520 THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 



among the upper stones, and the T-shaped wooden mark is stuck 

 in among the stones. The beacon is against the sky and will show 

 well unless a bear demolishes it. Even then it will show as a heap, 

 as does McClintock's beacon at Cape McClintock. I wish we had 

 some screw-top aluminum cylinders to take the place of his papier- 

 mache tubes to protect these records — some one might find them 

 of interest when we have followed McClintock. As it is, if we have 

 good luck and the records bad luck, they may be blurred or de- 

 stroyed in our time." 



The following is a copy of the record itself as we left it at the 

 monument: 



"Meridian Distance about 4° 15' 



East of Cape Isachsen 

 N. Lat. about 79° 53' 



June 15, A. M., 1916. 

 "This land was first sighted by Karsten Andersen of our party about 

 4 P. M. June 12 from a point on the ice by the shore lead some 20 miles 

 SW X W from the hill where this record is left. First landing was 

 made by Harold Noice about 3 A. M. to-day, from our camp on the ice 

 a quarter mile offshore. We have this day taken possession of this land, 

 by power especially vested in us for that purpose, in the name of His 

 Majesty King George V, on behalf of the Dominion of Canada, and 

 shall proceed to its further exploration by following the coast to the 

 northward from this monument and later in such other directions as 

 it may lead. 



"Men, seven dogs and gear of our party all in good condition. We 

 have so far had no difficulty in securing game for food and have noted 

 no diminution in the number of seals as we go northward. 

 WITNESS : "For the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 



Karsten Andersen, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 



Harold Noice. Commander. 



"First landing made at a point about true west from this monument 

 distant one-half or three-quarters miles." 



Since separating from Castel's party we had been cooking exclu- 

 sively with kerosene burned in a primus stove. How economical 

 of fuel such cooking may be is shown by the fact that between 

 June 4th and June 16th, both dates inclusive, we had used only 

 one gallon. This had cooked two meals some days and three meals 

 other days. Perhaps half a dozen times we had found thaw water 

 to cook with but most of the time the fuel had had to melt snow. 



