The distance from Cape Colombia to the Pole and back is 826 miles, a distance which had been greatly exceeded in the sledge journeys of the British officers of the Franklin search expeditions. M’Clintock made a journey of 1210 miles in 99 days without the help of dogs, and Lieut. Mecham travelled over 1336 miles, the average rate outwards being 18½ miles, and on the return journey 23½ miles per diem; a feat that has never been beaten by dog-sledging. The peculiar difficulty of Peary’s undertaking was caused by the drift and by the open lanes of water. Against the latter formidable obstacle he again appears to have taken no precautions. In February 1909 the sledging parties proceeded to Cape Colombia, Bartlett starting on the 15th, and Peary with two Arctic Highlanders, two sledges, and 16 dogs on the 22nd. On the last day of February Bartlett started for the north, as a pioneer party to cut leads through the ridges of hummocks, and thus make the route easier for the sledges that were to follow. On March 1st Peary started with his own sledges and the limited sledges--24 men, 19 sledges, and 133 dogs. Iglus were used instead of tents, which was a mistake, and the scale of diet was practically much the same as M’Clintock’s, the great master of Arctic sledge travelling. On the 5th March they came to a lane of open water, which detained them for several days owing to lack of means for crossing it. “During five days Peary paced up and down deploring his luck.” Afterwards they crossed seven lanes of water on young ice. Bartlett was the last to return, after taking an observation with the resulting latitude of 87° 46′ 49″ N. Thus 280 miles had been traversed in a month and they were 133 miles from the Pole. The speed had been calculated at under 15 miles a day. From this spot Peary went on for the Pole with only his negro servant and four Eskimos, five sledges and 40 dogs. It was a great mistake to enter upon what he considered the most important part of his journey without any white companion, more especially as bearings and distances do not appear to have been ascertained by observations. For help in making these rough estimates, and for such observations as were taken, a colleague was imperatively necessary.