POLAR HOSPITALS 



two-thirds of a cupful of weak tea twice a day. The tea 

 ran out near the end of the winter, and we used to pick 

 up the leaves already used at the commencement of our 

 stay, and use them over again. Later still, we were glad 

 to get even a cupful of luke-warm water. Many of my 

 comrades suffered greatly from thirst, and in order to 

 supplement the scant allowance of water, we put finely 

 chopped ice into little rubber field bags, of which we 

 carried a number, placed them under our clothes, later near 

 to the skin, and the heat, of which there was so little, of 

 our emaciated bodies would melt a few drops of the pre- 

 cious fluid. 



The sufferings we poor mortals endured during that 

 fearful Arctic winter — there is no spring — can hardly be 

 described; at least I am unable, and shall not attempt to 

 do so, but will try to convey, in a measure, a little concep- 

 tion of the only relief Dr. Pavy and myself were able to 

 give to our sick and helpless brethren. The insufficient 

 nourishment made itself felt not only in the body, but also 

 in the mind, and great were the efforts of Lieutenant 

 Greely and the stronger minded members of our little 

 party to divert the thoughts of the failing ones, and to 

 amuse them as much as possible. Of medicine we had 

 but little, and had we given some to every person asking 

 for it, we would not have had an iota left after the first two 

 weeks. We managed to get along, however, as best we 

 could, only wishing for some of the most necessary drugs, 

 such as strychnine and hyosciamus, to strengthen the 

 actions of the weak and depressed hearts, and for cathar- 

 tics, of which there was great need. Naturally, the small 

 quantities of food were partly responsible for our forlorn 

 condition. While lying in our sleeping-bags, constantly 

 tortured by a gnawing hunger, wounds and other affections 

 would heal very slowly. Gardiner suffered during all that 

 dark night from the effects of a felon, the affected finger 

 refusing to heal, although we used the few remedies at our 

 command as unsparingly in his case, as we could not later 

 in any other. 



The most serious blow came to us in the early part of 

 Xovember, when a party of four men started out for Cape 

 Isabella to fetch the 144 lbs. of meat, cached there by the 



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