New-York tribune., 1884-12-26


.,honch ,hc principal incidents Of the lose OF the
ronncttc the rcscuc of the survivors. ana tne NM"
,n, of ,hc bodies of De Long and his holts crew
hoe bccn rcpeatellv tod. Mr.. Melville gives the
,,,n,nl tonic fresh interest. In his pages We nave
g., tbe nrs, time detailed and authoritative nara
live of ono of the most extraordinary adventures III
INC history of Arctic exploration The voyage OF
The icanncttc the long imprisonment m The lee the
loss of tie ship and tho journey oi one di.
Slsion of the officers and Mon az TO INC tnc ol
thcit death on TIC frozen bauls OF the Lena, nave
teeH tceohlri M I've tcc6tetcd ioutnas OF DE ! one
,ts ~ ue,tillcs tat t5 Vti'c the STORY o' the
NB,e fSt,nuate NitNots. it5m I've tiao Of tho
9enaa,i8N ~ ,Nt bdat4 VA the s'dfir az Son'tNhti
~ leSt NNIn iNet isAtNA tht SiNeiMh .e,'lc-
Nepts ~ INF pfSt ~ Nhth thet W'kei dH t'W .N'h
Ql lile,8lf,, ,NeN iNe slW0st r,tY'N 't'NP Wd'rh
HWlhNWA " seWfN ~ iM i8Ns NNA NMNl 'Ne
taylf leiE4N h9We ~ 1Ne 'fN'SN' ~ thf f%iWNWW
iu ciear sunpie aud slaSWiWNaN W9NNe' Ns
tells thrlllus stony, Which cduuQt iVl lA1se 0W
appreciation of the he,Qsm anl endurance OF INe
gallant baud. Tie makes no boasis wastes 40
rhetoric upon the description OF suiclnSs anl
dangers has only kind and sympathlllng words ioI
his comrades does not dwell uIon hls own services
and crticiscs nobody except two H'rGM correspond
onts who met hin. after the rescue ana appear 10
have behaved in amanuer which. to say the least
was "A little irregular. But the whole book is an III
md perseverance, and one of the stauneheSt ana
oh,ost of ,he Marty we are sure was Melville him
.cIf Probably every one long ago dismissed the
s,snicion that Melville night have helped DE Long
after saving his own men but if this injurious idea
still fingers it ought to be finally destroyed by TINS
exact narrative. The circumstances under which
the boats were separated at distance oi cigh'y OF
ninety miles from the Siberian coast, are graphic-
auv describcd De Long was IN the first cutter.
I Aft1 ont fAT
,,e command of Lieutenant Chpp, was behaving
v.rv hodty. Melville had the whale-bOat, which
was tbc best of the three Night had closed i'll. and
the waves were continually breaking over the
boats:
Toward o'clock il was blowing living gale
and II seemed impossible that we could struggle
longer IN such sea. ne danger 10 ,hc NV W &, Hat
hnat was imminent, since in trying q slackcn speed
so as TO keep as ordered. in the wake OF the hIsi
cutter the swiiter waves forged ahead an pre- eeheu
ciear over the stern threatening 10 oVerWlciin rs
Fin, naunuvring with helm and sail was OUT oi me
question, though at the SUGGESTION oi So,ie ,h 80,
men il was attempted once or tWlre WIN
almost fatal results; aud 1t was VIM wnIic L.,
was cndeavOring to dcadcn our slc'u pS
hauling the boat closer 10 inc whu tla' WV Ian r
lar past the first cutter and well up on her weather
bow IL now looked a. though we cou'u hol
possibly regain our position without hehNlhS 10 :
when nc this iunctuIe De Long slgn9lle, me To hl
nroach probably within hail. should run down
toward him, should certainly shoot Tar ahead, so
,b"rc ,yas INT one tnng To do, namely, to lower
!heIe vas d p". ,Imre IL b'lo close rcof-srvera
men ',, a"c"mp!ishng this by gathering 1t in at the
foot. and holding 1t hrny wti tht,r han's ~ nsh,mS @
The inry of the wind and the thla'hing pi tho poat
IL was A trek had practscd III bad weather eve,
since we reached open water ana one that llu
onsv,rrd admiralty lut IN slackcnng our
sneed the waves came tnmhling IN and filled the
boat lhis. for the time hcng, naturally aiaiincd
the men, who cne,ng tcnafonSy 10 n, ~ '.no ,% VI inv
sal suddenly found themselves stepped 10 ther hlpS
