THE STORY OF PEARY'S GREAT EXPLOIT 53 



"Thank you," responded Peary with a smile, "I never felt so 

 confident of success in all these years as I do now." 



The President expressed himself as being heartily pleased with 

 everything and everybody about the ship, and shook hands with all 

 the crew. Captain Bartlett, shaking hands with the President and 

 bidding him farewell, said, "It's ninety or nothing; the North Pole 

 or bust this time." 



It is not necessary to describe the trip north other than to state 

 that the "Erik," the convoy of the "Roosevelt," was injured by 

 striking an iceberg when off Etah, which place the "Roosevelt" left 

 on August 1 8th, with excellent prospects of making her way farther 

 north. The "Erik" was repaired and set out on her return voyage. 



On October 9th last Henry Johnson, an able seaman of the 

 "Roosevelt," arrived in New York from Greenland, bringing the 

 first oral news of the expedition. He returned because of an injury 

 to his knee. He brought a letter from Peary to the Arctic Club, 

 telling of the progress the ship had made, with photographs and 

 other data. Johnson stated that the "Roosevelt" was hit by a hur- 

 ricane off the coast of Greenland on July 29th. It opened the seams 

 of the ship's bow to such an extent that several of the crew felt her 

 to be practically unseaworthy for a rough voyage among icebergs. 

 While she was being repaired at Etah, Johnson said, her leaky bow 

 caused apprehension among some of the crew. When the "Erik" 

 reached St. John's, however, her commander reported that she had 

 left the "Roosevelt" in good shape. 



At Etah, the northernmost Eskimo settlement, Peary obtained 

 the necessary aid from these people, and before the "Roosevelt" 

 steamed out of that harbor it had taken on board forty-nine Eskimos, 

 men, women and children, 226 dogs and the meat of more than forty 

 walrus. The trip north proceeded with comparative ease, with the 

 ordinary obstructions from fog and broken ice, and Robeson Chan- 

 nel was navigated as far as Lady Franklin Bay without meeting 

 either of these. 



