The Indianapolis journal., 1884-07-21

which we trust never to see again. Crowded
together in the little of the tent that was left
standing lay Greedy and three of his men in
their sleeping bags their faces black with
dirt Their hollow cheeks and their cleaning
eyes made picture that we will never forget,
and told story that has but few rivals in
the histories of miserable sufferings. The short
glance revealed four men with the hand of death
laid upon them; one, indeed, was gasping his last
feeble breath while food and stimulants were
forced between his teeth. The fate of the other
three was question Of very few hours. The
gale was killing them in their weak and ex-
hausted condition. To move against such a
wind was an impossibility. An able-bodied
healthy man bent to it at times, So there they
lay, waiting for death, unable to cook the pitiful
ration of tanned oil sealskin and Hchens that
they called their meal. Our glance was short
one; work was to be done, and all turned to it
with heart and hands. The poor sufferers were
wrapped in blankets, fed with warm milk beef
tea and crackers, and carried to the boats, A
photograph was taken of the camp despite the
time, IL P. M, and the weather. The
living having been provided for, our next
sad duty lay with the dead The graves
were on the summit of ridge behind
tho camp-ten of them. with their seanty cover
ing of gravel. Each body was carefully un-
earthed and wrapped in blankets, marked to cor
respond with its number on the diagram that
was made and carried to the boats. This task
being finished and the bodies divided between
the boats, the next difficulty was to reach the
ship. 1t seems almost miracle that they got
safely alongside and could discharge their sad
cargoes with the survivors in charge of the sym
pathizing officers and crew, who removed their
rags, bathed and fed them. Their dead comrades
were piled on the dory and covered with tar
paulin. We steamed back to Payer harbor, and
about A. NJ made fast to the ice again in about
the same place we first had the information that
led to the stirring events of the night.
The next day the Bear revisited the camp and
collected every scrap and relic appertaining to it
The cairns were revisited and the records left
BY Greedy, his pendulum, journals, the flag of
the Mares expedition that he proudly brings
back from the place where they left it as mark
ing their highest latitude, his instruments and
their records Our work being completed, we
turned homeward from the places made sad by
SO many former, and triply SO by the recent, dis
asters, They have closed the gates Of Smiths
sound for a time, but expeditions to come--and
they are sure to come-will learn more from the
conduct of the party in command of Lieutenant
Greedy than they could ever know from the
combined experiences of the earliest to the latest
explorers in those regions.
The work that he has accomplished is marvel
GUS. The lessons he will teach arctic explorers
are valuable ones, but how very, very dearly
bought. Aside from the valuable additions to
scientific and geographical knowledge that he
brings us is his testimony to the heroic devotion
Of comrades to one another when evil days had
befallen them. It is tale of self-sacriice, even
to the laying down of ones life for his friend
He and his party are band of heroes; their
doingS the record of heroes The trip down was
an uneventful one. The Alert and Loeb Garry
were met on the evening of the 18th. Upernavik
was reached on July q Disco on July s. and this
port on the morning of the 17th All were sur
prised at our sudden return, imagining us stil IN
Smiths sound or in Melville bay Congratula-
tions, official and personal, have poured in on
us. and we have only our return to New York
before us to complete our work as members of
the Greedy relief expedition of 1884