stefansson-wrangel-09-25-005-007

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particularly eager to get back to Wrangell Island, for his knowledge of
various other parts of the North led him to consider that as one of the
richest and most desirable islands.

Shortly before I received the telegram from Ottawa saying
that the projected expedition had been postponed for at least a year, I had
received another letter from Knight in which he said pathetically: "I have
been away from the Arctic nearly two years now, and it has been quite a long
two years."

We have told in a previous article that in 1921 the
Japanese were believed to be penetrating eastern Siberia with a view to wrest-
ing it permanently from the Soviet government of Russia. Some friends of
mine who had returned from northeastern Siberia confirmed the actual Japanese
penetration at the time and believed in its permanency. With my great
admiration for the Japanese, I took it for certain that within a year or two
they would realize the coming importance of Wrangell Island and would occupy
it. Since they were at that time our allies it would have been all the more
awkward for us to ask them to leave the island. The most we could have done
would have been to suggest international arbitration, whereupon it might have
been decided that in spite of original British discovery an actual Japanese
occupation in 1921 or 1922 had more force than a half year of British occupa-
tion in 1914.

By a curious accident an old friend, Mr. Alfred J. T.
Taylor
, of Vancouver, turned up in Reno the day I received the heart-breaking
telegram from Ottawa. I was worrying over what appeared to me the short-
sightedness of our statesmen and worrying also because it seemed I was going
to be unable after all to provide Knight and Maurer with a chance to go north.
The appearance of Taylor cheered me up and in an hour my wrecked hopes had

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