PUOGIJF.SS. 



899 



plateau, while broad domelike elevations and a 

 harp peaks rise from TOO to 1,^500 feet 



ttlxiVr it. 



A railroad mule to Asia by way of Alaska is 

 talked of. and it appears that such a road could 

 l.e run through fertile lands in the British pos- 

 sessions to Alaska. 



Hrilish America. The Grand Falls, in Lab- 

 rador, which were discovered in 1889 by John 

 Md.raii. an ollicer of the Hudson Bay ( 'ompaiiy, 

 and were visited twenty years later by another 

 oili< -IT of the company, were not seen by any other 

 white men, so far as is known, until the summer 

 of 1891. The Indians were afraid to approach 

 them, believing that no one could look on them 

 and live. Their traditions said the falls were 

 the haunt of evil spirits, who dwelt under the 

 mist canopy enshrouding the dreadful boiling 

 caldron. In the summer of 1891 two parties set 

 out, independently of each other, to reach the 

 falls, one led by H. G. Bryant, of Philadelphia, 

 and Prof. Kenaston, of Washington, the other 

 by I'rof. Lee, of Bowdoin College. Both parties 

 reached the falls, though under great difficulties 

 on account of the numerous rapids and the la- 

 borious portages, while toward the end of the 

 route they had to leave the river and tramp 

 through the wilderness. The following is from 

 an account of the journey of Mr. Bryant's party : 

 At'u-r struggling through the dark woods, they 

 sto.l in front of the Grand Falls. The great mass of 

 white, foaming water, leaping into an unfathomable 

 al>N ss from a height twice as great as that of Niagara, 

 made the solid rocks all around tremble., and sent up 

 a vast column of vapor, which mounted hundreds of 

 foot into the atmosphere, being visible at a distance 

 of _'."> miles. The deep ? incessant roar reverberating 

 along the rocky walls of the gorge gave an impressive 

 idea of the mighty forces at work w ithin the seething 

 caldron. From the deep pool into which the river 

 hurls itself, the water rushes awav in a wild torrent 

 through a narrow chasm, with rocky walls 300 to 400 

 f-et high. Striking against the sides of this tortuous 

 channel, which makes frequent turns, and flowing 

 over a rough, sloping bottom, the water forms whirl- 

 pool rapids, which, impinging on the one bank, rush 

 back, eddying and whirling to the opposite side. The 

 appearance below the falls, as far as the eye can 

 reach, is that of a sea in astorm. The length of this 

 narrow chasm is not less than 25 miles. Going back 

 half a mile from the point where the cataract occurs, 

 thev found the river there to be from 400 to 600 

 yards wide. Then it begins to narrow gradually 

 the Imnks approach each other, till at the falls the 

 width does not exceed 200 feet. There are three dis- 

 tinct rapids immediately above the falls, the last being 

 188 feet long, and the angle of the slope 30. The 

 water, driven by the two rapids behind and com- 

 pressed into a channel only -JOO feet wide, rises into 

 surges, broken and abrupt, and precipitates itself over 

 the rocky edge with great violence. By careful meas- 

 urements the explorers ascertained that the height <>f 

 the falls is 316 feet If the three rapids be included, 

 the entire descent is 500 feet. 



The distance of the falls from the mouth of 

 the river is estimated at 250 miles. The aver- 

 age width of the river is 600 feet : its depth, ex- 

 cept at the rapids, is from 10 to 12 feet. 

 ^ Greenland. The expedition under Lieut. B. 

 K. Peary, which was sent to Greenland in June, 

 1 S !H. by the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, returned' in September, 1892, hav- 

 ing accomplished good results, and satisfied 

 the expectations of those by whom it was fitted 

 out. The party, which consisted of Lieut, and 



Mrs. Peary. I>r. I- 1 . A. ('<M,k, Messrs. Langdon 

 Gibson, Alvard A sirup, and .John M. VYrh<*ir. 

 and Matthew llonson, was left by the "Kile "at 

 McConnick Hay. Following are extracts from 

 Lieut. Peary's account : 



Two days after the " Kite " left, lit ddiff House WM 

 Completed, to atlord u somewhat better prote.-tion 

 than the tent from the constant ruins and heavy 

 winds which prevailed for ten days following I 

 parture. Two weeks later, the house being e.,mpletcd 

 externally, 1 sent Gibson in the -Faith" with Dr. 

