THE LOSS OF THE PROTEUS. 373 
waters is practicable some years until late in the season. An expedition going 
up this fall might find the ice fully as open as did the one which has just return- 
ed, without apparently having left supplies at the vital point of Littleton Island. 
" Lieut. Greely, himself, after reaching his permanent station at Lady Frank- 
lin Bay, made out an elaborate plan under date of August 19, 1881, and this was 
delivered to Gen. Hazen on the return of the vessel which took the expedition 
out. No deviation has been made in the attempts to carry out his plans, but 
they have miscarried. Lieut. Greely's plans involved the establishment of caches 
and supply depots at frequent intervals along the west coast of Smith's Sound, 
on Grinnell Land, along the route over which he is probably now making a labor- 
ious retreat, but the Sound has been found impassable by reason of ice, both last 
year and this, and instead of having deposited supplies, the 1882 relief expedi- 
tion got no farther north than Cape Sabine, and was unable to leave but a small 
quantity of supplies. The expedition this year appears not to have got much 
above Littleton Island, and not to have deposited enough supplies there to be of 
any importance. The expedition last year did everything that could possibly 
have been expected of it, unless possibly, in not having landed enough stores at 
Littleton Island, although they might have been ransacked by the natives if they 
had done so. Supplemental orders to this year's relief expedition required the 
landing of supplies before going north from Littleton Island, and even after the 
Proteus was caught in the ice there must have been an opportunity to save some 
of the stores. Lieut. Garlington is a thoroughly reliable man, and must have 
fully appreciated the importance of leaving the Littleton Island station thoroughly 
provisioned. It is not my province to criticise any officer, and even if criticism 
were just it is not necessary to discuss the reasons why the two relief expeditions 
failed to reach Lady Franklin Bay. The fact remains that Lieut. Greelv and 
party are in a very precarious condition, and that, it seems to me, an attempt to 
relieve them should be made as early as possible." 
Dr. Emil Bessels, of Washington City, who was chief of the scientific staff of 
the Arctic exploring steamer Polaris in 187 1-3, and who has also had extended 
Arctic experience on the coasts of east Greenland and Navaya Zemaly, says : I 
was afraid there might be difficulty in communicating with Lady Franklin Bay 
stations, and bringing the party away at the conclusion of their work. It isn't 
every year that a vessel can sail up Smith's Sound and Kennedy Channel as the 
Polaris did with Greely's party on board in 188 1. I have a letter from Com- 
mander Markham, of the British Arctic expedition of 1875, written a year and a 
half ago or more, in which he, too, expresses fear that the United States Gov- 
ernment will have trouble in relieving and bringing home this party. It has been 
suggested that a vessel might still reach the Danish settlement of Upernavik this 
fall and a sledge party might be dispatched northward from there up the Green- 
land coast to meet Lieut. Greely at the mouth of Smith's Sound, but this would 
not be practical. Greenland coast north of Upernavik and around Melville Bay 
is intersected by extensive glaciers which it is practically impossible to cross. If 
VII-24 
