the north-east end of the island, partly hidden by moss, is a quantity
of soft coal, which was probably left here by one of the early Arctic
explorers.

The loss of so many vessels in these waters is chiefly attributable to
the imperfections in the admiralty charts. The coast line is altogether
wrong, and Marble Island is laid down several degrees west of its
actual position. Lieutenant Schwatka and Henry Klutschak made careful
surveys from Cape Fullerton to the island, and made a chart which has
already proved useful to the whalers.

But our more immediate business was with Captain Potter. I asked him if
he remembered Captain Barry's getting a Franklin spoon while with him
on the 'Glacier', and he said he had never heard anything about it
until he read in the newspapers that Barry had sent one to Sir John
Franklin's niece, Miss Craycroft, which surprised him very much. He
further said that he (Potter) had received three spoons at that time,
one of which mysteriously disappeared shortly afterward. The published
description of Barry's spoon corresponded exactly with the one he had
lost, even to its being broken off near the bowl and mended with
copper, as was the one he had received from Sinuksook's wife. Captain
Potter further said, that to one who had lived with the Esquimaux, and
acquired the pigeon English they use in communicating with the whalers
in Hudson's Bay, and contrasted it with the language they use in
conversation with each other, the assertion of Captain Barry, that he
overheard them talking about books and understood them, was supremely
ridiculous. There is probably no white man in the Arctic, or who ever
visited it, that would understand them under such circumstances unless
it be one or two in Cumberland, who have lived with them for fifteen or
twenty years.