stefansson-wrangel-09-25-008-001

FIFTH ARTICLE ON WRANGELL ISLAND
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For Crawford and Galle the winter of 1921-22 on
Wrangell Island was a new experience but for Maurer it was the third arctic
winter and for Knight it was the fourth. It is therefore in a way unfortu-
nate that the only diary saved from the general destruction - Knight’s -
is that of a veteran to whom every polar circumstance and adventure had
become a commonplace scarce worth writing down. The less seasoned men
doubtless kept diaries recording more vivid reactions to their more novel
experiences.

It is only in rare spots that Knight gives us any indica-
tion of what the rest of the party were thinking and feeling. To his mind the
weather does not seem to have been materially better or worse than ordinary
arctic weather; he was a little puzzled that bears should be so scarce in win-
ter and spring after being so common the preceding autumn and a little annoyed
at seeing fresh bear tracks so much oftener than the bears. But he never doubted
that luck would turn in good time. He was delighted with the ample supply of
driftwood fuel, a favorable contrast to the fuelless islands in which he had
spent his other three northern years. On the whole he was finding the winter
about what he had been expecting when he was writing me discontented letters
from balmy Oregon pleading that we should get together on some sort of scheme
for polar work. It seems likely that Maurer felt about as Knight did. If the
younger men had different views they at least did not annoy or otherwise
influence Knight with them enough to make an impression on his diary. Since
the outstanding quality of the daily entries is frankness, we may feel sure
the whole party took everything about as Knight did. If there had been dis-