The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1961, Qupperneq 29

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
27
were they able to shoot one that did
not sink. Contrary to the general
view that seals would not be found in
water deeper than 1,000 feet, a sound-
ing made at the first kill failed to find
bottom at 4000 feet.
Their course from Martin Point had
been almost due north, but on May
25 they set a northeasterly course for
Banks Island. Daylight was now con-
tinuous; the ice was covered with thaw
water; and although they travelled
mostly by night, the going was extreme-
ly unpleasant.
Land was sighted on June 22, but
because of the large extent of open
water and the erratic ice-
drift, the date of their actual
landing was the 25th, ninety-
six days out from the Alaskan
coast. They had settled the
question of whether mam-
malian life sufficient to main-
tain a small party of skilled
hunters exists in the Arctic
seas; they had determined the
continental shelf off Alaska
and Banks Island and sub-
sequently, certain of the
Parry Islands; and they had
carried a line of soundings
through four degrees of lati-
tude and nineteen of longi-
tude.
The summer was spent in
Banks Island, where they
lived literally on the “fat of
the land.” Caribou were
plentiful and large quantities
of meat were accumulated
against the coming winter.
Before leaving Martin Point,
Stefansson had bought a small
schooner and had instructed
George Wilkins, with the
expedition as official photo-
grapher, to bring her to
Banks Island in the late summer, when
ice conditions would permit. Wilkins
duly arrived and Stefansson then learn-
ed that members of the southern section
—and all the rest of the world—had al-
ready given him up for dead. With few
exceptions, everyone along the coast
was convinced that when the ice-party
had eaten their thirty days’ rations
they would either return to Alaska or
starve; and when they failed to show
up lit was assumed that they were dead.
As a gesture toward a dead commander,
Wilkins had kept the appointment.
The winter of 1914-1915 was spent
at the Cape Kellett base, at the south-
iStefansson, photographed by AVilkins (later Sir Hubert),
Banks Island, autumn o£ 1914