414 PEARY'S WORK AND PROSPECTS 



to it, calling it Liverpool island. In 1843 Sir John Ross, commanding 

 the Erebus, searched for Bouvet land and came to the same conclusion 

 that Cook did because he failed to find it. 



Thus our knowledge of the facts remained until the Valdivia, after a 

 careful search, sighted the island on November 25, 1898. The position of 

 the island, which is given as latitude S. 54° 26.4', longitude E. 3° 24.2 / , 

 does not correspond with that assigned by Bouvet to his discovery, or to 

 the positions given by Lindsay or Norris, but a thorough and careful 

 discussion of the subject warrants the belief that Liverpool, Lindsay, and 

 Bouvet islands are identical, and therefore the discoverers adhered to 

 the latter name. The island is about four nautical miles in diameter and 

 rises to a height of 935 meters. The shores are abrupt and inaccessible 

 and glaciers come down to the water's edge, while the summits of the 

 mountains are covered with ice and snow. A few birds, notably Daption 

 capensis and Pagadroma nivea, were seen on the island, but otherwise 

 there were no signs of life. 



O. H. TlTTMANN. 



U. S. Coast and, Geodetic Survey. 



PEARY'S WORK AND PROSPECTS 



Peary's latest year in the Arctic, after all allowance has been made, 

 stands as a record of magnificent achievement, and a foundation upon 

 which still greater results are to be attained. The entire country north 

 and west of Cape Sabine, reaching beyond Greet y fiord and the eightieth 

 parallel, has been definitely outlined and the confused and utterly inac- 

 curate coastline, sinuous and perplexing to the last degree, of the western 

 side of Smith sound, between Capes Sabine and D'Urville, has been defi- 

 nitely measured and charted. The striking change in - the character of 

 the western slope of Grinnell Land is in itself enough to justify and re- 

 ward the expedition, and will stimulate workers in that most inviting and 

 heretofore neglected field. The hand-to-hand battle against the oppos- 

 ing forces of darkness, frost, and distance which Peary waged during 

 the entire winter makes a chapter daring and effective as any recorded 

 in Arctic history. Where other explorers have waited in more or less im- 

 patience, sometimes in comfort and many times in suffering, Peary has 

 been continuously in the field, daunted by no obstacle, and breaking the 

 route along an almost impassable ice-foot for 250 miles. This, too, was 

 not as a mere exploit, but as a practical step in the greater w r ork to be 

 determined next spring. Peary rounded up his year's work with a fur- 

 ther personal reconnaissance to the westward, and practically completes 

 twelve months of active work in the open field. 



The American people, learning as they will shortly from Peary's own 

 pen the story of the year, cannot fail to feel a sense of pride in their 

 countryman and an excitement of hope that ultimate success may crown 

 his effort to attain the goal of the ages and place his country's flag at the 

 very farthest north. Those who read between the lines and who follow 



