EARLY YEARS 
Arctic Club, which had as its attainment the 
discovery of the North Pole, and is compiled 
from notes made by me at different times dur- 
ing the course of the expedition. I did en- 
deavor to keep a diary or journal of daily 
events during my last trip, and did not find it 
difficult aboard the ship while sailing north, 
or when in winter-quarters at Cape Sheridan, 
but I found it impossible to make daily entries 
while in the field, on account of the constant 
necessity of concentrating my attention on the 
real business of the expedition. Entries were 
made daily of the records of temperature and 
the estimates of distance traveled; and when 
solar observations were made the results were 
always carefully noted. There were opportu- 
nities to complete the brief entries on several 
occasions while out on the ice, notably the six 
days' enforced delay at the "Big Lead," 84° 
north, the twelve hours preceding the return 
of Captain Bartlett at 8T° 47' north, and the 
thirty-three hours at North Pole, while Com- 
mander Peary was determining to a certainty 
his position. During the return from the 
Pole to Cape Columbia, we were so urged by 
the knowledge of the supreme necessity of 
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