On 31st May a party of six in charge of Melville started for Henrietta Island. They took a light boat, a sledge and fifteen dogs, and seven days’ provisions. De Long wished to know whether there was any bay in which he could place the ship, and whether there was animal or bird life with which he could replenish his waning stock of provisions. On the 1st of June the doctor made the startling announcement that several of the party on board were suffering from lead-poisoning. An examination was made, and traces of lead were found in the water, and in still larger quantity in the tomatoes. It was supposed that the juice of the tomato had acted on the solder used in the tins. The Henrietta party returned on the 5th June. They landed on the island on 2nd June, and left a record in a cairn. The island was found to be desolate rock, surmounted by a snow-cap. The cliffs were inaccessible; and dovekies nesting in the face of the rock were the only signs of life. On the 10th of June the ice suddenly opened alongside the ship, which settled down nearly to her proper bearings. There was now a small canal on the port side, and into this De Long had a heavy floe hauled so as to receive the pressure in the event of the ice closing. This was at first successful, but later the ice closed in with great force, jamming the ship hard against the ice on the starboard side, and causing her to heel 16° to starboard. Orders were at once given to lower the starboard boats and haul them to a safe position. Melville, while below in the engine-room, saw a break across the ship in the wake of the boilers and engines, and it was evident that the ship was breaking in two. Orders were now given to remove sledges and certain provisions which had long been kept in readiness in case the ship might have to be abandoned. At 4.30 p.m. there was a lull in the pressure, and De Long began to hope that the worst was over, but at 5 p.m. the pressure was renewed with tremendous force. Everything needful for a retreat over the ice was now hurriedly removed to a place of safety. At 6 p.m. it was found that the _Jeannette_ was beginning to fill, and at 8 p.m. everybody was ordered to leave the ship. At 4 a.m. of the 12th the _Jeannette_ disappeared beneath the water, in latitude 77° 14′ 57″ N., longitude 154° 58′ 45″ E. Preparations were at once begun for the retreat to the Siberian coast. The first and second cutter and the whale-boat had to be mounted on their travelling-sledges; bags had to be made to hold bread, tea, coffee, and sugar; and sledges had to be overhauled and relashed. To get their weights as exactly as possible, they had to start with an ounce weight and the doctor’s scales, and work up by a number of Remington cartridges to a pound. Two empty meat-tins tied to the end of a stick suspended by its centre formed the scale.