460 THE JEANNETTE ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



to the American Minister in St. Petersburg, telling him the 

 exact condition of affairs, and that the' captain's party was 

 starving and in need of food and clothing; and while talk- 

 ing, before the despatch was quite finished, Kusmah took it. 

 Three days afterward Kusmah handed the despatch to Mel- 

 ville at Gecmovialocke. 



From Kumak Surka the two men were sent to Bulun, 

 100 versts further south, where they arrived October 29th. 

 As soon as the commandant learned of their arrival he sent 

 for them and gave them quarters for the day. The next 

 day they were transferred to the house of the priest's assist 

 ant, but this gentleman did not appear to know the virtues 

 of hospitality to shipwrecked men. After two days he sent 

 them to the hut of a native, who also did not provide well 

 for the guests. 



Mr. Melville describes his meeting with Nindermann and 

 Noros as follows : 



"Arriving at Bulun, on the 2d of November, I found Nin- 

 dermann and Noros of the captain's party. They were in 

 the stansea, the common reception place for traveling 

 natives, and terribly broken down. They were suffering 

 from diarrhoea, and were feverish. They were totally un- 

 manned, and burst out crying when they tried to tell me of 

 their companions and of their own escape. Gradually I got 

 from them as clear an account of their march as they could 

 give, and a description of the place where they had left the 

 captain's party. They complained to me that they did not 

 get the proper kind of food, that after the commandant left 

 they had been fed on stale fish that was not fit for any man 

 to eat, and had no meat. A fire had been built in their 

 place only twice a day, morning and night, and they had 

 consequently suffered much from the cold. 



I failed to find anybody in authority in the village; but 

 Nindermann and Noros having made the acquaintance of 

 the priest's assistant the 'Malinki pope,' as he was styled 

 I visited him, and gave him to understand that the people 

 must be better taken care of. lie said he could do nothing, 



