CROCKER LAND EXPEDITION 265 



land coast for our purposes, though not at all comparable with Koldewy 

 Point, on the Bache Peninsula of Ellesmere Land where we had hoped to be. 



"Reluctant as we are to give up our plans to winter on Ellesmere Land, 

 the near approach of winter and the long night, the vast amount of work 

 before us, the uncertainty that Smith Sound will be open this year and the 

 dread that the 'Erik' should be frozen in, with the consequent necessity 

 of feeding the entire ship's crew for ten months from the provisions intended 

 only for our party, all forced us to the decision to go into winter quarters 

 on the Greenland coast without further delay. 



"Our entire party is in good health, optimistic and determined to make the 

 most of our bad fortune in not attaining Ellesmere Land this year. All are 

 eagerly at work building our house, storing our supplies and arranging for 

 the winter's work. Every one realizes that there is much to do and a lim- 

 ited time in which to do it. 



"Snow has already fallen twice since we came to Etah and ice freezes on 

 the harbor nearly every night. The birds are migrating southward and the 

 Eskimo making their final preparations for relinquishing their life in the 

 tupiks for the warmer interior of the igloos. The chill and sternness of the 

 great North have already settled down upon the plateaus, for upon them the 

 streams are even now frozen dry with the temperature falling to 22 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. There can be little doubt that the Greenland autumn is far 

 advanced and that winter is not far distant. 



"The 'Erik' will leave us as soon as she has taken on ballast and water 

 and been made ready for the voyage south. With her will go Judge Carroll 

 Sprigg and Fredrick B. Patterson, of Dayton, Ohio, who accompanied us as 

 tourists and who we wish might stay with us. They have endured the 

 misfortunes, inconveniences and unpleasantnesses of the voyage as good 

 sportsmen and we are loath to lose them. After we bid them goodby, 

 and they and the 'Erik' are gone, we shall again turn our faces to the 

 work and problems before us, alone except for the gentle, patient, little 

 brown people, the Innuits who will help us. We greet you all who have 

 helped us, all who are interested in our welfare and think of us, and then 

 the North claims us." 



Judge Sprigg and Mr. Patterson returned to civilization giving an 

 enthusiastic report of their trip to Etah with the expedition. They re- 

 peat the story cabled by Mr. MacMillan, that the fight against the ice 

 was hopeless and return to Etah necessary. This practically reverses the 

 plan for the three years' work, putting the exploration of the Greenland ice 

 cap for next summer instead of the summer of 1915 as scheduled, and 

 deferring the search for Crocker Land until this later time. 



