s, guns, ammunition,
and all the other articles were packed on the sledges. The three
whale-boats were bound with ropes, each on a separate sledge, and a
sledge with a comfortable bed was assigned to the invalids. During all
this work the days had grown longer, and at last the men could no longer
control their eagerness to set out. This early start sealed their fate,
for neither game nor Eskimos come up so far north till the summer is
well advanced, and even with the sledges fully laden, their provisions
would last only forty days.

On April 22, 1848, the signal for departure was given, and the heavy
sledges creaked slowly and in jerks over the uneven snow-covered ice.
Axes, picks, and spades were constantly in use to break to pieces the
sharp ridges and blocks in the way. The distance to King William Land
was only 15 miles, yet it took them three days to get there. The masts
and hulls of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_ grew smaller all too slowly, but
they vanished at last. Captain Crozier perceived that it was impossible
to proceed in this manner, so all the baggage was looked through again
and every unnecessary article was discarded. At this place one of the
relief expeditions found quantities of things, uniform decorations,
brass buttons, metal articles, etc., which no doubt had been thought
suitable for barter with Eskimos and Indians.

With lightened sledges, they marched on along the west coast. They had
not travelled far when John Irving, lieutenant on the _Terror_, died.
Dressed in his uniform, wrapped in sailcloth, and with a silk
handkerchief round his head, he was interred between stones set on end
and covered with a flat slab. On his head was laid a silver medal with
an inscription on the obverse side, "Second prize in Mathematics at the
Royal Naval College. Awarded to John Irving, Midsummer, 1830." Owing to
the medal the deceased officer was identified long after, and so in time
was laid to rest in his native town.

Two bays on the west coast of King William Land have been named after
the unfortunate ships. At the shore of the northern, Erebus Bay, the
strength of the English seamen was so weakened that they had to abandon
two of the boats, together with the sledges on which they had been drawn
so far uselessly. At their arrival at Terror Bay the bonds of
comradeship were no longer strong enough to keep the party together, or
it may be that they agreed to separate. They were now less than a
hundred men. At an