80 
REVIEWS. 
wolf, musk ox, Arctic hare, and lemming. We have no doubt but that 
this chapter, and his description of the habits of the Polar hear, in 
Chapter xiv., will be read with interest and profit, by both the natura¬ 
list and the general reader. 
It would not be right to conclude without paying a just tribute of 
admiration to his clear and lucid style, and the manner in which he 
succeeds in winning and keeping his reader’s attention throughout his 
book. Notwithstanding Sir Edward Belcher’s insinuations respecting 
his brother Arctic writers, we have no hesitation in saying that we be¬ 
lieve that Captain Osborn has preserved truth as well as English gram¬ 
mar in his narrative, and that there is no necessity for a writer to be 
either dull or spiteful in order to be believed. 
On some points he differs, as we have seen, from his senior officer, 
but, as we think, never without giving some good reason for his opinions. 
The following passage illustrates both the sufferings of sledge travelling 
and the character of Sir Edward Belcher:— 
44 The Editor does not know of any sledge journey which can more vividly depict 
the sufferings which some sledge parties of sailors went through, than the one of which the 
following is a brief extract, from the daily journal of the officer in command, the present 
Captain George H. Richards, an officer second to none in the indomitable energy and 
skill he has displayed in the successful execution of every duty entrusted him in Arctic 
service. 
44 4 On the 22nd Feb. 1854,’ says Captain Richards, 4 the temperature having ranged 
between 34° and 45° minus for the last four days, I started with two sledges, by Captain 
Belcher’s orders, for Beechev Island, fifty miles distant. After eight miles dragging, the 
men were so very tired, cold, and miserable, that they hardly had patience to wait for 
their frozen meat being thawed; and that eaten, they threw themselves down in their 
blanket bags, half frozen as they were, to sleep. Next day (the 23rd) the thermometer 
registered 40° below zero, or 72° below freezing point!’ The poor fellows dragged on 
as well as they could ; but the Captain’s hands were too cold, and his ideas too much 
engaged in attending to their safety, to write any journal beyond the hasty but graphic 
expressions in his note-book,—‘ It’s distressingly cold?’ 4 the pork as brittle as resin;' 
4 the rum frozen !’ So fatigued were many of the men, and so debilitated from constant 
suffering, that their stomachs rejected what food they attempted to swallow. On the 
24th, the temperature had fallen to 74° below freezing point. It seemed as if human 
endurance could go no further; yet they tugged on, for anything was better than return¬ 
ing to the wretchedness they had left on board their ship. Their noon-day meal, called 
lunch, could not be partaken of; for the rum and the bacon were solid, and they were 
too cold to wait whilst either thawed. Passing by where the gallant Frenchman Bellot 
had fallen a sacrifice in attempting to carry out the orders of Sir Edward Belcher ( vide 
Blue Books), the worn-out and exhausted crews encamped at last off Cape Grinnell. 
“Another night of sleeplessness passed, for the cold was too intense for the most tired 
to sleep. 
“ On the 25th Feb. the jaded crews made their way across Griffin Bay, the tempera¬ 
ture still so low, and their sufferings so intense, that they could neither eat nor sleep,_ 
a glass of grog and a bit of biscuit being all their food. On the next day the tem¬ 
perature was still 73° below freezing point; exhaustion was apparent with all the 
party, and Captain Richards had, as he says, 4 serious misgivings as to whether he 
should be able to proceed.’ On making the attempt frostbites became frequent and 
threatening; but a fresh gale from the north fortunately blew their sledges on, and in 
the evening thej’- camped near Point Innes. On the following day Captain Richards and 
Mr. Herbert pushed on to the ‘North Star,’ at Beechev Island, for aid; and once arrived 
there, both he and his men fervently thanked their God for his protection through no 
ordinary suffering. It required a week’s rest to restore his men to health and strength; 
