STEFANSSON’S DEPARTURE 
35 
with the country. He had shot caribou in 1908 and 
1909 along the shore from Cape Halkett to Flax- 
man Island and was not only familiar with all the 
fishing and trapping places of the Eskimo, not to 
be easily found by a newcomer to the region, but 
also knew every Eskimo there personally and 
might be able to buy fish and meat from them. 
He might even get some of the Eskimo families to 
join the expedition, the men as hunters and the 
women as seamstresses to make fur clothing for the 
ship’s company to wear during the winter which 
was now upon us. He had heard at Point Barrow 
that the carcasses of two whales had come ashore at 
Harrison Bay; these would make good food for our 
dogs. He decided, therefore, that the task logi¬ 
cally devolved upon him. Plans were accordingly 
made for him to go ashore on the twentieth. 
We were off the mouth of the Colville River at this 
time, having drifted half way back to Point Barrow 
since reaching our farthest east the middle of 
August. 
On the morning of the twentieth I was up early 
and got things together for the shore party which, 
besides Stefansson, consisted of Jenness, McCon¬ 
nell and Wilkins, the two Point Hope Eskimo, 
Jimmy and Jerry, with two sledges and twelve 
dogs. For supplies they took two Burberry tents, 
a stove with piping, two axes, a dozen candles, four 
