It would
further appear that when the party reached the southern coast of King
William Land after a tedious and wasting journey, and found themselves
fast fading away without being able to reach the main-land, a small
party was sent back to the ships for provisions. The testimony of the
Ookjoolik, who saw the ship that sank off Grant Point, showed that
there were some stores on board even then, though only a small
quantity. It is probable that Lieutenant Irving was the officer in
charge of this return party, and that he died after reaching the camp.
It is also probable that these people, who, according to the Ookjoolik
testimony, drifted with the ship to the island of Grant Point, were
also of this party, and, with the sailors' instinct, preferred to stick
to the ship to returning to the already famishing party which they left
with scarcely any better prospects on the south coast. The appearance
of the boat place on Erebus Bay seems to indicate that it floated
ashore after the ice broke up, and had previously been abandoned by
those who were able to walk. That skeletons were found in the boat by
those who saw it before it was destroyed, and near by by our party,
would seem to indicate that the whole party were in a desperate
condition at the time, otherwise the helpless ones would not have been
abandoned.
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