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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #54019 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54019)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Farthest North, by Charles Lanman
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Farthest North
- The Life and Explorations of Lieutenant James Booth
- Lockwood, of the Greely Arctic Expedition
-
-Author: Charles Lanman
-
-Release Date: January 18, 2017 [EBook #54019]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FARTHEST NORTH ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Marcia Brooks, Stephen Hutcheson, and the
-online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at
-http://www.pgdpcanada.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: J. B. Lockwood U S A]
-
-
-
-
- FARTHEST NORTH;
-
-
- OR,
-
- _THE LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS OF LIEUTENANT JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD, OF THE
- GREELY ARCTIC EXPEDITION_.
-
-
- BY
- CHARLES LANMAN.
-
-
- NEW YORK:
- D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
- 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.
- 1885.
-
-
-_When we think of the adventure of our times; when we recall the great
-Arctic explorations that have called forth an endurance and daring which
-have been unsurpassed in other days; . . . what is there that is more
-romantic than they are in any history of any age?_
-
- _From a Thanksgiving Sermon by_
- Rev. Phillips Brooks.
-
-
- Copyright, 1885,
- By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
-
-
-
-
- PREFACE.
-
-
-It is believed that this book, with its true but none the less stirring
-adventures, will be of much interest to the general public, as well as
-gratifying to the many warm friends of Lieutenant Lockwood. It will
-likewise correct any erroneous impressions which may have arisen from
-the publication of garbled extracts from the official journals kept by
-the different members of the Greely party and, by order of the War
-Department, laid open to the public. By this order, Lockwood’s journal
-and those of others became public property, and hence any reference to
-them in advance of their official publication is allowable.
-
-The few pages devoted to the early life can not be expected to
-especially interest the general public, but will gratify Lieutenant
-Lockwood’s friends. They are here produced to give them permanency, and
-to show his sterling character.
-
-No attempt is here made to give a history of the Expedition, and only so
-much of Lockwood’s journal is produced as shows his connection
-therewith. The voyage to Lady Franklin Bay is given more in detail, as
-it presents a lively picture of an interesting people not much known,
-and as it exhibits the buoyant spirits with which he entered upon the
-work, before dissensions in camp had checked them, though without
-marring his faithfulness and energy. The important part he had in the
-enterprise, his zeal, energy, and loyalty to his chief and to the cause,
-all are fully set forth, and will be more clearly seen when the more
-elaborate history of the Expedition shall be published by Lieutenant
-Greely, as will shortly be done.
-
-Although the journal has been freely used, its language and style have
-not been closely followed, except in those parts quoted which refer to
-Lockwood’s sentiments and feelings. The deep pathos of these could be
-expressed as well in no other words.
-
-His journal is very full and complete on the perilous boat-voyage to
-Cape Sabine, and in the heart-rending struggle for life in that
-ever-memorable hut where he and so many others laid down their lives.
-This has purposely been reduced to a few pages, giving the story only so
-far as Lieutenant Lockwood was connected with it. The same, may be said
-as to the home-life at the station on Lady Franklin Bay.
-
-The portrait of Lieutenant Lockwood is from an excellent photograph
-taken a short time before he started for St. John’s, and two of the
-woodcuts are from photographs by Sergeant Rice. “Arctic Sledging” was
-made up from a description and a sketch by Sergeant Brainard, and
-“Farthest North” from a sketch by Lieutenant Lockwood.
-
-The map is a reproduction of that published by the London Geographical
-Society, which is an exact transcript of maps drawn by Lieutenant
-Lockwood and submitted by him to Lieutenant Greely with reports of
-sledge-journeys. This map gives the names agreed upon by Lieutenant
-Greely and Lieutenant Lockwood, and are those referred to in the journal
-and in this book. It is much to be regretted that many of these names
-differ from those on the official map published by authority to the
-world. The names first given commemorate events connected with those
-wonderful sledge-journeys, as will be seen in the text; and, if a few
-unimportant lakes and points were named after friends and relatives,
-this might have been conceded to one who accomplished so much, and that
-much so well. The map of the London Geographical Society will probably
-live, and the other perish, as it should.
-
-Captain Markham, Royal Navy, soon after the return of the Greely
-Expedition, declared, in articles published in a leading English
-magazine, that Lockwood never got beyond Cape Britannia, and that he
-mistook Cape May for that cape, etc. It was thought that, when the
-history of this sledge-journey was better known, Markham would be glad
-to withdraw this ungenerous aspersion. This is done so far as to admit
-that Lockwood did reach 83° 24′ north latitude, 44° 5′ west longitude;
-but it is now said, in the article “Polar Regions,” of the new
-Encyclopædia Britannica, written by the captain’s brother, that all this
-region had previously been explored and exhaustively examined by the
-English expedition of 1875-’76.
-
-This is very remarkable, in view of the fact that Lockwood Island, which
-was reached by Lockwood, is one hundred geographical miles east and
-forty miles north of Cape Britannia which Beaumont saw at the distance
-of twenty miles, but never reached.
-
-In the same article are expressed sentiments in accord with those
-contained in this book, viz.: “If the simple and necessary precaution
-had been taken of stationing a depot-ship in a good harbor at the
-entrance of Smith’s Sound, in annual communication with Greely on one
-side and with America on the other, there would have been no disaster.
-If precautions proved to be necessary by experience are taken, there is
-no undue risk or danger in polar enterprises. There is no question as to
-the value and importance of polar discovery, and as to the principles on
-which expeditions should be sent out. Their objects are exploration for
-scientific purposes and the encouragement of maritime enterprise.”
-
-
-
-
- CONTENTS.
-
-
- PAGE
- I. Early Life 7
- II. Army-Life in Arizona 20
- III. Army-Life in Nebraska 31
- IV. Army-Life in Kansas 43
- V. Army-Life in Indian Territory and Colorado 52
- VI. Preparing for the Arctic Regions 58
- VII. From Newfoundland to Lady Franklin Bay 64
- VIII. House-building and Local Explorations 87
- IX. Preliminary Sledge Expeditions and Life at the Station 111
- X. “The Arctic Moon” 132
- XI. Expedition to Lockwood Island 139
- XII. From Lockwood Island to Lady Franklin Bay 178
- XIII. Waiting and Watching 194
- XIV. Resuming a Desperate Struggle 229
- XV. Across Grinnell Land 249
- XVI. Preparing for Home 279
- XVII. Homeward Bound 286
- XVIII. The Final Catastrophe 296
- XIX. The Woeful Return 317
-
-
-
-
- ILLUSTRATIONS.
-
-
- Portrait of James B. Lockwood.
- Lockwood, Natives, and Kyack at Disco, Greenland.
- Sledging over the Arctic Floe.
- Taking Observations at Lockwood Island.
- Lockwood’s Corner.
- Map showing Lockwood’s Explorations.
-
-
-
-
- FARTHEST NORTH.
-
-
-
-
- I.
- EARLY LIFE.
-
-
-In the following pages, it is proposed to record the personal history of
-an American hero whose fortune it was, at the sacrifice of his life, to
-visit and explore the utmost limit in the Arctic regions ever attained
-by human skill and enterprise. Aside from the information communicated
-to me by his family, the materials placed in my hands consist of his
-private correspondence and various journals which he faithfully kept
-while serving his country on the Western frontiers, as well as in the
-inhospitable domain of the North. As the poet Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote
-about a kindred character—
-
- “He lived, as mothers wish their sons to live,”
-
-and, on the score of fidelity to duty,
-
- “He died, as fathers wish their sons to die,”
-
-leaving a name that will long be honored in every civilized land as that
-of a martyr in the cause of geographical exploration.
-
-Many of those connected with the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland,
-before the civil war, will remember a playful and mischievous boy, whose
-ready smile and cheerful ways beguiled them in their hours of
-relaxation. Others who were at that school after the war will remember
-the same boy, grown into a youth of sixteen years, rugged in aspect,
-devoted to manly sports, and assiduous in all his duties. It is the
-story of his brief but eventful life to which this volume is devoted,
-written for the information of his friends and all those who admire true
-heroism and rare abilities when allied to sufferings for the public
-weal.
-
-James Booth Lockwood was the second son and third child of General Henry
-H. Lockwood and Anna Booth Lockwood. He was born at the Naval Academy,
-Annapolis, on the 9th of October, 1852, at which time and place his
-father—a Professor of Mathematics in the Navy—instructed the midshipmen
-in the military branches, as he had done for many years before. Both his
-parents were from the State of Delaware, and came from the best stock of
-that State; and, as his father taught his students “how to shoot,” and
-prepare themselves for the conflicts of life, it was quite natural that
-the son should have acquired a love of noble deeds and adventure.
-
-Like many boys, he had his narrow escapes from death, one of which
-occurred in April, 1860, when, having fallen into the river from the
-dock, he was rescued in an insensible condition, and restored to life
-with great difficulty. This escape must have been recalled by him with
-special emotion in after-years amid his struggles with the ice of
-Smith’s Sound.
-
-His innate love of fun had been one of his characteristics from
-childhood, nor was it subdued even when recovering from the accident
-which nearly cost him his life; for, while lying in his bed, he peered
-into his father’s face with a quizzical smile, and remarked, “I was
-drowned, but not drowned dead.”
-
-When the Naval Academy was occupied by a general of the army, in 1861,
-and the students and professors were transferred to Newport, Rhode
-Island, young Lockwood accompanied his father and family, and was placed
-at a public school in that place. After a brief residence in Newport,
-his father, being a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, was
-called upon to command a volunteer regiment of Delaware troops, and
-having been subsequently commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers,
-he was placed in charge of the Eastern Shore counties of Virginia and
-returned to the region of hostilities, making his headquarters at
-Drummondtown, in Accomac County. In this quaint and quiet place, and
-while a mere stripling of ten years, young Lockwood displayed his love
-of adventure and active life by forming a company of all the colored
-boys in the village, erecting earthworks in a vacant lot, and, all armed
-with corn-stalks and broom-handles, meeting a company of white boys in
-mimic war—noisy, if not dangerous to life or limb. The vanity of
-personal strife, however, soon becoming irksome to his mind, he turned
-his attention to horsemanship, and explored the surrounding shores of
-Accomac on a Chincoteague pony belonging to his father. He also spent
-many quiet hours conversing about horses and their habits with the
-soldiers in the garrison, with whom he was a special favorite. After a
-while, his father was transferred to the command of troops at Harper’s
-Ferry, and there a new field of adventure occupied the attention of the
-incipient hero. He was foremost in climbing the neighboring
-mountain-heights and scaling precipices, and always on the lookout for
-adventure along the waters of the Potomac. Afterward, when living with
-his family near the city of Baltimore, he displayed his activity and
-energy in other ways. When neighboring boys were wont to trespass on his
-father’s grounds and fruit-trees, he was quite as ready to defend his
-home as he had been in Accomac to maintain the national struggle then
-rending the land. And here it was that he often accompanied his father
-on his rounds among the military works near Baltimore, and always
-attracted the attention of the troops by his skill in riding. But these
-experiences were not deemed satisfactory for molding the character of a
-boy, and then it was that his father sent him to a boarding-school at
-Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, kept by a Mr. Schwartz, a good scholar and
-strict disciplinarian. Of course, like those of all boys, his letters
-teemed with complaints. He was _very homesick_—a mere child separated
-from all he loved. In one letter he spoke of praying to God to make him
-satisfied. In after-years, and when suffering all the horrors of the
-Arctic, his mother’s prayer was that his childhood’s star might again
-arise, and lead his sorrowing heart to that comfort found only above.
-His chief grievances were a Dutch dish regularly given to the boys,
-called _scrapul_, and the discipline of _powers_ administered to those
-who failed in their studies. In this latter punishment, the delinquent
-was required to raise to the fortieth, fiftieth, or one hundredth power
-any number given him. However distasteful to him at the time, he seems
-to have changed his mind upon the subjects of food and discipline
-afterward; for he became, after his return home, a strong advocate of
-_scrapul_ as a physical, and of “powers” as a mental diet. Returning, in
-1866, with his father to Annapolis, he was sent to St. John’s College in
-that place, and at that time in a flourishing condition, under the able
-administration of James C. Welling, now the accomplished President of
-Columbian College. Although his mental abilities were acknowledged as
-superior, he preferred action to books, and his success there was not
-satisfactory to his father. Others known to be his mental inferiors took
-a higher stand. He, however, read some Latin, and made considerable
-progress in mathematics. Here we come to a new illustration of his
-character. During his residence within the walls of the Academy, a
-species of tyranny existed among the sons of naval officers of his own
-age with whom he associated, which he could not endure. Rank in the
-father was supposed to give rank or prestige to the son. This theory
-young Lockwood was unwilling to acknowledge, and the consequence was
-that he soon found himself beset by those whom he opposed. But then, as
-always with the free and brave, right prevailed, and the aggressors were
-sent to the wall, while the fearless victor very soon became the peer of
-his associates. The situation of the Academy offering peculiar
-facilities for boating, fishing, swimming, etc., the professor’s son
-became an expert in all these exercises, making pets of his sail and row
-boats, as he had done with the ponies of Chincoteague. Many of the
-Annapolis students, now high officers in the navy, have spoken of his
-frolicsome pranks at that time within the grounds of the Academy—for
-example, how he mimicked the strut of the drum-major, how he teased the
-watchman by hiding among the trees and bushes, personating an intruder
-on the grounds, and how he alarmed the servant-maids and the children by
-appearing suddenly before them like a phantom. He was more fond of
-reading than of study, and among his favorite books were those of De
-Foe, Mayne Reid, and others of that class. To what extent he was
-familiar with the histories of John Ledyard and Joseph R. Bellot can not
-be stated, but there is a striking similarity in their characters, and
-indeed it was the fate of the latter, like Lockwood, to lose his life in
-the Arctic regions. They form a trio of remarkable explorers, whose fame
-will be perennial, but it was the fate of the last one mentioned to
-reach the highest success. During the latter part of his residence at
-Annapolis, he spent many of his spare hours on his father’s farm. By way
-of encouragement, his father assigned to him a patch of ground for his
-special cultivation, with fertilizers and the use of a team. To the
-surprise of all, his success seemed amazing, and his crops were good and
-profitable. With the money thus secured he purchased for himself a watch
-and a sporting gun. He had a special fondness for dogs, and exerted over
-them great influence. His favorite in this direction was a short-legged,
-long-bodied, common rat-terrier. In the purity of this dog’s blood, he
-was a decided believer, which faith he maintained with many hot
-arguments, and exemplified by teaching the animal a great variety of
-tricks. Indeed, the high degree of training to which he brought the dog
-Jack was remarkable. He was always quiet and positive toward the animal,
-and Jack gave his commands a serious and implicit obedience. One of the
-feats performed by the dog was to carry a candlestick with a lighted
-candle wherever ordered to do so. Another was to this effect: the boy
-would place a small scrap of paper on the parlor wall at a height which
-Jack was hardly able to reach. Jack’s attention would then be called to
-the paper, and the dog and master would retire up-stairs. Some time
-afterward, Jack, in obedience to a mere word, would proceed to the
-parlor, and, to the amusement of those congregated there, launch his
-body at the paper until he finally secured it, and then would carry it
-to his master. Although this dog had a special dislike for fire, he
-would, under orders, pull chestnuts out of the hot coals, even if it
-took him an hour to perform the task; and it is also related of him that
-on one occasion, when he slipped his muzzle on the Academy grounds, he
-picked it up and took it to his master. When the lad’s father was
-ordered to the National Observatory, the family removing to Washington,
-the pet dog accompanied them, and the intimacy between the dog and his
-master was unabated. They often rambled through the streets together,
-and it was during one of their walks along Pennsylvania Avenue that the
-dog disappeared, and was never recovered by his owner, whose grief was
-most sincere and manifest. He published an advertisement, and, true to
-his regard for the departed, he spoke of it as a pure-blooded animal;
-which statement was probably the reason why the dog was never returned,
-as no stranger could have believed in the alleged pedigree of such an
-ungainly creature.
-
-After young Lockwood’s father and family had become settled in
-Washington, it was decided that he should return to Annapolis and take
-charge of the farm until some more suitable or congenial employment
-should come into view. In looking over the home letters which he wrote
-at that time, I find a few developments of character which are worthy of
-mention. For example, in February, 1872, he writes as follows:
-
-“I find Annapolis the same as ever. It would hardly do for Rip Van
-Winkle to go to sleep here, for, when he awoke, he would find no change,
-not even by death.”
-
-After speaking in the same letter of a man going to purchase implements
-in Baltimore, he says: “I think it would pay one capable of judging of
-such things, or one endowed with ‘Lockwood Common Sense,’” this allusion
-being to an imaginary manual which the children had attributed to their
-father. The quiet humor of the youthful farmer is manifested in another
-letter after this fashion: “I have been suffering all the week from the
-effects of a poison most probably communicated from some vine. It
-manifests itself pretty much as Job’s troubles showed themselves, and no
-position of body except standing affords relief. I haven’t yet got down
-into the ashes. If tartar emetic produced these eruptions, they might be
-attributed in some way to the evil agency of Mrs. W——.”
-
-The person here alluded to was the one who became notorious for the
-alleged poisoning of General W. S. Ketcham, in Baltimore. Young Lockwood
-had met her at a boarding-house in Annapolis after her release from
-prison, and was agreeably impressed by her conversation and manners. On
-a subsequent occasion, when visiting his family in Washington, and some
-severe remark had been made against the lady in question, he demanded
-that the company present should not abuse an absent friend in his
-presence. Being of a sensitive nature in regard to the weather, as is
-proved by several of his Annapolis letters, and by such passages as the
-one now to be quoted, it seems surprising that he should ever have
-decided to visit the icy regions of the North.
-
-“This gloomy weather,” he says, “is by no means calculated to elate
-one’s spirits, but, on the contrary, makes everything appear in its most
-dreary and desolate light, especially on a farm like this, and, though
-the spring will bring more work and attention, yet I shall hail its
-appearance with joy. I must confess that I can not prevent a feeling of
-loneliness from coming over me, particularly in the daytime, for at
-night my lamp and open wood-fire make things more cheerful, or rather
-less dreary.”
-
-As these letters were written from a farm, and by a mere boy, they are
-chiefly devoted to asking for advice as to how he should manage affairs,
-and to reporting the condition of the crops; but, in their way, they
-prove that there was much solid manhood in the lad, and that he looked
-upon life as something substantial, and not as a kind of dreamland.
-
-On one occasion, when visiting his home, he noticed that one of his
-sisters was manifesting what he thought an unreasonable excitement about
-the advent of cockroaches in the kitchen, whereupon he drew the figure
-of a vessel under full sail, beneath which he wrote the following: “The
-brig Anna Baby, bound to the north pole for a load of cockroaches.”
-
-On another occasion, after consulting the family copy of Webster’s
-Dictionary, he wrote upon one of the fly-leaves, opposite the
-indorsements of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other distinguished men,
-these words: “I regard this dictionary as very good, especially when you
-can not get any other.”
-
-These incidents, though unimportant, help us to appreciate the character
-of the critical and independent youth.
-
-The following example of the boy’s ingenuity is also worth mentioning:
-
-In 1870 a brother-in-law gave him a small, cheap clock, about four and a
-half inches in diameter, which he at once adapted to the purpose of
-waking himself in the morning. After joining the slats of his bed
-together with battens, he sawed them through in the middle and hinged
-the parts. That half of the arrangement which was at the head of the bed
-was supported only by a single prop. A minute collar of lead was
-supported by one of the hands of the clock. At the proper time the lead
-slipped from the hand automatically, and, in falling, set in motion a
-system of levers which were connected with the prop by a string. Thus,
-with unfailing regularity, the prop was jerked from its place, and the
-young occupant of the bed was pitched headlong to the floor among his
-pillows and bolster. When he tired of this apparatus, it became his
-custom at night to hitch a string around his foot, the end of the string
-being passed out of the window and allowed to trail down to the
-kitchen-door. At a definite time in the morning, previously ordered, the
-colored cook pulled the string until she received intimation of a
-successful result.
-
-In the hope of finding more congenial employment, young Lockwood now
-fixed his mind on engineer work in connection with railroads. He joined
-a corps on the Texas and Pacific Railroad line, and went to the
-northeastern corner of the State of Texas, where, for four months, he
-drove pegs and cut down bushes in the virgin wilderness, which
-employment was only terminated by the failure of the company to go on
-with its enterprise. What with the rough people with whom he was
-compelled to associate, the hard fare at the rude taverns, and a severe
-attack of sickness, he had a very disagreeable experience, which was
-enhanced by the non-payment of wages by the company, and by the
-temporary loss of the spare money furnished by his father, which was
-taken from him by the rascality of a pretended friend, an employé of the
-railroad company. By careful financial engineering, he managed to leave
-the wilderness of Texas, went to Shreveport, and thence to New Orleans,
-where he took a steamer for Cincinnati, and on this trip he met with one
-small bit of good fortune. Owing to his limited means he contracted with
-the captain of the steamer that he should be carried to Cincinnati, O.,
-for a specific sum, all his meals to be included in the passage-money.
-It so happened, however, that the steamer was detained by floating ice
-for three weeks, but this caused no detriment to the traveler’s pocket,
-as time was not “nominated in the bond.” About eleven years after that
-experience, the same traveler was fighting his way through the ice of
-the Arctic seas and enduring the horrors of Cape Sabine, finding it
-difficult to secure necessary rations at any price or of any quality.
-
-On reaching home, he began the study of bookkeeping with a view to the
-civil service. With others, he was examined for a position in the
-Treasury Department. He passed the examination with credit, and received
-a mark much above the number required for passing, but, when the
-office-mark was thrown in, as was then the custom, his average was
-reduced, and those who had personal influence and understood the “tricks
-of the trade” became the successful applicants.
-
-
-
-
- II.
- ARMY-LIFE IN ARIZONA.
-
-
-After finding that farming and railroad engineering were not exactly the
-employments he had fancied them to be, young Lockwood resumed his
-studies under the direction of his father. Not long afterward, however,
-he was seized with the idea of entering the army, and, at the very
-outset of this venture for a useful life, he was met with a blending of
-good and bad fortune. Securing the influence of many friends, he made a
-successful appeal to the President and the War Department. He received
-orders for an examination before the proper tribunal, and, out of
-thirty-eight young men who were examined in Washington, he passed No. 1.
-He also had a higher mark than any of those examined in other places at
-the same time; hence he was entitled to the highest commission as second
-lieutenant, and at one time it was resolved to give it to him; but, as
-the examinations were conducted in different places and before different
-boards, it was decided to settle the rank of the applicants by lot, and
-Lockwood’s number was forty, instead of one to which he was justly
-entitled. He was, however, promised a crack regiment, and hence became
-second lieutenant in the Twenty-third Infantry, then commanded by two
-officers who had gained distinction in the late war—Colonel Jefferson C.
-Davis and Lieutenant-Colonel George Crook. He soon after joined the
-recruiting station at New York for instruction.
-
-The few letters that Lieutenant Lockwood wrote home from New York
-contained very graphic pictures of what he there observed. His reception
-at the recruiting-station was most cordial, one of the first things done
-there by the recruiting-officers, to his surprise, being to bring forth
-a demijohn of whisky; but from this hospitality he begged to be excused,
-only one or two other young men following his example.
-
-After a service of several weeks at the recruiting-station in New York,
-he conducted recruits to the Territory of Arizona by the way of Panama.
-The party left New York in November, 1873, and, on reaching San
-Francisco, went by steamer to Fort Yuma, near the mouth of the Colorado
-River, and thence marched over the rugged and dusty plains of Arizona to
-McDowell Post, a distance of more than one hundred and fifty miles in
-the interior.
-
-From the few letters that he wrote respecting his trip from New York to
-San Francisco, we gather the following items:
-
-“Aspinwall is a dirty, sandy town, of no architectural pretensions. I
-cannot better describe it than by asking you to imagine Lockwoodville[1]
-with a lot of palm- and cocoanut-trees growing in the vacant lots,
-plenty of the sand and filth aforesaid, all the darkies of Annapolis
-sauntering around, plenty of children and many dogs, pigs, etc. However,
-I must do Aspinwall justice—it has a neat little church, a marble
-monument erected to some of its chief benefactors, and, what I should
-call, a remarkably fine statue of Columbus, in bronze. It has an
-enormous trade passing through it, from one ocean to the other, and is
-really a place of great importance to the mercantile world.”
-
-“We reached Panama between four and five in the afternoon, after a very
-interesting ride across the country, and were immediately embarked for
-the Constitution—which lay two miles from shore—so that I had no
-opportunity of seeing Panama, except from the water. The ship left
-during the evening, and ever since has been ‘plowing the angry main’
-toward San Francisco, excepting when stopping at some of the towns along
-the coast. We have seen several of these, and they are all of one type,
-that of Aspinwall, though on a much smaller scale. Some that I saw had
-not half a dozen wooden houses, but consisted merely of reed-huts
-covered with straw. One of these—Mazatlan—claims to have twenty thousand
-inhabitants, but does not appear to have more than one tenth of that
-number. All the tropical fruits were abundant at these places, and could
-be purchased for a trifle. The Constitution is a side-wheeler of four
-thousand tons, and has little motion, and, while sea-sickers are
-abundant, I am not one of them. I have gained ten pounds, and now weigh
-one hundred and sixty-one.”
-
-Lockwood’s stay in San Francisco was too brief to afford him much
-opportunity for observation, but here is what he said of the Chinese: “I
-visited Chinatown this evening, and saw the Celestials in all their
-glory. I saw many strange and amusing sights in their stores and shops
-and along their streets, as they are very slow in adopting civilized
-customs. I send along with this some Chinese pictures which I purchased.
-I am very much pleased with San Francisco, and shall leave it with many
-regrets. A walk through the Chinese quarter is like a visit to some
-Chinese city on the other side of the Pacific.”
-
-The few events of his trip along the coast to Yuma were to this effect:
-Soon after leaving the Golden Gate, he experienced a storm that was far
-from pacific in its character, far worse than any he had witnessed since
-leaving New York; he visited Magdalena Bay, which impressed him as a
-barren, miserable place, chiefly noted for its want of houses, and yet
-of some importance as the shipping port of a dye-wood found in that
-region; he also stopped at Carmen Island, where large quantities of salt
-were found in the dry bed of a lake, and at Cape St. Lucas, but brought
-away no favorable impressions from any of these remote places. With Yuma
-City he was better pleased, describing its houses as small, one-story
-affairs, built of adobe, more Mexican than American in character, and
-its streets as far more dusty than those of Washington City; and the
-mountains surrounding the city as very imposing. The Colorado reminded
-him of the Red River—the channel winding and running between great
-mud-flats and islands, all constantly changing, and abounding in many
-kinds of water-fowl. He was interested in the Indian inhabitants, whom
-he pitied for their poverty and degradation; occasionally seeing a
-number of squaws reclining like quadrupeds on the mud-flats or in front
-of their tiny oval huts.
-
-The sojourn of Lieutenant Lockwood in Arizona lasted into the summer of
-1874, and from the letters which he wrote home from Post McDowell may be
-gathered some interesting particulars, illustrating his habits of close
-observation in regard to men and events.
-
-His journey from Fort Yuma to Camp McDowell was full of interest and was
-greatly enjoyed. He had for companions two brother officers and three
-ladies; traveled by ambulance, making marches of only about fifteen
-miles; camped out every night, Lockwood himself sleeping on the ground
-outside. As the country was very desolate and barren, they traveled
-generally along the valley of the Gila, but their last march was over
-desert land forty-five miles wide. They saw many relics along the route,
-mounds, ruins, and immense ditches for irrigation. One immense pile of
-rocks, called the Painted Rocks, was entirely covered with pictures of
-lizards, Indians, beasts, and birds—supposed to represent a great battle
-in which the Apaches conquered the Maricopas. There were also along the
-road graves of men murdered by the Indians. One grave, near Gila Bend,
-was of a man named Lumley, a station-keeper, murdered by two
-Mexicans—his successor exhibited a knife, used by one of the murderers,
-which had been found, and he pointed out the spot where Judge Lynch had
-disposed of the only criminal that happened to be captured. While the
-travelers did not spend any money at hotels, they were obliged to pay
-from twenty to thirty dollars for being ferried across the Gila and Salt
-Rivers at different points.
-
-In one of his letters, written to his sister after the rainy season, and
-soon after his arrival at Camp McDowell, young Lockwood says: “I wish
-you could see the pretty flowers around here; they are principally
-yellow and red, and each kind grows by itself. They grow so close
-together that the ground is covered as with a carpet. To the west of
-this post there is a wide plain covered with these flowers. There is
-also a species of cactus called the Suwarrow, which grows fifteen or
-twenty feet high—a sort of tree without branches, but covered with
-thorns; the outside of this tree is of a green color and nearly as soft
-as young asparagus, but inside it has a frame of wood. These are all
-over the plain, in fact all over Arizona. I often walk out here after
-dinner with a large dog that belongs to one of the officers, and start
-up the rabbits—great big Jack-rabbits, as they are called—as large as a
-small dog. They can run very fast, faster than any dog except a hound.
-Among other curiosities about here are rattlesnakes and lizards—the
-lizards as common as flies; also crows as big as hens and almost as
-tame. The post is entirely surrounded by mountains.” By way of contrast
-to this pleasing prospect, in another letter he gives the particulars of
-the murder of two men by the Indians within twelve miles of the
-garrison, their bodies having been fearfully mutilated. “I am still in
-the land of the finite and material,” he writes, “and the Apaches have
-not yet disturbed the arrangement of my back hair; in short, I am alive
-and kicking.”
-
-On the 14th of May, Lockwood writes that “there has been nothing new at
-the post except the arrival of Lieutenant Schuyler, Fifth Cavalry. He
-has been out on a scout for several months past, dropping in at various
-posts now and then. He reports that he came upon the Apaches southeast
-of here, killed twelve and took fourteen prisoners. He is accompanied by
-Dr. Corbasier and a party of thirty-one soldiers and eighty-one Indian
-scouts. These scouts are composed of Apache-Mojave, Tonto-Apaches, and
-other tribes, closely allied to the Apaches proper. It seems strange
-that they are thus willing to join the enemy in exterminating their
-brethren; but such is their nature. They are hardly superior to the
-beasts, except in shape, and even there the line of demarkation is not
-very distinct. The Pimos, to the number of one hundred or more, were
-here about a week ago, on their way to punish the Apaches for stealing
-some stock from them. When they returned, they reported the killing of
-quite a number of their foes—some sixteen or more—and taking many
-prisoners. Schuyler’s party confirm the report; they came across the
-camp of the Apaches, and the doctor said he counted a large number of
-slain. The Pimos surprised the Apaches when asleep and almost
-exterminated them. They were armed with war-clubs, and of course mangled
-their bodies horribly. When found their heads were all beaten in, and
-their bodies stuck full of arrows and partially burned. The doctor says
-it was the most sickening sight he ever beheld. The Apache bands, off
-their reservations, are fast becoming exterminated, over a thousand
-having been killed during the last winter. General Crook will not allow
-them to return to their reservations unless they bring the heads of
-several of the ringleaders in the late outbreak.”
-
-In another place, after alluding to the extravagant accounts published
-about Arizona, he says: “One would suppose, from reading the pamphlet I
-send you, that Arizona is a fine agricultural country—which is absurd;
-and that it contains many flourishing cities and towns, whereas even the
-river-bottoms require irrigation, and the ‘cities’ are merely the nuclei
-of towns.”
-
-On one occasion, after alluding to his enjoyment of the newspapers sent
-him from home, and to the early transfer of his regiment, he says: “It
-would probably have been removed this spring but for the financial panic
-and other commercial disasters. I suppose if the rest of the year goes
-by prosperously, and nothing occurs to prolong the gingerly, penny-wise,
-pound-foolish policy of Congress called economy (?), that the
-Twenty-third will probably be removed next spring or fall.” And again,
-he continues: “Grant appears to have obtained great credit by his veto
-of the Inflation Bill. How Congress could pass a bill which seems to be
-unacceptable and repugnant to the whole people, I can not understand.”
-
-Alluding a second time to the _pleasing_ characteristics of frontier
-life, he tells his father that “a party of Indian scouts arrived here
-yesterday from Schuyler’s command. They brought the news that the
-lieutenant had _jumped_ the Indians at Four Peaks—a high mountain, forty
-miles off—killed eighteen and captured six. The party brought in a
-wounded scout, shot through the head, who is now in the hospital. He was
-the only one wounded in the fight, or rather slaughter, for these
-Indians rarely fight a party of any size. I suppose these Arizona tribes
-are the most degraded, cowardly, and despicable savages in the country.
-Schuyler, as I understand, generally sweeps a breadth of country fifty
-miles across, by means of flanking-parties on the right and left, and
-has been quite successful.”
-
-In speaking of his duties at the post, he says: “I am officer-of-the-day
-every other day; I mount the guard every morning, attend all roll-calls,
-accompany the captain in his inspection of quarters every morning, and
-afterward recite tactics. I also am present with him at company-drill
-every evening, command the company at Sunday morning inspection, sit on
-boards of survey and perform other irregular duties.”
-
-After announcing the arrival of the paymaster at the post, and alluding
-to expenses, he says: “Servants in this country are paid enormously. The
-post-trader pays his Chinese cook thirty dollars per month, and has paid
-as high as one hundred dollars. Officers in Arizona are compelled from
-necessity to employ soldiers in this capacity, though contrary to the
-regulations.”
-
-In one of his letters, Lieutenant Lockwood gives his opinion about some
-of his father’s landed property, and then goes on after this fashion:
-“The old farm has additional charms for me now, after living in Arizona,
-and I have come to think that there are many worse places. Does distance
-lend enchantment to the view? or what is it? I often long after some of
-the delicious peaches and other fruit that the much-abused farm produces
-in such abundance. However, if you can dispose of the farm as you
-suggest, it will, no doubt, be for the best, as the Lockwood family have
-become so _high-toned_ that I am afraid they will never _stoop_ (?) to
-live on a farm and become _grangers_.”
-
-In one of his letters written about this date, he makes the following
-remark respecting his education at Annapolis: “I don’t think I care
-about being present at the meeting of the alumni of my _Alma Mater_, or,
-what she would be more pleased with, contributing anything in the way of
-money. Enough has been thrown away in teaching me what has never been of
-any use. However, the _old woman_ has my good wishes.”
-
-In another letter, after speaking of an entertainment he had attended,
-he said: “I don’t know that I should have enjoyed it, but for the
-presence of a very pretty Spanish girl with whom I fell in love; she
-danced charmingly, but as she could not speak a word of English, nor I a
-word of Spanish, our conversation was somewhat limited.”
-
-On the 4th of July when arrangements were commenced for removing the
-Twenty-third Regiment to Yuma, the lieutenant thus touches upon the
-national anniversary: “I have celebrated the day by being very busy
-writing up the proceedings of a board of survey, and have a like job on
-my hands for to-morrow; indeed, I shall be fully employed now till we
-leave. Some of the men, however, have been otherwise employed, viz., in
-parading before the guard-house with logs of wood on their backs, as the
-reward of a drunken frolic. Our march to Fort Yuma will doubtless be
-very disagreeable, and for two weeks we shall have dust and heat
-together with the fatigue of travel; but, on the other hand, the daily
-march will not be more than fifteen miles, and as we shall be well
-provided, I can’t say that I look forward to it with much dread. The
-wife of our captain is even now interesting herself in the culinary
-arrangements, so I presume the _vitals_ will be good.” From the time of
-his uttering this amusing pun until the following September, the letters
-of young Lockwood give us no incidents of special interest, and we now
-follow him into the State of Nebraska, his regiment having been assigned
-to the favorite post of Omaha.
-
-
-
-
- III.
- ARMY-LIFE IN NEBRASKA.
-
-
-Having entered upon duty at the barracks of Omaha, he seems to have made
-himself especially useful there, while enjoying some of the comforts of
-civilization, including good society. On the 25th of September, he wrote
-that he had been busy for a week as the recorder of a court-martial. “We
-settled nine cases, and, while we now stand adjourned _sine die_, I
-suppose the court will soon be reconvened to try half a dozen more men
-against whom charges have been preferred. There have been, since my
-arrival here, as many as sixty men in the guard-house, and
-courts-martial are the order of the day. I have to attend drills, etc.,
-every day, and hence my leisure and opportunities for visiting the town
-have been limited. However, I did go last night to a concert in town
-given for the benefit of the grasshopper sufferers, several of these
-sufferers from the country being present. You can not realize what a
-nuisance these insects are in this country. I have not yet seen them in
-any numbers, or the effects of their ravages, but I am told they
-sometimes actually stop the railway-trains. The incredible number of
-bed-bugs in this country is another curious fact. I sleep so soundly
-that they do not disturb me. They infest every house at the post, and
-they are also numerous in the city, the fences between here and there
-being painted in many places, ‘Go to Smith’s for the great bed-bug
-buster.’” He became a favorite in the refined society of Omaha, at that
-time on the confines of civilization, but appearing to him like a bit of
-New York city cut off and set down in the wilderness, where, only a few
-years before, the buffalo ranged in his native freedom. During his
-residence at Omaha, young Lockwood was on the most friendly terms with
-all his fellow-officers, with one exception. After giving his father a
-very manly account of that trouble, he writes a paragraph about himself
-in these words: “With regard to myself, I find this army-life about what
-I expected. It has its pleasures and its crosses. I should prefer the
-cavalry to the infantry, and am sorry I did not apply for that arm of
-the service. I should like to remain in the army two or three years
-longer, I think, and yet, with a good opening, might do better in civil
-life. Promotion is very slow, and the accumulation of anything is not
-easy. These, of course, are rude impressions and but half formed, but,
-as you ask for impressions, I feel bound to give them just as they are.
-I have not been in the army long enough to rise, nor have I had the
-opportunity to gain any particular reputation, but suppose mine is as
-good as the average—that is, I think I have displayed as much aptitude
-for my profession as is generally exhibited by men of average ability,
-for of such I regard myself—perhaps below the average. I hope this
-peroration will answer your inquiries, and prove satisfactory in that
-respect. Excuse the necessary egotism. I will thankfully receive any
-advice or corrections which the reading of this, or your acquaintance
-with my characteristics, may suggest. I feel as though I had written a
-lot of foolishness; if you think so, please excuse.”
-
-To the writer of this personal history, it seems as if such sentiments
-as the above could come only from a young man endowed with the highest
-instincts of ambition, honor, and true manhood, and can not but be
-considered, with others of like character, as a suitable passport into
-the land of Odin and the glories of Valhalla.
-
-During his stay at Omaha, Lieutenant Lockwood was detailed by General
-Ord, the commanding officer, to visit those counties of Nebraska where
-grasshoppers had destroyed the crops, for the purpose of determining to
-whom contributions which had been sent to the general should be given.
-In this journey of several hundred miles, made in the coldest weather,
-he visited the several county towns, met the citizens, and afterward
-laid before the general such testimony as to the destitute, that the
-bounty was distributed to the satisfaction of all. While on this duty,
-he traveled ninety miles in twenty-four hours. The county people with
-whom he conducted business, he designated as “Grasshoppers.” He greatly
-enjoyed the prairie scenery through which he passed, especially the
-valley of the Blue.
-
-On the approach of Christmas at Omaha, our young friend had an attack of
-chills and fever, which sent him to his bed. After deploring that he
-could not perform his duties on the pending court-martial, he gives us
-this holiday information: “Yesterday was Christmas, and I am glad that
-the day comes but once a year. With a large party I was occupied until
-late in the afternoon making the rounds of the many houses here at the
-post. In the evening, I ate a fine dinner at General Ord’s, and on top
-of that, danced in the parlor until eleven or twelve o’clock, and, as a
-consequence, am coming on as officer of the guard to-day with a most
-gorgeous headache. So much for Christmas. I have received two or three
-presents, but have made none myself, from want of funds. I just now
-heard a tremendous crash, and, on going out, found a fine lunch, sent by
-Mrs. Ord, scattered on the ground, and in the midst of the _débris_ of
-broken glass and china, the unfortunate bearer, who had slipped and
-fallen on the ice in front of the door. I was not particularly sorry on
-my own account, as I could not have eaten the good things ‘anyhow.’ Upon
-the whole, Christmas has passed away as it usually does, pleasantly,
-though at the expense of many unfortunate turkeys. I am sorry I could
-not send home any presents, my pecuniary affairs being in a straitened
-condition. I should like very much to be at home about this time. I
-often wish I could hear Lidie and Anna sing, although I suppose I would
-find the girls, including Julia and Mary, much changed.”
-
-Remembering young Lockwood’s remarks about whisky-drinking in New York,
-the following statement is worth quoting: “Most of the ladies at the
-post received visitors on New-Year’s-day, either singly or in groups.
-One marked feature of the day was the general absence of liquor, its
-place being supplied by coffee, chocolate, and other refreshments of a
-more solid and less stimulating character. I noticed the same thing in
-town, or rather that at those places where I saw liquor, the ladies were
-less urgent than is usually the case in pressing it upon the gentlemen.
-However, there is less drinking at this post than at any other I have
-seen, as large as it is. Although, with few exceptions, all drink here,
-it is done quietly at home and without excess.”
-
-As our young friend had narrowly escaped with his life from drowning at
-Annapolis, so did he from the pranks of an unruly horse at the Omaha
-Barracks. He was about mounting the horse for a ride, when the animal
-started on the run before he could get into the saddle, when he was
-thrown forward upon his head. The trouble was owing to a defect in the
-bridle. In accounting for his escape, he remarked that his thick head
-was what saved his life. True to his native pluck, he tackled the same
-horse a number of times afterward, until the animal—a special
-favorite—was subdued.
-
-In the month of June, 1875, it would seem as if something like
-homesickness was weighing down his spirits, for he then began to write
-about employment in civil life. Not that he disliked the army, but he
-longed for some business that would enable him to make a little money.
-He thought he could supply a sufficient amount of energy to prosecute a
-commercial venture. He felt that there was a great difference between
-the roads that lead to wealth and to military glory. If his father
-should chance to see an opening that might give him a fortune in a few
-days at the expense of a few hundred dollars or some hard work, he
-wanted to be promptly notified. He broached these business ideas at that
-time merely for the sake of having a subject for discussion when
-permitted to visit his home.
-
-The life at the Omaha garrison, during the summer of 1875, was
-comfortable but monotonous. The faithfulness with which the young
-officer corresponded with his parents is eminently characteristic of a
-dutiful son. When not writing about his surroundings and daily duties,
-or sketching the character of his associates, he ventured to discuss
-business matters with his father, frequently volunteering a bit of
-advice. He often alluded to the Annapolis farm and to people and events
-connected with Georgetown, now a part of Washington City, where he
-expected the family to remain permanently. On every subject discussed,
-he manifested a clear head, and enlivened his more serious talk with an
-occasional joke, for which he seemed to have a fondness. In expressing
-his opinions on men and things, it seemed impossible for him to hesitate
-or equivocate; he always went directly to the point, and, though
-charitable, he could not refrain from looking out for the demands of
-justice, as, for example, when alluding to the death of a man who had
-been untrue to himself and friends, he said “to die was about the best
-thing he could do.” As to his jokes, they were not confined to his
-private letters, as will be shown by one of them practiced upon the post
-trader during a dull period in the garrison. The trader in question, a
-young fellow, had removed the balls from the pistol of one of his
-clerks, with the intention of playing a ghostly trick upon him that
-night. He told Lockwood and another friend of his intention, and they
-determined to turn the tables upon the trader. They notified the clerk,
-and at midnight the amateur ghost rose from his bed, enveloped himself
-in a white sheet, and stole softly into the room of the _unsuspecting_
-clerk. Just then an improvised noise was made outside the door, when the
-clerk seemingly awoke with an exclamation of terror at seeing the ghost.
-The report of the pistol was duly followed by the return of the ball
-held in hand, _à la ghost_, but immediately after, the poor ghost found
-himself completely drenched with a bucket of water, which had been
-coolly set aside for that purpose. At this unexpected turn of affairs,
-the trader fled in the greatest consternation, leaving his “trade-mark”
-behind, and, as he passed out of the door, received a second pail of
-water from one of his ghostly companions. The result was that it took a
-long time for him to dry his saturated skin, and a much longer for his
-title of Mr. Ghost to be lost by the garrison boys. Not long after the
-above incident, this personage found that there was not “the ghost of a
-chance” of his continuing in business, as he became insolvent and had to
-retire. It would appear that while many of these military merchants on
-the frontiers have a chance to make fortunes, those who are located near
-a city like Omaha find it difficult to make both ends meet in their
-business affairs.
-
-On reading the proceedings of Congress during the winter of 1875, he
-writes to his father as follows: “Congress seems to be looking around
-for some scape-goat on which to pile the odium of the millions
-legislated away, and, as usual, pitches on the army. It seems to be the
-opinion here, however, that no reduction will take place this winter. If
-Congressmen consulted occasionally others than the staff-officers living
-in Washington with regard to military affairs, they might find out the
-true whereabout of the tremendous rat-hole which swallows up annually
-the sum of thirty-four millions of dollars. It does not go to support
-the army proper, but to support that enormous, overgrown, expensive
-adjunct of the army, the staff, which, created merely for the
-administration of the _army_, now masters that which it was intended to
-subserve, and has become superior to it in rank and influence, and in
-everything that rank and influence can bring. But Congress seems to be
-blind to the fact that expenditures are credited to the army, under the
-army appropriation bill, which have no legitimate connection with it,
-and which would still be required if no army existed. Why is it that the
-army is the perpetual foot-ball of these demagogues? Is it thus, at
-every session, to be bantered about by those who do not understand the
-requirements of the country in this respect? Is not the causing of this
-periodical uncertainty respecting his fate the most pernicious thing
-that Congress can do to an officer? O consistency, thou art a jewel! How
-is it that the navy and other branches of the public service are not
-subject to this constant tinkering? But I am not in Congress, and had
-better subside.” The assertions here made can not be controverted, and,
-coming from a young man who had but recently passed his majority, prove
-him to be the possessor of very substantial abilities. He also expressed
-decided opinions in regard to various noted officials charged with
-improper conduct in Washington at the time alluded to, all of which have
-been sustained by subsequent developments.
-
-Remembering what he said about the drinking customs of Omaha, on
-New-Year’s-day, 1875, it is pleasant to have him record the fact, on the
-2d of January, 1876, that “the most noticeable feature during the
-previous day, in society, was the entire absence, at most houses, of any
-intoxicating liquors, and that he did not see a case of drunkenness
-during the entire day—a thing very rare even in the cities of the East.”
-On a subsequent occasion, he mentions the fact that, when one of his
-sergeants had been drinking to excess, he put him in arrest, but
-released him the next day, after warning him of the consequences of a
-repetition of the offense, and “preaching him a sermon on the evils of
-intoxication, moral, mental, and physical.” On one occasion, when his
-father had asked how he spent his leisure time in the barracks, he
-replied that he read, so as to combine pleasure with profit, played on
-his flute, and studied the art of short-hand, which had long been a
-hobby with him, and was to be in the future an important accomplishment.
-In an effort to read Draper’s “Intellectual Development of Europe,” he
-could only manage about one half of the work, and to counteract its
-dullness resorted to a novel, “The Wandering Jew.” As he was frequently
-called upon to act as recorder of the military court, he found his
-knowledge of stenography very useful and very much of a relaxation, and,
-on receiving a letter from one of his sisters which was good but not
-very plainly written, he said that he had been able to make it out by
-means of his skill in shorthand writing. As to his studies, he had
-formed a regular plan for prosecuting them, but was constantly
-interrupted by extra official duties. Among other things, he devoted
-himself to the German language, and subsequently to French, and attained
-considerable proficiency. An idea of his habits of industry may be
-gathered from what he wrote to his father, when the General was placed
-on the retired list of the navy: “So you are retired this month. You
-ought to open an office, or do something to occupy your mind. Every one
-needs something in the way of business or duty. You will soon get tired
-of reading continuously.” On the approach of spring, and with the
-expectation of obtaining a leave of absence during the coming summer, he
-resumed a discussion with his father about leaving the army for civil
-employment. He had entered it well posted in regard to its
-disadvantages, and chiefly for the sake of having something to do. He
-had now become more deeply impressed than before that promotion was so
-slow, that his prospects of increased rank and pay offered no
-inducements to any young man of energy and industry, qualities which he
-certainly possessed. He was not then ready for decisive action, but he
-was determined to support himself, and would, therefore, be on the
-lookout for advantageous prospects in some other line of employment. In
-one of his letters, after commenting upon the school which two of his
-sisters were attending, he gives us this bit of experience: “I am a
-school-teacher myself; my pupils, the non-commissioned officers of the
-company. They waste the midnight oil, however, only in _boning_ the
-tactics. I go down and dilate and expatiate very profoundly on the
-reasons and logic of this and that. This is a pleasant school to have;
-the authority and influence of the officer have their full weight in the
-ordinary school-room as elsewhere in the army.” In May, 1876, after
-giving an account of a proposed demonstration, under General Crook,
-against the Indians on the Yellowstone, he thus relieves his mind:
-“Would that I belonged to the cavalry! I like motion, action, and
-variety. To be sure, I would rather be here (in Omaha) than where the
-other companies are, but still would rather be in the field than here.”
-In June, 1876, the monotony of his life was relieved by an order to take
-some convicts to the State prison near Fort Leavenworth, which he
-described as the largest post in the country, containing the post
-proper, the department headquarters, and the military prison. The State
-prison is about six miles from the town. “Here,” he writes, “are sent
-all the enlisted men who are dishonorably discharged, convicted of
-theft, or other not purely military offenses. The inclosure is an
-immense yard, surrounded by a high stone wall—the building, which is on
-one side, having an appearance somewhat like the Smithsonian
-Institution. In the inclosure are various other buildings, each one used
-as a workshop for some trade, almost all the common trades being
-represented. The prisoners, numbering about five hundred, are together
-in the daytime, but not at night, and are not allowed to talk with each
-other. It was from this prison that the best features of the new
-military prison were obtained, the board of officers on the management
-of the prison at Fort Leavenworth having decided it to be the best one
-to imitate.”
-
-In the autumn of 1876, when he was granted a leave of absence to visit
-his parents, they found him in personal appearance wonderfully improved
-and developed, the boy of 1873 having become a handsome and accomplished
-gentleman. He was not slow, as may be supposed, in making his way to
-Philadelphia to visit the Centennial Exposition, which he greatly
-enjoyed.
-
-
-
-
- IV.
- ARMY-LIFE IN KANSAS.
-
-
-During Lieutenant Lockwood’s absence on leave, his regiment was
-transferred to Fort Leavenworth, and there we find him early in 1877,
-and for about two years thereafter. Of course, the garrison life of an
-officer, in times of peace, is somewhat monotonous; but the letters
-which the lieutenant wrote from this station contain some passages which
-are interesting and illustrate his character, as will be seen in the
-following pages. Here it should be stated that, during his sojourn at
-Fort Leavenworth, he made many pleasant acquaintances, which ripened
-into friendship; among them being the widow of an officer, with whom he
-boarded for some time, and whose friendship he particularly valued.
-
-At a time when there was quite a rage at the garrison for private
-theatricals, one of the superior officers took the liberty, without
-previous consultation, of putting Lockwood on the list of performers,
-whereupon he declined the honor, as he thought Nature never intended him
-for a star. In speaking of a little difficulty between two of his
-friends, he manifests his love of fun by stating that one of them had
-denied the allegation and defied the alligator. When commenting upon
-some disagreeable March weather, he said, “I don’t think the ground-hog
-has seen his shadow, and hence the latter part of the month ought to be
-pleasant.” After a remark on the proficiency he was making in the study
-of French, he quietly continues, “There are many here who speak it ‘_à
-l’Américaine_,’ as if they thought that ‘the chief end of man.’”
-
-As if never satisfied with his acquirements, he writes in one of his
-letters as follows: “My latest hobby is telegraphing. The signal officer
-of the department has loaned me a small battery and an instrument. We
-have put up the wires and are progressing well. Telegraphy, like
-phonography, is easy to transmit after some little practice; but it is
-difficult to recognize the sounds as they come over the wire, and it
-requires as much practice as it does to recognize the phonographic
-characters. I have the instrument on the table before me, and can not
-fail to gain some proficiency at any rate.”
-
-In July, 1877, when the strikers and rioters were making trouble in St.
-Louis, Mo., Lieutenant Lockwood’s company and five others were ordered
-to that city on duty. After their arrival, they waited in daily
-expectation of mowing down the mob, but there was little fighting, as
-the police and militia were found to be amply sufficient to subdue all
-disturbance. He was greatly pleased with the city and military quarters
-of St. Louis, and felt that he would like to remain there on permanent
-duty. The feature which pleased him more than any other at St. Louis was
-a private garden of about fifty acres, exquisitely planned, and
-containing the rarest and most beautiful flowers and trees. The floral
-display, there, he thought superior to that at the Centennial
-Exposition. The owner, a bachelor named Shaw, nearly eighty years of
-age, and a man of enormous wealth, paid out yearly in expenses
-twenty-five thousand dollars. At the garden residence of this
-millionaire, young Lockwood and a friend were hospitably entertained—a
-wonderful contrast to the accommodations at a beer-saloon, near the
-arsenal gate, where the army officers were obliged to take their meals
-while in the city. Altogether the trip was pleasant, but too expensive
-for men with limited means. On their return to Fort Leavenworth from the
-Eden-like garden of St. Louis, they were informed of Indian troubles in
-Montana, and startled by a rumor that they must soon be off upon a hunt
-for Indians—illustrating the vicissitudes of army-life.
-
-It was about this time that a specimen of American royalty visited Fort
-Leavenworth with his daughter, to whom young Lockwood had an opportunity
-of being polite. This was a great cattle-man from Texas, who was said to
-have fenced in a grazing-farm of a million of acres, and who numbered
-his cattle by tens of thousands. His name was King, and his title in all
-the West was the “Cattle King of Texas.” The father and daughter were
-much interested in an inspection of the fort, where they were hospitably
-entertained. From that time onward for several months, the dullness of
-garrison-life was only relieved by parties, dinners, and theatrical
-amusements in the city, by the presence of an encampment of Indians near
-the post, and by attendance at a grand reception and ball given at
-Kansas City by the Governor of the State. The letters written by young
-Lockwood during all this period are elaborate and full of interest to
-his parents, but not enlivened with any incidents of public interest.
-The garrison courts seem to have demanded very much of his attention,
-because of his skill in taking down testimony by short-hand, and he was
-frequently compelled to devote many of his sleeping hours to the duty of
-writing out his notes.
-
-While going from the fort into town one day, he witnessed what he called
-an awful spectacle—three little boys in a state of intoxication. This
-recalled the fate of one of his former companions in the East, who had
-become a drunkard, and in a letter to his father he recorded the
-following: “Liquor is certainly a terrible curse; one constantly sees
-illustrations of this in the army. You rather startled me in a recent
-letter by telling me you had taken the pledge. Had you departed from
-your abstemious habits in this respect? was my first thought, but I was
-at once relieved by seeing that your allusion was to something else. A
-rule that I have had for a long time and seldom depart from, is not to
-drink before sunset and never to do so in a saloon. It is rather
-superfluous in me to have any such rules, as it is very seldom that I
-have a desire to touch spirituous drinks, and then I partake only for
-the sake of not appearing to be rude in social matters.”
-
-On one occasion, after describing a splendid dinner which he had
-attended, he branches off upon his own experiences in that line, stating
-that he had been caterer for the “Bachelors’ Club” during the current
-month, and playing housekeeper for the first time in his life. He was
-striving to feed the mess well and to reduce expenses, the individual
-assessments amounting to twenty-four dollars.
-
-“We have a good deal of fun,” he says, “at the mess; among other ways,
-by a resolution of the officers that I shall keep a record of the puns,
-jokes, profane expressions, etc. Any one indulging in these is put back
-or set forward on a regular motion and vote by the members, and any one
-getting a record of fifteen has to send to the store for a supply of
-cigars. One of the mess, having the bad habit of saying, ‘O Lord!’ and
-‘Damn it!’ when excited, gets a great many bad marks, and is made
-unhappy. The standard of wit being very high, one seldom ‘goes ahead.’”
-
-In May, 1878, when it was doubtful what Congress would do about reducing
-the army, and Lieutenant Lockwood thought that he might decide to leave
-the service, he discussed with his father the question of future
-employment. He thought favorably of a position in some telegraph
-company, thereby proving that, in all his studies and leisurely
-occupations, he was practical, and no visionary. Another idea that he
-had was that he might play Cincinnatus, and again go upon the farm. He
-also thought of a position in connection with the Signal Service as one
-that would suit him should he, from any cause, be compelled to leave the
-army; and this suggestion, taken in connection with his subsequent
-career, is notable. He went so far, indeed, as to ask his father about
-the practicability of securing such a position in that corps, and
-desired especially to know all about the necessary qualifications.
-
-On one occasion, after alluding to the possibility of his being
-transferred for duty to some other place, he says that it might be a
-good thing for him, as he could not remain at Leavenworth always, and
-yet he dreaded to be sent to some “far-distant and isolated post.” When
-he wrote those words, how little did he imagine that he would eventually
-close his earthly career in a land of supreme desolation within the
-Arctic Circle!
-
-Subsequently—July, 1878—he resumed with special earnestness the
-consideration of being detailed for duty in the Signal Service, and,
-with his father’s approbation, made the proper application. He thought
-the proposed transfer would be of benefit to him in many ways, and if he
-failed to make it so, he would very quickly be ordered back to his
-regiment.
-
-In September he was ordered to St. Louis for the purpose of conducting
-some recruits westward, and for a short time it was uncertain whether he
-would have to go to Texas or the Territory of Wyoming, whereby were
-shown the uncertainties which attend life in the army. He took the
-recruits to Fort Laramie, and, on his way, was in danger of being
-embroiled with the Cheyenne Indians under Sitting Bull, but returned in
-safety, by way of his old camp at Omaha, to his company at Fort
-Leavenworth. During another trip, which he soon after took with his
-company, he saw in western Kansas many Russian immigrants. They were
-poor, and had settled at great distances along the streams to be near
-water, not always easily found in these regions. They knew nothing of
-the recent outbreak of the Indians, and, indeed, many of them had never
-seen an Indian. The lieutenant also stumbled upon a colony of Swedes,
-and at one place saw three women, whose husbands had been killed by the
-Indians, and who were weeping bitterly in their distress. While his
-company was on the march he generally kept at the head of the column,
-thereby receiving the title of Pedestrian of the Command. Much of the
-country over which they traveled was monotonous in the extreme—wide
-stretches of prairie reaching to the far horizon. Antelopes and
-Jack-rabbits were frequently seen, and sometimes were fired at without
-success. But, to his mind, the most wonderful features about the country
-were the countless tracks and bones of the buffalo, while not a living
-animal was seen. One of his guides informed him that in former times he
-had killed three hundred in a single day, so that it was no wonder that
-they were now extinct.
-
-In a letter to one of his sisters, in October, he speaks of his return
-from this chase after Cheyenne Indians, and then goes on to mention some
-amusing incidents that had occurred at the post, and gives her this bit
-of artistic advice: “I hope you will profit by your talent for painting,
-_not bury it in the ground, like the foolish steward_. Painting is a
-great and very popular accomplishment; there is none perhaps more so.”
-No matter what happened in or about the garrison, he seemed always ready
-with his common-sense opinions referring to passing events. For example,
-after alluding to the burning of a stable, with thirteen mules, when
-some of them that had been released ran into the fire from fright, he
-thus proceeds: “I was talking ‘over the wire’ with one of the men on our
-telegraph line, and what he said is no doubt true, and shows the
-short-sightedness of the Government. He said that he and many of the
-other soldiers had damaged or lost their clothes, and that if soldiers
-were reimbursed for their losses on such occasions, they would work with
-much more _vim_ and energy, and that he heard one man say that he would
-not lose his new pantaloons for all the mules in the stable. Of course,
-in the case of a private house on fire, I believe the enlisted men would
-risk everything; but in cases of this kind, where Government property
-only is concerned, this feeling has its existence. There is, too, some
-reason for this feeling; for, no matter how hard a soldier or officer
-may work at a fire to save public property, the Government will not
-reward him even by the restitution of his clothes. Nothing short of an
-act of Congress would be authority for such an issue.”
-
-That the heart of this young man was as pure as his mind was bright, may
-be seen by reading the following remarks concerning the death of a
-little niece: “I learn with deep regret the death of poor little Agnes,
-and sympathize heartily with Lidie and her husband in their affliction,
-the depth of which none but a parent can know. It should be a
-consolation, however, that the disease carried the little one away in
-all the innocence of childhood, before her mother’s love had been
-intensified with years, and her own intelligence had taught her to love
-and cling to life. The sad news reached me on the day of the funeral of
-the little daughter of a brother lieutenant. The little baby seemed very
-amiable in life, and after death lost none of her sweetness. I sat up
-with the remains during the night before the funeral.” Alas! when this
-noble-hearted young man gave up his own life, his only night-watchers
-were the stars and the icy mountains of the far-distant North!
-
-In December, 1878, the Twenty-third Regiment received orders for service
-in the Indian Territory, and a few weeks afterward entered upon its line
-of march. In the mean time, the lieutenant made himself useful in
-performing the duties of an engineer for the sanitary benefit of the
-Leavenworth garrison. After some appropriate studying, he soon got the
-knack of running the levels and measuring angles with the theodolite. He
-found these new duties interesting, preferring the field-work to the
-making of the necessary profiles and other drawings, involving
-measurements to the ¹/₁₀₀₀ of an inch—rather a confining employment.
-
-
-
-
- V.
- ARMY-LIFE IN INDIAN TERRITORY AND COLORADO.
-
-
-From the spring of 1879 until the winter of 1881, Lieutenant Lockwood
-spent a part of his time in the Indian Territory, but chiefly in the
-State of Colorado. The first duty of his company was to establish a
-cantonment on the Canadian River. On their way thither, they made a halt
-at Fort Supply, where the country was sparsely settled, and where the
-rolling prairies seemed desolate and interminable. Those of his regiment
-who had been ordered to Supply, he found in miserable quarters—log-huts
-covered inside with canvas—old, cold, and forlorn in appearance inside
-and out, and yet the canvas walls thus used and useless were furnished
-at a cost of hundreds of dollars. After leaving that place for the
-Canadian River, he was made the engineer officer, and, with a view of
-making a map of the route and surrounding country, devoted his time to
-the science of topography, being rewarded by the hearty approbation of
-the officer in command.
-
-He had counted upon having some good hunting on this route for turkeys
-and other game, but was disappointed, owing to the fact, as was
-supposed, that several hundred Indians had passed through the country
-some weeks before and had gobbled up everything, including a host of
-_gobblers_. On reaching their destination, the company went into camp
-under a bluff on the Canadian River, where they were to remain until
-buildings could be erected in the immediate vicinity. At the conclusion
-of his first letter written home from this camp, he says, “I am lying at
-full length on a buffalo-robe with my paper on ‘Daniel Deronda,’ and the
-position is not comfortable.”
-
-In June, Lieutenant Lockwood was sent with a small party to Post Reno,
-where troubles were apprehended with the Indians. It was not necessary
-to do any fighting there, however, for the reason that the chief
-inhabitants of the region were rattlesnakes, tarantulas, and
-prairie-dogs, and the Indians in the vicinity did not seem to be in a
-blood-thirsty mood. Returning to the cantonment on the Canadian River,
-he was depressed by the discomforts of the place—no society and many
-extra duties—but he, nevertheless, found time and inclination to study
-the Spanish language, as if determined not to leave a stone unturned in
-his efforts to make himself useful, or ready for any emergency. After
-confessing his fondness for social intercourse, he writes: “At times I
-get the _ennui_ and _blues_ very much. Still I try to preserve a
-philosophic mind, and when the dark side of the picture presents itself,
-I take a different stand-point, and thus force myself to see, by
-contrast, the bright side. I find, and ever have found, that the more
-occupied I am, the better contented I feel.”
-
-In April, 1880, he went upon a kind of exploring expedition, riding in
-ten days a distance of nearly three hundred miles, and on returning was
-glad enough to have a little rest in his camp. But, before he could fall
-into any idle habits, he was ordered westward, with his command, on
-still more arduous duties. In a letter from a camp near Saguache, on the
-borders of Colorado, he sent home the following account of what he had
-seen and experienced: “We left Fort Garland on the 17th of May, and have
-since been traveling across ‘San Luis Park,’ the ‘Valley of the Gods.’
-This is a vast level plain in southern Colorado, surrounded on all sides
-by high, snow-capped mountains, which always seem within a few hours’
-travel, and yet are miles and miles away. When one considers that Blanco
-Peak is over fourteen thousand feet above the sea-level, one does not
-wonder that it is very plainly seen from where I am now writing. This
-Paradise of the Gods is some two hundred miles long by over sixty
-across, and is a veritable desert. I have met nothing like it outside of
-Arizona. The vegetation consists of greasewood and sage-brush—sometimes
-not even this; the irrigation-ditches that one meets near the few
-streams seem hardly able to produce a feeble, stunted grass. For miles
-and miles, all is pulverized dust, which, blown by the winds in blinding
-clouds, covers everything like the ashes of a volcano. Night before last
-one of these _pleasant_ zephyrs blew down several of the tents, and
-filled the air so thickly with dust, that several of the command, who
-had their hats blown off, were unable to find or recover them. They say
-it sometimes rains here, but I very much doubt it. The few ranches we
-have encountered are on streams descending from the mountains, which
-sink in the plain after running a short distance; and bordering them are
-the squalid adobe houses, the only habitations in the country.
-
-“Improbable as it may seem, the owners say that they raise potatoes,
-etc. Surely these mountains should be of gold and silver to compensate
-for the sterility of the soil.” The prospect did not make Lockwood
-hilarious, and he frankly said that he was tired of army-life, and that
-eating almost nothing but bacon, and going without any comforts caused
-him to sigh for a return to the old Annapolis farm. He had not the
-ambition to enjoy the glory of army-life in such a wilderness. It might,
-indeed, give one a competency, but it was a gold-mine in Arizona that
-had recently given a fortune of fifty thousand dollars to one of the
-officers of his regiment. After a short stay at Garland and Alamosa, and
-catching a glimpse of the Del Norte, the command reached the Cochetapa
-Pass, near Los Pinos and the summit of the Rocky Mountains; and now the
-lieutenant began to experience a kind of mountain-fever, which he called
-a weird condition of the system. He was troubled with the shortness of
-breath usual at great altitudes. The six hundred mules drawing the train
-of one hundred wagons had great difficulty in passing through what he
-called the terrible cañons. Early in June, 1880, he reached the
-Uncompahgre River, where the command encamped. Hardly had he obtained
-any relaxation before an order came from Fort Leavenworth, detailing a
-general court and making him the judge advocate, thereby proving that
-there was not much rest for an officer of recognized ability. While
-anxious to make money, he did not, while among the mountains, follow the
-example of certain fellow-officers, who devoted some attention to mining
-speculations, their mode of operating being as follows: “For example,
-they secure the services of a competent man, provide him with food,
-etc., and send him out to prospect. Those in the Nineteenth have
-received a very flattering letter from their man, who has struck a very
-rich vein, _according to his account_. But this and all similar ventures
-are mere chance. Money, to the amount of twenty-five or fifty dollars,
-seems little to invest in enterprises that may pay thousands; but these
-investments count up and are not pleasant to consider when all ends in
-failure. One of the officers has invested not less than thirty-three
-hundred dollars in this mine-hunting business. He goes it alone, and has
-all the enthusiasm of an old miner.” Not caring to waste his money in
-speculations of this sort, he improved his leisure in exploring the
-scenery of the region, especially some cañons where the walls were
-several thousand feet high, and also a stream called Cow Creek, where he
-had some superb fishing and caught the largest trout he had ever seen,
-while his companions killed a number of deer. Among the scenes in which
-he was especially interested was a hot spring which measured thirty feet
-across, a waterfall two hundred feet high, and a small mining hamlet
-nestled in a pocket of the mountains, and where, funny to relate, he and
-his companions were suspected to be tramps or horse-thieves. Returning
-to his regular cantonment on the Uncompahgre, he was informed of a
-pending trouble with the Ute Indians, when, according to his habit, he
-expressed this decided opinion: “If the sentimentalists on Indian
-questions in the East could be brought out here and made to feel and
-suffer the outrages which these savages inflict on isolated settlers,
-there would not be so many to support the Interior Department in its
-abominable prejudice in all questions of Whites _vs._ Indians.”
-
-In one of his letters, written from a cantonment in Colorado, he
-mentions with pain the temporary fall of one of his brother officers,
-who, while playing a game of poker, was charged with dishonesty, thereby
-pocketing a hundred dollars. The poor fellow had been placed in arrest
-and was to have a trial. In speaking of his manner of killing time in
-his Colorado camp, he alludes to the fact of having two setter dogs,
-which he was training for use and his own amusement, and further says
-that when not playing a game of billiards at the store near the camp, he
-spent his time in reading, the books then occupying his attention being,
-Tyler’s “Baconian Philosophy,” which he greatly admired; Swinton’s
-“History of the Rebellion,” which he criticised with some severity; and
-Green’s “Russian Campaign in Turkey,” which interested him greatly.
-
-
-
-
- VI.
- PREPARING FOR THE ARCTIC REGIONS.
-
-
-From this point, the story of Lieutenant Lockwood’s life will be chiefly
-given from the records which he kept during his sojourn in the Arctic
-regions. For reasons which the general reader will appreciate, all
-merely technical and official remarks have been omitted, and only those
-retained which are calculated to illustrate the personal character of
-the man and officer, it being understood that his journals, illustrating
-his merits and labors, will be fully set forth in the official history,
-to be hereafter published, of the expedition with which he was so
-honorably identified.
-
-In 1880 it was proposed by an International Polar Commission, for the
-purpose of elucidating in behalf of science the phenomena of the weather
-and of the magnetic needle, that meteorological stations should be
-established by various countries in different parts of the polar
-regions. The Congress of the United States made an appropriation for
-establishing a scientific colony at the two places designated for the
-occupation of the Americans—viz., Point Barrow, in Alaska, and Lady
-Franklin Bay, in Grinnell Land. These stations were to be occupied for
-from one to three years. At the time the expedition was being organized
-in Washington for the latter place, Lieutenant Lockwood was on a visit
-to his parents in that city. Taking a special interest in the operations
-of the Signal-Service Bureau, which had the business in charge, he
-forthwith volunteered for the proposed expedition, and his services were
-accepted by the Secretary of War. When the party for the Lady Franklin
-Bay station was fully organized, it consisted of First-Lieutenant
-Adolphus W. Greely, U. S. A., commander; Lieutenants F. F. Kislingbury
-and James B. Lockwood, U. S. A., as assistants; and Dr. O. Pavy, as
-surgeon and naturalist; with a force of twenty-two sergeants, corporals,
-and privates, all connected with the army, and whose names are given as
-follows: Edward Israel, Winfield S. Jewell, George W. Rice, David O.
-Ralston, Hampden S. Gardiner, sergeants in the Signal Corps; William H.
-Cross, sergeant in the general service; David L. Brainard and David
-Linn, sergeants of cavalry; Nicholas Saler, corporal of infantry; Joseph
-Ellison, corporal of infantry; Charles B. Henry, Maurice Connell, Jacob
-Bender, Francis Long, William Whistler, Henry Biederbick, Julius R.
-Fredericks, William A. Ellis, and Roderick R. Schneider, privates in
-various branches of the army; and, finally, two Esquimaux, Jans Edwards
-and Frederick Christiansen, of Greenland.
-
-In view of the possibility that Lady Franklin Bay might become a
-permanent station, all the preliminary arrangements were made as
-complete as possible. A steamer called the Proteus was secured for
-conveying the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, and she was ordered to
-await the arrival of the explorers at the port of St. John’s, in
-Newfoundland. Lieutenant Lockwood sailed in a steamer from Baltimore
-with the party and reached St. John’s late in June.
-
-Here it may not be out of place to submit a few remarks on the utility
-of these Arctic explorations, which are sometimes criticised by people
-who, without due consideration, jump to hasty conclusions. In former
-times their main object was to find open passages between the northern
-regions of Europe, Asia, and America, and to settle the problem of the
-north pole; and statistics show that when these expeditions have
-confined their operations within reasonable limits, the mortality
-attending them has been remarkably small—less than in ordinary
-commercial voyages. Sir John Franklin went far beyond these limits, and
-left no monuments by which he could be traced. De Long put his ship into
-the polar ice with the design of moving with the polar drift. The Greely
-Expedition was expected to be confined, and was confined, to the
-well-known waters of Smith’s Sound. It could, therefore, be reached at
-any time, and, if necessary, it could fall back upon a point accessible
-at all times. All that was required to secure its safe return was _a
-well-chosen base, and an absolute certainty that this base would be
-maintained_. Unfortunately, neither requirement was fulfilled, and hence
-nineteen men lost their lives. Sledge-journeys from established bases,
-though fraught with great labor and discomfort, have never been attended
-with serious loss of life. It is now about one thousand years since the
-first Arctic voyage was made, and their aggregate usefulness can hardly
-be questioned when we remember that they have developed fisheries that
-have built up the commerce and navies of nations, and that the direct
-return into the exchange of England has been far more than the cost to
-her of all her Arctic explorations. The Polar Commission, already
-alluded to, inaugurated a new policy in regard to Arctic explorations,
-and one whose utility can not be questioned. It had its origin, in 1875,
-in the mind of a German discoverer named Carl Weyprecht; and in the
-opinion of many of the leading minds of the world, the meteorological
-observations inaugurated by him have done much, and will do much more,
-to rectify errors in the polar problem and bring to light information
-about the ice zones, which will give the observers a prominent position
-in scientific history. According to Professor Joseph Henry, the problems
-connected with physical geography and science, which are yet unsolved,
-are the determination of the figure and of the magnetism of the earth,
-complete knowledge of the tides of the ocean, the winds of the globe,
-and the influence of extreme cold on animal and vegetable life. Surely
-the men who voluntarily toil and suffer in their efforts to obtain the
-needed light on all these subjects, are quite as worthily employed as
-those who struggle for riches or political fame. In the Professor’s
-opinion, all the branches of science above mentioned are indirectly
-connected with the well-being of man, and tend not only to enlarge his
-sphere of mental activity, but to promote the application of science to
-the arts of life. A French writer, after applauding the plans of the
-Polar Commission, concludes his remarks as follows: “The larger number
-of the civilized nations are striving by scientific means to wrest the
-mysterious secrets of the deep from the hidden recesses of the North.”
-In 1884 the number of nations that had entered heartily into the project
-was thirteen; fifteen polar stations, and over forty auxiliary stations,
-had already been established. That the reader may fully understand the
-operations and exploits which are to be chronicled in the subsequent
-pages of this volume, it may be well to submit the subjoined extract
-from the official report of General W. B. Hazen, Chief of the United
-States Signal Service, for the year 1881: “Owing to the very mobile
-nature of the atmosphere, the changes taking place on one portion of the
-globe, especially in the Arctic zone, quickly affect regions very
-distant therefrom. The study of the weather in Europe and America can
-not be successfully prosecuted without a daily map of the whole northern
-hemisphere, and the great blank space of the Arctic region upon our
-simultaneous international chart has long been a subject of regret to
-meteorologists. The general object is to accomplish, by observations
-made in concert at numerous stations, such additions to our knowledge as
-can not be acquired by isolated or desultory traveling parties. No
-special attempt will be made at geographical exploration, and neither
-expedition is in any sense expected to reach the north pole. The single
-object is to elucidate the phenomena of the weather and of the magnetic
-needle as they occur in America and Europe, by means of observations
-taken in the region where the most remarkable disturbances seem to have
-their origin.”
-
-While the foregoing were to be considered as the primary considerations,
-it was expressly stated in the official instructions, that sledging
-parties, generally, should work in the interests of exploration and
-discovery, and should be conducted with all possible care and fidelity.
-Careful attention was also to be given to the collection of specimens of
-the animal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. It will be seen that all
-that was accomplished by Lieutenant Lockwood was instigated by the
-mandate connected with the use of the sledge.
-
-It thus appears that the Greely expedition was not only intended to
-accomplish a good work, but that in all human probability the same might
-have been accomplished without serious loss of life. That there was a
-deplorable loss of life, we can only lament, leaving for others to point
-out the causes of the disaster which befell the expedition.
-
-
-
-
- VII.
- FROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO LADY FRANKLIN BAY.
-
-
-All things being ready, the Greely Expedition left St. John’s,
-Newfoundland, for Lady Franklin Bay, on Thursday, July 7, 1881, in the
-steamer Proteus, Captain Pike. She was a barkentine, measuring two
-hundred and fifty feet in length, and having a burden of six hundred
-tons. Built in Scotland for the whaling and sealing service, she had
-already made several successful voyages within the Arctic Circle and on
-the Labrador coast. The departure of the ship elicited no demonstration
-from the people on the dock, excepting a few cheers from some
-warm-hearted fishermen. Whether the good people of Newfoundland were
-disgusted because they could not sell any more supplies at extravagant
-prices, or were displeased with the Yankee explorers for presuming to
-compete with Englishmen in the icy North, are questions not to be easily
-solved.
-
-During his stay in St. John’s, Lieutenant Lockwood wrote a letter to his
-mother, in which he gave the following account of the city:
-
-“St. John’s is a queer and forlorn old place; everything is antiquated,
-slow, and behind the times in every respect. The few hotels are more
-like third-class boarding-houses; a livery-stable is not to be found in
-this city of thirty thousand. This condition of affairs is said to be
-due to the religion of the place, which is Roman Catholic. It is charged
-that ignorance and poverty are what this church most thrives on, and it
-is certainly a thriving church here. The other day the shops were all
-closed, and the place assumed the appearance of Sunday—it was a holy day
-for their patron saints, Peter and Paul. Only two classes here—the poor
-and the rich—and everything accords with the former class. Crooked
-streets and mean, forlorn, dirty houses everywhere. The only respectable
-public buildings are the Catholic churches and the convents.”
-
-With the wind favorable, the sea calm, the sky clear, and all in good
-spirits, away went the vessel on her voyage to the North. A
-steam-launch, called the Lady Greely, rested securely on the main deck.
-It was arranged that the sergeants of the expedition should sleep in the
-cabin, eating at the second table, and the rest of the men live forward;
-and, though somewhat crowded, it was hoped they would all be
-comfortable. During the first twenty-four hours, two hundred miles were
-made. Lieutenant Greely and most of the men were sea-sick. At sunset on
-the second day out, the first iceberg was seen, and attracted the
-special attention of the land-lubbers. On the 9th, gales from the
-northwest set in, and the sick men became worse—the thermometer marking
-forty degrees, the air being damp and uncomfortable. The wind moderated
-in the evening, but left the sea very rough, so that the steam-launch
-had to be secured in her cradle by braces. Although then in the track of
-the St. Lawrence trade, not a single vessel was seen, suggesting the
-idea that business was not flourishing. As to Lieutenant Lockwood, he
-was in good spirits, and amused himself by reading Kennan’s interesting
-book on Siberian life. On the following day the sea went down, and the
-sick men came up from their berths and were able to resume their places
-at the table, Lockwood and Kislingbury being the only ones who had
-escaped sea-sickness. When the former had finished Kennan’s book, he
-took up Barrow’s “Voyage within the Arctic Circle,” reading it in the
-presence of several icebergs, which appeared as if they intended to
-welcome the band of Yankee adventurers to their inhospitable domain.
-
-On the morning of the 11th, notwithstanding the promise of fine summer
-weather, the sky became overcast, and at noon the captain, assisted by
-the volunteers, including Lockwood, Israel, and Gardiner, could hardly
-succeed in getting observations, and though they reckoned the latitude
-at 58°, it was not reliable. Rain, attended with high winds or gales,
-succeeded, the sufferers from sea-sickness finding refuge in their
-berths. Ellis, one of the sergeants, suffered more than the others,
-having refused all food since leaving port. They could give him no aid
-save a little wine and beef-tea. The cold, cheerless weather depressed
-the spirits of all, but they hoped to get used to it. The days were
-sensibly growing longer, beginning at 1.45 A. M. and closing at 10 P. M.
-They now remarked the absence of icebergs and ice-floes, and wondered
-whether this meant that the previous winter in the north had been so
-mild that but little ice had formed, or that the spring had been so
-backward that but little had become detached and drifted southward. They
-had learned at St. John’s that the late winter had been the mildest ever
-known there. At the close of the 11th, no land was in sight, and they
-had made seven hundred miles. The steward informed Lockwood that the men
-were growling about their food, which was the same as that received in
-the cabin. He thought this a bad sign for Arctic explorers, but tried to
-make matters more satisfactory.
-
-The next day was disagreeable, a cold rain falling; and though a strong
-head-wind was blowing, the sea was smooth, betokening land or ice, it
-was supposed. Accordingly, at 9 P. M., they were aroused by the cry of
-“ice ahead,” and, sure enough, there was seen, extending over 90° of the
-horizon, the white line indicating an ice-floe. Coming up to the ice,
-they found it to consist of detached pieces flowing southward. Some of
-these assumed the most fantastic shapes—dogs, seals, and other animals,
-and even houses and castles, readily presenting themselves to the
-imagination. One piece looked like an old ruin. The pillars, dome, and
-vaulted roof, all were there; indeed, the effect was perfect. Again,
-other pieces presented varieties of color most beautiful and remarkable.
-Generally, the lower parts being dark blue, were surmounted by a stratum
-of pure white, resembling snow, but really the purest ice. They were two
-hours in getting through this floe. Although daylight was continuous,
-they could not, because of fogs, distinguish the hours of sunrise or
-sunset.
-
-On the following day the weather was still cloudy, and another ice-floe
-detained them two hours. They also saw many isolated pieces and large
-icebergs in the distance. This ice, it was said, came from the east
-coast of Greenland with a current which, flowing around Cape Farewell,
-passes up the west coast half way to Disco. It still proved interesting
-to the voyagers by reason of its fantastic shapes and diversified
-colors—white, blue, and green. It rose a few feet above the water-line,
-and the submerged portion of the floe colored the water a most beautiful
-green. Seals were then seen for the first time, basking in the sun on
-the ice. Judging from the increased seas, they expected no more
-ice-floes in front. The temperature also indicated this, for it was
-sensibly warmer. Lockwood, who seemed never to be idle, now finished
-Barrow and took up Captain Nares’s “British Expedition of 1875-’76,”
-reading, writing, and Bowditch occupying much of his time. The crow’s
-nest was hoisted to the main-top on that day. This was a large barrel or
-hogshead with peep-holes on the side and a trap beneath. This afforded
-shelter for a man posted there who looked out for the ice and the best
-way of getting through it.
-
-On the 16th, fogs detained them and interfered with noon observations,
-but, lifting at three o’clock, they sighted the Greenland coast on the
-starboard bow, distant fifteen miles. The coast-line appeared
-exceedingly rugged and broken, and the interior, mountainous with deep
-ravines running very abruptly down to the sea. The mountain-tops were
-covered with snow, but generally the sides were bare of snow except the
-ravines, which seemed to be filled up entirely. This range of mountains
-reminded Lockwood of the Uncompahgre chain in Colorado as seen from Los
-Pinos Valley. They saw the usual number of gulls and a species of duck
-called the sea-pigeon, also several whales blowing and spouting in the
-distance, surrounded by flocks of small birds which seemed to feed on
-their offal. Kislingbury and the steward tried rifles on these whales,
-but without success. One whale being near by, with apparent design to
-cross the track of the vessel, was met by the rifle-ball, but with no
-other effect than to cause him to throw up his tail and dive below the
-surface. The thermometer rose to 50° on that day, rendering the deck,
-where all were assembled to view the prospect, quite comfortable. They
-then first witnessed the sunset since leaving St. John’s, because of the
-fogs and clouds that had constantly attended the voyage. The sun’s disk
-seemed greatly flattened just as it disappeared at 10.20, and presented
-much the appearance of a huge mushroom seen edgewise. Enough of twilight
-remained at midnight to render the horizon visible.
-
-On the 16th, they steamed cautiously through the fog, making but
-fourteen knots between noon and 6 P. M. Then the high, bold bluffs
-forming the southern coast of Disco Island loomed up in the distance
-directly ahead. These bluffs are almost vertical and probably five
-hundred feet high, and are desolate and barren in the extreme. Their
-continuity is interrupted only by deep ravines, or cañons, which break
-through at various angles to the sea. They there found themselves in the
-midst of a hundred icebergs of every conceivable form and size, and in
-color of the purest white, resembling in the distance huge mountains of
-chalk. One of the sights that attracted special notice consisted of two
-bergs connected by an immense arch high enough overhead for the ship to
-sail beneath, reminding Lockwood of the Natural Bridge of Virginia. On
-near approach it looked like marble and was quite as smooth. Some time
-afterward, and when two miles away, a signal-gun was fired for a pilot.
-This was followed by a rumbling noise, which caused the voyagers to look
-back, when they were surprised to see this immense arch tumble over and
-fall into the sea, throwing the spray a hundred feet into the air and
-producing a commotion of the sea sensible two miles away, and soon after
-followed by a noise like distant thunder. Most truly sublime were both
-spectacle and catastrophe! Icebergs are regarded as very dangerous both
-by the Esquimaux and by experienced Arctic travelers, and are given a
-wide berth.
-
-[Illustration: Lockwood, Natives, and Kyack at Disco, Greenland.]
-
-Moving on at a low speed, the steamer was finally boarded by a white man
-attended by an Esquimaux, the former introducing himself as Mr.
-Gleichen, the Governor of Godhaven, Lively, or Disco, as the capital is
-variously called. The vessel was soon twisted through the narrow opening
-behind which the town lies, and the voyagers found themselves in the
-snuggest and smallest harbor, for its depth of water, that any of the
-party had ever seen. On one side were the high cliffs, barren and
-rugged, and on the other the few habitations which constituted the
-place, the only dwellings presenting an appearance of anything more than
-squalid huts being those of the governor and of the inspector, a Mr.
-Smith. Besides the dwellings, there were several warehouses and a
-church, all of wood. The huts of the natives were to some extent of
-wood, but strengthened and made warm by thick walls of sod reaching to
-the eaves.
-
-Greely, Kislingbury, and Lockwood immediately went ashore to visit the
-inspector, whose house stood near the water and presented a neat
-appearance. Within they found quite an air of comfort and refinement. A
-piano, a small billiard-table, a well-filled book-case, carpets,
-pictures, and many other evidences of civilization and even elegance
-were there. They found the wife of the inspector very pleasant and
-speaking English fluently, while her daughter and a governess, though
-speaking English with difficulty, were well dressed and ladylike. After
-taking wine with these hospitable ladies, the lieutenants left their
-commander to continue the conversation and wandered forth to view the
-town. Passing without mishap several cross-looking Esquimaux dogs, they
-found themselves in what seemed a carpenter’s shop, on the large, bare
-floor of which a dance was in progress. After playing spectators for
-some time they indulged in a waltz with the prettiest girls in the room,
-and were surprised and pleased to find how well they got along together.
-Their round dances were found to be like many figures of the “German” as
-danced in the United States. Kislingbury gave the natives an exhibition
-of the Indian dance, and thus became a favorite with them.
-
-The dress of the men consisted of a pair of sealskin pantaloons and a
-woolen or checked shirt. That of the women was very peculiar—indeed,
-unique. One of the girls, whose dress may be taken to illustrate all,
-wore a pair of seal-skin pantalets bound at the hips by a red scarf and
-terminating just above the knees, where they met the white canvas tops
-of a pair of boots, or rather leggings. These reached to the calf, and
-there met the tops of red seal-skin bootlets, into which they were
-inserted. These leggings were starched and prettily fringed at the top,
-and their color indicated the state as to matrimony of the wearer, white
-being reserved for maidens, and colors for those that were married. This
-distinction was afterward found to be general. The pantalets were plain,
-except some red leather pieces sewed on in front by way of ornament. The
-upper garment consisted of a pretty, fancy-colored cassock, or jacket,
-extending barely to the hips, replaced in cold weather by the same of
-seal-skin with a hood. The upper part of the jacket was concealed by a
-necklace, or rather by several necklaces, sewed together flat, which
-formed a collar covering the bosom and shoulders. The head was covered
-by a kind of chaplet formed of fancy-colored cloth, and the hair was
-done up in a queue, which extended upward and backward from the top of
-the head, and was tied with colored ribbon. The wrists and neck were
-encircled with boas of dark-colored furs, which contrasted well with the
-bright-colored skin. The arms were bare to the short sleeves of the
-jacket, and on the fingers were a number of rings. So much for the Disco
-belles!
-
-The dancing officers did not reach their ship until after midnight, and
-soon after the sun rose, flooding all nature with his glorious light,
-and seemingly affecting natives and strangers alike, for both were seen
-standing around to admire and enjoy the benediction of nature.
-
-Inspector Smith visited the steamer, dressed in a military coat with
-brass buttons, and military cap with wide gold-lace band, but wearing
-seal-skin trousers. The strangers soon found themselves surrounded by a
-fleet of Esquimaux boats, called _kyacks_, resembling in form a cigar
-cut in half lengthwise and turned up at both ends. The framework of wood
-was covered with seal-skin with the hair removed. In the center was a
-hole into which the occupant inserted the lower part of his body to the
-hips, drawing up at the same time a cylindrical piece of seal-skin which
-was attached to the rim of the hole. When the top of this is gathered up
-and secured over his chest, the man and boat are practically one, and
-both are water-proof under all circumstances. The upper surface of the
-kyack is but an inch or two above the water when smooth, and when rough,
-of course it is frequently submerged entirely. In this craft the kyacker
-braves the billows of the open sea, and, provided with lance and harpoon
-to slay his game, and bladder and rope to mark its flight when struck
-and buoy up its body when killed, he attacks the seal, walrus, or even
-the narwhal. In South Greenland, where there is more open water, the
-kyackers become very expert, and, by means of their short, two-bladed
-paddles, can easily right themselves when upset, or even perform a
-complete revolution without changing position or posture.
-
-On Sunday, the 17th, Lieutenant Lockwood called on the governor, and
-then went into many of the houses of the place; he found the natives
-polite and hospitable, living in clean, well-built huts, whose interior
-presented nothing peculiar except that about one third of the floor was
-raised a few feet, constituting a platform, which was used as the
-sleeping-couch of the whole family by night, and by day as a place of
-deposit for articles in daily use. The walls were adorned with rough
-prints or illustrations from European and American papers. In one house
-was seen a translation of the Psalms into Esquimaux. Their words are run
-together, as in the German language. Lockwood made some purchases,
-giving in return an old pair of pantaloons, old clothes being a
-circulating medium, and preferred to money. He was surprised to find
-that these people had a paper currency, the units being the ocre and the
-crown, one hundred ocres making one crown, while the crown is worth
-about an English shilling. In dealing with one another, the ocre seems
-to go a good way, but not so when a stranger is dealt with; and to do
-much shopping with this currency, one must carry a load of paper equal
-to what was required of Confederate currency in wartimes to buy a barrel
-of flour. The coins were of copper, valued each at five ocres.
-
-On the following day, Lieutenants Greely, Kislingbury, and Lockwood, all
-dined at four o’clock with the inspector’s family, by invitation of his
-wife, in the absence of her husband on official duty; the courses being
-soup, fish, eider-duck, and canned green peas, with a dessert of jelly;
-wines and brandy being served with the courses. The cooking and serving
-were excellent, the waitress an Esquimaux damsel in pantalets.
-Afterward, with others, they called on the governor, and with him went
-down to witness a dance. Lockwood learned that the population of the two
-divisions of North and South Greenland together was about nine thousand
-souls.
-
-On the 19th, at the request of Lieutenant Greely, Lockwood made an
-exploration of the mountain-cliffs south of the town. After a long tramp
-over the soggy moss, and up steep cliffs, much annoyed by innumerable
-mosquitoes, he returned to dinner, with very little information worthy
-of mention. After superintending some stowage, he again called to see
-Mrs. Smith, the inspector’s wife, and enjoyed her excellent piano-music,
-to say nothing of the wine and cigars she offered. Then he went to the
-dance, but not until after the men had left. These Greenland dances, as
-already intimated, resemble the Virginia reel, differing only in the
-alternate chasing of the partners through the two rows till caught.
-
-Having completed their stowage and coaling, and having taken on board
-fourteen dogs with their food, they would have left Disco but for the
-fogs. Dr. Pavy, who had been left there by Howgate, joined the party on
-the 20th, as surgeon, as Mr. Clay was expected to do at Ritenbank. They
-had some music on the chapel organ in the evening, which was well
-rendered.
-
-The penning of the dogs was a scene of excitement and amusement. Their
-snarling and biting and fighting had no end until one of the number
-present was acknowledged, for his prowess and valor, the victor by all
-the others. Then the battle ceased, but only until there was a new
-arrival, when the battle was renewed and the _parvenu_ put _hors de
-combat_, or declared king. In due time the steamer left Disco, and
-arrived at Ritenbank between 10 and 12 A. M. The harbor was found to be
-quite roomy and the entrance wide and deep; icebergs float into it, and
-thus render Ritenbank less desirable as a harbor than Disco. While
-there, with Mr. Clay (who now joined the expedition) and some of the
-men, Lockwood visited the neighboring bird mountains or looneries,
-rowing up a fiord some three miles distant. The approach to these was
-manifested by the commotion among the innumerable eider-ducks and other
-wild fowl flying overhead, swimming in the water around, or occupying
-the narrow ledges of the vertical cliffs on either side, some of which
-were five hundred feet high and covered with birds. The shot used being
-too small, would kill only at short range, and it was difficult to
-obtain the game; consequently they got only seventy fowls of various
-kinds. On their return they visited an Innuit burying-ground, which,
-from its antiquity, must contain many of the natives, whose blood is
-much purer than that of the present stock; for it is said the present
-Esquimaux blood is now very much mixed. The graves were oblong piles of
-lichen-covered stones, containing the moldering skeletons, which were
-generally in a sitting posture. But little regard is paid to the dead in
-Greenland. Influenza, and consumption induced thereby, are rapidly
-carrying off the natives, and this is increased by uncleanly habits,
-improper food, and bad ventilation, the latter aggravated by the
-introduction of small stoves into their close houses. The present
-longevity, it is said, averages thirty-three years.
-
-The prevailing fogs greatly decreased the pleasure the explorers would
-have had in viewing the grand scenery in the passage to Upernavik, which
-they reached on the 23d of July, or in about fifteen days from
-Newfoundland. They had in sight numbers of icebergs, some of immense
-size. The whole western coast of Greenland is skirted with islands,
-separated from each other and the mainland by deep fiords. If it were
-not for the fogs, a pleasant summer excursion could be made through
-these fiords to the everlasting barrier of glaciers, which render the
-interior a veritable land of desolation.
-
-Very soon after the expedition had arrived at Upernavik, it was found
-necessary for some one to go to a place called Proven, to obtain
-Esquimaux guides and a supply of Arctic clothing, and to Lieutenant
-Lockwood was assigned this duty. He and his helpers boarded the
-steam-launch, and, with Governor Elburg as guide, proceeded on their way
-through an inner passage leading to the place of destination. Their
-course lay along rocky and precipitous cliffs, many of them covered with
-auks and other wild fowl. The cliffs attained an elevation of two and
-three thousand feet, and were so smooth and regular as to have the
-appearance of having been made by man. Without any shore whatever, large
-ships could lie alongside in safety. On their arrival at Proven, they
-saw the whole population in their picturesque costumes lining the shore,
-to view what they had never seen before—a craft moving without oars or
-sails.
-
-Near the shore were located four large warehouses where seal-oil was
-deposited before shipment, and where also were kept by the Danish
-Government supplies of provisions for issue to the natives in case of
-emergency. The huts of the natives were found still more primitive than
-those at Disco, for here the entrance was through a long, low gallery,
-requiring one to grope in darkness almost on hands and knees. Lockwood
-softened the heart of the occupant of one by presents of tobacco, and
-induced him to play on his fiddle simple airs which he had picked up
-from whaling-crews. This brought in all the damsels of the town, and
-soon waltzes and other dances prevailed. The lieutenant did not consider
-it beneath his dignity to “show a heel.” He unfortunately answered
-affirmatively to the question, “Are you big captain?” and was also
-imprudent in giving an old lady a half-dozen ocres. He was at once
-pounced upon by every one as lawful prey, and, what through begging,
-extortion, and other means, the “big captain” was soon rid of all his
-change, and might have been reduced to a state of nudity but for the
-timely arrival of the governor, who took him home to dine and to lodge.
-The soup, though sweet to the taste, was good; floating in it were
-lemon-peel and raisins. Next came reindeer-steaks cooked in wine and
-most delicious. Potatoes were the only vegetable. Cooking and serving
-excellent. Brandy, beer, and wine in profusion. The meal terminated by a
-general hand-shaking, according to custom, and the governor kissed his
-wife. The lodging was equally agreeable, affording the luxury of a clean
-feather bed. In the morning, and while yet in bed, a young Esquimaux
-damsel in pantalets brought the American a cup of strong coffee with a
-few crackers. That day he took on board the launch two Esquimaux,
-Frederick Christiansen and Jans Edwards, lashing their kyacks behind,
-also the seal-skin, dog-skin, and other clothing they had come for, and
-at midnight left amid the hearty cheers of the natives and the tears and
-lamentations of the friends of Jans and Frederick who had come to see
-them off.
-
-After an uneventful passage, and stopping only to add one hundred and
-twenty-seven birds to their larder, the launch reached the ship at 10 A.
-M. on the 25th. Lieutenant Kislingbury and a crew in the whale-boat
-afterward went to Sanderson’s Hope Island and secured several hundred
-more, so that there was no scarcity of fresh food. In the mean time some
-new dogs were secured, so that the total number now on hand was
-thirty-two.
-
-The ship left Upernavik on the 29th, and, keeping the inner passage,
-made her way toward the north.
-
-While crossing Melville Bay on the 30th, there was no ice in sight
-except bergs, and the sun shone brightly. That state of things was a
-great surprise to the explorers, as here it was that McClintock was
-frozen in for a whole year, and Nares congratulated himself in having
-passed the bay without detention. Indeed, Melville Bay has always been
-regarded as the _bête noire_ of Arctic travel. An Arctic bear found on a
-broken pack of floating ice was killed by Lieutenant Kislingbury, and,
-when hoisted on board, was found to weigh a thousand pounds and to
-measure seven feet two inches in length. They were probably fifty miles
-from land at the time.
-
-On the last day of July, the Proteus party sighted land, which they
-supposed to be Cape Dudley Diggs, north of Melville’s Bay. Much old
-floating ice was seen, but so rotten as to offer no obstruction. Several
-seals and many little auks were killed and secured.
-
-About this time Lockwood and others observed tokens of disrespect and
-insubordination on the part of some of the men, which were traced to a
-certain corporal as ringleader. Lockwood watched him with care, and
-urged the propriety of sending him home by the first opportunity, which
-was afterward done.
-
-On one occasion, toward evening, the voyagers witnessed the overturning
-of an iceberg three hundred feet long and one hundred and fifty feet
-high. After capsizing, it continued to revolve on several axes for some
-time. Its change of base was preceded by the fall of several detached
-pieces, thus shifting its center of gravity.
-
-The next day, August 1st, was clear and cool, and without fog. Passed
-Dudley Diggs at noon and then steered for Gary Islands, sighting them
-three hours later. The officers looked hard for the crimson cliffs near
-Dudley Diggs noticed by Sir John Ross, but observed only some slight
-discoloration of the snow. The glacier near this cape seemed to be two
-or three miles long; at the sea-shore, of inconsiderable height, but in
-the background, attaining an imposing elevation. The ship’s compasses,
-as usual in this latitude, were all crazy, occasioning some bewilderment
-to the captain. The bear and seal meats were duly served on shipboard,
-and pronounced palatable by all, though to some the bear-meat was
-slightly fishy. Two boats with all the officers and others landed on the
-most easterly of the Cary Islands, and proceeded at once to find and
-inspect the _cache_ of provisions—thirty-six hundred rations—left there
-by Sir George Nares for his own safety. They were apparently in good
-condition, notwithstanding many of the barrels resting on their ends
-afforded opportunity for rain and snow-water to enter. Some biscuits
-were found moldy. Replaced the Nares record by a copy, and also left a
-full record of the Proteus. There was found there an excellent
-whale-boat, turned bottom upward, with oars and sails complete. This
-Lockwood urged Lieutenant Greely to take along, but he preferred getting
-the one at Foulke Point. The former regarded the supply of boats as too
-small, and circumstances might arise which would cause them to regret
-not using this one. They had only the steam-launch, a twenty-four-feet
-whale-boat, and a small, fourteen-feet row-boat—the whale-boat being the
-only one to be depended on in case of accident. The boat at Point Foulke
-was thought to be inferior. They picked up driftwood, an oar, and some
-burned pieces of a ship’s stem or stern. They also saw some red snow,
-and shot several eider-ducks. The Cary Islands were found to be barren
-masses of rocks without vegetation.
-
-The steamer came to anchor at Littleton Island at 9 A. M. on the 2d of
-August, just as the steering-gear gave way. A party went to “Life-boat
-Cove” and brought back a number of articles left by the Polaris
-Expedition of 1873. They saw neither Esquimaux nor reindeer, but shot a
-walrus. Lieutenant Greely made an effort to find the cairn left there by
-Nares, and the letters left for Nares by the Pandora. He found the
-letters but not the cairn, though there was a dismantled cairn afterward
-seen by others. Lockwood with a party of men put ashore several tons of
-coal, which, as it had to be carried up some thirty feet above the
-sea-level, he found no easy job. While thus engaged, this party had an
-adventure with some walruses, not unattended with danger. Having excited
-a drove of them by a simultaneous fire, the animals came toward the
-boat, and at one time held its inmates in peril. Lockwood alone was
-prepared to meet the foremost, and by good luck slew one of them, when
-all the rest disappeared. The walrus can be killed only through the
-brain, and when wounded, the animal is exceedingly ferocious. Numberless
-boats have been destroyed by them. Lamont thinks the walrus superior to
-the bear for food. Those they saw were evidently a female and her young,
-and their safety was in having killed the mother. Littleton Island
-affords a good illustration of these shores. The sides rise
-precipitously, sometimes in steps composed of immense cubes of
-trap-rock, sometimes in steep slopes formed from the crumbling of the
-same. The top of the island is seven hundred feet high, according to
-Nares, and generally quite level. Of soil, there is none. The summit
-afforded a fine view of the sound, though somewhat obstructed by fog. No
-floating ice; and the western coast with its snowy mountains quite
-distinct.
-
-Having crossed the strait during the night of the 2d of August, in the
-early morning they ran along the western coast, which was very distinct
-and picturesque, the bluffs and headlands being reflected by the smooth
-sea. Striking the western coast near Cape Sabine, at 8 A. M. they
-reached Cape Hawkes, a headland over a thousand feet high and very
-picturesque. While Lieutenants Greely and Kislingbury visited the cairn
-there, Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Lockwood went to find the record on
-Washington Irving Island, both left by Nares. They then continued their
-way with slight interruptions from fogs until abreast of Franklin
-Island, when they were obliged to lay-to because of fog. They had not
-been delayed a moment by ice, and were surprised to see so little of it.
-Their success emboldened them to hope that they might reach Lady
-Franklin Bay without obstruction. Indeed, they even thought of inducing
-Captain Pike to run on until he reached the north pole itself, or at
-least till he attained a higher latitude than did Nares. One of the dogs
-having died, they became impressed with the thought that the poor curs
-suffered much from being cooped up and from the damp weather. The party
-continued on their way up Kennedy Channel with everything favorable,
-having the finest weather yet seen; air soft and balmy, sky clear, and
-water smooth.
-
-On reaching the vicinity of Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay, they
-left there a small deposit of hard bread, pemmican, and rum, and
-continued on their way rejoicing; and so onward until nearly 10 P. M.,
-when, just above Cape Lieber, they encountered an impenetrable pack
-extending all the way across the channel, and as far ahead as they could
-see. The ship made a savage dash at it, but in vain, and thus, but eight
-miles from Lady Franklin Bay, and with Cape Baird in full view, they
-were brought to a standstill. The mountains along the coast were covered
-with snow, but the valleys and low places were bare. The prominent
-objects of the landscape were all distinctly seen from their
-position—Capes Lieber and Baird on the left, Franklin, Hans, and Hanna
-Islands in the rear and left, and, in the far distance, Polaris
-Promontory and Petermann’s Fiord, with the glacier beyond. A party that
-went on shore saw traces of the musk-ox, but no animals were seen.
-
-Several of the officers and men attempted the ascent of the promontory
-of Cape Lieber, a precipitous cliff three thousand feet high, which
-seemed but a stone’s throw away, but to reach which required a long,
-cold row, and then a fatiguing and painful climb. Lockwood and two only
-of the party succeeded. The difficulty was in the giving way of the
-crumbling slate-rock, which formed an incline of 45°. Those that reached
-the summit were rewarded by a grand view, extending to the limit of
-vision. On their return, after clambering over some rocks cropping out
-of the slippery snow and ice, they chose a short cut and came down at a
-run, or rather slide, followed by a miniature avalanche of _débris_. On
-the 6th of August, it was found that the icy barrier, which evidently
-came from the Polar Sea, was moving south, carrying the steamer along.
-Some game was seen in both air and water, but none taken. Parties
-attempted to reach the shore on the ice, but were recalled by signal, as
-moving ice was seen from the ship, and also open water near the shore.
-
-From this point they slowly drifted south, with high winds from the
-north which opened up lanes of water which they did not think safe to
-enter. The total drift amounted to ten miles. With the lowering of
-temperature, it was suggested that it would be well to move across the
-channel, along the pack, and, if needful, land on the Greenland shore,
-possibly where Hall had wintered.
-
-On the 11th of August, the ice barrier gave way under a change of wind
-and weather, leaving the passage open. Under full steam and sail, and
-with beautiful weather, they soon regained all the distance they had
-lost by drift, passed Cape Lieber, and came abreast of Cape Baird.
-Thence forcing their way through the broken ice of the bay, and reaching
-Bellot Island, which marks the beginning of Discovery Harbor, they cut
-their way to a secure spot for the ship to rest in. And thus ended the
-voyage to Lady Franklin Bay or Sound. As this harbor, or a spot in its
-vicinity called Fort Conger, was the one where the Signal-Service
-station was to be established, the steamer Proteus here ended her
-voyage, soon to return to Newfoundland. Discovery Harbor, which was to
-be their home, is an indentation of the bay covered by Bellot Island on
-the south. This indentation extends east and west some ten miles, and is
-probably two or three miles from north to south. Inclosing the harbor on
-three sides is a line of rugged bluffs and hills (or rather mountains,
-for they are two thousand feet high), those on the east side sloping
-back gradually, but elsewhere precipitous and rugged in the extreme.
-Thus, with Bellot’s Island fifteen hundred feet high on the south, was
-formed a harbor, landlocked and most admirably sheltered.
-
-
-
-
- VIII.
- HOUSE-BUILDING AND LOCAL EXPLORATIONS.
-
-
-Immediately after the explorers had anchored their ship in Discovery
-Harbor, they saw a drove of musk-oxen leisurely ascending the
-neighboring hills, which they climbed with the facility of goats. This
-was indeed a cheerful prospect for men in so isolated a region and
-without fresh meat, and many of them started forthwith in pursuit of the
-game, working their way to the shore on the ice, but were compelled to
-return after a vain attempt to follow the animals over the hills.
-
-Hitherto there had been no opportunity to make any special discoveries,
-but now a comparatively new field, to which the explorers were to devote
-all their energies, came into view. Discovery, however, was to be always
-subordinated to the duties of meteorological observations. As this
-narrative proceeds, it will be seen that Lieutenant Lockwood was not
-only eminently active at all times, but most successful as an explorer.
-
-It being desirable to establish the station as near as possible to the
-coal-mine on Watercourse Bay, Lockwood was dispatched with Messrs. Clay
-and Ryan, to report as to the practicability of carrying out this, the
-original intention. According to the map prepared by Nares, this bay
-lies seven miles distant on the strait, and is separated from Discovery
-Harbor by the mountain-ridge on the east, which terminates southward in
-Distant Cape. They attempted the passage across these hills, following a
-ravine leading in the proper direction, and had gone only a short
-distance when they saw seven musk-oxen quietly grazing. Making a
-_détour_, they thought to take them unawares, but soon saw them move
-away to some distance up a steep incline. Expending vainly a few shots
-at long range, they followed the animals up the hill, over a steep ledge
-of rocks, and into a valley on the other side. Here the men halted,
-concealed from view, and arranged plans for their capture. The animals
-were covered by precipitous rocks on one side. Clay, Ryan, and Lockwood
-approached them simultaneously on the other three sides, and thus had
-them surrounded and at their mercy. Some depressions and other
-irregularities of the ground enabled the hunters, by crouching low down,
-to approach the game unawares. Clay firing first, the whole herd rushed
-toward Lockwood’s side, closing up as it came, and, seeing him, made a
-charge. Dropping on one knee, he threw his cartridges down and blazed
-away with great rapidity. Many shots telling, the animals halted before
-him only a few rods off, and at once attempted a flank movement; but now
-Clay and Ryan closing up, the herd was check-mated. In five minutes from
-the first shot every animal of the herd—five grown and two calves—lay
-dead before the hunters. The hunters were sorry they had killed the
-calves, but in the excitement it could hardly have been otherwise. They
-then returned to the ship to report their success, and to have the
-carcasses brought in. This addition to their larder was the occasion of
-great joy, not only as giving a present supply of fresh meat, but in its
-promise for the future; not only as a luxury, but as the only certain
-means of warding off the scurvy, so much and so justly dreaded by Arctic
-explorers.
-
-After supper of that day, Lockwood, ever ready for adventure, again
-started for Watercourse Bay, accompanied by Clay, Ralston, and the mate
-of the Proteus. Following the small stream, which came into the harbor
-at this point, for three miles, by an easy and regular ascent between
-lofty mountains on either side with a slope of about forty-five degrees,
-and over ground and patches of snow thrown up like potato-hills, they
-reached its head, and there, fortunately, found another stream running
-in the other direction. Following this, they were brought to Watercourse
-Creek, which runs into Watercourse Bay. Being uncertain whether the
-coal-mine, said to be on this creek, was above or below this point, they
-followed the creek up-stream three miles, when, not finding it, they
-retraced their steps to the point where they entered the creek, and,
-finding it impossible to follow the bed, climbed the bank. Here they saw
-two more musk-oxen, which they slew by strategy as before, and, opening
-the carcasses with penknives, left them to be carried in. Coming near
-the mouth of the creek, Lockwood saw indications of coal, and soon after
-reached the exposed seam of one hundred yards’ extent by twenty-five
-feet depth, distant about three fourths of a mile from the sea. This
-coal is said to equal the best of Welsh production. Near here, they saw
-another musk-ox, whose life they spared for the time, as they had so
-much meat in store. Lockwood found, and so reported, that, though
-Watercourse Bay had the merit of a near coalmine, and was nearer the
-grounds of future explorations, it was not possible to use it at once
-for the unloading ship without great risk and labor because of moving
-ice. Discovery Harbor, though full of ice from sixteen inches to ten
-feet thick, was perfectly landlocked and unobstructed. Ralston preceded
-the party home, killing one musk-ox _en route_. The Arctic summer was
-now at its height, lichen, moss, saxifrage, and various other little
-red, yellow, and blue flowers, bright red moss, and tufts of green grass
-at intervals, breaking the monotony of the somber rocks and earth. But
-the enjoyment of these beauties of nature could not then be indulged in,
-as all hands had to take part in unloading the ship, a labor which was
-soon accomplished.
-
-The next business in order with the explorers was to build a house, and
-they selected a site facing the water, fifty feet from, and fifteen feet
-above it. While this work was progressing, the men lived in tents.
-
-On the 19th of August, all hands were sent ashore, and the Proteus
-started on her return, but, passing too near Bellot Island for safety,
-was caught in the ice and delayed. Lockwood made an effort to follow in
-her wake with the steam-launch, but failed, because of the rapid closing
-in of the great masses of broken ice and the wedging of small ice-masses
-into the screw and well. The launch battled manfully with her foe, the
-ice. Frequently he ran her under a full head of steam against a massive
-floe, which would be shivered for a few inches, the recoil causing the
-launch to roll and pitch like a little giant. In young ice she would
-sometimes split a sheet for ten or fifteen yards at one impact.
-
-Finding nothing to do while the house-building was progressing,
-Lieutenants Lockwood and Kislingbury occupied themselves with tramping
-after ptarmigans and other game over the mountains whose steep sides
-formed the eastern entrance of the harbor, and the northern boundary.
