The site for a house was soon chosen, and the unloading of the vessel was proceeded with. The station was named “Conger,” after Senator Conger, who had interested himself specially in behalf of the expedition. In addition to the general supplies, 130 tons of coal were landed. Greely records that, on the 25th August, Lieutenant Kislingbury, the second in command, spent the day on the _Proteus_, and next day, dissatisfied with the expeditionary regulations, requested that he be relieved from duty with the expedition. His request was granted, and he was ordered to report himself to the Chief Signal Officer on his return to the States. However, just as Lieutenant Kislingbury was leaving the station, the _Proteus_ got under way, and he was obliged to go back to Conger. He did not afterwards return to duty as an officer. Greely gives no explanation of the matter, but Lockwood in his diary states that one of the annoyances complained of by Kislingbury was the rule that officers should rise in the morning with the men. A wooden house was constructed, 60 by 17 feet. Its walls were double, the two coverings of ½-inch boards being separated by an air-space of about a foot. The roof was only a single board thick, but was covered (like the sides) with tar-paper. The house had also a ceiling, and the space between this and the roof afforded an excellent storage-place for articles which would have been injured by exposure. The interior of the house was divided into three rooms, one 17 by 15 feet for the officers, another 8 by 17 feet served partly as the cook’s kitchen and partly as an entry, and the third room was used by the men. The house was conveniently and pleasantly situated within 30 yards of the water’s edge, on a small tableland between two brooks, which for a few months in the year ran into the sea. The coal-mine was 4 miles distant, and could be reached through a valley to the eastward. The house had not been quite finished when field-work commenced. Greely expresses the view that autumn sledging should be carefully planned, attempted with great caution, and never pushed to great distances. He states that in autumn temperatures the travelling-gear of a man once wet, the chances of dangerous frost-bites and disaster increase. On 30th August Dr. Pavy and Sergeant Rice, the photographer of the expedition, were sent north as far as practicable towards Cape Joseph Henry. They were to examine the condition of the English dépôt at Lincoln Bay, and report on the practicability of autumn and spring travelling by sledge along the Grinnell Land coast. They travelled with packs, carrying a dog-tent, blankets, and provisions to last them as far as the English dépôt, where their supplies could be renewed.