300 NEAREST THE POLE 



make my attempt on the Pole via Cape Hecla. I 

 might succeed in spite of the low latitude of my starting 

 point, and, in any event, could reach the ship again 

 before the ice broke up, with thorough knowledge of 

 the coast and conditions to the north. 



September i8th, I left the ship with two sledges and 

 my two best Eskimos, with provisions for twelve days 

 for a reconnoissance of Princess Marie Bay. Septem- 

 ber 2oth I reached the head of a small fiord running 

 southwest from near the head of Princess Marie Bay, 

 and found a narrow neck of land, about three miles 

 wide, separating it from a branch of Buchanan " Strait." 

 Bache "Island" of the chart is, therefore, a peninsula 

 and not an island. From a commanding peak in the 

 neighbourhood I could see that both arms of Buchanan 

 "Strait" ended about south of my position; that the 

 " strait" is in reality a bay, and that Hayes Sound does 

 not exist. On the 21st and 2 2d I penetrated the 

 arms of Princess Marie Bay, designated as Sawyer and 

 Woodward bays on the charts, and demonstrated them 

 to be entirely closed. 



September 23d, while entering a little bight about 

 midway of the north shore of Bache Peninsula, I came 

 upon two bears. These my dogs chased ashore and 

 held at bay until I could come up and kill them. 



September 25th, I crossed Bache Peninsula on foot 

 with my two men, from Bear Camp to the intersection 

 of the northern and southern arms of Buchanan Bay. 

 Here we found numerous walrus, and could command 

 the southern arm to the large glacier at its head. 

 Comparatively recent musk-ox tracks convinced me 

 of the presence of musk-oxen on the peninsula. The 



