The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-10-22

on the whole will give a picture of
fact that leaves out all doubt.
THE polar Eskimos are, of course
not able to determine whether Cook
has only been on the way to the pole
Or if he has really reached the 90th
degree, but through them we can get
a lot of details which together have
a value as for instance. First, start of
the exhibition and the route taken
over the ice; second, how far the ex-
petition went from land; third,
whether there were any special OBJ
stacles which hindered going further
at the point Cook called the pole;
fourth, the equipment of Cook and his
two men at the start.
THAT Cook was away from Anna
tok from January or February, 1908,
until the spring of 1909 is a fact.
First, start of The expedition and
the route. The start from Annatok
took place, according to the Eskimos
exactly at the time given by Cook.
The expedition went over Ellsmere
land and through the sound which
separates that land from Heiberg
land away from the shore and out
on the actual polar sea ice. Helping
with the sledges went only Cook and
his two men, Ah-pe-lah and Itook-a-
shoe. After they reached the polar
ice and the little party had gone dir
ectly to the north, the two 4Iskimos
knew that the goal was the pole. The
direction was well known to them
through Peary's many expeditions in
III &c ~ Of frfhn
at one time or another, had taken
part.
Good Ice and Good Weather
"While Peary used to start from
the north point of Grants Land, Cook
selected a western route because he,
on the basis of Peary's observations,
expected to find better ice conditions
there, a supposition which turned out
to be correct. so the Eskimos, who
knew the conditions north of Grants
land say. The friends of Ah-pe-lah
and I-took-a-shoo assert that the eX-
petition had good ice and good wealth
err and that the ice became better the
further they came out on the polar
sea.
Second. How far did the expedit
ion go from shore The Eskimos, of
course, cannot give the distance in
figures, but they say that on the jour
ney over the ice field from the shore
the sun began to appear and stood
high In the sky, and at last did not
disappear at all, so that ii was almost
summer before they reached land
again. Furthermore, they have said
no . hnfnra 40
cided to go into winter quarters be-
fore they tried the return journey to
Annatok.
These statements, therefore
amount to the same as Cooks who
gives September as the month in
which he decided to go into winter
quarters at Cape Sparbo on the south
side Of Jones Sound. The Eskimos,
who are accustomed to take their
bearing on map, have themselves.
on my map, given the route of the ex-
petition to the pole and the location
of the winter quarters at Jones sound,
a district which they knew from their
bear hunts. Ah-pe-lah and Itook-a-
shoe have, furthermore, told how
they on the way back were prevented
by deep crevices in the ice from go
ing TO Heiberg's land, where they had
depots, and that that was the reason
they went to North Devon.
Had Cook not taken small can
vas boat with him to serve for fer
ry when they met open water, the
Eskimos think they should never
have got home alive from the pole
trip.
Cooks statements about how they
got over the wintering, fighting musk
oxen and walrus without ammunition,
are also correct, compared with the
statements of his companions. as is
his statement about the slow and diff
fcut wandering from Cape Sparbo
TO Annatok where they had to drop
their sledges for two months
Il therefore reach this conclusion:
That whenever Cooks statements are
compared with the statements OF his
companions they appear to be quite
truthful.
No Special Obstacles to Progress
Third. Were there special obsta-
Giles which hindered going further2
The Eskmos have told their friends
that they were much surprised when
Cook told them the goal was reached
because the spot was not the least
different from all the other ice they
had passed over. They had often
asked Cook to return but that was
only because they had a feeling that
they were very, very far from shore
and that they would never get back
alive again. 1t is, therefore, appar
ent that the expedition was not fore.
ed back by the hindrance of ice but
because the leader said the goal had
been reached.
Fourth. How was the equipment?
The Eskimos, who have often seen
the start of expeditions, have only
praise for the manner in which Cook
reduced his equipment to the mini
num- by which ne increased the chan
ces of making quick journeys. The
food he carried along was greatly
compressed and did not weigh more
than the dogs could drag. Further
more, the expedition had great ad-
vantage during the voyage over Files
mere land, through hunting musk OK
en- to get the dogs well fed, so that
they, when the final start began were