A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE

[Illustration: MATTHEW A. HENSON]

A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE

BY

MATTHEW A. HENSON

 WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT E. PEARY REAR ADMIRAL, U. S. N. , RETIRED

 AND AN INTRODUCTION BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS_

 NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

 _Copyright, 1912, by_ FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

 _All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian_

 _February, 1912_

FOREWORD

Friends of Arctic exploration and discovery, with whom I have come incontact, and many whom I know only by letter, have been greatlyinterested in the fact of a colored man being an effective member of aserious Arctic expedition, and going north, not once, but numerous timesduring a period of over twenty years, in a way that showed that he notonly could and did endure all the stress of Arctic conditions and work, but that he evidently found pleasure in the work. 

The example and experience of Matthew Henson, who has been a member ofeach and of all my Arctic expeditions, since '91 (my trip in 1886 wastaken before I knew Henson) is only another one of the multiplyingillustrations of the fact that race, or color, or bringing-up, orenvironment, count nothing against a determined heart, if it is backedand aided by intelligence. 

Henson proved his fitness by long and thorough apprenticeship, and hisparticipation in the final victory which planted the Stars and Stripesat the North Pole, and won for this country the international prize ofnearly four centuries, is a distinct credit and feather in the cap ofhis race. 

As I wired Charles W. Anderson, collector of internal revenue, andchairman of the dinner which was given to Henson in New York, inOctober, 1909, on the occasion of the presentation to him of a goldwatch and chain by his admirers:

"I congratulate you and your race upon Matthew Henson. He has drivenhome to the world your great adaptability and the fiber of which you aremade. He has added to the moral stature of every intelligent man amongyou. His is the hard-earned reward of tried loyalty, persistence, andendurance. He should be an everlasting example to your young men thatthese qualities will win whatever object they are directed at. Hedeserves every attention you can show him. I regret that it isimpossible for me to be present at your dinner. My compliments to yourassembled guests. "

It would be superfluous to enlarge on Henson in this introduction. Hiswork in the north has already spoken for itself and for him. His bookwill speak for itself and him. 

Yet two of the interesting points which present themselves in connectionwith his work may be noted. 

Henson, son of the tropics, has proven through years, his ability tostand tropical, temperate, and the fiercest stress of frigid, climateand exposure, while on the other hand, it is well known that theinhabitants of the highest north, tough and hardy as they are to therigors of their own climate, succumb very quickly to the vagaries ofeven a temperate climate. The question presents itself at once: "Is it adifference in physical fiber, or in brain and will power, or is thedifference in the climatic conditions themselves?"

Again it is an interesting fact that in the final conquest of the "prizeof the centuries, " not alone individuals, but _races_ were represented. On that bitter brilliant day in April, 1909, when the Stars and Stripesfloated at the North Pole, Caucasian, Ethiopian, and Mongolian stoodside by side at the apex of the earth, in the harmonious companionshipresulting from hard work, exposure, danger, and a common object. 

 R. E. PEARY. 

_Washington, Dec. , 1911. _

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 PAGE

 FOREWORD v

 INTRODUCTION xv

 CHAPTER I THE EARLY YEARS: SCHOOLBOY, CABIN-BOY, SEAMAN, AND LIEUTENANT PEARY'S BODY-SERVANT--FIRST TRIPS TO THE ARCTIC 1

 CHAPTER II OFF FOR THE POLE--HOW THE OTHER EXPLORERS LOOKED--THE LAMB-LIKE ESQUIMOS--ARRIVAL AT ETAH 15

 CHAPTER III FINDING OF RUDOLPH FRANKE--WHITNEY LANDED--TRADING AND COALING--FIGHTING THE ICE-PACKS 26

 CHAPTER IV PREPARING FOR WINTER AT CAPE SHERIDAN--THE ARCTIC LIBRARY 35

 CHAPTER V MAKING PEARY SLEDGES--HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC NIGHT--THE EXCITABLE DOGS AND THEIR HABITS 40

 CHAPTER VI THE PEARY PLAN--A RAIN OF ROCKS--MY FRIENDS, THE ESQUIMOS 46

 CHAPTER VII SLEDGING TO CAPE COLUMBIA--HOT SOLDERING IN COLD WEATHER 52

 CHAPTER VIII IN CAMP AT COLUMBIA--LITERARY IGLOOS--THE MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION OF THE ARCTIC 62

 CHAPTER IX READY FOR THE DASH TO THE POLE--THE COMMANDER'S ARRIVAL 70

 CHAPTER X FORWARD! MARCH! 75

 CHAPTER XI FIGHTING UP THE POLAR SEA--HELD UP BY THE "BIG LEAD" 78

 CHAPTER XII PIONEERING THE WAY--BREAKING SLEDGES 93

 CHAPTER XIII THE SUPPORTING-PARTIES BEGIN TO TURN BACK 103

 CHAPTER XIV BARTLETT'S FARTHEST NORTH--HIS QUIET GOOD-BY 116

 CHAPTER XV THE POLE! 127

 CHAPTER XVI THE FAST TREK BACK TO LAND 140

 CHAPTER XVII SAFE ON THE ROOSEVELT--POOR MARVIN 145

 CHAPTER XVIII AFTER MUSK-OXEN--THE DOCTOR'S SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION 153

 CHAPTER XIX THE ROOSEVELT STARTS FOR HOME--ESQUIMO VILLAGES--NEW DOGS AND NEW DOG FIGHTS 161

 CHAPTER XX TWO NARROW ESCAPES--ARRIVAL AT ETAH--HARRY WHITNEY--DR. COOK'S CLAIMS 170

 CHAPTER XXI ETAH TO NEW YORK--COMING OF MAIL AND REPORTERS--HOME! 180

 APPENDIX I--NOTES ON THE ESQUIMOS 189

 APPENDIX II--LIST OF SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS 196

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 MATTHEW A. HENSON _Frontispiece_

 FACING PAGE

 ROBERT E. PEARY IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS 76

 THE FOUR NORTH POLE ESQUIMOS 77

 CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP AT THE NORTH POLE 122

 MATTHEW A. HENSON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SLEDGE JOURNEY TO THE POLE AND BACK 123

 THE "ROOSEVELT" IN WINTER QUARTERS AT CAPE SHERIDAN 138

 MATTHEW A. HENSON IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS, TAKEN AFTER HIS RETURN TO CIVILIZATION 139

INTRODUCTION

One of the first questions which Commander Peary was asked when hereturned home from his long, patient, and finally successful struggle toreach the Pole was how it came about that, beside the four Esquimos, Matt Henson, a Negro, was the only man to whom was accorded the honor ofaccompanying him on the final dash to the goal. 

The question was suggested no doubt by the thought that it was butnatural that the positions of greatest responsibility and honor on suchan expedition would as a matter of course fall to the white men of theparty rather than to a Negro. To this question, however, Commander Pearyreplied, in substance:

"Matthew A. Henson, my Negro assistant, has been with me in one capacityor another since my second trip to Nicaragua in 1887. I have taken himon each and all of my expeditions, except the first, and also withoutexception on each of my farthest sledge trips. This position I havegiven him primarily because of his adaptability and fitness for the workand secondly on account of his loyalty. He is a better dog driver andcan handle a sledge better than any man living, except some of the bestEsquimo hunters themselves. "

In short, Matthew Henson, next to Commander Peary, held and still holdsthe place of honor in the history of the expedition that finally locatedthe position of the Pole, because he was the best man for the place. During twenty-three years of faithful service he had made himselfindispensable. From the position of a servant he rose to that ofcompanion and assistant in one of the most dangerous and difficult tasksthat was ever undertaken by men. In extremity, when both the danger andthe difficulty were greatest, the Commander wanted by his side the manupon whose skill and loyalty he could put the most absolute dependenceand when that man turned out to be black instead of white, the Commanderwas not only willing to accept the service but was at the same timegenerous enough to acknowledge it. 

There never seems to have been any doubt in Commander Peary's mind aboutHenson's part and place in the expedition. 

Matt Henson, who was born in Charles County, Maryland, August 8, 1866, began life as a cabin-boy on an ocean steamship, and before he metCommander Peary had already made a voyage to China. He was eighteenyears old when he made the acquaintance of Commander Peary which gavehim his chance. During the twenty-three years in which he was thecompanion of the explorer he not only had time and opportunity toperfect himself in his knowledge of the books, but he acquired a goodpractical knowledge of everything that was a necessary part of the dailylife in the ice-bound wilderness of polar exploration. He was at times ablacksmith, a carpenter, and a cook. He was thoroughly acquainted withthe life, customs, and language of the Esquimos. He himself built thesledges with which the journey to the Pole was successfully completed. He could not merely drive a dog-team or skin a musk-ox with the skill ofa native, but he was something of a navigator as well. In this way Mr. Henson made himself not only the most trusted but the most usefulmember of the expedition. 

I am reminded in this connection that Matthew Henson is not the firstcolored man who by his fidelity and devotion has made himself the trustycompanion of the men who have explored and opened up the westerncontinent. Even in the days when the Negro had little or no opportunityto show his ability as a leader, he proved himself at least a splendidfollower, and there are few great adventures in which the American whiteman has engaged where he has not been accompanied by a colored man. 

Nearly all the early Spanish explorers were accompanied by Negroes. Itis said that the first ship built in America was constructed by theslaves of Vasquez de Ayllon, who attempted to establish a Spanishsettlement where Jamestown, Virginia, was later founded. Balboa had 30Negroes with him, and they assisted him in constructing the first shipon the Pacific coast. Three hundred slaves were brought to this countryby Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, and it is said that the town ofSantiago del Principe was founded by Negro slaves who later rebelledagainst their Spanish masters. 

Of the story of those earlier Negro explorers we have, aside from theNegro Estevan or "little Steve, " who was the guide and leader in thesearch for the fabulous seven cities, almost nothing more than a passingreference in the accounts which have come down to us. Now, a race whichhas come up from slavery; which is just now for the first time learningto build for itself homes, churches, schools; which is learning for thefirst time to start banks, organize insurance companies, erectmanufacturing plants, establish hospitals; a race which is doing all thefundamental things for the first time; which has, in short, its historybefore it instead of behind; such a race in such conditions needs forits own encouragement, as well as to justify the hopes of its friends, the records of the members of the race who have been a part of any greatand historic achievement. 

For this reason, as well as for others; for the sake of my race as wellas the truth of history; I am proud and glad to welcome this account ofhis adventure from a man who has not only honored the race of which heis a member, but has proven again that courage, fidelity, and abilityare honored and rewarded under a black skin as well as under a white. 

 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. 

 Principal, Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. 

A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE

CHAPTER I

THE EARLY YEARS: SCHOOLBOY, CABIN-BOY, SEAMAN, AND LIEUTENANT PEARY'SBODY-SERVANT--FIRST TRIPS TO THE ARCTIC

When the news of the discovery of the North Pole, by Commander Peary, was first sent to the world, a distinguished citizen of New York City, well versed in the affairs of the Peary Arctic Club, made the statement, that he was sure that Matt Henson had been with Commander Peary on theday of the discovery. There were not many people who knew who Hensonwas, or the reason why the gentleman had made the remark, and, whenasked why he was so certain, he explained that, for the best part of thetwenty years of Commander Peary's Arctic work, his faithful and oftenonly companion was Matthew Alexander Henson. 

To-day there is a more general knowledge of Commander Peary, his workand his success, and a vague understanding of the fact that CommanderPeary's sole companion from the realm of civilization, when he stood atthe North Pole, was Matthew A. Henson, a Colored Man. 

To satisfy the demand of perfectly natural curiosity, I have undertakento write a brief autobiography, giving particularly an account of myArctic work. 

I was born in Charles County, Maryland, August 8, 1866. The place of mybirth was on the Potomac River, about forty-four miles below Washington, D. C. Slavery days were over forever when I was born. Besides, myparents were both free born before me, and in my mother's veins ran somewhite blood. At an early age, my parents were induced to leave thecountry and remove to Washington, D. C. My mother died when I was sevenyears old. I was taken in charge by my uncle, who sent me to school, the"N Street School" in Washington, D. C. , which I attended for over sixyears. After leaving school I went to Baltimore, Md. , where I shipped ascabin-boy, on board a vessel bound for China. After my first voyage Ibecame an able-bodied seaman, and for four years followed the sea inthat capacity, sailing to China, Japan, Manilla, North Africa, Spain, France, and through the Black Sea to Southern Russia. 

It was while I was in Washington, D. C. , in 1888, that I first attractedthe attention of Commander Peary, who at that time was a civil engineerin the United States Navy, with the rank of lieutenant, and it was withthe instinct of my race that I recognized in him the qualities that mademe willing to engage myself in his service. I accompanied him as hisbody-servant to Nicaragua. I was his messenger at the League Island NavyYard, and from the beginning of his second expedition to the Arcticregions, in 1891, I have been a member of every expedition of his, inthe capacity of assistant: a term that covers a multitude of duties, abilities, and responsibilities. 

The narrative that follows is a record of the last and successfulexpedition of the Peary Arctic Club, which had as its attainment thediscovery of the North Pole, and is compiled from notes made by me atdifferent times during the course of the expedition. I did endeavor tokeep a diary or journal of daily events during my last trip, and did notfind it difficult aboard the ship while sailing north, or when inwinter-quarters at Cape Sheridan, but I found it impossible to makedaily entries while in the field, on account of the constant necessityof concentrating my attention on the real business of the expedition. Entries were made daily of the records of temperature and the estimatesof distance traveled; and when solar observations were made the resultswere always carefully noted. There were opportunities to complete thebrief entries on several occasions while out on the ice, notably the sixdays' enforced delay at the "Big Lead, " 84° north, the twelve hourspreceding the return of Captain Bartlett at 87° 47' north, and thethirty-three hours at North Pole, while Commander Peary was determiningto a certainty his position. During the return from the Pole to CapeColumbia, we were so urged by the knowledge of the supreme necessity ofspeed that the thought of recording the events of that part of thejourney did not occur to me so forcibly as to compel me to pay heed toit, and that story was written aboard the ship while waiting forfavorable conditions to sail toward home lands. 

 * * * * *

It was in June, 1891, that I started on my first trip to the Arcticregions, as a member of what was known as the "North GreenlandExpedition. " Mrs. Peary accompanied her husband, and among the membersof the expedition were Dr. Frederick A. Cook, of Brooklyn, N. Y. , Mr. Langdon Gibson, of Flushing, N. Y. , and Mr. Eivind Astrüp, ofChristiania, Norway, who had the honor of being the companion ofCommander Peary in the first crossing of North Greenland--and of havingan Esquimo at Cape York become so fond of him that he named his son forhim! It was on this voyage north that Peary's leg was broken. 

Mr. John M. Verhoeff, a stalwart young Kentuckian, was also anenthusiastic member of the party. When the expedition was ready to sailhome the following summer, he lost his life by falling in a crevasse ina glacier. His body was never recovered. On the first and the last ofPeary's expeditions, success was marred by tragedy. On the lastexpedition, Professor Ross G. Marvin, of Cornell University, lost hislife by being drowned in the Arctic Ocean, on his return from hisfarthest north, a farther north than had ever been made by any otherexplorers except the members of the last expedition. Both Verhoeff andMarvin were good friends of mine, and I respect and venerate theirmemories. 

Naturally the impressions formed on my first visit to the Land of Iceand Snow were the most lasting, but in the coming years I was to learnmore and more that such a life was no picnic, and to realize whatprimitive life meant. I was to live with a people who, the scientistsstated, represented the earliest form of human life, living in what isknown as the Stone Age, and I was to revert to that stage of life byleaps and bounds, and to emerge from it by the same sudden means. Manyand many a time, for periods covering more than twelve months, I havebeen to all intents an Esquimo, with Esquimos for companions, speakingtheir language, dressing in the same kind of clothes, living in the samekind of dens, eating the same food, enjoying their pleasures, andfrequently sharing their griefs. I have come to love these people. Iknow every man, woman, and child in their tribe. They are my friends andthey regard me as theirs. 

After the first return to civilization, I was to come back to thesavage, ice- and rock-bound country seven times more. It was in June, 1893, that I again sailed north with Commander Peary and his party onboard the _Falcon_, a larger ship than the _Kite_, the one we sailednorth in on the previous expedition, and with a much larger equipment, including several burros from Colorado, which were intended for ice-capwork, but which did not make good, making better dog-food instead. Indeed the dogs made life a burden for the poor brutes from the verystart. Mrs. Peary was again a member of the expedition, as well asanother woman, Mrs. Cross, who acted as Mrs. Peary's maid and nurse. Itwas on this trip that I adopted the orphan Esquimo boy, Kudlooktoo, hismother having died just previous to our arrival at the Red Cliffs. After this boy was washed and scrubbed by me, his long hair cut short, and his greasy, dirty clothes of skins and furs burned, a new suit madeof odds and ends collected from different wardrobes on the ship made hima presentable Young American. I was proud of him, and he of me. Helearned to speak English and slept underneath my bunk. 

This expedition was larger in numbers than the previous one, but theresults, owing to the impossible weather conditions, were by no meanssuccessful, and the following season all of the expedition returned tothe United States except Commander Peary, Hugh J. Lee, and myself. Whenthe expedition returned, there were two who went back who had not comenorth with us. Miss Marie Ahnighito Peary, aged about ten months, whofirst saw the light of day at Anniversary Lodge on the 12th of theprevious September, was taken by her mother to her kinfolks in theSouth. Mrs. Peary also took a young Esquimo girl, well known among us as"Miss Bill, " along with her, and kept her for nearly a year, when shegladly permitted her to return to Greenland and her own people. MissBill is now grown up, and has been married three times and widowed, notby death but by desertion. She is known as a "Holy Terror. " I do notknow the reason why, but I have my suspicions. 

The memory of the winter of 1894 and 1895 and the summer following willnever leave me. The events of the journey to 87° 6' in 1906 and thediscovery of the North Pole in 1909 are indelibly impressed on my mind, but the recollections of the long race with death across the 450 milesof the ice-cap of North Greenland in 1895, with Commander Peary and HughLee, are still the most vivid. 

For weeks and weeks, across the seemingly never-ending wastes of theice-cap of North Greenland, I marched with Peary and Lee fromIndependence Bay and the land beyond back to Anniversary Lodge. Westarted on April 1, 1895, with three sledges and thirty-seven dogs, withthe object of determining to a certainty the northeastern terminus ofGreenland. We reached the northern land beyond the ice-cap, but thecondition of the country did not allow much exploration, and afterkilling a few musk-oxen we started on June 1 to make our return. We hadone sledge and nine dogs. 

We reached Anniversary Lodge on June 25, with one dog. 

The Grim Destroyer had been our constant companion, and it was monthsbefore I fully recovered from the effects of that struggle. When I leftfor home and God's Country the following September, on board the goodold _Kite_, it was with the strongest resolution to never again! nomore! forever! leave my happy home in warmer lands. 

 * * * * *

Nevertheless, the following summer I was again "Northward Bound, " withCommander Peary, to help him secure, and bring to New York, the threebig meteorites that he and Lee had discovered during the winter of1894-1895. 

The meteorites known as "The Woman" and "The Dog" were secured withcomparative ease, and the work of getting the large seventy-ton meteor, known as "The Tent, " into such a position as to insure our securing itthe following summer, was done, so it was not strange that the followingsummer I was again in Greenland, but the meteorite was not brought awaythat season. 

It is well known that the chief characteristic of Commander Peary ispersistency which, coupled with fortitude, is the secret of his success. The next summer, 1897, he was again at the island after his prize, andhe got it this time and brought it safely to New York, where it nowreposes in the "American Museum of Natural History. " As usual I was amember of the party, and my back still aches when I think of the hardwork I did to help load that monster aboard the _Hope_. 

It was during this voyage that Commander Peary announced hisdetermination to discover the North Pole, and the following years (from1898 to 1902) were spent in the Arctic. 

In 1900, the American record of Farthest North, held by Lockwood andBrainard, was equaled and exceeded; their cairn visited and theirrecords removed. On April 21, 1902, a new American record of 84° 17' wasmade by Commander Peary, further progress north being frustrated by alack of provisions and by a lane of open water, more than a mile wide. This lead or lane of open water I have since become more familiarlyacquainted with. We have called it many names, but it is popularly knownas the "Big Lead. " Going north, meeting it can be depended upon. It issituated just a few miles north of the 84th parallel, and is believed tomark the continental shelf of the land masses in the NorthernHemisphere. 

During the four years from 1898 to 1902, which were continuously spentin the regions about North Greenland, we had every experience, exceptdeath, that had ever fallen to the lot of the explorers who had precededus, and more than once we looked death squarely in the face. Besides, wehad many experiences that earlier explorers did not meet. In January, 1899, Commander Peary froze his feet so badly that all but one of histoes fell off. 

After the return home, in 1902, it was three years before CommanderPeary made another attack on the Pole, but during those years he was notresting. 

He was preparing to launch his final and "sincerely to be hoped"successful expedition, and in July, 1905, in the newly built ship, _Roosevelt_, we were again "Poleward-bound. " The following September, the _Roosevelt_ reached Cape Sheridan, latitude 82° 27' north, under herown steam, a record unequaled by any other vessel, sail or steam. 

Early the next year, the negotiation of the Arctic Ocean was commenced, not as oceans usually are negotiated, but as this ocean must be, by men, sledges, and dogs. The field party consisted of twenty-six men, twentysledges, and one hundred and thirty dogs. 

That was an open winter and an early spring, very desirable conditionsin some parts of the world, but very undesirable to us on the northerncoast of Greenland. The ice-pack began disintegrating much too earlythat year to suit, but we pushed on, and had it not been for furiousstorms enforcing delays and losses of many precious days, the Pole wouldhave been reached. As it was, Commander Peary and his party got to 87°6' north, thereby breaking _all records_, and in spite of incrediblehardships, hunger and cold, returned safely with all of the expedition, and on Christmas Eve the _Roosevelt_, after a most trying voyage, entered New York harbor, somewhat battered but still seaworthy. 

Despite the fact that it was to be his last attempt, Commander Peary nosooner reached home than he announced his intention to return, this timeto be the last, and this time to win. 

However, a year intervened, and it was not until July 6, 1908, with theGod-Speed and good wishes of President Roosevelt, that the good shipnamed in his honor set sail again. The narrative of that voyage, and thestory of the discovery of the North Pole, follow. 

The ages of the wild, misgiving mystery of the North Pole are over, to-day, and forever it stands under the folds of Old Glory. 

CHAPTER II

OFF FOR THE POLE--HOW THE OTHER EXPLORERS LOOKED--THE LAMB-LIKEESQUIMOS--ARRIVAL AT ETAH

July 6, 1908: We're off! For a year and a half I have waited for thisorder, and now we have cast off. The shouting and the tumult ceases, thedin of whistles, bells, and throats dies out, and once again the long, slow surge of the ocean hits the good ship that we have embarked in. Itwas at one-thirty P. M. To-day that I saw the last hawse-line castadrift, and felt the throb of the engines of our own ship. ChiefWardwell is on the job, and from now on it is due north. 

