While Nansen was busily exploring, Robert E. Peary, a civil engineer in the United States Navy, determined to make an attempt to cross the inland ice of Greenland. Peary was making his plans for this journey when the news came that Nansen had succeeded in crossing the ice cap from the eastern coast of Greenland to the western.

Upon hearing this, Peary changed his plans and decided to try to reach the northern point of Greenland overland. This journey would take him across the inland ice by a route much farther north than that taken by Nansen. It would also enable Peary to discover whether Greenland was a continent, as many supposed, or merely an island.

Funds for the trip were raised by private contribution through the efforts of Lieutenant Peary’s friends, and on June 6, 1891, the expedition sailed from Brooklyn on the steamer Kite. Peary had already made one trip to Greenland, and his friends waved their farewells cheerfully, feeling certain that he would succeed in his undertaking.

After a pleasant voyage, the Kite reached Upernavik, where she anchored. Peary hoped to secure the services of an interpreter at this place, but he was unable to do so. Soon the party set sail again, leaving behind them the northernmost town on the globe. The Kite steamed along for some time without meeting much ice, but when she entered Melville bay the pack closed round her, and the 4th of July found the little vessel snugly frozen in.

Here she remained for a week, during which the average temperature was about 31° F. On July 11, the ice separated and the ship began to move. The engines were started in a hurry. After forcing a passage through a mass of thick ice, the ship was freed and proceeded on her journey.

While the process of ramming the ice was going on, Mr. Peary met with an accident. A large cake of ice struck the rudder, tearing the wheel from the hands of the two men on duty. Peary’s leg was caught between the iron tiller and the house, and both bones snapped above the ankle. The ship’s surgeon set the broken leg, and Peary recovered rapidly. He was, however, unable to use his leg for many weeks.

Soon the Kite ran into McCormick bay, where a site for a house was selected. It was now about the middle of July, and the short summer was at its height. The sun was bright and warm, and the temperature about like that of an April day in the temperate zone.

The ice still filled the bay, but narrow streams of water trickled through in all directions, cutting the ice into great pieces which rose and fell with the tide. Little brooks ran down the mountains and through the valleys by the side of great glaciers, while the snowbirds chirped and twittered, enjoying the brief summer time.

The country around was bright with flowers. Tracks of reindeer, foxes, and hares were repeatedly noticed, and seals and walruses abounded, so that the party had no fear of suffering for want of fresh meat.

The wood for the house was taken off the ship. In order to insure warmth, the walls were made double, with an air space of ten inches between the outer and inner wall. The house was then covered with tarred paper, and the inner walls lined with thick, red, Indian blankets. In addition, a wind-break of stones, turf, empty barrels, and boxes was built around the house. The dwelling was roofed with canvas, and in the winter was to be banked with snow. When the little building was completed, they christened it Red Cliff House, because of the cliffs of sandstone which rose behind it.

When the stores were safely stowed away within the outer wall, the Kite steamed away home, leaving Peary, with his wife and his assistants, to spend the winter within seven hundred and forty miles of the North Pole.

Peary and his party were very comfortable and contented. They enjoyed the crisp air and the bright sunshine, and they liked to watch the beautiful blue-green colors in the ice of the glaciers.

The men hunted, and secured numbers of reindeer skins and furs of all sorts. They fished, and explored the surrounding islands. While on these trips they sometimes met Eskimos, who often accompanied them to Red Cliff House. Some of the Eskimos came with their dog teams, and Peary was always glad to buy the dogs from them. By November 7 there were seventeen men, women, and children at the camp, and Peary built a large snow hut for them to live in.

Soon the long night began and all hunting came to an end. Then the members of the party busied themselves preparing for the great journey over the inland ice which Peary intended to make in the spring. The reindeer skins were stretched and dried and prepared for clothing by the Eskimo women. In order to soften the skin so that it could be used for clothing, the women folded it once with the hair inside. Then they chewed it all along the edge until the fold was made pliable. Another fold was then made, and treated in the same manner. This process was continued until the entire skin had been carefully chewed. It was then scraped, and if necessary, the work was repeated. It took two of Peary’s best workers about a day to prepare a large buckskin. The teeth of the Eskimo women are often worn down nearly to the gums by doing this work.

Peary himself cut the patterns of the clothes and sleeping bags, and the Eskimo women did the sewing. Peary’s men busied themselves in trying to make sledges lighter and stronger than anything they had yet found. They fashioned ivory and horn braces for the sledges. Some of the Eskimo men helped to make ivory rings for the dogs’ harness. The Eskimo women chewed and sewed, and everybody was busy and happy.

A large number of Eskimos visited Peary during the winter, some coming from a distance of two hundred miles. When the white men could not pronounce the queer names of the Eskimos, they gave them nicknames. A certain trio were known as the Priest, the Smiler, and the Villain. The Villain was an entirely harmless Eskimo, whose chief failing was his huge appetite.

