It will be remembered that, during the entire journey, the reliance for food for man and beast was solely upon the resources of the country, that the white men lived exclusively upon the same fare as the Eskimos, and that the return sledge journey was accomplished during an Arctic winter acknowledged to be of exceptional severity by the natives. To Lieutenant Schwatka’s excellent management, and thorough fitness for his position as commander, was due the success of the expedition.
“All our movements were conducted in the dull, methodical, business-like manner of an army on the march,” writes Gilder. “Every contingency was calculated upon and provided for beforehand, so that personal adventures were almost unknown or too trivial to mention.”
The results of this remarkable journey are summed up in a leading English newspaper published September 25, 1880.
“Lieutenant Schwatka has now dissolved the last doubts that could have been felt about the fate of the Franklin expedition. He has traced the one untraced ship to its grave beyond the ocean, and cleared the reputation of a harmless people from an undeserved reproach. He has given to the unburied bones of the crews probably the only safeguard against desecration by wandering wild beasts and heedless Eskimos, which that frozen land allowed. He has brought home for reverent sepulture, in a kindlier soil, the one body which bore transport. Over the rest he has set up monuments to emphasize the undying memory of their sufferings and their exploits. He has gathered tokens by which friends and relatives may identify their dead, and revisit in imagination the spots in which the ashes lie. Lastly, he has carried home with him material evidence to complete the annals of Arctic exploration.”
W. H. Gilder
From a portrait in the possession of A. Operti, Esq.
CHAPTER XVIII
The Jeannette expedition, 1879-1881.—In command of Captain George W. De Long.—Leaves San Francisco, touches at Ounalaska, August 2, reaches Lawrence Bay, East Siberia, August 15.—Last seen by whale bark Sea Breeze near Herald Island, September 2.—The Jeannette beset in ice-pack, September 5, never again released.—Daily routine of officers and crew.—Ship springs a leak.—A frozen summer.—Sight of new land.—A second winter in the pack.—The Jeannette crushed.—Abandonment.—The retreat.—The fate of the three boats.—Death of De Long’s party.—Melville’s search.