THE WHITE WORLD 



instances, wakefulness in others, and anaemic condition 

 generally. Our commanding officer was unsparing in his 

 efforts to entertain, and the brighter members of the party 

 would at all times try to amuse and cheer the downcast 

 ones. With the return of the sun, all this was changed. 

 The appetite increased, cheerfulness of spirit took the place 

 of gloom, and the body became stronger as the mind grew 

 brighter. 



During those dark days it was necessary to administer 

 tonics. Iron in its various forms was found to do the 

 most good. Besides the rheumatism of Rice, previously 

 spoken of, several other cases occurred, the pains in each 

 instance being very severe. Lieutenant Greely, Sergeant 

 Linn, Connell and Henry suffered at different times, but 

 the most serious attack was that experienced by myself, 

 and I have never recovered from it. On leaving Fort 

 Conger, July 9, 1883, I was able to hobble down to the 

 boat with the aid of a stout stick, but notwithstanding all 

 the discomforts suffered on our retreat, being wet to the 

 skin most of the time, sleeping either on the oars in the 

 boat, or on the ice itself, I improved daily, and after the 

 fourth day was able to work as hard as any of the others. 



Although we had labored hard during the two years, and 

 suffered many discomforts, the worst was to come after 

 abandoning our home station, in order to meet, a ship, 

 which we thought must be somewhere south of us, trying to 

 reach us. It had been promised that one should be sent, 

 and the retreat was commenced by orders received at the 

 time of our start northward. We set out from Fort Conger 

 with a steam launch, three small boats and a little dingey, 

 taking all our records, the most valuable and necessary 

 instruments, about sixty days' provisions, and our sleeping- 

 bags. Each man was allowed eight pounds for his clothing 

 and personal belongings, the four officers having an extra 

 eight pounds each. At first we were towed by the launch 

 the greater part of the time, but we experienced several 

 dangerous nips, and had to be watchful, keeping away 

 from threatening floes. On several occasions we had to 

 throw our belongings on the ice and pull the boats up 

 after us to keep them from being crushed. 



On August 26, we were beset in the ice, and on Sep- 



86 



