NARES' EXPEDITION (1876) 131 



superable obstacle to travelling in that direction with 

 our present appliances ; and I unhesitatingly affirm that 

 it is impracticable to reach the North Pole by the Smith 

 Sound route. 11 



Let us now follow the northern sledge-party which 

 left the Alert on 3rd April 1876. The depot of pro- 

 visions at Cape Joseph Henry was reached on 10th April, 

 and the remainder of that day was employed in bringing 

 the provisions off to the sledges, which were left on the 

 ice. Up to this point the northern and western parties 

 had travelled together. Next day they separated, and 

 the two supporting sledges returned to the ship. 



The ice over which the northern party had to travel 

 was of an extremely rugged character. Roads had fre- 

 quently to be made before the sledges could be dragged 

 forwards. To make matters worse, the snow in many 

 places had drifted to such a depth that the men were 

 frequently floundering in it up to their waists. Little 

 mention is made of snow-shoes throughout the expedition, 

 and here undoubtedly they would have been of great 

 service. At first they attempted to console themselves 

 with the idea that the irregular and broken sea of ice was 

 only caused by the proximity to the land, and that they 

 should afterwards meet with smooth level floes, on which 

 they should advance rapidly. The belts of hummocks 

 that separated the floes varied from 20 yards to half a 

 mile in breadth, and were from 15 to 50 feet in height. 

 In order to keep the sun as much as possible at theii 

 backs, they travelled between noon and midnight. 

 During the first week the temperature was usually about 

 30° below zero, and little sleep could be obtained. On 

 the 14th one of the crew complained of pains in his ankles 

 and knees. Although ignorant of the fact, this A\as the 

 first appearance of the dreaded scurvy. During the 15th 

 and 16th they were confined to tent by a gale, with 



