5g GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



Equipment and Recuiting, and a list of your officers to the Bureau of Navigation ; 

 report also any changes which may take place in either at St. John's. 

 Wishing you a pleasant cruise, I am, 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



W. S. SCHLEY, Commander, U. S. N., 

 Commanding Greely Belief Expedition. 

 Commander George W. Coffin, 



Commanding U. S. S. Alert, 



&reely Belief Expedition. 



He had stowed on tlie spar deck of the Alert the two houses in- 

 tended as winter quarters at Foulke Fiord, where it was intended to 

 maintain a supply of stores upon which to fall back if disaster should 

 overtake the advance ships. Of provisions and clothing he had a 

 full two years' supply. 



The Alert sailed from St. John's May 23, and reached Godhaven 

 June 5, having fallen in with drift and floe ice near the latitude of 

 Cape Farewell. During this passage she had the usual bad weather 

 of the higher latitudes, but was not delayed by the ice until within 

 4 or 5 miles of Godhaven, where it was met too thick to yield to her 

 poor ramming power. 



While at Disco Commander Coffin took on board twenty -five Es- 

 quimaux dogs, purchased by the Inspector in accordance with Lieu- 

 tenant Garlington's order, and engaged for the cruise Nils Jensen, as 

 dog driver. 



While at Godhaven the Alert's crew were exercised at "abandon- 

 ing ship;" on such occasions every person was landed on the ice and 

 her boats hauled out with thirty days' provisions. Practice was also 

 had with torpedoes and ice tools during the necessary delay in this 

 port until June 9, when she got under way for Upernavik. Finding 

 the drift ice from Waigat Straits had closed the land water for a 

 distance of 12 or 15 miles off-shore, the Alert wsis obliged to battle 

 for five hours with it to gain open water. 



From Disco to Upernavik the Alert had much the same weather 

 and experience as the Thetis and Bear. Her way was through dan- 

 gerous leads and past heavy icebergs; the difficulty of the ordinary 

 navigation of this region was increased by fogs and snow storms. 

 Some slight changes in the ice gave her the choice of a route closer 

 to the land beyond Omenak Fiord. She arrived at Upernavik near 

 midnight June 13. 



The Loch Garry was found at Upernavik awaiting the arrival of 

 the Alert, but as she was a simple iron vessel not fitted for navigating 

 in heavy ice Commander Coffin was obliged to delay his departure 

 until the conditions of the ice north were more favorable to the col- 

 lier's safe passage. 



The delay at Upernavik enabled the Alert to fill her bunkers and 

 to take a quantity of coal on her deck as a precaution against disaster 



