VOYAGE OF THE J E ANNETTE (1881) 167 



On the morning of the 28th they were taken charge of 

 by a man who was to take them to Bulun, where they 

 arrived on the 29th October. Here they saw the com- 

 mandant, who turned out to be a different individual 

 from the one previously seen. He seemed to understand 

 Nindemann's signs and pantomimes, and spoke of tele- 

 graphing. Nindemann made signs for pen, ink, and 

 paper, and dictated to Noros a dispatch to the American 

 Minister at St. Petersburg. This was taken by the 

 commandant, who said he would leave with it next 

 morning. 



A hut was assigned to them, and on the 2nd November, 

 three days after the commandant had gone off with their 

 dispatch, they were electrified by the arrival of Melville. 



We must now leave Nindemann and Noros, and return 

 to Melville's party in the whale-boat. It consisted of 

 Melville, Danenhower, Newcomb, Cole, Leach, Wilson, 

 Bartlett, Lauterbach, Tong Sing, Aneguin, and Manson. 



On the night of the 12th September, Melville lost 

 sight of the other two boats, and contrived to ride out 

 the gale. He then ran all night of the 13th, to the 

 west and south-west. On the morning of the 14th the 

 boat grounded in 2 feet of water, and there was no 

 land in sight. By running some distance to the east, 

 deeper water was obtained, but it was not until the 

 morning of the 16th that land was sighted, consisting of 

 two low headlands forming the mouth of a large river. 

 They ascended the river and tried to effect a landing, 

 but the shoals constantly prevented it. Towards night 

 a hut was seen, and they succeeded in making a landing 

 near it. The boat was hauled up, and a fire was kindled. 

 The men were scarcely able to walk. During four days 

 of their rough passage they had no water to drink, and 

 their legs were terribly cramped. After working up the 

 river two more days, they came to a collection of huts 



