THE NORTHERN SEA-COW. 



"The days grew long and longer 

 Till they became as one, 

 And southward through the haze 

 I saw the sullen blaze 

 Of the red midnight sun." 



The North-west Passage ! What a record of 

 perilous adventure and courageous effort is chronicled 

 in the history of the various attempts to find a sea 

 channel between the Arctic and Pacific Oceans ! 

 Ever since, in 1596, the States General of the Dutch 

 Republic offered their prize of 25,000 guilders for the 

 discovery of such a passage, the accomplishment of 

 this feat has attracted sailors of many nations, the 

 various European peoples vying with each other in 

 gallant rivalry. Barents (1596), Hudson (1610), 

 Behring (1741), Chelyuskin (1742), Franklin (1848) 

 are but a few amongst the host of heroes whose 

 names are more or less closely associated with this 

 quest. Incidentally, much valuable information on 

 geography and zoology has been gathered by the 

 voyagers. Indeed, to Herr Steller, a German 

 naturalist who accompanied Behring's last expedi- 

 tion, we owe practically all our knowledge of 

 that uncouth beast, now extinct — the northern 

 sea-cow. 



