3g GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



ton Island about 9 p. m. From JSTortliuni'berla.nd Island to Cape 

 Alexander the ship was navigated through, a belt of icebergs twenty- 

 four miles broad, so close together, in many instances, that it was 

 diflicult to determine the way until up with them. By 11 p.^ m. a 

 southerly wind, with occasional snow squalls, set in and continued 

 until my arrival at Littleton Island, about 3 a. m. , June 21. Round- 

 ing the island to its north side the ship ran upon another unknown 

 rock, but at low speed, and caroming off she fetched up against the ice- 

 foot of the island. She hung about ten minutes, thumping some, 

 but sustained no injury whatever, the grinding pack ice in driving 

 down having smoothed off the rocks in passing over them. Clearing 

 this danger, the north side of the island was reached and the ship 

 was moored to an iceberg grounded near it. Parties were sent to 

 examine the Nares cairn, the Beebe cache, and Littleton Island for 

 records of Lieutenant Greely, but without success. Before their 

 return the wind had increased so much, with driving snow, that it was 

 impossible to see a hundred feet from the ship, while the opposite 

 shore of Grinnell Land was completely hidden from view. 



While the parties were engaged in searching for the cairns and 

 caches the tide fell and the wind had increased so much that getting 

 off the ice-foot of the island in the swell was difficult and very dan- 

 gerpus. As it was intended to increase the cache of provisions at 

 this place to 1,000 rations, it was necessary to wait for the wind and 

 sea to go down before this could be effected. The search parties re- 

 turned late in the afternoon to the ship and were taken off with some 

 difficulty, tired and worn out by. their tedious travelling over rocks 

 and snow and through steep valleys. 



Again, it was intended to visit Polaris winter quarters at Lifeboat 

 Cove, the following morning, but the wind and sea, though some- 

 what abated, were still too heavy to allow this to be done. Atten- 

 tion was directed on the following morning, June 23, to landing pro- 

 visions at the Beebe cache, which we succeeded in doing towards 

 noon. Leaving a record on McGary Island for Emory, informing 

 him that the Thetis would wait for him at Payer Harbor, and hav- 

 ing learned nothing of Greely up to this point, it was determined 

 to push on at once to Cape Sabine, but, as the Bear had not come up, 

 I was anxious lest she had met with disaster in working through 

 such ice as the Thetis had encountered coming from Cape York. 

 Again, as it had been concluded that the advance must now be pushed 

 vigorously to Lady Franklin Bay, it did not seem prudent to attempt 

 the dangers of Kane Sea until the Bear had come up. 



To my great relief and delight she arrived about 13.30 p. m., 

 June 32. 



Lieutenant Emory came on board and reported that he had carried 

 out his instructions to search for a passage to the westward of Cape 

 York, on the morning of June 18, but after several hours steaming 



