150 LECTUEE ON ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 



cable. Upon leaving Boston, July 10, 18G0, my entire party numbered 

 only fifteen persons, and we sailed in a schooner of only one hundred 

 and thirty-three tons burden. 



My purpose was to follow up the line of research opened by Dr. 

 Kane; I allude, of course, to that of Smith strait and Kennedy channel. 

 You will readily understand that I had no such idle purpose as was 

 sometimes popularly attributed to me, viz: that of merely reaching 

 the north pole of the earth as a feat of adventurous exploration. 



The general object was to procure as much information as the 

 restrictions of our voyage would allow beyond the termination of Dr. 

 Kane's labors, and i)i the same direction in wdiich they tended. The 

 space between the point at which his personal observations ended 

 and the North Pole is about six hundred and fifty miles, an interval 

 sufficiently large to admit of very numerous and important observa- 

 tions. 



Coinciding with him in the opinion that at some portion of each 

 year there exists a large body of water about or near the Pole, I 

 hoped to extend the evidence which he had collected on this subject 

 as well as on many others. 



It would, of course, have been a source of the highest satisfaction 

 to have succeeded in setting at rest the question of open water, but 

 it was by no means the sole object of the expedition. 



Various questions connected wnth the physical condition of the 

 earth remain to be solved by observations in high latitudes, such as 

 the currents of the air and water; the temperature of these movable 

 elements; the pressure of the former and the tides of the latter; the 

 variation of gravity; the direction and intensity of the magnetic force; 

 the aurora borealis, &c. Relative to all these it was my intention to 

 make observations, and I trust when the results which I have obtained 

 are discussed, as they will be, under the direction of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, they will not disappoint the reasonable expectation I have 

 formed of their value. 



I esteemed myself fortunate in obtaining the services of Mr. August 

 Sonntag, the able astronomer and physicist of Dr. Kane's expedition, 

 who early volunteered to fulfil the same duties during my own, and 

 also to aid me as second in command, and upon him were to be de- 

 volved the most important of the observations. His death soon after 

 entering our winter harbor left me with the aid only of three young 

 men, who were dependent almost wholly upon my instruction and 

 supervision. 



I have made these explanations in order that you may the better 

 appreciate the difficulties which embarrassed us, and that you may 

 not in advance be induced to overrate the unpretending collections 

 made during my cruise; yet it is due to the truth to say also that, 

 notwithstanding these difficulties, the zealous aid of my young asso- 

 ciates has enabled me to return with some valuable additions to our 

 previous stores of knowledge. 



In order that you may in the outset have a clear idea of the route 

 of the expedition, I will call your attention to the rude diagram sus- 

 pended on the wall, representing the Arctic regions in circumpolar 

 projection. The centre of the map, therefore, represents the position 



