INTRODUCTION 



I CONSIDERED an account of my first two 

 expeditions to the Arctic regions worthy of 

 publication, because each was interesting in 

 its own way. 



Exceptionally favourable conditions attended 

 the first, permitting us to cross the Greenland 

 ice-belt at 76 latitude, a region up to that 

 time deemed impassable, and to attain, in the 

 78, the French Islands, never before reached 

 even with sledges. 



On the other hand, danger and misfortune 

 dogged my second expedition without inter- 

 mission : the drift in the Kara Sea, repeated 

 strandings and struggles with tempests, com- 

 bined to form an experience which should 

 prove useful to any who think of navigating 

 these little-known waters. 



My last voyage was made under easy and 



pleasant conditions. It was a circuit, in the 



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