Charles Lanman

“ After more than two hours’ absence he returned to the tents, crawled in alongside of Sergeant Brainard, and was quickly lulled to sleep notwithstanding the snoring of Frederick. The horrid sound issuing from his bag was as loud as a brass band at a circus.
The process of getting breakfast was to be preferred to that of getting supper. When a man went into camp, after a toilsome day of travel, and had helped to pitch tent and unload the sledge, it was hard, while covered with frost, with cold and perhaps wet feet, to chop ice and meat, and handle cold metal. ”

“ We have her now in all her glory, lighting up this vast desert waste, which, covered with its mantle of snow and ice, now becomes a thing of beauty.
“The effect of continued absence of sunlight is very marked in the complexion of all the men, as well as in their loss of vigor. They are as blanched as potato-sprouts in a dark cellar. Blessed orb of light and life! One can hardly imagine the one without the other. The moral as well as the physical influence of sunlight is very soon seen after the sun’s reappearance, the middle of February.” ”

“ One of the earliest of the adventurers along this coast, then as little known to the world as the Arctic regions are now to us, when his little ship was overwhelmed by the stormy sea, comforted the frightened and trembling helmsman with the assuring words, ‘My child, heaven is as near to us by sea as by land.’ And so what matters it where we die and how we die, so long as we are reconciled to God, and are faithfully fulfilling our calling? ”

“ Soon the snow became so deep and soft that the sledge often sank below the slats, the dogs to their bellies, and the men to their knees. Fortunately, the load was very light, and yet, had not the deep snow soon after become dry and feathery, they could not have proceeded. It was then that Lockwood promised himself never to undertake another sledge-journey, a resolve afterward easily forgotten when in camp with a full stomach. Time, rest, plenty to eat, and a good smoke, sometimes make philosophers, was the reflection recorded. ”

“ Lieutenant Lockwood was a young officer of great promise in his profession; of a noble and exalted character, his fine mind tended constantly to the investigation of scientific truths. When the privations, the suffering, and the achievements of the “Lady Franklin Bay Expedition” are fully related, higher authority will doubtless pay a more fitting tribute to the worth, the fortitude, and the matchless courage of an officer who, in Arctic exploration, has carried the American flag to a point in advance of that of any other nation. ”

“ They enjoyed part of their rabbit for supper, almost raw, for they had no alcohol to waste on 169 luxuries, and carefully laid away the other half for further indulgence. But Ritenbank saw that half rabbit stowed away, and he too liked rabbit, as will be seen. After supper Lockwood made observations, and of trials and tribulations this was not the least. Face chilled, fingers frozen, and sun so low as to require him to lie in the snow; the sun like a grease-spot in the heavens, and refusing to be reflected; snow-drifts over artificial horizon cover ”

“ Their own manner of life just then reminded Lockwood of a rainy day in the country intensified. “Yet,” says he, “why not be contented? Books and leisure afford an opportunity for reading and studying which we may never have again. We have a warm, comfortable house, plenty of food, and other things which many are without. Life in this world is just what one chooses to make it. Man can make of it a heaven or a hell.” He felt anxious as to the effect of one hundred and thirty sunless days upon himself and men, as this might tell on their sledging 121 in the coming spring. ”

“ On the 20th Lockwood writes: “The sun now begins his journey to the north; the backbone of the winter is broken! Walking out at noon to-day, I was just able to see the hands of my watch by holding it 124 close to my eye. The profound silence of this region is quite as striking, and almost as disagreeable, as the darkness. Standing still, one can almost hear his heart beat. The sense of solitude is sublime.” Speaking of Arctic literature, he says that “Hayes’ book, though beautifully written, is far below that of Kane as to information and reliability. ”

“ In this quaint and quiet place, and while a mere stripling of ten years, young Lockwood displayed his love of adventure and active life by forming a company of all the colored boys in the village, erecting earthworks in a vacant lot, and, all armed with corn-stalks and broom-handles, meeting a company of white boys in mimic war—noisy, if not dangerous to life or limb. ”

“ Lieutenant Greely remarked that it did not look as if the ‘gloom which their coming fate cast over the spirits of the men’ was quite as deep as Lieutenant Kislingbury thought it to be. Another day gone,” wrote Lockwood—“another day nearer the end of our stay here! A miserable, gloomy day it is too. Snow, or snow mixed with rain, all day, and last night it blew a gale from the right direction to clear away the ice—north-east. I think myself now in excellent condition for a hermit’s life, having had two years’ experience of a life not very dissimilar.” ”

“ By way of securing the idea of a warm piece of meat, I sometimes pour upon it a bit of my hot tea, but the effort proves futile.”
On the 21st of December, the day which Lockwood had long been anticipating with pleasure, he expressed his gratification in these words: “The top of the hill! the most glorious day of this dreary journey through the valley of cold and hunger has at last come, and is now nearly gone. Thank God, the glorious sun commences to return, and every day gets lighter and brings him nearer! It is an augury that we shall yet pull through all right.” ”

“ At the garden residence of this millionaire, young Lockwood and a friend were hospitably entertained—a wonderful contrast to the accommodations at a beer-saloon, near the arsenal gate, where the army officers were obliged to take their meals while in the city. Altogether the trip was pleasant, but too expensive for men with limited means. On their return to Fort Leavenworth from the Eden-like garden of St. Louis, they were informed of Indian troubles in Montana, and startled by a rumor that they must soon be off upon a hunt for Indians—illustrating the vicissitudes of army-life. ”

