PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXPEDITION. 63 



Francisco, as soon as he was detached from the squad- 

 ron m the spring of 1879, and was cordially welcomed 

 by Captain De Long, who wrote him from Washington, 

 April 21, 1879 : — 



"I have not been able to write you sooner to say how glad 

 1 am to know that you are safely in San Francisco ready to 

 join me in our Arctic work. You have, of course, learned from 

 Danenliower the story of the expedition as far as it has got, 

 and you cannot learn more of what I j^ropose to do than by 



J. M. AMBLER, M. D. ^ 



reading my instructions to Danenhower, and my letters to him 

 since his arrival. Of course, as soon as the orders reach you, 

 you will be the senior officer present at the ship, and the head 

 of all operations until my arrival, wliich will be about Maj' 

 15th. In order to keep things as simple and regular as possi- 

 ble, I would suggest and request that you leave in Danen- 

 bower's hands the completion of whatever work he has begun ; 

 and advise and direct him as to the best way to successfully 

 carry out our plans. Melville goes out with all the latest de- 

 tails from the engineer-in-chief, and you and he will easily 

 work together. We are so crowded with work that I cannot 

 find time to go into details a second time, and so I ask that we 



