RESCUE OF GREELY PARTY 209 



silent witness to the daily increasing weakness of the little band of survivors ; 

 the deserted winter quarters in the hollow below, with its broken wall invaded 

 by the water from the melting snow and ice above it ; the dead bodies of two 

 companions stretched on the ice-foot tha^ remained; the wretched apology for 

 cooking utensils improvised by them in their sore distress, hardly deserving the 

 name ; the scattered and worn-out clothes and sleeping bags of the dead ; the 

 absence of all food save a few cupfuls of boiled seal-skin scraps ; the wild and 

 weird scene of snow, ice, and glaciers overlooking and overhanging this des- 

 olate camp, completed a picture as startling as it was impressive. I hope never 

 again in my life to look upon such wretchedness and such destitution. The 

 picture was more startling and more deeply pathetic than I had ever dreamed 

 could be possible. In beholding it I stood for a moment almost unmanned, and 

 then realized that if the expedition had demonstrated any one thing more than 

 another it was that an hour had its value to at least one of that party. Stouter 

 hearts than mine felt full of sorrow. Eyes that had not wept for years were 

 moistened with tears in the solemnity of that precious hour in the lives of that 

 heroic little band of sufferers, until this moment so hopeless and helpless. 



"In preparing the bodies of the dead for transportation in alcohol to St. 

 John's, it was found that six of them— Lieutenant Kislingbury, Sergeants 

 Jewell and Ralston, Privates Whistler, Henry, and Ellis— had been cut, and 

 the fleshy parts removed to a greater or less extent. All other bodies were 

 found intact. When the bodies of the dead were exposed in preparing them 

 the identification was found complete. Some of them could be recognized by 

 aid of a picture taken with us from home ; others, whose features had decayed, 

 were identified by other characteristics. I am therefore satisfied that no mis- 

 take was made in this important matter, which so impressed us from the 

 beginning." 



The ships reached St. John's, N. R, July 17. From that point Schley 

 telegraphed the Secretary of the Navy of his success, and told other details of 

 the voyage as follows : 



"The channel between Cape Sabine and Littleton Island did not close, on 

 account of violent gales, all winter, so that 240 rations at the latter point could 

 not be reached. All of Greely's records and all the instruments brought by him 

 from Fort Conger are recovered and are on board. From Hare Island to 

 Smith's Sound I had a constant and furious struggle with ice in impassable 

 floes. The solid barriers were overcome by watchfulness and patience. No 

 opportunity to advance a mile escaped me, and for several hundred miles the 



