THE FRIENDLY ARCTIC 669 



able and dependable associate, and the upshot was that Noicc 

 asked to be dis(;liarged from the employ of the expedition and that 

 Binder and Carroll formed a partnership with him for the pur- 

 chase of the Challenge for this eastern venture. Binder and Carroll 

 had their eyes on fur and a fortune, but Noicc was eager to com- 

 plete the short piece of work left undone by Storkerson in the 

 mapping of northeastern Victoria Island. He was iioping to reach 

 Coronation Gulf by ship, then to go northeastward across Victoria 

 Island with probably one sled and one or two companions, depend- 

 ing on the rifle, according to our system. This would be especially 

 interesting because his route would lie through the vicinity where 

 more than a hundred men of the Erebus and Terror had starved 

 to death (about 1847). 



The adventures of Harold Noice on this enterprise have not yet 

 been brought down to date when this book goes to press. The 

 first year his ship was wrecked in winter quarters on the mainland 

 coast of Amundsen Gulf, and this appears to have dissolved the 

 partnership arrangement. The details of what follows are vague, 

 for even Noice's parents have had but scant information from 

 him, one letter a year, repetitions very much one of the other. 

 He has been traveling around mostly with Eskimo companions, 

 has visited eastern Victoria Island though we do not yet know 

 whether he has completed the survey, and has prospered and had 

 a good time. As nearly as can be judged from his letters, he has 

 spent most of one year in southeastern Victoria Island. If he was 

 on the very southeast coast he must have been within sight of 

 where the Erebus imd Terror were held fast in the ice before their 

 crews left them upon the march which led to their death. Much 

 has been written and inferred of the hostility and desolation of 

 this region. But any one who knows Noice will know that ho 

 means exactly what he says in a letter to his mother: "Living off 

 the country is easy if only one makes hay while the sun shines, 

 killing plenty of seals in the spring of the year for the next year's 

 fuel supply, killing plenty of deer in the summer for the winter's 

 clothing, and in the fall laying in an abundant supply of fine, fat 

 deer meat for the wint(!r's grubstake." 



I have had friendly controversies with people who imagine that 

 our success in "living off the country" is due to some special ability 

 of mine as a hunter which might not be present in some one else. 

 I have always denied this and maintained that if we deserve 

 credit it is for developing a system and not for any individual 

 prowess. Beyond temperament, I have no special qualifications 



