, 1885-04-29
RESCUE OF GREELY.
COMMANDER scHLETs ACCOUNT O.
PATHETIC INCIDENT.
A Scene OF Misery and squAIor-Raven-
Gus Hunger of the Rescued Men
Rambling and Incoherent con-
yersation Idle Fanelas.


r. " ~ ~ 1.At AAAH% -
The story is an old one, but, as uthoru-
lively and pathetically told by Commander
Schley, IL Is worth retelling. And so, pass
ing over the discovery Of Greely's records,
which aro given entire, on Brevoort island,
1 will make a condensation OF the narrative.
taking IL up at tho point whore the cutter OF
the r~e-cuing party approa ched the spot
where the provisions OF the wrecked Proteus
had been left:
At last the boat arrived at the site OF the
wreck cache, and the shore was eagerly
scanned. but nothing could be seen. Round
ing the next point, the cutter opened out the
cove beyond There, on the top OF a little
ridge, fifty OF sixty yards above tho i~co-foot,
wa plainly outlined this figure OF a man
Instantly the coxswain caught up the boat
hook and waved his flag. The man on the
ridge hnd seen them, for he stopped, picked
up a signal flag from the rock and waves it
In reply. Thea he was seen coming slowly
and cautiously down the steen rocky slope.
Twice he fell down before he reached the
foot As be approached, still walking
feebly and with difficulty. Colwell hailed
him from the bow OF the boat:
@Who are there leftF' Seven left"
As the cutter struck the ice, Col~el
jumped off and went up 10 him. He was a
ghastly sight. As he spoke. his u~ttsrance
was thick and mumbling, and in his ngita
ton his jaws worked in convulsive witches.
Where are theyr asked Colwell, briefly.
ain the tent" said the man, pointing over
his shoulder, @over the hill-the tent is
down" as Mr.. Greedy alivef' ayes,
Greely's alive" Any other o~ficenf' "No."
Then he repeated absenhy, 1.-THE tent Is
down. who are your Long"
Before this colloquy wRs over, Lowe and
Norman had started up the hill. Hastily
filling his pockets with broad, and taking
the two cans OF pemmican, Colwell told the
coxswain 10 take Long into tho cutter, and
starting after the others with Ash. Hurry
ing on across the intervening hollow, Col
well came up with Lowe and Norman, just
as they were greeting n soldieriylooking
man who had come out from the tent
As Colwell approached, Norman was say
ing to the man, There is the Lieutenant"
And he added 10 Colwell, @This Is Sergt.
himself up to the position of the soldier
and was about TO salute whon Coiwell took
his hand.
AT this moment there was a confused muir
muir within the tent and "A voice said,
"Who's therefp Norman answered. ITS
observation-disclosures who was in tho Proteus. -
This was followed by cries OF "Oh. it's Nor
mani" and a sound like a feeble cheer.
Meanwhile ono OF the relief party, who in
his agitation and excitement was crying like
a child, was down ON his hands and knoes,
trying 10 roll away the stones that hell
down tho Tapping tent cloth. Colwell
called for a knife. cut a slit In
the tent cover, and looked in 1t
was a sight OF horror. = Directly
opposite, on his hands and knees. was a
dark man with a long matted board, in a
dirty and tRttered dressing-gown with a
little red skull cap on his head, and brilliant,
staring eye As ColweI appeared, he
rai,ed himself a little, and put on a pair Of
Eyeglasses.
who are you'll" asked ColwelL The man
made no answer, staring at him vacantly.
"Who are your again. One OF the mon
spoke VI, That's the major-Mat Greedy"
Colwell crawled in and took him by tho
hand, saying to him. "Greely, is this your
Yes said Greedy, in a faint, broken voice,
%hesifatIng and shufhing with his words,
"Nes-asvon OF us left-here we Are-dying
like mon. Did what l came 10 do-beat
the best record Thon he fell bach OK
hAusted
The scene. as Colwell looked around. was
one Of misery and squalor. Thcrc was no
food lett In the tent but two or three cans OF
n thin, repulsive-looking jelly, made by
boiling strips out from the sealskin clothing.
Except Council and Ellison, the feeblcst Of
tue party was Lieut.. Greedy. His strength
wa Filling fast He could not stand up
right. mil for some tins no had not left his
sletping-bag.
As soon as Colwell understood the conli-
ticn OF affairs, no sent Chief Engineer Lowe
back 10 the cutter to put Off TO the Bear with
Long, 10 report what had happened. AMI
bring OH the others with the surgeon and
stimulants, Fredericks and Bierderbick
presently got up and came out. Colwell
ave them, as we'll as Greedy and Ellison, a
little. OF the biscuit he had in his pocket,
which they munched slowly and deliber-
Ately. Then no gave Them another bit,
while Norman opened ono of tho cans OF
lemmican. Scraping Off u little with a
Aiitie Coiwell led them slowly by turns IL
was u pitinble sight They could not stand
up and had dropped down on their knees,
and held out their hands begging for moro.
After they had each been fed twice,
they were told that they had ha |
enough, that they could not eat moro then
without danger; but their hunger had now
come back with full force, aud they begged
piteously 10 be helped again, protesting tnnt
1t could do them no harm Colwei1 was
wisely deaf to their entreaties ard throw
away tho can. When Greely found that he
was refused, he took out n can of the boiled
sealskin, which had been carefully hus-
banae1, and which he i'd he had u right to
eat, as it was his own. This was taken
away from him, but while Colwell was Mt
work trying to raise the tent, some one got
the half emptied can OF pemmican, and by
tho timo II was discovered the party had
scooped out and eaten its contentR
While they were waiting for the return Of
the boat, Colwell and the Ice masts,s did
their best to cheer them up by telling them
that relief was at hand, and that the others
would soon arrive. They couii not realizs
II and refused to belief it "a they were
humored, and by way OF taking up their
thoughts, colwell told them something of
what had Leon going ON in tho world during
their three years OF exile. Curiously enough,
there WAS much that they knew already. IL
turned out that among the stores from the
Prutens we're two boxes OF lemons, and the
ffnit had been wrapp up In scraps OF Eng
lish newspapes-"thoA lemons which your
dear wife put up for u, as one of them said 10
Colwell, in q moment OF wandering fancy.
The lattor could only dlsclaim tho imaginary
obligation to an imaginary person. but the
impression had already faded
With most Of them the rescue hardly made
a revulsion OF feeling. Except the com
nlanier, they took IL as n matter Of course.
There was a little, a very little excitement,
and they were perhaps more THAI ordinarily
laxative, but in general they did not seem
TO rise or fall much above or below the level
Of ordinary good spiritA Probably OF tough
hber to legin with, their year OF privntion
and bopslessness had blunted or deadened
their recollection OF the world, as they had
known 1t, and the feelings TO which the
recollection gave rise. Notwithstanding bis
interview with Colwell, Greely's first quos-
ton when the party from the Bear came up,
was-"whether they were not Englishmenf'
ami upon Icing told that they were hi
countrynen. be aid, II am No glad to sel
you