i 



236 Arctic Explorations. 



Moreover we wonld add our inscription to the monument over 

 tlie distinguished traveller. There are those who deplore so 

 great exposure of life for the empty pursuit of geographical or 

 scientific discovery amid the polar ice, deeming the establish- 

 ment of a mere truth in science as small game compared with 



catchinof oTeat whales and valuable seals.* It is to the credit of 



the race, that all are not thus narrowed down to earth and com- 

 merce. There are those that love knowledge for its own sake, 

 and in such, mind declares its supremacy over the material, and 

 exhibits its true exaltation. While we estimate moral triumphs 

 above all others, we would give high honors to self-sacrifice for 

 any great intellectual purpose, and to none more than to that of 

 the daring navigator through polar seas. In this class Dr. Kane 

 stands preeminent. The beneficent object also in view, — the 

 discovery of the ill-fiited ships of Sir John Franklin, — adds a 

 still higher lustre to his name, which is shared alike by his gen- 

 erous patron, Henry Grinnell. 



The public are greatly indebted to the enlarged views of the 

 publishers of Dr. Kane's works, who have given them every 

 attraction to be derived from excellent paper and typography, 

 and a profusion of fine encrravinojs. 



O*"" '^'O 



In our citations from the work we shall be brief, leaving it for 

 the reader to gather the detailed descriptions from the graphic 

 pen of Dr, Kane himself. Moreover we shall touch only on a 

 few of the points illustrated in the volumes, selecting especially 

 those which have some geological bearing, and using them 

 partly for the illustration of some topics under discussion among 

 geologists. 



Although the works may be in the hands of most of our read- 

 ers, it is still desirable to give here, by way of introduction, the 

 courses of the two cruises. The first expedition, consisting of 

 the two vessels, Advance and Kescue, was under the command 

 of Lieut. Edwin J. Dellaven, U. S. K, with whom Dr. Kane 

 went out as surgeon. It sailed from New York on the 22d of 

 May, 1850. Passing up Davis Straits and Baffin's Bay, the ves- 

 sels coasted along Greenland, stopping at Disco, and continued 

 through Melville Bay to its north cape ; then crossed Baffin's Bay 

 to Barrow Straits, and onward to Wellington Channel, near the 

 entrance to which, the graves of some of Captain Franklin's men 

 were found. From this place the winter drift of the vessels bej 

 gan ; it was first to the north, up Wellington Channel to lat. 75'' 

 2o;, and Ion. 93^ 31', then south (commencing Oct. 2, 1850.) down 

 this channel, and east through Barrow Straits into Baffin's Bay, 

 to lat. 66^, Ion. 58^, July 8, 1851, where they escaped from the 



Dr. Kane observes that in one year more than a thousand human brings in fi>li- 

 ing expeditions were cast shelterless on the ice in Melville Bay, Gre^nlond A heca- 

 tomb has been sacrificed to trade fur every Arctic explorer that has fallen. 



