Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-02-03
The Los, Arctic mariners.


The thoughts of thousands of persons must
turn very often to the survivors of the Jean
nette and very interesting letter TO the
Herald from an old Siberian traveller, Mr.
George KEENAN,, gives a valuable summary of
the present situation. II will be remembered
that the engineer, Melville and the MASTER
Danenhower, with a party in whale-boat,
aud Lieutenant De Long, with another party
in a cutter, had reached the mouth of the Lee
ma, while Lieutenant Chip and his party, in
a second cutter. had not been heard Of. Mel
vile and Danenhower pushed up the river to
a settlement called Bolenenga. This they
reached forty-two days after landing, and to
Bolenenga on the Goth Of October came two
of De Longs men, Noras and Nindermann.
A party was at once fitted out TO go TO the re-
lief of De Long After its departure from
Bolenenga, Danenhower, with five men OF
the whale-bonts crew, apparently started for
st Petersburg, which is more than seven
thousand miles distant and the journey one
of the longest land journeys upon the globe.
On the 18th Of January the Telegraph an
nounced the arrival of Danenhower at Yak
utsk which is 2342 miles from lrkutsk, which
is more than 1000 miles from st, Petersburg.
Engineer Melville, with the other six men of
the whale boats crew, was expected to arrive
at Yukutsk at any moment Lieutenant DE
Long, with the first cutters crew, and Lieut..
Chip, of the second cutter, are still missing.
The mouth of the Lena has been abandoned
by all the crew Of the jeanette who are known
TO have reached the land The question Is Of
the safety of Lieutenant Chip and his COM
pany, of whom nothing has been heard, aud
Of the. probable ability of Lieutenant De Long
aud his party to sustain themselves until sue
Cored.
Mr.. Remnants description of the desolate
wastes of arctic Siberia Is very striking. For
hundreds of miles from the frozen ocean
stretches bare plain Of frozen land. The
summer thaws the surface for two or three
feet, making thin veneer Of soil, on which
is rank growth of gray arctic moss, in which
u man sinks to his knees, forming for thou.
sands of square miles a vast spongy bog.
There are infrequent clumps of dwarf berry
bushes, or hummocks Of coarse grass, or
patches OF frost-defying "kedroynik.' But
generally the eye sweeps the vast brownsh-
gray expanse of the tundra, or limitless plain,
and sees nothing but the sky and the moss
For food De Long and his party must de-
pend upon the birds and animals of the coast.
These are seals and the white bear, with the
reindeer, wolf, and polar fox, the arctic hare
the lemming, and the ptarmigan, or white
grouse. But the main reliance must be the
white hare and ptarmigan At the worst,
boiled reindeer moss would probably sustain
life for a short time Shelter and fire would
be furnished by the drift wood which always
comes down the Lena in the warmer season
and is strewn all along its shores. 1t is pleas
ant to read that Mr.. KEENAN, is inclined to
the belief that, unless disabled by frost bites
the De Long party will probably survive, and
that although as yet Lieut.. Chip has not
been heard from, it is not unlikely that, like
the others, he and his party may have reach
ed the mouth Of the Lena, and be engaged in
the effort to open communication with their
comrades. The United States government
assumed the expense of maintaining the
wrecked men and bringing them home and
the Russian General Ignatietf has directed the
Siberian authorities to supply all their wants.
Mr.. Bennett has also advanced money, and
no care of any kind will be spared No tidings
can be more anxiously awaited than those
from these lost mariners.
Two dispatches from Lieut.. Danenhower
at Irkutsk, transmitted from St. Petersburg
by Charge Hoffman, conflict little while
agreeing in the main statements that Lieut.
DE Longs party have been traced to de
finite locality" and that Engineer Melville
aud the Russians are searching ardently. q"
Further account of the voyage of the jeanette
is given-that she entered the ice near Her
aid island September g, 1873; became seri-
ously damaged January l. 1880 they kept
the pumps going aud the vessel drifted to the
northwest during q months, being finally
crushed and sunk June r. in latitude 7G- 10
east. Several islands were discovered during
its voyage. The crew made the retreat"
over ice to the New Siberia islands, thence
took boats to the delta Of the Lena. Danen-
hover was stricken blind, and De Long gave
Engineer Melville the charge of his boat, and
it is Melville who is now actively engaged in
search for De Long. In on- despatch Daneu-
hover says that if Lieut.. Chipp's party lin
the missing second cutter) are not heard from
before spring, he shall charter the steamer
Lena and search the coast between the rivers
Olenek and Kolima. Iu the other he merely
asks permission to charter "A steamer, and
adds IF yes, send two active, live officers
to assist Secretary Hunt has sent word
that the two officers will be sent, but it is not
yet decided that a steamer shall be chartered.
If the government is going to do anything at
all in looking up DE Long and Chip and the
men with them, it had better do it handsome
".