WE LAND ON WRANGELL ISLAND 169 
itself, their first load to consist chiefly of biscuit 
and their second of pemmican. 
After my departure Munro would be in general 
charge of the men on Wrangell Island, as, in the 
absence of the mate, he was by rank second in 
command and was, moreover, well fitted for the 
post. On seeing him off I went over my instruc¬ 
tions to him, which I told him I would also 
write out and leave with McKinlay when I got 
away the next day. I had had McKinlay make an 
inventory of the supplies and apportion them among 
the party, each to be responsible for his own share. 
There would be eighty days 5 full rations apiece, 
even if they got no game or any further supplies 
from the caches along the trail and at Shipwreck 
Camp. During my absence I directed that the 
party be divided into three detachments, living far 
enough apart from one another to insure as wide a 
hunting area as possible for each. 
The next morning the weather was not alto¬ 
gether propitious but I felt that to delay any longer 
was unwise. I went over the supplies with Mc¬ 
Kinlay, wrote out my instructions to Munro and 
told the men to keep up their courage, live peace¬ 
fully and do the best they could. They all wrote 
letters home which I took to mail in Alaska. 
My letter of instructions to Munro was as fol¬ 
lows: 
