40 ELISIIA KENT KANE. 



five tons' burden. Notwithstanding their diminu 

 tive size, they were admirably adapted to the pur 

 poses, the vicissitudes, and the hardships of a cruise 

 in the Polar clime ; for they had been constructed 

 with special reference to an extreme power of resist- 

 ance. Their hulls may be said to have been double, 

 and were inwardly braced and clamped with masses 

 of strong timber, which diverged and crossed each 

 other in various directions throughout their inte- 

 riors. The liberality of Mr. Grinnell, of New York, 

 had also been exhibited in the lavish manner in 

 which the appointments and equipments of the 

 expedition had been furnished. 



The crews of the two brigs were man-of-war's 

 men, who had been selected with special reference 

 to their familiarity with the most difficult and labo- 

 rious branches of the service ; and they numbered, 

 with the officers, thirty-three men. Dr. Kane held 

 the post of passed assistant surgeon in the Advance. 

 On the 22d of May the vessels sailed from the port 

 of New York, and glided down the placid waters 

 of that magnificent bay, hurried forward by the 

 vigorous and untiring power of a steam-tug. Soon 

 the crowded edifices and lofty turrets of the me- 

 tropolis faded from their receding view; and by 

 the time the shadows of evening descended upon 

 the diversified scene of rolling billow and verdant 



