50 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



Though the extent to which our early navigators 

 attained in their attempts to reach the Pole, may 

 be a little doubtful, yet the limit to which the Po- 

 lar Seas are now navigable towards the north, vvill 

 have a fair chance of being determined, in conse- 

 quence of the alteration which has been made in the 

 act of Parliament offering a reward of 5000 /. to the 

 person who shall first sail beyond the 89th degree 

 of north latitude. This premium was first offered 

 by act 16th Geo. III. c, 6. ; but though it has now 

 been in force 43 years, it has never produced any 

 discovery, nor even, perhaps, a single attempt. The 

 reason is obvious. No one employed in the whale- 

 fishery, who had the opportunity, would hazard his 

 life, his property, and the success of his voyage, in 

 seeking after a reward which he had every reason to 

 believe was quite beyond his reach ; especially as he 

 well knew, that although he should sail to within a 

 few miles of the extent, which would entitle him 

 to the premium, and there be interrupted by some 

 insurmountable obstacle, yet he could have no 

 claim on the reward. Hence, while he considered 

 the prize as beyond his reach, the adventurous 

 voyager had no stimulus to lead him forward ; 



cies in such a case might also be produced on the leeward side 

 of the land during any powerful and continued winds ; but 

 the existence of land only, I imagine, can encourage an expec- 

 tation of any of the sea nortlnvard of Spitzbergen being annu- 

 ally free from ice. 



