stefansson-wrangel-09-31-091v

142 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

month or two before the opening of arctic navigation.
Doing this might seem advisable to them on the basis of
what they knew about conditions on Wrangel Island.
Their objectives on the island were two—the continuance
of occupation and the gathering of knowledge. The occu-
pation had been accomplished. Knowledge, even when
recorded in notebooks and photographs, is the most port-
able of commodities. They could, therefore, leave the
island if they liked. But a journey from the outside to
Wrangel Island similarly undertaken in winter by my-
self, for instance, would not have been practical. The
island could be reached before spring, but a party coming
over the ice from Siberia could bring with them no ap-
preciable amount of supplies. The only way in which
succor could be brought in winter to a party isolated on
Wrangel Island would be by sending in a hunter of
greater skill than the ones on the island. But we had no
reason to fear that assistance was needed and no reason
to think that the skill of the men already there was
inadequate to meet the situation. In consequence I at-
tempted no active undertaking during the winter 1922-
1923, devoting myself merely to writing and speaking
along lines which I thought would eventually bring con-
viction to the public and the Government, and win from
them the sympathy and support we needed.