252 The National Geographic Magazine 



expedition returned unsuccessful in 

 reaching the North Pole, though it had 

 cost him several hundred thousand dol- 

 lars, he at once announced that he 

 would send out a second expedition. 

 Everything that experience or thought 

 could suggest has been provided. The 

 party will take 30 Siberian ponies with 

 them. The last expedition had a num- 

 ber of these ponies and found them 

 much superior to dogs. They are both 

 stronger and more enduring than dogs, 

 and while they eat more they can carry 

 more in proportion. The ponies can 

 go anywhere that a dog can go and are 

 more reliable, for when they come to a 

 hummock they do not dart in different 

 directions and upset the sledges. Hay 

 to feed the ponies is being carried in 

 sol id ly compressed bales. Besides the 

 ponies, 200 dogs are also taken. 



On the first Ziegler expedition eight 

 nationalities were represented, and great 

 confusion resulted because of the varie- 

 ties of language. Every member of the 

 present expedition is an American by- 

 birth or naturalization ; most of the 

 men have had experience in arctic work 

 before, either in Alaska, Hudson Bay, 

 or on whaling vessels. The sailing 

 master, Captain Coffin, as captain of a 

 whaler has for 25 years battled with 

 the arctic ice. Mr Russell W. Porter, 

 of the scientific staff, has had service in 

 Greenland with Peary 7 and also accom- 

 panied the first Ziegler expedition. Mr 

 Francis Long was a member of the 

 Greely expedition of iSSi-'S4. 



Mr Ziegler' s ambition to plant the 

 American flag at the Noith Pole is 

 patriotic and laudable. The National 

 Geographic Society is glad to indorse 

 his worthy object and to wish him and 

 his gallant men success. 



The instructions of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society to Mr Peters regarding 

 the scientific work to be done are sum- 

 marized in the following report to Pres- 

 ident Graham Bell by Mr G. K. Gilbert, 

 Chairman of the Research Committee : 



May 19, 1903. 

 Dr Alexander Graham Bell, 



President National Geographic Society. 



Dear Sir : The Committee on Re- 

 search was instructed by the Executive 

 Committee of the Society to consider 

 the possibilities of scientific work by 

 and under the direction of Mr Peters 

 during the Ziegler Arctic Expedition, 

 and to recommend the lines of investi- 

 gation to be followed. I regret to say 

 that the committee has not been able 

 to hold a meeting, on account of the 

 engagements of its members, and espe- 

 cially the absence of several members 

 from the city. I have, however, con- 

 ferred personally with Dr Merriam, 

 General Greely, and Admiral Melville, 

 of my colleagues on the committee, and 

 also with Professor Moore. Chief of the 

 Weather Bureau ; with Mr Tittmann, 

 Superintendent of the Coast Survey, 

 and with other officers of the Coast 

 Survey, and as a result of these confer- 

 ences I feel warranted in making cer- 

 tain recommendations concerning the 

 lines of research which may best be 

 undertaken by Mr Peters. 



The considerations influencing the se- 

 lection of these lines are (1) that Mr 

 Peters will have very little skilled assist- 

 ance ; (2) that during the long night 

 to be spent in camp on Franz Josef 

 Land there will be abundant time at 

 his disposal, including his own and that 

 of various assistants, and (3) that in 

 the journey northward his attention 

 will be quite full} 7 occupied in the work 

 of determining the route and position 

 of the party, and with such executive 

 work as may fall to his share. I think 

 it well, therefore, that he limit his plan 

 for research chiefly to such lines as can 

 be best followed on the land, and that he 

 restrict his attention in the main to such 

 studies as his education and previous 

 training best qualify him to conduct. 



Gravity. — It is recommended that a 

 determination of gravity be made by 

 pendulum observations at the winter 



