Pearijs Journeys in Greenland. 203 



leader, the expedition consisted of Dr Cook, Gibson, Astrup, 

 Matt and seven Eskimo, with three sledges and 20 dogs. Within 

 a few miles the summit of the inland ice was reached at a spot 

 2,500 feet above sea level, where a cache camp was established 

 near a " nunatak " (the Eskimo name for a rocky peak rising 

 above the level of the surrounding inland ice). From this point 

 Matt was sent back, owing to a Irozen heel. A second"" igloo " 

 (snow-house) was built on May 8, but afterward snow-houses 

 were dispensed with as demanding too much time to construct. 



By May 14, after extremely fatiguing work and double banking, 

 the true inland ice may be said to have been reached. By this 

 time 16 out of 20 dogs remained and the disabled sledges were 

 reduced from eight to four, all of one t3q)e. The party were 

 individually equipped with a deerskin " kooletah " and sleeping 

 bag, a sealskin " timiak," and seal " kamiks " or moccasins. The 

 party crossed the divide of the inland ice between Whale sound 

 and Kane basin at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and thence de- 

 scended toward the basin of Humboldt glacier. The course of 

 travel was toward the northeast, and cam^D Separation was made 

 130 miles from McCormick bay. At this point it was decided 

 that Lieutenant Peary should go forward with Astrup, Avhile Dr 

 Cook and Gibson, with a light sledge and two dogs, and rations 

 for twelve days, should return to JMcCormick bay. 



On Ma}^ 31 Lieutenant Peary reached the divide of inland ice 

 and looked down on the basin of Peteruiann fiord. He was 

 obliged, owing to crevasses, to deflect ten miles to the eastward, 

 where he made camp Petermann, at which he remained 36 

 hours to determine his position and take bearings. From this 

 point gigantic crevasses obliged him to travel due eastward for 

 ten miles, when he took a course northeastward, hoping to clear 

 the basin of Sherard Osborne fiord. 



Crossing another divide of the inland ice, June 8 found Lieu- 

 tenant Peary and his party descending into Saint George fiord, 

 which penetrates far inland. Here they w^ere detained two days 

 by a severe storm, after which the character of the glacier ice to 

 the northward was so unfavorable that they were obliged to turn 

 southward and eastward, and after tAvo days of hard Avork found 

 that they had lost 15 miles of their northing, besides injuring 

 their team. The point reached on the inland ice Avas noAV 6,000 

 feet above the level of the sea. A northeasterly course Avas again 



28— Nat. Geoo. Mag,, vol. IV, 1892. 



