Part 19

On the same day Lieutenant Greely issued an order directing Dr. Pavy to turn over to Lieutenant Lockwood all the medical stores, journals, and collections, the former having declined to renew his engagement, which had expired. On the 11th of July, Lockwood started with Brainard on an exploration toward the northwest with a view of reaching, if possible, the United States range of mountains. They carried an outfit weighing one hundred pounds, or twenty-five pounds for each man at the start, as Henry and Biederbick were to help them with the impedimenta for one day and then return. They went without sledge or tent, and carried only blanket, sleeping-bags, a small lamp, and a few pounds of food, with instruments, snow-shoes, etc. They soon reached the top of the hog-back beyond “Sugar-Loaf,” and afterward the true hog-back Lockwood had visited before, finding it 2,700 feet high. Thence they kept a north-northwest course toward a prominent glacier in the United States Range, moving about parallel to North Valley Creek, which empties into St. Patrick’s Bay. After traveling fourteen miles they camped—that is, selected as smooth and sheltered a spot as could be found, made some tea, spread out the sleeping-bags, and crawled in.

Henry and Biederbick left the next morning evidently well satisfied to forego the pleasures of this trip. Their departure rendered it necessary to reduce the load somewhat, which was done by leaving behind the snow-shoes and rubber spread, trusting to luck to find a bare spot for their sleeping-bag. After tramping through much wet snow alternating with mud and stones, and getting their feet soaking wet, they came to two deep gorges close together, each occupied by a considerable stream of water. They crossed these and ascended a dome beyond, three thousand feet high, and thence came to a still larger stream whose gorge was one thousand feet deep. Here they stopped for the night after a tramp of twelve miles. The next morning the sky was overcast, with barometric indications of a storm; but they continued their way with reduced loads, having only one day’s food left. Following the stream northwest a few miles, they crossed it and ascended a high elevation, from which the United States range could be very distinctly viewed, and then came to the conclusion that they had gone far enough.

With the telescope they could see distinctly, about twenty miles away, the walls of the great glacier, and its face ten miles wide. In fact, the whole range was full of glaciers. The country intervening between them and the glaciers seemed comparatively level. At noon they started back, and did not stop until the camping-place of the night before was reached. Thence, after a drink of tea and something to eat, abandoning their sleeping-bags, they made for their first camp, where had been left the rubber spread and one extra bag. The traveling was execrable, but they reached Fort Conger on the 14th, hungry, tired, and decidedly used up.

On the 24th, preparations began for the proposed boat-journey toward the south on which they would start when the ice would permit. Lockwood, in obedience to a general order, prepared to take no clothing except what he wore, and the few pounds of his baggage would consist of his journal and other papers. He felt depressed and low-spirited, and totally indifferent as to the risks they were to encounter.

The straits were reported clear of ice below Cape Lieber on the 26th, but the bay near by was still full, though with many leads. Every preparation was made to leave on the 1st of August, if possible, or as soon after as the ice would allow. The men fiddled and sang, and seemed in joyous spirits; and the hilarity was kept up by the dogs Ritenbank and Ask-him having a terrible fight, resulting in victory to the latter. The probable consequence was that Ask-him would now be king. Ritenbank went about with his head down and tail between his legs, a dethroned and friendless monarch. The usurper’s reign, however, was likely to be a short one, as, on the party’s leaving, the dogs would either be shot or left to starve to death.

The 5th of August arrived, and the ship was the only thing talked about. Some of the men reported smoke down the straits, but it was soon found to be only water-clouds or fog. In the midst of these excitements, Lockwood gave expression to the following feelings: “As the time for moving approaches, I feel a singular apathy. If we had plenty of fresh meat and more good books, I could stand another winter here.”

Soon after, heavy winds from the south making great changes in the condition of the ice, active preparations were made for leaving.

Lockwood writes: “I don’t feel as though I was going away, much less toward the south. Have felt more stirred up on beginning a sledge-journey.”

TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE DISTANCE TRAVELED TO LOCKWOOD ISLAND.

Distance traveled. Time. Adv Tr Add Tot Adv Tr MPH Miles—Geographical. Hours. Geo. M. OUT. Fort Conger to Boat 48 67 157 224 21½ 28¼ 2·23 Camp Boat Camp to 36 86 25 111 18¾ 44⅓ 1·92 sea-coast Sea-coast to Cape 37½ 103½ 12 113 21½ 47¹/₁₂ 1·74 Bryant Cape Bryant to Cape 60 118 .. 118 32 55⁵/₁₂ 1·87 Britannia Cape Britannia to 95 95 .. 95 39⅔ 48⅙ 2·39 farthest Total (out) 267½ 469½ 194 701 133½ 223¾ 2·07 BACK. Farthest to Cape 95 95 .. 95 37⅓ 41¾ 2·52 Britannia Cape Britannia to 60 60 .. 60 25¾ 28 2·33 Cape Bryant Cape Bryant to Boat 61½ 61½ .. 61½ 27¼ 36½ 2·25 Camp Boat Camp to Fort 48 48 .. 48 22½ 28⅓ 2·13 Conger Total (back) 264½ 264½ .. 264½ 112⅚ 134²/₁₂ 2·34 Aggregate (out and 541 734 194 965½ 245¹¹/₁₂ 357⅚ 2·20 back) Aggregate (out and 623 .. .. 1069 back) in statute miles

