Captain Robert Bartlett being in command of the ship. From
this point he advanced by sledge to Cape Hecla, whence he made a
most strenuous attempt to reach the North Pole. Organizing his
large following of trained Eskimo, whose confidence in him had
been won by many years of friendship, and his few white companions
in separate parties, each complete in itself and well
furnished with dogs and food, he set off at the end of February
1906. A very broad lead of open water was encountered in
84° 38′ N., and as the party did not carry kayaks much time was
lost in getting across. The floes had a marked eastward drift
and it was difficult to make progress northward; however,
Peary struggled on by forced marches to 87° 6′ N., which he
reached on the 21st of April 1906, the most northerly point
so far attained. His return journey was the most dangerous
in his experience; many leads had to be crossed, sometimes on
ice so thin that it bent beneath the weight of the explorers,
provisions were exhausted and the men were reduced to eating
their dogs before they made land at Cape Neumayer in the north
of Greenland, where game was found, and whence the return
to the ship was comparatively easy.
Returning to America, Peary prepared for a last attempt. The “Roosevelt” was overhauled and various defects made good, but not in time for the summer of 1907. Leaving New York in July 1908 the “Roosevelt,” again under the command of R. Bartlett, brought the party, with the Eskimo who were picked up onPeary’s Journey to the North Pole. the way, to Cape Sheridan by the 5th of September. During the winter all supplies were transported to Cape Columbia, farther west on the coast of Grant Land. Here there were ready to start in the first light of the Arctic day seven explorers, 17 picked Eskimo and 133 of the best dogs in Greenland with 19 sledges, As the outcome of all Peary's experience the expedition was arranged to consist of a lightly equipped advance party to select the route and make the trail by clearing a way through rough ice, and a main party composed of units of four men each with sledges containing all their requirements marching one day behind the pioneer party. From this unit parties were to return southward at intervals with the empty sledges, leaving the diminished main party to push on fully provisioned. The “big lead ” which marks the edge of the continental shelf in 84° N. was crossed after some delay and here the sun appeared for the first time on the 5th of March 1909. Dr MacMillan with three Eskimo and three sledges returned along the outward trail after the 7th of March from 84° 29′ N. A sounding at this point showed the depth of the sea to be 825 fathoms. After five more marches G. Borup turned back in 85° 23′ with three Eskimo and three sledges, the best Eskimo and dogs remaining with the main party. From this point the advance was regular; the pioneer party started from the snow-houses they had built and slept in when the main party arrived, and while the latter slept the pioneers marched, selected a camp, built new snow houses, and slept till the main party came up. At 86° 38′ N. Prof. R. G. Marvin turned back, as usual with the three worst Eskimo and the worst dogs. His party reached the ship, but he himself was drowned in recrossing the “big lead,” the only casualty of the expedition. At 88° N. Bartlett turned back on the first of April in accordance with the system with two Eskimo, one sledge and 18 dogs. Up to this point Peary had saved himself as much as possible, leaving the path-finding and the observations to his very competent colleagues, but now he put forth all his strength for the arduous 140 m. which separated him from the Pole. He was accompanied by Henson and four Eskimo. The ice improved as he went on and it was possible to do 25 m. in a daily march of 10 hours, and on one occasion 30 m. in 12 hours. On the 6th of April an observation gave 89° 57′ N., and here a camp was made and observations taken throughout 24 hours to fix the position, as well as excursions a few miles farther on and a few miles to right and left so as to be sure of actually reaching the Pole. No land was to be seen, and a sounding through the ice gave a depth of 1500 fathoms with no bottom. The American flag was hoisted; the goal of all the ages of exploration had been reached.
The return journey was quick and easy. The tracks kept open by the passage of the various return parties were distinct enough to follow, the snow-houses stood ready for sheltering at the end of each march, and a northerly gale kept the ice pressed well together and the leads closed. On the 23rd of April Cape Columbia was reached and soon after the party was safe on board the “Roosevelt.” Success was due to the accumulated experience of twenty-three years' constant Arctic work, and to the thorough acquaintance with the Eskimo and their dogs, which enabled the best work to be got out of them.
Dr F. A. Cook spent two years in the Arctic regions, 1907–1909, and claimed to have reached the Pole by sledging alone with two Eskimo a year before Peary. He submitted the evidence for this achievement to the university of Copenhagen, which failed to find it satisfactory, and Dr Cook did not appear to challenge thisF. A. Cook decision.
Physiography of the Arctic Region
Geology.—Although much remains to be done in the exploration of the North Polar area, the main features of the physical geography of the region have been determined beyond any reasonable doubt. Within the Arctic Circle the northern portions of Europe, Asia, America and Greenland surround a central area of deep sea, the southern margin of which forms a broad continental shelf bearing many islands. The ring of land and shallow sea is broken only by the broad channel between Greenland and Europe through which Atlantic water gains an entrance to the Arctic Sea. The physical conditions of this sea, which covers the greater part of the Arctic regions, are dealt with later in detail; but there is less to be said regarding the land.
In a climate which taxes human powers to the utmost to carry on the simplest route-surveys in the course of an exploring expedition, and in the presence of a snow covering which is permanent on all high ground and only disappears for a short time in summer, even on the shores and islands, it is obvious that any knowledge of the geology must be difficult to obtain. On the earlier Arctic expeditions enthusiastic collectors brought together quantities of specimens, many of which it was found impossible to bring home, and they have been found abandoned by later travellers. As Arctic exploration was usually carried out on the sea or over the sea-ice even those expeditions in which experienced geologists took part furnished few opportunities for making investigations. The result is that the geology of the Arctic lands has to be inferred from observations made at isolated points where the fortune of the ice stopped the ship, or where on land journeys a favourable exposure was found. Almost every geological formation is known to be represented, from the Archaean to the Quaternary, and there is a general resemblance in the known geological features of most of the great Arctic islands. The fundamental rock in all appears to be Archaean gneiss. In the extreme north-east Carboniferous strata have recently been discovered similar to the Carboniferous rocks of Spitsbergen. The Turassic rocks farther south are in places capped by Cretaceous beds, and closely resemble the Jurassic rocks of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land and the northern parts of Norway and Russia. Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks are found on the west coast of Greenland covered over by great flows of basalt, probably of Tertiary age, at Disco Island, Nugsuak Peninsula and various points farther north. The only mineral of economic value found in Greenland is cryolite, which is mined at Ivigtut in the south-west. Native iron occurs in considerable masses ill several places, some of it undoubtedly of telluric origin, though some is probably meteoric.
The second “Fram” expedition confirmed and extended the geological observations of the Franklin search expeditions on the American Arctic archipelago, and showed the presence above the Archaean rocks of Cambrian, Silurian and Devonian strata, the Silurian being represented by a widespread brown limestone abounding in fossils. Carboniferous limestones also occur and less extensive beds of quartz sandstones, schists and limestones containing ammonites and other Mesozoic fossils. Tertiary
