Show ARCTIC explorations THE SECOND GRINNELL expedition IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN 1853 51 55 BY ELISHA KENT KANE M D U S N IN TWO VOLUMES philadelphia CHILDS PETERSON BOSTON PHILLIPS SAMPSON CO there is not a man woman or child in the united scales who reads newspapers that has not heard hedd of dr eane kane and his arctic explorations it Is almost therefore to sute stat that the expedition of which this is a nirra narrative tive set sail on the of may alay 1853 1653 explored the tile coast of greenland s some ome degrees farther north than human footsteps had ever before trodden wintered for two seasons in those ill lil clement inclement regions and le ie turned in hi the hie summer of 1855 all this this is lamphar lami har to the but bat tho the tithe of what this party encountered and suffered red of what they saw gaw and felt and of what they achieved has not been made public until tile the publication of these volumes taking his reader with him on board hoard the advance dr kane carries him along day hy by day showing allowing him jilin what lie saw making him lum experience peri ence in imagination what lie he encountered interesting it te him deeply in his successes and vicissitudes sit udes enlisting his sympathies in behalf of tile the expedition and en chaining his attention to the very very close cf th e volumes volum Qs yet the narrative is lain iain and unpretending pretending im there is no attempt at fula fule writing no exaggeration of style etyle no exuberance of fancy ats its attractiveness is to be attributed to the vividness with rith which it portrays the every day life of the adventurer sand to the extraordinary character of their adventures rather than to any ornaments of style tile the expedition of dr kane was one of 0 the most remarkable achievements in a physical point of view ever attempted by man it illustrated most strikingly the powers of human endur endurance anc of fague and cold the little band of adventurers were not called upon to endure for or for a month merely their physical energies v ere taxed to the very utmost for many months in succession nay during the tiie whole period that they were in la the arctic region gen tailor taylor is said to have remarked in speak ing of the conduct of his troops at the battle of buena visia vista that thata they ley were defeated a half dozen times but they did not know it just BO so with tile the little band of dr kane they were ivere repeatedly vanquished by the elements in the ordinary course of nature every one of them should have laid liis his bones in the tho region of eternal snow enow and iee ice but they conquered nature again and again and returned after having achieved all that it was possible pos for human beings to achieve under like circumstances we take all an interesting episode of arctic aa aa venture from the first volume to show how hov hoy desperate was the contest which dr kane and his fi party arty waged with the elements au an advance party had been sent out to make deposits of pro vision sand stores fd in readiness for all an expedition to the northward as soon as the w eather weather should become Every everything thin thid g looked promising and dr kane and his remaining companions were oni only waiting intelligence that the tiie advance party had Yde deposited posited its provisions in safety to begin their transit ve we continue the naria narla na native tive in tila the language of dr kane boston journal nov 30 we were at work cheerfully sewing away at the skins shins of some moccasins by the blaze of our lamps when towards midnight we heard tile the noise noisie of steps above and tile the next minute sontag Olif Ol lisen ilsen sen and petersen came down into the cabin their manner started me even more than their unexpected appears appearance 1 lice tice ou on board they were swollen and haggard and hardly able to speak their story was a feard fearful ua one they had ilai left their companions in the ice risking their own lives I 1 to to bring lyring us tile the news brooks baker wilson and pierre were all lying frozen and disabled where they could not tell somewhere in among the hummocks lium ilum mocks to the he north and east it was drifting heavily round them when they parted irish tom had stayed by to feed and care for tl tiie tile e others but the chances were sorely against them it was in v lin to question them further furt lier iier they had evidently traveled agrest distance for they were sinking with wi th fatigue and hunger burger and could harda be rallied ral tied lied enough to tell us tho tha direct direction ionin lonin in which thy tiley had llad come there was not a moment tobe tobo to be lost while some were still busy with the new comers and getting ready a hasty meal others were rigging out the tile little willie with willi a buffalo cover a small tent and a package of pemmican and as soon as as wa we could hurry through our arrangements was strapped on in a fur bag his legs wrapped in dog skins and eider elder down and we were off upon tile the ice our party parly consisted of nine men and myself we carried only t lie the clothes dollies on our backs the thermometer stood at 46 seventy eight degrees below