-Viewed from the house, their sides seemed gradual and their summits not
-over twenty minutes’ walk. In fact, however, the sides were successions
-of slopes separated by precipices, growing greater with the ascent. What
-below seemed the top was only one of many that must be passed before the
-real summit or divide could be attained. They reached the summit marked
-by the English cairn, and from there viewed the scene below. How small
-the ship appeared! and yet it seemed as though they could throw a stone
-upon her. They reached home with wolfish appetites, but with no game.
-The ptarmigans, which they chiefly sought, are provided, at this season,
-with a coat so nearly resembling the shade of the rocks and grounds as
-to be almost indistinguishable. By a happy provision of nature, in
-winter the feathers of this bird become white with only a little black
-about the tail.
-
-The lieutenants then extended their excursions over the mountains on the
-north side of the harbor, availing themselves of a ravine, called the
-“Black Cañon,” which leads to a pretty waterfall. Climbing out of this
-cañon with difficulty over loose slate and other _débris_, they found
-themselves on the high backgrounds of the North Mountains. Thence moving
-west over loose rock and snow, and through pools of water, they finally
-came in sight of Musk-ox Bay, the western extremity of Discovery Harbor.
-They then retraced their steps, reaching home without having seen a
-living object bigger than an humble-bee.
-
-On the 23d, the house was occupied, though not finished. Looking after
-their supplies, they found that the foxes had made free with the
-carcasses of the musk-oxen left near Watercourse Bay. Lockwood now
-proceeded to superintend the laying out of the observatory, digging for
-foundation pier of transit, etc. He found the ground frozen after
-reaching thirty inches, which may be taken as the depth where perpetual
-frost begins. The ship being still detained, but with a prospect of soon
-getting off, Lockwood wrote more letters home in which he expressed an
-opinion about the Proteus. Her chances of departing south were doubtful.
-Detention there for the winter would be embarrassing all around, as
-neither the ship nor her crew were prepared to stay, nor the explorers
-able to help them through the winter.
-
-Just before her final departure, some difficulty arose between
-Lieutenants Greely and Kislingbury, which ended in the latter making a
-request to be relieved from duty with the expedition, which request was
-granted. One of the annoyances complained of was the rule that officers
-should rise in the morning with the men, and although Lockwood advised
-Kislingbury not to make any further trouble, he decided to pack up,
-board the Proteus, and return home. In this, however, he was not
-successful, as the steamer got away before he could reach her, and the
-order for his relief was somewhat modified. After explaining his action
-in this matter, Lieutenant Greely remarked that, if anything should
-happen to him, he desired that Lieutenant Lockwood should have command
-of the expedition. Lockwood expressed himself as very sorry for what his
-fellow-officer had done, and could not understand his course of action.
-
-As soon as the building was entirely finished, on the 27th of August,
-the explorers found themselves very comfortable. The dull, cheerless
-weather and monotonous life were beginning to depress the spirits of
-Lockwood, but he felt that, when settled down to regular habits, he
-would not find the life in the north more irksome than that he had
-experienced on the Western plains of the United States. It may be
-mentioned that the final opening of the house, or government station,
-was commemorated by the issuing of an order from Lieutenant Greely, that
-the exploring expedition along the northern coast of Greenland, which
-had been marked out for Lieutenant Kislingbury as senior officer, was to
-be placed in command of Lieutenant Lockwood. He now felt that the
-opportunity for doing something creditable, for his own as well as his
-country’s reputation, was at hand, and his feelings of depression gave
-way to those of enthusiasm.
-
-On Sunday, the 28th of August, all work was suspended, and some
-appropriate notice was taken of the day. Lieutenant Greely read a
-chapter in the Bible, having previously stated that any one would be
-excused from attending the service who had conscientious scruples. The
-supply of drinking-water having come up as an important question,
-demanded attention. The water was obtained from the ice-hummocks in the
-harbor. Pieces of suitable size were brought to the house on sledges and
-then melted in a large metallic box near the stove, through which and
-the stove ran a steam-pipe. Thus a liberal supply was kept up.
-
-Wishing to establish a depot on the channel for future explorations,
-Lockwood left with Sergeants Brainard and Cross to explore St. Patrick’s
-Bay, lying northeast of the station and on the straits. The ground being
-covered with snow, the Government boots were soon soaked though, and the
-feet of the party became wet and cold. Following a ravine, they soon
-reached a lake near the summit of the hills in the rear, where they saw
-a musk-ox grazing on the bank. The animal fled on seeing them, but
-stopped farther on. Approaching him under cover, Lockwood got a standing
-shot and brought him down. Skinning him and dividing the carcass into
-quarters, they left the meat for others to carry in and went on their
-tramp, which took them midway between the “hog-back,” an elevated
-plateau on the north, and the rugged broken chain of mountains which lie
-between Discovery Harbor and Robeson Channel. About noon they reached
-St. Patrick’s Bay, but at a point so different from that laid down in
-their maps, that Lockwood felt some doubt as to its identity, to settle
-which, they proceeded to explore a wide river-bed, followed by a deep
-cañon, which led into the bay near its head. With this view, and to see
-the country to better advantage, they kept north along the steep rocky
-sides of the “hog-back,” over rocks, great and small, compact and loose,
-and generally covered with snow. After two hours of laborious travel,
-they found themselves high above the riverbed and in a position giving
-them a good view north and east. The main stream seemed to come from the
-north, with a branch from the west, the whole through lands of the most
-rugged description. Beyond the river to the east, the hills were more
-sloping, yet rising to an immense altitude between the river and the
-channel beyond. It seemed not difficult to descend into the bed of the
-river, walk up its frozen course, and, taking advantage of some break in
-the cliffs a few miles up, gain by a gradual ascent the high hills
-beyond, thus obtaining a view of Robeson Channel. The descent, over
-rocks, stones, and snow, involving great fatigue, took two hours. This
-brought them to a level terrace extending from cliffs to cliffs, through
-the center of which ran a deep cut or channel containing the
-insignificant stream, the sole occupant of this immense cañon. They
-gained the frozen stream with difficulty, cut through the ice and got a
-drink, and then regained the level terrace above, and began their steep
-climb up the mountain beyond, through a friendly ravine. One hour’s work
-brought them to an elevation which, at a distance, had seemed to be the
-main summit, only to find that farther on there were still higher
-points. Finally, at 6 P. M., they reached an elevation where the slope
-seemed to be eastward, and from which a magnificent view was obtained of
-the channel from Cape Lieber to Repulse Harbor, while directly east of
-them lay Newman’s Bay and Polaris Promontory. After erecting a cairn,
-they started back, cold and hungry, satisfied that they had seen the
-true St. Patrick’s Bay.
-
-Regaining the river-valley, they had a most fatiguing climb to attain
-the pass through which they had come, and where they had killed the
-musk-ox. Just east of the lake, they encountered Dr. Pavy and Rice, and
-soon after Ralston and Lynn, going to Lincoln Bay _via_ St. Patrick’s
-Bay. Our party reached home at midnight, with frost-bitten feet and
-empty stomachs, Lockwood finding his stockings full of ice and one toe
-badly frost-bitten.
-
-He was laid up for a week with frosted feet, and had apprehension of
-losing some of his toes. Although suffering greatly, he was made
-especially unhappy by the thought of being disabled so early in the
-campaign. Discussing the subject of scurvy with Lieutenant Greely, they
-agreed in regarding the explorers much better provided against it, than
-was the British expedition, in that their dietary list was more
-complete. The English issued fresh beef but once a week; the Greely
-Expedition three times or oftener. This expedition had also the great
-advantage of a dry, warm, well-ventilated house.
-
-Lockwood’s report as to St. Patrick’s Bay settling that as the place for
-their first depot, Sergeant Brainard with others proceeded to establish
-the same there by means of the whale-boat, moving around Cape Distant.
-Lockwood was much annoyed that his disability prevented his being one of
-those to carry out this important feature toward their future
-explorations. He took advantage of his non-active condition to figure
-out a design for an “ice-sledge,” which he thought would be an
-improvement on the Hudson Bay sledge they had in use. Lieutenant Greely
-approving the plan, he proceeded at once to build one by way of
-experiment. The duty assigned to Brainard was duly accomplished, and
-Depot A was established at St. Patrick’s Bay.
-
-Having received a gentle reminder from Lieutenant Greely for
-oversleeping himself, Lockwood said he could not complain, the offense
-not being his first of the kind. The singular clearness of the
-atmosphere had enabled him to make satisfactory sketches of Cape Lieber
-and other prominent objects in the distance, and also of the house.
-
-Among the events which made the early days of September somewhat lively
-were the following: Gardiner reported a waif, in the shape of a boat
-twelve feet long and an eight-men sledge, on the shore near Cape
-Murchison. Lieutenant Greely with others, and Lieutenant Kislingbury as
-a guest, went upon a two-days’ trip to the Bellows in search of game and
-to view the land. They were successful in securing ten musk-oxen, a
-dozen or more eider-ducks, and some other game. Sergeant Lynn, returning
-from Cape Beechy, reported a wagon and lamp on the shore, left by the
-English.
-
-Dr. Pavy returned from Lincoln Bay, but Rice, taken on the return with
-severe inflammatory rheumatism, was left four miles north of St.
-Patrick’s Bay. A party was at once sent for his relief, which brought
-him in, in a bad way. Great difficulty was found in lifting him up the
-steep cliffs between the station and St. Patrick’s Bay.
-
-Lockwood, having recovered from his injuries, went upon an expedition to
-the Bellows with Gardiner and the Esquimaux Frederick, using an
-eight-dog sledge and carrying rations for four days, consisting of
-roasted musk-ox, baked beans, butter and sauce, hard bread, and
-chocolate. They visited Bleak Cape, the entrance of the Bellows. The
-Bellows they found to be a long, level valley, walled in by lofty hills
-and cliffs, in some places two or three thousand feet high. It bears the
-impress of having been, at some far-distant period, the channel of a
-glacier, its level surface being thickly strewn with stones, while there
-are masses attached like shelves to the sides of the cliffs and slopes.
-For twenty miles, the valley preserves a width of nearly three miles;
-beyond this, it narrows and changes direction toward the west. A small
-creek runs through its entire length, which generally they followed. The
-route was difficult, owing to the large number of stones imperfectly
-covered with snow, and hence all riding ceased after they entered the
-valley; for the dogs could scarcely pull the sledge and its load, and
-often required aid. Here they met a piece of drift-wood, indicating that
-the tide once flowed up the valley, for no tree or wood had ever been
-seen away from tide-water. One of the dogs becoming sick was turned
-adrift, trusting to her following the party or returning home. Reaching
-“Devil’s Head,” they went into camp by turning up the sledge and hanging
-rubber blankets around to shield them from the cold wind, and then ate a
-supper of warmed-up beans and hot chocolate, and tumbled into the
-sleeping-bags, all of which they found most enjoyable.
-
-After a breakfast of chocolate, hard bread, and some frozen cheese, they
-were delighted to see the sick dog rejoin them. The sledge-runners were
-rapidly wearing out, and they concluded to walk to the end of the
-valley, leaving the Esquimaux with the sledge and team while they pushed
-on as best they could.
-
-Lockwood and Gardiner reached the head of the valley at four, and,
-proceeding up the incline to the west where it narrowed to a ravine,
-went on till they came to a narrow gorge—its terminus. Having seen all
-there was to see, and Gardiner complaining of a game leg, they retraced
-their steps, reached the sledge at 10 P. M., and at once, supperless,
-turned into their sleeping-bags. Near the terminus of the valley they
-met two musk-oxen, but, having only their knives with them, did not
-venture on an assault, though the animals stood still and quietly gazed
-at the intruders.
-
-Returning, they followed the creek, finding some advantage from the ice
-which had formed during the night. Lockwood saw and took back with him a
-few pieces of wood-coal, or very soft coal, evidently of recent
-formation, which had doubtless washed down, but whence he knew not.
-Reaching Bleak Cape, they decided to make a _détour_ west to a cañon
-near the “Knife-edge,” where the musk-oxen were killed by Lieutenant
-Greely and party a few days before; but no musk-ox, dead or alive, was
-to be seen. Gardiner being still lame, Lockwood abandoned some other
-objects he had in view in making this trip, and, striking out directly
-across the bay and riding on the sledge, they reached the station
-without incident.
-
-Dr. Pavy made an unsuccessful attempt to reach an estuary at the head of
-Lady Franklin Bay, from which Lieutenant Greely thought a passage might
-be forced westward to a supposed fiord or sea connected with the waters
-leading through Behring Strait into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately,
-finding Lady Franklin Bay open beyond Stony Point, the doctor returned
-without settling this interesting question, which, as will be seen,
-Lieutenant Lockwood afterward solved.
-
-Sixteen, or more, large Arctic wolves were seen in one day on the ice, a
-few hundred yards from the house. These were the first seen by them; the
-English saw none here, nor do Kane, Hayes, or Hall mention them. These
-wolves are large, strong, fierce-looking beasts, perfectly white in
-color, and anything but desirable customers to meet.
-
-Lieutenant Greely, and Sergeants Brainard, Bender, and Connell, left on
-an exploration above and beyond “North Valley,” a deep cañon cutting
-through the “hog’s back” north of the station. They left without
-sledges, carrying six days’ rations, sleeping-bags, etc. Following the
-“North Valley” upward, and leaving it near its head, they soon found
-themselves in a water-course running toward St. Patrick’s Bay. Turning
-westward, and going some distance, they came in sight of what they
-regarded as the United States Range; but, a heavy snow-storm coming on,
-they cut short the trip after traveling twenty-five miles, and returned.
-It was deemed unfortunate that the untoward weather prevented their
-getting a good view from that range. The absence of glaciers and large
-water-courses, the low altitude of the range, and many other features in
-that region, all seemed to indicate a large sea not far to the westward.
-
-The building of Lockwood’s sledge turned out a failure, for the want of
-proper appliances.
-
-On the 17th of September, the party celebrated Whistler’s birthday by a
-dinner of his own selection—oyster soup, roast musk-ox, potatoes, corn,
-pear-butter, cake, etc., and a glass of grog in the evening. Two-story
-bunks were built for the men, giving more room. The Signal-Service
-men—the observers—had a little corner partitioned off, where they were
-to sleep and work. Another corner was fitted as a wash-room, where warm
-water might be had, and where there was a bath-tub, which all were
-expected to use every week. Other arrangements had been provided
-productive of comfort and health. Lockwood’s time was now chiefly
-occupied in drawing maps, making finished drawings from sketches,
-reading, and sledge-work.
-
-Dr. Pavy, with a party, went to take provisions to the depots, but
-failed to get round Cape Murchison. Not satisfying Lieutenant Greely,
-the latter himself undertook the task, and, after considerable
-difficulty, in which the sledge broke down, succeeded. On the 21st the
-sun presented a remarkable appearance, having rainbows to the right and
-left, which nearly joined above; also radiating vertical and horizontal
-beams of light.
-
-Lieutenant Kislingbury, after many futile efforts with arsenic,
-succeeded in poisoning many wolves with strychnine. Five of them bit the
-dust at one time, and by this means the party was able to get rid of
-these dangerous neighbors. This animal, as stated, is perfectly white,
-and is not unlike the Esquimaux dog, but larger and more formidable.
-
-On the 24th of September, Lockwood started on a trip to Cape Beechy with
-Ellis, Fredericks, Ralston, Biederbick, and one large sledge, to
-provision Depot “A,” distant twenty miles. They started with two hundred
-and fifty pounds on the sledge, intending to take on other food left
-near Cape Distant. Their passage around this cape was accomplished only
-after cutting away masses of ice. Beyond this, and with their load
-increased to three hundred and fifty pounds, they struck masses of rocks
-over which the sledge and load had to be lifted. There they left the
-photograph apparatus for Rice, and took lunch. Afterward they passed
-Watercourse Bay, and the English wagon lying on the shore, and halted
-for the night at 6 P. M. at Cape Murchison, without any remonstrance on
-the part of the tired-out men, notwithstanding some of them, about noon,
-had proposed going on to Cape Beechy without a stop. Indeed, Lockwood
-observed anxious faces among them when he hesitated about stopping.
-Floe-bergs of every form and shape—square, oblong, round, and
-pyramidal—from ten to forty feet high, were scattered along the shore.
-Without the barrier afforded by these, the floating floe, moving with
-the noise of railroad-trains, would cut away the foot-ice and render
-travel impossible. Using the tent at Depot “A,” and the bedding, etc.,
-there, they got supper over the spirit-lamp and crawled into their
-sleeping-bags. The cold, cramped position, and dropping of congealed
-moisture from the tent, robbed them of sleep; hence they rose at 5.20,
-little refreshed. Beautiful “sun-dogs” were noticed with the rising of
-the sun across the strait. Toward noon similar appearances, peculiar to
-the Arctic sun, were still more remarkable—rainbows on either side, and
-joined above the sun, while vertical and horizontal beams of white light
-pierced the sun. They passed St. Patrick’s Bay, and, after a hard and
-cold day’s work, reached Depot “B,” south of Mount Bufort and a little
-farther south of Cape Beechy, at 3 P. M., the 25th. On the following
-day, dragging an empty sledge, they returned to the _cache_ at St.
-Patrick’s Bay, loaded up with three hundred and fifty pounds, and
-returned to Depot “B,” tired, cold, and wet with perspiration, this last
-being, perhaps, the greatest obstacle to Arctic travel. The great
-exertion soon induces perspiration, which being checked when labor
-ceases, you are at once sensible of cold water and ice at the same time.
-It was rare to have anything entirely dry after the first day of work.
-The sole resource was to use the heat of the body in the sleeping-bags
-at night. Mittens and socks were the most important to keep dry, and the
-most difficult. Their lamps being imperfect, they found a difficulty in
-preparing their chocolate. The alcohol took fire below and filled the
-tent with fumes quite as unpleasant as the cold. Having left their tin
-plates behind, they had to eat from one dish. Eating was simply
-cramming, that their benumbed fingers might give up the cold spoons and
-return to the warm pockets. Yet with all these discomforts they ate
-heartily, and with appetites unknown elsewhere than in the Arctic
-regions; and, notwithstanding dirt, cold, and alcoholic fumes, they had
-their jokes and songs while lying in their sleeping-bags, trying to keep
-warm and get to sleep. But their ills did not end there, for whenever
-the canvas was shaken, frost-like snow—condensed vapor—fell upon them,
-which melted with the lighting of the lamp in the morning. Truly, this
-was a rough road to glory and fame!
-
-Two of the men, in consequence of the crowded tent, had to sleep outside
-with the thermometer at -15°, and left without breakfast, to return to
-the station. The party soon followed them, and, after stopping at St.
-Patrick’s Bay to take on a log of driftwood observed there, which gave
-them an additional pull of five miles, reached the station long after
-dark. Having taken something to eat and drink, they got into their warm
-and dry beds, which never felt more comfortable.
-
-The next man to command a party was Dr. Pavy, who had in view a
-long-projected trip to Cape Joseph Henry, with the object of carrying
-out the wishes of the Navy Department, that a search should be made
-there for the Jeannette, and a signal placed indicating that help was
-near at hand; another object was to establish a depot for spring
-operations. His force consisted of the Esquimaux Jans, Whistler, and two
-dog-teams. His “constant weight” was two hundred pounds, and he took
-rations for twenty days. He counted upon other rations at Lincoln Bay
-left by the English, and those nearer home left by Greely’s men at Depot
-“B,” near Cape Beechy. He hoped with these to establish a depot near the
-place where the Alert had her winter quarters, and thus be ready in the
-spring to surpass Markham. Lockwood was inclined to think the doctor a
-little too anxious to retain personal comfort while exploring, to
-accomplish much. He had been convinced that sledge-journeys of any
-considerable extent in those high latitudes could be made only by the
-sacrifice of every personal comfort.
-
-On the 2d of October, there was a remarkable and beautiful sunset. The
-lower part of the picture was formed by the clear white ice of the
-harbor westward. Then came the distant mountains, whose snow-capped
-summits reached into a sky of beautiful green; above, a line of gold,
-and then blue and gold alternating, and finally the deep-blue vault
-studded with masses of red—on the whole a most gorgeous spectacle.
-
-Finding this inactive life monotonous, Lockwood started on an
-exploration of the streams which enter St. Patrick’s Bay from the north.
-Lynn, Bender, Saler, Henry, and himself constituted the party, and they
-proposed going by way of the gap through the mountains rather than
-around Distant Cape. They had not gone far before they regretted having
-taken this short cut, for they found the way exceedingly laborious from
-want of snow—so much so, that they were six hours in reaching the steep,
-rocky bluffs which overlook St. Patrick’s Bay and the valley at the
-north of it, and they were two more before reaching the level of the
-bay. Indeed, this was only attained by carrying their load piece by
-piece down the cliffs and letting the sledge down by ropes. Here they
-put up their tent and went into camp. Unfortunately, they had neglected
-to bring candles, and hence had to eat their meal in darkness. Lockwood
-and Saler occupied one sleeping-bag, while the others were in another.
-They passed the night cold and sleepless. There being a birthday dinner
-at the station, they had intended to walk back to it, a distance of
-seven miles, but, on account of the condition of the way, abandoned the
-idea.
-
-Getting off at an early hour after a cold breakfast, and reaching the
-bed of the water-course, they made their way over its stony bed, so
-lightly covered with snow as to rapidly grind away the sledge-runners,
-up the cañon, as grand as the stream was insignificant. Finding their
-progress so much impeded, they left the sledge behind and made their way
-without it. The cold being intense, to keep up circulation they walked
-rapidly, but suffered greatly in their feet and hands. Having
-volunteered for this expedition, they were ashamed to give it up, though
-often disposed to do so. Thus, for three tiresome hours, they kept on
-their way, either following the bed of the stream, or along the
-mesa-like formations, which projected like shelves from the
-mountain-sides. Finally, the valley and mesas alike disappearing, the
-stream entered a narrow gorge. Gaining an eminence, the further course
-of the stream was indicated to them, and its probable terminus in
-table-lands of great elevation seen in the distance. Returning by the
-bed of the stream until the valley had attained a width of half a mile,
-they entered from the west a very picturesque cañon thirty feet wide
-with walls one hundred feet high. Its walls were worn smooth, as though
-by the action of ice, and there were small, basin-shaped holes
-apparently made by bowlders caught by glaciers. They also met with
-blocks of quartz much larger than could possibly be moved by the force
-of any body of water now passing through the cañon. Notwithstanding
-their exhausted condition, and the worn state of their foot-gear from
-the numerous stones and rough ice they had passed over, they concluded
-not to spend the night where they had left the sledge, but to go on to
-Depot “A,” near Cape Murchison. Adding their outfit to that of the
-depot, they had a night of less discomfort than usual. On passing Cape
-Distant, they noticed a broad channel of open water in the strait,
-preventing any passage at that time.
-
-On reaching the station, they found that the temperature had been -16°,
-and it was probably 4° lower where they had been. Lieutenant Greely was
-putting in order a variety of reading-matter for the men. Sergeant
-Brainard was absent at the Bellows, with Rice and Bender, after musk-ox
-meat. They returned later, badly frosted, but brought the meat to within
-easy sledging distance.
-
-The 7th of October, being Mrs. Greely’s birthday, was celebrated with a
-dinner made regal by the following-named dishes: gumbo-soup, biscuits,
-old sherry, Columbia River salmon with sauce sauterne, boiled ham,
-asparagus, sago, corn, lima-beans, cold bread, chocolate cake,
-strawberry and pineapple ice-cream, dates, figs, grapes, prunes, candied
-fruits, coffee, and Benedictine.
-
-In Payer’s “History of the Austrian Expedition to Franz-Josef Land,”
-Lockwood found much of interest in connection with the requirements for
-a sledge-journey—details of clothing and other matters best suited to
-fit one to stand the cold. The book he considered of great value to any
-novice in Arctic sledging. He supposed that they themselves were much
-better off than any expedition that had wintered within the Arctic
-Circle. The most serious difficulties—dampness, want of ventilation, and
-darkness—were reduced with them to a minimum, while of fresh meat,
-anti-scorbutics, and fuel they had an abundance; and if their assortment
-of clothing—particularly foot-gear—had been better, they would have had
-nothing to desire.
-
-Besides the large stock of coal left by the Proteus, they had the
-coal-mine within ten miles. The men seemed comfortable and contented.
-They had a bathroom and bath-tub, with hot and cold water ready at hand,
-and books and periodicals in abundance. Their heating arrangements were
-generally perfect and quite effectual. The light from the sun amounted
-to little, and artificial light within-doors was required all day; but
-with a full moon, bright sky, and everything covered with snow, they had
-a flood of light almost an equivalent. They had musk-ox meat almost
-every day, and a large store on hand. They also had a large supply of
-the best pork, lime-juice, cider, sour-krout, pickles, onions and
-cucumbers mixed, and other anti-scorbutics. The men were comfortable,
-seemed happy and cheerful, and found many sources of amusement—among
-others, from an anti-swearing society. Delinquents were fined five cents
-each, the proceeds to pay for a grand dinner on returning to the United
-States. Several members incurred such enormous fines as to become
-bankrupt, and were expelled. These outcasts lay around and beguiled the
-unwary, thus affording amusement to all except the victim. Rice and
-Israel had a way of carrying on ridiculous discussions. One evening they
-had an apparently angry dialogue, in which Rice personated a tipsy
-lodger complaining of the fare and demanding his bill, and Israel, an
-insulted landlord. Both seemed entirely in earnest, and kept their
-countenances amid roars of laughter and gibes from the men.
-
-
-
-
- IX.
- PRELIMINARY SLEDGE EXPEDITIONS AND LIFE AT THE STATION.
-
-
-Among the amusements which helped to kill time at the station of
-Discovery Harbor, officially called Fort Conger, was that of celebrating
-certain birthdays, and this chapter begins with what was done when
-Lieutenant Lockwood attained his twenty-ninth year. He confessed that he
-did not wish a “happy return of the day” in the Arctic regions, and yet
-he would be contented if they should all be as pleasant as the one just
-experienced, in spite of the cold winds, ice, snow, darkness, and
-anticipations of exposure and fatigue when his spring travels should
-begin. He spent most of the day in sewing canvas leggings to his
-moccasins and altering his trousers, while Lieutenant Greely entertained
-him with recollections of his army experience during the rebellion,
-fighting his battles over again. His birthday dinner was something quite
-formidable, consisting of:
-
- Pea soup à la Proteus,
- Scalloped oysters à la Eastern Shore,
- Deviled crabs à la Chesapeake,
- Musk-ox à la Franklin Bay,
- Potatoes à l’Irlandaise,
- Macaroni à l’Italienne,
- Rice and curry à la Pacific Mail,
- Blanc-mange, fruits, nuts, cake, ice-cream, and black coffee.
-
-Lieutenant Greely kindly added, from private stores, some very good
-California port wine. Lockwood’s reflections, however, carried him to
-his distant home, and he longed to know that all there were well—that
-his dear parents and sisters were happy as when he was with them!
-Perhaps, even at that hour, their thoughts and words were of him. On
-this day, as frequently on his sledging journeys, he pictured to himself
-the family circle in the far-off home. The cold, fatigue, and monotony
-attending him and his companions were rendered endurable by thus
-breaking away from the present.
-
-On the morning of the 10th of October, Lockwood started on a trip with
-Jewell across Lady Franklin Bay for Cape Baird. Had no difficulty for a
-mile or two beyond Dutch Island, but mist and fog then obscuring their
-way and blotting out the landscape, they kept on their course by
-compass. Soon they encountered heavy snow-drifts and many floe-bergs and
-fields of rubble-ice, all unfavorable for sledging. Fortunately, they
-had only themselves to transport. Though the weather was cold, they soon
-found themselves oppressively warm from the labor attending the journey.
-Profiting by past experience, Lockwood had this time come out warmly
-dressed—viz., with two flannel shirts, a woolen jersey, an under-shirt
-of light buckskin, heavy woolen drawers, a seal-skin over-all, and two
-pairs of socks under light buckskin moccasins. He then became convinced,
-that it was quite as great a mistake to wear too much as too little
-clothing. Even when they could ride on the sledge, which was not often,
-there were numerous bad places where they had to run with the dogs and
-lift the sledge over obstacles. Trying to avoid the moving ice, they
-struck too far westward, so that when they approached land they found
-themselves some two miles within the cape for which they had started.
-Stopping only to take a bite of crackers and meat, they started to
-retrace their steps, but not before daylight had left them, and they had
-only the moon to show them the way. After some time they thought to
-reduce the distance by taking what they supposed was a short cut, but
-soon found themselves scrambling over hummocky ice of the most
-formidable character. They regained their track, but not till overcome
-by thirst and fatigue. Resting at short intervals, they finally came in
-sight of Dutch Island, and soon afterward were gladdened by the sound of
-distant shouts. Dr. Pavy and Sergeants Brainard and Connell had come out
-to meet them, and not empty-handed, for they bore a bag of hot coffee,
-and never did coffee taste more delicious. Though the mercury was nearly
-nine degrees below zero, when they reached the house everything they had
-on was as wet as if they had fallen overboard.
-
-The result of that reconnaissance was that they decided to establish a
-“depot” near Cape Baird, which labor was duly carried out by Lockwood,
-Ellis, Saler, and Bender. The weather being open, they started directly
-for Cape Baird, but, finding that route impracticable, inclined westward
-and got into their old track. After much delay and great labor, they
-reached a point on the farther side, where they found it necessary to
-encamp for the night. The tent was pitched, chocolate boiled, and beans
-thawed out, after which they crawled into their sleeping-bags, trying to
-forget, if possible, that the thermometer stood at -24° without.
-Resuming their journey, but now with the discomfort of wind added to
-intense cold, they made their way ashore, established the depot of
-provisions, and with lightened sledges and hearts retraced their steps.
-Noses were frozen during the day, and only restored by friction, which
-made them raw and uncomfortable. Very soon after starting back, twilight
-disappeared, and they had only the moon to light them on their way.
-Passing the resting-place of the previous night, they concluded to make
-the journey to the house without stopping. They stumbled on in the dark,
-a used-up party, Lockwood having a sprained tendon Achilles, and also a
-lame back. The air becoming calm, they were enabled to stop sometimes
-and rest, which they could not have safely done in their perspiring
-condition had the wind been blowing. When near Dutch Island, Dr. Pavy
-and Lieutenant Kislingbury met them with hot coffee, which so much
-refreshed them that the rest of the journey seemed easy, although it was
-probable that Lockwood’s raw red nose, frosted toes, lame back, and
-tender heel, would be reminders of this trip for a long time.
-
-On the 16th of October the sun disappeared, to rise no more until
-February. With the mercury ranging from -28° to -40°, Lockwood amused
-himself by scraping off the accumulated condensation of moisture from
-the room on the window-panes near his corner, the ice being one inch
-thick.
-
-About this time Lockwood took up a course of Arctic literature, with
-which they were liberally supplied. This was chiefly in view of his
-sledge-journey in the coming spring. Feeling the need of exercise, he
-left the station on the 23d for Depot “B,” Cape Beechy, with Brainard,
-Connell, and the Esquimaux Frederick, and a sledge with eight dogs. At
-Depot “A” they took on a small stove and a bag of coal from the mines,
-and thereby the tent at Depot “B” became more comfortable than anything
-they had experienced away from the station; notwithstanding, they had a
-comfortless night, as the crowded condition of the tent compelled some
-of them to lie so near the stove as to endanger their safety. Lockwood
-woke up to find a large hole burned in his blanket. Afterward, the fire
-going out, they suffered more than when they had had no fire at all.
-They erected a snow-house for a depot here, forming the sides of tough
-blocks of compact snow, and covering it with the boat-sail supported by
-oars, and, by imitating the natives in some particulars, had a house
-impervious to cold.
-
-While there, Lockwood, with Brainard, ascended Mount Bufort, near at
-hand, and had an uninterrupted view of the straits as far down as Cape
-Lieber, and of the opposite coast, between which and them hung
-water-clouds, indicating open water. This fact was also indicated by the
-roar, like a moving railroad-train, made by the crushing of the ice in
-the current. Having passed another night in their warm snow-house, they
-made their way next day to the station in less than five hours, and
-found all hands there engaged in erecting an ice wall around the house
-as high as the eaves, and filling in with snow. This proved most
-effectual in keeping the house warm.
-
-Lieutenant Greely had an uncomfortable experience while assisting to
-make a tide-gauge. He fell in and got a ducking—not his first experience
-in that direction. Wolves were daily seen near the house, and were so
-bold and fearless that the men deemed it prudent never to leave the
-building without fire-arms; for, as the animals were of the same color
-as the snow, they could not be easily distinguished.
-
-On the 29th, a singular aurora made its appearance, consisting of a
-ribbon of white light a degree wide, stretching through the zenith from
-north to south; then another arch, 10° westward, whose base touched the
-first; and still another, also passing through the zenith, and cutting
-the others at right angles.
-
-On the 30th, Lockwood commenced preparations for a preliminary journey
-to Hall’s winter quarters, whenever the straits could be crossed and the
-weather and light were suitable. Among other things, the saddler,
-Fredericks, made a tent to hold eight men, using to that end two common
-“A” tents.
-
-About this time, while cogitating on his room and room-mates, Lockwood
-said: “Surely this is a happy quartet occupying this room! We often sit
-silent during the whole day, and even a meal fails to elicit anything
-more than a chance remark or two. A charming prospect for four months of
-darkness, such gloom within, and penned up as we are in one room! I have
-doubts of getting over the straits, but I must be off as soon as
-possible, for I find a relief in getting away.”
-
-Lieutenant Greely had felt himself compelled to show his dissatisfaction
-with Dr. Pavy’s explorations, or rather attempted explorations. He and
-the doctor had also adverse views as to how explorations should be made.
-The doctor wanted to take along many creature comforts, while Greely
-thought, with Lockwood, that nothing could be accomplished without
-sacrificing all beyond bare necessities.
-
-Having everything complete, Lockwood started on the 1st of November to
-try the passage of the straits, with Brainard, Lynn, Saler, Biederbick,
-Ellis, Fredericks, and Connell, dragging an eight-man sledge, weighing,
-with load, one thousand pounds. They left sledge and load beyond Cape
-Distant, and returned to lodge at the house, where all hands fortified
-themselves with a first-class dinner, preparatory to the labors of the
-next day.
-
-They got off early, but, owing to the limited light and other
-difficulties, found themselves some distance from the snow-house near
-Cape Beechy when darkness overtook them. Having all in readiness on the
-4th, they again got off, leaving Ellis at the snow-house with an injured
-foot. This was unfortunate, as he was a strong, willing fellow, with
-lots of pluck. The prospects of crossing the straits at this time were
-not encouraging, both from the short duration of light and from the open
-waters. Still, they determined to make the effort. This they first did
-with the whale-boat, which they had picked up on their route. They
-mounted it on the sledge, but soon found they could not drag so heavy a
-body, and returned to the snow-house. Rice, whom they found there, was
-then sent with a dog-sledge to bring up a small boat from Cape
-Murchison. Dr. Pavy, Lieutenant Kislingbury, and Jans coming along _en
-route_ for another attempt northward, were surprised to see how
-comfortable they were in the snow-house.
-
-After extensive repairs to the small boat, they again got off at noon,
-seven men and Lockwood himself dragging the sledge, on which were the
-boat and one hundred and fourteen pounds of rations. On reaching open
-water, three only were to proceed in the boat, the others to fall back
-on the snow-house. They got along pretty well until they came to the
-hummocks, through which, with extreme labor, and frequently using an
-axe, they made their way, till they heard, in the distance toward
-Polaris Promontory, the roar of the grinding ice, indicating open water.
-Moving on ahead of the party over very rough ice, and crossing some wet,
-slushy ice fifteen or twenty yards wide, Lockwood found himself on a
-level floe. He had gone only a short distance over this toward a dark
-streak beyond, which he took for open water, when he found that the floe
-upon which he stood was in motion. Retreating over the bed of slushy
-ice, he found this to be really only a thick mass of broken pieces
-intermediate between the moving floe and the firm ice. He could readily
-thrust his ice-hook down through it to the water beneath, and did so.
-Reaching the sledge-party, and viewing the difficulties of the
-situation, he decided, all agreeing, on the impracticability of crossing
-at this season. They accordingly displayed signal-torches from the top
-of an iceberg, as agreed upon, that Lieutenant Greely might know that
-they had found the crossing dangerous and had abandoned the effort. They
-returned in darkness, and with considerable difficulty, guided somewhat
-by a signal-torch displayed by Ellis at the snow-house. They remained
-all day at the snow-house, which the men found so comfortable that they
-preferred it to the restraints of the station. At noon Lockwood and
-Brainard went upon a tramp, and found the condition of the open water to
-be such as to demonstrate the wisdom of their return the evening before.
-The men made some additions to the snow-house, which were regarded as a
-great success. The return to the station on the 7th was attended with
-more difficulty and labor than had been expected, arising from a strong
-south wind having worn away the foot-ice, and the small amount of light;
-hence, they soon had wet feet, which in that region always means
-frost-bitten feet. So much were some of the men used up by this journey
-of twenty miles, which had before been made in one day, that they had to
-be conveyed on the sledge, and did not reach the station till the third
-day. At Dutch Island they met Whistler, who, missing Biederbick at the
-ropes and seeing a human form on the sledge, came to the conclusion that
-Biederbick was dead, and repeatedly exclaimed, “Poor Biederbick! poor
-Biederbick!”
-
-During a period of dullness at the station, Rice and Henry projected a
-newspaper, to be called the “Arctic Moon,” and Lockwood, to whom, also,
-the idea had occurred, agreed to join them as one of the editors. They
-wanted something to dispel the monotony which was depressing all hands,
-as all were tired of reading, of cards and other games, while two of
-Lockwood’s room-mates were gloomy and taciturn. To counteract this, he
-resumed his reading, especially history and travels—anything but novels.
-Kane’s work interested him especially, and he considered him a
-remarkable man, courageous, energetic, and determined. Their own manner
-of life just then reminded Lockwood of a rainy day in the country
-intensified. “Yet,” says he, “why not be contented? Books and leisure
-afford an opportunity for reading and studying which we may never have
-again. We have a warm, comfortable house, plenty of food, and other
-things which many are without. Life in this world is just what one
-chooses to make it. Man can make of it a heaven or a hell.” He felt
-anxious as to the effect of one hundred and thirty sunless days upon
-himself and men, as this might tell on their sledging in the coming
-spring. Nares’s people broke down under it, and, when sledging, were
-decimated by the scurvy. They themselves were fortunate so far in not
-having had a single man sick enough to keep his bed.
-
-True to his intellectual instincts, Lockwood formed a class in geography
-and grammar, consisting of Ellison, Bender, Connell, and Whistler, while
-Lieutenant Greely taught them arithmetic. On the 22d of November
-appeared, with a flourish of trumpets, the first number of the “Arctic
-Moon.” Of course the editors thought it a great success. It had for the
-frontispiece a sketch of the house, drawn by Lockwood, while Rice made
-fair copies of the paper by the hectograph process—enough for all, and
-many to spare.
-
-These trifles served to shorten, apparently, the many hours of gloom and
-darkness, which were wearing away the spirits of all. The men were now
-far less hilarious than they had been, and, with the game of chess to
-assist, silence reigned supreme.
-
-Thanksgiving-day, with its games, sports, and dinner, gave them a
-pleasant variety. First, came the snow-shoe race of one hundred yards,
-Brainard, victor. Next, the foot-race, with many contestants, but Ellis
-coming out ahead. Then the dog-team race to Dutch Island and return,
-under the Esquimaux Jans and Frederick, the latter, victor. And,
-finally, a shooting-match, necessarily at short range, and with torches,
-Henry, victor. These and other out-door exercises were followed by the
-grand feature of the day, the Thanksgiving dinner, and not a poor one
-either, even for a lower latitude than eighty-two degrees. In the
-evening Lieutenant Greely gave out prizes to the victors and second
-best, Rice acting as master of ceremonies, rigged out in swallow-tail
-coat, black pantaloons, white vest, and “boiled” shirt. The mercury
-froze on that day, and Lieutenant Greely brought in a teacupful, which
-looked like lead as it comes from the mold. The moon also made its
-appearance, and all fully appreciated the blessing of this luminary.
-
-“What a change,” exclaimed Lockwood, “when she comes forth in all her
-beauty and loveliness, flooding the landscape with her refulgent beams
-and cheering the drooping spirits of benighted mortals! Even the poor
-dogs feel her influence!” On the 1st of December, they had an almost
-total eclipse of the moon, more remarkable there than an eclipse of the
-sun elsewhere. During the phenomenon, the exposed part of the disk was
-of a dull-red color. Lockwood took the altitude of the moon while
-crossing the meridian, using a saucer of molasses as an artificial
-horizon. She flooded the whole region with a light, electric in
-appearance, and causing deep shadows. In the evening they were treated
-to a display of mock moons, with a circular band of bright light
-connecting them, and several bands or ribbons of light at various
-angles, but all passing through the moon.
-
-The Esquimaux, Jans and Frederick, having of late been much depressed,
-efforts were made by kindly attentions on the part of Lieutenant Greely
-and others to dispel their gloom and assure them of the friendly feeling
-entertained toward them by all. These good offices, however, all failed.
-Dr. Pavy said this state of mind was not infrequent among the natives of
-lower Greenland, and often resulted in the wandering off of the subjects
-of it, and, if not followed, by their perishing in the cold. One morning
-Jans was missing, and at once his tracks were followed by Dr. Pavy,
-Brainard, Rice, and Whistler, with the dog-sledge. Late in the afternoon
-they returned with poor Jans, who was found nine miles away, following
-at a rapid pace the ice-foot around Cape Murchison. He returned
-unwillingly, and gave no reason for his strange conduct. Rice and
-Whistler were both rendered _hors de combat_ by the journey, the former
-by a fall from an ice-hummock, the latter by congestion of the brain
-owing to having shaved before going out. Both Dr. Kane and Dr. Rink (in
-his book on Greenland) refer to hallucinations similar to that of Jans,
-and the frequent fatal consequences.
-
-On the 14th of December appeared the second number of the “Arctic Moon,”
-which was thought to be an improvement on number one, and was well
-received. Lieutenant Greely gave a lecture on the “Polar Question.”
-
-On the same day also, Esquimaux Frederick came to Lieutenant Greely and
-asked permission to leave the station, and, when asked why, said some
-one was going to shoot him—a strange hallucination!
-
-On the 20th Lockwood writes: “The sun now begins his journey to the
-north; the backbone of the winter is broken! Walking out at noon to-day,
-I was just able to see the hands of my watch by holding it close to my
-eye. The profound silence of this region is quite as striking, and
-almost as disagreeable, as the darkness. Standing still, one can almost
-hear his heart beat. The sense of solitude is sublime.” Speaking of
-Arctic literature, he says that “Hayes’ book, though beautifully
-written, is far below that of Kane as to information and reliability. No
-one who has been up Smith’s Sound can fail to notice this.”
-
-On the 24th of December, after eating a birthday dinner, the Christmas
-presents from an unknown friend to every one of the party, were
-distributed. The rooms were appropriately decorated, and everything was
-done to render the occasion cheerful and pleasant. Those articles not
-specifically assigned by the donor were disposed of by lottery.
-
-Lockwood indulged in the following reflections: “How suggestive of home
-and of the dear ones there! How often do my thoughts wander away to
-them! Has Providence been equally kind to them as to me? The day with me
-suggests alternately the past and the future. Will next Christmas find
-me here, with everything around as auspicious as now, and shall I then
-be able to look back with satisfaction and self-complacency on my labors
-along the Greenland coast? Or will the future bring a record of dreams
-unsatisfied, of efforts unproductive, of labor in vain? My mind is far
-away with that group at home assembled together and doubtless regretting
-that the absent one is not of their number. Could I but see them for an
-hour, or know that all is well with them, I should rejoice, indeed!”
-
-The “Lime-Juice Club” gave an entertainment on the same evening, at
-which Snyder affected Jans to tears by his personation of an Esquimaux
-lady, and Connell brought down the house as a martinet captain, by
-exclaiming, when a soldier who had shot himself was brought in: “Very
-sad affair, very sad, indeed! Charge him with two cartridges expended,
-Sergeant.”
-
-Lieutenant Greely also gave the party as a lecture, “Reminiscences of
-the Battle of Fredericksburg,” which was interesting and two hours long,
-though entirely _ex tempore_; and Lockwood was announced to lecture on
-“Arctic Sledging.”
-
-On the 31st, rations of rum were issued to help the men welcome in the
-new year. They were also to fire a salute with rifles. Fiddles were in
-full blast, with singing and other marks of hilarity.
-
-Lockwood’s lecture on “Arctic Sledging” was given January 3, 1882, and
-was well received. Being confirmed in his opinion that he was no public
-speaker, he intended to leave lecturing for others thereafter. On the
-9th he took his usual walk, notwithstanding the thermometer was at 60°
-below zero, and felt the cold chiefly on his nose. It seemed curious to
-him, that when the thermometer was lowest, the air was stillest. Were it
-otherwise, he supposed existence in the Arctic would be an
-impossibility.
-
-But severe as was the weather, it did not deter him from the study of
-science, as will be seen by the following record, made on the 9th of
-January: “I have been looking up the subject of nautical astronomy for
-some time past, and to-day and this evening, taking sextant, mercury,
-etc., and establishing an observatory on top of an old barrel in front
-of the house, commenced observations on the transit of Markab, Capella,
-and other stars, but have not been very successful. Everything conspires
-against one in this climate. It reminds me of my observations last
-spring. However, I hope by dint of practice to do better. The winter is
-passing away slowly but surely. The time is coming when I shall look at
-these stars from grassy fields, on a summer night, in the temperate
-zone, I hope. The stars up here are very bright, and a great many of
-them circle around the pole and never set. It is a beautiful sight.
-Arcturus, Aldebaran, and others, besides being very bright, show
-different colors, red, violet, and green. Jupiter looks immense.”
-
-Still absorbed with his astronomical studies, he gives us the following
-on the 13th of the same month: “The moon appeared after noon. How
-welcome she is! How a poet would rave over the moon could he once
-experience a polar winter!—not simply an Arctic winter, for anywhere
-north of the Arctic Circle is the Arctic, and the dark days which most
-expeditions have seen are trifling compared with ours. I think it would
-be a good idea to exile a first-class poet into these regions for the
-purpose, but give him to understand he was never to return. How he would
-sing!”
-
-On the 12th, they had a phenomenon they had never heard of—the
-precipitation of vapor with a perfectly clear sky. It resembled a heavy
-mist or light rain.
-
-On the 16th occurred the first hurricane of the season. It began in the
-morning with heavy south wind and sudden fall of barometer. At noon the
-wind whipped round to the northeast and blew with indescribable fury,
-filling the air with snow-drifts, and blotting out the view of
-everything even a few feet distant. The anemometer registered sixty-five
-miles, and then broke down. The noise of the storm, as heard from the
-house, was as though on shipboard. It must have given way but for the
-ice walls around it.
-
-On the 20th, Lieutenant Greely issued a circular letter, calling
-attention to the order that all should be up for breakfast. Kislingbury
-and Dr. Pavy took exceptions to this, and the latter declined to lecture
-in his turn.
-
-The next evening occurred a beautiful and unique auroral display, the
-chief features of which were many broad bands of pure white passing
-through the zenith and reaching to the east and to the west horizon,
-which blended, twisted, and curled in upon each other in a very
-remarkable manner. The spectacle was viewed with wonder and amazement.
-
-On the 26th, the twilight at noonday was quite bright. The moon also
-lent her aid; but low spirits and a sense of oppression and homesickness
-prevailed, all induced, doubtless, by want of exercise, and loneliness.
-
-“Another twenty-four hours,” wrote Lockwood, on the 6th of February, “of
-this interminable night nearly gone! Thank God! Sometimes it seems as if
-this life must hold on forever, but _tempus fugit_ up here as well as
-elsewhere. The days and weeks seem weeks and months in passing, and yet,
-in the retrospect, time seems to have passed quickly, because there is
-so little in the past to mark its progress, I suppose.”
-
-Lockwood could not realize the extreme cold, and seldom wore his gloves
-when going out for a few minutes. Though he put on a thick dog-skin coat
-and seal-skin over-all when taking his daily walk, he really did not
-regard so much clothing necessary. Exposure to such low temperatures,
-however, for several hours, and particularly at night, was to be
-dreaded. Many authorities—among others Lieutenant Greely—spoke of a
-peculiar sensation in the throat on first encountering a very low
-temperature, as when going out of doors from a warm room, but such was
-not Lockwood’s experience. Provided it was calm, he could stand any
-degree of cold he had yet met with. Owing to the peculiar and admirable
-construction of their house, the men were able to keep up 50° of heat
-within, however cold without.
-
-On the 13th of February, Lockwood with two men went to see what damage
-had resulted from the late storm to the observatory on the summit of
-Bellot Island. Contrary to their expectations, they found the snow not
-only deep, but with a crust just firm enough _not_ to bear.
-Consequently, they sent the dog-sledge back, and proceeded on foot,
-frequently sinking down knee-deep. Though the thermometer stood at -65°,
-they got into a profuse perspiration, which was not lessened by the
-steep and slippery ascent of two thousand feet. From this point the
-station-house seemed only a black spot, and was hardly recognizable as a
-house. Having made their inspection and fired their rifles several times
-as agreed upon with Lieutenant Greely, who was experimenting on sound,
-they returned. The result of these experiments was, that at -65° sound
-travels nine hundred and fifty feet per second. This was the coldest day
-they had yet experienced, and still they did not suffer with the cold.
-
-The return to a warm house was an indescribable comfort, and Lockwood
-thought that if this could always be done, Arctic journeying would then
-be nothing. It was unprecedentedly cold even for that latitude. Pure
-brandy and also glycerine were frozen hard. The poor dogs suffered, yet
-many of them preferred to remain curled up on the snow-banks outside, to
-occupying the tent and holes prepared for them.
-
-On the 19th, Lockwood made a dog-sledge trip with Brainard and the
-Esquimaux Frederick to Depot “B,” to look for a good place to cross the
-straits. Found that the snow had drifted so as to form a continuous
-inclined plane from the bluffs far outside the snow-house and tent, thus
-almost concealing them. They recognized the spot only by seeing the
-stovepipe jutting above the snow. Knowing how the mouth of the tunnel
-lay from this point, they dug through the hard, compact snow, cleared
-out the tunnel, and soon found themselves within the snow-house. The
-little stove was swallowed up in a cone of snow reaching from roof to
-floor. This had drifted through a small aperture where the pipe pierced
-the roof. The fire going out after they turned in, the room became
-extremely damp and chilly. However, they made up for the discomforts of
-the night by a rousing fire in the morning, over which they got up a
-grand breakfast of musk-ox steak, beans, coffee, and hard-tack. They
-next sent the team with Frederick down to St. Patrick’s Bay for a bag of
-coal, while Lockwood and Brainard walked over the straits toward Polaris
-Promontory. Going out some four or five miles over ice of varied nature,
-some exceedingly broken and hummocky and some quite level, they
-returned, satisfied that the time for crossing over was not yet.
-Frederick had, in the mean time, returned, mended up the hole in the
-roof, made a good fire, and prepared a warm meal.
-
-They again started out to test the important passage, taking a route
-farther north. There the rubble-ice reached only two hundred yards from
-the shore, beyond which, as far as they walked and could see, smooth ice
-extended. They returned, satisfied that this was the place to attempt
-the passage when the time should arrive for their contemplated
-exploration farther north.
-
-They made the trip over the foot-ice to the station (twenty miles) in
-four hours, thus proving the fine condition of the sledge and dogs for
-traveling, and the eagerness of the dogs to rejoin their companions and
-pups. All the way, they had before them to the southward a rich glow on
-the horizon like the sunrise of a fine morning at home. They found the
-men celebrating the 22d of February by match-games of various kinds,
-and, after listening to an appropriate speech on the Father of his
-Country, enjoyed a good dinner.
-
-
-
-
- X.
- “THE ARCTIC MOON.”
-
-
-As already mentioned in this narrative, among the events which occurred
-at the Greely Scientific Colony, or Fort Conger, was the establishment
-of a newspaper, the first ever issued so near the north pole, the
-nearest approach to it previously having been “The Ice-Blink,” issued by
-Kane’s Expedition in 1854. It was projected by G. W. Rice and C. B.
-Henry, but Lieutenant Lockwood was the editor-in-chief. The sheet was
-fifteen by nineteen inches in size, first prepared in manuscript and
-then multiplied by photograph, published on the 2d of November, 1881,
-and semi-monthly as to time. As the musk-oxen, the walruses, and the
-bears and wolves of Grinnell Land took no interest in the enterprise,
-the patrons of the paper were confined to the colony of explorers. In
-his opening address, the editor proudly claimed that his corps of
-contributors embraced the finest minds in the country; that his
-reporters would always be “on the spot”; that the journal was certain to
-be superior to any other in the country; and that the subscription list
-numbered not less than twenty-five thousand—the last assertion being a
-servile imitation of what often appears in the papers of New York and
-other American cities. And now, by way of giving the reader an idea of
-the style and character of this unique journal, it is proposed to
-reproduce in this chapter, as specimens, a collection of its editorials,
-contributions, items of news, and advertisements. In an article on
-“Christmas,” the editor gives us the following pathetic reflections:
-
-“Our Christmas-time has come and gone, and, although our geographical
-position is not a favorable one for the complete observation of this
-joyous anniversary, it was attended with many of the happy features that
-make its memory a pleasant landmark of the dying year. No boughs of
-‘evergreen were berried bright’ (our crop of evergreens failed this
-season), but had they existed, the conditions for making them ‘white
-with rime’ were very favorable.
-
-“Christmas always attracts a crowd of joyous faces, and, although we
-missed the pleasure of ‘childhood’s grace and fair maiden’s blushes’
-under the mystic mistletoe, the stalwart, bearded men who grasped hands
-under our smoke-begrimed roof felt indeed the inspiration of the
-gladsome time when the voice of man’s good-will to man speaks forth in
-everything. Could the possessors of the kind hearts and hands that
-contributed so much to the pleasure of the party have looked in upon the
-happy, smiling faces, living again a day of their youth in the
-anticipation and surprise attending the bestowal and opening of the
-mysterious packages containing the presents, they would have felt more
-than rewarded for their kind thoughtfulness. Lips unused to the task
-framed grateful acknowledgments of the kind act. The interest in our
-happiness taken by the wife of the commanding officer was repeatedly
-shown, and when, as we sat down to our inviting Christmas dinner, we
-contemplated a crowning proof of her kind good-will, repressed
-enthusiasm could no longer be restrained, and three rousing cheers for
-Mrs. Greely were given with an effect which proved beyond cavil the
-vigor of our lungs, and rendered unnecessary the weekly examination of
-the doctor.
-
-“Of course, the festive season brought with it regrets that would not be
-repressed, and longings that could not be satisfied, when processions of
-absent loved ones and severed friends followed the funerals of other
-Christmas-days through thoughts that would wander over snow, and ice,
-and land, and sea, to the happy firesides where we knew they were
-gathered. But every one looked on the bright side of things, and
-extracted as much comfort and pleasure as possible under the
-circumstances; we even knew one sordid individual who congratulated
-himself on the immunity of his exchequer from the heavy drafts generally
-entailed by the purchase of Christmas presents. We have not space to
-enter into a detailed account of all the happy features of the holiday.
-Altogether, our Christmas was a great success.”
-
-By way of showing that there was nothing very frigid in the hearts of
-the explorers, another editorial is submitted, on the New Year:
-
-“Christmas is gone, with all its pleasant associations, and we find
-ourselves on the threshold of a new year. What thoughts the day recalls
-to a reflective mind! the exodus of the old, the advent of the new year;
-the past and the future, history and prophecy, the ceaseless alternation
-of life and death, the eternity of nature.
-
-“The day is suggestive in another way. Where were we a year ago? what
-doing? what looking forward to? Where shall we be a year from now? what
-will be our surroundings, and what shall we look back upon? How distant
-seemed this day a year ago! how short now seems the time that has since
-elapsed!
-
-“The new year of 1882 finds us a community of twenty-five men, living
-through the cold and darkness of an Arctic winter, in a small house near
-the north pole, thousands of miles beyond any civilized habitation. A
-year ago saw us scattered—some in the cities, some on the plains of the
-far West, some occupied in quiet routine, some in the ceaseless changes
-and activity of the field. Will the next year find us here with our
-surroundings as satisfactory and auspicious? We trust so, and this day
-is eminently a day for making good resolutions. We are free agents, and
-the future depends, in great part, on ourselves. Let us, then, determine
-that, so far as lies within our power, we shall have no cause to look
-back with regret on the year just ushered in. The phrase is hackneyed,
-but none the less true:
-
- ‘Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
- The saddest are these—it might have been.’”
-
-And now we come to a contribution addressed to the editor of the “Arctic
-Moon,” as follows:
-
-“As Grinnell Land is a recognized Territory of the United States, and
-has a territorial form of government, a delegate from this Territory is
-to be elected who is to take his seat at the opening of the
-Forty-seventh Congress. The undersigned offers himself as a candidate
-for the office, on the following platform: I am in favor of reaching the
-north pole by balloon, a liberal appropriation for the purchase of
-lime-juice, compulsory education, unlimited emigration, a homestead and
-sixty acres of land, one musk-ox and two Esquimaux dogs to each actual
-settler. I am also a strong advocate of woman’s rights, but there is no
-good in rights without the woman. I am prepared to ‘chaw’ the points on
-the above platform; I think it is ‘plump,’ and will stand without being
-propped up.
-
- (Signed) “Connell.”
-
-And now, under the general heading of “_Moon-Beams_,” we come to the
-following paragraphs, which are not only spicy, but characteristic
-of the time and place with which they are identified:
-
-“The British expedition found the ice in this harbor, January 1,
-1876, twenty-eight and three-quarter inches thick. Measurements made
-this day showed thirty-four inches. Our average temperature for
-December was nearly eight degrees lower than theirs for the same
-month.
-
-“The darkest day being a thing of the past, we shall soon find
-ourselves sliding down hill quite rapidly. We have made complete
-arrangements to have the sun interviewed on his return to this
-country the latter part of February.
-
-“The walrus seem to have emigrated, so that the Dutch Island people
-now take their daily exercise in _peas_.
-
-“‘I wonder what is in the mess-boxes?’ is the oft-repeated query.
-Have patience, brethren, time will show.
-
-“Old Probabilities will be surprised to learn, that his enterprising
-colony at this point is indulging in outdoor sports with the
-thermometer at 40° below zero.
-
-“To-day, at Dutch Island, Lieutenant Kislingbury was able to see the
-time of day holding his watch about one foot from his face.
-
-“Sergeant Cross has made another addition to his already numerous
-trades—that of bottling samples of air for the examination and
-scrutiny of those not favored with a sniff of Arctic breezes.
-
-“Sergeant Brainard is excellent authority for the statement that the
-gate-money taken at the racing contest will be devoted to the
-advancement of geographical knowledge within the Arctic Circle. Such
-being the case, the number of aborigines present will be a crucial
-test of the desire on the part of the Grinnellites to bring their
-country into more general knowledge.
-
-“Wanted—A good family horse. Will buy it cheap, or will take for his
-keeping, or keep for his taking. To be used on good country roads
-and for family driving. Must be very gentle. No objections to a
-Government mule. Address Jacob Doboy.
-
-“Wanted—A poet for the ‘Arctic Moon.’ Must be strictly temperate and
-a good speech-maker. No tailors need apply. Address this office.
-
-“Wanted—A humoristic writer for the ‘Arctic Moon.’ The present
-incumbent has suddenly become ill from too close application.
-
-“Information wanted of the Greely Arctic Expedition. It strayed away
-from home last July, and was last heard from at Upernavik,
-Greenland.
-
-“We beg leave to announce to the public that we have made extensive
-improvements in our establishment, whereby we can furnish at the
-shortest notice bread, twists, rolls, cakes, pies, tarts, and, in
-fact, anything in the baker’s line. Wedding cakes made a specialty.
-Are thankful for past patronage, and respectfully ask its
-continuance in future.
-
- “Frederick Shootman,
- “San Francisco Longman,
- “Merchant Bakers.”
-
-
-
-
- XI.
- EXPEDITION TO LOCKWOOD ISLAND.
-
-
-On the 29th of February, Lieutenant Lockwood went upon an
-experimental trip to Thank God Harbor preparatory to his proposed
-grand expedition along the coast of Northern Greenland. His
-companions were Brainard, Jewell, Long, and the Esquimaux, Frederick
-and Jans, with two dog-teams. As the dogs, constantly yelping and
-howling, competed for the mastery, they traveled rapidly, and, after
-many twistings and turnings, reached their destination, where they
-found the observatory still standing. They took a necessary
-inventory, and, after a survey of the dismal plain, visited the
-grave of C. F. Hall, where Lieutenant Lockwood recorded the
-following touching notice in his journal: “The head-board erected by
-his comrades, as also the metallic one left by the English, still
-stands. How mournful to me the scene, made more so by the howling of
-the winds and the thick atmosphere! It was doubtless best that he
-died where he did. I have come to regard him as a visionary and an
-enthusiast, who was indebted more to fortune than to those practical
-abilities which Kane possessed. Yet he gave his life to the cause,
-and that must always go far toward redeeming the short-comings of
-any man. The concluding lines of the inscription on the English
-tablet, I think good: ‘To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life in
-the advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This tablet has been
-erected by the British Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed in
-his footsteps and profited by his experience.’”
-
-The American inscription on the wooden headboard was as follows:
-
- IN MEMORY OF
- CHARLES FRANCIS HALL,
- LATE COMMANDER U. S. STEAMER POLARIS,
- NORTH POLE EXPEDITION.
- _Died November 8, 1871._
-
-“I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though
-he were dead, yet shall he live.”
-
-After various struggles with the snow, fog, and cold weather, ending
-in frosted feet and faces, and after inspecting a boat left by
-Buddington, they returned by way of the snow-house at Cape Beechy,
-and, all very much exhausted, reached the station, receiving a
-hearty welcome. Greely had been very anxious about the party, owing
-to a storm of great violence, and had sent Dr. Pavy with men to
-their relief. The trip thus made covered not less than one hundred
-and forty miles. Lockwood now decided that on the 1st of April he
-would start upon his proposed expedition. This trip occupied his
-mind continually. He hoped he might be successful, yet there were
-many chances of failure. Who could divine the future? He felt that
-he ought to be able to reach Cape Britannia, but that was not
-enough; he desired to do more.
-
-As the time for taking his departure approached, Lockwood was
-greatly troubled with rheumatism, but still was very busy in
-maturing his plans. Lieutenant Greely wrote him a flattering letter,
-putting the whole plan of operations in his hands and placing at his
-disposal the entire _personnel_ and material of the expedition. This
-would include almost all who could take the field. The men were
-becoming enthusiastic and were showing an admirable spirit, although
-they knew from experience that they were to engage in no child’s
-play. Almost all of those selected had shown pluck hitherto. Without
-this element no one could endure the hardships that they might have
-to undergo. Should any of those selected break down early, there
-were excellent substitutes among those left behind. Lockwood was
-pleased with an exhibition of pluck by Ellis, who walked all the way
-from Depot “A” with a frozen foot, refusing the offer of Jewell to
-bring him on the dog-sledge. Jewell, on returning from Lincoln Bay,
-had orders to convey stores to the “Gap,” where the boat previously
-sent over the strait lay. Hence, before starting, supplies would be
-placed at Depot “B,” at the “Gap,” and at a point intermediate on
-the frozen strait.
-
-Having all things complete, Sergeant Brainard was to proceed at once
-with the supporting parties to Cape Sumner. He was to leave Depot
-“B” with a weight to drag of one hundred and thirty pounds per man.
-Lockwood was to follow with dog-sledge loaded with five hundred
-pounds of pemmican. Thus they would concentrate at Cape Sumner with
-the six hundred rations in hand, together with seven hundred pounds
-of dog pemmican. The stores embraced pemmican, bacon, corned beef,
-roast musk-ox, raw musk-ox, English beef, hard bread, canned beans,
-potatoes, sugar, tea, chocolate, and coffee, besides which they
-carried alcohol for cooking and lime-juice as an anti-scorbutic.
-Their sledge ration had been made up by consultation with Lieutenant
-Greely, though, of course, it might be departed from if
-circumstances required. The diet list was purposely a varied one. No
-rum or spirits were taken except as a medicine. The main supporting
-party consisted of Sergeant Lynn, Corporal Ellison, and privates
-Biederbick, Whistler, and Henry.
-
-Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Jewell, and the Esquimaux Frederick
-formed the advance party, while Sergeants Brainard and Ralston,
-Corporal Saler, and privates Connell, Fredericks, and one other man
-constituted the second supporting party.
-
-[Illustration: Sledging over the Arctic Floe.]
-
-On the 2d of April, the main and second supporting parties moved off
-in good style, amid the waving of flags, firing of pistols, cheers,
-and other demonstrations. Both Lieutenants Greely and Lockwood took
-occasion to address the men a few words of encouragement and advice.
-Lockwood confined his remarks to the necessity of co-operation and
-subordination as the chief essentials to success. He would follow
-with Jewell and the dog-sledge, and, if he knew himself, would not
-return unsuccessful. He got off at 8 P. M., with Jewell, Frederick,
-and the dog-sledge Antoinette. The team of eight consisted of
-“Ritenbank, the king,” a large white dog, at whose growl all the
-rest trembled; “Major,” a friend of Ritenbank, and a very useful,
-good-natured old fellow, hard-working and quiet, without any special
-characteristics; “Howler,” a large, lean, mean, ill-natured brute,
-whom they took on board at Disco, and who lorded it over the rest
-till Ritenbank came on board at the place of the same name, when
-Howler was dethroned; since which he had been morose and
-misanthropic, and never associated with the other dogs. He set up
-the most unearthly howling whenever any other dog approached him,
-especially if that other dog had designs on something he was engaged
-in eating or trying to eat—a tin can, for instance. At the end of a
-march, when the pemmican was being cut up, and he, with the rest,
-was awaiting his opportunity to make a general rush, his howling
-became almost unendurable. But he was especially despicable, because
-he allowed any and every dog of the team to jump on and bite him.
-His only redeeming trait was his earnestness in pulling, for, when
-the sledge stuck in deep snow or rubble-ice, he was the last of the
-dogs to sit on his haunches and look while _you_ got it out. On
-several occasions when Ritenbank was making efforts to get inside
-the tent and steal the meat while all were asleep, Howler had given
-the alarm by his unearthly howling. His place in the team was on the
-right flank, and he kept it all the time, never dropping back and
-coming up in the wrong place, as did the other dogs. Next to Howler
-was the “Woolly dog,” a dirty-looking cur with long white hair,
-which made Howler’s life a burden all the time by snapping at him as
-he hauled by his side. Next came the “kooneys,” signifying in
-Esquimaux mother-dogs. They were called “Black Kooney” and “White
-Kooney,” and were both good workers. Then came “Ask-him,” a pup when
-brought on board in Greenland, but now _of age_, and bearing the
-airs of a veteran. He brooked insult from no dog but Ritenbank, and
-evidently bided his time to contest the throne with him. He had even
-taken upon himself the kingly custom of biting the adjoining dog
-whenever he felt the whip. On his left were two dogs already named,
-“Major” and the “Boss.” On the left flank was “Gypsy,” a little fat
-kooney dog which pulled only under the lash, and yet by foraging and
-stealing managed to get twice the rations of any of the rest, and
-was always plump and fat.
-
-The advance party reached Depot “A” in good time, and took on five
-sacks (five hundred pounds) of dog pemmican and some cans of corned
-beef, which made their load very heavy.
-
-On the 5th of April, Lockwood reached the snow-house, and there
-found Brainard and the rest, making thirteen altogether. They
-completely filled the house, and also the dug-out in the snow-bank
-adjoining, so that Lockwood and Jewell moved the provisions out of
-the tent, and slept there, and Frederick in the tunnel. The tent
-being snowed in to the ridge-pole, and connected with the tunnel,
-they were quite comfortable. On the same day they saw an eagle on a
-floe-berg, which was considered a good omen. After needed rest all
-hands took their departure. The snow on the ice-floe was somewhat
-deep, and the loads very heavy. The route across the straits,
-previously determined on, was from Cape Beechy to within five or six
-miles of the east shore, and then as direct as possible to Cape
-Sumner. On reaching the tent on the straits, about four and one half
-miles out, Lockwood dropped his load, and went back to look after
-the sledges, then out of sight. He found Whistler sick and unable to
-pull, and Biederbick and Connell trying to pull the load without
-him—not an encouraging commencement of a long journey. Aided by the
-dog-sledge, all soon reached the tent and camped for the night.
-Lockwood, Jewell, and Frederick slept in the wall-tent, pitched
-there some weeks before. Lockwood writes at this point: “Finding it
-very cold, I was glad to get up and out, leaving Jewell to the
-unhappy work of getting breakfast. (Breakfast! what a misnomer in
-such cases!) I then went to the two tents occupied by the others to
-inquire for healths. Mr. Henry, correspondent of the ‘Chicago Times’
-(as he called himself), the same who had written on the side of a
-large iceberg, ‘Ho! for Cape Britannia,’ said he could go no
-farther, as he had been suffering dreadfully all night with
-rheumatism; or, if he did go farther, we would have to haul him
-back, while from here he thought he could manage to hobble by
-himself to the snow-house, and, after resting there and again at
-Depot ‘A,’ reach the station. Henry is a big fellow, over six feet
-in height, with apparently the strength and physique of Hercules. It
-was a bad omen for the rest of us when _he_ broke down. Connell had
-frozen his feet the previous day quite badly, and only discovered
-the extent of the injury after getting into camp, but thought _he_
-could go on, or at least was determined to try. All hands looked
-very forlorn, but generally were resolute and determined. Finally,
-Jewell had the tea and canned meat warmed sufficiently, and we
-stuffed ourselves with all there was to stuff, and prepared to
-follow the others who had already started. We overtook Fredericks
-(the saddler) struggling along in the snow with a sledge all by
-himself. He was a dwarf by the side of the giant Henry. It was
-necessary to do something, and so I told Jewell he must join
-Fredericks, and leave the Esquimaux and me to manage the dog-sledge.
-I overtook the main party about a mile and a half from camp, doing
-their best. Connell could hardly walk at all, and it was utterly
-impossible for him to pull. He was very reluctant to go back, but
-there was no alternative; so, throwing off the load, I took him on
-the dog-sledge as far as Cape Beechy, whence he thought he could get
-along by himself. On returning I picked up the load, and proceeded
-to follow the trail of the others. The snow soon became worse, and
-the sledge so often stuck that I determined to double up—take half
-the load at a time. The Esquimaux dogs can pull a very heavy load,
-and through bad places, but the moment the sledge comes to a dead
-halt they sit on their haunches, turn complacently round, and wait
-till the sledge is extricated. If not fully started, they will pull
-at random, or not at all. On these occasions the hard work comes
-upon the driver and others with the sledge.”
-
-On the 7th, they joined the other wing of the expedition, finding
-them in camp some miles south-west of the gap. The wind had been
-blowing and snow drifting for some hours, and everything indicated a
-storm. Lockwood and Frederick pitched tent and went into camp, first
-bringing up the rest of the load.
-
-While the storm was still raging, they got off with half the load,
-leaving the rest making preparations for a move, and took a course
-for Cape Sumner, whose steep, rocky face loomed up in the distance,
-terminated by a line of magnificent cliffs, which extended unbroken,
-except by “the Gap,” as far south as Cape Lupton of Polaris fame.
-They traveled upon level floes interrupted by ridges of hummocky
-ice, over which they had to get the sledge as best they could, and
-with frequent use of the axe. The wind blowing stronger, and the air
-being obscured with driving snow, they could with difficulty pick
-their way. Traveling over the straits was like navigating a ship in
-a tortuous channel. They soon found themselves in the midst of a
-mass of rubble-ice of the worst description; gaps and chasms between
-the crags and blocks of ice, often filled with loose snow, or
-entirely obscured by that flying through the air. They could barely
-see the cliffs on their right, and could not recognize their
-position. The dogs became very much discouraged, Frederick also, and
-Lockwood himself felt in no very enviable frame of mind. After many
-ineffectual efforts, and unloading and reloading repeatedly, they
-left the load and attempted to explore a route to shore. Not
-succeeding, they hunted for some suitable snow-drift in which to
-burrow, and there await better weather; but saw none. Finally, the
-storm letting up for a moment, they found a level floe, and, with
-the use of the axe, Lockwood and Frederick got the sledge upon it.
-
-On the 8th, at 3 A. M., they arrived at Cape Sumner, and, getting
-through the rubble-ice near the shore, gained the steep snow-slope
-which lay between the foot of the cliffs and the line of immense
-floe-bergs along the shore, stranded and pressed close up to the
-snow-slope. Between the bergs and the slope, the wind had made great
-gaps, deep and tortuous. The only way to get along was either
-through these gaps—often like pits—or to take the slope above and
-run the risk of tumbling down into them, sledge and all, sometimes
-fifteen or twenty feet. There was often no alternative but the
-latter. Lockwood expected to find it calm there by reason of the
-protection of the bluffs, but, on the contrary, the wind came down
-from above in gusts and whirlwinds, filling the air with eddying
-columns of snow. When about a mile from the Polaris Boat Camp, they
-encountered an immense mass of snow entirely filling up the ravine
-from top to bottom. Leaving the sledge, Lockwood went on to see if
-he could reach the Boat Camp, but could hardly keep his feet on
-account of the wind. Returning, he and Frederick made a small hole
-in the side of a large drift, and, pulling in everything the dogs
-could possibly eat, prepared to “weather the storm.” By 9 A. M.,
-_supper_ had been eaten in darkness, for they had no candles, and
-Frederick, wedged close up to him in the frozen sleeping-bag, was
-snorting away like a steam-engine. Lockwood soon fell asleep too,
-but woke up to find the sleeping-bag and his footgear and clothes
-wet with the moisture such close quarters produced. Everything
-inside was thawing. Soon after, masses of snow falling down through
-a number of rents in the side and roof of the excavation, he began
-to think they would be smothered alive. But while thinking about it,
-he went to sleep again, leaving Frederick snorting as before. Just
-how long they slept in that snow-bank, they did not know, but when
-they did wake up and try to emerge, they found themselves completely
-snowed in, and only got out by vigorous use of their knives, so hard
-and compact had the ice and snow become. Frederick being able to
-understand only signs and a very few words chiefly referring to
-food, their conversation was very limited.
-
-They found the dogs and sledge almost buried in snow. Hastily
-harnessing up, they reached the Boat Camp on Newman’s Bay at noon.
-Here they again went into camp by digging into a snow-bank and
-covering the hole with the tent. “Skaffer,” or eating, being first
-in order, they supplied themselves by thawing their prepared roast.
-Then they had a smoke—that great solace of the traveler in every
-clime. Snow-houses and snow-holes, they concluded, have many
-objections, but they always have the merit of being warm. Feeling
-uneasy about Brainard and his party, imagining all manner of things
-about them, at 9 P. M., Lockwood left everything behind and went
-forth with dogs and sledge to hunt them up, and at midnight met them
-valiantly struggling along toward the Boat Camp. They had found
-shelter from the storm behind a large, friendly floe-berg, where the
-tent could stand. On the 10th, preceding them, he picked up the bags
-of pemmican he had put off, and returned to Boat Camp, where they
-came also and burrowed in the snow. All thus found themselves at
-their first station. Jewell, being originally of the party of the
-dog-sledge, lodged and fed with them when together, he sleeping in a
-single bag, and Lockwood and Frederick together. “It was,” Lockwood
-remarks, “a choice of evils which to prefer—Frederick groaning like
-a piece of machinery, or Jewell always getting the stockings and
-wraps mixed up, and invariably laying hold of the dry ones as his
-own.”
-
-“Snow-holes,” he again says, “having the insuperable objection of
-asphyxiation, we repaired the tents and returned to
-civilization—that is, went really into camp. Whistler and Bender
-were found completely done up this morning both in flesh and
-spirits—all kinds of pains, shortness of breath, spitting of blood,
-faintness. Not being enthusiastic about going farther, I deemed it
-best to send them back, and they left at once for the station.”
-
-They now had several things to look to before going farther—to bring
-up the rations sent across to the Gap, also to bring over those left
-at the tent on the straits.
-
-At midnight, Brainard and party, with three Hudson Bay sledges,
-started on this work, and Lockwood left two hours after, with a
-dog-sledge and Frederick, for the same purpose. Taking advantage of
-smooth ice, interrupted now and then outside the pack near shore, he
-soon overhauled Brainard, and they reached the Gap together. There
-they found the boat, which had been sent over with so much labor, a
-complete wreck. They, however, placed it out of reach of further
-damage, as it might yet become important to them. They then went
-into camp by going into a snow-burrow prepared there some weeks
-before when the boat had been brought over, and proceeded to have a
-feast, which possessed at least one merit, that of being _enough_,
-for Lockwood did not deem it necessary to adhere strictly to sledge
-rations till they had left their base of supplies. Leaving the
-others to load up and return to Boat Camp, he and Frederick left
-with the dog-sledge for the food put out on the straits _en route_.
-Part of this they took up and then joined the others at Boat Camp,
-men and dogs well spent and tired; but a good meal, a good smoke,
-and a snooze in their bags, set them all right.
-
-Their number was now reduced to nine, two having been sent back soon
-after leaving the snow-house (Depot “B”), and two from Boat Camp.
-The Hudson Bay sledges were much worn, and likely to become useless.
-Lockwood now determined to return to the main station for new
-runners, leaving the men under Brainard to bring up the supplies
-still out, and otherwise make ready for the advance. The round trip
-would be one hundred miles, and would add much to the labor of the
-dogs, but there was no help for it, as he could take no chances on
-the threshold of the long journey before them.
-
-Soon after making this resolve, he and Frederick got off with their
-team, carrying nothing but an axe and half a pound of tobacco. The
-dogs were in fine condition, notwithstanding their recent hard work.
-True, they supplemented their rations and thus added to their
-strength by stealing thirty-five pounds of bacon! “It is wonderful,”
-Lockwood here remarks, “what these Esquimaux dogs can do. This team,
-which was regarded as a scrub affair—Dr. Pavy having had his pick of
-dogs—hauled ice all through the winter, made a trip beyond Cape
-Beechy in February, another to Thank-God-Harbor and Newman’s Bay in
-March, and then hauled a load to Lincoln Bay and four days after
-started on this present trip; yet now they travel along as lively as
-ever—so lively that the driver finds it difficult to keep up.”
-
-They duly reached the station, and, of course, Greely and all were
-surprised to see them, probably taking them for another cargo of
-cripples. After a good sleep and a feast, they were off on their
-return at 10 P. M. of the 14th. They took on the runners, a feed of
-walrus-meat, a few other trifles, and also a heliograph, the last to
-open communication in case of delay or disaster. Stopping six hours
-at the snow-house to rest and feed, they started across the strait
-with a small load of meat, and, notwithstanding some rubble-ice
-which delayed them, reached the Boat Camp at 5.30 P. M., very tired
-and very sleepy, too, having accomplished this remarkable journey of
-one hundred miles in fifty-four hours. During their absence,
-Brainard had brought in everything, and all was ready for the
-advance as soon as they could repair the sledges.
-
-After repairing and rebuilding, they had for the trip:
-
-1. Dog-sledge, Lieutenant Lockwood and Esquimaux Frederick; total
-weight, 743 pounds.
-
-2. Large sledge (the “Nares”), drawn by Sergeants Brainard and
-Ralston and Corporal Saler; estimated total weight, 651 pounds.
-
-3. Hudson Bay sledge (“Hall”), drawn by Sergeant Jewell and private
-Fredericks; estimated total weight, 300 pounds.
-
-4. Hudson Bay sledge (“Hayes”), drawn by Sergeant Lynn and Corporal
-Ellison; estimated total weight, 300 pounds.
-
-Of this weight, 225 pounds was of equipments, independent of weight
-of sledges, and 900 pounds, of food for men and dogs.
-
-At 10.30 P. M., they left the Boat Camp and crossed Newman’s Bay, to
-a ravine, or narrow valley, directly opposite, which the lieutenant
-called Gorge Creek after finding it was not the route he had taken
-it for—that of Beaumont’s return. The others being far behind, he
-left the sledge and proceeded on alone to explore. Passing through a
-narrow gap, the valley widened out as before, in some places the
-exposed stones offering a serious obstacle to heavily laden sledges.
-Returning, he and Frederick went back with the team and assisted in
-bringing up the foot-sledges. Then, after an advance of ten miles in
-eight hours, all went into camp again. Leaving the camp at 10 P. M.,
-and doubling up from the start, they made their way up the valley,
-through the gap, and to the head of the valley beyond. They found
-the exposed stones so annoying that Lockwood regretted often he had
-not taken the route round Cape Brevoort, notwithstanding the
-rubble-ice. Though Lockwood felt confident he had reached the
-divide, yet, throwing off the load, he sent Frederick with the team
-back to assist the others, while he went ahead to further
-reconnoitre. Although he ascended a high hill, he could see little
-encouraging beyond. He returned to the load and continued
-down-stream until he met the others painfully advancing, when all
-went into camp, after making an advance of six miles in eight hours.
-
-Got off again with half-load at 10 P. M. Preceding the others,
-Lockwood and Frederick made their way over slightly undulating
-plains, keeping as far as possible northward until they came to a
-decided depression in that direction, sometimes following blind
-leads, and then returning and continuing on their former way.
-Lockwood finally saw before him the crest of the bluff of a
-water-course, gaining which he found to his joy a stream running
-north, which he entered. Though filled with snow, it afforded good
-traveling for the dog team. Continuing down this stream, he passed
-between two large masses of rock like a gateway. Here was a regular
-cañon as straight as a street and nearly level, whose sides were
-almost perpendicular and extremely picturesque. Seeing no signs of
-the sea, he resolved to camp here. To this end, throwing off the
-half load, he went back for that left behind, expecting to meet the
-foot-sledges on the way. Disappointed in this, he returned to the
-ravine, and at 6 P. M. he and Frederick were into their
-sleeping-bags, feeling much uneasiness about their route, for they
-had already traveled a much greater distance than the English maps
-called for as lying between Newman’s Bay and the north coast.
-
-Although the men with the drag-sledges had not come up, Lockwood
-resolved to leave everything behind and go ahead down the cañon with
-the empty sledge till assured that he was _en route_ to the sea by
-finding the sea itself. Carrying out this resolve at 10 A. M., the
-cañon soon widened into a valley, with deep, soft snow-bed or
-stones, and inclosed by lofty mountains. He crossed this, and came
-to a gorge like a railroad-cutting, through which the stream ran.
-Ascending an adjacent hill, before him lay what seemed an extended
-plain, which he recognized as the sea, from a line of floe-bergs
-marking the coast.
-
-Just where they were, he did not know, nor did he find out till
-their return. The sea had been found, so now they were to find and
-bring up the men and sledges. Lockwood and Frederick, with the
-wearied team, rapidly went back and happily found the absent ones,
-safely, if not comfortably, camped alongside their load.
-
-All broke camp at 7 P. M. and proceeded to bring up such of the
-impedimenta as had been left behind; after which they made their way
-with great labor through the cañon, valley, and gorge to the sea,
-reaching there, at 4 A. M. of the 22d, with everything except a
-seal-skin mit, which got adrift and went flying before the wind over
-the hills like a bird; for a terrific snow-storm was then raging.
-They found great difficulty in making the tents stand, and, indeed,
-abandoned the attempt except as to one, into which they all huddled
-to weather out the storm. The cooking was confined to making a
-little tepid tea. They remained in their bags, sleeping at
-intervals, and even going without food and water rather than venture
-out.
-
-Finally, on the morning of the 23d, the storm had abated, and they
-ventured out, to find that the dogs had taken advantage of the
-circumstances to eat up twenty pounds of bacon and twelve pounds of
-beef, although these had been secured, as was supposed, at the
-bottom of a sledge. They had also eaten a seal-skin mitten. After
-some repairs to the sledges, which had suffered by the stony route
-passed over, they proceeded on their way along the coast, keeping on
-the ice-foot which here ran along a low, sloping shore backed by a
-range of hills. At Drift Point, the snow formed steep slopes,
-extending from the bluffs (now near the sea) to the tops of the line
-of floe-bergs along shore. There, the sledge “Nares” breaking down,
-it was necessary to abandon it and increase the loads on the other
-sledges, carrying along the good parts of the “Nares” to repair the
-others when needful. Doubling up, they made their way along those
-steep slopes until near Black Horn Cliffs. Here the slopes became so
-abrupt that they were driven on to the rubble-ice near the shore. So
-difficult was their way over this with the heavily loaded sledges,
-that in many places by standing pulls only could progress be made.
-Near these cliffs they went into camp after bringing up the
-half-loads left behind, having advanced five miles in eight and a
-half hours. Leaving half their stuff, they then made their way over
-the rubble-ice, frequently using the axe, till they came to the end
-of the cliffs, when the sledges went back for the rest of the stuff,
-while Lockwood looked for a more practicable route. Off shore, half
-a mile seaward, he found a fair route, following which he reached
-Cape Stanton. He thought Stanton Gorge, where Beaumont had left
-forty rations, to be near. These, however, he failed to find. After
-taking a short nap in the lee of a hummock, he returned to find
-Frederick and the dog-sledge. The others coming up, all went into
-camp fully tired out, for, besides the roughness of the ice, they
-had encountered a stiff wind. Two ptarmigans were seen near Cape
-Stanton.
-
-On the 25th of April Frederick declined breakfast—evidence of
-something wrong with him. Lockwood, therefore, resolved to go up to
-a gorge he had seen the previous day, and there go into camp and lie
-over a day. Frederick could hardly walk, and hence rode when it was
-possible. Finding a snow-slope inside the hummocks, they made good
-progress and reached “Gorge Rest” in one hour. In the mean while the
-sun came out, and the air became calm and warm, affording a good
-opportunity for drying wet clothes and bags. Lockwood gave a drink
-of brandy to Frederick, and then displayed Mrs. Greely’s silk flag,
-as they had now attained a point higher than any American had before
-reached. In the afternoon, Jewell and Ralston succeeded in finding
-Beaumont’s _cache_ farther on, and, as proof of their discovery,
-brought back a can of rum marked “Bloodhound,” the name of his
-sledge. It was about there that his first man was sent back with the
-scurvy. Afterward, when all but two had the disease, they had to go
-on or die in the traces.
-
-On the 26th, Frederick was well, otherwise he would have been sent
-back. They built a _cache_ and left one day’s ration for men and
-dogs; also, to lighten load, snow-shoes, head and foot gear,
-blankets, indeed everything they could do without. They reached
-Stanton Gorge, dropped load, and Frederick was sent back with the
-team for the rest of their stuff. The men came in without doubling,
-having also found Beaumont’s _cache_ on a high hill. They all agreed
-that such unnecessary labor was enough to bring on the scurvy. They
-found there fifty-six pounds of pemmican, ten pounds of bacon, and a
-large box containing bread, potatoes, chocolate, tea, sugar,
-onion-powder, and stearine used for fuel, all of which were taken on
-to Cape Bryant. Beyond this point, to Cape Stanton, their route lay
-along the foot of steep snow-slopes beneath the cliffs, with lines
-of floe-bergs and hummocks outside, and was exceedingly rough.
-Lockwood and Frederick, after crossing Hand Bay, passed the men
-moving slowly and laboriously. Their troubles were increased by
-frequent upsettings of the sledges along the slope and by the
-friction of the splintered bottoms owing to the runners cutting
-through.
-
-It was not till 8 P. M. that they all reached Frankfield Bay, and,
-thoroughly tired out, went into camp, after an advance of nine miles
-in thirteen hours.
-
-Here they cached one day’s rations for all, and then traveled along
-the low shore which skirted the base of Mount Lowe, and came upon
-the snow-covered surface of Frankfield Bay, a small and pretty
-harbor surrounded by steep mountains. Beyond this bay, they crossed
-a spit of land, going up a steep slope, and down another equally
-steep at a run. There they threw off a half load and went back for
-the rest. Afterward all proceeded with half-loads, Lockwood taking
-his post at the traces and pulling with the men. After a while he
-dropped off to help Frederick, while the men went on to Cape Bryant.
-Taking advantage of an interval of leisure, he got out the lamp and
-made just two pint-cups of tea for Frederick and himself. “Of all
-the occasions,” he says, “when a draught of tea tasted particularly
-good, none like this lingers in my memory. Though without milk and
-with very little sugar, it tasted like nectar. In fact, as the gods
-never undertook any Arctic sledge-journeys, their nectar was not
-half so delicious.”
-
-On the 27th, Lockwood shot five ptarmigans or Arctic quails. Sitting
-on a floe-berg, they were scarcely distinguishable from the snow.
-The traveling on that day was on the whole fair; yet so heavily were
-the sledges loaded, and so much worn, that when, after making
-fifteen miles in twelve hours, they reached Cape Bryant at 8.30 P.
-M., both men and dogs were nearly exhausted. To add to their
-joylessness, they had to be very sparing of their rations.
-Cracker-dust was with them the grand panacea for short rations. This
-went into every stew, was mixed with their tea, and was even taken
-alone, and found to be very _filling_. By its aid, they persuaded
-themselves that the short allowance was a hearty repast.
-
-On the 28th, Brainard and others made an unsuccessful search for a
-_cache_ left there by Beaumont, but got a good view of Cape
-Britannia from a high cliff. Lockwood and Jewell also saw it from a
-height back of the camp. Beaumont had seen Cape Britannia, but never
-reached it. He got only thirty miles farther than Cape Bryant; that
-is, to the opposite side of the fiord which here appears, and which
-they called “Beaumont’s Fiord.” While Frederick brought up some
-stores left behind, Lockwood busied himself with many details
-connected with his further advance toward the north, for now his
-supports were to leave him and return to the Boat Camp, while
-Brainard, Frederick, and himself, with the dog-sledge, were to
-proceed alone.
-
-Lockwood now satisfied himself by a careful inspection of the
-sledges that the supporting party could go no farther, especially as
-some of the men were suffering with snow-blindness. He therefore
-broke up one of the sledges, and with it repaired the remaining
-drag-sledge and the dog-sledge. Brainard, also suffering with
-snow-blindness, remained in the tent, while Lockwood with the others
-built a _cache_ and deposited therein the Beaumont stores and such
-others as they could not take on. Food for the return party to Boat
-Camp having been dropped _en route_, he decided to take with him
-twenty-five days’ rations. Hence their advance must be limited to
-the time these rations would feed them, going northeast and
-returning to Cape Bryant.
-
-He started, therefore, with—
-
- Men-rations, weighing 230 pounds.
- Dog-pemmican, weighing 300 ”
- Equipments, weighing 176 ”
- Dog-sledge, weighing 80 ”
- Total 786 ”
-
-or about 98 pounds to each dog.
-
-
-The weather, though cold, causing some frost-bites, had been
-beautiful during their stay here. The men had done their parts well,
-and had endured uncomplainingly much hard work, hardship, and
-exposure. The supporting party left at 4 P. M., after hearty
-hand-shaking and wishing good luck to Lockwood, Brainard, and
-Frederick, leaving the three lonely and depressed on that desolate
-shore.
-
-And now, as the returning party disappeared in the distance, the
-explorers turned toward Cape Britannia. Although they started with a
-very heavy load, yet the traveling was fine, and, all three pushing,
-they made rapid progress, having Cape May directly ahead and across
-the fiord. The dogs seemed to object to going over the sea, and kept
-deflecting constantly to the right, the only difficulty arising from
-the deepening of the snow and its becoming soft. When they got
-stuck, Brainard would pull at the traces, while Lockwood would push
-at the upstand, and Frederick divide his energies between helping
-them and inducing the dogs to do so.
-
-At 1 A. M. on April 30th, they camped on the fiord, well satisfied
-with their advance of sixteen miles in eight hours without once
-doubling.
-
-Moving off at 5 P. M. with full load, they had not gone far before
-they were forced to throw off half of it, and soon with this half
-they found it difficult to get along, for the sledge would sink down
-to the slats and the men to their knees through the deep, soft snow.
-Lockwood could fully appreciate poor Brainard’s efforts and labors
-in a fiord at the southwest, when he crawled through snow
-waist-deep, and on hands and knees, for two hundred yards. At 9 P.
-M. they came to hummocks, pitched tent, threw off load, and, while
-Lockwood prepared supper, the others went back with the team to
-bring up what they had thrown off. They had to adhere strictly to
-the allowance, for they had rations for just so many days. They had
-advanced six miles in seven hours and three quarters.
-
-They started again the next morning with full load, but soon had to
-pitch off again. Had better traveling, on the whole, than on the
-previous day, though meeting with ranges of old floes and hummocks
-filled in with snow. Shortly after midnight, they came abreast Cape
-May, the desire of Beaumont, but which, with his crew broken down
-with scurvy, and with heavy sledges loaded down with all kinds of
-equipments, he never attained. The party pitched tent near an
-immense floe extending as far back as the eye could reach. Brainard
-and Frederick went back for the dismounted stuff, while Lockwood
-turned cook again, the first thing being to pulverize a lot of ice
-and set it on the lamp to melt. Cape Britannia and Beaumont Island
-were very distinctly seen, the latter from refraction double. Their
-allowance of alcohol was a constant source of trouble. They could
-not afford meat for both breakfast and supper, hence their supper
-consisted of tea, cracker-dust, and bean-stew. Advanced twelve miles
-in fourteen hours.
-
-Lockwood and Brainard now took turns in cooking, Frederick being
-excused. The two former did not sleep well, and, as usual, the
-Esquimaux blew his trumpet loudly, but not sweetly. They left at 7
-P. M. with full load, but as usual threw off a portion, leaving
-Brainard with it. Toward midnight they came to an open crack in the
-ice ten feet wide, through which sea-water could be seen below, and
-had to follow it several hundred yards before coming to a crossing.
-Thinking this a favorable chance to get a deep-sea sounding, they
-threw off the load, and Frederick went back for Brainard and the
-balance of the stores, while Lockwood got into a sleeping-bag and
-read “King Lear” until their return. In sounding, they ran out all
-the line they had, then four coils of seal-thongs, then some rope,
-and finally Frederick’s dog-whip, and got no bottom at eight hundred
-and twenty feet. They began to haul up after debating whether they
-should not risk the dog-traces, when, presto! the rope broke, and
-all below was lost. Leaving their treasures in the deep, they moved
-on with half-load over a low line of hummocky ice having the same
-general direction as the crack, namely, toward Beaumont’s Island.
-Beyond was an unbroken field of snow extending apparently to Cape
-Britannia. Ice being required for supper, they went into camp on the
-hummocks, going back, however, for the stores left behind, having
-advanced eight miles in ten hours.
-
-After taking bearings, they broke camp at 4 P. M., and, with a full
-load, proceeded over the level snowfield, broken here and there only
-by hummocks trending in a curve toward Cape Britannia. Until
-midnight the snow-crust sustained the sledge, but after that,
-failing to do so, they had to reduce load. Wind and snow coming on,
-they camped near a small ice-mound, after advancing fourteen miles
-in fourteen hours, and again brought up the stores left behind.
-
-The next morning proved clear and calm, and gave them a full view of
-the long-desired cape, which they reached at 8 P. M., pitching tent
-on the ice-foot—four miles in one hour and a half. Lockwood had read
-so much of scurvy, deep snows, etc., as associated with
-sledge-journeys in the experience of the English expedition, that he
-had come to regard them as inseparable from such enterprises. Yet
-here they were, at a point which Beaumont saw only from afar,
-without the first and without serious difficulty from the others.
-Cape Britannia had been the _ultima Thule_ of Beaumont’s hopes, and
-quite as far as Lieutenant Greely expected Lockwood to reach. But he
-was able to go much farther, and would do so. He built a cairn, and
-deposited a record of their journey to date, also rations for five
-days for use on their return, the spare sledge-runner, and
-everything they could do without. Leaving Frederick to see that the
-dogs did not eat up the tent and everything in it, Lockwood and
-Brainard climbed the adjacent mountain, two thousand and fifty feet
-high, to view the magnificent prospect spread out before them from
-that point. “We seemed,” Lockwood writes, “to be on an island
-terminating some miles to the north in a rocky headland. To the
-northeast, seemingly twenty miles away, was a dark promontory
-stretching out into the Polar Ocean, and limiting the view in that
-direction. Intermediate, were several islands separated by vast,
-dreary fiords, stretching indefinitely southward. Extending halfway
-round the horizon, the eye rested on nothing but the ice of the
-Polar Sea; in-shore, composed of level floes, but beyond, of ridges
-and masses of the roughest kind of ice. The whole panorama was
-grand, but dreary and desolate in the extreme. After erecting a
-monument, we were glad to escape the cold wind by returning.”
-
-While here, Lockwood took several astronomical observations. They
-broke camp at 7 P. M., and traveled northward over smooth ice free
-from snow, to the promontory, where they came in sight of the
-distant headland northeast, which they had seen from the
-mountain-top. Hearing a low, moaning sound, and looking to the
-north, they saw a line of hummocks, and near it their old
-acquaintance, the tidal crack, stretching in one direction toward
-Beaumont Island, and in the other, curving toward Black Cape, as
-Lockwood named the headland northeast of them. Repairing their
-sledge, which had given way, they proceeded toward this headland,
-having fairly good traveling though somewhat obstructed by soft and
-deep snow, and camped at midnight near a hummock and not far from
-the crack, from which Frederick tried, without success, to get a
-seal. This would have relieved his mortified feelings at the loss of
-a ptarmigan he had shot at the cape, and which Ritenbank had stolen.
-Took observations for latitude and longitude before turning into
-their sleeping-bags. Advanced eleven miles in five hours.
-
-The observations were repeated next morning, and they then went on
-their course. After going a considerable distance, they halted to
-rest and to view the tide-crack, now near them and about one hundred
-yards across, filled in here and there with young ice or detached
-masses. This crack was incomprehensible, differing from those seen
-in the straits, which were near shore and so narrow as to attract
-little attention. Frederick gave Lockwood to understand by signs and
-gestures that after a while the ice outside, or north of the crack,
-would move oft seaward. Resuming their way, they soon after passed
-Blue Cape, and thence crossing a small fiord got to Black Cape, the
-bold, rocky headland they had seen from the mountain. Beyond Black
-Cape, and in the same general direction, but seen indistinctly,
-appeared a dark, rocky cape, which Lockwood called Distant Cape,
-because, seeming so near, it was yet so far, as they afterward
-found. At Black Cape were seen bear-tracks, also those of the fox,
-hare, and lemming, in great numbers. The tide-crack here came near
-the shore, and then extended directly across to the next cape. The
-ice along shore indicated having sustained enormous pressure. Great
-bergs and hummocks, weighing thousands of tons, had been pushed upon
-the ice-foot like pebbles.
-
-The ice-foot offering better traveling, they followed that course,
-though it took them somewhat away from Distant Cape. Leaving it,
-they crossed what seemed to them a little bay, but it took them one
-hour and a half to reach the cape on the farther side. Seeing a
-large fiord intervening between them and Distant Cape which they had
-wished to reach before encamping, they gave up the effort and
-pitched their tent. Soon after, Frederick shot a hare, but only
-wounding him, they had to expend all their remaining strength in
-running him down. But food was now everything, and they spared
-neither the hare nor themselves. They called that point Rabbit
-Point, in memory of the friend who served them a good turn. Advanced
-seventeen miles in ten hours.
-
-Having, on account of a snow-storm, failed to get the sun on the
-south meridian, Lockwood waited until it should come round to the
-north meridian, as this matter of observations was important, and
-difficult to attend to _en route_. In the mean time, they cached
-some rations. Saw some ptarmigans, but failed to shoot them. Left
-near midnight, and having crossed the hummocks thrust in against all
-these capes, reached the level surface of an immense bay which they
-were two and one quarter hours in crossing, after untold labor and
-fatigue, through deep snow, so wet that they seemed to be wading
-through soft clay. They reached the opposite shore, bathed in
-perspiration, Lockwood going in advance to encourage the dogs.
-Sometimes they went down waist-deep. The mass of hummocks came up so
-near the cliffs as to force the travelers outside. Still, Distant
-Cape was farther on, with a fiord intervening. At four o’clock, they
-reached this long-sought point, and looked ahead to see what lay
-beyond. Away off in the same general direction (northeast) was seen
-another headland, separated from them by a number of fiords and
-capes, which lay on an arc connecting Distant Cape with that in the
-far distance. Inclining to the right, they made their way toward one
-of these intermediate capes. Sometimes seeing it and sometimes not,
-they finally reached it at 6 A. M., and, being unable to see
-anything ahead, went into camp. Soon afterward a pyramidal island
-loomed up through the storm in the northeast. They enjoyed part of
-their rabbit for supper, almost raw, for they had no alcohol to
-waste on luxuries, and carefully laid away the other half for
-further indulgence. But Ritenbank saw that half rabbit stowed away,
-and he too liked rabbit, as will be seen. After supper Lockwood made
-observations, and of trials and tribulations this was not the least.
-Face chilled, fingers frozen, and sun so low as to require him to
-lie in the snow; the sun like a grease-spot in the heavens, and
-refusing to be reflected; snow-drifts over artificial horizon cover;
-sextant mirrors becoming obscure, vernier clouded, tangent-screw too
-stiff to work; then, when one had nearly secured a contact, some dog
-interposing his ugly body or stirring up the snow; such were some of
-the difficulties to be overcome. Still, these observations must be
-made, and carefully and correctly made, or otherwise the chief value
-of the expedition would be lost. They secured double sets of
-observations here, which delayed them, but got off near midnight
-from this cape, which Lockwood called Low Point, and made good time
-toward the dim headland at the northeast. In two hours and a half
-they reached the cape, which he named Surprise, because they came
-upon it unexpectedly looming up through the gloom. Beyond and to the
-right was seen through the storm a dome-capped island, the
-inevitable inlet intervening. The traveling proving good, they
-reached it at four, and found it to be the end of a long line of
-grand, high, rocky cliffs, bearing far to the south.
-
-The ice-foot here being free from snow, the dogs took the sledge
-along at a trot, and the explorers rode by turns—the first time
-since leaving Boat Camp. The trend of the coast-line becoming nearly
-east, Lockwood began to think the time had come for leaving the
-coast and striking off directly toward the pole, as arranged for in
-his orders. As this was a matter requiring full consideration, he
-stopped to get an observation, but, defeated in this by the drifting
-snow, they went into camp at 6 A. M., having advanced seventeen
-miles in less than seven hours.
-
-After sleeping, Lockwood rose to take observations. While so doing,
-and hence out of the tent, he heard a noise in it, and suspected
-mischief. Sure enough, there was that old thief, Ritenbank, coolly
-eating up the remains of the rabbit they had kept for a second
-feast. A dash and a blow, and the dog scampered off, dropping part
-of the animal in his flight. They had reached the state of not being
-particular about what they ate, so they gathered up the remains and
-ate them on the spot.
-
-Resuming their journey at 1 A. M., they traveled under a long line
-of high cliffs, with hills in the rear. The travel was excellent,
-but the weather abominable—high winds, with falling and drifting
-snow. After three hours of progress in an easterly course, a
-headland was seen obliquely to their left, between which and
-themselves lay a wide fiord. After an observation of the sun, they
-struck directly across this fiord for the headland in question,
-which they finally reached after repeatedly losing themselves in the
-mist and gloom. Here they stopped awhile to eat pemmican and view
-the surroundings. Found many rabbit-tracks, but saw none of the
-animals. In Arctic traveling, one craves warm meat, but seldom gets
-any but that which is frozen. Continuing along this coast over a
-good ice-foot, they were pleased to see on their left a small island
-with a high, narrow ledge, a few hundred yards long. This they
-reached and went to the north side or end of it. Mist and snow
-shutting in the land farther on, and also that already passed, they
-camped, having advanced twenty-two miles in nine and a half hours.
-
-Finding traveling so troublesome in the storm, and much difficulty
-in getting observations, Lockwood resolved to remain there for
-better weather, all sleeping as much and eating as little as
-possible. Indeed, Brainard agreed with Lockwood that, if the
-easterly trend of the coast should continue, they had better spend
-their time in going directly north over the sea. On the 11th, it
-being still stormy and no other land in sight, they remained in
-their sleeping-bags on the island, which from its shape was first
-called “Shoe Island,” but afterward “Mary Murray.” All of them
-suffered greatly with cold feet in the mean while; and, although
-Lockwood’s feet were wrapped in blankets, furs, and socks, they were
-like lumps of ice. To husband their few rations, they had eaten very
-little of late, and doubtless to this may be attributed their cold
-feet. The dogs were ravenous for food. When feeding-time came, it
-was amid blows from the men and fights among the dogs that the
-distribution was made. Old Howler was conspicuous on these
-occasions. That he might secure all he could, he bolted ball after
-ball of the frozen mass, and then would wander around, uttering the
-most unearthly howls while the mass was melting in his stomach. He
-was, indeed, a character. He had an air of utter weariness and
-dejection, as well he might, for who can be more miserable than the
-dethroned monarch, jeered, cuffed, and condemned by his late
-subjects? One day one of the dogs swallowed a live lemming, and the
-little animal went squealing all the way down to the corporation.
-
-The weather clearing up a little the next morning, Lockwood took sun
-observations, and soon after saw a cape with very high land behind
-it, at the northeast. But the storm setting in again, they could not
-attempt to cross the mouth of the deep fiord intervening between
-them and the cape until nearly two hours after midnight. The
-traveling being good, and aided by a high wind, they made good time
-across the fiord toward the cape, alternately visible and invisible,
-and reached it in two hours. This cape proved to be the extremity of
-a line of high, rocky cliffs, stretching toward the southeast. Here
-they found the ice-foot entirely obstructed by lines of floe-bergs
-and hummocks pressed up nearly to the foot of the cliff, and to add
-to their difficulty, the tide-crack ran here close to the cape. With
-great labor they got the dogs and sledge upon a hummock, thence
-along its surface, using the axe, and finally lowered them down
-again, and, by a bridge over the crack, gained a level floe half a
-mile beyond the cape. There, finding a branch crack twelve or
-fifteen feet wide, Frederick went forth to seek a crossing, while
-Lockwood and Brainard obtained a peep at the sun for position. The
-fog rising, the grandest view they had yet seen was suddenly
-disclosed. To their right were seen the high cliffs connected with
-the cape just passed, bending to the southeast to form an inlet.
-Away beyond and across this inlet, and east of them, was the farther
-shore—a line of very high cliffs, terminating in a bold headland
-northeast of their position. Back of the cape and cliffs, the land
-became higher and higher, till, just east of the travelers, stood a
-peak apparently four thousand feet high. Between them and the cliffs
-below the peak was seen an island of pyramidal shape and quite high.
-The explorers made good time toward it, over a level floe, as some
-hummocks and tide-cracks at the mouth of the inlet prevented them
-from going direct to the cape. Thence, after a short rest and a
-relish of pemmican, they took their way toward the cape, now
-standing nearly north of them. Soon the snow became so deep and soft
-that the sledge often sank below the slats, the dogs to their
-bellies, and the men to their knees. Fortunately, the load was very
-light, and yet, had not the deep snow soon after become dry and
-feathery, they could not have proceeded. It was then that Lockwood
-promised himself never to undertake another sledge-journey, a
-resolve afterward easily forgotten when in camp with a full stomach.
-Time, rest, plenty to eat, and a good smoke, sometimes make
-philosophers, was the reflection recorded. About noon, after
-changing their course around an easterly bend of the cliff, they
-came to what might be regarded as the northern extremity of the
-cape, beyond which lay the inevitable fiord. Here they camped on the
-ice-foot, below a mass of picturesquely colored rocky cliffs, and
-essayed, but failed, to get observations. Their advance was sixteen
-miles in ten hours.
-
-On the 14th of May, occurred a storm so violent that it seemed as if
-the tent must be blown down. Ritenbank took advantage of it to
-burrow under the tent and lay hold of a bag of pemmican, but a
-timely blow on his snout “saved their bacon.” After discussion with
-Brainard, Lockwood concluded to go no farther, as their remaining
-rations would hardly suffice to enable them satisfactorily to
-determine their present position. While waiting for the sun that
-this might be done, they improvised a checker-board from the
-chopping-board, and played some games. After a while, finding that
-the cliffs somewhat interfered with the observations, they moved the
-tent farther west, stopping to build a cairn, large and conspicuous,
-and depositing a full record of their journey and a thermometer.
-This cairn stood on a little shelf or terrace below the top of the
-cliff. Brainard also cut “XXX Bitters” on the highest rock of the
-cliff he could reach, Lockwood telling him he only wanted to get a
-bottle for nothing on the strength of his advertisement. They were
-engaged until midnight, chiefly in taking observations and in
-collecting specimens of rocks and vegetation. Some snow-birds were
-seen.
-
-The next morning the weather became warm, beautiful, and delightful,
-the sun bright and sky clear, and there was no wind—surely a bit of
-sunshine in a shady place.
-
-[Illustration: Taking Observations at Lockwood Island.]
-
-They took advantage of this to bring out hand-gear, foot-gear, bags,
-and rubber blankets to dry, everything having been damp or wet for
-nearly a week. Lockwood and Brainard got but a few short naps after
-supper, for it was necessary for one of them to be awake to insure
-their getting up at the right time to take “double altitudes,” etc.
-They secured a complete set of observations, thirty-six in all. A
-few hours later, Lockwood and Brainard started to make the ascent of
-the cliffs and of the height beyond. They gained a considerable
-elevation, and stood on a little plateau overlooking both sides of
-the promontory, the sea, and a large extent of mountainous country
-to the south thickly covered with snow. Lockwood unfurled Mrs.
-Greely’s pretty little silk flag to the breeze, and felt very proud
-that, on the 15th day of May, 1882, it waved in a higher latitude
-than was ever before reached by man. By careful astronomical
-observations under peculiarly favorable circumstances, they found
-themselves in latitude eighty-three degrees and twenty-four and a
-half minutes north, longitude forty degrees and forty-six and a half
-minutes west of Greenwich, thus surpassing the English, who sent the
-Nares Expedition of 1875-’76, costing upward of a million dollars,
-for the express purpose of reaching the north pole, and which
-expedition sent its chief sledge-party directly north over the ice
-for the purpose of making _latitude alone_. The view from their
-lofty station was grand beyond description. At their feet, toward
-the east, was another of those innumerable fiords, a bald headland
-forming its farther cape, bearing northeast. Seemingly projecting
-from its foot was a low point of land, doubtless separated from
-another by still another fiord. This was as far as Lockwood could
-see in that direction—probably fifteen miles. Thence round toward
-the north and in the direction of Cape Britannia lay the vast Polar
-Sea, covered with ice and desolate in the extreme. Toward the south
-lay a vast panorama of snow-capped mountains, so overlapping and
-merging one into another that it was impossible to distinguish the
-topography of the country. They stayed on the top only twenty
-minutes, and at 4.50 reached camp again, greatly to the delight of
-Frederick. He had seemed a good deal “down at the mouth” of late,
-which Brainard thought was caused by their long distance from home
-and the absence of dog-food and “skaffer.” Hastily packing up their
-small load, they started on their return at 5.30 P. M. Though taking
-a more direct course across the first fiord, they met with soft
-snow, which was very tiresome to pass through. The weather now
-commenced to cloud up again, threatening another storm. It was very
-fortunate that they reached their farthest just in time to take
-advantage of the thirty hours of fine weather. However, they were
-now homeward bound, and did not care for storms or anything else,
-provided they could “_move on_,” nor did they require any policeman
-to help them in that particular.
-
-And now that Lockwood is returning from his special expedition in
-safety and good health, a few additional facts and a passing
-reflection on his exploit will not be out of place. Lieutenant
-Lockwood’s motives in undertaking this special expedition, in which
-he was so successful, he explained in these words: “My great wish is
-to accomplish something on the north coast of Greenland which will
-reflect credit on myself and on the expedition. But there are many
-ifs in the way—many visible contingencies on which success depends,
-as well as many invisible ones which have never suggested
-themselves. Among the former, scurvy stands like a giant, and if
-this giant attacks us, far from accomplishing anything, we may not
-ourselves get back.” As we think of Lockwood, at the end of his
-journey, with only two companions, in that land of utter desolation,
-we are struck with admiration at the courage and manly spirit by
-which he was inspired. Biting cold, fearful storms, gloomy darkness,
-the dangers of starvation and sickness, all combined to block his
-icy pathway, and yet he persevered and accomplished his heroic
-purpose, thereby winning a place in history of which his countrymen
-may well, and will be, proud to the end of time. Of all the heroic
-names that have blossomed on the charts of the Arctic seas during
-the present century, there is not one that will hereafter be
-mentioned with more pride and enthusiasm than that identified with
-Lockwood Island, memorable as the nearest point to the north pole
-ever reached by man.
