232 THE SEA. 



The Arctic medal was awarded to all the officers and crew of the Fox, and one of the 

 first uses made by the men of their pay was to purchase for Captain M'Clintock a hand- 

 some gold chronometer. That brave and successful explorer was deservedly feted and 

 honoured wherever he went, and, as most readers are aware, was subsequently knighted. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



S MEMORABLE EXPEDITION. 



Dr. Kane's Expedition His short but eventful Career Departure of the A dvance Dangers of the Voyage Grinding Ice 

 Among the Bergs A Close Shave Nippings The Brig towed from the Ice-beach Smith's Sound Renssclacr Harbour 

 Winter Quarters Return of an Exploring Party Fearful Sufferings To the Rescue -Saved Curious Effects of 

 Intense Cold. 



ALTHOUGH the expedition about to be described left the United States in 1852 several 

 years before M'ClintocVs memorable voyage and although it was organised especially 

 for the Franklin search, its consideration has been deferred till now, in order not to inter- 

 fere with the narrative of the discoveries relative to the lost expedition. Dr. Kane was 

 not, indeed, to share with Rae and M'Clintock the honour of determining the fate of 

 Franklin and his brave companions, but he was, and long must be, destined to hold a 

 foremost place among the great Arctic explorers of all ages, while his work is one of the 

 classics of Arctic literature.* 



Dr. Kane was in the field of action he eventually chose one of the most ardent and 

 enthusiastic workers; indeed, the untiring energy and perseverance with which he laboured 

 in the face of all difficulties entitle him to be considered a model explorer. His short life 

 had been full of adventure. Born on February 3rd, 1820, he became at a very early age 

 an assistant-surgeon in the United States navy, and visited most parts of the world, in- 

 cluding China, India, Ceylon, and the coasts of Africa. At a station of the latter he was 

 stricken down with " coast fever/' and never entirely recovered from the effects. He was 

 engaged in the Mexican war with the United States, and succeeded in passing through 

 the enemy's lines with an oral despatch to the American head-quarters, when several 

 others had failed. On the voyage from New Orleans to Mexico he was shipwrecked, 

 and was afterwards laid low with typhus fever in the latter country. His first visit to 

 the Arctic was, as already mentioned, in company with Lieutenant De Haven. He died 

 at Havana, shortly after his return from the expedition we are about to record. His slight 

 frame had been too severely tested; the flesh was weaker than the spirit; and at the early 

 age of thirty-seven he passed away, leaving behind a reputation scarcely second to that 

 of any Arctic explorer. Ambitious always, he was nevertheless one of the most thoughtful 

 and humane of commanders. When his men were almost starving, he travelled, sometimes 

 alone, long distances on the ice and snow for succour and relief ; when nearly every member 



* " Arctic Explorations in the Years 1853, '54, '55," by Elisha Kent Kane, M.D., U.S.N. 



