Part of the leg section of a leather sea boot with buckle used on the 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin.

This item was recovered five miles south and east from Starvation Cove (also called Starvation Bay) at around July 1879 by a party from the US expedition under Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka between 1878 and 1880. It is described as 'Item 26. Piece of leather found 5 miles south of Starvation Cove' in the 1881 catalogue of items that he sent back to Britain in 1881. [TNA, ADM 1/6600].

Schwatka's party had split into two. While he remained on King William Island a detached a party of Inuit were sent to hunt for themselves and search the mainland following up an account by a man called Ahkgekshewah that a boat and skeletons had been found on the northern coast of the Adelaide Peninsula. The Inuit Joe Ebierbing seems to have been the main one to explore Adelaide Peninsula and Starvation Cove. Henry Klutschak recalled in 'Overland to Starvation Cove' that 'Eskimo Joe more than fulfilled his duty in this area; he had visited Starvation Cove within his first month on the island... shoes, boots, pieces of uniform and button were still lying around.' [Klutschak, page 110]. This was the farthest point that the main body of Franklin's expedition reached, having crossed from King William Island to the mainland.

The leather is marked in white paint '(1) PART OF A SEABOOT FOUND 5 MILES SOUTH OF STARVATION COVE', indicating that it was displayed in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, in Case 7, No. 1. 'Part of a seaboot found five miles south of Starvation Cove'. On around 11 November 1879, Klutschak visited Starvation Cove and explored five miles south of it 'Next day a boy took us to a hill about five miles south and somewhat east of Starvation Cove and showed us the remains of clothing which seemed to indicate that the man who had died here had been exerting his last strengthen trying to continue the march..' [Klutschak, page 134].