94 



ARCTIC RESEARCH EXPEDITION. 



States consul at that place. The following is a verbatim copy of 

 Sullivan's written statement, made in the fall of 1861 : 



"My name is John F. Sullivan. I left my home in South Hadley Falls, Mass., 

 about the 1st of March, 1860, for Boston. I remained in Boston until the 20th of 

 the same month. I applied at different offices for a chance to ship ; being a stranger 

 in the place, and a green hand, I found it very difficult to get a berth to suit me. 

 At last I got a little discouraged, and that day signed my name at No. 172 Com- 

 mercial street, Boston, and left for New Bedford, Mass. Next morning I shipped to 

 go aboard of the ship Daniel Webster, then laying at New Bedford, but to sail the 

 same day on a whaling cruise to Davis's Straits, to be gone 18 months. 



"I left New Bedford in the Daniel Webster on the 21st of March, 1860. There 

 were forty of us in the crew, all told. We had very rough weather for many days 

 after leaving, which caused many of us to be sea-sick ; I suffered from it about three 

 weeks ; after that time I began to recruit. There was nothing happened of any 

 consequence worth mentioning until we passed Cape Farewell, about the last of 

 May. After that we had quite a hard time, working the ship through the ice ; oc- 

 casionally, however, we made out to get her through, and came to anchor, July 6, 

 1860. 



" We spoke many vessels going in. I will name some of them : the Hannibal, of 

 New London ; the Black Eagle and Antelope, of New Bedford ; the Ansell Gibbs, of 

 Fairhaven ; the Pioneer, of New London. These vessels were anchored very close 

 to one another in the harbor; the crews were at liberty sometimes to pay visits to 

 each other; each one would tell how he was treated; several complained of very 

 bad treatment, especially the crew of the Ansell Gibbs ; they were planning some 

 way of running away for a long time, but they found no opportunity till the 4th of 

 August. 



"My shipmate, whose name was Warren Dutton, was aboard that day, and heard 

 a little of the conversation, and he joined in with them, and said he would go, and 

 perhaps one or two more of his crew. He immediately came aboard and informed 

 me ; and he pictured every thing out so nice, that I finally consented to go with 

 him. We had no great reason for leaving our vessel ; we could not complain of 

 very bad treatment aboard ; all we could complain of was that we were very badly 

 fitted out for such a cold climate ; and, after we arrived there, hearing of so many 

 men that died there the last winter of scurvy, we were afraid to remain there, for 

 fear that we might get it. We thought by running away, also, we would be all right ; 

 but we were sadly mistaken. 



" After it was agreed upon to leave, each one was busy making preparations for 

 a start. I, with my shipmate, packed what few things we thought would be neces- 

 sary into a traveling-bag which belonged to me ; we then crept into the hold, and 

 filled a small bag and a pair of drawers with hard bread, and waited for an oppor- 

 tunity to hide it on deck, unknown to the watch. After we succeeded in that, we 

 made a signal to the other crew that we were ready. It being boats' crew watches 

 aboard the Ansell Gibbs, they every one of them left ; they found no difficulty in 

 lowering away the boat, which after they did so they lowered themselves easily into 

 her, and soon paddled under our bows ; we then dropped our traps into her, and, 

 taking with us two guns and a little ammunition, got into her, and soon pulled 

 around a small point out of sight of the vessels. The names of the crew that left 

 the Ansell Gibbs are as follows : John Giles, boat-steerer, John Martin, Hiram J. 

 Davis, Williard Hawkins, Thomas Colwell, Joseph Fisher, and Samuel J. Fisher. 



"At 11 o'clock at night, on the 4th of August, we left the vessels in Cumberland 



