Correspondence and papers regarding the preparations for the 1875 Arctic expedition, including accounts of the American Polaris expedition from the 'Hawaiian Gazette'; W. Deboos' diameter theory of navigation; W.B. Carpenter's paper on the 'temperature of the Atlantic'; and A. Taylor's paper on tides and waves. The papers also include hypotheses on Syrian chronology, the exodus of the Israelites and the position of Mount Sinai (Gebel Musa) by J.W. Bosanquet; a paper on the discovery of Mount Sinai by C.T. Beke; and two photographs, one of a monolith and altar of Asshur-Izir-Bal, c. 1873, and the other of an Assyrian tablet. The correspondents include W.H.M. Christie, H. James, G.G. Stokes, H.C. Bowlinson and members of the Arctic expedition.