22 DRAMATIC ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COOK AND PEARY 



part of four centuries daring adventurers had been seeking this 

 region, some drawn to it by the elusive lure of the Northwest Pas- 

 sage, their purpose being one of commercial gain; some in quest 

 of the whale and the seal, drawn directly by the love of gain ; some 

 by efforts to reach the Pole, the pure spirit of discovery animating 

 these. 



One by one, step by step, these great men advanced nearer the 

 goal of their desires. It is an interesting fact that among the earliest 

 to make a high northern record was Henry Hudson, the discoverer 

 of the Hudson River and Manhattan Island, on which the great 

 city of New York was afterwards to rise. In the north his name 

 survives in Hudson Bay. More than two centuries later came Cap- 

 tain Parry, who made a high north record not reached again until 

 half a century after his time. It is interesting that this early 

 voyager adopted the method of sledging over the ice by which the 

 Pole was finally reached, and which is spoken of frequently as if 

 it was a discovery of our own day. 



We may hastily run over the roster of those who followed. 

 Prominent among these were Sir John and James Ross, who located 

 the Magnetic Pole, and the unfortunate Sir John Franklin, whose 

 tragic fate, with that of his crew, was the most deplorable event in 

 the record of Arctic discovery. After him for many years came a 

 series of voyagers in search of the remains of his expedition, some 

 of whom made important discoveries. Chief among these was 

 Captain McClure, who crossed from Bering Strait to the Atlantic 

 and was the first to traverse the long-sought Northwest Passage. 



Prominent among the searchers for the Franklin expedition 

 were several Americans, the first of whom, Dr. Elisha Kane, made 

 the best northing achieved to that time by an American ship. Fol- 

 lowing him came the expeditions of Dr. Hayes and Captain Hall, 

 each making an important record, and then that of the unfortunate 

 Greely, who was left for a winter in the Arctic wilds almost without 

 food, and was finally rescued when on the very verge of death by 



