NEAREST THE POLE
THE GEOGRAPHICAL LIBRARY
The Opening of Tibet, _By Perceval Landon_
Flashlights in the Jungle, _By C. G. Schillings_
The Passing of Korea, _By Homer B. Hulbert_
Fighting the Polar Ice, _By Anthony Fiala_
Nearest the Pole, _By R. E. Peary, U. S. N._
[Illustration:
“NEAREST THE POLE”
COMMANDER ROBERT E. PEARY PLANTING THE AMERICAN FLAG LATITUDE 87° 6′,
APRIL 21, 1906
Painted by Albert Operti, from photographs
]
Nearest the Pole
A Narrative of the Polar Expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S.
S. Roosevelt, 1905–1906
By
R. E. PEARY, U. S. N.
_With ninety-five photographs by the author, two maps and a
frontispiece in colour by Albert Operti_
[Illustration]
New York
Doubleday, Page & Company
1907
COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PUBLISHED, APRIL, 1907
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES
INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
TO HER WHO HAS BEEN
MY CONSTANT AID AND INSPIRATION
AND HAS BORNE THE BRUNT
OF IT ALL
[Illustration: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY INCORPORATED A.D. 1888]
INTRODUCTION
The Address of President Roosevelt on his presentation of the
Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society to Commander
Robert E. Peary, at the annual banquet of the Society, December
15, 1906.
_I count myself fortunate in having been asked to be present this
evening at such a gathering and on behalf of such a society to pay a
tribute of honour to an American who emphatically deserves well of the
commonwealth. Civilised people usually live under conditions of life so
easy that there is a certain tendency to atrophy of the hardier virtues.
And it is a relief to pay signal honour to a man who by his achievements
makes it evident that in some of the race, at least, there has been no
loss of hardy virtue._
_I said some loss of the hardier virtues. We will do well to recollect
that the very word virtue, in itself, originally signifies courage and
hardihood. When the Roman spoke of virtue he meant that sum of qualities
that we characterise as manliness._
_I emphatically believe in peace and all the kindred virtues. But I
think that they are only worth having if they come as a consequence of
possessing the combined virtue of courage and hardihood. So I feel that
in an age which naturally and properly excels, as it should excel, in
the milder and softer qualities, there is need that we should not forget
that in the last analysis the safe basis of a successful national
character must rest upon the great fighting virtues, and those great
fighting virtues can be shown quite as well in peace as in war._
_They can be shown in the work of the philanthropist; in the work of the
scientist; and, most emphatically of all, in the work of the explorer,
who faces and overcomes perils and hardships which the average soldier
never in his life knows. In war, after all, it is only the man at the
very head who is ever lonely. All the others, from the subordinate
generals down through the privates, are cheered and sustained by the
sense of companionship and by the sense of divided responsibility._
_You, the man whom we join to honour to-night, you, who for month in and
month out, year in and year out, had to face perils and overcome the
greatest risks and difficulties with resting on your shoulders the
undivided responsibility which meant life or death to you and your
followers—you had to show in addition what the modern commander with his
great responsibility does not have to show. You had to show all the
moral qualities in war, together with other qualities. You did a great
deed, a deed that counted for all mankind, a deed which reflected credit
upon you and upon your country; and on behalf of those present, and
speaking also for the millions of your countrymen, I take pleasure in
handing you this Hubbard medal, and in welcoming you home from the great
feat which you have performed, Commander Peary._
[Illustration:
COMMANDER ROBERT E. PEARY
]
[Illustration:
MORRIS K. JESUP
]
Peary’s reply to President Roosevelt on the presentation of the
Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society, December 15,
1906.
