400 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



to get these sleds. This could be done conveniently by crossing 

 Banks Island from where we now were. 



(2) Wintering on Victoria Island was advantageous in that I 

 desired to study further the so-called "blond Eskimos" of Prince 

 Albert Sound whom I had visited in the spring of 1911 without 

 opportunity at that time for a stay of more than two or three 

 days. I was anxious not only to study the language and customs 

 of these people in their homes but also to purchase as large an 

 ethnographical collection as possible to illustrate their manner of 

 life. To do this now was important, for the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany and other traders were laying their plans for commercial 

 development, and the Church of England already had a party of 

 missionaries under way. Under the influence of these agencies 

 the manner of life of the people would be sure to undergo a rapid 

 change and whatever information or specimens we could not secure 

 now would be in large part permanently lost. 



(3) We had been unable to get nautical almanacs or scientific 

 instruments at Herschel Island, and one of the arguments for not 

 straining ahead was that from this base I might be able to make 

 a trip in the winter to the Alaska to secure them. 



(4) Victoria Island, which had been discovered by Franklin 

 and Richardson in 1826, had been further explored by various 

 British expeditions but the east and north coasts remained un- 

 mapped. In 1905 Lieutenant Godfred Hansen, of Amundsen's ex- 

 pedition which was then wintering at King William Island, had 

 made an attempt to finish the coastline but had been able to do 

 only about half of it. This would be a favorable base for us to 

 finish the work. 



(5) Lastly, with the ship safe and with an outfit for two years, 

 we had another year to look forward to, which was an argument 

 for not taking undue risks this season. 



Activities of four kinds were now set in operation. First, 

 parties were sent up and down the coast to scour it for driftwood. 

 Booty in that line turned out to be small, for the average amount 

 of driftwood on the coast was probably less than half a cord per 

 mile and much of that was wet and decayed. 



Second, there was the hunting. This was undertaken by myself 

 with the Eskimos, Pikalu, Illun and Palaiyak.* 



*PaIaiyak, then as a boy half grown, had been with me through about 

 half of my 1908-1912 expedition, and Pikalu had been with me off and on 

 during the same period. For frequent references to them, see "My Life With 

 the Eskimo." Palaiyak's photograph appears in that book opposite page 268. 



