THE STORY OF PEARY'S GREAT EXPLOIT 61 



of the ocean depth. Five miles from the Pole he came across a deep 

 crack in the ice and by chopping away part of the new surface ice 

 that had recently formed, he was able to let down his lead and wire. 

 For 1,500 fathoms it went down, and when the line was exhausted, 

 with no bottom having been reached, he started to pull it up again. 

 In doing this, the wire caught and was broken and the apparatus 

 sank and was lost. 



Three marches brought Peary to the igloos where Captain 

 Bartlett had turned back. The last of the three was accomplished 

 with a northerly gale blowing snow and ice in their faces. Nobody 

 knows, who has not been there, what it means to travel under such 

 conditions, with the temperature away below zero. It seems that 

 one's blood would freeze solid. 



Mile after mile Peary hurried toward Cape Columbia, more 

 than four hundred miles away. Good fortune met him at every 

 step, and, though he frequently encountered open leads, the new ice 

 was sufficient to support his sledges. The face of the landscape had 

 been much changed, however, since he passed over it before. Many 

 of the igloos built by his supporting parties had vanished. This was 

 probably due to the shifting ice-floes. The return, in fact, was made 

 with remarkable ease and speed, the rate of progress being almost 

 doubled. The old trail was visible throughout and they went back 

 on their outward track, undisturbed by any eastward drift and 

 heading straight for their starting point. 



It must have been a joyful moment when, on April 23d, the tired 

 Eskimos came in sight of Cape Columbia and danced about on the 

 ice as though crazy with delight. In spite of their primitive intel- 

 lects, Eskimos can speak forcibly and appropriately at times. 



One cannot blame Peary and his men, after their reunion with 

 the comrades who had parted from them at intervals on the trip, for 

 spending the two days following their arrival at the cape in sleep. 

 The reaction of both mind and muscle must have been overpowering. 



It is interesting to note that he attributes his success in great 



