MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE J-:*rii&i*i DR.FREDERICK-A-GOOK BANCROFT LIBRARY > THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Press Edition MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE Being the Record of the Expedition that First Reached the Boreal Center, 1907-1909. With the Final Sum- mary of the Polar Controversy By DR. FREDERICK A. COOK THIRD PRINTING, 6OTH THOUSAND NEW YORK AND LONDON MITCHELL KENNERLEY MCMXIII By Special arrangements this edition is marketed by The Polar Publishing Co., 601 Steinway Hall. Chicago COPTHIOHT 1913 BT G- (olO Da. FREDERICK A. COOK C7A-3X OTHER BOOKS BY DR. COOK Through the First Antarctic Night A Narrative of the Belgian South Polar Expedition. To the Top of the Continent Exploration in Sub-Arctic Alaska The First Ascent of Mt. McKinley My Attainment of the Pole Edition de Luxe -Each of above series will be sent post paid for $5.00. All to one address for $14.00. Address: THE POLAR PUBLISHING CO. 601 Steinway Hall, Chicago BANCROFT UBRARY To the Pathfinders To the Indian who invented pemmican and snowshoes ; To the Eskimo who gave the art of sled traveling ; To this twin family of wild folk who have no flag Goes the first credit. To the forgotten trail makers whose book of experience has been a guide; To the fallen victors whose bleached bones mark steps in the ascent of the ladder of latitudes ; To these, the pathfinders past, present and future I inscribe the first page. In the ultimate success there is glory enough To go to the graves of the dead and to the heads of the living. THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY DR. COOK IS VINDICATED. HIS DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE IS ENDORSED BY THE EXPLORERS OF ALL THE WORLD. In placing Dr. Cook on the Chautauqua platform as a lecturer, we have been compelled to study the statements issued for and against the rival polar claims with special reference to the facts bearing upon the present status of the Polar Controversy. Though the question has been argued during four years, we find that it is almost the unanimous opinion of arctic explorers today, that Dr. Cook reached the North Pole on April 21, 1909. With officer Peary's first announcement he chose to force a press cam- paign to deny Dr. Cook's success and to proclaim himseif as the sole Polar Victor. Peary aimed to be retired as a Rear-Admiral on a pension of $6,000 per year. This ambition was granted; but the American Congress rejected his claim for priority by eliminating from the pension bill the words "Discovery of the Pole." The European geographical societies, forced under diplomatic pressure to honor Peary, have also refused him the title of "Discoverer." By a final verdict of the American government and of the highest European authorities, Peary is there- fore denied the assumption of being the discoverer of the Pole, though his claim as a re-discoverer is allowed. The evasive inscriptions on the Peary medals prove this statement. Following the acute excitement of the first announcement, it seemed to be desirable to bring the question to a focus by submitting to some authoritative body for decision. Such an institution, however, did not exist. Previously, explorers had been rated by the slow process of historic digestion and assimila- tion of the facts offered, but it was thought that an academic examination would meet the demands. Officer Peary first submitted his case to a commission ap- pointed by the National Geographical Society of Washington, D. C. This jury promptly said that in their "opinion" Peary reached the Pole on April 6, 1909; but a year later in congress the same men unwillingly admitted that in the Peary proofs there was no positive proof. Dr. Cook's data was sent to a commission appointed by the University of Copenhagen. The Danes reported that the material presented was incom- plete and did not constitute positive proof. This verdict, however, did not carry the interpretation that the Pole had not been reached. The Danes have never said, as they have been quoted by the press, that Dr. Cook did not reach the Pole; quite to the contrary, the University of Copenhagen conferred the degree of Ph. D. and the Royal Danish Geographical Society gave a gold medal, both in recognition of the merits of the Polar effort. This early examination was based mostly upon the nautical calculations for position, and both verdicts when analyzed gave the version that in such observations there was no positive proof. The Washington jury ventured an opinion. The Danes refused to give an opinion, but showed their belief in Dr. Cook's success by conferring honorary degrees. [A] It is the unfair interpretation of the respective verdicts by the newspapers which has precipitated the turbulent air of distrust which previously rested over the entire Polar achievement. All this, however, has now been cleared by the final word of fifty of the foremost Polar explorers and scientific experts. In so far as they were able to judge from all the data presented in the final books of both claimants the following experts have given it as their opinion that Dr. Cook reached the Pole, and that officer Peary's similar report coming later is supplementary proof of the first victory: General A. W. Greely, U. S. A., commander of the Lady FrankKn Bay Expedition, who spent four years in the region under discussion. Rear Admiral W. S. Schley, U. S. N., commander of the Greely Relief Expedition. Capt. Otto Sverdrup, discoverer of the land over which Dr. Cook's route was forced. Capt. J. E. Bernier, commanding the Canadian Arctic Expeditions. Prof. G. Frederick Wright, author of the "Ice Age of North America." Capt. E. B. Baldwin, commanding the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition. Prof. W. H. Brewer for 16 years president of the Arctic Club of America. Prof. Julius Payer of the Weyprecht-Payer Expedition. Prof. L. L. Dyhe, member of various Peary and Cook Expeditions. Mr. Maurice Connell, Greely Expedition, and U. S. Weather Bureau. Capt. O. C. Hamlet, U. S. A. Arctic Revenue Service. Capt. E. A. Haven, Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition. Mr. Andrew J. Stone, Explorer of North Coast of America. Mr. Dillon Wallace, Labrador Explorer. , Mr. Edwin Swift Balch, author of "The North Pole and Bradley Land." Captains Johan Menander, B. S. Osbon and Thomas F. Hall. Messrs. Henry Biederbeck, Frederick B. Wright, F. F. Taylor, Ralph H. Cairns, Theodore Lerner, M. Van Ryssellberghe, J. Knowles Hare, Chas. E. Rilliet, Homer Rogers, R. C. Bates, E. C. Rost, L. C. Bement, Clarence Wyc- hoff, Alfred Church, Archibald Dickinson, Robert Stein, J. S. Warmbath, Geo. B. Butland, Ralph Shainwald, Henry Johnson, S. J. Entrikin, Clark Brown, W. F. Armbruster, John R. Bradley, Harry Whitney and Rudolph Franke. Drs. T. F. Dedrick, Middleton Smith, J. G. Knowlton, H. J. Egbert, W. H. Axtell, A. H. Cordier and Henry Schwartz. Judge Jules Leclercq, and Prof. Georges Lecointe, Secretary of the Inter- national Bureau of Polar Research. Thus endorsed by practically all Polar Explorers, Dr. Cook's attainment of the Pole and his earlier work of discovery and exploration is farther established by the following honorary pledges of recognition. (These are now in the posses- sion of Dr. Cook, the press reports to the contrary being untrue). By the King of Belgium, decorated as Knight of the Order of Leopold. By the University of Copenhagen in conferring the degree of Ph. D. By the Royal Danish Geographical Society, presentation of a gold medal By the Arctic Club of America, presentation of a gold medal. By the Royal Geographical Society of Belgium, presentation of a gold medal. By the Municipality of the City of Brussels, presentation of a gold medal. By the Municipality of the City of New York, with the ceremony of pre- senting the keys and offering the freedom of the city. Without denying officer Peary's success, we note that his case rests upon the opinion of three of his official associates in Washington. Three men acting for a society financially interested three men who have never seen a piece of Polar ice have given it as their "opinion" that Mr. Peary (a year later than Dr. Cook) reached the Pole. By many this was accepted as a final verdict of experts for Peary. But are such men dependable experts? [B] Dr. Cook now offers in substantiation of his work the support and the final verdict of fifty of the foremost explorers and scientific experts. Each in his own way has during the past four years examined the polar problem and pronounced in favor of Dr. Cook. He is therefore vindicated of the propaganda of insinuation and distrust which his enemies forced, and his success in reaching the Pole is conceded and endorsed by his own peers. In his book, "My Attainment of the Pole," Dr. Cook offers with thrilling vividness a most remarkable series of adventures in the enraptured wilderness at the top of the globe. And in his lectures he takes his audience step by step over the haunts of northernmost man and beyond to the sparkling sea of death at the pole. Above all he leaves in the hearts of his listeners the thrills of a fresh vigor and a new inspiration, which opens the way for other worlds to conquer. By his books and by his lectures, Dr. Cook seeks justice at the bar of public opinion, and three million people have applauded his effort on the platform. One hundred thousand people will read his book during the coming year. We are inclined to agree with Capt. E. B. Baldwin and other Arctic explorers who say -"Putting aside the academic and idle argument of pin-point accuracy, the North Pole has been honestly reached by Dr. Cook, three hundred and fifty days before any one else claimed to have been there." May 22, 1913. THE CHAUTAUQUA MANAGERS' ASSOCIATION, ORCHESTRA BUILDING, CHICAGO. Chas. W. Ferguson, Pres. A. L. Flude, Sec'y. PREFACE This narrative has been prepared as a general out- line of my conquest of the North Pole. In it the scien- tific data, the observations, every phase of the pioneer work with its drain of human energy has been presented in its proper relation to a strange cycle of events. The camera has been used whenever possible to illustrate the progress of the expedition as well as the wonders and mysteries of the Arctic wilds. Herein, with due after-thought and the better perspective afforded by time, the rough field notes, the disconnected daily tab- ulations and the records of instrumental observations, every fact, every optical and mental impression, has been re-examined and re-arranged to make a concise record of successive stages of progress to the boreal center. If I have thus worked out an understandable panorama of our environment, then the mission of this book has served its purpose. Much has been said about, absolute geographic proof of an explorer's work. History demonstrates that the book which gives the final authoritative narrative is the test of an explorer's claims. By it every traveler has been measured. From the time of the discovery of America to the piercing of darkest Africa and the open- viii PREFACE ing of Thibet, men who have sought the truth of the claims of discovery have sought, not abstract figures, but the continuity of the narrative in the pages of the traveler's final book. In such a narrative, after due digestion and assimilation, there is to be found either the proof or the disproof of the claims of a discoverer. In such narratives as the one herewith presented, subsequent travelers and other experts, with no other interests to serve except those of fair play, have crit- ically examined the material. With the lapse of time accordingly, when partisanship feelings have been merged in calm and conscientious judgment, history has always finally pronounced a fair and equitable verdict. In a similar way my claim of being first to reach the North Pole will rest upon the data presented be- tween the covers of this book. In working out the destiny of this Expedition, and this book which records its doings, I have to acknowl- edge my gratitude for the assistance of many people. First among those to whom I am deeply indebted is John R. Bradley. By his liberal hand this Expedition was given life, and by his loyal support and helpfulness I was enabled to get to my base of operations at Annoa- tok. By his liberal donations of food we were enabled to live comfortably during the first year. To John R. Bradley, therefore, belong the first fruits of the Polar conquest. A tribute of praise must be placed on record for Rudolph Francke. After the yacht returned, he was my sole civilized helper and companion. The faithful manner in which he performed the difficult duties as- signed to him, and his unruffled cheerfulness during the PREFACE ix trying weeks of the long night, reflect a large measure of credit. The band of little people of the Farthest North furnished without pay the vital force and the primitive ingenuity without which the quest of the Pole would be a hopeless task. These boreal pigmies with golden skins, with muscles of steel, and hearts as finely human as those of the highest order of man, performed a task that cannot be too highly commended. The two boys, Ah-we-lah and E-tuk-i-shook, deserve a place on the tab- let of fame. They followed me with a perseverance which demonstrates one of the finest qualities of savage life. They shared with me the long run of hardship; they endured without complaint the unsatisfied hunger, the unquenched thirst, and the maddening isolation, with no thought of reward except that which comes from an unselfish desire to follow one whom they chose to regard as a friend. If a noble deed was ever accomplished, these boys did it, and history should record their heroic effort with indelible ink. At the request of Mrs. Cook, the Canadian Gov- ernment sent its ship, the "Arctic," under Captain Ber- nier, with supplementary supplies for me, to Etah. These were left under the charge of Mr. Harry Whit- ney. The return to civilization was made in comfort, by the splendid manner in which this difficult problem was carried out. To each and all in this combination I am deeply indebted. With sweet memories of the warm hospitality of Danes in Greenland, I here subscribe my never-to-He- forgotten appreciation. I am also indebted to the Royal Greenland Trading Company and to the United x PREFACE. S. S. Company for many favors; and, above all, am I grateful to the Danes as a nation, for the whole-souled demonstrations of friendship and appreciation at Copenhagen. In the making of this book, I was relieved of much routine editorial work by Mr. T. Everett Harry, asso- ciate editor of Hampton's Magazine, who rearranged much of my material, and by whose handling of certain purely adventure matter a book of better literary workmanship has been made. I am closing the pages of this book with a good deal of regret, for, in the effort to make the price of this volume so low that it can go into every home, the need for brevity has dictated the number of pages. My last word to all to friends and enemies is, if you must pass judgment, study the problem carefully. You are as capable of forming a correct judgment as the self- appointed experts. One of Peary's captains has said "that he knew, but never would admit, that Peary did not reach the Pole." Rear Admiral Chester has said the same about me, but he "admits" it in big, flaming type. With due respect to these men, in justice to the cause, I am bound to say that these, and others of their kind, who necessarily have a blinding bias, are not better able to judge than the average American citizen. If you have read this book, then read Mr. Peary's "North Pole." Put the two books side by side. When making comparisons, remember that my attainment of the Pole was one year earlier than Mr. Peary's claim; that my narrative was written and printed months be- fore that of Mr. Peary; that the Peary narrative is such that Rear Admiral Schley has said "After reading PREFACE xi the published accounts daily and critically of both claimants, I was forced to the conclusion from their striking similarity that each of you was the eye-witness of the other's success. Without collusion, it would have been impossible to have written accounts so similar." This opinion, coming as it does from one of the highest Arctic and Naval authorities, is endorsed by practically all Arctic explorers. Captain E. B. Bald- win goes even further, and proves my claim from the pages of Peary's own book. Governor Brown of Georgia, after a critical examination of the two reports, says, "If it is true, as Peary would like us to believe, that Cook has given us a gold brick, then Peary has offered a paste diamond." Since my account was written and printed first, the striking analogy apparent in the Peary pages either proves my position at the Pole or it convicts Peary of using my data to fill out and impart verisimilitude to his own story of a second victory. Much against my will I find myself compelled to uncover the dark pages of the selfish unfairness of rival interests. In doing so my aim is not to throw doubt and distrust on Mr. Peary's success, but to show his incentive and his methods in attempting to leave the sting of dis- credit upon me. I would prefer to close my eye to a long series of wrong doings as I have done in the passing years, but the Polar controversy cannot be understood unless we get the perspective of the man who has forced it. Heretofore I have allowed others to expend their argumentative ammunition. The ques- tions which I have raised are minor points. On the xd PREFACE main question of Polar attainment there is not now room for doubt. The Pole has been honestly reached the American Eagle has spread its wings of glory over the world's top. Whether there is room for one or two or more under those wings, I am content to let the future decide. FREDERICK A. COOK. The Waldorf-Astoria, New York, June 15, 1911. