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Las diagrammes suivants illustrant la mithoda. rata 3 lalure. 3 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ^. f^t/Ji) " ^^"^mM - ■^•s- ^ '■■>S THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. THE SHIP AND ICE JOURNALS OP GEORGE W. De LONG, LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER U. S. N., AND COMMANDER OF THE POLAR EXPEDITION OF 1879-1881. EDITKD HY HIS WIFK, EMMA DeLONG, WITH A STEEL PORTRAIT, MAPS, AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD AND STONE. m TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENC^H AND COMPANY I Paternoster SguARE 1883 All rifjhla nsen-cd. OUiv )■ \ PREFACE. n, ■0 In the preparation of this vohime the editor has availed herself first, of the private papers of Captain De Lonjr, and her own recollection and notes ; and secondly, of the testimony given in public and private by the survivors of the Jeannette. It seemed right, in a work which is essentially a tribute to human worth, to introduce the narrative with a brief l)iograpiiical sketch of the commander of the expedition up to the inception of the undertaking, with special reference to the qualities of character and education of circum- stances which led directly to his proposal of an Arctic expedition. The preparations for the voyage continue this personal sketch, as well as put the reader in posses- sion of all necesisary facts relating to the plans of the projectors and the measures taken to ensure success. So much was requisite as an introduction to the nar- rative itself. For that recourse was had to the letters written by Captain De Long after leaving San Fran- cisco, and before dismissing the consort which accom- panied the Jeannette to St. Lawrence Bay ; to the private journal which he kept from the beginning of the voyage to the sinking of the ship, and to the two small •jovn-nals in which he recorded the fortunes of the expedition after the ship was abandoned. 28118 iv PREFACE. In prepnrint? the closing chapters of the work, tlio testhnonies given by the survivors have been carefully compared and made the basis for a consecutive narra- tive which should complete the history of the expe- dition. The illustrations have been studied with great care. The smaller ones in the text have been reproduced from diagrams and sketches made in the joui-nals, by Mr. Newcorab, the naturalist of the party, and by Cap- tain Gronbeck of the Lena ; the larger ones have been from the hand of Mr. M. J. Burns, whose experience in the Arctic had given him special facility for making truthful renderings^ and his work has been carefully examined and approved by ofhcers of the expedition. The portraits have been taken from the best sources. That of Captain De Long is from a painting by Mr. JC. W. Perry ; that of Mr. Bennett was engraved for this work ; and those of the officers and other ntembers of the expedition are from the best photographs obtain- able. The frontispiece of the second volume is from a drawing made on the spot by Mr. A. Larsen. The maps were drawn for the work. Avith the exception of that descriptive of the route of the Little Juniata, which is a reduction of the government map in the " Voyage of the Polaris." The scientific results of the expedition are only par- tially recorded in the text of the work and in papers included in the Appendix. The government will hereafter issue the notes of the naturalist, the meteoro- logical observations, and the electrical and auroral PREFACE. V c.bsorvntJons of Lieutenant Cliipp, nnri U I,.,s been tlu).i-ht advisable, tlierefore. to omit them IVoni this work. Tiie thanks of the editor are due to Mr. James Go,., don Bennett for his constant sympathy, interest, and m.l ; to Ciiief-Engineer Melville for his frequent assist- ance and special contributions ; to the other survivors of the Jeannette for their cheerful and rea.lv response to all requests for information; to Colon'el W. B Remey, Judoe Advocate General U. S. N., and Lieu- tenant W. H. Jaques. U. S. N. Finally, the editor de- .sn-es to acknowled.ire u-ratefully the consideration an.l knidne.s.s Avhich her work has met with from the Secre- tory of the Navy and other members of the Depart- ment at Washington. Ml,. CONTExXTS. CHAPTER I. THE COMMANDKIl t)K TIIK EXPEDITfOV. Parontago and Rirtli. — Early IndiK'nci-s :iiiil SiiiiomiiliM!.'s School Lilt!. — Tlu! (.'liciicc of ii Pioffssior In the Law Olliee of Hon. John Oakey. — Forcns liis Way into tlic .Vaval Academy, r— A Mid- Bldpman who dispunsus witli lied Tap.'. —Death of his I'arcnts. — Marriajfe under nifficulties. — Promotion. — On tht! Juniata. — Commanding the Little Juniat," A Periious B^ it Journey. — His Recollection of his FJxjierience. — The Vrc'io Fever. — Powers of Endurance. — Tciuiieranuiit. — Trolit s. - His Dcajiniis with Men. — TcBtimouy of an Associate j CHAPTER H. PKEPARATIONS FOR TIIK KXI'KDITION. Conversation with .Mr. (iriiiiiell. — Proposal to Mr. Hennett. — Mr. Bennett's Respon.se. — Delay in Plans. — Search for a Suitaltle Vessel. — Purchase of the Pandora. — Sketch of Oiicrations. — Dr. Petermann's Vicw.s. —Lieutenant Dc Lou..' repairs to Enuland. — Halloon Ascensions. —The i'andoni renamed The Jeannettc. — Lieutenant Danenhower joins the Ship. —The Voyajre to San Francisco. — Action of Conjiress. — S.irvey of the siiip. — Inter- view with Secretary of the Navy. — Alterations of the Jeannettc. — Considerations of Economy. — Captain De Lon;in<' Outlook. — Sledging. — New Leaks, — Lookinji for Release . 304 CHAPTER IX. A FROZEN SUMMKR. June — Auffusi, IS80, Which Way does the Ice goV — Apjieafance of Insanity. — A Fall of Rain. — Danenhower's Case. — Bad Walking. — Mostpiitoes. — A Days Record. — Lanes of Water. — The First Punishment. — CONTENTS. I ! Stoppage of the Leak. — Meltinj; of thi- Surrounding Ice. — The Ship in an Islunil «f Ico. — Tiiiekncss of Ice. — Punishment of Dojis. — IrksGuiem-.-is of CoiiliiiLincnt. — Accident to Alexey. — Tlio Height of Suniuier and the Depth of Discouragement. — The UcsoUition of the Conipiiiiy. — Fog and its Effect on Ice. — Specu- lations on Arctic Ii;e. — Studies of Sea Water Ice. — Tests ap])lied. — Sudden Encounter witli a Hear. — Getting at the Propeller. — A i'arty ot Bears. — Crimson Snow. — A Hopeless Outlook . . . 371 i I LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOLUME L I I- ENGRAVINGS ON STEEL. PouTRAiT OF Georgk WASHINGTON De Long. Ei.giaved by J. V J '"" Wilcox, after a Portrait by E. Wood Perry . . / Frontispiece J'..KTRAiT OF Jamks (Jordon Bennett. Engmved by F. T Stuirt aite. a recent Photograph . , . / ' ^ ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. PLATES. The Adventcre in the Little Juniata. From a Desigb by M. J. Burns. Engraved by George T. Andrew .,3 Ul'EKNAVIK . . ,, , 33 Entering the Ice. From a Design by M. J. Bums. Engraved by George T. Andrew . . .,„ • • • . 117 SO.N.E OF THE D0G8. From Sketches by R. L. Newcomb. Facsimile reproduction • . . . A Fight among the Dog8. From a Design by M.' J. Bums.' En^ "'^ graved by George T. Andrew . Returning from a Bear Hunt. From a Design by M. J. Burns." Kngrtived by George T. Andrew ggg VIGNETTES. Arctic Steamer Jeannette ^., Portrait of Chas. W. Chipp. With Autograph * ' ^'Z P..RTRTAIT OF John W. Danenhower. With Autograph ." ' ' 50 Portrait of J. M. Ambler, M. D. . . . . " " ^ Portrait of George W. Melville ... * * Portrait of Jerome J. Collins ^ Portrait OF Ravmonb Lee Newcomb. With Autograph ' " 2 Portrait of Wiluam Dunbak . \ ' OUNA1.A8KA . '^^ 84 4 H J XII LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. St. Michaki.'s Xativk Tattooinc}, St. Lawrenck Bay Honk I'ipk XativkV Lami- HoN'K IIaupoon IIkads Xativk's Kmkk ok Honk . Honk Siiovei,, Fkont Vikw Honk Shovkl, Sidk Vikw SKAL.S Walkls Ross's Gl'Ll A Pkcili.vk Ilk Fokm A (^UAKKKL OVKH A MkAT CaN Thk Ivory (iiu. .... A Polar Hkak . . • . VVatching koh Skai,s .... Thk Hlack (Jlillk.mot PAGE 89 97 '.K> KM) 101 10-J 10.S 1-J7 IK! 15:^ ii()4 214 231 2rikting Ice-Bolnd KY Wranuel Island KJl Position ok the Jkannktte in the Pack, Janiary 24, 1880 . 228 SKKTCH SHOWINd how THK CeILING WAS CKISIIKI) .... 275 CiRcr.Mi'OLAR Map, showing thk Highest Pt)iNT reachkd hy DIKKKRKNT NAVIGATORS. Froiu the latest Aiitlu)rities. Fiuiiiji pufre ;U8 Position ok the Ship when thk Ick \Vas sawkd .... 420 Track Chart ok thk L'. S. S. Jkannktte, Liect.-Co.mm. (iEoiusE W. De LoNe .'$18 . 429 TIIK. ICKRS KKIAN III Pocket. THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. CHAPTER I. THE COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION. I'iireiitage and IJirtli. — Early Influences and Surroundings. — School Lite. — The Choice of a Profession. — In the Law OlHce of Hon. Jolin Oakey. — Forces liis Way into the Naval Academy. — A Mid- sliii)inan who dispenses with Red Tai)e. — Deatii of his Parents. — Marria!: t| " Tliiit 's ri^hl I " they siiid. •• 'I'liu tiling should ho at- tended to. .lust spi'uk to the adniinil positively ahout it, and you'll get what you want." The ytiuug luidshipuian was shown into tiie oflico of A«Iniiral Striughain, an i-rcot gentlcuian with white hair, and sharp black eyes, who sat at his desk wi'it- ing. His visitor advanced toward him, cap in hand, and siiid : — •• Admiral, 1 am Midshipman Do Long of the U. >S. Steamer (Janandaigua. Sir, 1 have heen inspecting my (juarters on hoard, and 1 find only two hunks in the steerage for four midshipmen. 1 came, .sir, to ask you to have two more berths put in belbre we start for .sea. The admiral looked up quickly and said : " So you are Midshipman l)e Long of the U. S. Steamer Canan- 1.1 M aigua . OS, sir. " AVell, Midshipman De Long of the U. S. Steamer (Janandaigua, I advise you to return on board the U. S. Steamer Canandaigua. and consider yourself very hapi)y that you hiive any bunks at all in the steerage." The admiral wa.s better than his word, however. His amusement was greater than his amazement, and he ordered the additional bunks to be made. Years after- ward he met again the innocent and resolute midshij)- man and laughed heartily over their first encounter. T':e cruise of the C uiandaigua was along the western coas of Europe and Africa and in the Mediterranean, and as a little over three years in duration. Mr. De Loni. ivas promoted successively to be ensign and mas- ter, { d, shortly after his return to New York, to be lieut( lant. After a short leave of absence, he was or- dered to the U. S. Steamer Lancaster, then at Norfolk, TIIK Co.MMANItKU oF IIIK KXI'KIHTION. 9 Vn., hut uliilc sho was iJi-cpiiriiiij; tor sea lu» was placed on duty in Washington loi- piacticc in si<;nals. Whilst on this duty ln' was ti'h';^i'a|)h('d for to cona! to his mother's sirk-hi'd. His lathiT ha 1 (hcd whiU' the (Janan- daij-iKi was ahsi'iit on her cruise, and Mrs. Di- Loni;- had heen k'tt alone. Shi* had a passionate love I'oi- her son, and his long ai)seii('e, in a lil'e which was repugnant to her choice for him, was a grievous hurden to her. Sho was hrave and ujisolli.sh, and refused to euiliitter his life with her c tuplaints ; hut her death, which occurred now. l)rought afresh to him a sense of the relations they had sustained to each other, and his naturally huoyant nature was greatly dei)ressed wlu-n ho re- joiiKMl the Lancaster, which had heen ordurcil to the South Atlantic. His depression was deepened hy the fact that hv was waiting for the exi)iration of a three years' dela\', which had been agreed upon between him and the father of the lady to whom he had olVereil himself in nuirriage, and whom he had met at Havre, where she was liv- ing at the time of the Canandaigua's cruise in French waters. His eager, impetuous nature wore out two of the three years, when the delay became insufferable. H(* obtained leave of absence, and presented himself in Havre in PVbruary. 1871, where his persistence and res- olution made y-ood the third year of his waitin*!;. The Franco-Prussian War was nearing its close. An armis- tice had been (h'clared, but Havre was accessible onlv from the sea; conununication with Paris was cut off by the Prussian army and the breaking up of bridges and ■ ailways. The harbor was occupied by a number of foreign men-of-war, sent for the protection of neutral interests, and among these was the U. S. Steamer Sl'"n- andoah. 1^ ,1 i » tf^ 10 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNETTP:. Such neutral interests us Mr. De Long enjoyed were especi.iUy in need of protection ))y a United States man-of-war ; for after all difficulties had heen removed, and the resolution taken at noon of March 1st to have the marriage performed in the evening of that day, since the hride's father was compelled to return to America, fresh dilHculties sprang up. Marriage in France is a civil contract, and Mr. De Long saw the necessity of securing the presence and services of General Glasgow, the United States Consul. The consul, however, had gone into the coimtry, and for several hours the anx- ious bridegroom was driving frantically about on a search for him. General Glasgow, when he was at last found, began to explain the formalities which were required ; but Mr. De Long was too busy for any trivial matters, and was off on the more importJint errand of buvinu; a weddino: rin<>;. The bride's family meanwhile had secured the ser\ices of the Eev. Georo-e Washintj;- ton, a cloixvnian of the Churcli of Eni^iand. At eight o'clock a few guests assembled, and the clergyman and consul were ]n*esent. Everything was in readiness when General Glasgow turned to the cler- gyman and said : — " I suppose you have the proper authority to per- form this ceremony. You know in France marriage is a civil contract." " I have no autiiority whatever," he replied ; " but I supi)()se that if you, as United States Consul, witness the ceremonv, the marriao-e will be IcmI." '' On the contrary," said Genei'al Glasgow. '' con- suls iiave no power to marry or witness mari'iages on French soil ; the United States Minister at Paris is the only person having such authority. This mari'iage can- not proceed ; it will not be legal." Here was a sore THE COMMAXDKl! OF THE EXI'EDITIOX. 11 perplexity. It Avas impossible to send lor Mr. Wash- hum ; it was impossible lor Mr. Washburn to reach the waiting couple. Moreover, the steamer which was to take Captain Wotton, the lather ol ihe bride, was to sail lor America in a couple ol hours. The fates seemed against the marriage, and Mr. Ds Long was looking in vain for a way out of the dilennna, when the consul, whose learning had been so destructive, suddenly drew upon his reserve legal forces, and exclaimed : — '• There is a United States man-of-war in port, and under the Hag she Hies this clergyman has a perfect rigl to perform the ceremony of marriage between two American subjects." This simple and brilliant expedient was seized upon with alacrity. Messengers and servan'^s were sent oif in various directions. Captain Wells of the Shenan- doah, who was a friend, immediately prepared his .>; but, should the Little Juniata be able to prosecute the voyage of return to U[)ernavik, I wish you to do so, and be at that place on or before August 2a, is73. Should you not b(» at Upernavik by that date, I will leave there coal and provisions sufiicient for your return to Godhavn, Disco Island, where I expect to remain until September 20th or 25th. or the latest days previous to the close of navigation by the ice in those waters. With hopes your search will prove successful, and that you may find the Polaris, or gain some tidings of her, or be th.e means of conveying through the Esquimaux to those on board tlie news of the vessels now in search of her, I sincerely wish you success in your undertaking. I assure you I shall await with great interest your return to this ship from the hazardous duty for whicli you and those associated with you have volun- teered. Vou will be accompanied by Lieutenant Charles W. ( hipp, U. S. X., Ensign Si.hu'y H. :\ray, U. S. N., Pilot lleiny W. Dodge : Richard Street, Boatswain's Mat<^ ; Fraidv Hamilton, machinist; William King, seaman extra; Martin T. Maher, ordinary seaman. I am, most sincerely yours, T). E. Pit.viXK, Commimdrr U. S. N., CiDiDnandhifj [J. S. S.-Tiotintd iiiuj Smlnr OfUfcr pn'yi'nt. THE COMMANDEIl OF TIIK EXI'EUITION. 15 An Esquiiiiau, Jacob Lynghe, accompanied the party a.s an interpreter and eoajst pilot between Upernavik and Cape Sliackelton. Lieutenant De Long's report of the expedition notes that he had before been charged by Commander Braine with all the necessary preparations for the expedition when the Juniata was at St. John's, Newfoundland, where the launch had been specially strengthened. The dimensions of the Little Juniata were : — Length ovir ull, yj lect (i iiiclius. Length of keel, 28 feet 3 inches. Bi'eiidth, « feet 4 inches. Depth, t feet 1 inches. She was sloop-rigged and carried a three-bladed pro- peller. " On Saturday, August :2d, at 12.55 P. M.," the report pro- ceeds, " the boat being in readiness, provisioned, and supplied with four tons of anthracite coal, I received your finid oideis and shoved oil' from the ship with the dingy, containing twelve hundred Jind seventy-eight pounds of coal, in tow, ;ind heartily cheered by the ship's company, proceeded on our voyage to the northwiU'd under steam, with ii fine breeze from the south- west. I immediiitely organized tlie party and divided them in two watches : on(> in charge of Lieutenant Chipp, and consist- ing of himself, Mr. Dodge, Iltimilton, and Street; and the other in my own chtirge, and composed of the remaining four of the party, the Esquiiuiui being for the present excluded. This arningement of watches was kept up during our entire absence, the nllicers and men working alike, and turning in and out with each other. "At .^j.30 the same afternoon we passed the small settle- ment of Kingitok, about twelve miles to the northward, and working our way iimong countless icebergs and through nar- row passes between islanils. arrived without accident at Tessi- Ussak at eleven o'clock that night, and in obedience to your orders left the dingy at that place to be brought back by a Danish boat, landed six hiuulred pounds of coal from her for our use on returning, took the remainder into the launch, and Were ready to depart tit midnight. The weather, however. 10 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 8 «lii ^l 1 1, I I ■I had set in bad, blowing fresh from the southwest, witli a thick fog, and I deemed it prudent to wait until morning, or until there was some chance of working through the fog with safety. " Tessi-Ussak is a sm:^ 11 place of some half dozen Esquimau huts, besides the house! in which the chief tradcn', Jensen, re- sides. Jensen is the Dane who accompanied Dr. Hayes on his several expeditions, as a dog driver and hunter, and is ap- parently an excellent man, speaking English well, and willing and anxious to be of service to Americans, of whom he speaks in the most enthusiastic terms. At his hands we received a warm welcome, and such hospitalities as his recent arrival and consequent unsettled condition would permit. " Tessi-Ussak has a small harbor, but it is nearly always full of icebergs, and we were forced to anchor among them, too close for comfortable contemplation, and Avith the chance of any one of them turning over upon us. The night being rainy and comparatively warm (45°) many icebergs broke up, and the cracking and breaking and turning over and over con- tinued during our entire stay. rilK COMMANDKU OF TlIK KXPEDITloX. n "At toil A. Jr. Sundiiy. August 3d, the fog having lifted to some extent, we got uiidei" way and steamed away to the nortii- ward, passing in between Brown Island and the mainland, work- ing our way among icebergs and keeping close in to the main- land to keep in smooth water, and to be ready to slip in and anchor, should a fog overtake iis. At four r. M. had ])iissed Cone Island and Wedge Island to the westward, and sighted Ca])e jSliackelton and the Horse's Head, a prominent island oflf this cape, right ahead. Passed to the eastward, of the island, and at eight l*. M., having Ca])e Sluickolton close aboard, determine the posititm of tiie boat to be in iat. 73° 42' N.. long. 57° W. " I had calculated before leaving the ship that wo should be enabled with an expenditure of live hundred pounds of coal per day to make an average speed of four knots per hour under a steam pressure of twenty j)ounds ; .ind with a view to keeping the feed water for the boiler as fresh as possible, a steam-pipe had been carried from the boiler to the water-tank, for the purpose of melting fresh-watvir ice, which we should pick up on the way, and put in the tank. We found upon trial thus far that the expenditure of steam to melt the ice was too great to keep up our proposed si)eed, and I concluded to supply the boiler with salt-water, which of course we bad to dip up from the water outside. Running with salt-water increased our expenditure of fuel, and I now feared that, instead of coal for fifteen days as originally calculated, we would have only <^nough for eight days. With our sails we may be able to do better, should we be favored with fair winds. This day we had light northerly winds, smooth sea; average temperature of the air 45°, of the water 4P. " At four A. M. Monday, iVugust 4tli, passed inside of the Duck Islands, Baffin Islands bearing true N. E., weather thitk, breeze coming nj) fresh from N. and W. and cloudy, with in- dications of coming fog. This state of affairs continuing at three P. M. I kept the boat away to the eastward, made sail, and stood in for a headland, which, from its position and my calculation of the boat's run, I assume to be Wilcox Head, in about Iat. 74° 40' N. In getting undei- this headland, the fog continuing, we made the boat fast to an iceberg, and waited I I li ^1 18 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. for a cleaiiiig up. At five r. M. the fog cleai'ing, we slip from the beig and round the hcadhmd to the northward. i\Iy ob- ject in keeping in close to the shore now, though we were working through icebergs, was to get u sight of the Devil's Thumb, a remarkable jjillar of land north of Wilcox Head, and from which I intended to take a fresh departure for cross- ing INIelville Bay. But on rounding Wilcox Head we saw nothing of the Devil's Thumb, and I imagined I might have been deceived in the boat's position in the afternoon. Our accommodations were so limited, the boat had to carry so much, and the difHculty, not to say danger, of getting outside of the boat was so great, that the log could not be hove with any accuracy, and our reckoning was at the best not the most reliable. The currents set us out of our reckoning frequently, sometimes being to the northward and sometimes to the south- ward.^ " Discovering another high headland to the northward of the supposed Wilcox Head I stood on, getting in tolerably open water, and having a smooth sea and no wind with clear sky, we headed for this new high land. On going below at eight 1'. M. I directed Lieutenant Chipp to call me when nearly up with this headland, or in case of any change in the weather. At ten P. M. Lieutenant Chipp called me, a fog having shut in, and land being entirely obscured, much ice being encoun- tered in the shape of pack ice and icebergs, and some new ice an inch in thickness. I immediately put about and attempted to retrace our way, which we succeeded in doing for seveial miles, but finally, owing to the increasing thickness of the fog, we missed our track and were brought to a stand-still in the pack. As far as we could see we were caught in solid ice from about one to two feet thick, with large hummocks and icebergs surrounding us. By steady ramming of the ice and 1 It is wL'll to iiots here for the infoiMiiiitidii of any who may rjct into Allisim Hay, that the ehart is wrong i'l having it to bo imagined that the hay is free except as to icebergs. It. is filled with small islands, running afong about fifteen miles from the glacier line, and extending from Cape Seddiin nearly fifteen miles to the southward toward Wileo.x Head. It was the pi'esence of theso islands which confused us iu reference to Wilco.x. Head. — G. W. Ke L. THE C'OM.MAXDER OF THE EXPEDITIOX. 19 working si clear space about us, wo occasionally mad" small cracks in the ilofs, and succeedcil in forcing our way a little at a time, getting occasionally in open patches of water and among loose ice, and making two or three miles before being brought np again by solid ire. I had headed the boat to the westward on losing (Uir way in the ice, and 1 knew that every foot we made in that tlirection was toward the open water. The temperature was from oO" to 3-°, the rigging was covered with rime, and the new ice was rapidly forming around lis and increasing in thickness. I did not dare to stop for a clearing up of the fog, lest we should be Hrmly frozen in, and so kept the boat under way with full steam pressure, grinding through the ice where Ave could, ramming it wherever there was a chance of success, anil following every little lead to the west- ward. " In all this I was guided by Mr. Dodge, the ice-pilot, whose previous experience in the Arctic regions enabled him to give me good advice, and upon whose judgment in this emergency I relied, and handled the boat accordingly. The plan of keep- ing to the westwaril proved a wise one, for at 8.30 A. M. we Avere rewarded by coming into quite large spaces of cipe'i water, and at nine A. M. were pleased to detect a little swl-u, giving indications of an approach to the open sea beyond. By ten A. yi. we were quite clear of the pack after our twelve hours of uneasiness, and with no more damage to our little craft than a slight scratching and splintering of our strength- ening plank, occasioned by tluJ new ice through which we forced during the ni^lit. " I immediately headed the boat to the N. W. (true), N. E. magnetic, and the fog clearing up by noon, we sighted at two P. M. three islands on our starboard quarter, the Sabine Isl- ands, marked on the chart as being in hit. 7')° 28' N., long. 59° oo' W. At the same time made out the glaciers beyond to the N. E., a large number of icebergs, and a curious looking hill with two peaks, which no doubt was the Cape Walker marked on the chart, or land in its inimediate vicinity. Gen- erally speaking, the chart is inaccurate to a great extent to the northward of Cape Shackelton, the coast line, as we found .(. I ! 1^ ' h V 11' i 20 TiiK V()VA(;i: OF TiiK JEAXxr/ni:. it, being nearly always a glaoier li)ie. To the liest of our ability to set! and jii. m. came in sight of tiie ice-pack again, and immediately hauled the boat up to \V, N. W. ( true). Discovering a lead in the i)ack to the northward and westward, stood into it for about five miles until Mr. Dodge pronounced it a false lead, the ice closing in ahead, four feet thick, some of last year's ice, and some older. Brought by the wind and beat out of the lead. At eight the wind freshened from S. 8. E. and we commenced to work to the westward, as much as possi- ble keeping clear of the ice. At midnight hauled alongside of an iceberg to fill up with fresh-water ice for ilrinking and cook- ing. \[o(lerate sea.^ " At l.:iO A. M. Friday, August 8th, sighted high lan biiii;,' tlic hoiit l)V tlio WIIK I iiiid reel (low n ;is >\\[\iX Ix'cii in open wiitcr. Ciipc Wnk I'miiil li;ivi' liccii ii'mi'IumI with- out Miiv (litlii'ultv. I'lit ;is liir iis we cdiild sec to tin- iioi'tliwiinl. the KM- Wils III 11 SdlUl iiiii k tliv. tour led tliick. iiiid wii were Hti'iin^liiiij iiloii;^ Oil till' t'd^o of it looUiiij^ I'or ii li';id, imd work- iiiL;- to till' wi'stwiird in sodoiiit,'. To till' N. I''-, tlic ice Wiisiilso in ii lirni puck, with icchcr^s jiml hiiiniiiocks close cnouLjli to jirc- vciit the opciiiiitf of the i<'i' to iiny extent. At noon I estalt- lish the position of thehoiit in l;it. 7")^ 4H' N., lonj;. (Hi^ 50' W. ••In tlie iifleri n the S. l-,. gjile Imd cuused u feiirfid scii. and workiii;^' as we were cm the edn;e of tlu! ice-park, onr situa- tion Itccanie one of ^reat danf,'cr. The wind had started the Melville May pack out from the land, and to the northward and westward. niakiuL!,' a reo;ular bight in which we were fairly placed. We had to carry sail in order to keep the boat under control. Steam would have been of no use. since tlie Little Juniata could not for one nioineiit have steamed against such a irale. Lavin one. Icebergs near us, one hundred feet ill height, had the sjiray from the sea thrown over their tops. Oil a[iproachiiig the edge of the pack ice we could see a scene of great confusion. The bordering ice wouhl be broken in large pieces, and hurled u)>on the more solid ice. only to be dis- placed by fresh ])ieces torn adrift by the gale, and rolled over ami over ui)oii the face of the jxick. The fate of the boat and the p)arty apper.red certain. A\'e were lialf buried in the seas at times, shipping (piaiitities of water and deluging everything in tl u' Ixiat. It rained in torrents. Had our sal 1 split or onr mast gone, nothing could have been done. Providentially, everything held. iuire enabled to keep the boat under some control. Tlse fog was very thick, making it extremely dif- liciilt to see the ifc jiack <'acli time until we were fairly along- sichi of it, ill wliicl 1 case we del: )t i IV, not Knowinir m so had to wear sliij) at once without doing whether we ct)uld clear this grinding and crushing mass of ice or not. '• This state of all'airs continued until ten o'clock on the ut lis I' tli, ;it wliicli time there came a lull. We liad tlieii been in tliis heavy gale thirty hours, and were in a very cold and exhausted state. Everything was completely saturated with water, and we had so much water in the boat that I feared she had sprung a leak. The Little Juniata behaved wonderfully well, anil tlid moi'e than such a small craft could have been expected to do. With our fire room flooring covered with water, the coal bunkers half full of the same, every locker in the boat afloat, all our bailing miist have made little impression on this bulk of water which was constantly increased by the seas shipped at every one of the fearful plunges of the boat and the showers of spray thrown over us. " We hailed with great relief the lull in the wind which gave promise of a bi'eaking up of the gale, and fearing for the safety of tiie boat siiould the wind subside leaving this fearful sea running, we attempted to get a fire lighted under the boiler. This was no easy matter, and for a while see'vi^-d impossible. The matches we had taken with us were wet and useless. The tinder was likewise saturated and of no avail. After several hours' work we succeeded in getting a friction match d,y enough to ignite, — Ensign May having wanned and dried it by keeping it next his body for that purpose, — and with this match we lighted a candle in a lantern, which was almost im- mediately extinguished by a gust of wind. By a repetition of tlie same process Mr. May secured another lighted match, and this time we succeeded in keeping our candle alight. We at- tempted then to build a fire, but f vtiy stick of wood was soak- ing wet. 13y t;iking cotton waste and punk, wet as they were, and pouring oil plentifully over them, we succeeded at last in lighting oui' fi:e. ''During this time the wind had moderated and hauled to the S. W. 1 calculated the boat to have been in lat. 75° 4H' N., long. 68° 30' W. on the port tack (wind at S. E. true), and long. 07° 10' N. on the end of each starboard tack. Wo had been running on a line nearly east. and west during the gale, making about twenty-fi\e miles on each tack before wearing ship, and obliged tc go over nearly the same ground on ac- [I H 1 1' 1" '■ ■/ 1 I '' (i h i^:i I 26 Till': VOYACE OF THE JEANNETTE. count of icebergs, liiHing to the wind as occasion served or required. "■ At this point I was forced to the conclusion that prosecut- ing the search any longer was oui of the question. My orders read positively to retui-n when the fuel was half expended, and on no account to risk the boat in the ice-pack. The fuel was half gone, and wiiat was left was in sncli a condition as to lead to viM'y grave doubts as to its being reliable for steaming on the return. As far as we could see to the northward and eastwai'd was pack ice, and it was in this direction that our port lay. I did not know how close to the middle pack we had been blown during tlie gale, and I feared if the wind came out in the N. W. we should not only be blown down upon the Melville Bay pack, but be followed by detached portions of the middle pack, and be caught firndy between the two. Again, if we had suc- ceeded in working our way through a lead in towards the land and had reached it, we had not fuel enough to work our way back through the pack ice, supposing that a N. W. wind had not closed us in for the year. " Up to this time we had seen nothing of the Polaris or of her people. Had they been at Cape York, it would not have added to their chances of safety had our little party increased their number, with the ice effectually closing our means of exit. Anxious as we were to find them, and tell them of relief coming, I could not further risk our party being caught in the ice in an open boat, with the season closing, new ice forming, and only fi '1 enough to keep us warm for a few days. I did not know how far the U. S. Steamer Tigress was behind us, nor what our cliances would have been of her rescuing us, had we been frozen in. The weather -vas uncertain, r.nother gale like our ])revi()us one was by no means unlikely, and my orders exjtressly forbade me to jeopardize the lives of the party by putting the boat in the pack ice. " Heluctantly, therefore, I was compelled to announce that the search must be given up, and headed the boat to the S. E. on our return, having steam enough to go ahead at four T*. M. Having gone up on the inshore track, I concluded to return by the oflshore, or mid-channel track, in hoptL- that we might Tir. t'OMMANDEI! OF THE EXPEDITION. 27 did us, hat E. M. lu-n rht sec something of tlie Polaris or her people, but in this we were not gratified. " The wind continued hauling to the westward, soon reduc- ing the S. E. swell, and creating a swell from the N. W. Befoi'e this we went along at a good rate, the weather clearing gradnall)-, the ice-pack disappearing astern. " Sundaj', August 10th, oi)ened clear and pleasant, so con- tinuing till past meridian. For the first time since leaving the ship I succeeded in getting observations, and established the boat's position at noon, in lat. 74° 45' N., long. 59° 37' \V., having run nearly one hundred and fifty miles during the pre- ceding twenty-four hours. " At one P. M. sighted the Devil's Thun-b, bearing true N. E. by N., distant about sixty miles, verifying our position at noon with tolerable accuracy. The weather here became cloudy and squally from W. S. \V., with snow, hail, and rain. Wind shifting again at four o'clock to S. W., with moderate sea, and so continuing till nine P. M., from wdiich time to midnight we had light, variable airs. " Monday, August 11th, opened clear and pleasant Avitli fresheinng breezes from N. E. At four A. M. sighted land on port bow, which 1 recognized as Cape Shackelton, and at 5.30 A. M. sighted the Duck Islands on port beam. This day and the day previous we had considerable trouble with our fires. Knowing that we were short of fuel, we economized as much as possible, and were sometimes rewarded by the engine stop- i)ing itself for want of steam. " At noon got our latitude by meridian altitude of the sun ti) be To" :')H' N., or on the parallel of the Horse's Head, which iv>w showed itself on our port be.am. We then headed in for r>'\Mvn Islitudoff Tessi-Ussak, favored with a fine breeze ivom s. N. W., with long swell, which led me to think that the weather had been unsettled after our departure from ra])e York. At midnight we were inside of Brown Island, heading in for Tessi-lssak. '• At one A. M. Tuesday, August 12th, sighted Jensen's liouse, and discovered a steamer apparently at anchor in the harbor. She immediately thereafter steamed out toward us, ¥ 1 \ K 1 4 f M * ■' r t. J T, ?'■; f !■•' V |r 1 1 1 ' 1 1 H i; ( I tj" i 28 TIIK VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. and coming alongside of us proved to be the U. S. Steamer Tigress, Connnander James A. (ttiht, from Upernavik the previous evening. I boarded her and communicated to Com- mander (ireer the result of our reconnaissance, imparting to him the circumstances of wind, weather, ice, and other details relating to iiis coming journey, up to four o'clock on tiie after- noon of Saturday, August 9th, at which time we left the neigh- borhood of Cape York. I exhibited to him my chart, showing our track going and returning, reported to him the prevalence of pack and new ice in Allison Bay, and respectfully recom- meniled him to strike to the N. W. from Cape Shackelton, in- stead of looking for tiie Devil's Thumb. *' 1 idso offered him the services of our entire party and boat, jH' "-sing our willingness and readiness to accompany iiim to L'. thward in his search for the Polaris, which ser- vices, to oii great regret, he declined. Receiving from him his mail and despatches for you, I left the Tigress at two A. M., she innnediately steaming to the westward to round Brown Island, and the Little Juniata stood in for her anchorage in front of Jensen's house. The people of the Tigress were all well, in good spirits, and enthusiastic as to their success, which we heartily wished them in spite of our own disappointment. " At 8.40 A. M., having received on board the six hundred pounds of coal, left with Jensen on the 2d, and having received from him some seal blubber in case we ran out of coal, we got our anchor and steamed away, passing among the same islands and through the same channels as in going north, and, favored with fine weather and smooth sea, reached the ship without any mishap at eight P. M. to-day, and were warmly receiv»'d and welcomed back by you and the other officers iissembled at the gangway. " It now remains for me to hope, in submitting this report to your consideration, that my conduct in the affair will meet with your approbation, and that though we were unsuccessful in the endeavor to find the Polaris or her people, no means were left untried that the nature of the difficulties met with and the limited ability of our boat would allow. T believe the Little Juniata to have accomplished more than was expected THE COMMANDER OF THE EXI'EDITION. 31 of liei- m reaching the parallel of 75^ o2' N., there successfully working through a gale of great violence, ami running nearly seven hunclred miles while away from the ship. With the limited chances for keeping a reckoning, owing to thick foggy weather, and the constant discomfort of being in wet clothin-', with every article in the boat drenched by the rains, or by the waves breaking over lier, I fear that this report will not prove as satisfactory for navigation purposes hereafter as would be desired. I have made this report to you i)! detail, omitting no circumstance, however slight, that a fair, general idea might be obtained of the circumstances of Arctic navigation in an open boat, even at this the most favorable season of the year. " Througiiout this trip the officers and men worked alike, and fared alike, and as we are unanimous in our regret that as far as finding and relieving the Polaris was concerned we failed, we beg to assure you we are of one voice in volunteer- ing for any subsequent exp. lition from this ship or from the United States, in which our efforts can be made useful, or our experience in the Little Juniata of any effect. " I cannot close this report without commenting upon the great interest taken in the matter by yourself, the provision made for our comfort, and your thoughtful care that nothing shoiilil be wanting to insure our safety and the success of the expedition. " I have the honor to be, Ciiptain, " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " Geoege W. De Long, Lk-utenant U. S'. Nnvi/, ''Late cominandiiiff Little Juniata.^' ^ During the absence of the Little Jimiata, Captain Braine had met the Tigress, and been greatly alanned by the representations made by the captain and ice- pdot. The Danes and Esquimaux, also, at the settle- ment, expressed the gravest fears for the safety of Lieutenant De Long and his parl.y, and it was with in- tense relief that Captain Brhine welcomed the Little I. i u I'i • : : u2 'iiiK V()VA(;k of tfik .jkanxkitk. Juniata back. Captain Markhani, avIio was on the last EngTis'\ expedition under Sir Oeorge Xares, considered this boat Journey as one ol" the most liazardous and venturesome undertakiiijis he had ever known. Men to save their own Hves will take such risks, but they rarely court them to save others. Melville Bay is re- nowned for its dangers, and whole tleets of whalers have been crushed in the ice whicii crowds it. The following letter, which Lieutenant De Long wrote to his wife alter the expedition, gives in more famiUar form some of the impressions which his expe- rience left upon him. U. S. S. Jl'xiata, Godiiavn, Disco Island, (ilfEEXLANI), AllfJUSt I'.), 1873. I pri'Siiine there will be no question as to our having tried our best to iind the Polaris, and as to our having tried every means to accomplish it, but it was a physical impossibility to drive our boat through ice four feet in thickness, and so we \ver(> compelled to turn back. I made a long report of the expedition covering twenty-three pages of otHcial paper, and of course I cannot give you such a complete description of it in one letter. However, there were some things which I did not include in my report, and these things I can write you, and you can know they were reserved for your readuig first. In the first place, I am thankful to God for having spared me to come back to you again, for I assure you I felt pretty Avell convinced on tAvo occasions that I was going to leave the bones of our party in the ice. It was, to say the least of it, a perilous journey, and our experiences of the ten days are things which I shall remember for the rest of my life. There rested on my shoulders the fearful responsibility of saying how far we should go, and how far the lives of our little party were to be jeopardized ; and surrounded as we were by dan- gerous circumstances, I had an amount of care on my nnnd tiiat I do not desire to have again for such a lengtli of time even as ten days. Our boat, to begin with, was a small one, TIIK COMMANDKU OF 11 IK KXPKDITION. 35 iiiid we were louiled down with cH)al iind wliat jirovisions wo should retiuiro. Tlio great object was to carry coal so that we might be able to steam, and we fiUeil up every avaihiblo nook and corner with that precious artick'. We iiad to sleep upon coal, and that made a hard bed, I assure you : and when you acUl to that the tact that we were wet to the skin almost from the time of our start, with our blankets soaking always, you can understand that we had veiy little comfort and less rest. We had eight in our party, and kept watch and watch, of course, and in bad weather all hands had to be around. Cooped up in a small spai'e, there could be no distinction made between otlicers and men, and we turned in and out with each other. I cannot give you any very accurate idea of our trip with- out writing a fearfully long letter, and so I will only refer to the leading incidents. About one hundred and twenty miles to the northward of Uj)ernavik we were caught in the ice. Now, beiiig cauglit in the ice means starving to death or being frozen to death, if you have to stay there. We got caught in it by accident, for we were following a lead in the ice when a thick fog shut in and new ice commenced forming around us. On attempting to work back the way we had come, we missed our track and were brought up standing. Such a night of anxiety I hope never to have jigain. We were fast, ice was making iiround us and thickening all the time ; nothing to be seen for miles but ice. Mr. Dodge, who had spent a long time in this part of the world, shook his liead rather dubiously. Still, I was not disposed to give up -without a fight. We kept ramming the ice all the time, trying to drive through it, running into every little crack we made, grinding and scraping, trying to break through ahead of the boat, so as to make a clearance. Sometimes we would get into a narrow lane of water and run along nicely for a hun- dred feet or so, and then bang I we werv ujrain at a stand-still. This continued for twelve hours, and fin. ill) we got clear. Our next mishap was getting in a gale of Avind when about eight miles from Cape York. We had been on the edge' of the ice-pack looking for an opening, in a thick fog, when this 30 TIIK VOYAOi: OF TUK .lEANXKTTK. '' m vn' giilc ciunn oil, und for tliirty hour.s wt; woic, \vitl> doiilit. on the liiiiik of eloniity. Tin; boat was iR'arly a. Jiu tinif buried by llic sea. she was liall" full of water, we wero sur- loiiiided by icebergs a Imiidivd feet at least in height. The broken pieees of iee were being hurled like stones on the face of this iee-pack and groiiiid to powder, or else thrown over and over like hiva from a voleano. Had we struck this ice, our chances would have been slim, — in fact, I would rather have been in the worst surf that exists than have been thrown up against this terrible wall. Looking back at it now makes me tremble, and I can only say that it was a miracle of Divine I'rovidence that we were saved. When the uale broke we were in a pitiable condition — hungry, cold, and wet, not a dry thing in the boat. The ice was all heaped up between us and Cape York, and getting through it was an impossibility. ( )ur coal was nearly all gone, and we liad yet to get back to the ship. I had to decide to return, and had we not been favored by a breeze, we would not liave reached here yet. As it was, when we met the Tigress we were burning pork in the furnace to got into 'J'essi-T'ssak. Captain Braine and all hands seemed over^ \ to get us back. It appeared when the Tigress met uniata at llpernavik, (\iptain Tyson, who was one of the survivors picked up on the; ice-floe, expressed the opinion that we were as good as lost if we met any bad weather, and that set every- body to thinking very seriously how perilous a journey we had undertaken. Wiiat the people on board the Tigress could not understand was my volunteering for the expedition, and many sad shakes of the head and sayings of " Poor De Long " showed how little they expected to see me back. When the Juniata sighted us returning, the ship was wild with excite- ment, the men manning the rigging and cheering us until we came alongside. AVHien I stepped over the side so buried in furs as to be almost invisible, they made as much fuss over me as if I had risen from the dead, and when the captain shook hands with me, he was trembling from head to foot. 1; The Juniata returned to St. John's, Newfoundland, I m ( riii: coMMAXDKu OF Tin: kxi'pidition. 37 without hiiviiii;' trained any I'urtlier intelligciu'e of ilie Polaris, and although it was Septonibi'i-, Captain iJraino rcreivi'd orders to return to (heenland, on the same errand. The ship had j'nst started when a telej^rani I'eaehed the United States eonsnh countermanding thi* Juniata's saihng orders, since the Polaris' crew had been ])icked up and rescued by tlie whaler Arctic, Captain Adams, and had Ixh'U taken to Scotland. The consul iiired a tug, steamed alter the Juniata, overtook her, and connnunicated the pleasant tidings. The vessel shortly alter returned to New York, and Lieutenant De Long wrote to the Department tendering his ser- vices in event of another Arctic expedition. Mis in- domitable energy, strong will, and passion for overcom- ing obstacles, all tended to develop in him that Arctic fever, which so often fastens upon one who has once known the excitenuut, ditUculty, and peril of northern exploration. The courage and persistence wdiich he showed upon the boat journey were credentials of great value, and the personal attraction which he exerted was to be a powerful aid in overconung obstacles. These qualities will appear in the fuller narrative of his experience in his great voyage, although, since the narrative is from his own hand, the reader may sometimes fail to meas- ure the degree of Ids heroism. Something of his power of endurance may be learned from a little in- cident which befell him a few years after the events just related. It was when he was executive officer of the School Ship St. Mary's, and was working the ship up the Tagus River, Portugal. He was standing on a horse-block (a slight elevation on each j^ide of the deck) when a rope fell from aloft. Fearing it might injure a stand- 38 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ing compass, wliieli it probably would strike on its de- scent, he sprang to catch it, and instead of alighting on the deck as he expected, he came down on a coil of rope, and turned iiis right ankle under Iiini. The pain was excruciating, and as he was on the point of fainting, he went below, where the doctor revived liiui, and he retiu'ned again to the deck. It was ten in the morning when the accident occurred, and he stood and worked the ship -up the river to Lisbon untd four in the afternoon, when his agony l)ecanie so intense that he was obliijred to go below. Flis dutv was done, how- ever. The doctor examined his foot and found it in a dreadful condition. One of the bones of the ankle was broken, and the edges \v:,\\ been "-ratinti: and break- ing for the six hours he had been walking al)out on it. The hot clinuite of Lisbon and of the return trip were ni^tunilly unfavorable to a rapid recovery, but the per- fect health and vigorous constitution, which he had kept unimpaired, were his allies, and he was left with no ^tii'l'ness of the ankle and no ill effects. He attended to his duty as usual after two weeks' rest, and the car- penter, Nindemann, made for him a pair of crutches, U])ou whicli he hobbled about and took his watch as if nothing had lia[)pened. The courage and endurance whicli he displayed under difiiculties and trials Avere qualities of a ruiture which was superabundant in joyousness and activity. His ad- ventures at sea and on land were full of incident, and often oifered the most amusing situations. While in Lisbon, in 18G7, a grand perfonnance at the Opera was to take place. The king .and queen, the court, and all the officers off duty of the various fleets lying in the harbor, were in '"ttendance. Between the acts, Mr. De Long and several of his friends were introduced behind l\ J THE COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION. 30 the scenes. Seeing the prima donna come upon the •stage from an opposite wing, Mr. De Long picked up a large pasteboard bouquet, which was one of the stage ])roperties, and marshaUng his friends in a line behind him, advanced to meet liei. She made some motions which he failed to imderstand, and with his hand upon his heart and his best l>o\v he tendered the gigantic bouquet. Just then a perfect shout went up from the audience, and cries of '• De Long I De Long!" were heard. He looked around in bewilderment before he took in the situation. His friends had al^andoned him, the curtain had gone up. and he was playing his little piece before the great audience. It is scarcely neces- sary to add that he made his exit without the slight- est ceremony. Another anuising incident in Lisljon arose out of a wauer between Mr. De Long and another officer as to who could do the most with a horse in a circus ring. Neither gentleman was a horseman; what sailor is? but they were equally bold. Their first proposal was to ride standing iqion a pad, but the ring-master to whom they a?)plied would not give his consent. He luul once gi-antod such [i request for a similar purpose, and brought upon himself a severe rebuke when one of the parties, a young German nobleman, was seri- ously injured. He would give the officers each a sad- dled horse, and let them test their horsemanship to their hearts' content. So they went through various <3Volutions equally well, and jumped some low hurdles, but neither ''ould be proved to have outdone thu other. Finally the ring-master s^^epped. forward and said : — " There is but one thing more I can suggest to de- cide the wager, and that is for each in succession to ride into the stable, take a turn round, come down the fl u 1 111 i' :}!i I ■ if' H ■ j I 'h Ir, I hU f : 40 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. inclined plane, and juniiD over this five-barred gate into the ring." This was agreed to. Mr. Do Long's companion, be- ing senior in rank, was to make the first attempt. He made his tnrn of the stable, came down the inclined plane, took the gate, and landed gracefully in the saw- dust a few feet in advance of his horse. When Mr. De Long's turn came, he resolved to die or conquer. He rode round the stable, came down the inclined plane at a gallop, tightened his knees against the horse's Hunks, and shut his eyes. To use his own words : '• When the horse s])rang for the leap it seemed as if I had started for the sky. I shut my eyes tight, and my next sensa- tion was that of being struck by an earthquake. When the animal landed in the rinu- I was clutching hold of his mane frantically ; and when I opened my eyes, I was away up the horse's, neck, almost on his ears, but I was there, and the wager was decided in my favor." In his intercourse with his associates, and especially' with the men and boys under his command, he showed an unfailing courtesy and kindness, while he was inex- orable in his maintenance of discipline. A slight in- stance of his kindness is shown in the following inci- dent. One rough, cold and windy October night, he was sailing a boat in Lonu' Island tSoinid with a crew of St. Mary's boys. Noting that one of them had l)ecome wet from salt-water washint:; over him, Mr. De Long qiuckly took off his own coat and handed it to the l)oy, telling him to put it on. The lad hesitated at accept- ing such a sacrifice from his otlicer, but the stern com- mand, '* Do as you are bid, young man," soon caused the boy to obey. " I can only say," Mr. De Long once v/rote, ''' that with men I never allow any argument. Were officers 5 1 L THE COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION. 41 .Ml and men to argue each order before carrying it into execution, there would be an end to discipline. I never a.sk a man to do anything that 1 would not do myself, and on one occasion I led them aloft when they hesi- tated to obey an order on the score of danger. With firnniess I can yet be kind, and I always had my men contented and comfortable. I have no hesitation in saying that I believe any men who have sailed with me would go willingly again." One of his associates on the St. Mary's, recalling that earlier experience, has written : — *"■ A few (lays after the appearance of the newspaper notice of Lieutenant De Long's orders to the New Yoi-k Nautieul School Ship St. Mai-y's, one of the inquisitive marine aspirants re- marked to one of his chums, ' 1 wonder what sort of a chap that fellow De Long is Avho is coming here ? ' " He soon learned that 'that fellow De Long' was a perfect master of the situation, always equal to the various and often trying emergencies at sea and in port. His courtesy to all and interest in the boys took away the hardness of his rigid dis- cipline. " When questioned by a reporter, ' Are the oHieers kind to you ? ' a lad of fifteen replied, ' They are as kind as they can be, and when Ave were at sea they treated us better than when we were near land. We liked them for that. Tliere *s Cap- tain Pliythian, and Wadleigh, and De Long, and all of them ; they are as nice as they make them.' " From that estimate to the high tribute which the gradu- uteo iind members of the Nautical School have recently paid to the memory of De Long, no moment is wanting wlion ho has not been looked up to and honored as a man not only of rare heroism but of eminent fitness for the works ho has been se- lected to perform." CHAPTER II. PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. ^!il V Coiivi'i'sation witli Mr. Giiiiiiell. — Proposal to Mr. IJennett. — Mr. Bennett's Response. — Delay in Plans. — Searcli for a Suitable Vessel. — Purcliasc ol; the Pandora. — Sketch of Operations. — Dr. Petermann's Views. — Lieutenant De Long repairs to Englaml. — Balloon Ascensions. — The Pandora renamed the Jeannette. — Lieutenant Danenhower joins tiie Ship. — tiie Voyage to Sau Francisco. — Action of Congress. — Survey of the Ship. — Liter- view with Secretary of the Navy. — Alterations of the Jeannette. — Considerations of Economy. — Captain De Long's Labors. — The Officers of the Party. — The Crew. — Advice from Outsiders. — Orders for the Expedition. — Mr. Bennett's Farewell. — Outlook. When the Juniata was ordered to the coast of Green- land, Lieutenant De Long called upon Mr. Henry Grin- nell, of New York, to obtain from him any information which his long connection with Arctic explorations coidd afford. Mr. Grinnell offered the use of charts which liad been employed on the several expeditions he had fitted out, and upon the return of the Juniata Lieutenant De Lonti; restored these charts to Mr. Grin- nell, and acquainted him with his own experience. The two held a long talk upon Arctic subjects, and shortly after Lieutenant De Long dined at Mr. Grinnell's in company with Dr. Bessells and other Arctic voyagers. At this dinner Mr. De Long asked Mr. Grinnell : — " Why do you not fit out an expedition to the North Pole ? I should like much to take command of one and solve the problem. You have tried so often you ought to try again." PIIEPAUATIONS FOR THE EXPKDITIOX. 43 ta u Hi u " I am too old a man," replied Mr. Grinnell, " and I have done my share. Younsj^er men must take the matter in hand. Tliere is Mr. James Gordon Bennett. He is the man to undertake such an expedition. You should apply to him." It was the first day of Novemher, 187o, when this conversation occurred, and Mr. De Long acted promptly on the hint, and wrote to Mr. Bennett, who was then in Paris. Mr. Bennett had already considered such an expedition, and made a courteous reply, but upon his return to this country early in 1874, a personal inter- view with his correspondent convinced him at once that the most important element in the expedition, the man to command, was found. Mr. De Long hi his let- ter had named Lieutenant Chipp, his companion on the Little Juniata, as one whom he should like to have as- sociated with him, and from the first Mr. Bennett re- garded him as Mr. De Long's right hand man. The matter rested until near the end of November, 1870. There had been, it will be remembered, some complications with Spain which at one time made war seem possible, and it was inexpedient to consider tlie expedition under such circumstances. Mr. De Long was detached from the Juniata in January, 1874, and ordered to the Brooklyn, with which he remained till near the end of the year, when he was transferred to the Nautical School Ship St. Mary's, which was com- missioned by the United States Navy, but was under the supervision of the Board of Education of New York city. In November, 187G, Mr. Bennett and Lieutenant De Long resumed their consideration of the expedition, and it was determined to look for a vessel with all pos- sible dispatch, and to start for the North Pole the fol- I u THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. lowing summer. Inquiries were made in all available quarters lor an Ameriean vessel, but none could be found ; and in December Lieutenant De Long obtained a two months' leave oi absence from the St. Mary's and went to England on the same errand. It was expected that Mr. Bennett would join him shortly, but he was detained in America until just before the expiration of Lieutenant De Long's leave of absence, when he joined him in London. Meanwhile Lieutenant De Long personally, and through confidential agents, was employed in diligent search for a vessel. Special effort was made at the northern ports from which sealers and whalers were sent out, and he was constantly examining such vessels as seemed to gi\e promise of fitness, but the difficul- ties seemed to increase. Poor vessels wx're offered at high prices ; good ships the owners would not sell, as whalebone was so hi(>h that one cruise to the Arctic more than paid the first cost of a vessel. The only suitable one which seemed to be in the market was the Pandora, owned by Sir Allen Yoimg who used her as a pleasure yacht in trips to the Arctic regions. Sir Allen Avas indifferent to the safe, and the purchase had not been effected when Mr. Bennett arrived in London. Mr. Bennett wished Lieutenant De Lonsi; to ask an extension of his leave of absence, but this would have worked, at the time, so much injustice to the officers of the St. Marv's that Lieutenant De lonii; refused to make the apj)lication and returned to America. DuriuiiC the season that followed a constant and vi<2;i- lant watch was kept up, but the Pandora continued to be by far the most available vessel. Sir Allen himself was an explorer of note. He was with Admiral Mc- Clintock when the first records of the Franklin expedi- ^ I able I be ined and ctod was n of ined and jent tlie ^ere scls 3ul- at , as 3tic nly the s a len not un. an ve H'S to ,M* to 3lf -C- 1i- n i i ■ i !)0 1. 1 >li I 1 I I )' .■t r'M tU' Ijieiitoniiiit D* Mai a'..' iis empioyiMi in (.liiigont uj y,iv' j'i- I ' ■ UlUlii.' M ! h i. f 111 '■ h^ >• :f 'ii !'! I1 Mi- 41 I' If* M PREPAUATIONS FOK THE KXPF.DITION. 45 tion were found, and had made a nmnher of subsequent voyages. The Pan(h)ra was a vessel in which lie took great pride, as he had ])urehas(>d her expressly for Arctic expeditions, and had testering my resignation as executive officer ol" the St. Mary's. Obtaining a leave of absence for a second time from that vessel was, as I had previously int'oi-med you, out of the question. By dint of extraordinary exertion I secured my release within foi-ty- eight hours of my knowing you wished me to get six montlis' leave, and I liave since that time remained with truidvs packed ready to sail. . . . '•There are three ways for us to send the expedition, Smith's Sound, liehrinu; Strait and east coast of Greenland. Of the three I am in favor of Behrhig Strait, though some- thing can bo said in behalf of the east coast of Greenland. Professor Nordenskjiild has i-eceived some information from i I'U' ; '. ,, i \\^ ^ ! ]': ! ■10 TiiK v<»ya<;k of tiik .m>:anm:tti:. our Ilydrograpliitr OHico in relation to IJclirinj^ Strait, and a copy of this information will bii furnisluul us. Wo may bo al)li' to accomplish much by way of IJcliring Strait by leaving S,in Francisco as lato as July 1st, but I would liiie to Ik; ready by June 1st or 10th. My opinion may be changed by what you have heard from Dr. Petermann, but as you liave not told mo what that was I cannot say now. "Now I wish to submit the foUowing points to yon for your action. It is highly important that I should be in England to see the Pandora repaired, and got ready for sea. A small omission now may cost us the success of the expedition in tiie end. Chipp shoulil be recalled from China 1;^ cable at once, and if you think favorably of my suggestions, 1 e or- dered to take the Pandora arouiul the Morn. Upon the pas- sage of the bill transferring the ship to the American flag, there should bo a measure introduced and put through Con- gress, authorizing the vessel to be commanded and otHcered partially or entirely by naval olhcers, the pennant of a na- tional vessel hoisted ai the main, the crew shipped subject to naval rules and discipline, and the President- empowered to confer such additional authority upon the commanding oilic> r as will render him able in his isolated position to enfoiw. <.1.3- cii)line in extreme emergencies. Then I want an order from the President in something like the following words : ' You are hereby ordert'd to command the expedition now being pre- pared and fitted out by James Gordon Bennett, Esq., of New York, fc<' the purpose of North Polar explorations ; and you will report t( ilie Secretary of the Navy iov said duty and for such detailed issistance as you require.' "The assist.iiice of the Treasury Department should be in- voked to order its {;gent in Alaska to provide; seal-skin cloth- ing for about thirty-five people, in height from fivi; and a half to six feet, and to secure say forty dogs, ani' Lo c . if pos- sible, about one hundred tons of co; ' ,e use of the San Francisco navy yard and dry dock lie asked I •. The memorial to Congress should ask i the wlio originated the two German Arctic expeditions. I can assure you the three hours 1 spent witli him fully repaid me the tireson\e tiij) to Gotha. He told me he had been stuilying the North Pole problem for the last thirty years, and that he feels certain it can be reached, but never, he said, by Smith's Sound or Ballin's Pay. He agreed with me that the English held to this route simply from pride, and because they were the first (so to say) to go that way. He also agreed with me, and if I remember correctly, it is your theory also, that the Pole can only be reached by a dash, and he even goes further than we do in this theory, for he says it can be done in one summer, and that with a suitable vessel and commander experienced in ice navigation, he would himself try the experiment for a three months' cruise. Of course, this bars being nipped in the ice, just as his doctorship would be about pivparing to return on his homeward voyage. He also said that all the authorities in England agree now that the Pole will never be reached by sledges. Dr. Peter- mann even goes so far as to say that wintering in the i\rctic regions is a mistake if you can in any way help it, and that if his route were taken it could be reached in the three sum- mer months, or not at all. Said he: 'From all my informa- tion, I find that it is the second winter, and not the first, men most suffer in the Arctic regions, and strange us it may appear, men from southern climes, such as Italians or Greeks, have i 5 i fe-. t i I 1 I 1; 1/ \m » 1. m> 'I 48 THE VOrAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. withstood tlie rigors of an Arctic wintcn- hotter than North- men, such as Dunes and Swedes.' I liave heen seriously thiniving of getting anotlier vessel in addition to the one you will hiv\'e, and starting myself by Dr. Petermann's I'oute. Of course, if I did so I should expect to be out all winter, as I don't quite !igree with the Doctor about his three months' idea." Not long after dispatching his letter Lieutenant De Long crossed to England to .superintend the prepara- tion of the Pandora, since renamed the Jeannette, for the Arctic expedition. He vi.sitcd the yacht at South- ampton as soon as he arrived, and after careful exam- ination telegraphed to Mr. Bennett, who was in Leices- tershire, that it would be impossible to repair the Jeannette and get her ready for sea early enough to permit the expedition to start that year for the north by Behring Strait, though it would be possible to go either l)y the Spitzbergcn route or by the east coast of Greenland. The Behring Strait route, however, had by this time become firmly fixed in the minds both of Mr. Bennett and of Lieutenant De Long, and it was determined, therefore, to proceed with the repairs of the Jeannette, to send her round the Horn to San Francisco, and be ready to start for the north early in the summer of 1879. The rea.sons which determined the course of the ex- ploration, besides the failures from other points, w'ere, in brief, the existence of the Japan current, flowing through Behring Strait to the north, and the supposed extent oi" Wrangel Land. It was hoped that the warm waters of the current would open a way, possibly to the Pole. The experience of whalers was that when- ever they had been obliged to al)andon their vessels in those regions, the vessels had been drifted north- ward, and the inference was that the currents generally V rilEPAllATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. 49 llowed in that direction. This Avonlort a weight of one hundred und eighty pounds human. m i M i F i rMan wun fm i ini rUEPAKATIONS FOR TIU: EXPf^DITION. 51 lle.sli (my own weight), and say .seventy pounds rope, at a height of ono Juui(h\'(l and fifty foet, would require a balloon about twenty-two feet in diameter, according to Professor King. To fill this enormous machine requires gas generated from coal, or gas generated from the action of sulphuric acid on iron cuttings : in the hrst manner we siiould require a coal mine near at hand, and in the second manner we should need another ship to carry the sulphuric acid and iron cuttings. The second ]ilan is of course impracticable, and the lirst would eonu- in merely in case we strike a vein of coal in Kellett (or Wrangel} Land. TIk^ cost of a balloon would be between seven hundied and eight hundred dollars, and under the cir- cumstances I cannot recommend you to adopt it on cither the score of usefulness or economy. While we were digging out coal enough to float tlie balloon, we miglit advance twi'uty-five miles with sledges, or afoot, and reach the extrimie horizon to be seen from the prospective elevation."' No iiicidontnl intore^ts of tliis kind could compare Avith the im])ortance attaching to the coiulition oi" the Jcannctte herself, iwn] the conunander was unreniitting in his attention to the ])reparations made in the sprinj^ and early sunnner of 1878, when the vessel lay in the .shipyard at Deptfonl. Kverything was done which his own experience and that of professional surveyors could suggest for the repair and strengthening of a vessel already well built and equipped for Arctic voy- ages. The Jeannette was linally ready for sea, and was taken to Cowes, where she ship])e(l her crew and then crossed the clunnud to Havre, where she arrived .lune 18. 