-
-
-
-
- XII
- FROM LOCKWOOD ISLAND TO LADY FRANKLIN BAY.
-
-
-When returning to Lady Franklin Bay, Lockwood and his companions
-reached Shoe Island shortly after midnight. They deposited a record
-in the cairn there, and proceeded to the cape west of the island,
-where they went into camp, after a retreat of twenty miles in eight
-hours. Lockwood suffered much from his eyes, having evidently
-strained them while endeavoring to see the sun during the late
-stormy weather. The cold food, upon which alone they could depend,
-seemed to weaken the stomachs of all the party, and yet they plodded
-on. At Storm Cape, they left the grand line of cliffs behind, and
-took a compass course across the great fiord, amid a storm as before
-when they crossed that inlet. As usual, the dogs thought they knew
-best, and Frederick thought he knew best, so the compass received
-little consideration, and they inclined too much to the left, being
-three hours and twenty minutes in crossing. They stopped at a cairn
-and deposited a record. In another hour they reached Pocket Bay, and
-in another, Dome Cape, and then, crossing the inlet, went into camp.
-“Skaffer” was soon ready, cold chocolate, and a stew with lumps of
-ice floating round in it, particularly unfortunate after a march
-which was perhaps the most uncomfortable of the trip. It had been
-blowing and snowing all day directly in their faces—very severe on
-snow-blind eyes, which it was necessary in crossing the fiords to
-keep open in order to see the way. In addition to this, strange to
-say, Lockwood suffered with cold hands. Generally, while traveling,
-they were warm enough, and only got cold when stopping; but on that
-day they were aching with cold a great part of the time. The dogs
-had eaten up his seal-skin mits some time before, and the woolen
-ones gave little protection against the storm, with the mercury 30°
-below zero. They found the ice-foot now generally covered with snow,
-but they retreated twenty-seven miles in eight hours and forty
-minutes. Left camp shortly after 5 P. M., and, passing Cape
-Surprise, struck directly across the fiord for Distant Cape. When
-opposite their old camp at Low Point, a glacier was seen in the
-interior, a green wall of ice lying at the foot of what looked like
-a low, dome-shaped hill, but which must have been a mass of ice
-covered with snow, as is all the interior of this country. The
-travel over the floe was quite good, but when just beyond Distant
-Cape, they found themselves in the deep snow of the wide fiord to
-the west of it, a part of the route they had been dreading for some
-time. They finally, however, reached the farther side. The dogs must
-have smelled the pemmican in _cache_ there, for, during the last two
-hundred yards, they bent all their energies to the work and seemed
-wild to get ashore. They pulled the sledge through a fringe of
-hummocky ice at the coast in a way that proved how they _could_ pull
-when they set their hearts on business. The weather during the day
-was variable. When they started, it was quite thick, and the wind
-blew strongly in their faces, making the traveling very
-disagreeable; but toward the latter part of the march, the wind died
-away and the sun appeared. The traveling was better than when
-outward bound, the late storm having improved it very much. Brainard
-did all the cooking, Lockwood chopping the ice and assisting in
-various ways. They got off a little after six, and in two hours were
-at Black Cape. Here they stopped awhile and built a cairn, and at
-Blue Cape stopped again. The next four and a half hours they pursued
-their monotonous course across the floe, Lockwood indulging in these
-reflections: “What thoughts one has when thus plodding along! Home
-and everything there, and the scenes and incidents of early youth!
-Home, again, when this Arctic experience shall be a thing of the
-past! But it must be confessed, and lamentable, it is, as well as
-true, that the reminiscences to which my thoughts oftenest recur on
-these occasions are connected with eating—the favorite dishes I have
-enjoyed—while in dreams of the future, my thoughts turn from other
-contemplations to the discussion of a beefsteak, and, equally
-absurd, to whether the stew and tea at our next supper will be hot
-or cold.”
-
-They next camped some miles from North Cape, opposite the immense
-fiord there, which runs inland an interminable distance without
-visible land at its head. Lockwood had intended going up this fiord
-to what seemed like the opening of a channel on the south side of
-Cape Britannia, but the uncertainty and their fatigue finally
-induced him to continue the way they had come, the weather being
-delightful. Ritenbank went about all day with his head and tail
-down, perhaps repenting his numerous thefts. Advanced seventeen
-miles in eight hours.
-
-Left camp at 6 P. M., and in about three hours reached North Cape,
-where they stopped some time to take a sub-polar observation, making
-its latitude 82° 51′. Cape Britannia was reached without event, and
-there they stopped long enough to get the rations left in _cache_,
-and deposit a record in the cairn; then continued on the floe a
-half-mile to get out of the shadow of the mountain. At the cairn
-they got the snow-shoes left there, and the spare sledge-runner.
-They also collected some specimens of the vegetation and rocks, and
-saw traces of the musk-ox, showing that these animals wander even
-this far north. They saw also some snow-birds. They had thought that
-when they reached Cape Britannia they would feel near home; but now
-having reached it, the station seemed as far off as at any point
-they had left behind, and they could not rest until Cape Bryant was
-reached.
-
-The sun was very bright and warm when they left camp at 9.50 P. M.,
-but a heavy fog hung like a curtain on the horizon, and shut out the
-land all around. They were, in fact, traveling on the Polar Sea, out
-of sight of land. Shortly after starting, Lockwood put on snow-shoes
-to try them, and found immense relief at once. He blamed himself
-every day for a week for not having tried them during the journey
-out, and thus saved himself many hours of the most fatiguing travel
-through deep snow. Brainard, seeing the advantage, put on the other
-pair, and from that time there was nothing about which they were so
-enthusiastic as the snow-shoes. They afterward wore them more or
-less every day. At 6 A. M. they went into camp on the floe. The fog
-by this time had disappeared, and everything was singularly bright
-and clear. Advanced sixteen miles in eight hours, and got off again
-a little after 8 A. M.
-
-It was a beautiful day, calm and clear, and the sun was really too
-warm for dogs and men. They got along very well, however, on the
-snow-shoes, and one of the men keeping ahead to encourage the dogs
-and make a straight course, they finally reached, at the place they
-had crossed before, their old friend, the tidal crack, now frozen
-over. They lunched regularly every day on pemmican and hard bread,
-and rested whenever tired. A beautiful parhelion was seen, one of
-the most complete yet observed, in the perfection of its circles and
-the brightness of its colors. The blue, yellow, and orange were very
-distinct. They went into camp after four, the weather cloudy and
-threatening snow, having advanced sixteen miles in eight hours. They
-left again at 8.40 P. M. Snow falling, and no land being in sight,
-they kept near the right course by means of the compass. Their
-course was north-west (magnetic), the variation being in the
-neighborhood of ninety degrees. Went into camp near St. George’s
-Fiord at 4.40 A. M., suffering a good deal from snow-blindness
-afterward. During the march were troubled very little, strange to
-say. Rations were now getting low. The snow was very soft, and,
-owing to this and the warm sun, the dogs “complained” a good deal.
-Advanced sixteen miles in eight hours. Started off again at 8.40 P.
-M., reached shore shortly after twelve, about three quarters of a
-mile short of Cape Bryant, and, following the coast, pitched tent at
-the old camping-ground. After visiting the cairn on the hill, they
-determined to make up arrears by having a royal feast—anticipated
-for many days. “How nice that English bacon must be! How superior
-that English pemmican to the abominable lime-juice pemmican!”
-Brainard made a generous stew out of the aforesaid, with a liberal
-allowance of desiccated potatoes, etc., and they “pitched in!” But
-oh! what disappointment! Before eating a half-dozen spoonfuls they
-came to a dead halt, and looked at each other. Even Frederick
-stopped and gazed. The dish was absolutely nauseating. “Oft
-expectation fails, and most where most it promises.” Fortunately,
-there was left there a tin of frozen musk-ox meat, with other stores
-rendered surplus by the supporting party being able to go no
-farther. After this _feast_ on the English stores, they confined
-themselves to the musk-ox. The English pemmican, though a little
-musty, when eaten cold was quite palatable. This and the bacon were
-each put up in metallic cases. The bacon they subsequently found to
-be inclosed in _tallow_, and this it was that made their feast so
-disappointing. After this they all went to look for Lieutenant
-Beaumont’s _cache_, left here when his party was disabled by scurvy.
-The search was unsuccessful, although they traveled the coast for
-two miles and a half, advancing twelve miles in four hours. Getting
-up at twelve, Lockwood and Brainard went out to the tide-crack about
-half a mile from shore, and, by means of a rope and stone, undertook
-to get a set of tidal observations. They kept up the observations
-for nearly twelve hours, and then becoming satisfied that their
-arrangements did not register the tide, owing to the depth,
-currents, etc., gave it up, much disappointed. All their work went
-for nothing. These observations made their eyes much worse, and both
-suffered with snow-blindness all the rest of the way.
-
-While thus occupied, the dogs took advantage of their absence to
-visit the _cache_ and eat up part of a sack of hard bread and half a
-dozen shot-gun cartridges—the shot and the brass being rather
-indigestible. They left camp after midnight and a beautiful morning
-followed, calm and clear, the sun unpleasantly warm; and no wonder,
-since Lockwood was wearing three heavy flannel shirts, a
-chamois-skin vest, a vest of two thicknesses of blanket (double all
-round), a knitted guernsey and canvas frock, besides two or three
-pairs of drawers, etc.
-
-They tramped along on snow-shoes, and a couple of hours after
-starting, Brainard, who was on the hill-side to the left,
-discovered, with his one unbandaged eye, relics of Beaumont—an old
-Enfield rifle, a pole shod with iron, a cross-piece of a sledge,
-three or four articles of underwear, some cartridges, sewing-thread
-and thimble, and the remains of a shoe with a wooden sole about an
-inch thick. Other articles mentioned by Lieutenant Beaumont in his
-journal were not to be found. They may have been carried off by
-animals or buried in the snow near by. The articles found were in a
-little bare mound near the ice-foot. “Poor Beaumont! how badly he
-must have felt when he passed along there with most of his party
-down with scurvy, dragging their heavy sledge and heavier
-equipments!” Farther on, Lockwood shot a ptarmigan on top of a large
-floe-berg thirty feet high, and, by taking advantage of a snow-drift
-and doing some “boosting,” they secured the bird. They stopped at
-_cache_ No. 3 (near Frankfield Bay) and took out what the supporting
-party had left there. Gave the dogs the lime-juice pemmican and
-ground beans, but it was only by seeming to favor first one dog and
-then another that they were induced to eat it, thus illustrating the
-advantage of their “dog-in-the-manger” spirit. Went into camp on the
-east shore of Hand Bay. Their buffalo sleeping-bag now began to feel
-too warm, but was always delightfully soft and dry. Eyes painful.
-Advanced twelve miles in ten hours. After crossing Hand Bay they
-made a short stop at Cape Stanton. The Grinnell coast now became
-very distinct, and seemed home-like. They could see Cape Joseph
-Henry, or what they took for that headland. The floes off shore,
-consisting of alternate floes crossed by ridges of hummocks, made
-very laborious traveling. On reaching the _cache_ near Stanton
-Gorge, they got the rations left there. The traveling continued very
-difficult and tiresome. On reaching the Black Horn Cliffs, they
-decided, as their old tracks were entirely obliterated, to follow
-along under the cliffs, instead of taking the wide _détour_ they had
-made going out. They got along pretty well for a while, and then
-reached a mass of hummocks and rubble-ice. There they found a relic
-of the past—a towel which the men had used to wipe the dishes, and
-had lost or abandoned. By dint of hard work they got through this
-bad ice, crossed the smooth, level floe adjoining, and then came to
-the next patch of rubble-ice. After proceeding through this some
-distance, the sledge needing relashing, Lockwood went on alone with
-the axe, making a road as he went. Found the site of their old camp
-on the shore, but, as the snow slope there had become impassable, he
-kept along the coast on the floe and finally found a landing several
-miles to the west. Sledge and all got here at eight o’clock, and
-they continued on over the snow slopes, passing the remains of the
-“Nares” sledge and reaching Drift Point, where they went into camp
-alongside a big floe-berg, with lots of icicles upon it waiting for
-them, having advanced twenty-two and a half miles in ten hours.
-Finding strong winds and snow from the west, they delayed starting
-till almost midnight. The ice-foot along this low, sloping shore
-being excellent, they made good time, in an hour reaching the place
-of their first camp on this coast. The melting of the floe-bergs and
-the fall of the snow had so changed the general aspect, that the
-place was hardly recognizable. At 2 A. M. they came opposite the
-break in the cliff where they had entered on the coast in April.
-They soon made out the dark object seen previously from this point
-to be a cairn, and discovered a small bay which they knew must be
-Repulse Harbor. Crossing this bay, they reached the cairn at three
-o’clock. It was a tremendous affair, and the tin can inside was full
-of papers by Beaumont, Dr. Coppinger, and others. As a cold wind was
-blowing, Lockwood made a short-hand copy of the documents and left
-the originals.
-
-Lockwood’s eyes filled with tears as he read the last postscript of
-the several which followed the main record of poor Beaumont. Sitting
-on these bare rocks amid snow and wind, with a desolate coast-line
-on one side, and the wide, dreary straits on the other, he could
-well appreciate what Beaumont’s feelings must have been when he
-reached here with his party all broken down with scurvy, and, after
-trying to cross the straits and failing on account of open water,
-had no other recourse but to try and reach Thank-God Harbor. His
-last postscript reads thus:
-
-“Repulse Harbor Depot, June 13, 1876.—Three of us have returned from
-my camp, half a mile south, to fetch the remainder of the
-provisions. D—— has failed altogether this morning. Jones is much
-worse, and can’t last more than two or three days. Craig is nearly
-helpless. Therefore we can’t hope to reach Polaris Bay without
-assistance. Two men can’t do it. So will go as far as we can and
-live as long as we can. God help us!
- (Signed) “L. A. Beaumont.”
-
-He and Gray were the only ones left, and both shortly discovered
-scorbutic symptoms.
-
-Chilled through, Lockwood now continued along the coast to the west,
-following the ice-foot under a grand line of cliffs. After a while,
-they came to a narrow break or cleft in the cliffs, the gateway of a
-small mountain-torrent. It was like a winding and dark alley in a
-city, with vertical sides rising to the height of several hundred
-feet. Entering it, they presently came to an immense snow-drift,
-probably fifty or more feet high and filling up the gorge like a
-barricade, with another a little beyond. They returned to the
-sledge, thoroughly satisfied that Beaumont never went through that
-place. About seven they came to what seemed to be the “Gap Valley”
-of the English, a wide, broad valley, extending due south about
-three miles to a ravine. They therefore turned off from the coast
-and followed it, encountering a good deal of deep snow and bare,
-stony spots. At 11 A. M. they camped in the ravine near its head,
-thoroughly tired out. They now had only one day’s food left, and it
-behooved them to make Boat Camp in another march, even though fifty
-miles off. Advanced seventeen miles in eleven hours. The dogs for
-several days had been on short allowance, and during their sleep
-tore open the bag of specimen rocks and stones, but fortunately did
-not chew them up as they had done the cartridges.
-
-Getting off at 3.29 and crossing the table-land, they struck a
-narrow gorge running precipitately down to Newman’s Bay. At its head
-was a mountainous drift of snow, which they descended on the run;
-then came a number of smaller drifts, completely blocking up the
-gorge, over which they had to lower the sledge by hand. Near the
-bay, they discovered a singular snow-cave one hundred feet long, and
-occupying the entire bed of the stream, arched through its whole
-length by beautiful ribs of snow, from which depended delicate
-snow-crystals. The entrance was quite small, but inside, the roof
-was far above their heads. They lost sight of its picturesqueness in
-the thought of its fitness for the burrow of a sledge-party. This
-brought them on the smooth surface of the bay, with familiar
-landmarks before and around them—Cape Sumner, Cape Beechy, and far
-in the distance, Distant Point and the land near Franklin Bay.
-Looking back at the ravine from the bay, Lockwood felt sure no one
-would ever take this little, insignificant, narrow gully for the
-route of a sledge-party, and that no one traveling this, or the one
-they took going out, would ever take either again in preference to
-going round Cape Brevoort. They delayed along the shore of the bay
-almost an hour, leisurely building a cairn and viewing the scenery,
-and then going on, reached the farther side at eight o’clock, making
-their last final retreat of ten miles in five hours and a half.
-There was the whale-boat, and pitched alongside it, anchored down by
-stones and held by ropes, the six-man tent of the supporting party.
-Inside were Sergeants Lynn and Ralston, and Corporal Ellison, fast
-asleep. Lockwood had told Lynn to send back to Conger three of his
-party on reaching Boat Camp. The remaining three awaited his return.
-The work of pitching tent woke up the other party, and soon they
-heard the sound of the Polaris fog-horn (picked up near by), and saw
-three heads projecting from the tent, whose owners gave them a warm
-welcome, as well they might, after awaiting their return nearly a
-month at this place, the dreariest of all in that dreary region. The
-remaining stores were ransacked for a big feast, without regard to
-the rations. Corned and boiled beef, canned potatoes and beans,
-butter, milk, and canned peaches, made a meal fit for a king or for
-gods that had just experienced an Arctic sledge-journey. The
-monotonous life of these men had been varied only by a visit from
-two bears, and the arrival of Dr. Pavy—sent by Lieutenant Greely
-with some rations.
-
-The news from the station was that Dr. Pavy with Sergeant Rice and
-Esquimaux Jans had got only as far as Cape Joseph Henry, when they
-were stopped by open water. Lockwood had taken it for granted that
-the doctor would attain Markham’s latitude and excel his own.
-Lieutenant Greely had been west from Fort Conger on a trip of twelve
-days in the mountains, and had discovered a large lake with a river
-flowing out of it, which had no ice on its surface—something very
-wonderful. The vegetation had also shown a much milder atmosphere
-than anywhere else in these latitudes. Numerous Esquimaux relics had
-been found, and many musk-oxen seen.
-
-Turning their backs on the Boat Camp, and with many loud blasts on
-the Polaris fog-horn, they started at 11.25 P. M. for Fort Conger.
-
-The snow along the snow-slopes was badly drifted, but with so many
-to help, they got along without much delay and soon reached Cape
-Sumner. They found the rubble-ice south of that point worse than
-before, and here and there were little pools of water. The weather
-was very thick, the wind blowing and snow falling, and the farther
-side of the straits completely hidden, so that they went _via_ the
-Gap, but there had to leave the shore and direct their course as
-well as possible by compass. Presently they could see neither shore,
-and got into a mass of rubble-ice, mixed with soft snow-drifts. Lynn
-and party (Ralston and Ellison) had not traveled any for so long
-that they began to get very much fatigued, and could not keep up
-with the sledge. They had not slept since the arrival at the Boat
-Camp, owing to the excitement of the occasion. The driving snow hurt
-their eyes, and they were a very sorry party. However, they kept on,
-and finally came in sight of the west coast, and some hours
-afterward, finding good floes to travel over, a little before noon
-reached the “tent on the straits”—about five miles from Cape
-Beechy—Ellison and Ralston completely exhausted.
-
-_En route_ again, they spread the American flag on a long pole and
-carried it thus till they reached the station. At the snow-house,
-where they remained some hours to rest and get something to eat,
-they found Ellis and Whistler, who had come up from Fort Conger to
-look out for the party.
-
-All found their eyes more or less affected excepting Frederick.
-Ralston’s were so bad that he was sent on in advance, led by Ellis.
-He walked almost the whole way with his eyes closed. Lynn held on to
-the upstanders of the sledge, and thus found his way.
-
-On the first day of June, Ralston and Lynn went in advance, led by
-Ellis and Ellison. They could not see at all, and, as their guides
-carried the guns and each had his man made fast by a strap, they
-looked very much like a party of prisoners. At Watercourse Bay they
-met Lieutenant Greely, who had come out to meet them, and was well
-satisfied with the result of the expedition, and soon after they
-reached Fort Conger.
-
-Lieutenant Lockwood not only received many hearty congratulations
-from his companions, but even the weather, as if in sympathy with
-the general gladness, became bright and cheerful. The important
-business of working out the latitude that had been attained was now
-proceeded with. Efforts were made to verify the prismatic compass
-which was serviceable, but had a limited range. Much of the ground
-around the station was bare of snow, and, as the temperature was
-rising rapidly, Lockwood felt as if he would like to be off again on
-a wild tramp. When he said something about certain sledge operations
-in the future, Greely replied, “If you are content to go, I will
-give you all the help I can.”
-
-
-
-
- XIII.
- WAITING AND WATCHING.
-
-
-To a man of Lockwood’s character, the return to the station did not
-mean that idleness was to be the order of the day, and while yet
-suffering from rheumatic pains in his back, shoulders, legs, feet,
-and joints, he began to mark out a trip for himself through Lady
-Franklin Bay. In the mean time, some of the men were off trying to
-obtain fresh meat, Frederick killing a hare and Jans a seal weighing
-over five hundred pounds. Kislingbury amused himself with a pet owl,
-which delighted him with a present of eggs. On the 9th of June, the
-people at the station celebrated the birthday of their companion
-Long by a good dinner, and on the following day Lockwood,
-accompanied by his friends Brainard and Frederick, started with a
-dog-train for his proposed tramp. They made their first halts at
-Basil Norris Bay and at Sun Bay, and traveling over a level bed of
-what had once been a fiord, thence passed on to Stony Point, and
-then to Miller’s Island, where they encamped. Although they saw a
-number of seals, they succeeded in killing only a couple of hares
-and a brace of brants. Their next stopping-place was Keppel’s Head,
-the route being very wet, in fact, almost a continuous lake. Having
-nothing to wear but his moccasins, Lockwood’s feet were saturated
-three minutes after starting, and became so cold that he thought
-they would freeze. The pools were sometimes so deep as to wet the
-load on the sledge. However, the dogs made good time, and they
-reached Keppel’s Head at 11 P. M. Here the traveling became much
-better, and they were able to avoid a good many of the pools.
-
-Passing Keppel’s Head, they kept a sharp lookout for Hillock Depot,
-where Lieutenant Archer, R. N., had left a large number of rations.
-They searched for some time before finding any signs, but finally
-found the _cache_, and near by some pieces of United States hard
-bread, and a little bag of American tea. This was interesting, as
-proving that to have been the farthest that Long attained, although
-he claimed to have reached the head of the fiord. The unpleasant
-task then devolved on Lockwood of taking him down a peg or two.
-Lieutenant Archer was a week reaching this place, Hillock Depot,
-half-way up the fiord, which is about sixty miles long. The scenery
-is grand. High cliffs, generally nearly vertical, ran along the
-shores everywhere. Whenever they looked inland they saw a lofty mass
-of snow-covered mountains. All this was so common, however, in all
-the region, that it was only when _new_ that it was appreciated.
-Lockwood and Brainard had a good laugh at Long’s expense, and then
-turned into the two-man summer sleeping-bag, made of two blankets,
-trimmed off so as to weigh no more than necessary, and inclosed in
-another bag of light canvas. Their breakfast consisted of corned
-beef, baked beans, tea, hard bread, and butter—a very fine repast.
-Lockwood and Brainard both thought that this kind of traveling did
-not pay on a “picnic” excursion, but, as they had started to go to
-the head of the fiord, they did not like to turn back. The ice
-promised to be worse on their return, and this, and Lockwood’s lame
-foot, and the lameness of one of the dogs, decided him to return.
-Leaving camp on return, they soon reached Keppel’s Head, and
-afterward Basil Norris Bay, where they camped, and decided to remain
-a day or two and have a hunt for musk-oxen. Mud, water, and
-“sludge,” as well as Lockwood’s lameness, proved a drawback to his
-success; but Frederick returned from his tramp, bringing along a
-quarter of a musk-ox, having killed two and wounded a third, he
-said. They seemed to have cost two dozen cartridges, and he had
-probably stood off at a distance and bombarded them.
-
-Brainard returned after him. He had been up the vale as far as the
-lake, and had seen a few geese and a rabbit. He brought back a
-“skua” bird and some Esquimaux relics; had seen several circles of
-stone, marking the summer camps of these people, and picked up a
-good many bones, etc. All had something to eat, when the two started
-out with the dog-team for the musk-oxen killed by Frederick. Then
-came on a heavy rain, lasting for several hours, while the snow and
-ice were fast disappearing. This was the first rain they had seen in
-the country.
-
-During their absence from the station, to which they returned with
-their game, seven musk-oxen had been killed and four calves caught
-alive. The men had had an exciting time. The animals formed a hollow
-square with the calves inside, and did some charging before they
-were all down.
-
-The calves had been put in a pen a short distance from the house,
-were very tame, and it was supposed little difficulty would be found
-in raising them. They ate almost anything.
-
-On the 17th, Lockwood expressed his feelings as follows: “I find
-myself oppressed with _ennui_, caused, I suppose, by the present
-monotonous existence following the activity of my life since the
-early spring.”
-
-On the 22d of June, a “turn-stone” (a bird of the snipe species) and
-two or three ducks were shot. The little stream back of the house
-was babbling along at a great rate, the snow fast disappearing.
-Temperature 44°, which was about as high as it was likely to be, the
-sun having reached its greatest northern declination, and the
-temperature not having gone above this during the previous August.
-
-On the 24th, Lieutenant Greely and a party left for Hazen Lake and
-beyond, to visit the western coast of the country if possible. In
-the mean time, the dogs having attacked the young musk-oxen, came
-near killing one of them. The dog King and two others were found on
-top of “John Henry,” the smallest of the calves, and, but for
-Frederick happening to see them and going to the rescue, “John
-Henry” would soon have surrendered his ghost.
-
-During a walk on the 28th, Lockwood found North Valley River quite
-full, and rushing along like a mountain-torrent. Open water-pools
-were numerous near the shore. Had a fine view from Cairn Hill, two
-thousand feet high, seeing extensive lanes of open water toward
-Petermann’s Fiord. Weather delightful.
-
-On the 1st of July they had the second rain of the season, and
-Lockwood was gloomy; existence extremely monotonous; he was almost
-ashamed to confess how “blue” he felt. Ducks and other fowl brought
-in almost daily; also Esquimaux relics frequently brought in. Men
-arrived from Lieutenant Greely’s party on Lake Hazen and reported
-all well there. He had found many interesting relics, and had seen
-large droves of musk-oxen—between two and three hundred—in Black
-Vale. On the 4th the men at the station celebrated the day by
-displays of flags, shooting and other matches, and a base-ball game.
-They succeeded in getting the Lady Greely afloat, and Cross repaired
-pipes found to be out of order. They found that the flies were
-blowing their fresh meat badly. Fearing that it might be lost, it
-was ordered to be served more frequently. Long and Ellis, who had
-returned from St. Patrick’s Bay, reported it as open.
-
-Lieutenant Greely and party returned on the 10th from Lake Hazen.
-They had a good view westward for fifty miles from a mountain four
-thousand feet high; saw no sea, but many glaciers. Found a large
-river entering the lake at its southwestern extremity.
-
-Lockwood took the launch down to Dutch Island, giving all the men an
-excursion. But for entertainments of this sort he was afraid he
-should forget how to talk. The officers often went through a meal
-without exchanging a word; so also through the day. He could not say
-who was in fault.
-
-Loose ice was still filling the harbor and bay—paleocrystic floes
-that had floated in.
-
-Brainard and Cross brought in eleven ducks killed at Breakwater
-Point, having to swim in order to get them.
-
-Weather now mild, ice in harbor much broken up, and channel outside
-open. Lieutenant Greely thought there was every reason for expecting
-a relief-ship soon. It was very desirable on many accounts that she
-should come. A false alarm of her approach created great excitement.
-Some one said he saw her smoke in the distance.
-
-The hunters brought in ducks or other game almost daily. A weasel
-was shot near the house—a beautiful little animal, yellow with black
-tail. Dead wolves were sometimes found—probably those poisoned in
-the winter. Brainard, Cross, and Ellis returned from Beechy, where
-they killed three musk-oxen, two dozen geese, and some ducks.
-
-Lockwood occupied himself on his maps of the Greenland coast, adding
-pictures of scenery from sketches taken _en route_.
-
-Jans, desiring to capture seals, tried to approach them by
-interposing a cotton screen. But the seal had too much sense to wait
-for him, and slipped off the ice into the water.
-
-On the 31st, Lockwood measured some ice-floes aground in the harbor,
-finding them to be fourteen feet thick. He had seen many on his
-northern trip which, by Nares’s rule of one seventh above water,
-would have been thirty-five to forty-five feet thick. Of course,
-these were paleocrystic floes, the accumulation of years.
-
-On the 7th of August, Lockwood went with Lieutenant Greely and a
-party in the launch to Cape Lieber, finding the bay very free from
-ice. Left near the cape some provisions for use in case of having to
-retreat next year in boats, a subject which, from the non-arrival of
-the ship, was then agitated. They got many Esquimaux relics. The
-straits away down as far as Franklin Island and Cape Constitution,
-as seen from an elevation, were free from ice. They could see
-nothing to prevent the ship from coming. Returned in the evening,
-landing at Proteus Point, because a large floe-berg had floated in
-during their absence and occupied their harbor.
-
-Lieutenant Greely did not expect the ship before the 15th. Many eyes
-were daily fixed on the bold profile of Cape Lieber, from behind
-whose rocky face she must emerge, if she came at all.
-
-On the 13th, Lockwood, with Brainard, Lynn, Cross, Ralston, and
-Fredericks, started in the launch on an excursion up Lady Franklin
-Bay to the head of Archer Fiord, having in tow the boat Valorous
-with Rice and crew as far as Musk-ox Bay. There they left Rice and
-his boat and proceeded up the Archer Fiord, somewhat annoyed by
-scattered ice and by some large bergs which they had to go around.
-They had not gone far up the fiord before they saw, on a gentle
-slope of the southern shore, a herd of musk-oxen grazing a few
-hundred yards from the water. Though strategy was employed to
-approach without being seen, the herd took the alarm and scampered
-over the hills which terminated the slope. Lynn, anticipating this,
-had gone some way up these heights, but the animals by a _détour_
-avoided him and soon passed over the crest of the heights. The slope
-along there was sufficiently gentle to afford foothold to grass and
-willows, and thus presented a landscape charming to those who had
-gazed on little other than rocks and ice for so many months. Seeing
-two other oxen some time after, near a steep hill overlooking a
-rocky gorge, Lockwood, Brainard, and Frederick went for them,
-Fredericks approaching in front, and Lockwood and Brainard, by a
-flank movement, cutting off retreat. This resulted in the slaying of
-both animals. But how to get them to the launch was the question, as
-they were then a mile inland. Finally, cutting off the heads, they
-gave the bodies an impetus down-hill. They went from steep to steep
-like comets, leaving clouds of dust behind. Once or twice they
-lodged on steps or terraces, from which they were dislodged, thence
-to renew their journey downward. Afterward several other musk-oxen
-and some ptarmigans were shot, thus providing abundant food for all
-hands, with a large surplus to carry back to the station.
-
-As they progressed up the fiord, the scenery became more and more
-grand and interesting. A glacier was seen some distance inland, at
-the head of a stream bordered by vertical cliffs curiously colored
-and of fantastic shapes. One pinnacle was apparently surmounted by
-an old dilapidated castle. Though the fiord was not wide at Bulley’s
-Lump, nor the cliffs very high, yet they encountered a furious wind,
-as though blowing vertically. Toward the head of the fiord, they saw
-numerous ducks and flocks of geese on shore, apparently overcome by
-the force of the wind. Many of these they added to their abundant
-stores. Here, too, they found Esquimaux relics, indicating the
-abodes of men long years ago—circles of stones, very old; also
-pieces of drift-wood, whence coming they marveled. Reaching the head
-of the fiord, where the water became shallow, they landed, spread
-their sleeping-bags on the rocks, and made amends for their
-twenty-five hours’ want of sleep.
-
-Waking up, they found that the receding tide had left them high and
-dry by one quarter of a mile. This rendered Lockwood very uneasy,
-and induced him to give up his intended journey of half a dozen
-miles into the interior. He went, however, a mile or so inland, and
-from a height saw a lake, and several miles above it a glacier,
-apparently very large. Vast cliffs, three thousand feet high,
-bordered the valley or ravine he followed, and beyond these were
-snow and ice clad summits of vast elevation. Yet here, in this
-desolate region, were seen proofs of the abode of man—circles of
-stones covered with lichens, a proof of their antiquity. Here, also,
-he found the hip-bone of some immense mammal, and afterward added it
-to his museum. He returned to the launch near the time of high tide,
-and after lightening, they got the launch into deep water, with much
-labor, but greatly to their relief. On their return they visited
-Record Point, left a short account of their visit, and copied that
-of Lieutenant Archer. He had explored this fiord in 1876, occupying
-one month, but they did it in sixty-nine hours. He traveled with
-sledges and a supporting party—they with a steam-launch, all being
-on board. Their coal getting low, they made few other stops _en
-route_ except to pick up their meat and game, returning direct to
-the station. The result of the expedition, as to game, was, twelve
-musk-oxen, three hares, twenty-four geese, thirty-six turn-stones,
-six knots, three terns, and twenty ptarmigans. Distance made, going
-and returning, one hundred and forty miles. Long and others killed
-numbers of musk-oxen during their absence, so that they now had on
-hand about eight thousand pounds of fresh beef. Another musk-ox was
-killed, soon after their return, in full view of the house, and thus
-four hundred and thirty pounds were added to their stock. This was
-the eightieth musk-ox shot since their arrival, the year before.
-They had a good view of the bay and straits, both of which seemed
-open, offering no obstacle whatever to the passage of the ship. They
-were all very much disappointed at her non-appearance.
-
-Lieutenant Greely, wanting Howgate’s Fiord explored and surveyed,
-and Dr. Pavy wishing to make an excursion from Cape Baird, Lockwood,
-on the 21st, left in the launch, with Rice, Cross, Lynn, Fredericks,
-Snyder, and Israel, and with Dr. Pavy and Ellison as passengers, to
-land the doctor on the south shore, and thence proceed westward to
-Howgate’s Fiord. Following a lead westward, they finally found open
-water, which enabled them to reach the south shore of the bay some
-five miles above Cape Baird, where they landed the doctor and
-Ellison, with their rations, etc. In crossing the open water, they
-had strong south winds, and heavy seas which boarded the launch and
-washed her from stem to stern. Though much strengthened against ice,
-when heavily laden she sat too near the water to be a comfortable
-sea-boat. Thence they proceeded to Miller Island, where they had
-smooth water, and were enabled to cook their food and enjoy an
-excellent meal. They found much ice in Howgate’s Fiord, yet, after
-trying to kill a musk-ox seen on shore, made their way to Ida Bay,
-at its head, and proceeded to the north shore, for Israel to lay out
-his base-line and take angles, and Rice to take photographs of
-prominent objects. While they were so doing, the others started in
-pursuit of a musk-ox some distance from the shore. The animal,
-seeing them, went up the valley at a rapid rate, leaving behind him
-so strong a musk odor as to mark his wake as distinctly by the smell
-as that of a steamboat is marked by the eye. Lockwood abandoned the
-chase for other duties, but the men kept on, and afterward brought
-in the animal’s carcass. These having returned, and Israel and Rice
-having finished their work, all proceeded toward a very high, and
-conspicuous promontory, marking the entrance to the bay, which
-Lieutenant Greely wished Lockwood to ascend, and afterward go up the
-northern arm of the fiord; but they were unable to do either, having
-been brought to a full stop in the narrow channel by an immense floe
-of old ice. They therefore returned out of this _cul-de-sac_ to the
-south shore, where Israel wanted to take other angles. Here they
-found traces of Esquimaux habitations—meat _caches_, and various
-bone implements, all very old. Thence, _via_ Miller’s Cape, they
-made their way to Stony Cape, not, however, without great difficulty
-because of moving ice, which sometimes forced them too close to the
-island, and compelled them to make _détours_. The weather
-threatening, they did not stop to take other angles, but crossed to
-the head of the bay, near the Bellows, and cast anchor; and, while
-the others slept, Lockwood walked up the Bellows in quest of game,
-but saw none.
-
-The vegetation was just sufficient to remind him of the glorious
-trees and grasses of another zone far, far away. Still, with all its
-desolation, Lockwood thought it a very picturesque region, and that
-perhaps the moon, to one on its surface, presents a similar aspect.
-They left for the station on the 25th, encountering much ice all the
-way. Off Cape Clear it whirled about in such a manner as to threaten
-to crush the launch. At one time a large piece of ice—larger than
-the launch itself—was caught between the moving pack and the
-grounded ice and thrown up into the air fifteen feet. Finally, they
-reached the station, sadly disappointed not to see the masts of the
-hoped-for ship. They could not divine the reason for her
-non-appearance. Dr. Pavy thought that it never started, for want of
-an appropriation. Lieutenant Greely thought otherwise. It looked
-then as though they would have to retreat in boats during the next
-summer, and might fail to meet the ship in the channel; or, on
-reaching Littleton Island, find she had not been there, and then
-undoubtedly all of them would perish.
-
-A fine salmon-trout of three pounds and three quarters was caught in
-a net about this time, and, while Rice tried to obtain more,
-Brainard went to Depot “B” on a hunt for musk-oxen and other game.
-
-On the 26th, Lockwood went across Lady Franklin Bay in the launch
-after Dr. Pavy. Saw many seals, but failed to secure any. Found the
-doctor and Ellison awaiting them, forlorn enough. They had reached
-Carl Ritter Bay, seen musk-oxen, and discovered some lakes. Lockwood
-left more stores over the bay, and returned through much ice. It was
-pleasant to see how readily the launch cut through the young ice
-then forming in the midst of falling snow.
-
-On the 28th, Lieutenant Greely, desiring some further exploration up
-Ella Bay, and inland from its head, Lockwood and a select party made
-several attempts in the launch to accomplish it; but the young ice
-was forming so rapidly, there was so much pack-ice, and the snow was
-obscuring the atmosphere so badly, that Lieutenant Greely, after
-some hesitation, decided they had better not go, and, instead,
-requested them to take the long-boat Valorous to Cape Baird and
-leave her there, and then lay up the steam-launch for the winter.
-
-This they attempted to do, but, on reaching Dutch Island, had to
-give it up, as the entire harbor, bay, and straits were full of
-drifting ice, many of the floes standing five feet out of water. The
-launch having been left at anchor near the island, the next morning
-Lieutenant Greely ordered all hands down to the island to rescue her
-from impending peril. They found her very much careened and half
-full of water. She had been anchored in shoal water, and, heeling
-over at ebb-tide, had filled at the next flood. Fortunately, no harm
-was done to the boat, which might yet prove to be their salvation,
-and should be got into safe winter quarters, as that season was
-evidently already setting in. It was after this boat excitement that
-Lockwood indulged in these reflections: “I find myself constantly
-reading over old letters brought with me and received at St. John’s,
-though read before again and again. The effect is depressing,
-bringing too strongly into view home and the dear ones there. I am
-oppressed with _ennui_ and low spirits, and can’t shake off this
-feeling, partly induced by the cruel disappointment of _no ship_.”
-
-Subsequently he wrote, “Have been reading of Kane and his travels.
-He is my _beau idéal_ of an Arctic traveler. How pitiful that so
-bold a spirit was incased in so feeble a frame! Why is Nature
-inconsistent? In the Arctic his health seems to have been fair. He
-of all his advance party escaped the scurvy. It was his spirit,
-doubtless, that kept him up. Hayes does not compare with him. Though
-beautifully written, there is an air of exaggeration about Hayes’
-book, which destroys its interest. Doctor Pavy, who has hitherto
-been the advocate of Hayes, since his return from Carl Ritter Bay
-seems to have changed his mind about him, and now agrees with Greely
-and me that Hayes never reached Cape Lieber. To have done so, he
-must have performed in part of his journey ninety-six miles in
-fourteen hours—an impossibility.
-
-“The life we are now leading is somewhat similar to that of a
-prisoner in the Bastile: no amusements, no recreations, no event to
-break the monotony or dispel _ennui_. I take a long walk every day
-along shore to North Valley with that view, study French a little,
-or do some tailoring, now doubly necessary, as our supply of
-clothing is getting low. Our stock of reading matter, unfortunately,
-is limited except in Arctic books. One must live up here within
-himself, and is unfortunate if dependent on others for happiness.
-The others are as moody as I am—Greely sometimes, Kislingbury
-always, and as to the doctor, to say he is not congenial is to put
-it in a very mild way indeed. But why not study? Well, the
-atmosphere is not conducive to it. I must go on another
-sledge-journey to dispel this gloom. Lieutenant Greely was thinking
-of sending me to Lake Hazen to continue his explorations, but thinks
-the snow too deep. I will make a trip to the Bellows, and follow up
-the cañon at its head.
-
-“The hilarity in the other room is in marked contrast to the gloom
-in this. For several days the skating on the young ice of the
-harbor, now three inches thick, has afforded pleasure to the men.
-Israel broke in some distance from shore, and, being unable to get
-out by himself, would have perished but for the aid of others who
-saw him after he had been in the cold water fifteen minutes.
-Biederbick is constantly chaffed by the men for his persistent
-gunning expeditions, from which he always returns empty-handed. He
-takes everything seriously, and hence resents with warmth any
-insinuations against Germany, particularly if his own little
-principality of Waldeck be assailed. Biederbick tried to poison some
-foxes, and boasted of his plans. A fox having been caught by some
-one else and killed, Henry placed the body near Biederbick’s poison,
-first placing within its mouth a paper stating (as though written by
-the fox) how and where he met his death. Soon after Biederbick
-inspected his poison, and finding the fox, brought him home in
-triumph. Henry gravely declared the fox had not been poisoned, much
-to Biederbick’s amazement. They proceeded to examine the fox, and
-Henry pulled from its throat the certificate that had been placed
-there. The men around laughed at Biederbick’s expense, and he
-wilted.”
-
-The foregoing allusion to Dr. Kane can not but be read with special
-interest, as it gives one an insight into the noble character of
-Lockwood, who had the heart to appreciate a man like the discoverer
-of Grinnell Land. Both, indeed, were men of rare and exalted
-qualities, whose memories will always be treasured with respect and
-affection by the whole American people.
-
-An effort was made under Lieutenant Kislingbury to raise, from
-calves caught, a herd of tame musk-oxen. They became very docile and
-tractable, even to the extent of hauling in teams. The chief
-difficulty was to keep the dogs from them. One of these calves was
-seriously wounded by them, and was therefore killed. It was rumored
-that its meat would be served for dinner, and some of the men, to
-carry out the joke, hung the quarters on the meat-rack near the
-house. When other meat was served for dinner, Fredericks, who had
-cared for the calf and named it John Henry, ate nothing—very proper
-conduct for a man of feeling and a hater of jokes.
-
-Lockwood frequently went to the observatory with Israel to get some
-insight into the workings of the magnetic instruments. On
-“term-day,” the instruments were read every five minutes during the
-twenty-four hours, and for one hour every twenty seconds. “Poets
-write of the constancy of the magnetic needle,” said Lockwood,
-“while in fact it is the most inconstant thing known. Not only does
-it vary yearly, but monthly, daily, hourly, yea, every minute and
-second. Here the magnetic disturbances are very pronounced, and at
-times the magnetic needle is apparently almost beside itself. The
-aurora, too, has frequently a very noticeable effect upon it.”
-
-It was now becoming a matter for discussion that, should they be so
-unfortunate as to have to spend a third winter in this region, they
-would have to live on salt meat and hard bread. Dr. Pavy said they
-were already getting short of many articles of food, and of some
-they were entirely out—short of sugar and also of candles and
-foot-gear, of the latter, only a few pairs of cork-soled boots,
-unfitted for use in these parts, remaining. Lockwood felt that he
-would rather take any risks in boats than stay there another winter.
-
-The weather, which had been variable, having settled calm and clear,
-Lockwood started on his proposed sledge trip up the “Bellows” with
-Jewell, the Esquimaux Frederick, and an eight-dog team. Having young
-ice most of the way and no load, they made rapid progress to the
-tent at Basil Norris Bay. The dogs moved at a gallop, giving to all
-the rare opportunity of a ride. Here they found sleeping-bags and
-provisions. The next morning they reached Black Rock Vale and
-followed the windings of its stream-bed until they came to Lake
-Heintzelman, a beautiful body of water, or rather ice, perfectly
-smooth and free from snow, filling the whole valley, some three
-miles wide, to towering cliffs, and extending about five miles. So
-smooth was the surface that the dogs could have pulled a ton.
-Feeling rather chilly, they all held on to the upright of the sledge
-behind, and were dragged along on the soles of their shoes. Reaching
-the head of the lake, and finding the way so rough as to endanger
-the sledge-runners, they deemed it best to go into camp and
-reconnoitre before proceeding farther. While Lockwood and Jewell got
-supper, Frederick went on a hunt for musk-oxen. The former afterward
-followed with the team to bring in the game which he had killed,
-first skinning and cutting it up, not an easy job, as they had only
-a very dull hatchet and equally dull case-knives. They finally
-succeeded, however, after much labor, and returned to camp at a late
-hour. The ox killed was the only one seen, although it was
-there—three miles above the lake—that a hundred had been formerly
-seen. The following morning being chilly and the sky overcast, they
-returned to the tent at Basil Norris Bay, the dogs carrying the men,
-as well as nearly four hundred pounds of meat, over the smooth lake
-at a rapid rate.
-
-While crossing they heard an unusual noise, like distant thunder,
-which at first they were unable to account for, but finally
-concluded was due to the cracking of the ice, arising probably from
-changes of temperature. The whole expanse of ice was marked by
-cracks extending in every direction, not, however, coming to the
-surface, but visible below.
-
-In returning to the station, they avoided some rough places by
-hugging the south shore of the harbor, a rumbling noise of moving
-and crushing ice being heard in the direction of Dutch Island. On
-reaching the station, they found that a large bear had visited the
-house, dragging off the skeleton of a musk-ox which Dr. Pavy had
-hung out to dry as a specimen. Tracks of another bear were afterward
-seen near the house. At Lieutenant Greely’s request, Lockwood with
-others followed these tracks, came in sight of the animal, and saw
-him make his way toward the middle of the straits through leads of
-open water and over hills of ice with seeming ease. Of course, they
-failed to add bear-meat to their well-stocked larder.
-
-After enjoying a hot bath, which Lockwood commended as a grand
-luxury, he penned the following from his corner in the
-station-house:
-
-“The men have added a bagatelle-board to their other sources of
-amusement, and sometimes have bagatelle tournaments. Lieutenant
-Greely and I often play chess, and sometimes I take a game of
-checkers with the Esquimaux. These, by-the-way, seem much better
-reconciled than they were last winter. Probably have come to
-understand us better, and we them.
-
-“Much of my time has been occupied in making maps of the several
-launch trips and in writing out stenographic notes. Still, the
-monotony here is dreadful, and tells on all. It certainly does on
-me. Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Kislingbury spend much of their time in
-the other room, and, when in here and Lieutenant Greely absent, are
-engaged in the most gloomy prognostications as to the future, and in
-adverse criticisms on the conduct of the expedition. It is really
-dreadful, and I sometimes think the life of an exile in Siberia
-preferable to this. The absence of light without keeps us
-within-doors, and the want of exercise and fresh air promotes
-restlessness. Our supply of books comprises only novels and Arctic
-literature. A few really solid books of history, biography, essays,
-etc., are much to be desired, though, under the circumstances, I
-suppose it would be difficult to concentrate one’s mind on them.
-
-“Our experiment with calves had to be given up. All died but one.
-Long took that to Dutch Island, but it would not stay. Like the
-human animal, the poor thing wanted sympathy and something to love,
-and followed him all the way back, notwithstanding all he could do
-to restrain it. Tame foxes and tame owls have also been given up.
-The former bit their keepers, the latter ate each other up. The dogs
-multiply rapidly, and would increase faster, but that the pups are
-eaten by the old ones. I saw the mother of a dead pup keeping
-Ritenbank from swallowing it, while she hesitated whether or not she
-would do the same thing herself.
-
-“We are again building around our house with ice, which proved such
-an addition last winter, and the double sashes to the windows have
-been put in. I have added a side-board to my bunk and covered the
-adjacent walls with paper, thus adding to the warmth. Much may be
-done to mitigate the evils of this climate. The moral and social
-evils are what we can not meet, or rather do not repel.”
-
-Mrs. Greely’s birthday was again observed, chiefly by a good dinner
-with wine furnished by Lieutenant Greely. Lockwood’s own birthday
-was also celebrated in like manner, when he recorded the following:
-“After dinner Lieutenant Greely and I had a long talk—reminiscences
-of army-life, speculations as to our retreat in boats, etc. When
-alone, my mind turned to the dear ones at home and the many warm
-friends I had elsewhere, and to the happy days spent with them.
-
-[Illustration: Lockwood’s Corner.]
-
-“My corner, which is the coldest of all the corners, was improved by
-covering floor and walls with paper. I also found an improvement by
-adding side-boards to the bunk, and finally by converting the bed
-into a regular sleeping-bag. Before this was done, I sometimes
-became very chilly during the night after the fires went down. Our
-lamps now burn all day. How wearisome this constant artificial light
-becomes, we know from the experience of last winter. I dread it
-under our present social relations. Even Lieutenant Greely refers to
-these as intensifying what would otherwise not much distress him. My
-daily routine is somewhat as follows: Breakfast at half-past seven,
-with scarcely a word spoken by any one. Then I smoke, standing by
-the stove in the cook’s room. Afterward, tailoring or some other
-work. At noon, a walk to Proteus Point if possible. Afterward, read
-or sleep till dinner at four. Again smoke as before. Then a few
-games of chess with Lieutenant Greely or checkers with the
-Esquimaux. Then read a little French or a good deal of whatever I
-find most interesting. Then to my army-bunk, to sleep till next
-morning, when the same routine is repeated.”
-
-On the 20th, he made a trip to Depot “B” with some of the men and
-two dog-sledges to bring down the musk-ox meat left there in
-_cache_. They found the foot-ice near shore so rough that they had
-to keep well out, but still they made the eighteen miles in six
-hours, which may be regarded as fair traveling with dogs.
-
-They met many bear-tracks, but old, probably made by the same
-animals that visited the station. They found that these animals, and
-also foxes, had found their meat-_cache_ and had done much damage,
-four quarters of meat and fifteen geese having been eaten by them or
-taken away. Returning next day with what remained, and taking in
-more meat at St. Patrick’s Bay in still worse condition, they made
-their way home over a sea of rubble-ice. To show the effects of
-ice-movements, Lockwood observed, when crossing Watercourse Bay on
-their return, the sledge-tracks made the day before fifty feet in
-the air on top of floe-bergs!
-
-They made a visit to some floe-bergs at the mouth of Lady Franklin
-Bay to get specimens of colored ice seen there on a berg. These were
-mostly yellow, but some specimens almost black. On melting, they
-gave an offensive odor, and made deposits of their color. Analysis
-only could determine the nature of the coloring-matter. Young ice
-was measured, and found to be twenty inches thick.
-
-Lockwood would have been glad enough to be away from that cold
-region, and yet he seemed determined again to explore the north
-Greenland coast, and thought that, under favorable circumstances, he
-could go farther than he had already gone by at least seventy-five
-miles, thereby manifesting a degree of pluck almost unique in its
-character. Difficulties might arise to defeat his plans, but, these
-surmounted, all his energies and hopes would be directed to
-returning home. It was Lieutenant Greely’s opinion, however, that
-his “farthest” would not be again reached in the present century.
-
-On the 5th of November Dr. Pavy returned from an expedition to Carl
-Ritter Bay, which he had reached by following the valley back of
-Cape Lieber, as the ice-foot was found impracticable. The dog-food,
-or dried fish, taken, being insufficient and poor, one of the dogs
-died, and was immediately eaten by the others. The straits below
-were found quite open. They killed one musk-ox, but could not bring
-in the meat. On the return, so rough was the ice over the bay that
-twelve hours were required to cross from Cape Baird.
-
-The doctor urged the policy of storing provisions at Cape Hawkes for
-their boat-journey, a thing easier to talk about than to do, as Cape
-Hawkes was one hundred and fifty-five miles, in a straight line,
-south of Lady Franklin Bay, and it would occupy a dog-sledge to go
-and return at least one month. If anything was to be done in that
-direction, all thoughts of further exploration must be abandoned.
-The doctor predicted that a naval expedition would be sent for them
-the next year, Congress having hitherto failed to provide for their
-relief.
-
-In one of his tramps to Proteus Point, Lockwood’s feet were again
-frosted, owing partly to his imperfect foot-gear, and he then became
-convinced that a light, flexible moccasin was the best thing to wear
-in that country.
-
-For several days about the middle of November, there were magnetic
-disturbances of a pronounced character coincident with the storms
-and auroras they were experiencing. Storms were always indicated by
-rapid changes of barometer, but sometimes the barometer fell and no
-storm followed. Auroras had recently been attended with varied
-colors, which was unusual, as they had formerly been uniformly
-white. A surveyor working there would find, at times, his
-compass-needle almost unmanageable. Seals were seen in the most
-unexpected places, one of them having been killed with a hatchet in
-a tide-hole.
-
-On the 21st, Lockwood was startled, when setting out on his usual
-walk, to see what looked like smoke coming from the roof of the
-house; but what he mistook for smoke was only the condensation of
-vapor escaping from the house. The appearance of the smoke coming
-from the chimney, and of the steam from the roof, projected as they
-were on the sides of the snow-covered mountains, was very pretty.
-The ice-wall around the house was a great protection, not only
-keeping the hot air in, but protecting the house from the furious
-blasts which would otherwise enter it, if, indeed, they did not
-destroy it.
-
-Lieutenant Greely resumed his lectures, which had before proved so
-interesting. He gave one, which they all admired, on the history of
-his native town, Newburyport. Israel had also assumed the _rôle_ of
-lecturer on astronomy, with which he was familiar.
-
-When Lockwood became desperate with _ennui_, he got out his old
-letters and again read them, as they carried him back to his distant
-home and parents and sisters. He earnestly prayed that a kind
-Providence would restore him to them. This was the end of all his
-hopes.
-
-On the 30th of November Lockwood wrote as follows: “This is the day
-Lieutenant Greely appointed for thanksgiving, and thankfully should
-we keep it; for we have not only escaped sickness and any serious
-discomforts, but we have had undoubted success in our efforts both
-scientific and geographical. We have had a royal feast of soup,
-beef, corn, Lima beans, pineapple-jelly, nuts, and figs.”
-
-Contrary to his resolve, a few days later he commenced reading
-novels. His feeling was that they withdraw one from one’s self,
-which is something gained; but they put one up in the clouds from
-which it is often painful to descend. They cause the reader to live
-for a time in an ideal world, and bring him back to the stern
-reality with a sense of disappointment.
-
-On the 8th of December, Lockwood was greatly impressed by the
-absence of light, and gave his views as follows: “It is now very
-dark, even at noon, except when we have the moon and a clear sky.
-Even on the floe, where the pure white snow reflects every bit of
-light, it is now so obscure that it is difficult to see the path at
-one’s feet; and even the outlines of the mountains, high above the
-horizon, are very dim. A faint gleam of twilight over the south
-horizon, at noon only, shows the direction in which the sun and
-‘God’s country’ lie. So dark is it that I have several times
-stumbled over the dogs lying outside at the door; and when in a
-pathway, one has rather to feel the way than see it, requiring the
-use of a lantern in going from the house.
-
-“No wonder, then, that the moon is so highly appreciated in this
-benighted region. How delightful it is, after a fortnight’s absence,
-to have her with us once again! How a poet would rave over the moon
-could he once know a polar winter! We have her now in all her glory,
-lighting up this vast desert waste, which, covered with its mantle
-of snow and ice, now becomes a thing of beauty.
-
-“The effect of continued absence of sunlight is very marked in the
-complexion of all the men, as well as in their loss of vigor. They
-are as blanched as potato-sprouts in a dark cellar. Blessed orb of
-light and life! One can hardly imagine the one without the other.
-The moral as well as the physical influence of sunlight is very soon
-seen after the sun’s reappearance, the middle of February.”
-
-They still kept up birthdays, and the 24th was that of Saler, when
-they had a feast selected by himself. The musk-ox beef was
-particularly good, being young and tender, and free from the musk
-flavor so common with old oxen. They were now used to this, however,
-and it did not trouble them.
-
-In the evening Lieutenant Greely brought out a few Christmas
-presents to distribute, which had not been issued the previous year,
-and there were some prizes of tobacco, soap, etc., raffled for. A
-chromo-picture of good “King Billy” of Prussia was given to Long,
-whose hair is somewhat red. The hair in the picture being of the
-same color, much mirth was elicited, as Long was sensitive about his
-hair, and was constantly chaffed by the men on that account.
-Lieutenant Greely made a few appropriate remarks, referring to the
-success of the expedition, and praying that their good fortune might
-continue, etc.
-
-The Christmas-dinner was remarkably good—one that might have been
-enjoyed anywhere. The appetites of the men and of the officers were
-equal to the occasion. Of late some of them had shown less appetite
-than formerly, possibly because their supplies showing signs of
-failing in a few particulars, the table had shown less variety. The
-average weight of the men was found to be one hundred and
-seventy-one pounds, Lockwood’s weight being one hundred and
-seventy-six, embodying a good deal of caloric.
-
-On the 8th of January, 1883, after repairing some damage done to the
-launch by the ice, Lieutenant Greely announced his resolve to leave
-for home in boats not later than August 8th, and sooner, if the ice
-permitted.
-
-On the 23d, efforts were made to cross the bay to Cape Baird, but
-without success, the difficulties being the absence of light, the
-intense cold, and the extremely rough ice. It was desired to open a
-passage to Cape Baird, and make a depot of provisions there for use
-on the retreat. Their first efforts carried these stores only to
-mid-channel, but afterward Sergeant Lynn and others carried them
-over to Cape Baird.
-
-Much of Lockwood’s time was of necessity occupied in tailoring, and
-he had become quite an expert. Service in the north not only
-demanded much clothing, but the garments must be strong and warm.
-Their supply in store being somewhat limited and not judiciously
-chosen, particularly in foot- and hand-gear, all were from time to
-time engaged in repairing old garments or making new. Rice suggested
-a method of doubling the supply of woolen socks by cutting off the
-legs of long stockings and sewing up the bottoms of the leg part.
-For his proposed spring trip, Lockwood was counting upon a rig
-consisting of two merino shirts, three flannel shirts, one chamois
-vest, one vest made of two thicknesses of army-blanket, one woolen
-Jersey, one swan-skin cloth over-shirt, one pair of merino drawers,
-two pairs of flannel drawers, soldier’s trousers, cloth cap covering
-head and neck with a skirt covering the shoulders, and a pair of
-moccasins over heavy woolen socks—all to be worn at once, though
-seemingly heavy enough to weigh down an elephant. The only clothing
-in reserve was woolen wrappers and socks for the feet, and a
-seal-skin “timiak” for exceptionally cold weather. Having suffered
-much from cold feet, Lockwood had paid special attention to
-foot-gear, but without great success. Frequently he was kept awake
-most of the night from this cause. He noticed that the dogs suffered
-more in their feet than elsewhere, and might be seen at any time
-standing around with their feet drawn up under their bodies. The
-feet and the nose seemed to be the only highly sensitive parts of
-the Esquimaux dog, these being, indeed, the only parts not covered
-with long wool. Lockwood never tired of watching these animals. They
-were susceptible to kindness, though generally getting little of it.
-They followed him on his lonely walks, and seemed grateful for any
-notice or attention on his part. The young pups soon became docile
-and tractable in harness, though a little more difficult to manage
-than old dogs.
-
-When the 1st of March arrived, all hands were engaged in preparing
-for their spring work. First in order was the supply of their depot
-on the eastern side, and Lockwood purposed leaving soon, to convey
-several hundred pounds of rations to that place. As usual in such
-cases, Dr. Pavy and two others of the party indulged themselves in
-the most gloomy prognostications as to the future, declaring that
-all idea of further explorations should be abandoned, and all their
-efforts applied to depositing provisions down the straits to secure
-their safe retreat in boats in August and September. Both
-Lieutenants Greely and Lockwood did all they could to make a success
-of this expedition, but the social atmosphere was not congenial, and
-there was little enthusiasm manifested. How different would have
-been this life if all had pulled together! Lockwood was impatient to
-be away from this trouble and at work. If he could not go farther
-than on his previous trip, he could at least try, and no man could
-do more than his best.
-
-On the 10th of March, Lockwood left with two sledge-teams of ten
-dogs each for the purpose of placing supplies on the Greenland side
-of the straits—he, Sergeant Brainard, and Esquimaux Frederick, with
-one sledge; Sergeant Jewell, Corporal Ellison, and Jans, with the
-other. After leaving Depot A, where they added to their load, they
-had on each sledge about nine hundred and thirty pounds, or nearly
-one hundred pounds per dog. Found much rubble-ice on St. Patrick’s
-Bay, but, generally, the route to Depot B was good, and the journey
-was made in eight hours from the station. Although they had a fire
-in the little stove of the depot tent, all passed an uncomfortable
-night, not only from cold, but from their cramped and crowded
-condition. Their feet were higher than their heads, and the head in
-one instance was under the edge of the damp, frost-covered canvas.
-“Woolly” was found to be lame, and had to be left in a hole in the
-snow-bank, with a supply of hard bread; Ellison was feeling badly,
-yet said, “All right,” and insisted on proceeding. Seeing no
-favorable passage from Cape Beechy, they concluded to go up to
-Wrangell Bay and try the passage direct from there to Cape Brevoort.
-To reach Wrangell, they had to leave the ice-foot and move out on
-the straits, and soon found themselves in an awful mass of
-rubble-ice like a vast plain covered with bowlders. A great deal of
-chopping had to be done with the axe, and what progress they made,
-was with half-loads. They encamped on the straits, and, while the
-others returned for the discarded loads, Lockwood prepared supper,
-succeeding only in making some ice into lukewarm tea, which, with
-cold bread and meat, they hastily swallowed before creeping into
-their sleeping-bags. They secured but little sleep, as may be
-imagined when it is known that the thermometer registered that night
--48°. Under such circumstances, they seemed never completely
-unconscious, and got up in the morning under the belief that they
-had not slept at all.
-
-Reaching the south cape of Wrangell Bay, they turned to the right
-and went directly toward Cape Brevoort, still meeting with ice of
-the most formidable kind, over which the heavily loaded sledges had
-frequently to be lifted. Tired out, they camped at 5 P. M. in the
-midst of the strait. The first thing to be done was to look out for
-the foot-gear. This always had a lining of frost inside as well as
-out, being wet from perspiration if not from leakage. Brainard
-always changed his stockings for dry ones when he could do so, but
-Lockwood and Frederick generally let theirs go, the latter from
-indifference to frost-bites, and the former to escape the pain
-arising from tender feet and fingers. By incasing his feet in dog-
-or sheep-skin wrappings, he managed to pass the night comfortably.
-
-Ellison, being really sick, was sent back to the depot to the tender
-care of Woolly. After moving for a time over rubble, several of the
-pieces of which came up to a man’s shoulders, they were greatly
-encouraged by coming to a grand paleocrystic floe, whose gently
-undulating surface stretched east, north, and south as far as the
-eye could reach. This floe reminded Lockwood of a Western prairie,
-its mounds and gullies making the resemblance more complete. As an
-offset to this smooth way, they had to face an icy north wind with
-the thermometer from -35° to -48°. Frederick got one cheek and a
-finger frost-bitten, Brainard his face, and Lockwood his nose. Here
-they put off the load, and at a run with the empty sledge returned
-to their former encampment, where the tent was left standing, to
-await the return of Jewell, who had gone back to Depot B to leave
-Ellison with Woolly.
-
-The next morning, packing everything on the two sledges, they soon
-gained the smooth floe seen the day before, whence, detaching Jewell
-for some stores at Lincoln Bay, which he was to leave at this point
-and then return to Fort Conger, Lockwood, Frederick, and Brainard
-proceeded across the floe with as much of the total loads as the
-dogs of their sledge could drag. Coming within five miles of Cape
-Brevoort, and seeing formidable ice in that direction, while toward
-Newman Bay the ice was better, Lockwood concluded to head toward
-that bay. They did so until 5 P. M., and then camped on the straits,
-completely exhausted. During the night they had a violent south
-wind, but they had campaigned too much not to be prepared for this
-with tent-pins securely driven.
-
-In the morning they made their way over pretty good floes with some
-rubble, and reached at noon the whale-boat at Polaris Point, finding
-the rations in her intact. Thence, following the snow slope along
-the cliffs, and passing the point where Lockwood and Frederick had
-spent many hours the year before in a snow-hole, they passed round
-Cape Sumner through masses of ice in some places piled fifty feet
-high, and finally reached the Boat Camp on Newman Bay.
-
-Having thus provisioned the Boat Camp, they took a survey of the
-routes back, and concluding that, all things considered, the one
-direct to Cape Beechy was the best, returned by it with the empty
-sledge, making rapid progress and reaching the west shore in just
-seven hours. Notwithstanding they had no load, the passage was by no
-means easy, for they had to pass over mountain-ridges, deep pits,
-and gullies in the rubble-ice, where the dogs could scarcely keep
-their footing. Lockwood was impressed, as often before, with the
-power and endurance of the dogs. Ellison had left the depot, but
-Woolly still remained, and there, also, they found Jewell, who had
-been up to Lincoln Bay, where he found that the foxes had eaten up a
-large part of the meat in _cache_ there.
-
-With Woolly on the sledge, they returned to the station, meeting
-Snyder and Whistler _en route_ with a pup-team and sledge, going for
-Woolly. It was interesting and touching to witness the
-demonstrations and delight of these youngsters on meeting their
-elders, among which were the mothers of some of them.
-
-Jewell said that, on his return to the depot, he put away his
-dog-harness in one of the empty tents, and that when he awoke the
-next morning he found nothing remaining but the bone buttons and the
-whip-handles, the dogs having eaten everything else. Another
-dog-story is recorded as follows:
-
-“Milatook had pups the other day, and all were killed except one. It
-was discovered yesterday in a very unfortunate condition, with tail
-frozen hard and stiff, and legs in nearly the same condition. Some
-of the men soaked the tail in water, and eventually ‘brought it to.’
-It is a sad tail.”
-
-
-
-
- XIV.
- RESUMING A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.
-
-
-On the 19th of March, fair weather came out of the north, and not
-only cheered the hearts of the whole colony at the station, but
-fired the desire of Lieutenant Lockwood for the new campaign, which
-he had long been contemplating. After a consultation with Lieutenant
-Greely, he concluded to start on the following day, or soon after.
-As usual, some cold water was thrown upon his plans, one of the
-critics declaring that they had experienced enough of that kind of
-business; and another, that they had better be thinking of their
-coming fate. But Lockwood’s reasoning was as follows: “Before I go
-home, I must make another ‘strike’ on the north Greenland coast. If
-the conditions of the ice are no worse, I ought to be able to
-discover the northeast extremity of Greenland, and add several miles
-to my latitude, although Lieutenant Greely thinks that my present
-‘farthest’ will not again be reached in our day. I say nothing about
-all this, however. _Act_ first and talk afterward has always been my
-way.”
-
-Lockwood was both hopeful and determined, and on the 23d he received
-his final orders to the effect, that, should he not be able to reach
-a higher latitude than he did before without undue danger, or should
-he or any of his men break down or become dangerously ill, he was to
-return forthwith. To this he replied that he knew not what might
-happen, but he intended, if possible, to reach the eighty-fourth
-parallel. In anticipation of his own birthday, and to honor the
-explorers with a good “send-off,” Lieutenant Greely gave a dinner on
-the 26th, and, thus fortified, they were prepared to move on the
-following day, rejoicing.
-
-Lockwood had two fine teams of ten dogs each assigned for his use,
-and, as before, the faithful Brainard and Esquimaux Frederick were
-to accompany him. Everything passed off quietly, without the
-excitement or enthusiasm of the previous spring. They left the
-station at 8.30 A. M., the advance sledge bearing the silk flag of
-Mrs. Greely, with Brainard and Frederick the Esquimaux; the
-supporting sledge with Jewell, Ellis, and Esquimaux Jans; and then
-the pup-team and sledge driven by Snyder, and carrying Greely and
-Lockwood. On reaching Watercourse Bay, whence they were to take back
-a load of coal, Lieutenant Greely and team left them, after bidding
-God-speed, and telling them to be sure and bring back the north end
-of Greenland! Reaching Depot A in two and a quarter hours, they took
-on two small seals left there, and passing Depot B, where they
-obtained more provisions, they reached Cape Beechy at 4 P. M.—the
-dogs quite fresh, but the men much wearied.
-
-When they resumed their journey, it was snowing and the Greenland
-shore invisible. They took a direct course by compass for Cape
-Sumner over rubble-ice until they reached the first floe, on whose
-hard, undulating surface they made rapid progress until they came to
-rubble-ice again. Brainard, with axe in hand, went ahead, clearing
-the way over impassable places, until the high cliff of Polaris
-Promontory came in sight. Finally, both Jewell and Ellis suffering
-from pain, when three miles from Cape Sumner they stopped for the
-night, after making twenty miles, and all went into bags.
-
-Moving early next morning with considerable wind, they got into bad
-ice with cracks, down which some of the dogs fell and had to be
-drawn up; but finally, finding a better route, reached the Polaris
-Boat Camp, where, leaving some meat for the dogs when returning,
-they continued on toward Gap Valley, generally over rolling floes,
-and through rubble, requiring a good deal of cutting, tugging, and
-pushing.
-
-When three miles out they went into camp again, leaving Ellis to
-prepare supper for all, while the others, with both sledges,
-returned to the Boat Camp.
-
-Leaving Brainard to get ready the alcohol to be taken from the
-whale-boat, they kept on along shore to the foot of the cliffs and
-the _cache_. Here they found the snow-slopes much worse than on
-their last visit, but, the sledges being empty, they could have gone
-along over anything except a stone wall, and even that would have
-had to be very high to stop them. Fox-tracks were seen near the
-_cache_, but they found it intact. The ice they had piled about it
-was almost covered by the drifting snow. The contents of the
-_cache_, about one thousand pounds in all, were put on the two
-sledges, and soon after they went down a snow-bank so steep and hard
-that the sledges took entire command, though all hands tried to hold
-them back; but the dogs keeping out of the way, no harm was done.
-This was at Cape Sumner, whence they returned to the Boat Camp.
-Here, taking on the things prepared by Brainard, they returned to
-the tents. After supper some hours were spent in getting ready the
-rations for from twenty to forty-eight days. Jewell and Ellis were
-both complaining; otherwise, every thing looked very promising.
-
-On the morning of the 30th, it was clear overhead but cloudy around
-the horizon, and a slight snow was falling. The loads were about
-eleven hundred pounds to each team, but the dogs did admirably, and
-good speed was made, the ice being covered with a very light depth
-of snow. At the mouth of the gorge by which they were to ascend and
-cross the Brevoort Peninsula, they reduced the load on each sledge
-and started up this narrow, rocky, winding cañon. The snow was hard
-and they were getting along well, when right before them appeared a
-wall of snow, so steep and hard that Lockwood had to use his big
-knife, to ascend. It was about thirty feet high. He went alone to
-view the situation. A few yards beyond was a kind of ice tunnel
-whose roof was about three feet high. Then came another high, steep
-snow-drift with a snow-cavern alongside, probably fifty yards in
-length; and also a few feet farther was found a deep pit formed by
-the snow. Climbing around this and proceeding half a mile, he found
-that the gorge made a bend to the east and became still more narrow
-and rocky; but a side ravine offered a chance to get out of this big
-gutter, up a long, steep slope of hard snow, three or four times the
-height of the preceding drifts; and then Lockwood found himself on
-the table-land overlooking Newman Bay.
-
-The sledges with great difficulty gained this comparatively level
-divide. The landmarks not being altogether familiar to Lockwood, he
-took a long walk after supper to a distant ridge, where, seeing the
-sea-coast, his way became perfectly clear. It was a lonely and
-dismal walk, and the ridge seemed to get farther away as he
-approached it. After more than two hours’ absence he returned to the
-tents, crawled in alongside of Sergeant Brainard, and was quickly
-lulled to sleep notwithstanding the snoring of Frederick. The horrid
-sound issuing from his bag was as loud as a brass band at a circus.
-
-The process of getting breakfast was to be preferred to that of
-getting supper. When a man went into camp, after a toilsome day of
-travel, and had helped to pitch tent and unload the sledge, it was
-hard, while covered with frost, with cold and perhaps wet feet, to
-chop ice and meat, and handle cold metal.
-
-After an uncomfortable night, with the temperature down to -45°,
-they started again. Proceeding several miles, they reached a narrow,
-winding ravine, and finally a gorge, which they followed until they
-came to the head of the wide Gap Valley, and thence to the
-sea-coast. Turning east, they continued on a few hundred yards, and
-were then stopped by the ice-wall, which crowded so closely to the
-shore that the sledges could not be hauled through. Lockwood and
-Frederick pitched the tent, while Brainard went ahead with the axe,
-and, after much hard work, made a passage about one eighth of a mile
-long through this place. They managed to worry through with half the
-load by three o’clock, and, leaving Brainard to get supper, Lockwood
-and Frederick went on with half the load for about one and a half
-miles. The route beyond the bad place was excellent. Dropping the
-load, they returned to the tent by four o’clock. Jewell came along
-later, he and Ellis complaining again of their difficulty in keeping
-up with the sledge when it went faster than a slow walk.
-
-While approaching the cairn at Repulse Harbor, on the 1st of April,
-Brainard’s sharp eyes discovered the site of the English depot of
-rations, which contained Lieutenant Beaumont’s sextant, an English
-flag, a cooking-lamp, old clothes, and some foot-gear. The road
-before them was excellent, and they made good time, soon passing the
-route of the preceding year, which reached the coast just east of
-Repulse Harbor.
-
-On coming near Drift Point, they were better able to see the
-northern expanse outside the ice-wall which lined the coast and had
-interrupted the view. Lockwood saw a good deal of young ice
-interspersed with holes, and leads of open water. The main pack
-beyond seemed permeated by leads of what had been quite recently
-open water. Dark, misty “water-clouds” were seen everywhere
-northward. The young ice extended along shore in both directions as
-far as they could see, and out from shore a hundred yards or more.
-Beyond it was the polar pack, broken into small floes and
-rubble-ice, which had a glistening green appearance, as though
-recently pushed up by the grinding of the fields about it; all this
-was very surprising.
-
-They made their way over the snow-slopes of Drift Point and beyond
-until the near approach of the cliffs on one side and the ice-wall
-on the other brought them to a halt eighty miles from Fort Conger.
-Here they encamped with everything, having come thus far in six
-days.
-
-The ice-wall along here was from forty to fifty feet high. Outside,
-there was a good deal of ice lately formed, with smooth floes. They
-passed on near the foot of the bluffs, to see if there was any way
-of getting along the cliffs, making their way between the ice-wall
-and the foot of the steep slopes of the bluffs with great effort.
-The _débris_ of stone, etc., from the cliffs above made the route
-almost impracticable for a sledge. Before reaching Black Horn
-Cliffs, they were obliged to find a route along the top of the
-ice-wall, and thus got a short distance along the bottom of these
-vertical cliffs. But now, from a fissure in the cliffs above, came a
-steep drift of very hard snow, slanting down to the water at its
-foot. To scale the cliffs by means of this drift was dangerous, as a
-slip would inevitably have taken one directly into the water.
-
-By cutting steps in the snow they gained a considerable elevation,
-but, on looking round a point of rocks, the height beyond was so
-much greater and worse than they expected, that they could not
-proceed. All along shore was the crack of open water about a yard
-wide, with young ice beyond, through which a stone or fragment of
-ice might be thrown. Dense water-clouds appeared in many directions.
-They returned to camp, and, after enjoying some tea, Lockwood gave
-Jewell the tidal rod to make observations, while with Brainard he
-started out again, this time to the south and up a stream-bed, at
-whose mouth they were encamped, hoping to find a route back of the
-cliffs overland. They soon found themselves in a ravine with high,
-rocky sides, and encountered a steep snow-drift. Beyond was a small
-hole in the snow, which seemed to be a cavern or grotto formed of
-snow and ice, and probably running down to the bed of the stream—if
-that may be called a stream which has no water. Beyond this were
-exposed rocks under foot, and they saw ptarmigan-tracks, where the
-birds had used their wings in getting down a snow-drift. Finally,
-they came to a branch ravine from the southeast, the main stream
-leading off toward the south. They turned up the branch, and kept on
-for a while, when the high rocky sides seemed to come to a formation
-of ice like a glacier, a hundred feet high, at least, and very
-steep. The crest was perpendicular. The route thus far was difficult
-yet practicable, but it was clearly impossible for a dog-team to
-haul an _empty_ sledge up this place, and yet it was the only place
-where there was anything else than an inclined plane of rocks. The
-glacier was covered with snow, but in many places the ice could be
-seen cropping out, the snow being only a thin covering. Some
-ice-grottoes were also seen. They clambered up the rocks to the
-left, and found themselves on a stony plateau. Off to the east was
-an elevated ridge or knoll, toward which they traveled about a mile
-and a half. On gaining it, the barometer showed an elevation of
-thirteen hundred feet. Toward the south was a chain of mountains
-running east and west, through the western extremity of which the
-main stream-bed they had ascended seemed to break, about six miles
-from the sea. The branch appeared to end at the glacier; but to the
-east of it the land sloped north and south, and formed a
-surface-drain which, running east, soon narrowed into a gorge, and,
-bending to the north, reached the sea just west of Rest Gorge, as
-well as they could make out. At the bend was a large formation of
-ice or snow.
-
-They returned to camp at 3 P. M., and found every one there walking
-vigorously up and down to keep warm, or, rather, to keep from
-freezing, the thermometer marking -48°. Jewell left his beat every
-few minutes to note the height of the water on the tide-rod. There
-was now nothing else to do except to get into the sleeping-bags, and
-this in cold weather always involves a change of foot-gear. At six
-o’clock Brainard had prepared supper, and shortly after, the advance
-sledge-party was trying to sleep. Jewell kept on taking observations
-until after eleven, when he caught the high tide. It was a severe
-ordeal, but he preferred to do it, without assistance, as it was
-much better for the record.
-
-Brainard complained of want of sleep, and Lockwood’s rest was much
-the same as usual—an uneasy, oppressed feeling of being half asleep
-and half awake; every few hours getting broad awake, and wondering
-if it were time to rise, or how much colder his feet would have to
-get before freezing. Having decided to examine the main ravine
-running south, Lockwood started from camp before eight, with
-Brainard, Frederick, and Ellis. On reaching the branch, he and Ellis
-continued south, and the other two went up the branch. Continuing
-along between the high, rocky sides of the ravine, with abundance of
-hard snow under foot, but some bad snow-drifts, they found a very
-good sledge-route. After a while, they came to a huge formation of
-snow, filling the whole breadth of the ravine, and sloping up—in one
-place by a very easy ascent—to the west bank. Gaining this, they
-continued on and reached a ridge some twelve hundred feet high,
-which commanded a view of the sea, and of the valley to the south as
-far as the mountains. The valley seemed to grow wider and deeper as
-far as the mountains, through which it broke from a southwest
-direction. No break or defile of any kind offered an outlet to the
-east. Beyond the east bank was a wide plateau covered with stones,
-and about four miles from the sea. After taking a good survey of the
-country, they turned back toward the camp. Brainard and Frederick
-joined them some time afterward, and reported that they had cut one
-hundred and fifty-two steps in the side of the glacier to get up,
-and found that the branch extended a short distance beyond, but that
-a vertical ledge of ice some twelve feet high presented itself
-afterward, and that, on getting beyond this, they found themselves
-on a plateau covered with bare stones. Brainard thought the route
-utterly impracticable, and went no farther. He afterward said that
-they might be able to get round to Rest Gorge in two weeks, with the
-sledges and loads, by taking the sledges to pieces, and carrying
-them and the loads piecemeal over these obstructions. The young ice
-seemed to be getting thicker, and they began to think they might get
-around the cliffs after all. They had some tea and “pap,” and began
-to calculate how many days it would take to reach Cape Bryant.
-During the afternoon, a way for the sledge was cut through a low
-place in the ice-wall, a short distance west of the camp, and two
-days’ rations were also deposited in a _cache_ on the hill. A slight
-wind blew during the day, and by eight o’clock all were in their
-sleeping-bags again, excepting Jewell, who kept up tidal
-observations until ten, securing a very satisfactory set, two high
-tides and the intervening low tide.
-
-Thermometer during the night -43°. After breakfast, Brainard went
-down to the tide-gauge, and, coming back, reported that the rising
-tide had widened the crack a little, but that he had fixed it by
-chopping snow blocks and throwing them into the water. Being
-unwilling to risk everything on the young ice, thinking that it
-might break through, Lockwood put the five sacks of pemmican on the
-sledge, and leaving the tent, etc., and the supporting sledge-party
-packing up, he, Brainard, and Frederick started on. They reached the
-ice with no trouble, and, proceeding out from shore one or two
-hundred yards, turned to the east and went a short distance when,
-Frederick seeming to think the ice all right, Lockwood sent Brainard
-ahead with the axe, while with Frederick, having thrown off the
-load, he proceeded back for the rest of the stores, so as to take
-all on together. They had nearly reached the shore, when suddenly
-Lockwood saw two or three of the dogs in the water, and knew from
-Frederick’s tones that something had happened. The ice was moving
-out from shore, and they saw no way of getting off. Lockwood called
-for Jewell, and then leaving Frederick and his team to find a way to
-shore if possible, started on the run to get within hailing distance
-of Brainard. He was speedily overtaken by Frederick and the
-dog-team, the dogs going at a fast gallop, and Frederick laying his
-whip about them in all directions. Lockwood proceeded to find some
-place to get ashore, but there was none, except at a little
-promontory of rubble-ice, in front of the camp, and about two
-hundred yards from the tide-gauge. Elsewhere up and down, as far as
-they could see, was a continuous belt of water, every moment getting
-wider. The ice had a motion toward the east, as well as out from the
-shore, and thus kept in position a small cake of ice by means of
-which Lockwood got on the promontory, and then directed the
-movements of the dog-sledge which now came along. On the way back
-they stopped and threw the pemmican on the sledge again, the ice
-being perfectly smooth and hard. They first saved the dogs, pulling
-them up one by one, and then, the little ice-cake seeming to keep
-its position, a bridge was made of the sledge, and all the pemmican
-saved. The ice continued to move out from the shore, until up and
-down as far as the eye could reach was a wide belt of open water.
-Before they left, it was in many places between one and two hundred
-yards wide, and the ice at the same time moving toward the east.
-They got ashore at eleven o’clock, and by 12.30 the sledge-tracks,
-which had been opposite the tidal rod, were opposite the camp, a
-distance of two hundred yards. While the sledges were being packed,
-a seal made his appearance and eyed the party curiously. The guns
-were not convenient, and he was not disturbed. Many water-clouds
-were seen to the north at this time, and the whole polar pack seemed
-to be on the move. They were all grateful for getting out of the
-trap so well. Referring to their living on the moving floe,
-Frederick made signs to suggest their eating the dog-pemmican;
-certainly this would have lasted a long time had they not frozen to
-death in the mean while, which they would have done very soon, as
-they were without sleeping-bags or alcohol.
-
-There seemed nothing to do but turn about and go home, and yet
-Lockwood was extremely averse to the idea. The overland route looked
-well-nigh impossible, or something at least that could not be
-accomplished in time to allow them to reach the farthest of 1882.
-Lockwood’s orders directed his return in case this contingency
-should arise, as well as in case of any “signs of the disintegration
-of the polar pack,” or in case he became incapacitated for rapid
-travel. He walked up and down and thought of it for some time, both
-Brainard and Jewell having declared that there was nothing else to
-do but return. At 12.30, the teams being all ready, they turned
-toward the west. As they came near the slopes of Drift Point a very
-disagreeable south wind with drifting snow was met, which continuing
-to get worse, their cheeks and noses began to suffer, and therefore,
-at about two o’clock, they halted and pitched the tents, driving the
-pins first, and raising the tents afterward. By this time it was
-blowing almost a gale, and, the thermometer being very low, the tent
-was tied up, and they prepared to weather it out, Lockwood having a
-severe headache, which added to his tribulations.
-
-The whole of April 5th was passed in the sleeping-bags, giving all
-hands an opportunity to meditate on the _delights_ of an Arctic
-sledge-journey. The time was spent in sleep, or in trying to keep
-warm and sleep at the same time. During the day Lockwood counted up
-the exact number of rations remaining, and, still bent on his dream
-of the eighty-fourth degree, calculated that, if they could get
-around overland to Rest Gorge in five days, they could yet go to the
-farthest of 1882 and a few days beyond, provided the traveling was
-not worse than the previous year. He announced his intention
-accordingly. Brainard and Jewell were not hopeful, but willing to do
-their best in attempting it. One great obstacle was the lame and
-crippled condition of both Jewell and Ellis. The signs of
-disintegration in the polar pack, Lockwood proposed to disregard.
-
-The wind continuing to blow, it was noon before they started off
-toward the east to reconnoitre; but, prior to this, Lockwood went up
-on the high ground back of the tents and saw a great deal of open
-water. Some time after starting, he stopped the sledges and went up
-on another elevation to reconnoitre, feeling that, if he went on and
-anything happened, his responsibility would be heavy, from his
-disobedience of orders. From this point could be seen a belt of open
-water running along shore, in both directions, for miles. In no
-place was it less than two hundred yards wide, and from that it
-increased to four and five hundred. Westward from the vicinity of
-Repulse Harbor, it extended in a lead, growing wider and wider, all
-the way across the straits, apparently to the vicinity of Lincoln
-Bay, where it seemed to swing round to the north. This lead was
-upward of five miles wide in the middle. Whether there were other
-leads south of it, between Newman Bay and Beechy, could not be
-determined. In the polar pack to the north were several small leads
-and a great many dark water-clouds. The ice was again noticed moving
-rapidly to the northeast. Beyond Cape Bryant, he supposed the ice to
-be intact, as in 1882, but around the cape, north of Britannia, they
-had then traveled on new ice, and, going out on the polar pack at
-Cape Dodge, just this side of the farthest, had traveled on it for
-several miles. The condition of this route now could not be known,
-of course, but what they had seen made the prospect very
-unfavorable. The signs of disintegration were unmistakable, and
-Lockwood therefore determined to turn back once again. Near this
-spot he remarked a very curious stratified floeberg. It was about
-forty feet high, and a dozen or more horizontal lines were very
-plain. The weather had now cleared up beautifully, and they were
-soon at Repulse Harbor. Here they left a short notice of their
-defeat in an English cairn, and, taking Beaumont’s sextant, the
-English flag, etc., on the sledge, continued on their way to the
-mouth of Gap Valley, where they went into camp, and remained long
-enough to take a set of tidal observations.
-
-The observations here were very satisfactory, and were kept up by
-Jewell for more than twelve hours. Brainard, with Ellis and the two
-teams and drivers, advanced the heaviest part of the loads _en
-route_ nine miles to the shore of Newman Bay. Lockwood and Jewell
-remained in camp, and the former found it extremely monotonous,
-having nothing to do but to prepare supper. The only way to keep
-warm was by constantly moving about, and, as a cold wind was
-blowing, this in itself was not comfortable. The observations were
-very trying to Jewell, continued as they were long after the rest
-were in their bags.
-
-On the 8th of April, they suffered more than usual with cold. The
-sleeping-bags, frozen stiff, were a long time in thawing out after
-they got into them. Dark water-clouds were seen along the northern
-horizon, although elsewhere the sky was bright and clear. One,
-particularly noticeable, to the northeast and near shore, looked
-like a huge cliff in a fog. They also noticed a movement in an
-ice-hillock some distance off the coast. It changed its angle to the
-east during their stay, and suggested open water across their route
-before reaching Cape Beechy. They left camp at ten, and found the
-traveling very good—rather improved by the late storm. Jewell and
-Ellis began to suffer again, and the latter was carried on the
-sledge several miles, the loads being very light. They soon reached
-the middle of the divide, and then the loads left on the shore of
-Newman Bay, making very fast time through the gorge, though the
-sledges had to be let down the snow-slopes and drifts by ropes.
-After stopping some time to take on everything, they proceeded
-slowly and reached the Boat Camp, and soon after Cape Sumner, where
-they stopped to make tidal observations, Lockwood and Brainard
-remarking what a particularly dreary and dismal place it was, and
-wondering if they should ever see it again. It brought to mind the
-trials and tribulations of the previous spring. Yet, in spite of
-those trials, the novelty of everything, and the imperfect
-equipment, that expedition was a success; and this one,
-notwithstanding their experience and the completeness of their
-arrangements, a failure. “Oft expectation fails where most it
-promises.” Lockwood felt thankful that they had escaped from the
-ice-pack, and from passing the forty-eight hours of the recent storm
-upon it, living on the pemmican until finally frozen to death; but
-the sense of defeat was predominant. They passed a tedious, cold
-afternoon, but enjoyed a good dinner, having now an abundance of
-rations of all kinds. It warmed them up and put new life in all.
-Jewell saw, during his observations, a white owl flying overhead
-toward the east.
-
-The morning of the 10th was bright, clear, and calm. They noticed a
-stratum of misty clouds, supposed to be water-clouds, hanging along
-the foot of the cliffs on the Grinnell Land shore, and extending
-from above Cape Beechy northward indefinitely. After passing through
-several bands of rubble-ice with great labor, and yet without having
-to double up, they found the tracks made on the outward journey, and
-followed them continuously. This saved a great deal of time in
-chopping and picking out a road. About noon they suddenly
-encountered a very cold south wind. It seemed to come out of Devil’s
-Gap, Polaris Promontory, and as usual carried along a lot of fine
-drifted snow, continuing during the day. Their heavy loads made the
-dogs travel at a slow walk, otherwise, no doubt, both Jewell and
-Ellis must have been left behind or carried on the sledges. They
-went into camp on a hard snow-drift.
-
-After an uncomfortable night, with the mercury at 45° below zero,
-they left camp and followed the old trail, as on the previous day,
-jolting along with little difficulty in the rubble-ice, the dogs
-doing admirably, bracing themselves to the effort at bad places,
-like so many men.
-
-They reached Depot B at 2.50 P. M., and pitched the tents, this
-making the tenth time that Lockwood had crossed the straits above
-Fort Conger.
-
-The traveling was tedious and slow, but they reached Depot A at
-noon, stopping only half an hour, and arrived at Fort Conger in the
-afternoon. Everything there was quiet as the grave. “General Grant”
-was the only one, man or beast, that knew of their approach and came
-out to meet them. Even when they passed the windows and reached the
-door, no one saw or heard them, and Lockwood walked in on Lieutenant
-Greely like a ghost, and simply said: “Well, I’m back again; open
-water at Black Horn Cliffs.” Some of his further reflections were to
-this effect:
-
-“Do I take up my pen to write the humiliating word _failed_? I do,
-and bitter is the dose, although it is now a week since first I
-tasted it. My return here, the inaction after two and a half weeks
-of activity, and the monotony, not to mention the disappointment of
-Lieutenant Greely, make it fresh as when first mixed. I tried
-yesterday and to-day to induce Lieutenant Greely to let me go out
-again, but he says this is our last year here, that I still have
-last year’s work to fall back on, and, above all, that it is not
-_prudent_. I have a scheme by which I could travel four days beyond
-the farthest of ’82, and get back here in forty-four days, leaving
-April 21st and returning June 3d—that is, provided an overland route
-around the Black Horn Cliffs can be found, and provided the
-conditions beyond are no worse than last year. My proposal was to
-take the two teams, the two Esquimaux and Brainard, five sacks of
-pemmican, one tent, two sleeping-bags, etc., and forty-four days’
-rations for the party. The five sacks would last the dogs
-twenty-three days, after which about eight dogs of the twenty would
-be killed one by one, and thus the remainder fed on the return. We
-should have to make long marches, it is true. Perhaps the refusal is
-for the best, and I still have the country southwest of the head of
-Archer Fiord to operate in; but I am reluctant to give up this
-scheme for passing 83° 24′.” Everything at the station was very
-quiet, and much as when they left, except that a party had been sent
-for the boat at Thank-God Harbor.
-
-
-
-
- XV.
- ACROSS GRINNELL LAND.
-
-
-While the disappointment which attended the late expedition was very
-great, it did not make Lieutenant Lockwood unhappy or morose. He was
-only convinced, perhaps, that when the ice and snow and storms,
-minions of the North Pole, undertake to play the game of April fool,
-they do it very effectually. The absence of so many of his
-companions from the station had a depressing effect upon his
-spirits, but as usual he prepared the report of his last journey,
-and duly submitted it to Lieutenant Greely, all the while suffering
-from the severe rheumatic pains which invariably followed his
-exposure to severe cold. Many of the men were complaining, and the
-weather outlook was not encouraging, and yet, after consulting with
-Lieutenant Greely, Lockwood fixed his mind upon an exploration up
-and beyond the Archer Fiord. His idea was to go west, at least as
-far as the English had gone along the northern shore of Grinnell
-Land, feeling that he could hardly fail of finding something of
-interest, and would perhaps make important discoveries. Indeed, he
-might be able to determine the coast-line on the west. As usual, he
-wanted the company of Sergeant Brainard and Esquimaux Frederick, and
-would be content with one dog-team and supplies for thirty days,
-with a proper supporting party for two days.
-
-His spirits now became better than they had been, caused chiefly, as
-he confessed, by the glorious sun; and yet he could not refrain from
-thinking of home, and again resorting for comfort to his old family
-letters, which he had so frequently read before.
-
-His late failure had been a disappointment to himself as well as to
-Lieutenant Greely and the men. Some of them seemed down in the mouth
-and gloomy, and, by way of cheering them, Lieutenant Greely informed
-them that he intended to leave Fort Conger on the 5th of August, or
-as soon thereafter as the ice would permit. The personal relations
-of Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Kislingbury with Lieutenant Greely and
-himself were not what they should have been, and, instead of getting
-better, these relations seemed to grow worse. Could he not have gone
-abroad on these fatiguing journeys to escape such companionship, he
-would have felt utterly desperate. He certainly would cheerfully
-take any risks during the summer than longer endure the existing
-personal troubles. Lieutenant Kislingbury’s only thought seemed to
-be that a sledge-party should be sent down to Littleton Island to
-have the ship leave her supplies at Cape Sabine, therein merely
-reflecting the latest opinion of the doctor.
-
-The start for the western trip was made on the 25th of April, 1883,
-with two sledges, each drawn by ten dogs and carrying about one
-thousand pounds of rations for thirty days. They moved along the
-south side of the harbor over very soft and deep snow, through which
-the dogs labored, yet made their way with full loads. On getting
-near “Sun Land,” however, the snow became abominable, and the
-traveling was as bad as they had ever experienced. After trying for
-some time to go ahead, but sticking incessantly, they turned short
-off to the left, and after a great deal of work reached the shore,
-Brainard _en route_ falling down a crack, and Lockwood feeling
-convinced that his feet were frozen, as all sensation had left them.
-
-Reaching Black Knob Point, where there was a tent, they found it
-blown down. After some delay in repitching it, they started overland
-toward Sun Bay, through soft and deep snow, and soon afterward
-reached Stony Cape, where they encamped, all the party being very
-much fatigued.
-
-Resuming their march, they found the snow not particularly deep, but
-with a light crust, not quite hard enough to bear, which made the
-traveling fatiguing. They stopped to rest every hour, the weather
-being really too warm for comfort, so that Lockwood actually longed
-for the cold and hard work he had experienced in north Greenland.
-They reached Keppel’s Head in three hours, and found that _Mr._
-Keppel had a very stony face, and not a handsome head by any means,
-being a lofty promontory and precipitous mass of rocks, very grand
-and imposing. In two hours more they reached Hillock Depot, and
-stopped to get some corned beef left there by Lockwood in June of
-the preceding year, the English rations left there having all been
-eaten by foxes.
-
-On reaching Depot Point, they transferred everything from the
-supporting sledge and sent it back to the station, afterward getting
-along with the whole load very well. The high, steep cliffs on their
-right threw their shadows almost across the fiord, and kept them out
-of the glare of the sun moving along the northern horizon.
-Fox-tracks constantly appeared. These tracks were found everywhere,
-and yet it was but seldom that the animals themselves were seen; and
-in thinking of their habits, Lockwood wondered if they laid up in
-store their surplus food against the days of want. A tame fox kept
-at the station would always take what was offered; but, when the
-ice-wall was pulled down, a large supply was found which Mr. Reuben
-had abandoned on regaining his liberty.
-
-Greatly enjoying the pleasant weather, after finding some Esquimaux
-relics, and making a vain effort to surmount a glacier, they finally
-reached the head of Ella Bay, where, after some delay in finding
-freshwater ice, and snow hard and deep enough to pitch the tent,
-they went into camp. Lockwood and Frederick then took the team and
-empty sledge, and proceeded up a little water-course a few miles.
-Found less ice and more stones than they expected, but, having
-ascertained that they could advance up the valley with some extra
-labor, returned. Numerous fox, ptarmigan, hare, and musk-ox tracks
-were seen, but no game. Brainard became permanent cook, as the
-difficult business of making observations devolved entirely on
-Lockwood. The cliffs about here were grand, at least three thousand
-feet high.
-
-Lockwood was disappointed in getting equal altitudes of the sun for
-longitude (time), the lofty cliffs shutting out the orb of light on
-each side of the meridian; and yet he had camped away out, a mile or
-two from the cliffs, in order to avoid this difficulty. This was one
-of the annoyances he had frequently experienced. After lying awake
-for hours, or taking his sleep by short cat-naps with one eye open,
-and running out in order to catch the sun at the right time, and all
-this after a tiresome march, it was very provoking to have “some
-miserable cliff” lift its ugly head right in his way. To get the
-local time _well_, it was necessary to take the sun’s altitude some
-hours before noon, and then catch the precise instant of the same
-altitude in the afternoon, the sun being nearly on the meridian at a
-time midway between the times of the two observations. This middle
-time needed certain corrections, and then, the watch or chronometer
-being regulated to Greenwich or Washington time, the difference of
-time, or longitude, was known. The little streams occupying the
-valleys (or cañons, as they should be called) of this Arctic country
-are utterly insignificant compared with the depressions themselves.
-A great, ditch-like break in the country, from two to five miles
-wide and ten to thirty miles long, the sides of which are vertical
-walls rising thousands of feet, may be the bed of a little brook
-that in summer-time can be readily waded, and at other times of the
-year can hardly be seen under the universal mantle of snow. It was
-one of these that they followed in its windings. Here and there they
-would encounter very deep snow, and the sledge-runners would stick
-on the beds of stone, requiring all their efforts to get under way
-again. In about an hour they came to a long, level area, indicating
-Lake Katherine, which Lockwood had previously discovered and named
-when up near here in the launch, and then the view up the valley was
-unbroken as far as the glacier. Its terminal face could be clearly
-seen, looking like a little wall of ice three or four feet high,
-upon which one could readily step. Back of this the surface gently
-ascended until lost in the snow-covered mountain-side far beyond.
-The whole thing looked like a mass of barber’s lather, flowing
-slowly down a deep ditch. For some hours, Lockwood and Brainard both
-thought there would be no trouble in getting sledge and dogs up the
-_little_ face to the undulating and gradually ascending surface
-beyond. After proceeding some distance on the lake, Lockwood stopped
-the sledge, and with Brainard went off to the right, ascending a low
-ridge that ran parallel with the lake and between it and the high
-cliffs on the north side of the valley. They found the top to be
-four hundred feet high, and beyond was a wide ravine running down to
-the bay. There they saw the tracks of three musk-oxen that had
-evidently passed along on their way toward the fiord; also many
-tracks of foxes, ptarmigan, lemming, and hare. Probably, the chief
-reason for seeing so few animals, though so many tracks, was that
-the birds and animals (excepting the musk-ox) are all pure white in
-color for three fourths of the year. One might _look_ at a hare or
-ptarmigan a few yards away and yet not _see_ it. The lake called
-Katherine was found to be three or four miles long. At its farther
-end, the ground was quite bare of snow in places, and everywhere the
-snow was hard and thin, so that they went along very rapidly. Every
-half-hour, they thought, would bring them to the glacier, but the
-longer they traveled, the farther the glacier seemed to move away.
-When only a short walk from the glacier, as Lockwood thought, he
-stopped the sledge, and with Brainard went on ahead. The _face_
-seemed much higher than they had supposed it, but it was only after
-walking a mile that they realized what it was—a wall of ice,
-straight up and down, stretching a mile across the valley from side
-to side, and nearly two hundred feet high.
-
-After surveying this wonderful object, they returned to the sledge
-and pitched the tent, seeing no way of proceeding farther; and there
-they remained a day or two to get a good look at the surroundings
-before deciding upon the proper course to pursue. A decided fall in
-the temperature was quite noticeable, due, doubtless, to the
-proximity of the glacier. They got to sleep after a while, and
-during the day took a good rest, getting up in the afternoon. The
-twain went again to reconnoitre, leaving Frederick to hunt, or amuse
-himself in any other way he chose. They went to the glacier-wall
-again, and followed along its foot to the south side of the valley.
-This wall was beautiful and imposing. From the top, one third of the
-way downward, the ice was of a charming green color, and looked like
-glass; below this came a white surface, in which small stones were
-numerous imbedded in the ice, with here and there streaks of a
-brownish color, like chocolate ice-cream mixed with vanilla. A close
-approach showed that it was earth. At the foot of the wall, probably
-concealing a “terminal moraine,” was an undulating bank of snow, and
-over the upper edge of the wall hung wreaths of drifted snow that
-looked like the icing of cake. The ground for some distance out was
-strewed with blocks of ice and stone of all imaginable shapes and
-sizes. On reaching the corner of the glacier, a similar wall was
-seen extending up along its flank, abutting against an inclined
-plain of immense bowlders and masses of rock, the _débris_ from the
-cliffs above. The angle thus formed was full of large blocks of ice,
-many recently detached from the wall of ice. Traveling along the
-flank proved so difficult that they took to the incline and
-scrambled for some time over immense masses of rock and snow, often
-across deep cracks and openings concealed by the snow covering them.
-After gaining an altitude of several hundred feet, they reached
-something like a terrace formation, from which they overlooked all
-the lower part of the glacier. It presented an undulating and
-gradually rising surface, extending up the valley fifteen or twenty
-miles, or more. Just opposite to them, a branch glacier came in from
-the north through a gap in the mighty cliffs. The slope of this
-branch in places was very precipitous, showing great rents and
-fissures. The surface of the glacier was free from snow, except,
-here and there, in what seemed little depressions in the ice. There
-was no way of climbing upon the glacier, much less of getting the
-sledge and dogs up. It would simply have been ascending a precipice
-of ice two hundred feet high. To get upon it had been their original
-intention, although Frederick went through a pantomime at the time,
-which they did not exactly understand, expressing how a sledge would
-go faster and faster, and finally shoot over the edge like a
-waterfall. Whether he ever had had such an experience in Greenland
-he did not say, but he would never have had it more than once.
-Seeing no way of getting on or along the glacier, except with the
-greatest labor, Lockwood proposed to Brainard that they should
-ascend the cliffs and get an outlook from the top. It did not seem
-very far to the crest, and accordingly they started, but a more
-severe climb they had never had, and hoped never to have again. It
-was a very steep incline of rocks and snow all the way up. When the
-barometer showed an elevation of twenty-five hundred feet, Lockwood
-found himself on a ledge of rocks from which he could get neither up
-nor down for some time. Beneath him was a steep surface of frozen
-snow, falling on which he would have gone down-hill like an
-avalanche. Brainard had inclined more to the left, and, by following
-the side of a steep gully full of ice, had got ahead of him and out
-of sight.
-
-Finally, Lockwood reached what had long seemed the summit, and
-stopped to rest. Presently Brainard came in sight, and said the top
-was about a mile off. They then started together, walked over a
-gradually ascending surface like the top of a vast dome, covered
-with hard frozen snow and ice, and very smooth and slippery, giving
-them frequent falls, and at 4 A. M. reached the summit and viewed
-the country around for many miles. Being cold, they did not stay
-long—only long enough to take bearings by compass of several distant
-mountains to the south, snow and ice-clad peaks with many glaciers
-between. To the west the country was less broken, and seemingly was
-a lofty surface of snow and ice. They traced the glacier near their
-camp about twenty miles toward the west-south-west, when it, and the
-valley containing it, came to an end in a high mountain-ridge. This
-wonderful feature of nature possessed great interest for Lockwood.
-The face of the barometer gave an elevation of the mountain or cliff
-on which they stood of 5,050 feet above the sea-level. As their tent
-was only three hundred feet above tide-water, their climb had not
-been a small one. They descended the mountain readily, although they
-had to use hands as well as feet all the way down, in some places
-carrying with them a land-slide of earth and stones.
-
-They were constantly deceived as to distances and heights. A
-headland on the fiord looked but a half-hour’s travel away, yet it
-took two or three hours to reach it. So these cliffs, which looked
-from below like an easy climb, proved the highest and steepest in
-that benighted region. They got back to the tent after thirteen
-hours of as hard work as they had yet experienced, and completely
-tired out. They took meridian observation for latitude, and then
-enjoyed a hearty meal of ptarmigan killed by Frederick during their
-absence.
-
-On the 2d of May, they left their beds and had breakfast at about
-midnight. Found it snowing and unpleasant. Saw little else to do
-than retrace their steps to Ella Bay, and thence proceed around to
-Beatrix Bay and try to get inland from that place; spent the day,
-however, in further reconnoitring, as Lockwood did not wish to leave
-before night. Brainard went over to the northeast corner of the
-glacier, but found no way of proceeding in that direction, and,
-after carefully studying the surroundings, Lockwood could see no
-means of getting on even with packs. Spent most of the day in taking
-observations, etc. Occasionally they heard a noise like thunder,
-caused by the falling in of sections of the great wall before them,
-more formidable than any to be seen in China. The ground at the foot
-of the wall was only the bed of a stream with blocks of ice, and
-here and there a big bowlder. Everything being packed up and ready,
-they started down the stream again, examining several deep breaks in
-the cliffs to see if there was any prospect of _flanking_ the
-glacier by means of one of them, but without success. There was no
-way of getting up even a short distance, except by leaving dogs and
-sledge behind and taking to the knapsacks, which was not then to be
-thought of.
-
-They got along without event and reached their old camp after
-midnight, pitching the tent farther toward the north side, in order
-to see the sun when ready to take observations. Shortly after
-getting in, Frederick laid his whip down for an instant, and the
-promising dog Barker gobbled up all except about six inches of the
-butt-end in much less time than it takes to mention the fact. The
-praises of Barker had been sung ever since his birth, and this was
-only one of many of the tricks by which he proved his proficiency.
-Frederick quickly made a new lash, however, and _gave it_ to Barker
-on the next march.
-
-On the 3d of May, as they pushed their way onward, they took a
-series of angles and paced distances to get at the height of the
-tremendous cliffs near at hand. The result gave an altitude of
-forty-one hundred feet, which was almost vertical, the _débris_
-extending a third of the way up, and not being quite so steep. They
-then followed the north shore to Record Point, and thence took a
-straight course for the head of Beatrix Bay. The cliffs were so
-grand that Lockwood never tired of gazing at them, wondering how
-they were first formed, and thinking what tremendous force of nature
-had scooped out the awful chasm that comprised the fiord. These
-walls, high as they were, were only one half or one third of the
-height of the great snow-covered elevations back of and beyond them.
-
-The appreciation of the grand in this region was frequently marred
-by fatigue and hunger, and so it was on the present occasion,
-Lockwood being glad enough when, at half-past one, they reached the
-head of Beatrix Bay. In the valley which they now entered, they
-concluded to spend another day. This one, like nearly all the
-valleys in this region, was simply a cañon, a narrow, ditch-like
-formation, walled in by steep, high cliffs. It was occupied as usual
-by a very insignificant stream, the successor of some mighty mass of
-water or ice which had originally hollowed out the great gorge.
-This, and the head of Ella Bay, were the farthest reached by
-Lieutenant Archer, R. N., who explored the fiord named for him to
-find out whether it was simply a _fiord_, or a strait or channel, as
-the Polaris people had asserted it to be. His Mount Neville,
-thirty-eight hundred feet high, Lockwood looked for in vain as a
-regular head to the valley, and finally fixed it as one of the
-cliffs which, a little way back, rose slightly higher, to a dome.
-Archer was a day making the ascent. Lockwood and Brainard walked
-about four miles up the valley, and saw its termination nearly six
-miles beyond, when they retraced their course to camp, greatly
-disappointed in seeing no game, except two or three ptarmigans. The
-valley seemed practicable for the sledge, and so, after considering
-one or two narrow and rocky gorges which came in from the west, they
-determined to follow it to its head (north-northwest), and then seek
-farther a route in the direction desired, which was west or
-southwest. As they proceeded, the weather became bright and clear,
-and the mercury was only 2° below zero. They passed up the valley,
-leaving in _cache_ for return two days’ rations. The dogs were in
-excellent condition, and, in spite of stones, went along very well.
-There was some ice in the stream-bed, and of snow quite an
-abundance. Above the farthest reached the day before, a small lake
-was discovered—a level expanse of snow with ice beneath. The lower
-part of the valley had two distinct elevations, the stream-bed, a
-very easy grade, forming one, while along the stream extended broken
-terraces, termed shoulders, which from the cliffs projected out on
-either side, sometimes beyond the middle of the valley, which was
-from one to three miles wide. The breadth decreased as they
-ascended, and after several miles it was but a few hundred yards
-wide. At this point, they suddenly came to a place where the valley
-seemed to run out, the whole breadth being a mass of rocks. Good
-traveling was seen beyond, however, and, after working an hour
-doubling up (taking half-load at a time), they got over, and shortly
-afterward the real end of the valley was reached. They then turned
-short off to the north, and, going up a steep, rocky ravine, about
-midnight pitched the tent for further survey of the scene on the
-morrow.
-
-From this camp a low-looking “hog-back” was seen to close in the
-head of the valley. They determined to ascend this and get a look at
-the country, it seeming certain that the _big_ sledge could go no
-farther. After making some coffee as strong as it could be made, and
-drinking about a quart each, to bolster up their spirits, the twain
-again started out, leaving Frederick to crawl into his sleeping-bag
-or keep warm as best he might. They proceeded north up a rocky
-ravine about a mile, and then came to a level plain stretching
-northward, some half a dozen miles farther, to a line of cliffs
-running across which seemed to indicate another valley or lake. To
-the right were two or three high, dome-shaped elevations, and to the
-left was Mount Easy, so called, afterward, on account of the ease
-with which they ascended it, and in contradistinction to Mount
-Difficult, the last they had ascended. They soon came to a pretty
-little lake—Lake Carolyn—only a few miles long. This they crossed,
-and, in places where the snow had been blown off, they could see
-down through the beautiful transparent ice, seven feet in thickness,
-even to the stones on the bottom of the lake near the shore. This
-lake had an elevation of eleven hundred feet above the sea. In three
-hours from camp, they reached the top of the mountain, an elevation
-of 2,720 feet, and had a good view. To the south the country was
-very high, and several glacier-walls came into view, probably
-connections of the glacier above Ella Bay. The Henrietta Nesmith
-glacier, the Garfield range, and the United States Mountains, were
-plainly seen, and also the depression in which lay Lake Hazen. Snow
-and ice in every direction. The cliffs to the north of the camp were
-very conspicuous, but whether along a valley or lake they could not
-make out. They stayed on top two hours, and then descended the south
-side of the mountain through a deep ravine filled in places with
-snow-drifts, and lower down with stones and bowlders. However, they
-went down very rapidly, and got to camp in two hours. The cliffs to
-the north seeming to extend to the west, Lockwood decided to visit
-them and take that route. The only other feasible route was by way
-of the ravine they had descended from the mountain-top.
-
-Shortly after midnight of the 7th, Frederick had the dogs and little
-sledge ready, and, with nothing upon it but the shot-gun, hatchet,
-and telescope, they all started. The dogs were irrepressible, and
-took the little sledge over the rocks in a way calculated to cripple
-all hands, for they had to run alongside and hold on to the
-upstanders to keep up. Occasionally a runner of the sledge would
-catch under a bowlder and bring the sledge to a sudden stand-still,
-the immense strain of the strong dogs threatening to break it. On
-reaching the lake, all three of the men managed to crowd upon the
-sledge, and the dogs went at a rapid trot over its smooth, level
-surface. Beyond Lake Carolyn was a ravine leading toward the river,
-and there the dogs took to a gallop, and in an hour they reached a
-rocky height overlooking a long, wide valley walled in on the north
-side by high, precipitous cliffs, and on the south by heights of
-even greater elevation, but not so steep. There seemed no way,
-however, to get down. The water-course from the lake here became a
-narrow gorge blocked with large bowlders, the spaces between which
-were full of soft snow. It was not inviting, but they tried it, and
-in an hour reached the river-bed, the descent being most laborious.
