Tombstone epitaph., 1892-12-21
A Rrtef Account of the Trip of the Only White Woman Who Has Ever yentured So Far
 North.

the party to St. Johns, N. F., writes to the New York Herald as follows con- corning her adventurous trip:
 We saw the first herd of deer on Sep tember Land got three at the head of Mccormick bay, where we went to start the party to place a depot on Humboldt Glacier. His party, consisting of As trup. Gibson and Verhoeff, were baffied by storms and returned in four days. Astrup and Gibson started again on September 22 and made about thirty miles, but were forced back on account of deep, soft snow. During one of our hunting trips we had a narrow escape from drowning by having our boat crushed by herd of angry walruses, many of which were wounded by us, but we killed seven and escaped with out scratch. 'e
 The winter, although we had hun d-ed days of darkness with temperature ranging from thirty to fifty degrees below zero, passed pleasantly. Every day we took long walks on snow shoes, and often indulged in sledge ride, drawn by one of my Newfoundlands and one Esquimau dog, and yet cannot boast of a single frost bite.
 We received numerous visits from the natives, all of whom were bright, mer- ", willing creatures, anxious to please. | They ,njoyed our coffee and biscuit, but cared little for sweets. The women were especially interesting to me, and many hours were spent in watching them at their work.
 | Mir. Peary, with Astrup and Dr. Cook. went on the ice cap on February II to watch the sun rise. and for two days ! following we had the most terrible wind and rainstorm ever witnessed. For time l feared our house, which we called Red Cliff, would be washed away, 1 but we were not seriously damaged. | The party on the ice fared still worse and were glad to get back to Red Cliff On April IS, there being constant day | light, Mir. Peary took me with him on a | tour of Whale sound and Inglefield gulf We travelled by night and slept | by day. Our sledges, sixteen and ff- ! teen feet long, were drawn by thirteen 1 fine Esquimau dogs. Our driver, native, handled the team as only a native can. We slept without shelter, and our bed was the snow after pulling ourselves into deerskin bag, which was fastened tightly about the neck. We repeatedly made forty miles in a single march, and it was fine sight to see those thirteen beauties with heads up and tails waving over their backs. dashing over the ice. We visited all the settlements and once I was in- veigled into spending the night in one of their snow igloos, but declined all further invitations We returned to | Red Cliff at the end of a week and the inland ice party at once began prepara- tions to leave.
 Mir. Peary left on May 3, no one re- maining at Red Cliff but Mir Verhoeff and myself. Matt returned on May s, | and on June the supporting party, | Dr. Cook and Gibson. returned. They parted from Mir. Peary and Astrup at | Humboldt Glacier; whence the latter continued on their way north. By this time many Esquimaux had pitched their tents around Red Cliff, and the settlement had the appearance of a | fourishing village. During the summer various hunting and exploring trips were made, and on July r. pitched my tent at the side of McCormick's bay, ex- pecting to remain there until the re. turn of Mir. Peary.
 Although the angakoks of the tribe had told me that they had been in- formed daring their seance that Peary would never return, at five o'clock on tine morning of July 2i heard pc culiar noise outside of my tent, and on calling out in Esquimau: Who is there?" was answered that ship had come, and black head was thrust into the tent and bundle of letters handed me.
 The Kite had come and my mail had been sent me. The following day I was visited by Prof. Heilprin, and the ! day following l returned to Red Cliff On August 4 I again went to the head of the bay, this time on the Kite, and on August Prof. Heilprin and party left to make a reconnaissance of the in- | land ice, and at three o'clock on the morning of August 6, while lying in my bunk, heard shouts from the return ing party, and in few minutes quick, firm step on the deck, which l recog- nized as my husbands.
 The next instant he was before me. then felt God had, indeed, been good ! Mir. Peary returned in health and safety, after an absence of ninety-three days, during which time he travelled over thirteen hundred miles over this inland ice. So far everything had gone as we had hoped.
 | While we were packing all our be longings on the Kite Mir. Verhoeff went on a two days geological trip to a neighboring settlement. Failing to re- turn at the end of this time, the party started after him, but, to their horror found no trace of him. For six days the entire Peary party except Matt and myself, Prof. Heilprin's whole party, the crew of the Kite and nine Esqui- maux all joined in the search. On the sixth day they found some minerals placed by verhoeff on rock and traces of his footsteps to large and wicked looking glacier, and here all signs of him were lost in spite of the whole party quartering the glacier in every direc- tion No sion of the missing man was