xviii FOREWORD 



of his men to haul his two heavy sledges, which were 

 in reality boats on steel runners. Leaving Spitzber- 

 gen on June 23 with twenty-eight men, he pushed 

 northward. But the summer sun had broken up the 

 ice floes, and the party repeatedly found it necessary 

 to take the runners off their boats in order to ferry 

 across the stretches of open water. After thirty days' 

 incessant toil Parry had reached 82° 45', about 150 

 miles north of his base and 435 geographical miles 

 from the Pole. Here he found that, while his party 

 rested, the drift of the ice was carrying him daily back, 

 almost as much as they were able to make in the day's 

 work. Retreat was therefore begun. 



Parry's accomplishments, marking a new era in 

 polar explorations, created a tremendous sensation. 

 Knighthood was immediately bestowed upon him 

 by the King, while the British people heaped upon 

 him all the honors and applause with which they have 

 invariably crowned every explorer returning from the 

 north with even a measure of success. In originality 

 of plan and equipment Parry has been equaled and 

 surpassed only by Nansen and Peary. 



In those early days, few men being rich enough to 

 pay for expeditions to the north out of their own 

 pockets, practically every explorer was financed by 

 the government under whose orders he acted. In 

 1829, however, Felix Booth, sheriff of London, gave 

 Captain John Ross, an English naval officer, who had 

 achieved only moderate success in a previous expedi- 

 tion, a small paddle-wheel steamer, the Victory, and 

 entered him in the race for the Northwest Passage. 

 Ross was assisted, as mate, by his nephew, James 



