jnnuaiy, IS68.] Tlic WMte Meu Sceu Since Rae\s Visit. 333 



white men, "one a tall man, the other considerably shorter." On fur- 

 ther close questioning- them, his belief in their story was confirmed by 

 the seeming consistency of their statements. They had seen Dr. Rae 

 at Pelly Bay seven years after his first visit to their country, and had 

 remained near Iwillik seven winters and a half, after Rae went home 

 from his second visit ; after which they went to Ig-loo-lik, and two 

 years later, saw the koh-lu-nas. Some additional particulars which they 

 gave strengthened their story ; among these was an account of a time 

 of suffering by starvation which they had experienced. Hall says 

 that their statements, with other news gained from the Innuits, gave 

 him inexpressible joy, " for it brought the story down as late as 1864, 

 at which time some of Franklin's companions were alive near Fury 

 and Hecla Strait." This was his strong hope. 



A short time afterward, he sent a large load of walrus-meat to 

 relieve the suffering people of this village, numbering fifty-five per- 

 sons, and heard further from them that four years after Rae's last visit a 

 ship's beam, painted black on one side, and a long and large mast, had 

 been seen on the east shore near the southern terminus of Committee 

 Bay. The Pelly Bay men also were reported as having seen since Dr. 

 Rae's departure, on the shores of Simpson's Peninsula, a stone monument 

 having on its top a thin stone pointing toward Ig-loo-lik. Not satisfied 

 without making every effort to learn the reputation in which Quaslia 

 and his wife were held for truthfulness. Hall now made close inquiries 

 for this of Ar-goo-nioo-too-lik whom he had long trusted, and sent to the 

 village to question the natives on the same point. The replies were 

 every way satisfactory, except that QuasJio, in his younger days, had 

 been known as fond of telling yarns ; his wife was considered entirely 

 truthful. Still later in the month, Ebierbing and Too-koo-li-too visited 



