Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1855-11-06
VOYAGE OF THE ADVANCE

VOYAGE OF THE ADVANCE
The following account of the voyage O
the Advance. the vessel in which Dr.
Kane undertook the expedition whicl
has now terminated, is compiled from
statements made to US by Messrs Rov
SAIL and SoNTAG, and DR. HAYES. of th,
expedition
TIE brig Advance left New York or
the 3lst of Nay. 1858. for the purpose o.
finding some trace of Sir John Franklin
and affording him succor. if possible
She proceeded without incident to Baf
fms Bay. Stopped at several Danish
colonies in Greenland. where the party
procured furs and Esqcirianx dogs to
draw the sledges Then proceeded on
ward toward Davis's Straits. and encoun-
tered the first ice in Melville Bay to-
wards th5 latter end of July They
succeeded in working way through with
wonderful facility. aud reached open wa
ter on the I'd of August in latitude rs
deg. Entered Smiths Sound on the 5th
of August. and the next day encounter
ed heavy ice From this time forth the
ship was constantly in ice Worked
through it in north easterly direction
till the latitude of 75 deg As min. was
reached, when it was determined to go
into winter quarters. For this purpose
reterned south few miles, and on the
| 10th of September 1853 cast anchor off
/ the westerly coast Of Greenland and com
! menced preparations for winter The
vessel was housed over. galley stoves were
! put upon between the decks and provis
In iaH hot
might arise Meanwhile a sledge was
sent out with provisions to be deposited
| so that parties going out in the spring
might go farther from the ship. obtaining
supplies from these depots This sledge
went in orth-easterly direction about
/ 400 miles. reaching latitude so aud found
| that large glacier formed the north
western coast of Greenland. for about
eighty miles. The party travelled along
it good portion of the distance and re-
| turned about the middle of October
| Other small parties were afterwards sent
out to make surveys and observations re
| garding the indentation of the coast--the
last about the latter part of November.
when. III consequence of increasing cold
and darkness, further operation was sus-
pended for the winter. The sun di>ap-
peared on the first of December. dar kness
reigned supreme The Thermometer fell
in mesinstances to more than sixty de-
grees belew zero, and mercury was almost
constantly frozen. However, the party
now housed in their ship. bad no difficu,-
t. III keeping warm By means Of the Goals
carried ont. The sun reappeared on the
gath of February. aud on the 18th of
March when the days had acquired much
length, sledging again commenced The
only incident of the winter which we
will mention was the loss of nearly all
the dogs by spasmodic complaint which
carried off 81, leaving only three or four
The first slcdge party (that of the 18th
of March, was intended to carry provis
ions to Smiths Sound to the main land
and there make a deposit for second
party 1t did not succeed IN its object
but was obliged to return In consequence
| of the extreme roughness of the ice and
lcold. They did not get more than forty
miles from the ship All were more or
less frost bitten and two of their number
Eight in all-died in consequence =
Pierre Shubcrt. the cook, suffered an am
putation which he did not survive Jeff
EakeT. u SediIiiU. utcQ Ol ttbaDuS. Cduscu
by the frost Two others lost their toes.
When about thirty miles from the ship on
their return, Mr. Sontag, the Hydrograph-
er. who was one of the party, and two
Eothers set out to obtain relief The 9th
er of the four who were able to do any
thing were left to take care of the more
Intense sufferers On reaching the ship
DIR KANE set cut with a party to the as
lsistance of those with the sledge. and
brought them to the ship The sun re
NAMED above the horizon after the oath
of April
| On the 29th of April. (s54)a party
accompanied by two sledges, one drawn
by dogs and the other men. set out under
the direction of DR. KANE himself The
dogs had been obtained by some Esqui
maux. who visited the ship early in the
spring. but who had not been seen the
previous fall The party under DR. *
Iwere gone eight days, and were obliged
to return, in consequence of the illness Of
; DR.. K. who suffered an attack of fever
from which. however he soon recovered =
On the 18th May. DR. HAYS. the surgeon
) of the expedition set out with sledgt
. and driver. and crossed the channel
He encountered very rough ice, and suf
fered much from snow blindness. HI
was obliged to return in about two weeks
; in consequence of the failure of his sup
ply of provisions The expedition wa
. vet not without result About $50 mile
I.of the coast discovered, and chart of i
: ldrawn On bis return. he was drawn b,
. / his dogs more than 90 miles IN one day
and all they bad to eat was an old boo
and part of pair of leather trousers
I which they devoured with the creates
rapacity-