CHAPTER XXV 



Melville Finds the Remains of the DeLong Party 



WE have followed the unfortunate ship's company of the 

 "Jeannette" from their start at San Francisco to the time 

 they were frozen in the pack ice off Herald Island; thence 

 through their long and wearisome drift in this sea of ice for two 

 winters and one summer until the crushed and hopelessly wounded 

 "Jeannette" sank in the Arctic sea; followed by their brave and dis- 

 heartening journey over the ice to the far-off Siberian coast. Off 

 this coast, as has been stated, the three boats containing the hapless 

 wanderers parted in a gale and never came together again. Of 

 their inmates, only those of the whale-boat, commanded by Engineer 

 Melville, survived the perils of sea and shore, death claiming as 

 victims, with two exceptions, all those on the other boats. It is our 

 purpose here, therefore, to follow the fortunes of Melville and his 

 comrades and tell the story of their return to safety and of their 

 subsequent search through the Siberian wilds for their lost com- 

 panions. 



George Wallace Melville bears a record worthy of some brief 

 mention before we describe this crucial portion of his career. Born 

 in New York City in 1841, he was educated in the Brooklyn Poly- 

 technic School and entered the naval service of the United States in 

 1861 as third assistant engineer. As such he took an active part 

 in the work of the navy during the Civil War, frequently volunteer- 

 ing for dangerous and desperate service. He became chief engineer 

 in 1 88 1, and as such aided greatly in the building up of the new 

 United States Navy, in which he became engineer-in-chief in 1887. 

 He was given the rank of rear admiral in 1899. 



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