144 A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY 
serious apprehensions for the safety of the two 
remaining persons of the party who were yet 
absent. As it was evident, from the report of those 
who returned, that the others had lost their way, 
we commenced immediately to fire guns, set off 
rockets, and burn blue lights, in order to direct 
them towards the ships. About a quarter past 
seven one of them arrived, but he was in such 
a state of insensibility, that we could not obtain 
any correct information from him respecting the 
other man, any further than that they parted about 
an hour before he came on board. One of his 
hands was very much frost-bitten, and he was 
altogether in such a state of pain, stupor, and 
confusion, that his answers to the questions 
put to him were so incoherent, that nothing could 
be learnt from him. It may easily be conceived, 
then, that if we were apprehensive before, we had 
double reason to be so now ; for even the first two 
of the party that returned were very much ex- 
hausted, and, as to the person just mentioned, it is 
very clear that he could not have held out much 
longer, as both his body and mind had suffered so 
very considerably from the severity of the weather. 
Inauspicious, however, as these circumstances 
were, we had strong hopes that, as the person who 
last returned had only parted with him who was 
yet absent, about an hour before, he could not be 
far off; and, in order that no means might be left 
untried that could be deemed likely to direct him 
towards the ship, poles were set up, with lanthorns 
on their top, at different places, on the highest parts 