Oyster Bay, Long Island Sound: We are expecting President Roosevelt. Theship has been named in his honor and has already made one voyage towardsthe North Pole, farther north than any ship has ever made. 

July 7: At anchor, the soft wooded hills of Long Island give me acurious impression. I am waiting for the command to attack the savageice- and rock-bound fortress of the North, and here instead we are atanchor in the neighborhood of sheep grazing in green fields. 

Sydney, N. S. , July 17, 1908: All of the expedition are aboard and thosegoing home have gone. Mrs. Peary and the children, Mr. Borup's father, and Mr. Harry Whitney, and some other guests were the last to leave the_Roosevelt_, and have given us a last good-by from the tug, which camealongside to take them off. 

Good-by all. Every one is sending back a word to some one he has leftbehind, but I have said my good-bys a long time ago, and as I waved myhand in parting salutation to the little group on the deck of the tug, my thoughts were with my wife, and I hoped when she next heard of me itwould be with feelings of joy and happiness, and that she would be gladshe had permitted me to leave her for an absence that might never end. 

The tenderfeet, as the Commander calls them, are the Doctor, ProfessorMacMillan, and young Mr. Borup. The Doctor is a fine-looking, bigfellow, John W. Goodsell, and has a swarthy complexion and straighthair; on meeting me he told me that he was well acquainted with me byreputation, and hoped to know me more intimately. 

Professor Donald B. MacMillan is a professor in a college inMassachusetts, near Worcester, and I am going to cultivate hisacquaintance. 

Mr. George Borup is the kid, only twenty-one years old but well set upfor his age, always ready to laugh, and has thick, curly hair. Iunderstand he is a record-breaker in athletics. He will need hisathletic ability on this trip. I am making no judgments or comments onthese fellows now. Wait; I have seen too many enthusiastic starters, andI am sorry to say some of them did not finish well. 

All of the rest of the members of the expedition are the same as were onthe first trip of the _Roosevelt_:--Commander Peary, Captain Bartlett, Professor Marvin, Chief Engineer Wardwell, Charley Percy the steward, and myself. The crew has been selected by Captain Bartlett, and aremostly strangers to me. 

Commander Peary is too well known for me to describe him at length;thick reddish hair turning gray; heavy, bushy eyebrows shading his"sharpshooter's eyes" of steel gray, and long mustache. His hair growsrapidly and, when on the march, a thick heavy beard quickly appears. Heis six feet tall, very graceful, and well built, especially about thechest and shoulders; long arms, and legs slightly bowed. Since losinghis toes, he walks with a peculiar slide-like stride. He has a voiceclear and loud, and words never fail him. 

Captain Bartlett is about my height and weight. He has short, curly, light-brown hair and red cheeks; is slightly round-shouldered, due tothe large shoulder-muscles caused by pulling the oars, and is as quickin his actions as a cat. His manner and conduct indicate that he hasalways been the leader of his crowd from boyhood up, and there is no manon this ship that he would be afraid to tackle. He is a young man(thirty-three years old) for a ship captain, but he knows his job. 

Professor Marvin is a quiet, earnest person, and has had plenty ofpractical experience besides his splendid education. He is rapidlygrowing bald; his face is rather thin, and his neck is long. He hastaken great interest in me and, being a teacher, has tried to teach me. Although I hope to perfect myself in navigation, my knowledge so farconsists only of knot and splice seamanship, and I need to master themathematical end. 

The Chief Engineer, Mr. Wardwell, is a fine-looking, ruddy-complexionedgiant, with the most honest eyes I have ever looked into. His hair isthinning and is almost pure white, and I should judge him to be aboutforty-five years old. He has the greatest patience, and I have neverseen him lose his temper or get rattled. 

Charley Percy is Commander Peary's oldest hand, next to me. He is oursteward, and sees to it that we are properly fed while aboard ship, andhe certainly does see to it with credit to himself. 

From Sydney to Hawks Harbor, where we met the _Erik_, has beenuneventful except for the odor of the _Erik_, which is loaded withwhale-meat and can be smelled for miles. We passed St. Paul's Island andCape St. George early in the day and through the Straits of Belle Isleto Hawks Harbor, where there is a whale-factory. From here we leave forTurnavik. 

We have been racing with the _Erik_ all day, and have beaten her to thisplace. Captain Bartlett's father owns it, and we loaded a lot of bootsand skins, which the Captain's father had ready for us. From here wesail to the Esquimo country of North Greenland, without a stop ifpossible, as the Commander has no intention of visiting any of theDanish settlements in South Greenland. 

Cape York is our next point, and the ship is sailing free. Aside fromthe excitement of the start, and the honor of receiving the personalvisit of the President, and his words of encouragement and cheer, thetrip so far has been uneventful; and I have busied myself in putting mycabin in order, and making myself useful in overhauling and stowingprovisions in the afterhold. 

July 24: Still northward-bound, with the sea rolling and washing overthe ship; and the _Erik_ in the distance seems to be getting her shareof the wash. She is loaded heavily with fresh whale-meat, and ispurposely keeping in leeward of us to spare us the discomfort of theodor. 

July 25 and 26: Busy with my carpenter's kit in the Commander's cabinand elsewhere. There has been heavy rain and seas, and we have droppedthe _Erik_ completely. The _Roosevelt_ is going fine. We can see theGreenland coast plainly and to-day, the 29th, we raised and passed DiscoIsland. Icebergs on all sides. The light at midnight is almost as brightas early evening twilight in New York on the Fourth of July and theice-blink of the interior ice-cap is quite plain. We have gone throughBaffin's Bay with a rush and raised Duck Island about ten A. M. Andpassed and dropped it by two P. M. 

I was ashore on Duck Island in 1891, on my first voyage north, and Iremember distinctly the cairn the party built and the money theydeposited in it. I wonder if it is still there? There is little use formoney up here, and the place is seldom visited except by men from thewhalers, when their ships are locked in by ice. 

From here it is two hundred miles due north to Cape York. 

August 1: Arrived at Cape York Bay and went ashore with the party tocommunicate with the Esquimos of whom there were three families. Theyremembered us and were dancing up and down the shore, and waving to usin welcome, and as soon as the bow of the boat had grazed the littlebeach, willing hands helped to run her up on shore. These people arehospitable and helpful, and always willing, sometimes too willing. As anexample, I will tell how, at a settlement farther north, we were goingashore in one of the whale-boats. Captain Bartlett was forward, astraddle of the bow with the boat-hook in his hands to fend off theblocks of ice, and knew perfectly well where he wanted to land, but thegroup of excited Esquimos were in his way and though he ordered themback, they continued running about and getting in his way. In a veryshort while the Captain lost patience and commenced to talk loudly andwith excitement; immediately Sipsoo took up his language and parrot-likestarted to repeat the Captain's exact words: "Get back there, getback--how in ---- do you expect me to make a landing?" And thus does theinnocent lamb of the North acquire a civilized tongue. 

It is amusing to hear Kudlooktoo in the most charming manner giveCharley a cussing that from any one else would cause Charley to breakhis head open. 

For the last week I have been busy, with "Matt! The Commander wantsyou, " "Matt do this, " and "Matt do that, " and with going ashore andtrading for skins, dogs, lines, and other things; and alsowalrus-hunting. I have been up to my neck in work, and have had smallopportunity to keep my diary up to date. We have all put on heavyclothing; not the regular fur clothes for the winter, but our thickestcivilized clothing, that we would wear in midwinter in the States. Inthe middle of the day, if the sun shines, the heat is felt; but if foggyor cloudy, the heavy clothing is comfortable. 

All of the Esquimos want to come aboard and stay aboard. Some we wantand will take along, but there are others we will not have or take alongon a bet, and the pleasant duty of telling them so and putting themashore falls to me. It is not a pleasant job to disappoint these people, but they would be a burden to us and in our way. Besides, we have leftthem a plentiful supply of needfuls, and our trading with them has beenfair 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 shortlyafter the start, and the oars had to be used. We were fortunate ingetting two walrus, which I shot, and then we returned to the ship forthe whale-boat. We left the ship with three more Esquimos in thewhale-boat, and got four more walrus. 

Sunday, at Kangerdlooksoah; the land of the reindeer, and the onepleasant appearing spot on this coast. Mr. Whitney and his six Esquimoguides have gone hunting for deer, and I have been ashore to trade fordogs and furs, and have gotten twenty-seven dogs, sealskin-lines forlashings, a big bearskin, and some foxskins. I try to get furskins fromanimals that were killed when in full fur and before they have startedto shed, but some of the skins I have traded in are raw, and will haveto be dried. 

I have had the disagreeable job of putting the undesirable ashore, andit was like handling a lot of sulky school children. 

Seegloo, the dog-owner, is invited to bring his pack aboard and iseasily persuaded. He will get a Springfield rifle and loading-outfit andalso 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--FIGHTINGTHE ICE-PACKS

At Etah we take on the final load of coal from the _Erik_ and the othersupplies she has for us, and from now on it will be farewell to all theworld; we will be alone with our company, and our efforts will betowards 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 couldever have imagined; a white man with long matted hair and beard, whocould speak very little English and that only between cries, whimperings, and whines, and whose legs were swollen out of all shapefrom the scurvy. He was Rudolph Franke and had been left here the yearbefore by Dr. F. A. Cook, an old acquaintance of mine, who had been amember of other expeditions of the Commander's. 

Franke was in a bad way, and the burden of his wail was, "Take me awayfrom this, I have permission, see, here is Dr. Cook's letter, " and heshowed a letter from Dr. Cook, authorizing him to leave, if opportunityoffered. Dr. Goodsell looked him over and pronounced him unfit to remainin the Arctic any longer than it would take a ship to get him out, andthe Commander had him kindly treated, cleaned, medicated, and placedaboard the _Erik_. The poor fellow's spirits commenced to riseimmediately and there is good chance of his recovery and safe returnhome. 

We learn that Dr. Cook, with two Esquimo boys, is over on the Grant Landside, and in probably desperate circumstances, if he is still alive. TheCommander has issued orders in writing to Murphy and Billy Pritchard tobe on the lookout for him and give him all the help he may need, and hasalso instructed the Esquimos to keep careful watch for any traces ofhim, while on their hunting trips. 

There is a cache of Dr. Cook's provisions here, which Franke turned overto the Commander, and Mr. Whitney has agreed to help Murphy and Billyto 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 thewinter and wait for a ship to take him out next summer. The other twomembers of the hunting-party, Mr. Larned and Mr. Norton, returned on the_Erik_. If Mr. Whitney had asked me my advice, I would not havesuggested that he remain, because, although he has a fine equipment, there will not be much sport in his experience, and there will be agreat deal of roughness. He will have to become like the Esquimos andthey will be practically his only companions. However, Mr. Whitney hashad a talk with the Commander in the cabin of the _Roosevelt_, and theCommander has given his consent and best wishes. Mr. Whitney's supplieshave been unloaded and some additions from the _Erik_ made, and there isno reason to fear for his safety. 

August 8, 1908: My forty-second birthday. I have not mentioned it to anyone, and there's only one other besides myself who knows that to-day Iam twice three times seven years of age. Seventeen years ago to-day, Commander Peary, hobbling about on his crutches with his right leg in asling, insisted on giving me a birthday party. I was twenty-five yearsold then, and on the threshold of my Arctic experience. Never before inmy life had the anniversary of my birth been celebrated, and to have aparty given in my honor touched me deeply. Mrs. Peary was a member ofthe expedition then, and I suppose that it was due to her that theoccasion was made a memorable one for me. Last year, I was aboard the_Roosevelt_ in the shadow of the "Statue of Liberty" in New York Bay, and was treated to a pleasant surprise by my wife. 

Commander Peary gave me explicit instructions to get Nipsangwah and Myahashore as quick as the Creator would let them, but to be sure that theirseven curs were kept aboard; these two huskies having exalted ideas asto their rights and privileges. Egingwah, or Karko as we knew him, andKoodlootinah and his family were to come aboard. 

Acting under orders, I obeyed, but it was not a pleasant task. I haveknown men who needed dogs less to pay a great deal more for one pupthan was paid to Nipsangwah for his pack of seven. The dogs are avaluable asset to this people and these two men were dependent on theirlittle teams to a greater extent than on the plates and cups of tinwhich they received in exchange for them. 

August 8-9, 1908: Have been trading with the natives without anytrouble; they will give anything I want for anything that I have thatthey want. "It's a shame to take the money, " or, as money is unknown uphere and has no value, I should say that I should be ashamed to takesuch an advantage of them, but if I should stop to consider thefreight-rates to this part of the world, no doubt a hatchet or a knifeis worth just what it can be traded in for. 

The ship has been rapidly littering up until it is now in a most perfectstate of dirtiness, and in order to get the supplies from the _Erik_, coal, etc. , the movable articles, dogs, Esquimos, etc. , will have to beshifted and yours truly is helping. 

The dogs have been landed on a small island in the bay, where they aresafe and cannot run away, and they can have a glorious time, fightingand getting acquainted with each other. Some of the Esquimos' goods areashore, some aboard the _Erik_, and the rest forward on the roof of thedeck-house, while the _Roosevelt_ is getting her coal aboard. 

The loading of the meat and coal has been done by the crews of theships, assisted and _hampered_ by some of the Esquimos, and I have beenwalrus-hunting, and taxidermizing; that is, I have skinned a pair ofwalrus so that they can be stuffed and mounted. This job has been verycarefully, and I think successfully, done and the skins have been towedashore. The hearts, livers, and kidneys have been brought aboard and themeat is to be loaded to-morrow. Two boat-loads of bones have been rowedover to Dog Island for dog-food. 

Coaling and stowing of whale-meat aboard the _Roosevelt_ was finished atnoon, August 15, and all day Sunday, August 16, all hands were at thejob transferring to the _Erik_ the boxes of provisions that were to beleft at the cache at Etah. Bos'n Murphy and Billy Pritchard, thecabin-boy, are to stay as guard until the return of the _Roosevelt_ nextsummer. A blinding storm of wind and snow prevented the _Roosevelt_from starting until about two-thirty P. M. , when, with all the dogsa-howling, the whistle tooting, and the crew and members cheering, westeamed out of the Harbor into Smith Sound, and a thick fog whichcompelled half-speed past Littleton Island and into heavy pack-ice. 

Captain Bartlett was navigating the ship and his eagle eye found a laneof open water from Cape Sabine to Bache Peninsula and open water fromEllesmere Land half-way across Buchanan Bay, but this lead closed onhim, and the _Roosevelt_ had to stop. Late in the evening, the icestarted to move and grind alongside of the ship, but did no damageexcept scaring the Esquimos. Daylight still kept up and we went to sleepwith our boots on!

From Etah to Cape Sheridan, which was to be our last point north in theship, consumed twenty-one days of the hardest kind of work imaginablefor a ship; actually fighting for every foot of the way against thealmost impassable ice. For another ship it would have been impassable, but the _Roosevelt_ was built for this kind of work, and her worth andability had been proven on the voyage of 1905. The constant jolting, bumping, and jarring against the ice-packs, forwards and backwards, thesudden stops and starts and the frequent storms made work and comfortaboard ship all but impossible. 

Had it been possible to be ashore at some point of vantage, to witnessthe struggles of our little ship against her giant adversaries wouldhave been an impressive sight. 

I will not dwell on the trying hours and days of her successful battle, the six days of watching and waiting for a chance to get out of ourdangerous predicament in Lincoln Bay, the rounding of the differentcapes en route, or the horrible jams in Lady Franklin Bay. The good shipkept at the fight and won by sheer bulldogged tenacity and pluck. Lifeaboard her during those twenty-one days was not one sweet song, but wedid not suffer unusually, and a great deal of necessary work was done onour equipments. The Esquimo women sewed diligently on the fur clothingwe were to wear during the coming winter and I worked on the sledgesthat were to be used. Provisions were packed in compact shape and everyone was busy. Two caches of provisions were made ashore in the event ofan overland retreat, and the small boats were fully provisioned as aprecaution against the loss of the ship. We did not dwell on the thoughtof losing it, but we took no chances. 

Meeting with continual rebuffs, but persistently forging ahead andgaining deliberately day by day, the _Roosevelt_ pushed steadilynorthward through the ice-encumbered waters of Kane Basin, Kennedy andRobeson Channels, and around the northeast corner of Grant Land to theshelter of Cape Sheridan, which was reached early in the afternoon ofSeptember 5, 1908. 

CHAPTER IV

PREPARING FOR WINTER AT CAPE SHERIDAN--THE ARCTIC LIBRARY

Now that we had reached Cape Sheridan in the ship, every one's spiritsseemed to soar. It was still daylight, with the sun above the horizon, and although two parties had been landed for hunting, no one seemed tobe in any particular hurry. The weather was cold but calm, and even inthe rush of unloading the ship I often heard the hum of songs, and hadit not been for the fur-jacketed men who were doing the work, it wouldnot have been difficult for me to imagine myself in a much warmerclimate. 

Of course! in accordance with my agreement with some other members ofthis expedition I kept my eye on the Commander, and although it was notusual for him to break forth into song, I frequently heard him humminga popular air, and I knew that for the present all was well with him. 

With the ship lightened, by being unloaded, to a large extent, of all ofthe stores, she did not very appreciably rise, but the Commander and theCaptain agreed that she could be safely worked considerably closer tothe shore, inside of the tide-crack possibly; and the _Roosevelt_ wasmade fast to the ice-foot of the land, with a very considerable distancebetween her and open water. Her head was pointed due north, and affairsaboard her assumed regulation routine. The stores ashore werecontracted, and work on getting them into shape for building temporaryhouses was soon under way. The boxes of provisions themselves formed thewalls, and the roofing was made from makeshifts such as sails, overturned whale-boats, and rocks; and had the ship got adrift and beenlost, the houses on shore would have proved ample and comfortable forhousing the expedition. 

A ship, and a good one like the _Roosevelt_, is the prime necessity ingetting an expedition within striking distance of the Pole, but oncehere the ship (and no other boat, but the _Roosevelt_ could get here)is not indispensable, and accordingly all precautions against her losswere taken. 

It is a fact that Arctic expeditions have lost their ships early in theseason and in spite of the loss have done successful work. The lastZiegler Polar Expedition of 1903-1905 is an example. In the ship_America_ they reached Crown Prince Rudolph Island on the Europeanroute, and shortly after landing, in the beginning of the long night, the _America_ went adrift, and has never been seen since. It is notdifficult to imagine her still drifting in the lonely Arctic Ocean, withnot a soul aboard (a modern phantom ship in a sea of eternal ice). Amore likely idea is that she has been crushed by the ice, and sunk, andthe skeleton of her hulk strewn along the bottom of the sea, full many afathom deep. 

 * * * * *

However, the depressing probabilities of the venture we are on are notpermitted to worry us. The _Roosevelt_ is a "Homer" and we confidentlyexpect to have her take us back to home and loved ones. 

In the meantime, I have a steady job carpentering, also interpreting, barbering, tailoring, dog-training, and chasing Esquimos out of myquarters. The Esquimos have the run of the ship and get everywhereexcept into the Commander's cabin, which they have been taught to regardas "The Holy of Holies. " With the help of a sign which tersely proclaims"No Admittance, " painted on a board and nailed over the door, they arewithout much difficulty restrained from going in. 

The Commander's stateroom is a _state_ room. He has a piano in there anda photograph of President Roosevelt; and right next door he has aprivate bath-room with a bath-tub in it. The bath-tub is chock-full ofimpedimenta of a much solider quality than water, but it is to becleared out pretty soon, and every morning the Commander is going tohave his cold-plunge, if there is enough hot water. 

There is a general rule that every member of the expedition, includingthe sailors, must take a bath at least once a week, and it is wonderfulhow contagious bathing is. Even the Esquimos catch it, and frequentlyCharley has to interrupt the upward development of some ambitiousnative, who has suddenly perceived the need of ablutions, and hasstarted to scrub himself in the water that is intended for cookingpurposes. If the husky has not gone too far, the water is not wasted, and our stew is all the more savory. 

On board ship there was quite an extensive library, especially on Arcticand Antarctic topics, but as it was in the Commander's cabin it was notheavily patronized. In my own cabin I had Dickens' "Bleak House, "Kipling's "Barrack Room Ballads, " and the poems of Thomas Hood; also acopy of the Holy Bible, which had been given to me by a dear old lady inBrooklyn, N. Y. I also had Peary's books, "Northward Over the GreatIce, " and his last work "Nearest the Pole. " During the long drearymidnights of the Arctic winter, I spent many a pleasant hour with mybooks. I also took along with me a calendar for the years 1908 and 1909, for in the regions of noonday darkness and midnight daylight, a calendaris absolutely necessary. 

But mostly I had rougher things than reading to do. 

CHAPTER V

MAKING PEARY SLEDGES--HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC NIGHT--THE EXCITABLE DOGSAND THEIR HABITS

I have been busy making sledges, sledges of a different pattern fromthose used heretofore, and it is expected that they will answer betterthan the Esquimo type of open-work sledge, of the earlier expeditions. These sledges have been designed by Commander Peary and I have done thework. 

The runners are longer, and are curved upwards at each end, so that theyresemble the profile of a canoe, and are expected to rise over theinequalities of the ice much better than the old style. Lashed togetherwith sealskin thongs, about twelve feet long, by two feet wide and seveninches high, the load can be spread along their entire length instead ofbeing piled up, and a more even distribution of the weights is made. TheEsquimos, used to their style of sledge, are of the opinion that thenew style will prove too much for one man and an ordinary team tohandle, but we have given both kinds a fair trial and it looks as if thenew type has the old beaten by a good margin. 

The hunting is not going along as successfully as is desired. The sun issinking lower and lower, and the different hunting parties return withpoor luck, bringing to the ship nothing in some cases, and in othersonly a few hares and some fish. 

The Commander has told me that it is imperative that fresh meat besecured, and now that I have done all that it is positively necessaryfor me to do here at the ship, I am to take a couple of the Esquimo boysand try my luck for musk-oxen or reindeer, so to-morrow, early in themorning, it is off on the hunt. 

This from my diary: Eight days out and not a shot, not a sight of game, nothing. The night is coming quickly, the long months of darkness, ofquiet and cold, that, in spite of my years of experience, I can neverget used to; and up here at Sheridan it comes sooner and lasts longerthan it does down at Etah and Bowdoin Bay. Only a few days' difference, but it _is_ longer, and I do not welcome it. Not a sound, except thereport of a glacier, broken off by its weight, and causing a new icebergto be born. The black darkness of the sky, the stars twinkling above, and hour after hour going by with no sunlight. Every now and then a moonwhen storms do not come, and always the cold, getting colder and colder, and me out on the hunt for fresh meat. I know it; the same old story, aman's work and a dog's life, and what does it amount to? What good is tobe done? I am tired, sick, sore, and discouraged. 

The main thing was game, but I had a much livelier time with somemembers of the Peary Arctic Club's expedition known as "our four-footedfriends"--the dogs. 

