54 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Mar. 



head of Bay Fiord, seventy-five miles to the west. All 

 the Eskimos strongly advised returning to Etah, feeding 

 up the dogs on walrus meat, and trying it again later. 



Fortunately it was so early in the year that we could 

 do this without endangering the success of the expedi- 

 tion. I decided to retreat to Etah and there eliminate 

 the sick, the chicken-hearted, and the older and, conse- 

 quently, the more influential Eskimos, who were ap- 

 parently very much concerned over the fact that their 

 dogs might die and thus compel them to walk a few 

 hundred miles. In a discussion of this nature the 

 younger men of the party always listen respectfully to 

 the opinion of their elders and do as they advise. Young 

 Eskimos for a long and dangerous trip are much to be 

 preferred, as they are fond of adventure and willing 

 to take a chance, while the older men wish to make 

 certain of getting home. 



I placed the sick in charge of Hunt and Green, with 

 orders to stand by them until they were able to travel, 

 and we started back the next day with light sledges, 

 leaving our supplies and equipment in cache in Hayes 

 Sound. The dogs of my division were in fine fettle, 

 and covered the ninety miles in two marches, making 

 Etah on the second day. From the sixteen Eskimos I 

 picked out seven who appeared to me to be of the right 

 stuff and who, I thought, would go the limit. 



From the four members of the expedition who were 

 physically fitted for field-work I selected two, Ekblaw 

 and Green; the former for his knowledge of geology and 

 botany, both valuable assets in the discovery of new 

 land; and the latter for his knowledge of practical 

 astronomy, in which subject all Annapolis graduates 

 are exceedingly well trained. I felt that our observa- 



