Polar Pathways: Robert E. Peary's Arctic Expeditions
1908- Duck Islands: Sontag's Grave
A grave marking the fallen adventurer Sonntag
“At the southern limit of Melville Bay we passed the Duck Islands, where is the little graveyard of the Scotch whalers who were the pioneers in forcing the passage of Melville Bay and who died there, waiting for the ice to open. These graves date back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. From this point on, the arctic highway is marked by the graves of those who have fallen in the terrible fight with cold and hunger. These rude rock piles bring home to any thoughtful person the meaning of arctic exploration. The men who lie there were not less courageous, not less intelligent, than the members of my own party; they were simply less fortunate... The first time I saw the graves of the whalers on Duck Islands I sat there, in the arctic sunlight, looking at those headboards, sobered with a realization of what they meant.” – Robert E. Peary in The North Pole, published in 1910
"Sonntag's grave" by Donald B. MacMillan, 1913-1917, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Collections
