Arizona republican., 1917-08-27
M WILLIAM RETURNS
 SAYS CROCKERLAND WONDERF LII MIRAGE
IRepubIIcan A. p. Leased WIrel

v SYDNEY, N. S, Aug. 26.-Donald B. MacMillan's Arctic exploration ex- petition arrived here tonight on the | relief steamer Neptune. after four years spent in the Polar regions. MacMillan, who was one of Rear Admiral Peary's lieutenants on his sue cessful dash for the north pole, con l firmed previous dispatches from him that there was no Crockerland, such as had been reported by Peary. Peary's mistake, he said, was due to a mirage so real that the MacMillan party had been deceived by it for four days.
 The first objective of the MacMillan expedition, which was organized under | the auspices of the American Museum 1 of Natural History and the American i Geographical Society with the CO., ! operation of the University of Illinois, was to prove or disprove the existence of Peary's Crockerland, which has been a prolific source of dispute among geographers and scientists. The next purpose of the expedition was to con- 1 duct a survey of the Greenland ice | cap
 While MacMillan did not deny that 1 he had made some discoveries he was reticent concerning them. saying he was under orders to report to the Museum of Natural History in New York. He plans to leave Tuesday for his home in Freeport, Maine, and | thence to New York.
 l The health of the explorers was good as had been reported previously by wireless.
 We had good luck" MacMillan said | Provisions were plentiful and there was plenty of game and eggs to be se- l rod hut I la1 fl,%t mand of the relief expedition) came along. We were getting pretty low and might not have lasted another | winter"
 | Touching on Crockerland. MacMil- Ian said; 'Peary was deceived by a mirage, due to layers of air at differ ent densities suspended close to the ice. Peary sighted this supposed land from cliff 1,400 feet high We
 mounted the same cliff and for four days were deceived. Finally, when the
 sun shifted, it was no longer there. IL
 was but a mirage, but so clear that you could see green hills covered with
 vegetation rising high above the water
 It was supposed to be 120 miles north
 west from Cape Thomas Hubbard, but
 we sailed 151 miles northwest, passing
 over the supposed Crockerland.
 Tt was wonderful mirage. It de-
 ceived the whole party, and Jonathan
 c. Small. mechanic and general aide
 insisted for long time that Crocker-
 land was somewhere near. but finally
 we had to admit that Peary was mis-
 taken. Don't think, however, that
 Peary was faking It would deceive . any man, no matter who he was" Il The expedition was carried through
 without the loss of a man and not withstanding disaster at the very start , The explorers left North Sydney ir July, 1913, on the steamer Diana, but were wrecked on Borges Point, on the
 Labrador coast. Nothing daunted the explorers returned to St. Johns, New foundland, and were transferred to the
 steamer Erie, which landed the party
 at their base, Etah, August 20.
 We had some hardships, of course
 due to the cold but we had no sick.
 ness whatever" said MacMillan.
 "The only thing that saved us iron
 scurvy was our fresh meat supply
 The men always got fresh meat unti
 near the last when Small and I livet
 on dog biscuits and duck eggs I tel
 you, Bartlett was weicomed by us
 When Bob arrived, Small and I wer
 the only two members of the expedition | at Etah. We were living with Esqui | (Continued on Page Two)