eeutive officer on the school-ship " St. Mary's." The " Jeannette " (which, as the " Pandora," had made two arctic voyages under Sir Allen Young) was purchased by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., and strengthened and fitted out at his expense for a three years' voyage of exploration via Bering strait. By special act of congress the government as- sumed authority, while Mr. Bennett met the ex- pense. The " Jeannette " sailed from San Fran- cisco, uncler Lieut. De Long's command, 8 July, 1879. The equipage numbered tnirty-three, in- cluding five officers of the navy. Touching at Ounalaska, St. Michael's, and St. Lawrence bay, De Long proceeded to Cape Serdze Karaen, Siberia, to search for Nordenskiold, who left before his ar- rival. Steaming northward and taking the pack, the " Jeannette " was beset, 5 Sept., 1879, ofE Herald island, in about 71° 35' N., 75° W. The vessel never escaped the pack, and, after drifting over 600 miles to the northwest, in a devious course, making twice the distance, was crushed by the ice in 77° 15' N., 155° E., 13 June, 1881. Lieut.-Com. De Long and his party were thus adrift in the polar sea 150 geographical miles from the new Siberian islands, and over 300 from the nearest point of the mainland of Asia. De Long started southward with his party, and reached Ben- nett island, 28 July, and Thad- deus island (one of the new Siberian group), 20 Aug., 1881. The party had made this re- markable journey so far alternate- ly by sledge and boat. From this point they pro- ceeded in boats, under the com- mand respectively of De Long, Lieut. Chipp, and Chief-
Engineer George
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"W. Melville. Chipp's boat was lost, with eight men, in a gale on 12 Sept., olf the Lena delta ; but Melville, with nine others, reached, through one of the eastern mouths of the river, a small village on the Lena. De Long, Dr. Ambler, and thirteen others reached the main mouth of the Lena, 17 Sept., having travelled about 2,800 miles, and reached the main-land at a point 500 miles dis- tant from their lost ship. Obliged by new ice to abandon their boat and travel overland, they pro- ceeded slowly up the Lena, much embarrassed by sick and helpless men and their cumbersome rec- ords. On 9 Oct. they could go no farther. Two men, sent forward by De Long to obtain relief, survived, but the others perished of exposure and starvation within twenty-five miles of a Siberian settlement. De Long's diary, written up to the last day, shows that he and two others were living on 30 Oct. Noros and Nindemann, the men sent forward by De Long, fell in with natives on 22 Oct., and with Melville, 29 Oct., at Belun. Melville pushed his search, without success, northward to the extremity of the Lena delta in November, and, re- newing his search in March, 1882, found the dead bodies and the records of the expedition on the 23d of that month. By direction of the U. S. govern- ment, the remains of De Long and his luifortunate companions were brought to his native city, where they were interred with distinguished honors on 22 Feb., 1884. The attainment of the highest lati- tude in Asiatic seas, and the discovery of Jean- nette, Henrietta, and Bennett islands, appear at first to be meagre and inadequate results from so long and disastrous a voyage. But to the positive results must be added negative discoveries ; for be- fore De Long's northwest drift the long-sought-for Wrangell land shrank, from a continent supposed to extend from the confines of Asia to Greenland, into a small island. But the hydrographical con- ditions of the 50,000 square miles of the polar ocean charted by De Long clearly indicate the character of 50,000 other square miles of area to the south, where doubtless a shallow sea exists, with occasional small islands of no great size. When Wrangell island proved to be an inconsider- able land, De Long's expedition was doomed to comparative failure, and Bering strait was closed as a road to high latitudes ; for without a protect- ing coast no vessel can hope to navigate the polar seas. The valuable hydrographic, magnetic, and meteorological observations of the expedition still remain inaccessible and undiscussed (1887), al- though ten times the amount necessary for their proper publication has been devoted to investiga- tions of the expedition, with the result fortunately of illustrating Commander De Long's many ad- mirable qualities as an officer and a man. The court of inquiry, in its findings, said officially: " Special commendation is due Lieut.-Com mander De Long for the high qualities displayed by him in the conduct of the expedition." De Long's jour- nals have been edited by his widow, under the title " The Voyage of the Jeannette " (Boston, 1883), and the story of the search is to be found in Mel- ville's " In the Lena Delta " (Boston, 1884).
DELOllME, Louis, Canadian lawyer, b. in Mont-
real, 29 Dec, 1824; d. there, 18 June, 1895. He
was educated at St. Sulpice college and at the Col-
lege of St. Hyaeinthe, and was admitted to the bar
of Lower Canada in 1847. He represented St. Hya-
einthe in the Dominion parliament from 1870 till
1878, and was the first to propose the money-order
system between the United States and Canada. He
was appointed clerk of the legislaiive assembly of
the province of Quebec in May, 1879.
DELVALLE or DEL VALLE, Aristobolo (del-val'-yay), Argentine statesman, b. in Buenos Ayres in 1847. He was graduated at the university of his native city, and began practice at the bar in 1869. He identified himself with the national autonomist paity, was soon acknowledged as one of its leaders, and elected in 1874 senator for the province of Buenos Ayres. He was re-elected for several terms, and distinguished himself as an orator and defender of the autonomy of the provinces against encroachments of the Federal power. In 1875 his party nominated him for governor of the province, but he was defeated. During the dispute between Chili and the Argentine Republic concerning their boimdary in Patagonia, he, together with the U. S. minister, endeavored to bring about a pacific solution of the question, and their efforts were rewarded by the boundary treaty signed in Buenos Ayres, 23 Oct., 1881. In 1884 he was again one of three persons proposed by his party for the nomination for governor ; but D'Amico was considered a stronger candidate, and was elected. Delvalle continues one of the most influential members of the Federal senate. He has published '• Introduccion al derecho administrativo" (Buenos Ayres).
