130 . ELISHA KENT KANE. 



He delineated nearly a thousand miles of coast-line, 

 to accomplish which result he journeyed two thou- 

 sand miles either on foot, or on sledges drawn by 

 dogs. (6.) The expedition also discovered the Polar 

 Sea, which Captain Inglefield supposed he had also 

 previously seen, as asserted in his so-called "Dip 

 into the Polar Basin;" but which flattering idea 

 was probably a delusion.* The discovery of this 

 singular phenomenon by Dr. Kane's expedition 

 rests not upon the authority of the commander, but 

 on that of Morton. 



After having completed his second narrative for 

 the press, Dr. Kane's health was so much impaired 

 that he felt the necessity of trying the recuperative 

 effect of travel. He sailed for England in October, 

 1856. During the passage he became worse. After 

 a voyage of ordinary duration, he reached Liverpool. 

 Here he visited Mrs. Franklin, the devoted wife of 

 the heroic navigator, the British Admiralty, and 

 the Eoyal Geographical Society ; and he was every- 

 where received with the cordial applause and dis- 

 tinction which were due to his character and ser- 

 vices. But he quickly discovered that the foggy 

 atmosphere of London, and its reeking miasmata, 



* See " A Summer's Search for Sir John Franklin, with a Dip into 

 the Polar Basin," by Commander E. A. Inglefield, in the steamer 

 Isabel. London, 1853. 



