THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 
65 
in boats, to the Danish settlements in the south. Mr. Morton, 
however, one of his companions, had proceeded with a sledge as 
far as Cape Constitution, in lat. 80° 35', and he too reported 
the existence of open water, and thus incited to further research. 
The work was taken up by Dr. Hayes, but after a severe struggle 
against the ice that explorer only reached Port Foulke at the 
entrance to Smith Sound (lat. 78° 17'), where he wintered. He 
then proceeded with a dog sledge over the Polar Pack, and 
travelling at a rate of only two miles a day, reached Cape 
Lieber in 81° 27 ' H., and again reported open water to the 
north. Far more successful than either of these expeditions 
was that conducted by Captain Hall, who, between August 23, 
and Sept, 3, 1871, sailed from lat, 73° 20' N. to 82° IF K, 
outside Robeson Channel, without being seriously interfered with 
by ice, but was there stopped by the impenetrable Polar Pack. 
He wintered in Thank God Harbour, in lat. 81° 38' N. The 
subsequent fate of this expedition is well known. Its leader lies 
buried in Arctic soil ; his vessel was beset by the ice, drifted 
helplessly down Smith Sound, and was finally lost ; a portion of 
its crew passed a second winter in Lifeboat Cove, whilst the 
remainder drifted southward on a floe of ice until picked up by 
a passing whaler. 
Such were the antecedents of the Smith Sound route when a 
fresh effort to reach an open Polar Sea by- means of it was 
determined upon. Hall’s unique feat of taking his small 
steamer to a latitude never before attained in any part of the Arctic 
regions in some measure justified the opinion that a steamer of 
greater power, even if less favoured by the season, might repeat 
and even surpass his achievement. 
On a bright afternoon in May, 1 875, the Alert and Discovery , 
the two vessels fitted out for this service, sailed out of Portsmouth 
Harbour, strengthened to battle with the ice, and liberally pro- 
visioned for three years. Having taken on board forty-four 
Greenland dogs, at Godhavn and Ritenbenk, they parted from 
their tender, the Valorous , on July 17, and stood boldly across 
Baffin Bay, passing through the dreaded 4 Middle Pack ’ in the 
unprecedentedly short space of thirty-four hours. On July 28, 
they were already at Port Foulke, with the entrance of Smith 
Sound perfectly clear of ice and none floating past to the south- 
ward, though the wind, at the time, was blowing fresh from the 
north. Lifeboat Cove, the scene of the shipwreck of Hall’s ill- 
fated Polaris was visited, and the two vessels then crossed to 
the western shore of Smith Sound. On July 29, when about 
half-way between capes Isabella and Sabine, the first ice was 
sighted, and thenceforth the advance to the north proved a 
constant struggle. Advantage was taken of every opening in 
NEW SERIES, VOL. I. — NO. I. F 
