The object of the British North-Polar Expedition 1977–79 was for Allan Gill and myself to make the first circumnavigation of Greenland by dog sledge and umiak, beginning and ending at Thule in north-west Greenland (Fig 1). This 13 000 km journey estimated to take 16 months, was, I felt, one of the most interesting routes that a polar traveller could take; around the Greenland coast there is a greater variety of climate, scenery and physical obstacles than is likely to be encountered along a coastline of comparable length anywhere else in the world. I was convinced that as a literary and filming project this was an expedition that would justify not only the financial outlay, but also the good faith of all of those who had supported the project against the criticism that no polar journey is worthwhile unless it has a well conducted and acceptable scientific programme.