stefansson-wrangel-09-32-031v

266 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

Melville Island. All that is likely to stop us is $$$$ English editor: [ls] if necessary to change this to read "money" or "f.s.d"?
But Crawford is a geologist and he has some good connections high up in the Canadian Geological Survey,
and as no geological work of any importance has ever
been done on Melville Island, he is confident that the
Government will be willing to send us there with no
salary. I will state in this place that Crawford is a
comer and one of the smartest young or old men that I
have ever met. He tries his best to hide it, partly thru
modesty and partly not to appear supercilious. I’ll put
C. up against anyone I know.”

There seems little doubt that the plans of most or all
the four men to continue polar work through the future
years would have been carried out had the second at-
tempt to reach Siberia failed like the first in such a
way that the party could have returned to the island,
for then would the Donaldson have found them all safe
when she came in August. I at least cannot think otherwise who have so often been down to less than a week’s
rations in a country wholly unknown and have nevertheless always found game before even a dog had to be
sacrificed.

But it was not to be. On the day of their second start,
good weather and good luck of a sort sped them beyond
the chance of retreat and into dangers of another kind—
those of treacherous ice and furious gales at sea. Such
is our ominous reading of Knight’s cheerful entry for
January 28th: “They’re off. At 9:10 A. M., a nice clear
day, warmer than usual and all in their favor. They
were going due south when last seen, and were soon out
of sight.”

January 29th: “Blowing a howling gale from the east.
This camp is very comfortable and a little wood goes a