The first days after their arrival at the bay were, of course, spent in the erection of the portable dwelling which they had brought with them, and to which they gave the name of Redcliffe House. As soon as spring came round Peary, who, under the care of his wife, had completely recovered, set off on a short sledge journey round Inglefield Gulf, on which Mrs Peary accompanied him.
It was not, however, until May 14 that he started on the long journey which was to be the crowning glory of his expedition. The first part of the journey was slow, for it took him a week to round Inglefield Gulf, during which time he discovered no fewer than thirty glaciers, ten of them of the first magnitude. On reaching the divide between Whale Sound and Kane Sea, he sent back two of the four men who had set out with him, and with Astrup as his only companion he pushed on north. On June 26 they reached the northern edge of the inland ice and, unable to proceed any further in that direction, they turned south-east in the hope that they would succeed in making the east coast of Greenland. Following the extreme limits of the ice-cap their journey brought them, on July 4, to a large indentation, which they named Independence Bay, in honour of the day. From the top of a tremendous cliff, 4000 feet high, they obtained a magnificent view of the land all round them, a view which left no doubt whatever in their minds that Greenland was an island.
Of the twenty-one dogs with which they had started only eight now survived, and as they were a full 450 miles from home, they had no choice but to make the best of their way back to Redcliffe House, which they reached without misadventure on August 6. The Kite arriving a few days later, Peary and his companions returned to America. Their party, however, had been reduced by one member, for the mineralogist, John Verhoeff, had been overtaken by a snowstorm when out hunting for specimens and had never been heard of again.
Peary’s experiences convinced him that there was a vast field for discovery in the north of Greenland, and he promptly set about raising the money for a third expedition by delivering lectures on his experiences. The result of his efforts was so entirely satisfactory that the autumn of 1893 saw him once again established in Whale Sound. On this occasion, however, he was able to find far more satisfactory quarters in Bowdoin Bay, an indentation on the north shore of Inglefield Gulf, where he erected Anniversary Lodge, a house which might truly be said to have the most modern improvements, in that it was actually lit by electric light supplied by a dynamo, for the working of which his steam launch was responsible.
On August 29 Astrup and three companions set out with the object of laying down caches of provisions for the great spring journey. Unfortunately, however, they had only deposited two caches when Astrup was taken ill, and they had to hurry home without properly locating the spots.
PEARY’S TRAVELLING EQUIPMENT
On September 12 an exceedingly interesting event took place, for Mrs Peary, who was again a member of the expedition, presented her husband with a daughter. To Miss Peary consequently belongs the honour of having been born in a higher latitude than any other civilised being.
It was on March 6, 1894, that Peary set out on his spring journey accompanied by seven men, twelve sledges and ninety-two dogs, and with sufficient provisions to last for six months. Unfortunately, however, the weather was by no means so favourable as it had been on his previous journey. The cold was intense, and his men were frost-bitten and his dogs frozen to death before his eyes. Sending back the greater number of his party, Peary pushed on pluckily with three companions, but circumstances were too much for him, and he had to confess himself beaten in the end. When he finally reached Bowdoin Bay, on April 15, only twenty-six dogs out of the original ninety-two remained to him.
The rest of the spring and the early part of the summer were spent in exploring and mapping out the unknown shores of Melville Bay. During the course of one of these journeys Peary reached Cape York, where he “unsnowed” two gigantic meteorites, the reports of which had attracted many previous explorers, none of whom, however, had managed to find them. Later on he succeeded in conveying them to America, as well as a third of such vast proportions that its removal entailed several months of hard work.