Key to Headings: Adv: Advanced. Add: Additional miles traveled. Tr: Traveled. Tot: Total. MPH: Number of miles per hour.

The word “advanced,” both here and in the journal, refers to the simple distance from camp to camp, and the actual time occupied in making that distance—all stops _deducted_.

The word “traveled” includes total number of miles traveled—the number of miles advanced added to those traveled in going back and forth in “doubling up.” The time corresponding refers to the whole time from leaving one camp to arriving at the next, all stops included.

The “additional miles” refer to incidental journeys not numbered as marches.

The rate per hour is computed from the distance and time _advanced_.

The whole statement is confined to the dog-sledge.

XVII. HOMEWARD BOUND.

The time having arrived, the final orders were given for the Arctic exiles to make ready for the first stage of travel leading to their far-distant home. They were now to leave the station at Fort Conger, and, as best they could, find their way to Littleton Island, where they hoped to meet a vessel that would take them back to Newfoundland. They were to depart in boats, viz., the steam-launch Lady Greely, a whale-boat, an English boat of which they had come into possession, and a still smaller affair, that might prove serviceable for special purposes.

The journal kept by Lieutenant Lockwood after his departure from Fort Conger was written in short-hand, as always while in the field, and is a very complete record. In the following pages, only a brief summary of purely personal incidents will be attempted, without presuming to give the phraseology of the youthful explorer.

On the 9th of August, the little fleet pushed off from shore, laden with the twenty-five adventurers and a comfortable supply of provisions. They reached Bellot Island without much trouble, but afterward encountered a good deal of ice, and, while working very hard to get through, Rice accidentally fell overboard, which was for him a poor beginning. The ice continued to be troublesome until the close of the next day, when the boats were so severely nipped that they had to be drawn up on the floe. Afterward, open water appearing all the way across the fiord, the launch and the other boats made a successful crossing nearly opposite Sun Bay. They reached the depot near Cape Baird, at about 2 P. M., up to which hour, from the time of leaving Fort Conger, they had not been able to secure any sleep, nor anything to drink but cold water. Reaching Cape Lieber on the 11th in a snow-storm, they landed on a bluff about a mile from the cape, where they waited for the ice to move, so that they might continue on their route toward the south along the western shore of the strait. The only animals seen in that vicinity were two narwhals, fighting near the shore. The fog now became so very dense that no headway could be made, and this gave them an opportunity to obtain some needed rest. Their next advance was in the midst of a severe storm of wind and snow, in spite of which they reached Carl Ritter Bay on the morning of the 12th. The next morning, while they had open water near the shore, they discovered ice-barriers extending to the south as far as they could see. At this point a young seal was killed, which was greatly enjoyed by all of the party; but this luxury, in the case of Lockwood, was counterbalanced by the discomfort of sleeping on shore without any protection excepting that of his bag. He also spent several nights on a floe-berg, where, by laying his sleeping-bag on a sheep-skin, he slept more comfortably. From the 13th until the 20th, when the party reached Rawlings’s Bay, it was a continual conflict with floating ice, snow-storms, and fog, the monotony of the struggle having been broken by an accident to the launch, and also one to Lieutenant Greely, who had a fall into the water, from which he was rescued without harm. At all the places where they encamped, they had great difficulty in securing a safe harbor for the launch. Having passed across Richardson Bay in safety and reached Cape Collinson, they found about one hundred and twenty, out of two hundred and forty, English rations which had been deposited there, the missing portion having been eaten by the foxes. On the 22d they reached Scoresby Bay, where observations of the strait showed it to be full of floating ice; and in this vicinity they were brought to a halt by the ice-pack near the shore at Cape John Barrow. Here the boats were pulled up on the floe, and, as the thick sludge-ice was all around, no open water in sight, and the supply of coal getting very low, the prospect was gloomy in the extreme. When able to continue on their course, the travelers were still greatly troubled by heavy fogs, and while passing over a space of open water, abounding in floe-bergs which could not be seen, they were in constant danger of being lost. Notwithstanding all these obstacles, they pushed their way onward, and in due time reached Cape Louis Napoleon, Cape Hawks, and Princess Marie Bay, when they were again stopped by the floating ice, and detained by the newly formed ice.

