The half-starved animals had a royal banquet, and for a while nothing could be heard but the crunching of bones, and now and then a deep growl. Pau brightened up and took his place again as leader, seizing the largest piece of meat without any interference from the other dogs.
Lion was the beautiful leader of the Cape York team. His thick fur was snowy white, and his mane long and shaggy. Lion knew as much about ice travel as Peary himself, and he never got tangled in his traces or tried to eat his harness. Upon this occasion, however, Lion actually slipped harness. When Peary called him to have it replaced, Lion obeyed instantly, crouching obediently at his master's feet.
While Peary was caring for the dogs, Astrup had fashioned a fur couch from the hides of the musk-oxen, and had broiled some delicious musk-ox steaks. That night men and dogs fell asleep happy and comfortable.
After climbing over another slope, the company halted on the edge of a high cliff, the northeastern point of Greenland. Beyond the mainland they could descry islands in the distance. An icebound channel marked the northern boundary of Greenland. The large bay spreading out before them Peary named Independence bay, in honor of the day of discovery, July 4, 1892. The cliff was called Navy cliff. A cairn was erected upon Navy cliff, and the stars and stripes was unfurled.
Peary felt well repaid for his weary march. He had succeeded in reaching latitude 81° 37´ 5´´ north; he had crossed the great ice cap, and had proved that Greenland is an island; he had looked out upon the Arctic ocean from a point of land never before reached by civilized men; and he had gained a clear idea of the northern coast of Greenland.
