EARLY YEARS 
again in Greenland, but the meteorite was not 
brought away that season. 
It is well known that the chief characteris- 
tic of Commander Peary is persistency which, 
coupled with fortitude, is the secret of his suc- 
cess. The next summer, 1897, he was again 
at the island after his prize, and he got it this 
time and brought it safely to New York, 
where it now reposes in the "American Mu- 
seum of Natural History," As usual I was 
a member of the party, and my back still aches 
when I think of the hard work I did to help 
load that monster aboard the Hope, 
It was during this voyage that Commander 
Peary announced his determination to dis- 
cover the North Pole, and the following 
years (from 1898 to 1902) were spent in the 
Arctic. 
In 1900, the American record of Farthest 
North, held by Lockwood and Brainard, was 
equaled and exceeded; their cairn visited and 
their records removed. On April 21, 1902, a 
new American record of 84° 17' was made by 
Commander Peary, further progress north 
being frustrated by a lack of provisions and by 
a lane of open water, more than a mile wide. 
11 
