606 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Juxv 24, 1884. 



; pounds each, were killed with shotguns as they prowled 

 around the camp, and with the return of daylight fourteen 

 ptarmigan, sixty dovekies, a small seal and, in April, a hear 

 which netted them 257 pounds of good meat. Nothing was 

 wasted, and this last undoubtedly saved the lives of the few 

 who survived. Sergt. Brainard' had charge of the issue of 

 provisions, which were carefully weighed in an improvised 

 scale, cartridges serving as weights, and equitably distrib- 

 uted. In March it was found necessary to again reduce the 

 ration, there being nothing left then but bread, meat and tea. 



The first death was that of Sergt. Cross, who had been 

 the machinist of the steam launch, and then there was a 

 long lapse of time until Esquimau Frederick gave in. This 

 last, together with the death of the other Esquimau, Jens 

 Edward, by drowning, proved a serious loss, as they were 

 both good hunters, and without the kyak much of the game 

 that was killed could not be secured. Long, however, was 

 the main reliance of the party as a hunter. He is an old 

 frontiersman and a dead shot, Had it not been for the 

 scarcity of game he would have had no difficulty in providing 

 for the entire party. 



Sergt. Julius R. Frederick relates a mournfully tragic 

 story of the sad death on the ice-covered ground of "George 

 Rice, the artist of the expedition, on April 6. Rice and 

 Frederick volunteered to leave the camp to proceed a dis- 

 tance of twenty-five miles for some meat that was cached 

 near Cape Isabella. They had a sled, rifle and hatchet, and 

 provisions for five days. They traveled for three days, but 

 failed to find the cache. On the way toward their camp 

 Rice became weak, and finally gave up. He was attacked 

 by a blood flux that gradually wore him down, and he suc- 

 cumbed on the floe. His last words were: "Tell Lieut. 

 Greely that I tried very hard to get the meat, but could not 

 succeed." Frederick remained with Rice until he died, and 

 camped out that night under the fragment of a boat, and 

 next day revisited his companion to pay a last tribute to his 

 remains. Frederick retained sufficient strength to drag back 

 the sled, with the hatchet, rifle and cooking utensils, to the 

 camp. During his absence Cross and Lockwood had died. 

 Others followed in rapid succession. 



On May 4 the winter hut, which was only six feet from 

 high water mark, was abandoned, and the " party took up 

 their quarters in a wall tent further up the hill. 



On May 14, the last issue of provisions was made. This 

 consisted of six ounces of meat, everything else beinsr ex- 

 hausted. Some ate it at once, others hoarded it as long as 

 possible. Then some lived and some perished on a starva- 

 tion diet of seaweed, shrimp and lichens. 



The rest is heartrending. They burned the hair off then- 

 sealskin boots and coats, eut them into strips, boiled them 

 into a stew and ate voraciously of them till the stomach re- 

 belled, and nausea and weakness ensued in several cases. 

 Nature gave no call for twelve, fifteen and eighteen days, 

 and then bloody hemorrhage and consequent weakness en- 

 sued, prostrating the victims for several days. The difficulty 

 of keeping heat in the body was very great. The rule of the 

 camp was to permit no one to sleep longer than two hours. 

 He was awakened roughly and called upon to shake himself, 

 beat bis hands and pound his feet and restore circulation. 

 This was found absolutely necessary to prevent torpor and 

 possible death, the usual accompaniments of intense cold. 



Mr. Israel, the astronomer, perished on May 27, Lieut. 

 Eislingbury died on June 1, and Dr. Pavy, the naturalist, 

 slept into death on June 6. Not one of the' victims realized 

 that death was near. They all died a tranquil, painless 

 death. On June 18, Schneider, the nineteenth man, died. 



Of the twenty-five only seven were left: Lieut. Greely, 

 Sergt, Brainard, Sergt. Fredericks, Sergt. Long, Hospital 

 Steward Biederbeck, Private Connell, and Sergt. Ellison. 

