212 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH [Dec. 



Cluett and a famous old whaling captain from East 

 Haddam, Connecticut. I had never seen Captain 

 Comer before, but I had read much about him; a 

 thorough seaman, he interested me greatly. 



The difference in the temperature between Etah and 

 Umanak was very noticeable. Etah, because of its 

 contiguity to the large strip of open water always found 

 off Cape Alexander, and because of the adiabatic heating 

 from the downrush of air from the summit of the Green- 

 land ice-cap, is considered to be the warmest settle- 

 ment in the North; it has a mean annual temperature 

 of + 8° F. On December 26th at Etah, the lowest tem- 

 perature recorded during the day was fifteen below zero; 

 at Umanak, North Star Bay, upon the same day, the 

 temperature stood at forty-two below. 



I learned from Freuchen that the plans for sledging 

 the boys south were very indefinite. Fearing a repeti- 

 tion of the hardships of our 1915 trip, I deemed it 

 necessary to consult with Doctor Hovey at once. On 

 the 26th, in company with Na-hate-e-lah-o, I proceeded 

 over the land southward to Parker Snow Bay, reaching 

 the ship about seven in the evening, to be greeted 

 in Eskimo by Captain Pickles as we drove up to the 

 rail. Ekblaw, Tanquary, Allen, and Doctor Hovey were 

 comfortably quartered in the after cabin of the ship; 

 the first three looked the picture of health, but the last 

 named seemed old and decidedly unfit for the sledge 

 trip planned across Melville Bay. In view of the fact 

 that only four men could be transported to Upernavik 

 by the Eskimos, Doctor Hovey and I decided that, 

 including himself, the party should consist of Tanquary, 

 Allen, and Green, all of whom were very anxious to 

 go; and, coincidentally, the least fitted, in the opinion 



