CHAPTER IX 



Peary Crosses Greenland 



IT is at present our task to tell the story of Lieutenant Peary's 

 first memorable exploit, that in which he crossed the frozen in- 

 terior of North Greenland from the west to the east coast, 

 reaching land never before seen by man, and adding greatly to our 

 knowledge of the geography of the Arctic region. While he did not 

 reach the northernmost extremity of Greenland, he found abundant 

 evidence to prove that this lay little north of the point achieved, a 

 fact which was proved in subsequent expeditions. 



We are still concerned with the voyage of the "Kite," in which 

 Peary met with the unfortunate accident described in the last chap- 

 ter. While his broken leg limited his activity, it did not diminish his 

 enterprise, his companions, Gibson, Astrup, Dr. Cook and others 

 being sent out by him on various excursions, food-getting and ex- 

 ploring. 



The long winter wore slowly away and by February Lieutenant 

 Peary was able to use his wounded leg effectively, he setting out 

 with Dr. Cook and Mr. Astrup on the I4th to witness the first ap- 

 pearance of the sun, which was due by the almanac on the morning 

 of the 1 5th. The venture proved a severe trial to his new strength, 

 for scarcely had they reached the top of the bluffs when they were 

 assailed by a ferocious storm of wind, rain and snow, which con- 

 tinued for forty-eight hours, almost blew down the house in which 

 the winter had been passed, and buried the exploring party so deeply 

 under the snow drifts that they extricated themselves with difficulty. 

 In the succeeding weeks an exploration was made of Inglefield 

 Gulf, more than two hundred and fifty miles of distance being cov- 



