stefansson-wrangel-09-08-025-003

Mr. A. J. T. Taylor...........3

The Hudson's Bay Company is stocking Baffin Land with rein-
deer from Norway at a cost of nearly $200 per head. The cost is
so great because of the high price of Norway and because of the dis-
tance of Norway from Baffin Island. At present I think we could
buy reindeer in Siberia, opposite Wrangle Island, for less than $5
a head and we could carry them to Wrangel Island for about the same.
We could then bring breeding stock to Wrangel Island for about $10
a head, which is about one-twentieth of what it costs in Baffin Is-
land. The difficulty of marketing reindeer from Wrangel Island is
greater than from Baffin Island, and the Seattle and Vancouver market
would not be as good as the London market is for our Baffin Land
product. After considering the case of stocking Wrangel Island,
there should be an even larger return for the money in Wrangel.

One find thing about Wrangel is that there are no wolves.
The only land animal there which stays the year round is the lemming,
or bobbed tail mouse. Possibly there may be some weasels. The
other land animals are the polar bear and white fox, both of which
are really sea animals, the polar bears visiting shore only occasional-
ly and the foxes staying ashore steadily through the summer and visiting
the ice in winter.

Wrangel Island is probably the best trapping vantage in the
world for white foxes. It is also a great place for polar bears.
There are no fur seals, but it is a good location for securing the
hair seal and is a fine place for walrusing. Ten or fifteen years
from now when air navigation becomes common, it will be valuable as
an air base on trans-polar routes between Europe, Asia and America.

Wrangel Island is also a good whaling base. The Japanese
are already eating both whale and walrus, and,to a less extent, seal
meat. All these tastes can be cultivated both there and in European
countries. If we get the sole privilege for maintaining shore sta-
tions on Wrangel Island for walrusing, sealing, etc., we shall have
in that a very valuable privilege.

Altogether, the anticipated lease of Wrangel Island should
be very valuable.

I suggest that without mentioning the possibility of a lease
and without saying that we shall have exclusive control of the island
you talk to your friends on the basis of the fact that we do have an
enterprise in the island already and that it will be a Canadian island.
See if we can not get some of them interested on that basis.