The dogs are ever interesting. They never bark, and often bite, butthere is no danger from their bites. To get together a team that has notbeen tied down the night before is a job. You take a piece of meat, frozen as stiff as a piece of sheet-iron, in one hand, and the harnessin the other, you single out the cur you are after, make properadvances, and when he comes sniffling and snuffling and all the timekeeping at a safe distance, you drop the sheet-iron on the snow, thebrute makes a dive, and you make a flop, you grab the nearest thinggrabable--ear, leg, or bunch of hair--and do your best to catch histhroat, after which, everything is easy. Slip the harness over the head, push the fore-paws through, and there you are, one dog hooked up andharnessed. After licking the bites and sucking the blood, you tie saiddog to a rock and start for the next one. It is only a question of timebefore you have your team. When you have them, leave them alone; theymust now decide who is fit to be the king of the team, and so theyfight, they fight and fight; and once they have decided, the king isking. A growl from him, or only a look, is enough, all obey, except thefemales, and the females have their way, for, true to type, the malesnever harm the females, and it is always the females who start thetrouble. 

The dogs when not hitched to the sledges were kept together in teams andtied up, both at the ship and while we were hunting. They were notallowed to roam at large, for past experience with these customers hadtaught us that nothing in the way of food was safe from the attack ofEsquimo dogs. I have seen tin boxes that had been chewed open by dogs inorder to get at the contents, tin cans of condensed milk being gnawedlike a bone, and skin clothing being chewed up like so much gravy. Dogfights were hourly occurrences, and we lost a great many by the ravagesof the mysterious Arctic disease, piblokto, which affects all dog lifeand frequently human life. Indeed, it looked for a time as if we shouldlose the whole pack, so rapidly did they die, but constant care andattention permitted us to save most of them, and the fittest survived. 

Next to the Esquimos, the dogs are the most interesting subjects in theArctic regions, and I could tell lots of tales to prove theirintelligence and sagacity. These animals, more wolf than dog, haveassociated themselves with the human beings of this country as havetheir kin in more congenial places of the earth. Wide head, sharp nose, and pointed ears, thick wiry hair, and, in some of the males, a heavymane; thick bushy tail, curved up over the back; deep chest and forelegs wide apart; a typical Esquimo dog is the picture of alertattention. They are as intelligent as any dog in civilization, and athousand times more useful. They earn their own livings and disdain anyof the comforts of life. Indeed it seems that when life is made pleasantfor them they get sick, lie down and die; and when out on the march, with no food for days, thin, gaunt skeletons of their former selves, they will drag at the traces of the sledges and by their uncomplainingconduct, inspire their human companions to keep on. 

Without the Esquimo dog, the story of the North Pole, would remainuntold; for human ingenuity has not yet devised any other means toovercome the obstacles of cold, storm, and ice that nature has placed inthe way than those that were utilized on this expedition. 

CHAPTER VI

THE PEARY PLAN--A RAIN OF ROCKS--MY FRIENDS THE ESQUIMOS

The story of the winter at Cape Sheridan is a story unique in theexperience of Arctic exploration. Usually it is the rule to hibernate asmuch as possible during the period of darkness, and the party isconfined closely to headquarters. The Peary plan is different; andconstant activity and travel were insisted on. 

There were very few days when all of the members of the expedition weretogether, after the ship had reached her destination. Hunting partieswere immediately sent out, for it was on the big game of the countrythat the expedition depended for fresh meat. Professor Marvin commencedhis scientific work, and his several stations were all remote fromheadquarters; and all winter long, parties were sledging provisions, equipment, etc. , to Cape Columbia, ninety-three miles northwest, inanticipation of the journey to the Pole. Those who remained atheadquarters did not find life an idle dream. There was something in theway of work going on all of the time. I was away from the ship on twohunting trips of about ten days each, and while at headquarters, Ishaped and built over two dozen sledges, besides doing lots of otherwork. 

Naturally there were frequent storms and intense cold, and in regard tothe storms of the Arctic regions of North Greenland and Grant Land, theonly word I can use to describe them is "terrible, " in the fullestmeaning it conveys. The effect of such storms of wind and snow, or rain, is abject physical terror, due to the realization of perfecthelplessness. I have seen rocks a hundred and a hundred and fifty poundsin weight picked up by the storm and blown for distances of ninety or ahundred feet to the edge of a precipice, and there of their own momentumgo hurtling through space to fall in crashing fragments at the base. Imagine the effect of such a rainfall of death-dealing bowlders on thefeelings of a little group of three or four, who have sought the baseof the cliff for shelter. I have been there and I have seen one of myEsquimo companions felled by a blow from a rock eighty-four pounds inweight, which struck him fairly between the shoulder-blades, literallyknocking the life out of him. I have been there, and believe me, I havebeen afraid. A hundred-pound box of supplies, taking an aërial joy ride, during the progress of a storm down at Anniversary Lodge in 1894, struckCommander Peary a glancing blow which put him out of commission for overa week. These mighty winds make it possible for the herbivorous animalsof this region to exist. They sweep the snow from vast stretches ofland, exposing the hay and dried dwarf-willows, that the hare, musk-oxen, and reindeer feed on. 

The Esquimo families who came north to Cape Sheridan with us on the_Roosevelt_ found life much more ideal than down in their native land. It was a pleasure trip for them, with nothing to worry about, andeverything provided. Some of the families lived aboard ship all throughthe winter, and some in the box-house on shore. They were perforce muchcleaner in their personal habits than they were wont to be in their ownhome country, but never for an instant does the odor or appearance of anEsquimo's habitation suggest the rose or geranium. The aroma of an EastSide lunch-room is more like it. 

There were thirty-nine Esquimos in the expedition, men, women andchildren; for the Esquimo travels heavy and takes his women and childrenwith him as a matter of course. The women were as useful as the men, andthe small boys did the ship's chores, sledging in fresh water from thelake, etc. They were mostly in families; but there were several young, unmarried men, and the unattached, much-married and divorced Miss"Bill, " who domiciled herself aboard the ship and did much good workwith her needle. She was my seamstress and the thick fur clothes worn onthe trip to the Pole were sewn by her. The Esquimos lived as happily asin their own country and carried on their domestic affairs with almostthe same care-free irregularity as usual. The best-natured people onearth, with no bad habits of their own, but a ready ability toassimilate the vices of civilization. Twenty years ago, when I firstmet them, not one used tobacco or craved it. To-day every member of thetribe has had experience with tobacco, craves it, and will give mosteverything, except his gun, to get it. Even little toddlers, three andfour years old, will eat tobacco and, strange to say, it has no badeffect. They get tobacco from the Danish missionaries and from thesailors on board the whaling, seal, and walrus-ships. Whisky has not yetgotten in its demoralizing work. 

It is my conviction that the life of this little tribe is doomed, andthat extinction is nearly due. It will be caused partly by themselves, and partly by the misguided endeavors of civilized people. Every yeartheir number diminishes; in 1894, Hugh J. Lee took the census of thetribe, and it numbered two hundred and fifty-three; in 1906, ProfessorMarvin found them to have dwindled to two hundred and seven. At thiswriting I dare say their number is still further reduced, for the latestnews I have had from the Whale Sound region informs me that quite anumber of deaths have occurred, and the birth-rate is not high. It issad to think of the fate of my friends who live in what was once a landof plenty, but which is, through the greed of the commercial hunter, becoming a land of frigid desolation. The seals are practically gone, and the walrus are being quickly exterminated. The reindeer and themusk-oxen are going the same way, for the Esquimos themselves now huntinland, when, up to twenty years ago, their hunting was confined to thecoast and the life-giving sea. 

They are very human in their attributes, and in spite of the fact thattheir diet is practically meat only, their tempers are gentle and mild, and there is a great deal of affection among them. Except betweenhusband and wife, they seldom quarrel; and never hold spite oranimosity. Children are a valuable asset, are much loved, never scoldedor punished, and are not spoiled. An Esquimo mother washes her baby thesame way a cat washes her kittens. There are lots of personal habits thedescription of which might scatter the reading circle, so I will desistwith the bald statement, that, for them, dirt and filth have noterrors. 

CHAPTER VII

SLEDGING TO CAPE COLUMBIA--HOT SOLDERING IN COLD WEATHER

If you will get out your geography and turn to the map of the WesternHemisphere you will be able to follow me. Take the seventieth meridian, west. It is the major meridian of the Western Hemisphere, its northernland extremity being Cape Columbia, Grant Land; southward it crosses ourown Cape Cod and the island of Santo Domingo, and runs down through theAndes to Cape Horn, the southern extremity of South America. 

The seventieth meridian was our pathway to the Pole, based on the westlongitude of 70°. Both Professor Marvin and Captain Bartlett took theirobservations at their respective farthests, and at the Pole, where allmeridians meet, Commander Peary took his elevations of the sun, based onthe local time of the Columbian meridian. 

Cape Columbia was discovered over fifty years ago, by the intrepidCaptain Hall, who gave his life to Arctic exploration, and lies buriedon the Greenland coast. From the time of the arrival of the _Roosevelt_at Cape Sheridan, the previous September, communications with CapeColumbia were opened up, the trail was made and kept open all throughthe winter by constant travel between the ship and the cape. Loads ofsupplies, in anticipation of the start for the Pole, were sledged there. 

The route to Cape Columbia is through a region of somber magnificence. Huge beetling cliffs overlook the pathway; dark savage headlands, aroundwhich we had to travel, project out into the ice-covered waters of theocean, and vast stretches of wind-swept plains meet the eye in alternatechanges. From Cape Sheridan to Cape Columbia is a distance ofninety-three miles. In ordinary weather, it took about three and a halfmarches, although on the return from the Pole it was covered in twomarches, men and dogs breezing in. 

On February 18, 1909, I left the _Roosevelt_ on what might be areturnless journey. The time to strike had come. Captain Bartlett andDr. Goodsell had already started. The Commander gave me strict orders tothe effect that I must get to Porter Bay, pick up the cache of alcoholleft there late in the previous week, solder up the leaks, and take itto Cape Columbia, there to await his arrival. The cause of thealcohol-leakage was due to the jolting of the sledges over the roughice, puncturing the thin tin of the alcohol-cases. 

I wish you could have seen me soldering those tins, under the conditionsof darkness, intense cold, and insufficient furnace arrangement I had toendure. If there ever was a job for a demon in Hades, that was it. Ivividly recall it. At the same instant I was in imminent danger offreezing to death and being burned alive; and the mental picture ofthose three fur-clad men, huddled around the little oil-stove heatingthe soldering-iron, and the hot solder dripping on the tin, is amusingnow; but we were anything but amused then. The following is transcribedfrom my diary:

February 18, 1909: Weather clear, temperature 28° at five A. M. We wereready to leave the ship at seven-thirty A. M. , but a blinding galedelayed our start until nine A. M. Two parties have left for Columbia:Professor MacMillan, three boys, four sledges, and twenty-four dogs; andmy party of three boys and the same outfit. Each sledge is loaded withabout two hundred and fifty pounds of provisions, consisting ofpemmican, biscuits, tea, and alcohol. The Arctic night still holds sway, but to-day at noon, far to the south, a thin band of twilight shows, giving promise of the return of the sun, and every day now will increasein light. Heavy going to Porter Bay, where we are to spend the night, and as soon as rested start to work soldering up the thirty-six leakyalcohol tins left there by George Borup last week. Professor MacMillanand his party have not shown up yet. They dropped behind at CapeRichardson and we are keeping a watch for them. Snow still drifting andthe wind howling like old times. Have had our evening meal oftravel-rations; pemmican, biscuits, and tea and condensed milk, whichwas eaten with a relish. Two meals a day now, and big work betweenmeals. No sign of Professor MacMillan and his crew, so we are going toturn in. The other igloo is waiting for him and the storm keeps up. 

February 19, 1909: It was six A. M. When I routed out the boys forbreakfast. I am writing while the tea is brewing. Had a good sleep lastnight when I did get to sleep. Snoring, talk about snoring! Sleepingwith Esquimos on either side, who have already fallen asleep, isimpossible. The only way to get asleep is to wake them up, get them goodand wide-awake, inquire solicitously as to their comfort, and beforethey can get to sleep fall asleep yourself. After that, their rhythmicsnores will only tend to soothe and rest you. 

Worked all day soldering the tins of alcohol, and a very trying job itwas. I converted the oil-stove into an alcohol-burner, and used it toheat the irons. It took some time for me to gauge properly the heightabove the blue flame of the alcohol at which I would get the bestresults in heating the irons, but at last we found it. A cradle-shapedsupport made from biscuit-can wire was hung over the flame about an inchabove it, and while the boys heated the irons, I squatted on my kneeswith a case of alcohol across my lap and got to work. I had watched Mr. Wardwell aboard the ship solder up the cases and I found that watching aman work, and doing the same thing yourself, were two different matters. I tried to work with mittens on; I tried to work with them off. As soonas my bare fingers would touch the cold metal of the tins, they wouldfreeze, and if I attempted to use the mittens they would singe and burn, and it was impossible to hold the solder with my bearskin gloves on. Butkeeping everlastingly at it brings success, and with the help of theboys the work was slowly but surely done. 

Early this evening Professor MacMillan and his caravan arrived. Hecomplimented me on the success of my work and informed me that theycamped at Cape Richardson last night and that the trail had been prettywell blown over by the storm, but that the sledge-tracks were still tobe seen. Dead tired, but not cold or uncomfortable. The stew is readyand so am I. Goodnight!

February 20: Wind died down, sky clear, and weather cold as usual. Ournext point is Sail Harbor and after breakfast we set out. The Professorhas asked me the most advisable way; whether to keep to the sea-ice orgo overland, and we have agreed to follow the northern route, overlandacross Fielden Peninsula, using Peary's Path. By this route we estimatea saving of eight miles of going, and we will hit the beach at JamesRoss Bay. 

Five P. M. : Sail Harbor. Stopped writing to eat breakfast, and then weloaded up and started. Reached here about an hour ago and from the freshtracks in the snow, the Captain's or the Doctor's party have justrecently left. It was evidently Doctor Goodsell and his crew who werehere last; for Captain Bartlett left the _Roosevelt_ on February 15 andthe Doctor did not leave until the 16th. The going has been heavy, dueto loose snow and heavy winds. Also intense cold; the thermometers areall out of commission, due to bubbles; but a frozen bottle of brandyproves that we had at least 45° of cold. The igloo I built last December5 is the one my party are camped in. Professor MacMillan and his partykept up with us all day, and it was pleasant to have his society. Writing is difficult, the kettle is boiled, so here ends to-day'sentry. 

February 21: Easy wind, clear sky, but awful cold. Going across ClementsMarkham Inlet was fine, and we were able to steal a ride on the sledgesmost of the way, but we all had our faces frosted, and my short flatnose, which does not readily succumb to the cold, suffered as much asdid MacMillan's. Even these men of iron, the Esquimos, suffered from thecold, Ootah freezing the great toe of his right foot. Perforce, he wascompelled to thaw it out in the usual way; that is, taking off his kamikand placing his freezing foot under my bearskin shirt, the heat of mybody thawing out the frozen member. 

Cape Colan was reached about half past nine this morning. There wereloaded, and I fear overloaded, the sledges, from the cache which hasbeen placed there. Our loads average about 550 pounds per sledge and wehave left a lot of provisions behind. 

We are at Cape Good Point, having been unable to make Cape Columbia, andhave had to build an igloo. With our overloaded sledges this has been ahard day's work. The dogs pulled, and we pushed, and frequently liftedthe heavily loaded sledges through the deep, soft snow; but we did notdump any of our loads. Although the boys wanted to, I would not standfor it. The bad example of seeing some piles of provision-cases whichhad been unloaded by the preceding parties was what put the idea intheir heads. 

We will make Cape Columbia to-morrow and will have to do noback-tracking. We are moving forward. I have started for a place, and donot intend to run back to get a better start. 

February 22, 1909: Cape Columbia. We left Cape Good Point at seven A. M. And reached Cape Columbia at eight P. M. No wind, but weather thick andhazy, and the same old cold. About two miles from Good Point, we passedthe Doctor's igloo. About a mile beyond this, we passed the "CrystalPalace" that had been occupied by the Captain. Six miles farther north, we passed a second igloo, which had been built by the Doctor's party. How did we know who had built and occupied these igloos? It was easy, asan Esquimo knows and recognizes another Esquimo's handwork, the same asyou recognize the handwriting of your friends. I noted the neat, orderly, shipshape condition of the Captain's igloo, and the emptycocoa-tins scattered around the Doctor's igloo. The Doctor was the onlyone who had cocoa as an article of supply. 

Following the trail four miles farther north, we passed the Captain'ssecond igloo. He had unloaded his three sledges here and gone on to ParrBay to hunt musk-oxen. We caught up with the Doctor and his party at theend of the ice-foot and pushed on to Cape Columbia. We found but oneigloo here and I did the "after you my dear Alphonse, " and the Doctorgot the igloo. My boys and I have built a good big one in less than anhour, and we are now snug and warm. 

CHAPTER VIII

IN CAMP AT COLUMBIA--LITERARY IGLOOS--THE MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION OF THEARCTIC

Our heavy furs had been made by the Esquimo women on board the ship andhad been thoroughly aired and carefully packed on the sledges. We wereto discard our old clothes before leaving the land and endeavor to be inthe cleanest condition possible while contending with the ice, for weknew that we would get dirty enough without having the discomfort ofvermin added. It is easy to become vermin-infested, and when all formsof life but man and dog seem to have disappeared, the bedbug stillremains. Each person had taken a good hot bath with plenty of soap andwater before we left the ship, and we had given each other what wecalled a "prize-fighter's hair-cut. " We ran the clippers from foreheadback, all over the head, and we looked like a precious bunch but we hadhair enough on our heads by the time we came back from our three months'journey, and we needed a few more baths and new clothes. 

When I met Dr. Goodsell at Cape Columbia, about a week after he had leftthe ship, he had already raised quite a beard, and, as his hair wasblack and heavy, it made quite a change in his appearance. The effect ofthe long period of darkness had been to give his complexion agreenish-yellow tinge. My complexion reminded him of a ginger cake withtoo much saleratus in it. 

February 23: Heavy snow-fall but practically no wind this morning atseven o'clock, when Dr. Goodsell left his igloo for Cape Colan to pickup the load he had left there when he lightened his sledges, also someloads of pemmican and biscuits that had been cached. We had suppertogether and also breakfast this morning, and as we ate we laughed andtalked, and I taught him a few tricks for keeping himself warm. 

In spite of the snow, which was still falling, I routed out my boys, andin the dark we left camp for the western side of the cape, to get thefour sledge-loads of rations that had been taken there the previousNovember. Got the loads and pushed south to Cape Aldrich, which is apoint on the promontory of Cape Columbia. From Cape Aldrich theCommander intends to attack the sea-ice. 

After unloading the supplies on the point, we came back to camp at CapeColumbia. Shortly afterwards Captain Bartlett came into camp from hismusk-ox-hunt around Parr Bay. He had not shot a thing and was very tiredand discouraged, but I think he was glad to see me. He was so hungrythat I gave him all the stew, which he swallowed whole. 

MacMillan and his party showed up about an hour after the Captain, andvery shortly after George Borup came driving in, like "Ann ElizaJohnson, a swingin' down the line. " I helped Mr. Borup build his igloo, for which he was grateful. He is a plucky young fellow and is alwayscheerful. He told us that Professor Marvin, according to the schedule, had left the ship on the 20th, and the Commander on the 21st, so theymust be well on the way. 

While waiting in this camp for the Commander and Professor Marvin toarrive, we had plenty of work; re-adjusting the sledge-loads and alsobuilding snow-houses and banking them with blocks of snow, for the windhad eroded one end of my igloo and completely razed it to the level ofthe ground, and a more solidly constructed igloo was necessary towithstand the fury of the gale. 

We kept a fire going in one igloo and dried our mittens and kamiks. Though the tumpa, tumpa, plunk of the banjo was not heard, and ourcamp-fires were not scenes of revelry and joy, I frequently did thedouble-shuffle and an Old Virginia break-down, to keep my bloodcirculating. 

The hours preceding our advance from Cape Columbia were pleasantlyspent, though we lost no time in literary debates. There were a fewbooks along. 

Out on the ice of the Polar ocean, as far as reading matter went, Ithink Dr. Goodsell had a very small set of Shakespeare, and I know thatI had a Holy Bible. The others who went out on the ice may have hadreading matter with them, but they did not read it out loud, and so Iam not in a position to say what their literary tastes were. 

Even on shipboard, we had no pigskin library or five-foot shelf ofsleep-producers, but each member had some favorite books in his cabin, and they helped to form a circulating library. 

 * * * * *

While we waited here, we had time to appreciate the magnificentdesolation about us. Even on the march, with loaded sledges and tuggingdogs to engage attention, unconsciously one finds oneself with witswool-gathering and eyes taking in the scene, and suddenly being broughtback to the business of the hour by the fiend-like conduct of his team. 

There is an irresistible fascination about the regions of northern-mostGrant Land that is impossible for me to describe. Having no poetry in mysoul, and being somewhat hardened by years of experience in thatinhospitable country, words proper to give you an idea of its uniquebeauty do not come to mind. Imagine gorgeous bleakness, beautifulblankness. It never seems broad, bright day, even in the middle of June, and the sky has the different effects of the varying hours of morningand evening twilight from the first to the last peep of day. Early inFebruary, at noon, a thin band of light appears far to the southward, heralding the approach of the sun, and daily the twilight lengthens, until early in March, the sun, a flaming disk of fiery crimson, showshis distorted image above the horizon. This distorted shape is due tothe mirage caused by the cold, just as heat-waves above the rails on arailroad-track distort the shape of objects beyond. 

The south sides of the lofty peaks have for days reflected the glory ofthe coming sun, and it does not require an artist to enjoy theunexampled splendor of the view. The snows covering the peaks show allof the colors, variations, and tones of the artist's palette, and more. Artists have gone with us into the Arctic and I have heard them raveover the wonderful beauties of the scene, and I have seen them at worktrying to reproduce some of it, with good results but with nothing likethe effect of the original. As Mr. Stokes said, "it is color run riot. "

To the northward, all is dark and the brighter stars of the heavens arestill visible, but growing fainter daily with the strengthening of thesunlight. 

When the sun finally gets above the horizon and swings his daily circle, the color effects grow less and less, but then the sky and cloud-effectsimprove and the shadows in the mountains and clefts of the ice showforth their beauty, cold blues and grays; the bare patches of the land, rich browns; and the whiteness of the snow is dazzling. At midday, theoptical impression given by one's shadow is of about nine o'clock in themorning, this due to the altitude of the sun, always giving us longshadows. Above us the sky is blue and bright, bluer than the sky of theMediterranean, and the clouds from the silky cirrus mare's-tails to thefantastic and heavy cumulus are always objects of beauty. This is thedescription of fine weather. 

