Journal of the Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West PassageParry, William Edward, Sir
History
Journal of the Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage
Parry, William Edward, Sir
Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration -- British; Fury (Ship); Hecla (Ship); Northwest Passage
Formation of a Basin for heaving the Fury down—Landing of the Fury’s
Stores, and other preparations—The Ships secured within the
Basin—Impediments from the pressure of the Ice—Fury hove down—Securities
of the Basin destroyed by a Gale of Wind—Preparations to tow the Fury
out—Hecla re-equipped, and obliged to put to Sea—Fury again driven on
Shore—Rejoin the Fury; and find it necessary finally to abandon her.
As there was now no longer room for floating the ice out of our proposed
basin, all hands were immediately employed in preparing the intended
securities against the incursions of the ice. These consisted of anchors
carried to the beach, having bower-cables attached to them, passing quite
round the grounded masses, and thus enclosing a small space of just
sufficient size to admit both ships. The cables we proposed floating by
means of the two hand-masts and some empty casks lashed to them as buoys,
with the intention of thus making them receive the pressure of the ice a
foot or two below the surface of the water. By uncommon exertions on the
part of the officers and men, this laborious work was completed before
night as far as was practicable until the loose ice should set out; and
all the tents were set up on the beach for the reception of the _Fury’s_
stores.
The ice remaining quite close on the 6th, every individual in both ships,
with the exception of those at the pumps, was employed in landing
provisions from the _Fury_, together with the spars, boats, and
everything from off her upper deck. The ice coming in, in the afternoon,
with a degree of pressure which usually attended a northerly wind on this
coast, twisted the _Fury’s_ rudder so forcibly against a mass of ice
lying under her stern that it was for some hours in great danger of being
damaged, and was indeed only saved by the efforts of Captain Hoppner and
his officers, who, without breaking off the men from their other
occupations, themselves worked at the ice-saw. On the following day, the
ice remaining as before, the work was continued without intermission, and
a great quantity of things landed. The two carpenters (Messrs. Pulfer
and Fiddis) took the _Fury’s_ boats in hand themselves, their men being
required as part of our physical strength in clearing the ship. The
armourer was also set to work on the beach in forging bolts for the
martingales of the outriggers. In short, every living creature among us
was somehow or other employed, not even excepting our dogs, which were
set to drag up the stores on the beach; so that our little dockyard soon
exhibited the most animated scene imaginable. The quickest method of
landing casks and other things not too weighty, was that adopted by
Captain Hoppner, and consisted of a hawser secured to the ship’s main
mast-head, and set up as tight as possible to the anchor on the beach;
the casks being hooked to a block traversing on this as a jack-stay, were
made to run down it with great velocity. By this means more than two
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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