St. Paul daily globe., 1895-07-23
DEATH IN GREENLAND.
Eighteen Skeletons Found in an
Ice-BounI Cave.

Ice-Bound Cave.
Philadelphia Record.
The skeletons of eighteen men, ap-
parently members of an Inflated ex-
ploring party, were discovered in a
small cave in wild and desolate part
of the southwest of Greenland by Capt.
Hans Anderson, of the bark Serene,
which arrived here yesterday from
Ivigtut. Who the men were and from
whence they came, are questions that
the future may or may not determine.
The superficial examination made by
Capt. Anderson of the grewsome skele-
tons, and Of the cave in which they
were found, developed no clew to their
identity. The Danish government,
however, which was at once notified
OF the discovery, has dispatched a war
ship to the scene for the purpose of
making a thorough investigation
Capt Anderson, who plies his vessel
between this port and Ivigtut in the
kryolite trade, arrived here yesterday
and told this strange story:
ON my arrival at Ivigtut with the
Serene on this last trip" said he, 'T
was requested by the Danish governor
at Julianeshaab to take command of
the small steamer Fox, which had been
the crew of the Danish auxiliary
steamer White Bear. The White Bear
had been missing for some time, and
grave fears were entertained for the
safety of the crew. She was thought
to nave been lost off the southwest
coast of Greenland, and in that direc-
ton | was instructed to pursue my
search. The command of the Fox was
1ntrusted to me because of my knowl-
edge of the coast.
I'VE sailed away from Julianeshaab
on Aprl! 1S, and making our way slowly
along the coast, we came, few days
later, upon a wild and desolate stretch
of shore near Cape DeSolation Our
close inspection of the shore line here
revealed what appeared to be a likely
believed at that time-that such a fate
had befallen the men of the White
Bear. 1t was a small cave, lying under
the perpendicular front of a low cliff.
The ice was very thick there but we
reached the cave with but little diff,
Guilty.
"On the stone face of the cliff, direct
ly above the low entrance to the cave,
hastily scratched with a blunt instru-
ment. The inscription, when trans
lated into English, read: Here eigh-
teen men are dying
I'VE entered the cave, and saw a
sight such as 1 hope it shall never be
my fate to see again. The skeletons
of men covered with but a few rags OF
clothes, and lying in a litter of cook
ing utensils, weapons and other arti-
cles such as an exploring party usually
carries, We're stretched throughout the
cave in various grotesque postures.
We made no effort to disturb the skel-
etons, except to count them and to
make a search for something that
might establish their identity. We
found nothing. although we spared no
pains in the effort. We left the cave
practically as we found it, and con,
tinued our search for the White Bear.
1.-The latter we eventually found en-
camped upon the coast only a few miles
from Julianeshaab. Their vessel had
been crushed in the ice on April s.
and the men had escaped to the shore
They were unable to proceed further
because of the high mountains and
ice which surrounded them on the one
side and the ocean on the other. Ar,
irving at Julianeshaab, We gave infor-
nation of our discovery, and the Dan
ish government has sent a war ship
to the scene.'