stefansson-wrangel-09-32-018r

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 241

that this was due to seasickness. A few days after land-
ing (September 25, 1921) we are told, “there seems to be
some friction between Maurer and Galle, but I will do
my best to ease matters between them, for a small party
like this should run smoothly.” Evidently this was
smoothed over, for there is not a word later of trouble
between any of the four men nor any suggestion that they
disagreed on policy. Neither is there a hint that Knight
thought any of the others were doing less than their share
of the work or striving less faithfully for the success of
the party. There are some entries the first year to the
effect that the Eskimo woman was gloomy and not doing
her sewing as rapidly as other Eskimo women with whom
Knight was familiar. But the tenor of these comments
changes the second year and the farther the diary goes
the more frequent are the grateful and even enthusiastic
comments upon Ada Blackjack’s improvement, both in
the work she did and in her cheerfulness while doing it.
On December 12, 1922, for instance, Knight says:
“The woman is doing wonderful work and is a great deal
better than a year ago.” By then she had almost finished
a clothing outfit for Crawford and Knight for their pro-
posed journey to Nome and they were evidently very well
satisfied with it.

As December advanced bear tracks were frequently
seen, but the bears themselves were more elusive than
ever. This is partly explained by numerous entries of
“cloudy,” “cloudy and warm,” etc. At 72° North Lati-
tude, it is only on a cloudless day that there is light
enough at this time of year for reading or shooting for
four or five hours around noon.

In the entry for Christmas Eve we have the first, and
only an indirect suggestion that the party felt a dan-