THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 379 



able to get her back. To corroborate this he cited that it had been 

 an unusually early spring everywhere and especially east of the 

 Mackenzie. At Cape Bathurst there had been easterly winds and 

 open water for a month. Dolphin and Union Straits must be long 

 ago free of ice, and the Star should have arrived two weeks ago if 

 she was coming. The conclusion was that she had either been 

 wrecked in the east or else Dr. Anderson had refused to give her 

 up to Wilkins. 



After full discussion I fell in with this view that the Star was not 

 coming. The Captain was able to give me the definite information 

 that large supplies were being sent in to us by the Government on 

 the Ruby with my old friend Captain Cottle in command — the most 

 experienced skipper now in these waters and a man who would bring 

 his ship in if any one could. Lane felt sure the Ruby was already 

 at Herschel Island unloading supplies into the storehouses there, ac- 

 cording to her orders. The Alaska would be there to receive the 

 stores wanted for the southern section, but she had no engineer and 

 her engine was crippled. Captain Lane thought there might be a 

 spare engineer on the Ruby but we feared Sweeney would not sup- 

 pose himself to have the authority to hire him. It seemed doubtful 

 whether the southern section any more than we at Kellett would 

 get their supplies from the Ruby unless we did something about it. 



If the Star was not coming my only chance of making use of the 

 supplies the Government had sent in to Herschel Island was to en- 

 gage the Polar Bear to fetch such of them as we needed and to land 

 them for us as far north of Kellet as she could. I accordingly char- 

 tered the Bear and we started for Herschel Island August 12th 

 with the intention of towing the Alaska, if necessary, to Bernard 

 Harbor and then coming up to Banks Island to land the supplies for 

 the northern work. 



On the way south Captain Lane had time to go more into detail 

 as to news that affected the expedition. 



The death of Storkerson, Ole Andreasen and myself was 

 everywhere agreed on. The story confirmed, with many additions, 

 everything Wilkins and Bernard had told me a year ago to that ef- 

 fect. All along the coast from Point Hope to Cape Bathurst my 

 companions and I were personally known to the Eskimos, all of 

 whom were grieved and none hopeful. Not only was our death cer- 

 tain on grounds of Eskimo theory, but there was much concrete evi- 

 dence. Between Cape Bathurst and the Mackenzie, near Point 

 Atkinson, a sledge with dead dogs still attached by the harness had 

 drifted ashore. Both the sledge and one of the dogs had been rec- 



