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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THS SPECIAL GOI.D ME;dAL 01^ THE) NATIONAIv GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, PRESENTED TO 

 COMMANDER PEARY DECEMBER 1 5, IQOQ 



The medal is four inches in diameter 



it is of a special value to effect such 

 qualities during a time of peace, when 

 naturally a tendency to a weakening of 

 the audacious powers is evident. 



"We are sure that Commander Peary 

 is one of those heroes disposed to fight, 

 who, with never tiring activity and perse- 

 verance and using all their powers, are 

 pushing forward in order to attain a 

 great and difficult aim. But we feel more 

 than that; we think of the enlargement 

 of our knowledge of the globe, due to 

 his courageous deeds. 



"The New York Chamber of Com- 

 merce, which appointed him honorary 

 member, was right in saying that the 

 success of his last expedition was based 

 neither on luck nor on bravery nor pa- 

 tience, but on experience, gathered by 

 him during a man's life of ardent labor 

 devoted to the exploration of the North 

 Pole. Considering these merits, we cele- 

 brate not only the hero who reached the 

 pole, but also the explorer who discovered 

 a great part of the polar regions." 



THE SILVER SHIP 



At Edinburgh, at the conclusion of the 

 address to the Royal Scottish Geograph- 



ical Society, Lord Balfour of Burleigh 

 presented to Commander Peary a silver 

 model of a ship such as was used by 

 illustrious Arctic navigators in the olden 

 times. The ship is a copy of a three- 

 masted vessel in full sail, such as was in 

 use in the latter part of the sixteenth 

 century. The model is a beautiful speci- 

 men of the silversmith's art. On one of 

 the sails is engraved the badge of the 

 Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 

 while another bears the inscription in 

 Latin from the pen of Mr W. B. Blaikie, 

 which, translated, is as follows : 



"This model of a ship, such as was 

 used by John Davis, Henry Hudson, and 

 William Baffin, illustrious Arctic naviga- 

 tors of the olden time, has been pre- 

 sented by the Royal Scottish Geograph- 

 ical Society as an evidence of its con- 

 gratulation, admiration, and recognition 

 to Robert Edwin Peary, American citi- 

 zen, an explorer of the frozen Arctic, not 

 less daring than his daring predecessors, 

 who was the first to attain to that thrice- 

 noble goal so long sought by innumerable 

 bold mariners, the North Pole. Edin- 

 burgh, May 24th, 1910." 



