1875.] The Arctic Expedition. 507 
and real—albeit it conveys less meaning to nine people out 
of ten than if we spoke of the discovery of the Fountain of 
Jouvance, or the Garden of the Hesperides. To our enter- 
prising spirits there is in the term something which excites 
and stimulates: the discovery of a spot of earth upon which 
man has never trod, the attainment of a goal for which 
many have started, and which none have ever reached; a 
something that shall call forth all the heroism, energy, and 
endurance of which a great nation is capable. Let us look 
back at our list of objects sought to be accomplished by 
Arctic expeditions, and see how many now remain to us. 
(1). The North-West Passage was probably discovered by the 
survivors of the Evebus and Terror, and was certainly dis- 
covered a few years later (1851) by Sir Robert McClure, 
who found a strait conneéting Melville Sound with the Con- 
tinental Channel, and who was thus enabled to sail from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. (2). The North-East Passage 
has been proved to be altogether unpractical, if not alto- 
gether impossible. (3). The highest practicable whaling 
grounds have been discovered. (4). The gold mines have 
been proved to be fabulous, and the imagined gold ore to be 
iron pyrites. (5). The Hudson’s Bay Territory and Northern 
Siberia have been fully explored. (6). The numerous expe- 
ditions sent out between 1847 and 1857 to search for the 
crews of the Erebus and the Terror have done their work. 
Fora while their search ended as did the search of the 
sons of the Prophets for Elijah who had been taken from 
their sight ; afterwards they found the records of the lives 
of brave men, the graves of heroes. (7). Of the rewards 
offered by Parliament, some have been won, others remain 
as yet unclaimed. (8). The prosecution of scientific research 
remains with as wide a field as ever, although much has 
been done. (g). The results of our present expedition, which 
we trust we may be able to give in October, 1876, and among 
them let us hope (10) the discovery of the North Pole. We 
suppose that a recent writer in the ‘‘ Times,’”’ when he 
speaks of solving the “‘ Polar mystery,” means finding out 
whether the North Pole is surrounded by a great open sea, 
or whether it is situated on land ; but Polar research, as we 
have shown above, means much more than the discovery of 
this spot on the earth’s surface. In fact this is of less than 
secondary importance among the results of our expedition. 
As a means to an end it is alone important, for this one 
spot of earth cannot be discovered without the pre-discovery 
of ten thousand scientific facts. 
Before we enter into an account of some of the more 
