54 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



day to instruct us in the use of the trawl. On the fishing grounds out- 

 side Nantucket we lowered it twice and fished for an hour. The first 

 time we hauled we did not have much, but the next time we had several 

 barrels of fish, all edible. This experience gave us just the line we 

 wanted on the new gear, as we did not want to leave without knowing 

 how to handle it up north. We hoped to get fish in the far north, and 

 although we did not get many, we made a grand showing with all the 

 other forms of marine life. 



From Nantucket we headed for Brigus, and from there proceeded 

 up the coast to Labrador, where there are many fine harbors. In one 

 of them we put over a hard northeast gale and a very heavy sea. 



Our first port of call in Greenland was Godhavn, to report my 

 presence in those waters to Governor Rosendahl, and also to land 

 Dr. Erling Porsild, botanist, of Ottawa, Canada. His parents, Dr. 

 and Mrs. Morton Porsild, reside at Godhavn, where his father is in 

 charge of the Biological Station. I stayed about two hours, long 

 enough to fill the tanks with fresh water. Captain Eigil Riis Carsten- 

 sen, R. D. N., Hydrographer and Commander of the new Danish 

 Coast Survey steamer Hajmdal, Dr. Morton Porsild, Chief Radio 

 Operator Miller of the radio station at Godhavn, and Pastor Rosen 

 came on board. We had a grand visit from Governor Rosendahl, 

 as well. 



We went on to the Peary Monument at Cape York and were ex- 

 tremely fortunate in finding Melville Bay free of ice. At first I in- 

 tended to stop at Ootah's village, about 6 miles east of the monument, 

 but it was fortunate for four Eskimos of the Cape York village that 

 I changed my mind. As we neared the Cape, a nasty squall of wind 

 struck us. At that moment I saw the four natives on a piece of ice 

 with four kayaks and a dead walrus. The sea was breaking over the 

 ice and wetting them. It would soon have gone to pieces. We got 

 them just in the nick of time, yet some people say there is no such 

 thing as luck. 



We went around and anchored in the cove on the north side of the 

 Cape. The glacier had changed a lot since we built the monument. The 

 fall of the glacier would make the hauling up of supplies much more 

 difficult now. The wind blew a gale on the top of the mountain, and a 

 dense white fog made it impossible to take pictures. Most of the lads 

 climbed to the top of the monument. David Nutt and Bob, the second 

 engineer, obtained specimens of red snow, as well as algae and other 

 forms of life in the lakes, pools, and rivers near by. 



Farther on, at Northumberland and Hakluyt Island, we stopped for 

 birds, flowers, and other shore collecting. From Hakluyt Island to 