 Finally all strength failed them. On the 22d of June the 

 tent blew down upon them and they did not attempt to raise 

 it. The seven starved wretches lay helpless beneath its folds, 

 waiting for death to end their terrible agony. 



IV.— THE RESCUE. 



But succor was at hand. The relief ships sent out from 

 New York in May, were breaking their way through the ice, 

 and makiug all speed to Cape Sabine. On the 22d of June 

 the Thetis and the Bear lay off the shore, while their crews 

 were exploring the land for traces of the Greely party. 

 The Thetis whistled to her boats. The half-conscious men 

 in the tent heard it. Sergeant Long and Sergeant Brainard 

 were trie first to hear the sound, and they helped each other 

 to crawl out of the tent. When Long got clear of tbe en- 

 tanglement of the tent, which had been swept to the ground, 

 he rose to his feet with great difficulty and succeeded in 

 clambering up to a rock that gave the most extensive view in 

 that neighborhood. Intervening hills hid the ships from 

 their view and they returned disappointed with their 

 melancholy report. Brainard says this was the bitterest 

 moment of his fife, and that he then gave up all as lost. 

 Long, not yet fully satisfied, went out again, and climbing 

 to the hilt top remained looking out searchingly in every 

 direction for some strange object. At length he saw an 

 unwonted sight— a large, black object about a mile distant, 

 which at first looked like a rock, but he knew there was no 

 rock in that line. Suddenly the approaching steam launch 

 changed its course, and Long recognized the approach of 

 rescuers. He came down from the rock, went toward the 

 camp, raised the flagpole and flag, which had been blown 

 down during the gale, and held it for about two minutes, 

 until his strength gave out, and it was blown once more to 

 the ground. He then advanced totteringly in the direction 

 of the little steamer, and. too overjoyed to control himself, 

 almost too weak to stand, he tumbled rather than ran down 

 the hill to meet his rescuers, and was the first of the party to 

 arrive on board the ship. 



Norman, the ice pilot of the Thetis, who was mate of the 

 Proteus in 1881, and the last person to say good-bye to Greely 

 at Lady Franklin Bay, was also the first to greet bim here, 

 having accompanied Lieut. Colwell was in the Bear's steam 

 launch, and being the first to arrive. at the camp he jumped 

 ashore at once. Upon landing, with his pockets full of 

 bread, he heard from Long the melancholy news that there 

 were but seven left, and knowing that Greely was one of 

 them he ran up the hill to within hailing distance and called 

 out, "You are all right, Greely; there are two ships here for 

 you." Greely recognizing the voice replied: "Is that you, 

 Norman? Cut the tent." 



Maurice Connell had no recollection of anything that 

 transpired. He did not hear the awakening scream of the 

 whistle. When his comrades shook him up from his 

 prostrate position in the camp and told him of succor at 

 hand he wildly exclaimed, "For God's sake let me die in 

 peace!" A teaspoonful of brandy applied to his lips called 

 back the fleeting fife spark, for Connell could not have 

 survived more than a few hours. He was by far the weakest ' 



of the seven survivors, and the strongest must have 

 succumbed within forty-eight hours. 



Ellison, who, because of his frost-bitten hands and feet 

 had not moved all winter, would have lived longest without 

 rescue, as_ his subsistence was provided for. A water bag 

 filled, which he could open with his teeth, had been placed at 

 his head, all spare food was at his side, and upon the stump 

 of one arm a spoon was fixed to cany food to his mouth. 

 He was taken on board the Bear, and his limbs amputated. 

 He went mad with tbe agony and died. 



The rescue took place " under circumstance of great 

 difficulty. The Thetis and Bear lay off from the shove 

 about 800 yards. There was a terrific gale blowing from 

 the southwest, a heavy sea was running, and a formidable 

 ice nip was apparently inevitable. Lieut. Greely and the 

 other six survivors had to be transferred from their camp to 

 the steam launch and whaleboat in their sleeping bags, and 

 while steaming from the land to the ships the destruction of 

 the whole party at one time seemed certain. The sea swept 

 furiously over them, and the fury of the wind threatened at 

 every instant to capsize them. At length they were safely 

 placed on board the rescuing squadron, where every possible 

 preparation had been made to insure their recovery and 

 comfort. Then the rescuers went back to the graves — ten 

 of them— on tbe hill, and brought thence the bodies of the 

 dead. Five bodies buried in the ice fort near the camp were 

 swept away to sea by winds and cm-rents and could not be 

 recovered. 



