BAFFIN BAY was discovered in I6I6; at the end of June Robert Bylot in command, with William Baffin as pilot, passed across what is now called Melville Bay to discover three great inlets to the north and west, which he named Smith Sound, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound. It marked a very big advance in Arctic knowledge, though this was not fully realized at the time; the discovery was given no prominence, but to-day it is regarded as one of the great Arctic voyages. Two centuries elapsed, and in I817 two whalers, the Larkins of Leith and the Elizabeth of Aberdeen, attempted Baffin's route, were successful, and reached the rich whaling grounds at the mouth of Lancaster Sound. Sir John Ross' voyage which so satisfactorily confirmed Baffin's charting took place in 1818. These were the beginnings of the Melville Bay route to Lancaster Sound and thereafter it became an annual event for whaling ships, and large numbers came this way every year, pro-vided always that it could be done before the end of July. They relied only on sail, and took risks to be first across as early as possible in the season; ships were crushed and lost; and Melville Bay has obtained a reputation on that account of unusual danger and difficulty. The other route to Lancaster Sound is up the Baffin Land coast, but it is hardly likely to be open till the first or second week of August. The Hudson's Bay ship Nascopie for instance goes by this route in September each year to Ponds Inlet and Jones Sound. Melville Bay however has the advantage that it can generally be crossed by ice ships in the middle of July, and on occasion it has been navigated as early as the first week of June.'The expedition which I took last summer had as its object to reach Cape York during the nesting season, which meant crossing early in July, followed by a visit to Ellesmere Land reached if possible before the end of the month. We then hoped to penetrate Lancaster Sound. We had an open programme however, except