CHAPTER VIII. 



OUR WINTER HARBOR. — PREPARING FOR WINTER. — ORGANIZATION OF DUTIES. 

 — SCIENTIFIC WORK. — TIIE OBSERVATORY. —SCHOONER DRIVEN ASHORE.— 

 THE HUNTERS. — SAWING A DOCK. —FROZEN UP. 



I NAMED our harbor Port Foiilke, in honor of my 

 friend, the late WilUam Parker Foulke, of Philadel- 

 phia, who was one of the earliest, and continued to 

 be throughout one of the most constant advocates 

 of the expedition. 



It was well sheltered except from the southwest, 

 toward which quarter it was quite exposed ; but, 

 judging from our recent exiDerience, we had little 

 reason to fear wind from that direction ; and we were 

 protected from the drift-ice by a cluster of bergs which 

 lay grounded off the mouth of the harbor. 



Our position was, even for the Greenland coast, not 

 so satisfactory as I could have wished. Had I reached 

 Fog Inlet we should have gained some advantages 

 over our present location, and would have been in- 

 deed better situated than was Dr. Kane at Van Rens- 

 selaer Harbor ; and we would then be as sure of an 

 early liberation as we were likely to be at Port 

 Foulke. In truth, the principal advantage which it 

 possessed was that we would not be held very late the 

 next summer, and there was no possible risk of my 

 vessel being caught in a trap like that of the Advance. 

 Besides this prospect of a speedy liberation to recom- 



