110 THE SEA. 



The party started on April 3rd (1876) from the vessel, and for a few days, although 

 the route was difficult, made fair progress. The men were in good health and spirits, 

 and, except a few trifling cases of snow blindness, there were no casualties to report. The 

 reader will not need to be informed that snow blindness is produced by the intense glitter 

 of the sunlight on the snow crystals. Even as early as April 6th we read in Markham's 

 " Journal"* of a beautiful sunny day, when the temperature was 35 below zero, and every- 

 thing frozen stiff and hard. When as far as the eyes can reach in any direction there 

 is nothing but a dazzlingly white field of snow or snow-covered hummocks, the effect is 

 extremely painful, and, indeed, would soon render them weak and sore, and eventually 

 blind, but for the use of " goggles " in some form. In the various journals of the 

 expedition we read of different kinds, made of coloured or smoked glass, &c. The writer 

 has seen among the natives of Northern Alaska, and has himself used, wooden goggles. 

 Covering each eye is an oval piece of wood, usually painted black, scooped out like and 

 about the size of the bowl of a dessert-spoon, with a narrow, straight slit cut through the 

 middle. These, with the leather strips by which they are tied on, look clumsy enough, 

 but were found effectual in use. Among natives even, accustomed to the glare on the snow, 

 who had neglected their use in spring, one might often note those with swollen, red, 

 and weak eyes. 



To return to our expedition. On reaching a depot made at Cape Joseph Henry 

 (Grimiell Land), the point from which they would leave the land, the party was re- 

 arranged ; only fifteen men with three sledges, carrying a weight of 6,079 pounds in all, 

 were to form the northern party, which, under Markham and Parr, would proceed direct 

 " to sea/' It is needless to say that it was a sea of ice, and very ancient ice also, 

 making the travelling correspondingly difficult from the enormous size of the hummocks 

 and extent of their fields. Perhaps the entries appended to each day's travel in Markham's 

 "Journal" will give as good an idea of the difficulty and the tortuous nature of their route, 

 and of the frequency of their trips over the same road being duplicated and triplicated, as 

 any direct description. We find constantly entries like the following: "Course and distance 

 made good north four miles. Distance marched, thirteen miles." This is a mild example. It 

 was found impossible to move the whole of their heavy loads at one time. Indeed, 

 during a large part of the journey but one sledge at a time could be dragged forward. 

 This entailed returning twice, and in effect making fire trips over the same route, thus : 

 forward with number one; return and forward with number two; return and forward 

 with number three, the process being repeated as long as the endurance of the party 

 was equal to it. One mile of progress became therefore five of actual travel; in some 

 cases, where the parties on the return journeys had become enfeebled, and had to be 

 carried on the sledges, three returns had to be made by the working members, thus entail- 

 ing seven trips over the same route. Markham's "Journal" for April 10th has, "Distance 

 made good, one mile. Distance marched, seven." On the 12th it was as one and a half 

 to nine, on the 17th as one and a quarter to nine, and on the 18th as one to ten, the 

 latter taking ten hours to accomplish. The writer can understand all this well, having 



* " Journals and Proceedings of the Arctic Expedition, 187-5-6," &c. (printed as a Parliamentary Blue-book). 



