THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 653 



had stopped to rest less than a hundred yards from our second 

 depot. Here again the sugar bags were of the number called for 

 by our inventory and had not been opened, though other food 

 items were gone. 



This second depot was at Cape Giffard. West of that point 

 the land becomes gradually lower and the water more shallow in- 

 shore so that the rough ice does not approach so closely to the 

 beach. It was no longer possible to assume that Captain Bernard 

 had followed the beach. There was nothing to prevent him from 

 traveling overland, nor, indeed, anything to prevent him from 

 traveling half a mile or a mile offshore. Castel advanced slowly, 

 searching on the land and on the ice, but there was no longer any 

 sure guide as to where the trail would be and he failed to find it 

 again. 



With his extreme conscientiousness and loyalty Bernard was 

 probably still dragging with him my letter mail. We shall perhaps 

 never know where he died nor whether it was on the land or on the 

 sea ice. It seems certain that he never got as far back as the Star, 

 for there was no evidence of a return visit, although plenty of 

 evidence of their having been there on the way north. 



I got the story up to this point from the verbal accounts of 

 Binder and Masik as to what Castel and Charlie had told them, and 

 the main outline of it from a written report of Castel's. There is 

 only one thing to add of a later date. Natkusiak's party spent 

 several days in making as secure a grave as they could for Thom- 

 sen. They searched carefully for Bernard on the way west but 

 found no traces except those which Castel had previously found. 

 They have since spent two years around the northwest corner of 

 Banks Island, for they proved unable to launch the Star and have 

 been using her as a trapping base. During this time they have 

 hunted caribou here and there over the land and have examined 

 the islands and coastline again and again, so that it seems most 

 likely that Captain Bernard died on the sea ice, and that his body 

 with the mail and whatever else he had with him will never be 

 recovered. 



Thus died two of the expedition's best men. With Storkerson 

 and Wilkins, Bernard made the third of those who contributed most 

 to our northern section. Any one is wrong who thinks that I have 

 criticized Bernard by pointing out his peculiar attitude towards or- 

 ders. I have merely made clear how this tragedy could happen in 

 spite of precautionary instructions which are matters of record. 

 After all, there is often good reason in the Arctic for disobeying 



