ch. xxxvn] Greenland and its Inland Ice 333 
inland ice in the far south. Jensen entered by the 
Fredrickshaab iisblink, and crossed the expanse of snow 
as far as the Nasuasak nunatak, which was one of the 
peaks seen by Dalager, 4700 feet above the sea. He had 
three small one-man sledges with three weeks' provisions. 
The ice was very rough and broken, and the men suffered 
from snow blindness. But the nunataks were reached, 
and Jensen ascended one of them to a height of 5000 feet, 
obtaining an extensive view. They are known as the 
Jensen nunataks. The journey on the inland ice occupied 
31 days, from July 3rd to August 3rd. 
The next attempt was made in 1886 by Peary in Disco 
Bay, in the same place that Whymper had previously 
selected. Robert Peary was a civil engineer employed in 
the American naval dockyard service; a very resolute 
and determined man who had conceived the ambition of 
taking a share in Arctic discovery. His companion was 
the Danish lieutenant Maigaard. Their point of entrance 
was in 69° 30'. They took thirty days' provisions, which 
were carried on two sledges, 9 feet long and 13 inches 
wide, weighing 23 lb. each, their shelter for the night 
being a tarpaulin between the sledges. They advanced 
over the inland ice for 24 days, from June 8th to July 2nd, 
meeting with a "fohn" wind which made the snow soft 
and sticky, and they were also delayed by snowstorms. 
In returning, the wind was at their backs, so they rigged 
up the tarpaulin on some alpenstocks and sailed back at 
great speed, 22, 27, and even more miles a day. They 
returned on July 24th. 
The name of Fridtjof Nansen will for ever be coupled 
with the first crossing of the inland ice of Greenland. It 
was here that his genius in conceiving a great plan for 
discovery, his ability as a leader, and his mastery of 
details first began to develop. From the first he was 
something more than an explorer. Born on the 18th of 
October, 1861, young Nansen was of good lineage on 
both sides, and in his after life he proved the truth 
of Holberg's saying "Det er min tro noget i at vaere 
kommen af godt folk." He became a naturalist, and as 
his character developed its chief points were devoted 
patriotism, breadth of view, and love of science, above 
all of scientific accuracy. He had reached the age of 27, 
