106 MEMOIRS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, VOL. XIII. 



CAPE YORK. 



Greenland . 



Latitude 76° N., longitude 75° W. 



Iron. Medium octahedrite (Om) of Brezina. , 



Recognized as meteoric, 1895. 



Weight, reported but not published, 34,500 kg. (76,000 lbs.). 



This fall, consisting of three large masses of iron, was discovered by Lieutenant Peary, 

 U. S. Navy, in May, 1894, on the shores of Melville Bay, 35 miles east of Cape York, Greenland. 

 He has given an elaborate account of the occurrence, of which the folio whig is an abstract : 



Nothing is known with regard to the fall of the masses except that the Eskimos of the region regarded them as 

 Heaven-sent, and named them the "woman," the "dog," and the "tent," possibly from their original form, and formed 

 a legend which represented the woman as the owner of the dog and both as abiding in the tent. Captain Ross found 

 the Eskimos of Smith Sound using iron for knife blades and harpoon points, and learned of a supposed iron mountain 

 from which these implements were derived. The discovery of this supposed iron mountain became an object of every 

 polar expedition from that time on, until Lieutenant Peary, guided by a native named Tellikotinah, located the source 

 of the iron used by these Eskimos and discovered that it was of meteoric nature. 



The two smaller masses, the "woman" and the "dog," were found lying loosely on gneissose rock, on the south 

 slope of a mountain, 80 feet above high-water mark, and about 90 feet apart. These two were secured by Lieutenant 

 Peary without much difficulty in the summer of 1895. The "tent," the largest of the three "Saviksue" (great irons), 

 was found on an island about 6 miles south of the site of the other two, lying nearly buried in the rock and soil, about 

 80 feet above high-water mark and back about 100 yards from the water line. Two unsuccessful attempts were made 

 to remove this in 1895 and 1896, but it was finally secured in 1897 by dint of great labor and perseverance on the part 

 of Lieutenant Peary. 



The smallest of the three, the "dog," measures 27.5 by 19.5 inches and has an ellipsoidally rounded form. Its 

 weight was estimated by Peary at 1,000 pounds. 



The next larger, the "woman," measures 4 feet 3 inches by 3 feet 3 inches by 2 feet, and has an irregularly rounded 

 trapezoidal form. Its weight was estimated by Peary at 6,000 pounds. 



The larger mass, the "tent" of the Eskimos, or "Ahnighito," as Lieutenant Peary fancifully christened it (after 

 his little daughter who was born in the Arctic regions), measures 11.2 by 7.6 by 6 feet in size. It has a very irregular 

 shape, one end being rather square and bluff, the other tapering to a point; one side of a massive wedge shape, the other 

 tabular and having a pronounced dorsal fin rising from it. It was found buried wedge side down, with the tabular 

 side nearly parallel to and a foot below the surface, with only the dorsal fin projecting. Its weight was estimated by 

 Peary at from 90 to 100 tons. Ward 2 reports, however, a careful estimate from measurements as giving a weight of 46J 

 tons. 



The exposed part of the large mass was of the color of weathered bronze, with Widmannstatten figures showing 

 in relief upon the surface in places. Much of the exposed portion showed scales of rust from the water of melting snows 

 on the mountain above. 



The surface of all three masses is in general of a dark-brown color interspersed with greenish bits, and thus resembling 

 bronze. Megascopically the metal in all three seems the same — like a dense, tough, soft, fibrous iron or mild steel, 

 with a silvery luster, and resonant as a bell. The masses appear to be absolutely homogeneous throughout; can be 

 scraped with a knife, and when cut with a file show a bright, silvery luster. The etched surface shows characteristic 

 Widmannstatten figures. 



The topography of the region, as well as the character of the irons themselves, shows them to be meteorites, and not 

 telluric iron, such as that of the Ovifak irons of Nordensjold on Disco Island. There are no indications of any similar 

 masses in the region for miles around; the whole country being of a gneissose character, with no signs of igneous or 

 basaltic rocks in sight. 



The "woman" was apparently the softer of the three masses and was most used by the natives for their weapons. 

 A great pile of broken trap cobblestones lying around the site of this mass indicated that here the Eskimos came with 

 these stones as hammers to break off pieces of the tough metal. Only about a dozen such stones were found around 

 the "dog" and none around the largest mass. As shown by their occurrence and similarity of etching figures and 

 analysis, the specimens belong to one and the same fall, and there are probably no others of the fall to be found, since 

 the sharp eyes of the Eskimos would have doubtless found them ere this had such been the case. 

 Analysis by Professor Whitfield of the American Museum of Natural History: 



"Dog" "Woman" "Tent" 



Fe 90.993 91.468 91.476 



Ni 8.265 7.775 7.785 



Co 0.533 0.533 0.533 



Cu 0.016 0.018 0.014 



S 0.019 none none 



P 0.172 0.188 0.202 



C 0.014 0.070 0.023 



All the masses are in possession of the American Museum of Natural History. 



