But his scientific work was unabated: "I have been taking 4-hourly observations in meteorology and temperature of the sea surface [...] have tested salinity with Buchanan's hydrometer; my tow-nets [...] have been going almost constantly". Blencathra sailed for Spitsbergen, but was stopped by ice, so she returned to Tromsø. Here she encountered the research ship Princesse Alice, purpose-built for Prince Albert I of Monaco, a leading oceanographer. Bruce was delighted when the Prince invited him to join Princesse Alice on a hydrographic survey around Spitsbergen. The ship sailed up the west coast of the main island of the Spitsbergen group, and visited Adventfjorden and Smeerenburg in the north. During the latter stages of the voyage Bruce was placed in charge of the voyage's scientific observations. The following year Bruce was invited to join Prince Albert on another oceanographic cruise to Spitsbergen. At Red Bay, latitude 80°N, Bruce ascended the highest peak in the area, which the prince named "Ben Nevis" in his honour. When Princesse Alice ran aground on a submerged rock and appeared stranded, Prince Albert instructed Bruce to begin preparations for a winter camp, in the belief that it might be impossible for the ship to escape. Fortunately she floated free, and was able to return to Tromsø for repairs. Marriage and family life It is uncertain how Bruce was employed after his return from Spitsbergen in late 1899. In his whole life he rarely had settled salaried work, and usually relied on patronage or on influential acquaintances to find him temporary posts. Early in 1901 he evidently felt sufficiently confident of his prospects to get married. His bride was Jessie Mackenzie, who had worked as a nurse in Samuel Bruce's London surgery. Bruce's marriage took place in the United Free Church of Scotland, in Chapelhill within the Parish of Nigg on 20 January 1901, being attended and witnessed by their parents. Perhaps, due to Bruce's secretive nature presenting limited details even among his circle of close friends and colleagues, little information about the wedding has been recorded by his biographers. In 1907 the Bruces settled in a house at South Morton Street in Joppa near the coastal Edinburgh suburb of Portobello, in the first of a series of addresses in that area. They named their house "Antarctica". A son, Eillium Alastair, was born in April 1902, and a daughter, Sheila Mackenzie, was born seven years later. During