PEARY'S EXPEDITION (1894) 301 



third clay Thorn Island was reached. All the dog-food 

 was now gone, and Astrup had provisions to last only 

 ten days. He therefore decided to examine the coast 

 more closely, and gradually work back to Cape York, 

 where he arrived on 23rd April. The Lodge was after- 

 wards reached without special difficulty. 



Peary and Matthew Henson, with five Eskimo, ac- 

 companied the Falcon about 200 miles from the Lodge, 

 and returned in the whale-boat. Lee remained at the 

 Lodge. Soon after Peary's return he made preparations 

 for securing his winter's meat-supply. Henson with some 

 Eskimo went off after deer, and returned a week later 

 with six animals. Then Peary arranged a walrus-hunt. 

 Both whale-boats and five kayaks were employed, and 

 all the able-bodied men and boys of the village of Karnah. 

 Such an imposing flotilla had never been seen before in 

 these waters. Peary had decided to use a harpoon like 

 the Eskimo, and in this he was very successful. Off 

 Herbert Island several large walruses were obtained, and 

 the boats returned loaded with meat. 



Peary was now anxious to have the nearest of his caches 

 on the ice-cap visited and rearranged, and proper signals 

 put up where the original ones might be blown down. 

 With this object in view, Lee, Henson, and the Eskimo 

 Nooktah set out on the 2nd October with twelve does. 

 To Peary's great disappointment, they returned in four 

 days without having found any of the caches. There 

 had been a most extraordinary fall of snow, and poles 

 which had stood 8 and 9 feet above the snow were now 

 only 1 foot above. 



On 8th October, Peary, with Henson, and the Eskimo 

 Maksingwah, more familiarly known as " Flaherty,"" set 

 out for the ice-cap. On the second day they reached the 

 vicinity of the first cache, but no trace of it could be 

 found. Next morning signs of a coming storm induced 



