shocks that would have crushed any ship of ordinary strength. They reached Lancaster's Sound on the 10th of September. The winds not being favorable, the ships made small progress, and on the 13th the crews had the mortification to perceive the sea ahead covered with ice, in attempting to penetrate which they were soon immovably beset. Nevertheless, the exertions of Captain Parry and his coadjutor were unremitting.

The officers landed at one place, a little east of Admiralty Inlet. The vegetation was, as usual in those regions, very scanty. With great exertion and extreme difficulty, the expedition reached Port Bowen in Prince Regent's Inlet, on the 27th, where, by the middle of October, Captain Parry deemed it advisable to lay up the ships for the winter. Several journeys inland proved the country to be exceedingly broken and rugged; so much so that the researches of the explorers were of necessity confined to a very limited extent.

About midnight on the 27th of January, a brilliant display of the Aurora Borealis was observed. It broke out in a single compact mass of yellow light, appearing but a short distance above the land. This light, notwithstanding its general continuity, sometimes appeared to be composed of numerous groups of rays, compressed laterally, as it were, into one, its limits to right and left being well defined and nearly vertical. Though always very brillant, it constantly varied in intensity; and this appeared to be

produced by one volume of light overlaying another, as we see the darkness of smoke increase when cloud rolls over cloud. While some of the officers were admiring the exceeding beauty of the phenomenon, they were suddenly astonished at seeing a brilliant ray shoot down from the general mass between them and the land, thence distant three thousand yards.

The principal animals seen were bears, foxes, hares and mice, but no deer or wolves. These animals appeared but rarely, and the same may be said of the feathered creation. In July, a canal was sawed in the ice, and the ships were towed to sea. Captain Parry hoped to sail over to the western shore of the inlet, but he had only made eight miles in the intended direction, when he was stopped by the ice. As no opening appeared in that quarter, he determined to try to cross more to the northward. The most he gained was some knowledge of the character of the shores.

On the 30th of July, the ships being beset close to the land, a hard gale brought the ice close upon them. The Hecla received no damage but the breaking of two or three hawsers; but the Fury was forced on shore. She was heaved off again, with little injury, but this was but the commencement of her misfortunes. On the 1st of July, she was again nipped, and sc severely strained as to leak a great deal. As the tide fell, her stern, which was aground, was lifted several feet, and the Hecla also remained aground. No place was found where the Fury might be hove down to repair the damage, as the shore was everywhere lined with masses of grounded ice. The ships were again made to float, but it was found, notwithstanding incessant labor on board the Fury, that four pumps constantly going could hardly keep the water under. In these circumstances the only harbor that could be found was formed by three grounded masses of ice, within which the water was from three to four fathoms deep at low tide.

On the night of the 2d, the ice came in with great violence, and again forced the Fury on shore. The strength and number of the Hecla's hawsers only saved her from sharing the same fate. In the meanwhile the crew of the Fury were completely exhausted by labor, and their hands had become so sore by the constant friction of the ropes that they could no longer handle them without mittens. In this situation it was determined to lana the stores and provisions of the vessel, in order that she might undergo a complete repair.

Accordingly anchors were carried to the beach, by which the grounded icebergs that formed the harbor were secured in their position, thus enclosing a space just sufficient to admit both ships In this position a great part of the Fury's stores were landed The injury was found to be more severe than had at first been supposed; indeed, it appeared that the compactness of her fabric had alone saved her from sinking. Nevertheless, no exertion

was spared to render her seaworthy again, though the daily pressure of the ice was another, and a very great disadvantage.

In spite of every effort, it was found impossible to save the Fury, and the Hecla was greatly endangered in the attempt. She was compelled to leave the land and drift about among the ice, to avoid being forced on shore. On returning, Captain Parry found that the Fury had been driven farther on the beach than before, and nine feet of water were in her hold. Her keel and bottom were more injured than ever. The first glance satisfied Captain Parry that the vessel could never return to Eng land. By and with the advice of a council of his officers, therefore, he decided to leave her to her fate, and as his provisions would barely suffice for another twelvemonth, to return home. In pursuance of this resolution the Hecla reached Sheerness on the 21st of October. On the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet is Cape Kater, the most southern point attained by the ships in this expedition. It is in latitude 71°, 53′ 30," and longitude 90° 03′

45."

NARRATIVE OF THE LOSS OF THE ALCESTE.

The Alceste sailed from Whampoa on the 21st of January, 1817; exchanged friendly salutes with the guardians of the Bocca Tigris; touched at Macao and Manilla; rounded the numerous clusters of rocks and shoals lying to the westward of the Phillippines, and to the northwest of Borneo; and then shaped a course for the Straits of Gaspar, which she entered soon after daylight on the 18th of February.

