i74 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



Proteus got under way, and he was obliged to go back to 

 Conger. He did not afterwards return to duty as an 

 officer. Greely gives no explanation of the matter, but 

 Lockwood in his diary states that one of the annoyances 

 complained of by Kislingbury was the rule that officers 

 should rise in the morning with the men. 



A wooden house was constructed, 60 by 17 feet. Its 

 walls were double, the two coverings of -1— inch boards 

 being separated by an air-space of about a foot. The 

 roof was only a single board thick, but was covered (like 

 the sides) with tar-paper. The house had also a ceiling, 

 and the space between this and the roof afforded an 

 excellent storage-place for articles which would have 

 been injured by exposure. The interior of the house was 

 divided into three rooms, one 17 by 15 feet for the 

 officers, another 8 by 17 feet served partly as the cook's 

 kitchen and partly as an entry, and the third room was 

 used by the men. The house was conveniently and 

 pleasantly situated within 30 yards of the water's edge, 

 on a small tableland between two brooks, which for a 

 few months in the year ran into the sea. The coal-mine 

 was 4 miles distant, and could be reached through a 

 valley to the eastward. 



The house had not been quite finished when field-work 

 commenced. Greely expresses the view that autumn 

 sledging should be carefully planned, attempted with 

 great caution, and never pushed to great distances. He 

 states that in autumn temperatures the travelling-gear of 

 a man once wet, the chances of dangerous frost-bites and 

 disaster increase. 



On 30th August Dr. Pavy and Sergeant Rice, the 

 photographer of the expedition, were sent north as far 

 as practicable towards Cape Joseph Henry. They were to 

 examine the condition of the English depot at Lincoln 

 Bay, and report on the practicability of autumn and 



