108 cruise OF THE NEPTUNE 
expedition fitted out and provisioned with all possible precau- 
tions against the disease; the only explanation given is that the 
men were over-worked, slept in damp clothes, and were regu- 
larly served with a liberal ration of spirits. The Alert left 
Floeberg beach on the 31st of July, and on the 9th of September 
both vessels safely reached the open sea, and recrossed the Arctic 
circle on the 4th of October. 
In 1881 the United States government determined to estab- 
lish a meteorological station in connection with the 
international polar stations in the region of Smith sound. 
Congress voted an appropriation of $25,000 for this expedition, 
a sum ridiculously small, as only $6,000 remained after paying 
for the transport of the party to their destination. The expedi- 
tion was under the command of Lieutenant A. W. Greely, and 
was composed of officers and men from the United States army, 
none of whom had had previous experience in Arctic work. The 
party, numbering twenty-six, sailed from St. john's, New- 
foundland, in the steam sealer Proteus, on the 4th of July, 
1881. At Upernivik two Eskimo dog-drivers were added to 
their number. Little trouble was experienced from the ice until 
the ship reached Discovery bay, where the station was to be 
located, and after a short delay the party was landed on the 
11th of August. Two men found to be physically unfit were 
sent home. A house was soon erected, and the observation work 
carried on regularly during the time that the expedition re- 
mained there. In the spring of 1882 several sled journeys were 
made, the most important being that of Lieutenant Lockwood, 
who crossed Kennedy channel, and passing northeastward along 
the coast of Greenland pushed beyond the farthest point reached 
by Lieutenant Beaumont, and succeeded in reaching latitude 
83 23' n., the highest attained at that time. The Neptune 
attempted to relieve them during the summer of 1882, but 
found Smith sound blocked with ice. The second autumn and 
spring were spent in making explorations, chiefly in Ellesmere 
