The survivors spent the night onshore and then at daybreak investigated the scene of the wreck and came away with only some few pounds of ships biscuits and salted pork.
The smell of the roasting pig lured the caretaker, who left the gravely ill man to die alone on the beach.
They managed to hunt a single pig for food and continued to travel, losing another man to cold and hunger.
A group of five continued to explore and reached Port Ross, where they found the traces of the abandoned Enderby Settlement and huts.
By this time the group was getting very weak and lost a further two men leaving Captain Dalgarno, the Mate Andrew Smith, the Carpenter Alex Henderson and three seamen Robert Holding, George Liddle and James Lancefield at Port Ross.
[2] The group, now down to three surviving members, constructed a canoe from seal skins and tree branches and waited for fine weather to cross to Rose Island.
The Julian didn't search for other castaways – possibly because the ship was taking on water and needed to get to harbor for repairs.
When the Flying Scud visited Erebus Cove the crew found the body of a man lying beside the ruins of a house.
They retrieved larger stocks of food, a dinghy with which to travel around the coast, a gun to shoot birds and also had a wreck from which to salvage useful material.
Both groups had their share of good luck: The Grafton wrecked at the end of the island with more seals, but the Invercauld crew soon stumbled on the remains of a deserted settlement with partial houses, tools, metal and timber.
Eventually, when just three of the crew remained alive, they had the good luck of being spotted by a ship which had sailed in to repair a leak.
Even when the boat proved impossible to build (due to the lack of suitable timber and a large drill bit) they adapted their plan and rebuilt their tiny, three man dinghy.
During this long difficult period, the men solved any personal issues quickly and effectively so morale stayed high.
Robert Holding, one of only three survivors, reported that two men (Fred "Fritz" Hawser and William Hervey, known as "Harvey") got into an altercation late one night.