, 1877-08-31


for travelling. We had sumptuous
dinner, for once, at Christmas We had
brought fish, beef and mutton from Eng
land, which we hung up on one of the
masts, and ii was soon as hard as brick
and perfectly preserved. We also brought
some sheep from England, and they were
! killed from time to time. When we hr-
rived in Discovery Bay, as we called It,
six of them were alive, but on being
landed they were worried by the dogs
and had to be slaughtered. During the
winter the men had to fetch ice from a
bay, about half mile distant from the
ship, in order to melt it for fresh water.
This used to be brought in sledges.
"The sun returned on the last day in
February. From November till Febru-
ary, with the exception of the sunlight,
and occasionally moonlight, we were in
darkness. 1t used not to be dense, by
any means, but at the same time you
could easily pass friend without know
ing him. On the day the sun was to rise
we calculated that it would be about
twelve o'clock, and all hands ascended
the hills to see him rising. This sight
was, however, prevented by the mists and
fog. We did not see the sun for several
days after. Near the end of March a
sedge, with two officers and two men,
arrived from the AIert, the mercury stand
ing at minus forty degrees Fahrenheit,
after having had ajourney a Of six days.
They had started to come to us some time
before, but were obliged to return on ac-
count of Andersen, the Dane, being Sc
verely frost bitten. They took him back
Just alive and he died some time after
ward. Directly they returned to the Dis
sOgery preparations began to be made for
sedging; the sledges were taken out, and
men told off for different parties
1.-TWO officers and three men with dog
sedge set out to cross Robeson' s Channel to
Halls Rest, the winter quarters Of the
POlaris, to report on the stores left there
by that ship, which had been placed at
our disposal by the United States Gov
ernment. They returned in four or five
days, reporting that they had found bis
cult, pemmican preserved meat, molasSes
and some other things; they lived in a
wooden observatory that they found
erected there. 1t took more than half
day to get the snow off the building.
Captain Halls grave looked quite fresh !;
head board, made from the door Of a
cabin, with an inscription upon it, had
been put up to mark the spot Emo, the
dog driver, was one of the party, and he,
having been on the Polaris couple of
years before, could explain everything.
Shortly after this Mr.. Beaumont, the first
lieutenant, and Surgeon Coppinger, each
of them with an eight-man sledge-that
is, seven men beside emselves--started
for the Alsrt in order to pick up the other
sledge, which had wintered with the
Alert, in which they intended to cross
Robeson's Channel for the exploration of
North Greenland. We subsequently
heard that they took twelve days to reach
the Alert, proceeding along the ice foot
and over the foes. The ice foot is that
which extends about eight feet from the
shore. 1t affords more facility for trav
cling than that which is farther from the
land.
1.-TWO days after this, another party,
consisting of twelve-man sledge and an
eight-man sledge, with two officers, left
for the exploration of Lady Franklin
Sound. The captain accompanied this
party in the eight-man sledge, and re-
turned after week. At that time there
were twenty -four men up north sledging,
twenty more at Lady Franklin Sound,
and the captain, with a few officers and
men, were with the ship. After about a
fortnight the twelve-man sledge, which
had gone merely as an aid, conveying pro.
visions for the others, returned to the
ship, the sledge having sustained some
damage. One of the mariners had been
severely frostbitten in the heel, and he
had to be brought the whole way in the
sledge.
"The other sledge returned, after to-
tai absence of nearly four weeks, having
established the fact that Lady Franklin
Strait-so called by the Americans-wa'
sound or ford, about sixty miles in
length. They saw three or four glaciers
on their way, and hills about three
thousand feet high. They saw some
musk oxen, the first seen in that season
but they were very wild, and could not
be got at. They took to the steep sides
of hills, like goats, rolling down great
masses of rock. They seemed to be very
wild at that time of the year, as ordinarily
they are almost as tame as any cows"