SYNOPSIS OF PROCEEDINGS. 359 



room, where a large audience was assembled to listen to a lecture by- 

 Mr. George R. Putnam on the Peary Expedition of the past summer, 

 which expedition Mr. Putnam accompanied as a representative of the 

 U. S. Geodetic and Coast Survey. 



Preceding the lecture an interesting report of the last annual meet- 

 ing of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held 

 at Liverpool, and attended by the writer, Mr. E. K. Putnam, was read. 



THE GREENLAND EXPEDITION OF 1 896 UNDER CH.\RGE OF 

 PROF. A. E. BURTON. 



SUMMARY OF LECTURE BEFORE THE DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 

 BY G. R. PUTNAM, OCTOBER 30, 1896. 



This expedition was organized by Prof. Burton of the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology to carry on various investigations in Umanak 

 Fiord, in the northern part of Danish Greenland. The party was to 

 be carried to and from its destination by Lieut. Peary, the well-known 

 arctic explorer. The voyage was but a summer trip to moderate lati- 

 tudes, devoid of the conventional arctic hardships, and yet the pecu- 

 liar advantage of such a trip to Greenland is that many of the grand- 

 est of arctic phenomena may here be seen in easily accessible regions. 

 The steamer " Hope," a staunch Newfoundland sealing ship, under 

 command of Capt. John Bartlett, carried Lieut. Peary and the various 

 parties north from Sydney, Nova Scotia, sailing from there Julv 16, 

 1896. Passing through the straits of Belle Isle we w^ere soon in the 

 regions of icebergs and floe ice. Magnificent specimens of the former 

 were encountered before we left the straits, and they were never lack- 

 ing to the scene during the entire balance of the voyage. An unusual 

 quantity of floe ice was met along the Labrador coast, which we fol- 

 lowed closely to Hudson Strait. The ice sometimes became so thick 

 as to seriously impede the progress of the ship. While in this ice we 

 had some beautiful and fantastic effects of the mirage. A polar bear 

 and cubs were seen on the ice off Cape Chudleigh, the latter being 

 captured alive after the shooting of the mother. 



Passing into Hudson Strait the " Hope" was soon clear of the ice. 

 After steaming two hundred miles along the north shore we reached 

 Ashe Inlet on July 24. Here, and on the mainland opposite, two 

 days were spent by the various parties in exploration. At this point 

 some years ago the Canadians had a station for investigating the cli- 

 mate and navigability of Hudson Strait. On the way out of Hudson 

 Strait we had our first good view of the Eskimos. A few of them in 

 their kayaks hailed the ship, and the entire settlement followed in a 

 large skin boat, bringing many articles to trade. Notwithstanding the 

 utterly bleak and forbidding appearance of this region, they appeared 

 to be a happy people ; their round, fat faces simply beamed with good 

 nature. They were dressed in furs, men and w^omen much alike, ex- 