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I THE POLAR FIGHT .... 1 II INTO THE BOREAL WILDS . . Z$ THE YACHT BRADLEY LEAVES GLOUCESTER INVADES THE MAGIC WATERS OF THE ARCTIC SEAS RECOLLECTIONS OF Boraooo AMBITIONS BEYOND THE ARCTIC CIRCLE THE WEAVING OF THE POLAR SPELL III THE DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 4 ON THE FRIGID PATHWAY OF THREE CENTURIES OF HEROIC MARTYRS MEETING THE STRANGE PEOPLE OF THE FARTHEST NORTH THE LIFE OF THE STONE AGE ON THE CHASE WITH THE ESKIMOS MANEE AND SPARTAN ESKIMO COURAGE IV TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION . 62 EXCITING HUNTS FOR GAME WITH THE ESKIMOS ARRIVAL AT ETAH SPEEDY TRIP TO ANNOATOK, THE WINDY PLACE, WHERE SUPPLIES ARE FOUND IN ABUNDANCE EVERYTHING AUSPICIOUS FOR DASH TO THE POLE DETERMINATION TO ESSAY THE EFFORT BRADLEY INFORMED DEBARK FOR THE POLE THE YACHT RETURNS V PREPARATIONS FOR THE POLAR DASH 73 AN ENTIRE TRIBE BREATHLESSLY AND FEVERISHLY AT WORK MAPPING OUT THE POLAR CAMPAIGN VI THE CURTAIN OF NIGHT DROPS . 81 TRIBE OF Two HUNDRED AND FIFTY NATIVES BUSILY BEGIN PREPARATIONS FOR THE POLAR DASH EXCITING HUNTS FOR THB UNICORN AND OTHER GAME FROM ANNOATOK TO CAPE YORK EVERY ANIMAL CAUGHT BEARING UPON THE SUCCESS OF THE VENTURE THE GRAY-GREEN GLOOM OF TWILIGHT IN WHICH THE ESKIMO WOMEN COMMUNICATE WITH THE SOULS OF THE DEAD VII FIRST WEEK OF THE LONG NIGHT 99 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC TWILIGHT PURSUING BEAR, CARIBOU AND SMALLER GAME IN SEMI-GLOOM xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE VIII THE MOONLIGHT QUEST OF THE WALRUS 114 DESPERATE AND DANGEROUS HUNTING, IN ORDER TO SECURE ADE- QUATE SUPPLIES FOR THE POLAR DASH A THRILLING AND AD- VENTUROUS RACE Is MADE OVER FROZEN SEAS AND ICY MOUN- TAINS TO THE WALRUS GROUNDS TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF THE ICE ON WHICH THE PARTY HUNTS SUCCESS IN SECURING OVER SEVEN SLED-LOADS OF BLUBBER MAKES THE POLE SEEM NEARER AN ARCTIC TRAGEDY IX MIDNIGHT AND MID-WINTER . 130 THE EQUIPMENT AND ITS PROBLEMS NEW ART IN THE MAKING OF SLEDGES COMBINING LIGHTNESS PROGRESS OF THE PREPARA- TIONS CHRISTMAS WITH ITS GLAD TIDINGS AND AUGURIES FOR SUCCESS IN QUEST OF THE POLE X EN ROUTE FOR THE POLE . . 149 THE CAMPAIGN OPENS LAST WEEKS OF THE POLAR NIGHT ADVANCE PARTIES SENT OUT AWAITING THE DAWN XI EXPLORING A NEW PASS OVER ACPOHON . 162 FROM THE ATLANTIC WATERS AT FLAGLER BAY TO THE PACIFIC WATERS AT BAY FIORD THE MECCA OF THE MUSK Ox BATTLES WITH THE BOVINE MONSTERS OF THE ARCTIC SUNRISE AND THE GLORY OF SUNSET XII IN GAME TRAILS TO LAND'S END . 176 SVERDRUP'S NEW WONDERLAND FEASTING ON GAME EN ROUTE TO SVARTEVOEG FIRST SHADOW OBSERVATIONS FIGHTS WITH WOLVES AND BEARS THE JOYS OF ZERO'S LOWEST THRESHOLD OF THE UNKNOWN XIII THE TRANS-BOREAL DASH BEGINS 194 BY FORCED EFFORTS AND THE USE OF AXES SPEED is MADE OVER THE LAND-ADHERING PACK ICE OF POLAR SEA THE MOST DIF- FICULT TRAVEL OF THE PROPOSED JOURNEY SUCCESSFULLY AC- COMPLISHED REGRETFUL PARTING WITH THE ESKIMOS XIV OVER THE POLAR SEA TO THE BIG LEAD 208 WITH Two ESKIMO COMPANIONS, THE RACE POLEWARD CON- TINUES OVER ROUGH AND DIFFICULT ICE THE LAST LAND FADES TABLE OF CONTENTS xv PAGE BEHIND MIRAGES LEAP INTO BEING AND WEAVE A MYSTIC SPELL A SWIRLING SCENE OF MOVING ICE AND FANTASTIC EF- FECTS STANDING ON A HILL OF ICE, A BLACK, WRITHING, SNAKY CUT APPEARS IN THE ICE BEYOND THE BIG LEAD A NIGHT OF ANXIETY FIVE HUNDRED MILES ALREADY COVERED FOUR HUN- DRED TO THE POLE XV CROSSING MOVING SEAS OF ICE . 221 CROSSING THE LEAD THE THIN ICE HEAVES LIKE A SHEET OF RUBBER CREEPING FORWARD CAUTIOUSLY, THE Two DANGEROUS MILES ARE COVERED BOUNDING PROGRESS MADE OVER IMPROVING ICE THE FIRST HURRICANE DOGS BURIED AND FROZEN INTO MASSES IN DRIFTS OF SNOW THE ICE PARTS THROUGH THE IGLOO WAKING TO FIND ONE'S SELF FALLING INTO THE COLD SEA XVI LAND DISCOVERED .... 232 FIGHTING PROGRESS THROUGH CUTTING COLD AND TERRIFIC STORMS LIFE BECOMES A MONOTONOUS ROUTINE OF HARDSHIP THE POLE INSPIRES WITH ITS RESISTLESS LURE NEW LAND DIS- COVERED BEYOND THE EIGHTY-FOURTH PARALLEL MORE THAN Two HUNDRED MILES FROM SVARTEVOEG THE FIRST Six HUN- DRED MILES COVERED XVII BEYOND THE RANGE OF LIFE . 248 WITH A NEW SPRING TO WEARY LEGS BRADLEY LAND is LEFT BEHIND FEELING THE ACHING VASTNESS OF THE WORLD BE- FORE MAN WAS MADE CURIOUS GRIMACES OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN SUFFERINGS INCREASE BY PERSISTENT AND LABORIOUS PROGRESS ANOTHER HUNDRED MILES is COVERED VIII OVER POLAR SEAS OF MYSTERY . 260 THE MADDENING TORTURES OF A WORLD WHERE ICE WATER SEEMS HOT, AND COLD KNIVES BURN ONE'S HANDS ANGUISHED PROGRESS ON THE LAST STRETCH OF Two HUNDRED MILES OVER ANCHORED LAND ICE DAYS OF SUFFERING AND GLOOM THE TIME OF DESPAIR "!T Is WELL TO DIE," SAYS AH-WE-LAH; "BEYOND is IMPOSSIBLE" XIX TO THE POLE LAST HUNDRED MILES ..... 269 OVER PLAINS OF GOLD AND SEAS OF PALPITATING COLOR THE DOG TEAMS, WITH NOSES DOWN, TAILS ERECT, DASH SPIRITEDLY LIKE CHARIOT HORSES CHANTING LOVF SONGS THE ESKIMOS FOLLOW WITH SWINGING STEP TIRED EYES OPEN TO NEW xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE GLORY STEP BY STEP, WITH THUMPING HEARTS THE EARTH'S APEX Is NEARED AT LAST! THE GOAL Is REACHED! THE STARS AND STRIPES ARE FLUNG TO THE FRIGID BREEZES OF THE NORTH POLE ! XX AT THE NORTH POLE . . .286 OBSERVATIONS AT THE POLE METEOROLOGICAL AND ASTRONOMI- CAL PHENOMENA SINGULAR STABILITY AND UNIFORMITY OF THE THERMOMETER AND BAROMETER A SPOT WHERE ONE'S SHADOW Is THE SAME LENGTH EACH HOUR OF THE TWENTY-FOUR EIGHT POLAR ALTITUDES OF THE SUN XXI THE RETURN A BATTLE FOR LIFE 314 TURNED BACKS TO THE POLE AND TO THE SUN THE DOGS, SEEMINGLY GLAD AND SEEMINGLY SENSIBLE THAT THEIR NOSES WERE POINTED HOMEWARD, BARKED SHRILLY SUFFERING FROM INTENSE DEPRESSION THE DANGERS OF MOVING ICE, OF STORMS AND SLOW STARVATION THE THOUGHT OF FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES TO LAND CAUSES DESPAIR XXII BACK TO LIFE AND BACK TO LAND 326 THE RETURN DELUDED BY DRIFT AND FOG CARRIED ASTRAY OVER AN UNSEEN DEEP TRAVEL FOR TWENTY DAYS IN A WORLD OF MISTS, WITH THE TERROR OF DEATH AWAKENED FROM SLEEP BY A HEAVENLY SONG THE FIRST BIRD FOLLOWING THE WINGED HARBINGER WE REACH LAND A BLEAK, BARREN ISLAND POSSESSING THE CHARM OF PARADISE AFTER DAYS VERGING ON STARVATION, WE ENJOY A FEAST OF UNCOOKEP GAME XXIII OVERLAND TO JONES SOUND . . 341 HOURS OF ICY TORTURE A FRIGID SUMMER STORM IN THE BERG- DRIVEN ARCTIC SEA A PERILOUS DASH THROUGH TWISTING LANES OF OPENING WATER IN A CANVAS CANOE THE DRIVE OF HUNGER XXIV UNDER THE WHIP OF FAMINE . 355 BY BOAT AND SLEDGE, OVER THE DRIFTING ICE AND STORMY SEAS OF JONES SOUND FROM ROCK TO ROCK IN QUEST OF FOOD MAKING NEW WEAPONS XXV BEAR FIGHTS AND WALRUS BATTLES 365 DANGEROUS ADVENTURES IN A CANVAS BOAT ON THE VERGE OF TABLE OF CONTENTS xvii PAGE STARVATION, A MASSIVE BRUTE, WEIGHING THREE THOUSAND POUNDS, Is CAPTURED AFTER A FIFTEEN-HOUR STRUGGLE ROBBED OF PRECIOUS FOOD BY HUNGRY BEARS XXVI BULL FIGHTS WITH THE MUSK OX 378 AN ANCIENT CAVE EXPLORED FOR SHELTER DEATH BY STARVA- TION AVERTED BY HAND-TO-HAND ENCOUNTERS WITH WILD ANIMALS XXVII A NEW ART OF CHASE ... 393 THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE SUNSET OF 1908 REVELLING IN AN EDEN OF GAME PECULIARITIES OF ANIMALS OF THE ARCTIC How NATURE DICTATES ANIMAL COLOR THE QUEST OF SMALL LIFE XXVIII A HUNDRED NIGHTS IN AN UNDER- GROUND DEN .... 406 LIVING LIKE MEN OF THE STONE AGE THE DESOLATION OF THE LONG NIGHT LIFE ABOUT CAPE SPARBO PREPARING EQUIP- MENT FOR THE RETURN TO GREENLAND SUNRISE, FEBRUARY 11, 1909 XXIX HOMEWARD WITH A HALF SLEDGE AND HALF-FILLED STOMACHS . 425 THREE HUNDRED MILES THROUGH STORM AND SNOW AND UP- LIFTED MOUNTAINS OF ICE TROUBLES DISCOVER Two ISLANDS ANNOATOK Is REACHED MEETING HARRY WHITNEY NEWS OF PEARY'S SEIZURE OF SUPPLIES XXX ANNOATOK TO UPERNAVIK . . 447 ELEVEN HUNDRED MILES SOUTHWARD OVER SEA AND LAND AT ETAH OVERLAND TO THE WALRUS GROUNDS ESKIMO COMEDIES AND TRAGEDIES A RECORD RUN OVER MELVILLE BAY FIRST NEWS FROM PASSING SHIPS THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN SOUTH- WARD BY STEAMER GODTHAAB XXXI FROM GREENLAND TO COPENHAGEN 463 FOREWARNING OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY BANQUET AT EGGEDESMINDE ON BOARD THE HANS EGEDE CABLEGRAMS SENT FROM LERWICK THE OVATION AT COPENHAGEN BE- WILDERED AMIDST THE GENERAL ENTHUSIASM PEARY'S FIRST MESSAGES EMBARK ON OSCAR II FOR NEW YORK xviii TABLE OF CONTENTS XXXII COPENHAGEN TO THE UNITED STATES . 476 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC RECEPTION IK NEW YORK BEWILDERING CYCLONE OF EVENTS INSIDE NEWS OF THE PEARY ATTACK How THE WEB OF SHAME WAS WOVEN XXXIII THE KEY TO THE CONTROVERSY 507 PEARY AND His PAST His DEALING WITH RIVAL EXPLORERS THE DEATH OF ASTRUP THE THEFT OF THE "GREAT IRON STONE," THE NATIVES' SOLE SOURCE OF IRON XXXIV THE MT. McKINLEY BRIBERY . . 521 THE BRIBED, FAKED AND FORGED NEWS ITEMS THE PRO-PEARY MONEY POWERS ENCOURAGE PERJURY MT. McKiNLEY HONESTLY CLIMBED How, FOR PEARY, A SIMILAR PEAK WAS FAKED XXXV THE DUNKLE-LOOSE FORGERY . 535 ITS PRO-PEARY MAKING XXXVI HOW A GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY PROS- TITUTED ITS NAME ... 541 THE WASHINGTON VERDICT THE COPENHAGEN VERDICT RETROSPECT 557 THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY (Preceding Preface) . (a) Dr. Cook Vindicated His Discovery of the North Pole Endorsed by the Explorers of all the World. THE PEARY-PARKER-BROWN HUMBUG UP To DATE (To Finish Page) . . 534 Parker contradicts former Statement Says he climbed Mt. McKinley by Northeast Ridge. The Ridge used by Dr. Cook. VERDICT OF THE GEOGRAPHIC HISTORIAN (By Edwin Swift Balch) . . 595 Dr. Cook's Record is Accurate It is Certified It is Corroborated He is the Discoverer of the North Pole. A REQUEST FOR A NATIONAL INVESTIGATION (By Dr. Frederick A. Cook) . 600 Nation should decide Congress Should Investigate Rival Claims Letter to the President. CAN THE GOVERNMENT ESCAPE THE RESPONSIBILITY (By Fred High, Editor of the Platform) 605 Cook Should Have a Fair Deal An Unbiased Comparison Letters to and from Prominent Men. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FREDERICK A. COOK ..... Frontispiece FACING PAGE RUDOLPH FRANCKE IN ARCTIC COSTUME . . . .12 MIDNIGHT " A PANORAMA OF BLACK LACQUER AND SILVER " 13 ON THE CHASE FOR BEAR THE Box-HousE AT ANNOATOK AND ITS WINTER ENVIRONMENT . . . .76 MAN'S PREY OF THE ARCTIC SEA WALRUS ASLEEP . . 77 THE HELPERS NORTHERNMOST MAN AND His WIFE . .108 A MECCA OF MUSK Ox ALONG EUREKA SOUND A NATIVE HELPER AH-WE-LAH'S PROSPECTIVE WIFE . . 109 THE CAPTURE OF A BEAR ROUNDING UP,A HERD OF MUSK OXEN 140 SVARTEVOEG CAMPING 500 MlLES FROM THE POLE . . 141 "THE IGLOO BUILT, WE PREPARE FOR OUR DAILY CAMP" . 172 CAMPING TO EAT AND TAKE OBSERVATIONS ON AGAIN . 173 DASHING FORWARD EN ROUTE TO THE POLE . . . 204 DEPARTURE OF SUPPORTING PARTY A BREATHING SPELL POLEWARD ........ 205 BRADLEY LAND DISCOVERED SUBMERGED ISLAND OF POLAR SEA GOING BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF LIFE . . 236 SWIFT PROGRESS OVER SMOOTH ICE BUILDING AN IGLOO A LIFELESS WORLD OF COLD AND ICE .. . . 237 *Too WEARY TO BUILD IGLOOS, WE USED THE SILK TENT " "ACROSS SEAS OF CRYSTAL GLORY TO THE BOREAL CENTRE" 268 MENDING NEAR THE POLE 269 FIRST CAMP AT THE POLE, APRIL 21, 1908 . . 300 xx LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE AT THE POLE "WE WERE THE ONLY PULSATING CREA- TURES IN A DEAD WORLD OF ICE" .... 301 4< WiTH EAGER EYES WE SEARCHED THE DUSKY PLAINS OF CRYSTAL, BUT THERE WAS No LAND, No LIFE, To RELIEVE THE PURPLE RUN OF DEATH" . . . 332 RECORD LEFT IN BRASS TUBE AT NORTH POLE . . . 333 OBSERVATION DETERMINING THE POLE PHOTOGRAPH FROM ORIGINAL NOTE . . . . . . . 364 BACK TO LAND AND BACK TO LIFE AWAKENED BY A WINGED HARBINGER ...... 365 E-TuK-I-SnooK WAITING FOR A SEAL AT A BLOW HOLE . 396 TOWARD CAPE SPARBO IN CANVAS BOAT WALRUS (PRIZE OF 15-HOUR BATTLE) 4,000 LBS. OF MEAT AND FAT . 397 PUNCTURED CANVAS BOAT IN WHICH WE PADDLED 1,000 MILES FAMINE DAYS, WHEN ONLY STRAY BIRDS PRE- VENTED STARVATION DEN IN WHICH WE SPENT 100 DOUBLE NIGHTS ....... 428 BULL FIGHTS WITH THE MUSK Ox ABOUT CAPE SPARBO . 429 SAVED FROM STARVATION THE RESULT OF ONE OF OUR LAST CARTRIDGES ....... 460 "MILES AND MILES OF DESOLATION" HOMEWARD BOUND 461 GOVERNOR KRAUL IN His STUDY ARRIVAL AT UPERNAVIK 492 POLAR TRAGEDY A DESERTED CHILD OF THE SULTAN OF THE NORTH AND ITS MOTHER . . 493 My Attainment of the Pole i. THE POLAR FIGHT On April 21, 1908, I reached a spot on the silver- shining desert of boreal ice whereat a wild wave of joy filled my heart. I can remember the scene distinctly it will remain one of those comparatively few mental pictures which are photographed with a terribly vivid distinctness of detail, because of their emotional effect, during everyone's existence, and which reassert them- selves in the brain like lightning flashes in stresses of intense emotion, in dreams, in the delirium of sickness, and possibly in the hour of death. I can see the sun lying low above the horizon, which glittered here and there in shafts of light like the tip of a long, circular, silver blade. The globe of fire, veiled occasionally by purplish, silver-shot mists, was tinged with a faint, burning lilac. Through open- ing cracks in the constantly moving field of ice, cold strata of air rose, deflecting the sun's rays in every direction, and changing the vision of distant ice irregu- larities with a deceptive perspective, as an oar blade seen in the depth of still water. Huge phantom-shapes took form about me; they were nebulous, their color purplish. About the horizon 2 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE moved what my imagination pictured as the ghosts of dead armies strange, gigantic, wraith-like shapes whose heads rose above the horizon as the heads of a giant army appearing over the summits of a far-away mountain. They moved forward, retreated, diminished in size, and titanically reappeared again. Above them, in the purple mists and darker clouds, shifted scintil- lantly waving flashes of light, orange and crimson, the ghosts of their earthly battle banners, wind-tossed, golden and bloodstained. I stood gazing with wonder, half-appalled, for- getting that these were mirages produced by cold air and deflected light rays, and feeling only as though I were beholding some vague revelation of victorious hosts, beings of that other world which in olden times, it is said, were conjured at Endor. It seemed fitting that they should march and remarch about me; that the low beating of the wind should suddenly swell into throb- bing martial music. For that moment I was intoxi- cated. I stood alone, apart from my two Eskimo com- panions, a shifting waste of purple ice on every side, alone in a dead world a world of angry winds, eternal cold, and desolate for hundreds of miles in every direc- tion as the planet before man was made. I felt in my heart the thrill which any man must feel when an almost impossible but dearly desired work is attained the thrill of accomplishment with which a poet must regard his greatest masterpiece, which a sculptor must feel when he puts the finishing touch to inanimate matter wherein he has expressed consum- mately a living thought, which a conqueror must feel when he has mastered a formidable alien army. Stand- THE QUESTION OF PIN-POINT ACCURACY 3 ing on this spot, I felt that I, a human being, with all of humanity's frailties, had conquered cold, evaded famine, endured an- inhuman battling with a rigorous, infuriated Nature in a soul-racking, body-sapping journey such as no man perhaps had ever made. I had proved myself to myself, with no thought at the time of any worldy applause. Only the ghosts about me, which my dazzled imagination evoked, celebrated the glorious thing with me a thing in which no human being could have shared. Over and over again I re- peated to myself that I had reached the North Pole, and the thought thrilled through my nerves and veins like the shivering sound of silver bells. That was my hour of victory. It was the climac- teric hour of my life. The vision and the thrill, despite all that has passed since then, remain, and will remain with me as long as life lasts, as the vision and the thrill of an honest, actual accomplishment. That I stood at the time on the very pivotal pin- point of the earth I do not and never did claim; I may have, I may not. In that moving world of ice, of con- stantly rising mists, with a low-lying sun whose rays are always deflected, such an ascertainment of actual position, even with instruments in the best workable condition, is, as all scientists will agree, impossible. That I reached the North Pole approximately, and ascertained my location as accurately, as painstakingly, as the terrestrial and celestial conditions and the best in- struments would allow; that I thrilled with victory, and made my claim on as honest, as careful, as scientific a basis of observations and calculations as any human being could, I do emphatically assert. That any man, 4 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE in reaching this region, could do more than I did to ascertain definitely the mathematical Pole, and that any more voluminous display of figures could substantiate a claim of greater accuracy, I do deny. I believe still what I told the world when I returned, that I am the first white man to reach thafe spot known as the North Pole as far as it is, or ever will be, humanly possible to ascertain the location of that spot. Few men in