ater felt it necessary to
kill, for the Greenland dogs carry the dangerous tapeworm which is
such a menace to man, and of which our Labrador dogs are entirely free
so far.

The picture of this meeting on the ice between Cook and Whitney gave
us the impression of another Nansen and Jackson at Spitzbergen.
Whitney had welcomed Cook warmly, had witnessed his troubles at Etah,
and his departure by komatik, and had taken charge of his instruments
and records to carry South with him when he came home. But his ship
was delayed and delayed, and when Peary in the Roosevelt passed on his
way South, fearing to be left another winter Whitney had accepted a
passage on her at the cost of leaving Cook's material behind. He had
met his own boat farther south and had transferred to her. He left the
impression very firmly on all our minds that both he and Dr. Cook
really believed that the latter had found the long-sought Pole.

A little later, while cruising in thick weather in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, my wireless operator came in and said: "There can be no harm
telling you, Doctor, that Peary is at Battle Harbour. He is wiring to
Washington that he has found the Pole, and also he is asking his
committee if he may present the Mission with his superfluous supplies,
or whether he is to sell them to you." Seeing that it is not easy to
know whence wireless messages come if the sender does not own up to
his whereabouts, I at once ordered him to wireless to Peary at Battle
the simple words: "Give it to them, of course," and sign it
"Washington." I knew that the Commander would see the joke, and if the
decision turned out later to be incorrect, it could easily be
rectified by purchasing the goods. A tin of his brown bread now lies
among my curios and one of his sledges is in my barn.

[Illustration: COMMODORE PEARY ON HIS WAY BACK FROM THE POLE,
1909]

On our arrival at Battle Harbour we found the Roosevelt lying at the
wharf repainting and refitting. A whole host of newspaper men and
other friends had come North to welcome the explorer home. Battle was
quite a gay place; but it was living up to its name, for Peary not
only claimed that he had found the Pole, but also that Cook had not;
and he was realizing what a hard thing it is to prove a negative. We
had a very delightful time with the party, and greatly enjoyed meeting
all the members of the expedition. Among them was the ill-fated Borup,
destined shortly to be drowned on a sim