tile the freez freezing Dg point we knew that our lost must mutt be somewhere in the area before us within a radius of forty mie mile bir mr ohlsen who had llad been for fifty gifty bohrs without rest fell asleep as soon as we began to move and awoke now with unequivocal sinis signs of mental disturbance it became evident abat eliat lie had lost the bearing of the icebergs which in ill form forin and anil color endlessly bendles ly repeated themselves and the uniformity of the vast geld field of snow banow utterly forbade the hope of local landmarks the file thermometer had find fallen by this time to 49 3 and wind was setting in in sharply from the northwest it was out of the tiie question to halt it required brisk exercise to keep us from freezing I 1 could no teven melt ice for water and at these temperatures any resort to snow for the tile purpose of allai allaS allaying Dg thirst was followed by bloody lips and tongue it burnt like caustic it ai was indispensable that wa move on looking out for traces as we went yet when tile tiie men were ordered to spread themselves so as to multiply the chances though they all obeyed heartily some painful impress of solitary danger or perhaps it may have been the varying con figuration figu rution of the leefield ice lee field hept kept them closing up continually into a single group the strange manner in hi which some of us its were affected I 1 now attribute as much to shattered nerves as to the direct influence of the cold men afen like mcgary and Bori borl bonsall sall who had stood out our severest marches marciles mar clies ciles were seized with trembling fits and ana short breath and in spite of all my efforts to keep up all an example of sound bearing I 1 fainted twice oil on the ther snow we had been nearly eighteen hours bours out without water waler or food when a new hope cheered us 1 think it was hans our Esqui maux hunter who thought lie saw a broad sled sied sledge e track the drift had i early nearly effaced it and w we were some same of us doubtful a ai first whether it was not one of those accidental rifts drifts which the tile gales make in the surface snow but as we traced on the tho deep snow among the hummocks in mm oclis we were fedilo led i to footsteps and following these ith with alth religious care we at last came in sight of or a small smail american flag flog fluttering from a hummock and aud lower down a little masonic banner hanging from a tent pole hardly above the tile drift it was the camp of our disabled comrades we reached it after all an unbroken march of twenty one hours the tile little tent was nearly covered I 1 was bof not among the first to come up but when whan I 1 re reached ached the tent curtain the men meil wele were standing in silent file on each side of it with more kindness and delicacy of feeling than is often supposed to belong to sailors but which is almost characteristic they intimated their wish that 1 I should goja alone As 1 cra crawled ivied in and coming upon the dar dat darkness kness heard beard before me the burstok burst of welcome gladness that came from the tha four poor fellows stretched on their backs and llen ilen lien then for the first time the cheer outside my weakness and my gratitude together almost overcame me they had expect expected od mel me they thay were sure I 1 would come we were now fifteen souls the thermometer seventy five degrees below the freelin freezing gpo point int and our sole accommodation a te tent abar barely ely able abie to con lain eight persons more than half our ouE party were obliged to keep froni from freezing by walking outside while the oters oth rs slept we could not halt long each of us took a turn of two hours sie p and we prepared for our homeward home ward wand march marob we made by vigorous pulls and lifts nearly a mile au an hour and reached tile the new floes before we were absolutely weary Our sledge sustained the t ial admirably Ol ohlsen ilsen restored by hope walked steadily at the leading belt of tiie the sled ge jines and I 1 began to feel certain of reaching our of the day before where we had left our tent but we were still nine miles from it when almost without premonition we all became aware of an alarming failure of our energies I 1 was of course familar with the benumbed and almost lethargic sensation of extreme cold and once when exposed for some hours in the tile midwinter of baffino Baff ins bay I 1 had experienced symptoms symptom toms which I 1 compared to the diffused paralysis of tho tile electro galvanic shock but I 1 had treated the sleepy comfort of freezing as something like the embellishments of romance iliad eviden evident evid enc ct now nov to the contrary bonsall and morion morlon two of our stoutest men came to me begging permission to sleep they were not cold the wind did not enter them now a little sleep was all they wanted presently hans flails was waa found nearly stiff under a drift and thomas bolt upright had bad his eyes closed and could hardly articulate at last john blaha blaka threw himself on the tile snow and refused to rise ise lse they did not complain of feeling cold but it was in in vain I 1 wrestled box boxed d ran argued jeered je ered or reprimanded an immediate halt