INTRODUCTION 



By Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Laird Borden, P.C., G.C.M.G., 



Prime Minister of Canada, 



UNDER WHOM THE EXPEDITION WAS CARRIED OUT. 



EARLY in the winter of 1913 Vilhjalmur Stefansson approached 

 the Canadian Government with the view of obtaining assist- 

 ance for an expedition to the Arctic regions in or adjacent to 

 northern Canada. Support had been promised by the National 

 Geographic Society and the American Museum of Natural History 

 to the extent of fifty thousand dollars, but this was not enough to 

 carry out in full the ambitious scientific and exploratory plans 

 which he had formulated and he needed further support. I told 

 Mr. Stefansson that while the public spirit, sympathy and co-opera- 

 tion of these important institutions were highly appreciated, the 

 Government preferred that Canada should assume entire respon- 

 sibility for the Expedition, as any lands yet undiscovered in these 

 northern regions should be added to Canadian territory. After 

 obtaining the consent of the two Societies, he accepted my offer 

 to place him in command of the Expedition. By an Order in Council 

 approved on the 22d February, 1913, the general direction was 

 placed under the Department of the Naval Service, and other im- 

 portant departments were directed to co-operate. The history and 

 general results of the Expedition thus organized, extending over a 

 period of more than five years, have been set forth by Mr. Stefans- 

 son in this volume. 



Those who have read Stefansson's "My Life With the Eskimo" 

 cannot fail to acknowledge its absorbing interest. Even more in- 

 structive and illuminating is the story now related. Many pre- 

 conceived ideas of these great northern territories must disappear 

 forever. Except for the absence of trees, it is not unusual to find 

 within the Arctic Circle landscapes not different in appearance 

 from prairie or meadow. A member of the party was astonished 

 to find a wide expanse of grass land where he had expected to meet 

 an eternal desolation of icy barrenness. Many similar experiences 

 are recorded by Stefansson and by others. Animal life is fairly 