Almost any spot would have been a fine one to get a round of views from;at Cape Sheridan, our headquarters, we were bounded by a series of landmarks that have become historical; to the north, Cape Hecla, the pointof departure of the 1906 expedition; to the west, Cape Joseph Henry, and beyond, the twin peaks of Cape Columbia rear their giant summits outto the ocean. 

From Cape Columbia the expedition was now to leave the land and sledgeover the ice-covered ocean four hundred and thirteen miles north--to thePole!

CHAPTER IX

READY FOR THE DASH TO THE POLE--THE COMMANDER'S ARRIVAL

The Diary--February 23: Heavy snow-fall and furious winds; accordinglyintense darkness and much discomfort. 

There was a heavy gale blowing at seven o'clock in the morning, onFebruary 22, and the snow was so thick and drifty that we kept close toour igloos and made no attempt to do more than feed the dogs. My igloowas completely covered with snow and the one occupied by Dr. Goodsellwas blown away, so that he had to have another one, which I helped tobuild. 

The wind subsided considerably, leaving a thick haze, but afterbreakfast, Professor MacMillan, Mr. Borup, and their parties, left campfor Cape Colan, to get the supplies they had dumped there, and carrythem to Cape Aldrich. I took one Esquimo, Pooadloonah, and one sledgefrom the Captain's party, and with my own three boys, Ooblooyah, Ootah, and I-forget-his-name, and a howling mob of dogs, we left for thewestern side of Cape Columbia, and got the rest of the pemmican andbiscuits. On the way back, we met the Captain, who was out takingexercise. He had nothing to say; he did not shake hands, but there wassomething in his manner to show that he was glad to see us. With thecoming of the daylight a man gets more cheerful, but it was stilltwilight when we left Cape Columbia, and melancholy would sometimesgrip, as it often did during the darkness of midwinter. 

Captain Bartlett helped us to push the loaded sledges to Cape Aldrichand nothing was left at Cape Columbia. 

When we got back to camp we found Professor Marvin and his party ofthree Esquimos there. They had just reached the camp and were at workbuilding an igloo. 

Professor Marvin came over to our igloo and changed his clothes; thatis, in a temperature of at least 45° below zero, by the light of mylantern he coolly and calmly stripped to the pelt, and proceeded tocloth himself in the new suit of reindeerskin and polar bearskinclothing, that had been made for him by the Esquimo woman, Ahlikahsingwah, aboard the _Roosevelt_. It had taken him and his partyfive days to make the trip from Sheridan to Columbia. 

February 26: This from my log: "Clear, no wind, temperature 57° belowzero. " Listen! I will tell you about it. At seven A. M. We quit tryingto sleep and started the pot a-boiling. A pint of hot tea gave us adifferent point of view, and Professor Marvin handed me the thermometer, which I took outside and got the reading; 57° below; that is coldenough. I have seen it lower, but after forty below the difference isnot appreciable. 

I climbed to the highest pinnacle of the cape and in the gatheringdaylight gazed out over the ice-covered ocean to get an idea of itscondition. At my back lay the land of sadness, just below me the littlevillage of snow-houses, the northern-most city on the earth (CommanderPeary give it the name Crane City), and, stretching wide and far to thenorthward, the irresistible influence that beckoned us on; broken ice, asinister chaos, through which we would have to work our way. Dark andheavy clouds along the horizon gave indication of open water, and it waseasy to see that the rough and heavy shore-ice would make no jokes forus to appreciate. 

About an hour or so after the midday meal, a loud outcry from the dogsmade me go outside to see what was up. This was on the afternoon ofFebruary 26. I quickly saw what the dogs were excited about. 

With a "Whoop halloo, " three Komaticks were racing and tearing down thegradient of the land to our camp, and all of us were out to see thefinish. Kudlooktoo and Arkeo an even distance apart; and, heads up, tails up, a full five sledge-lengths ahead, with snowdust spinning free, the dog-team of the ever victorious Peary in the lead. The caravan cameto a halt with a grandstand finish that it would have done you good towitness. 

The Commander didn't want to stop. He immediately commenced to shout andissue orders, and, by the time he had calmed down, both Captain Bartlettand George Borup had loaded up and pushed forward on to the ice of theArctic Ocean, bound for the trophy of over four hundred years ofeffort. The Peary discipline is the iron hand ungloved. From now on wemust be indifferent to comfort, and like poor little Joe, in "BleakHouse" we must always be moving on. 

CHAPTER X

FORWARD! MARCH!

Commander Peary was an officer of the United States Navy, but therenever was the slightest military aspect to any of his expeditions. Nobanners flying, no trumpets blaring, and no sharp, incisive commands. Long ago, crossing the ice-cap of North Greenland, he carried a wand ofbamboo, on one end of which was attached a little silk guidon, with astar embroidered on it, but even that had been discarded and the onlything military about this expedition was his peremptory "Forward!March!" What flags we had were folded and stowed on Commander Peary'ssledge, and broken-out only at the North Pole. 

Captain Bartlett and Mr. George Borup were all alert and at attention, the command of preparation and the command of execution were quicklygiven in rapid succession, and they were off. 

From the diary. 

February 28, 1909: A bright, clear morning. Captain Bartlett and hiscrew, Ooqueah, Pooadloonah, and Harrigan; and George Borup and Karko, Seegloo, and Keshungwah, have set sail and are on their way. 

Captain Bartlett made the trail and George Borup was the scout, and arare "Old Scout" he was. He kept up the going for three days and thencame back to the land to start again with new loads of supplies. 

The party that stayed at Crane City until March 1, consisted ofCommander Peary, MacMillan, Goodsell, Marvin, myself, and fourteenEsquimos, whom you don't know, and ninety-eight dogs, that you may haveheard about. 

The dogs were double-fed and we put a good meal inside ourselves beforeturning-in on the night of February 28, 1909. The next morning was to beour launching, and we went to sleep full of the thought of what wasbefore us. From now on it was keep on going, and keep on--and we kepton; sometimes in the face of storms of wind and snow that it isimpossible for you to imagine. 

[Illustration: ROBERT E. PEARY IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS]

[Illustration: THE FOUR NORTH POLE ESKIMOS

(From Henson's own Photograph)]

Day does not break in the Arctic regions, it just comes on quietly thesame as down here, but I must say that at daybreak on March 1, 1909, wewere all excitement and attention. A furious wind was blowing, which wetook as a good omen; for, on all of Commander Peary's travelings, a goodbig, heavy, storm of blinding snow has been his stirrup-cup and here hehad his last. Systematically we had completed our preparations on thetwo days previous, so that, by six A. M. Of the 1st of March, we wereready and standing at the upstanders of our sledges, awaiting thecommand "Forward! March!"

Already, difficulties had commenced. Ooblooyah and Slocum (Esquimo name, Inighito, but, on account of his dilatory habits, known as Slocum) wereincapacitated; Ooblooyah with a swelled knee, and Slocum with a frozenheel. The cold gets you in most any place, up there. 

I and my three boys were ordered to take the lead. We did so, at abouthalf past six o'clock in the morning. Forward! March! and we were off. 

CHAPTER XI

FIGHTING UP THE POLAR SEA--HELD UP BY THE "BIG LEAD"

Following the trail made by Captain Bartlett, we pushed off, every manat the upstander of his sledge to urge his team by whip and voice. Itwas only when we had perfect going over sheets of young ice that we wereable to steal a ride on the sledges. 

The trail led us over the glacial fringe for a quarter of a mile, andthe going was fairly easy, but, after leaving the land ice-foot, thetrail plunged into ice so rough that we had to use pickaxes to make apathway. It took only about one mile of such going, and my sledge split. 

"Number one, " said I to myself, and I came to a halt. The gale was stillblowing, but I started to work on the necessary repairs. I havepractically built one sledge out of two broken ones, while out on theice and in weather almost as bad as this; and I have almost dailyduring the journey had to repair broken sledges, sometimes under fiercerconditions; and so I will describe this one job and hereafter, whenwriting about repairing a sledge, let it go at that. 

Cold and windy. Undo the lashings, unload the load, get out the braceand bit and bore new holes, taking plenty of time, for, in such cold, there is danger of the steel bit breaking. Then, with ungloved hands, thread the sealskin thongs through the hole. The fingers freeze. Stopwork, pull the hand through the sleeve, and take your icy fingers toyour heart; that is, put your hand under your armpit, and when you feelit burning you know it has thawed out. Then start to work again. By thistime the party has advanced beyond you and, as orders are orders, andyou have been ordered to take the lead, you have to start, catch up, andpass the column before you have reached your station. 

Of course, in catching up and overtaking the party, you have theadvantage of the well-marked trail they have made. Once again in thelead; and my boy, Ootah, had to up and break his sledge, and there wassome more tall talking when the Commander caught up with us and left usthere mending it. A little farther on, and the amiable Kudlooktoo, whowas in my party at the time, busted his sledge. You would have thoughtthat Kudlooktoo was the last person in Commander Peary's estimation, when he got through talking to him and telling him what he thought ofhim. The sledge was so badly broken it had to be abandoned. The load wasleft on the spot where the accident happened, and Kudlooktoo, muchchastened and crestfallen, drove his team of dogs back to the land for anew sledge. 

We did not wait for him, but kept on for about two hours longer, when wereached the Captain's first igloo, twelve miles out; a small day'straveling, but we were almost dead-beat, from having battled all daywith the wind, which had blown a full-sized gale. No other but a Pearyparty would have attempted to travel in such weather. Our breath wasfrozen to our hoods of fur and our cheeks and noses frozen. Spreadingour furs upon the snow, we dropped down and endeavored to sleep, butsound sleep was impossible. It was a night of Plutonian Purgatory. Allthrough the night I would wake from the cold and beat my arms or feet tokeep the circulation going, and I would hear one or both of my boysdoing the same. I did not make any entries in the diary that day, andthere was many a day like it after that. 

It was cold and dark when we left camp number one on the morning ofMarch 2, at half past six o'clock. Breakfast had warmed us up a bit, butthe hard pemmican had torn and cut the roofs and sides of our mouths sothat we did not eat a full meal, and we decided that at our next camp wewould boil the pemmican in the tea and have a combination stew. I willsay now that this experiment was tried, but it made such an unwholesomemess that it was never repeated. 

The Captain's and Borup's trail was still evident, in spite of the lowdrifts of the snow, but progress was slow. We were still in the heavyrubble-ice and had to continuously hew our way with pickaxes to make apath for the sledges. While we were at work making a pathway, the dogswould curl up and lie down with their noses in their tails, and wewould have to come back and start them, which was always the signal fora fight or two. We worked through the belt of rubble-ice at last, andcame up with the heavy old floes and rafters of ice-blocks, larger thanvery large flag-stones and fully as thick as they were long and wide;the fissures between them full of the drifted snow. Even with our broadsnow-shoes on, we sank knee-deep, and the dogs were in up to theirbreasts, the sledges up to the floors and frequently turning over, so itwas a long time before we had covered seven miles, to be stopped by openwater. I took no chances on this lead, although afterwards I did nothesitate at more desperate looking leads than this was. Instead offerrying across on a block of ice, I left one of my boys to attend thedogs and sledges, and with Ootah I started to reconnoiter. We found thatthere were two leads, and the safest way to cross the first was to gowest to a point where the young ice was strong enough to bear the weightof the sledges. We got across and had not gone very far before the otherlead, in spite of a detour to the east, effectually blocked us. Startingback to the sledges, Ootah said he was "_damn feel good_, " and inEsquimo gave me to understand that he was going back to the ship. Itried to tell him different, as we walked back; and when we reached campwe found the Commander and his party, who had just come in; and theCommander gave Ootah to distinctly understand that he was not going backjust yet. Orders were given to camp, and while the igloos were beingbuilt, Marvin and MacMillan took soundings. There had been more daylightthan on the day before, and the gale had subsided considerably, but itwas dark when we turned in to have our evening meal and sleep. 

March 3: Right after breakfast, my party immediately started, taking thetrail I had found the day previous. Examining the ice, we went to thewestward, until we came to the almost solid new ice, and we took achance. The ice commenced to rafter under us, but we got across safelywith our loads, and started east again, for two miles; when we foundourselves on an island of ice completely surrounded by the heavyraftered ice. Here we halted and mended sledges and in the course of anhour the whole party had caught up. The ice had begun to rafter and theshattering reports made a noise that was almost ear-splitting, but wepushed and pulled and managed to get out of the danger-zone, and keptgoing northwestward, in the hope of picking up the trail of the Captainand Borup, which we did after a mile of going. Close examination of thetrail showed us that Borup and his party had retraced their steps andgone quite a distance west in order to cross the lead. It was on thismarch that we were to have met Borup and his party returning, so Marvinand his boy Kyutah were sent to look them up. The rest of the party kepton in the newly found trail and came to the igloo and cache that hadbeen left there by Borup. The Commander went into the igloo, and we madethe dogs fast and built our own igloos, made our tea and went to sleep. 

March 4: Heavy snow fall; but Commander Peary routed out all hands, andby seven o'clock we were following the Captain's trail. Very roughgoing, and progress slow up to about nine o'clock, when conditionschanged. We reached heavy, old floes of waving blue ice, the besttraveling on sea ice I had ever encountered in eighteen years'experience. We went so fast that we more than made up for lost time andat two o'clock, myself in the lead, we reached the igloo built byCaptain Bartlett. It had been arranged that I should stop for one sleepat every igloo built by the Captain, and that he should leave a note inhis igloo for my instructions; but, in spite of these previousarrangements, I felt that with such good traveling it would be just aswise to keep on going, and so we did, but it was only about half orthree-quarters of an hour later when we were stopped by a lead, besidewhich the Captain had camped. With Ootah and Tommy to help, we built anigloo and crawled inside. Two hours later, the Commander and his partyarrived, and we crawled out and turned the igloo over to him. Tommy, Ootah, and I then built another igloo, crawled inside, and blocked thedoorway up with a slab of snow, determined not to turn out again untilwe had had a good feed and snooze. 

From my diary, the first entry since leaving the land; with a couple ofcomments added afterward:

March 5: A clear bright morning, 20° below zero; quite comfortable. Reached here yesterday at two-forty-five P. M. , after some of the finestgoing I have ever seen. Commander Peary, Captain Bartlett, and Dr. Goodsell here, and fourteen Esquimos. First view of the sun to-day, fora few minutes at noon, makes us all cheerful. It was a crimson sphere, just balanced on the brink of the world. Had the weather been favorable, we could have seen the sun several days earlier. Every day following hewill get higher and higher, until he finally swings around the sky abovethe horizon for the full twenty-four hours. 

Early in the morning of the 5th, Peary sent a detachment of threeEsquimos, in charge of MacMillan, back to bring in Borup's cache, leftby him at the point where he turned back to return to the land for moreloads. This detachment was back in camp by four o'clock in the afternoonof the same day. Nothing left to do but to rearrange the loads and waitfor the lead to close. 

The land is still in sight. Professor Marvin has gone back with two boysand is expected to keep on to the alcohol cache at Cape Columbia, turnback and meet us here, or, if the ice freezes, to follow us until hecatches up with us. We are husbanding our fuel, and two meals a day isour programme. We are still south of the Big Lead of 1906, but to allintents and purposes this is it. I am able to recognize many of thecharacteristics of it, and I feel sure it is the same old lead that gaveus many an anxious hour in our upward and downward journey three yearsago. 

Fine weather, but we are still south of the 84th parallel and this openwater marks it. 8° below zero and all comfortable. We should be doingtwenty or twenty-five miles a day good traveling, but we are halted bythis open water. 

March 7: Professor MacMillan came into camp to-day with the cache he hadpicked up. There was quite a hullabaloo among the boys, and a great dealof argument as to who owned various articles of provender and equipmentthat had been brought into camp by MacMillan, and even I was on thepoint of jumping into the fracas in order to see fair play, until a winkfrom MacMillan told me that it was simply a put-up job of his todisconcert the Esquimos. Confidentially and on the side he has beendressing his heel, which in spite of all keeps on freezing, and is invery bad shape. His kamiks stick to the loose flesh and the skin willnot form. All of the frost has been taken out, but I think skin-graftingis the only thing that will cure it. He wants to keep on going and asksme how far we have gone and wants to know if he shall tell CommanderPeary about his injury. I have advised him to make a clean breast of it, but he feels good for a week or so more, and it is up to him. 

We eat, and sleep, and watch the lead, and wonder. Are we to be repulsedagain? Is the unseen, mysterious guardian of this mist-covered regionfoiling us? The Commander is taking it with a great deal more patiencethan he usually has with obstacles, but in the face of this one heprobably realizes the necessity of a calm, philosophic mood. 

Captain Bartlett has been here longer than any of us, and he iscommencing to get nervous. Commander Peary and he have done what isnautically known as "swinging the ship, " for the purpose of correctingcompass errors, and after that there is nothing for them to do butwait. Captain Bartlett describes it as "Hell on Earth"; the Commanderhas nothing to say, and I agree with him. Dr. Goodsell reads from hislittle books, studies Esquimo language, writes in his diary and talks tome and the rest of the party, and waits. 

Professor MacMillan, with his eye ever to the south, and an occasionalglance at his frozen heel, cracks a joke and bids us be cheerful. He isone _man_, and has surely made good. His first trip to this forsakenregion, yet he wakes up from his sleep with a smile on his face and aquestion as to how a nice, large, juicy steak would go about now. Thisis no place for jokes, yet his jokes are cheering and make us all feelmore light-hearted. He is the "life of the funeral" and by hischeerfulness has kept our spirits from sinking to a dead level, and whenthe Esquimos commenced to get cranky, by his diplomacy he brought themto think of other subjects than going back to the ship. 

He has started to kid us along by instituting a series of competitionsin athletic endeavors, and the Esquimos fall for it like the Innocentsthat they are, and that is the object he is after. They have tried allof their native stunts, wrestling, boxing, thumb-pulling, andelbow-tests; and each winner has been awarded a prize. Most of theprizes are back on the ship and include the anchors, rudders, keel, andspars. Everything else has long since been given away, and these peoplehave keen memories. 

The Big Lead has no attraction for the Esquimos and the waiting for achance to cross it has given them much opportunity to complain of coldfeet. It is fierce, listening to their whines and howls. Of allyellow-livered curs deliver me. We have the best Esquimos in the tribewith us, and expect them to remain steadfast and loyal, but after theyhave had time to realize their position, the precariousness of it beginsto magnify and they start in to whimper, and beg to be allowed to goback. They remember the other side of this damnable open water and whatit meant to get back in 1906. I do not blame them, but I have had theDevil's own time in making my boys and some of the others see it the waythe Commander wants us to look at it. 

Indeed, two of the older ones, Panikpah and Pooadloonah, became sofractious that the Commander sent them back, with a written order toGushue on the ship, to let them pack up their things and take theirfamilies and dogs back to Esquimo land, which they did. When the_Roosevelt_ reached Etah the following August, on her return, these twomen were there, fat and healthy, and merrily greeted us. No hardfeelings whatever. 

March 10: We could have crossed to-day, but there was a chance of Marvinand Borup catching up with their loads of alcohol, etc. Whether theycatch up or not, to-morrow, early, we start across, and the indicationsare that the going will be heavy, for the ice is piled in rafters ofpressure-ridges. 

 * * * * *

It was exasperating; seven precious days of fine weather lost; and fineweather is the exception, not the rule, in the Arctic. Here we wereresting in camp, although we were not extremely tired and nowhere nearexhausted. We were ready and anxious to travel on the 5th, next morningafter we reached the "Big Lead, " but were perforce compelled toinaction. And so did we wait for nearly seven days beside that lead, before conditions were favorable for a crossing. 

But early in the morning of March 11th the full party started; throughthe heaviest of going imaginable. Neither Borup nor Marvin had caughtup, but we felt that unless something had happened to them, they wouldsurely catch up in a few more days. 

CHAPTER XII

PIONEERING THE WAY--BREAKING SLEDGES

March 11, 1909: Clear, 45°. Off we go! Marvin and Borup have not yetshown up, but the lead is shut and the orders since yesterday afternoonhave been to stand by for only twelve hours more; and while the tea isbrewing I am using the warmth to write. We could have crossed thirtyhours ago, but Commander Peary would not permit us to take chances; hewants to keep the party together as long as possible, and expects tohave to send at least eight men back after the next march. MacMillan isnot fit, and there are four or five of the natives who should be sentaway. Three Esquimos apiece are too many, and I think Commander Peary isabout ready to split the different crews of men and dogs. He himself isin very good shape and, due to his example, Captain Bartlett has againtaken the field. A heavy storm of wind and snow is in progress, but themotion of the ice remains satisfactory. 

This is not a regular camp. We are sheltered north of a hugepaleocrystic floeberg; and the dogs are at rest, with their noses intheir tails. Dr. Goodsell has set his boys to work building an igloo, which will not be needed, for I see Ooqueah and Egingwah piling up theloads on their sledges, and Professor MacMillan is very busy with hisown personal sledge. No halt, only a breathing spell and, as I havepredicted, we are on our way again. This is an extremely dangerous zoneto halt or hazard in. The ice is liable to open here at any moment andlet us either sink in the cold, black water or drift on a block offrozen ice, much too thin to enable us to get on to the heavy ice again. Three miles wide at least. 

The foregoing was written while out on the ice of the Arctic Ocean, justafter crossing the raftered hummocks of the ice of the Big Lead. Whilewe were waiting for the rest of the expedition to gather in, I slumpeddown behind a peak of land or paleocrystic ice, and made the entry in mydiary. We were not tired out; we had had more than six days' rest atthe lead; and when it closed we pushed on across the pressure-ridges onto the heavy and cumbrous ice of the circumpolar sea. We were sure thatwe had passed the main obstruction, and in spite of the failure ofMarvin and Borup to come in with the essentials of fuel-alcohol andfood, Commander Peary insisted on pushing forward. 

Prof. Donald B. MacMillan was with the party, but Commander Peary knew, without his telling him, that he was really no longer fit to travel, andDr. Goodsell was not as far north of the land as original plansintended, so when both MacMillan and Goodsell were told that they muststart back to the ship, I was not surprised. 

It was on March 14 that the first supporting-party finally turned back. It was my impression that Professor MacMillan would command it, butCommander Peary sent the Doctor back in charge, with the two boys Arcoand Wesharkoupsi. A few hours before the turning back of Dr. Goodsell, an Esquimo courier from Professor Marvin's detachment had overtaken us, with the welcome news that both Borup and Marvin, with complete loads, were immediately in our rear, safe across the lead that had so longdelayed us. I was given instructions to govern my conduct for thefollowing five marches and I was told to be ready to start right afterbreakfast. 

Dr. Goodsell came to me, congratulated me and, with the best wishes forsuccess, bade me good-by. He was loath to go back, but he returned tothe ship with the hearty assurance of every one that he had done goodand effective work, equal to the best efforts of the more experiencedmembers of the party. 

