New-York tribune., 1886-02-14
with which the snpplies were selected and prepara-


tions for he winterng made. The meagre appro-
praton for the of the colony renders this result
the more surprising. Probably with the exception
of the voyage of the Vega there never was more
carefully planned and brilliantly executed Arctic
enterprise than the colony NJ Lady Franklin Bay
The di. aser which in the end overwhelmed the fort
unes of the party not attributable to any
errors Of Judgment on the part OF Llchtehaht
Greedy, but due to entirely preventaOIe causes
The preparations for the retreat were made in
coed time. The interests Of scientific observation
and geographical exploration were not neglected.
bat the necessity for anticipating the autumn jour
ney which the previous summers experience OF the
condition of the ice had brought wltnin the range
Of probabilities was clearly discerned. As carry rs
January 81 1883. orders were given for the csab-
shment of depot of provisions at Cape Balrd on
tho south side of Archer Fiord and the work was
prosecuted during the next two months. In April
party was sent to Thank God Ilarhor to fetch the
English iceboat left there by Lieutenant Beaumont
In 1876 The launch anl boats were overhauIed ;
) 600 pounds of carefully selected coal was stored ;
the scientific records were duplicated ana securely
sealed in watcrtight boxes; and all other prepaIa
tIons for retreat made with marked dcHnela
ton and orethought weeks before the arrVal Oh tie
relief ship could he reasonably expected Inc "aS
set for the abandonment of The station WIS August
g The notilla consisted of a steam navy-lannch
twcnty-seven feet long and three boats III low
Cane Baird was reached with difficulty on August
TO- Archer Ford not being clear OF Ice. lherc the
retreat was begun with forty days full ratlons ana
additional supplies for over twenty days cached
between that point and Cane C0iinSoh' so that
Lieutenant Greely calculated reaching Cape
Hawks with the same amount of provisions with
which he started Canvas was taken for ell the
boats in view of tie contingency of passing south
word of Littleton Island into the open north water
In consequence of forethought and precision IN at
cumulatiug supplies during the spring the party
was thoroughly equipped for the retreat.
These pages contain the first adequate account oil
the enormous difficulties of the retreat to Cape
Sabine Over three hundred miles were traversed
before Cape Hawks was reached on August 20. | he
boats had had a continuous struggle with the ice
escaping hundred times from most perllOns hlps
One graphic description will suffice to illustrate the
magnitude of the dangers to which they were CON
stantly exTosed and the courage and ingenuity
which the leader displayed:
After the turn of the tide | sent the watch Ser
Qeant Brauardi with the small boat, 10 examine
the toeberg and ascertain our chances OF passing IT,
On his return he reported IL 10 oe Tue heS o tno %
situatiOn and that oalv slight chauGe III the lCS
was necessary permit us to pass to the southWt9
of il into a narrow lead of water which cN" yea
sonthWard to the ueXt cape. second trip rcIcdIei
n mere possibility of passing to the southwark ana
everything being in readiness we moved 10 the noe
berg The passage hoped for was lust tOO small 10
admit of the launch but on further examination we
found that the hoeherg, which seemed whole IRON
shore. had, since grounding spit ana SrPaIatcu'
The narrow cleft presented 20 our view Afforded per
hans the most wonderful passage ever traytrscd ny
any yOvagers. Scarcely Il dUZ n icc' VICE. IL W'S
over a hundred yards long, and It's pfrpenIicutiar t
walls of opaque ice on each S'dr ieiceI I,'ll iI,\ ~
feet skvward above our passing boats recall no
other weird mass which has 50 impressed me Win
the grandeur and scope 0t nature loIcrs anu u
works Its slow growth had probably required a
thousand years before the falling SHOWS or tIc
Arctic skI accumulating flake by lake oh lhe
plateaus of glacial continent, had attllhe" such
weight and thickness aS changed II To lco Later
thr6ugb aueS this huse bulk slowly moving sea
ward broke from its parent mass ID inc rom
Ocean, and in the past years had hoatrd Cou' hWtn
and stranded here. Its million cubic feet OF zee
might well he thought impcnetrahlc ana caplole Oh
infinite resistance yet the stress ana notion oi
countless smaller Hoes had broken IL rs lHoueH II
were bit Of chalk.
The chances of further progress in the boats after
Cave Hawks was passed depended on two lmprob-
able copditions-frst that the temperature should
permanently rise So as to prevent new ice from
forming; and secondly, that strong gales should
keen the foes moving The temperature had fallen
below the freezing point young ice was steadily
growing thicker: and the time for exchanging
the boats FOR slelscs was raodlY approaching
After be,nr beset in the foes they drltcd T. enty
two miles southwark in fifteen days They we're
near the point where the Proteu, hal been wrecked
although they then knew nothing OF the iate OF
the relief ship-about eleven miles from Cooked Hat
Island nea~ Cape sabine. On September 10 the
.tcam-launch, the fuel for which was now quite
cvbau,ted was abandoned and the march across
, the foes 10 the main land was begun with two
boats and all the provisions and baggage a haul Of
between G5Oo aud :. 900 pounds exclusive of tho
.lcdgcs One slcdge was drawn by twelve men and
th. other by four but the smaller ono sp edIly
broke down AMI the second boat was abandoned the
next day. The first day involved march OF ten
miles for all and OF fifteen for some members OF the
party and the actual advance toward Capo SABINE
was only one mile and quarter After travelling
five DAYS they were mile north of the point Of at-
tule where the launch had been left, the driit of
the Aoe having carried them back more rapidly
than they conld advance over tho foes. The strug
Gle was continued under conditions that bailcd all
calculations The Hoe had rotary motion, and an
advance in any direction was liable to pat them at
the end Of hard days work so much farther north
rather than south The best laid plans for reaching
the shore were constantly upset by change Of cur
rent or line of drift as the following striking pas
sage shows:
This direction of the drift changes my intention
of attempting to reach the Greenland coast, which
| shonld now follow Out. had the drift been south
or south-sou:heast rs yesterday and we travel to
| dav toward EesmeIe Land. Cur Hoe continues to
Teyolye in direction aga inst the hands Of watch
! laid on its back and has now turned through 200
/ nf azimnth Our delay has been improved 10y
| nairiug the broken siX-man and tWelyclnan
sIcdges: the latter shows the effect of hauling the
| whaIeboat even two days. We started at ! p. m.
/ and bV nine hours bar Work on the ROAD nave
succeeded in making about two and quarter III les
/ i'm southwest direction. 1t Is to he remarked that
we came into our Old camp from the mort heast and
started ont to the southwest but yet. owing to the
! rotary movement Of the foe, marched out Oh the
same road over the same ice by which we marched
| i'll.
In this way they drifted nov toward Cape Sabine
again toward the Greenland side and finally south
ward to the mouth of Baird Inlet, unable TO reach
the shore and utterly at the mercy of the tides and
gales At this point they were almost mlracu Ously
preserved from drift into Batiin Bay similar t.
that experienced by the Polaris party The de
| 4Ln foe fnrcel fhnln tnkl