stefansson-wrangel-09-18-036-001

Galle

Permanent Address
American Geographical Society,
Broadway at 156th Street,
New York, N.Y.

Adelaide, South Australia,
July 7, 1924.

Dear Mrs. Galle:

Your letter of May 19th got to me only yesterday
although it was remailed from New York May 26th. I am
extremely sorry to find that now the fault of delay is
mostly mine. Just as we were leaving New York for
Australia there came from Toronto a package of things in-
cluding a small tin box filled with pieces of paper out to
its size. Apparently Mr. Taylor had assumed that the box
contained trinkets rather than papers and that is why he
had not sent it long before. We found the writing hard to
decipher and so took it along on the train, intending to
send it back to you from San Francisco. On the journey west
I unfortunately got separated from my secretary, having to
make a quick change from the San Francisco section to the
Los Angeles section. I should have written you from San
Francisco explaining that we had found certain diary frag-
ments and that they would be mailed to you from Australia,
but evidently I overlooked doing so in the hurry and con-
fusion of many things to look after. On the ship we saw
that we needed to make not only a copy but also to get
photographs taken of the most important pages in case they
might be lost on their way to you. In Sydney where we
landed, it was not possible to get the work done in a satis-
factory way. Here, however, we have been able to get
photographs.

I am now enclosing a typewritten copy of the notes
deciphered to the best of our ability, and a photograph of
the sample pages pho enlarged about three times. This will
give you the contents of the notes and some idea of their
appearance. For greater safety we are bringing the originals
backwith us. That will now mean a delay of less than two
months, for we expect to sail for America late in August.

It is, of course, possible that when you get the
originals and go over them carefully you may come to a different
conclusion about the reading of a few words from that which
we have in the typewritten copy. Still I feel certain that
the general meaning will be unchanged.

In addition to reasons of sentiment I feel you