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that some sick people might have been still living at that time
to hold them back.

Hadley considered that the entire party from the Kar-
luk could have "had a picnic" on Wrangell Island for one or several
years if the following things had keen done: The big Eskimo walrus
hunting boat (umiak) which had keen placed on board the Karluk for
such an emergency, should have keen brought ashore after the ship-
wreck. Doing this would have necessitated throwing away perhaps
a thousand pounds of provisions and petroleum. This Hadley con-
sidered would have been of no consequence, for the petroleum was
unnecessary in any case as there was abundant driftwood for fuel on
Wrangell Island, and the food thrown away would have keen negligible
because unlimited quantities of walrus meat and fat could have keen
secured with the skin-boat. The hunting, or at least the use of
ammunition, should have been confined, he considered, to only a few
of the party who either knew already how to use rifles or showed
themselves capable of learning quickly. But as a matter of fact,
large quantities of ammunition were fired off by anyone who wanted
to, the targets in many cases being distant birds on the wing.

It has been the rule on all exploratory journeys of
our various expeditions when we have been living entirely by hunting
that no shot was ever fired at an animal smaller than a wolf. Thus
have we been able to maintain for more than ten years an average of
over a hundred pounds of meat (live weight) for every bullet fired.
Hadley thought this average could hove been exceded at Wrangell
Island if a skin-boat had been available and if the shooting had
been restricted to a few of the most capable men.

To the reader unfamiliar with polar conditions and
even to those polar explorers who are used to living on provisions