Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/339



the 29th July, 1875, the Arctic Expedition,—H.M. Ships 'Alert' and 'Discovery,'—under the command of Captain G.S. Nares, R.N., passed from the north-water of Baffin Bay into the ice of Smith Sound. On the 1st September, 1875, the 'Alert' reached the limit of navigation, in latitude 82° 27' N., on the northern shore of Grinnell Land, the 'Discovery' having previously found winter-quarters in a commodious harbour on the western side of Robeson Channel, in 81° 44' N. lat. In the following year, 1876, sledging expeditions were pushed out due north over the frozen sea, and also along the coast lines east and west, whilst subsidiary sledging expeditions examined various portions of coast line and penetrated, where possible, into the interior. All the officers employed in these expeditions took a lively interest in the zoological results of the voyage, and I am indebted to one and all for their ready assistance. A large extent of country was carefully worked, and I am quite confident that no species of mammal escaped our united observations. In the end of July, 1876, after an imprisonment of eleven months, the 'Alert' broke out of winter-quarters, and again rounding Cape Union joined her consort at Discovery Bay. Together the two vessels made the perilous passage down Smith Sound, and on the 10th September reached the north-water, and comparative safety, of Baffin Bay.