Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall sp4.djvu/386

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368
POST-CAPTAINS OF 1821.

and he had no doubt that the ship might have gone many miles further, in that direction, had it not been a much more important object to secure her in Home harbour previously to his departure with the sledge-boats. On the 20th June, she was anchored in Treurenburg Bay, hit. 79° 65' 20", long. 16° 48' 45" E.

From that place, so named by the Dutch, Captain Parry started on the 21st June, at 5 p.m., with the two sledge-boats, which he named the Enterprize and Endeavour, Mr. Beverly being attached to his own, and Lieutenant Ross, accompanied by Mr. Bird, in the other. Each had a crew of ten seamen and two marines. As it was necessary not to delay their return beyond the end of August, the time originally intended, they took with them only 71 days’ provisions; which, including the boats and every other article, made up a weight of 260 pounds per man; and as it appeared highly improbable, from what they had seen of the very rugged nature of the ice they should first have to encounter, that either the rein-deer, the snowshoes, or the wheels would prove of any service for some time to come, Captain Parry gave up the idea of taking them. Four excellent sledges, however, were constructed out of the snow-shoes, for dragging a part of the luggage over the ice; and these proved of invaluable service. The sledge-boats were accompanied by one of the Hecla’s cutters, under Lieutenant Crozier, as far as Walden Island, where they parted with him at 3 p.m. on the 23rd. Next day, at noon, they were first hauled upon the ice, a small floe-piece, in lat. 81° 12’ 51". Captain Parry’s plan of travelling afterwards is thus described by him:

“It was my intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, of course, constant day-light 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. The only disadvantage of