102 ELISHA KENT KANE. 



attack upon a walrus, or the capture of a seal, con- 

 stituted the chief external incidents of his exile. 

 The majority of the men became afflicted with 

 disease ; some were confined to their berths with 

 lameness ; stiff joints, sore gums, purpuric blotches, 

 severe scurvy, swelled limbs, and frozen feet, were 

 the particular afflictions to which they were sub- 

 jected. . This state of things continued until the 

 beginning of April ; and during the long intervening 

 interval the chief labor of Dr. Kane was devoted to 

 the preservation of his life and that of his associates. 

 "With the approach of spring their attention was 

 naturally directed to their preparations for escape 

 and their return to the confines of civilization. 

 Daylight slowly began to dawn. One of the most 

 exciting incidents of this period was the recapture 

 of the deserter Godfrey. He had left the brig and 

 wandered to the small Esquimaux settlement termed 

 Etah, on Hartstene Bay, eighty miles distant. With 

 his usual determination, Dr. Kane made the journey 

 thither with a dog-sledge, and on his arrival boldly 

 approached, arrested, and mastered the offender, and 

 compelled him to return with him to the vessel. This 

 act, as much as some of the daring and notorious 

 incidents of his youth and early manhood, evinced 

 the unusual intrepidity of his character. 



Before commencing his return to the United States 



