CHAPTER XXVI. 



THE POLAHIS ADRIFT. LEAKS THAT DEFY THE PUMPS. DETERMIKATIGW 

 TO RUN HER AGROUND. SHE REACHES LIFE-BDAT COVE. BEACHED 

 ON LITTLETON ISLAND. HOUSE FOR WINTER QUARTERS BUILT. A 

 PARTY OF ESQUIMAUX RENDER INVALUABLE HELP. SPRING AP- 

 PROACHES, AND Two BOATS ARE CONSTRUCTED OUT OF TIMBERS FROM 

 THE POLARIS. WITH THE OPENING WEATHER, THE SHIPWRECKED 

 PARTY EMBARK AND PROCEED SOUTHWARD. PLENTY OF PROVISIONS, 

 PLENTY OF PERIL, AND PLENTY OF PERSEVERANCE. JUST AT THE 

 CB.ISIS, A WHALER RESCUES THE ENTIRE PARTY, AND CARRIES THEM 

 TO DUNDEE. THEY SAIL FOR THE UNITED STATES. ARRIVE IN 

 SAFETY. CAPT. MARKHAM'S DISCOVERIES. 



LEAVING Capt. Tyson and his eighteen " ice-raft " com- 

 panions thus in perfect safety from the perils of the. deep 

 as well as from those of hunger and cold, we must ask our 

 readers to return with us to the deck of the ill-fated Po- 

 laris, We left her on the night of the 15th of October, 

 1872, in the midst of a fearful gale, with the ice, in fields, 

 floes and mountain bergs, all about her, threatening to 

 crush her in its driftings, to and fro, with the storm. 

 After the ice-berg had splintered the field to which she 

 had been fast, and set her adrift, she became a prey to the 

 wild wind, which carried her rapidly whither it would, a 

 mere toy in its mighty rage. To add to the horrors of 

 the situation, it was found that the ice had opened several 

 places in her hull, through which the water was pouring 

 with terrible rapidity. Anxiety for the nineteen souls 

 adrift on the " ice-raft " for a time blinded those on board 

 to their own perilous condition, and an anxious watch was 

 kept for them, the best "look-out" being detailed, and the 

 rest straining their eyes in unavailing endeavors to dis- 

 cover the whereabouts <*f their late ship-mates. Soon, 



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