404 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



on the night of November 30th, and when the boats reached 

 land it was two o'clock A. M. of December 1st. It had taken 

 two hours and a quarter to get them from the ship to the 

 land. 



By this time the fire had enveloped the whole ship, and 

 Lieutenant Berry and his companions stood on shore and 

 watched their good ship burn. " It was a calm, still night 

 such a night as is seen during an Arctic winter only the 

 stars glistening and the moon shining brightly on the frozen 

 waters and the snow-clad hills, and the flames from the 

 doomed ship giving a crimson tint to the atmosphere." 

 Suddenly, greatly to their surprise and sorrow, the ship 

 began to move from her position and to drift away with the 

 tide and ice. The ship had failed to fill with water enough 

 to sink, and the burning of the hawser released her from the 

 anchor. 



With her rigging and sails on fire the burning ship pre- 

 sented a grand sight as she drifted up the bay. The national 

 pennant was observed floating proudly from the main truck, 

 above the flames. Subsequently the magazine exploded; 

 and the ship was last seen on the morning of December 2d, 

 still burning. The origin of the fire could not be determined, 

 but it was most probably caused by the heat from the donkey 

 boiler charring and firing the deck underneath. 



The situation and prospects of the party at this time were 

 anything but pleasant. They were turned adrift in a 1 desolate 

 country at the beginning of winter with but little food and 

 clothing, and with no possibility of being rescued for many 

 months. They had thus far had but little intercourse with 

 the natives of the coast, but it was evident that upon them, 

 to a great extent, they would have to depend for shelter and 

 food during the long winter before them. 



No one had thought of eating while fighting the fire, and 

 when they landed all were too fatigued to prepare a meal or 

 even a shelter. They tried to get some rest and sleep, 

 wrapped in their blankets, but were so cold that occasionally 



