1875.] The Arctic Expedition. 505 
VI. THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION OF 187s, 
By G. F. Ropwett, F.R.A.S.,  F:C.8i; 
Science Master in Marlborough College. 
T frequent intervals during the last 300 years, the 
Arctic Circle has been crossed, and portions of the 
vast space within it have been explored. Foremost 
among the nations which have prosecuted such researches 
are the English, Russians, and Dutch, while the Americans, 
Austrians, and Norwegians have latterly done good work in 
the same fruitful field. Within that charmed circle of eter- 
nal snow and ice the difficulties to be encountered are pro- 
digious, and the attractiveness of the exploration cannot 
compare with that of tropical or temperate portions of the 
earth’s surface. ‘‘ A region of thick-ribbed ice, the home 
of the walrus, seal, and bear, uninhabited by man; a 
stranger almost to flower and tree, whose forest giant is the 
dwarf birch, a tree 13 inches in height; the resting-place of 
iceberg and floe ; the seat of land which is wrapped in a 
mantle of frozen water, and of seas whose solidity equals 
that of the rocks; a spot on which for four months the sun 
never shines, where the cold freezes the mercury, and the 
thermometer in March ranges 70° below zero.” Such is 
this inhospitable region which it is the design of the Artic 
Expedition of 1875 to open up to the further knowledge of 
mankind. 
The causes which have induced enterprising maritime 
nations to risk the lives of their bravest men, and to expend 
vast sums of money, in endeavours to penetrate an unknown 
region, have been very various. In the case of most of the 
earlier and many of the later expeditions, the principal 
cause was commercial interest rather than discovery for dis- 
covery’s sake. Hence Milton was led to remark that the 
early attempts at Arctic exploration ‘‘might have seemed 
almost heroic, if any higher end than love of excessive gain 
and traffic had animated the design.” The various causes 
which have induced Polar research are the following :— 
(1). The search for a north-west passage from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, in view of closer commercial relations with 
India and China. (2). The search for a north-east passage 
to the Pacific, in view of closer commercial relations with 
the north of Russia, Siberia, China, and India. (3). The 
search for fresh whaling grounds. (4). The search for gold 
mines. (5). The exploration of the Hudson’s Bay Territory 
