268 THE BORDERLAND OF SCIENCE. 



Ian. The natural supposition in those days was, that 

 voyagers from the great maritime northern countries 

 from England, from Spain and Portugal, or from the 

 Netherlands, would find their advantage in sailing 

 northwards rather than southwards. Hence the long 

 and persistent efforts made to discover a north-western 

 passage. Nor were the more directly Arctic voyages of 

 Hudson and Richardson conducted with any other 

 primary purpose. It is indeed manifest, as any one 

 will perceive on examining a terrestrial globe, that a 

 north-eastern course would avail nearly as well as a 

 north-western for reaching eastern countries from 

 Europe ; and that a directly polar course would be 

 better than either if only (as Hudson hoped) a safe 

 passage might be found through the Arctic seas. 



Gradually, as the hope of finding a north-western 

 passage available for commerce died out, other circum- 

 stances encouraged persistence in the efforts which had 

 been made to penetrate the regions lying to the north 

 of the American continent. There was much, indeed, 

 in the desire to accomplish what had foiled so many ; 

 and it may be questioned whether this desire had not 

 a good deal to do with the appeals which were made 

 for Government assistance, as also with the ready re- 

 sponse of Grovernment to those appeals. Nevertheless, 

 a real scientific interest had become associated with the 

 search after a north-west passage. The magnetic pole 

 of the earth was known to lie somewhere amid the 

 dreary archipelago, with its ice-bound inlets, and glacier- 

 laden shores, through which our Arctic seamen had so 



