The official report stated that ‘the floe-bergs, at their maximum sizes, were pressed high up one over the other against the steep shore; the chaos outside was something indescribable, and the travelling the worst that can possibly be imagined, seven days being occupied in moving forward only 20 miles’.

When the 'Alert' finally wintered in the ice at Floe-berg Beach, it became the base for laying depots ready for the attempt to reach the North Pole, and further exploration journeys along the coast. The lines on the image are from original emulsion cracks on the negative.