692 APPENDIX 



we intended to go to Wrangel Island, and, as our object on the Canadian 

 Arctic Expedition was to acquire as much scientific information as pos- 

 sible and not to compete with other explorers but to work in con- 

 junction with them, the Commander now told me he had decided that 

 the best thing for us to do would be to go north from the before-men- 

 tioned starting point to latitude 77° or 78°, thence in a great circle 

 course east toward Prince Patrick Island, thence south across that 

 island, crossing McClure Strait to the Bay of Mercy, thence overland to 

 Cape Kellett, where we would arrive early in the summer and in time 

 to meet the whaling ships with which we could return to civilization. 



As an alternative to the first plan he had another which he preferred 

 and would follow if men could be had that were willing to go with him. 

 Starting from Cross Island he planned to go north two hundred or 

 three hundred miles offshore to north latitude 74° or 75° and from there 

 send all unnecessary men and dogs to shore, the advance party camping 

 on the ice and drifting with it in order to take observations and sound- 

 ings, determining the currents in that part of the ocean besides secur- 

 ing data on meteorology, zoology, oceanography, etc. The discovery of 

 new land was also possible. The only drawback was that he thought we 

 possibly might not get men willing to go on a trip of that kind. It was 

 unique, the like had never been undertaken by previous explorers, and 

 so might be considered dangerous. 



So the thing to do first was to get the Commander in shape to travel 

 as soon as possible, with which in mind I set about nursing him as well 

 as I could, being assisted and advised by every white person there who 

 all thought they knew something about doctoring. And it spoke well 

 for the Commander's constitution that on the morning of February 5th 

 he had so improved that he thought it time to send me west to head- 

 quarters to attend to the final preparations and have everything ready 

 against his arrival there, which would be in the near future, as he thought 

 he would be able to leave Herschel for Barter Island in three or 

 four days. 



While the dogs were being hitched up in preparation for my depar- 

 ture he came out to see me off and bid me Godspeed and good-by till 

 we should meet at the beginning of the ice journey. This kindness and 

 consideration cost him dear, as the exposure that he subjected himself 

 to then, I afterwards learned, caused him a very serious relapse from 

 which he barely escaped with his life and which prevented him from 

 taking part in that spring's exploratory work, making it absolutely 

 necessary for him to return to civilization for medical aid. It was not 

 until eighteen months later that I again met him at Banff in the 

 Canadian Rockies. 



What had happened to the Commander I did not know before Feb- 

 ruary 13th, when in camp at Demarcation Point our dog driver, the 

 Eskimo Emiu (Split-the-Wind), arrived from Herschel Island with let- 

 ters from the Commander which he, being unable to write, had dictated 



