For the next seven days, when Cape Columbia was reached, Aldrich’s sledge being fully laden, the daily advance was extremely slow, as usual in similar journeys, and the soft snow entailed very severe labour. On the 30th April, Aldrich wrote: “The Sergeant-Major has just shown me a very ugly-looking red patch or blotch just above the ankle; the limb is slightly swollen.” This was a sign of scurvy, which was not suspected for some time afterwards. Cape Aldrich, where a dépôt of provisions was left, was reached on 1st May. Cape Columbia, the most northern point attained, was also reached on 1st May. The latitude was found to be 83° 7′ N. On the 8th of May another dépôt was formed; and on the 10th, Aldrich writes: “The men are nearly all suffering a great deal with their unfortunate legs, which appear to get worse every day. This we all feel to be very disappointing, as it affects the journey, and although stiff limbs were expected, every one thought the stiffness would wear off in time.” Milne Bay was crossed on the 14th, and the camp was pitched in Yelverton Bay on the 15th. On the 18th May, Aldrich decided to return. Provisions were running short, and the condition of his crew was becoming worse. He had then reached longitude 85° 33′ W. On the homeward journey the attack of scurvy gradually became more pronounced, and the fast-increasing weakness of the men rendered the daily distance accomplished so short that the provisions placed in dépôt on the passage out were insufficient to last them, on full allowance, while travelling from one dépôt to another.
On the 5th of June they passed Cape Columbia on their return; and on the 7th the dreaded word “scurvy” was used for the first time. The dépôt at Cape Colan was reached on the 11th. On the 13th, Aldrich writes: “Got on very fairly till eight o’clock, when Good nearly fainted. There appears to be utter inability to get breath, no pain, and no difficulty to speak of in breathing when at rest. The least exertion brings it on.”
On the 20th, when it was becoming evident that they could not reach the ship without assistance, they met a party of three who had been sent to their relief. On the 23rd other two came to their assistance; and on the 25th a party of officers with Captain Nares hurried them to the ship.
The only other sledge-journey of importance was that along the Greenland coast, in charge of Lieutenant Beaumont. Accompanied by Dr. Coppinger and sixteen men dragging two sledges, he started from the Discovery on the 6th of April for Floeberg Beach, intending to make the Alert his base for the exploration. The Alert was reached on the 16th, and after four days’ rest, Beaumont with Rawson, Coppinger, and twenty-one men, dragging four sledges weighted to 218 lb. per man, started for Repulse Harbour, Greenland. Robeson Channel was crossed without much difficulty, but a great mass of hummocks had to be cut through at the entrance to Repulse Harbour. Here the provisions were redistributed on three sledges, a cairn built, and a site selected for the dépôt to be left for the return journey.
They started northward on the 27th April, and as it had been impressed upon Beaumont that it was necessary to keep to the land so as to prevent leaving an impassable barrier in the rear in the event of the ice breaking up, he struggled on along steep snow-slopes where roads had to be cut, rather than take to the comparatively level floes. At Black Horn Cliffs, however, it was found impossible to keep to the land; they therefore took to the ice, but again returned to the land a short distance beyond the cliffs. On the 4th of May a dépôt was formed for the return journey, and Coppinger left on this date. On the 6th of May one of the crew complained of stiffness in the legs, and next day when he was examined by Beaumont the latter suspected scurvy. On the 10th he decided that Lieutenant Rawson, with his party, should take this man back, and on arrival at Repulse Harbour either cross over to the Alert or go on to Polaris Bay.
On the 10th of May, Beaumont ascended Mount Wyatt, 2050 feet, from which he saw that the line of hummocks stretched for 10 or 12 miles in the direction of Mount Hooker, and then turned to the northward, and ran straight for the west end of the distant land. All to the eastward of this boundary was smooth and level, while to the westward lay the Polar pack, with its floes and chains of hummocks.
