Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait

• Main Author: Beechey, Frederick William
• Format: Book
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; Bering Strait; Pacific; Parry; eskimo*; North Atlantic; North West Passage
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139014885

Frederick William Beechey (1796–1856), naval officer and hydrographer, was born into a family of artists, joined the Navy at a young age and went on to travel the world to survey coastlines and oceans. He published several accounts of his expeditions to destinations including the Arctic and Africa. This two-volume work, first published in 1831, describes his voyage as commander of the Blossom in 1825–1828. The ship's mission was to support the exploration of the North-West Passage by travelling eastwards via the Bering Strait to meet the explorers Sir John Franklin and Sir Edward Parry who were travelling west from the North Atlantic. Volume 2 follows the expedition from California, where it had overwintered, via Hawai'i and China, back to the Bering Strait for a second summer. It includes a vocabulary of Eskimo words, notes on harbours and navigation, and a vivid description of the northern lights.