i'm lev wnter. They would ~ promptly release th'i
grip and then such lunnlt oi lapphg san, pounu
ing boat and dcmOrllilcd haggasc w"hl' clNu' rs
mIrnt staitc old I0m Bowline himself. After
several OF these mishaps Succcc eel ny N'h'mci'
hailu0 with huckc's and pans, and no little grpwl
mo- on the nart of the crew. perceived that We had
drife1 almost 10 within nan ol pc Long, VINO was
gcsticulating and shontms Somc,nhg TIL. 10 ,i'
,nIt ih,m ,h n, vs INT chiefly the wiaIc.boat
which nrlrv hllcd. II started me To my ic,t. ana
rhpntcd down the wind to DE Long that must run
or swamp. He appeared To realize 'hr pcril ni oul
situation at once iOI the next instant as the sen
s,,ent over and around Us. he waved his arm IN an
energetic manner motioning me onward OF from
him. and at the same time naioeq soig ncSsrST
which was lost IN the noise OF the gaze npNcNeh
felt that we understood each Other; thnt II Won!I
lay alongside Ol DE Long meant qWck destruction
and that If either of the open ANA oNcilanen hoalS
should swamp OF roll over. the olhei couId not
Sn wban Uc nue waved me permission to leave
him ho~ted sail shook ont one ret and ~ We
rothrr,i way tnr buat shot otNait like an arrow,
a"I tb. sn,oy Hrv about Ne iike irathris. lleir
totrte yr 1al hepn running 3rld nrloir ~" Wma
bn ont southvcst roni,e ~ iw liNi WI ,ih h'},
Vie. anI Nli rn ihp bthpt tar b. Wh"rnnon ". NupNl
t,N,rb IL, AMI SHIN Wairn iOt tha 'rison hAult'l
vN th. t0t s,,tlil uNinie ~ rlrsi tu Nv rNl. anl
eay rso,ttN,N ~ Nttp Nnrto,rh NV that Nt Nrit
slp,,siui NsNlNpi iN rNnlriN rN s"l NNwNt WIN
thn ssUutV Ot N,t ava h'Ht su ihNl WMN thrW ~"
ilA eaA thai ~ lN+ NAs i'-Ntl'N" N'l y WV NN
hu l0Ust ha Wf0ua. And iWihti dhutirN N"' hN NNp
bhouid 500 lnN sisnaia hoN lhAl No Nr'N '"s' NiwN
'''ihu ~ "h,I,-Gott was loapiug forward At spank
iug rate and tast distanoing thr nial rlitE Nhrh,
hraIiug another oi the crew eAtlAlm thNl l't l4hI
was signalling Chipp, turned around agd l"nhri
harlx over ulN lett shoulder toNa d Mhctt oAptotci
the secund cutter would be, 81 an instant sue was
not to he srcn hut ploscatN saw hci ltl "l ia lh
dim twilight rise tull before the Mhd ON tho crest
OF "A wave ana then sink briefly out ol al4hl ,phcv
more she appeared an immense sea ohNe'"P'u hoI
she hroachcd to; ! could discern "A man sliNmS 10
free the sail where i had ammed against the mast
she pluugcd again from view; ana though wave
alter wave arose and fell saw nothing but llic
foam and secthng white caps o the ooid H"'s % sea- sea-
When last seen, the second cutler was ABOUT one
thousand yards aStcrn ol MS the hiat Cut,'I pIop
ably midway between, and there IN no doub' I'D my
mind that she then ioundeied. Conversation
with the only two Surviving members OF the hrsl
cutter lNindermann and Norosl mas cOhhIlheI me III
this belief; Tor they witnessed the scene 's nav,
descr bed IT, and state that IT was the general
ooinion of DE Longs crew that had shared III,
same fate simultaneously with Cmpp.
Passing over the icc-Ourney and the strange
Siberian adventures to which Mr.. Melville gives
an unexpectedly fresh interest We copy an extract
from, one of the pleasant final chapters, describing
the reception of Mr Melville by the Gar;
Dnrinq the day We had been waited upon by an
aid "A Dlonclof engineers who delivered Invitations
Ia myself and two seameu Ol the Jcannrltc ana
iieutsuaut BERRY of the Rodgers, to bs prcscnlc cd
10 their Maicstics the CIal anl t/aia' NJ lriclh"i
an imperial summer palace about sixteen hi'S ",
OF the city. An usher IN civilian clothes hrAt mi't
his appearancc and directed rs now 10 proceed
Our drcss II not uniform, should hr lull eNehihi
dress, with white ties, the carriages AT 81 feicIs
burq were to be- of our own pioNdmRi bul hfclh
an Ia q.