578 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



They also reported that Capt. Hall had suddenly taken sick and 

 died on November 28, 1871. The command then devolved on 

 Capt. Buddington, who resolved to return, and on August 2, 

 1872, the Polaris turned southward, but drifted with the ice into 

 Baffin Bay, where Tyson left her. The Polaris was so seriously 

 injured by the breaking floe, that it was only by extraordinary 

 exertion and the use of steam pumps that she was prevented 

 from foundering. She was kept afloat during the night, however, 

 and on the following morning was run aground in Kane's L if e 

 Boat (Jove, where she was abandoned. Here they remained 

 encamped, waiting for the ice to break up, until June 3, 1873, 

 when they loaded their small boats with provisions and started 

 on the waters of Smith Sound for the south. On June 23 they 

 sighted a vessel, which proved to be the Ravenscraig , of Dundee, 

 Capt. Allen, a Scotch whaler. The explorers were picked up 

 and landed at Dundee on September 19, 1873. 



The reported loss of the Polaris, by Capt. Tyson, caused the 

 government to send out the steamers Juniata and Cabot, under 

 Lieutenant DeLong, to search for them, but they had gone only 

 a short distance beyond St. Johns when the news of the rescue 

 was received from a passing vessel, when the expedition at once 

 returned. In a future chapter further notice will be made of the 

 unfortunate Polaris and the treacherous death of Capt. Hall. 



The next expedition was organized in 1877, by Lieutenant 

 Geo. W. DeLong, of the United States Navy, the expenses of 

 which were provided by. James Gordon Bennett, of the New York 

 Herald. A suitable vessel was found in the steamer Pandora, 

 which was put in prime condition for a contest with arctic cold 

 and dangerous icebergs, and then renamed theJeannettc, for Mr. 

 Bennett's sister. She put into Havre, after all repairs were 

 made, from which port she sailed July 15, 1878, for San Fran- 

 cisco. Here the expedition was recruited from the navy, some 

 of the officers being then in service in Chinese waters, so that a 

 delay of nearly one year was unavoidable. On the 8th of July, 

 1879, the Jeannette departed with her select crew for Lawrence 

 Bay, Lieut. DeLon<j's intentions being to attempt a passage to 