all history, I am inclined to believe, have ever been made the subject of such vicious at- tacks, of such malevolent assailing of character, of such a series of perjured and forged charges, of such a wide- spread and relentless press persecution, as I; and few men, I feel sure, have ever been made to suffer so bit- terly and so inexpressibly as I because of the assertion of my achievement. So persistent, so egregious, so overwhelming were the attacks made upon me that for a time my spirit was broken, and in the bitterness of my soul I even felt desirous of disappearing to some remote corner of the earth, to be forgotten. I knew that envy was the incentive to all the unkind abuses heaped upon me, and I knew also that in due time, when the public agitation subsided and a better perspective followed, the justice of my claim would force itself to the inevita- ble light of truth. With this confidence in the future, I withdrew from the envious, money-waged strife to the calm and rest- fulness of my own family circle. The campaign of in- famy raged and spent its force. The press lined up with 'this dishonest movement by printing bribed, faked and forged news items, deliberately manufactured by my enemies to feed a newspaper hunger for sensation. THE UNGRACIOUS POLAR CONTROVERSY 5 In going away for a rest it did not seem prudent to take the press into my confidence, a course which re- sulted in the mean slurs that I had abandoned my cause. This again was used by my enemies to blacken my char- acter. In reality, I had tried to keep the ungracious Polar controversy within the bounds of decent, gentle- manly conduct; but indecency had become the keynote, and against this, mild methods served no good purpose. I preferred, therefore, to go away and allow the atmosphere to clear of the stench stirred up by rival interest; but while I was away, my enemies were watched, and I am here now to uncover the darkest cam- paign of bribery and conspiracy ever forged in a strife for honor. Now that my disappointment, my bitterness has passed, that my hurt has partly healed, I have deter- mined to tell the whole truth about myself, about the charges made against me, and about those by whom the charges were made. Herein, FOR THE FIRST TIME, I will tell how and why I believed I reached the North Pole, and give fully the record upon which this claim is based. Only upon such a complete account of day-by-day traveling and such observations, can any claim rest. Despite the hullabaloo of voluminous so-called proofs offered by a rival, I am certain that the un- prejudiced reader will herein find as complete a story, and as valuable figures as those ever offered by anyone for any such achievement in exploration as mine. Herein, for the first time, shall I answer in toto all charges made against me, and this because the entire truth concerning these same charges I have not sue- 6 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE ceeded in giving the world through other channels. Be- cause of the power of those who arrayed themselves against me, I found the columns of the press closed to much that I wished to say; articles which I wrote for publication underwent editorial excision, and absolutely necessary explanations, which in themselves attacked my assailants, were eliminated. Only by reading my own story, as fully set down herein, can anyone judge of the relative value of my claim and that of my rival claimant; only by so doing can anyone get at the truth of the plot made to discredit me ; only by doing so can one learn the reason for all of my actions, for my failure to meet charges at the time they were made, for my disappearing at a time when such action was unfairly made to confirm the worst charges of my detractors. That I have been too char- itable with those who attempted to steal the justly deserved honors of my achievement, I am now con- vinced; when desirable, I shall now, having felt the smarting sting of the world's whip, and in order to justify myself, use the knife. I shall tell the truth even though it hurts. I have not been spared, and I shall spare no one in telling the unadorned and un- pleasant story of a man who has been bitterly wronged, whose character has been assailed by bought and perjured affidavits, whose life before he returned from the famine-land of ice and cold the world of his conquest was endangered, designedly or not, by a dishonest appropriation of food supplies by one who afterwards endeavored to steal from him his honor, which is more dear than life. To be doubted, and to have one's honesty assailed, HOW OTHER EXPLORERS WERE DOUBTED 7 has been the experience of many explorers throughout history. The discoverer of our own continent, Chris- topher Columbus, was thrown into prison, and another, Amerigo Vespucci, was given the honor, his name to this day marking the land which was reached only through the intrepidity and single-hearted, single-sus- tained confidence of a man whose vision his own people doubted. Even in my own time have explorers been assailed, among them Stanley, whose name for a time was shrouded with suspicion, and others who since have joined the ranks of my assailants. Unfortunately, in such cases the matter of proof and the reliability of any claim, basicly, must rest entirely upon the intangible evidence of a man's own word; there can be no such thing as a palpable and indubitable proof. And in the case when a man's good faith is aspersed and his char- acter assailed, the world's decision must rest either upon his own word or that of his detractors. Returning from the North, exhausted both in body and brain by a savage and excruciating struggle against famine and cold, yet thrilling with the glorious con- viction of a personal attainment, I was tossed to the zenith of worldly honor on a wave of enthusiasm, a world-madness, which startled and bewildered me. In that swift, sudden, lightning-flash ascension to glory, which I had not expected, and in which I was as a bit of helpless drift in the thundering tossing of an ocean storm, I was decorated with unasked-for honors, the laudations of the press of the world rang in my ears, the most notable of living men hailed me as one great among them. I found myself the unwilling and uncomfort- able guest of princes, and I was led forward to receive the gracious hand of a King. 8 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE Returning to my own country, still marveling that such honors should be given because I had accomplished what seemed, and still seems, a merely personal achieve- ment, and of little importance to anyone save to him who throbs with the gratification of a personal success, I was greeted with mad cheers and hooting whistles, with bursting guns and blaring bands. I was led through streets filled with applauding men and singing children and arched with triumphal flowers. In a dizzy whirl about the country which now seems like a deliri- ous dream I experienced what I am told was an ova- tion unparalleled of its kind. Coincident with my return to civilization, and while the world was ringing with congratulations, there came stinging through the cold air from the North, by wire- less electric flashes, word from Mr. Peary that he had reached the North Pole and that, in asserting such a claim myself, I was a liar. I did not then doubt the good faith of Peary's claim; having reached the boreal center myself, under extremely favorable weather conditions, I felt that he, with everything in his favor, could do as much a year later, as he claimed. I replied with all can- dor what I felt, that there was glory enough for two. But I did, of course, feel the sting of my rival's unwar- ranted and virulent attacks. In the stress of any great crisis, the average human mind is apt to be carried away by unwise impulses. Following Mr. Peary's return, I found myself the object of a campaign to discredit me in which, I believe, as an explorer, I stand the most shamefully abused man in the history of exploration. Deliberately planned, inspired at first, and at first directed, by Mr. Peary from WEAVING THE FALSE WEB OF SHAME 9 the wireless stations of Labrador, this campaign was consistently and persistently worked out by a powerful and affluent organization, with unlimited money at its command, which has had as its allies dis- honest pseudo-scientists, financially and otherwise in- terested in the success of Mr. Peary's expedition. With a chain of powerful newspapers, a financial backer of Peary led a campaign to destroy confidence in me. I found myself in due time, before I realized the import- ance of underhand attacks, in a quandary which baffled and bewildered me. Without any organization behind me, without any wires to pull, without, at the time, any appreciable amount of money for defence, I felt what anyone who is not superhuman would have felt, a sick- ening sense of helplessness, a disgust at the human duplicity which permitted such things, a sense of the futility of the very thing I had done and its little worth compared to the web of shame my enemies were en- deavoring to weave about me. One of the remarkable things about modern jour- nalism is that, by persistent repetition, it can create as a fact in the public mind a thing which is purely imma- terial or untrue. Taking the cue from Peary, there was at the beginning a widespread and unprecedented call for "proofs," which in some vague way were to consist of unreduced reckonings. Mr. Peary had his own he had buried part of mine. I did not at the time instantly produce these vague and obscure proofs, knowing, as all scientists know, that figures must inevitably be inade- quate and that any convincing proof that can exist is to be found only in the narrative account of such a quest. I did not appreciate that in the public mind, because of 10 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE the newspapers' criticisms, there was growing a demand for this vague something. For this reason, I did not consider an explanation of the absurdity of this exag- gerated position necessary. Nor did I appreciate the relative effect of the National Geographic Society's "acceptance" of Mr. Peary's so-called "proofs" while mine were not forth- coming. I did not know at the time, what has since been brought out in the testimony given before the Naval Committee in Washington, that the National Geo- graphic Society's verdict was based upon an indif- ferent examination of worthless observations and a few seconds' casual observation of Mr. Peary's instruments by several members of the Society in the Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Washington. With many lecture engagements, I considered that I was right in doing what every other explorer, including Mr. Peary him- self, had done before me; that is, to fulfill my lec- ture and immediate literary opportunities wiiile there was a great public interest aroused, and to offer a nar- rative of greater length, with field observations and extensive scientific data, later. Following the exaggerated call for proofs, there began a series of persistently planned attacks. So petty and insignificant did many of them seem to me that I gave them little thought. My speed limits were questioned, this charge being dropped when it was found that Mr. Peary's had exceeded mine. The use by the newspaper running my narrative story of photographs of Arctic scenes which never change in character that had been taken by me on previous trips, was held up as visible evidence that I was a faker ! Errors which DISTORTED ESKIMO STATEMENTS 11 crept into my newspaper account because of hasty prep- aration, and which were not corrected because there was no time to read proofs, were eagerly seized upon, and long, abstruse and impressive mathematical dis- sertations were made on these to prove how unscrupu- lous and unreliable I was. The photograph of the flag at the Pole was put forth by one of Mr. Peary's friends to prove on prima facie evidence that I had faked. Inasmuch as the origi- nal negative was vague because of the non-actinic light in the North, the newspaper photographers retouched the print and painted on it a shadow as being cast from the flag and snow igloos. This shadow was seized upon avidly, and after long and learned calculations, was cited as showing that the picture was taken some five hundred miles from the Pole. A formidable appearing statement, signed by vari- ous members of his expedition, and copyrighted by the clique of honor-blind boosters, was issued by Mr. Peary. In this he gave statements of my two Eskimo companions to the effect that I had not gotten out of sight of land for more than one or two "sleeps" on my trip. I knew that I had encouraged the delusion of my Eskimos that the mirages and low-lying clouds which appeared almost daily were signs of land. In their ig- norance and their eagerness to be near land, they be- lieved this, and by this innocent deception I prevented the panic which seizes every Arctic savage when he finds himself upon the circumpolar sea out of sight of land. I have since learned that Mr. Peary's Eskimos became panic-stricken near the Big Lead on his last journey and that it was only by the life-threatening announce- 12 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE ment to them of his determination to leave them alone on the ice (to get back to land as best they might or starve to death) that he compelled them to accompany him. In any case, I did not consider as important any testimony of the Eskimos which Mr. Peary might cite, knowing as well as he did that one can get any sort of desired reply from these natives by certain adroit ques- tioning, and knowing also that the alleged route on his map which he said they drew was valueless, inasmuch as an Eskimo out of sight of land and in an unfamiliar region has no sense of location. I felt the whole state- ment to be what it was, a trumped-up document in which my helpers, perhaps unwittingly, had been adroitly led to affirm what Mr. Peary by Jesuitical and equivocal questioning planned to have them say, and that it was therefore unworthy of a reply. I had left my instruments and part of the unre- duced reckonings with Mr. Harry Whitney, a fact which Mr. Whitney himself confirmed in published press interviews when he first arrived in the heat of the controversy and after I left Copenhagen in Sidney. When interviews came from Mr. Peary insinuating that I had left no instruments in the North, this becoming a definite charge which was taken up with great hue and cry, I bitterly felt this to be a deliberate untruth on Mr. Peary's part. I have since learned that one of Mr. Peary's officers cross-questioned my Eskimos, and that by showing them Mr. Peary's own instruments he discovered just what instruments I had had with me on my trip, and that by describing the method of using these instruments to E-tuk-i-shook and ItrnOLPH FHANCKK IN ARCTIC COSTUME MIDNIGHT "A PANORAMA OF BLACK LACQFKR AND SILVER.' THE PRO-PEARY BRIBERY 15 Ah-we-lah, Bartlett learned from them that I did take observations. This information he conveyed to Mr, Peary before his expedition left Etah for America, and this knowledge Mr. Peary and his party, deliberately and with malicious intent, concealed on their return. At the time I had no means of refuting this insinuation ; it was simply my word or Mr. Peary's. I had no extraordinary proofs to offer, but, such as they were, I now know, by comparison with the published reports of Mr. Peary himself, they were as good as any offered by anyone. I was perhaps un- fortunate in not having, as Mr. Peary had, a confederate body of financially interested friends to back me up, as was the National Geographic Society. Not satisfied with unjustly attacking my claim, Mr. Peary's associates proceeded to assail my past ca- reer, and I was next confronted by an affidavit made by my guide, Barrill, to the effect that I had not scaled Mt. McKinley, an affidavit which, as I later secured evidence, had been bought. A widely heralded "in- vestigation" was announced by a body of "explorers" of which Peary was president. One of Colonel Mann's muck-rakers was secretary, while its moving spirit was Mr. Peary's press agent, Herbert L. Bridgman. In a desperate effort to help Peary, a cowardly side issue was forced through Professor Herschell Parker, who had been with me on the Mt. McKinley trip but who had turned back after becoming panic-stricken in the cross- ing of mountain torrents. Mr. Parker expressed doubt of my achievements because he differed with me as to the value of the particular instrument to ascertain altitude which I, with many other mountain climbers, used. I 14 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE had offered all possible proofs as to having climbed the mountain, as full and adequate proofs as any moun- taineer could, or ever has offered. I resented the meddlesomeness of this pro-Peary group of kitchen explorers, riot one of whom knew the first principles of mountaineering. From such an in- vestigation, started to help Peary in his black-hand ef- fort to force the dagger, with the money power easing men's conscience as was evident at the time every- where no fair result could be expected. And as to the widely printed Barrill affidavit this carried on its face the story of pro-Peary bribery and conspiracy. I have since learned that for it $1,500 and other considerations were paid. Here was a self-confessed liar. I did not think that a sane public therefore could take this under- handed pro-Peary charge as to the climb of Mt. Mc- Kinley seriously. Indeed, I paid little attention to it, but by using the cutting power of the press my enemies succeeded in inflicting a wound in my side. I was thus plunged into the bewildering chaos which friends and enemies created, and swept for three months through a cyclone of events which I believe no human being could have stood. Before returning, I felt weakened mentally and physically by the rigors of the North, where for a year I barely withstood starvation. I was now whirled about the country, daily delivering lectures, greeting thousands of people, buffeted by mobs of well-meaning beings, and compelled to attend dinners and receptions numbering two hundred in sixty days. The air hissed about me with the odious charges which came from every direction. I was alone, help- less, without a single wise counsellor, under the charge THE DUNKLE-LOOSE LIES 15 of the enemies' press, mud-charged guns fired from every point of the compass. Unlimited funds were being consumed in the infamous mill of bribery. I had not the money nor the nature to fight in this kind of battle so I withdrew. At once, howls of ex- ecration gleefully rose from the ranks of my enemies; my departure was heralded gloriously as a confession of imposture. Advantage was taken of my absence and new, perjured, forged charges were made to blacken my name. Far from my home and unable to defend myself, Dunkle and Loose swore falsely to having manufactured figures and observations under my direc- tion. When I learned of this, much as it hurt me, I knew that the report which I had sent to Copenhagen would, if it did anything, disprove by the very figures in it the malicious lying document published in the New York Times. This, combined with the verdict rendered by the University of Copenhagen a neutral verdict which carried no implication of the non-attainment of the Pole, but which was interpreted as a rejection- helped to stamp me in the minds of many people as the most monumental impostor the world has ever seen. I fully realized that under the circumstances the only verdict of an unprejudiced body on any such proofs to such a claim must be favorable or neutral. The members of the University of Copenhagen who exam- ined my papers were neither personal friends nor mem- bers of a body financially interested in my quest. Their verdict was honest. Mr. Peary's Washington verdict was dishonest, for two members of the jury admitted a year later in Congress, under pressure, that in the Peary data there was no absolute proof. 