My boys, Ootah, Ahwatingwah, and Koolootingwah, under my command startednorth, to pioneer the route for five full marches, and it was with afirm resolve that I determined to cover a big mileage. We had beenhaving extreme cold weather, as low as 59° below zero, and on themorning my party started the thermometers in the camp showed 49° belowzero. 

An hour's travel brought us to a small lead, which was avoided by makinga detour, and about four miles beyond this lead we came up to heavy oldfloes, on which the snow lay deep and soft. The sledges would sink tothe depth of the cross-bars. Traveling was slow, and the dogs becamedemons; at one time, sullen and stubborn; then wildly excited andsavage; and in our handling of them I fear we became fiendlikeourselves. Frequently we would have to lift them bodily from the pits ofsnow, and snow-filled fissures they had fallen into, and I am now sorryto say that we did not do it gently. The dogs, feeling the additionalstrain, refused to make the slightest effort when spoken to or touchedwith the whip, and to break them of this stubbornness, and to preventfurther trouble, I took the leader or king dog of one team and, in thepresence of the rest of the pack, I clubbed him severely. The dogsrealized what was required of them, and that I would exact it of them inspite of what they would do, and they became submissive and pulledwillingly, myself and the Esquimos doing our share at the upstanders. 

We got over the heavy floe-ice, to find ourselves confronted withjagged, rough ice, where we had to pickax our way. In one place we cameto pressure-ridges separated by a deep gulch of very rough and unevenice, in crossing which it took two men to manage each sledge, andanother man to help pull them up on to the more even ice. We crossedseveral leads, mostly frozen over, and kept on going for over twelvehours. The mileage was small and, instead of elation, I feltdiscouragement. Two of the sledges had split their entire length and hadto be repaired, and the going had been such that we could not cover anydistance. We had a good long rest at the Big Lead for over six days, butat the end of this, my first day's pioneering, I was as tired out as Ihave ever been. It should be understood that while I was pioneering Iwas carrying the full-loaded sledges with about 550 pounds, while theother parties that were in the lead never carried but half of theregular load, which made our progress much slower. 

March 15: Bright, clear, and I am sure as cold as the record-breakingcold of the day previous. We made an early start, with hopes high; butthe first two hours' traveling was simply a repetition of the going ofthe day before. But after that, and to the end of the day's march, thesurface of the ice over which we traveled was most remarkably smooth. The fallen snow had packed solid into the areas of rough ice and on theedges of the large floes. The dogs, with tails up and heads out, stampedoff mile after mile in rapid succession, and when we camped Iconservatively made the estimate fifteen miles. It has to be good goingto make such a distance with loaded sledges, but we made it and I wassatisfied. 

March 16: We started going over ice conditions similar to the good partof the day before, but our hopes were soon shattered when the icechanged completely and, from being stationary, a distinct motion becomeobservable. The movement of the ice increased, and the rumbling androaring, as it raftered, was deafening. A dense fog, the sure indicationof open water, overhung us, and in due time we came to the open lead, over which small broken floes were scattered, interspersed with thinyoung ice. These floes were hardly thick enough to hold a dog safely, but, there being no other way, we were obliged to cross on them. We setout with jaws squared by anxiety. A false step by any one would mean theend. With the utmost care, the sledges were placed on the most solidfloes, and, with Ootah, the most experienced, in the lead, we followedin single file. Once started, there was no stopping; but push on withthe utmost care and even pressure. You know that we got across, butthere were instants during the crossing when I had my strongest doubts. After crossing the lead, the ice condition became horrible. Almost atthe same time, three of the sledges broke, one sledge being completelysmashed to pieces. We were forced to camp and start to work making twowhole sledges from the wreckage of the three broken ones. 

We had barely completed this work when the Commander, the Captain, Marvin, Borup, and Esquimos came in. I was glad to see them all again, especially the smiling face of George Borup, whom I had not seen sincethe day he left Cape Columbia. 

We learned that MacMillan had been sent back to the ship on the 15th, that the party had been delayed on the second day's march by a new lead, which widened so rapidly and to such an extent that it was feared to bethe twin sister of the Big Lead farther back. 

March 17: The whole party, with the exception of Professor Marvin andhis detachment, remained in camp. Marvin was sent ahead to plot a routefor the next marches of the column, and the party in camp busied itselfin the general work of repairing sledges and equipment. 

The morning of the 18th found the main column ready to start, and startit did, in spite of the dreary outlook due to the condition of theweather and of the ice. Thermometer 40° below zero, and the loose ice toour right and in front distinctly in motion, but fortunately moving tothe northward. A heavy wind of the force of a gale was at our backs, andfor the first three miles our progress was slow. The hummocks of ice inwild disarrangement, and so difficult to cross that repeatedly thesledges were overturned; and one sledge was broken so badly that a halthad to be made to repair it. While repairing the sledge, our middaylunch of crackers was eaten. The dogs were not fed anything, experiencehaving taught us that dogs will work better with hope for a reward inthe future than when it is past. 

All that day the air was thick with haze and frost and we felt the coldeven more than when the temperature was lower with the air clear. Thewind would find the tiniest opening in our clothing and pierce us withthe force of driving needles. Our hoods froze to our growing beards andwhen we halted we had to break away the ice that had been formed by thecongealing of our breaths and from the moisture of perspiration exhaledby our bodies. When we finally camped and built our igloos, it was notwith any degree of comfort that we lay down to rest. Actually it wasmore comfortable to keep on the march, and when we did rest it wasfatigue that compelled. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE SUPPORTING-PARTIES BEGIN TO TURN BACK

March 19: We left camp in a haze of bitter cold; the ice conditionsabout the same as the previous day; high rafters, huge and jagged; andwe pickaxed the way continuously. By noontime, we found ourselvesalongside of a lead covered by a film of young ice. We forced the dogsand they took it on the run, the ice undulating beneath them, the sameas it does when little wanton boys play at _tickley benders_, often withserious results, on the newly formed ice on ponds and brooks down incivilization. Our _tickley benders_ were not done in the spirit of play, but on account of urgent necessity, and as it was I nearly suffered aserious loss of precious possessions. 

One of the sledges, driven by Ahwatingwah, broke through the ice and itsload, which consisted of my extra equipment, such as kamiks, mittens, etc. , was thoroughly soaked. Luckily for the boy, he was at the side ofthe sledge and escaped a ducking. Foolishly I rushed over, but, quicklyrealizing my danger, I slowed down, and with the utmost care he fishedout the sledge, and the dogs, shaking as with palsy, were gently urgedon. Walking wide, like the polar bear, we crept after, and withoutfurther incident reached the opposite side of the lead. My team hadreached there before me and, with human intelligence, the dogs haddragged the sledge to a place of safety and were sitting on theirhaunches, with ears cocked forward, watching us in our precariouspredicament. They seemed to rejoice at our deliverance, and as I wentamong them and untangled their traces I could not forbear giving eachone an affectionate pat on the head. 

For the next five hours our trail lay over heavy pressure ridges, insome places sixty feet high. We had to make a trail over the mountainsof ice and then come back for the sledges. A difficult climb began. Pushing from our very toes, straining every muscle, urging the dogs withvoice and whip, we guided the sledges. On several occasions the dogsgave it up, standing still in their tracks, and we had to hold thesledges with the strength of our bones and muscles to prevent them fromsliding backwards. When we had regained our equilibrium the dogs wereagain started, and in this way we gained the tops of thepressure-ridges. 

Going down on the opposite side was more nerve-racking. On the descentof one ridge, in spite of the experienced care of Ootah, the sledgebounded away from him, and at a declivity of thirty feet was completelywrecked. The frightened dogs dashed wildly in every direction to escapethe falling sledge, and as quickly as possible we slid down the steepincline, at the same time guiding the dogs attached to the two remainingsledges. We rushed over, my two boys and I, to the spot where the poordogs stood trembling with fright. We released them from the tangle theywere in, and, with kind words and pats of the hand on their heads, quieted them. For over an hour we struggled with the broken pieces ofthe wreck and finally lashed them together with strips of _oog-sook_(seal-hide). We said nothing to the Commander when he caught up withus, but his quick eye took in at a glance the experience we had beenthrough. The repairs having been completed, we again started. Before usstretched a heavy, old floe, giving us good going until we reached thelead, when the order was given to camp. We built our igloos, and boiledthe tea and had what we called supper. 

Commander Peary called me over to his igloo and gave me my orders:first; that I should at once select the best dogs of the three teams, asthe ones disqualified by me would on the following morning be sent backto the ship, in care of the third supporting party, which was to turnback. Secondly; that I should rearrange the loads on the remainder ofthe sledges, there now being ten in number. It was eight P. M. When Ibegan work and two the following morning when I had finished. 

March 20: During the night, the Commander had a long talk with Borup, and in the morning my good friend, in command of the third supportingparty, bade us all good-by and took his detachment back to land andheadquarters. There were three Esquimos and seventeen dogs in hisparty. A fine and plucky young man, whose cheerful manner and readywillingness had made him a prime favorite; and he had done his work likean old campaigner. 

At the time of Borup's turning southward, Captain Bartlett, with twoEsquimos, started out to the north to make trail. He was to act aspioneer. At ten-thirty A. M. , I, with two Esquimos, followed; leaving atthe igloos the Commander and Professor Marvin, with four Esquimos. Thesystem of our marches from now on was that the first party, or pioneers, which consisted of Captain Bartlett, myself, and our Esquimos, should betrail-making, while the second party, consisting of Commander Peary andMarvin, with their Esquimos, should be sleeping; and while the firstparty was sleeping, the second should be traveling over the trailpreviously made. The sun was above the horizon the whole twenty-fourhours of the day, and accordingly there was no darkness. Either thefirst or second party was always traveling, and progress was hourlymade. 

March 21: Captain Bartlett got away early, leaving me in camp to awaitthe arrival of Commander Peary and Marvin, with their party; and it waseight A. M. When they arrived. Commander Peary instructed me to theeffect that, when I overtook the Captain, I should tell him to make asmuch speed as possible. 

The going was, for the first hour, over rough, raftered ice. Great careand caution had to be observed, but after that we reached a stretch ofundulated, level ice, extending easily fifteen miles; and theexhilarating effect made our spirits rise. The snow-covering was soft, but with the help of our snow-shoes we paced off the miles, and at noonwe caught up with the Captain and his boys. Together we traveled on, andat the end of an hour's going we halted for our noon-meal, consisting ofa can of tea and three biscuits per man, the dogs doing the hungrylooking on, as dogs have done and do and will do forever. As we sat andate, we joshed each other, and the Esquimo boys joined in thegood-natured raillery. 

The meal did not detain us long, and soon we were pushing on again asquickly as possible over the level ice, fearing that if we delayed thecondition of the ice would change, for changes come suddenly, andfrequently without warning. At nine P. M. We camped, the Captain havingbeen on the go for fifteen hours, and I for thirteen; and we estimatedthat we had a good fourteen miles to our credit. 

March 22 was the finest day we had, and it was a day of unusualclearness and calm; practically no wind and a cloudless sky. The fieldsof ice and snow sparkled and glistened and the daylight lasted for thefull twenty-four hours. It was six A. M. When Egingwah, the Commander'sEsquimo courier, reached our camp, with the note of command andencouragement; and immediately the Captain and I left camp. 

Stretching to the northward was a brilliantly illuminated, level, andslightly drifted snow-plain, our imperial highway, presenting aspectacle grand and sublime; and we were truly grateful and inwardlyprayed that this condition would last indefinitely. Without incident oraccident, we marched on for fifteen hours, pacing off mile after mile inour steady northing, and at nine P. M. We halted. It was then werealized how utterly fatigued and exhausted we were. It took us over anhour and a half to build our igloos. We had a hard time finding suitablesnow conditions for building them, and the weather was frightfully cold. The evening meal of pemmican-stew and tea was prepared, the dogs werefed, and we turned in. 

March 23: Our sleep-banked eyes were opened by the excitement caused bythe arrival of Marvin and his division. He reported the same good goingthat we had had the day before, and also that he had taken an elevationof the sun and computed his latitude as 85° 46' north. We turned theigloos over to Marvin and his Esquimos, who were to await the arrival ofthe Commander, and Captain Bartlett and myself got our parties underway. 

Conditions are never similar, no two days are the same; and our goingthis day was nothing like the paradise of the day before. At a littledistance from the igloos we encountered high masses of heavily-rubbled, old ice. The making of a trail through these masses of ice caused us touse our pickaxes continuously. It was backing and filling all of thetime. First we would reconnoiter, then we would hew our way and makethe trail, then we would go back and, getting in the traces, help thedogs pull the sledges, which were still heavily loaded. This operationwas repeated practically all the day of March 23, except for the lasthour of traveling, when we zigzagged to the eastward, where the iceappeared less formidable, consisting of small floes with rubble icebetween and a heavy, old floe beyond. There we camped. The latitude was85° 46' north. 

The course from the land to the Pole was not direct and due north, forwe followed the lines of least resistance, and frequently foundourselves going due east or west, in order to detour around pressureridges, floebergs, and leads. 

March 24: Commander Peary reached camp shortly after six A. M. , andafter a few brief instructions, we started out. The going not as heavyas the day previous; but the sky overcast, and a heavy drift on thesurface made it decidedly unpleasant for the dogs. For the first sixhours the going was over rough, jagged ice, covered with deep, softsnow; for the rest of the day it improved. We encountered comparativelylevel ice, with a few hummocks, and in places covered with deep snow. Wecamped at eight P. M. , beside a very heavy pressure-ridge as long as acity street and as high as the houses along the street. 

March 25: Turned out at four-thirty A. M. , to find a steadily fallingsnow storm upon us. We breakfasted, and fifteen minutes later we wereonce more at work making trail. Our burly neighbor, the pressure-ridge, in whose lee we had spent the night, did not make an insuperableobstacle, and in the course of an hour we had made a trail across it, and returned to the igloo for the sledges. We found that the main columnhad reached camp, and after greetings had been given, Commander Pearycalled me aside and gave me my orders; to take the trail at once, tospeed it up to the best of my ability and cover as much distance aspossible; for he intended that I should remain at the igloo thefollowing day to sort out the best dogs and rearrange the loads, asMarvin was to turn back with the fourth supporting-party. My heartstopped palpitating, I breathed easier, and my mind was relieved. It wasnot my turn yet, I was to continue onward and there only remained oneperson between me and the Pole--the Captain. We knew Commander Peary'sgeneral plan: that, at the end of certain periods, certain parties wouldturn south to the land and the ship; but we did not know who wouldcomprise or command those parties and, until I had the Commander's word, I feared that I would be the next after Borup. At the same time, I didnot see how Marvin could travel much longer, as his feet were very badlyfrozen. 

Obedient to the Commander's orders, the Captain, I, and our Esquimos, left camp with loaded sledges and trudged over the newly made trail, coming to rough ice which stretched for a distance of five miles, andkept us hard at back-straining, shoulder-wrenching work for severalhours. The rest of the day's march was over level, unbroken, young ice;and the distance covered was considerable. 

March 26: The Commander and party reached the igloo at ten-forty-five A. M. Captain Bartlett had taken to the trail at six A. M. , and was nowmiles to the northward, out of sight. I immediately started to work onthe task assigned me by the Commander, assorting the dogs first, so thatthe different king dogs could fight it out and adjust themselves to newconditions while I was rearranging the loads. 

At twelve, noon, Professor Marvin took his final sight, and afterfiguring it out told me that he made it 86° 38' north. 

The work of readjusting the loads kept me busy until seven P. M. Whiledoing this work I came across my Bible that I had neglected so long, andthat night, before going to sleep, I read the twenty-third Psalm, andthe fifth chapter of St. Matthew. 

March 27: I was to take the trail at six A. M. , but before starting Iwent over to Marvin's igloo to bid him good-by. In his quiet, earnestmanner, he advised me to keep on, and hoped for our success; hecongratulated me and we gave each other the strong, fraternal grip ofour honored fraternity and we confidently expected to see each otheragain at the ship. My good, kind friend was never again to see us, ortalk with us. It is sad to write this. He went back to his death, drowned in the cold, black water of the Big Lead. In unmarked, unmarbledgrave, he sleeps his last, long sleep. 

CHAPTER XIV

BARTLETT'S FARTHEST NORTH--HIS QUIET GOOD-BY

Leaving the Commander and Marvin at the igloos, my party took up theCaptain's trail northward. It was expected that Peary would follow in anhour and that at the same time Marvin would start his return march. After a few minutes' going, we came to young ice of this season, brokenup and frozen solid, not difficult to negotiate, but requiring constantpulling; leaving this, we came to an open lead which caused us to make adetour to the westward for four miles. We crossed on ice so thin thatone of the sledge-runners broke through, and a little beyond one of thedogs fell in so completely that it was a precarious effort to rescuehim; but we made it and, doglike, he shook the water out of his fur anda little later, when his fur froze, I gave him a thorough beating; notfor falling in the water, but in order to loosen the ice-particles, sothat he could shake them off. Poor brute, it was no use, and in a shortwhile he commenced to develop symptoms of the dread piblokto, so inmercy he was killed. One of the Esquimo boys did the killing. 

Dangerous as the crossing was, it was the only place possible, and wesucceeded far better than we had anticipated. Beyond the lead we came toan old floe and, beyond that, young ice of one season's formation, similar to that which had been encountered earlier in the day. Before uslay a heavy, old floe, covered with soft, deep snow in which we sankcontinually; but it was only five P. M. When we reached the Captain'sigloo. Anticipating the arrival of the Commander, we built anotherigloo, and about an hour and a half later the Commander and his partycame in. 

March 28: Exactly 40° below zero when we pushed the sledges up to thecurled-up dogs and started them off over rough ice covered with deepsoft snow. It was like walking in loose granulated sugar. Indeed I mightcompare the snow of the Arctic to the granules of sugar, without theirsaccharine sweetness, but with freezing cold instead; you can not makesnowballs of it, for it is too thoroughly congealed, and when it ispacked by the wind it is almost as solid as ice. It is from the packedsnow that the blocks used to form the igloo-walls are cut. 

At the end of four hours, we came to the igloo where the Captain and hisboys were sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion. In order not tointerrupt the Captain's rest, we built another igloo and unloaded hissledge, and distributed the greater part of the load among the sledgesof the party. The Captain, on awakening, told us that the journey we hadcompleted on that day had been made by him under the most tryingconditions, and that it had taken him fourteen hours to do it. We wereable to make better time because we had his trail to follow, and, therefore, the necessity of finding the easiest way was avoided. Thatwas the object of the scout or pioneer party and Captain Bartlett haddone practically all of it up to the time he turned back at 87° 48'north. 

March 29: You have undoubtedly taken into consideration the pangs ofhunger and of cold that you know assailed us, going Poleward; but haveyou ever considered that we were thirsty for water to drink or hungryfor fat? To eat snow to quench our thirsts would have been the height offolly, and as well as being thirsty, we were continuously assailed bythe pangs of a hunger that called for the fat, good, rich, oily, juicyfat that our systems craved and demanded. 

Had we succumbed to the temptations of thirst and eaten the snow, wewould not be able to tell the tale of the conquest of the Pole; for theresult of eating snow is death. True, the dogs licked up enough moistureto quench their thirsts, but we were not made of such stern stuff asthey. Snow would have reduced our temperatures and we would quickly havefallen by the way. We had to wait until camp was made and the fire ofalcohol started before we had a chance, and it was with hot tea that wequenched our thirsts. The hunger for fat was not appeased; a dog or twowas killed, but his carcass went to the Esquimos and the entrails werefed to the rest of the pack. We ate no dogs on this trip, for variousreasons, mainly, that the eating of dog is only a last resort, and wehad plenty of food, and raw dog is flavorless and very tough. Thekilling of a dog is such a horrible matter that I will not describe it, and it is permitted only when all other exigencies have been exhausted. An Esquimo does not permit one drop of blood to escape. 

The morning of the 29th of March, 1909, a heavy and dense fog of frostspicules overhung the camp. At four A. M. , the Captain left camp to makeas far a northing as possible. I with my Esquimos followed later. On ourway we passed over very rough ice alternating with small floes, youngice of a few months' duration, and one old floe. We were now beside alead of over three hundred feet in width, which we were unable to crossat that time because the ice was running steadily, though to theNorthward. Following the trail of the Captain, which carried us a littleto the westward of the lead, within one hundred feet of the Captain'sigloo, the order to camp was given, as going forward was impossible. Thewhole party was together farther north than had ever been made by anyother human beings, and in perfectly good condition; but the time wasquickly coming when the little party would have to be made smaller andsome part of it sent back. We were too fatigued to argue the question. 

We turned in for a rest and sleep, but soon turned out again inpandemonium incomprehensible; the ice moving in all directions, ourigloos wrecked, and every instant our very lives in danger. With eyesdazed by sleep, we tried to guide the terror-stricken dogs and push thesledges to safety, but rapidly we saw the party being separated and theblack water begin to appear amid the roar of the breaking ice floes. 

To the westward of our igloo stood the Captain's igloo, on an island ofice, which revolved, while swiftly drifting to the eastward. On oneoccasion the floe happened to strike the main floe. The Captain, intently watching his opportunity, quickly crossed with his Esquimos. Hehad scarcely set foot on the opposite floe when the floe on which he hadbeen previously isolated swung off, and rapidly disappeared. 

Once more the parties were together. Thoroughly exhausted, we turned inand fell asleep, myself and the Esquimos too dumb for utterance, andCommander Peary and Bartlett too full of the realization of our escapeto have much to say. 

The dogs were in very good condition, taking everything intoconsideration. 

[Illustration: CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP AT THE NORTH POLE

(From Henson's own Photograph)]

[Illustration: MATTHEW A. HENSON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SLEDGE JOURNEY TOTHE POLE AND BACK

(Showing the effect of the excessive strain. Compare with frontispieceand with portrait facing page 139)]

When we woke up it was the morning of another day, March 30, and wefound open water all about us. We could not go on until either the leadhad frozen or until it had raftered shut. Temperature 35° below zero, and the weather clear and calm with no visible motion of the ice. Wespent the day industriously in camp, mending foot-gear, harness, clothing, and looking after the dogs and their traces. This was workenough, especially untangling the traces of the bewildered dogs. Thetraces, snarled and entangled, besides being frozen to the consistencyof wire, gave us the hardest work; and, owing to the activity of thedogs in leaping and bounding over each other, we had the most _unideal_conditions possible to contend with, and we were handicapped by havingto use mitted instead of ungloved fingers to untangle the snarls ofknots. Unlike Alexander the Great, we dared not cut the "GordianKnots, " but we did get them untangled. 

About five o'clock in the afternoon, the temperature had fallen to 43°below zero, and at the same time the ice began to move again. Owing tothe attraction of the moon, the mighty flanks of the earth were beingdrawn by her invisible force, and were commencing again to crack and berent asunder. 

