CRUISE TO NORTHWEST GREENLAND, 1938 



By CAPT. ROBERT A. BARTLETT 



New York City 



I am always glad to go north for the Smithsonian because they 

 think of so many interesting things to look for. They gave me a long 

 list this year : walrus pups, narwhals, porpoises, birds, marine inverte- 

 brates, and plants. Not only were birds desirable, but their skeletons 

 and stomachs as well. A lot of useful information has come out of the 

 "innards" of birds, for we know so little about their feeding habits 

 and migrations which can often be traced through the food found in 

 the crop. 



We had a complete outfit, thanks to a visit made to the National 

 Museum by David Nutt, who took charge of the collecting. While 

 at the Museum, he went over all the work in detail, and as a result, 

 he turned in the best collections we have made in many years. In- 

 cluding David, there were 13 young men who contributed toward the 

 success of the expedition, both financially and by pitching in to do 

 their share of the work. These were : David C. Nutt, Cleveland, 

 Ohio ; Warner Kent, Scarsdale, N. Y. ; Albert Hoffman, East Nor- 

 wick, Long Island, N. Y. ; Leo Silverstein, New York City ; Ray 

 Hellmann, Scarsdale, N. Y. ; Arthur DeForest Manice, Old West- 

 bury, Long Island, N. Y. ; George Moffett, Queenstown, Md. ; Hugh 

 Byfield, Middleburg, Va. ; Arnold Knauth, New York City ; Dr. 

 Moore Moore, Jr., Surgeon, Presbyterian Hospital, New York City : 

 Don Clark, Radio, New York City; Bob Wurtz, Millburn, N. J.; and 

 Rupert Bartlett, Newfoundland. 



Surface thermometer readings during each three hours were taken 

 for the Hydrographic Office, and ice data were supplied to them daily 

 by radio. Drift bottles with Hydrographic Office papers and data 

 sealed in them were thrown overboard, to become the sport of winds 

 and currents. During the many years that I have been in the eastern 

 and western Arctic in the Morrisscy we have always done this, but 

 not until 2 years ago, when we obtained some special sealing wax 

 from Captain Hellweg, Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, 

 did we begin to have good results. Now many more of our bottles 

 are heard from again. Our instruments, also, are obtained from the 

 Naval Observatory. 



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