Museum catalogue: Polar Art Collection

The Last Mile, 14 June 1876


Accession no.:	Y: 54/13/11
Title:	The Last Mile, 14 June 1876
Description:	One of set of 49 watercolours, 1 pencil sketch, 7 pen drawings, all the work of Staff Surgeon Edward Lawton Moss, R.N. of H.M.S. Alert during the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-76.
Medium:	Watercolour
Artist:	Moss, Edward Lawton
Note:	Text, hand-written on reverse of paper: '14th June 1876, Captain Markham's party returning to the ship. Out of 16, 4 still pull on their belts'. On front, bottom left corner: 'Preserved meat tin, lime juice jar'. 'On June 14th, the northern detachment, with the relief sledges sent to its assistance, returned to the ship from its ten weeks' march over the polar floes. The detachment had started northward seventeen strong, but only four remained able to pull in the drag-belts, and of these one was the officer in command. Frost-peeled and sun-burnt, with stiffened knees, and faces and clothes stained with stearine smoke, these four led the way alongside the ship, flying the Union Jack they had carried a month's hard march beyond every predecessor' - Extract from 'Shores of the Polar Sea'. Published as a chromolithograph print in 1878 by Marcus Ward, London.
Dimensions:	Image: Width: 355mm; height: 252mm Mount: Width: 555mm; height: 410mm