On the 12th August, Dr. Cook, Verhoeff, Astrup, and Gibson were sent to Herbert, Northumberland, and Hakluyt Islands. They left provisioned for fourteen days. The object of the journey was to obtain birds from the loomeries, to make plans of Eskimo houses and villages, to communicate with the natives and obtain from them furs and clothing. They were also to try and induce a family of natives to settle near Red Cliff House.
They returned on 18th August with 130 guillemots, and also brought an Eskimo family, consisting of a man, his wife, and two children, with a kayak and harpoon, a sledge and a dog. They had shot a small walrus near Herbert Island, and had towed it to Cape Cleveland, a little over 2 miles from the house. Several other walruses were obtained before the end of the month.
On the 4th September the entire party, with the exception of Henson, set out for the head of McCormick Bay with supplies intended for a dépôt to be established on the Inland Ice in the neighbourhood of the Humboldt Glacier.
On the 5th September, Astrup went up the slopes to the ice-cap to select the best route for carrying up the provisions. He returned with a favourable report, and estimated the distance to the ice-cap at less than 4 miles.
On the 6th September, Astrup, Gibson, Verhoeff, and Cook started up the bluffs with loads varying from 52 to 58 lb., and towards night on the same day they carried up a second load. On the 7th the last loads were taken up, and Astrup, Gibson, and Verhoeff, who were to form the Inland Ice party, remained at the ice-cap, while the others returned to Red Cliff House.
This Inland Ice party returned to Red Cliff on 12th September, and reported that the attempt to establish a dépôt had been a failure. Owing to the presence of deep soft snow, it was found that not more than one sledge could be dragged at a time, and on the 8th September the party advanced only 1 mile. On the 9th they were kept in camp by a snowstorm and high wind. On the 10th they advanced 1 mile by noon, and as there was no prospect of better sledging, they deposited one of the sledge-loads on a nunatak at an elevation of 2600 feet above sea-level, and returned to Red Cliff without their sledges or sleeping-gear.
On 22nd September, Peary sent Astrup and Gibson back to the Inland Ice to study the condition of travel as far north-east as possible. They dragged their sledges five days, and attained an altitude of 4600 feet; but owing to snow-squalls, high winds, and hard hauling, they then decided to return.
During October many Eskimo arrived at Red Cliff, and from this time onwards various parties were coming and going all through the winter. Some came from Cape York, nearly 200 miles away. Several of the women were engaged to make fur clothing for the party.
During the winter Peary kept his party busy making sledges, odometers, and various other articles required for the spring sledge-journey.
Peary devised and cut the patterns for the suits and sleeping-bags. These were made from the skins of the deer shot by Peary’s men. The skins were stretched and dried at Red Cliff, and the chewing was done by the Eskimo women. This latter process makes the skins thoroughly soft and pliable. A skin is folded with the hair inside, and is chewed along the fold; then another fold is made, and the process is repeated until the whole skin has been carefully chewed. After this, it is scraped and worked with a blunt instrument. It takes two women about a day to chew a big buck-skin, and they usually require to give their jaws a rest every alternate day.