while in the Polar exploration John Franklin sailed in the Trent. Both expeditions were unsuccessful, though Ross and Parry confirmed Baffin's discoveries. Notwithstanding this, two expeditions were sent two years later to attempt the north-west passage, one by land under Franklin, and the other by sea under Parry. Parry managed to get half-way across the top of North America, discovered the archipelago named after him, and reached 114° west longitude, thereby gaining the prize of £5000 given by the British Parliament for the first seaman that sailed west of the 110th meridian. He was brought up, however, by Banks Land, while the strait which, if he had known it, would have enabled him to complete the north-west passage, was at that time closed by ice. In two successive voyages, in 1822 and 1824, Parry increased the detailed knowledge of the coasts he had already discovered, but failed to reach even as far westward as he had done on his first voyage. This somewhat discouraged government attempts at exploration, and the next expedition, in 1829, was fitted out by Mr. Felix Booth, sheriff of London, who despatched the paddle steamer Victory, commanded by John Ross. He discovered the land known as Boothia Felix, and his nephew, James C. Ross, proved that it belonged to the mainland of America, which he coasted along by land to Cape Franklin, besides determining the exact position of the North Magnetic Pole at Cape Adelaide, on Boothia Felix. After passing five years within the Arctic Circle, Ross and his companions, who had been compelled to abandon the Victory, fell in with a whaler, which brought them home.
