The average amount of extra clothing was 10 lb. per man. The clothing worn was generally double suits of underclothing, three pairs of socks, with outer ordinary wool clothing, over which a light duck suit was worn, to keep the snow from adhering to the wool. A few only wore outer clothing of skin. The foot-gear consisted of moccasins, and Greenland, Labrador, and canvas boots.
The party left Dépôt “B” to cross Robeson Channel on the evening of 5th April. The load was equal to 130 lb. to each man, and 100 lb. to each of the dogs. Next day one man suffering from rheumatism was ordered to return to the station; and later another man who had frozen one of his toes was taken back to Cape Beechy by Lockwood. On the 7th the party experienced a violent gale, which confined them to their sleeping-bags forty-five hours.
On reaching Polaris Boat Camp, one of the Hudson Bay sledges had been so injured by the rough ice that it was practically useless. At this camp the wind again became very violent, blew down the tent, and one gust lifted the dog-sledge, with its load of 200 lb., bodily from the ground. The sledge struck one man, knocking him several yards and injuring him severely. Two other men, owing to illness, had to be sent back from this camp.
The party were employed until the 16th April in accumulating at Boat Camp the stores from the other dépôts, and while this was being done Lockwood returned to Conger for an extra set of runners, as he was afraid that the runners of the dog-sledge might break down.
The party started from Boat Camp with 300 rations on 16th April. The eight dogs hauled about 800 lb., and each man hauled about 217 lb. on the second sledge. On the third and fourth sledges the men dragged about 150 lb. each. The constant weights of the dog-sledge were 243 lb., and of the remaining sledges 375 lb.
During the first six days they had to travel over land, and after tremendous exertions the sea-coast was again reached on 22nd April. The party arrived at Cape Bryant on 27th April. On this journey one of Beaumont’s caches was discovered, and the rations found were taken on to Cape Bryant.
At this point the supporting party were sent back, and Lockwood, Brainard, and Christiansen, with rations for twenty-five days, set out on 29th April towards their farthest north. The weight carried amounted to about 783 lb., and consisted of rations 227 lb., dog-pemmican 300 lb., equipments 176 lb., and dog-sledge 80 lb.
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.