DE LONG'S BOAT VOYAGE 117 



drift had taken the party to 77 36', before they got 

 on their proper course, and after a most laborious 

 journey, lasting up to the 28th of July, they were safe 

 ashore on the land sighted by Sannikof from Thaddeus, 

 which De Long named Bennett Island. 



Bennett Island was left on the 7th of August, the 

 party of thirty-three being in three boats, thirteen 

 under De Long in the first cutter, ten under Lieu- 

 tenant Chipp in the much smaller second cutter, and 

 ten, under Engineer George W. Melville, whose skill 

 and resourcefulness had been conspicuous throughout, 

 were given the whale-boat, the most suitable of the 

 three. Sail was made for Thaddeus Island, which was 

 reached in safety ; after a halt of some days it was left 

 on the 31st of August. Then Kotelnoi Island was 

 reached and rested at ; then the boats made for Semo- 

 novski, which was left on the 12th of September. 



The same day a gale came on in which the first 

 cutter had great difficulty in keeping afloat, the second 

 cutter disappeared never to be heard of again, and the 

 whale-boat, behaving excellently, went off before the 

 wind straight for the continent to reach in safety one 

 of the eastern mouths of the Lena, up which Melville 

 arrived at a Russian village on the 26th of September. 

 De Long's party ran their boat aground in shallow 

 water, on the 17th of September, and rafted and waded 

 ashore to one of the most inhospitable spots on the 

 globe. Heavily laden they made their way down the 

 dreary delta, toiling through the snow, delayed by the 

 tributaries which were not frozen over hard enough to 

 bear, hampered by sickness and disablement, and finally 

 dying one by one of starvation. 