16 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE By the time I determined to return to my native country and state my case, I had been placed, I am certain, in a position of undeserved discredit unparal- leled in history. No epithet was too vile to couple with my name. I was declared a brazen cheat who had con- cocted the most colossal lie of ages whereby to hoax an entire world for gain. I was made the subject of cheap jokes. My name in antagonistic newspapers had be- come a synonym for cheap faking. I was compelled to see myself held up gleefully as an impostor, a liar, a fraud, an unscrupulous scoundrel, one who had tried to steal honors from another, and who, to escape exposure, had fled to obscurity. All the scientific work which scientists themselves had accepted as valuable, all the necessary hardships and the inevitable agonies of my last Arctic journey were forgotten; I was coupled with the most notorious characters in history in a press which panders to the lowest of human emotions and delights in men's shame. When I realized how egregious, how frightful, how un- deserved was all this, my soul writhed; when I saw clearly, with the perspective which only time can give, how I, stepping aside, in errors of confused judgment which were purely human, had seemingly contributed to my unhappy plight, I felt the sting of ignominy greater than that which has broken stronger men's hearts. For the glory which the world gives to such an accomplishment as the discovery of the North Pole, I care very little, but \vhen the very result of such a vic- tory is used as a whip to inflict cuts that mark my future destiny, I have a right to call a halt. I have claimed no national honors, want no medals or money. My feet VICTORY WAS HONESTLY WON 17 stepped over the Polar wastes with a will fired only by a personal ambition to succeed in a task where all the higher human powers were put to the test of fitness. That victory was honestly won. All that the achieve- ment ever meant to me the lure of it before I achieved it, the only satisfaction that remains since is that it is a personal accomplishment of brain and muscle over hitherto unconquered forces, a thought in which I have pride. From the tremendous ovations that greeted me when I returned to civilization I got not a single thrill. I did thrill with the handclasp of confident, kindly peo- ple. I still thrill with the handclasp of my countrymen. Insofar as the earthly glory and applause are con- cerned, I should be only too glad to share them, with all material accruements, to any honest, manly rivals those of the past and those of the future. But against the unjust charges which have been made against me, against the aspersions on my personal integrity, against the ignominy with which my name has been besmirched, I will fight until the public gets a normal perspective. I have never hoaxed a mythical achievement. Everything I have ever claimed was won by hard labor, by tremendous physical fortitude and endurance, and by such personal sacrifice as only I, and my immediate family, will ever know. For this reason, I returned to my country in the latter part of 1910, as I always intended to do, after a year's rest. By this time I knew that my enemies would have said all that was possible about me; the ex- citement of the controversy would have quieted, and I should have the advantage of the last word. In the heat of the controversy, only just re- 18 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE turned in a weakened condition from the North, and mentally bewildered by the unexpected maelstrom of events, I should not have been able, with justice to my- self, to have met all the charges, criminal and silly, which were made against me. Even what I did say was misquoted and distorted by a sensational press which found it profitable to add fuel to the controversy. Sometimes I feel that no man ever born has been so variedly, so persistently lied about, misrepresented, made the butt of such countless untruths as myself. When I consider the lies, great and small, which for more than a year, throughout the entire world, have been printed about me, I am filled almost with hope- lessness. And sometimes, when I think how I have been unjustly dubbed as the most colossal liar of his- tory, I am filled with a sort of sardonic humor. Returning to my country, determined to state my case freely and frankly, and making the honest admis- sion that any claim to the definite, actual attainment of the North Pole the mathematical pin-point on which the earth spins must rest upon assumptions, because of the impossibility of accuracy in observations, I found that this admission, which every explorer would have to make, which Mr. Peary was unwillingly forced to make at the Congressional investigation, was construed throughout the country and widely heralded as a * 'con- fession," that garbled extracts were lifted from the context of my magazine story and their meaning dis- torted. In hundreds of newspapers I was represented as confessing to a fraudulent claim or as making a plea of insanity. A full answer to the charges made against me, necessary in order to justly cover my case, because INJUSTICE OF THE PRESS 19 of the controversial nature of certain statements which involved Mr. Peary, was prohibited by the contract I found it necessary to sign in order to get any statement of a comparatively ungarbled sort before a public which had read Mr. Peary's own account of his journey. I found the columns of the press of my coun- try closed to the publication of statements which in- volved my enemies, because of the unfounded prejudice created against me during my absence and because of the power of Mr. Peary's friends. It is almost impos- sible in any condition for anyone to secure a refutation for an unfounded attack in the American papers. With the entire press of the country printing misstatements, I was almost helpless. The justice, kindliness and gen- erous spirit of fair dealing of the American people, however, was extended to me I found the American people glad nay, eager to listen. It is this spirit which has encouraged me, after the shameful campaign of opprobrium which well-nigh broke my spirit, to tell the entire and unalterable truth about myself and an achievement in which I still be- lieve in fairness to myself, in order to clear myself, in order that the truth about the discovery of the North Pole may be known by my people and in order that history may record its verdict upon a full, free and frank exposition. I do not address myself to any clique of geographers or scientists, but to the great public of the world, and herein, for the first time, shall I give fully whatever proofs there may be of my con- quest. Upon these records must conviction rest. Did I actually reach the North Pole? When I returned to civilization and reported that the boreal 20 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE center had been attained, I believed that I had reached the spot toward which valiant men had strained for more than three hundred years. I still believe that I reached the boreal center as far as it is possible for any human being to ascertain it. If I was mistaken in approximately placing my feet upon the pin-point about which this controversy has raged, I maintain that it is the inevitable mistake any man must make. To touch that spot would be an accident. That any other man has more accurately determined the Pole I do deny. That Mr. Peary reached the North Pole or its environs with as fair accuracy as was possible, I have never denied. That Mr. Peary was better fitted to reach the Pole, and better equipped to locate this mythical spot, I do not admit. In fact, I believe that, inasmuch as the purely scientific ascertainment is a comparatively simple matter, I stood a better chance of more scientifically and more accurately marking the actual spot than Mr. Peary. I reached my goal when the sun was twelve degrees above the horizon, and was therefore better able to mark a mathematical position than Mr. Peary could have with the sun at less than seven degrees. Mr. Peary's case rests upon three observations of sun altitude so low that, as proof of a position, they are worthless. Besides taking observations, which, as I shall ex- plain in due course in my narrative, cannot be adequate, I also ascertained what I believed to be my approximate position at the boreal center and en route by measuring the shadows each hour of the long day. Inasmuch as one's shadow decreases or increases in length as the sun rises toward the meridian or descends, at the boreal THE REAL PROOF OF THE QUEST 21 center, where the sun circles the entire horizon at prac- tically the same height during the entire day, one's shadow in this region of mystery is of the same length. In this observation, which is so simple that a child may understand it, is a sure and certain means of approxi- mately ascertaining the North Pole. I took advantage of this method, which does not seem to have occurred to any other Arctic traveler, and this helped to bring conviction. I shall in this volume present with detail the story of my Arctic journey I shall tell how it was possible for me to reach my goal, why I believe I attained that goal ; and upon this record must the decision of my peo- ple rest. I shall herein tell the story of an unfair and unworthy plot to ruin the reputation of an innocent man because of an achievement the full and prior credit of which was desired by a brutally selfish, brutally un- scrupulous rival. I shall tell of a tragedy compared with which the North Pole and any glory accruing to its discoverer pales into insignificance the tragedy of a spirit that was almost broken, of a man whose honor and pride was cut with knives in unclean hands. When you have read all this, then, and only then, in fairness to yourself and in fairness to me, do I ask you to form your opinion. Only by reading this can you learn the full truth about me, about my claim and about the plot to discredit me, of the charges made against me, and the reason for all of my own actions. So persistent, so world-wide has been the press cam- paign made by my enemies, and so egregious have the charges seemed against me, so multitudinous have the lies, fake stories, fake interviews, fake confessions been, 22 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE so blatant have rung the hideous cries of liar, impostor, cheat and fraud, that the task to right myself, explain myself, and bring the truth into clean relief has seemed colossal. To return to my country and face the people in view of all that was being said, with my enemies exult- ant, with antagonistic press men awaiting me as some beast to be devoured, required a determined gritting of the teeth and a reserve temperament to prevent an undignified battle. For against such things nature dictates the tactics of the tiger. I faced my people, I found them fair and kindly. I accused my enemies of their lies, and they have remained silent. Titanic as is this effort of forcing fair play where biased abuse has reigned so long, I am confident of success. I am confident of the honesty and justice of my people; of their ability spiritually to sense, psychically to appreciate the earmarks of a clean, true effort a worthy ambition and a real attainment. INTO THE BOREAL WILDS THE YACHT BRADLEY LEAVES GLOUCESTER INVADES THE MAGIC OF THE WATERS OF THE ARCTIC SEAS RECOL- LECTION OF BOYHOOD AMBITIONS BEYOND THE ARCTIC CIRCLE THE WEAVING OF THE POLAR SPELL II OVER THE ARCTIC CIRCLE On July 3, 1907, between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, the yacht, which had been renamed the John R. Bradley, quietly withdrew from the pier at Gloucester, Massachusetts, and, turning her prow ocean ward, slowly, quietly started on her historic jour- ney to the Arctic seas. In the tawny glow of sunset, which was fading in the western sky, she looked, with her new sails unfurled, her entire body newly painted a spotless white, like some huge silver bird alighting upon the sunshot waters of the bay. On board, all was quiet. I stood alone, gazing back upon the picturesque fishing village with a tender throb at my heart, for it was the last village of my country which I might see for years, or perhaps ever. Along the water's edge straggled tiny ramshackle boat houses, dun-colored sheds where fish are dried, and the humble miniature homes of the fisher folk, in the 24 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE windows of which lights soon after appeared. On the bay about us, fishing boats were lazily bobbing up and down; in some, old bearded fishermen with broad hats, smoking clay and corncob pipes, were drying their seines. Other boats went by, laden with wriggling, silver-scaled fish; along the shore I could still see tons of fish being unloaded from scores of boats. Through the rosy twilight, voices came over the water, murmurous sounds from the shore, cries from the sea mixed with the quaint oaths of fisherf oik at work. Ashore, the boys of the village were testing their firecrackers for the mor- row; sputtering explosions cracked through the air. Occasionally a faint fire rocket scaled the sky. But no whistles tooted after our departure. No visiting crowds of curiosity-seekers ashore were frenziedly waving us good-bye. An Arctic expedition had been born without the usual clamor. Prepared in one month, and financed by a sportsman whose only mission was to hunt game animals in the North, no press campaign heralded our project, no government aid had been asked, nor had large contributions been sought from private individ- uals to purchase luxuries for a Pullman j aunt of a large party Poleward. For, although I secretly cherished the ambition, there was no definite plan to essay the North Pole. At the Holland House in New York, a compact was made between John R. Bradley and myself to launch an Arctic expedition. Because of my experi- ence, Mr. Bradley delegated to me the outfitting of the expedition, and had turned over to me money enough to pay the costs of the hunting trip. A Gloucester INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 25 fishing schooner had been purchased by me and was refitted, covered and strengthened for ice navigation. To save fuel space and to gain the advantage of a steamer, I had a Lozier gasoline motor installed. There had been put on board everything of possible use and comfort in the boreal wild. As it is always possible that a summer cruising ship is likely to be lost or de- layed a year, common prudence dictated a preparation for the worst emergencies. So far as the needs of my own personal expedition were concerned, I had with me on the yacht plenty of hard hickory wood for the making of sledges, instru- ments, clothing and other apparatus gathered with much economy during my former years of exploration, and about one thousand pounds of pemmican. These supplies, necessary to offset the danger of shipwreck and detention by ice, were also all that would be re- quired for a Polar trip. When, later, I finally decided on a Polar campaign, extra ship supplies, contributed from the boat, were stored at Annoatok. There, also, my supply of pemmican was amplified by the stores of walrus meat and fat prepared during the long winter by myself, Rudolph Francke and the Eskimos. As the yacht