When the neighbourhood of the next cache was reached, a stop was made, and the Eskimo were sent out to make a search. In a short time a bag was found attached to a pole projecting only 3 inches above the surface. Peary had stopped within 100 yards of it. This cache contained ten cases of biscuit and a case and a half of milk, and was very acceptable. During the search, one of the Eskimo took the opportunity to decamp with his sledge and dogs. During the next three days, journeys of 22, 28, and 30 miles were made, and carried the party well into the snow-shed of the Humboldt Glacier. They had now arrived near the pemmican cache, and a twenty-four hours’ search was made for it, but it ended in failure. Peary and Henson had their noses frozen, and Lee and Peary each had a frost-bitten toe. Peary had hoped against hope that this cache would be found, although he had made up the rations of the journey without reference to it. From this point the Eskimo returned along the tracks made by the sledges. Never before had any of their tribe penetrated the heart of the ice-cap. Peary now took the lead with a sledge drawn by twelve dogs, and set the course by means of a boat-compass lashed on the top of the load. Henson followed next with a sledge and trailer drawn by sixteen dogs; and Lee brought up the rear with a long sledge and trailer drawn by fourteen dogs. When near the Petermann Fiord Basin, a storm delayed them forty-eight hours. At this camp two dogs were fed to the others. During the next week the long sledge was abandoned, and the loads rearranged. An average elevation of 7670 feet had now been attained, and breathing was much more rapid on increased exertion. Henson and Lee frequently bled at the nose. The maximum elevation was found to be 7865 feet. At the 400th mile one of the runners of Henson’s sledge broke, and the greater portion of a day was spent in repairing the sledge with a runner from one of the trailers. This new runner, however, only did duty for 12 miles, when it broke beyond repair. The sledge was now converted into a three-runner one. On this day the last of the walrus-meat was fed to the seventeen remaining dogs. It was now a case of dog eat dog, and in a few days only eleven were left. Peary saw that the land must be reached with all speed. He therefore dismantled the three-runner sledge and cached everything except a week’s supplies. They were now on the downward grade, and on the second day they sighted land. They were now over 500 miles from the Lodge in a direct line, and three of the eleven dogs were thoroughly exhausted. Peary decided to leave Lee here with the dogs, and push on with Henson in search of musk-oxen.