his people were driven far up the Sound, and it was not until the ships were on the point of returning home that they were picked up. The above brief account may give some faint idea of the hardships and sufferings endured by the officers and men of the expedition, as well as of their courage and perseverance. At length the icy barrier which had enclosed the _Alert_ for so many long months began to break up; but there appeared not the slightest indication of a passage opening up to the northward by which the desired goal could be reached. Captain Nares felt fully confident that the sea before him had for centuries remained frozen, and would continue for ages more in the same condition. His crew were all, more or less, suffering from scurvy. As much resolution and moral courage is often exhibited in retreating as in advancing. Captain Nares saw that to remain longer in the Polar Sea, in the vain attempt to carry out the object of the expedition, would not only be useless, but would in all probability prove destructive to the lives of his gallant followers. Steam was accordingly got up, and the _Alert_, boring her way through the ice, succeeded in again entering Smith's Sound. Early in August she got within ten miles of the _Discovery_; but for some time being prevented moving farther south by the ice, an officer was despatched overland to direct Captain Stephenson to get ready for sea. Not, however, until the 28th of August could the _Discovery_ force her way out of her ice-bound harbour. It often appeared as if all their efforts to get free would be baffled, but by dint of constant watchfulness for an open channel, by boring and blasting the ice before them, and often running full tilt at the mass which impeded their progress, they forced their onward way, until at length the open sea was gained. The Arctic Circle was recrossed on the 4th of October, exactly fifteen months after it had been crossed on the northward voyage. Happily the _Pandora_, Captain Allan Young, who had gone in search of the expedition, was met with, and returned with the ships. Heavy gales were encountered in the Atlantic, when they were all separated. The _Alert_ reached Valencia harbour, in Ireland, on the 27th of October, and the _Discovery_, Queenstown, on the 29th, soon after which they both returned to Portsmouth. Besides Neil Petersen, three men, George Porter, James Ward, and Charles Paul, seamen, died of scurvy. The scientific results of the expedition are considerable; and the gallant men engaged in it have fully maintained the high reputation of British seamen for courage, perseverance, high discipline, hardihood, and endurance. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. MEMOIR OF COMMODORE JAMES GRAHAM GOODENOUGH. To die in the path of duty, whatever that duty may be, is as honourable as to fall when engaged on the field of battle, or on the deck in fight with an enemy; and for either lot, British officers have ever shown themselves ready.