CAPE SUMNER TO DRAGON POINT 



creaking, current-harassed ice-ocean and the mountain-sides, 

 the outposts of the lands. Inukitsoq, who during one of 

 Peary's Polar Expeditions wintered on the north coast of 

 Grant Land, remembers that he has seen rifts and holes with 

 open water far into the winter. It appears that the ice here 

 between Greenland and Grant Land is seldom firm and 

 dependable until February or March. 



Near Repulse Harbour we passed a beacon as tall as a man, 

 where, in an empty brandy-bottle, we found the following 

 record from Peary : 



"June 8th, 1900. 



"Am passing here on my way to Ft. Conger. I left 

 Etah March 4th and Conger April 15th. Reached Lock- 

 wood's farthest May 8th ; the northern extremity of the Green- 

 land archipelago on May 13th ; a point on the sea-ice north of 

 that N. Lat. 83° 50' May 16th ; and a point down the east 

 coast about North Lat. 83° May 21st. There followed over 

 a week of fog, wind and snow, this made the travelling very 

 heavy and the return slow. This is my 16th march from my 

 farthest and 9th from Lockwood's farthest. Yesterday passed 

 Black Horn Cliffs with much difficulty over loose ice. There 

 is open water now off this point and a lane of open water this 

 side of C. Brevoort extending clear across the channel. Have 

 with me my man Matthew Henson, one Eskimo, 16 dogs and 

 2 sledges, all in fair condition. 



" This sledge journey is part of a program of Arctic work 

 Undertaken by me under the auspices of and with funds fur- 

 nished by the Peary Arctic Club of New York City. 



"R. E. Peary, 



"U.S.N." 



We were now free of the pressure-ice and enjoyed the even 

 going inside the fjord-ice. But unfortunately the sledges ran 

 heavily on the snow, which, here mixed up with little grains 

 of sand and gravel, hampered our iron runners. It was with 

 great difficulty that we made the dogs keep up a slow trot, but 

 this, nevertheless, represented a good push forward. On this 



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