A dépôt was left at Cape Bryant, and then Beaumont made for Cape Fulford, which is the north extremity of the line of cliffs on the west side of St. George’s Fiord. The road across the mouth of the fiord was very good, and, arrived at Dragon Point, they opened out another wide reach of bays and fiords. Beaumont was anxious to reach Mount Hooker, from which he expected to see not only the islands to the north, but get the best idea of the trend of the mainland; he encountered, however, soft snow which varied from 2 to 4½ feet in depth: they had “literally to climb out of the holes made by each foot in succession.” Why snow-shoes were not used seems beyond comprehension. Beaumont writes: “The shore for which we were making did not seem more than 2 miles off, so I went ahead to see if the travelling was better under the cliffs. I got about a mile and a half ahead of the sledge in three hours, and then gave it up. I was nearly done; so I hailed them to go to lunch, but would rather have missed three meals than gone back all that distance.” The men struggled on, sometimes dragging the sledge on their hands and knees to relieve their aching legs, or hauling her ahead with a long rope and standing pulls.
On the 19th of May, Beaumont writes: “Nobody will ever believe what hard work this becomes on the fourth day; but this may give them some idea of it. When halted for lunch, two of the men crawled for 200 yards on their hands and knees, rather than walk unnecessarily through this awful snow.” This snow was too much for them: on the 22nd May they started on the return journey without having reached Mount Hooker. A record was left in a cairn on the north end of Reef Island. At Dragon Point a chart and another record were left in a cairn, and Beaumont and Alexander Gray set off to ascend the highest mountain in the neighbourhood. The elevation was 3700 feet and the view was magnificent, but Beaumont did not see what he wanted:—“The Mount Hooker Land hid the islands, and the Cape Buttress channel was shut in. Mount Albert I could see was a separate island. Cape Britannia, as far as could be seen, had very high land far back. Stephenson Land was quite hidden behind Mount Hooker Land, which latter towards Cape Buttress extended very far back to the eastward. Cape Buttress overlapped it, but inside and above the cape could be seen either a hummocky floe or a mer de glace; it looked like a floe, but its skyline had a perceptible curve in it—a haze hung over this part. By the look of the land and shore, a passage seemed to connect St. George’s Fiord with St. Andrew’s Bay. St. George’s Fiord could be traced continuing to the south, after making a slight bend to the west. The view inland in that direction stretched away without a break as far as the eye could reach, all much about the same elevation. Mount Punch stood out from most of the other mountains, and Grant’s Land was distinctly visible, the United States’ range being very conspicuous.”
After a short rest, they once more started, making for Cape Fulford. Heavy snowfalls with thick fogs retarded their advance, and on the 28th of May a dépôt was formed with 200 lb. of articles which they could dispense with. With the exception of Beaumont and Gray, all the party were suffering from scurvy, and steadily getting worse. Soon after this, Paul fell down quite powerless, and had to be carried on the sledge; and on the 7th June another man had to be placed beside him. Repulse Harbour was reached on the 10th of June. It was decided to cross over to the Alert, but after travelling about 1 mile over the ice they came to water, and had to return and make their way to Polaris Bay, 40 miles off. Next march Dobing broke down, and Jones felt so bad he did not think he could walk much longer. They toiled painfully through McCormick Pass, and reached Newman Bay. On the 22nd, Craig and Dobing almost dragged themselves along, their breath failing entirely at every 10 yards. On the 23rd it became necessary to carry both Dobing and Craig. The last journey under such terrible conditions may be described in Beaumont’s words: “On the evening of the 24th we started for our last journey with the sledge, as I thought; for finding that Jones and Gray were scarcely able to pull, I had determined to reach the shore at the plain, pitch the tent, and walk over by myself to Polaris Bay to see if there was any one there to help us; if not, come back, and sending Jones and Gray, who could still walk, to the dépôt, remain with the sick and get them on as best I could. But I thank God it did not come to this, for as we were plodding along the now water-sodden floe towards the shore, I saw what turned out to be a dog-sledge and three men, and soon after had the pleasure of shaking hands with Lieutenant Rawson and Dr. Coppinger. Words cannot express the pleasure, relief, and gratitude we all felt at this timely meeting.”
Newman Bay dépôt was reached next day. Hans, who arrived with Rawson and Coppinger, made good use of his skill as a driver. Both Paul and Jenkins were now in a critical condition, so it was decided on the 28th that Dr. Coppinger and Hans, with the two men on the eight-man sledge drawn by the dogs, should start for the Polaris Bay dépôt. Paul, however, gradually grew weaker, and died on the afternoon of the 29th.