to have thought of arctic
explorations, for he writes: "One evening in one of my favorite
haunts, an old book store in Washington, I came upon a fugitive paper
on the Inland Ice of Greenland. A chord, which as a boy had vibrated
intensely in me at the reading of Kane's wonderful book, was touched
again. I read all I could upon the subject, noted the conflicting
experiences of the explorers, and felt that I must see for myself what
the truth was of this great mysterious interior." Then it was, as he
tells us later, that he caught the "Arctic Fever" which he never got
over until he had discovered the North Pole. As a result of this fever
he has made nine trips into the north land, and these expeditions have
consumed so much time that, though he had been married twenty-one
years when he reached the Pole, only three of these years had been
spent in the quiet of his home with his family.

Interested as we are in all these expeditions, we are most interested,
I am sure, in the one in which he reached his goal.

Embarked on the good ship _Roosevelt_, his expedition had no trouble
in reaching Etah Fiord on the north coast of Greenland. This place
interests us because it is the northernmost Eskimo village and is
within seven hundred miles of the Pole.

In speaking of these Eskimos, Mr. Peary says: "There are now between
two hundred and twenty and two hundred and thirty in the tribe. They
are savages, but they are not savage; they are without government, but
they are not lawless; they are utterly uneducated according to our
standard, yet they exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence. In
temperament like children, with a child's delight in little things,
they are nevertheless enduring as the most mature of civilized men and
women, and the best of them are faithful unto death. Without religion
and having no idea of God, they will share their last meal with anyone
who is hungry. They have no vices, no intoxicants, and no bad
habits--not even gambling. Altogether they are a people unique upon
the face of the earth."

In his journeys into the far North Mr. Peary enjoyed many a walrus
hunt. How should you like to hunt walruses? Before you answer read the
following description of a walrus hunt:

"Walrus-hunting is the best sport in the shooting line that I know.
There is something doing when you tackle a herd of fifty-odd, weighing
between one and two tons each, that go for you whether wounded or not;
that can punch a hole thro