PEARY AND THE POLE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 764, 12 March 1910, Page 15

PEARY AND THE POLE.

HIS OWN STORY. ! The full story of Commander Peary's great journey to the North Pole is to bo published in "Nash's Magazine." Mr. Nash has placed at the disposal of the "Daily Mail" advance proofs of the first chapters, and tho "Daily Mini" publishes the following summary;— "As I watched tho flag fluttering in the crisp air of the Pole, I thought of the twenty-three years of my own life which had been spent in labouring towards that goal, and realised that at last I had made good; . "My most impelling desire when I knew for a certainty that I had reached my goal was for a little rest; but after two or three hours of absolutely fatigue: impelled sleep a state of mental exaltation made further rest impossible. For more than a score of years that mathematical point on the earth's surface had been the subject of my every effort. To attain it I had dedicated my whole being, physical, mental, and moral; had risked my life a hundred times, and the lives of those-with me who had been glad to take the chances with me; had given all my own money and the money of my friends. That last journey was my eighth into the Arctic, I had spent in those regions eighteen years of the twentythree between my thirtieth and my fiftythird, year. : . "It is-not'easy to write about such things, but "I knew that I was going back to civilisation with the last of the great Earth stories ... a story the world had been waiting to hear for nearly four hundred years." ■ '. It is with these phrases that Commander Peary begins his narrative; begins it at the Pole itself. He has set out to tell the story of his expedition, but the overwhelming emotion of its climax dominated him at the outset, and it is of the Pole that he first' speaks, of the thirty hours he spent there full of the prosaic duties of his expedition, but'with the thrill of victory in his heart.

" "Wo arrived at 90 north at ten o'clock in tho morning of April, 0, and wo left there about four o'clock'in the afternoon of April '7. During those thirty hours at tho Polo I made the necessary observations for position, went . some ten miles beyond my camp and some eight miles to the right of it, planted my flags, deposited my records, studied the horizon through my telescope for possible land, and sought for a suitable place to make a sounding. . .. When he returns to the actual commencement of his task Commander Peary has to tell of many difficulties and . disappointments. Returning in 190G from an 1 unsuccessful attempt to-reach tho Pole ho at once set .to work to organiso a new expedition. "I was already at an age beyond which, perhaps with tho ono exception of Sir John Franklin, no man had ever attempted to prosecute work in the Arctic regions. I had to win now, or yield my dream and ambition for ever.". Progress was slow, funds reluctant to .oome in; contractors failed him, a year's delay ensued, the chief friend .and financial supportor died. But patience held and friends were loyal. The shin was built and equipped.. To each aud all of thoso who accompanied mm Peary pays affectionate tribute,: to _ Marvin, his secretary, to Wardwoll, , chief engineer, to steward and boatswain, to Matthew A. Henson; his negro assistant, who "can handle a sledgo better, and is probably a better dog-driver, than any other man living, except..'some of the best.,of the: Eskimo .'hunters themselves " And, _beyond all, ho in liis narrative Captain Bartlett: - . ... 1 ' "Blue-eyed, brown-haired, smoothshaven, and steel-muscled Bartlett, whether at the wheel of the Roosevelt ham-, mering a passage through the ice floes or tramping and stumbling over the ice pack : with ttio. sledges, or smoothing away the troubles, of the crew,: he is always the same—tireless, faithful,; true' us the compass," . ' '. There arose the question of supplies. Here-the ..experience of many years was his guide. "Tho supplies ,for the expedition were abundant in quantity, but not numerous in variety. Years of experience had Riven me the knowledge of exactly what I wanted and how much of it. The absolutely essential .supplies for a serious Arctic expedition are few in number, but they should be of tjae best quality. Luxuries have no place in Arctic work. "The supplies for sledge work are of a special character,. and have 'to be prepared and packed in such a way. as to secure the maximum of nourishment with the minimum, of .weight,...of,.bulk,-and of tare (that is. the .weight of; the packing). The essentials, and the. only essentials, needed in a serious Arctic sledge journey, no matter'what the season, the temperature, or the duration of the jonrney —whether' one month or Bix—are four: pemmican,'tea, ship's biscuit, condensed milk.

"Here are a'list of the items and figures on our list of'supplies' for the last expedition: Flour, 16,0001b.; coffee, 10001b.; tea, 800 lb.; sugar, 10,0001b.; kerosene, 3500 gallons; |bacon, 70001b.;' biscuit, 10,0001b.; condensed milt, 100 cases; petnmican, 30,0001b.; dried fish, 30001b.; smoking tobacco, 10001b/' And How came the moment of departure. At one o'clock in the afternoon of July 6, 1908, ;the good- ship, Roosevelt left her moorings in New York Harbour for the North, amid immense enthusiasm. President Roosevelt, "the biggest man America has ever produced, bade the expedition farewell/. In going northwards halts were made at one or two places for supplies, until, leaving Sydney, Cape Breton,, the dash into northern seas began. Peary tells now.of his ship: . "I have a special affection for my little cabin of tie Roosevelt. Its size and the comfort of the bathroom adjoining were the only - luxuries. which I allowed myself. The cabin is plain, of matched yellow pine, painted white. Its conveniences are the evolution of long experience in the Arctic regions. It has a wide built-in bunk, an ordinary writing-desk, several book units, a wicker chair, an office chair, and a chest of drawers. The pianola had been my pleasant companion on the previous voyage. ■ The strains of 'Faust' rolled out over the .Arctic Ocean more often than any other. Marches and . songs Mere also popular, . with the "Bine Danube Waltz"; . and sometimes, when the spirits of . my party were at/rather a low ebb, I played ragtime pieces, < which they especially enjoyed." i i ' On July 26 the Arctic Circle was crossed, and Cape, York, Greenland, reached on the first day of August. Here Peary was'once more among the Eskimos, some of whom were to accompany him. The last traces of * civilisation were now left behind. Cape' York is the dividing line between the civilised world on the one side aud the Arctic world on the other. "Behind, me. lay tho civilised world, which could give me nothing more. . . . On leaving Cape York we had exchanged the multifarious purposes of civilisation for the two purposes for which there is room in those vddo wastea: food for man and dog and the covering of miles of distance. "Ahead of me lay—my dream, mjr destiny, the goal of that irresistible impulsion which had driven me for twentythree years to hurl myself, time after time, against the frigid No of the Great North. ' . "Should I succeed, and-, should I return? For succcss in the attainment of OOdeg. North would not inevitably carry with it tho safe return. We had learned that on recrossine the "big lead' in 1006. In the Arctic the chances are always against the explorer. The life is a dog's life, but the worli is a man's work. "And I felt, as we steamed' northward from Cape York on the first day of August, 1908, that I \ras at last faco to face with my own destiny, which was now to have the final word with roe; I felt tb,at all my years of work and all mjr former expeditions' were merely preparations for this last and supreme effort. It lias been said that well-directed labour toward a given end is tho best kind of prayer for its attainment. But; no man can live for years surrounded by, tlic great white mystery of the Arctic without feeling that within and behiud it is an Intelligent —watchful and responsive. And if, standing there with my back to tho world and my faco toward that Mystery, I dared to ask of it the boon for which : I had laboured so long, ran any man wonder that I say so 2"