Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1884-12-06

taken loss of life and disaster would
have been averted, and the cost ola ship
fromySt. Johns:last autumn would have.
beenFbutfa small part.ofthe expense Of
the final relief. j
This bureau endeavored- to place the.
relief party upon the theater Of action
with the best possible ships and equip
ment, at the most timely season, so that
it might be .unhampered except'by the
necessary general plan that both parties
must work upon, and with the fullest
opportunity and freedomsto accomplish
its purpose. So far as$it was possible
this was done.
Lieutenant Greedy carried out his in.
structions literally, as this board had
also. carried out the prearranged plan.
Leaving his station. within the pre-
scribed time, he brought his party,
records and instruments: for final COM
parison to Cape Sabine. in it's retreat
without loss, alla'in- sound health4and
under wholesome discipline.
Landing at Baird inlet on September
29th,' after having been adrift for a
month in. the.icel pack of~Kane's sea
and Smiths sound, Lieutenant Greedy
found himself in a desperate condition;
he had at that time one boat and about
twenty days raations.f s,Uponsthre. return
Of two mem sent to Cape Sabine, he
learned of the loss of the Proteus, and
ascertainedthat some stores were cached
in that vicinity. In like manner he
found n hundred and fifty pounds Of
English meat at>Cape Isabella: Aband.
oning the winter quarters which had
been built in.the meantime he. moved
his party. to Camp Clay, about four miles
northwest of Cape Sabine, on the shore
Of Buchanan strait, where the cache 81
stores from the Proteus had been made.
This point was reached October Is, 1888,
when bat ten days sunlight remained
On examining the stores Lieutenant
Greedy found two hundred and fifty
rations in the English cache at Payer
harbor in bad condition Except the
beef, and two hundred and fifty ration
in good order at the so-called Beebe
cache. In the wreck cache left by
Lieutenant Darlington were found five
hundred rations of bread, about one
hundred .rations of meat, a few canned
vegetables and large quantity of tea,
At Cape Sabine, abandoned by Captain
Pike, was found a quantity of tea and
about three hundred pounds of bread,
Noother provisions of any kind were to
be found. Considerable clothing was
found cached both at Sabine and Camp
Clay, but it had been badly damaged by
foxes and bears.
By November / winter quarters had
been built and all caches and articles
gathered at Camp Clay. A hunting
party vas sent out after seal and
camped in Rice's straits. By November
IL lat which time the sun had been
gone seventeen days) the hunting party
had returned with two small seals, and
the party sent to Isabella for the
English meat there had been brought
back, having been obliged to abandon
the meat and the gin in Baird inlet
owing to the complete disability by
freezing of one of the men. From the
LIST of November the party was put on 9
ration Of about fourteen.ounces, ofwhich
less than FIVE ounces was meat. The
plan adopted by Lieutenant Greedy con
templated this ration until March 1
when the. remaining provisions would
give an increased ration for ten days,
during which he hoped to reach Little
ton island. At that date his party was
still intact, with the exception Of one
who died Of scurvy in January. Lieu
tenant Greedy had, however, learned
early in February that Smiths sounc
was yet open, a condition of affairs
which continued during the entire win
ter and spring. The ration being re
duced, still further, four Of the party
died from insufficient nutriment during
the early part of April, while another
persisted in an attempt to procure the
meat abandoned at Baird inlet the pre-
oeding November. twenty-five foxes
and about sixty birds were Killed during
the winter and spring, which materially
assisted in sustaining life. In the mid
die Of the month of April a:small beal
and young seal were killed, which rem
dered possible a slightly increased ra
ton and prevented further immediate
deaths. About the middle of May the
last food was issued and deaths agar
commenced. From about the middle
of March the ration was supplemented
by minute sea ;shrimps, which were
caught in a tidal crack, and later by
saxafrage and .lichens which, with seal
skin from clothes and sleeping bags
formed the supply of food from the
middle Of May. By June l8 but sever
Of the party remained alive, the res
having persisted by starvation, excep'