PREFACE. vii 



analysis of the magnetic, meteorological, astronomical, geo- 

 graphical, pendulum, and tidal observations, were pre- 

 pared, and were accepted for publication in the Smith- 

 sonian " Contributions to Knowledge." I regret to 

 say that the publication of these papers has been 

 much delayed. Deeming it desirable that some of 

 the general conclusions to which we had arrived in 

 our discussion of the observations should be given to 

 the world without further postponement, I proposed 

 to embody some leading facts in a short Appendix 

 to this volume. Upon submitting the matter to the 

 learned Secretary of the Institution, it was, however, 

 claimed by him that, since I had intrusted the mate- 

 rials to his care, the Institution now possessed the 

 exclusive right to whatever advantage was to be de- 

 rived from their publication. To a proposition so 

 eminently reasonable I readily assented, especially as 

 I was informed that the papers were already in type 

 and were to be published immediately ; and, consid- 

 ering myself thus absolved from any further respon- 

 sibility to the scientific world for the long delay, I 

 accordingly abandoned the idea of the Appendix. 

 The Chart exhibiting the track and discoveries of 

 my voyage, and of my various sledge journeys, was 

 claimed, in like manner, as the exclusive property 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, and, like the papers, 

 was to be published immediately. Hence it is that 

 the small map which illustrates this volume is but a 

 copy (reduced ten diameters) of my field chart, pro- 

 jected on the spot from my unrevised materials. It 



