xxxii FOREWORD 



for which the leader was in no wise responsible. What 

 a contrast this record is to the long list of fatalities 

 from disease, frost, shipwreck, and starvation which 

 in the popular mind has made the word arctic synony- 

 mous with tragedy and death. 



Thus Robert E. Peary has crowned a life devoted to 

 the exploration of the icy north and to the advance- 

 ment of science by the hard- won discovery of the North 

 Pole. The prize of four centuries of striving yielded 

 at last to the most persistent and scientific attack ever 

 waged against it. Peary's success was made possible 

 by long experience, which gave him a thorough knowl- 

 edge of the difficulties to be overcome, and by an 

 unusual combination of mental and physical power — 

 a resourcefulness which enabled him to find a way to 

 surmount all obstacles, a tenacity and courage which 

 knew no defeat, and a physical endowment such as 

 nature gives to few men. 



It has been well said that the glory of Peary's 

 achievement belongs to the world and is shared by 

 all mankind. But we, his fellow-countrymen, who 

 have known how he has struggled these many years 

 against discouragement and scoffing and how he has 

 persevered under financial burdens that would have 

 crushed less stalwart shoulders, specially rejoice that 

 he has "made good at last," and that an American has 

 become the peer of Hudson, Magellan, and Columbus. 



Gilbert H. Grosvenor. 



National Geographic Society, 

 Washington, D. C, U. S. A. 

 August 30, 1910. 



