GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 29 



Nicholai remains here, and I have paid his and David's wages to the governor of 

 the district. 



I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



E. A. GARLINGTON, 

 Mrst Lieutenant, Second Cavalry, Commanding, 

 Hon. A. Anderson, 



Inspector, North Greenland. 



Althougli the Thetis and Bear were supplied with dogs, it appeared 

 to me that the inspector had only acted in good faith in purchasing 

 these animals from the natives, and under the circumstances I felt 

 obliged to direct Commander Coffin of the Alert to take them for his 

 vessel to avoid controversy. 



Lieutenant Emory left me a list of the Dundee whaling fleet in the 

 waters of Greenland, with the names of those ahead of my ship. His 

 letter gave me a good idea of the ice conditions about the Waigat 

 Straits and in Melville Bay. 



At 9 a. m. , May 24th, the Thetis and Loch Garry sailed f oi- Uper- 

 navik. At the mouth of the harbor a belt of ice extending about 3 

 miles off-shore obstructed the passage of the two ships, obliging the 

 Thetis to ram her way through the ice. Clearing this ice, open water 

 was carried to the vicinity of the North Fiord, some 26 miles south 

 of the Waigat Straits, where both ships came up to a solid ice barrier 

 extending as far as the eye could reach to the north and west. The 

 pressed up, hummocky appearance of this ice enabled us to recognize 

 it as the polar pack of the last season. The Thetis was pushed some 

 fifty yards into this pack to lie during the night. The Loch Garry 

 maintained a position to the southward of its edge for the reason that 

 if a southerly gale should come on, as is so frequent in these high 

 latitudes, her position would have been one of great peril in the 

 pack. 



The following morning. May 25, a fresh breeze sprung up from 

 southwest, with indications of an approaching gale from that direc- 

 tion. It was determined to send the Loch Garry back to Godhaven 

 to await a northeast gale before attempting the passage north, as the 

 ice appeared too formidable to risk her at that time. As soon as the 

 collier had fairly started south, about 1 p. m., the Thetis was pushed 

 into the pack toward Hare Island with the hope that open water 

 might be found under the land. Struggling with heavy floes and ice 

 barriers and following tortuous leads until midnight, it was discov- 

 ered that no refuge remained except escape to the lee of a heavy ice- 

 berg off the north entrance of the Waigat Straits. During a cir- 

 cuitous passage of 36 miles the ship was several times beset by heavy 

 ice but good luck worked to our advantage and the flrst lesson of 

 patience was learned. The ship was flnally secured to an iceberg 

 some 200 feet in height, where she remained in comparative safety 

 during the 26th, though in occasional danger of being crushed, until 



