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Difficulty: Very hardSequence of Events

The leather-bound logbook recovered from the steamship *Gyrfalcon* was water-damaged but legible, its entries presenting a chronological puzzle. Dr. Vance, working in the conservation lab in June, turned to the final pages. Here, Captain Ross had recorded the crew’s desperate overland march toward Fort Confidence—an entry dated October 12, 1848. Yet, three pages earlier in the volume, Ross detailed the abandonment of the ice-locked ship, an event he dated November 2. It was only by cross-referencing the ship’s official ledger, recovered from a separate watertight tin, that Vance resolved the discrepancy: Ross had retroactively drafted the abandonment log weeks after their initial departure, while huddled in a makeshift rock shelter. In truth, the crew had set out on foot on October 5, three days after the boiler exploded. The definitive decision to abandon the *Gyrfalcon* had actually occurred on October 8, when the encroaching pack ice crushed the hull, rendering salvage impossible.

Based on the passage, which of the nineteenth-century events occurred chronologically last?

  1. A
    Ross recording the crew���s overland march to Fort Confidence
  2. B
    The crew making the definitive decision to abandon the ship
  3. Ross drafting the log entry that detailed the ship's abandonmentAnswer
  4. D
    The crew setting out on foot from the ship

Answer

Ross drafting the log entry that detailed the ship's abandonment
The correct answer is correct because Vance's reconstruction reveals that the captain retroactively drafted the abandonment entry weeks after the initial departure on October 5, which would place this action in late October or November. This is chronologically later than the crew setting out on October 5, the decision to abandon the ship on October 8, and the overland march entry written on October 12.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the actual date of the crew's departure and the boiler explosion.
The crew set out on foot on October 5, and the boiler exploded three days earlier, on October 2.
Establishes the starting point of the timeline.
2
Determine the actual date of the decision to abandon the ship.
The decision occurred on October 8.
Places the abandonment event in chronological order.
3
Identify when Ross recorded the overland march.
Ross recorded this entry on October 12.
Establishes the timing of the overland march log entry.
4
Determine when Ross actually drafted the abandonment entry.
Ross drafted this entry weeks after the initial departure on October 5, placing it in late October or November.
Compares the actual drafting date to the false date of November 2 inscribed in the log.

Key Concept

Disentangling non-linear narratives and retroactive timelines to determine chronological sequence.
Estimated Time:3m 0s
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Topics

Sequence of Events

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