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were undecided as to their course,
one tired man left them he is now my third
officer [*+ Riley*] but the rest either urged on by
the sanguine conviction of the others or
by a false shame pushed on. They
found the water free between [Hackluyt?]
and our own Capes, and after entering
the same ice which baffled my own attempt
a month earlier, urged their way until
return was impossible by the 21st of Sept
only twenty five days after their withdrawal
from the Expedition they were arrested by
the ice.

The horrors of the coming winter
then stared them in the face. They could
not now retrace their steps and all
attempts at a land journey to our brig
were fruitless. Godfrey and John, my
two desperados broke out into absolute defiance
of restraint eating and acting as
they pleased. They could not even allowance
the provisions, and starvation was
before them. Under these circumstances
this wretched little party formed two
divisions or messes, the good and the
bad or rather the better and the worse.
A hut was built and one of the boats
burnt for fuel. They were nearly two
hundred miles to the South of our own position
and had of course a longer sun and milder
weather. Here they lived, living from
hand to mouth, and waiting for the
iron [winter?] to bridge their
return to the commander they had abandoned.

Several efforts were made but want of
unity among themselves and trouble in
dealing with the natives brought failure
and it was not until Dec. 1 that
Mr. Petersen & Bonsall effected

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