WELCOME FROM ESKIMOS 45 



of the tribe for that particular summer. I thus learned 

 where to find the other men I wanted. 



It was about seven o'clock in the morning when we 

 arrived at Cape York. I selected the few men needed 

 from that place, told them that when the sun reached a 

 certain point in the heavens that evening the ship 

 would sail, and that they and their families and pos- 

 sessions must be aboard the ship. As hunting is the 

 only industry in these Eskimo villages, and as their 

 goods are of an easily portable character, consisting 

 mainly of tents, dogs and sledges, a few skins, pots 

 and pans, they were able to transport themselves to 

 the Roosevelt in our boats without much loss of time. 

 As soon as they were on board we started north again. 



There was no question of their willingness to follow 

 me; they were only too glad to go. These men knew 

 from past experience that, once enrolled as members 

 of my expedition, there was no danger that their wives 

 or children would suffer from hunger; and they knew 

 also that at the end of the journey, when we brought 

 them back to their homes, I would turn over to them 

 the remaining supplies and equipment of the expedi- 

 tion, which would ensure living for another year in 

 absolute plenty, that, in comparison with the other 

 members of their tribe, they would indeed be multi- 

 millionaires. 



An intense and restless curiosity is one of the 

 peculiar characteristics of these people. As an illus- 

 tration, one winter, years ago, when Mrs. Peary was in 

 Greenland with me, an old woman of the tribe walked 

 a hundred miles from her village to our winter quar- 

 ters in order that she might see a white woman. 



