584 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



were with difficulty separated by a chisel ; butter and lard were 

 passable marble ; pork and beef were rare specimens of Floren- 

 tine mosaic ; while a barrel of lamp-oil, stripped of the staves, 

 resembled a sandstone garden-roller." 



The crews soon began to suffer in health and spirits : their 

 faces became white, like celery kept from the light. They had 

 strange dreams and heard strange sounds. The scurvy ap- 

 peared, and old wounds bled afresh. Dr. Kane endeavored to 

 combat the disease by acting upon the imagination of the suf- 

 ferers. He ordered an old tar with a stiff knee to place the 

 member in front of a strong magnet and let it vibrate to and 

 fro like a pendulum. A wonderful and complete cure was thus 

 effected. He practised all sorts of amiable deceptions upon his 

 patients, — making them take medicine in salad and gargles in 

 beer. Not a man was lost during the voyage. 



From time to time fissures would open in the ice around 

 them with an explosion like that of heavy artillery. It became 

 necessary to make preparations for abandoning the vessel, and 

 sledges, boats, and provisions were gotten ready for an emer- 

 gency. The men were drilled to leave the ship in a mass at 

 the word of command. The crisis seemed to be upon them 

 many a time and oft ; but the Advance held firmly together, 

 and the ice around her gradually became solid as granite again. 

 Dr. Kane lectured at intervals on scientific subjects, till the 

 return of light brought with it a return of hope and animal 

 spirits. On the 29th of January, 1851, the sun rose above the 

 horizon, after an absence of eighty- six days. "Never," says 

 Dr. Kane, "till the grave-clod or the ice covers me may I 

 forego this blessing of blessings again ! I looked at him 

 thankfully, with a great globus in my throat." 



The ice-pack did not open till the close of March. Previous 

 to this, all the successive symptoms of the coming thaw pre- 

 sented themselves. The ice began to smoke, and the surface 

 became first moist and then soft. It was soon too warm to 



