Northward Over the Great Ice
A Narrative of Life and work Along the Shores and upon the Interior Ice-Cap of Northern Greenland in the Years 1886 and 1891–1897, etc

First published in 1898, Robert Peary's two-volume memoir of Arctic exploration recounts his early expeditions in Greenland.

Robert E. Peary (Author)

9781108041836, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 January 2012

652 pages, 402 b/w illus. 3 maps
21.6 x 14 x 3.7 cm, 0.82 kg

Robert Edwin Peary (1856–1920), the distinguished American Arctic explorer, is usually credited as the first person to have reached the geographic North Pole, in 1909. First published in 1898, this two-volume work recounts Peary's expeditions across the interior ice-cap of Northern Greenland in the years 1886 and 1891–7. It describes Peary's contacts with the local Inuit tribes and the valuable scientific discoveries he made in geography, and natural history. Peary also documents the discovery and conveyance to the United States of the Cape York meteorites, from which the Inuit had extracted iron, but whose whereabouts had been a secret. Volume 2 recounts Peary's later expeditions in Greenland, including a 25-month stay in which he first attempted to reach the North Pole. Peary's wife, Josephine, who accompanied him on many of his expeditions, gave birth to their daughter less than 900 miles from the Pole in 1893.

Part III. North-Greenland Expedition of 1893–4: 1. Philadelphia to Cape York
2. House-building and hunting
3. Autumn and winter work
4. On the 'Great Ice'
5. On the 'Great Ice' continued
6. Discovery of the 'Saviksue'
7. Reconnaissance of Melville Bay
8. Meteorological and auroral notes
Part IV. North-Greenland Expedition of 1894–5: 1. Boat voyage, Falcon to lodge
2. Boat voyage, Falcon to lodge continued
3. The walrus hunt
4. Transporting meat to the lodge
5. Fall ice-cap work
6. Fall hunting, Arctic day and night
7. December journey to Cape York
8. Return from Cape York
9. Winter routine
10. Sledge trips of the long night
11. Miscellanea
12. A week at Peterahwik
13. Upward ice-cap journey
14. The land beyond the ice-cap
15. The land beyond the ice-cap continued
16. Return ice-cap journey
17. After the return
Objects and results of North-Greenland expeditions of 1893 to 1895
Part V. Summer Voyages of 1896–7: The 'Saviksue' or Cape York meteorites
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]