“I think the night one of the most beautiful I have ever seen,” De Long wrote after one of his strolls. “The heavens were cloudless, the moon shining brightly, and every star twinkling; the air perfectly calm, not a sound to break the spell. The ship and her surroundings made a perfect picture. The long lines of wire reaching to the tripod and observatory, round frosted lumps here and there where a dog lay asleep. The Jeannette standing out in bold relief against the sky, every rope and spar with a thick coat of snow and frost—simply a beautiful spectacle.
