A Negro Explorer at the North Pole

Negro Explorer at the North Pole,
by Matthew A. Henson

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Title: A Negro Explorer at the North Pole
Author: Matthew A. Henson
Commentator: Robert E. Peary Booker T. Washington
Release Date: March 28, 2007 [EBook #20923]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE

[Illustration: MATTHEW A. HENSON]

A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE
BY
MATTHEW A. HENSON
WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT E. PEARY REAR ADMIRAL,
U. S. N., RETIRED
AND AN INTRODUCTION BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1912, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages,
including the Scandinavian
February, 1912

FOREWORD
Friends of Arctic exploration and discovery, with whom I have come in
contact, and many whom I know only by letter, have been greatly
interested in the fact of a colored man being an effective member of a
serious Arctic expedition, and going north, not once, but numerous
times during a period of over twenty years, in a way that showed that
he not only could and did endure all the stress of Arctic conditions and
work, but that he evidently found pleasure in the work.
The example and experience of Matthew Henson, who has been a

member of each and of all my Arctic expeditions, since '91 (my trip in
1886 was taken before I knew Henson) is only another one of the
multiplying illustrations of the fact that race, or color, or bringing-up,
or environment, count nothing against a determined heart, if it is
backed and aided by intelligence.
Henson proved his fitness by long and thorough apprenticeship, and his
participation in the final victory which planted the Stars and Stripes at
the North Pole, and won for this country the international prize of
nearly four centuries, is a distinct credit and feather in the cap of his
race.
As I wired Charles W. Anderson, collector of internal revenue, and
chairman of the dinner which was given to Henson in New York, in
October, 1909, on the occasion of the presentation to him of a gold
watch and chain by his admirers:
"I congratulate you and your race upon Matthew Henson. He has driven
home to the world your great adaptability and the fiber of which you
are made. He has added to the moral stature of every intelligent man
among you. His is the hard-earned reward of tried loyalty, persistence,
and endurance. He should be an everlasting example to your young
men that these qualities will win whatever object they are directed at.
He deserves every attention you can show him. I regret that it is
impossible for me to be present at your dinner. My compliments to
your assembled guests."
It would be superfluous to enlarge on Henson in this introduction. His
work in the north has already spoken for itself and for him. His book
will speak for itself and him.
Yet two of the interesting points which present themselves in
connection with his work may be noted.
Henson, son of the tropics, has proven through years, his ability to
stand tropical, temperate, and the fiercest stress of frigid, climate and
exposure, while on the other hand, it is well known that the inhabitants
of the highest north, tough and hardy as they are to the rigors of their

own climate, succumb very quickly to the vagaries of even a temperate
climate. The question presents itself at once: "Is it a difference in
physical fiber, or in brain and will power, or is the difference in the
climatic conditions themselves?"
Again it is an interesting fact that in the final conquest of the "prize of
the centuries," not alone individuals, but races were represented. On
that bitter brilliant day in April, 1909, when the Stars and Stripes
floated at the North Pole, Caucasian, Ethiopian, and Mongolian stood
side by side at the apex of the earth, in the harmonious companionship
resulting from hard work, exposure, danger, and a common object.
R. E. PEARY.
Washington, Dec., 1911.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD v
INTRODUCTION xv
CHAPTER I
THE EARLY YEARS: SCHOOLBOY, CABIN-BOY, SEAMAN,
AND LIEUTENANT PEARY'S BODY-SERVANT--FIRST TRIPS
TO THE ARCTIC 1
CHAPTER II
OFF FOR THE POLE--HOW THE