SIGNAL CAIRN. 
345 
large signal-beacon or cairn, and to bury under it docu¬ 
ments which, in case of disaster to our party, would 
convey to any who might seek us intelligence of our 
proceedings and our fate. The memory of the first 
winter quarters of Sir John Franklin, and the painful 
feelings with which, while standing by the graves of 
his dead, I had five years before sought for written 
signs pointing to the fate of the living, made me care¬ 
ful to avoid a similar neglect. 
A conspicuous spot was selected upon a cliff looking 
out upon the icy desert, and on a broad face of rock 
the words 
ADVANCE, 
A. D. 1853-54, 
were painted in letters which could be read at a dis¬ 
tance. A pyramid of heavy stones, perched above it, 
was marked with the Christian symbol of the cross. 
It was not without a holier sentiment than that of 
mere utility that I placed under this the coffins of our 
two poor comrades. It was our beacon and their 
gravestone. 
Near this a hole was worked into the rock, and a 
paper, enclosed in glass, sealed in with melted lead. 
It read as follows :— 
“ Brig Advance, August 14, 1854. 
“ E. K. Kane, with his comrades Henry Brooks, 
John Wall Wilson, James McGary, I. I. Hayes, Chris¬ 
tian Ohlsen, Amos Bonsall, Henry Goodfellow, August 
Sontag, William Morton, J. Carl Petersen, George 