Then the ships turned southward, and on July 17, with 

 the six survivors, steamed into St. John, Newfoundland. 



» 



THE GROUND SNAKE. 



According to the Bridgeport (Conn.1 Fanner there is, in a collection 

 of curiosities in that city, what is called a ground snake, whi^h was 

 caught in Hawley ville. Only one is known ever to have been seen 

 before. It is quite similar to the ordinary snake, but cannot be in- 

 duced to withdraw from the loose earth in which it is kept. When- 

 ever uncovered it makes haste to bury itself again.— Boston Journal. 

 THIS brings up an" article written years ago, and which, 

 like the snake and many other things'in my posses- 

 sion, has been waiting for some circumstance — some jog on 

 my constitutional indolence — to bring it out. 1 have had 

 four of these reptiles; two are in my possession at present. 

 The first was brought from Enfield, * Conn., twenty years 

 ago, thrown out while digging fish-worms, and said to "run" 

 under ground. I looked the creature over to see what modi- 

 fication of form and what power of locomotion would be 

 necessary in this new arrangement of animal economy, it 

 being at one-: apparent that running under ground was a 

 different matter from running on it. I then pickled the 

 specimen and awaited further light. The second was turned 

 out by the plough in Agawam, Mass., and brought me with- 

 out note or comment. The third was hoed out in his garden 

 by my old and tried friend, J. H. Batty, whose contributions 

 to natural history speak for themselves. He represented the 

 snake as very active, striking out at random and quickly 

 burying his body in the soft earth, and with true philosophy 

 coiling his tail around a stick or other object and pushing 

 from that base. Color, a light brown above, white below, 

 the entire length. The body, some eight inches long, is 

 as round as if turned in a lathe, the tissue hard and compact 

 beyond any reptile I ever handled. The broad, flattened, 

 angular head and the narrow neck of solar reptiles is en- 

 tirety wanting. The body tapers down to an ovate termina- 

 tion with a very small mouth, incapable of distention, and 

 with a pair of eyes of doubtful utility crowded close upon it. 



Here is evidently room for research. I preserved the first 

 specimen for future reference and comparison as corrobor- 

 ative facts should arise. These have now brought up phil- 

 osophic questions which must be met and answered, else our 

 children, old as well as young, will miss intelligence just 

 where they need it most. 



Is the creature sightless, as striking at random seems to in- 

 dicate? The eyes of mine changed to white opaque in alcohol, 

 which prevented microscopic examination. Does the creature 

 breathe, or does it draw oxygen from other sources V 

 Is locomotion by the usual method of reptiles, by short 

 curves, pushing from every object it touches, or is it like the 

 worm, drawing the body together and from that base pushing- 

 its head forward? The snake method above ground would 

 hardly work below the surface, nor would the worm method 

 do better, except by modification or absence of the spinal 

 column, and yet for which the firm, muscular body might in 

 a measure compensate. 



The question is not when was the reptile created, not who 

 first saw one, nor yet who first counted the scales on his tail, 

 if he had. scales; but, does he or does he not hold the position 

 of connecting link between two great orders in lower organic 

 life, partaking of both? If he does, as I am ready to believe, 

 we have one of those (not the missing link in evolution, as 

 commonly understood) but connecting links of harmony and 

 continuity in nature, an overlapping of the functions of life 

 which, like that of instinct and mind, leave no break in the 

 chain, no point unoccupied. 



