Washington sentinel., 1854-04-06

nal noise of the ice crushing and grating and
bursting around was added the horror OF nm
broken gloom 1t was perpetual twilight.
For months, the nearest approach to daylight
was a faint rosy streak just crowning the south
ern horizon. For eighty-six times four and
twenty hours, the sun never rose once above the
horizon. Never says DR.. Kane, in recording
the Joy caused by the re-appearance OF the great
uminarJ Never until the grave-clod or the ice
covers me, may forget this blessing OF Dies
sings again.
aFor weeks after they were frozen fast, they
were unable to make any adequate provision
against the cold. It was not till the thermom-
eter without had fallen to twenty degrees be-
low zero that they were able to set up stoves In
the cabin The only artificial heat in their pow
er was derived from smoky lamps, which could
raise the teuaperninre only n little above the
freezing point. The cold, however, was less in
supportable than the constant dripping from
every timber, produced by the condensation OF
the moisture Of the atmosphere. At last, when
the ice around them had become SO solid as to
afford something like security, such preparions
for comfort as the case admitted, were made
The crews Of both vessels were housed in the
cabin Of the Advance, the narrow limits OF
which became the home Of thirty-three persons.
Warmth was produced by three stoves; lamps
supplied as far as possible the place OF day.
light, and aided in overcoming the cold. Need
enough was there of their assistance, Tor the
thermometer had now fallen to forty degrees
below zero. -
aThe discomforts of so small a space, at
once the cooking, eating, sleeping, lounging,
smoking, and dressing room OF SO many per-
sons can easily be imagined. The monoto-
nous way of life, the sitting atmosphere, the
enforced want of due exercise, began to tell
upon the spirits of the men. Their faces grew
pale and livid, like those Of corpses. They be-
came moody and gloomy. They iancied they
heard strange voices around them. one
dreamed that he had wandered away on the
| ice, and had come back laden with water
melons; another had discovered Sir John
| Franklin in beautiful valley filed with or
ange groves. Then they grew strangely ana
thetic and careless. Their physical system
| shared in the depression. Old ulcers, healed
long ago and forgotten, burst out again; old
wounds opened afresh old bruises grew pain
| full again. Dr. Kane, though himself a sufferer,
brought all his art into requisition to heal the
| mental and bodily ills of the old salts among
the crew. Some Of his extra professional RENE
dies were equally amusing and effective; 80
effective, in fact that Of the entire crew not one
was lost during the perilous voyage:
"When the vessels at length, after summer
n6Q SET III, were iISSu iiOhi oASiA ~
they sailed for the Danish settlement in Green.
land The health and spirits Of the crew were
restored by brief period of absence on solid
ground; and it was resolved to make another
attempt to prosecute the object of the expedi-
ton. Once more, they turned their course to
the north, and early in August they were again
Drawing the perils, of the Devils Nip where
they had been beset the year before. But the
ice was still more impracticable than they had
then found it. In vain they attempted to force
a passage through. The leads were all closed,
and the transit across the bay was barred by
solid continent Of ice The season was every
way more unpropitious than the preceding one
had been and at last it became evident that
there was no hope of winning their way through,
the ice of Lancaster sound. Nothing remained
but to return With no small difficulty and
peril they succeeded in making their way out
Of the Devils Nip and set out on their home
ward voyage. They reached New ork early
in October, 1851, after an absence OF eighteen
months.
Although the design of the expedition was
simply to search for Sir John Franklin, scien-
tfc investigations being wholly secondary
affair, the contributions made to our knowledge
of the physical geography and meteorological
phenomena of the Arctic regions are by no
means few or unimportant. In every point OF
view, therefore, we are confident that this
volume will meet with cordial welcome from
the reading public"