OFF FOR THE POLE 
Long" Island give me a curious impression. I 
am waiting for the command to attack the 
savage ice- and rock-bound fortress of the 
North, and here instead we are at anchor in the 
neighborhood of sheep grazing in green fields. 
Sydney, N. S., July 17, 1908: All of the 
expedition are aboard and those going home 
have gone. Mrs. Peary and the children, Mr. 
Borup's father, and Mr. Harry Whitney, and 
some other guests were the last to leave the 
Roosevelt, and have given us a last good-by 
from the tug, which came alongside to take 
them oif . 
Good-by all. Every one is sending back a 
word to some one he has left behind, but I 
have said my good-bys a long time ago, and 
as I waved my hand in parting salutation to 
the little group on the deck of the tug, my 
thoughts were with my wife, and I hoped when 
she next heard of me it would be with feelings 
of joy and happiness, and that she would be 
glad she had permitted me to leave her for an 
absence that might never end. 
The tenderfeet, as the Commander calls 
them, are the Doctor, Professor MacMillan, 
and young Mr. Borup. The Doctor is a fine- 
16 