1S78. She hivat Tlavre for a month, during which time she was iusj)ected by many visitors, and the com- mander completed his ecpiipment o*f charts, ))0()ks, and stores. On th" 4th of July the vessel was formally christened. Mr. IJennett sailed for New York on the It B I :1 1 1]; k\ M» li ti t r ■' 1^9 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXXE 1 Ti:. Gth, and the Jeaimette acconiptuiied him a short dis- tance on his way and then roturnod to the hasin, leav- ing; Havre for San Francisco July 10, 1S78. Captain De Long was in connutuid. and had with him iiis wile and child. Master John W. Danenhower went with him as executive olHcer. He had been attached to the U. S. Steamer Vandalia, which was conveying (fcneral Grant and his party from port to port in the Mediterranean. The ^'andalia was stationed at Smyrna when the news came of the proposed expedition, and Mr. Danenhower offered his services to Mr. Bennett. General Grant seconded his ai)])lication. and Mf ^ .i- nett accepted him, provided Captain l)e Long should give his consent, which he did. Mr. Danenhower was detached from the Vandalia and joint'd Ca])tain De Long in Havre just before the Jeannette sailed. Two of the ship's company, John Cole, boatswain, riJErAUATlOXS FOU THE EXPEDITION. DO and Alfred Swcftinan, carpeiitei", were also oi' the nuiii- ber who went to the north. They liad served on Mr. Bennett's yachts, and the former especially received the highest praise from him. " You will lind Jack Cole," he writes, " one of the best sailors you ever have had luider you. lu times of danger he 's worth his weight in gold, and his tact with men is won- derful." The voyage to San Francisco was a hundred and sixtv-live days, and duriuii' the passage not one from the ship set foot ashore, though the Jeannette anchored three times in different bays of the Straits of Magellan. One little incident of the voyage may be recorded. When off the coast of Brazil, aiul a hundred miles from any land, two little birds Hew on board the ship to rest ; one was a tomtit and the other a field lark. They had evidently been blown off shore l)y a gale of wind. They showed no fear but refused to eat any- thing, though everything in the sha])e of grain which the ship contained was offered to them, and even some lively cheese, which might be a ^[)ecial inducement to insectivorous birds. They would ,ake no nourishment at all, and the tomtit died of hunger and exhaustion. The steward, a Swiss, composed some verses upon his melancholy fate, and these, with the latitude and longi- tude, were put with the little tomtit into a bottle, which was addressed inside to the "' New York Herald " and thrown overboard. It has not yet I'cached its destina- tion. The field liu-k Hew out oi'the cabin door, left open by accident, and conlil not be recovered. It tiew off the ship and then made successive efforts to return, but its strength gave out and it saidc at last into the water. The voyage was a stormy one. and when noaring San Francisco the ship encountered a norther which W,l^'*ftW.-*'''tTf *!•••''■■ '**l»*^- ■ -:S 1 h I ! '■ I I h Mi ' a» > fc i : 5i THE VOYAGE OE THE JEANNETTi:. kept her from making port, as had been hoped, on Christmas. Two days hiter, December 27, 1878, the Jeannette shackled to a buoy at the Mare Island navy yard, in the bay of San Francisco, Avitli jnst one bucket- ful of coal left on board. A month later a bill was introduced into Con«'ress D which i)rovided : '■ That the- Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to accept and take charge of, for the use of a North Polar Expedition by way of Behring Strait, the ship Jeannette, owned by Janies Gordon Bennett, and by him devoted to this purpose ; that he may use, in fitting her for her voyage of ex- ploration, any material he may have on hand proper for the purposes of an Arctic voyage ; and that he is further authorized to enlist the necessary crew for the said vessel for ' special service,' tiieir pay to be tempo- rarily met from the pay of the navy, and to be paid or refunded by James Gordon Bennett to the Navy De- partment, under the order of the Secretary of the Navy and as he may require -, the vessel to proceed on her voyage of exploration under the orders and in- structions of the Navy Department ; that the men so ' specially enlisted ' as above shall be subject in all re- spects to the Articles of War and Navy Regulations and Discipline ; and that all parts of the act approved March 18, 1878 [which gave aulliority to the Secretary to issue an American register and detail olficers], in- consistent with the above, bo and they are herel)y repealed : ])rovided that the Government of tl(e United Stiites is not to be held liable for any expenditin-e as- sumed, or to be inciu'red on account of said expedi- tion." The terms of the act gave rise to some in- cidental questions r(\garding the material which the Secretary might employ, but in the main it was clearly ritEl'AllATIONS FOR THE EXPEUITION. 55 understood tliat Mr. Bennett was to meet all expenses, while the Govenunent was to have all the authority. Captain De Long was thus acting under the -direction of the Secretary, while he was also iMr. Bennett's linan- cial agent, and the situation called for the constant ex- ercise of judgment, that the expedition might neither fail of anything that should make its equipment com- plete, nor 1)0 a source of needless expense to the gen- erous patron. From the day when the Jeannette dropped anchor in the bay of San Francisco till the day, six months later, when she weighed anchor for her final voyage, the conunander's care was incessant. His watchfulness was comprehensive and minute ; no detail escaped him, and he laid his plans broadly and firmly. He had (!onstant need to exercise tact and persistence, and devoted himself unweariedly to secure the best interests of the expedition. His first concern was to see that the ship wus in the best condition for the voyage. The Department had ordered an examination of the Jeannette by a Board of Survey, and on the 24th of January Captain De Long wrote a full report of their proceedings to Mr. Bennett, and added the result of his own careful and minute examination. His intimate knowledge of the ship, as she was when she left the hands of her former owner, and his accpiaintance with the imjn'ovements then made, followed by his ex[)orience in bringing her round to San Francisco, enabled him to understand thoroughly what further was necessary to make her ready for her northern voyage. The final decisiim as to her outfit rested with the Secretary of the Navy, and Captain ])e Long suggested, therefore, that it would be expedient for him to consult with him before the final orders were given. He was accordingly ordered 5G I'lIK VUYA(JI': OF THE .JEANXETTE. I I Vi to W.'ishingtoii by tlio Secrotary, and the result ol" their conl'orenc'^ a[>[)earo(l in a letter which Captain I)e Long wrote to Mr. JJennett I'roni Washington, February 20, 187'J. "■'■ Wlioii the request was niade to tlie Secretary to send for lue ti) cniirer whh liiin, ho h)st no time in doiii}^ so. [ reiichcd \\'iishingt()u on the loth, and liad ii short interview with him on thut (hite, and a Inmx one on th(! lIUli. Notliintr could ex- ceed the pleasure ol' my reie[)tion on both occasions. He expressed himself as personally and ollieiully interested in the success of the expedition, and inilii-iteil his conviction that we had struck the "iitewav to the; I'ole. He assured me that as soon as the bill now before Congress should pass, authorizing him to assume charge of the expedition, nothing shoidd be left undone which we desired to be done. Said he in substance : 'iVssoon as the bill passes I shall order you oUicially to the connnand, and then you shall have just what you want in your own fashion, -.lall have just as nuich and just as little work done as von desire, shall ^et what men von want, how and where you please, shall ecpii[> and prepare your expedition after your own designs, and shall, in line, have all the aid tlu^ Navy Department can give you. When yon sail I intend you to have the sanie power that is conferred upon admirals com- manding lleets, with the addition of being absolute in your command and authority, holding your subordinates accounta- ble to J'ou, and yourself accountable to me. This ex[)edition must succeed, and you shall be pre[)ared and forearmed against all disall'ection, insubordination, and disaster.' " Surely nothing nner than this can be asked. The bill provides for using any material now on hand at the disposal of the Department." It may he added to tills that the Secretary's good will was doubtless reinforced by tlic contagious ear- nestness ol: his visitor. Secretary Thompson has since said, in a speech delivered at the Melville-Berry reci'p- tion at the National Capital, September 28, 1882 : — I'lIKPAKATIONS FOR TIIK KXI'KDITION. 57 "Mr. 'Jeimott curly siii^i^csted and iirj^tHl on tlio DepavtmcMit thiit Lieutoniuit !)(> Long should 1)(> assij^nod to tlio coniiiiiind of the expedition. 'The N;ivy Depiirtnient would hiive been justified in not niakiiii; the appointment, unless assured that ])e Loni; possesses! the other (piidilieutions, aside troni profes- sional ahility, neeessary to th(> dischartft! of snch ii duty. As regarded his professional skill, his lirother ollicei's in the navy bore universal attestation to that, and the Department was aware that in this respect h(> possessed all that was necessary. It did not take many interviews witli De I.ong to tell that ho was a man of courage, devotion, jiKlgment, and will, ami pos- sessed all the (pialities which fitted him for this duty, 'i'he other selections were necessarily made as the result of confer- ences with him, and the Department was more or less in a po- sition to b(! guided by his views." Captain Do Long had a miignctic powoi" which made him t^intjcuhirlv suecos.sl'iil in dealint? with men and iu carrying ont the purposes which ho conceived. lie was always scrLipuU)iisly considerate oi" the rights and privileges of others, and exceedingly careful of the per- sonal relations which ho held toward them. While ab- sent in the east he wrote to Master Danonhower, wdio had been sent forward to Mare Island navy yard, where the Jeamiette was being strengthened, and af- ter detailing the nature of the work which had been ordered, concluded : — " The foregoing will give you a general idea of the work already begun, and as likely to be in hand during your pres- ence at Mare Island before my arrival. It is decided by the Secretary of tlu^ Navy that all materials are to be given by the yard, and nnu-ely the labor paid for. It is therefore necessary that we should so act that the cnsf of labor should not be alarming. . . . The labor being paid for by ^Ir. Hennett needs great consideration by us. . . . " Upon your arrival at Mare Island, you will of course re- 58 TllK V()YA(;i: OF I'lIK .IKANNETTE. ,!( ^^' il ■ <•' iv\ [' i 1 port to tlio coiuiiian laiit, iiiitl in as ilelicato u manner as possi- Itlc n'pi'osent to liinv that you aiv come to aid in tlie work to l)« clone on board tlie vessel, and to act in providing tl e moimy to be paid by .Mr. Bennett lor labor; and request his perinis- sicm to ask the coiiperation of the constructor, chief engineer, nnd e(iuipmeut ollicer, in every way wliich may jjresent itself for saving money. Then wait upon the three last named gen- tlemen and ask to be permitted to look at and after any work which may be going on, not as an interference with them, but as one going on the expedition, acquainted with the ship, know- ing my views and .lesii'ous of giving information on various subjects, and with time enough to go into various small details, Avhich they, in their great occupations with more important tilings, w'ould not care to be bothered with, etc. Request also that they would indicate to you such methods of procedure as seem right and proper to carry out our views W'ithout infring- ing upon any etiquette whatever. "As the work desimiated has been ordered done through the commandant by the various chiefs of bureaux, the laborers and workmen will, of courst , i)e hired by the navy yard au- thorities. Hut sho:dd it seem to you that too many men are enq)loyed, or that any man so (Muployed is idling his time, a j)roper representation to the head of the Department will no doubt have the necessary eil'cct. This is a delicate affair, which I must leave to your tact and discretion, advising you simply that there can be no impropriety in any one's wishing to save money, and 1 do not see how it can be objected to. . . . "•I will now leave the matter in your hands, asking you to use your best tact and discretion to accomi)lish my wishes in a smooth way and to the benefit of the expedition. We are all interested in making the expense as small as possible, both to the Government and to Mr. iJennett, and there are many ways in which this can be done. The earnest cooperation of Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Much [oilicers coimected with the yard] is promised, and they may point out to you many little econom- ical plans.'" How strongly Captain De Lon_<^ felt the force of these instructions to Master Danenhower appears fur- "I rilKI'AUATIOXS Foil THE KXI'KDITIOX. 59 ther from a letter which lie sent to xMr. Bennett at the same time, in whieii he writes : — "Mr. Diinenliower has started for San Fraiu.isco. I luive gi\('n liiiu tlie fullest directions us to his course of action, ini- l)rosslng upon him that the object of his stay there is to save as lUMch money as possihle. If I can have a copy made in Scrfiori Coal nnnkem lufurv Tioifm ^'/l0»trri/ nc^y Ihiiun.'iHtss, iff. Section- throuijfv Firf Tfoom in front of Boilers. S/to*yutt/yirranfjitticritj, OifUJiurilcerj, CROSS-SECTION OF THE JEANNETTE. Tlie water-line is at A. time for this mail. I shall send you his instructions in detail for your inspection and I hope ai)proval. It is not necessary, perhaps, for me at this moment to assure you that I consider your interest identical with my own, and that I am laboring to keep down expenses with as much zeal as if I were to foot the bills instead of you." Again, a month later, wlien writing to Master Da- nenhower, he urged the same plea : " Will you and **»ww'-BW««t«iiiiA4'oneral result ol" the work done n|)on the ship is. thus sunnned up in a letter to Mr. Bennett, written in the hard-earned leisure which came alter the Jeannette U'I't San Francisco : — "• Lot inc ^o hut'k a iitllt* to tell yoii what had Ix'cn doiiti to the ship, and iiow 1 foaiitl tliinirs working' at tlit; navy yard when I readied it on tlie :)Ot]i of May. Tlic repiui-.s, or nitlicr the alterations, Avero ('()in[)!eti'd and the new iKtiicrs \v(M'e in place. Tiie bow had been filled in solid tor a distance of ten feet from llie stem, and for forty feet in len^^lli, and eiijlit I'eet in depili iimidsliips ; the inside liad been ceiled with oidc planks six inches thick. Exactly anudslups a very heavy system of kneed braces had l)een placed. .Vn entirely new deck had liccii laid in pi u'e of so much of the old deck as was necessarily removed to hoist out the old sixteen f(.'it hollers. Tlie sliip had been docked, canlUed, luid [tainted.' Tlie house for the ' III aiiolluT act'oiiiit of the WDik ddiic to llie sliip, ('s|)ocii»lly as ri'j^arils iis siicii^itlii'niin;, Captain Dc I^oivj; aild.-: " A steam-winch lias lieoii placed on deck i'orwani of ilie siiioki-stack, capahlL' of lifting- the screw, niisliip- piiit; tlie rudder, and warpiic.;- tlie ship ahead, 'the how has heea heavily slreiii^thciied with oaken hrcast-hooks and tiausverse heaiiis, and has heeii tilled in solid and eaiilkeij helow the herih deck for a distance of ten feet from the stem. Outside we have, of coiir-e, the orii^inal ilonhliir^ of three and a half iiicli American elm extendinij; fore and aft, and down to the llijo"' heads, a distance of four feet nine inches from the keel. In the spaces occupied hy the eniiiiu's hollers, and coal hunkers, for a distance of forty feet in lcn;:th, and extendini; fi'im tho spar-deck shelf to the l)ilj;e strakes on eitlier side, the old ceilin<;and wooden trusses have heen removed, anil six inch jihinks of ()re'j;on ])ine in siiiiile lengths, with proper shifts, have heen siilistitnleil. .Jnst forward of the hollers there is a series of heains and l)races to guard against dangers from se\'ere nips, while the; shape of the hull with its irreat dead-rise will si'rvc to aid the ship in risinir to itressiire. 'I' The thickness of tlie vessel amidships is ninetecr. and a half inches frames are on an average twelve inches ajiart from centre to centre.' Tlr a-ift i-l^gfci J PKKI'AUAriONS FOR TIfE KXPEIU'IIOX. c.l crow to live in in wiiitt'i- liad Ijccii Imilt, fitted in pliicc, iuiil taken apart and pil(?d np. A portahlo obscM'vatory liad been made, ami winter jxirdies lor the cabin doors. New sails tlin.ntxliont I.'ad been cut and tilted, as well as an entire onllit of runnin;^ ri<^L;ins, and charts were ^iven : Keminixtou rilles, revolvers, and ammunition wi-re added ; all the I'ope, canvas, ami boatswain's stores were freely furnished ; and, linally, all the carpenters" tools and outfit were thrown in. I'^verytliing that the nsivy yard had on hand was placed at our dis|)osal, and the only things that I added to what had been already sni)plicd were a new galley, navy pattern, bunks in the foi'ccastle for the crew, and cover- ing the insidti of the forecastle and ward-room with felt. . . . " Finally, however, all wurk came to an end, and the ship was turned over to nu\ I am perfectly satisfied with her. She is everything I want for the ex[)edition, but a little small for all I want to carry in her. We must remember, however, we are making her do the work of an expedition that has heretofore generally required two ships. We have every ap- pliance for all kinds of scientific experiments. Our outfit is simply perfect, whether for ice navigatiun, asti'onomical work, magnetic work, gravity experiments, or collections of Natural History. We have a good crew, good food, and a good ship, and I think we have the right kind of stulf to dare all that man can do." The preparation of the Jeannette was under the su- pervision of Lieutenant Chipp and Master Danenliower. Captain De Long left San Francisco for Washington early in February, as we have seen, and did not return During that time he was ac- ;♦ until the end of May. r,2 THE VOVACK OF THE JEAWETTE. Bi«''l ■■h( ^ii \'v A\ cMKployed in the coiiiitlcss details of his work, 'le was iti constant ('onunuiii(;ation with his otticers at Srn Francisco, with liie Department at Washington, and with Mr. liennett in Kur()[)e. lie lollowed every slep ol' the work on the shi[), nsing the greatest tact in removing the ol)stacles, some ot" them very serious, which trcjiientiy arose ; he made the ari'angements for the ship's stores and their transportation ; he arranu;ed J'or the choice of olUcers and other mend)ers of tlie ex- [)edition, and gave close attention to the selection of instruuicnts for use in the scientific observations, and answered good-naturedly and promptly the numberless a[)plications an.d incpiiries which were made. The choice of his companions was a matter of the greatest moment, and he was fortunate in havinu,' his wishes deferred to by the Governmenr, and by Mr. Bennett, ^^•ho absolutely refused to make any ajipoint- ment for frien(lshi|)'s sake, and su]iported Captain De Long in his determination to confine' the nart^■ to those who were qualilied for the arduous work of the enter- j)rise. We have already spoken of Lieutenant Chipp and Master Danenhower. The friendship which sprang up between Cajitain De Long and Lieutenant Chipp during the boat eAfU'dition of LSTo was never intei-- rupted ; and the very earliest lio]) »s which Captain De Long had of tlie .leannette expedition "«vere shared with his old (ipinrade. whoAvas then stationed in tlie Ashucdot at Full Chan, China, from which ])Iace he wrote June '1\. IS77 : '• Many thanks for your assurance that if the expedition goes 1 shall go with it, and I will keep my- self ])rei)ared at all times to join you upon tlie shortest notice. 1 regret that we hav<^ bctMi disap])ointed in gettmgaway this summer, but 1 sinccrcdy tiaistwe shall bt' mt)re fortunate in 1878." He madi' his wav to San Pi riiKPARATIONS FOR TlIK KXrKDl'IK )N. g;] Francisco, as soon as he Avas (lotaclied from the squad- ron hi the spring- of 1870, and Avas conUally welcomed by Captain De Long, who wrote liim from Washington, Aprd'JL 1879: — •• 1 luive not bet-u iibln to writo yoii sooner to say bow gbul 1 iiiu to know tbiit you iivn safely in 8an Francisco ready to join n\?. inonr Arctic work. You have, of cour'^e, learned from Danenliower tlie story of tbo expedition as fir as it lias got, and you cannot lun''n mor. ■,<[ wbat T propose to do tiian oy ^ J. M. AMBLER, M. D. reading -ny instructions to Danenliower, and my letters to bim since his arrival. Ot course, as soon as ibe orders reacb you, you will be tlie senior ollicer present at tlie sbip, iind tlie bead of all operations untU mya.ival, wbirli will be about May l.nli. In order lo kee|) things as simple and regular as possi- lil(>. I would suggest and request tbat you leave in Danen- bower's hands the coinpU'tion of whatever work be h is begun ; and advise and direct bim as to the best way to successfully carry out our plans. Melville goes out with all the iatc.-,t; tb;- tmls from the eiigiiieer-in-ehi..>f, and you aiir the puNiUkJU ill explanation of hia coursi; of actioaj-*- PREPArvATIOXS FOR THE EXPEDITION. 05 H " I owe iiml tender you an apology for my lon^- silence, es- pecially since you have written me your letter ol' March 24tli. As you will be aware probably on the leetMpt of this letter, Passed Assistant Surgeon Ambler has been ordered to duty in the Jeannette. "• 1 beg to assure you that this is intcnd'^d to be no reth'ction upon you, or disregar Bur(>au of Medicine and Surgcrj', to Dr. Ambler, who has signified his acceptance. •"You will, I hope, undei'stand and appreciate my motive. I am ])laced in a position of peculiarly grave responsibility. U'ith all the respert wliieli I hav(( for you ])rofess'onally, and the regard which I feel for you person;illy. I hesitated to invite you to become the only medical (jUiccr of the expedition, simply because your experience of ships and sailors is not as gieat as seems requisite iu an undertaking of this kiml. " If. however, I find that ther(> will Ix; rooui for a second medical oliiccr, that it will be wise to ha\e one, ami that \ou are still willing to g';, be assui'cd 1 will gladly tender you the place. I cannot foiget and will not lorget that you were the lirst surgeon to volunteer for the Arctic Expedition (and, until the present writing, the only surgeon to volunteer), tmd that yi'U have showed a zeal and persistence under trying eircum- fitances of wal'hing and wailing too valuablo to be liglitl) dis- regarded." 66 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNE ITE I'.ftT iiU\ \W.h^: it' Is ^1 - m i M The ice-pilot was Williiun Dunbar, of New London, Connecticut, who had been master of whnleships in and north of Behring Strait. The meteorologist was Jerome J. Collins, from the stall" ot" the "• New York Herald," a gentleman who at once commended himself to Captain De Long by his intelligent zeal, and his de- termination both to secure all proper equipment and to qualify himself for his special duties. In a letter JEROME J. COLLINS written March 25, 1879, to Mr. Bennett, Captain De Long gave hearty testimony to the worth of his asso- ciate : — " I !im very niucli pleased with liim. lie has a large fiiiul of general information, juid will make a name for himseU" in the Arctic, I am sure, lie has seemingly mastered photog- raphy ah'eady. I ])ropose now t(j have him go to Washington, and I shall ask Professor Baird to give him the same faeilities at tlie Siiiitlisoniaii as were tendered to the medical othcer Avhen he should he selected. I shall make the same reipiest of .iVilmiial John llodgers at the Observatory, and of Captain PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. G7 uul in Patterson at the ( 'oasL Siirvoy ( )tH('e, and by those hope to secure for Mr. Collins all the benefit oi' ifovernuient insti- tutlons." From that time forward Captain Do Lon<^ and Mr. Collins worked to^ctlu'r indol"ati(;!\l)ly to secure the scientific objects oi" the expedition. The naturalist was Mr. liaymond L. Newcondj, of Salem, Mass. In the case of these last named mem- bers of the expedition a slight technical difhculty arose, as will be seen by the following letter from the Secre- tary of the Niivy to Captain De Long, dated May Iju, 187'J : — "Your letter of the iMtli inst , requesting jjermission to ap- point a meteorologist, naturalist, and ire-pilot, co accompany you on tlie pro|>ose(l Arctic Exijedition, is received. In reply you are informed tliat I do not think I have any authority to make these ai)p()intments, as they are civil and in no sense naval. The law gives me power to detail officers anil eidist seamen. Ihey are neither. If yna choose to take them with you, all that I can do will be to give m.y consent, which I will do at any time. If they were mustered as seamen periiaps the object would be accomplished. It would, at all events, subject them to discipline." (See Appendix B.) This course was followed, and they signed the papers and appeared on the roll as seamen, but vhe relation in which the meteorologist and naturalist stood to the officers is clearly set forth in Captain De Long's letter of explanation to Professor Baird of the Smithsonian Institution, in which he says : — •' The Secretary re[)lied (to my application) that he had no authority to appoint these gei\tlenien under an Act of Con- gress, and suggested that, in order to bring them under naval regulations, I should ship them ns seamen. This I have pro- posed to ^Ir. Ncwcomb purely as a nuitter of form, and he lutikes no objection. Vou will understand that in no other 68 THE VOYACE OF THE .lEANNETTE. m\ u ;'( s(v.ise will he bo considered a seaman, but will be known and publislu'd us the ' Matuiitlist of the Aietic Expedition,' will reside and mess with the olHcers of the ship, and be one of my olhcial family." Tlio crow was selected with great care, part in tlie East and part from the Pacilic Coast. "• If I can get Huital)le men in San Francisco," Captain De JjOiig writes to Lieutenant Chipp, to whom he had specially committed this matter, '• 1 don't want tn go to tlie expense of sending men from the East where 1 can get them in swarms. Reipuroments for crew : Single men ; jH-rfcct healtli ; consid- erable strength ; perfect temperance ; cheerfulness ; ability to read and writt; l^nglish : ])rime seanuni of course. A musician, if possible. Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes preferred. Avoid English, Scotch, and Irish Refuse point blank French, Ital- ians, and Spaniards. The steward must be A 1. and not nec- essarily a seaman. The cook must be a good cook, since he cooks for ad hands. Look among recruits in receiving ship to begin with Pay to be navy pay. Absohite and unhesitat- ing obediei- e to t-very order, no matter what it may be. . . . Excuse mv scratchy and jerky way of putting things, but I am wotidly hurried," (See Appendix C.) Lieutenant (Jliipp found it no easy matter to secure men l)ut Captain De Long received abundant ap])lica- tioi..? from nil (juarters from persons who wisiied to join the expedition in some other capacity than that of connnon seatnen. One determined young man, or rather boy, besieged hiui with letters, professing his readiness to do anything and everything if he might only be taken, and resting liis special claims upon an ability to edit a news|>aper and get up a variety show for the cntertainnuiit of the company during the long nights of an Arctic winter. Captain De Long's reply to his a])plication was in substance that which he made to eveiv one: "Your various letters have hcvn re- iniKl'AUATIONS FOR THE EXrEDITION. (3'J ceivod. In reply 1 would state that I have room in the Jeannette tor nohody but her officers and crew. Tiiese must he seamen or people with some claim to seientilic usefulness, and from your letters I fail to learn that you may ho classed with either party." Mr. Bennett and Captain De Long- received fre(iuent advice and warnings with regard to the expedition. UJ^zy$4^**'u^ ^^c> ^j. £.CC/C^-9t^ One theorist wrote solenuily that the ex[)lorers were on the ver<^e of a ffreat discoverv before which the dis- covery of America by Columbus would pale, for they were to enter a region, about the S7th degree of lati- tude, where a tropical heat would meet them issuing from the hollow centre of the earth. Another was convinced of the feasibility of ^opening trans-oceanic comm-e derived Irom hjiig and close study ol' the details ol" previous Arctic voya<^es. His faiuil- iarity with naval duty was supplemented by an at'([uaiu- tance with all the nilnutitu ol" the expedition which he couuuanded. He luul been generously supported by Mr. IJennett, and lie had the autlioritv oL' the Govern- nient behind him. His siu'vey ol" the .Ji!annette and her eqiu])inent had left him satisfied with the result ot" the year's work ; he had ronlidenco in his associates. His onl}' regret was that Mv. Bennett could not wish them (Jod-speed in person, and that Government had failed to turnish him with a steamer to carry additional siip[)lies to St. Michael's, for this failure would inevita- bly delay his linal entrance into the Arctic Ocean. Yet the completest preparation for the expedition was in Captain De Long himself. The sketch ol" his early career, and the glimpses of his character which this chapter has alforded, will give the reader some in- timation of the singular qualilications which Captain De Long possessed for the work which he had undertaken. For years his mind luul been turning to this point. His native enthusiasm and spirit had urged him. and his sense of a great work to be done had drawn him for- ward. The experience which he had known when in IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ .<.^ '^mp 1.0 I.I 11.25 |25 ^ m " 22 m bull ^ IIIIIJ4 V] /^ c*y/ '> Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRiEt WEBSTIR.N.Y. 14580 (71«) S73-4503 ^^ \ iV '^ |> ci\ '^^/^ T %° <\ 74 THE VOYAGK OF TIIK JEANNKTTE. comniiind of the Little Juniata had given him a prac- tical knowledge of .«ome of the dilhculties attendant upon Arctic exploration, and had assured him that he Wiis not wanting in the qualities of an explorer. The more he pondered upon the problem of the North Pole, the greater became his desire to help in its solution, and if possible to give that answer which alone would satisfy the world. lie was keyed to the temper of his great enterprise by no vainglorious purpose or rash self-confidence. He never disguised from himself the seriousness of the task he had essayed, nor imagined that he was to win a liigh reputation by some happy turn of fortune. He belonged to the men who have cared for great things, not to bring themselves honor, but because doing greiit things could alone satisfy their natures, and he entered upon the work before him with a single-minded earnestness, and a brave trust in God. ; ; n " CHAPTER 111. FROM SAN FllAN-CISCO TO ST. LAWRENCE BAY. 8 July — -11 Antjust, 187;». The Stiirt. — The Escort. — Tlic Company. — Oiinulaska Island. — Till! Ahiska Commercial Coinpuiiy. — Letter to Secretary of the Jsavy. — Generosity of the Company and its Agent. — St. Mi- chael's. — No Tidings of Nordcnskjiild Tlie Ollicers of the Jean- nette. — Arrival of the Scliooner Fanny A. Hyde. — The Character of the Crew. — The Arctic Stores of Clothing and I'rovisions. — The Interpreters. —Off for St. Lawrence Bay.— The Dogs.— St. Lawrence Bay. — The Chief George and liis Story about a Ship. — Lutke's Island. — The Last of Civilization. [The story of the voyage of the Jctinnotte will be told in the words of the commander. Besides the ship's log he kept a full journal during the voyage, an(l continued the record after the ship was abandoned. It has been the task of the editor to reproduce the journal with such omissions and corrections only as its form, never intended for publication, seemed to de- mand. This journal was to be Captain De Long's rec- ord of the expedition, but after leaving San Francisco, and before entering Behring Strait, he had opportu- nities of sending letters home, and the narrative pre- served in this chapter is drawn by turns from his jour- nal and from these letters.] [from tiir journal.] Upon steaming out of the harbor of San Francisco the jeannette was escorted by some half dozen yachts I, .? i i I 1-f ) { » i' <»• THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXXETTK. Itolonging to the San Francisco Yacht Club, Cominandor C. II. Harrison leading them in his yacht Frolic ; by the tug MoUen Grillitii, hired by J. C. Morison, our shipping agent ; by the tug Governor Irwin, carrying his P^xcellencv Governor Irwin, ot" tiie State of Cali- lornia, who did us the honor to pay us a visit on board just betxjre sailing, and a party of merchants; the tug Habboni, with a large number of San Franciscans, and several small steam-launches loaded down with people. The wharves were crowded with enthusiastic friends; Telegraph Hill was black with people who had climbed up there to cheer us and wavo adieux ; and every ship we passed dipped her colors to us, while shouts, steam- whistles, and yachts' cannon shots kept the air filled with noise. Upon passing Fort Point a salute of twenty-one guns was fired in our honor, while the gar- rison of the fort cheered us enthusiastically. Astern of us might bo seen our consort, the schooner Fanny A. IIy>:ii the navv vard tug Monterey lay at a wharf in San Francisco when we started, having brought the commandant down that morning, she made no move toward ])articipation. On the contrarv, when fifteen minutes later she left her wharf, she crossed our wake a mile astern without FUOM SAX FltAXCISCO TO ST. LAWUKXCE 15AY. 77 even a blast of her steain-wlii.stle as a good-by, and went off in the (hrection ot the navy yard. Arriving at the Sea Bnoy we parted from our accom- panying friends, they returning toward San Francisco, cheering us, dipping colors, and blowing steam-whistles until out of siu'ht and hearing. Headed to a course W. N. W. (magnetic), with a light head wind, ship steaming three knots. Arranged the sailor-men in two watches of four hours each ; the engineer force in two watches of six hours each ; while the duties of Match oihcers were assigned to Mr. Dunbar (Ice-Pilot), John Cole (Boatswain), and William Nindemann (Ice-Quarter- master). Jnhi {)th, We(hie.s(k(t/. — At 3.30 A. m. lost sight of Point Rayes light, bearing N. E. by E. (magnetic). At nine made fore and aft sail, and at eleven made all squaresail, running her off till canvas drew to strong N. W. wind, which raised choppy sea that broke aboard over either rail. Ship loaded very deep, namely, 11 ft. 9 in. forward, 13 ft. 4 in. aft. Foggy, misty, and at times rainy. Jidf/ 13//^ Snmkit/. — At ten a. m. inspected the fhip and crew, and found evervthing neat and tidy. Had the Articles of War read and the ship's company mus- tered. Then read divine service, and was much pleased at observing that every ollicer and man. not absolutely on watch, voluntarily attended. Clear and pleasant weather ; smooth sea. i- >t [to MKS. DK KONG.] At Sea. lat. 38° 13; N., Ion-;. 132° (i2' W., 450 Miles AVest of Sim Francisco, Sniidai/, July 13, 1879. Here we are so far on our way toward the Pole, and it is the most natural tliiny; in the world that I should I ! I , I f 'i , ] f D! ' 78 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNETTE. sit down to write yon. All the first night we had lit- tle or no wind, and we poked along slowly, making I'onr knots an hour. The next morning, however, it blew a little from N. W., and freshening rapidly, I put the ship under canvas and steam, and headed her oft' so that our sail would draw. As the wind freshened the sea got up, and as wo were so deeply loaded it broke over us in all directions. For three days wo had a very uncomfortable time. Seas were breaking over her rail all the time, and the ship rolled and wallowed like a pig. Mist and rain made it damp inside as well as outside, and she was more uncomfortable than at any time in our bad weather in the Pacific just outside of the Straits of Magellan. Collins and Newcondj promptly went mider with sea-sickness, and for three days they were as miserable men as you ever saw. Then the cook got sea-sick, and wo had to scratch around for something to eat. The boy seemed to dis- appear froiri everybody's gaze for three days, when the doctor found him in the port chart-room, hugging the lockers, and such a specimen. He was just a shadow of his former self, his long pig-tail all in a confused mass of hair flying to the wind, and looking hke a corpse resurrected. We gave him some chloroform which straightened him up, Jind then made him take the lee wheel to keep him in the air, for I really feared he might die. If you could have seen him clutch that wheel frantically whenever she rolled or a sea came on i)()ar(l, with his eyes starting out of his head, and his tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth, you would understand the amount of anguish he was enduring. Yesterday, however, when the weather moderated and the sea went down everybody brightened up ; and as to-day we are having heavenly weather, a bright sky, FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO ST. LAWREXCK I$AV. 70 light ciisterly airs, and sinootii soa, you would iniagiuo wo never had dreamed of such a thing as had weather. Now J suppose you will not ol)ject to a kind of de- tailed description of the ship and the people in her. The ship is, I think, all right ; she is slow now hecause she h', so deep in the water, running along under steam alone only Jour and lour and a half knots, and burning about live tons of coal a day. But this has been when a heavy swell kept her back. For the last twenty-four hours she has had a light N. E. breeze, and we have made a run of one hundred and thirty miles, or over live knots an hour, and as we are growing lighter every hour we burn coal, I am in hopes in a day or two of y-ettinu; six knots an hour out of her without trouble. Our cabin is very comfortable and very dry. During the bad weather I had a little fire made in the stove to try it and to dry clothes by, and I assure you it ■worked admirably, throwing out great quantities of heat and burning but little coal. The forecastle has been as dry as a bone and very comfortable, and the men seem to appreciate it. The only uncomfortable place has been the deck, and that has been wet all the time. We have not had a chance to settle everything into its place yet, but are getting gnulually towards it. My room and the starboard chart-room are all to rights, and look (juite cosy and cheerful. Chipp is, as he always was and always will be, calm and earnest. lie has always something to do, and is always doing it in that quiet, steady, and sure manner of his. He smiles rarely and says very little, but 1 know where he is and how reliable and true he is in every respect. lie is putting everything in order (|uietly and steadily, and he has everything reduced already to a system. To-day, when I inspected the lil i) 80 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNEITE. ship slie was as neat as a pin, the men nicely dressed, and everything h)oking more like a mun-of-war than it ever had hei'ore. Danenhower is the same as ever, does his work well, and navigates correctly. Melville is as bright as a dol- lar and as cheeri'ul as possible all the time. He sits on my left at table, and helps me to carve and serve ont. We broke a pump-rod two days ago. Some engineers would have wanted to stop the ship a few days for this, or perhaps turn back. Not he; he says, "All right; wo will run without a pump -rod, hey brother, and when we get in I will make you a new pump-rod or fiftv of them." I believe he could make an engine out of a few barrel hoops if he tried hard. He is one of the strong points in this expedition. He and Dr. Am- bler arc much alike in some respects. The doctor is all 1 would have him, bright and cheerful under all cir- cumstances. During our bad weather he was around all ^!ie time, cheering up Collins and Newcomb, hold- ing up the Chinese cook, when necessary, and facing the music like a man. He and Melville have christened Newcomb '• Ninkum," and occasionally I hear one of them sing out on seeing an albatro.ss, " Here, Ninky, quick, come and catch a goose." Poor Collins was so sick that he could easily have lost his mother and not have known it. His puns died out for a few days, but he is gett ig back to them agam. Newcomb in his turn deserves mention. He will, I think, come out all right ; he has grit and goes to work like a little man. He was hardly able to stand before he had his lines over the side fishing for albatross, and no sooner had he caught a good one, measuring seven feet across the wings, than he skinned it and got it FKOM SAN FUANCISCO TO ST. LAWUEXt E BAY. 81 ready for mounting. lie knows all about his business, every bit, and he takes all about Ninky and the goose in good part, returning to his addressers quite as good as they give. He has his little place in the port chart- room all fixed up with his tools, and in as hap})y as can be. Mr. Dunbar is as grave and serious as ever. lie fre- quently s})eaks about making •■ pahsages to the South Seas," etc., and has quite a fund of general information which will no doubt be useful to draw from hereafter. Cole and Sweetman are just the same as they were coming around. Cole, as usual, says nothing, but stands his watch looking all around the horizon as if for a wind. Sweetman looks after the provisions as before, and he and Danenhower have solenni consultations about weights and measures. Our Chinese steward bothers them both dreadfully, for he gets things no matter how carefully they are locked up and put away. He seems to feel that he has but one duty, and that is to get all the food he can and put it on the table. For iristance, yesterday he gave us some of that nice cheese which I purchased as a great delicacy during the win- ter. It was locked up very carefully, but the steward got at it, cut a good large piece out, and placed it on the table, with the pie at dinner. He cannot under- stand why we should be economical with a ship full of provisions, and, Chinaman-like, will not understand what he does not want to. The watches are stootl by Mr. Dunbar, Cole, and Nindemann. This last is as hard-working as a horse. The second day out a hatchway fell on his little finger and nearly cut it off, but he did not seem to mind it. The doctor sewed it up, and he went ahead as if noth- ing had happened. w I i i 82 TIIK VOYACK OF THE JEANNKTTi:. The cook is (jiiito a isuccoss sinco ho got ovor his sea- sickiu'ss, and he cooks everything very well except colVee, iind th;it we shall have to teach him. With coll'ee his idea is (juantity and not (quality, and what he liu'ks in the l)erry he makes up with water. The men are lirst-class, happy and cheertul ; they hiive their musical instruuu'nts every night and play and sing. There are so many good voices that I am thinking of getting up a choir with Collins at the or- gan. To-day at church evi'ry ollicer and man was present, except the men in the engine-room on watch. We made (|uite a congregation. Having thus described everybody else, I come to your husband, who hardly needs description. I realize that I am engaged in a great undertaking from which neither of us would have me retreat; that being in it 1 nuist make a good showing, and study and plan every- thing to that end. With Clod's help we shall certainly do something, however small. I realize how much de- pends on me, and how much everybody Avill look up to me for guidance ; and I know that instead of repining I nuist buckle to my work with a will. [ri!<»M Tin; .lOlKXAI..] July 2d(h, Si(mh(tf. — At 10 a. m. inspected the ship, and held divine service. Informed the crew of Mr. IJeunett's intention to follow us with a ship next year, and that he would provide for all widows if anything should happen to any of us. This seemed to have a good effect upon the spirits of all hands. [to Mlt:^. 1>E LONG.] Juli/ 2dth. — We are now three hundred miles from Ounalaska. We have had an almost steady head wind FUO.M SAN FUANCISCO TO ST. LAWHIATK MAY, 83 an«l sea ever siiioo tho loth, and have eoiiio aloiijr slowly in conscMiuence. What lew I til the IGth. Evt'iybody describes the season as an exceptionally open one. The revenue cutter, which has just come south, was as far north as Kast Cape, and saw no ice anywhere. She did not stop at East Cape or anywhere on the Siberian side, her highest point of call being St. .Michael's. At that place everybody was looking anx- iously for us, our dogs, sleds, and fur clothing being uU ready. The schooner had not yet arrived. VIU)M SAN FUAN('IS( () K) ST. LAW UI:N( K |!AV. 85 Notliint^ has hciMi Iicai-d of Xonlt'uskjrdd. TIu' cap- tain of tlio rt'Vi'iHie stoaiiuT supposed \\v had ^foiic south lon;^ a^ro, oy ho would have stopped hi St. Lawrcnci' IJay to ask. No roininunioation had yet hoon had with St. Lawivnco Hav from St. 'ivichael's. ami no tidin Uy the (h)/,eu. I am one mass of bites from head to foot. 1 put up my bed-curtains to keep them out. but they would get in, and seemed to make the curtains an ex- cuse lor not getting out. My l)ulkhead and ceiling is one mass of smashed bodies. I went for them with my slip|)ers right and left, and linally at half past four I droppeil olV to sleep from sheer fatigut' and exhaustion. 1 was up again at seven, for we breakfast at half after seven. There i • not a white woman here, nothing but nuMi and natives. There is a church here, a (Jreek church, and yesterday the priest was busy all day nuirrying cou])les. The steauu'r St. Paul brought down a lot of nu'u from St. Paul's Island and St. George's Island who were candidates for matrimony. They reached liere Thursday last; made their selections on Friday and Saturday ; were married yesterday, and too!- a stroll to the hill-tops in the afternoon. Some oi" the men liud * A villaLte near Xew York. 86 no ol" indecision THE VOYAGE OF ' HE JEANXETTE. notliing to suit tlieni and are hanging around in a state !: I! ii! III ■ I 1 1 [ ), ( u n H T 4 I . i 1 i 1 ,■ !! r ; f '^ ? ' i rr • [to HON. Ii. W. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OK THE \AVV.] AUCTIC StEAMEK JeANNETTE, Ol'NALASKA IsLAND, August 1, IS 79. The revenue cutter Rush, during her visit to St. Michael's and her cruise to the northward, passed tlu'ough Hehring Strait, some twenty miles to the northward and eastward of East Cape in Siberia, with- out having encountered any ice whatsoever. Suppos- ing that Professor Nordenskjuld had already passed south, no communication was had by the Rush witli St. Lawrence Bay. No comniimication from St. Lawrence Bay had been received at St. Miduiel's at the date of the sailing of the Rush on the 2od July, and conse- fiuently there was no knowledge of the safety or move- ments of Professor Nordenskjiild's party. It was my intention originally, as communicated to. you in my let- ter of July 8th. to stop at St. Paul's Island, after leav- ing this place ; but as the fur clothing which I was to have received at that place can be furnished here, I have concluded to proceed directly to St. Michael's in Alaska, leaving here on Wednesday morning, the 5th August. From all the intelligence received from the northward it ap])ears that the last winter has been an exceptionally mild one, and that no obstruction to nav- igation in the shape of ice has been encountered. 1 can but deplore that the necessity of loading the ship so deeply at San Francisco has made our progress thus far so slow, owing also to head winds and swell, as to make it doubtful whether we shall be able or not to profit by the open water in the Arctic Sea in our efforts m ^ FROM SAN FllANCISCO TO ST. LAWIIENCK I'.AY. 87 to gain a high hititude this season. If, npon our arrival at St. Michael's, nothing has heen heard of the party under the command of Professor Nordenskjold, I shall proceed to St. Lawrence Bay in Siberia, to obtain tid- ings of them. We have been made the recipients of the most un- bounded courtesy and assistance of the Alaska Com- mercial Company, through its agent at this place. Tiie coal belonging to the Navy Department, and of which tliere was originally, 1 believe, some seven or eight hun- dred tons, has become reduced by the requisitions of the revenue cutter to about eighty tons, which, owing to exposure and spontaneous combustion, has become of indirt'erent value. The commanding olhcer of the Rush, having expressed to me his desire to have the remaining quantity reserved for his use in proceeding to San Francisco in the coming fall, I have accepted the offer of the Alaska Commercial Company to furnish one hundred and fifty tons bituminous coal for the use of the expedition. This matter will form the subject of a private arrangement between Mr. James Gordon Bennett and the Alaska Commercial Company, and has no relation to our ofhcial transactions. We have also been furnished with fur garments, and twelve thousand pounds of dried lish for dog food, both of which have been sent here by the Alaska Conuuercial Company for our use, from Kodiak. The l)alance of our clothing, forty dogs, more dog food, sledges, and dog drivers will be furnished at St. Michael's. I woidd respectfully call your attention to the fact that the charts of this region are verv meaii-re. The most reliable is one published by the Imperial Russian Ilydrographic Olhce in 184D. which chart was furnished nie in San Francisco. The prevalence of fogs, and the 1 i M ^: 88 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. rapidity and uncertainty of prevailing tides, make an approach to any ol" the passes between the Aleutian Islands hazardous in the extreme. [I'HO.M TlIK .MUKNAI..] AiKjust tifh, luesdat/. — The St. Paul sailed for San 'Francisco at 3.30 a. m., carrying our letters and my packages to General Miller. 1 received from the Alaska Connnercial Company a long list of articles for which Mr. Greenbaum declines to receivi; payment. I desired particularly to pay for the labor of coaling ship, but ho replied that his orders from General Miller were to furnish everything we needed without charge, and he cannot take any money even in return for what he ex- pends from the company's funds. [to MUS. DK LOX;ht of j^oing across and leavintj' orders for the schooner to follow us; but it might take her so long to get across that I gave that up. So I am re- signed to wait patiently for the Fanny A. Hyde to arri ve. 1 have got all the natives at work making our cloth- ing, and it is somewhat of a comfort that in one respect our time is not being wasted. Our dogs and sleds and harness are all ready. These dogs are line animals, young and active, and they took to me very kindly to-day when I visited them on shore. This is a miserable place. There are exactly four white men here, and not one white woman. Of the four white men, one is a servant, one Mr. Newman, tin? agent, one his brother, and the fourth is a private in FROM SAN FUANCISCO TO ST. LAWRENCE RAY. 91 the Army Signal Corps, named Nelson, stationed here for the five years of his enlistment to make and record meteorological observations. Desolate and cheerless as tlie place is, we may yet look back upon it as a kind of earthly paradise. Our little family of thirty-two having been together now for some time, I can judge of the harmony exist- ing among them. In the cabin everything goes on smoothly and harmoniously. Chipp is as unchangea- ble and imperturbable as ever ; he is occupied now in building a cook-iiouse on deck in the place where the old one stood, but not quite so large. We have con- sidered this wise, because we have already had trouble with the draft to the galley ; for it positively refused to burn on the port tack, and besides 1 want to have the galley where 1 can look at its cleanliness every hour of the day. Our Chinese servants — but 1 will tell you about them further on. Danenhow^er is the same, and will probably always remain so. He is a hard worlP! very superior hash. We have abundance of fresh po- tatoes and turnips yet remaining ; in fact, the deck is full of potato sacks, and he lives mostly upon vege- tables. We got a whole sheep in Ounalaska, where, by the way, we also got some fresh beef, and he (Dr. Ambler) is not quite a skeleton yet. Collins is the same Collins, getting off puns all the time, some of them good and some wretchedly poor. For a while we steadily refused to see his puns, and woidd all look at him as innocently and inquiringly as babies when he got one off, asking him to explain it two or three times over, until he finally exclaimed that our intellects must be weakening in proportion as we increased our distance from San Francisco. Now, how- ever, we let him pun away, praise the good ones and condemn the bad. For myself, I am doing all I can to make myself trusted and respected, and I think I succeed. I try to be gentle but firm in correcting anything I see wrong, and always calm and self-possessed. I feel my respon- sibility and care, and I hope I appreciate the delicate position I am placed in of leading and directing so many people of my own age. I hope God will aid me in what 1 have undertaken, and bring me through it in safety and with credit. Aur/nst 18, Noon. — Our schooner has just arrived, and we have her alongside, and shall soon conunence hoisting in her precious cargo. — coal and provisions. During the past six days numy longing and anxious looks were directed toward the horizon for a sight of her, and I had already experienced that " Ijope de- ferred maketh the heart sick." Now that she is here we are up to our eyes in work and excitement, for I have appointed Wednesday morning, the 21st inst., as u FKOM SAN FRANCISCO TO sT. LAWHENCE I'.AY. dii the (late of sailing for St. Lawrence Bay. If God will only give us fair winds and let us save our coal until we are through Behring Strait, we may find Nor- dcnskjrdd and reach Kellett Land before the ice freezes us in. Although the beginning of my letter was dated the Otli, I have been writing a little in it every day. So you must not suppose that nine days went by without my having thought of you and written to you. In fact, 1 am all ready to go on and tell you about the crew where I left off the day before yesterday. There is no doubt about it that we have as line a crew as ever went on board of a ship. The}^ are cheer- ful, good-humored, ready for anything, and as harmo- nious as one family. There has not been a sign of a disagreement or a suspicion of a growl. The men seem to realize that every effort is being made to make them comfortable, and they are really very comfortable. Well clad, well fed, and easily worked, they seem to appre- ciate the easy places in which their lines have been cast. Being in places where it is illegal to sell liquor there is none to be had, and liberty means simply a chance to go ashore and wander around in the mud and grass. We have set our seine, and have caught enough salmon and flounders to give everybody fresh fish nearly every day. When we could get geese and ducks we have sent a fair portion forward among the men, and have shared alike ; and when no geese or ducks were to be had we eat canned meat in common. The Chinese cook is a good cook, and, as I said in m^^ previous letter, makes good bread ; but unless we con- clude not to watch things too carefully, and to make no fuss over a stray hair or so, we cannot be happy. The steward is fair as a steward, and the boy is sim- u h ? ; '■I ^ 1 V 94 TIIK VOYACK OF TIIK .IKAXXETTE. i ply waste lumber. Under no circumstances shall I keep him beyond this port. He cannot speak English or understand it; he has already, by his stupidity, almost made me grow gray. With it all, he is as childlike and ))land as the celebrated " heathen Chinee." lie will spill water, break a plate, or stumble over us with a smile that is almost heavenly. All that he is good for is to aggravate the steward, who, though he is his coimtryman, pitches into him in Chinese without stint. Our furs are all l)eing made up into clothing on shore, and we have a very line outfit indeed. With my usual luck, I have met another man who nudvcs me presents. The agent here, Mr. Newman, besides giv- ing me his own outfit of fur clothing, insists on my tailing his Winchester repeating rifle with eight hun- dred rounds of anununition. In vain do I protest that I do not want it, — the ship owning already four, of which 1 use one. Mr. Newman seems to think I shall not be properly equipped unless I take his rifle, and so rather than give offense I accept it. 1 also organized and sent off a hunting party in the steam-cutter, consisting of Melville, Collins, Dunbar, and the doctor. 1 gave them a tent and so forth, and tiiey remained away all night, coming back with about a dozen ducks, and stiff and aching from the tramp and sleeping on the ground. The doctor says he is con- vinced that man must take to hard work gradually to get accustomed to it. I think a tramp like that about once a year would suit him very well. [from the journal.] AurjKst 2\M, Thnviiday. — A busy day with us. Com- menced to swing ship at nine A. m. for compass devia- tion. At one p. M. commenced receiviny; stores from FHOM SAN FRANCISCO TO ST. LAWUKNH K I'.AY. 05 Mr. Newman, consisting of our fm- clothing, forty dogs, live dog sleds, forty sets dog harness, snow - shoes, tanned seal-skins, dressed beaver-skins, twelve slee[)ing bags, sixty-nine pairs seal-skin boots, seven pairs deer- skin boots, twenty-two pairs water l)oots, seventy-eight pairs blanket socks, thirteen dressed skins, two tlressed wolf-skins, lifty-two double squirrel junipers, twenty single squirrel jumpers, four light squirrel jumpers, three tame deer-skins, fifty deer-skin pantaloons, twelve hair -seal pantaloons, one undressed deer- skin, four dressed beaver-skins, one baidera, twenty cakes, 2,21)0 lbs. compressed dog food, etc. The made up garments have been manufactured from the skins, and ten blan- kets we sent on shore upon our arrival. Mr. Newman generously presented me with a Win- chester sixteen-shooter, eight hundred rounds ammuni- tion, two deer-skin jumpers (parkies), seal-skin boots, water boots, sleeping bag, gloves, and fur cap. To this I must add a beautiful Arctic hare coverlet from Mr. Ketchum, and sixty mink-skins from the same gen- tleman for ship's use. In our communications with the natives on the Si- berian side we must have an interpreter, and it is ad- visable also to have some one acquainted with the driving and management of dogs and sleds. For these reasons I have hired two natives, named respectively Alexey and Aneguin, recommended by Messrs. Newman and Nelson, the Signal Corps observer, as well as col- lector for the Smithsonian Institution. Alexey was a collector of specimens for him, and speaks English and even writes it a little. The terms of agreement are as follows : Alexey is to receive twenty dollars per month and a proper out- fit, which amounts to fifty dollars, and at the comple- tmUmnammmmmtMmmm 4 |i i. li 96 TIIK VOYAGE OF THE .lEANNETTE. ; I tioii of his .service a bieech-loiuling (that is, Winchester repeating) rille and 1,000 cartridges. His wile shall receive provisions (from Alaska Commercial Company at our expense) during his absence amounting to live scenery in tiie Straits ot" Magellan, with monntains two thousand feet high capped with snow ; the bay is magnilicent and solitary. A lew dirty natives, clustering alongside the ship I'or bread, are th j only signs ol" life. Tiie natives have nothing to sell, and appear lazy and worthless to the last degree. deck live live lought three dog jful to Iwhite JThey Ifar is dogs [l HUM llli; .K)l li.NAL.] A«(/i(st "l')th. — A chief who calls himself '• George," and who speaks very often of Captain Cogan in the little English he knows, told me he saw in one of his journeys last winter a ship frozen in in Koliutchin Bay. All my questions as to Avhother he boarded her then or not could not bring a satisfactory reply, he one time say- ing "yes," and the next time ''no." When I showed him the chart of Admiral Rodgers' survey in the Vincennes, he readily pointed out Koliutchin Bay, East Cape, the Diomede Islands. Con- tinuing his story, the chief said three months ago the same ship Bono-pipe. which he had seen in Kolintchin Bay came to anchor oft' his " house," at the northern side of the entrance to St. Lawrence Bay — the bay itself being at that time full of ice. The vessel was a s^^eamer smaller than the Jeannette. This time he undoubtedly went on board. 1 M T r I I i > 100 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. He says there were twenty- five people on boord the ship. The cjiptain was an old man with a white beard, and he did not speak Enghsli. There were two offi- cers on board who did speak Enghsh, and there was another officer, wlio was a Russian, and he spoke tlie Cliuckch language like a native. To this last offi- cer the chief spoke. When I asked him if he knew the officer's name, he replied, " Yes, he name Hor- pisli." On looking over the list of the officers who accompanied Nordenskjold, I find a Lieutenant Nord- quist, Russian Navy, and it may have been this offi- cer to whom the chief sjioke. He did not k:iow the name of anybody else. This " Horpish " told him the ship was Swiss, (query Swedish ?) had wintered in Ko- liutchin Bay, and was going home. Nobody seemed to have any fur clothing, and ever} body that came on deck shivered with the cold. The chief showed me the track of the steamer from Koliutchin Bay to St. Lawrence Bay, and pointed out the course of the steamer on leavinu; as towards the Dio- mede Islands, and thence south along the coast of Kamtchatka. Remaining only until the next day, the vessel steamed out. According to the chief she had " plenty coals." As a way of fixing the date more clearly than the vague state- ment " three moons ago," this steamer arrived seven days after the departure Native's Lamp. ^^£ Captaiu Cogau. Nothing else had since called at St. Lawrence Bay until our arrival.^ This ^ " None of the natives in the neijiliborhood of tlic Vega's winter stiition professed the Christian religion. None of them spoke any European lan- guasre, thoitsrh one or two knew a couple of English words and a Kussian word of sahitation. This was a very unfortunate circumstance, wliich causeil us mucli trouble. But it was soon remedied by Lieutenant Nord- FllOM SAN FRANCISCO TO ST. LAWUENCi: BAY. 101 was the sum and substance of the information, and al- though 1 questioned tlie man earefuUy and repeatedly I could learn nothing further, while the same story was each time repeated in detail. 1 can account for our not hearing of the arrival of Nordenskjold, at some place in civilization up to our departure from San Fran- cisco, only on the ground of his being obliged to sail the whole distance to Japan, which is a likely enough supposition. I landed and strolljd over the sand -spit, dignified with the name of Lutke's Island. Here and there were skeletons of whales' heads, bones of wal- ruses, etc.; and I saw what seemed to be a grave, without, how- Bone Harpoon Heads ever, any mark beyond nine small stones laid in the sand, in this shape : — o o o o o o o o o When we anchored, large numbers of ducks seemed to make this sand-spit a resting-place, and several of them with their little families swam around us. But the ship and uuiselves seemed to frighten them immediately away, for not one duck was to be found on the island, and the mother duck,- and their young paddled away incontinently. A small pond hi the centre of the spit was resorted to by small birds like snipe, and Mr. New- comb shot several to add to his collection. The natives (juist sjicciiilly devoting liiiiiscif to tlie study of tlu'ir laivjinngc, and that with siii'h zi'ul and siiccuss that in a fortnisiht he could maki' himself pretty well understood. The natives stated to I)e Long, in tlu^ autumn of 1879, that a person on the 'man-of-war,' which wintered on the North Coast, spoko Chuckch exceedingly well." — A. A. Noudkxsk.ioi.d's Tlif VoijiKje of the Vega, p. 369. T I i I '■ I' 11' '^ii I ■■> I ■; i ■ I:' J'' k* ' 102 TIIK VOYAGE OF TIIK JEANNiyi'TE. here appear to be in a wretched con(htion. Each fam- ily of about a dozen, adults and children, roamed about in its baidera. [to MUS. 1)K l,ON»i.] August 27th. — The schooner arrived last evening, and we are now hoisting in the last of the coal and pro- Native's Knife of Bone. visions, and shall leave at seven o'clock this evening. The weather is beautiful, light southerly breeze, and smooth sea, and I am anxious to be off. And yet it seems like saying good-by once more. However, I am in this thing and I am going to see it through. I have interviewed the chief who saw the steamer several times since, and I have about come to the con- clusion that it was Nordcnskjiild's steamer that he saw. When I telegraphed the Secretary asking if the rumors concerning the Swedish Expedition were reliable, he referi-ed to the Secretary of State. Tliis Secretary tel- egi'aphed to our Minister at Stockholm, and the Minister telegraphed hack that Nordenskjold, wiien lasi heard from, was at Cape Serdze Kamen, and was to leave in May. Now Cape Serdze Kamen is one hundred and thirty miles from here, and there is a settlement on the Cape. I have decided to go there and make an in- quiry, and if I lind the Swedes were there and have left, I shall push for Wrangel Land at once; if not — and there is the sticker — T suppose I shall have to grope along until I lind where they did winter. We have nearly one hundred and sixty tons coal, and all pro- FKOM SAN FRANCISCO TO ST. LAWHEXt K ISAY. 103 our provisions in the ship, and we can afford to .steam a great deal yet. We 8liall tow the scliooner outside the harbor a.s we go. The natives are rather an ugly looking lot, and I do not care to leave the schooner alone with her little crew of- six men. I have given the captain fifty dol- lar? for himself ; he has waited upon us fjiithfully, and carries back our mail-bag to General Miller for us, as well as our smiling angel of a Chinaman. Bone Shovel, Front View Bone Shovel, Side View. I ^ I ;ii I Ha II i \A CHAPTER IV. DRIFTING IN ICE OFF IIEllALD ISLAND. 27 August — 30 September, 1879. Through Behriug Strait. — Cape Serdze Kanu>ii. — A Letter ]eft for Later Vessel. — Cliief George. — Koliutcliiu Bay. — Definite Tid- ings of the Vega. — Coasting an Ice-Pac k. — Herald Island sighted. — Grinding through the Ice. — The Rudder unshipped. — Setting Bear-Traps. — A Sludge-Party toward Herald Island. — Return of the Party. — A Bear-Chase. — Herald Island Disappearing Ex- periments to d'jtormine the Air hreathed on the Berth Deck. — Con- sumption of Coal. — The Drift Ice. — An Electric Phenomenou. — Bills of Fare. — Daily Routine. August 27th, Wednesdmj. — At 7.35 p. m. we got under way, with .scliooner in tow, and stood out. Let go of schooner at 9.30, and she stood to the southward and eastward, with northeast wind, while we shaped course N. N. E. and stood toward Behring Strait. August 28y Mr. Sibiria- koff, to go in search of the Vega. For these two rea- sons, therefore, I determined visiting Serdze Kamen, with the hope also of verifying the tidings received at St. Lawrence Bay. The land to the northward and westward of Bchrint? Strait is so vaguely described in books of sailing direc- tions, and so roughly delineated on the charts, that it was very difficult to determine which cape was Cape Serdze Kamen. We have had no observations for lat- itude or longitude at noon, and are rather uncertain as to oiu- whereabouts. However, between noon and four r. M. I stood in toward the land for a kind of bay sur- rounded by high round hills, and at four sighted a col- \l m ^n. ii'. i| i ( » ii t 106 THE VOYACE OF THE JE ANNETTE. lection of native houses on the port hand on a high bhiit", and another collection of native lonses right ahead on tlie beach at the foot of the bay. At the same moment the sun ap[)eared, and Mr. Danenhovver, by using the given latitude of Cape Serdze Kumen, N. 07" 12', obtained the longitude as given that place on the chart. This bay appeared to have a general north find south direction, to be about seven miles in width at its entrance, with line large headlands. All around the edge of the bay was fringed with broken pieces of bay ice in a soft and rotten condition. The bay was in depth about four miles, 1 should say. Stood in care- fully, keeping lead going, and at 5.1U P. m. anchored in 8 1-2 fathoms water, hard bottom, sand, and stones. We kept steam ready for a start at a moment's warning, for a fresh N. W. wind, rough sea, and hard bottom made our anchort.,ge a little precarious. As soon as the crew had supper, 1 took whaleboat, and, accompanied by Lieutenant Chipp, Mr. Dunbar, Mr. Collins, and the Alaskan, Alexey, went in towards the settlement at the foot of the bay. I drew np the following paper to be left with the natives, addressed " To the Commanding Officer of any Ship visiting Cape Serdze Kamen : " — United States Auctic Stkameie Jkannktte, (.'ii/h; Serdze Kanien, Aiii/ust 21), 1871*. This vessel stopped in hero this day at five P. U. to endeavor to learn soniethinjf about the Swedish Exploring Expedition under the oommand of Professor Nordenskjold. We arrived at St. Eawrence bay on the 25th inst., and learned from the natives there that a steamer which liad wintered in Koliutohin ]l;i. had come to St. Lawrence Bay and remained one day, rl,i' .,.;. tln-ee months before our arrival, for home by way of li;*^ ''uuntcliatkan coast. Her captain was an old man with a 1^ ; i I nttWS 1 DUIFTING IN ICE OFF HEKALD ISLAND. 