E-text prepared by ellinora, Christian Boissonnas, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 56424-h.htm or 56424-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/56424/56424-h/56424-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/56424/56424-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/shoresofpolarsea00moss Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8 text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should consult the html version or the original page images noted above. Transcriber's note: Italicized text is surrounded by underline characters, _like this_. ++ indicates a caption added by the transcriber. ([Illustration: Eskimo Boy With Fish.++]) │ SHORES OF THE POLAR SEA A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6 by DR. EDWARD L. MOSS, H.M.S. “ALERT” Illustrated by Sixteen Chromo-Lithographs and numerous Engravings from Drawings made on the spot by the Author [Illustration] London: Marcus Ward & Co., 67 & 68, Chandos Street, Strand and Royal Ulster Works, Belfast 1878 Printed by Marcus Ward & Co., Royal Ulster Works, Belfast. PREFACE. I place these Sketches in the hands of my Publishers, believing that careful chromo-lithographic fac-similes of them will convey a fuller and perhaps more novel idea of Arctic scenery than any rendering in black and white. As Sketches from Nature, they, for obvious reasons, illustrate rather the scenery of our Expedition than its leading events; the latter are the prerogative of the Historian, and do not come within the scope of a Sketch-book, in which the letterpress is subordinate, and intended merely to connect and describe the pictures. Whatever may be the artistic value of the Sketches—and they lay claim to none—they are at least perfectly faithful efforts to represent the face of Nature in a part of the world that very few can ever see for themselves. EDWARD L. MOSS. _2nd February, 1877._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Entering the Arctic Circle—Continuous Daylight—Dispersion of the Squadron—Rendezvous at Godhavn—The Lost Norse Settlements—Embarkation of Eskimo Dogs and their Driver—Ascent of Hills at Disco—The “LYNGEMARKEN”—A Paradise for Botanists—Education at Disco—Parting from the Valorous—Proven—Sanderson’s Hope—The “North Water”—Northern Limit of Human Habitation—Melville Bay—Northumberland and Hakluyt Islands, 9 CHAPTER II.