PEARY ARCTIC CLUB EXHIBIT 209 



of the hall among piles of musk ox, caribou and walrus hides, crates of 

 skulls and antlers, and the many other things that the "Roosevelt" 

 brought south with her stowed away in every available place, even drying 

 in the rigging. Though only a sledge, it seems deserving honor, for 

 it bears this legend "A sledge that reached the Pole." In reality, 

 success has come to Polar exploration through use of the sledge as a 

 means of travel. 



Before 1820 ships alone were used. When frozen in, an expedi- 

 tion was delayed until a time of thaw. It was not until the second or 

 third voyage of Parry and the second of Sir John Ross, that is in 1821 

 and 1834, that sledging expeditions began and the fact was discovered 

 that "ice which arrests the progress of the ship forms the highway for 

 the sledge." Since that time, there has been great advance in sledge 

 construction, in the light of which fact it is interesting to compare the 

 sledges in the possession of the Museum. This sledge that reached the 

 Pole is 12 feet long and 2 feet wide. It consists of two wooden run- 

 ners curved upward at both ends and wooden slats crossing the runners 

 several inches apart and bound loosely to them by thongs of walrus hide. 

 Light and flexible, it is able to rise and dip through the snow of steep 

 descents without the slightest injury to itself, and has surely proved 

 its fitness for Arctic travel. 



The exhibit is instructive as to the manner of maintaining life in the 

 difficult en\nronment of the Arctics. A case is filled with the skins 

 and tools used in igloo building, another contains kayaks, harpoons 

 and various fishing and hunting paraphernalia. From the facts brought 

 out here, we learn the total dependence of the Eskimo on the few animals 

 of the region, particularly the walrus and the seal. Still other cases 

 contain garments of fur, — fur of fox, seal and reindeer. They show 

 also coats made by fastening together many small bird skins. 



There is much suggested also in the matter of Arctic travel aside 

 from what has already been noted. One case contains the instruments 

 used in exploration, such as sextant, chronometer and compass, and 

 beside these which tell of the success of science in invention and of 

 exploration in making use of this invention are dramatically placed 

 various crude implements and vessels fashioned by the Eskimo from 

 copper taken from the wreck of Sir John Franklin's ship. An arching 

 label "A Century of Arctic Exploration" calls attention to still other 

 cases containing the many books descriptive of expeditions to the Arctics. 