In his desire to comply with the order as to weight of baggage, Lockwood had left his seal-skin coat at Fort Conger, but this step he afterward regretted, as the weather continued stormy, and he was greatly exposed to the cold. To this was added the misfortune of having a badly fitting seal-skin boot which gave him great pain, so that he had to resort to a pair of moccasins. When the boats were caught in floes and detained for days, the only exercise available was that of walking over the level floes. Some of the men were wont to march around, under the light of the moon, singing aloud their wild and uncouth songs. When tired of walking, Lockwood would creep into a cozy corner of the launch, and pore over a pocket copy of Shakespeare which he had fortunately brought along; and then, after getting into his sleeping-bag, his thoughts would wander far away and find expression in such words as these: “What are they doing at home? How often I think of the dear ones there! The dangers and uncertainties ahead of us are only aggravated by the thoughts of the concern felt by them on my account. Most of us have given up the idea of getting home this fall.”

On the 3d of September, while in the floe below Cape Hawks, Lieutenant Greely held a consultation with Lockwood, Kislingbury, Pavy, and Brainard, expressing the opinion that their situation was critical, and that they were really working for their lives. One of the suggestions was that the launch should be abandoned, and further progress made in the smaller boats along the western shore of the strait; but to this, Greely and the majority objected, still hoping that they might yet be able to reach Littleton Island through a lead or over the young ice. On the 6th the hunter Jans killed his fourth seal, and was rewarded by a drink of rum. After five more days of travel, and while approaching Cocked-Hat Island, there was a great excitement caused by the report that one of the men had heard the barking of dogs, whereupon guns were fired and a flag displayed; but all the commotion ended in nothing. The tides were contrary, the small boat was abandoned, and the outlook was very gloomy. The faithful Esquimaux, Frederick, who had latterly been somewhat unlucky as a hunter, now came to the front by killing a seal that weighed six hundred pounds, receiving the usual drink of rum. On this occasion Lockwood mentioned that he swallowed a cupful of the seal’s blood, and found it somewhat tasteless. On the 5th of September, the party after great labor came abreast of Victoria Head and Cape Albert, and while drifting along on the floe the American flag was hoisted over the launch, and the fire under the engine was put out to save coal, Lockwood enjoying a little needed sleep. On the 7th they came in sight of the coast extending from Alexander Harbor to Cape Sabine, and the impossibility of proceeding in the launch becoming apparent, it was decided to resort to sledge-travel, two of the sledges to carry a boat each, and both of them to be drawn by the men. When they were fully prepared for moving, it was found that one of them weighed 1,700 pounds and the other 2,100 pounds. Owing to the various difficulties which soon beset the travelers, they were obliged to abandon one of the boats, whereby it became necessary to retrace several sections of the journey for the purpose of bringing on the extra supplies, thus adding greatly to the fatigue of the men. Lockwood now expressed his doubts as to whether he would live to write out his notes, and also his fears that the floe upon which the party then were, might take them down into Baffin’s Bay. Not only were they at the mercy of the floe, but the currents were contrary, sludge-ice abundant, and their supply of food reduced to seal-blubber, bread, and tea. At one time, strange to say, their position in the straits was directly north of Littleton Island, and nearer the Greenland coast than that of Grinnell Land. It now seemed to Lockwood that there was nothing ahead of them but starvation and death, and yet the men kept up their spirits in a manner that greatly surprised him. One of the floes upon which they had drifted for many days, when found to be cracking in one or two places, caused the party to move upon another nearer the shore, and in a short time the floe previously occupied was entirely broken up. On the 29th of September, the floe on which they were floating, finally touched another toward the west, and that another connected with the shore, by which means they were enabled to reach the land, very thankful to be in a place of security once more. The locality was really a rock forming a promontory between two glaciers, and thought to be about thirteen miles directly south of Cape Sabine. To that place a reconnoitring party was at once sent, but the cape could not be reached on account of open water near it, and the party was compelled to return. In the mean time, arrangements were made for building out of stones and ice the necessary huts for protection during the coming winter, should it be their fate to remain there. While this work was progressing, it was decided that the daily rations would have to be reduced. Lockwood expressed the opinion that they had only three chances for their lives: first, the chance of finding an American _cache_ at Cape Sabine; secondly, a chance of crossing the straits, here thirty-five miles wide, when their provisions were gone; thirdly, the chance of being able to kill enough game for their support during the winter. A second effort was made by Rice and a party to reach Cape Sabine, which was successful. They not only brought news about the wreck of the Proteus, but also a copy of the Army Register for 1883, in which appeared Lockwood’s name as a first lieutenant. Rice also succeeded in discovering the English _cache_ with two hundred and forty rations, the _cache_ left by the Neptune in 1882, and the stores brought from the wreck of the Proteus in 1883, all of which information was hailed with delight by the party. Among the stores left by the Proteus, a newspaper slip was picked up, from which was gathered the news that President Garfield had died; that the Jeannette had been lost; and that serious apprehensions were felt in the United States about the fate of the Greely Expedition. This latter intelligence gave Lockwood great pain, seeming almost prophetic, except in the remark “lying down under the great stars to die!” and induced him to make this record: “This article gives me great pain, because of the alarm and sorrow which must be felt by my dear father and mother and sisters on my behalf. Should my ambitious hopes be disappointed, and these lines only, meet the eyes of those so dear, may they not in thought add to my many faults and failings that of ingratitude or want of affection in not recording more frequently my thoughts regarding them!”

