420 



GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION, THE. 



The American trade with Greece was as 

 follows : 



Merchant Marine. There were sailing under 

 the Greek flag, in 1881, 5,180 sea- going and 

 6,697 coasting vessels, together 11,8*77 vessels, 

 heing manned by 28,034 sailors. 



GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION, THE. In ac- 

 cordance with the plan of the International 

 Geographical Congress at Hamburg, in 1879, 

 for the establishment of a series of circumpo- 

 lar stations for scientific observation, Lieut. A. 

 W. Greely, of the Fifth Cavalry, United States 

 Army, was sent out, under instructions from 

 the Signal-Service Bureau, to take charge of 

 the American station at Lady Franklin bay. 

 The point selected for this station was the 

 most northerly and the most difficult of access 

 of the series, being at Discovery harbor, lat. 

 81 44' north, and long. 64 45' west. Lieut. 

 Greely received his instructions in April, 1881, 

 and a contract was made at St. John's, New- 

 foundland, with the owners of the Proteus, 

 a vessel that had been used for Arctic navi- 

 gation, to convey his party to a point on 

 shore from which it could reach its destina- 

 tion by land. His assistant, Lieut. J. B. Lock- 

 wood, and other members of the party, left 

 Baltimore about the middle of June, to join 

 Greely at St. John's. On the 18th of August a 

 telegram was received announcing an auspi- 

 cious beginning of the work of the station. 

 Only a month had been occupied in the pas- 

 sage from Newfoundland to Lady Franklin bay, 

 and Discovery harbor was reached on Au- 

 gust llth. At Littleton island the party had 

 found letters left by English explorers, and 

 at Life-boat Cove a transit instrument of the 

 Polaris. The station was named in honor of 

 Senator Conger, of Michigan, who had been 

 active in promoting its establishment. In 

 January, 1882, letters had been received from 

 Dr. Octave Pavy, who had gone to the Arctic 

 regions with the Gulnare in 1880, and had 

 joined the Greely expedition at God haven. 

 These were dated in September, 1881, and con- 

 tained the last news received from the station. 

 The following is a list of the party : 



First-Lieut. A. W. Greely, Fifth Cavalry: Acting 

 Signal-Officer and Assistant Second-Lieut.' Frederick 

 F. Kislingbury, Eleventh Infantry ; Acting Signal- 

 Officer Second-Lieut. James B. Lockwood, Twenty- 

 third Infantry; Acting Signal-Officers Sergts. Ed- 

 ward Israel, Winfield S. Jewell, George W. Eice, 

 David 0. Kelator, Hampton S. Gardner, William H. 

 Cross, David L. Brainerd, David Linn; Corporals 

 and privates Nicholas Salor, Joseph Eliot, Charles 

 B. Henry, Maurice Connell, Jacob Bender, Francis 

 Long, William Whistler, Henrv Bierderbeck, Julius 

 Fredericks, and William A. Ellis. Octave Pavy, 

 M. D., of Disco, Greenland, was commissioned as 



Acting Assistant Surgeon, and accompanied the ex- 

 pedition in that capacity. 



It was arranged before Lieut. Greely's de- 

 parture that in the summers of 1882 and 1883 

 expeditions should be sent to replenish the 

 stores of the colony, and to afford any relief of 

 which it might stand in need. It was understood 

 that, if they failed to reach Lady Franklin bay, 

 provisions and documents of instruction were 

 to be cached at the farthest accessible point on 

 the east coast of Grinnell Land, and a depot of 

 supplies established at Littleton island. Lieut. 

 Greely was instructed, if no relief expedition 

 previously arrived, to abandon the station not 

 later than September, 1883, and retreat south- 

 ward by boat, following closely the east coast 

 of Grinnell Land until he met the relieving 

 vessel or arrived at Littleton island, where it 

 was assumed relief would be surely awaiting 

 him. The relief expedition of 1882 was sent 

 out in the Neptune, in charge of Lieut. 

 Beebe, and set sail in June of that year. It 

 proved an unfavorable season ; and after con- 

 tending with the ice for a month, the vessel 

 only reached the latitude of 71 20'. Finally, 

 stores were cached at Littleton island and 

 Cape Sabine, and the Neptune returned. 



The second relief expedition, that of 1883, 

 was placed in charge of Lieut. E. A. Garling- 

 ton, of the Seventh Cavalry, with a party of 

 fourteen men, including a competent ice-pilot 

 and three experienced sailors. The Proteus 

 was again employed to make the trip from St. 

 John's. She was regarded as an exceptionally 

 stanch sailer, and was specially fitted for the 

 service. She was 150 feet long, carried 618 

 tons, and had compound engines of 110 regis- 

 tered horse -power. Her hull was of oak, 

 sheathed three inches thick over all parts 

 vulnerable by ice. Her equipments and sup- 

 plies were regarded as complete, and she was 

 furnished with duplicate or triplicate appli- 

 ances, such as were specially liable to injury. 

 The Proteus was commanded by Capt. Richard 

 Pike, with a crew of twenty-two men. The 

 Yantic, of the United States Navy, under Com- 

 mander Frank Wildes, was ordered to accom- 

 pany the Proteus, to render all possible assist- 

 ance, and to remain at Littleton island until 

 the return of the relief expedition under Lieut. 

 Garlington, in case it should be able to proceed 

 to the station at Fort Conger. Lieut. Gar- 

 lington received his instructions from the head 

 of the Signal-Service Bureau at Washington. 

 They began as follows : 



You are aware of the necessity of reaching Lieut. 

 A. W. Greely and party with the expedition of this 

 year. This necessity^ can not be overestimated, as 

 Lieut. Greely' s supplies will be exhausted during the 

 coming fall, and unless the relief -ship can reach 

 him he will be forced, with his party, to retreat 

 southward by land before winter sets in. Such a 

 retreat will involve hardship and the probable aban- 

 donment of much valuable public property, with tlie 

 possible loss of important records and life. For these 

 and other reasons, which will occur to you, no effort 

 must be spared to push the vessel through to Lady 

 Franklin bay. 



