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The National Geographic Magazine 



the Secretary of the Navy. Land was 

 also discovered extending as far north 

 as the 84th degree of latitude. Cap- 

 tain Hall died at Polaris Bay in 1871, 

 and the expedition was shipwrecked 

 and so delayed in returning to the 

 United States that the Navy Depart- 

 ment sent out a relief expedition com- 

 posed of the U. S. ship Juniata, Com- 

 mander D. L. Braine ; the U. S. ship 

 Tigress, Commander James A. Greer, 

 and the steam launch Little Juniata, 

 belonging to Braine' s ship, was dis- 

 patched by that officer for the same pur- 

 pose under command of Lieutenant 

 G. W. De Long. This force obtained 

 results which still further added to the 

 fruits of the original expedition, the 

 records of which were saved. 



De Long in this search work acquired 

 such a taste for exploration that he did 

 not rest until he had obtained the com- 

 mand of a ship which was donated by 

 Mr James Gordon Bennett, of New 

 York. The Jeannette was fitted out 

 by the Navy Department, under the 

 authority of an act of Congress, for the 

 purposes of north polar exploration. 

 Being impressed that the problem of 

 chances was in favor of the Bering Sea 

 route, De Long, proceeding through 

 Bering Strait, passed to the northwest- 

 ward, with the object of reaching the 

 North Pole. 



The sad fate of this expedition is of 

 too recent date to require a story here. 

 De Long discovered Jeannette, Henri- 

 etta, and Bennett Islands, and they are 

 charted and stand as monuments to 

 the bravery, fortitude, and intelligence 

 of this daring explorer. One little epi- 

 sode of the expedition — that of two of 

 his party who were sent in search of 

 food for their dying companions, return- 

 ing with one little bird they had shot 

 to divide up between eighteen stricken 

 men — shows the wonderful control De 



Long, Chipp, Danenhower, Melville, 

 and Ambler had over their men. 



The country went into sincere mourn- 

 ing over the death of almost the entire 

 party, but ' ' their works shall live after 

 them," and the story of their heroism 

 is left us as a precious heritage. 



. In June, 1 881, Lieutenant R. M. Berry, 

 U. S. N., was sent with the U. S. Ship 

 Rodgers to search for De Long's miss- 

 ing party, and in a fruitless attempt to 

 penetrate the ice pack which had closed 

 over the ill- fated Jeannette the officers of 

 the Rodgers first surveyed Herald Island 

 and afterward circumnavigated and 

 charted Wrangell Island, proving conclu- 

 sively that it was not a part of the Asi- 

 atic coast, as had been supposed by some 

 geographers. With a view of affording 

 every possible relief to the Jeannette Ex- 

 pedition, the U. S. ship Alliance, Com- 

 mander George H. Wadleigh, was also 

 sent in search of De Long. Wadleigh 

 brought back a large amount of geo- 

 graphical data, as well as specimens re- 

 lating to different sciences. Unfortu- 

 nately, Berry's vessel was destroyed by 

 fire in the frozen regions, but his party 

 was saved. Still in pursuit of informa- 

 tion concerning the Jeannette, Berry trav- 

 eled afoot across northern Siberia from 

 Bering Strait to the mouth of the Lena 

 Delta, and returned to the United States, 

 and by his trip contributed to the geo- 

 graphical treasury no small amount of 

 information. 



With our distinguished President of the 

 Congress, Commander Peary, soon to 

 tell his story, it would be presumptuous 

 in me to make reference to what he, an- 

 other naval officer in whom we all take 

 great pride, has done for geography 

 and science in general. Your votes, 

 which have called him to this high 

 office, show that his reputation belongs 

 to the world as well as to the United 

 States Navy. 



