364 ATTRACTIONS OF THE NORTHERN WILDERNESS. 



discomforts, to say nothing of positive sufferings, which 

 every arctic voyager is certain to encounter, during 

 a residence in high latitudes, it might be supposed to 

 be mere affectation on the part of anyone to say that 

 these dreary wastes of ice and snow, could be pos- 

 sessed of attractions; or that a man who had once 

 experienced their privations, could be otherwise than 

 glad to escape for ever from their influences. Neverthe- 

 less their stern and desolate grandeur, and a certain 

 sublimity which is inseparable from an Arctic scene, 

 unquestionably do exercise a very strong fascination 

 over many minds, and surprising as it may seem to 

 be, there is ample evidence to show that men who 

 have once become familiar with the great Northern 

 Wilderness, in a great many cases, for ever afterwards 

 experience an unaccountable desire to revisit it, and 

 explore still further into the mysteries of this great 

 unknown country: it is but another example of that 

 powerful fascination which a life of adventure in the 

 wilderness is always found to exercise over mankind, 

 in every region upon earth, and it would appear that 

 no amount of danger to life, or risk to health, has 

 ever been sufficient to damp the enthusiasm of ex- 

 plorers or permanently to arrest their progress. 



Now, though the generally extremely healthy char- 

 acter of the arctic regions has never been questioned, 

 experience has shown that few European constitutions 

 can bear the rigours of the climate for more than a 

 couple of successive seasons, without the health becom- 

 ing affected by it, and that there is no such thing 

 as acclimatization to great cold, any more than there 

 is to the influences of great tropical heat. 



In both cases, as time runs on, residents become 



