stefansson-wrangel-09-32-060r

FRAGMENTARY PAPERS OF MILTON GALLE 323

and walrus may possess. Ada Blackjack has told us that as autumn
advanced they began to eat the meat of foxes and that all liked
it except Knight. This gives some explanation of why the scurvy
developed in him more than the others, but it is a very strange
thing and hard to believe because Knight was already used to
fox meat. Many of the men of our expeditions have eaten fox meat
and all those who have tried it have liked it after they got over
their initial prejudices. So far as I can remember, Knight used to
eat it with the rest of us the years 1914-1918, liking it as we did.

The most important part of Milton Galle’s notes (made so by
later events) is what he says about the proposed trip to Nome,
Alaska. We have confirmation here also of what Ada Black-
jack has told about the way in which the party was managed. It
had been the understanding when we planned the expedition the
summer of 1921 that while Crawford was in command he was to
be guided continually by the opinion of the veterans, Knight and
Maurer. It was their own arrangement that Knight rather than
Maurer should have the formal position of second-in-command.
Ada Blackjack says that she frequently heard Crawford asking
Knight what he thought ought to be done. There would follow
long discussions after which Crawford would announce to the
rest of the party what his orders or plans were.

The plan of making a journey to Alaska seems to have been
formed in this way, for Galle’s first knowledge of it evidently came
from chance remarks. About the only evidence of resentment in
Galle’s notes appears in this connection. He knew that plans were
being formed but did not know just what they were, and when he
heard that a journey was to be made he was not told the reason
for the journey. This naturally annoyed him. We infer from
the fragmentary notes preserved that his fuller diaries probably
contained not only more about his annoyance but also what his
speculations were as to the purpose of the journey. There is a
suggestion that he made these speculations partly as a sort of game
—he was trying out his cleverness to see how nearly he could
guess what the explanations would be when they eventually were
given to him. This was a habit he had with regard to other and
less important matters. Examples of that are the conjectures we
find in his notes as to where the camp would be located for the
second winter. He puts down his guesses and says that he will