_President Roosevelt: In behalf of the Peary Arctic Club and its
president, Morris K. Jesup, I beg to express our deep appreciation of
the great honour conferred by the National Geographic Society in this
award of its gold medal, and the double honour of receiving this medal
from your hand._
_Your continued interest, Mr. President, your permission to name the
club’s ship after you, and your name itself have proved a powerful
talisman. Could I have foreseen this occasion, it would have lightened
many dark hours, but I will frankly say that it would not, for it could
not, have increased my efforts._
_The true explorer does his work not for any hopes of reward or honour,
but because the thing he has set himself to do is a part of his being,
and must be accomplished for the sake of the accomplishment. And he
counts lightly hardships, risks, obstacles, if only they do not bar him
from his goal._
_To me the final and complete solution of the Polar mystery which has
engaged the best thought and interest of some of the best men of the
most vigorous and enlightened nations of the world for more than three
centuries, and to-day quickens the pulse of every man or woman whose
veins hold red blood, is the thing which should be done for the honour
and credit of this country, the thing which it is intended that I should
do, and the thing that I must do._
_The result of the last expedition of the Peary Arctic Club has been to
simplify the attainment of the Pole fifty per cent., to accentuate the
fact that man and the Eskimo dog are the only two mechanisms capable of
meeting all the varying contingencies of Arctic work, and that the
American route to the Pole and the methods and equipment which have been
brought to a high state of perfection, during the past fifteen years,
still remain the most practicable means of attaining that object._
_Had the past winter been a normal season in the Arctic region and not,
as it was, a particularly open one throughout the Northern hemisphere, I
should have won the prize. And even if I had known before leaving the
land what actual conditions were to the northward, as I know now, I
could have so modified my route and my disposition of sledges that I
could have reached the Pole in spite of the open season._
_Another expedition following in my steps and profiting by my experience
cannot only attain the Pole; but can secure the remaining principal
desiderata in the Arctic regions, namely, a line of deep-sea soundings
through the central Polar Ocean, and the delineation of the unknown gap
in the northeast coast line of Greenland from Cape Morris Jesup to Cape
Bismarck. And this work can be done in a single season._
_As regards the belief expressed by some that the attainment of the
North Pole possesses no value or interest, let me say that should an
American first of all men place the Stars and Stripes at that coveted
spot, there is not an American citizen at home or abroad, and there are
millions of us, but what would feel a little better and a little prouder
of being an American; and just that added increment of pride and
patriotism to millions, would of itself alone be worth ten times the
cost of attaining the Pole._
_President Roosevelt, for nearly four centuries the world dreamed of the
union of the Atlantic and Pacific. You have planted the Stars and
Stripes at Panama and insured the realisation of that dream._
_For over three centuries the world has dreamed of solving the mystery
of the North. To-night the Stars and Stripes stand nearest to that
mystery, pointing and beckoning. And, God willing, I hope that your
administration may yet see those Stars and Stripes planted at the Pole
itself. For, between those two great cosmic boundaries, the Panama Canal
and the North Pole, lie the heritage and the stupendous future of that
giant whose destinies you guide to-day, the United States of America._
[Illustration: ·THE·HUBBARD MEDAL· AWARDED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
SOCIETY TO ROBERT E. PEARY FOR ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. FARTHEST NORTH 87°6′
DECEMBER 15th 1906]
ANNOUNCEMENT
NEW YORK, MARCH 30, 1907
The Peary Arctic Club at a recent meeting resolved unanimously to
place the _Roosevelt_ on dry dock for a refitting, and to subsequently
tender the same to Commander Peary for a final attempt to be made by
him to reach the North Pole. Believing Commander Peary will be
successful, the Club has taken this action, and they have every
confidence in the gallant and intrepid American, and share in the
pride that must animate the American people to see planted at the
North Pole the American flag.
The Peary Arctic Club asks the aid of those who have heretofore
contributed, as well as the co-operation and aid of all or any who are
interested in this patriotic enterprise. The expense of this final
expedition it is estimated will be one hundred thousand dollars.
MORRIS K. JESUP, _President_.
NEW YORK, MARCH 30, 1907
The fact, as indicated in Mr. Jesup’s letter, that the Peary Arctic Club
hopes to send out another Polar Expedition the coming summer, will, I
trust, be accepted as an excuse for any shortcomings in this volume.
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.
[Illustration: _R. E. Peary_]
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.
Experience and a roomy ship almost completely obviated the lumbering of
the decks, beyond the inevitable and inseparable feature of the coal, a
portion of which must at first always be carried on deck.
Such few things as were dumped on deck at the last moment, were quickly
and readily disposed of; and quarters specially arranged for the party
and on deck, insured fair room for each member of the expedition.
As to regrets, no pronounced symptoms were noticeable in the others, and
I had made the voyage too often to consider it more than a trip to
Europe.
