THE JEANETTE AND HER SURVIVORS. 41 



While this consultation was going on, Lieut. De Long made a trip to New 

 Bedford, where he passed several weeks in the society of the whaling captains 

 who are to be found there in large numbers. From conversation with them he 

 was convmced that the Behring's Straits route was the ''Down Hill" route and 

 determined to try it. The more he studied over it and examined the charts as to 

 the winds and currents, the more he was convinced that the whalemen were right. 

 He imparted to Mr. Bennett the result of his conclusion, and it was decided to 

 try it. After examining a large number of vessels, it was finally agreed to pur- 

 chase the Pandora, which was lying in the dock at London at the time, having 

 but lately returned from a cruise to the Arctic, which proved barren of results. 



x'^n act was passed by Congress allowing Pandora's name to be changed to 

 Jeannette — in honor of Mrs. Bennett's only sister — to be enrolled as an American 

 vessel, and to be officered by officers of the American navy, Lieut. De Long and 

 the officers under him being assigned to duty on her for the purpose of the 

 expedition. 



All the expenses of every kind and nature have, however, been borne by 

 Mr. Bennett, and when she sailed, she left our shores as a national expe- 

 dition, as that gentleman desired his country to reap the honor of discovery, and 

 has at all times discouraged the association of his name with the expedition, desir- 

 ing it to be known only as "The American Arctic Expedition." 



The Jeannette was a ^ark-rigged screw steamer of four hundred and twenty 

 tons burden, and eighty-horse power nominal. She was built at the Pembroke 

 Dock Yard in England, in 1864, and designed for a naval dispatch boat. She 

 was subsequently sold to Sir Allen Young. She made three voyages to the Arctic. 

 First to King William's Land in 1873, again to King William's Land in 1874, and 

 the third time to carry mails to the Alert at Peel's Sound in 1875. She was built 

 of Dantzic oak, and was especially strong in the hull. She had a sharp, wedge, 

 shaped floor, which, in case she was "nipped," was to lift her on the ice, instead 

 of allowing her to be crushed between the floes. Her bow was filled in solid, 

 and was protected on the outside by thick iron straps, to protect her timbers when 

 cutting a channel through the ice. She was extra planked on her bottom and 

 bilges, and her frames and beams were of heavy timber. Her hull was further 

 strengthened while she was at Mare Island, three double-trusses and hanging- 

 knees, each beam ten by twelve inches, with a large stanchion in the center, 

 being put in. 



In addition to arms, food, cooking apparatus and clothing, the expedition 

 was especially well provided with scientific instruments, and there was every rea- 

 son to believe that the world would be greatly enriched by the stock of knowl- 

 edge with which it would return. A complete set of photographic apparatus was 

 taken, together with thirty dozen dry plates for views. There was a portable ob- 

 servatory and a large-sized telescope for taking astronomical observations. 

 Whenever a landing was effected experiments was made with a pendulum and 

 the vibrations noted, so that when the pole was approached the degree of flatness 

 of the earth's surface would be detected. Accurate surveys of all lands were 