-Here they found themselves only four hundred feet above the
-sea-level, and, turning to the right, went down-stream in a
-northeastern direction, the barometer constantly showing that they
-were going _down_-stream. _En route_ they passed over several small
-lakes formed by expansions of the stream. In many places the ice was
-very thick and beautifully transparent. Seven miles from Rocky
-Gorge, where they entered the river, they suddenly saw four
-musk-oxen. Frederick being very anxious for slaughter was allowed to
-go after them, while Brainard remained to watch the sledge and dogs,
-and Lockwood went off to the right to take some compass-bearings.
-After a while he heard a shot from Frederick, and saw one of the
-animals fall. The others did not seem at all frightened, but stood
-by their dead comrade until Frederick _drove_ them away by throwing
-stones at them. The dogs became greatly excited, and, going to where
-the dead game lay—a second ox having been killed—they gorged
-themselves with the entrails until there was danger of ruining their
-own.
-
-Having returned to the camp, Lockwood now projected a special trip
-westward of twelve days, and prepared his outfit as follows:
-Shelter-tent, sleeping-bags, axe, sextant, etc., telescope, shot-gun
-and ammunition, medicine, cook’s bag, rubber blankets, small lamp,
-knapsacks, snow-shoes, rations for three at forty-five ounces each
-per day, and one sack of pemmican for dogs; total, 328¼ pounds. The
-_large_ tent was left standing with the big sledge alongside and the
-American flag flying from the upstander. They got off at an early
-hour on the 8th with the dogs in excellent condition. Much work was
-required to get over the rocks, but after that they proceeded
-satisfactorily until near the valley. This was found to be quite
-wide for a region where everything of the kind was more like a cañon
-than a valley in the ordinary sense. Its width was two or three
-miles, or perhaps in some places four, and the general gradients of
-the stream-bed (Dodge River) were very slight, perhaps thirty feet
-to the mile. Narrow, deep cuts in the cliffs and high ground around
-indicated tributary streams.
-
-Frederick having shot a hare, and gathered up the other food, they
-proceeded on their way, traveling now over thick, clear ice and hard
-snow, with now and then patches of stones. The valley seemed to come
-to an end some fifteen miles up-stream, a range of high hills
-running directly across it.
-
-After various tribulations in exploring a side gorge, at midnight on
-the 10th of May the party resumed travel up the valley. The
-condition of the sledge-runners rendered it necessary to reduce the
-weight to the least amount possible. This doubtless pleased the
-dogs, for the driver had to restrain their ardor. Leaving the sledge
-to pursue its way along the base of the hills, Lockwood ascended a
-considerable elevation and obtained a good outlook over the country.
-He was very agreeably surprised to find at the farther end of a gap
-up stream an apparent prolongation of the valley in the same general
-direction. On either side of this prolongation was a range of low
-heights, while the intermediate surface looked very level—so level
-that he took it for a long lake. To the left, just outside the
-heights on that side of the valley, he could see at intervals a
-glacier-wall, the north boundary of a great _mer de glace_. About
-twenty miles distant, the valley seemed again to be shut in by a
-range of hills, but over the tops of them, and at a great elevation
-on the distant horizon, he saw what seemed to be a snow-bank. This
-he made his objective point. Passing onward through the gap, they
-came to a long and picturesque lake which was named Lake Nan after
-an interesting niece; and coming to a place near the end of the
-valley, a break in the low heights to the left revealed the glacier
-they had before seen. Its surface was very distinct. Extending to
-the south a few miles, it soon reached an elevation that formed the
-horizon in that direction. It seemed a vast undulating surface, and,
-as was afterward discovered, is the backbone of Grinnell Land. The
-wall of the glacier near which they camped presented a vertical face
-of solid ice 140 feet high. At intervals they heard the sound of
-falling ice—small fragments which became detached and dropped to the
-base. The altitude of this camp above the sea-level was found to be
-1,240 feet, and of Lake Nan 920 feet; that of their last camp was
-685 feet, and of the first camp in the valley, 420 feet.
-
-Passing onward, they crossed several small lakes close along the
-wall, with brooks emptying into them from the north. In a few hours
-they were on the divide, the surface to the north having more slope
-than that on the other side. The summit gave an elevation by
-barometer of 2,610 feet, about 400 feet higher than where they left
-the wall. They had an extensive view to the east, and could see
-Dodge River as far as they had explored it, also Mount Easy and the
-country adjacent. To the southeast, south, and southwest, was seen
-the glacier, which was named after Agassiz. It formed the horizon
-for half a dozen miles in these directions. All the ice-capped
-country and glaciers seen from the former camps were found to be
-connected with, and to form a part of this one glacier. Toward the
-north, the country had comparatively little snow. Presently they
-came in view of a mountain-peak toward the northwest, not many miles
-distant, which was recognized as Mount Arthur, the farthest point
-reached by Lieutenant Greely during the previous year. Away beyond
-it were seen very distinctly the United States and Garfield
-Mountains. Just to the west of Mount Arthur, they discovered a large
-lake, which Lockwood named Lake Fletcher. They were now on a surface
-rapidly sloping to the west. Some miles distant in this direction
-appeared a broken range of cliffs and mountains, and between their
-stand-point and these mountains was a wide valley, connected by a
-stream with Lake Fletcher, and a small lake, close to the Chinese
-Wall, which they called Lake Harry, the latter having an elevation
-of 1,320 feet. They crossed Lake Harry, and beyond it came to
-another called Lake Bessie, having an elevation of 1,630 feet, and
-covered with deep snow.
-
-Reaching the cliffs to the west, they found the descent exceedingly
-precipitous and rugged. No other passage offered than that through a
-gorge which was filled with ice and hard snow, whose surface was
-almost perpendicular. As this was the only passage, they went into
-camp to devise ways and means. Next morning, Lockwood attached all
-the ropes he had, including dog-traces, to the sledge, and while he
-rode to guide caused the others to ease down the sledge.
-Unfortunately, the rope was too short, and those at the top let go.
-Gravity carried the sledge and rider down the foot of the slope, now
-somewhat reduced, with fearful rapidity, till they brought up
-against rocks covered with snow, fortunately without serious damage.
-The other men and dogs got down as best they could, the former
-digging footholds as they progressed.
-
-Further descending the cañon, they came to another glacier
-stretching entirely across their way, and, as it seemed impossible
-to surmount it or the walls on either side, they came to a halt and
-enjoyed a night of rest. The next day they pushed on, though
-troubled with snow-blindness, and, overcoming the obstacle of the
-previous day, crossed a lake and encamped on its farther end. On the
-following day, after passing through a gorge, the outlet of the
-lake, between high cliffs, they were surprised to see a number of
-floebergs similar in every respect to the floebergs of the east
-Grinnell coast. At the same time they found the water to be _salt_,
-and saw the fresh tracks of a bear. These facts convinced Lockwood
-that they were near the western sea, probably at the head of a
-fiord. This soon became still more apparent. Here they also saw
-another glacier coming in some miles west of the last. They crossed
-a crack of open water, formed by the tide, and found themselves on
-well-recognized floe-ice, quite level but covered in places with
-deep snow. Ahead of them, twenty miles distant, on the opposite side
-of the fiord, was a bold headland, and toward this they now directed
-their course. This fiord, which Lockwood named after Lieutenant
-Greely, separated at its head into two bays. These he called, after
-Greely’s daughters, Adola and Antoinette. The latter bay they were
-now crossing, while they bore away to the north. It had become very
-foggy, and was snowing and blowing hard. When some miles out they
-crossed other bear-tracks, and finally reached the cape for which
-they had been striving. Here the south shore of the fiord bent off
-toward the west-southwest being very wide and walled in on all sides
-by steep cliffs broken in a few places by branch fiords or bays.
-They encamped at the cape on the 13th, had supper, and soon turned
-in to sleep and fast as long as possible, or until the storm abated,
-as the party was now reduced to what they called a starvation
-allowance. There was nothing to do but to make observations when the
-sun appeared.
-
-The mouth of the fiord at the north side was found to be about forty
-miles off, but the snow was deep and soft, and they could not
-attempt it without rations, all of which was extremely provoking.
-The sun became dimly visible through a snow-storm, looking like a
-grease-spot in the sky; but, notwithstanding, observations were
-attempted for latitude and longitude, and many compass-bearings were
-taken. At times everything was shut out of sight excepting the
-nearest cliff. Brainard feared they would have a very hard time in
-getting back, and Frederick evidently thought he was a long distance
-from Fort Conger, seeming rather “down in the mouth.”
-
-Soon after breakfast on the 15th, Lockwood and Brainard started to
-ascend the cliffs near by, the weather having partially cleared.
-They did so by means of a ravine opposite the camp, and had hardly
-reached the top before the snow began to fall again, and the wind to
-blow from the east; but, notwithstanding, they saw a large glacier
-to the south twenty or thirty miles away, and another to the
-northwest at about the same distance. The first was apparently an
-offshoot of the great “Chinese Wall” already mentioned. They saw
-also a lofty range of mountains far to the north, running generally
-parallel with the fiord. The cliffs to the west shut out the mouth
-of the fiord, and, before they could get far enough in that
-direction to see over them, the coming storm obscured almost
-everything. These cliffs were 2,140 feet high by the barometer, and
-almost vertical. The driving snow now became very uncomfortable,
-and, after going three miles westward, they concluded to return. _En
-route_, they found a number of fossils of what seemed to be trees,
-snakes, or fishes, Brainard being the first to notice them. They
-also saw a ptarmigan, an owl, and some snow-buntings, these being
-the only living objects observed. Reached the tent after six hours’
-absence, and found Frederick tramping around in the snow, not
-knowing what to do with himself. After supper, all three of the
-party with the sledge and dogs went an hour’s journey toward the
-opposite shore of the fiord, ten miles away. The sky was partially
-clear, and they got a very good view down the fiord, the telescope
-bringing into view another cape (Cape Lockwood). Between that and
-the cape on the north side (Cape Brainard), they failed to see any
-land, though they examined long and carefully with the telescope.
-The fiord between those two capes was very wide. Several branch
-fiords, or what appeared to be such, were noticed. Cape Lockwood
-seemed to be on the farther side of one of these, or on an island.
-The country on both sides of the fiord was very elevated, that on
-the north side much broken, and that on the south, away from the
-fiord, apparently an ice-clad surface rising into immense, dome-like
-undulations against the horizon.
-
-After a meager breakfast, they started on their return, finding the
-snow very deep and soft. The effect of short rations on the dogs was
-noticed. They saw two seals lying on the ice, which Frederick tried
-hard to shoot, but in vain. Lockwood was especially anxious to get a
-seal, for it looked as if they would have to kill one dog to save
-the remainder. After much trouble for want of food, they resumed
-their journey on the 17th, verifying at various points the
-observations that had been previously made in regard to the great
-ice-wall and the lake over which they had already passed.
-
-On reaching the end of the lake, they began the ascent of the
-ravine. The snow at the head of the ravine was very soft and deep,
-and they had hard work to get through it. Arriving at the big
-snow-drift which they had descended with so much difficulty and
-danger, it became a question how to ascend, but they managed it by
-first cutting some steps and getting the dogs up, and then,
-attaching them by long lines to the sledge below, men and dogs
-together pulled the load up the almost vertical face. The party went
-into camp at the old place, and decided to kill one of the dogs, yet
-very reluctantly, Frederick opposing it. Brainard had suggested
-White Kooney, but Frederick named Button, a young dog. Button had
-eaten up his harness that morning, and this decided his fate. He was
-shot by Frederick, and soon the carcass was skinned and presented to
-his brethren. Old Howler at once seized a hind-quarter, but the
-others did nothing more than smell the meat. They walked around it
-in a reflective mood, debating whether to yield to their hunger or
-to their repugnance. When the party awoke next morning, nothing
-remained of poor Button but some of the larger bones.
-
-On the 18th, Lockwood and Brainard ascended a neighboring mountain
-and got a look at the country. The ascent was easy and they gained
-the top in a short time; altitude, 2,008 feet. From this point they
-could see the “Chinese Wall” stretching off to the southwest forty
-miles, over hills and dales, as far as the glacier south of Fossil
-Mountain, although Lockwood could not recognize that particular
-glacier. The glaciers at the two ends of the lake, near Greely
-Fiord, were readily seen to be offshoots of the greater one, whose
-surface toward the south could be seen for several miles. In that
-direction, Lockwood took the bearings of several ice-capped
-mountains, one, as he thought, identical with a very high mountain
-seen to the south from Antoinette Bay. The “Chinese Wall” had the
-same general aspect everywhere—a vertical face of pure white or
-green ice upward of two hundred feet high, and extending across the
-country in a fashion he could liken to nothing else.
-
-From here Lockwood made a short excursion by himself to Lake Harry,
-discovered a number of other small lakes, and obtained the altitude
-of several localities. He returned to camp only to find the dogs in
-a bad way for food, and a scarcity for himself and men. Resuming
-their course the next morning, after the dog Howler had performed
-the remarkable feat of stealing a piece of meat when it was cooking
-on the alcohol-stove, they passed many of the localities they had
-seen before, but in some cases hardly recognized them on account of
-the flying snow. Making two marches in twenty-four hours, they
-reached their first camp, and found the tent blown down, but the big
-sledge in its position, with the American flag flying over it as
-gayly as if in a pleasant and genial clime. The dogs were gratified
-with a good feast of pemmican, and the men themselves found it
-delightful, once more to have a full supply of food.
-
-Their next move was for Archer Fiord, by way of Beatrix Bay and
-Record Point. They crossed another lake, where, as once before, they
-could see the bottom through ice that was seven feet in thickness,
-having revisited the north side of Musk-ox Valley, which was
-separated from the lake by a very low and narrow divide. Dodge River
-was seen bending off to the northeast toward Howgate Fiord. The
-surroundings were very picturesque, but barren and desolate in the
-extreme. They saw no signs of game, and even the poor, stunted
-vegetation of the region was wanting. Rocks and snow, with stretches
-of bare ground, composed the prospect.
-
-The lake alluded to above was about twelve miles long—a considerable
-sheet of water—and, no doubt, in summer would be an interesting
-place to visit, as places go in the Arctic regions.
-
-After camping they proceeded along to the east of Murray Island, the
-weather cloudy and calm. Depot Point was revisited, to look for the
-English rations, but nothing found.
-
-Having killed a seal, they took the meat and blubber along, and
-camped about ten miles from Bulley’s Lump, where they had a good
-feast of meat and liver. The latter was greatly relished, Brainard
-making it into many dishes.
-
-On the 24th, they enjoyed their breakfast at midnight, Lockwood
-calling it a real _midnight mass_, as it was a black mass of
-seal-liver, English meat, corned beef, potatoes, and hard bread, all
-cooked together in one stew which was very good, notwithstanding its
-miscellaneous character.
-
-The comments of Lockwood, in regard to the expedition, and how
-matters were at the station, were as follow:
-
-“No such word as ‘failed’ to write this time, I am thankful to say,
-but the happy reflection is mine that I accomplished more than any
-one expected, and more than I myself dared hope—the discovery of the
-western sea, and hence the western coast-line of Grinnell Land. I
-have now the rather ponderous task of preparing a report, making a
-map, and writing out this journal from my notes. Tidal observations
-have been taken at Capes Baird, Distant, and Beechy, simultaneously,
-showing that the tides arrive at these places in the order named.
-This is very singular, as the previous expeditions into these parts
-established (?) the tides as coming from the north. This agrees,
-however, with the order of their arrival at Cape Sumner, Gap Valley,
-and Black Horn Cliffs, where I took observations in April. No more
-musk-ox meat left; it ran out on the 20th inst., and hunting-parties
-sent out April 25th saw nothing. I surmised as much, from the
-absence of game on my trip, though Brainard did not agree with me.
-Two seals have been shot, but only one secured.
-
-“I find the social relations of our room not improved—rather worse
-than better. Dr. P., though he shook hands and asked me several
-questions as to my trip, relapsed into silence, which he seldom
-breaks. Lieutenant K. had but one question to ask. I often contrast
-ours with the pleasant relations of the English officers when here,
-and think how much happier we should be in following their example.
-As it is, I soon relapse into _ennui_ and apathy. A sledge-journey,
-with all its trials, is preferable to this. I view those ahead of us
-with indifference, as it will rid me of this forced association.
-Another winter would render me a maniac, or put me under a cairn.
-
-“The spirits of the men seem good. The sun has revived them. Merry
-groups may be seen at any time on the sunny sides of the house.
-
-“How often do I think of home, which now seems to me like a series
-of pictures or objects long since seen! how often of my dear father,
-whom may a kind Providence spare for many, many years!
-
-“Both Brainard and I lost a score of pounds weight on our late trip;
-but we are rapidly regaining our avoirdupois. My appetite is
-frightful, and nothing comes amiss. I want to eat every three or
-four hours. Fortunately, we have a supply of musk-ox beef on hand,
-having killed three recently aggregating four hundred pounds, to
-which are added many water and other fowl daily brought in. There
-was felt at one time some apprehension that our resource in this
-respect had disappeared, and fears were entertained of scurvy. The
-men seem to have fared so well that their appetites have become
-dainty. One would suppose that pork and beans were not staples at
-our army posts.
-
-“Israel makes my _farthest_ of the last trip, latitude 80° 47´,
-longitude 88° 29´. Hence my explorations extend over 2½° of latitude
-and 38° of longitude. Have plotted my western journey, and find that
-my farthest carries me far off the English map. I took latitude and
-longitude observations at every camp, and also frequent
-compass-bearings; to reconcile all these is a task.
-
-“Rice has taken a photograph of my corner, where I do all my work
-and also sleep.
-
-“Have been reading the authorities on glaciers, and regret I did not
-inform myself better before going out. But perhaps that Chinese Wall
-will make up for my short-comings.
-
-“Those rheumatic pains I had a year ago have returned and trouble me
-much. I must be moving again soon.
-
-“Several of the dogs, becoming mangy, have been shot. Poor old
-‘Howler,’ whom we left on the ice-floe, hoping he would recover and
-follow us, was found dead near the same place. Oh! the hours of
-misery I have spent in sleeping-bags, kept awake by that howling
-brute—howling, perhaps, just because another dog looked at him! But,
-for all his howlings and stealings, the ex-king was a good worker
-and did his duty, and that should be all required of any one, man or
-dog. May he rest in peace in the happy hunting-grounds of the canine
-race! Frederick, I presume, will put on crape for him.”
-
-
-
-
- XVI.
- PREPARING FOR HOME.
-
-
-Hardly had Lieutenant Lockwood reoccupied his _corner_ long enough
-to get thoroughly rested and warm, before we find him hard at work
-again and ready for any emergency. At the request of Lieutenant
-Greely, he undertook a task in which he himself feared that he
-manifested more zeal than discretion. Dr. Pavy, the natural history
-custodian of the expedition, having failed to render reports of the
-collections, or properly care for them, was relieved soon after
-Lockwood’s return from the west, and the department was transferred
-to Lockwood. With very little aid from the doctor, he made lists and
-secured the specimens from further injury, the men having shown much
-industry and zeal in adding to the collection. In the mean time,
-Fredericks, who was a saddler by trade, rendered good service by
-making for Lockwood and the men seal-skin boots, which were of great
-use; and he also made himself useful by overhauling the
-sleeping-bags and making new ones for the contemplated boat-voyage
-to Littleton Island at a later day. Snyder had also made some
-wearing gear for use on board the relief-ship.
-
-“What a change for us all,” wrote Lockwood on the 3d of June, “if we
-ever return home! And how much to talk about, and how much to hear!
-Just two years ago, I left Baltimore on the Nova Scotia, to join the
-Proteus at St. John’s. Open water is reported in the straits near
-Cape Baird. How eagerly we watch for any change that may effect our
-release!”
-
-On the 22d of June, a party was sent up the Bellows for game and
-returned successful, having killed eight musk-oxen, one seal, and a
-few geese, all of which were duly brought in. Many waterfowl and
-ptarmigans were brought from other points; and then followed a grand
-dinner in honor of Dr. Pavy’s birthday. To show the social relations
-of the officers, Lockwood says, “The only remark at dinner was a
-very sage one by myself, viz., that the sun was now on his way
-south, to which Lieutenant Greely assented.
-
-“The men all busy and all cheerful. Lieutenant Greely remarked that
-it did not look as if the ‘gloom which their coming fate cast over
-the spirits of the men’ was quite as deep as Lieutenant Kislingbury
-thought it to be. Another day gone,” wrote Lockwood—“another day
-nearer the end of our stay here! A miserable, gloomy day it is too.
-Snow, or snow mixed with rain, all day, and last night it blew a
-gale from the right direction to clear away the ice—north-east. I
-think myself now in excellent condition for a hermit’s life, having
-had two years’ experience of a life not very dissimilar.”
-
-On the 3d of June, Lockwood made the ascent of an immense “hog-back”
-north of the station. Hog-back was the term used by the English to
-designate the oval-shaped elevations so common in this region, being
-neither mountain nor table-land, but immense undulations which, with
-more or less slope, rise three, four, or even five thousand feet
-above the sea-level. He was the first to ascend this one, and did so
-to view the country northwest of it, which he desired to explore. It
-was the highest of a series of ridges, half a mile or so apart, each
-just high enough to suggest the idea of its being the genuine top,
-but showing another beyond still higher. He pressed on, frequently
-resting, and finally _did_ reach the top, and saw, beyond, the
-United States Mountains in the distance. The view from this
-elevation, more than half a mile above the sea-level, was superb.
-The straits seemed one solid mass of ice. The Greenland shore and
-Archer’s Fiord were in full view. The whole land was made up of
-mountains.
-
-The 4th of July was celebrated by a game of baseball, in which
-Lieutenant Greely took part; also the Esquimaux, but they confined
-themselves to running after the ball. A good dinner followed, to
-which Lieutenant Greely contributed four bottles of Sauterne; but
-the doctor declined the wine, and made a hasty meal. They also had a
-rifle-match. Several of the men donned white shirts and other
-“store-clothes,” metamorphosing themselves completely, flannel
-shirts, with trousers in boots, being the usual costume.
-
-On the same day Lieutenant Greely issued an order directing Dr. Pavy
-to turn over to Lieutenant Lockwood all the medical stores,
-journals, and collections, the former having declined to renew his
-engagement, which had expired. On the 11th of July, Lockwood started
-with Brainard on an exploration toward the northwest with a view of
-reaching, if possible, the United States range of mountains. They
-carried an outfit weighing one hundred pounds, or twenty-five pounds
-for each man at the start, as Henry and Biederbick were to help them
-with the impedimenta for one day and then return. They went without
-sledge or tent, and carried only blanket, sleeping-bags, a small
-lamp, and a few pounds of food, with instruments, snow-shoes, etc.
-They soon reached the top of the hog-back beyond “Sugar-Loaf,” and
-afterward the true hog-back Lockwood had visited before, finding it
-2,700 feet high. Thence they kept a north-northwest course toward a
-prominent glacier in the United States Range, moving about parallel
-to North Valley Creek, which empties into St. Patrick’s Bay. After
-traveling fourteen miles they camped—that is, selected as smooth and
-sheltered a spot as could be found, made some tea, spread out the
-sleeping-bags, and crawled in.
-
-Henry and Biederbick left the next morning evidently well satisfied
-to forego the pleasures of this trip. Their departure rendered it
-necessary to reduce the load somewhat, which was done by leaving
-behind the snow-shoes and rubber spread, trusting to luck to find a
-bare spot for their sleeping-bag. After tramping through much wet
-snow alternating with mud and stones, and getting their feet soaking
-wet, they came to two deep gorges close together, each occupied by a
-considerable stream of water. They crossed these and ascended a dome
-beyond, three thousand feet high, and thence came to a still larger
-stream whose gorge was one thousand feet deep. Here they stopped for
-the night after a tramp of twelve miles. The next morning the sky
-was overcast, with barometric indications of a storm; but they
-continued their way with reduced loads, having only one day’s food
-left. Following the stream northwest a few miles, they crossed it
-and ascended a high elevation, from which the United States range
-could be very distinctly viewed, and then came to the conclusion
-that they had gone far enough.
-
-With the telescope they could see distinctly, about twenty miles
-away, the walls of the great glacier, and its face ten miles wide.
-In fact, the whole range was full of glaciers. The country
-intervening between them and the glaciers seemed comparatively
-level. At noon they started back, and did not stop until the
-camping-place of the night before was reached. Thence, after a drink
-of tea and something to eat, abandoning their sleeping-bags, they
-made for their first camp, where had been left the rubber spread and
-one extra bag. The traveling was execrable, but they reached Fort
-Conger on the 14th, hungry, tired, and decidedly used up.
-
-On the 24th, preparations began for the proposed boat-journey toward
-the south on which they would start when the ice would permit.
-Lockwood, in obedience to a general order, prepared to take no
-clothing except what he wore, and the few pounds of his baggage
-would consist of his journal and other papers. He felt depressed and
-low-spirited, and totally indifferent as to the risks they were to
-encounter.
-
-The straits were reported clear of ice below Cape Lieber on the
-26th, but the bay near by was still full, though with many leads.
-Every preparation was made to leave on the 1st of August, if
-possible, or as soon after as the ice would allow. The men fiddled
-and sang, and seemed in joyous spirits; and the hilarity was kept up
-by the dogs Ritenbank and Ask-him having a terrible fight, resulting
-in victory to the latter. The probable consequence was that Ask-him
-would now be king. Ritenbank went about with his head down and tail
-between his legs, a dethroned and friendless monarch. The usurper’s
-reign, however, was likely to be a short one, as, on the party’s
-leaving, the dogs would either be shot or left to starve to death.
-
-The 5th of August arrived, and the ship was the only thing talked
-about. Some of the men reported smoke down the straits, but it was
-soon found to be only water-clouds or fog. In the midst of these
-excitements, Lockwood gave expression to the following feelings: “As
-the time for moving approaches, I feel a singular apathy. If we had
-plenty of fresh meat and more good books, I could stand another
-winter here.”
-
-Soon after, heavy winds from the south making great changes in the
-condition of the ice, active preparations were made for leaving.
-
-Lockwood writes: “I don’t feel as though I was going away, much less
-toward the south. Have felt more stirred up on beginning a
-sledge-journey.”
-
-
- TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE DISTANCE TRAVELED TO LOCKWOOD ISLAND.
-
- Distance traveled. Time.
- Adv Tr Add Tot Adv Tr MPH
- Miles—Geographical. Hours. Geo. M.
- OUT.
- Fort Conger to Boat 48 67 157 224 21½ 28¼ 2·23
- Camp
- Boat Camp to 36 86 25 111 18¾ 44⅓ 1·92
- sea-coast
- Sea-coast to Cape 37½ 103½ 12 113 21½ 47¹/₁₂ 1·74
- Bryant
- Cape Bryant to Cape 60 118 .. 118 32 55⁵/₁₂ 1·87
- Britannia
- Cape Britannia to 95 95 .. 95 39⅔ 48⅙ 2·39
- farthest
- Total (out) 267½ 469½ 194 701 133½ 223¾ 2·07
- BACK.
- Farthest to Cape 95 95 .. 95 37⅓ 41¾ 2·52
- Britannia
- Cape Britannia to 60 60 .. 60 25¾ 28 2·33
- Cape Bryant
- Cape Bryant to Boat 61½ 61½ .. 61½ 27¼ 36½ 2·25
- Camp
- Boat Camp to Fort 48 48 .. 48 22½ 28⅓ 2·13
- Conger
- Total (back) 264½ 264½ .. 264½ 112⅚ 134²/₁₂ 2·34
- Aggregate (out and 541 734 194 965½ 245¹¹/₁₂ 357⅚ 2·20
- back)
- Aggregate (out and 623 .. .. 1069
- back) in statute
- miles
-
- Key to Headings:
- Adv: Advanced.
- Add: Additional miles traveled.
- Tr: Traveled.
- Tot: Total.
- MPH: Number of miles per hour.
-
-The word “advanced,” both here and in the journal, refers to the
-simple distance from camp to camp, and the actual time occupied in
-making that distance—all stops _deducted_.
-
-The word “traveled” includes total number of miles traveled—the
-number of miles advanced added to those traveled in going back and
-forth in “doubling up.” The time corresponding refers to the whole
-time from leaving one camp to arriving at the next, all stops
-included.
-
-The “additional miles” refer to incidental journeys not numbered as
-marches.
-
-The rate per hour is computed from the distance and time _advanced_.
-
-The whole statement is confined to the dog-sledge.
-
-
-
-
- XVII.
- HOMEWARD BOUND.
-
-
-The time having arrived, the final orders were given for the Arctic
-exiles to make ready for the first stage of travel leading to their
-far-distant home. They were now to leave the station at Fort Conger,
-and, as best they could, find their way to Littleton Island, where
-they hoped to meet a vessel that would take them back to
-Newfoundland. They were to depart in boats, viz., the steam-launch
-Lady Greely, a whale-boat, an English boat of which they had come
-into possession, and a still smaller affair, that might prove
-serviceable for special purposes.
-
-The journal kept by Lieutenant Lockwood after his departure from
-Fort Conger was written in short-hand, as always while in the field,
-and is a very complete record. In the following pages, only a brief
-summary of purely personal incidents will be attempted, without
-presuming to give the phraseology of the youthful explorer.
-
-On the 9th of August, the little fleet pushed off from shore, laden
-with the twenty-five adventurers and a comfortable supply of
-provisions. They reached Bellot Island without much trouble, but
-afterward encountered a good deal of ice, and, while working very
-hard to get through, Rice accidentally fell overboard, which was for
-him a poor beginning. The ice continued to be troublesome until the
-close of the next day, when the boats were so severely nipped that
-they had to be drawn up on the floe. Afterward, open water appearing
-all the way across the fiord, the launch and the other boats made a
-successful crossing nearly opposite Sun Bay. They reached the depot
-near Cape Baird, at about 2 P. M., up to which hour, from the time
-of leaving Fort Conger, they had not been able to secure any sleep,
-nor anything to drink but cold water. Reaching Cape Lieber on the
-11th in a snow-storm, they landed on a bluff about a mile from the
-cape, where they waited for the ice to move, so that they might
-continue on their route toward the south along the western shore of
-the strait. The only animals seen in that vicinity were two
-narwhals, fighting near the shore. The fog now became so very dense
-that no headway could be made, and this gave them an opportunity to
-obtain some needed rest. Their next advance was in the midst of a
-severe storm of wind and snow, in spite of which they reached Carl
-Ritter Bay on the morning of the 12th. The next morning, while they
-had open water near the shore, they discovered ice-barriers
-extending to the south as far as they could see. At this point a
-young seal was killed, which was greatly enjoyed by all of the
-party; but this luxury, in the case of Lockwood, was counterbalanced
-by the discomfort of sleeping on shore without any protection
-excepting that of his bag. He also spent several nights on a
-floe-berg, where, by laying his sleeping-bag on a sheep-skin, he
-slept more comfortably. From the 13th until the 20th, when the party
-reached Rawlings’s Bay, it was a continual conflict with floating
-ice, snow-storms, and fog, the monotony of the struggle having been
-broken by an accident to the launch, and also one to Lieutenant
-Greely, who had a fall into the water, from which he was rescued
-without harm. At all the places where they encamped, they had great
-difficulty in securing a safe harbor for the launch. Having passed
-across Richardson Bay in safety and reached Cape Collinson, they
-found about one hundred and twenty, out of two hundred and forty,
-English rations which had been deposited there, the missing portion
-having been eaten by the foxes. On the 22d they reached Scoresby
-Bay, where observations of the strait showed it to be full of
-floating ice; and in this vicinity they were brought to a halt by
-the ice-pack near the shore at Cape John Barrow. Here the boats were
-pulled up on the floe, and, as the thick sludge-ice was all around,
-no open water in sight, and the supply of coal getting very low, the
-prospect was gloomy in the extreme. When able to continue on their
-course, the travelers were still greatly troubled by heavy fogs, and
-while passing over a space of open water, abounding in floe-bergs
-which could not be seen, they were in constant danger of being lost.
-Notwithstanding all these obstacles, they pushed their way onward,
-and in due time reached Cape Louis Napoleon, Cape Hawks, and
-Princess Marie Bay, when they were again stopped by the floating
-ice, and detained by the newly formed ice.
-
-In his desire to comply with the order as to weight of baggage,
-Lockwood had left his seal-skin coat at Fort Conger, but this step
-he afterward regretted, as the weather continued stormy, and he was
-greatly exposed to the cold. To this was added the misfortune of
-having a badly fitting seal-skin boot which gave him great pain, so
-that he had to resort to a pair of moccasins. When the boats were
-caught in floes and detained for days, the only exercise available
-was that of walking over the level floes. Some of the men were wont
-to march around, under the light of the moon, singing aloud their
-wild and uncouth songs. When tired of walking, Lockwood would creep
-into a cozy corner of the launch, and pore over a pocket copy of
-Shakespeare which he had fortunately brought along; and then, after
-getting into his sleeping-bag, his thoughts would wander far away
-and find expression in such words as these: “What are they doing at
-home? How often I think of the dear ones there! The dangers and
-uncertainties ahead of us are only aggravated by the thoughts of the
-concern felt by them on my account. Most of us have given up the
-idea of getting home this fall.”
-
-On the 3d of September, while in the floe below Cape Hawks,
-Lieutenant Greely held a consultation with Lockwood, Kislingbury,
-Pavy, and Brainard, expressing the opinion that their situation was
-critical, and that they were really working for their lives. One of
-the suggestions was that the launch should be abandoned, and further
-progress made in the smaller boats along the western shore of the
-strait; but to this, Greely and the majority objected, still hoping
-that they might yet be able to reach Littleton Island through a lead
-or over the young ice. On the 6th the hunter Jans killed his fourth
-seal, and was rewarded by a drink of rum. After five more days of
-travel, and while approaching Cocked-Hat Island, there was a great
-excitement caused by the report that one of the men had heard the
-barking of dogs, whereupon guns were fired and a flag displayed; but
-all the commotion ended in nothing. The tides were contrary, the
-small boat was abandoned, and the outlook was very gloomy. The
-faithful Esquimaux, Frederick, who had latterly been somewhat
-unlucky as a hunter, now came to the front by killing a seal that
-weighed six hundred pounds, receiving the usual drink of rum. On
-this occasion Lockwood mentioned that he swallowed a cupful of the
-seal’s blood, and found it somewhat tasteless. On the 5th of
-September, the party after great labor came abreast of Victoria Head
-and Cape Albert, and while drifting along on the floe the American
-flag was hoisted over the launch, and the fire under the engine was
-put out to save coal, Lockwood enjoying a little needed sleep. On
-the 7th they came in sight of the coast extending from Alexander
-Harbor to Cape Sabine, and the impossibility of proceeding in the
-launch becoming apparent, it was decided to resort to sledge-travel,
-two of the sledges to carry a boat each, and both of them to be
-drawn by the men. When they were fully prepared for moving, it was
-found that one of them weighed 1,700 pounds and the other 2,100
-pounds. Owing to the various difficulties which soon beset the
-travelers, they were obliged to abandon one of the boats, whereby it
-became necessary to retrace several sections of the journey for the
-purpose of bringing on the extra supplies, thus adding greatly to
-the fatigue of the men. Lockwood now expressed his doubts as to
-whether he would live to write out his notes, and also his fears
-that the floe upon which the party then were, might take them down
-into Baffin’s Bay. Not only were they at the mercy of the floe, but
-the currents were contrary, sludge-ice abundant, and their supply of
-food reduced to seal-blubber, bread, and tea. At one time, strange
-to say, their position in the straits was directly north of
-Littleton Island, and nearer the Greenland coast than that of
-Grinnell Land. It now seemed to Lockwood that there was nothing
-ahead of them but starvation and death, and yet the men kept up
-their spirits in a manner that greatly surprised him. One of the
-floes upon which they had drifted for many days, when found to be
-cracking in one or two places, caused the party to move upon another
-nearer the shore, and in a short time the floe previously occupied
-was entirely broken up. On the 29th of September, the floe on which
-they were floating, finally touched another toward the west, and
-that another connected with the shore, by which means they were
-enabled to reach the land, very thankful to be in a place of
-security once more. The locality was really a rock forming a
-promontory between two glaciers, and thought to be about thirteen
-miles directly south of Cape Sabine. To that place a reconnoitring
-party was at once sent, but the cape could not be reached on account
-of open water near it, and the party was compelled to return. In the
-mean time, arrangements were made for building out of stones and ice
-the necessary huts for protection during the coming winter, should
-it be their fate to remain there. While this work was progressing,
-it was decided that the daily rations would have to be reduced.
-Lockwood expressed the opinion that they had only three chances for
-their lives: first, the chance of finding an American _cache_ at
-Cape Sabine; secondly, a chance of crossing the straits, here
-thirty-five miles wide, when their provisions were gone; thirdly,
-the chance of being able to kill enough game for their support
-during the winter. A second effort was made by Rice and a party to
-reach Cape Sabine, which was successful. They not only brought news
-about the wreck of the Proteus, but also a copy of the Army Register
-for 1883, in which appeared Lockwood’s name as a first lieutenant.
-Rice also succeeded in discovering the English _cache_ with two
-hundred and forty rations, the _cache_ left by the Neptune in 1882,
-and the stores brought from the wreck of the Proteus in 1883, all of
-which information was hailed with delight by the party. Among the
-stores left by the Proteus, a newspaper slip was picked up, from
-which was gathered the news that President Garfield had died; that
-the Jeannette had been lost; and that serious apprehensions were
-felt in the United States about the fate of the Greely Expedition.
-This latter intelligence gave Lockwood great pain, seeming almost
-prophetic, except in the remark “lying down under the great stars to
-die!” and induced him to make this record: “This article gives me
-great pain, because of the alarm and sorrow which must be felt by my
-dear father and mother and sisters on my behalf. Should my ambitious
-hopes be disappointed, and these lines only, meet the eyes of those
-so dear, may they not in thought add to my many faults and failings
-that of ingratitude or want of affection in not recording more
-frequently my thoughts regarding them!”
-
-One of the results of the trip made by Rice to Cape Sabine was the
-selection of a spot, between the cape and Cocked-Hat Island, for a
-home during the approaching winter. Here, officers and men alike
-laboring, a new hut was built, which was forthwith occupied by the
-party, all the supplies being at once brought from the camp south of
-Cape Sabine. The place where they now found themselves established,
-Lieutenant Greely called Camp Clay, in honor of one of the party—a
-grandson of Henry Clay—who had been attached to the expedition until
-it reached Lady Franklin Bay, whence he returned home on account of
-his health. As soon as the new hut was occupied, the announcement
-was made that six of the party were on the sick list; but shortly
-afterward, and notwithstanding the deplorable condition of affairs,
-Lockwood recorded the following in his journal: “We are all now in
-comparatively high spirits, and look forward to getting back to the
-United States with a great deal of certainty. We shall have to live
-on half-rations or less until April, and there will be shortness of
-fuel. Many hardships are obvious, but we all feel sound again.”
-
-On the 23d of October, twelve of the party went from Camp Clay upon
-a visit to Cape Sabine, and, while some of them opened the English
-_cache_ at the south side of Payer Harbor, Lockwood built a cairn
-there and deposited under it, among other things, the records of the
-expedition, with a note in lead-pencil to the following effect:
-
-“_October 23, 1883._—This cairn contains the original records of the
-Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, the private journal of Lieutenant
-Lockwood, and a set of photographic negatives. The party is
-permanently encamped at a point midway between Cape Sabine and
-Cocked-Hat Island. All well.
-
- “J. B. Lockwood,
- “_First Lieutenant Twenty-third Infantry._”
-
-On their way back to Camp Clay, Dr. Pavy met with an accident to one
-of his feet, and, while most of the party went on, Lockwood and
-Ellison remained behind to look after him. When night came on, they
-lost their way, stumbling and floundering over the rubble-ice until
-overcome by fatigue and hunger; but were revived by a limited mutton
-stew on their arrival at the camp. One of the results to Lockwood of
-his Samaritan conduct was an accident to one of his knees, which
-gave him trouble for several days, and prevented his being as useful
-as he desired in contributing to the comfort of the party. It was
-about this time that Lieutenant Greely declared his intention of
-reducing the rations, all assenting, so that they might last until
-the 1st of March; and this fact, added to the discovery that some of
-their meat was far more bony than it should have been, caused some
-consternation. Cold, dampness, darkness, and hunger continued to be
-their hourly and daily portion, the allowance of food being only
-about one fourth of what they actually needed.
-
-
-
-
- XVIII.
- THE FINAL CATASTROPHE.
-
-
-While the following pages will contain necessarily brief notices of
-the life of the party during an entire winter, they must conclude
-with the record of the great calamity which befell the band of
-heroes. Shortly after they found themselves settled for a campaign
-of idleness, as they expected it to be, Lockwood was again confined
-to his sleeping-bag on account of an injury to his feet which had
-not been properly protected; his discomforts being aggravated by the
-reflection that both provisions and fuel were beginning to reach a
-low-tide level. The constant hunger which was experienced by all
-hands went far to make their circumstances dismal and depressing;
-while the only entertainment that could be provided was the reading
-aloud, by one of the men, of a story and some newspaper scraps which
-Rice had picked up at Cape Sabine. A little excitement was afforded
-by a lottery for the distribution of some clothing and two
-mattresses which had been brought ashore from the Proteus, one of
-the latter falling to the lot of Lockwood. And now came a
-proposition for a sledge expedition, not to discover islands,
-glaciers, fiords, and prominent capes, but to go after the abandoned
-whale-boat which had floated down with the floe. This must be broken
-up and used for fuel. Then followed another expedition, occupying
-not less than eight days, to Cape Isabella, to obtain one hundred
-pounds of preserved meat left there by the English. Feeling the want
-of exercise, Lockwood occasionally took a long walk, and on one
-occasion was so hungry when he returned, that he could not wait for
-the regular evening meal, but fastened upon a lot of moldy potatoes
-which had been abandoned, and with these filled his stomach, almost
-expecting that the feast would cause his death. Some of the men went
-still further, for, when a blue or a white fox was killed, even the
-entrails of the animal were devoured. Food was the constant subject
-of conversation with all of the party—what they would be able to
-get, what they had enjoyed in former years at their distant homes,
-and what they expected to enjoy after their return from the North.
-Not only were their supplies getting lower day by day, but the only
-warm thing they could now afford was a cup of tea, excepting on
-Sunday, when they had a little rum with a bit of lemon.
-
-On the 25th of November, the sun disappeared from view, not to be
-seen again until the following February, and now the gloom of the
-time and place was greatly increased. On that day Lockwood recorded
-in his journal the following: “I have intended writing a letter home
-recounting my experiences since leaving Fort Conger, but so far the
-discomforts of this life have prevented me. It is difficult to get
-the blubber-lamp for more than a few minutes during the day, and
-sometimes it can not be had at all. The lamp is blown out every
-evening when we are ready to retire, which is generally about eight
-o’clock.”
-
-Nor were their troubles in any way alleviated by the discovery that
-one of the men had been seen, or was suspected of, visiting the
-store-room to fill himself with food—especially despicable thieving.
-The expedition to Cape Isabella resulted in finding the food which,
-however, was abandoned in returning, as one of the men, Ellison,
-became very sick, and had his hands, feet, and nose frozen. He was
-brought home by a relief party in a helpless condition, Lockwood and
-the other men of the party having completely worn themselves out by
-exposure to the cold and hard work. As it was feared that the men
-would become insane if they did not stop talking about food,
-Lieutenant Greely began to deliver some lectures on the geography of
-the United States and their natural productions; and this was
-followed by miscellaneous discussions in regard to places for
-business. Whistler, for example, praised the city of Independence,
-in Kansas, as a splendid place; Long said he was going to set up a
-restaurant at Ann Arbor in Michigan; Fredericks would follow suit at
-Minneapolis in Minnesota; while Jewell counted upon a grocery-store
-in Kansas.
-
-After commenting upon the terrible weather, Lockwood gave expression
-to the following: “These short rations make me feel the cold
-dreadfully. It is a constant effort to keep one’s hands and feet
-comfortable, or even comparatively so. I find my spirits first up
-and then down. Sometimes, when I think of the months before us of
-this life of misery and suffering, I do not see how we can possibly
-pull through. At other times I feel much more hopeful; but this is a
-life of inexpressible misery.”
-
-For several days before the arrival of Thanksgiving-day, a great
-feast was anticipated and on that day enjoyed, including a favorite
-dish called by them “_son-of-a-gun_,” composed of bread, raisins,
-milk, and a little blubber; nor did the exiles omit the reading of a
-few chapters from the Bible. In the evening Lockwood entertained the
-party with his experiences as a farmer at Annapolis, all being
-interested, and he wound up by inviting the whole of the company to
-assemble there and enjoy a dinner with him on the next
-Thanksgiving-day, the said dinner to be composed in part of a roast
-turkey stuffed with oysters and eaten with cranberries. In return
-for this compliment, each one of the audience invited Lockwood to
-partake with him of a feast after their return home, and expatiated
-with great gusto on the dishes that he proposed to have served. The
-promise made by Lynn was a roasted turkey; Ralston, hot hoe-cake;
-Ellis, spare-rib; Long, pork-chops; Biederbick, old regiment dish
-called buffers; Connell, Irish stew; Bender, a roasted pig; Snyder,
-tenderloin-steak; Brainard, peaches and cream; Fredericks, black
-cake and preserves; Saler, veal cutlets; Whistler, flapjacks and
-molasses; Jewell, roasted oysters on toast; Rice, clam-chowder;
-Israel, hashed liver; Gardiner, Virginia pone; Ellison, Vienna
-sausage; Pavy, _pâté-de-fois-gras_; Henry, Hamburg steak;
-Kislingbury, hashed turkey, chicken, and veal; Greely, Parker House
-rolls, coffee, cheese, omelette, rice, and chicken curry. It was
-after this jolly discussion of imaginary good things that the party
-sat down to a stew of seal-blubber and nothing more. The next day
-Lockwood partook of his first dish of seal-skin which he found as
-hard to digest as it was difficult to swallow.
-
-On one occasion, when nearly all were asleep, a scratching noise was
-heard upon the roof, and it was ascertained that a blue fox was
-trying to make an entrance. The same night the ears of the sleepers
-were saluted by a loud roar, caused by the ice moving down the
-straits, a sound most terrible to human nerves. At one time, after
-Lockwood had expressed his gratitude for enjoying warm feet for a
-whole night, he resumed the subject of food, and then penned the
-following: “My mind dwells constantly on the dishes of my childhood
-at home. O my dear home, and the dear ones there! Can it be possible
-I shall some day see them again, and that these days of misery will
-pass away? My dear father, is he still alive? My dear mother and
-sisters, Harry, and my nieces and brothers-in-law, how often do I
-think of them! Only three days more to the top of the hill!”
-(alluding to the longest night, or winter solstice).
-
-“As to my bread, I always eat it regretfully. If I eat it before
-tea, I regret that I did not keep it; and if I wait until tea comes
-and then eat it, I drink my tea rather hastily and do not get the
-satisfaction out of the cold meat and bread I otherwise would. What
-a miserable life, where a few crumbs of bread weigh so heavily on
-one’s mind! It seems to be so with all the rest. All sorts of
-expedients are tried to cheat one’s stomach, but with about the same
-result. By way of securing the idea of a warm piece of meat, I
-sometimes pour upon it a bit of my hot tea, but the effort proves
-futile.”
-
-On the 21st of December, the day which Lockwood had long been
-anticipating with pleasure, he expressed his gratification in these
-words: “The top of the hill! the most glorious day of this dreary
-journey through the valley of cold and hunger has at last come, and
-is now nearly gone. Thank God, the glorious sun commences to return,
-and every day gets lighter and brings him nearer! It is an augury
-that we shall yet pull through all right.” In view of his ultimate
-fate, how unutterably touching are these hopeful words!
-
-Before the close of that day, however, he made another record in his
-journal, which forcibly illustrates their deplorable condition, as
-follows:
-
-“Had a good fox-stew this evening. By a great effort I was able to
-save one ounce of my bread and about two ounces of butter, for
-Christmas. I shall make a vigorous effort to abstain from eating it
-before then. Put it in charge of Biederbick as an additional
-safeguard.”
-
-Among the entertainments enjoyed by the party were lectures by
-Lieutenant Greely on the several States of the Union. After one of
-them, on Louisiana, had been delivered, Lockwood added to it an
-account of his trip from Baltimore to Texas, and that from New
-Orleans to Cincinnati, all of which narrative was well received.
-
-For several days before Christmas, all were eagerly looking forward
-to the grand forthcoming dinner and talking about it, a number of
-them, like Lockwood, saving up a part of their scanty daily
-allowance for the occasion. Lockwood mentioned that when he proposed
-to exchange the promise of a fine Christmas-dinner on their return
-home for a piece of dog-biscuit delivered at once, he found no one
-ready to accept his _liberal_ offer. The Christmas-dinner was
-similar to that on Thanksgiving-day; various songs were sung, and,
-at the close of the feast, hearty cheers were given for Lieutenant
-Greely, Corporal Ellison, Rice the photographer, and the two cooks.
-
-On Christmas-night all the party enjoyed a refreshing sleep, and the
-next day there was much talk about the distant homes and friends.
-Lockwood was greatly pleased to learn that his comrades had formed a
-high opinion of his father from what Greely and he had occasionally
-told them; and, while describing the family reunions in Washington,
-he was affected to tears for the first time during his Northern
-campaign, excepting when Rice had come from Esquimaux Point with the
-Garlington records, when his tears were the result of gratitude.
-
-In a region where eating had become pre-eminently the chief end of
-man, it is not strange that the business of marketing should have
-become popular. How it was managed may be gathered from the
-following paragraph: “To-day has been a market-day, everybody
-trading rations—bread for butter, meat for bread, bread for soup,
-etc. A great deal of talking done, but not many solid trades made. I
-traded about half of my to-morrow’s _son-of-a-gun_ for about eight
-ounces of bread; then I gave Brainard one ounce and a half of butter
-for two dog-biscuits, but my trading did not prove profitable.”
-
-As for New-Year’s-day, it came and departed without any special
-demonstrations: the _son-of-a-gun_ was enjoyed by all parties; many
-of the ice-bound hearts were warmed by memories of home; and Greely
-and Lockwood had a long talk about the condition of affairs, and the
-prospects for the future.
-
-The business of trading among the explorers being discouraged, did
-not long continue, but was succeeded by some other importations from
-civilization, viz., the taking of property of other people without
-leave or license. A report was made to Lieutenant Greely that some
-one had taken a quarter of a pound of bacon, left in the stearine by
-the cook; also that a barrel of bread had been broken open and two
-pounds taken away. This proved that the bears and the foxes were not
-the only thieves to be found in the Arctic regions. The man
-suspected of the deed was closely watched and had a narrow escape
-from being properly punished.
-
-On the 10th of January, the case of poor Corporal Ellison was again
-brought up for discussion and prompt action. It had been hoped that
-his frosted feet would be restored to their normal condition, but
-this was not to be, for they were both amputated by Nature, and two
-of his fingers besides. Strange to say, this was accomplished
-without his being aware of what was taking place, so little vitality
-remained in these parts. When we recall the sufferings of this man,
-in connection with his surroundings and his distance from the
-comforts of home, we must conclude that the stories of fiction can
-not eclipse the wonders of actual life and experience. What a
-combination there of cold and hunger, bodily pain and mental
-anguish, darkness and perpetual storms!
-
-As we pass over the daily records made by Lockwood in his journal at
-this particular time, we find food and the dangers of starvation to
-be the absorbing themes. It seems strange that, in a land of ice and
-snow, there should have been any apprehensions about a sufficient
-supply of drinking-water; but this was the case, and the fact came
-home to the exiles when they found that their supply of tea had to
-be reduced to half a cup per man. Good water was not only scarce,
-but could not be obtained from the neighboring lake, their sole
-dependence, without great toil in chopping away the ice. They had
-the ice, of course, but there was not sufficient fuel to reduce it
-to a liquid.
-
-As they could keep warm only by remaining in their sleeping-bags,
-the manner of visiting each other was simply to exchange
-sleeping-bags; and thus, when Lockwood wanted to have a talk with
-Greely, one of the companions of the latter would exchange bags with
-the visitor.
-
-On the 18th of January, another cloud was thrown upon the party by
-the death of Cross. He died of a kind of heart-disease, induced, it
-was supposed, by intemperance in drinking. For several hours before
-his death he uttered low moans which seemed a kind of echo from the
-grinding of the far-off ice-fields. His remains were enveloped in
-coffee-sacks and an American flag, and deposited in a stony grave
-near the neighboring lake, the only funeral remarks having been made
-by Lieutenant Lockwood.
-
-On the 21st, Lockwood had a talk with Greely about his own health;
-said he was very weak, and had been so for two weeks, but had not
-mentioned it for fear of depressing the men; he could not account
-for it, and concluded by saying that if he should not be well or
-better when the time came to make the contemplated passage of the
-straits, he desired to be left behind with his share of the rations,
-and then be sent for from Littleton Island. To this Greely replied
-that he would never harbor such an idea for a single moment; that he
-would never abandon a living soul.
-
-On the 2d of February, Rice and Jans started to test the passage of
-the straits, hoping to reach Littleton Island, where they expected
-to find some provisions or a relief-ship. But, alas! they were
-stopped by open water, and not successful, though they traveled
-about fifty miles up and down the floes, and were absent four days.
-Owing to the bad weather, they did not even get a glimpse of the
-coast of Greenland. All were greatly disappointed, and some felt
-that death from starvation was staring them in the face; and yet
-they found some relief in the increased light preceding the
-reappearance of the sun. Lockwood, who now became despondent and
-apathetic, endeavored to peer into the future, and wondered whether
-his bones were really to be left in the Arctic regions. He mourned
-over the fact that he had not been as good a son and as kind a
-brother as he might have been, and hoped that the dear ones at home
-would remember him as he wished to be, and not as he had been. As to
-the end, he hoped it would come soon, whatever it might be; and he
-declared himself possessed by a feeling of indifference to hunger,
-cold, and gloom, “all of them enemies of existence.” After mourning
-over the approaching fate of Ellison, he recorded these touching
-words: “How often I think of the dear ones at home, the Sunday
-evening reunions, and all the bright and happy pictures that present
-themselves! My dear, good old father! may he look with charity on my
-many short-comings! My dear mother and sisters and Harry,
-brothers-in-law, and nieces! I trust that they are well and happy,
-and, if I do not pull through this, will learn to look on my memory
-kindly!” An allusion that he now made to his companions in suffering
-was to this effect: “The party presents a bold front, and is not
-wanting in spirit. If our fate is the worst, I do not think we shall
-disgrace the name of Americans and of soldiers.” The attempt of Rice
-to cross the straits to Littleton Island was heroic in the extreme,
-and his pluck was further exemplified by a proposition that he
-submitted to Greely to make a second effort to cross the straits,
-and that, too, unattended by any companion; but the idea was not
-sanctioned.
-
-On the 22d of February, strange to say, a raven made its appearance
-in the vicinity of the Arctic camp, but was not killed, although it
-might have been enjoyed at the forthcoming dinner. It must have been
-a great relief to some of the party that it disappeared without
-uttering its dreadful cry, “_Nevermore!_” as translated by the poet,
-Poe.
-
-On the 27th, not knowing what might happen to him, Lockwood wrote
-the following in his journal: “The chronometer in my pocket is the
-one used on the trip to 83° 24´ and on all my trips in this region.
-My intention is to buy it, but, in case I do not get back, I would
-have it purchased and kept in the family.”
-
-When the sun first made its appearance above the horizon, as it
-carried his mind away to his far-distant home, he gave expression to
-this emotion: “O God! how many years of my life would I give to be
-there!”
-
-Every day, observations were made from neighboring elevations to
-ascertain the condition of the straits separating them from the
-Greenland coast which was distinctly visible in clear weather,
-hoping without hope to see it frozen over from shore to shore; but
-the lateness of the season precluded all reasonable expectation of
-such a result, and the daily reports of open water were depressing
-in the extreme. On the 13th of March, the announcement was made that
-the supplies of coffee, chocolate, and canned vegetables were all
-exhausted, and that henceforth they would have to depend almost
-entirely on pemmican, bacon, bread, and tea, all of which, though
-given in one-third rations only, would not last for more than a
-month, thus leaving them without supplies to cross the straits in
-the event of a satisfactory freeze. In view of all these
-circumstances, it is impossible to imagine how they could quietly
-continue their preparations for a journey to the supposed goal at
-Littleton Island. Surely the hope which inspired the sufferers was
-eternal and supreme in its strength and pathos. “The straits,” said
-Lockwood, “are open, and I see no prospect of their freezing so that
-we can get across. Of course, I hope to the contrary; for this means
-death, if we can find no game here.” On a subsequent day he writes
-as follows: “We look to the end with equanimity, and the spirits of
-the party, in spite of the prospect of a miserable death, are
-certainly wonderful. I am glad as each day comes to an end. It
-brings us nearer the end of this life, whatever that end is to be.”
-
-On the 23d of March, the last of the regular fuel was exhausted, and
-the food was so nearly gone that the men actually began to collect
-their seal-skin clothing and foot-gear for any emergency that might
-happen. Game was not only scarce, but the men were getting almost
-too weak to endure a hunt. To avoid long tramps, which were sure to
-be unsuccessful, they turned their attention to shrimp-fishing, but,
-as one man could only get three pounds in one day, the prospect in
-this direction was not hopeful.
-
-During the month of March and the early part of April, there was
-nothing done by the able-bodied members of the party but to try to
-secure some game, the only incidents occurring to interrupt the
-monotony being the deaths of the Esquimaux Frederick Christiansen,
-and Sergeant Lynn. The former had been complaining for a week or
-more, but nobody thought him in danger, and he died unexpectedly.
-Lockwood’s tribute to him was to this effect: “He was a good man,
-and I felt a great affection for him. He constantly worked hard in
-my service, and never spared himself on our sledge-trips. His death
-makes me feel very sorrowful.” He was buried by the side of Cross,
-near the lake. The death of Lynn was also unexpected. He fully
-appreciated his condition, and gave some directions regarding his
-last wishes. He was much liked, and highly spoken of by all. After
-the burial service had been read at the house by Lieutenant Greely,
-his remains were also placed by the lake-side with those of Cross
-and the Esquimaux.
-
-The drama was about to close, the curtain already falling upon the
-band of heroes:
-
- “And their hearts, though stout and brave,
- Still, like muffled drums were beating
- Funeral marches to the grave.”
-
-The phantom of Starvation, which had long been following them over
-the ice and snow, and dallying with their hopes and fears as they
-lay in their comfortless camps, had now become a terrible reality,
-determined to assert all his powers. Three of his victims were
-already under the snow, and were soon followed by several others,
-including the one who had directed them in many of their duties and
-befriended them in trouble, and whose honored name, attached to a
-noted island and a famed headland in the Arctic world, will be
-forever remembered with pride and affection by his countrymen.
-
-The concluding paragraph in Lieutenant Lockwood’s journal was
-written on the 7th of April, 1884, and alludes to the sickness and
-death of his two comrades. In the last allusion that he makes to
-himself, he speaks of his excessive weakness, and of the fact that
-he could not rise from his sleeping-bag without great difficulty.
-His death occurred two days afterward.
-
-Having been permitted to examine an elaborate and interesting
-journal kept by Sergeant Brainard, a few notices relating to the
-closing days and the death of Lieutenant Lockwood are reproduced, as
-follows:
-
-_January 12, 1884._—Lieutenant Lockwood is very weak. He has been
-saving the greater portion of his bread and meat for several days,
-and talks to himself about food. He frequently looks intently at the
-lamp, and requests that it be kept burning all night.
-
-_January 20th._—Lieutenant Lockwood is growing weaker and weaker. He
-said to me a few days ago, “Brainard, I have lost my grip,” meaning
-that he had lost his last hope of life.
-
-_January 24th._—Lieutenant Lockwood seems to be in better spirits
-to-day.
-
-_January 28th._—The doctor said to-day that if Lieutenant Lockwood
-did not brace up, he would never recover.
-
-_January 30th._—Lieutenant Lockwood is growing steadily weaker, and
-talks but seldom now. I wish he would try to be more cheerful.
-
-_February 15th._—Lieutenant Lockwood is better, but does not improve
-so rapidly as I would wish.
-
-_April 4th._—The rations of Lieutenant Lockwood and Linn have been
-increased to one fourth of a dovekie each per day.
-
-_April 5th._—I am afraid that Lieutenant Lockwood and Linn will soon
-follow the faithful Esquimaux, who has just died. They can not, or
-they will not, eat shrimps any more. Although they are both given an
-extra allowance of dovekie, it is not sufficient to restore them.
-
-_April 7th._—Lieutenant Lockwood and Jewell will soon follow Linn.
-They are very weak and failing rapidly.
-
-_April 8th_.—Lieutenant Lockwood fell in a faint in the alley-way,
-and much difficulty was experienced in resuscitating him.
-
-_April 9th._—Lieutenant Lockwood became unconscious at an early hour
-this morning, and at 4.20 P. M. he breathed his last. His end was
-painless and without a struggle. This will be a sad and unexpected
-blow to his family, who evidently idolized him. To me it is also a
-sorrowful event. He had been my companion during long and eventful
-excursions, and my feelings toward him were akin to those of a
-brother. Biederbick, who was with him at the last moment, and I
-straightened his limbs and prepared his remains for burial. It is
-the saddest duty I have ever been called on to perform, and I hope I
-may never experience the like again. A few days prior to his death
-he had spoken of writing to his family, but, owing to weakness, had
-deferred the matter until too late.
-
-_April 10th._—The last sad rites were performed over the remains of
-our late comrade, and he was interred with the others on Cemetery
-Ridge, Lieutenant Greely reading the Episcopal service.
-
-To the above may be added the following remark made by Brainard in
-regard to his friend Lockwood: “The lieutenant was buried in an
-officer’s blouse. It affected me deeply to pass his grave, as I
-thought of the leader of our little party which had carried the
-Stars and Stripes beyond the English Jack; but this feeling soon
-wore away, and, as I had so many other horrible things to occupy my
-mind, I became somewhat indifferent.”
-
-But wholly indifferent he could not be, even when he saw two men in
-one sleeping-bag, one of them a corpse, and the other too weak to
-assist in pulling the body out for burial.
-
-Another and most touching reference made by Brainard to the
-burial-place of his friend Lockwood occurs in his journal under date
-of May 31, 1884, and is as follows: “In my daily journeys across
-Cemetery Ridge, it was but natural at first that my reflections
-should be sad and gloomy. Here lie my departed comrades, and to
-their left is the vacant space where, in a few days, my own remains
-will be deposited if sufficient strength remain to those who may
-survive me. The brass buttons on Lieutenant Lockwood’s blouse, worn
-bright by the flying gravel, protruded through the scanty covering
-of earth which our depleted strength barely enabled us to place over
-him. At first these dazzling buttons would awaken thoughts of those
-bright days spent at Fort Conger, of the half-forgotten scene of his
-death, and of the universal sorrow that was felt at his departure.
-But later my own wretched circumstances served to counteract these
-feelings, and I would pass and repass this place without emotion,
-and almost with indifference.”
-
-The supply of food had been almost entirely exhausted during the
-first few days of April, and it was impossible to obtain any game or
-rations from distant caches. An effort made by Rice to secure
-certain provisions that had been abandoned on a former expedition in
-order to save the life of Ellison when frozen, resulted in his own
-death, breathing his last in the arms of Fredericks, his only
-companion, who buried him in a lonely, ice-made grave. Nor were the
-horrors of the situation lessened by the discovery that the man
-Henry had been guilty of stealing their food, for which, after ample
-warning, under orders from Lieutenant Greely, he was summarily shot,
-according to the law of self-preservation. His remains were not
-deposited in the cemetery, but by themselves in a place near by.
-
-The total number of deaths out of the twenty-five composing the
-complete party of explorers was nineteen, and, while twelve of them
-were buried at Camp Clay, the remainder, like the lamented Rice,
-were buried elsewhere or where they died. Jans was lost in his
-kyack. During a discussion that occurred, about the final
-disposition of the dead, Lieutenant Greely expressed the wish that
-the remains of his men might be left undisturbed. They had died, he
-said, beneath Arctic skies. Arctic desolation witnessed their
-sufferings, heard their cries of anguish. They are buried in Arctic
-soil. Let them lie where they fell. Lockwood told me that he wanted
-to rest forever on the field of his work. Why disturb them? Why not
-respect their wishes?
-
-Before closing this chapter it seems proper that an allusion should
-be made to alleged cannibalism at Camp Clay. The writer of this was
-informed by Sergeant Brainard that such might have been the case,
-but that not a single one of the survivors had ever known or
-witnessed anything of the kind. So far as Lieutenant Lockwood was
-concerned, it was positively established, by unimpeachable
-testimony, that his remains were not mutilated in the least degree.
-When carefully carried, with all the others, on board the ship that
-was to bring them to the United States, his remains were perfect in
-every respect, and of this his father has the assurance of those who
-saw them.
-
-In view of the fact that Sergeant David L. Brainard accompanied
-Lieutenant Lockwood in all his explorations, it seems only proper
-that a notice of his life should appear in this volume. He was born
-in Norway, Herkimer County, New York, December 21, 1856, his parents
-having come from Massachusetts. His father was of French extraction
-and his mother of English stock. He attended a district school until
-his eleventh year, when he removed with his family to Freetown,
-Cortland County, New York, where he attended the State Normal
-School. On the 18th of September, 1876, he enlisted at New York city
-in the regular army, being assigned to Company L, Second Cavalry,
-then stationed at Fort Ellis, in Montana Territory. He joined his
-troops late that year after an arduous journey of five hundred miles
-on horseback from Corinne, Utah. In the following spring he
-participated in the Indian campaigns under General Miles, along the
-Yellowstone River and its tributaries, and was wounded in the face
-while in action with the Sioux, at Muddy Creek, Montana, May 7,
-1877. In August of the same year, he was selected as one of four men
-to act as escort to General Sherman and party in their tour through
-the National Park. In October following, he was made a corporal, and
-in July, 1879, was promoted to be a sergeant. He was frequently in
-charge of parties in the field on detached service, and was
-intrusted with important missions by his commanding officers.
-Lieutenant Doane, Second Cavalry, recommended him for detail on the
-Howgate Polar Expedition in May, 1880, Brainard visiting Washington
-for that purpose. The enterprise having been abandoned, he was
-ordered back to his regiment at Fort Assiniboin, on Milk River.
-Early in the spring of 1881, Lieutenant Greely requested his detail
-on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, and, on his arrival in
-Washington, appointed him first sergeant of the expedition, which
-position he held during the three years of Arctic service. On the
-1st of August, 1884, he was transferred, with the rank of sergeant,
-to the United States Signal Corps, having always acquitted himself
-with ability and honor as a man, a soldier, and an explorer.
-
-
-
-
- XIX.
- THE WOEFUL RETURN.
-
-
-Without stopping to discuss the action of Congress or the Government
-officials in regard to sending relief to the Greely Expedition, the
-writer desires to mention that the names of Senator Joseph R. Hawley
-and Representative E. John Ellis, because of their manly action in
-Congress in behalf of the suffering explorers, are far more
-deserving of places on the charts of the North than those of many
-others which have thus been honored. In 1882 a vessel called the
-Neptune, Captain William Sopp, was chartered at St. John’s,
-Newfoundland, and with a full supply of provisions was dispatched
-for Lady Franklin Bay, but failing in her mission returned to
-Newfoundland _without leaving_ any of her supplies in the North, but
-bringing them all back to St. John’s! In 1883 the steamer Proteus,
-Captain Richard Pike, was rechartered at St. John’s, and with a full
-supply of provisions sailed for Discovery Harbor, but was crushed in
-the ice near Cape Sabine, her crew succeeding in landing in a safe
-place a small part of her cargo, some of which was subsequently
-utilized by the Greely party.
-
-In 1884 a third rescuing expedition was organized and dispatched for
-the relief of the Greely exploring party. That expedition was
-composed of a squadron of three ships, the Thetis, the Bear, and the
-Alert, under the command of Commander Winfield S. Schley, of the
-United States Navy. They left St. John’s on the 12th of May, and,
-after the usual tribulations along the western coast of Greenland,
-reached the vicinity of Cape Sabine, and discovered the Greely party
-at Camp Clay, on Sunday, the 22d of June, seventy-three days after
-the death of Lieutenant Lockwood. The discovery was then made that,
-out of the twenty-five men connected with the Greely Expedition only
-seven were alive, viz., Lieutenant Greely, Brainard, Biederbick,
-Fredericks, Long, Connell, and Ellison. As soon as the survivors
-could be relieved and transferred to the ships, the remains of the
-dead were exhumed with care and taken to the ships for
-transportation to the United States, excepting the remains of
-Esquimaux Frederick, which were left at Disco.
-
-As the pictures presented by the survivors lying in their camp,
-dazed with suffering and surprise and a joy they could not manifest,
-and the incidents they subsequently narrated of intense suffering,
-can only prove heart-rending to the reader, they will not now be
-dwelt upon. The departure of the ships, with their strange list of
-dead and living passengers, seemed to enhance the gloom which filled
-the sky and rested upon the sea. Their condition was so deplorable,
-that a delay of a very few days would have left none to tell the
-tale of woe and suffering. At least two could not have lived
-twenty-four hours. That this time was gained, under the stimulus of
-the twenty-five thousand dollars reward, appears from an article
-written by an officer of the Relief Expedition and published in the
-“Century” of May, 1885, as follows:
-
-“The reward of twenty-five thousand dollars that Congress had
-offered for the first information of Greely had incited the whalers
-to take risks that they otherwise would have shunned. They had
-expressed a determination to strive for it, and were ever on the
-alert for a chance to creep northward. The Relief Squadron was
-determined, on its part, that the whalers should not secure the
-first information, and were equally zealous in pushing northward. It
-was this rivalry (a friendly one, for our relations with the
-whaling-captains were of the pleasantest nature) that hurried us
-across Melville Bay and brought us together within sight of Cape
-York. It had been thought possible that Greely or an advance party
-might be there.”
-
-Mr. Ellis proposed in the last session of Congress that, as the
-reward had not been spent, yet had contributed to the rescue, it
-should be appropriated to building, at Washington, a monument to the
-dead.
-
-The temporary halt at Disco Harbor was saddened by the death of
-Ellison, after prolonged sufferings, as if his noble spirit was
-determined to join its departed comrades in their passage to the
-skies from that Northern Land of Desolation.
-
-In the official record of the Relief Expedition, Commander Schley
-makes an allusion to the important part taken by Lieutenant Lockwood
-in the Greely Expedition which should be repeated in this place.
-After submitting certain papers which had been found in a cairn at
-Breevort Island, he says: “It was a wonderful story. It told how the
-expedition, during its two years at Lady Franklin Bay, had marked
-out the interior of Grinnell Land, and how Lockwood had followed the
-northern shore of Greenland, and had reclaimed for America the honor
-of ‘the farthest north.’”
-
-On Thursday, the 17th of July, the Relief Expedition arrived at St.
-John’s, Newfoundland, where they were kindly welcomed, and the
-tidings of their arrival promptly telegraphed to the anxious
-multitudes in the United States. Complete arrangements were made for
-the continuous voyage of the living and the dead to their several
-homes.
-
-In a dispatch which the Secretary of the Navy sent to Commander
-Schley, on the day of his return, he said, “Preserve tenderly the
-remains of the heroic dead,” and that order was duly obeyed. They
-were placed in metallic caskets, and the squadron sailed from St.
-John’s on the 26th of July, arriving at Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
-on the 2d of August. As the first duty after a battle is to bury the
-dead, it is to be regretted that this was not done before the
-display was made at Portsmouth. It was not thus that England
-received her victorious fleet from Trafalgar, bearing home the
-remains of the dead hero Nelson. The mutilated remains of the dead
-should first have been delivered over to the bleeding hearts that
-awaited them. While so many unurned corpses remained in the ships,
-the celebration was but a ghastly jubilee. Requiems should have been
-chanted before pæans were sung. The only casket removed from the
-ships at Portsmouth was that containing the remains of Sergeant
-Jewell, who was a native of New Hampshire. The squadron now sailed
-for New York, and on its arrival, the 8th of August, was received
-with great enthusiasm. Here the remains of the dead were delivered
-to the custody of the army commander at Governor’s Island, by whom
-the final dispositions were made. The remains of Lieutenant Lockwood
-were forwarded to Annapolis and placed under a military guard, in
-the church of St. Anne, where the young hero had been baptized,
-confirmed, and received his first communion. The funeral was of a
-military character, and the attendance was very large, comprehending
-all the naval, military, and civil organizations of the city.
-Recalling the words of the poet Whittier, many of the mourners
-present must have felt their special force, when he says:
-
- “I know not what the future hath
- Of marvel or surprise,
- Assured alone that life and death
- _His_ mercy underlies.”
-
-The remains of the hero lie in the beautiful cemetery of the Naval
-Academy, overlooking the place of his birth and the scenes of his
-childhood. An appropriate tomb was erected over them, bearing this
-inscription:
-
- JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD,
- LIEUTENANT UNITED STATES ARMY,
- Born at Annapolis, Maryland,
- October 9, 1852,
- Died at Cape Sabine,
- April 9, 1884.
-
-“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
-with the glory that shall be revealed in us.”
-
-On the day that the rector of St. Anne’s church, Rev. William S.
-Southgate, gave notice of the time of the burial, he made the
-following remarks:
-
-“One of the truths of the Bible, taught us by the Church, the most
-difficult to receive and to hold practically, is that expressed in
-the words of the Collect for the last week: ‘O God, whose
-never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and on
-earth.’
-
-“The difficulty arises from the fact that in so many cases we can
-not discover either the justice or the mercy or even the expediency
-of that ordering.
-
-“And yet at times we get a glimpse of light that reveals much of the
-fitness and beauty of this divine ordering of events. Here is an
-example before us. There is a peculiar appropriateness in the
-ordering of events that brings James Booth Lockwood here to be
-buried. Born in this parish, baptized here, confirmed in St. Anne by
-Bishop Whittingham, April 19, 1868, he received his first communion
-at this altar on Christmas-day of the same year. The rector of the
-parish, who presented him for confirmation and administered to him
-the holy communion, has just been called suddenly to his rest. In
-the midst of untiring labors the call found them both at the post of
-duty, and both were taken away while in the performance of that
-duty. But there was something peculiarly sad in the circumstances
-and mode of young Lockwood’s death—circumstances due partly to the
-nature of the work in which he was engaged, partly to the fault of
-others. But what matters it how or when he died, if found at Death’s
-call doing the duty assigned to him?
-
-“One of the earliest of the adventurers along this coast, then as
-little known to the world as the Arctic regions are now to us, when
-his little ship was overwhelmed by the stormy sea, comforted the
-frightened and trembling helmsman with the assuring words, ‘My
-child, heaven is as near to us by sea as by land.’ And so what
-matters it where we die and how we die, so long as we are reconciled
-to God, and are faithfully fulfilling our calling? May God give us
-grace so to live that we may never be afraid to die in any place or
-in any manner!”
-
-That the story and the fate of James B. Lockwood excited a profound
-sentiment of sorrow and admiration throughout the entire country was
-manifested in many ways, and a notice of some of them will form an
-appropriate conclusion to this _in-memoriam_ volume. Among the first
-tributes of honor and affection was the following official order
-published by the colonel of his regiment, announcing his death to
-the military associates of the young soldier:
-
- [Order, No. 46.]
- Headquarters Twenty-third Infantry,
- Fort Wayne, Mich., _July 25, 1884_.
-
- Another name is added to the list of our honored dead. The
- official announcement is received from the War Department of the
- death of First-Lieutenant James B. Lockwood, at Camp Clay, near
- Cape Sabine, Smith’s Sound, Arctic regions, April 9, 1884. He was
- assigned to this regiment as second lieutenant, October 1, 1873,
- and promoted first lieutenant March 15, 1883. He served with
- distinction throughout Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, the Indian
- Territory, and Colorado, always performing with zeal and
- thoroughness the various and complex duties that usually fall to
- the lot of the young officer. In 1881 he turned from the arduous
- duties and savage warfare of frontier life to face still greater
- hardship and danger, and finally to lay down his life in those
- frozen and inhospitable regions which have proved the sepulchre of
- so many heroes before him.
-
- Lieutenant Lockwood was a young officer of great promise in his
- profession; of a noble and exalted character, his fine mind tended
- constantly to the investigation of scientific truths. When the
- privations, the suffering, and the achievements of the “Lady
- Franklin Bay Expedition” are fully related, higher authority will
- doubtless pay a more fitting tribute to the worth, the fortitude,
- and the matchless courage of an officer who, in Arctic
- exploration, has carried the American flag to a point in advance
- of that of any other nation.
-
- His reward is an imperishable fame, which he sought with even
- greater resolution than leads the soldier to the cannon’s mouth.
- The pleasant smile and manly form of our comrade are lost to us
- forever, but his name and memory will be always green in our
- hearts.
-
- Officers of the regiment will wear the usual badge of mourning for
- thirty days.
-
- By order of Colonel Black:
- T. G. M. Smith,
- _First Lieutenant and Adjutant Twenty-third Infantry._
-
-
-When the news of Lockwood’s fate was known at Fort Leavenworth,
-Kansas, arrangements were at once made, by those who had known and
-loved him there, to erect a tablet to his memory in the handsome
-post chapel at that place. When completed it was placed in a
-conspicuous position, and bore the following inscription:
-
- In Memoriam
- JAMES B. LOCKWOOD,
- FIRST LIEUTENANT TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY,
- A MEMBER OF THE
- Greely Polar Expedition,
- Died at Cape Sabine, Grinnell Land,
- April 9, 1884.
-
-
-This tablet was erected chiefly at the expense of Lockwood’s old
-regiment. To one of the officers General Lockwood presented a sword
-that had belonged to his son, and, in his acknowledgment, that
-officer made this remark: “As a friend of your son, I shall take
-pride and comfort from having in my possession the sword of a
-friend, who lived so nobly and died so honorably. Should you desire
-it to come back to your family when I have joined your son, I hope
-you will tell me so, and I will provide accordingly.” Among those
-who earnestly co-operated with this gentleman in erecting the tablet
-was one who wrote to his fellow-officer as follows: “No two people,
-outside of Lockwood’s own blood relations, loved him more than you
-and I. And yet I do not know that I am right in calling his end
-untimely. He died, as he had ever lived, in the discharge of his
-duty, and I imagine, when the records of the expedition become more
-known, it will be seen that his duty was well done to the end. He
-was a man, and has died like one. God grant that when our time comes
-it may find us, too, in the discharge of our duty!”
-
-During Lieutenant Greely’s sojourn in Portsmouth, when on his way
-home, and while yet too feeble to use the pen, he dictated the
-following letter to General Lockwood:
-
- Portsmouth, N. H., _August 9, 1884_.
-
- My dear General Lockwood: Had I not seen Commander Sigsbee, and
- given to him such information as he wished, and as I knew would be
- most important to you in regard to your son, I should have
- attempted an earlier letter to you. I am still unable to write to
- you by my own hand. As I told Commander Sigsbee, James died from
- water around the heart, induced by insufficient nutrition. His
- last days were quiet and painless. He did his whole duty as a
- soldier and an officer. His loyalty to truth, fidelity, and zeal
- could always be relied upon by me. His unvarying kindness, his
- gentleness, his deep interest in and toward the men of the
- expedition indicated a nature thoroughly imbued with the essential
- and fundamental principles of Christianity, and won for him their
- good-will, confidence, and affection. I feel that you and Mrs.
- Lockwood may well be proud of such a son. His daily conversation
- during the past winter told us how much he loved his parents, and
- how deep and close were the bonds of affection which united him to
- his sisters and brother. He seemed to feel that he had not done
- full justice to the many and great advantages that you had given
- him, and hoped to make amends in the future. His innate modesty in
- this, as in other matters, I think did scant justice to his true
- merits. I write by Mrs. Greely’s hand—she joins me in sympathy and
- condolence. I feel that this letter insufficiently informs you
- regarding James. From day to day he intended to write you, but
- delayed too long. His diary, in short-hand, was kept up, I
- believe, to the day preceding his death.
- Sincerely yours,
- A. W. Greely.
-
-Another letter from Portsmouth, written by Sergeant D. L. Brainard
-in answer to some inquiries made by General Lockwood, was as
-follows:
-
- Portsmouth, N. H., _September 4, 1884_.
-
- _General_ H. H. Lockwood.
-
- Dear Sir: Your letter of the 22d ult., requesting information of
- the missing effects of your dear son, which had been committed to
- my care, is just received. . . . The effects in question,
- excepting the ring and coins, I turned over to Major Greely before
- leaving this city in August. The two latter articles I afterward
- found and gave to Mrs. Peck, who, with her husband, called on me
- at the Parker House, in Boston. The setting of the ring, I am
- sorry to say, was not found after his death, although diligent
- search was made. He had spoken of it but a few days before his
- death, and expressed great concern for its safety. It was supposed
- to be suspended from his neck in a small parcel, but search
- revealed nothing. The compass was among the effects I transferred
- to Lieutenant Greely, as were also two pencils, his pipe, spoon,
- knife, etc. With reference to the inner life of your son, do not
- feel any concern. Although not an open professor of any particular
- creed, he followed closely the golden rule during my acquaintance
- with him. When I reach Washington I shall be glad to call on you.
- In the mean time I shall willingly answer any question with regard
- to his life in the frigid zone that you may desire to ask. Place
- no reliance on any of the adverse newspaper reports that are
- occasionally seen reflecting on his conduct; they are not worthy
- of a moment’s thought. Hoping that the articles have reached you
- in safety ere this, I am, very sincerely yours,
-
- D. L. Brainard.
-
-Another and a very handsome letter sent to General Lockwood by an
-officer of the army, who had long known the son, was as follows:
-
- “San Antonio, Fla., _July 25, 1884_.
-
- “My dear General: The newspapers tardily convey to me the news of
- your son’s heroic death. I can not express to you how much both my
- wife and myself were affected by this intelligence. I knew your
- son from his entry into the Twenty-third Infantry in 1873 until I
- was promoted to the Twenty-second in 1879, and formed so high an
- estimate of his sterling soldierly character that it is
- inexpressibly sad to think of his career being cut short at so
- early an age. But, though early, he has nevertheless left his mark
- on the scientific record of the country—a record which can never
- perish while the frozen North continues to hold the secrets he has
- more nearly penetrated than any other explorer of those regions.
- This must be, my dear general, some consolation to you, though I
- well know that it can not wholly atone for the loss of your noble
- son. But, as time passes, this reflection may soften your paternal
- grief.
-
- “A life-work need not extend to the allotted threescore years and
- ten. In the providence of God it often compasses a much smaller
- period of time; when it is accomplished, God calls the worker
- home.
-
- “Who shall measure the work your son accomplished in the examples
- he gave of fidelity to duty, of heroic fortitude? How many
- fainting souls in the future, reading of his devotion, will be
- strengthened to go forward in the paths marked out for them! That
- your grief may be in time assuaged by these reflections is the
- prayer devoutly offered by your sincere friend.”
-
-Many private letters of condolence and sympathy were written to the
-parents of the deceased, by personal friends and others, some of
-which serve to illustrate the character of the departed. One of
-these friends wrote as follows:
-
-“The tender regard and sincere love I had for James prompts me to
-write to you and express my heart-felt sorrow in losing him. We were
-dear friends for years, and a more upright and honorable man never
-lived, and our regiment has lost a member who can never be replaced,
-and the memory of him who died far away from us can never be
-forgotten.”
-
-In another letter a friend wrote as follows:
-
-“Dr. B——, U. S. A., one of James’s most intimate and best friends,
-desires me to say that, of all the men he knew, James was to him far
-dearer than any other. As for myself, I shall always hold James dear
-to my heart, and hope some day, when all things pass away, to meet
-him in that happy land where our loved ones are gone.”
-
-In another letter occurs the following:
-
-“Lockwood was among the best young officers of the regiment. Very
-attentive to duty, and correct in habits, his promise of usefulness
-was unusually great. I hope that the knowledge of duty well
-performed, and under the most trying circumstances, may in some
-degree ameliorate your great grief.”
-
-Another friend writes:
-
-“I but echo the feelings of all in the Twenty-third Infantry who
-knew your son, in saying that your great loss is partly theirs. His
-kindly and generous impulses, his sterling integrity, and his
-thoroughness as an officer and a gentleman, secured and retained for
-him the substantial good-will and friendship of all. And while we
-may grieve at the mournful end of his career, yet this feeling is
-somewhat neutralized in the melancholy satisfaction of knowing that
-he died on the field of honor.”
-
-In another letter from one who had been in the army and on the staff
-of General Lockwood at Accomac, Va., occurs the following most
-admirable and appropriate passage: “I do believe, dear general, that
-all is well with your son. Standing where no human footstep had ever
-trod before, seeing what no eye had ever before beheld, alone amid
-the awful silence of that frozen deep—alone with God—there must have
-been communings with the Holy One of more import to James than all
-else besides. And at the last day you will again see your son in
-glory, wearing the crown of those made perfect through suffering.”
-
-Besides the many letters written by personal friends, there were
-others from perfect strangers, who had either served under General
-Lockwood in the army, or been especially interested in the fate of
-the youthful hero.
-
-Among the strangers who wrote letters of condolence was the Rev.
-William E. Griffis, D. D., of Schenectady, N. Y., who had preached a
-sermon on the conquests of peace, and in which he made the following
-allusion to Lieutenant Lockwood: “The laurels that repose on the
-memory of Lieutenant Lockwood are better than battle-honors or
-wreaths after bloody victories.” It was his opinion that the Arctic
-secret would yet be won; and that Lockwood and his brother heroes
-were doing the will of God as explorers in the far North.
-
-On the 20th of July, 1884, the Rev. Dr. John S. Lindsay, of St.
-John’s Church, in Georgetown, delivered a sermon in which he alluded
-to the return of the Greely Expedition, and especially to Lieutenant
-Lockwood, who had been one of his parishioners. He said: “Just a few
-days ago we were plunged into sorrow by the news that among the
-living of the latest Arctic expedition who had been rescued was
-_not_ our young townsman, the son of one of the most honored members
-of this congregation; the dispatch that brought the glad
-intelligence that six were saved was soon followed by the sad
-announcement that he, vigorous as he was, had sunk under the rigors
-of the climate, worn out by work and want. Has he left no lesson for
-you and me, for all his fellow-men? Think of his ceaseless endeavor,
-of the courage and devotion with which he bore the brunt of the
-exploration, and wore away his own strength in seeking food for his
-comrades and himself! See him, with a single companion, penetrating
-nearer to the north pole than any other man had ever gone, however
-daring! When he had done his whole duty, more than had ever been
-done before, he lies down to rest—to die.
-
-[Illustration: THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
-MAP SHOWING THE EXPLORATIONS BY
-LIEUT. J.B. LOCKWOOD, INFTY. A. S. O.
-1882-1883]
-
-“Most fittingly did his brother explorers give his name to this
-spot, the farthest land north trod by human foot. Lockwood Island
-shall stand, as long as the earth endures, amid the awful wastes and
-silence of these mysterious regions, as the monument of this brave
-young soldier. A child of the Church, the subject of ceaseless
-prayer—of yours, of mine, of his family—we trust that his spirit,
-chastened and exalted by the hardships he endured, winged its flight
-from the inhospitable land that refused sustenance to his body, and
-now rests and waits in the paradise of God. We mingle our tears with
-his father’s and his mother’s, and with those of all who loved him;
-but out of the deep we rejoice in the record he has left behind of
-devotion to duty even unto death. Surely no life is short in which
-so much is done, or in vain that gives such instruction and such
-inspiration to other lives. In conclusion, let us not cast away our
-faith in God, because of the mysteries and trials and sufferings of
-life.”
-
-
-
-
- Footnotes
-
-
-[1]A suburb of Annapolis.
-
-
- THE END.
-
-
-
-
- Transcriber’s Notes
-
-
---Retained the copyright notice from the printed edition (although
- this book is in the public domain.)
-
---Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
-
---In the text versions only, delimited italicized text in
- _underscores_.
-
---In the table of distances travelled, abbreviated column headings
- to save space, and added a key to the abbreviations.
-
---Re-ordered the table of illustrations to match the order of
- illustrations in the text.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Farthest North, by Charles Lanman
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Farthest North, by Charles Lanman
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Farthest North
- The Life and Explorations of Lieutenant James Booth
- Lockwood, of the Greely Arctic Expedition
-
-Author: Charles Lanman
-
-Release Date: January 18, 2017 [EBook #54019]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FARTHEST NORTH ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Marcia Brooks, Stephen Hutcheson, and the
-online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at
-http://www.pgdpcanada.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-<div id="cover" class="img">
-<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Farthest North; or the Life and Explorations of Lieutenant James Booth Lockwood, of the Greely Arctic Expedition" width="500" height="747" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig1">
-<img src="images/p001.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="644" />
-<p class="caption">J. B. Lockwood U S A</p>
-</div>
-<div class="box">
-<h1>FARTHEST NORTH;</h1>
-<p class="center"><span class="smaller">OR,</span></p>
-<p class="center"><i>THE LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS OF LIEUTENANT JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD, OF THE GREELY ARCTIC EXPEDITION</i>.</p>
-<p class="tbcenter"><span class="smallest">BY</span>
-<br />CHARLES LANMAN.</p>
-<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">NEW YORK:
-<br />D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,</span>
-<br /><span class="smaller">1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.
-<br />1885.</span></p>
-</div>
-<p class="tb"><i>When we think of the adventure of our times; when
-we recall the great Arctic explorations that have called
-forth an endurance and daring which have been unsurpassed
-in other days; . . . what is there that is more
-romantic than they are in any history of any age?</i></p>
-<p><span class="lr"><i>From a Thanksgiving Sermon by</i></span>
-<span class="lr"><span class="sc">Rev. Phillips Brooks</span>.</span></p>
-<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small"><span class="sc">Copyright, 1885,
-<br />By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.</span></span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_1">1</div>
-<h2 class="eee">PREFACE.</h2>
-<p>It is believed that this book, with its true but
-none the less stirring adventures, will be of much interest
-to the general public, as well as gratifying to
-the many warm friends of Lieutenant Lockwood. It
-will likewise correct any erroneous impressions which
-may have arisen from the publication of garbled extracts
-from the official journals kept by the different
-members of the Greely party and, by order of the
-War Department, laid open to the public. By this
-order, Lockwood&rsquo;s journal and those of others became
-public property, and hence any reference to them in
-advance of their official publication is allowable.</p>
-<p>The few pages devoted to the early life can not be
-expected to especially interest the general public, but
-will gratify Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s friends. They
-are here produced to give them permanency, and to
-show his sterling character.</p>
-<p>No attempt is here made to give a history of the
-Expedition, and only so much of Lockwood&rsquo;s journal
-is produced as shows his connection therewith. The
-voyage to Lady Franklin Bay is given more in detail,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_2">2</span>
-as it presents a lively picture of an interesting people
-not much known, and as it exhibits the buoyant spirits
-with which he entered upon the work, before dissensions
-in camp had checked them, though without
-marring his faithfulness and energy. The important
-part he had in the enterprise, his zeal, energy, and
-loyalty to his chief and to the cause, all are fully set
-forth, and will be more clearly seen when the more
-elaborate history of the Expedition shall be published
-by Lieutenant Greely, as will shortly be done.</p>
-<p>Although the journal has been freely used, its
-language and style have not been closely followed, except
-in those parts quoted which refer to Lockwood&rsquo;s
-sentiments and feelings. The deep pathos of these
-could be expressed as well in no other words.</p>
-<p>His journal is very full and complete on the perilous
-boat-voyage to Cape Sabine, and in the heart-rending
-struggle for life in that ever-memorable hut
-where he and so many others laid down their lives.
-This has purposely been reduced to a few pages, giving
-the story only so far as Lieutenant Lockwood was
-connected with it. The same, may be said as to the
-home-life at the station on Lady Franklin Bay.</p>
-<p>The portrait of Lieutenant Lockwood is from
-an excellent photograph taken a short time before he
-started for St. John&rsquo;s, and two of the woodcuts are
-from photographs by Sergeant Rice. &ldquo;Arctic Sledging&rdquo;
-was made up from a description and a sketch by
-Sergeant Brainard, and &ldquo;Farthest North&rdquo; from a
-sketch by Lieutenant Lockwood.</p>
-<p>The map is a reproduction of that published by
-<span class="pb" id="Page_3">3</span>
-the London Geographical Society, which is an exact
-transcript of maps drawn by Lieutenant Lockwood
-and submitted by him to Lieutenant Greely with reports
-of sledge-journeys. This map gives the names
-agreed upon by Lieutenant Greely and Lieutenant
-Lockwood, and are those referred to in the journal
-and in this book. It is much to be regretted that
-many of these names differ from those on the official
-map published by authority to the world. The names
-first given commemorate events connected with those
-wonderful sledge-journeys, as will be seen in the text;
-and, if a few unimportant lakes and points were named
-after friends and relatives, this might have been conceded
-to one who accomplished so much, and that
-much so well. The map of the London Geographical
-Society will probably live, and the other perish, as it
-should.</p>
-<p>Captain Markham, Royal Navy, soon after the return
-of the Greely Expedition, declared, in articles
-published in a leading English magazine, that Lockwood
-never got beyond Cape Britannia, and that he
-mistook Cape May for that cape, etc. It was thought
-that, when the history of this sledge-journey was better
-known, Markham would be glad to withdraw this
-ungenerous aspersion. This is done so far as to admit
-that Lockwood did reach 83&deg; 24&prime; north latitude, 44&deg; 5&prime;
-west longitude; but it is now said, in the article
-&ldquo;Polar Regions,&rdquo; of the new Encyclop&aelig;dia Britannica,
-written by the captain&rsquo;s brother, that all this region
-had previously been explored and exhaustively examined
-by the English expedition of 1875-&rsquo;76.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_4">4</div>
-<p>This is very remarkable, in view of the fact that
-Lockwood Island, which was reached by Lockwood,
-is one hundred geographical miles east and forty miles
-north of Cape Britannia which Beaumont saw at the
-distance of twenty miles, but never reached.</p>
-<p>In the same article are expressed sentiments in accord
-with those contained in this book, viz.: &ldquo;If the
-simple and necessary precaution had been taken of
-stationing a depot-ship in a good harbor at the entrance
-of Smith&rsquo;s Sound, in annual communication
-with Greely on one side and with America on the
-other, there would have been no disaster. If precautions
-proved to be necessary by experience are taken,
-there is no undue risk or danger in polar enterprises.
-There is no question as to the value and importance
-of polar discovery, and as to the principles on which
-expeditions should be sent out. Their objects are exploration
-for scientific purposes and the encouragement
-of maritime enterprise.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_5">5</div>
-<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
-<dl class="toc">
-<dt class="jr"><span class="small">PAGE</span></dt>
-<dt><a href="#c1"><span class="cn">I. </span>Early Life</a> 7</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c2"><span class="cn">II. </span>Army-Life in Arizona</a> 20</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c3"><span class="cn">III. </span>Army-Life in Nebraska</a> 31</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c4"><span class="cn">IV. </span>Army-Life in Kansas</a> 43</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c5"><span class="cn">V. </span>Army-Life in Indian Territory and Colorado</a> 52</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c6"><span class="cn">VI. </span>Preparing for the Arctic Regions</a> 58</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c7"><span class="cn">VII. </span>From Newfoundland to Lady Franklin Bay</a> 64</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c8"><span class="cn">VIII. </span>House-building and Local Explorations</a> 87</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c9"><span class="cn">IX. </span>Preliminary Sledge Expeditions and Life at the Station</a> 111</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c10"><span class="cn">X. </span>&ldquo;The Arctic Moon&rdquo;</a> 132</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c11"><span class="cn">XI. </span>Expedition to Lockwood Island</a> 139</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c12"><span class="cn">XII. </span>From Lockwood Island to Lady Franklin Bay</a> 178</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c13"><span class="cn">XIII. </span>Waiting and Watching</a> 194</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c14"><span class="cn">XIV. </span>Resuming a Desperate Struggle</a> 229</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c15"><span class="cn">XV. </span>Across Grinnell Land</a> 249</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c16"><span class="cn">XVI. </span>Preparing for Home</a> 279</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c17"><span class="cn">XVII. </span>Homeward Bound</a> 286</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c18"><span class="cn">XVIII. </span>The Final Catastrophe</a> 296</dt>
-<dt><a href="#c19"><span class="cn">XIX. </span>The Woeful Return</a> 317</dt>
-</dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_6">6</div>
-<h2 class="eee">ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
-<dl class="tocl"><dt class="ill"><a href="#fig1"><span class="sc">Portrait of James B. Lockwood.</span></a></dt>
-<dt class="ill"><a href="#fig2"><span class="sc">Lockwood, Natives, and Kyack at Disco, Greenland.</span></a></dt>
-<dt class="ill"><a href="#fig3"><span class="sc">Sledging over the Arctic Floe.</span></a></dt>
-<dt class="ill"><a href="#fig4"><span class="sc">Taking Observations at Lockwood Island.</span></a></dt>
-<dt class="ill"><a href="#fig5"><span class="sc">Lockwood&rsquo;s Corner.</span></a></dt>
-<dt class="ill"><a href="#fig6"><span class="sc">Map showing Lockwood&rsquo;s Explorations.</span></a></dt></dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_7">7</div>
-<h1 title="">FARTHEST NORTH.</h1>
-<h2 id="c1">I.
-<br /><span class="small">EARLY LIFE.</span></h2>
-<p>In the following pages, it is proposed to record the
-personal history of an American hero whose fortune
-it was, at the sacrifice of his life, to visit and explore
-the utmost limit in the Arctic regions ever attained
-by human skill and enterprise. Aside from the information
-communicated to me by his family, the
-materials placed in my hands consist of his private
-correspondence and various journals which he faithfully
-kept while serving his country on the Western
-frontiers, as well as in the inhospitable domain of the
-North. As the poet Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote about
-a kindred character&mdash;</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">&ldquo;He lived, as mothers wish their sons to live,&rdquo;</p>
-</div>
-<p>and, on the score of fidelity to duty,</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">&ldquo;He died, as fathers wish their sons to die,&rdquo;</p>
-</div>
-<p>leaving a name that will long be honored in every
-civilized land as that of a martyr in the cause of
-geographical exploration.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_8">8</div>
-<p>Many of those connected with the Naval Academy
-at Annapolis, Maryland, before the civil war, will remember
-a playful and mischievous boy, whose ready
-smile and cheerful ways beguiled them in their hours
-of relaxation. Others who were at that school after
-the war will remember the same boy, grown into a
-youth of sixteen years, rugged in aspect, devoted to
-manly sports, and assiduous in all his duties. It is
-the story of his brief but eventful life to which this
-volume is devoted, written for the information of his
-friends and all those who admire true heroism and
-rare abilities when allied to sufferings for the public
-weal.</p>
-<p><span class="sc">James Booth Lockwood</span> was the second son
-and third child of General Henry H. Lockwood and
-Anna Booth Lockwood. He was born at the Naval
-Academy, Annapolis, on the 9th of October, 1852,
-at which time and place his father&mdash;a Professor of
-Mathematics in the Navy&mdash;instructed the midshipmen
-in the military branches, as he had done for
-many years before. Both his parents were from the
-State of Delaware, and came from the best stock of
-that State; and, as his father taught his students
-&ldquo;how to shoot,&rdquo; and prepare themselves for the conflicts
-of life, it was quite natural that the son should
-have acquired a love of noble deeds and adventure.</p>
-<p>Like many boys, he had his narrow escapes from
-death, one of which occurred in April, 1860, when,
-having fallen into the river from the dock, he was
-rescued in an insensible condition, and restored to
-life with great difficulty. This escape must have been
-<span class="pb" id="Page_9">9</span>
-recalled by him with special emotion in after-years
-amid his struggles with the ice of Smith&rsquo;s Sound.</p>
-<p>His innate love of fun had been one of his characteristics
-from childhood, nor was it subdued even
-when recovering from the accident which nearly cost
-him his life; for, while lying in his bed, he peered
-into his father&rsquo;s face with a quizzical smile, and remarked,
-&ldquo;I was drowned, but not drowned dead.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>When the Naval Academy was occupied by a general
-of the army, in 1861, and the students and professors
-were transferred to Newport, Rhode Island,
-young Lockwood accompanied his father and family,
-and was placed at a public school in that place.
-After a brief residence in Newport, his father, being
-a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point,
-was called upon to command a volunteer regiment
-of Delaware troops, and having been subsequently
-commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers, he
-was placed in charge of the Eastern Shore counties
-of Virginia and returned to the region of hostilities,
-making his headquarters at Drummondtown, in
-Accomac County. In this quaint and quiet place,
-and while a mere stripling of ten years, young Lockwood
-displayed his love of adventure and active life
-by forming a company of all the colored boys in the
-village, erecting earthworks in a vacant lot, and, all
-armed with corn-stalks and broom-handles, meeting
-a company of white boys in mimic war&mdash;noisy, if not
-dangerous to life or limb. The vanity of personal
-strife, however, soon becoming irksome to his mind,
-he turned his attention to horsemanship, and explored
-<span class="pb" id="Page_10">10</span>
-the surrounding shores of Accomac on a Chincoteague
-pony belonging to his father. He also spent many
-quiet hours conversing about horses and their habits
-with the soldiers in the garrison, with whom he was
-a special favorite. After a while, his father was
-transferred to the command of troops at Harper&rsquo;s
-Ferry, and there a new field of adventure occupied
-the attention of the incipient hero. He was foremost
-in climbing the neighboring mountain-heights
-and scaling precipices, and always on the lookout
-for adventure along the waters of the Potomac.
-Afterward, when living with his family near the
-city of Baltimore, he displayed his activity and energy
-in other ways. When neighboring boys were
-wont to trespass on his father&rsquo;s grounds and fruit-trees,
-he was quite as ready to defend his home as
-he had been in Accomac to maintain the national
-struggle then rending the land. And here it was that
-he often accompanied his father on his rounds among
-the military works near Baltimore, and always attracted
-the attention of the troops by his skill in riding.
-But these experiences were not deemed satisfactory
-for molding the character of a boy, and then it
-was that his father sent him to a boarding-school at
-Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania, kept by a Mr. Schwartz,
-a good scholar and strict disciplinarian. Of course,
-like those of all boys, his letters teemed with complaints.
-He was <i>very homesick</i>&mdash;a mere child separated
-from all he loved. In one letter he spoke of
-praying to God to make him satisfied. In after-years,
-and when suffering all the horrors of the Arctic, his
-<span class="pb" id="Page_11">11</span>
-mother&rsquo;s prayer was that his childhood&rsquo;s star might
-again arise, and lead his sorrowing heart to that comfort
-found only above. His chief grievances were a
-Dutch dish regularly given to the boys, called <i>scrapul</i>,
-and the discipline of <i>powers</i> administered to those
-who failed in their studies. In this latter punishment,
-the delinquent was required to raise to the fortieth,
-fiftieth, or one hundredth power any number
-given him. However distasteful to him at the time,
-he seems to have changed his mind upon the subjects
-of food and discipline afterward; for he became, after
-his return home, a strong advocate of <i>scrapul</i> as a
-physical, and of &ldquo;powers&rdquo; as a mental diet. Returning,
-in 1866, with his father to Annapolis, he was
-sent to St. John&rsquo;s College in that place, and at that
-time in a flourishing condition, under the able administration
-of James C. Welling, now the accomplished
-President of Columbian College. Although his mental
-abilities were acknowledged as superior, he preferred
-action to books, and his success there was not satisfactory
-to his father. Others known to be his mental inferiors
-took a higher stand. He, however, read some
-Latin, and made considerable progress in mathematics.
-Here we come to a new illustration of his character.
-During his residence within the walls of the Academy,
-a species of tyranny existed among the sons of naval
-officers of his own age with whom he associated, which
-he could not endure. Rank in the father was supposed
-to give rank or prestige to the son. This theory
-young Lockwood was unwilling to acknowledge, and
-the consequence was that he soon found himself beset
-<span class="pb" id="Page_12">12</span>
-by those whom he opposed. But then, as always with
-the free and brave, right prevailed, and the aggressors
-were sent to the wall, while the fearless victor very
-soon became the peer of his associates. The situation
-of the Academy offering peculiar facilities for boating,
-fishing, swimming, etc., the professor&rsquo;s son became
-an expert in all these exercises, making pets of his
-sail and row boats, as he had done with the ponies of
-Chincoteague. Many of the Annapolis students, now
-high officers in the navy, have spoken of his frolicsome
-pranks at that time within the grounds of the
-Academy&mdash;for example, how he mimicked the strut
-of the drum-major, how he teased the watchman by
-hiding among the trees and bushes, personating an
-intruder on the grounds, and how he alarmed the servant-maids
-and the children by appearing suddenly
-before them like a phantom. He was more fond of
-reading than of study, and among his favorite books
-were those of De Foe, Mayne Reid, and others of that
-class. To what extent he was familiar with the histories
-of John Ledyard and Joseph R. Bellot can not
-be stated, but there is a striking similarity in their
-characters, and indeed it was the fate of the latter,
-like Lockwood, to lose his life in the Arctic regions.
-They form a trio of remarkable explorers, whose fame
-will be perennial, but it was the fate of the last one
-mentioned to reach the highest success. During the
-latter part of his residence at Annapolis, he spent
-many of his spare hours on his father&rsquo;s farm. By
-way of encouragement, his father assigned to him a
-patch of ground for his special cultivation, with fertilizers
-<span class="pb" id="Page_13">13</span>
-and the use of a team. To the surprise of all, his
-success seemed amazing, and his crops were good and
-profitable. With the money thus secured he purchased
-for himself a watch and a sporting gun. He
-had a special fondness for dogs, and exerted over them
-great influence. His favorite in this direction was
-a short-legged, long-bodied, common rat-terrier. In
-the purity of this dog&rsquo;s blood, he was a decided believer,
-which faith he maintained with many hot arguments,
-and exemplified by teaching the animal a great variety
-of tricks. Indeed, the high degree of training to
-which he brought the dog Jack was remarkable. He
-was always quiet and positive toward the animal, and
-Jack gave his commands a serious and implicit obedience.
-One of the feats performed by the dog was to
-carry a candlestick with a lighted candle wherever ordered
-to do so. Another was to this effect: the boy
-would place a small scrap of paper on the parlor wall
-at a height which Jack was hardly able to reach.
-Jack&rsquo;s attention would then be called to the paper,
-and the dog and master would retire up-stairs. Some
-time afterward, Jack, in obedience to a mere word,
-would proceed to the parlor, and, to the amusement
-of those congregated there, launch his body at the
-paper until he finally secured it, and then would carry
-it to his master. Although this dog had a special
-dislike for fire, he would, under orders, pull chestnuts
-out of the hot coals, even if it took him an hour to
-perform the task; and it is also related of him that
-on one occasion, when he slipped his muzzle on the
-Academy grounds, he picked it up and took it to his
-<span class="pb" id="Page_14">14</span>
-master. When the lad&rsquo;s father was ordered to the National
-Observatory, the family removing to Washington,
-the pet dog accompanied them, and the intimacy
-between the dog and his master was unabated. They
-often rambled through the streets together, and it
-was during one of their walks along Pennsylvania
-Avenue that the dog disappeared, and was never recovered
-by his owner, whose grief was most sincere
-and manifest. He published an advertisement, and,
-true to his regard for the departed, he spoke of it as
-a pure-blooded animal; which statement was probably
-the reason why the dog was never returned, as
-no stranger could have believed in the alleged pedigree
-of such an ungainly creature.</p>
-<p>After young Lockwood&rsquo;s father and family had
-become settled in Washington, it was decided that he
-should return to Annapolis and take charge of the
-farm until some more suitable or congenial employment
-should come into view. In looking over the
-home letters which he wrote at that time, I find a
-few developments of character which are worthy of
-mention. For example, in February, 1872, he writes
-as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I find Annapolis the same as ever. It would
-hardly do for Rip Van Winkle to go to sleep here, for,
-when he awoke, he would find no change, not even by
-death.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>After speaking in the same letter of a man going
-to purchase implements in Baltimore, he says: &ldquo;I
-think it would pay one capable of judging of such
-things, or one endowed with &lsquo;Lockwood Common
-<span class="pb" id="Page_15">15</span>
-Sense,&rsquo;&rdquo; this allusion being to an imaginary manual
-which the children had attributed to their father.
-The quiet humor of the youthful farmer is manifested
-in another letter after this fashion: &ldquo;I have been suffering
-all the week from the effects of a poison most
-probably communicated from some vine. It manifests
-itself pretty much as Job&rsquo;s troubles showed
-themselves, and no position of body except standing
-affords relief. I haven&rsquo;t yet got down into the ashes.
-If tartar emetic produced these eruptions, they might
-be attributed in some way to the evil agency of Mrs.
-W&mdash;&mdash;.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The person here alluded to was the one who became
-notorious for the alleged poisoning of General
-W. S. Ketcham, in Baltimore. Young Lockwood had
-met her at a boarding-house in Annapolis after her
-release from prison, and was agreeably impressed by
-her conversation and manners. On a subsequent occasion,
-when visiting his family in Washington, and
-some severe remark had been made against the lady
-in question, he demanded that the company present
-should not abuse an absent friend in his presence.
-Being of a sensitive nature in regard to the weather,
-as is proved by several of his Annapolis letters, and by
-such passages as the one now to be quoted, it seems
-surprising that he should ever have decided to visit
-the icy regions of the North.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;This gloomy weather,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;is by no means
-calculated to elate one&rsquo;s spirits, but, on the contrary,
-makes everything appear in its most dreary and desolate
-light, especially on a farm like this, and, though
-<span class="pb" id="Page_16">16</span>
-the spring will bring more work and attention, yet I
-shall hail its appearance with joy. I must confess
-that I can not prevent a feeling of loneliness from
-coming over me, particularly in the daytime, for at
-night my lamp and open wood-fire make things more
-cheerful, or rather less dreary.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>As these letters were written from a farm, and
-by a mere boy, they are chiefly devoted to asking for
-advice as to how he should manage affairs, and to
-reporting the condition of the crops; but, in their
-way, they prove that there was much solid manhood
-in the lad, and that he looked upon life as
-something substantial, and not as a kind of dreamland.</p>
-<p>On one occasion, when visiting his home, he noticed
-that one of his sisters was manifesting what
-he thought an unreasonable excitement about the
-advent of cockroaches in the kitchen, whereupon he
-drew the figure of a vessel under full sail, beneath
-which he wrote the following: &ldquo;The brig Anna
-Baby, bound to the north pole for a load of cockroaches.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On another occasion, after consulting the family
-copy of Webster&rsquo;s Dictionary, he wrote upon one of
-the fly-leaves, opposite the indorsements of Henry
-Clay, Daniel Webster, and other distinguished men,
-these words: &ldquo;I regard this dictionary as very good,
-especially when you can not get any other.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>These incidents, though unimportant, help us to
-appreciate the character of the critical and independent
-youth.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div>
-<p>The following example of the boy&rsquo;s ingenuity is
-also worth mentioning:</p>
-<p>In 1870 a brother-in-law gave him a small, cheap
-clock, about four and a half inches in diameter, which
-he at once adapted to the purpose of waking himself
-in the morning. After joining the slats of his bed together
-with battens, he sawed them through in the
-middle and hinged the parts. That half of the arrangement
-which was at the head of the bed was
-supported only by a single prop. A minute collar of
-lead was supported by one of the hands of the clock.
-At the proper time the lead slipped from the hand
-automatically, and, in falling, set in motion a system
-of levers which were connected with the prop by a
-string. Thus, with unfailing regularity, the prop
-was jerked from its place, and the young occupant of
-the bed was pitched headlong to the floor among his
-pillows and bolster. When he tired of this apparatus,
-it became his custom at night to hitch a string around
-his foot, the end of the string being passed out of
-the window and allowed to trail down to the kitchen-door.
