Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/206

192 the furtherance of geogr.1pliir,1l discovery, especially in Africa and the far north. In 1818 to 1820 Captain Lyon, 1i.N., and Mr Ritchie landed at Tripoli, and penetrated as far as Mourzouk ; and this led to the more important ex- pedition of Major l)enha1n and Captain Clapperton, R..'., which was despatched by the Government. They landed at Tripoli in 1823, and advanced into the interior as far as the east coast of Lake Tchad, of which they gave a most interesting account, obtaining latitudes by meridian alti- tudes anl longitudes by lunar observations. Clapperton‘s furthest point was at Saccatoo, westward of the lake, and here he was forced to turn back. But in 1825 he was again employed to explore the interior of Africa, and this time he started from the Atlantic side with his faithful servant Richard Lander. Landing in the Eight of Benin, he succeeded in reaching Saccatoo from the west side, thus campletinga route from Tripoli on the llediterranean to the coast of Guinea. But at Saccatoo the gallant sailor suc- cumbed at last, dying on the 13th of April 1827. His faithful servant Lander returned to the coast ; and in 1830 he and his brother were employed to explore the course of the Niger or Quorra. They embarked on the river near Boossa, passed through the Yorriba country, and came out at the mouth of the Nun. The Admiralty also considered that a river of such magnitude as the Zaire or Congo ought to be explored. Captain Tuckey, R.N., was selected to conduct the Congo expedition, and received command of a steamer called the “ Congo," with a crew of 49 officers and men. The expedi- tion reached the mouth of the great river on July 5, 1816, and proceeded up to the foot of the falls of Yellala, the farthest point hitherto reached. Captain Tuckey, with 15 of his party, landed on the north shore on the 14th of August; and, after travelling for about -10 miles over a hilly country, he reached the head of the falls and the banks of the upper river. He had explored the river for a distance of 280 miles from the sea. But death overtook the com- mander of the expedition and several officers, and the “ Congo” returned in command of the master, Mr Fitz- maurice, after executing the survey from the foot of the falls to Embomma. South South America had produced two eminent physical geo- Ad13FiC3- graphers, namely, Caldas of Bogota and Unanue of Lima, before the scenery of the Orinoco and the Andes became familiar to Europe through the charming narratives of Humboldt. It was in 1799 that the great Prussian natu- ralist embarked at Oorufia, and landed at Cumana on the coast of Venezuela. His observant eye and bright imagina- tion, combined with habits of scientific thought, produced pictures of the physical aspects of the regions he explored which are quite unequalled. What he said of George Forster is even more true of himself: “He depicted in pleasing colours the changing stages of vegetation, the rela- tions of climate and articles of food in their influence on the civilization of mankind. All that can give truth, indi- viduality, and distinctiveness to the delineation of exotic nature is united in his work.” The Orinoco and Cassiquiari, the falls of T equendama, the mountains of Quindiu, Chimborazo, and Quito, C-ajamarca, and the upper Amazon, and the varied scenery of Mexico, are imprinted on the imagination with life-like form and colouring by this great master of description. His service to geography was far greater than that of any mere discoverer. Humboldt left the New Vorld in 180-1. Arctic The greatest and most important enterprise, after the ‘1iSC0"°F)’- peace of 1815, was the renewal of Arctic exploration under the auspices of Sir John Barrow. To the great work of Scoresby, and to the careful observations of himself and his father, we are indebted for the most exhaustive account of the Spitzbergen seas, and of the ice which encumbers them. Afl‘2'.'.'3. 1 In 21]- boldt. GEOGRAPHY [raoemzss or DISCOVERY. When the Government expeditions were undertaken, the volumes of Scoresby formed a storehouse of useful and well-digested information. The true object of modern Arctic enterprise has been the advancement of science, a noble and sullicient reason for incurring expenditure and facing dangers and hardships. In consequence of Sir John B-arrow’s representations, orders were given in 1818 for the preparation of four vessels forArctic service,—two to attempt the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and two to attempt an approach to the North Pole. But, as Sir John Barrow himself explained, the main objects were not the accomplishment of voyages by these routes, but the acquisi- tion of useful knowledge. Sir John Ross, who commanded one of the two expeditions, circumnavigated Bn1lin's Bay on the track of that great navigator, and re-established his fame. Captain Buchan, who led the other, battled with the impenetrable pack to the north of Spitzbergen, like Phipps before him, and then returned. There can be no great success without continuity of effort and perseverance, and the early voyages of this century achieved lasting results, because those who sent them out were endowed with tenacity of purpose. No sooner had Ross returned than Parry was appointed to command two strongly built vessels, the “ Hecla ” and “ Griper,” and to proceed on the same service. On the 11th of .lay 1819 Parry sailed, and on the 1st of August he entered the portals of Lancaster Sound, and commenced the discovery of a new region. Ile succeeded in sailing for 300 miles along the southern shores of the islands which now bear his name, among ice floes of moderate thickness, until he reached the edge of the im- penetrable polar pack at the western extreme of Melville Island. He went as far as it will ever be possible for any vessel to go in this direction, and then wintered in a harbour of Melville Island. In 1820 he returned with a rich harvest of scientific observations, and of valuable in- formation in all branches of inquiry. This first expedition was most successful. Parry’s second voyage was into Hudson’s Bay in search of a passage westward in that direc- tion. He discovered a strait (that of “Fury and Ilecla"), and passed two winters 1821-23 on the coast of Melville Peninsula. The third voyage (1824-25) was again up Baffin’s Bay ; but it was unsuccessful, and one of his vessels, the “Fury,” was lost. Still every voyage, whether success- ful or not in its main object, brought back valuable results. Meanwhile the “ Griper,” commanded by Captain Clavering, had, in 1823, penetrated through the ice to the east coast of Greenland in 76° N ., to enable Captain Sabine to take pendulum observations in that position. The Russian Captain Lutke had also surveyed the west coast of Novaya Zemlya from 1821 to 1824. Parry, after his return from the third voyage, proposed an attempt to reach the Pole by travelling over the ice during the summer, on the Spitzbergen meridians. He sailed on this service in the “Hecla” on the 3d of April 1827, and, after placing her in a secure harbour in Spitzbergen, he began his bold and interesting attempt with two boats, fitted with runners for being dragged over the ice. But the whole mass of ice was drift- ing south faster than Parry’s men, with all their efforts, could advance north. However, on July 23, 1827, he attained the latitude of 82° 45’ N ., which continued to be the highest parallel ever reached by man until Captain .Iarkham went beyond it in 1875. Parry returned to England in October. Another expedition of a private character left England in June 1829 under the command of Sir John Ross, who was accompanied by his distin- guished nephew James C. Ross. In August they reached Lancaster Sound, and then proceeded southwards down Regent’s Inlet, wintering on the most northern peninsula of America, to which Ross gave the name of Boothia. Here they passed three winters, while, during the intervening

Parry.