COOK'S RETURN 269 



versy" concerning the discovery of the North Pole was settled. The Brooklyn 

 explorer said that he had never heard of it and that he had no comments to 

 make. He said there had never been any trouble between Mr. Peary and 

 himself. 



"Do you," one interrogator began, "consider Commander Peary your 

 enemy or your friend?" 



"I don't know," he replied, "I always treated him as a friend and until I 

 know more about the situation I shall continue to do the same." 



SOME OF THE QUESTIONS. 



Here are some of the more important questions with the replies of Dr. 

 Cook : 



Q. Did you ever say anything at Etah that indicated that you feared for 

 your life if Commander Peary got there? 



A. No. 



Q. Would you be willing to meet Mr. Peary in a debate when he gets here ? 



A. As far as I am concerned the Peary incident is closed. Mr. Peary is 

 not the dictator of my affairs, and I do not care to say anything further 

 about him. 



Q. Did you know Mr. Whitney when you had met him on your return 

 to Etah ? 



A. No; he introduced himself, but I did not catch his name and did not 

 know it until the following day. 



Q. Did you know that Mr. Peary was going to start up at that time? 



A. No, I did not know. 



Q. What caused you to have such confidence in Mr. Whitney that you 

 entrusted your instruments to him? 



A. I knew him by name, and circumstances that arose while I was with 

 him justified my confidence. I gave him the instruments to bring back because 

 I thought they would be less liable to injury on board his vessel than if I took 

 them across glaciers and rough ice covered country. 



Q. What is your opinion of the story told by the negro Henson of the 

 information he obtained from your two Eskimos? 



A. Well, the Eskimos were bound down by me not to tell any one where 

 they had been. I should like you to have Henson here and cross-question him 

 yourself. Henson's testimony is entirely founded on hearsay. 



Q. Knowing that a ship was coming north this summer for Mr. Whitney, 



