KANE'S EXPEDITION (1855) 49 



'The charm was broken and the dogs were safe/ The 

 dogs I have said little about, for none of us liked to 

 think of them. The poor creatures Toodla and Whitey 

 had been taken with us as last resources against starvation. 

 They were, as McGary worded it, ' meat on the hoof,' and 

 ' able to carry their own fat over the floes. 1 Once, near 

 Weary Man's Rest, I had been on the point of killing 

 them ; but they had been the leaders of our winter's 

 team, and we could not bear the sacrifice." 



Within a day or two after killing the large seal, 

 another was shot, and from that time forward they had a 

 full supply of food. On the 1st of August they sighted the 

 Devil's Thumb, and were soon among the Duck Islands. 

 A few days after this they met an Upernavik oil-boat, 

 and received some scanty news of the world. They 

 learnt that a squadron under Captain Harts tene had left 

 for the north in search of them a short time before. On the 

 6th of August they arrived at Upernavik, where they were 

 well received by the Danes — eighty-three days after leav- 

 ing the Advance. The squadron under Hartstene returned 

 in time to convey Dr. Kane and his party to America. 



The results of Dr. Kane : s expedition were very im- 

 portant. Ross had declared that Smith Sound was a 

 bay, and although Captain Inglefield in 1852 proved that 

 it was a sound, he reached only 78° 28'. Kane extended 

 our knowledge up to 81° 22', and all indications tended 

 to show that Kennedy Channel led to the Polar Ocean. 



No one can read Kane's book without being impressed 

 by the noble character of the man. He was a hero in 

 the highest sense of the word. It is sad to relate that he 

 died in Havana on the 16th February 1857, when only 

 thirty-seven years of age. 



