4. Through the Spitzbergen Sea and by the east coast of Greenland. The late Dr. Petermann was strongly of opinion that this is the way, and in a letter to the papers (8th December 1876), after congratulating Captain Nares upon his safe return to England, says: If Captain Nares' expedition had done nothing else than fully to explode the pernicious views connected with Smith Sound, it would be entitled to the greatest credit. The Smith Sound route had been artificially puffed up, exploration in that direction had attained a power of habit, and the predilection for Smith Sound became contagious, and an incubus on Arctic research. Sent out to attain the Pole by sledges to be drawn by fine plucky seamen along a land of fiction, it required the greatest moral courage to return home sooner than expected, and with results diametrically opposed to fallacious premises, on which the whole plan of the expedition had been founded. Had Captain Nares, instead of coming home this year, sailed round Cape Farewell, and tried the other side of Greenland, in the wake of Sir Edward Parry's yet unsurpassed brilliant summer trip of 1827, or Captain David Gray's thirty years' whaling along the shores of East Greenland, I am fully convinced he would have finished the North Pole just as well as that terrific Palæocrystic Sea; or as when the equator, then so much feared by all the world, was first crossed by Diaz 430 years ago. Had the expedition proceeded that way even this summer or autumn, it would no doubt have been welcomed back by the British nation more than it has been; but then there was the duty to fulfil, and the instructions to follow.'

We need not enter into the reasons why our own geographers and scientific men are not of the same

opinion as the writer of the above letter. After due investigation of all the facts and theories that could be brought together, it was agreed that the Smith Sound route presented the least difficulties of approaching the North Pole.

The two ships Alert and Discovery, accompanied by H.M.S. Valorous as tender, left Portsmouth harbour, amid the deafening cheers of thousands of spectators, on 29th May 1875. The expedition was in charge of Captain Nares, who took command of the Alert, with 62 men; Captain Stephenson taking command of the Discovery, with 58 men. You may now fancy yourselves on board the Alert, and enter into all the difficulties, dangers, and delights of the voyage, as far as imagination can supply the place of the actual trip.

The voyage as far as Disco Island was accomplished in an ordinary manner. Here the Alert took on board 30 dogs and a driver; and the Valorous, having transferred its stores, etc., took leave of the two ships. Leaving Godhaven on 15th July, the two ships passed up Baffin Bay, and crossed Melville Bay (which is generally much encumbered with ice), without any great difficulty. This part is called the Middle Pack. Successfully rounding Cape York, they entered North Water, and an unusually good passage brought them into Smith Sound. Now their serious difficulties commenced. The ice was very closely packed; the greatest skill and attention were required. A moment's delay when an opening in the water presented itself might prove disastrous. Captain Nares exercised the greatest vigilance, as you may gather from the fact that he lived for more than thirty days alone in the 'crow's nest' during the passage. This 'crow's nest' is a kind of barrel

shaped look-out fixed in the top-gallant masthead. Fancy being up there in that intense cold, amid winds and sleet that cut to the very bones!

As they approached Lady Franklin Sound, the ice was not more than five or six feet thick, and easily cut through. Finding a well-sheltered bay

was

above this sound, in 81° 44' N. lat., the Discovery here cast anchor for the winter ; this farther north than had been attained by any ship before. The Alert steamed on some 60 miles farther (of course you are following in imagination), until the ice absolutely choked up the bay. There being no friendly harbour or sheltered bay, the Alert was secured inside a kind of embankment formed of grounded ice, which they appropriately named Floe Berg Bay. A great disappointment was felt by all when they saw that the land, instead of extending north for a hundred miles more, as they fondly hoped, trended sharply to the west. Right before them in the direction of the North Pole lay a vast sea of ice, the accumulation of centuries. The idea of an open Polar Sea was proved a myth; in its place was this 'Ancient Sea of Ice,' or 'Palæocrystic Sea,' as it is called, with its huge masses, sometimes 120 feet thick, 15 feet being above the water-mark.

At once sledging parties were formed, and provisions were deposited at a headland named Cape Joseph Henry, for the succeeding year's sledge journeys. Even from this preliminary trip the party came back minus several toes, the result of frost-bite. An attempt was made to establish communication with the Discovery. Lieutenant Rawson tried twice-once in September, and again in October; but the difficulties were so great that, making an advance of only seven miles in ten or eleven days, he returned and gave it up for the winter.

On the 12th of October the sun disappeared, and was not seen again for 142 days. Every 1 Captain Nares gave the name floe-berg to stranded masses of ice

broken off from an ice-floe.

It

arrangement had been made for this long winter, and the five months passed more cheerfully than we should suppose. The claims of religion were not forgotten; divine service was conducted daily. Bodily exercise was a vital necessity, so a space for about a mile was cleared, and lined with meat tins to prevent collision in the darkness; this outdoor exercise being continued daily throughout the winter, except on two or three occasions, notwithstanding the extreme cold. All sorts of amusement and recreation were instituted; and in the evening classes were held in almost every subject, from the ABC to the highest branches of navigation and nautical astronomy. Thursday was their grand day; the entertainment was of a better description, and heartily entered into by officers and men. was generally opened by a scientific lecture from one of the officers, after which came some dramatic representation or a concert, Lieutenant Aldrich presiding at the piano. The programmes were printed by their own press, and announced that these entertainments were under the distinguished patronage of Captain Nares, the members of the Arctic expedition, and all the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood, with a notice that 'sledges might be ordered by nine o'clock.' On March 2, 1876, at their last performance, Captain Nares gave a lecture on the Palæocrystic Sea and Sledging Experiences,' at the close of which the whole company joined in singing a chorus composed by one of the crew.

And so they passed merrily through the long winter, keeping up the 5th of November and Christmas day with the usual festivities, the good understanding between officers and men greatly contributing to the success. The cold was some