MELVILLE FINDS REMAINS OF BELONG PARTY 341 



Here they found several Russian exiles, who took great interest in 

 ihe arrival of the castaways, the coming of whom was a welcome 

 break in the dreary monotony of their existence. One of them, 

 Kopelloff by name, served them a good turn by teaching Lieutenant 

 Danenhower a number of Russian phrases, likely to prove very 

 useful in their later intercourse with the Siberian officials. 



The young ice was now forming in the river, rendering further 

 progress by the boat unavailable, and they were detained until it 

 should be thick enough for sledding. But tidings of their arrival 

 were sent ahead, another of the exiles, Koosmah Gernymahoff, with 

 the chief of the village, going forward to Bulem, the most northern 

 Russian station in Siberia, to acquaint the authorities there with 

 the fact. 



On the 1 7th of October Danenhower set out with a dog team 

 on a search for the two other boats, but the surface conditions 

 proved unfavorable for the work, and he was unable to proceed far 

 in any direction. The young ice which covered the broad-channel 

 lower river was too thick to permit the passage of boats and too 

 weak to bear sledges, and ignorance of the language of the natives 

 prevented any useful intercourse, so that they were unable to learn 

 the resources of the vicinity as to reindeer or dog teams. 



The messengers who had been sent south to Bulem returned 

 on the 29th with the report that they had met natives with deer 

 sleds, these bringing with them two rescued seamen of De Long's 

 party, Nindemann and Noros, whom they were taking to Bulem. 

 They brought also a note given them by these sailors in which it 

 was stated that the captain's party had reached land, but were 

 starving and in need of immediate assistance. 



This news, communicated by Koosmah to Engineer Melville, 

 roused him to the most earnest endeavors, active efforts being at 

 once made to reach and rescue Captain DeLong's party. Danen- 

 hower was left in charge of the whale-boat crew with orders to 

 conduct them as soon as possible to Bulem, while Melville set out 



