Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-11-15

y
day-all by potato poultice. My eloquence
is wasted; they persevere in rejecting the
admirable compound
Sleep, exercise, amusement and work at
will, carry on the day till our & o'clock sup
per-a meal something like breakfast and
something like dinner, only little more
scant, and the officers come in with the re-
ports of the day. DR.. Hays shows me the
log, sign it; Sontag, the weather, | sign
the weather. Mr.. Bonsall the tides and
thermometers. Thereupon comes in mine
ancient Brooks, and / enter in his journal
No. all work done under his charge, and
discuss his labors for the morrow.
"McGary comes next with the cleaning
up arrangement, inside, outside and on decks,
and Mr. Wilson follows with ice measure
ments. And last of all comes my own record
| OF the day gone by; every line, as l look
back upon its pages, giving evidences Of a
weakened body and harrassed mind.
We have cards sometimes, aud chess
sometimes, and few magazines--Mr.
Littells thoughtful present-to cheer away
the evening"
Towards the end of April, the arrange
ments for journey of exploration were
completed, and leaving the brig in charge Of
a trustworthy detachment, four able-bod died
and six disabled men, the commander, with
seven others, set out upon the tour over the
ice. His plan was to follow the ice-belt to
the Great Glacier of Humboldt, and from
that point to stretch along the face OF the
glacier to the northwest, aud make an attempt
TO cross the ice to the American side. The
stores of the party consisted of pemmican,
bread, and tea, canvass tent FIVE feet by six,
and two sleeping bags of reindeer skin The
sledge was light, built Of hickory, and but
nine feet long. A soup kettle, for melting
snow and making Tea, was arranged to boil
either with lard or spirits. A subdivision
of the party with another sle1ge started two
days before the departure Of DR.. Kane, which
took place on the 9th. lie reached the
Great Glacier in safety. The coast of
Greenland in the vicinity is Of highly
picturesque character. The red sandstone
present an impressive contrast with the blank
whiteness, associating the cold tints of the
dreary Arctic Landscape with the warm
| coloring of more southern lands. The diff
ferent layers Of the clia have the appearance
Of jointed masonry. and the narrow line Of
greensboro caps them With natural battle
ments At one place rose the dreamy sem
blance Of a castle, hanked with triple towers,
completely isolated and defined. To these
DR.. Kane gave the name Of the "rhree
! Brother Towers" A still more striking
object was single cliF of greensboro, north
OF latitude 20 degrees, which resred itself
from a erumbled base Of ,andstones, like the
boldly chisseled rampant Of al ancient city.
On one extremity stands a solitary column
or minaret tower, IS sharply finished as if it
had been cast for the Place Vendome. The
length Of the shaft alone is four hundred and
eighty loot, ~na il iieos On pliutn Or peGes-
tai itself two hundred and eighty feet high.
Il remember WELL" says DR.. Kane. 1.-The
! m Hrc
our view. Cold and sick as | was brought
back sketch Of it, which may have interest
for the reader, though it scarcely suggests
the imposing dignity Of this magnificent
landmark. Those who are happily familiar
with the writings Of Tennyson, and have
communed with his spirit in the soltudes of
a wilderness, will appreheud the impulse that
/ inscribed the scene with his name" No
description can do justice to the Great
Glacier itself Rising in solid CLASSY wall,
three hundred feet above the water level,
with an uaknown unfathomsbls depth below
it, its curved face sixty miles in length from
Cape Agasiz to Cape Forbes yan9hes into
unknown space at not more than g single
days railroad travel from the Pole. The
interior with which it communicated and
from which 1t issued was an unsuIyeyed sea
of ice apparently Of boundless dimensions.
forcing a passage to the north. On the
sixth day the party were attacked by scurvy,
from which they had suffered terribly during
the winter. Two Of the number were taken
with snow blindness and one was condemned
as altogether unfit for travel. TO crown
their discomtitures, they found that the bears
had got hold OF their pemmican casks, and
! thus destroyed their chances of recruiting
their supply OF provisions at the several
caches. DR.. Kane himself was seized with
violent illness :. his limbs became rigid, and
certain tetanoid symptoms made their APP
pearance. In this condition he was unable 10
make more than nine miles day lie was
strapped upon sledge, and the march con-
! tinued; but he was soon SO much reduced us
to find the moderate temperature of So below
zero intolerable. His left foot was frozen up
to the ankle joint, and the same night it
became evident that the difficulty in his
| limbs was caused by dropscsl efusiOn. The
next day he grew delirioss aud tainted when-
ever he was taken from the tent to the
sledge. Every man in the party was so far
gone as to make the continuance of the
journey impossible. Scarcely able to travel,
they bore the commander back to the brig,
which they reached by forced marches on the
| fourteenth. Dr. Kane was entirely prostra-
| ted for about q week. The frat business
after his convalescence was to arrange new
parties for exploration. They returned in
safety, with ample experience or the perils of
Arctic discovery
Passing over the remainder Of the summer.
without further extracts from the interesting
narrative, we find the little party prepared to
encounter the terrors of second winter in
that dreary region. The brig was fast in the
ice, and every effort for her Liberation had
proved unsuccessful At this crisis DR..
Kane called all hands together, and ex-
! planned to them the reason which had decided
| lin not to torsake the brig. lie left it to
the choice Of each man, however, to attempt
an escape TO open water, or to stand by the
fortunes Of the expedition. Eight Of the
seventeen survivors Of the party resolved TO
remain with their commander; the others
were fitted out with every appliance that
could be furnished and departed On their
almost desperate enterprise. They carried
with them every assurance of brothers
welcUue should they be driven L"el, I~t -
was not until after many weary months Of
trial and hardship that they were. seen
again.
The arrangement of the Winter-quarters
now occupied the whole attention Of the
little band DIR. Kane determined TO adhere