BURIAL OF SONNTAG. 275 



nah saved it by a dexterous movement which could 

 have been performed with safety only by one familiar, 

 by long experience, with such dangers and expe- 

 dients. 



The body of our late comrade was placed in the 

 observatory, where a few weeks before his fine mind 

 had been intent upon those pursuits which were the 

 delight of his life ; and on the little staff which sur- 

 mounted the building the flag was raised at half-mast. 



The preparations for the funeral were conducted 

 with fitting solemnity. A neat coffin was made under 

 the supervision of Mr. McCormick, and the body hav- 

 ing been placed therein with every degree of care, it 

 was, on the second day after the return of Mr. Dodge, 

 brought outside and covered with the flag, and then, 

 followed by the entire ship's company, in solemn pro- 

 cession, it was borne by four of the sorrowing mess- 

 mates of the deceased to the grave which had, with 

 much difficulty, been dug in the frozen terrace. As 

 it lay in its last cold resting-place, I read over the 

 body the burial-service, and the grave was then closed. 

 Above it we afterward built, with stones, a neatly 

 shaped mound, and marked the head with a chiseled 

 slab, bearing this inscription : — 



t 



AUGUST SONNTAG. 



Died 



December, 1860, 



AGED 28 YEARS. 



And here in the drear solitude of the Arctic desert 

 our comrade sleeps the sleep that knows no waking 

 in this troubled world, — where no loving hands can 



