conflict of the elements, expecting every moment to be swallowed up. We had been three long hours in this position, and still the mass of ice beneath us held together, when suddenly it was caught by the storm, and hurled against a large field of ice. The crash was terrific, and the mass beneath us was shattered into fragments. At that dreadful moment, when escape seemed impossible, the impulse of self-preservation implanted in every living being saved us. Instinctively we all sprang at once on the sledges, and urged the dogs to their full speed. They flew across the yielding fragments to the field on which we had been stranded, and safely reached a part of it of firmer character, on which were several hummocks, and where the dogs immediately ceased running, conscious, apparently, that the danger was past. We were saved we joyfully embraced each other, and united in thanks to God for our preservation from such imminent peril." The primary object of the Phipps expedition sent out by the Royal Society of England, under the solicitation of the government and all scientific men of the time, was to reach the Magnetic Pole and solve, if possible, the causes of the variation of the compass and other scientific problems. With two vessels, the Racehorse and the Carcase, Captain Phipps set out in 1773 and skirted the eastern shore of Spitzbergen to 80° 48′ north latitude. Here he was beset with ice and could proceed no farther. Accompanying this expedition was young Nelson, later the hero of Trafalgar. An anecdote of Nelson showing his courage and daring on this trip is told as follows:

"While out in small boats one of the officers had wounded a walrus. . . . The wounded animal dived immediately, and brought up a number of its companions; and they joined in an attack on the boat. They wrested an oar from one of the men, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the crew could prevent them from staving or upsetting her,

till Nelson came up; and the walruses, finding their enemies thus reënforced, dispersed. Young Nelson exposed himself in a most daring manner."

The unfortunate situation of his vessels forced Phipps to retrace his course and return to England.

Under instructions to attempt the passage of Ice Sea, from Behring Strait to Baffin Bay, the ill-fated Cook sailed in 1776, but failed to sail beyond Icy Cape, where he found impenetrable ice; however, he reached as far as North Cape on the coast of Asia.

Mackenzie, the last of the eighteenth-century explorers, left Fort Chipewyan, and descended the Mackenzie River, a much larger stream than the Coppermine previously discovered by Hearne. He followed the course of the river until he reached an island "where the tide rose and fell," but there is no certainty that he reached the ocean. The land expeditions were for geographical discovery and not for the discovery of the Northwest Passage, that had occupied mariners for so many years.

CHAPTER III

Early nineteenth century: Ross and Parry, May 3, 1818. —Object of voyage, search for Northwest Passage through Davis Strait and explore bays and channels described by Baffin. Met natives near Melville Bay. - The discovery by Ross of the famous Crimson Cliffs. Enters Lancaster Sound. Advance barred by imaginary Crocker Mountains. Return of expedition to England. - Buchan and Franklin North Polar expedition via Greenland and Spitzbergen. - Dorothea and Trent in Magdalena Bay, June 3, 1818. Reached high latitude of 80° 37' N. - Course directed to east coast of Greenland. - Disastrous battle with the ice. Dorothea disabled. Hasty return to England.

As a result of the many disastrous voyages to the Arctic, there was a long period of inactivity in polar research, which continued for the first sixteen years of the nineteenth century. Interest was revived, however, by the astounding report that ice which had cut off the Danish colonies from communication with their native country for centuries, had suddenly become free, and that certain Greenland whalers had sailed to the seventieth and eightieth parallel.

The British Admiralty in conjunction with the Council of the Royal Society decided to fit out two expeditions: One under Captain John Ross and Lieutenant Edward Parry, whose object was to force a northwest passage through Davis Strait and to explore the bays and channels described by Baffin at the head of the immense bay that bears his name. The second expedition under Buchan and Franklin was to direct its course by way of Greenland and Spitzbergen in search of the Pole, and make its way through Behring Strait out to the Pacific.