THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 79 



tact with a people who have (or had, till they became "civilized") a sys- 

 tem of living almost perfectly adapted to a cold climate, while the north- 

 em Indians have a system almost unbelievably ill-adapted to the condi- 

 tions in which they live. Here, accordingly, you have a sudden shift 

 back to a sub-tropical early age of maturity which at first seems to be a 

 direct contradiction of the accepted theory, but which when properly 

 understood is in accordance with it.* 



Spring work was commenced by sending Jenness, Wilkins and the 

 Eskimo, Asatsiak, to precede us to a fishing lake back of Cape 

 Halkett where they were to attempt catching fish in quantity for 

 dog- feed, so that later on we might use them for our journey from 

 there east towards Collinson Point. A few days later the rest of 

 us followed, except Pauyurak who wanted to leave our service. He 

 told me that when he had worked for white men before he had 

 usually stayed in the ship most of the winter and when he traveled 

 he had been in the habit of riding, but he found in traveling with 

 us not only that he didn't stay in one place very long but that 

 when he traveled he had to run. He seemed to consider this latter 

 partly a trial and partly an indignity. That being his frame of 

 mind, I was very glad to have him remain behind at Cape Smythe. 



At Cape Halkett a little later we lost Asatsiak. Somebody in 

 that community picked him out for a desirable son-in-law. That 

 seemed to meet his ideas and we had to forget that he had promised 

 to work for us for three years. As I have had occasion to remark 

 before, the attitude of an Eskimo towards a contract seems to be 

 about the same as the attitude of a sovereign state towards a 

 treaty, — it is an agreement to be kept if it suits you to keep it and 

 to be abrogated whenever you feel that your interests are better 

 served that way. 



The defection of these two Eskimos did not hamper us especially 

 as we had picked up a good traveling companion in Angutitsiak, 

 a Point Hope native whom we found at Barrow. He served the 

 expedition well for three years, first with me on this trip and later 

 with Dr. Anderson in Coronation Gulf. 



We left Jenness and his interpreter, young Alfred Hopson, with 

 the Eskimos of Cape Halkett and proceeded eastward. How this 

 crossing of Harrison Bay impressed McConnell is shown by an 

 interview given the New York Times several years later (Septem- 

 ber 18, 1915). His enthusiasm and worshipful attitude in the inter- 

 view are to be explained (unless they are due to the reporter) by 



*See The Journal of the American Medical Association, Sept. 4, 1920, 

 "Temperature Factor in Determining the Age of Maturity Among the Eski- 

 mos," by V. Stefansson. 



