CHAPTER VIII.

PARRY'S THIRD VOYAGE,

1824, 1825,

For the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, in H. M. Ships Hecla and Fury.

THE two ships appointed for this service were the same as on the former voyage, but Parry now took command of the Hecla, and Hoppner of the Fury. They were commanded, officered, and manned as under.

Any thing approaching the shape of an apology from Captain Parry himself will be deemed, as it ought to be, superfluous; nor will it be thought necessary that, on the introduction of his narrative, he should be called upon for any explanation. He

says,

"I have considered it expedient to avoid all minute and technical description of our first season's operations, which, whatever vexation they may have cost ourselves, would probably have afforded little interest or amusement to the public. In the circumstances attending our second season's navigation, and particularly those relating to the loss of the Fury, I have deemed it right to enter more into detail; considering, on the one hand, that the loss of one of His Majesty's ships is an event too serious to be lightly disposed of; and on the other, that I could thus alone do justice to the unwearied zeal and exertions of Captain [Commander] Hoppner, our officers and men, on that occasion."—Introduction, p. xiii.

COMMANDER H. P. HOPPNER served as Lieutenant with Parry in the Alexander, and also as Lieutenant in Parry's two preceding voyages, in all of which he was considered an able, active, and zealous officer. He had therefore worked his way to the rank of Commander. "To Commander Hoppner, who," says Parry, "has been my constant companion from the very commencement of these enterprises, I feel every possible obligation for his steady and persevering zeal in this service, and for his advice and assistance on every occasion."

LIEUTENANT FOSTER is highly spoken of by Captain Parry "for the various and multiplied branches of useful science to which his attention was at all times directed;" and he adds, "our observations upon atmospheric refractions in high latitudes, and on the diurnal variation, and change of intensity of the magnetic needle, together with Lieutenant Foster's experiments with an invariable pendulum, have been communicated to and read before the Royal Society. He was also first Lieutenant of the Hecla, which carried Parry to Spitzbergen on his attempt to reach the Pole. He accompanied Clavering and Sabine in the Griper to Spitzbergen and Greenland in 1823, and proved a most useful and intelligent assistant in the pendulum observations. His last service was that of co-operating with Mr. Lloyd in levelling across the isthmus of Panama, when he was unfortunately drowned in the river Chagres. By his death, the service was deprived of one of its most useful, able, and scientific navigators; and his loss was felt and deeply lamented by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. His character, in fact, was established as among the first scientific officers of his time.

LIEUTENANT JAMES CLARK Ross-Too much cannot be said in praise of this young officer, who worked himself, entirely by his own exertions, to the rank of Lieutenant; and by his own selftaught acquirements, which extended to every de

partment of science, he arrived at the highest step in the service (short of the flag): but more of him hereafter.

LIEUTENANT HORATIO T. AUSTIN, after distinguishing himself as an able officer, and having much good and active service, received his promotion as Captain in 1838, and is now Captain of the William and Mary yacht.

LIEUTENANT JOSEPH SHERER by his good service raised himself to the rank of Captain in 1841, and received the honour of K.H.

"The public," Parry says, "are very highly indebted to DR. SAMUEL NEILL, who, in addition to his professional duties, entirely superintended the public collection of specimens of natural history, and has furnished a variety of important geological notices ;" and he refers to the Zoological Appendix by Lieutenant Ross as "furnishing ample evidence of the attention paid by that gentleman (Neill) to this department of science, in addition to the immediate duties of his station."

F. R. M. CROZIER, midshipman, a most zealous young officer, who, by his talents, attention, and energy, has succeeded in working himself up to the top of the service. He was Lieutenant of the Hecla in Parry's Polar voyage, and volunteered with Captain James Ross to go in the midst of winter into the Arctic Seas, for the relief of the missing whale ships; was made Captain in 1841, and commanded the second ship in Captain James Ross's

Antarctic expedition, and is now second in command with Captain Sir John Franklin.

JOHN BRUNTON, the colleague of Crozier in this voyage, arrived at no higher step than that of Lieutenant, and is now serving as such in the Coast Guard.

C. RICHARDS and HORATIO NELSON HEAD, midshipmen, do not appear on the list of naval officers.

BERKLEY WESTROPP, midshipman, was made a Lieutenant in 1825, and still continues so, having left the navy for a civil employment in the Humane Society.

EDWARD BIRD appears on the list as a Captain of 1843, but he is not to be found among the Arctic voyagers.

ALAN M'LAREN was appointed surgeon of a ship

of the line.

WILLIAM HARVEY HOOPER, purser, was the friend and associate of Captain Parry, and served with him in the Alexander in Ross's voyage, and in all the three of Parry, a most faithful and trust-worthy officer; and was rewarded for his services by a civil appointment in Greenwich Hospital, where he died; and his widow is now matron of the Greenwich Schools.

The ships sailed from the Nore on the 19th May, 1824; the William Harris, transport, accompanying them. Their instructions were to make the best of their way to Davis's Strait and cross over to Lan