Polar Pathways: Robert E. Peary's Arctic Expeditions
1908- Supplies
George Borup, on the deck of the Roosevelt,
playing with puppies
“Supplies for an arctic expedition naturally divide themselves into two classes: those for the sledge work in the field; those for the ship, and returning, and in winter quarters. The supplies for sledge work are of a special character, and have to be prepared and packed in such a way as to secure the maximum of nourishment with the minimum of weight, of bulk, and of tare (that is, the weight of the packing). The essentials, and the only essentials, needed in a serious arctic sledge journey, no matter what the season, the temperature, or the duration of the journey… are four: pemmican, tea, ship’s biscuit, condensed milk… The food for use on shipboard and in winter quarters comprises commercial supplies. My expeditions have been perhaps peculiar in omitting one item—and that is meat For this important addition to arctic food I have always depended on the country itself. Meat is the object of the hunting expeditions of the winter months—not sport, as some have fancied... Here are a few items and figures on our list of supplies for the last expedition: Flour, 16000 pounds; coffee, 1,000 pounds; tea, 800 pounds; sugar 10, 000 pounds; kerosene, 3,500 gallons; bacon 7,000 pounds; biscuit, 10,000 pounds; condensed milks, 100 cases; pemmican 30,000 ponds; dried fish, 3,000 pounds; smoking tobacco, 1,000 pounds." – Robert E. Peary in The North Pole, published in 1910
"Borup with puppies..." by Donald b. MacMillan, 1908-1909, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Collections
