The Great Frozen Sea: A Personal Narrative of the Voyage of the "Alert"

The History of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-76, and the record of its results, will be found in the work of Sir George Nares. My object in publishing the present volume is to furnish a popular narrative of memorable events as they presented themselves to an individual member of the Expedition, and especially of the work of sledge travelling over the frozen polar ocean. It was written a few months after our return to England, but its appearance has been purposely deferred until the publication of the work by Sir George Nares. The same reasons still exist for continuing the work of Arctic exploration as were adduced for commencing it in 1875. It is impossible to complete so great a work in one campaign, and the results of the late Expedition ought only to whet our appetites, and stimulate us to undertake further discoveries. The narrative of Sir George Nares will show the completeness of the work accomplished, so far as the route by Smith Sound is concerned, and with the appendices containing the numerous and valuable scientific results, will prove the importance of Arctic discovery. But there are other routes remaining to be explored, which will yield equally useful results. Behring Strait is a portal leading to a vast region, the history of which has hitherto been as a sealed book. An expedition to the east coast of Greenland for the purpose of connecting our discoveries at Cape Britannia with those of the Germans at Cape Bismarck, and thus solving the interesting geographical problem regarding the insularity of Greenland, would be of the greatest importance.