A Diary and Journal from the Second Grinnell Expedition

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my hopes untainted. Want of hope is a taint a rotteness, and as long as my energies keep true I do not fear for the future. Thus I argue to myself. It is but eleven days before we reach the middle of our night. After that the consciousness that every day nears us closer to the dawing will give a moral prop to my sick. I have saved a bottle of Champaign, hoarded up since September, to garnish a dinner and play upon the spirits of my little family. Again, I find by my journals of animal life that by the 9th of Feb. we may expect a chance deer, and still earlier (in January) a few Ptarmagan. Finally, if the worst turns up, I am sufficiently hardened to the climate not to fear a few days of -50° and will find my way to the Leiper Bay Esquimaux and in virtue of my terrible authority as [Nahlagak?] and Conjurer, press into service sledges drivers and walrus hunters. Give me health and I've no fears.

The super abundant life of Northumberland Isd has impressed Mr. Petersen as much as it did me. How fearfully it bears upon the fate of Franklin. I could evven in August have collected a winters sustenance of Birds and Cochlearia, and here have this poor party lived the live of Esquimaux with temperatures of -50° and darkness covering their hunting grounds.

Our own sickness I attribute to our civilized diet. Had we plentiful supplies of raw & frozen walrus I

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as the 15th July. Apply all this to Franklin.

But for my constant journey last October, scurvy would have taken root among us but by our few dogs I managed to give us six weeks of abundant fresh provision. It is only four weeks that we have been on salt food, and that four weeks cannot have tainted my party. All that I have to do is to get meat and that if health holds I can and will do.— Besides Bear come in February. !!

Monday Dec 11.

Mr. Petersen reports will be found in my daily notes. The most interesting fact which the journey developed is that of a strikingly milder climate. From the passage of Cape Alexander to their residence in the hut at Cape Blackwood the Therm. never rose above [blank] while our own observations gave daily means of [blank] and minima records in Sept of [blank] Mercury froze with us while a mild subdued atmosphere (comparetively) pervaded the island group of Mur= =chison Sound. This change can only be attributed to the open water of the iceless seas which occupy the Northern indentation of Baffin Bay. There are as mentioned by me in my boat journey two north waters.

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These men can never be my associates again. Hayes has more stuff in him he is in love too, with me a vast extenuator of every abomination. Petersen is a double faced mischief maker, able to walk 250 miles over an arctic waste but unable to travel 50 during two years of service. He was paid in full when he left the brig.

All my attention and time taken in organizing the second mess. John & Godfrey being outlawed by their late associates have to each by themselves, but all shall be made equally comfortable. The party generally are full of thanks.

Received a letter from Messrs Hayes Bonsall and Sonntag expressive of their confidence in my direction their trust in me & my generosity for final escape from the trials which surround us and desiring to be received under my command.

De facto as inmates of my ship they were such already, but deeming it essential that a decided subordination should exist, I granted their request, but with the understanding that it in no wise implied a renewal of their old employments and occupations. This reply was given orally but entered in the log of this date.

They shall be employed upon no duties connected with the Expedition, but contribute to their daily routine of mess so as not to tax my own people. In fact such is the feeling of these latter [?] that I am

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Sunday Dec. 31

Dog will eat dog in the arctic regions. I left on Friday.

[Returned to the brig at 5 1/2 P.M. wonderfully fresh after a mingled walk and drive of 80 miles.]

The dogs began to show signs of our accursed tetanoid spasm at Ten Mile Ravine. Before we reached the Basalt Camp six out of eight were nearly useless. The Therm indicated -44° and a wind (No 4.) blew out of the gorge from the glacier. Petersen wished to return but was persuaded to walk on with me to the huts at Anaotoc, in the hope that a halt would restore the animals. This we did after a march of 30 miles. The sinuosities of this Bay gave fearful travel the broken ice clung to the rocks and we could only advance by ascending and descending to the ice foot and the floe as the case required. After eleven hours we made the Esquimaux hut having made by sledge & foot travel 45 miles. [new paragraph] We found Esquimaux [?] any trace of the Esquimaux having [lost?] [unclear]. We filled in the broken [front?] with snow., housed the dogs and unable to sleep on account of the cold crawled in among them. Next morning we broke down our door and tried the dogs again. They could hardly stand.

A gale now came in from the S. W. obscuring the moon. We were forced into the hut again, and after corking up all openings with snow made a fire with our Esquimaux Lamp and raised the temperature to 30° below zero. Cooked coffee and fed dogs on the dead meat after which both Petersen and self our clothing having frozen stiff, fell asleep through sheer exhaustion. The wind outside blowing

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some paper and feared that his own repeated failure to alight his moss would exhaust our scanty supply of Percussion Caps. Petersen handed me the pistol, which I seized after much groping in the darkness I seized[?]. "I did not cock it" said Petersen, "for the trigger, gives at the smallest touch." [With difficulty] I handed back the instrument with great care but in the utter darkness wasted the powder. He cocked it [by] restored the powder and was with great care groping in the dark to reach it to me. When my hand touched his, instantly [on the ?] I exclaimed "Petersen stop I see you". The pistol along its lock, trigger & barrel was defined by a pale bluish light, slightly tremulous but not broken, the stock clearly discernible seemed to derive its light from the pistol, but to my amazement the thumb & two fingers, one of these latter on either side of the dangerous trigger were seen with the clearest definition, the creases wrinkles and crescent of nails clearly mapped upon the skin which had a phosphorescent yellow light not unlike the material of the fire fly but without glow.

The pistol was held vertically' to Petersens surprise I placed one finger on either side of his own without touching another part. At this moment he saw an illumination around my hand but could define nothing. The pistol was than carried by me, still vertically and the other hand containing powder rubbed paper moved towards it as this paper touched the barrel it partook of the blueish