On Christmas Day, Peary invited his Eskimo friends to dinner. After his own party had partaken of a remarkably good Christmas feast, a fine venison stew was prepared for the Eskimos. Dr. Cook, the ship’s surgeon, saw that the guests were clean, to outward appearance at least, and a jolly, happy party they were, sitting down at a civilized dinner table for the first time in their lives.
The Eskimo men wore sealskin coats and bearskin trousers, while the ladies appeared in foxskin jackets and trousers. The Villain sat at the head of the table and served the repast. The Daisy poured tea in Mrs. Peary’s place, and conducted herself very gracefully.
Myah, who was called the white man, insisted upon holding both his knife and spoon in his right hand, and then using his fingers to carry the food to his mouth. He was rude enough to stand up and try to harpoon some choice pieces of meat from the stew with his fork. The Villain reproved him so gravely that he stopped harpooning and turned his attention to his own plate. It is barely possible that the Villain was not shocked at the manners of Myah, the white man, but that he wanted the choice piece of meat himself.
After the stew they had coffee, candy, and raisins, and then the Eskimos and the white men played games together.
Gradually the long night passed away, and at length it was almost time for the sun to appear. Peary had ordered an igloo to be built on the ice cap at an elevation of about two thousand and fifty feet, so that he might use it when he went up to see the sun rise.
When this igloo was completed, Peary, Dr. Cook, and Astrup started out one morning, with provisions and sleeping bags, in the hope of catching a first glimpse of the sun. When they reached the igloo they were very tired. After supper they took off their fur clothes, crawled into their sleeping bags, and went to sleep. When Peary awoke, the fine snow was drifting in his face, and the wind was blowing a terrific gale. The entrance was blocked with snow, and the three men were buried beneath the drifts.
Peary rolled himself out with great difficulty, and succeeded in finding a shovel. Then he and Dr. Cook pulled Astrup out, and the three men found themselves on top of the drift under which the snow house was buried. They were without shelter, two thousand feet above sea level, while the storm was raging so fiercely that they had to shout to one another in order to be heard.
After a while the snow turned to rain, which froze and covered everything with ice. Their heavy outside clothes were buried in the snow house, and they were clad only in their under garments. If it had not been for the sleeping bags, they would have frozen to death, and even as it was, their condition was serious. But at length the storm ceased and the half-frozen men succeeded in digging out their garments. They were obliged to dress in the open air, with the wind blowing and the thermometer standing at 3° above zero.
As soon as they were dressed they started for home, and reached Red Cliff House in safety, warm with exercise. Here, they were informed, the storm had likewise been terrific. The rain had fallen in torrents, washing away the snow covering of the house and soaking through the canvas roof. But Red Cliff House was stanchly built and stood firm.