SCIENTIFIC OUTFIT. 11 



courtesy of its chief, I was supplied with two pocket- 

 sextants, instruments which could not have been ob- 

 tained either by purchase or loan elsewhere. I had 

 hoped to secure from the National Observatory the 

 use of a deep-sea sounding apparatus, until it was 

 made known to me that the concession was not pro- 

 vided for by act of Congress. Outside of the limits 

 of nautical routine I fared better. The Chief of the 

 Coast Survey furnished me with a vertical circle, which 

 contained the double advantage of a transit and the- 

 odolite, a well-tested unifilar magnetometer, a reflect- 

 ing circle, a Wurdeman compass, and several other 

 valuable instruments. We had five chronometers, — 

 three box and two pocket, which last were intended 

 for use in sledge travelling. We had an excellent tel- 

 escope, with a four and a half inch object-glass ; and, 

 under the joint superintendence of the late Professor 

 Bond, of Cambridge, and Mr. Sonntag, I caused to be 

 constructed a pendulum apparatus after the plan of 

 Foster's instrument. 



I lacked not instruments, but men. My only well- 

 instructed associate was Mr. Sonntag. 



Our outfit was altogether of the very best descrip- 

 tion, and our larder contained every thing that could 

 reasonably be desired. An abundant supply of canned 

 meats, vegetables, and fruits insured us against scurvy, 

 and a large stock of desiccated beef, beef soup, (a 

 mixture of meat, carrots, onions, &c.,) and potatoes, 

 prepared expressly for me by the American Desiccat- 

 ing Company of New York, gave us a light and port- 

 able food for the sledge journeys. I preferred the 

 food in this form to the ordinary pemican. We were 

 amply provided with good warm woollen clothing, and 

 four large bales of buffalo-skins promised each of us 



