Chapter I: Introduction

SOME _years ago I met at a dinner in Washington the famous Norwegian arctic explorer, Nansen, himself one of the heroes of polar adventure; and he remarked to me, "Peary is your best man; in fact I think he is on the whole the best of the men now trying to reach the Pole, and there is a good chance that he will be the one to succeed." I cannot give the exact words; but they were to the above effect; and they made a strong impression on me. I thought of them when in the summer of 1908 I, as President of the United States, went aboard Peary's ship to bid him Godspeed on the eve of what proved to be his final effort to reach the Pole. A year later, when I was camped on the northern foothills of Mt. Kenia, directly under the equator, I received by a native runner the news that he had succeeded, and that thanks to him the discovery of the North Pole was to go on the honor roll of those feats in which we take a peculiar pride because they have been performed by our fellow countrymen.

Probably few outsiders realize the well-nigh incredible toil and hardship entailed in such an achievement as Peary's; and fewer still understand how many years of careful training and preparation there must be before the feat can be even attempted with any chance of success. A "dash for the pole" can be successful only if there have been many preliminary years of painstaking, patient toil. Great physical hardihood and endurance, an iron will and unflinching courage, the power of command, the thirst for adventure, and a keen and farsighted intelligence--all these must go to the make-up of the successful arctic explorer; and these, and more than these, have gone to the make-up of the chief of successful arctic explorers, of the man who succeeded where hitherto even the best and the bravest had failed.

Commander Peary has made all dwellers in the civilized world his debtors; but, above all, we, his fellow Americans, are his debtors. He has performed one of the great feats of our time; he has won high honor for himself and for his country; and we welcome his own story of the triumph which he won in the immense solitudes of the wintry North._

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
THE WHITE NILE, _March_ 12, 1910.

COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION vii
FOREWORD xv
I THE PLAN 1
II PREPARATIONS 11
III THE START 25
IV UP TO CAPE YORK 34
V WELCOME FROM THE ESKIMOS 42
VI AN ARCTIC OASIS 53
VII ODD CUSTOMS OF AN ODD PEOPLE 63
VIII GETTING RECRUITS 72
IX A WALRUS HUNT 79
X KNOCKING AT THE GATEWAY TO THE POLE 88
XI CLOSE QUARTERS WITH THE ICE 97
XII THE ICE FIGHT GOES ON 106
XIII CAPE SHERIDAN AT LAST 117
XIV IN WINTER QUARTERS 126
XV THE AUTUMN WORK 134
XVI THE BIGGEST GAME IN THE ARCTIC 143
XVII MUSK-OXEN AT LAST 151
XVIII THE LONG NIGHT 162
XIX THE _Roosevelt's_ NARROW ESCAPE 172
XX CHRISTMAS ON THE _Roosevelt_ 182
XXI ARCTIC ICE SLEDGING AS IT REALLY IS 193
XXII ESSENTIALS THAT BROUGHT SUCCESS 201
XXIII OFF ACROSS THE FROZEN SEA 213
XXIV THE FIRST OPEN WATER 221
XXV SOME OF MY ESKIMOS LOSE THEIR NERVE 230
XXVI BORUP'S FARTHEST NORTH 240
XXVII GOOD-BY TO MARVIN 248
XXVIII WE BREAK ALL RECORDS 255
XXIX BARTLETT REACHES 87° 47´ 264
XXX THE FINAL SPURT BEGUN 272
XXXI ONLY ONE DAY FROM THE POLE 280
XXXII WE REACH THE POLE 287
XXXIII GOOD-BY TO THE POLE 302
XXXIV BACK TO LAND AGAIN 314
XXXV LAST DAYS AT CAPE SHERIDAN 325
APPENDIX I 337
APPENDIX II 350
APPENDIX III 363

ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL-PAGE PLATES REPRODUCING PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGEMENTS COLORED BY HAND

THE FIVE FLAGS AT THE POLE _Frontispiece._

Facing
Page

PORTRAIT OF ROBERT E. PEARY IN HIS ACTUAL NORTH POLE COSTUME viii

STELLAR PROJECTION, SHOWING THE RELATION OF THE POLAR SEA TO THE
VARIOUS CONTINENTS AND THE ROUTE OF THE EXPEDITION xxxii

ESKIMO DOGS OF THE EXPEDITION (246 IN ALL) ON SMALL ISLAND.
ETAH FJORD 74

CAPTAIN BARTLETT AND HIS PARTY (A TYPICAL UNIT DIVISION OF THE
EXPEDITION) 140

ILLUMINATION OF THE _Roosevelt_ IN WINTER QUARTERS ON A MOONLIGHT
NIGHT 162

A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF WORKING SLEDGES OVER A
PRESSURE RIDGE 240

