PREFACE 5 



two experiences without a thrill of pride and admiration 

 for her pluck. 



In reading the pages of this narrative it should be remem- 

 bered that within sixty miles of where Kane and his little 

 party endured such untold sufferings, within eighty miles of 

 where Greely's men one by one starved to death, and within 

 less than fifty miles of where Hayes and his party and one 

 portion of the " Polaris " party underwent their Arctic trials 

 and tribulations, this tenderly nurtured woman lived for a 

 year in safety and comfort: in the summer-time climbed 

 over the lichen-covered rocks, picking flowers and singing fe- 

 miliar home songs, shot deer, ptarmigan, and ducks in the 

 valleys and lakes, and even tried her hand at seal, walrus, 

 and narwhal in the bays; and through the long, dark winter 

 night, with her nimble fingers and ready woman's insight, 

 was of inestimable assistance in devising and perfecting the 

 details of the costumes which enabled Astrup and myself to 

 make our journey across the great ice-cap in actual comfort. 



Perhaps no greater or more convincing proof than this 

 could be desired of what great improvements have been made 

 in Arctic methods. That neither Airs. Peary nor m\'self re- 

 gret her Arctic experiences, or consider them ill-advised, may 

 be inferred from the fact that she is once more by my side in 

 my effort to throw more light on the great Arctic mystery. 



R. E. Pearv, 



Civil Engineer, U. S. N. 

 Falcon Harbor, Bowdoin Bay, 



Greenland, August 20, 1893. 



