The welcome news has coma this week that Mr. Benjamin
Leigh Smith, of the Eira ' exploring expedition, with his crew, numbering twenty-five in all, were landed safely at Peter- head last Saturday, by the steam whale-ship Hope,' sent out to look for him by the Eira ' Relief Committee, under the command of Sir Allen Young, C.B. They were picked up at Matotchkiu Straits, Nova Zembla, on August 3rd, It appears that the Eire, ' got as far as Franz Josef Land, where she was nipped by the ice a mile east of Cape Flora, on August 21st in last year. The men had to build a hut on Cape Flora, and there wintered, amidst great hardships, having saved very little food, and hardly any wood. However, they lived in great measure on bear meat and walrus, and they were never attacked by scurvy. On June 21st of this year they set out in their boats which had been saved, for Nova Zernbla, sailing eighty miles in clear water, after which they had six weeks of incredibly hard work in the ice, and then reached open water again, whence they made a straight course for Nova Zambia, where they encountered the ' Hope ' almost immediately. Mr. Benjamin Leigh Smith has been both brave and lucky, and we trust he may be satisfied, and won't do it again. The scientific results of the expedition, partly owing to the loss of the Eira,' are nil.
Previous page