slowly soared toward the ocean, and night descended over the fishing village with its home lights glimmering cheerfully as the stars one by one flecked the firmament with dots of fire, I felt that at last I nad embarked upon my destiny. Whether I should be able to follow my heart's desire I did not know; I did not dare hazard a guess. But I was leav- ing my country, now on the eve of celebrating its free- dom, behind me; I had elected to live in a world of ice 26 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE and cold, of hunger and death, which lay before me thousands of miles to the North. Day by day passed monotonously; we only occa- sionally saw writhing curves of land to the west of us; about us was the illimitable sea. That I had started on a journey which might result in my starting for the Pole, that my final chance had come, vaguely thrilled me. Yet the full purport of my hope seemed beyond me. On the journey to Sydney my mind was full. I thought of the early days of my childhood, of the strange ambition which grew upon me, of my struggles, and the chance which favored me in the present expedition. In the early days of my childhood, of which I now had only indistinct glimmerings, I remembered a rest- less surge in my little bosom, a yearning for something that was vague and undefined. This was, I suppose, that nebulous desire which sometimes manifests itself in early youth and later is asserted in strivings toward some splendid, sometimes spectacular aim. My boy- hood was not happy. As a tiny child I was discon- tented, and from the earliest days of consciousness I felt the burden of two things which accompanied me through later life an innate and abnormal desire for exploration, then the manifestation of my yearning, and the constant struggle to make ends meet, that sting of poverty, which, while it tantalizes one with its horrid grind, sometimes drives men by reason of the strength developed in overcoming its concomitant obstacles to some extraordinary accomplishment. As a very small boy, I remember being fascinated hy the lure of a forbidden swimming pool. One day, when but little over five, I, impelled to test the depth, INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 27 plunged to the center, where the water was above my head, and nearly lost my life. I shall never forget that struggle, and though I nearly gave out, in that short time I learned to swim. It seems to me now I have been swimming and struggling ever since. Abject poverty and hard work marked my school days. When quite a boy, after the death of my father, I came to New York. I sold fruit at one of the mar- kets. I saved my money. I enjoyed no luxuries. These days vividly occur in my mind. Later I engaged in a dairy business in Brooklyn, and on the meager profits undertook to study medicine. At that time the ambition which beset me was undi- rected; it was only later that I found, almost by acci- dent, what became its focusing point. I graduated from the University of New York in 1890. I felt (as what young man does not?) that I possessed unusual qualifications and exceptional ability. An office was fitted up, and my anxiety over the disappearing pen- nies was eased by the conviction that I had but to hang out my shingle and the place would be thronged with patients. Six months passed.- There had been about three patients. . I recall sitting alone one gloomy winter day. Opening a paper, I read that Peary was preparing his 1891 expedition to the Arctic. I cannot explain my sensations. It was as if a door to a prison cell had opened. I felt the first indomitable, commanding call of the Northland. To invade the Unknown, to assail the fastness of the white, frozen North all that was latent in me, the impetus of that ambition born in child- hood, perhaps before birth, and which had been stifled and starved, surged up tumultuously within me. 28 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE I volunteered, and accompanied Peary, on this, the expedition of 1891-92, as surgeon. Whatever merit my work possessed has been cited by others. Unless one has been in the Arctic, I suppose it is impossible to understand its fascination a fascination which makes men risk their lives and endure inconceiv- able hardships for, as I view it now, no profitable per- sonal purpose of any kind. The spell was upon me then. It was upon me as I recalled those early days on the Bradley going Northward. With a feeling of sad- ness I realize that the glamor is all gone now. On the Peary and all my subsequent expeditions I served without pay. On my return from that trip I managed to make ends meet by meager earnings from medicine. I was nearly always desperately hard pressed for money. I tried to organize several cooperative expeditions to the Arctic. These failed. I then tried to arouse interest in Antarctic exploration, but without success. Then came the opportunity to join the Belgian Antarctic Expedi- tion, again without pay. On my return I dreamed of a plan to attain the South Pole, and for a long time worked on a contriv- ance for that end an automobile arranged to travel over ice. Financial failure again confronted me. Dis- appointment only added to my ambition ; it scourged me to a determination, a conviction that I want you to remember this, to bear in mind the mental conviction which buoyed me I must and should succeed. It is always this innate conviction which encourages men to exceptional feats, to tremendous failures or splendid, single-handed success. INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 29 A summer in the Arctic followed my Antarctic trip, and I returned to invade the Alaskan wilds. I suc- ceeded in scaling Mt. McKinley. After my Alaskan expeditions, the routine of my Brooklyn office work seemed like the confinement of prison. I fretted and chafed at the thought. Let me have a chance, and I would succeed. This thought always filled my mind. I convinced myself that in some way the attainment of one of the Poles the effort on which I had spent six- teen years would become possible. I had no money. My work in exploration had netted me nothing, and all my professional income was soon spent. Unless you have felt the goading, devilish grind of poverty hindering you, dogging you, you can- not know the mental fury into which I was lashed. I waited, and fortune favored me in that I met Mr. John R. Bradley. We planned the Arctic expedi- tion on which I was now embarked. Mr. Bradley's in- terest in the trip was that of a great sportsman, eager to seek big game in the Arctic. My immediate purpose was to return again to the frozen North. The least the journey would give me was an opportunity to com- plete the study of the Eskimos which I had started in 1891. Mr. Bradley and I had talked, of course, of the Pole; but it was not an important incentive to the journey. Back in my brain, barely above the subcon- scious realm, was the feeling that this, however, might offer opportunity in the preparation for a final future determination. I, therefore, without any conscious purpose, and with my last penny, paid out of my purse 30 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE for extra supplies for a personal expedition should I leave the ship.* Aboard the Bradley, going northward, my plans were not at all definite. Even had I known before leaving New York that I should try for the Pole, I should not have sought any geographical license from some vague and unknown authority. Though much has since been made by critics of our quiet departure, I always felt the quest of the Pole a personal ambi- tiont, a crazy hunger I had to satisfy. Fair weather followed us to Sydney, Cape Breton. * Accused of being the most colossal liar of history, I sometimes feel that more lies have been told about me than about anyone ever born. I have been guilty of many mistakes. Most men really true to themselves admit that. My claim to the North Pole may always be ques- tioned. Yet, when I regard the lies great and small attached to me, I am filled almost with indifference. As a popular illustration of the sort of yarns that were told, let me refer to the foolish fake of the gum drops. Someone started the story that I expected to reach the Pole by bribing the Eskimos with gum drops perhaps the idea was that I was to lure them on from point to point with regularly issued rations of these confections. Wherever I went on my lecture tour after my return to the United States, much to my irritation I saw "Cook" gum drops conspicuously displayed in confectionery store windows. Hundreds of pounds of gum drops were sent to my hotel with the compliments of the manufacturers. On all sides I heard the gum-drop story, and in almost every paper read the reiterated tale of leading the Eskimos to the Pole by dangling a gum drop on a string before them. I never denied this, as I never denied any of the fakes printed about me. The fact is, that I never heard the gum-drop yarn until I came to New York. We took no gum drops with us on our Polar trip, and, to my knowledge, no Eskimo ate a gum drop while with me. fAmong the many things which the public has been misled into believing is that Mr. Bradley and I together connived the trip for the purpose of essaying this quest of the Pole. The fact is, not until I reached Annoatok, and saw that conditions were favorable for a long sledge journey, did I finally determine to make a Poleward trip; not until then did I tell my decision definitely to Mr. Bradley. One of the big mistakes which has been pounded into the public mind is that the proposed Polar exploit was expensively financed. It did cost a great deal to finance the planned hunting trip. Mr. Bradley's expenses aggregated, perhaps, $50,000, but my journey Northward, which was but an extension of this yachting cruise, cost comparatively little. INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 31 From this point we sailed over the Gulf of St. Lawrence, then entered the Straits of Belle Isle at a lively speed. On a cold, cheerless day in the middle of July we arrived at Battle Harbor, a little town at the southeastern point of Labrador, where Mr. Bradley joined us. He had preceded us north, by rail and coast- ing vessels, after watching a part of the work of out- fitting the schooner. On the morning of July 16 we left the rockbound coast of North America and steered straight for Green- land. In this region a dense and heavy fog almost always lies upon the sea. Then nothing is visible but slow-swaying gray masses, which veil all objects in a shroud of ghostly dreariness. Through the fog can be heard the sound of fisher-boat horns, often the very voices of the fishermen themselves, while their crafts are absolutely hidden from view. On this trip, how- ever, from time to time, great fragments of fog slowly lifted, and we saw, emerging out of the gray mistiness, islands, bleak and black and weathertorn, and patches of ocean dotted with scores of Newfoundland boats, which invade this region to fish for cod. We entered the Arctic current, and breasting its stream, a fancy came that perhaps this current, flowing down from out of the mysterious unknown, came from the very Pole itself. Continuing, we entered Davis Straits, where we encountered headwinds that piled up the water in great waves. It was a good test of the sailing qualities of the Bradley, and well did the small craft respond. Long before the actual coast line of Greenland could be seen we had a first glimpse of the beauties that 32 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE these northern regions can show. Like great sapphires, blue ice floated in a golden sea; towering masses of crystal rose gloriously, dazzling the eye and gladden- ing the heart with their superb beauty. The schooner sailed into this wonderful yellow sea, which soon be- came a broad and gleaming surface of molten silver. Al- though this striking beauty of the North, which it often is so chary of displaying, possesses a splendor of color equal to the gloriousness of tropical seas, it always impresses one with a steely hardness of quality sug- gestive of the steely hardness of the heart of the North. And it somehow seemed, curiously enough, as if all this wonderful glitter was a shimmering reflection from the ice-covered mountains of the Greenland interior, al- though the mountains themselves were still invisible. We swung from side to side, dodging icebergs. We steered cautiously around low-floating masses, watching to see that the keel was not caught by some treacherous jutting spur just beneath the water-line. Through this fairyland of light and color we sailed slowly into a region rich in animal life, a curious and striking sight. Seals floundered in the sunbeams or slumbered on masses of ice, for even in this Northland there is a strange commingling and contrast of heat and cold. Gulls and petrels darted and fluttered about us in every direction, porpoises were making swift and curving leaps, even a few whales added to the magic and apparent unreality of it all. At length the coast showed dimly upon the horizon, veiled in a glow of purple and gold. The wind fresh- ened, the sails filled, and the speed of the schooner in- creased. We were gradually nearing Holsteinborg, INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 33 and the course was set a point more in towards shore. The land was thrown into bold relief by the brilliancy of lights and shadows, and in the remarkably clear air it seemed as if it could be reached in an hour. But this was an atmospheric deception, of the kind familiar to those who know the pure air of the Rocky Mountains, for, although the land seemed near, it was at least forty miles away. The general color of the land was a frosty blue, and there were deep valleys to be seen, gashes cut by the slow movement of centuries of glaciers, with rocky headlands leaping forward, bleak and cold. It appeared to be a land of sublime desolation. The course was set still another point nearer the coast; the wind continued fair and strong; and, with every possible stitch of canvas spread, the schooner went rapidly onward. We saw rocky islands, drenched by clouds of spray and battered by drifting masses of ice. There the eider duck builds its nest and spends the brief summer of the Arctic. We saw dismal cliffs, terra cotta and buff in color, in the crevasses of which millions of birds made their homes, and from which they rose, frightened, in dense clouds, giving vent to a great volume of clamorous hoarseness. Through our glasses we could see a surprising sight in such a land little patches of vegetation, seal brown or even emerald green. Yet, so slight were these patches of green that one could not but wonder what freak of imagination led the piratical Eric the Red, one thousand years ago, to give to this coast a name so sug- gestive of luxuriant forests and shrubs and general lushness of growth as "Greenland." Never, surely, was 34 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE there a greater misnomer, unless one chooses to regard the old-time Eric as a practical joker. Between the tall headlands there were fiords cut- ting far into the interior ; arms of the sea, these, winding and twisting back for miles. Along these quiet land- locked waters the Eskimos love to hunt and fish, just as their forefathers have done for centuries. Shaggy look- ing fellows are these Eskimos, clothed in the skins of animals, relieved by dashes of color of Danish fabric, most of them still using spears, and thus, to outward appearance, in the arts of life almost like those that Eric saw. Although this rugged coast, with its low-lying islands, its icebergs and floating icefields, its bleak head- lands, its picturesque scenes of animal life, is a con- tinuous delight, it presents the worst possible dangers to navigation, not only from reefs and under-water ice, but because there are no lighthouses to mark permanent danger spots and because signs of impending storm are ever on the horizon. While navigating the coast, our officers spent sleepless nights of anxiety; but the short- ening of the nights and lengthening of the days, the daily night brightening resulting from the northerly movement, combined with an occasional flash of the aurora, gradually relieved the tension of the situation. By the time the island of Disco rose splendidly out of the northern blue, the Arctic Circle had been crossed, and a sort of celestial light-house brightened the path of the schooner. Remaining on deck until after midnight, we were rewarded by a sight of the sun magnified to many times its normal size, glowing above the rim of the frosty sea. A light wind blew INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 35 gently from the coast, the sea ran in swells of gold, and the sky was streaked with topaz and crimson. Bathed in an indescribable glow, the towering sides of the greatest icebergs showed a medley of ever- changing, iridescent colors. The jutting pinnacles of others seemed like oriental minarets of alabaster fretted with old gold. Here and there, as though flung by an invisible hand from the zenith, straggled long cloud rib- bons of flossy crimson and silver. Gradually, im- perially, the sun rose higher and flushed sky and sea with deeper orange, more burning crimson, and the bergs into vivid ruby, chalcedony and chrysophase walls. This suddenly-changing, kaleidoscopic whirl of color was rendered more effective because, in its midst, the cliffs of Disco rose frowningly, a great patch of blackness in artistic contrast. A pearly vapor now began to creep over the horizon, and gradually spread over the waters, imparting a gentle and restful tone of blue. This gradually darkened into irregular