107 white beard, unci he did not speak English. Two officers on board did speak English, and tiiere was i-n officer who was Iliissian who spoke the Chuukch hinguage like a native. With this hist olHcer, who was named Horpish (?), the natives spoke, and were told the ship was a Swiss (?) which was going home, liaving wintereil in Koliutchin IJay. We left St. Law- rence Bay at 7.30 P. M. August 27th. C"am(^ here because this is the place at which Nordenskjiild is last r('])orted to be, and because I was requested by Mr. Sibiriakoff, of St. Peters- burg, to leave papers here for Captain Sengstaecke, who com- mands the steamer Xordenskjiild, now on her way here from Europe. The ollicers and men under my command are all ■well, and we expect to sail to-night for Wrangel Land by Koliutchin Bay. Please communicate this news of us to the Secrcta?y of the Navy, Washington, D. C, United States of America. Geokgi-: W. De Long, Lieutenaut U. S. iVi/;'//, Commandlnj American Arctic Expedition. Til With this letter and a bundle of newspapers ad- dressed to Captain Sengstaecke, I attempted to land. Upon getting in toward the beach we found so much ice moving about as to make a landing iuipossible ; but after pulling to and fro for about half an hour, we saw the natives getting ready to come out to us iu a skin boat. Presently they succeeded in gettiug out, but to our disappointment we could not make each other understood. Ilopiug to learn something by per- sistence, we led the way back to the ship, the natives followinu: in obedience to our signals. The chief, a stout, not ill-looking man, was seated amidships in Iiis baidera, clad in a bright red tunic and a cloth cap (that evidently came at some time from civilization), with all the dignity of a king. Upon arriving on board ship nothing could make this i.i\ If II ( " . I: : ^ : It. 108 Til VOYAdE OF THE JEANNETTE. chief or his peoplo understand what we wanted to know, and after an hour's eii'ort, backed by charts and all sorts of pantomime, we had to give it up and let the natives go ashore. I could not leave it like this, so I deter- mined to wait until daylight, send Chipp in again to make a landing if possible, and look for any traces of white men having been there. AiKjust oOth, Saturday. — At three a. m. Lieutenant Chipp went in shore in the whaleboat, accoinpanied by Mr. Dunbar and Alexey, as also by Mr. Collins. This time a landing was effected, and by great good luck a satisfactory result was obtained. Upon entering the chief's hut another attempt was made to make him un- derstand what we were after, without avail. By a happy inspiration an old squaw was brought forward (who came originally from somewhere in the neighbor- hood of King's Island), and it was found that Alexey and she could understand each other. From that time forward all was plain sailing. The story heard at St. Lawrence Bay was repeated in detail, — the steamer having stopped here also one day and then gone home. " Ilorpish " seemed to be equally well known here. Following Chipp's return on board came the chief and his tribe, including the old squaw, and we had the story over again, with the addition that the steamer had win- tered on the east side of Koliutchin Bav, had built a house, (an observatory ?) which she took down and car- ried away on leaving. Times and dates we could not get at, nor names, except the never-failing " Horpish." If Nordenskjrdd had left any kind of a written paper at St. Lawrence Bay, or at this place, it would have saved much uncertainty ; but as he had no uneasiness about his situation, and of course knew nothing about the excitement in Europe and America, his not leaving DRIFTING IN ICE OFF HERALD ISLAND. 109 any paper is not to be wondered at. As Koliuteliin Bay was soniewliat in our track I concluded to look in there in passing. Lest anybody coming after us .should be perplexed for want of proo* of our having been at Serdze Kanion, I made .sure that the chief knew that he must exhibit the letter which I wrote yesterday to any ship that called in ; and, moreover, I gave him a sailor cap with the ship's ribbon bearing the word " Jeannette " in bright gold letters, of which the chief was so proud that I knew he would exhibit it to all foreigners. Col- lins wrote a notice of our visit on a piece of paper which I signed, and it was pasted in this cap. All these things being done, and tobacco, tea, and bread being presented (rum was asked for but declined) to the chief and needles to the squaw, and some .salmon and deer meat being returned by them, we said good- by, and at six a. m. got under way and steamed out. At ten A. M. saw a baidera under sail standing for us from still another collection of huts near the west ciipe of this bay. Ran down to them, but as they could not be understood by us, and evidently had not much to say, we left them and proceeded on our way. Foggy and misty from noon to midnight ; N. W. and N. winds. August 31.S'/, Sunday. — During the night let the ship run along west. At five a. m., having run oft' enough distance to bring us on the meridian of the eastern edge of Koliutchin Bay, sighted a point of land bearing south true, and a low coast line extending east and west. An extensive pack of old ice continuing to about live miles from the land seemed to reach as far as eye could see east and west, with a funnel-shaped opening, the funnel point toward the land. Supposing that such an opening would be caused by a river empty- w iii »ni.'. »...i 'ii i |i i '«>mw i ;»w« > >| ii^ 'r 110 TIIK V(»YA(iK <»F Tin: JKANNEITK. It !i ? '^ fl ' i Hj. iiijr its waters into a )>av, and tlic chart showinr^ such a river llowiiit,^ into Kohiitchin Hay. I decided to stand into the openinj;-. which we acconUngly (hd at 5.40, the land beinjj; hid(kMi at times by passin<^ snow-s((ualIs. At seven A. M. made out what looked like houses on the ridi-'c ol" a small hill hack from the heach, which 1 now saw we could not get to on account of the bay ici' fringing it for about two miles in extent, — our funnel- shaped opening closing up at that distance from the shore. A little later 1 could make out several houses (juife ])lainly from my post in the crow's-nest, and at eight o'ck)ck, having reached the edge of the ice. stopped the ship and sent in Lieutenant (Jhipp, Mas- ter Danenhower. Mr. Dunbar, and Alexey in the whale- boat, for one more ell'ort to make sure that Norden- skjiild had passed south in safety. During the absence of the whaleboat kept the engines ready to move the ship, and backed when it was necessary to keep the ship off the ice. At ten, got a sounding in fifteen fathoms, coarse gravel, and lowered the dredge with ii:ood results. Mr. Xewcomb also shot and added to his collection some large gulls. The whaleboat could be seen from the ship aloft, winding her way in and among narrow lanes of water, and 1 watched her anx- iously while Melville handled the ship, initil I saw her land and her people mingle with some natives who had come down to the beach to meet the boat. At one p. M. Lieutenant Chipp and party returned, and brought back information which was relialile beyond question. The Vega wintered here, about two miles more to the southward and westward than this native settlement. Chij)p was walked along the beach and the place pointed out to him. As well as could be made out (for no one spoke or understood English on DRIFTING TN HE OFF IIKUALD ISLANP. Ill shore, and AU'xey was of no more uso in this countiy tlian oinwolves), tho W'gii k'lt hero i'or the eastward two or three months ago. Tokens ol the Vega were bought by Chi[)|), he using his vest buttons as ready casli, and brought ott' to the ship. [Among otiier things there were three navy buttons, — Swedish, Dan- ish, and Russian.] These navy buttons ah)n(; would be proof enough of the Vega Iiaving wintered here, l)e- cause no other ship was in this part of the workl with Swedish, Danish, and Russian naval otlicers on board. Hoisted the whaleboat and steamed out to the north- ward at I.IO; at two held divine service, and 1 believe; all our hearts were thankful that at last we knew Nor- denskjiild was safe, and we might proceed on our way toward Wrangel Land.* The ice on the western side of our funnel-shaped opening made out from the land, .so that it wa.s 5.15 p. M. before we were clear enough of the pack to shape our course N. W. by N. At six we sighted a large island, supposed to be Koliutchin Island. During the first watch wo were nuich bothered by loose ice in large lumps, requiring constant conning to avoid trouble. At ten p. M., finding the ice growing heavier, I put her on the other tack to N. E. true, and stood out of it, stop- ping the engines from 11.40 to twelve, to let the ship drift through some small openings into open water. September l.s7, Jfondaij. — An ordinary day, so far as events go. During the afternoon land was sighteMjH I 1. t I 1 H. ■! 112 THE VOYAC.E OF THE JEANNETTE. on the Sihoriiui coast. Although this hiiul is .sixty miles I'roni our position, I can account for our seeing it only by mirage. Jt did not really seem over thirty miles. A c'onsideral)le amount of pack ice was between us and this land. Wii were favored with a beautiful Hunset, and a moonlight and starlight night. ^t she was four miles (hstant, and we were too anxious about (inihng a decent openin*^ in the pack to run down and speak her. At ei<>ht A. m., there be- ing nothing but ice in sight, exce|)t to tiie S. E. where we had oome ironi. I concluded to put the ship into a hkely looking lead in the pack opening towards the N. W. We accordingly worked along in this lead, keeping a general N. W. direction until 3.10 r. M., when it became so foggy and the ice so closely packed that we stopped and ])lanted an ice-anchor in a conven- ient floe. Meanwhile, at noon we got soundinfj-s in twenty-eight fathoujs (blue mud), and towed the dredge, adding son.e star-fish to oiu" collections. At 4.80 the fog lifted a little and we got under way, working to northward true until 5.30 p. m., when we again an- chorcd to a floo, the fog becoming impenetrable. Calm with thick fog up to midnight. At seven r. m. .sounded in thirty-eight fathoms (blue mud). Tired with my day in the crow's-nest. Septemher 4:th, Thursdnij. — The day opens calm and Avith a thick fog. Still at anchor to the lloe. AV^e ob- serve a gradual closing in of large iloes around us, and a seeming drift of small pieces to the .southeast through the small water spaces. The rigging is one mass of snow and frost, presenting a beautiful sight ; but as we are more interested in progress than in beautiful sights it has but little charm for us. The pack ice surround- ing u.s seems to have a uniform thickness of about .seven feet, — two feet being above the water. It is somewhat 8 v\ w ■•^»i^i,nt, ^«m o * i vtme'vmMm ^''' '» i ^ ' >»ml r '» ' ^ ' ' «*»< ■' ji \ I If >i I III 114 TiiK voya(;e ov the jkann'ktik. Inmunocky, but I do not observe any hummock f^rc-ater in hei<^}.i than six or seven feet. New ice has made around the ship durin*^ the night, the tem])erature standing iit 29° (huMiig the night and up to eight A. m. Sounds as of surf heard to southeast intheating open water in that direction. At two r. M. the fog cleared away, and we spread fires at once and got under way. The greatest amount of water space seeming to be to the northeast, we made our way in that direction generally, and at 4.o() we suc- ceeded in getting out of the pack into the open sea; that is. comparatively open, because the pack extended from .southeast around by west to north, while only to the eastward was there open water. Upon reaching this open water we passed a (h'ifting tree that seemed to have been torn up by the roots, but, more im])()rtant still, land was sighted at 4.30, bearing W. N. W. true. From the reckoning we have been able to keep of our position, this land is Herald Island, discovered and landed upon by Captain Kellett, of II. M. S. Herald, in 184U. Not caring to put the ship in the close pack which ap- ])eared to the noithward of us and lose sight of Her- ald Island without advancing materially, I slowed the engiries and kept the ship turning round in circles for the night, just clear of Liie ice. According to our po- sition we were about forty miles from Herald Island, and as it wivs very much distorted by mirage we could not make a clo.ser estinuite of the distance. Wind dogs around the sun at .setting, but a beautiful nioonrise gave promise of a fine night. September 5//^ Fviday. — A clear and pleasant day throughout, with light northerly breeze. At four A. m. spread all fire.s and got a full head of steam, and entered the pack through the best looking lead in the general ■ It I ;f DRIFTING IN ICE OFF HERALD ISLAND. 115 direction of Herald Island. For the iirst two hour.s we hud but little trouble in making our way, but at six a. m. we eoninienced to meet younpf ice ranging from one to two inches in thickness in the leads, and seemingly grow- ing tougher as we proceeded. We groiuid along, how- ever, scratching, and in places scoring and cutting our doubling, until 8.40 a. m., when we came to pack ice from ten to fifteen feet in thickness, which of course brought us up. Anchored to the iloe to wait for an opening. During the forenoon there were several occasions when we distinctly saw land beyond and above Herald Island, as well as to the southwest of and beyond it. I .should at first have been inclined to think that the land above and beyond Herald Island was a kind of false island made by the mirage ; but as the land seen to the southwest of Herald Island was in the shape of high sugar-loaf snow-topped mountains with clearly defined edges, such as could not have been caused by mirage, for there were no hummocks in our Hoe horizon to be thus distorted, I am strengthened in my belief that we really saw the land. Its distance is impo.ssi])le even to estimate. Looking across the ice disturbs one's belief in his accuracy in measuring distances by the eye. For instance, on board ship we genoniily agv >e as to the distance of an object at sea; but here in the ice no two estimates correspond. We [)ut the distance of this land seen beyond Herald Island u- \arious limits, rang- ing between forty and one hundred miles ; and though since sighting Herald Island last night we luvve steanuid towards it twenty miles, one half the estinuitcid dis- tance, but fev «' us agree as to its distance now. We range from ten to forty miles. At one w m.. seeing an- other chance to make a mile or two, we got up steam '•-*r^*r ■■«i.~. S.t»*^: € ■ i n i. ii ! k l! ' i i IIG THE VOYAGE OK THE JEAXNETIE. and worked ahead throui^li thin, new ice, and ])ctween detached pieces of Hoe. At four we andiored a, ^ i.f ! I I' «l MMiMMMMliMiEiilMMMH DlllFTJNG IN ICK OFF IIEKALD ISLAND. 119 4.20, howcve:, we had come to solid tloes agiiin, imd as the thick fog again shut in we came to with our ice- anchor. Wishing to save even the coal we used with banked fires, until a good chance i)resented itself for going ahead, I let the fires die out. This evening three bears came down to about a mile from the ship, but fled upon being seen and chased ])y our hunters. Served out, snow-goggles to all hands, with orders to wear them. Sejjf ember 7th, Sunday, — A day of complete rest in every respect. The day b .r'us with snow, clears, be- comes and ends foggy. Ice moving a little, and ship seemingly moving to N. W. At ten a. m. muster the crew, read the Articles of War. and hold divine service. At twelve got soundings in fortv fathoms blue mud. In the watch from eight to midnight, experienced a slight pressure on the starboard beam, shoving the ship up on a tongue of ice on the port side and listing her to starboard about live degrees. September Sth, Manday. — At 1.30 this morning the ship righted again. Thermometer ranging between 22° and 28°. Forenoon foggy ; afternoon clear. No sign of a lead in any direction. The northerly winds seem to have cemented the ice into one enormous pack. Soundings at noon in thirty-six fathoms blue mud. The ship has evidently moved since yesterday, when we had forty fathoms. In the (irst watch the ship heeled again to starboard al)out 9°, and jannned the rudder hard a-starboard. Lest at any time the question be asked why I do not imship the rudder and screw at this time, I will record here my reasons. Our rudder is unusually strong and heavy ; and though it is a simple matter to unship it. it will be an exceedingly difficult matter to ship it again ■ 'H '"'V <" 4.U ,# ^■^^.^..,^^ ■-/■J I ) ': >.\ t' I, 1 , a. 120 TllK VOYAGE OF TilK JKAXNETTK. unless we have plenty oi" open Avater under the stern. If 1 trice up the screw now, ice will surely form in the clutch and prevent the screw from getting back in place. If 1 expected the ship to remain in this spot all winter, these reasons would have less weight liut as I con- sider it an exceptional state t)f the ice that we are hav- ing just now, and count upon the September gales to hrcak up the pack, and perhaps open leads to Herald Island, I want the ship to be in condition to move with- out delay. Besides, 1 am told that in the latter part of September and early part of October there is expe- rienced in these latitudes quite an Indian Sumiuer, and I shall not begin to expect wintering in the pack until this Indian Sunnner is given a chance to liberate us. Si'pttmbcr dth, THcsday — A superb day; hright sunlight, thermometer ranging between 21" and 25". No sign of a lead in any direction. Established oin- position to be by observation, 71" 35' N., 175" 5' 48" W. At 7.30 p. M., with a sunset entirely free from clouds, made out land distinctly between S. W. and W. and S. S. W. The land furthest t'» the westwjird was a kind of table land, with a range of ])eaks to its south- ward, terminating in a low, flat strip just behind Herald Island. And this is the land which, two months ago yesterday, we sailed for from San Francisco, hoping to explore this winter. Man proposes but God disposes. Here we are not even able to get to Herald Island. Ship still heeled 0^ to starboard, and great pressure on the rudder casing. This must be eased or we may damage the pintles. We have Ijeen trying all day to explode torpedoes under the stern, but our slow-match was defective and would not burn, and we could not get an electric current through our non-insulated copper wire. During the last three days have turned the dogs fmr^^^^^m 1)IIIFTI\(; IN ICK OFF IIEKALl) ISLAM). 121 out on the ice, from daylight to dark, as iiiiieh to their satisfaction as to ours : to theirs, because they can run around with more freedom ; and to ours, because we can keep the shij) clean again. As we set bear-tra[)s every night, we call the dogs on board ship to prevent accident. Though each morning we see the imdoubted traces of Ijcars, the traps seem to have been avoided. Septembet' 10th, Wethicfidai/. — Calm from midnight to noon, with fog, mist, and snow all day. Lowest tem- perature IG", highest 25°. In the hope of helping the .ship to right herself, got two tackles up, one at the fori'- mast head, and one at the mainmast head, hooking them to ice-claws and setting them well taut. Broke away the ice around the stern and attempted sawi.ig with ice-saws, but with no other effect than to bend up the siiws. The soundinus of the past few davs have steadilv Oil' ■ decreased : forty, thirty-six, thirty-live, thirty-two and a half fathoms. The whole pack, with ourselves fast in it, is evidently drifting; but whether the shoaling in souridings indicates an approach to Herald Island or not cannot be proven until we get observations again for position. Not a sign of a lead in any direction. SejMcmher 11th, Tliursdaii. — The ship has not righted any during the night. An examination of the ice around the stern this morning shows that we are between two floes about fifteen feet in thickness. The ice on the port side of the ship has been broken on its upper edges and piled up irregularly fore and aft, while on the starl)oard side (toward Avhich the ship heels) the surface is smooth and unbroken. The strain brought on the rudder by the nip has '" broomed " up the port side of the rudder post and rudder casing, and I am re- luctantly forced to the conclusion that we must unship it. A more severe nip might break the gudgeons or I) 11 T i I ^f the world, we .shall i)robably test it by our drift this winti-r, and perhaps drift toward some new land, a.s did Weyprecht and I'ayer, in the Tegetthof. As to making any prog- ress with the ship by our own efforts, I see no chance; and it looks as if it would take an earth(|uake at least to get us out of our besetment. However, " the dark- est hour is just before the dawn," and our dawn may be soon coming. To prevent the water from freezing in the boilers and l)ursting the tul)es and ]Mpes, we to-day emptied them, broke .joints, and drained all pipes. If 1 were certiiin of staving here all winter, there is niucli more I should like to do. Our decks are so fearfully lum- bered np iis to be a sure preventive to our keeping in order. To put up our deck-house, the steam-cutter and spare rudder should be removed. But whore shall they be put '.' If we place them on the ice wo may lose them in a I)reak-up, if a break-up comes, and wo certainly have no place for them on board ship. I suppose, how- ever, they and many other things must take their chances on the Hoe this winter. Both of our wounded dogs are improving, and, hav- ing discharged themselves front the bridge hospital, liavo gone to their brethren on the ice. Our bridge has answered several purposes thus far for which it was not constructed ; for Alexey and Anegnin, being over- come by the heat of the berth-deck stove, have rigged ii«i»tf ini iiMiiKi»«»«miim m DiMFTixc; IN UK oFi" iii;i;ai,ij island. 127 n tout-like covering over tLo port liall' ol' tin: bridge, uiiil moved in. To-diiy we feasted in the cabin on the young seal which Alexey shot, iiiid we uniiniinoiisly pronounced it equal to rabbit. We have again set our bear-trap, baited with seal's entrails, and have placed it so far from the ship that we hope the dog.s may not iind it. Seals September liUh, Titesdai/. — The day opens and con- tinues with a light, southerly breeze ; the temperature is from 20'' to .')0°. During the morning watch land was distinctly seen bearing from W. by S. to S. (both true). However we may be drifting, we .ire certainly getting more land in our horizon than formerly, and Herald Island is beginning to lose some of tliat distinct- ness which made us declare at first that it was only five miles distant. It is only on rare occasions that we see this far off land, and it is impo.ssible to estimate how far off it is. If Herald Island, which we estimated ll — ♦w»»^ ( > i I' ^ :i?r i!i» i 1^ 128 iiiE voya(;k of Til.': .ikanniotte. orii:;inally at five miles distimoo. proved to be l)ctweGn twenty and twenty - (ive. land which we estimate at sixty miles would prove to be, — I do not care to haz- ard a guess. At twelve we were able to dttermiiie our latitude to be 71° 4U' N. We wore unable to get sights for longitude owing to cloudy sky in forenoon and af- ternoon, so we know only tiiat we have gone to the northwaid four miles in one da v. In the hope of securing better drinking water for our use Melville has placed in the water kettles on the cabin and forecastle stoves a ground tier of charcoal. It is an experiment to be sure, for we cannot hope that the charcoal will al)sorb .-alt. September 17th, Wednescfai/. — A most exciting day. Early in the morning Lieutenant Chipp and Mr. Dim- bar went out to have a look at the bear-trap, and they came ba<'k at nine to inform me that a bear had evi- dently been caught in the trap, and had succeeded in breaking it away from the ice and carrying it off with him. Adding Melville to the pai'ty we at once set out in pursuit, lleaching the })lace where the trap had been set. one mile from the ship, we had no didiculty in (inding the bear's tracks and following his trail, for the trap made a broad mark, easy enough to trace, even if the drops of blood had not been sullicicnt. We saw also the tracks of two other bears, one on each side of the entraj)ped one, as if two friends had renuiined by him to encourage him iu his retreat. We had a long tramp of nearly six miles in the chase, lieing somewhat heavily clad and suffering from the heat 1 had falK'u a little behind the others, when I heard a bear howling as if in pain. 1 ran forward, but the others had already sighted the game and opened (ire, and I readied the scene of action ii time only to 1 S#>^LAN1). 129 they give ihe coup de (jrace to the hear enttiiigkMl with the tnip. InstciuT of three hears there were but two, a male ami a female. The male had only one toe of the left forefoot caught, and yet had managed to break the trap adrift and carry it away without dragging his toe off. He might have left lis to make a longer chane had not the chain caught between two small hunnuocks and anchored him. The female made no attempt to desert him, but ran ahead and hack to him as if to coax him on. Upou sighting us both rose on their hind legs and howled dolefully, but the thing was soon over. Chipp and Dunbar with Winchesters, and Melville with his Kemington, left me only a finishing shot at one bear. Hoping that we might get a sight of the third bear whose tracks we had seen, Melville and I remained with the dead, Avhile Chipp and Dunbar returned to the ship to send out men and sleds to carry back the prize. They left us at 11.30 and reached the ship at 12.45. At 2.25 three sleds came out to us, and nearly all hands accompanied them, the aftern(>ou being turned into a holiday for the crev. Wi' quickly rigged \\\^ sheers and weighed our bears. The male weighed 580 lbs. and the female 422 lbs. Next we had the two bears photographed by Mr. Collins, and then they were skinned, cut open and dressed, and the meat and skins loaded on two sleds, our beam scale, sheer legs, and photographic gear occupying the third. While on the ground Mr. Newcomb shot several ivory gulls and added them to his collection. We set both of our hear- traps, baiting them with baars' entrails, and after catch- ing a man (Mrnson) pnnnptly in one of them, without ac(ndent fortunately, v/e set out at 4.10 p. m. on our re- turn journey, reaching the ship at 5.25, after a drag of ' '! 'I J ft tl u .' 1 1 Ir ( » ! . iV ' « i'^ , 'i lib K, fsr ^■' i U lit I ^! .1^ 130 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. three and a half miles, all hands jubilant and happ}'^ as after a victorj^ This is a long article about two small bears, but they were our first, and our enthusiasm is pardonable. Danenhower had excellent chances to get observa- tions to-day, and he establishes our position to be lat. 7r 50' N., long. 175° 25' W., and our drift in the last two days seven miles to N. E. by E. and a quarter E. Soundings at noon in thirty - five and three fourths fathoms blue mud. At sunset the weather had an ugly, threatening look. September ISth, Thursday. — The day opens with a fresh breeze from 8. E. which gathers strength, and the temperature rises from 30° to 35°. The eft'ect rpon the surface of the ice is to make a great deal of sludge and several small pools and ponds. No perceptible change in our position, but I have no doubt the ice is moving to the N. W., and carrying us with it. If this weather continues there may come a liberation for us, " a consunuiiution devoutly to be wished." The ice is proving too salty for cooking and drinking purposes, and we have fallen back upon melted snow. Occupied the men to-day in altering and lengthening our sleeping bags, which are too short and too cramped at the feet. Soundings at noon in thirty-six fathoms blue mud. Bring in our bear-traps lest we should lose them by the ice breaking up. September 19/'/;, Frlduij. — The S. E. Ijlow of yester- day continues throughout the night until noon, when the wind backs to E. S. E. and moderates. The bar- ometer slowly falls to 29.55 and there stops. The weather all day is ovei'cast and misty, with passing showers of rain. The temperature remains uniforndy at 33' and 34°. At 8.30 a. m. Herald Island bears south DKIFTIXG IN ICE OFF HERALD ISLAND. 131 jter- Ihen gar- lic |ing: luth (true), and is very distant. The changes in appearance of this i.sland have been slowly panoramic. We have crossed its face from east to west until its western end bore south, and have then steadily drifted away from it to the northward, so that from a panoramic view we have come to a dissolving view. SejJtember 20th, Saturday. — The doctor informs me this morning that he has made during the night ex- periments on the berth deck, to determine the amount of carbonic acid while the men were asleep and breath- ing the atmosphere of the deck. The experiments "were made with what is known as the " wet jar," and the result was as follows : In every thousand vol- umes of air there were two and thirty-two hundredths (2.324:6) volumes of carbonic acid, which, reduced to a percentage, shows .23246 per cent. The records of the expedition of th(> Alert and Discovery show .436 per cent, on the berth deck of the Alert on February 29, 1876, and .482 per cent, in the ward-room on Jan- uary 18, 1879, both observations being made under the very worst circumstances of housing and confinement. While, t'.orefore, our showing is a very favorable one in comparison, still it is a bad one, for we are only in September, with a temperature mild enough to leave open every access to the fresh air. To experiment still ii;r<^her in this matter, and to prevent the willful or accidental closing of any doors or the sky-light of the berth deck, and to endeavor to prevent any serious amount of carbonic acid in the ward-roo!n and cabin, I issued to-day orders in regard to the ventilati(ni of these apartments. While these orders are being carwed into effect, experiments will determine their efficiency in accouiplishing the desired result. y « !■] 132 THE voyagp: of the jeanxette. The measurements taken by the doctor to deterniine the cubic air space per capita show that we are defi- cient in that respect also. The berth deck is only 7S cubic feet, the ward-room 180, the cabin rooms 333, and the entire cubic air space of the cabin amounts to 1,500 feet. In the Alert the cubic air space per man was 107, and in the Discovery 140. The comparison is ogain unfavorable. The cubic air space will be in- crea,;ed for the men when we come to build our deck- house, and 1 hope the carbonic acid gas will largely disappear in that edifice. All these things, and the disappointment at having accomplished so little the first season, give me enough to think about. There is nothing, however, but pa- tience and earnest effort to improve matters that will avail me anything, and to these two things I must devote myself. The result of the S. E. blow and the mild tempera- ture has been to open lanes in our innnediate neighbor- hood, but none of them are of any great extent, and the heavy pack shows across the openings which are noc more than fifty feet wide. If we were not securely held between two fioes, I would move into one of these leads, even if we advanced only half a mile. (We would have moved at all events and have broken the monotony.) But we are securely held as in a vice, and heeling 5" to starboard. Soundings at noon in forty fathoms blue mud. We are now increasing our depth as we increase our distance from Herald Island. Brought up some new specimens with the dredge. /Scpte7nher 21st, Sunday. — At the usual Sunday in- spection held by me to-day, I concluded to make some changes in the internal arrangements of the berth deck. The order of yesterday about keeping the doors open DRIFTING IX ICE OFF IIEUALD ISLAND. 133 leading from the old galloy-room to the berth deck must be modified, as the cold is too great at night and causes the men to complain sadly. We therefore bored sixteen Is inch holes in the lower panel of each door, which I hope will insure a proper supply of fresh air. Nindemann has up to this time occupied a cot hung in the old galley-room. In order to move him into the forecastle, 1 order a man transferred from one of the after berths to one of the vacant forAvard ones. This brings the transferred man too near the stove, which is in the eyes of the ship, and we must move the stove to the middle of the berth deck and carry the mess table forward. These additions to the carpenter work of the ship necessitate taking Nindcmann off watch and add- ing him to the carpenter gang. During past week the engineer's force has been employed in scaling and cleaning the port boiler, and overhauling and laying up the engines. The coal return for the past week is as follows : — Galley . . Cabin . . Berth Deck Total, . 1,000 lbs. = daily average, 1425 lbs. ;)()0 lbs. = daily average, 51? lbs. 440 lbs. = daily average, 62s lbs. . 1,S00 lbs. = daily average, 2i)l\ lbs. Amount of coal remaining on hand, . llOisJi] tons. As coal is the most precious article which we have on board ship, its economical use is a matter of paramount importance. To l)ring about the utmost economy, I have concluded to put the whole affair in the charge of Chief Engineer Melville, and to give him entire cog- nizance of all stoves, the galley, and the issue and ex- penditure of fuel. I have therefore given him a writ- ten order to that effect. At 10.30 A. M. perform divine service. At noon we Ml \ ifi 1 II «•* .; hr. 134 THE V()YA(;K of I'IIE jkannette. obtain our position by observation, — latitude 72° 10' 2;r' N., longitude 175°* 20/ 22" W., — and from this po- sition we establish the fact that in four days "we l^ive drifted twenty miles to the north, one degree west, or at tlie rate of live miles a day. Herald Island is al- most a thing of the past. It is now but a small patch in the horizon, difficult to separate from the interven- ing hummocks. From ten to eleven p. m. have a fine aurora. The ship still altering her heading in the last twenty-four hours from S. W. and h S. to W. by N., both magnetic. September 2ith, Weihiesday. — At two A. M. the ther- mometer registered 7 ,, our lowest thus far, and the temperature gradually rose until at noon it reached 24°, and remained nearly the same to close of day. Ob- tained to-day longitude only, — 175" 21' W., — show- ing a drift of seven miles to the east in two days. This drift of oiu-s is in no sense uniform or capable of being foreseen. It does not depend seemingly upon the wind, for it is different with the same winds at different times. That even light winds occasion drift and press- ure is evident from the fact that the ice about a mile from the ship in all directions is constantly assuming new shapes. We seem to be held in the centre of a large floe, sufficiently strong to save a severe nip to the ship and to resist pressure on its edges. A mile from the ship in any direction new ice six inches thick is piled up in tables from six to twenty feet in height by the coming together of floes. One day we find large spaces of water, the next day w^e find the spaces nar- rowing, and the third day the spaces are closed and slabs of new ice six inches thick are piled up on end like a confused fence six, twelve, and eighteen feet high. We seem to move only in azimuth, remaining DUIFTING TN ICE OFF HERALD ISLAND. 135 heeled over to starboard 5^ Our Hoe suffers no jar even, and immediately around the ship the conditions of ice do not change, except as snow-falls level all the projecting surfaces. An occasional gull is all that we see, and each day the number seen diminishes. Occasionally a seal ap- pears in an open pool, and is fired at without success. According to Alexey, a seal hit in a bone will sink or die under tiie ice, — an explanation for several hits failing to secure the seals struck. The experiment for carbonic acid on the berth deck since the boring of the auger holes in the door and the moving of the berth deck stove show an improvement. Last night's figures give 1.8012 volumes of carbonic acid per one thousand volumes of air, or .18012 per cent. September 2bth, llmrsday. — At 1.50 a. m. a very curious electric phenomenon was observed. A ball of electric light formed about one quarter mile from the ship on the surface of the floe (in size about that of " a barrel," according to Mr. Dunbar), throwing out rays in all directions, and slowly rose and worked away from the ship, decreasing in size and brilliancy. When al- most extinct it advanced again, increasing in brilliancy, and, descending to the floe, disappeared. This oc- curred twice in seven minutes. The appearance of the electric ball was preceded by a fine aurora. Unfortu- nately Mr. Dunbar, who had the watch, did not call me to see tins extraordinary occurrence. Mr. Collins was called, but before he came on deck the display was over. The foregoing is made from Mr. Dunbar's de- scription. At 5.40 p. M. land is sighted bearing S. by W. and i W. true ; and although mirage has distorted its outline into an unknown and unrecognized shape, I am quite 136 THE VOYAGE OF I'llE JEANNETTE. t; E \l sure it must be Herald Island. All sign of bird life seems to be gone. On rare occasions a gull is seen, but only in tiie neighborhood of a Avater-hole, and these water-holes are growing extremely rare. One bear- track was sighted this afternoon to our satisfaction, for we had begun to fear that bears too had disappeared with the birds. Not a bear-track has been seen save this one since our capture of the 17th inst. September 2Sth, Sunday. — Snowing pretty much all day. At ten a. m. inspected ship and had divine service. In the afternoon Mr. Newcomb and Alexey shot two female walruses about two and one half miles from the ship, weighing about one thousand pounds each. Sent out the dogs and dragged them in, one after the other, gaining a valuable addition to our dog food. One of the females Avas with young, and I have directed Mr. Newcomb to save the foetus. He will also save the skin of one in order to mount it on our return, and the head of the other for mounting on board ship. The wisdom of having one officer look out for our fuel is evident. The coal report shows a saving of three hundred and seventy-five pounds in the past week. September oOth, Tuesdai/. — The month ends with a full moon, but beyond an occasional view of it through drifting snow it has not been of much comfort. It makes Init little difference, however, because we have so much sunlight that we can be very independent ; but I sup]iose the time will soon come when we shall con- sider the moon our best friend, and watch anxiously for her advent. Our drift since last o1)servation (26th inst.) has been five miles S. W. by W. We seem to swing around a kind of an irregular triangle, independent somewhat of local circumstances of wind or current. After our first DRIFTING IN ICE OFF IIEUALD ISLAND. 137 besetment we had a positive drift to the northward, and then an equally positive drift to the eastward ( making two sides of the triangle), jind now we seoni to begin the third side leading baek to the beginning. Either we are in a kind of dead-water back of a current, or the floe in which we are caught is loose among a lot of surrounding fields of ice, and we carom from one to the other. On our clearest days we can see no land, else 1 might hope that we had drifted into a pocket between two islands or two continents, and might probably re- main thereabouts until spring. The meteorological observations have shown several times of late that the water at the bottom has been from one and one half to two degrees colder than at fifteen fathoms, and the water less dense. Mr. Collins argues from this the existence of a warm current at fifteen fathoms, but imtil the change in temperatures is more decided I shall withhold my acquiescence in that opinion. In order to have an exact estimate of the amount of food consumed by the crew and officers, and to place it upon record in case of any in([uiry hereafter, I have caused an exact account to be kept of the meals for the past week, and will enter it here. The food here men- tioned has been served out regularly since leaving San Francisco (with the exception, of course, of bear mea^, and in its absence some preserved meat has been sup- plied), and the bill of fare for one week will serve as an index to the whole. We have still a large quantity of fresh potatoes, and a small quantity of fresh carrots and onions, so that for some time we shall not be down to our strict ration table. When all our fresh vegetables are gone, another week's iriesils will be entered as a sample. We keep our vegetables from freezing by stowins: them in a coal bunker. ^i' ^^! '(I I > !i \ i! 138 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. »l t' I) i\. M ;1 \th 111. ■ •i'i' tv 'Vl r.ILLS OF FARE FOR PRECEDING WEEK. Artioloa marked with iin X were given to oIHcits' moss only. Pepper, salt, mi)liisses, vine<;ar, mustard, and saiiees not mentioned. Wednesday, Septemher 24, 1879. BREAKFAST. Reof Potatoes Fresli Hiead Hiittcr Coilee . Sugar DINNER. Povk • • • Beans • Tomatoes . l*otatoes 1 • Pick 1 OS . . Flour for Duff , . Raisins . . Havel Biead • SUPPER. Bear Meat . . Peacli Butter . Green Gages X , Potatoes . , Tea • • Sugar . . Butter . • • • Freph Bread , 8 lbs. 20 11 O 1 -Iff 45t\ 33 lbs. 16 10 5 -'A 10 4 13 99^ 18 lbs. 3f 3 15 1 O 1 -Tff O I 11 ooV^ Total number, 33 ; total weight, 200f'V ; average per man, G lbs. 1 oz. DRIFTING IN ICE OFF IIKKALI) ISLAND. Tliursihti/, Sf'ptrmher 25fJi. 139 Iladflook X IlIMCAKFAST. Corn Bread X l*ork * • ■ Potatoes • • V Coffee . Sugar . Milk * ■ • Bread . Butter • Bear Meat Soup Pork Corn Potatoes . Hard Bread Mutton . Ham X Potatoes . Peach ]iiitter X Dried Apples . Butter . DINNER. SUPPER. Sugar lea Milk Bread Total number, 33 ; total weight, 178j^ 4 11)3. 12 7 15 H h 15 O I -TiT G3lij 24 lbs. 7 4 12 12 5 64 7h lbs. 3 12 n 3^ 4i 2tV 5i lbs average per man, ; ■ 140 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. Friday^ September 26th. IIKKAKFAST. ,iii. 'I «1 I .■ iHn V.' ' 'I ■ i Codfish . 12 lbs. ]\Iiickerel X 4 Hoiiiiuy . 7 Potatoes If) Bread 10 Sugar , '5Vir C'ofToe 4^ Butter . 1 Milk i Hiii DINNER. Salt Beef . 32 lbs. Tomatoes 10 Potatoes . 15 Hard Bread 8 Flour 8 Pumpkin X 1 Lard 1 Sugar . 2 Milk 1 Split Peas 8 Bacon SUPPER. o •J 83 Bear Meat 18 Iby. Potatoes If) Prunes ;") Bread . 10 Tea 1 Sugar . 3f^ Milk . 4 Butter . 1 Total number, 33; total weight, 193t<^ ; average per man, 5 lbs. 13 oz. DRIFTING IN ICE OFF IIEIIALIJ ISLAND. Ul iSaturdai/, September '11th. Beef Potatoes Sugar Milk . Cotleo Butter . Bread Beet' Soup Mutton . Macaroni . Tomatoes Cheese Pouit es Havu Bread Beef . Kidneys X Potatoes . Quince Butter Bread Tea Sugar Milk . Butter nUKAKFAHT. DIN.^iER. SDTPEE. 8 lbs. 20 1 10 12 lbs. 15 4 n o 10 10 69 8 lbs. 2 15 5 15 1 51 Iff Total number, 33 ; total weight, 158|^f ; average per man, 4 lbs. 12§ oz t t 142 THE VOYAGE O.^ THE JEANNETTE. Sundai/, September 28th. BREAliTAST. Beef • • • • 8 lbs. Oat Meal 7 Potatoes . . . • • . 15 Bread . 10 Sugar • * • • . 4,V Coffee , 4r^ Butter > « • • 1 Milk . DINNER. 491* Ox-Tail Soup . • . 12 lbs. Roast Bear . 26 Pork • • • • 4 String Beans 12 Potatoes . < . » . . 10 Beets H Jelly . h Hard Bread . • • • • • 1 Raisins • 3 Flour (Duff) SUPPER. 16 89 Mutton . 8 lbs. Potatoes 15 Damsons . * . • • 6 Pears X 2 Flour • - > « 6 Yeast Powder i Ginger • • • • i Bread • . • • • 15 Sugar ■ • # d 4^ Tea 1 Milk • * • • i Butter . 1 59V5 J)11IFTING IN ICE OFF HERALD JSLAND. 143 Total miiuber, 33; total weight, 107|if ; average per man, 6 lbs. 3Io7ida;/, /September 29th. r.KEAJvKAST. Beef Mutton Bread Sugar Butter Coffee , Milk Potatoes Mutton Broth Roast Beef Tomatoes Okra . Potatoes . Hard Bread . DINNEU 6 lbs. 3 20 1 4i1r 1 5 12 lbs. 14 6 4 15 5 5G SUPPKR. Beai- Steak Potatoes Bread • • • • • • • • • . 20 lbs 15 . 15 Sugar . Butler Milk . Tea . Dried Apple • • • • • • • a • ■ • • • • • • • • • 4tV 1 h 1 5 Olvt Total number, 33; total weight, 101| ; average per man, 4 lbs. 14 oz. 144 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. fi . I*, if •t :,.' ' V[: Tuesday^ September 30^A. IJREARFAST. Bacon Hominy Potatoes J i read . (^ollee 15 utter . Sugar Milk . Beef Soup lioast Bear . Pork Potatoes Hard Bread Onions . (iooseberrios X hard Flour Beef Potatoes Bread Touguo X Tea . Sugar . Milk Duck X . DINNER. SrPPER. • • • • • • • • I • • • 13 lbs. 7 15 10 1 4 > 65^ 12 lbs. 2G 4 lo o 3 li G8 8 lbs. 15 35 3 1 4,\, 1 1.'. 'Q 1 Total number, 33 ; total weight, ITli'jj ; average per man, 6 lbs. 3 oz. DlllFTlNU IN ICE OFF HERALD ISLAND. 145 DAILY ROUTIXE. 4 A. M 6 0.30 7.30 8 8.30 10 Wash clotlii's. Execute iiioni- 11.30 11.45 12 m. 12.30 p. M. I 4 5.30 6 September Gth to September '2\st. Call ship's cook. Cnll all hands. Coifee. iurn to. Clean decks. Break ice in lire-hole, ing orders. One watch to breakfast. Other watch to breakfast. Turn to. All liands on deck when any particular work to be done, otherwise one watch only. Report berth deck ready for inspection. During forenoon the watch to provide ice or snow for making water, and attend to general work. Soundings. Water temperatures at bottom and every fifteen fathoms, etc. Calcula- tion of sea densities jit same depths. Lower dredge through iire-hole. Watch below to dinner. IJelieve watches and other watch to dinner. Turn to all hands, or one watch at work if necessary. Haul up dredge ; examine and bottle con- tents. Relieve watch. Watch below to supper. Relieve watch ; other watch to supper. Watch peel vegetables. Collect all buck- ets and put them on quarter-deck near fire-hole. 10 ■Si I I': ■ 'in 1 ^•: 146 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 8 P. M. Out galley fire ; boatswain and carpenter report. Set anchor ('.') watch of one man : watch lasting two hours. 9 Put out berth-deck lanii). P'roin September 22d to oUtli the routine was changed to the following extent : — 7 A. M. Call all hands, ship's cook being called at 5 A. M. One watch do the work before breakfast. G.30 p. M. Out galley lire. 7 Boatswain and carpenter report. I! 1 CHAPTER V. FAST IX TIIR ICE. Ortohi'r — November, 1879. Keappoamnce of Ilorald Island. — Condition of tlie Quarters. — Ross's (iull. — ^loisturc between Decks. — Xeu- Land in Sigi.t. — AVinter Routine.— A Heuutiful Xiglu. — Doctor Anihler's Dream. — Cracics in the Ice, — Tiie Noises of Ice Cracli \nii - Tile Grinding. — CI ear Water on the Port Side. — Necessity and Anxiety. — The Do-r.s. — Disappearance c.^' tlie Suu.— Adrift from the Floe.— Distilled Water. — Arctic LJeauty. OcTOBEK 1st, Wednesday.— The day opened cloudy and snowing, with a still east northeast breeze, and a generally nnsettled look about the weather, which promised a blow. For the n.-st three hours the ane- nionietei' indicated a velocity of fourteen miles an hour, and the fourth hour it had increased to twenty-one' nules an hour. It remained near this velocity until SIX p. M., when it increased to twenty-seven miles, and reached its maximum at eight v. m.. of twenty-eight miles. From that time until the da.>' ended it averaged twenty-four miles an hour, the wind since noon havhicr .jacked to N. K and N. true. Though ihe gale wa" froni the northward and eastward, it was not accom- panied by any low temperature particularly, the liioh- est being 20= and the lowest 11^ It may be that there 18 open water to the northward of us of a WM'in teiu- peruture, and the wind blowing over it has had the chill taken off it before reaching us. The gale was accom- ' * BB i 1- 9 n jiB ■X r^SHl I fl 1 I^^B (, m '" fl f\ (■ ) 3§ ■ 148 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. panied with consi(k'rable snow, in perfect squalls, blow- ing like dust into evorv crevice and choking it u[). While out for exercise it was next to impossible to see through the snow, and our tracks were Idled as soon as made. Everything was one blinding mass of snow- dust. October 2(1, llmrKtUnj. — Went out in the afternoon to see the result of the gale. To the northward of n.s there was quite a space of open water, extending about three miles east and west and one half mile in width. Across the opening, ice could be seen in pack, and the floe, in which the ship was fast, seemed to l)e moving past it to the S. E. To the southward and eastward of us the same extent of open water was visible, and the surface of our lloe was solt and mushy, making us sink frequently to the ankles. October od, Friday. — Soundings at noon in 24^ fathoms blue mud and dark gravel. The dredge brought up some delicate Avhite coral. This is a very interesting circumstance, for, unless this has been carried liere by the warm waters of the Kiu'osiwo current, its presence can be accounted for only by natural growth, and 1 have never heard of coral forming in such cold waters as those we Jire now in. To our great surprise. Herald Island was in plain sight this morning, bearing S. S. E. (true), and distant probably thirty miles. We have drifted to the 8. AV. of our last position, therefore, about thirty miles, or at the rate of ten miles a da3'. My remark about our drift- ing on the third side of the triangle is verified fully. Whether there is heavy ice impinging on land to the northward of us, wdiich keeps our ice-field from advanc- ing (in fact, caroms it back), or whether there is a regular S. W. current, I cannot yet say ; but it looks FAST IN THE ICE. 14 'J now .IS if we were in a fair way to drift down between Herald Island and Kellett Land. In this case we may have some land near to ns when the ice closes together and becomes iimnovablc to a. certain extent, and we mav yet li.'vc the honor of beiiiijr the first to land on this already discovered but yet unexplored shore. At three p. m. we were startled into activity by the re- port of " A bear on the ice dlose to the ship ! " Five or six oi" us immediately went in pursuit, spreading out to in- close the bear should he allow it. He had a long start, however, and most of us gave np the chase after a mile or two. Mr. Newcomb, Aneguin, and Alexey kept on, and at 5.20 Aneguin came back with the pleasant news that the bear had been overtaken and killed. Melville and I took a couple of sleds and teams and some men, and brought back the prize — a female bear, weighing, 1 should judge, about 500 pounds. The captors had already skinned and cut up the carcass, so we could not weitj:h it. This makes a valuidjle addition to our larder. The skin was nicely taken off with the head attached, and will no doubt be in good condition to be mounted hereafter. October Kith, Sunday. — At ten a. m. read the Articles for the Government of the Navy, and mustered the crew. Everybody seemed in excellent health and spirits, and nothing disheartened by our being thus early beset and the almost absolute certainty of our wintering in the pack. The forecastle was dry, warui, and comfortable. Not a sign of moisture was to be found, except a trifle coming from the rods of the deadlights, and this was received and retained in the drip pans placed mider them. The cook-house on deck was neat and clean. All the internal arrangements of lockers, water cans, and boxes being complete, the galley was as orderly as i 150 TIIK VOYAdE OF THE JEANNETTE. ji private kitchen. The two berths for .steward and eook were neatly curtained ofF, and it would require a critical examination to reveal the fact that these two • men .slept there. The engine-room and shaft alley were clean and dry. The starboard boiler luis been finished with its overiiauling, and both boilers are now thor- oughly scaled anil ready for use. Instead of taking the engine apart for laying up, it has been kept intact ; and as the engine-.shalt can be discoiniected from the screw-shaft, the engines can be turned over every day, moving all parts. The two shafts avo connected by shoulders and four bolts, two of which are rei)laced as soon as the engine is turned over, and the other two are kept ready for inuuediately putting back. During the coming week the engines will be painted. The ven- tilation of the ward-room seems improved since the boring of the holes through into the cabin, and the keeping of a lighted lamp in the ward-room stove. In the cabin the air is good enough, except at night, when the wretched Walton lamp smokes .so as to fdl it. Melville has made a tin pipe four inches in diameter, per- forated with hidf-inch holes, and fitted it into the sky- light cover, and this works well without depriving us of the light. The frame of the deck-house is all up and the roof on. Nearly all the siding is in place, and during the coming week the ends will be closed in, the inside felted, and the electric engine and generator put together and tried with walrus blubber. After inspection held divine service. The coal account is satisfactory, showing even greater economy than last week, the fuel burned for heating and cooking being 1,280 pounds against 1,425 pound.s consumed last week. Aneguin to-day added a seal to our provisions. FAST IN THE ICE. 151 October C)th, Mondai/. — Tlio events ol" the diiy can be sninnuMl up in ii few words. Mr. Newconih shot 28 ducks, and the observatory was erected on the lloe about 100 yards I'roni the shi[), and hished down to ice anchors. The work ot" tlie deck-house is proy-ressinir. October 1th, y'liesdai/. — At times durinjjj the (hiy a ;ht he had more than his share of the meteoro- logical work, and that he did not get sullicient sleep, I modified my meteorological order of August 7th so as to relieve tiu; doctor of observing from eight i\ m. to midnight, and assigned the first half of that watch 152 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. to Chief Engineer Melville, keeping the lust half my- self. October \)th, Thurfuhiy. — The day opened with the continuation of the easterly blow of yeisterday, and r sr/—'-. Ro«i'8 Gull. :if( gradually tapered off to a light air, when at noon u shift to "W. by S. (true) occurred, and a piping up of another gale, which settled linally in W. S. W. Highest temperature (with easterly wind) 31°, lowest tempera- ture (falling with westerly wind) 6i° at midnight. Here is a curious fact : The weather until ten p. m. Avas snowy, and at tliat hour it ceased to snow, the stars came out, and at midnight both moon and stars were visible. Sounded at noon in 2oh fathoms blue mud, and the line showed we were drifting rapidly to the eastward before the westerly gale. October 10th, Frkhu/. — The curious fact of tem- perature recorded yesterday is repeated to-day. The temperature falls to 5?.° with S. W. by W. wind, and promptly rises to oO^ with 8. E. wind. The harder the blow the higher the temperature. October Wth. Saturday. — A stormy day with a southeasterly gale. At midnight light airs came up from the northward, and a faint radial display of the FAST i\ riiK ici:. 153 uurora in the N. W., fioiii wliich 1 anticipate an increase ot" barometric pressure, and a tall ol" tein[)erature to- morrow. Durinyj the (lav and until the wind went to the northward, snow tell. We have not had thus far any unusually heavy snow-storm, but these high winds blow the snow that does fall up into drifts, through which we unexpectedly llounder over knee deep. We do not seem to be affected, as far as the ship is concerned, by these high winds; she heels steadily 5" to starboard, and occasionally changes her head a point either way, but that is of course due to a motion of the entire tloe in azimutii. Beyond an occasional trembling as a sud- den gust strikes her, the ship is as steady as if she were in a dry dock, shored up; and whatever pressure may be exerted on the edges of our Hoe, it does not extend to our position within it. What were leads behind and ahead of us when we first pushed t!io ship in here have long since frozen over and have been covered with snow, and we detect them in high temperatures, say oO\ by sinking through the snow to the sludgy ice beneath and seeing water ooze up from its partially thawing surface. Our lloe drifts around of late to the S. W., and I very much hope that when these l)lows are over (for when the barometer rises first from its present low point 28. 77, we must surely look for high winds), and the air gets clear of driving snow, we shall have a good view of this land to the southwest of us. An indicated drift this time to the N. W. October lith, Tuesday. — During the clearing of the atmosphere at noon we saw land very distinctly to S. S. W. (true). As we have had no observations for four days I cannot speak with certainty when I say that this land is not Herald Island ; but it had not the now fa- miliar shape of Herald Island, and extended too far in '0 to 4.30 ]'. M., and open all luitclies and doors leading to it. To occupy the men prolital)l_y during that time, the watch below is armed with Snyder rille.s and turned out to hunt for seal and walrus. October 17ih, Fridai/. — Collins' birthday. Bear caught in trap, but escaped, leaving a lock of his hair as a souvenir. Nindemann got a seal, and Aneguin added another to our larder. We have now seven seals liantr- w 1 5r, TliK VOYAGE (F THE JEANNET'J'E. It J ^ ing in the rigging, Avliic'l will in vnrn serve for as many dinners, while tiieir >fh. Sutimluij. — To our surprise, the cook, Ah 8ani, came to-day and asked for a gun to " go shoot a seal." He was furnished with a Snyder ritle and unmnnition, and he started off quite gayly. In a])out iu hour he returned, the uiost astonished and startled Chinaman out ot China. At his first shot the gun had burst, tearing up the barrel, fortunately near the muz- zle, so that he received no harm ; but his mental de- moralization was couiplete. The probability is he let the muzzle slip in the suow at some time, and the end of the bore <>ot choked; hence tho bursting. October 2i)th, Mond((i/. — Highest temperature, 16^; lowest, 3i, — the lowest recorded thus far. October 2l.s7, 7)iei<(Ja)/. — The thermometer com- menced at 4i , aud at noon had fallen to zero for the first time this cruise. It contiiuied to drop, however, at eight r. m. standing at mimis lOi" (light W. wind), whence it connneuced to rise, ending the day at uiiuus 4\ For the first time since the 10th, we have clear and ])leasant weather with bright sunshine. Cur days have become jiainfuily shorter, the sun setting to-day at 3.45 I'. M. Our views of hiiu have been so rare that we uiisse;i bim greatly, and even whcu he does come now his stay is siiort. Between noon and three i*. m. we had a ]>leasant treat, thanks to the clear atmosphere aud the sun's low altitude. We distinctly saw land agaiu, aud uulike auy we had seen before. Froui the deck it ap- peared like three islands, but on u'oing aloft we were ab'e to discover connecting hind. Tbe whole mav be one large island with tliree ])eaks. The highest aud clearest defined peak bore S. 28° W. (true), and may rj FAST IN TIIK ICE. 157 be from sixty to one liiindi-od milos distant. By 4.80 the atmospluM-ic relractioii was very considerable, and it lilted into view a high mountain, saddle [)eaked, and hearings. 24 W. (true). Along the horizon was a layer of clouds 1° in elevation, above which the sad- dle peaks showed clearly. At seven p. m., with the thermometer at (.'.l ven de- grees below, our liquid steering compasses froze, and we removed them to the cabin, placing a boat compass in tile i]evk house to keep a record by. The effect of this cold snap is to close up water s})aces like magic. AVliile out with the dogs this afternoon where had been open water, I could idmost see it freeze harder and harder. Temperature, minus S . OcfoJK')' 22(L Wi'diU'^ddtj. — Chipji and myself iire beginning to ex})erience the elfeci of cold in our rooi is, everything kept hanging against the ship's side and forward bulkhead freezing last to them. October 2:>/, Thurscku/. — From 8.:;U to 0..^() i-. yi. had our iirst experience of paraselene, — three mock moons at right angles to the real moon (owing to the moon's low altitude the iov -th or lower mock could not be seen). Around the real moon was also a Inizy arch. Ovtoher 'I-if/t, FrUlaij. — To save the men'-; uands while hauling in the lead-line, we rigged to-day two standards alongside the fire-hole to support a reel, and fitted the i-eel with two wooden handles. Ovtoher 'Ik^th. Saffrrda//. — To-day served out fur clothinu: to the crew, and i-ot on deck two stoves ready for putting in deck house. Our stewi^rd, Charles Tong Sing, is sick since last evening with nausea. 1 liojie and think it is a slight inchsposition merely. lie is invalua- ble, and does more work than would tire two men. : II '.IS k'.i m 158 THE V()VA(;k of riiK jkaxnhitk. Wliilt' lit; is sii'k his work is iissiuiumI cia'eiiiilly hv Ah Siim, the cook, anothi'i' imahiiihlc iiiiin. and hv ])er- tonns the duties of both olliciM's steward and shi[)'s cook with the same heiiiu'ii sniik' that used i-. rest ou th<> (■(iun through the deck house, down the fiirehatch. and thi'ough the sixteen one inch and a ([uar- ter holes in each door. Tliis air is nes and tubes are dried out and the en- gines painted, no deterioration can occur. Iliirhest tem- perature, minus 10'; lowest, minus J7. Weather clear and pleasant, and the low temperature is not cared for in contemplating a bright day. A movement has, how- .■■,iti i FAST IN TIIK ICK. 151» ever, taken place in the ice, but whether it is owiiiu; to :i reduction of teinper.iture or ii rechiction of pressure I ciuniot siiy. About live hun(h'(Ml Aards aheiul of the ship is ii crack in the liehl a foot wide, aud extendinu; in a circuhir direction for half a mile, and live hundred yards ahead of that a crack six feet wide, and extend- ing- the same distance or more In both cases the rent is a neat one; the water coming up within .! foot and a half of the surface, but raj)idly freezing in this tem- perature. Our hunters were out immediately in t[uest of wali'us and st'al. but i)evond seeiug, as they sav, one walrus and a bear, accomplished nothing. Held divine service at lU.oU A. M. 1 am ulad to say that .i> steward's ilhu'ss has proved nothing but a mild atiaciv '■ nausea, aud has yielded so readily to treat- ment that he is now around all right again. Orfohir '2~tJi. Moiifltii/. — Added two seals to oiu" lar- der. In onh'r to ha\e sleds and provisions I'cady for an emergencv calling for a hast\' abandonment of the ship I is.-iu'd an oi'der to-day to ])ut five sleds in pei • feet traveling order; uiso an ordei' in relation to winter routine, and bu; ,o co 3 7.30 10 11.30 Inspection by executive officer. 12 ^[. Cfct soundings. 1 p. M. One wiitcli may go l>elow. Fill barrels with snow. Clear firc-holo of ice. Dinner by watches. Galley lires out. Carpenter and boatswain report departments to executive officer. Supper by watches. Pipe down. Noise and smoking to cease in forecastle, and all lights to be put out, except one burner of bulkhead lantern. Man on Avatch report to the executive. During the night the anchor watch will examine the lires and lights every half hour, and see that there is no danger from (ire. All buckets will be kept on the starboanl side of the quarter deck, ready for use in c;ase of tire. 1 think the night one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The heavens were cloudless, the moon very nearly full and shining brightly, and every star twink- ling ; the air perfectly calm, and not a sound to break the spell. The ship and her smTOundings made a per- fect picture. Standing out in bold relief against the blue sky, every rope and spar with a thick coat of snow and frost ; sbe was simply a beautiful spectacle. The long lines of wire reaching lo the tripod and observatory, round frosted lum[)s here and there where a dog lay asleep, sleds standing on end against tlui steam-cutter to make a foreground for the shi[), surrounded with a bank (rail high) of snow and ice, and in evi'i y direclion as far as eye could reach u oonl'us(«d, irregular ice-lield, would have made i picture j«eldom seen. -,..-*Br»»'J i 1^ 1 \ :;! ! 102 THE VOYAOK OF TIIK JEANNET'IK. October 20f/t, Wedncsdaij. — Weather clear and pleas- ant, and a jierfeotly splendid evening. Full moon, bright slarlight, and, as the day ended, not a cloud. Land seen to-day in greater extent than yesterday, and beyond the then bearings. Mr. Dunl)ar and Alexey started out early this morning to endeavor to lind the missing wal- ruses of yesterday. 'I'liey took with them a team of dogs. On the way one of the dogs (Dandy, or IJiugo) got out of his harne.s- and escaped, much to the disgust of the other dogs, who attempted to chase him. Alexey in his jK'culiar language remarked, " Bom bye, other dogs him plenty whip" (for his desertion). After hav- ing failed to secure the walruses, the i)arty returned to the ship. About a half hour after ihe return, the quartermaster came to me and reported that 13ingo had been killed in a light. Alexey's prediction came true. Though three or four hours had elapsed, the dogs remembered the circumstance of the desertion, and linding Bingo at a safe distance from the ship had pitched into him and chewed him so badly before Erickson could reach them that he died within ten min- utes of being carried on board ship, — the first death in oiu' In'ute associates. We skinned him to have his coat for future wearing apparel, and his carcass lies frozen on the deck-house roof for possible food for his mur- derers. October oOth, 'J'/uu'sdcd/. — The doctor relates a curi- ous dream he had last night. He seemed to be accom- ])anying the survivors of Sir John Franklin's last expe- dition on their iourney to the Great Fish lliver, when suddenly he changed his base to this ship's cabin, and began ex])laining to Sir John Franklin there present some of our articles of outfit, such as Edison's electric machine, the anemometer, and the telephone. Frank- FAST IN THE ICE. 163 lin, after listening to tlie explanations and viewing the articles, tersely remarked, " Your electric nuichine is not worth a damn, and your anemometer is just the same." The telephone he seemed to consider a good thing. The electric machine, after having received Mel- ville's attention, had been in hand for some days un- reeling and reinsulating, and reeling again the wires, and was now ready for another trial. Steam was ac- cordingly raised in the Baxter boiler, and the genera- tor connected ; but though seventy pounds steam was applied, not a spark even could be obtained, nor a de- flection in the galvanometer needle. The only eflect was to fill the deck-house with the fearful smoke of burning blubber, and to make it dripping wet I'ronr condensing steam and the shower of rain falling from the roof. I concluded that time enough luid been lost in trying to make this machine of use, and I would no longer keep the finishing of the deck-house in abey- ance, and henre I ordered the engine struck below into the old galley-room, and cleaned and painted for laying by. Our telegraph wires are broken in several places this morning from their own weight, increased by a slight amount of frost. We have tried laying them in the snow, but it has rotted them through and through. Bare copper wire No. 24 is evidently not the thing. When we get our first heavy fall of snow 1 shall try running them again, but 1 begin to fear that Franklin is right in both his statements. The hunters brought in three seals to-day as a pleasant thing to contemj)late after being disgusted with electric experiments, and at supper to-night we had a new dish offered us, — walrus sausage, — and a rare good thing it is. Bear, seal, and walrus are not to be despised, and I agree with Chipp, 'i ■)■ 1 fr 1 1 • t ' •t ■ T ' 1 I m lit 11 m^ 164 TiiK V()va(;k 01' I'lir, jkanxki'tk. \vlio savs that horotof'oro, when he read thai men were subsistiiij^ on boar niid seal, he hclicvod they Meri> hav- iiiLT ii hard tiino, hut he will know hc^ttcr in the liitinv. Octoher olntf Frhldii. — The open water streaks are a_i>ain elosini:; np, the ice ])iling' up to a height ol" some ten feet as the Hoes conio t()i;ether. Chipp has observed that these o[)eiiings oecur at full and ehanj^o of the moon, and disappear at the time of neap tides, 'riiere niav be a tidal aetion here, but as wo are drifting' around with the Hoe there is no chance I'or tidal obser- vations. The weather has bi^en so thick the last two days that we ha\'e soon nothinj.^" of the land. If wo could only drift in near enough to it to land on it and explore it 1 should feel that we had accomplished some- thing to keep ns in comitenanco. It is hard that our first season should thus be passed in idleness. JVocenihct' isf, ,^uturduij. — Began to-day the winter routine. Novemher 2d, Sunday. — Inspected the ship at eleven A. M. while all hands wove on the ice for exercise. Hav- ing kept np roaring fires of blubber in the two stoves in the deck-house since yesterday morning, I was pleased to find that all the wet clothing had thoroughly dried, and that the deck-house was dry and comfortable ; in fact, the temperature ranged between (iO and Tt) at the forward end, the stoves being in the middle. At one ]'. M. mustered the crew and read the Articles of War. At the conclusion of this (joremouv held divine service. uVocenihcr or/. Jfondot/. — Discovered this morning a crack in the ice two hundred yards N. W. of the ship. It ran in an irregular direction for about one qnarter of a mile, and was in places nearly twenty feet in width. The surface of the sides of the opening was but two FAST IN TIIK K K. I(i5 I'l'ot nbovo the snrt'iici' ol' the Wiitor, which li.'ul ol' oourse hc'conie ice. This is bringing' these enicks too near liomo to be pleiisant, and 1 sincerely hope no nearer openings will cause us lo be uneasy in our now comfor- table berth, where we seem as steady as in a (by-dock. A faint trend)ling of the shi]) in high wind, such as is now l)lo\ving (at midniglil), is the only unsteadiness which we have. 'I'he (locator, in olx'dieuce to my order, connnenced to-day the (to be) monthly examinations of oflicers and nu'U, beginning with myscdf. Noi'ciuhcr AUi, TucKdaij. — Carl)()nic acid test, taken at eleven last niglit on the berth deck, gave 2.;j4o() vol- nmes per thousand, or l).2o4-]0 per cent. This is tlio worst we have yet obtainc(L Medical examination con- tinued and concluded. Until 1 get the surgeon's de- tailed report 1 cannot record results. In my own case, the only change I remark is a falling oil' in weight. My weiglit on sailing from San Francisco was one hundred and ninety-live ])<)unds, now it is but one hundred and eighty pounds. Noi'iDihiT ijth, TJiursday. — A day of extraordinary interest and some anxiety. At nine A. m. we were dis- agreeably surprised at finding a large crack in tlie ice on the starboard r[narter about two hundred yards dis- tant, a small crack imder and right acn'oss the stern, and a small crack leading from the stern for a hundred yards ahead. Although 1 could not account for tliem, 1 saw no reason to be uneasy, for we have had no high winds this month, and no pressure had occurred in our vicin- ity. At four I'. M., however. Collins, wlio had gone on the usual hourly visit to the observatory and anemome- ter, came running back announcing that an opening had occurred in the ice between the ob.servatory and tripod. We all hurried out and found a large rent, al- t'.' ^. VJ^ '*,.'> \.\^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /y //^.^^^ :/. ^ 1.0 11.25 ■10 1^ 1^ 1^ 12.2 1 •« 1^ i I.I .