It Is Unnecessary Here To Examine The Reasons Which Induced
Captain Ross To Leave This Sound Without Putting The Question Of Its Nature
And Termination Beyond A Doubt, By An Accurate And Close Survey.
He says,
that at three o'clock he distinctly saw the land round the bottom of the
bay, forming a connected chain of mountains with those which extended along
the north and south sides.
No person seems to have been on deck when this
land was seen by the captain, and orders in consequence given to put the
ships about, except Mr. Lewis, the master, and another. So that in this
latitude, where the sight at all times is mocked with fogs and other
circumstances which mislead it, and where, therefore, it is absolutely
necessary that as many eyes as possible should be employed, that these
should get as near the object as possible, that it should be viewed for a
considerable length of time, and under as many aspects, and from as many
points as possible - not a subordinate or incidental design of the voyage,
but that for which it was expressly made, was abandoned, and on the sole
responsibility of the captain and two other persons.
It is evident, too, that the entrance to many inland seas seems, when
viewed from a distance, to be blocked up by connected land. It is well
observed by the reviewer, whom we have already quoted, that there is not a
reach in the Thames that to the eye does not appear to terminate the river;
and in many of them (in the Hope, for instance) it is utterly impossible to
form a conjecture, at the distance of only two or three miles, what part of
the land is intersected by the stream.
Although, however, this voyage was abandoned when it ought not to have
been, and consequently failed in its peculiar and important object, yet
some access to geographical knowledge was gained by it. The existence of
Baffin's Bay is confirmed, though its width and form are different from
those which were previously assigned it in the maps; and thus this
enterprising and deserving navigator has at length justice done to him.
Other branches of science were benefited and extended by this voyage,
however unsuccessful it proved in its grand and leading object; and some of
the accessions were of a very interesting nature. We allude principally to
the observations made on the swinging of the pendulum, - the variation and
dip of the magnetic needle, - especially by the influence of the iron in and
about the ship, - and on the temperature of the sea at different depths.
Soon after the return of this expedition, an order in council was issued,
which empowered and authorized the Board of Longitude to adopt a graduated
scale of rewards, proportioned to the progress of discovery made to the
westward in these high northern latitudes, from Hudson's or Baffin's Bay,
in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. The first point of this graduated
scale is the meridian of the Coppermine River of Hearne, and whatever ship
reaches this is entitled to a reward of 5000l. Government were so convinced
that Captain Ross's voyage had increased the probability of a north-west
passage, that they determined to lose no time in making another attempt to
discover it; and in order to afford every chance of success to this second
attempt, they also determined, not only to send out a maritime expedition,
to follow out the route which Captain Ross had so unaccountably and
provokingly abandoned, but also to send out a land expedition, to
co-operate in the same grand object.
The latter, under the command and direction of Lieutenant Franklin, was
ordered to proceed from Fort York, on the shores of Hudson's Bay, to the
mouth of the Coppermine River; and from thence along the shores of the
Polar Sea, either to the east or to the north, as circumstances might
determine: they were expressly to have in view the determination of the
question regarding the position of the northeastern extremity of the
continent of America. As the route of this land expedition lay for a great
part of it through those districts within which the Hudson's Bay Company
were accustomed to travel and trade, their co-operation and assistance was
requested and obtained. The exact results of this land expedition are not
yet fully and clearly known; but it is generally understood, that after
having undergone infinite hardships and sufferings, they have been enabled
to confirm Hearne and Mackenzie's discoveries or conjectures respecting the
Coppermine River, and to ascertain other points connected with the
geography and natural history of these remote and almost inaccessible
regions, though the most important and leading points of the expedition
have not been settled. [6]
In consequence of Captain Ross having penetrated into Baffin's Bay, an
object only accomplished once before by Baffin himself, and which for two
hundred years had been frequently again fruitlessly attempted, the
Greenland ships which left England during the season immediately following
Captain Ross's return, were induced, in order to reach a fresh and unfished
sea, to pursue the course that he had opened for them. The circumstance
that fourteen of them were wrecked, proves, unless the season had been
uncommonly tempestuous, that Captain Ross must have conducted his
expedition with considerable care and skill, notwithstanding he missed an
excellent opportunity of either discovering a north-west passage, or of
adding one more opening to those which were proved not to contain it.
The second sea expedition, to which we have already alluded, was under the
direction of Captain Parry, who had sailed along with Captain Ross in the
first expedition; he was therefore possessed of much knowledge and
experience, which would prove essentially useful and directly applicable to
the object he was about to undertake. Two ships were fitted out with all
necessary preparations for such a voyage, the Hecla bomb, and Griper
gun-brig, and they sailed from the Thames early in the month of May 1819.
Of the high importance and value to navigators of the chronometer, Captain
Parry had a striking and undoubted proof in the early part of his voyage.
On the 24th of May he saw a small solitary crag, called Rockall, not far
from the Orkney Islands.
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