stefansson-wrangel-09-39-002

 -2-

small things. While the other boys were away Mr. Knight killed a big
polar bear, but we didn't touch the meat for we didn't care for it because
we had ducks and geese and brant. After the boys came home, Maurer said
he was going to fry some of the bear meat, but I never cared for it before,
because it tasted strong, but in that summer of 1922 the bear meat tasted
fine, it tasted just like beefsteak to me, for we had had no meat for
some time. Galle fried some of the polar bear blubber and got one barrel,
one coal oil tin and one twenty-five pound lard tin full, this oil is very
good. They use that oil to fry the hard bread in; it is very good, but I
couldn't hardly eat it because it tasted so strong to me all the time.

After the boys came later on they killed another polar
bear, and oh! he was so fat. Then they saw some walrus out in the broken
ice. They went out after them and got two of them. They had a great deal
of trouble getting the meat to shore. They couldn't get the boat up to
where the meat was, so they took a sled and put the meat on it and when they
were crossing two ice cakes the sled got between the ice cakes and tipped
over. They lost all of the meat in the water, but they saved some of it
but not all.

We were expecting a boat every day that summer (1922)
because sometimes the ocean clears out so that the boats can come in, the
ice goes out but comes in again. It cleared out the most the summer of
1923, when they rescued me. In about August, 1922, I was wondering how far
out the ice was into the ocean, so I thought some day I would take a trip
out there and see. Well, one day I decided to take this trip, so I started
and I got just to the foot of a mountain when a heavy fog came up and
night fall together I had to turn back, and I didn't find out how far out
the ice was or ran.

The boys expected a boat up until the last of October.
Around about November they knew the boat wouldn't come. About the middle
of November we moved up to the west of our present camp, about four miles
I think, so they wouldn't have to haul the wood so far. After we arrived
in our new camp I started to sew skins for the two boys, Knight and Craw-
ford, who were going to take a trip to Siberia. They were preparing the
rest of their things and helping to haul wood so the other boys would not
have so much to do after they left.

At Christmas time we had some salt seal meat and some
hard bread and tea for our Christmas dinner. That time when we had dinner
I wondered where I would be if I lived until next Christmas. After Christmas,
about January 8th, the boys, Knight and Crawford, left for Siberia. They
came back about the 21st of January. They were only gone about 13 days for
Knight became sick and they had to turn back. When they got back Knight was
very sick and weak. Then they talked about the other three boys taking the
same trip to Siberia and Knight said it would be better because the three
boys could make a camp, a snowhouse, easier at night than two boys could.
So about January 28th the three boys, Crawford, Maurer and Galle, left for
Siberia. They promised that they would come back after they got to Nome,
with a boat, and if they couldn't get there with a boat they would come over
with a dog team next winter. They left with a team of five dogs and a big
sled of supplies. After they left I started to do some tramping. After
about one week Knight seemed to be getting along all right. He could chop