^"^ M- = li£ 1.4 |L6 fliotographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WHSTIR.N.Y. MSSO (716) •72-4503 '^ ^ %g . ' I I 160 THE VOYAfiE OF THE JE ANNETTE. roady lour feet wide and widening, extending parallel with the ship's length to her starboard quarter, and thence across her stern, averaging one hundred yards in distance. We promptly removed the instruments (anemometer, thermometers, rain-gauge, barometer, and dip-circle, etc.) to the ship, setting them up ther'\ The opening kept on widening, new ice forming inuneduitely on the surface, and by midnight it was some twenty yards in width. Some premonitory crashes and groans of the ice added to my anxiety lest some fissures should occur in our Hoe and make our position serious. But we did not move an inch, either in our angle of heel (4°) or in azimuth, and at midnight we have nothing worse to con- template than an opening one hundred yards oft'. Dr. Ambler handed me to-day his report of the medical examination. He considers the examination as very satisfactory. Of the thirty-three persons on board, the general condition of twenty-three is pronounced " excellent," of eight "• good " (1 am among this party). To my surprise, however, seven say they do not get enough to eat, or sometimes do not get enough ; of these seven, four are in tlie cabin mess. Of these four, two have enough in quantity, but as some things are not cooked in a shape to their liking they do not eat the full ration. The remaining two have neither sulh- cient in (juantity, nor liking for some articles served. I give the bills of fare and weights of articles of food (see Appendix D), and 1 believe that both in quantity and variety it is superior to any previous Arctic experience. The surgeon expresses his opinion that it is all that is necessary in both respects. How- ever, rather than any one should consider himself as underfed I shall probably increase the rations. If we could only get a clear day we should probably find our- FAST IN THE ICK. ir.7 selves much nearer to land than wo have been here- tofore. November 7th, Friday. — During the night the open- ing closed under seeming great pressure, for at day- break, say eight a. m., the ic;^ was piled up in great heaps on the edge of our iioc, which was of suflieient strength evidently to bear the brunt. The pressure came from S. S. E., the line of the crack being N. N. E. and S. S. W. true, and since our lloe was the stronger, the pressing Hoe rode up on top of it, breaking off, and leaving its own edges in a muddled pile. The thick- ness of these edges was by actual measurement 7 feet 10 inches, 6 inches being snow on the surface. Some of tiie pieces were pea green, or sea green rather, and some light blue, and in several places siiowed a muddy and dirty side as if they had been in the mud or had stranded on a beach. Not knowing very well what was going to happen. I watched this ridge with considerable interest. We had had since midnight a decreasing S. W. wind, but at ten A. M. it became perfectly calm. About eleven a. m., to our surprise, the pressing Hoe receded, leaving a space about ten yards in width from Hoe to Hoe, and through this the ice began to set to W. and N. as througii a gorge, with a velocity of about half a nnle an hour. The ])rossure became very great. The smaller pieces passed on readily enough, but the large huuuuocks or broken Hoe pieces would occasionally jam against our Hoe, and ))eing pressed from behind by the confused mass would exert an iuHuence on our Hoe that nuule it groan and crack and move under our feet. This mass was Howing not over fifty yards from the ship, then heading east northea.st, and as it crushed and groaned along, and our Hoe throbbed and shook with the strain brought u[)()n r I :> 1 ■i ,T. .,^ ;,. (L-LU Jl^PffTSIf! i»;8 THE VOYA(}E OF THE JEANNETTE. it, I almost momentiirily expected to see the ice split in Jill directions tiround the ship, und the ship herself be carried alon<^ with the tundjling heap. Nothing ot" the kind ha])pened, however, thank God, and about loin- 1'. m. the motion ceased. The ship had not moved an inch. Five sledges stood packed on the poop, with forty days' provisions for men and dogs, but these might have availed but little. In fact, 1 doubt if they would have stood the racket of being dragged over rough ice with their weights. Suspending, therefore, other work, we conunenced the construction of two strong sleds to carry our dingys. Our iloe must have moved ; for to-day we are in twenty-three fathoms. The openings in the ice ex- posed so much water to the action of the cold air that we have had all day a thick fog, highest temperature plus 3", lowest minus IfP. NoKonhcr hth, Saturday. — A quiet day and a relief to the anxiety of yesterday. Still I cannot help feel- ing more or less imeasy. The line of broken ice is so near us that I fear we may have sonu trouble at the next gale of wind. All the commotion of yesterday occurred with calms or light airs. Had it been at regu- lar periods, it might have been considered j^('tln'r, the whoK' mass will get in motion aj^ain and our Hoe may s])lit up. set us adrift, and plenty of trouble be alu'ad of us. However, we nuistwait and see. Human foresight is of but little avail. Aid from above is all that can ])revail, when a sliip is drifting in an ice-tloe. Sighted high land between S. and S, S. W. for a few moments about eleven a. m., but too indistinctly to rec- ognize it as anything we have seen before. NoKciiiher !()//<, M 176 JIIK VOYACK OF THE ,FI:A\NF/ITK. i h\ I, \. turn t)l' ciKlmiincc as to our ri'tain'mj^ our luu'scnt j)lncp. Till' view to port thert'lorc receivrs (.in- ents my getting a pro|)er kind or amount of rest, and yet 1 do not see ..i.^ iiiug else in stoi'e for me lor .some *ime lo ooMi". This [)ack is likely to have some motion all winter I su})})ose. So long as there may he water down by Ikdiring Strait there will be space for relieving the pressure. But when the outlets close up and presiuire continues, whether by wind or tidal action, the hump- ing and piling up will go on around us and keep us in a constant state of turmoil lor months to come. Truly this is no pleasant predicament. Wintering in the pack may be a thrilling thing to read about alonyside a warm lire in a comfortable home, but the actual thing is suilicient to make any man prematurely old. Since we have be- come surrounded by ice again, and could hardly move very far or very fast, I have allowed the dogs to remain on the lloe again to our mutual satisfaction. Though a few luxurious ones prefer seeking the shelter of the ship, the majority prefer living in the open air ; hence our attempt to bring them on board only resulted in a series of lights and violent attemp, ' to break away again. Once on board it would take four men to keep one dog from breaking for the ice, and there have been jt-'-J 1 1 If r ! ii \i i i II ) 1 ^' J f M' 178 THE VOYAGE OF T!*:: JEANNETTE. frequent escapes. The other night one of the strag- glers was taken by Collins to be a bear. A ride was liurried for, but the *' bear " had left fortunately, else we might have had a dead dog on our hands. Last night one of them fearing an imprisonment must have sougiit shelter on the ice lumps on tiie port side. At all events he was there this evening ; and the ice hav- ing moved oft' a few feet from u.v, leaving a water hole, he could not come back the way he went, and would not come b any other in spite of our coaxing. While walking on the ice alongside I heard a subdued '-'yelp" imder the bow, and rushing there I was just in time to plunge my hand in the water, and save our canine friend from going under for good. He was pretty far gone and remained in a dazed condition for an hour or two after I hauled him out. November "list, Friilaij. — Slight pressure in the forenoon, after which the ice recedes, leaving a line of open water on our port side. Sight the land again on its accustomed bearings. Bright moonlight and star- light. At twelve midnight a bright halo around the moon about 2^ in diameter, and showing prismatic colors, the crimson on the outer edge predominating. The low temperature fills the air with frost dust, through which the moon's rays are prismatically seen. Position at seven p. M. shows a drift since November 17th of twen- ty-two miles W. 4° S. November Tld, Saturdaif. — The day begins with a calm, but at three v. m. a N. E. wind sets in, and blows until midnight with varying velocity, the maximum being thirteen miles. The barometer falls alarmingly fast from 29.72 to 28.88, and the temperature rap- idly runs up from minus 17" to plus 10". The wind blows in heavy squalls at times, but I see no indication FAST IN THE ICE. 179 agiiiii of vpry bad weather until perhaps wlien the barometer begins to rise again. Sounded at noon in twenty-three tathonis, and the lead hue indicated a drift to the west- ward. We experience a slight pressure under stern from Hoes which have advanced from the southward to cover up the vast expanse of open water which has been on our port beam. Alexey and Nindeniann while out this afternoon fell in with a bear and her cub. Alexey shot and killed the bear, and had a livelv tussle with the cub, in which he got his clothes torn. The ice was so uncertain, and it was so late, three v. m., when Nindemann got to the ship to report the shooting, that I did not run the risk of trying to get the dead bear to-night, and accord- ingly sent the metallic dingy to bring Alexey back, leaving the game until to-morrow. '• Plenty jump," says Alexey. Knvemher 'l'i\(l, Sunday. — The day begins with N. E. winds, which change to S. E. and back to N. E. with a velocity varying from three to thirteen miles an hour, during which the barometer steadily falls to 28.79, and the temperature rises to plus 24", making it uncom- fortably warm while exercising. At nine v. m., after a short calm, the wind comes out suddenly from the S. W. with a velocity which almost immediately amounts to twenty miles an hour, and causes the temperature to fall quickly to plus 5"". The weather, which before the shift had been overcast and hazy, clears so that at mid- night we have the benefit of moonlight and starlight. A few pressures during the day are the only things which disturb us. At one i\ m. the advancing Hoes pile up the ice under the bows, and I have no doubt that this Avill serve as an entering wedge which, aiiled by the wind on our starbom'd beam, will, before this I l'( B ii i 180 THE VOYAflK OF THE JEANNETTE. southwester is over, break us out of the bed where we have so snugly lain for over two and a half months, Nindemann and Alexey started off in pursuit of the bear shot yesterday. liut owing to the opening of the iee in the mean time they were unable to reach the place of the conflict. Inspected the ship at eleven a. m., and held divine service at Lot) p. m. Novemher 2ith, MondKy. — Tt has come at last; we are broken adrift from our floe ! Suspecting what the continued action of this S. W. wind would be, I made sure to have all the dogs securely housed on board .ship before I went to bed last night, /. e., before I lay down in my clothes to get some sleep. At five p. m. I was aroused by a preliminary pressure under the bow. Turnijig out I reached the deck-house top in time to see a "V'cry severe nip which started our port bulwark planking, the ice being already piled higher than our port rail in some places. The ice under the bow was piled up as high as our figure-head, and the pressure in this direction was increasing. A floe piece with a wedge shape had pierced '" our " floe, and was exerting its force bravely. The ship cr.aked and groaned. Some- thing had to give, for the pressin-e from ahead and abeam was very great. Suddenly the ship lifted by the stern, the wedge advanced, and our floe was split, and the port pressure decreasing we were afloat on an even keel once more. The port floe moved slowly to the N. E., and we followed it, our snug cradle of two and a half months being split and shattered, and no longer our refuge and our strength. All our effects being long since renu)ved we had nothing to l)ring in but our gang- plank, which was soon accomplished. Throughout the day we remained nearly in the same place, resting at IS FAST IN THE TCE. LSI long ono time against one floe, and at other times against another. The S. W. wind blew witli a velocity between twenty and twenty-six miles Jin hour, changing occasionally to W. 8. W. ; towards midnight it moderated io fifteen miles an hour. Tiie barometer steadily rose from 28.95 to 21). 63. The highest temperature was plus 2.5 ; the lowest minus 5°. The air was filled with falling and drifting snow all day. Sounded at noon in twenty-two fathoms, and observed our drift to be to the northward and eastward. November 26th, Tuesday, — The S. W. wind piped lip again after midnight, and blew with a velocity va- rying from twelve to twenty miles untd eleven a. m.. when it went to west, remaining there until midnight, blowing with a velocity varying between twelve, seven. and three miles. The barometer rose rapidly from 29. 64 to 30.32, — so rapidly, in fact, that I am suspicious of it, and inclined to look for some more had weather. Highest temperature minus 3.5 ; lowest minus 12\ Bright moonlight and starlight. Sounded at noon eigh- teen and one half fathoms. To-day has been one of the most anxious and excit- ing days we have yet had. At (».15 a slight pressure on the port bow commenced hostilities. At 9.15 a very heavy squeezing on port side started our bulwark plank- ing, and pinching down under us heeled the ship 3 to port. At ten A. m. the pressure ceased, and we were left floating upright in a small lead of open water, and adrift as far as any iloe ice was concerned. For a time I was imdecided what to do. There was no iloe near us large enough to anchor to securely, and the chance of another pressure coming while the ship was tied up and unable to give to it was too unsatisfactory. If the ' I I i 8 I-* f'l . I } I 1 I \ • i 1 .1 \ ) I t 182 rilE VOYAGE OF THE .IE ANNETTE. sliip were free when the ice moved she woukl go along with it ; if .she were tied up she might have to stand the brunt in a very unfavorable position. As it was, she lay in a kind of canal a little wider than her own length, and ready for action ahead or astern. I concluded to let her remain so, and watch for results. At five p. M. I noticed that she commenced Heating stern first through the canal. About a mile astern (E.) was a large patch of open water, and from ahead (W.) the broken lioe pieces were gathering away and coming down upon us. At a little bend in the canal her stern took the tloe and held fast, while her bow payed around as prettily as if we were casting under jibs. No sooner had she got stern to the wind than the advancing ice Avas upon us, and we were pushed, forced, squeezed, driven through this mile of a canal amid a grinding and groaning of timbers and a crashing and tumbling of ice that was fearful to look at. Still we sailed on, and in a half hour or so Avere sent out into the opening beyond where our speed decreased, and drifthig over toward a thin tloe we ran our bows into the young ice and hold fast headinu; S. Thouijjh we moved at no time with greater speed than say two knots an hour, our passage through that sluiceway of running ice was enough to make one's hair stand on end, and each of us heaved a sigh of relief when it was over. If we had in the morning planted an ice-anchor to a small floe, I am convinced this pressure would have torn us away from it, and the stream of flowing ice might have jammed us across this canal and given us some injury, even if it liad not climbed on board. Having a bright moon, nearly full, we could see, and that was a great comfort. I could not help thinking how much worse it would have been on a dark night, when we could have heard FAST IN THE ICE. 183 all this trouble and yet have seen nothing. What one can see, he can to some extent prepare for ; but it is the unseen danger that strikes the most terror to the heart. A man must be a hard unbeliever who does not recog- nize a divine hand in these wonderful escapes. A most beautiful eft'ect was created to-night by the moonlight reflected or refracted from the tloes. A pure golden light was thrown around and above the ice, making one believe he was looking into fairyland. November 2C)th, Wednesday. — My suspicions at the sudden rise of the barometer yesterday were correct, for to-day we have had and are having a snorter from the S. E. The day opened calm, and so continued until four A. M., when a light S. E. wind came up. This slowly freshened, until at noon it was blowing with a velocity of eight miles an hour, and at one p. m. the gale burst upon us, blowing twenty-one miles the first hoiu' and reaching twenty-nine miles before midnight. The barometer rose to 30.27 until the wind freshened, when it began to fall, reaching 30.28 at midnight. The weather had a hard and angry look, and I see we are in for a screamer. The temperature began at mi- nus 9°, but rose to plus 10^ as the day ended. The ship held fast in the young ice in which slie ran last night, but shook from truck to keelson as the heavy gusts took her. A few water holes were in our neighborhood, and the main soli ^ pack could be seen in all direction . This bay will no doubt close as soon as the ice takes up its motion again, which I have ob- served occurs when there is little or no wind. The heavy winds pack up the large nuisses, and in the calms and light winds, the pressure being removed, every- thing struggles to get back again to its old condition, and openings and races occur. Sounded at noon in I '^ «i 184 THE VOYACK OF TIIK JE ANNETTE. \ :i 't. twentj'-one fatlioms (soft bottom). Sighted land on the same general l)earings of October 29th. JN'oronher 21 fh, 'Jliursday. — The wind went to S. 8. E., and bUnv all day very hard, its velocity ranging from twenty-live to forty miles an honr. The sqnalls were very heavy, and though we moved only about half a length astern (to leeward, where we brought up against young ice), the ship shook as if her sjjars Avere coming out of her. At midnight the gale con- tinued in full blast. The lead line showed a drift to the N. W. Evidently all the ice is drifting the same way, for the shores of our bay do not seem to contract uuich, and so I suppo.se there must be some large water space to the N. W. into which all this ice is drifting. If it brings up anywhere before a N. AV. wind can stop its way the pressure down here will be tremendous, and our o])en bay will shut up like magic, in which case we nnist prepare for more anxiety. Since being be.set to the present time, though we have had ditficulty in getting snow pure enough to make drinking water, we have not been absolutely un- able to do so. But now there is so little snow remain- ing in our neighborhood that we are in a serious posi- tion. A ery little snow has fallen thus far, and we have subsisted on drifts; and as we are away from drifts now, and cannot reach any, we have been forced to come down to scraping the iloes around us. The snow resulting is quite salt, and our tea and coifee to-day are quite unlit to drink. It is not safe in our present con- dition to send men away any distance, for if the ice breaks up (and fissures are to be seen in all directions) we might go adrift again and lia\x» more than we could do perhaps to got the men back. Took the tempera- ture of a small lane of water alongside at midnight and found it 27'. \% I FAST IX THE ICE. 185 November 2Sfh, Frldajj. — Very hard blow from S. E. all (hiy until towards midnight, when it slackonod up a bit. At midnight, however, it conunenced piping up again at S. E. by E., promising another installment of the gale lor to-morrow. Stars of the first magnitude were easily ''een to-day at one p. M. There being no cliance of getting snow of proper pu- rity, we got up the Baxter boiler to-day, and, rigging a coil to it, commenced distilling. I am afraid this will be an expensive business in the way of fuel, but it can- not be helped. The snow that we have been able to get for the last two days has been so salty that many of the officers and men are being treated for diarrliuea. This, of course, will never do. and pure water must be obtained at any cost. We are all feeling the lack of exercise very much. The ice is so treacherous that it is unsafe to get on it. The poor dogs also feel the con- finement, and when they are not engaged in a cheerful fight go moping around in a desolate way. They have regular cli<[ues, and occupy certain portions of the quar- ter deck exclusively. Any trespass brings on a fight inevitably. Nocemher 2Wi, Salurdai/. — A day of wearing anx- iety. The gale continued, varying between E. by S^ and S. E. At seven a. m. the ice commenced to move, and seemingly to windward, as if the pressure were forced back on itself. As we lav broadside to the movement we had the full force of it on our frame. The ice on our port side (the weather side) seemed tougher and more unyielding than heretofore, and the whole mass made our ship snap and creak with the squeezing worse than ever l)efore. Several tunas the pressure became so great that the ship ceased to creak, and the deck seemed ready to burst open. To leeward I H { m 1 1 ? 180 TiiK voya(;e of tiik jkaxnette. t I 'i '< I of US one lame sheet of ice would ride over another lary;e sheet, and tlie two come down against us ; the port iioe would decline to yield ; the two sheets to leeward would break edges and pile up blocks against our starboard side, and then begin pressing against these ; the ship would groan and sqtiirni and then seem dead, while the deck trembled. This might last half an hour, and when it seemed as if wood and iron must give, the port Hoe would hump up and split, and we would be pushed on for another nip. This sort of thing lasted luitil three p. M., and then the nip seemed to be hardest of all, and remained so. We could not tell whether it let up or not, for we were januned tight, heeling 23" to star- board. The ship could not rise, lor the ice was only a foot thick, and took the ship's side above tUe bends only ; it was simply a question of its going through her, or of her being strong enough to stand it. She was strong enough, and that is all we can say. If she had not been strong enough she would have been cut in two. Eijijht hours of this mental tension is enough for one day. Nocemhcr oO/A, Sunday. — A day of peace and quiet doubly acceptable after the strain of yesterday. The gale blew itself out at six a. m., and we had a bright moonlight and starlight until the struggling daylight came into play at nine. Of course, we do not see the sun at all, and our noon is but the twilight of ordinary latitudes. Occasionally it is beautiful indeed, as, for instance, to-day, when we had a few golden and red streaks in the S., a clear blue sky to about 20^ in arc, and the remainder of the heavens dark blue, illumi- nated by a full moon. Venus was visible at noon. The ice around us made a picture in its lights and shadows. The broken pack surrounded us in all directions, while, I i»' i FAST iX THE ICK. 187 as if in the centre of a fro/en lake, the Jeannette hiv squeezed by shibs of ice eiglit and one half inches thick, with humped uj) and spHntered Hoes, showing where she liad proved her strength. Attempts to be poetical in the Arctic are praisewor- thy, but I think I shall give them up. My sensations of being in critical situations are too keen to allow me to write in cold blood about the beauties of ice scenery. 1 will simply remark that the pack is no place for a .ship, and however beautiful it may be from an testhetic point of view, I wish with all my heart that we were out of it. We were able to resume our exercise of two hours, which was a great benefit and comfort to us. Sounded at noon in thirty-two fathoms (blue mud), and a drift to the N. and W. was indicated by the lead line. A raven, which Hew around the ship, was brought down by a rifle shot by Aneguin, and added to the natural- ist's collection. The loom of land was seen to the S. W. At eleven a. m. inspected the ship, and at one p. m. held divine service. By two lines of position obtained from observation of the moon and Mars, Danenhower determines our posi- tion at 7.30 p. M. to be latitude 72^ 36' N., longitude 178° 08' W., from which it appears that since November 21st, the date of our last observations, we have drifted forty miles to the N. V W. I take leave of the month of November without the slightest regret. It has been a month of gales, ice pres- sures, and discomforts mental and physical. Earnestly hoping that December will drift us quietly and peacea- bly nearer the Pole, and bring us to some land where we can at least have the merit of discovery if not of exploration, I say good-by to November, and invoke God's blessing on our ship and ourselves. rf- n CHAPTER VI. THE DEAD OF WINTER. \ •I 1 U' December, IH?'.) — '20 Janituri/, 1880. Auroral Dis|)l;iys. — Daily Wulks. — Troiililc witli Water. — Tho Darkness. — Monotony of Lifn in tlic A'-,. tic;. — Tests of Li<;lit. — Discomfort. — Tln^ Siiortcst Day. — Cliristnias. — Tidal Action. — The Old Year and tlie New. — Festivities. — Daneidiower'.s Mis- fortune. — A Cold Snap. — A Leak. — Serious IJusiness to close it. — The Pumps. — Ueap[)earanco of the Sun. December Isf, Momlaij. — The clcjir and bcaiitit'iil wciitlior of yosterdiiy contimies to-day. Tho baroinoter rises tVoin 3G.o6 to 80.50, an unusual eircunistance, and one wortliy ot" attention as to its results. These areas of high and low pressures follow each other lii interest the result. 1 cjin see no clianfj^e for the worse troui orettin^ pure snow lor drinking and eookiu"^ purpose;., and as this may continue imtil we have a heavy snow-fall (for our distillinj^* is not perfect) 1 shall commence to-morrow the issue of a ration of one ounce lime juice to every ollicer and num each day. December 2d, Tiiesihiy. — A ([uiet day. We had, in addition to one of the most beautiful moonlight effects on the ice I had ever seen, and a sky perfectly free from clouds, a line chance to witness auroral and other ellects. At ten P. m. a lunar rainbow was visible, show- ing faintly the prismatic colors. Towards eleven p. m. this was succeeded by a lunar halo in which the pris- matic colors were clearly visible. Then flared up an auroral arch, extending from N. to N. E., whose crown was iiV in altitude, and this arch, as if by magic, ab- sorbed the lunar halo, or caused it to disappear. Then suddenly the lunar rainbow reappeared and arched alongside the auroral arch ; and finally, at 11.50, the au- roral arch became an auroral curtain, Hoating sheets of trembling Hame down to the horizon. Not a sound was heard during all this display. Add to this picture the ship thrown by the bright moonlight against a clear, dark blue background, every rope and spar white with frost, and a level floe surrounded with a fringe of fan- tastically shaped hunnnocks, and it would make a study for an artist. 1 have remarked heretofore that these wonderful auroral displays are forerunners of cold weather, and I shall watch with interest the resvdt of this very high barometer and extraordinary atmos- pheric phenomena. Very probably wo are lulled by a false sense of security while the ice is so quiet, but 1 shall undress before retiring to-night, a thing I have done but once since November 13th. I! I'.MJ rilK VOVAGK OF I UK .JKANNi: ITli. (: ' I'j. If l,i' Commenced the issue oi" lime juiee to-duy. For tlie olllcers it is placed on the dinner-table with water and sn\v. We have a skylight cover made of galvanized iron, with a funnel, and we will now keep that in place steadily, to see if the moisture will collect in that and freeze, as was the experience of Sir John lioss. In addition we shall also cover the under side of the spar deck with I 192 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. felt or canvas, or carpet over these forward and after berths and watch the elfect. We are beginning to appreciate other discomforts. Our distilling witii the Baxter boiler is not successful, the resulting water being too salt for healthl'ul use. The salt is due to two causes : first, the boiler receives its Avater from a tank which is filled from the top of the deck-house by drawing water in a bucket from a hole cut in the ice alongside the ship. If greatest care be not exercised (and what sailor will exercise it with the tiiermometer 25^ below zero ?) water is slopped over the distilling coil, also on top of the house, and trickles down into the water barrel. A very little salt-water trickling down spoils a half day's distilling, and as we are able to distill only enough to meet our daily wants (say forty gallons), it is a serious matter. It has taken us some days to discover that trouble, and now we will remedy it by rigging a pan to catch drip. Second, the boiler is so shallow that when the pump is started to feed it, if the pump by accident be started quickly, the pressure in the sterun space is so suddenly relieved that the water bubbles up and goes over salt to the water barrel through the coil. The same eflect is caused by admitting too much steam into the coil ; and if we do not admit enough, the coil freezes up and bursts, as it has done several times. If we l)ring the coil down inside the deck-house, the temperature will not be low enough to condense enough steam for our daily use, and there we are. We have almost scraped the floes l);ire to get snow enough to melt for washing purposes. The resulting water is very salt, and it was the use of that water which brought on diarrhoea. However, Mel- ville has set to work to iniprove the distiller, and he rarely misses a complete success. THE DEAD OF WINTER. 193 We also begin to feel the darkness. Four hours' day- litrht is not much. We have not even the moon now to bear us company. We do not suffer of course, and I notice no diminution of appetite. Everybody rallies around the table at meal times, and is as cheerful as usual. But it is unnatural for us to have this enforced close companionship, and we seem to get in each other's way. We are warm and comfortable, but we would like to be able to go " somewheres." We cannot go out and walk in the da' k with any object except exer- cise, and our two hours' walking match from eleven to one seems to supply enough of that. We read and smoke, and growl at the stove when it does not throw out enough heat, or at the cabin door when it lets in too much cold. The uncertainty of our remaining quiet in the ice for an hour at a time prevents the erec- tion of our observatory, and the taking of interesting astronomical and magnetic observations. We are able to make our hourly meteorological observations only. Our suspicions of the moving of the ice seem to have couununicated themselves to the dogs, who come on board regularly to sleep ; in fact some of them march up the gang-plank as methodically as we do when it strikes two bells. A few of them, liowever, remain on the ice to make us chase them, when the ice breaks up, and we are on the anxious seat. We have had no bear excitements for some time. Fox tracks are plentiful, but no foxes have as yet been seen. Occasionally our hunters report having seen blood where a bear has cauiiht a seal and eaten hiiu : and bear tracks are followed uyi until daylight fails, and the chase must end. From ten p. m. to midnight we had a beautiful auroral display in the forui of loops. December Stii, Monday. — I am afraid we are on the 13 '!> ! 194 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. J |( 1:} ^, II ; ! I verjjfc ol" another ice disturbance, for at times dnrinj; the day the ice to the N. E. of us, and distant half a mile, began to move with its usual accompaniment of groans and shrieks while under pressure. Devemher 'Jfh, Tnt'sdcuj. — A south southeast gale all day. No movement to the ice. There is a wonderful sameness to our daily life, and I can as yet devise no efiicient way of changing the monotony. We are continually standing by for a move- mciit to the ioe with everything ready for an emergency. Knapsacks at hand, sledges packed, boats ready, medi- cines and instruments, arms and anununition, sledge parties all told off ; all these things keep us in a posi- tion of unrest and uncertainty. We seera to feel as if we were livini>' on the edy-e of a crater. Under the circumstances we can do nothing but wait, thankful each morning that we are no worse off than we were the night before, and yet anxious as to what the day may bring forth. Were we in a harbor and could con- sider the ship a fixture until spring, we should hardly fool the winter in the many occupations and amuse- ments we should have, but here adrift in the pack we can only wait and watch. The necessary and inevitable refuse of the ship has rendered our surroundings not at .ill pleasant to con- template. If we could only have snow, this might be covered and kept out of sight, but 1 begin to believe snow never falls here. Althouy-li I ouy-ht to be glad that it is all outside of the ship instead of inside, 1 can- not help complaining of the lack of cleanliness of our surroundings. Melville has made a complete success of the distiller, and now we get our water pure. Rut it takes two pounds of coal for every gallon of water, and that ex- THE DEAD OF WINTER. 195 y )e ve 11(1 li- ar X- penditure will ruin us if we have to keep it up. Snow, snow is what we want. The sheet-iron cover to the forward skyliuht, thoujih acting as a partial condenser for the berth deck, does not keep it dry, and we shall have to resort to extra feltint:;. December 10//i, Wednesdaij. — A very curious addi- tion was made to-day to our naturalist's collection in the shape of the skull (?) and bones of co(]fish. These bones were picked up by the cabin steward in his walk to-day, between eleven and one, out of a large heap of similar bones, a couple of miles from tlie sliip. They are probably the relics of some successful fishing on the part of a bear or of a fox. Experimented to-day with Snellen's types, to get an idea of the diminution of light. At noon the type marked D = 0, wliich, under ordinary circumstances, should have been seen at thirty feet, wa8 readable at but twenty feet. Approximately, therefore, we have twenty thirtieths or two thirds of full daylight at noon. I had placed to-day a series of thermometers in dif- ferent parts of the ship, and commenced keeping a record of the temperatures ; showing the temperatures of the living quarters, of the reservoirs from which air is received in them, and of the open air. For instance, the temperature of the bertii deck at ten r. m. was 68", the old galley-room 45°, the declc-house 49°, the cabin ]iorch 14°, the cabin 51°, the open air 7°. December Wth, Thursdai/. — The situation this morn- ing seemed to promise a repetition of our exciting times. Daylight showed a crack in the ice ahead of and nearly alongside the ship, extending from S. W. to N. Yj. The opening was made so ([uietly that the watch did not hear any movement beyond a light 196 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ;• <1 I'.' shock at 8.40. At ten a. m. there it was however, and by eleven it had opened out to a width of six feet, ali'ording us an oi)portunity of measuring the growth of the ice since November 25th, the thne at which we were squeezed out into what was then open water. By actual measurement to-day we lind the thickness of the ice to be twenty inches, and that is direct freez- ing. For some reason the ice immediately surround- ing the ship was not broken adrift, nor even badly cracked on the starboard side of us (ship heading S. S. W. true). At eleven movement connnenced. The floe in which the ship lay moved to the northward- where it was broken on its edges by coming in contact with heavier tloes, and remained comparatively motion- less, after shortening our two hundred and forty yard walk by some forty yards. The ice on our port hand then got under way and moved along slowly, like a pan- orama, until it had proceeded about two hundred yards to N. E , and then it stopped ; the opening six feet wide began to close, and in a few hours everything was quiet again, except an occasional suppressed sliriek in- dicating pressure. The ship was not affected in the slightest degree. Wliile looking around for a cause for this movement we ol (served the clouds moving rapidly from the S. W., preceded by a scud, indicating clearly a S. W. gale. The barometer had fallen to 29.50, and up to eleven A. m. we had been having six and eig^il mile winds from the S. S. E. and S. At eleven the wind jumped suddenly to S. W., and commenced to pipe up. Beginning with eight miles, it reached by eight p. M. a velocity of 25.5 miles, blowing at times in heavy squalls at the rate of, at least, forty miles per hour. At midnight it went to W., and was blowing twenty-one miles an hour. The barometer rose with THE DEAD OF WINTER. 197 1 the change of Avind to S. W., and at midnight read 29.80. The temperature, which had gone up to phis 10°, fell rapidly 9^ in one hour, and at midnight was minus 8°. At eleven p. m. we had a very fine auroral display. A wave of light crossed the zenith from the E. to the W. horizon which pulsed regularly in its transit, waving about, however, in its ]iidsations, like a long streamer of bunting let go in a Iresh wind. It is very difficult to give a satisfactory description of these things, and impossible to make a fair picture of them, for no picture can show pulsations of waving light. It requires actual sight to realize their appearance. I have not been able thus far to connect their appear- ance or non-appearance with any meteorological phe- nomenon, or with any other unusual occurrence. December Vdth, Saturday. — We have been trying regularly to get sights to determine our position, but are prevented by the almost perpetual haze that inter- venes, making a reflection in the mercury of the arti- ficial horizon impossible. In the absence of the moon we have to fall back upon Sumners by stars. Latitude by Polaris is out of our reach on account of its great altitude and the impossibility of getting it with sextant and artificial horizon. December lith, Sunda}/. — A variety of winds and weatiier to-day. At eleven a. m. made the usual Sun- day inspection. Every part of the ship was in as good order and condition as can be expected where our cleaning is limited to .scraping and an occasional wiping up with cloths and warm water. As to dampness there is cause for complaint. The cabin and wardi'obe are dry and comfortable, the dock-house is damp, and in places wet from the tracking in of slush and dirt from 198 THE VOYAGE OF THE .IE ANNETTE. IS <■, '.r V4 the ice and its molting by the liout of the Baxter boiler, iind also from the moisture created while the distilling is uoing on, and the berth deck is damp to a slight do- groe on the beams and shij)'s sido in the wake of the forward and after berths, as described in my remarks of last Sunday. Felt and canvas have been used freely during the week to try to stop this dampness, but it still exists, and I do not think any means would be effectual short of building a house over all the deck, chock forward to the bows. To be sure we are troubled with dampness to the same extent as previous expedi- tions, but then we have not had as yet such extremely low temperatures. We are able to keep all the slop of washing clothes and persons clear of the living deck by having all that done in the deck-house ; and as the men do not enter the berth deck directly from the open air, we have no cold air rushing in and being spread around. As all work is done in this deck-house, and the men's fur clothing and knapsacks are kept there, there is no room occupied on the berth dock save for eating and sleeping purposes ; and as the car- bonic acid estimates are not now extremely bad, we can put down the slight drip as the only objectionable featiu-e as yet to our winter experience, so far as gen- eral health and comfort are concerned. If life within the Arctic circle were perfect comfort, everybody would be coming here. We must be thank- ful that our discomforts are no greater. Everybody is in good ^ ;alth and in good spirits. There are individ- ual cases of feeling the time hang heavily, and of be- in r mentally '• out of sorts;" but this arises, I fancy, o •. tne non - realization of an impossible scheme of I. *tii; cruising and life rather than from any effect on the gener;il health. Excepting Mr. Dunbar and Ninde- THE DEAD OF WINTER. 19'J mann no one has passed a winter in the Arctic before. Mr. Dunbar's experience has been limited to a winter in Cuniberhmd Gulf, where his ship was in a snu^- har- bor, and connnunication could be had and was had with the natives. Nindeniann's experience covers one win- ter in the Polaris in Thank God Harbor, and his terri- Ijle winter-drift on the ice-tioe and niiraculons rescue. For the rest of us it is our first experience ; and when we add to our wintering in the pack, with all its un- certainties and terrors, the knowledge that we attained no high latitude our first season, made no discoveries, so far as we know have made no useful additions to scientific knowledge, we cannot help feeling that we are doing nothing toward the object of the expedition, and are consuming provisions, wearing out clothing, and burning coal to no purpose. However we cannot tell what may be in store for us, and in our ignorance it is better to hope for good results than to pass our lives in fearing bad ones. New ice has formed twenty inches in thickness around us, and salt has been deposited on its surface by crystallization. What the certain thickness may be at which the ice is almost free from salt I know not, and Weyprecht does not say. But with a saw we cut from a thickness of sixteen inches of ice four pieces, each four inches thick, in regular succession, melted the ice, and the resulting water was so salt as to be \mfit for use. I will try this experiment with an eight foot tloe in a few days, and inscribe the result in this record. Without evaporating the water, and weighing the remaining salt, I could not say what the exact de- grees of diiference were, if any, betw^een the several four inch layers ; but by the nitrate of silver test the water turned white in each case to the same degree, I II [i ' : (if; "a > 200 'JIIE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNETTE. and the })ottom layer made water as unfit to drink as did tlie sui't'ace layer containing the crystallized salt. December Itith, MoniJay. — An mieventful day. Tiie Snellen type test seems not a good way to obtain even a comparative record of the intensity of our daylight ; for whereas we could read a certain kind of tyjjc at a distance of twenty feet on the 10th inst., we can to- day read the same type twenty-seven feet, and yet the circumstances of sky and weather seem exactly the same. Dtccmhcr l(Jth, Tuesday. — As far as it is possible to do so, we are beginning to have some confidence in the stability of our position. We have had such a quiet time with the ice lately that we feel quite confident and reassured. So much so that we contemplate neither a breaking up of the ice nor any treachery while we are walking over it. As if to show us, however, how par- ticularly deceitful our surroundings are, Collins and two men broke through the ice to-day at different times and places within a radius of three hundred yards from the ship. No harm resulted beyond a ducking, from thus involuntarily taking the temperature of the sur- face water. Highest temperature, minus 11°, lowest minus 26° (our lowest thus far). December ISth, Thursday. — This morning we dis- cover a large opening in the ice about five hundred yards to the northward of the ship, about one quarter of a mile in width and extending cast and west. This is brins'ing the uneasiness close home. At five p. M., by a meridian altitude of the moon and an altitude of Mars, Danenhower establishes our posi- tion in lat. 72° 27' N., long. 178° 23' W., showing a drift of eight miles to the W. 21° S. since December 2d. We seem to be, therefore, in a comparatively quiet part of the ocean. THE DEAD OF AVIX'IEU. 201 a it December 2Qlh, ^iuturdaij. — Measured the thickness of the ice agahi to-day. The growth of the new ior- mation, from November 2-Jth to December 11th, was twenty inches ; to-(U\y the same ice measured in the fire -hole is th'rty inciies, sliowing an increase of ten inches in ten days. This afternoon we had a shght crashing and moving of ice to the northward of us, but it did not last very long and gave us rio concern. Nindemann brought in a seal to add to our delicacies. December 2\st, Sunday. — A blowy day. December 22d, Monday. — The shortest day in the year. Although we cannot say, " Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer," we can say that our Arctic night is half gone, and that w'e shall now have an increasing light to contemplate instead of a failing one. The earliest sign of a gleam of daylight was at 8.40 a. m., but of course it was nothing to speak of. At 9.15 one could be sure that there was a sun somewhere ; at twelve that we had daylight to, and 60° bevond, the zenith to the northward ; at one that day was fading ; at three it had faded, while at 3.40 not a speck of twilight was left to us. At noon Snel- len's types, which are ordinarily read at thirty feet distance, were distinguishable at twenty-three feet ; perfectly favorable conditions of atmosphere, the types held towards the south. Though this is but an approx- imation tow%ard measuring the amount of twilight, I know of no better. As we had the bright light of a moon nine days old, and 18" in N. declination, our light was mixed even as late as an hour before and as early as an hour after noon. But that the daylight was stronger than the moonlight was proven by the fact that, in walking, our shadows were thrown from the I' '1 1^ i 202 TIIK VOYAGK OF THE .TEANXi: ITE. ) ( «liiylijiflit and not from the nioonlii^lit. Well, here ^fo are in the pack. ISo tar, with two exceptions, we are in <<;oo(l health. The two exceptions are Mi'. Danen- hower and Mr. I)unl)ar. Mr. Danenhower has an in- llaMMnatory trouble with his left eye, which obliges him to keep it blinded, but is of no very serious character. Mr. Dunbar has cauifht a bad cold which has run him down considerably, and as he says he never was sick before it seems to depress his s[)irits to be ailiui^ now. Some of us are troubled with extreme sleeplessness, myself, probably, worst of all, or, at least, as badly. My work not being over until one A. :>[., at which time 1 retire, I rarely get asleep l)efore 3.30, and sometimes not until four a. yi. 1 avoid napping as a rule during the day, but it seems to make no difference. The lack of sullicient exercise may be the cause of our wakeful- ness. As an electrical celel)ration of the shortest day in the year, we had a display of auroras far exceeding in fpiantity, and, perhaps, also in quality any previous efforts in that line. December 2dd, Tucsdai/. — The high winds of the last lew days haviug accumulated some snow near us we set to work to-day banking it up against the ship's side, with the hope of adding to her warmth and dimin- ishing the dampness of the berth deck. December 2Af/i, Wednesday. — A day of iiigh winds, cloudy and unpleasant weather, and occasional flurries of very (ine snow. Christmas Eve. Our surroundings are not of the most cheerful character, and our ship is not large enough to make any effort at theatricals possible. A feeble attempt at minstrels was in contemplation during the past week, but it has not yet matured. In order that some little conviviality and good feeling might be |!'» THE DEAD OF WINTEll. 203 occasioned or oncourjijjroil. 1 served out three (|uarts of whiskey among tlie men in the evening, which sci-med acceptable, and Melville mixed a line compound IVom Irish whiskey presented by Paymaster Cochran before we left, and with one exception we Jcjincil aft in drink- iny; to a merrv Christmas to absent ones and to the liealth of Co(;hran. Danenhower proposed and we drank to the health and success of '■ our old shi|)mates" (Mrs. l)e Long and Sylvie), and so in the interchange of yarns and recollections we welcomed in the Christ- mas Day with the hope that at its next coming wo should be at least no worse off. Christmas, Uccemhcr 'I'ith, Thursday. — A cloudy, dark, and disagreeable day, with high winds and light snow. The winds veer and haul Ijetween E. N. E. and S. E., with velocities ranging from eigliteen to twenty- six miles an hour, temperature rises from minus T to plus T, soundings at noon in thirty-one fathoms, indi- cate drift to W. .S. W. While the winds wx're blowing at midnight from S. E., the clouds, cirro-cumulus, were driving across the moon's face from the S. W. The same occurrence was noticed by me last night and the night before. Christmas Day ! This is the dreariest day T have ever experienced in my life, and it is certainly passed in the dreariest part of the world. And yet we (or rather I) ought not to complain, for it is something to have had no serious mishap up to this time. We tried to be jolly, but did not make any grand success of it nntil dinner time, when fore and aft we had such a grand banquet that we were for a time lifted out of and beyond the contemplation of our surroundings. We should have been comparatively happy were it not that' one of our mess did not appear at the dinner table. At four v. m. 204 THE VOVACK OF TIIK .TK.WXETTE. the crew, hoadi'd hy IJuiitswain Colt', cjinio alt into the caljiii to wish us all a inuny Christmas, ami to invito w^^ into the (Icek-hoiiso to hear a little niiisic. We thanked them lor their courtesy and went to the deck-house, where they played music, sauj;" songs, and Alexey gave us a native dance. At all events the crew seemed to have' a merry Christmas. Deciiitbci' 2i\//i, Frul((y. — At 10.15 \\ m. a sharp crack was heard on our starboard side, and on going on deck to look lor ii cause oj)en water was discerned ahead and on our port side to the eastward about three hundred yards distant. I went ont to it and found that W^^^<'Wv-'f A Peculiar Ice Form. I. 1 ' the ice had opened into a chainiel about twelve feet wide, extending for about a nide nortli and south, and curving around our bow to some new ice made over an opening of yesterday. I mr;.-t now believe that this ocean is subject to tidal action, for as all our pressures have been at or about the times of full and new moon (full moon, October 29th; new, November 13th; full, November 28th ; new, December 12th ; full, Decemljcr 28th), they can be traced to the greater movement due to the spring tides, as suggested by Chipp, on October 31st. TlIK DKAl) OF WIN'IKU. 205 Dtcemhcr 21th, Saturdni/. — At five a. m., a light halo with prismatic colors ; at six, a lunar circle ; at seven, u faint aurora to N. E. ; at eight, a halo. At 1 l.oO A. M. there. was a slight niovenieut to tl)e ice be- yond and along the ojjening of yesterday. Ihcvmhtr "l>>th, Suiiihiii. — From o.lO to 5. '25 a. m. there was a slight eclipse of a [)ortion of the nu)on's lower lindj. If we had been able to have our observa- torv in working order on shore we niiy-ht have nuide %. CD O exact observations of this occurrence. ]>ut as wo are in our uncertain state in the ice-pack, we can do no more than note the fact of an eclipse having taken place. At one r. m., held divine service, only four be- side myself rt tending. In the afternoon one of our dogs began to act queerly, seemingly bereft of all power of motion. Supposing that he might by some chance have become frozen we had him carried on l)oard and laid on felt in the deck-house. He still declined to make any exertion, and his jaws ■were locked together, while his eyes were fixed and expressionless. In the evening the doctor injected annnonia into him with small ellect. December 2\)th, ^fondfo/. — A slight grinding move- ment in the neighborhood of the late opening of the ice to the eastward at 10.10 r. m. At noon there was something appearing very much like land between S. by W. and a half" W. and S. W. and a half W. Wc believed that we saw an increase in the amount of day- light already at noon. To-day the sky had ([uite a rosy tinge at the southern horizon, and the light was almost sulhcient to have an effect on the sky to the northern horizon. A fidl moon, nearly on the horizon, at its northern culmination, made it impossible to say where the daylight ended and the moonlight began. 200 THE VOYAGE OF THE .TEANNETTE. The 'voii .t three a. m., l)ut it had no especial features. Xt >u.yhght numerous water clouds were observed a.oLind us, but they disappeired during the forenoon as the ice closed. At ten v. m. the ice commenced grinding near us in the S. W., the motion, judging by the sound, being transmitted along a line running to the northward. What 1 mean by that is. that when the ice moved first it was in the ti. W. ; then the next sound was from S. W. by W., while in the S. W. it was quiet ; so on to W. and along, the sound retreating to the northward. No motion was comnnmicated to the ship or to tl)'- ice surrounding her. The noise was ex- actly like (lie ji iddle-wheels of a steamer beating the water, scuKiiiues at full speed, and sometimes at half speed — pven m \t may be heard on a still night on the Isorth Kivc: : L home. Every once in a while during this cold snap, we are startled by a loud crack like a riHe shot, caused by the drawing of some fastening. That we have not had more of them nuiy be due to the extra secure maimer in which our ship is built ; for Mr. Dunbar seems to hiive e\,. ienced much more of this kind of noise in wintering ' i whaler in Ciunberland Sound. ; .'I ■ nsm 210 tup: voyage (>f hie .jeannette. January or/, Saturday. — Early daylight at eight A. M. At noon good clear daylight illuminating the tioe, and showing everything about the ship distinctly. Anemometer read clearly without lantern for the first time in many days. The southern sky showed bright red. The loom of land was descried to the S. S. W. At one A. M. the ice was again in motion to southward. January -ith, Sunday. — At 12. oO a very brilliant meteor .shot in a curved lii\e from S. to S. E. and ex- ploded like a rocket, sho\ )'• »'"d, yellow, and blue colors. At eleven inspected i ip. The berth deck j>t tlie forward and after ends .-i again beaded with moisture. The experiment of laying old mattresses on deck on the forecastle and covering them with snow worked to a charm for a day or two, the berth deck being dry and comfortable, but it has broken out again as bad as ever. The fore store-room is dry, and, as far as we can see, entirely free from frost ; but this is ex- plained by its being covered by the deck-house. The after store-room is full of frost, and will have to be thoroughly broken out in the spring. The ward-room is dry and free from frost except the side bulkheads of the forward rooms (Danenhower's and Collins') ; the forward bulkheads being felted are quite free from frost. Sev- eral of the oflicers discovered during the Aveek that their mattress covers (ticking) had commenced to mil- dew and rot, moisture having collected between their mattresses and the berth bottoms. This has been rem- edied by each one turning up his mattress to air in the morning upon getting up, and airing it on Saturdays when the fire is lighted in the ward-room to heat water for bathing purposes. The cabin is dry, warm, and com- fortable. During om* two hours' walking exercise on the tloe from eleven a. m. to one p. m., it is opened and THE DEAD OF WINTEll. 211 ventilated the whole or part of the time, depending on the temperature, and though we sometimes lind it cold upon our return on hoard, that drawback is more than compensated for by having had the air changed. Our little mess is pulling through the winter fairly well. Mr. Dunbar is getting back to his usual li^ood condition, but Mr. Danenhower is having a hard time with his eyes, the intiammation being so great that he cannot bear any light to fall upon them. The rest of us are up to our usual stai dard. At one r. m. read the Articles of War and mustert,d the crew. After which performed divine service. January ot/t, Monday. — This morning the doctor came to me and represented that Danenhower's case was of a very serious character, and that there was great danger of his losing the sight of his left eye. Owing to the necessity for shielding the eye from all light, it would become necessary for Mr. Danenhower to remain in his room in total darkness, and it was feared that this might aifect his general health and depress his spirits. I am much distressed at the news, for Danenhower is highly prized by all of us, and by his eiforts has kept us many an hour from moping. He is now shut out from all participation with what is going on, and we can do nothing but go down occasionally and sit with him in the dark and talk with him. He is cheerful enough himself, however, and, having great force of character, lias made up his mind to accept the situation and fight it out patiently. January Gfh, Tuesday. — The surgeon handed me to-day his report of the result of the monthly examina- tion. He considers the condition of the majority of the ofticers and men satisfactory. His opinion of Danen- hower's case I recorded yesterday. Several of the U I 1:' If K 'I 212 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. 'lU officers and men complain of sleeplessness, which I have also previously noted. 01" the thirty-three offi- cers, seamen, and natives, twenty-three are in excellent condition ; ei,uht are in good condition ; one is in fairly good, and one in poor condition — so that 1 think we are in no very serious amount affected by the endur- ance of the Arctic winter. Jamuu'n Sfh, 7'/n(rsdai/. — Danenhower's case still excites uneasiness in the surgeon's mind. The best that can be said of it is that it grows no v^^orse. As it is al- ready very bad, there is but little comfort in this knowl- edge. This continued confinement in a dark room may prey upon Danenhower's mind, although thus far he has borne it bravely. Januarti Vlth, Monday. — At two a. m. a slight ice movement to westward. At 1.15 p. m. a sudden sharp crack made the ship jump one quarter of a point in azi- muth. Supposing that we were in for a time, I ran out on deck, but found everything surrounding the ship in its usual quiet. About eight hundred yards to the south- ward, however, there was tlie sound of grinding and crushing, and this movement no doubt was the cause of our getting a sudden nip and consequent scare. Know- ing that all our trouble came at new and full moon, and that we had a new moon yesterday, I stood by anx- iously all the afternoon and evening for some further demonstrations, but nothing occurred, and we were able to go to bed in peace and quiet. From the sudden low- ering of the temperature, I am inclined to think we are going to have another cold snap. January VMh, 2\icsday. — My expectations of a cold snap have been realized, — the thermometer, which be- gan at minus 24'', having gone down steadily to minu,=5 35° at nine p. m., and only risen to minus 02" at midnight. THE DKAI) OF WrXTKU. 213 This cold snap followed very closely the new moon, and I observed by looking back in the journal that our other cold spell occurred at about the same time after full moon, which I had been led to expect by the re- marks of Dr. Kane, McClintock, and others. At the full moon instance our mercurial thermometer indicated minus 39.5°, which is 4.5^ colder than our new moon experience. The weather to-day was remarkably clear and l)eautiful. From six p. m. to midnight the sky was al)solutely cloudless, and the southern horizon seemed as clearly defined as a knife edge. The delicate new moon a little al)ove it, the stars bright and cold, the absolute calm, made a picture such as one was forced to linger over in spite of danger of free/ing nose and face. Turning about, an equally beautiful picture, but of a different kind, met the eye, — the ship. For the last two days there was considerable moisture in the air, which was deposited on our rigging in rime and light fluffy masses like down. Freezing there imme- diately, of course, every rope and spar seemed made twice its usual size ; and this evening, after gazing at the perfect picture which nature gave us of a midwin- ter night, to turn around and look at the ship was to feel that she had dropped out of fairy-land in her piu'e whiteness, and was too — Well. 1 can't say what 1 want to. These outbursts are too much for me ; 1 commence them, and cannot finish them ; I seem to know the tune, but can never remember the words. Occasionally I go out on the ice on these beautiful evenings, and try to make words express my feelings suitably ; but a lot of dogs wrangling over an empty meat-can, trying to find a meal in it, surround me, and drag me down to plain matter of fact. So I take my half-frozen nose tenderly in my hand, and lead myself back on board ship. .HI II 1 I )M iw iJii 1 T-T*^"""- — nr> I 214 TIIK VOYA(}E OF THE JEANNETTE. ^\' i At 0.15 p. M. the quaitcrmaster came in to report heavy grinding and movement ahead of the ship to the 8. S. W. Seizing a hniteni I rnshed out upon the floe, accompanied by Alexey, and from the liorrid din and screeching of the ice I thought the commotion could not be fifty feet from us. Alternate the howling of a gale around the rigging of a ship with the beat of the paddle-wheels of a hundred steamers, and you will have a good idea of what this noise sounded like. Not feel- ing any trembling to our floe, I concluded to look fur- ther for the disturbance, and so went on. After going about one thousand yards and crossing two cracks my A Quarrel Over a Meat-Can. lantern went out. We were not up to the disturbance yet, and the noise was quite as great. After floundering and stumbling around for a while, I decided to return and await events nearer home. Alexey and myself, after rolling over and over a dozen times or more in the darkness, made our way back, and finding no dis- turbance at the ship, we dismissed the subject contempt- uously as " plenty noise, small move." At eleven the noise and movement had passed off to the eastward, THE dp:aj) of winter. 215 and were growing faint in tlie distance. The carpen- ters connnenced to-day the building of two more sleds, to carry our cutters in case we have to abanilon the ship, which God forbid. January \Ath, Wednesday . — Excepting a little ad- ditional movement in the distance to the S. W., the ice gave us no alarms. But at its best, it is so treacherous that we never feel safe. I went with a dog sled sev- eral miles around the floe and saw a few openings, al- read}' frozen over, but these are the only signs of re(!ent movement. The big piles of slab ice heaped up here and there are the results of the great November confu- sion which broke us adrift and floated us to our pres- ent insecure berth. January \bth, Thursday. — We have had considera- ble anxiety to-day on account of the ice. At noon a slight shock was experienced, and on going out on the floe I found that it had crt. .ked and opened about twenty feet from our starboard side (ship heading S. S. W. and a half W.), the crack rounding the bow and going ahead in the prolongation of the stem in one di- rection, and in the other, passing along, it went across the stern at a distance of about one hundred yards. This crack widened, until at three it had become eight feet in width, and at the same *^ me a fissure appeared on our port side about one hundred feet distant, which became an opening at six. As far as could be observed, the general direction of the ice movement was to the E. and S. We were not disturbed beyond an occasional snap, as some fracture took place in the ice, but this horrible uncertainty grows wearisome. Living over a powder manufactory may be exciting, but it is not healthy excitement ; and our constant state of anxiety may well be compared to it. As the daylight left us, Ml .':' j ' j; ? L ' j ' ; r^ J5. t^gg:? 216 tup: V()YA(;k of riii; .ikaxnette. at lour, onr ]K)siti()n was witliiu a small tloe with water all around us. Of course, the ice will close up aijain, and then it is a question of strength. If the small lloe is squeezed on two sides it will collapse, and then the ship gets the pressure ; if squeezed on one side it will go to the main tloe on the other, and the edges will break up and pile up until the broken masses reach the ship's side. In any case, the ship comes in for some unpleasantness, so there is not much choice. Ice forty inches thick is a powerful enemy but a weak defender. JunnfU'ii ICtfh, Friday. — Although the wind did not attain a high velocity, it seemed to be peculiarly search- ing and very loud. While we have been able to take our usual walking exercise with less wind and minus 2'.)" temperature, to-day a temperature of minus 16^ was unbearable. I accordingly dispensed with the enforced exercise, although I make it a general rule to keep it up as long as the thermometer stands above minus 30°. At 12.o0 A. M. the familiar grinding and ji-roaning made itself heard on our starboard side. Examination showed that the floes which separated yesterday were coming together again, and breaking up the new ice which had already formed in the crack. Beyond an occasional jar and shock, the ship did not move. At three the ice again began its movement, and this con- tinued at intervals all day until seven p. m. Jars and shocks were frequent, but the ship did not move, keep- ing the same heel 2?.° to starboard, although she was receiving considerable pressure on her underwater body. We had, therefore, nothing to worry us but a constant state of tension and anxiety. The auroral display was extraordinary. January 17 fh, Saturday. — The day opened pleasant and clear with a N. W. wind. The barometer rose stead- i THE DEAD OF WIXTKIl. 2r ily from 29.02 to 30. The tempcriitm-o ran down rapidly, j^ivin^ us our roldost experience tlius lar. — beginnin of uintkii. 'J 10 no particular fear; and when I saw the tloe on lii'r [)<)rt side buckle up and break in long tb\vartslii[) cracks, and then the movement and pressure both seemed to cease, 1 believed that we had weathered one more nip. At 10.30 A. M. when the men went down in the lire- ro(jm ut the daily serving out ol' (!oal, Sharvell heard the running ol" water in the bilges, and promptly re- })orted it. An examination was made at once, and we discovered that water was flowing from forward. Fol- lowing it up we found to our dismay that there were two streams of water an inch in diameter, Mowing through the filling which had been put in below the berth deck at the Mare Island Yard ; and that the water stood at a depth of eightei a inches in the fore- peak, at twenty-four inches in the store-room, next abaft it, and thirty-six inches in the fore hold, while in the lire-room it was over the floor-plates on the star- board side. The deck-pumps were at once rigged and manned, and I ordered steam to be raised on the ])ort boiler to run the steam-pump. While one watch worked the pumps, the other watch were put at work breaking out the fore peak, hoisting the flour out of the store- room next abaft it, and breaking out the fore hold. To my great relief the pumps seemed to hold their own. The forward bilge-pump (the only one worked) being in the deck-house, the men were sheltered from the in- tense cold, and were able to work to advantage. We had great difficulty in getting the use of the steam- pump. In the first place, the sea cocks being frozen we could not I'un up the boiler from the sea, and hence had to resort to pouring water from buckets through the man-hole plates. The tetnperature of the fire-room was then minus 29°, and we were a long time in getting the pump in a condition fit for use. But by Melville's ,t 220 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. «Wll n iiidoiiiitable energy it was ready by three p, m. Up to this time \v(! had carefully kept the : frozen or otherwise choked up. Such water as did come aft was pumped out by steam through the fire hose con- nection on deck, and by hose through a scupper ; our steam-pump suction was on the port side, and the ship being heeled 2i° to starboard, the greatest amoimt of water came aft on the starboard side. Hence the steam- pump could work only when the water I'ose above the keelson, and washed over to port. 1 kept all hands on deck until midnight, and then sent one watch below ; and. in view of the hard work everybody had been called on to perform, 1 served out two ounces of brandy to each man. Nindemann stood down in the fore peak up to his knees in watej*. stulfing in oakum and tallovv into every place from which water came. As fast as he stuffed it in below the water came out above ; and when finally he got so i'ar that but a little water trickled out from the bow-lilling, it forced its way out through the ceiling. We put Alexey and Aneguin to work digging out the ice under the l)0w, to try to iind out where tlio injury was and of what natm-e. But after they had dug away souie of the pieces which had been piled up, the water flowed over the ice beneath anp))ed work. No sign of injury could be seen outside, and nothing inside but the flow- ing c*" the water, and, as far as may be judged from ap- ])earances, it would seem that the shi|)'s forefoot has been broken off or twisted, staiting the garl>oard strakes. Until we can free the sh'p from water we can I THE DEAD OF WINTER. 221 do nothing towards building a water-tight t)ulkhead across the fore peak, and thus kee})ing the water leaiv under control of the hand-pumps. As the water will not come aft readily to the steam-pump, we 'uu.st get a steam-pump forward to it, for men cannot stand pump- ing from now till spring. Fortunatelj- we have a pump in the engine-room which we can move forward to the old galley-room and connect by a long series of pipes to the main boiler, and that is susi-gested bv Melville and commenced to be put into execution at midnight. Everything was carried on regularly, quietly, and systematically. There was no excitement and no con- fusion. If we had to lenve the ship, our sledges were ready on the poop packed with forty days' provisions, our boats were ready to lower, and we had the two dingys mounted on their sleds. Everybody had his knapsack and sleeping-bag ready, and our records and papers were iii condition to seal up in a box, but thank God we had no occasion to experience that emergency. Temperature slowly rises to minus 44"^. Early daylight at (i.50. Clear and pleasant. Bright nu)oulight and starlight. Consi;ie;able ice movement during day, and continuou.) heavy pressiu-e. Januartj 2()t/i, Tnesduij. — A very disagreeable fea- ture in connection with our trouble is, that we have a sick man on our hands (Danenhower), and his being unable to help himself, in case of an extraordinary emergency, makes it a ciiuse of serious anxiety to me. The doctor was suddenly taken ill last night with a bilious attack, and for a time l\\as (|uite alarmed about him. But this mornini>: he seems to l)e on the nu'ud. Mr. Dunbar is not strong yet, his recent sickness seem- ing to have added twenty years to his age, While we are in this uncertain state, there is not '^1 Ml I '41 909 J'lIE VOYAGP: of I'llE JEANNKTTE Ni m m Ml. much rest for Chipp, Melville, or myself ; and among the men. Nindemann, Cole, and Sweetman seem to be as unwilHng to take rest as ourselves. The last named is not verv strong, and 1 fear woidd not stand a heaw strain. But Nindemann seems to know no such thip.