The manner of his death even will never be precisely known.

No human eye was upon him when he broke through the treacherous young ice that had but recently closed over a streak of open water.

He was the only white man in the supporting party of which he was in command and with which he was returning to the land at the time he met his death.

As was customary, on breaking camp he had gone out ahead of the Eskimos, leaving the natives to break camp, harness the dogs, and follow.

When he came to the "Big Lead," the recent ice of which was safe and secure at the edges, it is probable that, hurrying on, he did not notice the gradual thinning of the ice toward the center of the lead until it was too late and he was in the water.