Man upon the sea : or, a history of maritime adventure, exploration, and discovery, from the earliest ages to the present time ... . st. The thermometerfell to 67° below zero. Chloroform froze, and chloric etherbecame solid. The air had a perceptible pungency upon 534 MAN UPON THE SEA. inspiration: all inhaled it guardedly and with compressedlips. The 22d of December brought with it the midnight ofthe year: the fingers could not be counted a foot from theeyes. Nothing remained to indicate that the Arctic world hada sun. The men during this their first winter kept up theirspirits wonderfully ;
Man upon the sea : or, a history of maritime adventure, exploration, and discovery, from the earliest ages to the present time ... . st. The thermometerfell to 67° below zero. Chloroform froze, and chloric etherbecame solid. The air had a perceptible pungency upon 534 MAN UPON THE SEA. inspiration: all inhaled it guardedly and with compressedlips. The 22d of December brought with it the midnight ofthe year: the fingers could not be counted a foot from theeyes. Nothing remained to indicate that the Arctic world hada sun. The men during this their first winter kept up theirspirits wonderfully ; but most of the dogs died of diseases of thebrain brought on by the depressing influences of the darkness. The first traces of returning light were observed on the 21stof January, when the southern horizon had a distinct orange the close of February the sun silvered the tall icebergsbetween the headlands of the bay: his rays reached the deckon the 28th, and perpetual day returned with the month ofMarch. The men found their faces badly mottled by scurvy-spots, and they were nearly all disabled for active work. But. CHAO S.» six dogs remained out of forty-four. No language candescribe, says Kane, the chaos at the base of the rock on MAN UPON THE SEA. 535 which the storehouse had been built. Fragments of ice hadbeen tossed into every possible confusion, rearing up in fantasticequilibrium, surging in long inclined planes, dipping into darkvalleys, and piling in contorted hills. A sledge-party wassent out on the 19th to deposit a relief cargo of provisions; onthe 31st, three of its members returned, swollen, haggard andalmost dumb. They had left four of their number in a tent,disabled and frozen. Dr. Kane at once started with a rescueof nine men, and, after an unbroken march of twenty-onehours, came in sight of a small American flag floating upon ahummock. They were received with an explosion of return with the sledge laden with the weight of elevenhundred
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