136	JEANNETTE INQUIRY.
for seamen in the Navy to stand deck watches when the ship is under way ?—A. Not as far as my knowledge goes, when the ship is under way.
Q. What were your duties after the ship got locked in the ice ?—A. I was taken off watch and put to work as carpenter. I had to do carpenter's work.
By Mr. BOUTELLE :
Q. You were taken off the watch, then ?—A. Yes; somebody else was put in my place, and I had to go and do carpenter's work.
By Mr. MCAnoo :
Q. Had you any training as a carpenter ?—A. No, sir; I learned by myself.
By Mr. CURTIS :
Q. Who was the man who put the washboard around the first cutter, and by whose orders ?—A. I don't think anybody gave me any orders, but I am the man who put it around.
Q. Could you have lived through the gale without that washboard?—A. No, sir.
Q. That was the means of your salvation at that time ?—A. As far as I can see.
Q. How long did De Long travel after you left him, judging from the point where you left him and the point where you found him? —A. He had not traveled as far from the time I left him until the 30th of October, as me and Noros did the first day by about 21 miles.
Q. Then you should judge the distance De Long traveled between the time you left him and the time you found his remains, as about 21 miles?—A. No, about 8 or 10 miles; that they traveled about 8 or 10 or 12 miles from the time I left him. That was the distance they traveled to the time they died.
Q. Was that as great a distance as you and Noros traveled the first day after leaving De Long ?—A. No, sir; we traveled farther to the southward by about 2 miles.
Q. What was the condition of each one of the party as compared with yourself?—A. Captain De Long had given out the day before I left him, as I could see. He was hanging back. Although he did not tell me so, as far as I could see I thought he was pretty well played out. The rest kept on well enough. I went back three or four times and asked Captain De Long if I could assist him, and he said no, he was all right, for me to go ahead and try to light a fire as quick as I could when we came to the river bank.
Q. In what condition was Collins at that time?—A. I think Collins was in as good condition as any of us.
Q. And was that true of the other men except De Long?—A. As far as I know the rest of the men kept on following right straight along.
Q. Where did De Long think he was when you left him?—A. When I left him he thought he was south of an island called Tit Arrii.
Q. If they were in as good physical condition as you, they could have traveled along with you, they could have traveled as far as you.—A. I should think so.
Q. Then, as a matter of fact, if all the party had gone with you they would have reached the same destination and been saved?—A. Probably they would if they had gone through what we did, wading up to our waists in water for three days, with no shelter and no fire of any kind.