Bedford inquirer and chronicle. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1854-1857, 1856-11-07

! Tue latltuue OF 40 Deg. FL IA distance
greater than had been attained by any pre-
vious except Parry on his Spitzbergen foot
tramp. About this time, some of the party
began to exhibit symptoms or disconEent.-
The rapid advance Of winter, the deprivation
of rest, and the slow progress Of the Expe-
dition, tended to produce depression. One
person volunteered an opiuioa in favor of
returning to the south, and giving Up the
attempt to winter. 1t was nc time FOR half
way measures. DR.. Kane at once called
council Of his officers, and listened 10 their
views in full. With but single exception,
they declared their conviction that afarther
progress to the north was impossible, and
urged the propriety of returning soath8ard
to winter. The commander maintaiaed the
opposite view explaining the importance of
securing position which might expedite
further ledge-journies, he announced his in
tention of warpins towards the northern
headland of the bay. Once there, lie could
determine the best point for the operations
of the spring, and would put the brig into
| winter harboI at the nearest possible shell
ter. His comrades received the decision
with cheerful acquiescence, and zealously
entered upon the perious duties sLich il
involved. During the process the gallant
little vessel ran aground, ard in tie night
had narrow escape from Ere. A sudden
lurch tumbled the nen out Of .heis bertbs,
and threw down the cabin stove, with full
charge of glowing anthracite. TIE deck
blazed up violently, but by the sacrifice Of
heavy pilot-cloth coat, the fire was smoth
cred until water could be procured 70 extin
guish it. The powder was not far of. A
few moments more might have bro. yht the
expedition to sudden close,
About the tenth of September, TIE vessel
was brought into sheltered harbor between
the islands of the bay, in which she llsd been
ying for some time aud all hands prepared
for winter quarters. OF their mode Of life
during the long darkness, Of an Arctic
winter, vivid idea IS given by the follow
! ing extract from DR.. KANE's journal
/ SHOW Go wc spend the day when it is not
term-day, or rather the twenty-four hoursz
for it is either all day here, or al night, or
twilight mixture of both. How do We spend
I tie twenty-four hours!
"At six in the morning, MeGary is called
with all hands who have slept in. The decks
are cleaned, the ice-hole opened, toe
refreshing beef-nets examined, the ice
tables measured, and things aboard put to
rights. At half-past seven al hauds rise,
wash on deck, open the doors for ventilation,
and come below for breakfast. We are
short of fuel and therefore cook in the
cabin. Our breakfast, for all fare alike, Is
hard tack, pork, stewcd apples, frozen like
molasses candy, tea and coffee, with u
delicate portion of raw potato. After
breakfast, the smokers take their pipe until
nine o'clock, then all hands turn to, idlers
to idle, and workers to work; 0hiseu to his
bench, Brooks to his preparations in canvass,
McGary to play tailor, Whipple to make
| shoes, Bonsall TO tinker, Baker to skin
birds-and the rest to the ''otiee" Take a
lock into the Arctic Bureau. One table,
one salt pork lamp with rusty chlorinated
fame, three stools, and as many waxen
faced men with their legs drawn under them,
the deck at zero being too cold for their
feet. Each has his department. Kane is
writing and skOtching and projecting maps;
Hays copying logs and meteorolegicals !;
Sontag reducing his work at Fern Rock
A fourth, as one of the working members
Of the hive has long been defuuct; you viii
find him in bed, or studying Littell's Living
Age Attwelve o'clock, q business round
of inspection and orders enough to Ell up
the day with work. Next, the drill Of the
Esquimaux dogs--my own peculiar reerea-
tion--a dog trot, specially referring to legs
that creak with every kick, and rheumatic
shoulders that chronicle every descent of the
whip. And SO we get on to dinner-time,
the occasion of another gathering, which
misses the tea and coffee of breakfast, but
rejoice in picked cabbage and dried peach
es instead.
"a dinner, as at breakfast, the raw pota-
to comes in our hygienic luxury. Like
doctor stuff generally. it is not as appetiz-
ing as desirable. Grating it down nicely,
leaving out the ugly red spots literally, and
| adding the utmost oil as lubricant II is as
much as can do to persuade the mess to
shut their eyes and bolt L, like Mrs.
| Squeers's mclasses and birthstone at Dothe-
boys Hall. Two absolutely refuse to take
| ii. / tell them Of the Silesians using its
leaves as spinach; of the whalers in the
South Seas getting drunk on the molasses
which had preserved the large potat oes Of
the Azores; point TO this gum, 50 fungoid