As preliminary, in the winter of 1905-6 I opened corre¬ 
spondence with Magnus K. Giaever, the owner of the Frithjof, 
used by Wellman for his expedition of 1907 and his trip of 
a few summers ago, and who had accompanied Champ in 
the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition to the Arctic. The outcome 
was the chartering of the auxiliary barkentine Laura. 
The Laura, built in 1868, was a vessel of rather low horse¬ 
power, 176 tons burden, and hi ' 3" between perpendiculars. 
She was recommended as particularly well fitted for our pur¬ 
poses,—there being a dark-room, accommodations for taxi¬ 
dermy and for the collecting of flora, and the like. 
TO COLLECT SPECIMENS OF BIRD LIFE 
The ship was fitted with six comfortable deck-house state¬ 
rooms, 5^4 by 6 feet, arranged three to each side of a central 
passage, the group, then, standing a trifle forward of midships. 
Each cabin had a bunk, with four drawers beneath; next the 
bunk, under a port-light, a washstand stood, while across from 
this a low, leather-cushioned locker formed a bench as well. 
Midships, a hatch-way led to a storage-room and to the 
coal bunkers in the hold. We carried 150 tons of coal with¬ 
out a deck-load, permitting the consumption of two tons 
daily. On the open sea we relied largely on sail. 
Proceeding, another large deck-house was in the plan, ex¬ 
tending almost out to the stern. 
2 [17] 
