Page:Voyage of the Jeannette - 1884 - Volume 1.djvu/11



the preparation of this volume the editor has availed herself first, of the private papers of Lieutenant-Commander De Long, and her own recollection and notes; and secondly, of the testimony given in public and private by the survivors of the Jeannette. It seemed right, in a work which is essentially a tribute to human worth, to introduce the narrative with a brief biographical sketch of the commander of the expedition up to the inception of the undertaking, with special reference to the qualities of character and education of circumstances which led directly to his proposal of an Arctic expedition. The preparations for the voyage continue this personal sketch, as well as put the reader in possession of all necessary facts relating to the plans of the projectors and the measures taken to ensure success.

So much was requisite as an introduction to the narrative itself. For that recourse was had to the letters written by Lieutenant-Commander De Long after leaving San Francisco, and before dismissing the consort which accompanied the Jeannette to St. Lawrence Bay; to the private journal which he kept from the beginning of the voyage to the sinking of the ship, and to the two small journals in which he recorded the fortunes of the expedition after the ship was abandoned.