, 1882-12-02
MelviIle's Narrative.

sledye trip 10 Henrietta lsiano.
On May 16 or IL land was sighted to.
ward the north. We were drifting rap
IDLY 10 the northwest, and on May "A or
% other land was sighted About May
80 the Captain asked me il | though,
Vas strong enough 10 reach the land,
which vas estimated to be abont fifteen
miles distant At this time Mr.. Chipp.
the executive officer, MAS SICK from lead
poisoning. Mr. Danenhowsr had been
sick with his eyes for some time, and
several others on board We're sick from
lead poisoning. On May 3lst Capt De
long gave NE orders to take charge Of a
sled party, with sixteen dogs and seven
days provisions, and, accompanied by
Mr. Durba Seamen Erickson and Mn
derman, Fireman Bartlett, AMI Coal
HEAVIER Walter Sharvel, effect landing,
buld earn IN some prominent point,
erect flagstaff, leave u record, and name
the island Henrietta Island, and claim it
as portion Of the United States The
sled and hoat We're fully equipped with
arms and ammunition, a tent, sleeping
bags, Cook stove, medicine chest, pro-
visions, &c. The party landed on the
island June 3 | carried ont my m-
structinns and made hurried survey Of
"no eud OF the island. Ny orders were
not to remain on the island more than
twenty four hours. | remained about
twelve hours, aud made sketches Of the
&c, took bearings, and
made small chart, which viii be found
with the ships record On June OF 6 |
to the ship. Daring the tIip
icema-ter lumbar was seriously affected
by SNOW blindness, and Seaman NInder-
man and Erickson We're badly affected by
supposed To be due to the lead
poisoning the Ice IN the vicinity of the
ship inpineing on these islands WAS bro
ken up in large masses, and the whole
appeared in all directions, but closed
again So that il would have been imLos-
sibie t. have worked the ship through any
If them. About NAV 6 general order
vas issued naming the first island Jean
nett Jsland, and the s-coud-,he one on
= hIch nv party landed Henrietta Island,
lhe latitude and longitude Of each being
at the time on the ships log
book.
Engineer Melville then continued his
narrative as follows:
About June g So grea. was the move
ment Of the ice that all preparation were
made for abandoning the ship in case she
should be crushed. At thus time the ship
was imbedded in a small island of Ice,
which protected Us from the direct crush
ing OF The Ice against her sides, but there
was continual humping of underrun-
ing ice. On June IL, soon after mid
night, it was my watch to read the ther-
mometer and instruments at the observa-
Tory on the ice As | passed over the
ships side the ice parted and the ship
fioa,ed and suddenly righted, startling all
hands from their beds, and soon all were
on deck The instrumepts"
rirles = tne Ice were got on board; the
shin was mnured to the foe sn one SIDE.
The lead opened To a distance of 500 TO
700 yards and then slowly came together
again About 9 A ". on June II the lee
came alungside and the ship was hauled
ahead int. hole where 1t was thought
she would be protected from tho ImpIng
ing ICE; the hole resemhlcd Little dock.
WAru the ship first entered the port in
Sspt, nher, 1879, the Commanding officer
told NE that he had overheard ali adverse
cri icism, and for that reason he told mt
that the ship Was put into the pack for
purpose Of reaching Wrangle Land, thai
the season WAS srIl: Early, and there was a
prospect that the fall gals woald break
up the rack So that We would have no
difficulty in reaching land. At one time
he vas very hopeful! that the ship would
be caught IN the counter current that
sets along up the coast Of Siberia, and by
this means get free of the ice. | do not
remember ever 10 have heard him express
any regret AT having put the ship into the
pack, nor do re;nember To have heard
him express any opinion whether he
would have put the ship in the same
place again under the same circumstan-
ces.
Q-was there fair prospect appar-
emily when you entered the pack Sept. o,
1879, of working through and reaching
Wrangie Landi A-Wrangle Land was
too far distant to form an opinion. We
could only expec, to work from lane TO
lane aid pond to pond, taking every ad-
vantage of the openings and leads
The following extract from Capt. De
Longs Journal, now IN the custody Of the
Navy Department, supplements Mel
villes modes; account Of his siedge TIP
to Henrietta Island
The island (Henrietta) Is desolate
rick surmouu'ed ty a snow cap, which
reeds several d'scharging glaciers Oh lis
east face. DnvkIes nesting on the face Of
the rock are the only signs of game. A
little moss, some grass and handful OF
rock we're brought back as trophies. The
cliffs are inaccessible because Of their
steepness. The ice between the ship and
the island is something frightful. r ad
digging, ferryIng and its attendant load
nng and unloading, armbreaking hauls
and panic stricken dogs, made their jour
ney a TERRIBLY severe one. Near the