ugh eight inches of young ice; that try to
get into the boat to get at or upset you,--we could never make out
which, and didn't care, as the result to us would have been the
same,--or else try to raise your boat and stave holes in it.

"Getting in a mix-up with a herd, when every man in the whale-boat is
standing by to repel boarders, hitting them over the head with oars,
boat-hooks, axes, and yelling like a cheering section at a football
game to try to scare them off; with the rifles going like young
Gatling guns, and the walruses bellowing from pain and anger, coming
to the surface with mad rushes, sending the water up in the air till
you would think a flock of geysers was turned loose in your immediate
vicinity--oh, it's great!"

The _Roosevelt_ after leaving Etah Fiord was able to go as far north
as Cape Sheridan, about 500 miles from the North Pole. Here, on
February 15, 1909, the little party left the ship for the long journey
over a wide waste of ice. The army that was to fight the bitter polar
cold was made up of six white men, one negro, fifty-nine Eskimos, one
hundred forty dogs, and twenty-three sledges.

For the first hundred miles after leaving the ship they were forced to
cut their way through vast stretches of jagged ice. After twenty-four
days of struggle, only twenty-four men remained; all the others having
been sent back. These twenty-four, however, were the freshest and
strongest. On they battled, always sending back the weakest. Finally,
when but two degrees from the Pole, only the negro, four Eskimos, Mr.
Peary and forty dogs remained.

Suppose we ask Mr. Peary, in his own language, to describe the final
dash to the pole.

"This was that for which I had worked for thirty-two years; for which
I had trained myself as for a race. For success now, in spite of my
fifty-three years, I felt trim-fit for the demands of the coming days
and eager to be on the trail. As for my party, my equipment, and my
supplies, I was in shape beyond my fondest dreams of earlier years. My
party was as loyal and responsive to my will as the fingers of my
right hand. Two of them had been my companions to the farthest point
three years before. Two others were in Clark's division, which had
such a narrow escape at that time, and were now willing to go
anywhere. My dogs were the very best. Almost all were powerful males,
hard as nails and in good spirits. My supplies were ample for forty
days.

"I decided that I should st