<«: as fatigue. We do not gain much on the water, but then the water does not gain on us. The auxiliary steam-pump has been moved from the engine-room to the old galley-room, and secured in place against the berth deck bulkhead. Several repairs were made to it, such as fitting new valves, etc., but we had not finished running the line of piping to it from the main boiler by the time the day closed. A connection will be nad with the main boiler through the steam-whistle pipe. As soon as we got the auxiliary pump in place we at- tempted to run it by thi Baxter boiler, but the pump was too much for it, taking awav all its steam almost immediately. The forward Ijilge-pump is worked by the watch, and at times we get the water down so low that teu minutes' pumping and ten minutes' spell keep the water in check. The How of water aft to the en- gine-room is freer, enabling the .steam-pump to be run fifteen minutes in everv half hour, giving a breathiny; spell to the men. The boiler-pump exhausts into the bilge, and the feed water is taken from the bilge, all the sea cooks being frozen fast in their seats. We cannot expect to free the ship by the hand- pumps alone, and are waiting for the aid of the auxil- iary steam-pump. It may seem strange tiiat so long a time is required to get this in operation, but our ditH- culties are enormous. To take a steam-pump down, move it, and put it together is a long job alone, without speaking of running steam-piping, all of which has to be iitted. Every man has been worked up to the top THE DEAD OF WINTER. 223 »g laiu auxil- on<;" a (litVi- down. ithout has to he top notch of his strength, whether in engine work, at the pumps, or carrying provisions aft ; and though there seems but Httle described on this page, the day has been spent in harder work than falls to the lot of most men. Still everything is done quietly and with pre- cision, and aided by Chipp and Melville, whose supe- riors the navy cannot show, with their untiring energy, splendid judgment, and fertility of device, I iim confi- dent of being able to do all that man can do to carry on the expedition to a safe termination. Considerable ice movement and pressure during the day. The ship has increased her heel to three degrees to starboard, and floe and ship luive swung to south l)y west one and one fourth points. Light breezes between S. and W. all day, and temperature struggling up from minus 44"" to minus 37°. The movement of the ice seems to be to the eastward. There are numerous ridges in sight where the floes have been broken and piled up upon coming in contact. The floe around the ship remains as yesterday, but when pressed yields in hea- y surges which cause the ship to snap an, I have before said, led to the steam- whistle pipe, which of course communicated with the main boiler. Upon turning on the steam the pipe was found to be frozen, and steam would not pass. We i' ; H f :U ' ft 904. THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. had, therefore, to take down the pipe and thaw it out. This (lone, we tried again and got the pump to work, but found the suction pipe too .small. We then re- moved the bilge suction pipe from the main engine and attached it to the auxiliary pump, and then the pump worked all right to my great satisfaction, for I was able to give our tired men a rest. It was seven a. m. when we got the auxiliary pmnp running, but we immediately succeeded in keeping the water in check. By four r. M. we had got so much ahead of the water that the fore peak was dry enough to eonunence buildinu" a small bulkhead abaft of the bow-filling to stop the leak there to some extent. The water seemed to flow aft to the engine-pump more readily to-day, and by pumping fif toen minutes in every half hour in the engine-room, they kept that part of the ship free. Occasionally we would even get the auxiliary pump to suck, and we then drove pli.gs in the holes which we had bored in the forward bulkhead of the fore hold, and thus blocked up water enough to keep the auxiliary going all the time. This gave a spell to the men in the engine-room, and Melville (who will not sleep or rest) set them to work to nuUce the necessary forgings for his proposed connection of the Baxter boiler to the forward spar deck bilge-pump. There was considerable ice movement during the day, and tremendous pressure. The ship received many severe shocks, but these «lid not seem to increase the leak. I am rather inclined to think that a broken piece of floe lias been shoved under her. and tluit she has been lifted above some of the pressure. She has risen two inches above her old line of flotation, which we have determined by marks made where her snow em- bankment came originally. The .ship heels '6° to star- THE DEAD OF WINTER. 225 o ave a (wlio e the if the p. le (hiy, many se the piece le has Is risen ,ch we w eni- star- boartl. I am a little afraid that there rnay be some accident to the stern-post and rudder-post from this ex- cessive longitudinal pressure, although the fullness of the ship's counters may receive and take up a great deal of the strain. Much hard work fall;^ upon two men, Nindemann and Sweetinan. These two luive to take tin-ns about in standing in the water in the fore peak, building the bulkhead across it. Nindemann seems strong enouy-h for everything, but this kind of work tells on Sweet- man, and I have once or twice feared that he would break down. Whiskey is served out to them once every four hours, and a generous supply of food and coft'ee is nuule for such other men as have night work, and I thus try to keep e-'erybody up to his strength. Cliipp and myself take twelve hours' watch, each, look- ing out generally for Avork, and watching the ice care- fully for emergencies. This is like living over a pow- der magazine with a train laid ready for firing. Mel- ville, when he does go below, instead of sleeping, lies awake planning some new means of pumping a ship by steam, which will be more economical than the main lioilers. Danenhower is, of course, out of the case alto- gether. Januftry 'lid, Thursday. — As the water was becom- ing low enough in the fore peak to work to advan- tage, commenced cutting and fitting ])lauking for the erection of water-tight bulkhead across the fore peak twenty inches forward of the foremost side of the foi-e- mast, at the step. We also cut holes in the ceihng above the berth deck on each side, and shoved down be- tween the frames as much ashes and picked felt as the spaces would hold. These things filled up all spaces down to the filling between the cant frames, say two 15 226 THE VOYAfiE OF THE JEANNETTE. Iw feet from the keelson, and towards the close of the day they seemed to have the effect of dimimshinrne with heroic endurance by the patient. I hardly knew which to admire the most, the skill and celerity of the sur- geon, or the nerve and endurance of Danenhower. January 2M, Friday. — A continuance of the same story : a leaky ship requiring all our endeavors to keep her free. The auxiliary steam-pump in the old galley- 1 . i 228 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. room is goiii*^ all the time, and the stoam-pump in the engine-i'ooin about one halt" the time. Nindemann and ►Sweetman (the only two men who can be trusted not to break tools in this cold weather) stand watch and watch day and night in the fore peak building the bulkhead. By midnight all but the last upright plank is in place, and stringers and braces are being fitted abaft of it to resist pressure when the water comes against it. Early in the morning we broke out a barrel of plaster of Paris, which had been provided for the naturalist's use, and we shoved that down between the frames, hoping it would mix with the water there and harden to a cement. We also rannned down another lot of ashes and picked felt. T he ship is wretchedly wet and uncomfortable. The berth deck is kept moist f r o m the endless travel along it to the fore peak ; the galley- room is wet, of course, from drip- pings from auxili- From Mr Newcomb's Sketch. arV V) U Ul U ' t ll P deck-house is wet from the Baxter, and the (juarter deck is covered with ice or sludge from the fire-hose discharge. The outlook is somewhat discouracrina: when contrasted with the ambitious beginning of the voyage. But as the darkest hour is just before the dawn, we may have a l)rlglit spot in our future. January 2oth. Sunday. — Pump, pump, pump — the same old story. As fast as we pump out, the water €omes in. Nindemann and Sweetman, by hard work THE DEAD OF WINTER. 229 together all day, finished calking the bulkhead across the fore peak. If I kept these men continuously at work, I suppose in three days I should have Sweet- man on the sick list. Nindemann will overtax ills groat strenj^th without admitting that he is fatitjued. So as all our skilled carpenters' labor is in these two I must husband their strength as much as possible. Some would-be wise person may ask why I did not employ the whole ship's company, and why 1 limit the work to two men ? To such a question 1 here reply that the work of stopping or controlling this leak effectually must be well done and by skillful hands — and space as well as other considerations permit of these two only. . At l.oO p M. I read divine service in the cabin. The day opened clear and pleasant, with very fine snow dust and light E. N. E. airs. From ten a. m. to three v. m. the atmosphere was remarkably clear. At twelve, from aloft was seen the upper limb of the sun much distorted by refraction. Danenhower's case is again becoming very disquiet- ing. The continued confinement is telling on his gen- eral health, and his failing to improve under treatment worries him greatly. Being of a very sensitive nature, he feels that he is not doing any duty for the expedi- tion, and that worries him. We try to encourage him all we can. He accepts our kind words at their full value, but knows they do not in any way alter facts. The doctor is very anxious about him, and speaks of the stubbornness of the case and the probable necessity of another operation. My anxieties are beginning to crowd on me. A disabled and leaking ship, a e.eriously sick officer, and an uneasy and terrible pack, with a con- stantly diminishing coal pile, and at a distance of 200 miles to the nearest Siberian settlement — these are enough to think of for a lifetime. 1 1 • r*. ■r ti 230 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXET'I K. January 2Cith Monday. — The bcghuiing of this day finds UH at our usual occupation : running pumps and trying to stop leaks. We continue to hold our own against the water, and that is about all. Of course our bulkhead across the fore peak presents no obstacle to the passage of water aft between the ceiling and planking, and the ashes and plaster of Paris have not got down to the Ijottom of the spaces between the frames. We therefore set to work to-day to rip out the ceiling above and below the bilge strake on each side. This was a hard operation, for the ceiling below the bilge strake is of teak, and had to be literally splin- tered out. The ceiling above was of lighter material and more easily removed. All day was required to do the work, and to stuff oakum down well alongside the keelson, and drive plugs wherever a jet of water showed itself. We had the satisfaction, however, of seeing some good results, for as we plugged up below the water came up and out above ; and, therefore, if we can succeed in filling up the frame spaces there will be so much less room for water to flow through, and we may dam it up in the fore peak. Unfortunately all this takes time, and, while we are progressing slowly, our coal is burning rapidly at the rate of nearly a ton a day. We moved the Baxter engine and boiler forward to- day, and connected it with the gearing made by Mel- ville to the spar deck bilge-pump. It worked beauti- fully, doing as much work as the auxiliary pump. The event of the day, however, was the reappearance of the sun ! the sun ! in all his power and majesty. All hands turned out to see him and to enjoy his light while it lasted. The pleasing novelty of seeing genu- ine sun shadows for the first time in seventy-one days was thoroughly refreshing. Although the glare was I ■ i- I 0. THE DEAD OF WINTER. 2M1 trying to the eyes, niiiking mu blink like an owl at first, 1 could not get enough of the pleasant sight. I noticed, upon examining carefully every one who came near me, that we have a bleached appearance, which is, I suppose, natural to all Arctic voyagers, and not to be wondered at, considering our steady living by lam[)light, and the difhculty of getting proper ex- ercise in this low temperature. However, we are all liealthy with one or two exceptions, and I think we may congratulate ourselves on having passed the night of the Arctic regions so successfully. As if to give us as nuich light as possible on this eventful day, when the sun was on the meridi time that although the ice is subject to a ti<' ' v non. it is also quite sensitive to wind. With >• wind we and the ice drift together, as a general ag, with- out risk or confusion. But let a sudden slii't U the westward occur and we bring up all standing, an»i are beaten back with a pressure that makes us in trouble again. If, therefore, there is open water in this part of the world at this season of the year, it is to the •!*£. i'^^'^tWHlthMli TIIK UKIUKN OF DAYMCIIT. t) o >t wostwanl of us tovvnrfl the Now Sihcrijin Isliinds. At two and three a. m.. and two, three, live. eiti,ht. nine, and eleven i'. m., the i 'e was in motion, ^rindinj:; and groaninj^ to tiie 8. W. and close to ns. The ship was nipi)ed on these ooeasions, and erac^ked and snapjx'd loudly, all the pressure seeinin<^ to eoine abal't the main- mast. At the last nijjping I was down in the tore penk lookint^ at the leak, and had no knowled<^e of the ice l)ein<5 in motion, no sound either of motion or pressure ha\.'nj5 reached me. Upon coming aft Mr. Neweomh met me with the information that the ioo had squeezed us hard. The cabin door keeps a good re(!ord of the scpieezing, for at times it takes two of us to open it. al- though a good bit of it has been planed away. When the pressure subsides, it does so without our being able to detect it otherwise than by the easy manner in which the door opens. The beams of the poop seem a little bowed out of shape from these repeated squeezes of the frames to which they are bolted. Weather, as a general thing, cloudy and overcasti We did not, therefore, see the sun to-day. At the beginning of these twenty-four hours the lim- bers under the coal bunkers seemed to become entirely clear, for the water came aft as pure as sea-water, and with such freedom that the auxiliary pump speedily sucked. It was, therefore, stopped, and all the work wa.s brought on the Sewell pump in the engine-room. To our great relief this, ruiniing at the rate of fifty strokes a minute, held the water in check, and as the ready flow of water aft kept the fore peak much drier, we are able to proceed with good effect in the plaster- ing and ramming of oakum. Although we have had to work hard and wait patiently for results, the re rults have come at last and give us good heart to proceed. T 284 THE VOYASE OF THE JEANNETTE. Melville, upon calculating the work done by this pump, showed that it was punipinj; out of the ship 2,250 (gal- lons per hour, and holding the water in check. This may be taken, therefore, as the amount of the leak to- day, which, compared with the amount pumped out per hour on the 2od, 3,oGo gallons, shows that we have diminished iae leak over one third. We are still *at work at the spaces, and cannot hope to get the work completed so as to try the Baxter combination bilge- pump before Friday or Saturday night. Jduiiary 'I'^tli, Wednesday. — The success achieved by the filling in spaces holds good to-day, for all the pumping has been dor<^ by the Sewcll-pump, running fifty strokes per minute, at which rate the water is pre- vented from gaining ou us. Water in fire-room bilge, eighteen inches at eight A. m., seventeen and one half inches at four p. m., and sixteen inches at midnight. Nindemann and Sweetman worked all day from nine A. M. to eleven p. m. in filling up spaces, etc., and they are doing a marvelous amount of work. We cut holes through the ceiling to-day above the berth deck to get spaces filled in above the water line, if possible ; and wo are slowly but surely advancing to the time when we can try if tlie Baxter can keep us dry to the great sav- ing of our coal pile. The ice moved at 6.15 A. m., and 6.50 p. m., in the S. W. near the ship, and caused us to experience a moderate nip. Except from the snapping and crack- ing of our bolts and timbers, we are not disturbed. When soundings were taken to-day, new ice to the depth of eight inches had to be cut away, the result of twenty-four hours direct freezing. The floe, through Avhich the hole was cut originally, had a thickness of twenty-four inches direct freezing since January I'Jth, t ' , I ■ THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 235 we we lav- for this was one of the water lanes opened in the smash up at that time. January 2dthy IVmraday. — I am able to record a still further diminution of the leak. Tlie work of fill- ing in the spaces between frames, etc., lias proceeded all day, and we now find that the Sewell piini]), run- ning forty strokes a minute, has been ^ble to hold the water in check. The amount of water pumped out lias been 1,800 gallons per hour; and comparing this with the 2,250 gallons per hour on the 27th, shows that two days' work by Nindemann and Sweetman has dimin- ished our leak 450 gallons per hour. The work is still proceeding. In order still further to economize coal a stove was started in the deck-house to-dav instead of continuing a fire in the Baxter. Heat is necessary to save the spar deck bilge-pump from freezing, but when we can save it by burning fifty pounds a day instead of one hundred pounds, we are bound to save the fifty. January oOth, Friday. — Nindemann and Sweetman continue their slow and tedious job of stuffing plaster of Paris and ashes in the spaces between frames, etc. The water, being unable to get abaft the fillings read- ily, rises between the frames and the outside planking and trickles out under the berth deck at the shelf. Still we are gaining on the leak, and 1 lu)[)e that \\ hen we get the spaces filled up inside to a level with the water outside, and have choked up the limbo Isoles in the cant frames (for I beli*. ve they exist), so that we have got a ready means of passage interrupted, we shall be able to keep water out of her to a reasonable extent by the use of the spar deck bilge-pump connected with the Baxter boiler. Melville, with his never-failing readiness of resource, has commenced a piece of work by which he will run a 286 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNETTE. ii St:^^ 'i'l bilge-puinp belonging to the main engine by the steam- cutter's engine and boiler, .so that if he can pump out the bulk ot" the water t'orwartl by the Baxter rig, he can take Ciire of what comes aft with the steam-cutter's rig. We are, of cour.se, husbanding our fuel to the utmost, and since stopping the auxiliary pump have greatly reduced our expenditure. iSounded at noon in twenty-nine and one half fathoms, muddy bottom. A slight drift indicated to N. W. Early daylight at 0.30. Upon cutting through the ice for soundings ten inches growth in one d;iy liad to be cut awiiy. At five p. m. a slight ice movement occurred one hundred and fifty Viirds to southward of the .ship, causing her to experi- ence a moderate nip. At 5.40 a meteor, in falling from S. towards S. W., showed a blue colored light. At seven, faint auroral gleams in N. At eleven and mid- night, a lunar halo 0^ in diameter, .'^bowing prismatic colors; and at the last named hour a faint auroral arch from E. to W. 00" in altitude to northward. Tempera- ture fluctuating ; beginning at minus 30° it goes down to minus 12", and ends the dav at minus 39". We are ccitainly having enough cold weather this month, but since the sun came l)ack we do not mind it much. The pleasure of being out in the sunlight will make us forget the cold. But generally we have had light airs about noon since old Sol's return, and l)y looking out for our noses we can go about with im- j)unity. Janiuiry 31s/, Sniifrdit/. — The day opens and con- tinues plea^^ant and clear, except a haze which hangs around the horizon. At one A. M. a lunar lialo was ob- served, C in diameter, and showing prismatic colors. (I have remarked that the.se lunar halos are with us al- most positive evidence of ice openings in our neighbor- 5 THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 237 hood ; the liberation of water at a temperature of 29'' or 30° to the action of the air at uiinus 29° or minus 00"" always occasions a mist, which, rising by natural laws, interposes between us and the moon and causes LIS to see that luminary dimly. As its distance from us increase's it forms the halo. Snow dust occasions a sim- ilar phenomenon with the same peculiarity of color.) At eleven the sun was about 3° above the horizon, be- ing much raised by refraction. At six a. Yl. faint auro- ral arches or bands shedding diffused light. We succeeded to-day in thawing the delivery-pipe in the ship's side, so as to discharge the water through it instead of pumping it through the fire connection on deck, and that saves us from a steady fear of the hose freezing up. February \st, Sunday. — We ended the month of January with the steam-pump going, and we com- menced the new month of February in like manner. The steam-pmnp is kept going all day, and although it is the only one working manages to hold the water in check, going forty strokes a minute, equivalent to pump- ing out of the ship 2,250 gallons an hour. At midnight, ending this day, Nindemann and Sweet- man had managed to clear the limbers completely on one side of the ship chock aft to the (ire-room, and in consequence the water flows aft as freely as it enters. At one p. M. the Articles of War were read and the men mustered, after which I inspected the ship. Of course, everything forward was dam|) and disagreeable, but we can hope for no better luck with two thousand two hundred and fifty gallons coming into her per lioui'. At l.oO I read divine service in the cabin. At eleven A. M. an Arctic fox (white) was seen close to the ship. The dogs went for it, and the poor thing ran for the 238 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. |i <: I, ,>i ' i gimg-["liuik, as if to come on board for protection. Alex(^_), however, met it with his rilie and killed it. In its stomach were found some lenunings' tails and nothing else. Innnediately thereafter a bear appeared, and Chipp succeeded in killing it, and to my great sat- isfaction we have again fresh meat hanging in the rig- ging. The bear weighs about four hundred pounds, and its stomach is absolutely empty. I hail with great satisfaction this evidence of animal life, for it Avill enable me to make a very acceptable change from our canned meat diet. In coimectiou with this subject, I may as well remark here that beyond a doubt canned fresh meat is far superior to salt provisions. But it rcijuires a greater auiount to satisfy hunger, and one soDU becomes weary of it because of its tastelessness. All canned meat seems to taste alike. Such a thing as canned turkey and caimed chicken is a delusion and a snare. There is such a hopeless confusion of suiashed bones and suudl ])ieces of meat that we have unanimously called the resulting dish a '" railroad ac- cident." At nine v. m. a meteor was oK«erved falling from N. E. to E. At ten the ice connnenced to grind and move, the general (.irectijn of the movement being from S. to N. At midniglit the sky became suddenly completely overcast, and while I was concluding that this sudden darkness was due to ice openings presenting warmer water to cold air, my conclusions were verified by the ship receiving some severe nips. A careful ex- amination of the surrounding ice shewed no sign of dis- turbance, nor was there a sound of movement any- where. But I am satisfied that there was an ice opening somewhere near the ship. Fehruarij 2cl, Jlonday. — Upon calling me this morn- 1 11! II THE HETURN OF I)AYLI(;HT. 239 ini^, tlio steward ijiloniiod lue that another bear had been killed, " and that he had tried to ^et in the deek- hoiise." Supposin<^ that we had become careless in lookout, or the bears had made an invasion, 1 turned out. and in(|uired. The facts were that a bear had come near tiie ship at seven A. m., his presence beiny denoted by the dogs retreating on board in a body and manning the rail, barking at his bearship. While the quarter- master was sunnnoning Chipp, the bear, attracted by the meat of his brother already hung up to a girtline, attempted to clind) up the ship's side to get on top of the deck-house, but fell back. Seeing the gangway board, and recognizing its use no doubt, he was about to march up it, when Mr. Dunbar appeared at the rail and fired at iiiii'. The bear, wounded only, made off, and the dogs followed him. He sat down to keep the dogs at bay with his fore paws, bleeding very freely, and in that position Mr. Dunbar dispatched him. He was eight feet one inch long and weighed nine hun- dred pounds, forming a welcome addition and change to our larder. His stomach contained several small stones resembling pieces of slate, and nothing else. Alexey while out this morning saw a walrus, and brought back a shell which he had heaved up. For a wonder Alexey was without liis gun, or else we might have laid in a supply of dog food. Our fish, except forty days' rations packed on the sleds, is all gone, Ije- ing finished to-day, and we must now commence on our prepared dog food of meat and bones supplied by Mr, Newman at St. Michael's. We find considerable breaks in the ice near the ship this morning, accounting for the sudden cloudiness and haze at midnight last night. Melville keeps on making the combination of the steam-cutter's engine and boiler to the bilge-pump of I Mh m i i .1 H ; '•>[}' 'i.Ul 240 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. the miiin engine. He tried the combination to-day, using steam from the main boiler, and found that the engine had to run so fast to develop the necessary power to work the pump without the engine catching on the centre that the pump was driven too fast to lift any water. Hence he has to malce a gearing to regu- late the work of the pumj), and, energetic as he is, to see an improvement is to connuence to make it. At one r. m. the ice began to move, and from that time vmtil eight p. M. we were getting nips and pressures at a few moments' interval. We are so accustomed to these alarms now that we take them quietly, thank- ful when they end, and knowdng we are helpless pend- ing their duration. February Ath. Wedneschiy. — The Sewell pump 'v^ kept going all day as usual, but we find that by run- ning it thirty-five strokes a minute we hold the water in check ; that is, keep it at a uniform depth of sixteen inches in the fire-room. We have reduced the amount of leak 282 gallons an hour within th'! last few days, and 1,695 gallons an hour since the first occurrence. Were it not for the expenditure of fuel we should be doing first rate ; but when we burn 1,200 pounds of coal a day, and have only eighty-five tons left to-day, it is not only a matter of simple calculation to find out how long it will last, but it seems to make our staying out another winter a matter of considerable doubt. We are driving ahead, trying to hurry up the steam-cutter arrangement, hoping, while the Baxter pumps forward, the cutter-engine will pump out aft, and let us do away with fires under the main boiler. This will reduce our coal expenditure fifty per cent. Nindemann and Sweet- man have aljout finished the filling in business, watch- ing; their work now to ram in more ashes as fast as old fillings settle. Tin; IIKTUUN OF DAYLIGHT. 241 The surgeon hands me in the report of his monthly examination. The men arc generally in good condi- tion, and there is some falling off among the ofiicers in weight. Danenhower's case is pronounced a very crit- ical one, it being a matter of certainty almost that he will lose the sight of his left eye. The condition of the officers is classed thus : excellent, one ; good, live ; fair, one ; poor, one. Of the twenty-three men, excel- lent, eighteen ; good, five ; and the natives are in ex- cellent health. We commenced to get our provisions in some kind of order on the quarter deck and in the deck-house. When the leak occurred, everything was hurriedly broken out of the hold and store-rooms for- ward and placed anywhere. Fehruarij [>th, Thiirsdni/. — The Sewell pump Is kept going all day at the rate of thirty-live strokes a minute, holding the water in check with that work ; sixteen inches of water stand in the fire-room bilge all day. Lest any one should read this Journal without my being on hand to explain the question. Why is not the sixteen inches pumped out at once, and the ship kept dry at the rate of thirty-five strokes of the pump per minute? it may as well be answered here : The ship is heeled 3° to starboard, and naturally the greatest accumula- tion of water takes place on that side. But the suction of the Sewell pump is on the port side of the keelson, and the only communication from one bilge to the other is by a small hole about large enough for a piece of eiu-hteen thread ratline stuff to reeve through. We tried to bore larger holes, but the keelson is so full of bolts and fastenings as to stop us. Hence the water must be allowed to rise until it will flow over the keel- son to port, in order to take it out by the Sewell pump. Melville keeps driving ahead at his combination of IG 242 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. the steam-cutter's engine with the bilge-pump of the main engine. Everything now is waiting for that. It is possible that I might pump all the water out by the power of the Baxter engine connection with the for- ward spar-deck bilge-pump (or, at all events, keep a good control over the leak), were it not that some water wovdd come aft to the water-tight bulkhead. If this is not pumped out it will at once freeze, unless a fire is kept going to heat up the engine-room while it is pumped out by hand. Pumping by hand will use up my crew, and should we be obliged to leave the ship in a sudden smash-up, I would have an exhausted body of men to lead over the ice two hundred miles to a set- tlement. If the water freezes in the ship, more damage may be done in a day than we could repair in a month. To keep up fire enough to prevent its freezing while we pumped by hand, would use up as much coal as is now required for the main boiler. Hence the wisdom of burning that amount of coal in the manner which will save exhausting the men. If the steam-cutter's engine will do the work with the Baxter boiler forward doing its share, we shall save one half our fuel, or in other words, make it last twice as long. From nine A. m. until three p. m. the north side of Wrangel Land was in sight. Measuring with the sex- tant from the sun at noon we "'et the followinu; bear- ings : Most eastern visible extremity of land S. 13" W., most western visible extremity S. 21° W., direction of ship's head S. 49^ W. It is quite evident to me that but a portion of the land was seen this time, for upon other occasions it covered a much greater angle, and our cliange of position, in the mean time, has been toward it instead of away from it. Early dawn at six. At eleven the ice was in motion to the S. E. THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 248 February Qth, Friday. — The rig whereby the steaiii- cutter's engine it is lioped will work the bilge-pump attached to main engine being finished, trial is hud of it to-day, getting steam from the main boiler. I am sorry to say the trial is unsatisfactory. The engine is not powerful enough to do the work which the pump is prepared for. A description of the apparatus may well come in here On the shaft of the steam-cutter's engine is secured a wooden pulley six inches in diameter. Above it is secured a frame and shaft to the hanging coal bunker, and on the shaft is placed another wooden pulley eighteen inches in diameter. Around the two pulleys is an endless belt. On the end of the upper shaft is a crank, which, by a connecting rod, works a break attached to the bilge-pump. Theoretically it ought to work, but practically it does not, for this rea- son : The discharge pipe of the pump is long, and has many angles before it reaches the ship's side. The pump being a force-pump of six inches stroke, and the engine being four and a half by six inches, were the delivery at the pump, it would be an easy matter ; but as the delivery has to be made through a sinuous pipe one and a half inches in diameter, the water chokes in the pip>^ in such a way as to make the little engine struggle and labor, and occasionally come to a stand. Greater steam pressure would force the water no doubt, but the little engine would not stand the racket. While Melville was trying in every way to solve the difficulty, it was discovered that the delivery in the ship's side was frozen, and while we were thawing it out the day ended. Should no better result occur, Melville will go to work to make the pump smaller by inserting two small plungers and fdling it with Babbitt's metal. The day opens and continues fine. Temperature increases ^^ \ri>. 244 THE VOYACIK OF THE JEANNEriE. from minus 32° to minus 23', and falls again to minus 2C) \ Eiy;lit inches ot" ice formed over soundiiiy; hole since yesterday. Upon attempting to measure the present thickness of the tloe, which, on the 4th, was five feet four inches thick, it was found that another floe had shoved in imder it. I am inclined to think that has been the case .all around us, and that perhaps our controlling the leak has been due to the underlying floes of ice uniting by freezing and lowering the water head in the vicinitv of the leak. If that be the case, we shall have our hands full again at a breaking up. February 1th, Saturday. — I remarked in yesterday's journal that we discovered the pipe of the main engine bilge-pump frozen solid, and that while we were thaw- ing it the day closed. At the same time the crank was shortened so as to diminish the stroke of the steam- cutter's en<>:ine. Every thinji; being in readiness we gave the rig another trial, but it would not work satisfacto- rily. True, it did pump Avater, but with such jerky and labored efforts on the part of the engine that we could readily see it was being overtaxed. The pump was too large for the engine. The rig was therefore discontinued, while Melville put his people at work to boush the pump with Babbitt's metal, and insert a smaller plunger, converting a single-acting piston-pump of six inches diameter into a single-acting plunger-pump of three inches diameter. This Avill take a couple of days, and in the mean time steam must be kept on the main boiler. At the end of the day I am thinking of trying the Baxter pump alone. At nine the sun was raised a fidl diameter above the horizon by refraction. Extraordinary mirage from nine until afternoon. Extremely variable winds, at times shifting sixteen points at once. Mirage affected by .1 'f'i. h \'\ \ \h. f. THE llETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 245 sliifts of wind. Wrangol Land sighted S. by W. At two it was much ruised by refraction and inverted by mirage. Fehruarif S(h. Sunday. — Upon inspecting the sliip at noon to-(hiy I found the temperature in the deck-liouse to l)e 18", and lest our bilge-pumps should freeze be- yond our control, I ordered a fire to be lighted under the Baxter boiler. As it will be several days before the work is finished which Melville has on hand, I thought this would be a good chance to see whether we could control the leak by the Baxter and the bilge-pump alone. Accordingly when steam was ready in the Bax- ter we closed, or rather attempted to close, the gates in the water-tight bulkhead. The port gate went down all right, but the starboard one seemed to be out of gear, for we could not get it down all the way, nor open it wide. To get at the gates, access must be had to a little space between the after bulkhead of the fore- hold and the forward side of the coal bunker. We com- menced to break out the provisions and other stores with which this space is filled. The work of pumping the water, up to three P. m., had been done by running the Sewell pump thirty-five strokes per minute. When the Baxter commenced to run, the Sewell was put in operation only fifteen minutes in every hour. But it must be borne in mind that the bilge-pump suction is six inches from the bottom, and that the water has to flow over the keelson in the fire-room before the pump can take it. Our experiment has come to nothing, be- cause, owing to leaky gate, water will flow aft into fire- room, and a pump must be kept going there. I found the ship in as orderly a condition as could be expected under the circumstances. Everything being broken out from below forward, had to be piled up in In 246 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTK. ml i>ir^\ I ^ A, S tlio (Icck-house and on the qnarter deck. The ])erth deck was damp, considerable moisture standing on the beams overliejid. Until this injury to the whip the crew always had the deck-house to go to for a change, but now most of the time has to be passed on the berth deck because the deck-house is full. With a tempera- ture ranging between minus 40" and minus 47° they cannot be sent out for very long from the ship, and as there is no open water we have no seals to occupy our attention Ifead divine service in the cabin. We are being favored with beautiful weather. It is so long since we have had a strong wind that I cannot O CD remember when we had our last. The sun shows up brightly day after day, the daylii^it grows longer stead- ily, lasting now from seven a.m. to five p. m., the niglits are bright with starlight, the ice seems quiet, and were it not for cold snaps that keep us shut up, we should get over numy a mile of ice in exercise, in celel)ration of our farewell to our Arctic night. Chipp and myself still stand our twelve-hour watches ; he from four A. M. to four p. M., and I from four p. m. to four a. m. This is rather wearing, for it obliges me to turn part of our day into night in order to get enough sleep, but as Danenhower is still hors de combat, there is no one to make share it — unless I include Dunbar, and I do not do so, because, in the critical condition of things I am of opinion that some one should be around at all times with full authority to act promptly and decidedly, and the fewer people have that authority the better. The day began and continues clear and pleasant, but ■with considerable haze around the horizon. Winds be- ginning at N. W. back to W. Barometer begins 29.93 and rises to 30.04 ; the temperature begins minus 42°, and by nine a. m. reaches minus 49.5°. when mercurial N ;i ■li. TIIH HETUI5N OF UAYLIGIIT. 247 thcrmorpetors dorllno to work ]oii;j^er and tho mercury freezes solid; spirit tliermometer No. 4,402, at that time reads minus 47° and goes down 2° more before end of day. As the spirit thermometers are not reliable it is safe to assert that it has been to-dny below minus Oir. An alarming amount of carbonic r"id gas, 5..'>()4 vol- umes per thousand, or .5304 per cent., was found on the berth deck at eleven p. m. Seeking for a cause I found that in the press of things re(|uiriiig our atten- tion of late, the iron ventilating pipe over the berth deck skylight had not been ke|)t clear of ice, being in fact chock full of a solid mass, and effectually previ'ut- ing the exit of foul air or the entrance of fresh air. Had it cleared. February dth, Monday. — 'There is very little to re- cord to-day in the form of a change. Resuming work e:rly this morning we broke out all the provisions and other stores contained in the little store-room, between fore hold and coal bunkers, in order to get at the flood- gates. We found that the port gate was tightly closed, and that no water flowed through on that side. On the starboard side, however, the case was dilferent. Owing to an accumulation of rust and dirt, the long rod from the spar deck extending to the end of the screw thread on the spindle working the gate failed to bite the screw thread, so that turn the rod as we might it would neither close nor open the gate. Clearing away the dirt and rust we finally got the gate shut, but found that enough water leaked through into the engine-room to require the Sewell pump to be kept running fifteen minutes every hour. However we are holding our own. This experiment had to be tried be- fore we attempted to rely on the steam-cutter engine doing the work which might escape from the Baxter \m : I i i'.? 248 TFIE VOY :GI, of THE JE ANNETTE. pump. Wo arc satisfied that it can, and now we must see if our gate can be made so tight as to make the IJaxtei" engine do all the work. To get at the gate we have to rip up a heavy flooring and tiiat takes time. Febrwirii U)fh, Tuesduy. — Upon getting down to the <>:ates in the water-tiii-ht bulkhead we found that tiio starboard one was neither broken nor sprung, both seeming porfectly tight, that is. no leak was apparent through them. There must, therefore, l^e •^ome leak through l.etween the frames and the jjlanking to ac- count for the water finding its way abaft this bulkhead, but as it is imjjossible for us to get at its exact localitj^, Ave can as yet see no way of remedying it. By run- ning the Sewell pump sometimes five and sometnnes ten iniiuites every hour, we hold the water in check in the fire-room bilge ; while as fast as the water banks up forward of the water-tight bulkhead it is pumped out by the bilge-pump run by the Baxter engine. This is, however, kej)t running nearly all the time. Fchruary Villi. T/iur.-i((ai/. — Although unal)le to find any leak through the water-tight bulkhead, the carpen- ters (Nindemann and Sweetman) have been employed, touching and filling up all doubtful places. By the stupidity of one of the firemen (Boyd) we were able this )aorning to decude that the leak does not occur in the bulkhead itself or through the gates. In order to keep the Baxter boiler fi-om choking up with salt it is our habit to blow it out once in twidvi' hours. Before blowing out the fires are hauled, and new ones built wlien reipured. Boyd attem))ted to blow out witJKmt ascertaining whether the out-board delivery pij)e was clear or frozen. As a consequence, the pipe being frozen, so nuu "i time was lost before the pump could be started ay-iiin, that thirty inches water had accumulated for- i I THE IIETUIIN OF DAYLIGHT. 240 ill This o find jirpen- oyed, y tlie able •ur in Ut to t it is iJcfore l)uilt tllOl'.t ' Avas •ozen, ai'U'il for- w.ard of the water-tight bulkhead, anil then Nindeniann heard a noise of water falling like an overflow, while he was abaft the bulkhead. Upon examining, and lis- tening attentively, it was located, as exactly as could be under the circumstances, as coming from between the planking and frames outside of the b iH-liead and abaft of it. As a necessary sequence the water rose rnuch higher in the fire-room bilge. As soon as the IJaxter boiler could be got to work again the water was speedily reduced to twenty-two inches, when the overflow ceased, and onl}' the usual small amount, that is, one half inch per hour of watei-, found its way aft into the lire-room. The steam-cutter's boiler being in readiness, steam was got on it to run the steam-cutter's enu'ine in connection with the converted bilsce- >ump O Oil of the main engine. The combination worked well, pumping out dry the engine-room bilge. It was found, however, that the furnace of the cutter's boiler was too small to keep up a continuous pumping, the steam running down too low whenever the fire was cleaned or the boiler was being : uniped and blown. As we want to be sure that this little boder will do all that is expected of it, and shall be in its most eflicient state, ready to answer any sudden demand, MelvilK^ rroposes to cut down its bridge wall, take out its nine-inch o-riitii bar, and insert one sixteen inches long, thus increasing its grate surface from 144 square inches to 2-3G scpiare inches. This is immediately commenc<>d, and to-mor- row I hope it will be done, and we shall be able to dis- pense with the main boiler altogether. A bear came neai- the ship at seven a. m.. but being frightened by the dogs made his escape before any one could ii'et a shot at him. Fehnicri/ I'M/i, FrUhn/. — Completed the work of r.> m i • i i I* f. • I I 2-30 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNEITE. inoviii<^ the bridge wall of steiim-cutter's furnace and placing in the furnace sixteen-incli grate bars instead of nine-inch ones. Got steam on the cutter boiler again, and found upon lengthened trial that th; alteration be- fore mentioned made it possible to work the rig con- tinuously to maiu engine bilge-pump, and thus keep the bilge nearly dry. Hauled the fires under the main boiler, ran all the water from it, and drained out all engine and boiler-pipes to jirevent their freezing, and pumped the bilge dry with the steam-cutter's rig. At last we have succeeded in reducing our fearful ex- penditure of fuel to a reasonable amount ; 400 pounds of coal a day will now run our two st"am-pinnps. niui that is much moi'C comforting than burning 1,000 or 1.200 in the main boilei- furnaces. Enough water ac- cumulates forward of the water-tight bulkhead to re- quire the steady running of the Baxter rig, and enough gets aft through "between frames" to occupy the steam-cutter's rig continuously. The crew were kept busy all dav in trimming down the coal in the after bunkeij^ so as to get a plac*' ready for receiving souk of our pi'ovisions. With the spar deck and deck-housc all lumbered up, we sliould l»f in ,i fearful mess if the ice were to heave us arouu'l. -iud I have concluded to make u.i*e of «'m]^ty coal bunkers as provision rooms. While water i>< coming into the ship forward we cannot restow in the fore hold or Hour-room anything that would be injured by dampness, even if prudenr'- nmber of grains of salt in cube, cut from lower five incbes of our block .... 347.25 Number of grains of salt permissible in po- table water 10. From which it will be seen that the ■■• certain " fhickness hns not been attainable bv us, for we cannot (ind a sin- <_ ■ pit'ce of tloe from whicli we can get potable water, and since it seems never to snow u]) here we have to distill every droj. of water we drink. If, as Weypreclit says, the salt is all crystallized out during the winter and washed iAX during the summer, the upper layers of old ice renuiining ought to be fresh ; but in our ex- perience they were as salt in September last as the new floes are salt now. We may be liaving phenom- enal ice, but I hardly think so. If all, or nearly all, the salt resulting from the freezing of sea-water comes to the surface as efllorescence, ;nid is washed off into the sea during the following summer; and if the ex- posed upper ice then melts by the action of the suns rays and is in its turn frozen in the fall, squeezing out again a small residuum of salt, I can understand that ■ ij 1 I mm n \ i ' ) 252 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNE'ITE. ,li'. i i l! 'r the refrozeii ice may be purer than tlie ice newly made. But that it contains less than ten grains of salt to the gallon 1 am not so ready to admit. In face of Wey- precht's assertion, 1 do not intend to urge that he was guided by taste rather than chemical test. 1 will simply remark that we have iiot been able to find ice, old or new, surface or subaqueous, that would be water proper for men to use continually. Dr. Morse, of the Nares Expedition, says, in his testimony before the Court of ln([uiry, that he tested the water obtained from the melting of ice on the top of a lloeberg and found it piu'e. The inference is that he tested it analytically. But I have had an idea for some time that the outbreak of scurvy on board the English ships may have been due to the continuous use of water which, though pure enough to the taste, was unlit for consum[)tion. For instance, I find that our washing water, which is ob- tained by scraping such floes as have retained or ac- cumulated a little snow, is not objectionable to the taste, but yet it contains 28.03 grains of salt to the gallon, and would be highly injurious if used steadily. Since the occurrence of the leak, and the use of the Baxter boiler to run a bilge-pump, our distilled Avater has Ijcen made by the main boiler. As this was shallow some salt was carried over from it to the distiller, and the resulting water showed 13.41) grains of salt per gal- lon. This, of course, was too much, but we have been in an emergency where purer water was not possible. Now that we have hauled the (ires under the main boiler, the distilling has to be done by the steam-cut- ter's boiler when it is not pumping the bilge out. As this boiler is fed from the bilge, the drinking water is made from the water leaking into the ship. Until we began to drink it we were under the impression that it, THE IJETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 253 allow iUKl 1- m\ hoou ;ible. uiiiin ii-ciit- iVS Itor IS I'll we at it, the boiler feed, must ho pure salt water, for so iiuieh water has flowed into the ship and been pumped out that our bilges are as clean as a whistle. But upon tasting and testing it we lind it has an unpleasant taste and odor. With sea cocks frozen solid in their seats, getting a supply from the sea was no ea ^y matter ; and a thawed valve soon froze liard again with an outside temperature of minus 35^ to minus 40°. However, Melville managed to get a Kingston valve o[jen, so th.;t we can feed our little boiler from jiure salt water and not bilge water, and now I do not anticipate any diffi- culty. One of my ideas that fresh water, that is, fresh enough Avater, could always be ol)taine(l in the Arctic regious, has been thoroughly exploded. February i-ith, Satiirdai/. — The forward spar deck bilge-pump is kept runuiug all day. The steam-cutter's engine, runniug in connection with the main engine bilge-pump, is used about one sixth of the time to pump out the fire-room bilge, and the remainder ol" tlie time it is used for distilling water for drinking and cooking jjurposes. Fihruary loth, Sunday. — x\lthough we have suc- ceeded in getting our pumping so perfected that we can hold the water in check without resorting to puuips worked by the main boiler, our troul)les are not euded yet. The water has succeeded in forcing its way up on llw. berth deck on the port side, driviug through the filling between the frauies. As a consequence, the berth deck this morning was wet and sloppy, and un- comfortable beyond expression. Sweetman indefatiga- blv set to work asiuin to put in more (illiuu'. and at the same time bui]vi a, little bulkhead under the berths to keep the watiT from flowing out over everything, while a hole boreit in tine dh the Kinti-ston to the steam-cutter's boiler, instead of feeding it directly from the bilge, we have no trouble about our distilled water. As the boiler has a little steam-drum o)i top of it, no salt is carried over from it to the coils, and we are now enjoying almost chemicuHy pure water. We are not expending fuel f(n' this purpose alone, however, because steam is nec- essarily kept all the t .iie on this boiler to keep the lire- room dry. Between midnight and four v. M. we received several si'vere shocks from ice pressure. When the walking piuties went out at noon they discovered, about half a mile to the northward of the ship, a long lane of water. Sweetman was partially successfid in stojiping the weep- iuii' of the water alony; the berth deck. February i7th, 2\icsclay. — Our poor dogs sufler the most in all this trouble in getting the pumps to work with but a small consumption of fuel. While we had steam on the main boiler, we were able to steam the concentrated dog food received at St. Michael's, and / ■ L'veral liking lluilt: a Ivater. tsveep- tr the work le bad 111 the L and V^^ . KnBiimt-ka. ^ SOME OF THE DOGS ftom skflrhf) by Mr. Nttiiiiimh. > 1-' imT ,1 '■ fl !■ I i rilK UKTUllX OF DAYLIGHT. 257 tliiis uiako it oatti])le. lint since the fires under tiie main hoiler luive been discontinued the dogs have had a hard time. T learned to-day that they were Ijcing fedi on this concentrated food in its present frozen condition. 1 have been wondering for several days why the dogs fawned so much upon tinybody who came on deck, and why the rattle of an empty meat-can thrown over the rail was a call to all the dogs to rush for the ship in a body. Being up all night, and getting my rest in the daytime, I lose track of some details by my not seeing them, or Chipp forgetting to report them. As soon as 1 learned of the issue of frozen dog food, 1 innnediatelv conferred with Melville about putting a pipe in the Baxter boiler to carry steam into a barrelful of the dog food to thaw it, and he connnenced to do so im- mediately. , .Some of our dogs have poor teeth, and some seem to be going it " on their gums." These, while trying to get the frozen morsels down, are frequently rojjbed by the more vigorous dogs who have good jaws, and who can if necessary reduce an iron bar to proper size for their stomachs. Being unable to get sleep this morn- ing, after my all-night watch, I went out on the floe at nine A. m., and was innnediately surrounded by all the toothless dogs, who fawned upon me as if their instinct had told them 1 was the commanding ollicer, and should be appealed to to right them. I am in hopes now that the evil is remedied, and that every dog will get his food in such shape as will prove eatable. Sounded at noon in thirty-one fathoms (muddy bot- tom), a nortliwest drift being indicated by the lead line. Ice formed seven inches in thickness over sounding hole since yesterday. We have been favored with a gale to-day with tremendously heavy squalls. 17 I I 1* I- 111 258 Tin-: vovAni-; ok the .ieannettk. m [if J 11 'il, r 1:5 MM '' ■ r The vv.itor boin^ puinpLMl out of the ship of course freozos at once, and in consequence the ice on tlic star- board side reacluis above ber doubHnjif. This naturally will hold the ship down, but we cannot help it. Work- ing in this temperature is difficult for nion, but impos- sible for tools. When the temjicrature becomes decent, say at zero, 1 shall have a trench dug around her to re- lieve this hold, but at present nothing can be done. Finding that the deliverv of the hose was constantly freezing, we allowed the surface ice to cover above the scupper, and then dug a hole down underneath for the water to How, raising the temperature of the delivery to that of the surrounding ice. Fi'hriiary ISfh, Wednexday. — A very stormy, disa- greeable day, — one of the worst we have had. Tlie day began with an E. N. E. wind, with a velocity of lif- teen and one half miles an hour. This backed arid moderated until it reached N. at six a. m. (velocity six miles), the barometer then standing 28,59, — our low- est on record. There itremamed until the wind backed to N. W. at seven, when it conmienced to rise. Re- membering that '■ the first rise after very low indicates a stionger blow," 1 stood by for a breeze. It com- menced to freshen innnediately ; at frequent intervals we had very heavy squalls, probably from thirty to forty miles velocity. Snow filled the air in falling, and when drifted by the wind. The temperature fell rap- idly to minus 34°, and with the fierce wind and driving snow hiding everything at twenty yards, while sifting thvough one's clothes, made up one of the most disa- greeable days we have yet seen. Barometer reaches 29.11 by midnight. Finding that staying up all night until 4.30 or 5.30, and struggling to get enough sleep in the day (without If I. THE RETUKN OF DAYLKJIIT. 250 reference to the extreme irregularity ol' my eating), was telling on me to a considerable extent, 1 arranged the night woik in three watches, taking until midnight myself, putting Mr. Dunbar on tor the midwatch, and having Chipp look out alter lour a. m., nntil some eu\ergency arises, or 1 find myself e(puil to another spell. Danenhower's sickness throws the work out greatly. With our small nundjcr, one less affects us seriously. His case is becoming more aggraVSiti'd instead of im- proving. Despite all operations, it seems to be a fore- gone conclusion that he will lose his left eye. His case will not yield to treatment, but continues to work itself along in thorough fashion in its own regular way. Fehriuir>/ V,)t/i, Thursday. — Pump, pump, pump ! the saiue story day after day, and steadily our coal sup- ])ly diminishes. An average expenditure of five iiun- dred poinuls per day, or perhaps five hundred and fifty would be nearer tae mark, is required to keep us warm, cook our food, and pump the ship out. A very sim|)le calculation will determine how long we can go on at that rate. All our hoped for explorations, and perhaps discoveries this coming summer, seem slipping away from ns, and we seem to have nothing ahead of us but taking a leaking ship to the United States. At the best, 1 do not like to contemplate any further accident, al- though in our position almost anything might befall us. Writing down one's sensations here is of no use. They will always be fresh enough to my mind without doubt, and a record of them would be to no purpose. Put- ting down things as they occur will be much the bet- ter plan. A very stormy, disagreeable day. Febriiari/ 2Uf/«, Friday. — We have been carefully observing the working of both our pumps, and calculate r 'i il m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 bi|Z8 |2.5 |jo ■^~ Hf^H ■^ 1^ |2.2 12.0 llllim 11 1.6 u m ^ us, iU A" O V] ^;. /A »i B Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WEBSTIR.N.Y. 14SB0 (716) 873-4S03 r/j :/. 200 TI'E VOVACJE OF THE JEAXXKTTE. I , I ,( ' the performance of each in order to jjfet as exact an iflea as possible of the extent of the U'ak. We find the anionnt of tlie leak may be assumed to be 10-47.7 gal- lons ])er hour. Sounded at noon in thirty two fathoms, muddy l)ottom with shells. A small clam was brought u[) by the lead. A drift to N. was indicated by the line. Five inches of ice formed over sounding hole since yes- terday. Clear and pleasant weather, moderate west winds. Temperature slowly falls from minus 45° to minus 40°, but I am inclined to think it is colder than is recorded. Our mercurial thermometers record be- low minus 40^ (the freezing point of mercury being minus oD). But how far such records are reliable is n matter for scientific consideration. One of our mer- ciuial thermometers records minus 50 , and our spirit thermometers are generally from 3° to 4" higher (warmer). Beyond minus 39° by mercurial thermom- eters I consider our most carefid records as unreliable. Although we have a clear day and a clear horizon, no land is to be seen. We must therefore have drifted away from our N. side of Wrangel Land. With the high winds prevailing of late we have had no chance of getting observations, and with the cold Aveather we are having, one is sure of frozen lingers. In the ab- sence of a place to erect our observatory, all our as- tronomical observations have to be made with sextant and artificial horizon. Care has to be taken to get the sight quickly before the mercury freezes, and as the fingers are like sticks, they do network tangent screws readily. While working at these the horizon and index glasses frost up, and then there is nothing to do but come in and thaw out. Under ordinary circmnstances our transit theodolite might be used. But apart from the difficulty of working leveling screws in this tem- THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 261 peratiire, the theodolite would have to be brought in-board to be read, and the transportation would per- haps alter the readin<^. We get along fairly well, how- ever, all things considered, Chipp lilling Danenhower's place in taking sights. Vapor arising from the ice to the S. W. during the afternoon, indicating water hole. Fchruarij 22(f, Stmday. — At eleven a. m. I inspected the ship. The result was not encouraging, so far as the future health and comfort of the men are concerned ; everything in the deck-house and berth deck was either very damp or dripping wet. The heat from the Bax- ter boiler warms up the deck in its immediate vicinity and thaws the ice, making wet and slop ; and the heat ascending to the roof melts the frost on the beams, causing them to drip steadily. Add these two things to the unavoidable drip of leaking steam from cocks, etc., of the Baxter boiler, and we have a condition of wet and damp that is disagreeable in the extreme. So much for the port side. On the starboard side the pump discharges through a canvas hose to a scupper hole, and the leakage is considerable. The stove on the starboard side keeps the frost overhead and on the side in a con- stant state of drip without ever drying it. These two things keep the starboard side of the deck as wet as the ])ort side. To reach the berth deck everybody has to pass through the deck-house on the po/t side, and as a consequence wet and slop are carried below on every- body's feet and into the berth deck. This begins the trouble there. Then the steady flow of water into the ship under the berth deck and aft to the pumps helps to retain the dampness where deposited, and if any- thing is needed to complete the discomfort the drip from the beams comes in as a finish. The stove keeps i\ I ifi*Mi*'j:^' ■L.sa^*^f*%' fA ■*. ir r t« ; I 262 THE VOYAOK OF THE JEANNETTE. the midship berths dry and com for table, but the for- ward and after berths require rubber bhmkets over them to catch the moisture. Since the leak we have not been able to air the bedding in the deck-house, be- cause it would only absorb dampness ; and we have to rest content with turning up all the mattresses in the berths every morning, and letting the air already on the berth deck circulate around them. Although the Baxter boiler and stove keep the deck-house warm, six of each could not keep it dry, and it is this continued dampness that I fear will eventually tell on the men. The worst of it is that we can hope for no improve- ment until we get moderate weather. When that time comes, I intend moving the Baxter engine rig to the after bilge-pump, and letting all the water come aft freely through the gates in the water-tight bulkhead. But I cannot do this row because the after bilge-pump stands out on the deck, with nothing more than the tent-awning to shelter it, and would undoubtedly freeze and choke up with ice while being worked. Although the weather is terribly cold, ever/body is encouraged to take exercise out on the ice. From eleven to one every day the b^'rth deck is cleared and aired, and the men of their own accord take at once to the ice, tramping up and down near the ship, or wan- dering off looking for open water and seals or bear tracks. The officers are as ready to take a consti- tutional walk as could be desired, the cabin being thoroughly aired. We are as comfortable aft as we could wish. The ward-room is and has been perfectly dry, not a sign of drip or dampness being visible. As there never is any fire there (except Saturday night to heat water for bathing) the temperature ranges between 28° and 32°, and the officers below find that by no means THE UETUKN OF DAYLIGHT. 283 uncomfortable for sleeping. The forward bulkhead of Chipp's room and my room is constantly covered with ice, which, when the rooms get warm, thaws and drips on the deck, but as it is either wiped up or freezes again we suffer no discomfort. Our beds, being in the after part of the rooms and in-board, are perfectly dry. Such moisture as condenses on the ceiling runs down tiio curve of the turtle-back, lodges on the bulwark book- shelf, and is occasionally chopped out with a hatchet. But these are trifles, and 1 am as comfortable as possi- ble. With good health, good appetite, and now euougji sleep, I feel as if 1 could endure these small privations for an indefinitely long period of time. But I am con- siderably worried about the damp condition of the men's quarters. I see no bad effect yet upon their health, and as they are bright and cheerful, the dis- comfort does not affect their spirits ; but I know the conditions are unfavorable to proper health, and I am anxious as to the result. We can hardly look for mild weather until April, and that is five weeks off yet. It is pleasant to record one favorable thing, and that is, a reduction in the coal expenditure of fifty per cent. as compared with last week. Our expenditure last week was 1,02H pounds, and this week is {>G4'f. Atone v. m. read divine service in the cabin. February 23d, Monda//. — Washington's birthday having fallen on Sunday this year, the celebration of it was deferred until to-day. At sunrise we dressed ship with American ensigns at the mast-heads and tlag-staff, and the Union Jack forward. There is no fear of contradiction when I say that this was the first time Washington's birthday was celebrated in this part of the world. Beyond flag-hoisting we made no pretense of keeping holiday. There is so much absolutely neces- '11 n—* 2G4 rilK VOYAfJK OF THE JEANXETTE. sary work to be performed t on until eleven A. m., \hen it ceased as suddenly as it be" horse hair eye ^"uards. These we found to be excellent beyond comparison. They did not frost up at all, were more pleasant next the skin than <«;lass gogi^les, althou<;h the rims of these latter are covered with velvet, and, curious to relate, I found that my near-si<^htedness was considerably overcome by them, enabling me to see at greater distances and Avith more clearness and distinctness than with the naked eye. This is a fact worthy of investigation by an oculist at some future time. The bright sunlight out-board also reaches us in- board, and with bright and cheering elfect. The air ports and deck lights in the ca])in being cleaned of their accumulation of ice allow the sunlight to stream in, and cheer and brighten us while the excessive cold keeps us shut up. The cabin has a very dingy look. The smoke of a whole Avinter from stoves and pipes lias colored the white paint work to a decided black, and we are almost tempted to commence scrubbing it before mild weather comes. But as it will turn our dry and comfortable quarters into wet and damp ones for several days, we refrain. Now that daylight makes things visible which lamplight hid, I am finding in my room on the forward and out-board sidt's accumulations of ice and frost, Avhich the steward breaks up with an ifii 270 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. Jf t iff ' :, nxo and removes with a shovel. It seems odd for a man to dij; his room out at the end of winter, and such a fact mi<;ht lead one to suppose that 1 had had much discomfort. On the contrary, 1 iiave heen comfortable to a st polite nd would ;st within rst in the rnini; are rthing for i immedi- i are wel- niightfor- iving. A atercourse iceeded as o me and down, the pressure, lid purnp- rprised to down and Inutes and ,t so much , and the Irance of a later head. [lis will be )Osed that iiy wound. imping, SO loncerned ; but though this might be practicable for a week or two, it cannot be entertained where months have to be taken into consideration. Our mercurial thermometer is graduated to minus 49" ; but as mercury freezes, or is said to freeze, at minus 39°, it is questionable whether its readings below minus 39° are reliable. At all events, as its reading, hour for hour, is lower than a spirit thermometer placed alongside it, its reading is logged as a nearer approach to the correct temperature so long as it is Jit or above minus 49°. Below this point it suddenly contracts and falls into the bulb, and there I presume freezes solid. After that moment the spirit thermometers are perforce read and logged. To-day, at the beginning, when the mercury read minus 49°, the spirit thermometer read minus 47°. At one a. m. the spirit thermometer read mi- nus 48.6°, and soon after falling to minus 50° it finally reached minus 53.5°. Before leaving New York, at Collins' request, I directed Green to make thermome- ters with bulbs of the prismatic colors, but, unfortu- nately, in transportation to San Francisco, four of the seven were broken, leaving us only red, violet, and black. The object of these thermometers (filled with uncolored spirit) was to determine the effect of the sun's rays acting through prismatic colored bulbs, and so obtain a scale of absorption. One of these (the vio- let) was exposed to the air to-day. and when our ordi- nary spirit thermometer read at midnight minus 53^, this violet bulb read minus 47.5°. As this one has agreed very well with our standard mercurial at read- ings above minus 49°, it is possible that its present reading is nearer the correct temperature than that of the ordinary spirit. During the last few days I observed that on the port 18 'a } iSN m i \\i. 274 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. quarter the snow had melted on the side, and that at noon the frost in the seams was oozing out and trick- ling down. In order to determine how much of this was due to radiating heat from vne ship (the cabin stove being abreast of the quarter), and how much to the ac- tion of the sun's rays on the black side, I caused Mr. Collins to blacken the bulb of a spirit thermometer, and this evening it was attached to the ship's side. By ex- periments made at noon and midnight, I may be al)le to determine how much heat there is received from the sun's rays. Danenhower had the sixth operation on his eye to- day that it has been necessary to perform. The knife and proVje are regular things in his case now, and come at regularly shortening intervals. There is no sign of improvement. Day after day it is the same old story. He boars his confinement and the pain of the operations heroically, and his general health and spirits keep up well. But he will never be of any use to the expedition, and I seriously fear can never be of very much use to himself. If he does not speedily reach a place where his surroundings will be more advantageous to his general condition he may have trouble with his right eye. Marvh 2d, Tuesday. — The usual monthly examina- tion of the officers and men by the surgeon was contin- ued and completed, and his report handed in. Our condition, upon the whole, is satisfactory. The surgeon says, '' 1 consider that the crew have stood the hard- ships incident to a winter in these latitudes very well ; there has been no case of serious disease among us up to this time that could be referred for its origin to our sojourn in the Arctic regions." Of the eight officers, the condition of one is excellent, of six good, and of one tup: uetuhn of daylight. 