-At a definite time in the morning, previously
-ordered, the colored cook pulled the string until she
-received intimation of a successful result.</p>
-<p>In the hope of finding more congenial employment,
-young Lockwood now fixed his mind on engineer
-work in connection with railroads. He joined a
-corps on the Texas and Pacific Railroad line, and went
-to the northeastern corner of the State of Texas,
-where, for four months, he drove pegs and cut down
-bushes in the virgin wilderness, which employment
-<span class="pb" id="Page_18">18</span>
-was only terminated by the failure of the company to
-go on with its enterprise. What with the rough people
-with whom he was compelled to associate, the
-hard fare at the rude taverns, and a severe attack of
-sickness, he had a very disagreeable experience, which
-was enhanced by the non-payment of wages by the
-company, and by the temporary loss of the spare
-money furnished by his father, which was taken from
-him by the rascality of a pretended friend, an employ&eacute;
-of the railroad company. By careful financial
-engineering, he managed to leave the wilderness of
-Texas, went to Shreveport, and thence to New Orleans,
-where he took a steamer for Cincinnati, and on
-this trip he met with one small bit of good fortune.
-Owing to his limited means he contracted with the
-captain of the steamer that he should be carried to
-Cincinnati, O., for a specific sum, all his meals to be
-included in the passage-money. It so happened, however,
-that the steamer was detained by floating ice
-for three weeks, but this caused no detriment to the
-traveler&rsquo;s pocket, as time was not &ldquo;nominated in
-the bond.&rdquo; About eleven years after that experience,
-the same traveler was fighting his way through the
-ice of the Arctic seas and enduring the horrors of
-Cape Sabine, finding it difficult to secure necessary
-rations at any price or of any quality.</p>
-<p>On reaching home, he began the study of bookkeeping
-with a view to the civil service. With others,
-he was examined for a position in the Treasury Department.
-He passed the examination with credit,
-and received a mark much above the number required
-<span class="pb" id="Page_19">19</span>
-for passing, but, when the office-mark was thrown in,
-as was then the custom, his average was reduced, and
-those who had personal influence and understood the
-&ldquo;tricks of the trade&rdquo; became the successful applicants.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div>
-<h2 id="c2">II.
-<br /><span class="small">ARMY-LIFE IN ARIZONA.</span></h2>
-<p>After finding that farming and railroad engineering
-were not exactly the employments he had fancied
-them to be, young Lockwood resumed his studies
-under the direction of his father. Not long afterward,
-however, he was seized with the idea of entering
-the army, and, at the very outset of this venture for
-a useful life, he was met with a blending of good and
-bad fortune. Securing the influence of many friends,
-he made a successful appeal to the President and the
-War Department. He received orders for an examination
-before the proper tribunal, and, out of thirty-eight
-young men who were examined in Washington,
-he passed No. 1. He also had a higher mark than
-any of those examined in other places at the same
-time; hence he was entitled to the highest commission
-as second lieutenant, and at one time it was resolved
-to give it to him; but, as the examinations
-were conducted in different places and before different
-boards, it was decided to settle the rank of the applicants
-by lot, and Lockwood&rsquo;s number was forty,
-instead of one to which he was justly entitled. He
-was, however, promised a crack regiment, and hence
-became second lieutenant in the Twenty-third Infantry,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_21">21</span>
-then commanded by two officers who had
-gained distinction in the late war&mdash;Colonel Jefferson
-C. Davis and Lieutenant-Colonel George Crook. He
-soon after joined the recruiting station at New York
-for instruction.</p>
-<p>The few letters that Lieutenant Lockwood wrote
-home from New York contained very graphic pictures
-of what he there observed. His reception at the recruiting-station
-was most cordial, one of the first
-things done there by the recruiting-officers, to his
-surprise, being to bring forth a demijohn of whisky;
-but from this hospitality he begged to be excused, only
-one or two other young men following his example.</p>
-<p>After a service of several weeks at the recruiting-station
-in New York, he conducted recruits to the
-Territory of Arizona by the way of Panama. The
-party left New York in November, 1873, and, on
-reaching San Francisco, went by steamer to Fort
-Yuma, near the mouth of the Colorado River, and
-thence marched over the rugged and dusty plains of
-Arizona to McDowell Post, a distance of more than
-one hundred and fifty miles in the interior.</p>
-<p>From the few letters that he wrote respecting his
-trip from New York to San Francisco, we gather the
-following items:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Aspinwall is a dirty, sandy town, of no architectural
-pretensions. I cannot better describe it than
-by asking you to imagine Lockwoodville<a class="fn" id="fr_1" href="#fn_1">[1]</a> with a lot
-of palm- and cocoanut-trees growing in the vacant
-lots, plenty of the sand and filth aforesaid, all the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_22">22</span>
-darkies of Annapolis sauntering around, plenty of
-children and many dogs, pigs, etc. However, I must
-do Aspinwall justice&mdash;it has a neat little church, a
-marble monument erected to some of its chief benefactors,
-and, what I should call, a remarkably fine
-statue of Columbus, in bronze. It has an enormous
-trade passing through it, from one ocean to the other,
-and is really a place of great importance to the mercantile
-world.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;We reached Panama between four and five in
-the afternoon, after a very interesting ride across the
-country, and were immediately embarked for the Constitution&mdash;which
-lay two miles from shore&mdash;so that
-I had no opportunity of seeing Panama, except from
-the water. The ship left during the evening, and
-ever since has been &lsquo;plowing the angry main&rsquo; toward
-San Francisco, excepting when stopping at some of
-the towns along the coast. We have seen several of
-these, and they are all of one type, that of Aspinwall,
-though on a much smaller scale. Some that I saw
-had not half a dozen wooden houses, but consisted
-merely of reed-huts covered with straw. One of these&mdash;Mazatlan&mdash;claims
-to have twenty thousand inhabitants,
-but does not appear to have more than one
-tenth of that number. All the tropical fruits were
-abundant at these places, and could be purchased for
-a trifle. The Constitution is a side-wheeler of four
-thousand tons, and has little motion, and, while sea-sickers
-are abundant, I am not one of them. I have
-gained ten pounds, and now weigh one hundred and
-sixty-one.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div>
-<p>Lockwood&rsquo;s stay in San Francisco was too brief to
-afford him much opportunity for observation, but
-here is what he said of the Chinese: &ldquo;I visited Chinatown
-this evening, and saw the Celestials in all their
-glory. I saw many strange and amusing sights in their
-stores and shops and along their streets, as they are
-very slow in adopting civilized customs. I send along
-with this some Chinese pictures which I purchased.
-I am very much pleased with San Francisco, and shall
-leave it with many regrets. A walk through the Chinese
-quarter is like a visit to some Chinese city on the
-other side of the Pacific.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The few events of his trip along the coast to Yuma
-were to this effect: Soon after leaving the Golden
-Gate, he experienced a storm that was far from pacific
-in its character, far worse than any he had witnessed
-since leaving New York; he visited Magdalena Bay,
-which impressed him as a barren, miserable place,
-chiefly noted for its want of houses, and yet of some
-importance as the shipping port of a dye-wood found in
-that region; he also stopped at Carmen Island, where
-large quantities of salt were found in the dry bed of a
-lake, and at Cape St. Lucas, but brought away no
-favorable impressions from any of these remote places.
-With Yuma City he was better pleased, describing
-its houses as small, one-story affairs, built of adobe,
-more Mexican than American in character, and its
-streets as far more dusty than those of Washington
-City; and the mountains surrounding the city as
-very imposing. The Colorado reminded him of the
-Red River&mdash;the channel winding and running between
-<span class="pb" id="Page_24">24</span>
-great mud-flats and islands, all constantly
-changing, and abounding in many kinds of water-fowl.
-He was interested in the Indian inhabitants,
-whom he pitied for their poverty and degradation;
-occasionally seeing a number of squaws reclining like
-quadrupeds on the mud-flats or in front of their tiny
-oval huts.</p>
-<p>The sojourn of Lieutenant Lockwood in Arizona
-lasted into the summer of 1874, and from the letters
-which he wrote home from Post McDowell may be
-gathered some interesting particulars, illustrating his
-habits of close observation in regard to men and
-events.</p>
-<p>His journey from Fort Yuma to Camp McDowell
-was full of interest and was greatly enjoyed. He had
-for companions two brother officers and three ladies;
-traveled by ambulance, making marches of only about
-fifteen miles; camped out every night, Lockwood
-himself sleeping on the ground outside. As the country
-was very desolate and barren, they traveled generally
-along the valley of the Gila, but their last
-march was over desert land forty-five miles wide.
-They saw many relics along the route, mounds, ruins,
-and immense ditches for irrigation. One immense
-pile of rocks, called the Painted Rocks, was entirely
-covered with pictures of lizards, Indians, beasts, and
-birds&mdash;supposed to represent a great battle in which
-the Apaches conquered the Maricopas. There were
-also along the road graves of men murdered by the
-Indians. One grave, near Gila Bend, was of a man
-named Lumley, a station-keeper, murdered by two
-<span class="pb" id="Page_25">25</span>
-Mexicans&mdash;his successor exhibited a knife, used by
-one of the murderers, which had been found, and he
-pointed out the spot where Judge Lynch had disposed
-of the only criminal that happened to be captured.
-While the travelers did not spend any money at hotels,
-they were obliged to pay from twenty to thirty dollars
-for being ferried across the Gila and Salt Rivers at
-different points.</p>
-<p>In one of his letters, written to his sister after
-the rainy season, and soon after his arrival at Camp
-McDowell, young Lockwood says: &ldquo;I wish you could
-see the pretty flowers around here; they are principally
-yellow and red, and each kind grows by itself.
-They grow so close together that the ground is covered
-as with a carpet. To the west of this post there
-is a wide plain covered with these flowers. There is
-also a species of cactus called the Suwarrow, which
-grows fifteen or twenty feet high&mdash;a sort of tree without
-branches, but covered with thorns; the outside
-of this tree is of a green color and nearly as soft as
-young asparagus, but inside it has a frame of wood.
-These are all over the plain, in fact all over Arizona.
-I often walk out here after dinner with a large dog
-that belongs to one of the officers, and start up the
-rabbits&mdash;great big Jack-rabbits, as they are called&mdash;as
-large as a small dog. They can run very fast,
-faster than any dog except a hound. Among other
-curiosities about here are rattlesnakes and lizards&mdash;the
-lizards as common as flies; also crows as big as
-hens and almost as tame. The post is entirely surrounded
-by mountains.&rdquo; By way of contrast to this
-<span class="pb" id="Page_26">26</span>
-pleasing prospect, in another letter he gives the particulars
-of the murder of two men by the Indians
-within twelve miles of the garrison, their bodies having
-been fearfully mutilated. &ldquo;I am still in the
-land of the finite and material,&rdquo; he writes, &ldquo;and the
-Apaches have not yet disturbed the arrangement of
-my back hair; in short, I am alive and kicking.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 14th of May, Lockwood writes that &ldquo;there
-has been nothing new at the post except the arrival of
-Lieutenant Schuyler, Fifth Cavalry. He has been
-out on a scout for several months past, dropping in at
-various posts now and then. He reports that he came
-upon the Apaches southeast of here, killed twelve and
-took fourteen prisoners. He is accompanied by Dr.
-Corbasier and a party of thirty-one soldiers and
-eighty-one Indian scouts. These scouts are composed
-of Apache-Mojave, Tonto-Apaches, and other tribes,
-closely allied to the Apaches proper. It seems strange
-that they are thus willing to join the enemy in exterminating
-their brethren; but such is their nature.
-They are hardly superior to the beasts, except
-in shape, and even there the line of demarkation is
-not very distinct. The Pimos, to the number of one
-hundred or more, were here about a week ago, on
-their way to punish the Apaches for stealing some
-stock from them. When they returned, they reported
-the killing of quite a number of their foes&mdash;some sixteen
-or more&mdash;and taking many prisoners. Schuyler&rsquo;s
-party confirm the report; they came across the
-camp of the Apaches, and the doctor said he counted
-a large number of slain. The Pimos surprised the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_27">27</span>
-Apaches when asleep and almost exterminated them.
-They were armed with war-clubs, and of course mangled
-their bodies horribly. When found their heads
-were all beaten in, and their bodies stuck full of arrows
-and partially burned. The doctor says it was
-the most sickening sight he ever beheld. The Apache
-bands, off their reservations, are fast becoming exterminated,
-over a thousand having been killed during
-the last winter. General Crook will not allow
-them to return to their reservations unless they bring
-the heads of several of the ringleaders in the late
-outbreak.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In another place, after alluding to the extravagant
-accounts published about Arizona, he says: &ldquo;One
-would suppose, from reading the pamphlet I send
-you, that Arizona is a fine agricultural country&mdash;which
-is absurd; and that it contains many flourishing
-cities and towns, whereas even the river-bottoms require
-irrigation, and the &lsquo;cities&rsquo; are merely the nuclei
-of towns.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On one occasion, after alluding to his enjoyment
-of the newspapers sent him from home, and to the
-early transfer of his regiment, he says: &ldquo;It would
-probably have been removed this spring but for the
-financial panic and other commercial disasters. I
-suppose if the rest of the year goes by prosperously,
-and nothing occurs to prolong the gingerly, penny-wise,
-pound-foolish policy of Congress called economy
-(?), that the Twenty-third will probably be removed
-next spring or fall.&rdquo; And again, he continues:
-&ldquo;Grant appears to have obtained great credit by his
-<span class="pb" id="Page_28">28</span>
-veto of the Inflation Bill. How Congress could pass
-a bill which seems to be unacceptable and repugnant
-to the whole people, I can not understand.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Alluding a second time to the <i>pleasing</i> characteristics
-of frontier life, he tells his father that &ldquo;a
-party of Indian scouts arrived here yesterday from
-Schuyler&rsquo;s command. They brought the news that
-the lieutenant had <i>jumped</i> the Indians at Four Peaks&mdash;a
-high mountain, forty miles off&mdash;killed eighteen and
-captured six. The party brought in a wounded scout,
-shot through the head, who is now in the hospital.
-He was the only one wounded in the fight, or rather
-slaughter, for these Indians rarely fight a party of any
-size. I suppose these Arizona tribes are the most degraded,
-cowardly, and despicable savages in the country.
-Schuyler, as I understand, generally sweeps a
-breadth of country fifty miles across, by means of
-flanking-parties on the right and left, and has been
-quite successful.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In speaking of his duties at the post, he says: &ldquo;I
-am officer-of-the-day every other day; I mount the
-guard every morning, attend all roll-calls, accompany
-the captain in his inspection of quarters every morning,
-and afterward recite tactics. I also am present
-with him at company-drill every evening, command
-the company at Sunday morning inspection, sit on
-boards of survey and perform other irregular duties.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>After announcing the arrival of the paymaster at
-the post, and alluding to expenses, he says: &ldquo;Servants
-in this country are paid enormously. The post-trader
-pays his Chinese cook thirty dollars per month, and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_29">29</span>
-has paid as high as one hundred dollars. Officers in
-Arizona are compelled from necessity to employ soldiers
-in this capacity, though contrary to the regulations.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In one of his letters, Lieutenant Lockwood gives
-his opinion about some of his father&rsquo;s landed property,
-and then goes on after this fashion: &ldquo;The old farm
-has additional charms for me now, after living in Arizona,
-and I have come to think that there are many
-worse places. Does distance lend enchantment to the
-view? or what is it? I often long after some of the
-delicious peaches and other fruit that the much-abused
-farm produces in such abundance. However, if you
-can dispose of the farm as you suggest, it will, no
-doubt, be for the best, as the Lockwood family have
-become so <i>high-toned</i> that I am afraid they will never
-<i>stoop</i> (?) to live on a farm and become <i>grangers</i>.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In one of his letters written about this date, he
-makes the following remark respecting his education
-at Annapolis: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I care about being
-present at the meeting of the alumni of my <i>Alma
-Mater</i>, or, what she would be more pleased with, contributing
-anything in the way of money. Enough has
-been thrown away in teaching me what has never been
-of any use. However, the <i>old woman</i> has my good
-wishes.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In another letter, after speaking of an entertainment
-he had attended, he said: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that
-I should have enjoyed it, but for the presence of a very
-pretty Spanish girl with whom I fell in love; she
-danced charmingly, but as she could not speak a word
-<span class="pb" id="Page_30">30</span>
-of English, nor I a word of Spanish, our conversation
-was somewhat limited.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 4th of July when arrangements were commenced
-for removing the Twenty-third Regiment to
-Yuma, the lieutenant thus touches upon the national
-anniversary: &ldquo;I have celebrated the day by being
-very busy writing up the proceedings of a board of survey,
-and have a like job on my hands for to-morrow;
-indeed, I shall be fully employed now till we leave.
-Some of the men, however, have been otherwise employed,
-viz., in parading before the guard-house with
-logs of wood on their backs, as the reward of a
-drunken frolic. Our march to Fort Yuma will
-doubtless be very disagreeable, and for two weeks
-we shall have dust and heat together with the fatigue
-of travel; but, on the other hand, the daily march
-will not be more than fifteen miles, and as we shall
-be well provided, I can&rsquo;t say that I look forward
-to it with much dread. The wife of our captain is
-even now interesting herself in the culinary arrangements,
-so I presume the <i>vitals</i> will be good.&rdquo; From
-the time of his uttering this amusing pun until the
-following September, the letters of young Lockwood
-give us no incidents of special interest, and we now
-follow him into the State of Nebraska, his regiment
-having been assigned to the favorite post of Omaha.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_31">31</div>
-<h2 id="c3">III.
-<br /><span class="small">ARMY-LIFE IN NEBRASKA.</span></h2>
-<p>Having entered upon duty at the barracks of
-Omaha, he seems to have made himself especially useful
-there, while enjoying some of the comforts of civilization,
-including good society. On the 25th of
-September, he wrote that he had been busy for a week
-as the recorder of a court-martial. &ldquo;We settled nine
-cases, and, while we now stand adjourned <i>sine die</i>, I
-suppose the court will soon be reconvened to try half
-a dozen more men against whom charges have been
-preferred. There have been, since my arrival here, as
-many as sixty men in the guard-house, and courts-martial
-are the order of the day. I have to attend drills,
-etc., every day, and hence my leisure and opportunities
-for visiting the town have been limited. However, I
-did go last night to a concert in town given for the
-benefit of the grasshopper sufferers, several of these
-sufferers from the country being present. You can
-not realize what a nuisance these insects are in this
-country. I have not yet seen them in any numbers,
-or the effects of their ravages, but I am told they
-sometimes actually stop the railway-trains. The incredible
-number of bed-bugs in this country is another
-curious fact. I sleep so soundly that they do not disturb
-<span class="pb" id="Page_32">32</span>
-me. They infest every house at the post, and
-they are also numerous in the city, the fences between
-here and there being painted in many places, &lsquo;Go to
-Smith&rsquo;s for the great bed-bug buster.&rsquo;&rdquo; He became
-a favorite in the refined society of Omaha, at that
-time on the confines of civilization, but appearing to
-him like a bit of New York city cut off and set down
-in the wilderness, where, only a few years before, the
-buffalo ranged in his native freedom. During his
-residence at Omaha, young Lockwood was on the
-most friendly terms with all his fellow-officers, with
-one exception. After giving his father a very manly
-account of that trouble, he writes a paragraph about
-himself in these words: &ldquo;With regard to myself, I
-find this army-life about what I expected. It has its
-pleasures and its crosses. I should prefer the cavalry
-to the infantry, and am sorry I did not apply for that
-arm of the service. I should like to remain in the
-army two or three years longer, I think, and yet,
-with a good opening, might do better in civil life.
-Promotion is very slow, and the accumulation of anything
-is not easy. These, of course, are rude impressions
-and but half formed, but, as you ask for impressions,
-I feel bound to give them just as they are. I
-have not been in the army long enough to rise, nor
-have I had the opportunity to gain any particular
-reputation, but suppose mine is as good as the average&mdash;that
-is, I think I have displayed as much aptitude
-for my profession as is generally exhibited by men of
-average ability, for of such I regard myself&mdash;perhaps
-below the average. I hope this peroration will answer
-<span class="pb" id="Page_33">33</span>
-your inquiries, and prove satisfactory in that respect.
-Excuse the necessary egotism. I will thankfully receive
-any advice or corrections which the reading of
-this, or your acquaintance with my characteristics,
-may suggest. I feel as though I had written a lot of
-foolishness; if you think so, please excuse.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>To the writer of this personal history, it seems as
-if such sentiments as the above could come only from
-a young man endowed with the highest instincts of
-ambition, honor, and true manhood, and can not but
-be considered, with others of like character, as a suitable
-passport into the land of Odin and the glories of
-Valhalla.</p>
-<p>During his stay at Omaha, Lieutenant Lockwood
-was detailed by General Ord, the commanding officer,
-to visit those counties of Nebraska where grasshoppers
-had destroyed the crops, for the purpose of determining
-to whom contributions which had been sent to
-the general should be given. In this journey of several
-hundred miles, made in the coldest weather, he
-visited the several county towns, met the citizens,
-and afterward laid before the general such testimony
-as to the destitute, that the bounty was distributed to
-the satisfaction of all. While on this duty, he traveled
-ninety miles in twenty-four hours. The county people
-with whom he conducted business, he designated as
-&ldquo;Grasshoppers.&rdquo; He greatly enjoyed the prairie
-scenery through which he passed, especially the valley
-of the Blue.</p>
-<p>On the approach of Christmas at Omaha, our
-young friend had an attack of chills and fever, which
-<span class="pb" id="Page_34">34</span>
-sent him to his bed. After deploring that he could
-not perform his duties on the pending court-martial,
-he gives us this holiday information: &ldquo;Yesterday
-was Christmas, and I am glad that the day comes
-but once a year. With a large party I was occupied
-until late in the afternoon making the rounds of the
-many houses here at the post. In the evening, I ate
-a fine dinner at General Ord&rsquo;s, and on top of that,
-danced in the parlor until eleven or twelve o&rsquo;clock,
-and, as a consequence, am coming on as officer of the
-guard to-day with a most gorgeous headache. So much
-for Christmas. I have received two or three presents,
-but have made none myself, from want of funds. I
-just now heard a tremendous crash, and, on going
-out, found a fine lunch, sent by Mrs. Ord, scattered
-on the ground, and in the midst of the <i>d&eacute;bris</i> of
-broken glass and china, the unfortunate bearer, who
-had slipped and fallen on the ice in front of the door.
-I was not particularly sorry on my own account, as I
-could not have eaten the good things &lsquo;anyhow.&rsquo;
-Upon the whole, Christmas has passed away as it
-usually does, pleasantly, though at the expense of
-many unfortunate turkeys. I am sorry I could not
-send home any presents, my pecuniary affairs being
-in a straitened condition. I should like very much to
-be at home about this time. I often wish I could hear
-Lidie and Anna sing, although I suppose I would find
-the girls, including Julia and Mary, much changed.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Remembering young Lockwood&rsquo;s remarks about
-whisky-drinking in New York, the following statement
-is worth quoting: &ldquo;Most of the ladies at the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_35">35</span>
-post received visitors on New-Year&rsquo;s-day, either singly
-or in groups. One marked feature of the day was
-the general absence of liquor, its place being supplied
-by coffee, chocolate, and other refreshments of a more
-solid and less stimulating character. I noticed the
-same thing in town, or rather that at those places
-where I saw liquor, the ladies were less urgent than is
-usually the case in pressing it upon the gentlemen.
-However, there is less drinking at this post than at
-any other I have seen, as large as it is. Although,
-with few exceptions, all drink here, it is done quietly
-at home and without excess.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>As our young friend had narrowly escaped with
-his life from drowning at Annapolis, so did he from
-the pranks of an unruly horse at the Omaha Barracks.
-He was about mounting the horse for a ride,
-when the animal started on the run before he could
-get into the saddle, when he was thrown forward
-upon his head. The trouble was owing to a defect in
-the bridle. In accounting for his escape, he remarked
-that his thick head was what saved his life. True to
-his native pluck, he tackled the same horse a number
-of times afterward, until the animal&mdash;a special favorite&mdash;was
-subdued.</p>
-<p>In the month of June, 1875, it would seem as if
-something like homesickness was weighing down his
-spirits, for he then began to write about employment
-in civil life. Not that he disliked the army, but he
-longed for some business that would enable him to
-make a little money. He thought he could supply a
-sufficient amount of energy to prosecute a commercial
-<span class="pb" id="Page_36">36</span>
-venture. He felt that there was a great difference
-between the roads that lead to wealth and to military
-glory. If his father should chance to see an opening
-that might give him a fortune in a few days at the
-expense of a few hundred dollars or some hard work,
-he wanted to be promptly notified. He broached
-these business ideas at that time merely for the sake
-of having a subject for discussion when permitted to
-visit his home.</p>
-<p>The life at the Omaha garrison, during the summer
-of 1875, was comfortable but monotonous. The
-faithfulness with which the young officer corresponded
-with his parents is eminently characteristic of a
-dutiful son. When not writing about his surroundings
-and daily duties, or sketching the character of
-his associates, he ventured to discuss business matters
-with his father, frequently volunteering a bit of advice.
-He often alluded to the Annapolis farm and
-to people and events connected with Georgetown,
-now a part of Washington City, where he expected
-the family to remain permanently. On every subject
-discussed, he manifested a clear head, and enlivened
-his more serious talk with an occasional joke,
-for which he seemed to have a fondness. In expressing
-his opinions on men and things, it seemed impossible
-for him to hesitate or equivocate; he always
-went directly to the point, and, though charitable,
-he could not refrain from looking out for the demands
-of justice, as, for example, when alluding to
-the death of a man who had been untrue to himself
-and friends, he said &ldquo;to die was about the best thing
-<span class="pb" id="Page_37">37</span>
-he could do.&rdquo; As to his jokes, they were not confined
-to his private letters, as will be shown by one
-of them practiced upon the post trader during a dull
-period in the garrison. The trader in question, a
-young fellow, had removed the balls from the pistol
-of one of his clerks, with the intention of playing a
-ghostly trick upon him that night. He told Lockwood
-and another friend of his intention, and they determined
-to turn the tables upon the trader. They notified
-the clerk, and at midnight the amateur ghost rose
-from his bed, enveloped himself in a white sheet, and
-stole softly into the room of the <i>unsuspecting</i> clerk.
-Just then an improvised noise was made outside the
-door, when the clerk seemingly awoke with an exclamation
-of terror at seeing the ghost. The report of
-the pistol was duly followed by the return of the ball
-held in hand, <i>&agrave; la ghost</i>, but immediately after, the
-poor ghost found himself completely drenched with a
-bucket of water, which had been coolly set aside for
-that purpose. At this unexpected turn of affairs, the
-trader fled in the greatest consternation, leaving his
-&ldquo;trade-mark&rdquo; behind, and, as he passed out of the
-door, received a second pail of water from one of his
-ghostly companions. The result was that it took a
-long time for him to dry his saturated skin, and a
-much longer for his title of Mr. Ghost to be lost by
-the garrison boys. Not long after the above incident,
-this personage found that there was not &ldquo;the ghost of
-a chance&rdquo; of his continuing in business, as he became
-insolvent and had to retire. It would appear that
-while many of these military merchants on the frontiers
-<span class="pb" id="Page_38">38</span>
-have a chance to make fortunes, those who are
-located near a city like Omaha find it difficult to make
-both ends meet in their business affairs.</p>
-<p>On reading the proceedings of Congress during
-the winter of 1875, he writes to his father as follows:
-&ldquo;Congress seems to be looking around for some scape-goat
-on which to pile the odium of the millions legislated
-away, and, as usual, pitches on the army. It
-seems to be the opinion here, however, that no reduction
-will take place this winter. If Congressmen consulted
-occasionally others than the staff-officers living
-in Washington with regard to military affairs, they
-might find out the true whereabout of the tremendous
-rat-hole which swallows up annually the sum of thirty-four
-millions of dollars. It does not go to support
-the army proper, but to support that enormous, overgrown,
-expensive adjunct of the army, the staff,
-which, created merely for the administration of the
-<i>army</i>, now masters that which it was intended to subserve,
-and has become superior to it in rank and influence,
-and in everything that rank and influence can
-bring. But Congress seems to be blind to the fact
-that expenditures are credited to the army, under the
-army appropriation bill, which have no legitimate
-connection with it, and which would still be required
-if no army existed. Why is it that the army is the
-perpetual foot-ball of these demagogues? Is it thus,
-at every session, to be bantered about by those who
-do not understand the requirements of the country
-in this respect? Is not the causing of this periodical
-uncertainty respecting his fate the most pernicious
-<span class="pb" id="Page_39">39</span>
-thing that Congress can do to an officer? O
-consistency, thou art a jewel! How is it that the
-navy and other branches of the public service are not
-subject to this constant tinkering? But I am not in
-Congress, and had better subside.&rdquo; The assertions
-here made can not be controverted, and, coming from
-a young man who had but recently passed his majority,
-prove him to be the possessor of very substantial
-abilities. He also expressed decided opinions in regard
-to various noted officials charged with improper conduct
-in Washington at the time alluded to, all of
-which have been sustained by subsequent developments.</p>
-<p>Remembering what he said about the drinking
-customs of Omaha, on New-Year&rsquo;s-day, 1875, it is
-pleasant to have him record the fact, on the 2d of
-January, 1876, that &ldquo;the most noticeable feature
-during the previous day, in society, was the entire
-absence, at most houses, of any intoxicating liquors,
-and that he did not see a case of drunkenness during
-the entire day&mdash;a thing very rare even in the cities of
-the East.&rdquo; On a subsequent occasion, he mentions
-the fact that, when one of his sergeants had been
-drinking to excess, he put him in arrest, but released
-him the next day, after warning him of the consequences
-of a repetition of the offense, and &ldquo;preaching
-him a sermon on the evils of intoxication, moral, mental,
-and physical.&rdquo; On one occasion, when his father
-had asked how he spent his leisure time in the barracks,
-he replied that he read, so as to combine pleasure
-with profit, played on his flute, and studied the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_40">40</span>
-art of short-hand, which had long been a hobby with
-him, and was to be in the future an important accomplishment.
-In an effort to read Draper&rsquo;s &ldquo;Intellectual
-Development of Europe,&rdquo; he could only manage
-about one half of the work, and to counteract its
-dullness resorted to a novel, &ldquo;The Wandering Jew.&rdquo;
-As he was frequently called upon to act as recorder of
-the military court, he found his knowledge of stenography
-very useful and very much of a relaxation, and,
-on receiving a letter from one of his sisters which was
-good but not very plainly written, he said that he had
-been able to make it out by means of his skill in shorthand
-writing. As to his studies, he had formed a
-regular plan for prosecuting them, but was constantly
-interrupted by extra official duties. Among other
-things, he devoted himself to the German language,
-and subsequently to French, and attained considerable
-proficiency. An idea of his habits of industry
-may be gathered from what he wrote to his father,
-when the General was placed on the retired list of the
-navy: &ldquo;So you are retired this month. You ought
-to open an office, or do something to occupy your
-mind. Every one needs something in the way of
-business or duty. You will soon get tired of reading
-continuously.&rdquo; On the approach of spring, and with
-the expectation of obtaining a leave of absence during
-the coming summer, he resumed a discussion with
-his father about leaving the army for civil employment.
-He had entered it well posted in regard to
-its disadvantages, and chiefly for the sake of having
-something to do. He had now become more
-<span class="pb" id="Page_41">41</span>
-deeply impressed than before that promotion was so
-slow, that his prospects of increased rank and pay
-offered no inducements to any young man of energy
-and industry, qualities which he certainly possessed.
-He was not then ready for decisive action, but he was
-determined to support himself, and would, therefore,
-be on the lookout for advantageous prospects in some
-other line of employment. In one of his letters, after
-commenting upon the school which two of his sisters
-were attending, he gives us this bit of experience:
-&ldquo;I am a school-teacher myself; my pupils, the non-commissioned
-officers of the company. They waste
-the midnight oil, however, only in <i>boning</i> the tactics.
-I go down and dilate and expatiate very profoundly
-on the reasons and logic of this and that. This is
-a pleasant school to have; the authority and influence
-of the officer have their full weight in the ordinary
-school-room as elsewhere in the army.&rdquo; In
-May, 1876, after giving an account of a proposed
-demonstration, under General Crook, against the
-Indians on the Yellowstone, he thus relieves his
-mind: &ldquo;Would that I belonged to the cavalry! I
-like motion, action, and variety. To be sure, I
-would rather be here (in Omaha) than where the
-other companies are, but still would rather be in the
-field than here.&rdquo; In June, 1876, the monotony of
-his life was relieved by an order to take some convicts
-to the State prison near Fort Leavenworth,
-which he described as the largest post in the country,
-containing the post proper, the department headquarters,
-and the military prison. The State prison
-<span class="pb" id="Page_42">42</span>
-is about six miles from the town. &ldquo;Here,&rdquo; he writes,
-&ldquo;are sent all the enlisted men who are dishonorably
-discharged, convicted of theft, or other not purely
-military offenses. The inclosure is an immense yard,
-surrounded by a high stone wall&mdash;the building, which
-is on one side, having an appearance somewhat like
-the Smithsonian Institution. In the inclosure are
-various other buildings, each one used as a workshop
-for some trade, almost all the common trades being
-represented. The prisoners, numbering about five
-hundred, are together in the daytime, but not at
-night, and are not allowed to talk with each other.
-It was from this prison that the best features of the
-new military prison were obtained, the board of officers
-on the management of the prison at Fort Leavenworth
-having decided it to be the best one to imitate.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In the autumn of 1876, when he was granted a
-leave of absence to visit his parents, they found him
-in personal appearance wonderfully improved and developed,
-the boy of 1873 having become a handsome
-and accomplished gentleman. He was not slow, as
-may be supposed, in making his way to Philadelphia
-to visit the Centennial Exposition, which he greatly
-enjoyed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div>
-<h2 id="c4">IV.
-<br /><span class="small">ARMY-LIFE IN KANSAS.</span></h2>
-<p>During Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s absence on leave,
-his regiment was transferred to Fort Leavenworth,
-and there we find him early in 1877, and for about
-two years thereafter. Of course, the garrison life of
-an officer, in times of peace, is somewhat monotonous;
-but the letters which the lieutenant wrote from this
-station contain some passages which are interesting
-and illustrate his character, as will be seen in the following
-pages. Here it should be stated that, during
-his sojourn at Fort Leavenworth, he made many
-pleasant acquaintances, which ripened into friendship;
-among them being the widow of an officer,
-with whom he boarded for some time, and whose
-friendship he particularly valued.</p>
-<p>At a time when there was quite a rage at the garrison
-for private theatricals, one of the superior officers
-took the liberty, without previous consultation,
-of putting Lockwood on the list of performers, whereupon
-he declined the honor, as he thought Nature
-never intended him for a star. In speaking of a little
-difficulty between two of his friends, he manifests his
-love of fun by stating that one of them had denied the
-allegation and defied the alligator. When commenting
-<span class="pb" id="Page_44">44</span>
-upon some disagreeable March weather, he said,
-&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think the ground-hog has seen his shadow,
-and hence the latter part of the month ought to be
-pleasant.&rdquo; After a remark on the proficiency he was
-making in the study of French, he quietly continues,
-&ldquo;There are many here who speak it &lsquo;<i>&agrave; l&rsquo;Am&eacute;ricaine</i>,&rsquo;
-as if they thought that &lsquo;the chief end of man.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>As if never satisfied with his acquirements, he
-writes in one of his letters as follows: &ldquo;My latest
-hobby is telegraphing. The signal officer of the department
-has loaned me a small battery and an instrument.
-We have put up the wires and are progressing
-well. Telegraphy, like phonography, is easy to transmit
-after some little practice; but it is difficult to
-recognize the sounds as they come over the wire, and
-it requires as much practice as it does to recognize the
-phonographic characters. I have the instrument on
-the table before me, and can not fail to gain some proficiency
-at any rate.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In July, 1877, when the strikers and rioters were
-making trouble in St. Louis, Mo., Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s
-company and five others were ordered to that
-city on duty. After their arrival, they waited in daily
-expectation of mowing down the mob, but there was
-little fighting, as the police and militia were found
-to be amply sufficient to subdue all disturbance. He
-was greatly pleased with the city and military quarters
-of St. Louis, and felt that he would like to remain
-there on permanent duty. The feature which pleased
-him more than any other at St. Louis was a private
-garden of about fifty acres, exquisitely planned, and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_45">45</span>
-containing the rarest and most beautiful flowers and
-trees. The floral display, there, he thought superior
-to that at the Centennial Exposition. The owner, a
-bachelor named Shaw, nearly eighty years of age, and
-a man of enormous wealth, paid out yearly in expenses
-twenty-five thousand dollars. At the garden
-residence of this millionaire, young Lockwood and a
-friend were hospitably entertained&mdash;a wonderful contrast
-to the accommodations at a beer-saloon, near the
-arsenal gate, where the army officers were obliged to
-take their meals while in the city. Altogether the
-trip was pleasant, but too expensive for men with
-limited means. On their return to Fort Leavenworth
-from the Eden-like garden of St. Louis, they
-were informed of Indian troubles in Montana, and
-startled by a rumor that they must soon be off upon
-a hunt for Indians&mdash;illustrating the vicissitudes of
-army-life.</p>
-<p>It was about this time that a specimen of American
-royalty visited Fort Leavenworth with his daughter,
-to whom young Lockwood had an opportunity of
-being polite. This was a great cattle-man from Texas,
-who was said to have fenced in a grazing-farm of a
-million of acres, and who numbered his cattle by tens
-of thousands. His name was King, and his title in
-all the West was the &ldquo;Cattle King of Texas.&rdquo; The
-father and daughter were much interested in an
-inspection of the fort, where they were hospitably
-entertained. From that time onward for several
-months, the dullness of garrison-life was only relieved
-by parties, dinners, and theatrical amusements in the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_46">46</span>
-city, by the presence of an encampment of Indians
-near the post, and by attendance at a grand reception
-and ball given at Kansas City by the Governor
-of the State. The letters written by young Lockwood
-during all this period are elaborate and full of
-interest to his parents, but not enlivened with any
-incidents of public interest. The garrison courts
-seem to have demanded very much of his attention,
-because of his skill in taking down testimony by short-hand,
-and he was frequently compelled to devote
-many of his sleeping hours to the duty of writing out
-his notes.</p>
-<p>While going from the fort into town one day, he
-witnessed what he called an awful spectacle&mdash;three
-little boys in a state of intoxication. This recalled
-the fate of one of his former companions in the East,
-who had become a drunkard, and in a letter to his
-father he recorded the following: &ldquo;Liquor is certainly
-a terrible curse; one constantly sees illustrations
-of this in the army. You rather startled me in a
-recent letter by telling me you had taken the pledge.
-Had you departed from your abstemious habits in
-this respect? was my first thought, but I was at once
-relieved by seeing that your allusion was to something
-else. A rule that I have had for a long time and
-seldom depart from, is not to drink before sunset and
-never to do so in a saloon. It is rather superfluous
-in me to have any such rules, as it is very seldom that
-I have a desire to touch spirituous drinks, and then I
-partake only for the sake of not appearing to be rude
-in social matters.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_47">47</div>
-<p>On one occasion, after describing a splendid dinner
-which he had attended, he branches off upon his
-own experiences in that line, stating that he had been
-caterer for the &ldquo;Bachelors&rsquo; Club&rdquo; during the current
-month, and playing housekeeper for the first time in
-his life. He was striving to feed the mess well and
-to reduce expenses, the individual assessments amounting
-to twenty-four dollars.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;We have a good deal of fun,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;at the
-mess; among other ways, by a resolution of the officers
-that I shall keep a record of the puns, jokes,
-profane expressions, etc. Any one indulging in these
-is put back or set forward on a regular motion and
-vote by the members, and any one getting a record of
-fifteen has to send to the store for a supply of cigars.
-One of the mess, having the bad habit of saying, &lsquo;O
-Lord!&rsquo; and &lsquo;Damn it!&rsquo; when excited, gets a great
-many bad marks, and is made unhappy. The standard
-of wit being very high, one seldom &lsquo;goes ahead.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In May, 1878, when it was doubtful what Congress
-would do about reducing the army, and Lieutenant
-Lockwood thought that he might decide to leave the
-service, he discussed with his father the question of
-future employment. He thought favorably of a position
-in some telegraph company, thereby proving
-that, in all his studies and leisurely occupations, he
-was practical, and no visionary. Another idea that
-he had was that he might play Cincinnatus, and again
-go upon the farm. He also thought of a position in
-connection with the Signal Service as one that would
-suit him should he, from any cause, be compelled to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_48">48</span>
-leave the army; and this suggestion, taken in connection
-with his subsequent career, is notable. He went
-so far, indeed, as to ask his father about the practicability
-of securing such a position in that corps, and
-desired especially to know all about the necessary
-qualifications.</p>
-<p>On one occasion, after alluding to the possibility
-of his being transferred for duty to some other place,
-he says that it might be a good thing for him, as he
-could not remain at Leavenworth always, and yet he
-dreaded to be sent to some &ldquo;far-distant and isolated
-post.&rdquo; When he wrote those words, how little did
-he imagine that he would eventually close his earthly
-career in a land of supreme desolation within the Arctic
-Circle!</p>
-<p>Subsequently&mdash;July, 1878&mdash;he resumed with special
-earnestness the consideration of being detailed for
-duty in the Signal Service, and, with his father&rsquo;s approbation,
-made the proper application. He thought
-the proposed transfer would be of benefit to him in
-many ways, and if he failed to make it so, he would
-very quickly be ordered back to his regiment.</p>
-<p>In September he was ordered to St. Louis for the
-purpose of conducting some recruits westward, and
-for a short time it was uncertain whether he would
-have to go to Texas or the Territory of Wyoming,
-whereby were shown the uncertainties which attend
-life in the army. He took the recruits to Fort Laramie,
-and, on his way, was in danger of being embroiled
-with the Cheyenne Indians under Sitting Bull, but
-returned in safety, by way of his old camp at Omaha,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_49">49</span>
-to his company at Fort Leavenworth. During another
-trip, which he soon after took with his company, he
-saw in western Kansas many Russian immigrants.
-They were poor, and had settled at great distances
-along the streams to be near water, not always
-easily found in these regions. They knew nothing
-of the recent outbreak of the Indians, and, indeed,
-many of them had never seen an Indian. The
-lieutenant also stumbled upon a colony of Swedes,
-and at one place saw three women, whose husbands
-had been killed by the Indians, and who were weeping
-bitterly in their distress. While his company was on
-the march he generally kept at the head of the column,
-thereby receiving the title of Pedestrian of the Command.
-Much of the country over which they traveled
-was monotonous in the extreme&mdash;wide stretches
-of prairie reaching to the far horizon. Antelopes and
-Jack-rabbits were frequently seen, and sometimes were
-fired at without success. But, to his mind, the most
-wonderful features about the country were the countless
-tracks and bones of the buffalo, while not a living
-animal was seen. One of his guides informed him
-that in former times he had killed three hundred in
-a single day, so that it was no wonder that they were
-now extinct.</p>
-<p>In a letter to one of his sisters, in October, he
-speaks of his return from this chase after Cheyenne
-Indians, and then goes on to mention some amusing
-incidents that had occurred at the post, and gives her
-this bit of artistic advice: &ldquo;I hope you will profit by
-your talent for painting, <i>not bury it in the ground,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_50">50</span>
-like the foolish steward</i>. Painting is a great and very
-popular accomplishment; there is none perhaps more
-so.&rdquo; No matter what happened in or about the garrison,
-he seemed always ready with his common-sense
-opinions referring to passing events. For example,
-after alluding to the burning of a stable, with thirteen
-mules, when some of them that had been released
-ran into the fire from fright, he thus proceeds: &ldquo;I
-was talking &lsquo;over the wire&rsquo; with one of the men on
-our telegraph line, and what he said is no doubt true,
-and shows the short-sightedness of the Government.
-He said that he and many of the other soldiers had
-damaged or lost their clothes, and that if soldiers
-were reimbursed for their losses on such occasions,
-they would work with much more <i>vim</i> and energy,
-and that he heard one man say that he would not lose
-his new pantaloons for all the mules in the stable. Of
-course, in the case of a private house on fire, I believe
-the enlisted men would risk everything; but in cases
-of this kind, where Government property only is concerned,
-this feeling has its existence. There is, too,
-some reason for this feeling; for, no matter how hard
-a soldier or officer may work at a fire to save public
-property, the Government will not reward him even
-by the restitution of his clothes. Nothing short of
-an act of Congress would be authority for such an
-issue.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>That the heart of this young man was as pure as
-his mind was bright, may be seen by reading the following
-remarks concerning the death of a little niece:
-&ldquo;I learn with deep regret the death of poor little
-<span class="pb" id="Page_51">51</span>
-Agnes, and sympathize heartily with Lidie and her
-husband in their affliction, the depth of which none
-but a parent can know. It should be a consolation,
-however, that the disease carried the little one away
-in all the innocence of childhood, before her mother&rsquo;s
-love had been intensified with years, and her own intelligence
-had taught her to love and cling to life. The
-sad news reached me on the day of the funeral of the
-little daughter of a brother lieutenant. The little baby
-seemed very amiable in life, and after death lost none
-of her sweetness. I sat up with the remains during
-the night before the funeral.&rdquo; Alas! when this noble-hearted
-young man gave up his own life, his only
-night-watchers were the stars and the icy mountains
-of the far-distant North!</p>
-<p>In December, 1878, the Twenty-third Regiment
-received orders for service in the Indian Territory,
-and a few weeks afterward entered upon its line of
-march. In the mean time, the lieutenant made himself
-useful in performing the duties of an engineer
-for the sanitary benefit of the Leavenworth garrison.
-After some appropriate studying, he soon got the
-knack of running the levels and measuring angles
-with the theodolite. He found these new duties interesting,
-preferring the field-work to the making of
-the necessary profiles and other drawings, involving
-measurements to the &sup1;/&#8321;&#8320;&#8320;&#8320; of an inch&mdash;rather a confining
-employment.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div>
-<h2 id="c5">V.
-<br /><span class="small">ARMY-LIFE IN INDIAN TERRITORY AND COLORADO.</span></h2>
-<p>From the spring of 1879 until the winter of 1881,
-Lieutenant Lockwood spent a part of his time in the
-Indian Territory, but chiefly in the State of Colorado.
-The first duty of his company was to establish a cantonment
-on the Canadian River. On their way thither,
-they made a halt at Fort Supply, where the country
-was sparsely settled, and where the rolling prairies
-seemed desolate and interminable. Those of his regiment
-who had been ordered to Supply, he found in
-miserable quarters&mdash;log-huts covered inside with canvas&mdash;old,
-cold, and forlorn in appearance inside and
-out, and yet the canvas walls thus used and useless
-were furnished at a cost of hundreds of dollars. After
-leaving that place for the Canadian River, he was
-made the engineer officer, and, with a view of making
-a map of the route and surrounding country, devoted
-his time to the science of topography, being
-rewarded by the hearty approbation of the officer in
-command.</p>
-<p>He had counted upon having some good hunting
-on this route for turkeys and other game, but was
-disappointed, owing to the fact, as was supposed, that
-<span class="pb" id="Page_53">53</span>
-several hundred Indians had passed through the country
-some weeks before and had gobbled up everything,
-including a host of <i>gobblers</i>. On reaching their destination,
-the company went into camp under a bluff
-on the Canadian River, where they were to remain
-until buildings could be erected in the immediate
-vicinity. At the conclusion of his first letter written
-home from this camp, he says, &ldquo;I am lying at full
-length on a buffalo-robe with my paper on &lsquo;Daniel
-Deronda,&rsquo; and the position is not comfortable.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In June, Lieutenant Lockwood was sent with a
-small party to Post Reno, where troubles were apprehended
-with the Indians. It was not necessary to do
-any fighting there, however, for the reason that the
-chief inhabitants of the region were rattlesnakes, tarantulas,
-and prairie-dogs, and the Indians in the vicinity
-did not seem to be in a blood-thirsty mood.
-Returning to the cantonment on the Canadian River,
-he was depressed by the discomforts of the place&mdash;no
-society and many extra duties&mdash;but he, nevertheless,
-found time and inclination to study the Spanish language,
-as if determined not to leave a stone unturned
-in his efforts to make himself useful, or ready for any
-emergency. After confessing his fondness for social
-intercourse, he writes: &ldquo;At times I get the <i>ennui</i>
-and <i>blues</i> very much. Still I try to preserve a philosophic
-mind, and when the dark side of the picture
-presents itself, I take a different stand-point, and thus
-force myself to see, by contrast, the bright side. I
-find, and ever have found, that the more occupied I
-am, the better contented I feel.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div>
-<p>In April, 1880, he went upon a kind of exploring
-expedition, riding in ten days a distance of nearly
-three hundred miles, and on returning was glad
-enough to have a little rest in his camp. But, before
-he could fall into any idle habits, he was ordered westward,
-with his command, on still more arduous duties.
-In a letter from a camp near Saguache, on the borders
-of Colorado, he sent home the following account of
-what he had seen and experienced: &ldquo;We left Fort
-Garland on the 17th of May, and have since been
-traveling across &lsquo;San Luis Park,&rsquo; the &lsquo;Valley of the
-Gods.&rsquo; This is a vast level plain in southern Colorado,
-surrounded on all sides by high, snow-capped
-mountains, which always seem within a few hours&rsquo;
-travel, and yet are miles and miles away. When one
-considers that Blanco Peak is over fourteen thousand
-feet above the sea-level, one does not wonder that it is
-very plainly seen from where I am now writing. This
-Paradise of the Gods is some two hundred miles long
-by over sixty across, and is a veritable desert. I have
-met nothing like it outside of Arizona. The vegetation
-consists of greasewood and sage-brush&mdash;sometimes
-not even this; the irrigation-ditches that one
-meets near the few streams seem hardly able to produce
-a feeble, stunted grass. For miles and miles, all
-is pulverized dust, which, blown by the winds in blinding
-clouds, covers everything like the ashes of a volcano.
-Night before last one of these <i>pleasant</i> zephyrs
-blew down several of the tents, and filled the air so
-thickly with dust, that several of the command, who
-had their hats blown off, were unable to find or recover
-<span class="pb" id="Page_55">55</span>
-them. They say it sometimes rains here, but I
-very much doubt it. The few ranches we have encountered
-are on streams descending from the mountains,
-which sink in the plain after running a short
-distance; and bordering them are the squalid adobe
-houses, the only habitations in the country.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Improbable as it may seem, the owners say that
-they raise potatoes, etc. Surely these mountains
-should be of gold and silver to compensate for the
-sterility of the soil.&rdquo; The prospect did not make
-Lockwood hilarious, and he frankly said that he was
-tired of army-life, and that eating almost nothing but
-bacon, and going without any comforts caused him to
-sigh for a return to the old Annapolis farm. He had
-not the ambition to enjoy the glory of army-life in
-such a wilderness. It might, indeed, give one a competency,
-but it was a gold-mine in Arizona that had
-recently given a fortune of fifty thousand dollars to
-one of the officers of his regiment. After a short stay
-at Garland and Alamosa, and catching a glimpse of the
-Del Norte, the command reached the Cochetapa Pass,
-near Los Pinos and the summit of the Rocky Mountains;
-and now the lieutenant began to experience a
-kind of mountain-fever, which he called a weird condition
-of the system. He was troubled with the shortness
-of breath usual at great altitudes. The six hundred
-mules drawing the train of one hundred wagons
-had great difficulty in passing through what he called
-the terrible ca&ntilde;ons. Early in June, 1880, he reached
-the Uncompahgre River, where the command encamped.
-Hardly had he obtained any relaxation
-<span class="pb" id="Page_56">56</span>
-before an order came from Fort Leavenworth, detailing
-a general court and making him the judge
-advocate, thereby proving that there was not much
-rest for an officer of recognized ability. While anxious
-to make money, he did not, while among the
-mountains, follow the example of certain fellow-officers,
-who devoted some attention to mining speculations,
-their mode of operating being as follows:
-&ldquo;For example, they secure the services of a competent
-man, provide him with food, etc., and send him out
-to prospect. Those in the Nineteenth have received
-a very flattering letter from their man, who has
-struck a very rich vein, <i>according to his account</i>.
-But this and all similar ventures are mere chance.
-Money, to the amount of twenty-five or fifty dollars,
-seems little to invest in enterprises that may pay thousands;
-but these investments count up and are not
-pleasant to consider when all ends in failure. One of
-the officers has invested not less than thirty-three
-hundred dollars in this mine-hunting business. He
-goes it alone, and has all the enthusiasm of an old
-miner.&rdquo; Not caring to waste his money in speculations
-of this sort, he improved his leisure in exploring
-the scenery of the region, especially some ca&ntilde;ons
-where the walls were several thousand feet high, and
-also a stream called Cow Creek, where he had some
-superb fishing and caught the largest trout he had
-ever seen, while his companions killed a number of
-deer. Among the scenes in which he was especially
-interested was a hot spring which measured thirty
-feet across, a waterfall two hundred feet high, and a
-<span class="pb" id="Page_57">57</span>
-small mining hamlet nestled in a pocket of the mountains,
-and where, funny to relate, he and his companions
-were suspected to be tramps or horse-thieves.
-Returning to his regular cantonment on the Uncompahgre,
-he was informed of a pending trouble with the
-Ute Indians, when, according to his habit, he expressed
-this decided opinion: &ldquo;If the sentimentalists
-on Indian questions in the East could be brought out
-here and made to feel and suffer the outrages which
-these savages inflict on isolated settlers, there would
-not be so many to support the Interior Department
-in its abominable prejudice in all questions of Whites
-<i>vs.</i> Indians.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In one of his letters, written from a cantonment
-in Colorado, he mentions with pain the temporary fall
-of one of his brother officers, who, while playing a
-game of poker, was charged with dishonesty, thereby
-pocketing a hundred dollars. The poor fellow had
-been placed in arrest and was to have a trial. In
-speaking of his manner of killing time in his Colorado
-camp, he alludes to the fact of having two setter dogs,
-which he was training for use and his own amusement,
-and further says that when not playing a game
-of billiards at the store near the camp, he spent his
-time in reading, the books then occupying his attention
-being, Tyler&rsquo;s &ldquo;Baconian Philosophy,&rdquo; which he
-greatly admired; Swinton&rsquo;s &ldquo;History of the Rebellion,&rdquo;
-which he criticised with some severity; and
-Green&rsquo;s &ldquo;Russian Campaign in Turkey,&rdquo; which interested
-him greatly.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div>
-<h2 id="c6">VI.
-<br /><span class="small">PREPARING FOR THE ARCTIC REGIONS.</span></h2>
-<p>From this point, the story of Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s
-life will be chiefly given from the records
-which he kept during his sojourn in the Arctic regions.
-For reasons which the general reader will
-appreciate, all merely technical and official remarks
-have been omitted, and only those retained which are
-calculated to illustrate the personal character of the
-man and officer, it being understood that his journals,
-illustrating his merits and labors, will be fully set
-forth in the official history, to be hereafter published,
-of the expedition with which he was so honorably
-identified.</p>
-<p>In 1880 it was proposed by an International Polar
-Commission, for the purpose of elucidating in behalf
-of science the phenomena of the weather and of the
-magnetic needle, that meteorological stations should
-be established by various countries in different parts
-of the polar regions. The Congress of the United
-States made an appropriation for establishing a scientific
-colony at the two places designated for the occupation
-of the Americans&mdash;viz., Point Barrow, in
-Alaska, and Lady Franklin Bay, in Grinnell Land.
-These stations were to be occupied for from one to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_59">59</span>
-three years. At the time the expedition was being
-organized in Washington for the latter place, Lieutenant
-Lockwood was on a visit to his parents in that
-city. Taking a special interest in the operations of
-the Signal-Service Bureau, which had the business in
-charge, he forthwith volunteered for the proposed expedition,
-and his services were accepted by the Secretary
-of War. When the party for the Lady Franklin
-Bay station was fully organized, it consisted of
-First-Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely, U. S. A., commander;
-Lieutenants F. F. Kislingbury and James
-B. Lockwood, U. S. A., as assistants; and Dr. O.
-Pavy, as surgeon and naturalist; with a force of
-twenty-two sergeants, corporals, and privates, all connected
-with the army, and whose names are given as
-follows: Edward Israel, Winfield S. Jewell, George
-W. Rice, David O. Ralston, Hampden S. Gardiner,
-sergeants in the Signal Corps; William H. Cross, sergeant
-in the general service; David L. Brainard and
-David Linn, sergeants of cavalry; Nicholas Saler,
-corporal of infantry; Joseph Ellison, corporal of infantry;
-Charles B. Henry, Maurice Connell, Jacob
-Bender, Francis Long, William Whistler, Henry Biederbick,
-Julius R. Fredericks, William A. Ellis, and
-Roderick R. Schneider, privates in various branches of
-the army; and, finally, two Esquimaux, Jans Edwards
-and Frederick Christiansen, of Greenland.</p>
-<p>In view of the possibility that Lady Franklin Bay
-might become a permanent station, all the preliminary
-arrangements were made as complete as possible.
-A steamer called the Proteus was secured for conveying
-<span class="pb" id="Page_60">60</span>
-the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, and she
-was ordered to await the arrival of the explorers at
-the port of St. John&rsquo;s, in Newfoundland. Lieutenant
-Lockwood sailed in a steamer from Baltimore with
-the party and reached St. John&rsquo;s late in June.</p>
-<p>Here it may not be out of place to submit a few
-remarks on the utility of these Arctic explorations,
-which are sometimes criticised by people who, without
-due consideration, jump to hasty conclusions. In
-former times their main object was to find open passages
-between the northern regions of Europe, Asia,
-and America, and to settle the problem of the north
-pole; and statistics show that when these expeditions
-have confined their operations within reasonable limits,
-the mortality attending them has been remarkably
-small&mdash;less than in ordinary commercial voyages. Sir
-John Franklin went far beyond these limits, and left
-no monuments by which he could be traced. De
-Long put his ship into the polar ice with the design
-of moving with the polar drift. The Greely Expedition
-was expected to be confined, and was confined, to
-the well-known waters of Smith&rsquo;s Sound. It could,
-therefore, be reached at any time, and, if necessary,
-it could fall back upon a point accessible at all times.
-All that was required to secure its safe return was <i>a
-well-chosen base, and an absolute certainty that this
-base would be maintained</i>. Unfortunately, neither
-requirement was fulfilled, and hence nineteen men lost
-their lives. Sledge-journeys from established bases,
-though fraught with great labor and discomfort, have
-never been attended with serious loss of life. It is
-<span class="pb" id="Page_61">61</span>
-now about one thousand years since the first Arctic
-voyage was made, and their aggregate usefulness can
-hardly be questioned when we remember that they
-have developed fisheries that have built up the commerce
-and navies of nations, and that the direct return
-into the exchange of England has been far more
-than the cost to her of all her Arctic explorations.
-The Polar Commission, already alluded to, inaugurated
-a new policy in regard to Arctic explorations,
-and one whose utility can not be questioned. It had
-its origin, in 1875, in the mind of a German discoverer
-named Carl Weyprecht; and in the opinion of
-many of the leading minds of the world, the meteorological
-observations inaugurated by him have done
-much, and will do much more, to rectify errors in
-the polar problem and bring to light information
-about the ice zones, which will give the observers a
-prominent position in scientific history. According
-to Professor Joseph Henry, the problems connected
-with physical geography and science, which are yet
-unsolved, are the determination of the figure and of
-the magnetism of the earth, complete knowledge of
-the tides of the ocean, the winds of the globe, and
-the influence of extreme cold on animal and vegetable
-life. Surely the men who voluntarily toil and
-suffer in their efforts to obtain the needed light on
-all these subjects, are quite as worthily employed as
-those who struggle for riches or political fame. In
-the Professor&rsquo;s opinion, all the branches of science
-above mentioned are indirectly connected with the
-well-being of man, and tend not only to enlarge his
-<span class="pb" id="Page_62">62</span>
-sphere of mental activity, but to promote the application
-of science to the arts of life. A French writer,
-after applauding the plans of the Polar Commission,
-concludes his remarks as follows: &ldquo;The larger number
-of the civilized nations are striving by scientific
-means to wrest the mysterious secrets of the deep
-from the hidden recesses of the North.&rdquo; In 1884 the
-number of nations that had entered heartily into the
-project was thirteen; fifteen polar stations, and over
-forty auxiliary stations, had already been established.
-That the reader may fully understand the operations
-and exploits which are to be chronicled in the subsequent
-pages of this volume, it may be well to submit
-the subjoined extract from the official report of General
-W. B. Hazen, Chief of the United States Signal
-Service, for the year 1881: &ldquo;Owing to the very mobile
-nature of the atmosphere, the changes taking place on
-one portion of the globe, especially in the Arctic zone,
-quickly affect regions very distant therefrom. The
-study of the weather in Europe and America can not
-be successfully prosecuted without a daily map of the
-whole northern hemisphere, and the great blank space
-of the Arctic region upon our simultaneous international
-chart has long been a subject of regret to meteorologists.
-The general object is to accomplish, by
-observations made in concert at numerous stations,
-such additions to our knowledge as can not be acquired
-by isolated or desultory traveling parties. No special
-attempt will be made at geographical exploration, and
-neither expedition is in any sense expected to reach the
-north pole. The single object is to elucidate the phenomena
-<span class="pb" id="Page_63">63</span>
-of the weather and of the magnetic needle as
-they occur in America and Europe, by means of observations
-taken in the region where the most remarkable
-disturbances seem to have their origin.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>While the foregoing were to be considered as the
-primary considerations, it was expressly stated in the
-official instructions, that sledging parties, generally,
-should work in the interests of exploration and discovery,
-and should be conducted with all possible
-care and fidelity. Careful attention was also to be
-given to the collection of specimens of the animal,
-mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. It will be seen that
-all that was accomplished by Lieutenant Lockwood
-was instigated by the mandate connected with the
-use of the sledge.</p>
-<p>It thus appears that the Greely expedition was not
-only intended to accomplish a good work, but that
-in all human probability the same might have been
-accomplished without serious loss of life. That there
-was a deplorable loss of life, we can only lament, leaving
-for others to point out the causes of the disaster
-which befell the expedition.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div>
-<h2 id="c7">VII.
-<br /><span class="small">FROM NEWFOUNDLAND TO LADY FRANKLIN BAY.</span></h2>
-<p>All things being ready, the Greely Expedition left
-St. John&rsquo;s, Newfoundland, for Lady Franklin Bay, on
-Thursday, July 7, 1881, in the steamer Proteus, Captain
-Pike. She was a barkentine, measuring two
-hundred and fifty feet in length, and having a burden
-of six hundred tons. Built in Scotland for the
-whaling and sealing service, she had already made
-several successful voyages within the Arctic Circle and
-on the Labrador coast. The departure of the ship
-elicited no demonstration from the people on the dock,
-excepting a few cheers from some warm-hearted fishermen.
-Whether the good people of Newfoundland were
-disgusted because they could not sell any more supplies
-at extravagant prices, or were displeased with
-the Yankee explorers for presuming to compete with
-Englishmen in the icy North, are questions not to be
-easily solved.</p>
-<p>During his stay in St. John&rsquo;s, Lieutenant Lockwood
-wrote a letter to his mother, in which he gave
-the following account of the city:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;St. John&rsquo;s is a queer and forlorn old place; everything
-is antiquated, slow, and behind the times in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_65">65</span>
-every respect. The few hotels are more like third-class
-boarding-houses; a livery-stable is not to be
-found in this city of thirty thousand. This condition
-of affairs is said to be due to the religion of the place,
-which is Roman Catholic. It is charged that ignorance
-and poverty are what this church most thrives
-on, and it is certainly a thriving church here. The
-other day the shops were all closed, and the place assumed
-the appearance of Sunday&mdash;it was a holy day
-for their patron saints, Peter and Paul. Only two
-classes here&mdash;the poor and the rich&mdash;and everything
-accords with the former class. Crooked streets and
-mean, forlorn, dirty houses everywhere. The only
-respectable public buildings are the Catholic churches
-and the convents.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With the wind favorable, the sea calm, the sky
-clear, and all in good spirits, away went the vessel
-on her voyage to the North. A steam-launch, called
-the Lady Greely, rested securely on the main deck.
-It was arranged that the sergeants of the expedition
-should sleep in the cabin, eating at the second
-table, and the rest of the men live forward; and,
-though somewhat crowded, it was hoped they would
-all be comfortable. During the first twenty-four
-hours, two hundred miles were made. Lieutenant
-Greely and most of the men were sea-sick. At sunset
-on the second day out, the first iceberg was seen,
-and attracted the special attention of the land-lubbers.
-On the 9th, gales from the northwest set in,
-and the sick men became worse&mdash;the thermometer
-marking forty degrees, the air being damp and uncomfortable.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_66">66</span>
-The wind moderated in the evening,
-but left the sea very rough, so that the steam-launch
-had to be secured in her cradle by braces. Although
-then in the track of the St. Lawrence trade, not a
-single vessel was seen, suggesting the idea that business
-was not flourishing. As to Lieutenant Lockwood,
-he was in good spirits, and amused himself by
-reading Kennan&rsquo;s interesting book on Siberian life.
-On the following day the sea went down, and the
-sick men came up from their berths and were able to
-resume their places at the table, Lockwood and Kislingbury
-being the only ones who had escaped sea-sickness.
-When the former had finished Kennan&rsquo;s book,
-he took up Barrow&rsquo;s &ldquo;Voyage within the Arctic Circle,&rdquo;
-reading it in the presence of several icebergs,
-which appeared as if they intended to welcome the
-band of Yankee adventurers to their inhospitable domain.</p>
-<p>On the morning of the 11th, notwithstanding the
-promise of fine summer weather, the sky became overcast,
-and at noon the captain, assisted by the volunteers,
-including Lockwood, Israel, and Gardiner,
-could hardly succeed in getting observations, and
-though they reckoned the latitude at 58&deg;, it was not
-reliable. Rain, attended with high winds or gales, succeeded,
-the sufferers from sea-sickness finding refuge
-in their berths. Ellis, one of the sergeants, suffered
-more than the others, having refused all food since
-leaving port. They could give him no aid save a little
-wine and beef-tea. The cold, cheerless weather
-depressed the spirits of all, but they hoped to get used
-<span class="pb" id="Page_67">67</span>
-to it. The days were sensibly growing longer, beginning
-at 1.45 <span class="small">A. M.</span> and closing at 10 <span class="small">P. M.</span> They
-now remarked the absence of icebergs and ice-floes,
-and wondered whether this meant that the previous
-winter in the north had been so mild that but little
-ice had formed, or that the spring had been so backward
-that but little had become detached and drifted
-southward. They had learned at St. John&rsquo;s that the
-late winter had been the mildest ever known there.
-At the close of the 11th, no land was in sight, and
-they had made seven hundred miles. The steward informed
-Lockwood that the men were growling about
-their food, which was the same as that received in the
-cabin. He thought this a bad sign for Arctic explorers,
-but tried to make matters more satisfactory.</p>
-<p>The next day was disagreeable, a cold rain falling;
-and though a strong head-wind was blowing, the
-sea was smooth, betokening land or ice, it was supposed.
-Accordingly, at 9 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, they were aroused
-by the cry of &ldquo;ice ahead,&rdquo; and, sure enough, there
-was seen, extending over 90&deg; of the horizon, the white
-line indicating an ice-floe. Coming up to the ice,
-they found it to consist of detached pieces flowing
-southward. Some of these assumed the most fantastic
-shapes&mdash;dogs, seals, and other animals, and even houses
-and castles, readily presenting themselves to the imagination.
-One piece looked like an old ruin. The pillars,
-dome, and vaulted roof, all were there; indeed,
-the effect was perfect. Again, other pieces presented
-varieties of color most beautiful and remarkable.
-Generally, the lower parts being dark blue, were surmounted
-<span class="pb" id="Page_68">68</span>
-by a stratum of pure white, resembling snow,
-but really the purest ice. They were two hours in
-getting through this floe. Although daylight was
-continuous, they could not, because of fogs, distinguish
-the hours of sunrise or sunset.</p>
-<p>On the following day the weather was still cloudy,
-and another ice-floe detained them two hours. They
-also saw many isolated pieces and large icebergs in the
-distance. This ice, it was said, came from the east
-coast of Greenland with a current which, flowing
-around Cape Farewell, passes up the west coast half
-way to Disco. It still proved interesting to the voyagers
-by reason of its fantastic shapes and diversified
-colors&mdash;white, blue, and green. It rose a few feet
-above the water-line, and the submerged portion of the
-floe colored the water a most beautiful green. Seals
-were then seen for the first time, basking in the sun
-on the ice. Judging from the increased seas, they
-expected no more ice-floes in front. The temperature
-also indicated this, for it was sensibly warmer. Lockwood,
-who seemed never to be idle, now finished Barrow
-and took up Captain Nares&rsquo;s &ldquo;British Expedition
-of 1875-&rsquo;76,&rdquo; reading, writing, and Bowditch
-occupying much of his time. The crow&rsquo;s nest was
-hoisted to the main-top on that day. This was a large
-barrel or hogshead with peep-holes on the side and a
-trap beneath. This afforded shelter for a man posted
-there who looked out for the ice and the best way of
-getting through it.</p>
-<p>On the 16th, fogs detained them and interfered with
-noon observations, but, lifting at three o&rsquo;clock, they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_69">69</span>
-sighted the Greenland coast on the starboard bow, distant
-fifteen miles. The coast-line appeared exceedingly
-rugged and broken, and the interior, mountainous
-with deep ravines running very abruptly down to
-the sea. The mountain-tops were covered with snow,
-but generally the sides were bare of snow except the
-ravines, which seemed to be filled up entirely. This
-range of mountains reminded Lockwood of the Uncompahgre
-chain in Colorado as seen from Los Pinos
-Valley. They saw the usual number of gulls and
-a species of duck called the sea-pigeon, also several
-whales blowing and spouting in the distance, surrounded
-by flocks of small birds which seemed to feed
-on their offal. Kislingbury and the steward tried
-rifles on these whales, but without success. One whale
-being near by, with apparent design to cross the track
-of the vessel, was met by the rifle-ball, but with no
-other effect than to cause him to throw up his tail and
-dive below the surface. The thermometer rose to 50&deg;
-on that day, rendering the deck, where all were assembled
-to view the prospect, quite comfortable. They
-then first witnessed the sunset since leaving St. John&rsquo;s,
-because of the fogs and clouds that had constantly
-attended the voyage. The sun&rsquo;s disk seemed greatly
-flattened just as it disappeared at 10.20, and presented
-much the appearance of a huge mushroom seen edgewise.
-Enough of twilight remained at midnight to
-render the horizon visible.</p>
-<p>On the 16th, they steamed cautiously through the
-fog, making but fourteen knots between noon and 6
-<span class="small">P. M.</span> Then the high, bold bluffs forming the southern
-<span class="pb" id="Page_70">70</span>
-coast of Disco Island loomed up in the distance directly
-ahead. These bluffs are almost vertical and
-probably five hundred feet high, and are desolate and
-barren in the extreme. Their continuity is interrupted
-only by deep ravines, or ca&ntilde;ons, which break through
-at various angles to the sea. They there found themselves
-in the midst of a hundred icebergs of every
-conceivable form and size, and in color of the purest
-white, resembling in the distance huge mountains
-of chalk. One of the sights that attracted special
-notice consisted of two bergs connected by an immense
-arch high enough overhead for the ship to sail beneath,
-reminding Lockwood of the Natural Bridge of
-Virginia. On near approach it looked like marble
-and was quite as smooth. Some time afterward, and
-when two miles away, a signal-gun was fired for a pilot.
-This was followed by a rumbling noise, which caused
-the voyagers to look back, when they were surprised
-to see this immense arch tumble over and fall into the
-sea, throwing the spray a hundred feet into the air
-and producing a commotion of the sea sensible two
-miles away, and soon after followed by a noise like
-distant thunder. Most truly sublime were both spectacle
-and catastrophe! Icebergs are regarded as very
-dangerous both by the Esquimaux and by experienced
-Arctic travelers, and are given a wide berth.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig2">
-<img src="images/p081.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="513" />
-<p class="caption">Lockwood, Natives, and Kyack at Disco, Greenland.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div>
-<p>Moving on at a low speed, the steamer was finally
-boarded by a white man attended by an Esquimaux, the
-former introducing himself as Mr. Gleichen, the Governor
-of Godhaven, Lively, or Disco, as the capital is
-variously called. The vessel was soon twisted through
-the narrow opening behind which the town lies, and
-the voyagers found themselves in the snuggest and
-smallest harbor, for its depth of water, that any of the
-party had ever seen. On one side were the high cliffs,
-barren and rugged, and on the other the few habitations
-which constituted the place, the only dwellings
-presenting an appearance of anything more than squalid
-huts being those of the governor and of the inspector,
-a Mr. Smith. Besides the dwellings, there
-were several warehouses and a church, all of wood.
-The huts of the natives were to some extent of wood,
-but strengthened and made warm by thick walls of
-sod reaching to the eaves.</p>
-<p>Greely, Kislingbury, and Lockwood immediately
-went ashore to visit the inspector, whose house stood
-near the water and presented a neat appearance.
-Within they found quite an air of comfort and refinement.
-A piano, a small billiard-table, a well-filled
-book-case, carpets, pictures, and many other evidences
-of civilization and even elegance were there. They
-found the wife of the inspector very pleasant and
-speaking English fluently, while her daughter and a
-governess, though speaking English with difficulty,
-were well dressed and ladylike. After taking wine
-with these hospitable ladies, the lieutenants left their
-commander to continue the conversation and wandered
-forth to view the town. Passing without mishap several
-cross-looking Esquimaux dogs, they found themselves
-in what seemed a carpenter&rsquo;s shop, on the large,
-bare floor of which a dance was in progress. After
-playing spectators for some time they indulged in a
-<span class="pb" id="Page_72">72</span>
-waltz with the prettiest girls in the room, and were
-surprised and pleased to find how well they got along
-together. Their round dances were found to be like
-many figures of the &ldquo;German&rdquo; as danced in the
-United States. Kislingbury gave the natives an exhibition
-of the Indian dance, and thus became a favorite
-with them.</p>
-<p>The dress of the men consisted of a pair of sealskin
-pantaloons and a woolen or checked shirt. That
-of the women was very peculiar&mdash;indeed, unique. One
-of the girls, whose dress may be taken to illustrate all,
-wore a pair of seal-skin pantalets bound at the hips by
-a red scarf and terminating just above the knees,
-where they met the white canvas tops of a pair of
-boots, or rather leggings. These reached to the calf,
-and there met the tops of red seal-skin bootlets, into
-which they were inserted. These leggings were
-starched and prettily fringed at the top, and their
-color indicated the state as to matrimony of the
-wearer, white being reserved for maidens, and colors
-for those that were married. This distinction was
-afterward found to be general. The pantalets were
-plain, except some red leather pieces sewed on in front
-by way of ornament. The upper garment consisted
-of a pretty, fancy-colored cassock, or jacket, extending
-barely to the hips, replaced in cold weather by the
-same of seal-skin with a hood. The upper part of the
-jacket was concealed by a necklace, or rather by several
-necklaces, sewed together flat, which formed a
-collar covering the bosom and shoulders. The head
-was covered by a kind of chaplet formed of fancy-colored
-<span class="pb" id="Page_73">73</span>
-cloth, and the hair was done up in a queue,
-which extended upward and backward from the top
-of the head, and was tied with colored ribbon. The
-wrists and neck were encircled with boas of dark-colored
-furs, which contrasted well with the bright-colored
-skin. The arms were bare to the short sleeves
-of the jacket, and on the fingers were a number of
-rings. So much for the Disco belles!</p>
-<p>The dancing officers did not reach their ship until
-after midnight, and soon after the sun rose, flooding
-all nature with his glorious light, and seemingly
-affecting natives and strangers alike, for both were
-seen standing around to admire and enjoy the benediction
-of nature.</p>
-<p>Inspector Smith visited the steamer, dressed in a
-military coat with brass buttons, and military cap with
-wide gold-lace band, but wearing seal-skin trousers.
-The strangers soon found themselves surrounded by a
-fleet of Esquimaux boats, called <i>kyacks</i>, resembling in
-form a cigar cut in half lengthwise and turned up at
-both ends. The framework of wood was covered with
-seal-skin with the hair removed. In the center was a
-hole into which the occupant inserted the lower part of
-his body to the hips, drawing up at the same time a cylindrical
-piece of seal-skin which was attached to the
-rim of the hole. When the top of this is gathered up
-and secured over his chest, the man and boat are practically
-one, and both are water-proof under all circumstances.
-The upper surface of the kyack is but an
-inch or two above the water when smooth, and when
-rough, of course it is frequently submerged entirely.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_74">74</span>
-In this craft the kyacker braves the billows of the
-open sea, and, provided with lance and harpoon to
-slay his game, and bladder and rope to mark its
-flight when struck and buoy up its body when killed,
-he attacks the seal, walrus, or even the narwhal. In
-South Greenland, where there is more open water,
-the kyackers become very expert, and, by means of
-their short, two-bladed paddles, can easily right themselves
-when upset, or even perform a complete revolution
-without changing position or posture.</p>
-<p>On Sunday, the 17th, Lieutenant Lockwood called
-on the governor, and then went into many of the
-houses of the place; he found the natives polite and
-hospitable, living in clean, well-built huts, whose interior
-presented nothing peculiar except that about
-one third of the floor was raised a few feet, constituting
-a platform, which was used as the sleeping-couch
-of the whole family by night, and by day as a place
-of deposit for articles in daily use. The walls were
-adorned with rough prints or illustrations from European
-and American papers. In one house was seen a
-translation of the Psalms into Esquimaux. Their words
-are run together, as in the German language. Lockwood
-made some purchases, giving in return an old
-pair of pantaloons, old clothes being a circulating medium,
-and preferred to money. He was surprised to
-find that these people had a paper currency, the units
-being the ocre and the crown, one hundred ocres
-making one crown, while the crown is worth about an
-English shilling. In dealing with one another, the
-ocre seems to go a good way, but not so when a
-<span class="pb" id="Page_75">75</span>
-stranger is dealt with; and to do much shopping with
-this currency, one must carry a load of paper equal to
-what was required of Confederate currency in wartimes
-to buy a barrel of flour. The coins were of
-copper, valued each at five ocres.</p>
-<p>On the following day, Lieutenants Greely, Kislingbury,
-and Lockwood, all dined at four o&rsquo;clock
-with the inspector&rsquo;s family, by invitation of his wife,
-in the absence of her husband on official duty; the
-courses being soup, fish, eider-duck, and canned green
-peas, with a dessert of jelly; wines and brandy being
-served with the courses. The cooking and serving
-were excellent, the waitress an Esquimaux damsel in
-pantalets. Afterward, with others, they called on the
-governor, and with him went down to witness a dance.
-Lockwood learned that the population of the two
-divisions of North and South Greenland together was
-about nine thousand souls.</p>
-<p>On the 19th, at the request of Lieutenant Greely,
-Lockwood made an exploration of the mountain-cliffs
-south of the town. After a long tramp over the
-soggy moss, and up steep cliffs, much annoyed by innumerable
-mosquitoes, he returned to dinner, with
-very little information worthy of mention. After
-superintending some stowage, he again called to see
-Mrs. Smith, the inspector&rsquo;s wife, and enjoyed her excellent
-piano-music, to say nothing of the wine and
-cigars she offered. Then he went to the dance,
-but not until after the men had left. These
-Greenland dances, as already intimated, resemble
-the Virginia reel, differing only in the alternate
-<span class="pb" id="Page_76">76</span>
-chasing of the partners through the two rows till
-caught.</p>
-<p>Having completed their stowage and coaling, and
-having taken on board fourteen dogs with their food,
-they would have left Disco but for the fogs. Dr.
-Pavy, who had been left there by Howgate, joined the
-party on the 20th, as surgeon, as Mr. Clay was expected
-to do at Ritenbank. They had some music
-on the chapel organ in the evening, which was well
-rendered.</p>
-<p>The penning of the dogs was a scene of excitement
-and amusement. Their snarling and biting and fighting
-had no end until one of the number present was
-acknowledged, for his prowess and valor, the victor by
-all the others. Then the battle ceased, but only until
-there was a new arrival, when the battle was renewed
-and the <i>parvenu</i> put <i>hors de combat</i>, or declared
-king. In due time the steamer left Disco, and arrived
-at Ritenbank between 10 and 12 <span class="small">A. M.</span> The harbor
-was found to be quite roomy and the entrance wide
-and deep; icebergs float into it, and thus render
-Ritenbank less desirable as a harbor than Disco.
-While there, with Mr. Clay (who now joined the expedition)
-and some of the men, Lockwood visited the
-neighboring bird mountains or looneries, rowing up a
-fiord some three miles distant. The approach to these
-was manifested by the commotion among the innumerable
-eider-ducks and other wild fowl flying overhead,
-swimming in the water around, or occupying the narrow
-ledges of the vertical cliffs on either side, some
-of which were five hundred feet high and covered with
-<span class="pb" id="Page_77">77</span>
-birds. The shot used being too small, would kill only
-at short range, and it was difficult to obtain the game;
-consequently they got only seventy fowls of various
-kinds. On their return they visited an Innuit
-burying-ground, which, from its antiquity, must
-contain many of the natives, whose blood is much
-purer than that of the present stock; for it is said the
-present Esquimaux blood is now very much mixed.
-The graves were oblong piles of lichen-covered stones,
-containing the moldering skeletons, which were generally
-in a sitting posture. But little regard is paid to
-the dead in Greenland. Influenza, and consumption
-induced thereby, are rapidly carrying off the natives,
-and this is increased by uncleanly habits, improper
-food, and bad ventilation, the latter aggravated by the
-introduction of small stoves into their close houses.
-The present longevity, it is said, averages thirty-three
-years.</p>
-<p>The prevailing fogs greatly decreased the pleasure
-the explorers would have had in viewing the grand scenery
-in the passage to Upernavik, which they reached
-on the 23d of July, or in about fifteen days from
-Newfoundland. They had in sight numbers of icebergs,
-some of immense size. The whole western coast
-of Greenland is skirted with islands, separated from
-each other and the mainland by deep fiords. If it
-were not for the fogs, a pleasant summer excursion
-could be made through these fiords to the everlasting
-barrier of glaciers, which render the interior a veritable
-land of desolation.</p>
-<p>Very soon after the expedition had arrived at
-<span class="pb" id="Page_78">78</span>
-Upernavik, it was found necessary for some one to go
-to a place called Proven, to obtain Esquimaux guides
-and a supply of Arctic clothing, and to Lieutenant
-Lockwood was assigned this duty. He and his helpers
-boarded the steam-launch, and, with Governor
-Elburg as guide, proceeded on their way through an
-inner passage leading to the place of destination.
-Their course lay along rocky and precipitous cliffs,
-many of them covered with auks and other wild fowl.
-The cliffs attained an elevation of two and three thousand
-feet, and were so smooth and regular as to have
-the appearance of having been made by man. Without
-any shore whatever, large ships could lie alongside
-in safety. On their arrival at Proven, they saw the
-whole population in their picturesque costumes lining
-the shore, to view what they had never seen before&mdash;a
-craft moving without oars or sails.</p>
-<p>Near the shore were located four large warehouses
-where seal-oil was deposited before shipment, and
-where also were kept by the Danish Government supplies
-of provisions for issue to the natives in case of
-emergency. The huts of the natives were found still
-more primitive than those at Disco, for here the entrance
-was through a long, low gallery, requiring one to
-grope in darkness almost on hands and knees. Lockwood
-softened the heart of the occupant of one by
-presents of tobacco, and induced him to play on his
-fiddle simple airs which he had picked up from whaling-crews.
-This brought in all the damsels of the
-town, and soon waltzes and other dances prevailed.
-The lieutenant did not consider it beneath his dignity
-<span class="pb" id="Page_79">79</span>
-to &ldquo;show a heel.&rdquo; He unfortunately answered affirmatively
-to the question, &ldquo;Are you big captain?&rdquo; and
-was also imprudent in giving an old lady a half-dozen
-ocres. He was at once pounced upon by every one as
-lawful prey, and, what through begging, extortion,
-and other means, the &ldquo;big captain&rdquo; was soon rid of
-all his change, and might have been reduced to a
-state of nudity but for the timely arrival of the governor,
-who took him home to dine and to lodge. The
-soup, though sweet to the taste, was good; floating in
-it were lemon-peel and raisins. Next came reindeer-steaks
-cooked in wine and most delicious. Potatoes
-were the only vegetable. Cooking and serving excellent.
-Brandy, beer, and wine in profusion. The meal
-terminated by a general hand-shaking, according to
-custom, and the governor kissed his wife. The lodging
-was equally agreeable, affording the luxury of a
-clean feather bed. In the morning, and while yet in
-bed, a young Esquimaux damsel in pantalets brought
-the American a cup of strong coffee with a few crackers.
-That day he took on board the launch two
-Esquimaux, Frederick Christiansen and Jans Edwards,
-lashing their kyacks behind, also the seal-skin,
-dog-skin, and other clothing they had come for, and
-at midnight left amid the hearty cheers of the natives
-and the tears and lamentations of the friends of Jans
-and Frederick who had come to see them off.</p>
-<p>After an uneventful passage, and stopping only to
-add one hundred and twenty-seven birds to their
-larder, the launch reached the ship at 10 <span class="small">A. M.</span> on the
-25th. Lieutenant Kislingbury and a crew in the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_80">80</span>
-whale-boat afterward went to Sanderson&rsquo;s Hope Island
-and secured several hundred more, so that there was
-no scarcity of fresh food. In the mean time some
-new dogs were secured, so that the total number now
-on hand was thirty-two.</p>
-<p>The ship left Upernavik on the 29th, and, keeping
-the inner passage, made her way toward the north.</p>
-<p>While crossing Melville Bay on the 30th, there
-was no ice in sight except bergs, and the sun shone
-brightly. That state of things was a great surprise
-to the explorers, as here it was that McClintock was
-frozen in for a whole year, and Nares congratulated
-himself in having passed the bay without detention.
-Indeed, Melville Bay has always been regarded as the
-<i>b&ecirc;te noire</i> of Arctic travel. An Arctic bear found on a
-broken pack of floating ice was killed by Lieutenant
-Kislingbury, and, when hoisted on board, was found
-to weigh a thousand pounds and to measure seven
-feet two inches in length. They were probably fifty
-miles from land at the time.</p>
-<p>On the last day of July, the Proteus party sighted
-land, which they supposed to be Cape Dudley Diggs,
-north of Melville&rsquo;s Bay. Much old floating ice was
-seen, but so rotten as to offer no obstruction. Several
-seals and many little auks were killed and secured.</p>
-<p>About this time Lockwood and others observed
-tokens of disrespect and insubordination on the part
-of some of the men, which were traced to a certain
-corporal as ringleader. Lockwood watched him with
-care, and urged the propriety of sending him home
-by the first opportunity, which was afterward done.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div>
-<p>On one occasion, toward evening, the voyagers witnessed
-the overturning of an iceberg three hundred
-feet long and one hundred and fifty feet high. After
-capsizing, it continued to revolve on several axes for
-some time. Its change of base was preceded by the
-fall of several detached pieces, thus shifting its center
-of gravity.</p>
-<p>The next day, August 1st, was clear and cool, and
-without fog. Passed Dudley Diggs at noon and then
-steered for Gary Islands, sighting them three hours
-later. The officers looked hard for the crimson cliffs
-near Dudley Diggs noticed by Sir John Ross, but observed
-only some slight discoloration of the snow.
-The glacier near this cape seemed to be two or
-three miles long; at the sea-shore, of inconsiderable
-height, but in the background, attaining an imposing
-elevation. The ship&rsquo;s compasses, as usual in this latitude,
-were all crazy, occasioning some bewilderment
-to the captain. The bear and seal meats were duly
-served on shipboard, and pronounced palatable by
-all, though to some the bear-meat was slightly fishy.
-Two boats with all the officers and others landed on
-the most easterly of the Cary Islands, and proceeded
-at once to find and inspect the <i>cache</i> of provisions&mdash;thirty-six
-hundred rations&mdash;left there by Sir George
-Nares for his own safety. They were apparently in
-good condition, notwithstanding many of the barrels
-resting on their ends afforded opportunity for rain
-and snow-water to enter. Some biscuits were found
-moldy. Replaced the Nares record by a copy, and also
-left a full record of the Proteus. There was found
-<span class="pb" id="Page_82">82</span>
-there an excellent whale-boat, turned bottom upward,
-with oars and sails complete. This Lockwood urged
-Lieutenant Greely to take along, but he preferred getting
-the one at Foulke Point. The former regarded
-the supply of boats as too small, and circumstances
-might arise which would cause them to regret not using
-this one. They had only the steam-launch, a twenty-four-feet
-whale-boat, and a small, fourteen-feet row-boat&mdash;the
-whale-boat being the only one to be depended
-on in case of accident. The boat at Point Foulke
-was thought to be inferior. They picked up driftwood,
-an oar, and some burned pieces of a ship&rsquo;s stem
-or stern. They also saw some red snow, and shot several
-eider-ducks. The Cary Islands were found to be
-barren masses of rocks without vegetation.</p>
-<p>The steamer came to anchor at Littleton Island
-at 9 <span class="small">A. M.</span> on the 2d of August, just as the steering-gear
-gave way. A party went to &ldquo;Life-boat Cove&rdquo;
-and brought back a number of articles left by the
-Polaris Expedition of 1873. They saw neither Esquimaux
-nor reindeer, but shot a walrus. Lieutenant
-Greely made an effort to find the cairn left there by
-Nares, and the letters left for Nares by the Pandora.
-He found the letters but not the cairn, though there
-was a dismantled cairn afterward seen by others. Lockwood
-with a party of men put ashore several tons of
-coal, which, as it had to be carried up some thirty feet
-above the sea-level, he found no easy job. While
-thus engaged, this party had an adventure with some
-walruses, not unattended with danger. Having excited
-a drove of them by a simultaneous fire, the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_83">83</span>
-animals came toward the boat, and at one time held
-its inmates in peril. Lockwood alone was prepared to
-meet the foremost, and by good luck slew one of them,
-when all the rest disappeared. The walrus can be
-killed only through the brain, and when wounded,
-the animal is exceedingly ferocious. Numberless
-boats have been destroyed by them. Lamont thinks
-the walrus superior to the bear for food. Those
-they saw were evidently a female and her young,
-and their safety was in having killed the mother.
-Littleton Island affords a good illustration of these
-shores. The sides rise precipitously, sometimes in
-steps composed of immense cubes of trap-rock, sometimes
-in steep slopes formed from the crumbling of
-the same. The top of the island is seven hundred feet
-high, according to Nares, and generally quite level.
-Of soil, there is none. The summit afforded a fine
-view of the sound, though somewhat obstructed by
-fog. No floating ice; and the western coast with its
-snowy mountains quite distinct.</p>
-<p>Having crossed the strait during the night of the
-2d of August, in the early morning they ran along the
-western coast, which was very distinct and picturesque,
-the bluffs and headlands being reflected by the
-smooth sea. Striking the western coast near Cape Sabine,
-at 8 <span class="small">A. M.</span> they reached Cape Hawkes, a headland
-over a thousand feet high and very picturesque. While
-Lieutenants Greely and Kislingbury visited the cairn
-there, Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Lockwood went to find
-the record on Washington Irving Island, both left by
-Nares. They then continued their way with slight interruptions
-<span class="pb" id="Page_84">84</span>
-from fogs until abreast of Franklin Island,
-when they were obliged to lay-to because of fog.
-They had not been delayed a moment by ice, and
-were surprised to see so little of it. Their success emboldened
-them to hope that they might reach Lady
-Franklin Bay without obstruction. Indeed, they
-even thought of inducing Captain Pike to run on
-until he reached the north pole itself, or at least till
-he attained a higher latitude than did Nares. One
-of the dogs having died, they became impressed with
-the thought that the poor curs suffered much from
-being cooped up and from the damp weather. The
-party continued on their way up Kennedy Channel
-with everything favorable, having the finest weather
-yet seen; air soft and balmy, sky clear, and water
-smooth.</p>
-<p>On reaching the vicinity of Franklin Island and
-Carl Ritter Bay, they left there a small deposit of
-hard bread, pemmican, and rum, and continued on
-their way rejoicing; and so onward until nearly 10
-<span class="small">P. M.</span>, when, just above Cape Lieber, they encountered
-an impenetrable pack extending all the way across
-the channel, and as far ahead as they could see. The
-ship made a savage dash at it, but in vain, and thus,
-but eight miles from Lady Franklin Bay, and with
-Cape Baird in full view, they were brought to a standstill.
-The mountains along the coast were covered
-with snow, but the valleys and low places were bare.
-The prominent objects of the landscape were all distinctly
-seen from their position&mdash;Capes Lieber and
-Baird on the left, Franklin, Hans, and Hanna Islands
-<span class="pb" id="Page_85">85</span>
-in the rear and left, and, in the far distance, Polaris
-Promontory and Petermann&rsquo;s Fiord, with the glacier
-beyond. A party that went on shore saw traces of the
-musk-ox, but no animals were seen.</p>
-<p>Several of the officers and men attempted the ascent
-of the promontory of Cape Lieber, a precipitous
-cliff three thousand feet high, which seemed but a
-stone&rsquo;s throw away, but to reach which required a long,
-cold row, and then a fatiguing and painful climb.
-Lockwood and two only of the party succeeded. The
-difficulty was in the giving way of the crumbling
-slate-rock, which formed an incline of 45&deg;. Those
-that reached the summit were rewarded by a grand
-view, extending to the limit of vision. On their return,
-after clambering over some rocks cropping out of
-the slippery snow and ice, they chose a short cut and
-came down at a run, or rather slide, followed by a
-miniature avalanche of <i>d&eacute;bris</i>. On the 6th of August,
-it was found that the icy barrier, which evidently
-came from the Polar Sea, was moving south, carrying
-the steamer along. Some game was seen in both air
-and water, but none taken. Parties attempted to
-reach the shore on the ice, but were recalled by signal,
-as moving ice was seen from the ship, and also open
-water near the shore.</p>
-<p>From this point they slowly drifted south, with
-high winds from the north which opened up lanes of
-water which they did not think safe to enter. The
-total drift amounted to ten miles. With the lowering
-of temperature, it was suggested that it would
-be well to move across the channel, along the pack,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_86">86</span>
-and, if needful, land on the Greenland shore, possibly
-where Hall had wintered.</p>
-<p>On the 11th of August, the ice barrier gave way
-under a change of wind and weather, leaving the
-passage open. Under full steam and sail, and with
-beautiful weather, they soon regained all the distance
-they had lost by drift, passed Cape Lieber, and came
-abreast of Cape Baird. Thence forcing their way
-through the broken ice of the bay, and reaching
-Bellot Island, which marks the beginning of Discovery
-Harbor, they cut their way to a secure spot for
-the ship to rest in. And thus ended the voyage to
-Lady Franklin Bay or Sound. As this harbor, or
-a spot in its vicinity called Fort Conger, was the
-one where the Signal-Service station was to be established,
-the steamer Proteus here ended her voyage,
-soon to return to Newfoundland. Discovery
-Harbor, which was to be their home, is an indentation
-of the bay covered by Bellot Island on the south.
-This indentation extends east and west some ten
-miles, and is probably two or three miles from north
-to south. Inclosing the harbor on three sides is a
-line of rugged bluffs and hills (or rather mountains,
-for they are two thousand feet high), those on the
-east side sloping back gradually, but elsewhere precipitous
-and rugged in the extreme. Thus, with Bellot&rsquo;s
-Island fifteen hundred feet high on the south,
-was formed a harbor, landlocked and most admirably
-sheltered.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div>
-<h2 id="c8">VIII.
-<br /><span class="small">HOUSE-BUILDING AND LOCAL EXPLORATIONS.</span></h2>
-<p>Immediately after the explorers had anchored
-their ship in Discovery Harbor, they saw a drove of
-musk-oxen leisurely ascending the neighboring hills,
-which they climbed with the facility of goats. This
-was indeed a cheerful prospect for men in so isolated a
-region and without fresh meat, and many of them
-started forthwith in pursuit of the game, working
-their way to the shore on the ice, but were compelled
-to return after a vain attempt to follow the
-animals over the hills.</p>
-<p>Hitherto there had been no opportunity to make
-any special discoveries, but now a comparatively new
-field, to which the explorers were to devote all their
-energies, came into view. Discovery, however, was to
-be always subordinated to the duties of meteorological
-observations. As this narrative proceeds, it will be
-seen that Lieutenant Lockwood was not only eminently
-active at all times, but most successful as an
-explorer.</p>
-<p>It being desirable to establish the station as near
-as possible to the coal-mine on Watercourse Bay, Lockwood
-was dispatched with Messrs. Clay and Ryan, to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_88">88</span>
-report as to the practicability of carrying out this, the
-original intention. According to the map prepared by
-Nares, this bay lies seven miles distant on the strait,
-and is separated from Discovery Harbor by the mountain-ridge
-on the east, which terminates southward in
-Distant Cape. They attempted the passage across these
-hills, following a ravine leading in the proper direction,
-and had gone only a short distance when they
-saw seven musk-oxen quietly grazing. Making a <i>d&eacute;tour</i>,
-they thought to take them unawares, but soon
-saw them move away to some distance up a steep incline.
-Expending vainly a few shots at long range,
-they followed the animals up the hill, over a steep ledge
-of rocks, and into a valley on the other side. Here the
-men halted, concealed from view, and arranged plans
-for their capture. The animals were covered by precipitous
-rocks on one side. Clay, Ryan, and Lockwood
-approached them simultaneously on the other
-three sides, and thus had them surrounded and at
-their mercy. Some depressions and other irregularities
-of the ground enabled the hunters, by crouching
-low down, to approach the game unawares. Clay
-firing first, the whole herd rushed toward Lockwood&rsquo;s
-side, closing up as it came, and, seeing him, made
-a charge. Dropping on one knee, he threw his cartridges
-down and blazed away with great rapidity.
-Many shots telling, the animals halted before him
-only a few rods off, and at once attempted a flank
-movement; but now Clay and Ryan closing up, the
-herd was check-mated. In five minutes from the
-first shot every animal of the herd&mdash;five grown and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_89">89</span>
-two calves&mdash;lay dead before the hunters. The hunters
-were sorry they had killed the calves, but in the
-excitement it could hardly have been otherwise. They
-then returned to the ship to report their success, and
-to have the carcasses brought in. This addition to
-their larder was the occasion of great joy, not only as
-giving a present supply of fresh meat, but in its
-promise for the future; not only as a luxury, but as
-the only certain means of warding off the scurvy, so
-much and so justly dreaded by Arctic explorers.</p>
-<p>After supper of that day, Lockwood, ever ready
-for adventure, again started for Watercourse Bay,
-accompanied by Clay, Ralston, and the mate of the
-Proteus. Following the small stream, which came
-into the harbor at this point, for three miles, by an
-easy and regular ascent between lofty mountains on
-either side with a slope of about forty-five degrees,
-and over ground and patches of snow thrown up like
-potato-hills, they reached its head, and there, fortunately,
-found another stream running in the other
-direction. Following this, they were brought to
-Watercourse Creek, which runs into Watercourse Bay.
-Being uncertain whether the coal-mine, said to be
-on this creek, was above or below this point, they
-followed the creek up-stream three miles, when, not
-finding it, they retraced their steps to the point
-where they entered the creek, and, finding it impossible
-to follow the bed, climbed the bank. Here
-they saw two more musk-oxen, which they slew by
-strategy as before, and, opening the carcasses with
-penknives, left them to be carried in. Coming near
-<span class="pb" id="Page_90">90</span>
-the mouth of the creek, Lockwood saw indications of
-coal, and soon after reached the exposed seam of one
-hundred yards&rsquo; extent by twenty-five feet depth, distant
-about three fourths of a mile from the sea. This
-coal is said to equal the best of Welsh production.
-Near here, they saw another musk-ox, whose life
-they spared for the time, as they had so much meat
-in store. Lockwood found, and so reported, that,
-though Watercourse Bay had the merit of a near coalmine,
-and was nearer the grounds of future explorations,
-it was not possible to use it at once for the unloading
-ship without great risk and labor because of
-moving ice. Discovery Harbor, though full of ice
-from sixteen inches to ten feet thick, was perfectly
-landlocked and unobstructed. Ralston preceded the
-party home, killing one musk-ox <i>en route</i>. The Arctic
-summer was now at its height, lichen, moss, saxifrage,
-and various other little red, yellow, and blue
-flowers, bright red moss, and tufts of green grass at
-intervals, breaking the monotony of the somber rocks
-and earth. But the enjoyment of these beauties of
-nature could not then be indulged in, as all hands had
-to take part in unloading the ship, a labor which was
-soon accomplished.</p>
-<p>The next business in order with the explorers was
-to build a house, and they selected a site facing the
-water, fifty feet from, and fifteen feet above it. While
-this work was progressing, the men lived in tents.</p>
-<p>On the 19th of August, all hands were sent ashore,
-and the Proteus started on her return, but, passing too
-near Bellot Island for safety, was caught in the ice and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_91">91</span>
-delayed. Lockwood made an effort to follow in her
-wake with the steam-launch, but failed, because of the
-rapid closing in of the great masses of broken ice and
-the wedging of small ice-masses into the screw and
-well. The launch battled manfully with her foe, the
-ice. Frequently he ran her under a full head of steam
-against a massive floe, which would be shivered for
-a few inches, the recoil causing the launch to roll
-and pitch like a little giant. In young ice she would
-sometimes split a sheet for ten or fifteen yards at one
-impact.</p>
-<p>Finding nothing to do while the house-building
-was progressing, Lieutenants Lockwood and Kislingbury
-occupied themselves with tramping after ptarmigans
-and other game over the mountains whose
-steep sides formed the eastern entrance of the harbor,
-and the northern boundary. Viewed from the
-house, their sides seemed gradual and their summits
-not over twenty minutes&rsquo; walk. In fact, however, the
-sides were successions of slopes separated by precipices,
-growing greater with the ascent. What below
-seemed the top was only one of many that must be
-passed before the real summit or divide could be attained.
-They reached the summit marked by the
-English cairn, and from there viewed the scene below.
-How small the ship appeared! and yet it seemed as
-though they could throw a stone upon her. They
-reached home with wolfish appetites, but with no
-game. The ptarmigans, which they chiefly sought,
-are provided, at this season, with a coat so nearly
-resembling the shade of the rocks and grounds as to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_92">92</span>
-be almost indistinguishable. By a happy provision of
-nature, in winter the feathers of this bird become
-white with only a little black about the tail.</p>
-<p>The lieutenants then extended their excursions
-over the mountains on the north side of the harbor,
-availing themselves of a ravine, called the &ldquo;Black
-Ca&ntilde;on,&rdquo; which leads to a pretty waterfall. Climbing
-out of this ca&ntilde;on with difficulty over loose slate and
-other <i>d&eacute;bris</i>, they found themselves on the high backgrounds
-of the North Mountains. Thence moving
-west over loose rock and snow, and through pools of
-water, they finally came in sight of Musk-ox Bay, the
-western extremity of Discovery Harbor. They then
-retraced their steps, reaching home without having
-seen a living object bigger than an humble-bee.</p>
-<p>On the 23d, the house was occupied, though not
-finished. Looking after their supplies, they found
-that the foxes had made free with the carcasses of the
-musk-oxen left near Watercourse Bay. Lockwood now
-proceeded to superintend the laying out of the observatory,
-digging for foundation pier of transit, etc. He
-found the ground frozen after reaching thirty inches,
-which may be taken as the depth where perpetual
-frost begins. The ship being still detained, but with
-a prospect of soon getting off, Lockwood wrote more
-letters home in which he expressed an opinion about
-the Proteus. Her chances of departing south were
-doubtful. Detention there for the winter would be
-embarrassing all around, as neither the ship nor her
-crew were prepared to stay, nor the explorers able to
-help them through the winter.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div>
-<p>Just before her final departure, some difficulty
-arose between Lieutenants Greely and Kislingbury,
-which ended in the latter making a request to be relieved
-from duty with the expedition, which request
-was granted. One of the annoyances complained of
-was the rule that officers should rise in the morning
-with the men, and although Lockwood advised Kislingbury
-not to make any further trouble, he decided
-to pack up, board the Proteus, and return home.
-In this, however, he was not successful, as the steamer
-got away before he could reach her, and the order for
-his relief was somewhat modified. After explaining
-his action in this matter, Lieutenant Greely remarked
-that, if anything should happen to him, he desired
-that Lieutenant Lockwood should have command of
-the expedition. Lockwood expressed himself as very
-sorry for what his fellow-officer had done, and could
-not understand his course of action.</p>
-<p>As soon as the building was entirely finished, on
-the 27th of August, the explorers found themselves
-very comfortable. The dull, cheerless weather and
-monotonous life were beginning to depress the spirits
-of Lockwood, but he felt that, when settled down to
-regular habits, he would not find the life in the north
-more irksome than that he had experienced on the
-Western plains of the United States. It may be mentioned
-that the final opening of the house, or government
-station, was commemorated by the issuing of an
-order from Lieutenant Greely, that the exploring expedition
-along the northern coast of Greenland, which
-had been marked out for Lieutenant Kislingbury as
-<span class="pb" id="Page_94">94</span>
-senior officer, was to be placed in command of Lieutenant
-Lockwood. He now felt that the opportunity
-for doing something creditable, for his own as well as
-his country&rsquo;s reputation, was at hand, and his feelings
-of depression gave way to those of enthusiasm.</p>
-<p>On Sunday, the 28th of August, all work was suspended,
-and some appropriate notice was taken of the
-day. Lieutenant Greely read a chapter in the Bible,
-having previously stated that any one would be excused
-from attending the service who had conscientious
-scruples. The supply of drinking-water having
-come up as an important question, demanded attention.
-The water was obtained from the ice-hummocks
-in the harbor. Pieces of suitable size were
-brought to the house on sledges and then melted in
-a large metallic box near the stove, through which
-and the stove ran a steam-pipe. Thus a liberal supply
-was kept up.</p>
-<p>Wishing to establish a depot on the channel for
-future explorations, Lockwood left with Sergeants
-Brainard and Cross to explore St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay, lying
-northeast of the station and on the straits. The ground
-being covered with snow, the Government boots were
-soon soaked though, and the feet of the party became
-wet and cold. Following a ravine, they soon reached
-a lake near the summit of the hills in the rear, where
-they saw a musk-ox grazing on the bank. The animal
-fled on seeing them, but stopped farther on. Approaching
-him under cover, Lockwood got a standing
-shot and brought him down. Skinning him and dividing
-the carcass into quarters, they left the meat for
-<span class="pb" id="Page_95">95</span>
-others to carry in and went on their tramp, which took
-them midway between the &ldquo;hog-back,&rdquo; an elevated
-plateau on the north, and the rugged broken chain of
-mountains which lie between Discovery Harbor and
-Robeson Channel. About noon they reached St. Patrick&rsquo;s
-Bay, but at a point so different from that laid
-down in their maps, that Lockwood felt some doubt as
-to its identity, to settle which, they proceeded to explore
-a wide river-bed, followed by a deep ca&ntilde;on, which
-led into the bay near its head. With this view, and to
-see the country to better advantage, they kept north
-along the steep rocky sides of the &ldquo;hog-back,&rdquo; over
-rocks, great and small, compact and loose, and generally
-covered with snow. After two hours of laborious
-travel, they found themselves high above the riverbed
-and in a position giving them a good view north
-and east. The main stream seemed to come from the
-north, with a branch from the west, the whole through
-lands of the most rugged description. Beyond the
-river to the east, the hills were more sloping, yet rising
-to an immense altitude between the river and the
-channel beyond. It seemed not difficult to descend
-into the bed of the river, walk up its frozen course,
-and, taking advantage of some break in the cliffs a
-few miles up, gain by a gradual ascent the high hills
-beyond, thus obtaining a view of Robeson Channel.
-The descent, over rocks, stones, and snow, involving
-great fatigue, took two hours. This brought them
-to a level terrace extending from cliffs to cliffs, through
-the center of which ran a deep cut or channel containing
-the insignificant stream, the sole occupant of
-<span class="pb" id="Page_96">96</span>
-this immense ca&ntilde;on. They gained the frozen stream
-with difficulty, cut through the ice and got a drink,
-and then regained the level terrace above, and began
-their steep climb up the mountain beyond, through
-a friendly ravine. One hour&rsquo;s work brought them
-to an elevation which, at a distance, had seemed to
-be the main summit, only to find that farther on
-there were still higher points. Finally, at 6 <span class="small">P. M.</span>,
-they reached an elevation where the slope seemed to
-be eastward, and from which a magnificent view was
-obtained of the channel from Cape Lieber to Repulse
-Harbor, while directly east of them lay Newman&rsquo;s
-Bay and Polaris Promontory. After erecting a cairn,
-they started back, cold and hungry, satisfied that they
-had seen the true St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay.</p>
-<p>Regaining the river-valley, they had a most fatiguing
-climb to attain the pass through which they had
-come, and where they had killed the musk-ox. Just
-east of the lake, they encountered Dr. Pavy and Rice,
-and soon after Ralston and Lynn, going to Lincoln
-Bay <i>via</i> St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay. Our party reached home
-at midnight, with frost-bitten feet and empty stomachs,
-Lockwood finding his stockings full of ice and
-one toe badly frost-bitten.</p>
-<p>He was laid up for a week with frosted feet, and
-had apprehension of losing some of his toes. Although
-suffering greatly, he was made especially unhappy
-by the thought of being disabled so early in
-the campaign. Discussing the subject of scurvy with
-Lieutenant Greely, they agreed in regarding the explorers
-much better provided against it, than was the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_97">97</span>
-British expedition, in that their dietary list was more
-complete. The English issued fresh beef but once a
-week; the Greely Expedition three times or oftener.
-This expedition had also the great advantage of a
-dry, warm, well-ventilated house.</p>
-<p>Lockwood&rsquo;s report as to St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay settling
-that as the place for their first depot, Sergeant Brainard
-with others proceeded to establish the same there by
-means of the whale-boat, moving around Cape Distant.
-Lockwood was much annoyed that his disability
-prevented his being one of those to carry out this
-important feature toward their future explorations.
-He took advantage of his non-active condition to figure
-out a design for an &ldquo;ice-sledge,&rdquo; which he
-thought would be an improvement on the Hudson
-Bay sledge they had in use. Lieutenant Greely approving
-the plan, he proceeded at once to build one
-by way of experiment. The duty assigned to Brainard
-was duly accomplished, and Depot A was established
-at St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay.</p>
-<p>Having received a gentle reminder from Lieutenant
-Greely for oversleeping himself, Lockwood said
-he could not complain, the offense not being his first
-of the kind. The singular clearness of the atmosphere
-had enabled him to make satisfactory sketches of Cape
-Lieber and other prominent objects in the distance,
-and also of the house.</p>
-<p>Among the events which made the early days of
-September somewhat lively were the following: Gardiner
-reported a waif, in the shape of a boat twelve feet
-long and an eight-men sledge, on the shore near Cape
-<span class="pb" id="Page_98">98</span>
-Murchison. Lieutenant Greely with others, and Lieutenant
-Kislingbury as a guest, went upon a two-days&rsquo;
-trip to the Bellows in search of game and to view the
-land. They were successful in securing ten musk-oxen,
-a dozen or more eider-ducks, and some other
-game. Sergeant Lynn, returning from Cape Beechy,
-reported a wagon and lamp on the shore, left by the
-English.</p>
-<p>Dr. Pavy returned from Lincoln Bay, but Rice,
-taken on the return with severe inflammatory rheumatism,
-was left four miles north of St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay.
-A party was at once sent for his relief, which brought
-him in, in a bad way. Great difficulty was found in
-lifting him up the steep cliffs between the station and
-St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay.</p>
-<p>Lockwood, having recovered from his injuries,
-went upon an expedition to the Bellows with Gardiner
-and the Esquimaux Frederick, using an eight-dog
-sledge and carrying rations for four days, consisting
-of roasted musk-ox, baked beans, butter and
-sauce, hard bread, and chocolate. They visited Bleak
-Cape, the entrance of the Bellows. The Bellows
-they found to be a long, level valley, walled in by
-lofty hills and cliffs, in some places two or three
-thousand feet high. It bears the impress of having
-been, at some far-distant period, the channel of a
-glacier, its level surface being thickly strewn with
-stones, while there are masses attached like shelves to
-the sides of the cliffs and slopes. For twenty miles,
-the valley preserves a width of nearly three miles; beyond
-this, it narrows and changes direction toward the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_99">99</span>
-west. A small creek runs through its entire length,
-which generally they followed. The route was difficult,
-owing to the large number of stones imperfectly
-covered with snow, and hence all riding ceased after
-they entered the valley; for the dogs could scarcely
-pull the sledge and its load, and often required aid.
