600 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



quantities, grew less until they were at last reduced lo > soup 

 made of boiled seal-skins, boots cut up fine and mixed with rein- 

 deer moss, rock lichens and small shrimps. They also made tea 

 from the saxifrage and arctic willow, but in all this unpalatable 

 and indigestible mixture there was very little nourishment, for 

 the shrimps, which contained most substance, were least in 

 quantity, as they were so small that it required more than 1,000 

 to weigh a pound, and the men were too weak to catch them. 

 Famine stalked into the camp at length and began pointing its 

 bony finger at the victims. Still, discipline was fairly maintained 

 among the starving men. The rule of the camp was to allow no 

 man to sleep longer than two hours at a time, this precaution 

 being necessary to prevent torpor and death, the usual accompa- 

 niments of intense cold. The men were awakened only by rough 

 means and were then made to shake themselves, and beat and 

 stamp their feet to restore circulation, for it must be remembered 

 that no fuel was procurable, and that there was nothing but 

 alcohol left to cook with. 



THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE HENRY. 



IN calamities such as now had overtaken the Greely party, 

 stern character and heroism must become conspicuous ; when 

 death sits in judgment, the accused, if faint-hearted, is su!-e to 

 quail, but there are others who will not cringe with obsequious 

 fear, even before the monster though he were a thousand times 

 blacker than Dante painted him. What better example of the 

 heroic can be found than in the character of Joseph Elison, beg- 

 ging his companions to leave him to die, that they might thereby 

 be enabled to reach their starving comrades with meat. 



On the other hand, the conduct of Charles B. Henry, in steal- 

 ing rations from his fellow-sufferers, shows the weaker side of 

 human nature, at a time when only the more heroic qualities are 

 expected to manifest themselves. But let us remember that the 

 pangs of excessive hunger, which had disordered the brain and 

 enfeebled the frame, rendered these men scarcely responsible for 

 their acts, and in considering the resorts to which they were 

 forced at last, let it be with charity. 



