458 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Pointing toward the north he made them understand it 

 was very far in that direction, and, with two pieces of ice, 

 showed them how the ship was crushed and sank down into 

 the sea. Afterward he cut the models of three small boats, 

 and put sticks in them to represent the men in each boat, 

 and told them, as well as he could, how, with sleds and dogs 

 and boats, they had crossed great seas of broken ice and 

 open water, and finally reached the shore of their country. 

 He then got a piece of paper and drew the coast line and 

 sketched the boat, illustrating the manner in which the 

 landing was effected. Drawing in the river from the coast 

 line to the south, he showed that they walked down the 

 east bank of the river, and marked the places where they 

 found huts or encamped. He indicated the number of days 

 they had been walking by putting his head down and clos- 

 ing his eyes as if to sleep and counting the number of sleeps 

 with his fingers. He told them as plainly as he could that 

 the captain, or 'kapitan,' as they called it, had sent him to 

 get clothes and food and reindeer, to fetch them to the set- 

 tlement, as they were very weak, and in a starving condi- 

 tion. He told them he had left the party sixteen days ago, 

 and that two days before his departure they had had nothing 

 to eat. He used every effort to convey his meaning to the 

 savages who had befriended him, and induce them to go to 

 the succor of the captain and his party, but was not success- 

 ful. Sometimes it seemed as if they understood him per- 

 fectly, and at others he felt convinced that they had not 

 understood a single thing he had told them. During the 

 entire day he kept talking to them by signs and illustrations 

 upon paper, but without avail. 



The next day he renewed his efforts and resorted to every 

 expedient to make them understand him. He did not ask 

 them only to go alone, but wanted them to go with him. 

 They would sigh and look distressed when he described the 

 sufferings and condition of the party on the Delta, but when 

 he urged that assistance should be sent to them the faces of 

 his hearers were totally devoid of expression. He then 



