THE VOYAGE FROM SEMENOFFSKI. 463 



Before leaving the floe, Mr. Chipp reported to the captain 

 that his boat was very heavy, and that it was impossible for 

 him to keep up with us. For this reason Captain De Long 

 determined to relieve him of two men lie had then ten 

 and put one in the whale-boat and one in his own, the first 

 cutter, leaving Mr. Chipp then with eight men all told six 

 men and two officers. These two men were Ah 8am, the 

 Chinese cook, and Mansen, seaman, the latter of whom was 

 given to the whale-boat. Up to this time Mr. Chipp had 

 been relieved of carrying his pemmican. When we were at 

 the edge of the floe, before starting out to sea, he was known 

 to have but half a can of pemmican, but whether he received 

 his pro rata of pemmican afterward none of us know. He 

 did not get it when we were there. 



The three boats left Seminoffsky in company and contin- 

 ued together until about seven o'clock in the afternoon, the 

 wind increasing from a fresh breeze to a full gale, the first 

 cutter and the whale-boat running with close reefed sails. 

 The second cutter being a duller sailer than either of the 

 other two, I do not know whether she had reefed sails or 

 not. 



At seven o'clock in the evening the gale was blowing very 

 hard, and the boats were taking in so much water that it 

 was absolutely necessary that each boat should take care of 

 herself. The whale-boat was a hundred yards to the wind- 

 ward of the first cutter, and probably a hundred yards in 

 advance, when I heard the captain or some of his people 

 hailing, and then saw a signal. I looked round and saw 

 Captain De Long waving his arm. Not knowing whether he 

 wanted me to go on or to come down to him, I gybed the 

 sail and ran the boat down to within bailing-distance, when 

 he waved the whale-boat off, shaking his head and arm, 

 making a signal for the second cutter, and I supposed he 

 wanted to give Chipp his share of pemmican. Nindermann 

 informs me that the captain only wanted to tell the boats to 

 keep together ; that there was no pemmican passed from the 

 first to the second cutter ; and that the sea was so heavy 



