8 



CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



mentioned, their kindness to us during the expedition and to 

 myself personally on the trail will always remain among my 

 pleasant memories, to which I look back with nothing but the 

 most profound gratitude. 



The ship which we bought was called the Beatrice, was 

 built in Japan in 1877, and in spite of its age it was a very 



AFTER THE CHRISTENING OF THE VESSEL. 



strong vessel. It was small, only of 55*86 gross tonnage, the 

 length was 65 feet, its beam 20 feet, and depth of hold 7^ feet. 



To honour the Duchess of Bedford, who, after Mr. Leffingwell, 

 had been the first contributor to the expedition, and who also 

 had been kind to us in other ways, I asked for permission 

 to give the ship her name. Her Grace consented to this, as 

 well as to become the formal owner of the ship, as we could not 

 sail an English vessel under the American flag any more than 

 we could stand as the owners of an English ship. 



Our little craft had to be refitted entirely, and I set some 

 carpenters and sailors to work on board. All the interior 

 fittings were taken out, and the ship was thoroughly overhauled 



