Two Thousand Miles On Ice

Of all stories, fictitious or truc of disasters at sea and adventures on land, none seeui ko remarkable as the true story we are now abia to teil, tince the amv.il of' fiportion of the Polaris voyagers. TUty dvitted ón art ioe-iioe for at le.ist 2,000 miles, the time being six uionths and 11 days. The steamer Polaris, C. F Hall comin&nder, reaehed in the suminer of 1W71 the latitude of 82 deg. 10 min. north, wbicb is higher tban is known to have been reaclied before by any man. Thoy oould 8ee Grinnell land, on the " American " side, as far north as 83 des:., and thence the Greonland sliore was obsorved to trend eastward. At 81 deg. 38 min. tbey stopped to winter, but Captain Hall became sick, and on the 8th of Noveinher, 1871, he died. Ha was buried on the Greenland slioro, perhups farther north than any other white man in the world. In the spring of 1872 the Polaris was heaved up on her beams by an iceberg, and was uut cleared until August 12ih, when she started southward, Captain Buddihton commanding. In 80 deg 2 mtn. sub was caught in the ice, and drifted till October 15th, when she was hove up again by a tíoe, most of tho goods and of the party were landed, and she broke loose agaiu and drifted northward under a strong gale, with 14 of the crew aboard. Those Jeft on the ice ïmmbered 18, including Hans Christian, his wife, and four ehildren, the youngest but two riionths old, and Joe and Hannah, with their chüd. They had provisious enough for one month, plenty of skins, aminumtion, and rifles, but very few f'urs. They had the boats with thern. Next raorning they í aw tbe Polnris steering south under steaui and cauvass, and apparently nearing thein. Tliose on board must have seen thcm, bui, probabiy owing to the pressure of the ice, the ship was orowded off, and thus became permatiently separated from those on the ice. Possibly the Polaris is yethun ing iround for thoso 18. The ice-ioe. Captain Tyson cmm -nder, drifted outhward near the mi in 'and for eeveral days, düring wbich tin o tb. y ta vde efforts to land, bilt in vain. "W ch t je aid of the Esquimaux accompanying them they built ico huts, and prepared for a long voyage. They put theniselves on short allo wances so as tomake their stock of stap'e provisioits last for fïve months Occasioually they cauglit a saai or au ice bear when, they had a feast. The seoond day a gale caused an icequake which just spared their little city, leaving it on a. sniall floe. iVom about the 4th day to the 12th, they drifted eastivard go that they were bfought in sight of the Greuuland 6hore, but they could not land. They we.-e then carried off south far from land. Then bogan the tediuui of tbeir journoy. When they caught aeeal they had a " blow out." and ate üvery sorap of it excepting the gall. Por Otmstmas day they resirvod their last piece of ham. For New Year's they had no extras. January 19th, 1873, they saw the sun. The first land they saw wasbelieved to be Cape Wahingham, but they wero many uiilesfroin it. They mffored but very little from hunger during their lonely voyitge. Their floe was split by heavy gales several limes, but they lost nothing except that they had to scramble pretty hard to keep out of danger. Thus lifepassed until April 21st, when it soemed that familie was about to take their lives at last. They theri caugbt a bear. Anothor feast. April 28th they took to their boat ancl began working westward. In the afteinoon they saw a steauier, but lost sight of her in a fog. The next morning the fog cleared away, and lo ! within three miles of them lay a large steauier, the Tigresa, a sealing vcssel. By her they were picked up, in lsttitude 53 deg , near Grady harbor. Not one of them had been seriously ill and when they had good tlothes put on them, they looked as well as other people.