THE SECRET OF THE NORTH POLE. 99 



of charting result in a considerable exaggeration of 

 the polar regions. This is the case in the ordinary 

 4 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. I 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 Kussian 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-west passage.' The explorers who set out 

 upon this search found themselves gradually forced to 

 seek higher and higher latitudes in order to 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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