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Article: Beer jug from HMS Alert: used by the officers on the scurvy-riddled British Arctic Expedition of 1875-76.
- Article from:
- Geographical
- Article date:
- December 1, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Circle Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WHEN HMS ALERT and HMS Discovery left Portsmouth Harbour on 29 May 1875, about 200,000 people turned up to wave them off. 'Packed multitudes occupied each pier and jetty on both sides of the harbour,' wrote the expedition's captain, George Nares, describing how 'the air rang with the shouts of spectators on shore and on board the steamers'. Excitement levels were high: the ships were bound for the Arctic Ocean and the British public hoped they would be the first vessels to reach the North Pole.
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It had been 30 years since the last British expedition to the Arctic, under John Franklin, which lost every single member of its crew to ...