306 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



deck seams and the dancing of the whole upper works, was 

 a sad evidence of the situation. I can never forget the 

 manner in which the gang ladders leading to the bridge 

 jumped from their chucks, and danced on the deck like 

 drumsticks on the head of a drum. In the midst of this 

 wild scene a crash was heard. A man came up from below 

 and said : 



"The ice is coming through the coal bunkers." 

 The old Jeannette was doomed. She had fought a good 

 fight, as her battered sides showed, but this last hug was too 

 much for her. After the smash, no sound save the silent 

 rush of water. This silence, after the unearthly humming, 

 was the saddest part of all. She had been stabbed in her 

 vitals and was settling fast. The men worked with a will ; 

 everybody did ; life hung in the balance. Seaman Star, 

 noble fellow, stood below with the water up to his waist, 

 passing out provisions until ordered out by the captain. To- 

 day I know not where he is. The Jeannette contained many 

 such men in her crew. Good seamen all. But ' silence and 

 oblivion, like the waves, have rolled over them, and none 

 can tell the story of their end.' 



After getting boats and provisions on the ice, about mid- 

 night, camp was pitched, a watch set and the tired party 

 turned in, soon to be turned out again by the opening of the 

 ice under the sleepers in the captain's tent. All hands 

 helped shift to a safer place, and about 1.30 A. M., June 12th, 

 turned in again. At this time the Jeannette was heeled 

 over, so the yard-arms were against the ice and starboard 

 rail under water. ' About twenty minutes before the watch 

 from our tent was called, I heard a noise which must have 

 been the ship as she went down. I looked out soon after 

 and she was gone, her requiem being the melancholy howl 

 of a single dog. Only a few floating articles marked the 

 place. Insignificant as the Jeannette was in comparison 

 to the ice, her disappearance made a great change in the 

 scene. During her existence there was always something 



