INTRODUCTION. XXXI 



was initiated, and perhaps brought to the highest state 

 of perfection it is susceptible of, during the progress of 

 this long search. As much as four hundred miles in 

 a direct line on an outward journey had been accom- 

 plished by these means, each man dragging between 

 two and three hundred pounds, including his pro- 

 visions, clothing, and equipment, and being absent 

 from the frozen-in ships frequently from ninety to a 

 hundred days. It was manifest, then, that if such 

 distances could be accomplished in search of men in 

 distress, they could be equally well performed in the 

 pursuit of geographical discovery, and no stronger 

 argument than this could have been used in urging 

 upon the Government the expediency of further ex- 

 plorations. The effort, however, was a long and uphill 

 one, and after the abandonment of the Franklin 

 search, Arctic discovery, so far as this country was 

 concerned, slumbered for over twenty years. 



Yet its advocates never lost heart. They cannot 

 be said to have been numerous, but they were enthu- 

 siastic and influential ; and perhaps there is no more 

 striking instance of perseverance on record than that 

 with which, year after year, successive presidents of 

 the Eoyal Geographical Society forced their favourite 

 project on the notice of that popular assembly, until 

 it became almost a point of national honour that it 

 should be carried out. It would be incorrect' to say 

 that Arctic enterprise had been strictly a popular 

 sentiment since the loss of the Franklin Expedition ; 

 indeed, in many respects it was the reverse. The 

 public press, with few exceptions, gave no counten- 

 ance to it ; the leading journals were either avowedly 

 opposed or kept silence ; science held aloof, and was 

 converted almost against its will ; the naval service 



