AN ARCTIC RESCUE 



world, culminating only in the rescue and bringing back of 

 the few survivors. 



In the beginning, the enterprise was wonderfully success- 

 ful. The Proteus reached the offing of Lady Franklin Bay 

 without a check of any sort, and after disembarking the 

 members of the expedition in August, she returned to St. 

 John's. This first success, however, led to very false im- 

 pressions. It was thought, and perhaps not unnaturally, 

 that the station could be reached easily and without danger. 

 The element of extraordinary good luck was not taken into 

 account, and it was forgotten that previous voyages had 

 been accomplished only with great risk and after encounter- 

 ing untold difficulties. 



Two expeditions, as had been promised, had been sent 

 out for the relief of Greely, one in 1882 and one in 1883. 

 But neither, beyond the storing of provisions and clothing, 

 had met with any remarkable success. In fact, the latter of 

 the two was disastrous; the chief ship, the Proteus, which 

 originally carried the exploring party to the North, being 

 caught and sunk in an ice floe. The whole country, in 

 consequence, was in a ferment, and indeed the interest 

 excited throughout the world was phenomenal. Something 

 further must be done for Greely and his companions, and 

 that without delay. This was the general consensus of 

 opinion. 



But, after a careful examination of expert testimony, the 

 Secretaries of the Army and Navy decided that it would be 

 folly to send out another expedition at that time of year. 

 In fact, it would have been worse than folly. It would 

 have been disastrous in the extreme, and those engaged in 

 the relief would undoubtedly have found themselves in as 

 bad straits as Greely. Preparations, however, went for- 

 ward with all due despatch to put affairs into operation the 

 following spring. 



About the middle of February I was appointed com- 

 mander of the expedition. The appointment was made 

 thus early, as it was the purpose of the Navy Department 

 to connect one man with the enterprise, and to give him 

 ample time and opportunity to perfect his plans. There 

 was to be no possibility of casting responsibility upon the 

 Bureaus, because they forgot this or that detail. It was 



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