THE 



National Geographic Magazine 



Vol. IX JANUARY, 1898 No. 1 



THREE WEEKS IN HUBBARD BAY, WEST GREENLAND 



By Robert Stein, 

 United Stales Geological Survey 



In 1893 I published a plan of Arctic exploration from a base 

 near Jones sound, proposing first to trace the west coast of Elles- 

 mere land and afterward to explore the triangle between Elles- 

 mere and Grinnell lands on the east and the Parry islands on 

 the south. That field was declared by General Gree-ly to be the 

 one in all the Arctic " that promises the largest results with the 

 least amount of labor and danger." Lieut. Julius von Payer de- 

 clared that the spot selected for the base was " the most suitable " 

 and the plan "thus far the best imaginable.' 1 Numerous weighty 

 authorities concurred in this opinion, especially Lieut. Peary, who 

 called the plan " one of the safest, most promising, and cheapest, 

 avoiding hurry, and permitting the utilization of experience." 

 As now planned, the expedition would cost $5,000. 



Failing to secure the requisite funds, I decided, by Lieut. 

 Peary's advice, to undertake a preliminary trip to Greenland in 

 order to gain the experience in Arctic exploration which in his 

 opinion would be of most essential service in securing financial 

 support. Through the kind assistance of the late Hon. Gardiner 

 G. Hubbard, President of the National Geographic Society, as 

 well as of Major J. W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Amer- 

 ican Ethnology ; Prof. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithso- 

 nian Institution, and Mr C. D. Walcott, Director of the U. S. 

 Geological Survey and of the National Museum, I was enabled 

 to take advantage of Lieut. Peary's invitation to accompany bim 



