PEARY'S LATER VOYAGES 145 



heartened by savage ice or bitter cold. The whole party prepared to quit 

 the Roosevelt, and take to the sledges. Before this was possible, however, a 

 long winter was to be faced, and food must be procured for scores of men. It 

 was impossible to make the sledge-trip in the darkness of the winter, but it 

 was still possible to hunt game, for those experienced enough to bring down 

 their prey without the light of the sun to aid their eyesight. Peary and his 

 Eskimo went forth and became huntsmen. They brought down 250 musk 

 oxen, which form one of the staples of food in that region. Also they were 

 fortunate enough to find many score of the rare and beautiful Arctic reindeer, 

 which are snow-white and as graceful as their brethren of farther south. 



On October 12 they saw the sun go down, to be seen no more for months. 

 Then the black winter, in which the little ship cast forth the only light for 

 hundreds of miles around. The winter passed without serious mishap to any 

 of the human members of the party ; but eighty of the dogs died of poisoning 

 caused by the whale-meat which had been taken along for their sustenance. 

 This caused the hunting to be redoubled, since the trip was all but hopeless 

 should the remainder of t!ie animals suffer the same fate. 



It was a hard wintet in more ways than one. Sometimes the ice would 

 break away from the shore, and the seas would dash against the Roosevelt, 

 threatening to swamp her. 



"Simultaneously," says Peary, "a violent southerly gale blew up, threat- 

 ening to tear the ship from her moorings. The port anchor and cable and 

 every steel and manila cable on board were made fast to the ice-foot. * * * 

 The next three weeks were a period of constant anxiety, the ice-pack surging 

 back and forth along shore on each tide, and liable to crush in upon us at 

 any time. Every one slept in his clothes, all lanterns and portable lights were 

 kept below and trimmed, and provision was made for the instant extinguish- 

 ment of all fires." 



Peary does not add that it became necessary to put out the fires, and the 

 party must have been thankful that what little heat they had was spared. With 

 February the sun reappeared, and those on board ship were split up into four 

 parties, to take dogs and sledges and work northward. Peary headed the last 

 sledge-party. The sun shone out on March 6. A few days later Peary en- 

 countered several of the other parties and learned from them of the difficulties 

 of advance. He then determined that supporting parties were useless, and 

 that he himself must make a dash. 



