It had been fifty-one days since the three boats separated in the gale—fifty-one days since the men of De Long’s cutter had lost sight of Melville’s whaleboat in the storm-tossed Laptev Sea and resigned themselves to the loss of the other two crews. Nindemann and Noros now welcomed Melville into their cabin as a man already mourned. They could scarcely contain their joy at seeing one of their shipmates alive, hearing English spoken again, and learning that they were not alone in this strange land.
