PREFACE 



This plain and simple narrative of a year spent by a re- 

 fined woman in the realm of the dreaded Frost King has 

 been v/ritten only after persistent and urgent pressure from 

 friends, by one who shrank from publicity, and who reluc- 

 tantly yielded to the idea that her experiences might be of 

 interest to others besides her immediate friends. 



I have been requested to write a few words of introduc- 

 tion ; and while there may be some to whom it might occur 

 that I was too much interested to perform this task properly, 

 it must nevertheless be admitted that there is probably no 

 one better fitted than myself to do it. Little, indeed, need 

 be said. 



The feeling that led Mrs. Peary through these experiences 

 was first and foremost a desire to be by my side, coupled with 

 the conviction that she was fitted physically as well as other- 

 wise to share with me a portion at least of the fatigues and 

 hardships of the work. I fully concurred in this feeling, and 

 yet, in spite of my oft-expressed view that the dangers of life 

 and work in the Arctic regions have been greatly exaggerated, 

 I cannot but admire her courage. She has been where no 

 white woman has ever been, and where many a man has hesi- 

 tated to go ; and she has seen phases of the life of the most 



