National Republican., 1882-12-07
HATING THEIR BOOT soLEs.
Nindemnnn Relates Another Thrilling
Chapter OF Arctic Suffering.

Seaman Nindemann of tho Jeanette re-
sumed his interesting and touching narrative
before the board of investigation yesterday.
Several ladies were in the room and were ap-
parently deeply interested. Nindemann took
up his story with the resumption of the jour
ney toward Beum in company with Noros.
On the morning of October 10 the snow had
stopped drifting, and they made start along
the river bank, going to the southward and
eastward. They crossed an island, where
they found signs of natives who had been
there. They struck out again on the river,
the ice being quite smooth. The wind had
increased by that time, and the snow was
drifting so fast that they could hardly open
their eyes They struggled along until D
o'clock in the afternoon, when they sighted
crack in the river bank. The weather was so
bad that they would face it no longer.
| The crack in the bank was about two and Il
| half feet wide, with a hole at the bottom.
| They tried to rest there, but failed, and started
along the river bank again, III hopes of finding
better shelter for the night. They walked
about a mile. but not finding better place.
they were obliged to walk back to the crack
in the river bank. They gathered wood
enough to last them through the night. One
had to crowd into the crack while the other
passed the wood to him. They then got their
fire started and made some tea out of willow
bark.
AS THEY HAD NOTHiNd TO EAT,
they cut sp pieces of their clothing, roasted
and ate them. The entrance to the crack
they covered with blanket to keep out the
draught. The blanket was not quito long
enough and o hole remained at the top.
Neither witness nor Noros could sit along
side of each other so one had to stand up by
the fire TO keep out of the smoke They had
to shift places about every twenty minutes.
They could not keep themselves very warm,
and and then thpv wOn10 IoOk
out to see if daylight had not broken. Wit
ness then went into detail at length the jour
neyings of himself and Noros and related the
difficulties they had to encounter. The fol-
| lowing account of one or two days travel
gives q fair idea of the rest AT daylight on
the morning of the 18th they started west
down the river bank Walking was so bad
they had to halt after a short march. They
made fire and
ATE MORE oE THEIR PANTS.
Their boot soles were rapidly wearing out.
| They rested about an hour and a half, and
then about noon crossed the river to the west
bank, and subsequently struck another river
where the ice was smooth. By that time it
was blowing quite fresh and the snow drift
ing hard. As it was getting toward evening
they tried to dig resting-place in a sand
spit, but failed. They then sought with like
success, piece of driftwood large enough for
them to lay behind during the night. About
midnight they found high river bank and
some driftwood. They tried to start fire,
but the wind was so high it was impossible.
A mile further they found snowdrift, dug a
hole, crawled in, and rested until morning,
but did not sleep. On the morning of the
18th, at daylight, the wind having moderated,
they started along the river bank to the
southwark. On the morning of the 10th they
collected more wood to lcst during the day
They both had the dysentery very badly,
and were very weak. When they sat by the
| fire they were strong, but their strength
failed when they moved about. They pre-
pared to start on the morning of tho 2lst but
were
TOO WEAK TO GO ON.
They measured the fish in their cups and
| found that they would have about ten days
rations each. They had no other food, and
were very careful in preparing the fish for
carrying. On the next day their dysentery
was SO bad that if they had started they would
have frozen to death on the way. The soles
of witnesses boots were all gone. They were
so bad that he had to cut them off with knife
and resole them with piece of his sealskin
pants About noon native appeared at the
door of the hut, Witness had heard him COM
ing, and supposing it was reindeer took
down his rifle and met the native. The latter
fell on his knees and held up his hands as if
in fear AT this point recess was taken, after
which the court devoted considerable time to
reading the record of Nindemann's testimony
the day before, and finally decided to adjourn
over until ten o'clock this morning, when the
brave sailor will resume his story of sufferings
| I'D al, ;pn1a DIM