ELISHA KENT KANE. 9/7 



great financier of the Revolution.* On the smooth 

 ice in this vicinity the party advanced at the rate of 

 six miles per hour. 



Kennedy Channel here grew narrower, but after- 

 ward it widened again. Broken ice in large masses 

 was floating in it ; but there were passages fifteen 







miles in width, which remained perfectly clear. Six 

 miles inward from the channel, mountains rose to 

 the view. On the 22d of June they encamped, after 

 having travelled forty-eight miles in a direct line. 

 They were still upon the shores of the channel. 

 They could plainly see the opposite coast, which 

 appeared precipitous and surmounted with sugar- 

 loaf shaped mountains. At this part of their journey 

 they encountered a Polar bear, with her cub. A 

 desperate fight ensued, in which the singular in- 

 stincts of nature were strikingly illustrated by the 

 desperate efforts made by the poor brute to protect 

 her helpless offspring. Both were slain. A shallow 

 bay covered with ice was then crossed. They passed 

 several islands which lay in the channel, which they 

 named after Sir John Franklin and Captain Crozier. 

 The cliffs which here constituted the shore of the 

 channel were very high, towering at least two thou- 

 sand feet above its surface. The party attempted to 



* An intimate friend of one of the ancestors of Dr. Kane : vidt 

 chapter first, of this volume. 



