Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-18

"Atn uieIuiuk III tue Ice anu TOukiut
work. The end of June found III,
ship retrogra6ing, so that it was fur
ther south than at the end of Nav
The Fourth Of July was grimly cele
brated by dressing the ship with en-
signs at the mast heads and signals in
a rainbow.
Through the autumn the growing
depression becomes manifest 10 the
gloomy records of the journal, which
show how deeply the failure to free
the ship during the summer affected
the officers and crew. The 1st oil
September. however, brought start
ling sensation. for then the ship sud
denly righssd and moved asteru abou,
two feet. But the gain was brief,
and she was quickly frozen in again.
Still, the comfort of being on an ev.
en- keel had been very great. Nov
ing about was no longer awkward,
and plate and cups no longer threat
ened to spill their contents. What q
constant irritation must have been
that of living a twelvemonth on an
inclined plane. The first year in the
ice ended on September 5th, 1880,
with the Jeanette only $50 miles
northward and westward Of where
she entered it. my pleasant hope to
add something to the history of Arc
tic discovery and exploration has
been as ruthlessly shattered and as
thoroughly killed as my greatest eue-
my could desire. l frequently think
that. instead of recording the i,ile
words that express our progress from
day to day, might better keep the
pages unwritten. leaving . blank
properly to represent the utter blank
of this Arctic expedition" The
greater infrequency and brevity of
the entries in subsequent months are
best testimonies for lack oil. memorable
incident. The long winte nightset in
again On the 9th Of November, and
the journal gloomily says that lit is
idle to speak longer of the going and
coming of the weeks-it is record
enough when l mention the coming
and going of months" The leading
variation in the melancholy story is
an occasional record of the splendid
Arctic scenery, to which belong
was always alive. Christmas and
New Years were celebrated much
like the year before.
Spring of 1881 brought one me-
morable change in the discovery, on
the 10Th of May, of o small island"
the first land that had greeted our
eyes since March "a, 1880, nearly
months ago. And our voy-
age. thank God. is not q perfect
blank, for here we have discovered
however small it may be.
Cooped up as we have been for over
twenty months. we shall enjoy get
ting our fee: ON solid earth or stone,
as much as IL it were Central Park,
for it will be change, This island
is to US our all in all. Wegaze at it,
we criticise it, we guess at it's dis
lance, we wish for q favoring gale to
drive ustoward it. Fourteen months
without anything to look at but ice
and sky. and twenty months drifting
in the pack, will make q little mass
Of volcanic rock like our island as
pleasing to the eye as an oasis in the
desert" 1t is pitiable comment
upon Arctic exploration that ascer
tanning the existence of . speck of
land more or less WAS welcomed so
gladly. Ia few days another island
was seen. and to the former was giy-
en- the name Jeanette and the latter
was called Henrietta. Melville, with
; sledge party, consisting Of Dunbar.
Erickson. Bartlett and
Sharvell landed on Henrietta Island
by heroic exertions. and brought
back some moss, grass, and q
handful of rock as trophies. Near
he island, the ice vas all alive, and
Melville left his boat aud supplies,
and, carrying only days provisions
aud his instruments, at the risk of
his life, went through the terrible
mass. actually dragging the dogs,
which for fear refused to follow their
human leaders II this persistence
n landing upon this island. in spite
Of the superhuman difficulties he en-
is not reckoned q brave
md meritorious action it will not he
rom any failure on my part to make
{ known"
The sick had now for many weeks
increased In numbers. symptoms Of
cad poisoning from the canned TO-
natoes being observed. In June It
became evident tho ice was break
ng up, and the 10th it suddenly OF
,ned on the side so that the ship once
more righted. She was then seized
- in q wise, and Is became evident
The was to perish. All things being
made ready and the provisions taken
,ut for q retreat to the Siberian coast,
he Jeanette. on the the 18th IN lati-
ude N. IT, Is min. aud longitude e
$50. slowly sank and disappeared.
There is NO evidence in belongs
ournal that anybody bemoaned her
ate or felt sense of being left In |
! greater peril. Everybody was
bright and cheerful, with plenty to
,at and plenty OF clothes. Even mu-
nc was not forgotten. Lauterbach
ierenaded US to night with . mouth
Chipp better. Daneu-
rover lively. Alexy pie atyogood'
Divine service at " p. N.
On the 18th of June the retreat be-
ran. There were three boats and
i've sleds loaded with sixty days pro.
;isions, sleeping.bags, tents, ciething.
rms and ammunition. The twenty
hree dogs dragged three sleds and
he men the other two and the boats.
Lieut.. Chipp. Master Eisenhower,
md Alexy, Tong Sing and Kuehne.
i the start, were on the sick list.
The first days Journey over the piled
ID hummocks Mas q specimen Of
what was in store such terrific
oads, such soft and deep snow, and
uch ugly ice openings." The heavy
led loads were so exhausting that
hey soon had to be lightened, for
.twenty-eight men and twenty.three
logs. laying back with all their
strength, could only start our 1900
,ound sled few fest each time; and
when sliding down hill, it would
,lunge into snow bank. II was ter
ible work getting il out. Though
be temperature was between 20 deg
nd 25 deg. we were in our shirt
leeves. and perspiring as on moi.
= - IT, 49, n