6 Chapter I. 



fjords in it ; but sometimes its movement is so strong 

 and rapid as to equal that of a ship running before 

 the wind, and it drifts against the wind as often as 

 with it." 



This is a conception all the more remarkable when 

 viewed in the light of the crude ideas entertained by 

 the rest of the world at that period with regard to> 

 foreign climes. 



The strength of our people now dwindled away, and 

 centuries elapsed before explorers once more sought 

 the northern seas. Then it was other nations, 

 especially the Dutch and the English, that led the 

 van. The sober observations of the old Northmen 

 were forgotten, and in their stead we meet with 

 repeated instances of the attraction of mankind towards, 

 the most fantastic ideas ; a tendency of thought that 

 found ample scope in the regions of the north. When 

 the cold proved not to be absolutely deadly, theories 

 flew to the opposite extreme and marvellous were the 

 erroneous ideas that sprang up, and have held their 

 own down to the present day. Over and over again it 

 has been the same the most natural explanation oi 

 phenomena is the very one that men have most shunned ; 

 and, if no middle course was to be found, they have 

 rushed to the wildest hypothesis. It is only thus that 

 the belief in an open polar sea could have arisen and 

 held its ground. Though everywhere ice was met with, 

 people maintained that this open sea must lie behind the 



