RESCUE OF G RE ELY PARTY 207 



Green and Ames; his jaws had dropped, his heart was barely pulsating, and 

 his body temperature very low. 



"This tender scene of a helpless, almost famished, officer consoling a dying 

 companion, was in itself one that brought tears to the eyes of the strongest 

 and stoutest of those who stood about them on the merciful errand of relief, 



"Sergeants Brainerd and Fredericks and Hospital-Steward Bierderbick 

 were extremely weak and hardly able to stand ; they were no longer able to 

 venture away from their camp to seek food, nor to prepare the simple diet of 

 boiled seal-skin, nor to collect lichens, nor to catch shrimps, upon which they 

 had to depend to a great extent to sustain life. Their faces, hands, and 

 limbs were swollen to such an extent that they could not be recognized. This 

 indicated that the entire party had but a short lease of life — probably not 

 more than forty-eight hours at most. This fact was recognized by them all, 

 and had come to them from their experience during that long and desolate 

 winter in watching their dying companions, as one after another passed 

 away from among them forever. 



"Poor Sergeant Elison w^as found in his sleeping bag, where he had lain 

 helpless and hopeless for months, with hands and feet frozen off. Strapped 

 to one of the stumps was found a spoon, which some companion had secured 

 there to enable him to feed himself. His physical condition otherwise appeared 

 to be the best of any of the survivors, and this may be attributed to the fact 

 that each of his companions had doled out *to him from their small allowance 

 of food something to help him, on account of his complete helplessness to 

 add anything to his own by hunting about the rocks for lichens or shrimps. 

 He suffered no waste of strength by exertion incident thereto. This care of 

 Elison was such as only brave and generous men, suffering with each other 

 under the most desperate circumstances, could think of. 



"Sergeant Long was very much reduced, though in somewhat better con- 

 dition than some of the others. His office of hunter for the starving party 

 had made it necessary to increase slightly his pittance of food to maintain his 

 strength, that he might continue the battle for food and life to the helpless. 

 In his case, however, the effect of this continued effort had told its story in 

 his wasted form. Shorter and shorter journeys were made in good weather, 

 while in the frequent bad weather of that region his strength was so much 

 impaired that when the joyful signal whistle was heard he had only enough 

 left to stagger out to the rocks overlooking the water to see if the signal had 

 proceeded from ships in sight. His first visit was a bitter disappointment, 



