However, Kaʻiulani was still frail, and her illness lingered. A petition to President William McKinley and Congress, urging the United States to grant the princess a pension, was being circulated for signatures. In reality, she was still gravely ill, and Cleghorn brought her back to ʻĀinahau on February 9, on the steamship "Mauna Loa". She was so ill she had to be carried on a stretcher. Walters said it was "inflammatory rheumatism". He later added that she also had an exophthalmic goitre.