578 THE GEEMAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



Even by the reaching of King Charles's Land by the 

 Norwegians no new fact is established, except that, 

 what some hundreds of years ago was looked upon as a 

 continent, consists only of a few islands. No examination 

 of the land itself was made, and nothing but an entire 

 winter passed there will ever supply us with any important 

 facts concerning it. 



The American Expedition, a part of the crew of which 

 were saved on an ice-floe, brings to light the most facts. 

 Their vessel, the Polaris, reached the coast of Greenland 

 through Smith Sound, penetrating to the highest Lati- 

 tude ever yet attained by any ship, namely, 82° 16'. It 

 was doubtless the most northerly point of Greenland. 

 The supposition that Grinnell Land extends as far as 

 83° N. was confirmed, and the existence of musk-oxen 

 and a rich Fauna up to 82° N. of Greenland was proved. 

 At the same time Kane and Hayes' illusion of an open 

 Arctic Sea, which proved to be nothing but the entrance 

 of a channel through which ran a strong current, was 

 thoroughly dispelled. 



This voyage of the Polaris, combined with the results 

 obtained by the German Expedition, shows in a striking 

 manner that the investigation of Greenland, as the country 

 stretching nearest to the Pole — along the coast of which 

 one can penetrate to the north on two different meridians 

 — and where such an extensive field offers for scientific re- 

 search, supplies by far the best field for investigating the 

 geographical and physical condition of Arctic regions, 

 and consequently the real solution of the Arctic 

 question. 



In a pamphlet issued by " The Royal Geographical 



