CHAPTER XXIV 



The Horrors of the "Jeannette" Expedition 



DURING the summer of Nordenskiold's return to civilization 

 from his fortunate expedition, another, destined to a far 

 more unfortunate fate, set out for the same seas, though 

 with a different purpose. This was an American expedition, under 

 the command of Lieutenant George W. DeLong, of the United 

 States Navy, its principal purpose being the discovery of the North 

 Pole and the exploration of the Arctic region. A secondary pur- 

 pose was to search for Professor Nordenskiold, who had now been 

 absent a year, his fate unknown. DeLong' s instructions to make 

 this search were due to the fact that he proposed to take the Bering 

 Strait route, near which the Swedish navigator might possibly be 

 found. 



This route was chosen from reliance on two theories both of 

 which proved unsound. One was that the Japan current made a 

 way for its warm waters through the strait and might keep open 

 a passage to the pole. The other was that Wrangell Land, in- 

 stead of being the small island it has since proved, might be of 

 vast, perhaps of continental, area, stretching across the polar space 

 and connecting with Greenland. This was the theory entertained 

 by Dr. Petermann, an eminent German geographer, the validity of 

 which DeLong was to test by following the coast line of this sup- 

 posed Arctic continent and making sledge expeditions along the ice 

 foot. He proposed to reach Wrangell Land the first season, spend 

 the winter there in exploration, and the next season fight his way 

 as far north as possible. 



"If the current takes me to the west," he wrote before start- 

 to) 



