ch. xxxvn] Greenland and its Inland Ice 337 
on the inland ice there were 16 days of snow and 4 of rain. 
The meteorological results were the most important out- 
come of the expedition, because the deductions from them 
apply to regions far beyond the limits of Greenland. It was 
a fine piece of exploring work, and the name of Nansen will 
for all time be coupled with the first crossing of Greenland. 
Peary, who, as already mentioned, had made an 
attempt at crossing with Maigaard in 1886, succeeded in 
raising funds for another expedition in 1891. His design 
was to traverse the inland ice from Whale Sound in the 
north of Baffin's Bay, where he would find the tribe of 
Arctic Highlanders. Here a steamer landed him, accom- 
panied by Mrs Peary, Dr Frederick Cook, aged 26, a 
hunter named Gibson, a young Norwegian aged 20 
named Eivind Astrup, a meteorologist named Vershoef, 
and Henson, a coloured man from Virginia, aged 23. 
Some short sledge and boat trips were made ; the house, 
taken out in pieces, was built ; and the winter was passed 
in preparations for the journey over the inland ice. 
Peary, a man of great energy and indomitable resolu- 
tion, claimed to have inaugurated a new departure in 
Arctic exploration. He held that only small parties can 
do effective work; that fur clothing is better than 
woollen, and indeed absolutely essential ; that tents and 
sleeping bags are unnecessary luxuries ; and finally that 
all traction should be by dogs, and that by killing a 
portion of the dogs for dogs' food the original load will 
last longer. But, at all events as regards the latter, few 
humane Englishmen will agree with him. Dogs are in- 
valuable for keeping open communications, and for depot 
work ; but they ought to be well fed, well treated, and 
not overworked. There is a fine passage in Captain Scott's 
Voyage of the Discovery on this subject: — 
"To pretend that dogs can be made greatly to increase 
the radius of action without pain, suffering, and death, is 
futile, and this sordid necessity robs sledge-travelling of 
much of its glory. In my mind no journey ever made 
with dogs can approach the height of that fine conception 
which is realised when a party of men go forth to face 
hardships, dangers, and difficulties by their own unaided 
efforts, and by days and weeks of hard physical labour 
succeed in solving some problem of the great journey. " 
M. I. 
22 