shadows; the brilliant color glories faded away. Finally we re- tired to sleep with a feeling that sailing Poleward was merely a joyous pleasure journey over wonderful and magic waters. This, the first glorious vision of the midnight sun, glowed in my dreams the augury of success in that for which my heart yearned. The glow never faded, and the weird lure unconsciously began to weave its spell. Next morning, when we went on deck, the schooner was racing eastward through heavy seas. The terraced cliffs of Disco, relieved by freshly fallen snow, were but a few miles off. The cry of gulls and guillemots echoed from rock to rock. Everything was divested of 36 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE the glory of the day before. The sun was slowly rising among mouse-colored clouds. The bergs were of an ugly blue, and the sea ran in gloomy lines of ebony. Although the sea was high, there was little wind, but we felt that a storm was gathering and sought to hasten to shelter in Godhaven a name which speaks elo- quently of the dangers of this coast and the precious value of such a harbor. As we entered the narrow channel, which turns among low, polished rocks and opens into the harbor, two Eskimos in kayaks came out to act as pilots. Tak- ing them aboard, we soon found a snug anchorage, secure from wind and sea. The launch was lowered, and in it we left the schooner for a visit to the Governor. Coming up to a little pier, we were cordially greeted by Governor Fenker, who escorted us to his home, where his wife, a cultivated young Danish woman, offered us sincere hospitality. The little town itself was keenly alive. All the inhabitants, and all the dogs as well, were jumping about on the rocks, eagerly gazing at our schooner. The houses of the Governor and the Inspector were the most important of the town. They were built of wood imported from Denmark, and were covered with tarred paper. Though quite moderate in size, the houses seemed too large and out of place in their setting of ice-polished rocks. Beyond them were twenty Eskimo huts, nearly square in shape, constructed of wood and stone, the cracks of which were filled tightly with moss. We deferred our visit to the native huts, and in- vited Governor Fenker and his wife to dine aboard the schooner. The surprise of the evening for these two INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 37 guests was the playing of our phonograph, the tunes of which brought tears of homesickness to the eyes of the Governor's gentle wife. Anywhere on the coast of Greenland, the coming of a ship is always one of the prime events of the season. So uneventful is life in these out-of-the-way places that such an arrival is the greatest possible social enlivener. The instant that the approach of our schooner had been noted, the Eskimo girls queer little maids in queer little trousers decided upon having a dance, and word was brought us that everyone was invited to take part. The sailors eagerly responded, and tumbled ashore as soon as they were permitted, leaving merely enough for a watch on board ship. Then, to the sound of savage music, the dance was continued until long after mid- night. A curious kind of midnight dance it was, with the sun brightly shining in a night unveiled of glitter and color glory. The sailors certainly found pleasure in whirling about, their arms encircling fat and clumsy waists. They did admit, however, when back on board the schooner, that the smell of the furs within which the maidens had spent the past winter was less agreeable than the savor of fish. The name of this scattered settle- ment of huts, Godhaven, comes, clearly enough, from its offering fortunate refuge from storms; that the place is also known as Lively is not in the least to be wondered at, if one has watched a midnight dance of the little population and their visitors. Before hauling in anchor in the harbor of God- haven, we made some necessary repairs to the yacht and filled our tanks with water. With a free wind speeding onward to the west of Disco, we passed the narrow 38 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE strait known as the Vaigat eafly the following morning. As I stood on deck and viewed the passing of icebergs, glittering in the limpid, silvery light of morning like monstrous diamonds, there began to grow within me a feeling that throbbed in pulsation with the onward movement of the boat that every minute, every mile, meant a nearing to that mysterious center, on the at- taining of which I had set my heart, and which, even now, seemed unlikely, improbable. Yet the thought gave me a thrill. Before noon we reached the mouth of Umanak Fiord, into the delightful waters of which we were tempted to enter. The lure of the farther North de- cided us against this, and soon the striking Svarten Huk (Black Hook), a great rock cliff, loomed upon the horizon. Beyond it, gradually appeared a long chain of those islands among which lies Upernavik, where the last traces of civilized or semi-civilized life are found. The wind increased in force but the horizon remained remarkably clear. Over a bounding sea we sped rapidly along to the west, into the labyrinth of islands that are sprinkled along the southern shore of Melville Bay.* Beyond, we were to come into the true boreal wilder- * The killing of Astrup. The head of Melville Bay was explored by Eivind Astrup while a member of the Peary expedition of 1894-1895. Astrup had been a member of the first expedition, serving without pay, during 1891 and 1892 and proving himself a loyal supporter and helper of Mr. Peary, when he crossed the inland ice in 1892. As a result of eating pemmican twenty years old, in 1895, Astrup was disabled by poisoning, due to Peary's carelessness in furnishing poisoned food. Recovering from this illness, he selected a trustworthy Eskimo companion, went south, and under almost inconceivable difficulties, explored and mapped the ice walls, with their glaciers and mountains, and the off-lying islands of Melville Bay. This proved a creditable piece of work of genuine discovery. Returning, he prepared his data and published it, thus bringing credit and honor on an expedition which was in other respects a failure. Astrup's publication of this work aroused Peary's envy. Publicly, INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 39 ness of ice, where there were only a few savage aborigines, its sole inhabitants. On the following day, with reduced sail and the help of the auxiliary engine, we pushed far up into Melville Bay, where we ran into fields of pack-ice. Here we decided to hunt for game. With this pur- pose it was necessary to keep close to land. Here also came our first realistic experience with the great forces of the North. The pack-ice floated close around us, young ice cemented the broken masses together, and for several days we were thus closely imprisoned in frozen seas. These days of enforced delay were days of great pleasure, for the bears and seals on the ice afforded considerable sport. The constant danger of our position, however, required a close watch for the safety of the schooner. The Devil's Thumb, a high rock shaped like a dark thumb pointing at the sky, loomed darkly and beckoningly before us. A biting wind descended from the interior. The ice groaned; the eiderducks, guillemots and gulls uttered shrill and disturbing cries, seemingly sens- ing the coming of a storm. For three days we were held in the grip of the re- lentless pack; then the glimmer of the land ice changed Peary denounced Astrup. Astrup, being young and sensitive, brooded over this injustice and ingratitude until he had almost lost his reason. The abuse was of the same nature as that heaped on others, the same as that finally hurled at me in the wireless "Gold Brick" slurs. For days and weeks, Astrup talked of nothing but the infamy of Peary's attack on him- self and the contemptible charge of desertion which Peary made against Astrup's companions. Then he suddenly left my home, returned to Norway, and we next heard of his suicide. Here is one life directly chargeable to Peary's narrow and intolerant brutality. Directly this was not murder with a knife but it was as heinous for a young and noble life was cut short by the cowardly dictates of jealous egotism. 40 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE to an ugly gray, the pack around us began to crack threateningly, and the sky darkened to the southward. The wind ominously died away. The air thickened rapidly. A general feeling of anxiety came over us, although my familiarity with storms in the North made it possible for me to explain that heavy seas are seldom felt within the zone of a large ice-pack, for the reason that the icebergs, the flat ice masses, and even the small floating fragments, ordinarily hold down the swells. Even when the pack begins to break, the lanes of water between the fragments thicken under the lower tem- perature like an oiled surface, and offer an easy sea. Furthermore, a really severe wind would be sure to re- lease the schooner, and it would then be possible to trust it to its staunch qualities in free water. Hardly had we finished dinner when we heard the sound of a brisk wind rushing through the rigging. Hurrying to the deck, we saw coils of what looked like smoky vapor rising in the south as if belched from some great volcano. The gloom on the horizon was rapidly growing deeper. The sound of the wind changed to a threatening, sinister hiss. In the piercing steel-gray light we saw the ice heave awesomely, like moving hills, above the blackenirig water. The bergs swayed and rocked, and the massed ice gave forth strange, troublous sounds. Suddenly a channel began to open through the ice in front of us. The trisail was quickly set, the other sails being left tightly furled, and with the engine help- ing to push us in the desired direction, we drew deep breaths of relief as we moved out into the free water to the westward. INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 41 We felt a sense of safety now, although, clear of the ice, the sea rose about us with a sickening suddenness. Black as night, the water seemed far more dangerous because the waves were everywhere dashing angrily against walls of ice. Already strong, the wind veered slightly and increased to a fierce, persistent gale. Like rubber balls, the bergs bounded and rolled in the sea. The sound of the storm was now a thunder suggestive of constantly exploding cannons. But, fortunately, we were snug aboard, and, keeping the westerly course, soon escaped the dangers of ensnaring ice. We were still in a heavy storm, and had we not had full confidence in the ship, built as she was to with- stand the storms of the Grand Banks, we should still have felt anxiety, for the schooner rolled and pitched and the masts dipped from side to side until they almost touched the water. Icy water swept the deck. A rain began to fall, and quickly sheathed the masts and ropes in ice. Snow followed, giving a surface as of sandpaper to the slip- pery, icy decks. The temperature was not low, but the cutting wind pierced one to the very marrow. Our men were drenched with spray and heavily coated with ice. Although suffering severely, the sailors maintained their courage and appeared even abnormally happy. Gradually we progressed into the open sea. In the course of four hours the storm began to abate, and, un- der a double-reefed foresail, at last we gleefully rode out the finish of the storm in safety. THE DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST ON THE FRIGID PATHWAY OF THREE CENTURIES OF HEROIC MARTYRS MEETING THE STRANGE PEOPLE OF THE FARTHEST NORTH THE LIFE OF THE STONE AGE ON THE CHASE WITH THE ESKIMOS MANEE AND SPARTAN ESKIMO COURAGE III STRANGE TRAITS OF NORTHERNMOST MAN I have often wondered of late about the dazzling white, eerie glamor with which the Northland weaves its spell about the heart of a man. I know of nothing on earth so strange, so wonderful, withal so sad. Pur- suing our course through Melville Bay, I felt the fatal magic of it enthralling my very soul. For hours I stood on deck alone, the midnight sun, like some monstrous perpetual light to some implacable frozen- hearted deity, burning blindingly upon the horizon and setting the sea aflame. The golden colors suffused my mind, and I swam in a sea of molten glitter. I was consumed for hours by but one yearning a yearning that filled and intoxicated me to go on, and on, and ever onward, where ho man had ever been. Perhaps it is the human desire to excel others, to DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 45 prove, because of the innate egotism of the human unit, that one possesses qualities of brain and muscle which no other possesses, that has crazed men to perform this, the most difficult physical test in the world. The lure of the thing is unexplainable. During those dizzy hours on deck I thought of those who had preceded me ; of heroic men who for three centuries had braved suffering, cold and famine, who had sacrificed the comforts of civilization, their families and friends, who had given their own lives in the pur- suit of this mysterious, yea, fruitless quest. I remem- bered reading the thrilling tales of those who re- turned tales which had flushed me with excitement and inspired me with the same mad ambition. I thought of the noble, indefatigable efforts of these men, of the heart-sickening failures, in which I too had shared. And I felt the indomitable, swift surge of their awful, goading determination within me to sub- due the forces of nature, to cover as Icarus did the air those icy spaces, to reach the silver-shining vacant- ness which men called the North Pole. As we cut the shimmering waters, I felt, as it were, the wierd, unseen presence of those who had died there died horribly men whose bodies had withered, with slow suffering, in frigid blasts and famine, who possibly had prolonged their suffering by feeding upon their own doomed companions and of others who had perished swiftly in the sudden yawning of the leprous white mouth of the hungry frozen sea. It is said by some that souls live only after death by the energy of great emo- tions, great loves, or great ambitions generated through- out life. It seemed to me, in those hours of intoxica- 44 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE tion, that I could feel the implacable, unsatisfied desire of these disembodied things, who had vibrated with one aim and still yearned in the spirit for what now they were physically unable to attain. It seemed that my brain was fired with the intensity of all these dead men's ambition, that my heart in sympathy beat more turbu- lently with the throb of their dead hearts ; I felt grow- ing within me, irresistibly, what I did not dare, for fear it might not be possible, to confide to Bradley a de- termination, even in the face of peril, to essay the Pole ! From this time onward, and until I turned my back upon the fruitless silver-shining place of desola- tion at the apex of the world, I felt the intoxication, the intangible lure of the thing exhilarating, buoying me gladsomely, beating in my heart with a singing rhythm. I recall it now with marveling, and am filled with the pathos of it. Yet, despite all that I have suffered since because of it, I regret not those en- raptured hours of perpetual glitter of midnight suns. One morning we reached the northern shore of Melville Bay, and the bold cliffs of Cape York were dimly outlined through a gray mist. Strong southern winds had carried such great masses of ice against the coast that it was impossible to make a near approach, and as a strong wind continued, there was such a heavy sea along the bobbing line of outer ice as to make it quite impossible to land and thence proceed toward the shore. We were desirous of meeting the natives of Cape York, but these ice conditions forced us to proceed without touching here, and so we set our course for the next of the northernmost villages, at North Star Bay. DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 45 By noon the mist had vanished, and we saw clearly the steep slopes and warm color of crimson cliffs rising pre- cipitously out of the water. The coast line is about two thousand feet high, evidently the remains of an old tableland which extends a considerable distance north- ward. Here and there were short glaciers which had worn the cliffs away in their ceaseless effort to reach the sea. The air was full of countless gulls, guillemots, little auks and eider-ducks. As the eye followed the long and lofty line of crimson cliffs, there came into sight a towering, conical rock, a well-known guidepost for the navigator. Con- tinuing, we caught sight of the long ice wall of Petowik Glacier, and behind this, extending far to the eastward, the scintillating, white expanse of the overland-ice which blankets the interior of all Greenland. The small and widely scattered villages of the Eskimos of this region are hemmed in by the ice walls of Melville Bay on the southward, the stupendous cliffs of Humboldt Glacier on the north, an arm of the sea to the westward, and the hopelessly desolate Green- land interior toward the east. There is really no reason why many Eskimos should not live here, for there is abundant food in both sea and air, and even considerable game on land. Blue and white foxes are everywhere to be seen. There is the seal, the walrus, the narwhal, and the white whale. There is the white bear, monarch of the Polar wilds, who roams in every direction over his kingdom. The principal reason why the population remains so small lies in the hazardous conditions of life. Children are highly prized, and