THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 55 



portant, for it was part of my desire to communicate with Eskimos 

 and try to get two or three families to move aboard for the sake 

 of the seamstresses. One of the customary village sites, that at 

 the mouth of the Itkilik River, is usually well stocked with fish, 

 and I had the further purpose of purchasing there and possibly set- 

 ting our own fishermen to work. 



It was part of the plan of going ashore to take Jenness along 

 to give him a chance to begin his study of the Eskimos, while 

 McConnell and Wilkins were chosen because they were among the 

 most adaptable of the men and I thought would readily take to 

 the life of arctic hunters. I had already formed an opinion of 

 Wilkins, which was continually strengthened, that he would be 

 able to adapt himself to anything. As for McConnell, he was an 

 exception to the general rule of my men. The rest were inclined 

 to follow storybook ideas, in assuming that the Eskimos only 

 could hunt big sea game successfully. They devoted themselves to 

 their fowling-pieces when ducks were flying over, or to ski-jumping 

 and playing other games around the ship, while the Eskimos did 

 the useful work of securing seals for man and dog food. McCon- 

 nell hadn't had any luck so far, but he had at least avoided the 

 games and the fowling-pieces and had gone out trying to get 

 seals. 