-Here they met a piece of drift-wood, indicating that
-the tide once flowed up the valley, for no tree or
-wood had ever been seen away from tide-water. One
-of the dogs becoming sick was turned adrift, trusting
-to her following the party or returning home. Reaching
-&ldquo;Devil&rsquo;s Head,&rdquo; they went into camp by turning
-up the sledge and hanging rubber blankets around to
-shield them from the cold wind, and then ate a supper
-of warmed-up beans and hot chocolate, and tumbled
-into the sleeping-bags, all of which they found
-most enjoyable.</p>
-<p>After a breakfast of chocolate, hard bread, and
-some frozen cheese, they were delighted to see the sick
-dog rejoin them. The sledge-runners were rapidly
-wearing out, and they concluded to walk to the end
-of the valley, leaving the Esquimaux with the sledge
-and team while they pushed on as best they could.</p>
-<p>Lockwood and Gardiner reached the head of the
-valley at four, and, proceeding up the incline to the
-west where it narrowed to a ravine, went on till they
-came to a narrow gorge&mdash;its terminus. Having seen
-all there was to see, and Gardiner complaining of a
-game leg, they retraced their steps, reached the sledge
-at 10 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and at once, supperless, turned into their
-sleeping-bags. Near the terminus of the valley they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_100">100</span>
-met two musk-oxen, but, having only their knives
-with them, did not venture on an assault, though the
-animals stood still and quietly gazed at the intruders.</p>
-<p>Returning, they followed the creek, finding some
-advantage from the ice which had formed during the
-night. Lockwood saw and took back with him a few
-pieces of wood-coal, or very soft coal, evidently of
-recent formation, which had doubtless washed down,
-but whence he knew not. Reaching Bleak Cape, they
-decided to make a <i>d&eacute;tour</i> west to a ca&ntilde;on near the
-&ldquo;Knife-edge,&rdquo; where the musk-oxen were killed by
-Lieutenant Greely and party a few days before; but no
-musk-ox, dead or alive, was to be seen. Gardiner being
-still lame, Lockwood abandoned some other objects he
-had in view in making this trip, and, striking out directly
-across the bay and riding on the sledge, they
-reached the station without incident.</p>
-<p>Dr. Pavy made an unsuccessful attempt to reach
-an estuary at the head of Lady Franklin Bay, from
-which Lieutenant Greely thought a passage might
-be forced westward to a supposed fiord or sea connected
-with the waters leading through Behring
-Strait into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, finding
-Lady Franklin Bay open beyond Stony Point,
-the doctor returned without settling this interesting
-question, which, as will be seen, Lieutenant Lockwood
-afterward solved.</p>
-<p>Sixteen, or more, large Arctic wolves were seen in
-one day on the ice, a few hundred yards from the
-house. These were the first seen by them; the English
-saw none here, nor do Kane, Hayes, or Hall
-<span class="pb" id="Page_101">101</span>
-mention them. These wolves are large, strong, fierce-looking
-beasts, perfectly white in color, and anything
-but desirable customers to meet.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely, and Sergeants Brainard, Bender,
-and Connell, left on an exploration above and
-beyond &ldquo;North Valley,&rdquo; a deep ca&ntilde;on cutting
-through the &ldquo;hog&rsquo;s back&rdquo; north of the station. They
-left without sledges, carrying six days&rsquo; rations, sleeping-bags,
-etc. Following the &ldquo;North Valley&rdquo; upward,
-and leaving it near its head, they soon found
-themselves in a water-course running toward St. Patrick&rsquo;s
-Bay. Turning westward, and going some distance,
-they came in sight of what they regarded as
-the United States Range; but, a heavy snow-storm
-coming on, they cut short the trip after traveling
-twenty-five miles, and returned. It was deemed unfortunate
-that the untoward weather prevented their
-getting a good view from that range. The absence of
-glaciers and large water-courses, the low altitude of
-the range, and many other features in that region, all
-seemed to indicate a large sea not far to the westward.</p>
-<p>The building of Lockwood&rsquo;s sledge turned out a
-failure, for the want of proper appliances.</p>
-<p>On the 17th of September, the party celebrated
-Whistler&rsquo;s birthday by a dinner of his own selection&mdash;oyster
-soup, roast musk-ox, potatoes, corn, pear-butter,
-cake, etc., and a glass of grog in the evening.
-Two-story bunks were built for the men, giving more
-room. The Signal-Service men&mdash;the observers&mdash;had
-a little corner partitioned off, where they were to sleep
-and work. Another corner was fitted as a wash-room,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_102">102</span>
-where warm water might be had, and where there
-was a bath-tub, which all were expected to use every
-week. Other arrangements had been provided productive
-of comfort and health. Lockwood&rsquo;s time was
-now chiefly occupied in drawing maps, making finished
-drawings from sketches, reading, and sledge-work.</p>
-<p>Dr. Pavy, with a party, went to take provisions to
-the depots, but failed to get round Cape Murchison.
-Not satisfying Lieutenant Greely, the latter himself
-undertook the task, and, after considerable difficulty,
-in which the sledge broke down, succeeded. On the
-21st the sun presented a remarkable appearance, having
-rainbows to the right and left, which nearly joined
-above; also radiating vertical and horizontal beams of
-light.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Kislingbury, after many futile efforts
-with arsenic, succeeded in poisoning many wolves with
-strychnine. Five of them bit the dust at one time,
-and by this means the party was able to get rid of
-these dangerous neighbors. This animal, as stated,
-is perfectly white, and is not unlike the Esquimaux
-dog, but larger and more formidable.</p>
-<p>On the 24th of September, Lockwood started on
-a trip to Cape Beechy with Ellis, Fredericks, Ralston,
-Biederbick, and one large sledge, to provision
-Depot &ldquo;A,&rdquo; distant twenty miles. They started with
-two hundred and fifty pounds on the sledge, intending
-to take on other food left near Cape Distant. Their
-passage around this cape was accomplished only after
-cutting away masses of ice. Beyond this, and with
-<span class="pb" id="Page_103">103</span>
-their load increased to three hundred and fifty pounds,
-they struck masses of rocks over which the sledge and
-load had to be lifted. There they left the photograph
-apparatus for Rice, and took lunch. Afterward they
-passed Watercourse Bay, and the English wagon lying
-on the shore, and halted for the night at 6 <span class="small">P. M.</span> at Cape
-Murchison, without any remonstrance on the part of
-the tired-out men, notwithstanding some of them,
-about noon, had proposed going on to Cape Beechy
-without a stop. Indeed, Lockwood observed anxious
-faces among them when he hesitated about stopping.
-Floe-bergs of every form and shape&mdash;square, oblong,
-round, and pyramidal&mdash;from ten to forty feet high,
-were scattered along the shore. Without the barrier
-afforded by these, the floating floe, moving with the
-noise of railroad-trains, would cut away the foot-ice
-and render travel impossible. Using the tent at Depot
-&ldquo;A,&rdquo; and the bedding, etc., there, they got supper
-over the spirit-lamp and crawled into their sleeping-bags.
-The cold, cramped position, and dropping of
-congealed moisture from the tent, robbed them of
-sleep; hence they rose at 5.20, little refreshed. Beautiful
-&ldquo;sun-dogs&rdquo; were noticed with the rising of the
-sun across the strait. Toward noon similar appearances,
-peculiar to the Arctic sun, were still more remarkable&mdash;rainbows
-on either side, and joined above
-the sun, while vertical and horizontal beams of white
-light pierced the sun. They passed St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay,
-and, after a hard and cold day&rsquo;s work, reached Depot
-&ldquo;B,&rdquo; south of Mount Bufort and a little farther south
-of Cape Beechy, at 3 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, the 25th. On the following
-<span class="pb" id="Page_104">104</span>
-day, dragging an empty sledge, they returned
-to the <i>cache</i> at St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay, loaded up with three
-hundred and fifty pounds, and returned to Depot
-&ldquo;B,&rdquo; tired, cold, and wet with perspiration, this last
-being, perhaps, the greatest obstacle to Arctic travel.
-The great exertion soon induces perspiration, which
-being checked when labor ceases, you are at once sensible
-of cold water and ice at the same time. It was
-rare to have anything entirely dry after the first day
-of work. The sole resource was to use the heat of
-the body in the sleeping-bags at night. Mittens and
-socks were the most important to keep dry, and the
-most difficult. Their lamps being imperfect, they
-found a difficulty in preparing their chocolate. The
-alcohol took fire below and filled the tent with fumes
-quite as unpleasant as the cold. Having left their
-tin plates behind, they had to eat from one dish.
-Eating was simply cramming, that their benumbed
-fingers might give up the cold spoons and return to
-the warm pockets. Yet with all these discomforts they
-ate heartily, and with appetites unknown elsewhere
-than in the Arctic regions; and, notwithstanding
-dirt, cold, and alcoholic fumes, they had their jokes
-and songs while lying in their sleeping-bags, trying to
-keep warm and get to sleep. But their ills did not
-end there, for whenever the canvas was shaken, frost-like
-snow&mdash;condensed vapor&mdash;fell upon them, which
-melted with the lighting of the lamp in the morning.
-Truly, this was a rough road to glory and fame!</p>
-<p>Two of the men, in consequence of the crowded
-tent, had to sleep outside with the thermometer at
-<span class="pb" id="Page_105">105</span>
--15&deg;, and left without breakfast, to return to the
-station. The party soon followed them, and, after
-stopping at St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay to take on a log of driftwood
-observed there, which gave them an additional
-pull of five miles, reached the station long after dark.
-Having taken something to eat and drink, they got
-into their warm and dry beds, which never felt more
-comfortable.</p>
-<p>The next man to command a party was Dr. Pavy,
-who had in view a long-projected trip to Cape Joseph
-Henry, with the object of carrying out the wishes of
-the Navy Department, that a search should be made
-there for the Jeannette, and a signal placed indicating
-that help was near at hand; another object was
-to establish a depot for spring operations. His force
-consisted of the Esquimaux Jans, Whistler, and two
-dog-teams. His &ldquo;constant weight&rdquo; was two hundred
-pounds, and he took rations for twenty days. He
-counted upon other rations at Lincoln Bay left by the
-English, and those nearer home left by Greely&rsquo;s men
-at Depot &ldquo;B,&rdquo; near Cape Beechy. He hoped with
-these to establish a depot near the place where the
-Alert had her winter quarters, and thus be ready in
-the spring to surpass Markham. Lockwood was inclined
-to think the doctor a little too anxious to retain
-personal comfort while exploring, to accomplish
-much. He had been convinced that sledge-journeys
-of any considerable extent in those high latitudes
-could be made only by the sacrifice of every personal
-comfort.</p>
-<p>On the 2d of October, there was a remarkable and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_106">106</span>
-beautiful sunset. The lower part of the picture was
-formed by the clear white ice of the harbor westward.
-Then came the distant mountains, whose snow-capped
-summits reached into a sky of beautiful green; above,
-a line of gold, and then blue and gold alternating, and
-finally the deep-blue vault studded with masses of red&mdash;on
-the whole a most gorgeous spectacle.</p>
-<p>Finding this inactive life monotonous, Lockwood
-started on an exploration of the streams which enter
-St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay from the north. Lynn, Bender,
-Saler, Henry, and himself constituted the party, and
-they proposed going by way of the gap through
-the mountains rather than around Distant Cape.
-They had not gone far before they regretted having
-taken this short cut, for they found the way exceedingly
-laborious from want of snow&mdash;so much so, that
-they were six hours in reaching the steep, rocky bluffs
-which overlook St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay and the valley at
-the north of it, and they were two more before reaching
-the level of the bay. Indeed, this was only attained
-by carrying their load piece by piece down the
-cliffs and letting the sledge down by ropes. Here
-they put up their tent and went into camp. Unfortunately,
-they had neglected to bring candles, and
-hence had to eat their meal in darkness. Lockwood
-and Saler occupied one sleeping-bag, while the others
-were in another. They passed the night cold and
-sleepless. There being a birthday dinner at the station,
-they had intended to walk back to it, a distance
-of seven miles, but, on account of the condition of
-the way, abandoned the idea.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div>
-<p>Getting off at an early hour after a cold breakfast,
-and reaching the bed of the water-course, they made
-their way over its stony bed, so lightly covered with
-snow as to rapidly grind away the sledge-runners, up
-the ca&ntilde;on, as grand as the stream was insignificant.
-Finding their progress so much impeded, they left the
-sledge behind and made their way without it. The
-cold being intense, to keep up circulation they walked
-rapidly, but suffered greatly in their feet and hands.
-Having volunteered for this expedition, they were
-ashamed to give it up, though often disposed to do
-so. Thus, for three tiresome hours, they kept on
-their way, either following the bed of the stream, or
-along the mesa-like formations, which projected like
-shelves from the mountain-sides. Finally, the valley
-and mesas alike disappearing, the stream entered a
-narrow gorge. Gaining an eminence, the further
-course of the stream was indicated to them, and its
-probable terminus in table-lands of great elevation
-seen in the distance. Returning by the bed of the
-stream until the valley had attained a width of half
-a mile, they entered from the west a very picturesque
-ca&ntilde;on thirty feet wide with walls one hundred feet
-high. Its walls were worn smooth, as though by the
-action of ice, and there were small, basin-shaped holes
-apparently made by bowlders caught by glaciers. They
-also met with blocks of quartz much larger than could
-possibly be moved by the force of any body of water
-now passing through the ca&ntilde;on. Notwithstanding
-their exhausted condition, and the worn state of their
-foot-gear from the numerous stones and rough ice
-<span class="pb" id="Page_108">108</span>
-they had passed over, they concluded not to spend the
-night where they had left the sledge, but to go on to
-Depot &ldquo;A,&rdquo; near Cape Murchison. Adding their outfit
-to that of the depot, they had a night of less discomfort
-than usual. On passing Cape Distant, they
-noticed a broad channel of open water in the strait,
-preventing any passage at that time.</p>
-<p>On reaching the station, they found that the temperature
-had been -16&deg;, and it was probably 4&deg; lower
-where they had been. Lieutenant Greely was putting
-in order a variety of reading-matter for the men.
-Sergeant Brainard was absent at the Bellows, with
-Rice and Bender, after musk-ox meat. They returned
-later, badly frosted, but brought the meat to within
-easy sledging distance.</p>
-<p>The 7th of October, being Mrs. Greely&rsquo;s birthday,
-was celebrated with a dinner made regal by the following-named
-dishes: gumbo-soup, biscuits, old sherry,
-Columbia River salmon with sauce sauterne, boiled
-ham, asparagus, sago, corn, lima-beans, cold bread,
-chocolate cake, strawberry and pineapple ice-cream,
-dates, figs, grapes, prunes, candied fruits, coffee, and
-Benedictine.</p>
-<p>In Payer&rsquo;s &ldquo;History of the Austrian Expedition to
-Franz-Josef Land,&rdquo; Lockwood found much of interest
-in connection with the requirements for a sledge-journey&mdash;details
-of clothing and other matters best
-suited to fit one to stand the cold. The book he considered
-of great value to any novice in Arctic sledging.
-He supposed that they themselves were much
-better off than any expedition that had wintered within
-<span class="pb" id="Page_109">109</span>
-the Arctic Circle. The most serious difficulties&mdash;dampness,
-want of ventilation, and darkness&mdash;were
-reduced with them to a minimum, while of fresh
-meat, anti-scorbutics, and fuel they had an abundance;
-and if their assortment of clothing&mdash;particularly
-foot-gear&mdash;had been better, they would have had
-nothing to desire.</p>
-<p>Besides the large stock of coal left by the Proteus,
-they had the coal-mine within ten miles. The men
-seemed comfortable and contented. They had a bathroom
-and bath-tub, with hot and cold water ready at
-hand, and books and periodicals in abundance. Their
-heating arrangements were generally perfect and quite
-effectual. The light from the sun amounted to little,
-and artificial light within-doors was required all day;
-but with a full moon, bright sky, and everything covered
-with snow, they had a flood of light almost an
-equivalent. They had musk-ox meat almost every
-day, and a large store on hand. They also had a large
-supply of the best pork, lime-juice, cider, sour-krout,
-pickles, onions and cucumbers mixed, and other anti-scorbutics.
-The men were comfortable, seemed happy
-and cheerful, and found many sources of amusement&mdash;among
-others, from an anti-swearing society. Delinquents
-were fined five cents each, the proceeds to
-pay for a grand dinner on returning to the United
-States. Several members incurred such enormous
-fines as to become bankrupt, and were expelled.
-These outcasts lay around and beguiled the unwary,
-thus affording amusement to all except the victim.
-Rice and Israel had a way of carrying on ridiculous
-<span class="pb" id="Page_110">110</span>
-discussions. One evening they had an apparently
-angry dialogue, in which Rice personated a tipsy
-lodger complaining of the fare and demanding his
-bill, and Israel, an insulted landlord. Both seemed
-entirely in earnest, and kept their countenances amid
-roars of laughter and gibes from the men.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_111">111</div>
-<h2 id="c9">IX.
-<br /><span class="small">PRELIMINARY SLEDGE EXPEDITIONS AND LIFE AT THE STATION.</span></h2>
-<p>Among the amusements which helped to kill time
-at the station of Discovery Harbor, officially called
-Fort Conger, was that of celebrating certain birthdays,
-and this chapter begins with what was done
-when Lieutenant Lockwood attained his twenty-ninth
-year. He confessed that he did not wish a &ldquo;happy
-return of the day&rdquo; in the Arctic regions, and yet he
-would be contented if they should all be as pleasant as
-the one just experienced, in spite of the cold winds,
-ice, snow, darkness, and anticipations of exposure and
-fatigue when his spring travels should begin. He
-spent most of the day in sewing canvas leggings to
-his moccasins and altering his trousers, while Lieutenant
-Greely entertained him with recollections of
-his army experience during the rebellion, fighting his
-battles over again. His birthday dinner was something
-quite formidable, consisting of:</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">Pea soup &agrave; la Proteus,</p>
-<p class="t0">Scalloped oysters &agrave; la Eastern Shore,</p>
-<p class="t0">Deviled crabs &agrave; la Chesapeake,</p>
-<p class="t0">Musk-ox &agrave; la Franklin Bay,</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div>
-<p class="t0">Potatoes &agrave; l&rsquo;Irlandaise,</p>
-<p class="t0">Macaroni &agrave; l&rsquo;Italienne,</p>
-<p class="t0">Rice and curry &agrave; la Pacific Mail,</p>
-<p class="t0">Blanc-mange, fruits, nuts, cake, ice-cream, and black coffee.</p>
-</div>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely kindly added, from private
-stores, some very good California port wine. Lockwood&rsquo;s
-reflections, however, carried him to his distant
-home, and he longed to know that all there were
-well&mdash;that his dear parents and sisters were happy as
-when he was with them! Perhaps, even at that hour,
-their thoughts and words were of him. On this day,
-as frequently on his sledging journeys, he pictured to
-himself the family circle in the far-off home. The
-cold, fatigue, and monotony attending him and his
-companions were rendered endurable by thus breaking
-away from the present.</p>
-<p>On the morning of the 10th of October, Lockwood
-started on a trip with Jewell across Lady Franklin
-Bay for Cape Baird. Had no difficulty for a mile or
-two beyond Dutch Island, but mist and fog then obscuring
-their way and blotting out the landscape, they
-kept on their course by compass. Soon they encountered
-heavy snow-drifts and many floe-bergs and fields
-of rubble-ice, all unfavorable for sledging. Fortunately,
-they had only themselves to transport. Though
-the weather was cold, they soon found themselves oppressively
-warm from the labor attending the journey.
-Profiting by past experience, Lockwood had this time
-come out warmly dressed&mdash;viz., with two flannel shirts,
-a woolen jersey, an under-shirt of light buckskin,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_113">113</span>
-heavy woolen drawers, a seal-skin over-all, and two
-pairs of socks under light buckskin moccasins. He
-then became convinced, that it was quite as great a
-mistake to wear too much as too little clothing. Even
-when they could ride on the sledge, which was not
-often, there were numerous bad places where they had
-to run with the dogs and lift the sledge over obstacles.
-Trying to avoid the moving ice, they struck too far
-westward, so that when they approached land they
-found themselves some two miles within the cape for
-which they had started. Stopping only to take a bite
-of crackers and meat, they started to retrace their
-steps, but not before daylight had left them, and they
-had only the moon to show them the way. After
-some time they thought to reduce the distance by
-taking what they supposed was a short cut, but soon
-found themselves scrambling over hummocky ice of
-the most formidable character. They regained their
-track, but not till overcome by thirst and fatigue.
-Resting at short intervals, they finally came in sight
-of Dutch Island, and soon afterward were gladdened
-by the sound of distant shouts. Dr. Pavy and Sergeants
-Brainard and Connell had come out to meet
-them, and not empty-handed, for they bore a bag
-of hot coffee, and never did coffee taste more delicious.
-Though the mercury was nearly nine degrees
-below zero, when they reached the house everything
-they had on was as wet as if they had fallen
-overboard.</p>
-<p>The result of that reconnaissance was that they decided
-to establish a &ldquo;depot&rdquo; near Cape Baird, which
-<span class="pb" id="Page_114">114</span>
-labor was duly carried out by Lockwood, Ellis, Saler,
-and Bender. The weather being open, they started
-directly for Cape Baird, but, finding that route
-impracticable, inclined westward and got into their
-old track. After much delay and great labor, they
-reached a point on the farther side, where they
-found it necessary to encamp for the night. The
-tent was pitched, chocolate boiled, and beans thawed
-out, after which they crawled into their sleeping-bags,
-trying to forget, if possible, that the thermometer
-stood at -24&deg; without. Resuming their journey, but
-now with the discomfort of wind added to intense
-cold, they made their way ashore, established the
-depot of provisions, and with lightened sledges and
-hearts retraced their steps. Noses were frozen during
-the day, and only restored by friction, which made
-them raw and uncomfortable. Very soon after starting
-back, twilight disappeared, and they had only the
-moon to light them on their way. Passing the resting-place
-of the previous night, they concluded to
-make the journey to the house without stopping.
-They stumbled on in the dark, a used-up party,
-Lockwood having a sprained tendon Achilles, and
-also a lame back. The air becoming calm, they
-were enabled to stop sometimes and rest, which they
-could not have safely done in their perspiring condition
-had the wind been blowing. When near Dutch
-Island, Dr. Pavy and Lieutenant Kislingbury met
-them with hot coffee, which so much refreshed them
-that the rest of the journey seemed easy, although it
-was probable that Lockwood&rsquo;s raw red nose, frosted
-<span class="pb" id="Page_115">115</span>
-toes, lame back, and tender heel, would be reminders
-of this trip for a long time.</p>
-<p>On the 16th of October the sun disappeared, to
-rise no more until February. With the mercury ranging
-from -28&deg; to -40&deg;, Lockwood amused himself
-by scraping off the accumulated condensation of moisture
-from the room on the window-panes near his corner,
-the ice being one inch thick.</p>
-<p>About this time Lockwood took up a course of
-Arctic literature, with which they were liberally supplied.
-This was chiefly in view of his sledge-journey
-in the coming spring. Feeling the need of exercise,
-he left the station on the 23d for Depot &ldquo;B,&rdquo; Cape
-Beechy, with Brainard, Connell, and the Esquimaux
-Frederick, and a sledge with eight dogs. At Depot
-&ldquo;A&rdquo; they took on a small stove and a bag of coal
-from the mines, and thereby the tent at Depot &ldquo;B&rdquo;
-became more comfortable than anything they had experienced
-away from the station; notwithstanding,
-they had a comfortless night, as the crowded condition
-of the tent compelled some of them to lie so near
-the stove as to endanger their safety. Lockwood woke
-up to find a large hole burned in his blanket. Afterward,
-the fire going out, they suffered more than
-when they had had no fire at all. They erected a
-snow-house for a depot here, forming the sides of
-tough blocks of compact snow, and covering it with
-the boat-sail supported by oars, and, by imitating the
-natives in some particulars, had a house impervious
-to cold.</p>
-<p>While there, Lockwood, with Brainard, ascended
-<span class="pb" id="Page_116">116</span>
-Mount Bufort, near at hand, and had an uninterrupted
-view of the straits as far down as Cape Lieber,
-and of the opposite coast, between which and them
-hung water-clouds, indicating open water. This fact
-was also indicated by the roar, like a moving railroad-train,
-made by the crushing of the ice in the current.
-Having passed another night in their warm snow-house,
-they made their way next day to the station
-in less than five hours, and found all hands there engaged
-in erecting an ice wall around the house as
-high as the eaves, and filling in with snow. This
-proved most effectual in keeping the house warm.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely had an uncomfortable experience
-while assisting to make a tide-gauge. He fell
-in and got a ducking&mdash;not his first experience in that
-direction. Wolves were daily seen near the house,
-and were so bold and fearless that the men deemed it
-prudent never to leave the building without fire-arms;
-for, as the animals were of the same color as the snow,
-they could not be easily distinguished.</p>
-<p>On the 29th, a singular aurora made its appearance,
-consisting of a ribbon of white light a degree
-wide, stretching through the zenith from north to
-south; then another arch, 10&deg; westward, whose
-base touched the first; and still another, also passing
-through the zenith, and cutting the others at right
-angles.</p>
-<p>On the 30th, Lockwood commenced preparations
-for a preliminary journey to Hall&rsquo;s winter quarters,
-whenever the straits could be crossed and the weather
-and light were suitable. Among other things, the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_117">117</span>
-saddler, Fredericks, made a tent to hold eight men,
-using to that end two common &ldquo;A&rdquo; tents.</p>
-<p>About this time, while cogitating on his room and
-room-mates, Lockwood said: &ldquo;Surely this is a happy
-quartet occupying this room! We often sit silent during
-the whole day, and even a meal fails to elicit anything
-more than a chance remark or two. A charming
-prospect for four months of darkness, such gloom
-within, and penned up as we are in one room! I have
-doubts of getting over the straits, but I must be off as
-soon as possible, for I find a relief in getting away.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely had felt himself compelled to
-show his dissatisfaction with Dr. Pavy&rsquo;s explorations,
-or rather attempted explorations. He and the doctor
-had also adverse views as to how explorations should
-be made. The doctor wanted to take along many
-creature comforts, while Greely thought, with Lockwood,
-that nothing could be accomplished without
-sacrificing all beyond bare necessities.</p>
-<p>Having everything complete, Lockwood started on
-the 1st of November to try the passage of the straits,
-with Brainard, Lynn, Saler, Biederbick, Ellis, Fredericks,
-and Connell, dragging an eight-man sledge,
-weighing, with load, one thousand pounds. They
-left sledge and load beyond Cape Distant, and returned
-to lodge at the house, where all hands fortified
-themselves with a first-class dinner, preparatory to
-the labors of the next day.</p>
-<p>They got off early, but, owing to the limited light
-and other difficulties, found themselves some distance
-from the snow-house near Cape Beechy when darkness
-<span class="pb" id="Page_118">118</span>
-overtook them. Having all in readiness on the
-4th, they again got off, leaving Ellis at the snow-house
-with an injured foot. This was unfortunate,
-as he was a strong, willing fellow, with lots of pluck.
-The prospects of crossing the straits at this time were
-not encouraging, both from the short duration of light
-and from the open waters. Still, they determined to
-make the effort. This they first did with the whale-boat,
-which they had picked up on their route. They
-mounted it on the sledge, but soon found they could
-not drag so heavy a body, and returned to the snow-house.
-Rice, whom they found there, was then sent
-with a dog-sledge to bring up a small boat from Cape
-Murchison. Dr. Pavy, Lieutenant Kislingbury, and
-Jans coming along <i>en route</i> for another attempt northward,
-were surprised to see how comfortable they were
-in the snow-house.</p>
-<p>After extensive repairs to the small boat, they again
-got off at noon, seven men and Lockwood himself dragging
-the sledge, on which were the boat and one hundred
-and fourteen pounds of rations. On reaching
-open water, three only were to proceed in the boat,
-the others to fall back on the snow-house. They got
-along pretty well until they came to the hummocks,
-through which, with extreme labor, and frequently
-using an axe, they made their way, till they heard, in
-the distance toward Polaris Promontory, the roar of
-the grinding ice, indicating open water. Moving on
-ahead of the party over very rough ice, and crossing
-some wet, slushy ice fifteen or twenty yards wide,
-Lockwood found himself on a level floe. He had
-<span class="pb" id="Page_119">119</span>
-gone only a short distance over this toward a dark
-streak beyond, which he took for open water, when
-he found that the floe upon which he stood was in motion.
-Retreating over the bed of slushy ice, he found
-this to be really only a thick mass of broken pieces intermediate
-between the moving floe and the firm ice.
-He could readily thrust his ice-hook down through it
-to the water beneath, and did so. Reaching the sledge-party,
-and viewing the difficulties of the situation, he
-decided, all agreeing, on the impracticability of crossing
-at this season. They accordingly displayed signal-torches
-from the top of an iceberg, as agreed upon,
-that Lieutenant Greely might know that they had
-found the crossing dangerous and had abandoned the
-effort. They returned in darkness, and with considerable
-difficulty, guided somewhat by a signal-torch
-displayed by Ellis at the snow-house. They remained
-all day at the snow-house, which the men found so
-comfortable that they preferred it to the restraints of
-the station. At noon Lockwood and Brainard went
-upon a tramp, and found the condition of the open
-water to be such as to demonstrate the wisdom of their
-return the evening before. The men made some additions
-to the snow-house, which were regarded as a
-great success. The return to the station on the 7th
-was attended with more difficulty and labor than had
-been expected, arising from a strong south wind having
-worn away the foot-ice, and the small amount of
-light; hence, they soon had wet feet, which in that
-region always means frost-bitten feet. So much were
-some of the men used up by this journey of twenty
-<span class="pb" id="Page_120">120</span>
-miles, which had before been made in one day, that
-they had to be conveyed on the sledge, and did not
-reach the station till the third day. At Dutch Island
-they met Whistler, who, missing Biederbick at the
-ropes and seeing a human form on the sledge, came
-to the conclusion that Biederbick was dead, and repeatedly
-exclaimed, &ldquo;Poor Biederbick! poor Biederbick!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>During a period of dullness at the station, Rice
-and Henry projected a newspaper, to be called the
-&ldquo;Arctic Moon,&rdquo; and Lockwood, to whom, also, the
-idea had occurred, agreed to join them as one of the
-editors. They wanted something to dispel the monotony
-which was depressing all hands, as all were
-tired of reading, of cards and other games, while two
-of Lockwood&rsquo;s room-mates were gloomy and taciturn.
-To counteract this, he resumed his reading, especially
-history and travels&mdash;anything but novels. Kane&rsquo;s
-work interested him especially, and he considered
-him a remarkable man, courageous, energetic, and determined.
-Their own manner of life just then reminded
-Lockwood of a rainy day in the country intensified.
-&ldquo;Yet,&rdquo; says he, &ldquo;why not be contented?
-Books and leisure afford an opportunity for reading
-and studying which we may never have again. We
-have a warm, comfortable house, plenty of food, and
-other things which many are without. Life in this
-world is just what one chooses to make it. Man can
-make of it a heaven or a hell.&rdquo; He felt anxious as to
-the effect of one hundred and thirty sunless days upon
-himself and men, as this might tell on their sledging
-<span class="pb" id="Page_121">121</span>
-in the coming spring. Nares&rsquo;s people broke down
-under it, and, when sledging, were decimated by the
-scurvy. They themselves were fortunate so far in not
-having had a single man sick enough to keep his bed.</p>
-<p>True to his intellectual instincts, Lockwood formed
-a class in geography and grammar, consisting of Ellison,
-Bender, Connell, and Whistler, while Lieutenant
-Greely taught them arithmetic. On the 22d of November
-appeared, with a flourish of trumpets, the first
-number of the &ldquo;Arctic Moon.&rdquo; Of course the editors
-thought it a great success. It had for the frontispiece
-a sketch of the house, drawn by Lockwood, while Rice
-made fair copies of the paper by the hectograph process&mdash;enough
-for all, and many to spare.</p>
-<p>These trifles served to shorten, apparently, the
-many hours of gloom and darkness, which were wearing
-away the spirits of all. The men were now far
-less hilarious than they had been, and, with the game
-of chess to assist, silence reigned supreme.</p>
-<p>Thanksgiving-day, with its games, sports, and
-dinner, gave them a pleasant variety. First, came
-the snow-shoe race of one hundred yards, Brainard,
-victor. Next, the foot-race, with many contestants,
-but Ellis coming out ahead. Then the dog-team race
-to Dutch Island and return, under the Esquimaux
-Jans and Frederick, the latter, victor. And, finally,
-a shooting-match, necessarily at short range, and with
-torches, Henry, victor. These and other out-door
-exercises were followed by the grand feature of the
-day, the Thanksgiving dinner, and not a poor one
-either, even for a lower latitude than eighty-two degrees.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_122">122</span>
-In the evening Lieutenant Greely gave out
-prizes to the victors and second best, Rice acting as
-master of ceremonies, rigged out in swallow-tail coat,
-black pantaloons, white vest, and &ldquo;boiled&rdquo; shirt. The
-mercury froze on that day, and Lieutenant Greely
-brought in a teacupful, which looked like lead as it
-comes from the mold. The moon also made its appearance,
-and all fully appreciated the blessing of this
-luminary.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What a change,&rdquo; exclaimed Lockwood, &ldquo;when
-she comes forth in all her beauty and loveliness,
-flooding the landscape with her refulgent beams and
-cheering the drooping spirits of benighted mortals!
-Even the poor dogs feel her influence!&rdquo; On the
-1st of December, they had an almost total eclipse of
-the moon, more remarkable there than an eclipse of
-the sun elsewhere. During the phenomenon, the exposed
-part of the disk was of a dull-red color. Lockwood
-took the altitude of the moon while crossing
-the meridian, using a saucer of molasses as an artificial
-horizon. She flooded the whole region with a
-light, electric in appearance, and causing deep shadows.
-In the evening they were treated to a display of
-mock moons, with a circular band of bright light connecting
-them, and several bands or ribbons of light at
-various angles, but all passing through the moon.</p>
-<p>The Esquimaux, Jans and Frederick, having of
-late been much depressed, efforts were made by kindly
-attentions on the part of Lieutenant Greely and
-others to dispel their gloom and assure them of the
-friendly feeling entertained toward them by all.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_123">123</span>
-These good offices, however, all failed. Dr. Pavy said
-this state of mind was not infrequent among the natives
-of lower Greenland, and often resulted in the wandering
-off of the subjects of it, and, if not followed, by
-their perishing in the cold. One morning Jans was
-missing, and at once his tracks were followed by Dr.
-Pavy, Brainard, Rice, and Whistler, with the dog-sledge.
-Late in the afternoon they returned with
-poor Jans, who was found nine miles away, following
-at a rapid pace the ice-foot around Cape Murchison.
-He returned unwillingly, and gave no reason
-for his strange conduct. Rice and Whistler were both
-rendered <i>hors de combat</i> by the journey, the former
-by a fall from an ice-hummock, the latter by congestion
-of the brain owing to having shaved before going
-out. Both Dr. Kane and Dr. Rink (in his book
-on Greenland) refer to hallucinations similar to that
-of Jans, and the frequent fatal consequences.</p>
-<p>On the 14th of December appeared the second
-number of the &ldquo;Arctic Moon,&rdquo; which was thought
-to be an improvement on number one, and was well
-received. Lieutenant Greely gave a lecture on the
-&ldquo;Polar Question.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the same day also, Esquimaux Frederick came
-to Lieutenant Greely and asked permission to leave
-the station, and, when asked why, said some one was
-going to shoot him&mdash;a strange hallucination!</p>
-<p>On the 20th Lockwood writes: &ldquo;The sun now begins
-his journey to the north; the backbone of the
-winter is broken! Walking out at noon to-day, I was
-just able to see the hands of my watch by holding it
-<span class="pb" id="Page_124">124</span>
-close to my eye. The profound silence of this region
-is quite as striking, and almost as disagreeable, as the
-darkness. Standing still, one can almost hear his heart
-beat. The sense of solitude is sublime.&rdquo; Speaking of
-Arctic literature, he says that &ldquo;Hayes&rsquo; book, though
-beautifully written, is far below that of Kane as to
-information and reliability. No one who has been
-up Smith&rsquo;s Sound can fail to notice this.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 24th of December, after eating a birthday
-dinner, the Christmas presents from an unknown
-friend to every one of the party, were distributed.
-The rooms were appropriately decorated, and everything
-was done to render the occasion cheerful and
-pleasant. Those articles not specifically assigned by
-the donor were disposed of by lottery.</p>
-<p>Lockwood indulged in the following reflections:
-&ldquo;How suggestive of home and of the dear ones
-there! How often do my thoughts wander away to
-them! Has Providence been equally kind to them
-as to me? The day with me suggests alternately
-the past and the future. Will next Christmas find
-me here, with everything around as auspicious as
-now, and shall I then be able to look back with satisfaction
-and self-complacency on my labors along the
-Greenland coast? Or will the future bring a record
-of dreams unsatisfied, of efforts unproductive, of labor
-in vain? My mind is far away with that group at
-home assembled together and doubtless regretting that
-the absent one is not of their number. Could I but
-see them for an hour, or know that all is well with
-them, I should rejoice, indeed!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_125">125</div>
-<p>The &ldquo;Lime-Juice Club&rdquo; gave an entertainment
-on the same evening, at which Snyder affected Jans
-to tears by his personation of an Esquimaux lady,
-and Connell brought down the house as a martinet
-captain, by exclaiming, when a soldier who had shot
-himself was brought in: &ldquo;Very sad affair, very sad,
-indeed! Charge him with two cartridges expended,
-Sergeant.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely also gave the party as a lecture,
-&ldquo;Reminiscences of the Battle of Fredericksburg,&rdquo;
-which was interesting and two hours long, though
-entirely <i>ex tempore</i>; and Lockwood was announced
-to lecture on &ldquo;Arctic Sledging.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 31st, rations of rum were issued to help the
-men welcome in the new year. They were also to fire
-a salute with rifles. Fiddles were in full blast, with
-singing and other marks of hilarity.</p>
-<p>Lockwood&rsquo;s lecture on &ldquo;Arctic Sledging&rdquo; was
-given January 3, 1882, and was well received. Being
-confirmed in his opinion that he was no public speaker,
-he intended to leave lecturing for others thereafter.
-On the 9th he took his usual walk, notwithstanding
-the thermometer was at 60&deg; below zero, and
-felt the cold chiefly on his nose. It seemed curious
-to him, that when the thermometer was lowest, the
-air was stillest. Were it otherwise, he supposed existence
-in the Arctic would be an impossibility.</p>
-<p>But severe as was the weather, it did not deter
-him from the study of science, as will be seen by the
-following record, made on the 9th of January: &ldquo;I
-have been looking up the subject of nautical astronomy
-<span class="pb" id="Page_126">126</span>
-for some time past, and to-day and this evening,
-taking sextant, mercury, etc., and establishing
-an observatory on top of an old barrel in front of
-the house, commenced observations on the transit of
-Markab, Capella, and other stars, but have not been
-very successful. Everything conspires against one in
-this climate. It reminds me of my observations last
-spring. However, I hope by dint of practice to do
-better. The winter is passing away slowly but surely.
-The time is coming when I shall look at these stars
-from grassy fields, on a summer night, in the temperate
-zone, I hope. The stars up here are very bright,
-and a great many of them circle around the pole and
-never set. It is a beautiful sight. Arcturus, Aldebaran,
-and others, besides being very bright, show different
-colors, red, violet, and green. Jupiter looks
-immense.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Still absorbed with his astronomical studies, he
-gives us the following on the 13th of the same month:
-&ldquo;The moon appeared after noon. How welcome she
-is! How a poet would rave over the moon could he
-once experience a polar winter!&mdash;not simply an Arctic
-winter, for anywhere north of the Arctic Circle is the
-Arctic, and the dark days which most expeditions
-have seen are trifling compared with ours. I think it
-would be a good idea to exile a first-class poet into
-these regions for the purpose, but give him to understand
-he was never to return. How he would
-sing!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 12th, they had a phenomenon they had never
-heard of&mdash;the precipitation of vapor with a perfectly
-<span class="pb" id="Page_127">127</span>
-clear sky. It resembled a heavy mist or light
-rain.</p>
-<p>On the 16th occurred the first hurricane of the
-season. It began in the morning with heavy south
-wind and sudden fall of barometer. At noon the
-wind whipped round to the northeast and blew with
-indescribable fury, filling the air with snow-drifts, and
-blotting out the view of everything even a few feet
-distant. The anemometer registered sixty-five miles,
-and then broke down. The noise of the storm, as
-heard from the house, was as though on shipboard. It
-must have given way but for the ice walls around it.</p>
-<p>On the 20th, Lieutenant Greely issued a circular
-letter, calling attention to the order that all should
-be up for breakfast. Kislingbury and Dr. Pavy took
-exceptions to this, and the latter declined to lecture
-in his turn.</p>
-<p>The next evening occurred a beautiful and unique
-auroral display, the chief features of which were many
-broad bands of pure white passing through the zenith
-and reaching to the east and to the west horizon,
-which blended, twisted, and curled in upon each other
-in a very remarkable manner. The spectacle was
-viewed with wonder and amazement.</p>
-<p>On the 26th, the twilight at noonday was quite
-bright. The moon also lent her aid; but low spirits
-and a sense of oppression and homesickness prevailed,
-all induced, doubtless, by want of exercise, and loneliness.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Another twenty-four hours,&rdquo; wrote Lockwood,
-on the 6th of February, &ldquo;of this interminable night
-<span class="pb" id="Page_128">128</span>
-nearly gone! Thank God! Sometimes it seems as if
-this life must hold on forever, but <i>tempus fugit</i> up
-here as well as elsewhere. The days and weeks seem
-weeks and months in passing, and yet, in the retrospect,
-time seems to have passed quickly, because
-there is so little in the past to mark its progress, I
-suppose.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Lockwood could not realize the extreme cold, and
-seldom wore his gloves when going out for a few
-minutes. Though he put on a thick dog-skin coat
-and seal-skin over-all when taking his daily walk, he
-really did not regard so much clothing necessary.
-Exposure to such low temperatures, however, for
-several hours, and particularly at night, was to be
-dreaded. Many authorities&mdash;among others Lieutenant
-Greely&mdash;spoke of a peculiar sensation in the
-throat on first encountering a very low temperature,
-as when going out of doors from a warm room, but
-such was not Lockwood&rsquo;s experience. Provided it
-was calm, he could stand any degree of cold he had
-yet met with. Owing to the peculiar and admirable
-construction of their house, the men were able to keep
-up 50&deg; of heat within, however cold without.</p>
-<p>On the 13th of February, Lockwood with two men
-went to see what damage had resulted from the late
-storm to the observatory on the summit of Bellot
-Island. Contrary to their expectations, they found
-the snow not only deep, but with a crust just firm
-enough <i>not</i> to bear. Consequently, they sent the
-dog-sledge back, and proceeded on foot, frequently
-sinking down knee-deep. Though the thermometer
-<span class="pb" id="Page_129">129</span>
-stood at -65&deg;, they got into a profuse perspiration,
-which was not lessened by the steep and slippery ascent
-of two thousand feet. From this point the station-house
-seemed only a black spot, and was hardly
-recognizable as a house. Having made their inspection
-and fired their rifles several times as agreed upon
-with Lieutenant Greely, who was experimenting on
-sound, they returned. The result of these experiments
-was, that at -65&deg; sound travels nine hundred
-and fifty feet per second. This was the coldest day
-they had yet experienced, and still they did not suffer
-with the cold.</p>
-<p>The return to a warm house was an indescribable
-comfort, and Lockwood thought that if this could
-always be done, Arctic journeying would then be
-nothing. It was unprecedentedly cold even for that
-latitude. Pure brandy and also glycerine were frozen
-hard. The poor dogs suffered, yet many of them
-preferred to remain curled up on the snow-banks
-outside, to occupying the tent and holes prepared
-for them.</p>
-<p>On the 19th, Lockwood made a dog-sledge trip
-with Brainard and the Esquimaux Frederick to Depot
-&ldquo;B,&rdquo; to look for a good place to cross the straits.
-Found that the snow had drifted so as to form a continuous
-inclined plane from the bluffs far outside the
-snow-house and tent, thus almost concealing them.
-They recognized the spot only by seeing the stovepipe
-jutting above the snow. Knowing how the mouth of
-the tunnel lay from this point, they dug through the
-hard, compact snow, cleared out the tunnel, and soon
-<span class="pb" id="Page_130">130</span>
-found themselves within the snow-house. The little
-stove was swallowed up in a cone of snow reaching
-from roof to floor. This had drifted through a small
-aperture where the pipe pierced the roof. The fire
-going out after they turned in, the room became extremely
-damp and chilly. However, they made up
-for the discomforts of the night by a rousing fire in
-the morning, over which they got up a grand breakfast
-of musk-ox steak, beans, coffee, and hard-tack.
-They next sent the team with Frederick down to St.
-Patrick&rsquo;s Bay for a bag of coal, while Lockwood and
-Brainard walked over the straits toward Polaris Promontory.
-Going out some four or five miles over ice
-of varied nature, some exceedingly broken and hummocky
-and some quite level, they returned, satisfied
-that the time for crossing over was not yet. Frederick
-had, in the mean time, returned, mended up the
-hole in the roof, made a good fire, and prepared a
-warm meal.</p>
-<p>They again started out to test the important passage,
-taking a route farther north. There the rubble-ice
-reached only two hundred yards from the shore,
-beyond which, as far as they walked and could see,
-smooth ice extended. They returned, satisfied that
-this was the place to attempt the passage when the
-time should arrive for their contemplated exploration
-farther north.</p>
-<p>They made the trip over the foot-ice to the station
-(twenty miles) in four hours, thus proving the fine
-condition of the sledge and dogs for traveling, and the
-eagerness of the dogs to rejoin their companions and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_131">131</span>
-pups. All the way, they had before them to the
-southward a rich glow on the horizon like the sunrise
-of a fine morning at home. They found the men
-celebrating the 22d of February by match-games of
-various kinds, and, after listening to an appropriate
-speech on the Father of his Country, enjoyed a good
-dinner.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_132">132</div>
-<h2 id="c10">X.
-<br /><span class="small">&ldquo;THE ARCTIC MOON.&rdquo;</span></h2>
-<p>As already mentioned in this narrative, among the
-events which occurred at the Greely Scientific Colony,
-or Fort Conger, was the establishment of a newspaper,
-the first ever issued so near the north pole, the nearest
-approach to it previously having been &ldquo;The Ice-Blink,&rdquo;
-issued by Kane&rsquo;s Expedition in 1854. It was
-projected by G. W. Rice and C. B. Henry, but Lieutenant
-Lockwood was the editor-in-chief. The sheet
-was fifteen by nineteen inches in size, first prepared
-in manuscript and then multiplied by photograph,
-published on the 2d of November, 1881, and semi-monthly
-as to time. As the musk-oxen, the walruses,
-and the bears and wolves of Grinnell Land took no
-interest in the enterprise, the patrons of the paper
-were confined to the colony of explorers. In his
-opening address, the editor proudly claimed that his
-corps of contributors embraced the finest minds in the
-country; that his reporters would always be &ldquo;on the
-spot&rdquo;; that the journal was certain to be superior to
-any other in the country; and that the subscription
-list numbered not less than twenty-five thousand&mdash;the
-last assertion being a servile imitation of what often
-appears in the papers of New York and other American
-<span class="pb" id="Page_133">133</span>
-cities. And now, by way of giving the reader an
-idea of the style and character of this unique journal,
-it is proposed to reproduce in this chapter, as
-specimens, a collection of its editorials, contributions,
-items of news, and advertisements. In an article on
-&ldquo;Christmas,&rdquo; the editor gives us the following pathetic
-reflections:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Our Christmas-time has come and gone, and,
-although our geographical position is not a favorable
-one for the complete observation of this joyous anniversary,
-it was attended with many of the happy features
-that make its memory a pleasant landmark of the
-dying year. No boughs of &lsquo;evergreen were berried
-bright&rsquo; (our crop of evergreens failed this season), but
-had they existed, the conditions for making them
-&lsquo;white with rime&rsquo; were very favorable.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Christmas always attracts a crowd of joyous
-faces, and, although we missed the pleasure of &lsquo;childhood&rsquo;s
-grace and fair maiden&rsquo;s blushes&rsquo; under the
-mystic mistletoe, the stalwart, bearded men who
-grasped hands under our smoke-begrimed roof felt
-indeed the inspiration of the gladsome time when the
-voice of man&rsquo;s good-will to man speaks forth in everything.
-Could the possessors of the kind hearts and
-hands that contributed so much to the pleasure of the
-party have looked in upon the happy, smiling faces,
-living again a day of their youth in the anticipation
-and surprise attending the bestowal and opening of
-the mysterious packages containing the presents, they
-would have felt more than rewarded for their kind
-thoughtfulness. Lips unused to the task framed
-<span class="pb" id="Page_134">134</span>
-grateful acknowledgments of the kind act. The interest
-in our happiness taken by the wife of the commanding
-officer was repeatedly shown, and when, as
-we sat down to our inviting Christmas dinner, we
-contemplated a crowning proof of her kind good-will,
-repressed enthusiasm could no longer be restrained,
-and three rousing cheers for Mrs. Greely were given
-with an effect which proved beyond cavil the vigor of
-our lungs, and rendered unnecessary the weekly examination
-of the doctor.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Of course, the festive season brought with it regrets
-that would not be repressed, and longings that
-could not be satisfied, when processions of absent
-loved ones and severed friends followed the funerals
-of other Christmas-days through thoughts that would
-wander over snow, and ice, and land, and sea, to the
-happy firesides where we knew they were gathered.
-But every one looked on the bright side of things, and
-extracted as much comfort and pleasure as possible
-under the circumstances; we even knew one sordid
-individual who congratulated himself on the immunity
-of his exchequer from the heavy drafts generally
-entailed by the purchase of Christmas presents. We
-have not space to enter into a detailed account of all
-the happy features of the holiday. Altogether, our
-Christmas was a great success.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>By way of showing that there was nothing very
-frigid in the hearts of the explorers, another editorial
-is submitted, on the New Year:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Christmas is gone, with all its pleasant associations,
-and we find ourselves on the threshold of a new
-<span class="pb" id="Page_135">135</span>
-year. What thoughts the day recalls to a reflective
-mind! the exodus of the old, the advent of the new
-year; the past and the future, history and prophecy,
-the ceaseless alternation of life and death, the eternity
-of nature.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The day is suggestive in another way. Where
-were we a year ago? what doing? what looking forward
-to? Where shall we be a year from now? what
-will be our surroundings, and what shall we look back
-upon? How distant seemed this day a year ago!
-how short now seems the time that has since elapsed!</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The new year of 1882 finds us a community of
-twenty-five men, living through the cold and darkness
-of an Arctic winter, in a small house near the
-north pole, thousands of miles beyond any civilized
-habitation. A year ago saw us scattered&mdash;some in
-the cities, some on the plains of the far West, some
-occupied in quiet routine, some in the ceaseless
-changes and activity of the field. Will the next year
-find us here with our surroundings as satisfactory and
-auspicious? We trust so, and this day is eminently
-a day for making good resolutions. We are free
-agents, and the future depends, in great part, on ourselves.
-Let us, then, determine that, so far as lies
-within our power, we shall have no cause to look back
-with regret on the year just ushered in. The phrase
-is hackneyed, but none the less true:</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">&lsquo;Of all sad words of tongue or pen,</p>
-<p class="t0">The saddest are these&mdash;it might have been.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-</div>
-<p>And now we come to a contribution addressed to
-the editor of the &ldquo;Arctic Moon,&rdquo; as follows:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div>
-<p class="book">&ldquo;As Grinnell Land is a recognized Territory
-of the United States, and has a territorial form of
-government, a delegate from this Territory is to be
-elected who is to take his seat at the opening of the
-Forty-seventh Congress. The undersigned offers himself
-as a candidate for the office, on the following
-platform: I am in favor of reaching the north pole
-by balloon, a liberal appropriation for the purchase of
-lime-juice, compulsory education, unlimited emigration,
-a homestead and sixty acres of land, one musk-ox
-and two Esquimaux dogs to each actual settler. I
-am also a strong advocate of woman&rsquo;s rights, but there
-is no good in rights without the woman. I am prepared
-to &lsquo;chaw&rsquo; the points on the above platform; I
-think it is &lsquo;plump,&rsquo; and will stand without being
-propped up.</p>
-<p class="jr1">(Signed)<span class="hst"> &ldquo;<span class="sc">Connell</span>.&rdquo;</span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>And now, under the general heading of &ldquo;<i>Moon-Beams</i>,&rdquo;
-we come to the following paragraphs, which
-are not only spicy, but characteristic of the time and
-place with which they are identified:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The British expedition found the ice in this harbor,
-January 1, 1876, twenty-eight and three-quarter
-inches thick. Measurements made this day showed
-thirty-four inches. Our average temperature for December
-was nearly eight degrees lower than theirs for
-the same month.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The darkest day being a thing of the past, we
-shall soon find ourselves sliding down hill quite rapidly.
-We have made complete arrangements to have
-<span class="pb" id="Page_137">137</span>
-the sun interviewed on his return to this country the
-latter part of February.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The walrus seem to have emigrated, so that the
-Dutch Island people now take their daily exercise in
-<i>peas</i>.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I wonder what is in the mess-boxes?&rsquo; is the
-oft-repeated query. Have patience, brethren, time
-will show.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Old Probabilities will be surprised to learn, that
-his enterprising colony at this point is indulging in outdoor
-sports with the thermometer at 40&deg; below zero.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;To-day, at Dutch Island, Lieutenant Kislingbury
-was able to see the time of day holding his watch
-about one foot from his face.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Sergeant Cross has made another addition to his
-already numerous trades&mdash;that of bottling samples of
-air for the examination and scrutiny of those not favored
-with a sniff of Arctic breezes.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Sergeant Brainard is excellent authority for the
-statement that the gate-money taken at the racing
-contest will be devoted to the advancement of geographical
-knowledge within the Arctic Circle. Such
-being the case, the number of aborigines present will
-be a crucial test of the desire on the part of the Grinnellites
-to bring their country into more general
-knowledge.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Wanted&mdash;A good family horse. Will buy it
-cheap, or will take for his keeping, or keep for his
-taking. To be used on good country roads and for
-family driving. Must be very gentle. No objections
-to a Government mule. Address Jacob Doboy.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Wanted&mdash;A poet for the &lsquo;Arctic Moon.&rsquo; Must
-be strictly temperate and a good speech-maker. No
-tailors need apply. Address this office.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Wanted&mdash;A humoristic writer for the &lsquo;Arctic
-Moon.&rsquo; The present incumbent has suddenly become
-ill from too close application.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Information wanted of the Greely Arctic Expedition.
-It strayed away from home last July, and
-was last heard from at Upernavik, Greenland.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;We beg leave to announce to the public that we
-have made extensive improvements in our establishment,
-whereby we can furnish at the shortest notice
-bread, twists, rolls, cakes, pies, tarts, and, in fact,
-anything in the baker&rsquo;s line. Wedding cakes made a
-specialty. Are thankful for past patronage, and respectfully
-ask its continuance in future.</p>
-<p><span class="lr">&ldquo;<span class="sc">Frederick Shootman</span>,</span>
-<span class="lr">&ldquo;<span class="sc">San Francisco Longman</span>,</span>
-<span class="lr">&ldquo;Merchant Bakers.&rdquo;</span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_139">139</div>
-<h2 id="c11">XI.
-<br /><span class="small">EXPEDITION TO LOCKWOOD ISLAND.</span></h2>
-<p>On the 29th of February, Lieutenant Lockwood
-went upon an experimental trip to Thank God Harbor
-preparatory to his proposed grand expedition along
-the coast of Northern Greenland. His companions
-were Brainard, Jewell, Long, and the Esquimaux,
-Frederick and Jans, with two dog-teams. As the
-dogs, constantly yelping and howling, competed for
-the mastery, they traveled rapidly, and, after many
-twistings and turnings, reached their destination,
-where they found the observatory still standing.
-They took a necessary inventory, and, after a survey
-of the dismal plain, visited the grave of C. F. Hall,
-where Lieutenant Lockwood recorded the following
-touching notice in his journal: &ldquo;The head-board
-erected by his comrades, as also the metallic one left
-by the English, still stands. How mournful to me the
-scene, made more so by the howling of the winds
-and the thick atmosphere! It was doubtless best
-that he died where he did. I have come to regard
-him as a visionary and an enthusiast, who was indebted
-more to fortune than to those practical abilities
-which Kane possessed. Yet he gave his life to
-the cause, and that must always go far toward redeeming
-<span class="pb" id="Page_140">140</span>
-the short-comings of any man. The concluding
-lines of the inscription on the English tablet, I
-think good: &lsquo;To Captain Hall, who sacrificed his life
-in the advancement of science, November 8, 1871.
-This tablet has been erected by the British Polar Expedition
-of 1875, which followed in his footsteps and
-profited by his experience.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The American inscription on the wooden headboard
-was as follows:</p>
-<p class="center"><span class="smaller">IN MEMORY OF</span>
-<br />CHARLES FRANCIS HALL,
-<br /><span class="smaller">LATE COMMANDER U. S. STEAMER POLARIS,
-<br />NORTH POLE EXPEDITION.</span>
-<br /><i>Died November 8, 1871.</i></p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="book">&ldquo;I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me,
-though he were dead, yet shall he live.&rdquo;</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>After various struggles with the snow, fog, and
-cold weather, ending in frosted feet and faces, and
-after inspecting a boat left by Buddington, they returned
-by way of the snow-house at Cape Beechy, and,
-all very much exhausted, reached the station, receiving
-a hearty welcome. Greely had been very anxious
-about the party, owing to a storm of great violence,
-and had sent Dr. Pavy with men to their relief.
-The trip thus made covered not less than one hundred
-and forty miles. Lockwood now decided that on the
-1st of April he would start upon his proposed expedition.
-This trip occupied his mind continually. He
-hoped he might be successful, yet there were many
-<span class="pb" id="Page_141">141</span>
-chances of failure. Who could divine the future?
-He felt that he ought to be able to reach Cape Britannia,
-but that was not enough; he desired to do
-more.</p>
-<p>As the time for taking his departure approached,
-Lockwood was greatly troubled with rheumatism,
-but still was very busy in maturing his plans.
-Lieutenant Greely wrote him a flattering letter, putting
-the whole plan of operations in his hands and
-placing at his disposal the entire <i>personnel</i> and material
-of the expedition. This would include almost all
-who could take the field. The men were becoming
-enthusiastic and were showing an admirable spirit,
-although they knew from experience that they were
-to engage in no child&rsquo;s play. Almost all of those selected
-had shown pluck hitherto. Without this element
-no one could endure the hardships that they
-might have to undergo. Should any of those selected
-break down early, there were excellent substitutes
-among those left behind. Lockwood was pleased with
-an exhibition of pluck by Ellis, who walked all the way
-from Depot &ldquo;A&rdquo; with a frozen foot, refusing the offer
-of Jewell to bring him on the dog-sledge. Jewell, on
-returning from Lincoln Bay, had orders to convey
-stores to the &ldquo;Gap,&rdquo; where the boat previously sent
-over the strait lay. Hence, before starting, supplies
-would be placed at Depot &ldquo;B,&rdquo; at the &ldquo;Gap,&rdquo; and at
-a point intermediate on the frozen strait.</p>
-<p>Having all things complete, Sergeant Brainard was
-to proceed at once with the supporting parties to Cape
-Sumner. He was to leave Depot &ldquo;B&rdquo; with a weight
-<span class="pb" id="Page_142">142</span>
-to drag of one hundred and thirty pounds per man.
-Lockwood was to follow with dog-sledge loaded with
-five hundred pounds of pemmican. Thus they would
-concentrate at Cape Sumner with the six hundred
-rations in hand, together with seven hundred pounds
-of dog pemmican. The stores embraced pemmican,
-bacon, corned beef, roast musk-ox, raw musk-ox, English
-beef, hard bread, canned beans, potatoes, sugar,
-tea, chocolate, and coffee, besides which they carried
-alcohol for cooking and lime-juice as an anti-scorbutic.
-Their sledge ration had been made up by consultation
-with Lieutenant Greely, though, of course,
-it might be departed from if circumstances required.
-The diet list was purposely a varied one. No rum or
-spirits were taken except as a medicine. The main
-supporting party consisted of Sergeant Lynn, Corporal
-Ellison, and privates Biederbick, Whistler, and Henry.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Jewell, and the
-Esquimaux Frederick formed the advance party, while
-Sergeants Brainard and Ralston, Corporal Saler, and
-privates Connell, Fredericks, and one other man constituted
-the second supporting party.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig3">
-<img src="images/p155.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="509" />
-<p class="caption">Sledging over the Arctic Floe.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div>
-<p>On the 2d of April, the main and second supporting
-parties moved off in good style, amid the waving of
-flags, firing of pistols, cheers, and other demonstrations.
-Both Lieutenants Greely and Lockwood took occasion
-to address the men a few words of encouragement and
-advice. Lockwood confined his remarks to the necessity
-of co-operation and subordination as the chief
-essentials to success. He would follow with Jewell
-and the dog-sledge, and, if he knew himself, would not
-return unsuccessful. He got off at 8 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, with Jewell,
-Frederick, and the dog-sledge Antoinette. The team
-of eight consisted of &ldquo;Ritenbank, the king,&rdquo; a large
-white dog, at whose growl all the rest trembled;
-&ldquo;Major,&rdquo; a friend of Ritenbank, and a very useful,
-good-natured old fellow, hard-working and quiet,
-without any special characteristics; &ldquo;Howler,&rdquo; a
-large, lean, mean, ill-natured brute, whom they took
-on board at Disco, and who lorded it over the rest till
-Ritenbank came on board at the place of the same
-name, when Howler was dethroned; since which he
-had been morose and misanthropic, and never associated
-with the other dogs. He set up the most unearthly
-howling whenever any other dog approached
-him, especially if that other dog had designs on something
-he was engaged in eating or trying to eat&mdash;a
-tin can, for instance. At the end of a march, when
-the pemmican was being cut up, and he, with the
-rest, was awaiting his opportunity to make a general
-rush, his howling became almost unendurable. But
-he was especially despicable, because he allowed any
-and every dog of the team to jump on and bite him.
-His only redeeming trait was his earnestness in pulling,
-for, when the sledge stuck in deep snow or
-rubble-ice, he was the last of the dogs to sit on his
-haunches and look while <i>you</i> got it out. On several
-occasions when Ritenbank was making efforts
-to get inside the tent and steal the meat while all
-were asleep, Howler had given the alarm by his unearthly
-howling. His place in the team was on the
-right flank, and he kept it all the time, never dropping
-<span class="pb" id="Page_144">144</span>
-back and coming up in the wrong place, as did
-the other dogs. Next to Howler was the &ldquo;Woolly
-dog,&rdquo; a dirty-looking cur with long white hair, which
-made Howler&rsquo;s life a burden all the time by snapping
-at him as he hauled by his side. Next came the
-&ldquo;kooneys,&rdquo; signifying in Esquimaux mother-dogs.
-They were called &ldquo;Black Kooney&rdquo; and &ldquo;White
-Kooney,&rdquo; and were both good workers. Then came
-&ldquo;Ask-him,&rdquo; a pup when brought on board in Greenland,
-but now <i>of age</i>, and bearing the airs of a veteran.
-He brooked insult from no dog but Ritenbank,
-and evidently bided his time to contest the throne
-with him. He had even taken upon himself the
-kingly custom of biting the adjoining dog whenever
-he felt the whip. On his left were two dogs already
-named, &ldquo;Major&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Boss.&rdquo; On the left flank
-was &ldquo;Gypsy,&rdquo; a little fat kooney dog which pulled
-only under the lash, and yet by foraging and stealing
-managed to get twice the rations of any of the rest,
-and was always plump and fat.</p>
-<p>The advance party reached Depot &ldquo;A&rdquo; in good
-time, and took on five sacks (five hundred pounds) of
-dog pemmican and some cans of corned beef, which
-made their load very heavy.</p>
-<p>On the 5th of April, Lockwood reached the snow-house,
-and there found Brainard and the rest, making
-thirteen altogether. They completely filled the house,
-and also the dug-out in the snow-bank adjoining,
-so that Lockwood and Jewell moved the provisions
-out of the tent, and slept there, and Frederick in
-the tunnel. The tent being snowed in to the ridge-pole,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_145">145</span>
-and connected with the tunnel, they were quite
-comfortable. On the same day they saw an eagle
-on a floe-berg, which was considered a good omen.
-After needed rest all hands took their departure. The
-snow on the ice-floe was somewhat deep, and the loads
-very heavy. The route across the straits, previously
-determined on, was from Cape Beechy to within five
-or six miles of the east shore, and then as direct as
-possible to Cape Sumner. On reaching the tent on
-the straits, about four and one half miles out, Lockwood
-dropped his load, and went back to look after
-the sledges, then out of sight. He found Whistler
-sick and unable to pull, and Biederbick and Connell
-trying to pull the load without him&mdash;not an encouraging
-commencement of a long journey. Aided by
-the dog-sledge, all soon reached the tent and camped
-for the night. Lockwood, Jewell, and Frederick slept
-in the wall-tent, pitched there some weeks before.
-Lockwood writes at this point: &ldquo;Finding it very cold,
-I was glad to get up and out, leaving Jewell to the unhappy
-work of getting breakfast. (Breakfast! what
-a misnomer in such cases!) I then went to the two
-tents occupied by the others to inquire for healths.
-Mr. Henry, correspondent of the &lsquo;Chicago Times&rsquo;
-(as he called himself), the same who had written on
-the side of a large iceberg, &lsquo;Ho! for Cape Britannia,&rsquo;
-said he could go no farther, as he had been suffering
-dreadfully all night with rheumatism; or, if he did
-go farther, we would have to haul him back, while
-from here he thought he could manage to hobble by
-himself to the snow-house, and, after resting there and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_146">146</span>
-again at Depot &lsquo;A,&rsquo; reach the station. Henry is a
-big fellow, over six feet in height, with apparently the
-strength and physique of Hercules. It was a bad omen
-for the rest of us when <i>he</i> broke down. Connell had
-frozen his feet the previous day quite badly, and only
-discovered the extent of the injury after getting into
-camp, but thought <i>he</i> could go on, or at least was
-determined to try. All hands looked very forlorn,
-but generally were resolute and determined. Finally,
-Jewell had the tea and canned meat warmed sufficiently,
-and we stuffed ourselves with all there was to
-stuff, and prepared to follow the others who had already
-started. We overtook Fredericks (the saddler)
-struggling along in the snow with a sledge all by himself.
-He was a dwarf by the side of the giant Henry.
-It was necessary to do something, and so I told Jewell
-he must join Fredericks, and leave the Esquimaux and
-me to manage the dog-sledge. I overtook the main
-party about a mile and a half from camp, doing their
-best. Connell could hardly walk at all, and it was
-utterly impossible for him to pull. He was very reluctant
-to go back, but there was no alternative; so,
-throwing off the load, I took him on the dog-sledge as
-far as Cape Beechy, whence he thought he could get
-along by himself. On returning I picked up the load,
-and proceeded to follow the trail of the others. The
-snow soon became worse, and the sledge so often stuck
-that I determined to double up&mdash;take half the load at
-a time. The Esquimaux dogs can pull a very heavy
-load, and through bad places, but the moment the
-sledge comes to a dead halt they sit on their haunches,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_147">147</span>
-turn complacently round, and wait till the sledge is
-extricated. If not fully started, they will pull at
-random, or not at all. On these occasions the hard
-work comes upon the driver and others with the
-sledge.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 7th, they joined the other wing of the expedition,
-finding them in camp some miles south-west
-of the gap. The wind had been blowing and
-snow drifting for some hours, and everything indicated
-a storm. Lockwood and Frederick pitched tent
-and went into camp, first bringing up the rest of the
-load.</p>
-<p>While the storm was still raging, they got off with
-half the load, leaving the rest making preparations
-for a move, and took a course for Cape Sumner, whose
-steep, rocky face loomed up in the distance, terminated
-by a line of magnificent cliffs, which extended unbroken,
-except by &ldquo;the Gap,&rdquo; as far south as Cape
-Lupton of Polaris fame. They traveled upon level
-floes interrupted by ridges of hummocky ice, over
-which they had to get the sledge as best they could,
-and with frequent use of the axe. The wind blowing
-stronger, and the air being obscured with driving
-snow, they could with difficulty pick their way. Traveling
-over the straits was like navigating a ship in a
-tortuous channel. They soon found themselves in
-the midst of a mass of rubble-ice of the worst description;
-gaps and chasms between the crags and
-blocks of ice, often filled with loose snow, or entirely
-obscured by that flying through the air. They
-could barely see the cliffs on their right, and could
-<span class="pb" id="Page_148">148</span>
-not recognize their position. The dogs became very
-much discouraged, Frederick also, and Lockwood himself
-felt in no very enviable frame of mind. After
-many ineffectual efforts, and unloading and reloading
-repeatedly, they left the load and attempted to explore
-a route to shore. Not succeeding, they hunted
-for some suitable snow-drift in which to burrow, and
-there await better weather; but saw none. Finally,
-the storm letting up for a moment, they found a
-level floe, and, with the use of the axe, Lockwood and
-Frederick got the sledge upon it.</p>
-<p>On the 8th, at 3 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, they arrived at Cape Sumner,
-and, getting through the rubble-ice near the
-shore, gained the steep snow-slope which lay between
-the foot of the cliffs and the line of immense floe-bergs
-along the shore, stranded and pressed close up
-to the snow-slope. Between the bergs and the slope,
-the wind had made great gaps, deep and tortuous.
-The only way to get along was either through these
-gaps&mdash;often like pits&mdash;or to take the slope above and
-run the risk of tumbling down into them, sledge and
-all, sometimes fifteen or twenty feet. There was
-often no alternative but the latter. Lockwood expected
-to find it calm there by reason of the protection
-of the bluffs, but, on the contrary, the wind
-came down from above in gusts and whirlwinds, filling
-the air with eddying columns of snow. When about
-a mile from the Polaris Boat Camp, they encountered
-an immense mass of snow entirely filling up the ravine
-from top to bottom. Leaving the sledge, Lockwood
-went on to see if he could reach the Boat Camp,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_149">149</span>
-but could hardly keep his feet on account of the
-wind. Returning, he and Frederick made a small hole
-in the side of a large drift, and, pulling in everything
-the dogs could possibly eat, prepared to &ldquo;weather the
-storm.&rdquo; By 9 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, <i>supper</i> had been eaten in darkness,
-for they had no candles, and Frederick, wedged
-close up to him in the frozen sleeping-bag, was snorting
-away like a steam-engine. Lockwood soon fell asleep
-too, but woke up to find the sleeping-bag and his footgear
-and clothes wet with the moisture such close
-quarters produced. Everything inside was thawing.
-Soon after, masses of snow falling down through a
-number of rents in the side and roof of the excavation,
-he began to think they would be smothered alive. But
-while thinking about it, he went to sleep again, leaving
-Frederick snorting as before. Just how long they
-slept in that snow-bank, they did not know, but when
-they did wake up and try to emerge, they found themselves
-completely snowed in, and only got out by vigorous
-use of their knives, so hard and compact had
-the ice and snow become. Frederick being able to
-understand only signs and a very few words chiefly
-referring to food, their conversation was very limited.</p>
-<p>They found the dogs and sledge almost buried in
-snow. Hastily harnessing up, they reached the Boat
-Camp on Newman&rsquo;s Bay at noon. Here they again
-went into camp by digging into a snow-bank and covering
-the hole with the tent. &ldquo;Skaffer,&rdquo; or eating,
-being first in order, they supplied themselves by thawing
-their prepared roast. Then they had a smoke&mdash;that
-great solace of the traveler in every clime. Snow-houses
-<span class="pb" id="Page_150">150</span>
-and snow-holes, they concluded, have many
-objections, but they always have the merit of being
-warm. Feeling uneasy about Brainard and his party,
-imagining all manner of things about them, at
-9 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, Lockwood left everything behind and went
-forth with dogs and sledge to hunt them up, and at
-midnight met them valiantly struggling along toward
-the Boat Camp. They had found shelter from the
-storm behind a large, friendly floe-berg, where the
-tent could stand. On the 10th, preceding them, he
-picked up the bags of pemmican he had put off, and
-returned to Boat Camp, where they came also and
-burrowed in the snow. All thus found themselves
-at their first station. Jewell, being originally of the
-party of the dog-sledge, lodged and fed with them
-when together, he sleeping in a single bag, and Lockwood
-and Frederick together. &ldquo;It was,&rdquo; Lockwood
-remarks, &ldquo;a choice of evils which to prefer&mdash;Frederick
-groaning like a piece of machinery, or Jewell always
-getting the stockings and wraps mixed up, and invariably
-laying hold of the dry ones as his own.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Snow-holes,&rdquo; he again says, &ldquo;having the insuperable
-objection of asphyxiation, we repaired the
-tents and returned to civilization&mdash;that is, went
-really into camp. Whistler and Bender were found
-completely done up this morning both in flesh and
-spirits&mdash;all kinds of pains, shortness of breath, spitting
-of blood, faintness. Not being enthusiastic about
-going farther, I deemed it best to send them back,
-and they left at once for the station.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>They now had several things to look to before going
-<span class="pb" id="Page_151">151</span>
-farther&mdash;to bring up the rations sent across to
-the Gap, also to bring over those left at the tent on
-the straits.</p>
-<p>At midnight, Brainard and party, with three
-Hudson Bay sledges, started on this work, and Lockwood
-left two hours after, with a dog-sledge and Frederick,
-for the same purpose. Taking advantage of
-smooth ice, interrupted now and then outside the pack
-near shore, he soon overhauled Brainard, and they
-reached the Gap together. There they found the boat,
-which had been sent over with so much labor, a complete
-wreck. They, however, placed it out of reach
-of further damage, as it might yet become important
-to them. They then went into camp by going into a
-snow-burrow prepared there some weeks before when
-the boat had been brought over, and proceeded to
-have a feast, which possessed at least one merit, that
-of being <i>enough</i>, for Lockwood did not deem it necessary
-to adhere strictly to sledge rations till they had
-left their base of supplies. Leaving the others to load
-up and return to Boat Camp, he and Frederick left
-with the dog-sledge for the food put out on the straits
-<i>en route</i>. Part of this they took up and then joined
-the others at Boat Camp, men and dogs well spent
-and tired; but a good meal, a good smoke, and a
-snooze in their bags, set them all right.</p>
-<p>Their number was now reduced to nine, two having
-been sent back soon after leaving the snow-house
-(Depot &ldquo;B&rdquo;), and two from Boat Camp. The Hudson
-Bay sledges were much worn, and likely to become
-useless. Lockwood now determined to return to the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_152">152</span>
-main station for new runners, leaving the men under
-Brainard to bring up the supplies still out, and otherwise
-make ready for the advance. The round trip
-would be one hundred miles, and would add much
-to the labor of the dogs, but there was no help for it,
-as he could take no chances on the threshold of the
-long journey before them.</p>
-<p>Soon after making this resolve, he and Frederick
-got off with their team, carrying nothing but an axe
-and half a pound of tobacco. The dogs were in fine
-condition, notwithstanding their recent hard work.
-True, they supplemented their rations and thus
-added to their strength by stealing thirty-five pounds
-of bacon! &ldquo;It is wonderful,&rdquo; Lockwood here remarks,
-&ldquo;what these Esquimaux dogs can do. This
-team, which was regarded as a scrub affair&mdash;Dr. Pavy
-having had his pick of dogs&mdash;hauled ice all through
-the winter, made a trip beyond Cape Beechy in February,
-another to Thank-God-Harbor and Newman&rsquo;s
-Bay in March, and then hauled a load to Lincoln
-Bay and four days after started on this present trip;
-yet now they travel along as lively as ever&mdash;so lively
-that the driver finds it difficult to keep up.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>They duly reached the station, and, of course,
-Greely and all were surprised to see them, probably
-taking them for another cargo of cripples. After a
-good sleep and a feast, they were off on their return
-at 10 <span class="small">P. M.</span> of the 14th. They took on the runners, a
-feed of walrus-meat, a few other trifles, and also a
-heliograph, the last to open communication in case of
-delay or disaster. Stopping six hours at the snow-house
-<span class="pb" id="Page_153">153</span>
-to rest and feed, they started across the strait
-with a small load of meat, and, notwithstanding
-some rubble-ice which delayed them, reached the
-Boat Camp at 5.30 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, very tired and very sleepy,
-too, having accomplished this remarkable journey of
-one hundred miles in fifty-four hours. During their
-absence, Brainard had brought in everything, and
-all was ready for the advance as soon as they could
-repair the sledges.</p>
-<p>After repairing and rebuilding, they had for the
-trip:</p>
-<p>1. Dog-sledge, Lieutenant Lockwood and Esquimaux
-Frederick; total weight, 743 pounds.</p>
-<p>2. Large sledge (the &ldquo;Nares&rdquo;), drawn by Sergeants
-Brainard and Ralston and Corporal Saler;
-estimated total weight, 651 pounds.</p>
-<p>3. Hudson Bay sledge (&ldquo;Hall&rdquo;), drawn by Sergeant
-Jewell and private Fredericks; estimated total
-weight, 300 pounds.</p>
-<p>4. Hudson Bay sledge (&ldquo;Hayes&rdquo;), drawn by Sergeant
-Lynn and Corporal Ellison; estimated total
-weight, 300 pounds.</p>
-<p>Of this weight, 225 pounds was of equipments,
-independent of weight of sledges, and 900 pounds, of
-food for men and dogs.</p>
-<p>At 10.30 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, they left the Boat Camp and
-crossed Newman&rsquo;s Bay, to a ravine, or narrow valley,
-directly opposite, which the lieutenant called Gorge
-Creek after finding it was not the route he had taken
-it for&mdash;that of Beaumont&rsquo;s return. The others being
-far behind, he left the sledge and proceeded on alone
-<span class="pb" id="Page_154">154</span>
-to explore. Passing through a narrow gap, the valley
-widened out as before, in some places the exposed
-stones offering a serious obstacle to heavily laden
-sledges. Returning, he and Frederick went back
-with the team and assisted in bringing up the foot-sledges.
-Then, after an advance of ten miles in eight
-hours, all went into camp again. Leaving the camp
-at 10 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and doubling up from the start, they
-made their way up the valley, through the gap, and
-to the head of the valley beyond. They found the
-exposed stones so annoying that Lockwood regretted
-often he had not taken the route round Cape Brevoort,
-notwithstanding the rubble-ice. Though Lockwood
-felt confident he had reached the divide, yet,
-throwing off the load, he sent Frederick with the team
-back to assist the others, while he went ahead to further
-reconnoitre. Although he ascended a high hill,
-he could see little encouraging beyond. He returned
-to the load and continued down-stream until he met the
-others painfully advancing, when all went into camp,
-after making an advance of six miles in eight hours.</p>
-<p>Got off again with half-load at 10 <span class="small">P. M.</span> Preceding
-the others, Lockwood and Frederick made their
-way over slightly undulating plains, keeping as far as
-possible northward until they came to a decided depression
-in that direction, sometimes following blind
-leads, and then returning and continuing on their
-former way. Lockwood finally saw before him the
-crest of the bluff of a water-course, gaining which he
-found to his joy a stream running north, which he
-entered. Though filled with snow, it afforded good
-<span class="pb" id="Page_155">155</span>
-traveling for the dog team. Continuing down this
-stream, he passed between two large masses of rock
-like a gateway. Here was a regular ca&ntilde;on as straight
-as a street and nearly level, whose sides were almost
-perpendicular and extremely picturesque. Seeing no
-signs of the sea, he resolved to camp here. To this
-end, throwing off the half load, he went back for that
-left behind, expecting to meet the foot-sledges on the
-way. Disappointed in this, he returned to the ravine,
-and at 6 <span class="small">P. M.</span> he and Frederick were into their sleeping-bags,
-feeling much uneasiness about their route,
-for they had already traveled a much greater distance
-than the English maps called for as lying between
-Newman&rsquo;s Bay and the north coast.</p>
-<p>Although the men with the drag-sledges had not
-come up, Lockwood resolved to leave everything behind
-and go ahead down the ca&ntilde;on with the empty
-sledge till assured that he was <i>en route</i> to the sea by
-finding the sea itself. Carrying out this resolve at
-10 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, the ca&ntilde;on soon widened into a valley, with
-deep, soft snow-bed or stones, and inclosed by lofty
-mountains. He crossed this, and came to a gorge
-like a railroad-cutting, through which the stream
-ran. Ascending an adjacent hill, before him lay what
-seemed an extended plain, which he recognized as the
-sea, from a line of floe-bergs marking the coast.</p>
-<p>Just where they were, he did not know, nor did he
-find out till their return. The sea had been found,
-so now they were to find and bring up the men and
-sledges. Lockwood and Frederick, with the wearied
-team, rapidly went back and happily found the absent
-<span class="pb" id="Page_156">156</span>
-ones, safely, if not comfortably, camped alongside
-their load.</p>
-<p>All broke camp at 7 <span class="small">P. M.</span> and proceeded to bring
-up such of the impedimenta as had been left behind;
-after which they made their way with great labor
-through the ca&ntilde;on, valley, and gorge to the sea, reaching
-there, at 4 <span class="small">A. M.</span> of the 22d, with everything except
-a seal-skin mit, which got adrift and went flying
-before the wind over the hills like a bird; for a terrific
-snow-storm was then raging. They found great difficulty
-in making the tents stand, and, indeed, abandoned
-the attempt except as to one, into which they all
-huddled to weather out the storm. The cooking was
-confined to making a little tepid tea. They remained
-in their bags, sleeping at intervals, and even going
-without food and water rather than venture out.</p>
-<p>Finally, on the morning of the 23d, the storm had
-abated, and they ventured out, to find that the dogs
-had taken advantage of the circumstances to eat up
-twenty pounds of bacon and twelve pounds of beef,
-although these had been secured, as was supposed, at
-the bottom of a sledge. They had also eaten a
-seal-skin mitten. After some repairs to the sledges,
-which had suffered by the stony route passed over,
-they proceeded on their way along the coast, keeping
-on the ice-foot which here ran along a low, sloping
-shore backed by a range of hills. At Drift Point,
-the snow formed steep slopes, extending from the
-bluffs (now near the sea) to the tops of the line of
-floe-bergs along shore. There, the sledge &ldquo;Nares&rdquo;
-breaking down, it was necessary to abandon it and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_157">157</span>
-increase the loads on the other sledges, carrying
-along the good parts of the &ldquo;Nares&rdquo; to repair the
-others when needful. Doubling up, they made
-their way along those steep slopes until near Black
-Horn Cliffs. Here the slopes became so abrupt that
-they were driven on to the rubble-ice near the shore.
-So difficult was their way over this with the heavily
-loaded sledges, that in many places by standing pulls
-only could progress be made. Near these cliffs they
-went into camp after bringing up the half-loads left
-behind, having advanced five miles in eight and a half
-hours. Leaving half their stuff, they then made their
-way over the rubble-ice, frequently using the axe, till
-they came to the end of the cliffs, when the sledges
-went back for the rest of the stuff, while Lockwood
-looked for a more practicable route. Off shore, half
-a mile seaward, he found a fair route, following
-which he reached Cape Stanton. He thought Stanton
-Gorge, where Beaumont had left forty rations, to
-be near. These, however, he failed to find. After
-taking a short nap in the lee of a hummock, he returned
-to find Frederick and the dog-sledge. The
-others coming up, all went into camp fully tired
-out, for, besides the roughness of the ice, they had
-encountered a stiff wind. Two ptarmigans were seen
-near Cape Stanton.</p>
-<p>On the 25th of April Frederick declined breakfast&mdash;evidence
-of something wrong with him. Lockwood,
-therefore, resolved to go up to a gorge he had
-seen the previous day, and there go into camp and lie
-over a day. Frederick could hardly walk, and hence
-<span class="pb" id="Page_158">158</span>
-rode when it was possible. Finding a snow-slope
-inside the hummocks, they made good progress and
-reached &ldquo;Gorge Rest&rdquo; in one hour. In the mean
-while the sun came out, and the air became calm and
-warm, affording a good opportunity for drying wet
-clothes and bags. Lockwood gave a drink of brandy
-to Frederick, and then displayed Mrs. Greely&rsquo;s silk
-flag, as they had now attained a point higher than
-any American had before reached. In the afternoon,
-Jewell and Ralston succeeded in finding Beaumont&rsquo;s
-<i>cache</i> farther on, and, as proof of their discovery,
-brought back a can of rum marked &ldquo;Bloodhound,&rdquo;
-the name of his sledge. It was about there that his
-first man was sent back with the scurvy. Afterward,
-when all but two had the disease, they had to go on
-or die in the traces.</p>
-<p>On the 26th, Frederick was well, otherwise he
-would have been sent back. They built a <i>cache</i> and
-left one day&rsquo;s ration for men and dogs; also, to lighten
-load, snow-shoes, head and foot gear, blankets, indeed
-everything they could do without. They reached Stanton
-Gorge, dropped load, and Frederick was sent back
-with the team for the rest of their stuff. The men
-came in without doubling, having also found Beaumont&rsquo;s
-<i>cache</i> on a high hill. They all agreed that such
-unnecessary labor was enough to bring on the scurvy.
-They found there fifty-six pounds of pemmican, ten
-pounds of bacon, and a large box containing bread,
-potatoes, chocolate, tea, sugar, onion-powder, and
-stearine used for fuel, all of which were taken on to
-Cape Bryant. Beyond this point, to Cape Stanton,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_159">159</span>
-their route lay along the foot of steep snow-slopes
-beneath the cliffs, with lines of floe-bergs and hummocks
-outside, and was exceedingly rough. Lockwood
-and Frederick, after crossing Hand Bay, passed the
-men moving slowly and laboriously. Their troubles
-were increased by frequent upsettings of the sledges
-along the slope and by the friction of the splintered
-bottoms owing to the runners cutting through.</p>
-<p>It was not till 8 <span class="small">P. M.</span> that they all reached Frankfield
-Bay, and, thoroughly tired out, went into camp,
-after an advance of nine miles in thirteen hours.</p>
-<p>Here they cached one day&rsquo;s rations for all, and
-then traveled along the low shore which skirted the
-base of Mount Lowe, and came upon the snow-covered
-surface of Frankfield Bay, a small and pretty harbor
-surrounded by steep mountains. Beyond this bay,
-they crossed a spit of land, going up a steep slope, and
-down another equally steep at a run. There they
-threw off a half load and went back for the rest.
-Afterward all proceeded with half-loads, Lockwood
-taking his post at the traces and pulling with the
-men. After a while he dropped off to help Frederick,
-while the men went on to Cape Bryant. Taking advantage
-of an interval of leisure, he got out the lamp
-and made just two pint-cups of tea for Frederick and
-himself. &ldquo;Of all the occasions,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;when a
-draught of tea tasted particularly good, none like this
-lingers in my memory. Though without milk and
-with very little sugar, it tasted like nectar. In fact,
-as the gods never undertook any Arctic sledge-journeys,
-their nectar was not half so delicious.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_160">160</div>
-<p>On the 27th, Lockwood shot five ptarmigans or
-Arctic quails. Sitting on a floe-berg, they were scarcely
-distinguishable from the snow. The traveling on
-that day was on the whole fair; yet so heavily were
-the sledges loaded, and so much worn, that when,
-after making fifteen miles in twelve hours, they
-reached Cape Bryant at 8.30 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, both men and dogs
-were nearly exhausted. To add to their joylessness,
-they had to be very sparing of their rations. Cracker-dust
-was with them the grand panacea for short rations.
-This went into every stew, was mixed with
-their tea, and was even taken alone, and found to be
-very <i>filling</i>. By its aid, they persuaded themselves
-that the short allowance was a hearty repast.</p>
-<p>On the 28th, Brainard and others made an unsuccessful
-search for a <i>cache</i> left there by Beaumont, but
-got a good view of Cape Britannia from a high cliff.
-Lockwood and Jewell also saw it from a height back
-of the camp. Beaumont had seen Cape Britannia,
-but never reached it. He got only thirty miles farther
-than Cape Bryant; that is, to the opposite side
-of the fiord which here appears, and which they called
-&ldquo;Beaumont&rsquo;s Fiord.&rdquo; While Frederick brought up
-some stores left behind, Lockwood busied himself
-with many details connected with his further advance
-toward the north, for now his supports were to leave
-him and return to the Boat Camp, while Brainard,
-Frederick, and himself, with the dog-sledge, were to
-proceed alone.</p>
-<p>Lockwood now satisfied himself by a careful inspection
-of the sledges that the supporting party
-<span class="pb" id="Page_161">161</span>
-could go no farther, especially as some of the men
-were suffering with snow-blindness. He therefore
-broke up one of the sledges, and with it repaired the
-remaining drag-sledge and the dog-sledge. Brainard,
-also suffering with snow-blindness, remained in the
-tent, while Lockwood with the others built a <i>cache</i>
-and deposited therein the Beaumont stores and such
-others as they could not take on. Food for the return
-party to Boat Camp having been dropped <i>en route</i>,
-he decided to take with him twenty-five days&rsquo; rations.
-Hence their advance must be limited to the time these
-rations would feed them, going northeast and returning
-to Cape Bryant.</p>
-<p>He started, therefore, with&mdash;</p>
-<table class="center" summary="">
-<tr><td class="l">Men-rations, weighing </td><td class="r">230 </td><td class="c">pounds.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Dog-pemmican, weighing </td><td class="r">300 </td><td class="c">&rdquo;</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Equipments, weighing </td><td class="r">176 </td><td class="c">&rdquo;</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Dog-sledge, weighing </td><td class="r"><span class="u">80</span> </td><td class="c">&rdquo;</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l"><span class="hst">Total</span> </td><td class="r">786 </td><td class="c">&rdquo;</td></tr>
-</table>
-<p>or about 98 pounds to each dog.</p>
-<p class="tb">The weather, though cold, causing some frost-bites,
-had been beautiful during their stay here. The
-men had done their parts well, and had endured uncomplainingly
-much hard work, hardship, and exposure.
-The supporting party left at 4 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, after hearty
-hand-shaking and wishing good luck to Lockwood,
-Brainard, and Frederick, leaving the three lonely and
-depressed on that desolate shore.</p>
-<p>And now, as the returning party disappeared in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_162">162</span>
-the distance, the explorers turned toward Cape Britannia.
-Although they started with a very heavy load,
-yet the traveling was fine, and, all three pushing,
-they made rapid progress, having Cape May directly
-ahead and across the fiord. The dogs seemed to object
-to going over the sea, and kept deflecting constantly
-to the right, the only difficulty arising from
-the deepening of the snow and its becoming soft.
-When they got stuck, Brainard would pull at the
-traces, while Lockwood would push at the upstand,
-and Frederick divide his energies between helping
-them and inducing the dogs to do so.</p>
-<p>At 1 <span class="small">A. M.</span> on April 30th, they camped on the fiord,
-well satisfied with their advance of sixteen miles in
-eight hours without once doubling.</p>
-<p>Moving off at 5 <span class="small">P. M.</span> with full load, they had not
-gone far before they were forced to throw off half of
-it, and soon with this half they found it difficult to
-get along, for the sledge would sink down to the slats
-and the men to their knees through the deep, soft
-snow. Lockwood could fully appreciate poor Brainard&rsquo;s
-efforts and labors in a fiord at the southwest,
-when he crawled through snow waist-deep, and on
-hands and knees, for two hundred yards. At 9 <span class="small">P. M.</span>
-they came to hummocks, pitched tent, threw off load,
-and, while Lockwood prepared supper, the others went
-back with the team to bring up what they had thrown
-off. They had to adhere strictly to the allowance, for
-they had rations for just so many days. They had
-advanced six miles in seven hours and three quarters.</p>
-<p>They started again the next morning with full
-<span class="pb" id="Page_163">163</span>
-load, but soon had to pitch off again. Had better
-traveling, on the whole, than on the previous day,
-though meeting with ranges of old floes and hummocks
-filled in with snow. Shortly after midnight,
-they came abreast Cape May, the desire of Beaumont,
-but which, with his crew broken down with scurvy,
-and with heavy sledges loaded down with all kinds of
-equipments, he never attained. The party pitched
-tent near an immense floe extending as far back as the
-eye could reach. Brainard and Frederick went back
-for the dismounted stuff, while Lockwood turned cook
-again, the first thing being to pulverize a lot of ice and
-set it on the lamp to melt. Cape Britannia and Beaumont
-Island were very distinctly seen, the latter from
-refraction double. Their allowance of alcohol was a
-constant source of trouble. They could not afford
-meat for both breakfast and supper, hence their supper
-consisted of tea, cracker-dust, and bean-stew.
-Advanced twelve miles in fourteen hours.</p>
-<p>Lockwood and Brainard now took turns in cooking,
-Frederick being excused. The two former did
-not sleep well, and, as usual, the Esquimaux blew his
-trumpet loudly, but not sweetly. They left at 7 <span class="small">P. M.</span>
-with full load, but as usual threw off a portion, leaving
-Brainard with it. Toward midnight they came to
-an open crack in the ice ten feet wide, through which
-sea-water could be seen below, and had to follow it
-several hundred yards before coming to a crossing.
-Thinking this a favorable chance to get a deep-sea
-sounding, they threw off the load, and Frederick went
-back for Brainard and the balance of the stores, while
-<span class="pb" id="Page_164">164</span>
-Lockwood got into a sleeping-bag and read &ldquo;King
-Lear&rdquo; until their return. In sounding, they ran out
-all the line they had, then four coils of seal-thongs,
-then some rope, and finally Frederick&rsquo;s dog-whip,
-and got no bottom at eight hundred and twenty feet.
-They began to haul up after debating whether they
-should not risk the dog-traces, when, presto! the rope
-broke, and all below was lost. Leaving their treasures
-in the deep, they moved on with half-load over a low
-line of hummocky ice having the same general direction
-as the crack, namely, toward Beaumont&rsquo;s Island.
-Beyond was an unbroken field of snow extending apparently
-to Cape Britannia. Ice being required for
-supper, they went into camp on the hummocks, going
-back, however, for the stores left behind, having advanced
-eight miles in ten hours.</p>
-<p>After taking bearings, they broke camp at 4 <span class="small">P. M.</span>,
-and, with a full load, proceeded over the level snowfield,
-broken here and there only by hummocks trending
-in a curve toward Cape Britannia. Until midnight
-the snow-crust sustained the sledge, but after
-that, failing to do so, they had to reduce load. Wind
-and snow coming on, they camped near a small ice-mound,
-after advancing fourteen miles in fourteen
-hours, and again brought up the stores left behind.</p>
-<p>The next morning proved clear and calm, and gave
-them a full view of the long-desired cape, which they
-reached at 8 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, pitching tent on the ice-foot&mdash;four
-miles in one hour and a half. Lockwood had
-read so much of scurvy, deep snows, etc., as associated
-with sledge-journeys in the experience of the English
-<span class="pb" id="Page_165">165</span>
-expedition, that he had come to regard them as inseparable
-from such enterprises. Yet here they were, at
-a point which Beaumont saw only from afar, without
-the first and without serious difficulty from the others.
-Cape Britannia had been the <i>ultima Thule</i> of Beaumont&rsquo;s
-hopes, and quite as far as Lieutenant Greely
-expected Lockwood to reach. But he was able to go
-much farther, and would do so. He built a cairn, and
-deposited a record of their journey to date, also rations
-for five days for use on their return, the spare sledge-runner,
-and everything they could do without. Leaving
-Frederick to see that the dogs did not eat up the
-tent and everything in it, Lockwood and Brainard
-climbed the adjacent mountain, two thousand and
-fifty feet high, to view the magnificent prospect spread
-out before them from that point. &ldquo;We seemed,&rdquo;
-Lockwood writes, &ldquo;to be on an island terminating
-some miles to the north in a rocky headland. To the
-northeast, seemingly twenty miles away, was a dark
-promontory stretching out into the Polar Ocean, and
-limiting the view in that direction. Intermediate,
-were several islands separated by vast, dreary fiords,
-stretching indefinitely southward. Extending halfway
-round the horizon, the eye rested on nothing but
-the ice of the Polar Sea; in-shore, composed of level
-floes, but beyond, of ridges and masses of the roughest
-kind of ice. The whole panorama was grand, but
-dreary and desolate in the extreme. After erecting a
-monument, we were glad to escape the cold wind by
-returning.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>While here, Lockwood took several astronomical
-<span class="pb" id="Page_166">166</span>
-observations. They broke camp at 7 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and traveled
-northward over smooth ice free from snow, to
-the promontory, where they came in sight of the distant
-headland northeast, which they had seen from
-the mountain-top. Hearing a low, moaning sound,
-and looking to the north, they saw a line of hummocks,
-and near it their old acquaintance, the tidal
-crack, stretching in one direction toward Beaumont
-Island, and in the other, curving toward Black Cape,
-as Lockwood named the headland northeast of them.
-Repairing their sledge, which had given way, they
-proceeded toward this headland, having fairly good
-traveling though somewhat obstructed by soft and
-deep snow, and camped at midnight near a hummock
-and not far from the crack, from which Frederick
-tried, without success, to get a seal. This would
-have relieved his mortified feelings at the loss of a
-ptarmigan he had shot at the cape, and which Ritenbank
-had stolen. Took observations for latitude and
-longitude before turning into their sleeping-bags.
-Advanced eleven miles in five hours.</p>
-<p>The observations were repeated next morning, and
-they then went on their course. After going a considerable
-distance, they halted to rest and to view
-the tide-crack, now near them and about one hundred
-yards across, filled in here and there with young
-ice or detached masses. This crack was incomprehensible,
-differing from those seen in the straits, which
-were near shore and so narrow as to attract little attention.
-Frederick gave Lockwood to understand by
-signs and gestures that after a while the ice outside,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_167">167</span>
-or north of the crack, would move oft seaward. Resuming
-their way, they soon after passed Blue Cape,
-and thence crossing a small fiord got to Black Cape,
-the bold, rocky headland they had seen from the
-mountain. Beyond Black Cape, and in the same general
-direction, but seen indistinctly, appeared a dark,
-rocky cape, which Lockwood called Distant Cape,
-because, seeming so near, it was yet so far, as they
-afterward found. At Black Cape were seen bear-tracks,
-also those of the fox, hare, and lemming, in
-great numbers. The tide-crack here came near the
-shore, and then extended directly across to the next
-cape. The ice along shore indicated having sustained
-enormous pressure. Great bergs and hummocks,
-weighing thousands of tons, had been pushed
-upon the ice-foot like pebbles.</p>
-<p>The ice-foot offering better traveling, they followed
-that course, though it took them somewhat
-away from Distant Cape. Leaving it, they crossed
-what seemed to them a little bay, but it took them
-one hour and a half to reach the cape on the farther
-side. Seeing a large fiord intervening between them
-and Distant Cape which they had wished to reach
-before encamping, they gave up the effort and pitched
-their tent. Soon after, Frederick shot a hare, but
-only wounding him, they had to expend all their remaining
-strength in running him down. But food
-was now everything, and they spared neither the hare
-nor themselves. They called that point Rabbit Point,
-in memory of the friend who served them a good turn.
-Advanced seventeen miles in ten hours.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div>
-<p>Having, on account of a snow-storm, failed to get
-the sun on the south meridian, Lockwood waited until
-it should come round to the north meridian, as
-this matter of observations was important, and difficult
-to attend to <i>en route</i>. In the mean time, they
-cached some rations. Saw some ptarmigans, but
-failed to shoot them. Left near midnight, and having
-crossed the hummocks thrust in against all these
-capes, reached the level surface of an immense bay
-which they were two and one quarter hours in crossing,
-after untold labor and fatigue, through deep
-snow, so wet that they seemed to be wading through
-soft clay. They reached the opposite shore, bathed in
-perspiration, Lockwood going in advance to encourage
-the dogs. Sometimes they went down waist-deep.
-The mass of hummocks came up so near the cliffs as
-to force the travelers outside. Still, Distant Cape was
-farther on, with a fiord intervening. At four o&rsquo;clock,
-they reached this long-sought point, and looked ahead
-to see what lay beyond. Away off in the same general
-direction (northeast) was seen another headland, separated
-from them by a number of fiords and capes,
-which lay on an arc connecting Distant Cape with
-that in the far distance. Inclining to the right, they
-made their way toward one of these intermediate
-capes. Sometimes seeing it and sometimes not, they
-finally reached it at 6 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, and, being unable to see
-anything ahead, went into camp. Soon afterward a
-pyramidal island loomed up through the storm in the
-northeast. They enjoyed part of their rabbit for supper,
-almost raw, for they had no alcohol to waste on
-<span class="pb" id="Page_169">169</span>
-luxuries, and carefully laid away the other half for
-further indulgence. But Ritenbank saw that half
-rabbit stowed away, and he too liked rabbit, as will
-be seen. After supper Lockwood made observations,
-and of trials and tribulations this was not the least.
-Face chilled, fingers frozen, and sun so low as to require
-him to lie in the snow; the sun like a grease-spot
-in the heavens, and refusing to be reflected;
-snow-drifts over artificial horizon cover; sextant
-mirrors becoming obscure, vernier clouded, tangent-screw
-too stiff to work; then, when one had nearly
-secured a contact, some dog interposing his ugly body
-or stirring up the snow; such were some of the difficulties
-to be overcome. Still, these observations must
-be made, and carefully and correctly made, or otherwise
-the chief value of the expedition would be lost.
-They secured double sets of observations here, which
-delayed them, but got off near midnight from this
-cape, which Lockwood called Low Point, and made
-good time toward the dim headland at the northeast.
-In two hours and a half they reached the cape, which
-he named Surprise, because they came upon it unexpectedly
-looming up through the gloom. Beyond
-and to the right was seen through the storm a dome-capped
-island, the inevitable inlet intervening. The
-traveling proving good, they reached it at four, and
-found it to be the end of a long line of grand, high,
-rocky cliffs, bearing far to the south.</p>
-<p>The ice-foot here being free from snow, the
-dogs took the sledge along at a trot, and the explorers
-rode by turns&mdash;the first time since leaving
-<span class="pb" id="Page_170">170</span>
-Boat Camp. The trend of the coast-line becoming
-nearly east, Lockwood began to think the time had
-come for leaving the coast and striking off directly
-toward the pole, as arranged for in his orders. As this
-was a matter requiring full consideration, he stopped
-to get an observation, but, defeated in this by the
-drifting snow, they went into camp at 6 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, having
-advanced seventeen miles in less than seven hours.</p>
-<p>After sleeping, Lockwood rose to take observations.
-While so doing, and hence out of the tent, he
-heard a noise in it, and suspected mischief. Sure
-enough, there was that old thief, Ritenbank, coolly
-eating up the remains of the rabbit they had kept for
-a second feast. A dash and a blow, and the dog
-scampered off, dropping part of the animal in his
-flight. They had reached the state of not being particular
-about what they ate, so they gathered up the
-remains and ate them on the spot.</p>
-<p>Resuming their journey at 1 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, they traveled
-under a long line of high cliffs, with hills in the
-rear. The travel was excellent, but the weather
-abominable&mdash;high winds, with falling and drifting
-snow. After three hours of progress in an easterly
-course, a headland was seen obliquely to their left,
-between which and themselves lay a wide fiord. After
-an observation of the sun, they struck directly
-across this fiord for the headland in question, which
-they finally reached after repeatedly losing themselves
-in the mist and gloom. Here they stopped awhile
-to eat pemmican and view the surroundings. Found
-many rabbit-tracks, but saw none of the animals. In
-<span class="pb" id="Page_171">171</span>
-Arctic traveling, one craves warm meat, but seldom
-gets any but that which is frozen. Continuing along
-this coast over a good ice-foot, they were pleased to
-see on their left a small island with a high, narrow
-ledge, a few hundred yards long. This they reached
-and went to the north side or end of it. Mist and
-snow shutting in the land farther on, and also that
-already passed, they camped, having advanced twenty-two
-miles in nine and a half hours.</p>
-<p>Finding traveling so troublesome in the storm, and
-much difficulty in getting observations, Lockwood resolved
-to remain there for better weather, all sleeping
-as much and eating as little as possible. Indeed, Brainard
-agreed with Lockwood that, if the easterly trend of
-the coast should continue, they had better spend their
-time in going directly north over the sea. On the 11th,
-it being still stormy and no other land in sight, they
-remained in their sleeping-bags on the island, which
-from its shape was first called &ldquo;Shoe Island,&rdquo; but
-afterward &ldquo;Mary Murray.&rdquo; All of them suffered
-greatly with cold feet in the mean while; and, although
-Lockwood&rsquo;s feet were wrapped in blankets, furs, and
-socks, they were like lumps of ice. To husband their
-few rations, they had eaten very little of late, and
-doubtless to this may be attributed their cold feet.
-The dogs were ravenous for food. When feeding-time
-came, it was amid blows from the men and fights
-among the dogs that the distribution was made. Old
-Howler was conspicuous on these occasions. That he
-might secure all he could, he bolted ball after ball of
-the frozen mass, and then would wander around, uttering
-<span class="pb" id="Page_172">172</span>
-the most unearthly howls while the mass was
-melting in his stomach. He was, indeed, a character.
-He had an air of utter weariness and dejection, as well
-he might, for who can be more miserable than the dethroned
-monarch, jeered, cuffed, and condemned by
-his late subjects? One day one of the dogs swallowed
-a live lemming, and the little animal went squealing
-all the way down to the corporation.</p>
-<p>The weather clearing up a little the next morning,
-Lockwood took sun observations, and soon after saw a
-cape with very high land behind it, at the northeast.
-But the storm setting in again, they could not attempt
-to cross the mouth of the deep fiord intervening between
-them and the cape until nearly two hours after
-midnight. The traveling being good, and aided by a
-high wind, they made good time across the fiord toward
-the cape, alternately visible and invisible, and reached
-it in two hours. This cape proved to be the extremity
-of a line of high, rocky cliffs, stretching toward the
-southeast. Here they found the ice-foot entirely
-obstructed by lines of floe-bergs and hummocks
-pressed up nearly to the foot of the cliff, and to add
-to their difficulty, the tide-crack ran here close to the
-cape. With great labor they got the dogs and sledge
-upon a hummock, thence along its surface, using the
-axe, and finally lowered them down again, and, by a
-bridge over the crack, gained a level floe half a mile
-beyond the cape. There, finding a branch crack
-twelve or fifteen feet wide, Frederick went forth to
-seek a crossing, while Lockwood and Brainard obtained
-a peep at the sun for position. The fog rising,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_173">173</span>
-the grandest view they had yet seen was suddenly disclosed.
-To their right were seen the high cliffs connected
-with the cape just passed, bending to the
-southeast to form an inlet. Away beyond and across
-this inlet, and east of them, was the farther shore&mdash;a
-line of very high cliffs, terminating in a bold headland
-northeast of their position. Back of the cape
-and cliffs, the land became higher and higher, till, just
-east of the travelers, stood a peak apparently four thousand
-feet high. Between them and the cliffs below the
-peak was seen an island of pyramidal shape and quite
-high. The explorers made good time toward it, over
-a level floe, as some hummocks and tide-cracks at the
-mouth of the inlet prevented them from going direct
-to the cape. Thence, after a short rest and a relish of
-pemmican, they took their way toward the cape, now
-standing nearly north of them. Soon the snow became
-so deep and soft that the sledge often sank below
-the slats, the dogs to their bellies, and the men to
-their knees. Fortunately, the load was very light,
-and yet, had not the deep snow soon after become
-dry and feathery, they could not have proceeded. It
-was then that Lockwood promised himself never to
-undertake another sledge-journey, a resolve afterward
-easily forgotten when in camp with a full stomach.
-Time, rest, plenty to eat, and a good smoke, sometimes
-make philosophers, was the reflection recorded.
-About noon, after changing their course around an
-easterly bend of the cliff, they came to what might be
-regarded as the northern extremity of the cape, beyond
-which lay the inevitable fiord. Here they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_174">174</span>
-camped on the ice-foot, below a mass of picturesquely
-colored rocky cliffs, and essayed, but failed, to get observations.
-Their advance was sixteen miles in ten hours.</p>
-<p>On the 14th of May, occurred a storm so violent
-that it seemed as if the tent must be blown down.
-Ritenbank took advantage of it to burrow under the
-tent and lay hold of a bag of pemmican, but a timely
-blow on his snout &ldquo;saved their bacon.&rdquo; After discussion
-with Brainard, Lockwood concluded to go no
-farther, as their remaining rations would hardly suffice
-to enable them satisfactorily to determine their
-present position. While waiting for the sun that this
-might be done, they improvised a checker-board from
-the chopping-board, and played some games. After
-a while, finding that the cliffs somewhat interfered
-with the observations, they moved the tent farther
-west, stopping to build a cairn, large and conspicuous,
-and depositing a full record of their journey and
-a thermometer. This cairn stood on a little shelf
-or terrace below the top of the cliff. Brainard also
-cut &ldquo;XXX Bitters&rdquo; on the highest rock of the cliff
-he could reach, Lockwood telling him he only wanted
-to get a bottle for nothing on the strength of
-his advertisement. They were engaged until midnight,
-chiefly in taking observations and in collecting
-specimens of rocks and vegetation. Some snow-birds
-were seen.</p>
-<p>The next morning the weather became warm,
-beautiful, and delightful, the sun bright and sky
-clear, and there was no wind&mdash;surely a bit of sunshine
-in a shady place.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig4">
-<img src="images/p189.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="508" />
-<p class="caption">Taking Observations at Lockwood Island.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div>
-<p>They took advantage of this to bring out hand-gear,
-foot-gear, bags, and rubber blankets to dry,
-everything having been damp or wet for nearly a
-week. Lockwood and Brainard got but a few short
-naps after supper, for it was necessary for one of them
-to be awake to insure their getting up at the right
-time to take &ldquo;double altitudes,&rdquo; etc. They secured
-a complete set of observations, thirty-six in all. A
-few hours later, Lockwood and Brainard started to
-make the ascent of the cliffs and of the height beyond.
-They gained a considerable elevation, and stood on a
-little plateau overlooking both sides of the promontory,
-the sea, and a large extent of mountainous country
-to the south thickly covered with snow. Lockwood
-unfurled Mrs. Greely&rsquo;s pretty little silk flag to
-the breeze, and felt very proud that, on the 15th day
-of May, 1882, it waved in a higher latitude than was
-ever before reached by man. By careful astronomical
-observations under peculiarly favorable circumstances,
-they found themselves in <span class="sc">latitude eighty-three
-degrees and twenty-four and a half minutes
-north, longitude forty degrees and forty-six
-and a half minutes west of Greenwich</span>, thus
-surpassing the English, who sent the Nares Expedition
-of 1875-&rsquo;76, costing upward of a million dollars,
-for the express purpose of reaching the north pole,
-and which expedition sent its chief sledge-party directly
-north over the ice for the purpose of making
-<i>latitude alone</i>. The view from their lofty station
-was grand beyond description. At their feet, toward
-the east, was another of those innumerable fiords,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_176">176</span>
-a bald headland forming its farther cape, bearing
-northeast. Seemingly projecting from its foot was a
-low point of land, doubtless separated from another
-by still another fiord. This was as far as Lockwood
-could see in that direction&mdash;probably fifteen miles.
-Thence round toward the north and in the direction
-of Cape Britannia lay the vast Polar Sea, covered
-with ice and desolate in the extreme. Toward the
-south lay a vast panorama of snow-capped mountains,
-so overlapping and merging one into another that it
-was impossible to distinguish the topography of the
-country. They stayed on the top only twenty minutes,
-and at 4.50 reached camp again, greatly to the
-delight of Frederick. He had seemed a good deal
-&ldquo;down at the mouth&rdquo; of late, which Brainard thought
-was caused by their long distance from home and the
-absence of dog-food and &ldquo;skaffer.&rdquo; Hastily packing
-up their small load, they started on their return at
-5.30 <span class="small">P. M.</span> Though taking a more direct course across
-the first fiord, they met with soft snow, which was
-very tiresome to pass through. The weather now
-commenced to cloud up again, threatening another
-storm. It was very fortunate that they reached their
-farthest just in time to take advantage of the thirty
-hours of fine weather. However, they were now
-homeward bound, and did not care for storms or anything
-else, provided they could &ldquo;<i>move on</i>,&rdquo; nor did
-they require any policeman to help them in that particular.</p>
-<p>And now that Lockwood is returning from his
-special expedition in safety and good health, a few
-<span class="pb" id="Page_177">177</span>
-additional facts and a passing reflection on his exploit
-will not be out of place. Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s
-motives in undertaking this special expedition, in
-which he was so successful, he explained in these
-words: &ldquo;My great wish is to accomplish something
-on the north coast of Greenland which will reflect
-credit on myself and on the expedition. But there
-are many ifs in the way&mdash;many visible contingencies
-on which success depends, as well as many invisible
-ones which have never suggested themselves.