But this is not the only illustration of the question. I 

 have in mind a vegetable which seems actually to pos 

 instinct of the eyeless worm and to unite the animal and 

 vegetable by a shorter route than any usually followed. Not 

 springing from the earth at all but uncoiling, precisely like 

 the embryo serpent from the egg, then, from a club foot as 

 a base, thrusting the head forward to an object, then draw- 

 ing up the body ieft behind. The consideration of these 

 connecting links in organic life, and over which science 

 blunders with hybrids and crossings in the dark passages, re 

 quire another paper. They are no part of nature's work. 

 They are pure accident, or a human device and belong ex- 

 clusively to artificial or domesticated life. 



It is hardly necessary to say there is very little at present 

 known in regard to this snake. My purpose is to submit one 

 of my specimens to the mercies of microscope and dissecting 

 knife on my return to Springfield. Presuming on its habits 

 or food is hardly safe until that is done. B. Horbford. 



North Thetforij, Vt. 



[Is not this the ground or worm snake (Oarphophiops 

 amema) — a true ophidian? Information as to its habits is 

 greatly to be desired.] 



Fishing Spiders.— Prof. Berg, in Buenos Ayres, has dis- 

 covered a spider which at times practices fishing. In shal- 

 low places it spins between stones a two-winged or conical 

 net, on with it runs in the water and captures small fish, tad- 

 poles, etc. That it understands its trade well is shown by 

 the numerous shrivelled skins of the little eel pouts which 

 lie about on the web of the net.— Deutsche F&cherei Zeitung. 



A VISIT TO A HERONRY, 



C EVERAL years ago the writer, who at that time was an 

 kJ ardent student of ornithology, heard oi a tract of forest 

 on the shores of Massachusetts, in which a colony of ni^ht 

 herons (Nycmrdea garden) had bred for may years. Procur- 

 ing a team, we started with a companion for the place, which 

 was located m the township of Rawley. This tows is sit- 

 uated on the Rowley River, a small stream, and about two 

 miles back from the coast, Between the town and the Bea 

 is a strip of salt marsh extending for miles and intersected by 

 numerous small inlets and ditches of varying depth, accord- 

 ing to the state of the tide. 



About two miles north of the town we found a ship of 

 forest perhaps a mile long and a half mile wide on the edge 

 of the marsh before mentioned. Above this piece of woods 

 herons could be seen flying back and forth, so that we knew 

 that this must be the place we were in search of. At a farm 

 house near by we put up our horse and proceeded to the 

 grove. As we reached it a most interesting sight presented 

 itself. The trees were mostly of the beech variety, forty to 

 fifty feet tall, with a smooth bark and not a limb projecting 

 in the first thirty feet; then would come a few dead limbs, 

 killed and stained white by the excrement of the birds, and 

 followed by the live limbs, on which were heron's nests. 

 These birds are gregarious, and a half a dozen families build 

 in a single tree. Almost every tree in the grove had from 

 one to six nests in it, and as it was hatching time, the noise 

 made by both old and young birds was deafening. This 

 heron is a lazy bird and does not believe in taking any 

 chances in constructing his dwelling place. Therefore he 

 builds but a small nest^to start with, just large enough for 

 the four eggs, and as each young one hatches out, he builds 

 on an L, large enough to hold rt, so that if an egg fails to 

 hatch, no labor has been done in vaiu. Above our heads 

 were nests of all sizes and shapes, and those to which addi- 

 tions had been made, were very one sided, and on the plat- 

 form thus constructed could be seen an awkward squab try- 

 ing to keep his balance. 



Some nests had four young ones sitting on the edge. 

 These were of enormous size, made of sticks thrown together 

 in the most careless manner and were very clumsy-looking 

 affairs. 



