Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1856-11-27
3fliscellonp.
Arctic. Expedition.

W. NNNO'-
lisbed an account of DR.. Kane's Arttic expedi,
ton
There is not man, woman or child in the
ITn;tpd States who reads the newspapers, that
has not heard ofDr. Kane and his Arctic ex-
vibrations 1t is almost superhuous, therefore,
10 state that the expedition of which this is
narrative. set sa on the 30th of May, 1888, ex-
plored the cuast of Greenland some degroes iaI
ther north than human footsteps had ever before
trodden wntered for two Sc asons In thosc III
element REQ ions and returned in the summer
of 1855. All this is familiar to the puoilc'
But the tithc of what his party encountered ana
suffered of what they saw and felt, and OF wna'
thew achieved, has not been made public until
the publication of these volumes Taking NJ
reader with him on board the Advance Dr'
Kane carries him along day by day, showing
him what he saw, making him experience IN M
Imagination what he encounterod' interesting
him deeply in bis success and vlcssi'uues' o'.
listing his sympathics in behalf OF the ooJec's oi
the eypod,ion. and enchanting his attention to
the very close of the volumes. Yet the nara
tiv3 is plain and unprctcndmg There is no ae'
tempt at fine writing-no exagseration oil sty'e
NO cxubcrancc Of fancy. Its atractlveness Is
to yc attributed to the vivdness with when "
portrays the every day life Of the adventures
and to the oxtradiordinary character OF the adj
ventures. rather than to any meritriilous orha-
ments of style
The expedi;on of DR.. Kane was one of the
most remarkable achievements, in physical
poin% OF view, ever attempted by man. 1t illus
trated most strikinsly, the powers of human
endurance 10 fatigue and cold. The little band
ofadycnnlers were not called upon to endure
for week or for month merely Their phys
ical energies were taxed to the very utmost for
many months in successon-nay, during the
whole period that they were in the Arctic region.
Gen. Taylor is said to have remarked, in speak
ing of the conduct of his troops, at the battle
of Buena Vista, that they were defeated half
dozen times daA they d,d not know ii. just sc
with the little band Of DR.. Kane. They were
repeatedly mnquishcd by the elements In the
ordinary course Of narure, every one of them
should have laid his bones in the region Of eter
nal snow and ice, but they conquered nature
again and again, and returned, after having
achieved all That ii ,cas possible for human be-
ings 10 dchieue under like circumstances
We take an interesting episode Of Arctic adj
venture from the first yolumo, to show how des'
perate was the contest which DR.. Kane and his
party waged with the elements. An advance
party had been sent out to make deposits of
provisions and stores in readiness for an eXpe-
dition to the northward as soon us the weather
should become more favorable Everything look
ed promising, and DR.. Kane and his remaining
companions were only waiting intelligence that
the advance party had deposited its provisions
in safety to begin their transit. We continue
the narrative in the language of DR.. Kane:
"We were Il, work cheertully, sewing away
at the skins Of some moccasins by the blaze OF
our lamps, when, towards midnight, we heard
the noise of steps above, and the next minute,
Sontag, OhSen and Peterson came down into
the cabin Their manner startled me more than
their unexpected appearances on board. They
were swollen and haggard, and hardly able to
speak.
Their story was fearful one, They had left
their companions on the ice, riNhing their own
lyo tn hriptr : tho
son and Pierre were all lying frozen and ds,-
tled. Where They could not tell: somewhere
in among the hantnocks to the north and east;
it was drifting heavily around them when they
parted. Irish Tom had stayed by to feed and
care for the others but the chances were sore
against them 1t was in vain to quest ion them
further. They had evidently travelled grea,
distance, for they were sinking with fatigue and
hunger, and could hardly be rallied enough to
tell us the direction in which they had come.
There was not u moment to be lost. While
some were still busy with the new comers ant
Getting ready hasty meal Others were rigging
out the Little Wihe with buffalo cover,
small tent and u prckagc Of pemmican; and a
.s9on as we could hurry through our arrange
lnents, Ohlsen WAS strapped on in a fur bag, hi
legs wrapped in dog skins and elder down, an
we were off upon the ice. Oar party consiste
Of nine men and myself. We carried only th
clothes upon our backs. The thermometer stoo
at 49, soyenty-eight degrees below the freezn
point
We knew that our lost companions must b
somewhere in the area before us, within a IA
dius OF forty miles, Mr.. Ohsen, who had bee
for fifty hours without cest, fell asleep as 500
as we began to move, and awole now with IN
equivoeal signs of mental disturbance. 1t be
came evident that he had lost the bearing {
the icebergs, which in form and color endless
ly repeated themselves; and the uniformity {
the vast field Of snow utterly forbade the hor
ofloca landmarks.
The thermometer had fallen to 40o 81. ar
the wind was setting in sharply from the mort
west 1t was out Of the question to halt
required brisk exercise 10 keep us from freezin
| could not even melt ice for water aud,
these temperatures, any resort to snow for Il
purpose of allaying thiist was followed by bloc,
lips and tongue; it burnt like causlic.
1t was Indispensable that we should moyeo
looking out for traces as we went. Yet VIII
the men were ordered to spread themselves, so
to multiply the chances, though they all obey
heartily, some painful impress Ell solitary da
ger, or perhaps it may have been the vafyil
confguraton of the ice field, kept them closi
up continually into single group. The stran
manner in which some of ns were affected M