Who did Melville join in Bulun?
After resting at Arrhu, Melville's group moved out, aiming for the agreed rendezvous at Bulun. On September 19 they encountered native Tungus huntsmen, who led the party first to the tiny settlement of Little Borkhia, and then on to the larger village of Zemovialach. Here, locals advised them that they would have to wait for the river to freeze before attempting to reach Bulun.After several weeks, Melville learned from a Russian traveler that two Americans were recuperating at Bulun. Weather conditions were now suitable for travel, so Melville hired a pair of expert local dog drivers to take him to Bulun. He left Danenhower in charge, with instructions to lead the party to Bulun as soon as practicable, and from there to proceed as best he could to Yakutsk, a large city hundreds of miles to the south.Melville arrived in Bulun on November 3, where he found Nindemann and Noros, weak but recovering. From them, Melville learned of De Long's plight and his urgent need for rescue. The pair had endured a harrowing experience since leaving De Long nearly a month previously. They had struggled for ten days, sleeping in improvised shelters and eating what they could catch or shoot. In this fashion they reached a small, abandoned camp which they later learned was named Bulcour.
Here, they had been found by a nomadic band of Yakut hunters, who had taken them to a large camp at Kumakh-Surt. To their great frustration they were unable to make the Yakuts understand that they were shipwrecked mariners whose comrades were in dire straits. They did manage to convey their desire to reach Bulun, and were taken there by sled, arriving on October 29 a few days before Melville joined them there.
Nindemann Noros