endeavours to reach the North Pole. Although he did not succeed in
his attempt, he managed to get nearer to the Pole than any of his
predecessors. Sailing in the _Roosevelt_ from Etah, North Greenland,
on August 16th, 1905, the expedition soon encountered ice which made
their progress both dangerous and difficult. After being icebound for
some weeks, the vessel was extricated, but not floated again until the
following summer. The sun disappearing from sight in October, was not
seen again until March. The expedition re-started in February on a
sledge trip in the direction of the Pole, and after dividing the party,
Peary and his followers journeyed towards their goal encountering on
their way, among other mishaps, a gale which lasted six days, during
which time they found themselves some seventy miles out of their
course. They then endeavoured to get intelligence of the other portion
of their party, but had to abandon their attempt as their scouts could
not locate their whereabouts. At length, by forced marches, Commander
Peary, on April 21st, reached 87° 6´ N.
On this expedition Commander Peary did for the American segment of
the Polar Basin what Nansen did for the Asiatic. The narrative is
exceedingly dramatic. The explorer tells how he built the _Roosevelt_
on an entirely different plan from any other Arctic ship, and not only
adopted Eskimo clothing and made camps like Eskimos in ice and snow,
but took Eskimos with him as guides. It is the seventh time that Peary
has been North--oftener than any other explorer: and the Hubbard Gold
Medal that President Roosevelt presented him on behalf of the National
Geographic Society is the fifth he has received for his distinguished
achievements in exploration. There will be an introduction to the book
by President Roosevelt, and the beautiful pictures with which the book
will be illustrated are selected from a collection of 1,200 of the
author’s photographs.
LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW FOOTNOTES:
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Male Emperor-moths (_Saturnia pyri_) hasten from great distances,
even against the wind, to a female of the species emerging from the
chrysalis state in captivity. Elephants, the author believes, can scent
a fall of rain at a distance of many miles.
[2] The author would like to bring this fact home to all destroyers of
herons, kingfishers, and diving-birds.
[3] The Masai distinguish the kinds of grass which their cattle eat and
reject. Many kinds of grass with pungent grains, such as _Andropogon
contortus_, L., are rejected entirely. Yet the tough bow-string hemp is
to the taste of many wild animals--the small kudu, for instance.
[4] Latterly many sportsmen in the tropics have taken again to the
use of very large-calibre rifles. Charges of as much as 21 gr. of
black powder and a 26¾ mm. bullet are employed with them. It is to the
kick of such a ride that the author owes the scar which is visible
in the portrait serving as frontispiece to this book--an “untouched”
photograph, like all the others.
[5] See _With Flashlight and Rifle_.
[6] In winter, Siberia affords a refuge to beautiful long-haired
tigers, such as can be seen in the Berlin Zoological Gardens.
[7] For this information I am indebted to the kindness of the
experienced Russian hunter Ceslav von Wancowitz.
[8] Herr Niedieck also underwent a similar experience. See his book
_Mit der Büchse in fünf Weltteilen_, and my own _With Flashlight and
Rifle_.
[9] Little elephants only a yard high used to inhabit Malta, and there
still lives, according to Hagenbeck, the experienced zoologist of
Hamburg, a dwarf species of elephant in yet unexplored districts of
West Africa.
[10] Experienced German hunters make a special plea for the use of
rifles of heavier calibre. Many English hunters are of the same opinion.
[11] The _raison d’être_ of these powerful weapons of the African
elephant is a difficult question. Why did the extinct mammoth carry
such very different tusks, curving upwards? Why has the Indian elephant
such small tusks, and the Ceylon elephant hardly any at all, whilst the
African’s are so huge and heavy?
[12] On that occasion I had not at hand a telephoto-lens of sufficient
range.
[13] The well-known naturalist, Hagenbeck, remembers the immense
numbers of giraffes which were bagged in the Sudan some thirty years
ago.
[14] Later observers questioned this fact. When I have used the word
“mimicry,” I have done so not in the original sense of Bates and
Wallace, but as denoting the conformity of the appearance of animals
with their environment.
[15] Some years earlier one of our best zoologists, after a long stay
in the Masai uplands, had described the giraffes as “rare and almost
extinct”: a striking proof of the great difficulty there is in coming
upon these animals.
[16] The author has often heard it asserted that the giraffe does much
harm to the African vegetation and therefore should be exterminated.
Such assertions should be speedily and publicly denied. They are on a
level with the demand for the complete extermination of African game
with a view to getting rid of the tsetse-fly.
[17] _Giraffa reticulata_ de Winton and _Giraffa schillingsi_, Mtsch.
[18] Cf. _With Flashlight and Rifle_.
[19] Recent reports from West Africa confirm what I say about the
disastrous results of allowing the natives to hunt with firearms. The
same regrettable state of things prevails in every part of the world in
which this is permitted.
[20] I do not know of any “telephoto” picture of animals in rapid
motion having been published anywhere previously to my own. Those I
refer to here are of animals at rest or moving quite slowly.
[21] Flashlight photographs may be taken by daylight, as is proved by
this photograph and some of those of rhinoceroses in _With Flashlight
and Rifle_.
[Transcriber’s Note:
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]