stefansson-wrangel-09-27-069

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vividly and correctly to a man in the south. He will shudder at the thought, pity
the poor fellows who have to struggle through such a storm, and will congratulate
himself that he is safe from it. But take that same man north and the climate
and conditions will change his temperament so that the howling of a gale outdoors
becomes a challenge with an agreeable thrill and difficult to resist. When you
are well dressed and have mastered the technique of northern travel you face with
delight a blizzard which your twin brother in the south shudders to read about.

Although Bernard had not succeeded, I felt much better because he
had been able to try. Had financial difficulties prevented me from sending a ship
at all, I should have been worried by my incompetance inability to hold up my end of the
bargain with the boys. There had been the understanding that they would go into
the field and do the actual work of keeping the flag flying while I was to have
what they considered the easier if not the pleasanter task of converting those in
power to the wisdom of our plans. Had the ocean been clear at Wrangell Island
they would have had no theory upon which to explain the absence of a ship except
my failure to interest Canadians in what we were trying to do for Canada and the
Empire, and that would have hurt them who knew so well their own unselfishness
and who expected the approval so confidently. But Bernard had told us that the
ice had been blocking the way. That made my mind easier, for I knew the boys
must have seen the same ice and must have placed upon it and not upon me or Canada the blame for keeping the
ship away. I considered they would, accordingly, face the winter cheerfully, not
conscious that what they were doing was being cousidered by thier countrymen foolish and less
glorious than they had imagined.

As the winter advanced, my attitude about Wrangell Island remained
unchanged except that I began to worry a little that I might got receive a wireless
message any time from some place in Siberia. The understanding when the party
sailed had been that they would certainly not leave the island by sledge during the
winter of 1921-1922. There had been the suggestion that they might make a quick