One march from Cape Collinson carried me to Cape Lawrence, on the north side of Rawlings Bay. The crossing of this bay, though more direct than usual, was over extremely rough ice. Learning from Henson’s letter at Cape Lawrence, that I had gained a day on him, and not wanting to overtake him before reaching Conger, I remained here a day, repairing several sledges which had been damaged in the last march. Five men with the worst sledges and poorest dogs returned from here. Three more marches took us to Cape L. von Buch on the north side of Carl Ritter Bay, temperature ranging from –35° to –45° F. Heavy going in many places. Two more marches carried us to the first coast valley north of Cape Defosse. I had now gained two days on the advance party. The character of the channel ice being such that we were able to avoid the terrible ice-foot, which extends from here to Cape Lieber, and my dogs being still in good condition, I made a spurt from here and covered the distance to Conger in one march, arriving about an hour and a half after Henson and his party. I had covered the distance from Payer Harbour to Conger, some 300 miles, in twelve marches. Four days were spent at Conger overhauling sledges and harness, drying and repairing clothing, and scouting the country, as far as The Bellows, in search of musk-oxen. None were seen, but about 100 hare were secured in the four days. Temperature during this time from –40° to –57° F. Seven Eskimos returned from here, taking with them the instruments of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, and other items of Government property abandoned here in 1883. On the morning of the 24th I started north with nine sledges. We camped the first night at “Depot B.” The next march I had counted on making Lincoln Bay, but just before reaching Wrangel Bay a sudden furious gale with blinding drift drove us into camp at the south point of the bay. Here we were storm-bound during the 26th, but got away on the morning of the 27th and pushed on to Cape Union, encountering along this portion of the coast the steep side slopes of hard snow, which are so trying to men and sledges and dogs. Open water, the clouds over which we saw from Wrangel Bay Camp, was about 100 yards beyond our igloo, and extended from there, as I judged, northward beyond Cape Rawson, and reached entirely across the channel to the Greenland coast at Cape Brevoort, as in 1900. Fortunately, with the exercise of utmost care, and with a few narrow escapes, and incessant hard work, we were able to work our sledges along the narrow and dangerous ice-foot to and around Black Cape.