FAREWELL TO THE BRIG. 247 



lying sick at Etah, and that he himself intended to settle down among the Esquimaux. 

 Both Bonsall and Kane were at this time hardly able to w r alk, while the rest, thirteen 

 in all, were down with the scurvy. Shots were fired at him to make him change his 

 mind, but he again escaped, and this circumstance, with Hans' continued absence, 

 naturally caused the commander much anxiety. Kane, though weak and dispirited, 

 determined to go in search of both. The sequel was, that disguising himself as an 

 Esquimaux, ho succeeded in deceiving the deserter when he arrived at the village, and 

 handcuffing him made him yield unconditionally ; he returned to the brig as a prisoner. 

 Hans, however, had been really ill. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



KANE'S EXPEDITION (ci.nc1nde(T). 



A Sad Entrv Farewell to the Brig Departure for the South Death of Ohlsen Difficult Travelling The Open Water 

 The Esquimaux of Etah A Terrible Gale Among the broken Floes A Greenland Oasis The Ice Cliff Eggs by 

 the Hundred An Anxious Moment A Savage Feast The First Sign of Civilisation Return to the Settlements- 

 Home once more. 



KANE had now been two years in the arctic regions, and the day of release, so far 

 at least as their little brig was concerned, seemed as far off as ever. Nearly all the 

 men were invalids, and it took all the doctor's unremitting attention to keep them from 

 utter despondency; others, again, wanted only strength to become mutinous. Kane writes 

 at the beginning of March that his journal " is little else than a chronicle of suffer- 

 ings." Brooks, his first officer, " as stalwart a man-o'-war's-man as ever faced an enemy," 

 burst into tears when he first saw himself in the glass. On the 4th their last remnant of 

 fresh meat had been doled out, and the region about their harbour ceased to yield any game. 



May arrived, and with returning spring, and some supplies obtained from the natives, 

 the crew were so far restored to. health that all but three or four could take some part in 

 the preparations for an immediate start to the southward. It had become only too evident 

 that their vessel, now almost dismantled to the water's edge the woodwork having been 

 needed for fuel must be abandoned. But one month's provisions remained, and they were 

 thirteen hundred miles from the nearest Danish settlement. 



The last farewell to the brig was made with some degree of solemnity. It was 

 Sunday. After prayers and a chapter of the Bible had been read, Kane addressed his men, 

 not affecting to disguise from them the difficulties still to be overcome, but reminding 

 them how often an unseen Power had already rescued them from peril. He was met in a 

 right spirit, and a memorial was shortly afterwards brought to him, signed by the whole 

 company, which stated that they entirely concurred in his attempt to reach the south by 

 means of boats, and that they were convinced of the necessity of abandoning the brig. 

 All then went on deck. The flags were hoisted and hauled down again, and the men 

 walked once or twice around the brig, looking at her timbers, and exchanging comments 



