336 FOUR YEARS IN THE WHITE NORTH 



As supporting parties to help us over the first parts 

 of our route and to get us well started, I chose two of 

 the older hunters, Oobloyah and Okpuddyshao, to go 

 with us to the divide of Ellesmere Land; and two of the 

 younger fellows, Arklio and Nukapingwa, to help us as 

 far as conditions necessitated. Of these men I would 

 as willingly have depended upon Oobloyah for rare 

 good judgment and cordial loyalty as upon my best 

 friend. In my opinion he is as fine a man, even though 

 an Eskimo, as one can find anywhere among any people. 

 The others were almost as good. 



Because my route was circuitous I should not come 

 back over any part of my trail, so I could make no caches 

 of supplies as I went along, to provide for my return. 

 For a trip as long as mine would be I could not hope 

 to carry enough provisions for the whole way. Hence 

 I decided to reduce my supplies to a minimum and de- 

 pend upon the country for the game necessary to keep 

 us and our dogs in food. With plenty of ammunition 

 and good rifles for every one of us, I felt sure that we 

 could kill enough game if there were any. MacMillan 

 also promised to have ready for us six caches on the 

 Greenland coast against our return, should we be in 

 need of food or other supplies. 



I set St. Patrick's Day as the time of my starting, for 

 I am Irish enough to believe that an undertaking begun 

 on that day is almost certain of success; but because of 

 scarcity of dog food, I was delayed until March 24th. 

 As is always the case when an expedition makes ready 

 to leave, every one of the party was eager to be off, and 

 every one at headquarters was even more eager to be 

 rid of us. The confusion and congestion antecedent 

 to departure are always annoying. 



