Polar Pathways: Robert E. Peary's Arctic Expeditions
1891-Melville Bay Ice Pack: A Speedy Disappointment
A satellite image of the Melville Bay area
coastline
“Leaving the islands, we shaped our course direct for Cape York, with the most sanguine expectation of making a speedy passage across Melville Bay, and perhaps reaching Whale Sound on the 4th of July… Our expectations, however, were doomed to speedy disappointment. Sixteen miles north of the Duck Islands, we met the dreaded Melville Bay pack, and after running along its edge close to the Devil’s Thumb, and then back again to the westward, in search of a good opening, the Kite, at 7:30 P.M., on July 2nd, stuck her sturdy little nose into the pack and began a long struggle.” - Robert E. Peary, Northward over the Great Ice, published in 1898
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Chilly Fourth of July
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Broken Leg
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Polar Bear
Freeing
the Kite
"Melville Bay" by Terrametrics, 2007, Google Earth
