The daily Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1855, 1855-10-26

Wv AS0PAEsHncus~kxoPOxS OF Dr. NAN @
The following is . copy of the official report
of DR.. Kane. commanding second Grinnell ex-
hibition 10 search Of Sir John Franklin, to the
Secretary Of the Navy 80 . q 4
"Our little party has returned in health and
safety.
j" We reached the Danish settlements of
Upernivik on the 9th of August, after an ex-
posing travel of thirteen hundred miles. Dur.
ing this journey, which embraced alternate
zones OF ice and water, we transported our
boats by sledges, and sustained ourselves on
animal food exclusively by our guns. We en-
tered pert after eighty four-days exposure in
the open air. tine e
II have the honor to subjoin hurried out
line of our operations and results in advance
OF more detailed communications. .s
"My previous dispatches make the depart
ment acquainted with our arrival at the north.
ern settlements of Greenland. There crossed
Melville bay without accident, and reached
Smiths Sound on the 9th of August, 1859.
Finding Cape Hatherton, the seat of my in
tended beacon, shut out from the sound by the
more prominent headland of Littleton island,
| selected this latter for my Cuiro, erecting
ag-staff, and depositing dispatches.
"To the north the ice presented drifting
pack OF the heaviest description, the actions
OF hammocking having in some instances
reared barricades Of sixty feet in height. In
my Efforts to penetrate this drift, being driven
back and nearly beset in the pack, determin-
ed las the only means of continuing the search)
to attempt passage along the land where the
rapid tides there of twelve to sixteen feet rise
and falD had worn q precarious opening. Pre-
vious to this responsible step, depot of pro-
visions, with metallic lifeboat, (Francis) was
carefully concealed in large inlet in latitude
IS deg. 26 min
Tho extreme strength OF the Advance en-
a .,! her to sustain this trying navigation
Although aground at the fall Of the tides. and
twice upon her beam-ends from the pressure of
external ice, she escaped any serious disaster.
After month ofincessant labor, cheered, how
ever, by small daily progress, the new ice so
closed around US as to make further penetra-
ton impossible. With difficulty we found
winter asylum at the bottom of bay which
opened from the coast in latitude IS deg. A
min. Into it we thankfully hauled our batter
ed little brig on the 10th Of September 1853.
From this point, as centre, issued the explo-
rations of my party. .. &
| "The winter was of heretofore unrecOrded
severity. Whisky froze as early as November
and mercury remained solid for nearly four
months. The range of eleven spirit thermom-
eters, selected as standards, gave temperatures
mot yet reduced) of sixty to seventy-fve de-
grees below Zero and the mean annual tenn
perature was deg. 2 min. Fahrenheit, the low
est ever registered. .3 .-.- .s
"This extreme cold, combined with one hun
dred aud twenty days Of absence of sun, gave
rise to an obscure but fatal form Of tetanus,
(lockjaw.) The exertions of DR.. Hayes, the
surgeon Of the expedition, had readily subdu-
ed the scurvy, but these fearful tendencies to
tonic spasm defed our united efforts. This
disorder extended to our dogs, 6fty-seven Of
which perished thus completely breaking up
my sledge organization. "a = -.....a'0
"The operations of search were carried on
under circumstances of peculiar HARDSHIP
We worked at our sledges as late as the Oath
of November, and renewed our labors in
March. Much of this travel was in darkness
and some at temperatures as low as SO deg.
The earlier winter travel was undertaken by
myself in person, but by the aid of q single
team of dogs, and the jealous cooperation Of
my officers, we were able to replace the par.
ties as they became exhausted, and thus con-
tinue the search until the 18th of July. 1t 10
believed that no previous parties have been 50
long in the field. Messrs. Brooks, McGeary,
Bonsall, Hayes and Morton successfully con-
tributed to the general result The men work
ed with fidelity and endurance.
" 1 briefly detail the explorations of our
party. - So, .,,-a..t ...t
"Smith's Sound has been followed and sur
veyet throughout its entire extent. 1t termi-
mates to the northeast in. a gulf lilo miles in
its long diameter. '-'
Greenland has been traced to its northern
face, the coast tending nearly due east and
west, (E II deg. n.y. Its further penetration
towards the Atlantic was arrested by CLAN
cier, which offers an impossible barrier to fu-
ture exploration. This stupendous mass Of ice
issues in 60 degrees west longitude. 1t is CO.
incident with the axis OF the peninsula and
probably is the only obstacle to the insularity
of Greenland. 1t rises 300 feet in perpendic-
ular face, and has been followed along its base
for eighty miles in one unbroken escarpment
This glacier runs LeAriy due north, and cements
ses of Greenland and America. q
alt explains the broken and permanently
frozen character of Upper Smiths Sound its
rigorous climate. As spectacle, it was one
of the highest sublimity. ... ......
"The northern land into which this glacier
merges has been named Washington, and the
bay which interposes between it and Green
land have named after Mr.. Peabody.
Peabody bay gives exit at its western curve
latitude 80 deg. IL min.) to large channel,
which forms the most interesting geographical
feature of our travel. This channel expands
to the northward into an open and iceless area,
Astounding in animal life, and presenting every
feature of an open Polar sea. A surface Of
5000 square miles was seen at various e!eva-
tions free from ice. with q northern horizon
equally free. A north wind, fifty hours in du-
ration, failed to bring any drift into this area.
cit is with pain that mention to the de-
partment my inability to navigate these waters.
One hundred and twenty-five miles of sole ice,