SUMMER CRUISE 53 



wooden cenotaph surmounted by a round ball and set in a small 

 platform of cemented limestone was erected to the memory of 

 Franklin and his heroic associates by one of the subsequent 

 expeditions, and to-day stands in a fair state of repair. Resting 

 face-downward on the platform, alongside of the cenotaph, was 

 a large marble slab, inscribed, as a tribute to the memory of 

 Franklin and the crews of the Erebus and Terror, by citizens 

 of the United States. A brass plate, affixed to the lower part of 

 the slab, records that it had been brought from Disko to its 

 present resting place by McClintock in the Fox, when he 

 obtained final proof of the total destruction of Franklin's ill- 

 fated party. The slab was raised and photographed, and then 

 replaced on the ground to avoid the danger of its being broken 

 by the winds. If another expedition visits this place the 

 material for a suitable foundation for the slab should be taken, 

 so that it may be erected as originally intended. 



On the barren plain, a few hundred yards from the house, are 

 four graves marked by small wooden crosses, the last resting- 

 place of two of Franklin's crews and two belonging to the search 

 parties. 



A sealed tin case was found attached to the cenotaph, and on 

 opening it a record of the Norwegian Magnetic Pole Expedi- 

 tion was found. The record stated that the Gjoa, with the 

 expedition on board, had arrived here in the latter part of 

 August, 1903, after having picked up the provisions left for 

 them at Dalrymple island by one of the Scotch whalers, and 

 were proceeding immediately down Peel sound in order to get 

 their ship as near as possible to the magnetic pole before the 

 sound became frozen over. As this was the last tidings from 

 this expedition the record was taken away, and since our return 

 has been forwarded to the Norwegian government. The Gjoa 

 in which the expedition sailed is a small but stout sloop, with 

 auxiliary power supplied by a gasolene engine. The only 