CROSSING A LEAD ON AN ICE CAKE AS A FERRY-BOAT 306

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

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Page

GEORGE A. WARDWELL, CHIEF ENGINEER 16 BANKS SCOTT, SECOND ENGINEER 16 ROBERT A. BARTLETT, MASTER 16 THOMAS GUSHUE, MATE 16 CHARLES PERCY, STEWARD 16 PROFESSOR ROSS G. MARVIN, ASSISTANT 17 GEORGE BORUP, ASSISTANT 17 DONALD B. MACMILLAN, ASSISTANT 17 DR. J. W. GOODSELL, SURGEON 17 SNOWY OWL, CAPE SHERIDAN 36 BRANT GOOSE 37 SABINE'S GULL 37 RED-THROATED DIVER, MALE AND FEMALE 37 KING EIDER, DRAKE 37 ESKIMOS COMING OFF TO THE _Roosevelt_ IN KAYAKS 42 THE MIDNIGHT SUN AS SEEN IN THE WHALE SOUND REGION 42 ESKIMO IN KAYAK 43 THE ICE-CLIFFS OF HUBBARD GLACIER 52 PEARY DISTRIBUTING UTENSILS TO WIVES OF HIS HUNTERS AT ETAH 53 DECK SCENE ON THE _Roosevelt_ 53 ESKIMO MOTHER AND CHILD 60 ESKIMO CHILDREN 61 KUDLAH, ALIAS "MISFORTUNE," WITH PUPPIES 61 KING ESKIMO DOG 70 THE DOG MARKET AT CAPE YORK 71 THE WHALE-BOAT RETURNING TO THE SHIP FROM THE WALRUS HUNT 71 THE CAPE JESUP GRENADIERS 71 HOISTING A WALRUS TO THE DECK OF THE _Roosevelt_ 86 A NARWHAL KILLED OFF CAPE UNION, JULY, 1909. THE MOST NORTHERLY SPECIMEN EVER CAPTURED 87 CAPTAIN BARTLETT IN THE CROW'S NEST 104 TABULAR ICEBERG AND FLOE-ICE 105 THE _Roosevelt_ DRYING OUT HER SAILS AT CAPE SHERIDAN, SEPTEMBER, 1908 122 THE _Roosevelt_ ON SEPTEMBER 12, 1908, MARIE AHNIGHITO PEARY'S BIRTHDAY 123 "PEARY" SLEDGES ON BOARD THE _Roosevelt_ 123 VIEW BETWEEN THE _Roosevelt_ AND CAPE COLUMBIA 136 ESKIMO TYPE OF SLEDGE USED ON JOURNEY 137 "PEARY" TYPE OF SLEDGE 137 POLAR BEAR, ARRANGED BY "FROZEN TAXIDERMY" AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY FLASHLIGHT 144 FAMILY GROUP OF PEARY CARIBOU (_Rangifer Pearyi_), ARRANGED BY "FROZEN TAXIDERMY" AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY FLASHLIGHT 145 HEAD OF BULL MUSK-OX KILLED ON PARRY PENINSULA 152 HERD OF MUSK-OXEN ROUNDED UP 153 WEESHARKOOPSI AND MUSK-OX CALF 156 BEAR KILLED IN CLEMENTS MARKHAM INLET 156 MUSK-OX HEADS IN THE RIGGING OF THE _Roosevelt_ 157 CARIBOU HEADS IN THE RIGGING OF THE _Roosevelt_ 157 CRANE CITY, CAPE COLUMBIA, AT THE TIME OF DEPARTURE MARCH 1, 1909 192 FACE OF THE LAND ICE, "GLACIAL FRINGE," OFF CAPE COLUMBIA 193 PINNACLE NEAR THE SHORE 193 TYPICAL TRAIL IN SOFT SNOW (LOOKING BACKWARD) 208 TYPICAL VIEW OF THE ICE OF THE ARCTIC OCEAN NORTH OF GRANT LAND 209 TYPICAL CAMP ON THE ICE 209 WORKING THROUGH AN EXPANSE OF ROUGH ICE 216 PASSING THROUGH A DEFILE IN ROUGH ICE 217 APPROACHING A LEAD THROUGH ROUGH ICE 224 STOPPED BY OPEN WATER 225 ATHLETIC SPORTS AT THE LEAD CAMP 232 PICKAXING A ROAD THROUGH ZONE OF ROUGH ICE 232 A CHARACTERISTIC VIEW OF THE EXPEDITION ON THE MARCH IN FINE WEATHER 233 REPAIRING SLEDGES IN CAMP 248 MARVIN TAKING AN OBSERVATION IN A SNOW SHELTER 249 CROSSING A LARGE LAKE OF YOUNG ICE, NORTH OF 87° 264 CAMP AT 85° 48´ NORTH, MARCH 22, 1909 265 A MOMENTARY HALT IN THE LEE OF A BIG