APPENDIX NO. IT. 
303 
ice was forming with such rapidity that it became evident that we 
must soon be frozen in. At this juncture my officers addressed to me 
written opinions in favor of a return to a more southern harbor; but, 
as such a step would have cost us our dearly-purchased progress and 
removed us from the field of our intended observations, I could not 
accede to their views. I determined, therefore, to start on foot with 
a party of observation, to seek a spot which might be eligible as a 
starting-point for our future travel, and, if such a one were found, to 
enter at once upon the fall duties of search. 
This step determined on, the command of the brig was committed 
to Mr. Ohlsen, and I started on the 29th of August with a detachment, 
carrying a whale-boat and sledge. The ice soon checked the passage 
of our boat; but I left her, and proceeded with a small sledge along 
the ledge of ice which, under the name of “ ice-foot,” I have before 
described as clinging to the shore. 
We were obliged, of course, to follow all the indentations of the 
coast, and our way was often completely obstructed by the discharge 
of rocks from the adjacent cliffs. In crossing a glacier we came near 
losing our party, and were finally compelled to abandon the sledge and 
continue our journey on foot. We succeeded, however, in completing 
our work, and reached a projecting cape, from which, at an elevation 
of eleven hundred feet, I commanded a prospect of the ice to the north 
and west as high as latitude S0° N. A black ridge running nearly due 
n6rth, which we found afterward to be a glacier, terminated our view 
along the Greenland coast to the eastward. Numerous icebergs were 
crowded in nmsses throughout the axis of the channel; and, as far as 
our vision extended, the entire surface was a frozen sea. The island 
named Louis Napoleon on the charts of Captain Inglefield does not 
exist. The resemblance of ice to land will readily explain the mis¬ 
apprehension. 
The result of this journey, although not cheering, confirmed me in 
my intention of wintering in the actual position of the brig; and I pro¬ 
ceeded, immediately on our return, to organize parties for the fall, with 
a view to the establishment of provision-depfits to facilitate the further 
researches of the spring. In selecting sites for these and the attendant 
travel, our parties passed over more than eight hundred miles. The 
coast of Greenland was traced one hundred and twenty-five miles to 
the north and cast, and three caches were established at favorable 
points. The largest of these (No. III. of chart) contained eight hun¬ 
dred pounds of pemmican; it was located upon an island in latitude 
79° 12' 6" N., longitude 65° 25' W., by Messrs. McGary and Bonsall. 
