Peary on the North Pole 



29 



engagements in Europe make a trip 

 across the Atlantic impossible this year. 

 Sven Hedin was born in Stockholm, 

 February 19, 1865. He was educated 

 at the universities of Upsala, Berlin, 

 and Halle, and from the last received 

 the honorary degree of Ph. D. His 

 first journey of exploration was in 

 iS85-'86, from Persia to Mesopotamia ; 

 in 1 89 1 he traveled in Turkestan ; dur- 

 ing 1 892-' 95 he traveled right across 

 Asia from Russia to Peking, penetrat- 



ing Tibet and studying the Lob-nor 

 district. The results he published in 

 a splendid volume, "Through Asia" 

 (Harper and Bros.). His latest and 

 most important expedition was begun 

 in 1899, and has yielded valuable in- 

 formation about the geography of Chi- 

 nese Turkestan and Tibet, and of the 

 cities which flourished in the Lob-nor 

 region 2000 years ago and have long 

 since been buried beneath the desert 

 sands. 



PEARY ON THE NORTH POLE 



IN a lecture before the National 

 Geographic Society November 29, 

 1902, Commander Robert E. Peary 

 stated very emphatically that he be- 

 lieved the North Pole could be reached 

 by making Cape Hekla, in northern 

 Grinnell Land, the starting point for 

 the sledging trip north. The average 

 distance of Peary's four Arctic sledge 

 journeys over the ice is slightly greater 

 than the distance from Hekla to the 

 Pole and back. If the next arctic ex- 

 plorer will make Cape Hekla his base, 

 will pass the winter there, and starting 

 from that point in spring fight his way 

 as many miles northward over the ice 

 as Pear}- averaged in his four journeys 

 under equal conditions, he will gain the 

 Pole itself and have ample time to re- 

 turn before the ice pack becomes im- 

 passable. To quote from Mr. Peary's 

 address : 



' ' There are two facts I wish to bring 

 to your attention, not in a boastful 

 manner, but as bearing upon the feasi- 

 bility of reaching the Pole. First, the 

 average air-line distance from start to 

 finish of four sledge journeys which I 

 have made in high arctic latitudes is 

 the same as the distance from the north- 

 ern shore of Grinnell Land to the Pole. 

 Second, the air-line distance from start 

 to finish of my 1900 sledge journey is 



such that had my starting point been in 

 the same latitude as that of Abruzzi it 

 would have taken me to the Pole, or 

 had my starting point been in the same 

 latitude as Nansen's or on the northern 

 shore of Grinnell Land, it would have 

 carried me beyond the Pole. 



" It may seem to indicate overconfi- 

 dence to state boldly that the Pole can 

 be reached, and yet it is a fact, even 

 though the struggle for it has been 

 going on unsuccessfully for years and 

 years. Each time we have come a little 

 nearer, each time we have learned a 

 little more, and I say to you here to- 

 night that it is not an impossibility ; 

 that it can be done, and that it is no 

 more difficult than many of the great 

 projects which we see being pushed to 

 completion every day and which require 

 money, persistence, hard work, and 

 some ability to bring the full fruition. 



' ' The man who can secure a starting 

 point in early spring on the northern 

 coast of Grinnell Land, who has with 

 him the proper party and the proper 

 equipment and experience, will held 

 within his grasp the last geographical 

 prize that the earth has to offer — the 

 prize which will rank with the prize 

 which Columbus won for himself and 

 his countrymen, a fame which will last as 

 long as human life exists on the globe." 



