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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Again m 1894, after struggling and 

 sacrificing his personal comfort and 

 means to raise funds for his third expe- 

 dition, we find Peary back in the frozen 

 north with a slightly increased force, 

 making a remarkable sledge journey of 

 134 miles in 13 days to an elevation of 

 5,500 feet. 



Here he was met by violent gales and 

 cold weather, and with his dogs dying 

 and his men disabled, he sent his main 

 party back to the coast, while with almost 

 superhuman effort he plodded on another 

 85 miles to the good, only to be finally 

 overcome by the elements and forced to 

 return to his base of supplies. 



In spite of the fact that he had insuffi- 

 cient food and fuel and that there was but 

 little hope of replenishment, Peary would 

 not return to the United States when the 

 visiting steamer Falcon arrived in 1894 

 to take him back, and he spent the fol- 

 lowing winter in accumulating the re- 

 sources of the region at Bowdoin Bay, 

 living with Lee and his ever faithful 

 Hensen as the Eskimos live, and gaining 

 recruits for the next march to the north. 



This began in April, 1895. With his 

 two men and 63 dogs he had made but 

 three marches when one of his Eskimos 

 deserted with the outfit he had struggled 

 so hard to accumulate ; but Peary, undis- 

 couraged, pushed on. 



After a journey full of hardships such 

 as had never been successfully overcome 

 on any previous Arctic voyage, he again 

 reached Independence Bay, whence he 

 returned to Bowdoin Bay, with man and 

 "beast on the verge of starvation and 

 everything but Peary's indomitable pluck 

 •entirely exhausted. 



On board the little steamer Kite his 

 party reached Newfoundland, September 

 21, 1895, and thus ended the third ex- 

 pedition. 



General Greely speaks of this trip as 

 follows: "If Peary's advance beyond his 

 "buried cache (on the highlands of Green- 

 land) was one of the rashest of Arctic 

 journeys, yet the courage, fertility of re- 

 source, and physical endurance displayed 

 hy him and his companions placed their 

 efforts among the most notable in Arctic 

 sledging." 



Peary by this time had a thorough 

 knowledge of the men with whom he was 

 to finally reach the goal for which so 

 many generations have struggled in vain. 

 He had weeded out the dishonest ones, 

 honored the good ones, and educated 

 them all. 



In June, 1898, Peary left New York 

 on board the Windivard for a four-years' 

 expedition against the pole, this time 

 carrying on explorations on the west 

 shores of Baffin Bay, where he deter- 

 mined the continuity of Ellesmere and 

 Grinnell Lands, and in December he was 

 badly crippled and nearly lost his life, 

 his feet being so badly frozen as to cause 

 the loss of eight toes by amputation, yet 

 he took the field again in a few weeks 

 after the operation. In the spring he 

 discovered Cannon Bay, and probably 

 Heiberg Land. The winter of 1899-1900 

 was spent at Etah, from which place he 

 made his first effort to reach the pole. 

 After following the west coast of Green- 

 land to the most northern point in about 

 83° 35' north, he started north over the 

 polar pack, but could only make good 

 about 20 miles of ice travel before turn- 

 ing back in latitude 83° 54' north. 

 Though the North Pole was not reached, 

 he made a valuable contribution to geog- 

 raphy by the discovery that Greenland 

 was an island. 



In the following year, 1901, Peary 

 again made the attempt to reach the pole 

 by the Cape Hecla route, but was forced 

 to abandon the attempt in April. 



Still undismayed, Peary started again 

 for the goal in February, 1902, proceed- 

 ing from Payer Harbor to Fort Couger 

 in twelve wonderful marches, and cover- 

 ing 400 miles in one month, with temper- 

 ature ranging from — 38°-57°. Leaving 

 the land at Cape Hecla on April 6 with 

 seven men and six dog sledges, he now 

 surpassed all previous explorers and at- 

 tained the highest latitude reached in the 

 Western Hemisphere, 84° \y' north lati- 

 tude. 



For the sixth time Commander Peary 

 started on his quest for the pole in July, 

 1905, leaving New York in the Roose- 

 velt, a powerful steamer with auxiliary 

 sailing power, the first vessel to be built 



