ELISHA KENT KANE. 51 



and lay his form to take its last, long slumber in 

 that lonely and cheerless solitude, far distant from 

 all that was connected with the hopes and joys of 

 his youthful prime, and from the tender and loving 

 hearts which were most deeply interested in his 

 happiness and fate. 



Dr. Kane and his companions found other traces 

 about four hundred yards farther on. Shavings of 

 wood were strewed around, a series of mounds, por- 

 tions of a stocking and glove, and even the rem- 

 nant of a garden. At some distance they found 

 a deposit of more than six hundred preserved-meat 

 cans, while minor indications of the former presence 

 of the party were numerous. But still there was no 

 written intimation anywhere discovered of date, of 

 purpose, or of the condition and experience of the 

 party. This is singular, as it was the uniform 

 custom of Arctic explorers to leave memorials of 

 that description at every spot where they had found 

 a permanent resting-place. All these indications 

 proved, as Dr. Kane clearly establishes in his nar- 

 rative of this expedition, that Sir John Franklin 

 and his party wintered here in 1845-46 ; that the 

 squadron had been occupied during the winter in 

 the various organized expeditions of discovery 

 which are generally sent out from the main station ; 

 that Sir John Franklin had undertaken and perhaps 



