The winter was spent in making such short expeditions as the weather permitted, and it was while he was away on one of these that the Duke had the misfortune to be caught in a snowstorm, during which two of his fingers were so badly frost-bitten, that they had to be amputated. This was particularly unlucky for him, as the wound had not sufficiently healed by the beginning of March to allow him to take part in the great sledge expedition which was to be the chief feature of the voyage. The command was, accordingly, entrusted to Captain Cagni, who started out on the 13th with general instructions to push as far north as he could. During the early part of his journey he was accompanied by two supporting parties, on whose stock of provisions he and his men were to subsist for as long as possible, in order that his own little store might remain intact until he was well on his way. The first of these parties to leave him was that conducted by Lieutenant Quirini, and it was never heard of again. The Duke sent out search parties in every direction, but not a trace of their missing comrades could they find, and it can only be supposed that they either fell down in a crevasse, or were overtaken by a storm, and frozen to death. In the meanwhile, Cagni and his three companions pushed on northward as rapidly as possible. They found the ice comparatively smooth, and by April 25 they had reached lat. 86° 33´, thus beating Nansen’s record by some thirty miles. Unfortunately their provisions began to give out, and they were compelled to beat a hasty retreat. The outward journey had been a comparatively simple matter, but on their homeward way they were beset by all sorts of unexpected difficulties which brought them to the very verge of starvation. The field of ice over which they were travelling was constantly drifting in a westerly direction, carrying them further and further from the bay which they were trying to reach. Leads were always opening ahead of them, which had to be crossed by some means or other, but, though they had kayacks with them, these had been so damaged as that they were hardly seaworthy, while it was often quite impossible to use them amidst the constantly shifting ice. On several occasions Cagni had to cross a channel on a small piece of floe, taking with him a rope by which his companions, with their impedimenta, were towed across on a larger block, while once a short voyage was made on a large sheet of ice which was propelled by means of the sails of the kayacks. Moreover, their provisions were getting very low, and for the last fortnight of their voyage they were obliged to subsist entirely on their dogs. Of the eighty with which they started out on their journey, only six remained when at last they reached the ship.