Crew of the ship 'Pandora' recovering mail, left by the British Arctic Expedition of 1875, from the cairn on top of Carey Island. In this way, the 'Pandora' acted as postal carrier between the expedition and the Admiralty of Great Britain. In the summer of 1875 the British Admiralty sent Captain George Nares with the ships, HMS 'Alert' and HMS 'Discovery', as the 'British Arctic Expedition', 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.