It was arranged that two ships were to go to Lady Franklin Bay in the summer of 1883 to bring back the explorers. These ships were to be the steam whaler Proteus and the United States gunboat Yantic, commanded by Lieutenant E.A. Garlington; but the Proteus, when near Cape Sabine and before she had landed her supplies, was crushed by the ice and sunk. With great difficulty, Garlington and his men escaped from the wreck in small boats and made their way to Upernavik, where they had left the Yantic. The party then returned to the United States, without having left an ounce of supplies at Lady Franklin Bay, where Greely expected to find all he needed on his return.
Now let us follow the exploring party under Greely which left St. John's, Newfoundland, July 7, 1881, in the Proteus, that was afterward lost. Icebergs were soon encountered, but seven hundred miles were passed without any land appearing. The days had lengthened, light appearing shortly after midnight and lasting until ten o'clock the succeeding night, but the fog was dense and all-pervading. On July 16th, the Proteus was steaming cautiously through the mist, when the icy coast of Disco Island, several hundred feet in height, loomed up directly ahead.
The most interesting sight was a vast iceberg in two parts, joined by an immense overhanging arch, under which it would have been easy for the ship to sail. The captain was too wise to make any such attempt. He steamed to one side of it, and, when some distance beyond, fired a signal gun for a pilot. The report was followed by a thunderous rumbling, and, looking back, the crew saw the vast arch, weighing thousands of tons, descend to the water with a crash that caused the steamer to rock to and fro for several minutes. Had she been caught beneath the mass, she would have been crushed like a tiny insect.
A landing was made at the settlement of Disco. In this squalid town all the dwellings were mere huts, with the exception of those of the inspector and governor. It was a strange sight to find in one of these dwellings in the North a piano, billiard table, carpets, and many of the luxuries of civilized life. The visitors were treated with the utmost hospitality and took part in a dance in progress.
Returning to the Proteus the party steamed through the fog to Upernavik, which was reached on the 23d of July. They were never out of sight of icebergs, but they caused no trouble, and were easily avoided. By means of the steam launch, several men made a passage through inner waters to Proven, a sparse settlement, where they procured some clothing suitable for the high latitudes.
These settlements, far beyond the Arctic Circle, belong to Denmark, which exercises a nominal control over them. One of the industries of Proven is the furnishing of supplies to Arctic explorers. A liberal quantity of fresh food was secured, beside two native guides and thirty-two Eskemo dogs. It was near here that McClintock, the explorer, was frozen in for an entire year; but the weather continued unusually mild. A mountainous iceberg while drifting slowly with the current sloughed off so much from one side that its centre of gravity was displaced and the mountain of ice turned a complete somersault before it settled to rest.
There is hardly any limit to the time in which provisions can be preserved in the polar regions. A cache was found among the Gary Islands which had been left by Sir George Nares years before, and nearly all was in as good condition as when placed there. One of the strange phenomena of the Arctic regions is the red snow, mentioned by Sir John Ross, which was seen by the Greely party. This color is found to be due to myriads of tiny plants deposited on the crust. That most eminent botanist, Robert Brown, subjected it to careful examination and pronounced it to be a unicellular plant of the order Algæ, and Dr. Greville, of Edinburgh, gave it its name (Protococcus nivalis), by which it is now known to the scientific world.
The steamer halted at Littleton Island on the 2d of August. A number of articles were found at "Life-Boat Cove," that had been left by the Polaris expedition in 1873. A quantity of coal was unloaded here to be taken aboard on the return.
Steaming up Kennedy Channel, a deposit of provisions was made near Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay. A short distance north, an immense ice pack stopped the ship which repeatedly tried in vain to butt its way through. It was compelled to drift with the pack until the 11th of August, when an opening appeared and the Proteus forced a passage to Bellot Island, at the entrance to Discovery Harbor.
AT LADY FRANKLIN BAY.