20 
Peary Auxiliary Expedition. 
game or of the recent presence of Eskimos were found, ^ and, 
on leaving these desolate shores, we had the sad satisfaction of 
establishing the fact that the young Swedes never succeeded in 
reaching the western mainland. 
The exploration of Jones Sound, with all its possibilities 
of original geographical research, was now before us. Finding 
Glacier Strait icebound we made our course through the pack ice 
south of Coburg Island into the sound. For six hours we steamed 
onward through open water, and hopes ran high of reaching 
new lands beyond Inglefield’s farthest of 1852. 
But after penetrating about forty miles the formidable un- 
broken ice of the previous winter rose up ahead, presenting 
an impassable barrier across the sound. It was a keen disap- 
pointment to be turned back thus on the threshold of the un- 
known; but, with no prospect of changed conditions, and with 
definite responsibilities ahead of us, protracted delay in these in- 
land waters seemed unwarranted. 
At noon on August loth,' observations showed our position to 
be: Lat. 76° 14' 53" N., Long. 81° 52' 36" W. Earlier in the 
day we had reached a point ten or fifteen miles west of this, where 
the solid floes extended across the sound. Holding our course to 
the northeast along the edge of the ice, we passed Cone Island at 
4 P. M. This conspicuous landmark is apparently composed of 
red sandstone and rises in pyramidal outline directly from the 
ice-flecked waters of the sound.^ 
Wishing to again set foot on this land, which had promised such 
great rewards to our efforts, we steamed past Smith Island and 
headed our vessel towards a small bay on the adjacent north 
shore of the sound. After scrambling over the broken ice for 
two hours, we reached a smooth beach at the mouth of a small 
glacial valley. Rambling among the rocks where beds of scarlet 
4 . A few ancient Eskimo graves were found at Cape Faraday. 
5. On August 17th, 1851, Lieutenant Sherrard Osborne in the “Pioneer” 
reached about the some position in Jones Sound and found like conditions 
prevailing, as he writes: “From a little beyond a conical shaped island on 
the north shore the sound was still barred with floes.” Two of his officers 
landed on Cone Island and reported finding “numerous Esquimaux traces, 
though of very ancient date.” (Stray leaves from an Arctic Journal, New 
York, 1852, p. 187.) \ 
