352 GREELY'S ARCTIC WINTER OF STARVATION 



the expedition, which was to proceed to Lady Franklin Bay, on the 

 shores of Grinnell Land, and from there send out exploring parties, 

 by dog sledge and steam launch, as far north as possible. A ship 

 was to be sent each year with supplies, and if these should fail to 

 reach him, Greely was instructed to begin a retreat not later than 

 September i, 1883. 



The expedition left St. John's, Newfoundland, on the 7th of 

 July, stops being made at various points on the Greenland coast to 

 obtain dogs and complete the preparations for a long sojourn in a 

 land of desolation. At Upernavik a number of dogs were obtained, 

 and two Eskimos, Jens and Frederick, were taken on board as 

 drivers. The season was unusually mild, and they were able to 

 make excellent progress through the unimpeded water. On the way 

 they stopped at Gary Islands and examined the records left there 

 by Sir George Nares in 1875, and which had been examined once 

 before by Sir Allen Young, in 1876. The sea was full of white 

 wales, narwhals, and grampus. The latter has the reputation of 

 being a voracious feeder, one authority stating that a dead grampus 

 had been found, choked by a seal he had attempted to swallow, 

 although, when he was opened, his stomach was found to contain 

 no fewer than thirteen porpoises and fourteen seals. 



On August 4th the "Proteus," for the first time during the 

 voyage, was stopped by the ice. Being built specially for navigating 

 the ice-covered seas, she was very powerful in the bows, which were 

 further embellished by a strong iron prow. Thus she was able to 

 force her way through the ice which would have been impassable 

 to a lighter craft. Her method, when she was faced by moderately 

 thin ice which was yet thick enough to stop her ordinary progress, 

 was to steam astern for a couple of hundred yards and then rush 

 full speed at the ice. The strength of the iron prow and the force 

 of her powerful engines drove her into the floe, but the operation 

 was one that required great care. As she approached the floe, the 

 crew, running from one side of the deck to the other, caused her to 



