stefansson-wrangel-09-32-010r

THE FIRST WINTER AND SECOND SUMMER 227

went to the old trapping camp, had another sleep, and
reached home at 7 P. M. the evening of July 12th, foot-
sore and weary.”

On various other journeys inland the party frequently
discovered fossil ivory, occasionally the tusks of mam-
moth, but more often of walrus.

By the last of July sealing conditions were getting bad.
Most of the ice was in constant motion and what was
left of the land floe was covered with puddles of water.
Under such conditions the best hunter may be excused
for not trying or for failing when he does try. When
the entry for July 27th tells us that even so Maurer
secured three seals, we realize that not only are they
complete masters of the technique of hunting, but also
that the period of overconfidence is past. They are
now taking advantage of their opportunities; there is not
the former easy assurance that game will turn up when-
ever it is needed. Still, they are by no means obsessed
with the necessity for hunting, for the entry of July 29th
relates that Maurer hunted and killed three seals while
Crawford made a journey west along the coast to take
soundings in Doubtful Harbor and apparently to make
a survey of the coast. This was quite as it should be, for
the best judge of arctic conditions would have seen
nothing serious in the situation of the party at this time.
The survey of Doubtful Harbor showed that ships could
enter drawing four fathoms or more and that the shelter
was good from all winds but westerly.

In a letter to his parents Knight says “All along through
July we got seals galore, Maurer and Galle being the
sealers. Crawford spent a large part of his time traveling
up in the mountain doing geological work and, as I was
the only one who knew how to make seal pokes and care