COOK'S RETURN 277 



ing. A big ship is no advantage. An army of white men, who at best are 

 novices, is a distinct hindrance, while a cumbersome luxury of equipment is 

 fatal to progress. We chose to live a life as simple as that of Adam, and we 

 forced the strands of human endurance to scientific limits. If you will reach 

 the pole there is no other way. For our simple needs Mr. Bradley furnished 

 sufficient funds. We were not overburdened with the usual aids to pleasure 

 and comfort, but I did not start for that purpose. 



"Now, as to the excitement of the press to force things of their own picking 

 from important records into print. In reply to this I have taken the stand 

 that I have already given a tangible account of our journey. It is as complete 

 as the preliminary reports of any previous explorer. 



TO DELIVER COMPLETE DATA. 



"The data, the observations, the record, are of exactly the same character. 

 Heretofore such evidence has been taken with faith and the complete record 

 was not expected to appear for years, whereas we agree to deliver all within a 

 few months. 



"Now, gentlemen, about the pole. We arrived April 21, 1908. We discov- 

 ered new land along the I02d nieridian between the eighty- fourth and the 

 eighty-fifth parallel. Beyond th! ihere was absolutely no life and no land. 

 The ice was in large, heavy fiel ".. with few pressure lines. The drift was 

 south of east, the wind was south jf west. Clear weather gave good regular 

 observations nearly every day. These observations, combined with those at 

 the pole on the 21st and 22d of April, are sufficient to guarantee our claim. 

 When taken in connection with the general record, you do not require this. 



"I cannot sit down without acknowledging to you, and to the living Arctic 

 explorers, my debt of gratitude for. their valuable assistance. The report of 

 this polar success has come with a sudden force, but in the present enthusiasm 

 we must not forget the fathers of the art of polar travel. There is glory enough 

 for all. There is enough to go to the graves of the dead and to the heads 

 of the Hving." 



