stefansson-wrangel-09-31-010r

PREFACE xvii

pay off these debts and hope to manage the rest in two
or three years. For I want to be eventually the only
financial loser. But my gratitude to those who helped
will remain undiminished when the money has been re-
paid.

Yilhjalmur Stefansson.

Sydney, Australia.

May 28, 1924.

Postscript

Many things have changed since I wrote the above
preface in Australia. To begin with, we have received
a retraction (from the author of certain misleading news-
paper stories about the Wrangel Island Expedition) in
exchange for which we agreed to re-edit the book. This
has delayed publication another six months.

The book did not go to press as I had anticipated
(without my seeing Mr. Knight’s introduction) while I
was still absent in Australia. When I returned to the
United States and saw the introduction, I got his per-
mission to move certain parts of it into the body of the
narrative. He has also since then read my manuscript
over carefully and made valuable suggestions for changes.
As time wore on his collaboration became so important
that he is now in reality a co-author of this book—a very
proper relation, since he understood our general arctic
plans even before the party went north (though he did
not know about their application to ]]Wrangel Island]]). A
still more important reason for his appearing as co-author
is that the book depends mainly on his son’s diary and
other papers—for the records of ]]Crawford]] and ]]Maurer]]
were lost, as were most of ]]Galle]]’s records.