xxiv INTRODUCTION 



From the tropics to the Polar circles the amount of animal life 

 per cubic unit of ocean water steadily increases. The great fisheries 

 of the world are in the northern seas. Animal life is abundant not 

 far from the verge of "The Polar Ocean Without Life." Stefansson 

 could not be convinced that its abundance did not extend to that 

 ocean. Against the belief and traditions of the Eskimo, against the 

 universal experience and strong opinion of the most eminent Arctic 

 explorers, against the advice of the whalers, Stefansson maintained 

 his thesis and, risking not only his reputation but his life, com- 

 mitted himself to the ice of the Beaufort Sea. Two companions 

 accompanied him, and there would have been more if necessary, 

 although no Eskimo could be induced to embark upon a venture 

 that he regarded as suicidal. For ninety-six days the leader and 

 his comrades journeyed and drifted. There were a few days of 

 discouragement when the anticipated signs of seal life were not 

 observable, but then came the sure and triumphant vindication of 

 a theory founded upon accurate knowledge, keen observation and 

 sure deduction. Another secret had been wrested from the northern 

 ocean. Stefansson had proved that in the farthest Arctic the sea 

 supplied food even more abundantly than the land. For more than 

 a year the world knew nothing of his success, and it was generally 

 believed (not by those who knew him best), that he had expiated 

 failure by death. 



As a result of the Expedition many thousands of square miles 

 have been added to the territory of Canada, much interesting 

 material of great scientific value has been secured, unknown areas 

 of vast extent have been explored and many illusions with respect 

 to Arctic conditions have been dissipated. 



Stefansson's anticipations as to settlement and development in 

 these northern regions are interesting. Who would venture to 

 declare that they may not be justified as fully as his confidence 

 in the Beaufort Sea? Men still living can remember that at first 

 the great prairie provinces of Canada were regarded as unfit for 

 human habitation. Once it was firmly held that railways could not 

 be operated in Canada during the winter. Little more than a quarter 

 of a century has elapsed since that theory prevailed with respect 

 to street railways. At times tremendous forces of nature make 

 the Arctic regions terrible and dangerous; but this is true of the 

 ocean upon which hundreds of thousands spend their lives; it is not 

 less true of volcanic mountains within whose shadow great cities 

 have been built and rebuilt. In regions that have been repeatedly 

 desolated by earthquakes, man still makes his habitation. 



