CHAPTER XI.

THE _ALERT_ AND _DISCOVERY_. Nares’ Expedition—Wonderful Passage through Baffin’s Bay—Winter 99 Quarters of the _Discovery_—Capital Game-bag—Continued Voyage of the _Alert_—Highest Latitude ever attained by a Ship—“The Sea of Ancient Ice”—Winter Quarters, Employments, and Amusements—The Royal Arctic Theatre—Guy Fawkes’ Day on the Ice—Christmas Festivities—Unparalleled Cold—Spring Sledging—Attempt to Reach the _Discovery_—Illness and Death of Petersen—The Ravages of Scurvy—Tribute to Captain Hall’s Memory—Markham and Parr’s Northern Journey—Highest Latitude ever reached—Sufferings of the Men—Brave Deeds—The Voyage Home