Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1857-03-28

down." and headed by Kane and nine others, the
party started in search of the missing men. As
the weary man in the bag had been for 6fty-four
hours without rest, he soon feel asleep, and the
party pushed forward, the thermometer ranging
at 100 below freezing point After travelling
sixteen miles, the track was lost, Ohlsen was re-
leased from his bag, and just able to keep his
legs, was unable to give any information where
the missing men could be found. Kane says
sit was out of the question to halt; it required
brisk exercise to keep us from freezing. could
not even melt ice for water and, at these tenn
peratures, any resort to snow for the purpose Of
allaying thirst, was followed by bloody lips and
tongue; it burnt like caustic." -
The party moved on, but instead of spreading
themselves, according to the order, grouped them
selves together as though apprehensive of dan
ger or freezing. "Men like McGary and Bonsall,
who had stood out our severest marches, were
seized with trembling fits and short breath; and
in spite of all my efforts to keep up an example
of sound bearing, tainted twice on the snow"
After eighteen hours travel without food or wa
ter, one of the company discovered in the snow
| traces of the missing party. Soon small Amer
lean flag was seen floating in the distance, and af-
ter an unbroken march of twenty lone hours, the
camp of the disabled comrades were reached in
safety. We leave DR.. Kane to tell, in his own
simple language, that which followed:
s'The little tent was nearly covered. / was not
among the first to come up; but when reached
the tent curtain, the men were standing in silent
file on each side of it. With more kindness and
delicacy of feeling than is often supposed to be-
long to sailors, but which is almost characters
tic they intimated their wish that should 20 in
alone. AS l crawled in, and, coming upoo the
darkness, heard before me the burst Of welcome
gladness that came from the four poor fellows
stretched on their backs, and then for the first
time the cheer outside, my weakness and my
gratitude almost overcame me. 'srhey had ex-
pected me; tLey were sure would come"
ssWe were now fifteen souls the thermometer
seventy. i've degrees below the freezing point !;
and our sole accommodation a tent barely able
to contain eight persons ;-more than half our
party were obliged to keep from freezing BY walk
ing outside while the other slepts. We could not
halt long and were soon on our homeward
march,
Taking with them nothing but that which was
absolutely necessary, and placing the sick in
fur bag, well protected, the little party started
for the brig, the thermometer ranging SIS degrees
below zero. After repeating short prayer, they
set out on their journey, dragging after them the
sick on the sledge, making an aggregate weight
of eleven hundred pounds. They had not pro-
ceeded far when sleeping sensation came over
them. Kane says:-"I had treated the sleepy
comfort of freezing as something like the embel-
lishment of romance. had evidence now to the
contrary"
s'Bonsall and Morton, two of our stoutest men,
came to me, asking permission to sleep :--'they
were not cold the wind did not enter them now;
little sleep was all they wanted Presently
Hans was found nearly stiff under drift, and
Thomas, bolt upright, had his eyes closed, and
could hardly articulate. At last, John Blake
threw himself on the snow and refused to RISE
They did not complain of feeling cold but it was
in vain that l wrestled, boxed, ran, argued or
jeered, or reprmanded. An immediate halt could
not be avoided"
halt was made, but the hands of the compa-
ny were too powerless to strike fire. Those
who were most overcome were placed in tent,
and made as comfortable as possible, while Kane
and companion set out in search of the half way
tent. After walking nine miles, during which
time they suffered incredibly, and which the wri-
ter says was 'sthe most wretched hour of his life
they discovered bear ahead of them who
tore up jumper dropped by Mr.. MoGafy, but
committed no other damage. The tent was
reached and the bear was found there, but $50
drunken with cold was l." says Kane, 'sthat was
scarcely conscious Of what was passing about
| me-" He continues
b "We crawled into our reindeer sleeping bags
| without speaking, and for the next three hours
slept on in dreamy but intense slumber. When
| / ln,ny hnop g. ~ N eho
Buffalo skin; Godfrey had to cut me out with his
jack-knife. Four days after our escape, found
my woollen comfortable with goodly share of
my beard, still adhering to it."
The party that had been left behind soon came
up, and they all started for the brig together
Many ofthem could not abstain from eating snow.
Their mouths became swollen, and some of them
became speechless in consequence. Frequent
halts were made, and each time the men fell
asleep in tie snow, but they were awakened in
every three minutes by order of Kane. Finally,
the brig was reached, but how, few could tell.
s'lt must have been by sort of instinct, for il
left no impress ON the memory. Bonsall was
sent staggering ahead and reached the brig, God
knows how, for he had fallen repeatedly at the
track-lines. We were quite delirious and had
ceased to entertain sane apprehension of the
circumstances about u.s." This party had beer
out seventy hours had travelled between eighty
and ninety miles, and suffered excrutiatng hard
ships. Two men died. ,..,..-,,
We would gladly quote further from this inter
esting and valuable work, but space will moi
permit. We cannot close our article, however
without copying the following reverie of DR.
Kane, on the closing Of Christmas Day.
$50 much for the Merrie Christmas. VIVA
portion of its mirth was genuine with the rest,
cannot tell, for We are practiced actors some o.
US but there was no heart in my share of it,
My thoughts were with those far of, who ar,
thinking, I know, Of me. could bear my Owl
troubles as do my eider-down coverlet for
can see myself as | am and feel sustained BY tn
knowledge that have fought my battle WE'LL
But there is no one to tell OF this at the home ta
BILE. Fortunately, unwise daring, calamity, an,
of these may come up unbidden, a. my nam
circles round, to explain why am still sway."o
Yes, ''still away," but not amid the iceberg
of the Arctic. "Still away," but still remember
ed. "Ssill away," but still loved. ssSsill away
but still present, talking to Us AZ kindly a. whe
the purpled blood ooursed through the veins an
caused the pulsations of noble heart. ssStil
awaY," but never to be forgotten.
We thank Messrs. Childs & Peterson for q
early copy Of the work, and commend it to q
lovers Of genuine and pure literature. For cal
By Geo. Little, under tie Fuller House. =.
gw&ssIsl .s3sl ,E.sl nssA ssssA