188 RECEPTIONS OF COOK AND PEARY 



On arriving here, Dr. Cook, tired out by his strenuous day, denied 

 himself to all callers and retired to his apartments. 



Such were the events of Dr. Cook's first day on his native soil. 

 It was one which, while doubtless a source of intense gratification 

 to him, must have taxed his powers of endurance to the utmost. 

 It was but a foretaste of what was to come. In the days that fol- 

 lowed the enthusiasm of the people and their eagerness to see and 

 greet him remained unsated, and when he began his round of 

 lectures the people of the other great cities turned out in similar 

 multitudes to welcome the man who had come to them from the 

 mysterious realm of the North Pole. 



Meanwhile, Dr. Cook's rival for polar honors, Commander 

 Peary, was making his way with exasperating slowness from the 

 far North to his native land, the people of which were ready to 

 accord him as enthusiastic a reception as they had given his pre- 

 decessor, if the opportunity were granted them. 



As it proved, Commander Peary's welcome to his native land 

 presented very different features. The people were not given 

 the opportunity they had enjoyed in the case of Dr. Cook. Had 

 Commander Peary similarly landed in New York he would un- 

 doubtedly have been received with an ovation equally great and 

 enthusiastic. In the smaller places at which he did touch the 

 people turned out en masse, and their ardent welcome must have 

 been very gratifying to the veteran explorer, who was returning 

 victorious from his life-long quest. Hearty greetings came at 

 Battle Harbor, Labrador, reaching him in that desolate spot 

 through a party of newspaper men, who, growing tired of wait- 

 ing for him at Sydney, Nova Scotia, chartered a steamer and 

 made the four-hundred-mile run to Battle Harbor to bid him wel- 

 come and get the news of his journey to the Pole at first hand. 

 It was a novel experience for the correspondents, who found the 

 voyage not altogether an agreeable excursion. Even after they 

 had arrived at Battle Harbor their troubles were not over. 



