objects of natural history which may occur, and for preserving them in a proper state; and of such as cannot be preserved, accurate drawings will be made by Lieutenants Hoppner and Beechy. On the whole, neither care nor expense appears to have been spared in sending out the two expeditions as complete and as well equipped as possible, and nothing that the commanders of them deemed to be useful was refused. Every suggestion that appeared to merit consideration was attended to, both in the equipment of the ships and in the instructions to the officers, every one of whom, from the highest to the lowest, left this country in perfect satisfaction, and in full confidence of attaining the great object of the expeditions or at least with the determination of establishing the fact of its utter impracticability."

The branch of the expedition under Captain Buchan, after attempting in vain to pierce the great barrier of ice which stretches between Spitzbergen and Greenland, has returned to England, as will be seen from another article in our present Number. The ships under Captain Ross have penetrated farther to the north than those of preceding navigators. On the 2d of August they had reached the latitude of 70° 40′ in the meridian of 60° west; and we have no doubt that they will succeed to a still greater extent. But whatever be their fate, they have already done much for science. They have ascertained the magnetic variation in the vicinity of the magnetic pole. They have determined the laws according to which this variation is effected, by the position of the ship's head. They have measured the length of the pendulum in regions where the pendulum had never vibrated before; and they have sent home several objects of natural history of considerable interest and importance.

Since the preceding paper was printed, intelligence has been received of the arrival of the Isabella and the Alexander, under the command of Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry. They reached Lerwick in the Shetland Islands on the 30th October,

after having completely succeeded in sailing round Baffins Bay, and determining that there was no passage through it to the north west. In latitude 76° north, and longitude 66° west, they discovered a savage tribe of Esquimaux Indians, who regarded the ship, as an animal, and its crew as people who

had descended from the moon. They were only about five feet high, and seem never to have seen any other people but themselves. The farthest point north which they reached was 76° 54′, the farthest point west 814, the greatest dip of the needle 86°, and

WHEN I told you, on leaving England, that you would first hear from me by the way of Kamskatka, or the Columbia river, I little expected that my first letter to you would be dated from the Thames: yet so it is, to our most bitter disappointment and mortification; for so very sanguine were we all of success, that we had appropriated to our two ships' companies alone the two parliamentary rewards of fiveand-twenty thousand pounds, rejecting all overtures to share with the northwesters, whom we now find to be in the fairest way possible to do the job. And this, by the way, adds not a little to our mortification; not that we do not hope most sincerely that they may succeed, but because we exercised a sort of triumph over them before our departure, and made ourselves sure of reaching the Pacific before them; having so much a nearer, and, as we thought, so much a fairer, prospect of a free and open passage across the Polar Bason, as Mr Barrow calls it, into the Pacific.

Another subject of mortification, and that not the least, is, that people here with whom we converse, entertain the most absurd notions of our

failure: nay, some go so far as to say, that the attempt was nothing less than impious, to pass the frozen boundary which God has been pleased to set to man's researches; foolishly fancying that there is a fixed and impenetrable boundary, and ignorant that many navigators have passed three or four degrees beyond the spot where we were stopped. They know not, in fact, that the disposition of the ice is different every year, and I may add,

every month. In the present year, unluckily for us, it happened to be placed peculiarly unfavourable for a passage through it. The almost perpetual southerly and south-westerly winds hemmed it in to the northward, and choked up the narrow channel between Old Greenland and Spitzbergen, while the north-easterly current, setting round Hakluyt's Headland, not only helped to join it fast, but brought also a constant accession of fresh field-ice. Our persevering efforts to penetrate through this extensive accumulation of ice turned out to be the unfortunate cause of our failure, as you will see by the following brief narrative, which I detail from memory, as all our journals have been sent up to the Admiralty, with the view, we take for granted, of being published: for though we have done little or nothing, and the question of a polar passage, or the possibility of approaching the pole, remains precisely as it did before our departure from England, yet we should not be sorry that our humble endeavours were found to be worthy a niche in the temple of Fame, and to be hereafter included in some of those numerous "Collections of Voyages of Discovery" which find a place in the libraries of our countrymen.

We reached Hakluyt's Headland on the 7th June, and standing on among the loose ice, to the lat. 80° 22′, fell in with six or seven whale-fishers, from whom we learned that all was close to the westward. The wind being north-east, brought with it large flows of ice drifting away to the southward, which gave us the greatest hopes of finding a passage round the land to the eastward; and in fact, in the course of a few days, we observed much clear water in that direction. We were soon, however, beset in the ice, and remained immoveable for several days. At length a strong easterly wind dispersed the ice, and set us free; and we reached an anchorage towards the end of June, near the land called Vogel Sang. Here we remained about a week, observing with great pleasure vast masses of ice continuing to float to the south-west, and at the end of that time were gratified by the appearance of an open sea to the north-cast. We had not proceeded far, however, in that direction, till we were again beset by the floating ice, in which we remained several

days. It was now, I believe, about the 20th July, when we got out of the ice, and stood once more to the westward, being then, as we judged (for the weather would not admit of taking observations), in lat. 80° 30′, this being the highest degree of latitude that we could reach.

