PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. 5o 



and Alfred Sweetman, carpenter, were also of the num- 

 ber who went to the north. They had served on Mr. 

 Bennett's yachts, and the former especially received 

 the highest praise from him. " You will find Jack 

 Cole," he writes, " one of the best sailors you ever 

 have had under you. Iii times of danger he 's worth 

 his weight in gold, and his tact with men is won- 

 derful." 



The voyage to San Francisco was a hundred and 

 sixty-five days, and during the passage not one from 

 the ship set foot ashore, though the Jeannette anchored 

 three times in different bays of the Straits of Magellan. 

 One little incident of the voyage may be recorded. 

 When off the coast of Brazil, and a hundred miles from 

 any land, two little birds Hew on board the ship to 

 rest ; one was a tomtit and the other a field lark. 

 They had evidently been blown off shore by a gale of 

 wind. They showed no fear but refused to eat any- 

 thing, though everything in the shape of grain which 

 the ship contained was offered to them, and even some 

 lively cheese, which might be a special inducement to 

 insectivorous birds. They would take no nourishment 

 at all, and the tomtit died of hunger and exhaustion. 

 The steward, a Swiss, composed some verses upon his 

 melancholy fate, and these, with the latitude and longi- 

 tude, were put with the little tomtit into a bottle, which 

 was addressed inside to the " New York Herald " and 

 thrown overboard. It has not yet reached its destina- 

 tion. The field lark flew out of the cabin door, left open 

 by accident, and could not be recovered. It flew off 

 the ship and then made successive efforts to return, but 

 its strength gave out and it sank at last into the water. 



The voyage was a stormy one, and when nearing 

 San Francisco the ship encountered a norther which 



