He died as the result of exposure on a sledge trip, and was buried there abreast of the _Alert's_ winter quarters.

The grave is covered with a large flat slab, and at the head is a board covered with a copper sheet from the boiler room of the _Alert_, with the inscription punched in it.

There may be a lonelier grave somewhere on earth, but if so I have no knowledge of it.

No explorer, not even the youngest and most thoughtless, could stand before that "mute reminder of heroic bones" without a feeling of reverence and awe.

There is something menacing in that dark silhouette against the white snow, as if the mysterious Arctic were reminding the intruder that he might be chosen next to remain with her forever.
Not far away is the _Alert's_ cairn, from which I took the British record in 1905, a copy of it being replaced by Ross Marvin, according to the custom of explorers.