696 APPENDIX 



men were more than I needed, as I intended to have only five men 

 in the advance party including myself. So I sent the boy Volki home 

 with the returning support party. 



As my plans had been changed, it was of course to our best interests 

 to have the second support party sent back to shore as soon as possible, 

 with which object in view we anxiously awaited the end of the south- 

 easterly storm, which was slow in coming. It was not before April 

 14th that it moderated sufficiently to enable us to get a set of observa- 

 tions which put us at north latitude 73° 3' and west longitude 148° 32', 

 about a hundred and ninety miles north of the Colville delta. As soon 

 as observations had been taken I set about having the equipment of the 

 support party made ready and at night they started south and for home. 

 The party consisted of five men imder the command of Chief Officer 

 Aarnout Castel, with twenty dogs and one sled, carrying our personal 

 letters and my last report to the Commander. 



So our last communication with civilization was severed and my 

 party of five men, with sixteen dogs, continued to drift, having besides 

 our equipment exactly one hundred and one days' full rations for men 

 and dogs. 



In order to live safely and comfortably on the ice for one year it 

 was of the greatest importance for us immediately to direct all our 

 energies to hunting bear and seal so as to procure as soon as possible 

 a supply of meat to take us past the period of poor hunting which I 

 knew was .coming later. The supplies brought from shore I wanted to 

 save for use next year on the journey ba-ik ashore, should we decide 

 to travel during the midwinter darkness when hunting is difficult. 

 Groceries, pemmican and the like are far more portable than meat unless 

 it be dried. I desired also to save our kerosene for next year and 

 wanted to commence at once using seal's fat exclusively for fuel. 

 Therefore, the day after the departure for shore of the second support 

 party I commenced to explore the surrounding ice for game and the 

 best hunting places. This resulted in the discovery that the best 

 hunting grounds lay to the east on the great stretches of young ice 

 that now represented the old lead which had frozen over. 



So, on the following day, April 16th, I had our camp and equipment 

 transferred to a point three miles east, centrally located for the young- 

 ice hunting grounds. In the afternoon of the same day as the effect 

 of pressure a lead opened up which gave us our first chance to hunt. 

 We took advantage of it and at night we returned to camp, having killed 

 five seals which gave us approximately 450 pounds of meat and fat, a 

 fine addition to our stock of provisions. 



From this time on the greatest part of the time of my men was 

 spent in hunting to obtain food for ourselves and our dogs while I 

 attended to. the scientific part of the work, which consisted in keeping 

 a diary of everything worthy of note, taking astronomical observations, 