could not be avoided we pitched our tent with much difficulty our hands were too powerless to os strike a fire we were obliged to do without water or food even the spirits whisky had frozen at the mens feet under all the coverings 1 we put bonsall ohlsen thomas and hans with the other sick men well inside the tile tent and crowded in in i as many 0 other as we coull could then leaving the party in chargo charge of mr ric Alc mcgary Gary with orders to come on after four hours rest I 1 pushed ahead with william godfrey who volunteered lo 10 be my companion my aly aim was to rench reach the halfway tent and thaw some ice and aud pemmican before the others arrived the floe was of level ice and the walking excellent cel lent I 1 cannot tell teli liow flow long iong it took us to make lako the nine miles for we were in a strange sort of stupor and had little apprehension of time it was probably about four hours we kept our selves awake by imposing on each other a continued articulation of words they must have been incoherent enough I 1 recall these hours as among the tile most wretched I 1 have ever gone through we were neither of us in our right senses and retained a very confused recollection of what preceded our arrival at the tiie tent we both voth of us however remember a bear who walked leisurely lit lie lieford fore us and tore up as lie he went a jumper that mr mcgary had improvidently thrown off the tiie day before ile tie tore it into shreds and rolled it into a ball but never offered to interfere with our progress I 1 remember this aud and with it a confused sentiment that our tent and buffalo robes might probably sha rethe same fate godfrey with whom the memory of this days work may atone for many faults of ot a later time had llad a better bitter eye eve than myself and looking miles ahead he coul dae that hat our ten undergoing the same sama unceremonious treatment I 1 thought I 1 saw it too but we were so drunken with cold bold that we strode on steadily and for ar aught I 1 lenow linow without quickening our pace probably our approach saved the tile contents of the tent for when whan we reached it the tent was uninjured though the bedr beir had overturned it tossing in the buffalo robes and narn mican info into the snow we missed only a couple of blanket bags bogs what we recollected however and perhaps all ve we recollect is that we had great difficulty in raising it we crawled into our reindeer sleeping bags without speaking and for the next three hours slept oil on in a dreamy but intense slumber when I 1 awoke my long beard was a mass of ice lee frozen fast to the buffalo skin godfrey had bad to cut me roe out with his jackknife jack knife four days after our escape I 1 found my woolen comfortable with d a goodly share of my beard still adhering to it gewere we were able to melt water and besom get some soup cooked before the rest of our party arrived it took them but five hours to walk the nine miles they were doing well and considering the circumstances cum stances in wonderful spirits the day was most providentially windless with a clear sun all enjoyed tile the refreshment we wb had got ready the cripe I 1 were ware packed repacked re in ht their robes and we sped briskly toward the hummock ridges which lay between us and the pinnacle Pinn acly berg our halts multiplied and we fell half slee elee sleeping ping pinc on the snow I 1 conid could no nol prevent it strange dge age to say it refreshed us I 1 ventured upon the experiment peri ment myself making riley wake me at the hie end of three minutes and I 1 felt fielt so much benefited by it that I 1 timed the men in the same avay way they sat eat on the runners of the sa s1 sledge e de fell asleep instantly and dud were forced to wakefulness when wien their three minutes were out by eight in it the evening we emeri emerged ed from the floes athe the sight bight of the pinnacle Pinn acly brg berg revived us brandy an all i invaluable ivolu able abie resource in a ready already been served out in a doses we giov took a longer rest and a last but stouter dram and reached tile the brig at I 1 P M we believe without a halt I 1 say we vve believe and here perhaps perli peril aps is the most decided proof of our sufferings we were quite delirio usand had llad ceased to entertain an apprehension of the circumstances about us ul we wd moved on like men in a dream our foot marks seen afterward showed that we had steered a bee line for the brig it must have been by a sort of instinct for it left no impress on the memory bonsall was sent staggering kag gering ahead and reached the brig god knows aws how far for lie he had fallen repeatedly peat edly at the track lack lines iines but lie he delivered with punctilious accuracy tho messages ahad sentry sent by him to dr hayes I 1 thought thou glit clit myself the soundest of all for I 1 went through all the formula of sanity and can recall the mut muttering delirium of my comrades when we got back bask into the cabin of our brig net yet et I 1 have been ince of some bome speeches and some orders too of mine mine which I 1 should hape hake have reme remembered i in bared for their the r absurdity if iny lii lil iii ind had retained its balance balanced 1 |