Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1855-10-24
From the New York Journal od Commerce
RETURN OF THE ARCTIC RELIEF EXPEDITION.

land, September 18th. 25Ss:.z -
The Release and Arctic left NeY York both
of May=last n search Of DrsKaIRa party, ,who,
il was feared, might have had tbeF vessel crush.
ed in the ice, and 20 have been;unable 10 return.
The relief vessels arrived at Ljegely, on their,
trip to the Northward, July 5lhs hence they
coasted along the shore of Greenland, TO lot. ,7S
80 N, touching at Hare lsla1ai Upernavick,.
Hakluyt Island, Cape Hatheftpn. and other
places They were twenty:eiHt days boring
through the pack ice in MelvillssBay. Thence
they crossed Davis Straits and went up Lam
caster Sound as far as Admiralty Inlet, where
they were opposed by solid pick, which en-
trely stopped their progress. Then they passed
down the Western coast, examining Possession,
and Ponds bays. They werezfass in the great
middle pack for several daysssand. had a fair
prospect of remaining there forahe winter; but
fortunately the ice, after a. whiei broke away,
and they were enabled to escaPesS y.
The Expedition, passing shl Southwark,
reached Lievely on the 18th ult,ynving entirely
circumnavigated the Northern Eaters as fa: as
the ice would permit CaptainSH SHartsteine's YES
sells left Licvely on the 9th sgoE September fol;
New York. -
ally severe. Many. of the nniiEesi perished from
exposure and starvation; having gsbeen compelled
to cat their dogs. Tile extremef gold prevented
the usual hunting expedition. .sa
The brig Advance, of one hundred and forty
five tons, set sail in May, l853s for Smiths
Sound, under the command ofDf Kane, who
was detailed to make explorations in the Arctic
regions by Mr.. Kennedy, the Secretary of the
Navy under Mr.. Fillmore. The. .present Secre.
tary Of the Navy, Mr.. Dobbin, entered upon the
performance of his duties before the Advance
smiled, and fully carried out The sviewss.of his
predecessor On the 23d ofsdnly, 1858, she
arrived at Upernavick, latitude73 deg. North,
on the coast of Greenland. Nothing fu her
was heard of the Expedition from that time nm
til yesterday. Il
The advance was left in Rensselaer, bay, in
latitude 79 deg, where The expedition passed
two winters. The vessel was abandoned on the
18th May last, Cher flag and pendant Aying) i'm
bedded in ice fourteen feet thick, from which it
was found impossible to extricate her, and Or.
Kane and his men accomplished the remarkable,
Journey Of one thousand reeShundred miles,
on foot and in boats, followingthe indentations
of the bays from RensselaeEFfo 10 Upernavick,
where they embarked on board d Danish vessel
bound 10 Denmark This vessel;put into Lieve-
", disco Island, } where, by IliRarkab!e COIN
ciidsnce, she was fallen in with e Hartsteine
expedition, as above stated. ~ Dthe propeller
of Captain Hartstcine entered:ahat harbor, he
espied. brig (WHICH .is1usan et. raised-tAe-
American flag This ceremony was supposed
to be mere compliment from the Danish vessel,
but whale boat soon left the brig with DR..
Kane on board, and spread out "Pot Rock flag"
which had the name Of Henry Grinnell upon it,
when the truth flashed upon Captain HartsteIne
that the long absent explorers had been found:
DR.. Kane and his party accordingly embarked
on board the Release and the Arctc-the yes
soils of Hartstene's expedition-and arrived last
evening at seven o'clock P. NJ, at this port
Three of the crew deceased in the Arctic re-
eions, viz: Cristian Ohsen, capenter, an excel
lent man, who died of .ockjaw, produced by
intense cold; Jefferson Baker, seamen, who died
of The same complaint, and Pierre Schubert,
cook, (French) who died from The effects of am
putaton of his foot, which was rendered neces-
sary from being frost bitten The scurvy, hith-
erto the scourge of the Arctic region, was en-
tirely under command, but the lockjaw- was
difficult of management, and threatened serious
disaster. Fifty-seven dogs died of it breaking
up entirely the sledge organization.
The number of deaths among the crew is
much smaller than. would have occurred if the
voyage had been to any tropical climate, instead
of these cold regions. The most intense cold
suffered was in latitude about eighty two deg
North where the thermometer fell to sixty be-
low zero, or ninety-two degrees below freezing
point When the thermometer was at this low
range, DR.. Kane and his party were engaged
withinstruments in making survey OF the inden-
tations of the bay in which their vessel was
then imbedded. The discoveries made by DR..
Kane reach to- point Northward much further
than ever before explored Numerous bays and
capes have been explored, and some OF them
named. They will make m addition to the
maps of the country, which will ever remain
conspicuous monument of American enterprise.
On reaching the Northerumost point OF land,
the expedition passed in sledges over an ice
barrier Of eighty.one miles in Width, when they
came to open water, which arrested their move:
ments. Wrangle, Russian, made like discoye-
ry travelling, North to the Siberian islands in
sledges. The existence Of this open water, Mt
least in the month of August, Is now made GER
tain; but the theory hitherto maintained, that
this open water arose from milder climate,
must now, we suppose, be abandoned, in view
of the intense cold found in the highest latitude
of the expedition.
The last map published by authority of the
British. explorers, founded on the explorations OF
Captain Inglefeld, are found to be incorrect, so
far as the North coast of both America and
Greenland are concerned. 1t is probable that
no explorer will ever hereafter undertake to pass
over the eighty.one miles Of ice between the
North coast of Greenland and the open water
mentioned, or that there will be any important
alteration in the maps now to be made. DR..
Kane returns in fine health, better than when
we had the pleasure to bid him goodbye on
his outward voyage. The Esquimaux were
found us far North as Rensselaer, bay, and were
troublesome and dangerous, until DR.. Kane
took decisive measures to stop their depreda-
tions Two Esquimaux women who had stolen
q Buffalo robe, were followed by him sixty miles
on foot brought back to the vessel, exposed
without much clothing to severe cold, and kept
in confinement until sort OF treaty had been
entered into, by which the Esquimaux agreed
that their~boys might be taken and held farth.
er depredations were committed: They had
destroyed some Of the boats OF the expidltlon
before the adoption of this system. The Es-
quimnux were found in that high latitude to
be an extremely hardy and vigorous race-full
of courage-so much so that one OF them,
armed with o lance, would NOT hesitate to attack
the powerful polar bear Of that region. DR..
Kane and his party were often on short allow
ance, 'and at times were obliged to rely
chiefly on tho gun for food. On their return
along the asst of Greenland, he knew, from
his experience of the region, where to find the
wild duck and its nests, and'they had plenty of
meat and eggs on most IF the homeward jour
ney along the const, although previously they
had been reduced to living op tallow in their