Under these favourable circumstances let us look at the personnel of the
party whose home for an uncertain length of time, in the ice of the
Polar Sea, was to be the good ship _Roosevelt_. First the captain,
Robert A. Bartlett, sailing master and ice navigator, who was 30 years
of age, 5 feet 10½ inches tall, and weighed 174 pounds. Bartlett is one
of the new generation of Bartletts, a hardy family of Newfoundland
sailors and navigators, almost all of whom have been associated with
Arctic work. A great uncle was master of the _Tigress_ when that ship
picked up the drifting floe party of the _Polaris_ expedition; two
uncles, Samuel and John, were respectively master and mate of the
_Panther_ in which Hayes and Bradford visited Melville Bay; recently
Captain Sam was master of the Canadian Government steamer _Neptune_,
which wintered in Hudson Bay; and both of these, as well as Harry, a
younger uncle, had been masters of my ships during one or the other of
my several voyages north. Robert was mate in the _Windward_ in the
expedition of ’98 to ’99.
Blonde, smooth-shaven and close-cropped, stockily built and clear-eyed,
he had already been farther north in these regions than any of the other
Newfoundland ice masters, and his youth, ambition, and the Bartlett
blood all counted in his favour.
Moses Bartlett, mate, a second cousin of the captain, was 47 years old,
6 feet high, and weighed 184 pounds. He had already been as far north as
Cape Sabine three times; twice as mate of my ships and once as mate of
the _Neptune_, and had also spent a year on this ship in Hudson Bay in
the employ of the Canadian Government. Weather-beaten, grizzled, and
keen of eye, he was regarded as one of the best of the Newfoundland ice
pilots.
George A. Wardwell, chief engineer, was a native of Bucksport, Maine, 44
years of age, 5 feet 11 inches tall, and weighed 240 pounds. Acting as
engineer in the shipyard in which the _Roosevelt_ was built and
intimately employed in her construction, he was deeply interested in her
proposed work and anxious to join the expedition. His phlegmatic
temperament, and evident capacity for work, combined with non-use of
liquor and tobacco, were all strong points in his favour.
John Murphy, boatswain, was a native Newfoundlander, 31 years of age, 5
feet 11 inches tall, and weighed 165 pounds. Sailor and fisherman from
the age of eighteen, he had also been as far north as Cape Sabine on the
_Neptune_ and had wintered with her in Hudson Bay.
Murtaugh J. Malone, assistant engineer, was a native of Portland, Maine,
49 years of age, 5 feet 7½ inches tall, and weighed 150 pounds.
Dr. Louie J. Wolf, surgeon of the Expedition, was a native of Oregon, 30
years of age, 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, was a graduate
of the Cooper Medical College, San Francisco, California, becoming later
House Surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Portland, Oregon, and still
later Assistant Attending Physician at the Cornell University Medical
College, and of the outdoor medical dispensary of Bellevue Hospital.
Ross G. Marvin, secretary and assistant, was a native of Elmira, N. Y.,
a graduate of Cornell University, 25 years of age, 6 feet tall, and
weighed 160 pounds. Subsequently he had three years of naval training on
board the school ship _St. Mary’s_.
Charles Percy, my steward, was a native of Newfoundland, 54 years of
age, 5 feet 10 inches high, and weighed 180 pounds. He had previously
made a summer voyage as far north as Cape Sabine in my ship the _Diana_
in 1899, and later had spent two years with Mrs. Peary and myself at
Cape Sabine, from 1900 to 1902. Subsequently he had been in my employ as
resident in charge of Eagle Island.
Matthew Henson, my personal attendant, was a coloured native of the
District of Columbia, 39 years of age, 5 feet 6¾ inches high, and
weighed 145 pounds. In my employ in one capacity or another most of the
time since I took him to Nicaragua with me in 1888, and a member of all
of my Arctic expeditions, his quality and capabilities were fully known.
The crew and firemen, with the exception of one of the latter, Charles
Clark, a native of Massachusetts, were natives of Newfoundland, of the
usual type of sailors and sealers common to that island. One of the
firemen had been with me on the _Eagle_ in 1886, and previously to that
had been on one of the whalers in search of the Greely party in 1883.
Another fireman had been north with me in the _Hope_ in 1898, and one of
the sailors had made a voyage to Hudson Bay.
[Illustration:
DR. WOLF
]
[Illustration:
CAPT. BARTLETT
]
[Illustration:
COMMANDER PEARY
]
[Illustration:
STEWARD PERCY
]
[Illustration:
MR. MARVIN
]
[Illustration:
MATE BARTLETT
]
[Illustration:
CHIEF ENGINEER WARDWELL
]
[Illustration:
MATTHEW HENSON
]
[Illustration:
“BO’SUN” MURPHY
]
[Illustration:
THE SAILORS
]
[Illustration:
THE FIREMEN
]
Next after the personnel of the Expedition comes their environment. In
the present case no member of the party was quartered below deck. The
after cabin for officers, close down against the propeller post, and the
forecastle for the crew, down in the eyes of the ship forward, to be
found in all the old-fashioned ships, and even in those recently built
for Arctic work, were lacking on the _Roosevelt_, and in their stead
were light, roomy accommodations on deck.
