IN NORTHERN MISTS 



It is true that, as yet, we have not passed the northern limits 

 of our forefathers' voyages; and that views of the arctic regions 

 are still obscure and vague. While some imagine a continent 

 at the pole, others are for a wreath of islands around it with 

 dangerous currents between them, and others, again, reckon upon 

 an open polar sea. There is obscurity enough. But new prob- 

 lems are beginning to shape themselves. 



When it became apparent to the seamen of Europe that the 

 new countries of the west were not Asia, but part of a new conti- 

 nent, the idea suggested itself of seeking a way round the north — 

 as also round the south — of this continent, in order to reach the 

 coveted sources of wealth, India and China : the problem of the 

 North- West Passage was presented — a continuation on a grand 

 scale of the routes opened up by the Norsemen towards the north- 

 west. 



But equally present was the thought that perhaps there was 

 another and shorter way round the north of the old world; and 

 the problem of the North-East Passage arose. The working out 

 of this problem was simply a continuation of the north-eastern 

 voyages of the Norwegians to the White Sea. 



In this way were born the two great illusions, which for 

 centuries held the minds of explorers spellbound. They could 

 never be of value as trade-routes, these difficult passages 

 through the ice. They were to be no more than visions, 

 but visions of greater worth than real knowledge; they lured 

 discoverers farther and farther into the unknown world of 

 ice; foot by foot, step by step, it was explored; man's com- 

 prehension of the earth became extended and corrected; and 

 the sea power and imperial dominion of England drew its 

 vigor from these dreams. 



What a vast amount of labor lies sunk in man's knowl- 

 edge of the earth, especially in those remote ages when 

 development proceeded at such an immeasurably slower pace, 

 and when man's resources were so infinitely poorer. By 

 the most manifold and various ways the will and intelli- 

 gence of man achieve their object. The attraction of long 

 382 



