On the former expedition, when we had no extra rudder, we could have used two.

But, as things turned out this time, when we had the extra rudder we had no occasion to use it.
Our departure from Eagle Island was timed so that Mrs.Peary and I should arrive by train at Sydney, Cape Breton, the same day as the ship.
I have a very tender feeling for the picturesque little town of Sydney.
Eight times have I headed north from there on my arctic quest.

My recollections of the town date back to 1886, when I went there with Captain Jackman in the whaler _Eagle_, and lay at the coal wharves for a day or two filling the ship with coal for my very first northern voyage, the summer cruise to Greenland, during which journey the "arctic fever" got a grip upon me from which I have never recovered.
Since that time the town has grown from a little settlement of one decent hotel and a few houses, to a prosperous city with seventeen thousand inhabitants, many industries, and one of the largest steel plants in the western hemisphere.

My reason for choosing Sydney as a starting point was because of the coal mines there.

It is the place nearest to the arctic regions where a ship can fill with coal.
My feelings, on leaving Sydney this last time, though difficult to describe, were different from those at the start of any previous expedition.