504 
COMMANDER DE HAVEn's 
The ice around the vessels soon became again cemented and fixed, and no 
other rupture was experienced until it finally broke up in the spring and allowed 
us to escape. Still we kept driving to the southward along with the whole 
mass. Open lanes of water were visible at all times from aloft ; sometimes 
they would be formed within a mile or two of us. Narwhals, seals, and dove- 
kies were seen in them. Our sportsmen were not expert enough to procure 
any, except a few of the latter, although they were indefatigable in their ex- 
ertions to do so. Bears would frequently be seen prowling about ; only two 
were killed during the winter ; others were wounded, but made their escape. 
A few of us thought their flesh very palatable and wholesome ; but the major- 
ity utterly rejected it. The flesh of the seal, when it could be obtained, was 
received with more favor. 
As the season advanced, the cases of scurvy became more numerous, yet they 
were all kept under control by the unwearied attention and skillful treatment 
of the medical ofiicers. My thanks are due to them, especially to Passed As- 
sistant Surgeon Kane, the senior medical officer of the expedition. I often had 
occasion to consult him concerning the hygiene of the crew ; and it is in a great 
measure owing to the advice which he gave and the expedients which he rec- 
ommended, that the expedition was enabled to return without the loss of one 
man. By the latter end of February the ice had become sufficiently thick to 
enable us to build a trench around the stern of the Rescue, sufficiently deep 
to ascertain the extent of the injury she had received in the gale at Griffith's 
Island. 
It was not found to be material ; the upper gudgeon alone had been wrenched 
from the stern post. It was adjusted, and the rudder repaired in readiness for 
shipping when it should be required. A new bowsprit was also made for her 
out of the few spare spars we had left, and every thing made seaworthy in both 
vessels before the breaking up of the ice. 
On the 1st of April a hole was cut in some ice that had been forming since 
our first besetment in September ; it was found to have attained the thickness 
of seven feet two inches. 
In this month (April) the amelioration of the temperature became quite sens- 
ible. All hands were kept at work, cutting and sawing the ice around the 
vessels, in order to allow them to float once more. With the Rescue they 
succeeded, after much labor, in attaining this object ; but around the stem of 
the Advance the ice was so thick that our thirteen-feet saw was too short 
to pass through it. Her bows and sides, as far aft as the gangway, were lib- 
erated. 
After making some alteration in the Rescue for the better accommodation 
of her crew, and fires being lighted on board of her several days previous, to re- 
move the ice and dampness which had accumulated during the winter, both 
officers and crew were transferred to her on the 24th of April. The stores of 
this vessel, which had been taken out, were restored, the housing cloth taken 
off, and the vessel made in every respect ready for sea. There was httle pros- 
pect, however, of our being able to reach the desired element very soon. The 
nearest water was a narrow lane more than two miles distant. To cut through 
the ice which intervened would have been next to impossible. Beyond this 
lane, from the mast-head, nothing but interminable floes could be seen. It was 
thought best to wait in patience, and allow nature to M'ork for us. 
