The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-05-12
BELONGS PARTY FOUND.
Cali Dead, My Lord, All Dead.
DRAMATIC PARTING BY THE FROZEN
e. RIVER.

9 RIVER.
WASHINGTON, May 5.-Secretary Chand-
Ter received tonight the following from En-
gineer Melville at Lena Delta. March "a,
1882, uia Irkutsk, May 9Th:
found belong and party, dead. Hound
all the papers and books. VIII continue
the search for Chip.
fSiened MELVILLE.
WAsHINGroN, May 6.-The general i'm
preston is that Chpp's boat capsized in the
gale that separated the three beats, and that
all hands were drowned. The following is
correct list of belongs party, according
to the records found in the hut by Melville,
viz: Lieutenant belong, Surgeon Amber,
J. j. Collins Herald correspondent, A.
Gartz, All Sam, Alexis, III. III. Koch, j. w.
BOYD, W. Lee, N. Juerson, and A. Dressler.
There were originally fourteen men in De-
Longs party. OF these Noras and Ninder-
man are safe, and Erickson was buried in
the Lena.
NEW York, May 6.-The Herdlds cores
pendent has an interview with LOUIS +.
Noras, under date of Irkutz, March I'd. He
saws they landed at point near the north
erninost branch of the Lena, but which the
Captain found it impossible to enter on ac-
count of the shoals. belong, therefore, de-
termined to land at a point whence they
could see this northerly outlet, but more to
the east, and presumably enter the point
marked Sagaston on the map. The Captain
ordered those of the me n who could walk to
get out and drag the boat nearer in shore.
The Captain, the doctor, Erickson and Boyd,
who were both disabled, remained In the
| boat, which the others were then enabled to
drag mile nearer to land, when they, too,
| waded to the shore. Collins had left the
A. la{n aud had 10 Ern nm
| the shore. This was on or about the 10th OF
September, and the landing of the articles
was completed on the nth. There they
STAYED two days to recuperate, all the men
| being badly frostbitten, including the Cap
| tain, the doctor alone being in a compare
lively good condition. Noras and Ninder-
man were the best-conditioned among the
men.
| Tho Journey south was then commenced,
the burdens being equally distributed. The
| Captain bore his own blanket and some rec
ords. The burdens borne by some of the
others were heavy. Some complained OF
having to take them further, but the Captain
insisted. The party travelled south four
DAYS. On the way two deer were shot by the
Indian Alexis, when the party sat down and
had good feed. Belongs motto being,
Noras says, to "feed well white they had it,"
Noras thinks they made twenty miles the
first ten days and that they reached q point
near the one marked on the map IS Tcholbo-
| goje, but which was only simple hut. The
| next four days brought them to the extrem-
ity of a peninsula, and after some delay,
waiting for the river to freeze, crossed to the
west bank on or before the list of October.
The width of the river was there about five
hundred yards. Before crossing they got
another deer. The Captains intention was
| ha
map. Here Erickson died. His toes had
been amputated by the doctor during the re-
treat. After crossing the river he one night
pulled off his mittens and one of his hands
became frostbitten, and circulation of blood
could not be restored to it. He died and
was buried In the river.
Then it was that the Captain decided to
send Noras and Ninderman ahead. The food
had become quite exhausted, the party ex-
isting only on brandy. Noras thinks il was
Sunday when they left. The Captain had
held divine services, the men being seated on
the bank of the river. After the services the
Captain called the two men, and told them
that he wanted them to push Oil ahead.
Noras thus describes the parting: "The
captain read divine service before we left
All the men shook hands with us and the
most of them lad tears in their eyes. Col
Inns was the last, he simply said: "Noras
when you get to New York remember me-"
They seemed to have lost hope, but as We
left them they gave us three cheers. We TOLD
them we would do all that we could do ant
that was the last we saw of them" Such !:
Noras' story of the last seen Of Captain d.
Long and his suffering party. Noras contin
ned: "When we left, the Captain said thai
Kumak Surka would be our nearest village
Snow had fallen to the depth of foot to
foot and half" From questions put Il
Noras gathered the following description o.
the place of leave-taking. The river wa!
about 500 yards wide, and the place was nea
where the mountains on the eastern sid'
ended. There was one spot which remainet
distinctly impressed upon his mind, namely
high, conical, rocky island, which rose NJ
out of the river, and which he called ostavs
or Stolboy. How he got the name Is no
quite clear, but the rock Is landmark in hi
memory, and 1t bore about east by norti
from the spot where they left the Captain
The rock, he says, Is just at the end of the
mountains. The mountains commence will
that rock. After leaving this rock the two
men travelled slowly and YEARLY. They
sighted deer once, but they could not ge
near them. They shot one grouse ant
caught an eel, which was all the food the,
had. They made a kind of tea from thu
bark of the Arctic willow but often had onl.
hot water to drink. They chewed and at,
portions of their skin breeches and the leath
or soles of their moccasins. The next poin
on which Noras is clear is that about TIVE
days after leaving the Captain, they crossed
the Lena to the east side in the hope of find
ing game In the mountains, and that 1t took
them very long time to cross OH the ice a
that point. The place crossed by them is
broad expanse of the Lena. marked on tn,
map as near Sagosa, therefore l conclude
that search will have to be made to the nortl
of this expansion of the river. Noras believes
that Ninderman will be able to point where
they left the Captain. Noras offered to g
himself with Melville in search, but for som,
reason or other Melville refused his assist
| ance. . #a#
The rest of the journey of the two men Il
told In Ninderman's letter. have only IL
add that the names given by Noras may no
agree with the chart sent to the Navy De
! purtment by Melville. / have simply told
the story as got it, and 1t seems clea
enough to me that had Melville been on tn,
search from the south upward, instead of 60
inf first to the north, he would have foune
the survivors, and perhaps all in good time
must add to that, the first dispatches sen
from Youtsk appear to have done injustice
to Noras and Ninderman making 1t appear a
If they had deserted their comrades, takinl
the boat with them. The boat had beef
abandoned long before, and, as said Nora
tells a straight story.
4 "HuNT THE RASCAL DoWN.n