 Cook, Astrup, and Verhoetf to North imherland and 

 llakluyt Islands to bring back a native hunt, 

 his family, and a supply of birds from t lie great rook- 

 erics on these islands. The party returned in six 

 days, after a successful trin, bringing a large number 

 of birds and my hunter, ikwa, with his wife. Mane, 

 two children, their dogs, sledge, and kayak or boat 

 Work then began on the outer stone and turf wall 

 which was to inclose Kedclitf House and protect it 

 from the cold and storms of the long arctic night 

 On the 1st of September the entire party went to the 

 head of McCormick Bay to start the Humboldt Gla- 

 cier depot The party, Astrup, Gibson, and Verhoeff. 

 left on Sept. 7 and returned four days later, baffled 

 by bad weather and deep snow. Astrup and Gibson 

 started again on Sept. 22, and returned seven days 

 later, having penetrated an estimated distance of 30 

 miles toward Humboldt Glacier. 



During the absence of these parties I made boat 

 trips to different places for deer and then attempted 

 to explore Ingletield Gulf. I was stopped by voung 

 ice, and nearly lost mv boat in an attack from a herd 

 of angry walrus, 7 of which we killed. On Oct 1 

 the voung ice stopped all further boat work, and two 

 weeks later sledge trips were inaugurated. The be- 

 ginning of the long night found us with 31 reindeer, 

 several seals and walrus, and several hundred birds 

 in our larder, and a warm, snug house to shelter us. 

 More natives came and settled near us, and the win- 



ter passed rapidly in the preparations of our deer 

 skins, the mating of our fur clothing, sledge skier, 

 and other equipment, and the visits of the natives 

 from all parts of the coast. The return of the sun in 

 the middle of February was marked by a furious 

 storm, accompanied by torrents of rain and a temper- 

 ature of over 40 F. During forty-eight hours the 

 entire region was swept and washed almost bare of 

 snow, and Kedclitt' was nearly flooded. 



In the middle of April, with Mrs. Peary and my 

 native driver on a sledge drawn by 13 dogs, I started 

 on the Turf island ana shores of Whale Sound and 

 Ingletield Gulf. Seven days later I was back at Red- 

 el iff, having traveled some 250 miles behind my wild 

 wolves, visiting all the natives in the gulf, and dis- 

 covering the Leidy, Heilprin. Tracy, Farquhar, Mel- 

 ville, Meehan, Sun, Brinton, Hart, Hubbard. Sharp, 

 and Dahlgren Glaciers, and Mounts Daly. Putnam, 

 and Adams, and the sculptured cliffs of Kanuk. 

 Upon my return, Dr. Cook, Astrup, Gibson, 12 dogs, 

 and all the male Eskimos at Kedclitt' began trans- 

 porting the inland ice supplies and equipment to 

 and upon the ice at the head of McConmck Bay. I 

 joined them with Matt and 12 dogs on May 3*. and 

 after interruptions and delays from storms and the 

 steep grades of the outer jKirtioii of the inland ice 

 everything was brought to the rolling surface of the 

 true 'ice cap at an elevation of 4,000 feet, and the real 

 start may be said to have begun May 15. At this 

 time there were 4 of us and 16 dogs, Matt having 

 been invalided at home. On May 24, on the edge or 

 the great basin of the Humboldt Glacier, about !"' 

 miles from McConnick Bay, Gibson and Dr. Cook, 

 forming the supporting party, tunied back with 2 

 dogs, and Astrup and myself with the remaining 

 dogs went on. At midnight of May 31 we lookea 

 down into Petennann Fiord from the edge of its great 

 glacier feeder basin. Kight days later we saw the 

 land at the head of St. George's 'Fiord, and then for 

 two weeks were baffled and harassed by storms, fogs, 



