1892.] - Geography and Travels. 841 
but three of these were soon found unavailable and dropped. Twenty 
Eskimo dogs were also taken, but five of these had died by the time 
the party had gone 30 miles beyond the basin of the Humboldt 
glacier, which was reached on May 21st. At this point Mr. Peary 
selected Astrupp as his companion, took three of the sledges and 13 
dogs and continued the journey, Cook and Gibson returning with one 
sledge and two dogs, arriving at the Red Cliffe House early on the 
morning of June 3d. After leaving Cook and Gibson, Peary and 
Astrupp pursued a northeast course, following along the Humboldt 
glacier, Peterman and Sherard Osborn Fiords, and succeeded in 
determining the northern boundary of the main land mass of 
Greenland. 
Soon after the commencement of the journey two of the three sledges 
were discarded, and before its completion eight of the thirteen dogs 
ied. The sledge which was used during the entire journey was ten 
feet long, sixteen inches wide and weighed thirteen pounds, and sus- 
tained without breaking a weight of 450 pounds. The principle food 
was pemmican, pea soup, bear’s meat, tea and biscuit. No tent was 
used to harbor them from the winds, and even sleeping bags were after 
a time discarded, the fur clothing being considered sufficient protection 
for a greater part of the time. The weather was pleasant, except for 
the sharp winds, and but little difficulty was found by the two in keep- 
ing their course, except during fogs, which closely resembled the ice 
they were travelling on. They sueceeded in making the entire journey 
in ninety days, the return being made in much shorter time than the 
forward movement. 
Shortly after Mr. Peary’s return occurred the only catastrophe of 
the expedition—the disappearance and possible death of Mr. 
Verhoeff He was last seen on August 11, when he intimated his 
intention of visiting a neighboring settlement, a mineral territory well 
known to him. Having failed to appear within a reasonable time, 
_fears for his safety were aroused and search was begun for him. In 
this the Peary party, the Relief Expedition and the crew of the Kite 
were engaged, besides nine Eskimos, who’ were stimulated to extra 
exertion by the offer of rifles and other articles valuable tothem. The 
search, which was continued without intermission for seven days and 
nights, was so thorough that several small articles lost last spring were 
found, and finally traces of the missing man. There were footprints 
leading from the shores of Robertson’s Bay up to a dangerous glacier. 
At its head were found a number of mineralogical specimens placed 
carefully on a rock, with drippings from a meat can and a piece of 
