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OXFORD UNIVERSITY ELLESMERE LAND EXPEDITION, 1934.

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also having sledged with him up the East Coast of Ellesmere
Land, on the Scoresby Bay journey. It was undoubtedly the
unanimous opinion of all members of the Expedition, that
with the exception of Stallworthy, Bentham was the best
all round northern man in our party. He now possesses the
necessary qualifications and knowledge of the North to be
considered a safe and responsible person either to take part
in an expedition, or to carry out an expedition on his own.
The plans were fully discussed with Sergeant Stallworthy,
who considered them entirely feasible. In addition, Bentham
is quite a competent dog-driver, and can build a snow igloo.
With regard to his scientific qualifications, I think his
results on our Expedition will be good enough to satisfy
the Department of the Interior.

Although Bentham's Expedition will probably be a
private one, the Exploration Club is very keen to help him,
as one of its members, in the same way that Thesiger received
support for his private expedition. I understand that
Charles Elton is writing to you, in order to represent the
view of the Club. We should be most grateful if you would
advise and help us in this matter, and if you approve of it,
put the matter before the Canadian Government.

The affairs of the Ellesmere Land Expedition seem
to be going fairly well, and we have arranged a good deal of
lecturing. I hope that we shall have paid off our deficit
within two years. The book will be finished by the middle of
April, and will probably be published in the early Autumn.
As you very kindly promised to write a preface, I will send
along a copy of the manuscript in its final form. I have
also fixed up to visit Canada and the States in January 1937,
on a Lecture Tour.

With apologies for troubling you,

Yours sincerely,

Eddie Shackleton