Nearest the Pole: a narrative of the polar expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S.S. Roosevelt, 1905-1906Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin)
History
Nearest the Pole: a narrative of the polar expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S.S. Roosevelt, 1905-1906
Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin)
Arctic regions
Three hours of the next march put us on the ice-foot north of Cape Union
and as we stepped upon it Ootah exclaimed “_Tigerahshua keesha,
koyonni!_” (freely translated, “We have arrived at last, thank God!”)
Ahngodoblaho who was very lame remained behind in the camp, and Clark,
who was making rather heavy weather of it, fell rapidly behind from the
very first, but I told him to work along as best he could and take it
easy, that as soon as I reached the ship I should send someone back to
him with something to eat. I think I never shall forget the march from
there to the _Roosevelt_. At risk of being regarded as imaginative I may
say that it actually seemed to us as if we had arrived in God’s country
once more. It was a perfect night, clear and calm, the sunlight softly
brilliant and the rich warm colours of the cliffs offering to our eyes a
very decided contrast to the savage pinnacles of the sea ice and the
snow-covered Greenland coast.
From where we landed the hard level ice-foot presented the best of
walking, and we made good time to Cape Rawson. As we rounded it the
slender spars of the _Roosevelt_ looked very, very beautiful in the
yellow midnight May sunlight.
Long before we reached the ship some of the Eskimos in the shore
settlement spied us, I saw them scurrying across the ice-foot to the
ship, and a few moments later several figures came out from the ship to
meet us.
Arrived on board I immediately sent two Eskimos and teams back with food
and stimulants to bring in the three stragglers. I learned that Marvin
and Ryan and some Eskimos had left for the Greenland coast in search of
Clark, and that Captain Bartlett and Dr. Wolf were still pegging away at
the work north of Hecla. I sent a messenger to recall Marvin, and
another with a letter to Hecla to reach Captain Bartlett as soon as he
arrived.
Then to my room where I quickly ripped my rank fur clothing from myself,
and threw it out on the quarter-deck; then to my bath. After that, my
dinner, a real dinner with real food such as civilised men eat; and then
to my blankets and to sleep, unmindful of the morrow.
I quote from my Journal of the next day:
What a delicious thing rest is. With Jo’s picture on the wall above my
head, with my face buried in Ahnighito’s pillow of Eagle Island fir
needles, and its exquisitely delicious fragrance in my nostrils, I for
the moment echo from the bottom of my heart Ootah’s remark, “I have got
back again, thank God!” Yet I know that a little later I shall feel that
I might have done more and yet got back, and yet again still deeper down
I know that we went to the very limit and that had we not got across the
“big lead,” when we did, we should not have returned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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