275 n fair. Of the twenty-three men and two natives, the condition of twenty in excellent, and of the remaining five good. The only serious case is that of Mr. Danen- hower, which drags along from day to day. Another operation was performed on his eye to-day, and no doubt others will be necessary at short intervals. n'vJ March 'M, Wedntsday. — At the sug- y-A gestion of Mr. Newcomb I gave an or- [(ij^ der the other day, that whenever the l\ft;\ men went away from the ship on their walks they should keep a lookout for shells or other things on the ice, and bring such articles to the ship. To-day one of the men brought in some shells, and a piece of drift-wood resembling birch, which he had found. It seems he .^-^ , saw this piece of ^^^dr^^ ><■ ^^^^ "^ Uecem- -^^^ ber, but attaching no importance to HM it, did not remove it. At tliat time he \l\\ says he saw the print of two mocca- sins (and only one print) on the snow covering the tloe. As it, is not possible that these prints were made by any of the ship's company, it would seem prob- able that this piece of ice came from near some inhabited land ; and as the drift-wood is no doubt from Siberia, it may be that this piece of ice came from f I i "^ some Siberian river. As in the month " '^ of December we were drifting around Sketch by«Engineer Melville, showing the manner in which the ceiling was crushed by the ■train brought on the thwart-ship thrust during ice pressures. The fibre was broken and crushed to a depth of three-quarters of an inch on each side. Water line at A -- ^ 1J w r 276 THE VOYAGE OF TFIE JEANNETTE. in the neighborhood of 72° 30', that Hoe, with its wood and foot-prints, must have come a long distance. Murth itli, lliursday. — Being able to begin to see the condition of things in the coal bunkers, Melville made an unpleasant discovery to-day which he reported to me. I immediately repaired to the port coal bunker, and there, to my unpleasant surprise, saw that the heavy six inch Oregon pine strengthening planks were crushed in the wake of the heavy thwart-ship thrust beam to the depth of half an inch, while the metal bolts forward and abaft of this beam were here and there three eighths of an inch from the planks. In some one of our heavy nips this heavy transverse beam has been literally driven into the side. As in this part of the ship there were new frames and new planking, as well as the extra interior strengthening and the out- side doubling, she was as strong as wood and metal could make her. Had I any doubt of it before I should be ■convinced of it now, that nouhing of wood and metal could be constructed to withstand the tremendous pres- sure caused by moving ice-floes. What the condition of our starboard side may be I do not know, for it can- not be seen by reason of intervening coal. It would be idle to hazard a guess as to what this will cause when the ship is again water borne, so we can only wait and see. Clear and pleasant weather. March Qth, Saturday. — Pumps going as usual. The water seems to be coming into the ship at about the same rate, no change apparently having taken place for some time in the condition of the ice under the ship. Looked at on the starboard side the ship seems to be completely iced up, or in ; her rail and the surface of the ice being on the same level. This is caused by her heel of 3° to starboard, and the fact that we have THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 277 been for a long time manufacturing ice. At the be- ginning of the leak the water was pumped out directly upon the lloe, where it of course almost immediately froze. As the ice rose in consequence it soon reached our scupper, and that commenced to freeze up also. Then Chipp set to work and had a hole dug out under the scupper through to the water, and by covering over this hole witli boards and snow, secured an outlet for the water from the ship, which was protected from freezing. Since this time we have had no trouble. Should we have a commotion in the ice there is every chance of the ice making a sweep of our deck athwart- ships, but we have to run that risk. No tools coidd stand the racket in this temperature, and we must wait for an increase of temperature to enable us to carry out the plan of digging the ship out by cutting a trench four feet in width all around her. Ship's position de- termined by Chipp's observations to-day to be in lati- tude 72° 12' N., and longitude 175° 30' W., showing a drift of twelve miles due W. since last observations, one week ago. March 7th, Sunday. — At eleven the Articles of War were read, and the crew mustered, after which I read divine service in the cabin. Cloudy and dull weather. We have had such a continuance of bright, clear, and almost cloudless weather that we resent a change. We are also having a moderate gale, anothe" novelty, and are so spoiled in con ^ ence as to be somewhat dis- gpsted. The temperature, however, increases from minus 33° to minus 22° by noon, and falls only to minus 28° at midnight. S. E. winds have always raised our temperature. The ice has opened in consequence, for much vapor was observed to arise from it to-day. March 9th, Tuesday, - - Taking advantage of the M,iJ! ii ^1 ^J : t iii ' !! t 278 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. iJli'i rising temperature we set to work and dug a trench four feet in width all along the port side, until we un- covered the top of the doubling. This was a heavy labor, bringing in picks, axes, and shovels ; but it re- lieved us of the clingintjr and holdinu; down ettect of this amount of ice whenever the ship should struggle to rise and free herself. When we coumience on the starboard side, however, it will be a heavier job, for the ship's rail is almost Hush with the ice on that side. Should we retain our present position a month longer, "we can fill, or nearly fill, this trench with ashes, and perhaps thaw a small basin or dock in which we can float some time before the surrounding ice breaks up and liberates us. The digging to-day brought up a rare stock of empty cans, which, slowly accumulating since November 28tli, had as slowly been covered over by dirt, ashes, and frozen slops. Openings occurred in the ice during the afternoon about a mile to the E. and S. E. of the ship, from which large clouds of vapor arose. The time of new moon being at hand, I stood by for a possible emergency, but beyond a slight shock at mid- night nothing occurred. The hunters report having seen seals in the ice openings, but brought none back as the result. A skeleton of a baby seal (picked by foxes no doubt) was found and brought to the ship. A very curious cirro-cumulus cloud, in shape re- sembling a cornucopia, arose in the S. W. this afternoon, and slowly mounted toward the zenith. It so much re- sembled a cloud I once saw in the River Plate, imme- diately preceding a heavy pampero, that I somewhat anticipated a heavy blow in this case, but nothing oc- curred. As an experiment, I had, some time since, a quantity of salt beef hung up in the rigging, .and another quantity packed in snow in a barrel. After lAUl THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 279 M i several weeks' exposure we tried each kind, and were inclined to favor the snow-cured as being the more freshened by the operation. March H)th, Wednendftt/. — A long lead of open water is seen about one and a half miles to southward, running in a curve from E. to S, W. Vapor rises from tliis opening during the afternoon until live o'clock, when ice having formed over it, the escape of the heat from the water is prevented and the vapor ceases. As long as daylight lasted the place of the opening lay like a black band stretched out on the white surface of the ice-field. By to-morrow, no doubt, the salt will have become squeezed to the surface, covering it en- tirely, and making its appearance more like that of the surrounding floe. Beginning with the first flush of dawn at three A. m., and ending WMth the disappearance of twilight at nine r. M., our days are beginning to be very long. At six A. M. the anemometer can be read without artificial light. Whenever at night there is no aurora, we can see a faint gleam of light on the northern horizon at midnight, and thus trace the entire circuit of the sun. The crew were engaged to-day in digging the trench along the starboard side of the ship. This was a much harder job than digging on the port side, because, on account of the heel of the ship to starboard, a greater depth had to be reached to get to the doubling. .The deeper tbe digging the harder seemed the ice, and, finally, it was so hard and so closely knit together as to resemble flint. The freezing has been so uniform as to leave no pores or interstices, and pick-axes have nothing like the expected effect. Six hours' steaily dig- ging and shoveling gave about the distance from the quarter to the mainmast. Another day will be re- M ii 280 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. If quired to finish the starboard trench, and then we can dig out the stem and finally the bow. The ice has regularly taken the exact shape of the ship, and so closely has it adhered to her that in nianv places the fibre of the elm doubling is imprinted on the surround- mg mass. The hunters were out again visiting the water lane, and Alexey succeeded in killing a seal and bringing it to the ship. This adds to our larder, for as Ave have had seal every Sunday for dinner all winter, we had brought down our stock to one half of one seal. These seals, and the almost weekly ration of bear meat, have given us a certain amount of fresh provisions regularly, and have gone far towards keeping us in good health. March Wth, Thursday. — The open water reported yesterday remained closed over until this afternoon, when it reopened. Nindemann reports having seen a walrus with a young one on the ice. He says the young one was fourteen dr.y.^ v>M. A bear-track was also seen on the trail of the walking parties of yester- day. Ice openings from S. S. E. and S. W. two miles distant from the ship, and much vapor rising therefrom. The temperature began at minus 27°, and fell to minus 33.5^ by seven A. m., and then gradually rose to minus 21° by six r. m. The next hour caused a sudden jump of 6°, and the next of 4i°, the temperature at eight p. j[. being minus 10.5° for the first time since January 12th. At midnight it had only fallen to minus 14°. The air seemed deliciously mild at this temperature ; after our experience of minus forties and minus fifties so lately, we are not prepared for such a pleasant treat as the present. An immediate consequence has been a thaw- ing of the ice on the bulkhead of my room, and no doubt a continuance of mild weather will occasion a general thaw within the ship. THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 281 the March \2th, Friday. — "Pump, pump, pump with care," etc. The weather to-day is overcast, cloudy, and {gloomy. Accustomed as we are to bright, pleasant days, the occasional advent of a cloudy one makes us feel the difference keenly. But we have had to-day such a novel experience of mild weather that we have fairly reveled in it. The day began with a temperature of minus 14°, and by noon had risen to minus 1° ; and al- though it got down to minus 7" by nine p. m., it rose again to minus 4° by midnight. Heavy clothing seemed a burden, and fires almost absurd. Had the sun been out it would have made the day perfect. Our men dig- ging under the stern worked barehanded and in their shirt sleeves. I kept my air-port open all day and part of the evening, and in fact made a regular " spring opening " of it. The travelers coming back to-day re- port having seen a track resembling a wolf's, and they bring in a piece of snow-covered ice, bearing the im- pression. It is pronounced by our experts a track of a veritable wolf. About three miles to the southward Alexey says he came across a bit of open water so wide that he could not see to the other side of it. March 13^/i, Saturday. — Pumping and distilling as usual, and I suppose such will be the daily record in my journal until the pennant comes down and the ship is placed out of connnission. Sounded at noon in thirty- one .and a half fathoms, a S. W. drift indicated by the lead line. Ice formed over sounding hole only two inches since yesterday. This is the best evidence we have had of the effect of the present mild temperature. The weather to-day is rather gloomy again. The sky is overcast, and very fine and light snow falls until seven p. m. It can hardly be called a snow fall, for nothing comes of it. So light is it that as fast as it 282 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTK. ■>.(■, falls it is absorbed by the mixture of salt and ice that rest on the surface of the floe, and is lost to us, that is, we cannot hope lor any of it to melt and use for drinkin<;et a winter harbor and get superHiious articles on shore, 1 have not been able to put this deck-house to its proi)er and intended use : a living place for the men. On the contrary, it has been nothing but a store-house and workshop. The ward-room remains dry and comfortable. The cabin has responded to the rise in temperature by thawing the accumulations of ice back of the lockers, M 284 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. I. ' and pouring littlo streams across tlie deck. As the ship heels 3° to starboard, these little streams run down hill and collect in little puddles on the starboard side, where they are dried up. The ice and frost back of my desk and book-shelves thaw and run down the ciu'vod poop to the bulwark, and thence to the deck, where the steward wi[)es them up as li(juid when he can, or breaks them up with an axe and removes them with a shovel otherwise. And yet the ship's company, as a whole, are healthy, happy, and contented. The individual exceptions are Daneidiower and Dunbar. Danenliower's case drags its weary length along, some days better some days worse, although the operations on his eye have mA been necessary of late. Dunbar is yet weak and feeble, and seems like an old man. At one p. M. read divine .service in the cabin. It is, perhaps, worthy of record here that since Octo- l)er 1st we have used but eighteen tons of coal for heating the entire ship and for cooking, and, also, some- times distilling, and that since January 19th it has re- quired eighteen tons to pump the water out of the ship. The comfort of this latter part is, that whereas we used 11,000 pounds, nearly five tons, to do oui" pumjiing the first week of the leak, we are doing the work with 1,845 pounds now, thanks to Melville's skill and devotion to duty. We have been able to enjoy a rare treat within the last few days. By some miscalculation, 1 bought so many potatoes the day we left San Franci o that we were unable to eat them all up to the time hey froze solid. As cold weather approached, last fall, re stowed them in a coal bunker, and ate them until, b reason of frost, they became insipid and tasteless. In clearing up the other day, we came across a bag which had by THK HETUKN OF DAYLKHIT. 285 up by chance reinuincd on dock all winter exposed, save for till' protection of the tent iiwning, to all the rigor of this climate. As an experitnent, one or two were placed in boiling water and thus thawed and cooked. To our surprise they tasted like almost fresh ])otatoes. The heart was black and bad, but enough of the otiter body remained to be of use. By thawing a few at a time we were able to get a couple of potatoes apiece at two meals this past week. The dilHculty about ha\ *ug them regularly and in (piantities is that they turn the hot water so (piickly into cold water or ice in drawing the frost, that the proper quantity would defeat the ob- ject altogether. The pumping goes on with its accustomed regularity. Two of our men away on the ice to-day report having fired at a bear and hit him, but he managed to escape. There were brought in to-day from the ice at some dis- tance three species bivalves, one univalve, two pieces drift-wood, some stones, and some sponges. The shells can be accounted for, perhaps, by the habit of walruses in digging them up with their :usks and bringing them to the surface, March loth, Monday. — The crew were engaged again to-day in digging away the ice under the stern. Having reached a depth of four feet, water commenced to flow up and freeze at the surface. As much of the stern-post as can be seen is in good condition, and no injury can be discovered around the stern and quar- ters. Sounds of ice in motion to S. E. and E. at four a. m. Bright, clear, and pleasant weather. The temperature begins at minus 16°, and falls to minus 27.5°. 3larch IGth, Tuesday. — Sounded at noon in thirty fathoms (muddy bottom). Ice formed five inches in thickness over sounding hole since yesterday. Temper- ' I I Si n 1 •I i '•i; ' '-4 •. ?;•!* L^y^^r f 286 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ature rises from minus 28° to minus 25'' at one p. m., and falls to minus 3G° by midnight. Land was sighted this afternoon bearing S. S. W. (true). It was in the shape of two high mountains, or peaks, with a saddle between them. Supposing the positions in each case to be accurate, the land is the volcano marked by Captain Long as being on Wrangel Land, and distant from us one hundred and ten miles. The crew were engaged in digging away the ice un- der the bows, in order to enable us to get at the stem, and perhaps in time at the fore foot, when we can ascer- tain the extent of our injury. By digging down un- til the ice becomes fairly thin between the diggers and the water, and letting it freeze thicker below before digging again, we may be able to reach to a good depth. At six p. M. Alexey and Aneguin, who liau been away all day, came back with a bear skin as evidence of having killed a bear. They came across her and her cub about seven miles to the westward of the ship. Alexey's two dogs at opce tackled to for fighting, and before the bear was shot she managed with her paws to give one of the dogs a bad wound in the foreleg, and nearly to tear the toes off another. In the melee the cub esciiped. Knowing that it wjis +oo late to get the carcass into the ship, the natives skinned it, and then buried the body luider ice and snow until to-morrow. This makes a welcome addition to our food for the dogs, and will enable us, I hope, to tide over the present cold snap until mild weather sets in. opens the ice, and lets ' us bag a few walruses and seals for them. The ice is getting uneasy again, for at four a. m. soiuids of move- ment came from the 8. E. and F., following some short, slight shocks the ship had experienced at three. >ne p. M., s. s. w. itains, or sing tlio (1 is the WranL>el 1 miles, e ice uii- lie stem, an ascer- own ini- U'ers and w before I a good laci been evidence ' and her the ship. ing, and paws to leg, and lelee the get the nd then morrow. le dogs, ent cold and lets he ice is 1" move- le short, THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 287 At one A. M. faint aurora, chiefly in N. E. and \V. N. W. Lunar circle. At two a. m. very faint auroral patches. At three, faint auroral glinnner in W. N. W. The sun was raised by refraction above the liorizon be- fore six A. M. At eleven a. m. broken curtain arches 10° and 20° in altitude to N. E., extending from E. to N. At twelve the auroral display is thus described by Mr. Collins : " An exceptionally beautiful auroral dis- play commenced shortly before midnight. From W. by S. to N. E., and chietlv south of zenith from 10° to 15° in .altitude, an auroral band excended in a series of Hat, semi-elliptical curves opening to the northward. On the inner or northward edge of the band it was bril- liantly white, while the light faded down towards the southern horizon to a pale, cloud-like intensity, in which faint lines would occasionally show. To the north- ward of the zenith very meagre bands of long stream- ers hung across the sky. A peculiarity of the display was the regularity with which the curves (which were moving slowly along the band from W. to E.) broke into rapid and distorted undulations when they arrived at a point lying Avithin the space apparently occupied by the constellation Ursii Major. There the east end of the curve would suddenly deepen and double back sharply, while the aurora would be violently agitated, and would show the prismatic colors with extraordinary vividness. Occasionally, the organization of the orig- inal (.'urve would be maintained, notwithstanding the extraordinary rapidity of the movements around its mar- gin ; out usually the curve was broken, or seemed to collapse, to be succeeded by forms in the zenith of out- line indescribable because of the rapidity of the changes. At times it seemed as if there were two distinct strata of aurora, the lower one being most agitated, so that I I r ..» If." ! 1 Mi I- 'I 288 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. the prismatic colors in modified tints crossed and re- crossed each other, while the whole looked like a mag- nificent pyrotechnic display on which various colors and intense lights were thrown. '• In the W. the band showed occasionally that at a f^reat distance in that direction similar movement was in progress, while to the eastward such a movement was plainly discernible, the rapid changes of the fold- ings in the band taking the forms of spiral curtains. The whole display, after lasting a half hour, moved to northward of zenith, fading as it went." In my remarks on the 14th December, I mentioned our experience in reference to a statement of Wcy- precht, that " beginning at a certain thickness the ice is almost free from salt." Besides testing the ice six- teen inches tliick, we have since tested ice four feet thick, and found it full of salt. Evidently we have not reached that " certain thickness." In Dr. Kane's narrative of the De Haven Expedition he makes the following statements : '' By the time we had reached the middle of Barrow Strait, and the win- ter's midnight of December had darkened around us, our thermometer indicating a mean of 15° and 20' be- low zero, the ice attained a thickness of three feet, with an almost tiinty hardness, and a splintering fracture at right angles to its horizontal plane. Sucli ice was at its surface completely fresh, and when tested with nitrai;^ of silver gave not the slightest discoloration." To ques- tion such an authority as Dr. Kane is considered to liave been is a somewhat rash undertaking for me, but I as- sert thatwe have tried all thicknessesof ice, from surface elllorescence to fioe pieces eight feet in thickness (which had been up-ended in pressures), and have never found any which would upon melting give potable water. If n THE UETUKN OF DAYLIGHT. 289 his nitrate of silver had any nitrate of silver about it, his test must have been a good one; and the extraor- dinary, and even marvelous and miraculous, finding of fresh ice (potable Wiiter) nuiy be ascribed to the pres- ence of fresh-water ice from the land, which presence can only be accounted ior by the equally miraculous tioe of melting glacier upon a salt ocean, remaining ac- ooinmodiitingly unruffled until the superimposed fluid had had time to freeze. Again Dr. Kane says that the floes " which had formed in mid winter at temperatures below minus oO° were still fresh and pure, while the floes of slower growth, or of the early and late portions of the season, were distinctly saline. Indeed, ice which only two months before I had eaten with pleasure, was now .so salt that the very snow which covered it was no longer drinkable." In respect to this I can only say that we have tried ice frozen at all temperatures, from zero to minus 30°, and have never had the same satisfactory result. And Dr. Walker, who was with McClintock in the Fox, says (as further and more worthy authority than my statement), •' Yet in no case (and my observa- tions extend from below the freezing point to minus 42"") could I obtain fresh water, the purest being of specific gravity 1.005, and al'fording abundant evidence of the presence of salts, especially chloride of sodium, rendering it unfitted for culinary purposes, much less for photographic use." And he further says : '• Per- haps the statement of Dr. Kane that sea -water ice, un- der certain circumstances, is completely free from salt, may be explained by the following facts and experi- ments : After our winter preparations had been com- menced, and the pool of fresh water (froni melting snow) had been frozen over, the men sent out to bring 19 :l I 290 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. I '. I m in snow for culinary purposes brought in some ice in- stead ; this they obtained from some hummock near the ship, these hummocks being part of the formation of the previous winter's pack in which we were caught. The ice turned out to be sufficiently fresh for all the purposes of domestic use. On several occasions the parties sent out for this ice, digging too deep into the hummock, and not content with the surface pieces, found that the ice was no longer fresh, but quite salt — this ice being a continuation of the same hummock, and also of the previous winter's growth." Now, it is a matter of historical record that the De Haven Expedition had scurvy, De Haven being among the invalids. Weyprecht's party also had scurvy ; and later still the English Expedition of 1875 broke down with it. Dr. Kane, with nitrate of silver, could find no salt in ice formed from salt-water ; and the sur- geon of the Alert says he tested the water used with nitrate of si^ er, and found it perfectly pure. The water used was from refrozen pools of water on the top of a lioeberg. Dr. Walker further says: "On the 12th and loth August, 1857, whilst lying off Browne Islands, and within about four miles of the glacier, surrounded by bergs, I noticed an appearance like oil on the sur- face of the water. On closer inspection and testing, this proved to be fresh water iloating on the surface of the salt to the depth of two or three inches. The sun beamin[>; down upon the bergs had melted the ice and snow ; this miming off, floated on the surface and re- mained separate so long as there was no wind to mix and agitate the tluids of different densities. To a com- bination of such circumstances, with an after-freezing of this siu-face water, do these fresh Inunmocks owe their origin. The water, being frozen in this state, and ! II mmm «M THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 291 LS owo te, and afterwards the ice elevated into the hummocks, afforded us a • drinkable element ' during the winter ; and when the men had exhausted the supply of top-pieces, they supposing that all was alike, continued their labors, but were disappointed in obtaining salt-water ice instead of May it not be within the limits of possibility that the men of the De Haven Expedition dug too deep at times, and that brackish water, or at least not potable water, was consumed in sufficient quantities to sow the seeds of scurvy, whi'*' thirty days, the freezing having commenced when J .! a temperature of minus 36.5°. and con- tiud' ik' the highest temperature recorded was h' iiU-^HMMHM"^ need con- was THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 293 minns 22°. and the lowest minus 53°. So much of the floe in which tlic ship is held is underrun by other floes, that finding a clear place to bore for a single thickness is like looking for a needle in a hay-stack. I have con- cluded to wait until a fresh break will enable us to get a correct vertical measvu'ement of the thickness of ice frozen since November 28th. As ice is a non-conductor of heat, it follows that there must be some thickness at which the ice prevents the heat escaping from the water inider it, and places a limit to the depth of freezing. At the time the ice was four feet thick the surface floated only four inches above the level of the water. The bear which Alexey shot yesterday was brought in by him and a dog-team to-day. Nothing could be seen of the cub. For the first time in the memory of the individuals of this expedition we have seen a 17th of March (St. Patrick's Day) that was not stormy. One of our dogs, an old one, having a comical and quizzical counte- nance, had long since been named " Paddy," and to- day he was treated to a piece of green ribbon around his neck, and placed alongside of the Baxter engine, a proceeding so unusual as to occasion him considerable astonishment. The dogs in general, and the names given to some of them, merit a special mention, which I shall give them some day. Kasmatka, Tom, Quick- silver, Jack or Prince, Smike, Snoozer, Bismarck, Paddy, Skinny, Foxy, Plug Ugly, Dewclaws, Joe and Jim, Johnny Armstrong, Dan, and Wolf. March ISth, l^irsdai/. — Land was sighted in the afternoon bearing S., — the direction of the north side of Wrangel Land. The sky became streaky and ugly looking, promising some bad weather. The wind com- menced to moan through the rigging sharply. By >^j» O' ni i n nJ i i --w* 204 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. t M eleven the wind got to and remained at W., blowing at midnight with a velocity of ten miles per hour. At midnight lunar halo 4° in diameter, showing prismatic colors. Strong light reflected from the tloe while under the moon. Marcli 19//i, Frklay. — A day without any extraor- dinary occurrence, except that at five p. m., local time, the sun crossed the line coming N., and had as an ac- companiment all day a brisk N. N. W. wind, overcast and cloudy about one half the time. Much snow dust driven in the air by the gusts. If it Avere not for one or two snow storms last fall (which, however, did not amount to much) we should not have known what snow was from our experience here. Much of the snow dust now blowing about is from the elUoresccnce of the floe. At seven and eight A. m. five sun dogs in the sky. At mid- night lunar halo, showing faint prismatic colors. March 2Qth, Saturday. — Weather clear and pleasant. To my great satisfaction, as insuring a certain amount of food for the dogs, Alexey shot an immense walrus to-day. So large was he that thirty ol" the dogs and four men could not drag him in over the rough ice, and he was cut in two and one half brought in, leaving the other half initil to-morrow. A rough calculation of his weight would give a ton, although Nindemann says he should have put him at 2,800 lbs. It is a fortunate thing that our dogs are not particular as to what they eat, — seal, bear, walrus, condemned meat, fish, slops, all come alike to them. Quantity rather than quality is the great object for their consideration. Our position to-day by Chipp's observations of the sun is in latitude 72° 22' 30" N., and longitude 177° 27' 03" W., showing a drift since the 13th inst. of thirteen miles to the S. 49° E. Until the temperature and the sun's ; f TIffi HETUltX OF DAYLIGin. 205 altitude make it possible to take the daily observations to some purpose, it will be difficult to connect any par- ticular drift with iiny particular wind. I am quite con- vinced that during the past winter onr dril'tinL!,' h.-is been entirely caused by the winds and not by any cur- rent. Miircli 21.s/, Siouhiij. — Pumping and distilling as usual. At eleven A. m. I inspected the ship. The damp- ness on the berth deck has been, somewhat better dur- ing the past week. We have been fortunate in keeping the beds dry even at the worst, and but few of the l)lankets even have got damp. Thanks to rubber bliin- kets, and the system of overhauling and turning up the bedding every morning, the berths have been kept fairly dry and comfortable. Having abolished the (ire in the deck-house, except on washing days (Mondays), we save some drip and wet in that place, and also di- minish our coal expenditure daily to fifty pounds. The fire in the ward-room has only been lighted once a week heretofore (Saturday nights, to heat water for bathing), but it made things so uncomfortable for Danenhower (our steady sick man) that for the last two Saturdays it has been discontinued and will not be re- sumed. All winter the officers have been sleeping at temperatures at and below 82% and are none the worse for it, seemingly preferring it. The great advantage of it has been the perfect dryness which prevailed there at all times. At one p. M. read divine service in the cabin. From eight p. M. to midnight we had a fall of soft snow. The temperature, which began at minus 26°, rose to minus 5.5°, nuiking the air feel quite mild and pleasant. The ice was in motion again to the N. E. at four a. m. The men and dogs went out atj-ain this morning and o o o I 290 THE VOYAGI-: OF THE JEANNETTE. I! ' brou;hts aft. Additional liu;htening forward will •/ O OCT be attempted when mild weather comes, by trimming all the coal and getting more provisions aft, my object being to get the water level below the line of the berth deck. This we can do with a draught of nine feet, and then we can shut the bulkhead across the fore peak and manage to carry the fore peak full of water without danger, stopping our steam pumping and saving coal. We went to work again to-day digging away the ice imder the stern, so as to get the propeller frame and perhaps one blade clear. Land was seen in the after- noon bearing S., — the same two peaks with a saddle between them which wo liave seen before, and suppose to be the N. side of Wrangel Land. March 2bth, Tlmrsdaij. — Weather clear and plea>- ant until ten a. m., the wind prevaUing from W. S. W. From ten a. m. to ten p. m. the sky was overcast, and from noon till six p. m. a thick fog surrounded us. Many openings occurred in the ice between S. E. and S. W., 1:1 fl \\\ (i i ff'yt^.'." 2!)S THE VOYAdK OF TIIK JKAXNF/I TE. i iiidioiitod ])y liirj^c (pumtitit's of i'soji])in<^ vapor, sne- coodc'd by a water-sky. I am inclinod to think that much if not all of tho wator-skios \\v read ahout dur- iiijif winter, sprinu,-, and fall, instead of indicatin<^ water spaces at that moment indicate where open water lias heen. For, when openings occur at a time at whi(!li tho temperature of the air is below that of the uncovered Avater. such masses of vapor are <^iven oil' that the air is filled with them in their immediate locality. When the youn<>; ice forms on the surface, the escape of vapor ceases. The color of the new ice is dark green or dark blue until the eillorescence occurs, and it is this dark space reflected in the sky as in a mirror (in broad con- trast to the dead whiteness of the rellected ice-field) that gives rise to the reports of extraordinary continu- ance of open water. In digging away the ice under the stern we suc- ceeded in uncovering the upper part of the propeller frame, and then had to stop lest we should make the remaining la3'er of ice too thin for the pressure of water from below. No sign of any damage was apparent. We are extremely fortunate in lying here so long without having serious disturbance. Since the IDtli of January, when we were injured, we have had no serious conflict with our enemy. Every new and full moon, however, the ice has opened, and the horrible grinding and crashing has gone on, but at such distances from us as to be inoitensive. Almost every day somebody has seen the result of pressures, — great confused ma^soa piled up thirty and forty feet in height. Sharvell came in the other day and said he saw, about five miles north- west of the ship, ice piled up as high as our mast-head. He evidently regards our destruction, by reason of our reaching that mountain of ice, or that mountain of ice ggste^Bgjrtiag-'^,'. w.uJ!.'— 'a.JjL stt: THE HKTUnN OF DAYLKJHT. 2!»!) mg ice nviching us, ns iiu'rcly a (lucstion of time; for lu» asked Melville the other day why 1 was having the big widnis skull cleaned and saved, for when the ship was smashed .such a big head would he a heavy weight to drag over the ice. Although the commotions in tiie ice at a distance have not affected our lloe, it has undei'goiu' change from another cause. At different times this winter when we have had trouble close aboard, the pressures and upheavals have maiU; our iloe humpy and ridgy, in sonu! places confused j)iles of ice standing live and six feet, and sometimes twenty feet in height. Not only the height but the shape of these piles has changed. At first 1 supposed it might have been a kind of settling down or coming in closer contact by downward weight and pressure constantly applied to a smoother floe be- neath, but now I have become convinced that it is caused by the wind. The steady friction on the ex- posed surfaces, in part, and the action of driving snow dust and salty elUorescence acting after the manner of a sand-blast have slowly but surely ground the surfaces down. When in high winds the driving of snow and salt from the surface of the tloe has made our faces tingle and smart like so many needle pricks, it must have had an appreciable effect on intervening blocks of ice. Another curious fact, though easily explained, has come inider our notice. The ice floats deeper in winter than in sunuuer. To do this its density must be greater, and our experience in ice digging has shown that it has been of the hardness and closeness of flint. When we came into the ice in August and September, we foun .i somewhat drier during the past week, but the deck-house is and has been in a fearful slop. This is unavoidable, because, however un- ft 'IJ: rr 302 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. M n. ^1'' ; i 1 '>. 1 ^'■■ i ^^' 14 * 1 III 1 necessary heuting may have been, during the past \veek we have been obliged to keep the D ixter going, to run the forward bilge-p imp. If we only could get down to the leak and tinker at it wo might do something. If Ave could have open water enough we might build a coffer dam and get it under the bow ; or if we could get the ship into a har- bor and beach her, we would be all right : but these things seem impossible in our present position. The amount of care and anxiety on my mind, trying to plan all things for the best, will last me for my lifetime. A result of the high temperature to-day was the cov- ering of all the bolt-heads on the outside of the ship with frost. The heat of the sun has long since melted all the snow on our black sides, and the round masses of frost stood out like white bull's-eyes. The metal bolts have been so cold that the coming in contact with a warmer air has condensed and deposited the frost. At one p. M. performed divine service in the cabin. Aloxey and Aneguin were out to-day in quest of game, and going about two miles to the S. E. of the ship came to open water, in which they shot a seal. While Aneguin came back for kyack, Alexey shot three more, but luifortunately he only got one out of the lot. It came in time, for we had eaten the last half of our last seal, and wanted one in readiness for next Sunday's dinner. March 2d(h, Monday. — Commenced to-day to break out the forward store-room to clean out the frost and get ready for our permanent stowage. This is going to be a serious affair, for the fore hold and fore peak nuist be kept empty in case of a sudden increase in the leak, and yet we cannot keep our spar deck filled with pro- visions as it is now. Our efforts will be directed also to getting as much weight aft as possible to bring her THE RETURN OF DAYLIGHT. 303 head up, and we are seemingly filled up chock-a-block now aft. However, Chipp is charged with the more than herculean task of finding room for •' more " (when everything is filled up), and 1 have no fear as to the result. We shall be in a fearfully bad trim for sailing ; and as for steaming, it is a thing almost out of consid- eration except for a few days. A glance at the coal account shows that I anticipate having but sixty-three tons of coal on hand May 1st. Keeping thirty-five tons for use in case we are caught here another winter, leaves us but twenty-pight tons for steaming, pumping, and cooking Jurf- J ih summer. The galley uses Ih tons per mon'h. aiiu for pumping we need, say, Si tons ; 28 — 5 X 4^=8 tons for steaming ! March SOth- Tuesday. — By my observations to-day I place the ship in latitude 72° 36' N., longitude 178' 07' W., seven miles N. of her position on the 27th inst., and almost identically the same position as occupied on November 30th. I ■ >guui , but came al. se mer. )1'0 ak 1 st an( ing to must leak, pr al J her o- so I t ; _■■- -r '^ !*■ i f P V-i li I ■1m k CHAPTER VIII. UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. April— May, 1880. Change of Routine. — Saving Fuel. — Driving a Dog Team. — A New Resource. — Buds. — Dampness and i 1 ' '"'aimed Food. — Completion of a Windmill. — Winter Ling in the Lap of Spring. — Peramican. — Wasting of the Ice-H; . — Drift- Wood. — Walrus. — Distant Land. — A Deep Hole. — Sunshine at Mid- uight. — Target Siiooting. — Pure Water. — Bears and Birds. — Gloomy W^eather. — Habits of the Dogs. — The Crew's Quarters. — Danenhower's Condition. — The Ice as a Sledge-Road. — Bear Hunts. — The Sick List. — Patience and Dullness. — Discouraging Outlook. — Sledging. — New Leaks. — Looking for Release. April Imt, Thursday. — This month opens with a very pleasant incident. At 8.15 A. m. Ericksen rushed into the cabin announcing, " There is a big bear right under the quarter." Away rushed Chipp, Dunbar, Newcomb, and the doctor, the three former with ri- fles. Alexey and Nindemann were ah'eady on the ice in pursuit of a fine hirge bear, all the dogs surround- ing it, yelping and barking, and driving poor Bruin al- most wild with the din. Shooting under these circum- stances was almost certain to result in killing a doj;, so the bear was enabled to get away about a mile from the ship. The dogs managed him beautifully. While about twenty of them would surround him out of reach of his paws and distract his attention, a half dozen of them would bite him, mr.king the hair fly by mouthfuls. The bear would then throw them ofl', and, sitting on his m UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 305 haunches, reach around for them with his fore paws. This movement gave Alexey and Dunbar a clioice point for firing, and Alexey put a bullet into him, which dropped him. He got up again and renewed his fight with the dogs, until Dunbar finished him with another bullet. He was a beautiful animal, eight feet in length, three feet five inches in height, and weighed six hundred and seventy-five pounds gross weight. His stomach was perfectly empty. He had got within one hundred yards of the ship, when the dogs sighted him and made him turn. A change in the routine is made for the spring and summer. When we are moving again some modifica- tions will occur. April 2d, Friday. — Daily routine, commencing April 1st, 1881 : — 5.00 A. M. Call ship's cook and cabin steward. 5.45 7.00 7.30 8.30 9.00 9.30 11.00 12.00 M. Call executive officer. Call all hands. Breakfast by watches. Turn to ; clear up decks ; clear fire-hole ; get soundings, etc. Watch below to go hunting. Clear forecastle ; open doors and scuttle for ventilation until 11.30 ; inspection by executive. Hoist the recall flag at the fore. Dinner by watches. 1.00 P. M. Turn to ; watch below to go hunting. 5.00 Hoist recall flag at the main. 5.30 Supper by watches. 6.30 Turn to. 8.00 Boatswain and carpenters report the de- partments. 20 if* . I! lli mm } .fl 306 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. 9.00 r. M. Open forecastle doors, and partly open scuttle until morning. 10.00 Lights out in forecastle ; noise and smok- ing to cease. By tUis new routine we still have but two cooked meals a day. The tea water for supper is boiled on the fire in the stoves in the cabin and berth deck as hereto- fore since November 1st. This arrangement will hold good as long as we keep the stoves going. But as I shall stop them as soon as we can safely (not comforta- bly) do without them, in order to save every lump of coal, some other way of boiling the tea water has to be devised. While Melville and I v.ere talking it over to- night, we thought it would be possible to make a little fire in the observatory stove do\m in the fire-room each evening, which would ))oil all the tea water together. But it suddenly Hashed into his mind that as we should be pumping by steam as long as the coal lasted we could boil the tea water by steam also. And with him to think being to act, the whole thing is un fait accompli If we can get along with pumping by the Baxter en- gine alone, we niiiy have a little trouble in thus boiling ui! ; water by steam ;, "o :'cause the steam-room is so shal- low that salt spray is lifted and carried along with the steam, and would mix with our tea water. If we are using the steam-cutter's boiler continuously, there will be no difficulty, for as it has a steam-drum on top of the boiler all danger of lifting salt spray is eliminated. How we may have to use it and the Baxter together, or only one of them, will appear a little later. We took out the port forward bilge-pump to-day, and put it down the fire-room hatch into the fire-room bilge, cutting a hole on the after side of the hatch coaming on the starboard side for the pump deliver}/. When it is -: UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 307 secured in place we shall move the Baxter engine and boiler down to the fire-room, and connect them by gear- ing somewhat similar to that now in use for the pump brake. Then the Baxter and steam-cutter's boiler be- ing side by side, — the one delivering water on the spar deck, the other delivering water through the side, — we shall open the forward floodgates and let all the water come aft into the fire-room. If the Baxter can pump all the water, we shall save the coal now consumed by the steam-cutter's boiler ; if the steam-cutter's boiler can do the work, we shall save the coal now used by the Bax- ter. At all events, if one alone cannot do it, we may light a fire under the steam-cutter's boiler in time to get tea water for supper, and pump with it also, say twelve hours, using the after bilge-pump by hand oc- casionally, if necessary, and thus save the coal now burned in twelve hours by this little boiler. I mention these items minutely, to show how care- fully we are watching our coal pile and making every pound do its work. I suppose any sensible person will admit that the propriety of pumping by steam is un- questionable. Under ordinary circumstances of a ves- sel at sea springing a leak, hand pumping for a long period to make a port is to be expected. But here in the Arctic seas, where for more than two months we have been leaking, and when for perhaps two months more we may be fast in the ice, the situation is quite different. Supposing tliat we had resorted to hand pumping, very probably one half of the ship's company would have been on the sick-list by this time, or if not sick at least worn out ; and had any accident cruslied the ship and forced us to abandon her, in what condi- tion would the crew have been to march two hundred miles over the ice, dragging heavy sledges, to the near- est settlement? If . 1 * ^ 1 I i I i 308 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. i 11 Having completed the work of clean' ng and restow- ing the forward store-room, we set to work to-day to perform a similar service for the after store-room. Hav- ing only the tent awning over the spar deck to protect it, the beams in the store-room, the pumps, and the iron knees made excellent condensers for all moisture formed below in the ward-room, and passing into the store-room through the communicating doorway. The forward bulkhead of Danenhower's and Collins' rooms, though well felted, likewise acted as condensers. Danenhow- er's room was thoroughly scraped the other day by his careful nurse, Johnson ; but Collins' room, being de- layed, commenced to thaw on him last night, wetting much of his clothing. The after store-room was one mass of frost on the parts above indicated, the pumps particularly seeming enlarged to twice their ordinary ^ize with ice. The usual monthly medical examination was com- menced to-day by the surgeon. So carefully has this examination been conducted, and so thoroughly is the men's condition known, and so satisfactory is the state of our health (except in Danenhower's case), .that upon the doctor's recommendation I decide to suspend the monthly examinations for the present, say for three months, unless some occurrence makes the resumption prudent. April 3(/, Saturday. — Mr. Dunbar, who seems to be regaining his old strength and endurance (although his gait is more like that of an old man than one of his years), took a long tramp with Alexey and Aneguin about seven miles S. E. from the ship. At that point he came to some very heavy ice, seemingly aground, as it had no motion, although with water around it. The extent of water may have been two hundred feet in UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 309 length and fifty feet in width, narrowing to cracks at either end. For several days he and I had observed from aloft a long ridge of ice to the southward, and had made conjectures as to its being stranded on a reef or shoal ; and since he has gone out there and thinks it looks much like it, he will on Monday make one more trip to sound. He says that while ho stood on the tloe edge looking at this ridge, everything being still, there commenced a trembling of the ice on which he stood, and a commotion in the water in front of him, when suddenly a large mass of ice as big as the after part of this ship cut off at the poop came up with a bound, and settled to its line of flotation. Being in some unac- countable manner liberated from the power that held it under the floe, it made its way naturally to the sur- face. The surgeon's report is rendered to-day. Of the eight officers, the condition of two is excellent, five good, and one fair (considering) ; of the tweiicy-three men, the condition of seventeen is excellent, six good ; and the condition of the two natives is excellent. Danenhower's case has no marked improvement. With the confinement he has undergone, and the cer- tain mental anxiety which he no doubt experiences, it is wonderful that scurvy has not selected him as a fair opportunity. As the temperature falls from G.8° to minus 13.5° we are evidently not done with winter yet. The familiar grinding and groaning of ice in motion was heard at one a. m. Somehow or other, I cannot help anticipating a considerable disturbance at our next new moon, on the 9th inst. Our sudden drift and re- cent high temperature indicate a loosening of the ice somewhere, and if we go toward the place we may be- come mixed with it. ti , ,■•; 310 THE VOYAGE OF THE .lEANNETTE. I had almost begun to believe that I knew how to and could niana<^e a doy; team, but I have changed mv mind. Hitching up eleven dogs to-day to a heavy sled, Melville and I started out on a cruise. We usually have merely to start the team on an old sledge track or foot way, and then, with the judicious use of a long lashed whip, we can ride on the sledge as if it were drawn by horses until the track ends or we wish to re- turn ; but to-day we could neither lead nor drive. The dogs would go a few hundred feet from the ship and then bolt, dragging us back to the gangway. If one of us took hold of the leaders, the middle of tlie team would double back. Whipping on one side would make them vault to the other, and though we occasionally weathered the dogs by getting the sledge caught in a snow bank, or capsizing it, when the curved ends would serve as an anchor, it would be only long enough to give us a breathing spell ; for as Ave had to get the sled free ourselves, the dogs had it all their own way, and tore us back to the ship. Finally, when almost ex- hausted with our conflict, we had to send a man ahead with the " sick " dog, who is a chum of Jack, our leader, and so contrived to keep his attention occupied while we managed the wheelers and mid-ship dogs. Even then one of the dogs was so averse to going that he would throw himself down, and be literally dragged by the neck and body for a hundred yards or more at a time, refusing to get up though beaten with the whip- stock until I was tired. Thus we managed to get a mile away from the ship, and then giving the dogs the charge they rattled us back gayly. AjJr'il 4ith, Sunday. — At ten a. m. had general mus- ter and read the Articles of War, after which I inspected the ship. The condition of dampness on the berth deck UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. SU 3ck is somt-what improved during the past week. The deck-house, having been relieved of much of the load of provisions stowed therein, .seems like a spacious apartment emptied of its furniture. By the end of this month the house will be for this season, at all events, a thing of the past, for I hope the temperature will have so far comfortably increased that we may re- move it entirely. The forward and after store-rooms having been cleaned and restowed are again in good order and condition, though I fear the low tempera- ture we are now experiencing may cause condensation again, and, later on, result in thaw and Avet. The ward- room and cabin are as usual dry and comfortable. Ajjril t>th, Monday. — And now one would imagine that we had arrived at the end of our resources for saving coal without resorting to hand power. But it is not so. Some days ago, in thinking matters over, I recollected having seen pumps run by Avindmills, and upon consulting Melville as to the practicability of mak- ing the necessary machinery on board ship I was grati- fied, but (knowing his genius and unfailing readiness to adapt the means to the end) not surprised, to have him say, " Can do it." He thought out all the details, and has immediately commenced working drawings for the construction of the windmill bilge-pump. He calcu- lates that with a wind of velocity equal to five miles an hour, we can have a mill that will do the work now done by the altered main engine bilge-pump run by the steam-cutter's engine. Of course when we have no wind we must pump by hand if we wish to save coal, but the number of hours of calm in a month has been so small that I think we can safely take the chances for the future. Sounded at noon in thirty-three fathoms, muddy bot- '■>i I'l i '' j . I ^1 312 I'lrE VOYAGK OF THE .TEANNETTE. Um\, a slijrht easterly drift heiii*^ inrlieated by the lead lilu^ A .seal has found our souudinj^ place a conven- ient breathin<^ hole, and comes there so rej^ulaily that no ice has been able to form over the centre of it since noon yesterday, but from the centre outward there is ice six inches in thickness in some places. Sunrise at 4.24, sunset at 7.40. Ob.served to-day for position, de- termining it to be in latitude 72" 30' N., longitude 178" 33' W., showing a drift since the 1st of eleven and ii half miles to S. by W. Temperature begins at minus 2F, falls to minus 23.5° by live A. M. This cold pnap is very unwelcome, because we have moved the Baxter from the deck-house, and have long since discontinued the deck- house stove, and that edifice is consequently as cold as charity. Looking forward to the future Avith the ex- perience of the past, I think it is likely that this cold will continue until the new moon on the 9th, after which I hope we shall have quite a moderate .spell. Mr. Dunbar in his wanderings to-day visited the ap- parentl}'^ grounded ice again, and saw quite a lane of open water, but nothing to shoot at. From our topsail yard a narrow ribbon of water can be seen running from S. W. around by W. to N. E., and averaging .seven miles in distance from us. April Qth, Tuesday. — For several evenings past, at eleven p. m., I have noticed a long, low streak in the N. W. that very much resembles land. It cannot be seen on our brightest days, becau.se the sun shines against it and hides it in the glare of the ice. But when the sun gets below the horizon and behind it, it comes out with distinctness enough to at least raise the suspicion that it is land. Of course it may be a stratus cloud, but it is somewhat singular that the same shaped cloud should be in the same place every night. UNOKK THE MIDNKWIT SU\. ?.13 US As the sun continues to set later an(l later we shall cre- lou^ resolve our doubts. April 7th, Wc(hies(f(i)f. — lliiviu^^ finished all our ooiniections with the new pump lig", and all hein^ in readino e marked from day to day, the time of these events varying greatly with thi refraction. I am scrupulously careful in my observations for position to apply to the mean refraction Chauvenet's corrections for height of barometer .and for temperature. At such altitudes the corrections are not very large ; but when the sun approaches its setting, foi instance, they are so markedly important as to make their omissions a seri- ous error. Ajjril ^th, Thursday. — Our pumping goes on now in this manner : When enough water gets aft into the fire-room to be worth the steam, the little cutter's en- gine pumps it out. At other times the steam-cutter's, boiler distills water. Every time the bell strikes, the man on watch works the forward spar deck bilge-pump until it draws air, which it generally does in from five to ten minutes. Our windmill pump rig gets on apace, Melville being engaged in making necessary forgings, and the carpenters working at such wood-work as :s required. April 9th, Friday. — Our new moon has come, with- out any of the disturbance I anticipated ; not even a jar occurred to note its arrival. The first bird of the year arrived to-day. A raven, flying from thi: south- ward, lighted on the ice near the ship long enough to UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 315 be plainly visible, and then flew to and disappeared among the rough ice about one hundred yards from us. Mr. Newcomb started after him to add him to the collection, but failed to find him. April 14th, Wednesday. — To-day our steward went to work clearing oui the ice from the tiller- room. This is a new name in my record, and requires explanation. Last fall 1 had the doors opening from the cabin into the chart-ruom unhung, and mounted between the pro- peller well and chart-room bulkheads, completely shut- ting off the after part of the cabin containing the rudder head and tiller. This shut-out space has acted as a perfect condensing chamber for the cabin, keep- ing our mess-room dry during the lowest temperature of the winter. I am stating nothing new when I say that all moisture will tly to a cold surface and condense. Shutting oft' the after pan of the cabin has made a cold room into which the moisture has penetrated, through cracks and the key-holes when the doors have been closed, and in volunes through the doorways when the doors have been opened, and ice has formed there from tlie condensation. Now that milder weather is coming, this must be removed, or else melting, it w .11 run in streams. Of course the condensing chamber has not benefited Chipp's room or mine, for our air ports, forward bulkhead, and the bulwark being exposed outside to the tempera- ture of the air have supplieu the cold surfaces nearer at hand for the condensation. The chart-rooms have had some ice, but not much, form on the buhvaik and book-shelves against the side, and of course the air ports have been one mass of frost. I am flrndy convinced that had our deck-house extended forward to entirely cover the berth deck, the berth deck would . ' 11 ;i i;? '\\] ! 316 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ; have been dry ; and if we had not been obliged to use our Baxter boiler for distilling, and afterwards for pumping, so largely increasing the moisture which was carried to the berth deck as to use up all the cold space presented oy the sheet-iron ventilating cover, and air port frames, and demand more, the deck would have been drier than we have found it. As a rule for my future guidance I will say. Provide the coldest sur- faces in the desired places, and then the dampness and condensation will be under control. This cold-surface method annoys me in one way, namely, by fogging up the glasses of the roof of the artificial horizon. 1 have generally placed the horizon on the small table on the tloe, but the table, having been moved the other day for some purpose or other, has not been refastened thoroughly enough to keep the mercury still in any wind. 1 therefore place the horizon trough in the thin snow on the Hoe, and grind down the roof into the snow to keep out all wind. In a few moments the heat of the sun through the glass next to it raises the tem- perature within ; moisture arises from the warming snow, and immediately flies to the cold surface, first to the glass in the roof away from the sun, and there deposits, becoming a film of ice as soon as the roof is lifted from the snow. By an accident or carelessness our water supply for tlje day was spoiled this morning by Boyd, the fireman on watch. Our steam-cutter boiler is fed from the sea always, but on this occasion the feed was taken from the bilge. The result was that the distilled water was so bad in taste as to be nauseating. The water-barrel will need several scourings and cleanings before it loses the bad taste, and for a day or so we must fall back upon snow-water. UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 317 IS Having a large stock of bear meat on hand, I ap- proved Chipp's suggestion to make some of it up into sausage-balls, mincing pork with it and adding pow- dered herbs. Our St. Michael's salmon were finished yesterday, and I fear we shall find it hard to supply their place. Canned fish cannot be said to be a nour- ishing or agreeable kind of food. An exception may possibly be made in favor of canned salmon, but that alone. We have a barrel of codfish which Captain Jes- person, of the Fanny A. Hyde, caught while becalmed off St. Lawrence Island, and which he salted down ; and as the fish is solid it will be a more acceptable food than the rags and small pieces which all canned fish (except salmon) seem to be. The work of restowing the small holds being com- pleted, our quarter deck is now quite clear. What a comfort it is to see the deck again after so many months can hardly be appreciated by one who has not been circumstanced like ourselves. -4/>n7 15th, Thursday. — This morning upon getting up I was inforr.ed that a suspicion of land to N. N. W. was occasioned by the peculiar appearance of some clouds in that direction. Upon going on deck I saw whc* all seafaring people would call clouds hanging over the land, but though ^^e peered anxiously and l\opefully with glasses we could see nothing of the sup- posed land underneath. A strong corroboration of the suspicion occurred in the sight of two snow-buntings, which flew towards the ship from the southward, and after a moment's rest on the ice flew toward this sus- pected discovery They mi jht have remained near the ship, but as soon as they alighted on the ice under our flying jib-boom the lean dog Wolf, always ready for a mouthful, rushed for them and drove them away. ! t ! i i u ^ I 318 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. j I 1!^; I'\ Wl I' Once more are my eyes gladdened by seeing the yel- low top of the poop. We went to work to-day and removed the thick coat of snow which has made it seem all winter like the effect of an avalanche, and the change is more than pleasing. The large amount of dirt, ashes, empty cans, etc., which was alongside the ship to port, was also removed to-day, a faint, disagree- able odor arising from it, warning me how objection- able ii might become a month from now. We are slowly but surely cleaning up, and becoming more like a ship than a frozen habitation. Our bear sausage-balls were tried at breakfast to-dny and pronounced good, though hardly seasoned enough. That is a fault easily remedied, however. Sounded at noon in thirty-three fathoms, a drift to the N. W. being indicated by the lead line. The seal kept a breathing hole open, but three and a half inches of ice formed outr^ide of it. April HJth, Friday. — We find that removing the snow from the poop, thus uncovering the yellow-painted canvas, presents a surface which attracts and absorbs the heat of the sun's rays, and by radiation upward affects the readings of our thermometers. Accord- ingly (though the uncertainty of the ice makes their situation risky) the box containing them is removed to the lioe, and secured against two upright stakes driven in the ice. The black bulb in vacuo is also removed, and the anemometer will follow. I shall hope now that no sudden smash-up of the ice will involve a loss. I concluded to-day to move out the secretary bureau in my room, and clear out the accumulation of ice from behind it. The drawers had long since become so swollen from the dampness as not to stir ; and though I had the carpenter plane them down considerably, they 1.1' the yel- day and J it seem and the nount of :side the iisagree- bjection- We are lore Hke it to-day enough. H I I drift to Phe seal f inches 11,'. ing the •painted ahsorbs upward Accord- as their oved to i driven smoved, ow that Joss. I reau in ;e from ome so lOUgll I y, they t m II 1 IS II I 11 iW»*.;««4.vi«j«iB(i|it«(,^ii Movwai..) FT HH "! ■• I . I Kt il : ! II' ■ ' i"\ I >1; . '^ I I 4 ■Al :i. y MAiTM'^AjtaA jffi llnBi in fc ■ r M'-- ii ir-n ^^ ^ nj i rH i r ■ i ■ WT i ^w • -" rfi i r"tf? l\ 'i^ .