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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



The last one still remained undiscov- 

 ered, and then it was that I took the de- 

 cision to turn from the north toward the 

 south in order to try to discover this last 

 problem in the polar regions. 



So you see it was really Admiral Peary 

 who sent me away. Well, I thank you, 

 Admiral, for that. 



I am now going to thank the National 

 Geographic Society for all they have 

 shown me in the way of kindness and 

 hospitality, and permit me, in closing, to 

 wish the Society every prosperity in the 

 future. The President recently told us 

 that the Society at present holds a mem- 

 bership of 175,000, I think the largest by 

 far of the geographic societies in the 

 world. I wish the Society a continued 

 growth, and when I come back from my 

 North Polar Expedition I hope I may 

 find it holding a membership of at least 

 300,000. 



THE TOASTMASTER, ROBERT E. PEARY 



I thank you heartily. Captain Amund- 

 sen, for your friendly remarks in regard 

 to me. 



You have listened to the words of a 

 man who has accomplished a great thing. 

 I need not go into details. You have 

 heard from his own lips the story of 

 how he pitted red blood, tense muscles, 

 and the insistence of the human brain 



against the cold, the hunger, the fatigue 

 of the Antarctic hell, and won. 



The presence of such a man as 

 Amundsen in our midst ought, and I 

 hope will, spur us as individuals, as So- 

 cieties, and as a nation to take our 

 proper share and part in the great work 

 yet to be done in the Antarctic. 



There are two ways in which this 

 country could make up for its past leth- 

 argy in Antarctic work and take front 

 rank at once in this attractive field. 



One is to establish a station at the 

 South Pole for one year's continuous ob- 

 servations in various fields of scientific 

 investigation. 



The other is to inaugurate and carry 

 out in a special ship, with a corps of ex- 

 perts, through a period of several sea- 

 sons, a complete survey and study of the 

 entire periphery of the Antarctic Conti- 

 nent and its bordering ocean. 



We should also set before ourselves 

 the thorough exploration of the region 

 south of Cape Horn, the Weddell Sea 

 region, which is especially within our 

 sphere of influence, together with a trav- 

 erse from the most southern point of 

 that sea to the South Pole itself. 



Such traverse, with the work of 

 Amundsen, of Shackleton, of Scott, 

 would give us a complete cross-section 

 of Antarctica. 



