i6 
Peary Auxiliary Expedition. 
could not relieve of its aspect of dreariness. No sign of the 
wrecked schooner “Ripple” could be found, but the site of the 
last camp of the Swedes was located. Here the retreating snow 
revealed scattered about in confusion numerous memorials of the 
brave but foolhardy adventurers. A silver watch, zoological 
note book, botanical press and a few other articles were selected 
from the mass of relics. We left a record of our visit in a cairn 
on the highest point on the island; but a careful search here, as 
well as on the middle island of the group, where we subsequently 
landed, revealed nothing which would shed further light on the 
fate of the travelers. We found, however, in a conspicuous cairn 
on the southeast island, a note stating that the whaler “Eclipse” 
had arrived at the island on July 6th, and that Mr. Elis Nilsson, 
the Swedish representative on board, had searched in vain for 
information about his countrymen. We noted also, that the 
grave of the man who had died there, had been despoiled, pre- 
sumably by the huge burgomaster-gulls of the island. A feel- 
ing of compassion filled our hearts as we viewed the scene of 
this grievous struggle against fearful odds. The dismembered 
bones of the ill-fated voyager were collected and a new grave 
and headstone made, and thereupon, in the Arctic stillness and 
under the light of the midnight sun, a simple burial service was 
read, after which we left the island, and turning our faces north- 
ward invoked better tides and fortunes for ourselves and our 
friends at “Anniversary Lodge.” 
This sad duty to a fellow-wanderer like ourselves being ful- 
filled, we again proceeded northward. On July 25th, the day 
indicated in the official prospectus of the expedition as the date 
of arrival, we reached the neighborhood of Lieutenant Peary’s 
headquarters, only to find that the ice had not yet broken up in 
Inglefield Gulf and that thirty- five miles still intervened be- 
tween us and our destination. Had the condition of the ice per- 
mitted, we could easily have made a sledge trip for the remaining 
distance; but while compact enough to prevent the advance of 
the ship, the ice in places showed the effect of tidal action in the 
shape of open “leads” and pools of water. These effectually cut 
off our advance towards the Peary headquarters. 
