Henry G. Bryant. 
13 
white man, mere existence seems to be naught but a hopeless 
struggle with the forces of nature. 
Leaving Cape York, we slowly made our way through exten- 
sive fields of loose pack ice, northward past the Crimson Cliffs 
of Sir John Ross and the great Petowik Glacier to the mouth of 
Wostenholm Sound. The expanse of open water usually found 
at this season, beyond Cape York, and which is called the “North 
Water,” we found to be entirely absent this year. A circum- 
stance which argued much for the severity of the winter just 
past. 
Wishing to replenish our supply of fresh meat, two parties 
landed on a small island called Dalrymple Rock, and, in the 
course of three hours, secured some 87 ducks — welcome ad- 
ditions to our larder. 
Since leaving Melville Bay our desire to view the superb 
scenery of the region and the succession of incidents attending 
our visits to Cape York and Dalrymple Rock had kept all of us 
on the alert for hours beyond the usual working day of more 
southern latitudes. Since passing the Arctic circle the distinc- 
tion between night and day had been a purely arbitrary one, 
yet there seemed to be something in the constant daylight and 
pure air of the Arctic which stimulated all and enabled us to get 
along with a scant modicum of sleep. 
Pressing on, we now set our course for the Cary Islands to 
visit the site of the last camp of the Swedish explorers. As 
some of my readers may not be acquainted with the history of 
the Swedish expedition, I venture briefly to relate the incidents 
which led to this last search for records of the unfortunate young 
explorers.^ 
Alfred Bjorling, an accomplished young botanist of Stock- 
holm, was but twenty-one years of age when he undertook the 
leadership of this expedition to the Smith Sound region. Al- 
though so young he had already made his mark as a resolute 
and ambitious traveler. He was the first to ascend the peak of 
2 . Professor A. E. Nordenskiold, in a lecture before the Society of Anthropology and 
Geography, of Stockholm, December 15th, 1893, gave an authentic history of the Bjorling 
expedition, which was printed in the Society’s periodical, Ymer. 