On Christmas Day, Peary invited his Eskimo friends to dinner. After his own party had partaken of a remarkably good Christmas feast, a fine venison stew was prepared for the Eskimos. Dr. Cook, the ship’s surgeon, saw that the guests were clean, to outward appearance at least, and a jolly, happy party they were, sitting down at a civilized dinner table for the first time in their lives.

The Eskimo men wore sealskin coats and bearskin trousers, while the ladies appeared in foxskin jackets and trousers. The Villain sat at the head of the table and served the repast. The Daisy poured tea in Mrs. Peary’s place, and conducted herself very gracefully.

Myah, who was called the white man, insisted upon holding both his knife and spoon in his right hand, and then using his fingers to carry the food to his mouth. He was rude enough to stand up and try to harpoon some choice pieces of meat from the stew with his fork. The Villain reproved him so gravely that he stopped harpooning and turned his attention to his own plate. It is barely possible that the Villain was not shocked at the manners of Myah, the white man, but that he wanted the choice piece of meat himself.

After the stew they had coffee, candy, and raisins, and then the Eskimos and the white men played games together.

Gradually the long night passed away, and at length it was almost time for the sun to appear. Peary had ordered an igloo to be built on the ice cap at an elevation of about two thousand and fifty feet, so that he might use it when he went up to see the sun rise.

When this igloo was completed, Peary, Dr. Cook, and Astrup started out one morning, with provisions and sleeping bags, in the hope of catching a first glimpse of the sun. When they reached the igloo they were very tired. After supper they took off their fur clothes, crawled into their sleeping bags, and went to sleep. When Peary awoke, the fine snow was drifting in his face, and the wind was blowing a terrific gale. The entrance was blocked with snow, and the three men were buried beneath the drifts.

Peary rolled himself out with great difficulty, and succeeded in finding a shovel. Then he and Dr. Cook pulled Astrup out, and the three men found themselves on top of the drift under which the snow house was buried. They were without shelter, two thousand feet above sea level, while the storm was raging so fiercely that they had to shout to one another in order to be heard.

After a while the snow turned to rain, which froze and covered everything with ice. Their heavy outside clothes were buried in the snow house, and they were clad only in their under garments. If it had not been for the sleeping bags, they would have frozen to death, and even as it was, their condition was serious. But at length the storm ceased and the half-frozen men succeeded in digging out their garments. They were obliged to dress in the open air, with the wind blowing and the thermometer standing at 3° above zero.

As soon as they were dressed they started for home, and reached Red Cliff House in safety, warm with exercise. Here, they were informed, the storm had likewise been terrific. The rain had fallen in torrents, washing away the snow covering of the house and soaking through the canvas roof. But Red Cliff House was stanchly built and stood firm.

The long Arctic night had passed away with the storm, and the western sky was aflame with gorgeous colors; brilliant yellow shaded into pale rose and green. Misty lights of purple and green floated over the ice, and the storm was forgotten in the beauty of the new day.

Now that the sun had made its appearance, Peary decided to start on his white march over the ice cap. On the last day of April three of the party, accompanied by five Eskimos, left Red Cliff House with two sledges and twelve dogs. Three days later Peary followed with one man and a sledge drawn by eight dogs. In a few hours he overtook his friends and proceeded with them as far as Humboldt glacier, where he asked for volunteers for the long trip. All of the men were eager to accompany him, but Astrup was chosen for his companion, and the rest of the party returned to Red Cliff House.

Peary and Astrup now began their journey to the northern end of Greenland. They slept during the day and traveled by night, when the glare of the sun was less trying to their eyes. Peary himself went first, leading the way. He was followed by three of his best dogs, harnessed to a light sledge which carried two hundred pounds. These dogs had become so fond of Peary that they tried always to keep as near him as possible. They needed no driving or urging, but followed him into the most dangerous places. In the rear came Astrup, with ten dogs attached to the big sledge which carried the bulk of the luggage.

Peary had thought himself on top of the ice cap at Humboldt glacier, but he found that he must climb still higher. As he ascended the weather became colder, and soon snow began to fall. Worse than all, the large sledge broke down, but Peary and Astrup mended it and kept on bravely. At last the weather grew so cold that the snow froze hard, and the two men were able to travel twenty miles a day.

For weeks Peary and Astrup marched over the great ice, through snowstorms and furious wind. Whenever fine weather came and the ice became firm and smooth, they dashed along, forgetting the hardships they had endured. At length Peary saw land in the distance. Dark brown and red cliffs, precipices, valleys and mountains, rivers and lakes, lay stretched out before them. The dogs saw land also, and were as delighted as the men.

