FOREWORD xvii 



interwoven with the conquest of the Pole, and were 

 a necessary part of its ultimate discovery. England 

 hurled expedition after expedition, manned by the 

 best talent and energy of her navy, against the ice 

 which seemingly blocked every channel to her ambi- 

 tions for an arctic route to the Orient. 



In 1819 Parry penetrated many intricate passages 

 and overcame one-half of the distance between Green- 

 land and Bering Sea, winning a prize of £5000, offered 

 by Parliament to the first navigator to pass the 110th 

 meridian west of Greenwich. He was also the first 

 navigator to pass directly north of the magnetic North 

 Pole, which he located approximately, and thus the 

 first to report the strange experience of seeing the com- 

 pass needle pointing due south. 



So great was Parry's success that the British 

 government sent him out in command of two other 

 expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage. In 

 explorations and discoveries the results of these two 

 later expeditions were not so rich, but the experience 

 in ice work so obtained gave Parry conclusions which 

 revolutionized all methods in arctic navigation. 



Hitherto all attempts to approach the Pole had 

 been in ships. In 1827 Parry suggested the plan of a 

 dash to the Pole on foot, from a base on land. He 

 obtained the assistance of the government, which 

 for the fourth time sent him to the Arctic provided 

 with well-equipped ships and able officers and men. 

 He carried a number of reindeer with him to his base 

 in Spitzbergen, purposing to use these animals to drag 

 his sledges. The scheme proved impracticable, how- 

 ever, and he was compelled to depend on the muscles 



