522 The Arctic Expedition. October, 
are undoubtedly unknown. Finally, as to the ethnological 
results, it is probable that the most sterile wastes hitherto 
discovered in the Polar Regions were formerly inhabited. 
Remains have been discovered of races long since passed 
away. Many considerations point to the belief that, in the 
unexplored regions in the north of Greenland, inhabitants 
will be found ; if so the study of these isolated peoples will be 
of the greatest interest ; the form and measurement of their 
skulls, their stature, their moral intelleétual condition, their 
whence and whither. ‘‘ Snow huts will point to some devious 
wanderings from Boothian or American shores ; while stone 
yourts would indicate a march from the coast of Siberia 
across a wholly unknown region.”” The above are some of the 
results to be expected from the Arétic Expedition of 1875. 
On Sunday, August 29th, the Valorous, which had accom- 
panied the Alert and Discovery as far as Disco, returned to 
England, bringing dispatches from Captain Nares. The 
expedition left Portsmouth on May 2oth, arriving in Bantry 
Bay on July znd. Thence they made for Greenland. On 
the 4th of June, a heavy wind began to blow from the west, 
and by the 11th it had increased toa gale. The first ice was 
sighted on June 27th, and on the following day they were off 
Cape Desolation. On the 13th of June the ships parted 
company in the gale, and they did not join company again 
till June 30th in Davis’s Straits. On the 6th of July they 
both anchored in the harbour of Godhavn, at the south-west 
corner of Disco, 69° N. lat. From the 6th to the 13th 
of July, the ships remained at Godhavn, taking in coals and 
other supplies from the Valorous. Captain Nares reports :— 
** We are now complete in all respects for three years from 
July 1st, 1875.” They also took on board 44 good Greenland 
dogs, and two whaling-boats, which had been lost during the 
gale, were supplied by the Valorous. On Thursday, July 
15th, the Alert and the Discovery left Godhavn, and on the 
17th they were last seen by the Valorous steaming down the 
Waigat Sound, and ultimately disappearing behind gigantic 
icebergs. Soon after a deep fog settled over the waters. The 
Danish officials at Godhavn reported that the last winter 
was much colder in South Greenland than in the north, and 
a great deal of ice had drifted south. At Godhavn the mean 
temperature of the winter months was from 5° to 13° higher 
than the average, but the spring was unusually severe. There 
is every reason, according to Mr. C. R. Markham, to hope 
that the ships will pass through Melville Bay during this 
season, and reach the north water of Baffin’s Bay. When 
this isaccomplished, a depdt will be established on the north- 
