REVIEWS 155 



personality. The book is in reality an autobiography, for in his attempts 

 to put before his readers what he regards as the genial atmosphere of 

 this northern wilderness, he has sought to do it through his own physical, 

 mental, and emotional reactions. In the long list of polar explorers one 

 finds but rarely a man of scientific training. Stefansson is an exception, 

 and the technique of his expedition is throughout an application of 

 modern science quite unhampered by the elaborate conventions of our 

 modern social system. This applies with special force to the vitally 

 important items of diet, shelter, and clothing. 



Among the noteworthy achievements of the expedition are included 

 the making known of about 100,000 square miles of the hitherto unknown 

 Arctic, the discovery of three large and a considerable number of smaller 

 land bodies all north of 73° N. latitude; the careful mapping of over 

 600 miles of new coast line and the correction of the coast lines, the posi- 

 tions and even the character of some of the land areas discovered by 

 Sverdrup; the making of over sixty soundings in widely separated 

 and generally newly discovered portions of the Arctic Ocean; the con- 

 firmation of the non-existence of Crockerland; the discovery of a number 

 of coal (lignite) deposits upon the islands of the arctic archipelago; and, 

 especially by the southern party, large collections to show the zoology 

 and the botany of the northern coast regions of the continent. 



These achievements are the more remarkable by reason of the crush- 

 ing disaster which almost at the outset overtook the expedition in the 

 loss of the "Karluk," the principal ship of the expedition, together with 

 the major part of its equipment; and perhaps even more important and 

 serious the mutinous behavior of the second in command of the expedi- 

 tion, who was in charge of the southern party, and of others under him. 

 The reviewer is writing this after the case for the mutineers has been 

 stated (in Science for July 7, 1922), in which the attempt is further made 

 to show that Stefansson's exploring methods are not new and can be 

 made use of only within extremely limited and favorable districts and 

 for limited seasons only of the year. But it should be clear that the 

 earlier explorers, Rae and Hanbury, who have been cited as sustaining 

 themselves upon the country, both lived in the neighborhood of the 

 coasts, and Stefansson throughout his book has been at much pains 

 to make clear that for the winter season when the light is insufficient for 

 successful hunting, the food must be secured earlier in the season. Like- 

 wise, the hides for the clothing and especially for the water-tight boots 

 must be secured at the favorable season. 



Lest there should be misunderstanding, Stefansson has stated his 

 case most concisely (p. 5) : 