- 1 1 -'1 aa ■*' ; 1 1 ii U n II :i I .f: UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 310 pleased to swell up again so much and so quickly that, I yielded the point and did not use my bureau again. After a hard light to-day 1 got the bureau to move. So much ice had formed between its end and the forward bulkhead and its back and the bulwark that it was frozen as one solid mass. I do not think I exaggerate a bit when I say that over sixty pounds of ice were re- moved. I took out one slab which weighed about twenty-live pounds ; and there were in addition two buckets full of small lumps and scraps picked up with a shovel. The paint work of my room, which had be- come a fine specimen of black color, was cleaned par- tially by the steward, and the contrast of clean white to beautifully dirty black is so glaring as to be almost painful to my eyes. The frost in the lower drawer of my bureau had taken full charge, making it necessary for me to work with a hannner and break the ice be- fore I could get a pair of pantaloons out. However, I have suffered no inconvenience during the winter, and by a little work now I have anticipated a thaw. The walrus meat and the sucking mother bear, con- demned for dog food, were some time since removed to the floe from the house-top, and piled up alongside of a whole walrus now lying there. This food is con- stantly watched by the dogs, who change parties but never relax in vigilance, lest by some mishap the dead animals might get up and walk away. It took them some little time to get accustomed to the order forbid- Hb>^yM«H'r^» 322 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. va 1 ■•M At two A. M. sounds were hesird from the S. E. and E., where tlie ice was in motion. Aj^ril 18th, iSimdat/. — Another week gone, nnd hut a few miles nearer the pole than we were last Sunthiy. The winter is '' lingering in the lap of spring " with a vengeance. If tlie spring lingers in the lap of sunuuer in like manner, our progress in any direction is very prohlematical. One needs an inexhaustible fund of pa- tience under these circumstances, and an amount of hopeful anticipation not called for in lower latitudes. Each night when I write up my journal. I am strongly impressed with the fact that I have made no valualde addition to it, and yet each night I hope for something better on the morrow. Much as I have written here, it conveys no idea of the extent of the thinking, which cannot be recorded properly. No plans can ))e defi- nitely formed in our situation. Much depends on what is presented to us from day to day as the ice breaks up (if it ever does), the condition of the leak at the time, and our ability to handle the ship under canvas with her necessarily bad trim. When the time comes action will )jc taken, based generallv on the feeling that a fight should never be given up while there is a chance of the slightest success. At ten A. M. I inspected the ship, finding everything assuming tidy and ship-shape appearances, and being impressed with the fact that if anything more were put in the fire-room the engineer's force would have to move on deck. Then divine service was performed. Our Sunday dinner is always something looked forward to with pleasure. All winter we have had roast seal or roast bear with cranberry sauce, macaroni, potatoes, pickles, bread, a soup, of course, duff, coffee, and choco- late, and always a glass of ale, or porter, or sherry, as 11 -rfii I 'fi^ liifcrtdtttift-Mi -feiiiri UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 323 the case might be. 1 do not think our bill of fare could be much improved. As will api)eiir Irom my billn of fare mentioned herein before, one day in the week, Satin-day, has been allotted a certain amount of pemmican. Our American pem- mican had been exclusively used to within a week, and it occurred to me to give the English pennnican, carried in the Alert, and purchased by Mr. Bennett from the admiralty, a trial ; accordingly, an issue was mnde of it. I confess w^ did not like it in its simple form a.'; well as that of American manufacture It was dull and taste- less. The pemmican was of the sweetened kind, much preferred by the English to the unsweetened, as I was informed by Captain Markham. It being suggested that it would make a delicious soup, our Chinese stew- ard was commanded to prepare some and alt o to make a stew. Br.r ..s he decided in his own mind that he knew a tii'^k worth two of ours, he mixed so many things with the compounds — for instance, b.acon with the soup, and corned beef with the stew — that we were bewildered as to what particular taste predominated, and the experiment had no value. I must admit that the steward made very savory and acceptable food in both cases, but our purpose was defeated for the pres- ent. Between the two kinds eaten out of the hand, as might frequently be the case while sledging, we give the nreference to American pemmican. Besides having moi* i.iisins to increase the saliva, the meat and fat go down together, while in the English article the chewing is driei and the fat seems to separate from the meat nd cling to the roof of the mouth. As a soup and as a stew, I shall express an opinion after a trial. The wasting ar on of the ice-field on the surface, as remarked by me heretofore, still continues. From i ■J. ■ !;>:' nir ■rs T J 1 ■^ <)m > jjn l in t( ii i ln iii »»iji iiww» ;uw- t 324 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. I aloft the view is far less discourf^ging than it was a month ago. Then the ice-field v as all broken up by confused masses and heaps of shattered floes, the result of the whiter's conflicts. Under such circumstances I fear five miles a day would have been an impossibility with loaded sledges. Now these masses are greatly re- duced, and though rough and hummocky they are not impossible to pass ; I think a mile an hour might be made without great difficulty. Then if we had been forced to abandon our ship by her being destroyed we could have reached the Siberian settlements only by a miracle ; now, if our ship by some accident is taken from us, our chances of reaching Siberia, or open water, are greatly in our favor. By excellent observations I establish our position to-day in latitude 72° 45' 46" N., and longitude 178° 16' W., and a magnetic variation 22° 15' JE. April i9th, Monday. — In progressing with the Avork of cleaning ship the starboard chart-room had its turn to-day. The accumulation of ice was considerable l)ack of the drawers, where the moisture from the cabin had condensed, but not so great as in my room and in the tiller-room. To try to force the backward spring I al- tered the arrangement of things in my room, closing the door leading into the chart-room, and opening the door conmumicating with the cabin, and thenco by the starboard door to the deck. I am somewhat premature, I find, for my room is too cold for comfort, whereas during the winter I v/as at least moderately comfort- able. Having had the box containing the transit in- strument under my mattress ever since leaving San Francisco,.! concluded to place it under m-y berth in- stead, thereby gaining a more comfortable rest in a less elevated position. UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 325 it was a cen up by the result nstances I possibility greatly re- y are not might be had been Toyed we only by a is taken en water, vations I 5' 46" N., variation the work 1 its turn ible back abin had id in the ing I al- , closing iiing the j by the mature, whereas Romfort- msit in- ing San erth in- in a less I do not know that I have laid particular stress hith- erto on the excellent salt beef which we have. It is served out on Monday regularly forward and aft for dinner, in addition to the regular diet. It is beyond exception the finest salt beef I have ever eaten. Our • process of packing it in snow and soaking it in sea wa- ter softens it »'(hile it entirely removes its saltness, and it is thoroughly enjoyed. To-day our steward surprised us with a delicious potato salad with canned chicken, — a novelty, 1 undertake to say, never enjoyed before in the Arctic regions after a winter's experience. We have other good things in the shape of ale and porter in barrels. Were I undertaking another cruise of this character I would take three times as much as we brought, at least, and as much more as the vessel could stow. It is beyond all estimable value for cruises of this kind. Hoff's bottled malt extract is no doubt very good in its effect, but from its peculiarly bitter-sweet taste it seems more hke a medicine than a beverage. We have had a glass of ale, or a glass of porter, or a bottle of this extract for dinner aft on Wednesdays and Sundays, and forward it has been served out sometimes once a week and sometimes once a fort- night. We made an unpleasant discovery to-day in the shape of fresh dampness on the berth deck. I think that ice has formed between the frames outside of the berths, by the condensation of moisture from the men in sleeping. At all events a drip takes place into the lockers under the berths, which makes it im})ossible to keep clothing there. At the first of the leak caused by iijjury to the ship, the water being choked off in the fore peak rose between the frames and flpwod over on the berth deck, keeping it wet, and now a similar result is threatened. We shall avoid it, however, by ■1 i 'y i^ r-^. T(l >' «« hl«»» HTf< »ll — > r«' i ii i Taaii »i 326 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 1' .« l f r \ i ;j I 1 \ bolting long strips of battens lengthwise to the deck in-board of the lockers and caulking them, and by bor- ing holes in the deck to let the water descend into the fore peak and flour-room. Iversen, while a mile and a half south of the ship, found and brought in the following articles : seven 'small pieces of wood, one bunch of vegetable matter, one piece of birch-bark, and one small leaf. These were, of course, originally from the land, probably Si- Ijeria, but when, how, or under what circumstances they left the land must remain a mystery ; although we know that being found so close to the ship they are not of this year's arrival. Nothing more has been seen of the supposed land of the 15th inst., so I cannot connect these fragments with it. At midnight heavy water-sky from E. S. E. to S. W. The windmill was mounted in place over the star- board side of the bridge and secured. Two of the legs of the supporting tripod rest on the bridge, and the third on the water-tank. A hole is bored down through the bridge for the connecting' rod which the machinist is fitting, while Sweetman is at work with a new piunp brake rig, to connect it with the bilge-pump, in the after corner of the fire-room hatch. April 2Qfh, Tuesday. — One of the two walruses killed some time ago was left out on the ice close to the ship until the want of dog food necessitated its being cut up. At the time of its capture Alcxey re- niiu-ked that " it had young one inside ; " and Mr. Newcomb's zeal to possess it as a specimen almost tempted me to have the necessary post-mortem ex- amination made on the spot. As, however, it would have been difficult to keep the meat from the dogs (while left as it was its soon frozen hide made a per- fi UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 327 (logs per- fect armor, against which even dogs' teeth could not prevail), I concluded to wait. To-day, however, it was cut up, and to our astonishment, instead of a foetus, we found pai't of a young seal (oogook) in its stomach ; known io be young because having its first coat of hair. It is weh l.nown that the walrus eats shell-lish, clams, etc., which it digs up with its tusks, but this fact proves the carnivorousness of this mammal. Mr. Dimbar and Alexey while away on a tramp to- day shot and apparently killed a walrus, but he es- caped them by sinking. The place recommended to fire at is under the throat upward, that the ball may reach the brain. Such a tremendous bone is over the brain that a bullet will flatten on it. Mr. Dunbar's shot struck him in the neck, and the wound appeared to craze him, for he tore along breaking through young ice, bleeding heavily, without attempting to escape by diving. Alexey then fired and hit him in the head, wdiereupon the carcass straightened out and sank. Everything being in place, the windmill was attached to the shifted bilge-pump to-day and set to work. The wind was hardly strong enough to enable it to work this large pump, the mill occasionally heinging fire on the centre. As it was originally intended for a pump of boiler tubes three inches in diameter, making it work a pump six inches in diameter was hardly a fair trial. We were calling upon the pump for four times as much work as it was designed to perforin. However, with slight change, we believe we can make it work this pump, and so save the time and labor necessary to make a three-inch pump. The change suggested by Chipp is tc remove the canvas sails and substitute tin ones, which being but little heavier will stand flatter and offer more resistance ; and this is put in train, the i 1 f ■ .^Mm*,- ■•sa»i»s-"( 328 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. 1 .1 ill , Ih.i.. dozen of empty titi boxes on the floe being used as .a stock. April 21st, Wednesday. — Upon examination this morning we found that the ditch around the stern was completely flooded, the lower layer of ice having evi- dently been broken by the upward pressure of the wa- ter beneath. No serious difficulty is anticipated from this, however, because the comparatively reasonable temperature which we are now experiencing will not cause very heavy ice to form, which would hold the ship down. We are still hoping and praying for a re- lease. We have seen so much water- sky around us that we have grown impatient at our imprisonment, and anxious to move on in some direction or other for a change. A raven {Cor mis carnivorus) came from the southward to-day and stopped near the ship. But of course the dogs ran for it, and it flew away, proceed- ing to N. W. A very faint suspicion of land again, this timo in N. April 22d, Thursdcuj. — Another bird paid us a visit to-uay, this time a small, dull-colored land bird, which came from the S. E., and being driven oft* by the dogs flew to the west in an nndulatory lliglit of quick, short, intermittent strokes of the wings. Snuffy, our dog with the broken nose, has a most won- derful power to hold on to life. Although I know that he will never be of use again, I hardly like to have him shot, preferring to give him all of his life that he can hang on to. Occasionally he seems going, as, for in- stance, to-day, when he was lying on an old mattress on the rubbish heap, seemingly at his last gasp. Being occupied with taking sights, I postponed his shooting until the afternoon, when, going out to see that he had not died in the mean while, 1 found, him gone one hun- mlttf!Mm>* iXBKh^ ■ UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 329 dred yards or 80, and as frisky and far from death as ever. No doubt this is a small thing to set forth at such length, but when all days are alike, and but little occurs to break the monotony, even an occurrence like the foregoing seems an unusual item. At nine p. m. we thought we saw land N. N. W. be- yond a doubt. But as we brought our glasses to bear on it, it was doubtful if it was not a cloud. There was so much open water around the horizon, and so much water-sky above it, that all sorts of shapes were pre- sented to our view in mist or cloud. As we are now where no ship has ever been, so far as is known, we are prepared for some kind of a discovery, and as land is most in our thoughts we are not unwilling to believe the first ^^lance of our c^^es. Amil 23(:Z, Friday. — Having a clear, bright day af- ter eight A. M., we took advantage of the glorious sun- light to air bedding and clothing, and at the same time scrub and clean the berth deck. It will seem strange to some to air bedding at a temperature between 3° and 7°, but to us the air is soft and almost balmy, and we bathe, so to speak, in the brilliant light. To see our dogs basking in the sun at this temperature, fat and lazy as walrus meat and no work can make them, one woidd imagine we were in the tropics. As the sun goes down (somewhere now after nine p. m.), and our canine friends begin to come home to roost, the moisture con- Jcii..es on them as frost, and they look like pulf -balls. But still they sleep on, insensible alike to cold and frost. At 8.30 p. M. we had a visit from a snow bunting {Plec- trojjhanes nixalifi). Before Newcomb could get a shot at it the dogs went for the bird and drove it off. It came from the E. and flew to the 8. W. April 24th, Saturdutj. — Sounded at noon in thirty- I \' I i I 8' !• |i I 330 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. Hi ' seven fathoms, a drift to N. N. W. being indicated by tlie lead line. I got a meridian altitude showing N. 72° 52' for our latitude, so we are proceeding to the northward, at all events, as well as deepening our water. That we may continue to do so is my fervent hope, for the higher the latitude the more satisfaction, and the deeper the water the greater chance of a speedy break- ing up of the ice, by reason of movement by wind or the yet to be discovered current. A measurement of the thickness of the floe at the sounding hole gives forty inches ; and as at the last measurement it gave forty-eight inches, a waste has occurred to just the extent of eight inches. Ajjril 2bth, Sunday. — The passage of another week and the arrival of another Sunday becomes memorable, because we have progressed nearer to the Pole by nine miles. During the past week S. E. has been the pre- vailing wind, and we have correspondingly gone N. W. That we have thus drifted indicates a loosening of the ice to the northward and westward, probably in the neighborhood of the Liakhof (or New Siberia) Islands, from 74° to 7G°. As the season advances and the weather grows milder, the ice openings and perhaps movements ought to be greater to correspond, and we may be able to extricate ourselves and accomplish some- thing yet. Our soundings to-day are something ex- traordinary, — forty-four and one half fathoms (hard bottom), — being an increase of nine fathoms since yesterday. We may have struck a deep hole, or we may be leaving the shallow water in which we have been drifting all winter, and getting to veritable Arctic Ocean. A northerly drift being still indicated by the lead line, we shall be to some extent wiser to-morrow. At ten A. M. I inspected the ship, finding the berth m UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 331 deck nicely clciin, and, satisfactory to say, quite dry. We are so changing from the torpid appearance we presented during the winter to the ship-shape and tidy condition we are generally accustomed to that, were it not for the leak and the steady pump, pump, we could soon forget all our past discomforts in planning for the future. Following inspection, we had divine service in the cfihin. April 2Q(h, Monddy. — Onr soundings dropped sud- denly to thirty-one fathoms (thirteen and one half fath- oms less than yesterday), and as our position to-day (lat- itude 72° 5G' N., longitude 179° 16' W.) is only two and one half miles N. W. of our position of yesterday, we must assume that we -struck a deep hole. A bit of excitement occurred this afternoon at 4.30 by the cry of " Bear ! " A young, or at all events small, bear had come up to about three hundred yards of the ship, Avhen the dogs gave the alarm, and out tumbled Chipp, Dunbar, the natives, and the dogs in pursuit. Ilis bearship left incontinently, and as the snow-drifts made heavy traveling for bipeds he succeeded in escap- ing, to our regret, as young bear is line eating. April 2Sth, Wechiesdaij. — By three p. m. the wind- mill was in place, and connected with the shifted bilge- pump in the corner of the fire-room hatch. The sails made of sheeting having been found to possess too lit- tle surface, and to sag in too much, had been removed, and in their places fans made of sheet tin (utilized from our empty coffee and sugar tins) had been secured with wire stops. So well did the new rig work, that at eight p. m. we stopped pumping forward by hand, opened the starboard llood-gate, and allowed all the water to come aft. Up to midnight the windmill was working admirably, enabling us to save a little coal on li :U ^ .a lii i I*, -.y 332 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNET'lE. the steam-cutter rig, which is now used for distilling only. To provide lor light wind, Melville commenced to-day the construction of a pump of boiler tubes, also to be worked by the windmill. To determine by ex- periment which will be the most economical of fuel, — the Baxter or the steam-cutter's engine, — I directed Melville to use the Baxter hereafter for distilling and unavoidable steam pumping. Chipp has been hard at work of late making fuses and torpedoes, in anticipation of our needing them for our future operations. We have plenty of powder for blast- ing purposes, and Chipp, with his torpedo experience, has manufactured the necessary weapons. Mr. Dunbar has earned among us the reputation of making a mile, according to his reckoning, as near two, judging from our feelings, as can be. Last fall, upon the occasion of killing some walruses, he came back for a boat, and as lie said the distance was about a mile, the doctor, Mel- ville, and myself started with him, a team of dogs drag- ging the boat on the sled. We ran the best three miles 1 ever saw, and were pretty well used up before we got to the end of his mile. To-day, when he started out, I got him to carry a pedometer hitched to his pocket. On his return he said he thought he had gone about three miles in all, but I could see in his face he felt he wa> saying too much — that he ought to have made it less. The pedometer read live miles. Rule : Multi[)ly Mr. Dunbar's estimate by two, and then judge whether you are game to hold out. Although I am sure the ice is wasting under the sun, it wastes far too slowly for me. I am anxious to get on. To-day our latitude is N. 72° 59' 54" (almost 73°), and I am hoping that 73° is a barrier which, once passed, we shall go on with some credit to ourselves and the name ! sun. UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 333 the ship bears. The snow is soft, and the walking ex- tremely bad. Without any warning one Hounders in up to his knees in rifts between chunks, and the shock of the slip and the hauling out of one's legs soon dis- gusts the most zealous walker. And yet we cannot find any snow fit to make drink- ing water. Try we ever so carefully, in our choice to take the newest fallen, to seek the crevices where snow may have lodged on other snow, escaping i(;e contact, the result is the same, with this exception, 1 almost be- lieve, that the newest fallen is the saltest. Using such snow for drinking or cooking is out of the question. Temperature begins at 20°, rises to 25° at noon, and falls to 13.5° at midnight. As soon as the sun sets (now somewhere about. 10. 20 p. m.) the temperature changes quickly. As long as the sun is in sight one can almost see the cinders and ashes settle in the snow. The black absorbs so much heat that it eats its way down like magic. Oh, as I have said before, that the snow and ice were only black ! Ajml oOth, Friday. — The last day of April. Our total drift, as shown by observations, for the month, amounts to eighty-four and two tenths miles to and fro. Actually made good in a straight line forty-six miles to N. 50° W., — slow progress, and almost disheartening. Still it is an advance, and that is something. The sunrise was obscured by fog, but the sun set at 11.23, being enormou.sly enlarged by refraction, and having an inverted parhelic segment over it very much smaller than the main disc. This is having daylight with a vengeance. I could not help feeling for these who are obliged to support life (and apparently with com- fort) with much less. Chipp observed a flock of about twenty ducks (eiders) P ,'v m ' ( (1.1 T; ', w^ I i u 334 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. flying high and steering west. No doubt they were bound for some bind in that direction, but though we strained our eyes and gbisses as the sun got around there we could see none of it. Removed our cabin porcbes to-day, letting in much desired light. May \)it, Saturday. — Sun visible at midnight. The mouth of May set in with as clear, bright, and beautiful weather as I ever saw, and even the grim, icy monot- ony of our surroundings was not enough to prevent us from enjoying it. A bright sun, absolutely cloudless sky, and a temperature during the afternoon of from 27.5° to 29.8°, made up together a romantic Arctic day, neechng only navigable water to make it perfection itself. Such a thing as remainhig on board ship was out of the question. Everybody except Danenhower was out on the ice. Doors were thrown wide open, fires were let die out, and all hands gave themselves up to basking in the beauty without. It may be hard to believe, but really some of us were sunbui'ued to a bril- Hant red. The dogs actually panted with the heat, and were disagreeably warm to the touch. Our spare sails, which have been exposed all winter to the weather on the poop, were overhauled and found in perfect condi- tion, having suffered no injury whatever, and were treated to a sunning ; and generally such an airing of clothing, bedding, and awnings took place, and such a pleasurable bustle, that one was led to look with some expectation to a brighter progress in our movements than had heretofore characterized them. To make the day still more eventful, the sun, which had risen at 0.55', remained with his upper limb above the horizon at midnight, as if loath to quit so pleasant a scene. By a curious freak of temperature common to us of late, the thermometer commenced to fall as soon as the sun in UNDER Tllh MIDNIGHT SUN. 335 had i^assed the prinie vertical (about 0.2-') p. m.), and as th ) day dosed had timiblod to 1.5', — a disagreea- ble reminder that one May day doe^ not make a sum- mer any more than one swallow doe.s. Mr. Dunbar liaving in his wanderings come across two sets of bear-tracks about three miles from the .ship, along a small lead in the ice, a trap was sent out and set for them. They had evidently caught a .seal asleep and eaten it, for blood was on the ice in various places. A calculation of the amount of the leak, or, in other words, the amount of water pumped over board, re- .sults in placing it at 300 gallons an hour, — a vast im- provement over February 2()th, when 1,647 gallons per hour were pumped out of the .ship. The cause of the decrease can only be conjectured, for we may not know it for .some time. Either that portion of the forefoot which we assumed to have been broken has been shoved back by ice pressure and closes the leak, or our cement and other material are doing more toward checking the inward How of the water tiian we had counted on. I am sufficiently grateful, however, for the saving of fuel thereby residting, to prevent me from finding fault with either cause. May 2d, Sunday. — Since placing the compasses in the binnacles on Friday, I have carefully watched them to get a deviation table made up from my magnetic bearings from the ice. A very curious feature has been observed in connection with them. As the temperature falls each night (sometimes getting down to single fig- ures) the needles are drawn to the right several degrees, and as the temperature increases in the morning they gradually go back again, resuming a normal position when the temperature, generally speaking, is 15° and over, as the needles of the compasses (Ritchie's liquid) i ' I >ll 33G THE VOYACK OF THE JEAXXETTIO. ■t are of coursu not li^^ht or (lelicato enough to indicivto HC'cular variiitions ; and as no sitcli niovciiient ot" the ship in azimuth takos place, 1 can only account for it by the action of the temperature on the mixture of glycerine and alcohol on which the cards float. In anticipation of the coming- of warm weather and the consequent hunting to ensue, a general cleaning and overhauling of rilles and shot-guns took place on {Satur- day, some miscellaneous target fii'ing taking place with good results, as showing skill. Everybody felt satisfied that with such marksmanship and the trifling assist- ance of a bear-trap some game must soon be hanging in the rigging. To-(hiy the trap was visited, but to the disgust of everybody was imtenanted. Two bears had visited it, and one had oven trodden on it without being caught. In setting it the trap had been buried in the snow, which hardened so much around it as to make it impossible to close. Hence our disappoint- ment. However we have not finished eating our hist capture, and to-day at dinner could well appreciate that a bear on the table was worth two not in the trap. At ten A. M. we had general muster, and read the Arti- cles of War, after which I inspected the ship, finding everything trim and neat. Our colors were set for the first time in this part of the world I am certain. At the conclusion of the inspection divine service was per- formed. May od, Monday. — Our first case of eyes damaged by snow occurred to-day in Mr. Dunbar, The man of most experience, and generally the greatest care in such matters, is tlie first to go under. His is not a seri- ous case, however, and he will be around in a day or two. His eagerness to try my Winchester led him to wander around looking for bears more than was pru- dent. UNKEIl THE MIDN'UIHT SUN. O •> T .JO 7 day or him to M(ii/ ifh, 7\i<'S(/ai/. — Our rxpt'i-inict^ on tliis cruiHe may not only Ik* oI' ii(lviint!i to onrsflvcs but it may Hurvu to iK'coniplisli an iniprovcmont in some articles of Arctic outlit. On ono occasion when Melville iind I sat looking; at our stove and won(lerin«i; it' it could not be made to answer more than one |)uri)ose (for so eco- nonucal have we become that nothing seems valuable lor I'uture equipment that cannot do at least two things), the (juestion came up as to whether a stove might not be made to distill watei" as well as keep a room or cnbin warm. Melville promptly said yes, it could be done, and that even our cabin stove nnght bo made to distill, with some additional (ittings, a small quantity ol" water ; but that the necessity of arranging those fittings, so that the salt or scale might be re- moved as it accumulated, would involve such a dispro- portionate amount of gearing for the result gained, with so much additional consumption of fuel, that we would be not as well off as with our present distiller, especially as we have to puh p by steam. Recurring to the subject to-day I asked him to give me his plan of such an ap})aratus as would heat and distill with the greatest economy, for some possible Arctic ship in the future. 1 am so convinced that he has solved a great problem and produced an incalculably valuable article of outlit, that 1 would be almost sulliciently ready to undertake another Arctic voyage for the express pur- pose of proving it. Should we be so fortunate as to return without having had the scurvy break out among us, I thiidv it will be because we had piu"e water to drink, for I do not think that our situation is thus far any less prejudicial to general health than the Tegethoff's or De Haven's Expedition, both of which wintered in the pack and 22 1 •1 i B> h \ >' 338 THE VOYAGE OF 'JIIE JEANNETTE. were afflicted with scii' vy to f. considerable extent. But inasmuch as the I^ares' Expedition were consum- ing water which was pure (according to the nitrate of silver test, as testified to by Dr. Moss), and yet broke down with scurvy, there may l)e some other cause to aflect us which we have yet to learn (and avoid, for we do not want the proof by experience). It is very hard and jdmost impossible to get men to understand the importance of this matter (when I say men I mean the average seaman before the mast). Last fall Avhen I wps straining every nerve to keep snow water from being drunk after we found it becoming impure, and burning coal more precious than diamonds, to distill with the Baxter boiler, some outrageous things would occur. Though the men knew that diarrha'Ji had beer\ caused l)y impure water, and that h would continue while such water was used, no judgment could be discerned in some of them. For instance, as the sup])ly of distilled water was just equal to the demand for drinking and cooking, it would not be quite cool at all times, and though a moment's exposure of a tin pot to the outside air would have cooled it more than enough, goodness knows, a man would fill his tin cup hall" full of snow before dipping it in the barrel, not only making Iiis own potful impure but .-ipoiling more or less tlie water in the barrel. Of course that was stopped, the barrel headed up, and a faucet inserted, and the fireman on duty put in charge of it. Again, the cook finding the snow water, for cleaning dishes, etc., ]>leasant enough to the taste, would add much or little to the tea water as the distilled watd' was more or less scant. This could be shopped and was stopped. To liiin the idea of necessary quantity was more impor- tant than any over-sensitiveness as to (quality. Tliese merely illustrate the lack of judgment. r-t, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 339 ) extent. consuni- iiitrtite of et broke cause to cl, for we }t men to len I say ist). Last eep snow becoming liamonds, )us things (liarrlia^i , h would lent could }e, as the e demand te cool at of a tin nore than is tin cup larrel, not linu; more that was inserted, . Again, ig dishes, much or was more ! stopped. )re impor- y. These Now the difficulty arises about insuring the wearing of snow-spectacles. They are inconvenient, and to some unpleasant, but none the less important and necessary. Thougli they may not entirely prevent snow-blindness, they will guard against it longer than an uncovered eye, and make its effects less painful and lasting. I see that hmnan judgment will lead the average seamr.n to prefer certain snow-blindness to a probable frecl.'.n from it, raid hence I shall issue a stringent order on the subject. At four o'clock this afternoon a large bear ]iaid us a visit, and but for our haste might now be adorning our rigging. The reporting of a bear sets us all on fire, and away Ave go. When Ericksen came into the cabin and said " Bear," out jumped the doctor, Newcomb, and myself with ritles and sped over the side. The dogs seeing us n/sli jumped to their feet, and scenting or see- ing the bear al)out two hundred yards otf made for him. That was enoudi : he turned and ran. 1 fired at him (hitting him, I afterwards learned, in the left fore- shoulder), but on he sped, dogs and all in chase, and though hotly pursued he gained so much that when at three nules he came to a water l.i- o one hundred yards wide, he had time to swim across it, and gain some hummocks on the other side before Alexey got to the edge. Here Alexey fired, and says he iiit him, but I'C went down behind the rough ice and was seen no more. He says before he fired he saw the blood fiowing from the bear's left shoulder, and had seen the Ijloody trail he left behind, A pleasant report came back from the open water that . there were "plenty birds," and as we are nnich interested in that fact from Icve of bird pie as well as for naturalist's reasons, Mr. Newcomb prepares for a battue on the morrow. b : !i 340 TFIK VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. as j\f(i>/ ^)th. We(hh'!<(lfit/. — To-(lny is iiHMiiorahk' showing' our position to be wt'st of llic ISOtli nKM'idi.'in, an extraordinary tx'cnri'cncc in view oi' the still" N W. wind and flic indicated drift S. K. hv the lead line. Either onr ice-lield ninst have aequired sntlicient niove- nient dnring- the long continnance of S, P], wind to work to windward wMtli the eliansie. or we are in a N. W. cnr- rent. 1 do not change the date, foi' in a day or two we nia\' heixin to uo hack and soon (ind onrsidves east of that niei'idiaii, necessitating a further change, and so on hack -Old foith. When, therefore, we are so far in east longitude as t(» niak(? onr crossing to west longitnde again a tjui'stion of considerable time. I shalU change our date. Meanwhile we will go on as befoi-e. Onr position exactly is in latitude 73' U' 24". longi- tude 179' 37' 30" E.'. a drift of eight miles N. (13" \v. having taken place since tl;e 1st. or two miles ;i day perhaps. Newconib and Alexey went out on a shoot- ing excursion and bronght liack three guillemots. Nothing coidd be found of th«' bear shot yester- day, and so we are that much out. Md// !(lfij/. — A party going to the hsid tlwHie miles S. E. of the shi]) IfMiuil it slowly clos- ing i.p from ii»*' movement of the lioe<, and x\\v\ saw sowtw gnille- nit)ts and the tracks of a fox. Tests for carbonic acid at ten p. M. on the berth deck give l.OO volumes ]ior 1.000. or .lill) per cent. A very gcjod •showing lor peoj^le living undei oiu' <'ircnmstances. J/f/// 7///. Fi'iihiij. — The watcr-'^ky is nuich dimin- ished in extent, and travelers to the open water S. E. of the ship re])ort it frozen oxer. Tr,rt Black GuilletTTot. I o I H o ""4 -I .1 1 li 1^ ' i h f n ; !. i r h^ V5 ■' I'l ! \m 'U U I ifj il !; ; i UNDEIl THE MIDNIGHT SUN. o4o May Sth, Sahirday. — The coming and going of one more day and nothing gained. This khid ol" life is really becoming monotonous. P]ach day finds our coal pile diminishing, and no sign yet of \veather which would make it safe to stop our fires on the berth-deck and in the cabin. A temperature of 32° would be as acceptable as possible, although it is the freezing ])oint of fresh water. This day connnences with a tempera- ture of minus 3.7'', and though the w'ind blows from E. S. E. all day, it gets no warmer than plus 12^ wi midnight. The weather is gloomy, depressing, and dis- agreeable. Velocities ranging from ten to twenty-three miles drive the snow from the face of the lloe in clouds, and other snow falling makes distant objects, say one hundred yards, invisible. Here and there alongside the ship a little white lump indicates that there is a dog beneath it, and even the regular and irregular dog fights are discontinued until the weather uets clearer and friend can be distinguished from foe. 1 have in- tended for some time to dwell upon the peculiariHes of our dogs, but each time the subject has seemed too extensive for my daily journal. Why they light, how they fight, and whom they fight, seem to be purely ab- stract questions witii them, so long as it is a fight. For instance, dogs one and two will see dog three in a gootl position, perhaps enjoying a meat can that has i)een empty for months and has, of course, no nutrinu'ut. As if l)y concerted plan one and two will spring on three, roll him over, and seemingly tear him in jjjcces. Fortunately the wool is so long and thick that an at- tacking dog gets his mouth full of hair before his front teeth reach the fiesh. so no great lamage is done gen- erally. The vulnei':»?)le places are the ears and the belly. I have seeiM an attacked dog run, and, lying on H !l i 11 1^ 53^. ^' 344 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. h ' l.hk'-' liis stoiiiiicli, shove liis head into n .snow bank Avitli ini- pinilty, while his foes were choking over the hair they tore out ol" liis hack. However, this. is a long digres- sion. Suddenly dog three will turn on dog two and he pron\ptiy aitled by dog one, his previous I'oe. By this time the whole pack has gathered as it' by magic, and a free and indiscriminate fight occurs, until the advent of the quartermaster with the whip and a merciless ap- plication of it breaks up the row. Tlie\ divide up into little gangs of three or four, and in these friendly cli(iues they also fight. For days ev- erytlnng may go on smoothly, when one of the set does something offensive to his mates, and one of tbem (or sometimes all of them) administers a thrashing, ; nd the oifender is sent to Coventry until their feelings calm down. It is a connuon occurrence to see a dog on the black list, a quarter of a mile from the ship, all alone and afraid to come in until his time is up. He then ap- proaches fawningly, wagging his tail deprecatingly to '■ Tome reconcnled, and is citluT welcomed with wauuinu; tails Ol- snarliiiijj teolh. in which latter case he retires to his isolate r f^ 1 i pi: 348 THE VOYA(!E OF THE JEANNETTE. i'il < of the tee-|j.'ong (?) species, unlit to eiit because oi' its strouLi' turpentine taste. The o(h)r from it as it lay upon the ice Avas sulliciently indicative ol its cliMr- aeter. I keep his skull. Mr. Dunbar and Alexey each shot a guillenu)t with a rille, almost tearing the birds in pieces. As an evidence oi" good shooting, it was a decided success. And with this small record of a day's doings I must be content. 31(1// \ijfh, Th((r,s(lai/. — The usual monotony of our daily existence was pleasantly broken in upon. Ninde- mann and Alexey while out to-day shot a seal and two guillemots, which they brought in, Nindemann drag- ging the seal behind him, — a laborious task, which he said had lasted for about seven miles. Mr. Dunbar took the entrails of the seal caught yesterday, and went out to set a bear-trap in the afternoon. At U.30 r. m., Ericksen having the deck, Chipp went out to have a look around before turning in, and from the roof of tlie deck-house he saw, two hvnidred yards on our starboard how, a larii-e bear sitting on a hummock gazinu; at the ship. In a moment Chipp and Newcomb were on the house top with their rilles. Chipp lired lirst, and thinks he hit the bear ; Newcomb fired next and hit, and then Chipp lired again, hitting this time without doubt, for down he went. The dogs qinckly gathered around him, and Mr. Bruin uot on his feet and made good traveling over tremendously bad ice and snow-drifts, although he was bleeding freely. The doctor, Chipp, and myself followed Newcomb in the pursuit, and by the time the bear got one quarter of a mile from the ship he halted, UNDKK THE .MIDNIGHT SUN. showed figlit to the dogs wlio stuck to lihn, giving New- coiiil) a chiiiico to put another bullet in liini, tumbling him over this time for good, and we hauled him into the ship. He was eight feet eight inches in length ovei- all, and five feet ten inches in girth, and wi'ighed about eight hun(h'ed pounds, rather old, but fat and tender, and a welcome addition to our larder. The head and skin were given to Mr. Newcomb, at his recpiest, as tvo- phies. The traveling, as I said before, was tremen- dously bad. The surface of the ice-held around us from a distance of two hunch-ed yards outward is all broken and hove up, the up-ended pieces of lloel)ei-gs standing lit all angles and in all positions. The small amount of snow which has fallen during the winter has been swept in nuisse.s of drift in all nooks and crannies and spaces, making a nu)st uneven surface. Here and there the crust has hardened enough to present an a})pear- ance of strength. One trusts himself on it, and inune- diately sinks to liis waist. To get out is difficidt. To get one leg out, the weight of the body nuist be brought on the hands, and they in turn sink in the snow, and the leverage is lost. Flounder, flounder, until by chance one foot strikes a piece of ice underneath, which gives support while the work of extrication is completed, fol- lowed very probably by another sinking, and so on (id nauseam. Frequently one comes to a more dangerous place between two floe-piece edges, — for instance, an end with a snow pit between, into w Inch he sinks unex- pectedly to his breast, and has almost literally to claw himself out with his nails. In fine, even the dogs floun- der and struggle in vain, and sonu' of them have to be helped out by num. Only the bears seem to have a knowledge of these pitfalls, and they profit by it. I can uow very well understand the enormous dilH- If •1^. i! fil ,1 w r M! 5 <1 i i i - •■ ..v:. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) &^ {./ u. <° K. I 1.0 11.25 1^ yS |2.5 J.8 1.4 1.6 P^p ^\* Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WiST MAIN STRUT WEBSTiR, N.Y. USSO (716) 873-4S03 1-; f/i i "[ it 350 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. culties of <^aptain Markham in his struggle northward Irorn tlie Alert's winter-quarters, and I cheerfully admit the correctness of his cousin's remark, that no sledging could accomplish anything on the rough ice I Avould en- counter north of Behring Strait. If anything should force us to abandon our ship, 1 am satisfied that we should be unable to drag enough provisions to enable us to reach Siberia ; and that, unless aided by the grow- ing improvement in the season we could kill euough to eat as we journeyed, our only salvation would be in couiing to open water early in the distance, as did Wey- precht's party from the Tegetthof. By my observations to-day, I locate our position in latitude 73' 7' 40" N., longitude 178° 57' 45" E., — a drift since yesterday of a mile and a half W. being shown. Whatever theory may have been advanced as to currents in this part of the Arctic Ocean, 1 think our drift is demonstrating that they are the local creation of the wind for the time being. As our drift in general resulting direction has been N. W. since our iirst be- setment, so is it a fact that the greater amount of wind has been from the S. E., — our short and irregular side drift east and west and occasionally back to south beiug due to correspondingly short and irregular winds from N. W. or E. A glance at my wind record will make that clear. As yet no land. Our log is headed, " Beset in the pack to the northward and westward of Herald Island," because Herald Island is the most northerly land we have seen ; but Herald Island is now S., 41° E., 142 miles distant, and is rather remote to date from. A flock of birds flew across the bows from E. to W. this morning, as if indicating a land in that direction, but we can as yet see nothing of it. a boiiii^ from make in the lanrl," 111(1 we ., 142 )m. A W. this on, but UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN- SSI May 14th, Friday. — It never rains but it pours — l)ears. Thin morning, at four, one approached tiie t to extract it because of its being, ap])arently, interlaced at the roots; and I am inclined to think the neuralgia is the result of that trouble. Ah Sam's fever may have arisen from a cold. These are two valuable men. and their sickness excites our warmest sympathy and con- sideration. The carpenter work may stand still, but the cooking must go on. In this emergency the stew- ard calmly does his own work and the cook's too, just as naturally as, when the steward was sick, the cook performed both functions. This is another cause of my profound admiration for this race. I verily believe that either or both of them would undertake any duty, / 356 THE VOY.UiK OF IIIE JEANXKTTE. \, i f and master its details in so sliort a period that their ignorance would not have time to become a})piirent. To satisfactorily account for the small increase over last week's consumj)ti{)n of coal, 2,1)10 pounds, last week's consumption being 2,050, 1 may here mention that shavings, "plinters, and small pieces of wood are beginning to come down to the bunker door with the coal, and are consequently shoveled into the buckets as fuel. There is alst) much line dust which y-oes to swell the weight. As it all burns, however, it is con- sidered as so much conl, and so weighed and served out. Melville's reasoning is, that nothing is lost by such an operation, because, he says, '• We know that all that is not expended is in the bnnkers, which is a good place." 1 iim more certain that wo have more coal in the \n\n- kers to-day than the boo'.;? call for, than 1 am suspicious of our running short. Mo(/ 17(h, Mondaij. — One more day come and gone, like many of its predecessors, with nothing to vary the monotony of onr lives. We are still drifting north, but we see no land ; and though we have had occasionally a water-sky to the northward, it seems to go before us as we advance, and we come td no result. Low tem- peratures and an imbrokon ice-view do not seem to in- dicate a speedy liberation, but there is always comfort in the reflection that '' we know not vhat a day may bring forth." I find patience to be an admirable qual- ity under these circumstances, but 1 am afraid that patience long drawn out in these regions generates dullness. If we only had something to do that would bo advancing the interests of the expedition, there would be some excitement in the life. Ilcurly meteor- ological observations are taken, it is true, and the ship's position daily obtained by sights, and tlien we have to -SSEESr UNDEU THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 357 stop. Magnetic observations of any value are im^yos- sihle, beiuiuse of our ever-changing positions. Rough ol)SL'rvations for the variations and dip are obtained, but they will serve only for convenient approximate reference, and will have no exact sciontific importance. The constant change of position prevents any correct pendulum experiments from being made. No astro- nomical observations, except determinations of latitude and lony-itude, with sextant and artilicial horizon, have been possible, because tlui erection of the observatoi-y and the mounting of the instruments on the ice, in our situation, would have exposed them to loss should a break-up occur. Soundings are made daily, and speci- mens of the bottom obtained and preserved for future reference. Temperatures of the surface water are re- corded every second day at the sounding hole, and that exhausts hydrography for us. At this temperature it is not practicable to add water cups and sea thermome- ters to our lead line, for it ices up so fast, and breaks so readily when frozen, that we might lose cups and ther- mometers. Natural History is well looked out for. Any animal or bird that comes near the ship does so at the peril of its life. So far, therefore, as is possible, we do all that we can. People who have, like ourselves, been caught in the pack have been able to do no more, and in some in- stances not so nuicli. At two A. M., in a sudden squall, one of the wire stays preventing the fans of the windmill from spreading out parted, and the fans spreading out came against the tripod, bang, bang, breaking two of them short otf at the hub. The stay of the other two held on. and with the wind blowing as it did, these two did all the pumping, as if nothing had happened. Fortunately the damage can be repaired without much trouble. •'•-■,;««, ^ >% wi-a^ «-% 358 THE VOYAGE OF THE .TEAXNETTE. The carpenters have been engaged in making long runners tor the keels of our large boats, in case we have to drag tliein over the ice in any mishap, while work still progresses on the sniidl boiler tube-})umi). Mail ISf/i, TiU'xday. — 1 went out this atternoon ac- companied by Melville and Dunbar with a dog team, and striking the young ice aljoiit two miles N. K of the shij), followed it to the westward as it ran for some three miles. I could have gone further, and would have done •so but for my desire to get back in time for my sights at 5.80. As a specimen of Arctic scenery, the ice we met was very line. The young ice covered an opening which was about two hundred yards in width, and in places live hundred yards. Towards the centre and along it ran a crack here and there, widening to a foot. Occasionally pools and lanes were met, the rippling of the water bei'ig a sight pleasing to the eyes after our lontr look at its frozen condition. On each side of this long avenue the pack of old ice stood piled up in ir- regular masses twenty iind thirty feet in height, where great pressures had occurred. (A month ago there was no opening.) The thickest single floeberg I saw was not more than eight feet — other pieces twelve and fifteen feet in thickness, showing, upon examination, lines of strata where one had overridden the other. To the southward of the avenue, beyond the wall of ruins lining its edge, we could see a long plain several miles in extent, seemingly smooth ice, but as Mr. Dunbar had previously attempted to get to the ship by crossing it, he knew that it abounded in traps and ])itfalls, w hero one would unexpectedly Hounder and sink to his arm- pits. To tlie northward the ice was of the same hilly and broken character as the wall, and I am convinced that a sled could no more be dragged any considerable ' UNDKI! TMK MIDNIGHT SUX. 359 distance in tliiit direction (or, in fact, upon mature de- lilx'ration, in any direction), than it could l)e dra«i;ged across the house-tops of New York in an attempt to ^^o to Harlem from the Battery. Whether these reflec- tions are goinj; on in the minds of others 1 do not know, for in any case they are not expressed, or any indica- tion given of their bein^- entertained. All our discus- sions, or rather conversations, for we do not discuss, include the .ship as a prime factor in reducing any Arctic ecpiation to its simplest form. Our chief dilli- culty of reduction lies in the fact that there are so many unknown quantities, PiXcellent observations to- day place the ship 73° 28' 19" N., and longitude 178' or 45" E., showing a drift of 2i miles N. 10' K. This is curious, because we have had an almost steady south- erly wind during the preceding twenty-four hours; with easting in any change from true S., in con.sequence, we should have gone to the northward and westward, in-« stead of to the northward and eastward. It may be that our field in passing along some heavier field (or, perhaps, land) has been shunted oil' by the resistance offered. Theory as to our movement is long since abandoned in my mind, giving way to facts based on experience. Theory may assert how we ought to drift, but our position from day to day shows how we do drift, and I accept the situation. May 2Qth, Thursdai/. — Oh for warm weather ! Only sixty tons of coal left, and the sunmier work yet to be done, with reference to next winter's warming, and pumping, and our cooking going on all the time. To put out all fires with the present low temperature is only to invite cold and sickness. To have come so far and accomplished nothing is very trying. If our ship were tight, all would be easier planned. But with an i ( Hf- .)l.,^'^-V-="- ■-••rK ,. -, .fc-.*^♦• nno TIIK VOYAGE OF TMK JKANNETTE. 1 1 injiinMl sliip I sIimII liavo to ho rarofiil how 1 handle her k'st I JL'opanli/c all hands. Somethinju^ must he dono. for we oannot n'st oontont with a hiank score ; and with (Jod's y-raci' 1 will try to make some record to which i can look hack with at least no regret or niorti- (Ication. it is terrihle to me to contemplate that the .Teamiette has traveled so manv thousand miles under my connnand only to overwhelm me with confusion at the end. How can I meet her godmother with such a meagre description of her doings ! The hright weather we are having is very cheering, An uninterrupted suidight the whole twenty-four hours is a great treat, and would he fully apiu'eciated if we coulil only avail ourselves of it in carrying the ship fur- ther \. in o})en water. Every day parties are out on the hunt, and 1 find that there is more or less complaint al)out soreness of the oyey. My stringent order al)out wearing snow-glasses whenever more than two hundred yards fi'om the sliii) seems to he faithfully oheved. and 1 have no douht that their use, though not an infallihle way of avoiding snow hlindness, will nevertheless so mitigate the severity of the complaint as to prevent any one heing laid up. Our two invalids, Sweetman and Ah Sam, are hack on duty again. By doing all the carpenter work in the deck-house, protected from exposure, I think Sweetman will not again he trouhled with neuralgia. Ah Sam's tHJUiplaint (^intermittent fever) is an old friend of his, for it a|)pears that he was afflicted with it in China. Mdi/ 2lsf, Fridfii/. — Another bear. Mr. Dunbar and the two natives started ott" this morning on their regu- lar visit to the traps, and finding nothing in them went on a cruise. When about five miles northward from the ship they sighted Bruin, and set the dogs on him to UNDER TIIK MIDXHIIIT SUN. 361 jack the mail ani's lor and L'OgU- hoM liim at hay. Gottinjj: within ran^c they delivered a vollev, all three hullets hittinether so also the in- it rup- e same place (about live miles from the ship) at which our last one was killed. This is the (irst young bear that wr have had, and we shall no doubt find his tender tii'sh quite a treat. The circumstances of the capture are curious. Alexey had taken out the liver of the last bear upon its capture and left it on the ice. The young bear had taken it olf to some rough ice, and while hold- ing it in his fore ])aws had fallen asleep, in which condi- tion he was found and fell a prey to Alexey's ritle. Mai/ 2ijfh, Wcchieadat/. — A subsidence of the winds to light airs and ealms. The eflect, however, has been so good that 1 could almost wish for a continuance of the wind ; for since the noon of the 21st it has drifted us forty-two miles to N. W. (roughly). It had another ef- fect. It has blown so much snow across the face of the floes as to cut them like a sand-blast, and has permitted the direct action of the sun on the surface, so that in the afternoon there are sitj;ns of thawing and wastiim". All black substances, like ashes and refu.se, sink rapidly into the ice, and are now an appreciable distance below the surface ; and the white and black bulb thermome- ters on the port side of the ship show respectively to- day 70'' and 72\ J/o/y 27 fh, llinrsdaij. — The boiler tube-pump is com- pleted and in place, and it works to a charm. We have now moans of pumping the ship by the windmill in all sorts of winds ^''-or.i four to ten miles, by connecting the boiler tube-pump ; from ten to fifteen miles, by con- necting the shifted bilge-pump ; and above (ifteen miles with the same pump, reducing the sail surface. The whole subject reflects great credit on Melville, who designed, and Sweetman and Lee, who constructed, re- spectively, the wooden and iron parts. Our •• windmill pumping apparatus" is worthy of being handed down to posterity. \\ 368 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXET'IE. ^ ki m iv The Baxter boiler is now used exclusively for distil- ling. As the temperature of the air now is at such comfortable heights, more heat is radiated in the en- gine-room than is needed to make the man on watch comfortable, and Melville proposes to have the coil for- ward on the berth deck to heat that deck instead of using a stove. The idea is an excellent one, and it only remains to be seen whetlier we can put it into practical execution. So anxious are we becoming on the ques- tion of fuel, that we commenced yesterday going with- out a lire in the cabin and berth deck from nine a. m. to five p. M., and we find that we are not so very un- comfortable. The heat remains in the cabin for several hours after the fire goes out, keeping up a temperature above 40'', and as we are always out knocking around on deck, or on the ice, Avhere the temperature is pleas- ant enough in the middle of the day, we find we can very well dispense with fire until supper time. The amount of water leaking into the shaft alley seems to have diminished, and I am more inclined to think that it (the leak) was only the melting of the ice accumulations among the frames. JIai/ 2Sth, Frlddt/. — An imeventful day. We are at a stand-still, and must wait for the development of some strong wind to shove us along again. 3I((i/ 29th, Saturday. — One more day nearer the end of May, and I hope one day nearer the end of oin* im- prisonment. A gloomy and dull day makes one moody and dispirited under these circumstances. If our lati- tude were only 84° instead of 74", I don't think any- body would mind the weather, but we make a very poor showing for one season's work. However, the darkest hour is just before the dawn, and who knows how bright our dawn may be when it comes. In the k UXltEK TlIK .MlDNKiHT SUN. 369 hope that we might bring her further up by the head •when the ice releases the ship and permits her to float, the bower chains were unbent to-day and stowed in the lockers. May SOth, Srinday. — By observation to-day I find we are in latitude N. 74" o' 27". longitude 177" E., showing a drift since the !2(Stli oi three miles to N. 1 1° E. We have evidently gotten under way again, though for some reason we are prevented from going to the westward, perhaps by a heavy barrier of ice, against which our field is slowly grinding along. 1 have had an idea that our drift of late may be explained in some such manner ; our field turning on a pivot as it ad- vances, and eventually bringing us to its highest point, will throw us ofT to the eastward. The northwesting having been accomplished we are now doing our north- ing, and then going to N. E. will eventually be carried along E. by the current which sets E. through the Archipelago N. of the American Continent. Time will show the fallacy or the truth of this supposition ; but meanwhile it allbrds a subject for contemplation. The usual Sunday inspection and divine service. The high temperature being promising, I have directed that during the coming week the deck-house be taken down, the steam -cutter restowed, and the sleds dis- mounted. Our new arrangements for summer will be mentioned later on. A very gratifying reduction in tlie coal expenditure has resulted from our doing partially without fire. May ol.s/, Monday. — The last day of spring, and then we shall have summer before us. Let us hope that with spring may end all trials and tribulations, and that we shall now start forward to the accomplishment of some purpose. Our observations to-day are encour- 24 370 THE VOYAGK OF TIIK .TEANNETTE. aging, for we are I'oiir miles north of yesterday, show- ing a tendency to go east a little, while going north more. The carpenters finished the keel runners for the hoats. and Lee made bolts for them for securing. After all we have no reason to complain of our progress during the past month. Oiu' total drift has amounted to one hundred miles, and we have made good eighty-two miles to N. 88" "W. Our average temperature has been 1(S.40''. and though we have had it as low as mi)uis 8.5 , we have on the other hand had it as high as 35\ ■;5 CHAPTER IX. A FROZEN SUMMEIt. June — Auyusf. 1880. Wliich Way " hy six !•. M. and closes at od . \'ery pleasant and agree- able, thus enabling ns to be indilTerent to having no fire iji the stove. Jutw f)tli, S(t(ur(f(i)/. — A day of no remarkable event, except that my observations for [)osition reveal the un- pleasant fact that Ave have been set back S. one half W. four and ii half miles. This is due. of course, to the northerly winds prevailing during the [jreceding twenty-four hours. Some little encouragement can be drawn iron the belief that our pi'ompt changes of j)osi- tion, in compliance with change of wind, indicate a. generally loosei' state of the ice than has been supposed hitherto. 1 am hoping strongly day after day for some indication of a coming liberation, but though we have nearly daily a tempting Avater-sky in some direction or other, no change yet comes. Chij)p has his hands full in getting things into sh.ape, but everything is [)rogress- ing favorably, our decks are rapidly clearing, and Wii are snrely approaching the time when nothing will ic- main but to hang the rudder and make .sail when the ice gives us a chance to head toward some satisfactory result of our Arctic cruise. June (jth, Sumhiif. — In my sanguine moments dur- ing the winter 1 used to hope for a lil)eration and con- sequent advance in May, but here we are in June arid 376 THE VOYAGI-: OF THE JEANNETTE. evcrytliinu" frozen as hard as ever. However, JS^il (h'S- 2)eramh()n ! At ten A. M., just as Ave were going to call all hands to muster, a fall of rain compelled us to wait. It was a pleasure to see it, and a positive luxury to hear it pattering on the poop over our heads. It lasted but a few moments, unfortunately for us, Ijecause rain will do an iunnense amount toward thinning out the ice. I inspected the ship, however, as usual, and found evorvthing wonderfully neat and trim. We are cpiite clear enough to work the ship, as far as the spar deck is concerned ; and it will be a subject for experiment whether, wlien she iloats agairi, her trim so much by the stern will let her be handled under sail. At one we had the general tnusteranu read the Arti- cles of War, and following this I read divine service in the cabin. We are almost down to our minimum ex- penditure of coal. — 1,425 pounds for the past week. Jiotc 7th, JJonday. — To-day our observations for po- sition have produced a somewhat discouraging effect upon me. The wind having prevailed from the north- ward and westward, I was prepared for, and anticipated, being set to the southward and eastward, perhnps S. E. ; but to my disgust my sights (latitude 74^ 4' 37" N., lon- gitude 177' 27' E.) showed that we have been set seven and three ([uarters miles to S. seven degrees W. Seven and three quarters miles of our hard fought drift gone in a day. Had we gone east I would not have minded it, for we always have something in that direc- tion ; but to go any further to the westward seems like trying to walk through a stone fence. There is plenty of water-sky around us, too, as if to tempt us with a sight of the impossible. As the wind still continues from the northward and westward, wc must expect p!i , A FROZEN SUMMER. •J ( more southing by to-uiorrow ; but it will be douljly hard if we make westing again, l^ecause it will sclmu then that we have got a start for the coa.st of Siberia, and there is nothing of honor in that. Never mind, "The darkest hour is just before the dawn," and our dawn may be a bright one. The men were busy to-day scraping the ship's side in readiness for painting. Surrounded as we are with ice, we nevertheless shall make a good appearance. Ciii])p already has the Jeannette clean and orderly, and will have her in fine cruising order by the time the water gets to us. Sweetman was at work securing the keel runners to the boats, while Xindemann varnished the binnacles and fitted '• pantalets " to them. To-day we discontinued fires in the cabin and berth deck, intending hereafter to limit our expenditure of fuel to what is rec^uired in the galley and for distilling. At first, no doubt, we shall feel the cold ; but a slight discomfort now will weigh as nothing against accom- plishing something this summer, or being comfortable next winter. It is well to notice here, that now that we have no fires in the stoves we boil our tea water by steam, using a pipe Melville has fitted to the Baxter boiler for that purpose. June Sth, Tuesday. — Still going south and east. I suppose we shall go in this dircctioJi until a southeaster brings us up and sends us northwest. June 'Jth, Wcdnesdm:. — Still uoimr south, — one mile to S. 12° E. since vesterdav. However, that is a slight affair, and hardly worth mention, for a promising feat- ure developed itself in the shape of another S. E. wind, which, springing up at six a.m., freshens, and by mid- night reaches a velocity of eighteen miles, with indica- tions of growing still fresher to-morrow. The tber- M' 'i m: ■■| o78 iiiK voyagp: of the .ieannettp:. monioti'r boi^ins at 19.3", gets as high as 27.7"^, and closes at 22\ — rather low to be without fires, but wo do not mind it, at least most of us do not. Jiuie \{)th, 71inr)i(hiy. — A gloomy, disagreeable day; no observations possible ; in fine, nothing to do but re- main shut np. thinking how lovely June is in these re- gions, and how dull and dreary this confinement has become. Over nine months held in bondage. Thus f-ir in the month our prospect is not very promising. It" we are to judge of the future by the past, very little can be said tliat is favorable; but fortunately experi- ence of others in other Arctic wastes has demonstrated how quickly changes take ])lace, and how little can be judged of the morrow by to-day. fhiur l\f/t. Frlddi/. — Another day of gloomy, un- pleasant weather, a drift to N. N. E. being indicated by the lead line. A drift this way is a welcome change to our going backward. Thick fog or impenetral)le snow falls so soft that it melts on touching the floe, thus depriving us of the satisfaction of getting drinking water from it, whereby we might put our distiller out of commission and save one hundred pounds of coal a day. Jioic Vlth, Siiturdd}/. — These are. T think, our gloom- iest days, not alone because of the unpleasan,' weather, but because of the continued disa])pointment, hour after hour, at a time when we liave some reason to hope for a release. Before many days the sun will have got his furthest north, and will connnence going south again, and that in itself is not a comforting circumstance. Though the ice is visibly wasting on the surface, and is sloppy and in places ankle deep in water, there is enough that is firm and solid below to hold us fast, and ])revent lanes or openings. This chasseeing around A FUOZKN SUMMER. 879 17.T\ and 3s, but ^vo able (lay ; do but re- i these re- mcnt has Thus je. )ronusing. voi-y Httle \y ex})eri- lonstrated tie can be oniy, un- indicated le ehanye )enetrable Hoe. thus (h'inkin^ illor out of coal a r aivJ there '-day place jwing that !.s to 8. 18° lit to stand )ur sound- nppose we ir iee-field any more day phice liowing a in a har- L'inn; hard 1 the rest he result is very leld fast nds. So change, 1 the in- steadily i nearly love the the 4th instant, however, we have been as steadily going hiick, and to-day we are very nearly in the same latitude we reached a month ago, and about fifteen miles W. of our old track, going on " backward in our flight." Here then, so far as we can judge, is a month lost, and worse than lost, for we have got into shallower water where but little wave action can or will take place to break up the field which surrounds us. Water-sky in abun- dance indicates some ponds, if no larger opening; though as they change positions daily, no very consid- erable opening can have occurred. In our innnediate vicinity where the water pumped from the ship froze over the old ice, the crust is thawing and forminy; ponds. This makes our walking uncertain, for without warning one is apt to break through and be in water over his knees. As all around the ship ashes and ref- use have been spread, presenting a black surface, the ice underneath rapidly melts, and by the careful atten- tions of Melville, Dunbar, and the doctor, the resulting water is led by canals to the ditch, where, by its warmth, say 30'', it honey-combs the heavier ice be- neath. By the wasting of the ice the ship is more un- covered, and within a day or two we have noticed that she has come up, '' cradle and all," about four inches, as indicated by the falling of the water-level on her doub- ling. Every day Mr. Dunbar and the men are out on the hunt, and occasionally a seal is brought in. in tow of the dogs, as the result. All bears seem to have dis- appeaio'l. not a single track having been seen for some days. The}' evidently have gone to the land, wiiere the breedinu: season aifords them more attractive food than seal meat at rare intervals. June VJih, Safurdai/. — Observations to-day show a drift to S. 47" E. seven miles. That our drift is not ^ \ ■ m li \ : I 382 TIIK VOYAC.K OF THE JEAN'XETTK. I i > II groiitor is roniiirkuble, for, in the past twenty-tour hours we have had N. W. winds, with velocities ranging iVoni sixteen to twenty-four miles an hour. However, our field may have brought up, and though we are deepen- ing our water again to twenty-three and a half fathoms, it may be that we are being edged off, as the ice grinds on the shoal. Otherwise the day is without interest. Puffy, squally weather and occasional snow flurries go to make up a June day in these latitudes. Jfuie 'loth, >Sunda>/. — Another week has come and gone and we are in the same place. Instead of repin- ing at not advancing, I suppose I ought to be grateful that 1 have a ship to hold us together, but weak human n'ature crops out occasionaUy. At ten T inspected the ship, finding everything in good condition, and shining with the coat of paint that has been applied. Then divine service was performed in the cabin. Newconib, while out to-day, found a dozen mosquitoes. Carefully did he bring them to the ship as trophies. They were, when found on the snow, dull and sluggish, as if blown a long distance by the wind. Jujie 2\st, Monday. — The advent and departure of another day to record ; and except that it is the longest day in the year to some people ( though not of course to us, since we have the sun the whole twenty-four hours), it is hardly worth recording. Observations show us that we have drifted, since the 19th, eleven and three tenths miles to S. 68° E. Discouraging, very. And yet my motto is, " Hope on, hope ever." A very good one it is Avhen one's surroundings are more natural tlian ours; but situated as we are it is better in the ab- .?tra( t than in realization. There can be no greater Avear and tear on a man's mind and patience than this life in m i^M^^nnHKbHSR^Bfl A FUOZKX SUMMER. 