INTRODUCTION 



vite trade, but entered on a career of explorations and 

 enterprises which incidentally led to polar expeditions 

 on a scale never attempted by any other nation. 



What stories of real life can be more thrilling to Ameri- 

 can minds than those set forth in polar annals? There are 

 the adventures and wintering of Barents on Nova Zembla, 

 the besetment of Weyprecht and the journey of Payer on 

 the shores of Franz Josef Land, the three winterings of 

 Parry in the North American archipelago, the sledge 

 journeys of Wrangell across the Siberian Ocean, the five 

 years of Sir John Ross in Boothia Felix and the discov- 

 ery of the North Magnetic Pole, the vicissitudes of Kane 

 and the boat journey of Hayes in the Smith Sound region, 

 Scott among the penguins and on the ice-barrier of vol- 

 canic Antarctica, the great drift of De Long and the dis- 

 aster of the Lena delta, McClure's discovery of one North- 

 west Passage and the navigation of another by Amund- 

 sen, the successes and sufferings of the men of the Lady 

 Franklin Bay expedition, the death of Hall and the 

 miraculous drift of the Polaris crew, and many other 

 notable voyages culminating in the great northings of 

 Markham, Lockwood, Nansen, Cagni and the attainment 

 of the North Pole by Cook and by Peary. 



All these, and other varied experiences, bordering on 

 the marvelous and exceeding many flights of fancy, ap- 

 peal to the imagination, stimulate emulation, and culti- 

 vate an ardent appreciation of manly and heroic qualities 

 exhibited in action. 



While the wonderful journey of Shackleton to the vicin- 

 ity of the South Pole has naturally excited wide-spread 

 interest, most intense in Great Britain, the astonishing 



