Peary Land, the northernmost part of Greenland, was until recently among the least known regions of the globe. The coasts are barred by a broad belt of virtually impenetrable pack ice, and the only means of reaching the area in, former times was by dog sledge. The development of air transport in recent years has, however, made possible a more thorough investigation of this remote land.

The Royal Air Force Flying College at Manby in Lincolnshire, England, was established in 1949. During a training course lasting one year, experienced pilots and navigators study all aspects of the operation of an aircraft as a weapon of war. Such an all-embracing syllabus calls for a knowledge of air operations, backed by practical experience, in all parts of the world. Those taking part are introduced to some of the problems peculiar to cold-weather operation in high latitudes by a number of summer air exercises in the arctic regions, and by liaison flights in the winter months to Alaska and Canada.

Upon the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 there were three coal mines in full production in Svalbard: the Norwegian Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap at Longyearbyen, and two Russian Arktikugol mines, at Barentsburg and Grumantbyen. In addition the Russians had begun to develop Pyramiden, an old Swedish claim sold to the Russian company Russky-Grumant in 1926 and taken over by Arktikugol when that company was founded in 1931: Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani A/S was investigating and repairing the old Swedish mine at Sveagruva bought from Svenska Stenkols Aktiebolaget in 1934: and another Norwegian company, Norske Kulfelter A/S, was engaged in trial workings at Moskushamn on the east side of Adventfjorden. In all, the population of Svalbard numbered some 2500 miners, and a small number of wireless operators, meteorological observers, and trappers.W. Marlow was Sysselmann.

The narratives of the explorers who have visited the north-west coast of King William Island, and some of the maps, do not agree concerning the position of Victory Point, where, in the opinion of most writers, Captain F. R. M. Crozier, R.N., landed and left a record in April 1848 after abandoning H.M. ships Erebus and Terror. Since a complete survey of the locality is only a question of time, it may be useful to put on record the present knowledge of the subject.

During the last two decades the sledging ration used by British antarctic expedition has gradually been standardized and recent minor variations have had little effect on total calorie value. It may therefore be useful to record both the ration and the rationing system adopted by members of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey at Stonington Island, Graham Land, during the sledging seasons of 1948–50. The ration was in a direct line of descent from that used by the British Graham Land Expedition in 1934–37, and has been evolved for the use of dbg-sledge parties travelling long distances without air support or mechanical vehicles. It provides a balanced diet which has been found to keep a man in good health, as judged by body weight and ability to maintain continuous physical effort for long periods. It may be consumed at varying rates, but the party at Stonington Island always used it at the rate recorded below—27½ oz. per day. Although theration was satisfactory a general feeling of hunger made it necessary to maintain a personal mental discipline in eating neither more nor less than the allotted quantities of each item each day.

One of the main problems faced by the settlements in Spitsbergen during seven months of winter isolation is that of storing food. During the last thirty years much experiencehas been gained, and food standards have steadily improved. At one time the population had to subsist on salted, tinned and dried food for much of the winter, but fresh meat, fish, vegetables and even fruit are now available throughout the year. Although vegetables become withered by the end of the winter, they meet ordinary household requirements. The vitamin content is presumably retained, as no sign of scurvy has been reported among the miners for many years.