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Transcriber Note


Text emphasis is denoted by _Italics_ and =Bold=.





[Illustration: The Far North.--_Page 67._
(_Frontispiece._)]




                             THE FAR NORTH:

                             EXPLORATIONS IN

                           THE ARCTIC REGIONS.


                                   BY


                         ELISHA KENT KANE, M.D.,

 COMMANDER, SECOND "GRINNELL" EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.


                               EDINBURGH:

                         WILLIAM P. NIMMO & CO.

                                  1879.


                               EDINBURGH:

                    PRINTED BY M'FARLANE AND ERSKINE,

                            ST JAMES SQUARE.




PREFACE.


In May 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England with the ships
_Erebus_ and _Terror_, on an expedition to attempt the discovery of a
"North-West Passage," or water communication between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans, to the North of the American Continent. No intelligence
was received from him after the year following.

Numerous expeditions were fitted out and despatched in search of Franklin
and his brave crew, both from this country and from America. In 1854, Dr
Rae returned with information that the Esquimaux had reported having seen
the bodies of "forty white men," near Great Fish River, in the spring of
1850. This intelligence was not considered trustworthy, and Lady Franklin
fitted out a private expedition, under the command of Captain M'Clintock,
who sailed from Aberdeen in the steam-yacht _Fox_, July 1857. He returned
in 1859 with indisputable proofs of the death of Franklin, and the fate
of the expedition under his command,--full details of which he afterwards
published.[A]

[A] A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his
Companions. By Captain F. L. M'Clintock, R.N., LL.D. 8vo 1859.

The present volume is an epitome of "Arctic Explorations,"[B] an official
account of the Second "Grinnell" Expedition in search of Sir John
Franklin,--the First Grinnell Expedition having been dispatched in 1850
under Lieutenant De Haven, with Dr Kane as surgeon. These expeditions
were fitted out at New York, at the expense of a wealthy and generous
merchant of that city, named Grinnell, and Mr Peabody, the eminent
American resident in London, whose munificence and liberality are now so
well known in this country. In the Second Expedition, the brig _Advance_
was placed under the command of Dr Elisha Kent Kane, assistant-surgeon,
U.S.N., a gentleman well qualified, from previous experience, to
undertake such an important duty.

[B] Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition In Search of Sir
John Franklin, 1853-55. By Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.N. 2 vols 8vo.
1856.

Dr Kane was born at Philadelphia in 1822, and was educated at the
Medical College of Pennsylvania. In 1843 he accompanied the embassy
to China, and for some time travelled in the interior of India. He
also explored the Nile as far as the frontiers of Nubia, Returning to
America, he afterwards visited the slave-coasts of Africa. He served in
the U.S. army for a short period, and underwent many hardships during
the Mexican campaign. In 1853 he was appointed to the command of the
Arctic Expedition, a detailed narrative of which is contained in the
present volume. Dr Kane died at Havannah in 1857, at the early age of
thirty-five.




CONTENTS.


                                                                    PAGE
  Chap.     I.  Organization--New York to the North Water,             9

  Chap.    II.  The North Water to the Wintering Ground,              18

  Chap.   III.  Our First Walk Out--The Depôt Party,                  34

  Chap.    IV.  Domestic Troubles--Return of the Depôt Party,         43

  Chap.     V.  Our First Winter,                                     50

  Chap.    VI.  An Anxious Search,                                    60

  Chap.   VII.  The First Strange Faces--The Esquimaux,               74

  Chap.  VIII.  A new Exploration--Return of Spring,                  83

  Chap.    IX.  Advent of the Second Year,                            93

  Chap.     X.  The North-East Party,                                100

  Chap.    XI.  Attempt to Reach Beechy Island,                      113

  Chap.   XII.  The Second Winter--Departure of half of the Crew,    124

  Chap.  XIII.  Negotiations with the Esquimaux,                     138

  Chap.   XIV.  The Esquimaux Village--A Walrus Hunt,                150

  Chap.    XV.  The Coming Winter,                                   157

  Chap.   XVI.  Preparation for Leaving the Brig,                    168

  Chap.  XVII.  Farewell to the "Advance,"                           181

  Chap. XVIII.  The March and its Incidents,                         191

  Chap.   XIX.  Our March over Land and Sea