KANE'S EXPEDITION (1S53) 15 



most northern attainable point ; and thence, pressing on 

 toward the Pole as far as boats or sledges could carry 

 us, examine the coast-lines for vestiges of the lost 

 party. 



Kane left New York on the 30th May 1853, in the 

 Advance, a " hermaphrodite brig of 144 tons.'' 1 The 

 entire party numbered eighteen. At Fiskernaes, Green- 

 land, he engaged Hans Christian, aged nineteen, as an 

 Esquimaux hunter. 



The pack was encountered in Melville Bay on 28th July, 

 and Kane was fortunate in passing through to the North 

 Water by 4th August. Smith Sound was entered on 

 7th August. A boat with a stock of provisions was 

 buried at the north-east point of Littleton Island, and 

 a cairn was erected on the western cape. About 

 40 miles north of Littleton Island the ice was met, and 

 the Advance was forced into Refuge Harbour. After a 

 great deal of warping, the brig reached Rensselaer Harbour 

 in latitude 78° 37'. 



When Kane attained the latitude of 78° 41', he made a 

 curious observation. He states : " We are farther north 

 than any of our predecessors, except Parry on his Spitz- 

 bergen foot-tramp.'" This was far from the truth. Much 

 hio-her latitudes had been reached centuries before. In 

 the seventeenth century both the English and Dutch 

 had reached a higher latitude in the Spitzbergen Sea : 

 Tschitschagoff in 1765 reached 80° 21' ; Phipps in 1773 

 reached 80° 37' ; and Scoresby in 1806 reached 81° 12' 42". 

 Had Kane's statement been confined to the route between 

 Greenland and America, it would have been correct, but 

 referring as he did to Parry's Spitzbergen voyage, he was 

 entirely astray. 



When Smith Sound was reached, Kane had more than 

 fifty dogs, but many of them soon died. Preparations for 

 the winter were made without delay : a storehouse was 