a marriageable woman or girl who 46 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE has one or more of them is much more valuable as a match than one who is childless. The coast line here is paradoxically curious, for although the coast exceeds 'but barely more than two hundred miles of latitude it presents in reality a sea line of about four thousand miles when the great in- dentations of Wolstenholm Sound, Inglefield Gulf, and other bays, sounds and fiords are measured. We sailed cautiously now about Cape Atholl, which we were to circle; a fog lay upon the waters, almost entirely hiding the innumerable icebergs, and making it difficult to pick our course among the danger- ous rocks in this vicinity. Rounding Cape Atholl, we sailed into Wolsten- holm Sound and turned our prow toward the Eskimo village on North Star Bay. North Star Bay is guarded by a promontory ex- pressively named Table Mountain, "Oomanaq." As we neared this headland, many natives came out in kayaks to meet us. Inasmuch as I knew most of them personally, I felt a singular thrill of pleasure in seeing them. Years before, I learned their simple-hearted faithfulness. Knud Rasmussen, a Danish writer, living as a native among the Eskimos, apparently for the sake of getting local color, was in one of the canoes and came aboard the ship. As it was necessary to make slight repairs to the schooner, we here had to follow the primitive method of docking by preliminary beaching her. This was done at high 'tide when the propeller, which had been bent the principal damage to the ship was straightened. At the same time we gave the yacht a general looking-over, DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 47 and righted a universal joint whose loosening had dis- abled the engine. Meanwhile the launch kept busy scurrying to and fro, our quest being occasionally rewarded with eider- ducks or other game. Late at night, a visit was made to the village of Oomanooi. It could hardly be called a village, for it consisted merely of seven triangular sealskin tents, conveniently placed on picturesque rocks. Gathered about these in large numbers, were men, women and children, shivering in the midnight chill. These were odd-looking specimens of humanity; In height, the men averaged but five feet, two inches, and the women four feet, ten. All had broad, fat faces, heavy bodies and well-rounded limbs. Their skin was slightly bronzed; both men and women had coal-black hair and brown eyes. Their noses were short, and their hands and feet short, but thick. A genial woman was found at every tent opening, ready to receive visitors in due form. We entered and had a short chat with each family. Subjects of con- versation were necessarily limited, but after all, they were about the same as they would have been in a civilized region. We conversed as to whether or not all of us had been well, of deaths, marriages and births. Then we talked of the luck of the chase, which meant prosperity or need of food. Even had it been a civilized community, there would have been little questioning re- garding national or international affairs, because, in such case, everyone reads the papers. Here there was no comment on such subjects simply because nobody cares anything about them or has any papers to read. 48 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE That a prominent Eskimo named My-ah had dis- posed of a few surplus wives to gain the means whereby to acquire a few more dogs, was probably the most important single item of information conveyed. I was also informed that at the present time there happened to be only one other man with two wives. Marriage, among these folk, is a rather free and easy institution. It is, indeed, not much more than a temporary tie of possession. Men exchange partners with each other much in the manner that men in other countries swap horses. And yet, the position of women is not so humble as this custom might seem to indicate, for they themselves are permitted, not infrequently, to choose new partners. These exceedingly primitive ideas work out surprisingly well in practice in these isolated regions, for such exchanges, when made, are seemingly to the advantage and satisfaction of all parties; no regrets are expressed, and the feuds of divorce courts, of alimony proceedings, of damages for alienation of affection, which prevail in so-called civili- zation, are unknown. It is certainly a curious thing that these simple but intelligent people are able to control their own destinies with a comfortable degree of success, although they are without laws or literature and without any fixed custom to regulate the matrimonial bond. It would seem as if there ought to be a large popu- lation, for there is an average of about three fat, clever children for each family, the youngest as a rule pictur- esquely resting in a pocket on the mother's back. But the hardships of life in this region are such that acci- dents and deaths keep down the population. DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 49 Each tent has a raised platform, upon which all sleep. The edge of this makes a seat, and on each side are placed stone lamps in which blubber is burned, with moss as a wick. Over this is a drying rack, also a few sticks, but there is no other furniture. Their dress of furs gives the Eskimos a look of savage fierceness which their kindly faces and easy temperament do not warrant. On board the yacht were busy days of barter. Furs and ivory were gathered in heaps in exchange for guns, knives and needles. Every seaman, from cabin boy to captain, suddenly got rich in the gamble of trade for prized blue-fox skins and narwhal tusks. The Eskimos were equally elated with their part of the bargain. For a beautiful fox skin, of less use to a native than a dog pelt, he could secure a pocket knife that would serve him half a lifetime ! A woman exchanged her fur pants, worth a hun- dred dollars, for a red pocket handkerchief with which she would decorate her head or her igloo for years to come. Another gave her bearskin mits for a few needles, and she conveyed the idea that she had the long end of the trade! A fat youth with a fatuous smile dis- played with glee two bright tin cups, one for himself and one for his prospective bride. He was positively happy in having obtained nine cents' worth of tin for only an ivory tusk worth ninety dollars ! With the coming of the midnight tide we lifted the schooner to an even keel from the makeshift dry- dock on the beach. She was then towed out into the bay by the launch and two dories, and anchored. 50 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE Our first walrus adventures began in Wolstenholm Sound during the beautiful nightless days of mid- August. The local environment was fascinating. The schooner was anchored in North Star Bay, a lake of glitter in which wild men in skin canoes darted after seals and eider-ducks. On grassy shores were sealskin tents, about which fur-clad women and children vied with wolf-dogs for favorite positions to see the queer doings of white men. A remarkable landmark made the place conspicuous. A great table-topped rock rose sud- denly out of a low foreland to an altitude of about six hundred feet. About this giant cliff, gulls, guillemots and ravens talked and winged uproariously. The rock bore the native name of Oomanaq. With the unique Eskimo manner of name-coining, the village was called Oomanooi. Wolstenholm Sound is a large land-locked body of water, with arms reaching to the narrow gorges of the overland sea of ice, from which icebergs tumble ceas- lessly. The sparkling water reflected the surroundings in many shades of blue and brown, relieved by strong contrasts of white and black. On the western sky line were the chiseled walls of Acponie and other islands, and beyond a steel-gray mist in which was wrapped the frozen sea of the Polar gateway. Fleets of icebergs moved to and fro, dragging tails of drift be jeweled with blue crystal. Far out ten miles from our outlook there was a meeting of the currents. Here, small pieces of sea- ice slowly circled in an eddy, and upon them were herds of walruses. We did not see them, but their shrill voices rang through the icy air like a wireless message. This DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 51 was a call to action which Mr. Bradley could not resist, and preparations were begun for the combat. The motor boat the most important factor in the chase had been especially built for just such an en- counter. Covered with a folding whale-back top en- tirely painted white to resemble ice, we had hoped to hunt walrus under suitable Arctic cover. Taking a white dory in tow, two Eskimo harpoon- ers were invited to follow. The natives in kayaks soon discovered to their surprise that their best speed was not equal to ours for the first time they were beaten in their own element. For ages the Eskimos had rested secure in the belief that the kayak was the fastest thing afloat. They had been beaten by big ships, of course, but these had spiritual wings and did not count in the race of man's craft. This little launch, however, with its rapid-fire gas explosions, made their eyes bulge to a wondering, wide-open, seal-like curiosity. They begged to be taken aboard to watch the loading of the engines ; they thought we fed it with cartridges. After a delightful run of an hour, a pan of ice was sighted with black hummocks on it. "Ahwek! AJiwek!" the Eskimos shouted. A similar sound floated over the oily waters from many walrus throats. The walruses were about three miles to the southwest. At a slower speed we advanced two miles more. In the meantime Mr. Bradley cleared the deck for action. The direction of the hunting tactics was now turned over to My-ah. The mate was at the wheel. I pushed the levers of the gasoline kicker. Our line of attack was ordered at right angles to the wind. As we neared the game, the engines were stopped. 52 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE Looking through glasses, the sight of the gregari- ous herd made our hearts quicken. They were all males of tremendous size, with glistening tusks with which they horned one another in efforts for favorable positions. Some were asleep, others basked in the sun with heads turning lazily from side to side. Now and then, they uttered sleepy, low grunts. They were quivering in a gluttonous slumber, while the organs piled up their bank account of fat to pay the costs of the gamble of the coming winter night. With muffled paddles the launch was now silently propelled forward, while the kayaks stealthily ad- vanced to deliver the harpoons. The Eskimo reason for this mode of procedure is based on a careful study of the walrus' habits. Its nose in sleep is always pointed windwards. Its ears are at all times sensitive to noises from every direction, while the eyes during wakeful moments sweep the horizon. But its horizon is very narrow. Only the nose and the ear sense the distant alarm. We advanced very slowly and cautiously, and that only when all heads were down. Our boat slowly got within three hundred yards of the herd. Pre- paring their implements to strike, the Eskimos had ad- vanced to within fifty feet. The moment was tense. Of a sudden, a tumultuous floundering sound smote the air. The sleeping creatures awoke, and with a start leaped into the sea. Turning their kayaks, the Eskimos paddled a wild retreat and sought the security of. the launch. The sport of that herd was lost to us. Al- though they darted about under water in a threatening manner, they only rose to the surface at a safe distance. Scanning the surroundings with our glasses, about DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 53 two miles to the south another group was sighted. This time Bradley, as the chief nimrod, assumed direc- tion. The kayaks and the Eskimos were placed in the dory. Tactics were reversed. Instead of creeping up slowly, a sudden rush was planned. No heed was taken of noise or wind. The carburetor was opened, the spark lever of the magneto was advanced to its limit, and we shot through the waters like a torpedo boat. As we neared the herd, the dory, with its Eskimos, was freed from the launch. The Eskimos were given no instruc- tions, and they wisely chose to keep out of the battle. As we got to within two hundred yards, the canvas top of the launch fell and a heavy gun bombardment began. The walruses had not had time to wake ; the sud- denness of the onslaught completely dazed them. One after another dropped his ponderous head with a sudden jerk as a prize to the marksmen, while the launch, at reduced speed, encircled the walrus-encum- bered pan. Few escaped. There were heads and meat and skins enough to satisfy all wants for a long time to follow. But the game was too easy the advantage of an up-to-date sportsman had been carried to its highest degree of perfection. It was otherwise, how- ever, in the walrus battles that followed later battles on the success of which depended the possibility of my being able to assail the northern ice desert, in an effort to reach the Polar goal. Oomanooi was but one of six villages among which the tribe had divided its two hundred and fifty people for the current season. To study these interesting folk, to continue the traffic and barter, and to enjoy for a short time the rare sport of sailing and hunting in this 54 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE wild region, we decided to visit as many of the villages as possible. In the morning the anchor was raised and we set sail in a light wind headed for more northern villages. It was a gray day, with a quiet sea. The speed of the yacht was not fast enough to be exciting, so Mr. Bradley suggested lowering the launch for a crack at ducks, or a chase at walrus or a drive at anything that happened to cut the waters. His harpoon gun was taken, as it was hoped that a whale might come our way, but the gun proved unsatisfactory and did not contribute much to our sport. In the fleet launch we were able to run all around the schooner as she slowly sailed over Wolstenholm Sound. Ducks were secured in abundance. Seals were given chase, but they were able to escape us. bearing Saunders Island, a herd of walruses was seen on a pan of drift ice far ahead. The magneto was pushed, the carburetor opened, and out we rushed after the shout- ing beasts. Two, with splendid tusks, were obtained, and two tons of meat and blubber were turned over to our Eskimo allies. The days of hunting proved quite strenuous, and in the evening we were glad to seek the comfort of our cosy cabin, after dining on eider-ducks and other game delicacies. A few Eskimos had asked permission to accom- pany us to a point farther north. Among them was a wido w, to whom, for herself and her children, we had offered a large bed, with straw in it, between decks, but which, savage as she was, she had refused, saying she preferred the open air on deck. There she arranged a DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 55 den among the anchor chains, under a shelter of seal skins. In tears, she told us the story of her life, a story which offered a peep into the tragedy and at the same time the essential comedy of Eskimo existence. It came in response to a question from me as to how the world had used her, for I had known her years before. At my simple question, she buried her face in her hands and for a time could only mutter rapidly and unin- telligibly to her two little boys. Then, between sobsV she told me her story. Ma-nee such was her name was a descendant of the Eskimos of the American side. A foreign belle, and, although thin, fair to look upon, as Eskimo beauty goes, her hand was sought early by the ardent youths of the tribe, who, truth to tell, look upon utility as more desirable than beauty in a wife. The heart of Ma-nee throbbed to the pleadings of one Ik-wa, a youth lithe and brave, with brawn and sinews as resilient as rubber and strong as steel, handsome, dark, with flashing eyes,, yet with a heart as cruel as the relentless wind and cold sea of the North. Ma-nee married Ik-wa and bore to him several children. These, which meant wealth of the most valuable kind (children even exceeding in value dogs, tusks and skins) , meant the attainment of Ik-wa's selfish purpose. Ma-nee was fair, but her hands were not adroit with the needle, nor was she fair in the plump fashion desirable in wives. Ik-wa met Ah-tah, a good seamstress, capable of much toil, not beautiful, but round and plump. Where- upon, Ik-wa took Ah-tah to wife, and leading Ma-nee to the door of their igloo, ordered her to leave. Cruel as 56 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE can be these natives, they also possess a persistence and a tenderness that manifest themselves in strange, dramatic ways. Ma-nee, disconsolate but brave, de- parted. There being at the time a scarcity of marriage- able women in the village, Ma-nee was soon wooed by another, an aged Eskimo, whose muscles had begun to wither, whose eyes no longer flashed as did Ik-wa's, but whose heart was kind. To him Ma-nee bore two children, those which she had with her on deck. To them, unfortunately, descended the heritage of their father's f railities ; one now eight being the only deaf and dumb Eskimo in all the land; the other, the younger, aged three, a weakling with a pinched and pallid face and thin, gaunt arms. Ma-nee's husband was not a good hunter, for age and cold had sapped his vigor. Their home was peaceful if not prosperous ; the two loved one another, and, because of their defects, Ma-nee grew to love her little ones unwontedly. Just before the beginning of the long winter night, the