328 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
to make discoveries by way of Bering Strait — but, 
ignoring the vessel's previous fine record, and in spite of 
sailors' customs and beliefs, her name was changed to 
the Jeannette. 
Captain De Long was accompanied by two naval 
lieutenants, Danenhower and Chipp, and a naval engineer, 
Melville, with Dr Ambler as surgeon, and the ice pilot 
Dunbar. The expedition, with 32 men and 40 dogs, left 
San Francisco on 8th July, 1879, a few days before 
Nordenskiold got free from his winter quarters among 
the Tchuktchis. Passing through Bering Strait and 
sighting Herald Island, the vessel was soon afterwards 
beset and drifted helplessly to the north-west. De Long's 
hope was that she would be freed when she reached a 
part of the ocean far from land where the floes might 
disperse, but this never happened. Two winters were 
passed during this wearisome drift, but De Long knew 
how to keep up the spirits of his people by his own 
unfailing cheerfulness, and by promoting good-fellowship 
and various amusements. On March 12th, 1881, they 
were in 74 0 54' N., having drifted 320 miles to the north- 
west since sighting Herald Island, but they were still on 
the continental shelf, the depth being only 38 fathoms, 
increasing, after a month, to 85 fathoms. The rate of 
drift seemed to increase. From April 21st to 25th it was 
47 miles, in a direction N. 69 0 W. On May 16th, in 
76 0 47' N., a small island was sighted, and on the 24th 
another in 77 0 8' N. A dog sledge, under Melville, was 
sent to visit one of them, returning on June 5th. They 
were outliers of the Liakhov group, and were named 
Jeannette and Henrietta Islands respectively. On June 
nth the depth was only 33 fathoms, and the ice was 
in a threatening condition. Suddenly the vessel was 
subjected to tremendous pressure. Provisions and every- 
thing that could be saved were at once got out on the 
ice together with the boats, and on June 12th, 1881, 
after long and faithful service on the African coast, in 
Baffin's Bay, Peel Sound, and Smith Sound, and lastly in 
this long drift, the staunch old gunboat sank to the 
bottom of the Siberian Sea. 
De Long found himself in command of a whale-boat 
and two cutters, with 4950 lb. of pemmican and ir20 lb. 
