THE RETURN OF MAMEN 
135 
assistance. They declined it and said they were 
bound for Wrangell Island. They did accept some 
seal meat which Chafe had. Munro and Malloch 
had spoken the Mackay party earlier on their 
march and so had Chafe himself, when he had first 
started out, but their condition had then been good, 
though they had been making slow progress, and 
each party had tried to persuade them to return 
to Shipwreck Camp. 
Chafe reported that he had left all his supplies 
at the sixth camp, excepting just enough to take 
him back to Shipwreck Camp. He had lost one 
dog and had had to leave a broken sledge along 
the way. 
Maurer and Breddy came in soon after Chafe 
arrived; they reported that they had left their load 
safely at the fourth camp. All hands, except the 
four men of the mate’s party and the four of the 
doctor’s, were now assembled once more at Ship¬ 
wreck Camp. 
It was a severe disappointment to me not to have 
word of the safety of the mate and his party. I 
had thought that they might possibly return with 
Chafe and be with us on our final march to the 
island which I was now planning to get under way 
at once. 
We had a northeast gale on the seventeenth 
