524 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



or other objects up into the sk\' and 

 magnify them [see page 523]. 



In June, 190(5, Peary saw ^ approxi- 

 mately 120 miles to the northwest of 

 Cape Colgate, and later from Cape 

 Columbia, " the faint white summits of a 

 distant land above the ice horizon" 

 which he called "Crocker Land." This 

 is somewhat like Scott's observations of 

 looming in the Antarctic in 1902, ob- 

 servation (18), which Avere confirmed by 

 Amundsen on his dash to the South 

 Pole and back. 



]\Ir. MacMillan and Ensign Fitzhugh 

 Green covered 152 miles of the interven- 

 ing floe ice in the spring of 1915, in search 

 of " Crocker Land," before circumstances 

 compelled them to turn back. Twice 

 while en route and once after they re- 

 turned to Cape Thomas Hubbard, they 

 saw what proved to be a mirage extending 

 through at least 120 degrees of the hori- 

 zon. MacMillan describes the mirage ^ 

 as follows : 



"April 21st was a beautiful day; all 

 mist was gone, the clear blue of the sky 

 extending down to the very horizon. . . . 

 Great heavens, what a land! Hills, 

 valleys, snow-capped peaks extending 

 through at least 120 degrees of the hori- 

 zon!.... As we proceeded, it gradually 

 changed its appearance and varied in 

 extent with the swinging around of the 

 sun, finally at night disappearing alto- 

 gether. 



1 R. E. Peary, Nearest the Pole, p. 202. Doubleday, 

 Page & Co., New York, 191)7. 



2 D. B. MacMillan, In Search of a New Land. 

 Harper's Magazine, November, 191.5. 



" The 27th, on which day we marched 

 from igloo No. 5 to No. 3, offered the 

 same perfect weather and perfect going, 

 all leads being frozen. Throughout the 

 day the mirage of the sea ice resembling 

 in every particular an immense land, 

 seemed to be mocking us. It seemed so 

 near and so easily attainable, if we would 

 only turn back." 



Later at Peary's cairn. Cape Thomas 

 Hubbard, he writes: "The day was 

 exceptionally clear, not a cloud or a trace 

 of mist; if land could ever be seen, it 

 could be now. Yes, there it was! It 

 could be seen even without a glass, 

 extending from southwest true to north- 

 northeast. Our powerful glasses, how- 

 ever, brought out more clearly the dark 

 background in contrast with the white, 

 the whole resembling hills, valleys, and 

 snow-capped peaks to such a degree that, 

 had we not been out there for one hun- 

 dred and fifty miles, we would have 

 staked our lives upon it. Our judgment 

 then as now is that this was a mirage 

 or loom of the sea ice." 



If Peary's observations had been ex- 

 tended over a longer period no doubt he 

 would have observed that his " Crocker 

 Land" was an instance of looming. 

 MacMillan's description is not fully 

 specific, but it seems to have been a clear 

 case of looming; The numerous pres- 

 sure ridges which were freciuently met 

 with, could well, under abnormal at- 

 mospheric conditions, give rise to "the 

 immense land with hills, valleys, and 

 snow-capped peaks." 



