29G Knud Rasmissen. 



had reached the east coast. The crossing of the inland ice was for us 

 not an aim in itself, but merely the way by which we were to reach 

 the actual scene of operations. 



Our party consisted of four, and it would have been hard to find 

 men who could better supplement each other than my comrades here. 



There was Peter Freuchen, cartographer to the expedition, al- 

 ready known as a member of the earlier Danmarks Expedition. During 

 the two winters we had previously spent together in Greenland, he 

 had shown, a quite unusual faculty of accomodating himself to the 

 conditions of Eskimo life, and had on several occasions proved him- 

 self an excellent arctic worker. 



Then there was Uvdloriaq, an Eskimo of thirtyfive or six, the 

 finest hunter and dog driver 1 have ever met. He possessed to per- 

 fection the perseverance and quick insight of the trainer, qualities 

 which make the Eskimo driver a being unique, able to master and 

 direct the animal forces at his command, and often making them do 

 marvellous work. And as a hunter, he was not only a safe and keen- 

 sighted shot, but possessed also, very fortunately, as it proved, for 

 the expedition, the instinct of a retriever for finding game, with a 

 doggedness which in time of need was proof against hunger, sleep or 

 what fatigue soever. 



Finally there was Inukitsoq, a young Eskimo of four or five and 

 twenty, who had taken part in all Peary's late expeditions, and was 

 known as a good hunter and driver. He was a cheery, good-humoured 

 fellow, never at a loss, and as a young man who had yet to win his 

 spurs, he had all the natural ambition of the Eskimo to distinguish 

 himself as a hunter and traveller; a keenness which he maintained 

 to the full throughout the whole of the expedition, and which there- 

 fore rendered him a very valuable acquisition to the party. 



This was the first time that Eskimos had taken part in a journey 

 right across the inland ice. It is generally supposed that their faculties 

 are somewhat discounted as soon as they are called upon to work 

 in regions with which they are not familiar. I therefore feel it in- 

 cumbent upon me to say that my Eskimos never once allowed them- 

 selves to be awed by the huge monotonous desert of the inland ice, 

 but carried out their daily marches and all such work as fell to their 

 share in that cheerful spirit with which they are blessed from birth. 



