stefansson-wrangel-09-38-005-002

conditions for the whole year are better over the Arctic than
over the North Atlantic, and probably about the best in the
world. With the advance of flying, there will be developed a
network of airways crossing the Polar Ocean in every direction.
What those directions will be and where the routes will lie is
of course beyond the prophecy of today.

As trans-Arctic flying develops, the various islands
will become of greater and greater importance as air and wireless
stations.

Wrangel Island is by no means tha most important of
the Arctic islands, but it is the only British island on the Northern
frontier of Asia. It lies on the meridian of Greenwich. If
you fly straight north from England you come to Wrangel 100 miles
before you come to the Soviet territories of North Eastern Asia.
The island is about 35 miles wide, and 80 miles long - approximately
the size and shape of Jamaica. It is rolling grassy prairie,
with a light snowfall in winter which completely disappears in
summer. There are no trees, but there is ample driftwood on
the beach. The island has intrinsic value. It is about the
best location in the world for blue foxes, white foxes, and polar
bears. It is a good location for walrus and hair seal. It
can be stocked with domestic reindeer from the herds of Siberia
to the south, and will probably support about 20,000 head. The
occupation of it can be made to pay from the beginning, so that
there will be no expense to the Government.

The men who are at present maintaining British possession
in Wrangel Island were landed therein by me in September 1921, and there has
been no communication with them since. While they are as safe as
if they were in a tropical island, there is some occasion for

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