This land looked near, but it was not easy to reach. Men and dogs slipped and scrambled down the ice crest, through slush and water, over sharp rocks, across streams, and through valleys. The sun was very hot, and all the travelers felt the change from the clear cold air of the inland ice to the heat of the coast region.

The dogs especially suffered from the heat, and this discomfort, together with their need of fresh meat, made some of them ill. Pau, the leader of the team, seemed very weak, and Peary feared that he would die. Pau was a very brave dog, who had killed many polar bears. He must have had some knowledge of magic; at any rate, he was an expert in slipping his harness. Whenever he wished to, he could slip out and away on a trip of his own in search of food. When the other dogs saw Pau free, they tried to break their harness and follow him, often with success.

One day Peary saw two black objects on the opposite side of a valley. At first he thought they were large rocks, but soon he became certain that they were musk-oxen. Peary patted poor Pau’s head, as if to tell him that he was going to try to get food for him. Pau seemed to understand, for his eyes brightened and he wagged his tail.

Peary took his gun and started off in pursuit of the musk-oxen. At last he came very near them, but so much depended upon his success that he was seized with trembling. It required a tremendous effort to point the gun and pull the trigger. The enormous ox looked up curiously, and walked toward the man, as if to see what the trouble was. Peary then took aim, fired, and killed him. The other musk-ox tried to run away, but Peary shot him also.

Astrup and the dogs were frantic with delight. Peary patted each dog on the head when he returned, as if to assure him of the feast he was to have. Soon the great, shaggy musk-oxen were skinned and prepared for food, and a huge hind quarter was carried to the dogs.

The half-starved animals had a royal banquet, and for a while nothing could be heard but the crunching of bones, and now and then a deep growl. Pau brightened up and took his place again as leader, seizing the largest piece of meat without any interference from the other dogs.

Lion was the beautiful leader of the Cape York team. His thick fur was snowy white, and his mane long and shaggy. Lion knew as much about ice travel as Peary himself, and he never got tangled in his traces or tried to eat his harness. Upon this occasion, however, Lion actually slipped harness. When Peary called him to have it replaced, Lion obeyed instantly, crouching obediently at his master’s feet.

While Peary was caring for the dogs, Astrup had fashioned a fur couch from the hides of the musk-oxen, and had broiled some delicious musk-ox steaks. That night men and dogs fell asleep happy and comfortable.

After climbing over another slope, the company halted on the edge of a high cliff, the northeastern point of Greenland. Beyond the mainland they could descry islands in the distance. An icebound channel marked the northern boundary of Greenland. The large bay spreading out before them Peary named Independence bay, in honor of the day of discovery, July 4, 1892. The cliff was called Navy cliff. A cairn was erected upon Navy cliff, and the stars and stripes was unfurled.

Peary felt well repaid for his weary march. He had succeeded in reaching latitude 81° 37ʹ 5ʺ north; he had crossed the great ice cap, and had proved that Greenland is an island; he had looked out upon the Arctic ocean from a point of land never before reached by civilized men; and he had gained a clear idea of the northern coast of Greenland.

On the return trip Peary reduced the weight of the packs by throwing away those articles which he did not expect to need again. On the evening of July 7 the two men began the climb up the slope to the inland ice. At one time they were eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. While they were upon a lofty elevation, a severe storm kept them prisoners in a snowdrift for sixty hours. Peary and Astrup slept most of the time. When the wind died away and they crept out of the drift, dogs and sledges had disappeared. These were soon dug out from the snow, and the journey was resumed.

About this time Peary discovered, to his alarm, that a quantity of his canned provisions had spoiled, and there was danger that he might run short of food. The dogs, too, seemed fagged and low-spirited. They pulled away in a lifeless manner, with drooping tails and as if they were utterly discouraged by this endless journey. So many of them died that only five lived to reach home. When these five dogs at last scented land, they were filled with new life, and dashed merrily along down the slope toward McCormick bay.

One day a number of black spots appeared on the white surface of the snow. These spots proved to be people from the Kite, which had arrived in the bay and was now waiting to carry Peary and his party back to the United States. Peary met the new arrivals joyfully, and soon all were assembled at Red Cliff House. Great was the rejoicing when Peary told of the success of his journey over the inland ice.

The results of this great sledge journey of twelve hundred miles across Greenland were very important. Greenland was proved beyond dispute to be an island. Smaller islands free from ice had been discovered north of Greenland. A large part of the inland ice had been traversed and its character studied. The shores of Inglefield gulf and Whale and Murchison sounds had been charted. Many glaciers were discovered, and careful observations made of the climate and tides. Considerable information had been gained concerning a tribe of Eskimos called the Arctic Highlanders, heretofore almost unknown.

In a few weeks preparations began for the return voyage. During the latter part of the summer, Mr. and Mrs. Peary and their companions bade farewell to Red Cliff House, and sailed for home on the Kite. Together with the members of the Red Cliff household who embarked on the Kite were the five faithful dogs that had helped to carry Peary to Independence bay and back again. Among them were Pau and Lion.

