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all realize that under similar conditions we would have done just what Knight
and Crawford did.

We can infer from letters written at this stage by Fred Maurer
to his family that he disapproved of the plan to cross to the mainland, appar-
ently because he thought success unlikely and that staying on the island was
safer. Anyone used to living by hunting in the North would agree as to the
safety of staying on the island, but it is not easy to agree about the difficulty
of making the journey to the mainland except on the basis which Knight mentions,
that the sled was weak and likely to break down under its heavy load in the rough
ice. Up to the time of Knight's and Crawford's original start the factor of
shortage of supplies on the island does not appear to have been taken into
consideration either in determining the time of start or the manner of the
attempt. Here we regret what we may admire from other points of view, the laconic
character of Knight's diary, seldom mentioning motives and merely recording what
was done.

With these comments we will let Knight's diary continue to tell
its own story, omitting nothing that has a bearing on the case:

On January 8th, "Broke camp at 8:20 A.M. and traveled until
2 P.M., camping because of darkness. . . . on the outside of Rodgers Harbor
sandspit. Going all day was wonderful, very little snow and as hard as concrete.
The only signs of life seen were some old bear and fox tracks. Our load consists
of about 700 pounds besides the sled. The food is nearly all pilot bread and
seal blubber. There are a few pounds of dried meat for the dogs and when that
is gone I will feed four sealskins that we have along for that purpose. In all
we have about thirty days' rations and by then we should be in Siberia. [A very
reasonable estimate. Bartlett, of our 1914 party, had made the same journey, from Wrangell Island to the settlements of Siberia in
thirteen seventeen days]. Light breeze from the west. clear and very cold."