Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1882-07-19
De Long's Fight Against Fate.

Mr.. jackson. the correspondent OF the
Herald in Siberia, writes from Yakt1tsks
"Fate seemed against De Long. Had
he landed thirty miles further west he
wo<Ald have struck village of natives.
He also passed 10y within thirteen miles
Of hut where twenty reindeer carcasses
were hanging for winter food. He had,
unfortunately, no shotgun, from it havz
ing been left, by his orders, on the ice
when the Jeanette went down, and,
though deer was rare, there was no lack
of ptarmigan. De Long is constantly
recording numerous ptarmigan tracks,
but for their capture Alexa had only q
rife, and, though good shot, only sue
ceeded IN obtaining very few. On the
day Noros and Ninderman were sent
away by De Long, a large flock of two
quarter of mile of the party, but none
were shot. With single shot gun in
Alexa's hands allmight have been saved.
The sun was too late for deer. A
strange incident also came to my knowl.
edge at Gemovialk. Some Tonguese
natives, travelling from the north to
Bekoff, saw the footprints of the party
two days old, and picked up the Rem
mgton which De Long had left in hut
half way from the landing place to the
bluff. The natives were frightened, and
thought that the footprints were those
of smugglers or robbers, and left the
ground without following. On arriving
at Temovialek, they heard of the pres
ence of the Melville party of three and
the loss of the captains party, and they,
fearing to be punished for not following
the footsteps, kept their information to
themselves for some weeks, until too
late.
"De Long made mistakes in endeavor-
ing to secure the safety of his own pri-
vate logs, which we're bulky, as we'll as
the scientific documents and other use
less impediments-a heavy burden for
the men. These could have been left in
the cache near the place where they
landed; but they had to be born by the
men through all the days Of their weary
march. These things filed one entire
dog-sled when found near the bluff.
"After Noros and Ninderman left the
party did not make more than eighteen
miles from Oct. to the 3oth. De
Longs last effort was to carry his pri-
vate logs and charts up from the place
under the bluff, where Mr.. Collins and
the others died, and where they would
have been swept away by the spring
foods, to the top of the bluff, where the
doctor and All Sam perished; bnt he
only succeeded in carrying the chart case
up. Even before Noros and Ninderman
left, De Long was very weak. He used
to walk ten minutes and then lie down to
rest, saying to the men, Don't mind me;
go on as far as you can. will follow" :"
Long built large bonfire as high as
thirty feet every night, the last one be-
ing few hundred yards from the bluff
where they all perished, in the hope of
attracting the attention Of parties who,
he kept saying would certainly be out
looking for him. But there was not a
human being at the time of their death
within hundred miles:
Arrangements have been made by
Gov. Tchernieff, Of Yakutsk, 10 have the
tomhs of De Long and party covered
with tdeep layer of earth, to prevent
the possibility of the sun thawing
the bodies. If this be done promptly,
doubtless the bodies will remain un-
touched by decay forever, as the ground
remains frozen on the delta all the year
round at depth of two feet. The bod
les can therefore be removed at later
date, if desired. Gen. Tchernieff has
also caused Russian inscription to be
placed on the tombs, and has given Or
ders to the officials north that every care
shall be taken to preserve the tombs and
the monument in good condition.