XV 



THE ARRIVAL OF THE NEPTUNE 



AFTER four years, we felt that a ship must surely 

 -^*- come. Twice the Museum had failed to effect 

 our release by employing ships unsuited for the work. 

 And now, certainly, the very best would be obtained 

 and placed in command of Peary or Bartlett. We 

 feared, however, that the Daiimarky the relief -ship of 

 1916, in winter quarters at Umanak, 120 miles south, 

 would arrive and rescue the party before Peary or 

 Bartlett could work his ship through the ice of Melville 

 Bay. A letter from Captain Hanson of the Danmark 

 requested that everything be ready for embarkation on 

 August 1st, the date on which he expected to arrive. 



Our well-worn boxes and many-times-handled skins 

 were now packed for the third time, a work generally 

 done on days unfavorable for photographing, bird and 

 egg-collecting, walrus, narwhal, and seal-hunting. The 

 very important work of meat-getting must go on and 

 take precedence of all other duties. There was always 

 the possibility of the loss of the ship or a failure to pene- 

 trate the immense ice-fields to the south; consequently 

 another year of enforced stay in the Arctic. 



My journal for the months of May, June, and July 

 gives a picture of our activities: 



