TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 135 



which arrested all hopes of advancing further north, and, what was a greater dis- 

 appointment, not a glimpse of land coidd be discerned northward. Struggling 

 amongst the formidable floe-bergs, a station was gained on the coast in lat. 82° 27 , 

 and under the protection of heavy grounded ice, the ' Alert ' was secured for the 

 winter. Thus was the British flag the first time carried into the circumpolar sea, 

 so aptly termed the Palteocrystic Sea. The ship had been navigated with a skill 

 and courage never surpassed, and advantage taken of every piece of open water 

 to the limit where navigation ceases. A winter followed, in which the sun disap- 

 peared for 142 days, and a minimum temperature of 73 0, 7 below zero was 

 registered. 



In the spring of 1876 the sledge parties set forth on discovery and research — 

 those from the ' Alert ' taking up the exploration of the coast to the north and 

 westward, and the great attempt towards the Pole over the Palseocrystic ice; to 

 the 'Discovery' was confided the exploration of Greenland to the north and east- 

 ward. Commander Markliam, after contending against obstacles in the way of 

 hummocky ice never encountered before, against which progress was impractic- 

 able, gained the latitude of 83° 20' N. ; to him remains the honour of leaving the 

 British flag in the most northern point ever attained by man. Lieutenant Pelham 

 Aldrich succeeded in making 220 miles to the westward of the ' Alert's ' winter 

 quarters. The coast culminated to the north at Cape Columbia in lat. 83° 7', long. 

 70° 31' W. ; the limit of his well-conducted journey terminated at lat. 82° 18' N., 

 and long. 85° 33' W. 



Lieutenant Beaumont's party crossed ths Robeson Channel to the late winter 

 quarters of the ' Polaris ' ; the examination of Petermann Fiord was completed, 

 and the continuation of the Greenland coast was extended to lat. 82° 54' N., long. 

 48° 33' W., to which the name of Cape Britannia was applied. 



Thus the geographical results of this voyage are about 400 miles on the coast of 

 this circumpolar sea, which has been discovered and accurately laid down, with all 

 the physical features and productions of the country described. Besides these 

 leading parties, others were employed in surveying many detailed parts of the 

 shores and inlets of the Robeson Channel. I would observe that all hopes of gain- 

 ing access to the Pole ended when the Palseocrystic sea was entered, and no land visible 

 to the north. The two essential conditions were wanting for success, viz., a coast- 

 line trending north and ice suitable for sledge travelling, neither of which existed. 



Many valuable scientific observations have been made, and from which much 

 benefit will be gained to science ; these are in course of publication. 



As an Arctic voyager, I may be permitted to express my unqualified approval of 

 the conduct of Captain Nares in his wise decision to return home ; in fact, nothing 

 could have been gained by remaining out another season, and the able seamanship 

 displayed in effecting the escape from such a perilous position is admirable; 

 for, remember, that in the three previous expeditions into this dangerous 

 channel Kane and Hall met with disaster, and Hayes can hardly be said to have 

 penetrated Smith's Sound in his schooner. 



Before quitting these glacial regions, I would venture to give my opinion with 

 reference to future exploration. I never was sanguine as to the success generally 

 expected by the advocates of the Smith Sound route. By the valuable information 

 brought home by Nares as to the physical conditions of the Palaeocrystic ice, which 

 I believe to occupy all the circumpolar area within the eighty-third parallel, all 

 ideas of reaching the Pole from that direction, or anywhere north of the Parry 

 group, may be discarded ; and I thing this formidable "ice will arrest the voyager 

 sooner or later in navigating towards the Pole. But, instead of nations racing 

 for the Pole, let us accomplish what is practicable. To complete the coast-line of 

 North Greenland would be interesting to all geographers (that is, to connect the 

 coast between Beaumont's furthest and Koklewey's north limit of discovery at Cape 

 Bismarck), and might be accomplished from a Winter station on the east coast. A 

 scientific survey of Franz-Josef Land would be of great service to the interests of 

 science. Payer observed a navigable sea from his extreme north position at Cape 

 Fligeley, between him and Oscar Land ; research in that direction appears to hold 

 outa hope of success in finding more land in that region. The Swedes are pre- 

 paring an expedition to make a passage from Novaia Zemblia along the Siberian 



