The sun., 1919-03-02

This is the first instalment of the
personal narrative of VilhjaIn1ur
Stefansson. the distinguished ethnol-
ogist and explorer of the Arctic
waters, who discovered the So
called blond Eskimo" There is
probably no living scientist whose
adventures in the frozen North.
where StefanSson's method is to cut
loose from, bases of supplies and
live off the couatry by means of his
rife. have approached in general in
tefest the ones to be recounted in
these articles. The narrative be-
gins with Stefansson's arrival at
Cape Parry. on the North American
Arctic coast. roughly midway be-
tween Boring Strait and Green
land. The discovery of the blond
Eskimo" will be narrated next week.
BY VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON.
WE reached Cape Parry in the
w end OF August through sea
still open. There were three
OF us; myself the Eskimo man Nat
kusiak, and the Eskimo woman Panni-
gabluk. Eskimo women are no detri-
Inent to polar parties. for they are not
only as hardy as men, but they are in
valuable for making skin garments
snd living on the country" meant not
only that we depended on 1t for food
but also for clothing.
We had left the last known settle
ment of Eskimo a hundred miles be-
hind us In the west. Ahead in the
cast lay discovery. This eastward
country was known to us only through
having been skirted by Sir Johr
Richardson's exploring parties, frs
sn 1926 and again in 1S4S. AS theii
boats usually had stood we'll off-shore
their account of the coast necessarily
was inconclusive. We knew from rec
ords that Coronation Gulf and Nictoris
Island three hundred miles eastward
had been peopled by Eskimos as late a!
1852, but no one ever had seen people
on the three hundred miles between
The Canadian map of 1906 has "Cnin
habited" printed in red across the fact
oil Victoria Island. Captain Amundser
sailed past the shores on his Northwes
man life. All the Eskimo known to u
averred that no men lived there.
In our big skin boat we saile'
down a deep gulf, Franklin Bay. alonl
the rocky, ford -indented Parry PENN
sula, and established camp in Langtoi
& Bay II Mas not, however,, p cans
which we dwelt long at any time
Neither polar bears nor caribou wer
plentiful enough there, and such a.
expedition as ours, living on the coun
try, could use it only as a base. Sc
though We called Langton Bay home
for three years, we did not actually liv
there three months altogether.
An UnIucky Grizzly.
As soon as we landed Natkusiak an
started away to hunt for food, leav
! ing the woman TO FIX up camp as bef
she could. Natkusiak. hunting south
Hcast, got three caribou before night.
vgoing southwest, had poor luck, cover
Hing twenty miles over spongy tundr
without game; but just before III
Iehort autumn night closed In L sa
beyond a ridge what I took to be IN
nutter OF a raven. A little further an
J thought saw four ravens. turhe
my glasses on them to see IL they wer
feeding on a caribou carcass. My IT
constituencies was fortunate for me an
the American Museum of Natural His
'ory, for this proved my first sight
tho barren ground grizzly. perhaps IN
1arcst Of the large land carnivor@
- World in museums and the leai
known scientifically. But my luck an
tho museums was the bears misfoi
'Hno. lie became the nucleus OF,
objection which grew to ninetee
tp"'.mons finally.
Ills tour paws were what had take
"r four ravens. he had been on h
Lar h paving the air like a fat pupp
'' Fat he was in truth. On his rum
. Inc "lnlhcr layer was about foi
y HiAes thick. for she was Ian old ma