As to the furnishings of the rooms there was little to be said.
Beginning forward, it is well known that Jack, particularly if a
Newfoundland sealer, does not take much bric-a-brac to sea with him, his
outfit comprising only his clothes and his bedding. There were therefore
no oil paintings or etchings on the walls of the forward house. Two
tiers of folding bunks, a stove, a table, and the seamen’s chests for
chairs, completed the list.
The furnishings of the after house were hardly less simple.
In the port saloon, which was lighted by two twelve-inch ports on the
side, and a window looking forward, a leather-cushioned locker extended
around three sides of the room; and this, with an extension table
screwed to the floor, a clock, a little library presented to the ship by
the SEAMAN’S FRIEND SOCIETY, and a brief notice to the members of the
Expedition, stating the object of the Expedition, what was expected of
the members and what success would mean to them, completed the
furniture. Here the ship’s officers, except the captain, messed.
In the captain’s room, at the after end of the port side of the deck
house, was a folding berth, a washbasin, a table and a camp chair, and
these, with the chronometer, a trunk, and several pictures and photos on
the walls, completed its furnishing.
At the after end of the starboard side of the deck house was my own
room. This room, owing to the thoughtful care of Mrs. Peary and friends,
was more luxuriously furnished than any room occupied by me on previous
expeditions or than it would have been had I furnished it myself.
The room (10 × 16) was also larger than I had ever had on a previous
expedition. The room occupied by Mrs. Peary and myself at Redcliffe was
7 × 12 feet, and the one at Anniversary Lodge 8 × 18 feet. But one of
the most annoying circumstances of the long Arctic winter is always the
crowding of cramped quarters, the inability to move without knocking
against something, the feeling of oppression. This, on top of the
contracted horizon and feeling of compression from the protracted
darkness, is at times almost intolerable, and in planning the
_Roosevelt_ quarters I felt that I was justified in giving myself a
little more room. Two ports and a window looking aft lighted the room
and, as in the captain’s room, a door opened aft on to the quarter-deck,
while another gave me direct access to the engine room.
A berth, a table, and a chair, are of course essentials and were
present. Then came the _pièce de résistance_, the beautiful pianola
given me by my friend H. H. Benedict. This, with a rack of nearly 150
music rolls, popular operas, marches, waltzes and rag-time, was screwed
to the deck at the forward end of the room. Over it was a large framed
portrait of the founder of the Expedition, Morris K. Jesup, flanked on
either side by an etching of President Roosevelt and a photo of Judge
Darling, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In the forward corner was a
stationary washstand, and on the inboard wall a series of shelves
containing a small Arctic library, a few books of reference, and a few
standard works of fiction. A chest of drawers, a cellarette, a table, a
wicker easy chair from Mr. Jesup, a warm brown rug from Mrs. Peary,
pictures of the home folks and home places, and Arctic maps upon the
walls completed the fittings, not including a trunk and two chests of
stores in the doctor’s department, for which there was at present no
room below decks.
_Wednesday, July 26th, ’05._—All things come to an end at last, even the
starting of this Expedition.
The _Roosevelt_ got away from the Terminal Pier at North Sydney at 2 P.
M.[1] With the exception of the quarter-deck, which is loaded with bags
of coal, to keep the ship from trimming too deep by the head, the deck
is not nearly so badly littered and cumbered as on previous voyages.
Footnote 1:
NOTE.—The _Roosevelt_ sailed from New York on July 16th, touched in at
Bar Harbour to receive Mr. Jesup’s “God-speed,” then loaded with coal
at Sydney, C. B.
The cases of oil and a few miscellaneous casks are practically all that
is not below hatches. We have on board something over 500 tons of coal,
besides our supplies and equipment. In capacity, the _Roosevelt_ comes
fully up to my expectations. There is a quarter of beef in the rigging,
two or three sheep among the coal bags aft, and a tank and several casks
of water on deck, besides the full tanks below.
Once under way, I hope to make no stops this side of Cape York. It is
already late in the season and every day now is precious.
