stefansson-wrangel-09-32-059v

322 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

meat which they were able to save at the time of the killing.
Much of the two animals they then left on the ice, and the rest of
the story came some days later and failed to be recorded by
Knight as fully as that of the first day. Galle tells it as follows:
September 6th, “About 4 Maurer sees something on the ice look-
ing like walrus meat. We launch the dory 4:30. Get the meat,
paddle around but cannot find [big] skin which we need most.
Two bears have been there and eaten their fill. The gulls and
ravens had almost picked the small skin clean. Arrive at camp at
7 with one small skin, most of small walrus meat and the rear
flippers from the large one. Had some fried walrus meat. Very
tough, otherwise palatable. A bear had been close to camp on
the beach to the east.” He liked the meat better the next day, per-
haps because it was differently cooked, for on September 7th he
says, “We had some boiled walrus ribs, very good.”

On September 18th there is confirmation of what Ada Blackjack
told Mr. Jordan about Knight’s complaining of illness during the
summer. He mentions also that Crawford and Maurer were un-
well. “Crawford seemed very tired and worn, dragging his
feet . . . Maurer continually complaining about his back,

wrenched some weeks ago, and all complaining about being excep-
tionally sleepy.” These are possible symptoms of scurvy, which do
not, however, seem to have developed further in any of the party
except Knight. Apparently they were at this time living in con-
siderable part on groceries which would have no antiscorbutic
value. The meat they were eating was mostly bear and, since they
were employing Eskimo methods of cooking, we may infer that the
meat was being overboiled, for bear is about the only meat which
the Eskimos commonly overcook. They are likely to boil any other
meat about as underdone as our ordinary roasts, but bear they
usually cook about as much as we do such things as beef briskets.
We can, therefore, easily understand how scurvy might develop,
for prolonged heating weakens or destroys the antiscorbutic vita-
min. Apparently the disease was later checked in all the party
except Knight by the decrease of groceries and the consequent com-
pulsory larger dependence on meat and especially on seal and wal-
rus, which are usually eaten underdone and would therefore have
a much greater curative value than the overdone bear meat, in
addition to any higher percentage of vitamin “C” which the seal