360 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS 17^ But the worst ice he had ever encounteredi together with heavy fogs and storms, prevented his reaching the goal on this trip. When he was compelled to turn back, three hundred and forty-three miles from the Pole, he wrote in his journal :
- *' The game is off. My dream of sixteen years is ended. I
have made the best fight I knew. I believe it has been a good one. But I cannot accomplish the impossible. ' ' In 1902 Peary came home but the game was not off. As he himself once said, ^'The true explorer does his work not for any hope of reward or honor, hut because the thing he has set himself to do is a part of his being.* ^ For the expedition of 1905 contributions from many persons made it possible to have a boat built which would be better adapted to his needs than any he had used before. It was named the Roosevelt and was driven to Cape Sheridan 82* and 30' North latitude, farther than any vessel had ever gone. From this point they pushed northward. More eager than ever to reach the goal, Peary wrote :
- At night I can hardly sleep waiting for the dogs to get
rested sufficiently to start again. Then I think what will be the effect, if some insuperable obstacle, open water, absolutely impossible ice, or an enormous fall of snow knocks me out nowt Will it break my heart or will it simply numb me into insensibility f ' ^ A season of unusually violent winds broke the ice, separat- ing Peary from his supporting parties with so small an amount of supplies that when almost within the reach of suc- cess it was necessary to retreat because of the peril of starv- ation. ** After a heart-breaking fight with the ice, the open water and storms,*' he was obliged to turn back from 87"* and 6' North because his food supply would carry him no farther. Then on their return came the **big lead** (a lane of open water) , half a mile wide when they first saw it. Delayed for days and compelled to eat their dogs, it was with joy they at last found a coating of young ice extending across the lead — now two miles wide — which might bear them on snow shoes. If not now, never. They made the start, the ice undulated under their feet but the other side was gained. Turning they
