With some difficulty, the _Alert_ succeeded in making her way as far as Floeberg Reach, in lat. 82° 25´ N., long. 62° W., the highest point yet attained by a ship. Here Nares determined to spend the winter, for, though the situation seemed at first sight to be rather exposed, it was well protected by a fringe of heavy floes which were grounded in eight to twelve fathoms of water. No land was to be seen to the northward, and Nares was forced to come to the conclusion that, though he had reached the shores of the Arctic Ocean, it was the very reverse of that open Polar sea which he had hoped to find. On September 16 the ship was effectually frozen in for the winter, and ten days later Captain Markham, Lieutenant Parr, and Lieutenant May set off on a sledging expedition with the object of establishing depots of provisions as far north as they could. They accomplished their work well, but at terrible cost, for seven men and one officer returned to the ship badly frost-bitten, and in three cases amputations were necessary. At the same time Pelham Aldrich went out on an exploring trip in which he succeeded in reaching Parry’s latitude of 82° 48′ N. The winter was fairly fine, but bitterly cold—the coldest, in fact, on record. The _Alert_ experienced a mean temperature for five days and nine hours of 66.29° below zero, while for two separate periods of fifteen days each the mercury remained frozen. In the middle of March Lieutenants Egerton and Rawson attempted to open up communications with the _Discovery_, but the attempt ended with disaster, for Petersen, who accompanied them, was taken ill on the journey, and the whole party had to return. The two officers made the most heroic exertions to bring him back to health, depriving themselves of their own warm clothing and suffering severely in consequence. Their efforts were, however, of no avail, for Petersen was found to be so badly frost-bitten that both his feet had to be amputated, and three months later he died of exhaustion. Setting out again, Rawson and Egerton, accompanied by two sailors, reached the _Discovery_, and found that her crew had passed a comfortable winter, though one man was down with scurvy. As soon as April came round Nares began the serious work of the spring by sending out two great sledge parties, one of which, under Commander Markham, was to push as far north as possible, while the other, under Lieutenant Aldrich, was to explore the northern shores of Grinnell Land.