298 Importance of a Visit to the North Pole. 



be the most disadvantageous. In the first place, it would 

 in all probability be so deep that the ship could not anchor, 

 or deep enough not to admit of her keeping steadily her place 

 for making accurate observations ; in the next, by her moving 

 about, her commander would very speedily find out that, as 

 every meridian must lie in the direction of south, he had 

 lost that on which he had approached the pole ; and conse- 

 quently would be at a loss to shape his course homewards. 

 The settling of this point will naturally suggest itself as first 

 among the many novel phenomena which will arrest his 

 attention ; and the following observations will probably occur 

 to him. 



In the first place, it will be obvious that the time of day 

 — or rather of the 24 hours — would no longer be marked 

 by any apparent change in the altitude of the sun above the 

 horizon ; because, to an observer at the Pole, no such change 

 would take place, except to the small amount of the daily 

 change of declination. Thus, not only to the eye, but also 

 for the practical purpose of obtaining the time by astrono- 

 mical observation, the sun would appear throughout the 

 24 hours neither to rise nor fall, but to describe a circle 

 round the heavens parallel to the horizon. It follows that 

 this mode of obtaining the time would utterly fail ; and, in- 

 deed, however startling the fact may seem, it may never- 

 theless be asserted with truth, that there would be no 

 longer any such thing, strictly speaking, as apparent time 

 at all. This will appear clear by considering that apparent 

 time refers only to the particular meridian on which an ob- 

 server happens to be placed, and is marked and determined 

 only by the distance of the sun or other heavenly body from 

 that meridian. An observer at the pole being on no one 

 meridian, but at the point where all meridians meet, ap- 

 parent time has to him no longer either existence or 

 meaning. 



Before our navigators entered upon this expedition, their 

 attention was naturally directed to the best, and, indeed, 

 only certain, method of ensuring their returnfrom the Pole 

 on the right meridian. Two methods, and, we believe, only 

 two, present themselves for this purpose ; the one being by 



