INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



On June 6, i8pi, the steam-whaler ''Kite,'' ivhich zvas to 

 bear the expedition of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences northward, set sail from the port of New- York, her 

 destination being Whale Sound, on the northtvest coast of Green- 

 land, where it had been determined to pass the zuinter, prelimi- 

 nary to the long traverse of the inland tec ivJiicli zvas to solve 

 the question of the extension of Greenland in the direction of 

 the Pole. The members of the expedition numbered but five 

 besides the commander, Mr. Peary, and his zvife. They zvere 

 Dr. F. A. Cook, Messrs. Langdon Gibson, Eivind Astritp, and 

 John T. Verhoeff, and Mr. Peary s faithful colored attendant 

 in his surveying labors in Nicaragua, Matthew Benson. 'This 

 was the smallest number that had ever been banded together 

 for extended explorations in the high Arctic zone. A year and 

 a quarter after their departure, zvith the aid of a relief expedi- 

 tion conducted by Professor Angelo Heilprin, Mr. Pearfs party, 

 lacking one of its members, the unfortunate Mr. Verhoeff, re- 

 turned to the American shore. The explorer had traversed 

 northern Greenland from coast to coast, and had added a 

 remarkable chapter to the history of Arctic exploration. 

 The main results of Mr. Peary's journey zvere : 

 The determination of the rapid convergence of the shores of 

 Greenland above the 78th parallel of latitude, and consequently 

 the practical demonstration of the insularity of this great 

 land-mass ; 



