The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-10-27

In July, as the prospect Of getting out Of
the ice seemed to be very distant, lr. Kane
planned party, Of which he took the COM
mand, to Beechy Island, to communicate
with the English. lie met the ice OFT Cape
Pary-eyidcuuy the Upalc and Walstcn-
holm sound pack-at Jones sound. II was
impossible to penetrate this, and cOnse-
qucnty nothing remained but to make pre-
parations for passing the second winter as
comfortably as possibly, The outfit of the
expedition had contemplated stay OF only
/ fifteen months, and the provisions remaining
were not Of a character suited to the eli
mate. Scurvy prevailed considerably, but
/ by the untring aSsiduity OF DR.. Kane, thi,
was so far checked that no lives were lost by
it, although several men were severely at
fcctcd.
/ BY this time the supply Of coal was en-
/ tirely exhausted. They were obliged TO cut
away the bulwarkS, and all the spare spars
of the ship; indeed, everything which could
| be cut away and still leave them in scawor-
thy condition, in order to keep up their
small fire.
When the crcpusculum began to show the
/ tints of the sunlight in the Spring, they be-
| gan to look forward to all that remained to
| thcm--a journey to the nearest station of ci-
vilization -upernayik. The distance, in.
Guiding dctours, was at least a thousand
miles. This could only be travelled 10y con-
veylng the boats on slcdgcs to the nearest
water, and then placing the SledgeS on the
boats and proceeding 10y water until the ice
conf cIlcd them to reverse the order again.
The winter was an extremely cold one
) Aty degrees below zero was frequently re-
corded, and the monthly averages were 3O9
and 400 below zero. The ice showed no
/ prospect of breaking up Careful surveys
were made as late as the lst of May, when
the water was at least seventy or eighty
miles from the ship. 1t being beyond qneS'
ton that the ship must remain there, the
boats were got under way and the greatest
| speed used in fitting them up. Valuable ad-
/ ditiOns were made to them, suggested by
the experience of their carpenter, Mr. Oh-
sen, who, after having bravcd many dan
gers, and the wear and tear oi two Arctic
winters, was suddenly cut oil at the very
instant of arriving at the water.
As soon as the boats were got ready the
provisions were placed in them, waterproof
articles being got up AS well as their shabby
resources allowed. For lack of paint they
were obliged to use dctcstable mixture OF
tar and pitch. The bread was pounded into
powder, packed into canvass bags and laid
down SO AS to fill up the space between the
thwarts Of the boat-,just room enough re.
naming for the oarsmcn. There were three
boats, one of which Qhe Dingy) was soon
broken up for fuel. a couple OF stanchons
were provided, about five feet in each boat,
and u tent-cover stretched over them and
tied down to the gunwalcs. Two buffalo
robes, a few blankets, and tarpau|in
composed the sleeping accommodations o.
the party. They had eighty miles to go up
ON the ice, but as their party were weak
both in numbers and in health, they wer,
obliged to take one boat at a time. Thu
hamlnocks in the ice were often three o.
four feet high, and the eighty miles wer,
,ravcrscd by many Of the party severa