92 ELISHA KENT KANE. 



buffalo-skin, and could only be released by cutting 

 it. At last, after a perilous march of many hours, 

 the whole party reached the brig alive ; but some 

 of the men had become delirious, some suffered 

 from strahismus and blindness, two were afterward 

 compelled to undergo amputation of the toes, and 

 two others eventually died, in consequence of their 

 terrible exposure. Very few adventures connected 

 with the whole range of Arctic exploration surpass 

 the experiences of this remarkable expedition; or 

 exhibit a greater power of physical endurance or 

 mental strength than were displayed by Dr. Kane 

 and some of his associates. 



On the 25th of April another sledge-journey was 

 undertaken. The short season of travel in that 

 frozen zone would soon be terminated ; and it was 

 necessary to make good use of the transient interval 

 that remained. This journey was intended to reach 

 the extreme limits of the shore of Greenland, and to 

 explore, if possible, the mysteries which lay beyond 

 the termination of the terra firma. The line of travel 

 pursued was in accordance with this purpose. In 

 the progress of this expedition Dr. Kane, among 

 other interesting observations, discovered the Great 

 Humboldt Glacier. This proved to be one of the 

 most magnificent and sublime objects in nature. It 

 presents a shining wall of ice three hundred feet in 



