formerly Melville Sound
Body of water, northern Canada.
Located in the Arctic Archipelago , between Melville and Victoria islands, the sound is 250 mi (400 km) long and 100 mi (160 km) wide. Its discovery, when reached from the east (1819–20) by William E. Parry and from the west (1850–54) by Robert McClure, proved the existence of the Northwest Passage . The sound is navigable only under favourable weather conditions.