A Negro Explorer at the North Pole | Page 9

them a plentiful supply of needfuls, and our trading with them
has been fair and generous.
The "Crow's-Nest" has been rigged upon the mainmast, and this
morning, after breakfast, Mr. Whitney, three Esquimos, and myself
started in Mr. Whitney's motor-boat to hunt walrus. The motor gave out
very shortly after the start, and the oars had to be used. We were
fortunate in getting two walrus, which I shot, and then we returned to
the ship for the whale-boat. We left the ship with three more Esquimos
in the whale-boat, and got four more walrus.
Sunday, at Kangerdlooksoah; the land of the reindeer, and the one
pleasant appearing spot on this coast. Mr. Whitney and his six Esquimo
guides have gone hunting for deer, and I have been ashore to trade for
dogs and furs, and have gotten twenty-seven dogs, sealskin-lines for
lashings, a big bearskin, and some foxskins. I try to get furskins from
animals that were killed when in full fur and before they have started to
shed, but some of the skins I have traded in are raw, and will have to be
dried.
I have had the disagreeable job of putting the undesirable ashore, and it
was like handling a lot of sulky school children.
Seegloo, the dog-owner, is invited to bring his pack aboard and is
easily persuaded. He will get a Springfield rifle and loading-outfit and
also a Winchester, if he will sell, and he is more than willing.
And this is the story of day after day from Cape York to Etah Harbor,

which we reached on August 12.
CHAPTER III
FINDING OF RUDOLPH FRANKE--WHITNEY
LANDED--TRADING AND COALING--FIGHTING THE
ICE-PACKS
At Etah we take on the final load of coal from the Erik and the other
supplies she has for us, and from now on it will be farewell to all the
world; we will be alone with our company, and our efforts will be
towards the north and our evasive goal.
At Etah, on going ashore, we were met by the most hopelessly dirty,
unkempt, filth-littered human being any of us had ever seen, or could
ever have imagined; a white man with long matted hair and beard, who
could speak very little English and that only between cries,
whimperings, and whines, and whose legs were swollen out of all
shape from the scurvy. He was Rudolph Franke and had been left here
the year before by Dr. F. A. Cook, an old acquaintance of mine, who
had been a member of other expeditions of the Commander's.
Franke was in a bad way, and the burden of his wail was, "Take me
away from this, I have permission, see, here is Dr. Cook's letter," and
he showed a letter from Dr. Cook, authorizing him to leave, if
opportunity offered. Dr. Goodsell looked him over and pronounced him
unfit to remain in the Arctic any longer than it would take a ship to get
him out, and the Commander had him kindly treated, cleaned,
medicated, and placed aboard the Erik. The poor fellow's spirits
commenced to rise immediately and there is good chance of his
recovery and safe return home.
We learn that Dr. Cook, with two Esquimo boys, is over on the Grant
Land side, and in probably desperate circumstances, if he is still alive.
The Commander has issued orders in writing to Murphy and Billy
Pritchard to be on the lookout for him and give him all the help he may
need, and has also instructed the Esquimos to keep careful watch for
any traces of him, while on their hunting trips.

There is a cache of Dr. Cook's provisions here, which Franke turned
over to the Commander, and Mr. Whitney has agreed to help Murphy
and Billy to guard it.
Mr. Harry Whitney is one of the party of men who came here on the
Erik to hunt in this region, and he has decided to stay here at Etah for
the winter and wait for a ship to take him out next summer. The other
two members of the hunting-party, Mr. Larned and Mr. Norton,
returned on the Erik. If Mr. Whitney had asked me my advice, I would
not have suggested that he remain, because, although he has a fine
equipment, there will not be much sport in his experience, and there
will be a great deal of roughness. He will have to become like the
Esquimos and they will be practically his only companions. However,
Mr. Whitney has had a talk with the Commander in the cabin of the
Roosevelt, and the Commander has given his consent and best wishes.
Mr. Whitney's supplies have been unloaded and some additions from
the Erik made, and there is no reason to fear for his safety.
August 8, 1908: My forty-second birthday.