Page:The frozen North; an account of Arctic exploration for use in schools (IA frozennorthaccou00hort).pdf/88

 XII. VOYAGE OF THE JEANNETTE

1879-1881

During the same month, July, 1879, that Nordenskjöld completed the northeast passage by sailing through Bering strait into the Pacific ocean, an expedition sailed from San Francisco northward through Bering sea on a voyage of discovery in Arctic regions.

This expedition was sent out by Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the owner of the New York Herald. Mr. Bennett bought and equipped a vessel, which he called the Jeannette. By special act of Congress, the Jeannette was conducted by the United States Navy, with the rights and privileges of a government vessel.

The command was offered to Lieutenant George W. De Long and he accepted, after the expedition was made national. De Long, it is said, believed that an expedition might reach the North Pole by following a branch of the Japan Current through Bering strait and into the Arctic ocean, a route which had never been attempted.

Many explorers who had made trips to the Arctic regions observed that the ice always drifted toward the southeast, and entered the Atlantic ocean between the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was thought that there must be a strong southeast current to carry this pack of floating ice always in the same direction. Instead of trying to sail northward between Spitzbergen and Greenland, where they must meet that great ice pack,