A Negro Explorer at the North Pole · Chapter
Fighting Up the Polar Sea—Held Up by the 'Big Lead' explained
Henson describes the grueling early stages of the northward march from Cape Columbia, including constant sledge repairs, brutal cold, and the frustration of being halted by the open water of the Big Lead.
What happens
Henson describes the grueling early stages of the northward march from Cape Columbia, including constant sledge repairs, brutal cold, and the frustration of being halted by the open water of the Big Lead. The chapter captures the daily struggles of the team as they battle rubble ice, broken sledges, and freezing injuries while waiting for the lead to close.
Themes in this chapter
Perseverance and Endurance
The chapter highlights the relentless physical and mental endurance required to repair sledges in freezing conditions, battle rubble ice, and wait out the Big Lead.
Humanity vs. Nature
The polar environment actively resists the expedition through open leads, extreme cold, and treacherous ice, forcing the men to adapt or be repulsed.
Loyalty and Companionship
Henson's loyalty to Peary is evident as he follows orders to lead the party, and MacMillan's quiet suffering for the sake of the mission reflects deep commitment.
Characters to notice
- Matthew Henson
Narrator and lead sledge driver; repairs his own sledge and later Ootah's and Kudlooktoo's; reconnoiters leads and pushes forward despite exhaustion.
- Commander Robert E. Peary
Directs the party, reprimands Kudlooktoo for breaking his sledge, and orders camp when halted by the Big Lead; shows unusual patience with the delay.
- Captain Bob Bartlett
Built the igloo that Henson reaches on March 4; his trail is followed by the main party.
- Ootah
Henson's Eskimo companion; breaks his sledge, expresses desire to return to the ship, but is ordered to stay by Peary.
- Kudlooktoo
Busts his sledge so badly it must be abandoned; is chastened by Peary and sent back to land for a replacement.
- Professor Donald B. MacMillan
Leads a detachment to retrieve Borup's cache; later reveals a frozen heel that may require skin-grafting, but chooses to continue.
- Professor Ross G. Marvin
Sent back with two Eskimos to the alcohol cache at Cape Columbia, expected to rejoin the party later.
- George Borup
His cache is retrieved by MacMillan; his trail shows he had to detour west to cross a lead.
Key passages
“It was a night of Plutonian Purgatory.”
The night was unbearably cold and miserable, like a scene from hell.
Henson uses vivid imagery to convey the extreme suffering during the first night on the ice.
“The ice commenced to rafter under us, but we got across safely with our loads, and started east again, for two miles; when we found ourselves on an island of ice completely surrounded by the heavy raftered ice.”
The ice began to pile up and crack around them as they crossed, and after two miles they became trapped on a small floe surrounded by broken ice.
Describes the dangerous crossing of a lead where the ice was unstable and rafting.
“I am able to recognize many of the characteristics of it, and I feel sure it is the same old lead that gave us many an anxious hour in our upward and downward journey three years ago.”
Henson identifies the Big Lead as the same one that caused trouble during the 1906 expedition.
Shows Henson's experience and the recurring nature of this obstacle.
