THE START From her berth beside the recreation pier at the foot of East Twenty-fourth Street, New York, the _Roosevelt_ steamed north on the last expedition, about one o'clock in the afternoon of July 6, 1908.

As the ship backed out into the river, a cheer that echoed over Blackwell's Island went up from the thousands who had gathered on the piers to see us off; while the yacht fleet, the tugboats and the ferryboats tooted their good wishes.

It was an interesting coincidence that the day on which we started for the coldest spot on earth was about the hottest which New York had known for years.

There were thirteen deaths from heat and seventy-two heat prostrations recorded in Greater New York for that day, while we were bound for a region where sixty below zero is not an exceptional temperature.
We started with about one hundred guests of the Peary Arctic Club on board the _Roosevelt_, and several members of the Club, including the president, General Thomas H.Hubbard; the vice-president, Zenas Crane; and the secretary and treasurer, Herbert L.Bridgman.
As we steamed up the river the din grew louder and louder, the whistles of the power-houses and the factories adding their salutations to the tooting of the river craft.

At Blackwell's Island many of the inmates were out in force to wave us their good-bys, and their farewells were not the less appreciated because given by men whom society had placed under restraint for society's good.