82 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 
had received $30,000 from the ‘general public, and as soon as hi 
received $30,000 more he would start. 
The boat he would make the trip in would be what is called 
a three-masted tonsail schooner, requiring a crew of only fifteen 
men, which, he added, would be composed of Canadians. The 
vessel was to have two boilers, steel lower beams to resist the 
pressure of the ice, and a large number of bulkheads, which 
made her practically unsinkable. 
He intended to start from Vancouver or Victoria, coast 
Vancouver Island, and stop at Port Clarence, where he ex- 
pected to get news of the north from the whalers. Proceeding, 
he would pass through the Behring strait, and on north to 
where the ice drift begins. It has been ascertained that the 
ice in that particular region drifts bodily towards the pole and 
out by the Atlantic. Captain Bernier pronoses to take advant- 
age of this, fasten his ship in the ice, and leave the rest to na- 
ture. When he is within about 150 miles of the pole, which 
can be ascertained by sights and reckoning, he proposes to 
travel the rest of the distance by sled. 
It will take about two years for the drift of the ice to bring 
him within such a distance from the pole. 
He will be well prepared for the final dash, being equipped 
with aluminum rods filled with compressed food. Each day an 
officer with a detachment of men will travel towards the pole 
and stick these rods in the ice at equal distances from each other 
and then return. ‘This will be continued for a while, after 
which the final rush will be made, the explorers being guided 
by the line of rods and encouraged by knowing that food is 
ahead, although it is compréssed in aluminum rods. 
When possible he proposes to travel over the ice on a mo- 
tor sleigh, which is composed of a common sleigh with a re- 
volving roller. He also described the other requisites neces- 
sary for an exploration of this kind, and at the close of his lec- 
ture was presented with the following resolution from the so- 
cietv. proposed by J. A.-Culham and seconded by Rev. F. E. 
Howitt: 
“Resolved, that from a physiographical, geological and 
