The Siege and Conquest of the North PoleBryce, George
History
The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole
Bryce, George
Arctic regions; North Pole; Scientific expeditions
Peary now decided to reach this opening and discover whether it looked
out into the East Greenland Arctic Ocean. Changing his course to
north-east, he made for the red-brown mountains of the strange land. The
grade now became so steep that it was necessary to descend diagonally
along the slope.
The highest convex of a crescent moraine which climbed well up into the
ice-cap was selected as a landing-place, and after wading many streams,
and floundering through a mile of slush which covered the lower portion
of the ice, they clambered upon the rocks of the moraine 4000 feet above
the sea.
Here Peary left Astrup to look after the clogs while he hastened down to
the land for the purpose of climbing a summit some 5 miles from the edge
of the ice. He had not gone far when a snow-bunting fluttered up from
behind a rock, and not long afterwards he came across the traces of
musk-oxen. As he got farther from the ice, flowers of various hues made
their appearance, among them the yellow Arctic poppy.
Instead of 5 miles, the distance of the mountain lengthened to at least
12, and when it was reached at the end of an eight hours’ march, it was
only to find that two or three other summits intervened between Peary
and the view he wished. By this time the soles of Peary’s kamiks were
cut through, and some of the sharp stones had cut his feet. He patched
his foot-gear with a pair of seal-skin mittens and a skull-cap, and
after an hour’s rest he started on his return to Astrup, and reached him
after an absence of fifteen hours.
Peary now decided to take Astrup and the dogs, which numbered eight, and
three or four days’ supplies, and march overland. They started out on
3rd July 1892, carrying about 40 lb. each on their backs. On the second
day’s march they were fortunate in coming across musk-oxen, and
succeeded in killing two. This gave both the men and the dogs a welcome
change of food, and they feasted till they could eat no more.
After several hours’ rest, they again set out, and succeeded in gaining
a rocky plateau, 3800 feet above sea-level. This dropped in a
perpendicular cliff into a bay below. Looking out over a mighty glacier
on the right and through the broad mouth of the bay, they saw stretching
away to the horizon the great ice-fields of the Arctic Ocean. To the
west was the opening of a fiord which Peary believed was the one which
barred his northern advance, and he had paralleled its course across the
northern end of the mainland from Robeson Channel to the shores of
North-East Greenland. This channel, which Peary believes marks the
northern boundary of the mainland of Greenland, now receives the name of
“Peary Channel.”
To the north-west, north, and north-east stretched steep red-brown
bluffs on the other side of the bay. To the northward could be seen the
entrance of a second fiord, or channel, apparently extending to the
northwestward.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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