Having secured dog teams, a Cossack guide, and several Yakut scouts, Melville departed for the Lena delta on November 5. In Nindemann’s hut, he left a message for Danenhower, instructing the navigator to lead the party to Yakutsk. “I have a pretty good chart to search for the missing,” Melville said. “If time and weather permit, I will go to the north coast for the ship’s papers, chronometer, etc. I may be gone a month. Fear not for my safety. I will see the natives take care of me.”
