114 Our North Land. 



On another wooden slab I quoted these words : — 



Memory of 

 Herman Braun. 



Drowned October 14th, 1874. Marble Island. 



And on still another, the last of the long row : — 



Erected by the crew 



of the 



Bark George and Mary to the memory 



of 



George Verino, 



Who died of consumption, Friday, September 26th, 1878 ; age, 22 years. 



While I was copying the inscriptions from the monuments, one 

 of the two men who had charge of our boat had been looking about 

 among the debris a little way off, where the whalers had left a dory, 

 about a dozen long ice saws, a pile of lumber for a shanty, a stove, a 

 large tank, half a dozen barrels, and a dozen other things, discovered, 

 tied to the hoop-jigger, a small bottle, evidently containing a letter. 

 He brought it to Lieutenant Gordon, who extracted an unsealed 

 letter without difficulty. It was written plainly in pencil on a half 

 sheet of foolscap, and was as follows : — 



" Aug. 7th, 1884. On board the barque George and Mary, at 

 Marble Island. All well. Three "whales. The north part of the 

 bay has been filled with ice since the 10th of July ; could not get 

 up the bay nor to the east shore. Had a very cold winter and spring. 

 On the 23rd of May the thermometer was 4° below zero. Got out 

 7th of June ; laid in the outer harbour all winter. No natives come 

 to the ship while we lay at Marble Island. Had plenty of scurvy 

 but came out of it all right. Shall stay in the Welcome until the 

 last of August, then start for home, if nothing happens. 



"E. B. Fisher, 

 " Of the George and Mary." 



The barque George and Mary had evidently been whaling in 

 these waters for several years, as, by the evidence of the grave of 

 Verino, she had been at Marble Island six years ago and probably 

 before that date. We could not discover whether coffins had been 



