POLAR EXPLORATION                          IS1*                          POLAR EXPLORATION

sailed from New London, United States, and reached 820 16' N., which was surpassed in 1876 by the English expedition under Captain Nares. More famous and more disastrous was the Lady Franklin Bay expedition of 1881 under A. W. Greely (a. v.). In October, 1883, Greely landed at Cape Sabine, probably the bleakest spot in the arctic regions, and there, in June, 1884, Commander Schley found the six men who still survived. In 1869-70 Captain Colde-wey's expedition reached 770 on the east of Greenland. The Jeannette expedition under Commander De Long (g. v.), sent by the New York Herald in 1879 to push north by Bering Strait, ended in disaster, the vessel being crushed in the ice in June, 1882. On June 6, 1891, Robert E. Peary (a. v.), U.S.N., set out. Reaching Mc-Cormick Bay on July 24, winter quarters were established there; and the months from August to May were spent in exploring the north of Greenland (a. v.) by an overland journey of over 600 miles on the inland ice, while the ship, commanded by Heilprin, held on its way by sea. In September, 1892, the expedition returned, having determined the northern boundary of Greenland. In 1892 Harmsworth and Jackson charted a large portion of Franz Josef Archipelago. In 1893 Knudsen made important corrections in the charts as to the east coast of Greenland, from personal inspection in the neighborhood of the 68th parallel. Nansen crossed the ice-cap from east to west in 1888, rising 9,000 feet upon the divide. Peary in 1891 advanced 50 miles inland from Disco on the ice-cap, made his winter quarters at McCormick Bay, and starting for the further north, May 14, 1892, reached Navy Cliff, July 4, Independence Bay, in 8i° 37' N. In 1895 Peary attempted to improve this record, but, after reaching Independence Bay, was reduced to such straits for lack of food as to be obliged to abandon the attempt. A noteworthy attempt was made by Nansen, who, having constructed a ship after his own designs, permitted it to be frozen into the ice-pack of Kara Sea in 1893, and with the ice his ship was drifted across the frozen seas. He had hoped to come out of the ice between Iceland and Spitz-bergen; but, the ice-pack not floating so far north as he had supposed, he left the ship and sought to go further on foot. At last he was obliged to turn back; and he reached Franz Josef Land in 1895 and returned to Norway in 1896. His furthest north was 86° 14'. The Duke of Abruzzi, who sailed in 1899, reached a point 19 geographical miles nearer the goal sought, Cagni, his captain, reaching 86° 3^,'. In 1898-1901 Sverdrup determined the insularity of Grinnell Land. In 1905 Lieutenant Peary made another attempt. With the ship he reached 82° 27' N. Leaving

his ship in Feb., 1906, he pushed forward with dog-sledges and reached 87° oŏ' N., the furthest north. In 1903-06 Amundsen (a. v.) determined the northern magnetic pole and traversed the northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1906-08 Leffingwell, Mikkelsen and Starkersen explored unknown Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska and west of Parry Archipelago. Wellman tried to sail by airship from Spitz-bergen to the pole, but wind and weather prevented the attempt. In 1908 Peary started on another polar expedition.

In 1909 came the announcement that the long sought goal—the North Pole—had been reached. Dr. Frederick A. Cook (a. v.) who went on a cruise in arctic waters in the summer of 1907, announced from Copenhagen Sept. 2, 1909, that he had found the Pole April 21, 1908. Five days later Commander Robert E. Peary reported by wireless message from Labrador that he had planted the flaq; at the Pole April 6, 1909.

Dr. Cook's account of his expedition related that during the winter of 1907-8 at Annootok on the west coast of Greenland, he gathered an equipment of sledges, men, dogs and provisions and on Feb. 19, 1908, started north. Advancing into the polar sea, on March 18 he sent back a part of his men and dogs and when the crossing of the polar pack was begun the train was further reduced to two men and twenty-six dogs. With these he started on his final dash of four hundred and sixty miles to his goal, which he reached on April 21, 1908. Remaining there for two days for taking observations, he began the return journey April 23. Delayed by unfavorable conditions and baffled by westerly drift, he struggled southward, was carried down to Crown Prince Gustav Sea, wintered on Jones Sound, and the shore of Greenland was finally reached April 15, 1909.

Cook's claim was promptly challenged by Peary, and was assailed from many sources. To his critics Cook replied: "I honestly believe I have found the North Pole, and I am willing to submit all my evidence to competent scientists, astronomers and explorers." He later submitted his records to a committee of scientists appointed by the University of Copenhagen, with the result that on examination his proofs were found insufficient, his claim was discredited and his honorary degree of Doctor of Science which had been conferred upon him by the University was withdrawn. Cook's narrative describes conditions near the pole in harmony with Peary's testimony in respect to temperature, ice surface and absence of land. This coincidence is held by Cook's friends to indicate that he really reached that region, even though through lack of scientific knowledge he was not able to establish his claim.

The Peary expedition sailed from New York in the steamer Roosevelt in July, 1908,