New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-23
WHERE DE LONG L1NDED.


| De Long had received assurances before
leaving Behring Strait on his voyage toward
the Pole that Nordenskjold had completed the
northeast passage around the Asian continent.
He had no means of learning the details of
the Vegas wonderful cruise, and could not
| turn the newly acquired knowledge of the
| Siberian coast to his own profit When he
| abandoned his vessel, be was guided in his
retreat upon the main land by the surveys and
! explorations which were made nearly sixty
years ago by Wrangell and Aujou in slcdges.
In 1922 and the following season,
| Aniou, acting as Wrangclrs lieutenant,
had circumnavigated the four largest
| islands of the Siberian group lying northeast
of the mouths OF the Lena, and had examined
| the coasts adjacent to the river. lie had also
| pushed his way from the norihcmmoSt head
! lands Of KotelnOi Island as far as latitude
7G' 30, in search of land which Sannkoii had
reported he had seen in tllat quarter. His re-
searches were conducted mainly in the spring
when the sea was covered with thin ice, and his
progress being blocked in that latitude 10y the
opcn sea he returned to the islands convinced
that there was no land TO the north. He reported
that the Siberian group was surrounded, at n dis
lance varying from sixteen to thirty-siN miles
by thin ice and open sea. He had succeeded
in reaching, by slcdgcs from the main land, a
latitude nearly as high rs that attained by the
Jeanette when she was crushed in the ice.
TIE departure from the wreck is spoken
of in the dispatches from the Jean
nettcs officers as "A good retreat" 1t WAS
evidently made with dcibcraiion, for 9TH
erw1<e the ships company would have
=. a. q. Al
months voyage in open boats that was before
them. The Siberian Island, lay midway be-
! tween the wreck and the months of the Lena.
As described by Noldcuskjold they are unin-
habitable wastes, covered with the most re-
markahc deposits OF fossils known To natural
lists. The bones of mammoth and rhinOccros
are found there in extraordinary abundance,
and in the summer the shores are -trcWn with
| ivory washed up by the sea. Beyond the islands
| there is always open wafer during the summer.
| The islands form a great natural brcalwatcr,
which prevents the wind from driving the ice
| toward the shore, and the volume Of fresh
water pouring out Of the mouths Of the Lena
creates a strong current which helps to keep
| the coast clear. Under favorable conditions,
| De Long and his companions could have made
| the passage between the islands and the Lena
| with comparative comfort But the Jeanette
was wrecked so far from the Siberian group
| that the summer had closed and the autumn
ice had formed before they could approach the
settlements. The boats, moreover were sep
alated by violent gale, and the boats crews
50 exhausted from exposure and hunger that
the battle with the ice and the search for
| human succor became an agOniZng struggle.
| The latest tidings indicate that only cight
members of the ships company were missing
| in OctOber-the executive officer the ice pilot,
| the carpenter and five scamcn-and there is
reasonable ground for expecting that even
they have reached land and received assist
| ancc. BY singular coincidence, good news
from the Jcanncttc's companion in Arct, dis
coyery has followed the dishcartcning tidings
of her own loss. The Eira is reported to have
been sighted as late as July 2, under clrcum-
stances which favor the expectation that she
has reached Franz Josef Land in safety. The
British Admiralty have resolved to send out "A
relief vessel iii the spring. The Ezra was only
provisioned for single year, so that there is
urgent need of haste