An Arctic Boat-Journey in the Autumn of 1854 Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration Series

After the expedition of Sir John Franklin went missing in the Arctic, a series of search missions were sent out in an attempt to discover its fate. Two of these were funded by, and named after, the American shipping magnate Henry Grinnell (1799?1874), the second of which was launched in 1853. With the brig Advance trapped in ice off the coast of northern Greenland, the expedition's surgeon Isaac Israel Hayes (1832?81) set out in August 1854 with a party of men towards Upernavik. This 1860 publication traces nearly four months spent struggling against horrendous Arctic conditions. Also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection are The Open Polar Sea (1867) and The Land of Desolation (1871), Hayes's account of a more leisurely cruise along the coast of Greenland. Also available is Arctic Explorations (1856), a two-volume account of the second Grinnell expedition by its leader, Elisha Kent Kane (1820?57).

Preface; 1. Introductory; 2. Preparation; 3. The start; 4. Across the ice-fields; 5. Under sail; 6. A gloomy night; 7. Rounding Cape Alexander; 8. The fleet at sea; 9. Northumberland Island; 10. At sea in a snow-storm; 11. Across Whale Sound; 12. Among the Esquimaux; 13. Hopes checked; 14. Building a hut; 15. Hut-building continued; 16. The hut discovered by Esquimaux; 17. A two weeks' famine; 18. Schemes for moving southward; 19. Plans for obtaining supplies; 20. Petersen; 21. Intercourse with the Esquimaux; 22. Failure of our plans; 23. Petersen's adventures among the Esquimaux; 24. Supplies obtained when least expected; 25. Good cheer; 26. Further plans; 27. Preparations for abandoning the hut; 28. Darkness ahead!; 29. Plots and counter-plots; 30. Moving northward; 31. Over the frozen sea; 32. Rounding Cape Alexander again; 33. Reaching the brig; 34. Concluding remarks; Appendices.