A course across the fiord towards Cape May was taken, and the weather was delightful. Sixteen miles were covered in eight hours. Next day the snow was soft and deep, like that experienced by Beaumont, and it was found necessary to advance with half-load and then return for the other. Lockwood now gave up the idea of visiting Cape May, and directed his course towards Cape Britannia. After this hard work Lockwood and Brainard could not sleep well, but the Eskimo invariably snored two minutes after composing himself to rest. On the 2nd May they came to a crack in the ice, and had to follow it several hundred yards before they could cross it. Thinking this would be a good chance to get a deep-sea sounding, Lockwood ran out all the line he had, but did not reach bottom. He then attached coils of seal-thongs, then some rope, and finally the dog-whip, but still did not reach bottom at 820 feet. After hesitating whether he would also use the dog-traces, they began to pull up the line, and had drawn out the whip, when the rope broke, and everything below was lost. All further attempts at sounding were thus prevented. Cape Britannia was reached on 4th May. This was the _Ultima Thule_ of Beaumont’s hopes, and quite as far as Greely expected Lockwood to reach. A cairn was built, and in it was deposited a record, five days’ rations, three days’ dog-food, the extra sledge-runner, shelter-tent, little lamp, and the snow-shoes. Lockwood and Brainard ascended to the top of the cape, 1950 feet high, where a cairn was built and a record deposited. The latitude was found to be 82° 44′. Rounding Cape Frederick next day, they camped opposite Nordenskjöld Inlet. A tidal-crack was here again met with. On the 6th May, Mascart Inlet was reached, after a ten hours’ march which exhausted both men and dogs. Numerous signs of animal-life were seen here; a hare was captured, and traces of foxes, lemmings, bears, and musk-oxen were observed. On the 7th May, Low Point was reached. The latitude of this place is the same as Cape Columbia, the most northern point of Grinnell Land. On the 10th May, De Long Fiord was crossed, and cairns constructed on the northern and southern points. The party camped on Mary Murray Island, in latitude 83° 19′, and were here delayed 63½ hours by a violent gale. A lemming was captured by the dogs at this camp. Lockwood Island was reached on the 13th of May, and England’s record was at last broken. The honours of the farthest north had been held by England for three centuries. The highest latitude reached by Lockwood was 83° 24′, against Markham’s 83° 20′ 26″.