HUMMOCK NORTH OF 88° 265 BARTLETT AND HIS PARTY READY TO START BACK FROM 87° 47´ NORTH, APRIL 1, 1909 270 CUTTING BLOCKS OF SNOW FOR IGLOOS AT NEXT TO LAST CAMP, 89° 25´ NORTH 271 THE HALT FOR LUNCH IN LAST FORCED MARCH, 89° 25´ TO 89° 57´, SHOWING ALCOHOL STOVES IN SNOW SHELTER 284 CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP, 89° 57´, APRIL 6 AND 7, 1909 285 THE RECONNOITERING PARTY AT THE POLE 288 THE DOUBLE TEAM OF DOGS USED WITH THE RECONNOITERING SLEDGE AT THE POLE, SHOWING THEIR ALERTNESS AND GOOD CONDITION 289 PEARY WITH CHRONOMETER, SEXTANT, AND ARTIFICIAL HORIZON AT THE POLE 290 PEARY TAKING AN OBSERVATION AT THE POLE, WITH ARTIFICIAL HORIZON, IN A SNOW SHELTER 290 PEARY'S IGLOO AT CAMP MORRIS K. JESUP, APRIL 6, 1909; THE MOST NORTHERLY HUMAN HABITATION IN THE WORLD 291 MEMBERS OF THE PARTY CHEERING THE STARS AND STRIPES AT THE POLE, APRIL 7, 1909 294 RETURNING TO CAMP WITH THE FLAGS, APRIL 7, 1909 294 THE FOUR NORTH POLE ESKIMOS 295 EGINGWAH SEARCHING THE HORIZON FOR LAND 298 PEARY SEARCHING THE HORIZON FOR LAND 298 LOOKING TOWARD CAPE CHELYUSKIN 299 LOOKING TOWARD SPITZBERGEN 299 LOOKING TOWARD CAPE COLUMBIA 299 LOOKING TOWARD BERING STRAIT 299 ATTEMPTED SOUNDING, APRIL 7, 1909 302 ACTUAL SOUNDING, FIVE MILES SOUTH OF THE POLE, APRIL 7, 1909, 1500 FATHOMS (9000 ft.) NO BOTTOM 303 SWINGING AN ICE CAKE ACROSS A LEAD TO FORM AN IMPROMPTU BRIDGE 308 PASSING OVER THE BRIDGE 309 SOUNDING 312 BREAKING CAMP. PUSHING THE SLEDGES UP TO THE TIRED DOGS 312 LAST CAMP ON THE ICE ON THE RETURN 313 BACK ON THE "GLACIAL FRINGE" 313 APPROACHING THE PEAKS OF CAPE COLUMBIA OVER THE SURFACE OF THE "GLACIAL FRINGE" 318 CRANE CITY AT CAPE COLUMBIA, ON THE RETURN 318 EGINGWAH BEFORE STARTING ON THE SLEDGE TRIP 319 EGINGWAH AFTER THE RETURN FROM THE TRIP 319 OOTAH BEFORE STARTING ON THE SLEDGE TRIP 319 OOTAH AFTER THE RETURN FROM THE SLEDGE TRIP 319 PERMANENT MONUMENT ERECTED AT CAPE COLUMBIA TO MARK POINT OF DEPARTURE AND RETURN OF NORTH POLE SLEDGE PARTY 324 PEARY CAIRN AT CAPE MORRIS K. JESUP AS PHOTOGRAPHED BY MACMILLAN AND BORUP 325 MEMORIAL ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF PROFESSOR ROSS G. MARVIN AT CAPE SHERIDAN 325 THE SPECIAL GREAT GOLD MEDAL OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 364 THE SPECIAL GREAT GOLD MEDAL OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON 365

NOTE.--The general plan of illustration is based on an unusually close adherence to the negatives, as giving more interesting and valuable results. Many of the most important pictures are from photographs not retouched in the least, _e.g._, those facing pages 270, 284, 290, etc. In others the sky-line has been indicated, _e.g._, those facing pages 208, 271, 299 (top), etc.; but change of no other sort has been made except to remove specks and other similar mechanical defects not widely extended. The color-plates are, of course, exceptions requiring special treatment. THE PUBLISHERS