In 1871 Nordenskjöld again set out for Spitzbergen. His object was to reach the Pole by reindeer-sledging. Sailing in the ship _Polhem_ commanded by Lieutenant Palander of the Swedish Navy, and accompanied by two convoys, the _Gladen_ and _Onkle Adam_, they reached Mussel Bay, and there established winter quarters. In an attempt to return, the convoys were beset in a violent storm. Unable to extricate themselves and not being provisioned for winter the crews, numbering forty-three men, were suddenly forced upon Nordenskjöld’s party for fuel and supplies. To distribute food intended for twenty-four persons among a party of sixty-seven was a serious problem, and was only accomplished by reducing the rations of all one-third. Hardly had this blow fallen upon the prospects of the expedition, when they were visited by four men with the overwhelming news that six walrus-vessels had been frozen in at Point Grey and Cape Welcome. By hunting it was hoped that the fifty-eight unfortunate men would manage to avoid starvation until the first of December, after that their only salvation rested with the generosity of Nordenskjöld. The only relief to the appalling situation was in the fact that a Swedish colony had that year worked a phosphatic deposit at Cape Thorsden, Ice Fiord, and the manager after abandoning the work had returned to Norway, leaving behind him a considerable amount of stores. Cape Thorsden was distant two hundred miles, but seventeen of the walrus-hunters determined to undertake it. These men succeeded in reaching the depot, where an ample supply of all the necessaries of life awaited them—including a house, fuel, preserved and dried vegetables, and fresh potatoes. Huddling in one room, living on salt-beef and pork, rather than go to the exertion of availing themselves of the ample diet at hand—these men were attacked by scurvy and not one survived the rigours of the winter. At Mussel Bay the food conditions were deplorable, but were eked out by the utilization of reindeer moss mixed with rye flour, which produced a very bitter bread. This sacrifice of the food of the reindeer greatly crippled Nordenskjöld’s cherished plans for his spring journeys, and to add to his disappointments, the reindeer themselves were carelessly allowed to escape by the Lapps during a violent snow-storm. A fortunate opening of the ice early in November allowed two vessels to escape, and these vessels took the crews of the four others. The Arctic night was passed by the expedition in making scientific observations, dredging under the ice, and in mental and physical exercise. In spite of every precaution against the dreaded foe, scurvy broke out among the men, but was overcome under a strict diet régime.