THE DISCOVERY OF THE POLE 



903 



BHNHHBHfl^HBS 



Photo and Copyright by Underwood & Underwood 



AN ARCTIC EXPLORER COMING OUT OF A SNOW COVERED IGLOO : A WINTER HOME IN 



THE ARCTICS 



given Bartlett this position and post of 

 honor in command of my fourth and last 

 .supporting party, and for two reasons: 

 First, because of his magnificent 

 handling of the Roosevelt; second, be- 

 cause he had cheerfully stood between 

 me and many trifling annoyances on the 

 •expedition. 



Then there was a third reason. It 

 seemed to me appropriate, in view of the 

 magnificent British record of Arctic 

 work covering three centuries, that it 

 should be a British subject who could 

 "boast that next to an American he had 

 "been nearest the pole. 

 . With the disappearance of Bartlett, I 

 turned to the problem before me. This 

 "was that for which I had worked for 

 thirty-two years ; for which I had lived 



the simple life ;for which I had conserved 

 all my energy on the upward trip ; for 

 which I had trained myself as for a race, 

 crushing down every worry about suc- 

 cess. 



For success now, in spite of my years, 

 I felt in trim — fit for the demands of 

 the coming days and eager to be on the 

 trail. As for my party, my equipment 

 and my supplies, I was in shape beyond 

 my most sanguine dreams of earliest 

 years. My party might be regarded as 

 an ideal which had now come to real- 

 ization — as loyal and responsive to my 

 will as the fingers of my right hand. 



Four of them carried the technique 

 of dogs, sledges, ice, and cold as their 

 heritage. Two of them, Hensen and 

 Ootam, were my companions to the 



