On the 12th March the latitude was found to be 64° 32′. On the 27th of this month a bear was shot. This was very much appreciated: the flesh was compared to pork. On the last day of March the latitude was about the same as Cape Farewell—the most southern point of Greenland. On the 1st April it was found necessary to abandon the floe and take to the boat. When all the party entered, the boat was found to be overloaded, and 100 lb. of meat and nearly all the clothing had to be thrown overboard. During the next few days the party were kept continually launching and then hauling up the boat on the ice. On the 7th April the ice split across the tent; the party managed to save themselves, but lost their breakfast. Next day the ice split between the tent and the boat, and it was only with great difficulty that the latter was secured. During the next eight days they were imprisoned on the ice, and the amount of food ran very low. On the 18th April a seal was shot by Joe and was eaten raw. Next day a sea struck the floe on which they were camped and washed away the tent, skins, and most of the bed-clothing. It was with the utmost difficulty that the men prevented the boat from being lost. They held on to the boat from 9 p.m. till 7 next morning. During this time many of them were frequently struck by blocks of ice and severely bruised. On the 22nd April they were saved from starvation by the capture of a bear. At 4.30 p.m. on the 28th April a steamer hove in sight, but failed to see them. Next day another steamer was seen, but after the party believed they were observed, it changed its course and disappeared. On the 30th April, on some fog clearing away, they were overjoyed to see a steamer close at hand. Shots and shouting soon attracted attention, and in a few minutes it was alongside. The vessel was the sealer _Tigress_, Captain Bartlett of Newfoundland. The party were picked up in latitude 53° 35′, off Grady Harbour, Labrador. The return to civilised life and its food and comforts was attended with swollen legs and feet, diarrhœa, and severe headache. The _Tigress_ landed the party at St. John’s on 12th May. The voyage of the _Polaris_ extended considerably our knowledge of the Smith Sound route towards the Pole. It also did much to explode the theory of an open Polar Sea. The _Polaris_ was carried to a more northern point than a vessel had ever before reached, and it prepared the way for the British Expedition of 1875. One might naturally suppose that the Arctic regions would offer no further attractions to those who suffered the terrible experience on the drifting ice, but it will be afterwards seen that at least one of the party played a noble rôle in another American Expedition which met with disaster. [Illustration: KAISER FRANZ JOSEF LAND AS KNOWN IN 1874.] CHAPTER VI THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EXPEDITION (1872−74)