d returned
again. These boys are the two he claims accompanied him to the North
Pole. To us, up there at Etah, such a story was so ridiculous and absurd
that we simply laughed at it. We knew Dr. Cook and his abilities; he had
been the surgeon on two of Peary's expeditions and, aside from his
medical ability, we had no faith in him whatever. He was not even good
for a day's work, and the idea of his making such an astounding claim as
having reached the Pole was so ludicrous that, after our laugh, we
dropped the matter altogether.

On account of the world-wide controversy his story has caused, I will
quote from my diary the impressions noted in regard to him:

"August 17, 1909, Etah, North Greenland.

"Mr. Harry Whitney came aboard with the boatswain and the cabin-boy, who
had been left here last fall on our way to Cape Sheridan. Murphy is the
boatswain and Pritchard the boy, both from Newfoundland, and they look
none the worse for wear, in spite of the long time they have spent here.
Mr. Whitney is the gentleman who came up on the _Erik_ last year, and at
the last moment decided to spend the winter with the natives. He had a
long talk with the Commander before we left for the north, and has had
quite a lengthy session with him since. I learn that Dr. Cook came over
from Ellesmere Land with his two boys, Etookahshoo and Ahpellah, and in
a confidential conversation with Mr. Whitney made the statement that he
had reached the North Pole. Professor MacMillan and I have talked to his
two boys and have learned that there is no foundation in fact for such a
statement, and the Captain and others of the expedition have questioned
them, and if they were out on the ice of the Arctic Ocean it was only
for a very short distance, not more than twenty or twenty-five miles.
The boys are positive in this statement, and my own boys, Ootah and
Ooqueah, have talked to them also, and get the same replies. It is a
fact that they had a very hard time and were reduced to low limits, but
they have not been any distance north, and the Commander and the rest of
us are in the humor to regard Mr. Whitney as a person who has been
hoodwinked. We know Dr. Cook very well and also his reputation, and we
know that he was never good for a hard day's work; in fact he was not up
to the average, and he is no hand at all in making the most of his
resources. He probably has spun this yarn to Mr. Whitney and the
boatswain to make himself look big to them.

"T