In 1899 Peary again visited the Arctic regions. He reached Fort Conger in March, 1900, and the next month, with his colored servant, Matthew Henson, and five Eskimos, started to explore the northern coast of Greenland. He reached Cape Washington, where he erected a cairn, and then pushing on, he rounded the northern limit of the Greenland archipelago at latitude 83° 39ʹ north, from which point the coast extended southward.
At this place, the most northerly known land in the world, Peary built a cairn and inclosed records of his trip. He then changed the direction of his course and turned northward, traveling over sea ice toward the pole. He proceeded in this direction until he reached latitude 83° 50ʹ north, where he found it impossible to continue the journey farther. He therefore returned to the Greenland coast, and made explorations which enabled him to complete a chart of the northern coast of that island. Upon the completion of this work he returned to Fort Conger, arriving there June 10, 1900, without accident or illness. During this trip, the temperature ranged from 20° above to 35° below zero.
The winter of 1900 and 1901 was spent at Fort Conger, where game was plentiful. The men passed most of their time hunting, and succeeded in slaying nearly two hundred musk-oxen.
In the spring of 1901 Peary made a second attempt to reach the pole, this time from the northern point of Grinnell land, using Fort Conger as a base. But he was again obliged to turn back. Still undismayed, Peary planned to make another dash for the pole during the spring of 1902. This expedition was also unsuccessful, and Peary returned to the United States in the fall of 1902, without having discovered the North Pole. But he accomplished valuable geographical work, and has added greatly to our knowledge of Greenland and Grinnell land.
Among the important results of Peary’s work are:—
First: The rounding of the northern limit of the Greenland archipelago, the most northerly known land in the world.
Second: The attainment of the highest latitude in the Western Hemisphere, 83° 50ʹ north.
Third: The discovery of the character of the inland ice.