MELVILLE AT CATH CART A. 367 



of fifteen days, having lost their way in the storm. Six of 

 their dogs died of exhaustion, and the drivers were terribly 

 frost-bitten in face, feet, and hands, refusing to again ven- 

 ture out until the weather became settled. 



As soon as I get sufficient fish on hand, and three teams 

 of dogs selected, the three search parties will set out and 

 the search actively commence." 



Mr. Melville also wrote a letter to the New York Herald, 

 from Cath Carta, March 13th, as follows : " The place from 

 which I now write, Cath Carta, is a collection of four mud 

 hunting huts, on one of the many branches of the Lena, 

 about fifty versts south of Usterda, where the last of De- 

 Long's records were found. I selected this point as the 

 nearest place to pick up the trail, and as it is nearly due 

 south of Usterda, it is in his line of march. It is the only 

 place in this vicinity that has a collection of four huts, 

 two of which we occupy six men in a house eight feet by 

 fifteen. Both arc too low for a man to stand upright in. 

 The other two contain our stores of fish and other supplies. 

 I have three of our people of the Jeannette, and three oth. r 

 persons hired at Yakutsk. We have, besides, a Yakut man 

 and wife as cook and wood and water or ice carrier; also 

 a general hand a Russian exile making nine people in 

 all. I have hired dog teams by the month ; also dog drivers. 

 I have all the teams in the country carrying fish ; and as 

 soon as I get sufficient fish to feed ourselves and our dogs, 

 we will scour the country between the Olenek and Yana. 



To-morrow myself and Nindermann, with two interpre- 

 ters and dog sleds, will go to Usterda and Sisteraneck to 

 pick up DeLong's trail where I lost it last December. I 

 feel very confident of finding DeLong's people and records, 

 but fear that Chipp never reached the coast. His boat was 

 very short and the sea very heavy, and although he was 

 the best seaman on the Jeannette, I fear the weather was 

 too much for the boat not for the man. 



The weather has been the worst I have ever seen. Any 

 oo 



