Good fortune, however, favoured him, for on the 15th of August numerous whales appeared round the ship; three were secured, and the ship now “full-fished” could make a happy return to England after a most successful year.
The following season, Captain Clavering, commander of H. M. S. _Griper_, conveyed a Captain Sabine to Hammerfest in Norway, where Sabine desired to make certain scientific observations on the comparative length of the pendulum as affected by the principle of attraction. Other northern points were to be touched for similar purposes, and Spitzbergen and the east coast of Greenland were designated, the latter point being reached early in August. “He landed his passenger and the scientific apparatus on two islands detached from the eastern shore of the continent, which he called the Pendulum Islands, and of which the outermost point is marked by a bold headland rising to the height of three thousand feet.” (“Arctic Adventures,” Sargent.) While waiting for Captain Sabine, Clavering reconnoitred the coast, and was more fortunate than Scoresby in running across some of the natives, who closely resembled those described by Parry. By the beginning of September, Sabine having completed his observations, the _Griper_ made her way, not without difficulty and delays, by way of Drontheim, back to England.
In 1824, Captain Lyon, commanding the _Griper_, was given the task of the survey of Melville Peninsula, adjoining straits, and the shore of Arctic America. Overladen and unseaworthy, the _Griper_ was totally unfit for such an expedition, and upon reaching Roe Welcome, she was struck by a gale which threatened the destruction of both the ship and crew. After being battered around at the mercy of the storm for three days and nights, in which commander and crew had taken no rest or sleep, she was finally brought to anchor in a shallow bay, later designated as God’s Mercy. Here she was still in imminent danger of being grounded, and there seemed little hope of her surviving the high seas then running. The crew were ordered to prepare for the worst, and to this end each man was commanded to put on his warmer clothing. Of this scene, Captain Lyon writes:—
“Each, therefore, brought his bag on deck and dressed himself, and in the fine athletic forms which stood exposed before me, I did not see one muscle quiver, nor the slightest sign of alarm. Prayers were read, and they then all sat down in groups, sheltered from the wash of the sea by whatever they could find, and some endeavored to obtain a little sleep. Never, perhaps, was witnessed a finer scene than on the deck of my little ship, when all hope of life had left us. Noble as the character of the British sailor is always allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it to be possible that among forty-one persons, not one repining word should have been uttered. Each was at peace with his neighbor and all the world; and I am firmly persuaded that the resignation which was then shown to the will of the Almighty, was the means of obtaining His mercy. God was merciful to us, and the tide, almost miraculously, fell no lower.”