THE FIRST SEARCH. 847 



Lieutenant Danenhower went southward, and return in 

 the spring for a further search. Accordingly he went 

 forward himself to prepare the way, and was followed 

 by Bartlett in charge of the whaleboat party, who came 

 up with him at Verkeransk, the first place of any im- 

 portance. Here he made provision for the further 

 transportation of the party to Yakutsk, and also took 

 advantage of the presence of an English-speaking Rus- 

 sian to write a full letter to the Espravnik,- or head man 

 of the district, giving explicit instructions with regard 

 to the recovery of any of the people, or their remains, 

 and such effects as might be found. 



Mr. Melville finally reached Yakutsk December 30, 

 1881, and there found himself in communication with 

 his government, and with the authorities at St. Peters- 

 burg. Mr. Danenhower with his party had preceded 

 him about a fortnight, and Bartlett and the rest of the 

 whaleboat party arrived on the 3d of January, 1882. 

 It" was clear that nothing would be gained by maintain- 

 ing a large party for the spring search, as the necessary 

 supplies for the long journeys were difficult to procure, 

 and Mr. Melville therefore retained only Nindemann 

 and Bartlett to assist him in the further search, and 

 gave the other nine men in charge of Lieutenant Dan- 

 enhower, with instructions to proceed to Irkutsk, and 

 thence to the Atlantic seaboard on their way to Amer- 

 ica. He gave him also the articles, including log-books 

 and records left in the huts, which he had recovered 

 from Captain De Long's party. 



Lieutenant Danenhower started from Yakutsk Janu- 

 ary 9, 1882, and reached Irkutsk, a distance of over 

 nineteen hundred miles, on the 20th of the same month. 

 One of the men, John Cole, was suffering from mental 

 aberration, and required a special attendant. Lieuten- 



