stefansson-wrangel-09-32-017r

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 239

ably means about a ton, for that is the quantity that
would result from the number of seals and bears killed
up to autumn. There must have been a good many
other items of food. There is a common arctic custom,
apparently originated by the Eskimos, but followed by
many whites, to state food supplies in terms of the one
item that is considered the staple. Ordinarily an Eskimo
will tell you that he has so many sacks of flour. If the
statement is unmodified, it means that in addition he
has fifteen or twenty other items of groceries in pro-
portions that are generally understood. It is as if a
farmer were to mention having 300 acres of land, from
which other farmers conversant with the general condi-
tions could form an approximate idea of the horses,
machinery, and other gear that would appropriately be-
long to such a farm.

On November 16th the moving from the old camp to
the new was at last completed except for “some things
which will be left until next summer. The dory is still
there. There are a few scraps of skins and bones which
might come in handy later in the winter [for dog feed]
which I intend to gather up and haul tomorrow. There
have been no signs of open water for some time, and un-
less a bear comes along the dog feed will be getting
scarce.”

On November 23rd we are told it was “much warmer
than it has been for quite a spell,” which is instructive,
for when you glance back over the thermometer readings
for the autumn you find that only one day had been
equally cold and most others conspicuously warmer when
recorded instrumentally. This is a perhaps unneeded
confirmation of the well-known fact that cold as felt by
us and “real” cold as shown by instruments often differ