Launch Lady Greely" in Discovery Harbor Aug. 1882 / G.W. Rice

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This photograph shows the launching of the *Lady Greely* at Discovery Harbor, on the northern coast of Ellesmere Island, in August 1882. The harbor was a well-known Arctic anchorage, where the British Nares expedition had wintered in 1875 and 1876, and the title ties the scene to Adolphus Greely's American expedition, which was then based in the region for the International Polar Year. Photographs of Arctic launches from this period are rare, since the cold, the bulky glass plates and the remoteness made field work difficult. The image is worth studying for what it reveals about how expeditions readied their boats in harsh, ice-bound conditions.

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