APPENDIX 721 



sized verbally. They were saving the dried meat whit-b he mentions 

 with the idea of using it when the ice was strong enough to allow them 

 to cross to Siberia. Being familiar with this coast Hadley knew that if 

 they once stepped on the mainland their troubles would be over, for 

 there are dwellings of hospitable natives every few miles along that 

 coast, and traveling along it you can easily sleep with one household, 

 have lunch at noon with the second, and reach the third settlement by 

 night. There seems no doubt that the healthy members of the party 

 could have done this, but it is questionable how the invalids would have 

 fared. Of course, they coidd have been cured by a month or two of 

 fresh meat diet if fat had been used in reasonable proportions with the 

 lean meat. It seems doubtful that this could now have been accom- 

 plished, for the autumn is by no means so good a hunting time as the 

 spring. There were now only a few men able to help themselves and 

 to wait on the others. 



An important part of discipline that had not been enforced during 

 the summer was the saving of ammunition. As mentioned incidentally 

 in the narrative above, they used to fire with rifles at birds on the 

 wing. Hadley's statement that they got some occasionally indicates 

 that a great deal of ammunition must have been spent in this way. 

 Much more ammunition was spent on small sea birds. Hadley esti- 

 mated there were about two hundred rounds of ammunition left in the 

 island early in September. It appears doubtful therefore that many 

 would have lived through with health and strength sufficient to cross 

 to the mainland. It can be said of most of the party, if not all, that 

 their lives were saved by the King and Winge. 



The first part of September [Hadley continues] the ice was strong 

 enough for us to go three miles from shore, where we saw several bear 

 tracks and several seals but no walrus close enough to shoot. As the 

 season was getting late and no ship had appeared, we thought we were 

 in for another winter and would have to be careful of our cartridges. 

 I had about forty-five and the native around fifty, so we decided we 

 ought not to shoot anything but bears and walrus unless we were 

 pinched. 



On the fifth of September we had a blizzard from the northwest 

 which made snowdrifts ten feet high. The sixth the weather was fine 

 and the Eskimo and I went out on the floe, as our ducks were getting 

 low, and I was lucky enough to get two seals. When we came ashore 

 in the evening we got the welcome news that the Eskimo woman had 

 caught about fifty pounds of tomcod, the first we had seen, so we 

 went to sleep quite happy with great expectations for the morrow. 



Next morning it was blowing fresh from the northwest with drifting 

 snow. We fished for a while with poor luck and then all hands went 

 back to the tent. About ten o'clock the Eskimo went outdoors. A 

 few minutes afterwards he sang out, "I think I see a ship!" I jumped 



