stefansson-wrangel-09-30-008-003

With the departure of Crawford, Galle and Maurer
begins the we enter upon the brown history of Knight's solitary
struggle with illness and misfortune. and I have
thought of ecology, but [erown]felt that praise or comment would
detract from and absure the simple [heraisiu] of the record. But as you
read Knight's cheerful words you must remember (if you can) that gloom is one of the marked symptoms of the disease from which Knight was suffering. You would expect misanthropy, then even from a man ill with scurvy in the best surroundings.
As you read about Ada Blackjack you must remember, too, that she was slender and frail, brought up in a city with no qualifications of training for her terrible ordeal. And she, too, (we now know) with the same discord caused by the same food and bringing on the same weakness and gloom. You
would expect, then, gloom from her, despair and surrender. You do find in

February 1st: “The gale let up during the night and I intended
going to Maurer’s traps but did not feel well enough. Both of my legs are
swollen above the knees, and the left is much the worse. If it is scurvy,
it is acting differently from the previous time [when he had scurvy in
1917 as related elsewhere] , for then my legs did not swell. My gums are
soft but they cause me no inconvenience. When I exercise myself to any
extent, as I did to-day lifting a couple of logs, I become so short of
breath that I have to sit down or else fall down. This also is different
from the previous attack. I am not in the least worried but I would like to
know what is the trouble. I have lost my hearty appetite that I had some
time ago, although I still am able to "peck" a little. I am sure the best
medicine that I could take would be a few feeds of fresh meat. Hence my
desire to go to the traps. If only a bear would walk into camp the meat
would last the two of us, not counting the cat, a long time."

The diary shows that at first he did not doubt securing enough fresh meat to stop the scurvy and we cannot [spealry] courage when he saw no danger; but later he saw the danger and feared it in a spirit which we believe the reader will see better and appreciate more kneenly if we refrained from deserved ecology and exursable comment. So we go on with the pitiful story in Lorne Knight's own words.

February 2nd: "Not a great deal to record. Dug out a little
wood and cut some, filled water barrel with snow, etc. I feal a little
better to-day than formerly. Although my legs are sore, I feel more like
moving about. I am afraid, however, to go to Maure's traps and shall wait
until I get feeling better. Partly clear. Light breeze from the east.
Come on, Bear!"

February 3rd: Cut a little wood and general duties. Tried to
dig out a few logs but had to give it up. As long as I remain quiet I feel
O.K. but exertion is what gets me. Woman scraping [tanning]skins.
On February 4th there is a detailed entry about symptoms. It is
the present intention to publish this verbatim as part of a paper on scurvy
in some medical journal, probably that of the American Medical Association,