A Tenderfoot with Peary (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1911. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X RUSHING THE POLE1 THE Start of the Dash began February 15th, when the Captain left the Roosevelt at the head of his division, followed on successive days by MacMillan, Matt Henson, the Doctor, myself, Marvin, and the Commander, who brought up the rear on Washington's Birthday. I left the ship the morning of the 19th with Karko, Seegloo, and Keshungwah, and with my old team of dogs, which I'd had in the fall and which now knew me fairly well. Just before leaving, the Commander called me to his room and cautioned me about watching my feet all the time, to avoid getting frostbitten, which would incapacitate me. I hadn't been gone more than half an hour before I began to take account of stock of the number of things forgotten, principally a map of the coast, field-glasses, and Baedeker's Wellmania. i The title of this chapter is a little misleading, as it gives my experience only over that part of the journey I participated in. The full account is in Commander Peary's book, "The North Pole," Six miles or so from the boat, a stop was made to unsnarl traces which were all tangled up. When nicely unraveled, the dogs, with their usual abruptness, unanimously started to eat up the distance to the Eskimos who had gone ahead. I grabbed the traces, and, better versed in dogology than in the fall, dug my heels in the snow and sat down. It was up to me to stop them, which was promptly done; but after a few yards gain through the snow, feet first, about a ton of that material slid inside the kooletah on my bare stomach. Jiminy, how cold the stuff felt Five marches brought us to Columbia. The Captain had arrived half an hour before, from a two-days' unsuccessful hunt after musk-ox at the head of Parr Bay. He and MacMillan doubled up in the "MacMillan Hotel, ..".