n had reached
this spot, it would have been saved. Here is the engine which was
taken out and left here, and the furnace which warmed the crew of the
_Prince Albert_ in 1851; everything remains as it was left, and one
might fancy that Kennedy, her captain, had sailed away from here
yesterday. This is the launch that sheltered them for some days, for
Kennedy was separated from his ship, and only saved by Lieutenant
Bellot, who braved the cold of October to join him."

"A brave and excellent officer he was," said Johnson. "I knew him."

While the doctor eagerly sought for traces of previous winterings
there, Hatteras busied himself with collecting the scanty fragments of
fuel and provisions which lay there. The next day was devoted to
carrying them on board ship. The doctor explored the whole
neighborhood, never going too far from the brig, and sketched the most
remarkable views. The weather gradually grew milder; the snow-drifts
began to melt. The doctor made a tolerably large collection of
northern birds, such as gulls, divers, molly-nochtes, and eider-ducks,
which resemble ordinary ducks, with a white back and breast, a blue
belly, the top of the head blue, the rest of the plumage white, shaded
with different tints of green; many of them had already plucked from
their bellies the eider-down, which both the male and the female
devote to lining their nests. The doctor also saw great seals
breathing at the surface of the water, but he was unable to draw one.

[Illustration]

In his wanderings he discovered the stone on which is engraved the
following inscription:--

[E I]
1849,

which marks the passage of the _Enterprise_ and _Investigator_; he
pushed on to Cape Clarence, to the spot where, in 1833, John and James
Ross waited so impatiently for the ice to thaw. The earth was covered
with the skulls and bones of animals, and traces of the dwellings of
Esquimaux were to be seen.

[Illustration]

The doctor thought of erecting a cairn at Leopold Harbor, and of
leaving a letter there to indicate the passage of the _Forward_ and
the aim of the expedition. But Hatteras formally objected; he did not
wish to leave behind him any traces which might be of use to a rival.
In spite of all he could say, the doctor was obliged to yield to the
captain's will. Shandon was ready enough to blame this obstinacy, for,
in case of accident, no ship could have put out to the aid of the
_Forward_.

Hatteras refused to comply. H