The writer has, from the day of his return, been under the stress of insistent and incessant demands, and in working and planning for the next campaign, has found it difficult and at times impossible to put this narrative of the campaign just finished, in the shape that would do full justice to himself and his publishers.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction[vii]
CHAPTER
I.From New York to Etah[3]
II.Etah to Cape Sheridan[33]
III.Autumn at Cape Sheridan[55]
IV.Through the “Great Night”[73]
V.Sheridan to the “Big Lead”[97]
VI.From the “Big Lead” to 87° 6′ N. Lat.[123]
VII.From 87° 6′ to the Greenland Coast[139]
VIII.Along the Greenland Coast to the Roosevelt[153]
IX.Westward Over the Glacial Fringe of Grant Land[173]
X.Westward Over the Glacial Fringe of Grant Land Continued[195]
XI.The Return from “Farthest West”[219]
XII.Cape Sheridan to Etah[247]
XIII.Etah to New York[265]
XIV.The Peary Arctic Club[285]
XV.Report of Expedition of 1898–1902[295]
XVI.The Roosevelt[355]
XVII.My Eskimos[375]
Index[397]

ILLUSTRATIONS

“Nearest the Pole”: Commander Robert E. Peary Planting the American Flag, Latitude 87° 6′, April 21, 1906 (Coloured)[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
Commander Robert E. Peary[viii]
Morris K. Jesup[ix]
Steward Percy[7]
Dr. Wolf[7]
Commander Peary[7]
Captain Bartlett[7]
Mr. Marvin[7]
Mate Bartlett[8]
Chief Engineer Wardwell[8]
Matthew Henson[8]
“Bo’sun” Murphy[8]
The Sailors[8]
The Firemen[8]
Interior of Peary’s Cabin Aboard the “Roosevelt”[13]
A Melville Bay Iceberg[14]
Typical Whale Sound Glacier[14]
Oomunui, the Peculiar Peak at the Entrance of the North Star Bay[23]
Coaling at Etah[24]
Transferring Walrus Meat at Etah[24]
The Auxiliary S. S. “Erik” in the Harbour of Etah[27]
The Barrier at Cape Collinson[28]
Entering the Smith Sound Ice[37]
Open Water Off Cape Lupton[37]
The Squeeze Near “The Gap”[38]
Bringing Off the “Polaris” Boat from Boat Camp, Newman Bay[41]
Cape Sumner, Greenland[42]
Birthday Cape, Wrangel Bay, Grinnell Land[42]
The “Roosevelt” Immediately After Arrival at Cape Sheridan[65]
The Alert’s Cairn, at Floeberg Beach[66]
Petersen’s Grave, Overlooking Floeberg Beach[66]
Cape Sheridan and the Polar Ocean[75]
The “Roosevelt” at Cape Sheridan, After a Southerly Gale[76]
A Day’s Hare Shooting at Sheridan[81]
Return of Hunting Party from Cape Henry with First Specimens of New Reindeer[81]
Last View of the Sun, Black Cape, October 12, 1906[82]
Shaping the Runners[85]
Eskimos Making Sledges on Board the “Roosevelt”[85]
Salmon Trout from Lake Hazen[86]
Eskimos Fishing on Lake Hazen[86]
Moonlight View of the “Roosevelt” in Winter Quarters at Cape Sheridan[89]
The Bow of the “Roosevelt” in Winter Quarters[90]
Weighing Musk-Ox Meat[99]
Reindeer and Musk-Ox Meat in the Rigging[99]
Crossing Fielden Peninsula[100]
Cape Hecla with Cape Joseph Henry in the Distance[103]
Captain Bartlett at Cape Hecla[104]
Delay Camp at the “Big Lead,” 84° 38′[107]
Eskimo Drawings Made at Storm Camp[108]
A Sample of the Arctic Pack[157]
As They Rounded up the Herd of Musk-Oxen, Nare’s Land[158]
After the Killing[158]
Egingwah and the Morris K. Jesup Sledge[175]
My Entire Western Party on the Road to Cape Columbia[175]
The Twin Peaks at Cape Columbia With the Morris K. Jesup Sledge in the Foreground[176]
Live Bull Musk-Ox at Close Quarters, Cape Columbia[179]
Musk-Ox at Cape Columbia[180]
The Alpine Summit of Cape Colgate[197]
Cape Thomas Hubbard. Northern Extremity of Jesup Land. (Heiberger Land of Sverdrup’s)[198]
Cape Colgate. Northwestern Angle of Grant Land[198]
Egingwah and Reindeer at Cape Hubbard[221]
Crossing a Stream on the Glacial Fringe[222]
Our Camp on Land West of Aldrich’s Farthest[222]
Typical Eskimo Dog[237]
The Crush Near Cape Union. Where the “Roosevelt” Lost Rudder, Stern-post, and Part of Propeller[238]
Sipsu and His Family. Returning to the Ship from Fort Conger[241]
The “Roosevelt” Forced Aground in Wrangel Bay[242]
The “Roosevelt” in Wrangel Bay[242]
Eskimo Family Going Ashore at Lady Franklin Bay for Winter at Fort Conger[251]
Taking Soundings in Kane Basin[252]
Bringing the Bear to the Ship[255]
Polar Bear Killed in Kane Basin[255]
The Ship Beached for Repairs at the Head of Etah Fiord[256]
View of the Stern[263]
Eskimo Houses at Kookan[264]
Cape York, 76° North Latitude. Northern Limit of Melville Bay, and Most Southerly Settlement of the Whale Sound Eskimos[267]
Hanging our New Rudder at Hopedale[268]
Sawing Wood to Feed the Furnaces[268]
Hulda, a Labrador Eskimo Girl at Nain[273]
Hopedale. Moravian Missionary Station on the Labrador Coast[274]
Ooblooyah, Young Eskimo Man of about Twenty-three[277]
A Group of Eskimo Women[278]
Head of Rangifer Pearyi, Allen[347]
Eskimos of the “Farthest North” Party[348]
Captain Chas. B. Dix, Builder of the “Roosevelt”[357]
The “Roosevelt” on Her Trial Trip, June, 1905[357]
The Peary Arctic Club’s S. S. “Roosevelt”[358]
A Study in Bronze; Typical Face of Eskimo Woman[367]
Ahweahgoodloo, Four-year-old Eskimo Girl[368]
Inuaho, Eskimo Girl[377]
Akatingwah, Wife of Ooblooyah[378]
Detail Map of the Polar Regions showing the routes and Explorations of Robert E. Peary, U. S. N. from 1892 to 1906; and General Map of the North Polar Regions[END]

NEAREST THE POLE

CHAPTER I
FROM NEW YORK TO ETAH

When an expedition starts for distant and mysterious regions for an uncertain length of time, and particularly when its objective point is the frozen heart of the Arctic Circle, it is natural that those who know and are interested in its objects and plans should turn with interest to its personnel and its surroundings and environment while en route to the scene of action.

The opening scenes of an Arctic voyage are comparatively familiar to those conversant with Arctic literature. The main features of the play are much the same: A crowded and littered ship, regrets at leaving, confusion, and, if the weather be decent, an effort to get into shape, or, if the weather be bad, a surrender by most of the party to abject misery in cramped quarters. In the present instance, some of these features were entirely absent, and others appeared only in a mild form.