THE TRAGEDY ON THE DELTA. 373 



I 



have the entire cairn covered with a deep layer of earth, to 

 prevent the possibility of the sun thawing the bodies therein. 

 General Tchernieff also caused a Russian inscription to be 

 prepared to be placed on the tomb, and directed that every 

 care should be taken to preserve the tomb and the monu- 

 ment in good condition. Standing as they do on an emin- 

 ence, they are conspicuous objects, and may be seen at a 

 distance of twenty miles. 



In a letter to the New York Herald written from the Lena 

 Delta, April 12th, Mr. W. H. Gilder, who, strange enough, 

 had appeared on the scene under circumstances hereafter 

 related, gave the following particulars of the finding and 

 burial of " Our Lost Explorers " : - 



" Melville's search party first started from the supply depot 

 at Cath Carta to follow Nmdermann's route from Ustcrda to 

 Mot Vai, and afterward from Mot Yai back to Usterda. 

 They stopped at the place where Xindormaim and Noros 

 passed the first day after they left DeLong, feeling sure that 

 the others had not got much farther. There they found the 

 wreck, and following along the bank they came upon a rifle 

 barrel hung upon four poles sticking up out of the snow. 



" They set the natives digging on each side of the sticks, 

 and they soon came upon two bodies under eight feet of 

 snow. While these men were digging toward the east, Mel- 

 ville went on along the bank, twenty feet above the river, to 

 find a place to take bearings. He then saw a camp-kettle 

 and the remains of a fire about a thousand yards from the 

 tent, and, approaching, nearly stumbled upon DeLong's hand 

 sticking out of the snow about thirty feet from the edge of 

 the bank. Here, under about a foot of snow, they found the 

 bodies of DeLong and Ambler about three feet apart, and 

 Ah Sam lying at their feet, all partially covered by pieces of 

 tent and a few pieces of blanket. All the others except 

 Alexai were found at the place where the tent was pitched. 

 Lee and Kaack were close by in a cleft in the bank toward 

 the west. Two boxes of records, with the medicine chest 

 and a nag on a staff, were beside the tent. 



