The Opelousas courier., 1884-08-23
Under the Polarastar.
The Greedy Expeditions First Years IN the
North.
Pen Pictures by Sergeant Rice, one Of the
Lost Heroes.

A portion of the diary of Sergeant
Rice Of the Greedy party, has been pub
lished in the New York Herald. The
thrilling incidents of their experience
are graphically told. Some extracts
given below.
On August 90, 1881, DR.. Pavy with
Sergeant Rice started on an expedition
to examine the depot of n thousand
rations left OF Lincoln Bay by the Brit
ish expedition of 1856. of the diff
culties of the route Sergeant Rice says (:
"Finding the travelling over the hills
and ravinesmost difficult and wearl-
some, and having passed our first large
bay (St. Patrick), we wendell U way.
to the s~eashore, with the intention OF
reaching the next bay (Wrangeln by
the icefoot. We rounded Cape Beechy,
but, arriving at the Black Cliffs, found
the icefoot completely ground away oy
the moving in the straits. AS the
frowping cliffs descended almost per-
%pendicularly to n great depth in the
water, it was impossible TO pass.
TT vas equally impossible to ascend
the plateau above, and so We were
forced to retrace u steps until q notch
ia the bold coast furnished us with a
way to the lakeland. After a toll
some ascent we reached the top--eie-
waited 1,400 feet-to find a strong
breeze blowing, with drifting, binding
snow, from the north directly in our
faces. The temperature was blow
zero, and our eondenslng bfeaths q
ed to the melting snow on OR faces
formed an icy mass on the boards that
was, from it's weight and temperature
extremely unpleasant. We could do
nothing but break off the long lei
cles. 1t was impossible to stop To eat
.r rest, as no shelter was afforded and
We suffered tnurh of thirst from which
the eating Of snow gave us but little
water MOI yet dried up by the frost
when we reached the water course OF
sWrangell Bay can be understood. W.
had TO cut through "A foot OF Ice to
reach it. This was September J..
Our rest was . very comfortable
tlNt night. The temperature Was low.
On placing our small canteen OF rum
to Il lips it instantly stuck, aud on
removal brought with it some pieces
If skin. This will do TO point a moi
al or adorn i temperance tale. When
about to start or attempting to dress
our feet, our stockings being the only
part we changed, our boots were SO
frozen that we had to sit shiyering on
them some time to make them flexible
enough to go on. Our socks became
vet during the march, and Oh stopping
we would change them, placing the
vet pair, like liver pads, under our
shirts to be dried by the heat of the
body. From Wrangell Bay We took
the icefoot and proceeded very slowly,
as the piled-up hoebergs were difficult
to travel through and over
Further he says:
"Lincoln Bay, on its southern side,
was crammed with heavy hoebergs-
immense masses of palcocrysic ice
that had been forced up by the ter
rible pressure of the large foes moving
out Of straits. We mistook the posi-
tion of the cache in Lincoln Bay, and
finding ourselves beyond it concluded
to keep on to Cape Union and obtain q
view of theice to the northWard from
the better lookout afforded there.
we were treated to q beautiful
sight. The sun was in the northeast
part of the heavens, pouring a food o.
light down on the straights, and, from
its low altitude, throwing deep Rem
brandt 5shades from M side OF the
hummocks and bergs, while the othel
glistened and sparkled in the rosy
light like diamonds. The mountains
of the Greenland coast showed up with
marvellous distinctness, being il
some places distorted by refraotion in
to remarkable prominence. This wa
especially the case with Stephenson
| Island and Cape Britania-the latte
the then highest point known o
| Greenland-which one could see ava,
to the north mirrored in the sky, will
its dark base in its cystal setting 0
Ice. With the exception of a marrow
lane of water that lay like q black rib
bon at our feet and extended To th,
northward along one shore until hid
den by the intervening land, Their
Twas nothing to be seen but ice. Evel
| Onr narrow lane of water was close,
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