XIV 



CAPE SABINE TO CLARENCE HEAD 



AFTER three years' work in the Arctic, with Etah 

 -^*' as our base, what was there left for us to do? 

 The primary object of our expedition had been accom- 

 plished in 1914; Ekblaw had explored the Greely fiord 

 and Lake Hazen region in 1915; the region north of the 

 Parry Islands had been covered in 1916. Running my 

 eye over the map, ever searching for a blank spot or a 

 dotted coast-line, I always returned to the Peary Channel 

 as the most important bit of work to be done within 

 the bounds of the meager resources left to us after 

 8,000 miles of sledge-work. The few remaining biscuit, 

 pemmican, and sledge material had been carefully hus- 

 banded for future work against the non-arrival of the 

 ship. My Eskimos were still faithful, and willing to go 

 w^ith me to the ends of the earth. 



I had not forgotten the day when, on our way to the 

 northern end of Greenland, we passed the mouth of 

 that channel and saw its great white highway stretching 

 into the east to merge into the distant sky-line. How I 

 longed to turn my team and follow it to its end! But 

 my plans to do so on the return came to naught. 



To my disappointment, Rasmussen, in September, 

 1916, announced his intention of completing his work 



