xxii INTRODUCTION 



abundant on many portions of the land and nearly everywhere in 

 the ocean. Birds and insects are in evidence; indeed, certain forms 

 of insect life are so abundant that summer is almost unendurable. 

 It seems paradoxical that in these Arctic regions the season for 

 travel, for exploration and for social enjoyment should begin in 

 mid-autumn and end early in spring. Winter night has no terrors 

 for the Eskimo or for the white man of normal mental balance. 

 The gayest social season among the Eskimos is in the winter months. 

 During the war there was scarcity of fuel both in Europe and on 

 this continent. In a leading London hotel so uncomfortable did I 

 find my sitting-room in December, 1918, that I was constrained to 

 seek a supply of firewood from the Canadian Corps, then working 

 near Windsor. About that time Stefansson and his party, possessing 

 an abundance of fuel, which the country supplied, were sitting in 

 their shirt-sleeves, hundreds of miles within the Arctic Circle, com- 

 fortably housed in an edifice which was constructed of snow blocks 

 in less than three hours, and which with greater experience they 

 could subsequently erect in not more than one hour. While we 

 shivered in this temperate zone, there was vast comfort in the 

 vicinity of the North Pole. War conditions necessitated short 

 rations and restriction of diet not only in Europe but in America, 

 while upon the ice floes of the Beaufort Sea abundant food of a 

 healthful character was available without serious difficulty to expe- 

 rienced explorers. 



There seems to be much truth in Stefansson's observation that 

 the cold of the Arctic deprives no one of either health or comfort 

 if he understands conditions, realizes necessary precautions, and, 

 making good use of his common sense, governs himself accordingly. 

 But against the heat of tropical regions it is practically impossible 

 to find any reasonable safeguard consistent with ordinary activity. 

 Those accustomed to temperate zones would probably find life 

 within the Arctic Circle more endurable and good health more 

 assured than in the average lowlands at or near the equator. In 

 certain tropical or semi-tropical climates, northern European races 

 last for no more than three generations. There is no reason to 

 believe that a like result would obtain in the far North. Although 

 summer heat is sometimes quite oppressive within the Arctic Circle, 

 its duration is comparatively short. 



Among many notable events of the Expedition one distinctive 

 feature has especially impressed me. Before Stefansson, Dr. John 

 Rae in 1848, and David Hanbury at the beginning of the present 

 century, had lived off the country ; Nansen and Johansen had lived 