On the 29th July we had a heavy swell from the southward, with large masses of stream-ice in motion, which the ships with difficulty avoided, and which, in fact, struck them frequently very hard. On the following day we stood towards the main body of the ice in the north-east quarter. The weather now became squally, the atmosphere was loaded with clouds, and the barometer continued gradually to fall. Our distance from the ice was not more than five miles; and by a shift of the wind to the southward, it became unfortunately what I may call a lee shore. The wind rapidly increased to a gale, and the ships as rapidly approached the ice, which we soon perceived it was impossible for them to weather. Nothing was now left for us but to set all sail, and run the ships directly stem on into the body of the ice; an example being first set by the Dorothea, and followed by the Trent: for had they taken the ice with their broadsides, they must both inevitably have gone to pieces, strong as they were, in a few moments. The approach to the ice was one of the most awful moments I ever experienced.

The sea was rolling mountains high, the wind blew a hurricane, and the waves broke over the mast-heads, and every appearance indicated the immediate destruction of the two ships; and I believe every man on board thought there was but a few moments between him and eternity. The two ships entered the ice with a tremendous crash, and must infallibly have gone to pieces with the shock, had they not been fitted up with all the strength that wood and iron could give them. By degrees the strength of the wind acting on the sails worked the ships into the body of the ice; and in proportion as they advanced from the outer edge, the motion became less, till at length, when they had advanced from a quarter to half a mile, they were completely set fast, and remained in tolerable tranquillity; but, by the first shock, and the working of the ice against their sides, they both sustained

very serious damages, especially the Dorothea, which was not expected to reach Smeerenberg Bay. The Trent's damage was principally confined to her rudder. On the 31st July the gale had abated, and the wind shifted to the northward, when the ice immediately opened, and both ships having got out, made the best of their way to an anchorage between Amsterdam and Dane's Island, which the Dutch named Smeerenberg Bay; and here we remained the whole month of August, repairing the damages we had sustained. The Trent was soon ready for any service; but the Dorothea was so bruised and shattered, that, on a minute survey, after every thing had been taken out of her, it was found necessary to keep the Trent by her, as she was deemed unsafe to proceed to England alone. Thus you will perceive, that by this untoward accident we completely lost the best month in the year for getting to the northward, and in fact attempted nothing farther in that direction; though, on our return, we did try to make the coast of Greenland, but without success. At the time when the gale occurred, and after it had ceased, there was every appearance of open water to the eastward; and I cannot help thinking, that if a passage shall at any future time be effected, it must be between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla; to try which, since our return to England, I have learned, was part of our instructions: but alas! that terrible gale of wind in which we were caught, rendered us perfectly inefficient for this year.

You must not, however, suppose we were idle during the month which we remained at anchor in Smeerenberg Bay. On the contrary, our astronomical observations, our surveys and sketches of the country and of its natural history, will, I hope, be found not wholly useless or uninteresting. Lieutenant Beechey has made some beautiful sketches of the two ships taking the ice. We are told also, that our observations with the pendulum are important and satisfactory. Indeed, setting aside the grievous disappointment we all feel at the failure of the main object, we have passed a very agreeable six months. We got plenty of game on the islands and on the water, as bears, sea-horses, seals, and foxes; but the most delightful animal was the rein-deer, which af

forded us abundance of excellent venison, the fat of which was from three to four inches in thickness. How these creatures contrived to keep themselves in such high condition, is quite a mystery; for when we first approached Hakluyt's Headland, the whole of Amsterdam and Dane's Islands appeared to be covered with snow; but on our return to repair our ships, the snow had in many parts disappeared, and the ground was sparingly covered with a kind of moss, which grew particularly between rocks and stones. It is this moss chiefly on

which these animals feed.

The water here was free from all ice, except a large iceberg aground, very smooth; and we used to land on a fine sandy beach. One day, in passing this iceberg, the purser of the Trent fired off his musket at some birds. The moment the report had ceased, a loud crack was heard, and the moment afterwards the iceberg fell in pieces with a tremendous crash; and the swell it occasioned was so great, that the boat was thrown out of the water upwards of ninety feet from the place where she had just grounded. Immediately afterwards, we perceived the sea, for a mile all round, covered with the fragments of ice. It is probably not fabulous, therefore, what travellers tell us, that the guides in the Alps, on approaching a glacier, desire that a word shall not be spoken above a whisper, lest the sound should bring it down.

We were astonished to find on shore not less, probably, than from three to four hundred graves, mostly of Dutchmen; as we considered it one of the healthiest climates in the world. Some of them, it is true, were a hundred years old; and within a coffin precisely of that date we found the worsted cap on the skull, and the worsted stockings on the leg-bones, as fresh almost as if they had been knit the present year.

