ARCTIC VOYAGES. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



So much has been said on the subject of a north- 

 west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 

 so many erroneous notions have been afloat con- 

 cerning it, that I deem it proper, by way of intro- 

 duction, to account for the recent revival of the 

 attempts to discover it. 



" Among the changes and vicissitudes to which 

 the physical constitution of our globe is perpetually 

 subject, one of the most extraordinary, and from 

 which the most interesting and important results 

 may be anticipated, appears to have taken place in 

 the course of the last two or three years, and is still 

 in progressive operation. The convulsion of an 

 earthquake, and the eruption of a volcano, force 

 themselves into notice by the dismay and devasta- 

 tion with which, in a greater or less degree, they 

 are almost always attended; but the event to which 

 we allude has been so quietly accomplished, that it 



B 