-Among the former, scurvy stands like a giant, and if
-this giant attacks us, far from accomplishing anything,
-we may not ourselves get back.&rdquo; As we think of Lockwood,
-at the end of his journey, with only two companions,
-in that land of utter desolation, we are struck with
-admiration at the courage and manly spirit by which
-he was inspired. Biting cold, fearful storms, gloomy
-darkness, the dangers of starvation and sickness, all
-combined to block his icy pathway, and yet he persevered
-and accomplished his heroic purpose, thereby
-winning a place in history of which his countrymen
-may well, and will be, proud to the end of time.
-Of all the heroic names that have blossomed on the
-charts of the Arctic seas during the present century,
-there is not one that will hereafter be mentioned with
-more pride and enthusiasm than that identified with
-Lockwood Island, memorable as the nearest point to
-the north pole ever reached by man.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_178">178</div>
-<h2 id="c12">XII
-<br /><span class="small">FROM LOCKWOOD ISLAND TO LADY FRANKLIN BAY.</span></h2>
-<p>When returning to Lady Franklin Bay, Lockwood
-and his companions reached Shoe Island shortly
-after midnight. They deposited a record in the
-cairn there, and proceeded to the cape west of the
-island, where they went into camp, after a retreat
-of twenty miles in eight hours. Lockwood suffered
-much from his eyes, having evidently strained them
-while endeavoring to see the sun during the late
-stormy weather. The cold food, upon which alone
-they could depend, seemed to weaken the stomachs
-of all the party, and yet they plodded on. At Storm
-Cape, they left the grand line of cliffs behind, and took
-a compass course across the great fiord, amid a storm
-as before when they crossed that inlet. As usual,
-the dogs thought they knew best, and Frederick
-thought he knew best, so the compass received little
-consideration, and they inclined too much to the left,
-being three hours and twenty minutes in crossing.
-They stopped at a cairn and deposited a record. In
-another hour they reached Pocket Bay, and in another,
-Dome Cape, and then, crossing the inlet, went
-into camp. &ldquo;Skaffer&rdquo; was soon ready, cold chocolate,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_179">179</span>
-and a stew with lumps of ice floating round
-in it, particularly unfortunate after a march which
-was perhaps the most uncomfortable of the trip. It
-had been blowing and snowing all day directly in
-their faces&mdash;very severe on snow-blind eyes, which it
-was necessary in crossing the fiords to keep open in
-order to see the way. In addition to this, strange to
-say, Lockwood suffered with cold hands. Generally,
-while traveling, they were warm enough, and only
-got cold when stopping; but on that day they were
-aching with cold a great part of the time. The dogs
-had eaten up his seal-skin mits some time before,
-and the woolen ones gave little protection against the
-storm, with the mercury 30&deg; below zero. They found
-the ice-foot now generally covered with snow, but
-they retreated twenty-seven miles in eight hours and
-forty minutes. Left camp shortly after 5 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and,
-passing Cape Surprise, struck directly across the fiord
-for Distant Cape. When opposite their old camp at
-Low Point, a glacier was seen in the interior, a green
-wall of ice lying at the foot of what looked like a low,
-dome-shaped hill, but which must have been a mass
-of ice covered with snow, as is all the interior of this
-country. The travel over the floe was quite good,
-but when just beyond Distant Cape, they found themselves
-in the deep snow of the wide fiord to the west
-of it, a part of the route they had been dreading for
-some time. They finally, however, reached the farther
-side. The dogs must have smelled the pemmican
-in <i>cache</i> there, for, during the last two hundred
-yards, they bent all their energies to the work and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_180">180</span>
-seemed wild to get ashore. They pulled the sledge
-through a fringe of hummocky ice at the coast in
-a way that proved how they <i>could</i> pull when they
-set their hearts on business. The weather during
-the day was variable. When they started, it was
-quite thick, and the wind blew strongly in their faces,
-making the traveling very disagreeable; but toward
-the latter part of the march, the wind died away and
-the sun appeared. The traveling was better than
-when outward bound, the late storm having improved
-it very much. Brainard did all the cooking, Lockwood
-chopping the ice and assisting in various ways. They
-got off a little after six, and in two hours were at
-Black Cape. Here they stopped awhile and built a
-cairn, and at Blue Cape stopped again. The next
-four and a half hours they pursued their monotonous
-course across the floe, Lockwood indulging in these
-reflections: &ldquo;What thoughts one has when thus plodding
-along! Home and everything there, and the
-scenes and incidents of early youth! Home, again,
-when this Arctic experience shall be a thing of the
-past! But it must be confessed, and lamentable, it
-is, as well as true, that the reminiscences to which my
-thoughts oftenest recur on these occasions are connected
-with eating&mdash;the favorite dishes I have enjoyed&mdash;while
-in dreams of the future, my thoughts
-turn from other contemplations to the discussion of
-a beefsteak, and, equally absurd, to whether the stew
-and tea at our next supper will be hot or cold.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>They next camped some miles from North Cape,
-opposite the immense fiord there, which runs inland
-<span class="pb" id="Page_181">181</span>
-an interminable distance without visible land at its
-head. Lockwood had intended going up this fiord to
-what seemed like the opening of a channel on the
-south side of Cape Britannia, but the uncertainty and
-their fatigue finally induced him to continue the way
-they had come, the weather being delightful. Ritenbank
-went about all day with his head and tail down,
-perhaps repenting his numerous thefts. Advanced
-seventeen miles in eight hours.</p>
-<p>Left camp at 6 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and in about three hours
-reached North Cape, where they stopped some time
-to take a sub-polar observation, making its latitude
-82&deg; 51&prime;. Cape Britannia was reached without event,
-and there they stopped long enough to get the rations
-left in <i>cache</i>, and deposit a record in the cairn; then
-continued on the floe a half-mile to get out of the
-shadow of the mountain. At the cairn they got the
-snow-shoes left there, and the spare sledge-runner.
-They also collected some specimens of the vegetation
-and rocks, and saw traces of the musk-ox, showing
-that these animals wander even this far north. They
-saw also some snow-birds. They had thought that
-when they reached Cape Britannia they would feel
-near home; but now having reached it, the station
-seemed as far off as at any point they had left behind,
-and they could not rest until Cape Bryant was reached.</p>
-<p>The sun was very bright and warm when they left
-camp at 9.50 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, but a heavy fog hung like a curtain
-on the horizon, and shut out the land all around.
-They were, in fact, traveling on the Polar Sea, out of
-sight of land. Shortly after starting, Lockwood put
-<span class="pb" id="Page_182">182</span>
-on snow-shoes to try them, and found immense relief
-at once. He blamed himself every day for a week for
-not having tried them during the journey out, and
-thus saved himself many hours of the most fatiguing
-travel through deep snow. Brainard, seeing the advantage,
-put on the other pair, and from that time there
-was nothing about which they were so enthusiastic as
-the snow-shoes. They afterward wore them more or
-less every day. At 6 <span class="small">A. M.</span> they went into camp on
-the floe. The fog by this time had disappeared, and
-everything was singularly bright and clear. Advanced
-sixteen miles in eight hours, and got off again a little
-after 8 <span class="small">A. M.</span></p>
-<p>It was a beautiful day, calm and clear, and the sun
-was really too warm for dogs and men. They got
-along very well, however, on the snow-shoes, and one
-of the men keeping ahead to encourage the dogs and
-make a straight course, they finally reached, at the
-place they had crossed before, their old friend, the
-tidal crack, now frozen over. They lunched regularly
-every day on pemmican and hard bread, and rested
-whenever tired. A beautiful parhelion was seen, one
-of the most complete yet observed, in the perfection of
-its circles and the brightness of its colors. The blue,
-yellow, and orange were very distinct. They went
-into camp after four, the weather cloudy and threatening
-snow, having advanced sixteen miles in eight
-hours. They left again at 8.40 <span class="small">P. M.</span> Snow falling, and
-no land being in sight, they kept near the right course
-by means of the compass. Their course was north-west
-(magnetic), the variation being in the neighborhood
-<span class="pb" id="Page_183">183</span>
-of ninety degrees. Went into camp near St.
-George&rsquo;s Fiord at 4.40 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, suffering a good deal
-from snow-blindness afterward. During the march
-were troubled very little, strange to say. Rations
-were now getting low. The snow was very soft,
-and, owing to this and the warm sun, the dogs
-&ldquo;complained&rdquo; a good deal. Advanced sixteen miles
-in eight hours. Started off again at 8.40 <span class="small">P. M.</span>,
-reached shore shortly after twelve, about three quarters
-of a mile short of Cape Bryant, and, following
-the coast, pitched tent at the old camping-ground.
-After visiting the cairn on the hill, they determined
-to make up arrears by having a royal feast&mdash;anticipated
-for many days. &ldquo;How nice that English
-bacon must be! How superior that English pemmican
-to the abominable lime-juice pemmican!&rdquo;
-Brainard made a generous stew out of the aforesaid,
-with a liberal allowance of desiccated potatoes,
-etc., and they &ldquo;pitched in!&rdquo; But oh! what
-disappointment! Before eating a half-dozen spoonfuls
-they came to a dead halt, and looked at each
-other. Even Frederick stopped and gazed. The
-dish was absolutely nauseating. &ldquo;Oft expectation
-fails, and most where most it promises.&rdquo; Fortunately,
-there was left there a tin of frozen musk-ox meat,
-with other stores rendered surplus by the supporting
-party being able to go no farther. After this <i>feast</i> on
-the English stores, they confined themselves to the
-musk-ox. The English pemmican, though a little
-musty, when eaten cold was quite palatable. This
-and the bacon were each put up in metallic cases.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_184">184</span>
-The bacon they subsequently found to be inclosed in
-<i>tallow</i>, and this it was that made their feast so disappointing.
-After this they all went to look for Lieutenant
-Beaumont&rsquo;s <i>cache</i>, left here when his party
-was disabled by scurvy. The search was unsuccessful,
-although they traveled the coast for two miles
-and a half, advancing twelve miles in four hours.
-Getting up at twelve, Lockwood and Brainard went
-out to the tide-crack about half a mile from shore,
-and, by means of a rope and stone, undertook to get
-a set of tidal observations. They kept up the observations
-for nearly twelve hours, and then becoming
-satisfied that their arrangements did not register
-the tide, owing to the depth, currents, etc., gave it
-up, much disappointed. All their work went for
-nothing. These observations made their eyes much
-worse, and both suffered with snow-blindness all the
-rest of the way.</p>
-<p>While thus occupied, the dogs took advantage of
-their absence to visit the <i>cache</i> and eat up part of a
-sack of hard bread and half a dozen shot-gun cartridges&mdash;the
-shot and the brass being rather indigestible.
-They left camp after midnight and a beautiful
-morning followed, calm and clear, the sun unpleasantly
-warm; and no wonder, since Lockwood was
-wearing three heavy flannel shirts, a chamois-skin
-vest, a vest of two thicknesses of blanket (double all
-round), a knitted guernsey and canvas frock, besides
-two or three pairs of drawers, etc.</p>
-<p>They tramped along on snow-shoes, and a couple
-of hours after starting, Brainard, who was on the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_185">185</span>
-hill-side to the left, discovered, with his one unbandaged
-eye, relics of Beaumont&mdash;an old Enfield rifle, a
-pole shod with iron, a cross-piece of a sledge, three or
-four articles of underwear, some cartridges, sewing-thread
-and thimble, and the remains of a shoe with
-a wooden sole about an inch thick. Other articles
-mentioned by Lieutenant Beaumont in his journal
-were not to be found. They may have been carried
-off by animals or buried in the snow near by. The
-articles found were in a little bare mound near the
-ice-foot. &ldquo;Poor Beaumont! how badly he must have
-felt when he passed along there with most of his party
-down with scurvy, dragging their heavy sledge and
-heavier equipments!&rdquo; Farther on, Lockwood shot a
-ptarmigan on top of a large floe-berg thirty feet high,
-and, by taking advantage of a snow-drift and doing
-some &ldquo;boosting,&rdquo; they secured the bird. They stopped
-at <i>cache</i> No. 3 (near Frankfield Bay) and took out what
-the supporting party had left there. Gave the dogs
-the lime-juice pemmican and ground beans, but it
-was only by seeming to favor first one dog and then
-another that they were induced to eat it, thus illustrating
-the advantage of their &ldquo;dog-in-the-manger&rdquo;
-spirit. Went into camp on the east shore of Hand
-Bay. Their buffalo sleeping-bag now began to feel
-too warm, but was always delightfully soft and dry.
-Eyes painful. Advanced twelve miles in ten hours.
-After crossing Hand Bay they made a short stop at
-Cape Stanton. The Grinnell coast now became very
-distinct, and seemed home-like. They could see Cape
-Joseph Henry, or what they took for that headland.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_186">186</span>
-The floes off shore, consisting of alternate floes crossed
-by ridges of hummocks, made very laborious traveling.
-On reaching the <i>cache</i> near Stanton Gorge, they
-got the rations left there. The traveling continued
-very difficult and tiresome. On reaching the Black
-Horn Cliffs, they decided, as their old tracks were entirely
-obliterated, to follow along under the cliffs,
-instead of taking the wide <i>d&eacute;tour</i> they had made going
-out. They got along pretty well for a while, and
-then reached a mass of hummocks and rubble-ice.
-There they found a relic of the past&mdash;a towel which
-the men had used to wipe the dishes, and had lost or
-abandoned. By dint of hard work they got through
-this bad ice, crossed the smooth, level floe adjoining,
-and then came to the next patch of rubble-ice. After
-proceeding through this some distance, the sledge
-needing relashing, Lockwood went on alone with
-the axe, making a road as he went. Found the
-site of their old camp on the shore, but, as the
-snow slope there had become impassable, he kept
-along the coast on the floe and finally found a landing
-several miles to the west. Sledge and all got here
-at eight o&rsquo;clock, and they continued on over the snow
-slopes, passing the remains of the &ldquo;Nares&rdquo; sledge
-and reaching Drift Point, where they went into camp
-alongside a big floe-berg, with lots of icicles upon it
-waiting for them, having advanced twenty-two and
-a half miles in ten hours. Finding strong winds and
-snow from the west, they delayed starting till almost
-midnight. The ice-foot along this low, sloping shore
-being excellent, they made good time, in an hour
-<span class="pb" id="Page_187">187</span>
-reaching the place of their first camp on this coast.
-The melting of the floe-bergs and the fall of the snow
-had so changed the general aspect, that the place was
-hardly recognizable. At 2 <span class="small">A. M.</span> they came opposite
-the break in the cliff where they had entered on the
-coast in April. They soon made out the dark object
-seen previously from this point to be a cairn, and
-discovered a small bay which they knew must be Repulse
-Harbor. Crossing this bay, they reached the cairn at
-three o&rsquo;clock. It was a tremendous affair, and the
-tin can inside was full of papers by Beaumont, Dr.
-Coppinger, and others. As a cold wind was blowing,
-Lockwood made a short-hand copy of the documents
-and left the originals.</p>
-<p>Lockwood&rsquo;s eyes filled with tears as he read the
-last postscript of the several which followed the main
-record of poor Beaumont. Sitting on these bare rocks
-amid snow and wind, with a desolate coast-line on one
-side, and the wide, dreary straits on the other, he
-could well appreciate what Beaumont&rsquo;s feelings must
-have been when he reached here with his party all
-broken down with scurvy, and, after trying to cross
-the straits and failing on account of open water, had
-no other recourse but to try and reach Thank-God
-Harbor. His last postscript reads thus:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="book">&ldquo;Repulse Harbor Depot, June 13, 1876.&mdash;Three
-of us have returned from my camp, half a mile south,
-to fetch the remainder of the provisions. D&mdash;&mdash; has
-failed altogether this morning. Jones is much worse,
-and can&rsquo;t last more than two or three days. Craig is
-<span class="pb" id="Page_188">188</span>
-nearly helpless. Therefore we can&rsquo;t hope to reach
-Polaris Bay without assistance. Two men can&rsquo;t do
-it. So will go as far as we can and live as long as we
-can. God help us!
-<span class="jr1">(Signed)<span class="hst"> &ldquo;<span class="sc">L. A. Beaumont.</span>&rdquo;</span></span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>He and Gray were the only ones left, and both shortly
-discovered scorbutic symptoms.</p>
-<p>Chilled through, Lockwood now continued along
-the coast to the west, following the ice-foot under a
-grand line of cliffs. After a while, they came to a
-narrow break or cleft in the cliffs, the gateway of
-a small mountain-torrent. It was like a winding
-and dark alley in a city, with vertical sides rising
-to the height of several hundred feet. Entering
-it, they presently came to an immense snow-drift,
-probably fifty or more feet high and filling up
-the gorge like a barricade, with another a little beyond.
-They returned to the sledge, thoroughly satisfied
-that Beaumont never went through that place.
-About seven they came to what seemed to be the
-&ldquo;Gap Valley&rdquo; of the English, a wide, broad valley,
-extending due south about three miles to a ravine.
-They therefore turned off from the coast and followed
-it, encountering a good deal of deep snow and
-bare, stony spots. At 11 <span class="small">A. M.</span> they camped in the
-ravine near its head, thoroughly tired out. They
-now had only one day&rsquo;s food left, and it behooved
-them to make Boat Camp in another march, even
-though fifty miles off. Advanced seventeen miles in
-eleven hours. The dogs for several days had been on
-<span class="pb" id="Page_189">189</span>
-short allowance, and during their sleep tore open the
-bag of specimen rocks and stones, but fortunately
-did not chew them up as they had done the cartridges.</p>
-<p>Getting off at 3.29 and crossing the table-land,
-they struck a narrow gorge running precipitately
-down to Newman&rsquo;s Bay. At its head was a mountainous
-drift of snow, which they descended on the run;
-then came a number of smaller drifts, completely
-blocking up the gorge, over which they had to lower
-the sledge by hand. Near the bay, they discovered a
-singular snow-cave one hundred feet long, and occupying
-the entire bed of the stream, arched through its
-whole length by beautiful ribs of snow, from which
-depended delicate snow-crystals. The entrance was
-quite small, but inside, the roof was far above their
-heads. They lost sight of its picturesqueness in the
-thought of its fitness for the burrow of a sledge-party.
-This brought them on the smooth surface of
-the bay, with familiar landmarks before and around
-them&mdash;Cape Sumner, Cape Beechy, and far in the distance,
-Distant Point and the land near Franklin Bay.
-Looking back at the ravine from the bay, Lockwood
-felt sure no one would ever take this little, insignificant,
-narrow gully for the route of a sledge-party, and
-that no one traveling this, or the one they took going
-out, would ever take either again in preference to going
-round Cape Brevoort. They delayed along the shore
-of the bay almost an hour, leisurely building a cairn
-and viewing the scenery, and then going on, reached
-the farther side at eight o&rsquo;clock, making their last
-final retreat of ten miles in five hours and a half.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_190">190</span>
-There was the whale-boat, and pitched alongside
-it, anchored down by stones and held by ropes, the
-six-man tent of the supporting party. Inside were
-Sergeants Lynn and Ralston, and Corporal Ellison,
-fast asleep. Lockwood had told Lynn to send back
-to Conger three of his party on reaching Boat Camp.
-The remaining three awaited his return. The work
-of pitching tent woke up the other party, and soon
-they heard the sound of the Polaris fog-horn (picked
-up near by), and saw three heads projecting from the
-tent, whose owners gave them a warm welcome, as
-well they might, after awaiting their return nearly a
-month at this place, the dreariest of all in that
-dreary region. The remaining stores were ransacked
-for a big feast, without regard to the rations.
-Corned and boiled beef, canned potatoes and beans,
-butter, milk, and canned peaches, made a meal fit for
-a king or for gods that had just experienced an Arctic
-sledge-journey. The monotonous life of these
-men had been varied only by a visit from two bears,
-and the arrival of Dr. Pavy&mdash;sent by Lieutenant
-Greely with some rations.</p>
-<p>The news from the station was that Dr. Pavy with
-Sergeant Rice and Esquimaux Jans had got only as
-far as Cape Joseph Henry, when they were stopped by
-open water. Lockwood had taken it for granted that
-the doctor would attain Markham&rsquo;s latitude and excel
-his own. Lieutenant Greely had been west from Fort
-Conger on a trip of twelve days in the mountains,
-and had discovered a large lake with a river flowing
-out of it, which had no ice on its surface&mdash;something
-<span class="pb" id="Page_191">191</span>
-very wonderful. The vegetation had also shown a
-much milder atmosphere than anywhere else in these
-latitudes. Numerous Esquimaux relics had been
-found, and many musk-oxen seen.</p>
-<p>Turning their backs on the Boat Camp, and with
-many loud blasts on the Polaris fog-horn, they
-started at 11.25 <span class="small">P. M.</span> for Fort Conger.</p>
-<p>The snow along the snow-slopes was badly drifted,
-but with so many to help, they got along without
-much delay and soon reached Cape Sumner.
-They found the rubble-ice south of that point worse
-than before, and here and there were little pools of
-water. The weather was very thick, the wind blowing
-and snow falling, and the farther side of the
-straits completely hidden, so that they went <i>via</i>
-the Gap, but there had to leave the shore and direct
-their course as well as possible by compass.
-Presently they could see neither shore, and got into
-a mass of rubble-ice, mixed with soft snow-drifts.
-Lynn and party (Ralston and Ellison) had not traveled
-any for so long that they began to get very
-much fatigued, and could not keep up with the
-sledge. They had not slept since the arrival at the
-Boat Camp, owing to the excitement of the occasion.
-The driving snow hurt their eyes, and they were a
-very sorry party. However, they kept on, and finally
-came in sight of the west coast, and some hours afterward,
-finding good floes to travel over, a little before
-noon reached the &ldquo;tent on the straits&rdquo;&mdash;about
-five miles from Cape Beechy&mdash;Ellison and Ralston
-completely exhausted.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_192">192</div>
-<p><i>En route</i> again, they spread the American flag on
-a long pole and carried it thus till they reached the
-station. At the snow-house, where they remained
-some hours to rest and get something to eat, they
-found Ellis and Whistler, who had come up from
-Fort Conger to look out for the party.</p>
-<p>All found their eyes more or less affected excepting
-Frederick. Ralston&rsquo;s were so bad that he was sent
-on in advance, led by Ellis. He walked almost the
-whole way with his eyes closed. Lynn held on to
-the upstanders of the sledge, and thus found his
-way.</p>
-<p>On the first day of June, Ralston and Lynn went
-in advance, led by Ellis and Ellison. They could not
-see at all, and, as their guides carried the guns and
-each had his man made fast by a strap, they looked
-very much like a party of prisoners. At Watercourse
-Bay they met Lieutenant Greely, who had come out
-to meet them, and was well satisfied with the result
-of the expedition, and soon after they reached Fort
-Conger.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Lockwood not only received many
-hearty congratulations from his companions, but
-even the weather, as if in sympathy with the general
-gladness, became bright and cheerful. The important
-business of working out the latitude that
-had been attained was now proceeded with. Efforts
-were made to verify the prismatic compass which
-was serviceable, but had a limited range. Much of
-the ground around the station was bare of snow,
-and, as the temperature was rising rapidly, Lockwood
-<span class="pb" id="Page_193">193</span>
-felt as if he would like to be off again on a
-wild tramp. When he said something about certain
-sledge operations in the future, Greely replied, &ldquo;If
-you are content to go, I will give you all the help I
-can.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_194">194</div>
-<h2 id="c13">XIII.
-<br /><span class="small">WAITING AND WATCHING.</span></h2>
-<p>To a man of Lockwood&rsquo;s character, the return to
-the station did not mean that idleness was to be the
-order of the day, and while yet suffering from rheumatic
-pains in his back, shoulders, legs, feet, and
-joints, he began to mark out a trip for himself
-through Lady Franklin Bay. In the mean time,
-some of the men were off trying to obtain fresh meat,
-Frederick killing a hare and Jans a seal weighing
-over five hundred pounds. Kislingbury amused himself
-with a pet owl, which delighted him with a present
-of eggs. On the 9th of June, the people at the
-station celebrated the birthday of their companion
-Long by a good dinner, and on the following day
-Lockwood, accompanied by his friends Brainard and
-Frederick, started with a dog-train for his proposed
-tramp. They made their first halts at Basil Norris
-Bay and at Sun Bay, and traveling over a level bed
-of what had once been a fiord, thence passed on to
-Stony Point, and then to Miller&rsquo;s Island, where they
-encamped. Although they saw a number of seals,
-they succeeded in killing only a couple of hares and a
-brace of brants. Their next stopping-place was Keppel&rsquo;s
-Head, the route being very wet, in fact, almost
-<span class="pb" id="Page_195">195</span>
-a continuous lake. Having nothing to wear but his
-moccasins, Lockwood&rsquo;s feet were saturated three
-minutes after starting, and became so cold that he
-thought they would freeze. The pools were sometimes
-so deep as to wet the load on the sledge. However,
-the dogs made good time, and they reached
-Keppel&rsquo;s Head at 11 <span class="small">P. M.</span> Here the traveling became
-much better, and they were able to avoid a good
-many of the pools.</p>
-<p>Passing Keppel&rsquo;s Head, they kept a sharp lookout
-for Hillock Depot, where Lieutenant Archer, R. N.,
-had left a large number of rations. They searched
-for some time before finding any signs, but finally
-found the <i>cache</i>, and near by some pieces of United
-States hard bread, and a little bag of American tea.
-This was interesting, as proving that to have been the
-farthest that Long attained, although he claimed to
-have reached the head of the fiord. The unpleasant
-task then devolved on Lockwood of taking him down
-a peg or two. Lieutenant Archer was a week reaching
-this place, Hillock Depot, half-way up the fiord,
-which is about sixty miles long. The scenery is
-grand. High cliffs, generally nearly vertical, ran
-along the shores everywhere. Whenever they looked
-inland they saw a lofty mass of snow-covered mountains.
-All this was so common, however, in all the
-region, that it was only when <i>new</i> that it was appreciated.
-Lockwood and Brainard had a good laugh
-at Long&rsquo;s expense, and then turned into the two-man
-summer sleeping-bag, made of two blankets, trimmed
-off so as to weigh no more than necessary, and inclosed
-<span class="pb" id="Page_196">196</span>
-in another bag of light canvas. Their breakfast consisted
-of corned beef, baked beans, tea, hard bread, and
-butter&mdash;a very fine repast. Lockwood and Brainard
-both thought that this kind of traveling did not pay
-on a &ldquo;picnic&rdquo; excursion, but, as they had started to
-go to the head of the fiord, they did not like to turn
-back. The ice promised to be worse on their return,
-and this, and Lockwood&rsquo;s lame foot, and the lameness
-of one of the dogs, decided him to return. Leaving
-camp on return, they soon reached Keppel&rsquo;s Head, and
-afterward Basil Norris Bay, where they camped, and
-decided to remain a day or two and have a hunt
-for musk-oxen. Mud, water, and &ldquo;sludge,&rdquo; as well
-as Lockwood&rsquo;s lameness, proved a drawback to his
-success; but Frederick returned from his tramp,
-bringing along a quarter of a musk-ox, having killed
-two and wounded a third, he said. They seemed to
-have cost two dozen cartridges, and he had probably
-stood off at a distance and bombarded them.</p>
-<p>Brainard returned after him. He had been up the
-vale as far as the lake, and had seen a few geese and a
-rabbit. He brought back a &ldquo;skua&rdquo; bird and some
-Esquimaux relics; had seen several circles of stone,
-marking the summer camps of these people, and
-picked up a good many bones, etc. All had something
-to eat, when the two started out with the dog-team
-for the musk-oxen killed by Frederick. Then
-came on a heavy rain, lasting for several hours, while
-the snow and ice were fast disappearing. This was
-the first rain they had seen in the country.</p>
-<p>During their absence from the station, to which
-<span class="pb" id="Page_197">197</span>
-they returned with their game, seven musk-oxen had
-been killed and four calves caught alive. The men
-had had an exciting time. The animals formed a
-hollow square with the calves inside, and did some
-charging before they were all down.</p>
-<p>The calves had been put in a pen a short distance
-from the house, were very tame, and it was supposed
-little difficulty would be found in raising them. They
-ate almost anything.</p>
-<p>On the 17th, Lockwood expressed his feelings as
-follows: &ldquo;I find myself oppressed with <i>ennui</i>, caused,
-I suppose, by the present monotonous existence following
-the activity of my life since the early spring.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 22d of June, a &ldquo;turn-stone&rdquo; (a bird of the
-snipe species) and two or three ducks were shot. The
-little stream back of the house was babbling along at
-a great rate, the snow fast disappearing. Temperature
-44&deg;, which was about as high as it was likely to
-be, the sun having reached its greatest northern
-declination, and the temperature not having gone above
-this during the previous August.</p>
-<p>On the 24th, Lieutenant Greely and a party left
-for Hazen Lake and beyond, to visit the western coast
-of the country if possible. In the mean time, the dogs
-having attacked the young musk-oxen, came near
-killing one of them. The dog King and two others
-were found on top of &ldquo;John Henry,&rdquo; the smallest
-of the calves, and, but for Frederick happening to see
-them and going to the rescue, &ldquo;John Henry&rdquo; would
-soon have surrendered his ghost.</p>
-<p>During a walk on the 28th, Lockwood found North
-<span class="pb" id="Page_198">198</span>
-Valley River quite full, and rushing along like a
-mountain-torrent. Open water-pools were numerous
-near the shore. Had a fine view from Cairn Hill, two
-thousand feet high, seeing extensive lanes of open
-water toward Petermann&rsquo;s Fiord. Weather delightful.</p>
-<p>On the 1st of July they had the second rain of the
-season, and Lockwood was gloomy; existence extremely
-monotonous; he was almost ashamed to confess
-how &ldquo;blue&rdquo; he felt. Ducks and other fowl
-brought in almost daily; also Esquimaux relics frequently
-brought in. Men arrived from Lieutenant
-Greely&rsquo;s party on Lake Hazen and reported all well
-there. He had found many interesting relics, and
-had seen large droves of musk-oxen&mdash;between two
-and three hundred&mdash;in Black Vale. On the 4th the
-men at the station celebrated the day by displays of
-flags, shooting and other matches, and a base-ball
-game. They succeeded in getting the Lady Greely
-afloat, and Cross repaired pipes found to be out of
-order. They found that the flies were blowing their
-fresh meat badly. Fearing that it might be lost, it
-was ordered to be served more frequently. Long and
-Ellis, who had returned from St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay,
-reported it as open.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely and party returned on the 10th
-from Lake Hazen. They had a good view westward
-for fifty miles from a mountain four thousand feet
-high; saw no sea, but many glaciers. Found a large
-river entering the lake at its southwestern extremity.</p>
-<p>Lockwood took the launch down to Dutch Island,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_199">199</span>
-giving all the men an excursion. But for entertainments
-of this sort he was afraid he should forget how
-to talk. The officers often went through a meal
-without exchanging a word; so also through the day.
-He could not say who was in fault.</p>
-<p>Loose ice was still filling the harbor and bay&mdash;paleocrystic
-floes that had floated in.</p>
-<p>Brainard and Cross brought in eleven ducks killed
-at Breakwater Point, having to swim in order to get
-them.</p>
-<p>Weather now mild, ice in harbor much broken up,
-and channel outside open. Lieutenant Greely thought
-there was every reason for expecting a relief-ship
-soon. It was very desirable on many accounts that
-she should come. A false alarm of her approach
-created great excitement. Some one said he saw her
-smoke in the distance.</p>
-<p>The hunters brought in ducks or other game almost
-daily. A weasel was shot near the house&mdash;a
-beautiful little animal, yellow with black tail. Dead
-wolves were sometimes found&mdash;probably those poisoned
-in the winter. Brainard, Cross, and Ellis returned
-from Beechy, where they killed three musk-oxen,
-two dozen geese, and some ducks.</p>
-<p>Lockwood occupied himself on his maps of the
-Greenland coast, adding pictures of scenery from
-sketches taken <i>en route</i>.</p>
-<p>Jans, desiring to capture seals, tried to approach
-them by interposing a cotton screen. But the seal
-had too much sense to wait for him, and slipped off
-the ice into the water.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_200">200</div>
-<p>On the 31st, Lockwood measured some ice-floes
-aground in the harbor, finding them to be fourteen
-feet thick. He had seen many on his northern trip
-which, by Nares&rsquo;s rule of one seventh above water,
-would have been thirty-five to forty-five feet thick.
-Of course, these were paleocrystic floes, the accumulation
-of years.</p>
-<p>On the 7th of August, Lockwood went with Lieutenant
-Greely and a party in the launch to Cape
-Lieber, finding the bay very free from ice. Left near
-the cape some provisions for use in case of having to
-retreat next year in boats, a subject which, from the
-non-arrival of the ship, was then agitated. They got
-many Esquimaux relics. The straits away down as
-far as Franklin Island and Cape Constitution, as seen
-from an elevation, were free from ice. They could
-see nothing to prevent the ship from coming. Returned
-in the evening, landing at Proteus Point, because
-a large floe-berg had floated in during their absence
-and occupied their harbor.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely did not expect the ship before
-the 15th. Many eyes were daily fixed on the bold
-profile of Cape Lieber, from behind whose rocky face
-she must emerge, if she came at all.</p>
-<p>On the 13th, Lockwood, with Brainard, Lynn,
-Cross, Ralston, and Fredericks, started in the launch
-on an excursion up Lady Franklin Bay to the head
-of Archer Fiord, having in tow the boat Valorous
-with Rice and crew as far as Musk-ox Bay. There
-they left Rice and his boat and proceeded up the
-Archer Fiord, somewhat annoyed by scattered ice and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_201">201</span>
-by some large bergs which they had to go around.
-They had not gone far up the fiord before they saw,
-on a gentle slope of the southern shore, a herd of
-musk-oxen grazing a few hundred yards from the
-water. Though strategy was employed to approach
-without being seen, the herd took the alarm and
-scampered over the hills which terminated the slope.
-Lynn, anticipating this, had gone some way up these
-heights, but the animals by a <i>d&eacute;tour</i> avoided him and
-soon passed over the crest of the heights. The slope
-along there was sufficiently gentle to afford foothold
-to grass and willows, and thus presented a landscape
-charming to those who had gazed on little other than
-rocks and ice for so many months. Seeing two other
-oxen some time after, near a steep hill overlooking a
-rocky gorge, Lockwood, Brainard, and Frederick
-went for them, Fredericks approaching in front, and
-Lockwood and Brainard, by a flank movement, cutting
-off retreat. This resulted in the slaying of both
-animals. But how to get them to the launch was the
-question, as they were then a mile inland. Finally,
-cutting off the heads, they gave the bodies an impetus
-down-hill. They went from steep to steep like comets,
-leaving clouds of dust behind. Once or twice
-they lodged on steps or terraces, from which they
-were dislodged, thence to renew their journey downward.
-Afterward several other musk-oxen and some
-ptarmigans were shot, thus providing abundant food
-for all hands, with a large surplus to carry back to the
-station.</p>
-<p>As they progressed up the fiord, the scenery became
-<span class="pb" id="Page_202">202</span>
-more and more grand and interesting. A glacier
-was seen some distance inland, at the head of a
-stream bordered by vertical cliffs curiously colored
-and of fantastic shapes. One pinnacle was apparently
-surmounted by an old dilapidated castle. Though
-the fiord was not wide at Bulley&rsquo;s Lump, nor the cliffs
-very high, yet they encountered a furious wind, as
-though blowing vertically. Toward the head of the
-fiord, they saw numerous ducks and flocks of geese on
-shore, apparently overcome by the force of the wind.
-Many of these they added to their abundant stores.
-Here, too, they found Esquimaux relics, indicating
-the abodes of men long years ago&mdash;circles of stones,
-very old; also pieces of drift-wood, whence coming
-they marveled. Reaching the head of the fiord, where
-the water became shallow, they landed, spread their
-sleeping-bags on the rocks, and made amends for their
-twenty-five hours&rsquo; want of sleep.</p>
-<p>Waking up, they found that the receding tide
-had left them high and dry by one quarter of a
-mile. This rendered Lockwood very uneasy, and induced
-him to give up his intended journey of half a
-dozen miles into the interior. He went, however, a
-mile or so inland, and from a height saw a lake, and
-several miles above it a glacier, apparently very large.
-Vast cliffs, three thousand feet high, bordered the
-valley or ravine he followed, and beyond these were
-snow and ice clad summits of vast elevation. Yet
-here, in this desolate region, were seen proofs of the
-abode of man&mdash;circles of stones covered with lichens,
-a proof of their antiquity. Here, also, he found the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_203">203</span>
-hip-bone of some immense mammal, and afterward
-added it to his museum. He returned to the launch
-near the time of high tide, and after lightening, they
-got the launch into deep water, with much labor, but
-greatly to their relief. On their return they visited
-Record Point, left a short account of their visit, and
-copied that of Lieutenant Archer. He had explored
-this fiord in 1876, occupying one month, but they did
-it in sixty-nine hours. He traveled with sledges and
-a supporting party&mdash;they with a steam-launch, all
-being on board. Their coal getting low, they made
-few other stops <i>en route</i> except to pick up their meat
-and game, returning direct to the station. The result
-of the expedition, as to game, was, twelve musk-oxen,
-three hares, twenty-four geese, thirty-six turn-stones,
-six knots, three terns, and twenty ptarmigans.
-Distance made, going and returning, one hundred and
-forty miles. Long and others killed numbers of
-musk-oxen during their absence, so that they now
-had on hand about eight thousand pounds of fresh
-beef. Another musk-ox was killed, soon after their
-return, in full view of the house, and thus four hundred
-and thirty pounds were added to their stock.
-This was the eightieth musk-ox shot since their arrival,
-the year before. They had a good view of the
-bay and straits, both of which seemed open, offering
-no obstacle whatever to the passage of the ship.
-They were all very much disappointed at her non-appearance.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely, wanting Howgate&rsquo;s Fiord explored
-and surveyed, and Dr. Pavy wishing to make
-<span class="pb" id="Page_204">204</span>
-an excursion from Cape Baird, Lockwood, on the
-21st, left in the launch, with Rice, Cross, Lynn, Fredericks,
-Snyder, and Israel, and with Dr. Pavy and
-Ellison as passengers, to land the doctor on the south
-shore, and thence proceed westward to Howgate&rsquo;s
-Fiord. Following a lead westward, they finally found
-open water, which enabled them to reach the south
-shore of the bay some five miles above Cape Baird,
-where they landed the doctor and Ellison, with their
-rations, etc. In crossing the open water, they had
-strong south winds, and heavy seas which boarded the
-launch and washed her from stem to stern. Though
-much strengthened against ice, when heavily laden
-she sat too near the water to be a comfortable sea-boat.
-Thence they proceeded to Miller Island, where they
-had smooth water, and were enabled to cook their food
-and enjoy an excellent meal. They found much ice
-in Howgate&rsquo;s Fiord, yet, after trying to kill a musk-ox
-seen on shore, made their way to Ida Bay, at its
-head, and proceeded to the north shore, for Israel to
-lay out his base-line and take angles, and Rice to take
-photographs of prominent objects. While they were
-so doing, the others started in pursuit of a musk-ox
-some distance from the shore. The animal, seeing
-them, went up the valley at a rapid rate, leaving behind
-him so strong a musk odor as to mark his wake
-as distinctly by the smell as that of a steamboat is
-marked by the eye. Lockwood abandoned the chase
-for other duties, but the men kept on, and afterward
-brought in the animal&rsquo;s carcass. These having returned,
-and Israel and Rice having finished their
-<span class="pb" id="Page_205">205</span>
-work, all proceeded toward a very high, and conspicuous
-promontory, marking the entrance to the
-bay, which Lieutenant Greely wished Lockwood to
-ascend, and afterward go up the northern arm of
-the fiord; but they were unable to do either, having
-been brought to a full stop in the narrow channel
-by an immense floe of old ice. They therefore returned
-out of this <i>cul-de-sac</i> to the south shore,
-where Israel wanted to take other angles. Here they
-found traces of Esquimaux habitations&mdash;meat <i>caches</i>,
-and various bone implements, all very old. Thence,
-<i>via</i> Miller&rsquo;s Cape, they made their way to Stony
-Cape, not, however, without great difficulty because
-of moving ice, which sometimes forced them too close
-to the island, and compelled them to make <i>d&eacute;tours</i>.
-The weather threatening, they did not stop to take
-other angles, but crossed to the head of the bay, near
-the Bellows, and cast anchor; and, while the others
-slept, Lockwood walked up the Bellows in quest of
-game, but saw none.</p>
-<p>The vegetation was just sufficient to remind him
-of the glorious trees and grasses of another zone far,
-far away. Still, with all its desolation, Lockwood
-thought it a very picturesque region, and that perhaps
-the moon, to one on its surface, presents a similar
-aspect. They left for the station on the 25th,
-encountering much ice all the way. Off Cape Clear
-it whirled about in such a manner as to threaten to
-crush the launch. At one time a large piece of ice&mdash;larger
-than the launch itself&mdash;was caught between the
-moving pack and the grounded ice and thrown up
-<span class="pb" id="Page_206">206</span>
-into the air fifteen feet. Finally, they reached the
-station, sadly disappointed not to see the masts of the
-hoped-for ship. They could not divine the reason for
-her non-appearance. Dr. Pavy thought that it never
-started, for want of an appropriation. Lieutenant
-Greely thought otherwise. It looked then as though
-they would have to retreat in boats during the next
-summer, and might fail to meet the ship in the channel;
-or, on reaching Littleton Island, find she had
-not been there, and then undoubtedly all of them
-would perish.</p>
-<p>A fine salmon-trout of three pounds and three
-quarters was caught in a net about this time, and,
-while Rice tried to obtain more, Brainard went to
-Depot &ldquo;B&rdquo; on a hunt for musk-oxen and other
-game.</p>
-<p>On the 26th, Lockwood went across Lady Franklin
-Bay in the launch after Dr. Pavy. Saw many seals,
-but failed to secure any. Found the doctor and Ellison
-awaiting them, forlorn enough. They had reached
-Carl Ritter Bay, seen musk-oxen, and discovered some
-lakes. Lockwood left more stores over the bay, and
-returned through much ice. It was pleasant to see
-how readily the launch cut through the young ice
-then forming in the midst of falling snow.</p>
-<p>On the 28th, Lieutenant Greely, desiring some
-further exploration up Ella Bay, and inland from its
-head, Lockwood and a select party made several attempts
-in the launch to accomplish it; but the young
-ice was forming so rapidly, there was so much pack-ice,
-and the snow was obscuring the atmosphere so
-<span class="pb" id="Page_207">207</span>
-badly, that Lieutenant Greely, after some hesitation,
-decided they had better not go, and, instead, requested
-them to take the long-boat Valorous to Cape Baird
-and leave her there, and then lay up the steam-launch
-for the winter.</p>
-<p>This they attempted to do, but, on reaching
-Dutch Island, had to give it up, as the entire harbor,
-bay, and straits were full of drifting ice, many of the
-floes standing five feet out of water. The launch
-having been left at anchor near the island, the next
-morning Lieutenant Greely ordered all hands down
-to the island to rescue her from impending peril.
-They found her very much careened and half full of
-water. She had been anchored in shoal water, and,
-heeling over at ebb-tide, had filled at the next flood.
-Fortunately, no harm was done to the boat, which
-might yet prove to be their salvation, and should be
-got into safe winter quarters, as that season was evidently
-already setting in. It was after this boat
-excitement that Lockwood indulged in these reflections:
-&ldquo;I find myself constantly reading over old
-letters brought with me and received at St. John&rsquo;s,
-though read before again and again. The effect is
-depressing, bringing too strongly into view home and
-the dear ones there. I am oppressed with <i>ennui</i> and
-low spirits, and can&rsquo;t shake off this feeling, partly
-induced by the cruel disappointment of <i>no ship</i>.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Subsequently he wrote, &ldquo;Have been reading of
-Kane and his travels. He is my <i>beau id&eacute;al</i> of an
-Arctic traveler. How pitiful that so bold a spirit
-was incased in so feeble a frame! Why is Nature
-<span class="pb" id="Page_208">208</span>
-inconsistent? In the Arctic his health seems to have
-been fair. He of all his advance party escaped the
-scurvy. It was his spirit, doubtless, that kept him
-up. Hayes does not compare with him. Though
-beautifully written, there is an air of exaggeration
-about Hayes&rsquo; book, which destroys its interest. Doctor
-Pavy, who has hitherto been the advocate of
-Hayes, since his return from Carl Ritter Bay seems
-to have changed his mind about him, and now agrees
-with Greely and me that Hayes never reached Cape
-Lieber. To have done so, he must have performed in
-part of his journey ninety-six miles in fourteen hours&mdash;an
-impossibility.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The life we are now leading is somewhat similar
-to that of a prisoner in the Bastile: no amusements,
-no recreations, no event to break the monotony or
-dispel <i>ennui</i>. I take a long walk every day along
-shore to North Valley with that view, study French
-a little, or do some tailoring, now doubly necessary,
-as our supply of clothing is getting low. Our stock
-of reading matter, unfortunately, is limited except
-in Arctic books. One must live up here within himself,
-and is unfortunate if dependent on others for
-happiness. The others are as moody as I am&mdash;Greely
-sometimes, Kislingbury always, and as to the doctor,
-to say he is not congenial is to put it in a very mild way
-indeed. But why not study? Well, the atmosphere
-is not conducive to it. I must go on another sledge-journey
-to dispel this gloom. Lieutenant Greely was
-thinking of sending me to Lake Hazen to continue
-his explorations, but thinks the snow too deep. I
-<span class="pb" id="Page_209">209</span>
-will make a trip to the Bellows, and follow up the
-ca&ntilde;on at its head.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The hilarity in the other room is in marked contrast
-to the gloom in this. For several days the skating
-on the young ice of the harbor, now three inches
-thick, has afforded pleasure to the men. Israel broke
-in some distance from shore, and, being unable to
-get out by himself, would have perished but for the
-aid of others who saw him after he had been in the
-cold water fifteen minutes. Biederbick is constantly
-chaffed by the men for his persistent gunning expeditions,
-from which he always returns empty-handed.
-He takes everything seriously, and hence resents with
-warmth any insinuations against Germany, particularly
-if his own little principality of Waldeck be
-assailed. Biederbick tried to poison some foxes, and
-boasted of his plans. A fox having been caught by
-some one else and killed, Henry placed the body near
-Biederbick&rsquo;s poison, first placing within its mouth a
-paper stating (as though written by the fox) how and
-where he met his death. Soon after Biederbick inspected
-his poison, and finding the fox, brought him
-home in triumph. Henry gravely declared the fox had
-not been poisoned, much to Biederbick&rsquo;s amazement.
-They proceeded to examine the fox, and Henry pulled
-from its throat the certificate that had been placed
-there. The men around laughed at Biederbick&rsquo;s expense,
-and he wilted.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The foregoing allusion to Dr. Kane can not but be
-read with special interest, as it gives one an insight
-into the noble character of Lockwood, who had the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_210">210</span>
-heart to appreciate a man like the discoverer of Grinnell
-Land. Both, indeed, were men of rare and exalted
-qualities, whose memories will always be treasured
-with respect and affection by the whole American
-people.</p>
-<p>An effort was made under Lieutenant Kislingbury
-to raise, from calves caught, a herd of tame musk-oxen.
-They became very docile and tractable, even
-to the extent of hauling in teams. The chief difficulty
-was to keep the dogs from them. One of these
-calves was seriously wounded by them, and was therefore
-killed. It was rumored that its meat would be
-served for dinner, and some of the men, to carry out
-the joke, hung the quarters on the meat-rack near
-the house. When other meat was served for dinner,
-Fredericks, who had cared for the calf and named it
-John Henry, ate nothing&mdash;very proper conduct for a
-man of feeling and a hater of jokes.</p>
-<p>Lockwood frequently went to the observatory with
-Israel to get some insight into the workings of the
-magnetic instruments. On &ldquo;term-day,&rdquo; the instruments
-were read every five minutes during the twenty-four
-hours, and for one hour every twenty seconds.
-&ldquo;Poets write of the constancy of the magnetic needle,&rdquo;
-said Lockwood, &ldquo;while in fact it is the most inconstant
-thing known. Not only does it vary yearly, but
-monthly, daily, hourly, yea, every minute and second.
-Here the magnetic disturbances are very pronounced,
-and at times the magnetic needle is apparently almost
-beside itself. The aurora, too, has frequently a very
-noticeable effect upon it.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_211">211</div>
-<p>It was now becoming a matter for discussion that,
-should they be so unfortunate as to have to spend a
-third winter in this region, they would have to live
-on salt meat and hard bread. Dr. Pavy said they
-were already getting short of many articles of food,
-and of some they were entirely out&mdash;short of sugar
-and also of candles and foot-gear, of the latter, only
-a few pairs of cork-soled boots, unfitted for use in
-these parts, remaining. Lockwood felt that he would
-rather take any risks in boats than stay there another
-winter.</p>
-<p>The weather, which had been variable, having
-settled calm and clear, Lockwood started on his proposed
-sledge trip up the &ldquo;Bellows&rdquo; with Jewell, the
-Esquimaux Frederick, and an eight-dog team. Having
-young ice most of the way and no load, they made
-rapid progress to the tent at Basil Norris Bay. The
-dogs moved at a gallop, giving to all the rare opportunity
-of a ride. Here they found sleeping-bags and
-provisions. The next morning they reached Black
-Rock Vale and followed the windings of its stream-bed
-until they came to Lake Heintzelman, a beautiful
-body of water, or rather ice, perfectly smooth and
-free from snow, filling the whole valley, some three
-miles wide, to towering cliffs, and extending about
-five miles. So smooth was the surface that the dogs
-could have pulled a ton. Feeling rather chilly, they
-all held on to the upright of the sledge behind, and
-were dragged along on the soles of their shoes.
-Reaching the head of the lake, and finding the way so
-rough as to endanger the sledge-runners, they deemed
-<span class="pb" id="Page_212">212</span>
-it best to go into camp and reconnoitre before proceeding
-farther. While Lockwood and Jewell got
-supper, Frederick went on a hunt for musk-oxen.
-The former afterward followed with the team to bring
-in the game which he had killed, first skinning and
-cutting it up, not an easy job, as they had only a very
-dull hatchet and equally dull case-knives. They finally
-succeeded, however, after much labor, and returned
-to camp at a late hour. The ox killed was the only
-one seen, although it was there&mdash;three miles above
-the lake&mdash;that a hundred had been formerly seen.
-The following morning being chilly and the sky overcast,
-they returned to the tent at Basil Norris Bay,
-the dogs carrying the men, as well as nearly four hundred
-pounds of meat, over the smooth lake at a rapid
-rate.</p>
-<p>While crossing they heard an unusual noise, like
-distant thunder, which at first they were unable to
-account for, but finally concluded was due to the
-cracking of the ice, arising probably from changes
-of temperature. The whole expanse of ice was marked
-by cracks extending in every direction, not, however,
-coming to the surface, but visible below.</p>
-<p>In returning to the station, they avoided some
-rough places by hugging the south shore of the harbor,
-a rumbling noise of moving and crushing ice being
-heard in the direction of Dutch Island. On reaching
-the station, they found that a large bear had visited
-the house, dragging off the skeleton of a musk-ox
-which Dr. Pavy had hung out to dry as a specimen.
-Tracks of another bear were afterward seen near the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_213">213</span>
-house. At Lieutenant Greely&rsquo;s request, Lockwood
-with others followed these tracks, came in sight of
-the animal, and saw him make his way toward the
-middle of the straits through leads of open water and
-over hills of ice with seeming ease. Of course, they
-failed to add bear-meat to their well-stocked larder.</p>
-<p>After enjoying a hot bath, which Lockwood commended
-as a grand luxury, he penned the following
-from his corner in the station-house:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The men have added a bagatelle-board to their
-other sources of amusement, and sometimes have
-bagatelle tournaments. Lieutenant Greely and I often
-play chess, and sometimes I take a game of checkers
-with the Esquimaux. These, by-the-way, seem much
-better reconciled than they were last winter. Probably
-have come to understand us better, and we them.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Much of my time has been occupied in making
-maps of the several launch trips and in writing out
-stenographic notes. Still, the monotony here is dreadful,
-and tells on all. It certainly does on me. Dr.
-Pavy and Lieutenant Kislingbury spend much of their
-time in the other room, and, when in here and Lieutenant
-Greely absent, are engaged in the most gloomy
-prognostications as to the future, and in adverse criticisms
-on the conduct of the expedition. It is really
-dreadful, and I sometimes think the life of an exile
-in Siberia preferable to this. The absence of light
-without keeps us within-doors, and the want of exercise
-and fresh air promotes restlessness. Our supply
-of books comprises only novels and Arctic literature.
-A few really solid books of history, biography, essays,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_214">214</span>
-etc., are much to be desired, though, under the circumstances,
-I suppose it would be difficult to concentrate
-one&rsquo;s mind on them.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Our experiment with calves had to be given up.
-All died but one. Long took that to Dutch Island,
-but it would not stay. Like the human animal, the
-poor thing wanted sympathy and something to love,
-and followed him all the way back, notwithstanding
-all he could do to restrain it. Tame foxes and tame
-owls have also been given up. The former bit their
-keepers, the latter ate each other up. The dogs
-multiply rapidly, and would increase faster, but that
-the pups are eaten by the old ones. I saw the mother
-of a dead pup keeping Ritenbank from swallowing it,
-while she hesitated whether or not she would do the
-same thing herself.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;We are again building around our house with
-ice, which proved such an addition last winter, and
-the double sashes to the windows have been put in.
-I have added a side-board to my bunk and covered
-the adjacent walls with paper, thus adding to the
-warmth. Much may be done to mitigate the evils of
-this climate. The moral and social evils are what we
-can not meet, or rather do not repel.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Mrs. Greely&rsquo;s birthday was again observed, chiefly
-by a good dinner with wine furnished by Lieutenant
-Greely. Lockwood&rsquo;s own birthday was also celebrated
-in like manner, when he recorded the following:
-&ldquo;After dinner Lieutenant Greely and I had a
-long talk&mdash;reminiscences of army-life, speculations as
-to our retreat in boats, etc. When alone, my mind
-turned to the dear ones at home and the many warm
-friends I had elsewhere, and to the happy days spent
-with them.</p>
-<div class="img" id="fig5">
-<img src="images/p231.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="508" />
-<p class="caption">Lockwood&rsquo;s Corner.</p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div>
-<p>&ldquo;My corner, which is the coldest of all the corners,
-was improved by covering floor and walls with
-paper. I also found an improvement by adding side-boards
-to the bunk, and finally by converting the bed
-into a regular sleeping-bag. Before this was done, I
-sometimes became very chilly during the night after
-the fires went down. Our lamps now burn all day.
-How wearisome this constant artificial light becomes,
-we know from the experience of last winter. I dread
-it under our present social relations. Even Lieutenant
-Greely refers to these as intensifying what would otherwise
-not much distress him. My daily routine is somewhat
-as follows: Breakfast at half-past seven, with
-scarcely a word spoken by any one. Then I smoke,
-standing by the stove in the cook&rsquo;s room. Afterward,
-tailoring or some other work. At noon, a walk
-to Proteus Point if possible. Afterward, read or sleep
-till dinner at four. Again smoke as before. Then
-a few games of chess with Lieutenant Greely or checkers
-with the Esquimaux. Then read a little French
-or a good deal of whatever I find most interesting.
-Then to my army-bunk, to sleep till next morning,
-when the same routine is repeated.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 20th, he made a trip to Depot &ldquo;B&rdquo; with
-some of the men and two dog-sledges to bring down
-the musk-ox meat left there in <i>cache</i>. They found
-the foot-ice near shore so rough that they had to keep
-well out, but still they made the eighteen miles in six
-<span class="pb" id="Page_216">216</span>
-hours, which may be regarded as fair traveling with
-dogs.</p>
-<p>They met many bear-tracks, but old, probably made
-by the same animals that visited the station. They
-found that these animals, and also foxes, had found
-their meat-<i>cache</i> and had done much damage, four
-quarters of meat and fifteen geese having been eaten
-by them or taken away. Returning next day with
-what remained, and taking in more meat at St. Patrick&rsquo;s
-Bay in still worse condition, they made their
-way home over a sea of rubble-ice. To show the
-effects of ice-movements, Lockwood observed, when
-crossing Watercourse Bay on their return, the sledge-tracks
-made the day before fifty feet in the air on top
-of floe-bergs!</p>
-<p>They made a visit to some floe-bergs at the mouth
-of Lady Franklin Bay to get specimens of colored ice
-seen there on a berg. These were mostly yellow, but
-some specimens almost black. On melting, they gave
-an offensive odor, and made deposits of their color.
-Analysis only could determine the nature of the coloring-matter.
-Young ice was measured, and found
-to be twenty inches thick.</p>
-<p>Lockwood would have been glad enough to be
-away from that cold region, and yet he seemed determined
-again to explore the north Greenland coast,
-and thought that, under favorable circumstances, he
-could go farther than he had already gone by at least
-seventy-five miles, thereby manifesting a degree of
-pluck almost unique in its character. Difficulties
-might arise to defeat his plans, but, these surmounted,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_217">217</span>
-all his energies and hopes would be directed to
-returning home. It was Lieutenant Greely&rsquo;s opinion,
-however, that his &ldquo;farthest&rdquo; would not be again
-reached in the present century.</p>
-<p>On the 5th of November Dr. Pavy returned from
-an expedition to Carl Ritter Bay, which he had
-reached by following the valley back of Cape Lieber,
-as the ice-foot was found impracticable. The dog-food,
-or dried fish, taken, being insufficient and poor,
-one of the dogs died, and was immediately eaten by
-the others. The straits below were found quite open.
-They killed one musk-ox, but could not bring in the
-meat. On the return, so rough was the ice over the
-bay that twelve hours were required to cross from
-Cape Baird.</p>
-<p>The doctor urged the policy of storing provisions
-at Cape Hawkes for their boat-journey, a thing easier
-to talk about than to do, as Cape Hawkes was one
-hundred and fifty-five miles, in a straight line, south
-of Lady Franklin Bay, and it would occupy a dog-sledge
-to go and return at least one month. If anything
-was to be done in that direction, all thoughts of
-further exploration must be abandoned. The doctor
-predicted that a naval expedition would be sent for
-them the next year, Congress having hitherto failed
-to provide for their relief.</p>
-<p>In one of his tramps to Proteus Point, Lockwood&rsquo;s
-feet were again frosted, owing partly to his imperfect
-foot-gear, and he then became convinced that a light,
-flexible moccasin was the best thing to wear in that
-country.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_218">218</div>
-<p>For several days about the middle of November,
-there were magnetic disturbances of a pronounced
-character coincident with the storms and auroras they
-were experiencing. Storms were always indicated by
-rapid changes of barometer, but sometimes the barometer
-fell and no storm followed. Auroras had
-recently been attended with varied colors, which was
-unusual, as they had formerly been uniformly white.
-A surveyor working there would find, at times, his
-compass-needle almost unmanageable. Seals were
-seen in the most unexpected places, one of them having
-been killed with a hatchet in a tide-hole.</p>
-<p>On the 21st, Lockwood was startled, when setting
-out on his usual walk, to see what looked like smoke
-coming from the roof of the house; but what he mistook
-for smoke was only the condensation of vapor
-escaping from the house. The appearance of the
-smoke coming from the chimney, and of the steam
-from the roof, projected as they were on the sides of
-the snow-covered mountains, was very pretty. The
-ice-wall around the house was a great protection, not
-only keeping the hot air in, but protecting the house
-from the furious blasts which would otherwise enter
-it, if, indeed, they did not destroy it.</p>
-<p>Lieutenant Greely resumed his lectures, which had
-before proved so interesting. He gave one, which
-they all admired, on the history of his native town,
-Newburyport. Israel had also assumed the <i>r&ocirc;le</i> of
-lecturer on astronomy, with which he was familiar.</p>
-<p>When Lockwood became desperate with <i>ennui</i>, he
-got out his old letters and again read them, as they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_219">219</span>
-carried him back to his distant home and parents and
-sisters. He earnestly prayed that a kind Providence
-would restore him to them. This was the end of all
-his hopes.</p>
-<p>On the 30th of November Lockwood wrote as follows:
-&ldquo;This is the day Lieutenant Greely appointed
-for thanksgiving, and thankfully should we keep it;
-for we have not only escaped sickness and any serious
-discomforts, but we have had undoubted success in
-our efforts both scientific and geographical. We have
-had a royal feast of soup, beef, corn, Lima beans,
-pineapple-jelly, nuts, and figs.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Contrary to his resolve, a few days later he commenced
-reading novels. His feeling was that they
-withdraw one from one&rsquo;s self, which is something
-gained; but they put one up in the clouds from
-which it is often painful to descend. They cause
-the reader to live for a time in an ideal world, and
-bring him back to the stern reality with a sense of
-disappointment.</p>
-<p>On the 8th of December, Lockwood was greatly
-impressed by the absence of light, and gave his views
-as follows: &ldquo;It is now very dark, even at noon, except
-when we have the moon and a clear sky. Even
-on the floe, where the pure white snow reflects every
-bit of light, it is now so obscure that it is difficult to
-see the path at one&rsquo;s feet; and even the outlines of the
-mountains, high above the horizon, are very dim. A
-faint gleam of twilight over the south horizon, at
-noon only, shows the direction in which the sun and
-&lsquo;God&rsquo;s country&rsquo; lie. So dark is it that I have several
-<span class="pb" id="Page_220">220</span>
-times stumbled over the dogs lying outside at the
-door; and when in a pathway, one has rather to feel
-the way than see it, requiring the use of a lantern in
-going from the house.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No wonder, then, that the moon is so highly appreciated
-in this benighted region. How delightful it
-is, after a fortnight&rsquo;s absence, to have her with us once
-again! How a poet would rave over the moon could
-he once know a polar winter! We have her now in
-all her glory, lighting up this vast desert waste, which,
-covered with its mantle of snow and ice, now becomes
-a thing of beauty.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The effect of continued absence of sunlight is
-very marked in the complexion of all the men, as well
-as in their loss of vigor. They are as blanched as
-potato-sprouts in a dark cellar. Blessed orb of light
-and life! One can hardly imagine the one without
-the other. The moral as well as the physical influence
-of sunlight is very soon seen after the sun&rsquo;s reappearance,
-the middle of February.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>They still kept up birthdays, and the 24th was
-that of Saler, when they had a feast selected by himself.
-The musk-ox beef was particularly good, being
-young and tender, and free from the musk flavor so
-common with old oxen. They were now used to this,
-however, and it did not trouble them.</p>
-<p>In the evening Lieutenant Greely brought out a
-few Christmas presents to distribute, which had not
-been issued the previous year, and there were some
-prizes of tobacco, soap, etc., raffled for. A chromo-picture
-of good &ldquo;King Billy&rdquo; of Prussia was given
-<span class="pb" id="Page_221">221</span>
-to Long, whose hair is somewhat red. The hair in
-the picture being of the same color, much mirth was
-elicited, as Long was sensitive about his hair, and was
-constantly chaffed by the men on that account. Lieutenant
-Greely made a few appropriate remarks, referring
-to the success of the expedition, and praying that
-their good fortune might continue, etc.</p>
-<p>The Christmas-dinner was remarkably good&mdash;one
-that might have been enjoyed anywhere. The appetites
-of the men and of the officers were equal to the
-occasion. Of late some of them had shown less appetite
-than formerly, possibly because their supplies
-showing signs of failing in a few particulars, the table
-had shown less variety. The average weight of the
-men was found to be one hundred and seventy-one
-pounds, Lockwood&rsquo;s weight being one hundred and
-seventy-six, embodying a good deal of caloric.</p>
-<p>On the 8th of January, 1883, after repairing some
-damage done to the launch by the ice, Lieutenant
-Greely announced his resolve to leave for home in
-boats not later than August 8th, and sooner, if the
-ice permitted.</p>
-<p>On the 23d, efforts were made to cross the bay to
-Cape Baird, but without success, the difficulties being
-the absence of light, the intense cold, and the extremely
-rough ice. It was desired to open a passage
-to Cape Baird, and make a depot of provisions there
-for use on the retreat. Their first efforts carried these
-stores only to mid-channel, but afterward Sergeant
-Lynn and others carried them over to Cape Baird.</p>
-<p>Much of Lockwood&rsquo;s time was of necessity occupied
-<span class="pb" id="Page_222">222</span>
-in tailoring, and he had become quite an expert.
-Service in the north not only demanded much clothing,
-but the garments must be strong and warm.
-Their supply in store being somewhat limited and not
-judiciously chosen, particularly in foot- and hand-gear,
-all were from time to time engaged in repairing
-old garments or making new. Rice suggested a
-method of doubling the supply of woolen socks by
-cutting off the legs of long stockings and sewing up
-the bottoms of the leg part. For his proposed spring
-trip, Lockwood was counting upon a rig consisting of
-two merino shirts, three flannel shirts, one chamois
-vest, one vest made of two thicknesses of army-blanket,
-one woolen Jersey, one swan-skin cloth over-shirt,
-one pair of merino drawers, two pairs of flannel
-drawers, soldier&rsquo;s trousers, cloth cap covering head
-and neck with a skirt covering the shoulders, and a
-pair of moccasins over heavy woolen socks&mdash;all to be
-worn at once, though seemingly heavy enough to
-weigh down an elephant. The only clothing in reserve
-was woolen wrappers and socks for the feet,
-and a seal-skin &ldquo;timiak&rdquo; for exceptionally cold
-weather. Having suffered much from cold feet, Lockwood
-had paid special attention to foot-gear, but without
-great success. Frequently he was kept awake
-most of the night from this cause. He noticed that
-the dogs suffered more in their feet than elsewhere,
-and might be seen at any time standing around with
-their feet drawn up under their bodies. The feet and
-the nose seemed to be the only highly sensitive parts
-of the Esquimaux dog, these being, indeed, the only
-<span class="pb" id="Page_223">223</span>
-parts not covered with long wool. Lockwood never
-tired of watching these animals. They were susceptible
-to kindness, though generally getting little of it.
-They followed him on his lonely walks, and seemed
-grateful for any notice or attention on his part. The
-young pups soon became docile and tractable in harness,
-though a little more difficult to manage than
-old dogs.</p>
-<p>When the 1st of March arrived, all hands were engaged
-in preparing for their spring work. First in
-order was the supply of their depot on the eastern
-side, and Lockwood purposed leaving soon, to convey
-several hundred pounds of rations to that place. As
-usual in such cases, Dr. Pavy and two others of the
-party indulged themselves in the most gloomy prognostications
-as to the future, declaring that all idea
-of further explorations should be abandoned, and all
-their efforts applied to depositing provisions down the
-straits to secure their safe retreat in boats in August
-and September. Both Lieutenants Greely and Lockwood
-did all they could to make a success of this expedition,
-but the social atmosphere was not congenial,
-and there was little enthusiasm manifested. How
-different would have been this life if all had pulled
-together! Lockwood was impatient to be away from
-this trouble and at work. If he could not go farther
-than on his previous trip, he could at least try, and
-no man could do more than his best.</p>
-<p>On the 10th of March, Lockwood left with two
-sledge-teams of ten dogs each for the purpose of placing
-supplies on the Greenland side of the straits&mdash;he,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_224">224</span>
-Sergeant Brainard, and Esquimaux Frederick, with
-one sledge; Sergeant Jewell, Corporal Ellison, and
-Jans, with the other. After leaving Depot A, where
-they added to their load, they had on each sledge
-about nine hundred and thirty pounds, or nearly one
-hundred pounds per dog. Found much rubble-ice
-on St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay, but, generally, the route to
-Depot B was good, and the journey was made in
-eight hours from the station. Although they had a
-fire in the little stove of the depot tent, all passed an
-uncomfortable night, not only from cold, but from
-their cramped and crowded condition. Their feet
-were higher than their heads, and the head in one instance
-was under the edge of the damp, frost-covered
-canvas. &ldquo;Woolly&rdquo; was found to be lame, and had
-to be left in a hole in the snow-bank, with a supply of
-hard bread; Ellison was feeling badly, yet said, &ldquo;All
-right,&rdquo; and insisted on proceeding. Seeing no favorable
-passage from Cape Beechy, they concluded to go up
-to Wrangell Bay and try the passage direct from there
-to Cape Brevoort. To reach Wrangell, they had to
-leave the ice-foot and move out on the straits, and soon
-found themselves in an awful mass of rubble-ice like
-a vast plain covered with bowlders. A great deal of
-chopping had to be done with the axe, and what progress
-they made, was with half-loads. They encamped
-on the straits, and, while the others returned for the
-discarded loads, Lockwood prepared supper, succeeding
-only in making some ice into lukewarm tea, which,
-with cold bread and meat, they hastily swallowed before
-creeping into their sleeping-bags. They secured
-<span class="pb" id="Page_225">225</span>
-but little sleep, as may be imagined when it is known
-that the thermometer registered that night -48&deg;.
-Under such circumstances, they seemed never completely
-unconscious, and got up in the morning under
-the belief that they had not slept at all.</p>
-<p>Reaching the south cape of Wrangell Bay, they
-turned to the right and went directly toward Cape
-Brevoort, still meeting with ice of the most formidable
-kind, over which the heavily loaded sledges had
-frequently to be lifted. Tired out, they camped at
-5 <span class="small">P. M.</span> in the midst of the strait. The first thing to
-be done was to look out for the foot-gear. This always
-had a lining of frost inside as well as out, being
-wet from perspiration if not from leakage. Brainard
-always changed his stockings for dry ones when he
-could do so, but Lockwood and Frederick generally
-let theirs go, the latter from indifference to frost-bites,
-and the former to escape the pain arising from tender
-feet and fingers. By incasing his feet in dog- or
-sheep-skin wrappings, he managed to pass the night
-comfortably.</p>
-<p>Ellison, being really sick, was sent back to the
-depot to the tender care of Woolly. After moving
-for a time over rubble, several of the pieces of which
-came up to a man&rsquo;s shoulders, they were greatly encouraged
-by coming to a grand paleocrystic floe, whose
-gently undulating surface stretched east, north, and
-south as far as the eye could reach. This floe reminded
-Lockwood of a Western prairie, its mounds
-and gullies making the resemblance more complete.
-As an offset to this smooth way, they had to face an
-<span class="pb" id="Page_226">226</span>
-icy north wind with the thermometer from -35&deg; to
--48&deg;. Frederick got one cheek and a finger frost-bitten,
-Brainard his face, and Lockwood his nose. Here
-they put off the load, and at a run with the empty
-sledge returned to their former encampment, where
-the tent was left standing, to await the return of
-Jewell, who had gone back to Depot B to leave Ellison
-with Woolly.</p>
-<p>The next morning, packing everything on the two
-sledges, they soon gained the smooth floe seen the day
-before, whence, detaching Jewell for some stores at
-Lincoln Bay, which he was to leave at this point and
-then return to Fort Conger, Lockwood, Frederick,
-and Brainard proceeded across the floe with as much
-of the total loads as the dogs of their sledge could
-drag. Coming within five miles of Cape Brevoort,
-and seeing formidable ice in that direction, while
-toward Newman Bay the ice was better, Lockwood
-concluded to head toward that bay. They did so until
-5 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and then camped on the straits, completely
-exhausted. During the night they had a violent
-south wind, but they had campaigned too much
-not to be prepared for this with tent-pins securely
-driven.</p>
-<p>In the morning they made their way over pretty
-good floes with some rubble, and reached at noon the
-whale-boat at Polaris Point, finding the rations in her
-intact. Thence, following the snow slope along the
-cliffs, and passing the point where Lockwood and
-Frederick had spent many hours the year before in a
-snow-hole, they passed round Cape Sumner through
-<span class="pb" id="Page_227">227</span>
-masses of ice in some places piled fifty feet high, and
-finally reached the Boat Camp on Newman Bay.</p>
-<p>Having thus provisioned the Boat Camp, they took
-a survey of the routes back, and concluding that, all
-things considered, the one direct to Cape Beechy was
-the best, returned by it with the empty sledge, making
-rapid progress and reaching the west shore in just
-seven hours. Notwithstanding they had no load, the
-passage was by no means easy, for they had to pass
-over mountain-ridges, deep pits, and gullies in the
-rubble-ice, where the dogs could scarcely keep their
-footing. Lockwood was impressed, as often before,
-with the power and endurance of the dogs. Ellison
-had left the depot, but Woolly still remained, and
-there, also, they found Jewell, who had been up to
-Lincoln Bay, where he found that the foxes had eaten
-up a large part of the meat in <i>cache</i> there.</p>
-<p>With Woolly on the sledge, they returned to the
-station, meeting Snyder and Whistler <i>en route</i> with
-a pup-team and sledge, going for Woolly. It was interesting
-and touching to witness the demonstrations
-and delight of these youngsters on meeting their
-elders, among which were the mothers of some of
-them.</p>
-<p>Jewell said that, on his return to the depot, he
-put away his dog-harness in one of the empty tents,
-and that when he awoke the next morning he found
-nothing remaining but the bone buttons and the
-whip-handles, the dogs having eaten everything else.
-Another dog-story is recorded as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Milatook had pups the other day, and all were
-<span class="pb" id="Page_228">228</span>
-killed except one. It was discovered yesterday in a
-very unfortunate condition, with tail frozen hard and
-stiff, and legs in nearly the same condition. Some
-of the men soaked the tail in water, and eventually
-&lsquo;brought it to.&rsquo; It is a sad tail.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_229">229</div>
-<h2 id="c14">XIV.
-<br /><span class="small">RESUMING A DESPERATE STRUGGLE.</span></h2>
-<p>On the 19th of March, fair weather came out of
-the north, and not only cheered the hearts of the
-whole colony at the station, but fired the desire of
-Lieutenant Lockwood for the new campaign, which he
-had long been contemplating. After a consultation
-with Lieutenant Greely, he concluded to start on the
-following day, or soon after. As usual, some cold
-water was thrown upon his plans, one of the critics
-declaring that they had experienced enough of that
-kind of business; and another, that they had better
-be thinking of their coming fate. But Lockwood&rsquo;s
-reasoning was as follows: &ldquo;Before I go home, I must
-make another &lsquo;strike&rsquo; on the north Greenland coast.
-If the conditions of the ice are no worse, I ought to
-be able to discover the northeast extremity of Greenland,
-and add several miles to my latitude, although
-Lieutenant Greely thinks that my present &lsquo;farthest&rsquo;
-will not again be reached in our day. I say nothing
-about all this, however. <i>Act</i> first and talk afterward
-has always been my way.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Lockwood was both hopeful and determined, and
-on the 23d he received his final orders to the effect,
-that, should he not be able to reach a higher latitude
-<span class="pb" id="Page_230">230</span>
-than he did before without undue danger, or should
-he or any of his men break down or become dangerously
-ill, he was to return forthwith. To this he replied
-that he knew not what might happen, but he
-intended, if possible, to reach the eighty-fourth parallel.
-In anticipation of his own birthday, and to honor
-the explorers with a good &ldquo;send-off,&rdquo; Lieutenant
-Greely gave a dinner on the 26th, and, thus fortified,
-they were prepared to move on the following day,
-rejoicing.</p>
-<p>Lockwood had two fine teams of ten dogs each assigned
-for his use, and, as before, the faithful Brainard
-and Esquimaux Frederick were to accompany him.
-Everything passed off quietly, without the excitement
-or enthusiasm of the previous spring. They left the
-station at 8.30 <span class="small">A. M.</span>, the advance sledge bearing the
-silk flag of Mrs. Greely, with Brainard and Frederick
-the Esquimaux; the supporting sledge with Jewell,
-Ellis, and Esquimaux Jans; and then the pup-team
-and sledge driven by Snyder, and carrying Greely and
-Lockwood. On reaching Watercourse Bay, whence
-they were to take back a load of coal, Lieutenant
-Greely and team left them, after bidding God-speed,
-and telling them to be sure and bring back the north
-end of Greenland! Reaching Depot A in two and
-a quarter hours, they took on two small seals left
-there, and passing Depot B, where they obtained more
-provisions, they reached Cape Beechy at 4 <span class="small">P. M.</span>&mdash;the
-dogs quite fresh, but the men much wearied.</p>
-<p>When they resumed their journey, it was snowing
-and the Greenland shore invisible. They took a direct
-<span class="pb" id="Page_231">231</span>
-course by compass for Cape Sumner over rubble-ice
-until they reached the first floe, on whose hard,
-undulating surface they made rapid progress until
-they came to rubble-ice again. Brainard, with axe in
-hand, went ahead, clearing the way over impassable
-places, until the high cliff of Polaris Promontory came
-in sight. Finally, both Jewell and Ellis suffering
-from pain, when three miles from Cape Sumner they
-stopped for the night, after making twenty miles, and
-all went into bags.</p>
-<p>Moving early next morning with considerable
-wind, they got into bad ice with cracks, down which
-some of the dogs fell and had to be drawn up; but
-finally, finding a better route, reached the Polaris
-Boat Camp, where, leaving some meat for the dogs
-when returning, they continued on toward Gap Valley,
-generally over rolling floes, and through rubble,
-requiring a good deal of cutting, tugging, and pushing.</p>
-<p>When three miles out they went into camp again,
-leaving Ellis to prepare supper for all, while the
-others, with both sledges, returned to the Boat Camp.</p>
-<p>Leaving Brainard to get ready the alcohol to be
-taken from the whale-boat, they kept on along shore
-to the foot of the cliffs and the <i>cache</i>. Here they
-found the snow-slopes much worse than on their last
-visit, but, the sledges being empty, they could have
-gone along over anything except a stone wall, and
-even that would have had to be very high to stop them.
-Fox-tracks were seen near the <i>cache</i>, but they found
-it intact. The ice they had piled about it was almost
-<span class="pb" id="Page_232">232</span>
-covered by the drifting snow. The contents of
-the <i>cache</i>, about one thousand pounds in all, were put
-on the two sledges, and soon after they went down a
-snow-bank so steep and hard that the sledges took
-entire command, though all hands tried to hold them
-back; but the dogs keeping out of the way, no harm
-was done. This was at Cape Sumner, whence they
-returned to the Boat Camp. Here, taking on the
-things prepared by Brainard, they returned to the
-tents. After supper some hours were spent in getting
-ready the rations for from twenty to forty-eight days.
-Jewell and Ellis were both complaining; otherwise,
-every thing looked very promising.</p>
-<p>On the morning of the 30th, it was clear overhead
-but cloudy around the horizon, and a slight snow
-was falling. The loads were about eleven hundred
-pounds to each team, but the dogs did admirably,
-and good speed was made, the ice being covered with
-a very light depth of snow. At the mouth of the
-gorge by which they were to ascend and cross the
-Brevoort Peninsula, they reduced the load on each
-sledge and started up this narrow, rocky, winding
-ca&ntilde;on. The snow was hard and they were getting
-along well, when right before them appeared a wall
-of snow, so steep and hard that Lockwood had to
-use his big knife, to ascend. It was about thirty
-feet high. He went alone to view the situation. A
-few yards beyond was a kind of ice tunnel whose roof
-was about three feet high. Then came another high,
-steep snow-drift with a snow-cavern alongside, probably
-fifty yards in length; and also a few feet farther
-<span class="pb" id="Page_233">233</span>
-was found a deep pit formed by the snow.
-Climbing around this and proceeding half a mile, he
-found that the gorge made a bend to the east and became
-still more narrow and rocky; but a side ravine
-offered a chance to get out of this big gutter, up a
-long, steep slope of hard snow, three or four times the
-height of the preceding drifts; and then Lockwood
-found himself on the table-land overlooking Newman
-Bay.</p>
-<p>The sledges with great difficulty gained this
-comparatively level divide. The landmarks not being
-altogether familiar to Lockwood, he took a long walk
-after supper to a distant ridge, where, seeing the sea-coast,
-his way became perfectly clear. It was a
-lonely and dismal walk, and the ridge seemed to get
-farther away as he approached it. After more than
-two hours&rsquo; absence he returned to the tents, crawled
-in alongside of Sergeant Brainard, and was quickly
-lulled to sleep notwithstanding the snoring of Frederick.
-The horrid sound issuing from his bag was
-as loud as a brass band at a circus.</p>
-<p>The process of getting breakfast was to be preferred
-to that of getting supper. When a man went into
-camp, after a toilsome day of travel, and had helped
-to pitch tent and unload the sledge, it was hard, while
-covered with frost, with cold and perhaps wet feet, to
-chop ice and meat, and handle cold metal.</p>
-<p>After an uncomfortable night, with the temperature
-down to -45&deg;, they started again. Proceeding
-several miles, they reached a narrow, winding ravine,
-and finally a gorge, which they followed until they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_234">234</span>
-came to the head of the wide Gap Valley, and thence
-to the sea-coast. Turning east, they continued on a
-few hundred yards, and were then stopped by the ice-wall,
-which crowded so closely to the shore that the
-sledges could not be hauled through. Lockwood and
-Frederick pitched the tent, while Brainard went ahead
-with the axe, and, after much hard work, made a
-passage about one eighth of a mile long through this
-place. They managed to worry through with half
-the load by three o&rsquo;clock, and, leaving Brainard to get
-supper, Lockwood and Frederick went on with half
-the load for about one and a half miles. The route
-beyond the bad place was excellent. Dropping the
-load, they returned to the tent by four o&rsquo;clock. Jewell
-came along later, he and Ellis complaining again
-of their difficulty in keeping up with the sledge when
-it went faster than a slow walk.</p>
-<p>While approaching the cairn at Repulse Harbor,
-on the 1st of April, Brainard&rsquo;s sharp eyes discovered
-the site of the English depot of rations, which contained
-Lieutenant Beaumont&rsquo;s sextant, an English
-flag, a cooking-lamp, old clothes, and some foot-gear.
-The road before them was excellent, and they made
-good time, soon passing the route of the preceding
-year, which reached the coast just east of Repulse
-Harbor.</p>
-<p>On coming near Drift Point, they were better able
-to see the northern expanse outside the ice-wall which
-lined the coast and had interrupted the view. Lockwood
-saw a good deal of young ice interspersed with
-holes, and leads of open water. The main pack beyond
-<span class="pb" id="Page_235">235</span>
-seemed permeated by leads of what had been
-quite recently open water. Dark, misty &ldquo;water-clouds&rdquo;
-were seen everywhere northward. The young
-ice extended along shore in both directions as far as
-they could see, and out from shore a hundred yards
-or more. Beyond it was the polar pack, broken into
-small floes and rubble-ice, which had a glistening
-green appearance, as though recently pushed up by
-the grinding of the fields about it; all this was very
-surprising.</p>
-<p>They made their way over the snow-slopes of Drift
-Point and beyond until the near approach of the cliffs
-on one side and the ice-wall on the other brought
-them to a halt eighty miles from Fort Conger. Here
-they encamped with everything, having come thus far
-in six days.</p>
-<p>The ice-wall along here was from forty to fifty
-feet high. Outside, there was a good deal of ice lately
-formed, with smooth floes. They passed on near
-the foot of the bluffs, to see if there was any way of
-getting along the cliffs, making their way between
-the ice-wall and the foot of the steep slopes of the
-bluffs with great effort. The <i>d&eacute;bris</i> of stone, etc.,
-from the cliffs above made the route almost impracticable
-for a sledge. Before reaching Black Horn Cliffs,
-they were obliged to find a route along the top of the
-ice-wall, and thus got a short distance along the bottom
-of these vertical cliffs. But now, from a fissure
-in the cliffs above, came a steep drift of very hard
-snow, slanting down to the water at its foot. To
-scale the cliffs by means of this drift was dangerous,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_236">236</span>
-as a slip would inevitably have taken one directly into
-the water.</p>
-<p>By cutting steps in the snow they gained a considerable
-elevation, but, on looking round a point of
-rocks, the height beyond was so much greater and
-worse than they expected, that they could not proceed.
-All along shore was the crack of open water about a
-yard wide, with young ice beyond, through which a
-stone or fragment of ice might be thrown. Dense
-water-clouds appeared in many directions. They returned
-to camp, and, after enjoying some tea, Lockwood
-gave Jewell the tidal rod to make observations,
-while with Brainard he started out again, this time
-to the south and up a stream-bed, at whose mouth
-they were encamped, hoping to find a route back of
-the cliffs overland. They soon found themselves in
-a ravine with high, rocky sides, and encountered a
-steep snow-drift. Beyond was a small hole in the
-snow, which seemed to be a cavern or grotto formed
-of snow and ice, and probably running down to the
-bed of the stream&mdash;if that may be called a stream
-which has no water. Beyond this were exposed
-rocks under foot, and they saw ptarmigan-tracks,
-where the birds had used their wings in getting
-down a snow-drift. Finally, they came to a branch
-ravine from the southeast, the main stream leading off
-toward the south. They turned up the branch, and
-kept on for a while, when the high rocky sides seemed
-to come to a formation of ice like a glacier, a hundred
-feet high, at least, and very steep. The crest was
-perpendicular. The route thus far was difficult yet
-<span class="pb" id="Page_237">237</span>
-practicable, but it was clearly impossible for a dog-team
-to haul an <i>empty</i> sledge up this place, and yet
-it was the only place where there was anything else
-than an inclined plane of rocks. The glacier was
-covered with snow, but in many places the ice could
-be seen cropping out, the snow being only a thin covering.
-Some ice-grottoes were also seen. They clambered
-up the rocks to the left, and found themselves
-on a stony plateau. Off to the east was an elevated
-ridge or knoll, toward which they traveled about a
-mile and a half. On gaining it, the barometer showed
-an elevation of thirteen hundred feet. Toward the
-south was a chain of mountains running east and west,
-through the western extremity of which the main
-stream-bed they had ascended seemed to break, about
-six miles from the sea. The branch appeared to end
-at the glacier; but to the east of it the land sloped
-north and south, and formed a surface-drain which,
-running east, soon narrowed into a gorge, and, bending
-to the north, reached the sea just west of Rest
-Gorge, as well as they could make out. At the bend
-was a large formation of ice or snow.</p>
-<p>They returned to camp at 3 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and found
-every one there walking vigorously up and down to
-keep warm, or, rather, to keep from freezing, the
-thermometer marking -48&deg;. Jewell left his beat
-every few minutes to note the height of the water on
-the tide-rod. There was now nothing else to do except
-to get into the sleeping-bags, and this in cold
-weather always involves a change of foot-gear. At
-six o&rsquo;clock Brainard had prepared supper, and shortly
-<span class="pb" id="Page_238">238</span>
-after, the advance sledge-party was trying to sleep.
-Jewell kept on taking observations until after eleven,
-when he caught the high tide. It was a severe ordeal,
-but he preferred to do it, without assistance, as it
-was much better for the record.</p>
-<p>Brainard complained of want of sleep, and Lockwood&rsquo;s
-rest was much the same as usual&mdash;an uneasy,
-oppressed feeling of being half asleep and half awake;
-every few hours getting broad awake, and wondering
-if it were time to rise, or how much colder his feet
-would have to get before freezing. Having decided
-to examine the main ravine running south, Lockwood
-started from camp before eight, with Brainard, Frederick,
-and Ellis. On reaching the branch, he and
-Ellis continued south, and the other two went up the
-branch. Continuing along between the high, rocky
-sides of the ravine, with abundance of hard snow
-under foot, but some bad snow-drifts, they found a
-very good sledge-route. After a while, they came to
-a huge formation of snow, filling the whole breadth of
-the ravine, and sloping up&mdash;in one place by a very easy
-ascent&mdash;to the west bank. Gaining this, they continued
-on and reached a ridge some twelve hundred feet
-high, which commanded a view of the sea, and of the
-valley to the south as far as the mountains. The valley
-seemed to grow wider and deeper as far as the
-mountains, through which it broke from a southwest
-direction. No break or defile of any kind offered an
-outlet to the east. Beyond the east bank was a wide
-plateau covered with stones, and about four miles
-from the sea. After taking a good survey of the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_239">239</span>
-country, they turned back toward the camp. Brainard
-and Frederick joined them some time afterward,
-and reported that they had cut one hundred and
-fifty-two steps in the side of the glacier to get up, and
-found that the branch extended a short distance beyond,
-but that a vertical ledge of ice some twelve feet
-high presented itself afterward, and that, on getting
-beyond this, they found themselves on a plateau covered
-with bare stones. Brainard thought the route
-utterly impracticable, and went no farther. He afterward
-said that they might be able to get round to
-Rest Gorge in two weeks, with the sledges and loads,
-by taking the sledges to pieces, and carrying them
-and the loads piecemeal over these obstructions. The
-young ice seemed to be getting thicker, and they began
-to think they might get around the cliffs after
-all. They had some tea and &ldquo;pap,&rdquo; and began to
-calculate how many days it would take to reach Cape
-Bryant. During the afternoon, a way for the sledge
-was cut through a low place in the ice-wall, a short
-distance west of the camp, and two days&rsquo; rations were
-also deposited in a <i>cache</i> on the hill. A slight wind
-blew during the day, and by eight o&rsquo;clock all were in
-their sleeping-bags again, excepting Jewell, who kept
-up tidal observations until ten, securing a very satisfactory
-set, two high tides and the intervening low
-tide.</p>
-<p>Thermometer during the night -43&deg;. After breakfast,
-Brainard went down to the tide-gauge, and, coming
-back, reported that the rising tide had widened
-the crack a little, but that he had fixed it by chopping
-<span class="pb" id="Page_240">240</span>
-snow blocks and throwing them into the water.
-Being unwilling to risk everything on the young ice,
-thinking that it might break through, Lockwood put
-the five sacks of pemmican on the sledge, and leaving
-the tent, etc., and the supporting sledge-party packing
-up, he, Brainard, and Frederick started on. They
-reached the ice with no trouble, and, proceeding out
-from shore one or two hundred yards, turned to the
-east and went a short distance when, Frederick seeming
-to think the ice all right, Lockwood sent Brainard
-ahead with the axe, while with Frederick, having
-thrown off the load, he proceeded back for the rest of
-the stores, so as to take all on together. They had
-nearly reached the shore, when suddenly Lockwood
-saw two or three of the dogs in the water, and knew
-from Frederick&rsquo;s tones that something had happened.
-The ice was moving out from shore, and they saw no
-way of getting off. Lockwood called for Jewell, and
-then leaving Frederick and his team to find a way to
-shore if possible, started on the run to get within
-hailing distance of Brainard. He was speedily overtaken
-by Frederick and the dog-team, the dogs going
-at a fast gallop, and Frederick laying his whip about
-them in all directions. Lockwood proceeded to find
-some place to get ashore, but there was none, except
-at a little promontory of rubble-ice, in front of the
-camp, and about two hundred yards from the tide-gauge.
-Elsewhere up and down, as far as they could
-see, was a continuous belt of water, every moment getting
-wider. The ice had a motion toward the east, as
-well as out from the shore, and thus kept in position
-<span class="pb" id="Page_241">241</span>
-a small cake of ice by means of which Lockwood got
-on the promontory, and then directed the movements
-of the dog-sledge which now came along. On the way
-back they stopped and threw the pemmican on the
-sledge again, the ice being perfectly smooth and hard.
-They first saved the dogs, pulling them up one by one,
-and then, the little ice-cake seeming to keep its position,
-a bridge was made of the sledge, and all the
-pemmican saved. The ice continued to move out
-from the shore, until up and down as far as the eye
-could reach was a wide belt of open water. Before
-they left, it was in many places between one and two
-hundred yards wide, and the ice at the same time
-moving toward the east. They got ashore at eleven
-o&rsquo;clock, and by 12.30 the sledge-tracks, which had
-been opposite the tidal rod, were opposite the camp,
-a distance of two hundred yards. While the sledges
-were being packed, a seal made his appearance and
-eyed the party curiously. The guns were not convenient,
-and he was not disturbed. Many water-clouds
-were seen to the north at this time, and the
-whole polar pack seemed to be on the move. They
-were all grateful for getting out of the trap so well.
-Referring to their living on the moving floe, Frederick
-made signs to suggest their eating the dog-pemmican;
-certainly this would have lasted a long
-time had they not frozen to death in the mean while,
-which they would have done very soon, as they were
-without sleeping-bags or alcohol.</p>
-<p>There seemed nothing to do but turn about and go
-home, and yet Lockwood was extremely averse to the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_242">242</span>
-idea. The overland route looked well-nigh impossible,
-or something at least that could not be accomplished
-in time to allow them to reach the farthest of
-1882. Lockwood&rsquo;s orders directed his return in case
-this contingency should arise, as well as in case of any
-&ldquo;signs of the disintegration of the polar pack,&rdquo; or
-in case he became incapacitated for rapid travel. He
-walked up and down and thought of it for some time,
-both Brainard and Jewell having declared that there
-was nothing else to do but return. At 12.30, the
-teams being all ready, they turned toward the west.
-As they came near the slopes of Drift Point a very
-disagreeable south wind with drifting snow was met,
-which continuing to get worse, their cheeks and noses
-began to suffer, and therefore, at about two o&rsquo;clock,
-they halted and pitched the tents, driving the pins
-first, and raising the tents afterward. By this time
-it was blowing almost a gale, and, the thermometer
-being very low, the tent was tied up, and they prepared
-to weather it out, Lockwood having a severe
-headache, which added to his tribulations.</p>
-<p>The whole of April 5th was passed in the sleeping-bags,
-giving all hands an opportunity to meditate on
-the <i>delights</i> of an Arctic sledge-journey. The time
-was spent in sleep, or in trying to keep warm and
-sleep at the same time. During the day Lockwood
-counted up the exact number of rations remaining,
-and, still bent on his dream of the eighty-fourth degree,
-calculated that, if they could get around overland
-to Rest Gorge in five days, they could yet go
-to the farthest of 1882 and a few days beyond, provided
-<span class="pb" id="Page_243">243</span>
-the traveling was not worse than the previous
-year. He announced his intention accordingly.
-Brainard and Jewell were not hopeful, but willing to
-do their best in attempting it. One great obstacle
-was the lame and crippled condition of both Jewell
-and Ellis. The signs of disintegration in the polar
-pack, Lockwood proposed to disregard.</p>
-<p>The wind continuing to blow, it was noon before
-they started off toward the east to reconnoitre; but,
-prior to this, Lockwood went up on the high ground
-back of the tents and saw a great deal of open water.
-Some time after starting, he stopped the sledges and
-went up on another elevation to reconnoitre, feeling
-that, if he went on and anything happened, his responsibility
-would be heavy, from his disobedience of
-orders. From this point could be seen a belt of open
-water running along shore, in both directions, for
-miles. In no place was it less than two hundred yards
-wide, and from that it increased to four and five hundred.
-Westward from the vicinity of Repulse Harbor,
-it extended in a lead, growing wider and wider, all the
-way across the straits, apparently to the vicinity of
-Lincoln Bay, where it seemed to swing round to the
-north. This lead was upward of five miles wide in the
-middle. Whether there were other leads south of it,
-between Newman Bay and Beechy, could not be determined.
-In the polar pack to the north were several
-small leads and a great many dark water-clouds.
-The ice was again noticed moving rapidly to the
-northeast. Beyond Cape Bryant, he supposed the ice
-to be intact, as in 1882, but around the cape, north
-<span class="pb" id="Page_244">244</span>
-of Britannia, they had then traveled on new ice, and,
-going out on the polar pack at Cape Dodge, just this
-side of the farthest, had traveled on it for several
-miles. The condition of this route now could not be
-known, of course, but what they had seen made the
-prospect very unfavorable. The signs of disintegration
-were unmistakable, and Lockwood therefore determined
-to turn back once again. Near this spot he
-remarked a very curious stratified floeberg. It was
-about forty feet high, and a dozen or more horizontal
-lines were very plain. The weather had now cleared
-up beautifully, and they were soon at Repulse Harbor.
-Here they left a short notice of their defeat in
-an English cairn, and, taking Beaumont&rsquo;s sextant,
-the English flag, etc., on the sledge, continued on
-their way to the mouth of Gap Valley, where they
-went into camp, and remained long enough to take a
-set of tidal observations.</p>
-<p>The observations here were very satisfactory, and
-were kept up by Jewell for more than twelve hours.
-Brainard, with Ellis and the two teams and drivers,
-advanced the heaviest part of the loads <i>en route</i> nine
-miles to the shore of Newman Bay. Lockwood and
-Jewell remained in camp, and the former found it
-extremely monotonous, having nothing to do but to
-prepare supper. The only way to keep warm was by
-constantly moving about, and, as a cold wind was
-blowing, this in itself was not comfortable. The observations
-were very trying to Jewell, continued as
-they were long after the rest were in their bags.</p>
-<p>On the 8th of April, they suffered more than usual
-<span class="pb" id="Page_245">245</span>
-with cold. The sleeping-bags, frozen stiff, were a
-long time in thawing out after they got into them.
-Dark water-clouds were seen along the northern horizon,
-although elsewhere the sky was bright and clear.
-One, particularly noticeable, to the northeast and near
-shore, looked like a huge cliff in a fog. They also
-noticed a movement in an ice-hillock some distance
-off the coast. It changed its angle to the east during
-their stay, and suggested open water across their
-route before reaching Cape Beechy. They left camp
-at ten, and found the traveling very good&mdash;rather improved
-by the late storm. Jewell and Ellis began to
-suffer again, and the latter was carried on the sledge
-several miles, the loads being very light. They soon
-reached the middle of the divide, and then the loads
-left on the shore of Newman Bay, making very fast
-time through the gorge, though the sledges had to be
-let down the snow-slopes and drifts by ropes. After
-stopping some time to take on everything, they proceeded
-slowly and reached the Boat Camp, and soon
-after Cape Sumner, where they stopped to make tidal
-observations, Lockwood and Brainard remarking what
-a particularly dreary and dismal place it was, and wondering
-if they should ever see it again. It brought
-to mind the trials and tribulations of the previous
-spring. Yet, in spite of those trials, the novelty of
-everything, and the imperfect equipment, that expedition
-was a success; and this one, notwithstanding
-their experience and the completeness of their arrangements,
-a failure. &ldquo;Oft expectation fails where
-most it promises.&rdquo; Lockwood felt thankful that they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_246">246</span>
-had escaped from the ice-pack, and from passing the
-forty-eight hours of the recent storm upon it, living
-on the pemmican until finally frozen to death; but
-the sense of defeat was predominant. They passed a
-tedious, cold afternoon, but enjoyed a good dinner,
-having now an abundance of rations of all kinds. It
-warmed them up and put new life in all. Jewell saw,
-during his observations, a white owl flying overhead
-toward the east.</p>
-<p>The morning of the 10th was bright, clear, and
-calm. They noticed a stratum of misty clouds, supposed
-to be water-clouds, hanging along the foot of
-the cliffs on the Grinnell Land shore, and extending
-from above Cape Beechy northward indefinitely. After
-passing through several bands of rubble-ice with great
-labor, and yet without having to double up, they
-found the tracks made on the outward journey, and
-followed them continuously. This saved a great deal
-of time in chopping and picking out a road. About
-noon they suddenly encountered a very cold south
-wind. It seemed to come out of Devil&rsquo;s Gap, Polaris
-Promontory, and as usual carried along a lot of fine
-drifted snow, continuing during the day. Their heavy
-loads made the dogs travel at a slow walk, otherwise,
-no doubt, both Jewell and Ellis must have been left
-behind or carried on the sledges. They went into
-camp on a hard snow-drift.</p>
-<p>After an uncomfortable night, with the mercury
-at 45&deg; below zero, they left camp and followed the old
-trail, as on the previous day, jolting along with little
-difficulty in the rubble-ice, the dogs doing admirably,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_247">247</span>
-bracing themselves to the effort at bad places, like so
-many men.</p>
-<p>They reached Depot B at 2.50 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, and pitched
-the tents, this making the tenth time that Lockwood
-had crossed the straits above Fort Conger.</p>
-<p>The traveling was tedious and slow, but they
-reached Depot A at noon, stopping only half an hour,
-and arrived at Fort Conger in the afternoon. Everything
-there was quiet as the grave. &ldquo;General
-Grant&rdquo; was the only one, man or beast, that knew of
-their approach and came out to meet them. Even
-when they passed the windows and reached the door,
-no one saw or heard them, and Lockwood walked in
-on Lieutenant Greely like a ghost, and simply said:
-&ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m back again; open water at Black Horn
-Cliffs.&rdquo; Some of his further reflections were to this
-effect:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Do I take up my pen to write the humiliating
-word <i>failed</i>? I do, and bitter is the dose, although
-it is now a week since first I tasted it. My return
-here, the inaction after two and a half weeks of activity,
-and the monotony, not to mention the disappointment
-of Lieutenant Greely, make it fresh as
-when first mixed. I tried yesterday and to-day to
-induce Lieutenant Greely to let me go out again, but
-he says this is our last year here, that I still have
-last year&rsquo;s work to fall back on, and, above all, that
-it is not <i>prudent</i>. I have a scheme by which I could
-travel four days beyond the farthest of &rsquo;82, and get
-back here in forty-four days, leaving April 21st and
-returning June 3d&mdash;that is, provided an overland
-<span class="pb" id="Page_248">248</span>
-route around the Black Horn Cliffs can be found, and
-provided the conditions beyond are no worse than last
-year. My proposal was to take the two teams, the two
-Esquimaux and Brainard, five sacks of pemmican,
-one tent, two sleeping-bags, etc., and forty-four days&rsquo;
-rations for the party. The five sacks would last the
-dogs twenty-three days, after which about eight dogs
-of the twenty would be killed one by one, and thus
-the remainder fed on the return. We should have to
-make long marches, it is true. Perhaps the refusal is
-for the best, and I still have the country southwest of
-the head of Archer Fiord to operate in; but I am reluctant
-to give up this scheme for passing 83&deg; 24&prime;.&rdquo;
-Everything at the station was very quiet, and much
-as when they left, except that a party had been sent
-for the boat at Thank-God Harbor.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_249">249</div>
-<h2 id="c15">XV.
-<br /><span class="small">ACROSS GRINNELL LAND.</span></h2>
-<p>While the disappointment which attended the
-late expedition was very great, it did not make Lieutenant
-Lockwood unhappy or morose. He was only
-convinced, perhaps, that when the ice and snow and
-storms, minions of the North Pole, undertake to play
-the game of April fool, they do it very effectually.
-The absence of so many of his companions from the
-station had a depressing effect upon his spirits, but
-as usual he prepared the report of his last journey,
-and duly submitted it to Lieutenant Greely, all the
-while suffering from the severe rheumatic pains
-which invariably followed his exposure to severe cold.
-Many of the men were complaining, and the weather
-outlook was not encouraging, and yet, after consulting
-with Lieutenant Greely, Lockwood fixed his mind
-upon an exploration up and beyond the Archer Fiord.
-His idea was to go west, at least as far as the English
-had gone along the northern shore of Grinnell Land,
-feeling that he could hardly fail of finding something
-of interest, and would perhaps make important discoveries.
-Indeed, he might be able to determine the
-coast-line on the west. As usual, he wanted the company
-of Sergeant Brainard and Esquimaux Frederick,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_250">250</span>
-and would be content with one dog-team and supplies
-for thirty days, with a proper supporting party for
-two days.</p>
-<p>His spirits now became better than they had been,
-caused chiefly, as he confessed, by the glorious sun;
-and yet he could not refrain from thinking of home,
-and again resorting for comfort to his old family letters,
-which he had so frequently read before.</p>
-<p>His late failure had been a disappointment to himself
-as well as to Lieutenant Greely and the men.
-Some of them seemed down in the mouth and gloomy,
-and, by way of cheering them, Lieutenant Greely informed
-them that he intended to leave Fort Conger
-on the 5th of August, or as soon thereafter as the ice
-would permit. The personal relations of Dr. Pavy
-and Lieutenant Kislingbury with Lieutenant Greely
-and himself were not what they should have been,
-and, instead of getting better, these relations seemed
-to grow worse. Could he not have gone abroad on
-these fatiguing journeys to escape such companionship,
-he would have felt utterly desperate. He certainly
-would cheerfully take any risks during the
-summer than longer endure the existing personal
-troubles. Lieutenant Kislingbury&rsquo;s only thought
-seemed to be that a sledge-party should be sent down
-to Littleton Island to have the ship leave her supplies
-at Cape Sabine, therein merely reflecting the
-latest opinion of the doctor.</p>
-<p>The start for the western trip was made on the
-25th of April, 1883, with two sledges, each drawn by
-ten dogs and carrying about one thousand pounds of
-<span class="pb" id="Page_251">251</span>
-rations for thirty days. They moved along the south
-side of the harbor over very soft and deep snow,
-through which the dogs labored, yet made their way
-with full loads. On getting near &ldquo;Sun Land,&rdquo; however,
-the snow became abominable, and the traveling
-was as bad as they had ever experienced. After trying
-for some time to go ahead, but sticking incessantly,
-they turned short off to the left, and after a great
-deal of work reached the shore, Brainard <i>en route</i>
-falling down a crack, and Lockwood feeling convinced
-that his feet were frozen, as all sensation had left
-them.</p>
-<p>Reaching Black Knob Point, where there was a
-tent, they found it blown down. After some delay in
-repitching it, they started overland toward Sun Bay,
-through soft and deep snow, and soon afterward
-reached Stony Cape, where they encamped, all the
-party being very much fatigued.</p>
-<p>Resuming their march, they found the snow not
-particularly deep, but with a light crust, not quite hard
-enough to bear, which made the traveling fatiguing.
-They stopped to rest every hour, the weather being
-really too warm for comfort, so that Lockwood actually
-longed for the cold and hard work he had experienced
-in north Greenland. They reached Keppel&rsquo;s
-Head in three hours, and found that <i>Mr.</i> Keppel
-had a very stony face, and not a handsome head by
-any means, being a lofty promontory and precipitous
-mass of rocks, very grand and imposing. In two
-hours more they reached Hillock Depot, and stopped
-to get some corned beef left there by Lockwood in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_252">252</span>
-June of the preceding year, the English rations left
-there having all been eaten by foxes.</p>
-<p>On reaching Depot Point, they transferred everything
-from the supporting sledge and sent it back to
-the station, afterward getting along with the whole
-load very well. The high, steep cliffs on their right
-threw their shadows almost across the fiord, and kept
-them out of the glare of the sun moving along the
-northern horizon. Fox-tracks constantly appeared.
-These tracks were found everywhere, and yet it was
-but seldom that the animals themselves were seen;
-and in thinking of their habits, Lockwood wondered
-if they laid up in store their surplus food against the
-days of want. A tame fox kept at the station would
-always take what was offered; but, when the ice-wall
-was pulled down, a large supply was found which Mr.
-Reuben had abandoned on regaining his liberty.</p>
-<p>Greatly enjoying the pleasant weather, after finding
-some Esquimaux relics, and making a vain effort
-to surmount a glacier, they finally reached the head
-of Ella Bay, where, after some delay in finding freshwater
-ice, and snow hard and deep enough to pitch
-the tent, they went into camp. Lockwood and Frederick
-then took the team and empty sledge, and proceeded
-up a little water-course a few miles. Found
-less ice and more stones than they expected, but, having
-ascertained that they could advance up the valley
-with some extra labor, returned. Numerous fox,
-ptarmigan, hare, and musk-ox tracks were seen, but
-no game. Brainard became permanent cook, as the
-difficult business of making observations devolved
-<span class="pb" id="Page_253">253</span>
-entirely on Lockwood. The cliffs about here were
-grand, at least three thousand feet high.</p>
-<p>Lockwood was disappointed in getting equal altitudes
-of the sun for longitude (time), the lofty
-cliffs shutting out the orb of light on each side of the
-meridian; and yet he had camped away out, a mile or
-two from the cliffs, in order to avoid this difficulty.
-This was one of the annoyances he had frequently
-experienced. After lying awake for hours, or taking
-his sleep by short cat-naps with one eye open, and
-running out in order to catch the sun at the right
-time, and all this after a tiresome march, it was very
-provoking to have &ldquo;some miserable cliff&rdquo; lift its ugly
-head right in his way. To get the local time <i>well</i>, it
-was necessary to take the sun&rsquo;s altitude some hours
-before noon, and then catch the precise instant of the
-same altitude in the afternoon, the sun being nearly
-on the meridian at a time midway between the times
-of the two observations. This middle time needed
-certain corrections, and then, the watch or chronometer
-being regulated to Greenwich or Washington time,
-the difference of time, or longitude, was known. The
-little streams occupying the valleys (or ca&ntilde;ons, as they
-should be called) of this Arctic country are utterly insignificant
-compared with the depressions themselves.
-A great, ditch-like break in the country, from two
-to five miles wide and ten to thirty miles long, the
-sides of which are vertical walls rising thousands of
-feet, may be the bed of a little brook that in summer-time
-can be readily waded, and at other times of
-the year can hardly be seen under the universal mantle
-<span class="pb" id="Page_254">254</span>
-of snow. It was one of these that they followed
-in its windings. Here and there they would encounter
-very deep snow, and the sledge-runners would
-stick on the beds of stone, requiring all their efforts
-to get under way again. In about an hour they
-came to a long, level area, indicating Lake Katherine,
-which Lockwood had previously discovered and
-named when up near here in the launch, and then
-the view up the valley was unbroken as far as the
-glacier. Its terminal face could be clearly seen, looking
-like a little wall of ice three or four feet high,
-upon which one could readily step. Back of this the
-surface gently ascended until lost in the snow-covered
-mountain-side far beyond. The whole thing
-looked like a mass of barber&rsquo;s lather, flowing slowly
-down a deep ditch. For some hours, Lockwood and
-Brainard both thought there would be no trouble in
-getting sledge and dogs up the <i>little</i> face to the undulating
-and gradually ascending surface beyond.
-After proceeding some distance on the lake, Lockwood
-stopped the sledge, and with Brainard went off
-to the right, ascending a low ridge that ran parallel
-with the lake and between it and the high cliffs on
-the north side of the valley. They found the top
-to be four hundred feet high, and beyond was a wide
-ravine running down to the bay. There they saw the
-tracks of three musk-oxen that had evidently passed
-along on their way toward the fiord; also many tracks
-of foxes, ptarmigan, lemming, and hare. Probably,
-the chief reason for seeing so few animals, though so
-many tracks, was that the birds and animals (excepting
-<span class="pb" id="Page_255">255</span>
-the musk-ox) are all pure white in color for three
-fourths of the year. One might <i>look</i> at a hare or
-ptarmigan a few yards away and yet not <i>see</i> it. The
-lake called Katherine was found to be three or four
-miles long. At its farther end, the ground was quite
-bare of snow in places, and everywhere the snow was
-hard and thin, so that they went along very rapidly.
-Every half-hour, they thought, would bring them to
-the glacier, but the longer they traveled, the farther
-the glacier seemed to move away. When only a short
-walk from the glacier, as Lockwood thought, he stopped
-the sledge, and with Brainard went on ahead.
-The <i>face</i> seemed much higher than they had supposed
-it, but it was only after walking a mile that
-they realized what it was&mdash;a wall of ice, straight up
-and down, stretching a mile across the valley from
-side to side, and nearly two hundred feet high.</p>
-<p>After surveying this wonderful object, they returned
-to the sledge and pitched the tent, seeing no
-way of proceeding farther; and there they remained
-a day or two to get a good look at the surroundings
-before deciding upon the proper course to pursue. A
-decided fall in the temperature was quite noticeable,
-due, doubtless, to the proximity of the glacier. They
-got to sleep after a while, and during the day took a
-good rest, getting up in the afternoon. The twain
-went again to reconnoitre, leaving Frederick to hunt,
-or amuse himself in any other way he chose. They
-went to the glacier-wall again, and followed along its
-foot to the south side of the valley. This wall was
-beautiful and imposing. From the top, one third
-<span class="pb" id="Page_256">256</span>
-of the way downward, the ice was of a charming
-green color, and looked like glass; below this came a
-white surface, in which small stones were numerous
-imbedded in the ice, with here and there streaks of a
-brownish color, like chocolate ice-cream mixed with
-vanilla. A close approach showed that it was earth.
