194 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



beef, and bread were opened, so that they might maintain 

 life for several months in case the party might be com- 

 pelled to return to Conger. Three tons of coal remained, 

 and a sufficient quantity of provisions to have supplied 

 scant army rations for one year, with the exception of 

 flour, sugar, vegetables, milk, and butter. The entire 

 collection of natural history specimens and the original 

 records of the expedition were left at Conger. 



Cape Baird was reached on 10th August. Here the 

 caches were taken up, and then the launch, with three 

 boats in tow, was steered down Kennedy Channel. The 

 whole party of twenty-five were then in good health, and 

 little could they dream of the horrors they were to undergo. 



On the 12th August, Sergeant Cross, the engineer, 

 was found to be under the influence of liquor. He had 

 allowed the launch to ground on the falling tide. On 

 this date Carl Ritter Bay was reached, and the cache 

 made by Greely on his way north was taken up. On the 

 1 3th their progress was arrested by an enormous floeberg, 

 60 feet in height above the water, which had grounded 

 1 mile from the shore, and between it and the shore 

 was an unbroken floe. A later examination of the floe- 

 berg discovered that it had split and formed a narrow 

 cleft about 12 feet wide and over 100 yards long. Into 

 this narrow passage, with walls of ice about 60 feet high 

 on either side, the boats were steered, and the dangerous 

 run was made without accident. 



On the 15th August, Cross was again intoxicated, 

 and Greely found it necessary to put Private Frederick 

 permanently in charge of the engine. On the 21st 

 August the boats were caught between the moving pack 

 and an ice-foot 10 feet high, and rather severely nipped. 

 The English cache at Cape Collinson, consisting of 240 

 rations of meat, salt, pepper, onion-powder and fuel, and 

 120 rations of bread, was taken up on 22nd August. 



