THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 609 



to Cape Inglesfield, and after waiting until September 5th for an 

 opening in the pack, (never being able to penetrate it further 

 than lat. 79 20'), returned to St. John's, warned by the form- 

 ation of new ice, which was five inches thick, that the attempt to 

 reach the colony must be deferred until another season. The 

 winter quarters of Dr. Kane were nearly a degree further south 

 than this. The Release and Arctic, in 1855, had their progress 

 arrested in 78 and 32'. Dr. Haves' ship was frozen in a degree 

 and a half south of the Neptune's furthest. The Pandora, in 

 1876, could scarcely more than enter Smith's Sound, although 

 the Alert and Discovery came down from Lady Franklin Bay the 

 same year. Capt. Hall, in 1873, with the Polaris; Sir George 

 Nares, in 1875, with the Alert and Discovery ; and Lieut. Greely, 

 in 1881, with the Proteus, have gone beyond this barrier. 



The Neptune left a few stores cached at Beebe, which is near 

 the point selected on Littleton Island, and then hastened back to 

 St. John's to escape the ice which was rapidly moving down. 



One year later, June 28, 1883, another relief expedition, con- 

 sisting of the steamer Proteus and whaler Yantic, sailed, com- 

 manded by Lieutenants Garlingtou and Con well, for Fort Conger, 

 hoping to reach that far north and distribute supplies from that 

 point at the several caches southward to Cape Sabine. 



This expedition met with swift disaster, for, a few miles above 

 Cape Sabine, the Proteus was caught in the ice and crushed like 

 an egg-shell. The crew barely escaped with their lives onto the 

 ice, and were picked up by the Yantic, which returned with them 

 to St. John's, thus marking a conspicuous failure. 



The loss of the Proteus brought to light a most serious blun- 

 der. The landing of her stores at Littleton Island, or Cape 

 Sabine, at the mouth of Smith Sound, before the ship herself 

 encountered the perils of a heavy pack north of Cape Sabine, was 

 of the utmost importance. Prudent Arctic navigators, under 

 similar circumstances, have always endeavored to secure the 

 safety of their food supply by getting the bulk of it on solid land 

 as soon as possible after reaching their base of operations, and 

 before running the extreme risk which is necessarily involved in 

 39 ' 



