THE WHITE WORLD 



Our first patient was Private Henry, who, on a trip to 

 Cape Murchison, about twelve miles distant, on September 

 7 and 8, 1881, was so exhausted from exertion and cold, 

 that he had to be dragged home on the sledge. He soon 

 recovered after restoratives had been applied and rest given. 



On the day following, a more serious case presented it- 

 self. Dr. Pavy, who had gone north overland with Ser- 

 geant Rice, towards Cape Henry, returned to the station 

 with the report that he had left Sergeant Rice about ten 

 miles north, suffering greatly from rheumatism. Four men 

 started at once with a sledge and an improvised stretcher, 

 to fetch Rice to the station; but after bringing him as far 

 as St. Patrick's Bay, they were too much exhausted to 

 carry him up the steep hill there, and more help had to be 

 sent for. We succeeded with hard labor in carrying Rice, 

 whose suffering was pitiful, to the plateau above, whence 

 we dragged him to the house on the sledge. Rice's lower 

 extremities were very much inflamed and swollen, as were 

 also his wrists and hands. We made him as comfortable 

 as possible, and succeeded in having him out of bed on the 

 tenth day. 



After that, frostbites were the main affliction, I being 

 the one to suffer the most in this respect. Traveling over 

 the ice, hauling provisions northward for caches to be 

 used in our proposed effort to go north in the following 

 spring, we kept too close to the shore, and on November 7, 

 when an exceptionally high spring tide broke through the 

 crevices which divided the land from the ice, I got my 

 feet very wet, and as the temperature was about 40 below 

 zero, it did not take long for them to freeze. We camped 

 at once and changed foot gear, but my left foot was frozen 

 quite severely. Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brain- 

 ard alternately rubbed my feet until circulation was restored, 

 and then the pain commenced. I shall certainly never forget 

 that night, in which I shared with Lieutenant Lockwood a 

 single sleeping-bag, suffering all the tortures imaginable. 

 My comrades had to drag me to our home station on the 

 sledge, and arriving there, Dr. Pavy at first feared that it 

 would be necessary to amputate at least the large toe on 

 one foot; but it healed very nicely, although it was sore 



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