We loaded up hurriedly and all three parties left the camp and crossedover the place where recently had been the open lead, and beyond formore than five miles, until we reached the heavier and solid ice of thelarge floes. Northward our way led, and we kept on in that directionaccordingly, at times crossing young ice so thin that the motion of thesledges would cause the ice to undulate. Over old floes of the blue, hummocky kind, on which the snow had fallen and become packed solid, therest of this day's journey was completed. We staggered into camp likedrunken men, and built our igloos by force of habit rather than with theintelligence of human beings. 

It was continuously daylight, but such a light as never was on land orsea. 

The next day was April 1, and the Farthest North of Bartlett. I knew atthis time that he was to go back, and that I was to continue, so I hadno misgivings and neither had he. He was ready and anxious to take theback-trail. His five marches were up and he was glad of it, and he wastold that in the morning he must turn back and knit the trail together, so that the main column could return over a beaten path. 

Before going to sleep, Peary and he (Captain Bartlett) had figured outthe reckoning of the distance, and, to insure the Captain's making atleast 88° north, Peary let him have another go for a short distancenorthward, and at noon on the day of his return, the observations showedthat Captain Bartlett had made 87° 47' North Latitude, or practically88° north. "Why, Peary, " he said, "it is just like every day, " and so itwas, with this exception, like every day in the Arctic, but with all ofevery day's chances and hazards. The lion-like month of March hadpassed. Captain Bartlett bade us all farewell. He turned back from theFarthest North that had ever been reached by any one, to insure the safereturn of him who was to go to a still Farther North, the very top ofthe world, the Pole itself. 

While waiting for Bartlett to return from his forced march, the mainparty had been at work, assorting dogs (by this time without muchtrouble, as only one was found utterly unfit to make progress), andrearranging loads, for the Captain had almost three hundred miles ofsea-ice to negotiate before he would reach _terra firma_, and he had tohave his food-supply arranged so that it would carry him to the land andback to the ship, and dogs in good enough condition to pull the loads, as well as enough sledges to bear his equipment. When he did come backto our camp, before the parting, he was perfectly satisfied, and withthe same old confidence he swept his little party together and at threeP. M. , with a cheery "Good-by! Good Luck!" he was off. His Esquimo boys, attempting in English, too, gave us their "Good-bys. " The leastemotional of all of our partings; and this brave man, who had borne thebrunt of all of the hardships, like the true-blue, dead-game, unconquerable hero that he was, set out to do the work that was left forhim to do; to knit the broken strands of our upward trail together, sothat we who were at his rear could follow in safety. 

I have never heard the story of the return of Captain Bartlett indetail; his Esquimo boys were incapable of telling it, and CaptainBartlett is altogether too modest. 

CHAPTER XV

THE POLE!

Captain Bartlett and his two boys had commenced their return journey, and the main column, depleted to its final strength, started northward. We were six: Peary, the commander, the Esquimos, Ootah, Egingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, and myself. 

Day and night were the same. My thoughts were on the going and gettingforward, and on nothing else. The wind was from the southeast, andseemed to push us on, and the sun was at our backs, a ball of lividfire, rolling his way above the horizon in never-ending day. 

The Captain had gone, Commander Peary and I were alone (save for thefour Esquimos), the same as we had been so often in the past years, andas we looked at each other we realized our position and we knew withoutspeaking that the time had come for us to demonstrate that we were themen who, it had been ordained, should unlock the door which held themystery of the Arctic. Without an instant's hesitation, the order topush on was given, and we started off in the trail made by the Captainto cover the Farthest North he had made and to push on over one hundredand thirty miles to our final destination. 

The Captain had had rough going, but, owing to the fact that his trailwas our track for a short time, and that we came to good going shortlyafter leaving his turning point, we made excellent distance without anytrouble, and only stopped when we came to a lead barely frozen over, afull twenty-five miles beyond. We camped and waited for the strongsoutheast wind to force the sides of the lead together. The Esquimos hadeaten a meal of stewed dog, cooked over a fire of wood from a discardedsledge, and, owing to their wonderful powers of recuperation, were ingood condition; Commander Peary and myself, rested and invigorated byour thirty hours in the last camp, waiting for the return and departureof Captain Bartlett, were also in fine fettle, and accordingly theaccomplishment of twenty-five miles of northward progress was notexceptional. With my proven ability in gauging distances, CommanderPeary was ready to take the reckoning as I made it and he did not resortto solar observations until we were within a hand's grasp of the Pole. 

The memory of those last five marches, from the Farthest North ofCaptain Bartlett to the arrival of our party at the Pole, is a memory oftoil, fatigue, and exhaustion, but we were urged on and encouraged byour relentless commander, who was himself being scourged by the finallashings of the dominating influence that had controlled his life. Fromthe land to 87° 48' north, Commander Peary had had the best of thegoing, for he had brought up the rear and had utilized the trail made bythe preceding parties, and thus he had kept himself in the best ofcondition for the time when he made the spurt that brought him to theend of the race. From 87° 48' north, he kept in the lead and did hiswork in such a way as to convince me that he was still as good a man ashe had ever been. We marched and marched, falling down in our tracksrepeatedly, until it was impossible to go on. We were forced to camp, inspite of the impatience of the Commander, who found himself unable torest, and who only waited long enough for us to relax into sound sleep, when he would wake us up and start us off again. I do not believe thathe slept for one hour from April 2 until after he had loaded us up andordered us to go back over our old trail, and I often think that fromthe instant when the order to return was given until the land was againsighted, he was in a continual daze. 

Onward we forced our weary way. Commander Peary took his sights from thetime our chronometer-watches gave, and I, knowing that we had kept ongoing in practically a straight line, was sure that we had more thancovered the necessary distance to insure our arrival at the top of theearth. 

It was during the march of the 3d of April that I endured an instant ofhideous horror. We were crossing a lane of moving ice. Commander Pearywas in the lead setting the pace, and a half hour later the four boysand myself followed in single file. They had all gone before, and I wasstanding and pushing at the upstanders of my sledge, when the block ofice I was using as a support slipped from underneath my feet, and beforeI knew it the sledge was out of my grasp, and I was floundering in thewater of the lead. I did the best I could. I tore my hood from off myhead and struggled frantically. My hands were gloved and I could nottake hold of the ice, but before I could give the "Grand Hailing Sigh ofDistress, " faithful old Ootah had grabbed me by the nape of the neck, the same as he would have grabbed a dog, and with one hand he pulled meout of the water, and with the other hurried the team across. 

He had saved my life, but I did not tell him so, for such occurrencesare taken as part of the day's work, and the sledge he safeguarded wasof much more importance, for it held, as part of its load, theCommander's sextant, the mercury, and the coils of piano-wire that werethe essential portion of the scientific part of the expedition. Mykamiks (boots of sealskin) were stripped off, and the congealed waterwas beaten out of my bearskin trousers, and with a dry pair of kamiks, we hurried on to overtake the column. When we caught up, we found theboys gathered around the Commander, doing their best to relieve him ofhis discomfort, for he had fallen into the water also, and while he wasnot complaining, I was sure that his bath had not been any morevoluntary than mine had been. 

When we halted on April 6, 1909, and started to build the igloos, thedogs and sledges having been secured, I noticed Commander Peary at workunloading his sledge and unpacking several bundles of equipment. Hepulled out from under his _kooletah_ (thick, fur outer-garment) a smallfolded package and unfolded it. I recognized his old silk flag, andrealized that this was to be a camp of importance. Our different campshad been known as Camp Number One, Number Two, etc. , but after theturning back of Captain Bartlett, the camps had been given names such asCamp Nansen, Camp Cagni, etc. , and I asked what the name of this campwas to be--"Camp Peary"? "This, my boy, is to be Camp Morris K. Jesup, the last and most northerly camp on the earth. " He fastened the flag toa staff and planted it firmly on the top of his igloo. For a fewminutes it hung limp and lifeless in the dead calm of the haze, and thena slight breeze, increasing in strength, caused the folds to straightenout, and soon it was rippling out in sparkling color. The stars andstripes were "nailed to the Pole. "

A thrill of patriotism ran through me and I raised my voice to cheer thestarry emblem of my native land. The Esquimos gathered around and, taking the time from Commander Peary, three hearty cheers rang out onthe still, frosty air, our dumb dogs looking on in puzzled surprise. Asprospects for getting a sight of the sun were not good, we turned in andslept, leaving the flag proudly floating above us. 

This was a thin silk flag that Commander Peary had carried on all of hisArctic journeys, and he had always flown it at his last camps. It was asglorious and as inspiring a banner as any battle-scarred, blood-stainedstandard of the world--and this badge of honor and courage was alsoblood-stained and battle-scarred, for at several places there were blanksquares marking the spots where pieces had been cut out at each of the"Farthests" of its brave bearer, and left with the records in thecairns, as mute but eloquent witnesses of his achievements. At the NorthPole a diagonal strip running from the upper left to the lower rightcorner was cut and this precious strip, together with a brief record, was placed in an empty tin, sealed up and buried in the ice, as a recordfor all time. 

Commander Peary also had another American flag, sewn on a white ground, and it was the emblem of the "Daughters of the Revolution PeaceSociety"; he also had and flew the emblem of the Navy League, and theemblems of a couple of college fraternities of which he was a member. 

It was about ten or ten-thirty A. M. , on the 7th of April, 1909, thatthe Commander gave the order to build a snow-shield to protect him fromthe flying drift of the surface-snow. I knew that he was about to takean observation, and while we worked I was nervously apprehensive, for Ifelt that the end of our journey had come. When we handed him the pan ofmercury the hour was within a very few minutes of noon. Laying flat onhis stomach, he took the elevation and made the notes on a piece oftissue-paper at his head. With sun-blinded eyes, he snapped shut the_vernier_ (a graduated scale that subdivides the smallest divisions onthe sector of the circular scale of the sextant) and with the resolutesquaring of his jaws, I was sure that he was satisfied, and I wasconfident that the journey had ended. Feeling that the time had come, Iungloved my right hand and went forward to congratulate him on thesuccess of our eighteen years of effort, but a gust of wind blewsomething into his eye, or else the burning pain caused by his prolongedlook at the reflection of the limb of the sun forced him to turn aside;and with both hands covering his eyes, he gave us orders to not let himsleep for more than four hours, for six hours later he purposed to takeanother sight about four miles beyond, and that he wanted at least twohours to make the trip and get everything in readiness. 

I unloaded a sledge, and reloaded it with a couple of skins, theinstruments, and a cooker with enough alcohol and food for one meal forthree, and then I turned in to the igloo where my boys were alreadysound asleep. The thermometer registered 29° below zero. I fell into adreamless sleep and slept for about a minute, so I thought, when I wasawakened by the clatter and noise made by the return of Peary and hisboys. 

The Commander gave the word, "We will plant the stars and stripes--_atthe North Pole!_" and it was done; on the peak of a huge paleocrysticfloeberg the glorious banner was unfurled to the breeze, and as itsnapped and crackled with the wind, I felt a savage joy and exultation. Another world's accomplishment was done and finished, and as in thepast, from the beginning of history, wherever the world's work was doneby a white man, he had been accompanied by a colored man. From thebuilding of the pyramids and the journey to the Cross, to the discoveryof the new world and the discovery of the North Pole, the Negro had beenthe faithful and constant companion of the Caucasian, and I felt allthat it was possible for me to feel, that it was I, a lowly member of myrace, who had been chosen by fate to represent it, at this, almost thelast of the world's great _work_. 

The four Esquimos who stood with Commander Peary at the North Pole, werethe brothers, Ootah and Egingwah, the old campaigner, Seegloo, and thesturdy, boyish Ooqueah. Four devoted companions, blindly confident inthe leader, they worked only that he might succeed and for the promiseof reward that had been made before they had left the ship, whichpromise they were sure would be kept. Together with the faithful dogs, these men had insured the success of the master. They had all of thecharacteristics of the dogs, including the dogs' fidelity. Within theirbreasts lingered the same infatuations that Commander Peary seemed toinspire in all who were with him, and though frequently complaining andconstantly requiring to be urged to do their utmost, they workedfaithfully and willingly. Ootah, of my party, was the oldest, a marriedman, of about thirty-four years, and regarded as the best all aroundmember of the tribe, a great hunter, a kind father, and a good provider. Owing to his strong character and the fact that he was more easilymanaged by me than by any of the others, he had been a member of myparty from the time we left the ship. Without exaggeration, I can saythat we had both saved each other's lives more than once, but it had allgone in as part of the day's work, and neither of us dwelt on ourobligations to the other. 

My other boy, Ooqueah, was a young man of about nineteen or twenty, verysturdy and stocky of build, and with an open, honest countenance, asmile that was "child-like and bland, " and a character that _was_child-like and bland. It was alleged that the efforts of young Ooqueahwere spurred on by the shafts of love, and that it was in the hopes ofwinning the hand of the demure Miss Anadore, the charming daughter ofIkwah, the first Esquimo of Commander Peary's acquaintance, that heworked so valiantly. His efforts were of an ardent character, but it wasnot due to the ardor of love, as far as I could see, but to his desireto please and his anxiety to win the promised rewards that would raisehim to the grade of a millionaire, according to Esquimo standards. 

[Illustration: THE ROOSEVELT IN WINTER QUARTERS AT CAPE SHERIDAN]

[Illustration: MATTHEW A. HENSON IN HIS NORTH POLE FURS, TAKEN AFTER HISRETURN TO CIVILIZATION]

Commander Peary's boy, Egingwah, was the brother of my boy Ootah, alsomarried and of good report in his community, and it was he who drovethe Morris K. Jesup sledge. 

If there was any sentiment among the Esquimos in regard to the successof the venture, Ootah and Seegloo by their unswerving loyalty andfidelity expressed it. They had been members of the "Farthest Northparty" in 1906, the party that was almost lost beyond and in the "BigLead, " and only reached the land again in a state of almost completecollapse. They were the ones who, on bidding Commander Peary farewell in1906, when he was returning, a saddened and discouraged man, told him tobe of good cheer and that when he came back again Ootah and Seegloowould go along, and stay until Commander Peary had succeeded, and theydid. The cowardice of their fellow Esquimos at the "Big Lead" on thisjourney did not in the least demoralize them, and when they wereabsolutely alone on the trail, with every chance to turn back and returnto comfort, wife, and family, they remained steadfast and true, and evernorthward guided their sledges. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE FAST TREK BACK TO LAND

The long trail was finished, the work was done, and there was only leftfor us to return and tell the tale of the doing. Reaction had set in, and it was with quavering voice that Commander Peary gave the order tobreak camp. Already the strain of the hard upward-journey was beginningto tell, and after the first two marches back, he was practically a deadweight, but do not think that we could have gotten back without him, forit was due to the fact that he was with us, and that we could dependupon him to direct and order us, that we were able to keep up thebreak-neck pace that enabled us to cover three of our upward marches onone of our return marches, and we never forgot that he was still theheart and head of the party. 

It was broad daylight and getting brighter, and accordingly I knewlittle fear, though I did think of the ghosts of other parties, flitting in spectral form over the ice-clad wastes, especially of thatsmall detachment of the Italian expedition of the Duke D'Abruzzi, ofwhich to this day neither track, trace, nor remembrance has ever beenfound. We crossed lead after lead, sometimes like a bare-back rider inthe circus, balancing on cake after cake of ice, but good fortune waswith us all of the way, and it was not until the land of recognizablecharacter had been lifted that we lost the trail, and with the land insight as an incentive, it was no trouble for us to gain the talus of theshore ice and find the trail again. 

When we "hit the beach for fair" it was early in the morning of April23, 1909, nearly seventeen days since we had left the Pole, but such aseventeen days of haste, toil, and misery as cannot be comprehended bythe mind. We who experienced it, Commander Peary, the Esquimos, andmyself, look back to it as to a horrid nightmare, and to describe it isimpossible for me. 

Commander Peary had taken the North Pole by conquest, in the face ofalmost insuperable natural difficulties, by the tremendousfighting-power of himself. The winning of the North Pole was a fightwith nature; the way to the Pole that had been covered and retraced byCommander Peary lay across the ever moving and drifting ice of theArctic Ocean. For more than a hundred miles from Cape Columbia it waspiled in heavy pressure ridges, ridge after ridge, some more than ahundred feet in height. In addition, open lanes of water held theparties back until the leads froze up again, and continually the steadydrift of the ice carried us back on the course we had come, but due tohis deathless ambition to know and to do, he had conquered. He had addedto the sum of Earth's knowledge, and proven that the mind of man isboundless in its desire. 

The long quest for the North Pole is over and the awful space thatseparated man from the _Ultima Thule_ has been bridged. There is no morebeyond; from Cape Columbia to Cape Chelyuskin, the route northward tothe Pole, and southward again to the plains of Asia, is an open book andthe geographical mind is at rest. 

We found the abandoned igloos of Crane City and realized that CaptainBartlett had reached the land safely. The damage due to the action ofthe storms was not material. We made the necessary repairs, and in a fewminutes tea was boiled and rations eaten, and we turned in for sleep. For practically all of the two days following, that was what we did:sleep and eat; men and dogs thoroughly exhausted; and we slept the sleepof the just, without apprehensions or misgivings. Our toboggan from thePole was ended. 

 * * * * *

Different from all other trips, we had not on this one been maddened bythe pangs of hunger, but instead we felt the effects of lack of sleep, and brain- and body-fatigue. After reaching the land again, I gave akeen searching look at each member of the party, and I realized thestrain they had been under. Instead of the plump, round countenances Iknew so well, I saw lean, gaunt faces, seamed and wrinkled, the faces ofold men, not those of boys, but in their eyes still shone the spark ofresolute determination. 

Commander Peary's face was lined and seamed, his beard was fully aninch in length, and his mustaches, which had been closely cropped beforehe left the ship, had again attained their full flowing length. Hisfeatures expressed fatigue, but the heart-breaking look of sadness, thathad clung to him since the failure of the 1906 expedition, had vanished. From his steel-gray eyes flashed forth the light of glorious victory, and though he always carried himself proudly, there had come about himan air of erect assurance that was exhilarating. 

When I reached the ship again and gazed into my little mirror, it wasthe pinched and wrinkled visage of an old man that peered out at me, butthe eyes still twinkled and life was still entrancing. This wizening ofour features was due to the strain of travel and lack of sleep; we hadenough to eat, and I have only mentioned it to help impress the factthat the journey to the Pole and back is not to be regarded as apleasure outing, and our so-called jaunt was by no means a cake-walk. 

CHAPTER XVII

SAFE ON THE ROOSEVELT--POOR MARVIN

If you will remember, the journey from Cape Sheridan to Cape Columbiawas with overloaded sledges in the darkness preceding the dawn of theArctic day, mostly over rough going and up-hill, and now the tables wereturned. It was broad day and down-hill with lightened sledges, so thatwe practically coasted the last miles from the twin peaks of Columbia tothe low, slanting fore-shore of Sheridan and the _Roosevelt_. After theforty hours' rest at Cape Columbia, Commander Peary had his sledgesloaded up, and with Egingwah and the best of the remaining dogs, he gotaway. 

I was told I could remain at the camp for another twelve hours. A largeand substantial cache of supplies had been dropped at Cape Columbia byvarious members of the expedition and when the Commander was gone, Igave the boys full permission to turn in and eat all they wanted, and Ialso gave the dogs all they could stuff, and it was not until all of ushad gorged ourselves to repletion that I gave the order to _vamoose_. Wewere loaded to capacity, outward and inward, and we saw a bountifulsupply still lying there, but we could not pack another ounce. It wasearly in the morning of April 25 when Peary started for the ship; it wasabout four or five hours later, about noon, when I gave the word, andOotah, Seegloo, Ooqueah, and myself left Crane City, Cape Columbia, Grant Land, for the last time. 

We overtook the Commander at Point Moss, and we traveled with him toCape Colan, where we camped. Peary continued on to Sail Harbor, and westayed in our comfortable camp and rested. We again caught up with theCommander at Porter Bay, where we camped for a few hours. The followingmorning I rearranged the sledges and left two of them at Porter Bay. Itwas my intention to reach the ship on this evening. We made a short stopat Black Cliff Bay and had lunch, and without further interruption wetraveled on and at about eight-forty-five P. M. We sighted the_Roosevelt_. 

The sighting of the ship was our first view of home, and far away as shewas, our acutely developed senses of smell were regaled with theappetizing odor of hot coffee, and the pungent aroma of tobacco-smoke, wafted to us through the clear, germ-free air. The Esquimo boys, usuallyexcited on the slightest provocation, were surprisingly stolid andmerely remarked, "_Oomiaksoah_" ("The ship") in quiet voices, until I, unable to control myself, burst forth with a loud "hip! hip! hurrah!"and with all that was left of my energy hurried my sledge in to theship. We had been sighted almost as quickly as we had sighted the ship, and a party of the ship's crew came running out to meet us, and as werushed on we were told about the safe arrival of Commander Peary, Bartlett, Borup, MacMillan, and Dr. Goodsell. Transported with elationand overjoyed to find myself once more safe among friends, I had rushedonward and as I recognized the different faces of the ship's company, Idid not realize that some were missing. 

Chief Wardwell was the first man to greet me, he photographed me as Iwas closing in on the ship, and with his strong right arm pulled me upover the side and hugged me to his bosom. "Good boy, Matt, " he said;"too bad about Marvin, " and then I knew that all was wrong and that itwas not the time for rejoicing. I asked for Peary and I was told that hewas all right. I saw Captain Bartlett and I knew that he was there; butwhere was Borup, where were MacMillan, Marvin, and where was Dr. Goodsell? Dr. Goodsell was right by my side, holding me up, and Irealized that it was of him I was demanding to know of the others. 

Reason had not left me, the bonds of sanity had not snapped, but for thetime I was hysterical, and I only knew that all were well and safeexcepting Marvin, who was drowned. A big mug of coffee was given to me, I drank a spoonful; a glass of spirits was handed me, I drank it all, and I was guided to my cabin, my fur clothes were taken off, and for thefirst time in sixty-eight days, I allowed myself to relax and I fellinto a sleep. 

When I awoke, I had the grandest feast imaginable set before me, andafter eating, I had the most luxurious bath possible, and then some moreto eat, and afterwards, some more sleep; then I shaved myself, combed myhair, and came out of my cabin and crossed over to the galley, and saton a box and watched Charley at work. Then I thought of the dogs andwent outside and found that they had been cared for. I wondered when theCommander would want to see me. All of the time the sailors and Charleyand the Esquimo folks were keeping up a running fire of conversation, and I was able to gather from what they said that my dear, good friend, Professor Marvin, was indeed lost; that Peary had reached the_Roosevelt_ about seven hours ahead of me; that Captain Bartlett wassuffering with swollen legs and feet; that MacMillan and Borup withtheir own and Marvin's boys had gone to Cape Jesup; and that Pooadloonahand Panikpah had taken their families and returned to Esquimo land. 

