50 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Haverf ord Academy ; George Hodge, Norwalk, Conn. ; Rupert and 

 Sam Bartlett, Methodist College, Newfoundland ; and Reginald Wil- 

 cox, Hartford, Conn., making his fourth trip. Dr. Wilbur Manter, of 

 Presbyterian Hospital, New York City, was also with us. 



We cast ofi" from the McWilliams Dry Dock at Staten Island 

 June 20, passing through Long Island Sound and the Vineyard, fol- 

 lowing the Canadian coast, and thence to Cape Race, Newfoundland. 

 We stopped at Brigus a day, where I visited my mother. From there 

 we went on to Turnavik, Labrador. We intended to follow the coast, 

 but at Port Man vers found the Arctic drift ice too heavy. I came 

 back to the Iron Bound Islands, where we made our exit from the 

 coast and followed the eastern edge of the ice to about 30 miles off the 

 Baffin Island coast. From here we continued our way north, entering 

 Greenland waters July 17 off Svarten Huk Peninsula. From the Duck 

 Islands we worked over toward the Devil's Thumb, seeing no drift 

 ice and few bergs. On our way through Melville Bay we spent sev- 

 eral hours at a small group of islands known as the "Thorn Is- 

 lands." Very little vegetation is found there, the whole islands being- 

 covered with the nests of eider ducks and Arctic terns. The islands 

 teemed with life, and on them we collected birds, marine life, flowers, 

 and mosses. 



From here we went to Cape York, where we built the Peary Monu- 

 ment in 1932. All the lads and some of the crew climbed to the 

 summit, 1,600 feet, where they found the monument in as good condi- 

 tion as it was the day we finished it. There is no life on the summit, 

 and the winds must blow violently — perhaps up to 130 miles an hour. 



Our next stop was Sukat, Crimson Cliffs. The sun that afternoon 

 warmed up the snowy slopes and small glacier, making the waterfall 

 very effective. Millions of little auks nest upon the slopes. The 

 Eskimo spend the summer months in their skin tupiks upon the apron 

 of the talus, where the women and children gather with nets a winter 

 supply of little auks. 



From here we visited the Dalrymple Rock, observing and photo- 

 graphing birds. The burgomaster gulls that hang around feed on 

 the eggs and young of the eider. Four times during the short stay there 

 we saw the gulls snatch the young ducks from the mother duck's 

 protection. The ravens also swoop down, driving the old mothers off 

 and destroying the unprotected nests. David, who was ashore, said 

 the "black bombers" attacked nest after nest, and in 5 minutes of in- 

 tensive air raid 50 or more nests must have been destroyed, after 

 which the black marauders shoved on to more plunder elsewhere 

 and life resumed its normal course in the duck colony until the next 



