ch. xxxm] The Route by Smith Sound 
301 
more became beset, and drifted out of Smith Sound by 
the current. On October 15th she was again beset, and 
so severely nipped that boats and provisions were got 
out on the ice. Suddenly the ice eased off, but Tyson 
and seventeen others, including several Eskimos, were 
left on the floe. This ice floe continued to drift to the 
south, but the means of building snow shelters were 
found on it, many birds were shot, and the Eskimo, 
Hans Hendrik, killed more seals than the whole party 
could consume. After a long drift down Baffin's Bay, 
the forlorn people were picked up in 53 0 35' N. by the 
Tigress, Captain Bartlett, who took them to St John's, 
Newfoundland, in good health. 
Meanwhile the Polaris was driven to the north again 
by a southerly gale, and ran on shore at Littleton Island 
near the entrance of Smith Sound. Here the fourteen 
remaining men passed a second winter, plentifully supplied 
with fresh provisions by the friendly Arctic Highlanders. 
They built two boats, and began a southern voyage in 
July, 1873, until they were picked up by the English 
whaler Ravenscraig, whence they were transferred a few 
days later to the whaler Arctic (on which Capt. A. H. 
Markham was at the time) and brought to England. All 
the journals were in charge of Dr Bessels, himself an 
accomplished naturalist and good observer, and his results 
were afterwards published. 
This is all that was then known of the route by 
Sir Thomas Smith's Channel. Inglefield announced the 
opening to the Polar Sea, and Hall's river steamer found 
her way through the ice to the further end. But here 
again many were misled, for the chart that was first 
produced made the land on the west side continue to 
trend due north towards the pole. Correct information 
from Dr Bessels, however, prevented Sherard Osborn and 
myself from being deceived by the chart, and our con- 
clusion was that the most valuable Arctic work would be 
to discover and explore the coasts facing the polar ocean. 
On January 23rd, 1865, Sherard Osborn had read his 
able paper advocating the renewal of Arctic research 
before a very crowded meeting of the Geographical 
Society. All the survivors of the old expeditions who 
could possibly come were there, and many other men 
