and Kane bartered with them for additional sled dogs. The four animals he thus obtained allowed him to fit out a single seven-dog team which greatly extended the range of their searches. In his own words, "The value of these animals for Arctic ice-travel (sic) can hardly be over-estimated (sic)." Through the ensuing summer, search parties ranged the far northern coasts of Greenland and the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island searching for evidence of Sir John Franklin's party and making notes on geography and climate. 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 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 whaleboats 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 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