Percy, the steward, has purchased two small porkers, “Dennis” and
“Mike,” which are running contentedly about the deck, and if they escape
the dogs, which is very doubtful, they may furnish us roast pork for our
Christmas dinner.
Outside the harbour a little swell caused by the easterly breeze taking
the ship broadside on, sets her rolling a bit until she straightens out
on her course to pass St. Paul’s light.
The next thing in order was the stowing of the miscellaneous packages
which during the past days have been put in the various rooms,
particularly my room, to prevent their getting mixed up with the
provisions in the hold. This was readily accomplished by supper time, at
least to the extent of permitting a passage through the room and
allowing access to the bunk, the table, and a camp chair.
Immediately after supper we ran into dense fog and are now ploughing our
way through it across Cabot Strait, the southern gateway of the Gulf,
blowing our whistle as if we were in Long Island Sound, for we are
crossing the track of the inward- and outward-bound traffic.
_Thursday, July 27th._—Heavy thunderstorms last night with electrical
accompaniments as vivid as those of Gulf storms on the southern voyages.
[Illustration:
PIANOLA PRESENTED BY H. H. BENEDICT
]
[Illustration:
BOOKCASE AND WRITING TABLE
INTERIOR OF PEARY’S CABIN ABOARD THE “ROOSEVELT”
]
[Illustration:
A MELVILLE BAY ICEBERG
]
[Illustration:
TYPICAL WHALE SOUND GLACIER
]
Passed Cape Anguille on the Newfoundland coast at breakfast time, and
Red Island and the bold cliffs of Cape St. George after noon.
Soon after dinner an alarm of fire was caused by the catching of one of
the main deck beams over the uptake from the boilers. A stream from one
of the fire hose which was coupled on in readiness and needed but the
opening of a valve to turn the water on, quickly extinguished the fire,
which was apparently caused by the more gaseous nature of the Sydney
coal, and the combustion and heat in the stack instead of in the boiler.
It was then discovered that several sections of the water-tube boilers
were leaking, and the fires were immediately drawn to let the boilers
cool for examination; the _Roosevelt_ steaming along under the Scotch
boiler only.
The process of stowage both about the decks and in the rooms has
continued to-day, and most of the oil has been put down in the forepeak.
A fine day, though with occasional showers, and the _Roosevelt_ as
steady as if steaming up the North River.
_Friday, July 28th._—Continuance of the fine weather, running under
Scotch boiler only all night and day. The engineers working on the
Almys. The Chief to-night fears the damage is more serious than at first
anticipated. At intervals during the day I have been comparing the
readings of the log with the revolutions of the engines at varying
speeds; with results fully up to my expectation. Another incipient fire
in the same place was immediately extinguished, and I have had portions
of the beams cut away and other means taken to prevent a recurrence. At
supper time we passed four or five small bergs which had come through
the straits. Fine weather, with smooth sea till evening, when the fog
shut down on us. Just before this, two large steamers passed us heading
for the straits, and one hung out the signal, “Wish you a pleasant
voyage,” to which we replied, “Good-bye.” It is light now till 9 P. M.,
and it seems good to be again approaching the Arctic day.
_Saturday, July 29th._—A dirty night. In the dense fog, which filled the
Belle Isle graveyard of ships, Point Amour Light was invisible, until
apparently hanging over our mast head, and then it was a matter of
feeling our way from fog horn to fog horn through the Straits. We could
hear two or three large steamers that were laying to, blowing their
double blasts; and numbers of bergs added to the uncertainty and anxiety
of the passage.
Captain Bartlett and myself up all night. At breakfast time just north
of Chateau Bay we ran out of the wall of fog into bright sunshine, and a
field of beautiful icebergs. Cape York is 1500 miles from here.
Running northward all day, just off the Labrador coast, in alternate fog
and sunshine. Have written two or three brief personal letters which we
shall leave at Domino Run to-night, before heading across Davis Strait
for Greenland. This is necessitated by the fog having shut us out of
Chateau Bay and Battle Harbour, from which place our passing may have
been reported to the home folks.
_Sunday, July 30th._—Ran into Domino Run late last night without
dropping anchor, and Captain Bartlett pulled ashore with the letters,
coming off again at once. He learned that the ice was against the coast
as far down as Cape Harrigan.
Going into the Run it was clear as a bell, and while lying to, waiting
for the Captain’s return, the stars twinkled as in winter, a biting wind
whistled through the rigging, and a brilliant curtain aurora waved
across the northern sky, while ashore the dogs were howling merrily.
