The sun., 1873-06-20

hoi w be not more thHn IOur miles on. they felt
,Hre she could force her way through the ice to
thelr position. and that In a little while they
sr"i w"u,n 1e aSen on board Ia this they were dis
u'SnPpeared behind the shore. Some time after
ysn warIi Ia as the doc drittcd away. she was again
seen oy some Of the men under the land, with
her s"ilS mrled and apparently at anchor or
made fast to the shore or the ice. IL is most
| !hclN tlht the party ON the ice was seen from
thc i'9laris. rhe hut erected on the ioe the
snip boats the coiors. the elevated signal blan-
ke'. anI The group " nineteen pt rsons standing
lh r'lict against white background. could
sraT nrn ,rlS , Iayf remained unoticcd 1t was nat
,,, ",", v,'a, r uider iprse circumstances the party
| On the ice should have felt
DEEPLY p,4,rrot-rru
~ the failure - the ship To come 70 their rrlpf
ana should ~ a." iiiuc have as 'r,bVd it fu over
unutt.n' u not lnjiGc'"ncc, rather than inability
on the part of her re4ponsihlc commander
HrItnct = It unnatural ,hat thus feeling fostcrcd
! dirin. the weary watches Of their long winter
uion the zee should still remain to affect Ia
r ca,er or icsS GcSrcc tier present judgment IN
| thc subject but II must not he forgotten that
! thcv, like ourselves, wero and are without fuil
! ,hI"rmMlon 90 the actual condition e the F,-
| how far the real dangers II their position were
| UNDERSTOOD and appreciated hy those on board
| absolutely necessary to u correct Judgment, and
must not be assumed as the foundation Of CEN
sure against persons acting under cirrum stances
80 frying and uncertain, who, by reason VI their
| eh''tc. absence, havd no OPPORTUNITY Tor cx-
tianation, Considering the subject dispassion-
| a'ely and remembering that the Polaris had
| been 40 roughly handled by tho Ice tho night
before that both captain and crew Thought She
would be ost, aud attempted the removal If
| ner PROVISIONS aud material to the foe; that
when sho broke adrift and
SWIFT orr BY THE GALE,
her steam pipes, valves and connections were
frozen solid, and that she was for hours with
| out steam, unmanageable amid the floating ice;
that she was still leaking from her broken stem
she went adrift, and that she was left without
single boat u any kind 1t seems most likely
| thN her actual cond tiun was such a. t. impose
| upon her commander the duty of getting her
VIVA the hves and property which remained
safety under the shci.er Of IN NoTth"mberland h1btrhl
| Island, where she was last seen by the party on
| the Noe. lf such were the state of the case.
the first duty Of Capt BuddinGtnn under such
circumstances was " look To his vessel particu-
larry rs he probably believed that the party ON tie
Ice could. by the AID OF the two boats, the kyacs
and the scow in their possession ind their way
! force his way to them. But whaievor nnv have
| .een MS opinion on this, the elements quickly
Polaris had bs-,n sighted Tor sec5nd TIN time ~"
violent gale from the northeast sprane up, the
MtM9er became thick, the ship and the land
I TO tho southwark with these nineteen persons
/ SUI upon IT,. In view II the circumstances de-
! 'ntlcd. It u.s. therefore. our uuattWpus Judgment
tiat this nnal separation from the ship also
/ accidental
rV MONTHS oN THE ICE.
From oct rs. is.2. untu April l. is-3 when
! they were picked up In about So nor'h. these
nineteen men, women. and children re-
dr"Ty winter upon tho ice. In their nr-t
enas2,ors Si,,, AZ, ito 10 reach The land they occu-
/ Nlil Tor n tlfuf NlNtrFit fntfc~ Nf " fNtNg leo.
Bni i'rced inallN TO abandon all hone In this
direction. they rested At last upon o., fue upon
| which the polarS had made fast Aug Il. is,9
IN latitude ~, and from which she broke adrift
| on the night OF Oct. 10 following. The original
extent Of This Noe they estimated AT about i've
! miles ia circumference. snow huts were huit
| hV tho ESquimauN. In which they lived
a%nd % nep, thyr prInvisl8ns. 9l Oi these they
and divided bv means Of weights made from
shot. with rude scales devised 10y Mr. Never.