“ But he was especially despicable, because he allowed any and every dog of the team to jump on and bite him. His only redeeming trait was his earnestness in pulling, for, when the sledge stuck in deep snow or rubble-ice, he was the last of the dogs to sit on his haunches and look while you got it out. On several occasions when Ritenbank was making efforts to get inside the tent and steal the meat while all were asleep, Howler had given the alarm by his unearthly howling. ”

“ Several of the dogs, becoming mangy, have been shot. Poor old ‘Howler,’ whom we left on the ice-floe, hoping he would recover and follow us, was found dead near the same place. Oh! the hours of misery I have spent in sleeping-bags, kept awake by that howling brute—howling, perhaps, just because another dog looked at him! But, for all his howlings and stealings, the ex-king was a good worker and did his duty, and that should be all required of any one, man or dog. ”

“ Of all the heroic names that have blossomed on the charts of the Arctic seas during the present century, there is not one that will hereafter be mentioned with more pride and enthusiasm than that identified with Lockwood Island, memorable as the nearest point to the north pole ever reached by man. ”

“ As we pass over the daily records made by Lockwood in his journal at this particular time, we find food and the dangers of starvation to be the absorbing themes. It seems strange that, in a land of ice and snow, there should have been any apprehensions about a sufficient supply of drinking-water; but this was the case, and the fact came home to the exiles when they found that their supply of tea had to be reduced to half a cup per man. Good water was not only scarce, but could not be obtained from the neighboring lake, their sole dependence, without great toil in chopping away the ice. ”

“ According to Professor Joseph Henry, the problems connected with physical geography and science, which are yet unsolved, are the determination of the figure and of the magnetism of the earth, complete knowledge of the tides of the ocean, the winds of the globe, and the influence of extreme cold on animal and vegetable life. Surely the men who voluntarily toil and suffer in their efforts to obtain the needed light on all these subjects, are quite as worthily employed as those who struggle for riches or political fame. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Immediately after the explorers had anchored their ship in Discovery Harbor, they saw a drove of musk-oxen leisurely ascending the neighboring hills, which they climbed with the facility of goats. This was indeed a cheerful prospect for men in so isolated a region and without fresh meat, and many of them started forthwith in pursuit of the game, working their way to the shore on the ice, but were compelled to return after a vain attempt to follow the animals over the hills. ”

“ On reaching the lake, all three of the men managed to crowd upon the sledge, and the dogs went at a rapid trot over its smooth, level surface. Beyond Lake Carolyn was a ravine leading toward the river, and there the dogs took to a gallop, and in an hour they reached a rocky height overlooking a long, wide valley walled in on the north side by high, precipitous cliffs, and on the south by heights of even greater elevation, but not so steep. ”

“ On the 8th, at 3 A. M., they arrived at Cape Sumner, and, getting through the rubble-ice near the shore, gained the steep snow-slope which lay between the foot of the cliffs and the line of immense floe-bergs along the shore, stranded and pressed close up to the snow-slope. Between the bergs and the slope, the wind had made great gaps, deep and tortuous. The only way to get along was either through these gaps—often like pits—or to take the slope above and run the risk of tumbling down into them, sledge and all, sometimes fifteen or twenty feet. ”

“ The life we are now leading is somewhat similar to that of a prisoner in the Bastile: no amusements, no recreations, no event to break the monotony or dispel ennui. I take a long walk every day along shore to North Valley with that view, study French a little, or do some tailoring, now doubly necessary, as our supply of clothing is getting low. Our stock of reading matter, unfortunately, is limited except in Arctic books. ”

“ The Greely Expedition was expected to be confined, and was confined, to the well-known waters of Smith’s Sound. It could, therefore, be reached at any time, and, if necessary, it could fall back upon a point accessible at all times. All that was required to secure its safe return was a well-chosen base, and an absolute certainty that this base would be maintained. Unfortunately, neither requirement was fulfilled, and hence nineteen men lost their lives. Sledge-journeys from established bases, though fraught with great labor and discomfort, have never been attended with serious loss of life. ”

“ Among the amusements which helped to kill time at the station of Discovery Harbor, officially called Fort Conger, was that of celebrating certain birthdays, and this chapter begins with what was done when Lieutenant Lockwood attained his twenty-ninth year. He confessed that he did not wish a “happy return of the day” in the Arctic regions, and yet he would be contented if they should all be as pleasant as the one just experienced, in spite of the cold winds, ice, snow, darkness, and anticipations of exposure and fatigue when his spring travels should begin. ”

“ They cause the reader to live for a time in an ideal world, and bring him back to the stern reality with a sense of disappointment.
On the 8th of December, Lockwood was greatly impressed by the absence of light, and gave his views as follows: “It is now very dark, even at noon, except when we have the moon and a clear sky. Even on the floe, where the pure white snow reflects every bit of light, it is now so obscure that it is difficult to see the path at one’s feet; and even the outlines of the mountains, high above the horizon, are very dim. ”

“ The sun was very bright and warm when they left camp at 9.50 P. M., but a heavy fog hung like a curtain on the horizon, and shut out the land all around. They were, in fact, traveling on the Polar Sea, out of sight of land. Shortly after starting, Lockwood put 182 on snow-shoes to try them, and found immense relief at once. He blamed himself every day for a week for not having tried them during the journey out, and thus saved himself many hours of the most fatiguing travel through deep snow. ”

“ Indeed, Lockwood observed anxious faces among them when he hesitated about stopping. Floe-bergs of every form and shape—square, oblong, round, and pyramidal—from ten to forty feet high, were scattered along the shore. Without the barrier afforded by these, the floating floe, moving with the noise of railroad-trains, would cut away the foot-ice and render travel impossible. Using the tent at Depot “A,” and the bedding, etc., there, they got supper over the spirit-lamp and crawled into their sleeping-bags. ”