isnomer, if literally taken, for the
Government vessels which patrol these Northern waters. The _Bear_, for
instance, which landed us on the Siberian coast in 1896, was a
three-masted screw-steamer of over 600 tons, an old Dundee whaler
purchased for the United States for the Greeley Relief Expedition. The
_Thetis_, although somewhat smaller, is practically a sister ship of the
_Bear_, which latter is regarded as the best and stoutest vessel of the
Revenue Cutter Service. And her officers and men are well worthy of her.
Three or four years ago no less than eight whalers were hopelessly
jammed in the ice off Point Barrow in the Arctic Ocean, and their crews
were in imminent danger of starvation. The season was too far advanced
for a ship to proceed to their rescue, but a party from the _Bear_
managed to carry supplies to the beleaguered ships after a sled journey
of almost unparalleled difficulty, and thereby avert a terrible
catastrophe. Several of the shipwrecked men had already perished, but
the majority were rescued, chiefly through the pluck and perseverance of
Lieutenant Jarvis, first lieutenant of the _Bear_, and leader of the
expedition.

The _Thetis_, when she called for us at Whalen, was bound on a mission
of some peril--the search for two large steamers from San Francisco
which, while trying to reach Nome City, had been caught in the pack and
swept away by drifting ice into the Polar Sea. Both vessels were crowded
with passengers, including many women, and the _Thetis_ had already made
two unsuccessful attempts to ascertain their whereabouts. Indeed, it was
feared that no more would ever be heard of the _Portland_ or _Jeannie_
which had, as usual, been racing to reach Nome City before any rival
liner from the Golden Gate.

When, on that sunlit morning, we left Whalen, a cloudless sky and glassy
sea unflecked by the tiniest floe led me to hope that our troubles were
at an end. Captain Healey of the _Thetis_ had resolved to land us on
Cape Prince of Wales, but when, towards evening, that promontory was
sighted, my heart sank at the now familiar sight of ice packed heavily
around the coast. By nine o'clock we were (to use a whaling term) "up
against" the outer edge of the pack, and shortly afterwards the engines
of the _Thetis_ were slowed down, for the man in the crow's nest
reported trouble ahead. And we found it in plenty, for the stout little
vessel, after cleaving and crashing her way through the floes for