Henry G. Brya^it. 
17 
On the shore of Robertson's Bay, almost due north of our 
position at that time, was located the small village of Igloo d’ 
Hominey, which may be regarded as the most northerly perma- 
nent settlement of human beings on the globe. The day follow- 
ing our arrival, five natives from this place came across the bay 
ice on their dog sledges to visit the ship, and we learned from 
Meuh, their spokesman, that the Peary party were all well, and, 
furthermore, that in his opinion, their quarters could be reached 
in “two sleeps.” Realizing the importance of opening up com- 
munication with Lieutenant Peary at the earliest possible moment 
I determined to undertake a journey to his headquarters at once. 
On the afternoon of July 26th, therefore, in company with Mr. 
Diebitsch and a native guide, I left the ship for Igloo d' Hominey 
en route for “Anniversary Lodge.” We availed ourselves of the 
Eskimo dogs and sledges at hand and in this way were able to 
carry four days' provisions, sleeping bags and a few other neces- 
saries for the journey. From my knowledge of the neighbor- 
hood, gained on a previous visit as a member of the Peary Relief 
Expedition of 1892, I deemed it possible to proceed along the 
ice foot of McCormick Bay to the head thereof, whence, by a 
route used by the natives, a short cut could be made over the 
glacier from the head of McCormick Bay to the head of Bow- 
doin Bay — ^the site of the Peary headquarters. 
But the sequel proved that our guide — ^the veteran Meeuh — 
had greatly underestimated the difficulties of travel at this un- 
settled season of the year, when neither the conditions of win- 
ter nor of summer prevailed. After an absence of four days, dur- 
ing which we encountered fog and storm and baffling “leads” of 
open water, our guide refused to accompany us further over the 
loose and rotten ice, and we were compelled to return to the 
ship. The day following our return the “Falcon” again attacked 
the ice, hoping to reach a “lead” which opened up in the desired 
direction. By means of continuous ramming and butting and 
the occasional use of blasting powder when the floes pressed us 
too closely, we finally reached open water, and, by following the 
narrow and tortuous passages between the ice fields, were able 
to advance about five miles up Inglefield Gulf, to the edge of the 
