Americans— Point Barrow, North America, under Lieutenant Ray, U. S. A. Lady Franklin Bay, 81° 44´ N., under Lieutenant A. W. Greely, U. S. A. English— Great Slave Lake, Dominion of Canada, under Lieutenant Dawson. German— Cumberland Bay—west side of Davis Strait, under Dr. Giese. Danes— Godthaab, Greenland, under A. Paulsen. Austrian— Jan Mayen, North Atlantic, 71° N., under Lieutenant Wohlgemuth, A. H. Navy. [Sidenote: _FAILURE OF DUTCH EXPEDITION_] As to the unsuccessful Dutch expedition, the Varna sailed from Amsterdam July 5, 1882, bound for Dickson Harbor, but was beset in the Kara Sea in September; she was crushed in December, 1882, when the crew took refuge on board Lieutenant Hovgaard’s vessel, the _Dymphna_, which had also been forced to winter in the pack. Nevertheless, Dr. Snellen did his utmost to procure regular observations from their besetment until the following August, when they started by boat and sledge for the coast of Nova Zembla. By August 25, they reached the south point of Waigat Island, where they met the _Nordenskjöld_ and were safely landed in Hammerfest, September 1, 1883. The inestimable value of the combined and systematic record of the scientific observations secured by the International Circumpolar Stations is a matter of public record. The success was complete, and all but the American nation might well be proud of the management and protection offered to the fearless men detailed to the splendid work. The unparalleled disaster which overtook the Lady Franklin Bay expedition under Lieutenant Greely and his brave companions, through no fault of their own, but by a series of mismanaged accidents for which there was neither excuse nor condonation, leaves a blot upon the American records which the centuries cannot obliterate. “If the simple and necessary precaution had been taken,” writes Markham, brother of the famous explorer, “of stationing a depot-ship in a good harbour at the entrance of Smith Sound, in annual communication with Greely on one side and with America on the other, there would have been no disaster”; and he continues, “If precautions proved to be necessary by experience are taken, there is no undue risk or danger in polar enterprises. There is no question as to the value and importance of polar discovery, and as to the principles on which expeditions should be sent out. Their objects are explorations for scientific purposes and the encouragement of maritime enterprise.”