158 THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH POLE 



ever, before they could start, the ice had closed around 

 them, and it was not until the 29th that they were able 

 to take to the water. 



On the 30th August they reached and landed on 

 Faddejew Island. The " Faddejew Hut " marked on 

 the Russian chart was found tumbling to decay. The 

 island was left on the 31st August. On the 1st September 

 the second cutter was separated from the other two boats, 

 and did not rejoin them till the afternoon of the 3rd. 

 In order to let Chipp have a better chance of keeping up 

 with the other two boats, De Long ordered one man, Ah 

 Sam, to his party, and another, Manson, to go in Melville's 

 boat. This resulted in the saving of Manson's life. 



On the 4th September they landed on a low beach 

 running out from the island of Kotelnoi. Some of the 

 party, next day, came across several ruined huts, and in 

 one of them was found an elephant tusk, a wooden cup, 

 a spoon, and a fork. 



Kotelnoi Island was left on the 6th September. 

 Semenooski Island was reached on the 10th, and on 

 this day the last of Liebig's Extract was used. It had 

 been much liked by the party. On this small island 

 they were fortunate in killing a deer. They rested here 

 till the 12th, and on leaving deposited a record. They 

 had still seven days"' provisions, and De Long hoped to 

 reach the Lena without difficulty. 



A breeze sprang up on the afternoon of the 12th, and 

 at 9 p.m. De Long lost sight of the whale-boat ahead, and 

 at 10 p.m. he lost sight of the second cutter astern. The 

 wind had now freshened to a gale. On the 13th there 

 was a tremendous sea, and the boat shipped a good deal 

 of water. An attempt was made to ride out the gale 

 under the lee of a sail, but after doing well for an hour, 

 the sheet parted, and sail and yard were lost. Nothing 

 more was seen by De Long of the other two boats. 



