THE SECRET OF THE NORTH POLE. 99 



all maps the requirements of charting result in a con- 

 siderable exaggeration of the polar regions. This is 

 the case in the ordinary ' maps of the two hemispheres ' 

 which are to be found in all atlases. And it is, of 

 course, the case to a much more remarkable extent in 

 what is termed Mercator's projection. In a Mercator's 

 chart we see Greenland, for example, exaggerated into 

 a continent fully as large as South America, or to seven 

 or eight times its real dimensions. 



There are three principal directions in which ex- 

 plorers have attempted to approach the North Pole. 

 The first is that by way of the sea which lies between 

 Greenland and Spitzbergen. We include under this 

 head Sir Edward Parry's attempt to reach the pole by 

 crossing the ice-fields which lie to the north of Spitz- 

 bergen. The second is that by way of the straits 

 which lie to the west of Greenland. The third is that 

 pursued by Russian explorers who have attempted to 

 cross the frozen seas which surround the northern shores 

 of Siberia. 



In considering the limits of the unknown north-polar 

 regions, we shall also have to take into account the 

 voyages which have been made around the northern 

 shores of the American continent in the search for a 

 ' north-western passage.' The explorers who set out 

 upon this search found themselves gradually forced to 

 seek higher and higher latitudes if they would find a 

 way round the complicated barriers presented by the 

 ice-bound straits and islands which lie to the north of 

 the American continent. And it may be noticed in 



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