Pacing the bridge, these familiar sights and sounds stirred me with the
call of the polar mystery. Might it not be possible that this breath,
this presence, as it were, of the land of the “Great Night” was reaching
down far beyond its usual haunts to greet and welcome my coming?
When we steamed out, less than an hour after our arrival, the fog had
settled down again, and the temporary jamming of the rudder chains while
negotiating the narrow channel, caused a slight flurry, but resulted in
nothing serious.
Clear of the harbour, our course was set N. E. by E. to bring us to the
Greenland coast, well up Davis’ Strait. Dense fog all night and to-day,
with very smooth sea. Several narrow shaves from icebergs during the
night, but this morning we were in deep water, and clear of them.
A light breeze from the southeast, just enough to fill our headsails,
foresail, spanker and balloon staysails, but with no push to it. There
will be no more sailing lights for us, side or masthead or stern. We are
beyond the world’s highways now, and shall see no sail or smoke except
our own, until we return.
_Monday, July 31st._—To-day the fog has cleared away a bit. The sea
still very smooth, not even a swell. A very perceptible twilight
throughout the night. To-night there will be no night. We are in the
border land of the region of the “Great Day.”
_Tuesday, August 1st._—Continuance of fine weather and listless sea. At
noon we are in the latitude of Cape Farewell and Cape Chidley, and about
midway between them. A Brunnich’s guillemot passed us flying south, and
at 6 P. M. a small berg was visible a little west of our course.
At supper time Chief Wardwell, who has been working over the Almy
boilers for the past four days, hands me a report that makes matters
look gloomy. I am seriously disturbed and perplexed. Have ordered a
complete overhauling and pressure test of the boilers.
_Wednesday, Aug. 2d._—Another day of listless sea, and opening and
clearing fog, with slowly rising barometer. Two bergs passed during the
forenoon.
Am feeling physically something like myself again. I did not realise
until we were actually off, and the relaxation came, how nearly fagged
out I was with the incessant work, and the last two weeks of intolerable
heat in New York. Were it not for our boilers I should feel very
content.
In the afternoon a “bo’sun” bird, and numbers of kittiwakes were flying
about the ship, and several guillemots in the water dove to let us pass.
_Thursday, Aug. 3d._—A foggy night and cold. This morning the sun
shining through a low-lying fog, and a light, but particularly
penetrating easterly breeze, the breath of the East Greenland ice
inshore of us.
The noon sights showed us a little south of Sukkertoppen, and at 2 P. M.
an opening in the fog showed us the Sukkertoppen Islands on the
starboard bow. We are past the East Coast ice without seeing a cake of
it. Since supper dense fog.
_Friday, Aug. 4th._—Thick fog all night until about 6:30 A. M., when it
began to lift, showing us the bold Greenland Mountains, near
Holsteinburg. Not a piece of ice inshore or a berg in sight.
We crossed the Arctic Circle at two o’clock this morning, and Percy, the
steward, asserts that the bump when the ship went over it, woke him up!!
In regard to smoothness of sea, peacefulness of weather, entire absence
of ice, and scarcity of bergs, the voyage from Sydney to the Arctic
Circle has been most unusual even for this season of the year. With the
exception of the few rolls just outside of Sydney Harbour, there has not
been enough motion of the ship to spill a glass of water.
The noon sights give us 67° 37′ north latitude. The water, like glass,
and the cliffs of Disco visible 95 miles away. In 68° we passed through
a fleet of twenty-seven bergs, the output of the Disco Bay glaciers.
During the afternoon a few walrus and two whales were seen. The day has
been one of typical Disco Bay summer weather.
_Saturday, Aug. 5th._—A perfect Arctic summer night, clear and
brilliant. At two this morning we passed Godhavn, the little place lying
under the southward-facing cliffs of Disco, which is the capital of the
northern inspectorate of Greenland. Here, nineteen years ago, I got my
first taste of Arctic life, and made plans and indulged in dreams some
of which have since materialised and others may. Several times since
then I have anchored in the harbour, till I know the little settlement
as I do the streets of Washington.
Though we are now over three degrees beyond the Arctic Circle, I am
sitting in my cabin, with window and ports open, in my shirt sleeves,
wearing clothing I wore in New York before I left, writing in entire
comfort.
Later, a light breeze from the westward, keen after its passage over the
middle pack, makes the blue waters look like frosted steel, and sharpens
the western cliffs of Disco, along which we are steaming, into almost
startling clearness.