The morning was fine, the wind fresh and favorable, and the Alceste moving rapidly through the water; every appearance promised a rapid passage into the Java sea, for which Captain Maxwell, who had been on board the whole of the preceding night, was steering the course laid down in the most approved charts, and recommended by the sailing directions in his possession, when the ship struck against a sunken rock, three miles distant from Pulo Leat, or Middle Island, and having grated over it for a few seconds, took a slight heel to starboard, and became immovable. The rapidity of her motion, at the instant of striking, rendered it highly probable that she had received serious injury; and every doubt on this subject was soon removed by the appearance of her false keel floating along side, and the report of the carpenter, who stated that the water in the hold had increasec from two and a half to seven feet, and that it was gaining rapidly on the pumps.

The sails, which had at first been thrown aback, were now furled, and the best-bower anchor was dropped, to keep her fast, from the apprehension, if she went off the rock, of her instantly sinking. At this alarming crisis, not the slightest confusion or irregularity occurred; every necessary order was as coolly given, and as steadily obeyed, as if nothing unusual had happened; every one did his duty calmly, diligently, and effectually.

The boats being hoisted out, Lord Amherst and the gentlemen of his suite, within half an hour of the striking of the ship, were in the barge, and making for the nearest part of the above mentioned desert island. After leaving the Alceste, they saw more accurately the dangerous nature of her situation. The rock on which she had struck was distinctly seen from the boat, extending only a few yards from her. Beyond, the water was dark and deep for nearly half a mile; it then became so shallow that the beautiful but fatal coral was continually seen as they approached the shore. When about a mile from Pulo Leat, rocks, covered by not more than from one to three feet water, surrounded them on all sides. The barge struck several times, but was saved from any serious accident by the skill of Lieutenant Hoppner, who commanded her. After sailing or rowing for about an hour, they gained what had appeared from the ship to be land covered with wood-but, to their mortification, discovered nothing but insulated masses of granite, interspersed with mangrove trees growing in the water. Being now joined by a cutter, with the servants of the embassy, and a part of the guard, they proceeded along shore in quest of a more convenient place for debarkation. Several creeks, which seemed to penetrate inland, were in vain explored; they all terminated in deep swamps. Similar attempts were reiterated, till anxiety to send back the boats determined his Excellency to land on the first rocks which should be found sufficiently large or numerous for the reception of the party. This intention was at length effected in a small bay, where the rocks were so mingled with the trees as to afford firm hand-hold. The boats were then immediately despatched to assist in bringing on shore whatever could be saved from the wreck. A more convenient landing-place being subsequently discovered near an eminence on which an encampment might be formed, the whole party removed thither, leaving a marine behind to communicate with the boats as they successively approached the shore.

The heat of the day as it advanced, and the exertions of the men in clearing the ground, for the reception of persons and baggage, produced great thirst, and rendered it necessary to look for water, of which none had been brought on shore, except a very small quantity collected from the dripstones on deck. A search for this purpose was conducted in several directions without success; and, night coming on, it was relinquished in hopes of better fortune on the morrow. During the whole day, and till a late

hour in the evening, the boats were constantly employed conveying articles from the wreck, and towing ashore a raft on which had been placed the baggage, stores, and a small supply of provisions rescued with much labor and difficulty, under the superintendence of Captain Maxwell, whose exertions and self-possession were most highly spoken of by all his fellow sufferers.

Towards midnight, as the tide rosc, the swell of the sea lifted the ship from the rock, and dashed her on it again with such violence as to render it necessary for the topmast to be cut away In doing this, two men were very severely bruised.

The following morning Captain Maxwell landed; and, after consulting with Lord Amherst, it was determined that his Excellency, and the gentlemen of the embassy, should proceed without delay to Batavia in the barge, with a picked crew, commanded by the Junior Lieutenant, (Mr. Hoppner;) one of the cutters was also prepared to accompany them, for the purpose of assisting in case of attack or accident. The master of the Alceste was sent on board the latter to navigate the boats. At this season there was no probability of the passage to Batavia exceeding sixty hours, the distance being only one hundred and ninety seven miles; the inconvenience to which his Excellency would be subjected was, consequently, very limited in duration; and much additional expedition in the despatch of relief might be expected from his personal exertions at Batavia. The stock of liquors and provisions furnished to the boats was necessarily very small, and only sufficient on very short allowance to support existence for four or five days; only seven gallons of water could be spared for the whole party, consisting of forty-seven persons; but they were fortunately visited by a heavy fall of rain on the day after their departure, which more than supplied the place of what had already been expended.

The number left behind was two hundred men and boys and one woman. The first measure of Captain Maxwell, after fixing a party to dig a well in a spot which was judged, from a combination of circumstances, the most likely to find water, was to remove our bivouac to the top of the hill, where we could breathe a cooler and purer air, a place, in all respects, not only better adapted to the preservation of our health, but to our defence in case of attack. A path was cut upwards, and a party employed in clearing away and setting fire to the underwood on the summit. This last operation tended much to free us from myriads of ants, and of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other reptiles, which, in such a place and climate, generally abound. Others were employed in removing upwards our small stock of provisions, which were deposited, under a strict guard, in a sort of natural magazine, formed by the tumbling together of some huge masses of rock on the highest part of this eminence. On board the wreck a party was stationed, endeavoring to gain any accession they could to