Letter from the Secretary of the Navy; transmitting report of Lieut. G. B. Harber, U.S.N., concerning the search for the missing persons of the ... the remains of Lieutenant-Commander De Long - United States. Navy Dept, Paperback

• Release Date   6/25/2012
• ISBN-13   9781231818695 | 978-1-231-81869-5
• ISBN   1231818697 | 1-231-81869-7
• Format   Paperback
• Author(s)   United States. Navy Dept
• This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884 edition. Excerpt: ... on his way south. At 7 p.m. we arrived at (Jholbogoi and halted for the night, having made 70 versts. An hour after arrival the dogs were fed, each receiving a frozen fish weighing from 5 to 7 pounds. (Dogs are fed once per day.) Our hut was in the shape of a frustum of a four-sided pyramid, 12 feet by 10 feet at base. The central portion was occupied by the fire, around which our party of ten arranged themselves for sleep as best they could. The hut called Mat Vay was reached at 1.30 p. m. March 1. We found it full of snow, and by the time it became inhabitable night was upon us. The following morning at 10 (March 2) we started for the tomb, and reached it at 11. We at once commenced work. opened the tomb, and removed the snow, which completely filled the inside. When the bodies were exposed to view, it was seen that decay had made such strides during the preceding summer that the features were destroyed. Yet from the known order in which the bodies lay, and the description I had obtained concerning their clothing, and the position of their legs and arms, they were easily identified beyond the possibility of a doubt. The bodies were frozen to the rocks beneath, but were removed without accident of any kind. As each body was taken from the tomb,it was marked by attaching a strip of leather bearing the name, then wrapped in felt, and marked on the outside in the same manner. After all had been taken from the tomb, the stones which originally covered it were piled up about the cross in the form of a pyramid to the height of 8 feet, and the bodies were taken to Matvay. The limbs were so bent that it became difficult to arrange the bodies on the sleds for transportation. Before night, however, it was accomplished, and all preparations were made for...