Editing USS Advance (1847) (section)

===Abandonment of the ''Advance''===

''Advance's'' crewmen passed the second winter in a state of near hibernation. The difficulties of the previous year had sapped their strength, and their provisions were too scant to restore it. [[Scurvy]] – that dread disease of the sea – riddled their ranks to the point that Kane and one other man "... only remained to attend upon the sick, and carry on the daily work of the ship, if that name could still appropriately designate the burrow which we inhabited." The sun returned late in February 1855, and wild game followed it in March. Reasonably adequate food and the sunlight slowly brought the men back some semblance of full strength. At that point, Kane decided to abandon the ship – still frozen solidly in the floe – and make it across the ice to the [[Denmark|Danish]] settlements of southern Greenland. Shortages of fuel and food, as well as the weakened condition of the crew, made that decision inescapable.

Preparations for the journey were multifaceted and complicated. Those capable of work prepared two 25-foot [[whaleboat]]s and a 13-foot dinghy by mounting them on iron-shod wooden runners and then loading them with provisions. Meanwhile, Kane took the dog sled and team out to an abandoned Inuit hut located some 35&nbsp;miles from the brig. There, he established an advanced depot to store provisions for the actual journey. During April and the first half of May, he made several trips carrying supplies to his makeshift way station. On 15 May 1855, he began transporting the incapacitated members of the crew to the way station. Two days later, the main group began its torturous trek across the ice hummocks with the three boat-sleds. The main party, without the assistance of dogs, managed a snail's pace of only some three and one-half miles a day. While the main group inched its way, Kane continued his more rapid trips – facilitated by the dogs – both back to the brig and to an Inuit camp located about 75&nbsp;miles south of the ship. In this manner, he moved the sick to the way station, brought additional supplies from the ship, and returned from the Inuit camp with fresh game. He last visited the ship on 8 June 1855 and, by the middle of that month, all the sick gradually joined the main party then nearing Littleton Island. The mode of travel again was Kane's dog sled. During the journey south toward [[Cape Alexander, Greenland|Cape Alexander]], the party suffered numerous breaks through the ice as the spring thaw arrived. At least one man, Acting Carpenter Ohlsen, died from exposure resulting from such an incident.

By 18 June, the entire party reached open water at the edge of the floe near Cape Alexander. The journey had netted them only 81&nbsp;miles in 31 days, but the numerous cutbacks and detours, necessitated by the ice hummocks, resulted in an actual trek of over 300&nbsp;miles. From that point, they took to the boats. During the next phase of the journey, they alternated between runs across open water under sail and marches across frozen ice hummocks when necessary. By 21 July 1855, the men reached [[Cape York (Greenland)|Cape York]], the point at which they would begin the transit to Upernavik. There, they erected a rock monument in which they left information regarding their planned movements, a list of provisions on hand, and a brief summary of the expedition's findings. That project completed, Kane and his crew started out across Melville Bay. On 6 August, Kane led his exhausted party into Upernavik. They took passage from Upernavik in the Danish brig ''Marianne'' to Disko Island where they were met by the relief expedition made up of {{USS|Arctic|1855|2}} and {{USS|Release|1855|2}} under the command of Lt. Hartstene. The two relief ships brought the survivors into New York on 11 October 1855. Presumably, the pack ice eventually crushed and sank the abandoned ''Advance''.