WELCOME FROM ESKIMOS 43 



reached. Some years ago, in fact, I had occasion to 

 write of these people a few sentences that, as it has 

 turned out, were so prophetic that it seems appro- 

 priate to reproduce them here. Those sentences 

 were: 



"I have often been asked: Of what use are Eskimos 

 to the world? They are too far removed to be of value 

 for commercial enterprises and, furthermore, they lack 

 ambition. They have no literature nor, properly speak- 

 ing, any art. They value life only as does a fox, or a 

 bear, purely by instinct. But let us not forget that 

 these people, trustworthy and hardy, will yet prove 

 their value to mankind. With their help, the world 

 shall discover the Pole." 



The hope that had been expressed in this language 

 so long before was in my mind as I saw my old friends 

 coming out to meet us in their tiny kayaks, for I 

 realized that I was once more in contact with these 

 faithful dwellers of the North, who had been my con- 

 stant companions for so many years, through all the 

 varying circumstances and fortunes of my arctic work, 

 and from whom I was again to select the pick and 

 flower of the hunters of the whole tribe, extending 

 from Cape York to Etah, to assist in this last effort 

 to win the prize. 



Since 1891 I had been living and working with these 

 people, gaining their absolute confidence, making them 

 my debtors for things given them, earning their grati- 

 tude by saving, time after time, the lives of their wives 

 and children by supplying them with food when they 

 were on the verge of starvation. For eighteen years I 

 had been training them in my methods; or, to put it 



