stefansson-wrangel-09-25-008-002

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agreements, bickerings, discontent, he would have recorded them day by day.
Instead we find in the diary comradeship, unity of purpose and a jolly,
matter-of-fact attitude towards the vicissitudes of their adventurous isolation.

The party maintained two winter camps about twelve miles
apart and visited back and forth between them. The houses were comfortable,
fuel was abundant, and for the outdoors work every man was so well dressed
that there is not a single entry that winter showing any discomfort from cold.

Between February 26th and March 1st Maurer and Galle made
a trip twenty or twenty-five miles east along the coast to visit Rodger's
Harbor, the site of the main camp of the Karluk crew while they were on Wrangell
Island. The scene was familiar to Maurer and they found everything as it had
been left by our men in 1914 except for the inevitable effects of wind and
weather. They saw "a few fairly fresh bear tracks but no bears." Although
this was about the coldest week of the year, with the temperatures ranging
from -16° to -42°, the trip seems to have been made in comfort, for that
subject is not even mentioned.

In February the entire party lived together at one of the
camps, but in March Crawford and Maurer again began to spend part of the time
at the "trapping camp." A few foxes were caught and tracks of bears were fre-
quently seen, but bad luck in not seeing the bears themselves began to be
monotonous. Ravens were occasional visitors, but there is no mention of other
birds in February or March.

March 22nd "Crawford and I would like to make a trip
around the island but the question is dog feed. I am still cooking for them
and could also do that while traveling although it would be a nuisance. We
are like Mr. Micawber, waiting for something to turn up; and we are keeping a
good lookout for bears."

There was a slight turn in the hunting luck when on April 16th

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agreements, bickerings, discontent, he would have recorded them day by day.
Instead we find in the diary comradeship, unity of purpose and a jolly,
matter-of-fact attitude towards the vicissitudes of their adventurous isolation.

The party maintained two winter camps about twelve miles
apart and visited back and forth between them. The houses were comfortable,
fuel was abundant, and for the outdoors work every man was so well dressed
that there is not a single entry that winter showing any discomfort from cold.

Between February 26th and March 1st Maurer and Galle made
a trip twenty or twenty-five miles east along the coast to visit Rodger's
Harbor, the site of the main camp of the Karluk crew while they were on Wrangell
Island. The scene was familiar to Maurer and they found everything as it had
been left by our men in 1914 except for the inevitable effects of wind and
weather. They saw "a few fairly fresh bear tracks but no bears." Although
this was about the coldest week of the year, with the temperatures ranging
from -16° to -42°, the trip seems to have been made in comfort, for that
subject is not even mentioned.

In February the entire party lived together at one of the
camps, but in March Crawford and Maurer again began to spend part of the time
at the "trapping camp." A few foxes were caught and tracks of bears were fre-
quently seen, but bad luck in not seeing the bears themselves began to be
monotonous. Ravens were occasional visitors, but there is no mention of other
birds in February or March.

March 22nd "Crawford and I would like to make a trip
around the island but the question is dog feed. I am still cooking for them
and could also do that while traveling although it would be a nuisance. We
are like Mr. Micawber, waiting for something to turn up; and we are keeping a
good lookout for bears."

There was a slight turn in the hunting luck when on April 16th