Page:The open Polar Sea- a narrative of a voyage of discovery towards the North pole, in the schooner "United States" (IA openpolarseanarr1867haye).pdf/272

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assistance. A party was at once dispatched to bring them in. Hans being cold and fatigued, I refrained for the time from questioning him, and sent the weather-*beaten travelers to get warmed and fed.

The two old people were found coiled up in a cave dug in a snow-bank, and were shivering with the cold. The dogs were huddled together near by, and not one of them would stir a step, so both the animals and the Esquimaux were bundled in a heap upon our large ice-sledge, and dragged to the vessel. The Esquimaux were soon revived by the warmth and good cheer of Hans's tent, while the dogs, only five in number, lay stretched out on the deck in an almost lifeless condition. They could neither eat nor move. And this was the remnant of my once superb pack of thirty-six, and this the result of a journey from which I had hoped so much! There was a mystery somewhere. What could it all mean? I quote from my diary:—

February 1st.

Hans has given me the story of his journey, and I sit down to record it with very painful emotions.

The travelers rounded Cape Alexander without difficulty, finding the ice solid; and they did not halt until they had reached Sutherland Island, where they built a snow hut and rested for a few hours. Continuing thence down the coast, they sought the Esquimaux at Sorfalik without success. The native hut at that place being in ruins, they made for their shelter another house of snow; and, after being well rested, they set out directly for Northumberland Island, having concluded that it was useless to seek longer for natives on the north side of the Sound. They had proceeded on their course about four or five miles, as nearly as