ogs. An
experiment similar to this has been tried in Norway, where ponies have
been used successfully on snow, and also in Alaska.

As to the size of the exploring party, it will be small, comprising
not more than ten men in all, and several of these will be left behind
at the winter quarters. Lieutenant Peary fully realizes that an
exploring party is no stronger than the weakest of its members, and
will take along with him only men whose endurance and loyalty have
been fully demonstrated. From the winter camp the line of advance will
be Independence Bay, where the party will divide, Lieutenant Peary
pushing on to the north, and his other men exploring southward to
Cape Bismarck. From that point the latter party will be instructed to
return to the winter camp directly across Greenland. There is no human
way of knowing how Lieutenant Peary will return.

One question which will occur to anxious friends of the explorer is,
how Lieutenant Peary and his two companions will live during the
winter of '94 and '95, at the northernmost point of Greenland, where
the foot of man has never trod, and where no supplies could reach
them. The answer to this question is, that the party will take with
them a very large supply of dried meat and other necessaries, and that
they count on finding musk oxen in the region where they will camp. In
his previous expedition, Lieutenant Peary killed five of these musk
oxen near Independence Bay, and he saw many others. With such a supply
of fresh meat, and with abundant means of protecting themselves
against the cold, there is no reason why the party may not live
through the winter without serious danger or even extraordinary
discomfort. Leigh Smith was able to pass a winter on Franz-Josef Land
under much less favorable conditions.

In a general way it may be said, in conclusion, that the present Peary
expedition starts out with bright prospects. Advantage has been taken
of errors and oversights made by others in the past. Dangers and
difficulties have been foreseen, and will be guarded against. A
sensible, and to a great extent feasible, plan of advance has been
adopted. In a word, everything would seem to have been done to prevent
the recurrence of one of those wretched tragedies which have stained
and saddened the records of Arctic exploration.

EDITOR'S NOTE.--The expedition of Lieutenant Peary is undertaken
at his own expense, with the aid of voluntary subscriptions.

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