MAY, 1859. A SKELETON DISCOVERED. 235 



Regaining the shore of Dease and Simpson's Strait, some 

 miles to the west of Point Richardson, we crossed over 

 to King William's Island upon the morning of the 24th, 

 striking in upon it a short distance west of the Peffer River. 

 The south coast was closely examined as we marched along 

 towards Cape Herschel. Upon a conspicuous point, to the 

 westward of Point Gladman, a cairn nearly five feet high 

 was seen, which, although it did not appear to be a recent 

 construction, was taken down, stone by stone, carefully 

 examined, and the earth beneath was broken up with the 

 pickaxe, but nothing was discovered. 



The ground about it was much exposed to the winds, and 

 consequently devoid of snow, so that no trace could have 

 escaped us. Simpson does not mention having landed here 

 or anywhere upon the island, except at Cape Herschel ; yet 

 it seemed to me strange that natives should construct such a 

 mark here, since a huge boulder, which would equally serve 

 their purpose, stood upon the same elevation, and within a 

 couple of hundred yards. We had previously examined a 

 similar but smaller cairn, a few miles to the eastward. 



We were now upon the shore along which the retreating 

 crews must have marched. My sledges, of course, travelled 

 upon the sea-ice close along the shore ; and although the 

 depth of snow which covered the beach deprived us of almost 

 every hope, yet we kept a very sharp look-out for traces, nor 

 were we unsuccessful. Shortly after midnight of the 25th 

 May, when slowly walking along a gravel ridge near the 

 beach, which the winds kept partially bare of snow, I came 

 upon a human skeleton, partly exposed, with here and there 

 a few fragments of clothing appearing through the snow. 

 The skeleton — now perfectly bleached — was lying upon its 

 face, the limbs and smaller bones either dissevered or gnawed 

 away by small animals. 



A most careful examination of the spot was, of course, 



