PREPARATIONS 19 



equipment, including boxes of Christmas candy, one 

 for every man on board, a gift from Mrs. Peary. 



It is a great satisfaction to me that this whole 

 expedition, together with the ship, was American from 

 start to finish. We did not purchase a Newfoundland 

 or Norwegian sealer and fix it over for our purposes, 

 as in the case of other expeditions. The Roosevelt was 

 built of American timber in an American shipyard, 

 engined by an American firm with American metal, 

 and constructed on American designs. Even the most 

 trivial items of supplies were of American manufacture. 

 As regards personnel almost the same can be said. 

 Though Captain Bartlett and the crew were Newfound- 

 landers, the Newfoundlanders are our next-door neigh- 

 bors and essentially our first cousins. This expedition 

 went north in an American-built ship, by the Ameri- 

 can route, in command of an American, to secure 

 if possible an American trophy. The Roosevelt was 

 built with a knowledge of the requirements of arctic 

 navigation, gained by the experience of an American 

 on six former voyages into the Arctic. 



I was extremely fortunate in the personnel of this 

 last and successful expedition, for in choosing the men 

 I had the membership of the previous expedition to 

 draw from. A season in the Arctic is a great test of 

 character. One may know a man better after six months 

 with him beyond the Arctic circle than after a lifetime 

 of acquaintance in cities. There is a something — I 

 know not what to call it — in those frozen spaces, that 

 brings a man face to face with himself and with his 

 companions; if he is a man, the man comes out; and, 

 if he is a cur, the cur shows as quickly. 



