Introduction. 7 



ice. Thus the belief in an ice-free north-east and north- 

 west passage to the wealth of Cathay or of India, first 

 propounded towards the close of the I5th century, 

 cropped up again and again, only to be again and again 

 refuted. Since the ice barred the southern regions, the 

 way must lie further north ; and finally a passage over 

 the Pole itself was sought for. Wild as these theories 

 were, they have worked for the benefit of mankind ; for 

 by their means our knowledge of the earth has been 

 widely extended. Hence we may see that no work done 

 in the service of investigation is ever lost, not even when 

 carried out under false assumptions. England has to 

 thank these chimeras in no small degree for the fact that 

 she has become the mightiest seafaring nation of the 



o o 



world. 



By many paths and by many means mankind has 

 endeavoured to penetrate this kingdom of death. At 

 first the attempt was made exclusively by sea. Ships 

 were then ill-adapted to combat the ice, and people were 

 loth to make the venture. The clinker-built pine and fir 

 barks of the old Northmen were no better fitted for the 

 purpose than were the small clumsy carvels of the first 

 English and Dutch Arctic explorers. Little by little 

 they learnt to adapt their vessels to the conditions, 

 and with ever-increasing- daring they forced them in 

 among the dreaded floes. 



But the uncivilised polar tribes, both those that 

 inhabit the Siberian tundras, and the Eskimo of North 



