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and all hands returned to camp. While they were away I saw a great many bands of
geese flying north. Three bands of ducks flew west. One band, I am sure, were
“old squaws” but the others I was unable to determine. A single tern also flew
west. I later took a walk up the .... river and saw the first snipe of the
year, a "kill deer," I think. Saw one fresh fox track. A lemming came out of his
hole near camp, making the first one of them that we have seen this season. Need-
less to say, I am still cooking dog feed."

By the end of May the Wrangell Island summer had come. The
maximum in the shade was 52° although the minimumon the last of May was ten
degrees below freezing (22° F.). This maximum of 52° on the seacosat which probably
meant that fifteen or twenty miles inland the temperature was around 70° or 75°
in the shade.

After nearly a month's failure in sealing, Knight writes on May 30th:
"At last!!! Crawford got a seal while out taking a few soundings through cracks
and seal holes. A nice shot of 80 yards. A medium sized male, not very fat."
After this, success became more constant and during the spring and early summer
over forty seals were secured. By now the party seem to have been impressed with
the importance of making use of every hunting opportunity and of saving everything
they secured. They handled the seals carefully. The first that were caught they
skinned by the "casing" method. These animals have a small head and the skin
is elastic while the body is warm. The skinning is begun at the mouth and no
opening is made with the knife, but the hide is stripped back over the head
somewhat as one may pull off a long glove. You have now a bag which may be
filled with any liquid. Even in mid-winter seal blubber, which looks much like
very fat bacon, will gradually try out and the oil will be lost unless it is
put into a container. According to good Eskimo custom, the Wrangell party now
cut up every seal immediately, removed the blubber from the outside of the body,
cut it into strips and put it into the sealskin bags. In this way they saved