VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE (1881) 161 



3 lb. each. The party then went on again, but Erickseivs 

 foot was very bad, and progress was slow. 



On the 28th September they came to a point where 

 they had no alternative but to cross a river a quarter of a 

 mile wide. No wood could be obtained to build a raft 

 large enough for the purpose, and they were forced to 

 stay here in an old hut until 1st October, when the 

 river had frozen over sufficiently to allow them to 

 cross. 



A large gull was shot on the 29th, and with this they 

 made soup. Fires were made when it was dark at night, 

 in the hope of drawing attention. On the 30th the 

 doctor removed several of Ericksen's toes. 



On the 1st October a record was left in the hut, and 

 the party then crossed the river with Ericksen on a 

 sledge. De Long now saw that the chart in his possession 

 was practically useless. He had been hoping to reach 

 a place marked on the chart as " Sagastyr," but he now 

 looked upon this as a myth. 



On the 2nd and 3rd they struggled on, and had to 

 camp in the open at night. On the 3rd October the 

 last of the pemmican was eaten, and nothing now re- 

 mained but the dog, which was killed for supper. De 

 Long and other two men broke through the ice during: 

 the day's march and got thoroughly wet. At night 

 they tried to dry themselves before a fire of driftwood. 

 Ericksen groaned and rambled in his talk, and the whole 

 party spent a most miserable night. On the morning of 

 the 4th they moved to a hut which had been discovered 

 by Alexey the previous night. From his chart De Long 

 now arrived at the conclusion that he was on Tit Ary 

 Island, and about 25 miles from Ku Mark Surka, which 

 he took to be a settlement. It may here be mentioned, 

 as indicating the worthless character of De Long's chart, 

 that instead of being at Tit Ary Island as he supposed, 

 ir 



