Arctic Explorations: In Search of Sir John Franklin

by Elisha Kent Kane

Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857) was a medical officer in the United States Navy, best known for the so-called Grinnell voyages to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin's expedition.

447 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Elisha Kent Kane (1820-1857) was an American explorer, and a medical officer in the United States Navy during the first half of the 19th century. He was a member of two Arctic expeditions to rescue the explorer Sir John Franklin.

He was present at the discovery of Franklin's first winter camp, but he did not find out what had happened to the fatal expedition.

Reviews

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the spring of 1853, Elisha Kent Kane led a group of 17 men on a small sailing ship into the Arctic to look for the lost Franklin Expedition. Through a combination of unreasonable optimism, bad judgment and bad luck, Kane's Quixotic expedition was locked into Arctic ice and forced to spend not one, but two winters huddled on its small ship. Among other problems, the expedition had embarked with insufficient supplies even for one winter. Gales, temperatures of fifty and sixty below zero, ice floes, perpetual night and insufficient food were their daily lives. The harrowing story of how all but three members of the expedition survived more than two years in the Arctic and were able to return to civilization on small boats is one of the most harrowing I have read. Honestly, the travails recounted by Kane are so daunting that one doubts anyone could have lived through them. Yet, even if Kane has exaggerated the details to some extent, the simple fact of their survival in such conditions must be true and--but it's still almost unbelievable. Kane certainly was a flawed leader, but he brought most of his men home and was rightly welcomed as a hero. Recommended, if you can find it.