TIIE THIRD CACHE. 
137 
adrift. He determined to select a flat piece of ice, 
place the sledge upon it, and, by the aid of tent-poles 
and cooking-utensils, paddle to the old and firm fields 
which clung to the bases of the bergs. The party 
waited in anxious expectation until the returning day¬ 
light permitted this attempt; and, after a most ad¬ 
venturous passage, succeeded in reaching the desired 
position. 
My main object in sending them out was the de¬ 
posit of provisions, and I had not deemed it advisable 
to complicate their duties by any organization for a 
survey. They reached their highest latitude on the 
6th of October; and this, as determined by dead 
reckoning, was in latitude 79°50', and longitude /6°20'. 
From this point they sighted and took sextant bear¬ 
ings of land to the north,* having a trend or inclina¬ 
tion west by north and east by south, at an estimated 
distance of thirty miles. They were at this time en¬ 
tangled in the icebergs; and it was from the lofty 
sum mi t of one of these, in the midst of a scene of 
surpassing desolation, that they made their observa¬ 
tions. 
They began the third or final cache, which was the 
main object of the journey, on the 10th of October; 
placing it on a low island at the base of the large 
* I may mention that the results of their observations were not used 
in the cQnstruction of our charts, except their interesting sextant bear¬ 
ings These were both numerous and valuable, but not sustained at 
the time by satisfactory astronomical observations for position. 
