stefansson-wrangel-09-31-076v

116 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

for transmitting that information to me, and they never
did.

A careful reading of all the Wrangel documents shows
that the absence of the skin boat, while serious, had no
immediate bearing on the final tragedy, for it was only
an error in the early newspaper reports which gave the
impression that the last fatal journey had been under-
taken because of scarcity of food, and, therefore, indi-
rectly because of the lack of a skin boat.

At the date when the Silver Wave sailed, it would not
have been surprising to meet ice between Siberia and
Wrangel Island. Some yearsOne year in every eight or ten it is
even difficult to get to the Island at all. But in this
case no ice was sighted. On the 14th of September the
heights of Wrangel could be seen at an estimated distance
of thirty or forty miles. That night they were hidden by
fog, but next morning they came to view again, and by
afternoon a landing had been made at a point which was
not then recognized for certain, but which proved to be
near the middle of the south coast, a little east of Doubt-
ful Harbor.

For September 14th 14th, 15th and 16th Knight wrote that
the team of seven fine Nome dogs were “in rather poor
shape, but will do my best to get them in good condition
when we reach the island. The season is getting late
and a good many things must be done before the freezeup,
so we are anxious to get started with our work.”

On September 15th Knight wrote: “We sighted
(today) a high sandspit with a great deal of wood on it
and landed our outfit in a heavy surf. Everything was
landed by 10:30 p. m. Started unloading at 7:00 p. m.”
September 16th: “After unloading we slept on the ship,
but the wind arose from the south and we were called