old father, anxious to provide food and deer skins for the coming months of continuous darkness, ven- tured alone in search of game among the mountains of the interior. Day after day, while the gloom de- .scended, Ma-nee, dry eyed waited. The aged father never came back. Returning hunters finally brought news that he had perished alone, from a gun accident, in the icy wilderness, and they had found him, his frozen, mummied face peeping anxiously from the mantle of mow. Ma-nee wept broken-heartedly. Ma-nee gazed into the faces of the two children with a wild, tragic wistfulness. By the stern and in- violable law of the Eskimos, Ma-nee knew her two be- DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 5T loved ones were condemned to die. In this land, where food is at a premium, and where every helpless and de- pendent life means a sensible drain upon the tribe's resources, they have evolved that Spartan law which results in the survival of only the fittest. The one child, because of its insufficient senses, the other because it was still on its mother's back and under three at the time its father died, and with no father to support them, were doomed. Kind-hearted as the Eskimos naturally are, they can at times, in the working out of that code which means continued existence, be terribly brutal. Their fierce struggle with the elements for very existence has developed in them an elemental fierceness. From probable experience in long-past losses of life from contagion, they instinctively destroy every igloo in which a native dies, or, at times, to save the igloo, they heartlessly seize the dying, and dragging him through the low door, cast him, ere breath has ceased, into the life-stilling outer world. This inviolable custom of ages Ma-nee, with a Spartan courage, determined to break. During the long night which had just passed, friends had been kind to Ma-nee, but now that she was defying Eskimo usage, she could expect no assistance. Brutal as he had been to her, hopeless as seemed such prospects, Ma-nee thought of the cruel Ik-wa and determined to go to him, with the two defective children of her second husband, beg him to accept them as his own and to take her, as a secondary wife, a servant a position of humiliation and hard labor. In this determination, which can be appreciated only by those who know how implacable and heartless the natives can be, Ma-nee was 58 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE showing one of their marvellous traits, that indomitable courage, persistence and dogged hopefulness which, in my two later companions, E-tuk-i-shook and Ah-we-lah, enabled them, with me, to reach the Pole. I admired the spirit of Ma-nee, and promised to help her, although the mission of reuniting the two seemed dubious. Ma-nee was not going to Ik-wa entirely empty- handed, however, for she possessed some positive wealth in the shape of several dogs, and three bundles of skins and sticks which comprised her household furniture. We soon reached the village where Ma-nee was to be put ashore. Very humbly, the heroic mother and her two frail children went to Ik-wa's tent. Ik-wa was absent hunting, and his wife, who had supplanted Ma-nee, a fat, unsociable creature, appeared. Weep- ing, Ma-nee told of her plight and begged for shelter. The woman stolidly listened; then, without a word, turned her back on the forlorn mother and entered her tent. For the unintentional part we had played she gave us exceedingly cold, frowning looks which were quite expressive. Ma-nee now went to the other villagers. They lis- tened to her plans, and their primitive faces lighted with sympathy. I soon saw them serving a pot of steam- ing oil meat in her honor a feast in which we were urgently invited to partake, but which we, fortunately, found some good excuse for avoiding. Although she had violated a custom of the tribe, these people, both stern- hearted and tender, recognized the greatness of a mother-love which had braved an unwritten law of ages, and they took her in. Several months later, on a return DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 59 to the village, I saw Ik-wa himself. Although he did not thank me for the unwitting part I had played in their reunion, he had taken Ma-nee back, and near his own house was a new igloo in which the mother lived with her children. Resuming our journey, a snow squall soon frosted the deck of the yacht, and to escape the icy air we retired early to our berths. During the night the speed of the yacht increased, and when we appeared on deck again, at four o'clock in the morning, the rays of the August sun seemed actually warm. We passed the ice-battered and storm-swept cliffs of Cape Parry and entered Whale Sound. On a sea of gold, strewn with ice islands of ultramarine and alabas- ter, whales spouted and walrus shouted. Large flocks of little auks rushed rapidly by. The wind was light, but the engine took us along at a pace just fast enough to allow us to enjoy the superb surroundings. In the afternoon we were well into Inglefield Gulf, and near Itiblu. There was a strong head wind, and enough ice about to make us cautious in our prospect. We aimed here to secure Eskimo guides and with them seek caribou in Olrik's Bay. While the schooner was tacking for a favorable berth in the drift off Kanga, the launch was lowered, and we sought to interview the Eskimos of Itiblu. The ride was a wet one, for a short, choppy sea poured icy spray over us and tumbled us about. There were only one woman, a few children, and about a score of dogs at the place. The woman was a remarkably fast talker, long out of practice. She told 60 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE us that her husband and the other men were absent on a caribou hunt, and then, with a remarkably rapid articu- lation and without a single question from us, plunged incessantly on through all the news of the tribe for a year. After gasping for breath like a smothered seal, she then began with news of previous years and a his- tory of forgotten ages. We started back for the launch, arid she invited herself to the pleasure of our company to the beach. We had gone only a few steps before it occurred to her that she was in need of something. Would we not get her a few boxes of matches in exchange for a narwhal tusk? We should be delighted, and a handful of sweets went with the bargain. Her boy brought down two ivory tusks, each eight feet in length, the two being worth one hundred and fifty dollars. Had we a knife to spare? Yes; and a tin spoon was also given, just to show that we were liberal. The yacht was headed northward, across Inglefield Gulf. With a fair wind, we cut tumbling seas of ebony with a racing dash. Though the wind was strong, the air was remarkably clear. The great chiselled cliffs of Cape Auckland rose in terraced grandeur under the midnight sun. The dis- tance was twelve miles, and it was twelve miles of sub- merged rocks and shallow water. It was necessary to give Karnah a wide berth. There were bergs enough about to hold the water down, though an occasional sea rose with a sickening thump. At Karnah we went ashore. There was not a man in town, all being absent on a distant hunting campaign. But, though there were no men, the place was far from DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 61 being deserted, for five women, fifteen children and forty-five dogs came out to meet us. Here we saw five sealskin tents pitched among the bowlders of a glacial stream. An immense quantity of narwhal meat was lying on the rocks and stones to dry. Skins were stretched on the grass, and a general air of thrift was evidenced about the place. Bundles of seal- skins, packages of pelts and much ivory were brought out to trade and establish friendly intercourse. We gave the natives sugar, tobacco and ammunition in quantities to suit their own estimate of value. Would we not place ourselves at ease and stay for a day or two, as their husbands would soon return? We were forced to decline their hospitality, for without the harbor ihere was too much wind to keep the schooner waiting. Eskimos have no salutation except a greeting smile or a parting look of regret. We got both at the same time as we stepped into the launch and shouted good-bye. The captain was told to proceed to Cape Robert- son. The wind eased, and a descending fog soon blotted out part of the landscape, horizon and sky. It hung like a gray pall a thousand feet above us, leaving the air below this bright and startlingly clear. TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION EXCITING HUNTS FOE GAME WITH THE ESKIMOS AR- RIVAL AT ETAH SBEEDY TRIP TO ANNOATOK, THE WINDY PLACE, WHERE SUPPLIES ARE FOUND IN ABUNDANCE EVERYTHING AUSPICIOUS FOR DASH TO THE POLE DETERMINATION TO ESSAY THE EFFORT- BRADLEY INFORMED DEBARK FOR THE POLE THE YACHT RETURNS IV ALONE WITH OUR DESTINY, SEVEN HUNDRED MILES FROM THE POLE We awoke off Cape Robertson early on August 13, and went ashore before breakfast. The picturesque coast here rises suddenly to an altitude of about two thousand feet, and is crowned with a gleaming, silver ice cap. Large bays, blue glacial walls and prominent headlands give a pleasing variety. It is much like the coast of all Greenland. On its southern exposure the eroded Huronian rocks provide shelter for millions of little auks. They dart incessantly from cliff to sea in a chattering cloud of wings. Rather rich and grassy ver- dure offers an oasis for the Arctic hare, while the blue fox finds life easy here, for he can fill his winter den with the fat feathered creatures which teem by millions. TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION 63 The Eskimos profit by the combination, and pitch their camp at the foot of the cliffs, for the chase on sea is nearly as good here as in other places, while land creatures literally tumble into the larder. As we approached the shore, ten men, nine women, thirty-one children and one hundred and six dogs came out to meet us. I count the children and dogs for they are equally important in Eskimo economy. The latter are by far the most important to the average Caucasian in the Arctic. Only small game had fallen to the Eskimos' lot, and they were eager to venture out with us after big game. Mr. Bradley gathered a suitable retinue of native guides, and we weiie not long in arranging a compact. Free passage, the good graces of the cook, and a knife each were to be their pay. A caribou hunt was not sufficiently novel to merit a return to Olrik's Bay, where intelligent hunting is always rewarded, but it was hoped we might get a hunt at Kookaan, near the head of Robertson Bay.* Although hunting in the bay was not successful from a practical standpoint, it afforded exciting pleas- *The Death of John M. Verhoeff. As we passed Robertson Bay, there came up memories of the tragedy of Verhoeff. This young man was a member of Peary's first expedition, in 1891. He had paid $2,000 toward the fund of the expedition. Verhoeff was young and enthusiastic. He gave his time, his money, and he risked his life for Peary. He was treated with about the same consideration as that accorded the Eskimo dogs. When I last saw him in camp, he was in tears, telling of Peary's injustice. Mrs. Peary I advert to this with all possible reluctance had done much to make his life bitter, and over this he talked for days. Finally he said: "I will never go home in the same ship with that man and that woman." It was the last sentence he uttered in my hearing. He did not go home in that ship. Instead, he wandered off over the glacier, where he left his body in the blue depths of a crevasse. 64 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE ure in perilous waters. Even during these hours of sport, my mind was busy with tentative plans for a Polar journey. Whenever I aimed my gun at a snort- ing walrus, or at some white- winged Arctic bird, I felt a thrill in the thought that upon the skill of my arms, of my aim, and upon that of the natives we were later to join, would depend the getting of food sufficient to en- able me to embark upon my dream. Everything I did now began to have some bearing upon this glorious, in- toxicating prospect; it colored my life, day and night. I realized how easily I might fail even should conditions be favorable enough to warrant the journey; for this reason, because of the unwelcome doubt which at times chilled my enthusiasm, I did not yet confide to Bradley my growing ambition. Returning to the settlement, we paid our hunting guides, made presents to the women and children, and set sail for Etah. An offshore breeze filled the big wings of the canvas. As borne on the back of some great white bird, we soared northward into a limpid molten sea. From below came the music of our phonograph, curiously shouting its tunes, classic and popular, in that grim, golden region of glory and death. It is curious how ambition sets the brain on fire, and quickens the heart throbs. As we sped over the magical waters, the wild golden air electric about me, I believe I felt an ecstasy of desire such as mystics achieved from fasting and prayer. It was the surge of an ambition which began to grow mightily within me f which I felt no obstacle could withstand, and which, later, I believe carried me forward with its wings of faith when my body well nigh refused to move. We TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION 65 passed Cape Alexander and entered Smith Sound. We sped by storm-chiselled cliffs, whereupon the hand of nature had written a history, unintelligible to humans, as with a pen of iron. The sun was low. Great bergs loomed up in the radiant distance, and reflecting silver- shimmering halos, seemed to me as the silver-winged ghosts of those who died in this region and who were borne alone on the wind and air. Nature seemed to sing with exultation. Approach- ing a highland of emerald green and seal brown, I heard the wild shouting of hawks from the summit, and from below the shrill chattering of millions of auks with baby families. And nearer, from the life enraptured waters, the minor note of softly cooing ducks and mating guil- lemots. From the interior land of ice, rising above the low booming of a sapphire glacier moving majestically to the sea, rang the bark of foxes, the shrill notes of the ptarmigan, and from an invisible farther distance the raucous wolf howl of Eskimo dogs. Before us, at times, would come a burst of spouting spray, and a whale would rise to the surface of the sea. Nearby, on a floating island of ice, mother walrus would soothingly murmur to her babies. From invisible places came the paternal voices of the oogzook, and as we went forward, seals, white whales and unicorns ap- peared, speaking perhaps the sign language of the animal deaf and dumb in the blue submarine. Occasionally, there was an explosion, when thunder as from a hundred cannons echoed from cliff to cliff. A berg was shattered to ruins. Following this would rise the frightened voices of every animal above water. Now and then, from ultramarine grottoes issued 66 MY ATTAINMENT OF THE POLE weird, echoing sounds, and almost continually rising to ringing peals and shuddering into silence, reiterant, in- cessant, came nature's bugle-calls calls of the wind, of sundering glaciers, of sudden rushes of ice rivers, of exploding gases and of disintegrating bergs. With those sounds pealing in our ears clarion-like, we entered the "Gates of Hades," the Polar gateway, bound for the harbor where the last fringe of the world's humanity straggles finally up on the globe. As we entered Foulke Fiord, half a gale came from the sea. We steered for the settlement of Etah. A tiny settlement it was, for it was com- posed of precisely four tents, which for this sea- son, had been pitched beside a small stream, just inside of the first projecting point on the north shore. Inside this point there was sheltered water for the Eskimo's kayaks, and it also made a good harbor for the schooner. It is possible in favorable seasons to push through Smith Sound, over Kane Basin, into Kennedy Channel, but the experiment is always at the risk of the vessel. So, as there was no special reasons for us to hazard life in making this attempt, we decided to prepare the schooner here for the return voyage. These preparations would occupy several days. We determined to spend as much of this time as pos- sible in sport, since much game abounded in this region. Before we landed we watched the Eskimos harpoon a white whale. There were no unexplored spots in this immediate vicinity, as both Doctor Kane and Doctor Hayes, in the middle of the last century, had been thoroughly over the ground. The little auks kept us TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION 67 busy for a day after our arrival, while hares, tumbling like snowballs over wind-polished, Archaean rocks, gave another day of gun recreation. Far beyond, along the inland ice, were caribou, but we preferred to confine our hunting to the seashore. The bay waters were alive with eider-ducks and guillemots, while, just outside, walruses dared us to venture in open contest on the wind-swept water. After satisfying our desire for the hunt, we pre- pared to start for Annoatok, twenty-five miles to the northward. This is the northernmost settlement of the globe, a place beyond which even the hardy Eskimos attempt nothing but brief hunting excursions, and where, curiously, money is useless because it has no value. We decided to go in the motor boat, so the tanks were filled with gasoline and suitable food and camp equipment were loaded. On the morning of August 24, we started for Annoatok. It was a beautiful day. The sun glowed in a sky