Farthest North: The Life and Explorations of Lieutenant James Booth Lockwood, of the Greely Arctic ExpeditionLanman, Charles
History
Farthest North: The Life and Explorations of Lieutenant James Booth Lockwood, of the Greely Arctic Expedition
Lanman, Charles
Arctic regions; Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-1884); Lockwood, James Booth, 1852-1884
One of the results of the trip made by Rice to Cape Sabine was the
selection of a spot, between the cape and Cocked-Hat Island, for a
home during the approaching winter. Here, officers and men alike
laboring, a new hut was built, which was forthwith occupied by the
party, all the supplies being at once brought from the camp south of
Cape Sabine. The place where they now found themselves established,
Lieutenant Greely called Camp Clay, in honor of one of the party—a
grandson of Henry Clay—who had been attached to the expedition until
it reached Lady Franklin Bay, whence he returned home on account of
his health. As soon as the new hut was occupied, the announcement
was made that six of the party were on the sick list; but shortly
afterward, and notwithstanding the deplorable condition of affairs,
Lockwood recorded the following in his journal: “We are all now in
comparatively high spirits, and look forward to getting back to the
United States with a great deal of certainty. We shall have to live
on half-rations or less until April, and there will be shortness of
fuel. Many hardships are obvious, but we all feel sound again.”
On the 23d of October, twelve of the party went from Camp Clay upon
a visit to Cape Sabine, and, while some of them opened the English
_cache_ at the south side of Payer Harbor, Lockwood built a cairn
there and deposited under it, among other things, the records of the
expedition, with a note in lead-pencil to the following effect:
“_October 23, 1883._—This cairn contains the original records of the
Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, the private journal of Lieutenant
Lockwood, and a set of photographic negatives. The party is
permanently encamped at a point midway between Cape Sabine and
Cocked-Hat Island. All well.
“J. B. Lockwood,
“_First Lieutenant Twenty-third Infantry._”
On their way back to Camp Clay, Dr. Pavy met with an accident to one
of his feet, and, while most of the party went on, Lockwood and
Ellison remained behind to look after him. When night came on, they
lost their way, stumbling and floundering over the rubble-ice until
overcome by fatigue and hunger; but were revived by a limited mutton
stew on their arrival at the camp. One of the results to Lockwood of
his Samaritan conduct was an accident to one of his knees, which
gave him trouble for several days, and prevented his being as useful
as he desired in contributing to the comfort of the party. It was
about this time that Lieutenant Greely declared his intention of
reducing the rations, all assenting, so that they might last until
the 1st of March; and this fact, added to the discovery that some of
their meat was far more bony than it should have been, caused some
consternation. Cold, dampness, darkness, and hunger continued to be
their hourly and daily portion, the allowance of food being only
about one fourth of what they actually needed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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