For days after I reached the _Roosevelt_, I did nothing but rest andeat. The strain was over and I had all but collapsed, but with constanteating and sleeping, I was quickly myself again. The pains andswellings of my limbs did not come as they had on all of the otherreturnings, and neither was Peary troubled. Captain Bartlett was theonly one of the expedition that had been out on the sea-ice who felt anyafter effects. Every day, a few minutes after rising, he would noticethat his ankle-, knee- and hip-joints were swollen; and while the painwas not excessive, he was incapacitated for more than ten days, and hespent the most of his time in his cabin. When he came out of his cabinand did talk to me, it was only to compare notes and agree that ourexperiences proved that there was absolutely no question about ourhaving discovered the Pole. 

 * * * * *

Captain Bartlett, Dr. Goodsell, Chief Wardwell, Percy--they could talkas they would; but the one ever-present thought in my mind was ofMarvin, and of his death. I thought of him, and of his kindness to me;and the picture of his widowed mother, patiently waiting the return ofher son, was before me all of the time. I thought of my own mother, whomI scarcely remembered, and I sincerely wished that it had been me whohad been taken. When MacMillan and Borup returned, I learned all aboutthe sad affair, from Kudlooktoo and Harrigan, and I feel that had hebeen with civilized companions the sad story of Marvin's death would nothave to be told. 

On breaking camp he had gone on, leaving the boys to load up and followhim. They were going south to the land and the ship, and there was noneed for him to stay with them, and when they came up to where he haddisappeared, they saw the ice newly formed about him, his head and feetbeneath, and nothing showing but the fur clothing of his back andshoulders. They made no effort to rescue him, and had they succeeded ingetting his body out, there is little chance that they could have kepthim alive, for the temperature was far below zero, and they knew nothingabout restoring life to the drowned. No blame can be laid to hischildish companions. 

He died alone, and he passed into the great unknown alone, bravely andhonorably. He is the last of Earth's great martyrs; he is home; his workis done; he is where he longed to be; the Sailor is Home in the Sea. Itis poor satisfaction to those that he left behind that his grave is thenorthern-most grave on the earth; but they realize that the sacrificewas not made in vain, for it was due to him that those who followed wereable to keep the trail and reach the land again. The foolish boys, inaccordance with Esquimo tradition, had unloaded all of Prof. Marvin'spersonal effects on the ice, so that his spirit should not follow them, and they hurried on back to land and to the ship, where they told theirsad story. 

CHAPTER XVIII

AFTER MUSK-OXEN--THE DOCTOR'S SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION

From the time of my arrival at the _Roosevelt_, for nearly three weeks, my days were spent in complete idleness. I would catch a fleetingglimpse of Commander Peary, but not once in all of that time did hespeak a word to me. Then he spoke to me in the most ordinarymatter-of-fact way, and ordered me to get to work. Not a word about theNorth Pole or anything connected with it; simply, "There is enough woodleft, and I would like to have you make a couple of sledges and mend thebroken ones. I hope you are feeling all right. " There was enough woodleft and I made three sledges, as well as repaired those that werebroken. 

The Commander was still running things and he remained the commander tothe last minute; nothing escaped him, and when the time came toslow-down on provisions, he gave the orders, and we had but two sparemeals a day to sustain us. The whole expedition lived on travel rationsfrom before the time we left Cape Sheridan until we had reached Sidney, N. S. , and like the keen-fanged hounds, we were always ready and fit. 

It was late in May when Prof. MacMillan and Mr. Borup, with theirEsquimo companions returned from Cape Jesup, where they had been doinghighly important scientific work, taking soundings out on the sea-icenorth of the cape as high as 84° 15' north, and also at the cape. Theyhad made a trip that was record-breaking; they had visited the differentcairns made by Lockwood and Brainard and by Commander Peary, and theyhad also captured and brought into the ship a musk-ox calf; and they hadmost satisfactorily demonstrated their fitness as Arctic explorers, having followed the Commander's orders implicitly and secured more thanthe required number of tidal-readings and soundings. 

Prof. MacMillan, with Jack Barnes, a sailor, and Kudlooktoo, left forFort Conger early in June, and continued the work of tidal-observations. They rejoined the _Roosevelt_ just before she left Cape Sheridan. Alittle later in the month, Borup went to Clements Markham Inlet to huntmusk-oxen, and from there he went to Cape Columbia, where he erected thecairn containing the record of the last and successful expedition of the"Peary Arctic Club. " The cairn was a substantial pile of rocks, surmounted by a strong oaken guide-post, with arms pointing "North 413miles to the Pole"; "East, to Cape Morris K. Jesup, 275 miles"; "West toCape Thomas H. Hubbard, 225 miles"; while the southern arm pointedsouth, but to no particular geographical spot; it was labeled "CapeColumbia. " Underneath the arms of the guide-post, which had been made byMate Gushue, was a small, glass-covered, box-like arrangement, in whichwas encased the record of Peary's successful journey to the Pole, andthe roster of the expedition, my name included. From the cross-bars, guys of galvanized wire were stretched and secured to heavy rocks, tohelp sustain the monument from the fury of the storms. Borup did goodwork, photographed the result, and the picture of the cairn, whenexhibited, proved very satisfactory to the Commander. 

Dr. Goodsell with two teams, and the Esquimo men, Keshungwah andTawchingwah, left the ship on May 27, to hunt in the Lake Hazen andRuggles River regions. They were successful in securing thirteenmusk-oxen in that neighborhood, and in Bellows Valley they shot a numberof the "Peary" caribou, the species "_Rangifer Pearyi_, " a distinctclass of reindeer inhabiting that region. 

On the return of Dr. Goodsell, he told of his fascinating experiences inthat wonderland. Leaving the _Roosevelt_, he had turned inland at BlackCliff Bay. Past the glaciers he went with his little party, down theBellows Valley to the Ruggles River, an actual stream of clear-runningwater, alive with the finest of salmon trout. Adopting the Esquimomethods, he fished for these speckled beauties with joyful success. Herehe rounded up and shot the herd of musk-oxen, and here he bagged hiscaribou. He was in a hunter's paradise and made no haste to return, butcrossed overland to Discovery Harbor and the barn-like structure of FortConger, the headquarters of General Greely's "Lady Franklin BayExpedition" of 1882-1883. Professor MacMillan was on his way to FortConger and it was with much surprise, on arriving there, that he foundthat Dr. Goodsell had reached it an hour before him. It was anunexpected meeting and quite a pleasure to the Professor to find theDoctor there, ready to offer him the hospitality of the fort. 

Dr. Goodsell returned to the _Roosevelt_ on June 15, with a load ofgeological, zoölogical, and botanical specimens almost as heavy as theloads of meat and skins he brought in. He was an ardent scientist, andviewed nearly every situation and object from the view-point of thescientist. Nothing escaped him; a peculiar form of rock or plant, thedifferent features of the animal life, all received his close and eagerattention, and he had the faculty of imparting his knowledge to others, like the born teacher that he was. He evinced an eager interest in theEsquimos and got along famously with them. 

His physical equipment was the finest; a giant in stature and strength, but withal the gentlest of men having an even, mellow disposition thatnever was ruffled. In the field the previous spring he had accompaniedthe expedition beyond the "Big Lead" to 84° 29', and with the strengthof his broad shoulders he had pickaxed the way. 

On account of his calm, quiet manner I had hesitated to form an opinionof him at first, but you can rest assured this was a "Tenderfoot" whomade good. 

During this time I left the ship on short hunting trips, but I was neveraway from the ship for more than ten or twelve hours. 

 * * * * *

On July 1 quite a lead was opened in the channel south from CapeSheridan to Cape Rawson. The ice was slowly moving southward, and theprospects for freeing the _Roosevelt_ and getting her started on herhomeward way were commencing to brighten. The following day a new leadopened much nearer shore, and on July 3 the Esquimos, who had been outhunting, returned from Black Cliff Bay, without game, but with the goodnews that as far south as Dumb Bell Bay there stretched a lead of openwater. July 4, a new lead opened very close to the _Roosevelt_. Thespring tides, with a strong southerly wind, had set in so very muchearlier, three years before, that on July 4, 1906, the _Roosevelt_ hadbeen entirely free of ice, with clear, open water for quite a distanceto the south; but this year the ship was still completely packed in theice, and furthermore she was listed at the same angle as during thewinter. 

On July 5, I was detailed to help Gushue repair the more or less damagedwhale-boats. The heavy and solidly packed snow of the winter had stovethem in. On July 6, the anniversary of our departure from New York ayear before, the greater part of the day was spent in pumping water fromthe top of a heavy floeberg into the ship's boilers. This work was notcompleted until the morning of the 7th, when the fires were started. Dueto the cold, the process of getting up steam was slow work. The ice hadbeen breaking up daily, new leads were noticed, and on this day, July 7, a new lead opened at a distance of fifty yards from the ship, and openwater stretched as far south as the eye could see. All hands were put towork reloading the supplies that had been placed on shore the fallprevious, for it was easy to see that the time for departure was athand. 

With the boilers in order, an attempt was made to revolve the shaft, butthe propeller was too securely frozen in the ice to move, and so CaptainBartlett got out the dynamite and succeeded in freeing the bronzeblades. 

From the 10th of July to the 13th, a fierce storm raged, clouds offreeing spray broke over the ship, incasing her in a coat of icy mail, and the tempest forced all of the ice out of the lower end of thechannel and beyond as far as the eye could see, but the _Roosevelt_still remained surrounded by ice. 

The morning of the 15th, a smart breeze from the northeast was blowing, and proved of valuable assistance to us, for it caused the huge blocksof ice that were surrounding the ship to loosen their hold, and for thefirst time since October, 1908, the _Roosevelt_ righted herself to aneven keel. 

By this time all of our supplies had been loaded and stored, and fromthe crow's-nest a stretch of open water could be seen as far as CapeRawson. From there to Cape Union the ice was packed solid. 

CHAPTER XIX

THE ROOSEVELT STARTS FOR HOME--ESQUIMO VILLAGES--NEW DOGS AND NEW DOGFIGHTS

It was two-thirty P. M. , July 17, 1909, that the _Roosevelt_ pointed herbow southward and we left our winter quarters and Cape Sheridan. We wereon our journey home, all hands as happy as when, a year previous, we hadstarted on our way north, with the added satisfaction of completesuccess. The ship had steamed but a short distance, when, owing to therapidly drifting ice in the channel, she had to be made fast to afloeberg. At ten-thirty P. M. , the lines were loosed and a new startmade. Without further incident, we reached Black Cape. 

In rounding the cape the ship encountered a terrific storm, and it waswith the greatest difficulty that she made any headway. The stormincreased and the _Roosevelt_ had to remain in the channel, surroundedby the tightly wedged floes, at the mercy of the wind. The galecontinued until the evening of the 20th. The constant surging back andforth of the channel-pack, with the spring tides and the several hugemasses of ice, which repeatedly crashed against the ship's sides, causeda delay of twelve days in Robeson Channel opposite Lincoln Bay. Throughout the width of the entire channel nothing could be seen butsmall pools of open water; two seals were seen sporting in one of thesepools, and one of the Esquimos attempted to kill them, but his aimproved false. 

It was not until the 25th that the ship was able to move of her own freewill, small leads having opened in close proximity to her. Ootah shot aseal in one of the leads, and also harpooned a narwhal, but he did notsucceed in securing either. His brother Egingwah on the following dayshot two seals and harpooned a narwhal, and he secured all three of hisprizes. The Esquimos had a grand feast off the skin of the narwhal, which they esteem as a great delicacy. 

By the 27th the _Roosevelt_ had drifted as far south as Wrangell Bay, and it was here that Slocum (Inighito) shot and secured a hood-seal, which weighed over six hundred pounds, and seal-steaks were added to thebill-of-fare. 

The snow storms of the two days ceased on the 28th, and when the weathercleared sufficiently for us to ascertain our whereabouts, we were muchsurprised to find that we had drifted back north, opposite Lincoln Bay. During the day the wind shifted to the north. Again we driftedsouthward, until, just off Cape Beechey, the narrowest part of RobesonChannel, a lead stretching southward for a distance of five miles wassighted, and into this open water the ship steamed until the leadterminated in Kennedy Channel, opposite Lady Franklin Bay, where the_Roosevelt_ was ice-bound until August 4, drifting with the pack untilwe were in a direct line with Cape Tyson and Bellot Isle. Three sealswere captured, one a hood-seal weighing 624 pounds, being eight feeteleven inches in length; the other two were small ring-seals. 

By ten A. M. Of the 4th, the ice had slackened so considerably that the_Roosevelt_, under full steam, set out and rapidly worked her way downKennedy Channel. From Crozier Island to Cape D'Urville she steamedthrough practically open water, but a dense fog compelled us to makefast to a large floe when almost opposite Cape Albert. It was not untilone A. M. Of the 7th, despite several attempts, that the ship got clearand steamed south again. Several small leads were noticed and numerousnarwhals were seen, but none were captured. 

At three-thirty A. M. , when nearing Cape Sabine, we observed that thebarometer had dropped to 29. 73. A storm was coming, and every effort wasmade to reach Payer Harbor, but before half of the distance had beencovered, the storm broke with terrific violence. The force of the galewas such that, while swinging the boats inboard, we were drenched andthoroughly chilled by the sheets of icy spray, which saturated us andinstantly froze. The _Roosevelt_ was blown over to starboard until therails were submerged. To save her, she was steered into Buchanan Bay, under the lee of the cliffs, where she remained until the morning ofAugust 8. 

At an early hour, we steamed down Buchanan Bay, passed Cocked HatIsland, and a little later, Cape Sabine. At Cape Sabine was locatedCamp Clay, the starvation camp of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition of1881-1883, where the five survivors of the twenty-three members of theexpedition were rescued. 

We entered Smith Sound. Instead of sailing on to Etah, Peary ordered theship into Whale Sound, in order that walrus-hunting could be done, sothat the Esquimos should have a plentiful supply of meat for thefollowing winter. Three walrus were captured, when a storm sprang upwith all of the suddenness of storms in this neighborhood, and the shipcrossed over from Cape Alexander to Cape Chalon. Cape Chalon is afavorite resort of the Esquimos, and is known as Peter-ar-wick, onaccount of the walrus that are to be found here during the months ofFebruary and March. 

At Nerke, just below Cape Chalon, we found the three Esquimo families ofAhsayoo, Tungwingwah, and Teddylingwah, and it was from these people wefirst learned of Dr. Cook's safe return from Ellesmere Land. In spite ofthe fact that the _Roosevelt_ was overloaded with dogs, paraphernalia, and Esquimos, these three families were taken aboard. 

With them were several teams of dogs. The dogs aboard ship were thesurvivors of the pack that had been with us all through the campaign, and a number of litters of puppies that had been whelped since thespring season. Our dogs were well acquainted with each other and dogfights were infrequent and of little interest, but the arrival of thefirst dog of the new party was the signal for the grandest dog fight Ihave ever witnessed. I feel justified in using the language of the fairyAriel, in Shakespeare's "Tempest": "Now is Hell empty, and all thedevils are here. "

Backward and forward, the foredeck of the ship was a howling, snarling, biting, yelping, moving mass of fury, and it was a long round of fullyten or fifteen minutes before the two king dogs of the packs gottogether, and then began the battle for supremacy of the pack. It lastedfor some time. It would have been useless to separate them. They woulddecide sooner or later, and it was better to have it over, even if oneor both contestants were killed. At length the fight was ended; our oldking dog, Nalegaksoah, the champion of the pack, and the laziest dog init, was still the king. After vanquishing his opponent and receivinghumble acknowledgments, King Nalegaksoah went stamping up and downbefore the pack and received the homage due him; the new dogs, whiningand fawning and cringingly submissive, bowed down before him. 

The chief pleasure of the Esquimo dogs is fighting; two dogs, the bestof friends, will hair-pull and bite each other for no cause whatever, and strange dogs fight at sight; team-mates fight each other on theslightest of provocations; and it seems as though sometimes the fightsare held for the purpose of educating the young. When a fight is inprogress, it is the usual sight to see several mother dogs, with theirlitters, occupying ring-side seats. I have often wondered what chance acat would stand against an Esquimo dog. 

The ship kept on, and I had turned in and slept, and on arising hadfound that we had reached a place called Igluduhomidy, where a singlefamily was located. Living with this family was a very old Esquimo, Merktoshah, the oldest man in the whole tribe, and not a blood-relationto any member of it. He had crossed over from the west coast of SmithSound the same year that Hall's expedition had wintered there, and haslived there ever since. He had been a champion polar bear and big gamehunter, and though now a very old man, was still vigorous and valiant, in spite of the loss of one eye. 

We stopped at Kookan, the most prosperous of the Esquimo settlements, avillage of five tupiks (skin tents), housing twenty-four people, andfrom there we sailed to the ideal community of Karnah. Karnah is themost delightful spot on the Greenland coast. Situated on a gentlysouthward sloping knoll are the igloos and tupiks, where I have spentmany pleasant days with my Esquimo friends and learned much of thefolk-lore and history. Lofty mountains, sublime in their grandeur, overtower and surround this place, and its only exposure is southwardtoward the sun. In winter its climate is not severe, as compared withother portions of this country, and in the perpetual daylight of summer, life here is ideal. Rivulets of clear, cold water, the beds of whichare grass- and flower-covered, run down the sides of the mountains and, but for the lack of trees, the landscape is as delightful as anywhere onearth. 

CHAPTER XX

TWO NARROW ESCAPES--ARRIVAL AT ETAH--HARRY WHITNEY--DR. COOK'S CLAIMS

From Karnah the _Roosevelt_ sailed to Itiblu, where hunting-partiessecured thirty-one walrus and one seal. By the 11th of August we hadreached the northern shore of Northumberland Island, where we weredelayed by storm. It was shortly before noon of this day that we barelyescaped another fatal calamity. 

Chief Wardwell, while cleaning the rifle of Commander Peary, had themisfortune to have the piece explode while in his hands. From someunknown cause a cartridge was discharged, the projectile pierced twothick partitions of inch-and-a-half pine, and penetrated the cabinoccupied by Professor MacMillan and Mr. Borup. The billet of that bulletwas the shoulder and forearm of Professor MacMillan, who at the time wassound asleep in his berth. He had been lying with his arm doubled andhis head resting on his hand. A half inch nearer and the bullet wouldhave entered his brain. 

As is always the case with narrow escapes, I, too, had a narrow escape, for that same bullet entered the partition on its death-dealing missionat identically the same spot where a few minutes previously _my_ headhad rested. Dr. Goodsell was quickly aroused, he attended ProfessorMacMillan, and in a short time he diagnosed the case as a "gun-shotwound. " Finding no bones broken, or veins or arteries open, he soon hadthe Professor bandaged and comfortable. 

At the time of the accident to Professor MacMillan the ship was ridingat anchor, but with insufficient slack-way, so in the afternoon, whenthe excitement had somewhat abated, Captain Bob decided to give the shipmore chain, for a storm was imminent, and he gave the order accordingly. The boatswain, in his haste to execute the order, and overestimating theamount of chain in the locker, permitted all of it to run overboard. Wewere in a predicament, with the storm upon us, no anchor to hold theboat, and a savage, rocky shore on which we were in danger of beingwrecked. There was a small five-hundred-pound anchor with a nine-inchcable of about one hundred and fifty fathoms remaining, which wasrepeatedly tried, but the ship was too much for this feather-weightanchor, and dragged it at will. Commander Peary, with his usualforesight, had ordered steam as soon as the approach of the storm wasnoticed, and now that the steam was up, he ordered that the ship be kepthead-on, and steam up and down the coast until the storm abated. Thestorm lasted until the night of August 13, and the best part of thefollowing day was spent by two boat-crews of twelve men, in grapplingfor the lost anchor and chain, and not until they had secured it andrestored it once more to its locker were they permitted to rest. Withthe anchor secure, walrus-hunting commenced afresh, and on the ice-floesbetween Hakluyt and Northumberland Islands thirty more walrus weresecured. 

On August 16, the _Roosevelt_ steamed back to Karnah, and the Esquimopeople who intended living there for the following winter were landed. A very large supply of meat was landed also; in addition to the meatquite a number of useful presents, hatchets, knives, needles, someboards for the making and repairing of sledges, and some wood forlance-and harpoon-staves, and a box full of soap were landed. Thisinventory of presents may seem cheap and paltry to you, but to thesenatives such presents as we made were more appreciated than the gift ofmany dollars would be by a poverty-stricken family in this country. Withthe materials that Commander Peary furnished would be made the weaponsof the chase, the tools of the seamstress, and the implements of thehome-maker. The Esquimos have always known how to utilize every factorfurnished by nature, and what has been given to them by the Commanderhas been given with the simple idea of helping them to make their lifeeasier, and proves again the axiom, "The Lord helps those who helpthemselves. "

After disembarking the Karnah contingent, the ship steamed to Etah, arriving there on the afternoon of August 17. As the _Roosevelt_ wasentering the harbor of Etah, all hands were on deck and on the lookout, for it was here that we were again to come in touch with the world wehad left behind a year before. A large number of Esquimos were runningup and down the shore, but there was no sign of the expected ship. Quickly a boat was lowered, and I saw to it that I was a member of thecrew of that boat, and when we reached the beach the first person togreet me was old Panikpah, greasy, smiling, and happy as if I were hisown son. I quickly recognized my old friend Pooadloonah, who greeted mewith a merry laugh, and my misgivings as to the fate of this preciouspair were dispelled. If you will remember, Panikpah and Pooadloonah werethe two Esquimos who found, when on our Poleward journey, just about thetime we had struck the "Big Lead, " that there were a couple offox-traps, or something like that, that they had forgotten to attend to, and that it was extremely necessary for them to go back and square uptheir accounts. Here they were, fat, smiling, and healthy; and Iapprehend somewhat surprised to see us, but they bluffed it out well. 

Murphy and the young man Pritchard were also here. Murphy and Pritchardwere the members of the crew who had been left here to guard theprovisions of the expedition, and to trade with the Esquimos. Anotherperson also was there to greet us; but who had kept himself alive andwell by his own pluck and clear grit, and who reported on meeting theCommander of having had a most satisfactory and enjoyable experience. Irefer to Mr. Harry Whitney, the young man from New Haven, Conn. , who hadelected at the last hour, the previous autumn, to remain at Etah, tohunt the big game of the region. When the _Roosevelt_ had sailed northfrom Etah, the previous August, he had been left absolutely alone; the_Erik_ had sailed for home, and there was no way out of this desolateland for him until the relief ship came north the following year, or the_Roosevelt_ came south to take him aboard. His outfit and equipment weresufficient for him and complete, but he had shared it with the nativesuntil it was exhausted, and after that he had reverted to the life ofthe aborigines. When the _Roosevelt_ reached Etah, Mr. Whitney was anEsquimo; but within one hour, he had a bath, a shave, and a hair-cut, and was the same mild-mannered gentleman that we had left there in thefall. He had gratified his ambitions in shooting musk-oxen, but he hadnot killed a single polar bear. 

