stefansson-wrangel-09-32-010v

228 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

for the skins, I stayed in camp and did that work. Up
where I was before [i. e. on his journeys of 1915-19] the
making of pokes is the women’s job but this female of
ours was brought up in a mission so she knows nothing
of that work. We got altogether about 40 seals and have
[saved in addition to what has been used from day to
day] over a thousand pounds of blubber against next
winter if the ship does not come.”

On August 9th Crawford, Galle and Maurer set out
on another exploratory journey along the coast to the
east and north. Before they left walrus had been seen
occasionally, but the ice conditions had not been suit-
able for pursuing them. The day they started was foggy,
and Knight could hear a large number of walrus snorting
off to seaward somewhere, but was unable to see them.
The next day the walrus were also about, and a large,⁴
fat bear walked into camp to be killed by Knight with
one shot. The party returned in four days, having gone
no farther than Skeleton River. Apparently the main
purpose was a geological reconnaissance, and they turned
back largely because of the continual rains.

August 16th “a large bear was seen on the ice offshore
from camp and it took to the water, coming in towards
camp. We lined up along the beach and killed it. A
large, very fat bear.”

The 17th was “the finest day we have had for a long
time. The sun actually shone for several consecutive
hours, with a dead calm.” The summer up to this time
had been almost continually foggy and rainy, with sleet

⁴ A bear called “large” in Knight’s diary may be taken to have had a
live weight of from 700 to 1200 pounds or more. One said to be “fat”
(as well as large) would give from 50 to 100 pounds of clear fat that could
be peeled off the outside of the body and saved by storage in a sealskin
bag—besides an equal amount of fat here and there that would be eaten
as a part of the meat when it was cooked.