one by one, the other members of the party gave up and turned back. by the time the expedition reached the edge of the arctic ocean on 11 april, only macmillan, green and two inuit, piugaattoq and ittukusuk, remained. the four dog sleds set off across the treacherous sea ice, avoiding thin patches and expanses of open water, and eventually, on 21 april, the party saw what appeared to be a huge island on the north-western horizon. as macmillan later said, "hills, valleys, snow-capped peaks extending through at least one hundred and twenty degrees of the horizon.”