Five Members of the Grinnell Expedition
Bonsall Brooks Dr. Kane Dr. Hayes Ohlsen
“For eighty-four days,” says Kane, “we had lived in the open air. Our habits were hard and weather-worn. We could not remain within the four walls of a house without a distressing sense of suffocation. But we drank coffee that night before many a hospitable threshold, and listened again and again to the hymn of welcome, which, sung by many voices, greeted our deliverance.”
The Danish vessel was not ready for her homeward journey till the 4th of September. On the 6th, Dr. Kane and his party left Upernavik, in the Mariane, whose captain had promised to convey them to the Shetland Islands; on the 11th they touched at Godhaven, the inspectorate of North Greenland, and later at Disco, where the Mariane remained a few days.
As early as February 3, 1855, a resolution had passed Congress authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to despatch a suitable steamer and tender for the relief of Dr. Kane. The Release and Arctic were accordingly equipped and put in command of Lieutenant Hartstein, accompanied by a brother of Dr. Kane. By July 5, the relief expedition had reached Lievely, Isle of Disco, Greenland, and from this point Lieutenant Hartstein says in a letter to the Secretary of the Navy: “To avoid further risk of human life, in a search so extremely hazardous, I would suggest the impropriety of making any efforts to relieve us if we should not return; feeling confident that we shall be able to accomplish all necessary for our own release, under the most extraordinary circumstances.”
Having forced a passage through the closely packed ice into the north water, they proceeded to examine the coast from Cape York to Wolstenholme Island, also Cape Alexander and Sutherland Island.
A few stones heaped together near Point Pellam gave assurance of Kane’s having been there, but no other clew was secured. Taking a retrograde course, they examined Cape Hatherton and Littleton Island, finally reaching a point some fifteen miles northwest of Cape Alexander. Here they were surprised to fall in with some Eskimos, in whose possession were found certain articles known to have belonged to Dr. Kane. After diligent inquiries, they learned of the abandonment of the ship and the retreat to the south of Dr. Kane’s party.
RETREAT AND RESCUE