726 APPENDIX 



had rendered valuable assistance to many a whaler and trader when 

 in difficulties with the ice. But the Taimyr and Vaigatch were more 

 modern and powerful ships. Their commanders had just made the 

 northeast passage around Asia, discovering Emperor Nicholas Second 

 Land on the way. They were already familiar with the waters towards 

 Wrangel Island and it appeared that they would have the best chance 

 of making a rescue. 



But ice conditions proved especially difficult. The Russian ice 

 breakers had been in sight of Wrangel Island but had been unable 

 to get within ten miles of the coast when suddenly the wireless brought 

 them the news of war and orders to return for active duty. This left 

 the Bear alone, so far as government vessels were concerned. Before 

 attempting to reach Wrangel Island she had to go to Point Barrow. 

 Here Captain Bartlett met McConnell and heard from him what had 

 happened to us after our separation from the Karluk about eleven 

 months before. 



August 23rd the Bear started for Herald Island. She found ice 

 conditions difficult, however, and when some fifteen miles from the 

 island she was forced to turn back through fogs, thickness of the ice, 

 and lack of coal. This was a hard experience for Captain Bartlett, 

 although the miscarriage was probably felt as keenly by the captain 

 and officers of the Bear, who were interested heart and soul in the 

 rescue. 



When the Bear got back to Nome August 30th public feeling was 

 deeply stirred, for it was now realized that unless the men on Wrangel 

 Island could look after themselves, which did not seem likely to most 

 Alaskans, there might soon be a tragedy. With most Alaskans to think 

 is to act and their generosity knows no stint. Of no one is this more 

 true than of Jafet Lindeberg, the most romantic pioneer and the lead- 

 ing mining operator of western Alaska. He decided instantly that no 

 matter how many other ships might be sent, one more vessel would 

 increase the chance of rescue. With quiet directness he spent fifteen 

 thousand dollars of his own money in two or three days to charter the 

 famous old ship Corwin, the revenue cutter which sailed under Captain 

 Hooper in 1881 in search of the De Long expedition and was the first 

 ship to land on Wrangel Island. That voyage has in large part waited 

 for its recognition until in 1917 John Muir's narrative of it was pub- 

 lished under the title, "The Cruise of the Corwin." The ship was 

 now quickly outfitted with a crew of experienced ice men, both white 

 and Eskimos. They carried dogs and dog sledges and the Eskimo 

 umiaks and were going to attempt bringing the men away even over 

 miles of ice if the vessel failed to get near shore — a feat possible with 

 umiaks and scarcely otherwise. They had provisions enough for a 

 winter, if necessary, for themselves and the Karluk men. 



McConnell was now in Nome and felt as Lindeberg did about the 

 necessity of as many vessels as possible trying to reach Wrangel Island, 



