But brave Captain De Long would not leave his ship until he was quite certain that she was going to sink, and her hold was full of water before he gave orders to abandon her. Then the crew had to work with desperate haste to transfer provisions, tents, and boats to a safe place on the ice. At four o’clock in the morning of June 13, the Jeannette sank to the bottom of the Arctic ocean. The ice closed over the place where the little vessel had endured such terrific grinding for twenty-one months, and only a cabin chair and a few pieces of wood remained to mark the spot.
Imagine the condition of the men left on the ice so many miles from land. But they worked with calm courage to arrange their provisions and all the articles which were needful for camping on the sledges, and four days after the Jeannette had sunk, the retreat across the ice began.
This march was one of the most difficult ever undertaken. In one day the travelers could cover a distance of only a mile, or at most a mile and a half. Thirteen times they were compelled to go over the road, seven times with loads, six times without, traveling a distance of twenty-six miles in order to cover an advance of two miles. Many of the party were taken ill and had to be carried by their companions.
At the end of the week, De Long found that the ice over which they were traveling had floated northwest faster than they had traveled south; consequently the party was twenty-seven miles farther away from the Siberian coast than when they started. De Long kept this disheartening fact a secret from his men, lest they should despair.
On and on they traveled, day after day, until at last a dim line of land came into view; it proved to be a new island, with rocky shores and steep sides. It was a difficult task to cross the channel of water which separated the ice pack from this bleak coast, but Captain De Long ordered all his men to attempt the crossing. They raised the American flag and took possession of the island in the name of the President of the United States. This land De Long called Bennett island. Thousands of birds were found among the rocks, and the men had a refreshing feast after their weeks of weary work. The sides of Bennett island were bold and steep, and landslides occurred several times.
It was thought best to continue the journey by water. There were three boats, and a part of the supplies was placed in each boat. De Long commanded one, Lieutenant Chipps another, and Engineer Melville the third. When the New Siberian islands came in sight, the voyagers knew that they were nearing the mouth of the Lena river. This large stream flows across Siberia into the Arctic ocean. Its banks are usually occupied by tribes of Indians, who remain there during the summer season to fish and hunt. It was encouraging to know that land was so near, and the weary travelers kept bravely on, working with all their strength to steer through the masses of ice. It seemed as if two new perils sprang up for every danger escaped. In a heavy gale Lieutenant Chipps’s boat went down, and De Long and Melville lost sight of each other. Melville at length succeeded in guiding his boat to the mouth of the Lena river.
The country appeared to be deserted, and it seemed probable that they had escaped from drowning, only to perish from cold and starvation. But after they had traveled some distance up the river, and were just about to give up in despair, they met some natives.
Melville ordered the natives to spread the report of the two missing boats wherever they went. Two of them were sent with dog teams as a searching party to the different towns on the delta. After thirteen days they returned with tidings of the missing crews. They had met two men of Captain De Long’s party, Noros and Nindemann, who had succeeded in making their way to a deserted fishing station; but they were in a pitiable condition. Although a severe storm was raging, Melville started immediately for this place with his dog team, carrying food with him.
He found Noros and Nindemann in a small hut, nearly dead from cold and hunger. After making them comfortable, and learning from them where they had left De Long, Melville pushed on. Storms delayed him in his search, so that when he reached the part of the river where De Long’s party was last seen, he abandoned all hope of finding any of them alive, for they had been without provisions two days when Nindemann left them, and that part of the country was entirely destitute of food.
Yet Melville continued his search, determined to find the missing men, alive or dead. After heroic, untiring efforts, he found the dead bodies of his shipmates. They had perished five months before.