Engraving showing Western sledging party setting out from HMS 'Alert' to explore the coast of Ellesmere Island, April 1876. Led by Lieutenant Aldrich this party explored 220 miles of the northern shore of Ellesmere Island. In the summer of 1875 the British Admiralty sent Captain George Nares with two ships, HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', to make an attempt to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, a new 'furthest North' record was set, the coasts of Greenland and Ellesmere Island were charted and much scientific data gathered.