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 Nordenskiöld 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° 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° W. On May 16th, in 76° 47′ N., a small island was sighted, and on the 24th another in 77° 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 11th the depth was only 33 fathoms, and the ice was in a threatening condition. Suddenly the vessel was subjected to tremendous pressure. Provisions and everything 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 1120 lb. of biscuit and 32 souls to save from death. Their position was in 77° 14′ 57″ N. and 154° 58′ E., far away from land. The boats were mounted and secured on sledges, and held ten men each, the first with De Long and Ambler, the second with Melville and Danenhower, and the third with Chipp and Dunbar. There were six tents. De Long made for the Liakhov or New Siberian Islands, but with much soft snow and dangerous openings in the ice their progress was slow. On July 29th land was discovered in 76° 38′ 17″ N., the most northern of the New Siberian group, consisting of volcanic rock, with a vein of bituminous coal. It received the name of Bennett Island. All were then well, with 23 dogs, and 30 days’ provisions, but De Long himself was suffering much from the state of his feet. From the New Siberian Islands the three boats then started for the mouth of the Lena, De Long intending to lead his people to the first Russian settlement he could find.