The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1909-09-16
DISCOVERY OF NORTH POLE
RELATED BY ROBERT E. PEARY

some leads were crossed, In one OF
which Borup and his team took a bath,
and we were finally stopped by an i'm
practicable lead opening in front of us.
We camped In q temperature of so de-
grees below. +a
At the end of two short marches we
came upon Hansen n his party IN
camp. mending their sledges. We de-
voted the remainder of the day to over
hauling and mending sledges and break
Ing up our damaged ones for material.
MAKE FORCED MARCHES.
The next morning I put Marvin in the
lead to pioneer the trail, with instruc-
bring up our average which had been
cut down by the last two short ones.
Marvin carried out his instructions i'm
plicitly. A considerable amount Of young
ice assisted in this.
At the end Of the tenth march, latitude
1928, Borup turned back In command of
the second supporting party, having trav-
eled a distance equivalent to Nansen's
distance from this far to his farthest
north.
I was sorry to lose this young Yale
runner, with his enthusiasm and pluck.
He had led his heavy sledge over the
foes In a way that commanded every
ones admiration and would have made
his fathers yes glisten.
CHANGES HIS PLAN.
From this point the expedition COM
prised 20 men, 10 sledges, and 70 dogs. It
was necessary for Marvin to take q
sledge from here. n I put Bartlett
and his division in advance to pioneer
the trail.
The continual daylight enabled me to
make a moderation here that brought my
advance and main parties closer together
and reduced the likelihood Of their be-
ing separated by open leads.
After Bartlett left camp with Hender-
son and their division, Marvin and I re-
manned with our division 20 hours long
er and then followed. When we reached
on and we turned In. BY this arrange
ment the advance party was travelling
while the main party was asleep, and
vice versa, n I was in touch with my
advance party every "a hours.
MOVES ExPEDITloUSLY.
I had no reason to complain OF the
going for the next two marches. though
for a less experienced party, less adapt
able sledges. or less perfect equipment it
would have been an impossibility.
At our position at the end of the Sec
sond march, Marvin obtained a satisfac-
tory sight for latitude in clear weather,
which placed us at. S5.4S The result
agreed satisfactorily with, the dead reck-
oning of Marvin, Bartlett n myself.
r. W. ~ lA1o AAAlS F Jag SllSAl dluIuu0 u
the sun had made 1t not worth while to
waste time In observations.
On the next two marches the going Inn
proved, and we covered good, distances.
In one of these marches a lead delayed
us a few hours. We finally ferried across
the ice cakes. q
: MAKES RECORD RUN.
h next day Bartlett let himself out,
evidently, for a record, and reeled Off q.
ra{loQ Horo Marvin 4h{o{rnlE -1<L
satisfactory sight on latitude, which gave
the position as S6.3S Cor beyond the farth-
est north Of Nansen and AbruzzD, and
showed that we had covered so minutes
Of latitude in three marches.
In these three marches we had passed
the Norwegian record Of S6.14. by Nam
sen, and the Italian record Of 1884. by
Cagni.
From this point Marvin turned back in
command of the third supporting party.
My last words to him were: BE care
full Of the leads, srny boy"
The party from this point comprised
min men, seven sledges; and 60 dogs.
The conditions at this camp and the an
parently unbroken pan Of fairly level
ice in every direction reminded me Of
Cagni's description of his farthest north.
DANGER Is ENCOUNTERED.
But I was not deceived by the appar-
emily favorable outlook. for available
conditions never continue for any dis
lance or an" length Of time in the arc
tic regions. L.
The next march was over good go
ing, but for the first time since leaving
land we experienced that condition, fire.
quent over these ice fields, of a hazy at
mosphere, in which the light is equal
everywhere. All relief is destroyed, and
1t is impossible to see for any distance.
We were obliged in this march to make
a dafN11r orO1r1 ~ @-4- 1a-l -
next march we encountered the heaviest
and deepest snow Of the journey, through
a thick, smothering mantle lying In the
Expressions OF heavy rubble ice.
Temporarily Discouraged.
I came upon Bartlett and his party,
tagged out n temporarily discouraged
by the heartracking work Of making
road.
I knew what was the matter with
them. They were simply spoiled by the
good going on the previous marches. I
rallied them a bit, lightened their sledges
and sent them on encouraged again.
=. During the next march we travelled
through a thick haze drifting over the
ice before a biting air from the north
east, AT the END OF the march we came
upon the captain camped beside a wide
open lead with a dense black water sky
northwest, north and northeast.
The next march was also a lone one.
1t was Bartlett's last hit. He let him
self out over a series Of large old foes.
steadily increasing in diameter and
covered with hard snow.
WIND HELPS OUT.
During the last few miles I walked
beside him or in advance. He was SOL
emn n anxious to go further, but the
program was for him to go back from
here in command Of the fourth sun
porting party. and there were-no sup
plies for an increase in the main party.
In this march we encountered g. high
wind for the first time since the three
days after we left Cape Columbia. It
was dead in our faces. bitter and in
sistent, but I had no reason to COM
plain, it was better thar an easterly
or southerly wind, either Of which
would have set US adrift in open wa
ter. while this was closing up every
lead behind.
This furnished another ADVANTAGE Of
my supporting parties. True, by SO
doing it was pressing to the south the
Ice over which we Travelled, and so rob-
b1ng US OF. a hundred miles of advan-
tage.
EIGHTY-FoUR IS PASSED.
We concluded we were on or near
the eighty-eighth parallel, unless the
north wind had lost us several miles.
The wind blew all night and all next
day.
At this camp, in the morning, Bart