We made collections of every thing that occurred, which will be sent by our commodore to the British Museum; but I am not a judge how far they may be curious or useful. have much more to tell you when we meet; and till then, I am, dear sir, &c.

I

The following extract of a very interesting letter from an officer of the Dorothea will put our readers in pos

session of all that is yet known respecting this branch of the expedition.

We first made the ice about the 27th May, near Cherry Island, which is small, and of remarkable appearance, being composed of many high and pointed rocks or cliffs; and in one bearing, looks as if rent asunder by some convulsion of nature. It lies on the south-east part of Spitzbergen, from which it is distant about 150 miles. During a few days previous to making the ice, we experienced a great change of weather, the thermometer having fallen very considerably, and now continued below 32 deg. We had also frequent and heavy falls of snow; and for several days, in the latter part of May, the thermometer fell to 18 deg. or 14 deg. below the freezing point. We soon descried the lofty and snow-capp'd rocks or precipices which compose Spitzbergen the cheerless, bleak, and sterile aspect of which it is impossible to describe. Running along the western side of the island, our progress was stopped by immense barriers of ice, which extended in every direction as far as the eye could reach, and joining the land to the northward, blocked up all the harbours. We succeeded, however, in gaining a high northern latitude, viz. about 80°; but as we had parted from our consort a few days before, in a heavy gale of wind, we returned in quest of her, and were fortunate enough to fall in with her on the subsequent day. We now put into Magdalena Bay, in the lat. 79° 33′ north, lon. 11° east. The upper and inner part of this bay we found so choked up with ice, which was now beginning to break up, that our situation here became very critical. Having surveyed it, however, we again put to sea, and ran along the edge of the ice to the westward, which everywhere presented the appearance of a solid body. On the 10th June we fell in with several sail of Greenlandmen, when we were sorry to learn that no hope existed of getting to the northward by stretching to the westward; and it was the unanimous opinion of the masters of these ships, that to gain a high northern latitude, we must penetrate to the northward; that is to say, that we must stand in with, or near to, the land of Spitzbergen. In consequence of this information, as well as the observations we had already made, and the decisive opinion of our pilots, we retraced our steps to the northward, and were soon completely beset in the ice. You cannot form any conception of the truly picturesque and often solemn grandeur of such a scene. Conceive two vessels hemmed in, jammed, and completely surrounded by immense masses of ice, of the rudest and often most fantastic forms; the two ships appearing, as it were, like specks in the midst of a vast extended plane, of alabaster whiteness, and to which the eye can assign no limits. When the sun shone bright, whether at mid-day or midnight, but particularly at the latter period, its beams as

sumed a softer hue, and shed a mellower tint on the immense sheet of surrounding ice, while the steep and towering summit of Spitzbergen, forming the back ground, combined to render the whole truly grand and interesting. Whilst gazing on such a scene, I never failed to experience sensations at once solemn and astonishing; for there was something in my breast which for ever associated itself with the possibility, nay, probability, of never being able to extricate ourselves.

Indeed, when it is considered that you can, with a glance of the eye, at once embrace pieces of solid ice, without a rent or fissure, ten or twelve miles in circumference, and situated in every possible direction, save here and there, where, from accumulation, and the force of winds and currents, it had formed high, irregular, and impending columns, it is not difficult, I think, to account for my feelings. In this situation we remained ten or twelve days, nearly fixed bodies, except when the different currents changed our situation, which was indicated to us only by altering the bearings of the land, from which we were distant eight or ten leagues. At length we were extricated from our perilous situation by the ice partially opening, so as to enable us to force our way out.

"We now ranged along the edge of the ice, endeavouring, if possible, to discover some vacancy by which we might penetrate northward; but we did so in vain. On the 26th June we again came to anchor in Fair Haven, which is situated between two islands called Vogel Sang and Clover Cliff. On those, and the neighbouring islands, we discovered numerous herds of rein-deer; and in running in for the anchorage, immense numbers of sea-horses were seen lying on the ice, huddled together, and, at a distance, much resembling a group of cattle. We succeeded in killing several, some of which were of prodigious size; for instance, one which we cut up was found to weigh twenty hundred-weight. These animals are seen everywhere, near the land, on the ice, as well as in the sea; and they are found in the bays (which are numerous all along the coast), lying on the beach, sometimes to the amount of several hundreds. To a stranger they present the most forbidding and ugly aspect imaginable. When much annoyed by shot, they assemble their forces; surround the boat, as if determined to retaliate. Thirty, forty, or more, will appear in every direction, and almost at the same moment; and so near, that the muzzle of your musket will often reach their heads. They now make a hissing, barking kind of noise; and no sooner receive your fire than they become apparently furious, roll about, descend probably for a minute, when they reappear with immense increase of numbers, and seem proportionably bolder in their assaults.

"Several of our oars were snapped in two, or otherwise broken by them. "In their