-At the foot of the wall, probably concealing a &ldquo;terminal
-moraine,&rdquo; was an undulating bank of snow, and
-over the upper edge of the wall hung wreaths of
-drifted snow that looked like the icing of cake. The
-ground for some distance out was strewed with blocks
-of ice and stone of all imaginable shapes and sizes.
-On reaching the corner of the glacier, a similar wall
-was seen extending up along its flank, abutting against
-an inclined plain of immense bowlders and masses of
-rock, the <i>d&eacute;bris</i> from the cliffs above. The angle
-thus formed was full of large blocks of ice, many
-recently detached from the wall of ice. Traveling
-along the flank proved so difficult that they took to
-the incline and scrambled for some time over immense
-masses of rock and snow, often across deep cracks
-and openings concealed by the snow covering them.
-After gaining an altitude of several hundred feet, they
-reached something like a terrace formation, from
-which they overlooked all the lower part of the glacier.
-It presented an undulating and gradually rising
-surface, extending up the valley fifteen or twenty
-miles, or more. Just opposite to them, a branch
-glacier came in from the north through a gap in the
-mighty cliffs. The slope of this branch in places
-was very precipitous, showing great rents and fissures.
-<span class="pb" id="Page_257">257</span>
-The surface of the glacier was free from
-snow, except, here and there, in what seemed little
-depressions in the ice. There was no way of climbing
-upon the glacier, much less of getting the sledge
-and dogs up. It would simply have been ascending
-a precipice of ice two hundred feet high. To get upon
-it had been their original intention, although Frederick
-went through a pantomime at the time, which
-they did not exactly understand, expressing how a
-sledge would go faster and faster, and finally shoot
-over the edge like a waterfall. Whether he ever had
-had such an experience in Greenland he did not say,
-but he would never have had it more than once. Seeing
-no way of getting on or along the glacier, except
-with the greatest labor, Lockwood proposed to Brainard
-that they should ascend the cliffs and get an outlook
-from the top. It did not seem very far to the
-crest, and accordingly they started, but a more severe
-climb they had never had, and hoped never to have
-again. It was a very steep incline of rocks and snow
-all the way up. When the barometer showed an elevation
-of twenty-five hundred feet, Lockwood found
-himself on a ledge of rocks from which he could get
-neither up nor down for some time. Beneath him
-was a steep surface of frozen snow, falling on which
-he would have gone down-hill like an avalanche.
-Brainard had inclined more to the left, and, by following
-the side of a steep gully full of ice, had got
-ahead of him and out of sight.</p>
-<p>Finally, Lockwood reached what had long seemed
-the summit, and stopped to rest. Presently Brainard
-<span class="pb" id="Page_258">258</span>
-came in sight, and said the top was about a mile off.
-They then started together, walked over a gradually
-ascending surface like the top of a vast dome, covered
-with hard frozen snow and ice, and very smooth and
-slippery, giving them frequent falls, and at 4 <span class="small">A. M.</span>
-reached the summit and viewed the country around for
-many miles. Being cold, they did not stay long&mdash;only
-long enough to take bearings by compass of several
-distant mountains to the south, snow and ice-clad
-peaks with many glaciers between. To the west the
-country was less broken, and seemingly was a lofty
-surface of snow and ice. They traced the glacier near
-their camp about twenty miles toward the west-south-west,
-when it, and the valley containing it, came to
-an end in a high mountain-ridge. This wonderful
-feature of nature possessed great interest for Lockwood.
-The face of the barometer gave an elevation
-of the mountain or cliff on which they stood of 5,050
-feet above the sea-level. As their tent was only three
-hundred feet above tide-water, their climb had not
-been a small one. They descended the mountain
-readily, although they had to use hands as well as
-feet all the way down, in some places carrying with
-them a land-slide of earth and stones.</p>
-<p>They were constantly deceived as to distances and
-heights. A headland on the fiord looked but a half-hour&rsquo;s
-travel away, yet it took two or three hours to
-reach it. So these cliffs, which looked from below
-like an easy climb, proved the highest and steepest in
-that benighted region. They got back to the tent
-after thirteen hours of as hard work as they had yet
-<span class="pb" id="Page_259">259</span>
-experienced, and completely tired out. They took
-meridian observation for latitude, and then enjoyed
-a hearty meal of ptarmigan killed by Frederick during
-their absence.</p>
-<p>On the 2d of May, they left their beds and had
-breakfast at about midnight. Found it snowing and
-unpleasant. Saw little else to do than retrace their
-steps to Ella Bay, and thence proceed around to Beatrix
-Bay and try to get inland from that place; spent
-the day, however, in further reconnoitring, as Lockwood
-did not wish to leave before night. Brainard
-went over to the northeast corner of the glacier, but
-found no way of proceeding in that direction, and,
-after carefully studying the surroundings, Lockwood
-could see no means of getting on even with packs.
-Spent most of the day in taking observations, etc.
-Occasionally they heard a noise like thunder, caused
-by the falling in of sections of the great wall before
-them, more formidable than any to be seen in China.
-The ground at the foot of the wall was only the bed
-of a stream with blocks of ice, and here and there
-a big bowlder. Everything being packed up and
-ready, they started down the stream again, examining
-several deep breaks in the cliffs to see if there
-was any prospect of <i>flanking</i> the glacier by means of
-one of them, but without success. There was no way
-of getting up even a short distance, except by leaving
-dogs and sledge behind and taking to the knapsacks,
-which was not then to be thought of.</p>
-<p>They got along without event and reached their
-old camp after midnight, pitching the tent farther
-<span class="pb" id="Page_260">260</span>
-toward the north side, in order to see the sun when
-ready to take observations. Shortly after getting in,
-Frederick laid his whip down for an instant, and the
-promising dog Barker gobbled up all except about six
-inches of the butt-end in much less time than it takes
-to mention the fact. The praises of Barker had been
-sung ever since his birth, and this was only one of
-many of the tricks by which he proved his proficiency.
-Frederick quickly made a new lash, however, and
-<i>gave it</i> to Barker on the next march.</p>
-<p>On the 3d of May, as they pushed their way onward,
-they took a series of angles and paced distances
-to get at the height of the tremendous cliffs near at
-hand. The result gave an altitude of forty-one hundred
-feet, which was almost vertical, the <i>d&eacute;bris</i> extending
-a third of the way up, and not being quite so
-steep. They then followed the north shore to Record
-Point, and thence took a straight course for the head
-of Beatrix Bay. The cliffs were so grand that Lockwood
-never tired of gazing at them, wondering how
-they were first formed, and thinking what tremendous
-force of nature had scooped out the awful chasm
-that comprised the fiord. These walls, high as they
-were, were only one half or one third of the height of
-the great snow-covered elevations back of and beyond
-them.</p>
-<p>The appreciation of the grand in this region was
-frequently marred by fatigue and hunger, and so it
-was on the present occasion, Lockwood being glad
-enough when, at half-past one, they reached the head
-of Beatrix Bay. In the valley which they now entered,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_261">261</span>
-they concluded to spend another day. This
-one, like nearly all the valleys in this region, was
-simply a ca&ntilde;on, a narrow, ditch-like formation, walled
-in by steep, high cliffs. It was occupied as usual by a
-very insignificant stream, the successor of some mighty
-mass of water or ice which had originally hollowed
-out the great gorge. This, and the head of Ella Bay,
-were the farthest reached by Lieutenant Archer, R.
-N., who explored the fiord named for him to find out
-whether it was simply a <i>fiord</i>, or a strait or channel,
-as the Polaris people had asserted it to be. His Mount
-Neville, thirty-eight hundred feet high, Lockwood
-looked for in vain as a regular head to the valley, and
-finally fixed it as one of the cliffs which, a little way
-back, rose slightly higher, to a dome. Archer was
-a day making the ascent. Lockwood and Brainard
-walked about four miles up the valley, and saw its termination
-nearly six miles beyond, when they retraced
-their course to camp, greatly disappointed in seeing no
-game, except two or three ptarmigans. The valley
-seemed practicable for the sledge, and so, after considering
-one or two narrow and rocky gorges which came
-in from the west, they determined to follow it to its
-head (north-northwest), and then seek farther a route
-in the direction desired, which was west or southwest.
-As they proceeded, the weather became bright and
-clear, and the mercury was only 2&deg; below zero. They
-passed up the valley, leaving in <i>cache</i> for return two
-days&rsquo; rations. The dogs were in excellent condition,
-and, in spite of stones, went along very well. There
-was some ice in the stream-bed, and of snow quite an
-<span class="pb" id="Page_262">262</span>
-abundance. Above the farthest reached the day before,
-a small lake was discovered&mdash;a level expanse of
-snow with ice beneath. The lower part of the valley
-had two distinct elevations, the stream-bed, a very
-easy grade, forming one, while along the stream extended
-broken terraces, termed shoulders, which from
-the cliffs projected out on either side, sometimes beyond
-the middle of the valley, which was from one to
-three miles wide. The breadth decreased as they ascended,
-and after several miles it was but a few hundred
-yards wide. At this point, they suddenly came to
-a place where the valley seemed to run out, the whole
-breadth being a mass of rocks. Good traveling was
-seen beyond, however, and, after working an hour
-doubling up (taking half-load at a time), they got
-over, and shortly afterward the real end of the valley
-was reached. They then turned short off to the north,
-and, going up a steep, rocky ravine, about midnight
-pitched the tent for further survey of the scene on
-the morrow.</p>
-<p>From this camp a low-looking &ldquo;hog-back&rdquo; was
-seen to close in the head of the valley. They determined
-to ascend this and get a look at the country, it
-seeming certain that the <i>big</i> sledge could go no farther.
-After making some coffee as strong as it could
-be made, and drinking about a quart each, to bolster
-up their spirits, the twain again started out, leaving
-Frederick to crawl into his sleeping-bag or keep warm
-as best he might. They proceeded north up a rocky
-ravine about a mile, and then came to a level plain
-stretching northward, some half a dozen miles farther,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_263">263</span>
-to a line of cliffs running across which seemed
-to indicate another valley or lake. To the right were
-two or three high, dome-shaped elevations, and to the
-left was Mount Easy, so called, afterward, on account
-of the ease with which they ascended it, and in
-contradistinction to Mount Difficult, the last they
-had ascended. They soon came to a pretty little
-lake&mdash;Lake Carolyn&mdash;only a few miles long. This
-they crossed, and, in places where the snow had been
-blown off, they could see down through the beautiful
-transparent ice, seven feet in thickness, even to
-the stones on the bottom of the lake near the shore.
-This lake had an elevation of eleven hundred feet
-above the sea. In three hours from camp, they
-reached the top of the mountain, an elevation of
-2,720 feet, and had a good view. To the south the
-country was very high, and several glacier-walls came
-into view, probably connections of the glacier above
-Ella Bay. The Henrietta Nesmith glacier, the Garfield
-range, and the United States Mountains, were
-plainly seen, and also the depression in which lay
-Lake Hazen. Snow and ice in every direction. The
-cliffs to the north of the camp were very conspicuous,
-but whether along a valley or lake they could not
-make out. They stayed on top two hours, and then
-descended the south side of the mountain through
-a deep ravine filled in places with snow-drifts, and
-lower down with stones and bowlders. However,
-they went down very rapidly, and got to camp in two
-hours. The cliffs to the north seeming to extend to
-the west, Lockwood decided to visit them and take
-<span class="pb" id="Page_264">264</span>
-that route. The only other feasible route was by way
-of the ravine they had descended from the mountain-top.</p>
-<p>Shortly after midnight of the 7th, Frederick had
-the dogs and little sledge ready, and, with nothing
-upon it but the shot-gun, hatchet, and telescope, they
-all started. The dogs were irrepressible, and took
-the little sledge over the rocks in a way calculated to
-cripple all hands, for they had to run alongside and
-hold on to the upstanders to keep up. Occasionally
-a runner of the sledge would catch under a bowlder
-and bring the sledge to a sudden stand-still, the immense
-strain of the strong dogs threatening to break
-it. On reaching the lake, all three of the men managed
-to crowd upon the sledge, and the dogs went
-at a rapid trot over its smooth, level surface. Beyond
-Lake Carolyn was a ravine leading toward the
-river, and there the dogs took to a gallop, and in an
-hour they reached a rocky height overlooking a long,
-wide valley walled in on the north side by high, precipitous
-cliffs, and on the south by heights of even
-greater elevation, but not so steep. There seemed no
-way, however, to get down. The water-course from
-the lake here became a narrow gorge blocked with
-large bowlders, the spaces between which were full of
-soft snow. It was not inviting, but they tried it, and
-in an hour reached the river-bed, the descent being
-most laborious. Here they found themselves only
-four hundred feet above the sea-level, and, turning
-to the right, went down-stream in a northeastern direction,
-the barometer constantly showing that they
-<span class="pb" id="Page_265">265</span>
-were going <i>down</i>-stream. <i>En route</i> they passed over
-several small lakes formed by expansions of the
-stream. In many places the ice was very thick and
-beautifully transparent. Seven miles from Rocky
-Gorge, where they entered the river, they suddenly
-saw four musk-oxen. Frederick being very anxious
-for slaughter was allowed to go after them, while
-Brainard remained to watch the sledge and dogs, and
-Lockwood went off to the right to take some compass-bearings.
-After a while he heard a shot from
-Frederick, and saw one of the animals fall. The others
-did not seem at all frightened, but stood by their
-dead comrade until Frederick <i>drove</i> them away by
-throwing stones at them. The dogs became greatly
-excited, and, going to where the dead game lay&mdash;a
-second ox having been killed&mdash;they gorged themselves
-with the entrails until there was danger of ruining
-their own.</p>
-<p>Having returned to the camp, Lockwood now projected
-a special trip westward of twelve days, and prepared
-his outfit as follows: Shelter-tent, sleeping-bags,
-axe, sextant, etc., telescope, shot-gun and ammunition,
-medicine, cook&rsquo;s bag, rubber blankets, small lamp,
-knapsacks, snow-shoes, rations for three at forty-five
-ounces each per day, and one sack of pemmican for
-dogs; total, 328&frac14; pounds. The <i>large</i> tent was left
-standing with the big sledge alongside and the American
-flag flying from the upstander. They got off at
-an early hour on the 8th with the dogs in excellent
-condition. Much work was required to get over the
-rocks, but after that they proceeded satisfactorily until
-<span class="pb" id="Page_266">266</span>
-near the valley. This was found to be quite wide for
-a region where everything of the kind was more like a
-ca&ntilde;on than a valley in the ordinary sense. Its width
-was two or three miles, or perhaps in some places four,
-and the general gradients of the stream-bed (Dodge
-River) were very slight, perhaps thirty feet to the
-mile. Narrow, deep cuts in the cliffs and high ground
-around indicated tributary streams.</p>
-<p>Frederick having shot a hare, and gathered up the
-other food, they proceeded on their way, traveling
-now over thick, clear ice and hard snow, with now and
-then patches of stones. The valley seemed to come
-to an end some fifteen miles up-stream, a range of high
-hills running directly across it.</p>
-<p>After various tribulations in exploring a side gorge,
-at midnight on the 10th of May the party resumed
-travel up the valley. The condition of the sledge-runners
-rendered it necessary to reduce the weight to
-the least amount possible. This doubtless pleased
-the dogs, for the driver had to restrain their ardor.
-Leaving the sledge to pursue its way along the base
-of the hills, Lockwood ascended a considerable elevation
-and obtained a good outlook over the country.
-He was very agreeably surprised to find at the farther
-end of a gap up stream an apparent prolongation of
-the valley in the same general direction. On either
-side of this prolongation was a range of low heights,
-while the intermediate surface looked very level&mdash;so
-level that he took it for a long lake. To the left,
-just outside the heights on that side of the valley, he
-could see at intervals a glacier-wall, the north boundary
-<span class="pb" id="Page_267">267</span>
-of a great <i>mer de glace</i>. About twenty miles distant,
-the valley seemed again to be shut in by a range
-of hills, but over the tops of them, and at a great
-elevation on the distant horizon, he saw what seemed
-to be a snow-bank. This he made his objective point.
-Passing onward through the gap, they came to a long
-and picturesque lake which was named Lake Nan after
-an interesting niece; and coming to a place near
-the end of the valley, a break in the low heights to
-the left revealed the glacier they had before seen. Its
-surface was very distinct. Extending to the south
-a few miles, it soon reached an elevation that formed
-the horizon in that direction. It seemed a vast undulating
-surface, and, as was afterward discovered, is
-the backbone of Grinnell Land. The wall of the glacier
-near which they camped presented a vertical face
-of solid ice 140 feet high. At intervals they heard
-the sound of falling ice&mdash;small fragments which became
-detached and dropped to the base. The altitude
-of this camp above the sea-level was found to
-be 1,240 feet, and of Lake Nan 920 feet; that of their
-last camp was 685 feet, and of the first camp in the
-valley, 420 feet.</p>
-<p>Passing onward, they crossed several small lakes
-close along the wall, with brooks emptying into them
-from the north. In a few hours they were on the
-divide, the surface to the north having more slope
-than that on the other side. The summit gave an
-elevation by barometer of 2,610 feet, about 400 feet
-higher than where they left the wall. They had an
-extensive view to the east, and could see Dodge River
-<span class="pb" id="Page_268">268</span>
-as far as they had explored it, also Mount Easy and
-the country adjacent. To the southeast, south, and
-southwest, was seen the glacier, which was named
-after Agassiz. It formed the horizon for half a dozen
-miles in these directions. All the ice-capped country
-and glaciers seen from the former camps were
-found to be connected with, and to form a part of
-this one glacier. Toward the north, the country had
-comparatively little snow. Presently they came in
-view of a mountain-peak toward the northwest, not
-many miles distant, which was recognized as Mount
-Arthur, the farthest point reached by Lieutenant
-Greely during the previous year. Away beyond it
-were seen very distinctly the United States and Garfield
-Mountains. Just to the west of Mount Arthur,
-they discovered a large lake, which Lockwood named
-Lake Fletcher. They were now on a surface rapidly
-sloping to the west. Some miles distant in this direction
-appeared a broken range of cliffs and mountains,
-and between their stand-point and these mountains
-was a wide valley, connected by a stream with Lake
-Fletcher, and a small lake, close to the Chinese Wall,
-which they called Lake Harry, the latter having an
-elevation of 1,320 feet. They crossed Lake Harry, and
-beyond it came to another called Lake Bessie, having
-an elevation of 1,630 feet, and covered with deep snow.</p>
-<p>Reaching the cliffs to the west, they found the descent
-exceedingly precipitous and rugged. No other
-passage offered than that through a gorge which was
-filled with ice and hard snow, whose surface was almost
-perpendicular. As this was the only passage,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_269">269</span>
-they went into camp to devise ways and means. Next
-morning, Lockwood attached all the ropes he had, including
-dog-traces, to the sledge, and while he rode
-to guide caused the others to ease down the sledge.
-Unfortunately, the rope was too short, and those at
-the top let go. Gravity carried the sledge and rider
-down the foot of the slope, now somewhat reduced,
-with fearful rapidity, till they brought up against
-rocks covered with snow, fortunately without serious
-damage. The other men and dogs got down as best
-they could, the former digging footholds as they progressed.</p>
-<p>Further descending the ca&ntilde;on, they came to another
-glacier stretching entirely across their way, and,
-as it seemed impossible to surmount it or the walls
-on either side, they came to a halt and enjoyed a
-night of rest. The next day they pushed on, though
-troubled with snow-blindness, and, overcoming the
-obstacle of the previous day, crossed a lake and encamped
-on its farther end. On the following day,
-after passing through a gorge, the outlet of the lake,
-between high cliffs, they were surprised to see a number
-of floebergs similar in every respect to the floebergs
-of the east Grinnell coast. At the same time
-they found the water to be <i>salt</i>, and saw the fresh
-tracks of a bear. These facts convinced Lockwood
-that they were near the western sea, probably at the
-head of a fiord. This soon became still more apparent.
-Here they also saw another glacier coming
-in some miles west of the last. They crossed a
-crack of open water, formed by the tide, and found
-<span class="pb" id="Page_270">270</span>
-themselves on well-recognized floe-ice, quite level but
-covered in places with deep snow. Ahead of them,
-twenty miles distant, on the opposite side of the fiord,
-was a bold headland, and toward this they now directed
-their course. This fiord, which Lockwood named
-after Lieutenant Greely, separated at its head into
-two bays. These he called, after Greely&rsquo;s daughters,
-Adola and Antoinette. The latter bay they were now
-crossing, while they bore away to the north. It had
-become very foggy, and was snowing and blowing
-hard. When some miles out they crossed other bear-tracks,
-and finally reached the cape for which they had
-been striving. Here the south shore of the fiord bent
-off toward the west-southwest being very wide and
-walled in on all sides by steep cliffs broken in a few
-places by branch fiords or bays. They encamped at
-the cape on the 13th, had supper, and soon turned in
-to sleep and fast as long as possible, or until the storm
-abated, as the party was now reduced to what they
-called a starvation allowance. There was nothing to
-do but to make observations when the sun appeared.</p>
-<p>The mouth of the fiord at the north side was
-found to be about forty miles off, but the snow was
-deep and soft, and they could not attempt it without
-rations, all of which was extremely provoking. The
-sun became dimly visible through a snow-storm, looking
-like a grease-spot in the sky; but, notwithstanding,
-observations were attempted for latitude and longitude,
-and many compass-bearings were taken. At
-times everything was shut out of sight excepting the
-nearest cliff. Brainard feared they would have a
-<span class="pb" id="Page_271">271</span>
-very hard time in getting back, and Frederick evidently
-thought he was a long distance from Fort Conger,
-seeming rather &ldquo;down in the mouth.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Soon after breakfast on the 15th, Lockwood and
-Brainard started to ascend the cliffs near by, the
-weather having partially cleared. They did so by
-means of a ravine opposite the camp, and had hardly
-reached the top before the snow began to fall again,
-and the wind to blow from the east; but, notwithstanding,
-they saw a large glacier to the south twenty
-or thirty miles away, and another to the northwest
-at about the same distance. The first was apparently
-an offshoot of the great &ldquo;Chinese Wall&rdquo; already mentioned.
-They saw also a lofty range of mountains
-far to the north, running generally parallel with the
-fiord. The cliffs to the west shut out the mouth of
-the fiord, and, before they could get far enough in that
-direction to see over them, the coming storm obscured
-almost everything. These cliffs were 2,140 feet high
-by the barometer, and almost vertical. The driving
-snow now became very uncomfortable, and, after going
-three miles westward, they concluded to return. <i>En
-route</i>, they found a number of fossils of what seemed
-to be trees, snakes, or fishes, Brainard being the first
-to notice them. They also saw a ptarmigan, an owl,
-and some snow-buntings, these being the only living
-objects observed. Reached the tent after six hours&rsquo;
-absence, and found Frederick tramping around in the
-snow, not knowing what to do with himself. After
-supper, all three of the party with the sledge and
-dogs went an hour&rsquo;s journey toward the opposite shore
-<span class="pb" id="Page_272">272</span>
-of the fiord, ten miles away. The sky was partially
-clear, and they got a very good view down the fiord,
-the telescope bringing into view another cape (Cape
-Lockwood). Between that and the cape on the north
-side (Cape Brainard), they failed to see any land,
-though they examined long and carefully with the
-telescope. The fiord between those two capes was
-very wide. Several branch fiords, or what appeared
-to be such, were noticed. Cape Lockwood seemed to
-be on the farther side of one of these, or on an island.
-The country on both sides of the fiord was very elevated,
-that on the north side much broken, and that
-on the south, away from the fiord, apparently an ice-clad
-surface rising into immense, dome-like undulations
-against the horizon.</p>
-<p>After a meager breakfast, they started on their
-return, finding the snow very deep and soft. The
-effect of short rations on the dogs was noticed. They
-saw two seals lying on the ice, which Frederick tried
-hard to shoot, but in vain. Lockwood was especially
-anxious to get a seal, for it looked as if they would
-have to kill one dog to save the remainder. After
-much trouble for want of food, they resumed their
-journey on the 17th, verifying at various points the
-observations that had been previously made in regard
-to the great ice-wall and the lake over which they
-had already passed.</p>
-<p>On reaching the end of the lake, they began the
-ascent of the ravine. The snow at the head of the
-ravine was very soft and deep, and they had hard
-work to get through it. Arriving at the big snow-drift
-<span class="pb" id="Page_273">273</span>
-which they had descended with so much difficulty and
-danger, it became a question how to ascend, but they
-managed it by first cutting some steps and getting
-the dogs up, and then, attaching them by long lines
-to the sledge below, men and dogs together pulled
-the load up the almost vertical face. The party
-went into camp at the old place, and decided to kill
-one of the dogs, yet very reluctantly, Frederick opposing
-it. Brainard had suggested White Kooney,
-but Frederick named Button, a young dog. Button
-had eaten up his harness that morning, and this decided
-his fate. He was shot by Frederick, and soon
-the carcass was skinned and presented to his brethren.
-Old Howler at once seized a hind-quarter, but the
-others did nothing more than smell the meat. They
-walked around it in a reflective mood, debating
-whether to yield to their hunger or to their repugnance.
-When the party awoke next morning, nothing
-remained of poor Button but some of the larger
-bones.</p>
-<p>On the 18th, Lockwood and Brainard ascended a
-neighboring mountain and got a look at the country.
-The ascent was easy and they gained the top in a
-short time; altitude, 2,008 feet. From this point
-they could see the &ldquo;Chinese Wall&rdquo; stretching off to
-the southwest forty miles, over hills and dales, as far
-as the glacier south of Fossil Mountain, although
-Lockwood could not recognize that particular glacier.
-The glaciers at the two ends of the lake, near Greely
-Fiord, were readily seen to be offshoots of the greater
-one, whose surface toward the south could be seen for
-<span class="pb" id="Page_274">274</span>
-several miles. In that direction, Lockwood took the
-bearings of several ice-capped mountains, one, as he
-thought, identical with a very high mountain seen to
-the south from Antoinette Bay. The &ldquo;Chinese
-Wall&rdquo; had the same general aspect everywhere&mdash;a
-vertical face of pure white or green ice upward of
-two hundred feet high, and extending across the
-country in a fashion he could liken to nothing else.</p>
-<p>From here Lockwood made a short excursion by
-himself to Lake Harry, discovered a number of other
-small lakes, and obtained the altitude of several localities.
-He returned to camp only to find the dogs in a
-bad way for food, and a scarcity for himself and men.
-Resuming their course the next morning, after the
-dog Howler had performed the remarkable feat of
-stealing a piece of meat when it was cooking on the
-alcohol-stove, they passed many of the localities they
-had seen before, but in some cases hardly recognized
-them on account of the flying snow. Making two
-marches in twenty-four hours, they reached their first
-camp, and found the tent blown down, but the big
-sledge in its position, with the American flag flying
-over it as gayly as if in a pleasant and genial clime.
-The dogs were gratified with a good feast of pemmican,
-and the men themselves found it delightful, once
-more to have a full supply of food.</p>
-<p>Their next move was for Archer Fiord, by way
-of Beatrix Bay and Record Point. They crossed
-another lake, where, as once before, they could see
-the bottom through ice that was seven feet in thickness,
-having revisited the north side of Musk-ox
-<span class="pb" id="Page_275">275</span>
-Valley, which was separated from the lake by a very
-low and narrow divide. Dodge River was seen bending
-off to the northeast toward Howgate Fiord. The
-surroundings were very picturesque, but barren and
-desolate in the extreme. They saw no signs of game,
-and even the poor, stunted vegetation of the region
-was wanting. Rocks and snow, with stretches of bare
-ground, composed the prospect.</p>
-<p>The lake alluded to above was about twelve miles
-long&mdash;a considerable sheet of water&mdash;and, no doubt,
-in summer would be an interesting place to visit, as
-places go in the Arctic regions.</p>
-<p>After camping they proceeded along to the east of
-Murray Island, the weather cloudy and calm. Depot
-Point was revisited, to look for the English rations,
-but nothing found.</p>
-<p>Having killed a seal, they took the meat and blubber
-along, and camped about ten miles from Bulley&rsquo;s
-Lump, where they had a good feast of meat and liver.
-The latter was greatly relished, Brainard making it
-into many dishes.</p>
-<p>On the 24th, they enjoyed their breakfast at midnight,
-Lockwood calling it a real <i>midnight mass</i>, as it
-was a black mass of seal-liver, English meat, corned
-beef, potatoes, and hard bread, all cooked together in
-one stew which was very good, notwithstanding its
-miscellaneous character.</p>
-<p>The comments of Lockwood, in regard to the expedition,
-and how matters were at the station, were as
-follow:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No such word as &lsquo;failed&rsquo; to write this time, I
-<span class="pb" id="Page_276">276</span>
-am thankful to say, but the happy reflection is mine
-that I accomplished more than any one expected, and
-more than I myself dared hope&mdash;the discovery of
-the western sea, and hence the western coast-line of
-Grinnell Land. I have now the rather ponderous
-task of preparing a report, making a map, and writing
-out this journal from my notes. Tidal observations
-have been taken at Capes Baird, Distant, and
-Beechy, simultaneously, showing that the tides arrive
-at these places in the order named. This is very
-singular, as the previous expeditions into these parts
-established (?) the tides as coming from the north.
-This agrees, however, with the order of their arrival
-at Cape Sumner, Gap Valley, and Black Horn Cliffs,
-where I took observations in April. No more musk-ox
-meat left; it ran out on the 20th inst., and hunting-parties
-sent out April 25th saw nothing. I surmised
-as much, from the absence of game on my trip,
-though Brainard did not agree with me. Two seals
-have been shot, but only one secured.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I find the social relations of our room not improved&mdash;rather
-worse than better. Dr. P., though
-he shook hands and asked me several questions as
-to my trip, relapsed into silence, which he seldom
-breaks. Lieutenant K. had but one question to ask.
-I often contrast ours with the pleasant relations of the
-English officers when here, and think how much happier
-we should be in following their example. As it
-is, I soon relapse into <i>ennui</i> and apathy. A sledge-journey,
-with all its trials, is preferable to this. I view
-those ahead of us with indifference, as it will rid me
-<span class="pb" id="Page_277">277</span>
-of this forced association. Another winter would
-render me a maniac, or put me under a cairn.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The spirits of the men seem good. The sun has
-revived them. Merry groups may be seen at any
-time on the sunny sides of the house.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;How often do I think of home, which now seems
-to me like a series of pictures or objects long since
-seen! how often of my dear father, whom may a kind
-Providence spare for many, many years!</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Both Brainard and I lost a score of pounds
-weight on our late trip; but we are rapidly regaining
-our avoirdupois. My appetite is frightful, and
-nothing comes amiss. I want to eat every three or
-four hours. Fortunately, we have a supply of musk-ox
-beef on hand, having killed three recently aggregating
-four hundred pounds, to which are added many
-water and other fowl daily brought in. There was
-felt at one time some apprehension that our resource
-in this respect had disappeared, and fears were entertained
-of scurvy. The men seem to have fared so
-well that their appetites have become dainty. One
-would suppose that pork and beans were not staples at
-our army posts.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Israel makes my <i>farthest</i> of the last trip, latitude
-80&deg; 47&#180;, longitude 88&deg; 29&#180;. Hence my explorations extend
-over 2&frac12;&deg; of latitude and 38&deg; of longitude. Have
-plotted my western journey, and find that my farthest
-carries me far off the English map. I took latitude
-and longitude observations at every camp, and also
-frequent compass-bearings; to reconcile all these is
-a task.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_278">278</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Rice has taken a photograph of my corner, where
-I do all my work and also sleep.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Have been reading the authorities on glaciers,
-and regret I did not inform myself better before going
-out. But perhaps that Chinese Wall will make up
-for my short-comings.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Those rheumatic pains I had a year ago have returned
-and trouble me much. I must be moving
-again soon.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Several of the dogs, becoming mangy, have been
-shot. Poor old &lsquo;Howler,&rsquo; whom we left on the ice-floe,
-hoping he would recover and follow us, was
-found dead near the same place. Oh! the hours of
-misery I have spent in sleeping-bags, kept awake by
-that howling brute&mdash;howling, perhaps, just because
-another dog looked at him! But, for all his howlings
-and stealings, the ex-king was a good worker and did his
-duty, and that should be all required of any one, man
-or dog. May he rest in peace in the happy hunting-grounds
-of the canine race! Frederick, I presume,
-will put on crape for him.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_279">279</div>
-<h2 id="c16">XVI.
-<br /><span class="small">PREPARING FOR HOME.</span></h2>
-<p>Hardly had Lieutenant Lockwood reoccupied
-his <i>corner</i> long enough to get thoroughly rested and
-warm, before we find him hard at work again and
-ready for any emergency. At the request of Lieutenant
-Greely, he undertook a task in which he himself
-feared that he manifested more zeal than discretion.
-Dr. Pavy, the natural history custodian of the expedition,
-having failed to render reports of the collections,
-or properly care for them, was relieved soon after
-Lockwood&rsquo;s return from the west, and the department
-was transferred to Lockwood. With very little aid
-from the doctor, he made lists and secured the specimens
-from further injury, the men having shown
-much industry and zeal in adding to the collection.
-In the mean time, Fredericks, who was a saddler by
-trade, rendered good service by making for Lockwood
-and the men seal-skin boots, which were of great use;
-and he also made himself useful by overhauling the
-sleeping-bags and making new ones for the contemplated
-boat-voyage to Littleton Island at a later day.
-Snyder had also made some wearing gear for use on
-board the relief-ship.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What a change for us all,&rdquo; wrote Lockwood on
-<span class="pb" id="Page_280">280</span>
-the 3d of June, &ldquo;if we ever return home! And how
-much to talk about, and how much to hear! Just
-two years ago, I left Baltimore on the Nova Scotia, to
-join the Proteus at St. John&rsquo;s. Open water is reported
-in the straits near Cape Baird. How eagerly
-we watch for any change that may effect our release!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 22d of June, a party was sent up the
-Bellows for game and returned successful, having
-killed eight musk-oxen, one seal, and a few geese, all
-of which were duly brought in. Many waterfowl and
-ptarmigans were brought from other points; and then
-followed a grand dinner in honor of Dr. Pavy&rsquo;s birthday.
-To show the social relations of the officers, Lockwood
-says, &ldquo;The only remark at dinner was a very
-sage one by myself, viz., that the sun was now on his
-way south, to which Lieutenant Greely assented.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The men all busy and all cheerful. Lieutenant
-Greely remarked that it did not look as if the &lsquo;gloom
-which their coming fate cast over the spirits of the
-men&rsquo; was quite as deep as Lieutenant Kislingbury
-thought it to be. Another day gone,&rdquo; wrote Lockwood&mdash;&ldquo;another
-day nearer the end of our stay here!
-A miserable, gloomy day it is too. Snow, or snow
-mixed with rain, all day, and last night it blew a gale
-from the right direction to clear away the ice&mdash;north-east.
-I think myself now in excellent condition for a
-hermit&rsquo;s life, having had two years&rsquo; experience of a
-life not very dissimilar.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 3d of June, Lockwood made the ascent of
-an immense &ldquo;hog-back&rdquo; north of the station. Hog-back
-was the term used by the English to designate
-<span class="pb" id="Page_281">281</span>
-the oval-shaped elevations so common in this region,
-being neither mountain nor table-land, but immense
-undulations which, with more or less slope, rise three,
-four, or even five thousand feet above the sea-level.
-He was the first to ascend this one, and did so to view
-the country northwest of it, which he desired to explore.
-It was the highest of a series of ridges, half
-a mile or so apart, each just high enough to suggest
-the idea of its being the genuine top, but showing
-another beyond still higher. He pressed on, frequently
-resting, and finally <i>did</i> reach the top, and
-saw, beyond, the United States Mountains in the distance.
-The view from this elevation, more than half
-a mile above the sea-level, was superb. The straits
-seemed one solid mass of ice. The Greenland shore
-and Archer&rsquo;s Fiord were in full view. The whole
-land was made up of mountains.</p>
-<p>The 4th of July was celebrated by a game of baseball,
-in which Lieutenant Greely took part; also the
-Esquimaux, but they confined themselves to running
-after the ball. A good dinner followed, to which
-Lieutenant Greely contributed four bottles of Sauterne;
-but the doctor declined the wine, and made a
-hasty meal. They also had a rifle-match. Several
-of the men donned white shirts and other &ldquo;store-clothes,&rdquo;
-metamorphosing themselves completely, flannel
-shirts, with trousers in boots, being the usual costume.</p>
-<p>On the same day Lieutenant Greely issued an
-order directing Dr. Pavy to turn over to Lieutenant
-Lockwood all the medical stores, journals, and collections,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_282">282</span>
-the former having declined to renew his engagement,
-which had expired. On the 11th of July,
-Lockwood started with Brainard on an exploration toward
-the northwest with a view of reaching, if possible,
-the United States range of mountains. They
-carried an outfit weighing one hundred pounds, or
-twenty-five pounds for each man at the start, as
-Henry and Biederbick were to help them with the
-impedimenta for one day and then return. They
-went without sledge or tent, and carried only blanket,
-sleeping-bags, a small lamp, and a few pounds of
-food, with instruments, snow-shoes, etc. They soon
-reached the top of the hog-back beyond &ldquo;Sugar-Loaf,&rdquo;
-and afterward the true hog-back Lockwood
-had visited before, finding it 2,700 feet high.
-Thence they kept a north-northwest course toward
-a prominent glacier in the United States Range, moving
-about parallel to North Valley Creek, which empties
-into St. Patrick&rsquo;s Bay. After traveling fourteen
-miles they camped&mdash;that is, selected as smooth and
-sheltered a spot as could be found, made some tea,
-spread out the sleeping-bags, and crawled in.</p>
-<p>Henry and Biederbick left the next morning evidently
-well satisfied to forego the pleasures of this
-trip. Their departure rendered it necessary to reduce
-the load somewhat, which was done by leaving behind
-the snow-shoes and rubber spread, trusting to luck to
-find a bare spot for their sleeping-bag. After tramping
-through much wet snow alternating with mud
-and stones, and getting their feet soaking wet, they
-came to two deep gorges close together, each occupied
-<span class="pb" id="Page_283">283</span>
-by a considerable stream of water. They crossed
-these and ascended a dome beyond, three thousand
-feet high, and thence came to a still larger stream
-whose gorge was one thousand feet deep. Here they
-stopped for the night after a tramp of twelve miles.
-The next morning the sky was overcast, with barometric
-indications of a storm; but they continued their
-way with reduced loads, having only one day&rsquo;s food
-left. Following the stream northwest a few miles,
-they crossed it and ascended a high elevation, from
-which the United States range could be very distinctly
-viewed, and then came to the conclusion that they
-had gone far enough.</p>
-<p>With the telescope they could see distinctly, about
-twenty miles away, the walls of the great glacier, and
-its face ten miles wide. In fact, the whole range was
-full of glaciers. The country intervening between
-them and the glaciers seemed comparatively level. At
-noon they started back, and did not stop until the
-camping-place of the night before was reached.
-Thence, after a drink of tea and something to eat,
-abandoning their sleeping-bags, they made for their
-first camp, where had been left the rubber spread and
-one extra bag. The traveling was execrable, but
-they reached Fort Conger on the 14th, hungry, tired,
-and decidedly used up.</p>
-<p>On the 24th, preparations began for the proposed
-boat-journey toward the south on which they would
-start when the ice would permit. Lockwood, in obedience
-to a general order, prepared to take no clothing
-except what he wore, and the few pounds of his
-<span class="pb" id="Page_284">284</span>
-baggage would consist of his journal and other papers.
-He felt depressed and low-spirited, and totally
-indifferent as to the risks they were to encounter.</p>
-<p>The straits were reported clear of ice below Cape
-Lieber on the 26th, but the bay near by was still full,
-though with many leads. Every preparation was
-made to leave on the 1st of August, if possible, or
-as soon after as the ice would allow. The men fiddled
-and sang, and seemed in joyous spirits; and the
-hilarity was kept up by the dogs Ritenbank and Ask-him
-having a terrible fight, resulting in victory to the
-latter. The probable consequence was that Ask-him
-would now be king. Ritenbank went about with his
-head down and tail between his legs, a dethroned and
-friendless monarch. The usurper&rsquo;s reign, however,
-was likely to be a short one, as, on the party&rsquo;s leaving,
-the dogs would either be shot or left to starve to death.</p>
-<p>The 5th of August arrived, and the ship was the
-only thing talked about. Some of the men reported
-smoke down the straits, but it was soon found to be
-only water-clouds or fog. In the midst of these excitements,
-Lockwood gave expression to the following
-feelings: &ldquo;As the time for moving approaches, I feel
-a singular apathy. If we had plenty of fresh meat and
-more good books, I could stand another winter here.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Soon after, heavy winds from the south making
-great changes in the condition of the ice, active
-preparations were made for leaving.</p>
-<p>Lockwood writes: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel as though I was
-going away, much less toward the south. Have felt
-more stirred up on beginning a sledge-journey.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_285">285</div>
-<h3 class="generic">TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE DISTANCE TRAVELED TO LOCKWOOD ISLAND.</h3>
-<table class="center" summary="">
-<tr><td class="l"> </td><td colspan="4" class="r"><span class="sc">Distance traveled.</span> </td><td colspan="3" class="r"><span class="sc">Time.</span></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l"> </td><td class="r">Adv </td><td class="r">Tr </td><td class="r">Add </td><td class="r">Tot </td><td class="r">Adv </td><td class="r">Tr </td><td>MPH</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l"> </td><td colspan="4" class="r"><span class="sc">Miles&mdash;Geographical.</span> </td><td class="r"><span class="sc">Hours.</span> </td><td class="r"><span class="sc">Geo. M.</span></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="c"><span class="small">OUT.</span> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Fort Conger to Boat Camp </td><td class="r">48 </td><td class="r">67 </td><td class="r">157 </td><td class="r">224 </td><td class="r">21&frac12; </td><td class="r">28&frac14; </td><td>2&middot;23</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Boat Camp to sea-coast </td><td class="r">36 </td><td class="r">86 </td><td class="r">25 </td><td class="r">111 </td><td class="r">18&frac34; </td><td class="r">44&#8531; </td><td>1&middot;92</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Sea-coast to Cape Bryant </td><td class="r">37&frac12; </td><td class="r">103&frac12; </td><td class="r">12 </td><td class="r">113 </td><td class="r">21&frac12; </td><td class="r">47&sup1;/&#8321;&#8322; </td><td>1&middot;74</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Cape Bryant to Cape Britannia </td><td class="r">60 </td><td class="r">118 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">118 </td><td class="r">32 </td><td class="r">55&#8309;/&#8321;&#8322; </td><td>1&middot;87</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Cape Britannia to farthest </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">39&#8532; </td><td class="r">48&#8537; </td><td>2&middot;39</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l"><span class="hst">Total (out)</span> </td><td class="r">267&frac12; </td><td class="r">469&frac12; </td><td class="r">194 </td><td class="r">701 </td><td class="r">133&frac12; </td><td class="r">223&frac34; </td><td>2&middot;07</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="c"><span class="small">BACK.</span> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td></td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Farthest to Cape Britannia </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">95 </td><td class="r">37&#8531; </td><td class="r">41&frac34; </td><td>2&middot;52</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Cape Britannia to Cape Bryant </td><td class="r">60 </td><td class="r">60 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">60 </td><td class="r">25&frac34; </td><td class="r">28 </td><td>2&middot;33</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Cape Bryant to Boat Camp </td><td class="r">61&frac12; </td><td class="r">61&frac12; </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">61&frac12; </td><td class="r">27&frac14; </td><td class="r">36&frac12; </td><td>2&middot;25</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Boat Camp to Fort Conger </td><td class="r">48 </td><td class="r">48 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">48 </td><td class="r">22&frac12; </td><td class="r">28&#8531; </td><td>2&middot;13</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l"><span class="hst">Total (back)</span> </td><td class="r">264&frac12; </td><td class="r">264&frac12; </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">264&frac12; </td><td class="r">112&#8538; </td><td class="r">134&sup2;/&#8321;&#8322; </td><td>2&middot;34</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Aggregate (out and back) </td><td class="r">541 </td><td class="r">734 </td><td class="r">194 </td><td class="r">965&frac12; </td><td class="r">245&sup1;&sup1;/&#8321;&#8322; </td><td class="r">357&#8538; </td><td>2&middot;20</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="l">Aggregate (out and back) in statute miles </td><td class="r">623 </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">.. </td><td class="r">1069 </td><td class="r"> </td><td class="r"> </td><td></td></tr>
-</table>
-<dl class="undent"><dt>Key to Headings:</dt>
-<dd>Adv: Advanced.</dd>
-<dd>Add: Additional miles traveled.</dd>
-<dd>Tr: Traveled.</dd>
-<dd>Tot: Total.</dd>
-<dd>MPH: Number of miles per hour.</dd></dl>
-<p>The word &ldquo;advanced,&rdquo; both
-here and in the journal, refers
-to the simple distance from
-camp to camp, and the actual
-time occupied in making that
-distance&mdash;all stops <i>deducted</i>.</p>
-<p>The word &ldquo;traveled&rdquo; includes
-total number of miles
-traveled&mdash;the number of miles
-advanced added to those traveled
-in going back and forth in
-&ldquo;doubling up.&rdquo; The time corresponding
-refers to the whole
-time from leaving one camp to
-arriving at the next, all stops
-included.</p>
-<p>The &ldquo;additional miles&rdquo; refer
-to incidental journeys not
-numbered as marches.</p>
-<p>The rate per hour is computed
-from the distance and time <i>advanced</i>.</p>
-<p>The whole statement is confined
-to the dog-sledge.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_286">286</div>
-<h2 id="c17">XVII.
-<br /><span class="small">HOMEWARD BOUND.</span></h2>
-<p>The time having arrived, the final orders were
-given for the Arctic exiles to make ready for the first
-stage of travel leading to their far-distant home. They
-were now to leave the station at Fort Conger, and,
-as best they could, find their way to Littleton Island,
-where they hoped to meet a vessel that would take
-them back to Newfoundland. They were to depart in
-boats, viz., the steam-launch Lady Greely, a whale-boat,
-an English boat of which they had come into
-possession, and a still smaller affair, that might prove
-serviceable for special purposes.</p>
-<p>The journal kept by Lieutenant Lockwood after
-his departure from Fort Conger was written in short-hand,
-as always while in the field, and is a very complete
-record. In the following pages, only a brief
-summary of purely personal incidents will be attempted,
-without presuming to give the phraseology
-of the youthful explorer.</p>
-<p>On the 9th of August, the little fleet pushed off
-from shore, laden with the twenty-five adventurers
-and a comfortable supply of provisions. They
-reached Bellot Island without much trouble, but
-afterward encountered a good deal of ice, and, while
-<span class="pb" id="Page_287">287</span>
-working very hard to get through, Rice accidentally
-fell overboard, which was for him a poor beginning.
-The ice continued to be troublesome until the close of
-the next day, when the boats were so severely nipped
-that they had to be drawn up on the floe. Afterward,
-open water appearing all the way across the fiord, the
-launch and the other boats made a successful crossing
-nearly opposite Sun Bay. They reached the depot
-near Cape Baird, at about 2 <span class="small">P. M.</span>, up to which hour,
-from the time of leaving Fort Conger, they had not
-been able to secure any sleep, nor anything to drink
-but cold water. Reaching Cape Lieber on the 11th
-in a snow-storm, they landed on a bluff about a mile
-from the cape, where they waited for the ice to move,
-so that they might continue on their route toward the
-south along the western shore of the strait. The only
-animals seen in that vicinity were two narwhals, fighting
-near the shore. The fog now became so very
-dense that no headway could be made, and this gave
-them an opportunity to obtain some needed rest.
-Their next advance was in the midst of a severe storm
-of wind and snow, in spite of which they reached Carl
-Ritter Bay on the morning of the 12th. The next
-morning, while they had open water near the shore,
-they discovered ice-barriers extending to the south as
-far as they could see. At this point a young seal was
-killed, which was greatly enjoyed by all of the party;
-but this luxury, in the case of Lockwood, was counterbalanced
-by the discomfort of sleeping on shore
-without any protection excepting that of his bag.
-He also spent several nights on a floe-berg, where,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_288">288</span>
-by laying his sleeping-bag on a sheep-skin, he slept
-more comfortably. From the 13th until the 20th,
-when the party reached Rawlings&rsquo;s Bay, it was a continual
-conflict with floating ice, snow-storms, and
-fog, the monotony of the struggle having been broken
-by an accident to the launch, and also one to Lieutenant
-Greely, who had a fall into the water, from which
-he was rescued without harm. At all the places where
-they encamped, they had great difficulty in securing a
-safe harbor for the launch. Having passed across
-Richardson Bay in safety and reached Cape Collinson,
-they found about one hundred and twenty, out of two
-hundred and forty, English rations which had been deposited
-there, the missing portion having been eaten
-by the foxes. On the 22d they reached Scoresby Bay,
-where observations of the strait showed it to be full
-of floating ice; and in this vicinity they were brought
-to a halt by the ice-pack near the shore at Cape John
-Barrow. Here the boats were pulled up on the floe,
-and, as the thick sludge-ice was all around, no open
-water in sight, and the supply of coal getting very
-low, the prospect was gloomy in the extreme. When
-able to continue on their course, the travelers were
-still greatly troubled by heavy fogs, and while passing
-over a space of open water, abounding in floe-bergs
-which could not be seen, they were in constant danger
-of being lost. Notwithstanding all these obstacles,
-they pushed their way onward, and in due time
-reached Cape Louis Napoleon, Cape Hawks, and Princess
-Marie Bay, when they were again stopped by the
-floating ice, and detained by the newly formed ice.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_289">289</div>
-<p>In his desire to comply with the order as to weight
-of baggage, Lockwood had left his seal-skin coat at
-Fort Conger, but this step he afterward regretted, as
-the weather continued stormy, and he was greatly exposed
-to the cold. To this was added the misfortune
-of having a badly fitting seal-skin boot which
-gave him great pain, so that he had to resort to a pair
-of moccasins. When the boats were caught in floes
-and detained for days, the only exercise available was
-that of walking over the level floes. Some of the
-men were wont to march around, under the light of
-the moon, singing aloud their wild and uncouth
-songs. When tired of walking, Lockwood would
-creep into a cozy corner of the launch, and pore over
-a pocket copy of Shakespeare which he had fortunately
-brought along; and then, after getting into his
-sleeping-bag, his thoughts would wander far away
-and find expression in such words as these: &ldquo;What
-are they doing at home? How often I think of the
-dear ones there! The dangers and uncertainties
-ahead of us are only aggravated by the thoughts
-of the concern felt by them on my account. Most
-of us have given up the idea of getting home this
-fall.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 3d of September, while in the floe below
-Cape Hawks, Lieutenant Greely held a consultation
-with Lockwood, Kislingbury, Pavy, and Brainard,
-expressing the opinion that their situation was critical,
-and that they were really working for their
-lives. One of the suggestions was that the launch
-should be abandoned, and further progress made in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_290">290</span>
-the smaller boats along the western shore of the
-strait; but to this, Greely and the majority objected,
-still hoping that they might yet be able to
-reach Littleton Island through a lead or over the
-young ice. On the 6th the hunter Jans killed his
-fourth seal, and was rewarded by a drink of rum.
-After five more days of travel, and while approaching
-Cocked-Hat Island, there was a great excitement caused
-by the report that one of the men had heard the
-barking of dogs, whereupon guns were fired and a
-flag displayed; but all the commotion ended in nothing.
-The tides were contrary, the small boat was
-abandoned, and the outlook was very gloomy. The
-faithful Esquimaux, Frederick, who had latterly been
-somewhat unlucky as a hunter, now came to the
-front by killing a seal that weighed six hundred
-pounds, receiving the usual drink of rum. On this
-occasion Lockwood mentioned that he swallowed
-a cupful of the seal&rsquo;s blood, and found it somewhat
-tasteless. On the 5th of September, the party
-after great labor came abreast of Victoria Head and
-Cape Albert, and while drifting along on the floe the
-American flag was hoisted over the launch, and the
-fire under the engine was put out to save coal, Lockwood
-enjoying a little needed sleep. On the 7th
-they came in sight of the coast extending from Alexander
-Harbor to Cape Sabine, and the impossibility of
-proceeding in the launch becoming apparent, it was
-decided to resort to sledge-travel, two of the sledges to
-carry a boat each, and both of them to be drawn by
-the men. When they were fully prepared for moving,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_291">291</span>
-it was found that one of them weighed 1,700 pounds
-and the other 2,100 pounds. Owing to the various
-difficulties which soon beset the travelers, they were
-obliged to abandon one of the boats, whereby it became
-necessary to retrace several sections of the
-journey for the purpose of bringing on the extra
-supplies, thus adding greatly to the fatigue of the
-men. Lockwood now expressed his doubts as to
-whether he would live to write out his notes, and
-also his fears that the floe upon which the party
-then were, might take them down into Baffin&rsquo;s Bay.
-Not only were they at the mercy of the floe, but the
-currents were contrary, sludge-ice abundant, and their
-supply of food reduced to seal-blubber, bread, and tea.
-At one time, strange to say, their position in the straits
-was directly north of Littleton Island, and nearer
-the Greenland coast than that of Grinnell Land. It
-now seemed to Lockwood that there was nothing
-ahead of them but starvation and death, and yet the
-men kept up their spirits in a manner that greatly surprised
-him. One of the floes upon which they had
-drifted for many days, when found to be cracking in
-one or two places, caused the party to move upon
-another nearer the shore, and in a short time the
-floe previously occupied was entirely broken up. On
-the 29th of September, the floe on which they were
-floating, finally touched another toward the west,
-and that another connected with the shore, by which
-means they were enabled to reach the land, very
-thankful to be in a place of security once more. The
-locality was really a rock forming a promontory between
-<span class="pb" id="Page_292">292</span>
-two glaciers, and thought to be about thirteen
-miles directly south of Cape Sabine. To that place a
-reconnoitring party was at once sent, but the cape
-could not be reached on account of open water near
-it, and the party was compelled to return. In the
-mean time, arrangements were made for building out
-of stones and ice the necessary huts for protection
-during the coming winter, should it be their fate to
-remain there. While this work was progressing, it
-was decided that the daily rations would have to be
-reduced. Lockwood expressed the opinion that they
-had only three chances for their lives: first, the chance
-of finding an American <i>cache</i> at Cape Sabine; secondly,
-a chance of crossing the straits, here thirty-five miles
-wide, when their provisions were gone; thirdly, the
-chance of being able to kill enough game for their
-support during the winter. A second effort was
-made by Rice and a party to reach Cape Sabine, which
-was successful. They not only brought news about
-the wreck of the Proteus, but also a copy of the
-Army Register for 1883, in which appeared Lockwood&rsquo;s
-name as a first lieutenant. Rice also succeeded
-in discovering the English <i>cache</i> with two hundred
-and forty rations, the <i>cache</i> left by the Neptune in
-1882, and the stores brought from the wreck of the
-Proteus in 1883, all of which information was hailed
-with delight by the party. Among the stores left
-by the Proteus, a newspaper slip was picked up, from
-which was gathered the news that President Garfield
-had died; that the Jeannette had been lost; and that
-serious apprehensions were felt in the United States
-<span class="pb" id="Page_293">293</span>
-about the fate of the Greely Expedition. This latter
-intelligence gave Lockwood great pain, seeming almost
-prophetic, except in the remark &ldquo;lying down
-under the great stars to die!&rdquo; and induced him to
-make this record: &ldquo;This article gives me great pain,
-because of the alarm and sorrow which must be felt by
-my dear father and mother and sisters on my behalf.
-Should my ambitious hopes be disappointed, and these
-lines only, meet the eyes of those so dear, may they
-not in thought add to my many faults and failings
-that of ingratitude or want of affection in not recording
-more frequently my thoughts regarding them!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>One of the results of the trip made by Rice to
-Cape Sabine was the selection of a spot, between the
-cape and Cocked-Hat Island, for a home during the
-approaching winter. Here, officers and men alike
-laboring, a new hut was built, which was forthwith
-occupied by the party, all the supplies being at once
-brought from the camp south of Cape Sabine. The
-place where they now found themselves established,
-Lieutenant Greely called Camp Clay, in honor of
-one of the party&mdash;a grandson of Henry Clay&mdash;who
-had been attached to the expedition until it reached
-Lady Franklin Bay, whence he returned home on account
-of his health. As soon as the new hut was
-occupied, the announcement was made that six of
-the party were on the sick list; but shortly afterward,
-and notwithstanding the deplorable condition of affairs,
-Lockwood recorded the following in his journal:
-&ldquo;We are all now in comparatively high spirits,
-and look forward to getting back to the United
-<span class="pb" id="Page_294">294</span>
-States with a great deal of certainty. We shall have
-to live on half-rations or less until April, and there
-will be shortness of fuel. Many hardships are obvious,
-but we all feel sound again.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 23d of October, twelve of the party went
-from Camp Clay upon a visit to Cape Sabine, and,
-while some of them opened the English <i>cache</i> at the
-south side of Payer Harbor, Lockwood built a cairn
-there and deposited under it, among other things, the
-records of the expedition, with a note in lead-pencil to
-the following effect:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="book">&ldquo;<i>October 23, 1883.</i>&mdash;This cairn contains the original
-records of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, the
-private journal of Lieutenant Lockwood, and a set of
-photographic negatives. The party is permanently
-encamped at a point midway between Cape Sabine and
-Cocked-Hat Island. All well.</p>
-<p class="center">&ldquo;<span class="sc">J. B. Lockwood</span>,
-<br />&ldquo;<i>First Lieutenant Twenty-third Infantry.</i>&rdquo;</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>On their way back to Camp Clay, Dr. Pavy met
-with an accident to one of his feet, and, while most
-of the party went on, Lockwood and Ellison remained
-behind to look after him. When night came on, they
-lost their way, stumbling and floundering over the
-rubble-ice until overcome by fatigue and hunger; but
-were revived by a limited mutton stew on their arrival
-at the camp. One of the results to Lockwood
-of his Samaritan conduct was an accident to one of
-his knees, which gave him trouble for several days,
-and prevented his being as useful as he desired in
-<span class="pb" id="Page_295">295</span>
-contributing to the comfort of the party. It was
-about this time that Lieutenant Greely declared his
-intention of reducing the rations, all assenting, so
-that they might last until the 1st of March; and
-this fact, added to the discovery that some of their
-meat was far more bony than it should have been,
-caused some consternation. Cold, dampness, darkness,
-and hunger continued to be their hourly and
-daily portion, the allowance of food being only about
-one fourth of what they actually needed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_296">296</div>
-<h2 id="c18">XVIII.
-<br /><span class="small">THE FINAL CATASTROPHE.</span></h2>
-<p>While the following pages will contain necessarily
-brief notices of the life of the party during an entire
-winter, they must conclude with the record of the
-great calamity which befell the band of heroes. Shortly
-after they found themselves settled for a campaign
-of idleness, as they expected it to be, Lockwood was
-again confined to his sleeping-bag on account of an
-injury to his feet which had not been properly protected;
-his discomforts being aggravated by the reflection
-that both provisions and fuel were beginning
-to reach a low-tide level. The constant hunger which
-was experienced by all hands went far to make their
-circumstances dismal and depressing; while the only
-entertainment that could be provided was the reading
-aloud, by one of the men, of a story and some newspaper
-scraps which Rice had picked up at Cape Sabine.
-A little excitement was afforded by a lottery for the
-distribution of some clothing and two mattresses which
-had been brought ashore from the Proteus, one of
-the latter falling to the lot of Lockwood. And now
-came a proposition for a sledge expedition, not to discover
-islands, glaciers, fiords, and prominent capes,
-but to go after the abandoned whale-boat which had
-<span class="pb" id="Page_297">297</span>
-floated down with the floe. This must be broken up
-and used for fuel. Then followed another expedition,
-occupying not less than eight days, to Cape Isabella,
-to obtain one hundred pounds of preserved
-meat left there by the English. Feeling the want of
-exercise, Lockwood occasionally took a long walk, and
-on one occasion was so hungry when he returned,
-that he could not wait for the regular evening meal,
-but fastened upon a lot of moldy potatoes which had
-been abandoned, and with these filled his stomach,
-almost expecting that the feast would cause his death.
-Some of the men went still further, for, when a blue
-or a white fox was killed, even the entrails of the animal
-were devoured. Food was the constant subject
-of conversation with all of the party&mdash;what they
-would be able to get, what they had enjoyed in former
-years at their distant homes, and what they expected
-to enjoy after their return from the North. Not only
-were their supplies getting lower day by day, but the
-only warm thing they could now afford was a cup of
-tea, excepting on Sunday, when they had a little rum
-with a bit of lemon.</p>
-<p>On the 25th of November, the sun disappeared from
-view, not to be seen again until the following February,
-and now the gloom of the time and place was
-greatly increased. On that day Lockwood recorded
-in his journal the following: &ldquo;I have intended writing
-a letter home recounting my experiences since leaving
-Fort Conger, but so far the discomforts of this life
-have prevented me. It is difficult to get the blubber-lamp
-for more than a few minutes during the day, and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_298">298</span>
-sometimes it can not be had at all. The lamp is
-blown out every evening when we are ready to retire,
-which is generally about eight o&rsquo;clock.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Nor were their troubles in any way alleviated by
-the discovery that one of the men had been seen, or
-was suspected of, visiting the store-room to fill himself
-with food&mdash;especially despicable thieving. The expedition
-to Cape Isabella resulted in finding the food
-which, however, was abandoned in returning, as one of
-the men, Ellison, became very sick, and had his hands,
-feet, and nose frozen. He was brought home by a relief
-party in a helpless condition, Lockwood and the other
-men of the party having completely worn themselves
-out by exposure to the cold and hard work. As it
-was feared that the men would become insane if they
-did not stop talking about food, Lieutenant Greely
-began to deliver some lectures on the geography of the
-United States and their natural productions; and this
-was followed by miscellaneous discussions in regard
-to places for business. Whistler, for example, praised
-the city of Independence, in Kansas, as a splendid
-place; Long said he was going to set up a restaurant
-at Ann Arbor in Michigan; Fredericks would follow
-suit at Minneapolis in Minnesota; while Jewell
-counted upon a grocery-store in Kansas.</p>
-<p>After commenting upon the terrible weather,
-Lockwood gave expression to the following: &ldquo;These
-short rations make me feel the cold dreadfully. It is
-a constant effort to keep one&rsquo;s hands and feet comfortable,
-or even comparatively so. I find my spirits first
-up and then down. Sometimes, when I think of the
-<span class="pb" id="Page_299">299</span>
-months before us of this life of misery and suffering,
-I do not see how we can possibly pull through. At
-other times I feel much more hopeful; but this is a
-life of inexpressible misery.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>For several days before the arrival of Thanksgiving-day,
-a great feast was anticipated and on that day enjoyed,
-including a favorite dish called by them &ldquo;<i>son-of-a-gun</i>,&rdquo;
-composed of bread, raisins, milk, and a little
-blubber; nor did the exiles omit the reading of a
-few chapters from the Bible. In the evening Lockwood
-entertained the party with his experiences as a
-farmer at Annapolis, all being interested, and he wound
-up by inviting the whole of the company to assemble
-there and enjoy a dinner with him on the next
-Thanksgiving-day, the said dinner to be composed in
-part of a roast turkey stuffed with oysters and eaten
-with cranberries. In return for this compliment,
-each one of the audience invited Lockwood to partake
-with him of a feast after their return home, and expatiated
-with great gusto on the dishes that he proposed
-to have served. The promise made by Lynn
-was a roasted turkey; Ralston, hot hoe-cake; Ellis,
-spare-rib; Long, pork-chops; Biederbick, old regiment
-dish called buffers; Connell, Irish stew; Bender,
-a roasted pig; Snyder, tenderloin-steak; Brainard,
-peaches and cream; Fredericks, black cake and
-preserves; Saler, veal cutlets; Whistler, flapjacks
-and molasses; Jewell, roasted oysters on toast; Rice,
-clam-chowder; Israel, hashed liver; Gardiner, Virginia
-pone; Ellison, Vienna sausage; Pavy, <i>p&acirc;t&eacute;-de-fois-gras</i>;
-Henry, Hamburg steak; Kislingbury,
-<span class="pb" id="Page_300">300</span>
-hashed turkey, chicken, and veal; Greely, Parker
-House rolls, coffee, cheese, omelette, rice, and chicken
-curry. It was after this jolly discussion of imaginary
-good things that the party sat down to a stew of seal-blubber
-and nothing more. The next day Lockwood
-partook of his first dish of seal-skin which he found
-as hard to digest as it was difficult to swallow.</p>
-<p>On one occasion, when nearly all were asleep, a
-scratching noise was heard upon the roof, and it was
-ascertained that a blue fox was trying to make an
-entrance. The same night the ears of the sleepers
-were saluted by a loud roar, caused by the ice moving
-down the straits, a sound most terrible to human
-nerves. At one time, after Lockwood had expressed
-his gratitude for enjoying warm feet for a whole
-night, he resumed the subject of food, and then
-penned the following: &ldquo;My mind dwells constantly
-on the dishes of my childhood at home. O my dear
-home, and the dear ones there! Can it be possible
-I shall some day see them again, and that these
-days of misery will pass away? My dear father, is he
-still alive? My dear mother and sisters, Harry, and
-my nieces and brothers-in-law, how often do I think of
-them! Only three days more to the top of the hill!&rdquo;
-(alluding to the longest night, or winter solstice).</p>
-<p>&ldquo;As to my bread, I always eat it regretfully. If
-I eat it before tea, I regret that I did not keep it; and
-if I wait until tea comes and then eat it, I drink my
-tea rather hastily and do not get the satisfaction
-out of the cold meat and bread I otherwise would.
-What a miserable life, where a few crumbs of bread
-<span class="pb" id="Page_301">301</span>
-weigh so heavily on one&rsquo;s mind! It seems to be so
-with all the rest. All sorts of expedients are tried to
-cheat one&rsquo;s stomach, but with about the same result.
-By way of securing the idea of a warm piece of
-meat, I sometimes pour upon it a bit of my hot tea,
-but the effort proves futile.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 21st of December, the day which Lockwood
-had long been anticipating with pleasure, he expressed
-his gratification in these words: &ldquo;The top of
-the hill! the most glorious day of this dreary journey
-through the valley of cold and hunger has at last
-come, and is now nearly gone. Thank God, the glorious
-sun commences to return, and every day gets
-lighter and brings him nearer! It is an augury that
-we shall yet pull through all right.&rdquo; In view of his
-ultimate fate, how unutterably touching are these
-hopeful words!</p>
-<p>Before the close of that day, however, he made
-another record in his journal, which forcibly illustrates
-their deplorable condition, as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Had a good fox-stew this evening. By a great
-effort I was able to save one ounce of my bread and
-about two ounces of butter, for Christmas. I shall
-make a vigorous effort to abstain from eating it before
-then. Put it in charge of Biederbick as an additional
-safeguard.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Among the entertainments enjoyed by the party
-were lectures by Lieutenant Greely on the several
-States of the Union. After one of them, on Louisiana,
-had been delivered, Lockwood added to it an
-account of his trip from Baltimore to Texas, and
-<span class="pb" id="Page_302">302</span>
-that from New Orleans to Cincinnati, all of which
-narrative was well received.</p>
-<p>For several days before Christmas, all were eagerly
-looking forward to the grand forthcoming dinner and
-talking about it, a number of them, like Lockwood,
-saving up a part of their scanty daily allowance for
-the occasion. Lockwood mentioned that when he
-proposed to exchange the promise of a fine Christmas-dinner
-on their return home for a piece of dog-biscuit
-delivered at once, he found no one ready
-to accept his <i>liberal</i> offer. The Christmas-dinner
-was similar to that on Thanksgiving-day; various
-songs were sung, and, at the close of the feast, hearty
-cheers were given for Lieutenant Greely, Corporal
-Ellison, Rice the photographer, and the two cooks.</p>
-<p>On Christmas-night all the party enjoyed a refreshing
-sleep, and the next day there was much talk
-about the distant homes and friends. Lockwood was
-greatly pleased to learn that his comrades had formed
-a high opinion of his father from what Greely and he
-had occasionally told them; and, while describing the
-family reunions in Washington, he was affected to
-tears for the first time during his Northern campaign,
-excepting when Rice had come from Esquimaux
-Point with the Garlington records, when his tears
-were the result of gratitude.</p>
-<p>In a region where eating had become pre-eminently
-the chief end of man, it is not strange that the business
-of marketing should have become popular. How
-it was managed may be gathered from the following
-paragraph: &ldquo;To-day has been a market-day, everybody
-<span class="pb" id="Page_303">303</span>
-trading rations&mdash;bread for butter, meat for
-bread, bread for soup, etc. A great deal of talking
-done, but not many solid trades made. I traded
-about half of my to-morrow&rsquo;s <i>son-of-a-gun</i> for about
-eight ounces of bread; then I gave Brainard one
-ounce and a half of butter for two dog-biscuits, but
-my trading did not prove profitable.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>As for New-Year&rsquo;s-day, it came and departed without
-any special demonstrations: the <i>son-of-a-gun</i> was
-enjoyed by all parties; many of the ice-bound hearts
-were warmed by memories of home; and Greely and
-Lockwood had a long talk about the condition of affairs,
-and the prospects for the future.</p>
-<p>The business of trading among the explorers being
-discouraged, did not long continue, but was succeeded
-by some other importations from civilization,
-viz., the taking of property of other people without
-leave or license. A report was made to Lieutenant
-Greely that some one had taken a quarter of a pound
-of bacon, left in the stearine by the cook; also that a
-barrel of bread had been broken open and two pounds
-taken away. This proved that the bears and the
-foxes were not the only thieves to be found in the
-Arctic regions. The man suspected of the deed was
-closely watched and had a narrow escape from being
-properly punished.</p>
-<p>On the 10th of January, the case of poor Corporal
-Ellison was again brought up for discussion and
-prompt action. It had been hoped that his frosted
-feet would be restored to their normal condition, but
-this was not to be, for they were both amputated by
-<span class="pb" id="Page_304">304</span>
-Nature, and two of his fingers besides. Strange to say,
-this was accomplished without his being aware of what
-was taking place, so little vitality remained in these
-parts. When we recall the sufferings of this man, in
-connection with his surroundings and his distance
-from the comforts of home, we must conclude that
-the stories of fiction can not eclipse the wonders of
-actual life and experience. What a combination there
-of cold and hunger, bodily pain and mental anguish,
-darkness and perpetual storms!</p>
-<p>As we pass over the daily records made by Lockwood
-in his journal at this particular time, we find
-food and the dangers of starvation to be the absorbing
-themes. It seems strange that, in a land of ice
-and snow, there should have been any apprehensions
-about a sufficient supply of drinking-water; but this
-was the case, and the fact came home to the exiles when
-they found that their supply of tea had to be reduced
-to half a cup per man. Good water was not only
-scarce, but could not be obtained from the neighboring
-lake, their sole dependence, without great toil in
-chopping away the ice. They had the ice, of course,
-but there was not sufficient fuel to reduce it to a
-liquid.</p>
-<p>As they could keep warm only by remaining in
-their sleeping-bags, the manner of visiting each other
-was simply to exchange sleeping-bags; and thus, when
-Lockwood wanted to have a talk with Greely, one
-of the companions of the latter would exchange bags
-with the visitor.</p>
-<p>On the 18th of January, another cloud was thrown
-<span class="pb" id="Page_305">305</span>
-upon the party by the death of Cross. He died of a
-kind of heart-disease, induced, it was supposed, by
-intemperance in drinking. For several hours before
-his death he uttered low moans which seemed a kind
-of echo from the grinding of the far-off ice-fields. His
-remains were enveloped in coffee-sacks and an American
-flag, and deposited in a stony grave near the neighboring
-lake, the only funeral remarks having been
-made by Lieutenant Lockwood.</p>
-<p>On the 21st, Lockwood had a talk with Greely
-about his own health; said he was very weak, and had
-been so for two weeks, but had not mentioned it for
-fear of depressing the men; he could not account for
-it, and concluded by saying that if he should not be
-well or better when the time came to make the contemplated
-passage of the straits, he desired to be left
-behind with his share of the rations, and then be sent
-for from Littleton Island. To this Greely replied
-that he would never harbor such an idea for a single
-moment; that he would never abandon a living
-soul.</p>
-<p>On the 2d of February, Rice and Jans started to
-test the passage of the straits, hoping to reach Littleton
-Island, where they expected to find some provisions
-or a relief-ship. But, alas! they were stopped
-by open water, and not successful, though they traveled
-about fifty miles up and down the floes, and were
-absent four days. Owing to the bad weather, they
-did not even get a glimpse of the coast of Greenland.
-All were greatly disappointed, and some felt that
-death from starvation was staring them in the face;
-<span class="pb" id="Page_306">306</span>
-and yet they found some relief in the increased light
-preceding the reappearance of the sun. Lockwood,
-who now became despondent and apathetic, endeavored
-to peer into the future, and wondered whether
-his bones were really to be left in the Arctic regions.
-He mourned over the fact that he had not been as
-good a son and as kind a brother as he might have
-been, and hoped that the dear ones at home would
-remember him as he wished to be, and not as he had
-been. As to the end, he hoped it would come soon,
-whatever it might be; and he declared himself possessed
-by a feeling of indifference to hunger, cold,
-and gloom, &ldquo;all of them enemies of existence.&rdquo;
-After mourning over the approaching fate of Ellison,
-he recorded these touching words: &ldquo;How often I
-think of the dear ones at home, the Sunday evening
-reunions, and all the bright and happy pictures that
-present themselves! My dear, good old father! may
-he look with charity on my many short-comings! My
-dear mother and sisters and Harry, brothers-in-law,
-and nieces! I trust that they are well and happy,
-and, if I do not pull through this, will learn to look
-on my memory kindly!&rdquo; An allusion that he now
-made to his companions in suffering was to this effect:
-&ldquo;The party presents a bold front, and is not
-wanting in spirit. If our fate is the worst, I do not
-think we shall disgrace the name of Americans and of
-soldiers.&rdquo; The attempt of Rice to cross the straits to
-Littleton Island was heroic in the extreme, and his
-pluck was further exemplified by a proposition that he
-submitted to Greely to make a second effort to cross
-<span class="pb" id="Page_307">307</span>
-the straits, and that, too, unattended by any companion;
-but the idea was not sanctioned.</p>
-<p>On the 22d of February, strange to say, a raven
-made its appearance in the vicinity of the Arctic
-camp, but was not killed, although it might have
-been enjoyed at the forthcoming dinner. It must
-have been a great relief to some of the party that it
-disappeared without uttering its dreadful cry, &ldquo;<i>Nevermore!</i>&rdquo;
-as translated by the poet, Poe.</p>
-<p>On the 27th, not knowing what might happen to
-him, Lockwood wrote the following in his journal:
-&ldquo;The chronometer in my pocket is the one used on
-the trip to 83&deg; 24&#180; and on all my trips in this region.
-My intention is to buy it, but, in case I do not get
-back, I would have it purchased and kept in the family.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>When the sun first made its appearance above the
-horizon, as it carried his mind away to his far-distant
-home, he gave expression to this emotion: &ldquo;O God!
-how many years of my life would I give to be there!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Every day, observations were made from neighboring
-elevations to ascertain the condition of the straits
-separating them from the Greenland coast which was
-distinctly visible in clear weather, hoping without
-hope to see it frozen over from shore to shore; but the
-lateness of the season precluded all reasonable expectation
-of such a result, and the daily reports of open
-water were depressing in the extreme. On the 13th
-of March, the announcement was made that the supplies
-of coffee, chocolate, and canned vegetables were
-all exhausted, and that henceforth they would have
-<span class="pb" id="Page_308">308</span>
-to depend almost entirely on pemmican, bacon, bread,
-and tea, all of which, though given in one-third rations
-only, would not last for more than a month, thus
-leaving them without supplies to cross the straits in
-the event of a satisfactory freeze. In view of all these
-circumstances, it is impossible to imagine how they
-could quietly continue their preparations for a journey
-to the supposed goal at Littleton Island. Surely the
-hope which inspired the sufferers was eternal and supreme
-in its strength and pathos. &ldquo;The straits,&rdquo; said
-Lockwood, &ldquo;are open, and I see no prospect of their
-freezing so that we can get across. Of course, I hope
-to the contrary; for this means death, if we can
-find no game here.&rdquo; On a subsequent day he writes
-as follows: &ldquo;We look to the end with equanimity,
-and the spirits of the party, in spite of the prospect
-of a miserable death, are certainly wonderful. I am
-glad as each day comes to an end. It brings us nearer
-the end of this life, whatever that end is to be.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the 23d of March, the last of the regular fuel
-was exhausted, and the food was so nearly gone
-that the men actually began to collect their seal-skin
-clothing and foot-gear for any emergency that might
-happen. Game was not only scarce, but the men were
-getting almost too weak to endure a hunt. To avoid
-long tramps, which were sure to be unsuccessful, they
-turned their attention to shrimp-fishing, but, as one
-man could only get three pounds in one day, the
-prospect in this direction was not hopeful.</p>
-<p>During the month of March and the early part of
-April, there was nothing done by the able-bodied members
-<span class="pb" id="Page_309">309</span>
-of the party but to try to secure some game, the
-only incidents occurring to interrupt the monotony
-being the deaths of the Esquimaux Frederick Christiansen,
-and Sergeant Lynn. The former had been
-complaining for a week or more, but nobody thought
-him in danger, and he died unexpectedly. Lockwood&rsquo;s
-tribute to him was to this effect: &ldquo;He was a
-good man, and I felt a great affection for him. He
-constantly worked hard in my service, and never
-spared himself on our sledge-trips. His death makes
-me feel very sorrowful.&rdquo; He was buried by the side
-of Cross, near the lake. The death of Lynn was also
-unexpected. He fully appreciated his condition, and
-gave some directions regarding his last wishes. He
-was much liked, and highly spoken of by all. After
-the burial service had been read at the house by Lieutenant
-Greely, his remains were also placed by the
-lake-side with those of Cross and the Esquimaux.</p>
-<p>The drama was about to close, the curtain already
-falling upon the band of heroes:</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">&ldquo;And their hearts, though stout and brave,</p>
-<p class="t0">Still, like muffled drums were beating</p>
-<p class="t0">Funeral marches to the grave.&rdquo;</p>
-</div>
-<p>The phantom of Starvation, which had long been
-following them over the ice and snow, and dallying
-with their hopes and fears as they lay in their comfortless
-camps, had now become a terrible reality,
-determined to assert all his powers. Three of his
-victims were already under the snow, and were soon
-followed by several others, including the one who had
-<span class="pb" id="Page_310">310</span>
-directed them in many of their duties and befriended
-them in trouble, and whose honored name, attached
-to a noted island and a famed headland in the Arctic
-world, will be forever remembered with pride and affection
-by his countrymen.</p>
-<p>The concluding paragraph in Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s
-journal was written on the 7th of April, 1884,
-and alludes to the sickness and death of his two
-comrades. In the last allusion that he makes to himself,
-he speaks of his excessive weakness, and of the
-fact that he could not rise from his sleeping-bag without
-great difficulty. His death occurred two days
-afterward.</p>
-<p>Having been permitted to examine an elaborate
-and interesting journal kept by Sergeant Brainard, a
-few notices relating to the closing days and the death
-of Lieutenant Lockwood are reproduced, as follows:</p>
-<p><i>January 12, 1884.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood is very
-weak. He has been saving the greater portion of his
-bread and meat for several days, and talks to himself
-about food. He frequently looks intently at the lamp,
-and requests that it be kept burning all night.</p>
-<p><i>January 20th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood is growing
-weaker and weaker. He said to me a few days ago,
-&ldquo;Brainard, I have lost my grip,&rdquo; meaning that he
-had lost his last hope of life.</p>
-<p><i>January 24th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood seems to be
-in better spirits to-day.</p>
-<p><i>January 28th.</i>&mdash;The doctor said to-day that if
-Lieutenant Lockwood did not brace up, he would
-never recover.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_311">311</div>
-<p><i>January 30th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood is growing
-steadily weaker, and talks but seldom now. I wish
-he would try to be more cheerful.</p>
-<p><i>February 15th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood is better,
-but does not improve so rapidly as I would wish.</p>
-<p><i>April 4th.</i>&mdash;The rations of Lieutenant Lockwood
-and Linn have been increased to one fourth of a dovekie
-each per day.</p>
-<p><i>April 5th.</i>&mdash;I am afraid that Lieutenant Lockwood
-and Linn will soon follow the faithful Esquimaux,
-who has just died. They can not, or they will not,
-eat shrimps any more. Although they are both given
-an extra allowance of dovekie, it is not sufficient to
-restore them.</p>
-<p><i>April 7th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood and Jewell will
-soon follow Linn. They are very weak and failing
-rapidly.</p>
-<p><i>April 8th</i>.&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood fell in a faint
-in the alley-way, and much difficulty was experienced
-in resuscitating him.</p>
-<p><i>April 9th.</i>&mdash;Lieutenant Lockwood became unconscious
-at an early hour this morning, and at 4.20 <span class="small">P. M.</span>
-he breathed his last. His end was painless and without
-a struggle. This will be a sad and unexpected
-blow to his family, who evidently idolized him. To
-me it is also a sorrowful event. He had been my companion
-during long and eventful excursions, and my
-feelings toward him were akin to those of a brother.
-Biederbick, who was with him at the last moment,
-and I straightened his limbs and prepared his remains
-for burial. It is the saddest duty I have ever
-<span class="pb" id="Page_312">312</span>
-been called on to perform, and I hope I may never
-experience the like again. A few days prior to his
-death he had spoken of writing to his family, but,
-owing to weakness, had deferred the matter until too
-late.</p>
-<p><i>April 10th.</i>&mdash;The last sad rites were performed
-over the remains of our late comrade, and he was interred
-with the others on Cemetery Ridge, Lieutenant
-Greely reading the Episcopal service.</p>
-<p>To the above may be added the following remark
-made by Brainard in regard to his friend Lockwood:
-&ldquo;The lieutenant was buried in an officer&rsquo;s blouse. It
-affected me deeply to pass his grave, as I thought of
-the leader of our little party which had carried the
-Stars and Stripes beyond the English Jack; but this
-feeling soon wore away, and, as I had so many other
-horrible things to occupy my mind, I became somewhat
-indifferent.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>But wholly indifferent he could not be, even when
-he saw two men in one sleeping-bag, one of them a
-corpse, and the other too weak to assist in pulling
-the body out for burial.</p>
-<p>Another and most touching reference made by
-Brainard to the burial-place of his friend Lockwood
-occurs in his journal under date of May 31, 1884, and
-is as follows: &ldquo;In my daily journeys across Cemetery
-Ridge, it was but natural at first that my reflections
-should be sad and gloomy. Here lie my departed comrades,
-and to their left is the vacant space where, in a
-few days, my own remains will be deposited if sufficient
-strength remain to those who may survive me. The
-<span class="pb" id="Page_313">313</span>
-brass buttons on Lieutenant Lockwood&rsquo;s blouse, worn
-bright by the flying gravel, protruded through the
-scanty covering of earth which our depleted strength
-barely enabled us to place over him. At first these
-dazzling buttons would awaken thoughts of those
-bright days spent at Fort Conger, of the half-forgotten
-scene of his death, and of the universal sorrow that
-was felt at his departure. But later my own wretched
-circumstances served to counteract these feelings, and
-I would pass and repass this place without emotion,
-and almost with indifference.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The supply of food had been almost entirely exhausted
-during the first few days of April, and it was
-impossible to obtain any game or rations from distant
-caches. An effort made by Rice to secure certain provisions
-that had been abandoned on a former expedition
-in order to save the life of Ellison when frozen,
-resulted in his own death, breathing his last in the
-arms of Fredericks, his only companion, who buried
-him in a lonely, ice-made grave. Nor were the horrors
-of the situation lessened by the discovery that the
-man Henry had been guilty of stealing their food, for
-which, after ample warning, under orders from Lieutenant
-Greely, he was summarily shot, according to
-the law of self-preservation. His remains were not
-deposited in the cemetery, but by themselves in a
-place near by.</p>
-<p>The total number of deaths out of the twenty-five
-composing the complete party of explorers was nineteen,
-and, while twelve of them were buried at Camp
-Clay, the remainder, like the lamented Rice, were
-<span class="pb" id="Page_314">314</span>
-buried elsewhere or where they died. Jans was lost in
-his kyack. During a discussion that occurred, about
-the final disposition of the dead, Lieutenant Greely
-expressed the wish that the remains of his men might
-be left undisturbed. They had died, he said, beneath
-Arctic skies. Arctic desolation witnessed their sufferings,
-heard their cries of anguish. They are buried
-in Arctic soil. Let them lie where they fell. Lockwood
-told me that he wanted to rest forever on the
-field of his work. Why disturb them? Why not respect
-their wishes?</p>
-<p>Before closing this chapter it seems proper that an
-allusion should be made to alleged cannibalism at
-Camp Clay. The writer of this was informed by Sergeant
-Brainard that such might have been the case,
-but that not a single one of the survivors had ever
-known or witnessed anything of the kind. So far as
-Lieutenant Lockwood was concerned, it was positively
-established, by unimpeachable testimony, that his remains
-were not mutilated in the least degree. When
-carefully carried, with all the others, on board the
-ship that was to bring them to the United States, his
-remains were perfect in every respect, and of this his
-father has the assurance of those who saw them.</p>
-<p>In view of the fact that Sergeant David L. Brainard
-accompanied Lieutenant Lockwood in all his explorations,
-it seems only proper that a notice of his
-life should appear in this volume. He was born in
-Norway, Herkimer County, New York, December 21,
-1856, his parents having come from Massachusetts.
-His father was of French extraction and his mother
-<span class="pb" id="Page_315">315</span>
-of English stock. He attended a district school until
-his eleventh year, when he removed with his family
-to Freetown, Cortland County, New York, where
-he attended the State Normal School. On the 18th
-of September, 1876, he enlisted at New York city
-in the regular army, being assigned to Company L,
-Second Cavalry, then stationed at Fort Ellis, in Montana
-Territory. He joined his troops late that year
-after an arduous journey of five hundred miles on
-horseback from Corinne, Utah. In the following
-spring he participated in the Indian campaigns under
-General Miles, along the Yellowstone River and its
-tributaries, and was wounded in the face while in action
-with the Sioux, at Muddy Creek, Montana, May
-7, 1877. In August of the same year, he was selected
-as one of four men to act as escort to General Sherman
-and party in their tour through the National
-Park. In October following, he was made a corporal,
-and in July, 1879, was promoted to be a sergeant.
-He was frequently in charge of parties in the field on
-detached service, and was intrusted with important
-missions by his commanding officers. Lieutenant
-Doane, Second Cavalry, recommended him for detail
-on the Howgate Polar Expedition in May, 1880, Brainard
-visiting Washington for that purpose. The enterprise
-having been abandoned, he was ordered back
-to his regiment at Fort Assiniboin, on Milk River.
-Early in the spring of 1881, Lieutenant Greely requested
-his detail on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition,
-and, on his arrival in Washington, appointed him
-first sergeant of the expedition, which position he
-<span class="pb" id="Page_316">316</span>
-held during the three years of Arctic service. On
-the 1st of August, 1884, he was transferred, with the
-rank of sergeant, to the United States Signal Corps,
-having always acquitted himself with ability and honor
-as a man, a soldier, and an explorer.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_317">317</div>
-<h2 id="c19">XIX.
-<br /><span class="small">THE WOEFUL RETURN.</span></h2>
-<p>Without stopping to discuss the action of Congress
-or the Government officials in regard to sending
-relief to the Greely Expedition, the writer desires
-to mention that the names of Senator Joseph R.
-Hawley and Representative E. John Ellis, because
-of their manly action in Congress in behalf of the
-suffering explorers, are far more deserving of places
-on the charts of the North than those of many others
-which have thus been honored. In 1882 a vessel
-called the Neptune, Captain William Sopp, was chartered
-at St. John&rsquo;s, Newfoundland, and with a full
-supply of provisions was dispatched for Lady Franklin
-Bay, but failing in her mission returned to Newfoundland
-<i>without leaving</i> any of her supplies in the
-North, but bringing them all back to St. John&rsquo;s!
-In 1883 the steamer Proteus, Captain Richard Pike,
-was rechartered at St. John&rsquo;s, and with a full supply
-of provisions sailed for Discovery Harbor, but was
-crushed in the ice near Cape Sabine, her crew succeeding
-in landing in a safe place a small part of
-her cargo, some of which was subsequently utilized
-by the Greely party.</p>
-<p>In 1884 a third rescuing expedition was organized
-<span class="pb" id="Page_318">318</span>
-and dispatched for the relief of the Greely exploring
-party. That expedition was composed of a squadron
-of three ships, the Thetis, the Bear, and the Alert, under
-the command of Commander Winfield S. Schley, of
-the United States Navy. They left St. John&rsquo;s on the
-12th of May, and, after the usual tribulations along
-the western coast of Greenland, reached the vicinity
-of Cape Sabine, and discovered the Greely party at
-Camp Clay, on Sunday, the 22d of June, seventy-three
-days after the death of Lieutenant Lockwood.
-The discovery was then made that, out of the twenty-five
-men connected with the Greely Expedition only
-seven were alive, viz., Lieutenant Greely, Brainard,
-Biederbick, Fredericks, Long, Connell, and Ellison.
-As soon as the survivors could be relieved and transferred
-to the ships, the remains of the dead were
-exhumed with care and taken to the ships for transportation
-to the United States, excepting the remains
-of Esquimaux Frederick, which were left at Disco.</p>
-<p>As the pictures presented by the survivors lying
-in their camp, dazed with suffering and surprise and
-a joy they could not manifest, and the incidents they
-subsequently narrated of intense suffering, can only
-prove heart-rending to the reader, they will not now
-be dwelt upon. The departure of the ships, with
-their strange list of dead and living passengers,
-seemed to enhance the gloom which filled the sky and
-rested upon the sea. Their condition was so deplorable,
-that a delay of a very few days would have left
-none to tell the tale of woe and suffering. At least
-two could not have lived twenty-four hours. That
-<span class="pb" id="Page_319">319</span>
-this time was gained, under the stimulus of the twenty-five
-thousand dollars reward, appears from an article
-written by an officer of the Relief Expedition and
-published in the &ldquo;Century&rdquo; of May, 1885, as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The reward of twenty-five thousand dollars that
-Congress had offered for the first information of
-Greely had incited the whalers to take risks that they
-otherwise would have shunned. They had expressed
-a determination to strive for it, and were ever on the
-alert for a chance to creep northward. The Relief
-Squadron was determined, on its part, that the whalers
-should not secure the first information, and were
-equally zealous in pushing northward. It was this
-rivalry (a friendly one, for our relations with the
-whaling-captains were of the pleasantest nature) that
-hurried us across Melville Bay and brought us together
-within sight of Cape York. It had been
-thought possible that Greely or an advance party
-might be there.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Mr. Ellis proposed in the last session of Congress
-that, as the reward had not been spent, yet had contributed
-to the rescue, it should be appropriated to
-building, at Washington, a monument to the dead.</p>
-<p>The temporary halt at Disco Harbor was saddened
-by the death of Ellison, after prolonged sufferings,
-as if his noble spirit was determined to join its departed
-comrades in their passage to the skies from
-that Northern Land of Desolation.</p>
-<p>In the official record of the Relief Expedition,
-Commander Schley makes an allusion to the important
-<span class="pb" id="Page_320">320</span>
-part taken by Lieutenant Lockwood in the Greely
-Expedition which should be repeated in this place.
-After submitting certain papers which had been found
-in a cairn at Breevort Island, he says: &ldquo;It was a
-wonderful story. It told how the expedition, during
-its two years at Lady Franklin Bay, had marked out
-the interior of Grinnell Land, and how Lockwood
-had followed the northern shore of Greenland, and
-had reclaimed for America the honor of &lsquo;the farthest
-north.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On Thursday, the 17th of July, the Relief Expedition
-arrived at St. John&rsquo;s, Newfoundland, where they
-were kindly welcomed, and the tidings of their arrival
-promptly telegraphed to the anxious multitudes in the
-United States. Complete arrangements were made
-for the continuous voyage of the living and the dead
-to their several homes.</p>
-<p>In a dispatch which the Secretary of the Navy sent
-to Commander Schley, on the day of his return, he
-said, &ldquo;Preserve tenderly the remains of the heroic
-dead,&rdquo; and that order was duly obeyed. They were
-placed in metallic caskets, and the squadron sailed
-from St. John&rsquo;s on the 26th of July, arriving at Portsmouth,
-New Hampshire, on the 2d of August. As
-the first duty after a battle is to bury the dead, it is
-to be regretted that this was not done before the display
-was made at Portsmouth. It was not thus that
-England received her victorious fleet from Trafalgar,
-bearing home the remains of the dead hero Nelson.
-The mutilated remains of the dead should first have
-been delivered over to the bleeding hearts that
-<span class="pb" id="Page_321">321</span>
-awaited them. While so many unurned corpses remained
-in the ships, the celebration was but a ghastly
-jubilee. Requiems should have been chanted before
-p&aelig;ans were sung. The only casket removed from the
-ships at Portsmouth was that containing the remains
-of Sergeant Jewell, who was a native of New Hampshire.
-The squadron now sailed for New York, and
-on its arrival, the 8th of August, was received with
-great enthusiasm. Here the remains of the dead
-were delivered to the custody of the army commander
-at Governor&rsquo;s Island, by whom the final dispositions
-were made. The remains of Lieutenant Lockwood
-were forwarded to Annapolis and placed under a military
-guard, in the church of St. Anne, where the
-young hero had been baptized, confirmed, and received
-his first communion. The funeral was of a military
-character, and the attendance was very large, comprehending
-all the naval, military, and civil organizations
-of the city. Recalling the words of the poet Whittier,
-many of the mourners present must have felt their
-special force, when he says:</p>
-<div class="verse">
-<p class="t0">&ldquo;I know not what the future hath</p>
-<p class="t">Of marvel or surprise,</p>
-<p class="t0">Assured alone that life and death</p>
-<p class="t"><i>His</i> mercy underlies.&rdquo;</p>
-</div>
-<p>The remains of the hero lie in the beautiful cemetery
-of the Naval Academy, overlooking the place of
-his birth and the scenes of his childhood. An appropriate
-tomb was erected over them, bearing this inscription:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_322">322</div>
-<p class="center">JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD,
-<br /><span class="smaller">LIEUTENANT UNITED STATES ARMY,</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">Born at Annapolis, Maryland</span>,
-<br />October 9, 1852,
-<br /><span class="sc">Died at Cape Sabine</span>,
-<br />April 9, 1884.</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="book">&ldquo;The sufferings of this present time are not worthy
-to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.&rdquo;</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>On the day that the rector of St. Anne&rsquo;s church,
-Rev. William S. Southgate, gave notice of the time
-of the burial, he made the following remarks:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;One of the truths of the Bible, taught us by the
-Church, the most difficult to receive and to hold practically,
-is that expressed in the words of the Collect
-for the last week: &lsquo;O God, whose never-failing providence
-ordereth all things both in heaven and on
-earth.&rsquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The difficulty arises from the fact that in so
-many cases we can not discover either the justice or
-the mercy or even the expediency of that ordering.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;And yet at times we get a glimpse of light that
-reveals much of the fitness and beauty of this divine
-ordering of events. Here is an example before us.
-There is a peculiar appropriateness in the ordering of
-events that brings James Booth Lockwood here to be
-buried. Born in this parish, baptized here, confirmed
-in St. Anne by Bishop Whittingham, April 19, 1868,
-he received his first communion at this altar on
-Christmas-day of the same year. The rector of the
-parish, who presented him for confirmation and administered
-<span class="pb" id="Page_323">323</span>
-to him the holy communion, has just been
-called suddenly to his rest. In the midst of untiring
-labors the call found them both at the post of duty,
-and both were taken away while in the performance
-of that duty. But there was something peculiarly
-sad in the circumstances and mode of young Lockwood&rsquo;s
-death&mdash;circumstances due partly to the nature
-of the work in which he was engaged, partly to the
-fault of others. But what matters it how or when he
-died, if found at Death&rsquo;s call doing the duty assigned
-to him?</p>
-<p>&ldquo;One of the earliest of the adventurers along this
-coast, then as little known to the world as the Arctic
-regions are now to us, when his little ship was overwhelmed
-by the stormy sea, comforted the frightened
-and trembling helmsman with the assuring words,
-&lsquo;My child, heaven is as near to us by sea as by land.&rsquo;
-And so what matters it where we die and how we die,
-so long as we are reconciled to God, and are faithfully
-fulfilling our calling? May God give us grace so to
-live that we may never be afraid to die in any place
-or in any manner!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>That the story and the fate of James B. Lockwood
-excited a profound sentiment of sorrow and admiration
-throughout the entire country was manifested
-in many ways, and a notice of some of them will
-form an appropriate conclusion to this <i>in-memoriam</i>
-volume. Among the first tributes of honor and affection
-was the following official order published by the
-colonel of his regiment, announcing his death to the
-military associates of the young soldier:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_324">324</div>
-<p class="review"><span class="center">[<span class="sc">Order, No. 46.</span>]</span>
-<span class="lr"><span class="sc">Headquarters Twenty-third Infantry,</span></span>
-<span class="lr"><span class="sc">Fort Wayne, Mich.</span>, <i>July 25, 1884</i>.</span></p>
-<p class="review">Another name is added to the list of our honored
-dead. The official announcement is received from the
-War Department of the death of First-Lieutenant
-James B. Lockwood, at Camp Clay, near Cape Sabine,
-Smith&rsquo;s Sound, Arctic regions, April 9, 1884. He
-was assigned to this regiment as second lieutenant,
-October 1, 1873, and promoted first lieutenant March
-15, 1883. He served with distinction throughout
-Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, the Indian Territory, and
-Colorado, always performing with zeal and thoroughness
-the various and complex duties that usually fall
-to the lot of the young officer. In 1881 he turned
-from the arduous duties and savage warfare of frontier
-life to face still greater hardship and danger, and
-finally to lay down his life in those frozen and inhospitable
-regions which have proved the sepulchre of so
-many heroes before him.</p>
-<p class="review">Lieutenant Lockwood was a young officer of great
-promise in his profession; of a noble and exalted character,
-his fine mind tended constantly to the investigation
-of scientific truths. When the privations, the
-suffering, and the achievements of the &ldquo;Lady Franklin
-Bay Expedition&rdquo; are fully related, higher authority
-will doubtless pay a more fitting tribute to the
-worth, the fortitude, and the matchless courage of an
-officer who, in Arctic exploration, has carried the
-American flag to a point in advance of that of any
-other nation.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_325">325</div>
-<p class="review">His reward is an imperishable fame, which he
-sought with even greater resolution than leads the
-soldier to the cannon&rsquo;s mouth. The pleasant smile
-and manly form of our comrade are lost to us forever,
-but his name and memory will be always green in our
-hearts.</p>
-<p class="review">Officers of the regiment will wear the usual badge
-of mourning for thirty days.</p>
-<p class="review">By order of Colonel <span class="sc">Black</span>:
-<span class="center"><span class="sc">T. G. M. Smith</span>,</span>
-<span class="center"><i>First Lieutenant and Adjutant Twenty-third Infantry.</i></span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<p class="tb">When the news of Lockwood&rsquo;s fate was known at
-Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, arrangements were at once
-made, by those who had known and loved him there,
-to erect a tablet to his memory in the handsome post
-chapel at that place. When completed it was placed
-in a conspicuous position, and bore the following inscription:</p>
-<p class="center"><span class="small"><span class="sc">In Memoriam</span></span>
-<br />JAMES B. LOCKWOOD,
-<br /><span class="smaller">FIRST LIEUTENANT TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY,
-<br />A MEMBER OF THE</span>
-<br /><span class="small"><span class="sc">Greely Polar Expedition</span>,
-<br /><span class="sc">Died at Cape Sabine, Grinnell Land</span>,
-<br />April 9, 1884.</span></p>
-<p class="tb">This tablet was erected chiefly at the expense of
-Lockwood&rsquo;s old regiment. To one of the officers General
-Lockwood presented a sword that had belonged to
-<span class="pb" id="Page_326">326</span>
-his son, and, in his acknowledgment, that officer made
-this remark: &ldquo;As a friend of your son, I shall take
-pride and comfort from having in my possession the
-sword of a friend, who lived so nobly and died so
-honorably. Should you desire it to come back to your
-family when I have joined your son, I hope you will
-tell me so, and I will provide accordingly.&rdquo; Among
-those who earnestly co-operated with this gentleman in
-erecting the tablet was one who wrote to his fellow-officer
-as follows: &ldquo;No two people, outside of Lockwood&rsquo;s
-own blood relations, loved him more than you
-and I. And yet I do not know that I am right in
-calling his end untimely. He died, as he had ever
-lived, in the discharge of his duty, and I imagine,
-when the records of the expedition become more
-known, it will be seen that his duty was well done
-to the end. He was a man, and has died like one.
-God grant that when our time comes it may find us,
-too, in the discharge of our duty!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>During Lieutenant Greely&rsquo;s sojourn in Portsmouth,
-when on his way home, and while yet too feeble to
-use the pen, he dictated the following letter to General
-Lockwood:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="review"><span class="lr"><span class="sc">Portsmouth, N. H.</span>, <i>August 9, 1884</i>.</span></p>
-<p class="review"><span class="sc">My dear General Lockwood</span>: Had I not seen
-Commander Sigsbee, and given to him such information
-as he wished, and as I knew would be most important
-to you in regard to your son, I should have
-attempted an earlier letter to you. I am still unable
-to write to you by my own hand. As I told Commander
-<span class="pb" id="Page_327">327</span>
-Sigsbee, James died from water around the
-heart, induced by insufficient nutrition. His last
-days were quiet and painless. He did his whole duty
-as a soldier and an officer. His loyalty to truth,
-fidelity, and zeal could always be relied upon by me.
-His unvarying kindness, his gentleness, his deep interest
-in and toward the men of the expedition indicated
-a nature thoroughly imbued with the essential
-and fundamental principles of Christianity, and won
-for him their good-will, confidence, and affection. I
-feel that you and Mrs. Lockwood may well be proud
-of such a son. His daily conversation during the past
-winter told us how much he loved his parents, and
-how deep and close were the bonds of affection which
-united him to his sisters and brother. He seemed to
-feel that he had not done full justice to the many and
-great advantages that you had given him, and hoped
-to make amends in the future. His innate modesty
-in this, as in other matters, I think did scant justice
-to his true merits. I write by Mrs. Greely&rsquo;s hand&mdash;she
-joins me in sympathy and condolence. I feel that
-this letter insufficiently informs you regarding James.
-From day to day he intended to write you, but delayed
-too long. His diary, in short-hand, was kept up, I
-believe, to the day preceding his death.
-<span class="center">Sincerely yours,</span>
-<span class="lr"><span class="sc">A. W. Greely</span>.</span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_328">328</div>
-<p>Another letter from Portsmouth, written by Sergeant
-D. L. Brainard in answer to some inquiries
-made by General Lockwood, was as follows:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="review"><span class="lr"><span class="sc">Portsmouth, N. H.</span>, <i>September 4, 1884</i>.</span></p>
-<p class="review"><i>General</i> <span class="sc">H. H. Lockwood</span>.</p>
-<p class="review"><span class="sc">Dear Sir</span>: Your letter of the 22d ult., requesting
-information of the missing effects of your dear
-son, which had been committed to my care, is just
-received. . . . The effects in question, excepting the
-ring and coins, I turned over to Major Greely before
-leaving this city in August. The two latter articles
-I afterward found and gave to Mrs. Peck, who, with
-her husband, called on me at the Parker House, in
-Boston. The setting of the ring, I am sorry to say,
-was not found after his death, although diligent search
-was made. He had spoken of it but a few days before
-his death, and expressed great concern for its safety.
-It was supposed to be suspended from his neck in a
-small parcel, but search revealed nothing. The compass
-was among the effects I transferred to Lieutenant
-Greely, as were also two pencils, his pipe, spoon, knife,
-etc. With reference to the inner life of your son, do
-not feel any concern. Although not an open professor
-of any particular creed, he followed closely the golden
-rule during my acquaintance with him. When I
-reach Washington I shall be glad to call on you. In
-the mean time I shall willingly answer any question
-with regard to his life in the frigid zone that you may
-desire to ask. Place no reliance on any of the adverse
-newspaper reports that are occasionally seen reflecting
-on his conduct; they are not worthy of a moment&rsquo;s
-thought. Hoping that the articles have reached you
-in safety ere this, I am, very sincerely yours,</p>
-<p class="review"><span class="lr"><span class="sc">D. L. Brainard</span>.</span></p>
-</blockquote>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_329">329</div>
-<p>Another and a very handsome letter sent to General
-Lockwood by an officer of the army, who had
-long known the son, was as follows:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p class="review"><span class="lr">&ldquo;<span class="sc">San Antonio, Fla.</span>, <i>July 25, 1884</i>.</span></p>
-<p class="review">&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear General</span>: The newspapers tardily
-convey to me the news of your son&rsquo;s heroic death. I
-can not express to you how much both my wife and
-myself were affected by this intelligence. I knew
-your son from his entry into the Twenty-third Infantry
-in 1873 until I was promoted to the Twenty-second
-in 1879, and formed so high an estimate of his
-sterling soldierly character that it is inexpressibly sad
-to think of his career being cut short at so early an
-age. But, though early, he has nevertheless left his
-mark on the scientific record of the country&mdash;a record
-which can never perish while the frozen North
-continues to hold the secrets he has more nearly
-penetrated than any other explorer of those regions.
-This must be, my dear general, some consolation to
-you, though I well know that it can not wholly atone
-for the loss of your noble son. But, as time passes,
-this reflection may soften your paternal grief.</p>
-<p class="review">&ldquo;A life-work need not extend to the allotted
-threescore years and ten. In the providence of God
-it often compasses a much smaller period of time;
-when it is accomplished, God calls the worker home.</p>
-<p class="review">&ldquo;Who shall measure the work your son accomplished
-in the examples he gave of fidelity to duty, of
-heroic fortitude? How many fainting souls in the
-future, reading of his devotion, will be strengthened
-<span class="pb" id="Page_330">330</span>
-to go forward in the paths marked out for them!
-That your grief may be in time assuaged by these reflections
-is the prayer devoutly offered by your sincere
-friend.&rdquo;</p>
-</blockquote>
-<p>Many private letters of condolence and sympathy
-were written to the parents of the deceased, by personal
-friends and others, some of which serve to illustrate
-the character of the departed. One of these
-friends wrote as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The tender regard and sincere love I had for
-James prompts me to write to you and express my
-heart-felt sorrow in losing him. We were dear friends
-for years, and a more upright and honorable man
-never lived, and our regiment has lost a member who
-can never be replaced, and the memory of him who
-died far away from us can never be forgotten.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In another letter a friend wrote as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Dr. B&mdash;&mdash;, U. S. A., one of James&rsquo;s most intimate
-and best friends, desires me to say that, of all the
-men he knew, James was to him far dearer than any
-other. As for myself, I shall always hold James dear
-to my heart, and hope some day, when all things pass
-away, to meet him in that happy land where our loved
-ones are gone.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In another letter occurs the following:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Lockwood was among the best young officers of
-the regiment. Very attentive to duty, and correct in
-habits, his promise of usefulness was unusually great.
-I hope that the knowledge of duty well performed,
-and under the most trying circumstances, may in
-some degree ameliorate your great grief.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_331">331</div>
-<p>Another friend writes:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I but echo the feelings of all in the Twenty-third
-Infantry who knew your son, in saying that
-your great loss is partly theirs. His kindly and generous
-impulses, his sterling integrity, and his thoroughness
-as an officer and a gentleman, secured and retained
-for him the substantial good-will and friendship of
-all. And while we may grieve at the mournful end
-of his career, yet this feeling is somewhat neutralized
-in the melancholy satisfaction of knowing that he
-died on the field of honor.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In another letter from one who had been in the
-army and on the staff of General Lockwood at Accomac,
-Va., occurs the following most admirable and
-appropriate passage: &ldquo;I do believe, dear general,
-that all is well with your son. Standing where no
-human footstep had ever trod before, seeing what no
-eye had ever before beheld, alone amid the awful silence
-of that frozen deep&mdash;alone with God&mdash;there
-must have been communings with the Holy One of
-more import to James than all else besides. And at
-the last day you will again see your son in glory, wearing
-the crown of those made perfect through suffering.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Besides the many letters written by personal
-friends, there were others from perfect strangers, who
-had either served under General Lockwood in the
-army, or been especially interested in the fate of the
-youthful hero.</p>
-<p>Among the strangers who wrote letters of condolence
-was the Rev. William E. Griffis, D. D., of
-<span class="pb" id="Page_332">332</span>
-Schenectady, N. Y., who had preached a sermon on
-the conquests of peace, and in which he made the
-following allusion to Lieutenant Lockwood: &ldquo;The
-laurels that repose on the memory of Lieutenant
-Lockwood are better than battle-honors or wreaths
-after bloody victories.&rdquo; It was his opinion that the
-Arctic secret would yet be won; and that Lockwood
-and his brother heroes were doing the will of God as
-explorers in the far North.</p>
-<p>On the 20th of July, 1884, the Rev. Dr. John S.
-Lindsay, of St. John&rsquo;s Church, in Georgetown, delivered
-a sermon in which he alluded to the return of
-the Greely Expedition, and especially to Lieutenant
-Lockwood, who had been one of his parishioners.
-He said: &ldquo;Just a few days ago we were plunged
-into sorrow by the news that among the living of the
-latest Arctic expedition who had been rescued was
-<i>not</i> our young townsman, the son of one of the most
-honored members of this congregation; the dispatch
-that brought the glad intelligence that six were saved
-was soon followed by the sad announcement that he,
-vigorous as he was, had sunk under the rigors of the
-climate, worn out by work and want. Has he left
-no lesson for you and me, for all his fellow-men?
-Think of his ceaseless endeavor, of the courage and
-devotion with which he bore the brunt of the exploration,
-and wore away his own strength in seeking
-food for his comrades and himself! See him, with
-a single companion, penetrating nearer to the north
-pole than any other man had ever gone, however daring!
-When he had done his whole duty, more than
-had ever been done before, he lies down to rest&mdash;to
-die.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_333">333</div>
-<div class="img" id="fig6">
-<img src="images/map_lr.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="557" />
-<p class="caption">THE GREELY EXPEDITION.
-<br />MAP SHOWING THE EXPLORATIONS BY
-<br />LIEUT. J.B. LOCKWOOD, INFT<sup>Y</sup>. A. S. O.
-<br />1882-1883<br /><a class="ab" href="images/map_hr.jpg">High-resolution Map</a></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_334">334</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Most fittingly did his brother explorers give his
-name to this spot, the farthest land north trod by
-human foot. Lockwood Island shall stand, as long as
-the earth endures, amid the awful wastes and silence
-of these mysterious regions, as the monument of this
-brave young soldier. A child of the Church, the subject
-of ceaseless prayer&mdash;of yours, of mine, of his family&mdash;we
-trust that his spirit, chastened and exalted
-by the hardships he endured, winged its flight from
-the inhospitable land that refused sustenance to his
-body, and now rests and waits in the paradise of God.
-We mingle our tears with his father&rsquo;s and his mother&rsquo;s,
-and with those of all who loved him; but out of the
-deep we rejoice in the record he has left behind of devotion
-to duty even unto death. Surely no life is
-short in which so much is done, or in vain that gives
-such instruction and such inspiration to other lives.
-In conclusion, let us not cast away our faith in God,
-because of the mysteries and trials and sufferings of
-life.&rdquo;</p>
-<h2 id="c20">Footnotes</h2>
-<div class="fnblock"><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_1" href="#fr_1">[1]</a>A suburb of Annapolis.
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">THE END.</span></p>
-<h2 id="c21">Transcriber&rsquo;s Notes</h2>
-<ul><li>Retained the copyright notice from the printed edition (although this book is in the public domain.)</li>
-<li>Silently corrected a few palpable typos.</li>
-<li>In the text versions only, delimited italicized text in _underscores_.</li>
-<li>In the table of distances travelled, abbreviated column headings to save space, and added a key to the abbreviations.</li>
-<li>Re-ordered the table of illustrations to match the order of illustrations in the text.</li></ul>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
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