nown to me than any other
group of human beings in the world. The present generation of
able-bodied Eskimos has practically grown up under my personal
observation. Every individual member of the tribe--man, woman, and
child--is known to me by name and sight as thoroughly as the patients of
an old-fashioned family physician are known to him, and perhaps the
feeling existing between us is not so very different. And the knowledge
of individuals gained in this intimate way has been priceless in the
work of reaching the Pole.

Take, for example, the quartet of young Eskimos who formed a portion of
the sledge party that finally reached the long-courted "ninety North."
The oldest of the four, Ootah, is about 34 years of age. This young man
is one of the sturdiest of the tribe. He stands about 5 feet 8 inches
and is a fine hunter. When I first saw him he was a young boy. Egingwah,
another of the group, is about 26 years old, a big chap weighing about
175 pounds. Seegloo and Ooqueah are about 24 and 20 respectively. All
four of them have been brought up to regard me as the patron,
protector, and guide of their people. Their capacities, peculiarities,
and individual characteristics were perfectly known to me, and they were
chosen out of the whole tribe for the final great effort because I knew
them to be most perfectly adapted to the work in hand.

[Illustration: THE DOG MARKET AT CAPE YORK]

Before taking up the story of our advance from Cape York, a word ought
to be said about those remarkable creatures, the Eskimo dogs, for
without their help success could never have crowned the efforts of the
expedition. They are sturdy, magnificent animals. There may be larger
dogs than these, there may be handsomer dogs; but I doubt it. Other dogs
may work as well or travel as fast and far when fully fed; but there is
no dog in the world that can work so long in the lowest temperatures on
practically nothing to eat. The male dogs average in weight from eighty
to one hundred pounds, though I had one which weighed one hundred and
twenty-five pounds. The females are somewhat smaller. Their special
physical characteristics are a pointed muzzle, great breadth between the
eyes, sharp-pointed ears, very heavy coat underlaid with a thick, soft
fur, powerful, heavy-muscled legs, and a bushy tail or brush similar to
that of the fox. There is only one breed of Eskimo dogs, but they are
variously marked and of different colors, black, white, gray, ye