At noon we are off Hare Island and passing through a fleet of large
bergs, the output of the Tossuketek glacier, which I visited in 1886,
through the Waigatt. We are ten days from Sydney to the Waigatt.
_Sunday, Aug. 6th._—An hour or two of fog at midnight, then overcast,
with a light following breeze, barely enough to fill the sails at first,
then freshens from southwest and brings up a sea which would give the
_Roosevelt_ considerable motion were it not for the sails which hold her
almost as steady as a rock.
Occasionally the top of a wave slaps over the port rail, but not enough
to do any harm.
The base of Sanderson’s Hope seen and named by John Davis 300 years ago,
was visible under the fog in the early morning. Our noon sights gave us
73° 17′ north latitude, and at 6 P. M. we passed the Duck Islands on our
starboard beam, near enough to see with the glasses, the old whaler’s
lookout on the summit.
The sea and fresh breeze continued all the evening, and there is
evidently very dirty weather to the south of us. No sign of ice yet.
_Monday, Aug. 7th._—We ran away from the wind during the night. Cape
York was visible at 2 P. M. and at 7 P. M. we ran past the point of it
for the Eskimo settlement beyond. The run across Melville Bay had been
made in twenty-five hours. No ice or ice sky was seen, and there is
evidently no ice in the bay this year.
Going ashore, I found four tents at the village, and learned that some
fifteen families are located to the eastward, at Meteorite Island, and
other places. Among them are some of my best men.
Told the natives to get their things ready to come on board on my
return, and going off to the ship steamed eastward.
Stopped off the first settlement and, without dropping anchor, shouted
to the men to get ready to move.
Then on to Meteorite Island, where I found four tents and learned that
four other families were still farther east in the bay. These I shall
not see, as I cannot take the time to go so far out of my way. At
Meteorite Island are three of my old men, and, in an hour or two, they
are all on board with their belongings, and we steam away, leaving the
place deserted. Back to the next settlement and the operation is
repeated. Six families move all their belongings on board and desert
their village in about three hours.
_Tuesday, Aug. 8th._—It was after breakfast when we finished at the last
settlement, and I lay down for a short nap while crossing Cape York Bay,
having been up all night.
Again at Cape York the tents were quickly struck and, with all their
belongings, the new men came on board.
At 2 P. M. we steamed around the Cape, and headed north to join the
_Erik_ at North Star Bay.[2] While passing Petowik Glacier a steamer was
seen to the westward steaming south. The glasses showed her to be small
and schooner-rigged.
Footnote 2:
NOTE.—The _Erik_ was the auxiliary, steam whaler chartered by the
Peary Arctic Club to go north as a collier, replenish the
_Roosevelt’s_ coal supply at Etah and deposit there a depot of coal
for the _Roosevelt_ on her return voyage.
_Wednesday, Aug. 9th._—On arriving at North Star Bay this morning at 2
A. M., learned from the _Erik_ that the steamer we saw was the Danish
steamship _Fox_, here for the purpose of selecting a site for a
settlement. The _Erik_ came alongside and I transferred to her with
Marvin and “Matt,” to make a round of the settlements to the north, and
to hunt walrus, while the _Roosevelt_ goes direct to Etah to overhaul
machinery and prepare for the ice.
[Illustration:
OOMUNUI
The peculiar peak at the entrance of the North Star Bay, Wolstenholm
Sound
]
[Illustration:
COALING AT ETAH
]
[Illustration:
TRANSFERRING WALRUS MEAT AT ETAH
]
The _Erik_ got underway soon after, and made the circuit of Wolstenholm
Sound, looking for walrus, but without success. There is no ice for them
to bask upon.
At the Saunders Island bird cliffs we then put in two or three hours
shooting, securing 130 birds, and returned to North Star Bay. Here, the
natives that I wanted were taken on board, and some thirty additional
dogs purchased. Before midnight we steamed north for Whale Sound.
The next morning we were rounding magnificent Cape Parry, into Whale
Sound, and steamed eastward along the southern shore to Ittibloo, where
I expected to find more of my people. None were there, however, and the
_Erik_ turned northward across the Sound to Karnah, where I felt certain
to find someone. Six tents were located here beside the brawling summer
river, and the men were all away at Cape Cleveland, hunting walrus with
one of the whaleboats which I had given them three years before. From
the women, I learned that about ten families were up the gulf at
Kangerdlooksoah and that vicinity. Telling the natives here, as at the
other places, to get their things in readiness to come on board when the
ship returned, we steamed eastward into Inglefield Gulf. No ice was to
be seen here, but there was a most unusual profusion of bergs from the
great Heilprin and Melville Glaciers at the head of the Gulf. At times
it looked as if there were no thoroughfare among the bergs, but a closer
approach in every case showed winding passages among them, and off
Kangerdlooksoah there were comparatively few.
