332 HORRORS OF THE "JEANNETTE" EXPEDITION 



"A Frozen Summer, June-August, 1880," such is the signifi- 

 cant title of the ninth chapter in Mrs. DeLong's "Voyage of the 

 'Jeannette.' ' On September ist the ice gave way sufficiently to 

 allow the ship to rest on an even keel, but she remained immovably 

 locked in the floe, and after sawing through the ice under the fore- 

 foot with the hope of setting her afloat, the water came in so freely 

 that this work had to be stopped. It was evident that the stern 

 was badly broken, and the prospect of keeping the ship afloat if 

 open water were reached became very questionable. 



Before the end of September it was evident that the "Jean- 

 nette" could not be freed and preparations were made for spending 

 a second winter in the ice. It was necessary to make ready to 

 abandon the ship suddenly in case of any disaster, but they pre- 

 ferred keeping in its shelter to trusting themselves to the ice, De- 

 Long writing that he could "conceive no greater forlorn hope than 

 to attempt to reach Siberia over the ice with a winter's cold sap- 

 ping one's life at every step." If he had had before him the ex- 

 periences of later voyagers, a different fate might have awaited 

 him. 



There was no lack in the food supply, several more bears hav- 

 ing been shot. And the crew continued in good health with the 

 exception of Lieutenant Danenhower, who had been under the sur- 

 geon's care for nine months in consequence of a serious trouble 

 with his eyes. Otherwise he was well, and scurvy, the bane of 

 polar adventure, had not shown itself in any instance. 



The situation was not without its alleviations. DeLong writes 

 thus of the beauty of an Arctic night: 



"October i6th. I have heretofore . made several attempts to 

 describe the beauty of these Arctic winter nights, but have found my 

 powers too feeble to do the subject justice. They must be seen to 

 be appreciated. It is so hard to make a descriptive picture of moon, 

 stars, ice and ship, and unluckily photography cannot come into play 

 in this temperature to supply a real picture. Imagine a moon nearly 



