﻿AT 
  THE 
  NORTH 
  POLE 
  

  

  By 
  .Lincoln 
  Ellsworth 
  

  

  [With 
  15 
  plates] 
  

  

  Although 
  exploration 
  in 
  general 
  results 
  in 
  wide 
  usefulness, 
  the 
  

   real 
  excuse 
  for 
  " 
  going 
  exploring 
  " 
  is 
  the 
  attainment 
  of 
  knowledge 
  

   for 
  its 
  own 
  sake. 
  While 
  the 
  practical 
  man 
  of 
  affairs 
  often 
  considers 
  

   any 
  discovery 
  of 
  scientific 
  interest 
  only 
  a 
  waste 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  money, 
  

   the 
  world 
  we 
  live 
  in 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  achievement, 
  hope, 
  and 
  vigor, 
  of 
  new 
  

   beginnings 
  and 
  enterprises 
  in 
  every 
  field, 
  because 
  the 
  explorer 
  with 
  

   his 
  sextant 
  and 
  compass, 
  the 
  astronomer 
  with 
  his 
  telescope, 
  and 
  the 
  

   physicist 
  with 
  his 
  miscroscope, 
  venture 
  out 
  beyond 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  

   dogma 
  and 
  conquer 
  man's 
  ignorance 
  of 
  " 
  what 
  lies 
  beyond." 
  In 
  

   order 
  to 
  justify 
  polar 
  research, 
  the 
  scientific 
  man 
  will 
  prefer 
  to 
  

   consider 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  other 
  kinds 
  of 
  research, 
  where 
  the 
  most 
  

   fundamental 
  and 
  far-reaching 
  discoveries 
  of 
  practical 
  importance 
  

   are 
  sometimes 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  search 
  for 
  knowledge 
  merely 
  for 
  itself. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  North 
  Pole 
  is 
  a 
  huge 
  tract 
  of 
  our 
  globe 
  practically 
  'un- 
  

   known, 
  and 
  the 
  conditions 
  prevailing 
  in 
  it 
  are 
  unique. 
  This 
  alone 
  

   should 
  justify 
  its 
  exploration. 
  To 
  Koald 
  Amundsen 
  the 
  investiga- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  this 
  unknown 
  area 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  fascinating 
  task. 
  The 
  

   two 
  years 
  of 
  my 
  association 
  and 
  companionship 
  with 
  him 
  in 
  our 
  

   two 
  voyages 
  of 
  discovery 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  happiest 
  of 
  my 
  life. 
  

  

  The 
  story 
  of 
  our 
  first 
  flight 
  from 
  Spitzbergen 
  out 
  over 
  the 
  Polar 
  

   Sea 
  to 
  within 
  120 
  miles 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Pole 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  told. 
  

   After 
  a 
  journey 
  lasting 
  eight 
  hours, 
  the 
  time 
  estimated 
  to 
  bring 
  us 
  

   to 
  the 
  pole, 
  we 
  came 
  down 
  into 
  the 
  first 
  open 
  " 
  lead 
  " 
  big 
  enough 
  

   for 
  our 
  airplanes 
  to 
  land 
  in 
  to 
  take 
  an 
  observation 
  as 
  to 
  our 
  exact 
  

   whereabouts, 
  for 
  we 
  had 
  been 
  heavily 
  drifted 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  by 
  a 
  

   strong 
  northeast 
  wind, 
  and 
  by 
  that 
  time 
  half 
  our 
  fuel 
  was 
  consumed. 
  

   We 
  found 
  ourselves 
  to 
  be 
  in 
  latitude 
  87° 
  44' 
  N. 
  and 
  longitude 
  10° 
  

   20' 
  W. 
  Thus, 
  although 
  we 
  had 
  flown 
  600 
  miles— 
  the 
  exact 
  distance 
  

   of 
  the 
  pole 
  from 
  Spitzbergen— 
  our 
  drift 
  of 
  50 
  miles 
  off 
  our 
  course 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  the 
  Yale 
  Review, 
  Vol. 
  XVI. 
  No. 
  4, 
  July, 
  1927. 
  The 
  

   photoaraphs 
  here 
  reproauced, 
  supplied 
  by 
  the 
  author, 
  did 
  not 
  appear 
  in 
  the 
  Yale 
  Review 
  

   article. 
  

  

  321 
  

  

  