Here, where I had left my faithful people three years before, I found
now six tents, the occupants of all but one of them young and active
men. The number of dogs, and the goodly supply of skins which these
people have, made the process of moving a little slower than at some of
the other places, but everybody and everything was finally on board,
leaving the place, which a few hours before had been enlivened by the
voices of children and the barking of dogs, deserted. From
Kangerdlooksoah we steamed north across the head of the Gulf to Harvard
Islands, on the northernmost of which were four tents. These, like the
others, were embarked as soon as possible, and at half-past two the
morning of the 11th, the _Erik_ was ready to steam down the Gulf again.
The scene and the surroundings during this typical Arctic summer night
were such as to be long remembered. The surface of the Gulf like a
placid mirror, thickly dotted in every direction with fragments of ice
and icebergs, of all sizes and shapes, and flanked on the east and north
by the gigantic amphitheatre of the Heilprin, Tracy, and Melville
Glaciers rising to the steel-blue slopes of the “great ice,” while
northwest and west rose the warm red-brown bluffs of Mounts Daly and
Adams, and Josephine Peary Island, and to the south the rolling slopes
of the Kangerdlooksoah deer pastures. During the remainder of the night
we steamed down the Gulf, and in the forenoon we were on the walrus
grounds between Herbert Island and the north shore of the Sound.
[Illustration:
THE AUXILIARY S. S. “ERIK” IN THE HARBOUR OF ETAH
]
[Illustration:
THE BARRIER AT CAPE COLLINSON
]
Up to this time, the weather, since arriving at Cape York, has been an
uninterrupted sequence of calm and continuous sunlight—typical Arctic
summer weather. Now, however, wind and fog have their turn, and render
it impossible to secure walrus, wasting the day for us.
In the evening we steamed back to Karnah, to take on board the natives
there, and be in readiness to attempt the walrus again the following
day. By midnight this work was completed, and as everyone was now
dead-tired and sleepy, the _Erik_ steamed out into the middle of the
Sound to drift until after breakfast of the following day, when we again
steamed out to the walrus grounds and by nine o’clock that night had
secured eighteen of the animals. Fog and rain were now coming in upon
us, and we steamed into the last settlement on our list, Igludiahni,
where six tupiks were found. Our stay here was short as I wanted but one
family here, and it did not take me long to purchase a number of
additional dogs. When the last dog was on board the _Erik_, she headed
for Cape Chalon on her way to rejoin the _Roosevelt_ at Etah, where she
arrived at breakfast time Sunday, the 13th. The _Roosevelt_ had landed
her coal in bags and broken out the supplies for the purpose of
restowing to give her the proper trim to enter the ice.
It being Sunday, everyone enjoyed a much needed rest, except the
Eskimos, to whom the work of skinning and cutting up the walrus was a
labour of love and pleasure.
Early Monday morning the _Erik_ veered alongside the _Roosevelt_ and, at
five o’clock, the work of transferring the meat, of restowing the
_Roosevelt’s_ supplies, and of filling her bunkers and ’tween-deck space
with coal from the _Erik_, was commenced. This continued during Monday,
Tuesday, and till Wednesday at 2 A. M. when the _Roosevelt_ was ready to
steam out and begin the struggle for which she was built, the fight with
the Arctic ice from Cape Sabine to the northern shore of Grant Land.
Thus far the voyage had been child’s play: what was now before her was
likely to be the reverse.
The _Roosevelt_ now had on board of her a crew of twenty, some forty
Eskimos, and about 200 dogs. She also carried, in addition to the
supplies and equipment for the party, about four hundred and fifty tons
of coal and several tons of walrus meat.
I had been agreeably surprised to find the natives in unusually
prosperous condition, with a superfluity of dogs, abundance of meat, and
a good supply of skins for clothing. Several of my old friends and
acquaintances had died during the last three years, but there were also
a number of new babies and, although I did not have time for anything in
the nature of a census, I had no doubt that the births equalled and
probably exceeded the number of deaths.