One of the results of the trip made by Rice to Cape Sabine was the selection of a spot, between the cape and Cocked-Hat Island, for a home during the approaching winter. Here, officers and men alike laboring, a new hut was built, which was forthwith occupied by the party, all the supplies being at once brought from the camp south of Cape Sabine. The place where they now found themselves established, Lieutenant Greely called Camp Clay, in honor of one of the party—a grandson of Henry Clay—who had been attached to the expedition until it reached Lady Franklin Bay, whence he returned home on account of his health. As soon as the new hut was occupied, the announcement was made that six of the party were on the sick list; but shortly afterward, and notwithstanding the deplorable condition of affairs, Lockwood recorded the following in his journal: “We are all now in comparatively high spirits, and look forward to getting back to the United States with a great deal of certainty. We shall have to live on half-rations or less until April, and there will be shortness of fuel. Many hardships are obvious, but we all feel sound again.”

On the 23d of October, twelve of the party went from Camp Clay upon a visit to Cape Sabine, and, while some of them opened the English _cache_ at the south side of Payer Harbor, Lockwood built a cairn there and deposited under it, among other things, the records of the expedition, with a note in lead-pencil to the following effect:

“_October 23, 1883._—This cairn contains the original records of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, the private journal of Lieutenant Lockwood, and a set of photographic negatives. The party is permanently encamped at a point midway between Cape Sabine and Cocked-Hat Island. All well.

“J. B. Lockwood, “_First Lieutenant Twenty-third Infantry._”

On their way back to Camp Clay, Dr. Pavy met with an accident to one of his feet, and, while most of the party went on, Lockwood and Ellison remained behind to look after him. When night came on, they lost their way, stumbling and floundering over the rubble-ice until overcome by fatigue and hunger; but were revived by a limited mutton stew on their arrival at the camp. One of the results to Lockwood of his Samaritan conduct was an accident to one of his knees, which gave him trouble for several days, and prevented his being as useful as he desired in contributing to the comfort of the party. It was about this time that Lieutenant Greely declared his intention of reducing the rations, all assenting, so that they might last until the 1st of March; and this fact, added to the discovery that some of their meat was far more bony than it should have been, caused some consternation. Cold, dampness, darkness, and hunger continued to be their hourly and daily portion, the allowance of food being only about one fourth of what they actually needed.

XVIII. THE FINAL CATASTROPHE.

While the following pages will contain necessarily brief notices of the life of the party during an entire winter, they must conclude with the record of the great calamity which befell the band of heroes. Shortly after they found themselves settled for a campaign of idleness, as they expected it to be, Lockwood was again confined to his sleeping-bag on account of an injury to his feet which had not been properly protected; his discomforts being aggravated by the reflection that both provisions and fuel were beginning to reach a low-tide level. The constant hunger which was experienced by all hands went far to make their circumstances dismal and depressing; while the only entertainment that could be provided was the reading aloud, by one of the men, of a story and some newspaper scraps which Rice had picked up at Cape Sabine. A little excitement was afforded by a lottery for the distribution of some clothing and two mattresses which had been brought ashore from the Proteus, one of the latter falling to the lot of Lockwood. And now came a proposition for a sledge expedition, not to discover islands, glaciers, fiords, and prominent capes, but to go after the abandoned whale-boat which had floated down with the floe. This must be broken up and used for fuel. Then followed another expedition, occupying not less than eight days, to Cape Isabella, to obtain one hundred pounds of preserved meat left there by the English. Feeling the want of exercise, Lockwood occasionally took a long walk, and on one occasion was so hungry when he returned, that he could not wait for the regular evening meal, but fastened upon a lot of moldy potatoes which had been abandoned, and with these filled his stomach, almost expecting that the feast would cause his death. Some of the men went still further, for, when a blue or a white fox was killed, even the entrails of the animal were devoured. Food was the constant subject of conversation with all of the party—what they would be able to get, what they had enjoyed in former years at their distant homes, and what they expected to enjoy after their return from the North. Not only were their supplies getting lower day by day, but the only warm thing they could now afford was a cup of tea, excepting on Sunday, when they had a little rum with a bit of lemon.