THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 97 



When it became clear that our views were so diametrically at 

 issue, Dr. Anderson tendered his resignation, saying that he would 

 continue as a scientist on the staff but would no longer remain sec- 

 ond in command and in local charge of the southern section. He 

 changed his mind about resigning when I pointed out that in that 

 event I should have to put the party under command of Chipman 

 and it would lead to an untenable situation to have him, a man of 

 many years of experience and older, under the command of Chip- 

 man, a young and inexperienced man no matter how competent. 



Anderson's alternative was that I should stay and take local 

 command myself. This I could not consider, both because it was 

 not in accord with my judgment and also because I had already 

 reported to the Government that I would not myself remain on 

 shore in Alaska but would go north over the ice trying to fulfill the 

 geographic purposes of the expedition. Exploration of the Beau- 

 fort Sea had always been our main task and the main reason for 

 there being an expedition at all. This had applied from the earliest 

 stage when it was under American auspices; and it was the car- 

 dinal point when I discussed the expedition with the Prime Minis- 

 ter of Canada, Sir Robert Borden, at the conference which led to 

 his taking it over as a Government enterprise. Later, at a meeting 

 of the Cabinet, to which Sir Robert invited me, I had again presented 

 the same plans, receiving for them the approval of the Premier's 

 colleagues. 



While partly conceding these points. Dr. Anderson still main- 

 tained that as the Karluk had been lost, I had no right to divert 

 any supplies or men from any other section of the expedition to the 

 part which the Karluk had been expected to carry out even though 

 it had been the central part. Here I replied that I had purchased 

 the Mary Sachs as a sort of tender to make herself useful wherever 

 she was needed. The commander of the expedition must judge for 

 himself the meaning of the instructions by which he was bound, and 

 do whatever seemed to him within the purpose of those instructions. 

 I could not escape the blame if the expedition failed; it was for me 

 therefore to insist on the carrying out of the plan I thought most 

 likely to bring success. 



Dr. Anderson said he considered it impossible to explore the 

 Beaufort Sea with any resources which we could get in Alaska and 

 that any attempt to do so would be abortive, resulting in the expen- 

 diture of money, the waste of supplies and probably the loss of 

 lives, without any adequate result. I thought our prospect of suc- 

 cess good even with only the resources we already had or could 