/ Occasionally during the winter the EsquimaIx
shot a seal and once they killed bear. and thus
renewed their supply ofmeat
T.kING To THE BoATs.
on the ist Of April. finding their icy quarters
and that the current was then setting them 10
boat ,nt5 Open water aud pulled o aow.Sd The the
west in order, II possible. to gain the
packed 10 get their boat through, they we're
| compelled To haul the boat upon II, launching
,ssr ssaln ~ as soon a. iead opened To- the we;t.
month of weary and desperate endeavors. To-
ward the close Of April their proyisions were
almost exhausted, and they were one day hb-
sulutely reduced to less than a biscuit apiece
aud mouthful Of pemican, when bear scent-
| shot, and they thus rescued fr IN starva-
tirn; Revived by this good fortune and strength
ened by this new supply "f fresh meat they
struggled on until the last day Of April, ls,J,
when they were
RESCUED nv THE TIGREss.
Al this time they had the coast ~ Labrador In
sight, dlsian, about forty miles, and were hoping
10 reach Il before tueir provisions were cx-
D
ordinary voyage are si'tn al length by the VII
nesses, and are particularly detailed In the
diaries that some OF the rescued party made
day by day upon the ice and which arc copied
ia tue testimony. After their rescue. although
enieebled by scanty diet and long exposure, aud
mentally depressed bV their Isolated and IN
happy situation, 80 fearfully prolonged and ~
such uncertain Issues, the general health II
these hardy voyagers remained good and when
their trials and anAieties were ended they soon
recained their usual strength At the time II
their separation from the PQlaris. every one be
longing to the expedition was IN good health.
Nineteen were upon the ice huc, and they be-
.icSed that all tho rest were on board the ship.
wnrRE mn roLARis WAS LAST sFrN.
The Pnarls had NOT then repaired her broken
stem and leaked somewhat, hut WAS easily
cleared 10y deck pumps. She had plenty uf pro-
Visions, but not much coal, probahl, about
enough to last through the winter. She was
las seen, apparently AT anchor, under North-
umberland Island where it is most likely she
| remained for winter quarters. Dr. Hayes found
.r,ienen, riiieHs I ~ H9, .Snd sna tne
! Communication with these people could lie
ems ion Tor the Pularis or in the absence oi a.
/ cidcnt or sickness Tor those on board, is enter
taiurd hy an II the rescued persons,
| her way tp the Danish settlement at per-
/ nav,k or Disco without steam If sine get free
! from ice thi- sctson, suppusing her To- Toe in a.
| good CONDITION a. when the rescued party was
/ last ON board, the witness"s differ Va Judgment;
but the safer II not the better opinion Is That
sHB Will MED AsstsTANCE
10 bring her completely and safely out. North
! umberland Island is in latitude =. - north and
a wcll-found ship with "A voyage ~ good fortune
wulld he able to reach II ia the summer and re-
| turn in the autumn,
! II Is possible that :he Poars NAV be able 10
! return without assistance, but a. She remains
| within the Arctic circle, and Is not sound in her
| hull with little fuel and with many precious
/ lives on board, and with the records and collcc-
! tipns uf her Cru e. in their uossrsSiOn, we are
/ duani imuu,lY II the opinion that this . -sibihty
| should not be assumed, and that suitahle Vcs-
! Scl should IA soon "a possible bc procured
| and sent I'm search of her to render her return
~ certain and speedy as may bc. While sulta-
| bile vessel, constructed and htted for
! VOYAGE among the ice, ~ Cctting ready, We be-
! leVe 1t would he well u despatch such naval
| vessel as NAV be available to carry forward
! proper supplies Of coal and provisions tor the
| relief expedition, to inform the authorities of
! Greenland of the condition Of affairs, To gather
Rll possible inform alton from them and from tue
| Esoluimaux OF the coast and II possible by
! means of the latter to send some intiniattnn ot
| speedy relief to the officers and crew Of the
| ice-bound snip.
THE WORK or THE SCIENTIFIC CORPS.
From the testimony IL appears that every pos
| sible opportunity was embraced 10y the mcm-
bers Of the scientific corps Of the expedition to
carry out the Instructions Civ II, the only direc-
tiOn In which there seems To have been pAIi iu
failure being in reference TO the uso Of the pho