On the 1st of June an excursion was made across Melville Island by Lieutenant Parry and others, carrying provisions for three weeks. They found such parts of the ground as were free from snow covered with dwarf willow, sorrel, and poppy, also moss and saxifrage. A few ducks and ptarmigan were killed. Upon his return to the ship the middle of June, Captain Parry ordered his men to make daily excursions after sorrel, which they procured in large quantities and greatly enjoyed. On the western side of the island at Bushman’s Cove, in Liddon’s Gulf, they found “one of the pleasantest and most habitable spots we had yet seen in the Arctic regions, the vegetation being more abundant and forward than in any other place, and the situation sheltered and favorable for game.” Though channels and pools were everywhere forming, it was not until the second of August that the great mass of ice broke up and floated out. The ship now made for the open water, but after a short advance, in spite of every effort, they found themselves once more prevented by the impenetrable barrier of ice from making their way westward. There seemed no alternative but a return homeward, and after taking certain additional observations of the two coasts extending along Barrow Strait, they set sail for England. A warm welcome awaited the daring navigators, who had reached a longitude greater by more than 30° than any other explorer; who had discovered many new lands, islands, and bays; had established the fact of a polar sea north of America; and had wintered successfully in the Arctic, bringing back his crew in good condition. [Sidenote: _PARRY’S SECOND VOYAGE_] Parry’s unprecedented success and the enthusiasm for Arctic exploration throughout England decided the British Admiralty to send out a second expedition to attempt a passage in a lower latitude than that of Melville Island. The _Hecla_ and the _Fury_ were manned and provisioned and put under the command of Captain Parry and Lieutenant Lyon, whose travels in Tripoli, Mourzouk, and other parts of northern Africa had already brought him consideration and some degree of renown. The transport _Nautilus_ was to accompany the ships as far as the ice, and transship extra provisions and stock as soon as room could be found for them. The ships sailed from the Nore on the 8th of May, 1821, and by the 2d of July were at the mouth of Hudson Strait, having parted with the _Nautilus_ the previous day. Icebergs in formidable numbers had already been encountered, and the desolate condition of the shores, the naked rocks, the snow-covered valleys, and the thick fogs encountered were anything but encouraging.