The Kite stopped at Godthaab on her way southward, and again at St. John’s, Newfoundland. From St. John’s the vessel was detained by head winds, but at last the Delaware breakwater was reached. A short distance below Philadelphia the Kite was met by a tugboat, carrying a party of Mr. Peary’s friends. They were soon on board the Kite, listening to the wonderful story of the discoveries and adventures of the Arctic travelers.

In 1893 Peary made another trip to North Greenland, and this time remained two years and one month. He made a second sledge journey of twelve hundred miles to Independence bay, and surveyed a large area of the country around Whale sound. During this trip, he also discovered the great Cape York meteorites.

Meteorites are stones, largely composed of iron, which fall to the earth from the heavens. They are supposed to follow in the train of meteors, or shooting stars. These pieces of meteoric iron differ from any kind of rock found upon the earth. They are covered with a thin, brownish black crust, and look very different from the iron which we obtain from mines. All meteorites are carefully preserved, placed in museums, and studied.

Many Eskimos had already told Peary of the wonderful iron mountain near Cape York, but up to this time he had been too busy to search for it. Now he found an Eskimo who promised to conduct him to the spot. This Eskimo said that he would find three great pieces of iron, the smallest about the size of a dog. One was near the water, and the other two were upon the side of the mountain.

With fresh dogs Peary and the Eskimo were soon galloping over hard ice toward Cape York. After a long journey the Eskimo conducted Peary to the great brown mass.

He told Peary that his people believed that the iron mass had been an Eskimo woman, who with her dog and her tent was hurled from the sky by the Evil Spirit. One of the great piles used to look like the figure of a woman in a sitting position, but the natives had chipped off many pieces of it and carried them away. They used these pieces of iron for making knives and for harpoon points.

One tribe attempted to carry off the entire head. They lashed it to a sledge and started for home, when suddenly the sea rose with a loud noise, and the head disappeared into the water, carrying the sledge and dogs with it. The Eskimos barely escaped with their lives, and since that time not the smallest fragment of the heavenly woman had been disturbed.

Near the great mass of iron, called “the woman,” was another, called “the dog.” About six miles south of these was the third and largest, called “the tent.”

The coast where these meteorites were found is the bleakest and most desolate region of the Arctic land. Biting winds blow almost continuously, and iceberg after iceberg drifts slowly past on its journey southward. It is almost impossible for a vessel to reach this coast.

Notwithstanding the difficulty and danger of the work, Peary succeeded in bringing all of these meteorites to New York. Those known as “the woman” and “the dog” reached New York in 1895, and on October 2, 1897, the Hope deposited the one known as “the tent” at the Brooklyn navy yard. This weighs ninety tons and is the largest known meteorite in the world.

Peary’s two trips across Greenland are classed among the most brilliant geographical feats of recent years. His efforts extended the exploration of the east coast of Greenland two degrees.

In 1899 Peary again visited the Arctic regions. He reached Fort Conger in March, 1900, and the next month, with his colored servant, Matthew Henson, and five Eskimos, started to explore the northern coast of Greenland. He reached Cape Washington, where he erected a cairn, and then pushing on, he rounded the northern limit of the Greenland archipelago at latitude 83° 39ʹ north, from which point the coast extended southward.

At this place, the most northerly known land in the world, Peary built a cairn and inclosed records of his trip. He then changed the direction of his course and turned northward, traveling over sea ice toward the pole. He proceeded in this direction until he reached latitude 83° 50ʹ north, where he found it impossible to continue the journey farther. He therefore returned to the Greenland coast, and made explorations which enabled him to complete a chart of the northern coast of that island. Upon the completion of this work he returned to Fort Conger, arriving there June 10, 1900, without accident or illness. During this trip, the temperature ranged from 20° above to 35° below zero.

The winter of 1900 and 1901 was spent at Fort Conger, where game was plentiful. The men passed most of their time hunting, and succeeded in slaying nearly two hundred musk-oxen.

In the spring of 1901 Peary made a second attempt to reach the pole, this time from the northern point of Grinnell land, using Fort Conger as a base. But he was again obliged to turn back. Still undismayed, Peary planned to make another dash for the pole during the spring of 1902. This expedition was also unsuccessful, and Peary returned to the United States in the fall of 1902, without having discovered the North Pole. But he accomplished valuable geographical work, and has added greatly to our knowledge of Greenland and Grinnell land.

Among the important results of Peary’s work are:—

First: The rounding of the northern limit of the Greenland archipelago, the most northerly known land in the world.

Second: The attainment of the highest latitude in the Western Hemisphere, 83° 50ʹ north.

Third: The discovery of the character of the inland ice.