352 SLEDGING PARTIES OVER THE FROZEN SEA. 



was so confidently anticipated from attempts of this 

 nature. As we have already mentioned, the exceed- 

 ingly rough nature of the ancient ice renders sledge 

 travelling impossible ; over wide areas of frozen 

 sea the rise and fall of the tides is continually break- 

 ing up the ice fields; and the enormous pressure of 

 the surrounding ice piles up immense broken masses 

 of it, one layer above the other, in such chaotic con- 

 fusion, that the whole landscape resembles rather a 

 series of hills, composed of huge blocks of ice, than a 

 smooth frozen plain, such as popular fancy seems to 

 have pictured as the normal aspect of an arctic ice- 

 bound sea. Over such a surface, travelling parties 

 with sledges have to slowly force their way, climbing 

 up to the crest of one elevation, and painfully drag- 

 ging the heavily laden sledges, with infinite labour, 

 after them, and then lowering them down as best 

 they can on the opposite side. It is therefore very 

 evident that long before they could possibly reach the 

 pole, their provisions would be exhausted, and famine 

 would force the adventurers to beat a retreat. The 

 sailing orders issued by the British Admiralty to Sir 

 George Nares, * for the guidance of his expedition, 

 fully recognised this difficulty, and pointed out, in 

 distinct terms, the extreme improbability of successful 

 results following upon any attempts of the kind. 

 Paragraph No. 15 of these orders runs as follows: 

 " It must not be lost sight of, that in the absence of any con- 

 tinuous land, sledge travelling has never yet been found prac- 

 ticable over any considerable extent of unenclosed frozen 

 sea ; although conditions may be found to exist which would 

 enable parties to travel for limited distances by sledge and 



* Dated May 2Otli, 1875. 