3S:i the ])!U'k. The absoluti) monotony ; tlio uncliaiigini^ round ol" hours ; the awiikonhiy; to the same thiims and the same con(htions that one saw just before losing one's self in sleep ; the same faces ; the same dogs ; the same ice ; the same conviction that to-morrow will be exactly the same as to-day, if not more disagreeable ; the absolute impotence to do anything, to go anywhere, or to change one's situation an iota ; the realization that food is being consumed and fuel burned with no valuable result, Ijcyond sustaining life ; the knowledge that nothing has been accomplished thus far to save this expedition from being denominated an utter fail- lu'e ; all these things crowd in with irresistilde force on my reasoning powers each night as 1 sit down to rellect upon the events of the day. and but for some still small voice within me that tells nu' this can hardly be the ending of all my labor and zeal, 1 should be tempted to arc held last. When we move, I suppose we must utilize some empty space in the coal huiiki'i's as a stow ])lace lor the carcasses. For some reason we see no walruses. The anu)unt of briuht sunlight we have hail since the temi)erature has hccn pleasant has not been suHicient, perhaps, to induce the walruses to come out and hask in it. This month has been an eminently unpleasant one, lor thouih the tem- o2\ so much to make us i of the iloe (cing an inch ircumstances steady wear pelled to fall )t impervious [eet cold and \- boots only as soon as I of bird-skin lid which are md rul)1)ish apidly wast- of the ship's •e is a wast- ler, and this more nearly !ated by the it averages I appointed Jeaniiette's ;ain be afloat t man north of the Arctic Circle if such proves the case. Since <»nr sii))ply of snow begins to be dillicult of access on ac- count of the slojjpy condition of the ice which inaUcs sledding bad, we to-day lllled our tank on the spar deck with the water from the pools. The tiMiiiierature is sulhcient to prevent acciflent to our tank by any free/- lUg. The dismal monotonv of our daily existence still con- tlnues, and while our drift is southward ho ! our ,'^ocial barometer is kept correspondingiy low. The only ani- mate creatures in whom I detect no change are the dogs. They seem perfectly oblivious to idl surround- ings, utterly indilferent whether the sun shines or does not shine, so long as they are fed. From the liberal diet of bear meat and seals' entrails thev have re- mained as fat as dumplings, and re])udiate utterly any labor or exertion. When with the sunshine the tem- perature reaches ',V1\ it is amusing to see them pant, and seek shady places, while we human beings are merely comfortable. However, their heat hasji better non-conductor than ours. Juiie 24///, JliHVsdufj. — A day without anything in particular to record. June 2r)fh. Fridat/. — This day is worthy of record as bringing another Ross gull, shot by Aneguin, and no less than nine seals. Hesides this Aneguin saw and shot his last cartridge into a young bear, but the ani- mal, though bleeding freely, took to the water and escaped. The •' water " referred to is the long lane about one and a half miles S. E. of the ship, which is daily visited by seal hunters. Thermometer is gen- erally at Sr and 32% but at three p. m. it was :J7.5'. Oh, if we could have it at 100° for a wx'ck to melt this ice rapidly ! That some melting is going on beneath is f:. . ' ( f ■ I . i,] 388 TFIK V()YA(;i: OK 11 IK JKANNKTIK. } * ^ • i! shown by the watci-lcvol sea-level at nine leet seven and a hall" inches forward. June liti/A, Safirrddi/. — A drift of eijrht miles N. 85° W. Thns it, •••()os, E. one day, \V. the next, N. one week, S. the next. When will this come to an end ? Twenty-four fathoms soundings, W. S. W. drift, also oncoura<;in*^, very I An openini>' ten feet wide oc- curred in the ice half way to the old openin;^' one and a half miles S. E. of the ship. Much water-sky in all directions. Jinie lltli. Sumhiii. — At ten a. m. made my usual Sunday inspection, and read divine service thereafter in the cabin. From the crow's-nest we can .see that we are in the centre of an ice island, a lane of water in sorae places a (juarter of a mile wide suirounding us at a distance of a mile. This woidd show that the ice does sometimes open in these latitudes, a fact which I had begun to doubt hitherto. June 2i^th, 3I()it(/(ii/. — Mr. Dunbar started out this morning with the dingy to go ducking, intending to go to the lane of water about one mile N. W. of us, and ti'y luck. He came back about fotu' r. m. with thirteen ducks, and informed me that he followed the lane (which he thought ran N.) for nearly fifteen miles without coming to its end. The ice on each side (at times two thirds of a mile wide) was very old and heavy, live and six feet out of water, and so dee]) inider water that he could not see the bottom of it. 1 began to look ^lpon this as an avenue of escape, and ran over in my mind how I could get the ship through the mile of in- tervening ice into the lane and push on for something. But 1 need not have ex vcised my slumbering brain A FROZKN SUMMKIl. 389 tissue, for toward midnight the luno oommoneod to doso, and 1 had the melancholy satisl'action ot" realiz- ing that liad the ship heen there she would in all prob- ability have had a line sciueezing. We find that the amount of water coming' into the .ship forward is decreasini^ (juite sensibly, for we do not have to run our windmill nearly as mneh as formerly. The leak, or supposed leak aft, has stopped altogether. The ice right around us is wasting very fast, and we still continue to rise, bringing our cradle with us. To- day the water-line is at nine feet four inches on our .stem. We are heeling 4° to starboard (3^ all winter), and our doubling on the starboard side is al)Out four inches above the water. The surface of our tloo is dotted here and there with small lakes, which enable v.s to get water readily for our tank, and present so many excellent laundries for washing clothes. How disgusting it is to see i;lits show that we have drifted since yesterday two miles to N. 40° E. Let us hope that it is the beginning of a new era, and that we are now going to advanc^e and no longer retreat. Nearly ten months held fast in the ice, but yet we are all here, and with two exceptions in good health. Danenhower drags along in as uncertain a condition as ever. Of late his eye has been accumu- lating trouble and begun to affect its mate, and the doc- tor has been compelled to cut and proljo again daily as he did early in the winter. Though Danenhower stands the trial well, as fn,r as his general health is concerned,* I fear he may not be able to stjind the wear and tear of another winter in the pack if we are unfortunate enough to have to endure it. He is, of course, very thin and bleached from his long confinement, but seems alwa\ s bright and cheerful, and speaks of getting back to duty A FROZEN SUMMP:K. 391 in a short time, which, of course, I know to be out of the question. Our other sick man, Iversen, seems to be improving, only occasionally breaking out into hysteri- cal weeping, etc, ; but his gloomy ideas of being watched and a mutiny, etc., seem to have subsided. Our coal account shows that we have remaining fifty- six and one half tons. At all hazards 1 must retain thirty tons for keeping us warm and cooking and dis- tilling next winter, so that I have just twenty-six tons that could be devoted to steaming in case 1 had a fair chance to accomplish anything. As our consumption per diem in steaming would be at least five tons, I have in round numbers five dajs' steaming. And with tiiis I have to make the Pole, accomplish the N. W. Passage, or go back empty handed. What an ending the last Avould be compared with our beginning, — the yachts, the fort's salute, etc., etc. It makes my heart sick to think of it. What a return for the expenditure of money ! What a realization of all my fond dreams and hopes ! To-day our men dug away the ice under and around our propeller well, hoping for a time soon to come when we can get the screw up and hav(^ a look at it. We still rise slowly, but there is yet a large mass clinging to us. Melville tried the other day to turn the screw shaft by jacking, bat it was held too rigidly. Jnhj 2d, Frldai/. — Another une^'cntful day< i'ud such gloriously beautiful weather that our enforc< d idleness Ijcctnnes terrible. A temperature ranging from .'54" to 46.4° and back to 32°, and ponds here and there to mock us witli .. . ter that Is too little for na','iu,ation and too salt for drinking — at all these we stand and look, and see one day more pass by without our having done a thing that is to our credit. T:^ W ■ i^:' 1 W¥ 392 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. Jiih/ od, Saturdny. — The jimonnt of watr" finding its wiiy into the fore peak has become very small, and within the last week or two just a small stream running over the floors. But to-day even that small amount has ceased, and the fore peak and flour-room are both as dry as a bone. The amount of water lodging in the fire-room bilge is correspondingly small. We have been accustomed to let about live inches accumulate, in order to have a convenient feed for our distilling apparatus, running the windmill, or pumping by hand, when that depth has been increased. The light airs and calms of the past day or two have necessitated the use of the (juarter deck bilge-pump, and 1 have remarked that a dozen strokes or so each hour have caused it to '' suck." The melting of the surface ice around us has so much decreased the mass of ice surrounding the ship that it has been buoyed up by the water bringing the ship with it, and to-day the water-level is at a height, or perhaps more properly depth, of eight feet seven inches on our stem. The decrease of the leak is pleasant enough, though of course I can assign r^j satisfactory reason. The clia ge from 3,003 gallons per hour to a dozen strokes of a hand bilge-pump is too remarkable to be mentioned casually. The change has been gradual, and inexplica- ble beyond a certain extent. The settling down and hardening of the oatmeal, white lead, oakum, etc., be- tween the frames may have caused a partial barrier to the entrance of the water, and the raising of the ship and ice out of the water, and so diminishing the height of the water head, may have so decreased the pressure as to nuike that barrier efl'ectual. As no water flows into the fore peak, this seems to follow naturally, and the small accumulation in the lire-room may proceed \\\ V rinding tr small, and im running imount has re both as ing in the have been te, in order apparatus, when that id calms of use of the ved that a to "suck." IS so much hip that it i ship with )r perhaps les on our h, though on. The n strokes :ientioned nexplica- own and etc., be- parriei- to the ship »e height pressure ter flows iilly, and proceed A FROZEN SUMMER. '-> o •-» from some other source yet undiscovered. Small as it is, it will not occasion us much uneasiness. 1 am un- able to get under the coal bunkers, because of the iifty- six odd tons of coal there remaining, and the impracti- cability of attempting to remove it while 1 am daily hoping for a breaking up of the ice and a resumption of our voyage. We have dug awav all the ice we could get at under the stern, in the hope of liberating our screw in order to trice it up for examination. But enough ice re- n ail ;■> under water to hold it firmly. Leaning 3° or 4" ^o ,^. >o a'd, the port side of our ship looms up like a iri<.nte, and at a little distance we stand, seemingly, on top of the ice. Drawing but eight feet seven inches forward, and twelve feet aft, gives us a very " down at heel " look, and makes me wonder what we shall really tlraw when the ice-cradle breaks up under us and lets us down to our line of flotation. Our daily expenditure of fuel amoiuits to one hun- dred and seventy pounds. (One hundred and ten pounds for the galley and sixty for distilling.) I am very nnich in hope that the distilling may soon be dis- continued; i(.>'- ilie doctor, who has been carefully watching and experimenting with the melting ice hum- mocks au 1 'II J ponds, informs me to-day that, though the ponds iv»*e oo dt for use, the surfaces of the liuui- inocks give water containing onlv two grains of chlo- rine. Accordingly on Monday we shall connnonce col- lecting surface ice in barrels, thawing the same and testing the resulting water, and accumulate a tankt'ul if possilde, thus relieving the distiller, and saving sixty pounds :al per diem. The :i ■!< ])onds in our neighborhood luive been freez- ing eveij i ight at midnight with the thermometer at I » ■' '' 1 8U4 TIIK VOYAGE OF THE ,7E ANNETTE. '.t I •'? I- 30° and 31°, thus indicating the comparative freshness of their waters. In the daytime our dogs drink fi-eely from these ponds, and our men use them as convenient washing-phices for clothes. To-day an amusing sight was presented by a wash-tub, wash-board and all, on the ice, and the nautical performer as earnestly engaged in his laundry as if no such thing as ice or a ship was within a thousand miles. To-day we ate the last of our bear meat, that good and .solid addition to oui 1^'^^ during the many months we have been in the icc Living upward of forty seals, we shall now occasionaiiy fall back on them for a chany;e in our bill of fare. Yesterdav we had ducks for dinner in the cabin, the result of Mr. Dunbar's hunt the other day ; to-day we had bear fore and aft, and to-morrow all hands will try seal. Our position to-day is in latitude 73° 24' 13" N., and longitude 178° 34' E., having drifted since yesterday the stupendous dis- tance of one and four tenths miles N. 27° W. Any- thing, however, so long as it is not S. Weather bright and pleasant ; brilliant sunshine for the whole twenty- four hours makes me deplore our inability to devote it to accomplishing some good and useful purpose. July 4:th, Sunihuf. — In reality this is Monday, July 5th, because we have crossed the 180th meridian, and should have changed our date ; but as I hope to get E. again this summer, I have seen fit to keep the old reck- oning. A year ago to-day we were in San Francisco, and received a visit from Lord Loftus, while on his way to Sydney, as Governor of New South Wales. At din- ner to-dav we recidled that event. Ah, well ! who can tell what a year will bring forth. We certainly have not realized our anticipations by long odds ; and I see in the faces round about me no hope of so doing. A FllOZKX SUMMEU. 895 Stuck in the ice — mired, in fact, at 73' 24' N., it is hard to hope tluit we shall make any record worth com- jaaring with any other. Being the first Sunday in the month, we had, of course, the Articles of War and general muster preceding my inspection and divine ser- vice. Jahj bth, MonfJ'iij. — Celebrated the anniversary of American Independence by dressing ship with ensigns at mast-heads, and signals in a rainbow ; and 1 hope American Independence will feel sulficiently compli- mented by its celebration ..n .his place for the first time. The weather prevented me from determining the exact spot of the celebration by observations. The latitude, 73' 20' 7" N., is all 1 could get. Thick fog and .« searching mist made a wretched daj'. The Hags were all covered with rinu; and frost when hauled down, and will need several days' good sunning to be dried. Jnhj Qth, Tuesday. — All our time and attention were occupied to-day in collecting surface ice and thaw- inu' the same in our water tank for drinkini»: and cookini«- pui'poses. The greatest care was exercised in the sl'- lection of the ice ; but occasionally some would prove to have been dug too deeply, and would givb so much salt in its resulting fluid as to require rejection. As a general rule, the soft snow^-like surface crusL was suffi- ciently fresh to make a potable ele:nent ; but if by ac- cident or carelessness the spade struck into the under- lying ice, a salty solution was the result. Dr. And)ler and Chipp watched the matter closely and faithfully, repeated tests being made of each barrelful of snow before emptying it into the tank ; and I am satisfied that every precaution was taken to provide a sufficiently pure element. The change from distilled water to melted ice is a bold experiment, and only warranted by I ii s). T ^1 396 THE VOYAGE OF THE .TE ANNETTE. '' '. i ■J :! our zeal to save every pound of coal we can for possi- ble steaming this suunner, or keeping us warm next winter. To quicken the process of thawing, a steam- pipe was led from the steam-cutter's boiler into the tank on the spar deck, and the steam driven into the tank through it. As our tank holds four hundred gal- lons, I am anxious to accumulate that <|uantity rapidly, and shut down on all consumption of fuel, except for the galley, as speedily as possible. Parties going out to hunt return with the news that the ship is in the centre of an island of ice about two and one half miles in diameter, with a narrow canal running around it. Jiih/ 7th, Wednesday. — We succeeded in getting our tank filled to-day with a sufficiently pure water from melted surface ice, and I accordingly directed the distilling to be stopped. Thus we save sixty pounds of coal per diem, and give a rest to our engineer's depart- ment, which has been steadily employed in night and day watches all the winter and spring ; in fact, upon the firemen and coal-heavers has fallen most of the un- comfortable toil, for whether in distilling, or running steam -pumps, or repairing, they have not had an all- night in since November. Such little pumping as is required, about a dozen strokes every two hours, is done by the man on watcii for the time being, and we have now little beyond the ship's routine, except watching and waiting for an open- ing in the ice that will let us free. Nowhere in my life have I experienced or felt such a perfect silence as prevails in these icy wastes when the wind dies away. It is positively maddening. After ten p. M., when all noise ceases on board ship, and the dogs are dozing away on ash heaps and dirty spots around her, one standing a little distance apart and A FKOZKX SUMMER. 307 lookin"? at the surroundinuN would feel inclined to be- lieve that no life exii^ted but his own. On .such occa- .sions 1 go a little distance olt' and ruminate over our pa.st, and wonder a.s to our future ; but to-night the si- lence was .so painful as to easily induce me to go back to the cabin where my own kind could be .seen and their voices heard. The running of the w\ater over the floes in long lane.s has made regular sluice ways through which the melt- ings run to find the .sea-level. Our old sounding hole, about one hundred yards on the star))oard quarter, olters an access to the sea, and .several streams have scoured a way or had a way made for them. This run- ning water has wasted the ice away until ,it the edges of the hole it is but two feet thick, and covered with six inches of water swirling about like a maelstrom. Through this we can see the seeming black cavern be- low , and in the monotony which hangs aroinid us I almost feel tempted to jump down it to see where it goes to. Jul II Sth, Thursday/. — I have hereinbefore men- tioned that the greatest thickness of a single floe seen by us was seven feet ten inches, or say roughly eight feet. When, after ramming the ship through forty miles of leads last September, she was finally brought up, I pushed her into a crevice between two heavy floes which we subsequently found to be thirteen feet in thickness. I think this great depth was caused by the overriding of one floe on another, and regelation under pressure having taken place, the two became united as one mas.s. Mr. Dunbar, in his several tranqis, has met ice which he describes as "so deep that you could now see how deep it wns." This being rather vague, 1 directed him to-day to take with him a line, t: I 4 f 1 -•' A I i'i 1 i I ll ;5!)S THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. with liook attached, to catch under these iloes, and thus give a measure of their thickness. Upon his return he reports that he measured Hoes ten and twelve feet thick, and some fourteen and fifteen feet thick, and the surf.ice was " from a foot to eighteen inches above the water." It is, of course, impossible that such thick- nesses should be ascribed to any one single floe. 1 am .satisfied that when water has frozen to a thickness of eight feet the ice forms a blanket which elVectually prevents the radiation of heat from the water beneath, and thus makes further freezing impossible. Any further thickness is due to deposits of snow on the sur- face, or the shoving under of another floe and a union by regelation between the two. When, last November, we were squeezed out of our icy bed and pushed out into water, we were as truly floating for a time as if in mid-ocean. The next day, however, \ve were iced in. Tiiis freeziui!; continued from November 28th to Jnnu- ary 17th, by which latter date the ice had a thickness of forty-eight inches (four feet). Subsequent measure- ments were rendered impossible by the smash up of the I'Jth of January, when floes so overrode and under- rode our surrounding ice as to jumble it all in a heap. When we connnenced to dig a canal around the ship we du"- throuiih four feet of ice before the water flowed in on us, but that depth was due to piling up, of course, and not to any direct freezing. As our leak has almost altogether subsided, it is safe to assume that we are buoyed up by a floe of ice extending down and under the keel, which floe, being lightened by its surface thawing under the ashes and refuse we had spread around us, is enabled to float so nui(!h higher. One of these days, let us hope, this mass will break and let us down to our bearings. A FHOZENT SUMMER. 399 July d(h, Friday. — The events of the clay may be summed up in a few Avords. Our position shows a drift of one mile to S. 24° E. Encouraging, very. We loose sails for the first time in over ten months, and find them just as good as they were the day they were last furled. Ju/>/ l{)th, Suturclay. — A day of almost steady rain and fog, and, to my sensation, more disagreeable in temperature .than the coldest weather of winter. The thermometer ranged between 30° and 34. -T, but the dampness and moisture seemed to pierce to the bone and marrow. Jidy W-th, Sunday. — I succeeded in establishing our position to-day in latitude 73° 38' N., longitude 177° 59' 30" E., showing a drift since the 9th of one and four tenths miles to N. 68° E. This seems to be worse and worse, for at this rate before many days we shall stand absolutely still. It is aw^tdly discouraging to wait a couple of days for a sight of the sun (and hope, meanwhile, that you are drifting in some decent man- ner), and find at last that you have moved a mile. Had the usual Sunday inspection, followed by divine service. Since the distilling has ceased we light a wood fire in the galley each evening to boil the tea water. Our empty barrels and boxes have accumulated largely, so we have quite a supply to fall back upon for occasional fires instead of using coal. Jidy ISth, Tuesday. — Observations to-day show a drift since yesterday of three and seven tenths miles to N. 13° W. We seem to be coming up slowly, ice and all, as indicated by the gradual falling of the water- level on our hull. Heeling 5° to starboard still, and that is also slightly increasing. Of course I cannot say ^p^ m*^-m »r ^'^'*«*-.*W *» dl^J»- m*'- »m W''W»y<^aft,rf>w»->tt>r»y>*.«gt'-^..^«,^ titf^*.*.'^^ 1 r r 1 M 1 . I! 'I tl 404 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. Tliis seems to be the time for shedding the coat, as all our captures are made while the seal is out of water, getting rid of his old coat by friction on the ice. But they are rare in this neighborhood, for some reason or other. Had the spruce (?) log brought in which Ave found the other day. Jifli/ i'th, Sdtnrdaij. — A <\i\\ of not much interest. Much fog, mist, and rain prevailed, and during the af- ternoon snow fell. This is a nice showing for the ITtli day of July, indeed. So slack does the ice seem, that a shift of wind is imraediately noticeable in our change of drift. Jtihj ISt/t, Sum/fif/. — Another week has come- and gone, and here we are yet held in l»ondagc. This kind of life is most discouraging. If we were only drifting toward our goal, we would be somewhat content ; but alas I we are steadilv drifting awav from it: or, if in our enforced idleness we were accomplishing anything for the good of science or human nature, it would be a comfort. — but ins'^ead of either we are simply burning coal to cook food to consume day after day. Over ten months of this imprisonment have we had, and in fact were it not that a certain indefinable, and I confess in- explicable something, keeps telling me all will come out right yet, I could hardly assign any reason why it should not last any multiple of ten months more. Cur- rents there are none, except such as are created locally and temporarily by a wind. 8ee-saw, see-saw N. W. with a S. E. wind, and then S. E. wiili a X. AV. wind, and the same result with any other two succeeding winds. The .-surface water shows no hicrease of tem- j;:rature that is not due to the air, and the bottom water has a temperature of oO\ Inspected the ship and read divine service, thus, us it were, nuiking the E. the coiit. a.s )ut of water, le ice. But ne reason or 11 which we iicli interest. I ring the af- for the 17th e seem, that . our change s coni.c- and This kind )nlj drifting ontent ; but t : or, if in ig anvthino- would be a ilv buriiinor Over ten md in fact confess in- will come ison why it lore. Cur- ited locally s'.iw N. W. AV. wind, succeedinu' se of teni- he bottom 1 the ship laking the A FItOZEN SUMMER. 405 mark that distinguishes Sunday from other days in this part of the world as well as in other ])arts. Ji(l)/ VJfh, Moudaij. — I cannot help thinking, as I tiUTi over a new leaf and commence a fresh page, that I am wasting stationery in keeping a daily record of so unimportant matter as our daily life. Each night 1 am forced to admit that another day of our short season is slipping away without any result worthy of the spirit which conceived, and the enterprise which carried into effect, this present Arctic expeditio;.. And the realiza- tion of our utter impotence to change otn fate in any way makes such an admission doubly disagreeal)le. A bear in a trap, a bird in a cage, a ship in the ice, are alike held in bondage sliari) and ualling. Of late, when one is tempted to feel blue, the sun, which, under ordinary circumstances, induces cheerful- ness, v.ither adds to our disgust. For as that luminary provides means of determining (.ur position, we are in- formed on each occasion how far we have gone back- wards; or, in other words, how much nearer we are to the South Pole and how much faither from the North Pole. To-day, for example, we get observations for tlie first time since the IGtli, and find we have l)een drift- ing, in these three days past, thirteen and four tenths miles to S. cS" W. And this, despite the fact that we have been having W. and N. W. winds. Job is re- corded to have had many trials and tribvdations which he bore with wonderful patience ; Init so far as is known he was never caught in pack ice and drifted S. and W. with W. winds. Hoping to see something consoling. I tooiv a team of dogs out to-day to the S. E., to the open lane of water; and after havi'.ig been run away with twice and brought back to the ship by the dogs, 1 was forced to secure y\ 1; \ ■ 1 f i ! il . i H 1 % *»t"^nt^»*-»ii:i4t^-iJ3.iam..Vmtiiii. ^^ •r '!■ ; I. u » I M 406 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. the services of Alexey to get me to my destination. A white man inspires no fear among these animals. Reaching the open water I found it was about one fourth of a mile in width, enough to handle a vessel in under steam, but made a circle around the ship irreg- ularly. I am satisfied that nearly all the ice in our neighborhood is of this last winter's formation, having frozen over the small lake into which we were squeezed out from among the heavy ice on November 25th last. The borders of our island are formed of ice of great thickness, perhaps forty feet thick, whose surfaces are about three feet above the level of the water. The ice which immediately surrounds us has an average thick- ness of say live feet, except where crowding, as for instance under our bows, has caused one layer to ride over or under another, making a thickness of ten or fifteen feet. Owing to decay, the cradle of ice holding the ship is becoming speci(ically lighter, and buoying us up ; for to-day the water-level stands at seven feet four inches forward, and eleven feet eight and a fourth inches aft. We are also slowly increasing our heel to starboard, it being now 0-2°. July 20fh, Tuesday. — A day of no importance what- ever. Dl ring to learn something of the character of the ice at the l)orders of our island, 1 started at one p. M., accompanied by Melville and Dunbar and a heavy dog team. Going out to southeast, we got around to west in about two hours and a half ; but as the sledg- ing was in some i)laces very bad over broken ice, the time was much longer than the actual distance would have required if on a level. The character of the ice is as indicated in yesterday's record, — one season's ice near the ship, and old and very heavy ice A FROZEN SUMMER. 407 lestination. animals, about one a vessel in ship irreg- ice in our on, having e squeezed 25th last. e of great irfaces are . The ice age thiclv- ng, as for ^er to ride of ten or f the ship ^ us up ; feet four a fourth our heel nee what- aracter of d at one 1 a heavy I round to le sledg- tkon ice, distance racter of d, — one eavy ico on the borders. Excepting a very narrow lead at west going a short distance to north, I saw no way of get- ting out of this neighborhood, even if we were atloat and at liberty to move. As far as our floating is con- cerned, that must be left to time. To-day the water- level is at seven feet four inches forward, and eleven feet nine and one half inches aft, and our heel 62° to starboard. Gloomy, disagreeable weather. Surely we must be having a backward summer to have such a state of af- fairs at this date. As an addition to our trophies, a branch of birch and the skull of a codfish were brought in to-day. Jdit/ 21st, Wednesday. — Temperature between SI"" and 34", making one feel cold to the marrow of the bones. I can safely say that 1 did not feel one half as uncomfortable during the winter, with a temperature of minus 80", as I do now at a temperature of plus 30". The first was a hard, dry cold, which seemed to strike but glance off. while the last is a soft, wet cold that penetrates at once. Jiuii 22(?, TIntrsdrii/. — This afternoon I started out with Melville, Dunbar, Aneguin, and a dog team, to see some more of our ice-island. I succeeded, however, in getting around from west to north only, the traveling being very rough Iiicleed. Arriving at north, I foinid the lane of water closing up, the five foot (one sea- son's) ice piling up in huge slabs on some very old and heavy ice. The sight and the sound quite carried me back to our experience during the winter. As the soft state of the surfaces rendered impossible the higli scream which we .ised to listen to, there was not much of the terror inspired ; but one could not help being impressed with the tremendous force with which these i i j ;:, 1 > h ') ■ !! .1 ri: 1^. I.-* ■ » HI T « .'» ! ^'1 ii l-i! ^ i '. 11 t I 408 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTi:. blocks were crujshed along, reared up, and tumbled over, and the .silent "-rinning '' sur<>'e " with which the force continued when one Avould suppose it counteracted and ended. Here 1 was ready to turn l)ack, having -been out three hours, and being wet through from wading and being di'agged through ponds too wide to go around without inunensely increasing the distance. A truly wretched day, — squally, rainy, snowy, and Avhat not. At six A. m. Cliipp required seven letters to record the state of the weather, — o. c. m. (|. p. r. s., — which shows it must have been somewhat mixed. The surface of the water stands to-day seven feet two and three fourths inches forward, and eleven feet eleven and three fourths inches aft, the ship slowly coming up forward and settling down aft. A careful calculation shows that this gradual settling is increasing the leak slightly, tor we now require 317 strokes of the pump in twenty-four hours against 1^40 a week ago ; but as both amounts are very trivial they are not worthy of serious attention. Our windmill stands ready for work when- ever there is any occasion for it. Juhj 23^7, Fr'uhnj. — Fog and mist and a little snow. Are we to have no summer at all ? JuJil "l-itli, Saiurduy. — h. day as uninteresting as yesterday, and it seems a waste of ink and paper to mention it. A little rain, a little snow, and general dis- comfort. And worse than all, but one more month re- mains of an Arctic season, and here we are held as if in a vise. July 2k)th, Sunday. — One week more of sunnner has passed and gone, and we seem nearer to another winter than to any successful result. Eegularly as clock-work we perform the same duties day after day, finding each morning the same surroundings we had the day before. A FROZEN SUMMER. 409 The monotony of doing nothing but waiting, waiting, is very trying. 11" we only had hind in sight anywhere, 1 think we wouUl risk a journey to it. Divine serviee followed inspection, as is usual on Sundays. Seal at dinner, with macaroni, tomatoes, etc., etc., as per bill of fare, and a glass of sherry with our corn starch pud- ding. As far as food goes we are in luxury. Got to-day our first oogook (Phoca harhafa — hearded seed), shot by Aneguin. She was eight feet long, and while her llesh is valuable for dog food her skin will make boot soles. Jidi/ 2(jth, Monday. — An unfortunate accident oc- curred to-day. Alexey had been out shooting, and brought back for examination a Remington cartridge, which had failed to explode in his rifle. Sitting down quietly, without any one noticing what he was about, he placed the cartridge between the thumb and finger of his left hand while he picked away at the fulminate cap with his knife in his right hand. Suddenly the cartridge exploded, and without detaching the bullet the shell Hew out into ragged edges, which cut Alexey's left hand sadly, besides badly burning it with the powder. He was at once a much demoralized native, the shock af- fecting him considerably. The doctor, of course, at once took hold of the patient, and nothing serious is to be anticipated, beyond deprivation of his services for some days. The chances are that Alexey will be more respectful in his dealings with ammunition. Generally sjjeaking, the day was as gloomy as its predecessors. An almost steady fall of light snow until nine A. m., and this is the height of summer ! Some day or other some one, myself perhaps, looking over these pages will complain of their sameness and lack of interest. The popular idea is, no doubt, that j ■"i| ii ti •■ ill 'I ■ » t 410 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. the record of daily lite in the Arctic regions should be vivid, exciting, and full of hair-breadth escapes, or en- joyable and profitable because of the acquisition of valu- able information. If the popular idea is the correct one, how dull and weary and unprofitable will the record of our cruise have been ! I confess to so much disappoint- ment and mortification that I am ashamed each day to make an entry in this book, and willingly defer it to the last moments before going to bed. What can I say that has not already been said over and over again ? Here we are, held fast in the ice, drifting south instead of north, powerless to change our movement an inch, hop- ing to-day that to-morrow will bring a change; realizing to-morrow, when it becomes *• lo-day," that it is the same as yesterday was; seeing a summer (?) slip by without doing anything to retrieve our reputation or make us worthy of being numbered in the list of Arctic expeditions ; full of hefdth and energy, with zeal to dare anything, and yet like captives behind bars : add all these together, as making up the sum of one's sen- sations and experiences, and it will be seen that the surroundings are hardly favorable to glowing narrative or absorbing tale. So thoroughly do we feel that we are accomplishing nothing, that some of us think that the food we eat and the coal burned to cook it are utter and absolute waste. Of what avail arc health and energy if we can make no use of them ? In the world we are not judged by what we can do, but by wliiit we actually perform. In the case of an Arctic expedition, judgment is passed on re- sults and not on the zeal or intention. A ship having the North Pole for an objective point must get to the Pole, otherwise her best efforts are a failure. No mat- ter what the difficulties, or troubles, or accidents, the - - n i '-«• -. A FIJOZKN SUMMER. 411 failure to do the specified thing stands out in bold let- ters. So with us. Wc started for the Pole ; we are be- set in the pack in 71^ plus; we drift northwest; our ship is injured, and we have to bur>n coal to save lier ; we drift back southeast; we are passing our second sum- mer more unprolitably than our first, for then we were moving. No matter how much we have endured, no nuitter how often we have been in jeopardy, no matter that we bring the ship and ourselves back to our start- ing-point, no matter if we were absent ten years in- stead of one. — we have failed, inasmuch as we did not reach the Pok;; and we and our narratives together are thrown into the world's dreary waste-basket, and re- called and remembered only to be vilified or ridiculed. And yet I woidd not wish to be understood as imply- ing we have given up the light. We look for to-mor- row with just the same faith and with as great expec- tations as we did on the 1st of June. But we do not spend to-day in idleness for all that. A full meteoro- logical record is kept, soundings are taken, the dredge is hauled, specific gravities and sea temperatures are taken, astronomical observations made and positions computed, dip and declination of the needle observed and recorded, experiments made with ice and snow and surface water, birds shot and skinned, seals hunted, mechanics employed, ship's routine carried out, etc. ; everything we can do is done as faithfully, as strictly, as nuithematically as if we were at the Pole itself, or the lives of millions depended on our adherence to routine. Not a word is said about going back. O^r / "l^fh, Wednesday. — A gloomy, disagreeable day, and a mile further south than yesterday. Jiihj 2*Jth, Tlmrsduy. — To-day becomes memorable as showing that wc are again at the 180th meridian. Since the 27th we have drifted seventeen and two tenths miles to N. 84" E. As I did not change our date when we passed to the westward of the 18Uth meridian on the oth of Maj-, no confusion of dates now occurs, although we were longer in getting to the eastward again than I had anticipated. I am glad that I did not change the date, for were we to vibrate from one side to the other an endless per- plexity Avould follow any attempt to settle upon any particular date for an occurrence. Our great drift seems to show that the ice is slacker to the eastward of us than to the northward, for though in obedience to a strong S. and S. S. W. wind we should have gone N. or N. N. E., we have in reality gone E. and a half N. What is in store for us it is impossible to anticipate. If wc have not had our summer yet, we may hope to do something next month. If our summer has come and gone, then, alas, our chances are slim. If one could see into the future how much anxiety might be spared in the present. It is very hard to realize that all our hopes and expectations should result in a weary drift A FllOZEN SUMMEK. 413 of two winters in the ice-pack, and it is difficult for a vivid inuig'ination to see anything else if this be the wannest weather we can have this year. Mr. Dunbar, whose duties as ice-pilot are limited to [. a strong odor of burning brush-wood filled the air, and was noticed by everybody but myself, who, having a cold in the head, had no sense of smell ; from six to ten p. m. a decided haze was apparent, but whether the ha/e and the odor of bmniing brush-wood can be connected in any way or not renuiins to be in- vestigated hereafter. Nothing seems to come of the ice opening mentioned yesterday, and the ice in general seems to be com])act again in all directions. Aiujiist Ath, Wedne.sdai/. — One more day come and gone, and nothing accomplished. This is becioming gloomy, indeed. Are we never to get the ship free again ? Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, and our hope is surely deferred long enough. This is the month in which I expected to do something, no matter how little, and here we are, held as fast as we were in March. August bth, Thursday. — Last night at midnight we ended a meteorological year of hourly observations, and, as a relief to all hands in making them, I ordered hereafter three-hourly readings of the instruments in- stead of hourly. i (, 410 TIIK VOYAGE OF THK JEAXNKT'I'K. ■• f M li i\ r\ 0' AiKjvst {\f/t, Friday. — At lust I have good ohsorva- tion.s,'an(l 1 find tlit' ship is in latitude N. 73' 21' 30", and lon'^ntude W. 177' 14' 45". Sinee the 2d wo have drifted twenty-four miles to N. 80' E., or six miles a diiy ; 1 am disappointed, because I expected to find a greater distance accomplished. We have had as nnich wind in the past four days as we can expect during mid-summer, and the conditions of ice loosening are, one would suppose, at their most favorable point. It seems a certainty, therefore, that there i.s no expanse of open water east of as, and the ice is not slack enough to afTord a passage. As day after day passes by, and no chance offers to accomjdish anything, I feel my heart sink. To have zeal and energy enough to dare anything, and be held like a rat in a trap, seems the irony of fate. AiKjust \)th, Monday. — Observations place us in lat- itude N. 73° 24' 32", longitude ^V. 176° 39' 15", a drift of one and seven tenths miles N. 22° E. since yesterday. We .--ound in thirty-nine fathoms, — and the leadline shows no perceptible drift; we have therefore come to a stand again, an.d unless something we know not of -works in our favor, we shall proljaldy zigzag again "without aim or result. I cannot find words in any lan- guage which will express tbj sense of utter disappoint- ment, shame, and mortification with which I am filled, ia seeing a second sunnner fade away with nothing ac- complished. August 10th, Tuesday. — A gloomy, d'- tuevent- ful day. Fog or rain all the time. August 11th, Wednesday. — Apparently 'ur sit aition is growing worse each day instead of better. W made the unpleasant discovery to-day that the amount of the leak is increasing; for during the last twenty -four u A 1MM)ZKN SUMMKll. 417 hours 1,21)5 strokes of the bilgo-pump were reciuired to keep her tree, iind siuee July J'")tli, !;^-10 strokes [)er day have heen sullicieut. 01" eourse there is a reason lor this, but unfortunately we liave to guess at it. Meas- luvineuts of the thickness of the ice at accessible places 8how a dinunution of one inch since July loth; and it may so happen that the wasting away of that amount of ice (whether at the top, and so causing it to lloat higher, or at the botti^ni, and accomplishing the same effect) has uncovered the damaged stem and presented n freer i;ccess to the water. This is conjecture sim[)ly ; the fact is the water, and must be dealt with. We have the windmill for the present, and should we be held here anotlKU' winter, we have, thank God, enough coal to run a pump in the deck-house. Ait(/ust 12th, Tlairxilatj. — Observations to-day show a drift since the Uth of live and a half miles to S. o8° E. The irony of fate! IIow long, Lord, how long? AufjHst 1.3/A, Fridtti/. — Rainbow at ten p. m. Sun- set at 10.20. This is the first time we have been able to see the sun at this interesting event since he recom- menced his for-a-time-suspended habit of going below our horizon. Some little fog in the forenoon. These fogs please me, for they cut away the ice amazingly. Auf/Hst 14^/i, Saturday. — Our mild \veathor con- tinues, and as the winds hold from the northward and eastward, it must be occasioned by open water in that direction. This is no better than a conjecture, of course ; for remaining fast in one spot we can only guess what may be the state of affairs fifty miles from us in any direction. Inasmuch as the high temperature and N. E. wind are accompanied by rain, fog, and mist, the conjecture of open water is a reasonable one. AiKjust Itjth, Sunday . — Our mild weather continues, 'ft > I > .1 418 rilE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ; '^ i tii|'( (i-O siml ,so does the log. It Is surprising to seo how this latter cuts iiway the ice. The full sun of June 21st did not do half the exjcution that to-day's fog accom- plished. The ice seons actually to be rotting away. The suvfaee is .soft and spongy, and fully honey-condjcd ; and but for the fact that there remains ice varvinc in thickness from two to twenty feet, there is no reason why we hould not resume our voyage. The ship is still held afiectionately by ico gripping her nearly down to her keel, and by its attempt to rise, heeling her o\'er 75° to starboard. Here and there on either beam, hole.s varying in size from one to six feet extend down through the ico, and at a distance of one half mile on the starboard beam, and one mile on the port beam, there is a narrow lane of water (starboard with a W. wind, port with an E. Avind, neither with any other), which serves to make our immediate vicinity an island ; so that if we could get to this lane we might have the pleasure of sailing around a circle, were we not raean- wiiile crushed by the ice coming together, for beyond the lane in any direction is ice of the cheerful and consoling thickness of twenty to forty feet. Inspected ship at ten A. m., and had divine service afterwards. Sounded in thirty-nine and a half fathoms, a marked drift to N, E. being indicated by the lead line. A cu- rious fact, because we have had light breezes from northward and eastward all day, and this shows a drift to windward. Between ten and eleven p. m. had some heavy passing showers. At midnight a remarkably heavy water-sky showed itself to the southward. August l(}(h, 3Iondaij. — Foggy and misty weather continues unchanged. Sweetman commenced altering the frames and stanchions of the deck-house, to carry out my plan of improving its arrangement next wintci", A FllOZEN Sl'MMKU. 410 ^ e how this Juno 2Lst log accoin- tiiig away, iy-combed ; oe vai'viiisi: ^ no reason -Mie «liip i.s jarly down ig her o\'er )eam, holen :end down [df nnle on port beam, wilh a W. my other), an island ; it have tlie not moan- for beyond eerful and Inspected ifterwards. a marked me. A cu- ezes from uws a drift had some markabiy ird. y weather id altering e, to carry }xt winter, by beginning it at the bows, and so covering the spar deck over the entire berth deck. August \1th, Tuesday. — And so day by day our glo- rious sunnner is passing away, and we are accomplish- ing nothing. It is painful beyond expression to go around the ice in the moriiing iind S^e no change since the night before, and to look the last thiny; at ni'dit at the same thing we saw in the morning ; and this has continued nearlv a year already, and may continue — ? To start out full of zeal and energy, and to receive a stunning blow at the first step, is somewhat demoraliz- ing. If we could only do something. Like Ilandct, I can say, '• Wouldst drink up eisil ? eat a crocodile ? 1 '11 do it " — And so I would, if by so doing I could change our position to one of usefulness. High as our temper- ature is (34''), foggy weather a daily occurrence, the most favorable occasions for getting rid of ice, exce})t frequent and varying gales of wind to break it up and make o])enings. and yet here we are hard and fast, with ponds here and there two or three feet dee]), with an occasional hole through to the sea. Is this always a dead sea ? Does the ice never find an outlet ? Surely it must go somewhere; for as the thaw in threo months by n6 means equals the growth in nine mouths, it would require but a few years to make this a solid nuiss. and so take up this Arctic Ocean entirely. It does not get out through Behring Strait, for all ice met in IJeliriug Sea, or nearly all, is the formation of that locality. It has no regular set in any direction, north, east, or ^\•est, as far as 1 can iudii-e, but slowly suru'es in oh' dience to wind pressure, and grinds back again to an e((uilibriuui when the pressure ceases. Are there no tides in this ^ j I f ' r' ' >l) 1 ! if ocean Drifting about as we are, no tidal measurements are ; ■ 420 THE VOYAGE OF THE .TEANNETTi:. IIP 'i I ; \- possible. When last fall and winter we had our great- est pressures at new and full moon, their regular recur- rence seemed to indicate that tidal action existed, but now the moon has no effect whatever. Full moon or new moon, last quarter or first quarter, the ice is as im- movable as a rock. We are, of course, further north now than we were last winter, and may have got be- yond the Siberian tides, while still south of the tides mentioned further north as ebbing and flowing through McCIure Strait. In case this is so we should be in a dead space, and might, like Franklin's ships, never get any further. But wdiat is there to the northward of us ? It is hard to believe that an impenetrable barrier of ice exists clear up to the Pole, and yet as far as we have gone we have not seen one speck of land north of Herald Island. Our water temperatures and soundings taken daily give no encouragement ; tiie surface has generally a temperature of 34°, due, of course, to its exposure to the sun and retention for a long time of the heat im- parted. Two fathoms below the surface the tempera- ture is 31°, and at the bottom 30°. At a temperature of 75° above the freezing point of salt-water, the lower ice cannot melt rapidly. On the surface, the sun's rays, or the cutting fog, or the warmer water at the edges, make a wasted and rotten material ; but under water the ice has the same flinty hardness it had during mid- winter. And it is of such irregular and varying thick- ness that no idea can be formed of its age or origin. We know that last November, when we were squeezed out of the heavy ice into our present location, we were in open water, — a lake, so to speak. By careful meas- luement we know that ice formed on this lake to a thickness of five feet four inches by February 4th. Then A FROZEN SUMMER. 421 )ur great- Inr recLir- isted, but moon or I is as im- ler north ) got be- the titles ; through 1 be in a lever get bward of e barrier :ar as we ad north en daily lerally a osure to lieat im- :empera- perature lie lower n's rays, e edges, 3r water ng mid- ^^ thick- :in. We ized out were in .1 meas- kc to a . Then its thicknes^s could no longer be accurately measured, because of under-riding floes ; but it is reasonable to s ippose that it got a thickness- of seven feet. On the loth July that ice was five feet in thickness ; to- day it is three feet five inches thick. Either we have liad our summer, or are yet to have it, which latter sounds ctbsurd on this 18th day of Aii^gust. If the for- mer surmise is correct, three feet seven indies may be taken as the thaw of one summer, and the remaining three feat five inches will form a basis for next win- ter. Already our little ponds have frozen over during the night,, and remain frozen until noon of the next day. Thus much being said of ice which we have seen grow around us, how are we to discuss ice which is twelve feet, twenty-two feet, twenty-four feet, thirty feet, and forty feet in constant thickness ? We see ice which has been piled up in confused masses twenty-four feet above the surface of the water, and can but guess at its thickness below. We drop a lead down to a pro- jecting tongue twelve feet, and think we have the thick- ness of that floe at all events ; but lo ! a little further and we see another projecting tongue, or perhaps a third, or when we get to twenty-two feet we cannot obtain an up and down sounding by reason of surface irregularity. August 18th, Wednesday. — Another day of ice scen- ery without any perceptible change in our surroundings. A marvelous temperature ranging between 31° and 40° makes me hope for some decent weather. To me to- day the temperature has been sultry and at times op- pressive, the generally pervading fog seeming to inten- sify the effect of the heat. To our greni surprise we get forty-four fathoms, with mud, gravel, and fine white sand. ^'■'ii m I 1 II ,- if >V ' 422 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEAXNETTE. Our sick-list liiid an increase to-day in the person of II. II. Kaack, seaman. While passing along the berth deok he fell, and striking his right arm against the cor- ner of a hatch cover broke his elbow joint. The doctor has the case \\^i\\ in hand, and anticipates no serious result beyond being deprived of his services for some time. August Idfh, lliui'sday. — To-day the excitement was the killing of a bear. Mr. Dunbar started out tliis morn- ing innnediately after breakfast, and came back about five p. M. with the news. During the afternoon, while in company with Alexey, the latter called his attention from a little distance by call or signal agreed upon, — the note of a crow. Looking around. Dunbar saw, as he says, ''the biggest bear he has ever seen, — a reguhu* buster," — following in his tracks. He crouched down at once to let Bruin con o up ; but as the bear got within good range, say two hundred yards, of Alexey, before he reached Dunbur, Alexey fired and dropped him. We have learned up liere that it takes many bullets to kill a bear, so no surprise was felt at seeing hiiu jump to his feet and make oif, though pumping out blood through a hole in his left side as he rmi. Fortunately for us, he ran towards two men, Nindemann and Bartlett, who fired and liuished him. Dogs were sent for the carcass two miles east ( f the ship, and they brought in a small bear six feet sis: and one hall' inches long, and four feet seven inches in girth, thus showing the effect of a sudden surprise on Mr. Dunbar. The body was honored with a burial in the ice to keep it cool and fresh, whether for our consumption or that of the dogs will depend upon their necessities. They are now fed about three times a week from the seal yard. August 20th, Friday. — A day which can be disposed A FliOZEN SUMMEU. 423 person of tlio berth : the eor- :ie doctor serious lor some iicnt was lis morn- ck about Jii. wiiile iittention upon, — iw, us he 1 rei^ular ed down )t within Y, before ini. We to kill a p to his throui-'h for us, 3artlett, for the )ught in ng, and le effect )( ly was )ol and le dogs low fed is])osed of with but few words. Cloudy all day, except for a short time in the afternoon, when the sun broke through the clouds too late for a latitude and too early for a time sight. Awjutit 21.s/, Salfirddi/. — On pages 102 and 288 I have dwelt at some lengtli on the nature of the water result- ing from sea-water ice, and I shall add a word or two here on that sul)ject before closing it. AThere can be no doubt of the importance of this matter in reference to the health of xVrctic expeditions, for no man can receive continually or habitually as much salt in his system as we lind contained in our ice without speedily becoming scorbutic. Though previous expeditions have asserted that they found and used ice sufHciently pure for con- sumption when melted (and ice formed from the freez- ing of salt water at that), it is a somewhat singular cir- cu.mstance that the crews ]i(;caine victims to scorbutic complaints. Dr. Walker mentions the circumstance of the men of the Fox digging too deep into the re-fro/en ponds of melted snow, and getting ice too salt for do- mestic use. Our experience this summer is as follows : On the 7th of July we succeeded in getting enough snow and surface scrapings, that is, broken down ice crystals from tops of hummocks, to fill our tank with water sulh- ciently pure for our use, for the first time since last fall. The steady glare and heat of the sun had melted and honey-combed the mass, and allowed the salt here- tofore contained to lilter through and deposit at the bottom. (Not all of the saline ingredients had so de- posited, for a very faint milky tinge would ai)|)ear in the water when tested with nitrate of silver: but the water was pronounced suHiciently jiure for drinking.) This snow and surface crust were carefully scraped up, '■1 ' I 424 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE. ■ 1/ n put in barrels, and brought to the ship, where a cupful being molted from each barrel, a nitrate of silver test was applied, and the barrel accepted or rejected as the case might be. llegularly each morning was this ar- rangement carried out, some live or six barrels accu- mulating on the quarter-deck where the snow stood and thawed to some extent. From these barrels our supply was taken for melting in the galley for our uses. This morning an unusual degree of saltness in the new supply seemed to threaten our having got down to a line of salt deposit ; and in the course of Dr. Ambler's tests he dipped a cup of water from one of the snow barrels, which had some days ago passed inspection, and he found it too salt for use, although a cupful of snow in that barrel being melted was found quite pure. This curious result is worthy of notice. The barrelful of snow standing in the sim had become soft and honey-combed, and the small amount of salt had dropped through with the drops of water and remained, of course, with them, leaving the snow so much purer. Of course it is impossible to say that the entire contents of a barrel are of the same character as the specimen cupful, some pure and some impure getting scraped up together ; for it is plain that if the barrelful were no different from the cupful, the melting of one would give the same purity of water as the other. It is to be remombcred, however, that the salter the water orig- inally the lower the freezing point, and, consequently, the melting point, hence the salter ice commences to melt first and deposits its salt, which, falling into the liquid, makes a concentrated solution which may be unfit to drink, though the remaining .snow will yield a potable material. Our method of examination and test is the only practicable one. Properly each barrelful 0~ A FROZEN SUMMER. 425 should be melted and the Avuter exjimined ; but this would consume more fuel than any ship could spare, and conse(iueutly it is out of the question. The idea that I desire to iix is^ that sea-Avater ice, under whatever circumstances it may be found, whether of temperature of the air at time of freezing, or num- ber of thaws and re-freezings, or age, or thickness, or location, is a treacherous and unsafe element to use on an Arctic expedition, as an internal application ; and no matter how much care may be exercised in its exami- nation and test, the chances are ninety-nine in a hun- dred that sulHcient salt will be received into the system by continued use to enfeeble it and prepare it for scor- butic attacks under any unusual exposure or exertion, even if its use does not produce scurvy alone and un- aided. Having thus disposed of the salt question, about two lines will describe to-day's arrival and departure. A few hours' sunshine in spots, in early morning and at three r. m., fog and mist thence till midnight. Augia^l 22d, Swidaij, — The thirty-sixth anniversary of my birth, and but for an episode in the afternoon it might have passed .'iway without reference. Of late I have each afternoon been accustomed to take the dingy and scull around and through the little streams of Avater that have formed in our surrounding- floe, watching the wasting of the ice, and making out in my own mind where a break may occur by connect- ing the several holes wasted clear through to the deep water. So narrow are these little streams, that in some of them one has just room enough to use two oars and row, and in many he is obliged to scull. So winding and intricate are they, that I am reminded of the maze at Hampton Court as presenting a parallel. This afternoon 1 started oft" as usual alone, and had ' f 420 THE VOYAGE OF THE JE ANNETTE. lowod and sculled imconcenicdly a mile or more, nl- tlioii''h at no time more than five hundred yards from the ship in a straight line. At this point 1 reached a loui"' narrow lead which obli- aft, to use both hands, 1, of course, saw nothing ahead. Thinking after a time that 1 must Ijc near a bend 1 looked over my shoulder, and to my astonishment found my eyes resting on a bear not quite a hundred feet off, and who, Judging by his looks, was quite as astonished as 1 was. The relative situation was worthy of a photograph. Here was a predicament. To run was out of the question for me, for it would have been too luieven a match had the road to the ship been a level and clear one instead of across alternate ice and water, which of course nuide it worse. There was no water ))e- tween me and the bear, but I was jammed in a narrow li'ad and he stood looking at mo. The water would have made no dilference to him, though it would have to me. Looking a bear out of countenance is ver\- ro- mantic but not practicable, and I found the bear recov- ei'ing from his astonishment and advancing toward mo. 1 then yelled, " On board ship there ! a bear ! a bear ! " but got no answer. Bruin by this time was about fifty feet from me, so close that 1 could see distinctly where the siiort hair ended at the edge of his beautiful black nose. Hearing my shout he stopped, and looked at me wonderiugly. 1 again shouted, " On board ship there I" and somebody answered, " Halloa." Mentally calculat- ing my chances I again yelled, "A bear! a jjcar ! " and at the same time I raised an oar to fend him olf" should IJruin come to the boat. He stood still, however, and looked as if he could not quite make me out. Just then a string of men and doirs rushing around the stern attracted his attention, and he gazed at them A FROZEN SUM.MHI?. 427 until, judging they mennt him no good, ho turned and ran, so fast that beloro the men and dogs could get on his trail he was out of range. Lesson for me : " Never go away from the ship with- out a riile." Usual Sunday inspection followed by divine service. Anijuat 'I'Ml, Monifa//. — It is now ten days since I have obtiiiued sights, and by a singular circumstance they have been days of unusually high temperature ; I say unusually high advisedly, because we have become so accustomed to experience a temperature of o2 , or under, that any excess is worthy of notice. August 2\th, Tuesday. — But a short time since and we were reveling in the enjoyment of a sun above the horizon the whole twenty-four hours ; and to-night at midnight a lantern was necessarv to read the anemom- eter. The thermometers haviuy; bright metallic sur- faces are easily read without artificial light. For about two weeks we have had the cabin lamp lighted every evening at nine o'clock, the dark and gloomy weather we have had making it necessary. Alas, alas ! a sec- ond winter before us and nothing done. Our daily hunting parties are coming back empty-handed. Seals enough are seen and shot, but they sink almost at once and are lost. This is their season for shedding their coats, a"^ J there seems to be a connectic i between that episode and the fatness of the seal (or the thickness of his blubber). Under ordinary circumstances a seal, when shot, seems buoyant enough to float until his car- cass can be reached by a kyack, or by traveling on a cake of ice. But now the moment his skin is punc- tured down he goes. To-day Chipp and Dunbar saw four oogooks (or one oogook four times), but at too long range for a shot. II I Pf /= I ■t ! ■V' 428 THE VOYAGE OF THE JEANXETTE. All reports sooin to ngroo in prononncing the ice in a wasted and disintegrated condition, needing only a fresh blow to send it into blocks and pieces. But by our ill luck we are having only light airs from the northward and a normal barometer. August "l^itJi, WedncsiUiji. — A day of considerable interest, from the occupation in which we were en- gaged, and of great satisfaction from the results ob- tained. I have long been anxious to have a sight of our propeller, to know w! at injury it sustained during our numerous ice-squeezes and jams. Although 1 some- times regretted not having triced it up last fall, upon becoming fixed in our icy surroundings, I could not help feeling during the crises of the winter, particu- larly on the memorable 19tli of January, that its being down added greatly to the support of the rudder-post, and perhaps prevented its (the rudder-post's) destruc- tion, and incidentally a crippling of the ship. An in- jury to the screw-blades we could endure, because we had spare ones to take their places, although if the blades were much bent or twisted, we should perhaps be unable to get them up to replace them by others. The ice surrounding the ship's stern had a thickness of nine feet in some places, and its surface was about two feet under water. Sawing it, therefore, seemed a her- culean job, while blasting it with torpedoes might in- jure the ship. However, I determineil to try sawing, and Chipp, with the tripod on the starboard side, and standing in the water to his knees, directed operations, while Nindemann, on the port side, similarly immersed, attended to that portion of it. Suspending an anchor weighing about eighty pounds to the bottom of the saw, a rope was attached to the upper end, led through a block at the tripod head, and ^i A FllOZEN SUMMER. 429 then over the rail on board, where it was manned l)y some hands, while Cliipp, with two men, pointed and guided the saw by means of a bar in the saw's upper end. Durinj^ the forenoon the small sawing, [)icking, and chiseling were done on the port side, where a num- ber of small holes were connected ; and in the after- noon both sides were worked at. As soon as the tripod got near the ship the fall was led through a block on the inainyard, and the sawing proceeded with ^ood speed, lice 3 feet ^•umler watcrUi A. Souii'liiit,' hole. B. Ice (en feet thick. C. Tvipoil for siivvhif? ice. D. Holes throii;;h the ice conncetecJ by small saws, picks, and chisels. E riiico where line ln'oUe in two, (FVomoiiettA ii/ Caft. De Lonx.) although laborious and trying to the men standing in the water guiding the saw. By 2.30 p. m. the saw had nearly reached the sounding hole, when, crash ! bump ! bump ! the floe broke into two large cakes which came to the surface striking hard under our counter, and rolled and swashed like two whales. While some of the men got ice-claws, and with ropes dragged the cakes away, others rove off the propeller-purchase, and Mel- ville went below to get the blades vertical. Upon trying to turn the shaft, he found that it would only go a little way, and we began to fear the blades were so bent as I 'i I'{ 4:)0 TIIK VOYAdK OK Till: .IKAWKTI H. I! 1 to tiiko aj^ninst tlu; forward side of tlu' casing. When wo eeasc'd stoaniiiig last fall, tlio blades wci-o loft u\y and down, and in onr ico prossuros tlioy liud boon tninod about ono eighth of a rovolntion. Fortunately when tlK> ico was removed we could get the bwidos to a hoisting mark, although they would not revolve. 80 we hove away, and to oiu- satisfaction up came the screw, and to our e([ual surprise and di'light we found it in ]H>rfect condition with not oven a scratch. It was, however, as bright as new co[)per, looking as if it had boon freshly scoured. With a view to learning what the shaft's not turning was due to, I directed Melville to turn the engines over while the screw was up, and it was found impossible to get the shaft any further around than before. Ice may have formed and lodged in the sleeve of the dead-wood, and as this can be de- termined by removing the packing from the stufling- box, we shall probaiily know more about it to-morrow. Lowered the screw again to its place, soon I hope again to be employed in l)eating the water to drive us on to the accomplishment of some worthy object. The con- sequences to the ship by the removal of ice from under the stern are logged by me as follows : — '' The ship inmiodiately went down in the water aft seven inches, and came np forward one half inch ; the water-level being now at a height of seven feet two inches on the stem, and tliirteen feet nine and a half inclios on the rudder-post. The iieel is now 8}'^ to starboard, having been increased only ^° by the change of immersion. The ship is yet firmly held by ice, which extends from the main ligging on the port side around tlie bows, and to the after part of the fore rigging on the starboard side, and which, where possible to measure, is found to have a thickness of ten feet eleven inches. It prob- ably extends under her keel, forming a ci-adle ; and though it would perhaps be possible to haul the ship astern into a small 1 1 A FIIOZKN' SUM.MKIl. 431 pool of cleiir water, it i.s not iitti'inptcd for fear of iiifieasiii^ tlio, fiicility witli wliicli wutor ini^lit ciitcr tlirouj^li tlio daiii- h^v Mr. Dunbar. When not engaged in chasing bears, our men were engaged to-day in sawing up and removing the ice which we disj)laced around the stern yesterday. The engineer's force was<'inployed in trying to get tho shaft to revolve. Uncoiipb-d the engine from the line shaft, and found that the engine could be moved readily, f'oupled up again and removed the packing from the stiiffing-box of the stern bearing until the \vat( ran freely to the box. Then tri»- I to jack the engine and shaft as cou]>l«d togeth***". but without much effect. The 'ufficnlty seemed to In: in the stern-pipe or sleeve (as we supposed yesterday), as tM^rc was a noise as of grinding in the pipe, and su[)posing it to be occasioned by ice, the stuffing-box was so arranged tt* to admit during the night a small, steady stream oi water tx) aid in thawing. Auf/ust 2,7fh, Friday. — Anotiier day of fog — im- penetrable as a wall. Temperature, maximiiiii 't't . iniii- I- 4 A FROZEN SUMMER. 4" cio iiiniin ol.T.° We continued to-day the work of cut- tnig up and dragging away the pieces of broken Hoc, liuishing it aljout five o'clock. All along our starboard side, from the fore rigging aft, we have "■ open water," a hole extending diagonally across the ship's keel from the starboard bow to the port quarter, and long enough to lioat the ship in should she slip from her cradle. In slueing a piece of fioe this afternoon, a tongue project- ing under water struck the shi[)'s side abreast of my room, and though the shock was not great, it caused the ship to sjiake fore and aft, showing i^hat the ice foi-- ward is balancing her weight so nicely that but little would Ijc necessary to shake her off. I think it is a (juestion of only a few more Vlays' thaw and the Jean- nette will slide into water again, and then we shall know what kind of a leak she has. ATelvilk' continued the work of trying to turn the siiait again to-day, having allowed the water to run in slowl}" last night thi'ough the stufHng-box of the steam bearing, but little improvement was noticed. He there- fore took out all the packing and let in a full head of water. This did the work. All ice seemed to disap- pear, and the engines, shaft, and screw conld be jackeil to a charm. We |)acked the stufhng-box, and now ev- erytliing collected with the machinery is in perfect running order. Au(/nf V] V) / ^w /A IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1= 1.25 us Ui 12.2 i 1^ 12.0 K U 11.6 II Photographic .Sciences Corporation k // .^/ ^ i.^^. W-? 1 :/ Ki V iV L17 <> 23 WEST MAIN 'w?EFT WEBSTER, N.Y. I4SS0 (716) 872-4503 ^^ -s*^ i/. S i i HAKHop/ >o-]k Str.Jk crush June zsk 77 |Jeann» tte J«2> ^ \^ ^o/ ;r?*i«*-' Msc0^»* ^^ -/e^'*''* \ <^ '^ V Q 60 / m- ^ /^ iSr i "^1 *.•»• ^ «^ B*i Track chart o- ^--^ u V V K. J^llfi i^ m^\ \m <5/i '"'-'^ LIZ12: Track chart of the U. S. S, JEANNETTE. Lieut-Comm. GEORGE W. De LONG, from ^arv route fbllowed by the officers and crew in their escape over \\ ■B \^T^ r 0? ^ \ Cl***'' . Oi, ""'^'^ no* 3 ilW t B- ^ Lua u iRGE W. De LONG, from «aa Francisco, up to the sinking of the ship; togettwr with the and crew in their escape over the ice to the Siberian coast. ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^ ,^^^ M iliawran thfir with the -nment Chart.