Occasionally a tree with but one nest could be seen, and 

 these were generally those of the green heron (Biiiorides wre&- 

 Gens), who lived thus with his cousins. The uproar in this 

 grove was simply frightful. Young birds squawking for 

 food in every direction, old ones on tbe nest and at the side 

 of it, and others departing for tbe shore and creeks to fish, 

 and arriving from these places with fish in their mouths, 

 their arrival' was greeted with much enthusiasm. Our pres- 

 ence surprised these new comers so much that they must 

 needs exclaim about it, and in so doing they would drop the 

 fish which they were carrying in their mouths, letting it fall 

 at our feet. It is a little singular that a bird which displays 

 so much shrewdness in its nest building, should be so fool- 

 ish as not to pick up a fish it had dropped; but such was the 

 case, and the birds would turn immediately about and go 

 back for another. The condition of the ground from this 

 cause and the ordure of so many large birds can be well im- 

 agined. A more filthy or odorous place it would be hard to . 

 find, and the deposit" of lime made there had killed nearly 

 every species of vegetation. Mosquitoes of large size and 

 ferocity abounded, and our stay there was not a happ}*- one. 

 We made several attempts to climb the trees to nests that 

 looked as if they still had eggs in them (for it was early July), 

 but the slippery bark and the distance the limbs weie fftm 

 the ground made our attempts futile. Each of us, aided by 

 boosts from his companion, would climb within a few feet 

 of the limbs, when his strength would give out, and down 

 he would slide, landing with much bunched up clothing 

 and scratched arms and legs. After a number of attempts 

 with the same results, we decided that we could not (al- 

 though we considered ourselves experts) climb those trees, 

 and we sadly wended our way back to the farmhouse to get 

 our horse. Arriving there, we related our ill luck to the 

 farmer, when he said: "Wall, my darter was out thai- the 

 other day, and she clim' up and got some eggs, and ma'hap 

 she'll self 'em." We asked to see her, when a buxom six- 

 foot daughter showed herself. We looked at her and ac- 

 knowledged to ourselves that she was smarter than we were, 

 as she could shin those slippery trees and we couldn't. She 

 had four lighl green eggs for sale, and we asked her the 

 price. "Well." she saia, "would we think ten cents for the 

 four too much?" We eagerly replied that we would not 

 (we would have given her a dollar as quickly), and took 

 then, feeling that we had secured a prize, and unwilling to 

 say a word against the tree-climbing qualities of the Rowley 

 women. After a long and hot drive we reached borne. 



A vear later we again visited this heronry, and it was as 

 silent as a tomb. The quabirds, after breeding in this spot 

 for twenty years or more, had taken alarm at something, 

 and gone, probably to a more remote and less disturbed 

 locality. CniTis. 



Maine, 



DOMESTICATING QUAIL. 



Editor Forest amd St/reom: 



31v pair of Virginia quail arc in excellent, health and plu- 

 mage. June 291 first saw unmistakable indications that 

 they had mated. On the 10th of the present month the pair 

 went to work building a nest in the long grass of their coop, 

 the floor of which is the natural sod. Bob, the. male bird, 

 seemed to take principal charge and direction of the work, 

 although Betty's interest increased very perceptibly after the 

 first day or two. On the 16th (last Wednesday) the hen laid 

 the first egg, and to-day (July 19) the nest contains three, all 

 of which seem perfect in every respect. Perhaps you can 

 guess how much I am pleased with my prospects of success 

 in this most interesting experiment. 



I propose to let the birds entirely alone, so far as any out- 

 side aid or interference is concerned, since I am confident 

 that they will hatch a larger percentage of the eggs than if 

 they were removed and placed under a common fowl or even 

 a bantam. So far, I have never touched the eggs on the 

 nest, but the birds show a singular absence of fear or dis- 

 trust when I go into the coop, which 1 have been in the 

 habit of doing once or twice a day for some time. Since she 

 has begun to lay, the hen makes a. point after I visit the coop 

 to go immediately to the nest, as if to satisfy herself that 

 nothing has been taken, and both the birds, instead of 

 attempting to conceal the. nest or distract, attention from it, 

 appear quite proud of their achievements. 



My coop, which is 16 feet long by 3+ feet wide and 4 feet 

 high, is both cat proof and rat proof. In other words, it 

 cannot be climbed, 'burrowed under or gnawed into, and 

 hence the chances of accident are reduced to a minimum. I 

 shall be greatly disappointed if I do not have a bevy of 



