258 
TIIEIR ORDERS. 
as I hope by the remnants of the great cache of last 
fall, they will survey and attempt to scale the ice, to 
look into the interior of the great mcr de glace. 
“ My notion is, that the drift to the southward both 
of berg and floe, not being reinforced from the glacier, 
may leave an interval of smooth frozen ice; hut, if this 
route should fail, there ought still to be a chance by 
sheering to the southward and westward and looking 
out for openings among the hummocks. 
“I am intensely anxious that this party should suc¬ 
ceed : it is my last throw. They have all my views, 
and I believe they will carry them out unless overruled 
by a higher Power. 
“Their orders are, to carry the sledge forward as far 
as the base of the Great Glacier, and fill up their pro¬ 
visions from the cache of my own party of last May. 
Hans will then join them with the dogs; and, while 
McGary and three men attempt to scale and survey 
the glacier, Morton and Hans will push to the north 
across the bay with the dog-sledge, and advance along 
the more distant coast. Both divisions are provided 
with clampers, to steady them and their sledges on the 
irregular ice-surfaces; but I am not without apprehen¬ 
sions that, with all their efforts, the glacier cannot be 
surmounted. 
“In this event, the main reliance must be on Mr. 
Morton: he takes with him a sextant, artificial horizon, 
and pocket chronometer, and has intelligence, courage, 
and the spirit of endurance, in full measure. He is 
withal a long-tried and trustworthy follower. 
