Arctic Expedition Status, December 1881

From In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, by Hampton Sides (Knopf Doubleday, 2014), Kindle pp. 374-375: LONDON, DECEMBER 22, 1881 The following telegram was received at the [New York] Herald’s London office at twenty past two this morning:— Irkutsk, December 21, 2:05 P.M. Jeannette was crushed by the ice in latitude 77 degrees 15 min. north, longitude 157 degrees east. Boats and sleds made a good retreat to fifty miles northwest of the Lena River, where the three boats became separated in a gale. The whaleboat, in the charge of Chief-Engineer Melville, entered the east mouth of the Lena River on September 17th. It was stopped by ice in the river. We found a native village, and as soon as the river closed I put myself in communication with the commandant. On October 29th, I heard that the cutter containing Lieutenant De Long, Dr. Ambler, and twelve others, had landed at the north mouth of the Lena. All are in a sad condition and badly frozen.…