stefansson-wrangel-09-20-072-001

Maurer

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

Sydney, Australia.
June 10, 1924.

Dear Delphine:

Last February I wrote you the attached letter, intend-
ing to send both it and the missing pages from the diary. I
thought all along I had done so but now I find them among
some papers that were gathered up when I was leaving for
Australia.

The Wrangell Island book is finished. Of course,
it is not nearly such a good book as I wish it might be. The
trouble has been partly the struggle with Noice to get hold
of the documents and partly that I was so much worried and
occupied with other things. The main part of the manuscript
was finished on the ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii
and was mailed back from Honolulu. The appendix was mailed
back from Australia. I am expecting that the publishing date
will be about October or November.

I think I have got to the bottom of the apparent
contradiction about the skin boat. It seems that while the
natives at East Cape wanted too high a price for the large
boat, or umiak, they did sell the party a small skin boat, or
Kayak. It must have been this which was washed overboard.
Even the small boat would have been of great value on Wrangell
Island although not nearly so important as an umiak.

I hope you will have the best possible kind of
summer. As for me, the plan is that I spend about six or
seven weeks lecturing in Australia and New Zealand. I am also
planning about a six weeks' trip into the interior of Australia.
I ought to be back in New York in October.

Mrs. F. W. Maurer,
911 Robbins Avenue,
Niles, Ohio.