At Etah there were two boys, Etookahshoo and Ahpellah, boys aboutsixteen or seventeen years old, who had been with Dr. Cook for a year, or ever since he had crossed the channel to Ellesmere Land and returnedagain. These boys are the two he claims accompanied him to the NorthPole. To us, up there at Etah, such a story was so ridiculous and absurdthat we simply laughed at it. We knew Dr. Cook and his abilities; he hadbeen the surgeon on two of Peary's expeditions and, aside from hismedical ability, we had no faith in him whatever. He was not even goodfor a day's work, and the idea of his making such an astounding claim ashaving reached the Pole was so ludicrous that, after our laugh, wedropped the matter altogether. 

On account of the world-wide controversy his story has caused, I willquote from my diary the impressions noted in regard to him:

"August 17, 1909, Etah, North Greenland. 

"Mr. Harry Whitney came aboard with the boatswain and the cabin-boy, whohad been left here last fall on our way to Cape Sheridan. Murphy is theboatswain and Pritchard the boy, both from Newfoundland, and they looknone the worse for wear, in spite of the long time they have spent here. Mr. Whitney is the gentleman who came up on the _Erik_ last year, and atthe last moment decided to spend the winter with the natives. He had along talk with the Commander before we left for the north, and has hadquite a lengthy session with him since. I learn that Dr. Cook came overfrom Ellesmere Land with his two boys, Etookahshoo and Ahpellah, and ina confidential conversation with Mr. Whitney made the statement that hehad reached the North Pole. Professor MacMillan and I have talked to histwo boys and have learned that there is no foundation in fact for such astatement, and the Captain and others of the expedition have questionedthem, and if they were out on the ice of the Arctic Ocean it was onlyfor a very short distance, not more than twenty or twenty-five miles. The boys are positive in this statement, and my own boys, Ootah andOoqueah, have talked to them also, and get the same replies. It is afact that they had a very hard time and were reduced to low limits, butthey have not been any distance north, and the Commander and the rest ofus are in the humor to regard Mr. Whitney as a person who has beenhoodwinked. We know Dr. Cook very well and also his reputation, and weknow that he was never good for a hard day's work; in fact he was not upto the average, and he is no hand at all in making the most of hisresources. He probably has spun this yarn to Mr. Whitney and theboatswain to make himself look big to them. 

"The Commander will not permit Mr. Whitney to bring any of the Dr. Cookeffects aboard the _Roosevelt_ and they have been left in a cache onshore. Koolootingwah is here again, after his trip to North Star Baywith Dr. Cook, and tells an amusing story of his experience. "

It is only from a sense of justice to Commander Peary and those who werewith him that I have mentioned Dr. Cook. The outfitting of the huntingexpedition of Mr. Bradley was well known to us. Captain Bartlett haddirected it and had advised and arranged for the purchase of theSchooner _John R. Bradley_ to carry the hunting party to the regionwhere big game of the character Mr. Bradley wished to hunt could befound. We knew that Dr. Cook was accompanying Mr. Bradley, but we had noidea that the question of the discovery of the North Pole was to beinvolved. 

I have reason to be grateful to Dr. Cook for favors received; I livedwith his folks while I was suffering with my eyes, due to snowblindness, but I feel that all of the debts of gratitude have beenliquidated by my silence in this controversy, and I will have nothingmore to say in regard to him or to his claims. 

CHAPTER XXI

ETAH TO NEW YORK--COMING OF MAIL AND REPORTERS--HOME!

At Etah we expected to meet the relief ship. Sixty tons of coal and asmall quantity of provisions had been left there during the previoussummer, to be used by us on our homeward voyage. This coal was loaded onboard and the Esquimos who desired to remain at Etah were landed. Justat the time we were ready to sail a heavy storm of wind and snow blewup, and it was not until six P. M. On the 20th that we left the harbor. Farewells had been said to the Esquimos, all that had been promised themfor faithful services had been given to them, and we commenced the finalstage of our journey home. 

From Etah, August 20, the ship sailed along the coast, landing Esquimosat the different settlements, and on the 23rd of August at two A. M. , wemet the Schooner _Jeanie_, of St. John, N. F. , commanded by SamuelBartlett. The schooner was supplied with provisions and coal for therelief of the _Roosevelt_, and was executing the plan of the PearyArctic Club. 

There was mail aboard her and we had our first tidings of home andfriends in a twelve-month. From newspaper clippings I learned that theBritish Antarctic Expedition, commanded by Sir Ernest H. Shackleton, hadreached within 111 miles of the South Pole. 

The mail contained good news for all but one of us. Mr. Borup, in hisbunk above the Professor's, read his letters, and in the course of hisreading was heard to emit a deep sigh, then to utter an agonizing groan. Prof. MacMillan, thinking that Borup had received bad news indeed, endeavored to console him, and at the same time asked what was the badnews, feeling sure it could be nothing less than the death of ColonelBorup or some other close relative of his. 

"What is the matter, George? Tell me. "

"HARVARD BEAT YALE!"

The _Roosevelt_, accompanied by her consort, sailed south to North StarBay and while entering the harbor ran ashore. Late in the afternoon, however, the rising tide floated her. While waiting for the tide, aparty of six, I among the number, went ashore and visited the DanishMissionary settlement established there, the Esquimos acting as ourinterpreters, we being unable to speak Danish and the missionaries beingunable to speak English. It was in North Star Bay that the coal andprovisions from the _Jeanie_ were transferred to the _Roosevelt_. 

Aboard the _Jeanie_, there was a young Esquimo man, Mene, who for thepast twelve years had lived in New York City, but, overcome by a strongdesire to live again in his own country, had been sent north by hisfriends in the States. He was almost destitute, having positivelynothing in the way of an equipment to enable him to withstand the rigorsof the country, and was no more fitted for the life he was to take upthan any boy of eighteen or twenty would be, for he was but a little boywhen he first left North Greenland. However, Commander Peary orderedthat he be given a plentiful supply of furs to keep him warm, food, ammunition and loading outfit, traps and guns, but, I believe, he wouldhave gladly returned with us, for it was a wistful farewell he made, andan Esquimo's farewell is usually very barren of pathos. 

Mr. Whitney transferred his augmented equipment to the _Jeanie_, intending to remain with her down the Labrador, for her Captain hadagreed to use every effort to help Mr. Whitney secure at least one polarbear. 

Cape York was reached on the morning of August 25, and from the twoEsquimo families, living at the extreme point of the Cape, we obtainedthe mail which had been left there by Captain Adams of the DundeeWhaling Fleet _Morning Star_. Our letters, although they bore no morerecent a date than that of March 23, 1909, were eagerly read. 

At Cape York we landed the last of the Esquimos. The decks were nowcleared. The boats were securely lashed in their davits, and nine A. M. , August 26, in a gale of wind, the _Roosevelt_ put out to sea, homeward-bound, but not yet out of danger, for the gale increased soconsiderably that the _Roosevelt_ was forced to lay to under reefedforesail, in the lee of the middle pack, until the 29th, when the stormsubsided and the ship got under way again. 

On September 4 the Labrador was sighted. Under full steam we passed theFarmyard, a group of small islands which lie off the coast. 

We arrived at Turnavik at seven-thirty P. M. Once again we saw signs ofcivilization. The men and women appeared in costumes of the TwentiethCentury instead of the fur garments of the Esquimos. Here we loadednineteen tons of coal. Here we feasted on fresh codfish, freshvegetables, and other appetizing foods to which our palates had longbeen strangers. 

You know the rest, for from Turnavik to Indian Harbor was only a fewhours' sailing. 

At Indian Harbor was located the wireless telegraph station from whereCommander Peary flashed to the civilized world his laconic message, "Stars and Stripes nailed to the North Pole. "

Within half an hour of our arrival, the British cutter _Fiona_ enteredthe harbor and the officers came aboard the _Roosevelt_. Thereafter forevery hour there was continuous excitement and reception of visitors. 

On September 13th the steamer _Douglas H. Thomas_, of Sydney, C. B. , arrived, having on board two representatives of the Associated Press, accompanied by Mr. Rood, a representative of _Harper's Magazine_. 

The next day the cable-boat _Tyrian_ arrived, with seventeen newspaperreporters, five photographers, and one stenographer. The _Tyrian_anchored outside the harbor and in five life-boats the party was broughtaboard the _Roosevelt_. As they rowed they cheered, and when theysighted Commander Peary three ringing cheers and a tiger were given. Thenewspaper men requested an interview with the Commander. He grantedtheir request, at the same time suggesting that they accompany himashore to a fish-loft at the end of the pier, where there would be moreroom than aboard the ship. Accompanied by the members of the expedition, the Commander and the reporters left the ship. Arriving at the loftCommander Peary sat on some fishnets at the rear end of the loft, someof the reporters sat on barrels and nets, others squatted on the floor. They formed a semi-circle around him and eagerly listened to the firsttelling of his stirring story. 

Before leaving Battle Harbor, we received a visit from the greatmissionary, Dr. Grenfell, the effect of whose presence was almost like abenediction. 

On the morning of the 18th we left Battle Harbor accompanied by the tug_Douglas H. Thomas_, amidst the salutes of the many vessels and boats inthe harbor and the cannon on the hill. 

Through the Straits of Belle Isle we steamed, with a fair wind and achoppy sea. In the meantime I was busily engaged in making a strip tosew upon a large American flag. This was a broad white bar which was toextend from the upper right to the lower left corner of the flag, withthe words "North Pole" sewed on it. 

About six A. M. On the 21st, a large white, steam-yacht was seenapproaching, flying an American flag from her foremast and the Englishflag from the mizzenmast. We were close enough to her to distinguishMrs. Peary and the children on board. A boat was quickly lowered fromthe yacht and the Peary family was soon united aboard the _Roosevelt_. 

All kinds of sailing craft now met the _Roosevelt_ and by them she wasescorted into the harbor of Sydney, C. B. Whistles were blown, thousandsof people lined the shores of the harbor, cheering enthusiastically andwaving flags, and as the _Roosevelt_ was moored alongside the pier, adelegation of school-girls met the Commander, made an address, andpresented him with a magnificent bouquet. The streets were gorgeouslydecorated and a holiday had been declared. A ripe, royal welcome wasaccorded the _Roosevelt_ and the members of the expedition. Visitorsboarded the ship and looted successfully for souvenirs. 

It was at Sydney that the expedition commenced to disband. CommanderPeary and his family returned to the United States via railroad-train. 

The _Roosevelt_ left Sydney on September 22 for New York City. A stopwas made at Eagle Island, in Casco Bay, off the coast of Maine, where islocated the summer home of Commander Peary, and here we landed most ofhis paraphernalia, some sledges and dogs. From Eagle Island we steameddirect to Sandy Hook, reaching there at noon on October 2. The next daythe _Roosevelt_ took her place with the replica of those two historicships, the _Half Moon_ and the _Clermont_, in the lead of the greatnaval parade. 

And now my story is ended; it is a tale that is told. "Now is Othello'soccupation gone. "

I long to see them all again! the brave, cheery companions of the trailof the North. I long to see again the lithe figure of my Commander! andto hear again his clear, ringing voice urging and encouraging me onward, with his "Well done, my boy. " I want to be with the party when theyreach the untrod shores of Crocker Land; I yearn to be with those whoreach the South Pole, the lure of the Arctic is tugging at my heart, tome the trail is calling!

 "The Old Trail! The Trail that is always New!"

APPENDIX I

NOTES ON THE ESQUIMOS

The origin of the Esquimos is not known to a certainty. In color theyare brown, their hair is heavy, straight, coarse, and black. Inappearance they are short, fat, and well-developed; and they bear astrong resemblance to the Mongolian race. 

Among the men of this tribe, quarrels and fights very rarely occur; butit is a very noticeable fact that while the men of the tribe do not makewar on each other, the man of the family will, at the least provocationon the part of his better-half, without hesitation apply brute force toshow his authority. 

The tribe of these, the North Greenland Esquimos, numbers two hundredand eighteen. 

Great interest was shown by the men when working implements, such as weused on board ship, were shown them. Eagerly they listened while theuses of many of these tools were explained to them. The women alsoshowed great interest in any article that was foreign to them. They havea special liking for fancy beads of the smaller variety. 

The Esquimos show a great capacity for imitation. They have also amarked sense of humor. 

An Esquimo's sense of imitation is so keen that it is only necessary forhim to observe a sledge-maker at work but once, when the same type ofsledge will be reproduced in a very short time. On my last trip north, Inoticed that the shirts worn by the Esquimos were similar in style andcut to our own. In 1906, the style had been entirely different. 

The Esquimos show no desire to acquire the English language. With theexception of Kudlooktoo and Inighito, none of the tribe could speakEnglish intelligently. The Esquimos' vocabulary is a complication ofprefixes and suffixes, and many words in his language are very hard topronounce. 

The _tupiks_ (tents) are made of sealskin, and are used in summer. Theigloos are built of snow, and are used in winter. A few igloos built ofbowlders can be seen. The workmanship of this latter type of igloos isnecessarily crude, for the bowlders are used in the rough state. Onentering the _tuscoonah_ (entrance), a bed-platform of stones five feetlong, and six feet wide, confronts one. On each side of this platformare seen smaller platforms, each holding a _koodlah_ (fire-pot). 

This _koodlah_ is made of a stone so soft that before it comes incontact with fire it can easily be cut with a knife. The name given bythe Esquimos to it is _okeyoah_. Cooking utensils are first formed inthe desired shape, then heat is applied, as a result of which the stonequickly hardens. The method of cooking as employed by the Esquimos is tosuspend the _kooleesoo_ (cooking-pot) over the _koodlah_ (fire-pot). The_koodlah_ is the only means by which light can be secured in an Esquimoigloo. As fuel, the blubber of the narwhal is used. 

The clothing of the male Esquimo consists of a _kooletah_ (deerskin coatwith hood attached), _nanookes_ (foxskin trousers) and _kamiks_(sealskin boots); that of the female Esquimo, a _kopetah_ (foxskin coatwith hood attached), _nanookes_ (foxskin trousers) and hip length_kamiks_ (sealskin boots). The shirts of the male and female Esquimo aremade from the skin of the auks, and one hundred and fifty of theselittle birds are used in the manufacture of one shirt. 

The largest Esquimo family known among the North Greenland tribe, numbers six; as a rule, an Esquimo family rarely outnumbers three. AnEsquimo family is not stationary. Rarely does a family remain in oneplace longer than one season, which is nine months. The principal reasonfor this constant moving is the scarcity of game; for after a season ofhunting in one place, game becomes very scarce; and there is no otheralternative but for the family to move on. Transportation is by means ofsledges drawn by a team of dogs. Alcoholic drinks are not known amongthis tribe; but, of late, tobacco is extensively used. Previous to 1902, before the arrival of the Danes, tobacco was an unknown quantity. 

The cleanliness of the Esquimos leaves room for much improvement. 

With reference to their morals, strictly speaking they are markedlylax. The wife of an Esquimo is held in no higher esteem than are thegoods and chattels of the household. She may at any time be loaned, borrowed, sold, or exchanged. They have no marriage ceremony. 

The amusements of the Esquimos are few. Tests of strength and enduranceoccur between the men of the tribe; and visits are paid to the varioussettlements, during the long winter nights; and songs and choruses aresung, accompanied by a kind of tambourine which is made from the bladderof a walrus or seal, and stretched across the antlers of a reindeer. 

The Esquimos are a very superstitious people. In the event of a fatalillness, the victim, just before death, is removed to a place outsidethe igloo, for should death enter the igloo that dwelling wouldinstantly be destroyed. If the deceased be a man, he is rolled up in asealskin, and strips of rawhide are lashed around the body to keep theskin intact. He is then carried to his last resting place. A low stonestructure is built around the body to protect it from the foxes. Hissledge, containing all his belongings, is placed close beside thisstructure, and his dogs harnessed to his sledge are strangled, andstretched their full length, with their forepaws extended. In the eventof the deceased being a woman, her cooking utensils are placed besideher, and should she be the mother of a very young infant, its life istaken. In the case of a widower, the bereaved Esquimo remains in theigloo for three days, during which time a new suit of wearing apparel ismade, and worn by him, and all clothing made by the deceased, is, byhim, destroyed. His term of mourning now being ended, the Esquimo, without more ado, takes unto himself a new wife. Members of the tribewho have the same name as the deceased have to change that name untilthe arrival of a new-born babe, to whom the name is given, whereby theban is removed. The Esquimos have no decided form of religion. Whenquestioned as to where the soul of the good Esquimo will go, they replyby pointing upward; and by pointing downward, the question is answeredas to the final dwelling-place of the wicked. 

The main cause of death amongst the Esquimos is from a disease thesymptoms of which are a cough, nausea, and fever, which disease quicklycauses death. 

It is true that the Esquimos are of little value to the commercialworld, due probably to their isolated position; but these same unlearnedand uncivilized people have rendered valuable assistance in thediscovery of the North Pole. 

APPENDIX II

LIST OF SMITH SOUND ESQUIMOS

(Males marked by an asterisk)

 Ac-com-o-ding´-wah * Ah-ding´-ah-loo Ah-dul-ah-ko-tee´-ah * Ah-dul-ah-ko-tee´-ah * Ah-ga-tah´ Ah-go´-tah * Ah-kah-gee´-ah-how A-ka-ting´-wah A-ka-ting´-wah Ah-li-kah-sing´-wah Ah-li-kah-sing´-wah Ah-li-kah-sing´-wah Ah´-mah Ah-mame´-ee Ah-mo-ned´-dy Ah-mung´-wah Ah-nad´-doo Ah-nah´-we Ah-nah-wing´-wah Ahng-een´-yah * Ahng-een´-yah Ahng´-ing-nah Ahng-ma-lok´-to * Ahng-nah´-nia Ahng-no-ding´-wah Ahng-o-do-blah´-o * Ahng-o-di-gip´-so Ahng´-od-loo * Ah-ni-ghi´-to Ah-ni-ghi´-to Ah-ning´-wah Ah-ning´-wah Ah-now´-kah * Ah-now´-kah * Ah´-pel-lah * Ah´-pel-lah * Ah-pu-ding´-wah * Ah-say´-oo * Ah´-te-tah Ah´-te-tah Ah-took-sung´-wah Ah-tung´-ee-nah Ah-tung´-ee-nah Ah-wa-ting´-wah * Ah-wa-tok´-suah * Ah-wee´-ah Ah-wee´-ah Ah-wee-ah-good´-loo Ah-wee-aung-o´-nah Ah-wee´-i-ah * Ah-we-ging´-wah * Ah-we-shung´-wah * Ah-wok-tun´-ee-ah Ak-pood-ah-shah´-o * Ak-pood-ah-shah´-o * Ak-pood´-ee-ark * Ak-pood-e-uk´-ee A-le´-tah * Al´-nay-ah Al-nay-du´-ah Ar-ke´-o * Ar-ke´-o * Ar-ke´-o *

 E-gee´-ah * E-ging´-wah * E-ging´-wah * E-lay-ting´-wah E-ling´-wah * E-meen´-yah * E-she-a´-too E-shing´-wah E-tood´-loo * E-took´-ah-shoo * E-took´-ah-shoo * E-too-shok´-swah E´-vah-loo E´-vah-loo E´-we

 I-ah-ping´-wah * I-ah-ping´-wah * Ig-lood-ee-ark´-swee * Ihr´-lee * Ik´-wah * Ik-kile-e-oo´-shah Il-kah-lin´-ah Il-kli-ah´ * Il-kli-ah´ * In-ad-lee´-ah In-ad-lee´-ah In´-ah-loo In-i-ghi´-to * In-i-ghi´-to * In-i-ghi´-to * In-noo´-i-tah * In-noo-tah´ In-noo-tah´ In-u-ah-pud´-o * In-u-ah´-o In-yah-lung´-wah I-on´-ah I-o-wit´-ty *

 Jacok-su´-nah *

 Kah´-dah * Kah-ko-tee´-ah Kah-ko-tee´-ah * Kah-shad´-doo Kah-shoo´-be-doo * Kai-o-ang´-wah * Kai-o-ang´-wah * Kai´-oh * Kai-o-look´-to * Kai-o´-tah * Kai-we-ark´-shah * Kai-we-ing´-wah * Kai´-we-kah * Kai-ung´-wah * Kang-nah´ * Kes-shoo´ * Ke-shung´-wah * Klay´-oo Klay´-oo Klay-ung´-wah Klip-e-sok´-swah * Kood´-ee-puck Kood-loo-tin´-ah * Kood-loo-tin´-ah * (or Koolatoonah) Koo-e-tig´-e-to * Koo´-lee Kool-oo-ting´-wah * Koo-u-pee´ Koo-u-pee´ Kud´-ah-shah * Kud´-lah * Kud´-lah * Kud-lun´-ah * Kud-look´-too * Ky-u-tah *

 Ma-gip´-soo Mah-so´-nah * Mah-so´-nah * Mah-so´-nah * Mah-so´-nah * Mark-sing´-wah * Mee´-tik * Mee´-tik * Me-gip´-soo Mek´-kah Me´-ne * Merk-to-shah´ * Mok´-sah * Mok-sang´-wah Mok-sang´-wah Mon´-nie Mon´-nie Micky´-shoo My´-ah * My-o´-tah *

 Nay-dee-ing´-wah Nel-lee´-kah Nel-lee-ka-tee´-ah Net´-too Net´-too New-e-king´-wah New-e-king´-wah New-e-king´-wah New-hate´-e-lah´-o * New-hate´-e-lah´-o * New-kah-ping´-wah * Nip-sang´-wah * Now-o-yat´-loe Nup´-sah

 Og´-we * Oo-ah-oun´ * Oo-bloo´-yah * Oo-bloo´-yah * Oo´-mah * Oo-que´-ah * Oo´-tah* Oo-tun´-iah Oo-we´-ah-oop * Oo-we-she-a´-too

 Pan´-ik-pah * Pee-ah-wah´-to * Poo-ad-loo´-nah* Poo-ad-loo´-nah * Poo-ad-loo´-nah * Poob´-lah * Poob´-lah * Pood-lung´-wah Poo´-too

 Sag´-wah Sat´-too * Seeg´-loo * Seen-o-ung´-wah See-o-dee-kah´-to Shoo-e-king´-wah Sim´-e-ah Sin-ah´-ew Sip´-soo Sow´-nah Suk´-kun * Sul-ming´-wah *

 Tah´-tah-rah * Tah´-wah-nah * Taw-ching´-wah * Taw-ching´-wah * Teddy-ling´-wah * Toi-tee´-ah * Took-e-ming´-wah Too´-koom-ah Tu-bing´-wah Tung-wing´-wah Tung´-we *

 Ung´-ah *

 We´-ark We-shark´-oup-si *

Two female babies not named

 Male 122 Female 96 ---- Total 218

THE END

 * * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

The illustrations have been moved out of the middle of paragraphs so asto not interrupt the flow of reading. 

Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired. 

Page xiii, "ESKIMOS" changed to "ESQUIMOS". (NORTH POLE ESQUIMOS)

Page 76, "Equimos" changed to "Esquimos". (fourteen Esquimos)

One instance each of the following was retained:

 fiendlike/fiend-like forepaws/fore-paws readjusting/re-adjusting