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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the pole and the sled loads were reduced. 

 One dog after another had gone into the 

 stomachs of his hungry survivors until 

 the teams were considerably reduced, but 

 there seemed to remain a sufficient bal- 

 ance of man and brute to push along into 

 the heart of the mystery to which we had 

 set ourselves. 



Beyond the eighty-sixth parallel the 

 icefields became more extensive and heav- 

 ier, the crevices fewer and less trouble- 

 some, with little or no crushed ice thrown 

 up as barriers. 



From the eighty-seventh to the eighty- 

 eighth, much to our surprise, was the in- 

 dication of land ice. 



For two days we traveled over ice 

 which resembled a glacial surface. The 

 usual sea ice lines of demarkation were 

 absent and there were no hummocks or 

 deep crevices. 



There was, however, no perceptible ele- 

 vation and no positive sign of land or sea. 



Observations on the 14th gave latitude 

 88 deg. 21 min. and longitude 95 deg. 52 

 min. 



We were now less than one hundred 

 miles from the pole. 



The pack was here more active, but the 

 temperature remained 40 below zero, 

 cementing together quickly the new 

 crevices. 



Young ice spread on the narrow spaces 

 of open water so rapidly that little delay 

 was caused in crossing from one field to 

 another. 



The time had now arrived to muster 

 energy for the last series of efforts. 



In the enforced effort every human 

 strand was strained, and at camping time 

 there was no longer sufficient energy to 

 erect a snow shelter, though the tempera- 

 ture was still very low. 



The silk tent was pressed into service 

 and the change proved agreeable. It en- 

 couraged a more careful scrutiny of the 

 strange world into which fate had pressed 

 us. 



Signs of land were still seen every day, 

 but they were deceptive illusions or a 

 mere flight of fancy. 



It seemed that something must cross 



the horizon to mark the important area 

 into which we were pushing. 



When the sun was low the eye ran over 

 the moving plains of color to dancing 

 horizons. The mirages turned things 

 topsy turvy. Inverted mountains and. 

 queer objects ever rose and fell in 

 shrouds of mystery, but all of this was 

 due to the atmospheric magic of the mid- 

 night sun. 



Slowly but surely we neared the turn- 

 ing point. Good astronomical observa- 

 tions were daily procured to fix the ad- 

 vancing stages. 



The ice steadily improved, but still 

 there was a depressing- monotony of 

 scene, and life had no pleasures, no spir- 

 itual recreation, nothing to relieve the 

 steady physical drag of chronic fatigue. 



But there came an end to this as to all 

 things. On April 21 the first corrected 

 altitude of the sun gave 89 deg. 59 min. 

 46 sec. 



The pole, therefore, was in sight. 



We advanced the fourteen seconds, 

 made supplementary observations and 

 prepared to stay long enough to permit a 

 double round of observations. 



Etukishook and Ahwelab were told 

 that we had reached the "Neig Nail" and 

 they sought to celebrate by an advance of 

 savage joys. 



At last we had pierced the boreal cen- 

 tre and the flag had been raised to the 

 coveted breezes of the North Pole. 



The day was April 21, 1908. The sun 

 indicated local noon, but time was a nega- 

 tive problem, for here all meridians meet. 



With a step it was possible to go from 

 one part of the globe to the opposite side. 



From the hour of midnight to that of 

 midday the latitude was 90, the tempera- 

 ture 38 and the barometer 29.83. 



North, east and west had vanished. It- 

 was south in every direction, but the com- 

 pass pointing to the magnetic pole was as 

 useful as ever. 



Though overjoyed with the success of 

 the conquest, our spirits began to descend 

 on the following day. After all the ob- 

 servations had been taken with a careful 

 study of the local conditions a sense of 



