Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-09-17
EVENING STAR.
tf rom Dr. kane's " Arctic Explorations. - now
adelphia.1
a Hruah with naatk

tortuous, but, on the whole, favoripg and for
sixteen hours never left the helm We were
all of US exhausted when the days work came
| to close Our allowance had been small
from the first; but the delays we seemed fated
| to encounter had made me reduce them to
| what then thought the minimum quantity,
six ounces of bread dust and lump Of tallow
the size OF walnut; paste or broth, made If
these before setting out in the morning, and
distributed occasionally through the day in
| scanty rations, was our only fare. We were
all OF US glad when, running the boats under
the lee OF berg, We were able to fill our ket-
ties with snow and boil up for our great res
torative, tea. l may remark that, under the
circumstances of most privation, / foupd no
comforter so welcome to the party as this
We drank immOderately of it, and always
with advantage.
While the men slept after their weary labor
Notary and myself climbed the berg for
view ahead. 1t was a saddening one. We had
lost sight of Cary Island; but snoreward. up
Wostenholme channel, the ice seemed as if il
had not yet begun to yield to the influences of
summer Everything showed how intense the
| last winter had been. We were close upon
the lst of July, and had right to look for the
| North Water Of the Whalers where we now
had solid ice or close pack, both of them al
most equally unfavorable to our progress
Far off in the distance-how far I could not
iOcO 'iO IOCh. projecting
from the lofty precipice Of the island shead;
but between u and it the land of ice spread
itself from the base of Saunder's Island m
broken to the far south.
The next days progress was Of course slow
and wearisome, pushing through alternate ice
and water for the land belt We fastened at
last to the great foe near the shore, making
our harbor In crack which opened with the
changes of tide.
The imperfect diet of the party was showing
itself more and more in the decline of their
muscular power. They seemed scarcely aware
OF 1t themselves, and referred the difficulty
they found in dragging and pushing to some
thing uncommon about tho ice or sludge
rather than to their own weakness But, as
we endeavOred to renew our labors through
the morning fog, bolted in on all sides by ice
fields so distorted and rugged as to defy our
efforts to cross them, the truth seemed to burt
upon every one. We had lost the feeling of
hunger, and were almost satisfied with our
pasty broth and the large drsughts Of tea
which accompanied it. L was anxious TO send
cur small boat, the Eric, across to the lumme
hill Appah, where L knew from the Esqui
maux we should find plenty of birds; but the
strength of the party was insufficient to drag
her.
We were sorely disheartened, and could
only wait for the fog to rise, in the hope of
| some smoother platform than that which was
about us, or some lead that might save US the
palntul labor OF tracking L had climbed the
iceberg, and there was nothing in view exec pt
Dalrymple Rock, with its red brassy face tow
ering in the unknown distance. But hardly
got back to my boat before a gale struck us
from the northeast, and a foe, taking upon a
tongue OF ice about mile to the northeast of
us, began to swing upon it like pivot and
Close slowly In upon our narrow resting place
At first our own foe was driven before the
" nh hNIf in tIa Ill -
statlonary Ice at the foot of the very rock il
self. On the instant the widest imaginable
ruin rose round u.s. The men sprang mechan-
lcally each one to bis station, bearing back
the boats and stores; but L gave up for the
moment all hope of our escape. 1t was not a
nip, such as is familiar to Arctic navigators,
but the whole platform where we stood, and
Tor hundreds OF yards on every side Of US,
crumbled and crushed and piled and tossed
itself madly under the pressure do not be-
lieve that of our little body Of men, all Of
them disciplined in trials, able to measure
danger whilo combating i'll DO not believe
there is one who this day can explain how or
why-hardly when, in fact-we found our
selves afOat. We only know that in the
midst Of clamor utterly indescriba able through
which the braying Of a thousand trumpets
could no more have been heard than the voice
of man, we were shaken and raised and
whirled and let down again in a swelling
waste OF broken hummocks, and as the men
grasped their boat hooks in the stiffness that
followed, the beats eddied away in a tumul-
tueus skreed Of ice and snow and water
We were borne along in this manner as long
as the un5rOken remnant Of the iDshore foe
continued revolving utterly pOwerless and
catching glimpse every now and then Of the
brazen headland that looked down on US
through the snowy sky. At last the foe
brought up against the rocks, the looser fra :
-ments that hung round it began TO sepsrat,,
! and We were able by our oars and boat hool 8
| to force our battered little fotila clear OF
them. To our joyful surprise, we soon found
| ourselves in a stretch of the land water wide
enough to give US rowing room, and with the
assured promise of land close ahead
As We neared it, we saw the same forbid
ding wall of belt ice as at Sutherland and
Hakluyt We pulled along its margin, seek
ing in vain either an opening of access or a
nook Of shelter. The gale rose, and the ice
began to drive again; but there was nothing
to be done but get a grapnel out to the belt
and hold on for rising tide. The Hope stove
boarding, and all the boats were badly
chafed. 1t was an awful storm; and it was
not without constant exertion that we kent
ahoat, bailiDg out the scud that broke over
US. and warding of the ice With boat hooks
At three o'clock the tide was high enough
for US to scale the ice cliff One by one we
pulled up to the boats upon a narrow shelf,
the whole sixteen of US uniting at each pull
We were too much worn down to unload but
deep and narrow gorge opened in the cliffs
almost at the spot where we clambered up;
and as We pushed the boats into it on an open
keel, the rocks seemed to close above our
heads, until an abrupt turn in the course of
the ravine placed a protecting cliff between us
and the gale. We were completely en,aved.
just as We had brought in the last boat, the
Red Eric, and were Snoring her up with blocks
of ice, a long unused but familiar and unmis-
taxable sound startled and gladdened every
ear, and a flock of elders fecking the sky for
moment passed swiftly in front Of US. We
knew that we must be at their breeding
grounds and, as We turned in wet and hun
cry to our long coveted sleep, it was only to
dream of eggs and abundance.
We remained almost three days in our crys
tai retreat, gathering eggs a. the rate of
twelve hundred day. Outside, the storm
ragged without intermission, and our egg hun.
ters found it difficult to keep their feet; but
merrier set of gourmands than were oa,hercd