THE CONQUEST OF THE ZONES 



made by placing a pole upright in the snow or ice and 

 marking on the pole the point indicated by the shadow 

 of an Eskimo standing at any convenient distance 

 away. At any interval thereafter, say six or twelve 

 hours, repeat the experiment, letting the man stand at 

 the same distance from the pole as before, and his 

 shadow will be seen to reach to the same mark. 



Various other simple experiments of similar charac- 

 ter may be devised, any of which would appeal to the 

 most untutored intelligence as exhibiting phenomena 

 of an unusual character. Absolutely simple as these 

 experiments are, they are also, within the limits of 

 their accuracy, absolutely demonstrative. There are 

 only two places on the globe where the shadow of the 

 upright pencil would describe a circle, or where the 

 man^s shadow would be of the same length at intervals 

 of twelve hours, or would reach to the same height on 

 a pole in successive hours. These two regions are of 

 course the poles of the earth. It may reasonably be 

 expected that explorers who reach the poles will make 

 some such experiments as these for the satisfaction of 

 their untrained associates, to whom the records of the 

 sextant would be enigmatical. But for that matter 

 even an Eskimo could make for himself a measurement 

 by using only a bit of a stick held at arm's length — as 

 an artist measures the length of an object with his 

 pencil — that would enable him to make reasonably 

 sure that the sun was at the same elevation through- 

 out the day — subject, however, to the qualification that 

 the polar ice was sufficiently level to provide a reason- 

 ably uniform horizon. 



[53] 



