156 TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 



turbulent waste of waters, the Bering Sea. Gazing 

 northwards out across those surging billows the mind 

 goes back over untold years, through which, for ages 

 past, as still to-day, that fascination of the magnetic 

 North has cast the spell of its glamour deep in the 

 hearts of hardy mariners or world-famed explorers. 

 Great men and bold have risked and lost their lives 

 in quest of the unknown, but still to-day the dark 

 and silent North retains her hidden mystery. 



Since the days of Sir Hugh Willoughby, who in 

 ! 553 wa s the first Englishman to lead a big expedi- 

 tion in quest of a passage to China and the Orient, 

 by way of the Arctic Ocean, many of our countrymen 

 have left their mark on history by reason of their 

 explorations in these Northern regions. The names 

 of Cook and Franklin loom big upon the roll of 

 honour, and their deaths are amongst the many which 

 have paid toll to the explorers' quests. Of recent 

 years have we not the deeds of men like Nansen and 

 Peary, which tend to show that even in these effete 

 days of modern luxury men may still be found who 

 fearlessly forsake the fleshpots of Egypt and wander, 

 for sheer love of adventure, amidst those icebound 

 lands, in search of the great unknown ? Have not I, 

 even in my puerile way, felt the call of the wild, and 

 the spirit of Wanderlust, gripping at my very heart- 

 strings, bidding us be up and doing, so that ere yet 

 it be too late we may travel along some untrodden 

 path which leads to fame or to the grave ? 



I have traversed the shores of the Bering Sea from 

 north to south, from east to west, from Kamchatka to 



