196 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



felt as if they were just going to sleep. Feeling confident, 

 however, that they had passed the twelve hours in their 

 sleeping bags, he finished the examination of the island and 

 started back to the ship, and was surprised on his return 

 that he had gained twelve hours in time. This was not sur- 

 prising, from the fact that during his visit to the island he 

 did not see the sun but once, at which time Erickson said, 

 4 The sun is west, sir, and it is morning with us.' So Mr. 

 Melville, on his return, had a suspicion that his time was 

 out.' 



During this trip Mr. D unbar broke down with snow 

 blindness, and had to be carried back by the party to the 

 ship. On the way to the island he went ahead to select the 

 road, and worked so hard and used his eyes so much that he 

 became thoroughly disabled. The old gentleman felt very 

 badly, it being the first time in his long career that he had 

 ever been physically unequal to the occasion. He begged 

 Melville to leave him, his mortification was so great. But 

 of course this was not done. The others bore the trip 

 remarkably well. They had been picked out as the flower 

 of the ship's company. 



There was a mountain on the island that the men 

 named after the captain's little daughter 'Mount Sylvie;' 

 also another mountain which was called 'Mount Chipp;' 

 two very bold headlands were called ' Bennett Headlands;' 

 one bald cape was called ' Cape Melville,' in honor of one 

 of the chief engineer's characteristics. There was a low, 

 shingle beach cape extending to the northeast, that was 

 called 'Point Dunbar.' All these names were given by the 

 sailors who rambled over the island, and we have always 

 called them by the names thus originally given them. At 

 one time the land appeared so near to us that Machinist Lee 

 said to me, ' Why, I can walk there and back, sir, before 

 dinner.' On that day I was able to get on deck, and judged 

 the land to be between twenty and thirty miles distant, and 

 so I advised my friend not to try it. 



Melville told me that he could not tell the distance he 



