y's _Voyage for the
North-West Passage_, 1821.]

Winter was now quickly advancing, and it was with some difficulty that
the ships were forced through the newly formed ice at the head of the
Bay of the Hecla and Griper. Over two miles of ice, seven inches thick,
had to be sawn through to make a canal for the ships. As soon as they
were moored in "Winter Harbour" the men gave three loud and hearty
cheers as a preparation for eight or nine months of long and dreary
winter. By the end of September all was ready; plenty of grouse and
deer remained as food through October, after which there were foxes
and wolves. To amuse his men, Parry and his officers got up a play;
_Miss in her Teens_ was performed on 5th November, the last day of
sun for ninety-six days to come. He also started a paper, _The North
Georgian Gazette and Winter Chronicle_, which was printed in England
on their return. The New Year, 1819, found the winter growing gloomier.
Scurvy had made its appearance, and Parry was using every device in
his power to arrest it. Amongst other things he grew mustard and cress
in boxes of earth near the stove pipe of his cabin to make fresh
vegetable food for the afflicted men. Though the sun was beginning
to appear again, February was the coldest part of the year, and no
one could be long out in the open without being frostbitten. It was
not till the middle of April that a slight thaw began, and the
thermometer rose to freezing point. On 1st August the ships were able
to sail out of Winter Harbour and to struggle westward again. But they
could not get beyond Melville Island for the ice, and after the ships
had been knocked about by it, Parry decided to return to Lancaster
Sound once more. Hugging the western shores of Baffin's Bay, the two
ships were turned homewards, arriving in the Thames early in November
1820. "And," says Parry, "I had the happiness of seeing every officer
and man on board both ships--ninety-three persons--return to their
native country in as robust health as when they left it, after an
absence of nearly eighteen months."

[Illustration: THE SEARCH FOR A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE: THE CREWS OF
PARRY'S SHIPS, THE _HECLA_ AND _GRIPER_, CUTTING THROUGH THE ICE FOR
A WINTER HARBOUR, 1819. Drawn by William Westall, A.R.A., after a
sketch by Lieut. Beechey, a member of the expedition.]

Parry had done more than this. He not only showed the possibility of
wintering in these icy regions in good health and good spirit