28 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



himself wavered between the arguments for and against. 

 He, however, was aware of the fact that open water, which 

 had frequently been described as a polar sea, had been 

 found by many explorers in various parts of the Arctic 

 regions, which on further investigation was found to be 

 merely temporary. And Dr. Kane, after referring to this 

 fact, wrote : " All these illusory discoveries were no doubt 

 chronicled with perfect integrity ; and it may seem to 

 others, as since I have left the field it sometimes does to 

 myself, that my own, though on a larger scale, may one 

 day pass within the same category. 11 



All the sledge-parties had now returned to the brig, 

 and the season of Arctic travel had ended. The question 

 now to be faced was how they were to pass a second 

 winter in the event of the ice not liberating the brig, 

 which seemed likely. As Dr. Kane remarked, " there 

 never was, and I trust never will be, a party worse armed 

 for the encounter of a second Arctic winter. We have 

 neither health, fuel, nor provisions." 



He first determined to examine the condition of the ice 

 to the south. He found that for 35 miles the straits 

 were absolutely tight. He then resolved to make an 

 attempt to communicate with Beechy Island and obtain 

 assistance from Sir Edward Belcher's squadron, which was 

 in search of Franklin in Wellington Channel. A whale- 

 boat was mounted on a sledge, and Kane with five of his 

 men started off on the tremendous undertaking. On some 

 rocky islets near Littleton Island over 200 eider ducks 

 were killed in a few hours. They ultimately reached 

 within 10 miles of Cape Parry, but were stopped there 

 by a solid mass of ice. They returned to Northumber- 

 land Island, and obtained an abundance of auks and 

 eiders. The ice still remaining solid, they decided to 

 return to the brig. There was still no sign of the ice 

 breaking up. On 15th August, Dr. Kane wrote : "The 



