shore of Melville Bay to such an (65) extent that the motor boat could not get through and the attempt would be fraught with undue danger, in the opinion of Mr. Rasmussen and the Estimos. This evening Mr. Koch brought over a letter in Danish in which Mr. Ras- mussen confirmed the foregoing re- port and stated that Hendrik refused to go south with us in the "Inger Lis" on account of ice con- ditions being so bad. This settles this matter for us, undoubtedly, since it would not be wise to buy the boat and take the trip on our own responsibility, with- out having Hendrik along to serve as engineer. Small has said that he would not undertake the