The Arctic Expedition has returned unsuccessful. The Alert' pushed forward
to the Polar Sea, and finding it com- pletely filled with ancient ice of 70-150 ft. thickness, sent forward an exploring-party, which pushed its way by incredible labour, in cutting a road through ice-blocks often 50 ft. high for seventy miles, to 83° 20' 26" north latitude, or within 400 miles of the Pole. The explorers were, however, compelled to return, and it is pronounced impossible to reach the Pole,—at all events by this route. We have spoken of the sufferings and conduct of the expedition elsewhere, but must mention here that one reason of its failure was an outbreak of scurvy, which, according to the medical journals, deserves careful investigation. It ought not to have occurred, there being ample supplies on board, including fresh meat. The Expedition lost only four men, and the dis- cipline maintained appears to have been perfect, while the voyage afforded as many instances of individual heroism as any previous one on record. Its main result is to prove that the Pole can be reached by this route, by a toilsome and dangerous march under extreme cold (50° below zero) of four hundred miles, seventy of which have been already crossed.
