CONCLUSION. 867 



resist the ice under certain conditions ; and that the 

 Jeannette proved herself in the long struggle to have 

 been exceptionally staunch and seaworthy. 



Of the management of the ship up to the time of her 

 loss no evidence could be so conclusive as the daily 

 record, begun with so much eagerness to note every 

 interesting and important fact, continued under circum- 

 stances of so much discouragement, and constantly 

 suggestive of the resources of the commander and his 

 associates, their unflagging zeal, their versatility, their 

 cheerful resolution, their devotion to the incidental 

 objects of the expedition, and their thoughtfulness for 

 the health and comfort of the crew. The final loss of 

 the vessel was beyond the poAver of man to foresee or 

 prevent. " Any vessel in like position," says the court, 

 emphatically, " no matter what her model might have 

 been, or however strongly constructed, and subjected 

 to the same pressures as those incurred by the Jean- 

 nette, would have been annihilated." That the aban- 

 donment of the vessel was orderly, and the retreat 

 managed with wisdom appears from the fact that 

 " ninety days after the destruction of the Jeannette the 

 officers and men were in fair condition, notwithstanding 

 their terrible journey." So reads the finding of the 

 court ; and the narrative drawn from Captain De Long's 

 ice journal, although necessarily compact and more in 

 the form of notes than of an extended record, affords 

 abundant evidence of the strain under which the com- 

 mander moved through that fearful summer, and of the 

 discipline and order which prevailed among his brave 

 comrades. 



The final point upon which the court was to inquire 

 was as to " the general conduct and merits of each and 

 all the officers and men of the expedition." The find- 

 ins: is as follows : — 



