INTRODUCTION 



For the above-mentioned distance we would have sufficient pro- 

 visions, but after that our hunt for food must begin. 



The experiences I had gained in 1912 during the first Thule 

 Expedition gave me the right to assume that such a plan could 

 be justified. The game I particularly reckoned on was 

 musk-ox, to be found in the extensive tracts of land which the 

 American maps show round the fjords and their heads. Fur- 

 ther, there were seals. The Polar Eskimos who, during Peary's 

 expeditions, had traversed the mouths of the fjords, had told 

 me that the ice here was of such a quality that one could with 

 certainty reckon on seals in June and July ; breathing-holes 

 were not infrequently observed. This information, added to 

 my own experiences from Independence Fjord, where in a 

 similar geographical position we found many seals, finally 

 decided me. 



The risk one runs on such hunting expeditions was quite 

 clear to me ; but the mind never occupies itself with the dangers 

 when one is setting out. Every Polar traveller is aware of his 

 risks when he leaves his home to set foot on unknown shores ; 

 and thus it was also with us. All my comrades greeted my 

 plans with enthusiasm, and every man was inspired with one 

 thought only : the certainty of success. 



KNUD RASMUSSEN. 



xxui 



